AN: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the new chapter of ROTLON! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.
A question for all my readers: do you prefer my older stuff (Gormiti Love, Returning Fire, etc) or do you like my newer writing better (ROTLON)? Let me know.
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"I think that's the last of them!" I call to my younger brother, Nick. "How are you doing?"
"All done here too!" he replies, walking over to join me. We had spent the entire morning putting up flyers advertising Jessica and Gina's dog-walking business. In exchange for helping them out, they had agreed to share the money they earned with us.
As we start walking down the street, it doesn't take long before we spot Jessica herself with two leashes in her hand. She leans down and pets the dogs who wag their tails frantically.
"Hey, Jessica, how goes our dog-walking biz?" Nick inquires as we walk over to her.
"You're looking at two satisfied customers!" she tells us happily as she looks up. "You put up my flyers?"
"Natch!" I confirm, gesturing to a flyer I stuck to the nearby lamp-post. "And with the money we earn, we can afford the advanced release of Skullblasters 360!" I could just picture it now. That game was so cool, everybody wanted it!
Jessica rolls her eyes. "Because what I need in life are more video-game explosions? Uh, no!" she exclaims, causing Nick and I to sigh. "Some of us need a new outfit for the Spring Fling party!"
We watch, bemused, as she turns and starts walking up the street like some sort of catwalk model. "I've got an outfit for early spring and another for late spring..." she muses, more to herself than to us. I don't think I get what the big deal is - it's not like she doesn't have plenty of outfits already. "Hello?" she exclaims suddenly, rushing at us with her index fingers inches away from our faces, causing us to gasp. Whoops, guess she must have realized that we weren't actually listening! "This dance is a mid-spring thing!" She turns away from us and sighs, "Boys!"
As she goes to answer her phone which had started ringing at that moment, Nick and I exchanged a look and I know we're thinking the same thing - neither of us will ever understand how the minds of girls work.
"Gina! What's the word?" Jessica says into her phone. We can't hear what Gina says in reply but Jessica excitedly exclaims, "Spring Fling, here we come!" before hanging up.
We stare at her, neither of us knowing what to say when we hear a sudden shout of "Hey!" Turning around, we see Lucas running towards us. "Have you guys been watching the news?" he asks between pants as he runs to and finally reaches us.
"Only to see the sports bloopers!" I respond. "That stuff's awesome!" Funny, too.
Lucas gives me a look as he stops. "No, man! The Venture Falls zoo - last night the animals totally busted out!"
I wasn't sure whether to find this funny or scary as I exclaim, "No way!"
Lucas continues, looking serious. "They caught all the animals, except for one. A lion is still on the loose - it could be anywhere!"
"You're kidding...right?" Jessica asks just before the two dogs move forward, barking furiously. We look down and see a bush rustling. "Lion!" she squeaks fearfully, as we all stare in horror at the shaking bush.
"Lion? Where?"
The sight of Razzle's head popping out of the bush was enough to make all of us scream. A lion on the prowl is scary enough without Razzle pulling his sneak-up-on-us-every-time-there's-trouble-in-Gorm thing!
"Razzle!" Jessica says exasperatedly, struggling to keep hold of the dogs who are still barking and seem to want to chase after the lizard. As Razzle climbs onto Nick's shoulder, safely out of the dogs' reach, Jessica's phone rings again. "Hang on," she tells us before answering it. "More calls on the flyers?" Razzle shakes his head quickly and Jessica replies, "Sorry, I will when I can, but...something's come up!"
After she hangs up, the four of us head for home and the Primal Pad. As usual, we head into the pantry and slide our hands across the panel to gain access.
We stand in front of the control panel as Razzle begins his explanation: "There are rumors in Gorm that Magmion has acquired a new steed - Drakkon!" The screen shows an image of Magmion sitting on top of a fierce-looking red and black dragon. "Drakkon is a Volcano Ancient Guardian of magical power! He's one of the Ancient Guardians!"
I've never even heard of them but Nick, who I swear knows everything, asks, "Ancient Guardians?" before turning to address us. I stare at him as he goes on to say, "You're talking about immortal creatures that haven't been seen for, like, ever! I thought they were only legends!"
I have no idea how he knows all of the info he knows but I guess it is useful. "Dude, seriously, how do you know all this stuff?" I ask him.
"You like watching sports bloopers and I like to read," he replies and I frown. Should have known it was a case of Super Nerd!
"So if Drakkon really does exist and he's been found by Magmion-" Jessica begins.
"Sounds like a bad combo!" Lucas finishes, saying what we were all thinking.
"The worst!" Razzle confirms worriedly. "Your mission is to get to Gorm and get to the bottom of these rumors!"
We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"
"Air!" Jessica starts.
"Water!" I yell.
"Forest!" Lucas calls.
"Earth!" Nick finishes.
As one, we chant, "Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!"
"And the Keeper is..." Razzle says as the chair spins around rapidly. "...Air!" he declares as a light blue icon with the Air symbol appears on the back of the chair. The two dogs bark and leap into the chair, prompting an unimpressed Razzle to add, "And could you keep your furry friends off the furniture?"
"Prepare to get your Gorm on, boys!" Jessica exclaims as she runs over to the chair and gently shoos the dogs out of it. The chair rises up to be level with the control panel. "If Magmion's in the forest, then so are we!" she says as she manipulates the crystals in order to open the Gorm Gate.
