”I said give us the money!” Yelled one of the three men surrounding me, one behind and two in front of me. The one yelling was one of the two in front. He was currently trying to drill holes into my head with his eyes. It was safe to say it wasn't working.

”I'm afraid I forgot my wallet at home. Mind letting me go now?” I said calmly. Here is the situation. I was just returning home from work. It was a nice evening. A little bit cloudy and it was snowing. I like snow. So, I was just getting in my neighbourhood when I was jumped by these three scruffy looking ”gentlemen” here.

”Stop lying! Now hand us the cash!” The man said, neglecting what I just said.

I remained silent. I truly did not have my wallet. Otherwise I would have been moving by car. That is, if it wasn't broken all the time!

”Didn't you hear me? Hand. Over. The. Money!” He said, emphasizing the words, especially the word 'money'.

”I'm so sorry. What was that?” I countered with sarcasm. Bad. Move. I tend to do those.

”Why you little- Let's teach this dirt bag some manners. Get him!” He ordered the other two. They charged at me from both sides.

You know when time seems to slow down when shit is going down? That's what basically happened. Any person would have panicked in this situation. Too bad I wasn't any person.

You see, I had studied some martial arts. I also had decent swordsmanship, but since carrying a sword is very much against the law, I carried a wooden katana with me. All. The fucking. Time. It's pretty much a part of me by now.

I analyzed the situation quickly. It was easy to get out of this. With one swift move, I sidestepped the two. They ended up punching each other in the jaw. I didn't stop there and landed a karate chop on the other man's collarbone. He yelled out in pain and fell on the ground. Then, before the other could act, I drew my wooden katana and whacked him on the back of the head, knocking him out cold. This was too easy. These guys had no training or skills whatsoever. Just your oridinary thugs.

I turned to the remaining man and my blood froze. The mother fucker had a gun! I rewieved the situation at lightning speed. If I would try to dodge, I would get shot. I'm not that fast. I couldn't attack or defend either. He was too far away. So it's pretty much a lose-lose situation. I prepared for the worst.

The gun fired. Everything slowed down. I fell on my knees before hitting the floor. I felt the warm blood soak my clothes. I saw the man get his thugs and run for it, fearing someone might have heard the shot. It was a populated area after all. The colors started to dimmen and I found myself feeling drowsy. A sudden feeling of coldness came over me. I saw something in the corner of my eye. A dark shape. The last thing I saw were a pair of glowing yellow orb like eyes. And then. Nothing.

…......

….................

…..........................

”Not yet.”

A sudden burst of light filled my eyes. I was blinded from the pure intensity of it. It took me a while to see that I was...... Somewhere. I was floating in a space that was blindingly white. I felt extremely light, almost weightless. Heavenly serene, even. Like nothing in the world could make me feel down. Then I felt the weightlessness disappear and I began to fall.

Suddenly I felt like I hit something and saw the whiteness shatter like glass, behind it a place of complete and utter darkness. I continued falling, and down below I saw a stained glass painting. It had a picture of a mark I knew well. The mark of the Nobodies. The remains of those who lost their hearts. I felt myself slow down and I landed on the stained glass softly. And by softly, I mean I hit my face pretty hard.

I slowly stood up, my face still hurting a bit. I looked around. Other than the glass painting, there was nothing but pitch black.

Do not worry.

I heard a voice inside my head.

Danger lurks in here. Going forward unprepared is madness.

Three pedestals appeared around the round glass floor. On one there was a shield. On the second one was a katana. On the last one was a staff. Now this is getting more and more familiar.

You must choose your path. Choose wisely.

This seems so much like the beginning of Kingdom Hearts game. Man that piece of Ps2 history was good. I must be hallucinating. That or I'm dead and this is the afterlifes weird joke. Oh well, might as well play along.

I see that I don't have my sword anymore. I feel so naked and vulnerable without it. I move over to the pedestal with the sword.

The path of the blade. The power to defend yourself and those around you with your strength. Is this the path you seek?

