Story Time Thread - Release your imagination

“It’s another peaceful day,” is what the bulky figure said as he stretches under the morning sun. Staring at the distance, he sees familiar people walking along and saying hello to him, which of course he replies to.

“I think it’s time I get to work.”

A big scooter is his beloved ride that brings him to the places he intended to, today was no exception. While humming some classical tune, he merrily ride his way to his workplace where he regularly trained those seeking healthy body and mind as their mentor. It will be the usual peaceful day indeed, only if what happens next doesn’t occur.

-BAM

The sky turned dark instantly and rains of lights comes from the skies. This phenomenon isn’t supposed to happen, not on this peaceful place, not naturally. Indeed it is, Chaos is the name that causes it, the rain of light pierces anything. Although close, he managed to escape the destruction, but the same can’t be said to his beloved scooter. Although sad from losing one of his precious belongings, he can’t be down at such time, what’s with the city engulfed in flames.

“My students, I have to hurry!”

Although the entire city is in chaos, he can only worry about his students waiting at his gym. He run and run without care of his surrounding, to quickly reach the place where he is needed most.

He finally arrived at his destination, pitifully covered with scratches and holes all over his body. What's awaiting him there are his students or what seems to be the remains of them. Pieces of parts are scattered around, dare not he imagine what are under the rubble of what used to be his gym. Although void of hope, he braces himself to dig up the remains of his building.

“…ner.”

Although faint, sounds can be heard from somewhere. With renewed hope, he rushes to where the sounds come from and see one of his students buried under the rubbles. He would recognize that orange color right away. It’s one of his most promising students.

“T-trainer, you’re safe…”

“Hold on, I’ll get you out of this as soon as possible. Hang in there!”

He digs and pick up the heavy cements with his bare-hands, by the time he finishes it, his hands are all worn out and doesn’t function as they should. He picks up his student and lie him down on the grass in front of the destroyed building.

“Trainer, what happened? There were noises, and then suddenly bright lights came from above, we couldn’t do anything at all.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t arrive earlier.”

Shortly after they exchange some words, everything is lost to them. Black voids are appearing in some places at once, and soon after unknown large robots start appearing from said voids. Like unorganized killing machine, they begin to destroy everything. Rockets, lasers, bullets are storming the city like wildfire with nothing stopping them.

“This is…”

Realizing both their lives are in danger, he hurriedly tries to picks up his student and run away. But the timing couldn’t be more tragic, as he turn around to pick him, what in front of him is the exact same robot he was seeing appearing from the voids just now. From one of its barrel accumulates light with disturbing noise. Knowing it can’t be a good thing, he quickly jumps to the titan.

-BOOM

A sound of destruction

-BOOM

Another sound of death

-BOOM

This time it’s for sure

-BOOM

Then it quiets down

The student, unable to do anything under his shadow, can only look at his mentor’s figure.

Kneeling

Both of his arms are lost

A hole in his body

One of his legs gone

The student tries his best to get up, only to have enough strength to crawl. Reaching out to his teacher’s body, he cries loudly, in the midst of the chaos.

…

His mind arrived at a mysterious place. A bulky figure stands before 3 towering sleeping giants, with 3 robots arguing in front of them.

Only a while after becoming a hero in this other dimension did he learn that his home town is safe thanks to the helping hands of the 3 Guardians, and the meeting with the student who cried for him.

“It’s another peaceful day,” is what the bulky figure said as he stretches under the morning sun. Staring at the distance, he sees familiar people walking along and saying hello to him, which of course he replies to.

“I think it’s time I get to work.”

A big scooter is his beloved ride that brings him to the places he intended to, today was no exception. While humming some classical tune, he merrily ride his way to his workplace where he regularly trained those seeking healthy body and mind as their mentor. It will be the usual peaceful day indeed, only if what happens next doesn’t occur.

-BAM

The sky turned dark instantly and rains of lights comes from the skies. This phenomenon isn’t supposed to happen, not on this peaceful place, not naturally. Indeed it is, Chaos is the name that causes it, the rain of light pierces anything. Although close, he managed to escape the destruction, but the same can’t be said to his beloved scooter. Although sad from losing one of his precious belongings, he can’t be down at such time, what’s with the city engulfed in flames.

“My students, I have to hurry!”

Although the entire city is in chaos, he can only worry about his students waiting at his gym. He run and run without care of his surrounding, to quickly reach the place where he is needed most.

He finally arrived at his destination, pitifully covered with scratches and holes all over his body. What's awaiting him there are his students or what seems to be the remains of them. Pieces of parts are scattered around, dare not he imagine what are under the rubble of what used to be his gym. Although void of hope, he braces himself to dig up the remains of his building.

