“Lord of these dreams that terrify...”
     “Oh god, here he goes again!”
     “Sword of the cold and darkness...”
     “EVACUATE THE STORE!!”
     “Free yourselves from the heaven’s bonds. Unite with my body, unite with my power, and let us walk the path to destruction together.”
     “Save yourselves. Get as far from here as possible!”
     “POWER THAT CAN SMASH EVEN THE SOULS OF THE GODS!”
     “We’re all doomed. We’re all doomed. We’re all doomed!”
     “RAGNA... BLADE!”
     The spell caster stood on the counter of a register, his eyes glowing blood red, a crimson aura about him. His store shirt was hanging from a ceiling fixture, small flames still burning from where he had set it ablaze with a fireball. As he shouted the command words for this spell a large sword of dark energy formed in his hands. This black blade was the Ragna Blade, the sword of the Lord of Nightmares, and one hell of a powerful spell. The caster as dressed in a white denim shirt with a black T-shirt beneath it, somewhat baggy black jeans, and black boots. His dark brown hair stood on end, the usually neat pony tail in back streaming out behind him.
     “You are going to pay for what you have done to me,” he said, smiling wickedly at the two baggers and the store manager who had irritated him. A maniacal laugh echoed forth from his throat, sending chills through all who heard it.
     “Alex, why are you doing this?” one of the baggers asked. He had jet black hair which hung down past his eyes, deep blue eyes, and a mustache and goatee of the same black. He was dressed in baggy black jeans which were incredibly loose fitting, and wore a black sweatshirt over his store shirt. His half melted name badge read “Carey”.
     “You have pissed me off for the last time,” Alex said, a wicked smile on his face. “You damned mazoku, let’s just say I’m getting some payback for all of the times that you disappeared when I needed help.”
     “Alexander Mathias West, you stop this right now,” the store manager said. A moment later the end of the black blade was at his throat.
     “Well Mister Watkins, I guess you know why you’re here. You are going to get it for giving me such crappy hours and other irritating things like that. These store shirts, for example, are incredibly horrendous and simply must go.” A simple snap of his fingers ignited the boxes of shirts out in the back room. Another snap made the shirts people were wearing disintegrate into dust. He launched another fireball at his own shirt, renewing the flames so that it was reduced to ashes in seconds.
     “And why am I here?” the third person, a young man with brilliant blonde hair, asked.
     “You are here Jason simply because you’re a scruffy nerfhurder who needs to be taught a lesson,” Alex cackled, a large energy dome forming around the store to keep people out. The Ragna Blade disintegrated following the formation of the dome, and a new spell was chanted.
     “Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hands! LET THE FOOLS WHO STAND BEFORE ME BE DESTROYED BY THE POWER YOU AND I POSSESS!!”
     A large concentration of dark energy formed between his hands as he cast the spell. Those inside of the store prepared for the end when the sound remarkably like a pager going off filled the air. Alex looked confused for a moment before looking at his wristband. A holographic representation of the area appeared above it, with several red dots appearing that represented trouble. He looked out the window to see portals out of subspace opening and what appeared to be the living dead emerging from them.
     “Bloody peachy,” he muttered, absorbing the energy from the Dragon Slave. He turned to the horrified people and said, “You wait here. I’ll be back to handle you later.”
     “But what are you going to do?” Scott asked.
     “My other duty... protecting the world from scum like those things.”
     With that he leapt into the air and phase shifted through the wall, emerging in time to see his dark dome vanish like the morning fog. Terrified people were running left and right, unable to decide where they wanted to go. Portal after portal opened, living dead coming forth to exact their revenge upon the living. Something wrapped around his legs, pulling him to the ground in a very ungraceful manner. He turned his head to see one of the reanimated people staring at him, tendrils where the right arm should be.
     “We’re back to exact our revenge on you Jan,” the person said.
     “Who the hell is Jan?” Alex asked as a psychic knife formed in his hand. He hacked his legs free of the tendrils before back flipping to his feet. When he looked around he noted that the creatures were all coming after him.
     “You made us who were are, Jan,” another person said, this one having once been a beautiful young woman, “or have you forgotten?”
     “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but I’m outta here!”
     Alex began a charge at the weakest part of their line, falling forward to begin a series of rapid handsprings. When he reached the wall he bounded high into the air, elegantly spinning and flipping so that he would land on his feet facing the direction he wished to travel in. Once on the ground he noted several unmarked black SUVs heading in his direction.
     ‘Crap!’ he said mentally, ‘I don’t need them, not now!’
     “Alexander West, you’re coming with us,” boomed over the PA system of one of the vehicles.
