Transparent titian-red tubes pumped their contents silently down the pink walls of the quivering ventral sac. The marshy floor, ceiling and walls were continuous, creating a squashed, hollow sphere where three beings sat, an inch thick in mucus lining. Two of them, blood brothers, were of the reptilian Yoshi race of Yamauchi, though born on another planet, Fa'diel. The third was the Queen of the Zerg, Kerrigan: once a Terran Ghost, a renegade human with Left Path abilities trained as a covert soldier, but assimilated into the Brood to become its proud warrior leader. They were inside the carapace of an Overlord, who acted as a controller, detector and, as at the moment, transporter.
"I see you're not used to it, lizard," she smirked as the orange Yoshi gave a repulsive grimace.
Master of the obvious indeed, he thought in Pandoran, with a condescending glance at the Zerg Queen.
"Ha, you might like to watch your thoughts in the near future," she grinned evilly. "I might not understand the language, but I know the tone."
Damn Left Path…
"Would you like to go through before again? No? Good lizard."
Kerrigan had disguised herself as a mere Zergling, a dune-runner of Zz'gash mutated to have twin scythe-like claws and sharp fangs, and had attached herself to the multi-racial Markior, of Protoss allegiance. She had then revealed herself, and was on an uneasy, temporary alliance with him - after threatening to kill Lich to get her way - to vanquish the Dark Archon Ulrezaj.
But under his mind-control were two others: Aurora Malificent Yoshiva, the violet amazon princess of Yoshin, and Riu Darae Sierschta, or Dragon as she was known, the only surviving Darikuri - save the botched clone, DraStar - with an incredible reserve of power.
The two Yoshies were out to rescue them from Ulrezaj, and now was their time as they fought on the battlefield against Markior's Protoss forces. The first, and elder of the two, was no other than the orange Dyluck Thanatos Yoshi von Kippo, or as he had grown accustomed to, Lich. He was the lover of Dragon, and the only one, to their collective belief, that would wrench her out of his grasp. The younger was Ark Beruga Yoshi von Kippo, separated for many long years from his brother with a sense of betrayal fueled by his absence. He was staring at a blue rose, which he was to give to Aurora, and as his brother watched, a tear was starting to form in his eye.
"Dy…" he said quietly, "do you know how long it's been since I've seen flowers?"
"What planet's time you want?" Lich chuckled. "Fa'diel, Yamauchi or Zolott? Couldn't give you the number on any of them, but I know it's been one hell of a long time."
"You've…changed, Dy…"
"Blame my other brother."
Ark looked at Lich puzzledly.
"I…we…mother…another…"
"No, no, no," Lich laughed. "Not like that. After the flood, they decided not to have another child. No, I mean brother metaphorically. He's a really good friend of mine, and he's on Zolott.
"His name is Multex, and he comes from the world of Parallel Earth. He's got demon blood or someth-"
"Your best friend is a demon?!" Ark jolted suddenly, making the ventral sac quiver harder.
"Hey, watch it!" Kerrigan complained.
Lich gave the Zerg Queen a sidelong glance before he looked back at his surprise brother.
"Just because he's a demon doesn't mean he's evil."
Ark opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted as Kerrigan muttered lewd words about Markior.
"By Salamando's Tail, Lich…how did you get into Olympus? I mean…Olympus. You're not hiding immortality and godship from me, are you?"
"I'd like to be the God of Travelers and Journeys, but I have to do something ultra-heroic and sacrifice my life in the process, and I'm not sure if my Mana binds will let me become a god. I got into Olympus by…well, benevolence, I guess.
"I was returning from my Pokémon quest to Kanto - it's the main Pokémon country on Yamauchi - on my Dragonite."
Lich patted his orange Pokéball and continued. "I wasn't really experienced with flight then, so we ended up in a snowstorm over the mountains, and the weather forced us down. Couldn't see a thing. We crashed into the side of a mountain, and both of us passed out.
"We were definitely in god country, because Markior and a few others, can't remember who, came and rescued us - I mean to say, he's the Protector. So you can imagine the surprise I had when I woke up in his lair and found two blank eyes staring at me. He read my mind, and he found the Cyan Arc, and he was impressed, and I told him about you - I think the tears helped - so he felt pity towards me, and here we are, good friends."
"And…the other gods?"
"Well…I met them, and I'm friends with a good amount of them…Aster, Drakonis, Sixtyfourhundred…"
Ark's mouth showed his awe as Lich was interrupted by Kerrigan announcing, "We're here, lizards. Get out."
A hole in the floor opened with a sickening growl, and the three of them jumped out, Lich welcoming the fresh, yet smoke-filled air.
"I'm off, enjoy your last few minutes - no-one tends to survive long on a Zerg battlefield," Kerrigan sneered, before hurrying off behind a mound of upturned soil.

