-AUTHOR'S NOTES-

Nothing much to say here other than that this part shows a battle against Deksta over the physical properties of the Lifestream force, a close link into Brio's past, and an escape from a secret weapon from their enemies. Bleh. :P

I don't think I mentioned this light Power Crisis reference, but I'll say it anyway. Volcano Isle itself is powered by a magical force known as the "Lifestream". (Yes, I think I shouldn't have pinched Squaresoft's ideas to begin with o.O) That held the source of the magic for DJ and the mages that once lived on the island. But they had to be careful on how they use the energy, because if a human gets infected with the energy – even by TOUCHING a mage – then they can get just as loco as Deksta did in this part. Dood…?

Anyhow, hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Peace out,

-Rexy-

---

Silence was brought around the cavern area, with both parties leering towards each other for a few seconds. That was until the bright light of the Lifestream caught Deksta's eye. With a smirk, she started to make her way up towards it, rubbing her hands with anticipation.

"Come to me, my beauty!!!"

She soon made her way up close towards the gas-energy. Then, she slipped both hands inside it, where they started to glow a bright white color. She gave out a squeal, before pulling them out - her body was starting to glow with a foggy essence all around her.

"Holy crap!" screamed Aiko. "What's happening to her?"

Neo then started staring at her blankly for a few seconds, before blinking himself. "I don't know, but I can tell it can't be good...!"

She looked on at the mist around her, and started to smirk over at the sight of it, before she spun around, sending bright white flashes out in front of the group. Then, she dived into the energy head first, hiding in there for several seconds.

"She's on an overdose!" Brio exclaimed. "Look out!!!"

They all took a step back, and from the pit, she jumped out with her body being transformed into black and white colors surrounding her, with only her sapphire blue eyes remaining intact. She smirked, before eyeing the group ahead of her one by one.

"Now let's see... which of you should I finish off first?"

She started to pace her way close towards the group, with some of the smaller ones starting to cower with mercy at this point. However, her focus never lied within there, but towards a force to the left of her - the standing figure of Brio, whom just looked at her blankly.

"How about you, Mexican kid?"

"I'm not a Mexican! Leave me out of this!!!"

His shouts echoed across the room, but they were not loud enough to be heard over Deksta's pacing footsteps towards him. She then started to form a bright white bolt onto her hand, before launching it towards him, causing him to duck underneath it.

"I guess she'd rather not..."

The shot hit the wall, and caused a small crater in it, breaking rock particles down onto the ground. They all started to fall down in a crumpled heap, almost trapping them both on their feet. Back on the sidelines, the action started to strike fear towards most of the others.

"Hang in there, Nitrus!" Neo called out. "We'll fish you out of there somehow!"

After the shout, more energy shots were seen hurled towards Brio, whom ducked and rolled under every last one of them, leaving them to cause more craters. Brio's screams started to reach their ears, causing them to start shaking at some stage.

"Let's face it - there's no way we'll ever get him out of a scenario like this one!"

"Don't be so negative, Aiko", said Crunch with courage. "Quick, jump on my back!"

He crouched down, with his hands brought out to his side. That left Aiko to show a face of concern over it, before she finally climbed onto him gently. Then, he stood upright, and made his run towards the pair. But his running caused Aiko to struggle to maintain her balance.

"Steady on! Don't go too fast!"

She ended up releasing grip with one arm. That left her hanging around his neck for a while, before he took a hold of his hair on the back of his head and brought herself up into a piggy back motion around him. Back with Deksta and Brio, the blur of the pair came into their view.

"Ohmigod", she screamed. "What are you doing?"

Crunch brought his hands behind him, and sent himself straight towards her, spinning and sending in simultaneous punches to her jaw. Then, they left her side and skidded before turning around at 180 degrees, facing her with full eye contact once again.

"Let's see what kind of energy you have left in you, ya?" Aiko cried with a smirk.

