Painted Over (Not related to Sonic)

Chapter 1

Uncertainty.

The uncertainty of knowing where you are. That may be the biggest obstacle that we have to overcome now. What is this place? How did we get here? Why are we here now? It's hard for either of us to fill in the blanks, but for whatever reason, we are here, and as long as we are here, we have to figure out how to survive here. I don't seem to recongize this place at all. Not one thing here looks familiar to me, and that bothers me a great deal. It's hard to make out what this place is. It's hard to say why this place exists. I don't know. She doesn't know. We're clueless, and now we need some answers.

Perhaps I forgot to introduce myself. My apologies. I am Omeshan. I'm pretty certain that I did have a last name, but now my mind helplessly wanders off into the endless abyss of uncertainty. Should I be certain? Did I ever have a last name to begin with? I want to believe that I did, but something tells me that I only have one name. I remember only one name, so yeah, I am Omeshan. I am not an evil-minded fellow, mind you, and hopefully, you are not bothered by my ramblings. I remember that I was only a good person, and that I acted like such a good-mannered hero. There's something that you always search through, and I guess that something is your heart. Here's a question; just how deep do you search through your heart?

Perhaps you are wondering who is this "she" that I'm talking about. My apologies again. This person who I've only gotten to know recently goes by the name of Vivian. She, too, can't seem to remember her last name. All that she knows is that she has a last name as well. She seems like she's a good person as well, just like me, but I'm not sure if I can trust her. Thoughts quickly race through my mind as to why she is here as well. Did she have anything to do with me being here? Did she send me to this seemingly forbidden place? Did she know about this place? Did she use me in any way to get something that she wants? Does she even care about me? I wonder. I hope that she's just like me. I hope that she's as clueless as me.

So I take another look at this new friend of mine, and I then realize that she didn't do anything to me at all. I can tell by the look in her eyes that she felt pretty concerned about me. She had nothing to do with me being sent here. Now more thoughts come to me. Why is Vivian here? What brought her here? Who brought her here? Was there something more to her that I probably didn't know? Did she hold any keys to this mysterious new world? How long has she been here? Has she been here longer than I have? Has she been here shorter than I have? Did I know her from another world? Are we related in any way? Were we just friends? Was there anything special that kept us together?

What about this place? Does this place keep track of time? Does this place follow a calendar? Is there anybody else here besides us two? Does any creature inhabit this place? How old is this place anyway? I'm sure that this isn't the world that I know. How could it be? Where did all the color go? All I can see is black and white! No other colors to speak of! What is going on in this pathetic excuse of a world? Is there any activity going on in here? This place just doesn't look normal. It certainly doesn't feel normal. I haven't heard any sounds, so I can't tell if it sounds normal. There's nothing to smell here. Can you touch any of these seemingly lifeless projectiles in this place? I'm starting to get worried.

Would it be okay if we just got up from this uncomfortable surface and just explore? These surroundings seem to be unique in their own way, but I was sure not to let any of these sights deceive me. You know what they say about looks... they can be deceiving. I started the search in this mysterious world. I came across something that looked like a cube. Knowing full well not to fear something like a little cube, I picked it up with ease, and it didn't spring up and attack me. It was just a cube. To me, at least, it felt like a lifeless cube. No color. No expressions. No personality. Nothing. It just sat there in the palm of my hand. It was a white cube, and instantly it began to lose its luster. What was the point in staying interested in it?

Vivian took notice of me here. She was becoming alarmed of what I was doing. I didn't understand. How could she feel worried for something I was doing? It was just a cube that I was holding. This was much ado about nothing, or so it seemed. I took a glance back at my friend and saw that she did have color to her. Likewise, when I looked at my own hands, I had color as well. For once, there was a glimmer of hope. Just to find out that we had color for own sakes was an uplifting message. Perhaps I had figured something out here. Soince we had color, we had meaning. We were living, breathing beings who had purpose. We had reason to live, but why should we have to live in a place where everything else doesn't want to live at all?

Then finally, I heard words come from my only friend.

"This world doesn't welcome us, does it?" she asked me quietly as she came up to me and touched my shoulder from behind.

"Do you have any clue as to what's going on?" I finally asked a question that was on my mind. Even then, I felt as if that a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders because not only was I able to even speak, but I felt confident enough to have a conversation with somebody. Vivian sighed with a look of uncertainty on her face. Once again, uncertainty lurked. It followed us like some kind of intimidating plague, trying so desperately to bring us down right then and there. She turned her face away from me, but then she quickly turned back and tried to smile. I realized that she was beginning to trust me. Her very look was pleaisng. Casual jeans, casual shirt, a pair of black sneakers with pink stripes going across those sneakers.

