Hmm…okay. I've got a problem.

My brain won't stop working.

I've got TOO many ideas bouncing around up there! Just today, I was thinking about the SEQUELS to this story. "Oh, I could write one about this!" or maybe "I could write about this person!" "Second generation?" "Other side?"

Just shoot me! I've got to finish what I started! Ack! But don't worry. The story is far from over. This chapter is what we like to call the "mini-climax." Now, any real author, if you speak to them, will tell you straight out that there is no such thing as a "mini-climax". It's what I call a climax of a certain event. This is the climax of the "Prism Bracelet Wielder" saga of our story, so I hope you all enjoy!

Don't forget to review! I await everyone's thoughts at the end of the chapter!

Log On! 19: The Calm After the Storm

"Iam! Wait!" Wiseman reached out to catch Iam's shoulder, but he was too slow. The next thing anyone knew, the red clad Long Arm had dived off the ledge into the murky depths that Dekai had fallen through. They all gasped and looked over the edge, but Iam was gone, very much like Dekai before her. "Dammit! Quick, we have to get back and analyze the data here to find out where that portal goes!" he said to the others. "Time to Gate Out!"

"Sorry, Wiseman, I'm not picking up anything yet."

"Work faster."

"It's not that easy!" Kalen snapped, feverously typing on his keyboard and looking at data in a pop up screen in front of him. "The server goes back online in ten minutes, and you want me to track down two people who could have gone anywhere!"

"The administrators can do it, can't they?" Wiseman asked.

"I'm hacking into their database as we speak," Kalen assured him. "But it doesn't look good…"

"Don't say that!" Orizo said, stepping forward. "You act as though Iam and Dekai are lost forever!"

"Yeah!" Chikoro said. "There's no need to be so negative!"

"You mean realistic," Kalen muttered to himself as he continued to type. "Look, right now, I need to work. I'll answer all of your questions as soon as I know more, all right?"

"Whatever you say," Wiseman nodded, leaning against the wall. "Just don't come up empty-handed. We're begging you."

"I'll do my best," Kalen nodded, adjusting his goggles. "Man, I wish the Queen were here to help."

"Ow…my head…"

Dekai, meanwhile, was sitting in a room of a dungeon. He had just woken up from what was obviously a period of unconsciousness, and he massaged the aching of his head. He looked around at his surroundings, and then himself. "Everything looks normal," he said, staring at the dungeon room. "My bracelet and my outfit is the same," he looked down to see that he still held his black and silver outfit, not to mention the large blocky black bracelet on his wrist. "Where the heck am I?"

"Nowhere special. I just brought you here because you would have died otherwise."

Dekai rose to his feet quickly at the sound of the voice. "Who's there?" he asked, drawing his blades. "Show yourself!"

"No need to get defensive."

Dekai turned around and raised his eyebrows as he saw the speaker. She was a Heavy Blade girl with long red hair, a white headband, and a white ensemble decorated with red lining. She smiled at him, walking forward towards the Bracelet holder. "And after I saved your life."

"What's your name?" Dekai asked, refusing to put away his blades.

"Moyotu," she introduced herself, smiling at him. "And you're Dekai, correct?"

"Yeah," he nodded, and sheathed his blades, still staring at her. "What do you mean…you saved me?"

"I set up a pathway channel in that weirdo area to warp directly to this one," she explained. "It's a simple hacking procedure. All I had to do was head down there with you."

"Hacking?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're a hacker?"

"You are too," she said, pointing at his design. "Or you wouldn't have that rare color scheme for your design."

"I-I…" Dekai stumbled over his words. "Umm…yeah. I am too. But I don't know how to do it or anything. I just am."

"Probably, you use that bracelet of yours," Moyotu observed, walking over to Dekai and gently placing her fingertips on the bracelet, but Dekai pulled his wrist away, as if out of fear.

"Stop it," he commanded.

Moyotu froze for a second, and then smiled slightly. "Hmm…you know, I know a lot more about that bracelet then you'd think."

"Y-you do?" he asked, watching Moyotu turn and walk away from him. "What do you mean?"

"You don't want to hear," she shrugged. "After all, it's 'hacker stuff', and it's obvious you don't want me associated with that bracelet of yours."

There was a pause, and Dekai sighed. "T-tell me."

Moyotu gave a smile when she turned her back on Dekai. She grinned, and then continued with as calm a voice as she could muster. "You know…that bracelet has a lot more power then you can harness."

"What?" Dekai asked, his eyes wide. "More power? B-but it can already rewrite data and like…like…kill stuff!"

"That bracelet has so much power, you could actually have…" she stopped abruptly, and bit her lip, as if out of worry. After a quick shake of the head, Moyotu turned around. "No, I shouldn't tell you."

"It's okay!" Dekai assured her. He was actually getting into it. Moyotu was positively grinning behind her back. "Tell me!"

'Sucker…' she thought.

"You really think he'll just buy it that easily?" Circeca asked Moyotu, sitting in the hacker's domain while Moyotu explained her plan. "It seems pretty farfetched."

"He's a child, correct?" Moyotu shrugged. "All I have to do is play him for what he is. Feed his curiosity, you know."

"I get what you're saying," Circeca shrugged. "More power to you if you can pull it off…"

"Well…if you combined your power," she said, "with…oh…let's say, another power equal to it, you could become a God of 'The World'." Dekai's eyes widened as Moyotu spoke. "So powerful, the system would recognize you as its ruler."

"Woah…heavy," Dekai murmured, looking at his bracelet.

"But what kind of power could be equal to that of that bracelet?" Moyotu thought out loud. Dekai looked at his bracelet, then at the ceiling, but was refusing to answer. Moyotu got annoyed and supplied an answer for him. "What about that other bracelet wielder with you? His bracelet seemed to be just as powerful."

"If we don't get rid of the Twilight Bracelet now, it might prove detrimental in the future," Moyotu explained to Circeca. "With this plan, we kill two birds with one sword."

