Total Drama: Dungeon Hunters

by Icathius Nytfall

Chris calls for 18 new individuals to compete for a grand prize of 1 million dollars. Contestants will be competing in virtual reality filled with deadly creatures while overcoming hard challenges. SYOC app is closed. 10/18 contestants remain.

13. Playing or Praying

"Last time, or more rather two episodes ago, on Total Drama Dungeon Hunters. Our two teams took on the quite unexpected dating challenge!" Chris started off his recap with his trademark smile. "Its also important to note that two ex-contestants of our show made a special appearance to both host and facilitate last time's challenge." A still image of both Nicholas and Alysson is shown on screen.

"After long and steamy dates a team was soon declared a winner after another tie breaker match. Only this time to be won by our very first merge contestant Ginger!" A replay of Ginger walking up the stage to give Alysson a quick kiss was shown. "With the Elves victory came the defeat of the Wolves for they were sent to elimination the following night." An image of the Diamond Dusk Wolves sitting around the camp fire is shown.

"Just like what I said last time, Lucette was the one who's supposed to go that night but due to her and Ginger's intervention Janet caught the bullet instead." A replay of Janet leaving with Chris is shown. As the replay ended the camera started to slowly zoom in on the host who held a wide grin across his face.

"Will the Wolves be able to patch up what remains of their pack and seize victory once more? Will the glorious Elves be able to keep their throne? Will Lucette's new friend cause a whole new set of troubles? And how will Ginger react once she wakes up from her sleep? Find out now on Total...Drama...Dungeon Hunters!" Chris exclaimed as he opened up his arms dramatically.

~Theme Song~

Later that same day after Lucette and Ginger's bonus challenge. The latter was shown to be laying down on a single bed with pink and floral patterns and a fluffy white pillow under her head. After a short while her eyes started twitching and eventually woke up.

"Mmm...Huh? Where am I?" Ginger quickly sat up and inspected the room around her. The room she's in was small with blue colored walls. Beside her bed was a small drawer with a lamp placed on top of it and just next to that is a window where the sunlight is entering from. Quickly getting on her feet she felt the soft, white, carpeted floor beneath her and ran towards the window. Looking out she noticed that the window was barred up and a dense forest lay passed it.

"Where is this place?" She questioned. Ginger then inspected herself only to realize she is wearing her regular outfit once more. "And am I back in the real world?" She pondered. The door to her room suddenly creaked open catching her by surprise. "Who's there!"

"Oh! I see you've woken up." A woman wearing a maid's outfit and long, bright blue hair said from behind the door. She looked quite surprised to see Ginger standing right in-front of her. Her surprised look soon turned to pleasure for she gave Ginger a warm smile and bowed gracefully. "Its a pleasure to finally meet you."

Ginger though looked a bit skeptical. "Okay. Who are you and why the hell am I here for?" She questioned the maid. "And where's Lucette? I need to make sure she's alright!" She added. The maid looking up from her position noticed the worried look in her new mistress' eyes. Exhaling softly she straightened herself up and met Ginger's gaze with her own.

"No need to worry. I can assure you everything is fine." The maid assured with a warm smile. "I'll indulge you in the details later over some tea. Please, right this way." She gave another short bow before leaving the room. Ginger still very unsure about everything decided to follow her out of the room.

Outside her room is a narrow, white hallway big enough for her to stretch only one arm to the side with a staircase leading down at the end. Beside her was another door with an oval multicolored frosted window. Opening it slowly she revealed it to be a bathroom. Pink tiles covered the bathroom walls with a porcelain bathtub at the end complete with a shower and sink. A circular mirror with a golden frame was placed above the sink. Seeing no need for the bathroom right now, Ginger closed the door and proceeded to walk down the hall.

Another door was spotted a few paces down the hall on the opposite side. Opening the door now revealed it to be smaller version of the challenge room. Dark blue panes covered the walls with neon lights flashing about. A single empty pod was at the end of the room with a small control panel similar to the one back at the challenge building was beside. After seeing all this, she immediately closed the door and pressed her back against it.

"What is this place?" Ginger started to ponder.

"Mistress Ginger, please come on down. Someone is here to speak with you." The maid called for her from downstairs. Ginger still unsure about her situation decided to head downstairs and get answers from their. As she reached the bottom of the staircase the maid was standing right there to meet here. "Please. Right this way." She smiled before taking her leave to lead Ginger somewhere else.

The lower floor was a spacious room designed to be a living room of sorts. A light brown couch was placed near the center with a glass coffee table right in-front of it and an oval carpet underneath. Across from her now is a large, flat screen TV with tall speakers on both sides. Potted plants were placed on each corner of the room to finish of the room's interior design. A closed wooden door was placed next to the staircase presumably leading to the outside.

Ginger now done with taking in her surroundings followed the maid to another room. The other room was a mix of both a dining room and a kitchen. A rectangular dining table was placed in the center of the room surrounded with seats. To her surprise she saw Chris sitting on a chair across the table from where she stood with a tea cup in hand. He took a sip of his tea before placing it down on the table.

"Hmm, given by that look of uncertainty you have it seems as though you've done a bit of exploring." Chris pointed out with a small grin. "So what do you think? Pretty nice, right?"

"I have no time for your shit, Chris! Tell me, what am I doing out here in the real world and what happened to Lucette?" Ginger started to question him. Chris' smile soon faded as he took another quick sip of his tea.

"How rude. And to think I've spent quite a lot of money in constructing this place just for you." The latter shook his head in disappointment. "Well, not specifically for you but for anyone who was brave enough, or dumb enough, to take on the bonus and win. You get the idea." He chuckled softly. "Such a shame really."

Ginger's eyes suddenly widened. "Wait. I won? But how? All I remember after the fight was that I passed out and...Please don't tell me Lucette-"

"No. She didn't. She's still competing." Chris said plainly, cutting her off. Ginger placed a hand on her chest and a let out a sigh of relief

"That's good to hear." She took in a deep breath. "How was she able to do it though?"

"Oh let's just say she struck a deal." Chris chuckled lightly. Ginger though didn't understand. "You'll find out about it eventually." He waved her off. "Anyways, I have some matters to attend to so." The host paused and stood up before turning to face the maid. "I'll leave her in your capable hands, Luciel." He said before making his way towards the front door.

"Will do, mi'lord." She gave Chris a slight bow with a sweet.

"Oh. And do keep the noise down at night. You're not the only one who's staying here." The host said before finally taking his leave. The sound of a door closing echoed throughout the room. The two girls where now left on their own.

"So what shall I help you with first? Tea? Or redemption?" Luciel gave Ginger an innocent smile. The latter didn't know how to respond to that.

"Wh-what?" She stammered a bit. The former just giggled softly.

---

The next day. The scene now returned to the main area where everyone else was. The time was already mid-day for the sun was high up and beaming down on everything down below. The grounds were empty for everyone was done with their morning routines. Moments later the flaps from the food tent opened up with Alice exiting with a huff as Kazuo followed right behind. The former though looked quite annoyed with the latter for he was telling her a story of some kind.

"And that's the story of my dead leaf." Kazuo said with a wide grin. "Want to hear another story?" He asked, still grinning.

"No!" Alice answered without hesitation. "Why are you even telling me this?"

"No real reason. I just remembered telling Alysson this story once when he first tried to flirt with me." Kazuo reasoned. Alice felt even more pissed after hearing it.

"How the fuck do I remind you of that cross-dressing pervert?!" She angrily spat at him with a steely gaze. Kazuo though didn't flinch at all and just kept up his wide grin.

"Well not you per se but your name certainly does!" He beamed. "Or at least to a certain extent." He added. Alice furrowed her brow and took in a deep breath. She crossed her arms and gave him a sharp glare.

"Kazuo. Say that to me again and I'll rip you to pieces." She said with a hint of restraint. Kazuo though tilted his head.

"Say what? You remind me of Aly-"

"Nope. I don't want to hear it!" Alice abruptly cut him. She turned her heel around to face back towards the cabins. "And stop following me!" She said before taking her leave.

"Hmm, I wonder what's gotten into her all of a sudden?" Kazuo pondered to himself while standing there still in thought. He soon shrugged. "Oh well. Maybe Phoebe would enjoy a cool lizard story!" He merrily skipped along now towards Phoebe's cabin. A door suddenly slamming open with some loud shrieking was suddenly heard from the distance. "Hey Phoebe! Want to hear a story!"

