AN: Hey, guys! Welcome back to ROTLON :-) This chapter's gonna be so weird to write since Toby spends most of the episode not exactly being himself. Hopefully, the key below will help you understand.
Key:
words = Toby's POV
words = Toby's POV while possessed (in other words, Obscurio!Toby's POV)
words = Toby's inner conscience
words = Obscurio's inner conscience
~••~
The middle of winter in Venture Falls meant that every student in Venture Falls Junior High - Nick, Lucas and I, included - was clad in warm, winter clothing. I, myself, am wearing my blue, white and orange winter jacket.
At the moment, the three of us are standing near our lockers while I attempt to prise mine open. The lock's always been pretty stubborn but I usually manage to open it anyways.
"A raffle to help the school hockey team get new duds is a great idea!" Lucas says as I continue wrestling with my locker.
"So whoever sells the most tickets gets to design the new uniforms?" Nick asks as I finally manage to prise open the locker door. Ha! Toby - one, locker door - nil!
"Yep!" I reply. "And that person's gonna be me! Look at how many raffle tickets I've sold already!" I hold up a sack full of raffle tickets as I add, "There's no way I'm gonna lose!"
"Hey!" Jessica greets us, as she walks over, holding up her own sack. "Anybody wanna buy a ticket?"
I blink and then blink some more as the confident smile gets wiped from my face at the number of tickets she's sold compared to me, to be replaced with a how has she sold so many already? look.
"Whoa, Toby!" Lucas exclaims. "She's sold way more tickets than you!" Yeah, tell me something I don't know! Seriously, when did she start selling her tickets? At dawn?
"Hey, girls! Wait up!" Jessica suddenly calls to some fellow classmates as she walks over to join them. "Are you interested in buying some tickets?"
"The odds of winning are clearly not in your favor!" Nick oh-so-helpfully points out as I narrow my eyes.
"Dude, it can't be done!" Lucas tells me.
I was not losing to Jessica. Not again. I mean, technically we both lost the judo tournament but she rubbed her higher score in my face for about a week! It was totally frustrating! There was more at stake than just my pride this time - I had to win this! I just had to! "It must be done!" I say.
After the lessons of the day are over, the four of us start walking home, trudging through the slushy snow. "Have you noticed the accelerated melting speed of the snow around here?" Nick asks us.
"Yeah, it's really unnatural for the middle of winter!" Jessica replies.
"And that's unnatural on so many levels!" I say as Ike Pinkney walks past us in a pink Hawaiian shirt with blue flowers and white shorts. In two words - summer clothes!
"But I'm still listening!"
We see Razzle peeping out from underneath the hat of a snowman and Lucas, who is the closest, screams in shock.
"Razzle!" Jessica, Nick and I exclaim happily.
"Sorry to intrude," the lizard says as he climbs on top of the snowman's hat, "but-"
"The strange weather we're experiencing means something's going on in Gorm, got ya!" Nick interrupts.
"And we need to go to the Primal Pad for our briefing!" Jessica finishes and the four of us start running to get home faster.
Once we get home, we head straight down to the Primal Pad after hanging up our coats in the hall and activating the panel in the pantry. As usual, we stand in front of the control panel and the screen seems to be focusing on the Fire Nation as Razzle begins explaining.
"The source of the intense heat is coming from the Cavern of Obscurio in the Fire Gormiti Nation!" The screen shows an image of an unfamiliar Lava Gormiti using some kind of trident to blast apart the rock wall before them. "That's Orrore, a Fire Gormiti, trying to break into the cavern!" We watch as this Orrore guy keeps blasting the cave with fiery blasts, laughing menacingly. "If he isn't stopped," Razzle warns us, "the whole world could explode into flames!" He then adds more calmly, "You're gonna have to go down to investigate!"
The four of us run to stand around the Gorm Gate in order to choose a Keeper. "Elementals!" we say together.
"Air!" Jessica begins.
"Water!" I yell.
"Forest!" Lucas shouts.
"Earth!" Nick finishes.
"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we chant.
The chair begins to spin around as Razzle says, "And the keeper is..." before coming to a stop with an orange icon with the Earth symbol on the back, "...Earth!" He climbs onto a crystal near Nick and says, "That's you, kid!"
After all the times my little brother complained about not being the Keeper, I'm kinda surprised that he's so chilled out about finally being chosen. I thought he'd try to declare a national holiday or something! Still, as he walks up to the chair, I can't resist teasingly remarking, "Try not to get too confused by all the bright lights, Nick!"
"Good point!" he says, looking at me. "I might get so disoriented I accidentally send you to the cave of spiders!"
I let out an involuntary squeak of fear. Please tell me that there isn't such a place! I roll my eyes when I realize he's joking and mutter, "So not funny!"
Nick jumps into the chair and uses the crystals to activate the Gorm Gate. Lucas jumps in first, as Jessica, Razzle and I follow.
"And...touchdown!" Nick calls as we land outside some weird cave. "The Travel Tome says you should be right outside the Cavern of Obscurio!" he informs us.
