OPENING NOTES: Kupo14: 7 circles of hell? Nah, just three.Visited the place myself. Not a fun vacation spot-has a 100 depression rate-everybody's bummin. Actually, there may be 7 cirlces of hell, I have no clue. Just using 3 in this story cuz...well, that's all I got. :D

Kermit the Great:...you're sick.

Chapter Two: Murder in Ulara

With a desperate burst of strength, a skeleton hand burst through the black soil of Mayfil with a shriek of darkness. The hand gripped the ground, giving support enough for the rest of the body to emerge. The head and torso forced itself through the ground, gasping for breath. It leaned against the ground, taking a breather before its next task.

Lifting a shaky hand, the skeleton's eyes glowed deep red as a frightening, ghost-like cry, let out, summonding the darkness. The dirt of Mayfil trembled under the influence and flew to the skeleton. The dust swirled around the skeleton until it created a black, opaque tornado. When the force settled, Zackwell felt like his old self again.

Zackwell slumped over, panting heavily, looking himself over. The darkness of Mayfil's soil restored his body, refreshing his frightening image.

Utilizing his restored muscles, Zackwell pushed the rest of his body out of the ground and slumped on his back, breathing in the dark fumes that surrounded the city, restoring his stamina.

Zackwell could hardly believe he was even back on Earth. Lucifer allowed Zackwell to return to Earth on one accord: he had to get out of Hell by himself. Of course, this was no easy task, but when Lucifer isn't breathing down your neck, it becomes much easier. The process was slow and tedious, but it finally happened. He had literally pulled himself back together. However, he did not have the strength to become the monster that challenged the Rage Dragoon. He was barely powerful enough to maintain his humanoid form. The pain he felt upon restoring himself and even as he lay there reminded him of the battle he had with Sean. Every last detail ran through his head again.

After a moment of rest, he tested his voice.

"How...could he...defeat...me?" Zackwell wheezed. "How could...he be so...so powerful?" His mind raced back and forth, demanding an answer, but all it knew was vengance.

"He made a fool...out of me...he...ridiculed me...I lost...everything to him! I will...tear...him...to pieces...if it destroys me!"

He rolled onto his stomach. "This...this is unacceptable! I cannot stand for this...this...this mockery of an existance! It cannot come to pass again!"

Zackwell strained to pull himself onto his knees. "It will not happen again." He snickered as he ran over his plan once again. "He is not unstoppable. He is still human. He may be powerful, but I can still break him!" His strength slowly returning, Zackwell pushed himself onto his feet.

"Unfortunately...his destruction will have to wait a while. I have bigger plans that require early planning." He let out an evil, giddy chuckled. "So many ways to break them, I can hardly contain it!"

Zackwell cracked his knuckles and flexed his muscles, regaining his familiarity with himself. "Now then...what's the perfect opening to this chain reaction of destruction?"

Jennifer Edwards turned to her husband, Mike. She rubbed his arm lightly and whispered to him. "Mike...Mike, wake up."

"Mmm..." Mike muttered.

Seeing that this wasn't working well, Jenn moved in and tenderly kissed his lips. A second later, she felt him kiss her back wearily.

"Good morning to you too." He whispered.

"Hey there." She cooed.

"Hi...why'd you wake me up? I'm tired still."

"Because I have a question for you."

"Mm-hmm. What's that?"

She took his hands in hers and put them up to their faces with a big grin.

"Where the heck are we?"

Mike blinked and looked around. Sure enough, he was not in his room. However, he did recognize the style of the house. Mike jumped out of bed and ran to the window.

"Just as I thought." he turned around to his wife. "Hey, Jenn? Remember how you said you wanted to go on a vacation to somewhere interesting and exotic?"

Sean McMann threw off the covers and got out of the bed that he hadn't fallen asleep in, wearing clothes that weren't his. He walked across the house that he didn't own, exiting through the door he'd never entered and looked around the city he didn't live in.

Ulara, the Spring Breath Town. This beautiful haven was the last home of the winglies, the humanoid magicians that aided the dragoons on more than one occasion.

While the dragoons were great friends with these winglies, the only time they ever came to their home was when something was very wrong.

Sean ran down the cobblestone streets, right to the largest home in the city. It was more of a palace than a home, seeing as it belonged to the leader of the winglies: Charle Frahma.

Sean walked right into the house and found his way into the dining room. Several winglies were just setting the table. They all looked up at him in shock. After looking at each other for a moment, one turned back to Sean.

