The great Onion Kingdom.  A kingdom of pride, freedom.  A carefree lifestyle for the wonderful citizens under the rule of the Empress known only as Mom or Mother.  Here, the streets are safe with little military presence, small businesses could flourish into big business with just one great idea and with each new open trade the city grows in notoriety and power.  With such a positive and free life in such a kingdom, few decide to rebel against her rule, and though there are protest, very few of her own would ever freely rebel against such a great and sweet figure who granted such blissful life.  Life here is so peaceful, so why was her own castle so well lit with commotion and panic?

	Royal Guard:  "He has reached the 8th floor, increase security on the upper floors and seal all te exits.  Don't leave any corner unturned, I want this kid found!"

Soldiers packed ran up and down the corridors of her great castle in small groups dressed in black wraps of leather and cloth with hidden protection.  How could a child cause such an uproar within the kingdom's capital?  It was easy to underestimate the boy's charm and to take your eyes off him, even for a second would be the guard's own downfall.

This "child" was watching safely in the rafters while the guards paraded about in a panic.  Many more became unresponsive which led to more confusion.  His name was Lucas, a miniature sized orange and white genet baring nothing more then an over-sized shirt and some tight worn leather warm up shorts.  He carried the appeal of a pre-adolescence at only 3 and a half feet tall while possessing the age, wit and tongue of an adult.  And he apparently had a meeting with Mom herself.

Careful to avoid crowded rooms and the obvious vents, the boy made his way up several stories into the castle, avoiding increasingly difficult security and using advanced lock picking to squeak by.  But this did not go without a few cracked skulls here and there.

	Lucas:  "Geh, thought that puss would never tell me the way."

The boy commented snidely with a quick pop from his tense knuckles as he entered a fairly large field.  Shaped like a dome with a high ceiling, sand and rock, the well lit room was a tad bit too open for his taste.

	Lucas:  "Well this doesn't look good.  A little cliche-"

And as if on cue, the double doors on the other end parted ways.  The loud clanks of heavy armor filled the room.  Lucas could feel the very ground shake with every step this metal man took.  He was covered from head to toe in some sort of royal golden armor, dressed with robes and high marks of achievements.  Even it's tail, though long and thick, was wrapped with coils of golden chainmail.

Lucas' ears folded back at the very sight of this six foot royal beast.

	Lucas:  "Overcompensating doesn't even describe it.." he said with a hung maw.
	???:  "A new challenger huh?  It's been a while since someone made it this far.  You have to excuse me, I may be a little out of practice." chimed the golden warrior as he stretched that massive blade along his shoulders.

Lucas looked down then up at the large titan towering over him.

	Lucas:  "Do you honestly think this is fucking fair?" said the boy dwarfed by this beast's size.
	???:  "Maybe?  Who honestly cares?"
	Lucas:  "I do!"
	???:  "I meant someone who matters"
	Lucas:  "..Well that hurt" Nothing better to say, Lucas hung his shoulders in defeat.
	???:  "They call me the-"
	Lucas:  "Golden Knight, yeah can we get this over with?  I have a date with either destiny or hell here"
	Gold Knight:  "I.. was going to say Red Knight.."
	Lucas:  "..."
	Red Knight:  "..."

The silence went on longer then expected.

	Lucas:  "WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY CALL YOU RED KNIGHT!  THERE'S NOTHING RED ABOUT YOU!" screamed Lucas in frustration right in the Red Knight's helmet.

The knight casually pried the overactive cat looking boy off his face and stuck his blade in the ground.

	Red Knight:  "Trust me it makes sense, okay?"
	Lucas:  "Whatever" and with this the boy kipped back to his feet and put up his hands.  Was he actually thinking of fighting this tank?
	Red Knight:  "Alright, lets get this over with" barked the Knight as he lugged that massive blade overhead with one hand.

Down that blade came carrying the wind on it's back with a force that would not just cut but obliterate the small Genet in but one strike!  It slammed into the ground with enough force to split the ground beneath it!  The winds behind it threw the sand and rocks in all directions from it's power!  However the small furball was nowhere to be found!  The Red Knight looked left and right then lifted his bastardsword to check for the little bastard.  Still nothing!

	Lucas:  "Secret hidden forbidden attack:" Lucas chimed from behind which caught the knight's attention as he flew right towards him!
	Lucas:  "Punch the **** out of you!!!" and he swung his miniature sized fist right at the golden titan with all his might!

The Red Knight quickly reacted with the boy's outcry rather easily and properly defended with the side of his blade!  Lucas' fist struck the blade in a dramatic clash of an unstoppable force meeting the unmovable object!  Well that was how it played in Lucas' head.  In actuality, he barely made a mark on the blade and both could hear the obvious crunch from when his fist met that metal!

He tried to save face, tried to suppress it-

	Lucas:  "GYAAAAHAHHAAAHAA!  What the *@*#*$@(@!*@ is that @!*#*$(@(!&*#& thing made of!?" he cried as he hopped around holding his fist with great crippling agony!