We look at the entrance. "Looks like Obscurio was a real humble guy..." Lucas says. He's kidding, right? "...not!" Oh, phew!
As we walk in, there is a terrible smell. "Yikes!" I exclaim, waving my hand over my nose to try and waft the scent away. "Smells like this dude could use a breath mint!"
We come to a stop and Lucas asks, "Which way do we go?"
Jessica points right. "Looks like some major heat dimension!" she exclaims and we see black smoke rising from the rock. "Burning rock - which explains the bad smell!"
I point in the same direction. "If we wanna find Orrore, we just need to follow his path of destruction!" I say.
As the three of us head down the tunnel, we quickly discover how annoying it must be to try and get through. "It's like a maze in here!" Lucas exclaims.
I see another plume of black smoke and add, "I guess that's why Orrore's just destroying anything that gets in his way but what's he lookin' for?"
We come to a stop as Nick projects his image in front of us. "Obscurio was a power-hungry Gormiti who wanted to destroy the world and remake it in his vision," he reads from one of the tomes.
"That explains the tacky front door!" Jessica says before adding slyly, "Looks like something Toby would design!"
I frown at her. "Keep laughing," I say, "until my new uniform design blows yours away!"
Like always, she finds a way to retaliate by countering with, "Yeah, right! I'll start holding my breath now!"
I frown again. I hate how she can always counter everything I say with something even wittier - it's been like this since we were kids! - but, to my frustration, there's a part of me that's impressed by her ability to get under my skin.
Nick waits for us to be quiet before continuing, Jessica and I silently staring one another down for a moment or two as he speaks. "Obscurio spent his whole life collecting magic weapons from all over Gorm."
"I'm guessing that's why Orrore's here," Razzle pipes up. "He wants his stash!"
"So what happened to this Obscurio dude?" Lucas asks, shrugging.
"His enemies got together and magically banished him," Nick replies. "He hasn't been seen since, hmm - there's something here about his crown!"
I gasp as I hear an explosion coming from our location and whisper, "Hold on, Nick! We found Orrore!"
Said Gormiti walks through the hole he just created, laughing menacingly, while the three of us, along with Razzle, take cover behind a rock. We peep out and watch as he fires an orange beam from the trident at a hole right in front of him, causing it to set on fire.
"All I need to do is get inside and then all shall bow down to me!" he says evilly. As he fires again, the three of us scream and dive for cover, the sound luckily going unnoticed by Orrore.
I hold my hands over my head as Lucas points out frantically, "If he keeps unloading fireballs like that, he's going to melt Venture Falls!"
"Hopefully the symptoms of this disturbance won't appear across the globe," Nick says. "We need to stop it from getting any worse!"
I glance at the others before saying determinedly, "I think that's our cue!"
Nick gives us the go-ahead, announcing, "You're good to glow!"
"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us chant.
"Powers of the Sea!" I yell as I transform.
Once we've transformed, we stand behind Orrore, watching as he fires yet another blast at the room in front of him, laughing all the while. He still hasn't noticed us so I decide to rectify that. "Look, if they're not opening the doors, you should just take the hint," I call as Orrore turns to face us, "they don't want you at the party!"
"You dare to interfere with Orrore?" he demands angrily. Well, duh, that's sort of the idea! I spot a small pool or spring of water and take control of it, drenching Orrore who lets out a furious cry as the water knocks him to the ground as well as knocking the trident out of his hands.
"That's a pretty big fork you got there," Lucas says as he jumps forward, "can I see it?" He grabs the trident with his vines, despite Orrore's attempt to reclaim his hold on it, and throws it at Jessica who turns so she is facing away from it. The weapon instantly shatters into pieces upon hitting her wings.
"Oops!" she says casually. "Did I do that?" I make a mental note to remember that Jessica's wings, as pretty as they are, are clearly razor-sharp - kind of fitting, actually. Y'know, because she's pre- Okay, that's enough of that - those thoughts are because of the heat of competition or at least that's what I keep telling myself.
Razzle runs over and picks up a piece of the broken trident before tossing it away. "Looks like you just saved winter in Venture Falls!" he remarks happily.
"Yeah, but are we sure that was a good thing?" I ask doubtfully. Things will be pretty chilly back home from now on, thanks to us. "Oh well!"
Orrore suddenly leaps to his feet, furiously exclaiming, "You destroyed the Trident of Ultimate Carnage and, worse, you got me all wet! I hate being wet! You are so going to pay for this!"
I roll my eyes. How many times are we gonna hear this lame I'll make you pay for this! line? "Yeah, we hear that threat all the time," I say, not really taking him seriously, "and without your trident, what can you really do?"
Nick projects his image in front of us. "Have I mentioned that Orrore is, like, the second most powerful Fire Gormiti?" he says nervously. Well, shoot...
Orrore releases a huge blast of fire with a fierce cry and I yelp as I step aside to avoid getting burnt to a crisp. "It would have been nice if you had mentioned that earlier!" Lucas exclaims. The blast of fire continues whizzing around under Orrore's control and Lucas fires one of his bark-like fists at it, splitting it into two separate blasts. He grunts as he dives out of the way, hitting the ground hard and lying motionless.
