Chapter 10: A Rush to Live

"Are you insane?" Alex says, his fierce tone being used to describe the emotions that he is feeling in regards to the revelation that the mysterious Joe Dark had declared his alliance with the vile witch Cackletta. "Alex is right. Whatever ridiculous grudge you may have against him, it's not worth it to trust someone as manipulative as Cackletta!" Despite Mario's stern warning, Joe Dark simply rolls his eyes and laughs. "Does it look like I give a damn?" He says with a toothy grin, which causes the plumber to scowl and prepare his body to fight, holding one arm out in front of himself while crunching the fingers in his other hand into the shape of a fist and placing it near his gut. "Listen, I know we got off on the wrong foot before, but I am willing to give you a second chance considering how you are a well-known hero in this world Mario. Let me kill Whiter without any resistance, and I promise not to kill you and your friends."

Even if his extended hand and deeply sincere tone of voice, Mario isn't going to have anything to do with Joe Dark's demands. "No deal, I am not going to condone your insanity Joe Dark!" "Is that so?" The evil boy retracts his hand in disappointment, his grin turning into a frown as he shakes his head back and forth. "Well, such a pity that you have chosen this road. But at the same time, you are in luck, seeing as I can't do anything to you quite yet. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to meet with that green-skinned sorceress to claim the power I so rightfully deserve!" As Joe Dark gets ready to depart from the area with his hand ready to place the Water Stone into his pants pocket, a bright blue light is exuded from the object, which covers the room in its entirety and takes the boy holding onto it completely off-guard. "What is this?" He exclaims in surprise. The heroes, knowing what is about to happen, cover their eyes with their arms.

When the group can tell that the light has faded from view, they moves their limbs away to see just who the inner guardian of the Aqua Palace is. Hovering above the now de-activated fountain is a silver rectangular box with various shades of blue mixed into its texture. Its two square yellow eyes has a couple of black orbs floating around inside the glass, the robot seemingly incapable of keeping them in one place so it can focus on the heroes. There are eight hoses sticking out from the left and right sides of its body, each one flailing about. Joe Dark, having become blinded by the light, is struggling to regain his vision as he holds his opens hand out in front of his face. With his eyelids blinking rapidly, he does notice something off about what he can barely see. "Where is the stone? What happened to the damn stone?" He furiously asks.

He then looks up, and with his capability to clearly see now returned he notices the robot. Without a single clue about the functions of the Elemental Stones, he mistakes the being for a thief, and clenches his fingers tightly into the shape of a fist. "You mechanical nuisance! How dare you rob me of what I had earned!" The robot, having no visible hearing devices on itself, does not hear the evil boy's cries. Instead, it runs a diagnosis on the temple, sensing something amiss besides the obvious presence of the heroes. "Restraint E.O.S. has been eliminated...Water levels at minimum...Running procedure options...Outer Guardian Gecko Hydra's lifeforce has been TERMINATED...Interlopers confirmed...Preparing to-" Before the robot can finish its monotonous speech, Joe Dark thrusts both of its fists into its underside, the thick armor causing his knuckles to become damaged from the impact and alerting the robot to his existence.

As the evil boy unflinchingly pulls his fists back and growls, the robot spins around and moves its eyes down to scan him. "Damage to armor: Minuscule...Ferocity Level of Target: High. Situation Resolution Chosen: Forced Expulsion..." Without warning, the robot lashes its hoses out and wraps them all around Joe Dark's arms and his body's mid-section, which also takes the heroes by surprise. The robot then turns itself around as the evil boy squirms around trying to escape. "Let me go you infidel, I will not be denied, especially not by an emotionless machine like you!" As he gives the being a piece of his mind, Joe Dark successfully manages to slip his left arm out of his binding with his dagger gripped tightly in the hand. He then cuts two of the hoses apart with one fell swoop, which incites a reaction from his captor.

"Damage to Limbs: Major! Advancing to Resolution A.S.A.P." With great haste, the robot slams Joe Dark into the top of the fountain, breaking the structure apart slightly before he dips his remaining hoses into the water, causing some panels to retract in the ceiling. With the way now open to the skies above, the massive barrel of a cannon rises slightly out of the palace. As the drenched boy is about ready to pick himself up and attack the robot, it uses its hoses to pull water from the fountain and envelop his target within a tight bubble. With all preparations made, the robot activates the mechanism with a few words "Pressure Cannon Release!" The barrel then continues to rise at a slow pace, this action causing air to be pulled out of the palace and suck the helpless Joe Dark into the cannon, the robot itself being too heavy to even be budged. The panels are then quickly shut, and moments later the water bubble keeping the evil boy trapped is launched out between the lips of the barrel. Once high enough, the bubble bursts, expelling its hostage and sending him flying towards the ground in the distance, all the while his angered screams echo through the skies.

