"You get the snake, I'll take the cloaked one!" R.D. shouted to Vagabond. As he neared the being, he leapt at him with his Lance swinging. The being easily parried the blow with its own sword, and soon the two were rapidly exchanging blows.

The two winged women began chasing after Matt and his Karumuna Bash, until the second one came up close and Alasea killed them off easily by stabbing them in the back. She leapt off of the Reaverbot, joining her own and R.D.'s minions, and tore back into the fray. She soon made her way over to Hsien-Ko and Hugo. "We need a plan!" she shouted to her friends.

"I got one!"

Hugo brandished his pickaxe, charging with icy power. "Blow the hell out of everybody! Freezing Shotgun!"

He rolled backward with the powerful blast-a huge ball of charged cold that rushed at their enemies.

Hugo's attack froze a good number of creatures, and the Reaverbots of Alasea and R.D. quickly shattered them into pieces. "Let's plow the road!" Alasea shouted gleefully. Seemed she was starting to enjoy battles. Meanwhile, a strange, small robotic device flew in and started hovering around Matt. It made strange sounds and projected a ray of light on the bespectacled boy. It began scanning him, and before he could do anything about it, the robotic probe finished and flew off.

R.D. quickly locked blades with his opponent to prevent taking more damage. He had numerous shallow cuts crisscrossing his body; his opponent was extremely good. Easily better at a sword than he was.

"Who are you!?" he snarled at the cloaked figure, trying to push him back with the Phase Blades.

Despite the move, the being stepped closer and beared down on the amnesiac teen. In a cold, male voice, he said "I am Diablo."

Before R.D. could inquire further, the cloaked being shoved him backwards. Before he could throw himself back into the fight, Diablo's fist sent him reeling down the hill.

"Do you really think you can defeat me, boy?" he asked harshly. "It took seven stonebrained fools to bring me down in my last fight. What gives you the idea you even stand a chance against me?"

R.D. stood back up. "Does it really look like-AGGH!!!" he cut off with a scream as a bolt of red lightning struck his shoulder, blasting him further down the hill.

"Save it, child," Diablo snarled, "You're nothing to me. I could kill you right now, but I have other ideas."

The cloaked figure made his way down the hill towards the downed boy. Before he could reach him, however, he was struck by R.D.'s twin plasma blasts, sending him reeling backwards. The boy quickly rearmed the Phase Blade and charged forward at his opponent again.

A large monster suddenly tackled Matt, and knocked him to the ground with a momentous impact, causing the boy to cry out in pain. Locking down Matt's arms with its huge hands, the beast growled at the prey it would soon devour.

Matt just opened his mouth very wide and yelled, "Go to HELL!"

An energy blast unexpectedly burst from his mouth, incinerating the monster's head.

Matt blinked. "...that was so cool."

R.D.'s blade flashed through the air, and it tore through the ground as he swung downward, albeit missing due to Diablo's dodge. Following through, R.D. swept his Phase Lance to the side with tremendous strength. Diablo was forced to parry the attack and staggered under the blow. Beneath his cloak, he grinned. "Such strength for such youth. Interesting," he said as he readied his next attack.

R.D. growled and lunged again, only to find himself being lifted into the air by his throat by Diablo. "Don't let it go to your head. I am still stronger and faster and infinitely more violent than you, boy."

Diablo's punch sent R.D. flying across the battlefield. Diablo turned towards Vagabond and looked around.

"So, you killed Donovan's servant, have you? Commendable," he said, "You've done me a favor. It would seem my work here is done."

Diablo shifted his cloak around and strode towards a tree, disappearing as he entered its shade.

R.D. picked himself up from the fight in time to see Matt vaporize a monster's face with an attack from his mouth. He picked himself up and readied the Phase Lance again, as the monsters were suddenly in disarray. "Large-Sized Sharukurusus! To me!" he shouted, and the red Reaverbots quickly broke from the combat and filed behind him.

R.D. chambered his free hand and shot it forward, firing off two plasma blasts. "Charge!" he shouted and ran forward with his Lance ready. The six of them tore into the enemy ranks, ripping apart the demons that got in their way. During a brief respite, R.D. looked up at the hill to see that Diablo was missing.

Edited by RisingDragon on November 10, 2006 at 11:58:13.

Morph had arrived at the top of the Temple. He could see a shining yellow thing in front of him, but he felt uneasy, though he could not tell clearly as to why that was. He reached out for the Soul Piece, and clutched it tightly when he felt it. Right after he had done so, he heard a rumbling noise, and the entire block on which both he and the altar stood crumbled and fell downwards, into the heart of the Temple. He tried to fly, but he could not move his feet.

"Now this is how you recycle, people!" Matt picked up the beast that had tried to assail him earlier, and a wick suddenly appeared from its back. "Monster Bomb!"

The wick was promptly consumed in a single second by a magical flame, and the Monster Bomb exploded in Matt's face, sending him crashing to the ground.