I didn't even hesitate. I grabbed the katana from it's pedestal, as it disappeared. The hilt had grey wraps around it and the handguard had a silvey color. The scabbard had a dark grey hue to it and seemed to be covered with leather or something similar. It also came with a strap to attach to my belt, which I naturally did.

You have chosen your path. The path of the blade. Now, which patch will you sacrifice in return?

Well, I never really were one to go with the magic mumbo jumbo, so the staff can go. I walked to the pedestal with the staff.

The way of the magi. The great power of magic to wield against your foes. Will you give up this path?

I just nodded and the staff and the pedestal disappeared. The pedestal with the shield disappeared as well.

You have chosen to follow the path of the blade.

You have given up the way of the magi.

I felt a weird sensation and looked down. I was shocked. The floor under me had turned into what looked like a black vortex. And it was sucking me in. I panicked and tried to get free. It had no effect. I was swallowed into the darkness.

Do not let darkness corrupt your heart.

I was suddenly out of the darkness and on a different stain glass painting. This one had a the mark of the Heartless. The beings born from the darkness in ones heart. At the center, where I stood, a light was beaming downwards.

Beware!

I looked behind me. I saw my own shadow rise from the floor. It was a perfect silhouette of me with glowing yellow eyes. I took a fighting stance and drew my blade. The shadow me, suprisingly, did nothing. It just stared. Then, wihout warning, it slammed it's hand against the floor, making a vortex of darkness appear.. Many smaller shadows appeared from the vortex. The shadow me just sunk into the darkness and waved at me, mocking me.

”Defend yourself. These are but mere pawns.”, A voice said in my head. This voice was different from the other one.

I was surrounded by ten creatures I recognized very well. Shadows. The weakest and the most basic kind of Heartless. They rely in numbers because they are weak. With a swing of my sword I dealt with one Shadow while it was trying to attack me from behind. I instantly moved to strike a second one, only to hit the floor, the Shadow flat on it's surface. Right, I forgot they could do that.

Three shadows jump at me simultaniously. Bad. Move. I just did a simple spin attack, making them all disappear in a puff of smoke. Three down, seven to go. Two tried to attack from the front and two from behind. I jumped over the two in the front, slashed and moved to the other two, destroying one but the other one jumped back. Six down, four to go. A Shadow got me off guard and landed a hit with it's claws. It hurt suprisingly much. I just shrugged it off and destroyed the attacker as well as one who had stumbled in the way with one wide swing. That leaves only three.

I glanced around. The three remaining ones were nowere to be found. Had I miscalculated their numbers? Then I felt something grab both of my feet. The three Shadows had attached themselves onto my legs and were pulling me down to another vortex. Here we go again. This time I simply let them drag me down into the darkness.

I find myself again on a stainglass floor, this again different from the previous ones. This one beared the mark of the Unversed. The creatures came after the Heartless, but were the first to attack. The beings born of pure emotion.

”Well, well. What have we here?" A distorted version of my voice said behind me. I turned, my weapon a for battle. It was my shadow clone. ”A lost lamb, far from home?”, It said while laughing a cruelly. ”What a joke!” It yelled and raised it's blade. ”A weak thing like you shouldn't exist.” It then charged at me. And boy, was it fast.

I acted faster and redirected the attack and attempted to counter. Emphasis on 'attempted'. This thing was unbelievably fast. It not only dodged my attack, but knocked my sword right out of my hands. It knocked me to the ground and pressed it's blade to my throat while cackling like mad.

”ENOUGH!”, A furious voice boomed. A large being appeared behind the shadow me. It wore a heavy looking white fur cloak that covered it's whole body. On it's face it wore a white mask that looked like bone, with two very large horns that grooved backwards and red tribal markings all over it. It swatted the shadow clone with it's cloak, whitch made the clone fly to the other side of the floor. The clone just cackled and sank into a dark vortex.