Back in the temple, the robot turns to the heroes, who watched in awe as it quickly dispatched Joe Dark with minimal effort. Worrying that they might be the next victims of the cannon, they inch back towards the passageway they had come through, their bodies in battle poses as they await some sort of response from the robot as it slowly approaches the center of the pool. "Scanning Threat Level of Enemy Targets...Cautious Movements Detected, Threat Level Determined to be Average. De-activating Solution Resolution: Forced Expulsion." Hearing that, the heroes stop moving, and as their rapidly beating hearts decrease their pace they each breathe a sigh of relief. However, this moment of ease is not to last, for as the robot's eyes glow the temple begins to shake violently. "Solution Resolution: Restoration of Temple...Process Initialized. Begin flooding of premises now!"

This news causes the heroes to simultaneously flinch, their eyelids thrusting open as their pupils shrink in surprise. At that very moment, the fountain begins to release a torrent of water, the water level quickly rising to the point that it is up to the heroes' kneecaps in a matter of seconds. "We need to get out of here, pronto!" Luigi exclaims, spinning his body around and pointing towards the passage to emphasize their need to escape. Making haste to escape the room, the robot's eyes turn red as the motions of its hoses become more violent. "Targets are Attempting Escape. Pursue and Eliminate with Extreme Prejudice!" With the room halfway flooded, the robot moves its limbs behind itself and expels bursts of water from the nozzles to rocket towards the heroes, its body crashing through the walls without a single scratching tarnishing its smooth surface. On the other side, the heroes have already leaped onto the first spinning platform when the robot comes through and quickly chooses to loom over them as the water from the previous room starts to gush out into the pit. As two glimmers are released from the pupils of the robot, the heroes get into their fighting poses as they must now fight against not only the inner guardian, but against the rising water level as well.

The Robot As Dedicated As The Ocean: Liquidizer Alpha

To make things difficult for the heroes, the Liquidizer uses its hoses to wet the spinning platforms, causing them to become as slippery as the fountain ones above. It then applies more pressure to the group by sending out concentrating blasts of water from each of its hoses, forcing the heroes to jump out of the way as the shots hit the platform. Alex pulls one over on the robot though by hovering in the air, placing his thumbs into his ears and waving his hands back and forth with his tongue stuck out and his eyelids closed to taunt the being over the fact that the slippery water can't affect him now. The Liquidizer catches these actions from the corner of its eye, and reacts appropriately. "Aerial movement detected. Threat level of target raised to High...Compiling Data to Initiate Counter Measures...Proce-"

While the robot spends time thinking the situation through, Alex flies up and quickly swoops down with his left leg held out, slamming the sole of his shoe down hard onto its head to disrupt its thoughts. With his shoes providing enough padding that the foot itself will not be harmed by attacking the metallic armor of the machine, the boy follows up his drop kick by rapidly assaulting it with a barrage of attacks from his feet, eventually causing its altitude to be lowered to the point that the bottom of it is now on level with the platform. Seeing an open opportunity to attack, Mario leaps forward to avoid the risk of slipping on the platform and delivers one hard punch into the area between the robot's eyes, which not only puts a small dent into the guardian, but also sends it tumbling back towards the wall behind it.

When the plumber lands on the ground, he almost loses his footing and falls off the edge, but Luigi runs over just in the nick of time and grabs his brother's right arm to pull him back. Of course, in his haste to save Mario he himself forgot about the slippery platform, and in turn needs to be saved by Driad lashing his vines out around the man in green stomach and using all of his might to keep him in place. All the while, Alex is paying attention to the water level, which is almost ready to overtake the platform. "Better hurry to the next platform gu-" Before he can finish, the Liquidizer pulls itself off of the wall and uses one of its hoses to hit the boy dead-on with a blast of water, which sends him catapulting into the opposite wall. Though Mario acts out of concern for the boy's health by exclaiming his name, he does manage to take heed to his prior warning and after gritting his teeth in anger for what the Liquidizer has just done he follows Luigi and Driad as they jump to the next platform.

