Part I: The Return

## **Summary**

After his many years of living in Gamen with his grandma and sister, Colin Takeda embarks on a journey to figure out why his parents abandoned him at such a young age. However, not long into Colin's journey he encounters a robotic copy of Red, one that is potentially stronger than the original Red. With this knowledge he gathers people from across the Underworld in order to take him down!

## **Story**

### **Chapter 1: Colin Takeda**

The Stark Desert, a flat dry land surrounded by forests in the Northeastern part of Astia. Its gigantic size had scared off the weary travelers of the Underworld, even the founders. Yet, Colin Takeda the fourteen year-old from a small snowy village known for being the son of a legendary hero had decided to trek through it. This wasn’t to prove anything, more it was about finding his parents, the heroes, the ones that mysteriously disappeared soon after his birth, Corin and Emillia Takeda, The Light Warriors. Normally, there would be a reasonable explanation of why they had left, however no one else in the family or in his hometown knows why. So Colin decides to take things into his own hands to find out for himself, leaving Gamen in search of answers. In order to protect himself from strangers, he wields Inferno and Glacier, the same swords that Corin, and his friend Sakura found deep within the mines of Ghest. This is the story of Team Resonance, and the return of the Vile Tyrant of Destruction!

“I… severely underestimated the heat of the desert…” I thought to myself as the scorching heat of the sun reflected off of the sand and on to my face. It had been a VERY long time since I last came here, but yeah this sucks, and I really should’ve brought water like Ichika said. Oh yeah my sister… Her name is Ichika, I guess she helps me sometimes, but that isn’t important now, because I’m on my own journey, finding my parents. As for them… I’m not sure why they left, it’s a mystery nobody knows the answer to, which is why I’m doing this. After that gets resolved, I’ll go back to living a \*mostly\* normal life living with my granny back in Gamen. I only want to find my parents to kick their asses for leaving everyone so suddenly, I don’t care how they feel about me, and all I feel is pure resentment, because my granny deserves better.

“Ooooh hey! It’s a crystallized flower! These are pretty rare in Astia, especially deserts…”. I was excited to see one up-close in person as I had never seen it in real life before, but as I got close to the flower, I slowly realized what I had just done… and I was too late to react! The flower had gone underground, and not even a second later…

\*BOOOOOF!\* The sand around me had shot up and below me was the gaping abyss of a Dunewyrm’s mouth! “Oh shit! What was I thinking?! I should’ve known it was a trap! I mean a crystallized flower in the desert is WAY too good to be true!” I thought. Using Glacier, I stabbed the inside of its mouth and created a block of ice that I jumped on and leapt out of its disgusting maw! “Perfect! Now all I need to do is slay this thing!” and luckily I knew exactly how to!

I waited for the Dunewyrm to go back into the ground, and then swiftly threw Inferno about four feet away to trick it into thinking I was there, and sure enough it shot up and swallowed my sword! “Jackpot..!” I whispered as Inferno sliced its stomach before even being digested, which left it wriggling out in the open! I finished it off with a clean stab into its brain  which had left the thing unconscious. Though my victory was quick, it was pretty scary judging by the fact Dunewyrms are HUGE, way bigger than I expected.

A couple hours of carving later, I got Inferno back, as well as the crystallized flower decoy and continued my arduous journey through this unfair land, riddled with pale white sand. My legs felt like they were starting to give up despite walking for only twenty hours, which was strange, but I kept moving onward to Treetop Forest, as if my life had depended on it.

Before I knew it, the cold night had arrived and I threw my coat back on. My throat was not getting any better than it was before, and then I started seeing things! Although those might just be the illusions of the desert, what are they called again? I think they’re called mirages… I was hoping I wouldn't start losing my mind but it kinda feels like it now. And after a few more minutes of walking… I fell asleep. Might as well recharge before entering the Treetop Forest anyways, huh?

