Falcon, Ryoma and Accel chose to go for a direct approach. Their reasoning being that it was already twice that an ambush was attempted. The next attack the outlaws did wouldn't be one where they would wait.

Already transformed with the power of the stones, it didn't take them long to find the outlaws and their leader.

"Well I'll be. And here I thought I'd have to send my whole posse after you." The outlaw leader said.

"Missed me?" Accel said.

"What in the-" The outlaw said, surprised.

"Is this some sort of joke? Because there's no way..." He said.

"It was hard for me to believe too. But here I am. In the flesh. Well, metal, right now." Accel said.

"Ain't no way. If you're him, prove it." The outlaw said.

"You really want to know if it's me... showdown. No tricks." Accel said.

"Try anything and we'll be waiting." Ryoma said.

"What's the benefit for me? Why don't I just get everyone to try and blow you sky high?" The leader said.

"You win, whether I live or die... this town is yours. You get my sheriff's badge, and as a trophy you get my guns. You'll also get..." Accel reverts back to his normal self.

"This." He shows him his power stone. "This is how me and my friends over here are able to transform and get powers. It was also what helped me survive our last encounter."

"But if I win, you and your band of outlaws are all going away." Accel said.

The leader whistles at the sight of the stone. He then smiles. "Yep. It's definitely you. Only you would be this stupid enough to not try and take me out when you had the advantage."

Ryoma was at the ready to stop any sort of assassination attempt.

"Relax, I'm not going to try anything." He said to Ryoma. "If he wants to be a fool than so be it. And it'll be on display for the whole town to see. 2 hours. Better enjoy 'em."

"And call me Bill. Gonna be a name you and everyone in this town won't forget for a while." He said.

2 hours later

The sun was getting ready to set. Every person in the town was there to watch in anxiousness, including the ones that were thrown in the jail such as the chief of the Eagle Tribe. Ryoma and Falcon, already transformed were on standby in case the leader of the outlaws tried anything.

The silver power stone was in the middle of the two duelists.

"Might as well polish that thing for me now, because I'm going to be using it a lot." Bill said.

Accel was silent.

Both had their arms near their respective holster, hands twitching.

In what felt like forever, both stared each other down. The tension was too much for most of the audience to bare, except for Ryoma and Falcon, with the former having experience with showdowns as a samurai and the latter having experience in kickboxing.

It was sudden and abrupt, but a gunshot rang out. And it even though the duel felt like forever, it was over quickly. Both flipped their guns back onto their holsters, but one of them felt pain in their opposite arm. It was Bill. And he grabbed it in pain.

"It's over. You're under arrest." Accel said. Falcon and Ryoma were still on watch for anything dirty from the outlaws.

As he walked up to him, Bill, as fast as lightning, grabbed a pistol that he holstered in his back. At the same time, someone from the distance shouted "ENERGY SHOT!" Which caught Bill off guard and he hesitated in his shot, missing. The other gun he had was knocked out of his hand by the lightning, causing him to drop the gun and yell in pain. Accel grabbed for the other gun that Bill tried to shoot him with and knocked it out of his hands.

A familiar figure to Eagle Town, Falcon and Ryoma appeared along with a miniature doll.

"Galuda!" Falcon said.

"Now it's over. Your under arrest." Accel declared. The people of Eagle Town brought rope to tie him up.

After being unable to defeat Falcon earlier, the others took their losses and ran, knowing that they'd have no chance at beating two stone users.

"Galuda, you're alright." Ryoma said, reverting, along with Falcon.

"Yes." He said, looking at his wife Lilica in concern, who was still unconscious.

"Galuda." Accel said.

"Accel." Galuda said, greeting one another. From Galuda's face, Accel knew that this wasn't a time for a lighthearted greeting.

Accel shows him his power stone. "These two say that this is your Power Stone."

Galuda shakes his head. "It isn't. My stone is purple." He said.

"So this really is a new stone." Ryoma said.

"How come we've never seen this one before?" Falcon said.

"Beats me." Ryoma said.

"Lilica!" The chief said running over to her.

