Elements of the End

            The battle for the universe had started. Deus and the other dark elementals stood ready and eager for battle. The light elementals looked determined and were ready to finish this dispute once and for all. Every single one of the Elementals had the slightest hesitation though. They knew what was at stake. Being around for millions of years made if difficult to think about the possibility of no longer existing.

            Kaji was eager to continue the fight and get this war underway. He summoned a giant fireball and threw it at Terra. This was the spark they all needed. Fire engulfed Terra for a second before she moved her arms, gathered up the fire from her body and threw it on the ground like it annoyed her. Deus saw this and began laughing. As he laughed he charged in and rock spires began to spring up from the ground ripping holes in the land and throwing around anyone who was too slow to move. Seigh did a flip backward just as a spike rose up from where he stood. Delia was tossed into the air when she was hit by the spire, but then mid air began launching fire strikes down at the Dark Elementals.

            Kaji’s face was twisted into an insane smile. It was possible that he hated the Light Elementals more than he hated humans. Not even Deus hated the other elementals, to him they were just an obstacle. Kaji launched flames left and right, striking out at any Light Elemental he could see. A ball of fire hit Seigh, but then Seigh used the momentum to spin around and delivered a swift kick to Kaji’s head. The force of this kick was so hard it dropped the fire element and his head bounced off the ground on impact.

            Zephyr tried not to think about Aeolius on the other end of this battle and instead fought the others on his team. She moved faster than anyone else. Her formed moved through battle like the wind and she sliced the others with her spinning daggers. Terra lifted her hand and vines rose up and wrapped around Kaji once he was on the ground. then Terra winched in pain and realized she had been slashed on the back several times by Zephyr. Vines flailed in the air as they grew from the ground and eventually were able to grab a hold of the tricky wind element. The vines grabbed Zephyr and slammed her on the ground, but before they could do anything else, they were slice into thousands of pieces by Aeolius. It happened so fast though that no one realized he did it. Zephyr knew though.

            Aeolius moved his hands through the air fluidly and winds would strike out with razor blade strength. Morana reached into her salvaged pirate coat and pulled out two pirate pistols made of ice, this was all for show because she could make ice and water on command. The pistols began firing like a machine gun, but instead of bullets it was sharp ice blades.

            Ice blades whizzed through the air and struck Delia in the back several times. She returned by putting out her hands and causing a flamethrower effect. The flames rushed forward at Morana and engulfed her. Water shot out of the ground and calmed the flames. Morana snuck up behind Delia and tried to attack her again with ice blades, but a rush of waves blasted out from Seigh’s palms and the force sent Morana off into the forest.

            Deus used his power to free Kaji from the vines. Then Deus began hurling boulders. Large chunks of rock smashed against the ground all around the light elements and the boulder shattered sending chunks of rock in every direction. Aeolius was struck in the head by one of these stones and stumbled. Kaji took this opportunity to grab a hold of Aeolius’ face and set his head on fire. Aeolius struggled as Kaji continued burning him with fire. Then Kaji released Aeolius and his face seemed confused and scared. While Kaji was attacking Zephyr had turned on her own teammate and slashed Kaji’s throat, back and stomach area. Kaji stumbled back as he attempted to heal his wounds. Delia pounced on this opportunity and began hurling fire at Kaji. She attacked with everything she had. “DIE you bastard DIE!!!” She shouted as flames shot from her hands and sailed through the air, colliding with Kaji’s body and covering him with flames. By this time Aeolius had recovered and pushed his hands forward shooting a tornado blast of wind at Kaji. The fire element was hit with the fire then wind. the fire was put out and Kaji crumbled to the ground. All of the elementals stopped fighting for a second and watched as red energy and flames shot out of Kaji’s body. the Elemental energy swirled through the air then rushed into Delia. She had absorbed his energy and was now the sole Fire element in existence.