“…ner.”

Although faint, sounds can be heard from somewhere. With renewed hope, he rushes to where the sounds come from and see one of his students buried under the rubbles. He would recognize that orange color right away. It’s one of his most promising students.

“T-trainer, you’re safe…”

“Hold on, I’ll get you out of this as soon as possible. Hang in there!”

He digs and pick up the heavy cements with his bare-hands, by the time he finishes it, his hands are all worn out and doesn’t function as they should. He picks up his student and lie him down on the grass in front of the destroyed building.

“Trainer, what happened? There were noises, and then suddenly bright lights came from above, we couldn’t do anything at all.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t arrive earlier.”

Shortly after they exchange some words, everything is lost to them. Black voids are appearing in some places at once, and soon after unknown large robots start appearing from said voids. Like unorganized killing machine, they begin to destroy everything. Rockets, lasers, bullets are storming the city like wildfire with nothing stopping them.

“This is…”

Realizing both their lives are in danger, he hurriedly tries to picks up his student and run away. But the timing couldn’t be more tragic, as he turn around to pick him, what in front of him is the exact same robot he was seeing appearing from the voids just now. From one of its barrel accumulates light with disturbing noise. Knowing it can’t be a good thing, he quickly jumps to the titan.

-BOOM

A sound of destruction

-BOOM

Another sound of death

-BOOM

This time it’s for sure

-BOOM

Then it quiets down

The student, unable to do anything under his shadow, can only look at his mentor’s figure.

Kneeling

Both of his arms are lost

A hole in his body

One of his legs gone

The student tries his best to get up, only to have enough strength to crawl. Reaching out to his teacher’s body, he cries loudly, in the midst of the chaos.

…

His mind arrived at a mysterious place. A bulky figure stands before 3 towering sleeping giants, with 3 robots arguing in front of them.

Only a while after becoming a hero in this other dimension did he learn that his home town is safe thanks to the helping hands of the 3 Guardians, and the meeting with the student who cried for him.

Soljetter was what my heroic lover Mecha Jetter supposedly "became" after he nearly died protecting me from a single powerful shot from Chaos which caused all his armour disintegrate, all his sensors to rupture, all his limbs to be torn away from his mechanical body, including his head. I searched frantically in the rubble for his motherboard, Central Processing Unit, and Memory core and I did manage to find them. But when I took them to the research facility, the researchers told me that his memory core suffered massive damage. They had to rebuild it, almost every component from scratch. Tragic story be spoken, they upgraded everything, his parts were brand new, nothing was left of him, NOTHING! And so, nothing was ever the same again...

Mecha Jetter was a mechanical body piloted by a soul, a soul that could leave its body. Its human counterpart was my boyfriend, the brave yet delicate, strong but frail beautiful young man about my age who could transfer his mind, soul and spirit into the mechanical body, His name was Luke Aerius. Everyday I would go to his near death human body, hoping for a miracle that he could wake up. One day, I gave him my first kiss as he lay there unconscious. Suddenly, I heard a loud beep, I stared at the life support monitor in horror as the heart rate monitor began to beep rapidly, my heart was trembling, my hands were hoplessly gripping onto Luke's hand as tight as they could as if they didn't want Luke to leave. In a few seconds, the rapid beeping became a high pitched drowning tone which pierced my ear drums. It was the signal of his departure, my hands could not stop it, Luke my dear lover was dead.

I frantically rushed to the research facility where Mecha Jetter was rebuilt as Soljetter, I intruded, I sneaked in without authorised access, into the laboratory, and activated the walking mechanical mass of advanced technology.

I asked it "What is your name?"
The sensors on his head scanned my eyes, could this be a human soul's instinct?
"I'm Soljetter, the successor of the model of robot commonly known as Mecha Jetter"

Tears started flowing out of my eyes, my heart nearly stopped.

"But, isn't your name Luke? What happened to your human soul?!"
"Sorry, Young Lady, my name is not Luke, I am Soljetter, and I have been programmed to imitate the soul of young "Luke", who I presume now he has passed away?"
"No! It can't be true! You are Mecha Jetter "Luke" who was resurrected, and rebuilt with the Memory core!"
"I am a new model; I have new internal parts, a new motherboard, a new Central Processing Unit..."
"Wait... It can't be, you have a..."
"A new memory core"

When that walking mechanical mass of advanced technology said those words I burst into tears, I cursed, I screamed at the top of my lungs. My dear Luke, Luke "Mecha Jetter" Aerius, did not become the Soljetter. The researchers had extracted the data from the memory core that contained the data gathered moments before he was annihilated; they created a new robot that imitated his soul. What could a girl like me possibly do now? My boyfriend has died! His memories were not brought into a new body; they threw his old and half destroyed memory core into the recycling machine! He is not a Mecha Jetter successor, I have realised that the robot that stood before me was Soul Jetter, the robot developed from a dead soul of a beautiful young boy who promised me that we would have a life together, who would bend down and kneel, offer me a gold ring and say...

