AN: Hello, and welcome back to ROTLON! I hope you guys enjoyed the start to Gormiti Love version 2!

I've decided to alternate between writing a ROTLON chapter one week and a Gormiti Love oneshot the next so get those requests in (see the ending AN in the first oneshot for more details)

With that out of the way, let's continue, shall we?

"I cannot believe we are actually wasting our time with this!" I exclaim to the others.

At the moment, the four of us are upstairs working on a group project set by Miss McGurk. Well, I say the four of us - you won't catch me working on it, that's for sure!

"We've gotta get it done, Toby!" Nick reminds me as he types away feverishly on the keyboard.

I groan before saying, "Yeah, yeah," and wandering off to find something to entertain myself. We had been working on this project all day and it was now dark outside so honestly, I think it's a miracle that I'm only just starting to get really bored!

As I look around, I spot a magic wand and pick it up before getting the brilliant idea to do an impression of Miss McGurk. I walk up and down as I talk in a voice that sounds like our teacher, "To understand the impact of financial ecosystems is to understand the financial powers that shape our world today!" Then I drop the magic wand on the floor as I exclaim, "Oh, did I say ecosystems? I meant financial geek-o-systems!"

I slump down on the floor and pretend to fall asleep. Jessica starts giggling as I stand up and take a bow. She claps and says, "Toby, that is so Miss McGurk!"

"You laugh but we still have to turn in this group project if we wanna pass the class!" Lucas reminds us, causing us both to groan disappointedly.

"It could be worse!" Nick says, still typing away.

"Are you kidding?" I ask him incredulously. "This is McGurk! Our project will have to be a total snooze-fest for her to even consider a passing grade!"

Nick pauses and says, "Okay, you're right," before adding firmly, "but they're still due tomorrow!"

I think for a moment and reply hopefully, "Unless...Fate steps in with a miracle!" I then turn around and call out, "Come on Fate!" When nothing happens, I try again, "Hello? Anyone? Fate?"

Suddenly Lucas lets out a surprised cry. I turn around just in time to see the screen on the monitor go black. "Awesome!" I exclaim.

Nick, however, doesn't seem to agree as he lets out a scream before saying, "I didn't save the work! It's gone, vanished, kaput!"

I pick up a flashlight from the nearby desk and switch it on, shining onto my face as I say casually, "Dad's probably changing a lightbulb!"

The four of us wander to the window and look outside. It's as dark as anything out there because the streetlamps are not lit up like they should be. "It's not Dad," Nick says, as I shine the flashlight through the window. "The power's out everywhere! A major grid must have shut down!"

This is brilliant! "Yes!" I yell happily.

"What do you mean 'yes!'?" Nick snaps agitatedly. "This is a no, Toby!" he adds as he walks away from the window. "A super banana panic no!"

Why is he panicking about this? Having no power is the best news ever! "Oh, it's a no, alright!" I tell him. "As in no power means... no school!"

"The school has a backup generator specifically for just such an emergency," Nick reminds me as he sits down on his bed. He flops onto his back and adds, "You're not getting out of this so easily!"

I dash over to him and he sits up as I exclaim, "You mean...I might actually have to work on this thing?" Please tell me this is a joke! I don't want to work on it - there are plenty other more important things I could be doing instead!

Lucas joins me and points out, "Not one section of our assignment is finished and the whole project is due tomorrow!" He looks miserable as he exclaims, "We're chumped!"

"Not necessarily!" Jessica says as she walks over to us, interrupting what I had been about to say. "I was on my way over to the computer lab at the school! I reserved time just in case!"

"Saved!" Nick and Lucas exclaim happily.

"Doomed!" I say mournfully.

"Speaking of which!"

The four of us scream as we turn to see Razzle's head poking out from behind one of the speakers. Of course, this causes Razzle to scream as well. "Razzle!" Nick and Jessica exclaim.

The lizard steps out from behind the speaker, saying, "Hey, who wants to do homework when you could be saving the world, eh?"

I blink at him, still not recovered from the shock he gave me, as Nick takes charge. "Come on, guys, let's go!" he says as we leave the room and head downstairs to the kitchen.

We walk into the pantry, Nick closing the doors behind us, and use the panel to access the Primal Pad, running down the steps and going to stand in front of the control panel.

Razzle hops up onto the control panel as he begins his explanation. "The Fire Gormiti Orrore has conjured some secret weapon! It's rumored to be the most powerful and terrible weapon in the Gorm!" he tells us.

"What kind of weapon?" I ask him.

Razzle frowns as he replies, "I don't know but it's up to you guys to find out and disable it before Orrore gets a chance to use it on anyone!"

We run to stand around the Gorm Gate and cry out, "Elementals!"

"Air!" Jessica begins.

"Water!" I shout.

"Forest!" Lucas yells.

"Earth!" Nick finishes.

"Reveal to us the Keeper and give to them your chair!" we call out.

The chair starts to spin around and Razzle says, "And the Keeper is..." before the chair comes to a stop, showing a green icon with the Forest symbol on the back, "...Forest!" He runs over to Lucas and announces, "That's you, Lucas!"

"Get it?" Lucas says as he starts to run towards the chair. "Sit?" He jumps into the chair which rises up until he is level with the control panel. "Looks like I'm gonna sit this one out!"

