Why hello everybody. I do so hope you weren't insulted by anything said
last chapter. I would SO hate to lose any of you readers.
Scales: Are you being sarcastic?
Me: No, I'm serious! I really would hate to lose the readers!
Scales: You sounded sarcastic to me.
Me: I WASN'T SARCASTIC YOU ANNOYING LIZARD!
Scales: And now you're yelling when you're contradicted. Maybe you really
should take that trip to Reno.
Me: What? No! If I leave, then who will make sure my hostage doesn't
escape?
Scales: Hostage?
Me: Uh...Amnesia dust! (Throws amnesia dust around so everyone forgets hostage comment and starts chapter.)
The somber priest waved his torch at the bloodstained altar. "Which of you is entering the cursed tomb?" Arik stepped forward. "That would be me." "Come over here." Said the priest. Arik did so. "The tomb is sealed with death magic. The key to all death magic is blood." He pointed to the altar. "To enter the tomb, you must sacrifice some of your blood to the altar." Arik grimaced, but knew he had no choice. Standing over the altar, he gingerly pushed one of his claws into his right palm until a little blood welled up. He managed to scrape a tiny drop of blood onto a claw. Making sure not to drop the tiny bit of blood, he pressed the claw onto the altar. The blood drop was sucked off his claw tip, absorbed into the altar. The bloodstained altar rumbled and shook, pulsing with magic, glowing an eerie purple. The door in the back shuddered. Screams started as several spirits flew out of the door, wailing and moaning as they flew around the chamber, fading away. When the spirits were gone, the door opened. Arik gulped. "Not a very welcoming door, I can say that right off." Scales came over. "Arik, are you sure you'll be okay in there?" "No." He said. "But I said I would take this turn, and I will. It's too late to go back now, the altar's accepted my blood and probably won't be happy if I don't enter the tomb." Scales nodded, understanding. "All right, but if you get in any trouble you can't handle, call me okay?" Arik smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." "I'm not saying you won't it's just, well...I don't want to lose you." She said. Arik wasn't sure what to say to that. "Well, thank you for your sentiment. I'll try not to die." He headed for the door. Before he stepped through the threshold, he turned around. "For what it's worth, I don't want to lose you either." With that, he went through the doorway. Scales sighed longingly. The priest looked at her. "Are you two a couple or something?" Scales blinked. "What? No! Well, not yet." She said sadly. "You care about him then?" the priest asked. "Well, I'd say a little more than just caring about him." Scales admitted. The holy man thought a moment. "Well, we need something to do while we wait for your friend to come back from whatever errand he's on in the tomb, so how about I give you a little advice on how to talk to him about your feelings?" "Oh, could you?" asked Scales hopefully. "Sure. Let's find somewhere comfortable to sit down so we can talk about this." Said the priest, looking for a place to sit that wasn't close to the mummies, the evil door, or the living altar.
Arik walked down a narrow, dark passage until he came out in a semi- large room. He was standing on a balcony overlooking a large stream of nasty-looking reddish brown water. A staircase led down from his right to a long ledge running along the wall. A similar ledge was on the other side of the room. On the wall of the nearest ledge was a big closed portcullis, blocking entry to a corridor beyond it. Arik walked down the stairs to the ledge, then leaped across the stream to the other side. He found a large alcove and entered it. Inside the alcove was a switch on the wall. Arik flipped the switch, and the portcullis on the other side of the room opened up. Arik walked back out onto the ledge and jumped back across the stream, landing on the other ledge. He started through the large open passage. He was immediately attacked by a giant spider! Arik jumped back as the spider lashed at him with its forelegs. The spider crawled forward, chittering hungrily. Arik hurled energy balls at the spider, knocking it back an inch or so with each hit. It kept on coming. Arik started backing towards the edge of the ledge, throwing occasional energy balls. The spider was angered by this and charged. Arik jumped over the big arachnid, causing it to run off the ledge, falling into the water below. As it hit the strange water, the spider screamed and thrashed about. Its body was melting, disintegrating from the very contact with the liquid. Arik screwed his face up in disgust as the arachnid dissolved. "Okay, I am definitely not taking a swim in this tomb." He went through the passage the spider had been guarding, walking up a green slope. It leveled out, going towards a door. As Arik headed for the door, he noticed a pair of grates set in the floor. As he watched, spirits rose from the grates, wailing and moaning, fading away. He walked around the grates and went through the door. He was now in a large round room. In the middle of the room was a pit with some stuff in it. On the other side of the room was a large pool of red-brown water with some blocks rising out of it. The blocks were right beneath a door in the wall. Arik walked to the edge of the pit and looked down. He could see a large spider web going from the top of the pit to the bottom that he could probably use as a ladder to get out. Down in the pit was a mummy lying on a stone slab. Resting above the mummy's head on the slab was a switch. Arik could see a few giant spiders waiting in the pit. He jumped down and ran for the slab, shooting at any spiders that tried to get him. He leaped onto the slab, landing right on the chest of the mummy and plowing his feet right through the ancient corpse. Arik's face paled and he jumped out of the mummy's chest, landing near the switch. He flipped the switch. He had a strange vision of a platform rising out of a pool of green water. As the vision faded, Arik saw he was surrounded by spiders on all sides. He saw the cobweb across the pit. He ran across the slab, jumping over the now-damaged mummy and landing on the floor. As the arachnids raced towards him, he jumped again, reaching the web. He grabbed the webbing and started climbing up, quickly reaching the top. Of course, he forgot that the spiders could climb it as well. He started shooting energy balls down into the pit, knocking the spiders off the web ladder. After several failed attempts at getting up, the spiders gave up and went back to roaming the pit. The raptor walked around the edge of the pit, to the pool at the back of the room. He jumped across the blocks, reaching the doorway. He jumped to it and walked through. He was in a small multi-tiered room, with the tiers on the back. Arik climbed up a cobweb to reach the top of the first tier, and found another cobweb leading up the next one. He was about to go up the web, when he saw a tunnel on the left wall and the right wall. After a moment, he decided to see what was in the left tunnel first. He came out of the tunnel and into a large chamber full of the dangerous water. From the ledge he was currently on, a bridge wound over the water across a gap. There were a few crates floating about, and what looked like a large half-sunken ship covered in cobwebs lay at the other end of the room. Arik jumped to the bridge and started walking across it. As he got closer to the ship, he saw what looked like a giant half-open treasure chest sitting next to it. Weird! As Arik got closer yet to the ship and chest, he saw a platform a bit to the right of the big chest. Standing on the platform was a mummy, apparently quite animated! The undead monster moaned and started throwing fireballs at Arik. He dodged the balls while staying on the bridge and threw energy balls at the creature. The blasts damaged the mummy a little, but just caused it to throw more flaming projectiles. Arik hurled about a dozen rapid-fire energy balls at the mummy, catching the undead monster off balance and knocking it into the water. The threat gone, Arik continued to the end of the bridge. He was close to the ship, but not close enough to jump to the cobwebs. He could see a switch mounted on the very top of the ship's mast, and the cobwebs led up there. He saw what looked like a large rib cage floating in the water in front of him. He jumped to the rib cage and started walking across it to get a little closer to the cobwebs. As he did, a skeletal arm reached from the treasure chest and swiped at him. He blasted the arm, causing it to fall apart and make the creature it had been attached to scream in pain. Arik judged he was now just close enough to the ship to jump to it. He leaped across the water, grabbing onto the cobwebs. As he started to climb up, a giant spider appeared and started coming after him up the web! Arik started climbing faster, trying to get to the top of the mast before the spider could get him. He reached the switch and flipped it, (experiencing another vision of a platform coming out of green water as he did so) then dropped from the web as the spider was about to attack. He grabbed the web again further down and quickly climbed close to the treasure chest. He jumped to the chest as the spider was about to attack again. He thought he was safe, until the arachnid jumped after him, landing right before Arik! Before the spider could attack, Arik whacked it hard with his tail, causing it to fall off the chest and into the water. The spider gone, Arik jumped back down to the bridge and headed for the exit. After reaching the tier room again, Arik headed to the other tunnel. He went through and found himself in a big chamber. In the middle of the room was a large square platform surrounded by deadly water. A bridge led to the platform. The platform contained several coffins and a couple of spirit grates. Arik walked across the bridge and onto the platform. He saw an ugly statue of some skull-faced god near the back of the platform and figured he should check it out. He started walking by the coffins, noticing disdainfully that most were open. He avoided the grates with the wailing spirits, and almost got hit when one of the mummies in the coffin swiped an arm at him. He smashed the arm with his tail, causing the corpse to scream and stay motionless in the coffin. A stronger mummy leaped out of a coffin and started attacking, throwing fireballs like mad. Arik jumped away from the fireballs and ran towards the corpse, leaping over the fiery blasts. He shot into a Homing Kick when he was close enough, damaging the undead monster. Before the mummy could recover, Arik smashed into him with his tail. The mummy's body was fragile to physical attacks, and Arik's tail whip smashed the upper body of the monster to pieces. The lower body crumbled soon after, leaving Arik alone again. With the mummy gone, the raptor headed to the back of the area, walking behind the ugly statue. He found a switch. He flipped it, and had another vision of a platform rising from some green water. When he recovered, he wondered what the heck was with all these visions and headed back to the tier room. Once he came back out of the tunnel, Arik started climbing up the cobweb. He reached the top and went through the door he found, entering a long corridor. He walked through the corridor and exited into a big room full of green water. A dock led out into the water. A series of objects formed a path across the probably toxic liquid. Arik was a little surprised when he saw three platforms in the series of objects that looked exactly like the ones in the visions he had had from every time he had flipped a switch. Apparently this is what those switches had done. He started his way across the lake of green water by jumping to a closed coffin on his left. He jumped from there to the first platform he had activated, and jumped from there to a large rib cage. He carefully walked over the rib cage and jumped to another platform, then jumped to another rib cage. He jumped to the last platform, and jumped from there to another coffin. He jumped from there to the ledge at the back of the room, where he found a cobweb. He climbed up the cobweb, reaching an area with a stone slope going into a hole in the ground. Arik slid down the slope and landed in another room. He was on a ledge encircling three walls. The fourth wall was a portcullis. There was no floor, instead there was the beginning of a river of strange dark green water flowing through the portcullis and down a long tunnel. To the right of the portcullis were a set of gears. Floating in the water right in front of the portcullis was a raft. Arik walked over to the gears and curiously turned the crank on one of them, rotating the gears. As he kept turning, the portcullis lifted. Arik let go of the crank so that he could get to the raft. The instant he did, the gears spun back and the portcullis slammed down. He puzzled over this, then got an idea. He walked all the way around to where the raft was and turned to face the gears. He hurled several energy balls at the crank, causing it to spin and raise the portcullis. He