I was wearing a pair of black sneakers with blue stripes going across them. I had casual jeans and a casual shirt. I looked at the cube once more and decided to just chuck it away. It had no meaning to me at the time. I felt as if after a few minutes that it was staring at me, and I didn't like that. I turned my attention to Vivian, who was acting even more worried than me, and that surprised me. She understood just how I felt, and I knew what she was thinking. How did this happen? Does this place even have a name? By the looks of it, I had a feeling that this place had no name to go by, but I wasn't worried about what to call this world. All that concerned me was how were we going to fare in this world? Then, a dreadful a question was brought up by me.

"Vivian, does evil lurk in this place?" I asked in a hesitant manner.

"I sure hope not, Omeshan," she replied.

"Oh, so you know my name?"

"For whatever reason, I just know your name."

"Do you trust me?"

"You're the only other person here. I have to trust you."

To be continued...

Chapter 2

Darkness.

I thrive in it. That may sound strange, but it's quite normal for me. You see, I have been surrounded by nothing for so long now. No one to hear my cries whenever I was in pain. Nobody came to me when I was in trouble. I was left behind to seemingly waste away in this forgotten world. Peaceful, and yet so mysterious can this place be sometimes. For me, I have gotten use to it. I've had to scratch and claw my way to become the person that I am today. It's funny how we don't keep track of time here. I've never felt more alright knowing that we don't follow time here. I surely don't care. Without time, your mistakes aren't really remembered. No one will be able to tell you when you did something wrong in this cozy place.

For those who seek the light, I don't envy them. Who are they? What are they about? Nothing. They are nothing to me. They didn't care about me, so I might as well not care about them. This place has no name, so I keep reminding myself I'm just running in this never ending loop. I'm in the abyss, and I'm having fun. I have friends of my own, and they obey me. Although they are made of clay, they are the only friends I have. They patrol this place for me. They make sure that everything will be alright. This is my own world that I'm trying to build. I've learned long ago that in order to fulfill your own dreams, you have to isolate yourself from every possible distraction. Not an easy task, but certainly worth the risk.

Risk is such a cunning word. I remember everybody else taking risks around me. Some of them succeeded. Some of them failed. I would never know because I was never used to taking risks myself for a long time. I was never one to tak too big a risk at least. I used to be happy. I used to be energetic. I used to be full of life. I used to be this shining example. I used to be this glimmer of hope for people who were in more helplesss situations than mine. Alas, those days are over. I couldn't be so helpful now. Why should I be helpful when there's no one else in this seemingly forsaken world? There's no happy endings to speak of here. There are so many sad beginnings here. Why do I even bother to write this down when nobody will read it?

Maybe I just hold onto the hope that someone will show up in this world. Someone other than me will be a confused human searching for answers, searching for the truth, and searching for a way out of this madness. I once tried to get away from this place, but it kept bringing me back in. What kind of influence does this world have on me? Why do I feel like I should enjoy being here? To be away from all the distractions and the stress of normal life, this couldn't have happened to me at a better time. In one way or another. I used to be normal. I won't deny where I came from, but it's best for me to be a part of this world, to believe in the idea that I belong here. Don't feel sad for me at all. I'm just fine. I'm absolutely fine.

They say that colors are vibrant, but I don't see the point in having any colors here. Colors are distractions. They are illusions. They laugh at you when they get your attention. What am I trying to say about colors? Colors don't do a thing for me. I want to view my own world through just two colors. White and black. White and black define a whole lot of one's personality. It defines so much more than what you could possibly know. There's a light side to things, and then there's a dark side to things. The light does not bother me as much as the colors that may try to spring forth and try to humilate me. Color defeats the purpose of this world. A simple sheet of paper starts out as just being a big white blank. That's the foundation.

In case you didn't know who I happen to be, I am just your lonely person struggling to get out of his shell. The only name that I've come to know would be Brodi. My name is Brodi, but I do not like to be called that. I try my best to establish a completely new identity to stay away from all the dangers that lurk. I don't have all the answers here, even though I have been here for such a long time. I act as if I know everything about this place, but to be honest, I haven't explored every part of this world. This world is filled with ruins. It's in disrepair, and that does sadden me. What's it to me that I hold a simple white cube in my hand? Why does something as seemingly lifeless as that appeal to the likes of me?

