Hello again. Last year I wanted to try and write a fanfiction for Chaotic that I really was determined to finish...but then real life got in the way. A combination of family drama, school drama, and my own desire to become the author of my own original work drew my attention away, and sadly most of my original documents and ideas for Lost Warriors were lost to the sands of time (I.E I forgot).

However, I have a new idea that hopefully I'll actually finish this time.

Y'all can thank CoalTreasure and ChaoticCommander for this, their respective fanfics are what inspired me to come back to this fandom with my own ideas.

Disclaimer, I don't own Chaotic, otherwise this would be an actual cartoon rather than a fanfic.

Warnings for mild language, general violence, and OC's that will be playing a major part but aren't the focus of the story. Or they will be the focus in different chapters, but that's because they both have their own tribes I need to flesh out.

Edit: I've re-written the chapter. Normally speaking this would only bring about minor changes, except for the fact that the chapter went from 3116 words to 5390 HOLY SHIT.

It was a bright and sunny day in Chaotic, it always was. The futuristic 'rest stop' between earth and Perim rarely varied in weather, always in perpetually pleasant weather. The surprisingly massive place held countless numbers of humans, mostly consisting of children ranging from ten to eighteen with the odd first-grader and adult here and there. Most were compiled into the Port Court, a place where players communed to discuss strategies and past battles while watching the current ones on the screens. Another large chunk were at the Trading Stations, touch-pad tables where they traded unneeded or unwanted scans with each other for profit in their future battles. Others were simply wandering about aimlessly, content to dozing off in the noon-day sun under the odd tree, or simply riding the monorail for the sake of it.

Chaotic was, surprisingly, nice. Despite holding a vast array of cultures, ideals, and different walks of life, fights were unusual outside of the Dromes, the places where they took their card game to an unimaginable new level. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline-addicting intensity of the battles, maybe it was the convenience of a universal translator, maybe it was because most of them were children, but Chaotic was surprisingly peaceful, especially in contrast to its Perim counterpart.

People just got along for the most part. Chaotic was like a theme park without the overpriced everything, it was a place that once you went to it, it was hard to stay in a bad mood.

Most of the time anyway, there were times when Chaotic had its moments. The aftermath of the M'arrillian invasion came quickly to mind. And currently there was one player who seemed to be in an agitated mood as he and three others approached the pinkish-violet Drome.

"Okay seriously how come I'm only just hearing about this tribe?" Tom Majors, dark raven-haired boy with tanned skin and bright blue eyes demanded. His skin had only gotten darker with the late summer months, which made his currently narrowed eyes stand out more than they usually did. "Code-Master matches are one thing, but an entire freaking tribe is something else!"

When Tom Majors had first arrived in Chaotic almost two years ago, there had been four tribes. His tribe, the Overworlders, was mostly consisted of either humanoid or anthropomorphic mammals with the odd arachnid here and there. They populated the forests and mountain ranges of the Overworld, and they were what many considered the 'chivalrous' tribe. They valued loyalty and ethics, fighting for what they believed was right and never compromising on those ethics, even when it cost them dearly. That said, they weren't without their faults. They were stubborn and unyielding, it took a lot to change an Overworlder's mind even when they were wrong, and they could be very cold to anyone who wasn't a member of their tribe (this was true of any tribe, but Overworlders were supposed to be the 'open minded' tribe).

Underworlders, the tribe that his best friend Kaz proudly supported, were the subterranean counterparts to the Overworlders. They were consisted of gargoyle like to demonic creatures with an affinity for flames. At first glance, they might be dubbed the 'evil' tribe. They were ruthless, warlike, and violent, sometimes outright cruel. There was no 'playing dirty' for them, anything was a viable means of victory. Or..so everyone thought. Despite being much harsher and violent than the other tribes, they weren't completely without their morals or loyalties, they were much more selective. And would never openly admit to it.

This was proven by the very, very odd friendship Kaz had somehow managed to strike up with his hero Chaor, the ruler of the Underworld. Tom and his other two friends were convinced no other player could get away with half the things the redhead was able to pull while on Chaor's watch, even if the gargoyle denied it.

