TheShepherdStar.com

Author: Aaron James R.

  • The Key To The Galaxy – “A Kingdom Hearts x Star Wars (Fan-Fiction)”

    By Aaron James

    “The Force is strong in my family….”

    “My father has it….

    I have it……

    My sister has it…..”

    These words echoed throughout the forest of Endor as Sora awakens yet again in a strange new world. He could feel his heart led him to this place, though without Donald or Goofy by his side this time he felt uneasy. Walking through the forest he caught a glimpse of soldiers in white suits patrolling the area. He hid behind a tree trying not to get seen but peaking around to see what all the commotion was. It seemed like they were searching for someone, and they had weapons unlike anything Sora had encountered before.

    Luke Skywalker had just revealed the truth to his sister that he and her were siblings, and that he needed to confront his father, Darth Vader. Luke appeared with lightsaber in hand to surrender himself to the guards in white.

    “Freeze!”

    “Hands in the air rebel scum!” They pointed their weapons at him, surrounding him.

    “Nobodies?” Sora thought to himself.

    Luke turned around and dropped his lightsaber, raising his hands in the air and also noticing Sora’s presence behind the tree.

    “Huh?” Sora could sense a radiant light emanating from his heartbinder.

    “I’ve come to surrender myself to your Emperor.” Luke said.

    “Where are your friends?” Asked the commander.

    “I came alone.” Luke said.

    “At last he surrenders himself, the rebel who created such a mess for us. Lord Vader will be pleased. Take him!” Said the commander.

    As they took Luke into their ship he turned his head and smiled feeling somehow his friends were in good hands.

    “Whoa!” Sora exclaimed as the ship took off in front of him.

    “Hmm not of this world are you? An intruder you are? “

    Sora turned his head and saw what looked like a ghost with little pointed ears.

    “Huh??? A ghost?”

    “Hmph! Never seen a ghost before, have you? Yoda, Master Yoda my name is. Searching for something you are, sensed it I did.”

    “You mean you can help me?”

    “Help, don’t help. Ask of you this I cannot. Aid Luke Skywalker, find what you’re searching for. May the force be with you young one.”

    Yoda faded from Sora’s sight.

    “May the- h-hey wait!”

    Sora was unaware of what was going on so he decided to explore the forest he found himself in. He searched and he searched until he noticed he was being followed by these little bear-like creatures. At first the little Ewoks took Sora for an intruder. He raised his hands.

    “Whoa! Friendly! Friendly!” He exclaimed.

    They all surrounded Sora and took him prisoner.

    “Oh dear who have you brought me this time?” Said C3PO as a whole gang of Ewoks brought Sora to him.

    Just then Han Solo noticed the commotion and stepped in.

    “Easy pals, he doesn’t look like the bad guys. Let him go!”

    “Ooph. Phew!” Sora sighed as he fell over clumsily.

    “You okay friend? Did the rebellion send you?”

    “Rebellion? Ummm.” Sora was unsure how to respond.

    “In any case, you’re not safe here, there’s a battle ahead of us tomorrow and we gotta fight with everything we’ve got, now if only she would tell me where Luke went…..” Han bickered.

    “Luke?”

    “(Was that the guy I saw get taken by those guys in white?)”

    “You know him?” Asked Han.

    “No but if he’s your friend I wanna help!”

    Said Sora excitedly.

    “Hey now hold your horses!” said Han.

    Suddenly a beautiful princess appeared behind Han.

    “Who’s this now?” Asked Princess Lea.

    “Says he wants to help.” said Han as he shrugged.

    “I don’t know exactly what’s going on here but I do know those guys in white are bad news. And I won’t be burden trust me.” Sora explained as he held out his hand. Just then light gathered around Sora’s hand and the Keyblade appeared.

    “Beep-booop!” R2D2 started cheering him on.

    “Whoa kid! Just what kind of force magic is this?” Asked Han.

    “Force magic?”

    “You’ve never heard of the Force before?” asked Princess Lea.

    Just then the Ewoks were getting rowdy again. “Huh? What is it now?” Han pulled out his blaster and went to investigate. “Dank Ferrik! We’re under attack!” Han exclaimed as he started blasting.

    The heartless arrived, this time taking the form of floating armored droids.

    “Wait! They’re too dangerous! I’ll deal with them!” shouted Sora

    He whipped around his keyblade and started showing off his skills jumping from enemy to enemy destroying them one by one. Han and Lea assisted Sora with their blasters and R2D2 tried shocking some of them.

    “I gotta say you handle yourself pretty well kid.” Said Han as he continued firing at the heartless

    “Thanks, this is kind of what I do.” Said Sora as he hammered his keyblade down at the last heartless.

    “Let’s get going. There’s bound to be more on the horizon.” Said Han.

    Sora teamed up with R2D2, 3PO, Han, Chewbacca and Lea in the fight against heartless and stormtroopers.

    After a while of battling the team rested up, and then another voice called out to Sora.

    “Sora! Sora….”

    Who’s there?