Smirking, the pair then came closer, and as soon as they were 30 meters away from her, Aiko stood upright onto Crunch's shoulders, and it wasn't too long until she leapt up into the air, and held her hands in a pounding gesture, before sending them towards Deksta's body. But... she was rebounded from her and sent to the other side of the room.

"Sheesh, she's tough!"

"Aiko!!!" Neo bellowed at her.

She landed onto the ground on her back, before sliding and tipping over onto her stomach. That soon caused Neo to rush to her side, and bring her up onto her feet. A gash could be seen going right through the lower part of her t-shirt and the same spot on her back.

"Aiko, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine! It's nothing major, okay?"

With a wink, she ran her way away from him and made her way towards Crunch, Deksta and Brio. Over there, she tried to make her attack, but... almost immediately, the brown bandicoot went right ahead of her and blocked her with his larger body. She tried to push her way in front of him, but... no avail.

"I pretty sure have doubts over this one", Neo whispered to himself.

She still tried to get past him, but on one occasion, Crunch turned in her direction, and pointed towards the left hand side of the room. Sighing with anger, the bandicoot started walking over there with anger, before he turned back towards her opponent, whom was seen with her hands out with rage.

"Here I come, pinky! Step back!"

He then ran towards her and brought out his fists again. Once he brought herself right in front of her, he started punching her like a genuine kick boxer. That left her to be stunned for a while, yet 49 kicks and punches later... he brought his limbs back, only to see no scratches on her opponent at all.

"Such impressive strength...!" Deksta laughed. "But yet... you're still as vulnerable as I expected you to be."

"What do you mean?"

She gave out a smirk, and again, a powerful bolt started to surround her body. She then brought her hands above her head, and from there, an orb the size of a watermelon started to form between them. She leered at Crunch, before jumping up into the air and sending the sphere into his stomach.

"AIEEEEEEE!!!!!"

The strike sent him straight down towards the ground, starting to be surrounded with bright white sparks on him. He was on the edge of passing out at that point. Then, Deksta went to him and kicked him towards the others. The very sight of his injury caused Neo to gasp and crouch down towards his side.

"Crunch! What's happened to you?"

Fowl laughter came out from Deksta's mouth as she edged her way closer to the pair. "I never thought you would lead a bunch of circus clowns into here, young brother. Once we gather the last of the supplies for the machines, the Spiro-Cannon will be complete!"

It seemed that something struck Neo in the side of the head - another clue brought into the pack. Machines in the factory. Hunting for magic at Volcano Isle. The energy from Sparky's stone cell. And now a weapon from the group. The thoughts of it rebounded within his very mind, as he tried to figure out the reasoning behind it all.

"The Spiro-Cannon?"

"Too bad you won't live to see it", she sneered.

With a smirk, she brought herself close towards him, and in a flash, a bright orb started to form in her hands. This time, she brought it into her hands, causing it to take a more solid form. Then, she was about to send it out forward to him, with her elbows getting straighter with every passing second. But then... the sound of a roar was heard from right behind her. That caused her to aim her shot towards the ceiling, causing a few rocks to land near them. They dashed out of the way of them, looking on at the origin of the roar. And then, right ahead of them, stood a figure with piercing green skin, gigantic muscles and gnarling jaws for teeth. His clothes were badly ripped, and he was twice as big as Deksta.

"Bugger me!!!" she squealed. "What's happened to this guy?"

The monster then started to pace her way towards Deksta, with drool starting to drop down to the ground. The sight of it caused her to start shaking, with the mist surrounding her starting to get more denser than beforehand. But she wasn't the only one being afraid - most of the others took cover behind others, looking on at the figure.

"Okay, can someone explain to me what's going on?" screamed Aiko with a nervous voice.

"To cut a long story short..." Neo paused. "That's a mutant form for Brio!!!"

Aiko gave out a scream, before she soon covered her face with both hands. Right in front of them, the beast leant its body towards Deksta's, whom seemed to be doing the limbo to escape from its clutches. It sent a hand down, which caused her to roll out of the way of the attack.