"I love you, please accept my offer. I ask you Alexis, for your hand in marriage"

But that is all too much to wish for now. He won't be able to fulfil his promise anymore; I don't blame him for it. It was Chaos that ripped him into small bits and no one seemed to care, not even the researchers, except for his now lonely and devastated girlfriend with the pink hair, and that girlfriend was me but now the colour has faded away, all that is left is this glossy silvery grey. I cried until my insides churned with absolute agony, I cursed with all my wrath until my lungs could breathe no more and screamed until all the colour in my hair was lost. Soon, before I noticed, I blacked out, cold.

I woke up in a hospital bed, wishing that it was all just a dream, I looked around and right next to me. The doctors were taking Luke's body away, pushing his hospital bed away, seperating me and him.

"Luke Aerius, How unfortunate for him to die. Dispose of his body immediately!"

I was not about to let that happen, and tried to jump out of bed, but I couldn't, I realised that I was on life support, but I had to force my body to move before they take Luke away. I ripped out all the tubes which were keeping me alive, lept out of bed with all of my remaining strength and I feebly ran after the doctors and Luke's bed. As the doctors carted him away, I chased them in the corridor, they didn't even bother look back at me, just when I got close to Luke and the doctors, I collapsed on the floor. I bit my lip and began to crawl, as I crawled on the ground, my right hand reached out for Luke's bed. I was losing my strength, the closer I tried to get to Luke, more strength burst out and escaped my body. My eyes were going black, I was starting to pass out, I reached, I struggled, I reached, I struggled and kept on reaching out, and kept on struggling towards Luke's bed. Just when I thought I was about to pass out, I used the last of my strength to scream.

"LUKE!!! WAKE UP!!! PLEASE WAKE UP!!! YOU'RE NOT DEAD!!! PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE OKEY!!! PLEASE TELL ME THAT YOU ARE ALIVE AND RECOVERING!!!" PLEASE WAKE UP NOW!!!"

The nurses lifted me up, and dragged me away. I did not want to part from my precious Luke. I struggled free and all I could remember after escaping from the nurses' restraining grips was that I ran and grabbed Luke's hand, held him to my cheek, and whispered to him

"I love you Luke, please don't die, don't leave me..."

I then felt a needle in my arm, it was a tranquiliser dart, I collapsed as my consciousness faded away...

A few months later I was realised from the hospital, I went home, or at least where Luke and I called home. I looked at the all photos that were hung up and ripped them off the walls, all my precious memories, everything I held dear, I burnt. Every trace, every single proof of his very existence erased with a fire. I took them with me as I went into the forest to bury the ashes of burnt memories at a secret place. Where only Luke and I could enter, where only we could be alone together. I erected his gravestone, and showered it with flower seeds, and I go there every day just to water them, and provide my love and affection, I take care of them as if they were my own children.

I returned home, and went straight to my room and I sat on the couch, sunk my face into the palms of my hand and began sobbing.

"Why Luke, why did you leave me? You promised me, that we'll be together! How can you break this promise?"

At the time, I couldn't control my depression. It spread like a cancer through my entire body. I was trembling and I didn't know what to do. There was nothing left for me in this world, and so I thought to myself.

"Luke, I'm coming for you"

I went to the kitchen, grabbed a sharp and deadly knife and pointed it to my throat, my whole body trembled. Slowly, I closed my eyes, and gradually tried to sink the knife into my throat. I stuck the tip of it into my neck, and I felt a warm scarlet haemorrhage flow out. I bit my lip, as the immense pain forced my brain empty. I continued to push the knife in, but my hands wouldn't do as they are told. Suddenly I heard a voice, a familiar voice, the voice of someone I've been longing for...

"Stop Alexis"

I opened my eyes, and I saw a glowing figure materialising before me. Millions of radiant and almost blinding white particles of light suddenly appeared and fused together into one body. The figure held my wrist, its hands were warm.

"Luke? Is that you?"

The blinding light began to fade, and there he was, Luke was standing before me. I was astonished, and I didn't know what to say.

