Me: *sulking at a corner*

Eli: What's with him?

Cross: I don't know. He kept saying that how he must add more flavor to his battle scenes and more depth and spiciness into the story's plot.

Eli: When did he become a chef?

Cross: I dunno. Just do the disclaimer so that the readers can start reading the story.

Eli: Silent Treecko doesn't own GC and its characters. He only own his OCs and the story and the rest doesn't belong to him.

Cross: Start reading!

Eli: They're already reading.

Cross: -.-

Ch. 26: Boy of the Prophecy

Third Person POV

Cross was staring coldly at the Chase, giving some of them with mixed emotions.

"What are you doing here, Cross?" Eli shouted.

"It's none of your business," he replied.

"NONE OF MY BUSINESS?" Eli shouted. "After all that we've done to search for you, you're just going to tell us that it's NONE OF MY BUSINESS?"

"I don't have time for you all," Cross said.

Eli fired another shot and Cross blocked it like he did before.

"What happened to you, Cross?" Eli asked. "Something changed with you."

Cross just stayed silent.

"What's with him?" Elesis said to the others.

"He somewhat... changed," Aira said.

"It's like he's not himself," Brendan commented.

"Is he... being controlled or something?" Aura said.

"Those two things that are glowing on his head, it looks suspicious," Mari said.

"I can feel some kind of energy from those things," Arme said.

"I've seen him like this before," Eli said.

"When?" Amy asked.

"When he was troubled about being the boy of the prophecy," Eli said. "Back then, he was frustrated about himself, thinking of bringing such a heavy weight."

"That kinda felt like being the only one left in the Silver Knights," Jin said.

"Back then, he was like this. He gives the cold shoulder to people, even to me," Eli said.

"But what is the cause of his actions?" Ronan said.

Just then, Cross was walking away from the Grand Chase.

"Stop!" Elesis shouted. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"Somewhere away from here," Cross said.

"You're not going anywhere!" Elesis shouted. "We demand answers!"

Then, mummies appeared everywhere.

"Them again!" Ace said.

"And there's a lot of them," Lire said.

Eli noticed that Cross was trying to cover more distance between them.

"Stop!" Eli shouted but Cross didn't paid any attention.

"I'll stop him," Zero said. "You guys take care of these monsters."

Zero charged after Cross while the others fought that monsters.

"Let's finish this. Bullet Shower!" Eli shouted.

Zero's POV

I charged after Cross and while doing so, I whipped out Gran.

"Stop there." I said and Cross turned around.

"Go back with the others. They'll need your help," Cross said.

I saw that the others are fighting the crowd of bandaged corpses which seem to continue to grow in numbers.

"I said to Eli that I'll make you stop in your tracks. I can't let you go now," I said.

"Sorry but I won't even stay here longer," Cross said.

"I'm going to make you stay here even if it means that I'll have to fight you," I said.

"Bring it on," Cross said. "I hope that you won't swallow your words later."

'I can feel the energy flowing inside him… change into something more powerful…' Gran said to me.

"I can feel it too, Gran," I said. "But, I have to stop him no matter what."

"Stopping me… won't help all of us," Cross said.

I charged and slashed Cross but he quickly dodged. Knowing that he has armor, I gave more force into my attacks. I continued to hack and slash away but Cross seems to be too fast for my attacks to even land.

'Zero, it's no good if you will hold onto this stance. He's just too fast,' Gran said.

'I know. But the problem is, how will my attacks will get through that armor of his?' I said to Gran.

'Try cornering him out,' Gran said.

'Gran, that won't even be possible,' I said.

"Boulder Throw!" Someone shouted.

Just then, a big boulder was moving quickly towards me. I quickly whipped out Gran and slashed the boulder into half. Just then, he was in front of me. He ducked and I tried to get away from him but he caught me with a kick. He continued his roundhouse kicks and lifted me into the air by an uppercut kick. He shouted "Ground Slam!" before he slammed me back into the ground with great force. I got up quickly and brought my hand over Gran's eye.

"Classic Force!" I shouted.

A small, green orb move towards Cross, who just landed at the ground.

"Earth Wall!" He shouted.