"But..." Crunch's jaw dropped. "How can he face such a form like that?"

The rest of the group started to shrug at him. Neo almost raised his mouth to speak to him, but... that was interrupted by a thud back with the pair. At that point, the beast ended up bringing Deksta up towards a wall, whom seemed to start trembling across her knees.

"I may look scared, but inside, I'm saying that your attacking methods are reckless!"

She growled over at him, before she performed a side step to her left, with her hands out with anger. Then, they started circling each other. Their footprints - Deksta's smaller but deeper ones, and Brio's larger but shallower ones - started to take a more present form as time passed.

"Now stay back from me!"

She then sent out a bright energy beam that looked like a thunderbolt from her hand. It came hurling its way towards Brio's body, before it struck him in the heart. Then... it vanished, without leaving a single scratch upon him. He started coming closer towards her, whose lower lip begun quivering.

"That seemed more powerful than I thought...! Oh well, how about I pick on someone my own size?"

As she said that, she leered towards Neo and the others, whom all starred back at her. She started making her run towards them, with her hands brought back, gathering bright particles of energy into them. That left them to look at each other, with worries on the attack brought to their minds.

"Is there anything that we can do?" asked Neo to Aiko.

"Why are you looking that anxious for? How about we let nature run its course!"

She stood still with her arms folded, and a sneer starting to develop down her body. Meanwhile, Deksta started to come closer towards them, and she was about to launch the beam out towards them, but... before her hands got past her hips, she was then raised into the air, with her arms spread out like a star.

"Hey, what's happening to my body? What's with the levitation here?"

She was then sent spinning around like a Ferris wheel up and down the room. Her screams started to echo right across the room, causing her to show a heavy amount of hesitance in her body. Back with the others, they looked around for the source of the action... until they saw Aiko looking on at her with glowing red eyes.

"Aiko?" Crunch looked at her with awe. "Did you do that?"

She didn't respond. She remained as still as a statue, with her eye contact following that for Deksta's. Then, she brought them in the direction of Brio, whom stood there with his claws out with a growl of anger shown right through his jaws. She started to scream at the glimpse of her being leered towards him.

"What are you trying to pull? Come on, at least give me a chance to counterattack, you pussie!"

She then attempted to wriggle herself, free, but... it was hopeless, for her. Then, she was soon brought face to face with Brio, whom gave out a bite across her stomach, and sending both jaws down towards her, sending a light trail of blood across the ground. He then came closer towards her, whom can only lift her head up weakly.

"That's the spirit!" cheered Neo. "Now finish her off!"

With a smirk, it brought back both of its claws, and pounded them both deep onto her chest, sending her sky high like a rocket. As that happened... she started to reclaim confidence within herself, and jumping her way up towards a high ledge somewhere, where she landed safely.

"You may have thrashed me this time, but you're not going to get away with that one!"

She then ran away from the scene, leaving her scarred stomach clutched with pain. As soon as she vanished, Brio was seen looking up at the tunnel, breathing lighter and lighter... before a light flashed around him, and his normal form was brought back. He then collapsed from exhaustion, with his hands out in front of him.

"What... happened to me?"

He then turned to the right, and saw the others coming up towards him. Boron was first to reach his side, and once there he pulled his partner up onto both feet. He then looked on at the others, and from there, he knew that there was a story to be told.

---

It wasn't long until all the events of the battle were reenacted into Brio's mind. That left him to give out a nervous twitch at the sound of almost every single action that took place. Then, he brought his head forward, and raised his jaws to speak.

"So that's what happened, was it?"

"Yep. But..." Aiko gave out a sigh. "How can you face such a form?"

"I don't know much about it myself, but I'll tell you what I know."

He walked far away from the group, with his back turned against them. He then faced the pit of the lifestream in the center of the room, with the light of it glowing towards his face. He gave out a light smile, before he soon turned his way to the others.