"What happened to her?" Ryoma asked.

"A castle, brimming with evil appeared before us. When it did, she began to feel weak." Galuda said.

"That castle. That must be the evil you sensed earlier." Falcon said to the chief.

"Yes. And it is gradually spreading. It hungers. But I fear that its hunger will not be satisfied. If it is not stopped, this world and everything in it will be consumed." The chief said.

"Which is why I must stop it. Only then will Lilica return to health." Galuda declared. Galuda walked and brought Lilica in front of the totem pole. The chief and everyone else followed.

The chief raised his hands towards the sky. "O Great Spirit. Please find favor with us and give Galuda, a great warrior of the Soaring Eagle people, the strength to drive out the great evil that threatens our world."

The totem's eyes glowed purple. Just then a purple gem manifested from its eyes. Everyone looked on in awe. It was the Soil Power Stone! Then, energy from the stone hit Lilica and the purple energy surrounded her. Within seconds, she was conscious and back to full health.

"Galuda. Father." She said.

"Lilica!" The chief said, happy that her daughter was okay.

Still in his arms, Galuda allowed Lilica to stand on her own.

The totem's eyes stopped glowing and the stone lowered onto Galuda's hands. He embraced the stone tightly and put it to his chest before saying. "Thank you, Great Spirit."

"We'll help you stop whoever or whatever's inside that castle Galuda." Falcon said. Ryoma nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. It is an honor to be able to go on another quest with you again." Galuda said.

"I'll go too." Accel said. "As sheriff of Eagle Town to protect these people, and as a friend to you Galuda."

Both embrace in a hand shake. "I am grateful for your help."

"I'll go too!" The small doll said.

Falcon crouches down to greet him. "This seems a little too dangerous for you kid. You probably should stay here." He said, smiling.

"I actually thank him for my arrival here. His creation allowed us to arrive here faster." Galuda said.

"Creation?" Falcon asked.

"Yes. My name is Pete. My inventor had the dream of bringing me to life and for me to create things to bring joy and surprise to people all over the world. With my creations having the same passion and joy that my creator had when creating me. Thanks to the power stone inside of me, his dream has now come true!" Pete said.

"Power stone?" Falcon said.

"Yes. Inside of him is a power stone. Although it is one that I have never seen before." Galuda said.

Pete opens up his chest where his heart would be. In his chest lies a brown power stone.

"Another new power stone!" Falcon said.

"If these two have new stones, I wonder how many other new stones are out there." Ryoma said. Pete closes his chest.

"I don't know. Maybe we'll meet them along the way. But for now, we've got to meet up with Ayame and the others." Falcon said as the sun began to set even lower.

"It would probably be smart to wait here. I know we shouldn't waste time, but we could potentially waste more if we accidentally pass over them. We'd be going in circles. We're just going to have trust that Ayame will get here fast enough." Ryoma said.

"Then it's settled. We'll rest here for the night. Once Ayame and the others arrive, we're off." Falcon said.

Hard breathing was heard in the distance.

"Huh?" Falcon said, turning around.

"Young master! Young master!" A voice said.

"Apollus?" Falcon said, squinting in the distance to see if that was really him.

In seconds, Apollus barreled into him before he could react.

"Young master! I've finally caught up with you! It is so good to see you again! I kept my promise! No matter where you are in the world, I will always find a way to be at you and your father's side!" Apollus said, crying, unknowingly smothering him.

"That's really great Apollus, and I'm really thankful for that. Now could you please get off of me so I can breathe properly?" Falcon said.

"Oh, my apologies." The butler said.

Falcon breathes in larger than normal breaths before his breathing returns back to normal.

"Young master, I have news and a delivery from your father." He said, back to normal.

"A delivery from dad? What is it?" Falcon asked.

"It is only right that you open it." Apollus said, handing the package to him.

Falcon opens it up and reads the letter contained inside. "Son, I did some travelling in Aqua Land. During my travel, I was able to find something that may be of interest to you and especially a special someone that you may know. I went back home to give it to you myself in Londo, but I noticed you were gone, so I asked Apollus to take it to you.
Your father,
Pride Falcon."