leaped down to the raft and rowed it out with a pole he found inside the raft before the portcullis could slam down. He rowed down the creepy river until he got near a platform with another raft hitched to it. As Arik neared the platform, his boat started to sink. He quickly jumped to the platform, only to have that begin to sink as well. He jumped immediately to the raft, which was fine. He cut what was left of the rope that had attached it to the now-submerged platform and started rowing down the river again. Eventually, he reached the end, finding a wall. A cobweb ran up the wall to a long, circular ledge leading to a corridor. Guarding the corridor was a mummy that began throwing fireballs at him. Arik shot energy balls back at the undead beast while steering the raft to the cobweb. After unleashing a salvo of blasts, Arik leaped from the raft and desperately began scaling the web, shimmying away from fire blasts when the mummy threw them. He climbed to the top of the ledge and started pelting the mummy over and over again with energy blasts, not letting the monster get a chance to squeeze off a shot. After a few dozen hits, the mummy croaked, staggered, and fell off the ledge. Arik walked around the ledge and entered the corridor. He found a closed gate with a switch next to it. Arik pressed the switch. The gate rose up, then started to come down. Arik somersaulted beneath the gate before it could close fully. He proceeded down the corridor beyond and came out into the upper reaches of another spooky river. He walked along the ledge before him until it ended, then jumped down to a bridge traversing the span across the river. The instant he stepped foot on the bridge, it started to collapse. Arik ran across the bridge as it started to fall beneath him, jumping to the ledge on the other side before he could drop to the deadly water. He walked along the ledge until it ended, and looked for where to go next. He saw a pair of platforms in the water leading to a raft. A spiked bar attached to both walls rose and lowered over the platforms. Arik jumped down to the nearest platform and it started to sink. As the spiked bar started coming down, Arik jumped over it to the next platform, then jumped from there to the raft before the platform could sink. He rowed the raft out into the river, following the flow. After a few minutes of rowing down the river, he reached the end. As he steered the raft towards the cobweb on the wall at the end of the river, a portcullis closed behind him. He jumped from the raft to the web and started climbing up. He pulled himself into a tunnel and walked through, reaching a fair-sized room with a tall ceiling and lots of greenish water. A dock structure led out over the water. Arik walked along the dock and turned to the right. A mummy was on it! Before the undead could throw fireballs, Arik smashed it apart with his tail whip. He continued down the dock and reached the end. There was a torch burning a strange color next to him. And a barrel of some sort lying next to it. Straight across from Arik and high up the wall was a tunnel, but there seemed to be no way to reach it. Arik examined the barrel and noticed it had a fuse. Curious, he picked it up to get a better look, accidentally holding the fuse end to the torch. It lit, and suddenly the back end of the barrel ignited, rocketing Arik up towards the ceiling. Frightened, he accidentally maneuvered himself towards the tunnel on the wall. As he rocketed into it, he let go of the barrel, which continued on its path and exploded when it hit the back wall. Shaken from that experience, Arik walked down the tunnel until he reached the end, where the barrel had exploded. There was a hole in the ground. He dropped into it and fell into a bigger cavern with docks and greenish water. Arik walked along the dock in front of him and turned right, going forward until he found another barrel and a torch. A little dubious, Arik picked up the barrel and held it carefully on his shoulder, then leaned over so the fuse would light. The barrel ignited, sending Arik rocketing through the chamber. He moved up and weaved around pillars, dropping from the barrel when he saw a bridge. He landed on the bridge and saw a cobweb leading alongside the wall to his left. He grabbed the webbing and started climbing down, dropping at another bridge. He found another barrel and torch. He picked up the barrel, kit it, and shot off through the cave. He aimed himself for a dock over the water and let go of the barrel, landing on the dock. There was a mummy waiting for him. Arik smashed the mummy to pieces with his tail whip, then went forward. He found a hole in the dock, and it was positioned right over a raft. Arik jumped down, landing in the raft. He picked up the stick on it and started rowing out, heading for a large tunnel leading out of the big room. He found himself rowing down a river once more. As he went on, ghosts rose from the water and attacked him, only to be vanquished by an energy ball or two. After rowing and ghost blasting for a little while, Arik saw a few large fallen beams crossed over the river or angling into it. He also saw a floating vine. As he got closer to the vine, the raft started to sink. The raptor quickly jumped up and grabbed the vine. He pulled himself onto it and started swinging back and forth. When he picked up enough momentum, he let go and was flung onto one of the fallen beams. A pair of ghosts moved in to attack him. He blasted the ghosts away and saw a fallen beam across the river within jumping distance. He leaped to the beam, then jumped to a floating vine he saw. He swung from the floating vine to another one, then swung from there to one near a ledge at the end of the river. He swung from this last vine and landed on the ledge. He entered a large crack in the wall and found a cobweb. He climbed up the cobweb and entered a small corridor. He was immediately attacked by a giant spider! As the arachnid tried to gouge his flesh with its large pincers, Arik stunned it with a tail whip. He threw several energy balls point-blank into the spider's eyes, exploding and blinding the arachnid. A few kicks finished off the arachnid, allowing Arik to pass. At the end of the corridor he found a set of gears in the wall and a grated hole in the floor. He turned the crank on the gears and the grate started to open, allowing access to the hole. He let go of the crank, and the grate slammed shut. Remembering how he fixed this problem the last time, Arik stepped onto the grate and blasted the crank with his energy balls, spinning the gears and opening the grate, causing him to fall into the hole. He landed on a ledge overlooking another greenish river. A raft sat in the water below. Spirits rose from the water occasionally, screaming as usual. Arik jumped down to the raft and started rowing, steering around the places where spirits emerged. The river was narrower than usual. As Arik steered the raft downstream, he saw a gate with lots of spikes pointing outward blocking the passage. A switch was mounted on the wall next to the door. He blasted the switch, raising the door. The thing started to slowly come down right after. Arik steered the raft through the doorway before the gate could close and kept going. He soon was heading for another spiked gate. He blasted the switch and rowed through the door, then did the same with the next gate soon after. As he proceeded in silence for a few minutes, he saw another raft floating in the river. As he started past it, his raft began to sink. He jumped to the other one and started rowing away as quickly as he could. Rocks started to fall from the ceilings, big ones that could probably crush the raptor's skull. Arik knocked the rocks away with energy blasts whenever one came close to him and approached another gate. He blasted the switch and quickly rowed through the gate, finding a small area with a dock. He rowed to the dock and stopped the raft, jumping off. There was a net on the back wall leading up to a hole in the ceiling. Arik started climbing up the net, going through the hole. After a short climb, he pulled himself onto a ledge and went through a door. The instant he did, a gate slammed shut over the door. He was now in a large room with a few pillars and a staircase in the middle of the room leading up to a balcony. Hovering above the balcony was a floating vine, and across from the vine was a net leading through a hole in the ceiling. Arik noticed there were several mummies in this room. Several ACTIVE mummies. They groaned and shambled towards him, a couple throwing fireballs. There were too many to deal with safely, so Arik would have to use a little more power. "Chronos Control!" Time froze. He ran to each mummy, one after the other, and smashed them apart with his tail. When time restarted, the mummies fell apart and dirtied up the floor. The enemy threat gone, Arik walked up the stairs. He jumped up and grabbed the vine, then swung himself over to the net. He grabbed on and started climbing up. He pulled himself onto the ledge at the top and entered the corridor he saw. After a short walk, he saw a large closed door with a switch next to it. Arik flipped the switch, and the door opened. He walked in and found a medium-sized round room with a tall ceiling. Higher up was a spiked bar spanning the entire room. Three switches were on the walls of the room. A door was at the back, closed. A big pile of bones lay on the floor in the middle of the room. As Arik took a few steps forward, the door behind him slammed shut. As he turned at the noise of the door closing, he heard a clattering noise. He looked forward again and saw the bones moving! They shifted and flew into the air, assembling themselves to form a horrible beast! It was completely skeletal of course, but Arik was able to pick out details of the monster's body nonetheless. The creature had a pair of short legs ending in big, clawed feet. It had a huge torso with thick ribs. Two long and extremely thick arms grew from the monster's shoulders, ending in powerful-looking hands. The monster had a huge lower jaw, with a chin that grew down to the beast's waist. The upper part of the creature's head was very small, with two tiny eye sockets. The skeleton roared and started lurching towards Arik. Arik stood his ground for a moment and threw energy balls at the skeleton. It opened its mouth and allowed the blasts to go in, swallowing them up. Not wanting to try a Homing Kick and get his foot stuck in the skeleton's mouth, Arik started running away. The monster was a little slow, but focused completely on the intruder to this tomb. Arik skidded to a halt and turned around, thinking his special attack might be able to damage the beast. He cupped his hands towards the approaching monster. "Primal Scream!" He yelled. A huge blast of red Chronos energy in the form of a raptor's head shot for the undead beast. It exploded, doing no damage to the skeleton. "What is this thing?!" Arik asked in astonishment as the thing roared and came after him again. He started running away once more, before remembering the three switches. He started running by the switches, still pursued by the beast. As he passed the first switch, he flipped it, starting a ticking timer. The timer reset when he dashed by and flipped the second switch, and restarted once again after he flipped the third switch. As the timer ticked down, the spiked bar lowered from the ceiling, stopping an inch or so from the floor. Arik jumped over the bar as he continued his circuit around the room. The beast didn't jump, and tripped over the bar! It fell on its face and lay there, struggling to get back up. Arik could now see there was a strange organic- looking mass growing from the monster's back. He ran over and hit it with a Homing Kick. The monster roared in pain and got to its feet as the timer went off and the bar went back to the ceiling. The monster came after Arik again. The raptor easily outdistanced the monster. Its no wonder Velociraptors are called "speed thieves!" He flipped the three switches as he evaded the beast, lowering the spiked bar again. He led the beast to the bar again, tripping the monster. While it was down, Arik hit the organic lump on the creatures back with another Homing Kick, getting another scream. As the monster got up, looking like he was going to rip Arik apart, the raptor quickly dashed for the switches. He flipped the three of them in succession and lowered the bar once more. The monster rushed for Arik and tripped over the bar yet again. The monster was obviously not too bright. Then again, that was only to be expected, considering the fact that it was made of bones and couldn't possibly have a brain. Arik hit the organic lump with a Homing Kick one more time. This time, it exploded, splattering weird fleshy goo all around. As the bar rose up, the monster screamed and fell apart, its bones shattering when they hit the ground. The door at the other end of the room opened. After taking a moment to recover from the fight, he went through. He found himself on a dock overlooking another greenish river. A raft was waiting for him. Arik got in the raft and started rowing downstream.
