AN: Welcome to a new chapter of ROTLON!To everyone who's new to the fic, welcome! To those who've been here since the beginning, welcome back! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
As always, I don't own Gormiti.
~••~
I was walking to school with Nick. As we approach the school garden, we see our friend Lucas who appears to be yelling at two of our fellow classmates.
"This is not a pathway! It's a school-sanctioned nature preserve!"
The boys look terrified and run off as Nick and I catch up with Lucas. One glance at my brother and I know he's thinking the same thing I am. "It's a garden!" We say together.
This only seems to make Lucas angrier. "It's not a garden!" he insists. "It's the trees! It's the speckled sparrow! It's the purple poppy!"
I had only been half-listening to his rant. Upon hearing the last part, I dart forward and start looking around. "Dude!" I exclaim excitedly. "Purple puppy? Where?" I kneel on the ground and check behind a small bush.
Lucas doesn't seem too amused. "Not puppy - the purple poppy!"
"The official city flower," Nick informs me.
I get up and ask incredulously, "This is about flowers?"
"No," Lucas replies. "It's about respect for nature!"
"So, no puppy?" I ask, disappointed. After all, how cool would a purple puppy be?
"No puppy," Nick confirms.
Lucas growls and storms off towards the school. Nick and I shrug and head in the same direction.
As we follow him, we spot our other friend, Jessica, sitting against a tree while reading a book. "Hey!" she greets Nick and I as we approach while Lucas merely stalks past. "You realize this is so not going to be good, right?"
I have no idea what she's getting at. "What do you mean?" I ask, confused.
She puts her book down and looks up at us. "I mean he's totally gonna go Lucas on this!"
I exchange glances with Nick. Lucas has a tendency to go a little overboard when he thinks people don't respect nature. "Uh-oh!" we exclaim together.
We head to class and sit down in our usual seats. When Miss McGurk takes the register, it takes Nick's jabbing of Lucas' arm for him to realize that she had called his name three times already.
When we have a break between our double chemistry lesson, I tap Lucas on the shoulder. "So, uh, what's the plan for getting people to respect nature?" I ask.
"Making sure people can't go through the garden!" he hisses in reply.
"How do you plan on doing that?" Nick asks and he merely shrugs.
"Just don't go over the top!" Jessica warns as the break comes to an end and the class resumes session.
The rest of our classes go by quite quickly, for a change. When the bell rings, Lucas practically sprints out of the classroom, not bothering to wait for us - he sure is eager to do whatever it is he's planning on doing!
After we collect some things from our lockers, we head outside and try to find Lucas. When we reach the entrance to the garden, we see red and blue balloons tied to both hedges as well as two smashed-up wooden boards. I think I know what he meant by not letting anyone through now.
We walk through the garden and soon spot Lucas sitting on the grass with a bird's nest on his knees. However, he is soon joined by someone very familiar. Razzle runs up and stands on his knee, saying something. They both scream, startled, as we approach.
"Are you two finished?" Jessica asks. Nick kneels down beside Lucas and unzips his backpack for Razzle to climb inside.
"You've got to be careful, Razzle!" he reminds the lizard. "Kids here aren't used to talking lizards from another dimension!"
Lucas gets up and puts the nest back in the tree as Razzle jumps inside the backpack. "Yeah, about that other dimension," he says anxiously.
"There's trouble in Gorm?" I ask.
Razzle gives me an isn't it obvious? look. "Would I be here if there wasn't?" Okay, he has a point there but - oh no, I just remembered something!
I look up at the others. "It would have to be on a Tuesday!"
"Why? What's Tuesday?" Razzle asks, confused.
"Pastry day!" I groan.
When we get home, Dad is so busy baking he doesn't even notice us come in. We crouch on the stairs while I try to come with a way to get him out of the kitchen so we can access the Primal Pad. A-ha!
I walk down the stairs into the kitchen and stand next to Dad before turning around and winking at the others who grin in response. "This should be good!" Lucas says eagerly.
