The group ran for a few miles before coming to a stop, exhausted. They set up camp in a hole on the mountainside. They regained their breath, realised again what situation they were in, and started bawling. Well, except for Gray, meaning he had 2 people crying on his shoulders and 2 people crying on his knees. "Oh, come on guys. Get a hold of yourselves. We are the 5 smartest teenagers in Brimstone Peak, we should know more about this than all of our classmates combined!" encouraged Gray. And surely enough, they started to get a hold of their emotions. "Hey, you are right! I mean, we may be having to save the world, but this is our big adventure! Has anyone here even been out of the Bachille region?" asked Harley.

"I guess not." replied the others.

"Well yeah, this is our chance to explore the world, and seal our names in history!"

"YEAH!"

"Also, how do we put up a tent?" asked Jay. Now that got EVERYONE crying.

It was the next morning, and since they couldn't put up a tent, they slept in their sleeping bags, on extremely dry land. It was 6am, and Gray was already up, reading a book. Just then, Jay woke up. "Gray? How long have you been awake for?"

"Oh, I've been up since 5am, "

"Urgh, good morning guys, my head hurts really badly," complained Marco.

"Daaaad, can you make some pizza pancakes- oh, hello guys." said Bella, confused. Harley was nowhere to be seen. "Huh, where is Harley?" asked Marco. "No clue-"

"BOO!"

"ARGH!" Harley decided to jumpscare the group with her homemade swamp monster costume she made with moss and sticks she found on her run.

"Good morning! I've been up since 4am running! It turns out that Robotnik is also a good fitness trainer!"

"Bzzt-Bzzt! I sure am! My creator, Jane, downloaded many skills for me, so I can be anything you want me to be!" chirped Robotnik.

"Okay, Robotnik, how long will it take us to walk to the Minito region?"

"Calculating... If the group leaves at 6:30am, then approximate arrival time is 12:30pm."

"Six hours of walking? Darn it..." sighed Marco.

"You know, have you guys even tried to interact with your Lumines? Get them out, they're fun!" exclaimed Harley. Stupidly enough, they had forgotten all about their Lumines and had left them in their capsules for almost a full day. And it turns out they were not happy about it. Slooshie froze Marco solid, Jay was running frantically when his Tattleta decided to shoot fireballs at him, Bella was screaming as her Eaglette was trying to pull her hair out and for some unknown reason, Gray's Taiwano hugged Gray like he was his best friend. "Guys! I'll throw some berries over here, they'll calm down, hopefully!" yelled Harley. And they did, which gave Jay, Marco (who stamped some footholes in the ice he was trapped in) and Bella to return to camp. Bella was fixing up her hair when she saw Jay, who had his shirt burnt off by his Tattleta. The only thing Bella was thinking was: "DAMN!"

"Hey Bella, you alright? Your hair seemed pretty messed up."

"Uhhhhhh-YEAH! Yeah, I'm fine."

"That's good. Did you see my backpack? It's got all my replacement shirts."

"Nope, sorry."

"Alright, I'll look for it." After Marco barged himself into a tree a few times to break the ice, he saw Jay and was not secretive about his thoughts.

"Wow Jay! You never told me you were more ripped than Harley's jeans!"

"Heh, thanks. I just worked out a bit every day and here we are." chuckled Jay.

"But I'm just gonna say, Bella was eying you up- AAAAH!" With all the strength she had, she threw Marco into a tree.

"Ow...Well, at least all the ice is gone for good!"

"Yep- what are our Lumines doing?" noticed Bella. There was only 1 berry left and all 4 Lumines had their eyes on it. And then chaos ensued. Fireballs being sent in different directions, screams of Lumines as they got maliciously pecked, pieces of Earth being thrown everywhere and cold vapour covering the land like a fog. In the end, only 1 Lumine remained, and that was Robotnik, as all of the other Rubines had been defeated. "Bzzt-Bzzt! What is this flavour, juicy yet sweet? Aha! A Machino Berry! Found in the Brimstone Peak Forest!" Robotnik ate it cheerfully, much to the disappointment of the other Lumines, who were eventually waking up. "Alright guys, unless you are certain that your Lumine won't painfully kill you, keep it out." Harley and Robotnik instantly became best friends, Gray gave Taiwano a piggy-back since she wasn't too heavy and after Bella made Eaglette look adorable, she finally accepted her and sat on her shoulder. Marco was frozen twice before he realised that Slooshie needed some time to adjust and Tattleta burnt 3 more of Jay's shirts (which Bella liked a lot) and also decided to put him back in his capsule. The trail showed the group how much they were missing by just sticking to Brimstone Peak. Glimmering seas and beaches, historic landmarks and sky-high mountains were seen at every turn. Apart from working at Brimstone Peak, this was one of the best times they ever had. That was, until the exit of the forest. Five Sailon riders were at the end of the trail, forcing people to fight their Lumines or pay the consequences. One of the consequences was being thrown into the sea by a very tough-looking Lumine. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? 5 teens trying to come into our territory without any I.D? Show your Sailon Respect I.D please." laughed a fat man who seemed to be the leader of the gang.

