Chapter thirty eight: Awakening.

"what? where am i? oh, right, i got KO'ed at the end of chapter 34... let's see... 38? okay then... wait... how'd i comment in the intros before now if i was KO'ed for three chapters...?
i think i just wrote myself into a parody plot-hole here..."
-emperorwolf (me) after realising that my 'character' should've still been knocked out. oops doesn't cut it.

-999's mind-
the brown wolf sat on an old green fabric couch in a small, white room of an old house, he was wearing a loose-fitting pair of track-pants with two white stripes running down the sides of the legs, he wore a longsleeved shirt covered in thin horizontal stripes of black and white.
in his paws was a game controller, the cord extending a meter or two out to a small black device on a short table.
the Tv it was hooked up to was a bulky grey model, back from times before everything went digital.
on screen, a blue spiny creature rode atop a floating skateboard-like object, passing about seven other characters on similar boards.
"c'mon, c'mon, attack item, attack item!"
the character rode through a bubble-like capsule on the track, and a little window showed up that depicted a white swirl and the number 10.
"dammit, i didn't need any more GP... now it's wasted."

"YEAH! i'mma firin mah Gravity!"

his attention briefly shifted to the short-ish, light blue furred, winged unicorn sitting next to him, his mane was red with stripes of orange, and he had striking yellow eyes, and on his flank was a tattoo-like marking that showed a lightning bolt with a flaming top.
"shut up, LB, i'll still-- HEY, HOW'D YOU PASS ME?!"

the equine creature smiled mockingly "i Have had my own copy since i was like... seven, you know, i'm just better than--"
the blue equine stopped his sentence short as a blue spiny creature shot past a black spiny one on screen.
"HEY! that's cheating! your guage isn't going down!"

999 smirked "i never said i didn't load AR before we turned the game on!"

the blue horse glared at him jokingly, a broad smile covering his face "fuck you!"

999 just kept smiling "yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever lightningblazer. even without cheating, i'm still better at this than you, y'know, since you can't play it yourself anymore, what with the condition of your console 'n all..."

lightningblazer scoffed and rolled his eyes.

999 chuckled "your little sister's a bitch."

his friend looked him straight in his hazel-coloured eyes and laughed heartily, seemingly in happy agreement with the otherwise insulting words "no argument there!"

---

999, the emperor, woke from his unconsiousness, lying flat on the ground in the grey room in his nobleman clothing.
he smiled as he sat up "no matter how many times i remember that, it never stops being funny..."
his fond memories of the many hours he spent playing video games with his best friend on earth were a welcome thought in his mind, back in the early days before his DSBIWO body was sent to Xlen, he'd used it a lot to hang out with his friend, who, although a 'Brony' person, was still the best friend he'd had in his lifetime.

999 stood up and noticed Dysonix still floating where he'd been as the wolf passed out.
"what is funny?"

"just a memory. nevermind."

Dysonix seemed so sigh "very well..." he turned his face in many directions, as if casting his gaze around "after you passed out, i decided to wait until you reawakened before i left... i did not want to leave in case you were broken."

999 stretched "s'okay, that was kind of you. you can leave now if you'd like to... i'm fine"
the red and blue entity nodded and vanished, leaving 999 alone in the empty room of endless grey space.
looking around, he noticed something new, a black end-table was a meter away from him, a little red box sat on top of it.
"what the...?"
he walked over to it, and inspected the box.
there was a note attatched.
the text, written in the earth-language of english, read "just a little gift from an old friend."
looking at the messy handwriting, it didn't take long for him to realise who'd sent the gift.
he smiled, and opened the box.

a small, black apostrophe-looking pendant lay within.
he chuckled.
it was half of a friendship necklace he'd recieved back on earth as a human. it seemed that his old friend still wanted to remain as such, dispite the unmeasurable distance between them.

"stupid horse." he chuckled.

---

meanwhile, in an old house in Giki-Kero, a white rabbit lay on his double-bed, a little squirrel laying beneath his paw on his chest.

"hey, jeremy..."

the handicapped squirrel looked up at his friend's face "yes? you want to say something?"

"not that i don't like having you here, but when will you be headed back to Gentiki?"

"don't know. i'll have to find a replacement wheelchair before i do, though."

"i'm sorry you lost your old one..."

the squirrel laughed "don't be! it's kinda nice getting carried, especially when my host has such soft paws!"

the rabbit smiled "why, thank you. i'm sure yours are, too."

"another thing," jeremy added "it's great that i can be almost anywhere, and you can still hear me!"

Xavier chuckled "bonus from the big ears, i guess."

"well, species-specifics wise, my tail'd be bigger than yours, but your ears are WAY bigger than mine! even if we were the same size!"

that won a joking scowl from the big rabbit "oh, that's true, but remember, i'm still way bigger than you! you could probably fit comfortably into my tail, in fact!"
the squirrel jerked his head back, eyes wide "wh-what!?"