I take the box of baking powder off the cupboard and hide it behind my back just as Dad goes to grab it. He turns and sees me. "Oh, hey, son!" he greets me cheerfully. "You found me hip-deep in a breathtaking batch of blueberry biscuit bars but, uh - hey, have you seen the baking powder?" I chuckle as he walks toward the table, still stirring the mixture in a bowl.
I open the top drawer and see a full box of baking powder before shoving the one I had inside and quickly closing it. "Nope, not in here!" I lie before I start to push him in the direction of the front door. "Must have used it already!" Dad grabs his coat off the back of the chair as we pass.
"Oh, hey, Dad!" Nick greets. "Off to the store?" I open the front door and hold it as Dad puts his coat on.
Dad chuckles. "Yeah - I seem to be out of baking powder!" We all chuckle and wave goodbye as he leaves before I quickly shut the door and we head for the pantry. I sure hope Dad won't be too mad at me when he realizes he didn't actually need to buy any more baking powder!
I close the doors and we all gasp and complain as we end up colliding in the cramped space. I honestly can't decide which is more painful: Jessica's elbow in my ribs - the girl has sharp elbows, okay! - or the fact that she, along with Nick and Lucas, has trodden on my feet at least three times in a fruitless attempt to make more room.
Lucas slides open the grate revealing the panel. As usual, we slide our hands across it one at a time and the panel glows green as the entrance to the Primal Pad is revealed by way of a staircase.
I lead the way down the stairs and we run to stand in front of the screen on the control panel as Razzle begins his explanation. "Destiny Valley is under attack by Bombos the Firepower!" The image shows an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti torching what is presumably Destiny Valley. "His fire spree caused a dimensional rift and torched a warehouse in Venture Falls!" I didn't know about that but then I don't really watch the news so...
"Oh, yeah!" Jessica interrupts suddenly. "By the docks - it was on the news!"
Whoa, hold on a minute! Did she just say what I think she said?
"You watched the news?" Nick almost chokes, sounding a little freaked. You and me both, little bro.
"I was trying to watch Celebrity Fashion Tips but the news was all 'Hello! Fire at the docks!'" she explains as Lucas turns the Keeper's chair to face us. Okay, that's a relief! She's normal - panic over!
"Your mission is to find out what Bombos is up to and stop him!" Razzle tells us as we run to stand around the Gorm Gate in our usual positions.
"Elementals!" We call.
"Earth!" Nick begins.
"Water!" I yell.
"Forest!" Lucas calls.
"Air!" Jessica finishes.
The crystals behind us start to glow with energy as we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"
The chair begins to spin around as Razzle announces, "And the Keeper is..." he hesitates as the chair slows to a stop. Nick gasps in anticipation. Man, he really wants to be the Keeper, huh?
"Air!" Razzle calls as a light-blue icon with the Air symbol appears on the back of the chair. He runs over to Jessica who giggles. "That's you, kid!"
Nick frowns as Jessica walks past him smiling. "Jessica?" he protests indignantly. "But I spent all Saturday studying Gormiti spell scrolls! Where was she?"
"Saturday special on manicures," Jessica responds, walking up the stairs to the Travel Tome. "Keeper's gotta have nice nails!" She jumps into the chair and uses the crystals to open the Gorm Gate.
I jump in first followed by Razzle, Lucas, and Nick. I laugh as I descend, excited for our next adventure.
"And...touchdown!" Jessica says after we land. "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you should be in Destiny Valley." She is quiet for a moment before asking, "Any sign of Bombos?"
The three of us look up and see a terrifying sight, causing us to yelp with fear. "I'm thinking yes!" I say.
Bombos seems to be doing exactly what he was doing when we saw him onscreen - torching Destiny Valley. We hide behind a hedge before he spots us and decides to burn us to a crisp. He roars fiercely as the flames being released from him become more intense. "Let's power up and take him down!" I whisper to the others eagerly.
"Hang on!" Lucas says, looking to his right. I turn my head in the same direction and see that another Gormiti seems to have appeared out of thin air! Judging by their leafy appearance, I'm guessing they're a Forest Gormiti. "Do you see that?"
The Gormiti walks past us slowly, clearly not wanting to be spotted. We duck down quickly just as he treads on a twig, the snapping sound accidentally capturing Bombos' attention.
