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Smash Civil War
Chapter 1: The Die is Cast

"Uncle! Uncle!" Keris danced around Teran's feet, her dark brown locks bouncing on her shoulders.

"Come on, Keris, it's time for bed."

"But I want to hear the story about the Dragon King again!"

Teran sighed. Keris had been with him for a few days, while her father was away. He'd baby-sat her for a few hours at a time in the past, and wondered what was so hard about them. Feed them, let them take their naps, and play with them. It hadn't seemed so bad. He hadn't known how much a three-year-old wanted to play during the course of a day, or how hard it is to put one to bed.

"All right, this is the last time, then it's bed time. Okay?"

"Okay, I promise!" Keris said for the fourth time.

As Teran opened his mouth to begin the story again, there was a loud bang at the front door. "Who's there?" Teran called. He was answered with silence. "Come on Keris, let's see who's there."

Teran opened the door to find a man swaying on his feet. Blood trickled down from a deep gash on his head. The bandage that covered it had already been soaked through. Dirt was caked into his beard.

"Firus!" Teran cried, reaching out to steady him.

"Brother..." he started, then collapsed onto Teran's shoulder. "The raid was a failure...the Queen's men...were waiting for us."

Teran dragged his brother into the house, laying him across the sofa. Keris watched silently. He was unsure just how much she understood of what was going on, but he knew she shouldn't see any more. "Go into your room and play. You can stay up as long as you don't come back out here."

"Okay," she said. "Is my daddy okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. Go please." When she was out of earshot, he turned back to Firus. "Now what happened!"

Firus groaned, closing his eyes. "We never got within a kilometer of the fortress. The patrols picked us up before we crossed the river. Yink and KoopaKirby are dead. I took half of the survivors and fled south to confuse the patrols, finalark took the rest north. I don't know if they escaped."

"Dam, that base was supposed to be deserted! The Black Guard pulled out of there years ago!" Teran whispered as he wiped the grime and blood from his brothers face.

"There's more. While we were escaping, I got a look at the base. There were hundreds, possibly thousands of men there. Trebuchets, battering rams, cavalry, everything. They must have been building up for months, brining it in a little at a time so that we wouldn't notice."

"An invasion. User Blogs has always been semi-autonomous, ever since the King gave us that right. The Queen never did like the idea of us deciding our own fate."

"Rumor has it that she's already subdued Melee in the south. She's looking to re-assert direct control over all of the states. And we're next," Firus muttered.

"Not if we fight back." Teran stood, grabbing his coat. "Are you feeling all right now?"

"Yes, I'm just tired. We ran non-stop all the way back here, plus taking a few twists and turns to throw our pursuers off our trail. I'll be fine with some rest."

"Good. Go to sleep with your daughter. I'll be back by morning."

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to Youko. If this doesn't convince him that the Queen seeks to destroy us all, then nothing will."

"You're going to try to convince Youko to join us again? He's already rejected our offers twice, and threatened to warn the Queen that a rebellion is brewing in UB. You really think he'll change his mind?"

"The last time we talked, there wasn't an army sitting at our doorstep." Teran smiled. "Besides, it has to be easier th

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Chaco said:

Finals are over, I am planning something soon.

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Chronodiver Lokii said:

I'll do some stuff after midterms and scholarship art.
School comes first sadly D:

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