I stared in awe. The thing in front of me was at least two times the size of a normal human, it's cloak making it look very bulky. Darkness itself began to crack, light pushing in from the cracks. The darkness shattered and whiteness took it's place. The glass floor was still there, this time however, it was completely blank. It had absolutely nothing on it.

The giant turned to me. ”Are you unharmed?”, it asked. I just nodded. It turned it's back to me. ”Good.” The voice sounded like that of a male. Deep, calm and wise. ”Apologies for putting you through that. I should have known facing yourself would have been too much.”

It took me a while to get a from out of my mouth. ”Who are you? What are you? What is this place? What are you talking about?” I had so many questions, all wanting to be answered. It was making my head hurt.

This being took a while to respond. ”I needed to make sure you wanted to live.”

I took that in for a minute. ”But, I'm already dead. I remember it clearly. I was shot.”

Again, the being took some time. ”Yet, you fought like you wanted to live.” He seemed to sense my confusion. ”Your memory is completely fine. And accurate. You did get shot and you were 'about' to die.” He said. I was even more confused than I was a second ago. ”A much more dreadfull fate awaited you however. I was able to pull you out before that, thankfully.”

This got my attention. ”You can get up now.” The giant being said. I was, indeed sitting on the ground like some scared idiot. I instantly got up.

Two questions popped to my mind ”You brought me here? Why?”

He turned to me. Somehow, I didn't feel afraid by his stature of his appearance. ”To save you.”, He said simply.

”Save me? Save me from who?”

He looked at me, the eyeholes in his mask seemed to direct his gaze straight to my eyes. ”Not as much 'who' as 'what'.” Then he turned to his right. ”Ah, perfect timing.” I looked where he was looking and saw a window, or something like that, manifesting in the air. The being walked to the window. ”Come.” He said in a non demanding tone.

I went to his side and what I saw amazed me. It was like looking at stars. Millions upon millions of starts floating in a dark blue void. And one stood out from the rest. The one closest to us was recognicable as a planet. It was Earth.

”That is your home world.”, He said, sensing my incoming question. ”Tell me. What do you remember of your death?”

I was confused by the question but answered anyway. ”Well, I was shot by this guy. I fell to the ground and started to feel cold.”

He just kept looking at the planet. ”Anything else?”

I started to think back. ”Now that you mention it. I did see a shadowy figure and two glowing eyes.”

I looked up and saw him shake his head lightly. He then spoke in a worried tone ”Then I am afraid it is too late.”

I was about to ask what is too late when the pieces fell into place. I looked at the planet. For an instant it shined brightly and in a flash, it was gone. I was shocked. I just stared at the place where my home planet had just been. Only to see nothing at all.

”They found the world's heart.” The being said as the window closed and disappeared.

I stod there for what felt like an eternity. My legs started to feel numb and wobbly, so I fell on my knees. This being seemed understanding enough to give a little time to think.

My world was gone. My home, my family, my friends, everyone. All gone. I would never be able to see them again. Ever. I was alone.

”Why me?”, I managed to mutter.

He turned away from me. ”You are special. More than you realize.”

”S-so,” I said, my voice quivering slightly. ”E-everyone on earth is g-gone?”

To my suprised the large being shook his head. ”Not quite. Your earth is gone, but there are many more different Earths out there.” He said while looking at nothing in particular. ”Fourteen to be exact. Well, only thirteen now.” I heard him sigh deeply. ”Unlucky number, that thirteen. I did my best to defend all of the Earths. It seem my efforts were not enough for yours though. The others won't share it's fate, this I guarantee.”

I had heard of the theory of multiple alternate realities, but even so, that was absurd.

”It's allways good to have a few backups.” he said out of the blue.

What did he mean by that? I just don't get it. I looked at him, one question burning my mind like no other. ”Who are you?”

He faced me once more. ”I am known as the Engineer, the Architect, the Grand Designer. But you may call me Dagon, the Shaper of Realms.” Wait, he was some kind of ethereal entity with great power? As in a god?! ”Yes, some beings could call me a god.” He said. Did he just read my mind? ”This is my world. I call it the Hall of Blank.” He walked to me. ”Can you stand?”

