Origins of HollowEyes

[3kul]

3kul tries his hand at writing! Yeah, I'm basically going to be using this thread to put up bits and pieces of HollowEyes' back story (in the whole scheme of things, Little Sister isn't really a main character ). The whole thing is not going to be chronological, but I won't make it too hard to read.

What started out as a simple excuse for me not to post whilst I was on holiday became an even better excuse to make up a back-story, so I did. It started in a small RP thread in the EC forums involving another seemingly random Lawyer Attack on the caves, which turned out to have an actual purpose (for once )

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[Prior to this, the lawyers had managed to discover the then-current location of the Corrupted Cave by repossessing the Ice Cream Truck of Doom. Once they'd reached the Cave (and after a few random bits of fighting), the leader emerged to reveal that they'd been hired to repossess stolen goods - these 'goods' being HollowEyes himself. Amidst the confusing arrival of a 20 foot tall robotic judge, the lead lawyer manages to catch HollowEyes off guard...]

Not liking the looks of how things were going, the head of the lawyer patrol decided that it was time for more drastic measures and whipped out his briefcase. "There's no escape for you HollowEyes, we've got a paper-trail a mile long!" With that, his briefcase burst open, and a large snake-like creature made entirely of legal papers shot out, slamming HollowEyes into the wall before he even had time to react. Wrapping around him tightly, the snake like monster whipped back into the briefcase along with HollowEyes, who was suffering from a severely bruised ego (having not expected to get caught so easily) and a headache that came a close second place to a pixie punch hangover.

"As much as I'd like to stick around to continue our neverending lawsuits against you, members of the Evil Council, I must be off - I'm sure that my colleagues can cover for me until I return." With that, the head lawyer leapt back into the Ice-Cream Truck of Doom and began to speed off. "Now to do my favourite part of my job, which is mercilessly ripping my client off."

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HollowEyes couldn't tell how long they'd been travelling from within the briefcase, or where in the universe they were heading, but the lawyer's increasing sense of greed was a slight indicator to how close they were getting to it. Finally the Ice Cream Truck's irritating jingle ceased to play, and the Truck itself shuddered to a halt. The lawyer, who hadn't spoken to HollowEyes at all during the entire trip, stepped out of the vehicle, taking the briefcase and HollowEyes inside it with him.

There was still no way for HollowEyes to tell what was happening, or where he was, but these were soon to become the least of his worries as the briefcase suddenly snapped open and he dropped down a small chute and into a dark room. There were no light sources anywhere here, and all that he could hear was that stupid jingle starting up again as the Ice Cream Truck of Doom took off, no doubt now burdened with the additional weight of the absurd amount of money that the lawyer had gotten out of this deal.

He explored his surroundings a little better once the truck had left hearing distance, but the only thing worth noting was that the room was made of a cold and uncomfortable metal. There were no windows, no doors, no furniture - even the chute he had fallen down to get here seemed to have disappeared. He was feeling more and more certain that he knew who had ordered him to be brought here, but he still clung desperatly to the hope that he was wrong, no matter how slim it may have been.

After what seemed like hours, a panel in one of the walls clicked, and slid open. The light was almost blinding to someone who had been kept in total darkness for as long as HollowEyes had, and all that he could make out was the silhouette of a small man, probably no taller than himself. The man spoke in a disturbingly emotionless voice, confirming HollowEyes' fears.

"Welcome back to the Sanctuary, Byule. Your brothers and sisters here have missed you so."

End Side A (because I'm too cool for parts/chapters/acts )

[3kul]

"I don't recall caring about what they think, Galavan." HollowEyes replied in an equally cold manner. "Oh, don't be so cruel, Byule - you're lucky they aren't present to hear you." The man replied, stepping to one side and indicating that he wished for the Parasitian to follow him.

Not caring much for his current quarters, HollowEyes obliged, continuing to speak as he did so. He despised being called Byule, but this man refused to call him anything else - 'a name is just a name' is all he'd say, and leave it at that. As his own way of retorting, HollowEyes referred to the man as 'Galavan'. This was not the man's name, as he'd never revealed it to HollowEyes, but it was an equally cruel name in Parasitian that HollowEyes felt suited the man like a glove. "So you own me now?" HollowEyes said, getting to the most important part of his current predicament.