"Oh, sorry, this is all of our first time travelling out of Brimstone Peak, we have to get to the Minito region right now-" explained Gray, trying to get himself on their good side.

"Oh shut up you little gothy brat. Did you not see the people before you? You have to battle one of us to get past." insulted a member of the gang rudely.

"Hey! You have no right to talk to my friend like that-" yelled Bella.

"Oh, seems like we have a rowdy young missy. I'm sure you have lots of fun with your friends every night-"

"How dare you!" Jay screamed, before roundhousing the creepy biker member.

"Hey, you can't do that-"

"Paralyze!" yelled Harley, making Robotnik shoot out several beams, paralysing the riders.

"Engulf!" screamed Gray, making Taiwano bury the riders, with their heads sticking out like mushrooms in a field. "Oh, you stupid kid. You have a lot to learn about everywhere in the world other than your 'perfect' Brimstone Peak." sneered the gang leader. Harley kicked his head and it bobbled around.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"We'll consider this our first lesson," Gray savagely replied, before leading the way into the Minito region. They walked a few metres silently, then-

"OH SNAP! WE JUST DID THAT! HIGH FIVES ALL AROUND!" screamed Marco. Jay attempted to high five his Lumine from his capsule, but he was given a burst of flames in return. "And Jay, that was pretty sweet what you did for me back there, thanks." Bella remarked, giving Jay a peck on his cheek, which made him blush, and everyone else faint with happiness. "But you guys do realise, we can't just fight someone with our fists, we didn't even need to do all that to figure that out. You know, we could probably be arrested!" declared Gray.

"Right you are." uttered an unknown voice, the last thing the group heard before they plunged into darkness.

Jay was the second last person to wake up. He was in an interrogation room, with all of his friends. He tried to get up, but his feet and hands were cuffed to the table. Turns out his friends had been screaming at him to wake up, and his eardrums were ringing. "So, you might be wondering why you are here." calmly spoke a mysterious man, his shadow making the form of a 6-foot juggernaut.

"Uh, no, not really. We beat up some Sailon Riders in a way which is probably illegal?" replied Marco, feeling good about himself.

"Also, mind turning on all of the lights? We would like to know if you are going to try and kill us or not." Gray replied, obviously bored. All of the lights turned on and out came a person the group was not expecting. He was still a 6-foot juggernaut, a few extra inches on top of that but he seemed...nice? Well, in a special way, since knocking 5 teenagers out and dragging them to an unknown place is 'nice'. "Sorry about that, we like to save energy because our power bill can go through the roof!" the man replied.

"WE? Oh no, are you the head of the Sailon Riders?" asked Marco.

"No numbskull. Can you not see my uniform? sighed the man, clearly overestimating Marco's level of common sense. I am the deputy chief of police for the Minito region, Knuckleduster. Ask me what my real name is and you'll understand how I got my name."

"Alright, although I thought the deputy chief of police wouldn't knock out teenagers," asked Jay.

"Did you think I didn't see you guys battle those Sailons? Do you seriously think I would just dawdle on over to you guys, say that you are all under arrest, and not get attacked by every single one of your Lumines at the same time? You guys really lack common sense."

"Oh right. Where in the Minito region are we?" Jay asked curiously, as windows are something an interrogation room does not have.

"Well, you are in the capital, Mena. Best place in the entire region, and I've explored this region from top to bottom."

"Alright! Now, can you let us go? We never meant to physically attack the Sailons, well not sure about Jay, but we weren't." demanded Marco, bracing for the punishment from Jay but realised he was tied in a chair, so he was fine.

"100 Maesa and you guys can leave. But that wasn't the main reason you're here. You see, we have been having a problem. People's Lumines is corrupting their owners, and that has really got the police force confused and working hard to keep this region under control. A scientist of some sort said something about how you kids knew how to stop this from happening?"