That joke was terrible! "That's your worst joke yet!" I tell him and he narrows his eyes at me.

"And if anyone knows a bad joke, it's you, Toby!" Jessica decides to point out. I stare at her, unable to come up with a comeback. My jokes aren't that bad, surely.

Lucas uses the crystals on the control panel to activate the Gorm Gate and the three of us, along with Razzle, jump in.

We float down, gripping each other's hands in a circle and land in a cave. "Wow!" Jessica exclaims as she turns around to look behind her. "Look at all this stuff!"

There are loads of weird things around here as well as a few tunnels that lead deeper into wherever this cavern goes.

"That is weird!" Lucas says from inside the Primal Pad. "Let me see if I can find something about them."

The three of us start to wander around while we wait for Lucas to get back to us. As I walk, I spot a glowing blue orb surrounded by four spikes. "I wonder what this thing does!" I say curiously, reaching my hand out to touch it.

"Toby, no!" I hear Nick yell. The next thing I know, I feel my little brother slam into me, knocking me to the floor. I hear a metallic clink and look up at the orb to see that the spikes have closed around it.

Well, that was close!

"Hey!" Lucas says suddenly. "I wouldn't touch anything if I were you! It says here that Orrore is a collector of deadly devices, traps and other nefarious contraptions!"

I stand up, a little winded from Nick's body slam and say breathlessly, "Thanks for the advice!" as Nick gets up next to me.

Suddenly Jessica dashes towards us. She grabs my arm with one hand and covers my mouth with the other, effectively silencing me. And the tingling returns! "Shhh!" she hisses. "I hear something!" She lets go of me and says, "Come on!" to us before leading the way into the tunnel.

We walk for a way until we see Orrore with a group of Lava soldiers. Hiding behind a bunch of jagged rocks, we listen in on what he is saying. "Behold the magic crystals of my energy cannon!" We see a machine with blue crystals, two of them much larger than the rest. "They gather energy from the very air around us and project them as destructive bolts of power!"

Razzle whimpers, ducking behind a rock. We watch as Orrore activates the weapon and take the same action as Razzle.

There is a huge flash of light followed by a bang as Orrore fires the weapon. I cover my ears and momentarily turn my head to see Nick and Jessica doing the same thing.

The blast causes part of the cave wall to crumble apart. "Lucky he wasn't pointing that thing at us!" Jessica exclaims.

"We're not the only ones hiding behind stalagmites!" Nick points out as he peeks over the top of the rock. "Look!"

"What is that thing?" I ask, joining him. It looks like no creature I've ever seen. It stands on four legs, has a tail and makes a strange squeaky sound.

The blue glow on the creature fades off, revealing it to have brown skin with reddish-brown scales, I guess.

"Who let that mongrel in here?" Orrore asks, not looking at all happy. Well, he's a bad guy - are they ever happy? "What kind of evil force would I be if I let every stray just wander into my lair, disrupting me in my evil demonstrations? Simply unacceptable!" He goes to activate the weapon a second time, the crystals pointing at the creature. "I shall have to teach the mutt a lesson!"

The three of us run out from behind the rocks. None of us are willing to sit around and watch an innocent creature get hurt by a creep like Orrore. "Maybe you should pick on somebody your own size!" I suggest angrily, glaring at him.

"More strays?" Orrore yells. "This is exactly the kind of distraction I was talking about! Intruders, wayfarers, transients come to spoil my demonstration! You are an affront to my evilness!" He narrows his eyes and adds, "Prepare to feel the wrath of my energy cannon!" before letting out an evil laugh.

"Elemental powers flow, Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!" the three of us yell out together after Lucas confirms that we are at full power.

"Powers of the Sea!" I shout as I transform.

"Lords of Nature!" Orrore sneers. "You think your transformation intimidates me?" He turns his energy cannon to face us as he adds, "You have yet to see me throw the full wrath of my evil upon you!"

"Yep!" Jessica says, unimpressed. "Just another typical villain talking about himself again! It's no wonder you guys never get any dates!" She flies up into the air and swoops down towards Orrore who is preparing to fire the energy cannon. Nick and I watch as a blue beam of light shoots towards Jessica. "But it's never too late to learn a-" The beam hits her, causing her to glow blue like that creature from before. "A lesson..." she says, her voice faint. "What's...happening to me?" Orrore laughs as she adds, "The cannon...feeling faint!"

"Thanks for the energy, losers!" Orrore yells. "First you fall to the ground," he manipulates one of the crystals, causing Jessica to fall to the ground. "Then you fall into my grip!"

"Jessica!" Nick yells, running forward to try and help her as she hits the ground hard. However, Orrore fires another beam from the energy cannon which strikes him, sending him backwards until he lands at my feet, also glowing blue. He struggles to speak as he says, "The energy...has grounded me! Can't...move!"

"Hang on, bro! I'll save ya!" I yell as I run forward and grab Nick by his shoulders, attempting to pull him to his feet. However, I cannot move any part of my body. "I'm...stuck!" I shout as I realize that the energy grounding Nick is now also grounding me.

I cannot move one bit but I can hear Orrore laughing. "With this weapon, nothing will stand in my way! Orrore will be ruler of the Lava Nation, ruler of all of Gorm!" he declares. The crowd of Lava Soldiers starts to applaud and cheer.