I suddenly felt my strenght come back. I took support of my knee and helped myself up. I also felt much calmer than before. ”Yeah.” Dagon just nodded. ”What were those rooms with darkness and those glass paintings?”

”Just something I created to test you. You suprised me.”

I blinked a few times. ”So it was just a trick? An illusion?”

”Yes, a very elaborate illusion. Very lifelike. All except your shadow, that is. I had not taken it into calculations. I apologise about that.”

I just stared at the blank floor. Not really sure what to think of all this.

”I understand this must be a lot to take in. Humans are that way.” He said. ”Are you sure you will be allright?”

I just nodded. I sensed that he knew it was a small lie.

”If you wish the whole truth,” He began. My gaze fixated on his massive being. ”I summoned you here to offer you a new chance. A..... reincarnation of sorts.”

”So, you'd give me my life back?”

I could just sense him frown under that mask.

”Not exactly. While you would still live, it would be in a different world. In a different form.” It sort of made sense. I just saw my own world disappear. Of course it would be a different world.

”What do you mean by different form?”

”Exactly what you think I mean. You would be transformed. Just like the rest.” He paused. What rest? ”You see, in the world I would send you there is a game going on. Gods sending their champions to join in. They, however came are from another Earth. Pretty similar to yours, Actually. Except that people there are even bigger idiots there and Micheal Jackson is dead. Aside from a few more minor differences, your worlds are almost identical.”

I worked the gears in my head to figure this out. ”So you want me to be your champion in this game?”

”NO!”, Dagon shouted in anger. ”I WON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM OR THEIR GAME! I sense that nothing good will come out of it.” I flinched at his outburts. He calmed himself a bit before continuing. ”I just wish to grant you a new start. No rules to bind you but your own. No obligation. Of course, if you were ever to meet some of these champions, you could act as you see fit.”

That seemed like a prety good deal. A little too good.

”There is a small catch though.” Called it! ”Your essence would be scattered around this new world upon entry.”

My mind rolled that sentence in my head a few times. ”What do you mean by 'scattered'?”, I asked hesitantly.

”It means that pieces of your psyche, your emotions, your very being would be fractured and scattered around. Your soul would be divided.”

”So I'll turn into an empty shell. Great.”

”No.” Dagon said adamantly. ”You would still be yourself. Maybe a bit different and your emotions and feelings would be a bit shallow.” Well, that's a relief.... Kind of..... Not ”Your scattered pieces would also gain bodies of their own in time. While others could be your friends and allies, some could also be your enemies. Very dangerous ones.”

That seemed a bit..... Well, hazardous comes to mind. ”So what should I do about that?”

”I'm glad you asked.” He said. ”You should go and find the fragments of your soul. Then, it's up to you what you do with them. You can allow them to help you on your quest or merge them back into yourself. I would suggest absorbing the more dangerous and volatile ones.”

So it'll be an adventure. That sounds interesting.

”So, will you accept my offer? Or decline?”

Okay, time for one final question. ”Where would you send me?”

”Somewhere where those creatures can't follow you.” Sounding good. ”Do you know of a land called Equestria?”

Equestria? What an odd name. I think I had heard one of guys in the neighbourhood talk about a place of the same name. Other than that, ”I literally haven't got a clue.”

Dagon laughed softly. ”Maybe it will be better that you start with a clean slate. Besides, an adventure is twice the more fun if you don't know what will happen next. Am I right?”

I can't help but grin widely. ”Absolutely.”

The giant being that was Dagon tilted his head. ”Does that mean you accept?”

”Take a guess.”, I said, smiling confidently.

Dagon chuckled at the sight. ”Very well then. Have a nice trip to Equestria, Hollow.” My parents were kind of idiots. Who the heck names their kid Hollow? It's really stupid.

How Dagon knew my name, I never got to ask before I blacked out. Next Chapter: Awake and kicking ass! Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 37 Minutes