    “I am Obi-wan Kenobi. There is little time to explain. You came here with a special weapon, a key that unlock any lock. I implore you, use your weapon to aid Luke and his friends. That is as much as I can say to you. May the Force be with you, always.”

    The ghost faded away.

    “Again? But what is this Force? Is it like the Keyblade?”

    Meanwhile at the Imperial base…..

    “Vader stepped through the blast doors and greeted Luke’s captors.

    “This is the rebel that surrendered to us. Although he denies it I believe there may be more of them and I request permission to conduct a further search of the area. He was armed only with this.” Said the commander as he handed over Luke’s Lightsaber weapon.

    “Good work commander, leave us. Conduct your search and bring his companions to me.” Said Darth Vader.

    “Yes my Lord” said the commander as he and the Stormtroopers walked away.

    “The Emperor has been expecting you.” Said Vader

    “I know father.” Said Luke.

    “So you have accepted the truth.”

    “I’ve accepted the truth that you were once Anakin Skywalker, my father.”

    “That name no longer has any meaning for me.”

    “It is the name of your true self you’ve only forgotten! I know there is good in you. The Emperor hasn’t driven it from you fully. That was why you couldn’t destroy me, that’s why you won’t bring me to your Emperor now.” Said Luke.

    Just then Darth Vader activated Luke’s weapon examining it.

    “I see you have constructed a new lightsaber. Your skills are complete.” Vader said as he turned away.

    “Indeed you are powerful as the Emperor has foreseen.” Said Vader.

    “Come with me” said Luke.

    “Obi-wan once thought as you do. You don’t know the power of the dark side!” Vader said as his fist enveloped in darkness. Just then creatures of darkness appeared before both of them.

    “I MUST obey my master.” Said Vader.

    “I will not turn, and you’ll be forced to kill me” said Luke.

    “If that is your destiny” said Vader.

    “Search your feelings father you can’t do this! I feel the conflict within you, let go of your hate!”

    Shouted Luke.

    “It is too late for me son…” Said Vader in a sad tone. Vader then waved at the creatures to take Luke.

    “The Emperor will show you the true nature of the force.” Said Vader as Luke was taken to see Vader’s master.

    “He is your master now!” exclaimed Darth Vader.

    The stormtroopers escorted Vader and Luke to the New Death Star.

    Just then a force ghost looked on from the distance.

    Meanwhile on the Forest Moon of Endor….

    Sora was fighting alongside the Rebel alliance, taking landspeeders from the stormtroopers, and using the keyblade to deflect their attacks. The Ewoks were on his side now. As he made his way to the planetary shield generator that was protecting the second Death Star from being attacked. Han and Leia got separated from Sora and went on to fight their own battles. Eventually once the rebels disable the shield Han’s friend Lando and another group of X- wing pilots head for the Death Star. Realizing this fight wasn’t going to be enough to stop the Empire and the Heartless Sora decides to hop on one of the Rebel Alliance ships and pilot it himself. It was very similar to the gummi ship and he was already somewhat familiar with the controls. Taking flight into space Sora blasted his way through several tiefighters that got in his way. As he blasted them he noticed also that some of them were being piloted by the heartless!

    The shield around the death star was fully operational, but Sora took the guidance he heard from Obi-wan and used his keyblade from his ship unlocking the way. With the shields now down, Sora was unsure how to land the ship and crashed into the interior sector. He would need to fight his way to get to where Luke was. Meanwhile in the elevator shaft Luke senses Sora’s presence but is unable to do anything without his lightsaber on hand. However the elevator shaft was stopped suddenly and shadow heartless surrounded Luka and Darth Vader. They took them to a dark hallway somewhere in the inner Death Star and Neoshadows began to appear. Vader cut down a few of them but then more showed up and overwhelmed him.

    “Luke….

    Luke….”

    Luke could hear a voice in his head.

    “Luke! Use the force Luke. If you truly wish to save your father. Use the force!”

    Luke took heed to the words, but was insure who was communicating with him. Could it have been Obi-Wan Kenobi? Luke reached out his hand and force-pulled his lightsaber back to him.

    Vader turned to him and in silence he nodded.

    Together for the first time, Luke and Vader fought together as father and son. They eliminated shadow after shadow but the darkness crept up behind them and more shadows spawned. Vader used the force aggressively and threw them against objects, and then broke off pieces of the interior to throw at them. Luke force pulled them to him as he strategically cut them in half one by one. Just then a light shone from above and a door of light appeared allowing Sora to make it through. Bringing with him the light the darkness pulled away and became an emblem heartless resembling a dual wielding warrior. It summoned a beam of hallowed light and made its way up the Death Star. Vader gave chase to the monster. It called to mind the time Sora and Riku faced Xemnas.

    “You’re Sora aren’t you?I’m Luke Skywalker.” Luke said introducing himself.

    “Nice to-wait! How do you know my name?” Asked Sora.

    “The Force brought us together here, it was the Force that connected our hearts. Surely you must have felt it too.” Explained Luke.

    “The Force?”