The robot's eyes become a light-blue color as it slinks down into the water, its structure morphing into a gooey form so it can merge with the liquid. Alex, who is currently pressed against the now cracked wall, feels the water rising through the holes in his pant legs and the chill from it forces him awake, where he then uses his hands to push himself off of where is was stuck to and shakes his head to get himself together as he rises up to where the other heroes are at. "You ok Alex?" Driad asks as he notices the boy's sudden return. "Feeling somewhat dizzy, but besides that I'm good. Hey, where did the robot go?" He responds, his question being followed by him holding one hand above his eyes and looking around for the guardian.

The one thing he notices is that the surface of the water below the platform the others are on is bubbling. Before Alex can warn them, the robot pops out and breaks the platform apart easily with its hard head. Luckily, the heroes are able to leap off the chunks of rock and make it to the next platform, where Luigi quickly turns around and fires one quick Thunderhand shot at the robot from the tip of his pointer and middle fingers. To his surprise though, the Liquidizer fires a red beam from its left eye that burns right through the electricity and forces the man in green to backflip out of the way. As he skids a bit across the ground, he slams one hand down against the ground and snaps the fingers of the opposite hand. "I thought I would be able to short-circuit the thing..." He says out of disappointment. Mario tilts his head over his left shoulder to look at his brother. "Don't worry about it, I tried to take advantage of the previous guardian's supposed weakness, but it had something to counter it as well. I would assume that each of the inner guardians are like this, so we will just have to beat this one down with our bare hands."

"Ok." Luigi replies with a nod. With the water level about to overtake the platform, the heroes quickly move on, their nimble bodies avoiding the blasts from the Liquidizer's hoses until they are safe and sound. But they immediately move up to the next few platforms, eventually arriving at the ledge to the first passageway they went through. As Alex flies up to join them, he sees the robot spinning around vertically towards the heroes, its body smashing the platforms to pieces until it is at the ledge, where it then brings his metallic nozzles down onto it to break it apart as well. Mario and Luigi leap forward to avoid the attack and then bound off of the Liquidizer's head once it stops moving so they can achieve the height necessary to reach the next set of platforms. Driad is not so lucky though, for the robot grabs onto him with two of his hoses and brings the struggling flower in closer to scan it with its eyes. "Familiar Energy Signature Detected...Target identified as Driad, out-" Before it continues onward, Alex promptly slams his left fist into the side of the robot to knock it back an inch and give his flowery friend enough time to summon his leaf sword and cut himself free, where the boy then swoops on by and grabs him before he falls into the water.

"Thanks for the save Alex." Driad says in a relieved tone as he turns his vine back to normal. He notices the bruises starting to form on the boy's left knuckles, and out of concern he asks if he is alright. "Might've been a bit reckless by charging in there, but I'm just glad I was able to he-GACK!" The Liquidizer stops the boy mid-sentence by using its remaining hoses to grab both him and the Crayzee Dayzee. Not even bothering to waste time by saying anything, the robot opens a hatch on its head and tosses the two of them into his body, tightly sealing the way out and rising up to catch up with the Mario Bros., breaking apart as many platforms as it possibly can along the way. However, the two plumbers are ready for its arrival, and prepare one of their signature tag-team attacks to strike it.

From the center of the platform, Luigi leans forward with his hands pressed against his kneecaps, where Mario then uses his brother's back to extend his air time and jump forward in an arc. The man in green quickly scoots forward and turns his body sideways with his arms held out as his brother spins his body around with arms outheld. When Mario is directly above him, Luigi jumps up and grabs his feet, where the man in red continues to fly through the air with his propeller arms towards the ascending robot. Once they are directly above it, the two bros. spin around so they are now upside-down, where gravity finally takes hold and Mario brings the combined weight of both himself and his brother down onto the robots head through his palms, which crunches some of the circuits buried underneath the metallic surface and deals massive damage to the body in general.

Though the robot spazzes out for a few seconds, its recovery is swift enough that he rockets to the top floor right before the water level touches him, his sudden ascension rippling the surface below. Mario and Luigi are in front of it with their backs turned after the man in green let go and the two of them flipped up onto the floor. At this point, the water has been raised to its original level and instantly stops there. The Liquidizer's eyes glow with a dark red hue, as its voice becomes grated and more violent sounding than before. "Threat Level of Targets: ABSOLUTE MAXIMUM. Annihilation Mode Engaged. High-Pressure Water Authorized!" With the hoses then thrust out in front of its body, the robot fires thin streams of water that the Mario Bros. promptly dodge, but not before noticing now the water is capable of slicing through the ground with ease, clouds of steam seeping out of the newly made indents to indicate how hot the the liquid is as well.