Outside, the priest had finished explaining things to Scales. "So, that's what I recommend. Do you understand?" Scales thought. "I think so. So what you think I should do is just tell him how I feel when the time is most opportune?" The priest nodded. "In a nutshell, yes. I hope you two can work something out." "So do I. Hey, do you hear something?" asked Scales. "Like what?" asked the priest. "I think I hear footsteps. Someone's coming down the stairs!" she realized. The priest's eyes widened. "What? But how-" He slapped his forehead. "D'oh! I forgot to close the secret door when we were going down the stairs. Anyone could have climbed to the top of the temple, entered Tlaloc's shrine and found the staircase!" Scales stood up. "I have a bad feeling about this..." She turned out to be right. A raptor came out of the stairwell, followed by four others. A second later, Sauron pushed his way past him. He growled at the sight of Scales. "What? That weird raptor again, here of all places!" he snarled. "Who are you calling a raptor, weakling?" Scales called back. Sauron scoffed. "YOU'RE calling ME a weakling? Ha! You're not even strong enough to be my maid!" "I'll make you eat those words!" yelled Scales, running for the tyrant lizard. "Bring it, bitch!" he shouted, running for her as well. The two met in the middle of the room, as the priest and soldiers watched in interest. Scales lashed out faster than the eye could see with her claws, trying to give the evil raptor another scar. Sauron dodge the blow and hit Scales in the chest with a powerful kick, nearly rupturing her stomach with his sharp sickle claw. She spun around, trying to hit him with her tail whip. She succeeded, drawing blood from the dinosaur's chest with her spikes. He leaped over her and clawed at her life-support dome before she could turn around. She winced and snapped her tail at the villain, hitting him on the chin. Before Sauron could take more than a half-step back, Scales turned around and hit him with a Homing Kick. She followed this up with a few slashes from her claws, leaving blood trails on the raptor's chest. Sauron spun around, hitting her with his strong tail. It was more like a thick whip than her own spiky appendage, but it still hurt. Taking advantage of her momentary discomfort, the raptor jumped up and hit her with a Homing Kick of his own. She reeled back and barely managed to bring her arms up in time to block a powerful regular kick from Sauron. The raptor backflipped as Scales slashed at him, missing. As she spun to bring her tail around, Sauron suddenly bit into it. She screamed as he dug his fangs deep into the tail, drawing blood. She hurled an energy ball at his head, causing him to let go of her tail. It hurt, but she could still use it. Sauron had fortunately missed biting anything important. She charged up another energy ball and threw it at the raptor. He countered with one of his own and then shot another one right away, scoring a hit on the unprepared Scales. He smirked. "Ready to give up? I'll let you live if you hand over the Rubies I'm sure you have and tell me where the Keeper is." Scales sneered. "I've faced worse tortures and pain than even you could deal out, creep! And that Keeper has a name, Arik!" Sauron chuckled. "Arik, is it? And what would your name happen to be? I'll need something to carve on your burial mound when I kill you!" "You can call me Scales, the Prototype Ultimate Lifeform!" she yelled, running at the raptor. Sauron leaped over her, spinning around and pulling out his Ruby. "Temporal Implosion!" A wave of energy rippled from the red jewel. Remembering what it had done to Hercules, Scales jumped over the wave and shot at Sauron with a Homing Kick, almost dislodging the gem from his hand. He staggered back and prepared to attack again. "Temporal-" "Serpent Strike!" Scales shouted, firing the giant green serpent at Sauron. The resulting blast sent Sauron smashing into one of the pillars, nearly destroying it. Scales walked over, ready to hit the raptor with another Serpent Strike if need be. As the soldiers and single priest looked on, the evil dinosaur groaned and staggered to his feet. It was quite evident that he had been severely injured. Despite the pain he had to be going through, not only was he able to stand up but he managed to cling as tightly to the Chronos Ruby as he had before. He wheezed, actually grinning. "Well...played." "Yeah, I try." Said Scales, anticipating another attack. Sauron seemed to recover a little. He staggered away, heading for his troops. Scales didn't follow. When he rejoined his men, the dinosaur turned around, a gleam of hatred in his eyes. "I congratulate you, lizard. You have won a great victory here today. But be forewarned, while this battle goes to you, the war is not over yet." He growled. "You will regret this..." He headed towards the stairs. A little unsure and reluctant, the soldiers followed their leader. Once they were gone, the impressed priest came over. "That was amazing!" Scales moaned and fell to her knees. "Are you all right?" Scales nodded and got back up. "Yeah, just a little winded. Heh, that bastard hurt me more than he thinks he did. I'm not going to tell him that, though." She tried to take a step forward, and almost fell. "Woo, maybe I should rest a little." She sat back down and closed her eyes. "Wake me if Arik comes back, 'kay?" "Um, okay." Said the priest. "Thanks." Said Scales. She went to sleep.
