It was the wee hours of the morning when Nicholas woke Manny up. The sun hadn't even begun to rise and it was still dark out. Manny insisted that it was crazy but Nicholas told him that he caught a trail that would lead them to the dark crystal.
"Couldn't we have waited at least until sunrise." Manny yawned.
"Manny I don't think you understand the severity of the situation." Nicholas told him.
"I do but it doesn't make me any less tired when I wake up at four o'clock in the morning."
"Laziness, typical human behavior."
"Will shut up about that? Please? You know I don't have to help you you know. I'll leave."
"You can't!"
"Why can't you just get that nerd Davi to help you?"
"I told you it's a family matter and even though it sickens me we're family."
"Yeah well I'm not so crazy about being related to you either. I don't get it what's your problem with me?"
"Simple your mere existence brought shame to our family name. The Riveras were known as the most feared bloodline in existence, no one would dare insult or challenge us but when everyone found out Uncle Rodolfo married a human woman and spawned a half human spirit it made our family look weak, like we had gone soft."
"Hey I had no more say in how I was born than you did. If you gotta blame somebody blame my dad."
"I do! He was a great warrior, brave, strong, vicious, powerful and yet he foolishly let himself be seduced by some human tramp!"
PUNCH! Manny had punched Nicholas right across his face. It was a punch so hard that it knocked him down and gave him a nose bleed. At first Nicholas looked utterly shocked and surprised by his cousin's sudden anger and strength. But then his shock turned to anger. He quickly stood up and faced him in a calm but enraged manner.
"How dare you strike me! Don't you know who I am and what I am capable of?"
"I don't care who the hell you are and what you can do!" Manny snarled. "Don't you ever call my mother a tramp!"
"You infuriating half breed! If I was in my real form I'd tear you apart with my bare hands!"
"Well if you ever do change back give me a call because I'll gladly take that action!"
"You really think you can beat me?"
"I know I can!"
"Oh please if I wasn't trapped in the body of a child I would reduce you to bones in a mere five seconds!"
"Big talk for such a little guy."
"Ugh! I'll have you know that I won't be like this forever! Davi has assured me that eventually this will wear off and when it does you're dead!"
"Oh how cute, a family quarrel." A sinister voice chuckled.
The two looked over at the source of laughter. It was a giant spider demon that was lowering itself down by a web. When it landed it took the form of a creepy old man who looked so skinny and thin that one could mistake him for a skeleton. His face was wrinkled and you could practically see his skull under the skin. And on that face of his was that horrible grin.
"Hello Nicholas, long time no see." He said.
"Kane what a pleasure." Nicholas said sarcastically. "I thought I smelled the scourge of the earth."
"Oh great not this guy again." Manny said rolling his eyes. "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to see where this little squabble was going."
"Beat it bug before I squash you!"
"Now, now let's be gentlemen and talk this out. You see I have a little propition for you two."
"What proposition?" Nicholas asked.
"What if I were to tell you I know where the crystal is and I would be willing to tell you it's location?"
"What's the catch?"
"It's been a long time since I've seen a real good fight. I want you two to fight each other to the death, whoever lives gets the information."
"That's ridiculous! We're not gonna fight over that right Nicholas?" Manny said but his cousin didn't respond. "Nicholas?"
He ignored him and stepped forward.
"What you speak of is an unfair fight. If we were to agree I would surely die. He's sixteen and I'm physically twelve."
"I can fix that." Kane snapped his fingers and in a flash of light and puff of smoke Nicholas was restored to his proper, physical, age. Nicholas looked down at his body then over at Manny and back at Kane. "So is it a fight?"
"I accept."
"Wait don't I have a say in this?" Manny asked.
His question was answered when Kane snapped his fingers again and the boys were transported to an arena that was empty except for them and Kane who was watching in an audience seat.
"Now then let the fight begin."
"Nicholas you're not seriously going along with this are you?" Manny asked.
Nicholas pulled a sword from his belt and charged toward him. Manny quickly changed into his spiritual form and jumped out of the way.
"Alright if that's how you wanna play it."
Manny landed on Nicholas's head kicking it in the process. Bringing out his claws he began swiping at him while dodging his sword. Nicholas swung his sword as swiftly as the wind, determined that the blade would kill Manny but he was too fast.
"Why are you doing this? I thought you needed me?" Manny asked.
"That was when I was still stuck as a child now that I am twenty again I don't need you."
"So you're just gonna kill me?"
"If it ensures I find out where the crystal is then yes not to mention once you are dead our family shame will end!"
"You're crazy! So our family has one half human spirit! Is it really that bad?"
"You don't know what your birth did to us! We were shamed in front of everyone by the council. As soon as I turned six I was forced to fight deadly battles against demons and monsters to prove that neither me or my father hadn't of gone soft like Uncle did! Day after day I fought and if I ever lost a battle they would throw me back into the battle! It was win or die!"
"That wasn't my fault!"
"Yes it is! If you had never been born! If Uncle had just forgotten your mother and married his fiance none of this would have happened! I looked up to him! He was the strongest out of all three of them and he would've been a great spirit but he betrayed our entire family to humans! He dishonored us by falling in love with a human woman and spawning a half human son who doesn't even come close to how powerful his father was!"