The man chuckled a little to himself and answered as they walked down another corridor. "I left the research team I'd been with for many years, used my own vast fortune to develop the Sanctuary from nothing, and created a legend out of five protectors of peace to help me save the remnants of the human race. Five protectors Byule, not four."

HollowEyes knew that there was much more to the story than that, but he'd never been able to find out what. For that reason, as well as others, he really hated this man. "I told you when I left that protecting a dying race is a useless, tiresome job. The time of humans is long go-" "Please don't say things like that Byule, it troubles kindhearted people like myself." They continued down several hallways, each one a darkish granite colour, made of a similar smooth metal to the one in the room HollowEyes arrived in.

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Finally they arrived at the observatory, the man's favourite part of the Sanctuary - it was a large circular room made from the same metal as all the others with a lavish chair in the centre. The man hopped up to the chair, having for some unknown reason made it too large for himself, and indicated to a small prong that extended out to the side of it. "If you would be so kind as to join me, Byule?" HollowEyes once again obliged the man and took his former place standing next to him, more curious than anything.

"A lot has happened since you left us Byule." The man started as the chair shuddered to life, floating above the floor to the windows of the dome above them. "I wasn't lying when I said that your siblings missed yo-" "To the point please, Galavan." HollowEyes interjected. The man frowned a little, but continued anyway. "You might find it interesting that we have managed to almost complete Phase 1 without you. In fact, your siblings are currently completing the final elements of it now." This fact did in fact catch him by surprise - when he'd left the others had been so pitifully weak he expected nothing to come from them, save one.

At this point, the chair stopped rising and began to orbit the central point of the room, giving the man and the parasitian a 360 degree view of the world outside of the Sanctuary. To call this fortress such was very appropriate, as the surrounding land was a desolate wasteland. Being the careful observer that he was, HollowEyes instantly picked out the ones who the man referred to as his 'siblings' tearing apart their relatively defensless opponents, but only for one of them this term was correct. He hadn't seen her for five years, but there was no mistaking his twin sister. A voice broadcasted throughout the Sanctuary from another one of his siblings, this one being a gruff male one.

"Phase 1, eliminating all humans opposed to being saved, is 95% complete, Saviour."

End Side B (Yes, I do plan on ending every Side with one important line that's kind-of-but-not-really a cliff-hanger, but I don't have any particular reason to do so, I just think it works well)

[Shaon]

Haha, what if the research team that HE was found by, after he escaped, left Galavan to make the Kumo series (why else would they want to make mindless killers which quickly backfired?)?

Which is so the reason that Kumo knew about Parasitians.

[3kul]

Hehehe, I actually left that part of the story vague because I thought it would be an interesting tie-in to Kumo's story if you like, Shaon. I think it'd be cool, but it's up to you.

To elaborate a little, 'Galavan' (keep in mind it's not his real name, it's something horrible and rude in Parasitian ) was originally part of a research team of some kind (like you suggested, this can be the team that went on to develop the Kumo series Shaon), but the group ended up kicking him out for being too eccentric in his beliefs of saving humanity (or something like that - it doesn't really matter so long as he is booted out ). He actually 'left' the team before finding HollowEyes or creating the Sanctuary, although it's possible they might have kept tabs on him, or a colleague or two stayed with him.

If you need a name that might link him, he often refers to himself as the 'saviour of the remnants of humanity', and HollowEyes' three other siblings refer to him as 'Saviour' (maybe an office joke amongst his former colleagues though? ).

He is a human scientist from HollowEyes' corner of the multiverse who, as a child, bore witness every day of his life to the pitiful state of the human race, growing up in the poorest parts of the Remnant Colonies. Humanity here quickly used all available resources on their own available planet, yet couldn't expand anywhere within their reach - creatures like Parasitians, though primitive, proved to be a far too formidible force.

Oh, and just so everyone knows, the 'vast fortune' he refers to was, of course, stolen, but in his mind it is like stealing bread to save your starving family (like a quadrillion dollars worth of bread )

[Shaon]

Damn it 3kul you're making me want to write the origins of Kumo just to tie it in with yours D:

After Galavan found HE, the team saw him and his sister and decided to make something better, and so somehow found a portal to this other end of the multiverse and began working on the Kumo series.