Suddenly the creature we had seen before charges forward and leaps onto one of the larger crystals on the cannon, letting out a fierce roar at Orrore, causing him to back away with a scream and fall over. This seems to amuse the Lava Soldiers who start sniggering at Orrore's misfortune.

The creature starts swinging its tail, breaking off bits of crystal. Crackles of blue lightning surround the weapon as more and more crystals get broken off.

Eventually, the blue glow surrounding Nick and I fades and we find ourselves able to move again. I rub my head slightly as Nick stands up, letting out a groan as he wobbles backwards. "That thing zapped the life outta me!" he complains, rubbing the back of his head as I stand up.

"Come on!" I say, moving past him. "We have to get Jessica!"

We run over to her as she sits up slowly and asks rather breathlessly, "W-what happened?" We help her up and the creature, squeaking away, jumps off the weapon and runs over to us.

"Don't just stand there!" Orrore yells angrily as he stands up. "Get the crystal pieces and fix the weapon!"

As we watch the Lava Soldiers clumsily scramble about picking up broken bits of crystal, Nick suggests in a hushed voice, "I think we should get out of here while they're distracted!"

We run back through the same tunnel, the creature running alongside us, tongue lolling out. It kind of reminds me of a dog in a way.

Eventually, once we think we're far enough and hear no signs of them coming after us, we come to a stop.

I step forward and cautiously peek out at the entrance to the cavern we had just left. Breathing a sigh of relief, I turn around to the others and say, "That was a close one!"

"Especially for this little guy!" Nick says, referring to the creature. "Good boy!"

The creature begins to make a squeaky noise as I kneel down and pet it. "Be careful, Toby!" Razzle says fussily. "You don't know where it's been!" I try not to laugh as I raise an eyebrow at him and retort, "You sound like our mother!"

"I'm just saying!" Razzle responds huffily.

"Roll over!" Nick tells the creature eagerly. "Roll over!" I get up and back away as the creature walks around in a circle, wagging its tail. It really does act a lot like a dog! Nick laughs and announces, "I think I'll call him Copper! He can be our team mascot!"

I can guess that this won't make Razzle very happy. Sure enough, he protests, "W-what - what about me?"

Jessica laughs as she glides over to him and pets his head. "Don't worry, Razzle, we still love you!" she assures him.

Copper suddenly starts squeaking and, to our surprise, turns and starts running in the opposite direction. It looks like he's in a hurry to get to...wherever it is he's going. "Hey, wait, where are you going?" Nick calls after it, confused.

Lucas projects his image in front of us. "He's not the only one who needs to get somewhere! Your orbs are looking pretty empty!" he informs us.

"I wonder if we're gonna see him again!" Nick muses thoughtfully as the portal starts to form over our heads as we look up.

"By the orbs of Gorm!" the three of us yell together. I grip Nick and Jessica's hands and we rise up into the portal, coming out of the Gorm Gate in human form.

Lucas lowers the chair to the ground and jumps out. "Come on!" he says to us. "We've gotta get to the school! We still have time left for the computer lab!"

As one, the three of us groan disappointedly as we walk up to join him. "Orrore thinks he's evil?" I mutter to Nick and Jessica. "That's 'cos he's never met Miss McGurk!"

I follow Lucas up the steps until we get back to the pantry. He cautiously opens the doors and we begin tiptoeing into the kitchen. We barely make any progress when I accidentally stand on the back of Lucas' foot. "Ow!" he whispers, holding said foot in his hands and balancing on the other.

"Watch where you're going!" I tell him.

Just then, a light illuminates our faces. We look up to see Dad. "Halt!" he says, holding a candle in his right hand and a golf club in his left. "Who goes there?"

"Dad!" Nick exclaims. "It's just us!"

"We live here, remember?" I remind him, nervously holding my hands up.

Dad frowns and responds, "In times of crisis, one must be extra cautious!" He puts down the golf club and asks, "Where've you been?"

The four of us exchange glances, not entirely sure what to say. "Jessica's!" I say quickly.

"Lucas's!" Nick says just as quickly.

Dad raises an eyebrow at us. "We, uh, we get around!" I explain, grinning as widely as possible.

"Oh," Dad says. I think he's trying to make sense of my explanation. "Well, uh, you missed a call - someone from the school - a Miss McGurk?"

As we hear our teacher's name, my face drops, Jessica shudders and Lucas exclaims, "You're kidding!"

"What did she want?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"She wants her students to know that power or no, projects are still due tomorrow!" Dad replies.

Well, I knew it was best not to get my hopes up!

"She's a tenacious bit of evil, isn't she?" Nick whispers to me and I nod. Seriously the Lava Gormiti could learn a thing or two from her!

Suddenly we hear Mom call, "Is dinner ready?" from the living room.

"On its way, dear!" Dad calls back, taking an open can and pouring the contents into an empty bowl. "Voilà!"

"Um, that's a can of corn, Mr. Tripp!" Jessica points out as we gasp and look at the bowl, wondering why the corn has been served.

"Of course it is!" Dad responds. "It's not easy being a culinary master without power! You work with what you have! It's part of our creative genius!" As he finishes speaking, he picks up the bowl and starts to leave.

Okay, I'm a little hungry and all, but I don't think I'd eat uncooked corn.

"Uh, none for us, thanks!" Nick says. "We ate at, uh, their places!" As one, we narrow our eyes at him.