I jump through the portal first, followed by Nick, Lucas, and Razzle. "And...touchdown!" Jessica declares as we land. "Okay, guys, Travel Tome says you're right on target!"
We look around us - we're definitely in the forest but...
"No sign of Magmion!" Nick says as we start walking.
"Are you sure?" Jessica asks, projecting her image near us. "I'm picking up a major magic reading in your area!"
"Like how major?" Nick inquires.
"Like major major!" Jessica responds.
"I'm sensing something too!" Lucas says suddenly, to our surprise, as he starts walking faster. "I feel all tingly!" I roll my eyes and groan. This is just what we need!
We carry on walking for a while until Lucas stops and exclaims, "It's the forest! It's alive!" We look at what seems to be some sort of... huge plant monster... and watch as it steps out of the bushes. Roots start growing on the ground it had its feet standing on as it walks past us.
"It's not the forest - it's that!" Nick says, looking a little awed. We gasp at the sheer size of it. Even if we were transformed, it would still make us look like tiny dolls in comparison.
Razzle steps forward, standing between Nick and I. "Ancient Guardian!" he says, his voice shaking slightly.
"Drakkon?" I ask, frowning. This creature doesn't look a thing like the red and black dragon we saw on the screen in the Primal Pad.
"No," Razzle responds, shaking his head. "This one's a Forest Ancient!" I guess that explains why we thought the forest was alive. "That means it's true - the Ancient Guardians of legend are returning to Gorm!"
Nick and I nervously eye the creature. We have no idea if it's friendly or not and the sheer size and power of it makes me kind of reluctant to find out. "Dude, no sudden movements!" I whisper before we gasp, seeing Lucas approach the Ancient Guardian, seemingly not caring about the potential danger.
"It's okay," he reassures us as he comes to a stop. "It's like we share an unspoken connection."
"Makes sense," Razzle points out thoughtfully. "You're a Forest Gormiti and so is this guy!"
The creature lowers its head, allowing Lucas to touch it. When he does, his eyes glaze over, almost as if he's in some kind of trance. "Troncalion," he informs us. "His name is Troncalion." Suddenly his face grows pale as he adds fearfully, "And - and he's angry!"
We watch in horror as the creature, or Tronc- wait, you know what, I think I'll call him...Trunky - stands up on its hind legs, its front legs looming over Lucas, who stands frozen in terror. Realizing that he is in real danger of being crushed, I slam into him with a tackle, managing to get us both out of the way of Trunky's feet.
I move off of him and we watch as Trunky continues running until something stops him - at least I guess it's a him - in his tracks. "He's trapped!" Lucas exclaims as some sort of magic pyramid forms over the huge creature.
"Lock rocks!" Razzle declares as he and Nick walk over to join us. "I've never seen 'em this powerful before!"
"Lock rocks?" Nick asks uncertainly.
Now this is an opportunity not to be missed! "Hey, finally something you don't know!" I say teasingly. Just then, we hear a strange roar and the shadow of a creature flies over our heads. "What was that?" I whisper, forgetting about teasing my brother for not knowing something.
"I don't know," Nick responds nervously, "but let's get this over with and fast! Jessica?"
"Lock rocks - got it!" she exclaims before adding, "You're looking for three strategically placed magic crystals!"
We walk over to where Trunky is trapped and see the crystals embedded in the ground. "The crystal triangulation must create some sort of a magic snare!" Nick guesses. I'm going to admit it - I don't have the slightest idea what that means. All I know is that it's a trap and traps are bad.
Lucas swings his foot back, about to kick one of the crystals when Razzle stands in front of it and cries out in alarm, "Yikes! You have any idea how much power is in those things? You've got to be very careful!"
"Razzle's right," Jessica says, as she projects her image near us. "You want to bring all three of the crystals together over Troncalion - carefully!"
We each step forward and take hold of a crystal, moving in as close as we can. Eventually, we encounter a problem - Trunky is simply too tall for us to reach the top of him. I may be slightly taller than the others but even I can barely reach his shoulders at full stretch. "We can't reach!" Nick complains.
After a few moments, Trunky suddenly kneels down on the ground. "Come on, guys, it's cool!" Lucas tells us and we begin to climb onto Trunky's back. When we touch the three crystals together, there is a bright blue flash and the pyramid disappears.
"Dude!" I say, impressed. Suddenly we gasp and look up as the shadow from earlier flies over us again. Trunky stands up abruptly, causing the three of us to cry out as we tumble from his back and land on the ground.
We hear familiar evil laughter and look up to see Magmion on the back of - oh, so that's Drakkon! The dragon fires a blast of Trunky who jumps out of the way. Drakkon then fires a second blast before Razzle cries out fearfully, "Drakkon!"
Yeah, I think we got that, Razzle.
Drakkon flies straight at us and we duck to the ground to avoid getting hit. Magmion looks back at us. "You can meddle with my traps but you can't stop me from taming that beast!" he boasts.
"We'll see about that!" Lucas yells defiantly as he gets up.
"On it, guys! You're good to glow!" Jessica declares.
We step forward slightly before yelling together, "Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"
"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform, letting out a fierce roar.
