“I don’t get it!” Tenna finally spoke up. “Another knight shows up and says he doesn’t want fight along side us!?”
“Well, he did say he doesn’t know what we were talking about.” Eric replied. “Maybe he doesn’t know about the legend.”
“Yeah, but wouldn’t that make him want to join us?” Tenna asked again. “Because we know what’s up?” Tenna noticed Devi being quiet with Demi in her lap and concernly asked “Devi?”
Devi finally spoke after a couple seconds “What I wanna know is what the hell happened with the gem on my chest? It like gave him some sort of power boost...”
“Yeah it did...” Eric replied. “And used it for an attack. If he’s not connected to us, why would we be able to give him a power up? Assume if Tenna and I can give him a power up as well...”
“Things don’t just add up...” Tenna sighed.
“Another thing is why does he seem to know Johnny?” The others gave a surprised look towards Devi as she continued. “It seem like he knew Johnny and wanted to help him more than anything. I just wish I knew why though?”
“Maybe he’s a relative, like a brother or something?” Eric suggested.
“No...” Devi replied. “Something’s telling me that, that’s not the case.”
“Why do you say that?” Tenna asked.
“Because Johnny, from what he told me before, only has a uncle. That’s his only living relative. He has no siblings of any sort and his parents died in a terrible fire. He said they were murdered and had their house a blazed to look like an accident.”
“That’s horrible!” Tenna exclaimed remorsefully. Eric also showed an expression of pity for the crazed warrior.
“So that’s why, I’m really baffled about this sorta thing...” Devi added. “Johnny did a couple times, told me he had a friend that he would see from time to time, so I thought maybe that’s the friend he told me about, but if so, why did Johnny act like he didn’t know him?”
“Hmmm.....” Tenna stated. “Maybe they separated at one point and if Johnny is being tortured by the Dark Lord guy, maybe he just doesn’t remember him....Sometimes being tortured a lot can lead up to memory problems, from what I heard about....”
“You might be onto something, Ten.” Devi replied.
“What I find weird,” Edgar added as he came over with some tea. “is first this child appears and then this knight that you describe.”
“That’s what I was thinking too.” Eric replied. “Think they’re related?”
“It is possible.” Said Mina as she came over. “I’ve been doing some meditation and location spells and lately a strange anomaly keeps showing up. I keep trying pin point it but to no avail.”
“Do you think it’s that kid or the knight?” Devi asked.’
“Unfortunately, even I can’t say for sure. Sometimes these anomalies last for a while, but disappears before I could get Edgar to go to it.” She sighed “Whatever it is, it doesn’t want to be found it seems.”
“Wish we knew why...” Tenna added.
“Well, if that kid is legit, he’s probably scared and doesn’t know who to trust.” Eric added. “As for the knight, I dunno what he’s about.”
“They have to be related somehow though...” Demi added. “I mean, they just appear out of no where and then disappear. However....I don’t think this new knight is an enemy...”
They looked at the tiny doll in surprise.
“Why do you say that, Demi?” Tenna asked.
“He didn’t seem evil. He felt really kind.” Demi explained. “I think he really just wants to help Johnny out of his situation and just doesn’t know us, that’s all....”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Devi added. “If he wanted to hurt us...”
“He would have done so.” Demi finished. “Plus we helped power him up! He must be one of the good guys!” Devi smiled at her familiar.
“I guess that makes sense...” Tenna replied.
Eric nodded as he sat back. He then looked at Mina and asked. “Hey, Mina, how is Magnus doing? I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“He’s doing well.” Mina assured him with a small smile. “He came by the other night to see how we were doing, but didn’t stay too long.”
“Oh, that’s good.” Eric replied in slight relief. “I guess he just hasn’t had anything to teach me lately.”
“Well, you’re already good enough in fights. In fact, it was just the training up to your knight form and how to control it was the major thing he needed to teach you.” Mina explained. “Pretty soon, Magnus will probably stop training you completely....” She said the last part a little sadly.
Eric noticed this and knew she meant. He just looked down. Tenna and Devi noticed this. Devi was a bit confused but Tenna whispered something into her ear. Devi looked in surprise but Tenna nodded with a slight sad expression.
Devi then placed a warm hand on Eric’s back and just smiled. Tenna did a cheerful expression as Eric looked at the two of them and nodded with a small smile. There was no words in that moment.
Mina just looked at them all and finally smiled a little bit. It’s amazing how far they did come. They never had issues working as a team, but should could tell, their bond was much stronger. Now if only the fourth knight could be found so they could bond with whoever it was.
**Back in the dark area**
“Another knight has join them?!” Anne said in shock. “So...They found him?!”
“No...” Nny replied. “I don’t think he’s the one they’re searching.”
“How do you know all that?” Nuka asked as he eyed Nny with a odd expression. Nuka wore the only the he really did wear, a black and white shirt, some old faded jeans that were black at some point and long black leather boots. Anne was just in her usual black long dress, goth black boots and fishnets.
