Crossover Story

Luke was running right behind Kevin, with Matt and Kirara behind him. Luke shouted ahead of him, "Matt, remember, don't become too enraged! Otherwise, the same thing that happened to me will happen to you!" Kevin looked back at him and nodded. Then, Luke had an idea stirke him. He tried to remember how he turned into that dragon earlier, but without the rage factor included. If he could do it, then he might be able to turn into his holy beast-form. He tried to do it as they ran after the crows, but it didn't seem to be all that easy. He thought to himself, "Damn it! If I could only get this to wor...!!!" He looked at what once were his hands had become claws. He started trying once more. His mouth elongated and became filled with sharp teeth. Then, he thought, "Man. Now that I'm aware of whats happening, this feels pretty weird. Oh, well. Gotta keep going." His body enlarged itself, his feet grew claws, he sprouted a tail (not 3 this time lol), the armor melted into his body, the wings were no longer made out of metal, etc. (You guys get the picture.) As soon as his transformation was done, he running on all fours. He was there one moment, and all of a sudden, he was gone. The crows, who were ahead of the party by a ways now, were hit sudden gust of wind and they tumbled to the ground. The crows layed all askew on the ground and were moaning. The leader looked up and cawed loudly as if he were screaming. "I may not be able to understand you, but I know you can understand me, crow. Let GO of our weapons!" Kevin stopped short of the crows and Matt ran into him, with Kirara running into both of them pushing the 2 to the ground. All 3 were looking up as well. In the moonlight, shone a pure white dragon with golden eyes and horns (2 pointing straight back and 1 on his nose), red wings, and scales that seemed to be made of diamonds. The lead crow started crowing again. Luke landed, sighed, and said, "Kevin, if you could, please." "Sure." The crow was cawing again. When it finished, Kevin said, "He pretty much said that that's not fair you did that, but he went on to say that we can have our stuff back. Also, for sparing they're lives, they will show us the way." Matt said, "Awesome!" Luke added, "Sweet. Lead the the way...please." The crows immediately took off and left their stuff on the ground. One of the crows that were lagging behind, was shot by a small flame from Luke as he chuckled. The crow hurried to catch up with the others. Luke then changed back to his somewhat normal self and grabbed his sword. He then said, "Shall we?" and started following the crows.

"Those thieves! Those stinking, cowardly, thieves! If I could get my hands on them, I'd-" Kevin grumbled, making a violent gesture in the air. "Kevin." Luke warned, and Kevin fell silent, though every so often muttered indistinguishably. Orbis was not far now, and the crows flew off in a hurry, tumbling into each other in their haste to escape the Dragon-man. Foul humans!, one of them crowed after them, and Kevin immidietly turned around shouting, Yeah, well thats why you're called fowls, idiots!. "Kevin, people are staring..." Matt whispered out of the corner of his mouth, and Kevin resumed his subdued silence. They checked into a deserted inn on the outskirts of Orbis, and just as Kevin fell onto his bed to rest his aching bones, the floor (conveniently made of cloud) fell out from underneath him. Matt winced. "That's got to hurt." he said. Luke nodded. "And it hurts even more once you realise we're on the third floor." he added. They bent over the hole in the floor to find Kevin sprawled on the only solid flooring of the building, grumbling, "I hate this place.". At dawn, they left, but not before Kevin tacked a note to the door proclaiming "Sue this inn for unreliable client service and weakened flooring.". Matt laughed openly, while Luke smiled at Kevin's still fuming expression.

Raiys threw several stars at DL (the Dark Lord; it's easier and shorted to just say DL), but they all collided with stars thrown by DL. "Darn it!" thought Raiys. They both dashed side-by-side exchanging attacks with their daggers clashing each other. DL suddenly punched Raiys and he went flying. As Raiys hit the ground, he tumbled, caught himself, and flipped back onto his feet. He was then hit by DL doing a clotheline attack and was thrown onto the ground. "Now that was cheap," he said. DL walked over to Raiys and then said, "Well, I never said that there were any rules on how to fight me." Raiys then responded, "In that case..." He kicked DL in a not so good spot..."Ow..." DL fell to his knees, holding the area...

Luke, in his dragon form, said, "All aboard the dragon express!" The others looked a bit unsure about the idea of riding on a dragon. He then said, "Oh, come on! You guys know that we can get a lot faster if we do it this way." "Oh, well," said Matt. "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Besides, this might be fun!" "You know what? I think this might be too." agreed Kirara. They all clambored onto Luke's back and found a good spot to sit and hold on. "Here we go guys!" Luke yelled. He beat his wings and they were off. Then in an instant, Luke zoomed towards Ellinia...

To Be Continued...

Kevin's knuckles were white as he clenched Luke's scaly backside, tears springing from his eyes as the chilly wind blew past. Matt, noticing his nervousness, asked, "What's wrong?". He, himself, thought nothing was wrong about soaring across the skys on a dragon's back, but Kevin felt otherwise. "I...don't...like...heights..." Kevin uttered through clenched teeth. The dragon gave a roar of comfort, and then sped up until thy reached Ellinia. Alighting, Luke began the transformation back to human, while Matt gazed in wonder at the tree's stretching all around them. Kevin, however, cried out as a blast of words hit him. In Orbis and El-nath wildlife was sparse, so there wasn't a lot to listen to, but here! The birds singing in the trees, the insects marching along on the ground, the scampering rabbits jerking this way and that! A million conversations engulfed him, as people watching whispered to each other. Luke and Matt hurriedly came to see what was wrong. Tears sprang in Kevin's eyes as they came. "So much noise, my friends! I will go deaf if I must listen to their babble a minute longer!" he cried, covering his ears. "Come on, we've got to get him to Grendel's." Luke said in a hushed voice, and hurriedly led Kevin away, who was still moaning and crying. A stag appeared on the outskirts of the town and said just one sentence that stood out among all the others. To be a hero is a mixed blessing, was it's warning before it galloped away, leaving Kevin to ponder it's words.

