Author's Note: It's been a while since my last update. I'm in the middle of a move right now and it's tiring me out. Don't worry, I'm still working on the stories!

The Dragon's Orb

By HeyKoolAid

A Little Help

Zack seemed to stumble at the mention of his father's death. Andi kept a firm grip on his arm to keep him from falling. "My dad's dead?" he asked breathlessly. "What do you mean?"

Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't seem to understand, Zack. Your whole family is gone. Nobody knew Jacob. Your dad died several years ago, trying to save you and your mother from a house fire. After that, nobody has seen you two. Why'd you come back?"

Zack shook his head. Was this the same Marcus as the one back home? He looked at Marcus in the eye. "My dad is not dead. I saw him only a couple days ago."

"Zack, you're delusional!"

"I'm not the same Zack! And you're not the Marcus we know!"

There was a silence as the two stared at each other. Marcus had risen an eyebrow and Zack just scowled. Andi had let go of him once he calmed down enough. She noticed he was still shaking, either from anger or nervousness. She cast a glance at Cassie, who responded with a shrug. "What does Marsilio want with you guys?" Zack asked, changing the subject.

"He wants us to retrieve a piece of treasure he lost," Marcus replied. "He told us it may not be in the same…what was it…Realm as ours."

"So you know there are different Realms," Zack said.

"Yes…" Marcus paused mid-sentence. He seemed to be thinking hard about something and then his eyes lit up. "…so what you're saying is that you guys are from a different Realm?"

"More or less," said Andi.

Marcus nodded his head. "I see…well, Marsilio also said that if we ever meet others searching for his treasure…because, you know…it's like a big treasure hunt to him…he wanted them eliminated." He laughed and brought up his pistol. "Haha, and if that's the case, Zack…" He suddenly pointed the pistol at Andi. "…we'll see how well you can use your powers!"

Everything slowed down for Zack. He put up his arm to grab Marcus' arm and push it away, but it was too late and he pulled the trigger. Zack dodged the bullet miraculously, and watched it head straight at Andi. He spun around and slammed Marcus's arm, causing him to drop the gun. He then grabbed him by the head and threw him at his two friends, Tanner and Laura.

Zack stopped and began breathing normally again. Everything around him seemed to return to normal and he looked at Andi, who had her hands up, and surrounded by some kind of bubble. He smiled at her, but was tackled from the side. The two rolled around on the ground before he could figure out who it was.

Tanner, standing at about six foot three and weighing just over two hundred pounds, grabbed Zack by the shoulders and tossed him easily at the nearby house. Zack crashed through the walls, landing near the old grandfather clock again. Tanner began walking towards him, but Cassie jumped in front of him suddenly.

"You're not going anywhere," she said. Tanner stared at her with a raised eyebrow. Her hand suddenly crackled with tiny sparks, then suddenly erupted with bolts of lightning. She held out her hands towards Tanner and released the lightning.

Marcus pulled himself up, shaking his head. He saw Tanner get hit with the lightning bolt. He growled and took a couple steps towards Cassie, but a hand grabbed him and turned him around. "What the - ?!"

Justin smiled as he punched Marcus in the face, causing him to fall to the ground. "I don't think that'd be smart, Mr. Marcus," he commented.

"Justin!" Andi said. Her bubble had disappeared. "Where were you?"

"In there," Justin said, pointing at the house. "I heard all the commotion out here, so I decided to check it out. Where's Zack?"

"He got thrown in the house," Andi said, and she pointed at Tanner. "By that guy."

Justin nodded his head. "Of course, he's almost twice his size…" he mumbled. He looked down at Marcus, who began stirring. Justin grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him up. "You shouldn't mess with us," Justin said.

Marcus grumbled. "Just you wait…" he mumbled. He began fidgeting for something on his waist. Justin shook his head.

"You lookin' for this?" he asked, holding up Marcus' pistol. Marcus' eyes widened. "You shouldn't leave these lying around," Justin continued to say. "They might fall into the wrong hands."

"Hey you guys! Be careful, there's another one of them floating around here!"

Justin, Andi, and Cassie looked towards the house. Zack was crawling out of the hole and there was something different about him.

"What are you talking about?" Justin asked curiously.

"The girl! Uh…Laura I think her name is!" Zack yelled.

Justin caught movement in the corner of his eye and he aimed the pistol in the direction. He didn't see anything. He stared for a moment, and then Cassie yelled out his name. He turned around to see Laura standing in front of him with a look of disgust.