"You mean two birds with three," Circeca corrected her, and Moyotu shrugged.

"Whatever. All I know is that if we can destroy the Twilight Power while it's in its pure form, we won't have to worry about segments flying around. Wiseman couldn't have picked a better time to combine the powers."

"There isn't a better time to combine the powers," Moyotu said to Dekai. "You'll have both Prism and Twilight on your side!"

"Umm…but what would happen to Kite if I did that?" he asked.

Moyotu turned around again and quickly gave a reply. "Well…the only way to get the bracelet is to kill Kite's character and take it."

Dekai gasped, and Moyotu turned around to quickly cover. "Look, if you become God, you can just bring him back, right?" Dekai's face relaxed, and Moyotu knew she was on the right track. "Right?"

"I-I guess…but…"

"Look, just kill Kite," Moyotu told him, starting to pace around the Twin Blade. "After all, you do want to be a God, right? No other player has ever had the kind of opportunity you have." She sighed, shaking her head. "If it was me, and I was lucky enough to grab something like this, I'd go for it."

"…"

"In fact, I think any player would go for it!" Moyotu grinned, looking right in Dekai's face. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You want to be a hero, don't you?" Dekai's mouth opened slightly from surprise, but Moyotu pressed on. "To be a hero, you have to be the best. To be the best, there has to be…"

"Be what?"

There was a pause. "No competition."

Dekai's faced lowered and he stared at his shoes. Moyotu walked over to him and gave him a little hug around the shoulders. "What have you got to lose?" she breathed in his ear. "Do it, and you'll become the greatest hero of all time."

"I-I do…have to pay someone back," he murmured, looking at his bracelet. "And to do that, I have to become a hero."

"See?" Moyotu said, leaping off Dekai as if out of joy. "This is your ticket to heroism, and paying back that person you owe!"

"But…"

Moyotu's face froze as Dekai rose his head, a defiant expression his face.

"She wouldn't want me to do it like this," he said. "A lot of people gave up their powers for this bracelet, and I intend to keep it, not go around stealing other people's."

Moyotu's shocked face started to turn into a contorted expression of rage. Dekai, however, ignored this and turned around. "So…I'm going to use a Sprite Ocarina and get out now, okay?"

In a moment, Moyotu had snapped her fingers and drawn her sword. "Huh?" Dekai looked through his pack. "A-All my Ocarinas are gone! But I'm sure I packed some!"

"I got rid of them for you," Moyotu's ice cold voice came from behind Dekai's back, causing Dekai to slowly turn around and see the angry Heavy Blade had her sword drawn viciously.

Dekai pulled out his blades in defense, but Moyotu inched closer and closer towards the fearful Twin Blade. "You have to make things so difficult, don't you?" she snarled. "No backbone, I swear to God."

"Stop it!" Dekai shouted, aiming his bracelet at her. "S-Stop it or I'll Data Drain you!"

"That won't work on me," Moyotu dismissed him immediately. "You may think you've got the power of Prisma on your side…"

Suddenly, without another word, Moyotu charged forward. Dekai raised his daggers and blocked her first attack. She came at him again, and he once again parried the attack with as much might as he could muster.

"You can't win!" Moyotu snarled. "I'm much stronger then you!"

"D-Doesn't matter!" Dekai snapped back, throwing Moyotu's latest swing off of him. "I-I'm going to win! I've got to!"

"HYAH!" Moyotu gave a heavy downward slice that caught Dekai off guard. She sliced the right side of his chest, and he cried out of his HP gauge dropped.

"ARRGH!" he screamed and looked at the flowing blood from his chest. "Wh-what is this? I-It really hurts!"

"That's what you get when you accept celestial POWER!" she screamed, slicing her sword down again. Dekai rolled out of the way just in time to avoid the blow, and his hand left his bleeding chest and torn shirt in order to return to the battle. "It's a trade off! Great data transforming powers," Moyotu swung her sword again, but Dekai parried just in time, "a hell of a lot of pain!"

The battle went on. Dekai could do little in the ways of attacking. He was forced to just defend against Moyotu's onslaught of attacks and magic. Dekai knew that his chances of winning the battle were slim, and Moyotu was not about to let him out of that room.

"Give up!" Moyotu shouted to Dekai, who was now out of breath.

"I-I can't…" Dekai panted, wiping some sweat off his brow. "I can't lose now!"

"HYAH!" Moyotu gave another slice, only to be blocked and thrown off by Dekai.

"I…I can't lose…" he murmured, more to himself then to Moyotu. Tears were forming at the corners of his eyes, and he was breathing deeply. "I just can't lose…without saying sorry…"

"EAT THIS!" Another swing, another block. Dekai turned to face Moyotu, and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I CAN'T LOSE YET!" he screamed, running forward and chucking one of his daggers at Moyotu.

Moyotu, not expecting the attack, dodged just in time for the knife to barely graze her cheek. A small cut began to dribble blood that matched the color of her hair. She looked at Dekai, now useless with only one knife. "Sorry Prism Bracelet Wielder…I bet you thought Prisma was going to help you out, right?" She smirked.

A beat.

"Prisma is just as much on my side as she is on yours."

Moyotu shouldered her sword, grinned maliciously at Dekai, and then drove it forward…

Straight through his chest.

Dekai gasped from the pain, but couldn't cry out. The sword crossed the previous cut, and, when Moyotu pulled the sword out of the dying Twin Blade's chest, a wide X-shaped cut was all that was left. Dekai looked down at the cut, then at Moyotu.

And with that, he fell.

"You won't die like a normal player," Moyotu told him as he lay there dying on the ground. "Expect to go comatose in a few seconds."

"M-Mai…"

Moyotu's eyes widened, and she looked down at him. "Who's that?"

"S-sis…" he murmured, not to Moyotu, but to himself. Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he spoke. It was a sad sight to behold. "I-I'm sorry…"

Moyotu's eyes widened, and she looked down at Dekai, a slightly pained expression flashing through her eyes. But it vanished as quickly as it had come, and gave Dekai's limp body a slight kick. "Just die already. Your presence annoys me."

