Chapter 1: The Brilliant Plan ~ Sir Grodus sighed as he watched his fish swim back and forth. He was an old X-Naut, and used to be very powerful. With his staff at hand, and intimidating look, he was the best X-Naut leader ever! His plan had been simple. He would find all seven of the legendary Crystal Stars, and use their magic to open the great Thousand-Year Door! There he would awaken the great and powerful Shadow Queen, an evil demon that had amazing power. He would command this Shadow Queen, and rule the world! He had well-trained X-Nauts, and excellently built robotics, but this was not enough. He was chasing perhaps the most powerful seven objects in the world! He needed help. It was then that Sir Grodus was greeted by a trio of strange creatures. They called themselves the Shadow Sirens and proved to be powerful. The Shadow Sirens consisted of Beldam, Marilyn, and Vivian; together they could summon the elements ice, lightning, and fire. They also hand the power of shadow, and they were just what Sir Grodus needed to make sure his plan worked. He then discovered that the Shadow Queen was cursed. She could not move from her coffin, and needed a sacrifice for the Shadow Queen to possess! He needed someone with a pure heart, and Beldam said she knew just the person. Beldam, the evil Shadow Siren began telling a rumor about a treasure behind the Thousand-Year Door, and found a princess to be the bate. She was the perfect victim, and Dir Grodus was pleased. He was sure this plan would work. But, once he heard of a man named Mario, everything went wrong. This Mario person had the map that showed wear the Crystal Stars were located! And he was getting the Crystal Stars before the X-Nauts could! Sir Grodus panicked and sent the X-Nauts, Lord Crump, and the Shadow Sirens on him, trying all he could to stop Mario. He failed miserably. Somehow, Mario was able to get by all of Sir Grodus’ plans. But, finally, in the end it worked. After tricking Mario, he made it to the Shadow Queen first. He was too excited for words. He awakened the Shadow Queen, and gave her Princess Peach. But when Sir Grodus tried to command the Shadow Queen, she destroyed him. She left him in pieces the only surviving part being his head. The Shadow Sirens had just used him to awaken their queen! He was like a pawn in their plan. The Shadow Sirens ended up getting all the glory, and were thanked dearly by the horrid Shadow Queen. Mario would not stand for this, though. He fought the shadow queen, and with the help of the Crystal Stars, and all of his friends, he defeated her. Afterwards, Sir Grodus realized his wrong doing and decided to turn good. He tried it, and didn’t like it. Now Sir Grodus wanted one thing, and one thing only: Revenge!
“Pizza time!†Lord Crump said suddenly, causing the head of Sir Grodus to jump. Sir Grodus spun around in his chair to see Lord Crump holding a steaming pizza.
“Don’t scare me like that you stupid, stupid, foolish fool!†he cried as be bit into the pizza.
As soon as Sir Grodus and Lord Crump finished their pizza, the bouncing head led Lord Crump into the Speech Chambers (yes, the Speech Chambers) so that he could tell all of his fellow X-Nauts his genius plan.
“Hurry up, Crump!†Sir Grodus said as he hoped along, “A frickin’ head can go faster than you!†Lord Crump panted as he tried to keep up. Finally, Sir Grodus hopped into the elevator, Lord Crump soon to follow. The elevator music was the soft sound of Oops I Did it Again by Britney Spears.
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“………..I love this song.â€
“Shut up………remind me to kill the guy who picks the elevator music.†Finally the elevator door opened and Sir Grodus’ head quickly hoped out. There was the sound of talking behind the door they were about to enter. Sir Grodus hopped through the door to find he was standing on a large stage in front of tons and tons of different types of X-Nauts. X-Naut Elites, X-Naut Scientists, X-Naut Ninjas, all kinds.