"Aaaah! Phoebe's screaming was echoing out.

"KAZUO!" Leonard was heard yelling his name as well.

(Confessional)

Alice: Grrr! That Kazuo. I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! Hmph. Saying I remind him of that trash makes it such an insult! If he's so fond of that girly-boy then why not just get together with him once this all blows over?...Hmmmm. Why do I even bother feeling this way? Its not like anything good is going to come out from him anyways!

Kazuo: *rubs arm* Man that Leonard can sure pack a mean punch. It was so strong in fact that I think my entire right shoulder is probably broken! Hahahaha! No but in all seriousness it might most likely be broken and I don't know what to do. Will this get transferred over in the virtual world I wonder?

Phoebe: Um, w-why did Kazuo suddenly b-barge into mine and Leonard's cabin to tell us a s-story about his pet lizard? I-I got so terrified th-that I nearly cried.

Leonard: Why did that lunatic Kazuo suddenly entered my cabin? It was bad enough Phoebe had a panic attack but he just had to make it worst by wanting to tell us a story about his damn lizard! I swear if I see him in the streets one day I'm going to tear him a new one!

(End confessional)

---

(Cabin 6: Paris and Blake's)

The scene now shifted to inside Paris and Blake's cabin. Both of them were still inside just minding their own with silence between them. The dancer just sat on one of the wooden chairs, legs crossed, and her head resting atop her hand. She just had her eyes set on her right hand examining her nails. Varying nail polish were spread out right in-front of her.

"Hmm. You think red will be a good colour for my nails?" She asked the prankster who was laying on top of his bed with both arms under his head. Blake though looked like he couldn't care any less. "I mean they do match both my hair and dress." She added.

"How the hell am I supposed to know? I'm not a girl nor am I into these sorts of things!" Blake answered. Paris though didn't even batter an eye to this.

"Or maybe pink for some sort of contrast?" She asked, ignoring Blake's statement.

"Are you even listening to me?" Blake sat up now to face her with a serious look.

"Yes but I still need an opinion. Any thoughts?" Paris answered back without even giving him the slightest glance.

"I don't know! You can put on a myriad of colours for all I care!" Blake said rather a bit aggressively.

"Hmm nah. I'd look like some emo freak show." Paris retorted. "Anything else?" The prankster was about done with her at this point.

"That's it! Im outta here!" He said in frustration before standing up. Blake soon walked out on her with the door slamming shut.

Blake walking out of his cabin decided to go towards the challenge building. Putting both hands in his pockets he started to press on towards the central building. As he got close the glass doors opened up to let him through. Entering now, he saw the two hosts staying by the control panel and looks to both be in a heated argument.

"I'm sorry Chris, but I just can't go through with hosting this challenge! It goes though with everything taboo!" Skell argued with a steely gaze directed at Chris.

"Oh lighten up. It's all happening in a non-existent fantasy world!" Chris retorted back at him. "The 'evil god' is made up and creating life through alchemy is just a theory! Its not like we're breaking any fundamental laws of nature or something?" He proceeded to argue. "Only a religious nut-job will believe all of this is real!"

"Still, we're adhering to this none the less!" The former reminded. "Can we at least tone it down for something more suitable for the audience?" He suggested. The latter was about to say something back when Blake suddenly interrupted them.

"Um, what's going on here?" The prankster spoke up as he approached the two hosts.

"How long have you been here?" Skell looked at him with a questioning look.

"It doesn't matter." Chris waved him off. "You were just about to call the other contestants. Weren't you?" He gave his partner a sharp glare.

"Fine!" Skell scoffed before turning around to face the control panel to make his announcement. Blake though, was still confused about the entire situation.

After a couple minutes had passed all the remaining contestants have gathered around inside the challenge building. Everyone stood by their team's awaiting for the next challenge to be announced. Chris was gone for the time being, leaving Skell alone seated at the front silently observing them.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Alice pointed out as she watched Kazuo rubbing his injured arm.

"Nothing much. I just told Phoebe and Leonard an interesting story!" He answered with a wide grin. "Ain't that right, Phoebe?" Kazuo now asked the doll faced girl.

"Y-yeah..." Phoebe stammered with a weary smile as she slowly backed away from Kazuo. While doing so she accidentally backed up onto Clint. "S-s-sorry!" She blushed heavily and looked even more panicked now. Clint didn't say anything and just simply straightened out his shirt. He then placed a hand on top of Phoebe's head causing her to look down out of embarrassment now. "Umm..."

"How insufferable." Alice shook her head low as she watched the entire exchange. "At least she's useful."

"Oh come on now. No need to get jealous." Kazuo playful placed a hand on top of Alice's head. "If you wanted one you could just ask." He chuckled to himself. Alice angrily smacked Kazuo's hand off and gave his injured arm a quick jab causing him to groan out in pain.

"Don't you dare do that to me again!" Alice growled at him with a sharp glare.

"Aww. How sweet! It looks like couples are forming up quite nicely over by the other team." Laren noted as she watched them from her team's side. She then looked towards Blake who was just minding his own awaiting for the announcement. "Hmm. Except for Blake though. What do you think, Paris?" Laren asked, who was standing behind her.

"Hmm? Did you say something?" The dancer looked at her with some confusion. She was clearly deep in thought for she looked a bit distant.

"I said that its sad that Blake is all alone in his team ever since Lucette left and I wanted to know your opinion!" Laren restated her question. "Speaking about that though, what do you think happened to Ginger? Chris didn't say anything about what happened to them?" She pondered.

"I'm sure Ginger is fine. She is, after all, one of our stronger members." Paris said with a reassuring smile. "As for your other question. I'm glad she's gone. One less person to deal with." She said with a hint of spite to her words.

"How can you be sure though?" The former tilted her head slightly. The latter though had a small grin on her face.

"I'm just certain is all." Paris answered.

As a couple minutes had passed light foot steps was heard heading their way. Everyone looked towards the front now to see Chris walking in from the back of the room. A small grin was planted on his face as he watched everyone standing right in-front of him.

"I bet all of you are tired of waiting for the next challenge to start?" The host said to them. Mixed responses came from the contestants. "Well, too bad! Since I have an announcement to make first!" He said with a smirk. Soft groaning was heard from some of the contestants. "Anyways. All of you are aware on what took place yesterday, right?" Chris asked them. Everyone seemingly nodded as their response.

"Ooh! Are you going to finally tell us who won?" Laren asked out of excitement.

"Hah! Its pretty obvious what the results are if you ask me!" Dylan said adamantly. "Obviously Ginger got the prize and Lucette got the boot!" He said with a smug look on his face.

"Au contraire monsieur Dylan." Chris wagged a finger at him with a wide grin. Everyone was surprised to hear this as a result. Most notably Paris who was more shocked to hear this.

"Wait! You mean? Ginger lost?" Nathan was taken aback at the thought. "How so?"

"Yeah! And how the hell did that weakling managed to get out of it alive as well!?" Paris demanded. Chris though, just laughed at them.

"Tsk. Tsk. You guys got it all wrong. No one has been booted out from yesterday's bonus challenge." The host finally answered them with a smirk. "And with that, please come on in and show yourself!" He exclaimed while making a gesture for someone to come in from the back. Moments later soft foot steps was heard slowly approaching them. After a short while, Lucette finally showed herself to everyone with a weary smile on her face.

"Hi, everyone!" She said softly while doing a small wave. "I'm, uhh, back I guess."

"Lucette? How come you're still here? I thought you would've went ahead and taken the prize for yourself?" Blake thought back as he saw her. Lucette though, just pouted after hearing this.

"How rude! I thought you would be more than happy to see me! I guess I thought wrong. Hmph." The princess crossed her arms and looked away from him.

"Umm, why would I?" The latter said slowly while giving her a confused look. The former was shocked to hear this.

"Chris do something! Blake is being mean to me!" Lucette said while pointing at him.

"Huh? Wh-what did I do?"

"No. Now get back to your team." Chris said sternly.

"Fine!" Lucette walked back to her team and stood right beside Blake. She crossed her arms and looked away from him. Blake though was now lost for he didn't know what's going on now.

"Great. She's back." Alice said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "More things for me to get annoyed at." She let out a sigh. Suddenly she felt a hand being placed on top of her head.