Dekai looked down at his bracelet, then up at Moyotu. "W-we…we won't lose," he muttered to her. "You're going to--" But Dekai didn't finish. He sputtered out a bit of blood, then, slowly, closed his eyes and let his head fall to the side.

He was gone.

"Now…to get rid of this thing," Moyotu said, touching the bracelet on Dekai's chilling wrist. She raised her sword above her head, and then dropped it straight down.

"Stop!"

Moyotu spun around to see none other then Iam fall from what seemed to be the ceiling. Moyotu's eyes widened as the Long Arm shouldered her spear and struck a fighting position. "Don't touch him!"

"Iam…" Moyotu observed, smirking widely. "Iam, Iam, Iam. You don't quit, do you? Even when you've got no hardware," she pointed to Iam's bare right hand, and Iam flinched slightly. "You should know that going against me without the ring is suicide, right?"

"Get away from him!" Iam ordered again.

"But, even with Prism Powers," Moyotu sighed, stepping away from Dekai's body to reveal him to his sister. "He didn't stand much of a chance."

Iam gasped and ran over to Dekai. She bent down and picked up his head and torso. "D-Dekai?" she asked, shaking him. "W-wake up! Do you need a-a Health Drink or something?"

"He's dead."

Iam looked up at Moyotu with wide, scared eyes. "N-No," she shook her head. "Y-Y-You're lying! YOU'RE LYING!" Iam swung her spear at Moyotu's head, only to have it be blocked by Moyotu's sword.

"I'm not lying," she told her. "I killed him. It was necessary."

"Shizuma!" Iam turned back and shook her brother back and forth, but he didn't stir. "W-wake up! This can't be happening!"

"I'm sorry to interrupt the funeral," said Moyotu with a cruel connotation to her voice. "But I've got a bracelet to destroy." Moyotu raised her sword over the bracelet again and brought it down, only to have Iam's spear clash it away.

Moyotu looked at Iam, whose face was hidden by her hair. "You just love getting in my way, don't you?"

"How could you?"

Moyotu looked at Iam, who raised her face to reveal not tears, but an uncontrollable rage and anger. Iam gritted her teeth, spitting out each word as if it were acid in her mouth. "You don't know what it's like."

"What?" Moyotu asked.

"You don't know what it's like to lose your brother!" Iam cried out to Moyotu, rising to her feet and striking her spear out.

A pause.

"I don't know what it's like…?" Moyotu asked, lowering her head to look at Dekai. Suddenly, her shoulders started to shake, and Iam thought she was crying. Then, she clenched her fists and the rest of her body started to shake uncontrollably.

Iam was watching Moyotu with interest, curious as to what was rolling through the hacker's head. Moyotu took a sigh, and then looked up, her face as red as her hair, her eyes as dangerous as Iam's. "You don't know what the hell you're talking about."

"HYAH!" Iam jumped forward with her spear, trying to cut Moyotu open, but the Heavy Blade was more then ready. She raised her sword to block, only to have Iam make another heavy thrust at Moyotu's chest.

The broad side of the sword deflected the blow, but Iam also used the broad side as a jumping platform, landing on the sword and bouncing off towards the walls. She jumped into the air, her spear thrust in front of her and over her head. "YAAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed, coming down on Moyotu, who was more then welcome to take up the challenge.

The two blades clashed, and Iam was forced to the floor. She rolled out of the way of Moyotu's downward slice and rounded on the Heavy Blade. "REPULSE CAGE!" she shouted, performing the skill on Moyotu, sending her flying backwards from the damage.

Moyotu quickly rose from the blow and gave a huge slice towards Iam, who dodged just in time. "You don't know what you're talking about!" Moyotu repeated savagely, slicing once again. Iam rolled away and tried to thrust her spear into Moyotu's stomach, only to have Moyotu jump back. "VAK DON!" she cast the spell and Iam had to dodge the flying flames coming towards her.

The two paused, catching their breath after the heated bout. Both Iam and Moyotu were out of breath, and, suddenly, a thought crossed Iam's mind.

"Why don't you just max out your stats?" she asked.

"Are you stupid Iam?" Moyotu asked, standing up and wiping a bit of blood off her mouth. "I would have done that from the beginning if I could."

Iam's eyes widened and Moyotu continued. "Since you got here, I haven't been able to hack anything."

Iam shook her head and readied her spear. "I can't forgive you. I have to defeat you now, you know that."

"Same goes for me," Moyotu told Iam, shouldering her sword. "Even a dog with missing limb might bite you."

"But before we fight…" Iam murmured. "I need to ask you one thing."

"What?"

"Why did you have to kill him?" Iam asked, her eyes tearing up once again. "C-couldn't you just have destroyed the bracelet and been done with it?"

"If I had done that, Prisma would have stopped me," Moyotu explained. Iam's eyes widened, and she lowered her spear out of surprise.

"But why wouldn't she stop you from killing him?" she asked. "I don't understand!"

Moyotu looked at Iam, and then shook her head. The red clad hacker gave a great sigh and continued, "What you don't seem to get…Iam…is that Prisma isn't like Aura."

"I know that much," Iam murmured.

"Prisma," Moyotu said, "will side with whoever is strongest."

Iam's eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly. "S-So…she would allow you to kill the Bracelet Wielder?"

"I've proven myself stronger," Moyotu shrugged. "She doesn't want weak people on her side. Prisma…" Moyotu smirked, "is absolutely ruthless."

Iam looked at her spear, then back at Dekai. A million thoughts were racing through her head at once. Dekai, dead. Prisma, the fault lied with her. Moyotu, the murderer. Who was Prisma truly serving? Or was it the other way around? "Are we all just pawns?" she asked Moyotu. "Pawns for Prisma to play around with?"

"Yep," Moyotu smiled. "Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Tell her what she's won."

