Dimension Wars: Defex's Promise: Part 3

T.J. Darton's Journal, Entry #3 (continued)

Then several things happened at once. The most obvious thing was Captain Tilliwout had hit the gas, and the Gnatsrednu was flying through space as fast as she possibly could. I was glad that we had held on to something, because the force of a ship that went from zero to how ever fast we were going was so great that it nearly caused me to let go of the railing and fly back into the engines, which had started humming again so any other sound was difficult to hear. The second was that Defex’s men had started shooting at us again. The third was that Erene was knocked to the ground, and I noticed her leg was bleeding as she staggered back up. The final thing was that we still maintained visual contact with Defex and his ship, and he was not happy.
“Princess Erene! You defy me?” He said, murderously.
“No.” Erene said in a matter-of-fact voice. “Simply getting away.” Defex glared at her with such a force that “hatred” would be an understatement.
“You will regret that when we board your ship.” he said menacingly. “Bex! He shouted to one of his guards. “Send out our latest weapon and stop the Gnatsrednu.” At this Erene laughed. I didn’t know why, a threat made by Defex shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“Defex, don’t waste your time, we’re miles away. There is nothing you have that can----” Erene stopped short as the guard said, “Firing!” and she looked to the wall that had the projection of the space behind the Gnatsrednu, and her face fell. I saw what made Erene stop speaking, and I didn’t like it one bit.
The angle at which the scanner was placed within the Control room, allowed Gil, Z, and I to see Erene, Defex, Captain Tilliwout, what was in front of the Gnatsrednu, and the back end of the Gnatsrednu. We were currently preoccupied with the latter of those options, because what was chasing us, was a humongous energy blast. The purple ring of jittery energy was moving at such a speed, that it was quickly shortening the distance between itself and the Gnatsrednu. It moved so fast! I had doubts off whether or not we would escape.
“If that thing hits us, it’ll knock our power out!” A woman said.
“Shit.” Gil said.
“Serk,” Erene said, reacting quickly to what the woman said. “Can we dodge it?”
“Negative on that, Erene. That energy ring is too wide. It’s three miles across.”
Erene swore. “Woody, can she go faster?”
“I’m gunning it!” Tilliwout said, his voice strained from the effort of flying this ship.
Damn, I thought. The only thing we could do is wait, and hope that the energy blast wouldn’t catch us before the hyper-drive kicked in. I could tell that the Gnatsrednu was gaining speed, but not enough to out run the purple ring.
Erene glanced nervously at Tilliwout’s controls, as though if she kept looking at them, she could will them to work faster. “Woody…”
“Not yet! We can’t jump to hyper drive! We’re not going fast enough!” Erene kept looking at the controls, until she ended up staring at them. I couldn’t stop looking at the approaching energy.
“Woody…” she started.
“Not yet!”
“Face it, Erene. You can’t escape!” Defex teased. Erene ignored it, but I didn’t. It sure as hell felt like we weren’t getting out of this, and the energy blast was closer than ever.
“Willer…” Erene said, her hands shaking, as she reached out to the machine she had leaned on before, to now use it to support her weight to keep it off her injured leg.
“We have ten more miles to go!” Tilliwout said. I could now see the control panel before the Captain, and I specifically locked my eyes onto the speedometer. 1990 miles per hour… 1991miles per hour… 1992 miles per hour… 1993 miles per hour… 1994 miles per hour… The seconds felt minutes. 1995 miles per hour… 1996 miles per hour… 1997 miles per hour… 1998 miles per hour… 1999 miles per hour… 2000 miles per hour! Yes! I thought.
“Now, Woody!” Erene yelled. Tilliwout threw a switch, that set off a blue light that flashed on and off like the green one, and then he pressed a large red button, and then everything seemed to power up. The engines made such a noise that I thought my ear drums would rip apart. Outside the Gnatsrednu, everything was speeding up very fast. Stars started to look more like lines than points. We’re getting out of here. I thought happily. We’re gonna get out of this! But as soon as that thought entered my mind, another thought pushed it out: We were going to die.
Just as soon as we started speeding up, the engines cut out, and silence ensued. When the engines shut down, it was like we had hit a brick wall. The force of stopping on a dime going 2000 plus miles per hour was immense. It threw Gil, Z, and I toward the door, but luckily my elbow knocked into the handle and instead of smashing into the door, it opened and we sailed through it, fell, and smashed into the ground. I sat up dizzily, but relatively intact. I couldn’t say the same for Gil. He had been knocked unconscious, and Z was so disoriented, she looked like she would throw up if she lifted a finger.
The control room was in chaos. Nearly everyone was on the floor, except for Tilliwout and Erene, (How she managed to say upright I have no idea.) All the power, that controlled the ship was had been shut down. I was very confused as to why we had stopped moving, until I looked at the wall, and I saw why. For moving away from us, was the purple energy blast. Oh no. I thought.
Defex apparently thought this entire ordeal was freakin’ hilarious, because he was laughing his head off. I didn’t think it was very funny, but then again, I wasn’t an evil bastard who slapped my mother.