"Aww. You're being jealous again!" Kazuo said to her while rubbing her head. Alice smacked away his hand and kicked him down under. She soon stomped away from him. "Eep. I knew that was going to happen." He said, trying to hold back from screaming in pain.

"Well...at least their team has changed much even after yesterday's events." Laren commented with a warm smile as she watched the other team. "I wonder if it'll be the same if Ginger was in Lucette's place instead?" She started to ponder.

"Hmph. I doubt it." Paris muttered coolly under her breath as she kept a steely gaze at Lucette.

"What did you say?" Laren looked at her with a confused look now.

"Oh, umm, I said most definitely. She is our trusted friend after all." Paris lied with a fake smile. Laren didn't take hint of this and just smiled.

"Yeah!" She beamed.

"Wait, if no one lost and Lucette is here, does that mean Ginger got the prize?" Nathan thought aloud.

"You got that right." The host gave him an affirmative nod. "Though she was dangerously close to losing it all. If it weren't for Lucette she would have lost really." He looked towards the aforementioned with a slight grin. "Too bad you guys didn't get to see it. It was quite surprising to say the least." He chuckled lightly.

"Well where is she then? Why isn't she here as well?" Laren asked with a slight pout.

"Yeah...I've got a lot of things I want to talk her about as well." Paris added in with a faked smile.

"Hmph. Probably enjoying herself somewhere after running away with the prize." Leonard sneered in a low sounding tone with his arms crossed.

"Actually...you're not that far off, Jag." Chris mused him. "She's currently staying in a secret location deep in this forest until merge hits. And when I meant deep, I really meant deep." He further emphasized. "You guys are more than welcome to go and find her once today's challenge is over but you guys will be disqualified if none of you make it back here before the next challenge starts." He challenged them with a slight snicker. "Nah. Just kidding. I don't want another lawsuit filed under me." He started laughing for a bit. "Anyways." The host cleared his throat.

Skell got the signal and rolled his eyes. Spinning his chair around now, he started tapping away at the control panel until the large over-head screen came to life. Two ancient-looking books were shown on screen displayed side-by-side under distinctive styles. The book on the right had a thick, dark-purple cover heavily wrapped around with a chain and padlock. A faint blue glow was being emitted through the gaps in the chain. The book on the left though looked a lot older than the other. The cover was worn with slight tears on the edges. It was in a shade of light brown with bleached out spots to further emphasize its old age. Old, rotting twine held the book together by it's spine. No image was displayed on the front cover except for some faded out markings showing evidence of something was written on it before. Both held an unsettling aura between them showcasing the malicious purpose of these two texts.

"For today's challenge, all of you will be breaking all laws of nature and cross the gap between man and god." Chris exaggerated the last word to make it more dramatic. "A challenge that'll break all your morals. Question your faith and humanity. As well as enter the deep depths of religious taboo." A grim smile was planted on his face. "For today's challenge, you guys will be tasked in creating life through alchemy or dark arts."

"Creating life? Would it be easier if we just grab a girl instead and-" Kazuo was about to finish his sentence when Alice elbowed him hard on the gut. "Ugh...I'm not going to get a break am I?..."

"Well, you are breaking something at least." Chris remarked. "Anyways. The rules are pretty much simple. Just choose a book and perform whatever instructions given in these books until one team is able to create a functioning being with it's own consciousness. Provided that you guys have the knowledge to do so anyways." He said mockingly. "Since the dawn team won last challenge they get to choose which book they'll be using. So what will it be? Alchemy or Rituals?" The host asked them now. The mentioned team all faced each other for which they're going to choose.

"So what book are we going to use?" Laren asked her team with a curious look. "I don't have a clue on either one of them really." She pouted.

"Not like it would even matter. Since its not like anyone of us know either!" Leonard looked rather irritated with the choice.

"Well, not entirely so..." Nathan piped in. "I've read a lot of books and, well, you could say I skimmed through some regarding both..." He said looking rather embarrassed. "So I'm good with either choice."

"Hmm. That's interesting to note. So what do you suggest then?" Dylan asked him now. Nathan just started pondering for a bit.

"Well, from the little research I've done all I can say is that alchemy regarding life is still shrouded in theories and skeptics. While rituals are more or less anecdotal when it comes to success. The decision is also made difficult due to both not having any scientific evidence." Nathan explained with a slight frown. "So I'm not sure really."

"I see." Dylan nodded. "How about we try the alchemy one then?" He suggested

"I say we choose the ancient rituals one." Paris stepped. Dylan though, gave her a skeptic look.

"And what makes you say that?" He questioned the dancer.

"What other choice do you think we have? I'm not going to risk my chances with theories! And I'm sure everyone here feels the same." Paris argued with a sharp look. "And besides, none of us here are chemists."

"Fine. No need to get all rattled up now." Dylan said slightly aggravated. He turned away from his team now to face Chris. "Hey Chris! We've come to a conclusion!" He called out to him.

"What is it then?" The host asked.

Giving Paris a quick look, he answered. "We choose the book on rituals." Dylan said in a serious tone.

"I see." Chris nodded. "Well then, that leaves the alchemy book to the dusk team." Chris faced them with a slight smirk. "I hope you guys passed your chemistry classes for you guys are going to need it." He joked.

"C-chemistry? The school I go to hasn't th-thought me that yet..." Phoebe said meekly.

"Same here." Lucette added in with a sad look. "I grew up in an orphanage so my education was limited."

"Don't worry girls! I know a thing or two about chemistry!" Kazuo beamed. "You can count on me to get us through this!" He added in with a toothy grin.

"Please tell me we're not relying on Kazuo for this." Alice loathed the idea.

"Well, I'm not sure about chemistry but I do know how to make bombs so that's worth something!" Blake said to his team with a wide grin. His team just gave him worried looks after hearing it. "What?" He looked confused now.

"Why the fuck do you know how to make bombs for?!" Alice exclaimed.

"What? I use them for the pranks I pull! Stink and powder bombs don't come cheap you know?" Blake defended himself. "And besides, they're harmless." He assured. Alice just let out a deep sigh and massaged her temples.

"We're doomed." She looked defeated.

"H-how about you, Clint? C-can you do anything about it?" Phoebe looked up to ask Clint who was standing behind her. Clint just gave the doll faced girl a quick look to see her desperate plea before giving her a nod on response.

"I'll do what I can." He answered.

"Great! Now that things are finally settled its time we get things underway!" The host exclaimed. "Oh! And one more thing..." This caught everyone's attention. "Tonight is also going to be a double elimination!" He announced. Everyone was taken aback and shocked to hear this.

"Wait! What? What's with the sudden added risk?" Dylan asked, looking a bit surprised.

"I just got word from the producer last night that it needed to happen is all. All because the team count got reduced but not the player count due to yesterday's events. So a double elimination is needed in order to remedy this." Chris explained to them.

"How come you didn't tell me about this?" Skell looked a bit alarmed.

"Eh. Must've slipped my mind." Chris shrugged. "Anyways...Everyone. Time to get in your pods to get this party started!" He commanded them. All the remaining contestants got moving and entered the individual pods. With the contestants now all safely inside the pods, the camera started to slowly zoom in on the two hosts.

"I'm still not going in there to get my hands tainted with this mess." Skell said looking very serious about it.

"Fine. Suit yourself. Have fun boring yourself to death here." Chris said sternly before walking on away.

---

The scene shifting to inside the virtual world now showcased all the contestants inside a large, spacious tomb. Torches affixed on to the walls lit up the place but just barely. Beneath them is a faded red carpet rolled all the way towards the end of the tomb leading towards steps to a raised shrine. On top of it where the two books guarded on each side by two imposing suits of armour with their weapons on the ready.

The suit of armour on the right side guarding the book on rituals is in a deep shade of red. Thick shoulder padding with diamond shaped crests were attached to it. The elbows and knees of the suit were smaller diamond shaped as well. The chest piece is slightly puffed out and pointed with a small slope leading down the from the neck. The helm's face mask was flat and squared with a single T-shaped slit on the center. On it's right hand the suit held a poleaxe with a large frontal blade curving slightly at the bottom end to form hook while the back blade was smaller and pointed upwards.

