Girs Evil Cupcakes: Oh cool, I'll check out your fic too! Carly's so totally stubborn, it's funny. ^_^
Uniclyon * Girl: Thanx! You should check FF.net some more then, if you're new, it has some pretty good Beyblade fic except for the yaoi one. -_-
Black Iris: Sounds like you have a busy life, lol! Mine's not that busy, I'm bored most of the time!
Whisper*2*Imaginary: I feel your pain, mine's still driving me crazy, but at least it's accessible!
~*~Prodigious Girl*~*: It's totally stupid if Tala doesn't have a last name, that makes him really seem like he's a robot or something and he's already touchy over the cyberized thing which is going to play a good role in the fic…
Keri: What do you mean the volcano's erupting? Yeah, it is, but… anyways, I know, I can't think of any other words except 'said', it comes naturally, sorry! No one seems to know Tala's last name, maybe ~*~P.G*~*'s right…
Sessy's girl: Gotcha, don't worry, I ain't even close to finished!
Cherry Rain: Every 5 days, that's my plan to update!
Beyblader-grl: I'd LOVE to fight them, I'd have a longbow just like Carly! Yeah, Ray was plenty embarrassed, it was pretty funny.
Dreamer_gurl: Yup, gotcha, I've worked most of it out I think. I hate Tyson's Dragoon. -_-
Reicu: BURN? O_O Me? Lol! I hope not! Thanx, the fire idea is thanks to all the fantasy reading I've read!
bey-girl-nicky: It's fun writing the mage, as I mentioned already below, lol! I dunno what Carly will do there, I haven't written it yet!
Light Tiger's Eye: Uh-huh, I thought the Fire Mage was pretty funny, don't worry, not all the mages are going to be so formal, although that part was a ton of fun to write!
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Chapter 12: Eruption
"Who was the ruler of the Fire Kingdom?" Ray demanded, "Tell me!"
The leader of the fire monsters' pack pulled faces at Ray, "I won't tell you."
Ray's eyes hardened in anger, "Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" He raced after him, spewing fireballs.
"Even the honorable Fire Warrior is no match for my Master's powers!" the leader said mockingly.
"Who's your Master?" Ray snapped, "Tell me you idiotic, good-for-nothing-piece-of-junk!"
The leader turned to face Ray, "If it's a fight you must have, it's a fight I will give!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Ohhhhh hell," Johnny said, steadying himself as the ground shook, "Something's happening!"
"It's the volcano!" Hru said, peering over the ledge, "It's starting to erupt!"
"ERUPT????!!!" everyone yelled.
"We're got to get outta here!' Kai shouted, "Where's Ray?"
"I don't know!" Willow said in panic, "I can't find him, we're not leaving without him!"
"We won't," Holly reassured, stepping carefully amongst the slayed monsters, "Ugh, eew, let's go find Ray."
"Kailee, Max, did you see which way Ray went?" Willow asked.
"Yeah," Max said, "He went up the volcano, chasing the leader of these monsters."
"Big hero," Carly muttered, brushing sweat from her forehead, "Sorry guys, I think I'll head down the side with Max and Kailee, I'm going to faint again if I don't get away from such an extreme heat source."
"I'll come with you," Enrique offered, "I won't be much use anyways, those guys can head up the mountain to look for Ray while we scout on ahead and look for a way to the Fire Palace."
"Good idea," Johnny said roughly, "Stay out of trouble Carly."
"Me?" Carly looked innocent.
"Yes you," Johnny said disapprovingly, he thought Carly was handling the heat a lot better now. Maybe being in Fire Sanctuary managed to wash away some of the weakness she had against Fire, whatever it was, he was grateful to it.
"Okay," Carly said, smiling sweetly, a mischievous look in her eyes.
"Let's go!" Enrique said urgently, "And you'd better hurry too guys, this volcano could erupt any minute now."
"Kai!!!!" Kailee wailed.
"I'll be fine," Kai said quickly, "Go ahead with the others now, I'll be with you soon, hurry."
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ray was being driven back by the leader, he wasn't as an experience fighter as some of his teammates were and the leader had many hidden skills. Ray stumbled back, breathing heavily, sweating as well.