I tense up as Orrore approaches Lucas' fallen form before he says, "Oh, yeah! Who's next?"
Jessica flies up into the air. "For another one of your lame taunts?" she asks cheekily. "I guess that would be me!" I watch as she flies towards Orrore, releasing a powerful gust of wind from her hands. Orrore counters with a strong blast of fire from his right arm.
The two attacks collide and, after a while, there is an explosion that sends them both flying backward. I watch Orrore cry out as he gets blasted right into the room he'd been trying to break into! This wasn't good.
I look at Jessica and Lucas, neither of whom seem like they're in any condition to get into another battle. I guess it's up to me to stop Orrore, then!
As I walk towards the room Orrore is in, I see that he is looking at some kind of object and saying something. I decide to listen for a little before attacking. "All I need is the crown of Obscurio!" he says. Oh, so that's what that thing is? It doesn't look like any crown I've ever seen but then again I can't really get a good look at it. "Now I can tap into the power of Obscurio and surpass all others!" he brags as he picks up the crown and holds it over his head, adding as an afterthought, "Even Magmion will bow down to me!"
At this point, I feel like I've heard enough. I hit him from behind with a powerful blast of water from my stomach and he hits the wall hard, collapsing to the ground as a small pile of rocks piles on top of him.
"You Fire Gormiti are all alike!" I say lightly, folding my arms. "Always babbling on and on about power, blah, blah!" I notice the crown, seeing that it is shaped like two pointy black horns with a red jewel in the middle. "What's so great about this crown?" I ask myself, picking it up. There must be something to it if Orrore wanted it so badly.
"Put on the crown!" I hear a voice out of nowhere say frustratedly. I look around but I can't see anybody. "Put it on! Come on, just do it! Put it on already!" The voice says insistently. Well, I guess there's no harm in listening to a disembodied voice telling me to put on a crown, right? Without really thinking things through, I stand up and put the crown on. The last thing I remember thinking, as I hear the rocks shifting, is that maybe it hadn't been my best idea - in fact, it was probably the worst.
"The crown?" I gasp and turn to see that Orrore has escaped from the rock pile. "Where did you hide it?" he demands. He raises his arm to attack but, in my fury, I fire an even more powerful blast of water from my stomach, sending him flying backward and hitting the wall before he even gets the chance to fire properly. A few medium-sized chunks of rock fall on top of him.
The Lava Gormiti lifts the rocks off of himself with a grunt and glares at me. "This isn't over," he threatens. "I shall return for that crown!" He laughs before running away through a huge hole in the chamber. The fool - he will never get my crown!
I turn to see a Forest and an Air Gormiti come in. Part of me feels like I know them - oh wait, Lucas and Jessica, now I remember. Not that it's of any importance to me.
"No wonder Orrore left in such a hurry!" Lucas remarked. "There aren't any weapons in here! He wasted his time!" What? The fool wants my weapons too? Those weapons are mine and mine alone!
A boy appears in a holographic image in front of us. Again I recognize him but I don't particularly care to know why. That's my brother! Ah yes, Nick. "So Obscurio's crown isn't there?" he asks curiously.
A lizard - Razzle! - climbs on top of the pedestal and shakes his head. "Nothing!" he confirms. "The crown was probably just an urban legend!" That's what you think!
"Well, at least we saved winter!" Lucas says miserably. "Cold, cold winter!"
"Yeah, what were we thinking?" Jessica asks before they leave the chamber through the same hole they had entered.
I stand motionless for a few moments. With this body, I am free to dominate the Gorm at last and no one can stop me. I'm free! Just wait - my friends will find out what's going on and stop you! I'd like to see them try!
Nick pulls us through a portal and I find that my form has changed. I am small. Weak. Human. Just like them.
"Come on, we have to get back to school!" Lucas says as he heads up the stairs. I follow, not knowing what school is but, judging from the disappointment emanating from my vessel, it wasn't pleasant.
Being possessed is totally weird. It's like I'm trapped inside my own mind, unable to do or say anything. All I can do is watch and listen as this Obscurio guy controls my every move.
I hope the others figure it out. They're smart enough to. The moments when I manage to seize control are few and far in between. I just don't have enough time to...
I lag behind the others as we walk into this school place. All around me, I see people doing various things. It makes me feel so out of place. "These humans are strange creatures," I mutter as I walk along slowly. "What kind of world have I stumbled into?"
"Uh, Toby, did you forget where your locker is again?" Jessica asks and I come to a stop, gasping as I realize that I have wandered into the path of my...friends.
"So you never told us what happened in that room against Orrore," Nick says curiously.
That weak buffoon? Ha! "He was a pitiful foe who must have retreated when he didn't find my - uh, any of Obscurio's - weapons!" I say.
"Uh, I guess that's one way to say it," Jessica says hesitantly, sounding confused. "So everything's back to normal!"
A boy walks up to us wearing clothes that even I, the all-powerful Obsc - I mean Toby - know aren't appropriate for this sort of weather. "What's with this weather?" he asks through chattering teeth as he approaches us. " It's like it's out to get me!"