Mipedians were the dragon-like lizard people of the deserts, and were the preferred tribe of the PeytonicMaster, or just Peyton. They were secretive and reclusive, only just barely tolerating the presence of Chaotic-Players in their oasis at first. Long term Mipedian players like Peyton discovered that the longer you spend around the Mipedians, the more they surprisingly open up. Although they had yet to go into any satisfying detail, many Mipedians did seem to enjoy feeding their human friends little tidbits about their culture and society. And Peyton was able to charm his way into friendships with a lot of Mipedians without too much trouble. At least he didn't have to risk his life as Tom had to...several times.

Danians, who their only female companion Sarah represented, were easily the most reclusive of the tribes, the ant-like creatures hell bent on keeping any and all players out of Mount Pillar with little success up until about a month ago. That was when Queen Aszil took the throne. As it turned out, the former Princess had something of a mild fascination with humans, after hearing so many stories of humans managing to get past their infamously thorough security. She allowed Danian players in, granted under supervision of those willing, which there was a surprising number of (apparently Wamma wasn't the only Danian who let a favorite in), and those who didn't have a brown scanner were liable to get thrown in prison. But compared to how they were before, it was a vast improvement.

Four tribes, and that was it. That was how it was for his first year in Chaotic.

And then came his second year, and with it, a fifth tribe.

The M'arillians, or as he liked to call them, the actual 'evil tribe' of Perim.

In the one year they were active before the other tribes banded together to stop them, they had managed to brainwash almost half of Perim, flooded a good chunk of Perim, drowned a good number of creatures, overthrew Chaor, drove the Danians out of Mount Pillar, nearly caused the literal end of the freaking world, they were a tribe that nobody liked. Honestly it was probably the best damn thing to happen in Perim when Maxxor, Chaor, and Iparu managed to defeat their leader Aa'une and cut off their brainwashing

So, there were five tribes, if you could count what was left of the M'arrillians a 'tribe.'

Until today.

Because, as it turned out, there was a sixth tribe.

Well actually, if you wanted to get technical about it, the Glacians were there before the M'arrillians so they were the fifth tribe while the freaky flying fish-people were the sixth.

This is what had Tom in such a bad moon.

Why did his friends forget to tell him these things? Why did they always assume that he somehow knew everything going in? It was like Code Master matches, only worse because IT WAS AN ENTIRE FREAKING TRIBE THEY FORGOT TO TELL HIM ABOUT.

HOW DO YOU FORGET TO TELL SOMEONE ABOUT AN ENTIRE TRIBE.

"Dude," Peyton, a large boy with dark chestnut hair and a pale complexion said sagely. "Glacian Players have only been a thing for about a few months. We didn't even know about them until yesterday when they announced yer next opponent. Glacians are so secretive and reclusive that they make Mipedians look like open books and Danians look like they're on permanent open house."

"Oh." Tom said simply, his earlier agitation quelled. So it wasn't a case of they forgot to tell him something he should know, this was new information for them as well. "Well, what can you tell me about them?"

"Nuttin." Peyton stated simply.

"Excuse me?" Tom asked with an incredulous laugh.

"Like Peyton said, Glacians are reclusive and secretive." Kaz explained, a not quite as pale but still pale boy with bright red hair and a small frame. Unlike Tom he avoided the summer sun because he didn't so much tan as he did freckle, and a lot. He had however grown a bit, and almost matched Tom in height, though this made his skinny frame seem all the more exaggerated. "The only way to become a Glacian player is to beat Code Master Amzen after beating another Glacian player for your seventh match, which is what you're about to do."

"But I don't want to be a Glacian Player," Tom protested indignantly folding his arms almost childishly, "I like being an Overworld Player!"

He didn't even want to think about what his Overworld friends might say had they found out he even considered switching his alignment.

"You don't have to become a Glacian Player after you beat Code Master Amzen." Sarah assured with a roll of her eyes, giving Tom a reassuring pat on the back. She was the smallest of them, with bright blonde hair and large green eyes, though she was a force unto herself when provoked, both in and out of the dromes. "The process is just to give you a taste of what you're in for, both the benefits and the drawbacks of being associated with the Glacians."

"I thought you guys said that you didn't know anything about them." Tom said.

"As a people, no we've got jackshit." Kaz confirmed. His language had gotten a lot more colorful as of late, a side effect of Underworlders no longer feeling the need to watch what they say now that he was older.