"Well yeah, we know how to stop it but we would like to get out of these really uncomfortable chairs and find an observatory? Because we really need to find out if they spotted anything two nights ago," complained Bella.

"Lucky for you guys, we have an observatory up on the cliff. There's a path that takes you up there. If it hasn't been destroyed yet, then you guys will be fine. Also, you guys seriously need more Lumines, we have 5 water type Lumines if you guys want them."

"Oh, sure!" replied the group.

"Great. Baxter, let them out." Baxter pressed a button and the cuffs magically slid back into the metal chairs. They followed Knuckleduster through a seemingly empty police station into the training room. "Alright, guys, these Lumines have not corrupted, they'll be safe for a few months, and you don't need to worry about them attacking you, they've been trained to follow your orders at all times."

"Thanks a lot, Knucled-"

"WATERFLY! TIDILLA! KRAKALO! CHIMCHAM! ANGKOR! HORIZONTAL LINE, LET'S GET MOVING!" In a flash, the Lumines lined up, obviously quite scared of Knuckleduster's wrath. "I'll just assign you one each. Chimcham, you can go with the goth boy. Angkor, Italian brunette girl is your new owner. Krakalo, you can go with the afro dude. Tidilla, you can go with spiky lava hair boy and Waterfly? WAKE UP!" screamed Knuckleduster. Waterfly woke up from its 20-second nap and looked at Knuckleduster, confused. "And where is that long-hair blonde at?" asked Knuckleduster. Turns out that she was in the interrogation room, asleep. Not from the knockout, she woke up a while before everyone else, she just wanted some sleep. "BLONDIE! YOU HAVE A NEW LUMINE!" yelled Knuckleduster.

"WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING AT ME, KEEP YOUR HEAD ON, JUGGERNAUT!" screamed Harley frantically.

"Now, I like her, isn't afraid to get loud and proud, even in front of an unstoppable machine like me."

"Please, you'll have your weaknesses." sneered Harley.

"When you and your friends are done with this corruption problem, you better come straight back here to face-off against me, we'll see who is better."

"Gladly." Harley scooped up her Waterfly and followed the others to the exit. "Alrighty, now you kids don't try and break the law again, if you get into trouble, use your Robotnik to send out a distress signal."

"Alright, thanks Knuckleduster, see ya," replied Gray as he and the others started to play and learn about their new Lumines. They breathed in some Minito air and started to look around Mena. Knuckleduster had failed to mention how much of a bad situation the city was in. Sirens zooming down every street, looted stores left and right, and a city square filled with culture and entertainment was now an elemental battleground. Just then, Knuckleduster came sprinting out of the station and leapt down the 10 flights of stairs. He fixed up his shoes and screamed a war cry that would make the dinosaurs bow down. "Now that man. Is my new hero. Move over Henderson Culbort!" announced Harley proudly.

"Alright. it seems like we are gonna have to go through some of the narrow streets, so get your Lumines ready," demanded Gray. Tattleta and Slooshie were still not calming down, so Jay and Marco had to use their new Lumines. "Alright, let's get moving!" Harley yelled, leading the charge. They made it into the square and whilst Gray figured out how to get to the cliff, their new Lumines went to work. From Waterfly's water tornado that scooped up Lumines and their owners in its vortex and threw them down an alleyway, to Krakaloa's sticky blast that covered Lumines and humans in sticky goo, that somehow created a magnetic force that pulled everyone together, leaving them rolling around the square, they helped the police a significant amount and gave Gray enough time to figure their way through the maze of streets. "Alright, down the first street to the left!"

"Do we have to? That street is a firestorm!" complained Marco.

"We have water-type Lumines, with all of their powers combined together, we can make a tsunami!" enthusiastically remarked Harley, who knew this from her obsession of Lumine Discovery.

"Correct. If all owners of water-type Lumines say 'TSUNAMI!' at the same time, then Lumines will use their power to create a large wave that can destroy everything in their path." informed Robotnik.

"Okay, 3, 2, 1. TSUNAMI!" screamed Bella.

"TSUNAMI!" screamed the others. The ground began to shake and the ground opened and spurted out water like a volcano. Then, the water swept them head-on into the street, picking up and destroying everyone in its path. After Gray screaming "LEFT!" and "RIGHT!" for 5 minutes, the tsunami finally made its way out of the street, and the water retreated back to the hole it came from, dropping everything in its original spot and making the streets look like they weren't warzones, at least until a minute later. "You guys blew us all away! Pun intended!" exclaimed Marco. They all hugged their Lumines and each other as they started to climb the long, twisty path that led to the observatory. Gray was at the front, leading the pack, Marco trying to catch up to him. "GRAY! DEAR LORD, SLOW DOWN!"