"You should be more careful," she hissed, grabbing Justin's arm, causing him to lose grip on Marcus' shirt. Marcus fell to the ground again, but this time, he crawled away as fast as he could. "Now give me the gun," Laura said, motioning for the pistol.

Justin gave her a sly smile. "This? You want this?" He suddenly tossed the gun up in the air. Laura let go of Justin and stared at the gun as it flew through the air. Justin took this time to head butt her and sent her staggering backwards.

"Cassie! A little help!" Justin called out, as he watched the gun fall towards the ground.

"On it!" Cassie yelled back, stepping towards Laura. Her hands suddenly began sparking and she let loose another volley of lightning. Laura was struck and she flew several feet. By this time, Justin caught the weapon and carefully took out the magazine. He looked up in time to see Laura unconscious on the ground.

"Holy shit, Cassie!" Justin exclaimed. "I didn't ask you to kill her!"

Cassie stared at the body lying on the ground. "Nah, I think she's out cold," she said with a wink.

At this moment, Zack finally managed to climb out of the house and examine the scene. In the distance, Jacob still lay on the ground where he was knocked unconscious. Tanner, the one who threw Zack into the house, lay close by with a burn mark on his arms. He was sitting up and trying to tend to his wounds. To Zack's left, Andi and Cassie, were standing around, looking for signs of Marcus. As Zack continued to survey the scene, he noticed a Laura's body lying close to Justin, who was holding a pistol.

"Shit," he mumbled to himself. He walked over to Cassie and put his hand on her shoulder. "She's not…?"

"No, she's not dead."

Zack felt relieved and stared off in the distance, but only for a few seconds. He noticed Justin managed to get a hold of Marcus again and was holding him up by his shirt. "Andi, you and Cassie get out of here. I think our time here is almost up."

"C'mon, Cassie," Andi said, motioning for Cassie to follow here and the two began walking towards the house.

Zack approached Justin and Marcus, who were arguing about something that caught Zack off guard. He quickly interrupted the two. "Hey! What's going on here?"

"We were just talking about WoW," Marcus said, causing Zack to raise an eyebrow.

"Look, I'm not interested in WoW," Zack replied. "Where's your buddy Carlos?"

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "How should I know? By now, he's probably long gone. I don't keep tabs on those guys."

"Where would he have gone?"

"Probably looking for the Orb."

Zack glanced at Justin, who returned his glance with a shrug of his shoulders. "Orb? What is this Orb?"

Marcus laughed. "It's that treasure Marsilio asked me to look for. Said it contained his friends in it or something and wants us to break it open for him."

"To release his so called friends?" Zack asked.

Marcus nodded his head. There was a moment of silence as Zack thought it over. "What's in the Orb?"

"I just told you! It contains his friends! What did you expect, candy?!"

"Why you so eager to help him get his friends?" Justin asked. He finally let go of Marcus, but kept the pistol aimed at him just in case he tried to do something stupid.

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. He gave me powers and I figured I can at least, you know, repay him by helping him out."

Zack scoffed. "That's no way to make new friends," he mumbled. He looked around at Laura and Tanner. "What do we do about them?"

Marcus followed Zack's gaze and flinched. "Ugh! What did that little b – "

Zack grabbed Marcus by the neck to make him shut up. "Don't insult MY friends while I'm here," he warned. He made sure Marcus understand who was in charge before he released his grip. "Now…" he continued. "…seeing as we have you as our prisoner, I suggest you tag along with us to find your buddy Carlos."

"What about them?" Justin asked, motioning towards Tanner and Laura.

Zack looked at Tanner, who finally put something on his burns. "They get to stay," he said. "Looks like whatever Cassie did to them hurt 'em pretty badly."

Marcus nodded his head. "Very well," he said with a sigh. "I only have one request, though…"

"No, not going to happen," Zack replied quickly.

"But you don't even know…!"

"I can't have you armed. Not even with a spoon. I can't endanger the lives of my friends."

"I won't even hurt you guys!"

Zack glared at Marcus. "Look," he said in a firm voice. "After what happened tonight, I can't trust you."

Marcus scowled at Zack and then Justin elbowed him. "Don't worry," he said with a wink. "I've got plenty of weapons with me." He opened up his trench coat to reveal several weapons hidden underneath. Both Marcus and Zack gawked at him.

"Where'd you get those?" they both asked at the same time.

"You let me worry about that," Justin said, winking again.

"And where'd you get that coat?" Zack asked.