"Sometimes...life is good!" Lucas exclaims happily as the boy walks away, shivering.
"It'll be even better after I kick your butt in our contest!" Jessica says, pointing at me. "The Warriors are totally going to be wearing my uniforms - I rule the school!" She walks away, laughing, with Nick and Lucas.
So she is my rival - no, she's my best friend - and we are battling to arm our warriors - we're competing to sell raffle tickets - so we can rule the kingdom of school! - so we can see who gets to design the new hockey uniforms and who wins our bet. By the way, it's definitely going to be me! I have to win this!
"I must do everything in my power to win this contest!" I say menacingly, glaring at nothing in particular. However, I can't do anything dressed like this! An intimidating evil overlord like myself needs to look intimidating and, at the moment, I look anything but.
I spot a door nearby and open it to reveal hangers of clothes. I peruse the selection, shaking my head at the choices. Too plain. Too furry. Too girly. Too weird. Then, at last, I spot the perfect outfit for my nefarious campaign. I get changed and leave the room and head back to my locker to get my sack before I begin walking around the school to find people willing to support my reign of terror. As it turns out, I found quite a few - it seems humans may not be entirely worthless.
"Cool costume, Toby!" a boy calls. I look over at the speaker and see two boys who look impressed by the mere sight of me. Hmm, perhaps they could be useful to me.
"Thank you," I say coolly. "Buy a ticket!" The great Obscurio never asks - he demands. I hold out my design to them and their faces go from being intimidated to excited in the blink of an eye. Humans are very strange creatures indeed.
"Awesome!" they exclaim together as they buy tickets. "Is there anything else we can do?"
I pretend to think for a moment before replying, "As a matter of fact, there is. You two are going to help me eliminate the competition!"
Eliminate? You can't do that! I won't let you hurt anyone, especially if that someone happens to be my - Quiet, you fool!
I add as an afterthought, "Now where will I find those I call my...friends?"
The two goo - I mean humans - tell me that my friends are in the cafeteria, having lunch with everyone else. Perfect.
I can somehow recall the direction of this...cafeteria perfectly. I walk down the halls, the two boys following eagerly behind me. Eventually, I stop at a set of double doors and nod to one of my associates.
The boy pulls a device out of his bag and presses a button on it, causing music to blast throughout the hall. They push open the doors, the other boy hastily throwing down a roll of red carpet for me to walk on.
As I head towards my friends, I smirked at the stunned looks on everyone's faces. A few were whispering rapidly to their companions but I paid no attention to them. I was here for one thing and one thing only.
I laugh as I approach their table, waving my arms around. Nick and Lucas give me weird looks and Jessica says awkwardly, "Yeah, good to see you too, Toby!"
"Is this a joke or something?" Lucas asks.
"No," I respond. "This is deadly serious." I snap my fingers and one of the boys tosses me my sack of tickets, which I catch easily. I take out some tickets and say, "Behold - the symbol of all the people who have pledged support for my reign of terror!"
"Reign of...terror?" Nick asks uncertainly.
I narrow my eyes and continue. "My army's uniform shall strike fear as we march across the land, leaving behind a path of destruction!" I hold up my design, waiting for their impressed reactions.
Jessica looks at my design before sighing, "Yeah, that looks...interesting!" in a tone that suggested she thought it was anything but.
Nick suddenly frowns and points at me. "Toby, don't panic, but there's a huge spider on your-"
I look down and see that Nick is right. A spider is crawling on my shoulder. Spider? Get it off! Get it off! "Whatever!" I scoff, casually flicking it off without batting an eyelid. "So are you going to concede defeat yet?"
"Still time," Jessica replies stubbornly. "I can still beat you." That wasn't what I wanted to hear.
"Wrong answer!" I yell, pointing at her. "Now suffer my wrath!" I snap my fingers and the three of them are bombarded with food, courtesy of my underlings. I watch the spectacle for a minute before laughing and swiftly leaving the room with the two boys whose names I did not care to know.
Once we're out of the cafeteria, I turn to the two boys. I choose my words carefully. "You have provided...adequate assistance. Now I leave you to your own devices." I leave before they have the chance to say anything.
I decide to head home, not seeing the point in remaining in this school for a moment longer. First I go back to the room where I left my usual clothes and get changed before leaving. When I arrive, I sit down and ponder my next move. Taking over this dimension would be easy, especially after I won the battle to rule the people of school. Soon they would be kneeling at my feet. How could the Great and Powerful Obscurio lose?
After a while (at least, a couple of hours), I hear the door open and shut. I listen to the voices and confirm them as Nick, Lucas, and Jessica just as I hear them walk into the room. Nick steps forward, clearing his throat. I turn my head to face him and see that he has Razzle perched on his shoulder. "We just wanted to apologize for not being more accommodating," he says hesitantly and I raise an eyebrow. "We should've shown you more respect."
Hmm, maybe I had been wrong to judge them so quickly. I looked at their faces, knowing that if they were lying, their expressions would give them away. There was nothing, however. They stood resolute and determined, staring me down with expressions that showed genuine respect. "Very well," I say. "I suppose I can forgive your transgression this time but, be warned if it happens again - I will not be so lenient!"