Johnny just stayed silent as he sat there. He was in a long black sweater, jeans and boots. Nuka just looked at him and finally said “You know, if I didn’t know better, I say you know who the real knight is and you just don’t wanna tell! That knight even seems to know you! Are you helping the.. ”
Before he could finish his question, Johnny grabbed his blade and shove it up to Nuka’s face. He force the cowardly man to look deep into his green maddening eyes! Eyes that were like a flame of emerald at that point.
“You shouldn’t talk!” Nny snapped, his teeth gritting and yet his voice was cold. It was like a shot of ice shooting through the measly man’s heart. “You have done nothing but be despicable, cowardly and over all useless! So don’t you dare pin me as someone that would go against the Master! When you have done barely anything at all! Even Anne at least comes up with a plan to fight, sometimes. It fails, but it’s something! So, I would be more worried about your place here than mine, if I were you!”
With that he let out a slash of his blade, causing a bit of wind by his own power, to hit Nuka to the ground. Nuka got up and looked at him, angrily. With that Johnny teleported away and Nuka just walked off. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t scoff, didn’t fuss. His arms went limp to his sides and just walked off.
This surprise Anne quite a bit. It was the first time she actually seen Nuka, legitimately hurt before. She thought it was weird though. Jimmy as he was known, didn’t get hurt easily. Any insults he took as compliments, but she wondered if something finally snapped into him. That maybe, he thought Nny was right but didn’t want to admit to it, because of the pride he carried. It was also the first time Nny actually said something remotely good about her.
Else where, Nny teleported outside of the city, looking down at the city lights. He thought of the man that stopped him. There was something familiar about him. Johnny couldn’t figure out why, but there was something there.
“Those eyes....” He whispered. “I know those eyes...”
He looked up and saw the crescent moon in the sky. It looks like they’ll be a full moon soon... He thought. He just stared at it for a while until a sudden pain came through his chest. He gasped in pain as he clutched his chest. Something glowed from within where his heart was. After taking a few deep breaths, it finally all ceased.
He fell to his knees and just breath to relieve himself. “What was that...? Where did that pain come from?”
He looked up at the moon, almost pleading at it for answers.
“Lucerne, what would you say if you were here...?”
The wind suddenly blew gently. He closed his eyes as if to try to hear a voice, wasn’t expecting it but somewhere within, he was kinda hoping something would answer. No voice came. Just the whisper of the wind through the trees. He sighed and looked up at the moon again.
The winds of change will bring forth a new moon.
Nuka sat in a tree and just pondered a bit. He really just wanted to get out of there for a bit. He wasn’t sure how he would even go back.
“I did some things...” He grumbled to himself.
He remembered how he first became a servant to the Dark Master. Back when he was just normal Jimmy, he was obsessed with this one girl in college. It was just a normal community college. Nothing fancy and it was mainly his parents that forced him to go or they would stop supporting him. He was at one point interested in biology and human anatomy. He didn’t know why it fascinated him, but naturally, it wasn’t because he wanted to help people.
The girl he obsessed over had jet black hair and brown eyes. She wore a lot of trendy things. Whatever would be in fashion at the time. He would stalk her, steal some of her things, the works that raised up his creep factor. Until one night, he got her alone and did unspeakable things to her, before snatching her life away. Before he was caught by police, a dark voice came forth. It asked if he wanted power, if he wanted to do more things like what he did to that girl, without fear of anyone stopping him. He agreed and he was sucked into the Dark Area.
That’s all he really remembered of his past. He met Anne and not long after that Johnny. He would get tips from watching Johnny fight. At first a lot of those he and some of the other warriors fought were punks, pedophiles, or even some poor soul on the street. Just basic people hardly anyone would miss. This was just enough to feed the Dark Master some negative energy while still keeping low, not to arouse anyone who might be one of the chosen knights.
Though, there were some magic users they also fought. The magic users who agreed to join, sometimes would need to pass a interrogation by fighting and surviving the Dark Master’s strongest warriors, with Nny being the top.
The magic users that refused to join, well, they would still have to fight anyway if they wish to survive the encounter. Johnny wasn’t always in charge of interrogation, but when he did, Jimmy just enjoyed it. He began to admire Johnny more and more. He was like some sort of acrobat when he fought. Just one jump, a slash of his blade and it would be all over. It was like watching a figure skater but with more blood and darkness, but then came that one time when Jimmy pushed too far.
There was a magic user, a young girl. She had snow white hair in a ponytail, beautiful light blue eyes and peach skin. She wore a white dress and tall boots. She did her best against Johnny, but ultimately, she failed. Johnny looked down at the torn girl at her feet. She had some scratches and blood stained her white dress and boots. She looked up at Nny in horror that she would meet her demise right then and there.
Johnny just stared at her with his green eyes. He raised his blade and she embraced for death, but then he lowered the blade and began walking off. Jimmy was shocked.
“Hey! Don’t let her go!” Jimmy snapped as he came over. “Finish her off or kill her slowly!”
“I don’t need to kill her.” Was Nny’s reply.