With the two brothers giving each other a nod to show that they understand each others thoughts, they stand up and activate their hand powers, Luigi's right hand surging with electricity while Mario's left hand is surrounded by a veil of fire. Seeing as their two companions are trapped within the robot's body, the Mario Bros. know well enough that they can't just knock it around too hard, lest they risk harming them as well. With the water streams providing a major threat to themselves, the two of them decide to force the robot to utilize one of its other features long enough for them to get in close. So with one fling of a fireball by Mario and an electric bolt from Luigi, the Liquidizer lowers its hoses slightly and fires two lasers from its eyes to stop the elemental attacks. But due to their prior plans, the Mario Bros. are able to follow up their previous attacks by running forward and uppercutting the underside of the robot, pressing their fists in as hard as they can to try and push through the metal and hopefully break into it to save the others.

However, the Liquidizer catches onto their attack ahead of time, and loops his hoses downward and cocks the nozzles. Of course, the noise made by that preparation forewarns the Mario Bros. of the hoses' presence, and thus they remove their fists from the robot and roll backwards to avoid the water streams as they are fired. Without any sharp objects in sight, the two plumbers have no way of getting rid of the hoses. "Man he is tough!" Luigi notes as he snaps his fingers, somewhat annoyed by the fact that they were incapable of breaking through. "If only we could find the Elemental Stone. Then all we would need to do is separate it from the body to win." "But there have been no signs of it on the outside." The man in green responds to his brother. "So its up to Alex and Driad to find it. Very well, we will do what we can to stall the robot until they either accomplish that task, or we can manage to break through the armor to get inside."

"Near-Critical Damage Sustained...System Errors Detected in Over One-Hundred Programs..." At that very moment, the eyes of the Liquidizer become pitch black as it slams the hoses together and they all fuse together to create a massive serpent-headed aquamarine nozzle, its back then opens up and two rubber pipes fly out towards the water pit, where they rapidly suck the liquid in without there being any visible signs of it going into the body. "Final Attack Mode Engaged. Countdown to Giga Hydra Pressure Cannon in 30 seconds...29...28...27..." The countdown puts the Mario Bros. on edge, as they quickly surround both of their hands with fire and electricity and rapidly toss out fireballs and bolt shots to try and destroy the nozzle before time runs out. However, as light-blue sparkles shine around the nozzle to show its continuous charge sequence, the elemental projectiles hit it and vanish without doing ANYTHING to cause damage. All the while, the countdown edges ever closer to the end. "19...18...17..."

As all of these events have been occurring on the outside, Driad and Alex have been pre-occupied with their situation in almost-completely hollow insides of the robot. After pulling themselves up off the ground, they look at their surroundings to see if there is any way out, but nothing is found. "This doesn't add up. How can this guardian possibly be functioning without any advanced technology running inside of it?" The boy asks with his arms folded in front of his chest. "I'd imagine there is some wiring buried within the walls...That, or the stone is powering it. Speaking of that..." As the Crayzee Dayzee offers his opinion on the matter his friend had brought to the table, he points towards what may be the front of the robot, which Alex catches from the corner of his eyes and turns to look in that direction. Inside of a clear container filled with water in the center of the wall is the Elemental Stone that the guardian was summoned from.

"Huh, that's oddly convenient." The boy states in a deadpan tone as he gently rubs the bottom of his chin. "Why would the robot put us somewhere where we can easily defeat it?" Driad asks to himself as he summons his leaf sword. "Whatever, just give me ten seconds and we will be out of here." The flower warrior holds one vine up to tell his friend to stand back before he proceeds to run forward and pull his weapon behind his back, delivering one strong swing to try and break the container...Only for his body to start rapidly vibrating the moment the blade makes contact with it. As he stutters against his will, he is forced back to where he once was, Alex looking down at his right wrist as if there were a watch on it until Driad stops what he is doing and begins to twirl his head around out of dizziness. "Wow Driad, great going, I can't believe you actually got the job done in the amount of time you said you would do it in." The boy states in an overly sarcastic tone, a playful grin stuck on his face until his friend regains his composure and nudges him in the hip with his left vine.

