Eleven

Zuma's Fear

"How can you help Chaos?" Chase asked. "Well, actually, here's the thing. After my sin a few years ago, I started hearing voices when I fled. Here's one of them: 'That wretched bastard! He should pay for what he did to Marshall.' That was from a boy named Alex, the grandson of Mr. Porter. Here's more recent: 'Will she like me? What am I going to tell her if I confess my feelings?'" Chaos said.

Ares blushed. Everyone looked at him. "Are you okay?" Pan asked. "Uh, yeah," he said. "That was what I was thinking when I saw you the first time," he said. "My down is… I saw the Fifty Shades from a dream," he shuddered. "What is this 'Fifty Shades'?" Rubble asked. "Please… don't ask. If you really want to know, here it is: humans mating endlessly and endless erotic scenes," Ashe said. Everyone nearly vomited. "Wait. I hear someone thinking about his fears," Chaos said. He looked at Zuma. "It's time they find out," Chaos said. "What? I'm not afraid of anything!" Zuma said. "Not true, Zuma. Everyone here has a fear of something. I mean I have a fear of clowns," Chaos said. "I'm… afraid of animatronics," Zuma confessed. "That's because of my past life," he said. Everyone was still from what they heard.

"I'll tell you a story. Back in the 1980's, there was this shop that opened. Its name is 'Circus Baby's Pizza World'. It was a great pizzeria. But it was only for one day," Zuma started.

"Why was it only opened for one day?" Rubble asked.

"That's because of the animatronics going haywire. I was there to guard the children and to have some fun myself. Then, this girl went up to the animatronics Circus Baby. The animatronics was singing, but then it stopped. Its eyes went black and its stomach opened, revealing ice cream. The girl went to get the ice cream, mistaking it as a treat. It was a trap. The girl was scooped and grabbed into the animatronics. She screamed and screamed for help, but I couldn't help. I was paralyzed. In 1987, if I remember correctly, there was another pizzeria that opened. It was 'Freddy's Family Diner'. It had four animatronics, one which was broken. I thought that it was just a diner. The animatronics wouldn't do what happened last time. I was there for a few days to guard the animatronics. I let them roam at twelve and then I'll leave the place. But when I read the newspaper on the fifth day, I saw the corpse of Jeremy Fitzgerald. His frontal lobe was off and found on the Mangle's mouth. Then, in the same year, two cases of people dying in spring lock suits happened. By then, I never wanted to get close to another animatronics ever again," Zuma said.

"Why do you tell us this now?" Sunburn asked.

"Well, I died in a car accident after a few years. When I died, I woke up as Zuma. My real name in the past life is Zircon. My owners were the Aftons. The father was the same person who made those animatronics. I didn't tell you since maybe you'll send me to a mental hospital. But by the time I was born, I didn't know anything yet. A year before the crash is when I found out who I was," Zuma said.

"But we'd never send you to a mental hospital," Daydream said.

"Just a question: What breed were you?" Marshall asked.

"Hmm… I don't remember. I think it was a mix breed of some sort," Zuma said.

"Anyway, back to the main job to do. Chaos, can you sense other rocks?" Chase asked.

"I can't from the ground and I can't from the stratosphere. I need to be in the exosphere or in space," Chaos said.

"Can you be in a satellite?" Hacker asked.

"It's safer, but we can't hack NASA's satellite!" Chaos said.

"I can without being noticed. To get you in the signal of the satellite, we'll need something like a satellite dish. I'll have a computer ready and connected by the time you finish," Hacker said. "I have a spare satellite dish in my truck. It's about three feet big," Rocky said. "Perfect. That should keep me off the radar," Hacker said. "I also need something to put on Chaos' head that'll connect him to the computer," he said. "Is a colander good?" Rocky asked. "Yes. Yes it is," Hacker said. "Let's start building," he said.

They started constructing the machinery. After a few hours, they were finished. It looked like a big igloo, but with a satellite dish. Inside it looked like CIA. "Wow! You did a good work," Hacker said. "Sit here Chaos," Hacker commanded. Chaos did so with no hesitation. He sat on the chair and wore the colander. "Perfect. Now let me get you in the way," Hacker said typing. "You're in!" he said after a few minutes. "Whenever you see or sense an object that has the same power as the stones, this typewriter will take down the coordinates or, if it's a bit unspecific, the place where the stone is kept," Hacker said. "Are you ready?" he asked Chaos. "Yes," Chaos said. "Here we start!" Hacker said.

