Destiny

"Again," said the man with the purple hair.

He was training the small child for combat, all the while believing that when you were two years of age, you were old enough to learn self-defense... and you were old enough to quit complaining, which was exactly what the child was doing.

"But can't I take a break yet?" the boy whined. "I've been doing this forever!"

"Actually," said the man, "you've only been at it for an hour or so. How do you expect to learn how to protect yourself when all you do is whine and complain?"

The boy looked tired. "I don't know..." The man glared, the sun glinting off his robin's egg blue eyes, causing the boy to cringe. "Please, Ozzi, can't I stop now? I'm hungry."

Ozzi sighed. "Yeah, I guess so... by the way, will you go and get your father for me, Little Prince? I need to talk with him."

"OK; be right back!" cried the boy happily. "C'mon, Arty G!!" From a corner of the gym, a white ball in the shape of a cat's head sprang to life. Its eyes gleamed and it lifted from the floor. The small child grabbed the sphere and retreated from the gymnasium. Ozzi watched the boy's small figure disappear out the door and around the corner. He was worried; Little Prince had to learn how to be a proper Guardian, or else he'd never be able to defend his kingdom in later years... oh, well, maybe Cal would have some advice...

King Calvin Cameron Peisliak sat at his desk, intent on getting his work completed by the morning's end. So far he had completed more than half of his tedious paperwork. "If I keep up this pace," he said to himself, "I'll be done in no time; then I can go see how Cameron is doing." Cal was just about to sign his name on a peace treaty with the war-like planet, Mars, when a small voice rang out.

"Daddy!"

Startled by the sudden intrusion, Cal blotted his name instead of signing it. He slumped over the treaty and sighed. He turned around and came face to face with- -a cat-shaped ball?! Cal gasped and jumped back, nearly falling out of his chair. The ball giggled--no, the boy giggled and took Arty G away from his face; this was a trick he often played on his father.

"Oh! Cameron. What is it?" Cal asked. The boy jumped into Cal's lap.

"Ozzi wants to talk to you," he stated matter-of-factly. Cal looked wearily at the rest of his work. "Can't it wait?" he asked. Cameron considered this for a moment.

"Um..... nope!" he said. Cal sweatdropped.

"Oh. Well, tell him I'll be there in a second. I have some unfinished business to take care of. He'll understand." Cameron jumped off his father's lap and began to walk out the door. "Oh, and, Cameron?" Cameron turned around. "Yeah?" he asked, then saw his father's stern face; he quickly corrected himself. "Oh--I mean, yes?" Cal smiled. "How is your training coming along?" Cameron got a weird face. "Uh....." he stuttered. "It's, uh, coming along great!" lied the Prince. "Well, I guess I'll go tell Ozzi what you said... bye!!" Cameron flew out of the room, Arty G following close behind. Cal, who knew that his son had lied, smiled and shook his head. Then he got back to his work, not knowing that his every move was being watched.

Ozzi sat in his office, waiting impatiently. Where was Cal? Just then, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was Little Prince, Ozzi opened the door. Instead of seeing the small boy at the door, he was confronted with his best friend, Darrel.

"Oh, hey, Darry," said Ozzi. "Thought you were Little Prince." Darry looked himself up and down. "That's funny. I didn't think I looked like a child that much," he said. Ozzi rolled his eyes. "Come on, Dar, be serious for once in your life. There has to be a reason why you're here." A strange darkness came across the Guardian's face.

"There is," he said. "I think we may have a traitor among the Guardians." Ozzi's face contorted into a displeased frown. "Would you stop joking around? I'm serious!" Darry looked hurt. "And so am I," he said. "What, do you think I'd just make something like that up, Ozzi?" Ozzi snorted. "You? Yes."

"Fine," Darry said. "If you don't wanna believe Mr. Psychic over here..."

"More like Mr. Psychotic. Alright then, Darry. Who is this supposed traitor?"

Darry glared at his colleague. "Who else? Bailey."

Bailey, a Guardian like Ozzi and Darry, was furious. That Ozzi was beginning to get on his nerves, as usual. It wasn't his fault that Cal was an incompetent ruler. Bailey despised Cal and his little brat, Cameron. He had always disliked the Peisliak family. But Ozzi had been a close friend of Cal's ever since the King was a boy; the Guardians had always protected the Royal Family of Earth. Earlier in the day, Bailey had been watching over Cal, watching him work. Perhaps it was time to put Operation: Assassination into play. Bailey chuckled at this little thought of victory.

"What!? Bailey!?" Ozzi cried. "You must be kidding, Darry! Yes, it's true that Bailey doesn't like our King, but I don't think he would go so far as to kill him!"

"You'd be surprised at what Bailey is capable of doing," Darry said. Just then, Cameron came into the room. "Hey, Ozzi! Oh, hi, Darry. Ozzi, my Dad said he needs to finish up some work, so he won't be able to talk with you yet," said Cameron. The boy's loud talk shook Ozzi out of his trance.

"What? Oh, uh, alright, Little Prince."

"Are we gonna finish my training, Ozzi?" inquired the small Prince. Ozzi stared at Cameron as if he had just spoken a foreign language.

"What?" he said, confused. Then... "Oh, training. Um, no. Not right now. Maybe later. I, uh, have to talk with Darry about something, OK?" Cameron was bewildered. Ozzi never cancelled training unless something bad had come up. The child blinked.

"We're in danger, aren't we?" he asked Ozzi.

"Finally!" Cal sighed happily. He had finished his work. He looked at the enormous grandfather clock standing against the far wall. Two o'clock. Not bad, considering he had started the paperwork at eight o'clock that morning. "Seven hours; a new record," Cal said sarcastically. He remembered that his son had said that Ozzi had wanted to talk with him. The King got out of chair and headed down the hall. On the way to the gymnasium, Cal met his wife, Faith.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"Oh, just on my way to talk to Ozzi. He said he wanted to talk to me."

Faith looked sternly at her husband. "Did you finish your paperwork?"

Cal smiled. "Yes, Mother," he replied with a laugh. Faith smiled and punched him lightly on the arm. "You'd better get going," she said. "The Mighty Ozzi waits for no one." Cal smiled, kissed Faith on the cheek, and walked out the palace doors to the gym. Once there, he found the Guardian in his office, talking angrily to Darry. Perplexed, Cal knocked on the door. Darry looked up; Ozzi put his face in his hands.

"Come in," Ozzi said tiredly. Cal opened the door.

"Ozzi? You wanted to speak with me?"

