NEW AWAKENINGS

 Imagine if space was a red void, and purple smoke floated all around like clouds. Cold wind breezes by, as its presence is unexplainable.

 These were Jace's first impressions as he opened his eyes. The next things he noticed were that he was weightless, and transparent.

 "Hold on! Where am I? Where is everyone else? Hold on two times. Why aren't my lips moving? Now that I think about it, this is not my voice. It's more like actually thinking out loud." Jace says to himself, while analyzing the situation he finds himself in. 

 He looks down to see his body floating in the red void. He tries to move, struggles enough to the point that he could tell his veins should be popping out, but is not able to move.

 "Come on, space place. Let me move. I gotta go fight with my squad. Ughh.. Ok, you win. Psyche! I got to go back." Jace yells out as he struggles to gain control of his body. He grunts as he attempts to move his arms again, but makes no progress towards his freedom.

 "YOU WANT POWER?" An unidentified voice asks Jace. He didn't know what direction the voice came. It was echoing throughout the whole dimension. 

 "I got to get back and help my friends. Can you help?" Jace shouted out to the voice. He doesn't know where it is at or what it is, but none of that matters. Not if it can help him get back.

 "HOW IS A MERE BOY WITH NO MASTERY OVER A WEAPON OR SORCERY PLAN TO DEFEAT THAT SHADOWLING?'

 "Shadowling? Is that the Cloak monster we have been fighting?" 

 "AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT SLOW BOY. INDEED THAT IS A SHADOWLING. ONE OF THE MANY SERVANTS OF THE D.U. LEAD."

 "What is a Doo-doo lead? Sounds unsanitary." 

 "IT IS THE DIVERSE UNIFICATION PROGRAM. THEY TURN HUMANS INTO CREATURES LIKE THAT CLOAKED SHADOWLING. IT HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE THE FIRST PORTAL OPENED, BUT MOST OF YOU HUMANS DON'T KNOW ABOUT THEM SINCE THEY OPERATE IN THE SHADOWS." 

 Jace listened as the ominous voice explained the organization to him. As this crazy scary voice tells him about these uncanny experiments, Jace is filled with emotions he couldn't comprehend.

 "So you're telling me there is some kind of shadow organization that kidnaps people and turn them into monsters? How?" Jace was genuinely curious about what the voice had to say.

 "I DON'T KNOW THE SCIENCE OR NATURE OF THEIR EXPERIMENTS. I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY ACHIEVE THIS. I CAN ONLY SEE ENERGY COLORS WHEN LOOKING INTO YOUR WORLD FROM LIMBO." 

 The voice explaining everything to Jace sounded sincerely disappointed and disgusted by its lack of information. 

 "Great, this is just perfect. How do you fight a shadow organization no one knows about? We can't even beat one of their goons." Jace's voice was breaking, and it was filled with fear and anxiety. 

 "DOES THIS NEW KNOWLEDGE SCARE YOU? DOES IT PREPARE YOU TO ACCEPT DEATH AND LEAVE YOUR FRIENDS BEHIND?" The voice's questions resonated with Jace. Looking as if he was ready to throw in the towel. Then a memory flooded into Jace's mind.

FLASHBACK!!

 Five years ago before the present day; Jace and his mother, Victoria, were setting up the decorations.The small apartment they lived in was decorated festively with colorful polkadot table sheets, red and blue balloons floating around everywhere, and upbeat music pumping in the background. The party setup was for Jace's birthday, and the return of his father.

 Jace had little memories of spending time with his father. Whenever he would approach his mom about the topic, she would assure him it's because he's always busy protecting their homes from threats. His dad fought monsters, greedy humans, and wars; that kind of occupation made it dangerous for Jace to see his papa.

 However, today was a special day. Not only was it Jace's birthday, but it was also his pop's twenty fourth birthday. The age twenty four is big news for Jace's family, but he didn't have a chance to find out why. 

 KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Someone was at the door. Jace grinned as his mom went to open the door, and it was his best friend Oliver and his older sister Olivia. Standing behind the two were their parents. 

 Jace, Oliver, and Olivia ran off to play as the parents stood around talking. They made a competition out of bouncing balloons through the air, played fight with wooden swords, and ate chocolate cake with strawberry frosting because it was Jace's favorite. A little while after the party started, 

 "Hey, where is Brandon? Isn't he supposed to be here?" Steven, Oliver and Olivia's father, asked out of boredom from sitting around and only talking with ladies.

 "I don't know, he should be arriving anytime now." Roberta answers with uncertainty in her voice. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK! Another knock on the door, and Jace looks up with excitement. 

 "Is that him? Is that my dad?" Jace asks with anticipation. 