"Oh, what's up?" asked Gray.

"I've always wondered, why do you keep on dressing like a goth and performing those rituals in your room when you have said that you hate doing it? To be honest, all of the things you said you hated a few years ago are now things you enjoy. So what is it?" asked Marco, not caring about how sensitive that question was.

"Well, to be honest, I do still hate things,maybe a bit more than normal, but hating things is human, right?"

"I guess so."

"Remember all of the times when I couldn't do things with you guys since I had to help my dad with something, or babysit my cousin?"

"Yep, man did you miss out on a lot-"

"I was being taken to therapy. My parents were scared that I might do something drastic so they started to send me to therapy sessions. I wasn't making progress at all but thanks to you and the others, I made progress. But it was like the therapist was trying to make me angry and sad, so he would always report back to my parents that I was awful and not making any progress. I explained time and time again that I was fine, but my parents said that only the therapist knows if I am fine, and after a while, I just stopped trying."

"That's really awful Gray. Sorry, I never knew."

"It's fine. I don't blame my parents, I blame the therapist since now he just wants money from my family."

"If it makes you feel better, I think my dad could find a reason to sue your therapist."

"REALLY? OH THANK YOU!" Gray squeezed Marco until his soul escaped his body. Harley was surprisingly the slowest in the pack as she was trying out some of Robotnik's skills. Robotnik could be a music player, a quiz master or even a remote control car. Since the majority of the group were too busy treating Robotnik like a god, they failed to notice they had reached the top. "Alright, let's get the information we need!" Harley said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, if we have a corruption problem, we can take them on!" said Marco cockily. However, maybe the danger of the situation they were going into should have been exaggerated more...

The group walked on to the cliff edge, where the observatory stood, surprisingly menacingly for a building dedicated to advancing science. Marco couldn't take all of this adrenaline and knocked on the large metal door. No answer. "Ultimate knocking sequence!" screamed Marco. No part of the door was saved by Marco's constant knocking. Then, the sound of someone rushing down a staircase with a side of screaming. Marco was almost thrown off the cliff when the door opened with the strength of a superhuman. "OH GOD! SOMEONE HELP ME!" screamed an astrologist.

"Are you alright? What happened?" asked Jay.

"This man just nearly killed-"

"Your friend basically saved me! Something happened to my co-worker around 2 days ago, where he started going crazy and locked me in the observatory! First, it was his Lumine, who was zapping me with her Shock Blasts and then he went crazy!"

"Hold up. You said his Lumine went crazy first?" asked Gray.

"Uh yeah. Is that significant or something?"

"Didn't a scientist call you and tell us you were coming?" added Bella. who was trying to get her Angkor out of her t-shirt.

"No, our phone lines went down when the crazy Lumine shocked the phone lines. I don't know how you guys figured out the secret spot in the door that would unlock the door for me, but you did!" replied the astrologist. Marco was still lying on the floor in pain, but the group were too concentrated on the worried astrologist. "We should probably hurry this along. It seems like the police are becoming overpowered!" Harley said, nervous that something was going to happen to her idol Knuckleduster.

"From what- What happened to Mena? It looks like an elemental battleground!" cried the astrologist.

"That's because it basically is! We had to make a tsunami to get out of the city unharmed!"

"You teens made a tsunami? You're good for your age!"

"Anyways, do you need some help or are you fine on your own?" asked Gray.

"Oh, I left my Lumines at home. Who knows what it's doing to my family!"

"Makes sense. Since the police are busy, we'll get rid of your Lumine problem!" reassured Jay.

"Alright, since you teens are all I have. But be careful! Who knows what they'll do to you when you confront them."

"Yeah, we got it. It's 5 against 1, we'll crush him!" They walked inside, feeling confident as they climbed the twisting staircase to the top. Apart from the corrupted man and Lumine, something else didn't feel right. Right they were, as some kind of force knocked Gray down the stairs. "That wasn't an accident!" yelled Harley.