We start to make our way into the hallway when Mom calls, "Are you kids heading to the school?"

"Yeah," Nick replies. "We've gotta finish our group project."

Lucas mutters under his breath. "You mean we have to start our group project...again!"

He opens the front door and the four of us file out onto the porch, hearing Mom say, "Well, don't be too long, okay?"

We start to walk down the street and I cannot help slowing down a little - okay, a lot! - and lowering my head. I cannot believe that I am going to waste an entire evening doing homework! There are plenty of other things I would rather do instead, like save the world, for instance.

I start to wonder how charged up our orbs are and momentarily wonder if I could persuade the others to ditch the homework plan so we could get back to Gorm. Immediately I mentally shake my head. They'd never go for it.

By this point, I must be really lagging behind as Jessica stops and turns to face me. "Come on, Toby! I booked an hour! We still have some time left!" She then turns and starts walking again.

"Wow! Great! Can't wait!" I say unenthusiastically as I follow, still thinking of all the things I'm missing out on.

We arrive at the school and find not only the backup generator working away but a huge line of students.

Lucas lets out a cry and he, Nick and Jessica run up to the boy at the back of the line. Meanwhile I continue to walk slowly - no point in rushing, after all.

"Hey, what's with the line-up?" Lucas asks curiously.

"Computer lab," I hear the boy inform him. "It's about a ten-hour wait from this point. I figure my group will finish our project just in time for breakfast tomorrow!"

"What?" Lucas panics as he and the others start whimpering and shaking. "Is everybody's project due tomorrow?" he asks as I catch up to them.

"It's Miss McGurk, man!" the boy exclaims. "Miss McGurk! Everyone's triple spellchecking! We're doomed! Doomed!"

Lucas gasps and holds his head in his hands. "What are we gonna do?" he asks the rest of us, his voice sounding slightly higher than usual.

"Let me handle this!" Jessica says calmly, starting to walk up the steps. The three of us shrug and follow her, remaining a couple of paces behind. When we finally reach the top of the stairs, we see Alistair Kinnel - who I swear is an even bigger nerd than my brother and that's not easy! - holding a pen and a pad of paper. "Excuse me," Jessica says politely, "but I believe I had a reservation?" After a moment, we hear her exclaim, "Ah, yes, that's me - Jessica!" She gestures to us, Nick and Lucas raising their hands, adding, "Party of four?"

Alistair looks at his list before frowning and saying, "You're late. We gave it to someone else. Go to the back of the line."

"But - but..." Jessica stutters in protest.

"No buts!" Alistair snaps, clearly not in the mood for excuses. "Back of the line!"

"Yes!" I exclaim happily. This is the best news I've had all day! I get the feeling the others probably don't feel the same way, though.

"Well, we may as well head home now," Nick says as Jessica rejoins us. "No point in hanging around here, right?"

"Nope!" I say cheerfully. I don't have to do any homework right now so I am as happy as I could be at the moment. I even feel like skipping all the way home and that's something I've never seen myself doing.

As we head for home, I walk noticeably faster, trying to resist the urge to just outright run. When we had been heading to the school, I had been lagging behind but now I was out in front.

I open the front door and walk into the house. Mom and Dad had left some candles and a box of matches so I light a candle before going into the kitchen and grabbing a drink. I open it and down it in one gulp, thirsty after the journey to and from school.

To my confusion, I don't hear the others come in behind me. I wonder where they could have disappeared to. I know they're not in the house and they weren't that far behind me, surely!

I go back outside and look up the street but there's no sign of them. Suddenly I hear clattering coming from the back of the house. I walk around and, as I get closer, I can tell that the noises are coming from inside the garage.

Wondering what's going on, I step towards the garage and open the door, exclaiming, "There you are!" when I see the others. Nick is rifling through a box of stuff while Jessica helpfully shines a flashlight on the box so he can see and Lucas stands nearby, watching. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" The next thing I know, Nick tosses a book over his shoulder and it hits me on the nose. "Uh, what are you doing?" I ask him while rubbing my now achy nose.

Nick stands up and proudly exclaims, "This!" as he gestures to an old bike, Jessica shining the flashlight on it. The bike has wires and stuff attached to it. He walks toward it, saying, "I made it myself! It's a generator!"

I look at it thoughtfully, wondering how it works and also wondering how Nick made it. Nick blinks and adds sheepishly, "Well, sort of. I'm missing the most crucial part."

That's a relief! "So that means it's not working, right?" I point out eagerly as I walk over to him. "Phew!" Sensing that it might not have been the best thing to say, I backtrack and add, "I mean we gotta get going!" I start to walk out of the garage. "Orbs should be full and we've got some unfinished business with Orrore!"

The others follow me back into the house and we head straight to the Primal Pad. There's no sign of Razzle anywhere so Lucas runs over to the chair while Jessica, Nick and I jump into the Gorm Gate.

We land near the cavern and walk up to the entrance and peer inside. "It's right around those stalagmites!" Jessica reminds us. "Be careful!"

She leads the way into the cave and we head to the chamber where Orrore and his weapon had been but it's empty. "Where is everybody?" I ask. There's no sign that anyone had even been here! It's so weird!

"I was so hoping you'd..."

Whatever Razzle was planning on saying is cut off by the three of us screaming in fright which causes him to do the same. There is a thud as all three of us fall over backwards.