"Huh?" Bombos turns around and yells "You!"
"Who, me?" A second voice asks.
"No, you fool!" Bombos shouts impatiently. "We've found him - Mimic the Forest Gormiti!"
We then hear a yell and then a startled cry. Mimic is lifted into the air by an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti with a purple claw for an arm. "Lavion?" he gasps, looking scared.
"I knew if we burned enough forest, I'd smoke you out!" The Gormiti named Lavion sneers. "And Bombos here knows how to burn so well!"
Bombos approaches and kneels before Lavion. "Anything for you, my lord," he says.
We raise our heads over the bush we are hidden behind. "Lavion?" Nick asks in a hushed voice.
"He looks pretty brutal!" I say worriedly.
"I'll check the books!" Jessica tells us from inside the Primal Pad. "But first we need to get your powers to full glow!"
"I see you remember your old friend Lavion," Lavion says, still holding Mimic in his claw. "Though it'd be hard to forget such chiseled features. Check out this profile! Very stately, hmm?"
Wow, this guy is really in love with himself... and I thought Jessica could be vain sometimes!
Lavion seems to notice something in Mimic's hand and tries to grab it. "Not this time!" He throws a scroll onto the ground and yells, "Bombos, the scroll! Burn it!"
"As you wish, lord!" Bombos says, before raising his right arm, fire burning from the hole at the end. To our surprise, we see that he has two extra mouths on his chest.
"Let me torch it!" The right mouth begs.
"I wanna torch it!" The left mouth complains.
"Quiet!" Bombos yells, fed up. "We'll all torch it!"
I get the feeling this scroll is the only thing that can stop this guy. I dash out from behind the bush and grab it, running to safety as Bombos releases his flame, clearly confused when nothing happens.
"Denied!" I exclaim, holding up the scroll.
"You dare to interfere with the will of Lavion?" Lavion yells furiously. I notice that Nick and Lucas are standing on either side of me.
"Yeah, that's kind of our thing!" I tell him.
"You're good to glow!" Jessica informs us.
"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" We yell together.
"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.
"Alright, ugly," I address Lavion once we finish transforming. "Time to play nice or play with us!" I say, giving a thumbs up.
"Ugly?" Lavion gasps before yelling angrily, "Ugly!?" Yep, I was right - this guy just can't get enough of himself!
"Uh-oh!" Bombos says worriedly. "You shouldn't have said that!"
"Clearly the hideous fish is jealous of my good looks!" Lavion says as Mimic struggles. Yeah, yeah, I'm absolutely blown away by how good looking he is. Never seen anyone more handsome - give me a break!
Lavion then tosses Mimic into the air. The Forest Gormiti crashes into me, knocking the scroll out of my hand as we hit the ground. Lucas acts quickly and uses his vines to grab the scroll before either Bombos or Lavion can. "Hello!" he says, waving the scroll in his hand.
All of a sudden, we hear a cracking sound. Lavion is ripping up a tree from the ground. He roars as he lifts it above his head while Bombos' three mouths torch one end of it with flames, all three of them roaring. Lavion grunts with effort as he throws the flaming tree at us, causing us to gasp.
Nick quickly gets into action. He steps in front of us and transforms his hands into hammers with a flash of yellow light. Just as the tree was about to hit us, he hits it with one of his hammer arms, causing it to disintegrate.
Bombos raises his right arm and prepares to fire. I quickly take control of a small stream and send a jet of water to counter his fiery attack. Steam billows around the area as the fire and water attacks collide.
When he realizes his attack didn't work, he lets out a furious yell and charges forward, his arm burning yet again. The water from the stream swirls around me as I direct it in Bombos' direction, yelling, "Powers of the sea!" Once more, when his fire and my water collide, steam is produced - only this time, Bombos isn't letting up. Well, in that case, neither am I! "Uh-oh, this one's so mad he's steaming!" I say as I fight to keep up my attack.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Nick raise his fists and slam them down on the ground, sending a zigzag-shaped fissure toward Lavion who leaps onto a falling tree to avoid it. "I'm not just handsome, I'm agile too!" he says.
