::::: Prelude to Battle :::::  AKA  ::::: Where the @$#% am I? :::::


It was a beautiful day.  The sun was shinning brightly, not a single cloud in the clear blue sky.  The birds were flying freely and without any worries.  There was a gentle, warm breeze that felt soothing to the body. The grass was green, the kind of green that you would see on the other side of the fence.  The trees stood majestically, reaching upwards towards the vast sky.  It was certainly a beautiful day.  And yet, there were two people who were not fully enjoying the great beauty of this day...

Beneath the beautiful sky stood two young men.  One of these young men was fair skinned and had a thin, light body frame.  He had long, curly auburn hair which seemed to look like a lion's mane on him.  The young man's eyes are a dark brown, so dark that most people would think they were black.  His eyebrows were thick and the same color as his hair.  He was wearing a loose fitting pair of light blue cargo pants, a grey cotton T-shirt, a brown, cotton zippered jacket, a pair of white tennis shoes, and a very long, knitted wool scarf which was an unusual thing to wear in such a warm climate.  On his back was a brown, leather backpack filled with various odds and ends that very few apart from him knew exactly what was in there.  There was a grin on his face as he stared off into the distance.  His name....

Theodore Westmen.

The other young man who stood behind him was pale and slightly thinner than Theodore.  He had short, black hair as well as the startings of a beard.  His eyes were also brown but of a much lighter shade than Theodore's.  His eyebrows were thin compared to Theodore's thick ones and they were the same black as his hair.  He was wearing a white T-shirt which had the words 'I see dumb people reading my shirt' written in the form of an eye exam chart, a old pair of blue jeans, a long, black trenchcoat, and a pair of white and black tennis shoes.  A satchel dangled from his right side, its strap pressing down on his left shoulder.  This young man let out a yawn and used his right hand to rub the sleep from his eyes which had dark circles beneath them from lack of sleep while his left hand stayed in his trenchcoat pocket.

He was Theodore's closest, best, worse, and thus,one can conclude, his only friend, Daniel.  Just Daniel.  No one other than himself and Theodore knew the rest of his name.  

The two of them were standing on the side of a highway with their right thumbs pointing out, apparently attempting to catch a ride from anyone who was kind-hearted enough to stop for them.  So far they were not having any such luck.  Behind the two of them was a dark green Jeep that had flipped over and was simply laying there upside-down in the green grass.  After a few moments of silence, Daniel spoke up.

"You know, Theo, this wouldn't have happened if you had let me drive," he said in a slightly agitated yet obviously tired voice.  Theodore turned his head slightly towards his friend.

"This wouldn't have happened, Dan, if you hadn't suddenly jumped up out of your seat and leaned infront of me all the while pointing to someone in the vehicle next to us and shouting 'Jersey Devil, Jersey Devil,'" replied Theodore in a matter-of-fact tone which showed that he didn't particularly care about what happened anymore.  

"Like I already told you, it was Dante who made me do it," said Daniel defensively as he looked away from Theodore.  Theodore, still keeping the grin on his face, let out a sigh.

"And like I told you, that is not true.  Dante inhabits and therefore only has control over your left arm where as you not only moved your whole body but you were also pointing with your right."

"He's a Parasitic Demon which, might I remind you, we know next to nothing about.  Not only that but being that he is a Demon, how do we know whether or not he's telling us the truth about his abilities?  I was pretty tired from the little research I was doing last night.  I was bored, too, so maybe that lowered my mental defenses allowing him some control over my body."

"So you did it because you were tired and bored," asked Theodore quickly in the hopes of catching him off guard.

"Yea--NO!"  

Bingo.

"It's no use lying to me, Dan," continued Theodore as his grin broadened.  "Besides, Dante was asleep at the time."

"W-was he," asked Daniel.

"Yes, I was," replied a voice that spoke into Daniel's left ear.  He nearly jumped out of his skin and onto the highway from the suddeness of the response.  His heart still beating fast, Daniel started to speak again.

"Ah, s-so you were."  Daniel forced out a laugh, his apprehension clearly noticible within it.  His left hand was suddenly pulled out of the pocket it was in and was raised up to his face, the book still tucked tightly underneath.  Daniel watched as a mouth formed in the palm of his hand and let out yawn, revealing its fanged teeth and long spear-like tongue.  At the tips of his index and middle fingers, a pair of eyes blinked open and gave him a cold stare.  Daniel stared back at them as sweat rolled down his face.