“I told you, Erene,” He said, tears of joy rolling down his blue cheeks. “I told you, you wouldn’t get away. You have no hope but to surrender. I know you will. You wouldn’t dare risk the lives of two million innocent people. I know you to well.” Erene didn’t say anything to this latest taunt. I on the other hand, panicked. We are going to die. I thought. We are going to die. Defex is going to come aboard, slaughter everyone, I’m never going to see my parents again, and we are going to die.
The realization of that fact hit me so hard, it took my breath away. I broke down. I didn’t cry. No, It felt like the entire universe was breaking into tiny, billions upon billions of little pieces, and they were falling up. The world was flipped upside down as I realized I would never see my dog, Brenna, again. I would never see my mother, my dad, my grandparents, my friends, cousins, Aunts, Uncles, everyone I knew and loved would be out of my life because my life would be gone. As Defex’s ships made there way slowly to the Gnatsrednu, little snippets of my life came back to me. Sitting on the top of the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier in Chicago and talking with my friends. Just talking. Walking with my parents on one of the trails in Starved Rock State Park. Swimming in Lake Michigan with Brenna, remembering how cold it was, realizing I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on the hottest day in the summer. Little memories that I had forgotten came flying back to me. I realized that it is the small things in life that truly matter. I was crushed because I realized I would never have any of those little moments ever again, because those things, the things that don’t seem like much, those moments are what truly make us happy
Suddenly, a rip in the space in front of us appeared. It was huge, no gigantic, no… it was just the right size for a ship the size of the Gnatsrednu to squeeze through, and we were drifting right toward it. Right after the rip appeared, I felt tired. It was as though all the energy had been sucked out of me. I kept staring at the opening to the rip. It was green. Why was that familiar? I kept on asking myself. Was it the path to death? My exhausted mind thought.
The Gnatsrednu hit the rip. Defex screamed, “No!” I felt like I was being flattened and sucked through a tube. Then I went unconscious.

Zsa Zsa’s 7th Journal, Entry # 11

It was pretty incredible, what Theodore’s son did. I’ve never even opened up a portal that big before. To rip the dimension barrier that wide, that must have been a very powerful memory he used. Obviously, he had never warped before. If he had he would, have remained conscious. Still, Defex will be on our tails even more now that he knows how powerful Darton is.
Luckily, Darton kept us in the fourth dimension. I don’t know what would have happened if he had warped us into any other. It would be quite confusing if the DWADT headquarters for the fourth dimension, wasn’t in the fourth dimension. I don’t even know if we could get the Gnatsrednu back into the fourth dimension if Darton had warped us into another. Even if we got several people to joint warp, I don’t think we could get a portal open as humungous as Darton had.
Erene couldn’t believe it. She told me before all of this happened, that she had known that Darton would be a very good warper. Once everyone realized that we had gotten away from Defex, Erene said she didn’t realize how powerful Darton is. She knew of this, because she felt the energy around him when he opened up the portal. Her being an Iminien Princess, she could tell. I knew it because he ripped the dimensional barrier so wide. Erene also told me only a handful of warpers can give off that amount of Talla, which, in simplest terms, is the energy given off by a warper when they rip open a dimensional barrier. Erene said that she’s only felt that much Talla on one other demon. That demon, is Salahanrae de Vale lanDanges, who is possibly more dangerous than Defex. He is the leader of the Swardian Council. If there is one person Erene hates, it’s lanDanges. He came himself to take over her home planet of Imineg. She hates him more because he is an Imini himself. He betrayed his own people. I hate him too, but because he is the reason why my best friend has nightmares.
My room is next to Erene’s, and every night, I hear her scream out in terror. “No! not my people!” “Don’t hurt them, lanDanges!” “Stop! You’re killing him!” “Stop, please!” Every night, she has these terrible dreams. When ever I ask her about it, she says she doesn’t know what I am talking about. She does though. I think she feels guilty for running away. She thinks she could have served her people better by staying and fighting. I think she was just scared.
Erene was ten years old when this happened. Not only was there nothing she could have done to stop it, but her people truly believed that they were fighting each other for the right to live. It would have been like fighting a brick wall. You can shoot it, punch it, and yell at it all you want, but it’s not going to fall. She blames herself for what happened to her people, though it’s not her fault. But Erene just can’t see that. At least, not yet.
No council tried to take over my planet, but Defex did three years ago, and he succeeded.
I had started working for DWADT four years before he came after my planet. I lived on the planet Metronas which was in the third dimension, in the Andromeda galaxy. I lived on a small Island, called Daminwas Slak, or Volcano Isle. It was only my mom and I. No one else lived there except us.
Daminvas Slak, all though properly named, is not the only volcanic island on Metronas. Metronas is made up of 98% of the Black Water Ocean, and 2% of islands like Daminvas Slak, and every single island, big and small, had volcanoes.