Lifeless things can't harm me, so therefore I feel at home. I am not threatened by anything here. There's been so many times when I feel like it could be it for me, that I will fall prey to the likes of my surroundings, but no, I live. I've made it this far, so why should I worry? Why be fearful when you can enjoy yourself and create all the fun that you could ever have? Does it ever get boring for me knowing that I'm the only one here? I have The Clay to help me, and they already have helped me in my road to recovery by giving me this mask that has been made out of clay. I was definitely intrigued by the appeal of this thing. Why would a mask of clay be here? I wouldn't know, but I had no reason to panic. I put the mask on.

What happened next? A flow of adrenaline rushed through my body so quick. I've never felt more alive than at that specific moment. That mask created my new identity. I nevere regret putting that mask on. That mask had the look of outstanding artistical display that only one's eyes could ever see. It suddenly defined me. It did wonders for me. How could I turn down such an offer? I grew to love that mask, and so much so that I decided not to take it off. Don't be scared. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to inform you. I'm trying to get you to think of what's really out there. Putting a simple mask on may not feel so dramatic to you, but then again, you're not in my shoes. You don't know what it's like to be me.

What new name could I possibly think of now? Brodi wouldn't do anything but make people laugh when they see me. Brodi in a mask didn't fit, and I knew it. I had to come up with a catchy name. It had to be something taht could appeal to my make-believe community. I was so wrapped up in this fantasy that I was an unquestioned authority figure, and I wore that kind of pride like a sleeve. I was now royalty, even though it was only in my own mind. I had fun being this ruler. I had no thoughts of hurting anyone. Pain couldn't be felt here, and pain shouldn't be given to anybody here. Who was I now?

I became The Masked Guardian. I oversee this place with fascination and I speak with a dry and uninspiring tone of voice, but don't let that upset you. I just do what I do, and I enjoy every minute of it, thinking about teh bright lights above me... and dwelling in the darkness to hide.

To be continued...

Chapter 3

Taken back by the interesting response of my new friend, I had no other choice but to ask for more information.

"What do you mean I'm the only other person here?" I asked with a bewildered look on my face.

"Omeshan, just take a look around. There's nobody else here."

"What's your name again?"

"I already told you. My name is Vivian..."

She couldn't finish the sentence, and I knew right away why. She, too, had no idea what her last name was, just like I couldn't give out my last name. I looked at her and then looked far back into the background. There was no sign of other life from any direction. It dumbfounded me just how bizarre this situation got. It was here that I suddenly remembered just where we came from. I knew that we weren't from here. This was not the place where people could come to live. We'd be crazy to think that, so we didn't even bother to. I went over and picked up the same cube that I had chucked away. I gave it a deeper inspection. Vivian gave me a very puzzled look. She had no idea what I was trying to do.

"Could you tell me why you picked that cube up again?" Vivian asked me politely.

"I have a funny feeling about this thing. There's something just not right about this place."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you just now! Do you have a short attention span, Omeshan?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I don't know why. I just remember your name for some reason."

"Let's not worry about that right now. We need to worry about why we are in this pathetic place."

"Why isn't there any color here? What do you think, Omeshan?"

"Vivian, I hardly know this place. I just woke up and I have to look around for a bit."

"And to think that I have to trust you!"

"Please simmer down. You know that won't get you anywhere!" That was my best response, sad to say.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean." I shrugged afterwards, but this seemed to irritate Vivain all the more. She then began to look a bit angry in expression. She looked straight into my eyes and shook her head in disgust.

"Why do you want to make me upset? I just want answers! I'm just like you, Omeshan!"

"We need to stay calm, and you're doing a poor job of that."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a certain glow from the background caught our attention. The glow actually gave off a color to us, and immediately, we were pleased to see this color. It was the first color other than black and white that we saw that originated from this wasteland. I remember this color quite well, and I probably should because this color relates to me much more than it does to Vivian. The color was blue. The glow was was flashing all tints of blue, from sky blue to midnight blue. Both of us raced over to the spot where it was glowing, and surely, out of all the surprises that we had run into, this was the first real pleasant surprise. Again, I couldn't tell what time it was because there was no clock here, but I didn't care, and Vivian appeared not to care either.

"What do you think is down there, Omeshan?" Vivian asked me with a slightly interested tone of voice. She waited patiently for my response, whether good or bad.

"I don't know, Vivian. I see something down there, but it's hard to tell what it is. Let's check it out."

"Wait! Do you really think that's a good idea?"