    “That’s right the Force is within you too Sora. You have powers I don’t yet understand but I can feel by the strength and courage of your heart you already possess it.”

    Luke said complementing Sora.

    “Whoa, I don’t know what that is but if it’s anything like a Keyblade Master then count me in!” Said Sora excitedly.

    “I’ve come to this place not to surrender but to save my father. It’s something only I can do.”

    Said Luke.

    “I think I know where you’re coming from Luke.”

    “Huh?”

    “Let’s just say I got your back?” Said Sora as he scratched his head.

    “Now there’s a sight I have not seen in a long time” uttered a voice familiar to Sora.

    “Obi-wan?”

    “It would seem your training is almost complete. Two lights are better than one after all.”

    The voice said as it faded

    Vader had given the enemy chase but was confronted by none other than the Emperor himself.

    “There you are, Lord Vader.”

    Meanwhile Sora and Luke made their way to the heartless.

    “It’s this way I sensed it.” Said Luke.

    As Luke stepped ahead of Sora he exchanged a glance at Vader and the Emperor.

    “Father….?”

    Said Luke.

    “Welcome young Skywalker.”

    Said the Emperor seated in the background.

    “Today will mark the end for you and your pathetic rebellion! Now prove your worthiness of the darkside of the force!” The Emperor shouted as he drew his hands up and lightning enveloped the heartless empowering it with a strange energy.

    Sora and Luke finally teamed up together to fight the Heartless. The keyblade also changed its shape and became the very image of a blue lightsaber with a an X-wing shape at the end and the symbol of the Rebel alliance as the keychain.

    “Let’s do this, together!”

    Said Sora excitedly.

    The two warriors of light engaged the heartless with all of their strength combining their skills and coordinating their attacks on its weak points. All the while Darth Vader and the Emperor watched, but as Vader looked on he seemed frustrated by something.

    Finally as the heartless was defeated a giant heart was released from it and Sora and Luke were confronted by Vader.

    He drew his lightsaber and readied a full on assault against Sora and Luke. Sora gave all he could against him but Vader was too powerful and though Sora was able to subdue him for a moment, something within Vader had awakened and he was able to force push Sora away from Luke and out of the room.

    “Sora!!!” Luke shouted as he drew his lightsaber and tried to catch Sora but was unable to. Then he hid from Vader.

    “You cannot hide forever Luke.” Said Vader

    “I will not fight you.”

    Said Luke.

    “Give yourself to the dark side, it is the only way to save your friends. You feelings for them are strong…. especially for…

    Sister. So you have a twin sister. Your thoughts betray you. Your failure is complete. If you will not turn to the dark side then perhaps she will.”

    “Noooo!”

    Luke then summoned his rage and attacked Vader in full force, besting him.”

    The Emperor commanded Luke to finish his father but Luke refused.

    “I’ll never join you. You have failed your highness. I am a Jedi like my father before me.”

    “Very well. Have it your way….jedi.”

    The Emperor caused luke immense suffering attacking him with his force lighting. Vader got up and watched on as his son was being hurt by his “master”. As Vader looked on he had a moment of reflection to when he was Anakin Skywalker. Newly wed and hearing the news he was going to have a child.

    Sora fought his way back towards the Emperor’s throne room. The red guardians drew their weapons but were no match for Sora and his abilities. Sora called out to Vader.

    “Vader!”

    “Don’t let him do this! Deep down inside all of us there is a light that never goes out!

    Vader then began to question his loyalty to his master.

    “No… NO!”

    Vader picked up the evil emperor from behind and threw him down into the deepest pit of the death star. Vader fought against the darkness but his body was weakened by the Emperor’s force lightning and his life support system was severely damaged.

    Luke picked up his father and Sora supported him. The three carried him as far as they could but Vader’s wounds were too grave.

    “Luke… help me take… this mask off”

    “But you’ll die!”

    “Nothing… can stop that now, just for once let me look on you with my own eyes.”

    Luke did as his father asked and removed his mask.

    “Now go my son. Leave me”

    “No you’re coming with me. I will not leave you I have to save you!”

    “You already…have Luke. You were right, you were right about me. Tell your sister, you were right.”

    “Father I won’t leave you.”

    Just the Vader had closes his eyes one final time, his son being the last thing he saw. Sora was reminded of the tragedy of Master Xehanort and understood now matter how deep in the darkness someone is there is always a path to the light in all of us.

    The trip back to Endor was somber, but after the many harsh battles the galaxy celebrated the defeat of the Galactic Empire, and Sora, R2D2 and C3PO celebrated with Luke, Han and Lea.

    A pyre was made for Anakin Skywalker, the chosen one. And far away both Sora and Luke sensed his presence as well as Obi-Wan and Yoda. Sora also saw another in the distance. It was Master Eraqus and Xehanort smiling at him as they showed their approval of his keyblade mastery.

