Crimson Beast - The story of Raven Blair

Raven looked at the girl with a raised eyebrow. Was she serious? He could only think that she had to be from some middle-world area where snow was never seen.

"That's snow, Ima. You act like you've never heard of it."

He laughed as he saw her reaction.

"And it's really cold, by the way. It's only going to get colder from here."

He looked up to the swirling clouds dropping the light dusting of snow on them, then to the path.

"If you want to see more, there's plenty of it up there!"

He patted the girl on the shoulder, heading up the path into the unknown. They weren't going to make any progress standing there playing in the snow, afterall.

"I haven't!" Ima replied to his comment of never hearing of it before. There was nothing like this where she came from, and if anything like this had ever happened in Magnolia Town then she must have been away.

In short, this was the first time the little alien had ever seen, let alone heard of, snow.

She blinked when she realized that Raven was leaving and bounded after him.

A cold wind blew by, sending a slight shiver through Raven's spine as he continued up the path, now seeing a turn that lead up into a natural birdge across a large chasm seperating two pieces of the mountain from each other. As they grew closer to it, Raven stopped, holding out his arm to stop Ima. He walked to the edge, looking down. It must have been a farther drop than he had thought, because he could not see the bottom through an icy haze. How long had they been walking?

He then turned to examine the bridge, and stepped back when he realized what it was.

"It's....pure ice!"

He couldn't believe it. Out of everything he had ever seen in his life, everything he had faced, this caught him off-gaurd.

"I can't believe it!"

Ima stared at the bridge as well. She had seen ice before, as many humans oddly put it in their drinks to keep them cool or something, but never so much of it! It was rather pretty, she couldn't help but think.

She was very tempted to see if she could slide across the whole thing, but held herself back.

"It looks really cool!" She said, not realizing that she had made what humans called a 'pun'.

Raven laughed at the statement, knowing Ima didn't realize what she did, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the sparkling pass. He looked it over, walking over to the beginning of it. He carefully placed a foot on it, taking one step after another, slowly, making sure not to lose footing.

That would result in......well, the end of the trip.

He eased his way to the center of it, trying to convince himself to not look down. He knew that never ended well. He stopped, hearing the sound of cracks tearing through the pass.

"Uhhh, Ima, think you could help us out here? A fall right now would.....kinda suck."

Ima nodded, still not having set foot on the bridge, making Raven's body light with her gravity so that he barely had to touch it at all. Even if the bridge broke, he wouldn't fall, but simply float in place. "You're good!" She called out.

"Thank ya, darlin'!"

Raven slid the rest of the way, clearing the pass in an instance, touching base on the other side, feeling his weight return as he motioned for her to do the same.

"Um..." She looked at Raven somewhat sheepishly. "I don't think I can move."

It was true. She had been trying to move since she had seen the bridge, but her body didn't seem to be responding. She had just barely been able to give Raven the gravity lift that had let him get over the bridge safely, and she had let it go the second he had reached solid rock. There was no way that she could do that again.

It was probably the apple, Ima guessed. Food, though it seemed to give humans energy, did the complete opposite to her, making her body waste ten times the energy that a human would get from it to rid itself of the foreign substance. Not to mention the clouds that brought the snow blocked the sun.

Now that she thought about, her body seemed to be shaking almost wildly, and her hands were turning almost blue. Was it the snow or the cold?

This was bad...

Raven had no idea what was happening to Ima. She was fine just minutes before, and now....now she was shaking like an mad man! She was in some kind of danger, that much was certain. It was the cold, it had to be. It grew so intense since they had been climbing. He had to do something, but then it hit him. The bridge would not be holding a second run through, he wouldn't be able to get back. He shook his head, racking the thoughts.

Screw it.

Raven shot over the bridge, the cracks furthering as he made every step, the bridge lowering and lowering until he hit the other side, the bridge then breaking in two and shttaering, falling into the depths below. Ravenr an to Ima, concern in his eyes, as well as genuine fear, something never seen before.

"Ima, Ima what's wrong?!?!"

Ima looked tired.