I sit up and tell him, "You need to stop doing that!"

"Doing what?" he questions.

"Razzle," Nick says as we stand up and brush ourselves off. "We need to know what happened to Orrore!"

Razzle looks rather huffy as he responds, "Well, maybe if you'd stop startling me like that, I could tell you!" He then clears his throat and says rather quickly, "Orrore and his minions have taken the weapon to the Earth Nation capital. He's launching an assault right now!"

Okay, that's definitely bad! "We gotta stop that guy!" I say to the others.

"You'll get there much faster in Super Gormiti form!" Lucas points out.

"Lucas is right!" Jessica agrees.

"I've charged the orbs - you use the power!" Lucas tells us.

"Elemental powers flow," we chant together. "Gormiti - Lords of Nature, go!"

We finish transforming and run out of the cave. "We'd better hurry!" Nick says as we head to the Earth Nation. "I don't even want to think about the trouble Orrore and his weapon are causing!"

"Don't worry, bro!" I tell him. "We'll stop Orrore!"

"And how are we going to do that?" Jessica asks, flying alongside us. "If we get hit by those energy beams, we'll be incapacitated just like last time!"

Nick and I are silent for a moment before we shrug. "We've got nothing!" I say sheepishly.

We arrive at the Earth Nation and watch from a cliff as Orrore uses his weapon to create panic and destruction. The beams hit the Earth Gormiti as well as buildings which crumble apart. We watch as the Earth Gormiti start fleeing, only to be frozen in their tracks by the energy beams.

"Nothing can stop me!" Orrore boasts. "All will bow to the evil might of the evil Orrore!"

"That weapon is too powerful, even for us!" Nick says in despair as Orrore continues his attack on the Earth Gormiti.

"We can't just sit here and watch!" I point out. "We've gotta do something!" Innocent Gormiti are suffering here and we have to help them...somehow.

"Lucas, have you found anything to help us out?" Jessica asks.

Lucas projects his image in front of us and says, "Still looking!"

Just then, there is a familiar squeaking sound. We turn our heads and Nick exclaims happily, "Copper, you came back!"

Copper isn't the only one there, though. A familiar beast that resembles a rhino looms behind him. "Looks like he brought a friend - Roscalion!" Jessica says.

"Roscalion," Lucas says, still projecting his image, "one of the most powerful Ancient Guardians of Gorm!"

The ground shakes violently with each footstep as Roscalion slowly approaches us, growling. As he gets closer, I realize that he is going to jump over us and yell, "Duck!" to the others before lowering my head slightly as Roscalion leaps over us.

We stand up and watch Roscalion slide down the cliff towards the source of trouble. "Someone must have summoned him!" Lucas tells us.

"Wasn't us!" Jessica says as Copper leaps over the edge after Roscalion.

"You think he knows Copper?" Nick asks as Copper runs down the cliff, following Roscalion.

"From what I'm seeing here, that's a good guess!" Lucas replies as we turn our heads to look at him.

"Lucas, is Roscalion powerful enough to defeat Orrore's weapon?" Jessica questions.

Lucas is looking through a book as he answers, "I can't say for certain! It's too close!"

"Well, let's see if we can tip those odds in our favor, shall we?" I say to the others.

Copper is now running ahead of Roscalion who seems to have caught Orrore's attention as he yells, "Roscalion! Turn, turn quickly!" to the Lava Soldiers who rush to obey. "Come on, haven't you ever turned before? Turn already!"

The Lava Soldiers start to rotate the weapon so that the crystals are pointing towards a still-charging Roscalion. As he runs, he shoots off his horns at Orrore who lets out a cry as he ducks to avoid being hit. "Hurry!" he shouts impatiently. "You push and you pull, creating a turning effect!"

The weapon continues to be rotated as Roscalion keeps charging. Copper runs forward and sinks its teeth into the leg of one of the Lava Soldiers who lets out a pained cry. "Hurry!" Orrore yells again as the crystals on the weapon start to light up with energy.

Orrore fires an energy beam directly at Roscalion which brings him to a stop almost immediately. As Roscalion puts his foot down, the blue glow fades away but crackles of blue electricity surround him.

A second energy beam causes the Ancient Guardian to let out a pained or angry roar. I can't actually tell. "A supercharge from my energy cannon will put a stop to the great Roscalion!" Orrore boasts. "Just watch and see!"

As the Lava Soldiers start charging towards Roscalion, I decide to take action and fire a water globe at Orrore. It hits him directly, causing him to yell. I fire a second one which hits the crystals, causing an energy beam to be fired haphazardly. Oops! Luckily it doesn't hit anyone.

Orrore recovers quickly and sends a lava blast in our direction but I retaliate by releasing another water globe. We repeat this once again and a cloud of steam forms. I let out a roar and attack once more, yelling "Aqua Blast!" Orrore, again, counters with a blast of fire and an even bigger cloud of steam forms, completely obscuring my vision.

I blindly step forward a few steps in the steam and ask Nick who is standing next to me, "Where'd he go?" We walk forward some more when suddenly I find myself letting out a yell as I fly backwards, having been hit by an energy beam.

"Don't waste your energy, boy!" Orrore tells me. Man, does he really not know our names by now? I'm guessing that he doesn't actually care, given that he is the bad guy and all. "You are no match for Orrore and his weapon! You know it's true!"