My mother worked on Slaka bel ge lo Delladad, or the Island of Many Wishes, which was about three hundred meters away from Daminvas Slak. It was a beautiful island. It’s city, Galloda, was my planet’s capital. Galloda itself was inhabited by about 3 million Metrin’s, but most of the demons on Metronas lived on the water, working as fishermen, or pirates.
My mother worked with the rescue teams in Galloda. Every few days, a volcano on Slaka bel ge lo Delladad, or another island would erupt, and the rescue teams would be sent out to help any survivors, and bring them to Galloda, or if the hospitals were full there, they would bring them to Vaslae or Sylfaen, two other cities on Slaka bel ge lo Delladad. She risked her own life to rescue people, but mother loved it.
One day, before I warped onto the Gnatsrednu, I noticed a figure lying on the beach face down, outside my home. My mother had all ready left on a rescue mission, so I was alone. I went outside to see who or what it was. When I flipped it over onto it’s back, I realized it was a young man, my age, wrapped in a thick wet blanket, shivering but conscious. I had no idea what to do, so I warped to the Gnatsrednu, and found Erene. I told her about the young man, and she warped back to him with me.
We took him inside and Erene told me to start a fire. Once I got the fire started, and when Erene got him out of the blanket, and I gasped. He was a pirate! He had no shirt on, and his pants were baggy and stuffed in big black boots. No sensible Metrin would ever wear such clothing, except for a pirate. The tattoos over his chest, arms, and neck confirmed it.
As Erene checked the pirate to make sure he wasn’t hurt, she ordered me to get him a change of clothes. I froze. Mother and I don’t have any clothes for men. I thought. But then I remembered the attic. I willed myself to climb the steps to the attic, and I crouched down by the many boxes up there. I crouched down by one in particular.
This box held my father’s clothes. He had died before I was born, and my mother didn’t like to speak about him. I had asked her many times when I was a little girl, “Where is father?” I had never thought that not having a father was odd, until I started school. All the other girls always spoke of their fathers, and what he did. “My father is the chancellor of Delenna.”
“Mine is a rescuer.”
“My papa is a fisherman.”
“So is mine!”
“What does your father do, Zsa Zsa?” I never knew what to tell them. My mother never spoke of him, but from what I heard from the locals in Galloda, Vale ge lo Sansa, was a great man. He was rescuer, he gave money to the poor, he did favors without asking anything in return, and if you tried to pay him for helping you, he would not except the money. One day, he was at Daminva Haso, the Big Volcano. He died that day. A man was too close to the lava, shocked as he watched it destroyed his village. Father pulled him away before the man was swept up in the lava, but he never got away. The lava killed him instead. It crushed my mother when he died. She could barely speak for a year, but after she recovered, she packed away everything that reminded her of him, and stuffed it into the attic. After that, she joined the rescue teams. Many wonder why she would want to face the thing that killed her husband. I think she rescued demons because she likes to help people. It’s what brought my parents together in the first place. I also think she did it for revenge. Her line of thought was every demon she saved avenged my father’s death.
I stood looking at my father’s clothes, unsure if I should touch them or run away. I didn’t like the thought of a filthy pirate wearing my father’s clothes, but the young man looked like he had been though hell and back. Pity won. I came back down with a loose creamy shirt, some brown pants, socks, and black boots. The young man had stopped shivering, and was speaking with Erene.
His name was Tivorho. He was a pirate, but he wanted to leave his ship. His father was the captain of the ship he had lived on his entire life, and he told Tivorho that if he left, he would feed him to the fish. Tivorho didn’t believe his father, so when Tivorho tried to take a life boat, his father ordered his men to wrap his son in a heavy blanket, and throw him in the ocean. By sheer luck he happened to get swept by an ocean current that took him here. I gave him my father’s clothes to change into, and Erene told him we would give him some food, and we left him alone to change.
Darton looks just like him. Almost the spitting image of him, really. The same black hair, and brown eyes, they even have the same skin color. When I saw Darton for the first time in that class room, it was like stepping back into the past. When he fell into the Void, I thought it was Tivorho falling for a moment.
My mother adored him, and asked him to stay with us. At first I wasn’t very happy with a pirate living with me, but within months he had become my best friend. We had so much in common. We both loved to play sports, and we were superb fighters, and I even beat him in a few sparing contests we had (Though, I’m sure he let me win.) We could talk to each other about everything. Even a better one than Erene in some ways. It turned out he was very good at growing plants, and he knew some old sailor cures for all sorts of illnesses, so he sort of became the local doctor, for many of the plants that were very hard to grow, were ingredients to the many elixirs that he could make, all of which had healing qualities. He told me everything he know about plants. How to grow them, how to recognize the poisonous ones… That doesn’t matter now.
One day, I was on the Gnatsrednu, and suddenly a hurried announcement was made. “Code red: Third dimension, M31, Second planet from Getwa. Attack of Defex. Aim: Destroy Metronas. All agents to Metronas in M31. Aim: Stop Defex. Use any method.” I heard that, and my heart dropped to my stomach. Gil, Erene, Theodore, and I warped to Metronas, and I nearly fainted.