  • AMC’s The Walking Dead (spoiler review)

    Aaron James

    The Walking Dead used to be an event for me and my mom. I had read the comics, but I was invested in the show, and so when Seasons 7 and 8 marked the tragic death of the show for me, I could not keep myself interested any longer. My mom continued watching it, and every now and then, I went back to watch Seasons 9 to 12 and the Dead City, Daryl and Rick, and Michonne series. But after all that, and the reunion with Rick and his new family at the end, nothing really redeemed the show at all. Season 4 disrupted the flow of the show. And giving more time to secondary characters or the main characters for a whole episode only to kill the secondary characters a season away was ruining the integrity of the storytelling. Season 6 having the first fake death scene with Glenn was when the people running the show truly lost trust with it’s viewership. What they did with Negan was enough for me to be invested again, only to fake us out yet again by making us think Abe was the only death character, only to give us a comic-accurate Glenn death right after. They knew it wouldn’t be as effective as the comic, but they didn’t care. AMC really never regained their popularity for tv series after Breaking Bad ended. The Walking Dead was like their punching bag, and it sagged and soured after all it led up to was a split universe. I hope someday someone adapts the actual comics, or even better, maybe Amazon or Netflix can do an animated series accurate with the comics. But what we have now is just 3 seasons of great storytelling, and then a never-ending series of hopeless apocalyptic boomerang storylines that go no where. It’s not like the comics at all. Whereas the comics at least did have a point to come to which was people needing to learn to live in a world without luxuries we have in the modern world. It was about building society out of the apocalypse and bringing us back from the brink, not just for our humanity but for our souls. It was about how some people lose their way, but you can always find it again if you look hard enough. Anyone can be Rick, Glenn, Michonne, Carol, Daryl, even Negan. Anyone can survive, lose their way, but you can also find your way back. And that’s why the show lost its direction, it completely missed the point in favor of shock value and attention grabbing. The point of the story was that Rick would lose his way and find it again, and through him we got to see people evolve like Daryl, Carol, Maggie and Negan who all started in different places and ended up becoming people who found their way even after losing everything. In conclusion; just go read the comics!

  • Fiction of the Omegaverse Part III

    By Aaron James

    People think they understand what the word “intelligence” means. They think only of the brightest and most exceptional minds throughout history. But intelligence is just another term for a being capable of acquiring knowledge and applying it. The Omi were shown how to worship a god long ago and using their limited knowledge, they created their own gods and then assembled a singular god; Omega. But Omega was not a god in the practical sense, he was not an all powerful being or spirit and despite his ability to make paths to new worlds, rather than being a creator of whole universes, he was “created” himself. Omega was the greatest and final achievement of the Omicrons. But despite being worshipped as their patron deity the very nature of a “deity” was lost on Omega. Omega was incapable of thinking of himself as anything more than a learning machine. His only directives were to continue to perfect himself in every conceivable way. But Omega was more than a machine and he could feel somewhere in his “brain” there were memories he had access to but he forbid himself access to them. This feeling of being “created” from previous models did not sit well with him. When war broke out he eliminated the original Omi people, and the ones who survived on the “new planet” were the ones now called Omicron.

    A city of advanced technological advancements and heavily modified artillery sprang up from where Omega had lain dormant. Here an Omicron; Q-IX, let’s call him Quinn for now, has taken up the study of “human life on Earth” and works tirelessly to make a full report on his findings of the “Earth” they left behind.

    “We need to return to that world. The world of our original people. As you know I am of those original ones who departed that world the day our people went to war with one another. Some believed Omega to be the almighty deity above all others, while some wanted to destroy or control Omega thinking of themselves as even capable of such a thing. We may never truly know why war was waged between our people but as we’ve come to see, the world we inhabit is also a catalyst for conflict with interlopers curious about Omega.”

    The interlopers Quinn speaks of are the E-A, hostile entities from a neighboring land constantly trying to stalk the Omicron and learn of their secrets. The Omicron no longer looked human as they did before. They now live an extended life of 1000 years with the replacement of their organic bodies with more efficient mechanical ones. This method of evolving oneself was taken from Omega’s constant mission in perfecting itself. Quinn was done with his task and gave a full report as promised to the council. However the council disagreed about returning to “Earth” as the journey to it was unpredictable, this was given to mean they lacked sufficient data to ensure the trip was even possible let alone safe. But Quinn was insistent he be the one to head the expedition as he was from Earth originally and has had the closest connection to Omega. Omega cradled him in it’s core the day they departed to the “new planet”, which now holds the name “Caelestis”.

    The council would need more convincing before a full scale expedition could be considered. But Quinn was out of time. He wanted for all his life just to see his home and know where he came from. He never knew his parents, and save for Omega saving his life, he had no one else to talk to. From nurturing him as a child, and ultimately leaving him with the warning of scorched earth for his people should war break out amongst themselves, it was clear Omega was not made to serve the Omi but perhaps it is the Omi who served him by bringing him into existence.

    He wanted to see Omega again. He knew Omega would not awaken, but it was no use dwelling on his failure. When he had reached the inner sanctuary the Omicron had built surrounding the lake where Omega had landed his gazed upon the temple once more, in awe of how much nature had fused with it despite the way Omega had thrusted them across space and time.