     “Ya gotta catch me first,” Alex said as he took a golden ring the size of a bracelet from his shirt pocket. This he held aloft, the ring glowing a moment before he took off running at the speed of sound. When he was a safe distance away he skidded to a stop, held his right hand aloft, and shouted, “Star Crystal Power.... Transform!”
     A column of light surrounded him, his body turning to energy as his clothes melted away. Rings of ice and stone surrounded his wrists, shrinking inward to form his bracers. A wave of light washed over his body starting with his arms, forming the black body suit which he wore under his armor. An amulet in the shape of a sunburst formed on his chest, and from that came a mass of ribbons that wrapped around his upper body, forming his armor.
     When he finished his transformation he held his hands above his head, a small staff forming. The staff quickly increased in size, a large blade forming at one end, a smaller one at the opposite end.
     “I need to get back there and end this,” he said as he pulled a jet board from subspace. “I sure hope my center of gravity hasn’t shifted suddenly or else I’m sunk.”
     As he approached the parking lot atop the jet board he noted that the undead were coming towards him in groups of two or three. He dragged the blade of his weapon along the ground before swinging it forward, creating a shockwave that tore between some of the creatures before him, decimating them utterly in its wake. He blew past the destroyed party, using one in front of him as a ramp to get some air.
     Once airborne he held the large blade of his weapon towards the sky, which darkened like night instantly. Dark energy circled around the blade, eventually forming a globe of inky blackness. He swung downward and shouted, “Giga Flare!”, a dark thunderbolt leaping from his weapon and striking amid the undead. The bolt exploded into an expanding wave of flames and energy which struck the undead beings in its wake and utterly eradicated them.
     As he came down to land, though, multiple tendrils came at him from all directions, wrapping around the jet board and pulling it apart.
     “Washu is definitely going to be pissed off about that one,” he said as he leapt free, “without the board I’m less maneuverable, but I still have one ace up my sleeve.”
     He produced a winged microphone, which he quickly clipped to his left ear. Thusly equipped he shouted, “Saturn Star Power... Make UP!”

Data on subject: Alexander Mathias West
     mutant designation: Phase
     current designate: unknown
     Age: 22
     Height: 5’11”  weight: 155 lbs.
     D.o.B. June 22
     abilities: power copying, phase shifting, teleportation, dimensional shifting / realm dancing. Also able to summon the phoenix, though power has not been manifested recently. Commands elemental abilities, and an tap into the power of the astral plane. Also possesses strong magical powers rivaling those of Lina Inverse.
     history: Powers manifested at age of 15. A group of his friends also discovered their powers around that time. Formed a group called the Mutant Crew, who added more members from time to time and battled the forces of evil. Alex’s ability to open portals between dimensions brought more adventures to them. Gained sailor powers when band director was switched with a Negaverse youma. Powers have increased in strength through the years, and have ceased in growing at his current level.
     Mother and father are from the time of the Silver Millennium, 1000 years ago, and may explain his strange powers. Has an uncle in Manhattan who does research into the paranormal. Sister living in California has no abilities so to speak, or has hidden them well.
     Close allies: Andrew McAnirlin, designated Orion; Adderson Martin, designated Eruption; Mackenzie Andrews, designated Heatwave; Nicholas Andrews, designated Coldsnap.
-list more? <Y/N>
-end of file.

     As the vehicle drove from the parking lot a holy beam of light shone upon the remains of the grocery store. Several more beams shone upon the grocery store, and a host of cherubs and angels fluttered down and immediately began to reconstruct the store. A moment later the store stood as it had been before Alex’s blast had leveled it. The angels vanished following their task, leaving three very stunned people within the store.
     “... the hell just happened?” Carey asked, finishing a thought that he had begun with, “We’re going to hell!”, but was interrupted by his annihilation.
     “Are we dead?” Jason asked, blinking in disbelief.
     “I don’t think we’re dead,” Scott said as a small card floated down from the ceiling and alighted in his hand. He looked at it and read, “Green dream - one time auto reanimate.”
     “What does that mean?” Carey asked as he had one land on his head.
     “They must have been built into the structure the last time the store needed repairs.”
     Cards rained down from the ceiling a moment later, a steady snow of them going throughout the store. The three stared in awe until the final card finished its downward descent, when silence fell upon the store.
     After several minutes Carey said, “Those... are a lot of cards.”
     “And all those were connected to the green dreams,” Scott said, “which means that somebody was looking out for us.”
     “Haven’t Alex and his friends caused the destruction in the past?” Jason asked. Scott nodded. “Wouldn’t it make sense to insure himself against any trouble caused by destruction to the store?” Scott and Carey nodded. “And wasn’t he going to fire off something very large and destructive?” Scott and Carey nodded yet again.