Which is by the way why his name is in Japanese.

[3kul]

Ah, that would work well - even if he was no longer involved with them, 'Galavan' would still be eager to show off his protectors and what they could do.

And don't complain Shaon, writing is fun

[3kul]

"95%? What's the matter Galavan, defenseless humans getting the better of you? I did about 50% by myself, if you recall." HollowEyes was a little impressed by the progress, but he had a hunch that most of the success was due to Little Sister.

The man appeared undeterred by HollowEyes' pessimistic response. "45% HollowEyes, you eliminated 45% by yourself. Both your work for our cause and your absense has inspired your siblings to reapply themselves to their training." HollowEyes seemed unmoved by this. "And yet a meagre 5% eludes you?" The man frowned a little at this. "They're proving somewhat troubling, and that's also part of the reason why I sent for you now of all times... But more on that later."

He leaned over to the arm of the chair and pushed a button on the panel attached to it. A small microphone extended from the chair towards his mouth, and he spoke into it. "All Protectors please proceed towards the Meeting Room, I have a surprise for you." Rolling his eyes, HollowEyes understood what was in store for him.

He was beginning to miss the cell he'd landed in when he got here. The chair slowly descended to it's original place on the floor, and the man hopped off, smiling at HollowEyes. "Please come and see your siblings, I know how much you mean to them, and they would be crushed if you didn't." Not seeing any way out of this, HollowEyes frowned and followed the man.

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The man entered the room first to brief the other 'Protectors' on HollowEyes arrival, before opening the door and stepping out to let them have their reunion. Each 'sibling' was as he'd remembered them, and he didn't like them now any more than he had before.

"Eldest brother!" Three of them leapt from their seats and rushed over to greet him, whilst Little Sister remained seated, cleaning blood from her hair. Each of his 'siblings' were totally different, but they had all been made from he and Little Sister's DNA ((none of them possessed the typical Parasitian tongue, so they could only be considered)). They referred to each other as 'brother' or 'sister', however it was power that determined the age reference - HollowEyes was referred to as eldest because he was the strongest (despite the fact that Little Sister is the same age as him).

'Older Brother' was the next strongest, and was twice the size of HollowEyes. He had four stout legs and two long claws over each of his hands. His appearance seemed to be largely inspired by some kind of beetle, although there were two large limbs sprouting from his back. His attempts to hug HollowEyes were quickly stopped when his claws suddenly turning to stone. He smiled, muttering "Same Eldest Brother that I remember." HollowEyes had given him the ever-so-affectionate nickname of "Sao'tal", which was a certain variety of crustacean on his homeworld that everyone hated ((kind of like carp to us )).

'Older Sister' followed him, and was more snake-like in her body shape. She had a pair of arms, four small horns poking out of her head, and was a pale bluish colour. She appeared to be almost see-through, but her skin was solid, and quite rough to touch. She slid around HollowEyes, moving forward to kiss him, only to get a faceful of ink courtesy of the Demonic Squid charm. She quivered and blushed a little (a strange silverish colour), muttering something about missing him. HollowEyes called her "Pilelia", a rude term in Parasitian that equates to 'stalker', or someone who follows you even when you don't want them to.

'Younger Brother' was the last to greet him, but only because he'd been slower than the other two. He had two legs and two arms, with four eyes and five tendrils sticking out of his head (three in the back, two in the front). Most of his body way a light blackish colour, but a large part of his stomach appeared to be loose white skin. Grinning as he moved forward, he decided against trying to touch HollowEyes, but instead bowed his head, indicating his seniority. He felt HollowEyes arm smack down on the back of his head, and he whimpered as he backed away. HollowEyes called this one "Tausk", another Parasitian term usually used to refer to someone who is totally spineless in a way that would make them want to cry.

Little Sister smiled to herself as she saw the various treatments that each of their 'siblings' received. She held the title of 'Youngest Sister', although this was more out of a lack of respect than anything. As the siblings idolized HollowEyes, they found themselves insanely jealous of Little Sister, because HollowEyes always seemed to prefer her company. They really couldn't see the appeal - she couldn't talk, had a vile temperment and personality, and was downright frightening most of the time.