            Since she now held all the sway for the fire element, which meant the Dark Elements wouldn’t try to kill her. If both sides of a single element were to die, it would tip the balance and reality would break apart. Delia smiled as her body flowed with even more fire energy. Fire was on a constant burn all around her and her eyes glowed with the power of her fallen elemental. Deus sneered. “Your power means nothing to me! I am still the strongest!!” Delia smiled and launched a full on flame attack on Deus. the fire attack hit Deus but had no effect. Deus just laughed at Delia. “When you absorbed the fire energy it absorbed all of the fire energy everywhere. Including the energy that Kaji shared with us to fight you light elements. Which means even with all your power you can no longer hurt any of us” Deus explained. Delia growled.

            As Deus was distracted by his need to announce everything he was hit with a blast of water and rock from Seigh and Terra. Deus was knocked back by this but quickly recovered. Morana appeared as she rose from a pool of water and slashed Terra with an icy pirate cutlass. Terra recoiled and swiped at the ice element with stone bear claws. Morana was slashed across the face and stumbled back.

Meanwhile Zephyr and Aeolius stood off to the sidelines. They both had almost been severely injured in the battle and decided to wait it out. Deus saw Zephyr standing around “Get back in the fight!” He barked. “No! Aeolius and I are no longer part of the Dark or Light team. We are instead the Air team. The winning Elements will have both of our support. We will not fight each other” She shouted back and Aeolius just nodded in agreement. Terra and Deus both could have seen this coming, Terra was a little happy that there was some peace between elements, even if it was just those two. Deus on the other hand was not as happy and sent a cascade of rocks down on the two wind elements. This was a mistake. The two elements moved as one, dodging the boulders, moved past Deus then both struck him in the back with the full force of their powers. Deus was injured and sent flying and smashed into the ground. Terra wrapped Deus in vines.

The two air elements held off their attack. They didn’t want to tip the scales too much. With Deus wrapped up Morana stood back and waited to see what would happen next. Seigh stood ready to fight and Terra approached Deus. “Stop this now! we don’t have to fight anymore. Kaji is gone, this battle will only end in more death. I believe our air element friends have the right idea” Terra said. hoping to reason with Deus. She kneeled down and touched Deus’ face. “Please, I do not want to fight” She said.

            Deus’ rage increased and he broke out of the vines. “I am not a broken sparrow or a tormented man. I am an earth element. I helped shape this world and do not need pity from you!” He said. then brought the earth up around Terra and tried to seal her in a ball. Seigh ran to help but Morana struck out and kicked Seigh, then slashed him with her sword. The two water elements began to fight as Terra struggled to escape the ball.

 “I will not force you to choose sides between Deus and Terra, but please think about it. If you did get your way and everything returned to chaos and freedom. Would you really want to spend eternity with an all powerful Deus and Morana?” Aeolius asked. Zephyr thought about it. She just wanted to have her freedom and feel the shapeless energy of the universe like she used to. But this wasn’t the way to do things and if Deus won he would kill Terra and Seigh, whether he needed to or not. Delia was still there, but she wouldn’t be able to fight until Deus had absorbed Terra’s energy and by that time it might be too late. Zephyr put her head down. “Y-your right. I will never love humans, but as long as I have you, I will be fine” She said. Aeolius nodded and the two rushed in to help. In a split second the two air elements had destroyed the ball of earth and joined sides next to Terra.

            Terra struggled to stand up. Then she stared at Deus who was furious at this point. “Will you surrender?” Terra asked Deus. “I will!” Morana said quickly. Realizing things weren’t going in her favor. “COWARD!” Deus shouted then rushed at Terra and the others. The ground was ripped apart and rained down and stones were pulled from the deepest depths of the earth. Deus attacked with everything he had. Terra used her power over the earth to hinder Deus’ attacks and block the attack that he managed to pull off. Meanwhile Seigh, Zephyr and Aeolius all attacked with their powers. The full force of the air and the might of Seigh’ water attacks rushed at Deus. He was so busy attacking he could not defend himself from the attacks. A giant tornado of ice and water hit Deus with ferocity that hasn’t been seen in millions of years. The force of the wind and the razor sharp ice tore Deus apart, His screams of rage and pain were drowned out by the howling of wind and the rushing of water. When the winds died down and the water sunk into the ground. The mighty power of Deus flew through the air, spiraling over the earth and then finally shooting straight into Terra. Terra began to glow with the full power of the earth and the land began to heal and forest, which was torn up by Deus’ final attack, was now growing back. Slowly the world would recover and it would erase any evidence of this horrible battle.