"At least you can say you're showing your personality now!" I said as I began my walk down to the glowing spot. Vivain looked apalled to no surprise of mine with that response I gave. Apparently she had felt as if she had to follow me in order to be safe, but it didn't matter to me whether she followed me or not.

So we went down to the glowing spot, and rest assured, there was something down there, but to our liking. It was something that could benefit us. There were two of these devices. We suddenly remembered what these things were all along. These were laser guns. These were guns that came out of the looney science-fiction stories that were told to people on our homeland. These laser guns were not normal laser guns, we would soon discover. Oh no, these were far different laser guns. It wasn't long until I picked one of them up and examined it for myself. I noticed that it carried the blue tinted glow that surrounded it on the surface. I thought to myself, "What does the color blue have to do with this laser gun?"

I tunred to Vivian and clamly asked her to step away.

"Vivian, could you please step away from the laser gun? I'm going to fire it."

"Why do that?"

"I'm going to test it and see what happens."

"Just don't hurt yourself, Omeshan."

I fired it and the laser gun gave off a unique and oustanding display of blue color. It was a laser, no doubt, but it had an odd twist to it. When the laser hit the floor, the seemingly lifeless white colored surface started to turn blue. Vivian looked at it and was amazed to see the display. I, on the other hand, grew more suspicious. Why were these things hanging around here? Why were they near us to begin with? Why did we have to find these things? All the more, I was becoming a bit out of tune with my surroundings. I sighed in disbeliefe as to what was happening. I didn't want this. I knew it in my heart that I didn't want any of this. I didn't want to be here, and I didn't want to be holding a potentially deadly laser gun, even though there was only one other person around me.

"Omeshan, relax."

"I don't think I can. Something's fishy here."

"We'll use these laser guns as our protection. It makes sense."

"So... what do you think of the color blue?"

"Heh... it's not my favorite color, but it will do, I guess!"

To be continued...

Chapter 4

"Why do you have to be so picky?" I asked Vivian firmly.

"Me? Picky? I don't think I'm being so picky! Why ask that?", she replied.

"I don't know. I guess I was only curious," I said before realizing that something was afoot.

What was this something, you ask? It looked like something that would literally ooze. Yes, it was that gross. It was something that only someone could ever dream of. Whoever he was who could dream such a thing, he should really be re-evaluated because this thing looked pretty disgusting in my book. This thing slithered like a snake over to our area, and not surprisingly, we didn't approve of this. While I was getting more annoyed by the look of this unknown blob, Vivian was becoming more uneasy with herself. She began to get very nervous. It wasn't too long before I noticed her hiding behind me, using me as a shield for her. I quickly looked back at her, somewhat stunned, but I was aware of the situation. It's obvious why she did that.

It was here that I finally knew what fear was all about. I redsicovered the feeling of fear all over again. This thing was a blob, and yet, because of our situation, we were still feeling the effects of our mysterious journey to this planet. As I looked back at Vivian once more, I motioned to the laser gun that she had in her hands. I wondered why she had forgotten all about it. I figured, in my own mind, why not use these laser guns against this otherwise defenseless piece of sludge? It made so much sense for me to do it, and I had no problem at all with blasting this thing away, but Vivian, on the other hand, was struggling with this. I began to get somewhat irritated by her actions. This was not a time to panic, I thought.


"Vivian? What are you doing? Just use that laser gun!," I said strictly.

"What? This thing? I don't know if I can, Omeshan!"

"What do you mean? That's all you have to do! Blast this thing away!'

"Omeshan, I can't! I just can't!"

"You have a laser gun in your hands! There's a blob here! You can!"

Finally, she mustered up the courage to charge her laser gun, aim it at the good for nothing blob, and blast it to smitherines, or so I thought. She probably thought that this thing was tougher than it looked, much to my dismay. Soon after, I got out my own laser gun and went after the thing myself. I continued to keep the pressure on this helpless adversary, as I kept my laser blast on it for an extensive period of time. Low and behold, Vivian backed me up and did the same thing. She kept her laser blast on the squishy thing for a long time and eventually, the blob just withered away into nothing. After notcing this, Vivian plopped down to the ground. If I was stunned, then she was far more stunned than me, for whatever reason.

As I looked back to check on my friend, Vivian was okay, but she was breathing very deeply. There was really no need to. She didn't get hurt, but I knew that this was taxing and overwhelming for her. I knelt down and tried to give her eye contact, but in return, she remained focused on the spot where the blob was. She just couldn't get her mind off of it. I nodded my head just to show her that I knew what she was doing. Of course, I wasn't reading her mind, nor was she reading mine, but we could tell what we were basically thinking just by our expressions alone. This was tough to swallow for us, but here was the reality of our pressing situation.