Arik stopped the raft and got out at the dock. "Well, that was a harrowing experience!" he said to himself. "Let's see what's next." He walked through the door ahead of him. He immediately fell through a hole. He landed feet- first at the very beginning of an extremely long slide through a tunnel. He tried to use his sharp claws to stop himself, but they just scratched off of the slippery stone used in the slide. He was heading right for a stream of lava crossing the path. He jumped over the lava and continued sliding, hitting several bumps in the path as the slide curved and turned slightly to the left. He jumped over another lava stream and slid down through a corkscrew as the slope kept going down and down. He nearly went airborne when he hit a large bump, but fortunately landed a little further down on the slope. As the tunnel stopped corkscrewing, Arik saw he was sliding right for a spiky gate. He couldn't slow down, it seemed he would slam into it! He saw a switch next to the gate and blasted it, opening the gate and allowing him through safely. As he kept sliding down, he saw a large portion of the floor ahead of him collapse. He jumped right before he could fall into the gap, sailing through the air and landing on the other side, continuing his long slide downward. After a few seconds, he saw he was approaching more danger. A pit lay ahead. Filling the right side of the pit was a big spiked pole. The left side of the pit was empty. The pit was too long for Arik to jump over, even with the momentum from his slide. He quickly noticed a switch on the wall. He blasted it, and a plank dropped from the ceiling, bridging the gap. Arik slid across the plank and across the pit, nearly falling as the pit continued past the pole. The left side was safe, though, so there was nothing to worry about. But Arik could see another spiked pole placed horizontally up ahead. It seemed the slope was leading right for it. Arik saw a switch near the pole and blasted it. Another wooden plank dropped from the ceiling, forming a ramp underneath the pole. He ducked his head and slid under the pole, going down the plank and back onto the slope. He couldn't rest long though, as the path narrowed and another spiked pole lay horizontally in his path! He blasted the switch on the wall next to the pole and a plank dropped from the ceiling, making a ramp that led over the pole. His momentum carried him up the plank and over the pole, landing on the other side. "Who the hell designed this place?" Arik wondered out loud. The slope was ending not too far ahead, leading straight into a big pool of deadly water. Arik saw a switch on the left wall and shot it with an energy ball. Another plank dropped into place, making a ramp that launched Arik over the pool, landing safely on the other side. He continued sliding down the slope, launching off the end of a ramp and falling into a big pit. He fell some distance and landed on what seemed to be a large mesh grating over the top of a gigantic shaft. Arik could not see the bottom of the shaft through the mesh. Arik quickly noticed he wasn't alone in this shaft. At the other end of the mesh was a twenty-foot tall monstrosity. It was made out of solid gold. Its body was large and cup-shaped with a flat top and a rounded bottom. Two thin jointed legs with long feet grew from the bottom. Two arms grew from the sides of the body, each with a thin upper arm and a thick lower arm with three claws on each arm. The head was dome shaped, with one large black eye and one really small red eye. Two dangling insect-like antennas with balls at the ends grew from the monstrosity's head. Right about where the belly button would be if this thing actually had a belly button was the pink Chronos Ruby, attached to the monster's body. This golden monster could be none other than the Guardian of the tomb that Montezuma had warned him about, the Grolgoth. The metal monster started walking towards him. Arik threw a few energy balls, with no effect. He then tried his Primal Scream, which failed to do more than leave a slight dent in the Grolgoth's hide. After that, he just decided to run. As he ran away, the Grolgoth paused, then raised one of its arms and pointed at Arik, claws wide open. Three explosive balls of metal were launched from the thing's claws, streaking for Arik. He hurled energy balls at the metal projectiles. Instead of exploding, the metal balls were repelled by Arik's attack and flew back at the Grolgoth. The gold monster moved out of the way, missing two of the metal balls, but the third delivered a direct hit, exploding and damaging the monster's armor. The Grolgoth stumbled back, then raised one of its feet, pointing it at Arik. Arik was bewildered as to why the monster had done that, and why the thing had a large hole on the underside of its foot. A huge fireball formed and blasted out of the hole in the foot, heading for Arik. He jumped away from the fireball, nearly getting hit. The Grolgoth stayed perfectly balanced on one foot, spinning around to keep its other foot aimed at Arik and throwing fireballs. After a few moments of Arik running around the Grolgoth and dodging fireballs, the golden monster put its foot back down. It crouched and suddenly jumped high in the air, trying to flatten Arik! He ran away from the Grolgoth's growing shadow as the beast landed hard, shaking the whole mesh grate. As the raptor ran away, the Grolgoth stood up and turned around. It launched three more explosives at Arik. He threw his energy balls at the explosives, knocking them back at the Grolgoth. As before, the metal monster managed to dodge the first two, but not the third. It exploded, damaging the Grolgoth some more. The monster rocked back and raised a foot. Arik started running again as the Grolgoth launched fireballs again. He dodged the big bursts of flame until the monster crouched down and jumped again. Arik got out of the way as the Grolgoth came crashing down, shaking the mesh grate violently. As the golden monster got up, Arik dashed away and readied himself for another attack. Predictably, the Grolgoth launched three more explosives. Arik blasted the explosives with his energy balls, sending them right back to the one that had made them. The monster wasn't fast enough this time and got hit by all three explosives. The metal monstrosity creaked and whined. It crouched down and jumped at Arik again. He got out of the way in time, but when the Grolgoth landed, two things happened. First, the monster's right leg fell off. Second, the mesh grating gave way, sending both combatants hurtling down the shaft below. As they fell, Arik tried to gain some semblance of control. The Grolgoth was below him, falling with its face upwards, immobile. Arik saw the Ruby imbedded in its chest and knew he had to get it. But how? The gold creature was falling away from him. How could he speed up his own fall? He got it! "Chronos Control!" he yelled. Time froze, and so did the Grolgoth! Arik fell down, landing on the monster's chest. He only had a limited amount of time, so he had to act quickly. He rushed to the Ruby and pried it out of its setting, putting it away. Right then, the time freeze wore off and he was plummeting again. There was only one thing to do now. He pulled out the Master Ruby and prayed Scales could sense him.
Scales woke up, sensing the energy signature of the Chronos Ruby. "Arik needs me!" she yelled. The priest blinked as she stood up. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to save Arik. I doubt we'll be returning, so you can leave. Thank you for all your help. Chaos Control!" She vanished in a flash of light. The priest stared at where she had been for a moment, several different emotions fighting within himself. He groaned. "I'm starting to think this is all just a dream." He muttered to himself.
Scales reappeared in the shaft, only a few feet above Arik. "Aaaaaaaahhhh! Where's the floor?!" Arik noticed her. "Scales, you came!" "Arik, where the hell are we?" asked Scales. "We're falling down a very deep shaft. I've got the Ruby, can you get us out of here?" Arik asked. "Yeah, hold on!" Scales fired up her anklets. Since she was facing down, they sent her down the shaft, towards Arik. She grabbed him by the waist. "Gotcha!" "Thanks for coming to get me." Arik said. Scales grinned. "No problem. So, are we getting out of here or what?" Arik nodded. "Right! Chronos Control!" They warped away in a flash of light. Below them, the Grolgoth continued falling and eventually reached the bottom of the shaft not too far below, smashing to pieces.
A little later, they were both having dinner at Arik's hut. He told her all about his adventures in the tomb, and she in turn described her near-fatal fight with Sauron. He was quite impressed. "Scales, I'm quite impressed." He said. (Hey, I just said that!) "Sauron is not an easy opponent. He took down what you would call a T-Rex single-handed. The only damage he got from the Rex resulted in those scars over his eyes." Scales smirked, digesting another piece of meat. "All I know is he looked pretty bad after I beat him up. Course, he managed to actually walk away like it was nothing, but you could tell it was hurting." Arik nodded. There was a pause, as both of them ate another bite of meat. Then Arik spoke up. "Scales, I have something I need to talk to you about." Scales tried not to get her hopes up. "Really? Well, I kind of have something I need to talk to you about as well." "Oh?" said Arik a little nervously. "Well, you go first then." "No, you go first." Said Scales. "No, you." "No, you." "No, you!" "No, you!" "You!" "You!" "YOU!" "YOU!" "Enough!" said Arik, banging a fist on the table. "This isn't getting us anywhere. How about we both say what we need to at the same time?" "Okay." Said Scales. "On the count of three." He nodded. "One." Said Arik. "Two." Said Scales. "Three!" They said at the same time. Then, simultaneously they said, "I love you!" There was another pause, as both of them looked at the other in shock. "You do?!" asked Scales incredulously. "Well, yes." Said Arik. "And I see the feeling's mutual." "I don't believe this..." said Scales. "But how can we do this to each other? I'm immortal! You're, well, not!" "Don't I know it." Said Arik dryly. "Well, what do we do then? If we get married or something, you'll just get old and die!" said Scales anxiously. "And I don't want to leave you all alone by such an act." Replied Arik. "But don't fear, I think I have a solution." "What?" asked Scales hopeful that there was a way this could all work out. "The Chronos Rubies have power over time. If I can fuse with all eight of them, I will be able to stop the flow of time for my body, preserving me at age twenty forever." Arik explained. Scales processed that. "Then we just need to get the last two, and we can be together forever!" Scales exclaimed eagerly. Arik nodded. "Yes, but the last Ruby won't be easy to get, considering it's in the claws of Sauron." Scales shrugged. "Hey, I beat him once, I can beat him again." Arik shook his head. "No Scales. I have to be the one to defeat him." "Why?" she asked, confused. "It is a matter of honor. Sauron threatens the entire timeline. As Keeper of the Master Ruby and descendant of the great Slashfang, it is my duty to eliminate the threat and preserve the future. Therefore, I and I alone must be the one to fight Sauron." Arik said calmly. Scales frowned. "I don't know, I think it would be better for you to have some help." Arik shook his head. "As I said, it is a matter of honor. I cannot allow anyone to help me." "If you say so." Said Scales. "So, are we a couple now?" "I suppose so." Said Arik. "Well, what do we do now?" asked Scales. Arik shrugged. "Well, I'm not really sure. I've read a lot about this, but most of my knowledge on romance seems to fade away when I look at your beautiful face." Scales blushed. "Okay, compliments are a start. How about we make out for a few minutes then go to your parents' old room and use the nest for its maximum potential, if you get my drift?" Arik thought a moment. "Yeah, all right." "Good." Scales got up from her seat, walked around the table, grabbed the raptor and started smothering him with kisses. After the incredible make- out session, they went up to bed and...um...how about we leave them to have sex alone, okay?
Whoa. Did I just write that? Scales: (Extremely happy and cheerful.) Yeppers! ^ ^ Me: My, aren't you happy. Scales: I've just gotten to sleep with the man I love! Of course I'm happy! Me: (sarcastically) Well, isn't that special? You weren't supposed to get this far so soon. Well, too late now, I suppose. Scales: Uh huh! Me: What did you think of your little rest for most of the chapter? Scales: I thought it was nice that my little darling got the spotlight for once! Though I did appreciate the fight with Sauron. He's a pretty tough opponent. An extremely tough one, come to think about it. Me: Are you happy now? I've provided Arik with a possible way to become immortal like you. Scales: Yeah, you came through with your promise. But you keep acting like you're planning on breaking us up or something. Me: Don't be silly! Now, before we close we have our usual gifts from fans. Let's see who's first. Okay, Ultrafan X gave you a pair of tickets to Egypt, even though you're not flying there. Eh, I'll just save them for myself. Scales: Okay. Me: Oh, he's also uploaded the real copy of 'How to Marry the Man of Your Dreams' to your memory banks. Not that it's really necessary anymore. Scales: That's all right. Thank you, Ultrafan! Me: Oh, and I have a warning for your pet Digimon, Ultrafan. No matter how strong he is when he goes Mega, he is nothing compared to the power of Cyberstrike. Just thought I'd warn you. Now, for Maverick. Maverick, there is no longer any need for you to work on an elixir, since Arik may have found a solution anyway. Thank you for editing Scales into those video games. Scales: Yeah thanks, I think. Me: Finally, we have a present from HobbesKnux. He's given you a solid hologram projector that you can use as a training dummy. You can even program it to fight back! Scales: Cool! Thanks HobbesKnux! Me: Well that's it for today. Bye everyone! Scales: Bye! Hope you weren't alienated by what Arik and I are doing! Please review!