            Terra let out a sigh of relief. Seigh and Delia cheered and the air elements held each other close, also so relieved it was over. Morana just grumbled a little then left.

So that is it. The universe now has a permanent path, for better or worse. The battle is over and decided and the humans never even knew how close they came to destruction.

The End.

Joseph Stephen's and the persistent summer

Pumpkin Patch, the spirit of Autumn sat comfortably in a reclining chair in Joseph’s house. He wore his usual black suit and white shirt with a tie. He reclined back with a newspaper on his pumpkin face and his hat on the ground. Then the door opens. “Patch, I’m home” Joseph said as he stepped through the door. He had just returned from work and had to leave Patch alone in the house. Patch woke up with a jolt. “huh…eh? Oh, Joseph your back. Welcome home” He said his eerie voice echoing through the air. Patch’s voice sounded like he was talking through a windy day with the light sound of leaves rustling in the background and his voice never came from his carved Jack o lantern mouth. Joseph thought this was weird, but never asked about it.

“So how was your day?” Patch asked. “Warm actually” Joseph replied. “Warm?!” Patch repeated back in shock. “Yes, it was rather warm out today. It seems like every other day is warm, then it goes back to crisp fall, then back to warm” Joe explained. Patch stood up and looked annoyed. “Come with me. We need to investigate” He said then marched outside. The air was warm with a slight breeze and the sun was beating. “This is most disturbing. The heat seems to come from the coast” Patch said. “I’ll get the car” Said Joseph. “No need. I have a quicker way” Patch replied. He snapped his fingers three times and a mighty gust rushed in. Autumn leaves danced in the wind and Joseph could smell pumpkin and cinnamon. The wind rushed over the two, it came on so fast Joseph had to close his eyes. When the wind died down he felt warm, almost hot actually and smelled the sea. He opened his eyes and saw the beach. An hour and a half drive was shortened into ten seconds. Patch was full of surprises.

“Just as I thought!” Declared Patch. Joseph looked and saw the beach and water was covered in happy people, enjoying the summer weather, even though summer was over. At the center of it all was July. She floated in the water nearby and laughed and giggled as the humans played and had a good time. “Summer is over, what is the meaning of this?” Patch shouted. A cold wind swept over the beach and everyone shivered. July glared at Patch. “These people are having a good time and I am only giving my warmth to this beach. So mind your own business!” She yelled back over the crowd of nervous people. “That is not how seasons work. Joseph and the others suffered through summer, so your warm weather friends can suffer through autumn. There is a time for everything. Besides, the wind carries the heat across the land. The trees will never fully change color and loose their leaves in this heat. Then when winter comes, the leafy trees will catch all the snow and the trees will all break and fall over” Patch scorned.

July’s face bunched up and blew a hot wind across the beach and Joseph stumbled backward. This was not looking good and the beach goers decided to pack up and leave before things got out of control. “You throw your weight around and chased away timid spring. But I am not bullied so easily! Your stubbornness will delay fall no longer” Patch yelled. The sky grew dark and rain began to pour down on the beach. Joseph wished he could have retreated with the others. Patch slowly grew taller and his suit swept away and turned into a shadowy cloak. His pumpkin face twisted and turned menacing. “If you wish to fight I will not back down to a bully like you” Patch growled as blades began to grow from his forearms. July looked terrified. “y-you don’t scare me. Everyone wants summer. Your being the bully!” She yelled back, less confident than before.