We weren't really alone.

True, we were the only humans here, but there were other lifeforms that made their homes here. This amazing world that we had hardly known was already beginning to make an impression on us. Also, the color that came out of laser guns, as before mentioned, were of the color blue, and the color that we saw out of our laser blasts looked amazing. It was a sight to see. That specific tint of blue was pretty vibrant in its own right, and I just had that kind of feeling that I wasn't really a stranger to colors in general. I had that feeling, but I quickly abandoned that feeling, believing that I was only acting in the moment. It didn't feel like a true trait of mine. Needless to say, I was still a confused individual, and around Vivian at least, I didn't hide that fact.

"Vivian, why is the color blue coming out of our laser guns?" I asked softly.

"I don't know, Omeshan. I can't tell you why," she replied.

"I wonder if blue has a meaning for this place? What do you think?"

"If blue is the theme here, then I'm in trouble, Shawn!"

"It's Omeshan!"

"I want to call you Shawn! What's wrong with that name?"

"I want to be called Omeshan. It's a special name, Vivian!"

"Whatever! Anyway, what about the color blue?"

"Well...I'm trying to figure out just why blue is so important right now. I can't seem to understand..."

Suddenly, a mysterious voice popped into the discussion.

"Yes! That's right! You really don't understand, Omeshan!," the mysterious voice uttered.

"Who was that?" Vivian asked me politely.

"Look up, you peasants!"

We did just as this mysterious voice told us to do. We looked up and we saw a hideous looking being. At first glance, I couldn't tell if what I was seeing really was a human, but alas, it actually was a human. That alone surprised me because this thing wasn't acting like a human being at all. I waited patiently to see just what this person would do next. I began to wonder just who this person was, why he was here, and why he addressed us like he did. Soon enough, he seemingly descended down to the solid surface of this world. He was clothed in something of royal stature. I couldn't put my finger on the exact thing that made him look royal, but he didn't look like a welcoming face regardless. I stared at him for a minute, and then I opened my mouth to speak.

"So...who are you?," I asked him.

"Silly fool! Silly fool! You've met with calculated odds, haven't you? Who am I? I am The Masked Guardian!"

To be continued...

Chapter 5

*Omeshan Narration*

This took me by surprise. I was utterly shocked to see another human be in our presence. I assumed that only Vivian and I would be the only humans in this world, but apparently, I was wrong. I took in what The Masked Guardian, as he called himself for some reason, told me and I took those less than kind words to heart. I didn't care why he was acting up, but I really wanted to know just why he was here and how he got here as well. I became all the more curious about his beginnings in this odd world. In comparison, my beginnings in this world and Vivian's felt pretty uneventful. I had a feeling that whoever this guy named The Masked Guardian was, he knew that something had to be up with this world, but I needed to get some information out of him. At least, that was the initial plan I had.

"The Masked Guardian? Why do you have that name?" I asked with an equally curious tone of voice.

"That's simple. I own everything you see here. I rule this world that you are tresspassing at this moment!" He said with a dark tone.

"Tresspassing? By the looks of it, I don't think there's any law and order here!"

"This world has laws, and I make them! Like I said, I own this place, and you are here, so you must obey me now!"

"No. I'm not going to do that, sir."

"No?"

"You heard what I said."

"Have it your way in that case, but don't say I didn't warn you, Omeshan."

*Brodi Narration*

How inconsiderate of this peasant! Previously, I've never had to tell any other human being what to do. I never had to go through that struggle while in this world. I have been the only human to inhabit this world for quite some time, and yet, here comes two uneducated people who have no understanding of why they're here step on my territory? For sure, I wasn't going to put up with any of this. Not one bit. You see, this world does have laws, as I said to Omeshan, but what he and Vivian don't know is that long ago, I made up all the laws that govern this place. I put it on myself to make sure that this place had structure. I didn't like the fact that this world was capable of producing bright and vibrant colors, so I made it a law not to have any nice looking colors at all. I loved the status quo. I loved it just being white and black.

I wasn't surprised to hear Omeshan ask of my name. I named myself The Masked Guardian for a reason. I have authority in this place, and I deserved to be recognized for that authority. Ultimately, Omeshan doesn't get it. Here, I believed that I have seen quite enough already, and I knew enough about this person who opposed me. He wasn't going to give in to me. He wasn't going to follow me at all. I didn't want him to act this way, but he chose to act stiff. That's on him. While I knew that Omeshan wanted nothing to do with me, I figured that I could convince his friend. Vivian is the first female to ever grace this world of mine, and for me, I am fairly pleased. There was hope for the likes of Vivian. I had a feeling that I could get to her, to show her the truth about everything.