Jessica projects her image in front of Nick. The three of us listen to what she has to say, though I'm finding it difficult to hear her over the roar of fire and water. "Looks like this Lavion guy's been off the party circuit for a while," she begins. "Legend says a Forest Gormiti used some sort of scroll magic to banish Lavion for, like, a hundred years." She gasps suddenly. "That's gotta be Mimic!"
I continue to hit Bombos' fire with the water I was controlling when I hear Lavion rush towards Mimic. Judging by the sounds behind me, I guess that Nick must have managed to intercept his attack.
"What an honor it must be to fight against Lavion's mighty claw!" Lavion sneers.
"Oh, sure!" Nick says sarcastically. "It's the one thing I'll miss the most when Mimic banishes you again!"
"I-I thought I could but I-I can't," Mimic stutters fearfully. "I can't suffer through that again!"
"What? Mimic!" Nick protests.
"Oh, you'll like this next move!" Lavion announces. "It's a Lavion original - I call it the Big Squeeze!"
I glance in Nick's direction and see Lavion's claw inches away from his head. "A little help?" he gasps as he struggles.
"Nick!" I yell as I instinctively run to help my little brother. However, in doing so, I forget about Bombos who tackles me to the ground, causing me to let out a cry of pain as all three of his mouths laugh evilly.
"Lucas, no!" Nick gasps suddenly. "Don't do it!" I can't see what Nick is so worried about, seeing that Bombos still has me pinned to the ground. If Lucas has a plan, though, he should go for it. After all, what could go wrong?
"But I'm of the forest," Lucas says calmly. "I can use the scroll and end this right now!"
"Forest magic, trees, and seeds! Open a portal to suit my needs!" He chants.
As soon as the spell is cast, I feel a huge gust of wind. I lift my head off the ground and see that a tree trunk has split in two and bent to form a circle. A blue light glows in the center before yellow rays emit from it and I can also feel the wind coming from it.
Bombos looks around and grunts, crying, "No!" as he is swept into the portal.
"Not again!" I hear Lavion yell. "Not again!" I watch in horror as his claw grabs Nick's wrist and he drags Nick with him. I stretch my tentacles out, wrapping them around Nick's ankle.
"Hang on!" I say as I use all my strength to pull him free of Lavion's grip. I manage to pull him to safety just as he was halfway through the portal.
"Nooo!" We hear Lavion yell as the portal closes with a flash of light.
"Whoa!" Jessica says. "Totally massive magic spike in your vicinity! What just happened out there?"
I look around, still in awe of what just happened. "Lucas just rocked the house!" I tell her.
"How do you feel?" Nick asks Lucas as we both look over at him. "Are you alright?"
"I think so," Lucas says, looking a little shocked. "Yeah! Totally fine!" He then asks as Nick and I stand up and walk over to him, "But what happened to Mimic?"
The three of us look around but there is no sign of him anywhere - it's almost like he's vanished into thin air!
Jessica gates us back to the Primal Pad. "By the orbs of Gorm!" The three of us say as we come up through the Gorm Gate, back in human form.
"Lucas!" Jessica says angrily as he gasps and looks around. "You do not tap magic like that without clearing it through the Keeper first!"
Lucas walks up to her. "Relax!" he says. "I saved the day!"
"With a magic surge that nearly cracked our crystals!" Jessica points out. Sure enough, when we look, most of the crystals on the control panel have smoke rising from them.
Nick and I walk up the steps to join them in front of the control panel. "The spell worked," Nick begins. "Why do you think Mimic was so afraid to use it?"
"Who knows?" Lucas replies, sounding confused. "The important thing is that Lavion and Bombos are gone and all our worlds are safe again, right?" He grins.
Nick moves forward, frowning. "Yeah, but what if something happened to you in the process?" He asks as I move to stand next to Lucas before he adjusts his glasses. "What if-"
"Relax!" I interrupt before he can start ranting about the what ifs. Sometimes I think Nick could really do with learning not to worry so much! I put my hand on Lucas' shoulder. "Our buddy Lucas is fine!"