"It just doesn't make sense!" Iam cried out to Moyotu. "Prisma was helping us! Why would she just turn her back on us like this and let Dekai die like that?"

"Prisma, just like all of us," Moyotu explained, "has a goal. And it's to destroy "The World" and everything in it. We have the same goal, so we go along with her."

"And she doesn't care…" Iam started, but stopped, the tears threatening to fall out again. "And she doesn't care who she hurts in the process?" Iam shook her head and gasped for hair as tears flowed down her face. "How could anyone be so cruel!"

No!

Iam looked up, her head darting around. "What was that?"

"What was what?" Moyotu asked.

"Didn't you hear that voice?" Iam asked her.

"No…" Moyotu murmured. "Look, I've got work to do," she said, readying her sword again. "And I've got to kill you and kill that bracelet as quickly as possible."

Iam readied her spear as well. "I won't let you get a hold of the bracelet!"

Please, it's not true!

"There it is again!" Iam looked up. "That voice!"

"CAUGHT YOU OFF GUARD!" Moyotu screamed and rushed forward. Iam turned around and gasped as she saw Moyotu's sword flying towards her. Iam braced herself for the impact.

I will not allow you to harm her!

The sword shattered as it hit a huge white shield that appeared in front of Iam. Both Iam and Moyotu's eyes grew as wide as orange as they saw the shield dissolve into what was the form of a familiar girl.

"Aura!"

"Found it!" Kalen announced, and the group in Mac Anu looked up, eager to see what Kalen's research had come up with. "They're in an area here in Delta! Dying, Controlled, Wings."

"Great!" Orizo said, standing up and heading to the Chaos Gate. The other nine followed him, but Wiseman stepped forward.

"Where are you going?" he asked. "You're useless to Iam and Dekai without your rings. You do know that, right?"

"Wiseman's right…" Mia said regrettably. "Y-You could get hurt, or worse! Let Kite go and then--"

"It doesn't matter."

The others looked at the speaker, Orizo, who had raised his head to face all the other members of his party. "It doesn't matter if we've got no rings."

"Orizo-sama is right," Chikoro said, nodding. "Iam is in trouble, and we stay here, then she might die."

"You expect us to leave those two kids out there like that?" Barai asked. "You've got to be kidding us."

"They're our friends," Vizota agreed. "And we have no choice but to go after them. True, it might be easier with the rings," she nodded, "but that's no reason to not go at all. With all of us, we'll be sure to bring them back."

"Right," Orizo nodded. "Dying, Controlled, Wings!" He called to the Chaos Gate, and, one by one, the nine jumped through, leaving the others behind with not even a goodbye.

Kalen sighed as he watched them all leave and then slid his keyboard behind his back. "Wiseman, I'm not sure about your whole 'Prisma's Evil' idea, but I do know one thing she did that's worth condemning."

"What's that?" Wiseman asked.

Kalen looked after the Chaos Gate and shook his head. "She picked some of the most stubborn people in 'The World' as knights."

Levitating above them was none other then a girl with long, flowing, white hair and a white dress. Her infinity necklace shown with a bright sheen, and her eyes were open and looking at Moyotu.

"Dammit!" Moyotu snarled. "If only I had gotten rid of the Twilight Bracelet sooner…"

"Aura…" Iam looked up at the girl, scared and curious as to what she was doing there. "What's going on?"

"I will not allow this!" Aura said, this time, her mouth actually moving.

Iam's ears pricked up as she heard something from behind her. Both she and Moyotu turned to face it, and Aura turned around as well. Iam and Aura both gave out gasps at what they saw.

Standing in front of them was none other then Prisma, her short black hair matching her dark black dress and cape. She was staring at the three girls, but levitating over Dekai's body.

"Prisma…" Iam murmured, taking a step forward. However, Prisma did not answer Iam's greeting. Instead, she levitated downwards and picked up Dekai's dead wrist. "No! Stop!" Iam called out, not exactly sure what Prisma was even doing.

A bright purplish black light began to glow around Dekai's wrist, and, slowly, Prisma used the energy in her hands to pull the bracelet off the boy. In a shining transformation, Dekai's clothes returned to the normal teal color that they had been before. The scar and wounds remained, and now, Prisma held the bracelet in her hands, holding it close to her chest.

"See?" Moyotu said, and Iam turned around to face her. "Prisma's tough. Your brother's worm food, so she's got to find a new wielder for her precious bracelet."

Prisma turned towards Iam, and Iam turned to meet Prisma's eyes. "Prisma…" Iam murmured again.

Prisma held out her hands to Iam, silencing the Long Arm. The bracelet was now extended towards her, as if Prisma was offering it to Iam. "M-Me?" Iam asked, her eyes wide.

Prisma nodded. Moyotu gave a sharp laugh. "Hah! That's ironic. I guess you're number two in line for the junk, huh Iam? Or maybe you're just a convenient holder until she finds a new wielder."

"Iam!" Aura called to the girl, and Iam turned around. "Strike the bracelet! Don't take it! Don't take the bracelet from Prisma!"

"What?" Iam looked at her, then back at Prisma, who was still offering Iam the bracelet. Prisma moved a little closer, as if urging Iam on even farther. "What…is this?" Iam asked, her eyes wide with fear and unknowing.

"Iam! Strike the bracelet with your spear!" Aura repeated. Iam's head was turning circles. Aura was telling her to destroy the bracelet, the very thing her brother had been killed over. Moyotu was maliciously grinning at her and Dekai's dead body on the ground. Iam was trying to best to understand what was going on, and Prisma just stood there. Holding out the bracelet and wearing that same sad expression.

"B-But Dekai--" Iam said, and Aura shook her head.

"Dekai will be fine!" she assured her. "But please, listen to me! Destroy the bracelet!"

"I don't know Iam," Moyotu teased cruelly. "After all, didn't your brother die for that bracelet? Are you really just going to blow it up like that?"

"B-but Aura…" Iam murmured, as if trying to convince herself more then anyone else in the room.