     “Do you think we lucked out on that one?” Carey asked.
     “Most likely,” Scott said, “but the big question remains, and that is what do we do about Alex?”

     During transit a very groggy and disoriented Alex awoke, blinking blearily at his surroundings. When he finally realized what was going on he began to incant a spell.
     “East winds that blow have you as their source, into my hands now ignite all their force,” he chanted, a globe of flame energy forming in his hand. Before he could finish the spell formation the circlet, collar, and bracelets he was outfitted with began to glow, electricity running through his body. He cried out in pain before keeling over, smoke rising from him.
     “I see you’ve discovered our lovely additions to your outfit,” M’s voice said before giggling evilly.
     “Gonna take more than that.... to stop me,” Alex mumbled as he sat up, his eyes beginning to glow, “I call upon the thirteen signs of the zodiac to grant me great strength in my hour of need...”
     An even stronger surge of electricity ran through his body, leaving him in a twitching mass on the floor of the van.
     “He doesn’t give up, does he?” D asked, a little stunned.
     “Never give up.... never surrender...” Alex muttered as he struggled to sit up. He sat cross legged and looked at the window through which he was being watched. After a few minutes he said, “O.K., you got me. Now what the hell do you want with me?!”
     “Just calm yourself,” D said, “you’ll find out soon enough.”
     Several more minutes of silence followed. M eventually turned around in her seat and said, “So, do you want to know who Jan is?”
     “It might be helpful,” Alex replied, “since I haven’t got a clue as to who he is or why everyone keeps calling me by his name.”
     “Well, according to our data Jan Arris was a powerful elemental user, meaning any and all elements were at his disposal and command.”
     “Sort of like my ring attacks and Shamanist spells,” Alex said, absorbing all he was told.
     “Yes, exactly. The thing is that Jan came from the future and entered the past about ten years ago, and the trip really messed with his head. The people who took him in and the people who lived in their building met their demise in a fire which Jan accidentally created. Being killed in such a manner was too much for them so they resolved revenge...”
     “How do I fit into this?”
     “Well, to put it simply, Jan is your great, great, great, great, great, great grandson, and possesses such a similar genetic code to yours that they zeroed in on your today instead of Jan.”
     Alex blinked at her a few times, trying to fully comprehend all that he was being told. He finally said, “So my distant relative from the future is on the side of evil?”
     “Not per say,” D said, “the trip through time really screwed with his brain, since he hadn’t been planning to come here.”
     “Oy vey. So now what?”
     “You been feeling moodier than usual lately? Somewhat unstable mentally and emotionally? Always on edge?”
     “Ya might say that. I nearly nuked the store today.”
     “Technically you did.”
     Alex sighed. “I’m glad I installed all of those green dreams after the last time I destroyed part of the store.”
     “You want to know anything more about Jan?”
     “Sure. What was his designate?”
     “Elemental.”
     Alex’s jaw dropped, since he was about to change his mutant designate from Phase to Elemental. After a moment he said, “Oh my.”
     “Something wrong? You look pale.”
     “I was about to change my designate to that... which is really freakin warped.”
     “Expect more trouble,” D said, “Jan’s spirit has possessed you, which is why your moods are swinging and powers are fluctuating.”
     “Say what?” Alex said, arching an eyebrow.
     “He said your body is possessed by Jan’s spirit,” M said, repeating D more or less word for word, “Why, is something wrong?”
     “I know about the mood swings, but what do you mean by power fluctuations?”
     D sighed and scratched his head. “You remember unlocking your limit skill in the fight with the undead?” Alex nodded. “Well, there was a fluctuation in your dome... resulting in a backlash that toasted the store, then tore a cross shaped swath in the parking lot.”
     Dead silence followed since Alex was in shock from this. Finally he said, “O.... kay. Like I said before, thank goodness for the green dreams.”
     “What are green dreams?” M asked, “I’ve never heard of them.”
     “They were before your time,” D said, “in an attack that netted the MiB the ranks of warriors and Sailor Senshi a couple of years back our forces were equipped with rings called green dreams. Attached to each was a tiny card that stated their purpose: One time auto reanimate. Each soldier possessed ten of these items. However, they had one weakness...”
     “High pitched noises,” Alex said, “which is what we found out by accident and used to our advantage.”
     “After that we didn’t use green dreams any more,” D finished, “but if still puzzles me how you got so many of them.”
     Alex smiled and said, “I have some friends who sent them to me.”
     “Interesting,” M said, “very interesting.”