We head back to school for our Biology lesson with Professor Senwick. The actual lesson goes by pretty quickly so he says to us, "You can take the rest of our class time to absorb today's lesson!" before chuckling and sitting down in his chair.
I drum my fingers on my desk when I hear Lucas say, "You were tromping through the campus garden again, weren't you?"
"So what if I was?" Ike Pinkney asks uninterestedly.
"The speckled sparrow needs a safe home too, you know!" Lucas says as the bell rings, signaling the end of the lesson.
As Nick and I walk over to join him and Jessica, we notice that he has leaves in his hair. Jessica seems to be holding one of them, which explains his earlier yelp of, "Ow! What are you doing?"
Jessica doesn't seem to know what to say. "Oh, it's just that you're - uh - " she stutters.
"Hey, guys!" Nick interrupts her as I walk closer to Lucas whose head, on closer inspection, is covered with leaves - almost like he's been dragged through a hedge backward!
"You lose a fight with a ficus?" I ask as I pluck one of the leaves from his head.
"Ow!" He protests. "Not you too!" He frowns and backs away, as though afraid we might try and pluck more leaves from his head. He is then distracted by something going on outside.
I turn to glance out of the window, wondering what he's so worried about. I see Ike running through the garden. "Speckled sparrows!" Lucas gasps as he spots a bird's nest in a tree - a mother and her chicks. Ike seemed to be heading straight for them, not that he probably cared.
He dashes out of the classroom, ignoring Jessica's cry of, "Lucas, wait!"
Nick looks at me. "Lucas is fine!" he says in a poor imitation of my voice. "What part of leaves growing out of his head would you call fine, Toby?"
"Oh, come on!" I retort. "It's not like you knew this would happen!"
We glare at each other before Jessica jumps between us, her arms folded. "Guys, enough!" she says impatiently. "We've gotta find Lucas before things get any worse!"
As we leave the classroom and set off to find Lucas, I wonder how things could get any worse.
Outside we spot Jessica's friend, Gina, leaning against the wall, with what looks suspiciously like one of the leaves from Lucas' head in her dark hair.
"Gina!" Jessica calls as we approach her. "Have you seen Lucas?"
Gina ignores her and continues to stare into space, a dreamy expression on her face. Everybody in the school knows she has a huge crush on Lucas - everybody except Lucas, that is!
"Gina!" We all yell and she jumps before turning to face us.
"Oh, hey, guys!" she greets us. "Did you say something?"
"Have you seen Lucas by any chance?" Nick asks and she nods her head rapidly, blushing.
"Do you know which way he went?" I ask and she points in the direction of the garden.
"Thanks!" We yell as we dash off in the direction she pointed to.
"No problem!" she yells after us.
When we reach the garden, we discover to our shock that things have gotten much worse!
Lucas lays flat on his back, his eyelids quivering as they open and his eyes slowly focus on us, standing above him. He groans as we look at him, our eyes wide at what we are seeing.
"Lucas?" Nick asks uncertainly.
"Oooh, maybe some serious moisturizer?" Jessica suggests.
"Dude, you've gone Gormiti!" I exclaim, deciding to point out the obvious.
Lucas the Gormiti rolls his eyes at me. "Tell me something I don't know!" he says sarcastically.
"We've got to get you back to the Primal Pad!" Nick tells him before we move forward and try to lift him. "Maybe Razzle can-"
We try our best but the combination of his weight and the fact that he seems to be stuck to the ground somehow means that we all end up hitting the ground after a few moments of straining. Well, that probably pulled a few muscles!
"Even if we get him off the ground, how do we get back to the Primal Pad?" Nick asks. "He's too heavy for us to carry all the way home!"
We look around for something that might help. "I've got it!" Jessica exclaims suddenly as she snaps her fingers before running off and coming back with a wheelbarrow. "We can use this!"
"Good idea, Jess!" I say as she sets the wheelbarrow down. "Now we just have to get him into it!" Which, I admit, is probably going to be easier said than done.
Once more, we approach Lucas and try to lift him off the ground. Though my muscles protest, I grit my teeth and continue to strain, seeing Nick and Jessica doing the same. Eventually, we hear a snapping sound and we all go flying for a second time as we finally pull him free.