~Nice to see you didn't abandon me here brother - it's been so boring here, you know.~ HollowEyes smiled a little at her, infuriating the other siblings and fuelling their jealousy. 'Sorry I took so long to come back for you' he thought. ~Lying is wrong, brother, you'll hurt my feelings...~ she said teasingly as the man re-entered the room. The three siblings instantly scrambled back to their seats, whilst HollowEyes sauntered over to his place at the other head of the table.

"Now that HollowEyes has returned to us, we can move on." ~Galavan's been really annoyed by that 5%, they're something else...~ Little Sister commented to HollowEyes. ~Half metal people or something - there's only a few dozen or so, but they're crazily strong. They all hate Galavan of course, and they're a blast to watch get riled up before you kill them. Too bad they're no good for abilities, I'd like metal powers...~

'Oh, they're cyborgs?' HollowEyes replied to her in his mind. 'There's nothing for you to absorb from them, mechanical parts don't have DNA.' ~Hm, how strange...~ The word 'cyborg' was unknown to her, but she remembered it for future use. They couldn't talke any more, as Galavan finished explaining their plan of attack.

"Please return to your rooms, for the good of the remnants of humanity, we shall crush the final 5% tomorrow at dawn."

End Side C (Argh, sorry this one's so long, but the character descriptions for the siblings took up a lot of space... I feel like I'm moving much too slowly, but this story arc will probably end in two or three more parts, and I need to explain a lot as I go.)

[Azaria Matthews]

I find your story strange and inriguing, for where I 'come' from humans are by no means plentiful. Free humans even less so.

[3kul]

Really Azaria? Interesting, although the two locations no doubt have their differences - the Wamphyri are unknown to this part of the multiverse.

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The man known to HollowEyes as Galavan retreated back to his office the moment he was sure that his Protectors were back in their quarters. HollowEyes had, and always was, the most interesting of the group - he had showed great potential in his leadership skills, and sometimes seemed to display an interest in his cause.

The 'sometimes' part was the problem though, as more often than not, HollowEyes would do whatever he felt like, and HollowEyes attitude towards his siblings was not one of acceptance. He had no idea why HollowEyes lacked the compassion that fuelled this noble cause, and motivating him was not an easy feat.

This raised another problem, in that despite the fact that the other Protectors all believed in the cause (aside from Little Sister) and in the man's status as the Saviour of the Remnants of Humanity, they also all seemed to respect HollowEyes on a different level to that which they respected him. It wasn't that they respected HollowEyes more than him, but he often wondered who they would follow if push came to shove.

He sat back at his desk, and began to review his plan and the research that had been conducted on the final 5%. This 5% had been most troublesome, they were well organized, well armed, and were led by military minds the likes of which he'd never encountered. To simply refer to them as '5%' was more for a confidence boost and to reassure his Protectors, as in reality, they were a far stronger force than that of the previous 95%.

The man attempted to figure out a good plan of attack, but sighed as he realized the ultimate truth. He was a man of science, and not a military man - in a fight like this, everything depended upon HollowEyes. The man would not get a wink of sleep that night.

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HollowEyes, on the other hand, had not slept simply because he did not need to. The moment the door to his cell had opened, he left, all too glad to be out of such undesirable quarters. He continued down the hallway in the opposite direction that he had been led the other day - his memories of this place had been restored overnight, and it was as if he'd never left.

He ignored all of his 'siblings', aside from Little Sister, as they walked towards the Courtyard. The Courtyard had quite a deceptive name, as one would expect such a place to perhaps have a small garden path, and be surrounded by flowers or plants, yet it was really a simple deployment area.

'You mentioned earlier that you'd managed to kill one of the remaining 5%?' HollowEyes thought to Little Sister, getting straight to business. ~Hmmm... Yes... Although I've only killed one, and none of these other idiots have managed such a feat. Since then, they've gotten smarter, and adapted to counter my style of combat.~ HollowEyes nodded as they reached the area, and noticed that Galavan was already present. ~They're smart brother, we'd do well to forget about Galavan and ditch this place.~

The man delivered what he felt to be a most inspiring speech on the righteous of their cause, the necessity of it all, and the various plights of the Remnants of Humanity. It was quite a touching speech - the three Protectors had tears welling up in their eyes as they listened, and were pumped to get to saving humanity by the end of it.