"But as for strategy we were able to review the matches of the few Glacian players there are to give you a few tips." Sarah assured.

"For one thing, you need to stay on your toes in Glacier Plains, like way more than usual." Peyton said. "I have no idea how, but they move on ice like you do with ice skates, except they don't have them."

"Not to mention they're survivalists and complete experts on the mountain regions. There is nobody who knows Glacier Plains better than them." Kaz added, adjusting his rose-tinted glasses.

"Even Blugon?" Tom asked incredulously. Blugon was considered the Overworld's expert on Glacier Plains.

"They're the ones who taught Blugon everything he knows about the place!" Sarah said with a slight laugh.

"Now here's the drawback." Peyton said, leaning in like he was telling a tantalizing secret. "In Glacier Plains they're a tough cookie to crack, anywhere else though and they overheat, literally."

"They move normally in other locations and in places like the Mipedian Desert and ninety-nine percent of the Underworld they actually start losing energy." Kaz clarified at Tom's prompting look.

"So you should keep that in mind for your match, stack your location deck with as many 'hot' places as you've got." Sarah advised,

"And also stack your creatures with earth and fire attacks." Kaz also suggested. "The fire attacks might be weaker in Glacier Plains but Glacians take them harder in other locations."

"You should avoid any attacks with ice in them, as you'd probably guess they're practically immune to ice-attacks."

"You should probably have at least one 'Song of Translocation ' in case you're about to loose one of your stronger creatures." Peyton finished.

"Okay, that's good advice," Tom said with a somewhat unsure smile. "Jeez, so on top of this being not only my first match being shown to creatures, but the first one period, and I'm facing a player who uses a tribe people know next to nothing about?"

"Bad luck MajorT." Peyton said.

"You're telling me," Tom sighed before glancing at Kaz just as they approached the door leading into the Amzen drome. "And you really don't know where the Code Masters put those crystal things?"

"Nope," Kaz said, shaking his head with a shrug, "Sorry Tom,"

"Just wish I knew whether or not Maxxor's going to be watching." Tom muttered to himself as he stepped off the moving sidewalk and towards the drome doors. He often talked about his matches with the Overworld Leader, who seemed interested and even gave him bits of advice or critique on something he could've done better. This however would be the first time the green man would be able to see one of his matches first hand, assuming he was watching in the first place.

"Then again he's probably got more important things to do." Tom reasoned under his breath. With the Alliance falling through and the discovery of Kaizeph, not to mention the tragedy that had struck Perim not a month ago, Tom hadn't spoken to Maxxor directly in a while. The hero was simply too busy and Tom really didn't want to bother him.

Besides, it was probably for the best he not know for sure. If he was watching, Tom was pretty sure he'd end up so nervous he'd screw up royally and lose the match.

He waved at his three friends who cheerily waved back before the door slide shut behind him.

Peyton's face suddenly fell,

"Hey Kazzers…" He said slowly, turning to Kaz with an unsure look, "You sure it was a good idea not to tell MajorT that they set up some of those crystals in Kiru City?"

"Are you kidding me?" Kaz demanded. "If Tom found out that his Overworlder friends were watching he'd completely freeze up, if you'll pardon the pun. The last thing he needs just before a big match is stage fright."

"He's never had a problem with stage fright before." Sarah observed.

"In front of strangers whose opinions he couldn't care less about, no he's fine." Kaz said, "Now actually put him in front of a bunch of people whose opinions he does care about, namely Maxxor and most of his inner circle…"

"I see your point." Peyton conceded with a wince.

"I just hope you're right Kaz, because you're the one that Tom's going to be pissed at if this backfires. Especially if it turns out Maxxor really is watching." Sarah warned.

"It'll be fine!" Kaz stated.

Tom entered the familiar blackish gray drome as well as the floating Chaotic symbol they called a Drome Master. It was absolutely massive, the ceiling reaching well over a hundred feet.

"Thomas Majors," The metallic voice of the Drome Master, what was essentially a floating Chaotic symbol where the arches orbited the red center at odd angles, proclaimed, "Chaotic Codename: MajorTom,"

A girl entered from the other end. She was a bit tall, with brown colored skin, rounded features and large dark colored eyes. Her hair was a few shades darker than her skin, short but extremely wild and unkempt, exempting the neatly tied long braids on either side of her neck. She wore a short sleeved mint-blue t-shirt with matching headband and earrings, blue jeans tucked into brownish winter-boots, and a dark blue vest with matching arm-warmers.

