Last chapter, it was near chaos with Luffy and his group as Usopp nearly lost it, while Hinita was suffering from near claustrophobia. Hay Lin took control of the situation of having Irma slap Usopp, while Hay Lin slapped Hinita. After backtracking to the correct tunnel, Hay Lin and her group found the unconscious forms of Will and her group. Upon reviving those gassed by the Naz'riak, it was discovered that the demons took Taranee, Nigel, Cornelia, Saske, Sakura, Nami and Zolo. Why them and nobody else? We don't know yet. After being fed up with Ino and Sanji winning over the ones they 'love' being taken by the demons, Ino slapped Shikamaru. Shikamaru slapped Ino in retaliation, then they both realized that they love each other. And now, on with the show!

Chapter 21: The Empress Reveled

Cornelia slowly regained consciousness to discover that she was restrained to a large rock wall. Her vision in front of her was obscured by another rock wall fifteen feet away. The wall had a large metal door, which was securely locked on the outside. She tried to move her head to get her bearings, but decided that was a bad idea, due to the fact that her head felt like it was about to split open.

"Oh damn," groaned a voice to Cornelia's left. Slowly she looked left to see Saske, Sakura and Nigel chained to the wall. To her right were Taranee, Nami and Zolo. "Whatever that stuff was," said Nigel, "It sucks big time." "You can say that again," said Zolo, "My mouth feels like it's stuffed full of cotton."

"Anybody have any idea where we are?" asked Sakura. "Three guesses," said Nami, "But I'm sure you need only one." "The base of the Naz'riak," said Saske, "And we're their prisoners." "Why us?" asked Cornelia, "Why did they take us and nobody else?" "I don't know," said Saske, "But we're about to find out in a few seconds." A few seconds later, the door opened to reveal two of the Naz'riak and several biots. "You're awake," hissed one of the demons, "Good, the Empress shall be here soon. The Great One is anxious to meet you."

"Why have you taken us?" asked Zolo. "Simple," said the other demon, "Your interference with the culling has cause us to fail the quota set by the Empress. However, you shall supplement the younglings we failed to cull." "It's fortunate you and your comrades decided to seek us out," said the first Naz'riak, "Otherwise we would have had to come out and get you. Now, come wit us, the Empress awaits…"

They were lead down the tunnel into a very large cavern, the ceiling at least 400 feet up, and over 2000 feet extending in all directions. Taranee counted twelve Naz'riak, and gave up counting the biots after 4,000. In the middle of the cavern was a large stone platform. Cornelia and the others were placed on the platform. As Taranee looked around, she saw, to her horror, along the walls...

"My god!" exclaimed Nigel, "It's the children!" Every child taken by the demons were suspended from the walls, each encased in a large orange crystal. "What have you done to them?" exclaimed Sakura. "As you can see," said one of the demons, "They have not been harmed." "No," said another demon, "Their fate is in the hands of the Empress."

"And as for you," said a third Naz'riak, "Your medalling has annoyed us for the last time," the demon brandished it's claws, reading them to strike, "Time to die!" "No!" exclaimed a demon, whom was obviously in charge here, "They are for the Empress."

"The Empress is here!" exclaimed a fourth demon, and all the demons and biots fell to their knees. With a red flash, a hooded female figure appeared on the platform, wearing a red stone with distorted facial features. "All hail the Empress! All hail the Empress!" chanted the demons. The Empress approached the Naz'riak in front of Cornelia and the others. "Well no.3," said the Empress, "Has the culling been completed for the ritual?"

"Forgive me Great One," groveled demon no.3, "But the culling has not been completed in time. There is no excuse for our failure. However, I believe myself and my fellow Naz'riak have found a substitute for the younglings we failed to cull." The Empress then looked towards Cornelia and the others, as if analyzing their potential. "Yes," said the Empress, "You have found suitable replacements."

"You're Pai-mey Matoya," said Saske, "Aren't you?" The Empress looked at Saske for a moment before lowering the hood of her cloak. Her face was that of a young woman of about 25 with shoulder length brown hair. She would have been very good looking, if it weren't for her eyes, which were completely pitch black. "That was my name," said the Empress, "Back when I was still young and foolish that I could change the world with just my skills alone. But what form my body was at that time matters not now. What matters now is what I am becoming."

"But you disappeared over 100 years ago," said Sakura, "And you look like you haven't aged a day." "You've noticed," said The Empress, "Thanks to the forbidden jutsus I discovered, I have achieved near eternal youth. You two," she pointed at Saske and Sakura, "Are from 'The Village Hidden in the Leaves.' Tell me, how fairs the place nowadays?" "Konohamaru is thriving," said Saske, "But besides that, why have you taken the children of this world?"

"As I was saying," said the Empress, "I have discovered near eternal youth. But that's not enough for me, I want more. Eternal youth can only go so far without eternal life. And immortality is nothing without power to go with it." She then held up the red Behelit around her neck, "Do you know what this is? Some call it 'The Egg of the King,' I call it my ticket to Ultimate Power: Power to create, power to destroy. Power to give life, and power to take it away."

"But why have you taken all these children?" asked Nami. "Simple," said the Empress, "Ultimate Power comes with a price; when the God Hand arrives, I shall offer these younglings and you as a sacrifice. In return, the God Hand shall grant me the Power I seek. Once empowered, I shall begin my rein as supreme Empress of reality! First, I'll return to Konohamaru and destroy it. Then, I'll slay every single ninja in that world. Form there, who knows?"

"You're insane!" exclaimed Sakura, "You'll never get away with it!" "I already have!" exclaimed the Empress, "For in less than five minutes time, the moon shall eclipse the sun and the markings of the Behelit shall align. When the eyes open the God Hand shall appear and grant me Ultimate Power!"

Back up top, Elyon and everyone with her was watching the moon as it neared the sun. "It'll happen in less than five minutes," said Martin, "Whatever's gonna happen, it'll be then." "Will, Cornelia," said Elyon to herself, "Whatever you and the others are gonna do, do it now."

Meanwhile, Will and the others had reached the cavern and were watching from a high ledge overlooking the stone platform. "Did you here what she said?" asked Will. "Every word," said Naruto, "We've got less than five minutes to stop her." "Not to sound like a wet blanket or something," said Irma, "But five minutes doesn't give us a lot of time to come up with a plan."

"Well I've got a plan," said Will, "It's not a good one, but it's the best I've got right now: Naruto, you head down and move to the far right of the platform. Luffy, you head down to the far left, and I mean left." "No problem," said Luffy, "No problem at all." "Everyone else, be ready to cut lose our friends and to get the children to safety."

"What are you doing in this plan?" asked Matt. "I'm gonna distract the Empress while Naruto and Luffy get into position to get that Behelit away from her," said Will, "I've got a feeling that it's a good idea to destroy it."

The end of chapter 21. Next chapter, Will confronts the Empress with her crimes. See you next time!