The ground was blackened and pocked with craters as the two of them surveyed it from behind a rocky outcrop.
"Whew…I thought Markior was the Yoshi Protector, not the Yoshi Slaughterer," Ark said as he viewed the fighting between Zerg and Protoss forces, and a mass amount of yellow wreckage showing Aurora's path. An explosion pointed out her location in the distance.
"He knows what he's doing, I'd trust him with my life," Lich answered, as he lay on the ground, using a Pandoran Army horizon scanner through a hole.
"You were conscripted?" Ark inquired as he saw the scanner. "So that's why I didn't get any letters for some time…"
Lich focused on the recent explosion and zoomed in…however, the picture was all hazy.
"Dy…you fool," he chuckled to himself, putting the scanner down. Ark looked at his brother as he put a thumb and forefinger over the closed eyelids, before opening them again.
"What are you doing?" Ark asked as Lich turned his head from side to side, before he looked up at his brother.
Lich's sapphire pupils had grown so that they nearly filled the whole of his eye area. Both received a nasty shock as they crossed gazes, Lich quickly disabling the spell afterwards.
"It's called Eagle Eyes, it's a new Lumina spell they have," Lich answered. "And I've spotted the best course for you to take. See that burnt out tree stump down there?"
He pointed to a char coated bole with a surviving bough pointing like his own finger to the right.
"The tree branch will give a clue as to where to go next, that rock group there. That's where the wreckage trail starts, so just follow that and stay behind parts until you get to that snake like thing there…it's pretty big, so you'll have to go around that to the right, but don't get too close to the Overlord - it may have a nasty surprise in its gut. Then just stay on guard as you follow it again. I'll wait here until you get to the outcrop - stay there until I've finished casting Lucid Barrier on you."
"How will I know when you've finished? I've never seen it cast…"
"Stars'll fall to the ground. You'll have ten minutes to make it down to Aurora and convince her to stop. She can teleport, so get her to take you back to the base."
"What if I fail?"
"Elementals help you."
"Great…"
"Take some Pakkun Chocolate with you too," he said, retrieving it from his storage and giving the materialised chocolate to Ark. "Go now before she gets too far away. Mana speed, Ark."
Lich watched as his brother ran out from behind the outcrop and down to the tree, clutching the Spear in his hand. He made a quick turn to the right at the tree, and it wasn't long before he reached the rocks.
"Been a long time since I've done long distance…" Lich muttered, before he brought his arms in front of him in a waving pose, summoning a white circle of light around him. He brought his forefingers together, side by side, above and outwards from his head, before separating them and creating a circle by arcing them downwards. When they met, while still moving he pointed them at Ark, and closed his fists again.

Ark had started to grow impatient, and was startled by the orb of yellow light completely surrounding him, pulsating different shades of saffron before it broke apart into little stars, falling onto the ground.
Time to go, he thought, before he ran out from the rocks into the path of Aurora's destruction.

"Well, well, well, haven't we seen this situation before?"
Lich froze, recognising a voice filled with a condescending tone: he'd only heard it since his time on Zolott.
"What do you want, Havering?" Lich asked, not turning.
"I want many things," Havering said, starting to pace up and down behind Lich, "but right now, it is to watch your brother foolishly risk life and limb to get that purple lizard back from Ulrezaj. Now, what would happen if he were to die or be severely injured? How does the word betrayal sound upon his lips?"
"You should know, you instilled it into him."
Havering gave a single snort as a response. Lich turned and saw the time bender look sadly at his empty brandy sifter, before it mysteriously refilled again with crimson liquid. It had been a long time since Lich had drunk any alcoholic beverage, and his taste buds were yearning for its multi-flavoured taste.
"Well, I shall leave you to your miserable task, it may save me the trouble of mopping up a loose end. When we meet again, lizard."
As he started to turn and walk away, Lich's curiosity got the better of him.
"Wait, Havering."
The Twilighter's head looked back over his right shoulder and said, "Yes?"
"Where do you get your grog?"
Havering turned completely and faced him.
"From my wine cellar in a sub-dimension. You'll never get at it."
"Drepio," Lich swore in Pandoran, translated roughly as condemning someone to an eternity in a lake of flames, continually fed by Salamando.
"All my alcohol is mine, and only I will have it," Havering glared. "Goodbye."
With that, the demon vanished, leaving Lich muttering about luxuries.