She looked pretty normal actually. Not like someone who associated with Perim's most reclusive tribe.

He did notice what looked like the blade of an ice-skate sticking haphazardly outside the top of her backpack, which she must have forgotten to drop off outside.

"Roxanne Hartman," The Drome Master announced, "Chaotic Codename: FrostBlighter."

She smiled and waved at him before docking her scanner, which he noticed was a close match to the mint-blue t-shirt she wore. Come to think of it, he had actually seen those scanners a few times around the Port Court. He'd always figured it was just players who wanted a different color for their scanners for some reason.

Apparently not.

"Today marks a historical event for Chaotic," The Drome Master stated as the two set up their teams. "This will be the first match that creatures will be able to spectate, as per the agreement between the Code Masters and the tribal leaders. You two have been specifically paired at the request of Code Master Amzen, in hopes of providing an interesting match."

"No pressure or anything," Tom mumbled as he finished, prompting a short but obviously nervous giggle from his opponent. Well that made him feel a bit better that he wasn't the only one nervous.

"Players, lock your decks."

They clicked the top buttons of their scanners, and instantly their teams were revealed. It was a three on three match, his team consisting of Maxxor and Intress in the front while Najarin was placed in the back. Normally he would have picked Tangath-Toborn, but he kind of figured it was way too freaking soon for that.

Roxanne's team consisted off...three creatures he could not name if his life depended on it.

The two in the front consisted of a large woman in fancy winter regalia, all but strutting towards a fallen creature with a thin sword drawn and pointing menacingly towards the viewer, and a large saber tooth tiger like man somewhat akin to Smildon, except completely white with much more neatly kept fur. Well, that and he wore actual armor. He was roaring at an unseen assailant with his back to what had to be the woman from the card just above his. Behind them was a raven-like creature with frankly unnerving white eyes performing some kind of ritual.

"FrostBlighter, you won your last match here in the Amzen Drome, you will attack first."

Crap, Tom thought with a grimace. I'll be shocked if there is even one location in her deck that isn't in Glacier Plains.

The girl spun her location randomizer with a flick of her wrist, a blur of whites, grays, and blues twisting past their screens before settling on a cave-like area where the entire floor looked like it was made of ice.

"Loc Arta-Hal'ter, a giant frozen lake spanning most of the cave's floor. A hazardous location with random patches of thin ice and subzero waters."

"Sounds like a great place to go sight-seeing." Tom said sarcastically.

"Choose your attacking and target creatures," The Drome Master said, undeterred by Tom's comment.

Roxanne glanced through her choices before settling with a smirk.

"Let's start this with a bang." She said, speaking for the first time since they entered. "Hinya'iha attacks Maxxor!"

They both pressed their hands against their respective scans before their scanners and screens fell away. The familiar rush of blue light and code swirled around them, engulfing the two players before what was left in their place were the towering statures of their respective creatures.

Maxxor was a large muscular creature and probably one of the more humanoid of the Overworlders. 'Humanoid' being the key word, as he was over nine feet tall and had deep green skin. His black hair stuck up at odd angles with white streaks in it, and on top of that he also had deep purple marks decorated across his arms, legs and face. The bright red tunic that matched the creature's equally red eyes finished the look of one of the Overworld's most respected and beloved leaders.

Tom could feel himself standing straighter with Maxxor's commanding presence, confidence replacing his nerves as a smile played on his features.

Hinya'iha was a big creature, almost as tall as Maxxor. It was hard to tell what kind of build she had when the only part of her body left uncovered was her face, which was angular, pale blue, and her deep blue eyes sharp. She was also humanoid from what he could tell, exempting the unnaturally blue lips and fairly large tusks at the corners along with the pointed ears. And also the long thin tail with a large tuft of sleek black hair flicked back and forth behind the knee-length somewhat unnecessarily decorated dress. The collar, hem of her skirt and sleeves were lined with thick white fur. You could only see the tips of the creature's bangs peaking out from the odd headdress, the rest completely hidden by the white veil draped over her back. The sword from the card was strapped to her hips.