"Attack!" Magmion yells and Drakkon starts to fly towards us as we brace ourselves. Suddenly Trunky steps in front of us - I guess he's trying to protect us - and takes the brunt of Drakkon's fire.
We run towards Trunky and stand behind him just as Drakkon releases a second blast of fire. "The breath on that thing!" Nick exclaims, he and Lucas being a lot closer to Trunky than I was. Obviously, that dragon needs a trip to the dentist and a lesson on oral hygiene.
I run out from behind Trunky as Drakkon lands on the ground. "Time to rinse out that mouth!" I yell before stepping onto Drakkon's tail to propel myself into the air. I flip a few times before landing on his neck, causing him to make some weird squeaky sound. Jumping off, I turn my body upside down before firing my water spheres directly into his mouth and landing on the ground.
Smoke billows from Drakkon's mouth. I can't believe it - I just beat an Ancient Guardian! "Hello!" I say before yelping as Drakkon lowers his head and snaps his jaw at me. Charming! I retaliate by transforming my right arm into a lobster claw and snapping it at the dragon.
Suddenly Magmion starts laughing. "You can't extinguish the ancient fires of Drakkon, boy!"
"Well, it was worth a shot!" I say sheepishly as Drakkon opens his mouth to fire at me but is stopped when brown vines wrap around his jaw, sealing it shut.
"Denied!" Lucas exclaims happily, Drakkon unable to do anything except angrily puff smoke out of his nostrils, as Nick walks over to join us. Suddenly Drakkon gives his head a mighty toss and sends Lucas flying, causing him to let out a startled cry. I watch Nick run forward and catch our friend before he can hit the ground.
I smile with relief but the moment is short-lived as Drakkon slams his tail into my abdomen, causing me to cry out as I fly backward. I land hard on my back and wince as I sit up, watching as Drakkon starts circling near Trunky.
Trunky fires some weird plant-like projectiles which hit Drakkon. Roots start rising from under the ground, tangling around the dragon's front legs. Drakkon pulls against the roots and, with a few flaps of his large wings, manages to pull himself free. "Another feeble attempt to delay the inevitable!" Magmion declares, Drakkon letting out a fierce roar as they soar into the air before turning around.
"Oh, snap!" I hear Lucas say worriedly, obviously realizing that Drakkon was heading straight for him and Nick. I watch Drakkon release a powerful blast of fire that heads right for Nick and Lucas. Nick transforms his arm into a rocky shield and Lucas transforms his arms into strong vines that burst from the ground and form a barrier between him and the fire.
Drakkon's fire is relentless, though, and soon I see them gritting their teeth as they struggle to continue shielding themselves. I want to help them but I'm still winded from Drakkon's tail-slap and attempting to move at all right now is kind of painful.
Suddenly there is a huge cloud of smoke that obscures my vision. I can't be sure but I think I see a bright flash before Drakkon's fire seems to come to a halt. When the smoke clears, Nick and Lucas are sitting on the ground, in human form.
"Okay," I hear Lucas say breathlessly to Nick. "That was intense!" They seem to be unharmed, just a little exhausted.
"Super blasty banana intense!" Nick responds. I'll never understand my brother's penchant for making up phrases with the word "banana" in them. Still, I'm glad they're both okay...
"Uh, Nick?" Lucas suddenly cries out fearfully. Well, apparently they may not entirely be okay. Drakkon is hovering menacingly in the sky above them and, if he opens fire on them again - which he undoubtedly will -, they have no way of defending themselves.
Just as I predicted, Drakkon opens his mouth and releases a stream of fire at Nick and Lucas who scream as they raise their arms above their heads and attempt to make themselves as small as possible to avoid getting burnt to a crisp.
All of a sudden, Trunky steps in front of them, taking the blast in their place. He doesn't make a sound as the flames hit him and I'm not even sure if they're hurting him or not. He just continues to stand in front of Nick and Lucas, using himself as a shield.
To my alarm, I see Magmion holding some sort of weird device in his hand as Drakkon descends until he is just above Trunky. I guess Trunky must be in more pain than I thought because he makes no effort to move as Magmion says, "And now, Troncalion," before using the device to create some sort of magic rope that wraps around Trunky's neck and forms a metal collar with yellow jewels. "You belong to Magmion!"
The jewels on the collar as well as Trunky's eyes begin to glow as I hear Lucas say, "Troncalion..." in disbelief.
"Today, the Ancients! Tomorrow, the world - your world!" Magmion declares as he and Drakkon fly away. What does he mean by that?
"What does he mean by that?" Nick asks as Lucas stands up. Just then, Trunky starts charging towards and I tense up, worrying that they're about to be crushed. However he merely leaps over their heads and runs off in the same direction as Magmion and Drakkon.
I manage to finally get to my feet, having recovered from the winding blow I had received. "Troncalion!" Lucas yells and I stand in front of him to prevent him from running after Trunky. "Come on," he says impatiently. "We've got to-"
"To what?" I interrupt, frowning at him. He does realize he won't be able to help Trunky as a human, right? "You're just a kid," I point out before turning my head to look at Trunky who was slowly lumbering away from us and adding, "and your pal Trunky there isn't really himself at the moment."
Lucas frowns back. "His name's Troncalion and he needs our help!"
Jessica projects her image near us and says to him, "Which is why you need to recharge. Toby's still got glow - he can track while your orbs glow up."