"Quickly! Get to the top before something worse happens to us!" They quickly rushed up the stairs as objects started rolling down the stairs. From rocks to computers to even a grand piano, these objects took out Harley and Robotnik, who she forgot to put back in his capsule. They were nearing the top, but now mysterious hands were coming out of the walls. Jay and an injured Marco hopped and dodged their way past them but Bella tripped up on her unfastened shoelaces and was dragged into the wall. "JJ!" Bella screamed, before being dragged into the now transparent wall.

"BELLA!" yelled Jay, hope and confidence dropping fast.

"Those 3 were taken out by these stupid stairs, and I'll be damned if some stairs beat Marco Poneffo and Jay Jameson! Come on!" Marco dragged Jay away from the hands and placed him on his shoulder, like a fireman saving a kid from flames. He then started running at a speed Jay never thought he could, even with him and his injuries keeping him down. Jay and Marco finally reached the top, and waiting for them was the corrupted man and the Lumine.

"How the hell did you do all of that? If you weren't trying to kill us I would ask for some lessons!" exclaimed Marco.

"Where is Bella! Tell me right now or I'm going to single-handedly throw you to the moon!" demanded Jay.

"Oh, relax. Your 'girlfriend' is fine. She's being somewhere safe in pristine condition. Although I saw your roundhouses. You could kick me out of this observatory if I wasn't as strong as an elephant!"

"How did you-"

"You see, this new sky was made by me. You are from Brimstone Peak, so that rock that fell in the volcano was made by me. More will happen to this world and soon, I'll be unstoppable. Consider this your last warning. Your first was leaving your perfect town to try and stop me and your second was for simply annoying me. This man knows everything about that night, he'll tell you where the rock landed, and that's where a source of my power is. But follow me there and it'll be your doom. HAHA!" The evil spirit escaped through the man's mouth and the Lumine coughed hers out. Jay's anger went even further through the roof and shook the astrologist like a maraca. "WHERE. IS. BELLA!?" screamed Jay.

"Who's Bella? If you need cash, take all of it!" pleaded the astrologist. Marco pulled Jay off the poor astrologist and restrained him from putting him in the hospital. "DUDE! Did you not see that thing leave him? He doesn't know where Bella is, chill!"

"Oh, so that's great. Now nobody knows where that stupid rock landed and where Bella is being held. GREAT!" Jay stormed off downstairs whilst Marco continued to talk with the astrologist. 10 minutes later, Marco and the astrologist walked out of the observatory, where Jay was pacing. Nobody could calm him down, and everyone was worried.

"Brandon! What happened to ya?"

"To be honest, I don't remember anything after that meteor spotting."

"Speaking of the meteor, mind marking the coordinates of where the meteor landed?" asked Gray, trying to seem like the smart one of the group. Brandon marked the coordinates on the region's map. "Alright, it seems like a bit of walking through the rainforest, we should get there tomorrow." calculated Gray.

"Oh great, 24 more hours of Bella being tortured by that sick...thing!"

"Jay, she's going to be fine..." reassured Harley.

"Of course she won't be! Since when has something taking over the world ever told the truth! Never! And since you guys are underestimating what this thing is going to do, then you'll just be some dead weight. Give me the map, Gray."

"JJ, you know we can't-"

"Do you want to be kicked off this cliff? I preferred you when you hated everything and everyone, you wouldn't even be here since your pathetic social life would keep you locked up in your room," yelled Jay, snatching the map from a traumatised Gray.

"What the hell has gotten into you? You can't say that to someone who's most likely going to save your life from that thing!" replied Marco.

"Oh, because Marco Poneffo knows absolutely everything. You're like a teacher, except you specialise in how to be an egomaniac afro brat!"

"JJ-"

"No Harley, I don't want to hear how we can all fix this together. This isn't one of those awful teen musical movies you force us to watch, it's called reality. You and your stupid Robotnik can keep running away from reality since it'll keep me away from ever talking to you again! Don't you guys dare follow me." Jay scooped up his Tidilla and stormed down the cliff. Everyone was in shock and the astrologists had decided that this wasn't their problem anymore.

"Well uh, thanks for the help with our corruption problem, take 500 Maesa." thanked Brandon. Gray, Harley and Marco sat on the cliff edge in silence, traumatised.

"We'll just leave it beside you. We have to get back to work, we'll see you guys around." Brandon left the money beside Gray and walked back into the observatory. "Well then, that just happened." sighed Gray.

"He's going to get himself killed!" exclaimed Marco.

"But how do we get to him?" asked Harley.

"Bzzt-Bzzt! Boohoo! Jay really made me feel bad, and I can't feel!" cried Robotnik, Harley decided to give it a hug.