     “We’re home,” D said, snapping M from her inquisitive mood. Both put on sunglasses, and Alex shielded his eyes as they passed through a blinding light, which was their entrance into the oddly illuminated underground passageway to the MiB headquarters. As the passageway twisted and turned about them D said to M, “Put our guest down for a nap.”
     “What the?” Alex said as electricity coursed through his body. Unconsciousness enveloped him.

     *giggle*
     “Who are you?”
     *giggle giggle*
     “Who the hell are you, and why are you in my mind?!”
     *giggle* “Hello gampa. I miss you.”
     “Jan?”
     A four year old with cranberry red hair appeared in the darkness, dressed in an oversized blue T-shirt with a brown teddy bear on it and knee length blue shorts, his ice blue eyes dancing around with curiosity. Nearby Alex’s astral body materialized, clad in full battle regalia.
     “Gampa, why are you dressed like that?” Jan asked in his 4 year old manner.
     “And why are *you* dressed like that?” Alex asked, arching an eyebrow, “I know you’re at least 16, if not older.”
     The 4 year old glowed for a moment before the form shifted and stretched, becoming an 18 year old with the same cranberry hair, except with flame red and blonde streaks, piercing ice blue eyes, and a couple of tattoos on the upper right arm.
     “This bitter for ya gramps?!" he snarled, the comment dripping with sarcasm, “Ya know, your mind is rather a boring place to be cooped up in!”
     “Nobody asked you to enter or to stay,” Alex replied, anger dripping in his words, “So why don’t you just leave?!”
     “I’m not going to leave until there’s nothing left of your mind!”
     Jan summoned a large fireball, taking aim at Alex, who summoned a large scythe of ice.
     “Gimme your best shot, you deviation on the genetic code!” Alex growled, his eyes glowing blood red, “Grim Reaper!”
     “Heaven’s Fire!”

     Outside of the chamber containing the spell caster people in black suits went about their daily business like nothing out of the ordinary was happening. M and D sat in a small cubicle overlooking the circular chamber, both grinning smugly at their success.
     “Man, this is rich!” M said, laughing her ass off, “We so totally screwed with his head.”
     “Girl, you got it going on!” D said, giving his partner a high 5. “He’s going to be so messed up from the head job we’re giving him he won’t know his own name when we’re done.”
     As the two continued to laugh X entered, pale as a ghost. “Guys, I have some bad news and worse news,” he said.
     “What is it?” M asked, “We have our weapon. What else could go wrong?”
     “Yeah. V’s psycho diving him and acting like Jan would. His brain is going to be so cooked that he’ll be easy to control.”
     “V’s losing the battle and he’s waking up,” X said.
     “He can’t wake up. We have his powers locked with the bracelets and the chamber keeps him asleep,” M said confidently.
     “Then explain that,” X said, pointing to the chamber, fear in his voice.
     M and D looked out to see the green fluid within the chamber bubbling and boiling, a red aura around the mostly naked young man inside, his long hair streaming out behind him. His eyes snapped open, glowing blood red as the energy output increased. The glass of the chamber began to crack, pressurized fluid pouring from the cracks. In one elegant explosion the chamber shattered, the person within levitating above the chaos. All connections to him popped free, including the power inhibitors. A wave of light washed over his body starting at his feet, forming his armor and outfit.
     “From the silent star, Saturn, a warrior to protect the light. I am the silent angel, Warrior Saturn!”
     “And we are so totally screwed,” D said as he grabbed M’s hand and dragged her from the room towards a hallway to an escape vehicle. As they ran the wall in front of them exploded, Saturn standing in the smoke and chaos.
     “Just where do you think you’re going?!” he demanded, his eyes still glowing, “You want global domination with me as a weapon, right?”
     “That’s right,” D said, drawing an ice gun from his coat pocket, “and we’ll have you as our weapon, no matter what it takes!”
     “Right. Oh Jan, time to come out and play.”
     A circle of flames formed between them, and from it stepped the person who had appeared in Alex’s mind, clad in an outfit of black with some violet here and there.
     “You called for an ass kicker?” Jan asked Alex, grinning evilly at M and D.
     “You... you really exist?” M said, fear dripping in her voice.
     “That he does,” Alex said, also grinning evilly at the two MiB agents before him, “I found him... or his mind, locked away in an old stasis tank somewhere under the building, and then I released him. And you know what? You’re absolutely right. Our genetic codes really are similar, even if he is from the future.”
     “And I’m not too happy about how I was treated or how you treated my ancestor,” Jan said, his eyes glowing deep grin as rings of fire blinked into existence around his body. He held his right hand above his head, the rings centering above his palm to form a large disc of flame energy, “Flame Cutter!”