*clang clang clang* Raiys and DL were exchanging strikes, both blocking the other's slash with their daggers. They were now on the top of the tallest building. Raiys, however, was starting to become tired after such a long battle. They clashed their dagger together. "You have come a long ways to be this strong in such a short time, Riays", said DL. "But you still aren't as strong as I am." DL rammed Raiys. Stumbling backwards, he tried to stop himself, but he fell over the edge of the building and fell towards the ground...

"Hey, Grendel. We're back." Luke said as he closed the door behind him, now carrying Kevin. Matt looked around in wonderment at all the magical items in the home. He was about to touch one of them when Grendel slapped his hand. Grendel looked at Luke and asked, "What happened to the Hero of the Seed?" "He kinda got a little overwhelmed coming into town by all of the wildlife," answered Luke. "To be honest, I'm glad I'm not him, but I wish we could do something to help him. Poor guy..." Luke laid Kevin in a nearby bed. Kevin almost looked as if he had just got back from a heavy metal concert with their speakers louder than a usual one. Grendel, all of a sudden, snapped to attention. A hologram suddenly formed in the middle of the room. The figure looked like a ninja dressed only in black clothes. It then spoke, "Grendel...my student has passed. I've sent him to you. It looks like he will arrive in time to meet the others." "Very good," Grendel replied. "So, how soon will he be..." The door swung open with a crash and a gust of wind filled the room. Papers and items went flying everywhere. Then, a shadowy figure stepped through the door. "Oh, well, never mind then," said Grendel...

Raiys was getting the lecture from Grendel when Luke stepped into the soundproof room. Kevin was sitting on a bench, looking much older than before. "I regret being a hero now." Kevin said before Luke could even speak. "When you got me into Grendel's library, a rabbit realized who I was. And then, the entire family began asking for help. When I go back into the world, not only will humans ask for my help, but so will the animals. A colony of ants outnumbers the entire population of Ellinia. They will ask for my help, along with a rival colony, a flock of robins, a wolf who's belly is empty, a herd of deer who need care for there sick and elderly, a beaver repairing its dam, and a swarm of beetles searching for food, plus more! All asking for my help, because I am the only human who can understand their pleas. What will I do when I meet two rival partys?! Should I assist the hawk that is slowly starving, or the rabbits that hide in their burrows, too afraid to venture out? If I must face these heart-wrenching decisions, then life is hardly worth living if I doubt every move I make in it. Please, help me Luke! You have been a leader and a friend ever since we have arrived here. What should I do?" Kevin pleaed. Luke, taken aback by the sudden request, stuttered, "Well, I-I guess I could try to help.". Gratitude shone in Kevin's eyes. "Thank you. But still...I do not have the heart to venture into that bustle again, let alone leave this room. Could you ask Grendel if there was anyway I could still retain the hearing, but dim it?" he asked. Nodding, Luke left and relayed Kevin's request to Grendel. Grendel stroked his beard thoughtfully. "There is a way...but things can go wrong...things can go horribly, horribly wrong...".

Kevin sat crosslegged and bare-chested in the soundproof room with Grendel sitting behind him, creating complicated movements in the air. Quite suddenly, Grendel thrust his hands at Kevin's back, and he drew a sharp breath to not cry out. Imprinted on the skin was a faint mark, resembling a tree within a jagged circle. Two long sickles of energy came from Grendel's hands, and he cut two long scars on both arms and then an X through the mark. This time Kevin could not help but cry out, and then all went black. He woke again with a brown tunic to cover his scars on his back and a mirror right in front of him. Groggily, he got up, but his reflection did not stir. He looked closely and realized that what he had taken for his reflection was something quite different. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!" Kevin roared as Grendel stepped into the room. Or, should I say, both Kevins. "I told you something could go wrong." Grendel sighed wearily, "And it did. I accidently split you in half. Consider yourself twins now. Neither of you are the original: you are to halves of a whole. Who knows? Maybe this could further our cause. There are thousands of trees in one forest, yet they work together as a seamless whole. Maybe you can do the same.". The two Kevin's simply gaped.

As everyone carried on, noone seemed to have noticed the eyeball with stick legs and wings hiding in a corner of the ceiling. Meanwhile, elsewhere...

A dark figure sat on a throne in a temple somewhere in the middle of * i bet you wish you knew what this said *. He sat there watching the Heros through a mystical portal. He said to himself, "So, the Heros of the Prophecy have now become 4...At this rate, they may become powerful enough to stop me. No matter, I'll just send my own warriors from Earth...The remaining 3! Mwahahaha!!! Those 4 won't know that they would be killing their own comrades. Either way, I win." He calls the 3 to him. "I would like you to go to the outskirts of Ellinia, and wait there for the Heros to come by. When they do... grind them into dust!" They then said in unison, "Yes, my Lord!" They then bowed and left...