"You're here early. Breakfast is still being prepared."

"Breakfast, huh? I thought so. Where's Charle?"

"Uh..." He looked around, but nobody knew. "We don't know. She said that she was going to eat with you all today and explain everything, so...I guess wait until then."

Sean thought about it and nodded. "Alright...until then."

The Dragoons weren't too happy about being pulled from their lives and thrown into a completely different setting with no warning at all. Jenn, however, was extatic.

"Ulara?" She exclaimed. "The Ulara!"

"There's only one." Mike nodded.

"Wow." Jenn was highly admiring the scenery. "This is awesome! How long are we staying here?"

"Hopefully not long." Mike said. "Every time we come here, it's for a bad reason."

"Really? Like what?"

Robert Williams stepped in, leaning on Mike's shoulder.

"Hmm, well...the first time we were taken here...we ended up fighting Melbu Frahma, where we almost died, so...that was unpleasant."

Brad Sparks came in and leaned on Mike's other shoulder. "After that, we came here a bunch of times because we were getting knocked out of commission one by one. Your husband's throat was slit on that adventure."

Brad's wife Brittany came up behind Mike, peering past his head. "And then we were all here because out souls were stolen. Basically, we're only here on emergency purposes."

Jenn looked around the place. "Why?"

All four of them looked to each other for a reason, but couldn't find one.

"So...we know there's a problem?" Brad tried.

Jenn rolled her eyes and moved past the four stooges.

"What about you, Marian? You said you were from here, right?"

Marian Williams, Robert's wingly wife nodded.

"That's right. This place hasn't changed all that much, but you can't really expect it to."

"We'll explore the place later." Robert promised her. "That sound good?"

"Sounds real good."

"An explination would sound better." Sean muttered.

"Well," Robert spoke up. "She hasn't been here in a long time and I'm sure she wants to-"

Sean rolled his eyes. "I mean about why we're here."

Melissa McMann just shrugged. "Oh, I'm sure it's a good reason."

Sean waved his hand at Mike and his entourage. "You heard them! It's never a good reason!"

Melissa chuckled. "I just hope Eric is okay." Eric was their two-year-old son.

"Hey!" A familiar voice called. Christie Freeman and her husband Ben were rushing to meet up with the gang. Actually, Christie was rushing and Ben was just stumbling, seeming to be in a daze.

"What took you too so long?" Sean asked them.

"Oh, you know Doctor Sleepheavy." Christie sighed, indicating Ben, the heaviest sleeper in the group.

"Ahh." Ben muttered. It was all the energy he had to say.

"And I advise you watch what you say. He didn't get much sleep and he's not happy about it."

"Ahh." Ben said again.

"C'mon, guys." Sean led. "Let's see what Charle need us for this time."

Four years had passed since the nightmare with Zackwell and much had happened.

Mike had married his college sweetheart, Jenn. Ever since he told her his secret, she was always asking questions about his lifestyle. She wanted to know everything about what Mike did, which he was more than happy to bestow with a little exaggeration of his character.

Brad and Brittany had their first child, a little girl, Sabrina, who would be four in a couple months. Afterwards, Brittany put herself on an extreme workout program and got back into her lovely figure. After all, one has to be in shape to fight evil.

Ben and Christie were still going strong. They'd often been told that they were the perfect couple and they were displaying it boldly. Their son Mark was now four, but like Brad and Brittany, they hadn't told their child about what they did. As far as they were concerned, they were too young to understand. Besides, ignorance is bliss.

Speaking of bliss, Sean felt like he was in the pinnacle of his life. After finally marrying the love of his life, Melissa, he felt like nothing could go wrong. He was keeping his pride in check. After all, the last thing he wanted to do was botch his relationship with her now. As far as he knew, if he made another mistake like that, she would leave him for good, which he could not bear. Their relationship was going very well. They even had a son, Eric, who was now two years old.

Robert and Marian...were actually the same, a human and a wingly who worked out their differences and stuck together. Marian was wondering about having a child of her own, but every time Robert thought about the "fun possibilities" of a cross-breed, she reconsidered.

After four years, the Dragoons were awakened from their peaceful slumber. They could only hope the darkness would not be as difficult to conquer as the last one. Only Sean could fully remember the glory and the horrors of the last battle. He had unleashed the powers of all eight dragoons and created an entirely new power: the Rage Dragoon. After seeing an apparation of his fallen step-mother, Sean unleashed his anger up Zackwell, obliterating the monster for all time.