"Oh, don't worry, I've got a plan." grinned Gray.

Hours later, Jay was still trekking through the forest, trying to get to the meteor before something happened to Bella. Tidilla collapsed from the constant walking and Jay wasn't happy. "Tidilla! Get your lazy butt up! I am not letting you get in the way of saving Bella! Go back to Knucklehouse, I'm sure he'll pamper you up just nicely." Tidilla whimpered and walked back to Mena. Jay sighed and brought out his Tattleta. It burnt his shirt yet again but this time, Jay couldn't care anymore. Tattleta gave a look of confusion as Jay sat down underneath a Koanana tree.

"Something's not right. What's up Jay?" asked Tattleta.

"Oh, a lot- wait a minute, AM I HALLUCINATING?" screamed Jay.

"Nope. It's a secret that all Lumine users know. When an owner's first Lumine starts to show affection, a Lumine can talk to its owner when the owner needs it. Like now." replied the Tattleta.

"How? But your mouth isn't moving!"

"It's hard to explain, but your girlfriend is your biggest priority right now."

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

"Sure. But you need to destroy the meteor quickly. Your rage-walking made you forget about the wild Lumines trying to attack you, that's why Tidilla collapsed, she was protecting you."

"Now I feel awful. Still, we have to get moving!"

"I guess we do, because of your personality, it might be a while before I can talk to you again, so I'll see you around." Jay put Tattleta back in his capsule and took off into a run. Gray's calculations might have been right for the group walking, but this was Jay determined to save Bella, and time was cut drastically. 7pm. After an hour and a half of running, Jay finally reached the meteor. It looked exactly how a meteor would look, but the evil steaming out of its holes made it clear that this was the thing that had to be destroyed. But there weren't any instructions on how to destroy it. He inspected the meteor, looking for any weak spots for his Tattleta to attack. Jay thought that he could feel around for a weak part of rock. Big mistake. As soon as the tips of Jay's fingers touched the meteor, a purple explosion sent him flying into a tree. Then, the steam started to join together, colours from the trees were drained as they were dragged to the pile of spinning steam. After 10 more seconds of the steam forming, the excess steam returned inside of the meteor. But the creation it had made was far more terrifying. Somehow, the steam had actually made a human, and it looked like one too. It looked too perfect. Then it spoke. "Well, well, well. It seems like one person didn't get the message. If you are wondering how I became a human, then don't. Although, this feels really good. So if you get out of this alive, which you won't, then you better watch out for me, since I think I'll take over this world in style." said the 'human'.

"WHERE IS BELLA?" screamed Jay.

"Wow, you really care about this girl. Oh well, it'll be the last person you'll see before you die. Bring her out boys!" Two mysterious Lumines brought out Bella in a fancy chair. But she didn't match the elegance of her chair, her clothes were torn, bruises covered her body and by the looks of her blood-shot eyes, it would seem that she had been crying.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER!?" Jay screamed, now he was angrier than his confrontation with the group at the observatory.

"Oh, the spirits can be a bit rowdy when they meet someone new, so that explains how much of an awful state she's in. They might have killed her if I had decided to fight you! But I'm a spirit of honour, so I got my henchmen to take good care of her and her Lumines. Some of my henchmen trained her Lumines, now they're stronger than ever. But your friend refused to let my henchmen help her, and she thought that they were going to do something to her! Refused a 5-star experience, now that was just plain rude." replied the spirit, faking tears rolling down its face.

"LIKE I'M SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE THAT! YOU PROBABLY DID ALL OF THAT TO HER WITH YOUR OWN HANDS!"

"Humans are very complex beings. I'll just call myself Toby Barnando because everyone in this pathetic world would scream 'bloody murder' if I told them my real name. Anyways, Bella, Say the last sentence you'll ever say to Jay, go!"

"Why did you abandon everyone and come by yourself, you've killed us all! Also I l-" cried Bella.

"Times up! But Bella has a good point. I decided to stay around secretly for a bit to see what you guys would do. Your friends were willing to help you! But you just pushed them all away and really hurt them. I mean sure, Marco really needed that hit in his ego, but Harley and Gray did not deserve that!"

"YOU WHAT-" screamed Bella, before getting her mouth covered by a lizard-like giant Lumine. Jay's anger quickly turned into regret and guilt.