They nod and then bow their heads. Lucas steps forward. "You must be getting pretty bored here, right?" he asks nervously. "How about a trip to Gorm? A change of scenery might help you come up with a strategy for your path of destruction."
I think for a moment. Earth certainly isn't what I expected it to be and the combination of that and the warring voices in my head were giving me a headache. "You may be correct," I say, frowning. Going to Gorm would also allow me the opportunity to settle the score with that fool, Orrore. "Very well, we shall journey to Gorm immediately."
They exchange surprised glances as I get up and march past them. After a second or two, I hear their footsteps behind me, though they don't seem to want to get too close. It suits me just fine.
We walk into the pantry and head down to the Primal Pad, as Nick calls it. Lucas walks up to me after exchanging a glance with the others. "Come on, Toby!" he says eagerly. "We've got something really cool to show you!"
"And what, may I ask, is this really cool thing?" I ask, folding my arms and looking at them as Nick jumps into a chair that rises up off the ground, putting him level with a control panel.
"It's a surprise," Jessica says quickly. "Someone like you deserves the best of the best, right?"
I look at them critically. They seem to be speaking genuinely so I nod. "Very well! You may show me whatever it is you deem good enough for my greatness!"
The three of us jump through the portal and transform as soon as we land. I look around and see that we are in the forest somewhere.
"So," I ask them. "Which way is it?" They point ahead of me and I start walking in the direction they pointed in, the two of them following. "You all were correct in pledging your allegiance to me," I say, holding up my hand to stop them as we reach a body of water. I turn to face them and watch as they kneel before me and I ask, "Now what did you wanna show me?"They get up and Lucas replies, "We figured somebody as powerful as you needs to have a castle and we found the perfect place!"
My eyes light up at the idea of this. Just imagine all the evil schemes I'll be able to come up with. "A base of operations for my future campaigns? Lead on!" I command as they start walking ahead of me.
"So have you thought about how many dungeons you want in your castle?" Jessica asks me curiously.
I think for a moment. "Well, you always end up needing more dungeons than you have..." I gasp suddenly and come to an abrupt halt at what I'm seeing. The others have stopped too, wondering why I've stopped walking.
I know this spring... I walk forward to join them and look at it in closer detail. I see the water pouring from a statue. Any Gormiti would recognize this place. I glance at them out of the corner of my eye. I should have suspected this all along. This is a trap! "I am not going back!" I yell as I stretch out my tentacles, which are surrounded by a fiery yellow glow, and hit at the ground in front of them. They both cry out as they fly backward, hitting the ground.I laugh before leaving, running past them.Those fools will pay for trying to trick me! "Vengeance will be mine!" I declare as I run through the forest before coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of Orrore. Great - another fool to deal with!
"It seems we have something in common," he says, pointing at me. I tense up, ready for battle. "Relax!" he shouts, holding up his hand. "I don't want to fight!" He points at me again and adds, "I've been following you! I can see that you have great power!"
I look at him, unimpressed, though I do relax my stance. "Yes, yes, I do. What is your point?" I ask.
Orrore hastily replies, "We have the same enemies! We should team up and destroy them together!"
"An unholy alliance for revenge?" I muse before smirking. "Sounds devious - I like it!" I walk forwards and shake Orrore's hand. "Let us journey to my hidden collection of magic weapons!" I say, reaching behind my back and pulling out a scroll. "I have the map right here."
"Perfect!" Orrore cries, snatching the map right from my hand before shooting yellow beams from his eyes which hit me directly. He then fires a blast from his right hand. I get thrown back before I have the chance to do anything. A second blast makes me cry out in pain as I slam into a rock pile, the rocks flying everywhere as I hit the ground.
I lay on the ground, gasping for breath. I hear Orrore approaching me. "I'm going to get these weapons myself!" he announces gleefully. "Then I'll dominate the Gorm...by myself!" He laughs evilly before I hear him run away.
I raise my head slightly, fighting to keep my eyes open as I protest weakly, "That's my evil scheming laugh! You can't steal it - it's mine!" My head falls back and my eyes close as the darkness overwhelms me...
When I awaken, everything is blurry. I hear a familiar voice asking, "Toby, what happened?" I realize, when my vision clears, that what I initially believed was a sentient tree is actually Lucas.
I rubbed my eyes for a moment to make sure I wasn't seeing things. "That fool double-crossed me and is going to steal my weapons!" I respond, allowing him to help me up. "He wants to take over the Gorm himself!"
We shook hands. Does that not mean anything anymore?
Suddenly I hear Nick's voice out of nowhere. "If Orrore gets his hands on those weapons, Venture Falls - and the whole world - could turn into a fiery inferno!"
Lucas looks at me before saying seriously, "Toby, we need your help to stop Orrore!"
Those fools tried to trick me into that infernal spring...but that other fool wants to steal my glory!
I decide that preserving my status as a gloriously feared villainous overlord is far more important to me right now. "I will agree to help on one condition - I am the leader!" I say, giving my terms.