Lucas looks down at the ground for a moment before looking up at me. I was taken aback by the emotion in his eyes. Wow, I guess he really cares about Trunky, huh? "Promise me you'll stick to Magmion like glue!" he says to me.
I doubt I'll ever understand the whole bond with Trunky thing Lucas seems to have going on but if he wants me to find Trunky, then that's exactly what I'll do. "By the orbs!" I swear, placing my hand on his shoulder.
"Okay, Jessica, bring us back!" Nick calls.
"You coming, Razzle?" Lucas asks as he links hands with Nick and the little lizard shakes his head.
"I think I'll stay here with Toby," he responds, climbing up onto my shoulder. Together we watch as Nick and Lucas rise up into the portal that will take them back to Earth.
"Guess all we have to do is wait for Jess to tell us where to find Trunky," I say to Razzle once they're gone. I sit down on a rock, not sure how long it will take.
After only ten minutes which passed by rather quickly because I distracted myself by drumming my fingers against my leg, Jessica projects her image beside me. "Finally!" I exclaim. "Do you have Trunky's location?"
Jessica raises an eyebrow when I say "Trunky" before frowning and replying, "Yes...and no. The-"
"Could you be a little more helpful here?" I say, folding my arms. "You either have his location or you don't."
"Well, as I was saying before you interrupted me," Jessica says huffily, "the crystals are detecting a big magic signature on the beach near the Gorm sea. The only problem is, we don't know for sure that it's definitely Troncalion we'll find there!"
"We should head to the beach now, right, kid?" Razzle says as Jessica's image fades out.
"Yep!" I say as I get up from the rock and stretch my arms before we start walking. We've barely gotten out of the forest when I suddenly realize that I don't actually know which beach to head to.
Jessica has apparently realized this too as she projects her image beside me and sheepishly gives me directions before giving me a stern warning not to try to battle Trunky alone, a sentiment Razzle echoes.
"You wouldn't stand a chance against an Ancient Guardian, kid!" he warns. "Even if the others were here, you'd still struggle."
I hold up my hands. "Okay, okay," I sigh. "I'll find Trunky and I won't try to battle him!" Jessica nods and her image fades out again.
With that said, I begin making my way to the beach, taking the route Jessica told me about. Suddenly I think of something and ask Razzle, "Assuming Magmion did lead Trunky to the beach, why would he do that? He doesn't seem like the type who enjoys vacationing at the beach!" I laugh to myself as I picture Magmion on a deckchair with a bottle of sunscreen and sunglasses.
"Somehow I doubt a vacation is what Magmion has in mind, Toby," Razzle responds, shaking his head. "All I can tell you is it can't be good!"
I carry on walking. There's not much point in worrying about the why until we know who we're going to find! After a few more moments of walking, I stop at the edge of a cliff that overlooks the beach.
Razzle jumps down from my shoulder and lands on the ground as I crouch down and peer closely at the beach. "Bingo!" I whisper triumphantly.
"What a relief!" Razzle says as I stand up.
I continue to look down at Trunky who doesn't seem to notice he's being watched. As I'm wondering just what I'm supposed to do, Jessica projects her image beside me. "Nicely done, Jessica!" I praise her. "When you track a magic signature, you track a magic signature!"
"Troncalion?" she asks curiously.
"In the flesh!" I say as I gesture down to the beach before wondering if "flesh" had been the right word to use so I add, "Or whatever he is!"
"An Ancient Forest Gormiti?" she muses thoughtfully before concluding, "I'm guessing plant stuff!" Ehhh, that does make the most sense.
"What's he doing down there?" Razzle asks, puzzled, as he looks down at Trunky as well.
"I don't know," Jessica replies. "The magic signature only tells me where not what or who!" She then adds, "Any sign of Magmion?" as an afterthought.
I was about to give her a negative when all of a sudden, I got a really bad feeling of there being someone else with us and turn around to find Magmion and Drakkon hovering behind me. "Uh, funny you should ask!" Drakkon opens his mouth, preparing to release his flame, and I yell, "Here comes the fun part!"
As Drakkon releases his fire, I scream as I jump off the edge of the cliff and slide down it, grabbing Razzle off of a small ledge on the way. Eventually, I push my feet off the cliff and use the resulting momentum to propel myself into the sea, letting out an exuberant cheer as I practically fly from the cliff into the water.
Razzle and I hide underwater as Drakkon and Magmion circle above our heads. "You can track me if you want but there's no sneaking up on Drakkon!" I hear Magmion say.
We swim a short distance away and I surface, frowning in confusion. "What is he doing out here anyway?" I ask.
Razzle surfaces, gasping for breath as he spits water out of his mouth. "Aside from ruining my afternoon..." he complains.
I wait for him to finish but something feels weird. The water around us is bubbling. "Huh, now what?" I ask, having no idea what's even happening right now.
A huge shadow appears beneath us and I hear a strange sound. I cry out as something surfaces with Razzle and I on top of it. "By the orbs!" Razzle exclaims in shock.
"Uh-oh! Dude!" I say, not knowing if this creature is friendly or not. It is blue with an orange shell and seems to resemble an octopus. Suddenly I begin to understand something - something I hadn't understood before.
"Sea Ancient!" Razzle declares nervously.