She was shaking far more wildly now, her teeth chattering, but managed to speak despite this. "C-c-cold." She stuttered. "Ve-very v-very c-c-c-cold. T-tired t-t-too."

Somehow she managed to take a step, and then another, until she managed to reach Raven and leaned against him. She was beyond drained. "No-no s-su-sun. Sh-shouldn't ha-have eaten the a-ap-ple. B-ba-bad ide-idea..." She continued, though it sounded mostly like rambling now. "So-sorry. No-not much he-he-he-help w-was I? Wa-wanted t-t-to, c-could-dn't. Tr-tried. S-s-sorry."

The alien felt a simultaneous wave of fear and peace. She was going to...die here. On this planet, away from her home, without fulfilling her duty. Was she going to be the first of her kind to be buried in the soil? Or would her body stay here and freeze?

The child didn't know. But she somehow didn't mind.

Ima sighed, closing her eyes and snuggling against her friend a bit. "You're so warm, Raven..." The alien murmured, sleepily and exhausted sounding.

She stopped breathing, and her heart stilled.

Raven caught Ima in his arms, looking down at her as he felt her still. He shook his head, faster and faster, trying to figure out what to do. She wasn't dead, no, no she couldn't be! He wasn't going to believe it. HE held her tighter.

"Come on Ima, wake up!"

He shook a bit more, trying to get her out of this sleep.

"Get up! We...we got another journey to go on! Another adventure!"

He fell down to his knees, trying to keep his sanity. He lowered his head, a single tear falling from his eyes. Then nothing. This damn trip! This was all Raven's fault! He shouldn't have brought her, he shouldn't!

His body shook too.....then the ground, then the mountain, then the sky. Ice shattered, spikes of it crashing down all around him, cracks racing through the well. His head shot up, eyes burning crimson. Heat rose above him, higher and higher. His teeth sharpened, now fangs, streaks of crimson lightning over the flame-like aura now appearing around him. Snow melted all around him. His energy rose....to a dangerous level. He couldn't stop, but he didn't care.

If this trip took his last bit of family figures, he had no reason to continue. This wandering thing was over.

As the heat crashed over her, Ima slowly began to stir. Her heart began to beat, and she was breathing again, and her eyes slowly opened.

She blinked a few times. What was happening? It was so warm...like the suns. Was she home? What had happened? Had she gone to sleep? The dark time must have just ended...who was holding her?

It took her exhausted brain a while to process what was going on. A creature was holding her. What was it? It was a human. Did she know this creature? It was Raven, her earth friend. Why was she on earth? Oh, her mission...Raven was holding her. Why?

Ah, right. She fell asleep.

"Morning..." She muttered tiredly as she gave a small smile.

Raven's burning eyes looked down to Ima, his teeth's grit loosening, his nerves calming. His animalistic snarl turned into a light smile, the crimson turning to his steel gray. He began to whimper, then turned to a light laugh.

"He-Hey kid."

He tried to force back his emotions as he saw she was ok. His aura still remained. He could sense that somehow.....somehow that light kept her alive. He stood up, still holding onto her.

"You might wanna take it easy, you must be tired."

He looked up to the peak of the mountain, everything past it beyond his sight.

"We'll get you off this thing."

He held onto her tight, making sure he wouldn't drop her, before launching from the edge of the chasm, landing on the other side without fail, and darting up the path. It wouldn't be long til then reached it in this state, but Raven could only hold the Hades Trigger for so long without there being severe side effects.

He had to get there soon.

Ima nodded, her mind still having trouble keeping up with the situation. He sounded...upset. Had something happened after she had gone to sleep? She'd ask later, she was too tired...

Tired...

"Tired...yes." She said nodding again, still sounding sleepy. "But aren't you?"

Raven leaped up, finally touching base on a ledge set at the peak. He looked down at her, a smirk crossing his face, nodding to her.

"Who, me? Nahh, I don't get tired. Not the Crimson Beast!"

He was lying, of course, but he wasn't going to let her know that. He rose his head, his eyebrow raising. What he saw had no explanation, no reason for being there, now excuse for existing. A train station?