"Oh yeah, like this'll be good to hear, ya?" muttered Crash as he placed his hands on his head.

"From as far as I can remember," Brio started, "I've remembered having the ability to transform into this monstrous form. There's only one thing that I can possibly link to my origin, and that's my own father."

Neo blinked. "What do you mean?"

"He was a scientist. He told me that he used to develop new technologies for a brighter tomorrow."

A scientist. The very word of it struck fear into Sparky, causing him to fall onto his stomach almost instantly. Some of the others seemed fascinated, while Crash and Crunch just stood there, exchanging blinks and concerned glances towards one another.

"Then..." Brio's lower lip started quivering. "He retired into racing. And that's what he did until his passing."

Upon his last sentence, he turned towards the pit again, with a nervous twitch brought onto his eyes. That left some of the group to look sorry for him, approaching him with gentle steps. Crunch soon went further than everyone else, and was the first to place his hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I know you may be confused on your thoughts on the whole beast formation thing, but we'll help you deal with it."

His saying caused Brio's eyes to shoot open. He then looked up at the brown bandicoot, before giving out a curious glance to him. And without any more thought, he raised both hands and brought them against his biceps.

"You really mean that?"

Crunch gave out a light nod, before walking back towards the others. As he did that, he left behind light footprints within the ground. As soon as he was between both sides equally, he brought his head to the left and smiled.

"As soon as this is over, the wisdom of the island will probably explain it all to us."

His head soon turned fully back towards Brio, whose face started to quiver. Nothing could be present at first, until a light smile started to form on his lips. And it got wider... and wider... and wider! Then, he started to shed a tear, before going closer towards Crunch.

"Thanks, pal."

In almost a brief second, he brought his arms around the brown bandicoot, whom somehow ended up with a warm feeling brought inside him. The thought of a grown man in his time, seeking for warm comfort when younger, caused him to smile with him. But then... the peace and love was soon interrupted by something shaking from up above. Almost instantly, they faced the ceiling, where they saw a small stalactite fall to the ground... in Boron's direction, before striking him on the top of the head.

"OUCH!" the wolverine screamed.

"Wait a second..." Jenny's eyes shrank. "How can a rock fall from a toughened ceiling?"

She blinked, before looking up. Upon focusing her eye contact upon there, another rock started to fall down, this time towards her feet. Before they could touch her, she screamed and took a backwards step out of the way.

"And another?" Lozzy shouted. "Geez, this can't be good...!"

Several more started to fall down, still at the pace of one at a time, each of which almost making contact with several members of the group. Then, they started to come in a more furious pace, with several falling down at once.

"Just what in the name of Freddie Mercury is going on?!?" cried Snappy as one almost struck his tail.

Most of the others gave out nervous shrugs upon hearing his words. Then, they looked back up, where a spec of moonlight started to show upon the ceiling. That caused them all to gasp at the sight of it, before stepping even further back. The opening became larger and larger, expanding into full size. That caused them all to gasp at the glance of what was outside, other than red skies, the moon and a bunch of sparkling stars. A large machine with a nozzle swung its way out into view, shining a bright metallic sea blue color.

"Is that..." Beverley started to shake her legs like jelly. "...a part of the Spiro-Cannon that Deksta mentioned?"

Most of the others started to gasp upon the sight of it. Then, something started to extend from the machine - a long ladder. It went straight towards the right, and it wasn't too long before it stopped moving. Then, two shadows walked their way across it.

"Look!" Gary pointed at them. "I can see Tiko and N-Trance making their way up! Something really bad is gonna happen here!"

"Calm down, Gary! We can stop them!" exclaimed Martha with a jump.

She gave out a bright smile from her face as she spoke. But... that was until the machine started to shake. It then swung around 180 degrees, before pointing straight down towards the group. That left them to start quivering.

"Not when they're ready to point the finger at us!" brawled Sara. "Quick, look out!"