### **Chapter 2: Ticket To Astia**

Meanwhile in Ghest…

“Welcome to Ghest Airlines! Where may you wan- Oh… Uh… Where are your parents, miss?” the receptionist asked. The young girl didn’t respond, instead slamming a wad of Cera on the desk. “I would like a ticket to Astia please” she said. “I’m terribly sorry but you can’t fly without a passport!”. “I would like a ticket to Astia” the young girl said, now much more firm. The receptionist sighed, “Once again, I cannot let you leave without a passport, it is against the law”.

The young girl took back her Cera and stormed out of the airport’s main building. “Against the law? What the hell would they do, kill me?” she thought. “Such a pathetic excuse for a human being!”. After a bit of thought, she had decided to sneak on the Astia - (B) flight, which lands at the village of Caian. And so, she climbed up the building while security was distracted and landed her sights on the (B) plane.

Before she jumped down, another man squatted beside her, scaring her initially before realizing that it was another stowaway. “Hey, where do you think you're going?!” he joked. “Shut up! What if they hear you?!” the girl whispered anxiously. “Nah, we’ve got this!” he said. The girl was even more mad now, “I don’t even know you!”. “Then maybe just ignore me…” the man said sadly. He jumped down and slyly blended in with the crowd of people entering the (B) flight like he was invisible. The girl followed his movements and ignored him laughing.

They both got on to the plane, completely unscathed and sat next to each other. “Who are you?” the girl asked. “I’m… trying to find Colin Takeda to warn him of something. That is all '' he said rigidly. “Who’s that?” the girl asked unwillingly. “YOU DON'T KNOW COLIN?!” he shouted. Rose frantically shushed him as everyone had their sights on them both. “No I don’t! Who is he?” she asked in a whisper. “He’s the son of Corin Takeda and Emillia Takeda, you know, the Light Warriors!” he said excitedly. “Those names sound familiar… Corin… They saved Astia a while ago right?” she asked. “Exactly! They killed Red a long time ago and protected Astia from being destroyed!” “Or so we thought…'' he whispered. “What? What do you mean?” Rose asked. “Promise me you’ll believe me! Please? NOBODY believes me!” said the man. “Fine, just don’t make it stupid”.

“My name is Zarou by the way, Zarou Ichihara. Don’t look into that name too much though it’s not important…” he said. “Rose Haruki, don't look into that either” she sighed. “Red is back, or at least I think he is. I checked many posts and security footage online and if it isn’t edited…”. “Then he is back,” Rose said. Zarou nodded. “We’ve got a while until we get to Astia, so if you don’t mind me asking… Why did YOU get on this flight?” he asked. For a split second, Rose’s eyes widened. “I’m also looking for someone… Her name is Elizabeth Salthun, have you seen or heard of her?”. “No, my apologies,” Zarou replied.

Ten hours later…

The flight intercom turned on as the plane entered the landing stage. “Please keep your seatbelts on until landing; thank you” it said. Zarou smiled, “Now for the hard part, actually getting out”. Once the plane had landed everyone stood up and exited the plane. Zarou and Rose intentionally got up at the back of the line so they could stay out of public suspicion. “When we get into the building, I want you to follow me okay?” Zarou said. “Trust me, this will be SO much easier”. The line slowly entered the Caian Airport, while Zarou and Rose entered the restroom. They both entered a vent on the ceiling and crawled through the Airport. “Eww… it smells like dead rats in here” Rose whispered. “How do you know what a dead rat smells like?” Zarou laughed. She ignored him and kept crawling through.

They both had finally made it to the other side of the building and were about to leave the vents, until Zarou noticed something that would stop them in their tracks. “Uh oh…” he whispered. “What is it?”. “There’s like fifty guards right outside this opening!” he panicked. “If someone’s in there, you may want to exit! We have security footage, you know!” one of the guards threatened. “Rose, I have an idea, a really dumb idea, '' Zarou said. “I’m going to turn myself in so I can distract them while you escape!”. “What?! Are you crazy?! What if they know I’m here too?!” Rose exclaimed. “I have a favor for you,” Zarou asked. “Can you find Colin and tell him Red is back for me?”. Rose wanted to scream in anger but decided to follow through with Zarou’s plan. “Fine, I’ll find Colin. And… I’m sorry that this had to happen'' she apologized. He gave Rose a thumbs up before exiting the vent and turning himself in.