"Hee, the great Fire Warrior isn't as great as he seems huh?" the leader mocked, "If you can't even beat me, you don't stand a chance against my Master."
Ray fed some of his Fire power into his two-headed spear and raised his weapon angrily, "And you're just all talk as well!" He advanced quickly, but the leader blocked his every move. Ray didn't have time to withdraw because the leader disarmed him and sent Ray sprawling on his back, his two-headed spear went flying behind him.
Ray gulped when the leader pointed his own spear at his throat.
"Say goodbye," the leader said, laughing madly, "How my master will reward me when he finds out that I have defeated the noble Fire Warrior."
"Ray!!!" Willow cried, her panic causing her to send out a massive blast of Darkness at the leader. Willow gasped as all that power flowed out of her, looking shocked at her own potential.
Ray seized the chance and snatched back his spear, thrusting it through the leader. The leader fell with his mouth wide open in horror.
"Ray, Ray, are you hurt?" Willow cried, rushing to him.
Ray hugged her tightly, he was covered with ash, "I'm fine thanks to you, thank you."
Willow threw her arms tightly around Ray and buried her face in his shirt, "I was so scared that you'd get hurt."
Ray patted her comfortingly, "I'm fine now, it's okay now-"
"The lava's nearing the top!" Hru cried, "We're not going to make it down in time!"
Cassandra rushed forward and called forth a wave of water, washing it over the lava and cooling it down temporarily, "It's not much use, I can't hold it!"
The ground rumbled angrily and most of them lost their balance. A black puff of smoke burst out from the volcano.
"Holly!" Kai coughed, wiping smoke from his face, "HOLLY!!! Where ARE you??!!"
"Kai!" Holly choked, "I can't see you!"
"What are we going to do?" Willow cried, "We can't even see which way is down!!!"
"This is bad," Ray muttered, fanning himself, "This smoke is sooo thick as well."
They all groaned when they heard another puff of smoke blow out of the volcano top.
Hru sighed and waved the smoke in annoyance "Now would be a good time to use your Wind powers," Hru commented to Tala wryly.
Tala smiled rakishly, "Maybe you ought to take my power, I seem to know not when to use it." He managed to provoke a heavy windstorm to blow away the smoke, clearing the way.
"Thanks Tala!" Ray said.
"Don't thank me yet!" Tala pointed to the volcano hole, looking horrified, "Look, lava's pouring out of the hole!"
Ray paled, "Oh no...the volcano's going to blow...RUN!"
"Hurry!" Johnny snapped at the others behind him, "If that lava so much touches you a bit, your skin will get burnt right off!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Kai," Kailee cried fearfully, "Oh poor Kai..."
"At least they cleared the smoke," Enrique said, "But the volcano doesn't look very stable, it's shaking louder and louder and more often now."
"I hope Johnny's okay..." Carly said, looking a bit worried, "Aw, Johnny's all right in all kind of situations, he's always got a level head."
"Don't worry Kailee," Max assured, "Kai will be fine, he's-"
Carly looked at the ground, which was shaking under her feet, "It's erupting guys, get back!!!"
And so it did, with a huge growl, the volcano burst up a giant puff of black smoke along with ash. Lava rocks flew in every which direction and the lava overflowed and started quickly down all sides of the volcano.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Don't look back, just keep running!" Kai yelled, "And cover your heads!!!" He ducked as a hot rock zipped overhead, "Yikes!"
"Stupid flying rocks!" Ray muttered.
"Ohhh, so rocks want to fly too huh?" Johnny said sarcastically, "Well, I think I can arrange a rival." He summoned out plenty of flying comets which crashed into the descending lava rocks before they could present any problems.
"Good thinking Johnny!" Kai panted, "Now all we have to do is figure out how to stop that flowing lava."
The volcano shook uneasily as an aftermath of the eruption. This threw some people off balance.
"Whoa!" Ray gasped, totally unprepared for that, he stumbled on the ground.
Tala snatched Hru's wrist and held her tight, "You okay?"