Raven slowly walked over as he studied the site closely, everything from the boarding platform to the ticket booth to the train, however massive it was, floating lightly on the tracks that seemed to rest over the edge.

Raven couldn't understand it, but there it was, and where there was a train, there was heat. He cracked a smile.

"Looks like we found you a place to warm you up, Ima!"

He took a few more steps.....and a screech unlike anything they had heard before cracked through the air. Raven stopped, turning slowly to see the source. Two masive, green bat wings shot up from the other side of the cliff, flapping down they pulled a giant body of the same color. It was seemingly just a head, two large bat legs coming from the bottom of it, fangs lining a large mouth, two large eyes locke on the two of them.

"Not now."

Raven turned to the train, leaping for it as the beast launched at them, it's feet barley missing as he landing in the engine room. He looked at the old engine, tyring to figure out how it worked. It was useless, he had no clue, but when everything seemed lost, the fire in the engine ignited, as if by magic! A warm glow took over the room as the wheels began o move, heading out on a track that literally hung in mid-air. Raven turned to Ima.

"Stay here, it's warm and safe. I'll take care of big ugly out there."

Ima nodded again. Her mind was finally starting to really catch up to the rest of her, something that she was grateful for.

She had begun to shake slightly, but rather than from being cold it was from getting warm. The teenager realized that she wouldn't be able to aim properly like this though. She wouldn't hit Raven since she could see him, but it was unlikely that she would be any help in the situation.

Still, she made a victory sign with one hand. "Go kick butt." Ima said with a smile.

"Will do."

Raven nodded as he leaped up into the air, disappearing from Ima's sight. His feet touched down on the roof tops of the train cars, balancing to his power to make sure he didn't fall from the shifting platform below him. Off in the distance he spotted the creature, flying up after them at a great speed. The aura around him was thinning, slowly fading away along with his power. Without Ima, this was going to be a pain in the ass, but he had to handle it. He was their only option right now.

Raven reached behind his back, both hands gripping the guns resting in their place. He removed them quickly, spinning them in rapid succession before crossing his forearms, the guns held sideways aimed at the creature. The colors of the guns began to deepen, darken, red pentagrams appearing on the sides of both.

"Hope you like music, chuckles!"

A smirk crossed his face.

"Feel the beat!"

Triggers pulled at blinding speeds, lead screaming through the air at their target, only able to push ahead, into the skin of the attacking bat-thing, but even they didn't stop it's relentless assault. Raven began to live in the moment, turning around as he transitioned the shooting positions, some with a gun held behind his back or head, showing off.

"Dance! Dance!"

The creature let out a shreik, but only as a warning as it swooped down, slamming into the train and knocking it round, however it stood on course, suprisingly at the amount of force put into the strike. Raven flipped back from it, still landing on his feet. A second shreik was followed by a large green cloud, covering the air around him. Raven took one breath and immediately began coughing. It was some kind of natural poison. He slipped the guns back into their holsters, removing the massive sword on his back and holding it to the sky before spinning it in a blinding rate. The smokey veil spun up into an emerald tornado, before he slashed down, the poison blasting away from his position. A claw thrusted down, only to be blocked by the blade of the "Crimson Beast".

A second fell down as the first was blocked, but it was not the blade that stopped it, this time it was simply the hand of Raven Blair. Otherworldly strength pulsed through his form as he held the predator off, surprise even crossing it's glaring eyes.

"Bet'cha didn't see that coming, huh?"

Raven clenched down on the creature, spinning a full turn before throwing it into the air. His sword soon followed, and then his guns, the ammo cartridges falling from them. Raven opened the pouch on his belt, release a cloud of bullets into the air. shells of different colors and shapes hung in the air as if time had stopped, but only through Raven's ungodly speed. The cartridges were caught, slinging through the air as the ammo found home in them, lining up in random order. When finished, raven tossed them up in perfection, unexplainably inserting them into the flipping guns that he caught right after, the barrels aimed at the bat creature.