Sighing, Ozzi removed his face from his hands. "Yeah," he said. Cal suddenly noticed how old Ozzi looked, even though he was only 10 years older than Cal; Cal was 27.

"About what?" Cal asked. Ozzi looked at him.

"Well, I was originally going to speak with you about Little Prince's training, but now something even more important has come up."

"More important?" Cal said.

"Yep. It seems that there is a traitor among the Guardians," said Ozzi. Cal was aghast.

"A traitor?" he gasped. Ozzi nodded. "Well, who?" Cal said, disbelieving what he had just heard. Ozzi glanced over at Darry. "Why don't you tell him, Dar?" Darry looked unhappy, but he turned to Cal.

"It's Bailey," he said quietly.

"Bailey?" Cal repeated. Cameron, whom Cal had just noticed sitting there, let out a small cry.

"I knew it! We're in danger!!" he whimpered, frightened. Cal wrapped his son up into a hug.

"Now, now," he said soothingly, "don't worry. Ozzi and the other Guardians will be sure to look into this terrible matter."

Ozzi looked at Cameron. "Little Prince," he said. "How would you like to help us? I truly think that you are ready for the responsibility of being a Guardian." Cameron looked at Ozzi, wide-eyed.

"You mean it?" the Prince said. Ozzi nodded once again, a smile on his face. Cameron gave Ozzi a wide grin.

"Wow!!" He turned to his father. "Guess what? I'm gonna be a Guardian, just like Ozzi and Darry!" he said gleefully.

Cal looked at Ozzi. "Are you sure about this?" he asked. "It seems a little sudden...."

"Nonsense! I think that Little Prince is ready to handle it," Ozzi said. "Besides," he added, "we're going to need all the help we can get. There's no telling what Bailey might do." Ozzi reached into one of his desk drawers and withdrew a talisman on a gold cord. He handed it to Cameron, who looked as if he was about to burst with happiness. The child placed the talisman around his neck, as Ozzi and Darry had done. "Welcome to the Guardians, Guardian Chibi-Earth," Ozzi said to Cameron. Just then, Darry felt a chill in the air.

"I hate to break up this little celebration," he said to Ozzi, "but I have a feeling that we're being watched." Ozzi glanced at Darry. "Watched?"

Indeed, they were being watched. Bailey looked in at the small congregation in Ozzi's office. Smiling wickedly, he grabbed his own talisman and cried his transformation words; if he was going to fight Ozzi and the others, he would need strength. "Planet Star Power......TRANSFORM!"

"What was that?" said the girl to her friends, Adam and Kristen. Adam glanced up from the book he was reading.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Kim," he said. But Kristen was also staring in the direction where Kim had heard the noise.

"You really didn't hear it, Adam?" Kim asked. Adam shut his book.

"No," he replied. "Did you hear it, Kris?"

"Actually, I think I did," she said. "It almost sounded like... like..." Kristen couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I know!" cried Kim suddenly. "It sounded like someone was calling out their transformation words!"

"And," added Kristen, "it was coming from Ozzi's office in the gym; maybe it was Ozzi...and maybe there's a Youma lurking about!!" Adam sweatdropped.

"Girls. They have bat hearing," he said.

"What did you say!?" yelled the two Guardians. Adam chuckled nervously.

"Uh... heh, heh... I said, uh, 'Let's go check it out!'" Adam stuttered, trying to make up for his words. Kim glared at her teammate, then brightened. "OK!" she said. Adam sighed, relieved.

The trio made their way to Ozzi's office, where they saw a shady-looking figure hiding in some foliage.

"Yikes! It's a Youma after all" Kristen yelled. She was immediately silenced by Adam and Kim.

"Shut up, Kristen!" Kim whispered, "or you'll scare the Youma away! C'mon, we've gotta do something about this! Let's transform; then we can find Darry, then we'll go help Ozzi," Kim said. The others nodded. "Right!" they said in unison.

"Princess Star Power.....TRANSFORM!" cried Kim.

"Celestial Star Power.....TRANSFORM!" cried Adam.

"Chibi Star Power.....TRANSFORM!" cried Kristen.

Once they had finished transforming, the Guardians ran over to the foliage where the "shady-looking figure" was hiding.

Meanwhile, the group inside Ozzi's office had heard someone yelling.

"You were right, Darry!" Ozzi said. Darry looked pleased with himself.

"Don't underestimate psychic power!" he said, striking a pose. Ozzi whacked him over the head with a paperweight. "This is no time to be self-centered!" he yelled. "Transform!" Darry rubbed his head. "Ow..." he said. Then he became uncharacteristically serious. Grabbing his pendant, Darry shouted out his own transformation words.

"Moon Star Power.....TRANSFORM!"

Following suit, Cameron said, "Earth Spectrum Power.....TRANSFORM!" Ozzi waited until both Guardians had finished, then he cried out, "Earth Crystal Power.....TRANSFORM!" The leader of the Guardians had arrived.

"Excellent!" thought Bailey, now Guardian Planet. "Those fools have done exactly what I wanted them to do!!" He laughed evilly. Suddenly--

"Hold it!" Guardian Planet heard a voice behind him. Turning around, he came face-to-face with Guardian Star Princess, better known as Kim.

"Darn!" thought Planet.

Kim glared at the other Guardian, then her expression changed. "That's no Youma, it's.....Guardian Planet?" she said in disbelief. "What are you doing here? Why are you spying on Ozzi?"

Before Planet had time to answer, a door slammed, causing the four Guardians to look up. From around the corner of Ozzi's office stepped Ozzi himself, only now he was Guardian Earth, the leader of the Guardians. Guardian Moon (Darry), and Guardian Chibi-Earth (Cameron) followed behind Guardian Earth. Cal had stayed inside the office; Ozzi had told him to because Bailey was probably after the King.

"So, Planet," said Guardian Earth, "I hear you're a traitor. Is this true?" Planet didn't respond, so Guardian Earth tried again. "I guess you didn't hear me the first time," he said testily, "so I'll ask you again: Is it or is it not true that you, Guardian Planet, are a traitor?" This time, Planet responded.

"Blazing......... SOUL!" he yelled. Blood-red energy in the shape of a skull shot out of the Guardian's hands. It was headed straight for Chibi-Earth! Guardian Moon, who had seen it coming just two minutes before, wasted no time. Putting his hands together, he called out, "Psychic Moon Power... CONFUSE!" Psychic energy shot out of his fingertips and raced toward Planet's attack. It engulfed the energy, and stopped it from hitting Chibi-Earth, who was cowering. The young Guardian looked up at Moon. "Thanks, Guardian Moon!" he said. Moon smiled. "You're very welcome." Planet sneered. As long as that psychic Guardian was around, he couldn't accomplish his mission, so he decided to try a new trick, one that would not fail.

