I know I'm late. I'm not gonna make up excuses. Writers block is evil. I didn't have inspiration to write, but now I do! I really love this story, but sometimes its hard to figure out what to put on the page.

The blue gem on the reality gauntlet was the color #44d6ff. This is for future reference.


Chapter 21: The Last Stand

Tyzax confronted the Ant Queen in her cave. "You betrayed us. We paid you to help us with our research, not double-cross us. Because of you, we lost thousands of dollars of equipment. Money is hard to come by. Let alone the troops your army killed."

The Queen hissed in anger. "My troops heard your plan. The plan you kept from me. The colony has been trapped in the ghost zone for so many years! You denied us the ability to return to the human world! Only by chance have my soldiers been able to return to the human world. Your team's calculations led us to the natural portals! I thought I could trust you. I thought we were on equal ground. But when we had our greatest chance to work together, you hid it from me."

"I didn't tell you because with our calculations, we were able to keep the portal open only long enough to let a small research team through!"

"Lies! You were able to keep the portal open long enough for an entire squadron of my soldiers to pass through!"

The Queen grabbed Tyzax with a three-clawed grasp. Tyzax was the size of a human. The Queen was as tall as a two-story house. She held him up to her face and stared deep into his fiery eyes. The magma ghost showed no fear, only anger. His blazing hot skin didn't affect the Queen. "Tell me the real reason why you betrayed me," she growled.

"I already told you!"

"Lies!" Screeched the Queen. She threw Tyzax into the wall of the cave with enough force to shatter it. Rocks piled on top of him.

Tyzax melted the ghostly rocks on top of him into a spectral blue lava. He absorbed the lava into his body, making him grow taller and turning his usually red internal magma purple. He grew spikes on his head and claws on his fingers. He jumped at the ant queen, only half the size of her, and was grabbed in mid-air.

"If you thought you had any chance of fixing our alliance, you just lost it," the Queen hissed. She made a piercing screech, and ant ghosts flooded into the chamber. "This is the last chance you have of telling the truth before I rip you apart."

The stubborn lava ghost spit a ball of fire into the Queen's eye, making her drop him. The moment he hit the ground, the ant soldiers piled up on him and tried to rip him apart. He shot blue lava at the ants until it was gone. He was his normal height again, magma red again, and couldn't risk losing any more lava. All he could do now was shoot fireballs, but there were too many ghosts. He was restrained.

"Stop! I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

The Queen roared, and the ants stopped attacking.

"I know of your plan to take over Earth," he said weakly. "I didn't want to let you get to it first."

The ghost queen showed no emotion. "Are you saying you're trying to rule the human world too? Well, that will be hard, seeing as your army is all just scientists who only joined you for research!" She laughed in an awful hiss-growl. "I have been queen of the ant ghosts for centuries! I know the capabilities of my soldiers! You rule a company made for science! Your troops know no combat, no strategy!"

Deep in his mind, Tyzax considered what the Queen was saying. But his stubborn personality wouldn't let him accept it. He wanted to rule, and he didn't want to let the Ant Queen take the Earth from him. He was powerless here, though.

"Take him far away," The Ant Queen told her soldiers. To Tyzax, she said, "Don't fool yourself. You don't know how to lead. Your 'soldiers' don't know how to fight. And when the day comes where you think you can lead them into battle against the entire Earth, I'll watch your soldiers die one by one, and laugh at you when you return alone, battered and broken, and show you how a real army fights."


Heather was starting to get frustrated with the lack of information they were finding. The trio opened every floating door they saw, visited every lair they could find, but got no information. They've flown around the ghost zone for almost an hour. Ray had his smartphone up with the maps and they were quite far from where the central zone was.

Alex was getting impatient. "I don't see how we can find the information we need in one day when an entire army of researchers couldn't find it in six years."

"Why not fly to Karma? He might have information," suggested Ray.

"No, he's on the other side of the ghost zone," Heather said. "It's an hour flight away."

Ray scanned the maps. "Why not check the surface? There's a place nearby called the Crystal Library. The maps say it was one of the last discovered landmarks before the ghost zone was completely sealed off."

A floating wisp of green light swirled around the trio. "Did you say you were going to the surface?" asked the wisp. It's voice was high pitched, like a stereotypical fairy voice. "Don't go there! The most evil monsters live there! Even the strongest ghosts don't go to the surface!" It floated away in a hurry.

Heather looked down. All she could see was the swirling green of the ghost zone. "It seems like a long way down. And that little wispy thing said evil monsters. Maybe it isn't the best idea."

"Well, if we use my map, maybe we can fly over it and drop down above it, therefore avoiding whatever surface monsters that could attack us!"

"Ray, you might just have a point. Alex, what do you think?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, if even the strongest ghosts don't go down to the surface, then it could have information Frostbite doesn't have. Plus, whoever mapped it out obviously came back alive or we wouldn't even know it exists."

Heather smiled with confidence. "Lead the way, Ray!"


Yes, another cliffhanger, I know! But this story is getting even more fun to write, so I hope you enjoyed and will enjoy the next chapters!