By the stomp of his foot, a wall made of earth appeared in front of him and blocked my attack. Just then, spikes appeared at the wall's surface and the wall charged towards me. I move sideward and I saw four objects flying towards me. I went into defense stance and blocked the four objects. I noticed that this was Cross' weapon, the Cross Swords. I can see that it can move on Cross' will. Then, I didn't notice that Cross closed the gap between us and I cursed myself. I can't move that fast with defense stance and if I change now, I'll be exposed to attacks. I decided to remain the stance as his weapon glowed.

"Energy Beam!" he said.

Then, two of his weapon fired beams of energy while the other two just floated behind him. The damage was minimal but if this continues, I'll be done for.

"Melodic Revenge!" someone shouted.

Cross was forced to summon a wall made of Earth to protect himself from some bullets. I looked around and saw Eli with a sniper gun.

"Zero! You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Cross, what are you doing? Do you have intentions to kill him?" Eli asked.

The wall disappeared before Cross spoke.

"Like I care," He said coldly.

"WHAT?" Eli shouted.

"Eli, leave this to me. I can take care of myself," Zero said. "The others will need your help."

"Don't worry about them. Look!" she said.

I looked at the Chase, who was now only fighting a couple of mummies. I also noticed that the ground was burned.

"Thanks to Kaistern, the mummies' numbers decreased but I'm afraid that it has some side effects on him," Eli said.

I stood up.

"Eli, this is my fight," I said. "Please leave us alone."

"But…" she said before I cut her off.

"The battle has already started and I must fight with honor," Zero said.

"Fine…" Eli hesitated in saying. "But I'll be here in case this good-for-nothing brown-haired guy does something over the rules."

"There are no rules, Eli," Cross said.

"Whatever! As long as you're going to do something bad, that will be my cue!" Eli shouted.

Cross just ignored her and looked at me.

"You ready to continue this fight?" Cross asked.

"Definitely," I said.

Arme's POV

"Hey eggplant! How about some of your spells that might bring some of these monsters down," Torn said.

Did he just called me an eggplant? How rude.

"Arme, need a hand over here," Jin said.

"Okay. Shock Stun!" I shouted.

Torn's POV

Did that eggplant ignored me just now? Oh well, I can take care of them myself.

"Lying Moon!" someone shouted.

I saw time boy doing his skill. He stopped near me and I prepared Demonus.

"Time boy, do some time stop now," I said.

"Dude, you don't have to be rude, you know," he said.

"Do it or you'll be my next target," I said.

"Okay, okay." He said. "Time Stop!"

Every monster around us has stopped moving but all of us can still move.

"Overkill!" I shouted.

Sieghart's POV

"Armor Crusher!"

'A little bit more and this will end soon.' I thought.

"Lunatic Force!" Ronan said behind me.

"Aurora Break!" Brendan said.

"Dead Ground!" Dante said.

"Ice Spectrum!" Sapphire said.

"Bubble Spray!" Aira said.

"Flame Cloud!" Scarlet said.

'If this continues, the monsters will soon be defeated,' I thought.

I charged forward while I hacked and slashed the monsters that are in my way. I jumped using the mummy and I saw Zero gritting his sword against Cross' weapon. Just then, mummies appeared in front of me and I slashed them. After I landed, I used my Claymore to parry the enemy's attack and I counterattacked with a skill of mine.

"Death Bell!" I said.

Eli's POV

I watched the two throw attacks at each other. Zero relied on close combat while Cross either defended against Zero's attacks or dodged and counterattacked.

"Rock Fall!" Cross said.

Three chunks of earth appeared above Zero and started falling one by one but Zero is fast enough and dodged the attack.

"Breakthrough!" Zero said.

Zero charged as his weapon changed into something unusual, a black weapon with four spikes and there are four plates floating nearby the said weapon. Cross dodged it swiftly and placed his hand on the ground.

"Seismic Break!" Cross said.

Then, he punched the ground, sending some kind of energy wave. I, being too far from Cross, was unaffected but Zero's response is a shout of his own.

"Amid!" He said.

Zero was now painted black with some kind of "flame" on his head. The attack didn't affect him. After a while, he was back to normal and ready for another attack. He approached Cross with an enlarged weapon of his and slashed Cross with a series of slow but powerful slashes. Cross defended against his attack and I've concluded that Zero did some damage on him. Zero attempted to finish things over but Cross was ahead of him.

"Boulder Throw!" he said.