Patch crossed his arms and the blades became a long scythe. “Fine” He said then in a flash flew forward on the speed of the wind. He brought his scythe up and then struck. Hot air and flames rose up in front of Patch to block his attack. He recoiled and when the flames died down July could be seen floating off into the sky. “Fine, I will go, have your autumn. It wont be too long before Winter shows up anyway.” July sneered, then vanished into the clouds.

In a blink Patch was normal size and wearing his usual suit and tie. “Golly that was intense” He said with a smile. Joseph sighed with relief. “Lets not do that again” Joseph said with a laugh. Patch laughed too. “So whats next?” Patch asked. “I don’t know. How about we get some apple cider?” Joseph suggested. “That sounds wonderful” Patch said.

With Autumn back on track the two friends were whisked away on the wind and went off to enjoy some cider and maybe pick some apples.

Elements of Chaos

The fight for the universe has begun, slowly and quietly it has started. The Dark Elementals stand lined up facing Deus as he speaks. It is a cold and windy night, the elementals are on a beach somewhere in the world. The waves crash behind them as they stare inland at their self appointed leader. “The last few months, many of you have wondered what my big plan was. The light Elementals also believe I have a plan and are trying to prepare. The truth is I do have something in mind. I have created the ability to fuse small amounts of our powers. I will lend a small portion of my power to you all, in return, I will get a small amount of each of your power. This way, we will be able to kill our elemental counterparts without our elements canceling each other out” Deus said, his eyes wide with excitement and madness.

“If we kill any of the light elements. Wont their power be lost? That would upset the balance of everything” Said Kaji, not wanting to fade away because his other half was destroyed. “Yes, we cannot break our bond without both of us dying” added Morana. Deus smiled. “Yes, you are right. In the past we have not been able to kill the other elements because it would send us into oblivion. But with my new power, we can each now absorb the fallen Elementals! So each of us will be whole again, but without having to deal with our obnoxious other halves personalities. Once we get them out of the way, we can then destroy all life in the universe and return to our original forms” Deus explained.

Most the dark elementals cheered. Zephyr did not. She wanted to be rid of the humans that she hated so much, but she hoped that one day when the Elements returned to free flowing energy, Aeolius would be there with her. She didn’t want his power she wanted him. Not wanting to seem like an outcast she let out a halfhearted cheer. Which fooled everyone but Deus. Deus knew she would be a problem, but didn’t know how big of a problem, or how to deal with her. Unfortunately Deus needed one of every element to proceed with his plan.

Everyone was then taught the technique to transfer Elemental energy. Deus explained that once they all transferred a little of their power to the rest of the group they would be able to absorb the fallen elementals automatically, because this technique would change them enough to do that.

The ceremony began and each elemental focused, then their bodies exploded into elemental energy leaving each elemental a floating ball of energy. Kaji’s body, for instance, burst into flames and now he floated there as a large ball of fire. Once they returned to their most basic forms, they began sharing energy. Everyone gave a little piece of energy to the rest of the group and in return got a little back from everyone. This wouldn’t effect their powers, but it would give their attacks more of an edge.

Elemental energy floated rapidly around the beach, swirling glowing light being transferred into Elementals. No one was around to see this, but if they did, they probably wouldn’t believe what they saw.

Once the energy was absorbed the dark elementals returned to their human states. “I feel stronger!” said Kaji, as he punched and kicked in the air. He could summon flames like normal, but his fire was so charged with Earth, water and wind energy that he could burn another fire element without a problem. Deus smiled. Everything was going according to plan. Now all they needed to do was defeat the Light.

Almost on queue the elements of light appeared. Terra had become worried that Deus would do something drastic and she decided to find out first hand what he was planning. Since Deus was one of the most devious of the elements Terra decided they should all go together. As soon as the light elements appeared Deus began to laugh. He was indeed taken by surprise, but to him it was a good surprise. “Wonderful! This saves me the trouble of hunting you down myself” Deus said as he clapped his hands together in a show of pure joy. His smile was as twisted and deranged as his mental state.

