Chapter 8

Battle For The

Town Of Ruin

Dwayne and Krystle pulled up in a town that was leveled. They looked around. There were a few places were buildings once stood that were on fire still. There was blood everywhere. On what remained of walls, the ground, and covering dead bodies. Dwayne looked at Krystle.

"See? I told you." Dwayne said.

"How did you know?" Krystle asked.

"Just a feeling I had." Dwayne replied. "Maybe it has something to do with my powres, I don't know."

Dwayne then saw a large group of about twenty-five goblins coming at them. Dwayne looked at the controls for the buggy.

"Which one is the fire button!?" Dwayne asked.

"How should I know! I thought you knew!" Krystle replied.

Dwayne decided to press a blue button. The machine guns started to fire at the goblins. Dwayne and Krystle watched about twenty fall dead, blood pouring from the wounds.

"Wow!" Dwayne said. "What's this one do?"

Dwayne hit the orange button, and a missle fired from the missle launcher on the top. It exploded upon hitting a goblin. It, along with the other four, were sent flying in peices.

"Holy fucking shit. Jeff really knows his stuff, eh?" Dwayne said.

"Yea. So, since you know why we're here, mind telling me?" Krystle asked.

"There's an old friend of mine who lives here. I felt something was wrong, and decided to check on things." Dwayne replied.

"Okay, but where do you think she is?" Krystle asked.

"Stop right there!" A voice said.

Dwayne and Krystle jumped out and turned around to see who was behind them. They saw a young lady with long brown hair and glowing brown eyes that held such saddness. Her pink short sleeved shirt was ripped in a few places, as were her tan khaki pants. She wore fancy sandles on her feet and carried a bo-staff.

"Natalie?" Dwayne asked.

The girl tilted her head to one side. Then jumped in suprise when she saw Dwayne.

"Dwayne!?" She asked. "Is that really you?" Dwayne nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt something was wrong here. So, I came to see if I could help." Dwayne replied.

"As you can see, you're too late. That demon leveled everything." Natalie explianed.

"Demon? What demon?" Krystle asked.

"Who are you?" Natalie asked her.

"I'm Krystle, an old friend of Dwayne. Now, what demon are you talking about?" Krystle asked again.

"He said he was named Crusader, I think." Natalie told her. Krystle looked at Dwayne, who just nodded.

"Alright, seems our trip was well worth it." Dwayne said. "Alright, where is he now?"

"He appears at random and attacks us. I've been trying to hold him, and the monsters, off. They keep trying to kill what's left of the people here."

"Where are they?" Krystle asked.

"In a cave over there." Natalie said, pointing to the entrance. "But, it's getting too hard to do anymore. They're increasing in number."

Suddenly, the cave exploded. The three of them ran to it, but couldn't see because of the fire and smoke. They could hear the people screaming inside.

"No!!" Natalie shouted. She gripped the bo-staff even tighter. "What happened!?"

Dwayne looked up, seeing Crusader.

"I think I found the answer." Dwayne said.

The three of them looked up at him as he landed.

"Dwayne, why do you go against me?" He asked.

"Because this is wrong!" Dwayne snapped.

"No, what the Humans did is wrong." Crusader said.

"It wasn't the Humans, it was the Mystics!" Krystle replied.

"And they aren't even around anymore." Natlaie added.

"Listen, boy. There's no point in fighting me. You'll only die. Join me. You and your friends, if that's what you want. I will spare your friends, and allow them to live in my new world." Crusader said. Dwayne looked at him confused. "Confused? Let me explain. They are your friends. However, they are Human. They will be my slaves." Crusader started laughing. "Except that cyborg you were with. Where is he? I liked that one."

Dwayne clentched his jaw. He drew his sword. Krystle saw this and loaded an arrow, and Natalie twirled her bo-staff.

"I'm not going to let you do this!" Dwayne snapped. He lunged at Crusader, who waved his hand and sent all three flying into a wall.

Dwayne got up as the wall began to fall. He held out his hands, closed his eyes, and screamed. They wall was blown away and at Crusader. Crusader shot an energy ball at it, and desintegrated it.

"What....did I just do..?" Dwayne asked himself.

"I see you're starting to realize your powers. Good. You'll realize how useless these people are soon, now." Crusader said. Natalie and Krystle stood up again.

"Kryslte, take Natalie to the buggy, turn it towards him, and fire like a mother fucker." Dwayne whispered. Krystle slightly nodded and grabbed Natalie's hand.

"Come on. Let's go." She said as they ran off.

"Leave them be, and let us talk." Dwayne said.

This caught Crusader's attention. So he didn't bother with them.

Krystle and Natalie jumped into the buggy. Krystle looked at the red button. Then she looked at Dwayne.

"He's too close. He'll be killed too..." Krystle thought. "But, he must know that. Why else would he ask me to do this?"

Dwayne looked at Crusader and picked up his sword.

"Why do you hate the Humans so much?" Dwayne asked.

"You don't know your heratage, do you?" Crusader asked. Dwayne shook his head. "After the war ended, Humans opened the sealed gate, and raided us. They wanted a world without Magic. They wiped us out. And now, I shall have my revenge."

"So, it's a personal battle. So what? You think these people give a fuck about whether or not Magic exsists in this world?" Dwayne asked. "People now just want to live peacefully without the Monsters. That's why me and Jeff became Monster Hunters. That's why Krystle joined us. To help fight. People shouldn't suffer because of a war over a thousand years ago. If anything, I BLAME the Espers for this world! They gave some Humans powers, created the Mystics, who summoned the Monsters, who hid after the war, increased in number, and then ruined our world!!!"

A small spot on Dwayne's forhead glowed bright white. A small ruby appeared.

"I will not let you ruin my world anymore!!!" He shouted.

He saw missles and bullets flying at them. He tackled Crusader and held him down as the rain of explosives rained down on them, creating heavy explosions.

After the smoke cleared, Crusader was gone, and Dwayne lied covered in blood, but barely breathing.

Krystle and Natalie ran over to him. Krystle took him into her arms, holding him close.

"You can't die on us, Dwayne!" She said. "We need you. You're our leader, and our friend. Hold on!"

"He'll live." A voice said. They looked at a shadow. They couldn't see who it was. "Follow me." It said. A portal opened and sucked all of them in.