Inside the office, Cal was waiting for the battle to be over. He peeked out of the window to see what was going on. What he did see horrified him.

Planet smiled. Now was the time to unleash his own little secret weapon. He closed his eyes and concentrated. His form wavered a bit and then it began to form exact copies of himself! He made six copies of himself; now it would be harder for the Guardians to tell which one was the real Planet--but Guardian Moon would be able to distinguish the copies from each other. Planet's plan was to lure Moon away from the battle. Once Moon was out of the picture, one of Planet's copies would go into Ozzi's office and capture King Cal! Then Planet's twin could hold him until the real Planet had disposed of Moon. After that...well after that Planet would kill Cal, and possibly Cal's brat, Cameron.

Guardian Earth was flabbergasted. How could Planet have accomplished such a feat? Oh, well, no time for questions now. Now he had to find out which Planet was the real one. However, Guardian Moon had already taken care of that. He immediately went for the real Guardian Planet, who ran. "Good," thought Guardian Earth. "Moon will take care of him. Now about these copies... looks like we'll have to get rid of them, and fast!" He looked at his teammates. "OK, Guardians, listen up! We're going to have to destroy these copies, so I want you to use your strongest attacks. Got it?" The five Guardians nodded. Each Guardian took on a twin, all except Chibi-Earth. The twin that was supposed to be fighting Chibi-Earth had left for the office where Cal was in hiding!

"Stop, Planet! What do you hope to accomplish by doing this?" demanded Moon as he warded off an attack made by Planet.

"What do I hope to accomplish?" said the traitor in between breaths. "Why, I hope to wipe out your beloved King and dear little Brat Prince!" Moon gasped.

"Such a thing! I can't forgive you!" he said. Then he had an image of Planet's twin heading in the direction of Ozzi's office. "Oh no! Cal!" yelled Moon. He started to run after the twin, but Planet blocked his path.

"Oh, no you don't," said the evil Guardian. "Blazing.... SOUL!"

Guardian Earth looked up from the twin he was fighting. "Darry! Something bad has happened to Darry!" He turned to Chibi-Earth. "Chibi-Earth! I want you to go to my office; protect your father! Hurry, I feel as if Planet will be there any second." Wasting no time, the little Guardian raced to the office. When he got there, he was greeted by a horrible sight: his father had been captured by Planet's twin!! Chibi-Earth felt rage welling up inside of his body. How dare this evil man capture his father!! Well, something had to be done about this! Narrowing his eyes, Chibi-Earth yelled to the twin.

"Who do you think you are, holding my Dad like he was a prisoner or something? I will not allow this!" The twin turned around and looked at him. So did Cal, as best he could.

"Cameron, no! Get out of here!" cried the King. Chibi-Earth just shook his head.

"No," he replied firmly. "I didn't accept the re-re-respons'bility of becoming a Guardian just to run away!" The twin snickered.

"I admire your bravery, young one," he said, "but you'll need more than bravery to defeat me!" Chibi-Earth smiled, looking vaguely like his father. His grey eyes twinkled.

"I know," he said. "That's why I'm gonna attack you! Chibi-Earth... ELEMENTS!" yelled the small child. The crescent moon that he had inherited from his mother, Queen Faith of the Moon Kingdom (she was Serenity's sister), appeared on his forehead. It began to glow with an intense light. The twin covered his face to protect himself from the light. As he did, he released Cal, who sprang up and fled the office. After the light faded, the twin was left with nothing in his grasp. Furious, he turned to Chibi-Earth.

"Brat! I will destroy you!" he exclaimed angrily. But Chibi-Earth was not afraid.

"No, I don't think you will. Arty G!" said Chibi-Earth. The twin grabbed onto Chibi-Earth, but just as he had lifted the Prince from the floor, Arty G flew right at the twin's face--and hit dead center. The twin yelled in pain and disposed of Chibi- Earth, who landed on his feet. He grabbed Arty G. "Arty Sphere Kitty Magic! Turn into something that I can get this guy with!" Arty G obeyed and transformed into... a slingshot? Chibi-Earth sweatdropped. Then he got an idea. Picking up the paperweight that Ozzy had used to bean Darry with before, Chibi-Earth placed it into the slingshot and fired. Needless to say, it did hit the twin, and he was rolling in agony on the floor. Chibi-Earth wondered why. All he had meant to do was hit him on the leg to impair his walking; however, it seemed that the young Guardian had bad aim, for he hit the twin higher than he had intended to. "At least he's down," said Chibi- Earth. Now I'd better go and help my friends!" He turned to exit the office, but he was met by Guardian Planet instead!

"Star Barage......EXPLODE!" yelled Guardian Star Princess. She smacked a twin upside the head with the crown that was on her head. "Wahoo! Am I good, or am I good?" she cried out joyfully. Adam sweatdropped.

"Oh, yes, you're good," he said. Then he turned to take care of a twin. "Celestial Mirage..... FADE!" A thick fog fell over the twin, suffocating it. "All right!" he said.

"Oh, stop boasting, Celestial Phantom!" whined Chibi Guardian. "Chibi Sugar Hearts..... BLEED!" The twin was bombarded with tiny pink hearts. When they hit the twin, they exploded, covering the enemy in a sugary pink goo. "Eeew..." said Star Princess. "Messy..." said Celestial Phantom.

Guardian Earth just shook his head. He faced the twin that he had to battle. "All right, you nasty twin," said the leader, "time to take you out!" he said. He took out his Earth Sceptor, held it up, and yelled, "Earth Sceptor.....DESPERATION!!!" The sceptor shot out powerful energy that destroyed the twin. "Yes!!!" the Guardian cried. Just then, a familiar voice rang out.

"Guardian Earth! Help!!!!"

Guardian Earth gasped. "Chibi-Earth! Oh, no, he's in trouble!" The leader ran to where he had heard the child's voice. The office! He burst inside, only to find a pleased-looking Guardian Planet, and a frightened Cameron.

"He made me untransform!" whimpered the Prince. "Then he said he was going to kill me and my Daddy!" The other Guardians arrived just then.

"Little Prince!" cried Star Princess. "Are you alright?" She went to get him, but Planet stopped her.