"You certainly are courageous to be blaming me for your stupidity," Dante commented coldly.  Wishing to avoid hearing the two of them have a one-sided, pointless arguement, Theodore greeted Dante.

"Good morning, Dante."

"Ah.  Good morning, Theodore," Dante responded in kind as the fingers that his eyes were on bent unnaturally backwards.  "How are you today?"

"I'm relatively okay, thank you.  How about yourself?  Do you feel fully rested?"

"Very much so, thank you for asking.  Although, my host here could do better in respect to his own personal health."  Dante eyes bent back towards Daniel.  "You do know that your condition also affects mine, correct?  You should sleep more often and eat healthier food, too."

Daniel let out a sigh and rolled his eyes.

"Just who do you think you are?  My mother?"

"If you do not take better care of yourself, then I will not be able to protect you properly as you chant your spells.  This in turn will increase the chances of you recieving a mortal blow and then we both will die."

"I see.  So this is all about you, is it?"

"I am a parasite, Daniel.  It is in my nature to think only about my survival."

"Yeah, well... I mean... you... ," sputtered Daniel before he growled in fustration and said, "Okay, okay.  You win this round."

"He has won every round so far, Daniel," Theodore said casually.

"Thanks for reminding me..."

The three of them stood in silence for a while before Daniel spoke up again.

"I don't think anyone is going to stop for us."

"I did tell you that from the start that this wouldn't work, didn't I," responded Theodore.

"Details, details, details.  We should be more concerned about how we are going to get to town."  Daniel turned back towards their overturned Jeep.  "Then we could get someone to take care of this thing."

"Well, the bicycle we have in there might still be okay.  If so, we could ride that into town."

"... Yeah," Daniel said hesitantly, "that thought did cross my mind."

"But...," Theodore continued for him.

"But the thing is that you tend to get too excited when riding that thing."

"That's not true," Theodore stated, "what happens is that I get bored with simply riding that bicycle... and that's when I start doing weird things.  Well, weird to most people."

"I'll say.  Remember the last time we rode on that thing?"

"Ah, yes," replied Theodore as he gazed up at the sky.

"I swear, I thought that driver was about to go into shock when we passed him on the highway."

"Instead of us standing around talking all day," interrupted Dante as he found his way back to Daniel's pocket, "how about you two actually do something?"

"Okay, okay," Theodore said as he headed off towards the Jeep in the half-dazed state that he often finds himself in.  "I'll go get it."

"Promise me you won't do anything weird this time," Daniel shouted after him.  Theodore stayed quiet as he approached the Jeep.  Daniel let out a sigh realizing that he should know better than to ask the impossible from his friend.

Theodore pulled out the keys to the Jeep from his coat pocket and unlocked the Jeep's trunk.  After opening the trunk door, the first thing that met his eyes was the bicycle that they kept with them for situations like this.  He and Daniel had modified it so that it could seat two people without there being too much of a problem.  At first glance it looked perfectly intact but Theodore felt that giving it a thorough check wouldn't hurt.  Once he had a firm grip, he began to pull it out as slowly and carefully as possible so as not to damage it.  It was at that moment that he noticed something strange happening to him.

His body had started to glow blue.

Not having the slightest clue as to what was happening to him, Theodore decided to do what he always did in situations like this.

"Daaan!  What did you do this time?!"  Daniel turned towards him.

"What in the world are you--HOLY CRAP!!!"  Daniel rushed towards Theodore, his body glowing brighter and brighter.  "What going on?!  What's happening to you?!"

"I was hoping you could tell me.  Isn't this your fault?"

"No," shouted Daniel and after a few moments of fidgeting about, he asked, "Does it hurt?"

"Nope," Theodore replied calmly.  "Now, you're sure you had nothing to do with this?"

"Yes, of course!  Why would you think it's my fault?!"

"Because it usually is."  

"You know, Daniel," interjected Dante, "you might want to try and do something rather than just stand there like an idiot."

"I know, I know!!  I'm trying to think!  Theo--"  

Daniel stopped himself short when he noticed that his friend was starting to become transparent.  

"THEO!!"  