On the other side of the shrine, guarding the book on alchemy, is a more feminine suit of armor radiating in a brilliant blue tone. The design was more elegant and slimer as well as being smaller in size. The helm had a more beak-like design with the chin and forehead being pointed forward. The face mask was a rounder with half ovals tilted slightly towards each other to give it a fierce look. On the suit's belt straddled on the left side is a sheathed blade. The handle is made of dark, durable wood with both the handle and pommel made of gold.

Everyone was awestruck and left to wonder while taking in all that was placed in-front of them.

"So are we supposed to just grab them and go?" Blake asked no one in particular.

"I more curious about the grand set-up really." Kazuo responded.

"Who do I have a sudden bad feeling about this?" Dylan looked a bit unease. Clint felt the same over on his side of the teams as he looked towards the shrine up ahead.

"It doesn't matter. Let's just get our book and get it over with." Leonard said sternly as he walked on forward.

"Umm...I-I think one of us should g-get our book as well." Phoebe said meekly as she watched Leonard walking off.

"I'll do it!" Kazuo hastily volunteered.

"No you don't!" Alice scoffed. "Knowing you you'll just do something random to the books!" She protested. "I'll do it!" She soon left them for the book. No one from her team decided to stop her.

After a short walk both Leonard and Alice made it to the bottom of the steps. The former pressed on ahead while the latter tailed him slightly behind. As the two made it to the shrine, they both attempted to reach for their own team's book but a sudden slight clanking caused Alice to hesitate.

"What's wrong with you?" Leonard questioned for he took notice. Alice gave him no mind and peered directly at the blue suit next to her. "Hmph. Whatever." He brushed her off and continued to reach for the ritual book. As Leonard grabbed hold of the book the clanking sound suddenly grew noticeable catching his attention.

"LEONARD! DUCK!" A male voice alerted him from behind.

"What?" Leonard looking beside him now saw the red suit of armour swinging it's large axe right at him. "Shit!" He managed to dodge under the attack get away from the shrine. This caused the blade to hit the wall in-front of him instead. Leonard turning around saw Nathan with his katana drawn standing behind him now.

Alice seeing this quickly drew out her dagger and turned towards the blue suit of armour. By doing so she was able to block an oncoming back-handed sword swing with the sheath still on. A loud metallic clang rang out for the sheath's sides were covered in metal. With the left hand holding on to the sheath, the blue suit pulled out the blade using it's right hand and went for a downward slash. Alice though managed to barely dodge out and roll out of the way.

The red suit easily pulled it's blade out of from the wall and went in for another swing using the smaller blade but Nathan was able to parry it with his katana. Although he managed to do so, the force of the swing was enough to get him off-balanced leaving him exposed. The red suit took this opportunity to kick him off and send him sliding down the steps. Nathan was left groaning in pain down on the bottom.

"The hell?!" Leonard clashed blades with the red suit of armour creating a loud clang that echoed out. "Ugh." He was soon struggling to maintain his stand.

"Someone do something!" Laren pleaded to her team.

"I'm on it!" Dylan drew out his sword and ran off to the side, vanishing into the shadows. As he approached from the side he quickly jumped in with his sword raised preparing for a strike.

The red suit of armour well anticipating this to happen twisted it's weapon causing it to hook on to Leonard's naginata. It then used Leonard's force to pull throw behind. By doing so the red suit used the momentum of it's action to swing the lower end of the poleaxe to swat Dylan away. Both Dylan and Leonard crashed into the shrine breaking it to pieces. It soon straightened out it's weapon and pounded the bottom on to the floor victoriously.

"Guys! A little help here!" Alice cried out to her team while desperately trying to defend against the blue armour's relentless swordplay with her dagger. Hugging tightly on to her chest was the book on alchemy. After a few more strokes her opponent managed to cut her on the left leg causing her to hiss in pain and drop down to one knee. "Damn..." She cursed.

With the blue suit of armour now having the upper hand, it placed the blade of it's sword on top of Alice's left shoulder close to her neck. Raising the sword up high again it was about to finally strike her down when an arrow suddenly pierced armour's wrist and knocking the blade right out of their hand. Both turning to where it came from saw Clint standing on the ready with another arrow drawn. His wolf was seen standing right behind him glaring menacingly at the suit of armour while letting out a low sounding growl. Seeing this, the suit jumped backwards towards it's blade before breaking off the arrow in it's wrist. The blue suit grabbed the blade and placed it back in it's sheath, readying for another slash.

"Hold still!" Lucette instructed Alice for she managed to get close from behind. She raised her staff and made the gem glow a green light that enveloped Alice. Her wound started to close with the pain quickly fading away.

"Took you guys...long enough..." Alice said in-between breaths. She took in a deep breath before standing up herself on her newly healed leg. She wobbled a bit but managed to balance herself.

"You should stay back and let the others take over for now. You need to rest." Lucette suggested, looking concerned for her.

"Hmph. Like hell I would! I'm not about to give in that easily!" Alice protested. She soon shoved the book onto Lucette's arms. "Here. Take this and get out of here. We'll call you if you're needed." She said coldly before rushing off towards the blue suit of armour, dagger in hand.

"Grrr. I'll show you who'll be needed!" Lucette alter spoke through the ring, sounding angered, causing the gem to glow bright. Lucette quickly covered up the ring with the palm of her hand and instantly turned to run the other way.

"No! Don't show yourself yet!" She pleaded in a hushed tone.

Back on over by the broken shrine, both Dylan and Leonard stood strong with their weapons raised against the red suit. Both were panting heavily but kept a steady stance. Behind the suit from the bottom of the steps Nathan stood on the ready as well. The red suit of armour just took on a defensive stance awaiting for either of them to make a move.

"Damn...he's tough..." Dylan said looking very much out of breath. "He already took on the three of us and still nothing!"

"Hmph. I'm not about to let this tin can get in my way!" Leonard roared with his eyes dead set on the suit. He then rushed in recklessly towards the opposition, weapon in hand.

"Leonard! Wait!" The gamer rushed in with him as well.

As Leonard got in close, he leapt forward and raised his naginata high to perform a powerful, crushing blow. The red suit of armour just easily blocked the attempt with it's weapon's shaft.

"Over here!" Dylan came in fast from the side with his large sword ready for a swing. Swinging wildly at the suit, the attack let out a loud clang for his opponent managed to block it as well by tipping the poleaxe downwards. Both Dylan and Leonard now were doing their hardest to overpower the red suit.

While the struggle continued, Nathan came in swiftly from behind with his katana raised over his head. Igniting his blade with his dark magic he sliced down on the suit from behind. "Hah!" He roared just before slicing down followed by a loud metallic clang. "What?!" Nathan was now left stunned when he saw his attack did absolutely nothing. Not even a scratch.

With all three attacks absorbed by the red suit of armour, it flicked it's weapon forward sending both Leonard and Dylan flying backwards and down the steps. Nathan tried to pull away now but the suit managed to catch his katana blade and pulled him in. He got tossed towards the wall feeling the wind getting knocked out of him before bouncing right off and landing hard on the ground. All three of them were downed once more.

Meanwhile, the blue suit of armour was excellently keeping both Alice and the wolf at bay with the sword and sheath. Not even Clint can get in a good shot for every arrow he shoots were either being dodged, blocked, or cut in midair. They kept on trying to press on to find an advantage but the suit wasn't easily letting up.

"Damn! This isn't working!" Alice whined as her jab got parried again by the sheath. The wolf tried to get in a lunge from behind but couldn't get close due to the sword keeping him out of range. Another arrow whiffed passed the suit and drove deep into the far wall behind. "Ah!" The sound of Alice's dagger bouncing and sliding away echoed out the for the suit managed to disarm arm her. It soon aimed the tip of the sword right at her and lunged. "Shit!" Alice managed to just barely dodge out of the way. With swift and agile movements, the blue suit of armour made a sudden twist in it's heel as it passed by and slammed Alice with the sheath, knocking her down with a single blow.

Gasps were heard coming from her team, as well as a feeling of shock as they watched her in her helpless state. Having no time to waste, Clint quickly dropped his bow and drew out his blades and charged. Steel clashed for both he and the suit locked blades against each other. The wolf now went in for a pounce now but the suit was a step ahead and fell on its back while grabbing onto Clint's arms. Essentially using Clint's forward momentum to throw him backwards and hitting a stone pillar, knocking him out, as well as dodging the wolf's attack. Getting up quickly, it lunged at the beast causing it to yelp before disappearing a flash of light.