Me: Uh...Amnesia dust! (Throws amnesia dust around so everyone forgets hostage comment and starts chapter.)
The somber priest waved his torch at the bloodstained altar. "Which of you is entering the cursed tomb?" Arik stepped forward. "That would be me." "Come over here." Said the priest. Arik did so. "The tomb is sealed with death magic. The key to all death magic is blood." He pointed to the altar. "To enter the tomb, you must sacrifice some of your blood to the altar." Arik grimaced, but knew he had no choice. Standing over the altar, he gingerly pushed one of his claws into his right palm until a little blood welled up. He managed to scrape a tiny drop of blood onto a claw. Making sure not to drop the tiny bit of blood, he pressed the claw onto the altar. The blood drop was sucked off his claw tip, absorbed into the altar. The bloodstained altar rumbled and shook, pulsing with magic, glowing an eerie purple. The door in the back shuddered. Screams started as several spirits flew out of the door, wailing and moaning as they flew around the chamber, fading away. When the spirits were gone, the door opened. Arik gulped. "Not a very welcoming door, I can say that right off." Scales came over. "Arik, are you sure you'll be okay in there?" "No." He said. "But I said I would take this turn, and I will. It's too late to go back now, the altar's accepted my blood and probably won't be happy if I don't enter the tomb." Scales nodded, understanding. "All right, but if you get in any trouble you can't handle, call me okay?" Arik smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." "I'm not saying you won't it's just, well...I don't want to lose you." She said. Arik wasn't sure what to say to that. "Well, thank you for your sentiment. I'll try not to die." He headed for the door. Before he stepped through the threshold, he turned around. "For what it's worth, I don't want to lose you either." With that, he went through the doorway. Scales sighed longingly. The priest looked at her. "Are you two a couple or something?" Scales blinked. "What? No! Well, not yet." She said sadly. "You care about him then?" the priest asked. "Well, I'd say a little more than just caring about him." Scales admitted. The holy man thought a moment. "Well, we need something to do while we wait for your friend to come back from whatever errand he's on in the tomb, so how about I give you a little advice on how to talk to him about your feelings?" "Oh, could you?" asked Scales hopefully. "Sure. Let's find somewhere comfortable to sit down so we can talk about this." Said the priest, looking for a place to sit that wasn't close to the mummies, the evil door, or the living altar.
Arik walked down a narrow, dark passage until he came out in a semi- large room. He was standing on a balcony overlooking a large stream of nasty-looking reddish brown water. A staircase led down from his right to a long ledge running along the wall. A similar ledge was on the other side of the room. On the wall of the nearest ledge was a big closed portcullis, blocking entry to a corridor beyond it. Arik walked down the stairs to the ledge, then leaped across the stream to the other side. He found a large alcove and entered it. Inside the alcove was a switch on the wall. Arik flipped the switch, and the portcullis on the other side of the room opened up. Arik walked back out onto the ledge and jumped back across the stream, landing on the other ledge. He started through the large open passage. He was immediately attacked by a giant spider! Arik jumped back as the spider lashed at him with its forelegs. The spider crawled forward, chittering hungrily. Arik hurled energy balls at the spider, knocking it back an inch or so with each hit. It kept on coming. Arik started backing towards the edge of the ledge, throwing occasional energy balls. The spider was angered by this and charged. Arik jumped over the big arachnid, causing it to run off the ledge, falling into the water below. As it hit the strange water, the spider screamed and thrashed about. Its body was melting, disintegrating from the very contact with the liquid. Arik screwed his face up in disgust as the arachnid dissolved. "Okay, I am definitely not taking a swim in this tomb." He went through the passage the spider had been guarding, walking up a green slope. It leveled out, going towards a door. As Arik headed for the door, he noticed a pair of grates set in the floor. As he watched, spirits rose from the grates, wailing and moaning, fading away. He walked around the grates and went through the door. He was now in a large round room. In the middle of the room was a pit with some stuff in it. On the other side of the room was a large pool of red-brown water with some blocks rising out of it. The blocks were right beneath a door in the wall. Arik walked to the edge of the pit and looked down. He could see a large spider web going from the top of the pit to the bottom that he could probably use as a ladder to get out. Down in the pit was a mummy lying on a stone slab. Resting above the mummy's head on the slab was a switch. Arik could see a few giant spiders waiting in the pit. He jumped down and ran for the slab, shooting at any spiders that tried to get him. He leaped onto the slab, landing right on the chest of the mummy and plowing his feet right through the ancient corpse. Arik's face paled and he jumped out of the mummy's chest, landing near the switch. He flipped the switch. He had a strange vision of a platform rising out of a pool of green water. As the vision faded, Arik saw he was surrounded by spiders on all sides. He saw the cobweb across the pit. He ran across the slab, jumping over the now-damaged mummy and landing on the floor. As the arachnids raced towards him, he jumped again, reaching the web. He grabbed the webbing and started climbing up, quickly reaching the top. Of course, he forgot that the spiders could climb it as well. He started shooting energy balls down into the pit, knocking the spiders off the web ladder. After several failed attempts at getting up, the spiders gave up and went back to roaming the pit. The raptor walked around the edge of the pit, to the pool at the back of the room. He jumped across the blocks, reaching the doorway. He jumped to it and walked through. He was in a small multi-tiered room, with the tiers on the back. Arik climbed up a cobweb to reach the top of the first tier, and found another cobweb leading up the next one. He was about to go up the web, when he saw a tunnel on the left wall and the right wall. After a moment, he decided to see what was in the left tunnel first. He came out of the tunnel and into a large chamber full of the dangerous water. From the ledge he was currently on, a bridge wound over the water across a gap. There were a few crates floating about, and what looked like a large half-sunken ship covered in cobwebs lay at the other end of the room. Arik jumped to the bridge and started walking across it. As he got closer to the ship, he saw what looked like a giant half-open treasure chest sitting next to it. Weird! As Arik got closer yet to the ship and chest, he saw a platform a bit to the right of the big chest. Standing on the platform was a mummy, apparently quite animated! The undead monster moaned and started throwing fireballs at Arik. He dodged the balls while staying on the bridge and threw energy balls at the creature. The blasts damaged the mummy a little, but just caused it to throw more flaming projectiles. Arik hurled about a dozen rapid-fire energy balls at the mummy, catching the undead monster off balance and knocking it into the water. The threat gone, Arik continued to the end of the bridge. He was close to the ship, but not close enough to jump to the cobwebs. He could see a switch mounted on the very top of the ship's mast, and the cobwebs led up there. He saw what looked like a large rib cage floating in the water in front of him. He jumped to the rib cage and started walking across it to get a little closer to the cobwebs. As he did, a skeletal arm reached from the treasure chest and swiped at him. He blasted the arm, causing it to fall apart and make the creature it had been attached to scream in pain. Arik judged he was now just close enough to the ship to jump to it. He leaped across the water, grabbing onto the cobwebs. As he started to climb up, a giant spider appeared and started coming after him up the web! Arik started climbing faster, trying to get to the top of the mast before the spider could get him. He reached the switch and flipped it, (experiencing another vision of a platform coming out of green water as he did so) then dropped from the web as the spider was about to attack. He grabbed the web again further down and quickly climbed close to the treasure chest. He jumped to the chest as the spider was about to attack again. He thought he was safe, until the arachnid jumped after him, landing right before Arik! Before the spider could attack, Arik whacked it hard with his tail, causing it to fall off the chest and into the water. The spider gone, Arik jumped back down to the bridge and headed for the exit. After reaching the tier room again, Arik headed to the other tunnel. He went through and found himself in a big chamber. In the middle of the room was a large square platform surrounded by deadly water. A bridge led to the platform. The platform contained several coffins and a couple of spirit grates. Arik walked across the bridge and onto the platform. He saw an ugly statue of some skull-faced god near the back of the platform and figured he should check it out. He started walking by the coffins, noticing disdainfully that most were open. He avoided the grates with the wailing spirits, and almost got hit when one of the mummies in the coffin swiped an arm at him. He smashed the arm with his tail, causing the corpse to scream and stay motionless in the coffin. A stronger mummy leaped out of a coffin and started attacking, throwing fireballs like mad. Arik jumped away from the fireballs and ran towards the corpse, leaping over the fiery blasts. He shot into a Homing Kick when he was close enough, damaging the undead monster. Before the mummy could recover, Arik smashed into him with his tail. The mummy's body was fragile to physical attacks, and Arik's tail whip smashed the upper body of the monster to pieces. The lower body crumbled soon after, leaving Arik alone again. With the mummy gone, the raptor headed to the back of the area, walking behind the ugly statue. He found a switch. He flipped it, and had another vision of a platform rising from some green water. When he recovered, he wondered what the heck was with all these visions and headed back to the tier room. Once he came back out of the tunnel, Arik started climbing up the cobweb. He reached the top and went through the door he found, entering a long corridor. He walked through the corridor and exited into a big room full of green water. A dock led out into the water. A series of objects formed a path across the probably toxic liquid. Arik was a little surprised when he saw three platforms in the series of objects that looked exactly like the ones in the visions he had had from every time he had flipped a switch. Apparently this is what those switches had done. He started his way across the lake of green water by jumping to a closed coffin on his left. He jumped from there to the first platform he had activated, and jumped from there to a large rib cage. He carefully walked over the rib cage and jumped to another platform, then jumped to another rib cage. He jumped to the last platform, and jumped from there to another coffin. He jumped from there to the ledge at the back of the room, where he found a cobweb. He climbed up the cobweb, reaching an area with a stone slope going into a hole in the ground. Arik slid down the slope and landed in another room. He was on a ledge encircling three walls. The fourth wall was a portcullis. There was no floor, instead there was the beginning of a river of strange dark green water flowing through the portcullis and down a long tunnel. To the right of the portcullis were a set of gears. Floating in the water right in front of the portcullis was a raft. Arik walked over to the gears and curiously turned the crank on one of them, rotating the gears. As he kept turning, the portcullis lifted. Arik let go of the crank so that he could get to the raft. The instant he did, the gears spun back and the portcullis slammed down. He puzzled over this, then got an idea. He walked all the way around to where the raft was and turned to face the gears. He hurled several energy balls at the crank, causing it to spin and raise the portcullis. He leaped down to the raft and rowed it out with a pole he found inside the raft before the portcullis could slam down. He rowed down the creepy river until he got near a platform with another raft hitched to it. As Arik neared the platform, his boat