I listen to the creature's calls. For some reason, I can understand what the calls mean, almost like speech. "I - I think I understand what Lucas was saying about Trunky!" I tell it. "You and me are like - we're connected! I'm Toby and you're - your name is Tentaclion!" I look up for a moment and ask, "Why do I know that? This is awesome!" before saying, "Okay, uh, tell me something else!"
Suddenly I find myself having to hold on for dear life as Tentaclion starts moving. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize that we are speeding towards the shore as I listen to his calls. "You're here to rescue the Ancient Guardian?" I ask, puzzled before it hits me. "Oh, you mean Trunky!" I say with dawning comprehension before I stand up on Tentaclion's back, holding my arms out for balance. "Yeah, let's spring Trunky!" I declare, hearing Razzle cry out as he struggles to hold on.
Just as Trunky is coming into view, I hear an all-too-familiar voice behind me. "Come and try it, boy!" Magmion says and I turn around, blinking in shock. How long have they been following us?
"Gettin' thirsty?" I ask as I release some water globes from my stomach, causing Drakkon to swerve around all over the place in order to avoid them. I focus all my energy and fire yet another one but, at the same time, Magmion fires the same golden rope he fired at Trunky at us.
The water globe hits its mark. Unfortunately...so does the golden rope. It wraps around Tentaclion, leaving behind a collar identical to the one Trunky is wearing. "Oh no, you didn't!" I exclaim, transforming my right arm into a claw and struggling to cut the collar. However, I cannot break it - guess it must be reinforced with some kinda magic or something. I continue to struggle with the collar but I now have a really foreboding feeling in the pit of my stomach. Tentaclion is now under Magmion's control which means...
"Tentaclio-o-o-o-o-o-on!" I yell as the once docile creature wraps a thin yet strong yellow tentacle around my body and tosses me, sending me flying. Again. I scream as I notice I'm heading right for an outcrop of jagged rocks and brace myself for what I can guess will be intense pain but it never comes. Instead, I bounce off of a net of vines and land in someone's arms.
"Toby, you're not an Air Gormiti!" I hear Nick's voice chide me as he sets me down on the ground. "Stick to the water where you belong!" I breathe a sigh of relief - I've honestly never been more glad to see Nick and Lucas in my entire life!
"I see you're all charged and good to glow!" I say once I've got my breath back.
"Thanks to our keeper, Jessica!" Nick responds, grinning at me.
Just then, the three of us are bombarded by sand. "Sandstorm!" Lucas exclaims, holding his hands in front of his face, an action that Nick and I mimic.
"I love the ocean," Magmion declares out of nowhere before adding, "but it's always so windy at the shore!"
The sand continues to blow at us relentlessly, leaving us with no other option than to keep our eyes shut tight and hold our hands in front of our faces. Eventually, it covers us completely and it's a very unpleasant feeling. Not only can I feel every single grain of sand against my skin, I also feel uncomfortably trapped, my limbs pinned to my body by the mass of sand.
I realize quite quickly that if we don't get out of these sand dunes pretty sharpish, we're all going to suffocate. Not a nice way to go. I coil my tentacles into a drill shape and manage to break through the top of my sand pile. As my head is once again exposed to the outside world, I greedily gasp for the air that I had been denied for a short time and cough a little. Definitely not on my list of things I'd ever want to do again!
"Where's Magmion?" I hear Nick ask as he, too, breaks free of the sand.
"Gone!" Lucas exclaims, having also managed to free himself. "With the Ancient Guardians!" He's right. There's absolutely no sign of anybody here, except for us.
A sigh interrupts the uneasy silence that had fallen upon us and we turn our heads to see Razzle dragging himself out of the water. "Okay, what did I miss?" he asks before groaning as his tiny body exhaustedly slumps down on the sand.
"We're almost at the top of the ridge. How are the readings over there?" Nick asks Jessica.
"Nuts!" she replies. "Each time Magmion enslaves one of those big guys, we're seeing effects back here on Earth!"
"Rift activity?" Nick guesses.
"Tons!" Jessica confirms. "And it's not just the animals going wild anymore! Reports of shriveling forests came in when Troncalion was captured and reports of lakes drying up with the capture of the Sea Ancient Guardian!"
"Tentaclion," I say, remembering that the others didn't know his name yet.
"Right!" she nods, before adding gravely, "It's like all the elements of Earth are withering away!"
"So what should we do?" Lucas asks Razzle who had managed to climb on to Nick's shoulder.
"Not sure, kid!" he responds as I notice the thoughtful frown on my brother's face. I know that look all too well. It's his I'm thinking of an idea look.
"Okay, Nick, spill," I say to him and he jumps slightly, coming out of his stupor. "What are you thinking?"
He sighs before saying slowly, "This may be just a theory but hear me out. Magmion's already captured two Ancient Guardians - Troncalion and Tentaclion." We all nod and he continues. "Well, what if he tries to go after another Ancient Guardian? We have to stop that from happening!"
"Maybe if we find the Ancient Guardian first and move them to a safe location, Magmion won't be able to enslave them like he did the others!" Lucas suggests eagerly.
"Yeah, and how exactly are we going to do that?" I ask, folding my arms. "Magic signatures don't tell you who, they only tell you wher - Nick, where are you going?" I cut myself mid-sentence, seeing that my little brother is walking up the ridge alone.