“Hey! Get him!” a guard shouted. Zarou was beaten up by the guards mercilessly and was taken away by them. Rose could barely watch as Zarou was hit by batons left and right, but as soon as he was taken away, Rose jumped out and ran to the exit as fast as she possibly could, ignoring the crowd of people shouting at her. Rose had left the Airport, but this was only the beginning, as the police were called and were on the lookout for her. She immediately ran to the nearby unpopulated, Tero Mountains. One police car had spotted a girl fitting the same description the caller had described and chased after her. As the car off-roaded, Rose entered a nearby cave and the police left the car, chasing her. A split of pathways were before the officers and they decided to split up. “Come out already!” one of the guards shouted. Rose snuck up behind him in the dark and knocked him out and disconnected the signal between the other officers. Rose left the cave stealthily and ran further into the mountains miraculously, yet narrowly escaping the police!

Rose’s heart was pounding after the chase, but now she was wanted. “What have I gotten myself into…” she thought. As the night loomed over the sky, Rose made her way to Gamen Village to find Colin, but in order to get there she would have to get through the Tero Mountains, into Treetop Forest, and past the Stark Desert. “Colin Takeda, huh? I wonder what's up with this guy?” she thought. “Oh well, I guess I'll find out!”.

### **Chapter 3: The Return / The Fated Encounter**

It was pretty early in the morning when I woke up, which surprised me. I gathered my stuff and once again wandered off to Treetop Forest. My throat was still dry, and my arms a bit stiff, but I felt much better now that I got at least a little sleep. And after a bit of walking, I could start to see the trees! What else was there? Water! I ran as fast as my crumbling body could, and practically dived my head into the water, not caring about how dirty the water actually was. Things were finally starting to look up!

The trees were topped with snow and the water was as cold as ice and yet it wasnt ice. Feeling even more refreshed, I lied down and stared up at the mystical gray cloudy sky and smiled. However my smile didn’t last, I had brief flashbacks of the past, remembering my original hometown Vastelia. I lived there before my parents left… Those towering buildings were so cool… I also remembered the endless harassment I got from school about my parents, people were quick to call me fatherless… And Kendo, I miss those times. I wish that I could’ve gotten more practice before I was kicked. Those damn rumors about me killing people were so stupid and yet everybody believed them, got me in so much trouble. Why does my life have to be like this..? Why did it have to be me..?

My daydreaming was interrupted by screaming, loud screaming. I shot up and the hairs on my back did too, “What was that?”. “Hello?!” I shouted. “Anyone there?!”. No response… The screaming got louder and louder until it suddenly stopped. I quickly got up and ran over to where the screaming was coming from. And sure enough I found red snow, bloodstained snow. “Is this from a… Person?”. I slowly looked up and saw a corpse right in front of me.

My body froze. I didn’t know what to do. “Who… did this?”. I suddenly felt sick, like I was being watched by a monster in the dark. A small chill fell down my back, like a touch, and I instinctively turned around. A bright red light beamed through the darkness in between trees and seemed to get closer to me. My heart started racing, “Who are you?!” I shouted at the red light. “TAKEDA!!!” the light shouted. It… knew my name?! The light suddenly jumped at me and knocked me over! “Get off of me!” I shouted as I tried to break free, he was too strong. It was then that I saw his face. “No way… This isn’t… Possible…”.

Rose had made it to the Treetop Forest. And on her way to the Stark Desert, she heard screaming. Naturally, she ran over to see what was going on and even though the screaming stopped she heard shouting from someone else. Once she got to the site, she couldn’t believe her eyes. It was Colin standing in front of… “Red!” Colin shouted. “It’s been a while, Corin!” Red said with a grin. “Who the hell did you just call me?! And how the hell are you still alive?!”. “What are you talking about? I’ve been alive this whole time…” he laughed.