I manage to see Nick standing up and running up the large crystals towards Orrore and leaping towards him, tackling him to the ground. Nice one, bro!

"Let's see how tough you are at ground level!" Nick shouts angrily.

Orrore kicks Nick off of him, however, sending him flying and stands up before raising his right hand and sending blue lightning at Nick. This ends up knocking him to the ground again. "Obviously tougher than you anticipated!" he says.

Suddenly I hear an exclamation of "Now!" behind me. The blue glow seems to have worn off and I find myself able to move again. I run over to Nick who is slowly standing up and we turn to see the Lava Soldiers throw a net over Roscalion.

Luckily Jessica is on the situation right away. "Looks like you're in a bit of a tangle!" she says as she swoops down towards Roscalion. "Let me lend you a slice!" She tears the net apart easily, as though it was made of paper. Roscalion steps out of the torn net, his paralysis having finally worn off.

"Fashion tip number twelve: be prepared for stormy weather!" Jessica says as she releases a funnel of wind from her hands, crying out, "Wind Attack!"

Nick and I watch as Orrore climbs back onto his weapon and lets out a cry as the wind bombards him. Suddenly we find ourselves trapped by the Lava Soldiers who stand around us in a circle.

"I'll give you guys a hand just as soon as I get rid of this clown!" Jessica tells us as she releases another blast of wind and turning in mid-air to face Orrore.

However, Orrore does what he's been doing all day and fires yet another energy beam from the cannon. The beam actually travels up the wind and hits Jessica who lets out a cry as she plummets to the ground, much to our horror.

The blue glow wears off fairly quickly as she drops and Nick manages to catch her limp form.

"Turn!" Orrore tells the Lava Soldiers angrily as some of them run towards him. "Turn! Come on, show me how you get your turn on!" The Lava Soldiers start to rotate the weapon as he yells.

Just then, out of nowhere, Copper runs and leaps onto the large crystals, growling fiercely at Orrore. "Not this time!" Orrore says as he raises his right hand and strikes Copper who lets out a squeal as he goes flying.

He lands hard on the ground in the path of Orrore's weapon and struggles to get to his feet. "Take this, you little mongrel!" Orrore shouts angrily. Wait, he isn't going to - he is, isn't he?

"Copper, run!" Nick yells as Orrore fires an energy beam. Copper lets out a squeal and leaps away for a short time until he momentarily stops for a moment and gets hit by the beam. For some reason, the two Lava Soldiers behind him start to glow blue which doesn't make much sense to me.

Orrore growls and shakes his fist in an I am close to snapping way as Lucas projects his image between Nick and I. "Did you see that?" he asks us. "The energy bolt went right through him!"

"He's a conductor... like electrical wire!" Nick says slowly before exclaiming, "Of course! He's made out of copper!" as Copper continues to run around, avoiding the beams of energy.

"Take that!" Orrore says as he repeatedly fires the weapon. "And that! And that!"

"Copper!" Nick calls as he runs over to him. "Point your tail at Orrore!"

Copper obeys, standing still and curving its tail so that the tip is facing Orrore.

"Yes," Orrore says as the Lava Soldiers turn the weapon so that the crystals are pointing towards Copper. "Stand still and make things all the easier for me!"

He fires a beam at Copper who glows blue before a beam shoots out of his tail and hits the two Lava Soldiers by Orrore. Okay, now that was pretty cool!

Nick runs back over to us as Orrore decides to focus his attention on us, directing the crystals at us. "In the end, you prove to be no match for Orrore and his superior skills of evil!" he boasts before laughing evilly. "Uh, but anyway, enough about me," he says, narrowing his eyes at us. "Do you have any last words?"

Well, I can probably think of some but nothing seems to spring to mind right now.

Nick suddenly taps me on the shoulder and whispers, "Look!" I follow his gaze and smirk. Oh, this is going to be good! "As a matter of fact, yes, I do," he tells Orrore as Copper jumps up into his arms. "Look behind you." Orrore looks confused as he says, "What? What did you say?"

The three of us smirk as Nick says, "I said 'Look behind you!'"

We watch as Roscalion steps up behind Orrore, growling angrily. Orrore turns his head and nervously says, "Perhaps...we can negotiate!"

Roscalion takes a couple of steps forward before letting out a fierce roar and slamming his front legs down onto the weapon, completely destroying it and sending Orrore flying. A few Lava Soldiers walk over to him and help him up while we run over to stand near Roscalion and the remains of Orrore's weapon.

"My weapon!" he yells as he sees what is left of it. Roscalion roars angrily and Orrore turns on his heel and starts running away with the Lava Soldiers. We watch Roscalion's club-like tail swinging as he thunders after them.

I start laughing and the others join in. "Look at him go!" I exclaim. "Now that he doesn't have a big weapon to hide behind!"

"Hey, enough!" Nick says, laughing, as Copper licks his face. "Down, Copper - cut it out!"

"He's an affectionate little guy!" Jessica says as she pets him. "You know he really would make a good mascot!"

"Cut-rate amateur, if you ask me!" Razzle says. Well, somebody's still jealous!

Copper jumps onto the ground and we watch as he runs off, making that funny squeaky noise. We find ourselves laughing again as he zig-zags away before finally heading in one direction.