Xavier laughed, letting his voice get a bit too loud for his guest's little ears "calm down! i mean in terms of size!" he assured his friend.

"oh, go shove a carrot in your face, cottontail!"
"go suck an acorn... dammit there isn't any equivelent for your species..."
jeremy laughed "good for me then!" then he sighed and smiled up at his friend's hovering face "you said a while back that you'd been practising Gentikan, didn't you?"
"i did"
"can i hear some?"

Xavier cleared his throat "uhh... bizal, kipo... cri- crilab zinnit kortel misullia..."

jeremy laughed a bit "oh? 'well, i'm still learning the language' eh? where're you learning it?"
"um... tobika..."
"school? alright then, where would you go for lunch at any normal day?"
"um... err... zimkuvi bachi?"
"huh? did you just say... Zimkuvi Bachi?! ... that..." jeremy stifled his laughter "that (snerk) means... means..." he broke into happy laughter "it means 'garbage flower' !!"
Xavier laughed awkwardly "like i said, i'm still learning."
jeremy kept laughing "surely-- surely you (snerk) meant 'zimtola rahi' ... 'nice cafe' ?"
Xavier sighed "yeah, i did..."
"okay, okay... how about this... i'll say something in Gentikan, and you try repeating it in Viradan."
Xavier nodded "okay, i'm up for that."
the squirrel cleared his throat "hmm... visek-to, lilibragin'te, lilpitim vursen, mimti zigrila biranti lovek!"
Xavier's eyes went wide, and he retreated back a bit, surprised from hearing the words roll so easily from his friend's mouth.

"okay... uh... could you repeat that? ... slower?"
"visek-to,"
"that's ... 'perfect,'..."
"lilibragin'te,"
"that's... you said 'however,' i think..."
jeremy nodded "lilpitim vursen..."
"... 'quite truthfully,'..."
"mimti zigrila,"
"uh... 'you'll recieve'..."
"biranti lovek!"
Xavier frowned "that means... 'hardest...' i don't know that last word, though..."
jeremy rolled onto his back, still looking up at the big rabbit's face, beaming.
"jeremy...? what's it mean?" he asked sternly.
"difficulty" he answered with a smart-alecky expression.
"what?! 'perfect, however, quite truthfully, you'll recieve hardest difficulty'?!" he asked with an annoyed tone "you tiny little jerk!"
jeremiah closed his eyes and opened his mouth in overjoyed laughter "your face is priceless! you look so stupid when angry! you smile and your eyes, so angry, are so opposite to smile!"
Xavier dropped his index finger to jeremy's stomach, and wiggled it "well, laugh it up, little squirrel!"
jeremy laughed uncontrolably at the tickling he recieved from the huge finger "ah! okay! okay, stop! i've learned my lesson! really, i have!" he laughed.
Xavier kept tickling him "how about no?"
"oh please! please stop! i can't take it!"
Xavier smiled "should'a thought of that beforehand."
the little squirrel's upper body squirmed under the tickling finger, as he kept begging for the torture to end, but the big rabbit simply continued tickling him, smiling all the while.
"okay! seriously! stop! you're gonna make me piss myself!" he begged while he laughed uncontrolably.
finally, Xavier removed his finger "alright, fair enough."
the squirrel caught his breath "that wasn't fair! and how'd you know i'm ticklish there, anyway?"
Xavier scoffed "i remember almost every one of our voice-chats, and in one of them, you said that your father kept tickling you until you wet yourself when he was drunk once, and i asked where, and you told me, and... the rest is self explanatory." he explained, still smiling.
"aw, just my luck, a rabbit with a long term memory!"
Xavier rolled his eyes "yes, yes, i'm awesome... y'know, i really do like having you here. you're really fun to be around... shame that i can't go to Gentiki... all the pictures you send of tourist spots... i'll bet they're a lot more impressive up close."
the little squirrel shrugged "well... Gentiki and Fira Deralo chose to remain single-sized-citizen countries, but at least Virada chose to be a tri-citizen one... and remember, you're technically allowed on FD, but i'm not."
Xavier nodded slowly "true. if i ever go, i'll snap some pictures for you."
"thanks... hey, did i ever show you a picture of my house?"
"no... just of the beautiful countryside, the tourist attractions, and that funny one of yourself in a mask and vampire outfit, hanging from a tree branch."
jeremiah took his phone out of his pocket "would you like to?"
Xavier laughed "i don't think i'd be able to see from such a tiny screen!"
jeremy chuckled "nah, i guess not."
he swiped away the open folder, and Xavier caught the vague shape of an image he knew quite well.
"is that...?"
jeremy sighed happily "yep, it's the pic you sent me a few years back. i liked it, so it's been my wallpaper for a while."
although he could not see it properly, Xavier knew it depicted a photograph of a zebra standing on a road crossing, with the caption "jeez! who got run over!?"
implying, of course, that the zebra thought it was a flattened member of his kind.
he smiled "i thought you'd have deleted it... it wasn't that funny..."
"contrary, even the zebras i show it to crack up! they're all 'oh, that's too good!' and stuff"
"i made that one, you know."
"well, good for you then."

