Basic Oblivion

Chapter 1

Outside of Amext, a large metropolis surrounded by a forest that had grown to become a tourist destination, sat a graveyard. It was in this graveyard that a girl of about eighteen stood in front of a tombstone with flowers. She had long black hair and was wearing a pair of black shorts and a gray tube top with a pair of brown boots that almost reached her knees.

"I thought I'd find you here," said a voice. The girl turned around to see a boy of the same age standing a few feet behind her. He wore a white suit and a purple ascot with a pair of black dress shoes. His hair was long and black but turned gray as it came over one of his eyes the other had a scar that ran over it.

"Yeah well, I still miss him," she said.

"We all do, but there's no changing what happened," the boy said. "Come on, Sam, we should go. Lucas says he has something that he wants us to see."

Samantha Carlyle sighed and took one last look at the grave, which belonged to one of their friends, Justin O'Neal, who had died after a fight with his clone, Striker. "Alright, Kylan," she said. "Lead the way."

Kylan Valkyrie nodded as he led Sam out of the graveyard and through the city. The two of them walked past the shopping district, having to weave their way through the crowds of people walking in and out of the different shops. Kylan led Sam to the edge of the city where they waited by a small pine tree.

"Well? Where is he?" Sam asked after waiting for a few minutes.

Kylan just shrugged, but jumped with surprise when the ground beneath their feet began to lower into the ground. It didn't stop until it had become a ramp leading down to the doors of an elevator. Sam walked down to the doors and pushed the button to call the elevator. Once the doors opened they found a boy of eighteen standing inside. His short dark hair almost touched his shoulders and he wore a polo shirt and jeans.

"Is this what you wanted to show us, Lucas?" Sam asked.

Lucas Mastin shook his head. "This is only part of it," he said as he motioned for them to join him. When they stepped inside the doors closed. There was a panel of buttons and he pressed one that was in the middle. "The rest is down below us."

When the doors had opened again, they were in what looked like a living room. There was a large couch in the middle of the room facing a large television screen. Spread out on either side of the TV were smaller screens that showed a simulated image of the outside so that they looked like they were windows.

"Well?" Lucas asked. "What do you think?"

"What is this?" Kylan asked.

"I built us an underground base that we can live in," Lucas explained. "I figured that after we were nearly invaded by the Nightmare Zone, it might be a good idea for all of us to live closer. That way we can be a better team."

Kylan rose his eyebrow. "And Porter agrees with this plan?" he asked.

Lucas looked away. "Not exactly," he said. "When I tried to tell him about it he kind of just laughed at me and walked away."

"That sounds about right," Sam said. "After all we've been through, it's not surprising that Porter would go back to acting the way he was before."

"I would've thought that he would at least change a little bit," Lucas said. "Clearly, I was wrong."

"Well, you have to admit, without Striker around, there isn't really any big threat left to fight," Kylan said. "Porter's all about fighting, and without a threat to fight he can't really do anything until school starts up again. He probably just thinks of this as wasting his time."

"Probably," Lucas said quietly before changing the subject. "Anyways, the entire place consists of several floors, each one has a different purpose. As you can see, this floor is where the living quarters are located. Besides this, there are floors for training, vehicles, a laboratory for building new gear, and other things like that."

"Impressive," Sam said. "So, how long did this take you?"

Lucas' head lowered. "I spent all summer building this," he said sadly. "If I didn't make some droids to help speed up the process, it could've taken me years."

"Well, you did a great job," Kylan told him.

"Thanks!" Lucas said happily. He looked at Sam and noticed something. "Where's Alpha?"

Alpha had once belonged to Justin, who left him in Sam's care before his death. A large wolf around the size of a lion that came from a forest where natural magic energy had merged with the wildlife, making them stronger, faster, and larger than any normal animal.

"He went hunting," Sam said. "He's been going out a lot lately. It helps distract him from thinking about...you know."

Lucas felt sad thinking about his friend. "Yeah," he said. "I know it's been a while, but the wounds are still fresh."

Sam nodded. "Trust me, I know," she said, wiping away a tear from her eyes before it could fully form. "I wish there was something we could've done. Change what happened so that we didn't lose him."

Kylan put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "Believe me, there's no turning back the clock," he said. "The only thing that we can do now is accept that he's not coming back and move on. It might sound harsh, but it's true. We shouldn't let what happened bring us down, we should let the sacrifice strengthen us so that we can better handle whatever comes at us next."

Sam shook her head, forcing the resurfacing memories back. "Anyways, Lucas, have you had any luck with that other project I asked you about?" she asked.

"Not really," Lucas said.

"What project would this be?" Kylan asked, lost about what they were referring to.

"When we returned from the Nightmare Zone, Sam asked me to see if I couldn't find out where the Dark Magic Host was," Lucas said. "Since they have a similar magic to...you know, I've been using his energy signature as a base to try and locate any similarities. So far, there haven't been any successful matches."

"Why are we looking for them?" Kylan asked.

Sam looked down. "I'm worried," she said. "I think that we should find whoever it is that's hosting the Dark Magic Entities and see if we can't get them to join us. If there is going to be another threat like Striker, then we should have someone who can help us fight that threat."

Kylan thought for a moment. "Makes sense," he said. "The only problem is what kind of person this host might be. What will we do if this host turns out to be our enemy?"

"Then we will just have to stop him," Lucas said. "We won't have a choice otherwise."

"It may not be that easy," Kylan said. "This is a person hosting one of the lost magics, darkness to be exact. He's probably a heartless killer with a horrible bloodlust."