"What do you mean by that?", Omeshan asked me with the deer in the headlights look.

"Never mind you! You are trash! You're trash that I will dispose of sooner or later! So Vivian..."

"What? You're asking me a question?", Vivain replied with an understandable look of confusion on her face.

"How do you like this place?"

"Uh...I don't even know you, Masked Guardian, sir."

"Perhaps you should get to know me. I'm not as bad as I look, madame."

"I don't trust you. I feel like you're lying to me," Vivian replied in a rather frustrated tone.

"Hey! Hold up! Just realize that I am one of you! I am a human, just like you, Viv!"

"You're acting anything but human, though."

"Oh, but I am a human. I just wear this mask of clay to protect myself from the dangers out there, you know?"

"Do you know anything of the blob we just destroyed?"

Vivian asked a solid question to me. In fact, this was the best question that I heard during this time. Surely, nothing that Omeshan asked me were of any substance at all, but Vivian's questions were spot on, and her questions kept me so very interested. I saw something in Vivian that made me hope that there would be room for at least two humans, if need be. Personally, I wanted to be alone, and I wanted Vivian to follow Omeshan out of this place. I wanted this world all to myself, but if I had to sacrifice half of this world to Vivian, then I already made it up in my heart that that would be just good. The only reason why I stayed longer was because of Vivian's presence and her more than thoughtful questions. On the flip side, I had enough with Omeshan, and I wanted him gone as soon as possible.

"Do I know anything? I know everything about that blob! You see, my dear Vivian, these blobs are what I call The Clay. Yes, they are made solely out of clay like substances. They can change into numerous forms. They can't change into solid structures or defined shapes, but they morph and move any way they want. They have no limbs and bones like you and I, but they can function."

"Why are they after us?", Vivian asked, starting to get worried.

"They're after you because I have ordered them to patrol this world. I've ordered them to rid of any other human being. Like I said, this is MY world, and this has to be MY world for this world to survive! You two are simply not welcome here! I refuse to welcome you here! Now I suggest that you find a way out of here, because my patience is wearing thin!"

"Do you own The Clay as well?"

"Indeed, I do. They listen to everything I say!"

"Why?"

"They have no feelings. They have no souls. I can tell them what to do, and I know I can get away with it!"

Omeshan then chimed in, and of course, his reponse annoyed me.

"Would you be willing to stay there so I can blast you away?", he replied in vain.

"No. Give me those color laser guns! You have no business holding them! I don't know why they got out in the first place!"

"I think we'll hold onto them, Masked Guardian!"

"If that's how you want to play this game...then you'll have to survive my army! Have a fun time fighting off The Clay! Goodbye!"

I then ascended into the white and black sky, avoiding any attack that Omeshan made with the color laser gun. From this point on, the war between me and them began.

To be continued...

Chapter 6

*Vivian Narration*

I was startled to find out that a place like this could even exist. I had no one else to turn to other than this guy who goes by the name of Omeshan. I trusted him to help me in a place that I clearky had no knowledge of. At some points early on, I was scared, I will admit. I even hid behind Omeshan even though I had a weapon right in my hand to protect myself. That's the kind of uncertainty that I know. When I become uncertain about some of the things that I do, I start to get emotional, and that's not a surprise to me. I always have been emotional. I was the first one to wake up to see my surroundings, and then Omeshan woke up soon after. I glanced at him lying on the ground, lying on the odd surface that made up this bizarre world. I had no idea whether he was alive or dead. He wasn't moving for some time, and then I was taken back when he finally did wake up. It was as if his life support was just suspended in mid air, but maybe that's just a crazy theory of mine.

I soon found out that Omeshan was so much like me. He was a human just like me, and he had the same goals as me. He wanted to find out why we were even in this world to begin with, and he wanted to know why us two were the unfortunate ones to be sent to this world. At least, that's what I had assumed he was thinking. Did he know that we might have been selected to come here for a certain reason? That thought did cross my humble mind, but I didn't want to make any mention of it until he brought it up himself. As I kept observing his actions, I felt more and more confident that he was going to help me, and not hurt me in any way. It's always pleasing to know that when there's no one else around to help you, the one who is with you will help you. I kinda knew that Omeshan wasn't a perfect guy by any means, as he had his bad moments, but he was normal, and most of all, he was real. He had true feelings.