Lucas and Jessica exchange a look before bowing slightly. "Sure," Jessica accepts. "We just wanna stop him."
"Then let us go off, minions!" I announce as I start to walk off before adding, "And please remember to always stand ten paces behind me!" I hear them begin to follow me but I can sense that they are too close to me. I turn around and hold up my hand to stop them. They groan and obediently back away.
We walk in silence, nobody attempting to start a conversation. It doesn't take long before we find Orrore standing around with my map, looking very irritated. We hide behind some rocks.
"Oh, this map is horrible!" he yells frustratedly. "I should have double-crossed him after he showed me where the weapons were!" He fires a blast at a statue in front of him. This action reveals a box that seems to glimmer.
Orrore walks over to what I know is my collection of magic weapons. "Well," he says smugly, "look what I just found!" He then looks around and adds, "Yeah, I meant to do that!" He breaks open the lid and I bristle with anger. Get away from my weapons, fool! "The arsenal of magic weapons...but where's the crown?"
I glare at the others, silently telling them to get moving. They nod, their faces set before we all stand up. "Hey, Orrore!" Jessica yells to get his attention before firing a purple energy sphere that knocks him off his feet. "We're here to take you down. Nothing personal." she declares as she and Lucas stand in front of a huge rock wall.
Lucas sends out his bark-like fist attached to strong, brown vines and punches the ground where Orrore is.
Meanwhile, I run behind my precious box of weapons, unseen by Orrore, who struggles to his feet. "Don't play with fire or you just might get burned!" he warns. On the last word, he releases several powerful lava blasts that strike the wall behind them, destroying the top half of it completely. "Get the hint?" he adds in a sinister tone as they cry out, getting blasted back on to the piles of rock.
He approaches them before asking, "Are you ready for your final curtain?" He then laughs evilly.
That. Is. It. I've had it with this guy. First, he wants to steal my crown, then my glory and now he even wants to steal my patented doing-evil-things laugh! Absolutely unacceptable! I turn to the box and select a weapon, an axe with blue blades. "I told you..." I yell and he turns to face me, confused. "...that laugh is mine!" I let out a furious cry as I swing the axe at Orrore, sending him flying.
That was for trying to steal my glory!
That was for trying to hurt my friends!
"Nice shot, Toby!" Lucas says, looking impressed. "You knocked him right out of the park!" I frown at him. Who is this Toby person? All I know is that...
"My name is Obscurio!" I yell angrily, not understanding how they don't seem to get that. "My enemies tried to banish me but, thanks to a dark magic, my spirit remained in the crown, waiting to get free!"
"Toby," Jessica says as she and Lucas slowly get to their feet, "we can help you. You just need to come with us."
"Why?" I ask them curiously. "I like this new vessel I'm inhabiting - so very powerful!" I snap my fingers as I say the last three words and my next weapon of choice - a red sphere with brown bands - floats into my open hand. "This is called an Earth Smasher," I say casually as it begins to glow. " You'll figure out why soon enough!"
I leap up and throw it at the ground. Immediately dozens of small fissures start opening up, causing them to cry out in shock. I watch as Lucas runs to avoid the cracks and Jessica flies up into the air, holding some feathers in her hand.
"Don't worry, I've got it!" she yells to Lucas before throwing the feathers at my weapon. The feathers were as sharp as knives and caused the red orb to shatter like glass which made the fissures close up.
I glare at them both, Jessica having landed next to Lucas. I had already chosen my next weapon - one of my personal favorites. "This game grows tiresome!" I tell them as I attach a black glove with red trim to my right hand. "Say hello to the Hand of Doom!"
The glove is surrounded by a yellow glow and an even bigger hand materializes in front of me ready for me to control. I raise my hand and the bigger hand follows my movements, punching the ground between the two which forces them to separate.
I then attempt to hit Lucas but he ducks and the hand ends up hitting a pile of rocks instead. I can hear them having some sort of discussion about how the weapons are too powerful and they don't have enough energy. I laugh as I make the hand repeatedly punch the ground in between them.
Lucas then attempts to fire a bark-like fist at the hand but I easily destroy it by clenching the hand into a fist and shattering the wooden projectile.
After that failed attack, I switch targets and aim the Hand at Jessica but she avoids my attack by flying around the large fist before excitedly saying, "So maybe we can, like, snap him out of the possession! But how?"
I notice that Nick has projected his image in front of the others and they seem to be discussing something. Suddenly Lucas calls out, "Toby, remember that cool birthday party you had on board that pirate ship?"
What are those fools doing? They cannot stop me!
Of course, I remember that! It was awesome! Except...
"Wait!" Nick says. "Wasn't that when Toby ate too many shrimp and got seasick?" I unwittingly remember my ninth birthday which had indeed taken place on a pirate ship. I recall stuffing my face with shrimp before groaning and heading for the nearest bathroom, the others watching in confusion as I ran with my hand over my mouth. It ruined pretty much the whole day as I spent an entire week after that recovering. "He didn't leave the bathroom for days!"