"Well, Grendel, any idea on where to head to next?" asked Luke. He replied, "To be honest, I haven't a clue. I have yet to feel the presense of the remaining 3. It just doesn't make any..." Grendel then started frantically pacing and became very distressed. "Oh no!" Matt looked at him and asked, "'Oh, no!' What?" Grendel turned slowly towards the 4 and said, "They're coming..."

"Who's coming?!" Evan and Noah cried out in unison. The split Kevin's had decided to give themselves the names Evan and Noah. When Luke had asked for the reasoning, Evan had said, "Because Noah is the man who built the ark that supposedly saved every animal from extinction.", while Noah said, "And because Evan sounds like Kevin without the 'K'". "The Shadow's warriors." Grendel answered gravely. "Is that the mastermind villain who's bent on world domination?" Luke asked. A flash of annoyance came into Grendel's eyes before he said, "Yeah, that's the one.". "Then perhaps we should..." Evan said. Noah completed the sentence. "Rid ourselves of the spider clinging to the walls?". Grendel whipped towards them. "What spider?!" he asked. Evan shrugged. "The one-eyed winged spider that has been..." Noah said, and Evan finished, "watching our entire conversation.". Raiys shook his head. "Those guys are really starting to get annoying." he swoar, but no-one paid him heed as Grendel turned around, blasting apart the spyder (Haha, get it? Spyder. Come on, it's funny, right? Right? Okay then.). "Why did you not tell me of it?" Grendel asked. "Because we thought..." Evan began, and Noah finished, "it was one of the magical wildifes of Ellinia.". Grendel slapped a hand to his forhead, and Raiys said warily, "Well, then...shall we prepare for battle?".

Wow...Im not even reading this.....

"Yeah, we should do that," Luke said. "But first, Matt should try to find out what his abilities are. There are still 4 possibilities that he can be." An idea struck Luke. "Grendel, is there a place that Matt and I could train?...in secret that is." Grendel replied, "As a matter of fact, I do." Grendel waved his hand at a corner of the room and a trap door opened. Luke then said, "Thanks. C'mon Matt. I have an idea on how to get those powers out of you finally." Matt nodded and followed Luke down the hole. Grendel turned towards Raiys, Evan, and Noah and said, "As for you 3, I have some special training in mind for you already. However, Evan and Noah, since there are now 2 of you and only one clarinet, I have a gift for the both of you." He hovered up farther and reached into one of the highest shelves. He came back down holding a large case...

Luke realized that this was no ordinary training ground as he looked around. The room may have been underground but it was lit by a solitary orb on the ceiling in the middle. The room was fairly large and contained a small lake, a grove of trees, and a barren patch of ground with boulders. Matt reached the bottom and looked around in awe as well. Finally, Luke said to him, "Well, let's get crackin'!" Luke flicked his fingers at Matt's feet and a small burst of flames erupted. Matt screamed, "Hey! What are you doing?!?" Luke smiled, "My idea is to get you into a life/death situation and have them come out to save you. In a sense, you have nothing to worry about. Water easily puts out flames, rock can block them, and lightning would hit me before my flames could reach you. As for the mystery one...I'm still confused on what those do, but either way, you have a good chance of avoiding any injury. Now, I'm gonna give you a 10 second head start before I will come after you." "But, I don't even have a weapon..." "Neither did I when I first came here, but when I got my powers I recieved this sword here. Funny thing is, it's the kind of weapon I would choose if I had to choose one from an entire armory. In any case...10... 9... 8..." Matt took off down towards the closest cover there was to him...

The 3 warriors were dashing as fast as they could towards Ellinia. They neared the closest town to the HQ, and then they'd be able to travel to Victoria. It was only a matter of time before they got to Ellinia, and the 4 heroes didn't have much time before their arrival. To be exact, they had 7 days before the warriors would reach them...

Evan and Noah bent over the case and saw inside were large whittled sticks that looked like a three-way combination of a giant flute, a walking staff, and wooden sparring weapon. "We appreciate the gift..." Noah said, and Evan finished, "But what is it?". "These are the staffs used by the past heroes of the prophecy. There are two because, traditionally, each Fifth had a twin.". Evan and Noak cocked their heads in curiousity. "Do you mean..." Evan asked. "That there were heros before us?" Noah completed. Grendel sighed. "I have said to much already." he said. Shrugging, the twins decided to have a peek on Luke and Matt. Poking their heads through the trapdoor, they waved towards Matt, who was running in circles away from the barrage of fireballs. That one little distraction slowed Matt down, but that one millisecond of hesitation as enough for a fireball to toss him headfirst into the lake. For several minutes, there was nothing but silence, then..."WOOOH!!! YEAH!!!". Matt burst from the water in a cascade of rainbow droplets, spinning on a pillar of swirling ice. Laughing joyously, he dove back into the water and back out like a dolphin. He was clothed in sleek, blue garments and if one looked closely, they could see two small flaps on either side of his neck. "Never have I felt this good, guys! Whoo!!!" he cried splashing in the water.

Far, far away a dark figure laughed openly at Matt. "Now their activated numbers are 3. No matter. I will crush them like ants beneath my feet." he chuckled, a high merciless chuckle that had nothing to do with joy.