He looks inside the box. It was a blue power stone!

Falcon lets out a gasp of surprise before saying, "It's Ayame's Power Stone! She'll be happy to see this when she gets here." He said before putting it in his pocket. "Thanks, Dad." Looking in the sky before saying, "Wait a minute. What does he mean by 'special someone'? He can't think... Dad!" He said, red and embarrassed.

Fire Land

Ayame, her family, Gunrock, and Wang-Tang were in Fire Land, searching for Rouge. Eventually, they were able to find her outside of the new fortune hall looking out at the ocean.

"Rouge? Rouge!" Ayame said, waving as she and the others started to run.

"Ayame! All of you! It's great to see you all again!" Rouge said, happy before her face quickly returned to normal.

"Is something wrong?" Wang-Tang asked.

"Yes. My crystal ball told me that a great evil, with an insatiable hunger is coming. It said that heroes of old and new would come together with the objective drive out this darkness." Rouge said.

"I have the sneaking suspicion that there's more to this than meets the eye." Ayame said.

"Yes. The fortune said that Fire Land would be the first to suffer from the effects of this darkness. The effects aren't strong now, but if we don't stop this new threat, they will be soon." Rouge explained. She paused before continuing and showed them the orange stone. "Gana gave this to me. She told me she found it and said that it was destiny for her to do so and to give it to me to save the people of Fire Land and the rest of the world."

"It's that sherifff! He's the one behind this!" Ayame said.

"Sheriff?" Rouge asked.

"Yes. He stole Galuda's power stone!" Ayame said.

"Are you certain?" Rouge asked.

"He said that he knew Galuda and that he was the new sheriff from Eagle Tribe. And when he was captured he broke out by transforming. The only way he would be able to transform is if he took someone else's power stone. Falcon, Ryoma and Gunrock have theirs, but Wang-Tang and I haven't found ours yet. And if you found yours, then there's only one stone left: Galuda's." Ayame reasoned.

"Where are Falcon and Ryoma anyhow?" Rouge asked, not seeing them there with Ayame and the others.

"They went to Eagle Town to get answers on what happened to Galuda. And maybe even find the guy that took his power stone." Ayame said.

Rouge looks at her crystal ball. "According to my crystal ball, the evil is still lurking. Perhaps they may have not succeeded yet." Rouge said.

"If that's the case, they might be in trouble." Wang-Tang said.

"Then there's no time to lose! We've got to go to Eagle Town!" Ayame declared.

No sooner that they had stopped, were they on the move on again. This time to Eagle Town, to reunite with Falcon and Ryoma.

Wood Land
A figure loomed in the night. As it moved around quickly throughout the trees, it spoke. "Found lovely. Not for Jack, for lovely friend. Must bring lovely." He said, a green object in his hand. Although the fast movement made the object to hard to clearly make out, you could clearly see the green color of it as he cradled it tightly.

Morning

It was morning and the sun was starting to rise. Ryoma was the first one to awaken out of the heroes. And stood out on top of one of the roofs to look at the sky and also watch for the arrival of the others. The second to awaken was Galuda, and then Falcon minutes after.

Falcon yawned and stretched before walking around. "Must find food." He said.

It didn't take him long to devour the food and then join Ryoma on the rooftop he was on.

"Guessing you're not much of a fan of breakfast." Falcon said to him.

Just then, Ryoma's stomach rumbled and it bothered him. "I just realized. Before I went to Londo, that was the last time I ate." He said. "I'm so hungry..." Ryoma said. "Do you know of anywhere to get something to eat?" He asked Falcon.

"Yeah. Over there. They make some great flap-" Falcon said before he realized Ryoma was gone.

"-jacks." Falcon finished.

Eventually, the others arrived.

"Ayame! They're here!" Falcon said. He ran to wake Apollus up. "Apollus wake up! They're here!" He said.

"Young Master, good morning!" Apollus said.

"Good morning to you too. Everyone's here." Falcon said.

Apollus went outside to join Falcon in greeting them.

"Guys! You're here!" Falcon said.