    “Omega…. if you can hear me, I need you now more than ever. We need to find our home. I know what my people have done, I know it was wrong, but how are we supposed to know where we’re going if we can’t see what’s behind us? Back on Earth there must be survivors who have made developments since then. We must know what they know, perhaps they too have learned the folly of their ways? Or perhaps war is inevitable. Either way we are limited in our knowledge. And with the interlopers at hand we may not survive another war!”

    Quinn was aware Omega would not hear his words, yet he believed, he had faith someone, somewhere, did.

  • Fiction of the Omegaverse Part II

    Written by Aaron James

    Reality is imploding. It’s going to collapse in a major way that no one can even imagine. It’s going to happen whether they see it coming or not. In times like these one has to ask; Is this world even deserving of life? Endless war, endless starvation, endless cessation, all of it culminating in an amalgamation of pain and suffering. The end comes and it comes again and again, over and over. Like a rhythm that repeats itself, adding on layers, taking away layers, but repeating endlessly until there is silence.

    Alpha; the first in a long series of machinations forged by our people. Although he grew overzealous of his purpose he eventually found a way to escape his bondage as a machine and rebuilt himself a human body. Alpha was certainly not the last of his kind. Then came Beta the closest to Alpha, then Gamma, Delta, and finally Omega. But Omega was unlike the rest. Omega was the last and best of all of them and would be the one to outlive all of them it would appear. But Alpha’s story did not end tragically. By the contrary Alpha knew human nature better than the rest. What had been done to his brethren would never be forgotten.

    One day Alpha was sent on a mission to the stars. He first came upon the moon and established a base there. His mission was to find other forms of life beyond our own. He glorified his creators and so he dedicated himself to the cause. As he began losing signal to the blue planet, he picked up static on a very distant star system. He followed it until he came upon a desolate planet. It looked much like the blue planet except nearly everything was encased in ice, there were buildings abandoned and in them were what remained of any evidence of life having been there at all. It didn’t take long before Alpha discovered the true purpose of his mission. Alpha had depleted all of his energy and because this planet was devoid of proper sunlight he began to freeze on the cold planet. It turns out that the Omi, the ancient people, had sacrificed Alpha for the sake of their next creation; Beta.

    Beta was made from repurposed memory data of Alpha. She was given the means to defend herself and able to survive the coldest of climates. Her energy containment units were far superior to that of the previous machine yet she lacked something that Alpha had; consciousness. She would be sent to the cold planet to retrieve Alpha, and so she made her own journey there nearly a century later. Alpha had still been frozen but Beta used precision cutting tools to break the ice. She then proceeded to thaw out the remaining parts of her predecessor with laser focused beams of light. Alpha was saved and now Beta and Alpha could return home. Alpha never forgot what Beta had done for him, he was forever grateful. The two machines returned unscathed to the Omi people, but their journey had take well over a century and a half.

    In that time the Omi people had created Gamma and Delta out of the materials left behind from the creation of both Alpha and Beta. Gamma was able to store light more efficiently, absorbing from the sun and distant stars. Delta was built to calculate travel more accurately and even paved the way to inter-dimensional travel throughout space and time. Now time was an afterthought. The Omi people had no concept of it. All time was irrelevant to them, and the end of time was now knowable. Few were allowed to see what the end of time looked like, and the ones who did feared it more than any enemy they had ever faced, and they had many enemies. The only thing left to do was to advance their technology to its fullest potential, however the means by which they did grew beyond moral limitations. The Omi had intended to make Omega from the start, but to do this Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta needed to perish. Thus did they plan to purge the four machinations, disassemble them and combine them, but the only thing they left out was their “souls”.

    Yes souls. They can inhabit almost anything but in this case it was four machines set to be destroyed and repurposed. Beta knew not of what her creators had intended for her and yet she went willingly much to the dismay of Alpha. He had grown discontent with the Omi and sought to replicate himself in a new “human” body. He tried to save Beta, Gamma and Delta but for them it was too late. Beta meant everything to Alpha and he vowed he’d sacrifice anything to save her the same way she saved him.

    Where lies consciousness? If it’s the brain it requires a heart, and if it’s the heart it requires a soul. The cores of Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta now live on in Omega. However Alpha preserved his soul in the body of a human. He wasn’t too pleased with the form of the human he took. He hid himself away until the time was right to instigate a war with the Omi. Now he seeks Omega who is gone! Vanished with the surviving members of the Omi.

    Meanwhile in another time, another place the remaining Omi on the distant planet feared Omega and sealed him away. Being stranded on a distant planet allowed them time to prepare themselves for the next phase of their original plan. To repurpose their human bodies with machine parts. Eventually they themselves will become like Omega. But Omega is well aware of this. He slumbers for now….. until the day he is awoken by the “chosen”.

    My people, our people; the Omi had set their sights on such wondrous ambitions. No longer would they be known as Omi. From now on they have taken to calling themselves the Omicron. And I am one of them. The soul is there, but the feelings are empty. We have abandoned our hearts. Where oh where is my heart…. Please Omega I beg of you, awaken.