Nicholas's sword hit Manny that time and it was right in his shoulder. He hissed in painand tried to dodge the blade coming the second time but he wasn't quick enough and he ended up getting stabbed in the leg. It was like Nicholas was some how possessed because suddenly he began attacking him like some blood thirsty, murderous demon. His eyes were glowing bright red and his body had some dark aura. The blows of the sword continued to hit Manny, one after another putting him in extreme pain. With cut and stab wounds on his body Manny found himself collapsing toward the ground. His body hurt all over and he felt his mind wanting to black out. Was this it? Was this how he was going to die?
"You cannot die." A voice in his mind said.
"Huh? Who is this?" Manny's thoughts asked.
"Call me White Pantera. I'm here to help you."
"I can't see you."
"That's because I'm not really here, I'm communicating with you telepathically Manny."
"How do you know my name?"
"Nevermind that now, listen you can't stop fighting. You must free Nicholas."
"Free him? What are you talking about?"
"While he was asleep Kane slipped a shard of the demon mirror in his eye just like the one you had in yours. You need to knock it out of his eye."
"How?"
"Poke him in his left eye. It'll make him cry and the shard will fall out."
"You sure that'll work?"
"Yes."
"But I can't move. My body hurts too much."
"You're half spirit, you can heal some of your injuries."
"No I can't."
"Yes you can. Your powers are connected to your emotions and thoughts so use that to your advantage! Stop thinking about the pain and focus on fighting!"
"I can't!"
"Yes you can! I know you can! You've fought and won battles with injuries far worse than what you have now and that's because you weren't thinking about the pain you were in! Where's that cocky bravery you always have? You're not a coward! Get up Manny! I know you can!
Nicholas swung his sword again but this time Manny stood caught it in his hand and began to grip it tightly. While still gripping it he stood up and while it made his whole body hurt he ignored it. Nicholas tried to pull his sword away but Manny's grip was too strong. Suddenly the blade was shattered to pieces much to the shock of both Kane and Nicholas. Shaking off his shock, Nichloas transformed into a spiritual jaguar and lunged for him. Manny again jumped out of the way and chose to land right on Nicholas's face. The jaguar roared and tried to throw him off but Manny held on for as long as he could and once he had his chance, he poked his finger right into Nichloas's left eye. The jaguar roared and threw Manny off then dropped to the ground rolling around in pain. A tear fell from his eye and in it was the shard. Once it was gone Nicholas reverted to his original form.
"Oh God!" He shouted in pain as he clutched his face. "My eye! My eye! Why would you do that?! Why- What the hell am I doing here?! And...Hey I'm twenty again. What's going on?"
"Long story." Manny grunted in pain. "But in a nutshell Kane put a shard in demon mirror in your eye."
"He what?!"
"He wanted us to fight each other to the death for his own sick amusement."
Nicholas turned angrily toward Kane.
"How dare you try to make me a pawn! You'll pay for that!"
He lunged for him but he Kane only moved out of the way and laughed that horrible laugh.
"Silly boy if you were to kill me now then you would never know where the dark crystal is."
"You know where it is?"
"Of course I know where it is, I'm the who took it."
"Where is it?"
"Sorry not telling."
Nicholas clawed at him, scratching his arm in the process. Kane laughed then shrunk down to the size of a regular spider and flew away with the wind. Both Nicholas and Manny tried to catch him but he was too small and the wind had already blown him so far.
"Crap we lost him!" Manny shouted annoyed.
"Maybe not." Nicholas sniffed the blood on his nails then sniffed the air. "I got his scent. Follow me."
The scent led them to an abandoned laboratory that was a mile away from them. It was painted all black with broken windows and doors with no doorknob. Inside there was dust, cob webs, cockroaches, rats, broken glass, leaky pipes, it definitely was abandoned.
"This place is gross." Manny said trying to avoid stepping on the broken glass. "You sure this creep is here."
"He's here alright. I can feel it." Nicholas assured him. "He's downstairs."
"This place has a downstairs?"
To prove his point Nicholas led Manny over to a trap door that was hidden under an old rug. He opened the trap door and underneath was a long stairway leading into the darkness. Carefully and quietly they walked down the stairway with Nicholas following Kane's scent. The stairway seemed endless, one step after another until finally they reached the floor. At the bottom it was darker than up there except for a small, electrical light in the back. It was coming from a lab. A lab filled with electrical machines and a table full of chemicals, in the middle of the room was a large crystal surrounded by a dark aura.
"That dark crystal. There it is."
Nicholas would have grabbed it but they heard footsteps coming so they hid in the shadows. The owners of the footsteps were Kane and a young scientist. A scientist who Manny was all too familiar with. Dr. Chiptole Jr.
"Oh my god it's him." Manny whispered.
"Who?" Nicholas asked.
"Dr. Whatever his name is."
"You know this guy?"
"He's a psychopath who fed people to mutated guacamole. I wondered if I would ever see him again."
"So you're telling me they didn't kill each other." The scientist said.
"No. The half breed knocked the shard out of Nicholas's eye just before he could give the killing blow." Kane said.