"I don't understand…"

Iam looked up to see Prisma had spoken. Everyone immediately went silent, and there was an eerie presence hanging around the room. "Didn't you want it back…?"

"W-want what back?" Iam asked.

"Your power," Prisma said, looking at the bracelet. "Didn't you want it back? You can have it…here…"

Prisma held out her hand again, the bracelet shining in her palm. Iam looked at the shining black bracelet and thought about what the short-haired Goddess was saying.

It was true. Iam had wanted her power back the second it had been taken away from her. Even after she had resolved herself to help and save Dekai, her yearning for her ring hadn't gone away. If she accepted that bracelet, she would have her power back. She would be the wielder.

Not only that, but she would be able to help Dekai. If she could battle the Prism Players using the bracelet, then Dekai might just wake up from the coma that she was positive her little brother was in right now. Prisma was offering Iam a quick fix, but Aura was telling Iam differently. Who should she believe?

Aura, the Goddess of the Twilight. And then Prisma, the Goddess of the Prism? Iam wasn't sure what Prisma was. A demon, or an angel? She was so unsure as to what Prisma's true motives were that the decision baffled her.

"Iam!"

Iam turned around as she heard a familiar voice from behind her. She gasped as she saw nine players enter the room, panting and tired. It was the nine Prism Knights, and they were all walking towards her. "We made it!" Orizo gasped for breath, then gasped at something else. "Moyotu! Aura? Prisma?"

"It's a long story," Iam told them as they all began to draw their weapons.

"Iam! Please! Destroy the bracelet!" Aura repeated to Iam.

"Here…" Prisma held out the bracelet.

"Orizo," Iam turned to her blue clad friend. "What should I do?"

Orizo paused, and looked back at the others. They were all looking at Aura, who was in turn looking at Iam. "Iam," he said, "do what Aura says."

There was a pause, and Iam turned her eyes to Dekai, and then to the bracelet. She looked up at Prisma, who returned her gaze with the same sad stare from before. Her eyes were so hollow, as if they were black whirlpools with no ending. The whirlpools swallowed themselves in their own misery.

The question was, was Iam about to let herself be swallowed as well?

"Sorry Prisma," Iam smirked slightly, and she rose her spear into the air, looking at the black Goddess, whose expression had not changed. "But I'm afraid that this is the only way to GO!"

Iam drove the spear forward, and it crushed the bracelet, sending the supposedly immortal pieces scattering across the area of the dungeon. Aura smiled, Moyotu gasped, the Knights watched anxiously, and Prisma began to float up towards the sky, the pieces scattering to the ground, only the shiny black color remaining.

"It's…gone…" Iam breathed heavily. "But…why did I have--"

Iam was immediately silenced by a soft humming noise that filled her ears. She looked towards the Knights, who also were looking around the room for the source of the soft humming. Iam looked down towards the shards of the bracelets and gasped to see that they were slowly beginning to glow different colors.

The glow grew and grew, emitting an even louder humming noise as they gained energy. The Knights stepped forward, and wind began to gather around the pieces, kicking up dust from the dirt floor of the dungeon. Iam and the others shielded their eyes, but the light overpowered the growing dust clouds.

Suddenly, the shards shot into the air, the colored lights making streams in the sky. They all gasped at the spectacle, and, before they could finish their intake of breath, the shards shot down towards the Knights.

As if by instinct, they all raised their hands and caught the shard as it zoomed down towards them. A blast of light occurred as the shattered glass hit their hand, and Moyotu shielded her eyes while Aura and Prism simply gazed at the scene before them.

The light subsided, and the dust cleared. Moyotu looked up at what had just transpired, and she gasped to see all ten Prism Knights, standing or kneeling where the dust had just settled, adorning the newest form of Prism Power.

The rings were back.

Not to mention that they were back with an element of upgrade. On each Prism Knight's corresponding ring arm was a hefty arm guard, colored brown, lined with black, and made of some sort of leather that was strapped tightly around their forearm and wrists. They all looked at each other, then at the arm guards, nodding to each other.

"I see," Iam murmured, looking up at Aura. "Destroying the bracelet returned our power to us. But that means…" she looked over at Prisma. "Was this your plan all along, Prisma?"

"I'm getting worried," Ryo-Oki said to the remaining members that were gathered around the Chaos Gate, waiting for the return of the Prism Warriors. "They've been gone so long…"

"Hmph," Ryu shook his long haired head. "They might be void-food."

"Don't say that!" Ryo-Oki snapped, stomping her foot on the silver-haired shoulder's. He gave a slightly wince and pulled back.

"OW! What the hell did you do that for!"

"Stop it you two, you're not helping!" Rena reprimanded them, standing next to Shugo and Mirielle.

"What are we supposed to do?" Ryu asked. "Just sit around and wallow!"

"He has a point," Balmung nodded, stepping forward. "After all, standing around in silence is no way to help our friends."

"Then let's go after--" Shugo began, only to be drift off as his eyes widened. Rena looked at her brother and followed his eyes to where they were currently transfixed.

Kite's bracelet was glowing once again. The others gasped, as did Kite, as his wrist began to rise in the air, glowing a bright golden color. "Wh-what's going on?" BlackRose asked, stepping back, obviously scared.

"Kite!" Balmung called. "Are you all right!"

"The bracelet!" Kite gasped. "Look!"

The group looked up at Kite's bracelet and gasped to see that it was slowly chipping off its pearl white exterior to reveal a clear green bracelet underneath. The group also gasped to see that Kite's outfit was slowly chipping away as well. Instead of the white and gold that had once adorned him, patches of red and yellow began to appear. The chips, almost as if they were made of dried paint, began to float towards Ryo-Oki and Shugo, slowly covering their arms.

"Wh-what's happening?" Ryo-Oki asked.

"The bracelet is dissolving into its three original components!" Wiseman cried out, stepping forward. "The bracelets are returning to you!"