started to sink. He quickly jumped to the platform, only to have that begin to sink as well. He jumped immediately to the raft, which was fine. He cut what was left of the rope that had attached it to the now-submerged platform and started rowing down the river again. Eventually, he reached the end, finding a wall. A cobweb ran up the wall to a long, circular ledge leading to a corridor. Guarding the corridor was a mummy that began throwing fireballs at him. Arik shot energy balls back at the undead beast while steering the raft to the cobweb. After unleashing a salvo of blasts, Arik leaped from the raft and desperately began scaling the web, shimmying away from fire blasts when the mummy threw them. He climbed to the top of the ledge and started pelting the mummy over and over again with energy blasts, not letting the monster get a chance to squeeze off a shot. After a few dozen hits, the mummy croaked, staggered, and fell off the ledge. Arik walked around the ledge and entered the corridor. He found a closed gate with a switch next to it. Arik pressed the switch. The gate rose up, then started to come down. Arik somersaulted beneath the gate before it could close fully. He proceeded down the corridor beyond and came out into the upper reaches of another spooky river. He walked along the ledge before him until it ended, then jumped down to a bridge traversing the span across the river. The instant he stepped foot on the bridge, it started to collapse. Arik ran across the bridge as it started to fall beneath him, jumping to the ledge on the other side before he could drop to the deadly water. He walked along the ledge until it ended, and looked for where to go next. He saw a pair of platforms in the water leading to a raft. A spiked bar attached to both walls rose and lowered over the platforms. Arik jumped down to the nearest platform and it started to sink. As the spiked bar started coming down, Arik jumped over it to the next platform, then jumped from there to the raft before the platform could sink. He rowed the raft out into the river, following the flow. After a few minutes of rowing down the river, he reached the end. As he steered the raft towards the cobweb on the wall at the end of the river, a portcullis closed behind him. He jumped from the raft to the web and started climbing up. He pulled himself into a tunnel and walked through, reaching a fair-sized room with a tall ceiling and lots of greenish water. A dock structure led out over the water. Arik walked along the dock and turned to the right. A mummy was on it! Before the undead could throw fireballs, Arik smashed it apart with his tail whip. He continued down the dock and reached the end. There was a torch burning a strange color next to him. And a barrel of some sort lying next to it. Straight across from Arik and high up the wall was a tunnel, but there seemed to be no way to reach it. Arik examined the barrel and noticed it had a fuse. Curious, he picked it up to get a better look, accidentally holding the fuse end to the torch. It lit, and suddenly the back end of the barrel ignited, rocketing Arik up towards the ceiling. Frightened, he accidentally maneuvered himself towards the tunnel on the wall. As he rocketed into it, he let go of the barrel, which continued on its path and exploded when it hit the back wall. Shaken from that experience, Arik walked down the tunnel until he reached the end, where the barrel had exploded. There was a hole in the ground. He dropped into it and fell into a bigger cavern with docks and greenish water. Arik walked along the dock in front of him and turned right, going forward until he found another barrel and a torch. A little dubious, Arik picked up the barrel and held it carefully on his shoulder, then leaned over so the fuse would light. The barrel ignited, sending Arik rocketing through the chamber. He moved up and weaved around pillars, dropping from the barrel when he saw a bridge. He landed on the bridge and saw a cobweb leading alongside the wall to his left. He grabbed the webbing and started climbing down, dropping at another bridge. He found another barrel and torch. He picked up the barrel, kit it, and shot off through the cave. He aimed himself for a dock over the water and let go of the barrel, landing on the dock. There was a mummy waiting for him. Arik smashed the mummy to pieces with his tail whip, then went forward. He found a hole in the dock, and it was positioned right over a raft. Arik jumped down, landing in the raft. He picked up the stick on it and started rowing out, heading for a large tunnel leading out of the big room. He found himself rowing down a river once more. As he went on, ghosts rose from the water and attacked him, only to be vanquished by an energy ball or two. After rowing and ghost blasting for a little while, Arik saw a few large fallen beams crossed over the river or angling into it. He also saw a floating vine. As he got closer to the vine, the raft started to sink. The raptor quickly jumped up and grabbed the vine. He pulled himself onto it and started swinging back and forth. When he picked up enough momentum, he let go and was flung onto one of the fallen beams. A pair of ghosts moved in to attack him. He blasted the ghosts away and saw a fallen beam across the river within jumping distance. He leaped to the beam, then jumped to a floating vine he saw. He swung from the floating vine to another one, then swung from there to one near a ledge at the end of the river. He swung from this last vine and landed on the ledge. He entered a large crack in the wall and found a cobweb. He climbed up the cobweb and entered a small corridor. He was immediately attacked by a giant spider! As the arachnid tried to gouge his flesh with its large pincers, Arik stunned it with a tail whip. He threw several energy balls point-blank into the spider's eyes, exploding and blinding the arachnid. A few kicks finished off the arachnid, allowing Arik to pass. At the end of the corridor he found a set of gears in the wall and a grated hole in the floor. He turned the crank on the gears and the grate started to open, allowing access to the hole. He let go of the crank, and the grate slammed shut. Remembering how he fixed this problem the last time, Arik stepped onto the grate and blasted the crank with his energy balls, spinning the gears and opening the grate, causing him to fall into the hole. He landed on a ledge overlooking another greenish river. A raft sat in the water below. Spirits rose from the water occasionally, screaming as usual. Arik jumped down to the raft and started rowing, steering around the places where spirits emerged. The river was narrower than usual. As Arik steered the raft downstream, he saw a gate with lots of spikes pointing outward blocking the passage. A switch was mounted on the wall next to the door. He blasted the switch, raising the door. The thing started to slowly come down right after. Arik steered the raft through the doorway before the gate could close and kept going. He soon was heading for another spiked gate. He blasted the switch and rowed through the door, then did the same with the next gate soon after. As he proceeded in silence for a few minutes, he saw another raft floating in the river. As he started past it, his raft began to sink. He jumped to the other one and started rowing away as quickly as he could. Rocks started to fall from the ceilings, big ones that could probably crush the raptor's skull. Arik knocked the rocks away with energy blasts whenever one came close to him and approached another gate. He blasted the switch and quickly rowed through the gate, finding a small area with a dock. He rowed to the dock and stopped the raft, jumping off. There was a net on the back wall leading up to a hole in the ceiling. Arik started climbing up the net, going through the hole. After a short climb, he pulled himself onto a ledge and went through a door. The instant he did, a gate slammed shut over the door. He was now in a large room with a few pillars and a staircase in the middle of the room leading up to a balcony. Hovering above the balcony was a floating vine, and across from the vine was a net leading through a hole in the ceiling. Arik noticed there were several mummies in this room. Several ACTIVE mummies. They groaned and shambled towards him, a couple throwing fireballs. There were too many to deal with safely, so Arik would have to use a little more power. "Chronos Control!" Time froze. He ran to each mummy, one after the other, and smashed them apart with his tail. When time restarted, the mummies fell apart and dirtied up the floor. The enemy threat gone, Arik walked up the stairs. He jumped up and grabbed the vine, then swung himself over to the net. He grabbed on and started climbing up. He pulled himself onto the ledge at the top and entered the corridor he saw. After a short walk, he saw a large closed door with a switch next to it. Arik flipped the switch, and the door opened. He walked in and found a medium-sized round room with a tall ceiling. Higher up was a spiked bar spanning the entire room. Three switches were on the walls of the room. A door was at the back, closed. A big pile of bones lay on the floor in the middle of the room. As Arik took a few steps forward, the door behind him slammed shut. As he turned at the noise of the door closing, he heard a clattering noise. He looked forward again and saw the bones moving! They shifted and flew into the air, assembling themselves to form a horrible beast! It was completely skeletal of course, but Arik was able to pick out details of the monster's body nonetheless. The creature had a pair of short legs ending in big, clawed feet. It had a huge torso with thick ribs. Two long and extremely thick arms grew from the monster's shoulders, ending in powerful-looking hands. The monster had a huge lower jaw, with a chin that grew down to the beast's waist. The upper part of the creature's head was very small, with two tiny eye sockets. The skeleton roared and started lurching towards Arik. Arik stood his ground for a moment and threw energy balls at the skeleton. It opened its mouth and allowed the blasts to go in, swallowing them up. Not wanting to try a Homing Kick and get his foot stuck in the skeleton's mouth, Arik started running away. The monster was a little slow, but focused completely on the intruder to this tomb. Arik skidded to a halt and turned around, thinking his special attack might be able to damage the beast. He cupped his hands towards the approaching monster. "Primal Scream!" He yelled. A huge blast of red Chronos energy in the form of a raptor's head shot for the undead beast. It exploded, doing no damage to the skeleton. "What is this thing?!" Arik asked in astonishment as the thing roared and came after him again. He started running away once more, before remembering the three switches. He started running by the switches, still pursued by the beast. As he passed the first switch, he flipped it, starting a ticking timer. The timer reset when he dashed by and flipped the second switch, and restarted once again after he flipped the third switch. As the timer ticked down, the spiked bar lowered from the ceiling, stopping an inch or so from the floor. Arik jumped over the bar as he continued his circuit around the room. The beast didn't jump, and tripped over the bar! It fell on its face and lay there, struggling to get back up. Arik could now see there was a strange organic- looking mass growing from the monster's back. He ran over and hit it with a Homing Kick. The monster roared in pain and got to its feet as the timer went off and the bar went back to the ceiling. The monster came after Arik again. The raptor easily outdistanced the monster. Its no wonder Velociraptors are called "speed thieves!" He flipped the three switches as he evaded the beast, lowering the spiked bar again. He led the beast to the bar again, tripping the monster. While it was down, Arik hit the organic lump on the creatures back with another Homing Kick, getting another scream. As the monster got up, looking like he was going to rip Arik apart, the raptor quickly dashed for the switches. He flipped the three of them in succession and lowered the bar once more. The monster rushed for Arik and tripped over the bar yet again. The monster was obviously not too bright. Then again, that was only to be expected, considering the fact that it was made of bones and couldn't possibly have a brain. Arik hit the organic lump with a Homing Kick one more time. This time, it exploded, splattering weird fleshy goo all around. As the bar rose up, the monster screamed and fell apart, its bones shattering when they hit the ground. The door at the other end of the room opened. After taking a moment to recover from the fight, he went through. He found himself on a dock overlooking another greenish river. A raft was waiting for him. Arik got in the raft and started rowing downstream.