"Alright, Matt!" shouted Luke as Matt began doing flips as he came flying out of the water. "Now, that's 4 with our powers so far. Once the other 3 show up on Grendel's 'radar' and we defeat those 3 warriors, we'll be able to finally confront that evil dude." "Not quite Luke," said a voice from behind Luke. He jumped so high, that his head hit the 50ft high ceiling. As Luke recovered from his crash landing, he saw that it was only Grendel. "Getting jumpy, are we?" said Grendel. Luke replied, "Well, it's just that we may outnumber those warriors, but are probably more powerful than us. I figure this because the Shadow knew our number's through the spyder, and yet, according to you, he only sent 3 warriors to come here." Grendel looked disturbed. Luke could tell something was wrong "There's something you haven't told us yet." Grendel said, "Follow me."...

Before Luke left the training area, he told Matt to do some practice with his new-found ability. He then followed to Grendel to the highest part of his house where they were ensured privacy. Grendel began by saying "Luke, you must not tell the others this, but those 3 warriors are the remaining 3..." "What?" "You heard me...and keep it down." Grendel and Luke looked outside at a wooden circular platform where Evan & Noah were practicing with Raiys. As both of them continued watching, Grandel said, "The reason I say this, is because I don't want the others to hold back when fighting them." "Then, why are you telling me?" "Because, I need you to make sure that none of those 3 are killed. They may be the Shadow's warriors, but they are still OUR comrades. The only reason that are working with the Shadow is because he got to them before I could. He then, poisnoned their minds and brainwashed them." "I see." "So all that's left to do is train and wai..." The enitre tree started shaking. Having an idea of what it was, Luke smiled and looked at the little sparring match again. He saw that all 3 of them had reached the 2nd level, their beast-forms. "Well, that leaves Matt again." Luke said half-smiling and yet rolling his eyes. "I'll be back later. Just have to get Matt caught up again." Grendel chuckled and continued to watch the ones outside...

"You fight well, for one so young." Riays remarked, parrying another blow from the twin's flute-stick-staffs, or rhydai. "But of course..." laughed Evan. "It is two-on-one." Noah completed. "And you are winning." they said at the same time. Just then however, Raiys threw a throwing star at the twins, just as they blew into the rhydai, summoning roots from the ground. Noah was struck full force in the stomach, and Evan gasped with him. Meanwhile, Raiys was struggling against the iron grip of the roots, who would not let go until the twins gave the order. And Raiys had just rendered them incapable of doing so. Then the change started. Antlers sprouted from the twin's heads, and shaggy brown fur began pouring down the bodys like water. Raiys, meanwhile, was sprouting feathers even as his mouth elongated into a beak. Pretty soon, two identical-looking stags stood proudly in front of a wheeling eagle. But not any ordinary stags or eagle. The stags had deep, knowing eyes, and etched right above the forehead was a single white line. Every step they took, flowers and grass sprouted at their feet, but wilted immidietly as they moved away. The eagle was large, far larger than an ordinary specimen, and it's feathers were a glossy silver. Talons sharp as sickles hung like deadly knives, and the beak was hooked and sharp. Well...seems like the battle really has begun, Raiys cawed.

Meanwhile in Grendel's "basement" training area....

Luke and Matt were going at it, yet again, but this time the sides were a little more even. Luke was flying now and zipping from one side to the other, firing off several volleys of fireballs at Matt each time he stopped, but Matt blocked each one with shots from something of his own creation. He had created a bow and arrows made out of ice, except for the string on the bow which was just plain water itself. Both of them swtiched tactics, figuring that their previous attacks weren't going to work. Luke drew his nodachi, which he had now named "Akai Doragon", which is japanese for "Red Dragon". He then started slashing it unleashing waves of flames at Matt, who was firing blasts of water and ice back at Luke. The colliding attacks created shockwaves which were blowing anything that they hit and were also creating gouges into the earth around them. Deciding that his attacks weren't enough yet, Luke decided a new approach. He vanished suddenly and Matt quickly looked around to see where he had gone. "Up here, Matt!" Matt looked upwards behind him... Luke had his hands above his head holding a gigantic orb of flames. "Oh, boy..." was all Matt could say. Luke threw the giant orb at Matt. Matt sent up a wall of ice to block it, but it only slowed it down a bit. *BOOM!!!*

"LUKE!!! YOU'RE NOT OVERDOING IT DOWN THERE, ARE YOU?!?" Grendel shouted down through the trap door. Luke replied, "No, Grendel!!!" While Luke was caught off guard in mid-air talking to Grendel, he was hit by a massive blast of ice. Which completely froze him in a block of ice. *Crash!!!* The block of ice containing Luke broke as soon as it hit the ground. He shook off the remaining ice after regaining his senses. He then looked towards where Matt was and saw a large sea serpent with glimmering light blue scales. Looking pleased with himself, he said, "Well, that's all 4 of us now. I believe that after some more training, we just might be ready for those guys."

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...(I find this phrase completely unlogical, since the setting we are returning to do has nothing to do with a ranch!)