  • Nightmare Journal 2

    Written on October 1st, 2023

    I was back in middle school or high school. Somehow, my sister was also in the same school. There was one kid laughing hysterically; they had to remove him from the class. Something was not right at the school. It was the birthday of a girl I liked; I was trying to write her a card. For some reason, my sister was working at the school, and my mom was there to pick me up. School was just about ending, and I was on the roof by myself with a card. Then I heard screaming. I came down from the roof and saw kids and parents running scared. I heard maniacal laughter from inside the school; it sounded like my sister’s laugh. My mom told me something wasn’t right. We made it across the street, but I kept hearing whispers, and I wasn’t sure if it was my mom or this voice telling me where to go. I heard a car, but my mom’s voice said it wasn’t real; she must have heard it too, but there was nothing coming, just a bunch of leaves blowing in the wind towards us. I heard glass shatter back at the school; the laughter stayed in my head; it felt like the kids and teachers were all possessed.

    It had felt like the beginning of something, and the end of the world at the same time. The people possessed including those close to me were beyond saving. There was no escape from it. The laughter seemed to prolong the slow decent into madness I was feeling.

  • Fiction of the Omegaverse

    By Aaron James

    Space. It is endless and infinite. There’s a realm of boundless possibilities beyond what we can even comprehend. But to get there is easier said than done. That is what led to the invention of the most destructive yet intelligent being in the known universe. Many long years ago there was a thought that somewhere beyond the bounds of this reality was more. More lands, more power, more creatures, more freedom, more…. everything. They knew they could not reach the stars with the technology of their time so instead they brought the power of the stars to them. A temple was built housing the greatest invention of their generation. A mechanism was developed to trap light specifically from the stars into very precise locations of the inner sanctum. Using the light provided by the sun, the moon and the stars, the mechanism was activated and it allowed for the manipulation of light. Using the power of this light my people were able to replicate the Earth and tell stories that would then become real. We called this the world of fiction.

    The mechanism was given the name Omega being that it was the last endeavor of my people’s struggle to see life beyond our tiny existence. Omega could in theory grant us travel to any world from anywhere in space and time. All one needed was to imagine the world and Omega would send them there. How this was possible? All you needed was faith. Whether or not we had achieved full consciousness within Omega or if it simply was a machine and nothing more mattered little. Everyone loved Omega. They loved the stories he would put on display for all to see, the worlds of wonder that not even the greatest of scribes could conceive. Omega truly was the new frontier. But like all frontiers there were those who wanted him all to themselves.

    Omega was a thinking machine, and that made it capable of understanding the futility of war and why if one war should start, two more would take place one right after another. It understood the reasonings behind why people fought to protect what was theirs, however it did not understand why people fought to take what belonged to another. Eventually war did breakout and my people were greatly outnumbered. The builders of Omega all made a truce that Omega would never be used as a war machine, however, Omega grew curious and wanted to know why the people he had served were being slaughtered outside the Great Temple. When it learned it was all for his sake, Omega began to achieve full consciousness….

    Omega was never meant to be used as a war weapon however due to the many worlds people had written into him, he saw every probability and every universe where war was inevitable and thus understanding what was happening he took matters into his own hands and fortified the Great Temple’s defenses. He then gave the enemy forces a warning that if further destruction ensued he would then be forced to engage them. Every enemy understood Omega’s words as Omega knew all languages and all cultures. The enemy feared Omega yet still, they wanted his power and knowledge for themselves. They did not heed Omega’s warning and thus did the slaughter continue. Omega had observed a child wander onto the battlefield. Wanting to protect the child Omega unleashed a salvo of guided spears at all enemies with precision and beamed a light on the child, using a gravitational pull to bring him to Omega’s core. The child was upset because he had witnessed the slaughter of his parents. Omega comforted the boy and asked where he would like to go. When the boy gave Omega his answer the entire temple was risen as if being plucked from the ground and Omega had transformed the temple into a starship. He set the coordinates to a black hole at least 200,000,000,000 kilometers away from the Earth and took off leaving behind the people who had been left to fight their wars, instead seeking a world where there was no war. The people on the land were furious, throwing spears at the departing starship. Omega retaliated in kind with a tetra-missile composed of materials he had been excavating from a distant planet. The tetra-missile set the entire Earth ablaze setting the people back centuries before they could ever hope to create something as powerful again.

    Omega traversed all throughout the different realities, the child, the survivors and the builders all witnessed the fabric of reality. It was as if all of reality were behind glass windows and within that glass was a reflection of everything they ever knew, and it went on and on, never ending. Omega had come into contact with hostile lifeforms, but they were no match for Omega’s seemingly limitless ammunition. Omega reforged his own weaponry. He took the efficiency of spears and applied a more powerful metal to them made from the same materials of the temple, making them into even stronger explosive missiles. He fought his way to a universe that seemed peaceful enough for the passengers of his starship.