The flakes began to completely cover the two wielders' arms, making them both chalky white mixed with gold. "B-but what's happening to us!" Shugo cried out.

Everyone looked up at Kite and gasped to see the last few flakes fall off of him and shoot towards Shugo and Ryo. Kite, clothing now completely back to normal, and bracelet once again a mess of data branches, fell to the ground to be caught by Balmung. Meanwhile, the last few chips of Kite's clothing covered the arms of Shugo and Ryo-Oki, and the two erupted into a bright shimmering light.

Shugo's wrist began to glow, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that his blocky bracelet was back where it had been before. Ryo-Oki gasped to see her long pure white dress had returned to her, and, instead of a Axe on her back, a Wavemaster staff had taken its place.

"I-I can't believe it!" Shugo gasped, looking at his wrist. "Our bracelets are back!"

"But why?" Ryo-Oki asked, raising her eyebrows.

"It must be the same with them."

The group looked up to see Wiseman looking at the Chaos Gate, a grim expression on his face. "It must be the same with the Prism Warriors. Dekai's bracelet has deteriorated and returned to its dissolved form. Because of the imbalance of power in the system, your bracelets returned to normal as well."

"B-but…the only reason that would happen is…" Ouka began, her eyes wide.

Wiseman frowned, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. "I can only assume the worst has happened to Dekai."

"Dammit!"

The group turned to see Moyotu pulling out her sword. "So, I get it now. There never was supposed to be a Prism Bracelet Wielder!"

"What are you saying?" Iam asked, brandishing her newly ringed fist.

"It was Prisma's plan all along!" Moyotu grimaced. "To increase her power! Little does she know that she's actually deterred her plan!"

"What!" Iam turned around to face Prisma, who was looking blankly at the ten. "Is this true?"

"She's not going to answer you!"

The group looked up to see none other then Koga, the green clad Prism Player, fall from the ceiling, smiling widely and landing next to Moyotu. "She's just a stupid virus after all!"

"You're Koga," Chikoro murmured, looking at the boy.

"Hey! You remembered!" Koga grinned, "I'd thought you wouldn't recognize me because I changed my hair!" he pointed to his new green hairdo.

Prisma stared at Aura, who refused to meet her eyes. Aura nodded to Iam, looked at Moyotu, and then disappeared in a soft white light. Prisma sighed, staring at her empty hands, and also disappeared, making Koga frown as the two left. "Man! And now they ditch! How lame!"

"Stop playing games Koga…"

Koga and the others looked up to see none other then the purple clad Long Arm, Ryuin, and his werewolf dressed in blue companion, Circeca, falling down from the ceiling and landing next to Moyotu as well. "Are you okay Moyotu?" Circeca asked the shorter girl.

"I'm fine."

"Good. We wouldn't want you turning Prism food," Ryuin muttered, brandishing his spear. "Hello there. It's been a long time, knights."

"Hey Shit-for-brains!" Gabriella grinned, pulling out her axe in response to his challenge. "You wanna go at it now? I'm more then willing to take you on!"

"Man! This conversation's getting to be a drag, right Nakar?"

"HAH! I actually like it! I hope he chops off her head! Then we can keep it!"

"That's disgusting Nakar…"

Again, falling from the ceiling were three more Prism Players: the cheery orange Twin Blade, Yusena, the blood-thirsty and crazy indigo Thief, Nakar, and the mild mannered and sadistically suave brown clad Bowman, Ziutenko. All three landed on the ground, only to be followed silently by one more player.

The black Prism Player, a Blade Master named Garavarta, fell to the ground, her eyes blank and sad. She held her sword loosely in her hand and looked at her shoes, unable to raise her neck.

"Garavarta, snap out of it," Ziutenko muttered, pulling the black clothed Blade Master towards her.

"Don't even bother! She's practically non-responsive!"

The next to fall was none other then Izaile, the speaker, a Heavy Axeman adorned in yellow, and Tikairo soon after him. Izaile shot the knights a defiant smirk, and Tikairo looked at them coldly, obviously still sore about their last battle.

"Well, here we are," Moyotu grinned, raising herself to a tall stance. The ten Prism Players were all assembled in that area with the newly christened Knights. The two groups stared each other down, as if they were two teams about to play in a sports game. Iam's eyes darted over to Dekai's dead body, and she glared at Moyotu.

"Moyotu!" Iam announced, stepping forward and showing her armguard to Moyotu in defiance. "From this point on, I'm going to use this power that Dekai gave us! And we're going on the offensive!"

There were a few looks from the Prism Knights at their leader as she bravely spoke. "Don't think we're going easy on you any longer! This time, it's our turn to attack! And we won't show you," Iam stomped her foot on the ground and pointed to Dekai, "any mercy for what you've done!"

There was a silence as Iam finished her powerful declaration of war on the Prism Players. Moyotu stared at Iam and shook her head, smiling. "Prism Players!" Moyotu's team looked at her and she nodded to them, "It's time for our revenge to be molded into its final form! We've gained enough power from the protected areas to start our real plan!"

Iam grimaced. So that's the kind of power they gained from destroying those areas and placing Data Bugs all around the servers…

"From this point on," Moyotu threw her arm out, as if commanding an army, "the Prism Wave shall begin!"

The Prism Players nodded to one another, and before Iam knew it, the Prism Knights had stepped forward to join her in a straight line of defiance against the evil players. "We won't let that happen!" Chikoro piped up. "We'll stop the Prism Wave, no matter what!"

"And we'll defeat each Prism Phase!" Barai said, his eyes narrowed. "The Epitaph won't come to pass!"

"Well then," Moyotu smiled. "I suppose this is where the real battle begins."

With a snap of her fingers, Moyotu and the others were gone, disappearing in a flurry of golden rings. The Prism Knights were left alone in the room with only Dekai's corpse.

"We should…get back to the others," Orizo said to Iam, looking at Dekai. "Iam, I'm so sorry…is Shizuma…"

"She's not there."