Evan and Noah leaped nimbly out off Raiys cruel talons once more, and then the stags did something no one expected. They stepped into each other, so that for once, it was not two but one facing down the eagle. Odd, it\they thought. The internal voice sounded strangely doubled, both high and low at the same time. Snorting, the stag\stags (this is getting confusing...) set its\their feet into the ground. Thick growths of vine burst from the ground, wrapping around the stag\stags hooves, tail, and antlers. The Puppetmaster Art, the stag\stags growled in the same double-pitched voice, and then it\they pulled. The vines stretched taut, and great pillars of bark shot from the earth, attempting to spear the great eagle. Impressive, but you're not the only one with moves here!, Raiys cried, and he cawed, releasing a great blast of wind from his beak. The strain of supporting the pillars and the blast of wind was too much for both. They reverted back to human, panting. Evan and Noah were still merged into one, but even as Grendel came to see the damage done, the twins shivered and stepped out of each other with a sickening slurp sound. "It seems that..." Noah said philosophically, and Evan finished, "That we may merge into one in the second stage.". Grendel simply growled, "You have no idea how much it will cost to fix this.".

Far away, the Three were impatiently waiting for the ship to reach Ellinia. It would have been so much easier to simply jack a boat and fuse it with the Sixth's lightning speed, but that would draw attention. And His orders were to kill the Hero's inconspicously. But soon they would fulfill His wishes. Soon they would kill the enemy...

After four days of rigorous training (and fixing up Grendel's house after nearly destroying it because of their training). The heros decided that it would be best to create an area for their fight to occur out in the forest. Evan and Noah moved the trees (more like asked the trees to move actually). Raiys, standing in the center of the now large patch of bare ground, pushed of other debris out of the area by using a large gust of wind. Any other large objects were carried out by Luke and Matt. After all of that, then Luke flew up and threw down the biggest fireball he could create towards one side of the area. This left a large crater from the impact. Matt then went beside it and condensed the water vapor in order to pour water into the crater. This would serve as ammo for Matt in the fight and also as a pool for his beast form, should he need it. Evan and Noah also left a several plants in the area (mostly trees). A little over half of it was barren though. This is so Raiys and Luke could use they're powers to their fullest potential.

The next day, they all rested, knowing of the large battle to come. That night, they sat around a campfire around the edge of their battleground, talking about their own lives back on Earth. In the midst of their conversation, Luke asked, "So, on MS, which continent were all of your main characters on?" Evan answered first saying, "Ours was..." "on Bellocan," Noah finished. "Really? So was mine!" said Matt. Raiys proclaimed, "And mine." Luke said quietly, in deep thought now, "Mine too...What about guilds? Were any of you guys in any?" Noah and Evan said in unison, "The Aeons. AEONS FTW!!! WHOO!!!" "Wow! Me too!" Matt said. Raiys and Luke looked at each other and silently nodded. "Well, it seems I'm starting to see a pattern here," said Luke. "We're all from the same guild. Which means we can only assume that the 3 remaining heros are from our guild as well." As Luke finished, he looked into the flames of the fire, trying to hide the fact that their fight tomorrow would actually be against fellow guildmates. He had to figure out a way to break the spell that they were under and fast. The night continued in chatter about different events that happened during their time together on MS. After they finished, they all went to sleep. Except for Luke, who was still staring into the flames, thinking...

The 3 dashed off after the ship docked into the airship's harbor in Ellinia. It was a little after midnight. They had to somehow find out where the heros were. The hid in the shadows, lurking about and making their way to Grendel's house. When they finally got there, they stayed outside and glanced inside the windows. Grendel was pouring himself some tea and smoking a really long pipe. It seemed that he was talking to someone. Leaning a little more to see who, they saw that all 4 job leaders were talking together through holograms. One of the 3 warriors opened one of the windows in the slightest bit to hear what they were saying...

"So, the heros are now finished with their battle arena deal, huh? Good." said DL. "Yes, but their troubles are only going to begin in the morning." said the bowman leader (sry, i forget her name lol). Dances with Balrog then said, "Indeed." Grendel stated, "Yet, even though they built it. It doesn't mean that the 3 warriors will go there. Not without knowing its location." Grendel turned slowly around and raised his eyebrows at the 3 warriors who were looking in. "I've known you've been there the whole time, you know. And I will tell you where it's located." One of the 3 opened the window all the way and they all 3 jumped in. All 3 of them were wearing black cloaks with their hoods up. "I know you won't hurt me because right now, your mission is to kill the heros. Am I right?" The one in the middle slowly nodded. "Good. Now, this is where you can find them."...

It was now dawn, Luke was poking the fire, which was now smoldering ashes, with a twig. He was still pondering on how to get rid of that spell on them...*RUMBLE Rumble rumble* Luke thought to himself, "Great. A thunderstorm. Today of all days!..." He looked up. His eyes widened. There wasn't a cloud in the sky... He stood up to wake the others, but... *Zap* Luke got thrown backwards into the battle arena. *RUMBLE Rumble rumble* The others jolted awake at the sound of the thunder this due to its closeness. Luke looked up and saw that he now on the complete opposite end of the arena as the others, which was about 1/4 mile away. "Holy ****!"

