Hello, my eager supporters, we now, once again, must place ourselves into the world of Xandrea. Last time, our four heroes entered a town held captive by a troop of bandits, which our heroes vowed to dismantle. In the middle of the night, they were awoken by the muffled screams of a townsperson. The four immediately jumped into action but were unable to save the civilian, and the bandits fled into the forest, Remy quietly chasing after them. That is where our story begins today! So, settle in, as our tale begins again!

Jeremy Lane ran through the woods, careful not to make much noise, in pursuit of two bandits in black clothing, who had just, somewhat accidentally, caused the death of an innocent farmer. He tailed them all the way to their hideout, a massive wooden structure guarded by a spiked log wall. The bandits walked casually up to a large fire in the center of the area. Remy, trying hard not to be noticed, just barely slipped by a guard patrolling the entrance. Inside, he could see over a dozen bandits, some were laughing and drinking by the fire, others were keeping an eye on the premises. At the top of a tall watchtower, an archer scanned the forest with binoculars. Remy decided that he was going to need the aid of his new allies to take down these bandits, so he hid himself and waited.

Xavier soared along the well-worn path through the woods on his bicycle. He still couldn't really grasp why his bike came with him, but he didn't really have time to ponder. As the tree line separated in front of him, Xavier saw exactly what he was looking for: the Black Bandit's camp. He assumed that was where Remy ran off to.

"That kid really has a death wish," Xavier whispered to himself as he hid his bike in the bushes, making sure to keep low. From his vantage point in the woods, he was able to see a tall watchtower, an archer at its peak, about 11 bandits drinking around a fire, and maybe 4 other bandits patrolling around the entrance to the wooded base.

Sticking to the trees as much as possible, Xavier crept up to the 20-foot-high walls. His goal was to reach a point where the archer wouldn't be able to spot him as he entered. Once Xavier felt confident of this, he made his move. Right hand on the wall, footsteps quick but concealed, he slipped into the camp, unnoticed by the bandits patrolling the area and the bandits by the fire.

With a quick glance around the area, he noted the strange infrastructure of the bandit camp. Large wooden structures stacked on top of one another, held up by stilts with bridges connecting them. The top-most building of the stacked structures had a large window, and for a second, Xavier thought he saw a figure through the glass, but it disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Tucked between the base of the watchtower and the wooden walls, Xavier saw a young boy with orange hair, Remy. Xavier crept over to the boy, staying in the shadows.

"Hey, you can't run off like that," Xavier whispered when he was next to Remy.

"I wanted to fight the bad men," Remy said

"Well, now we can fight them together. Let's wait for the others and make a plan. Okay?"

"Okay."

The Phantom, lagging a few minutes behind Xavier, but arriving before The Fox due to his advanced speed given to him by his mech suit, slipped past the view of the archer in the watchtower. He clung to the left wall, opposite his traveling companions, which noted his presence, but made no noise to alert The Phantom. The Phantom moved behind a storage shed; it probably contained extra food for the bandits, or possibly wood, as both were scattered about the shed's exterior. Once he was able to view more of the area, The Phantom assessed his threats. His most likely opponent was a Black Bandit patrolman about 30 feet away from him. The Phantom began to formulate a plan.

The Fox bounded through the wood, leaping over roots and rocks. He couldn't wrap his head around the fact that all these humans are faster than him. One moment, he was out running all the farmers and huntsmen, and now he's lagging behind a man covered head to toe with metal! Everything is so twisted in this new place. Lost in his thoughts, The Fox almost ran past the wooden bandit base, but he saw the blazing fire out of the corner of his eye. The Fox guessed that was where the others ran off to. Remy probably wanted to fight the bandits.

The Fox walked into the base, sneakily but also somewhat carefree. What would the bandits care if a fox wandered into their base? With just a small glance, The Fox spotted Remy and Xavier huddled at the base of the tower, and he trotted over to them.

"So, what's the plan?" The Fox asked, voice low

"Well, I saw Phantom sneak around the other way. Maybe we can attack the bandits from both sides. Flank them, ya know?" Xavier replied in a whisper, "The only problem is this guy." He pointed to the top of the watchtower as he said this, indicating the archer.

"I can deal with him." The Fox smiled slightly with these words

"What can I do?" Remy asked, looking up at Xavier with big eyes

"You can help from afar," Xavier whispered

"Yay!"

"Shhhhhh." Xavier and The Fox both put their hands (or paws) over the kid's mouth.

"Sowwy," Remy said somly

"It's fine. No one noticed." Xavier ruffled Remy's hair, reassuring him, "Now, how do we tell Phantom?"

"I don't really think he needs us to prompt him with a plan." The Fox said as he gestured over at one of the patroallmen collapsing to the ground, skull visibly shattered, blood leaking around it. "It seems he's figured out his own way. A quite violent way, but a way nonetheless."

"What is he thinking. You can't just murder someone like that!" Xavier yelled quietly. Looking at this corpse, memories rushed back to him. Memories of blood and gore. Memories of murder. Xavier shook back the memories. "I've got to go talk to him."

"Allow me." Remy pushed Xavier back slightly and ran over to the back of the shed, where he saw The Phantom sneak behind.

The Phantom, having thought of a plan to take out the guards, searched the ground for a rock. After finding one of a suitable size, he threw it at the closest bandit patrolman, hard enough that it should knock the bandit out, but not leave much lasting damage. The plan quickly went awry, however. When the rock left The Phantom's hand, it shot forward with more speed than a pitch from a pro baseball player. The rock collided with the bandit's skull with an audible crunch, crushing not only his skull but his brain as well. The bandit collapsed to the ground, dead.

The Phantom looked down at his hands in shock. How did that happen? He didn't throw it that hard. The Phantom had killed before, but never like that. Never had he been so close, nor had it ever been so brutal.

From behind The Phantom, the sound of footsteps approached, causing The Phantom to spin around just in time to see Remy walk up and promptly kick The Phantom in the shin.

"What was that for!" The Phantom shouted in a hushed tone to not alert the bandits.

"Go say you're sorry," Remy commanded

"What?"

"Go. Say. You. Are. Sorry. Right now."

"Say sorry to who? He's dead."

"I don't care. Say sorry to the other men."

"Then they'll kill me! Look," The Phantom got down on one knee to get on the boy's level. "It was an accident. Something about this world and its magic has enhanced my suit, and that caused the rock to accelerate with a lot more force than I intended."

"Hmmmph," Remy turned away from The Phantom, arms crossed.

"Can you just bring me to the others? We adults, and I guess the fox, need to make a plan."

"Fine."

The two champions walked together, keeping low to the ground, towards their allies, but, about halfway to their destination, a horn blew. The two stopped in their tracks and slowly looked up at the archer in the watchtower. Their eyes met with a drawn bow, arrow notched and ready to fire.

"Intruders!!! Kill them!!!" The archer yelled out to the men at the fire as he let go of the string of the bow, sending the arrow flying through the air.

Hello! I know it's been a while. I took a break over the holidays, and then I forgot to come back to write another post. Sorry! Hopefully you enjoyed this one; it's a bit shorter than my last few (especially my last one). I plan on this being the average length going forward, so hopefully you liked the length! If not, let me know, I'm always up for some constructive criticism and, as always, Thanks for Reading!