"Don't come any closer!" he yelled, revealing a ball of energy, ready to strike Cameron. "Or the kid gets it!" Star Princess stepped back. As she stepped back, Celestial Phantom stepped forward. "Celestial Mirage..... FADE!!" All of a sudden, the room was engulfed in a fog. Planet looked around the room, confused. Where had they disappeared to? Suddenly......

"Earth Sceptor.......DESPERATION!!"

Since Planet could not see, he didn't even realize that he was in danger until it was too late. Through the fog, he saw a bright light. He immediately recognized it as Guardian Earth's Earth Sceptor energy and turned to flee. Just as he turned, the energy shot past him. The energy hit the right side of Guardian Planet's face, creating a bloody gash right beneath his eye. Planet screamed in pain and fell to the ground, holding his wound. Blood seeped through his fingers and onto the office floor.

The fog cleared, revealing the damage that Guardian Earth had caused. Star Princess gasped and looked away. Celestial Phantom turned green and nearly lost his lunch, and Chibi Guardian just stared. Chibi-Earth yelled in terror and hid behind Star Princess. Bailey was lying on the ground bleeding. The shock of the attack had caused him to untransform. Guardian Earth walked over to Bailey and glared at him, his blue eyes piercing and unforgiving. Then he spoke.

"Bailey, you are hereby kicked out of the Guardian Guild. I'm letting you live so that you can run away from here. You know as well as I do that I could kill you right now. But I won't, Bailey, because I'm not like you. In fact, I--"

"Yeah, yeah," sneered Bailey. "Just go on."

"Alright," said the Guardian. He ripped the pendant off Bailey's neck and threw it. It hit the wall and broke into two pieces. "Now get up," he growled. "And let this confrontation be a warning, Bailey. Next time you decide to try that, I won't be so forgiving." Bailey got up and wiped the blood from his face. Before he left, he glared at Guardian Earth.

"'For truth and justice, awesome soldiers in Guardians' suits.......Guardian Earth! In the name of the Earth, I punish you!'" Bailey was mocking Guardian Earth's speech. "'For truth and justice, huh? If this is what you call truth and justice.....you are quite mad." He walked out.

"Oh...." sighed Guardian Earth. He untransformed; so did the others. Once he was back to normal again, Ozzi looked up. "Darry!" he gasped. "Come on! We've got to find Darry!!"

"I'm right here, Ozzi," said Darry. Ozzi looked up.

"Darry! Are you alright?"

"Yeah. And look who else I found!" Cal stepped forward. Cameron smiled.

"Daddy!" he yelled, flinging himself into his father's arms. Cal squeezed his son.

"Cameron! I'm so glad that you're alright!!"

From a distance, Bailey watched them, feeling sour. At least the bleeding had stopped, but the attack had left Bailey even more bitter towards Ozzi than he had been before. He had to find some way to destroy Ozzi. But how?

"Psst!" A voice sprang out of the darkness. Bailey turned around.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"Someone who wants to help you," the voice replied.

"If you want to help me," said Bailey angrily, "then you'd show yourself!"

"As you wish," said the voice. Its owner stepped out of the shadows. He was a fairly tall man, about 5 foot 7 inches. He had blonde hair that was tied up into a ponytail. He was wearing a grey uniform lined in red thread. He had boots that came up to his knees.

"Who are you?" asked Bailey. The man smiled.

"My name is Ledite," the man replied.

"Ledite?" repeated Bailey.

"What, is there an echo in here? Yes, my name is Ledite." Bailey suddenly recalled something that Ozzi had told him. He had said, 'Now, Bailey, the most important thing to remember about being a Guardian is 'Know Your Enemies.' The Negaverse is our most hated and feared enemy. They steal energy from innocent humans and use it for their own evil purposes. The Negaverse consists of three parts: the Queen, the Generals, and the Youma. The Queen of the Negaverse is Queen Beryl. She is the leader. The second part, the Generals, are the second most powerful people in the Negaverse, right under the Queen. They're the ones who command the third group, the Youma; the Youma are the ones that do the energy collecting. You can always tell someone is a General of the Negaverse because the last part of their names ends in 'ite.'' Bailey snapped back into reality. He stared at the one who called himself Ledite.

"So," said Bailey, "you're a General from the Negaverse." Ledite looked stunned.

"Yes," he replied. "How did you know that?" Bailey snorted.

"I'm not an idiot, I am--er, was--a Guardian. I know all about the Negaverse." Ledite smiled. "I see... you know, I've been watching you, Bailey, and I think that you should come with me and join the Negaverse. We still need a Third General," he said. "And a Fourth One, too," he muttered under his breath. H turned back to Bailey. "So what do you say?" he asked. "I promise that if you come with me, you can get what you want most: revenge on that guy you hate so much, what's his name again?"

"Ozzi," said Bailey.

"Yes, of course; Ozzi," replied Ledite. "Well? Are you coming or going?"

Bailey considered. It would be nice to get his revenge on Ozzi... but he had always been warned about the Negaverse. Bailey shook his head slightly. No, that was Ozzi talking; how did Bailey know if the Negaverse was bad or not? And since he hated Ozzi, why on Earth would he listen to him anymore? Besides, Ozzi had kicked Bailey out of the Guardian Guild forever, hadn't he? Bailey had no where else to go, so....

"Alright," he said. "I'm going with you to join the Negaverse."

"Excellent," smiled Ledite.

The Negaverse. The very idea of it sounded evil. But Bailey didn't mind. He would get his revenge after all; that's what Ledite had told him.

Ledite led Bailey down a long corridor. After about five minutes of walking in silence, Ledite announced that they were there. Bailey gazed up... and up, and up at two large doors made out of stone. Ledite knocked on the door. A woman's cold voice came through the door.

"You may enter."

The doors opened, and Bailey was faced with a throne room. Looking around the room, Bailey noticed that there appeared to be more or less human-looking figures standing around. But there was something different about these.... things. Oh sure, they looked human, but--

"Come forth, Ledite!!" the woman said. Her icy voice cut through Bailey, causing him to focus on the current situation. Following Ledite, he approached the throne on which the woman sat. She did not smile or welcome him. All she simply said was, "Name." Bailey blinked at her. The woman glared at him; his stomach churned. He hated it when people stared at him. "Name!" she said, sounding more severe. Bailey glanced at Ledite for help. Taking the hint, Ledite spoke up.

"His name is Bailey, my Queen," stated the General. The woman raised her eyebrows.