He turns back and looks at me. "To find the Ancient Guardian, of course," he replies as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Uh, no offense, Nick," Lucas begins cautiously. "But how do you know where this Ancient Guardian will be?"
I see my little brother falter slightly. It's pretty obvious he doesn't know where the Ancient Guardian is which means he's working on a hunch - and Nick's hunches usually tend to be accurate. "I don't," he admits. "Not exactly, but from what I studied about the Ancient Guardians in the tomes, I have a pretty good idea of where we can find one." He turns around and continues walking.
Lucas and I exchange a look. There's no denying that Nick's perusal of the Primal Pad library has given him a vast amount of knowledge on Gorm and its inhabitants. Therefore, if he says he knows where to find an Ancient Guardian, I believe him. We shrug before running to catch up with Nick.
As we walk up the path, Lucas, who had taken the lead, says, "We've gotta free the Ancients from Magmion's control and fast!" before adding in a confused tone, "What's he want with them anyway?"
"More importantly, where exactly are we going?" I ask. Nick hasn't actually told us where we're heading. In fact, he's been pretty quiet the entire journey. I figure he's just thinking or something.
"The Cavern of Roscamar is just over the ridge at the top of the valley," Razzle tells us. Okay, so now we know where we're heading, I guess.
"The Cavern of Roscamar!" Nick exclaims behind us in an I just remembered something! tone. "According to legend, that was - "
"- the last known location of the Earth Guardian!" Razzle finishes for him.
The three of us stare at the cave. It seems pretty empty and has a pretty intimidating vibe to it. The entrance to it has the head of some kind of being carved into the rock. "Bad news - no Ancient Guardian!" Lucas says disappointedly.
"Good news - no Magmion either," I point out to him.
"Yeah, tracking his magic signature now!" Jessica tells us as she projects her image in front of us before shrugging as she reveals, "It's kind of weird-o-rama! He hasn't moved from the valley!" Okay, that is weird!
"Toby," Nick says as he steps forward and I turn to face him. "Tentaclion emerged from the sea to rescue Troncalion, right?"
"Yeah," I reply, trying to work out where Nick is going with this. "It was like he knew his Ancient brother was in trouble."
I follow Lucas to the edge of the pathway and we look down onto the beach where Troncalion - I think I'll stop with the whole Trunky thing now - and Tentaclion are waiting with Drakkon circling overhead. "So Magmion doesn't need to find the Earth Ancient," Lucas deduces. "He only needs to bring the Ancients close enough to lure him out."
That explains the whole staying in one place thing then. I still don't get why that one place has to be that specific valley. All of a sudden, I hear Lucas say uncertainly, "Uh, Nick? Earth to Nick?"
I turn around and see that my little brother has gone completely rigid and has an almost vacant expression on his face. "Dude, you okay?" I ask, concerned.
"The Ancient, he's close," Nick says, his voice barely above a whisper. Razzle lets out a startled cry and Nick's voice gets slightly louder as he adds, "I can feel it!"
"He's here?" Razzle asks, a nervous tremble in his voice.
"Yes," Nick replies, "and his name is Roscalion!" Suddenly we hear a roar that causes Lucas and I to gasp. The next thing I know, a huge creature that resembles a rhino comes charging out of the cave we presumed was empty. Guess this Roscalion dude is really good at hide-and-seek! Roscalion charges between Lucas and I, causing us to cry out as we quickly move aside. The huge creature leaps over the edge of the ridge and I catch sight of its massive club-like tail. Definitely don't wanna get hit by that!
"I'm telling him to stop but...he's compelled to help his kindred!" Nick yells to us as he watches Roscalion slide down the ridge.
"Then it's our destiny to help too!" Lucas declares as we join Nick at the edge of the ridge.
"Destiny?" Razzle exclaims. "I just realized - we're in Destiny Valley, the most magically charged place in Gorm!"
As though timed to perfection, Jessica projects her image in front of us. "Guys," she begins in a you're not gonna like this tone. "I did some cross-referencing with some scrolls and I've got bad news! The Earth-bound rifts we're seeing are symptoms of an impending portal!" The three of us gasp in shock at this news - it wasn't bad, it was outright terrible!
We turn our attention back to the Ancients. Roscalion starts charging towards the others when Tentaclion's thin yellow tentacles wrap around his neck, effectively stopping the Earth Guardian in his tracks. He then tugs hard, attempting to knock Roscalion off his feet but only succeeds in dragging the huge creature sideways a few feet. I guess Roscalion's pretty hea- hey, like Lord, like Guardian, right?
Next Troncalion slowly steps forward. Roscalion starts charging and he returns the favor. They collide with a bang and a bright yellow glow surrounds them. As Roscalion struggles, Magmion sees his opportunity and wraps the golden rope around the Guardian. Roscalion rears up onto his hind legs, letting out a fierce roar. When he stands on all fours, we see a collar just like the ones the other Ancients had been enslaved with.
We exchange looks before Nick jumps down from the ridge, Lucas and I following his lead. "Four Ancients in Destiny Valley," Magmion begins as the collars begin to glow yellow, getting brighter and brighter. "A combination of power to make a portal to your world!" he says as a single beam of light, formed from the glow from the collars, shoots up into the sky and seems to expand. "I can't wait to see what it's like so I can destroy it!" he declares before adding tauntingly, "Go on, try and stop me!"