Roxanne also seemed to visibly straighten, shoulders laid back with her head held up high, a confident smile on her lips to match Maxxor's own grin.

Tom felt Maxxor's eyes drift to the odd crest that vaguely looked like an abstract snowflake that was sewn into the center of the headdress. He felt a vague sense of recognition, something about Maxxor's great grandfather, though he pressed the impulse aside. He needed to focus on his match.

"Let's get Chaotic!" They both exclaimed.

They both disappeared in a familiar flash of white light.

Tom's eager mood was somewhat dampened as the surrounds suddenly changed into the wintry wasteland of Glacier Plains, and bitter cold suddenly hit him like a ton of bricks. It sent shivers down the player's spine, and racked through the leader's own body.

"I forgot how much I hate fighting at Glacier Plains." Tom griped in Maxxor's deep baritone, clenching his teeth slightly to keep them from chattering.

'Couldn't she have at least attacked one of my creatures with fur?' Tom thought bitterly before thinking offhandedly. 'Speaking of the creatures, this must be really weird to watch.'

Meanwhile in Perim

"This is absolutely bizarre." The true Maxxor unknowingly echoed Tom's thoughts, his eyes wide with an uncertain expression.

He didn't get much objection from his fellows. They had set up the viewing crystals at a small round area not far from his castle. Maxxor would have been lying if he said that after hearing Tom talk so eagerly about his own fights in the dromes, he wasn't the least bit curious to watch. Plus it wasn't too much trouble, they had plenty of the crystals to go around so a couple somehow hooked up to Chaotic wouldn't be missed. And he was fairly certain that other creatures would be interested to see their human companions in their so fondly recalled competitions.

As they quickly discovered, it was going to take some getting used to. He could feel members of the, surprisingly large, audience glancing between their clearly present leader and his doppelganger in the crystal. There wasn't any real way of discerning the two from each other, so anyone who didn't know that it was a Chaotic Battle would be very confused right now.

Maxxor, meanwhile, was somewhat caught up in his own thoughts.

Should he be worried about the fact that he wasn't surprised that Tom was one of the participants in the first match? They hadn't set up a good way of announcing upcoming matches, plus he hadn't spoken to the boy directly in quite a while, so the participants really had been a mystery up until a few minutes ago.

But he hadn't really even blinked when Tom entered the drome, and it wasn't until after they had started the match that it occurred to him that maybe this was a bad sign. Tom had a somewhat infamous reputation among Maxxor's inner circle for getting into trouble. It used to be a joke among them, but lately it's been getting a bit ridiculous.

"Is something wrong?" Intress asked with a concerned look, ever conscious of her mate's moods. Intress was a beautiful cat-like creature with bright red hair cascading down her back, orange fur covering her body, and white marks covering her stomach and the lower half of her face, along with the dark reddish markings scattered across her arms, legs and face.

"It's nothing," He assured her, waving at her slightly, "It's probably just my imagination."

She accepted his answer before focusing on Tom masquerading as her mate and snickering a bit.

"What?"

"I'm not used to you looking so completely and utterly lost," She chuckled, gesturing to the increasingly frustrated expression Tom was making, which by extension etched itself onto the leader's face.

"I guess he isn't familiar with the location they're in." Maxxor reasoned before taking a good look at the location in question. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen that location before."

"I didn't recognize the creature he was fighting against either." Intress observed, green eyes going a bit wide. "And she doesn't look like she's from any of the other tribes...you don't suppose that she's a Glacian?"

"If she is, this is probably the closest anyone in Perim has gotten to seeing one since my Great Grandfather." Maxxor said,

Attacat and Arias charged in,

"Did the match already start?" The panther-like creature asked.

"Who's who?" Arias asked, staring wildly at the crystal. Tom was currently wandering around the frozen lake looking for his opponent, who as of yet was nowhere to be seen, and he was still making a rather silly expression.

"I don't know who the opponent is," Intress said before gesturing towards the crystal and the copy-Maxxor. "But the one playing as Maxxor is actually Tom."

"Majors?" Arias clarified. Neither Arias nor Attacat were really a part of Maxxor's inner circle, however both creatures had been under Tangath-Toborn's command during that skirmish at the Mipedian Boarder. Subsequently both creatures, along with the other members of the group involve, had been saved by Najarin's mugic and Tom's quick thinking. So naturally they'd have an interest in one of his matches.