"Evan! Noah! Behind you!" Luke cried as, quick as lightning, a cloaked figure appeared right behind them. Evan swept his leg behind him, but the cloaked figure seemed to shimmer out of view an dodged the blow. Shimmering back right above their heads, the cloaked figure cast a bolt of lightning towards them. Just in time, Evan and Noah drew a great dome of wood that deflected the bolt. Barely. Barely a second had passed, though, before another cloaked figure drilled straight through the dome, spinning fast as stone made the wood crack and splinter. Stomping his\her feet on the ground, chunks of stone burst from the Earth speeding straight towards Matt. Giving a strangled yelp, he did a Matrix and in the same motion drew a spear of ice from the shallow lake, sending it speeding towards the cloaked figure. A shield of rock burst from the ground, shattering the spear like glass. "These guys are good..." he panted. The lightining caster from before algihted through the hole, twitching and jittering with supressed energy. "I thought Grendel said there were three?" Riays said inquisitively. "There are..." Luke said gravely. He had no doubt that the Seventh as the mssing enemy. And who knew when mystery strikes? Just then, a 3rd figure dropped from the ceiling, rammming Luke in the back. Luke, however, was ready. Without thinking, he drew his sword and plunged it into his adversary's chest. In a completely calm voice, the figure looked down at his punctured chest and said, "Oh look. There's a hole in my chest.". Tossing the sword away as if it was a toothpick, the firgure advanced, gaping hole and all. What kind of demons are these?, Luke asked himself.

"Alright, if Akai Doragon only did that. Then, I hope this works," Luke said. Luke had formed a fireball already in his other hand and pushed it against the advancing figure's chest. The fireball exploded and it threw the figure back about 20ft. The figure got up, with his robes now on fire, started to wag a finger at Luke going "tch, tch, tch." Luke, with mouth almost gaping and wide eyes, responded with, "What the ****?!?" The figure, now fully ablaze, started walking towards him again. "Ok, I've had about enough of you!" Luke dashed to his nodachi and quickly picked it up. He then stood up staright and closed his eyes. "I can't kill you, for you are one of us, But You Are Starting To GET ON MY NERVES!!!" Luke shimmered and appeared behind the figure. "NINE DRAGONS SLASH!!!" Luke appeared and disappeared 9 times. With each appearance, he slashed with his nodachi on fire. Yet, when he finished, the figure, which was laughing, slowly dissolved into the air. Luke thought to himself, "Oh, lovely. We have an illutionist running around." But as he finished that thought he took a good look around and he was somewhere that didn't look remotely like the arena. "Oh, come on! Give me a freakin' break here!" cried Luke.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena.

Evan and Noah were facing off with the lightning caster and Matt was with the stone dude. Matt had his bow out and fired a shot at the cloaked figure merely wacked it with his hand and deflected it. "What?!?" shouted Matt. They were running side-by-side through the arena. Matt then said, "Try this one!" He fired an ice arrow with a ball at the end rather than a tip. The figure whacked it with his hand again, but this time it exploded and his whole arm froze. "Ha!" But no later had he said that did the figure stop and slam his arm onto the ground. His arm shattered and ice went flying along with...rock?!? "No way!" The figure stood up again and looked at where his arm used to be. Then rocks from the ground started to fly into place to reform his arm. The figure then looked at Matt and laughed deep and coarsely.

As for Evan and Noah, they were having a hard time keeping up with the lightning caster's speed. The caster kept going around them firing random shots of lightning at them. It was a repetitive pattern: He'd fire, they'd block with a shield of wood, the wood would get hit and splinter, then he'd disappear, then he'd quickly reappear, and then fire another shot. The Fifths couldn't keep up with this for much longer. Then came up with a plan, though, that might work. After the next shot they dove into the bushes that were left in the arena. The figure, twitching, anxiously looked around to see where they went. He zipped from here to there, checking places they might have gone. Then, he saw them. They were ducking behind a different bush. The lightning caster, then, fired another shot of lightning at them. All of a sudden, he was encased in a wooden dome. The 2 popped up from a different location. "That was a good idea of ours..." "to create fake replicas of ourselves..." "to just lure him out and then..." "encase him in wood." "Oak no less." As they reached the encased caster, they high-fived each other. However, *poundpoundpoundpoundpound* The sound of pounding on the inside of the dome was getting faster. The 2 looked at each other and started running. *BOOM RUMBLE Rumble rumble* The dome exploded with lightning caster emerging with bolts of lightning flying everywhere from his body. By doing this, however, his cloak flew off to reveal himself. He was about 5' 6" tall, white hair that stood straight up, was wearing goggles, a ninja-like facemask, a dark blue scarf around his neck, black shirt, black gloves, black pants, boots, etc. He also didn't look too happy...

To Be Continued...

Lol do you watch Naruto? One of the ninja's is made of stone ^.^

Actually, I do. I've even watched all of the naruto episodes that have aired in japan. Same for Bleach. Anyways, the Lighning guy isn't meant to be a ninja, but I do suppose he is very ninja-like, isn't he. However, just so you guys know, these aren't their real forms, it's just their evil forms.