I let out a furious cry as I send the Hand shooting towards them. Lucas says sheepishly, "Maybe that wasn't a good memory." The Hand punches between them, repeatedly hitting the rock behind them.
They begin running - or flying, in Jessica's case - and I make the Hand give chase, punching the ground behind them in an attempt to catch them. Jessica suddenly calls out, "Toby, remember that time you scored the winning goal in the soccer finals?" I imagine myself on the soccer field dribbling the ball before kicking it and scoring a goal to win us the match. "Your team carried you off the field on their shoulders!" The team walks off the field, smiling while carrying me. I looked so happy...
"That never happened!" Nick says and I gasp as I remember what actually happened that day. "Toby scored on his own net and his team lost!" I see myself on my team's shoulders but I was the only one laughing. It hadn't yet hit me that I had caused us to lose until they threw me onto the field and left me alone.
Come on, guys! You must have some better memories for me than that! I just want out already!
I glare at them even more fiercely than before and Lucas, looking terrified, cries out, "That's another bad memory!"
"Speaking of which," Jessica adds, "I think we're going to have one of our own right about now!"
I use the hand to pick up a medium-sized boulder and throw it at them but, out of nowhere, Orrore jumps down in front of them and the boulder crashes into him instead.
When the dust clears, he stands up and says to them, "You may have won a battle but you did not win the war!"
"Don't feel bad!" Jessica casually tells him as he leaves. "You did win something - the worst line by a super-villain ever. Congrats!"
Now that the fool - I mean Orrore, I suppose - has gone, I send the Hand flying towards them once more. To my surprise, Lucas transforms his arms into strong brown vines and manages to hold the Hand in place. As he struggles against the power and strength of my mighty weapon, he yells out, "I don't know how much longer I can hold it back!" before adding desperately, "A little help? Nick?"
"Toby!" I hear my brother's voice and look up to see his projected image in front of me. "Remember that school play you were in? You were famous! Everyone talked about how great you were!"
My eyes widen as he speaks. Could this really be true? The only school play I could remember was... "Wait!" Lucas cuts in uneasily. "Didn't he freak out onstage because of a spider?"
Great! You guys just had to remind me of what was, probably, the most humiliating moments of my life!
For the third time, I unwillingly flashback to the first and last time I had ever been in a school play. I was playing the role of the king and, as I walked onstage for my scene, a spider lowered itself onto the sleeve of my costume. I remember screaming and hopping around, trying to get it off me while everyone laughed.
"Yeah!" I hear Jessica reply. "Everyone called him the king of the sacred spider dance! It was a big hit on the internet!"
It wasn't that funny! The only reason I was 'famous' was because everyone kept teasing me about the whole spider thing! I couldn't go anywhere without somebody bringing it up! For an entire month!
That was it! I use the strength of the Hand and manage to break the vines that are trapping it before moving the Hand closer to them in a grabbing position. To my satisfaction, they look utterly terrified. Good.
I give them such a fierce glare that Jessica squeaks out fearfully, "You think? Now you've made him mad!"
"There's no escape from the Hand of Doom!" I declare as I close my hand into a fist, the Hand doing the same as it grabs Jessica and Lucas, trapping them in its grip as I laugh.
They struggle but to no avail. "Come on, Toby!" Jessica yells suddenly. "Fight it!"
Fight it? Exactly what do you think I've been trying to do all this time? Bake a cake? She's right, though. If they can't snap me out of Obscurio's control, I'll just have to do it myself!
Stop! What do you think you're doing?
I am not king of the scared spider dance and enough with the laughing already! It's driving me crazy!
You plan on helping them? They are the enemy!
No, they're my friends! I won't let you hurt them anymore!
As the two consciousnesses inside my mind battle for control, I hear Lucas yell, "The grip is weakening!"
"Toby's trying to regain control!" Jessica exclaims joyfully before the Hand loosens its grip enough for them both to jump free.
You fool! You let them escape. We must-
"Must destroy them!"
No, I won't let you! I have to-
"No, help them!"
I alternate between "Destroy them!" and "Help them!" over and over as the two consciousnesses continue to battle for control. The Hand turns over with each yell - clenching into a fist for the "Destroy them"'s and laying palm up for the "Help them"'s.
"He's buying us some time!" Lucas yells. "Quick, this is our chance!"
I watch as Jessica flies up into the air and releases a powerful blast of wind that knocks me off my feet. Then Lucas hits me hard with his bark-like fist attached to strong, brown vines.
Ouch! Seriously, dude, that hurt! At least I know why they're doing it - they don't have any other choice.
"Sorry, Toby!" he says apologetically. "You'll thank us later!"
I want to say something to them but I just don't have the strength. In fact, I don't have any strength left at all. That's the last thing I register before the darkness overwhelms me for the second time.
I have no idea where I am right now but my body feels wet like I'm sitting in water or something.
No, not this infernal place! Not the spring!
Yes, they did it!
So you're satisfied to go back to being a nobody?
Wait, w-what do you mean?
Least loved by the parents who prefer your brother...
What are you talking about?
Least loved by the one who will never return your feelings...
What feelings? I don't understand!