"But I'm surprised, I thought I would've been able to break through that. What the heck is that container made of?" As Driad tries to think about how to handle the container, Alex cracks his knuckles and walks over to it. He then thrusts his good fist into it to try and break it, his efforts resulting in the bones in that hand cracking slightly due to how thick it is. The pain causes him to grimace, but he has little time to be worried about that as he feels the ground trembling beneath his feet as he pulls his hand back and shakes it around. It was at this very moment that the Mario Bros. had hit the Liquidizer with their uppercuts, and a couple of bumps appear in the floor to prove this fact. "Holy Monty Moley, what is going on out there?" Driad exclaims out of utter confusion. "Must be Mario and Luigi's work." Alex says as he turns around and recognizes that the grooves in the bumps match up with the plumber's gloves.

"Still, how are we going to break through this darn container? If you can't cut it open and punching it does nothing, then what other options are there?" As Alex paces around to come up with a plan, Driad takes two steps forward and puts both of his vines in front of his chest, twirling them around into a cylinder like form as he plants his feet firmly onto the ground. "You might want to stay behind me Alex." The flower warns his friend as a bright yellow light begins to slowly flow through the vines. The boy takes notice of what Driad is doing, and without a clue as to what he is about to do he automatically questions him on it. "What are you doing?" "Remember that ultimate technique I mentioned I could've used to destroy those vines in the Nature Castle? Well, I think now is a good of time as any to bust it out." "Are you certain it will work?" Alex asks, his voice sounding a bit hesitant about the whole plan seeing as he doesn't think that it will end well.

"Probably...About 90% certain, if that eases your mind a bit. It's too late to stop it now anyways since it has passed the halfway point, so please get behind me so I can end this." With some doubt still looming, the boy reluctantly goes behind the flower warrior's back as the light nearly reaches the tip of his vines. "Alright, here we go..." Driad pulls his vines back, the energy being unloaded from the vines and fusing together into a compressed orb that represents a miniature imitation sun. With his legs wobbling slightly, the Crayzee Dayzee swings his body as far to the left as he can and pushes his vine arms together. "Take this!" Before he thrusts his arms out to pound the orb, he pauses in place for two seconds and grimaces as his right leg suddenly bends forward an inch and dew starts to form on his face. But despite this he pushes himself to finish his attack. "HRAAAAH! Wild Bloom Release: PHOTON BLAZER!"

With the timeline of events that have been happening outside of and inside of the robot now been revealed, a return to the Mario Bros. perspective of things is in order, as the Liquidizer's countdown has reached the final ten seconds. Luigi has no idea on what to do against the nozzle, but Mario has one last attack in mind that just might work. With his hands still covered in fire, the overall wearing Italian puts his arms out in front of his body, swinging his left arm up above his head while the right one is swung below his waistline. He then pulls both limbs behind himself, ready to thrust them out as the intensity of the flames increase. Just as he is about ready to launch his attack, a light-red circle appears on the center of the robot's face, the size becoming increasingly bigger which in turn also makes the circle become brighter and brighter until it has become purely white, at which point a massive solar-powered beam burns right through the metal plating of the Liquidizer and moves through the air at speeds so fast that by the time Mario and Luigi are able to react to it it has already broken through the walls of the Aqua Palace and soared over the split seas, where the Toads manage to catch a glimpse of it for ten seconds before it thins out and vanishes.

Back in the temple, Mario lowers his arm as chunks of rock randomly crumble from the wall behind him. The guardian, now lying slanted on the ground, has shut down thanks to Driad's attack damaging it beyond the point where it should logically be able to function. Before the Mario Bros. can walk over and see if their allies are safe and sound, they both climb out of the hole that has been burned into the front of the fallen machine, with Alex holding the Water Stone up triumphantly in his left hand. Glad to see that they are ok, Mario lets out a sigh of relief and brushes his hand across his forehead. As the heroes reunite in the center of the room, the guardian turns into a series of ocean-blue sparkles that are immediately absorbed by the glowing Elemental Stone. "What did you guys do in there?" Luigi asks in an excited tone of voice, as he eagerly anticipates the story behind how they claimed victory against the guardian.

"Heh, you can thank Driad for this one." Alex says with a joyous smile on his face as he pats his flowery friend on the back of his head to congratulate him. "Oh, it was nothing...I'm just glad that we...were able to...win...Uhh..." With Driad's eyelids drooping from exhaustion, his breaths slowly becoming heavier until he suddenly just stops moving and falls flat on his face, his eyelids closing as he drops. This sudden collapse of their friend causes Alex to hold one arm out as his face flinches from shock, while Luigi yells out "Mama-mia!" and Mario kneels down to check up on Driad. Cautiously moving his right hand towards the underside of the Crayzee Dayzee's face in order to lift the head up. When he does so, he is horrified to find that Driad's face is slowly wrinkling up, with the petals and vines following suite due to them dehydrating. "What's wrong with him Mario?" Alex concernedly asks, his body bent forward as his eyes look ready to tear up. "...We need to get Driad to E. Gadd, stat!" The plumber states as he picks the Crayzee Dayzee up and throws him over his shoulders so he can carry him. Without wasting even a second, Mario sprints out of the temple, with Alex and Luigi quickly following behind after exchanging a worried glance with each other.