 "Either him or the ghost clown I ordered." Roberta answers jokingly with Jace. 

 "Aww mom, I told you I didn't want a ghost clown. They're creepy." Jace cries and complains as his mom opens the door.

 "Hey, who are you calling creepy, son?" A man asks as he rushes in and picks up Jace. Before he knew it, Jace was being held with ease in the hands of his dad. A giant smile grew on Jace's face ear to ear as he took in the sight of his father.

 "Daddy, is it really you?" Jace asks while he hugs his dad by the throat.

 "Yeah, it is. Let's party like it's the end of the world." Brandon says while pulling the tight clutched Jace off his neck. A smile also decorated across his face.

 With Brandon finally home, the party rages on. There was a pinata shaped like a fireball with a wicked smile; and none of the kids were able to break it, so Oliver's mom did.

 A copy of the latest game console and fighting game was given to Jace for his birthday. Olivia was declared the champion of his tournament by the end of the night. 

 Brandon brought fireworks to end the party. After the video game tournament, everyone went outside to watch the show. 

 BANG! BANG! PSSSEEEWWHH! BANG! BANG! There was a wide variety of colors. Red, green, and blue just to name a few. It was Jace's fondest memory of his childhood.

 The flashback ends. Jace is currently floating in the void. His memories played out in front of him like a movie as he thought back on them. As the fireworks faded, tears began to stream down his face. 

 "If I'm in the afterlife, then how can I cry?" Jace asks the voice confused. He couldn't see his face, but he could clearly feel his tears. 

 "YOU ARE NOT DEAD BOY. THIS IS LIMBO, THE REALM BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. THE SPIRIT LINGERS HERE TO FIGURE OUT IF IT CAN AND WANTS TO CONTINUE LIVING OR MOVE ON.YOU'RE SPIRIT REPRESENTS YOU IN THIS REALM LIKE YOUR BODY IN THE PHYSICAL DOES. IF YOU FEEL LIKE CRYING YOU WILL CRY, CRYBABY IN OTHER WORDS, IT'S WHERE YOU GO WHEN YOU'RE HAVING A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE." The voice explains to Jace. Jace began to look as if he was putting puzzle pieces together.

 "That's why my memory was being projected right in front of my eyes. Did you see it as well? My memories."

 "YES, I WITNESSED THEM AS WELL. DOES THIS SCARE YOU? DOES IT ADD TO YOUR DECISION?" The voice asks out of genuine curiosity.

 "That whole memory projection thing is freaky, but not scary. It actually helped remind me why I got into this. What I lost and why I fight." Jace explains to the voice. 

 "Where are your parents now?" The voice asks, and a projection instantly appears in front of Jace. 

FLASHBACK!!! AGAIN!!!

 "So you think it's over?" Steve asks Brandon before leaving for the night. They were standing next to the front door while Oliver and Olivia were getting ready. Jace was standing next to his dad, seeing his friends off.

 "I hope so." Brandon said while looking down at kid Jace and rubbing his head. Brandon and Steve weren't clear on what they were talking about, but their voices were soft and somber. As if they were expecting something to happen.

 "Maybe you did end it. Not going to that cursed school was the right choice." Steve told him while sounding optimistic. Brandon's face expressed he wasn't buying it.

 "I hope so. I avoided going there in hopes of breaking the cycle. All seems good, but I can't help feeling a bit uneasy. The night is still young." Brandon tells him.

 "Stop, you'll be okay. We got to go, talk to you later B." Steve says while heading out the door with his wife and kids and following. 

 "Right, talk to you later." Jace noticed the look of dread on his father's face. Concerned by his pop's face of worry,

 "What's wrong daddy?" Jace asks him with a face of concern. 

 "It's nothing son. Just something that happened at work that I hope to avoid. Don't worry, and stop calling me daddy. Pops will do." Brandon told him while rubbing his hair. Jace continued his look of concern for a bit longer before running off to play his game. Brandon started to join his family, when they all heard a sudden knock on the door.

 Knock, Knock, Knock! They were loud and strong enough to be considered disrespectful. BANG, BANG, BANG! They start to grow louder and more violent, making the door shake on each knock. 

 "Who on earth could be banging on my door like they lost their damn mind!" Victoria asks Brandon out of frustration. Jace stares at the door, scared by the aggressive nature. 

 "I don't know, but I'll go see." Brandon tells her. He walks back to the door, puts his hand on the knob, and BOOM! The door exploded, sending Brandon into the wall behind him.

 "DADDY" Jace yells after his father.

 "Go to your room Jace!" Victoria yells to him while running towards her husband. A muscular man holding a giant black axe walks into their apartment. Victoria ran towards the behemoth of a man with both of her arms completely aflame.