"W-we need to do something!" Phoebe pleaded with Blake as they helplessly watch their teammates get beaten.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe, but we just can't. Not yet at least." The prankster turned her down with a shake of his head. "We need to protect this book and somehow get out of here. We can't win if all of us die!" He explained to her.

"B-but...c-can I at least send Savior over there?" Phoebe suggested with a sad look. Blake just shook his head no once more.

"We need to be at our best if the fight comes our way. Doing so will only exhaust you." Blake reasoned, feeling a built guilty by doing so.

"A-alright..." Phoebe hesitantly agreed. She continued to just helplessly watch them fight on. Stopping her urge to run in and help.

With both fronts having been easily taken care of by the pair of armour, both set out to finish them off. The hulking red suit of armour stood over the unconscious Nathan while the elegant blue suit stood over Alice in a similar state. The former raised it's weapon just above his victim's head while the latter pointed the blade on it's own target's neck. Both were about to finish them off when the two of them suddenly got stopped in their executions.

"I'm sorry but we really need that book." Paris said calmly for she was underneath the poleaxe's blade and blocked it with her own.

Meanwhile, a metallic crashing was heard over on the other side. The camera panning towards it showed a stone pillar had erupted from the ground, sending the blue suit of armour sending it flying over to the back wall.

"I was supposed to be here earlier but you look like you were having too much fun beating them up." Kazuo chuckled softly as he held his spell book with one hand. The blue suit of armour just simply stood up like nothing happened and accepted his challenge.

Both suits of armour soon changed their course of action and decided to take on their new opponents.

The red suit of armour raised it's weapon high and swing it back down. Paris managed to easily side step it though quick foot work leaving the suit now exposed. Pressing with her advantage, she lunged her rapier forward with the tip aimed at the gap in it's mask. To her surprise nothing was inside the red suit for the tip just hit the back of the helm and popped it right off. The sound of the helmet bouncing and rolling echoed all through out.

"What?" The dancer tried to pull her now exposed arm away but got grabbed and raised up high "Ah!" She was then slammed hard on to the stone floor leaving her racked in pain.

Happening at the same over on the lower ground, Kazuo was doing his best to keep the blue suit of armour and him in parity. He let loose all his spells in a variety of ways but with each attempt of him getting struck down his opponent manages to get closer and closer.

"Ha!" Kazuo swept his right arm towards the left to cast a torrent of frozen spikes to erupt from the suit's left. His opponent managed to roll away before and could hit. "Have another!" The former swiped his right arm towards the right now, casting the same spell creating stone spikes coming from the latter's right. The suit though was able to defend against it using it's blade and sheath. With only a straight path leading towards Kazuo left, the blue suit charged at him with the sword drawn. "This was easier than I thought." He said from under his breath with a slight grin.

As the suit was coming in fast and close, brightly glowing crystal spikes suddenly erupted right in-front of it causing it to stop and slide in it's path. Soon another set of spikes erupted right behind it, trapping the suit in a ring of spikes.

"Hmph. Good-bye." Kazuo flicked his fingers causing a roaring pillar of flames to erupt from underneath the suit and consuming it in fire. "Hmm, that was easy." Thinking that the fight is now over, he turned around started walking towards his team. With him caught unaware now, the suit emerged jumping out of the flames and landing on his back. The hot metal boots singed away the cloth underneath and started burning away at Kazuo's back. Kazuo's agonizing scream filled the tomb as the suit of armour pressed down harder, burning his now exposed flesh even more in attempt to execute him that way.

"Ah! M-make it stop!" Phoebe begged, completely terrified from what she's witnessing. She was sitting on the ground with her head tucked in between her knees and chest. Her arms over her head and ears in attempt to block of the screaming.

Over back on top of the platform, the red suit of armour was down on to one knee and raised Paris up with her hair. The dancer was doing her best to set herself free but was little to no use. She made attempts reaching for her blade that was merely inches away from her fingers but couldn't.

"Ah! Let go!" Paris said through gritted teeth as she tried to pull her hair loose while at the same time pounding on the metal forearm. She soon stopped, breathing in heavily, for the grip was too strong and was just draining all her energy. Seconds later her eyes soon met with her own reflection for the poleaxe's large blade was now in-front of her. The suit held the weapon by it's neck, raising it high, preparing for the execution.

"Paris! No!" Laren helplessly watched on for she knew she can't do anything to intervene. As the pair of living suit's of armour were about close to finishing of their opponents, a voice coming from behind the still standing contestants suddenly rant out, commanding them to stop.

"Hold it! That's about enough." The voice command. Both followed their command and withdrew themselves and their weapons. Paris got dropped back on to the floor, trying to muster up what remained of her strength, while Kazuo was trying to finally catch his breath. The red suit slung it's weapon over it's shoulders while the blue suit returned it inside it's sheath and strapped it back on it's waist. Both soon walked towards their original positions on the platform. The remaining conscious contestants then looked towards where it came from only to see Chris walking out of the shadows behind them. "I see you all met the guardian knights?" He said with a smirk.

"Chris? Why are you here? And what the hell is going on?" Blake was quick to question him as the host approached.

"Yeah. It was horrifying! All of them weren't even able to land a scratch on them." Laren said sadly as she gave her unconscious teammates a quick glance back.

"Well, to answer your first question, I'm here to further explain the challenge. As for the second, the pair was just doing their job in protecting the books from being stolen is all." The host answered.

"Stolen?...Why would we need to *cough* steal them for?...You told us to take one!..." Paris confronted Chris about it as she did her best to limp her way towards them. Laren, seeing her teammate in bad shape, quickly rushed to her aid and placed one of Paris's arms over her shoulder. Chris though, just wagged a finger at her with a smug look.

"Correction. I told you to choose one." The host said in a slightly mocking tone. "I never said anything about getting one." He smirked. "I was supposed to join you guys here and give more added details to the challenge and personally hand the books over to avoid this whole mess but seeing you guys struggle would make for an interesting show so why stop it?" He let out a soft chuckle. Paris wanted to lash out at him but her aching body won't let her, only letting out a snarl. "Anyways, gather the others and get them back up standing. I'll be needing everyone's full attention for this." He grinned.

After a short while the fallen contestants had already gotten back up and staying right beside their teams. Paris was doing her best to heal up her team with her dance while Lucette was doing the same with her staff. Soon enough, they were all feeling better and have gathered right in-front of him.

"So, are you all ready to actually begin the challenge?" Chris asked them with a slight snicker. No one answered him and received harsh stares from some of them. "Hmm. Welcoming." He let out a short laugh. "Anyways, here's your actual instructions for the challenge." Chris cleared his throat now. "As all of you know, both teams were tasked with creating life with these two books. Right? Well, that was just the more 'basic' explanation of the challenge. The actual challenge is to actually replicate or summon a soul and fuse them into these sets of armour." He gestured to both suits standing motionlessly behind him in their original position. "Once that's over you guys will have to simply bring them back here. Simple!" He ended his explanation with a wide grin.

"Bring them back? Wouldn't that mean we would have to travel somewhere?" Alice complained. "After making us fight for no reason you still expect us to travel!" She raised her voice at him.

"Yes. Any problems with it? Wait! Don't answer that. I think I already know your answer." Chris started to laugh at her. Alice just kept a sharp glare at him while letting out a low growl. "Anyways..." He snapped his fingers. The tomb started suddenly shaking causing some small debris to fall down right above them. Moments later two doorways appeared behind where the two suits of armour stood. "Both teams will be following these two down these hallways for they will lead you to where you all will be performing the challenge. The dusk team will follow the blue suit while the dawn team will follow the red suit." He now explained. "Also, dawn team, here's your book." Chris tossed the book towards them. Dylan fumbled in catching the book. "Any questions."

"I-Is it dark in there?" Phoebe meekly asked with her right hand slightly raised.

"Yes. And full of spiders and cobwebs as well." The host plainly answered. Phoebe was now visibly shaking at the thought. "Anyone else with an actual question?" No one bothered to ask. "Alrighty then. You may all begin." He gestured at both suits to walk down the halls. Both nodded and started to walk down the path. The two teams followed them shortly after. Some of them struggled to enter but was convinced to do so otherwise. "This is going to be a lot of fun." Chris chuckled with slight grin.