"Bailey," she repeated. "As in Guardian Bailey?"

Bailey finally found his voice. "Not anymore," he said. "I was, uh, kicked off the Guardian Guild." The Queen stared at Bailey, who glued his eyes to floor. If only she wouldn't stare at him like that!

"Why were you 'kicked off',' as you say?" she asked. "Because I tried to, um, do away with the King of the Earth and his son.... as well as the leader of the Guardians....." Bailey said, continuing to stare at the floor. A faint smile crossed the Queen's lips.

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes," Bailey mumbled. The Queen stood, a feat not seen by many.

"Ledite! Take our new friend Bailey to the Registration Room. We're going to make him one of us!"

"Yes, Queen Beryl," answered Ledite. He motioned to Bailey. "Come on," he said, smiling. Bailey followed him.

"Where are we going again?" he asked Ledite.

"To the Registration Room so that you can register as a General," responded Ledite. "If I know Queen Beryl, and I obviously do, she's already called Hematite and requested which General you're going to be."

"Hematite? Who's he?"

"Oh. He's the Registration Youma," said Ledite. Bailey looked confused.

"Wait. You just said 'Youma.' I thought only Generals could have names that ended in '-ite,'" said Bailey. Ledite sighed.

"We can," he said.

"Then why--" Bailey began, but Ledite cut him off.

"Don't worry about it," he said. Then they came to a dark grey building. "Well," said the 1st General, "here we are." A sign on the front door of the building said, "REGISTRATION," in big, bold letters. The two walked in. A Youma sitting at a desk looked up.

"Oh! Good afternoon, sir," she stammered, glancing at Ledite. "How may I help you?"

"Queen Beryl wishes this man to be registered. I must speak with Hematite," Ledite said to the Youma.

The Youma looked at Ledite. "Yes, sir," she said. She picked up a telephone (A telephone? thought Bailey. The Negaversians must have taken the idea form the humans....), dialed a number, and waited. Then... "Hello? Hematite? It's Morga...... yes, how did you know? Of-- yes of course, but... alright. Good-bye." Morga hung up. "Hem says he'll be with you in a moment."

Hem? thought Bailey. Just then, a man approached them. He looked like a human, but different somehow. He had auburn hair that was parted in the middle; he reminded Bailey of..... Ozzi?

The man stuck out his hand towards Bailey. "Hello, my name is Hematite. And you must be Bailey. Welcome." Bailey noticed that Hematite had said "Welcome" with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. "If you'll walk this way, we can begin the registration process," said Hematite. Ledite headed for a small section of the room that looked like a waiting room in a doctor's office.

"I'm going to wait here," he told Bailey. Bailey nodded, turned, and followed Hematite down the hall and into an office. When Bailey entered it, he gasped. Everything, every little detail, looked exactly like Ozzi's gym office! Hematite chuckled at the reaction.

"Looks familiar, eh? I'm not surprised," said Hematite, although he didn't say why. He just sat down at his desk and motioned for Bailey to take a seat in front of him.

"Now then, Bailey, Queen Beryl has already informed me that you are to become the 3rd General of the 9th Generation," said Hem.

"Wait. Generation?" asked Bailey, still trying to recover over his Ozzi- shock.

"Yes," replied Hem. "A Generation is what every set of Generals is. When the Negaverse first started out, those first four Generals were known as the 1st Generation. They trained the 2nd Generation, who trained the 3rd Generation, and so on. There's about one new Generation every couple of years or so," explained Hem.

"Oh," said Bailey. "So, you're saying that I'm going to be the 3rd General of the 9th Generation?"

"Precisely," answered Hem, a word that Ozzi used often. "Now that we've gotten that straight, what would you like to be called?"

"Huh? Called?"

"Yes. What would you like your name to be?"

Bailey was totally confused. "Name?" he asked. "But I have a name."

Hem laughed. "No, no, you need a General Name! You know, one that ends in -ite?" explained Hem. "Like Ledite, Hematite? Just pick one," he said, handing Bailey an extremely thick (and heavy!) book. "Just pick one out."

Bailey sweatdropped. Easier said than done. He chuckled nervously. "Um, why don't you just pick one out for me?" Hem blinked.

"You sure?" he asked. Bailey nodded. "OK, then....." Hem said, flipping through the pages. "How about......." He pointed to one. "Noicite?"

"Uh..." said Bailey, who had no idea how General names were picked, "sure."

"All right then!" exclaimed Hem. "Noicite it is!" He wrote it down on a file. "Have a nice day!"

"Well, wait a minute. Can I ask you something?" inquired the new General. Without waiting for an answer, he said, "Why do you have a General's name but you're not a General?" Hem sweatdropped.

"Well, it's like this: I was demoted, plain and simple," answered Hem.

"Yeah, but why?" Hem sighed.

"Let me let you in on a little secret," he said. "I'm not a purebred Negaversian; I'm... I'm a human, just like you. Yes, the Negaverse brought me here against my will and turned me into the 3rd General Hematite of the 9th Generation. One day, I was in command of a Youma attack on Earth. I guess it was my fault; I told the Youma to collect anyone's energy.... but anyway. I decided to follow one of the more competent Youma to see how she was doing. She was well-trained; she made her way towards the palace. I guess she was planning to collect the King's energy, but instead of finding the king, she found a boy, no more than 7 years old; he seemed to be....protecting the palace. He said he fought for truth and justice...." At this point in his story, Hem paused, squeezing his eyes shut, as if to block out whatever memory was to come next. "She went for him, like any Youma could. I knew I couldn't let her steal this boy's energy, so when she went to grab him, I......."

"You.......?" said Noicite. Hem took a deep breath and blurted,

"I killed her!"

Noicite gasped. "You what? Jeez, it was just a child! He wouldn't have--" Noicite stopped himself in midsentence. He thought about Hem's story and where it had taken place. The palace. A boy protecting it....he fought for truth and--

"Ozzi?! You... you killed one of your own people to save Ozzi?! Why?" Noicite demanded.

"Why don't you take a look around and tell me why I protected this boy," said Hem sardonically. Noicite did; he saw the room, so familiar. It looked so much like Ozzi's office. Noicite sat and thought. Why? Why would it look like that? He looked over at Hem. And noticed something he hadn't before. Hem had the exact same hairstyle as Ozzi, the exact same eyes as Ozzi's, except they were green. Hem had said he was a human. Suddenly it hit Noicite with full force.

"Oh, my God," he said.

"His.... father. You're his father!" Noicite exclaimed. Hematite nodded.