All the DWADT Agents had warped to Galloda, and the capital city, my city, had been flattened to the ground. Defex hadn’t been there for more then five minutes, and not one building stood. Everything was burning. Theodore and Erene ordered all the younger warpers to rescue who they could in the cities. I didn’t want to go. I wanted to find Defex and rip his heart out through his throat. He was attacking my planet, my life, and my home. I wanted him dead. I still do. I told Erene I was going to help her, but she said no and told me to look for survivors. I didn’t. That was the only time I have ever disobeyed a direct order from Erene, and I regret ever doing it.
I ran to find Defex. I didn’t know where he would be, but I was looking for him. Eventually, my search took me to Daminvas Slak where I found my mother, Tivorho, and Defex, surrounded by his men. My mother was pleading with Defex. I remember her words well, “Va vie der ha ferdar galted? Vas ha deren ferd ser eve der?” Why are you doing this? What have we done to you?
Defex responded with,
“Absolutely nothing.”
“Then why must you do this?”
“Because.” Was what he simply answered. My mother, thoroughly sicken by what Defex said, tried to attack him, and one of his guards ran her through with a sword, and another shot her in the head with a laser gun. It killed her instantly. Tivorho screamed, but not nearly as loud as I did. I took the guards by surprise, so I broke through the ring they made and went right for Defex. I had no weapon, but I didn’t care. I wanted to hurt him, rip him apart, kill him, murder him; anything that would cause him pain. I was able to punch him once, then he flipped me on my back, and a guard pined to the ground, like I was a rag doll. Tivorho ran for me, but the guards got to him first. Two of them held his arms back as Defex calmly walked up to him, and shot him in the head. I screamed again, and I started to cry. I called out Tivorho’s name over and over again. I practically willed him to live again, but he wouldn’t move.
Then Defex walked to me, and put the gun to my head as I struggled to break free of the guard on my back, and strangle Defex. “You, DWADT agent, what is your name?” I got one hand loose and slapped him in the face. He didn’t even care. “I’m going to let you live. But I want you to give Theodore a message from me; I stopped thrashing around, but only because I figured I could possibly surprise the guard on my back if I stopped moving for a while. “Tell Theodore, that if he and the rest of DWADT tries to stop me, he will die. His family will die, his friends will die, and I will come after his planet, and do the same thing that I will do to this one.” he said.
“Why are you doing this, why this planet?” I asked. Suddenly, Defex looked down at me, and roughly jammed the laser gun in my left ear.
“Because, it’s an example! I’m sending Theodore a warning!” he said angrily. Then all of a sudden, he calmed down. Then he put an earpiece in his pointy ear and said, “Blow her up.” I then realized the real reason why he was blowing up my planet. Not because he wanted it destroyed, but because of revenge.
I hadn’t noticed all the warships floating just above Metronas’ atmosphere, so when a bright red light started to form as dots all over the sky, I looked up, and I was temporarily flabbergasted into silence. The war ships were all over Metronas, and red lasers that were building up power were on all of these ships, aimed right at Metronas. I had no doubt in my mind that he could blow up a planet. Partially a planet as small as Metronas.
Before Defex had time to kidnap me and fly off in one of the Vartens, Erene and Gil appeared. Together, they attempted to arrest Defex, but he got away before the could. Just as the war ships were about to fire, Erene and Gil warped me back to the Gnatsrednu. I didn’t see my home blow up, and I’m glad I didn’t. I didn’t want to imagine Metronas not being there any more, but it wasn’t there anymore.
I’ve excepted my mother’s and Tivorho’s deaths, but I have not forgiven Defex. I will never forgive him for what he did to my people, nor will I forgive myself for not trying hard enough to stop him. But I will avenge their deaths, all of them.
I gave Theodore the warning that Defex told me. He barely reacted to the news, but that wasn’t unlike him. He was much like Erene, silently coming up with a plan, and that plan was to continue doing what he had to do, but he made sure Darton and Minerva were safe. He always makes sure they’re safe. Recvo, I hope he’s okay…


T.J. Darton’s Journal, Entry #4

I woke up to a scratching sound coming from across the room. I had no idea were I was, but it felt vaguely familiar. Man, that was some odd dream. I thought, with my eyes closed. Dad had died, but he wasn’t, then I was sucked into the fourth dimension, and it turned out Dad led a double life, as a warper, and I met two girls named Erene and Z, and a man called Gil who looked like an alligator. Do I have an imagination, or what? I thought I was in my bed, and that my alarm would go off in a few minutes, I would hit the snooze button twice, then Brenna would jump on my bed and lick me awake. I still wouldn’t get up, then my mom would yell at me, and threaten that I would be late for school. Yeah, like that would get me up faster.
Suddenly, something wet and warm hit my face, and licked me. Brenna. I realized. “Okay. Okay. I’m up. I’m up.” I said to her. Brenna whined and barked as I pushed her off me. I stretched my hands backwards, over my head to turn off my alarm. It wasn’t there. I breathed out heavily. Brenna must have knocked it off the stand again. I thought. I’ll pick it back up, then fall back asleep.