Lucas projects his image near us. "You guys ready to come home?" he asks.

"Just a second," Nick says, looking at something he has in his hand. "Copper!"

Okay, I'm confused.

Lucas gates us back to the Primal Pad and, almost immediately, Nick runs towards the stairs. "Come on, guys!" he says excitedly. "I want to test this out!"

I follow the others, wondering what Nick is planning on doing. He leads us to the garage - oh no - and walks over to his self-made generator. "Hope this works..." he mutters as he attaches the thing he'd picked up in Gorm to it.

"So, anything?" Lucas asks Nick as I look down at my feet.

"Only one way to find out!" Nick replies.

I can feel everyone's gaze on me and I look up. "What?" I say.

Nick gestures to the bike and says, "Somebody needs to pedal to generate power!"

I gasp. "But why me?" I protest indignantly.

"To be fair, you did say you didn't want to work on the project!" Jessica points out. "So, at least, this way you'll actually be doing something!"

Realizing that the odds are against me, I sigh. "Fine!" I say as I walk over to the bike. "But we take turns pedaling - there's no way I'm spending hours on this thing!"

I climb onto the bike and start to pedal while the others wander over to the computer. "Hey, it's working!" Lucas exclaims. "Let's get this homework started!"

About an hour later, I'm getting pretty tired. And when I say 'pretty tired', I mean exhausted. Put it this way, I'm really beginning to regret saying that I didn't want to work on the project.

"So I managed to use Copper's scale for the armature which enables it to generate the electric currents as it spins between the magnets!" Nick explains to Jessica.

Oh, so that's what that thing was!

By now, my legs feel like lead and all I want to do is take a break. "Hey, Lucas!" I pant as sweat pours down my face. "I think - I wanna - work on the project now!"

"Courage, Toby, courage!" he calls as he continues to type. "I'm almost halfway done!"

I begrudgingly continue to pedal, though I'm pretty close to actually falling asleep. Hey, I wonder if I'd end up sleep-pedaling? I mean if you can sleepwalk, why can't you sleep-pedal, right?

"Awesome!" I hear Nick exclaim, "Now everyone can get their projects finished in time, right, Toby?"

"Yeah..." I sleepily mumble as they all start laughing. Suddenly I feel someone tapping my shoulder. "What's going on?" I ask as I open my eyes to see the others. I find myself blinking furiously as I add, "Whoa, why is it so bright in here?"

"The power came back on!" Nick informs me. "And the project is done!"

"Really?" I ask eagerly, leaping off the bike which turns out to be a big mistake. My legs are so stiff that I wobble around and have to be grabbed by Nick before I fall over. "Nice one!"

Lucas folds his arms and says, "We just thought we'd better wake you up before you went totally stiff!"

"Yeah," Jessica agrees. "Sleeping on a bike? So not a good idea!"

"I didn't exactly do it on purpose, you know!" I point out. "So, anyway, we never have to see this project again. It's done and dusted now, right?" I ask as we make our way out of the garage and back to the house.

"Well, unless we fail!" Nick points out pessimistically. "Which is a given considering it's for Miss McGurk!"

"Oh, and don't worry, I remembered to save the file this time!" Lucas says.

"Good thing you did," Jessica tells him. "There's only one thing worse than failing a project and that's not handing it in!"

We walk into the living room to see Mom and Dad. "You kids must be hungry after all that work!" Mom says. "How about we whip you up something to eat?"

"Sounds good, Mom!" Nick says gratefully.

"Yeah!" I agree as we sit down. "I'm starving!"

"You two are welcome to stay over the night if you want!" Mom says to Lucas and Jessica.

"Can I?" Jessica says a little too quickly. "I'll just check it's okay with my parents. Do you mind if I call them?"

Mom shakes her head and Jessica walks out into the hall. I watch her go, suspicion rising. She's acting weird but once again, I seem to be the only one who notices.

"What about you, Lucas?" Nick asks curiously.

Lucas looks apologetic as he says, "I'm gonna have to sit this one out! Dad just texted - apparently he thinks there's a really rare bird in our garden! Imagine what I'll be able to tell the Nature Watch group tomorrow! He gets more and more enthusiastic as he speaks, as though his birthday has come early.

"I'll drop you off at your house then!" Dad says as he grabs his coat from the back of a chair.

"Thanks, Mr. Tripp!" Lucas says gratefully. "Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"Yeah, see you!" Nick and I say together.

"I'll be back in a bit," I say suddenly. "I, uh, need to...use the bathroom." I leave the room and look around the hall. I didn't actually need the bathroom at all. Right now my priority is trying to discover why Jessica is acting so weird. Although it would help if I knew where she was! I head upstairs and notice that the door to the spare bedroom is ajar. "Found you!" I whisper to myself as I manage to get right outside the door, expertly avoiding making any of the floorboards creak.

I press my ear against the door. I know listening in on other people's conversations is rude but I'm hoping I'll get a clue as to what's going on.

"Thanks," I hear Jessica say. "Bye." There is a beep as she presumably ends the call. What she says next fills me with an emotion I cannot describe - it's either terrible sadness or undeniable fury or perhaps a combination of the two. "I know I'm just a worthless nobody..."

I'm not sure what makes me angrier - that somebody has actually told her that or that she says it like she absolutely believes it's the truth. I find myself walking into the room.