Zackwell had been the source of all of Sean's pain. Once he was dead, Sean knew that the worst of his problems was through. At this point, he figured he could handle anything.

The eight dragoons, the wingly, and the human, all walked together into Charle's home and sat around the dining table with Charle at the head. As soon as the food was served, Sean began the interrogation.

"Okay, Charle. Why are we here?"

"Don't you like Ulara?" She toyed.

"Sure, but the last time you took us here in our sleep, we ended up fighting Melbu Frahma. I can't wait to hear what you have for us this time."

"Always right down to business." Charle sighed. "Alright, here's the situation: something is stirring. We've sensed an impending darkness, but we're not positive of what it is."

"Do you know anything about it?"

"Well, it's unpleasant and unhappy. Those are the only things we've felt. However, what alarms us the most is where we think it is headed: here."

"Here?" Sean repeated. "You mean like right here in Ulara?"

"Exactly."

"But I thought this place was hidden." Melissa spoke up.

"It seems that this darkness found us. We'll be ready when it comes, but having all of you around would certainly give us an edge, you understand?"

"You want us to stick around and kill this thing, huh?" Sean gathered. "I'm not saying no, but I wish you could give us more intel."

"When we have more, we'll report it to you."

Sean looked at the rest of his group. "What do you guys think? Stay here for a while?"

"I will!" Jenn bounced.

Mike laughed. "She loves this place."

"Well, thank you." Charle smiled.

"But that brings up a point." Mike continued. "I'm a little surprised that you brought her here. I mean she's only human."

"Hey!" Jenn snapped.

"Well, she already knew about your powers." Charle explained. "Besides, I'm not sure you would want a decoy imitating you now that you're married. After all, I'm sure she wouldn't know the difference..."

"I get it." Mike shook the image out of his head. "Anyway, I can stay for a while I guess."

"Ditto." Brad nodded. "I need a change."

"Yeah," Brittany spoke up, "But what about Sabrina, or the other kids?"

"We've sent decoys to take your places as usual." Charle promised. "Your children will be taken care of."

"Then I'm cool." Christie nodded.

"I'm good." Ben agreed.

"Thounth good." Robert mumbled through mouthfuls of food. Everyone seemed to like the idea.

"We'll try to keep you as short a time as possible." Charle said. "We'll see what happens from there."

"Okay." Sean said. "But about our weapons and clothing..."

The Dragoons obtained a few weapons to use until their own equipment was returned to them. They practiced with each other and trained winglies for hours. They couldn't all fight at once, though. If the evil struck when they were all weary, they were doomed. They practiced in shifts. While one group practiced, the other group woulud be on the lookout for anything. Evil did not come to Ulara that day, so they all turned in for the night. The next morning, a horrible surprise awaited them.

Sean awoke with a start, seeing that he wasn't breathing. He found Melissa with her hand closing his nose.

"Did I snore?" He mumbled.

"Nah." Melissa asnwered. "I just wanted you to enjoy the morning with me, that's all." She rested her head on his shoulder and stroked his chest.

Sean kissed her forehead and snuggled next to her. "I'm already enjoying it."

At that oh-so-untimely moment, their door burst open and a female wingly stepped in. It was Caron, Charle's closest friend and assistant. She looked horrified.

"Caron?" Melissa asked.

"There have been several murders." Caron reported. "Five to be exact."

Sean bolted straight up. "What!"

"Charle thinks it might have something to do with the evil she sensed coming. She wants you all to investigate."

"We're on it."

None of them were real detectives, but they decided to give it a shot. Five murders in one night. No one had known anything until the next morning. The frightening thing was that the culprit was probably still in the city.

No one knew where to start, so the chief wingly detective took them into the home of one of the victims.

"It's the strangest thing." The detective said. "We inspected the body and concluded that there was no struggle at all. The victim died in his sleep, stabbed through the heart by a slightly curved blade."

"What's so strange about that?" Ben had to ask.

"Wait until you see the bedroom." He led them into that room and saw the body with a horrid gash in its chest. "Barely had time to think."

"Well, other than the dead body," Christie said, "what's unusual?"

"That." The detective pointed to a wall, to a drawing in blood.

"Oh, that's lovely." Brittany squirmed. The picture was runny, of course, but distinguishable.

"Looks like a can." Melissa observed. "I don't get it."