“What?”
“I don’t kill unless I have a good reason to. There’s no reason for me to end her life. She can’t fight anymore. I’ve won. She won’t go against the Master now.”
He continued to walk off and the girl stood up, but Jimmy had other plans. He raised his own blade over her. The girl let out a gasp and that was the sound that alerted Johnny to grab him by the throat. Jimmy dropped his blade and looked at Johnny in the same fear that girl felt.
“I said there’s no reason to kill her, so there isn’t a reason for you to kill her, either!”
“Why do you care about this measly girl?”
Nny shoved him away and said “Picking on those that can’t fight back leaves a sour tastes in my mouth. I only kill those that truly despicable and yet not worthy of the Master. That is all. You would be on that list, if the Master didn’t want to you merely gather some negative energy.”
“I don’t get it...You know we’re the bad guys, right? We’re suppose to destroy everything. Destroy innocent lives!"
Nny shot a dagger to Jimmy’s chest. “That’s for measly disgusting servants like you to do. It’s not that I want honor nor am I proud. I’m on this path because I have no other path to take. Better think twice before thinking you have me figured out. I hunt the big game, you just get the table scraps.”
“But, we have so much in common....we could work together...”
“First off, you don’t know me, so you don’t even know what we have in common and even if that were true, just because we anything in common, it does not guarantee you’re gonna like me. Have a better judge of character!”
“Wait...I’m just like you!”
With that he let out a grunt and just tossed him. He jumped and with his powers, these bladed hooks appeared and strung Jimmy down. The hooks piercing deep in his skin to the ground, like tacks sticking paper to a board. Nny shot dark energy from his hand and shot Jimmy in the chest, causing him major pain, especially when the hooks ripped at his arms.
Johnny landed on the ground and snapped his fingers to make the hooks disappear. The girl fainted from the stress of watching that and by her own wounds. Johnny went over to her, picked her up and carried her off where she could recover safely, but not before saying
“I don’t really like myself that much.”
If it weren’t for the Dough Boys and the dark master having some use for him to gather negative energy by causing havoc, he wouldn’t be alive.
That’s why, he wanted to be called a different name. One that didn’t rhyme with Johnny. He chose “Nuka” despite he didn’t know what it meant at the time. He still didn’t mind the name. It just reminded him less of what he wanted at first. He never would ever admit to it, but he still admire Johnny. Being embarrassed and nearly killed by that someone, despite even telling Johnny his admiration, however, was a big insult to him.
To Nuka, it just meant Johnny thought of himself above others. That’s why Nuka wanted to prove he was better. He could fight and he was strong, but compared to the others he was still weak. He was just there to make other’s miserable so that the dark energy could rise. That seemed to be the only purpose he had, but he wanted to prove himself that he was something much more.
“But how?” He asked himself out loud. Then he heard something near the mansion and went to go check it out.
There he saw Mina and the Edgar coming out of the mansion. The knights were already heading back to their apartment.
“It’s that girl that always helps the knights out and her measly butler guy....” He then thought of something. “Hey, wait a second....” Then he stared at them as a grin came across his face.
With no hesitation, he jumped in. Mina stopped and gasped as she felt his presence approaching.
“What’s wrong, Mina?”
Nuka jumped in and tried to grab her.
“Mina, look out!” Edgar exclaimed as he tried to get in front of her as a shield but Nuka swatted him away. Magnus suddenly appeared, having sense the danger taking place ahead of time. He grabbed Mina out of danger and tried to hit Nuka with his cane.
“You!?” Nuka snapped “I thought you protected that vampire kid!”
“I, too, protect this young one and her family!” Magnus sneered under his breath. “ Seems like you really enjoy picking on those that can’t defend themselves! That just proves you will never change!”
This just made the crazed young man crazier with anger even more!
“Mina, get inside the house right now! Use any kind of protection charm or spell if need be!”
Mina, scared, just nodded and tried just that but Nuka just teleported in front of her and grabbed her! She screamed and let out a ball of energy she from her own hands, a small spell she mastered. It hit him in the face, but he was just too strong and it just mad him madder than he already was.
Magnus tried to intervene but Nuka shot out what looked to be a shadowy claw right at Magnus, hitting him right in the stomach, clawing him deep in the center. The elderly vampire fell back to the cold, hard, concrete ground.
“Magnus!” Mina cried.
Eric, also sensing the danger flew to his mentor. Before he could ask Magnus if he was alright, Mina cried to him.
“Eric!”
Eric reached out to Mina “Nuka, wait! Come back here!” He shouted but it was too late. He had gone to the dark area.
“Mina!” Magnus replied as he reached out helplessly. He then just collapsed from both his injuries and the devastation that reached his heart.
“Magnus, are you alright!?” Eric asked in grief.
“Edgar!” Devi called as she and Tenna ran to the scene.
“What happened?” Tenna said.
“Where’s Mina?” Devi asked.
“They took her....” Edgar said in the most pitiful and grieving voice they never heard from Edgar.
“No...” Was all Devi could say.