However, much to his disappointment, HollowEyes still seemed very uninterested. The man knew that if HollowEyes would not co-operate, it was very likely that the remaining 5% would gain the upper hand in this fight, and the odds were against all of the Protectors surviving.

The death of any Protectors was totally unnacceptable, as the boost in morale it would give these deluded Remnants of Humanity in their crusade against him would be enormous. 5% could quickly become 10%, and soon he feared that there may not be any Remnants of Humanity left who wished to be saved, or that they may become so deluded by the actions of this 5% that they would be beyond saving.

As the large gates to the Sanctuary opened, the Protectors began to make their way out. The man took this opportunity to drag HollowEyes aside and try to reason with him. He didn't like having to make any kind of deal with HollowEyes, but he didn't have much of a choice given their current situation.

"Byule, why can't you understand how important this is?" The man himself was visably upset at HollowEyes' attitude to the upcoming fight. "Why is it that you wish to forsake our friends in their time of need?" HollowEyes sighed and rolled his eyes at Galavan's overly dramatic attitude. "They're no friends of mine. Why should I care about a bunch of humans that have nothing to do with me? It's not like the multiverse is running out of them anytime soon."

Galavan was hurt, and reminded of similar arguments he'd had with his former colleagues. They'd never seen things his way because they couldn't understand what it was like. HollowEyes couldn't either, and in a way, he was just like them. However, unlike back then, the man still had something that would give him the upper hand - something that he knew HollowEyes would not resist.

"Give me your full co-operation for the completion of Phase 1, and you can consider both yourself and Liyao free agents."

End Side D

((I don't know if I really like this Side all that much - it seems to be way too much writing to establish a small point in the storyline, although it does give a bit more insight into Galavan, and allow us to see exactly how HollowEyes and Little Sister get out of this predicament.))

[3kul]

HollowEyes took a moment to carefully consider this offer. There wasn't really that much to prevent him from escaping this place, but he'd prefer not to be continuously hunted down. To leave on terms like the ones Galavan was offering seemed ideal.

"Allow me to complete Phase 1 in my own way, and I'll help you out this one last time." Galavan smiled and patted HollowEyes on the back. "Thank you Byule - although your motives are somewhat selfish, know that you are truly helping out these last Remnants of Humanity."

HollowEyes rolled his eyes at Galavan's glorification of the matters at hand, and decided to get this over with. "Inform the other Protectors that their assistance shall not be required. If the Final 5% have truly adapted to compensate for their abilities, their presence would become troublesome for me."

Galavan seemed quite nervous at this, wondering what exactly HollowEyes had in mind. He finally gave in, hoping that HollowEyes knew what he was doing. "...Very well. Your siblings and I will keep an eye on you from the Observatory - strictly for educational purposes, of course." HollowEyes nodded, but added one final condition before wandering out of the Sanctuary. "Do not allow my twin to observe my actions."

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Sao'tal, Pilelia and Tausk watched the lone Parasitian make his way across the barren wastelands of the once glorious Human Homeworld, with Galavan sitting in his chair once more. Their feelings about HollowEyes taking on the final 5% alone were mixed - Sao'tal appeared to be totally confident in HollowEyes victory, Pilelia was so worried about him that she was on the verge of tears, and Tausk was watching in quiet awe.

They could see several of the cyborgs had spotted him already, but as they fired upon him he suddenly became enveloped in a large cloud of thick, black smog. "I didn't know Eldest Brother could do that..." Tausk breathed in an almost silent whisper to the others. The nodded in agreeance, wondering what exactly he was planning to do.

The cyborgs seemed quite confused by this, as they'd never encountered a Protector who had been able to do something like this. They all turned to one cyborg, who indicated for them to spread out. As he shouted a command, the smog dispelled in a sudden burst of energy, and HollowEyes was surrounded by long, dark chains, each with a massive metallic jaw on the end.

Nobody on the planet knew what was going on now, aside from HollowEyes himself. Galavan and the Protectors were curious as to what HollowEyes planned to do with this strange and mysterious weapon, and the Final 5% were both cautious and afraid. HollowEyes did not move from his spot, as the Chains snaked their way around him, and he appeared to be talking to the head cyborg.