This… didn’t seem real to me. I’ve seen plenty of messed up things in my life, but this… “Now who should I get first..? The prey or the predator..?” Red joked. “Don’t you dare hurt her!” I barked. And as soon as I said that, he had already made up his mind! Red spun around and attacked the girl in the blink of an eye! “Glacier!!!” I shouted as a wall of ice blocked him off from her. I quickly unsheathed Inferno and tried to cut away at Red, but something was… off. It didn’t cut through! It was like he was made of… “Metal?!”. His expression changed as fast as his strikes. “I guess I’ll have to get rid of YOU first!” he threatened.

Red seemingly teleported behind me, as if he could run at the speed of light, and cut me with a blade of Darkness! “Gah! Where did you get that?!” I shouted in pain and anger. He ignored me and created a bunch of spears, coated in Darkness, and they all flew to me. I tried to reflect them off of Inferno, but it didn’t work! “Shit! How do I kill this guy?!” I thought.

“Hey, Corin! Heads up!” Red shouted. I turned around and saw a Shadow jump at me! I cut through but it didn’t do anything… “Have you forgotten to use Light?” Red taunted. “I’m not Corin! I’m Colin!”. “Oh, well that makes things easier then!”. He kicked me with such force that I practically flew up into the sky, before he kicked me again before I hit the ground and flew into the trees. The girl was hiding behind those trees and it revealed her. “So that’s where you were hiding…”. “Please… run…” I told her. Even speaking hurt, it felt like I was a flightless bird on a highway, unable to do anything. Red slowly walked towards us with an evil grin. “What’s the matter Colin? Too afraid to strike back? Hahaha! What a little brat!” Red shouted.

“What did you just call me..? A… Little brat?”. I knew that it may seem a little silly that I got so mad at this, but you shouldn’t just embarrass me in front of someone I don’t even know! I stumbled off the tree and rushed towards Red, fighting him off from the girl. “You think that you can actually kill me?! Don’t make me laugh!” Red shouted. He swiftly cut my arm with a Darkblade, but I countered back at him, stabbing his glowing, red eye. He shouted in pain as a liquid substance poured out from the once glowing eye. “Glacier! Now!” I shouted as I created a barrier around him as a distraction. “Come on, follow me!” I told the girl as I ran further into the forest.

We hid in a random bush, hoping he didn’t have any thermal vision or something like that. He got close and my heart-rate spiked, if he turns around… we’re dead! He walked toward the bush and my body froze. “T-this is it…” I thought. But by some miracle, he didn’t see us! “TAKEDA!!!” he shouted before running away.

“So he wasn’t kidding… Red is alive!” Rose said. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s the same one though… He was made of metal, like a robot” I told her in a worried tone. “And I’m guessing you’re Colin Takeda, right?” she asked me. I nodded my head not thinking about who she was, or where she came from. “Wait, you aren’t out to kill me too, are you?!” I shouted. She laughed quietly, “No, but a friend told me to warn you about Red”.

“Wait, is this already public information?! I didn’t know Red was back until now!” I thought to myself. We both got up and I immediately started questioning her. “So who are you, and who’s this friend of yours?”. She had a sudden wave of worry wash over her, as if she had been caught. “Uh…um…” She struggled to speak. It was then that I realized I was a bit too close to her, so I backed off a bit. “My name is Rose…” she said quietly.

### **Chapter 4: Venna Town**

After talking for a bit, I learned that Rose doesn’t have anywhere to go… but she won't tell me why! “So what are you gonna do?” I asked her. She took a deep breath and stared directly into my eyes, as soon as she opened her mouth she immediately closed it and looked away, ignoring me. I laughed because I knew exactly what she was going to ask. “Fine, you can sleep in my tent, BUT no complaining or I’ll throw you out!”. I saw her eyes widen from the side of her face and she instantly jumped in front of me and pleaded, “NO, please! DON’T! I’m so sorry, I’ll make it up to you! Promise!” Rose shouted in a panic. “Whoa, hey calm down, I was just joking! You’re fine!”.