"...let's try that again," Matt said, wiping the soot off of his face and seizing another corpse. "Monster Bomb!" he shouted, flinging the body at a group of enemies, where it detonated, taking them all out.

R.D.'s charge had long been broken up, and his five Reaverbots were doing their own thing as they continued fighting the beasts. He fought his way over to Matt, and witnessed the new attack.

"Think you can do that in mass?" he shouted his question over the din of combat, skewering another creature upon his Phase Lance. "We've got plenty of bodies to detonate!"

===Atop Xobelisk===

Diablo stepped out of the shadows of an area atop the black tower. He slowly made his way across the arena, only to hear a voice stop him.

"Welcome back," Re-Tuul greeted.

The cloaked being turned to face the Khaglessi.

"Re-Tuul," Diablo acknowledged.

"Diablo," returned the Khaglessi, "I take it the children are safe?"

"Unless one of my demons strike them down, yes. An interloper appeared and destroyed Donovan's general unit there."

"Ah good," Re-Tuul said, grinning, "We really aren't implicated there, so the woman can't get high and mighty about the master's deal."

"Indeed." The cloaked figure held out its hand, and a robotic probe appeared above it. "This scanned the boy as you requested."

Re-Tuul grinned darkly as he accepted the small robot. "Good, good." Let's see what you're made of, Mr. Willard.

"Did you know that we have... company?" Diablo asked.

"You mean Hydro?" Re-Tuul answered, "Yes, we're aware he's around. Probably dumbfounded by the absence of his domain, the fool."

Re-Tuul walked into the tower with Diablo. "We have no need to worry," he said, "He can't cause much trouble here. His power is over water; his minions are cowardly snakes swimming in the ocean. It's someone like Electra that'd give us grief."

"I dunno..." Matt quickly scanned the area. "That's a lot of crazy bombs..."

At long last, a familiar power resonated within him.

Well, well, well...where have you been?

It was a long story.

All right, you can tell me later...but right now you can give me an assist.

Matt curled the fingers of his right hand. "Fortunately, I think I know how to handle this! Maximum Bomber!"

His right arm became awash in bright light. When it faded, his arm was encased in thick white armor, with a light pink armored glove.

"Eh, I could do without the pink, but..." Matt grabbed a spare corpse on the ground and flung it at an enemy.

The resulting explosion of the corpse-turned-bomb was enough to make Matt whoop with joy. "Hell yeah! Looks like we got a winner!"

Edited by The Helldragon on November 10, 2006 at 21:07:28.

A group of winged demons swooped down on R.D. and Matt, and R.D. was forced to use some energy beams to strike them down.

"Well, hope you've got a plan, there's still too many!" R.D. shouted to Matt as he charged back into the fray.

Overhead, the clouds rumbled and thunder crackled around it. While riding Matt's Karumuna Bash, Alasea looked up only to spot the clouds seeming to bulge underward towards the battle. "What the hell!?" she shouted in bewilderment.

It wasn't long, though, as a pair of giant blue-scaled creature burst from the clouds overhead, spreading massive wings to reveal its reptilian body. A large blue dragon with glowing yellow eyes roared its fury into the air above the battle.

"Oh fuck," R.D. said as the dragon caught his attention.

"Ah, CRAP!" Hugo swore, looking up. "What the hell is that thing doing here?!"

Hsien-Ko grit her teeth. "We'd better give Matt and R.D. the help they need to take that thing down!"

"Today officially sucks!" Matt shouted, picking up another monster body to fling at the dragon.

The dragon looked at Matt as he picked up the body, and flame trailed out of its mouth slightly. Before anyone knew it, the dragon launched an small orb of azure energy from its mouth, aimed at Matt.

Strangely, though, the attack merely knocked the corpse out of Matt's hand and vaporized it, leaving Matt unharmed. The beast then landed on the ground, crushing a few monsters underfoot, and began tearing into the demons.

"Okay, that's strange," R.D. said as he watched the dragon begin to mercilessly tear the enemy ranks apart.

"Hey, I was gonna throw that at a bad guy!" Matt complained as Hugo and Hsien-Ko ran up to join them.

"Looks like he's on our side!" Hsien-Ko said.

"Then let's finish this for good!" Hugo brandished his pickaxe and ran back into battle.

DragonFire: Dark Dragon!

*Dark Dragon appears in front of him*

Dark Dragon: Yes master?

DragonFire: Since I cannot find Juno I want you to flush him out, I have no doubt he is on this island so if you start causing damage he is sure to show up... I cannot sense him so this must be done... Start with that temple... *he points to a nearby temple*

Dark Dragon: Yes my lord! *Dark Dragon begins throws black Fireballs at the temple*

DragonFire: Good, keep it up.. *he flies down and watches from the shadows*

Dark Dragon: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! *continues wildly throwing his Black Fireballs at the temple*

The dragon's breath weapon and sharp claws brought a swift end to the demons that dared throw themselves at it. Combined with the attacks of R.D., Matt, and company, along with the force of Reaverbots, the battle was won in short order.