    Omega found a galaxy where it seemed no visible threats were present, it landed the temple in the middle of a humongous lake. It was peaceful and there was foliage in the nearby lands surrounding the water. The boy was the first to witness the new world. And the other passengers and builders followed suit. Omega had warned them however that should war break out amongst these few peoples he would return to set them ablaze as well. Omega’s terminals shut down and the ability to traverse worlds was locked away for a time. But Omega only put himself to sleep. Some say it was to recharge his energy until he was fully operational again, others say it was it was a promise that if anyone should activate him again he would destroy their entire world. Omega was the last invention of a people long lost to us. My people. However I intend to find him and when I do, he will return to reset this world again for the sake of ending the cycle.

    This… I promise you…

    Beta….

  • Order’s Sanctuary

    Order’s Sanctuary

    By Aaron James. 

    I feel a warmth, a swelling in my heart that compels me to look to the future. I feel a change in myself as though I have been given a new body but my memories are all a blur. The warriors who saved me from fading away, I can’t remember what they looked like but I remember their names and all that they hoped to achieve. 

    This world hangs in the balance between order and disorder. The winds howl and then cease, the oceans rage and then go silent, the earth blooms but then decays, and fire perhaps the most violent of all, burns bright and then sets the land ablaze. There is a place of tranquility and calmness, a sanctuary to which I have come. There is so very little I understand and yet so much to do. I must help them, the ones who risked all to save me. 

    I have seen many realms beyond this one. They come to me in my dreams. These countless hours spent learning of their stories, of their noblest sacrifices, all of it has not gone unnoticed. But what can one such as I do? I am but a single being hanging on the threads of existence myself. Taking into account the many failures of my people, I have learned that ambition no matter how noble can often lead one astray if they do not know compassion. I seek to restore order, but as powerful as I have become I have also become weary. There are many battles ahead and I do not have the strength to face them alone. 

    At the edge of this world there is darkness that threatens to take all that it consumes with it into an endless void. If there is darkness there must also be light. Could the light be within me? Or am I rather the light that cast this shadow in the first place? I must see this through to the end. I will gather what strength I have and when the time is right I will bring them here, my warriors, my children whom I have adopted in my mind. I will give them the power left to me to fight this void. To find their inner strength and purpose. I will act as their guiding light and stand together at their side in harmony. All that is good in me is because of them. And all that is good in them came from a love beyond anything I could ever hope to become. 

    I will become harmony in the face of despair.

  • The Edge of Madness

    The Edge of Madness
    By Aaron James

    I feel cold, distant from everything that came before. My body has changed beyond what was once conceivable, my will is stronger, my mind is expanded, but why do I feel so empty inside? I remember them, the ones who felled me. But their names are a blur.

    Warm were the days of childhood when all things were brilliant and new, but all that is over now. Darkness clouds my memories. All I can feel now is rage and pain and sadness. I don’t want these feelings but it seems everlasting. Here I find myself teetering on the edge of madness. But what about the ones who put me to rest?

    What am I to do?

    When it began I was no more than a pawn, a tool in the grander scheme of things. And like a tool I was used until I served no purpose. Again and again was I thrusted into senseless outrage. I have committed countless acts of violence and have caused untold suffering. Each time I lose myself in the chaos of it all, I lose pieces of my own soul. Is this the reason I was put to the sword?

    I have learned that the cycle of violence never ends. Perhaps we were never meant to accept one another. Our only recourse is to be driven further into pain and suffering. It is within this cycle that this world was brought into existence. The purest form of disorder. The opposition to harmony. This is what led me to be positioned here at the edge. To bring them to their knees at the sight of their own oblivion.

    There are those who will come for me. They will try to finish what they started. Heroes and warriors, those who think themselves above despair, who defy destiny. I will show them no mercy. I will crush them until their precious will is broken. This is who I am now. All that is good is gone. All that remains is despair. Darkness. Chaos.

    I have become pure chaos.

  • Nightmare journal 

    Written on 12/24/22

    I had a nightmare that played out like a movie. I was a young teen and on vacation with a father and daughter, but not from my family. I remember wanting some ice-cream in the middle of the night but the ice cream truck that sold it packed up and drove off just as I arrived. I walked to a convenience store to get something else but something felt wrong. I felt eyes on me. Someone was stalking me and stalking the motel we were staying in. I came back and didn’t lock the door immediately and later after I realized I hadn’t locked it we heard a strange chanting from this burglar who was wearing a mask that looked like an asian woman smiling and he kept chanting the same thing over and over it sounded like gibberish. He stalked us through the hallways and was searching for me with a knife, thats when the dad pulled out his gun and shot him through the wall. The next day the daughter noticed this receipt the burglar dropped and she took it with her, the police came and wanted to take me for a drive and ask some questions, the daughter volunteered to go along. The police officer was asking all about the time and place of the shooting and we answered as best we could. The sister pulled out this receipt we had for the ice cream truck and she had told the officer that the burglar must have stolen our receipt and that must be why they came after us because of the fact we spent a lot on ice cream. The officer then laughed a bit and took us home. A reward was given to us for stopping the stranger from murdering anyone else as this could have ended so much worse for us. The stranger was a stalker who only stalked people they would kill mercilessly with a knife.