Nick and I lift him into the wheelbarrow before Jessica throws a plastic sheet over him. We stop for a moment to catch our breath. "I don't know about you guys," I pant, as I try not to focus on the fact that the in-and-out motion of breathing actually hurts right now, "but I ache in places I didn't even know could ache!"
The others nod slowly, probably too exhausted or too in pain to reply.
After a few moments, we see Professor Senwick approaching, notebook in his hand as usual. "Uh, shouldn't you be in class?" he asks, frowning at us. I quickly pull the plastic sheet over Lucas' head while Jessica and Nick hold onto it, nervously chuckling. If our teacher spotted Lucas, we would have a lot of explaining to do!
"We are!" I exclaim, even though it's a blatant lie. "I - We're, uh -" I struggle to come up with an excuse as to why we're outside and not in class like we should be.
"What he means is we're on the campus...beautification committee!" Jessica says hesitantly, coming to my aid.
"That's right!" Nick cottons on quickly. "Lugging off this, uh, termite-infested old trunk!"
"Hey!" Lucas says indignantly, as they both gasp nervously.
I hastily fake a coughing fit and Jessica walks over to Professor Senwick and says in a hushed voice, "Allergies!"
Luckily for us, Professor Senwick buys our excuse and walks away, sighing, "Kids!"
I take hold of the handles of the wheelbarrow and start wheeling it home while Jessica and Nick walk alongside it. I wink at Lucas as we walk, hoping that he's not mad about being passed off as a rotten tree.
When we get home, I take hold of Lucas' legs and Nick grabs his arms. Together we lift him out of the wheelbarrow and into the house, Jessica following along behind us. It sure is a good thing Mom and Dad are at work right now!
We get to the pantry and see Razzle perched on top of the washing machine. His face looks shocked as he sees Lucas. "You look a little green, kid!" he says.
After we open the entry to the Primal Pad - we had to flip Lucas upright then kinda shove him forward so his hand could slide over the panel, we start heading down the stairs as Razzle stands on top of Lucas.
"No wonder that Mimic was too chicken to read the scroll!" he says. "He knew there'd be some back-cast!"
I frown in confusion, having no idea what back-cast even was. "Yeah, just because a lizard can talk doesn't mean he's gonna make sense!" I say.
"Look," Razzle begins to explain. "Old scrolls have trouble containing their magic." He turns around to face Lucas before continuing. "When Treetop here opened the portal, some of it splashed back on him!"
"Back-cast?" Jessica says thoughtfully as we finally get down to the Primal Pad. "So it's like when your hairspray gets on your hands?"
We put Lucas down on the floor and Razzle climbs onto his head. "If I ever grow hair, I'll let you know!" he tells her. "The point is, some of this essence got sucked into that portal and it threw his body out of whack!"
"I'm not just turning into my Super Gormiti form!" Lucas says worriedly as a couple of leaves sprout from his head. "I keep rooting like a real tree!"
"So how do we keep Lucas from turning into a total tree?" Nick asks curiously.
"Well," Razzle says, looking thoughtful, "aside from a ridiculous amount of luck, you're gonna need two things!" He scampers off and digs through some stuff before emerging, holding the scroll. "One - that scroll! And two -" he dashes off again, lifting Lucas' orb off its branch-like pedestal. "You're going to need this!"
He scampers over to us and hands Nick the orb before we head over to the Gorm Gate, Nick and I carrying Lucas between us, and jumping in.
We land back in Destiny Valley and Nick holds the orb carefully in his palm. "So my orb will absorb the missing essence inside the portal!" Lucas says.
"Look what that spell's already done to you!" Nick worries, and for once I agree with him. He moves the orb away from Lucas. "Don't be a hero, Lucas!"
"You can't read that scroll again!" I insist. "There's gotta be another way!"
"Listen to your friends!" A voice says suddenly. We turn and see that a familiar Gormiti has appeared out of nowhere!
"Mimic!" Nick exclaims as said Gormiti walks over to join us.