"Yes, I am," he said. "The next time you see my son, why don't you ask him about me? Now then, I think you'd better leave. Ledite will be wondering where you are. The registration process doesn't normally take this long." Noicite got up on shaky legs and walked out of the room. He could not even believe what he had just heard. He returned to the waiting room where Ledite still sat.

"Ledite," said Noicite. Ledite looked up and smiled.

"Hello, there. What name were you given?"

"Noicite," replied Noicite.

"Ah, Noicite. It suits you. What's wrong? You look pale, for a human, that is," said Ledite.

"I just found out Hematite's....... origins," explained Noicite. Ledite looked surprised.

"Really? He usually doesn't tell many people that. You're very lucky," said Ledite.

"Yeah. Real lucky," said Noicite sarcastically.

"Well, come on," said Ledite.

"Now where are we going?" asked Noicite. Ledite laughed.

"Why, to the doctor's of course. We need to make sure that you're healthy so that no one gets a disease."

So off to the doctor's they went. After the strange ordeal (which consisted of a few very painful shots, another thing Noicite detested), the two Generals returned to Queen Beryl.

"The Queen will have an assignment for you," Ledite explained, "so I guess I'll see you later." He left Noicite standing at Queen Beryl's throne room doors. He knocked.

"Come in," said Queen Beryl. Noicite watched as the large, foreboding doors opened; he walked inside and approached Beryl's throne.

"Ah, Noicite, I presume," said Beryl. "I have an assignment for you; I believe you'll enjoy it. I want you to go back down to the Earth and eliminate those pesky Guardians. They must not survive; otherwise my plan for universal domination will fail, and you must know how much I hate to lose."

"Yes, Queen Beryl."

"Now then, you must go to Earth; destroy the Guardians, but not the Prince or the King, you hear me? Those two are absolutely vital to my plans. Just get rid of the Guardian Guild.... by any means necessary!" said Queen Beryl.

Noicite bowed. "As you wish," he said. Then he disappeared.

Arriving on Earth, Noicite was shocked. He had had no idea how he had just disappeared like that; the strange, new powers must have come with the option of becoming a General, but he didn't remember anyone telling him about the powers. Oh, well, he thought. It'll be easier to kill the Guardians now.

Speaking of which......

Cameron sighed happily. That awful Bailey was gone, and now they were all safe. But Cameron noticed that his father wasn't taking any chances. He paced around nervously, as if he were trapped in a cage. Cal turned to Ozzi.

"Now you're sure that Bailey won't be coming back?" he asked for the 100th time.

Ozzi sighed. "Yes, Cal, for the 100th time, yes!" he said, exasperated.

"No, I think Cal's right to have his suspicions." Darry had spoken up after about sitting 15 minutes in silence. The other Guardians looked at Darry.

"Really?" asked Kristen.

"Really," replied Darry.

"Then we must be cautious at all times, and always look out for each other. We must protect the King and his family even more than we do now," said Adam. The other Guardians nodded in agreement.

"But what can just the six of us do?" said Kim. "Look at the difficult time we had with those freaky twins of his," she said, shuddering at the memory.

"Then you will need allies," said a voice from behind Cameron; the poor boy jumped up, frightened, and ran to his father. The other Guardians looked toward the sound of the voice--and gasped. From the corner of the room, Arty G sat. The cat- like ball had begun to levitate, as it normally did. But there was something strangely different about the cat-shaped toy. Its eyes had began to glow with a strange light. The ball floated over to Ozzi, who was just as astounded as the rest of his friends. There it stopped and hovered. A voice spoke from it.

"You will not be able to defeat Bailey all alone, correct?" it asked Ozzi.

"N-no, I don't think so," the puzzled leader said. The ball began to glow. It was suddenly engulfed in the light. When the light faded, a man was left standing in front of the astounded Guardians. He had yellow-orange eyes, with red hair that didn't go past the lobes of his ears. He also had a typical Guardian uniform on: a white tanktop that went past his hips and ended about a foot and a half from his knees. He wore pale green pants and black shoes.

"Who are you?" asked Ozzi.

"My name," said the man, "is Joe, the Supreme Guardian and Keeper of Time."

"Supreme Guardian?" said Kim. She looked over at Kristen, who had big, pink hearts in her eyes. Kim rolled her eyes. Just then, Cameron disengaged himself form his father and cautiously walked up to the newcomer. In fact, he seemed like he was the only calm one of the group; and he was.

"Hi, Arty G!" he chirped happily. Supreme Guardian smiled.

"Hello, Cameron," he said. Ozzi stared at Cameron.

"You mean to tell me that you know this guy?" he asked the boy.

"Well, yeah-- I mean, yes. I thought you knew him, too."

Ozzi sweatdropped. "Little Prince," he said, "how are we supposed to know him when you never told us about him?" Cameron blinked.

"Oh. Good point," he said. The whole room sweatdropped.

"Anyway," said Adam. He turned to Supreme Guardian. "You said something about allies?"

"Yes," replied the new Guardian.

"But.... there are only six--well, I guess it's seven--known Guardians, and we're them," said Kristen. Supreme Guardian smiled at her, causing her stomach to do flip-flops.

"That's where you are wrong. There are 10 of us." The whole room went wide-eyed.

"10 Guardians!" breathed Cameron. "Wow! That's..." He paused and counted on his fingers. "....a lot!" he finished.

"Who are the others?" asked Cal. Supreme Guardian looked around.

"Well, if they were here they could introduce themselves but I don't see them anywhere," mumbled Supreme Guardian. Just then, there was a crash. The group looked up, alarmed.

"Oh," said the new Guardian. "That would be them now. It sounds like they've cornered a Youma; come on, let's go help them!" The others looked at each other.

"Right!" they cried in unison.

Noicite was trapped, plain and simple. He had thought there were only 6 Guardians! How had there suddenly been three new ones? He barely had time to jump out of the way as a wave of water headed toward him.

Three girls had the General surrounded and were just about to finish him off, when all of a sudden, they heard....

"Celestial Mirage..........FADE!" and they were engulfed in a dense fog. The girls looked around; then the shorter of the three spoke up.

"Hey, look! It's Supreme Guardian!" The others turned and looked... yes, there was their colleague! But he also had several others with him as well. One of the taller ones, with the most beautiful robin's egg blue eyes, stepped forward.

"I suppose you three are Guardians as well?" he asked. The tallest girl strode forward.

"Yeah, we are," she said icily. "Who wants to know?" The man stepped into the light, so the girls had a better view of him.