"Yeah!" Hru gasped, nearly tumbling over the side of the volcano, "Thanks. Stupid volcano!" She jerked her arm away, shuddering, hating the fact that Tala touched her at all.
"Got you!" Kai said as Holly tumbled into his arms purely by mistake, "Holly, you okay?"
Holly blushed, "Thanks Kai." She smiled into his brown eyes.
"This is no time to gaze into each other's eyes!" Johnny snapped, "Let's move it!"
The tremor caused a few boulders to come tumbling down the volcano. Willow paled when one came ripping at her.
Ray smashed a fireball at the boulder, disintegrating it to mere dust.
"That was scary," Willow whispered to Ray as he helped her up, she trembled a bit.
"Don't worry," Ray said soothingly, "I won't let anything hurt you."
Cassandra ran past them hurriedly, "We're almost at the bottom!"
Suddenly, without any warning, the volcano blew up again, even bigger eruption than before, smoke filled the air and lava burst out like a river. Everyone on the volcano lost their balance and was tossed somewhere in the confusion.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
After it all settled, Carly, Enrique, Max, and Kailee started looking for the others.
"That was so stupid," Carly muttered, "Two eruptions by the SAME volcano, one BIGGER than the last, and after mere MINUTES as well! KAI!!! JOHNNY!!!! HRU!!! TALA!!!! SOMEONE ANSWER ME!!!!!!"
Max winced, "Carly, keep it down, you might attract other monsters too."
"They landed somewhere around here," Enrique said, "I'm sure of it!"
They glanced around the forest in confusion. "Let's split up," Carly suggested, "We all have watches...um...actually...I think Kailee, you stick with Max, okay? Enrique, come with me, in case my body decides to collapse again. Meet back here in fifteen minutes or else you'll regret ever meeting me!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Kai!" Kailee cried. She helped him up, Kai was bruised and scratched, otherwise he was fine. He had shielded Holly from most of the harm so Holly was almost all right.
"Are you okay?" Max asked.
"I'm fine Kailee," Kai said, smiling weakly, tousling her hair, "Really, just a bit bruised, that's all. Holly, you okay?"
"I'm fine," Holly said shyly, blushing, "Thanks to you."
"Where is everyone else?" Kai asked.
"We're looking for them," Max replied.
"I found Ray!" Kailee cried, rushing over to help him.
"I've got him Kailee," Willow assured, supporting Ray on her shoulder, "Ray, you going to be okay?"
"Yeah!" Ray gasped, "I'm just a bit winded, that's all. Cassandra's here too."
Cassandra popped out and sighed, "All this fighting's making me terribly hungry, you haven't got any food, have you?"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Johnny!" Carly yelled, rushing over to help him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Johnny said gruffly, swatting her away, "Just a bit battered that's all! Stop fussing over me!"
"I'm NOT fussing over you!" Carly retorted, pulling back huffily, "Why would I waste my breath? Just returning the favor."
"What favor?" Johnny snapped, dusting himself off.
"Enrique told me you were really worried when I collapsed," Carly looked at the ground, then looking at Johnny quizzically, "Thanks Johnny, you're a pal. I owe you one."
Johnny got up, smiling, "You had better believe it, I'll think of something, don't worry."
"Oh goody," Carly muttered.
"Hey Carly, I found Tala!" Enrique yelled.
Tala was holding his head, "Ohhhhh, I think I hit my head...owwww...my head feels like it's too big for my body. Not to mention I think I can hear my blood vessels pumping. Hey, where's Hru? We fell down together here, oowwww..."
"I'm right here," Hru said irritably, "I'm fine, I landed in some bushes. Stop that whining!" She stumbled over and leaned against Carly, "Whew, I'm really tired."
"Me too," Carly said, "I think the Fire magic here is eating away at my Ice powers again, we need to get out of here before I collapse again!"
"Let's go then," Enrique beckoned to them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Weeeeeell," Carly said sarcastically, "Isn't it nice to be all together again? Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?" Her voice was dripped with poisoned sarcasm.
"Warm and fuzzy?" Questions marks lit up in Tala's eyes.