As I mentioned earlier, I was so scared that I felt the need to hide behind Omeshan. Why? Well, that was because of this blob-like thing that was approaching us, and it was attempting to harm us. Thankfully for us, we had these color laser guns and we blasted that thing away to kingdom come! Speaking of kingdoms, there was this one human who felt as if he owned a kingdom here. He felt as if this entire world belonged to him. I couldn't understand where he was coming from. This "he" I'm talking about wasn't Omeshan, but it was rather a guy who called himself The Masked Guardian. I took a good look at The Masked Guardian, but I didn't feel safe to be around him. Unlike Omeshan, he wasn't acting like a normal human being, and even after I had talked to him, I still had my doubts that he was even a human being. It was as if he didn't want to be human.

I caught on quickly to what he was trying to do when he talked to me. The Masked Guardian was trying to lure me over to his side, to make me just like him, a female version of him if you will. I refused to let that happen. I didn't want to follow this person. I didn't have my trust in this guy because he supposedly ordered this blob to attack us. No friend of ours would ever order anything to kill us. After The Masked Guardian ascended all the way back up to the sky that was made up of white and black, I glanced back at Omeshan, who wasn't pleased at the sight of another human being being present along with us in this world. I could see it in his eyes. Omeshan started to show some frustration, but I went over to him and calmed him down. He looked at me and tried to smile, but I knew he wasn't in the mood to be happy. This new thought crossed my mind suddenly. Perhaps The Masked Guardian was jealous of Omeshan, that Omeshan had me to help him?

"So what do you think that was all about?" I softly asked Omeshan.

"I'd like to know what you think first."

His response caught me off guard, and I thought about what he just said. I came up with my best answer.

"I think he knows something that we don't. I can feel it, Omeshan."

"It's my guess that he doesn't want us to know the truth about this place. Maybe he had a part in getting us here?"

"Don't talk like that. I doubt he has any powers like that."

"Oh? Then why do I get the feeling that he can shoot lasers right out of his hands if he feels like it?"

"Maybe that's just a crazy theory on your part?"

"Viv, don't be silly! We need to get answers as soon as possible! I don't want to be here forever!"

"I share the same feelings, but you need to pick your spots."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, think before you jump to conclusions."

"I don't have the time to listen to this!"

"Wait!"

"What is it now?"

"The Clay are coming after us, you know! They must know that we're here now! They'll be looking for us!"

"Yeah, you're right, Vivian. I guess I know why we have these color laser guns now."

"That's another thing, Omeshan. Why do we have the color blue to support our color laser firing power?"

"Something tells me colors have a lot to do with this place. I don't know for sure, but that's just a hunch."

I then spotted something interesting as I checked on my color laser gun.

"Hey Omeshan!"

"What?"

"I see twelve glassy spots. I think they're lights of some sort."

Omeshan, out of curiousity, checked on his color laser gun as well. He noticed the same twelve glassy spots, felt them, and looked back at me with a sudden look of intrigue glowing across his face. He gave me this weird looking eye brow raise, and then proceeded to shrug his shoulders.

"Yeah, we were meant to have these things. That's why the masked guy didn't want us to have them."

"Does he have a true first name?"

"He does. He just wants to hide it. I don't care what his real name is, though."

Suddenly, I looked back to see a group of these things now called The Clay approaching us. We had the choice of either staying at our current spots or leaving, and we chose to leave and go somewhere else. We soon started to run towards a random location, and you couldn't blame us for doing that because we had no idea where we were so we just taking a shot in the dark, as they say. I followed Omeshan's lead, and we would eventually get to a place that was filled with glowing lights, an entire area at that. The lights were flashing the color blue all around, but still, all of the objects and all of the surfaces were still in plain black and white, and we were puzzled as to why. We knew already that by firing our lasers at The Clay, we'd take them down, and when we fired our color lasers at surfaces and objects, we'd notice a change in color to them. Omeshan turned to me and came up with an interesting suggestion.

"Vivian, you know what we should do?"

"What is that?"

"I believe we should give this place some color. We only have blue, but that's okay. Let's paint this place blue! What do you say?"

"I say that's a great idea! Let's get started!"

To be continued..