Orizo looked over at Chikoro as she spoke up. "Do you really think that Iam would waste a second here now that she can check on her brother? She's in the real world now," Chikoro said. "With no hacking to stop her…she's got to tell herself the truth…" Tears formed at the edge of Chikoro's eyes as she drifted off in mid-sentence.

"She's got to tell herself the truth about her brother," Tiyra finished, and they all looked at Iam's unmoving avatar.

"Shizuma!" Mai ripped off her now unlocked headset and threw it on the table, turning to her brother. She gasped as she saw Shizuma, bracelet now gone, hunched over the computer table, unconscious and possibly comatose. "SHIZUMA!"

Mai grabbed her brother, tears falling down her face. She tried to lift him, and, due to his smaller size, she was barely able to drag him a few feet to her bed and lie him on it. She felt his face, cold and sweaty.

"Oh my God…Shizuma," Mai cried, tears falling down her face. "Shizuma!" She pressed her hand to his chest and breathed a sigh of relief. "He's…he's got a beat. He's alive…" Her eyes traveled back and she gasped as she saw a distinct tear in Shizuma's Tee-shirt over his chest.

She lifted his shirt and gasped to see that he had the same x-shaped wound that Moyotu had given Dekai. However, instead of being a bloody fatal wound, it was a dark, worn scar, as though it had been there for years. Her eyes were wobbling, her hands shaking. She was unable to understand what had happened to her brother.

"M-Mom! Mom and Dad! I've g-g-got to…call them!" she cried, fumbling for the phone on her desk. But before she could press the "dial" button, the phone rang in her hand, and she gasped, pressing the "talk" button.

"H-he-hello?" she breathed shakily, her voice wobbling as much as the hand that held the phone.

"Mai! It's me, Hiromi! I called an ambulance and they're coming to your house! Call your parents! I'm telling everyone to head to the hospital, okay?"

"R-right," she nodded. "Th-thank…thank you Hiromi…"

"Don't mention it," he told her. "Is…is he…alive?"

"Y-yes…" she nodded, crying again. "He's alive… But he's…he's…"

"Don't say it," Hiromi shook his head. "You don't have to. I'm going now."

"B-bye…" Mai croaked, hanging up the phone and immediately picking it up again to call her parents. "Oh…God…Shizuma… Please forgive me…"

"Your son is comatose, Yanagi-san. There have been other reports of players falling comatose while playing online games. Is your son an epileptic by any chance?"

"No."

"Sensitive to light or sudden movement?"

"Never."

"I can't see the reason. There have been other cases connected with "The World" before, though. Five years ago, in particular. But don't worry. Almost everyone came out of that coma in a matter of months. I…I think that we can hope the best."

"Thank you."

Mai sat on a plastic chair in the hospital hall, her friends around her, her eyes in the fragments of the red scarf that she had pulled out of the wastebasket and held to her chest as she waited for the doctor to finish speaking to her parents. She looked through the glass at her brother lying in bed, an IV strapped to his arm and an oxygen mask around his slightly moving mouth. His hospital gown had been pulled down slightly to show their parents Shizuma's scar.

"I-I've never seen--" Mai's mother began, but her father cut in.

"Accident. When he was six." Mai and her mother both looked at her father and the doctor nodded, noting something on his clipboard and pulling the gown back over the boy's shoulder.

"Thank you. I'll be back in a bit with the test results." The doctor left and Mai stood up shakily, her seven friends following her to the door.

"Wh-why'd you lie?" Mai asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"They wouldn't have believed us if we had said he got a scar that hardened overnight," he father said blankly. His voice was scratchy and low, and he held his head, as though it were pounding. "I need to sit down…"

"Mai, how did this happen?" her mother asked, looking at Mai with tear-filled eyes. "What happened?"

Mai paused and shook her head. "I-It…was all really…sudden, a-and…I didn't…see," she sputtered out the words, her lips trembling along with the hands that held the scarf. "J-Just…a bad ac-accident…hit his head…or…something…"

Mai's eyes moved to her father, who was looking at her with a dark expression. Mai bit her lip, knowing very well what was going through her father's head.

"Dad! The game's dangerous!" she blurted out and her father chuckled.

"Mai," he said, looking at her with an amused expression, "I doubt that an online game is 'dangerous'. Everything will be fine, I assure you."

Everything will be fine…

"They wouldn't have believed us…" he repeated, and Mai's mother turned to him, as did Mai. "They wouldn't have believed us, and it…would only stop us from helping him."

"Y-you mean the scar?" Mai's mother asked. But Mai wasn't paying attention to what her mother was saying. She and her father were looking at each other, eye to eye. Shizuma had her father's eyes, she reminded herself.

"But if keeping the truth ever became dangerous," Mai's father said as he stood up and wandered over to his son. He looked down at the twelve year old boy and softly held his hand. "Then I will definitely tell the doctors the truth."

"Yes, Dad," Mai murmured. Her father simply released his young son's hand and walked towards the door. "Mai, your mother and I are staying the night. We're getting some blankets from the house. Would you like to stay here with your friends?"

"No," Mai shook her head. "I'll be coming with you home… But you go ahead. I'm going to say goodbye to them."

"Okay dear," her mother nodded, and she and Mai's father walked down the hall of the hospital, leaving Mai alone with her seven friends.

"I meant what I said," Mai told them, and they all nodded solemnly.

"You're right," Fuko nodded to Mai. "We can't just sit on defense anymore. We have not only Kalen, Wiseman, and the Twilight Dragon on our side now, but also these updated rings."

The group looked down at their arms, which were now strapped into the armguards. Their fingers shined with the colored rings that attached to the guards. "These sure are inconspicuous, huh?" Sota joked, knocking the hard leather with two of his fingers.

"Good thing dress code allows bracelets and gloves," Ayumi murmured, trying to catch on with Sota, who was obviously trying to lighten the mood. "R-right?"

Mai didn't answer. She, instead, dragged her feet until she was standing in front of her brother, lying in bed. She lowered the gown off his shoulder and looked at the scar on his chest, her eyes showing a hurt expression. "I won't forgive her. Ever."