"I know, you don't have to shout.  I think it might be some form of teleportation.  I could end up anywhere."

"Crap!  What are we going to do?!"  

Theodore simply shrugged which did little to calm Daniel down.  Suddenly, Daniel looked as if he realized something and began to search his pockets.  Theodore started to fade faster.

"Whatever it is you're trying to do, Dan, you might want to do it quicker."

"Got it!"  

Pulling his hand out from his back pocket, Daniel held up the item he was looking for.  It was a sterling silver ring with a smooth, oval-shaped piece of rainbow obsidian set into it.  He shoved the ring into Theodore's hand.

"Whatever you do, don't lose that ring!  Keep it on you at all times!  I'm not sure if my idea will work or not but if it does then... then... I-I'll think of something!"

"If, huh?"  Theodore looked down at the ring as it started to fade with him.  Shrugging his shoulders, he gripped the ring tightly and added, "Well, it's better than nothing.  The keys to the jeep are still in the door of the trunk.  Take care of it, okay?"

"Okay.  Good luck!"

"Thanks, Dan.  See you later."  Theodore waved to Daniel, his body barely visible him.  Then there was a sudden flash of blue light and Theodore was gone.  Taking in a few deep breaths, Daniel managed to calm down a little.

"Dante.  I'm going to need to use my left arm."  Daniel started to roll up the sleeves of his trenchcoat.  "I've got work to do...."

-----  Meanwhile  -----

Theodore blinked his eyes several times until he could see clearly again.  He found himself in some kind of large walled area.  He took a quick look around him as he stuffed Daniel's ring into his jacket pocket, hoping to learn more about his surroundings.  Apart from some large, technologically advanced devices which he guessed had some connection with his sudden appearance here he found that he wasn't the only one to have been yanked from their comfortable environment.

An assortment of beings from who knows where stood alongside him, all of which were just as confused as he was.  Some looked friendly, some... not-so-friendly.  Most of them looked human and normal, though there were a few exceptions.  One looked to be a gaint lizard, possibly a dragon but then again what did he know?  Another was composed entirely out of some kind of crystal, their hands nothing more than a collection of jagged edges leading to Theodore believe that their kind must not be big on handshakes.  The rest did not seem to stand out much to Theodore nor did they show much of anything that might hint at their abilities or abnormalities, if any.  

That's when his eyes fell upon... Him.  The very sight of Him set off every alarm, bell, and whistle inside Theodore's head and sent a shiver down his spine.  His survival instincts screamed at him, telling him to run as fast as he could... no, even faster.  Theodore held his ground, however, while suppressing any signs of his fear, his battle instincts reasoning that if He really was that much a danger to him he would have been dead long ago and it would be pointless to try to run from Him.  But he could not tear his eyes away from Him.  And His eyes... those pitch black, void-like eyes....

The sudden uproar of cheers and shouts brought Theodore out of his trance.  Looking upwards, he found himself staring at an immense crowd.  It had become clear to him that this place was evidently an arena of some sort.  A voice sounded on the loudspeakers, drawing his attention towards a young man standing behind a podium on top of a stage.

"Contestants!  I'm glad to see you made it safely.  I humbly welcome you to Shirodania.  I am Shiro Kenjin, President of Shiro Technological Corporation, and I have summoned you here.  I know you must have a million questions, but we wish to welcome you first to our realm and honor you as the first pioneers of your dimensions to come here.  Here in Shirodania, you are all heroes!"

"Contestants, huh," muttered Theodore as he began to understand what was going on.  It seemed harmless enough but he could not shake off the feeling that there was more going on here than what he could see with his eyes.  So many things were bound to go wrong with this.  Theodore could not help but smile.  "This could get interesting.  I guess I might as well enjoy my stay here."

In the back of his mind, he felt glad that Daniel was working on a way to bring him back.  Although... he would have felt better if it was someone else....

-----  Meanwhile (Back on Earth)  -----

"... Daniel... I think it would be better if--"

"Shut up, Dante," shouted Daniel.  His right eye was twitching uncontrollably as he stared at the bicycle which was still stuck in the back of the jeep.  Gritting his teeth, he grabbed hold of the bicycle once more and began violently tugging it in an attempt to pull it free from the vehicle.  Dante kept silent as his host struggled with his task in vain.

This was going to be a long day....