"You know what? You're bang-on right. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on my friends when they were willing to put their lives on the line to stop you. Now Marco is going to be traumatised, Gray is going to go back to his old self after me and the others went through all of that to get him to see a different side of life and Harley is going to lose all of her confidence and optimism. Not only is my life going to be taken from me tonight, but I've also ruined the lives of all my friends. Since I know I'm going to die, you may as well just do it now." sighed Jay, tears starting to trickle down his face.

"Well, at least you accepted your fate. Prepare to-"

"WAIT! I have one more thing to say. Bella, ever since you moved here 3 years ago, I've always been in love with you. I tried time and time again to tell you how I felt, but something always happened that stopped me. But don't cry over me for the rest of your life, move on. Since all I want is for you to have a great life. If you get out of here alive, tell the others I'm sorry. Maybe we'll meet again. Alright, all has been said and all has been done. Send me home, Toby."

"I'll let your friends live, don't worry about that. They'll go back to Brimstone Peak and live the remainder of their lives unharmed. But the same can't be said for you!" chuckled Toby. Toby used its powers to rise Jay into the air, so it could have a more accurate aim when killing him. He started to build-up his energy in his right arm, darkness overflowing. The darkness started to form into a blade, looking like it could slice through titanium like butter. Bella's crying was now uncontrollable, not because of her wounds, but because her first crush, (technically fourth boyfriend), was about to die right in front of her very eyes. It was all over for Jay as Toby's blade started to spin through the air, about to chop him into pieces, or was it? "Leave Jay alone!" screamed a voice, which sounded like Gray! Toby was distracted by Jay's backup and dropped him, saving him from death. However, the blade caught Jay's right leg, and it sliced through his muscles, bones and skin like it was, you guessed it, butter. The last thing Jay saw was all of his friends, Knuckleduster and all of their Lumines, ready to fight the corruption. "You guys..." murmured Jay. Then his eyes closed, and everything went black.

"Urgh... everything hurts...Mom, what's for breakfast?" Then, he realised he was not snuggled up in bed at home and was lying in a hospital bed. Everyone was smiling at him, from Gray to the astrologists and even Knuckleduster. "AAH! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE? WHAT HAPPENED?"

"JJ, calm down! You're in the hospital, you weren't killed by the spirit's blade," exclaimed Marco.

"Uhh, you think someone should tell him about his leg? whispered Knuckleduster to Harley.

"I heard that! What happened to my leg- ARGH!" He looked down and he could see his left leg, healthy as ever. But his right leg was just a stump!

"Yeah, thanks to us saving you in the nick of time, the spirit was distracted and dropped you. It missed its target but your leg was sliced! There was no saving it, sorry Jay." sighed Gray.

"Man... this is crazy! But my biggest question is, how did you find me and Bella? I took the map!" curiously asked Jay.

"Well, there's something called knocking on the door again, your co-worker making you run down the stairs to answer it and writing down the coordinates again, haha," replied Brandon.

"I can answer the next part. Your friends helped me and my force to stabilise the city, at least for a while, and then asked me if they could borrow the confiscated Sailons to try to catch up with you, so I went with your friends just in case something bad happened." interrupted Knuckleduster.

"You really have to thank Knuckleduster. He brought all of his firepower, if not for that, we would have never defeated the spirit and destroyed the meteor!" butted in Marco.

"Oh, that's great! Thanks everyone, lots of thanks to Knuckleduster."

"Nah, I really gotta thank you, Jay. Because of your friends coming back to help me and my force, the mayor fired my boss and made me the chief of police! The mayor had been trying to find a valid reason to fire her for a while and she was found hiding underneath her desk." thanked Knuckleduster.

"Oh really? That's great!" exclaimed Jay.

"Jay, you should probably look outside." mentioned Gray. Jay opened the curtains and gasped in awe. Everything looked stunning. There was still some smoke coming from some buildings but the rest looked as perfect as Brimstone. And even better, the sky was clear blue, a perfect day.

"Yeah, when we destroyed the meteor, which had some kind of heart in the middle of it, the Lumines and the humans all went back to their normal selves."

"Right- wait, I forgot! I said all of those things to you guys out of my anger, and I'm really sorry, you guys didn't deserve that," remembered Jay, expecting some backlash.

"Not going to lie, I probably would be the best teacher that subject ever had. But jokes aside, it made me realise that I shouldn't change for anyone." chuckled Marco.

"I mean, I knew you didn't mean it since your anger levels were through the roof. It actually helped me in a way, since it helped me to stop crying about the past and look into the future. So, thanks Jay." added Gray.