"Dy, I hope to Sylphid that you know what by Undine you're doing," Ark muttered as he ran across the scarred landscape, behind pieces of Reavers and Dragoons. He often heard whispering in Protoss tongue, not sure whether it was imploration for help or death rites.
A barrage of spikes slammed into the wall of the Lucid Barrier, creating a yellow flash and a noise akin to "Plingggg!" Looking behind him, Ark saw a Hydralisk bear down on him, its snake like body slithering effortlessly across the hard ground, teeth gnashing and drool streaming from them.
"What is that thing?" Ark asked as he held his Spear ready to throw. With a cry in Pandoran, the point of its blade created a growing eggplant-coloured ball of light, before it fired a beam of darker shades of the spectrum, mixed in with the integral darkness itself. It followed a sine wave pattern, and struck the Hydralisk on what was most likely its stomach area. It let screamed as a black hole spread out from around it, then closed again, sealing the slobbering beast inside the gap between dimensions.
"Nobody messes with Ark, whatever it is," he sneered at the vacant space.

Wishing he had light bending means or devices, Lich surveyed the landscape again, looking for his love.
"Dragon…where are you," Lich whispered as he saw a blue patch fly by, only to realise it was a Scout falling apart.
Eyes in the back of your head would be useful, Mana Spirit smirked as it resided inside his skull.
Lich turned around, and saw a giant blue winged reptile in the near distance.
"Dragon!" he yelled, hoping she would hear him. He ran off towards her, then stopped in his tracks when he realised that a massive Zerg force lay between him and her.
"Gulto…have to go around…"

Ark had reached the giant snake that his brother had told him about: one of the "fins" off a Carrier. Sure enough, what appeared to be a hovering cerebellum with tendrils in the distance gave the location of an Overlord away.
Dy doesn't know fully about my powers, Ark thought as he saw it at the end of the fin. Lessee…a floating brain…Salamando might do the trick…
He brought his hands in front of him, just as his brother did. A circle of red light surrounded him momentarily, before he pointed his arm at full length with his fist clenched. Snapping his fist open, he saw fiery explosions surround the Overlord, before the wind picked up the ash and start to spread it all over the ground.
Ark started to run again, keeping the fin close beside him, until he reached the end where six Zerglings were waiting for him. Their mouths were drooling, and they all seemed to be looking at him…hungrily.
"I don't think you'd like the taste of Yoshi, sorry. Gotta run."
Ark backed off, staring the creatures down, before quickly turning and running along the destruction path, tagged by the beasts.

Ulrezaj roared in anger at seeing the two Yoshians cut through his Zerg forces. He waved a disembodied claw forwards, eyes blazing with red energy.
"Dragon! Aurora! DESTROY THEM!" he yelled.
With a quick look upwards, he saw the air distort, before lightning struck down on him and the surrounding area.
"Psi storm!" A female voice yelled. Ulrezaj rose up and roared, batting away one lightning strike with the back of his hand. Kerrigan turned off her Terran cloaking technique and grinned, standing in front of Ulrezaj.
"Nice new armor, Protoss."
Ulrezaj looked down at the Infested Terran. "Kerrigan?! What are YOU doing here on Zolott?!" he rumbled, the high-pitched echo sounding in his voice.
Kerrigan smirked. "Oh... nothing. Just that you stole a part of the Swarm with your mindcontrolling technique. And you know me. Vengeful type."
She laughed darkly, getting ready in a fighting stance. Ulrezaj smirked and clenched his fists. "You have no chance of defeating me, Kerrigan... I am an Overpower... the power of the Twin Crystals is surging through my body..."
Kerrigan grinned. "I have trained years to defeat Markior... And you will be nothing more then the finishing touch on that training."
She lunged forwards, claws from her shoulder blades held up high.