Cross fired a boulder at point-blank range to Zero. However, Zero managed to defend and stop the boulder using his weapon. Cross took the chance and manipulated his weapon and attacked Zero at all directions. His weapon took turns in attacking one side and Zero was dodging each of them. Zero took the chance to attack Cross when all parts of his weapon attacked at his feet. He jumped while holding his weapon with his left arm.

"Bleeding Gash!" he said.

Throwing his weapon towards the ground, Zero released some chains to expand his weapon which now looked a gigantic spike. Cross received some wound from the gigantic spike and I concluded that he has no armor equipped. Zero took this chance and went near Cross.

"Bite Off!" he said.

Using his weapon's second form, he tried to make it contact with Cross but before he can even do it, Cross tipped it over and gave him clear access to Zero. He punched his gut and Zero winced in pain. After that, he delivered a roundhouse kick, throwing Zero some meters away from him.

"Some reflex he got," I heard Zero muttered as he stood up.

Zero charged but he didn't expected that the ground beneath him took him with it and the ground moved towards Cross. Cross caught Zero off guard and started a flurry of punches and kicks. Then, lifting his foot upward, he said "Earth Breaker!" and delivered an axe kick, which sent some crater on the ground with Zero in it. Zero stood up but as soon as he did, Cross delivered another roundhouse kick which sent Zero flying towards me. He landed some meters in front of me.

"Why don't you call it a rest and challenge me after a hundred years," Cross mocked Zero.

"I'm not… done yet," Zero said although I can see that he's weakening.

"Zero, stop!" I ordered him but it seemed to me that my order just entered his ear and went out through the other.

"Cross, stop this insanity!" I shouted.

Arme's POV

"Hold Beam!"

The spell hold the mummy as Jin was delivering a barrage of kicks.

"Strike Dragon Tail!"

I released the spell as the monster died.

"Cross, stop this insanity!" someone shouted.

Acting on instinct, I rushed to where Cross is and I found a wounded Zero and Eli nearby. I gasped at the sight of Zero.

"What happened?" I asked to no one in particular.

I also noticed that the others are also nearby.

'I guess that the monsters are history,' I thought.

"Cross! How can you do such a thing?" Eli shouted.

"It's a battle, Eli, not a spar so expect this to happen in battles," Cross said. "You should know that, being the head of Intelligence."

"But Zero's your comrade!" Elesis shouted.

"Not anymore," Cross said coldly and with an expressionless face.

"How could you…" Sieghart said and he was enraged.

Suddenly, a cage made of earth surrounded Master Sieghart and the cage was attached to the ceiling.

"Let me go RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Sieghart shouted.

"Sorry, old man, but I don't have time for this," Cross said.

"I'm going to tear you into pieces after I break free here," Sieghart said while trying to escape using his Claymore.

Zero slowly advanced forward while Dante and Ley spoke to each other.

"Cross, is that even you?" Eli said.

Zero charged and an earth pillar, which quickly appeared, knocked the air out of him. After returning the pillar to the earth, Cross approached Zero, who was on the ground, and what he did next shocked all of us. He stepped on Zero's head.

"This is getting nowhere," Cross said.

"ZERO!" Aira shouted with tears on her eyes.

"C…C…Cross?" I said in confusion.

"I've got a hunch that Cross is being manipulated by someone," Mari said but not too loud so that Cross couldn't hear it.

"Why did you say that?" Lire asked.

"See those glowing things on his head? They emit some kind of energy," Mari said. "And I'm afraid that there is an energy that can manipulate one's mind. Still, I'm not sure what kind of energy that the glowing thing emits."

Just then, Zero was in front of us, thanks to Cross ability to manipulate the ground.

"Take care of him," Cross said before he started taking a step away from us.

"Where are you going?" Eli asked.

Cross just simply ignored her and he continued walking away from us. Just then, Master Sieghart appeared out of nowhere.

"Why you…" Sieghart said.

"NOW!" Someone shouted.

Dante jumped in front of Sieghart and placed a hand on the ground.

"Dead Ground!" he said.

The ground in front of him started crumbling. The crumbling continued until the ground beneath Cross collapsed and he fell into the deep.

"Ley, now!" Dante shouted.

Ley teleported somewhere else and she reappeared, flying towards us and landed just beside Dante.

"What happened?" Dante asked.

"It seems that I'm not the only one who can levitate," Ley said.