Triggers pulled, the bullets flying again as they crashed into their target. Explosions of multiple elements and substances, from lightning and ice to fire, acid, adhesives, they kept going. The monster soon disappeared into a glob of elemental massacare as Raven launched into the air, gripping the sword hanging there with both hands, and flipping forward.

"CATASTROPHIC DAWN!"

He fell down, the blade connecting with the creature's head, piercing skin, then bone, then gray matter and so on until it exited the other side. Raven landed on one knee, his eyes to the roof of the train for a few moments before holding his free hand into the air, snapping his fingers. At the trigger, the mesh of attacks and creature exploded, the shockwave shaking the train as it kept on it's way.

Raven sighed as he looked at the smoldering debris falling down onto the empty tracks, raising to his feet and walking back to the front, jumping down into the engine room, turning to Ima. He took a deep breath, smiling at her.

"Got him."

With that, his aura dispersed, and Raven fell back against the wall, sliding unconsciously into a seated position.

Ima panicked for a split second before realizing that he had fallen unconscious and not something worse. Still, she couldn't help but check his heartbeat just in case, sighing in relief when she found it was there.

She had stopped shaking finally, and pulled out one of her guns. The girl made an adjustment before firing at him with a white beam, and then changing something else and hitting him with her green beam. Better safe than sorry, the alien figured.

Then she sat down next to her unconscious friend. It looked like it was her turn to keep watch while her friend 'slept'.

The watch would only last for a few more seconds as the train began to speed up, rolling on the tracks held up by nothing. The gray skies around them passed by faster and faster, transitioning into different colors, then swirling, and finally, fading to black, memories unable to register,the duo lost in darkness.

-----

"Hey!"

Warped words entered the air. Eyes opened, but all he could see was fogged light, as if looking at the sun through water. Focus was not coming, at least not fast enough.

"Hey!"

It all snapped back together. Raven looked up to the source of the call. A large shadow blocked out the sun, a hand reaching down, gripping him by the shoulder, and shaking him. When his consciousness returned fully, he saw the features of this man. A large goatee and a blue-striped conductors hat clothed a burly face, a large tunic-like dressing on his body. Hairy forearms to a muscular build helped make the shaking extra forceful.

"I don't know who you are, but you need to get the hell off of my train!"

"Wait, you're train? Wh....Where are we?"

"What are you stupid? You're in Terra Rex!"

Raven was taken back. Terra what? He had travelled the world and had never been here.

"Never heard of it."

"What?! You're not from around here, are you? Well that's too bad, because this is where you both are staying!"

"Sir, I've never-"

"OUT!"

A push sent the duo out onto the platform as the train steamed, driving off down what appeared to be a desert train track, into the distance of the sand. Raven brushed himself off, trying to figure out what was happening.

Then he turned around, and froze, his eyes widening.

Ima just stared as the train left. That man was a meanie. Raven had been hurt and unconscious and he still made them leave.

Still, she couldn't help but sigh happily as she felt the natural heat and sun. The heat Raven had produced was nice, but nothing could ever compete with the real thing.

Ima turned to Raven, but saw that he was fixated on something, so she turned to see what it was.

Large, ivory towers rose into the air to great heights, windows lining them. They fell down into buildings upon buildings of the same shade of white, going on for as far as the eye could see, which from their position was unknown for the buildings towered above them. Each piece of architecture featured design that could only be describe as a fusion of futuristic and medival craftsmanship.

The feeling of celebration was in the air. The citizens ran through the streets, some with large smiles on their faces, others straight-faced with the weight of their duties on their mind. Their clothing ranged from basic robes and coverings to some in shorts and buttoned-shirts, and everything in between. A range of strange hairstyles soon followed, but that wasn't the weirdest thing about it. Of course humans stood int he crowds, but so did many another breed. Some seemed like humanoid figures of rabbits, large ears on top of their heads. Others could be described as reptilian, scaly tails trailing behind them.

Raven looked on in great confusion and intrigue, then turning to see two armored gaurds making their rounds. They wore blue cloth under their silver armor, large helmets upon their heads with similar plume. In their hands they held what appeared to be rifles, large bayonets on the end. One stopped just short of Raven.