"Well, your comment made me and Robotnik sad. But I'll always be happy and positive, even if I seem like I'm ignoring reality." butted in Harley.

"Oh, I thought you would hate me forever, was not expecting that."

"Well, when all is said and all is done, teenagers are harder to understand than aliens," said Knuckleduster. That made all the adults laugh hysterically and made all of the teenagers roll their eyes.

"Where are the teenagers that helped to save my city? In here? Thanks, Nurse Meredith." A man threw open the doors and walked over to the group.

"Hey! You can't come in here, go away you creep!" yelled Marco. He then noticed all the adults look at him in shock.

"Uh, I don't think he's just some creep, Marco," whispered Gray.

"Bang-on! I'm Mayor Benjamin. I run the entire Minito region."

"CRAP! SORRY SIR!" exclaimed Marco, about to pee his pants.

"Oh, it's alright. Chief Knuckleduster, how are you liking your promotion?"

"I've been waiting for this job for over ten years, Sir."

"Well, you're going to be the best chief we'll ever have. Now, the main reason why I came here. I just wanted to thank you teens for saving the Minito region from the corruption, the full region might have collapsed if you hadn't destroyed the meteor any later! That's why you're all getting a medal of heroism, the first time in the history of the Minito region that one has been handed out" thanked Mayor Benjamin.

"Wow! Thanks, mayor!" exclaimed Harley.

"You're all welcome. Now, about your leg. The doctors told me you can leave in 2 days. Since I'm guessing the Dralo region is where you are heading to next, I can arrange a free bionic leg, since the Dralo region is known for its innovative technology. It's a bit of a walk to get there, but you'll be fine."

"So I'm going to be a cyborg? This is great! And also, where is Bella? I haven't seen her at all!" asked Jay. Just then, Bella walked through the ward doors, bandages on her bruises and her right arm in a cast.

"Hey! We all need to get back to work! By the way, the medal ceremony is in 2 days, be there! And kids, I'll drop you off at the best restaurant in Mena, meals on the house!" exclaimed the mayor.

"Oh, ho ho ho. I get it." grinned Gray. The mayor ushered everyone out of the room and closed the doors as Bella sat down.

"Hey, Bella. You feeling better?" asked Jay.

"Oh, I'm feeling great. Those huge Lumines ran off when the meteor was destroyed and Knuckleduster carried you and me back to the hospital on his Sailon."

"Oh, nice one. Are you still mad at me for trying to save you by myself and abandoning the others?"

"How could I be mad? Even though you knew you would lose, you were going to sacrifice yourself so me and the others could live!" replied Bella.

"Yeah, I wasn't actually planning to be saved by the others, but they did!"

There was an awkward silence.

"Look, I meant everything I said yesterday, not the insults but everything else. I had a crush on you from the day you moved to Brimstone Peak. I'm not bothered if you don't feel the same way. Although it would be nice if you did." Bella gasped and started to cry. "I can't believe you actually meant that! I thought you were just trying to make me feel better-" Jay sat up, pulled Bella towards him and kissed her. For the 10 seconds they kissed, Jay's heart rate must have soared over 200 beats per minute, and Bella thought she was going to die from happiness. "I love you, Bella."

"I love you too, Jay." Then, the stomps of what seemed like a group running down the corridor and the ward doors opened. Then everyone who seemingly 'left' fell through the doors and hit the wall. "YOU GOT THE GIRL JAY!" screamed Gray and Marco to Jay.

"YOU GOT THE BOY BELLA!" screamed Harley to Bella.

"Oh, not sure why we are here, but good job you two," said Knuckleduster.

"Whilst we were leaving, I got you some crutches so you could come with your friends to The Marlin, and your special friend, hehe." chuckled the mayor.

"Hehehehe." replied the rest of the boys in the room. The group walked out of the hospital and went their separate ways. Mayor Benjamin dropped the group off at The Marlin and went back to the town hall.

"A toast, to Jay, for getting the girl by himself after I spent 3 years trying to get you 2 together!" announced Marco.

"YOU WHAT-"

"CHEERS!" They clinked their glasses and started laughing. But Toby was anything but happy as he was watching from his headquarters. "Those stupid teenagers may have beaten me here, but it's all still to play for. Your defeat will come quickly and smoothly. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Toby started to laugh like a madman as he rose into the air and started to wreck his headquarters. When the headquarters was more wrecked than a warzone, he floated down. "I'll be seeing you around."