The Red Knight chuckled wholeheartedly with a hand on his hip in triumph.  A heroes trophy for his quick reflexes.. well anyone could see such an obvious attack such as Lucas' coming a mile away with his little battlecry.  The only problem with this victory was that it wasn't in the knight's favor.  A sudden crack had suddenly appeared on the Red Knight's blade.  Lucas quieted his screams of utter pain, or his mind was focused on better things for now as that crack spread to the Knight's gauntlets to his chest plate to his other gauntlet, towards his shin guards, even his helmet.

Then the unthinkable.

The entire armor set and sword suddenly shattered and fell to the floor as if it were made of glass!  The Red Knight looked with horror and shock as he was reduced to the size of a red skinned, skinny little lizard with red and purple hair.  Well he was still 6 feet tall, doubling Lucas' size but not nearly as intimidating.  He bore nothing more now, then a set of leather belts around his thighs and biceps, formally used to help keep the armor set together.  His eyes were black as night with yellow irises and he possessed only shaped, cat like ears, oddly shaped indeed.  But Lucas was not focused on that more then he was on the fact that he shattered a big hulking golden warrior into a harmless looking lizard!  He fell out laughing at the misfortune!  The best part was the lizard made no efforts to cover up.

	Lucas:  "Can't trust that meerkat tech can ya?!  HAHAHAHAHAHA" he was in tears..
	Red Knight:  "Guh.. Drex will never let this down" he muttered to himself.
	???:  "Let what down?" said a voice from double doors behind Lucas.
	Lucas:  "How long has that been open?" said Lucas dully.

In walked yet another being almost six feet in height, possibly shy of the red naked lizard before Lucas.  He was also a lizard with soft looking skin and cat like ears.  His skin was a deep dark maroon, a shade or two from black with a red belly.  His hair was red wit black highlights and his eyes were a deep shade of violet with bangs parted and long in the front and the back tied in a feathery knot like a wild flower.  His eyes were slanted in the way of a cat and his tail was long though slender unlike his counterpart, but was split in a fork at the base giving the illusion of two swaying tails.

He was dressed in black cloth and leather:  Baggy bushido bottoms tied into his shin guards tied slightly beneath the waist with the sides of his hips completely bare and in sight.  His belt carried several dozen pouches which possibly housed all kinds of utensils and weapons.  He wore a black, sleeveless blouse and metal gauntlets with leather coiled around up to his biceps, possibly housing several hidden weapons.  This was the Drex, the Red Knight spoke of and if not for the blatant absence of any and all "shelves" Lucas could have easily mistook the lizard for female.

	Drex:  "Since when did they allow pets in the castle" said the strange looking lizard, maw stuffed with a toothbrush and avidly brushing.
	Lucas:  "Pets!?"
	Drex:  "And why were you wearing that antique armor set anyways?"
	Red Knight:  "I forgot my pants when I got out of bed again?  Needed SOMETHING for self defense though."
	Drex:  "Look how far that got you.  Mom is going to murder you!  Or kill you with fire" he shrugged and spat on the floor.
	Lucas:  "You know, I still exist here"
	Red Knight:  "Hey, I'm glad you're here though!  You can deal with him and I can finally go out and grab that new album that dropped."
	Drex:  "Wait.  So you wore that antique armor set just so you can go to the store and grab some music?" asked Drex with his shoulders hung.
	Red Knight:  "Why else?"  Unbelievable.
	Drex:  "You didn't even know this entire castle is being turned upside down because of this kid?"
	Red Knight:  "Who?"
	Lucas:  "I'm not a kid -_-;"

Drex slapped his forehead and sighed.

	Drex:  "You're impossible, Tyr..."

Knowing that these two would possibly go back and forth repeatedly.  Lucas decided to pick himself up and casually made his way for the door.

	Lucas:  "Well it was nice meeting you two okay b-" *THUNK THUNK!*

Lucas suddenly found himself pinned up against a wall by a knife, and that toothbrush.

	Drex:  "Why don't you stick around a bit"

The struggling genet stopped himself from fidgeting to jeer the lizard's attempted at one liners.

	Lucas:  "BOOOOO!!"
	Drex:  "Go" he barked jabbing a thumb towards the other door.
	Tyr:  "Yays!" he screamed excitedly before he took off for the hall headed for the street.
	Drex:  *Shaking his head*  "And again, he forgot pants!"  His eyes would then wander back to Lucas who was still hanging around jeering and appalled at the horrid line from earlier.

Drex unhooked the boy and spun the small blade in hand.

	Drex:  "Ready for round two?" he said calmly.

Lucas thumped on the ground and grinned ear to ear.  With his middle finger extended the odd genet boy mouthed:

	Lucas:  "Bring it.  Ow!" while once again retracting his sore finger and gripping his hand.

It looks as if the first fight was a fluke, this was the real challenge.  A one on one with an unknown soldier of Mom's.  Just who was this Drex person and what sort of tricks did he have in store for the fowl mouthed fuzzball?  Does Lucas have the skill and strength to fend off a new challenger with only one hand?  Find out next time on the next revealing episode of Litterbox Stories "The Onion Kingdom Chronicles"!