"Watch your footing, peasant!"

He then caught eye contact with Raven, and his tone changed completely. He straightened up, and gave a salute.

"Oh, pardon me, your Majesty! I had no idea you were enjoying the day among your people. I must say, seeing you in red is a nice change. Have a pleasant day, sir, and remember it's dedicated to you. The parade will be in just a short moment, the people will be waiting!"

The soldier bowed before hustling off, probably to avoid conversation. raven raised an eyebrow, having no idea what had happened. He only could mouth two words.

"Your Majesty?"

Ima felt like she was the same as five years ago, bursting with questions and wanting to explore. Admittedly she still had this feeling a lot now, but she had learn to hold it back in time. Now she felt that she was going to explode if she didn't do something!

So many interesting things! So many interesting people! So many emotions, was this a celebration? Ima was getting excited just looking at it all. Not to mention it was warm and most importantly sunny, so the alien had plenty of energy now. She was literally bouncing on her feet a little.

But when she heard that man call Raven 'Your Majesty', she stopped and gave that person a confused look. Wasn't that a human term used for someone of high status? When the person who called him that left, Ima just turned her confused gaze to Raven.

"Your Majesty?" She echoed.

"I.....I have no clue."

Raven was still processing the words the strange armored man had said to him. Your Majesty? Raven had never been called anything on that level before, and had never been to this place before, though at this point it started to connect inside his mind. These two, once again, were not on Earth anymore. There were no celebrations anymore in the earthrealm, at least not like this.

His eyes searched through the smiling masses, then up into the hovering rainbow of floating balloons and streamers. This place, Terra Rex, was unlike anything he had ever seen before. Sure, the new species of humanoids was something new, but Raven had spent the better part of his life hunting hellspawn, even being one himself, so nothing like that surprised him anymore. It was the layout of this massive city, the style of architecture like he had never seen. Old World buildings met technology past anything he had ever seen. Automobiles had been replaced by what Raven could only identify as a raptor-like creature, yet it was obvious the people here could make mechanical rides if they wanted too. He was breath taken as he witnessed a few home furnaces lit, not by a switch or by gasoline, but by small orbs of fire from the hands of a few users. Magic and Technology, old ways and new, coming together as one. It was a strange balance that kept this city in harmony, and Raven felt at home here.

A smile crossed his face as realization hit him. They were normal here. They were normal here. They didn't have to explain what they were or how they became said things, they simply were travelers, but then the words "Your Majesty" were spoken. Raven knew this was not the way to go about a search, being so easily spotted. He buttoned the top of his coat, forming a non-chalante lower-face mask. From his pokcet he pulled a pair of black sunglasses which he placed over his eyes.

"Hey Ima, maybe we should go for a walk, get our footing and find out exactly where we are. Sound good?"

Ima began bouncing in excitement again, nodding enthusiastically. Again, she wanted to explore and ask questions and find out everything that she could about where they were and what was happening and about virtually everything! "Yeah! Let's go!"

The girl filed the mention of royalty in the back of her mind, giggling as she grabbed Raven's hand and sprinted off in a random direction. She was very excited and curious, and planned to learn as much as she could here.

Raven was pulled off by his hand in the direction Ima had run off in. He smiled under the coat as he ran behind her, trying to keep up with the pace. The to had run for a bit, now stopping at a large opening in the center of the city, a town square. Stairs in a giatn square descended down very deep into a courtyard, the center holding a magnificant fountain of various statues and other sculptures.

Raven took control of the hand grasp, guiding Ima down to the water past the towns people. A family of reptilian creatures sat on the stairs, a very small child running on them in play. A few people sat at the edge of the fountain, some even having lunch and enjoying the sunny day. Raven examined the piece, his shaded eyes locked on the center piece, an elegantly clad swordsman, water rising all around him. He admired the appearance of the man, a comfortable feeling ruhing over him.

He ran his hand through the clear water. Clear water, you don't see this much at home either. It was a great feeling. He then turned to the teen girl at his side.

"Ima......I gotta ask you something."