The second I opened my I opened my eyes, I realized I wasn’t in my room. For one, the ceiling in my room is blue, not white, and the walls are blue, not green. I started, and jumped out of the forest green bed that you would have thought something had bit me. This was the room I had been shoved into in my dream, and even all the books were still in the huge pile I had left them in. “Hello, Darton.” a girl said. Her voice sounded just like… Z. I spun around, hoping it wouldn’t be her, but it was. She was sitting in a chair, writing in in a blue journal.
It hit me like a ton of bricks. This was no dream. Everything that I had thought was dream, was real. I was on the Gnatsrednu. My mom and dad had been kidnapped, and I was in the fourth dimension. The realization hit me so hard, I fell back on the bed. Z was by my side in an instant. “Easy, Darton.” she said, catching my head, so it wouldn’t smack the wall behind the bed. “You’ll be fine in a moment. It’ll take some time to get used to, but eventually you won’t even notice the side effects.” Side effects? I thought. I didn’t know what the hell she was taking about.
“What?” I asked her. Then, after I said that, I knew what she was talking about.
Suddenly I had a horrible headache. My head felt like it would split open, my vision started to blur, and I thought I would puke. I held the bile back though. I didn’t want to throw up in front of Z, that wouldn’t have been cool. The “side effects”, as Z put it, only lasted for a few seconds, then I was fine. Well, as fine as anyone who just had a dream come true, then a migraine, could be. I held my head in my hands, then Brenna pushed her head underneath my arms. I smiled, and scratched her pointy German Shepherd ears, and she wagged her tail. “How did you get on the Gnatsrednu?” I asked.
“Gil brought her to you. She’s a very loyal demon. She has not left your side since she got here.” Z said. Running a hand down Brenna’s back. “What kind of demon is she? I‘ve never seen one like her before.” Z looked almost terrified of Brenna. Brenna sensed this, and looked at Z with her big brown eyes, scooted around to face Z, and kicked her ear. Z looked shocked for a moment, then relaxed and smiled. Z had a beautiful smile. Her white teeth glistened as she laughed.
“That tickles!” she said, and laughed again.
“She’s a dog.” I told Z. I was a first perplexed as to why she did no know Brenna was a dog, but then, Z might not have any domestic animals on her planet.
“What is her name?”
“Brenna.”
“This is so different.” Z said.
“How is what different?” I asked.
“Where I am from, all of the other animals lived in the Ocean or they were birds. But the birds were too hostile, and the fish were very big. You would not want to cross one of them.”
“How big are they?”
“The smallest were about the size of this room.” Z said matter-of-factly. I looked, around the room. That would be a very, very, big fish. I thought.
I was silent for a moment, then I asked. “How did we get away?” Z looked up from Brenna, and looked at me as though I was from another planet, no pun intended. “I think you need to eat.” Z said, intentionally keeping her voice in a monotone. I could see she was deliberately avoiding my question. I wasn’t feeling up to arguing with a girl with a knife in her pocket, so I decided to not say anything, but I would find out how we got away.
Z was correct though, I was starving. I wondered how long I had been unconscious. I asked Z.
“Two days.” Two days! I thought. No wonder I was hungry. Being my father’s son didn’t help either.

“Is there any food here?” I asked. I realized that I might sound rude asking for food, but hadn’t eaten for two days, but I barely went four hours without food in Chicago. Z laughed.
“Your just like your father. He thinks with his stomach too.”
“Uh, thanks?” I said, unsure if I should take that as a compliment.
“Come on, lets get you some food. You should see Rassoet too.”
“The what?” I said. I had no idea what Rassoet was, but it sounded like a type of game.
Z gave a small smile and said “You’ll see.” Ugh. I thought. I was tired of “seeing.” Why couldn’t anybody do the “telling” part? “Oh, and take the translator with you.” Z added. I looked at her in confusion. An awkward moment passed between the too of us, then Z reached across me and picked up the little ear piece she had stuck in my ear before. I took it from her and asked,
“This is a translator?”
“Yes. It takes any language and translates it to your own. Do you not have anything like this on Earth?” Z asked. I shook my head.
“Only in movies.” I said.
“Movies?” Z said, questioningly.
“Yeah, movies. You know, moving pictures?” Z didn’t know what I was talking about, and another awkward moment passed. Suddenly it occurred to me that I was talking to an alien,--- I guess a more appropriate term would be “demon”--- a demon with no real concept of Earth. Granted, I had no idea of what her own society was like. Her life was just as foreign to me, as mine was to her, so really we were both speaking to intelligent life. I was sure Z had way more experience in that department that I did.
“Come,” Z said. “You need food.” Z stood up as I put the translator in my ear. Brenna looked between the two of us and whined.
“Can Brenna come with?” I asked. Z nodded her head and we walked out the door.
The corridor was packed. It reminded me of the hallways at me school which, during every passing period, where filled to the brim with students pushing and shoving, trying to get to their class. Because of this, I was afraid Brenna would get stomped on, and we would lose her in the crowd, so I kept her in the green room. “What’s going on?”
