THE SHADOWVERSE

A New Path

Inside the parallel universe, the Shadowverse, the pure Ooran being Sonovan Lung had entered a new world with incredible geometric designs. Someone with great knowledge had generated this place inside the Yeonlo Zone, which constituted ninety percent of the Shadowverse itself. An intuitive mind had attentively built this world. With Aiko by his side—forever—Sonovan explored it. Suddenly, a figure jumped out to greet them. Sonovan could not believe his eyes.

"Z-Zydok? Zy?" uttered Sonovan. This had to be him. The green, pointy-eared man smiled. In this sector, the 'pure form' of their bodies could be altered into their physical, original ones. Truly, Zydok resembled a human in more ways than one.

"It is I, my friend!"

"I f-found you!" he stuttered again. Sonovan ran to him and embraced tightly like a child. "My greatest friend! It is you!"

"It is, Sonovan! It is!" replied Zydok.

"What happened?" responded Sonovan in haste. "I . . . I couldn't save you. But I succeeded. I defeated the Titan, with the help of six of the strongest people I ever met . . . besides you."

Nodding in understanding, Zydok laughed. "My end was coming anyway. I always knew you had it in you."

Sonovan embraced him again and wept on his shoulder. "I have missed you dearly," he whispered.

"Ors and V would be so proud to see you now. We finally fulfilled The Shadows' promise: to eradicate evil, no matter the cost."

Easing out of the hug, Sonovan gripped Zydok's shoulders tightly. "I could never have been what I had become if not for you, Ors, and V."

"I can believe that. Remember when we found you?" chuckled Zydok. "What a mess."

Sonovan laughed. Words could never express his joy. "That very same thing happened to me. In death, I created something beautiful. The Shadowforce, they are called. One of them, Dustin Jones—my friend—is here as well."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I want you to meet him. I think V would have gotten along very well with him."

Zydok laughed again as Aiko watched the two. "That is a surprise indeed. He was an entertaining, interesting fellow, but a formidable warrior."

"So is Dustin. But Ors and V . . . I miss them. They should've been here."

Zydok slapped his hand on Sonovan's shoulder. "Old friend, they are at peace, as you now are. We will always remember them. And never forget: They will always be legends."

Sonovan nodded, gazing into Zydok's eyes. No matter what he did, Zydok always managed to teach him something.

"Anyway, I want to meet this Dustin, but please, let us not hurry. The Shadowverse has expanded far beyond its previous size. We must learn everything about this netherworld. And we only have eternity," Zydok said, winking at Aiko.

Sonovan wrapped his arm around Zydok's neck, who reciprocated. Clearly hearing their conversation, Oora scooped them up, the two still interlocked as its polychromatic, vibrant energies surrounded them in its embrace. And so, with Aiko along for the new journey, the two legends passed on into the unknown.

* * *

In his apartment, Sam had finished packing up his things. All his stuff would move to the new Headquarters several miles away. He found an empty corner of his room and sat. Sinking onto the floor, Sam spied something he had not played with in a long time—Dustin's Rubik's Cube. Gathering it in his hands, he had a flashback of the very first time Dustin had shown it to him. The memory returned as vivid as it was at the time.