---

Inside the narrow hall the place was nearly pitch dark. The contestants could barely see anything that was right in-front of them. All of them were walking quietly further inside with only the sounds of their foot steps and the suit of armour's metallic clanging can be heard echoing all around.

"A-are w-we almost th-there?" Phoebe asked, stuttering so much that it was almost un-cohesive. "Ah!" She heard something crumble which caused her to freak out.

"Don't w-worry, Phoebe. As long as you don't let go of my hand things will be alright. Right?" Lucette assured her but sounded unsure of herself.

"Yeah. It'll be a piece a cake! Its only darkness after all!" Blake assured for them. "I mean just look, or hear rather, at Clint! He's pretty calm about this whole ordeal!" He swung his hand in attempt of patting him but he accidentally smacked someone at the back of the head by mistake.

"Hey! Watch it!" Alice growled at him.

"Sorry! I thought Clint was still walking next to me!" The prankster explained himself.

"I'm in-front of you." Clint responded to Blake.

"You know, this whole vision problem would be fixed if I use my magic!" Kazuo suggested with quite the enthusiasm in his tone.

"Yeah. Sounds like a good- No." Alice said back, sounded serious.

"Hey guys. I think I see something up ahead!" Lucette pointed out to her team.

---

"Man...that was a long walk." Nathan looked beat as he followed the red suit inside a dimly lit room.

"Hmph...that was nothing..." Leonard said back as he entered right after, though looking winded as well.

"Took you guys long enough. I thought you guys would never get here." Dylan said with a smug look with both arms crossed as he stood in the center of the room. Standing behind him was an old statue of a woman wearing a robe with its hood down standing valiantly tall.

"What do you mean? How'd you get here before us?" Leonard snapped at him.

"Cool it, big guy. Are you forgetting about my capabilities? If so then you better watch you're back once merge hits, since you might never know what might be creeping." Dylan replied with a sharp stare. "If you know, you ever get to reach it." He laughed. Leonard, not taking this lightly, decided to stomp on towards him and stared him down.

"You tryin' to tick me off? Runt!" He said in a low, menacing tone.

"Hmph. Its not like you can take me on." Dylan scoffed. Both just glared deeply into each other.

"Enough! Both of you. Otherwise I'll get both of you voted out!" Paris decided to intervene. "Remember, its double elimination tonight. If we lose this even a single vote can take you out." She threatened them.

Both boys stood their in silence for a few moments before Leonard finally stood down. "Fine." He stepped away from Dylan now. "Don't you think for a second that this is over." He said before heading back the way they came. On the way he crossed paths with Laren who was the last one to get inside the room.

"Oh, hey Leonard! Uhh, where you going?" She looked confused as she watched him slowly fade into the dark halls.

"None of your business!" Leonard answered with his voice echoing down.

"Okay..." Laren trailed off as she watched him disappear down the dark hall. She turned towards her team and ask them but her attention was suddenly caught by something else. "Is that a pentagram you guys are standing on?"

(Confessional)

Dylan: Hmph. I say good riddance! If that's how he wants to go down then so be it! Only thing I have left to worry about is not getting dragged down with him. Because its bright as day on whose he voting for if we lose. I wonder how I can get out of this?

Leonard: If I'm going down I might as well drag that son of a bitch with me! This one for sure won't fail me since, like what Paris said, tonight's going to be a double.

Paris: Those two knuckle heads! If only I wasn't stuck with just one vote I would've voted for both of them! *takes a deep breath* Don't lose it now, Paris, we can still win this. Alchemy looks like it'll be harder than rituals so we still have a chance.

Laren: Umm, am I missing something? Why did Leonard leave and everyone became so quiet all of a sudden? And why was everyone standing in the middle of a pentagram like that!? Man...if only I didn't decided to take a break I wouldn't be so lost.

(End confessional)

Everyone from the team, except Leonard, has finally calmed down and had gathered around the pentagram. Peculiar ancient writings were written along it's outer ring with a circle on each star point. All of them were scattered about in the room in trying to figure out what all of this could possibly mean.

"Dammit! I couldn't make heads or tails of what's written on this book!" Dylan complained while sitting in a corner of the room. The ancient book lay flat right in-front of him with the pages opened.

"Same here." Nathan added in with a sad look. He was leaning on the wall next to Dylan with both arms crossed. "I can't even figure out what language this book was written in as well. Latin, perhaps?" He guessed.

"Well whatever it is, we sure ain't figuring it out anytime soon!" Dylan slammed the book shut. Some bits of dust got blown away afterwards. "How was Chris even able to make something like this anyways? Knowing him, I doubt he could've even thought up anything as intricate as this thing!" He started to question while starring at the front cover.

"Maybe Skell did?" Nathan took a guess. "He looks like the type of guy that would be dealing in this sort of stuff. He has tribal tattoos on him so who knows?" He shrugged.

"I doubt it though." The gamer debuted. "He seemed like he wasn't all into this challenge since Chris was the one who explained everything rather than Skell." He explained.

"Hey guys! Get over here! We need you to see something!" Paris suddenly called them over from the other side of the room. Both boys gave each other perplexed looks before heading over towards her. Walking over they saw Laren and Paris standing on the right side of the statue.

"You two need us for something?" Dylan asked both of them.

"Yeah. I need both of you to take a look back here and tell me what you think." Paris gestured towards the back of the statue. Dylan, looking a bit confused, moved to where Paris was standing and took a peak at the back of the statue. He then noticed two rusted handles on the back of the statue. Nathan did the same and saw what Dylan saw as well.

"Uhh, why do you need to show us this for?" Dylan gave the dancer a skeptic look.

"You're the pro gamer here right? Surely you should know what something like that means. Right?" Paris crossed her arms at him.

"What is that supposed to do with anything?!" The former argued. The latter just looked disappointed in him and shook her head.

"How about you, Nathan? You know what to do here?" She asked the other boy instead.

"I'm guessing you want us to find a way to push this onto the symbol?" Nathan answered. Paris just let out a soft smile.

"Good! Glad to see someone got it." Paris replied with a smug look aimed towards the gamer. Dylan wasn't all to amused by this at all. "Now that's settled..." She trailed off and moved aside. "Get to it!" She chuckled now. "Come on, Laren, let's give the guys some space."

"Umm, okay." Laren agreed but sounded a bit unsure with herself. With both girls out of the way, both boys soon went to work. Both of them could only manage to insert one arm in from the back of the statue.

"Ugh...she could've just said so..." Dylan uttered irritably as he tried to push. He started groaning in he process.

"Well, umm, don't let it get to you I guess..." Nathan said to him while doing the same thing. After a short while both of them stopped with exhausted looks for the statue wouldn't even budge.

"Damn...this is harder than it looks..." Dylan said while panting.

"If only Leonard were here. He would've been able to push this." Nathan commented on their endeavor.

"We don't need him." Dylan scoffed. "We just need to find a different way for this thing to move." He placed a hand on his chin in thought. "Hmmm..."

While Dylan was deep in his thoughts, Nathan started to look around the room to see if he could find anything useful. He soon spotted the red suit of armour just standing idly by in one corner. An idea soon came to him.

"What if we get that suit to move it? Maybe it can get this heavy statue to budge." He suggested.

"Hmm, maybe..." Dylan trailed off, thinking it might just work. He gave the armour a quick stare before walking towards the red suit. "Hey! Move that statue on to the circle!" He commanded the suit. The suit just stood there motionless. "Worth the shot I guess?" He shook his head and was about to walk back away from the suit when the sound of metal clinking caught his attention. Suddenly, he felt the suit brush of his shoulder and walked towards the statue. It soon started pushing the statue from behind and was slowly moving it towards the circle. "Hmm, that was easy." He thought to himself.

The moment the statue got properly placed on the middle of the pentagram on the floor the lines and symbols soon started to emit a light-blue glow. The sound of stone grinding against one another started to fill the room for the arms of the statue started to move and cupped them together as if begging for something. Everyone in the room were left mind-boggled from what just happened.

"Uhh, guys? You need to see this!" Laren called out to all of them. Everyone looking towards her saw the book that was left on the ground suddenly floating with the pages turning on their own. The faded marks on the book's cover started glowing as well, mirroring the same symbol that was on the ground. After a short while, the book started floating towards the statue and placed itself on top of its hands. The statue soon started cracking with lights escaping from the cracks.