Rose breathed a sigh of relief and then promptly kicked me in the balls, “OW! What the hell?! I said it was a joke!”. “Well then don't joke about it!” she shouted. I couldn’t tell if I was being an asshole, or if she was being over-dramatic. “Why won’t you tell me what happened? Was it really THAT bad?” I asked her. “Yes! It was! Now stop bothering me!” she barked back. I started to feel a headache coming along… “Fine! Then don’t be mad at me if I joke about it!”. “Do you think this is some sort of joke?! That it’s FUNNY?!” Rose shouted in anger. “Well how am I supposed to take it seriously if I don’t even know what it is? You could just be tricking me into doing something for you, for all I know” I said back calmer.

She stopped and stared at me. “W-well… Yeah? I am. So what?”. You have got to be joking… She’s actually trying to make me do something for her?! “Oh come on! If anything, you owe me one after I saved your life back there!”. She scoffed saying: “Should’ve saved me sooner” whatever the hell that means.

I spent the rest of the night patching myself up and setting up camp further down the forest near a town named Venna. To be honest, I was nervous to sleep in the forest knowing Red had been here this whole time, but I made sure to find a secluded section of the forest which wasn’t too far. Rose was following me everywhere I went, and I felt kinda bad after what had happened earlier, especially because she doesn’t look like she’s been in civilization for years. About halfway through putting the tent up, I felt a cold drop hit my head, it was snow. I turned around and saw Rose, shivering from the razor-cold air. I sighed, took off my jacket and handed it to Rose; “You can wear it if you want, I’m used to the cold” I said. She swiped it from my hands so quickly that I blinked and she already had it on! “It smells weird,” she remarked. I laughed.

Quickly I realized that the tent was too small to fit two people (as I had bought it for myself), so Rose slept in the tent while I was outside in the mildly harsh weather. Before long, my eyes started to feel heavy and tired, and soon I fell asleep.

“Who is that girl?” “Is she from here?” “What happened to her?” As these thoughts flowed through my mind, I slowly drifted away into a deep sleep, still unable to comprehend my situation. However… A few hours later I suddenly woke up in a cold sweat early in the morning. Something wasn’t right, Red is on the loose, what if he’s gone to Venna?. I was restless, my mind was telling me that something bad was coming. “Rose-” I shook her awake. “What do you want, now? I’m trying to sleep..!” she grumbled. I sensed a sharp pain near my heart, almost like my chest was pierced by a sword, something of unimaginable power like from earlier, from… Red! “We need to get to Venna, now!” I told Rose. “What? Hold on, what’s happening?” she complained. “No time to explain! Hurry and follow me!”.

We left the camp and ran directly to Venna. Luckily not many people were outside since it was so early in the morning, but nonetheless I couldn’t let anyone die! Rose searched around the outside of the town while I warned everyone. “Oi! What’s going on here?!” one of the civilians shouted at me. I turned around and saw a guy who was a hair taller than me and had darker skin. “Ok, so you’re not going to believe this but Red is going to be here any minute now!” I said like a crazy person. “That’s not funny,” he replied. And not even a second after he said that, a large explosive-like sound rippled through the air as the ground shook! “Yeah and it isn’t a joke either!” I replied. “Colin! He’s here!” Rose shouted from far away. “Colin?! You wouldn’t be-” “Yeah, yeah we’ll talk later” I cut him off, embarrassed.

A few seconds later, a faint red glow appeared at the edge of the forest and into the town. “Aren’t you gonna go?” I asked the civilian and he just shook his head. “We got this, yeah?”. I sighed, “You better be strong! Otherwise you’ll have your ass handed to you!”. “Sure… I’m Shinjiro Harada by the way, nice to meet ya!”. We stared down at the glistening red glow that faded once Red left the trees. “Oh, Takeda, you’re here so soon?” Red wondered out loud. “The hell do you mean ‘so soon’?!” I shouted. He replied with a laugh and no words; I LOATHE him.