Outside, the priest had finished explaining things to Scales. "So, that's what I recommend. Do you understand?" Scales thought. "I think so. So what you think I should do is just tell him how I feel when the time is most opportune?" The priest nodded. "In a nutshell, yes. I hope you two can work something out." "So do I. Hey, do you hear something?" asked Scales. "Like what?" asked the priest. "I think I hear footsteps. Someone's coming down the stairs!" she realized. The priest's eyes widened. "What? But how-" He slapped his forehead. "D'oh! I forgot to close the secret door when we were going down the stairs. Anyone could have climbed to the top of the temple, entered Tlaloc's shrine and found the staircase!" Scales stood up. "I have a bad feeling about this..." She turned out to be right. A raptor came out of the stairwell, followed by four others. A second later, Sauron pushed his way past him. He growled at the sight of Scales. "What? That weird raptor again, here of all places!" he snarled. "Who are you calling a raptor, weakling?" Scales called back. Sauron scoffed. "YOU'RE calling ME a weakling? Ha! You're not even strong enough to be my maid!" "I'll make you eat those words!" yelled Scales, running for the tyrant lizard. "Bring it, bitch!" he shouted, running for her as well. The two met in the middle of the room, as the priest and soldiers watched in interest. Scales lashed out faster than the eye could see with her claws, trying to give the evil raptor another scar. Sauron dodge the blow and hit Scales in the chest with a powerful kick, nearly rupturing her stomach with his sharp sickle claw. She spun around, trying to hit him with her tail whip. She succeeded, drawing blood from the dinosaur's chest with her spikes. He leaped over her and clawed at her life-support dome before she could turn around. She winced and snapped her tail at the villain, hitting him on the chin. Before Sauron could take more than a half-step back, Scales turned around and hit him with a Homing Kick. She followed this up with a few slashes from her claws, leaving blood trails on the raptor's chest. Sauron spun around, hitting her with his strong tail. It was more like a thick whip than her own spiky appendage, but it still hurt. Taking advantage of her momentary discomfort, the raptor jumped up and hit her with a Homing Kick of his own. She reeled back and barely managed to bring her arms up in time to block a powerful regular kick from Sauron. The raptor backflipped as Scales slashed at him, missing. As she spun to bring her tail around, Sauron suddenly bit into it. She screamed as he dug his fangs deep into the tail, drawing blood. She hurled an energy ball at his head, causing him to let go of her tail. It hurt, but she could still use it. Sauron had fortunately missed biting anything important. She charged up another energy ball and threw it at the raptor. He countered with one of his own and then shot another one right away, scoring a hit on the unprepared Scales. He smirked. "Ready to give up? I'll let you live if you hand over the Rubies I'm sure you have and tell me where the Keeper is." Scales sneered. "I've faced worse tortures and pain than even you could deal out, creep! And that Keeper has a name, Arik!" Sauron chuckled. "Arik, is it? And what would your name happen to be? I'll need something to carve on your burial mound when I kill you!" "You can call me Scales, the Prototype Ultimate Lifeform!" she yelled, running at the raptor. Sauron leaped over her, spinning around and pulling out his Ruby. "Temporal Implosion!" A wave of energy rippled from the red jewel. Remembering what it had done to Hercules, Scales jumped over the wave and shot at Sauron with a Homing Kick, almost dislodging the gem from his hand. He staggered back and prepared to attack again. "Temporal-" "Serpent Strike!" Scales shouted, firing the giant green serpent at Sauron. The resulting blast sent Sauron smashing into one of the pillars, nearly destroying it. Scales walked over, ready to hit the raptor with another Serpent Strike if need be. As the soldiers and single priest looked on, the evil dinosaur groaned and staggered to his feet. It was quite evident that he had been severely injured. Despite the pain he had to be going through, not only was he able to stand up but he managed to cling as tightly to the Chronos Ruby as he had before. He wheezed, actually grinning. "Well...played." "Yeah, I try." Said Scales, anticipating another attack. Sauron seemed to recover a little. He staggered away, heading for his troops. Scales didn't follow. When he rejoined his men, the dinosaur turned around, a gleam of hatred in his eyes. "I congratulate you, lizard. You have won a great victory here today. But be forewarned, while this battle goes to you, the war is not over yet." He growled. "You will regret this..." He headed towards the stairs. A little unsure and reluctant, the soldiers followed their leader. Once they were gone, the impressed priest came over. "That was amazing!" Scales moaned and fell to her knees. "Are you all right?" Scales nodded and got back up. "Yeah, just a little winded. Heh, that bastard hurt me more than he thinks he did. I'm not going to tell him that, though." She tried to take a step forward, and almost fell. "Woo, maybe I should rest a little." She sat back down and closed her eyes. "Wake me if Arik comes back, 'kay?" "Um, okay." Said the priest. "Thanks." Said Scales. She went to sleep.