"I, too, rooted as a tree after banishing Lavion over a hundred years ago," he begins as the three of us listen. "I stood for eighty long years waiting for the back-cast to wear off enough that I could finally walk again as Gormiti." He lowers his head slightly. "I never have fully recovered. To this day, I am still a mere shade of my former self."
Jessica projects her image beside us. "Uh, guys?" she says as we turn to look at her. "I've been doing some research on the rift. Venture Falls wasn't the only place getting hit with freak fires!"
"Relax!" I say, grinning. "Lavion and his pal are stuck in a portal!"
"Make sure you keep it that way!" she warns us. "If they start torching again, we could have a global firestorm!"
"You sure you can handle being in that portal with Lavion and Bombos?" Lucas asks. He grunts as his feet start to root. I gasp as branches start sprouting from his body which, by now, is almost completely covered in bark.
Nick yelps as a branch almost hits him in the face before saying, "If you can handle casting that spell, then we can handle those hotheads!" He looks up at Lucas' face. "Uh, Lucas? Lucas!"
We watch in horror as Lucas' face is covered with bark. "Lucas, no! No!" Nick yells, sounding terrified.
"Oh snap!" I exclaim. How are we supposed to get into the portal if Lucas can't read the scroll? I manage to prise the scroll from his hand with some effort. The bark had made his limbs and body totally stiff. "Now what?" I ask desperately. "What are we gonna do?"
"I will read the accursed scroll as I should have in the first place!" Mimic says.
Nick and I frown at one another. I didn't understand why Mimic suddenly wanted to help us. "You refused to read the scroll before so why now?" I ask.
"Your friend was brave enough to sacrifice his life for mine," Mimic explains. "I am honor-bound to return the favor!"
I glance at Nick. This could be our only chance to save Lucas and we don't have time to think of anything else. I step forward and hold out the scroll to Mimic, who takes it from me before unrolling it and reciting the spell that had started this whole mess:
"Forest magic, trees, and seeds! Open a portal to suit my needs!"
"It's all up to us now!" I yell to Nick over the roaring wind as the spell is cast.
"What do ya say?" Nick asks nervously. We watch as the same tree as before appears, a blue light glowing from its center.
I tap him on the shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" I say as I start to run towards the portal. He follows me and we disappear into the light.
We land in what seems like a cave with crystals sticking out of the ground and walls. "Oh, so this is what eternal banishment looks like!" I say, looking around.
"You!" Lavion says as Nick and I gasp and turn to face him.
"Let's get this done before these guys try to escape!" Nick says shakily. "Jess?"
"It's glow time!" Jessica confirms.
"Powers of the Sea!" I cry as I transform.
"Hey, Toby!" Nick calls to me as he holds Lucas' orb up. "It's working!" We watch as pale-green flecks of light rise from the orb until they hit some crystals on the ceiling. Then darker green flecks of light swirl from the crystals and enter the orb.
"Bombos, time to heat things up!" Lavion commands suddenly. All three of Bombos' mouths shoot fire at us. I move aside to avoid the blast while Nick ducks. Unfortunately, when Bombos fires a second blast of fire, Nick loses his balance...and his grip on the orb! I move over to him as we watch the orb.
It rolls across the floor away from us. "The orb!" Nick exclaims as I grab hold of his arms and help him to his feet. The orb stops at Lavion's feet - he picks it up with his claw.
"What do we have here?" he asks, holding up the orb. "Something that would crush quite easily!"
Bombos chuckles evilly before releasing fire from his hollow right arm. "Toby!" Nick yells in warning. We stand behind a boulder that seems to be withstanding Bombos' fire. For now.
"Ah, it's good lighting for me, isn't it? With the flames?" Lavion asks, smirking. "Makes me look extra evil!"
I decide that there's no point in hiding anymore. I run out from behind the boulder and leap onto a small ledge behind Lavion and Bombos, performing a front-flip as I do so. I watch as Nick pushes the boulder in front of him as he moves closer to Bombos.
Lavion lets out a surprised yell as I use my tentacles to snatch Lucas' orb right out of his claw. Unfortunately, he manages to grab hold of them with said claw and I grunt with pain as he pulls me down from the ledge and I collide heavily with the ground.