"Uh, guys," Razzle says to us nervously. "Even you are no match for the combined power of the Ancients!"
"It's not the Ancients we want!" I say as we all look up at the sky. Rings of light are forming from the beam and are getting bigger and bigger.
After Razzle jumps down from Nick's shoulder and hides behind a rock, I run forward and release a blast of water from my stomach, aiming for Drakkon. However, Tentaclion fires some sort of green icicle-shaped things at the attack to dissipate it before it can hit.
I turn to watch the others attempt to attack. Nick transforms his right arm into a hammer and lets out a yell as he hits the ground with it, creating a huge crack that heads in the direction of the Ancients. Roscalion's eyes glow red before the Ancient Guardian digs his horns into the ground, creating some kind of rock barrier.
Lucas, unfortunately, doesn't seem to have much luck either. He fires off one of his bark-like fists with vines attached but Troncalion leaps on top of the vines before they can reach their intended target.
"My army of Ancients is invincible!" Magmion boasts.
We watch in horror as the rings of light form an image of - wait, is that Venture Falls? "We've got to free them from those collars!" Nick exclaims.
"Easier said than done!" I say, looking at him while remembering my struggle to break the collar that enslaved Tentaclion.
Suddenly Lucas gets a lightbulb expression on his face - you know, the look someone gets when they've had the most brilliant idea. "I've got a theory," he begins as Nick and I look at him curiously. "Like the dogs in the park, one is leading the others - Drakkon!" The ground starts to shake as the three Ancients start charging towards us and we yelp as we nearly lose our balance. The whole 'dogs in the park' thing kinda confuses me but I think I get what he's saying. "We destroy Drakkon's collar - it will deactivate the other collars!" he finishes. Sounds like a plan to me, though I'm kind of wondering what they got up to back home for Lucas to be able to make a connection between dogs in the park and the Ancient Guardians.
With that said, Lucas fires a bark-like fist at Drakkon but it sails past. However, it does succeed in distracting both Magmion and Drakkon, allowing me to shoot a blast of water from my stomach that hits the collar, causing it to break apart as Drakkon lets out a furious roar. Nick fires sharp rocks out of his hand, causing the jewels on the pieces of collar to shatter.
As the Ancients continue charging towards us, we see the collars breaking apart. They were no longer under Magmion's control. The rings of light in the sky disappear as they reach us. I guess Magmion won't be taking a portal to our world any time soon! Speaking of Magmion...
"My Ancients!" he yells at us angrily. "You stole my Ancients!"
Lucas retaliates by saying, "The Ancients don't belong to you or anyone!" You tell him, dude!
I climb up onto Tentaclion's back and hold my arms out for balance again while Nick and Lucas climb onto Roscalion and Troncalion respectively.
"No," Magmion admits begrudgingly. "But my Lava steed is still loyal to me!" He laughs as Drakkon releases a stream of fire towards Nick and Roscalion who was charging forwards. Nick leans over Roscalion's side and transforms his right hand into a drill before drilling into the ground to form a rock barrier that stops the fire from hittting them.
Seeing Drakkon fly overhead gives me an idea. As though he can read my mind - though I guess he actually can, in a way - Tentaclion holds his thin yellow tentacles out. I jump onto them and he uses them to propel me into the air until I'm as high as Drakkon. Wasting no time, I fire a water blast at the dragon who makes an irritated shrieking noise as he spins around in mid-air to avoid getting hit. After that, I started to fall but Tentaclion grabbed hold of me and set me back down on his back.
The maneuver leaves Magmion and Drakkon directly in the path of Lucas and Troncalion. Magmion screams as Drakkon collides with a charging Troncalion, sending both Lucas and Magmion flying while Drakkon crashes to the ground.
Eventually, Lucas and Magmion hit the ground, both of them grunting as they do so. Magmion stands up, unaware that we are behind him. Lucas smirks at us and Magmion turns around to be met with Roscalion and Tentaclion, neither of whom sound very happy. "One of these days, Super Gormiti, I will learn your secrets and when I do, you will bow to me!" he vows. Yeah, good luck with that, Magmy! I don't have any secrets! Unless you count that time I cheated on a te- oh, wait, he means about who we are! Never mind. "Come, Drakkon!" he says, running past us and jumping onto Drakkon's back. "We live to fight another day!" he declares before they finally fly away.
"Should we go after him?" I wonder aloud.
"No," Lucas answers. "Our work is done here. The Ancient Guardians are free." With that, the Ancient Guardians make calls, as though they were thanking us.
"Welcome back to Gorm, guys," Nick tells them.
Jessica projects her image in front of us, looking apologetic. "I hate to break up the reunion, guys, but your orbs are all looking pretty empty!"
"We'll be right with you, Jess!" Lucas says. "Just give us a minute."
I turn to Tentaclion. "Take care of yourself, okay, buddy!" I say, patting the top of his head. He croons slightly. "Yeah, I'll take care of myself too, don't worry!" I tell him before he croons again, causing me to cry out mock-indignantly, "Hey, what do you mean that only makes you worry more?" Hey, I guess it's only his duty as a Guardian, right?