"Is this supposed to be a good thing?" Paris asked both boys. She looked a bit paranoid about what's happening.

"We better hope so..." Dylan answered.

---

Back on over to the dawn team, the room they were all in was similar to that of the other team's except for a few things. Instead of a statue placed in the back of the room, it was a small furnace with the flames glowing steadily behind the metal bars. Tables were placed on each side of the furnace with various test tubes and glasses containing liquids, powders, and other materials inside of them. Lastly, the sigil marked on to the floor contained an encircled triangle with smaller circles containing odd symbols each as well as one more in the center of the triangle.

Kazuo, standing in-front of one of the tables, held the alchemy book in one hand and mixing the peculiar items into one single flask. Phoebe was also standing next to him, all the while shaking in fear. His other teammates were all quietly watching him with looks of both concern and distrust as he continued on with the entire process.

"Y-you sure you w-want me to help?" The latter said shakily all the while starring at the former's concoction.

"Yes!" Kazuo happily replied. "Now hurry up and pass me that vile." He pointed towards a glass filled with blue liquid.

"O-okay..." Phoebe handed him the glass in which Kazuo quickly poured in. "Eek!" She shrieked when the concoction started to fizzle.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Alice said with both arms crossed while keeping a steady glare at Kazuo. "I don't trust him with whatever he's doing with those chemicals." She pointed out.

"What choice do we have? He's the only one that can read whatever is written on that book." Blake replied, looking a bit uneasy with all this. Alice let out a deep sigh in response.

"All because that spell book of his is written in the same way." She shook her head low. Alice then gave the symbol on the floor a quick look. "And what is it with this symbol anyways?" She questioned.

"It's a transmutation circle." Clint answered her. "Its common symbolism used in alchemy. With different markings serving different purposes." He explained.

"How come you know so much about these little details, Clint?" Lucette curiously asked.

"I've played a lot of RPGs. Stuff like these are, more or less, present in most." He answered. "Learning about them only comes natural." Clint added in.

"If you know a lot about these sort of things then how come you're not the one doing whatever he's doing?" Alice pointed a finger towards Kazuo.

"I just recognize them. I don't meddle with them." Clint calmly answered.

"Eureka! I did it!" Everyone heard Kazuo exclaim. Looking towards him, everyone saw the flask filled with a blood-red liquid he held in his hand. A wide grin was planted on his face as he held it up for everyone to see. The liquid looked to be very viscous and thick due to the way it sloshed around in the flask.

"What is that?" Alice cautiously asked as she eyed the substance.

"This, my dear Alice, is called a red liquid!" Kazuo proudly answered. Everyone looked to be dumbfounded by his answer. "What? Its actually called that in the book!"

"Please don't tell me you spent time making whatever that is just because of it's name." Alice looked unamused with him. Kazuo didn't say anything but just kept up his grin. "Why am I not surprised..." She sighed deeply.

"Don't worry about it because you're in luck! It just so happens that this red liquid is actually a mini Philosopher's stone!" Kazuo explained.

"A Philosopher's stone? What's that?" Lucette looked confused.

"A Philosopher's stone is the most powerful item in all of alchemy due to it being able to amplify the capabilities of an alchemist." Clint instantly answered. "The stone is also able to bypass the absolute law of alchemy being equivalent exchange where the alchemist has to give something back equaling to the amount you used." He added in.

"If that's the case then why not just make the actual thing instead of a weaker version?" Blake questioned.

"That's because its not in here. It says in the book that the recipe to create the actual thing has long been forgotten as well as lost in history." Kazuo explained. "Hence why this thing here is the weaker version since it was made from what was still known." He added.

"Is that the reason why its all liquid-y instead of being a stone?" Lucette curiously asked.

"I don't know. I'm not the person who wrote this." Kazuo shrugged. "All I know its not yet finished. This thing still needs to be crystalized."

"Then what are you waiting for then? Get to it then!" Alice looked frustrated with him.

"Don't worry I'm already on it!" Kazuo answered. He suddenly raised the flask above his head and was about to drink it but Alice suddenly grabbed his arm and stopped him. Everyone else were surprised to see what he had planned.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" She looked shocked.

"Drinking it?" Kazuo answered slowly.

"Whatever the fuck for?!" Alice snapped at him.

"Well it says here in order for it to crystalize it needs to be introduced to a human body. Because its the only way for it to merge with the host's soul." The former explained.

"You can't be serious." The latter placed both of her hands on her hips. Alice kept a steady cold stare at him.

"I am! Watch!" Kazuo attempted to drink it again but was stopped when Alice quickly snatched the flask away from him.

"Give me that!" Alice said while taking the flask from his hand. She gave the viscous dark liquid a quick once over before looking back towards her teammate. "Let's say I believe in all this. Why does it have to be you of all people to drink whatever this thing is? You're the only one who bloody knows how to read that damn book!" She exclaimed.

"Hmm, you do have a point." Kazuo nodded in agreement. "Then that only means one thing!" He paused and turned towards Phoebe. The doll faced girl just gulped for what's to come. "Phoebe. As my assistant you are automatically chosen to be my test subject!" He declared.

"W-what!?" Phoebe looked shocked.

"Hold on, Kazuo. You can't be serious!" Blake objected.

"Yeah! I don't think its a good idea either!" Lucette backed him up.

"Oh please...stop sucking up to him. He clearly has other plans." Lucette alter muttered from her ring in which Lucette immediately hid her hand behind her back before anyone could notice.

"Of course I am! It just makes perfect sense it all!" Kazuo replied. "Unless you or anybody else wants to take her place instead?" He smirked.

"Well I...umm..." The prankster didn't know what else to say. Silence filled the room for no one wanted to say something either.

"That settles it then! Phoebe, bottoms up!" Kazuo raised the flask in front of Phoebe. The red liquid swirling about as he did. She looked at it in horror while at the same time gazing at her own distorted reflection. Taking in a heavy gulp, Phoebe took the flask from Kazuo's hand and held it with a shaken grip. She gave her team one last glance only to be met with silent contemplations. Closing her eyes she slowly raised the glass up to her lips and was about to take in the first drop when someone suddenly called out.

"Wait! I'll do it!" Clint calmly stepped forward. Everyone in the room looked surprised at him, especially Phoebe. Kazuo though, looked as if he was expecting this to happen.

"Hmm, how am I not surprised?" Kazuo lightly chuckled. "You've been sticking up for her lately. I wonder why?" He grinned slightly at him. He then took the flask from Phoebe's hands and passed it on to Clint. "Well, hurry up now! We don't have all day."

Clint seeing the flask now in his hands just gave Kazuo a cold stare knowing full well now that he had set him up. Seeing as though there is no backing out of this now, he quickly drank everything down to its final drop. Soon the flask was now empty, leaving an empty glass in his hands. For a moment, nothing seems to be happening but after a short while he felt a sudden convulsion in his stomach causing him to drop down on to both knees. He then felt a sharp pain in his chest as he started to cough out blood.

"C-Clint!" Phoebe quickly knelt down next to him and placed an arm on his back. "Ah!" Red sparks suddenly pulsed out as soon as she touched him. His body was slowly breaking down and dissolving away. "W-what's happening to him?" She asked, looking quite horrified.

"Oh its just his soul binding with the stone that is slowly crystalizing inside of him." Kazuo casually explained. "It won't take long now." He chuckled a bit.

After a short wait, the red sparks soon started crackling from the ground as well as surging up and down Clint's body. His entire body emitting a bright red light with each passing flick. His body soon started to hasten the pace in breaking down and fading away bit by bit. Although he had a look of agony in his face throughout the process he didn't make a sound and just hung on strong with teeth gritted.

"Clint..." Phoebe quietly said as she helplessly watched him in painful agony. With nothing but a faint trace of what used to be his lower half and arms, Clint gave her one last quick look before completely vanishing into thin air. As the last bits of him vanished, a blood red crystal was the only thing left in his place. It was small and looked rigid and sharp, but it let out a bright glow near it's core that shined out bright. Everyone was left speechless for different reasons as they all stood there. After a short while, Kazuo soon picked up the crystal and raised it up in-front of him.