“Lord Crump!†said Sir Grodus, “Put me up on the podium!†Lord Crump picked up the head of Sir Grodus and placed it on a black podium that was in the front of the stage. Sir Grodus said into the microphone; “Attention!!!†All the X-Nauts stopped talking, looked to the front, and put their arms together to form an ‘X’. “Greetings my fellow X-Nauts! I have gathered you all here to tell you that we are going into action once more!!!†There was a great cheer from the audience in which Lord Crump stood from the stool by the podium and signaled for them to quiet down. “It is time for our revenge!†There was another loud cheer. “I will need each and every one of you for this plan to succeed! I have been living in peace for longer than I would have wanted, and it is time for a change! Now I will not waste any time on telling you that this may be our time to rule the World!†Yes, yes another loud cheer. “In phase one, I will have all of you fly from the X-Naut Mother Ship, and down towards Earth. You will try to stay away from any contact with a stranger, but if you find you are, simply show your badge and tell them it is classified business. In phase one I will first have my revenge on the species that caused my body to be disintegrated. The Shadow Sirens. Shadow Sirens are the strangest creatures I know of, and to get a hold of them, you must be very careful. They lurk in the shadows, and are hiding everywhere. I want you all to use this special device,†Lord Crump held up a remote control-like item to show the X-Nauts, “to track down the Shadow Sirens. You see, the radar on the remote shows the dark energy of the Shadow Sirens right on the screen. When it appears you are directly in front of one, simply press the big red button. Lord Crump, a demonstration.†Lord Crump nodded as he stood up once more. He held the remote in front of him and pressed the big red button. Blue lightning shot from the antenna and began zapping a nearby X-Naut. The X-Naut rose into the air, screaming and twitching crazily from the electricity. The other X-Nauts gasped as he landed back down with a thud. “Do not worry,†Sir Grodus said, “He is not dead, just knocked out, stunned. That blue electricity is attracted to the Shadow Siren energy, and will go straight to it. It will force the Shadow Siren out from its hiding place, and will fall to the ground stunned. This would be when you press the little blue button. Lord Crump, if you will.†Lord Crump stood up again. A number of X-Nauts stepped back. He pressed the little blue button, and a quick flash of light shot from the attena, hitting the same X-Naut that was electrocuted. A blue bubble formed around the unconscious X-Naut, and lifted him slowly above the ground, the X-Naut floating around in the bubble. “This will capture the Shadow Siren so that it cannot escape. Bring the Shadow Siren back to the Mother Ship where we will absorb the Shadow Siren’s power and use it for our own!!!†There was a huge applause from the audience, X-Nauts yelling out “Brilliant!†and “Hoorah!†and even “Oh my gosh, where’s his frickin’ body?†It was true. His plan was brilliant. “We will not stop until we have every Shadow Siren in the world! And as soon as we harness all that energy, we will load it into a giant gun that will be aimed at the Earth. If the people on Earth don’t obey what I say, then we will fire the gun, plunging them into darkness!†There was another great applause. “Our weapon is darkness, my felloe X-Nauts! No one will ever be able to stop us from dominating! No one!.....Now grab one of those remote controls and a pamphlet labeled ‘The Steps To Domination’ on your way out, and get out there, and CAPTURE THOSE SHADOWS!!!†And the biggest applause followed that. “Okay! Any questions?†a hand suddenly shot up. It was an X-Naut Elite. “Oh, uh *clears throat* yes, what is it?†Sir Grodus asked.
“Sir, you went after the power of the shadows before, have you not?†asked the Elite.
“Well…yes I have,†Sir Grodus’ head replied.
“Well, no offense, but that plan went down like an elephant riding a unicycle. Are you sure this is a good idea?†A few of the X-Nauts began muttering.
“I’ll tell you what I think. Elite,†Dir Grodus hopped up and suddenly press a button on his podium. A huge bolt of lightning came down from the ceiling and struck the Elite, leaving only his boots and a pile of ashes. Everyone gasped. “Any more questions?†Surprisingly, another hand shot up. It was just a normal X-Naut. One of the stupid ones, actually.
“Yeah, uh, sir dude or dude…sir…yeah dude-sir-sir-sir-dude…Okay, anyways dude, or sir, or dude, or sir dude-“
“Shut up…now speak!†Sir Grodus commanded.
“Yeah, um, what do the ‘Shadow Sirens’ look like anyways, dude-sir?†he asked, giving the ‘X’ signal at the end.
“Oh, yes, well…lets see here…Shadow Sirens are purple, and almost appear in a smokey sort of way. They almost float above the ground, have no legs, and have a dark shadow beneath them…alright any one else?†No one else raised their hand. “Good. Then grab a pamphlet and remote zapper, and go capture some shadows!†Instead of an applause there was a mutters of “Okayâ€s and “Fine whateverâ€s. If Sir Grodus had a body, he would’ve shrugged.
“Fabulous plan, Sir Grodus,†said Lord Crump giving him the ‘X’ signal with his arms.
“Thank you Lord Crump. Now, make sure all those X-Nauts leave the ship and tell the X-Scientists to hurry up on my new frickin’ body!!!†said Sir Grodus.
“Will do sir,†said Lord Crump as he left to make sure all the X-Nauts were getting in the mini-pod ships that went straight to Earth. Sir Grodus had a sudden surge of hope. His plan was going to work!
To be continued...