the rabbit yawned "i guess i'm still tired..."
the squirrel looked uneasy "you're gonna sleep? wh-what should i do, then?"
Xavier smiled "don't be nervous, i'll turn on the Tv, you can watch it from the bedside desk if you'd like."
jeremy fidgeted "wh-what if i need something...?"
"just whistle or make noise, i'll hear you, don't worry"
"but... i'd disturb your sleep then, wouldn't i?"
Xavier slowly, and carefully lifted his friend from his chest, and placed him on the desk next to the bed.
"it's fine, i'll understand"

he picked up the remote, and turned on the Tv.

---

meanwhile, somewhere in Fira Deralo...

kevin's sister stood in front of a large cave in the desert, from which, an eerie purple light was coming.
"what the hell, we've been here again and again... why can't we go any deeper?"

a stout boar cleared his throat "well, Ms Ghast, we don't know... every time we try to go beneath 555 ft, we get pushed back... it's odd..."
she sighed, and adjusted her excavation uniform "alright, break time! break time, boys!"

as her employees left for lunch, she remained, staring at the mysterious luminescence in the cave.
(what are you?)

"should I answer?"

she turned, and saw the brown wolf from her brother's wedding sitting on a nearby boulder, about shoulder height.
he was wearing nobleman-esque clothing.

"eh?! what are you doing here?! you're not--!"
he raised a paw to silence her "yes, i know, i know... and i'm the only one who knows why you can't get below 555 ft underground..."
she padded over to him, intreagued "go on."
"your workers, they keep hitting a barrier. it's there to protect a special gemstone."
she cocked her head quizzically.
"you know of the 'barrier' around this planet? the gemstone is one of four that maintain the field."

back in her mobile office, 999 explained the purpose of the gem, and how it kept up the barrier in space, as he stood on the top of her desk.
"i see... and if a gem is removed?"
"simple, the field stays up, but weakens."
"what about all four of them?"
"the field becomes so weak, that it falls away."
"what's the gem look like?"
he rubbed his chin in thought "hmm... kind of like a big, purple, crystaline cabbage."

---

-a few hours later-

999 sat on the edge of a clocktower, looking out over the peaceful, snowy town of brivirdic, a place in virada where he knew a cetain someone was living.
"if i remember right... he's somewhere... over... there!"

he flew up off the tower, soaring high overhead, and after a few minutes, flew down and landed in front of a nice old home just outside town.
"this looks right, but i'd better change back to normal..."
he shifted into his normal wolf form.
the house was designed for a giant, so 999 was only able to use an added little doorbell button at the base of the monolithic door.

BING BONG

"i'll get it." came from inside.

the door opened, and looking down at him was patrick, in canine form.
"999? you here for collin?"
"hello, and no, just thought i'd drop in."
patrick sighed "come in, then."

walking past the big black paws of the giant, his senses were greeted by a pleasant aroma, that of insence.
patrick offered to pick him up, but 999 declined "i find it a bit... unnerving to travel that way... but thank you anyway."
"what's unnerving about it?"
"i have Acrophobia, the fear of heights."
"but... you fly almost all the time...?"
"that's the emperor, if something goes wrong, i'm able to just stop falling... but, i can't fly in this form... and i get a bit nervous... i can't shift if i'm panicking... which i would, if i fell..."

patrick crouched next to him "okay then, can i get you anything?"
"i wouldn't want to impose."
patrick smiled "oh, i'm pretty sure that's not an issue."
999 thought about it
"well... since you're offerring..."
the little brown wolf smiled a little, and brushed a paw thoughtlessly through the fur atop his head.
"do you have any cheesecake?"

(next chapter: big stuff happens)

( AUTHOR NOTE: well, oops for me, i wrote myself into a parody.
i'm thinking of switching the philosophy in the intro for a funny little worded-sketch from now on...
so, i'll probably either use philosophy or 'parody' from this point on.

P.S: my best friend in real life, is a brony who uses the name 'lightningblazer' for his OC.
personally, i'm not a 'brony' ... nor am i a 'hater' or whatever.
i just don't like that show.
it is intended for a young female audience after all.

anywho, i asked him if i could include him in my stuff, like this story, and he said it was fine.
so, as he's shown me a drawing of his character before, i decided to include him here.
and by the way, we really do talk like that to each other in real life... although, the memory depicted in this chapter, and our dialouge, was fabricated.

at some point, i'm going to draw a mini-series about funny times he and i have had, using 'emperorwolf' and 'lightningblazer' in place of our real selves at the time.

by the way, i bet you can't guess the name of the game we played in the early part of this chapter! >:D )