I look at the others who seemed to have finished saying their goodbyes. Together we step back and watch as the Ancients leave. We call out:
"Goodbye!"
"See you later!"
"Until we meet again!"
After they have left, Jessica gates us back to Earth. Almost as soon as we set foot on the floor of the Primal Pad, her phone starts ringing. "Gina?" she says as we walk up to her. "Okay, we're on our way!" She then turns to us after ending the call. "Gina's waiting for us outside," she informs us. "We're gonna find out just how much we earned today!"
We leave the Primal Pad and walk out of the front door to see Gina patiently waiting for us on the street. She hands Jessica the money and we all watch as she counts it. Finally, she looks up, seeming pleased. "That's a pretty good haul for a day of dog-walking!" she exclaims happily, causing us all to stare at her incredulously while Nick and Lucas gasp for some reason. Seeing the looks on our faces, she shrugs and sheepishly adds, "Until you split it five ways."
"There's barely enough here for a makeup kit!" Gina complains. "Much less a dress and shoes!" There's definitely not enough here for Skullblasters 360 either!
Just then, we see a TV van rround the corner and gasp in surprise as it stops right outside the house. A blonde woman with green eyes opens the door and steps out, microphone in hand. "Excuse me," she says. "You're the kids that fought off that lion in the park today, right?" She walks up to us and holds out the microphone.
Lion in the park? What lion in the park? I have no idea what's going on right now. Lucas apparently does, though, answering, "Uh, yeah?" in a hesitant tone.
The woman smiles at this. "In that case, I'm Sonia Vincent from Venture Falls News and I'd like to pay you for an exclusive interview!"
"Seriously?" Nick asks excitedly as Jessica's phone starts ringing.
"Hello?" she answers. "Oh, sorry, no, we're officially out of the dog-walking business. We're getting into television!" She ends the call and we all laugh before Sonia excuses herself and heads to the van to get her equipment. "I still can't believe this!" she exclaims excitedly, practically bouncing up and down. "I actually get to be interviewed."
Lucas raises an eyebrow. "Don't you mean Nick, Gina and I get to be interviewed? You and Toby weren't even there!"
"Details, details..." Jessica says airily, waving her hand, though her face falls slightly with realization before lighting up again in a fraction of a second - it's actually kind of scary. "Hey, but since I helped start up the dog-walking business, I'm part of the reason the dogs were even in the park to fight off the lion in the first place!"
Gina laughs. "I think you'll find I'm the reason the dogs were in the park, Jess!" she says and Jessica smiles sheepishly.
"Uh, guys, am I the only one here who has absolutely no idea what's going on?" I whisper to the others.
"Oh yeah," Nick says. "I forgot you weren't there." He proceeds to tell me exactly what he and Lucas got up to while their orbs were charging up.
"Wow," I say disbelievingly. "I can't believe I missed that! It would have been way better than sports bloopers for sure!"
"It was terrifying!" Lucas agreed before smirking. "You do know you may not get interviewed since you weren't there," he informs me.
"That's fine with me," I say casually.
Jessica blinks, staring at me in horror. "Y-you're okay with not being interviewed?" she squeaks.
"Yep," I reply. Upon seeing her confused expression, I add, "Lucas is right - neither of us were there - and would it really be fair to take the credit for something we didn't even do?"
"I guess not," she says as Sonia returns and asks Lucas to introduce himself and the others. I hear her ask about Jessica and I then Lucas explains sheepishly with an apologetic look in our direction that we weren't there when it happened.
They walk into the house to have the interview and we call out, "Good luck!"
I honestly can't help feeling relieved that I won't be interviewed for another reason. Since the fiasco with the play - which I hate recalling with a passion - I've never been fond of doing something that I know will have an audience watching. It's not stage fright. I just don't enjoy the possibility of being laughed at for something out of my control. I like people laughing at something I want them to laugh at, you know like a prank.
"I still wish I could have been on TV too," Jessica says dispiritedly. "Oh, well."
"It's not the end of the world," I tell her in an attempt to cheer her up. "Maybe someday you'll be on TV for something even better!"
She manages a small smile and I hear mutter something that sounds an awful lot like, "Wish I could feel important enough to do something that amazing..."
I frown slightly, wondering why her normally infectious optimism seems to have turned into crippling pessimism. "You are important, Jess," I tell her. " You are! You've got to believe that!" I start wondering if things are really okay with my best friend - knowing the issues she has at home with her parents, though I get the feeling there's so much I don't know - and resolve to keep a closer eye on her. For all of her light-hearted and flighty behavior, I know that she's absolutely terrible at telling people she's upset, preferring instead to keep things bottled up.
"I'm not sure I can believe it," she admits after a while, "but it's nice to know you believe in me."
"Of course! You're my best friend and friends have each other's backs no matter what!"
That was a promise I had no intention of breaking. Ever.
AN: Sorry this is a little later than planned but I haven't really been sleeping right so I'm pretty much constantly tired.
I was originally going to save the "Toby starts to feel concerned about Jessica" part of the BlizzardStormshipping subplot for quite a few chapters. However I decided to sow the seeds early but he won't get really concerned until the chapter I originally planned to reveal it (and there is a reason for his concern - it's hinted at in one of the earlier chapters- but you'll have to wait and see to find out what it is. It's very sad.)
Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and see you next time!