"Alexis, don't do this. Suicide isn't worth it"

I stared at him dumbfounded, rubbed my eyes and asked him

"Am I dreaming?"
"Maybe, I'm not quite sure"
"What do you mean you're not quite sure?"
"I don't know if you're sleeping or not, but what matters is that I'm here"

In an instant, I dropped the knife. I instinctively rushed off the couch to embrace him. I couldn't believe it, Luke is here with me! My tears just won't stop flowing, leant on his chest crying.

"There there, Alexis. Aren't you glad to see me?"
"You idiot! Why did you leave me?"
"You know, I can't bare to be without you"
"Then why did you leave?!"
"My body was perishing, and my spiritual connection was shattered with it. There was nothing I could do, but do you why I'm here?"
"Because you wanted to stay?"
"Yes, I do but that is not what I'm here for. You see, my astral energy which keeps me connected with this world is fading, I'm here to spend my final moments with the precious person I love more than anyone else in this world"

I was speechless, I couldn't say anything.

"So Alexis, be strong for me okay?"
"How can I be strong and live without you? I'm powerless, I'm nothing without you!"
"Now don't say that, your capabilities are only limited by your imagination."
"But..."
"There are not 'buts', you are Alexis, You're stronger than you think, and you are able to do what I cannot do now"
"Such as...?"
"I'm limited by the time I have left in this world, but you Alexis, have your whole future in front of you."
"Oh that's right! Thank you Luke!"
"I would not dare to wonder what would happen if I didn't stop you. If I didn't you wouldn’t' be able to fulfil your dream..."
"...of becoming a hero?"
"Exactly! That is why I want you to stay strong. Uh… There's also something I want you to have, Alexis"

He kneeled down and placed and took out and opened a jewellery box.

“A diamond ring, Alexis my love. Will you marry me?”

"Till death do us Part, You will be forever in my heart. Luke, Yes I accept your proposal."

He stood up, and slipped a ring onto my left ring finger,

“Will you Luke be my faithful husband?”
“I do”

I gazed into his eyes, his glittering eyes, they shone into mine like brilliant sapphires.

“Will you Alexis be my beautiful wife?”
“I do”

We kissed and embraced each other, time seemed endless. Even though it was our final moment together, it felt like an eternity.

"Now that we are one, we will never be seperated even when we are world's apart, I have enjoyed my last moments of my life with you Alexis. I am really happy, now I can leave this world without regret"
"Luke, I love you"
"I do to Alexis, Please don't cry anymore okay? Your cute and warm smile is like the sun, bringing happiness to everyone"
"Aww... that is so sweet of you~~!"
"Heh, I guess it's time for me to go now. Farewell Alexis, I will see you again in the afterlife"

Suddenly I realised that I was sleeping on the couch. I touched my neck to check if there was a knife wound, but it wasn't there. My eyes opened and the whole room was very bright. It was morning, and the sun was already so high. I got up, to brush my teeth. I looked at my face in the mirror, and I smiled to myself. Luke was right, I do have a cute and warm smile. I picked up the glass with my left hand and to my surprise, what I saw made my mind clear itself.

I was wearing a diamond ring...

...the exact same one Luke slipped on my finger in my dream. I fixed my eyes onto it and said

"Farewell Luke, Thank you for everything! I will become a true hero just you wait!"

After breakfast, I went to my room and sat there staring at my favourite birthday gift. Luke's boosters, his boots, gloves, and that helmet, everything that made him resemble Mecha Jetter; I often think back and remember that I laughed with joy when I saw him wear that costume for the first time.

"Hahahaha, Luke, this costume you created makes you look like Mecha Jetter!"
"Yes it does, but it isn't just any costume"
"What is it then?"
"A fully equippable battle equipment set that can enbble you fight like a Mecha Jetter. It's not my equipment set though..."
"It's not yours? Then who owns it?"
"It's yours Alexis, Happy Birthday!"
"Woah, really?!"
"Yes! It's for you, I made it to resemble the Mecha Jetter since you like him so much"
"Thank you Luke, Can I try them on?"
"Sure, here's the body suit that comes with it"
"Huh? There's a rectangular hole in the chest area!"
"Uh... that's uh... for... You know..."
"Awww... Luke you pervert! You fantasize about my cleaveage don't you? You just don't want it to be covered up!"
His faced blushed, It was the cutest thing I ever saw with my own eyes. I smiled, and gave him a cuddle.
"I love you Luke"
"I uh... um... love you too Alexis"

They now serve as a momento of him, I will always wear them, not as his wife Alexis Aerius, but as Mecha Jetter Girl, the final legacy of Luke Aerius.