Terra felt like she had just played into his hands but wasn’t sure what was about to happen next. Aeolius looked at Zephyr with concern. Zephyr had her head down and seemed ashamed. She now possessed the power to hurt any of the elementals and though she didn’t have a problem with killing other elementals, she knew if a fight broke out between two sides, she would have to either switch sides or kill Aeolius, or more painfully, watch someone else kill Aeolius.

The other elementals didn’t share Zephyr’s concern. Kaji grinned ear-to-ear and looked as happy as Deus, but for a different reason. Deus was happy because he was closer than ever to achieving his goal. Kaji was happy because he would finally get to put an end to his annoying other half. The two sides stood in a stand off and Deus opened his mouth to speak “This is a turning point for the dark elementals…” He began to say. Then Kaji summoned a fireball and launched it at Delia with all of his force and hatred for her. It was a direct hit and Delia flew backward as she was engulfed in flames. She lay sprawled out on the ground, burnt and injured. She mustered her strength and stood back up, ready to fight. “ok, so long story short, we can hurt you now” Deus muttered quickly.

Terra was shocked by this turn of events. She didn’t know how Deus accomplished this, but she knew they would all have to fight for their survival. Terra took a battle stance and the earth around her rose up like a snakes head, sitting still ready strike. Deus moved his arms outward and the earth rushed forward like a wave and crashed down on the light elementals. Terra blocked the attack with her earth strike and the others blocked with their own powers.

Delia’s hand’s ignited and she rushed at Kaji with fury in her eyes. “You’ve doomed yourself by picking a fight with us! Now you and your dark weakling friends will perish” Delia swiped at Kaji with claws made of fire. Kaji stood there and laughed but wasn’t laughing when Delia sliced deep wounds into him. Kaji’s face twisted into rage and he attacked her with a blast of fire. “Stupid bitch!” He shouted rapidly shooting fire at her. Deus saw this and realized by combining their powers to hurt the light Elements they also destroyed their own resistance that they had to their own element. He didn’t bother explaining because it seemed everyone else saw this and understood the basic idea.

Now that the two groups of Elementals could hurt and kill each other, there would be a huge open battle and when the dust cleared the fate of the universe would be decided.

The Incredible Stories of Joseph Stephens - the Autumn Arrival

It is almost September and summer is coming to an end. While some might be sad, others rejoice at the start of the fall season. I am one of those people who jump for joy at the start of every fall. I love fall and everything about it. Though I try to make the best of every season, it has always been in the fall that I felt truly happy. Its hard to describe it, I know fall is a yearly event, but every year I feel very excited and a little surprised. Like an old friend I haven’t seen in a while, returning and staying for a bit before having to leave again.

It is sort of like this one story I know about a man named Joseph Stephens. Joseph Stephens, or Joe was at home, sitting in front of the air conditioner. His shoulders slouched and sweat dripped down his face. Summer that year had been unrelenting and horrible. The days were scorching hot and the nights were too warm and humid. It was too warm to sleep, but also too hot to be alert and active. So Joe sat, trying to stay cool as his air conditioner rumbled and let out a long electronic “Rrrrrrrrr” as it ran.

Cool air poured out of the loud metal box and rushed past Joe’s face. Just then the doorbell rang, but all Joe heard was “Rrrrrrrr”. A few minutes later, the door rang again. Joe heard the distant ring of the door over the sound of air rushing past his ears and the loud “Rrrrr” of the metal window box. Joe rushed to the door. He would have felt bad if someone took time out of their day to see Joe and just ended up standing on the hot pavement outside his house. Joe opened the door and smiled “Hello?” He said. then his eyes grew wide when he saw who it was.