Sean turned to Mike. "Mike. You're pretty good with puzzles and stuff, right?"

"Yeah."

"Think you can decipher it?"

Mike stared at him, then at the blood painting. "It's...a bloody can. That doesn't mean anything to me."

"There were pictures in the other houses too." The detective informed him. "Perhaps they are linked?"

"Well, that might help." Mike admitted.

"Okay," Sean said. "Mike, you stick around and figure it out. The rest of us are going to train. This thing could still be in Ulara."

"Got it." Mike nodded.

"Can I stay too?" Jenn asked.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Mike shook his head. "They say the murderer always returns to the scene of the crime."

"Ah, you'll protect me!"

"Jenn..."

"Alright, alright. Have fun without me."

"Will do!" He kissed her cheek and she walked off.

Each home had the same scenario: a victim struck down in his or her sleep by a stab wound to the heart. The only thing different about each setting was the blood paining. The blood on the second wall illustrated a hand pointing outward, to the person looking at the picture. The third picture was another hand, but it simply had its palm out with all fingers pointing upwards as in a "halt" motion. The fourth bloodbath depicted a brain.

"A can, two hand signals, and a brain." Mike ran them over again, drawing the pictures on a notepad as they walked into the last home. "Maybe this last picture will solve the riddle."

"I doubt it." The detective scoffed.

"Why's that?"

"Take a look." They walked into the room and Mike looked around. There was no blood on the walls. He even looked on the ceiling, but there was nothing.

"Okay..." Mike scratched his noggin. "Maybe the point is that there's no picture." He wrote "blank wall" on the notepad. "Alright...let's break this down piece by piece. A can...a can...okay skip that one. The pointing hand. I guess that means us, or from the killer's point of view, 'you.' The palm-up hand looks like 'halt.' And the brain...what could that symbolize? A mind? And the blank wall...oh that one's easy to figure out."

"What does it mean?" The detective asked.

"It means I've got nothing! I'm blank! I can't figure this stupid thing out. For all I know, this creep did this just to confuse me." Mike rubbed his temple. If there was one thing that bugged him, it was not being able to figure something out. "Come on, Mike. What would they do on C.S.I.?"

"What?" the detective asked.

"It's a TV show where they solve crimes. I've watched a million episodes and I know there's something I'm not thinking of." He looked around. "Or something I'm not seeing." The more he wondered, the quicker he thought. "Maybe...I just can't see it..." Instantly, Mike jumped up and ran out the door. "I'll be right back!"

"Demon's Dance!" Melissa shouted. Robert stumbled back and fell to the ground. Melissa pointed her sword at his throat. "You're dead."

"Nice job, Melissa." Sean said. "Alright. Robert, you get out here and Christie, go in." But then, Mike ran in and grabbed Melissa's arm.

"I need your help!" Then he was off, dragging her behind him. The other Dragoons looked at each other in confusion, and then followed.

Mike brought Melissa back to the room.

"Mike! What's going on?"

"Look!" He waved his arm around the room.

"There's nothing here."

"So it seems." He said as the other Dragoons caught up to him.

"Yo, Mike, what' going on?" Ben asked.

"Every murder sight had a picture except this one, but I think there's something here. We're just not seeing it. Why? Because our eyes can't distinguish it. Most crime labs have to use black lights to see blood. That's why I dragged you here, Melissa."

"You want me to be a black light?"

"Yeah! You're the Darkness Dragoon! And I need you to cancel out all other light. You can do it, can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Alright, hang on." Melissa closed her eyes and silently called upon her powers, tapping into her Dragoon Spirit. The spirit shimmered and filled her with dark magic. The adrenaline flowed through her veins and exited through her body, surrounding her in a dark bubble. When it vanished, Melissa was clad in the dark blue armor of the Dark Dragoon.

"Okay." Mike nodded, having seen it a thousand times. "Kick it!"

Melissa's spirit shone again and filled the room, extinguishing all light. From that spirit, there shone a bright, deep blue light. She looked to her right and still found a blank wall. When she turned to her left, she stopped and gasped.

"Just as I thought." Mike said. There was a picture there, but this one made much more sense. For a moment, nobody spoke, for they all recognized it. They just stared at the picture.

Finally, Sean's fist clenched as he sneered at the figure in the picture. "Zackwell."

The picture showed Zackwell stabbing someone in the chest with his scythe, but he was facing the Dragoons and pointing to himself with his thumb. A large smile was spread across his face.