Flash! Again, Evan and Noah barely deflected the next shot basted toward them. This couldn't last long: they were tiring quickly. Finally, the Sixth struck. Noah bent double, gasping for breath as the Sixth quickly punched and withdrew. Holding his fist down, Evan and Noah watched in horrid fascination as electricity crackled down his arm, gathering into a solid ball at his fist. "Oh gods..." they barely had time to mutter before the Sixth, white hair on end, charged, roaring, "Lightning Strike; Cleaving Fist!". Evan bent backwards, the energy running a thin scratch along his body, and then he smiled. "Wrong move." he whispered, then turned his body around, kicking the Sixth high into the air. Noah was waiting there, hanging on vines like a spider, and he immidietly strapped the Sixth tight to the wooden arena's ceiling. "We must admit..." Noah gasped. "That you fight a good battle." Evan finished. Their bravado was sapped, however, as the Sixth faded through the vines and landed, cat-like, on the floor. "Like it? It was simple, really, to escape your trap. I took control of the positively and negatively charged neutrons in my body, and moved them apart, slipping through the atoms of your weeds. So I may have lost a cell or two, it makes no difference. And now...I'll kill you!!!" the Sixth roared, charging.

Luke looked around, confused, as mysterious images, to fleeting to see, flickered in his vision. Then an etheral voice breathed, "Welcome to my world, Luke of the Prophecy.". Then quite suddenly, Luke felt a sharp, jolting pain course through his body. Looking down, he saw his own sword protruding through his chest. "The wound is not real, but the pain is." the voice breathed again, "How long before you go crazy? A minute? An hour? A day?". Another sharp jolting pain, and Luke cried into the flickering images and voices, "Who are you? And what business do you have with me?". Sharp, cold laughter echoed in the red mist that seemed to gather in front of Lukes eyes. "Who am I, you ask? Your worst nightmare." the voice cackled, and Luke let out a third scream of agony.

Pretty soon, Matt and Raiys realized it was useless to continue to shoot projectiles towards the Fourth. He\she had surrounded himself\herself with a stone armor, and there seemed to be no weak spot. "Time to end this." the Fourth chuckled, and buried his\her hand into the ground. "Giant's Handclap; Gaping Chasm!" the Fourth roared, and pulleed his\her hanbds up from the ground, along with two stone replicas that were at least 1000 times larger. Where the Fourth's hands moved, the giant hands moved. The hands drew back, and slapped together, full force, crushing Matt and Raiys in the middle. Raiys, luckily, had created a shimmering ball of fast-moving air to constantly swirl and protect. Growling, the Fourth clapped again, to no effect. Luring him\her to the water, the Fourth finally grew frustrated and charged. Big mistake. Matt burst from the airtight cocoon, and drew long tentacles of writhing liquid from the lake, pulling the Fourth to him. Both submerged, and Matt smiled. "Your in my turf now," he said, "And what happens to stone in water. It sinks..."

LOL!! Both of you watch Naruto now? ^.^

The lighning guy reminds me of kakashi

His move reminds me of genjutsu, the one Itachi uses (on kakashi, xD)

Oh and the stone guy also reminds me of the flute girl that shikamaru faced in episode 120ish.

Luke screamed again in agony as another surge of pain went through his body. As the pain faded, he thought to himself, "Ok. I know it's not real. I just have to focus." *flashback 2 (finally!)* Luke concentrated and slowly reached for Akai Doragon. As he did so, he heard, "What do you think you're doing? You know the sword's not real. hahaha." Luke chuckled, "Maybe so, but I believe there's something to it." Grabbing the hilt, he slowly pulled it out. He then dropped it onto the ground. After it hit the ground, it faded away. "Alright, I'm not gonna fall for the same trick twice," Luke said. "I'm not gonna draw my sword. Instead, I'm gonna fight you with my own power." "What are you gonna do? Burn this world? Don't make me laugh," said the voice. Luke smiled, "Wow. Good guess." "Huh?" "See, I'm sure you have a range with your abilities. So, all have to do is burn everything around me." "You wouldn't!!! What about your comrades?!? Aren't you worried about them?!?" "They know what I'm capable of. Not to mention the fact that they're really far away." Luke then focused all of his power inward and bent foward, crossing his arms. He started to glow bright red. Then, he bent backwards and threw out his arms. "Rrraaaaaa!!!" A sphere of fire enveloped Luke and quickly grew in size. It became bigger and bigger, until it covered a little over a quarter of the arena.

The Sixth was about to strike again, but a huge explosion from the other side of the arena created a shockwave that sent everyone flying, except for Matt and the Fourth of course. When everyone looked atthe origin of the explosion, they saw a humungous crater with the first in the middle. Evan and Noah took this distraction as a chance of opportunity to strike. They went into their beast forms and did a vice grip attack with the Sixth. They clashed with him, antlers stabbing into him and he was momentarily stunned. Raiys then came along in his beast form. He dived, grabbed him, and soar way up. With the sixth still stunned, he did a loop and dove back towards the ground. As they neared it, he threw the Sixth onto the ground with emense speed. He layed there motionless. "About..." "time!" said the Fifths. However, the Sixth jumped up to his feet. "Nice attempt there," he said. "But still not quite good enough. It looks as though I might have to kick it up a notch." He glowed yellow and began changing shape.

Matt easily dodged any attack that the Fourth threw at him. He started to throw freezing blasts at his opponent, but he only destroyed the ice wherever it froze. Because of this more and more of his robe was detroyed as well. When only the hood remained, the Fourth only ripped it off to reveal his face...Except that there wasn't one. The figure was entirely composed of rocks! "What in the hell?" asked Matt. The figure replied, "Surprised, aren't you? Just so you know, I went into my beast form before the fight even started!" "Beast form?!?" yelled Matt. Matt was hit by a large boulder as he was momentarily stunned from the shock of this...