"Hey Falcon!" Ayame said, waving. When she realized Falcon was coming at them with open arms, she thought he was coming for her and opened her arms for an embrace. "I really missed you too!"

"Rouge! I've missed you so much!" Falcon said, running right past Ayame.

When Ayame heard this, her redness turned quickly from a blush to anger at that same moment. She gritted her teeth in anger.

"I've missed you too Falcon." Rouge said.

"It's so nice to see you again! It's been forever since I last saw you! I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again after that fortune!" Falcon said, squeezing her tight, continuing to talk.

Ryoma then walked out the Saloon, full of joy now that his stomach was full.

"Falcon, you were right, those flapjacks were deliciou-" He stopped when he saw Falcon embracing Rouge and constantly rubbing his head into her chest, still full of joy and talking.

"Did any of your fortunes say anything about us meeting up again, because I feel like it was just fate for us to meet up again..." Falcon said, continuing to babble on.

"What's going on here!?" Ryoma said, confronting Falcon and Rouge.

"I would like to know that myself, Falcon." Ayame said, still angry, appearing before the three suddenly.

"Get away from her! You're going to choke her to death!" Ryoma said.

"I'm fine Ryoma." Rouge said, closing her eyes, smiling after Falcon put her down to go up against Ryoma.

"Well at least someone here is giving her the love she deserves for showing up here." Falcon said, folding his arms and grabbing Rouge's hand.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ryoma asked. Ayame asked the same question but lower.

"I don't know, ask the food you decided to stuff your face with instead of coming outside to greet your friends!" Falcon said.

"I told you already, I was hungry! I haven't eaten since before I went to Londo to find you!" Ryoma said.

"What I want to know is how you even paid for that food. You don't have any money!" Falcon said.

"They said it was on the house for saving their town!" Ryoma said.

"A likely story. I was the one that went up against Accel and took out those outlaws to stop you from being shot. I did the most work."

"It sure didn't seem like it when I had to improvise to stop myself from being shot."

"What do you expect? I'm a kickboxer, not a samurai!"

Ryoma noticed Falcon was still holding onto Rouge's hand.

"Take your hand off of her!" Ryoma said.

"A little late to show her some love now Ryoma." Falcon said.

Falcon and Ryoma were looked in a battle of wills over Rouge, Ayame yelled.

"Would you two cut it out already!" She grabbed Falcon and dragged him away from Rouge and Ryoma.

"Let go already!" Falcon said.

"I do all of that travel, but do I get any love from anyone, nooooo." Ayame said.

"What's going on out here?" Accel said, hearing all of the noise from Ryoma and Falcon.

"That's him! He took Galuda's stone!" Ayame said, pointing at Accel, completely forgetting about Falcon for a second and letting him face fall on the ground. She was about to run at him.

"Ayame wait! He didn't take his stone." Ryoma said stopping her.

"It is true." Galuda said, he and Pete joining them. He showed her his stone. "So you're alright." Ayame said, happy that her friend was okay.

"Sorry for the misunderstanding that last time we met." Accel said. "What's say we start off right. Accel." He said, tipping his hat to her.

"Ayame." She said, bowing. "Sorry for accusing you before." She apologized.

"No worries." Accel said.

"So if you didn't take Galuda's stone, how were you able to transform?" Ayame asked.

Accel pulls out his silver stone. "I've never seen this stone before." Ayame said.

"I couldn't believe it either. But it really is a new stone." Falcon said, now standing.

"There's another one inside this little guy too." He added.

"My name is Pete. It's nice to meet you Ayame. My creator, Mr. Eiss, created me as his dream was for me to create things and spread joy to everyone that I meet from those creations, with each having the same passion and joy he had when he created me. And now, his dream has come true, thanks to this power stone." Pete said before showing her and the others the brown stone in his chest.

"Incredible." Ayame said. "I wonder how many more stones are out there."
"Or better yet, where's my stone!?" Ayame yelled.

Falcon just remembered something. "Oh! That reminds me." He said before digging in one of his pockets and reveals the blue power stone to Ayame. She was bursting with joy when she realized what it was. "My dad said he found this while he was in Aqua Land." He said.