In a corpse-strewn field, the R.D. and the others found themselves surrounding the gigantic beast that had more or less ripped the demonic horde to shreds. The beast looked around and thumped its tail on the ground once, causing the ground to shudder. R.D. brought his Phase Lance around into a combat stance, and succeeded in drawing the blue dragon's attention. The beast's yellow eyes narrowed and it growled.

And then surprised everyone when it began to chuckle.

"So, the strange and powerful humans think they can take on a dragon, do they?" it said in a rich, deep voice. "Although, I shouldn't have expected any less from you, Rising Dragon."

R.D. blinked. The dragon was talking to him?

"Thanks for pointing that out, Vagabond," Matt muttered. Then he spoke to the dragon-"Hey, I don't want to fight you or anything, all right? We appreciate the help."

"I'm a jiganshi," Hsien-Ko briefly remarked to Vagabond, holding up a finger.

"What she said," added Matt.

Edited by The Helldragon on November 11, 2006 at 1:46:32.

The dragon looked around at the group, and folded its wings inward. "Indeed there are beings here that are not human," he rumbled, "But while your abilities are nothing short of brilliant, it was the abilities of these two boys that drew me here." He motioned briefly to R.D. and Matt, who were standing before the beast. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Bahamut, King of Dragons."

R.D. looked warily at Bahamut. "Well, you seem to know who I am, even though I don't," he started, and pointed to each of his companions in turn. "This Matt Willard and Hugo the Angry Met," he pointed to the two, "Alasea Dagenais," he said as he pointed to her, "Hsien-Ko and Mei-ling, although you can't see the latter just yet," he pointed to the jiganshi, "And lastly we have Vagabond," he pointed to last, motioning towards the red-clad man.

R.D. split his weapons and sheathed them. "So, why did our abilities draw you here?" he asked.

Bahamut looked over at Vagabond briefly; his senses were easily superior to most creatures on the planet. "No, Vagabond, the Aeons have been gone for a long, long time. I am simply the lord of my kind here on this planet," he said kindly. He turned back to R.D.

"Those who are willing to stand against the darkness are my allies, young warrior," he said to the amnesiac teen, "And you faced an ancient demon that terrorized this world once before, long ago. How he has returned is beyond my knowledge, but I have a feeling it is the second entity that is blanketing the world with its malevolence."

The King of Dragons hunkered down onto all fours and gazed intently at both R.D. and Matt. "The two of you are the joint leaders of your group, although you," he said, looking to R.D., "have decided to give the seniority leadership to young Matthew, correct?"

R.D. only nodded.

"Then perhaps," he said, turning to Matt, "I should let you know that I have brought something with me that should be of some use to you. Return to the dock you arrived here, and quickly. The other minions of Donovan are searching for your group. I will do what I can to assist you. I have been watching you, and I will continue to do so. Should you ever be in need, I will come to your aid."

Bahamut looked up and stretched out his senses. His mind came across the battle that would begin between Juno and the Dark Dragon.

He turned to Alasea, and spoke to her. "Be steadfast, young lady. The Dark Dragon has returned to this island," he said, and Alasea paled. "I am unaware of his intentions, but I witnessed what occured at your home. I will hold him off, but all of you must leave now."

"Shoot, I didn't know I was the leader," Matt said. "I was just doin' what I normally do."

"Boss people around and be a tightass?" Hugo asked.

"No, Hugo, that's not what I normally do." Matt looked to the great dragon. "Anyway, that sounds good, Bahamut. We appreciate the help." Turning to the others, he clapped his hands together. "All right, people, let's get the hell out of here!"

"See?" Hugo said to Hsien-Ko. "What'd I tell ya?"

R.D. nodded and made his way to leave. Alasea, still frightened at the knowledge that her family's murderer was on Kattelox, made her way over to R.D. and to take her mind off of the fact, began fussing over R.D.'s wounds.

Bahamut looked towards Juno and Dark Dragon's location. He thought about what Ondal had told him.

The great dragon stopped Matt and Vagabond for a moment. First, he turned to Vagabond. "Ondal has made his decision, wanderer. You are to be his Guide, but as all Guides, you must do it from afar. While you must teach him, he must do things on his own, and lead on his own."

He held out both of his claws. One of him held a diamond-shaped ruby to Matt, while the other was pointed at Vagabond. "I have changed the nature of the scrying stone. Take this, Matthew, and give it to the Rising Dragon. With it, both he and Vagabond will be able to communicate to each other."

The King of Dragons looked at Vagabond. "Come with me," he commanded, "I would appreciate your assistance in dealing with the Dark Dragon."

Bahamut looked up at Vagabond's words and cursed. "Of all the beasts to come, it would have to be her. Run, Matthew! Vagabond, prepare yourself."

Edited by RisingDragon on November 10, 2006 at 23:39:00.

"Damn it!" Matt shouted, snatching the ruby. "I hate runnin', but I don't think we've got a choice! Let's GO, people!"

Picking up Hugo, Matt dashed off toward the dock, with Hsien-Ko right behind him.