Meanwhile, in a random desert that lies far beyond the boundaries of Toad Town, Joe Dark can be seen limping around with a couple of cactus needles stuck in his right arm. "Damn robot...I had the Elemental Stone right in my grasp, and lost it to a freaking tin can that appeared out of nowhere! Then I get blasted at high speeds out of the temple, and land in a damn cactus! When I get my hands on that witch, I am going to-" "Ehehehehehehe! Had a little trouble, did we now?" After her familiar laugh has alerted the boy of her presence, Cackletta appears in front of him through a pod shaped portal of darkness, with Fawful hovering not far behind her. "Speak of the devil..." Joe Dark says with his head turned away slightly. The witch places the backside of her right hand underneath her chin and chuckles at the comment. "As much as I'd like to take what you said as a compliment, I know better than to compare myself to him."

"So what are you here for? Cause if you are looking for the Water Stone, then I don't have it." As the evil boy crosses his arms in front of his chest and turns his body around, Cackletta folds her arms into her cloak and grins. "I assume you encountered the inner guardian of the Aqua Palace and got expelled from the temple?" With what she just said being accurate, Joe Dark's eyes widen and he quickly turns himself around to give the witch a piercing stare. "Are you referring to the robot?" He says in a semi-pissed off voice. "Well I'm clearly not talking about the Eel." She responds in a sarcastic tone. "So you KNEW about it and neglected to tell me before I went in?" Joe Dark says, raising his voice as his patience starts to wear thin. "Ehehehe. Oh, I'm sorry...I just assumed that you would be able to live up to the tough act that you had put on for me when we made our agreement. I guess everything you said was simply the bravado of a foolish little boy..."

As the witch pleasures herself by continuing to taunt the angered boy, Joe Dark pulls out his dagger and holds it up to her neck. Fawful is about ready to summon his helmet to defend his mistress when she holds one hand out to halt his movements. All the while, she twists her head to stare down at the boy, her toothy grin and bulging eyes being the most prominent features on her face. "You told me that you would give me the power necessary to kill Whiter and his stupid little bodyguards, yet you toss me into a situation I was completely unprepared for, against an opponent I had no chance of defeating...I admit that I am weak, is that what you wanted to hear you twisted bitch? Now either you stop messing around and grant me what I desire, or I will cut you where you stand!"

With the tension between the two of them at its maximum, Cackletta quickly breaks it by swatting Joe Dark's dagger out of his hand and grabbing it into her right hand once it falls, slinking forward and wrapping the tips of her fingernails around the boy's chin and lifting him up slightly as she points the weapon right at his forehead. "Bold claim, but killing me would just set your goals back even further now wouldn't it?" The witch says as the evil boy scowls at her, his body unflinching despite the close proximity of the dagger, something she is quick to take note of. "Even so, you are certainly showing progress...Perhaps even faster than I had anticipated you would. Your anger towards me, your hatred towards the boy named Whiter and those who defends him, and your lust for power...All these emotions are growing stronger with each second, I can FEEL it. So long as you stick with me, the power you desire will eventually manifest itself, THAT, is a promise. Now, are you going to show some obedience, or am I going to have to stick this unsightly weapon through your skull?"

"Gah...Very well, I will continue to do what you ask me to do..." Joe Dark says with a great deal of reluctance, the answer being satisfying enough for Cackletta that she stands back up and flips the dagger out of her hand for the boy to catch and put away. "But only because I'm that desperate to kill Whiter, got it?" He adds on to his previous statement with a stern tone of voice. The witch, without looking at him, turns around and re-opens the portal of darkness that she and Fawful had come through. "I understand, Mr. Dark...Ehehehehe!" With one last laugh, the witch and her partner enter the portal. Joe Dark stands alone for a few seconds, and is about to enter when he hears a faint whisper speaking to him in his head. "Come to me...Come to me..." Considering the voice to be a hallucination caused by being in the desert sands, the boy pays it no heed as he enters the portal the second before it closes...

Next Chapter: Under the Sun, Above the Clouds