"My Power Stone!" Ayame said before he hands it to her and hugs him tightly.

"Oh, thank you so much Falcon!" She said.

"Don't thank me, thank my dad." Falcon said.

"But you're the one that kept it safe for me until I could get it." Ayame said, still hugging him, ironically in the same way Falcon hugged Rouge.

"Okay, I get it you're very thankful. You can let go now." Falcon said.

"So I'm assuming everyone else has their stones, correct?" Ryoma asked.

"Not me. I still have no idea where my stone is." Wang-Tang said.

"Hopefully, we find it soon. If this evil is as great as the Chief says it is, we're going to need all the help we can get." Falcon said.

"Evil? Rouge said she saw evil approaching in her fortune." Ayame said.

Rouge nodded. "That's right. It said that heroes of new and old would come together with the goal of driving out this darkness."

"The new heroes must be talking about those with new stones." Falcon said.

"It appears so." Rouge said.

"Excuse me, Miss Rouge?" Gunrock said.

Rouge looked over to Gunrock, listening to what she had to say. "What is it Gunrock?" She asked.

"Do you happen to have a fortune for when we can get something to eat?" Gunrock asked, a look of embarrassment on his face. "I'm sorry to ask. It's just I'm a little hungry. I haven't really eaten anything since before the trip here." He said shyly, putting two fingers together.

"I think we all deserve to get something to eat. To be honest, I'm a little hungry myself. " Wang-Tang said.

"Where did you say they served flapjacks, Falcon?" Ayame asked him.

"In that Saloon over there." He said.

As they enjoyed their food, Gunrock eventually challenged anyone to a game of cards, with Falcon being one of the first to accept. Ryoma also accepted, wanting to learn the rules of the game along with competing with Falcon. Four of the locals from the town also played. Gunrock decided to play Old Maid, as he remembered that the last game of Old Maid he played never finished.

Turns passed as Ryoma struggled to understand the rules of the game, asking questions as they played. Sometimes asking them more than once, to the annoyance of Falcon.

Gunrock was out first, then one of the locals, then Falcon, then two more locals.

Ryoma had 3 cards left. One was 2 of spades, another was a 8 of diamonds, and the third was a 5 of diamonds. The person he was up against had four more cards left.

"Let's see, which should I choose. Ryoma thought. He took the card in the left-middle. It was a 3 of spades.

"Darn." Ryoma thought.

His opponent chose the 2 of spades and made a pair. Now he had two cards left.

Ryoma chose the card on the left. It was an 8 of diamonds. He made a pair and had two cards left.

Ryoma was sweating. His opponent was nervous, both trying to win. He chose the card on the left as well, which was the 5 of diamonds and made a pair, leaving him with no more cards left.

"Ryoma still has a card left in his hand, which in this case was the three of spades." Gunrock said, after Ryoma put his card down on the table to reveal it. "Which means you lose Ryoma."

"Oh. I lost." Ryoma said in shame, hanging his head.

"Better luck next time eh Ryoma?" Falcon said.

Rouge went over to comfort him after he was off by himself.

"It's okay. You'll always be a winner in my eyes for trying." She said, grabbing onto his right arm.

"It doesn't matter if I tried, I still lost. I'm a disgrace." Ryoma said.

"Don't be ridiculous. It's just a game." She said.

"A game that I'm horrible at."

Eventually, everyone left the Saloon and prepared to travel once again.

"Ayame, we'll leave you to your quest." Her grandfather said.

"You're not coming with us?" Ayame asked.

"If this castle is as dangerous as described, we'll only be a burden." He said.

"Instead, we'll be travelling back home to Moon Land." Kikunojo said.

"Do us proud, Ayame!" Her grandfather said.

Tears started to form but she wiped them away, and after a sniff she said "I will."

"Alright. Is everyone ready?" Falcon asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Let's go! Lead the way Galuda." Falcon said.

"Right." Galuda said.

Everyone from Eagle Town waved at them as their journey to the mysterious castle begins!