Chapter 7

Blue Region

*Omeshan Narration*

I admit that I was only going on an assumption about what to do in the place that we were approaching. As we got ever so closer to this place, both Vivian and I could notice that there were some flashes of light in the area that was otherwise having no life to it. The color was distinct. The color that was flashing for a breif second or two during our journey here was blue. We obviously made the connection that blue had to do something with this place, and so we went along with the plan that I had planned, and I wasn't even sure that plan of mine would work. We charged up our color laser guns and fired at the objects that needed more color to them. The amount of objects that needed more color were many, and as we could see all around us, this place felt like an abandoned city of sorts, but the thing was, there were no humans inhabiting this place.

Sure enough, I could see from the corner of my eye the blob army known as The Clay approaching us. These were many, and I knew that they were up to no good. What we were doing wasn't going over well with them apparently, but I didn't mind that at all. I signaled to Vivian that we should keep doing what we've been doing and keep firing away. She had briefly felt some doubt about this, but I guess that since I would be helping her, she found the confidence to keep going, coloring in the seemingly dead looking objects. As I was firing my color laser gun, I kept looking back to see where The Clay were. I could see that they were getting closer to us as they slithered like snakes, carrying their slimey weight around as they went. I looked back at Vivian, who thankfully wasn't paying attention to the positions of our enemies.

"Vivian?"

"What?"

"We need to keep moving. They are getting closer."

"How fast are they going?"

"Not too fast, but they're doing good considering they're big blobs."

"Should we get moving now, Omeshan?"

"That would be a wise move, Vivian."

*Vivian Narration*

At first, I was scared of The Clay. I had no idea that such blobs could even exist, and let alone, even move around and know what they're supposed to do. I don't know how he did it, but The Masked Guardian must've done something to program them in some way. Maybe I was onto something when I thought that, and maybe I wasn't, but I was sure that he got to them one way or another. Now that I knew what I was up against, I wasn't nearly as fearful anymore. In fact, I would grow more confident in my abilities and I felt more comfortable if I had to use my color laser gun to just blast them away. Omeshan was such a big help to me, and he kept me in check whenever there was the possibility that I might have just lost it. Omeshan didn't want that to happen to me. I think he knew wll enough that he had to have me think clear enough to get the job done. I knew that nobody other than him would help me out anyway.

So I went along with the order that Omeshan gave me. He wanted us to move along and to get away from the Clay, but also we had to keep coloring in the objects and surfaces to complete our own goal. I had no idea what we were accomplishing by just firing at objects and letting them get color, but this was the best guess that we could come up with as to what we could do to help ourselves get out of here. We jogged, and we even ran from The Clay only to to do the job. I would occasionally look back to see where they were, but Omeshan would sometimes shake his head "no" at me. I knew he wanted me to keep going. I couldn't get distracted, and I did whatever I could to keep my mind on the task at hand. At least I could take pleasure in the fact that Omeshan was assertive, and that he wasn't a wimp at all. It was good to know that he would have my back and he would protect me, and that I would have to look up to him, and he didn't have to rely on me to do all the work.

"Okay Omeshan, do we keep firing?"

I saw Omeshan blasting away at a small building.

"Of course! What does it look like I'm doing?"

"It looks like you're coloring in that building."

"Heh, that's witty! Now pitch in a little."

"Oh yeah. Right."

I followed Omeshan along, and I helped him color in the building. I will admit, it was weird to be doing something like this because I don't believe that there's a realistic waty of coloring in a building like this. Using a laser gun to do the job? That's unheard of to many people, but then again, this wasn't our home, and there weren't any other people here, aside from me, Omeshan, and that mysterious person named The Masked Guardian. After some time, the building finally looked complete, and as we stepped back to see what it looked like, we could see that it was filled with the color blue.

"What do you think this means, Omeshan?"

"I don't know. I've just begun to do this stuff!"

"You seem to be pretty relaxed for a stranded human being!"

"Cut it out, Vivian! It's bad enough that I even have to use a laser gun to solve our problems! I wish it didn't have to come down to that!"

"We have no other choice, though."

"I know that, but..."

*Omeshan Narration*

Suddenly, I saw The Clay getting dangerously close to us. If anything, they were already within reach of us, but I knew it right away that they had to be stopped. They were looking to harm us, and I couldn't let any harm come to me and Vivian. I was the leader of this group, so I had to take charge. I had to do something that actually shows leadership. How could we even think about doing any of this by oursleves without abandoning each other? I didn't want to go down that route, for sure. This was not the time to split up. So as I saw The Clay, I charged up my color laser gun, and gave out my order to my good friend Vivian.

"Vivian, let's wipe out these pieces of garbage!"

"Heh, you're speaking my language, Omeshan!"

Then soon, we fired the lasers at The Clay.

To be continued...