"I do," he said, just as icily. "My name is Guardian Earth; I'm the leader of the Guardian Guild." The threesome gasped.

"Y-you are?" asked one.

"Yes," he replied. The tall girl's icy tone immediately thawed out. She stuck out her hand, and Guardian Earth grasped it firmly.

"Guardian Earth! We've been looking all over for you! I'm Guardian Comet, and these are my friends and fellow Guardians, Guardian Storm and Guardian Rain."

"Hello," said the two Guardians.

"We're glad to have you on the team. Allow me to introduce my friends. Guardian Moon, Guardian Star Princess, Celestial Phantom, and Chibi Guardian."

"Hey!"

"Oh, yes, and how could I forget: Guardian Chibi-Earth."

"That's better!"

The three other Guardians all welcomed their new friends. That's when the fog cleared.

Cal, who had followed his friends, saw the attacker first, and gasped. He tapped Guardian Earth on the shoulder.

"What is it, Cal? What, I don't see--" Then... "Oh. My. God!"

The others turned to see what could have caused their leader to react in such a way. Star Princess made a fist to keep from screaming; Chibi Guardian didn't. Celestial Phantom covered his ears to protect them from the horrible shrieking noise that was being emitted by her. Guardian Moon just stared, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. Chibi-Earth yelped and hid behind his father, as usual.

"What's wrong? Who is that?" asked Storm.

"It's Bailey!" cried Guardian Earth.

"No," corrected Moon. "It is Noicite."

The others turned to face Moon.

"What? Noicite?" asked Chibi-Earth. Moon nodded solemnly.

"That's what I said," replied the psychic. Guardian Earth stared at the General.

"Your friend is correct, as usual," said Noicite. "Once, I was called Bailey; but no more... no more." An energy ball was forming in his hand; he glared at Guardian Earth.

Supreme Guardian saw it first and reacted immediately.

"Bailey!" he cried. "BLESSED HEALING!" A white bubble surrounded the Guardians. But Moon was still cautious; he had had a vision of what was to come, and he didn't like what he saw. And he knew something that Supreme didn't.

"This won't work!" he cried. Just as he said this, Noicite threw the energy ball straight for the Guardian Leader. Guardian Earth, thinking he was protected, just smiled at the attack. But Guardian Moon jumped in front of his friend, and the blast hit the shield with such force and power that it simply broke. It hit Moon with full force. Noicite smiled; he had killed two birds with one stone. The other Guardians had scattered; none of them were hurt, at least physically. They all stared in disbelief; Noicite was powerful enough to--

"Hey!" Chibi-Earth's voice rang out. "Look!" He pointed to where the blast had struck. The other Guardians turned and saw two figures. One was lying on the ground unhurt. The second one was hanging over the first, his eyes glowing with psychic power. Noicite's eyes widened.

"H-how can that be? I hit them head-on!" he cried. So he had... and there was something that they had all missed, including Noicite. Moon wasn't hanging over Guardian Earth because that was the way he had been protecting him.... he was hanging over his best friend because he was bleeding to death! Noicite smiled; the Guardians gasped.

Guardian Earth, who had been knocked unconcious by the blast, woke up. He felt something warm and wet on his face. He out his hand up to his face, took it away, and nearly passed out when he looked at it; it was covered in blood. He looked to see where it was coming from, and came face-to-face with his best friend's back, which had a large wound caused by the attack. Moon untransformed by his own will, breathing hard. He turned, looked at Guardian Earth, and weakly smiled.

"Don't give up," Darry said. "Together, you can beat him... I know... you can...."

Guardian Earth's eyes welled up with tears. "No," he said. "Don't go. We need you..." Darry shook his head.

"No you don't. You have.... the others...." he said softly. Then he collapsed on to the ground. His heart beat for a few seconds.... and then it did not beat any longer.

Guardian Earth could not stop the tears from coming. He hugged Darry and cried. Then he turned to Noicite, his eyes burning with hatred, all traces of tears gone.

"How could you?" he angrily whispered. Noicite just smiled; his murder of Darry had hit home, and he knew it.

Guardian Earth turned to his fellow Guardians. "Let's nail this guy," he said. He didn't even have time to try and attack Noicite.

Another blast of power was headed straight for him! He turned around and gasped, shutting his eyes tight. Then he remembered what Darry told him: Don't give up. Guardian Earth's eyes snapped open. He faced the blast head-on; Noicite cried triumphantly. And then.... Guardian Earth was simply gone. He had been surrounded by fog, as had the other Guardians.

Safely inside the fog, Guardian Earth said, "Thanks, Celestial Phantom. Now it's time to repay our friend Noicite; a life for a life." He started to walk out of the fog, when Supreme Guardian spoke.

"Please wait," he said. The others turned to face him.

"What is it, Supreme Guardian?" asked Comet.

"Please...I beg of you...let me handle this by myself." The Guardian Guild looked at Supreme Guardian with wide eyes.

"What?!" gasped Earth.

"Please....I must tell you this now....Bailey and I go way back, to the time of our childhoods. He and I were the best of friends, inseperable! We did everything together. But one night, Chronos, the God of Time and my father, came to me in my dream. He said, 'Joseph.....you are the chosen Guardian of Time.....Supreme Guardian. You must come with me now and join me in the Gates of Time!' At that moment, I woke up and noticed two strange objects on my bed...they were my Guardian Talisman and my Time Staff; I do not have this Staff with me now because I gave it to my daughter, Setsuna. She is Sailor Pluto, the Sailor Scout of Time. In times far from now, the rest of the Sailor Soldiers will appear...they are very much like us Guardians.

"Anyway, back to my story. As soon as I took these two objects, I was completely transformed forever....and I never saw my very best friend Bailey ever again. I didn't even have a chance to say good-bye. I have not seen my friend since we were 7 years of age....30 years ago...it has been awhile; I would very much like to talk to him again. That is why I must face Noicite alone." The Guardians stared.

"Supreme Guardian....I am so sorry....but, we cannot allow Noicite to live. He is our enemy; he must be destroyed at all costs!" said Earth. The other hung his head; when he looked up again, there were tears in his eyes.

"Then I must not stay here and witness your so-called acts of truth and justice," he said sadly. Arty G floated up, and in a flash of light, Supreme Guardian had gone back into the white sphere, which disappeared. The other Guardians sighed.

"Arty G...." whispered Chibi-Earth.

"Well, then we must do this without him!" said Star Princess.