I can see your insecurities. Your inner fears. The things you hide with that act of yours. I have seen it all. The way you try to fool yourself and those around you.
I still don't - wait, what act?
Face the truth, fool! You are a nobody! Your family knows it, your friends know it. Even you, yourself, know it!
You're wrong! My friends do care about me! We argue sometimes, sure, but they always have my back no matter what. You just can't understand it because you don't understand what it feels like to genuinely care about someone other than yourself! The truth is, I'm Toby Tripp, Lord of the Sea, and the only nobody here is you!
No!
I can hear Nick's voice speaking to me. He sounds pretty concerned. "Toby, are you okay?" he asks.
Am I okay? I guess I've had better days but, at least, I have control of myself again. I open my eyes and rub my head sheepishly as I see the relieved smiles on everyone's faces. "I'm never gonna put on another crown ever again!" I declare.
"Hey, getting possessed wasn't all bad!" Nick points out and I give him a puzzled look so he elaborates, "Thanks to Obscurio, you're beating Jessica in the raffle!" Jessica groans and glares at him, an angry flush on her face while Nick responds with a Well, it's true! expression on his face.
Nick gates us back to Earth and as soon as we set foot on the ground in the Primal Pad, Jessica turns to me and says, "Just because you had Obscurio's 'help' doesn't mean you'll win this, you know! I could still beat you!"
I grin at her. "Not a chance!" I respond confidently. "There can only be one winner and that's me!"
"In your dreams!" she retorts, trying to sound indignant but failing miserably as a smile spreads across her face. Trying to one-up each other was something we had enjoyed for as long as I can remember.
"I don't want to interrupt you guys here," Nick says in an amused tone, "but if we don't get moving now, we won't know which of you has won!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Lucas chimes in as we come out of the Primal Pad and leave the house, heading for the school. Jessica and I good-naturedly bickered about who was going to win the entire way there while Nick and Lucas rolled their eyes in exasperation.
We arrived at the school hall just as Principal Morris - a middle-aged man with brown hair and glasses - was stepping up to the microphone. Lucas and Nick joined the small crowd of students that had gathered while Jessica and I stood out in front.
"Thanks to our raffle, we have raised enough money to get our hockey team new uniforms! Go, Warriors!" he interrupts the announcement with a cheer for our school team.
Jessica and I shoot competitive glances at each other. I wish Principal Morris would just tell us who won already!
Principal Morris holds up a card and says, "And the student who sold the most raffle tickets and gets to design the new uniforms is..."
"Come on!" Jessica and I mutter eagerly as I point to myself. I'm not looking at her but I can tell that Jessica is doing the same thing. She wants to win this as badly as I do. I'll feel bad for her when I beat her.
"...Lucas!" he announces. Wait, what?
We both gasp and turn around, seeing him smirking at us. "Lucas?" we ask in utter confusion.
"I didn't even know you were selling tickets!" I add before asking, "What did you design?"
"The first environmentally-friendly hockey uniform!" he replies, before unrolling a sheet of white paper to reveal his design. It's kind of... plain and I can't help noticing that...
"They look exactly the same as the old uniforms!" Jessica points out. She's right. There's virtually no difference between Lucas' proposed design and the current uniforms for the hockey team.
Lucas looks horrified as he hastily says, "But made with all natural fibers with no dyes! I even recycled the logos from the old uniforms!" The last part he says with a wink directed at us.
I step forward slightly and ask, "But how did you beat us?"
"The hockey team liked their old uniforms. They bought all my tickets to keep things the same." Lucas explains.
"I can't believe this!" Jessica says, sounding totally confused. Well, she's not the only one...
"Well, you'd better!" Nick says suddenly. "According to the bet, the loser has to do the winner's chores for a week!"
My face falls as Lucas adds happily, "and since I won..." before laughing. Jessica and I glance at each other disappointedly before we both groan with dismay.
"I don't get it!" I say before pointing at Lucas. "Why didn't you just tell us you were competing too?"
He shrugs before he says in an amused tone, "I did try but you guys were so concerned with trying to beat each other that you didn't notice!"
We both grin sheepishly and Nick says, "Here's an idea - next time there's some sort of competition, why don't you compete together instead of going against each other?"
"What do you mean?" I ask cautiously.
"Well, my dad always says the best rivals can also be the best team-mates," Lucas adds cheerfully. "You guys are pretty good working alone but just imagine the kind of team you'd make. You'd be unbeatable!"
I look at Jessica curiously. It would be kind of nice to not have to worry about having to beat her if we were working together to win. "So what do you think?"
She looks thoughtful before saying brightly, "I think they're right, don't you? With our awesome skills, we'd be the best of the best!"
We high-five just as Lucas says, "Well, you guys can test out your awesome skills by getting my chores done!"
"Oh man," I say, disappointed. "I was hoping you'd forgotten about that!" Lucas and Nick laugh loudly as we both slump over, looking miserable.
AN: I'm so sorry this took so long to write. I've been writing a bit at a time whenever I had the chance. I hope this chapter satisfies you guys and see you next time! A very Merry Christmas to everybody (if you celebrate it) - have a great day! :-)