Arik stopped the raft and got out at the dock. "Well, that was a harrowing experience!" he said to himself. "Let's see what's next." He walked through the door ahead of him. He immediately fell through a hole. He landed feet- first at the very beginning of an extremely long slide through a tunnel. He tried to use his sharp claws to stop himself, but they just scratched off of the slippery stone used in the slide. He was heading right for a stream of lava crossing the path. He jumped over the lava and continued sliding, hitting several bumps in the path as the slide curved and turned slightly to the left. He jumped over another lava stream and slid down through a corkscrew as the slope kept going down and down. He nearly went airborne when he hit a large bump, but fortunately landed a little further down on the slope. As the tunnel stopped corkscrewing, Arik saw he was sliding right for a spiky gate. He couldn't slow down, it seemed he would slam into it! He saw a switch next to the gate and blasted it, opening the gate and allowing him through safely. As he kept sliding down, he saw a large portion of the floor ahead of him collapse. He jumped right before he could fall into the gap, sailing through the air and landing on the other side, continuing his long slide downward. After a few seconds, he saw he was approaching more danger. A pit lay ahead. Filling the right side of the pit was a big spiked pole. The left side of the pit was empty. The pit was too long for Arik to jump over, even with the momentum from his slide. He quickly noticed a switch on the wall. He blasted it, and a plank dropped from the ceiling, bridging the gap. Arik slid across the plank and across the pit, nearly falling as the pit continued past the pole. The left side was safe, though, so there was nothing to worry about. But Arik could see another spiked pole placed horizontally up ahead. It seemed the slope was leading right for it. Arik saw a switch near the pole and blasted it. Another wooden plank dropped from the ceiling, forming a ramp underneath the pole. He ducked his head and slid under the pole, going down the plank and back onto the slope. He couldn't rest long though, as the path narrowed and another spiked pole lay horizontally in his path! He blasted the switch on the wall next to the pole and a plank dropped from the ceiling, making a ramp that led over the pole. His momentum carried him up the plank and over the pole, landing on the other side. "Who the hell designed this place?" Arik wondered out loud. The slope was ending not too far ahead, leading straight into a big pool of deadly water. Arik saw a switch on the left wall and shot it with an energy ball. Another plank dropped into place, making a ramp that launched Arik over the pool, landing safely on the other side. He continued sliding down the slope, launching off the end of a ramp and falling into a big pit. He fell some distance and landed on what seemed to be a large mesh grating over the top of a gigantic shaft. Arik could not see the bottom of the shaft through the mesh. Arik quickly noticed he wasn't alone in this shaft. At the other end of the mesh was a twenty-foot tall monstrosity. It was made out of solid gold. Its body was large and cup-shaped with a flat top and a rounded bottom. Two thin jointed legs with long feet grew from the bottom. Two arms grew from the sides of the body, each with a thin upper arm and a thick lower arm with three claws on each arm. The head was dome shaped, with one large black eye and one really small red eye. Two dangling insect-like antennas with balls at the ends grew from the monstrosity's head. Right about where the belly button would be if this thing actually had a belly button was the pink Chronos Ruby, attached to the monster's body. This golden monster could be none other than the Guardian of the tomb that Montezuma had warned him about, the Grolgoth. The metal monster started walking towards him. Arik threw a few energy balls, with no effect. He then tried his Primal Scream, which failed to do more than leave a slight dent in the Grolgoth's hide. After that, he just decided to run. As he ran away, the Grolgoth paused, then raised one of its arms and pointed at Arik, claws wide open. Three explosive balls of metal were launched from the thing's claws, streaking for Arik. He hurled energy balls at the metal projectiles. Instead of exploding, the metal balls were repelled by Arik's attack and flew back at the Grolgoth. The gold monster moved out of the way, missing two of the metal balls, but the third delivered a direct hit, exploding and damaging the monster's armor. The Grolgoth stumbled back, then raised one of its feet, pointing it at Arik. Arik was bewildered as to why the monster had done that, and why the thing had a large hole on the underside of its foot. A huge fireball formed and blasted out of the hole in the foot, heading for Arik. He jumped away from the fireball, nearly getting hit. The Grolgoth stayed perfectly balanced on one foot, spinning around to keep its other foot aimed at Arik and throwing fireballs. After a few moments of Arik running around the Grolgoth and dodging fireballs, the golden monster put its foot back down. It crouched and suddenly jumped high in the air, trying to flatten Arik! He ran away from the Grolgoth's growing shadow as the beast landed hard, shaking the whole mesh grate. As the raptor ran away, the Grolgoth stood up and turned around. It launched three more explosives at Arik. He threw his energy balls at the explosives, knocking them back at the Grolgoth. As before, the metal monster managed to dodge the first two, but not the third. It exploded, damaging the Grolgoth some more. The monster rocked back and raised a foot. Arik started running again as the Grolgoth launched fireballs again. He dodged the big bursts of flame until the monster crouched down and jumped again. Arik got out of the way as the Grolgoth came crashing down, shaking the mesh grate violently. As the golden monster got up, Arik dashed away and readied himself for another attack. Predictably, the Grolgoth launched three more explosives. Arik blasted the explosives with his energy balls, sending them right back to the one that had made them. The monster wasn't fast enough this time and got hit by all three explosives. The metal monstrosity creaked and whined. It crouched down and jumped at Arik again. He got out of the way in time, but when the Grolgoth landed, two things happened. First, the monster's right leg fell off. Second, the mesh grating gave way, sending both combatants hurtling down the shaft below. As they fell, Arik tried to gain some semblance of control. The Grolgoth was below him, falling with its face upwards, immobile. Arik saw the Ruby imbedded in its chest and knew he had to get it. But how? The gold creature was falling away from him. How could he speed up his own fall? He got it! "Chronos Control!" he yelled. Time froze, and so did the Grolgoth! Arik fell down, landing on the monster's chest. He only had a limited amount of time, so he had to act quickly. He rushed to the Ruby and pried it out of its setting, putting it away. Right then, the time freeze wore off and he was plummeting again. There was only one thing to do now. He pulled out the Master Ruby and prayed Scales could sense him.
Scales woke up, sensing the energy signature of the Chronos Ruby. "Arik needs me!" she yelled. The priest blinked as she stood up. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to save Arik. I doubt we'll be returning, so you can leave. Thank you for all your help. Chaos Control!" She vanished in a flash of light. The priest stared at where she had been for a moment, several different emotions fighting within himself. He groaned. "I'm starting to think this is all just a dream." He muttered to himself.
Scales reappeared in the shaft, only a few feet above Arik. "Aaaaaaaahhhh! Where's the floor?!" Arik noticed her. "Scales, you came!" "Arik, where the hell are we?" asked Scales. "We're falling down a very deep shaft. I've got the Ruby, can you get us out of here?" Arik asked. "Yeah, hold on!" Scales fired up her anklets. Since she was facing down, they sent her down the shaft, towards Arik. She grabbed him by the waist. "Gotcha!" "Thanks for coming to get me." Arik said. Scales grinned. "No problem. So, are we getting out of here or what?" Arik nodded. "Right! Chronos Control!" They warped away in a flash of light. Below them, the Grolgoth continued falling and eventually reached the bottom of the shaft not too far below, smashing to pieces.
A little later, they were both having dinner at Arik's hut. He told her all about his adventures in the tomb, and she in turn described her near-fatal fight with Sauron. He was quite impressed. "Scales, I'm quite impressed." He said. (Hey, I just said that!) "Sauron is not an easy opponent. He took down what you would call a T-Rex single-handed. The only damage he got from the Rex resulted in those scars over his eyes." Scales smirked, digesting another piece of meat. "All I know is he looked pretty bad after I beat him up. Course, he managed to actually walk away like it was nothing, but you could tell it was hurting." Arik nodded. There was a pause, as both of them ate another bite of meat. Then Arik spoke up. "Scales, I have something I need to talk to you about." Scales tried not to get her hopes up. "Really? Well, I kind of have something I need to talk to you about as well." "Oh?" said Arik a little nervously. "Well, you go first then." "No, you go first." Said Scales. "No, you." "No, you." "No, you!" "No, you!" "You!" "You!" "YOU!" "YOU!" "Enough!" said Arik, banging a fist on the table. "This isn't getting us anywhere. How about we both say what we need to at the same time?" "Okay." Said Scales. "On the count of three." He nodded. "One." Said Arik. "Two." Said Scales. "Three!" They said at the same time. Then, simultaneously they said, "I love you!" There was another pause, as both of them looked at the other in shock. "You do?!" asked Scales incredulously. "Well, yes." Said Arik. "And I see the feeling's mutual." "I don't believe this..." said Scales. "But how can we do this to each other? I'm immortal! You're, well, not!" "Don't I know it." Said Arik dryly. "Well, what do we do then? If we get married or something, you'll just get old and die!" said Scales anxiously. "And I don't want to leave you all alone by such an act." Replied Arik. "But don't fear, I think I have a solution." "What?" asked Scales hopeful that there was a way this could all work out. "The Chronos Rubies have power over time. If I can fuse with all eight of them, I will be able to stop the flow of time for my body, preserving me at age twenty forever." Arik explained. Scales processed that. "Then we just need to get the last two, and we can be together forever!" Scales exclaimed eagerly. Arik nodded. "Yes, but the last Ruby won't be easy to get, considering it's in the claws of Sauron." Scales shrugged. "Hey, I beat him once, I can beat him again." Arik shook his head. "No Scales. I have to be the one to defeat him." "Why?" she asked, confused. "It is a matter of honor. Sauron threatens the entire timeline. As Keeper of the Master Ruby and descendant of the great Slashfang, it is my duty to eliminate the threat and preserve the future. Therefore, I and I alone must be the one to fight Sauron." Arik said calmly. Scales frowned. "I don't know, I think it would be better for you to have some help." Arik shook his head. "As I said, it is a matter of honor. I cannot allow anyone to help me." "If you say so." Said Scales. "So, are we a couple now?" "I suppose so." Said Arik. "Well, what do we do now?" asked Scales. Arik shrugged. "Well, I'm not really sure. I've read a lot about this, but most of my knowledge on romance seems to fade away when I look at your beautiful face." Scales blushed. "Okay, compliments are a start. How about we make out for a few minutes then go to your parents' old room and use the nest for its maximum potential, if you get my drift?" Arik thought a moment. "Yeah, all right." "Good." Scales got up from her seat, walked around the table, grabbed the raptor and started smothering him with kisses. After the incredible make- out session, they went up to bed and...um...how about we leave them to have sex alone, okay?
Whoa. Did I just write that? Scales: (Extremely happy and cheerful.) Yeppers! ^ ^ Me: My, aren't you happy. Scales: I've just gotten to sleep with the man I love! Of course I'm happy! Me: (sarcastically) Well, isn't that special? You weren't supposed to get this far so soon. Well, too late now, I suppose. Scales: Uh huh! Me: What did you think of your little rest for most of the chapter? Scales: I thought it was nice that my little darling got the spotlight for once! Though I did appreciate the fight with Sauron. He's a pretty tough opponent. An extremely tough one, come to think about it. Me: Are you happy now? I've provided Arik with a possible way to become immortal like you. Scales: Yeah, you came through with your promise. But you keep acting like you're planning on breaking us up or something. Me: Don't be silly! Now, before we close we have our usual gifts from fans. Let's see who's first. Okay, Ultrafan X gave you a pair of tickets to Egypt, even though you're not flying there. Eh, I'll just save them for myself. Scales: Okay. Me: Oh, he's also uploaded the real copy of 'How to Marry the Man of Your Dreams' to your memory banks. Not that it's really necessary anymore. Scales: That's all right. Thank you, Ultrafan! Me: Oh, and I have a warning for your pet Digimon, Ultrafan. No matter how strong he is when he goes Mega, he is nothing compared to the power of Cyberstrike. Just thought I'd warn you. Now, for Maverick. Maverick, there is no longer any need for you to work on an elixir, since Arik may have found a solution anyway. Thank you for editing Scales into those video games. Scales: Yeah thanks, I think. Me: Finally, we have a present from HobbesKnux. He's given you a solid hologram projector that you can use as a training dummy. You can even program it to fight back! Scales: Cool! Thanks HobbesKnux! Me: Well that's it for today. Bye everyone! Scales: Bye! Hope you weren't alienated by what Arik and I are doing! Please review!