"What other Tom could we be talking about?" Maxxor asked.

Arias suddenly turned to Attacat with a grin worthy of the Cheshire Cat.

"Ha! I told you! Pay up!" He cackled while Attacat grumbled.

Maxxor sputtered incredulously for a moment, Intress giving the two her own shocked look, before demanding,

"Wh-You two made bets on whether or not Tom would be in the first match!?"

He wasn't sure if he found this hilarious or frightening.

"Why not?" Arias asked as Attacat handed over a small pouch of money. "The kid shows up in practically everything important, I'd be more surprised if he wasn't in the first match!"

The Overworld Leader couldn't stop himself from groaning in exasperation, Intress grimacing in sympathy, before turning to the screen to glare at the unknowing source of his annoyance.

It was official.

He should definitely be worried.

"That child is going to be the death of me." He said, shaking his head.

"One's children usually are." Intress said with a knowing grin, prompting Maxxor to smile back.

It'd been a while since Intress had used that joke.

Not since...

He quickly pushed such thoughts away.

Today was a good day. Not the time for sad thoughts.

He'd rather find out if Tom was as good at fighting in the dromes as he claimed to be.

Back in the Drome

"I am so lost!" Tom exclaimed in frustration, wobbling dangerously on the ice before getting his balance again. He'd finally managed to find his way into the expansive cave, which was somewhat ironically dome-shaped and gray like the Dromes. Unlike the dromes, it actually had a rather large pillar in the middle with what looked like pathways leading up. He had yet to find the one that connected to the 'ground'.

He wobbled dangerously for what felt like the hundredth time, catching himself by clinging to a nearby rock for support. He really didn't want to fall on his ass like he had in his first match. It was embarrassing enough when he discovered people could see him making a fool of himself, but it wouldn't compare to the embarrassment he'd surely feel if he did something like that while the whole of Perim could watch.

He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to show his face anywhere for at least a month.

He was glad to say that he'd at least figured out the trick of avoiding the thinner patches of ice. He noticed that the landscape was sprinkled with transparent patches that exposed the greenish water underneath. It was probably a safe assumption that those were the hazardous patches in question, so if he avoided those he wouldn't run too much of a risk of falling in and becoming instant code.

Probably.

Any attacks that involved messing up the ground are out of the question though. He thought grimly, because that somewhat limited his choices in attacks.

He looked around again before huffing in impatience.

Where the Hell was his opponent?!

"FROSTBLIGHT!"

Tom barely managed to dodge the oncoming attack, which shattered the rock that struck behind him, sending bits of debris to the ice floor and through the transparent parts. He had to dig Maxxor's nails into the ice to keep from sliding around too much. And while sharp they weren't, say, claws like Intress had, so it actually hurt a bit.

He glanced up at his attacker, the Chaotic-girl masquerading as the proud Hinya'Iha. Peyton was right, she was moving in a way that shouldn't have been possible without actual skates. By all logic, she should be slipping and sliding as bad as he was! Instead she stood bold as day before him, smirking,

"What's the matter, Maxxor?" She asked, her voice taunting. Hinya's voice was deep for a woman but also rich, it held authority behind it. "Can't find your footing?"

She raced towards him, another attack charged in her hand.

Not this time!

"FLASH KICK!" He shouted, aiming low so that he hit near her feet. It had the desired effect, sending his opponent flying onto her front.

He probably took a bit too much satisfaction in watching the player tumble and slide rather ungracefully into the opposite wall.

She got up at the same time as him, though with much more stability, her smirk undeterred as she seemed to only get more excited.

"Oh-ho-hoh! Now you're in for it!" She cackled a bit, back arching as she took a deep breath "SPIRIT-!"

"POWER-!" He began, reeling both his fists back, about to thrust them forward.

They both stopped mid-attack, cut off by a heart-stopping screech that was all too familiar and all the more unwelcome.

No.

It...it wasn't possible.

Neither of them were the creature that could make that sound.

They were in a drome match, this wasn't the actual location, they should be alone!

They both spun around to face the source of the shriek, before they both screamed as well, the terror of the humans inside overriding the courage of the creatures they emulated.

"MILLA'IIN?!"