My head is filled with questions which where answered when someone floated out from the hole that Dante made. The one who just floated is no other than Cross.

"Cross… can fly?" Amy said.

"The more appropriate term is levitate," Mari said.

"You guys are annoying," Cross said. "I'm leaving."

"Cross, stop!" Eli shouted.

Cross ignored her.

"Stop!" Eli said with some tears flowing in her eye.

Cross just simply ignored her.

"I SAID STOP!" Eli said and brought out her rifle.

She fired rapidly on Cross but he blocked all of the shots.

"It's worthless to stay here and I don't want all of you following me all along," Cross said.

He raised his right arm and with a flick of his finger, four black holes appeared out of nowhere and each of Cross' weapon entered the said hole.

"What now?" I said.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Dio said.

"W…Watch out! A… A… Above us!" Aura said.

I looked above me and there is a hole similar to what appeared behind Cross just above me. Also, his weapon was protruded the said hole and it was pointed at me. I took note that his weapon glowed. I can also see that the others are also in the same situation as I do.

"These are portals!" Ley said.

"And I would doubt if these won't harm us!" Ronan said.

"Cross! NO!" Eli shouted.

I brought out my pot to cast a defensive skill.

"Saver!" I casted.

"Judgement," Cross simply said.

"Barrier Code!" Eli said.

The weapon that was in the portal fired energy beam which hit Eli's barrier first. When Eli's barrier disappeared, the beam hit my spell. I felt that my spell won't last longer.

"Guys, brace yourselves," I said.

"Canceler!" Mari said.

Mari created a new barrier for us and shielded us from Cross' attack but Mari's barrier didn't last long. We got hit by Cross' attack but luckily, the beam was depleted in a few seconds.

"This is for your own good," Cross said. "Gaia Strike!"

He punched the ground and we can feel a shockwave from his attack. We're still recovering so there's not enough time to either dodge or defend against this attack. Cross' attack lifted some chunks of earth and were left levitating around him. Then, with a motion of his hand, Cross launched the chunks right towards us. I defended against his attack using my arms and the attack hurts a lot. After that, I was tired. The others where either on the ground or unconscious.

Eli's POV

I saw that Cross was moving away from us.

"C…Cross… stop…" I said.

He took a glance at me.

"Please… Cross… don't… do… this…" I said.

I feel my cheeks getting wet while I beg for him to stay.

"Eli, I'm so sorry," Cross said before a portal appeared in front of him.

"No… Cross…" I said while my eyes flowed with tears.

He entered the portal and the portal disappeared. I cried. I failed to make him stay. I ultimately failed. Was it because that I lack strength to do so? I cried but I thought that now isn't the time to mourn over someone. I slowly pointed my rifle to the sky. With little strength that I had, it's hard to cast this simple spell but I must do it.

"Signal Shot," I said.

I fired a special bullet which will let the other members of the clan to know our specific location. I placed my rifle at the side and helplessly cried. Then, I haven't realized that I fell into unconsciousness.

Cross: Fin.

Eli: Ooooohhhh! Author, you're so evil!

Eli realizes that I was sound asleep.

Eli: You're going to pay after you wake up.

Cross: Anyway, Silent Treecko mentioned to me that he made a poll about this story's future. To everyone, please vote. The poll will be open until Chapter 30 of this story.

Eli: Better vote or else…

Cross: Don't mind her. Please review too.

Notes:

1. There are two glowing things on Cross' head, each one was above Cross' ear. What's its purpose?

2. Mari concluded that Cross is being controlled. Was she right?

3. Cross has obtained his fourth job already and if everyone doesn't know what his fourth job is, it's Protector and his weapon is the Cross Swords. I've updated his profile anyway.

4. Canceler was Mari's barrier by summoning the blue marbles first then pressing X and up.

5. Cross has more control over the Earth and learned how to manipulate his weapon. Anyway, his weapon was like Mari's Soul Taker, that's why I was sad when Mari's 4th job was revealed before Cross' 4th job in which I have planned this kind of weapon for him, but he can manipulate it freely and have no limits (i.e. Two of his weapon will stay by his side and the other two were used to attack).

6. Actually, Cross accidentally learned how to use portals but he haven't mastered it yet (spoiler~).

7. Please vote for my poll which will be up in a few minutes. You know where the poll is, right? (For those who don't, it's in my profile.)