"Toby, you scared me!" she exclaims as she smiles. "Good news, though, I can stay over!"

Normally I don't like to confront her about things I've heard her say that she doesn't want anyone to hear. But this is different. There's no way I can stay silent, not after what I heard her say.

"What did you say?" I ask her.

She looks confused as she says, "Well, I said-"

I hold my hand up to stop her. "I know what you said right now! I meant before that!"

Something - fear, I think - flashes across her face momentarily. "I-I don't know w-what you mean!" she stutters.

I frown at her. "I think you know exactly what I mean!" I tell her. She's clamming up, just as I'd suspected she would.

She puts on an obviously fake smile as she says, "Listen, I don't know what you think you heard but it was probably nothing! Just idle chitchat!"

Her eyes go wide as I approach her slowly. "Oh, sure," I say. "I'm sure I'd call referring to yourself as a worthless nobody just idle chitchat!"

"Why are you so angry?" Jessica questions, looking up at me. Does she even have to ask that? What's more, should I really have to answer? It should be obvious already.

"Angry?" I reply calmly, despite the rushing turmoil within. "Oh, I'm not angry. I'm fuming, raging and furious."

"But why?" she asks again. "It's the truth."

Something in me snaps. "It is not the truth!" I say, my voice coming out louder and angrier than I had intended as I see her flinch slightly. "You are not a worthless nobody!"

"I-" she starts to protest but I'm not finished yet. I can't believe she actually thinks it's an undeniable fact that she's a worthless nobody. Thinking about how somebody must have told her that a lot makes me so mad!

"No, Jess," I say as I grab her arm. Once more I feel tingles running through my fingers. They feel stronger than usual but I do my best to ignore them. "Just listen to me, okay? You are an amazing person who could never be described as either worthless or a nobody! I don't know who's been telling you that but you mustn't believe them."

"Y-You really think I-I'm...amazing?" she squeaks and I see a momentary blush on her face for some reason.

"Of course I do," I tell her. "You're smart, funny, talented and you don't let anybody push you around. Why wouldn't I think you're amazing? I mean I could list all the good things about you but we might be here a while!"

Wow, saying things like that makes it sound like I must really like her or something. Wait, no, that didn't come out right! What I mean is there are a lot of qualities she has that people admire about her, qualities that I admire...no, not again! I'm supposed to be helping her out, not mentally debating with myself about whether I fancy her or not - which I don't, by the way! I don't and even if I did, it wouldn't matter because she's my best friend. It would never work out. N-not that I want it to, of course!

She looks downcast all of a sudden as she mutters, "There's nothing good about me..."

"Do you really not see anything good about yourself at all?" I ask her incredulously. Upon seeing her give a small sad shake of her head in response, I move forward and wrap my arms around her in a hug. To my delight - no, that doesn't mean anything! -, I feel her rest her head against me as she hugs me back hesitantly. I hope against all hope that she cannot feel just how fast my heart is pounding right now. I mean it's not because of her. It's from all the pedaling I did earlier. Absolutely nothing to do with her and the weird thoughts I have around her. "I hope I'll be able to help change your answer someday," I tell her as I pull her even closer to me, the tingling so strong that it's becoming near-impossible to ignore it.

Hugging her like this reminds me of when we were kids. Back then, she used to hug me a lot! Yet for some reason, I was the only one she hugged voluntarily. If somebody else hugged her, I recall her letting go extremely quickly in comparison to whenever she hugged me. After all these years, I still don't understand why...

"Will you promise me one thing?" she asks and I look at her curiously. "Promise me you won't try to delve any deeper into this. I'm not hiding anything, I swear. I just want you to forget about this, okay? It's honestly not that important."

I want to protest that it is important because she's my best friend and I don't want her to ever think that she is useless and unworthy. Then I look at her face, my eyes meeting hers as she silently pleads with me. "Okay, I promise," I say as I sigh. "I'll forget about it. If you're sure that's what you want."

She nods and smiles at me so brightly it scares me. How can she go from being distressed to being so overwhelmingly positive just like that? "Thank you," she whispers before raising her voice to a normal volume. "I almost forgot that I still have to tell your parents I'm staying over!" she exclaims as she leaps out of my arms, much to my disa- no, no, we are not going there again! "I hope they won't be mad!" she worries as she heads to the door.

"They won't be," I assure her as I follow her out of the room, closing the door behind me. As I watch her walk down the stairs, I allow the guilt of having lied to her wash over me. And, no, I'm not talking about my parents.

I have absolutely no intention of forgetting this. I couldn't forget about what I've learned about her problem so far even if I tried! So I am going to break this promise, even if it means I have to risk losing a good friend. I feel guilty about lying to her but I'm not stopping until I find out the truth.

Nobody hurts my best friend in any way and gets away with it!

AN: And we're done with this chapter at last! I'll be focusing on the Gormiti Love oneshot now so look out for that! Don't forget to send in requests through the reviews for either this story or GL v.2 (since they're the ones I will be working on). I will post the template for requests I provided in the first oneshot in my profile asap so check it out!

Also, I'd just like to give a big thank you to Ishouldbesleepin for their lovely review as well as the rest of you guys for your continued support. It makes me so happy to know that people enjoy reading my fanfics and I hope you'll continue to do so.

See you next time!