"Curses! How did he even know about the shard?"
"I don't know."
"Well don't just stand there! Go back and kill them!"
"I can't! I made Nicholas twenty now he poses as a threat!"
"You fool! You should've just killed them both while Nicholas was stuck as a child! But nooo! You had to make it amusing!"
"Oh shut up you little rodent! I'll find out a way to kill them don't worry. Let's not forget I've got business with Nicholas."
"Yeah, yeah just know this the boss won't be happy about this."
"Well screw the boss."
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, let's not forget he's become a personal friend of you know who."
"Whatever anyway have you finished examining the crystal?"
"Not quite but I've figured what goes wrong when it tries to revive something."
"Which is?"
"The crystal alone isn't enough to bring him back completely. It needs a life force to give it enough energy to revive both body and soul."
"How does that work?"
"We must have a suitable living mortal to bond with the crystal then their life will be used to give the crystal enough energy."
"Okay so we just need to find some random person and have them bond with it."
"Fool! The life of a random mortal won't do anything! We need one that's suitable enough to bond with the crystal!"
"Okay then who's suitable enough?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out you twit!"
"Well figure out faster! If we're going to revive Diablo we're going to have to work faster!"
Nicholas's eyes rose up in horror, his breath stopped, his skin lost all color, and he found himself petrified in terror. Then suddenly he found himself falling backwards in shock making a noise that caught their attention.
"You idiot! You led them here!" Dr. Chiptole Jr scolded. "Kill them!"
"Manny I'll hold off Kane, you get that crystal you hear me!" Nicholas told him. "Get that crystal now!"
"Alright!"
Kane transformed into a giant demonic spider whIle Nicholas changed back into a spiritual jaguar. The two paranormal animals engaged in a brawl. Manny went to grab the crystal.
"Get your claws off my crystal!"
Chipotle pulled out a ray gun and began shooting at Manny. Manny dodged the blasts best he could. Then he remembered the Dr. Chiptole was human so he turned himself invisible.
"Where did you go?" The scientist demanded.
With Kane distracted and Dr. Chiptole Jr unable to see him, Manny flipped over a book shelf on top of Kane.
"Nicholas turn invisible! Dr. Whatever is human! He can't see us!"
Nicholas nodded and did exactly that. Dr. Chiptole continued shooting but he kept missing and knocked over some of his chemicals which started a huge fire.
"My lab!" He gasped as he desperately tried to put out the fire.
Nicholas and Manny quickly grabbed the crystal and got out of there as quick as they could. They stopped running when they were two miles away from the lab.
"Do you think they died in that fire?" Manny asked Nicholas.
"I don't know about that crazed human but Kane no. No it'll take more than that to kill him."
"Who is that guy anyway?"
"He was my father's rival in a war, when he was defeated he swore that he would take revenge by killing him and me."
"Figures. Hey listen earlier today when we were fighting you said somethings."
"What did I say?"
"You said that because of me our family was shamed and you were forced to spend your childhood fighting demons to prove that your father wasn't going soft like mine. Is that true? Is that how you feel?"
"I said that?"
"Yeah. Is it true?"
He didn't answer for a minute then spoke.
"It's true."
"So that's why you hate me? You blame me for what some council members did to you? Newsflash they messed me up too! They kept me from the outside world til I was thirteen then they took my mother away from me and forced me to be alone for two years! They never said it but they wanted me to die! You don't see me trying to blame you for that!"
"I was beaten senseless throughout my entire childhood!"
"And I was isolated throughout mine! They messed up both of us because of their damn laws! It's not your fault! And it sure as hell not mine! So stop blaming me!"
Nicholas looked like he was about to explode but he quickly calmed down.
"Forget it. Let's just be grateful we got the crystal back."
"Yeah I guess so but what happened to you back there?"
"What do you mean?"
"I saw you. You looked scared out of your mind so what happened?"
"What they're doing goes far beyond what I feared. It's way worse."
"What? What are they doing?"
"They're trying to revive Diablo."
"Diablo, huh that name rings a bell."
"It should! Our ancestor Arturo killed him years ago then burned his body."
"So what's the problem?"
"He maybe dead but he's not gone. His wretched soul still wanders through the world manipulating people into evil. An evil that no one in our family has ever been capable of."
"Just who is he?"
"He's Satan incarnate, the devil's pupil, evil in purest form. Manipulative, twisted, vile, murderous, unsympathetic, and unfeeling. If that creature was ever revived heaven help us."
"What do you mean?"
"He tried to destroy the world and rebuild it into a second hell."
"He can't do that can he?"
"Rebuild the world into a second hell? No idea. Destroy the world yes he can."
"Good God. But he can't be revived can he?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Well first they need to get his soul out of the netherworld. After that they have to find a way to rebuild his body, his body was burned so it's difficult but not impossible to be done. Once that's done they need to find something powerful enough to reunite the soul and the body. The dark crystal could do that."
"But I thought it couldn't revive the soul."
"So did I but according to that mad man there is a way. However we must not oanic, as long as we keep the crystal away from them we have no fear of that. Starting tomorrow I'm going to work on a better way to keep it contained."