Whatever he was saying didn't seem to be going down too well, and one of the younger cyborgs suddenly snapped. Screaming and charging towards HollowEyes, he unleashed a tremendous burst of fire from his flamethrower, totally engulfing HollowEyes in flames.

Those in the Observatory watched on in horror, witnessing the death of HollowEyes.

End Side E

[3kul]

As the flames died away, a slender cocoon stood in the middle, made entirely from the Chains. The cyborgs appeared unsure of what had happened, and once again looked towards their leader.

The cyborg leader was attempting to make sense of a situation which made no sense. A Protector they hadn't seen for years had suddenly appeared, demanded that they surrender, used abilities that they'd never seen before and was now in a Chain-made coffin of sorts.

"Omicron, Epsilon, go check it out." He barked to two of his most trusted high-ranking officers. Regardless of what was going on, he needed to take control of the situation - their numbers were mostly made up of young blood, and he couldn't afford to have them panic and freak out.

Suddenly, everything went wrong.

Horrifying screams rang throughout the cyborg's communication devices. "What the hell's happening to those two?" The leader shouted as he looked over to see the two cyborgs suspended in mid air, two large Jaws biting into each of them. He shoved a few medic cyborgs aside as he made his way to several complicated looking machines. The machines gave a constant reading of the life force of each cyborg in the Final 5%, although from what he could see, the Jaws weren't causing any kind of physical damage.

A second set of Jaws bit into both officers, and they felt the excruciating mental anguish double. One of them managed to gain enough control of his body to slowly reach for his self-destruct mechanism, and activate it. A deafening explosion rang throughout the wasteland, and a thick cloud enshrouded the group, preventing anyone from up in the Observatory from seeing what was going on.

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"Open up."

HollowEyes voice echoed throughout the Sanctuary, much to the relief of Galavan, who appeared to be the only one present. "Marvellous Byule, you had us worried for a second there." HollowEyes wandered in, but there was no sign of the Chains of Despair, and not a scratch on him. Galavan pushed a button, and the doors began to close behind HollowEyes.

HollowEyes had a strange air around him that made the man nervous. "Your siblings are all waiting up in the-" He was cut off by a loud metallic clang as HollowEyes hurled a large mechanical arm into the centre of the Courtyard, which had been ripped off at the joint. A small insignia was on the back of the robotic palm, which read '5%'. "The leader's name was Sigma..."

The heavily re-enforced doors to the Courtyard suddenly grinded to a halt as several mechanical arms reached around it. A one-armed Cyborg stepped into the Courtyard, the first one of the Human Resistance to ever do so.

"He requested to speak with you." HollowEyes said, returning the fierce glare that Galavan was giving him. For the first time since either of them could remember, they were openly showing emotion to each other, though not through words.

End Side F

((I'm in the mood to write a bit, so I'm posting these Sides together... I guess it kind of wrecks the cliff-hanger thing I might have going, but still ))

[Azaria Matthews]

Yes, and Paraisitians are unknown to the Wamphyri.

The two locations would be completely different, although they are strangely reminiscent of each other... And we have no cyborgs either

[3kul]

It is quite interesting... Perhaps we are at opposite ends of the universe?

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"Judas..." The man muttered to HollowEyes whilst glaring at him. A large metallic hand grabbed onto the man's shoulder, and increased it's grip.

"You are the one who refers to himself as the Saviour of the Remnants of Humanity?" Sigma asked. He seemed to be calm, although his eyes suggested that he was ready to tear Galavan limb from limb. Galavan remained calm, and smiled at the cyborg. "I will save those who wish to be saved, yes."

Wrong answer. Sigma tightened his grip on Galavans shoulder, and the sound of breaking bones was quickly followed by screams of pain. "There's a lot of questions we of the Remnants want to ask you, so I'm going to try and exercise a little restraint whilst I get some answers, although I'm not making any promises, got it?"

Galavan nodded, terrified of this man. Eyes that had been glaring at HollowEyes with immense hatred only moments ago were now pleading him for help. HollowEyes attempted to ignore Galavan, but the current situation was reminding him slightly of his own.