Sparky gave out a light squeal. "I can't watch!"

The nozzle started to glow a bright cyan color, taking in energy particles and forming a light as big as four television sets squashed together. Then, it started to shake with every passing second, changing into a bright red color. Steam started to rise from the gaps within the metallic panels on the machine, and then, the nozzle brought itself open, sending a bright beam hurling down towards the group. That caused them all to gasp, before it missed them and caused a large crater in the ground.

"RUN!" screamed Spike.

That caused them to start dashing away from the site and through the tunnel where Deksta made her entrance. The tunnels started to get much higher in height as time passed, with the darkness increasing... until the sunset came into the view of their eyes.

"I can see the exit!" said Neo as he pointed at it. "Quick, run faster!"

They started pacing much brisker towards the end of the tunnel, before they all jumped out together. While that happened, Martha landed with a light thud on the sandy shores beneath her, before a rock landed right in front of her.

"I think it trapped my foot!"

"Not today!"

With courage, DJ turned back in her direction and ran to her. He then placed both hands down on the rock, and picked it up like it was a loose tooth. That caused her to give out a smile and start running back to the others.

"Wow, thanks!"

DJ gave in a twitch of the eyes and mouth, before looking around and seeing the view of the seashores around him. Then, he paced his way to the others, whom all brought their eyes up and down the shores for one reason or another.

"Oh great..." Zephyr kicked a pebble across the ground. "Can anyone see our boats here?"

"To the right!" screamed Chyna.

She pointed over to an oar that stuck out near a cliff face. Then, they went closer to it, and saw four boats out in full view. They smiled over at them, before looking back at Chyna, whom wagged her tail at the glance of the vehicles.

"Wow, good job!" smiled Zephyr. "Where would we be without you?"

They then ran into the boats one by one - Neo leading one pack, Crash leading another, Gary dealing with another, and Jenny taking the final lead post. Then, they started rowing out together, getting at a faster pace than their arrival.

"Keep on going!" shouted Aiko. "I don't think we're fast enough to dodge the shots!"

She pointed over towards the cannon, which can be seen right at the very top of the island, with its nozzle aimed straight towards them all. A bright shot was brought towards them all, almost striking the sides of the boats, but... snapping something in Snappy's hands.

"My oar!"

"Hang in there, Snappy!" cried Neo as he dropped his oar. "I'll see if I can fix it!"

The sight of it caused him to run to his side, and lift the oar into the air, where the paddle was seen snapped off. He brought his hand into the water and fished it out, and then he picked up a piece of string to tie it back onto it. That left Snappy to look over the side, with his reflection showing in the seawater.

"Oh great! I may hate to see piranhas swimming near us by now, but it's better than nowt."

Hesitating slightly, he placed his hand in the water, and started using it as an oar. Several seconds later... he suddenly brought it back out, seeing his skin start to turn blue with cold blood. At the other side of their boat, Brio pointed ahead and saw it coming towards the place they started at - the city harbor.

"We aren't too far from the shores!" Brio cheered. "Just keep on going and we'll be back in no time!"

He smiled over at the sight, before he raised his oar even higher and started rowing at a fast pace, almost knocking Boron over with the handle. Then... something caught his eye - something started to shine on the tip of the volcano.

"Whoa, would you look at the size of the shot coming this way?"

The shout caused them to turn towards Crash's direction, where they saw him and Crunch rowing as fast as Brio, sending heavy splashes as they did so. Then, they turned back ahead, where the white spark was launched, getting bigger as it came closer. Then, it started diving down towards them, illuminating their faces.

"No kidding!" Neo started shaking with fear. "It's aimed directly towards us all! Look out!!!"

Most of the girls started screaming, and tried to row as fast as the others, coming closer towards the harbor. They were only thirty meters away, when the ball came closer to them than ever before. And then... it struck the waters, sending a large wave over them, blocking their views and sending them into darkness.

-end of part 7-