Lich was running, running as fast as he could save his Fleetfoot attack.
"I'm going to get you back, Dragon," he muttered, gasping. "Just hold on."
His anaerobic reserve had depleted, and now he was relying more on keeping his pace than anything - but he needed to rest a moment.
He sat down beneath a tree, or the charred remains of one. He gasped as his lungs fought for air to fuel the accelerated heartbeat, seeing Dragon further ahead than the rest of Ulrezaj's forces, closer to the base.
Perhaps I should fly…no, I'll get shot down by a Mutalisk or something…
Feeling his strength returned, he got up and started running again.

Ulrezaj floated backwards, his eyes burning with red light.
"Maelstrom!" he rumbled, as red energy flew from his fingertips and surrounded Kerrigan, freezing her in time.
Ulrezaj moved forwards again, and with a great sweep of his claw, hit Kerrigan in the side, making her smack into a grotesque rock. She immediately got up and thrust her hand forwards.
"Ensnare!"
A small bulging package of DNA material flew over Ulrezaj and exploded above him, covering him in a layer of green slime, slowing him down. He turned slowly...
"Rrrrghh!" he rumbled, and pointed his hands at Kerrigan, starting to shoot dark Psiblasts at the Zerg queen.
She leapt through the air, avoiding them all as she came down on Ulrezaj, slashing into his head with her shoulder blade's claw. Ulrezaj roared and stumbled backwards, one hand on his face. When removing his hand, two red lasers pierced from his eyes and cut into Kerrigan's shoulder, blood flowing from the wound.
"YEOWCH! Damn you, Protoss!!" she yelled, and held her free hand up. "Plague!!" she yelled, as a red slime-like substance covered Ulrezaj, draining him of life essence.
"AAAGH!!" he roared, and stumbled backwards again.
He felt his strength sip away, and the golden glow around his armor was disappearing.
"No... NO!!"
He narrowed his eyes and rumbled at Kerrigan, "You win this, you witch... But I'll return shortly!"
He looked at Aurora and Dragon.
"RAZNAGH!!" he yelled, and disappeared in a surge of black energy, returning to the castle.

Ark was thankful of his brother's protection, but now an upwards helix of yellow stars gave hint of the Barrier's depletion. Looking behind him, the Zerglings were still at his heels, and gaining. The debris had provided a twisty path, but now there was a clear and straight stretch, and Ark had an idea.
He twirled his Spear in his right hand, and pointed it backwards. He had no time to cast Fire Saber on it, so he just settled for firing lasers…or more rightly, "dasers", as the Spear fired beams of concentrated darkness at the Zerglings. They had no time to react as it passed straight through them, like a bullet through a window pane.
"Beat that, insects," he snarled, then turned his head and jumped.
A purple Yoshi was in front of him, staring at him and holding her sword up. She had incredible beauty, with flowing sky-blue hair and sapphire eyes.
"If you're not with Ulrezaj, I must kill you," she growled, relaxing for half a second but still keeping her sword aloft.
"You must be Aurora, right? Good. Name's Ark. I believe this is yours."
Ark retrieved from his Storage the blue rose, and approached her.
"Do not get any closer, unless you'd like your head to be removed."
"Well, then, I'll just put this here and go away, then."
Ark lay down the blue rose in front of her and waited for her reaction.

Lich had finally run around the force, but in the process, Dragon was on the brink of entering the base. He now had the Nexus behind him, and Dragon in front.
He cupped his hands and yelled, "Dragon! It's me! Stop!"
The noise of the Protoss forces around her stopped her from hearing Lich's pleas.
As he watched, Dragon appeared to be fighting the mind control, with sweat pouring down her head and her eyes clenched tight.
"Good, keep at it…"
There was a reply, however, and soon Dragon's arm had reached up to her neck, a claw extended.
"Elementals, no…"
Lich started running towards her as blood trickled down her arm to her elbow, and started dripping. Soon, the blue giant toppled to the ground, consciousness leaving her as her form started to contract. She looked towards him as her eyes shut, which sent a chill down his spine.
The force of Zealots and Dragoons gathered around her, creating a tight circle. He arrived at the back of them and started pushing his way through. Protoss words echoed through them, and they cleared a path for him after recognising him as Markior's friend.
He knelt down beside Dragon, and ran a hand over her face.
I can't cure her…if I do, she'll wake up and still be under Ulrezaj's power, so she'd probably kill me…Oh, Elementals…have to do it under guard…
He picked up her body and hauled her over his shoulder, and started making his way to the Nexus, the Protoss creating a path, the Zealots' eyes showing solemnity.