     He hurled the disc forward, sending it into a nearby wall, where it split into multiple discs that slashed the wall asunder with a simple thought. M and D trained their guns on Jan, only to have their weapons squeezed and crushed by a bubble of concentrated gravity.
     “You... you’re monsters,” D said as he turned tail and ran, only to wind up being levitated from the ground and held in place.
     “Say Alex, think we should bring our powers together?” Jan asked, smirking.
     “Yes, let’s,” Alex said as they stood back to back. Auras of power formed around each, flowing together. “By the powers of light and darkness...”
     “And the powers of the elements which compose the world...”
     “We pledge our lives so that they may be called forth. By the powers which bind the heavens to the earth and the earth to the underworld, let the seals holding them be dissolved by our combined strength. Unleash the heralds of a new destiny!”
     The glow around them increased in brilliance as they began to levitate off of the ground, twin magic circles forming beneath them. A column of light surrounded them, shifting colors from white to black and all colors in between. They held their hands to the sky, a second set of magic circles forming above them. In unison they cried, “Eidolon Call!”, the second set of magic circles tilting on an angle before rapidly spinning. A gateway opened in the circles, and from that floated seven goddesses and a single god.
     “Heralded by a new age to save the planet,” a goddess with long silver hair said, a scythe forming in her hand, “we are the nine deities who represent the elements. I am Ithica, of the wind, and my companions are Marina of the water, Amarla of the fire, Kyrie of the darkness, Jackyl of the earth, Chilla of the ice, Electone of the lightning, Rashkala of the light, and L-sama of chaos.”
     “This place must be destroyed,” A golden clad woman said, “sisters, brother, let’s finish this quickly. This place bores me.”
     “Then let’s do this,” the man said, a pair of axes forming in his hands, “World Shaker!”
     “Twister!”
     “Monsoon!”
     “Tidal Flame!”
     “Grim Reaper!”
     “Goddess Strike!”
     “Blizzard Sword!”
     “Judgment Bolt!”
     “Giga Slayer!”
     The nine elemental attacks came together, creating a wave which tore the MiB headquarters apart and erased it from the face of the planet. Amid the chaos Alex and Jan were protected by the spell they were casting and maintaining. When the fireworks died down the goddesses and god looked around, and satisfied with a job well done, vanished back into the gateway, completing the spell’s run. Alex and Jan collapsed to the ground when the magic circles vanished, both too tired to move.
     From the chaos came D, still determined to either have Alex be a weapon or kill him so nobody else could use him as a weapon. Since it was obvious that the wizard wouldn’t join him then he would have to be destroyed.
     “Say goodnight you pain in the nick,” D said, aiming a plasma cannon at Alex.
     “Goodnight you pain in the neck,” Jan said, reversing D’s personal field of gravity. Alex sat up, a little unsteady from severe energy drain, and began to incant a spell.
     “Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand against the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess. Dragon... SLAVE!”
     Alex fired off a beam of energy which struck D and sent him screaming into the afterlife before it exploded, utterly obliterating any remaining trace of the MiB headquarters and landscaping the surrounding land nicely.

     “So you’re going home now?”
     “Yeah.... provided I don’t get any more screwed up on my trip home.”
     “Don’t worry. I took all of the precautions necessary to ensure your mental clarity and mine as well.”
     “Thanks for everything gramps. I’ll say hi to mom and dad for you.”
     “Just who are your parents anyway? I’ve been meaning to ask that.”
     “Alexandra and James West Arris.”
     “Just who is Alexandra’s mother?”
     “I’ll send you a copy of the family tree, since it gets really weird at some points after the inhabited planets of the universe became a federation.
     “O.K.. Take care, and may you help to make the universe a better place for all.”
     Jan stepped into the glowing gateway which Alex had created, waving to his distant ancestor while wiping a tear from his eye. The portal closed, sending Jan forward in time to his home, where his parents would be waiting for him.
     Alex turned away from the portal, wiping a tear from his own eye since things were turning out for the better. He looked up from the ground to see several undead standing before him, all looking for a fight.
     “Where is Jan? Bring us Jan,” they said, blades of tendrils growing from their arms.
     “You just missed him,” Alex said, walking through the mass while whistling a happy tune.
     “Oh, bloody hell,” the undead said, all vanishing in puffs of smoke. A sweat drop formed on Alex’s head, but he sighed and reversed his transformation, heading back towards town.
     ‘Well, all is well, and now.... oh shit, I forgot about work. I wonder if all will be well when I get back. I mean, Scott shouldn’t be too angry about this since he knows of my power levels and with all of the green dreams used to keep the store from being permanently destroyed I should have bonus points. So things should be well when I return.’