Mike looked through the pictures again.

"Well it's obvious who the murderer is, and I think I've figured out the riddle. The can really meant 'can', the pointing hand meant 'you', the palm-up hand meant 'halt' or 'stop' and the brain resembled thinking. And look the picture shows Zackwell pointing to himself. Besides this one, we saw the pictures all out of order. Zackwell is speaking. He's saying 'Think you can stop me?'"

"But if Zackwell murdered those people," Sean said, "then that means…he's alive!"

"Exactly!" An all-too-familiar voice bellowed from above. The Dragoons looked up as Zackwell grinned from where he clung to the ceiling. "Alive and ready for REVENGE!"

Zackwell shot to the ground. The instant he hit it, a black shockwave burst around the room, blasting the Dragoons out of the house. They scattered in the air with the explosion, protected only by their dragons, which were quick enough to create shields to protect their spirit bearers.

Sean hit the ground and rolled to a stop. When the blast erupted, Zackwell shot himself into the air. He flipped in the sky and landed over Sean, his scythe in hand and a cold, malicious grin on his face.

"We meet again." He snickered.

Sean shook his head in disbelief. "No...no way! You're dead! I killed you!"

"And how unpleasant it was!" He swung his scythe down.

Sean's Dragoons Spirit shimmered brightly as Sean crossed his arms. The armor plating on them blocked the blade. Sean's arm transformed into its cannon form and he fired a quick blast at Zackwell strong enough to knock him back into the sky. Sean catapulted up as the rest of his armor encased him. Normally, Sean would stay on low-power, but he knew Zackwell was much too strong of an enemy for that.

Zackwell landed on his feet and thrust himself forward again. Sean fired another blast from his cannon, but Zackwell dove under it and rolled into a high jump, swinging his blade down.

Sean drew his own blade and blocked his strike, plus several others. Brad jumped back up and rushed to the scene. He lifted his hands up into the sky as dark clouds quickly rushed together.

"Atomic Mind!" He swung his arms down as a great bolt struck Zackwell in the head. Sean took the opportunity to stab his foe in the belly. Zackwell grunted at the stike and shot his hand out, blowing Sean back.

The deep, normally fatal wound was quickly healed by Zackwell's dark magic. "As you can see, my regenorative skills have increased." He jumped and backflipped to avoid Ben's dive-bomb and turned to face the other dragoons rushing at him. He grinned as they surrounded him, weapons drawn.

"I'm flattered that you all want a piece of me," Zackwell said, "But I'm afraid that there is only one Dragoon that I am interested in."

Sean stepped forward. "Let me take a wild guess at who it is." He brandished his blade. "Let me do this, guys. You'll know if I need help."

Zackwell cocked his head. "You're awfully concieted, aren't you?" Zackwell dove at him and their blades clashed, but Zackwell rolled over the attack and jumped to the side. Sean turned to face him again and froze in shock.

Zackwell stood behind Christie with the tip of his scythe at her neck.

"One wrong move and she dies!"

"Christie!" Ben exclaimed.

"Let her go, Zackwell!" Sean commanded. "It's me you want!"

"How right you are, and yet how wrong."

Christie spoke up. "One thing you'll learn about us Dragoons, Zackwell: We don't take kindly to threats." Christie's wings shone with white light and cut through Zackwell's sides and shone even brighter, burning Zackwell from within.

He cringed, but kept his grip on her.

"I spent years in a light prison." He seethed. "I'm used to this treatment!"

Zackwell grabbed her throat and black energy swarmed through her body.

"AAAAHHH!" She cried out.

"Christie!" Ben shouted, but he dared not move, due to Zackwell's threat.

Soon, Christie's dragoon armor faded away as she fell limp in Zackwell's arms.

"You-!" Ben started towards him, but Zackwell stopped him.

"Stay back!" His scythe was still pointed at her throat. "She is still alive. After all, I have big plans for her." He grabbed her Dragoon Spirit and tore it off her neck. "If you want her back, come get her in Mayfil!"

Zackwell's wings spread wide as black smoke surrounded them. "By the way...you should check on Charle. She's not feeling too lively." Zackwell's wings curled around himself and his captive as he the smoke surrounded them. Within it, Zackwell and Christie disappeared, his evil cackle filling the air.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: What could Zackwell be up to? Why would he want Christie? This is only the primary phase of Zackwell's diabolical plan, so stay tuned to find out just what he's up to. Please review this chap, though!