 HWCHING! She jumps and punches the man's giant axe as he was trying to execute Brandon. Sending the axe out of his hand and into a wall. WICKI! WICKI! WOP! WOP! Victoria and the mystery giant were trading blow for blow. WACK! The behemoth back-handed Jace's mom, sending her crashing into the floor. 

 "LEAVE MY MOMMY AND DADDY ALONE!" Jace yells as his tiny body runs in a fit towards the giant menace. The behemoth looks down at Jace, and effortlessly kicks him to the other side of their apartment.

 Jace stared at the man, but his face was surrounded by shadows. However, his eyes gleamed past the shadows, and intensely into Jace's soul. His body felt helpless and unable to move as he watched the monster walk back to its axe, pull it out the wall with ease, and make his way to a paralyzed Victoria.

 "Not so fast!" Brandan yells to the mysterious threat. The behemoth stopped in its tracks, and faced Brandon. He was struggling to catch his breath, but Jace's dad was back on his feet. Behemoth walked towards him, with an open palm, and smacked his dad in the chest so hard he went flying back into the spot the axe was stuck in. 

 Jace lost hope once he saw Behemoth's hand was as big as his dad's whole chest, and could easily overpower him as well. It raised its giant axe, and beheaded Brandon right in front of everyone.

 "DADDY NO!!" Jace yells after the gruesome end his father met. Behemoth wasn't done yet. He walked over to Victoria, raised his giant bloody axe,

 "STOP! NO!" Jace yells with all his might, trying to suede the beast.

 "We will always love you." Victoria says to Jace right before her throat was chopped like lumber. Jace could only look on in horror as he watched his mother's head drop onto the floor and roll under the Behemoth's.

 "Sorry you had to see that kid, but I'll be visiting you again when the time's right." The Behemoth tells the young Jace. The tall muscle mountain of a beast turned around to leave the apartment, as if killing Jace's parents was just business.

 "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME? YOU'LL BE FINDING YOUR GRAVE WHEN YOU THINK THE TIME'S RIGHT!" Jace yells at him while he is walking out the door. Behemoth stood there for a few quiet seconds,

 "I hope so." Behemoth says while continuing his exit from the apartment. In an instant, Jace went from a family reunion to a couple's execution. Leaving him alone, standing in his parents graveyard. Ending the FLASHBACK!

 "WHAT!?! AN EXECUTIONER? YOUR PARENTS WERE SLAUGHTERED BY AN EXECUTIONER! THAT'S A TOUGH BREAK." The voice was horrified and shocked by Jace's memories. 

 "That's right, that's why I got to get stronger. I have to beat that guy and avenge my parents." Jace says as he looks at nothing specifically. Just staring into empty space, processing his emotions.

 "HOW DO YOU PLAN TO BEAT HIM? WITH YOUR FIST? YOU COULDN'T EVEN TAKE ON THE SHADOWLING. BESIDES, EVEN IF YOU DID MANAGE TO KILL AN EXECUTIONER, ANOTHER ONE WOULD COME BACK IN ITS PLACE." The voice lectures Jace.

 "What is an executioner?" 

 "THEY ARE BRUTE ASSASSINS THAT WORK UNDER A DEMON LORD. TO HAVE ONE AFTER YOU AND YOUR FAMILY MEANS THAT A DEMON LORD HAS CONTROL OF YOUR FAMILY'S LINEAGE. IT DOESN'T JUST WANT YOU, BUT YOUR LOVED ONES AND OFFSPRING AS WELL. SOMEONE IN YOUR FAMILY MADE A DEAL WITH A DEVIL, AND PUT THIS REST OF YOU ON THE LINE AS COLLATERAL." The voice explains to the oblivious Jace. 

 "How do you know all this? Who even are you?" Jace was skeptical of the voice's explanation. He probably didn't expect so many answers at once.

 "I'VE BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME BOY. SEEN A LOT OF THINGS, MET A LOT OF PEOPLE. AS FOR WHO I AM, MY NAME IS UNDA. UNDA THE SHEN DRAGON!" Unda introduces himself with a bunch of enthusiasm in his voice.

 "A shen dragon? Never heard of it. I heard of dragons, are you the knee of a dragon?" Jace asks Unda with all seriousness.

 "YOU'RE ANOTHER KIND OF SPECIAL. NO, I WAS ONCE A LIVING DRAGON. THEN I DIED AND MY SPIRIT CONTINUES ON AS A SHEN DRAGON. I CAN TRAVEL BETWEEN LIFE, DEATH, AND LIMBO." Unda sounded prideful about his abilities, almost as if he was boasting. 

 "So you can take me back to the real world to help save my friends?" Jace asks with excitement jumping in his voice. 