Rocks aren't alive. Rocks aren't., Matt repeated to himself as he drifted in the water, stunned. That was a simple, concrete fact of life, of Earth. But this wasn't his life. This wasn't even Earth. A sudden wave of homesickness engulfed Matt, but he bit back the tears and shook himself. If he didn't concentrate, he would die. The Fourth was watching with some amusement on his\her face. Wait a minute... Matt's mind jolted to his\her last statement. "I went into beast form before the fight even started..." he\she had said. "Beast form...Wait a minute?! You're not-?!" Matt cried. "Finally put the pieces of the puzzle together, have you?" the Fourth chuckled. "No...you're supposed to be a friend! Why are you trying to kill me?!" Matt cried. "Because he told me to." the Fourth whispered, suddenly right behind him.

An agitated cheetah was twitching as it spyed its prey, two stags eyeing him as if they were the hunters. Ha! But this was no ordinary cheetah. Long cracks of electricity sparked down it's spine, snapping and crackling here and there. And the eagle. He was strong enough to be deemed a threat. Evan and Noah tossed their antlers, ready to charge. But the Sixth was quicker, and darted toward them with even more inhuman speed than before. Pinning both to the ground, he snarled, teeth bared. You have forgotten..., Evan gasped. That we have the biggest allies of them all, Noah finished. Then the trees, the gargantuan, monstruous, titan trees of Ellinia, punched holes through the dome and rustled, whispering their strange unspoken language. We answered your call, they whispered.

"So...you were perpared to risk everything to save your own skin. How selfish of you!" the Seventh chuckled, rubbing a singed arm. Don't believe a word he says, Luke told himelf. It's all just a game, and he's trying ot psych me out to forget the rules. "Ah well, can't be helped." the Seventh sighed. He took a step forward. "You had your turn to show off. Now it's mine." he growled. Oh gods, whats the guy got hidden up his sleeves this time?, Luke wondered. "Shadow Clone; Duplication Art!" the Seventh roared, and quite suddenly, an exact copy of the mysterious person popped up from nowhere. "Energy Thread; Death Unison!" the copy used, and a long string of bluish energy connected them. "You see that string? It is now linked to all of your vital organs. Can you hear it? Our hearts are starting to beat in unison. And since thats a clone right there...I can kill you with no damage to myself. Smart, eh?" the Seventh explained, and the clone's hand turned transparent as it reached towards its chest to draw out his still beating heart. He squeezed, and Luke choked as his heart began to falter. "Don't worry...I'll let you enjoy every minute of it." the Seventh chuckled. This guy is really starting to get on my nerves!, Luke swoar.

Gah, yeah, I really stole that last scene from Naruto.

The branches of the trees attacked the cheetah, but missed with every attempt. "Well, this is getting to be a bother," said the Sixth. He then jumped in mid-air, twisted to face the trees, and fired several balls of electricity at their bases. This knocked all of the trees down...except one. That one tree then struck him and sent him flying. He landed at the feet of the Fifths. As he skidded to a stop on his side, they noticed something on the back of his neck. It was a tiny parasitic looking creature, it resembled the spyders, but without wings and much smaller (about the size of a tick). Yet, they only had a split second to see it, because theSixth quickly got back onto his feet and faced the Fifths.

"****!!!" Luke swore as he clutched his heart. He knelt down on one knee and steadied himself with a hand on the ground, still holding onto where his heart is. "Okay, this really seems familiar," Luke thought. "Wasn't this type of problem on a show once...what was it?!?..." His vision was starting to blur as he felt his heart slowing and the pain worsening. "Wait...I think it was...maybe Naruto...Yes! It was!...But how...did...he...get...out...of...it?" He was on the verge of fainting by this time. "Come on... Luke! Keep... it... together... for at... least a... little while... more..."

"Well, at least we don't have to find you guys," Matt said, dodging another boulder. The Fourth said, "You may be right, but you should join the Shadow's legion. There's no way you can beat him. No one has yet!" Another large boulder came Matt's way, but he easily dodged it due to the water slowing it down. "Heck no! Besides, you're one of us! The heros of the prophecy! Why are you with the Shadow and not us?" The fourth chuckled, throwing a bunch of good sized rocks at Matt. They spread wide and were spaced so that he couldn't go around them. "Uh, oh." He swam straight up, just barely missing the edge of the attack. He wiped his brow as a sign of relief. "I wouldn't get to comfortable yet," said the Fourth from directly below him. The Fourth started spinning in a clockwise motion, creating a whirlpool. A large hole opened up in the water. At the bottom, the Fourth kept spinning with his hands still in the water. Matt was caught in the whirlpool and was being dragged down to the bottom. He looked down and noticed that the Fourth's arm had become extremely sharp. Matt yelled at him, "Heck if I'm being dragged into a blender! Besides, you're forgetting something." "And what's that?" asked that Fourth. Matt smiled at him and said, "That you're in MY territory!" Matt began swimming straight against the whirlpool's current, reversing the direction of the current. As he kept gaining speed, the whirlpool slowed down. The hole in the water collapsed. Raiys saw what was happening and added a little help. He flew straight above the now reversed whirlpool and created a tornado right above it. The two things combined to make a water spout which carried the Fourth straight up and out of the pool. "AAAAAaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh......" Neither Raiys or Matt could see how high he went up, but it took a while for him to come crashing down to the ground.