“Rassoet is starting! Demons are trying to get to the stadium!” Z shouted to me, grabbing my tunic and pulling me through the jumble of demons.
As I was pulled down the corridor, I saw that only one or two demons had on the same black tunic that Z and I had on. Seeing this, I realized two things: One, black represented DWADT agents, and two, The demons who lived on the Gnatsrednu only liked to wear four colors. I’m not kidding when I say that with the exception of DWADT agents, I only saw tunics that were blue, green, red or white. Plus, the only thing that was talked about were the Adeeda Stinias, the Etsys Vasae, the Derese, or the Qunat Qeast. I had no idea what any of these things were, but I was sure I’d find out.
Z and I finally got to the Stadium and I realized that it was the same place were I had been taken too from Earth, once we passed the statue of Dad. It was much different now, than when Gil took me too the Archives. I think every single demon that lived on the Gnatsrednu, was in the Stadium. Some how someone, with in two days, had set up risers that went to the ceiling and the risers contained seats that surrounded the in ground pool, and waterrise. The set up looked a lot like the United Center, which houses the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks, times ten.
Z and I entered on the ground floor, and I followed her up a set of crowded stairs and she lead me to a concession stand. At least I thought I was a concession stand. She told the young green haired boy who stood behind it that she would like two foeda balls. The boy nodded and he ducked under the stand. He then popped back up with two baseball sized, green and blue balls.
“Four denso,” the boy said. Z gawked.
“Four denso? Are you trying to rob demons, kid?” The boy flinched and shrank away from Z.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, but ECON just issued a new tax. I’m just doing my job.” Z paused, sighed, glared at the boy, then stuck her hand in her tunic pocket, and pulled out four silver coins with the letters ECON engraved within a circle within three triangles--- one was red, one was black, and one was gray--- on the front and back of the coins, like this:

(hey... sorry my computer is stupid when it comes to images... sorry!!!)

Z slapped the four coins onto the stand and the boy tentatively gave her the two balls. Z then walked away and I followed, confused as hell. Z led me into the stadium seating area, and sat down. I sat down next to her in the soft seats.
“Z, what was that about?” I asked.
“What was what about?” Z said back.
“You just accused a random kid of robbery over four denso!” I said hurriedly. Z opened her mouth as if she were going to start a shouting match with me, but then she stopped.
“I’m sorry. You do not understand.” I wanted to roll my eyes and say “Duh!” but that would have been mean, so I didn’t.
“Understand what?” I said.
“What denso are.” She said, pulling out a few of the coins. “Denso are the equivalent of one hundred American dollars.” Z said. I was startled. A hundred dollars was a lot for two little balls, let alone four hundred. “Normally, foeda balls are three pensa, which are like an American dime.”
“And ECON levied a tax that boosted the price to four denso?”
“Yeah,” Z said disbelievingly. “ECON’s not what you would call the smartest group of demons, but I didn’t think they were this stupid.
“What is ECON?” I asked.
“ECON stands for the Ethic Council of Nefeeda.”
“Nefeeda?” I asked, no knowing what that was.
“Nefeeda is the collective name for all of the dimensions. The three councilmen, who are ECON, make the laws that DWADT carries out. They also can tax and regulate everything and everyone who lives on any of the DWADT headquarters.”
“Are they corrupt?” I asked. Z smiled.
“I’ve been wondering the same thing ever since I got here.” She said, looking at me.
“When did you come here?” I asked. Z didn’t answer. Instead, she handed me the green foeda ball. Z looked at her own, and bit into it. I then realized that foeda balls were the food on the Gnatsrednu. I didn’t know if I should eat mine or not. I mean, it was alien food. Who knows what I could do to me. It could act like poison, or I could throw it up. Z noticed my hesitation.
“You can’t tell me you’re not hungry.” she said.
“Are you sure I can eat this?” I asked. Z grinned.
“Trust me, you’ll love it.” I looked from her to the green ball. Then I bit into it.
At first it was really crunchy. It didn’t taste bad though. Then suddenly, the taste changed and the foeda ball tasted just like… pizza. Not kidding you, it tasted exactly like Chicago pizza. (Which is the best pizza in the world. I don’t care what Uncle Ed says, he can keep his New York pizza. I’m sticking with Chicago.) I looked at Z surprised. She giggled and said, “Foeda balls react to your taste buds. It picks up on cravings very well.”
“I’ll say.” I said. Suddenly the all the lights in the Stadium shut off. I grabbed my seat, remembering how all the power was shut off when Defex hit the Gnatsrednu with that energy blast. I was silently relieved when three spotlights started swooping over the stadium. Somewhere in the darkness and silence that had come over the crowd, a bass drum was pounding out a simple rhythm, but it was enough to cause anticipation. We all heard the sound of a microphone being turned on and a booming voice filled the Stadium.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, The game you have been waiting for has finally arrived. These four teams have traveled a long way to get where they are today. Hard work, nice plays, and sabotage have gotten them this far, but how far will they go to win the Inter-Dimensional- Championship- Rassoet- MATCH!” With the last word, the lights flew on, and the crowd erupted. They were all stamping there feet, yelling, screaming, and becoming extremely ecstatic. Even Z was excited.