"OK, Guardians...diversion time!" said Guardian Rain. The Guild huddled into a circle and discussed what they should do. When they had formulated a plan, Guardian Earth strode foward out of the thick fog, but away from Noicite's vision.

Guardian Earth snuck up behind Noicite, weilding his Earth Sceptor. Noicite thought he heard something, so he almost turned around when he heard, "Hey, Noicite!" and he turned his head only to see the other Guardians. He smiled; Now I can kill them all in just one blast! he thought. He could kill Ozzi later, but for now the Guardian Guild was his. He powered up an attack-- and heard a most familiar voice call out, "Earth Sceptor.....DESPERATION!!!" His eyes widened, and he turned around. Guardian Earth glared at him.

"Evil never wins, Noicite. Don't you know that by now?" asked Guardian Earth. Noicite stared at the Sceptor and at the energy that was released, which was now coming his way; it was the same thing that had given him that scar. Rage suddenly flared up inside him; he would not allow himself to be destroyed by Guardian Earth! He put up a sheild and blocked the Sceptor's energy, then flung his own attack at Guardian Earth, knocking the Sceptor out of his hand and on to the ground. He glared at Guardian Earth. "This ends now!" he yelled.

Star Princess saw what he was about to do. She turned to Chibi- Earth.

"Chibi-Earth, I think your father's in danger," she lied. "Go and protect him!"

Chibi-Earth nodded. "Right!" he said, and ran off. When she was sure he was gone, she said to her fellow Guardians, "Let's go protect our Leader." They all began to power up their various attacks. Noicite heard them. Without even turning around, he fired a blast so powerful that the Guardians were all dead before they even hit the ground. Guardian Earth stared at their lifeless forms, then he looked at Noicite. He couldn't even speak he was so shocked.

"Like I said," glared Noicite, "this ends now!!" There was a blast of sound and a sdtab of pain. Guardian Earth's eyes widended; he saw his own blood come forth from his body. Before he fainted, he looked at where he had been hit: his heart.

Chibi-Earth heard the blast. He turned and ran back to his friends. He saw that they were all lying on the ground. Thinking that they were asleep, he tapped Star Princess. She did not move. He looked at her more closely; her face was grey, as grey as his eyes! The rest of them were like that as well. Chibi-Earth knew in that instant that his friends were dead. Then he heard Noicite laughing. He looked at the General and gasped. Guardian Earth was slumped over, dead.

"No," he whispered. If there was one thing Chibi-Earth couldn't stand, it was when someone hurt (or in this case murdered) his friends. Knowing that he'd be stronger as Prince Cameron, the boy untransformed. Since Noicite was laughing, he didn't notice Cameron sneaking up behind him. Cameron wasn't aiming for him, however; he was aiming for Guardian Earth. Once Cameron reached his friend, he grabbed the talisman off of the Guardian's neck; he forced it open and took the Silver Earth Crystal, which Ozzi possessed, from inside.

There was a legend that Ozzi had told Cameron many times before. It went like this:

Many years from now, the light will be swallowed up by the dark, and be completely transformed. The new darkness now aims for the light; it must be destroyed at all costs. The darkness destroys all that is left of the light, except for one tiny spark. This Silver Earth spark will be combined with a new light, the Crystal of Golden Moon, and together they will destroy that which is dark.

Cameron had always hated hearing that legend; it had been so boring. But now he knew that the legend was true. The light, Bailey, had been completely transformed when he joined the dark, the Negaverse. The new darkness did destroy the light; now all Cameron had to do was somehow find the Golden Moon Crystal and fuse it together with the Silver Earth. Where is it? he thought. Suddenly, the location of the Moon Crystal popped into his head. His mother; of course! She was Queen Serenity's sister, and, being the older of the two, had inherited the Crystal from Cameron's grandmother! He raced at top speed to reach his palace home.

Once there, Cameron went to find his mother. He would simply ask her for the Crystal and then--

No, thought the Prince. There isn't enough time to find and ask her! I'll have to take the Crystal myself! Cameron knew where the Moon Crystal was, so he ran as quickly as possible to the room where his mother kept it. He lifted it carefully from its velvet pillow. Then he went back to where his friends were.

"This is wonderful!" Noicite crooned. "Now the Guardians are dead, and now there is no one left to fight!"

"You're wrong!" a small voice rang out. Noicite turned and saw Cameron; he was holding something in each hand.

"Oh? And just exactly how am wrong?" asked the evil General.

"Because," answered the small boy. "I'm here to stop you!" He lifted both his hands in the air and opened them; Noicite gasped. The boy had the Silver Earth and Golden Moon Crystals! Noicite remembered the legend about those things from when he was a Guardian. Uh-oh, he thought.

Cameron held up the Crystals as high as his arms would allow. He felt a strange presence come over him, and he suddenly knew what to say.

"Crystals Converge!" he yelled out. As soon as Cameron finished saying it, the Crystals lifted from his hands and into the air. A strange pink light surrounded them, and when it cleared, the newly-formed Crystal fell into Cameron's hands. He stared at it.

Could it be? thought Noicite. It must be! It was the Emperium Silver Crystal, the result when the Silver Earth Crystal and the Golden Moon Crystal were fused. The Emperium Silver Crystal... the most powerful Crystal in the entire universe, and this brat had it?! Queen Beryl must have this Crystal, he thought. Then she can take over the universe!! But first I'd better live to tell her about it...

"I don't have time to play with you right now, little boy!" he called out to the Prince. "I've got to go tell my Queen about this new discovery!" With that, he disappeared.

"Coward!" shouted Cameron, but it did no good. Noicite was gone.

"I see you have fulfilled your purpose," said Beryl. "And now you say that the Silver Earth and Golden Moon Crystals have been fused together, creating the most powerful Crystal in the entire universe? I must have it! And another thing... I want you to capture King Calvin and Prince Cameron. They will be of use to me in the future."

Noicite bowed. "Of course, my Queen."

Everyone, especially Cal, was crying at the funeral. The Guardians had been the Earth Kingdom's only source of protection, and now they were gone. Well, there was one left, but how could one two-year-old boy be strong enough to take on the entire Negaverse? The subjects of the Kingdom were frightened.

As Cameron looked up at the night sky, he vowed silently to himself that he would protect his home by any means necessary. As long as he was around, he was a threat to the Negaverse. Good, he thought. I'll show those Nega-creeps. One day, I'll destroy them; it is my destiny. And I will never, ever let them take me or any of my family members over to the darkness.... over to the Negaverse!