Both Glacier and Inferno quickly slide out from their sheaths and slide right into my hands. “Let’s get this over with,” I said to Shinjiro. He nodded, and we charged towards Red. I swung Glacier to create a long pathway over to Red and got a running start before practically surfing across it, while Shinjiro began charging this strange yellow energy around his arm. I shifted my focus back to Red who seems to be preparing an attack of his own, raising his hand up and staring at the sky. And suddenly… “Ghk! What the?- Why does my head hurt?!” I thought to myself. I quickly glance over to Shinjiro who also seems to feel a slight strain. But that’s not all, the feeling gets worse the closer I get to Red! As I approach Red at rapid speed, he lowers his hand down and points to my direction with a smirk on his stained face. “Takeda! Look out!” Shinjiro yelled. I swung Glacier up to make a ramp and flew over Red as soon as he fired a bright ball of energy at the ramp, causing a large explosion almost instantly! It felt like time was moving in slow motion while in the air, so to keep my momentum going I swung Glacier once again to create another icy pathway behind Red. But this was different, one more swing of Glacier and I hit myself with a pillar of ice, launching me back towards Red faster than before! And before he had time to react, I sent my foot flying into Red’s stomach and did a flip, like a reverse somersault and sent his metal ass up to the sky! “Shinjiro!” I shouted. “Right ahead of you!” he shouts back. He jumps into the air, charging the last small bit of energy. “KYU…RAI!!!” he roars as his fist meets with Red’s scrap metal skull and explodes with energy rocketing him off further into town!

Shinjiro fell back onto the road and took a deep breath in pain. “Why is he metal?! Even just punching him hurts!” he said angrily as he shook his hand. “Yeah, sorry for not mentioning tha- OW! My damn leg!” I shouted painfully. I was so focused on Red that I hadn’t even realized how much my leg hurt after that kick! “Well this sucks, now I don’t think I’ll be able to move properly for a while…” I say out of breath. “You gonna be alright?” Shinjiro asked me. I then realized that I was whining in front of some guy I barely knew. “Uh! Yeah! I’ll be fine!” I said hastily. “Wait… Which direction did you punch Red in?!”. He pointed west, my heart stopped. “That’s the way Rose and the civilians went…” I said quietly. Shinjiro’s eyes widened, “Well then c’mon! Let’s go!”.

Rose had left all of the civilians in the western-side of town so she could try to find any other people roaming about. There were many people who were terrified at the thought of their child being alone in the town with Red. She stopped in her tracks and felt… jealous. “N-no! This isn’t about me! What’s wrong with me?!” she yelled. “Huh?” Someone was around the corner of the building, a boy with white hair and black eyes, he was staring directly at Rose. “H-hey! What are you doing here?!” Rose panicked. “Oh! Sorry, you were yelling kinda loud” he replied ignoring the question. “So where is everyone? Is this some sort of ghost town?” he asked. Rose grabbed his hand and hurried back to shelter. “Hey wait! Where are you taking me?! I just got here!” he yelled. Rose stopped, “What? So… you don’t live here?” Rose asked. “No, I just came here because I heard Colin Takeda was here,” he said bluntly. Rose was speechless, “How did he know that?! We just got here!” she thought. “Don’t associate yourself with Takeda, trust me you’ll regret it!” Rose said angrily. “Why? Do you know him?!” the boy asked excitedly. “Were you even listening to me?!” she shouted. “Oh, forget it! Just stay away from him, you could get killed being around him! He’s like a walking danger magnet!”. The boy looked at Rose with a puzzled face. “Killed? Does he have a stalker or something?” he asked. “Stalker?”. “Yeah, I mean he is like a celebrity, so he probably has a stalker or something like that, right?”. BOOM! Out of nowhere a ground shaking sound erupts from the air. “Whoa what was that?!” they both said in unison. A flying figure crashes into the ground in front of them… one with a glowing Red eye! Rose grabs the boy’s hand again and starts running back to shelter. But before she could get far, Rose felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. “Where do you think you’re going?” a rough voice said from behind her. “Wha- No… There’s no way…” the boy said to himself.

## **TL;DR**

- Colin, the son of Corin goes on a journey to find out why him and his sister were abandoned at such a young age.

- He makes it to Treetop Forest and meets Copy Red and Rose Haruki.