"Why do you attack us?" Sigma's grip slowly began to tighten again, warning Galavan to make his answer quickly and concisely. "Because you won't let me help yo-"

A crushing sensation quickly cut him short, and he gritted his teeth in pain. "You mean enslave us. Why is it you seek to enslave the last of our proud race?" Galavan appeared to be deeply confused. "No, I'm just trying to help, you don't-"

Sigma's metallic fist slammed into Galavan's chest, sending him flying into a distant wall...

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"Serps you idiot, get out of the way, old man Gert's gonna be out with his gun any second now."

A tiny young boy stood in the way of a bunch of kids much bigger than him. They were in front of a dilapidated Food-Mart that was somehow still being run. This Food-Mart happened to be on the Human Homeworld in a very distant part of the multiverse, and in the current day and age, the place was a mess.

Several decades ago, the planet had been wrung dry of it's very last natural resource. The richest people left for a new planet to call their own, never to be seen again, whilst the poor masses remained on the Homeworld, unable to leave.

Crime and poverty were constantly on the rise, it was a dog-eat-dog world, or at least, it would be, if dogs hadn't become extinct several years earlier.

"Stealing is wrong, even if we're hungry. How will other people get food if we take it all away?"

One severe (but rushed) pummelling later, the bigger kids were off, and Gert, the manager of the Food-Mart, could be heard shouting in the street as he chased them, the occassional shotgun fire ringing throughout the town.

He stayed lying down, as there was no point in getting back up. Nobody would come to get him, and he had no home to go to. The town was full of people like him and the other kids - deperate, impoverished and starving. The townsfolk seemed to enjoy the cruel irony that their town be called Sanctuary.

He pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, from an archaic book that he'd found once. This was the most precious thing he had, and it made him feel better whenever he looked at it. He couldn't read all of it, but the pictures depicted such wonderous things, and the one who was bringing these things was referred to as 'the Saviour'.

"One day, I'll be a Saviour."

Lying on the ground, he gazed at the sky, and bled.

End Side G

[3kul]

((H for HollowEyes! This is the last Side in the 'Saviour of the Remnants' story arc.))

He didn't know why he had remembered that particular instance in his childhood, but perhaps it was because he'd been lying in a similar position. The calm artificial sky in the roof of the Courtyard contrasted to the violence erupting around him.

He couldn't see it, but as he lay on the ground, his Protectors had come to his aide. They were gradually forcing the cyborgs back out of the doors, even HollowEyes and Little Sister seemed to be helping.

~Why are we doing this brother?~

"I don't know..."

"Why did you let them in here eldest brother?"

"I don't know..."

"Why are you turning on us, accursed Byule?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!"

HollowEyes whipped out several charms, and his body suddenly changed rapidly. His face turned to stone, and his claws grew and sharpened to the size of meat cleavers. He leapt at Sigma, slashing at the leader of the Cyborgs viciously, and taking a heavy punch to the side of the head in the process.

Sigma was bleeding heavily from the face, but was determined not to give up. He continued to attack HollowEyes over and over again. HollowEyes took punch after punch, slicing through Sigma for each hit he took. Both were fiercely locked in combat, and neither showed any signs of letting up.

The Protectors were successfully forcing the other cyborgs out of the Courtyard and managed to block the doorway off, but the fight between HollowEyes and Sigma raged on. HollowEyes felt like he had finally begun to understand Galavan's cause, although he could also see Sigma's side of the argument as well. HollowEyes' problems seemed so much easier to cope with - eternal banishment is pretty non-negotiable.

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He struggled on against Sigma, deciding that this fight would let him know who was right. The pair fought on for over an hour, before finally beginning to show signs of tiring.

Various mechanical components of Sigma's structure were sparking wildly, and a shrill beeping noise in his comms device was telling him to stop whilst he still could. HollowEyes' horn had been shattered, and one of his arm blades was broken.

Neither combatant could fight any longer, although Sigma had a different strategy. He slowly reached his single arm across to his self-destruct device. He saw the look on HollowEyes face that meant he understood what he was about to do.