Mai felt Hiromi's hand clasp on her shoulder, but she didn't turn to look at him. "Neither will I."

"Guys?" Mai turned around to the seven. "Do you mind if I'm alone with Shizuma for a little bit?"

"No, that's cool," Sot assured her, standing up. "C'mon guys, carpool time. Half of you in my car and half in Fuko's, kay?"

"Can't we just take a taxi?" Ayumi asked as the seven left, Hiromi going out last. "There's so much traffic."

Mai lost track of the conversation as the group rounded the corner of the hallway, leaving her alone with her brother who was still breathing shortly. She sat down and stared at her brother's scar, frowning. "Shizuma…what are you?"

Had Shizuma been just as Moyotu said? A tool simply to bring about the greatest form of Prism energy to the Prism Knights? Was Dekai's death a necessary tool in the bringing about the end of "The World"? And was that Prisma's true goal?

What about Aura? She had been the one who had told Iam to destroy the bracelet. At least Aura wasn't as mellow and stoic as Prisma. With Prisma, you never got a straight answer about what she wanted you to do, or why. And this made Mai wonder…

What exactly was she doing in "The World"?

"Beautiful child."

Mai jumped almost three feet in the air as she heard a solemn, calm voice coming from the chair next to her. She turned and gasped to see a figure running his gray gloved finger over Shizuma's scar, staring at him intently.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, her eyes wide. "How'd you get in here?"

"Time is short," the man said, still stroking the scar. The man looked to be in his mid twenties, but already had dove white hair that fell in almost dying wisps. His eyes, in contrast, were a penetrating red with small black pupils, and his skin was pale and sickly looking. His right ear had a red earring on it, and his ensemble consisted of hospital gown, much like Shizuma's. However, Mai looked at his limp wrist to see a red scar, identical to the one she held in hand, tied around the man's wrist.

"A-Are you a patient?" she asked shakily. "H-Have you gotten lost in the hospital?"

"I can't exist here for long," the man said, turning to her and meeting her eyes with his dark red ones. A shudder went through Mai. "You should know that, Iam."

Mai's eyes widened as she looked at the man. "Wh-what do you want?"

"Give it to me," he demanded, not in a dark, sinister, or evil way, but a simply matter of fact statement. "I need it, please."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Mai muttered, her hands still shaking. She was contemplating running, but she knew she couldn't leave Shizuma.

"Give me the Second Chance," he told her, pointing to her chest. "I need it for this beautiful creature."

"Wh-what?" Mai asked, but, before she could stop the white haired man, he had thrown his hand at her chest and plunged his hand through her torso. She gasped, her eyes wide, but the pain didn't come. Instead, his hand disappeared, as if into another dimension, and he muttered a few words under his breath.

With one swift motion, the man pulled what he came for from Mai's chest, and she grasped where his hand had just been, feeling no blood. She looked up and he revealed to her what he had just pulled: a silver necklace with a red charm on the end. He turned to Shizuma and put it around his neck, raising his neck only slightly. "Don't remove that," he told her. "Don't let anyone remove it, do you understand?"

"What are you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"My name is Niiro-Meiru," he told her, standing up. Mai looked at the tall man and her eyes fell to his wrist. She realized the red scarf was gone… "I am one of the Ten Priests of Futame."

"F-Futame?"

"I'm afraid my existence in this form is failing," he told her, looking at his hands. Mai looked at them as well and gasped to see that they were slowly disappearing, as if they were grains of sand falling out of an hourglass. "Thank you, Iam. Dekai will be fine, I assure you."

"W-wait! Stop!" Mai reached her hand out to grab the wrist of the man, but it only exploded into a million tiny grains of sand, and she gasped as she looked at the slowly disintegrating man. He gave her a small, rare smile and opened his mouth to say his goodbye.

"I shall never see you again."

With that, he fell crashing to the ground, a pile of white sand. Mai reached frantically down to grab a handful of the grains, but they sunk through the floor, as if being dissolved into an ocean. Mai pulled back and stared at her brother, who was sleeping peacefully as if nothing had ever happened. She looked at the chain now dangling around his neck, but saw nothing suspicious about it: as simple silver chain with a red pendant on it.

"I-I should go…" she murmured to Shizuma. "If…If Niiro…Niiro-Meiru comes back, tell him that I still have questions for him."

With that, Mai stood up, gave a glance back at the floor, and shook her head, sighing. She turned around, remembering her appointment with her parents at the car, and walked quickly out, giving Shizuma one last look.

"I guess I have more important things to worry about," she said, narrowing her eyes, "then a strange Sand Man."

Well guys! That's it! Chapter 19! I hope you all enjoyed it!

Yaaaay! Everyone got their powers back! Iam and the others now have updated Prism Power (arm guard/gauntlets), Dekai's…well, dead, and a strange weirdo has appeared! (Niiro-Meiru).

Don't worry too much about Niiro though. His role in this story is quite minimal. But, he does bring up something I want to offer to you all:

A lot of people have been asking if they could have their character "make a cameo" in this story, and I'm afraid I just didn't have the spot on the plotline to include extra characters.

Readers: LIAR!

Ow! Okay, okay! So I included Ryo, Mia, Ryu, and others. (Not to mention more cameos coming) but those are special exceptions! (laughs) Anyway, because everyone's been asking for cameos, I didn't just want to say "Yes!" and give their character an insignificant role that was only an eye-sore.

SO!

I am recruiting cameos for Niiro-Meiru's group, which will appear in ANOTHER .hack fanfic. Your character will actually have a ROLE (GASP) and a PURPOSE (DOUBLE GASP). I know, it's mind shattering, but here's the problem.

I'm only accepting nine applications. So, that means, if you want your character to get in, you'd better make them interesting :D!

I'm putting the application on my profile page! So check it out and send in an application!

Don't forget to review!

Until then,

Ciao for now!