Where there is good, there will always be evil. It has been this way since the dawn of time. It is a fact of the universe that one cannot be without the other, because they define each other. Without the other, each ceases to exist. But, when one tries to dominate the other, to eradicate the other and overthrow the balance…that is where trouble begins.

That is where our story begins.

On a planet far beyond the other known inhabited planets in the universe, an exoplanet, the forces of good and evil were in a constant battle, as they always are. This planet, whose name has been long forgotten by those who once inhabited it is the stage upon which the Red Force plays the role of ‘evil’ and the Tree of Life plays that of ‘good’. The Tree of Life, seemingly all powerful and benevolent, is the creator of all, as is suggested in its name. The Red Force was one of these creations, the prodigal son cast away and scorned in favor of smaller, weaker and less significant creations. A familiar storyline in the tales of good and its counterpart, it would seem. The Tree created the inhabitants of its world to be special, each with an ability to do something magical. The Tree hoped its youngest children would use these gifts to both take care of their home, and defend themselves against their jealous older brother.

For a time, that is what they did. The planet prospered and the Red Force retreated to bide his time and form a plan of revenge. But as in any story, all good things must come to an end. There were those who grew tired of using their abilities for the benefit of all rather than just themselves. They grew tired of equality, they craved power. The Red force saw this and used it to his advantage. He made their abilities his own by corrupting their minds and using their bodies to do his bidding. Little by little, those under the Red Force increased in number.

The Tree of Life stood strong through all of this, protected by those who still had the mindset of their ancestors, their abilities were for the good of all. They fought with all they had against their brethren, abilities against abilities until they finally gained the advantage and drove those under the Red Force away. Unknowing, the Red Force had already corrupted one of their own and left him among those fighting for the Tree, his to bend to his will whenever. A ticking time bomb that no one but he knew about.

The young man in question was one of the Tree’s most trusted warriors, a young man who controlled the Earth. What better way to destroy a plant than by destroying that which it lives in? The young man creates impurities, leaches nutrients away from the roots of the Tree of Life. As planned, the kind, naïve souls around the Tree never suspect one of their own, no matter how evident it seems, when the Tree beings to die.

Knowing that its death cannot be avoided, the Tree commands twelve of its most trusted and most skilled warriors, including the corrupted young man to take its heart, the source of life on their planet and keep it safe, with their lives if necessary. One of the young warriors, the warrior of ice, suggests that the twelve of them split the heart in two as well as themselves to make it harder for enemies to steal and destroy it. The Tree agrees and asks the warrior of Earth to create two words that seem alike, so anyone who came looking would be utterly confused. The young man agrees and the warriors follow the plan, foiling the efforts of the Red Force, but not for long. As he controlled the man who created the worlds, he could make that man do anything he wanted, including destroying those worlds. But, if he destroyed the worlds, he destroyed the heart, but that was his objective.

The Red Force wanted the heart of the Tree of Life so he would hold the fates of those creatures in his hands and make them suffer for usurping him. Make the Tree suffer for loving them more than him. Their suffering is more important than their deaths. Death was too quick and simple.

Content for the moment at having a person he could control in their midst, someone who as long as they were touching the ground could easily find anyone, he closed his eyes. The Red Force would wait.

Until the time was right.