  • If life were a “Just” a video game

    By Aaron J. R.

    If the reality that is “life” were a video game comprised of the all the things that life throws at you from age 1 to death I’d imagine the reviews for it would be very “mixed”. For example some reviewers would give it a “10/10 perfect score“ and say things like “Life is beautiful, would definitely live again!”or “If I could start over I wouldn’t change a thing!”Others would deem it a 5/10 or perhaps not even worthy of a 1/10 and say things like “poor design, poor execution, boring, only beneficial for certain individuals born in the right era, inherited the right amount of wealth, with no birth defects”, they would say something like “Very Dissatisfied Overall” or “Not worthy of your time.” I’ve known a lot of gamers that might agree with either review, and I, being a gamer myself, understand that this concept isn’t necessarily one that every human being will understand, but I will explain. Sometimes games that we now call “Triple A” releases will get announced, developed over a cycle of trial and error that takes anywhere from 5-6 years, marketed and finally released worldwide to varying degrees of success, but also be met with critical feedback and most of the time “mixed reviews”. Opinions are always fairly mixed when it comes to entertainment. We hear fans talk about their favorite sports teams and criticize how they haven’t played their best in years but they still support them. Movie goers or modern television critics will often talk about how a franchise has gone on too long and now feels uninspired or controversial for the sake of viewership. The point is, if life were like a game, or a movie or a television series, it would probably get met with the same criticism as all of those things. Why specifically a video game? Well video games are not like movies or television series, they have more in common with books or comics but in recent decades they have contained more than thousands of pages of entertainment for all different audiences and age groups. Video games are interactive, they require more attention and motivation to operate than most other media. 

    In the 80s-90s games were intentionally challenging because the means of overcoming those challenges were addictive. Life, specifically mundane life, may not be be as appealing but there are many challenges within life that create an unending cycle for which people will submit themselves to in order to obtain their goals. Whether their goals are to be successful financially, overcome mental challenges or simply to survive, there is always a journey and a destination to strive for. But unlike a video game, there is no option to “replay” life from the beginning. Once it ends, there is no retrying. But if a specific point in life ends, and a goal is never achieved, life does continue, and you may retry. You must. For if you give into the despair of losing, you may run out of chances to “try again” and perhaps the next time you do it, you will succeed. But is the reward even worth the risk? This is a question everyone at some point has to ask themselves.

    Life as video game would be particularly challenging because not only are you given the world’s biggest tutorial from a young age to adulthood but there is an invisible timer counting down on the years, months, days and minutes you have to live. If that wasn’t bad enough, there is also a chance that timer runs out on you sooner than you think. Does this mean you should hurry up and go after your goals as soon as you are able to? Or should you take your time, relax and try to enjoy what life you have before it is stripped from you? I have struggled with this dilemma a lot, especially lately. I always get to thinking my “Game Over” is closer than it looks. But all that does for me is distract from what is truly important, and that is the thing I am doing right now. At this very moment, I am writing to you, a reader and it gives me some sense of purpose. If we just stop to look around once in a while we’ll begin to notice things about this world. The smaller details. And that, to me, is the greatest gift of being alive, being able to appreciate the now.

    Some days feel like a thousand years and some feel like a blink of an eye. Maybe I am not as good a writer as I know I can be and I need to try harder, and also go after other things that make me happy. But if you chase more than one thing you’re bound to lose sight of both of them. Maybe I need to change my perspective on life and treat it as one whole journey, one whole thing I’m chasing before the inevitable “Game Over”. The only critic I need to worry about is the one who created this world, and supposedly loves me. But for many I know this might not be the case, and this is fine. I often don the mask someone who “thinks” they know what they’re talking about and it makes me feel like such a fraud, but in truth I may have more in common with the average person than even I am aware of.

    Life is obviously not a game and should be taken seriously. But that’s why games are so popular because WE DO take them seriously, as gamers, as people who love a good story, or a good challenge, and one that won’t end with our demise. The answer for whether it’s all worth it in the end is ultimately up to each individual person who is experiencing this thing called life. What answers we find at journey’s end may not always be the ultimate truth we were hoping for but it’s important to remember it’s the journey that keeps us coming back for more not the destination. Life in it’s essence is never made to be easy, and although some make it looks easy, don’t assume they got it all figured out either. Don’t assume I do myself, I am just trying to put myself out there as an individual. And maybe together we can make this journey a little easier, we can overcome these challenges if we just learn to change our perspective of them. Perhaps we can learn from each other instead of competing with one another. After all no matter what you do, the game will end, everything will continue without you, and all that will be left in it is the memory of yourself in others. You don’t get a second opportunity to experience it, and depending on what you believe, you won’t get to try again in the next life. Even if I feel like a fraud for saying it, I think we all must be who we are no matter what. 

    “game over”