On the pool, four groups of five demons stood at separate corners. I then understood why the demons of the Gnatsrednu where only wearing four colors. One team’s uniform was a deep red coat with black leggings stuffed inside black boots. The others had the same style, but the loose coats were blue, a light green, and white--- respectively--- all with black leggings in black boots. They all had smooth, reflective, metal, miniature surfboards about two feet in length and a foot wide in the middle. They didn’t even seem to register the wild horde of demons around them, and stood erect. The announcer continued.
“Coming all the way from the sixth dimension, and having won three central divisions, please welcome Nock-Heem Onwong and his Adeeda Stinias!” The lights focused on the blue team. The one who I assumed was Nock-Heem Onwong--- and the team captain--- had one gold sleeve. The players looked like little green goblins. They were bald, and they looked like they could kick some serious butt. The got a descent round of applause, and a healthy yell from a bunch of rowdy goblins on the opposite side of the Stadium.
The lights swiveled to the blue team. “From the third dimension, please welcome Sellba Anrae and her Derese!” The Derese got a really loud round of applause. At least half the Stadium gave their praise to the team of green haired girls.
Then the green team was put in the spotlight. “From the fourth dimension, and the winners of ten regional championships, ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for Herret Burle and his Qunat Qeast!” The burley men who made up the Qunat Qeast all pumped there fists into the air, and I realized that all of there hands had eight fingers. Hmm, interesting. I thought. The Qunat Qeast received not as much approval as the Derese, but more than the Adeeda Stinias.
The lights then moved to the white team, where many demon’s started to clap and stomp their feet like mad. “And last, but most certainly not least, coming from the fifth dimension for the third time--- ladies- and- gentlemen--- I give you, Alene Lacitrev and her Etsys Vasae!” The crowd went berserk. Everyone--- and I mean everyone--- was on there feet stomping and screaming their heads off for the only co-ed team on the pool. The Etsys Vasae got the most applause by far. Even the demons who weren’t even wearing their colors were clapping for them.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Your Rassoet Judiciary for tonight, is Qela Valer, from the ninth dimension.” The announcer said, as a man with dark brown hair and a bright orange tunic walked onto the pool, carrying a gray hard ball that was incased in a see through material with strips of a touch leather sewn into random spots. The Judiciary walking out onto the pool had an immediate effect on the players. They all dropped the miniature surfboards, but the surfboards didn’t hit the water. They floated in the air (Later I learned they were called levitators.) and all twenty players got onto them.
Suddenly, the waterrise stopped flowing and as it dropped down to the water below, it revealed a vertical hoop about two meters wide, that stood at least fifty feet in the air. The crowd became more and more restless. “The Adeeda Stinias and the Etsys Vasae will be a double team and Qunat Qeast and the Derese will be the other doubled team until the fourth quarter. Ladies and Gentlemen,” The announcer said, and then all four teams rose up to the level of the hoop. “Let the Rassoet match… BEGIN!” Then the Judiciary threw the ball high up in the air, and the game was on.
The Stinias’ captain grabbed the ball first. Onwong then threw it to one of his own members, but then the rasser---- short for Rassoet holder, or the demon holding the ball, as I would learn later---- was cornered by a Qeast and two Derese. Onwong helped him out. He flew above the rasser and whistled to him. The rasser looked up, and before the Qeast could tackle him, he threw the ball up to Onwong, and he stomp kicked it through the hoop. The fans of the Stinias roared in delight. A bell sounded, Valer picked up the ball that had fallen through the hoop and blew his whistle, and then the hoop pulsed a blue light, then a white light, then a blue light again. I looked to the score board and saw the score to be, Stinias: 2, Qeast: 0, Derese: 0, Vasae: 1.
What? I thought. Why did the Vasae get a point? I was about to ask Z, but then Valer threw the ball up again, and blew his whistle. This time, the Derese got the ball. All of the Vasae and the Stinias lined up to block the rasser in two rows, then something very odd happened. A Qeast member flew to the rasser and the Derese threw the ball to him! Suddenly the Qeast and the Derese were juggling the ball, passing it back and forth to each other, weaving in between all the Vasae and Stinias. They were moving so fast that it was hard to see them.
The rasser then threw the ball back to the Derese and she grabbed the ball by the leather rags and started swinging it around her head, then she let go of it, and the ball sailed toward the hoop… and a Stinias stole it right out of the air. Half the crowd groaned, and half cheered. The Stinias flew around and tried to find a way to score, but he couldn’t, he was trapped by all of the Qeast members. Suddenly Alene Lacitrev flew to the Stinias, and he gave the ball to her! I didn’t get it. Why would you give the ball up to the other team?