"We're really close to the Fire Palace," Ray promised, looking through his map, "Come on guys, let's just keep going, I know it's a lot harder on some of you, but let's go, please? I wanna find out who's controlling this Kingdom."
"I'll come," Johnny said, "But I have a proposal first."
"Do you have a pen?" Carly snapped, "I'll signed your contract."
"Shut up Carly," Johnny said in annoyance, "I get it, I get it, you can quit biting at me already!"
"What is it?" Ray asked.
"If we help you with your Kingdom," Johnny said, "You help us with ours, same everyone else, we all help each other until we all get one, deal?"
"Deal," Carly said, snickering, "I can't get rid of you anyways."
Johnny groaned and glared at his best friend, "Must you make fun of everything I say???"
Carly leaned against a burnt tree lazily, "I must, I need my daily dose of sarcasm to stay healthy." She winked.
Johnny rolled his eyes as Tala choked back his laughter.
Everyone else nodded.
"That's a good idea," Kai said, "Otherwise, the people at the end are really going to struggle if we just head off to our own Kingdoms."
"We should all help one another," Holly said, "We're stronger as a team."
"Hmph," Tala said, "I don't need help-" He blushed when he caught Hru's sideways glare, "Okay, maybe I do sometimes, oh okay..." Tala straightened and made a face at Hru who couldn't resist a smile.
"Lead the way Ray!" Willow said, "We're all behind you!"
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The group headed towards the Fire Palace and reached there after an hour's worth of walking. Carly was still hanging on and was still pushing thanks to Johnny's encouragement and her own stubbornness and pride. Everyone was getting tired but they kept at it until they finally reached the Fire Gate, the gateway to the Fire Palace.
"This place is HUGE!" Kai remarked, looking up dizzily, "This just might take a while."
"The gate's on fire," Johnny said dryly, peering through the flaming bars.
"Why am I not surprised?" Carly cried, "The trees here are on fire but not burning, volcanoes erupt one after another, claws live inside bubbling lava pits, the ground is on fire sometimes for NO apparent reason, now the gates are on fire. I can't take this anymore, it's crazy, FIRE-CRAZY! I feel sick." She wavered and nearly fell again, if Johnny hadn't caught her from behind.
"Don't exhaust yourself by complaining," Johnny scolded, his eyes softening when he saw the trapped look in Carly's eyes, "Listen to me Carly, I know you hate feeling helpless but you'll be awesome again when we get out of here."
Carly pushed herself up, "I can stand, don't worry, I know you're right Johnny, but I can't take this much longer!"
"How do we get past the gates?" Hru asked, "Just don't get Tala to take a shot."
"Not funny," Tala said dryly, remembering his Wind incident.
"Let me," Cassandra said, once again raising a strong wave that washed over the gates. To everyone's shock, the whole gate crumbling into pieces. The ground shook a bit at the impact.
"Oh great," Enrique said, "The whole world must have heard that."
"I'm so sorry!" Cassandra squeaked.
"There's no time to be sorry!" Johnny hissed, "Get in! Everyone!!!!!"
They all rushed through the gates and hid in some bushes in front of the palace. There were two ugly-looking ogres marching around the front door, guarding the palace.
"We have to get past them," Johnny said, "Someone with a long range weapon, attack them and mind you be accurate!"
Tala positioned his lazer gun and fired at one ogre, it toppled down with a senseless cry. Its companion looked at the dead ogre in shock, but before he could utter word, Carly's precise arrow went through his chest.
"Nice work!" Carly and Tala high-fived and grinned at each other.
Ray ran up and pushed the doors open, then they all wandered inside. Hundreds of monsters turned to face them, their eyes merciless and angry.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Is that a cliffie? The volcano erupted, it erupted! ^_^ I'm totally hyper now, I don't know why. I was just calculating how long this whole story's going to take and the number of chapters is enough to make my sister scream, lol! Anyone wanna take a guess? ^_^ School's gonna start soon, do you guys think that I should wait a little longer to update when school starts? Or is every 5 days fine?
PS: If you like Beyblade, check out my site @ www.geocities.com/ice_archergirl/. Thanx!