 "YES, UNDER ONE CONDITION."

 "Huh?"

 "YOU DIDN'T THINK IT WOULD BE FREE DID YOU?"

 "Kinda, what's the catch?"

 "BECOME MY VESSEL. FIGHT FOR ME AND NOT ONLY WILL I RESURRECT YOU, BUT GRANT YOU UNIMAGINABLE POWERS AS WELL." Unda offers Jace a way to fight again, and allegedly stronger than before. An opportunity of a lifetime for Jace.

 "No thanks for the powers, just revive me please." Jace turned down Udna without a second thought. 

 "KID, YOU'RE NOT THINKING THIS THROUGH. WHAT WILL STOP YOU FROM ACTUALLY DYING IF I SEND YOU BACK? YOU DIDN'T DO NOTHING ON YOUR FIRST TRY, WHY WOULD IT BE DIFFERENT ON THE NEXT TRY?" Udna was angry from the quick denial. As he listened, Jace knew the ghost dragon had a point.

 "You're not wrong, but I got to do this with my own two fists. I was never good with a weapon, just with my punches. So why mess it up now?" Jace explains to Udna, but he doesn't sound very prideful. As if he wanted things to change, but couldn't find the faith to take a risk.

 "WHAT IF I TOLD YOU THINGS COULD CHANGE? YOU COULD GAIN THE POWER TO SAVE YOUR FRIENDS? ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BECOME MY VESSEL." Udna asks the stubborn Jace. 

 "Forget it, I already said no." Jace yells out.

 "WHY NOT?" Udna cries out of frustration. 

 "For all I know, you could be a devil. I'm not making a deal with the devil." Jace explains to him.

 "LOOK DOWN." Udna tells Jace with a suddenly serious tone. Confused at first, but Jace did look down.

 "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!?" Jace screams out of fear. When he looked down, there was a river of water as dark as an abyss. It was so black the river looked like tar, but that wasn't all to stand out. Red blades would pop out towards Jace, but fall back down as if they were restrained from reaching him. 

 "THAT IS REAPERS BEING PREVENTED FROM REACHING YOU. IF YOU WANT TO MEET THE DEVIL, SWIM DOWN THERE." Udna tells the terrified Jace. 

 "What's stopping them from reaching me?" Jace asks the seeming-to-know-all voice.

 "I DON'T KNOW, SEEMS LIKE A CURSE. MAYBE IT'S LINKED TO THE EXECUTIONER YOU NEED TO KILL. THE EXECUTIONER YOU CAN KILL WITH MY HELP." Udna presses the topic to Jace again.

 "Stop it, I can't." Jace was battling his emotions and wanting to jump on Udna's deal.

 "SHOULD I SHOW YOU HOW YOUR FRIENDS ARE HOLDING UP?" Udna asks Jace, knowing he would grab Jace's favor. 

 "Yeah, you can do that?" Jace asks, utterly shocked.

 "OFCOURSE, LIMBO CAN SHOW YOU THE PAST AND PRESENT." Udna assures Jace. A picture began to play in front of Jace like a theater screen. It shows Reyna, Oliver,Trell, and Amanda all locked in battle with Cloak. 

 "Amanda, can thou assault with light?" Oliver yells to Amanda as Reyna charges at the Cloak.

 "I don't have enough energy to go on the offense." Amanda tells him.

 "Don't worry girly, you'll see the light soon." Cloak yells as it swats at Reyna like a fly. POOF! A cloud of smoke appears right after Cloak was supposed to hit Reyna. Ignoring her substitution, Cloak grabs Amanda by the neck.

 "AMANDA!" Oliver yells as he rushes towards them.

 "You're not killing anyone else!" Trell yells while also charging towards them.

 "Stay out of this punks, I'll deal with you lot next. DARK BARRIER!" A wall of shadows began to grow from the ground and big enough to surround Cloak and Amanda while cutting off the rest. WOOSH! So the Cloak thought, for Reyna had appeared above the Cloak right before the dome finished. Ready to strike it down with her club. 

 "AMANDA! I GOT TO GO HELP HER!" Jace yells back in limbo to Udna. 

 "YOU CHANGED YOUR MIND ABOUT JOINING ME?" Udna asks Jace. 

 "Yes, let's do it now!" Jace says.

 "VERY WELL! YOU MIGHT WANT TO CALM DOWN. GOING OUT THERE WITH THAT MINDSET WHILE DOING THIS FOR THE FIRST TIME CAN BE DANGEROUS!" Udna warns Jace.

 "Let's go!" Jace yells out impatiently.

 "DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!" Udna mutters. Instantly Jace's spirit began to glow, and suddenly vanished out of limbo. Meanwhile, back inside of the barrier of darkness.