It was easy to see why Alene was the captain of her team. Lacitrev was very, very good. She weaved and ducked around the opposing team like she had been born on a levitator. She made a hand signal to a boy on her team, and he flew around to one side of the hoop. Once the Derese and the Qeast realized that Lacitrev had the ball, they panicked. Many of them took a swipe at her, but she avoided them with ease. She made a hard left and ended up on the other side of the hoop opposite her teammate and she headed the ball through the hoop. Her teammate used his levitator to volley it back through the hoop, and as it was passing by Lacitrev, she grabbed it by the leather stripes, swung it around and back in through the hoop. Each time they scored a bell sounded, and the Vasae fans went absolutely crazy. Many stomped their feet and a chant of “Lacitrev! Lacitrev!” went around the Stadium.
The hoop pulsed out a white light then a blue light then a white light in that order, three times. The score now read Stinias: 5, Qeast: 0, Derese: 0, Vasae: 7. I turned to Z and asked, “How did the Stinias get points? They didn’t score, Vasae did.” Z continued to watch the game as she answered my question.
“They got a point because they are double teamed with the Vasae.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that for the first three quarters the Vasae and the Stinias are playing together.”
“And the Derese and the Qeast are a double team?”
“Yep.”
“So, why did they get the points?”
“The Stinias got points because they are in a double team with the Vasae. When you are in a double team, if you score, you get two points. If the other team who is playing with you scores, then you get one point for just being on a double team with them, and you can only score three times per play.
By this time----which was 8 minutes---- the score was Stinias: 7, Qeast 3, Derese: 3, Vasae: 8. I wasn’t sure if I like the idea of double teaming. Granted, there were perks. Anytime a double team scores, both teams get a point, but they are also helping their opponent. I didn’t like the idea of working with a rival.
The Vasae scored again, and the hoop pulsed white, blue then white. After Valer blew his whistle, and threw the ball back into play, Lacitrev scooped up the ball, and Nock-Heem Onwong trailed her for a few seconds. Lacitrev knew Onwong was following her, and she didn’t seem to like it. I didn’t know why, she was in a double team with him. I found out why in the seconds that followed. Onwong suddenly dropped down below Lacitrev and she lost sight of Onwong, but the crowd didn’t. Apparently, everyone knew what was going to happen, except me, and I was the only one in the Stadium who wasn’t telling Lacitrev to move out of the way. I had no clue what was going on until Onwong rose quickly, and kicked Lacitrev’s levitator out from under her, and he stole the ball at the same time. The crowd gasped as they watched her fall, but luckily, one of her teammates, a red haired woman with red eyes, grabbed Lacitrev’s hand before she hit the pool. The stadium breathed out a sigh of relief and no one even noticed that Onwong had scored. The Judiciary’s whistle blew, and he came over to Alene as her teammate gently lowered her to the pool by her levitator. The score then changed, to Stinias: 8, Qeast: 3, Derese: 3, Vasae: 8.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“Onwong just split up his double team. To do that, you have to deliberately take the ball from the team you want to split from. It’s called sabotage.”
“Hmm.” I said, “Good name.
Lacitrev got back on her levitator, and flew up to her teammates. The Stadium clapped for her, happy she wasn’t hurt. The Judiciary, on the other hand, was more interested in getting Onwong’s attention. Valer blew his whistle, and motioned for Onwong to come to him. Onwong slowly flew down to Valer, and then Valer took something out of his pocket, and held it up in the air. It was a blue card. I assumed a blue card in Rassoet was like a red card in soccer, because the moment Valer showed Onwong the card, he got off his levitator, picked it up, and walked off the pool. “Onwong should not have been allowed to have been in the tournament in the first place.” Z said.
“Why not?”
“He has been fouled for violent misconduct at least twenty times during sabotage in the past year. He’s lucky no one has died.” Yesh, nice guy.
“Z!” two voices called out behind me. I turned around, and I saw two girls about the age of 13, one wearing a green tunic, and another wearing a white tunic, with scales for their skin. (I later found out that Fajiobae--- pronounced Fay-o-bee--- and
Mejhawae--- pronounced May-heave--- were the younger sisters of Gil.) Z hugged both of them. “Mejhawae, Fajiobae. Hello.” Z said smiling.
“Hello, Z. Hello, Theodore James Darton.” I was startled.
“How do you two know my name?” I asked. The girls smiled.
“We know a lot of things.” They said at the same time. I looked to at Z. She mouthed “Psychics.”
“Oh. I said. I didn’t get it.
“Erene sent for us to get you and Darton.” Mejhawae said.
“For what?” Z asked.
“The interrogations.” The girls said together.
“Interrogations? Of who?” I asked.
“You will see.” Fajiobae said, quietly. Then, the two girls walked away, saying “They are in room 3.” There was something odd about Mejhawae and Fajiobae. I thought. Though, I couldn’t place what it was.
“Come, let’s go.” Z said to me, and walked after the girls. I, more hesitantly, followed.



Thanks for reading!!!! Please, comment on this, I could use the feed back. I'm not done writing, so look for Dimension Wars: Defex's Promise: Part 4!!!!!!!!!