I continue to struggle with Lavion's claw when I hear Nick yell my name. I manage to pull myself loose as Nick tosses Bombos in the air, allowing me to hit him directly with a blast of water from my stomach. He hits the wall and falls to the ground, steam rising from his body.
Lavion uses his claw to trap me once more by grabbing a tentacle. "I'll escape and torch the entire valley to a cinder!" he boasts as I manage to use one of my other tentacles to pick up Lucas' orb. I grunt with pain as he continues, "and in the middle of the wasteland - a giant cinder statue of me!"
I think I've just about had enough of this guy's voice! I wrap my tentacles around his mouth before getting up and using another tentacle to place the orb in my hand. "It's always me, me, me with you!" I say before yelling, "Heads up!"
I toss the orb to Nick who gasps but presumably manages to catch it. Lavion attempts to pull me over but I move backwards and send him flying with my foot. He grunts as he hits the ground.
I get up and look around to see that his claw is jammed in the ground. "What!" he says as he struggles to pull himself free. "No!" Nick and I begin walking towards the portal as he yells "No!" once more, still trying to escape.
"So, Lavion," I say as we stop just before we reach the portal, "I see you've decided to stick around!"
"Good one!" Nick says, amused, before adding, "Oh, and Toby? Tag, you're it!" Hey, that's supposed to be my line! He taps me on the shoulder before walking through the portal and I quickly follow, not wanting to be left with Mr. Can't-Go-Two-Seconds-Without-Talking-About-Himself.
As I leap through the portal, I hear Lavion tell us to wait and then demand to know where we're going. His voice begins to get fainter as we travel through the portal but I think he says, "I am Lavion - Lavion!"
Great. Glad we've established that.
The journey back to Gorm transforms us back into human form. We jump out of the portal and stand in front of the Lucas-shaped tree.
Nick walks up to him with the orb in his hand. "Let's hope this works!" he says hopefully. Mimic bows his head and I watch nervously, waiting for something to happen.
The orb begins to glow brightly before a whirlwind surrounds Lucas. We shield our eyes from the combination of bright light and swirling leaves. There is a flash and we find ourselves sitting on the ground with a human Lucas standing before us. He chuckles as we say "Lucas!" happily, getting up off the ground. I'm so glad he's back to normal - I don't think I would've enjoyed trying to talk to him as a tree very much!
To our surprise, the orb produces a second whirlwind of leaves. We watch as it surrounds Mimic and when it clears, his once-frail body now looks healthy and strong. He cheers before turning to us. "Thank you," he says gratefully. The three of us simply chuckle.
After we gate back to the Primal Pad, we head back to school. Jessica excitedly tells Lucas that she has something to show him and drags him to the garden.
Nick and I decide to head for home since Nick insists on getting his chores done before Mom and Dad get home from work.
About ten minutes after we get home and I flop onto the sofa, I get a text from Lucas saying, "Turning into a tree may not have been so bad! Ike was planting purple puppies in the garden!I nearly drop my phone before another text comes through. "Sorry, I meant poppies!"
I grumble before calling for Nick who appears in the doorway after a few moments, wearing rubber gloves.
"Did you hear-"
"About Ike?" he interrupts before grinning. "Yeah, Lucas texted me. Apparently, he kept muttering about a tree-freak!"
I cannot help myself and I burst out laughing. "I bet he looked terrified!"
Nick's mouth twitches before he, too, starts laughing. When we finally manage to catch our breath, I ask, "Do you think he managed to get a picture?" Once more, we begin laughing as we picture Ike Pinkney in gardening gear planting purple poppies with a terrified expression on his face!
AN: I'm so sorry this is late! I meant to have it up by Sunday at the earliest but last Thursday (when I usually start writing), I had to go to the hospital with really bad abdominal pain - it turned out to be a kidney stone and not my appendix, as I'd originally thought. So things ended up a bit behind schedule.I've decided that I am going to try to write two chapters at a time but still post them weekly so I don't fall behind schedule.Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until next time, everyone!