"That's right, if I'm going down, I'm taking this whole damn place with me, and every monstrosity in it!" HollowEyes appeared skeptical, but remained wary. "Your self-destruct bomb isn't that powerful, I saw what happened-" "Oh, but it is, Byule, it is." Sigma grinned, and was clearly enjoying his last moments on this world. "You see, this was what I had intended to do all along. There's enough destructive force in this bomb to take out a sizable chunk of this planet, along with your precious Sanctuary."

He began to laugh manically as he pressed the button to activate it, and an electronic voice sounded as the bomb began to draw large quantities of energy from his life support systems.

[10 minutes until detonation]

He continued laughing even as he collapsed, his entire body no longer functional. HollowEyes began to drag Galavan to the Observatory, knowing that he was the only one who could get them out of here. Within seconds, the Protectors were helping him carry the man.

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As the Observatory blasted off into space, the man looked back with a tearful expression as the larger part of a haven he'd spent years building was rendered a smoking hole in the ground.

"I don't understand, why didn't they want to be saved? All I wanted to do was help them..."

HollowEyes was the only other person present in the room, and he appeared to be somewhat back to normal, minus a horn and with his arm still broken. The Protectors had gone back to sort out new quarters and to await being summoned as per his instructions. Little Sister remained, although she was keeping to herself in a corner of the Observatory, not caring about Galavan that much.

"The people you left and the people you sought to help were totally different, Galavan." HollowEyes commented. "Perhaps their ideas of what they need and your ideas of what they need are also different."

The man reflected on this idea, and thought about it carefully. "Thank you... HollowEyes. It will take me a long time to get over it all, but I think I understand the situation a little better now." HollowEyes was a bit surprised that the man had referred to him by his own name for once. "Don't take it as a total loss, there's a lot of others out there who would probably appreciate your help. Take your research for example, I'm sure many races would find that useful."

The man frowned a little. "No, I'll only be using my research to help my own kind thank you. Other species are what damned the Remnants to that planet to begin with, I'd prefer not to deal with them." HollowEyes shrugged, figuring that this was the best kind of recovery he could expect from the man. "It's your choice. I gave you my genetic material of my own free will, and you'll still have the Protectors to help you out."

"Oh..." The man could see what HollowEyes was getting at. "So I suppose you wish to return to that Council of yours?" HollowEyes nodded. "And you'll want to take your twin with you?" "Yes, I'd appreciate it if you let us go." The man turned away from him, gazing into the empty void of space. "Very well..."

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The Observatory had finally located the Corrupted Cave after several days of HollowEyes trying to remember to correct co-ordination codes for it, and they had landed a short distance from it, to avoid detection. HollowEyes had a small cage slung over his shoulder, in which Little Sister resided.

"Thank you for everything you've done, HollowEyes." The man and HollowEyes' siblings were standing back at the ship, not following the Parasitians. "And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention me to your Council."

HollowEyes rolled his eyes at this - he'd told the man a bit of the Council's exploits, and greatly exaggerated as he did so, no doubt leaving quite an impression. "Galavan, I don't even know your real name, how could I possibly mention you?" HollowEyes said as he smirked back at the man.

"Eugene." HollowEyes stopped dead in his tracks as he was heading to the Cave's entrance. "What?" "Eugene Serpells. Don't tell anyone."

Within minutes, the Observatory had taken off and was gone - nothing more than a speck on the horizon.

End Side H

[3kul]

((More like End of Story! Not quite, there's more to tell about HollowEyes' history, but that covers this part. I hope people found this story interesting, or at least not totally boring, because I kind of found it fun to write. Writing the end was the hardest thing ever though - it took me like, 3 hours just to think of how I wanted it to end! Oh, and btw, sorry about the double post, but I felt that these notes kind of made the last part look really messy.

As a bit of a character note on Eugene, I started out wanting to have him as a loon who believed himself to be the Saviour of all, but in the end I got to like him too much, and made him a somewhat disillusioned kid.

I might actually go on to use him in the occassional RP, should the opportunity arise, although he's not much of a fighter at all. He would be the leading researcher in the multiverse on the application of Parasitian biology to regular science (or something like that), so maybe if people make a research RP

To be honest, I'd find the work he'd do to be fascinating (much more interesting that the Kumo scientists, that's for sure ), so I'll be interested to see if I can ever use him.))