By the moment they did, Chaos saw every single stone. The typewriter started typing down every single stone's coordinate or, if it is not specific, location on where it is. "Oh my, gosh," Chaos said by the last minute.

"What is it?" they asked.

"There are six powerful stones in this specific location," Chaos said.

"Where is it?" they asked.

"It's on the other side of the world. It's in the Philippines," Chaos said.

"It's in the Philippines? Are there anyone who holds them?" Marshall asked.

"Six fairies hold them. It holds the power of fire, water, earth, and air. They also have light and darkness," Chaos said.

"That means we have to go there first," Marshall said.

"We can't. Not yet, at least," Chaos said. "I can't locate an entrance to their world. But it's near Manila, the capital."

"Then ask a guardian there," Chase said.

"I can't. I only read and sense these rocks and people's minds. I can't talk to them," Chaos said.

"Can you sense a guardian?" Skye asked.

"Yes. But we need to hurry," Chaos said.

"Step aside," Marshall said.

Chaos stands from his seat and gives it to Marshall. Marshall sits on it and wears the colander.

In the Philippines, a girl called Lira is going to her home. She then heard a voice. "Hello? What's your name?" someone asked. She looked around but saw no one. It was night! "Your name is Lira, isn't it?" it asked again. "Who is that?" she asked. "Don't worry, Lira. I won't hurt you. I need you to get the fairies' stones," it said. "What? Those stones are my aunts! I can't take them," she said. "They guard those stones and you have no right to take them!" she said. "Additional information: they are called 'brilyante.'"

"Are they really safely guarded?"

"Yes!"

"We have to make sure. We'll be there by seven in the morning."

"Try and I'll rip your throats out… whoever you are."

"No need to be hostile, Lira. We'll only go there to see if it is safely guarded. If it is, we'll leave instantly."

"You better, because Tita Pirena does not like human visitors."

"Uh, we're dogs."

"Say what?"

"We're dogs. If you were to battle us though, you would lose instantly. But I tell you. We won't hurt anyone. It's not our goal. Our goal is to see if your 'brilyante' is safely guarded. Since I'm already talking to one of the keepers of the stone, we might as well have an interview."

"You interview me? No."

"No need for an interview anyways. I already saw everything. So let me get this straight. The Keepers of the Stones' names are Ynang Reyna (Queen Mother), Amihan, Pirena, Danaya, Alena, and you cousins, Lira and Mira. Am I telling the right story?"

"How did…"

"Don't ask. You can ask tomorrow. Your place called 'Encantadia' was torn by a civil war. Monsters against fairies, am I right?"

"Yes."

"You called them Hathorians or 'Hathoryano'. Anyway, your 'Tita Pirena' is half Hathorian and half fairy. She sided with the enemy. But once she saw what she was doing was incredibly wrong, she sided with you. After that, you defeated Hagorn, the king of the Hathorians. Then, you lived in peace."

"Please tell me your name so that I can bring you to my home."

"Marshall. I have some other friends that I need to bring. Is that okay?"

"I don't care! I need to meet you before we go in Encantadia."

"No tricks or traps?"

"No tricks or traps."

"As if I'll believe that there won't be any traps. But I see that there's a possibility you won't set up a trap. If you do set a trap, I'll have you tranquilized. Is that clear?"

"Yes."

"Okay. You better get home. Curfew is at nine o' clock. You only have twenty-five minutes left."

Marshall removed the colander and went out of the structure. "Guys are you ready to go to the Philippines?" he asked.

"Absolutely!" they cheered.

"Okay. We need to rest now. We should be there by seven in the morning. That's when the guardian will arrive," Marshall said. "Shouldn't we ask permission from Ryder first?" Chase asked. "It's okay, pups. You need to check on those stones," Ryder said through their mind.

That night they rested very early. The next day, everyone woke up at 6:30 in the morning. "Where are Tracker and Everest?" Chase asked. "They'll be here in three seconds. One, two three," Marshall said. They did arrive. "I hope we weren't late," Tracker said. "No, you're fine. We need to go there. Gowther, can you connect to the other world?" Rocky asked. "If I'm already connected to you before you get in there, then yes," Gowther said. "Good. Connect to me," Rocky said. "I already am," Gowther said. "That was fast. Okay, let's go!" Marshall said. A circle appeared on the eight pups. "Teleport: Location: Philippines," Marshall chanted. They disappeared.