In the doorway stood a tall, thin man. The man wore a black suit, white shirt, a thin black tie, a black fedora that didn’t quiet fit his head and was not wearing any shoes. Also his head was a pumpkin. His face was a carved Jack-o-lantern face that could move into different expressions just like a human face. “Pumpkin Patch!” Joe said in excitement. Pumpkin Patch, the pumpkin headed man smiled broadly and stepped into the house. “It is so wonderful to see you! Its been what, nine months since we hung out?” Joe said as the two of them walked into the living room and sat down. “Yes, its been far too long” Said Patch, his voice was deep and echoed through the room, which made it sound like the words weren’t coming from his mouth at all, but the air all around them. Knowing Patch, it was entirely possible that this was the case. “So can I get you anything?” Asked Joe. “Just some water please, the trip here was a scorcher as always” Patch replied in a shaky voice.

Joseph handed Patch a glass of water. Patch set down his large black briefcase and held the glass with his two thin hands, which seemed to be made of wood. Like his hands were just three sticks that were held together and came out like long fingers that could somehow bend like human fingers. Patch was actually made of sticks, straw and a pumpkin, so he was more of a scarecrow in a business suit. “So can you stay?” Asked Joe, hoping that he would be able to spend some time with his friend. “Yes, I should be able to stay for about three months, but we shall see. It seems some years I get held up by summer and other years I get pushed out early by winter. So let us just hope for the best” Replied Patch. “I am so excited. I will let you rest for the moment. But I can’t wait to hang out and do all sorts of fall stuff. We can go apple picking, make all sorts of delicious food, take walks and prepare for the holidays!” Joe said getting excited as a kid on Christmas.

Patch just laughed “First things first” He said. he stood up slowly, as he did it sounded like twigs cracking and leaves rustling. “not as young as I used to be” Patch said with an embarrassed smile. “Heh, who is?” Joseph replied. “Ok, now that I’m here we should get down to business” Patch said finally. He opened his briefcase and set it on the ground. Bats flew out of the brief case and swarmed around the room then flew up the stairs into the attic. The bats settled down once they found a nice place to hang. Next out of the briefcase was a cold gust of wind. Autumn leaves came tumbling out and swirled all around Patch and Joseph. The door suddenly flew open and the leaves left. When the commotion died down Joe noticed Patch’s closes were now different. He now wore a brown cloak that draped over his whole body, underneath he wore a plain white shirt and brown pants. He also had a pointed black hat, like a witches has but less colorful and smaller. “Now that we prepared, its time to call in the Autumn and tell summer its time for fall” Patch said then marched out of Joe’s house with a determined look on his face.

Joseph followed Patch outside and looked up. Patch and Joe looked up at Joe’s roof and saw a very large overweight woman sitting on Joe’s house. She took up the entire roof that she sat on. Not because she was so fat, but because she was a giant, who also happened to be fat. “Hello Joe!” Said the large woman sitting on Joe’s roof. “Hello, July” Joe replied in a not so enthusiastic voice. July was pleasant enough, but she generated heat like you wouldn’t believe. Part of the reason it is so hot in the summer is because of the sun, the other reason is because every year July leaves her home in the clouds and comes to ‘visit’ Joe. While July ‘visits’ all she does is sit on his house and complain at the neighbors. Then this chases away timid springtime, the easter bunny, and all of the cool air. Since July is the daughter of the sun, she emits so much heat that it creates the summer time and makes Joe’s house unbearable to live in.

“It is time to leave, July” Patch announced. July stopped smiling and gave Patch a dirty look. “Oh its you again” July sneered. “Come on, we can’t have another long summer that lasts four months like we did last year” Joe said, getting annoyed. “Well, ok. I suppose I should go…” Said July with a pout. Joe nodded to Patch, then Patch lifted his thin arms in the air and summoned an autumn wind that blew around, getting colder and colder. Leaves twisted and twirled through the air and looked like they were dancing. July shivered “Oh my, it is getting too cold here for me. I suppose it is time to return home. Its been fun” Said July. She then puffer herself up and floated away.

            With July gone and Patch there to take her place, the weather instantly became cooler. Joe ran inside and shut off his air conditioner and grabbed his hooded sweatshirt. “Its good to have you back Patch” Joseph said. “its good to be back” Said Patch.