"Hmm...so this is what a fraction of a philosopher's stone looks like huh? Quite small don't you guys think?" Kazuo lightly chuckled to himself. "Oh well, only thing left to do is to call upon a soul. Now, where's that book?" He went back towards the tables and started skimming through each page. "Here we go, the spell I found earlier." He pointed out. "Can someone get that suit of armour to stand on the circle?" Kazuo asked from his team. After a brief silence, Blake stepped up.

"I'm on it." He said before walking off. Seconds later he was able to guide the blue suit of armour to stand on top of the circle.

"Good. Now, help me get this breast plate off." Kazuo asked of him. Both of them soon managed to remove the front half of the suit's upper armour. The inside of the suit was just as a brilliant shade of blue as the rest of it were. "Okay. Now for the fun part." He grinned. He then suddenly brought out his golden sword and suddenly slit the palm of his left hand. Gasps was heard from his team as they watched his hand quickly drip blood down onto the stone floor.

"W-why did you do that for!?" Lucette looker shocked as she watched him cut his hand open.

"Just a little...pre-requisite is all." Kazuo winced for he felt the sharp sting on his hand. "A blood pact is needed to perform this rite." He added while still gritting his teeth. His hand felt cold as blood continues to drip. He then started to draw a small spell circle similar to the larger circle on the inside of the suit of armour. The circle on the floor started to glow as soon as Kazuo finished. Both circles started to react with one another causing the smaller circle to violently shoot out black sparks hitting Kazuo by the hand to allow it to travel down his entire body. The tips of his fingers soon started to breakdown into smaller fragments that were being absorbed by the bloody circle.

"So this is equivalent exchange huh?" He grimly noted to himself as he watched his hand slowly breakdown. "Well, good thing I have this!" He held the stone with his right hand in-front of him and gripped it tightly. A red light started seeping through his fingers and soon his hand started crackling with red sparks. He pressed the stone on to blood circle causing more sparks to shoot out. The suit of armour started convulsing violently as waves of red electricity flowed through it.

"Eek!" Phoebe shrieked as a bolt landed right in-front of her. Everyone else remained to silently look on as the light in Kazuo's hand started to get increasingly brighter.

"I suggest you protect yourself. Now!" Lucette alter quietly prompted for Lucette to do.

"Wh-what?" Lucette gave her ring a confused look.

"For the love of...Everyone get down! NOW!" Her alter shouted causing the ring to glow bright. The others didn't take notice of the glow but heard what she said. An ear-deafening explosion suddenly occurred from where Kazuo stood and bathed the entire room in a blinding light. As the light died down only the blue suit of armour was left standing while everything else was completely shattered. Blake, Alice, and Phoebe laid lying flat on the ground except for Lucette who was encased in box with her eyes closed and arms shielding her. Kazuo though was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh? What happened?" Lucette looked around to see the mess everywhere. She soon noticed the others have fainted. "Oh my god! Are you guys alright!?" She attempted to run towards Phoebe but only then she noticed the barrier protecting her. "Huh?"

"Don't worry. They'll be fine. The blast wasn't strong enough to instantly annihilate them." Lucette alter responded plainly as she appeared inside the box with her. "Well, except for Kazuo. He took the brunt of it all." She added.

"What caused all this to happen?" Lucette now asked, looking quite worried.

"Its called magical rebound. Kazuo exerted way too much energy on that tiny stone of his causing it to shatter and expel the same amount." The latter answered simply. "You're lucky that I'm around. Otherwise you would've suffered as much as they did." She pointed out in a mocking tone. "I tried to warn them in your place but oh well." She shrugged to herself with a smug look on her face.

"Why only me though? Why couldn't you have just stopped the blast instead?" The former continued on to question her.

"Easy. I don't care about them. All I care about is my own survival." Lucette alter answered in a serious tone.

"If you didn't care about them then why did warn them?" Lucette confronted her about it.

"Listen, kid. I-" She was about to say something back when the sound of sparks crackling caught their attention. Looking towards the blue suit of armour they noticed the sparks coming from the blood drawn symbol. The sparks continued on flow down the suit for a brief moment before finally coming to a halt. Nothing came after causing silence between both girls. After a short moment, the suit started to move on its own. It lifted up both its arms and proceeded to twist and turn them as if it was trying to inspect them. It took notice of the surroundings but quickly bolted and knelt down towards the downed Phoebe on the other side of the room.

"Wh-what is it doing?" Lucette asked in a hushed tone as they watched the suit of armour examining itself. Her double didn't say anything but just stepped out of the box they were in.

"Stay here." She sternly said. She then flicked her fingers causing the glass to glimmer. "This barrier will protect you from being seen but not heard so I suggest you zip it." R. Lucette harshly added.

"But I-" Lucette cut herself off once her reflection gave her threatening glance.

"Good. I'll be back." Lucette alter proceeded to walk towards the suit of armour. The suit hearing her footsteps instantly raised it's head to face her.

"Lucette? What happened here?" The suit asked her in a familiar male voice but sounded echoed.

"Who are you?" She confronted the suit with a serious look.

"It's me. Clint." The suit answered. Lucette alter though looked rather skeptical.

"Clint? But he died moments ago? How do you expect me to believe that?" She looked at the suit with suspicion.

"I don't know. I'm not even sure how I was brought back here either. Last thing I remembered was fainting then I'm now suddenly here with this cold and empty feeling." Clint reasoned. "But you have to believe me. If I was someone else then I wouldn't be kneeling down next to Phoebe." He added.

"Fine. I'll give you that." Lucette alter calmed herself down. "As for how you came back, all I can say is Kazuo was successful in fusing a soul into that suit. In this case, your soul." She cleared things up.

"I see. That makes sense. Where is he though? I don't see him around here." Clint asked as he surveyed the ruined room.

"He died in the explosion that caused this mess." She answered bluntly. "Anyways, now that you're here, let's worry about them later and show you off to that damn host so that we can get this challenge finally over with." Lucette alter loathed at the mention of Chris. "I'm sure they'll get up eventually." She plainly added. No response came from Clint for he just stood there in ominous silence facing towards her. "Hey. Am I getting through that new tin can of yours?" She leaned forward with her hands on her hips. "I said let's go!"

"Tell me this, 'Lucette', how come you're the only one unscathed? And why are you acting so...differently?" Clint questioned her with a hint of suspicion in his voice. The reflection felt pressured now for she had over stepped in pretending to be Lucette. "Well?" Clint placed a hand over his new sword. Lucette alter still couldn't say anything.

"Nooo..." Lucette quietly whimpered inside her box as she continued on to helplessly watch.

"Well, umm, I...You know what? Fuck this!" Lucette alter raised her left arm forward, palms wide open and pointed towards Clint. Her hand started let out a bright flash of light. Clint immediately drew out his sword in attempt to cut her down but suddenly froze in place with the sword raised. Clint's armour was notably shaking showing signs of resistance but was no use. A thin veil of light was revealed to be the reason why he had stopped in place. She let out a deep sigh and turned towards Lucette who was sitting on the ground with her knees tucked in and eyes covered by her hands. "You can wake up now."

"Huh?" Lucette uncovered her eyes and soon noticed Clint frozen in place. "Wh-what did you do to him?" She hesitantly asked.

"I used my magic to take control over his body, or armour more rather." Lucette alter answered. "It was easy as well since he's all armour." She boasted. "Anyways, he's under your control now so get him out of here." She waved her hand causing the box to vanish and reveal her to Clint.

"Lucette!? What's going on here? Who's she?" Clint growled at her. He still struggled to break free but still wasn't able to.

"Oh right. Forgot he could still talk." Lucette alter said flatly. "To bad you don't have an actual mouth otherwise I could've solved that little problem." She chuckled lightly to herself. "Either way, you'll be in full control over him so let's get him out of here. I have a feeling that the other team is about as ready as we are." She said before fading back into Lucette's ring. The jewel on top just kept on shining bright even after she had left.

"I'm sorry about all this. I'll explain everything on the way out." Lucette looked quite ashamed of herself as she walked out of the room.

"Hmph. You better." Clint replied as his metal body followed suit.

---

The remaining dawn team members had all gathered around the center of the room, surrounding a bright, radiant light. The source of the bright light was a radiant female figure with long hair made purely of light that seems to be floating on it's own. Her face was barely visible but looked quite lax. The contestants though, looked to be heavily deep in thought for something was troubling them.

"So offering a tribute is really the only way for this to work huh?" Dylan felt quite overwhelmed by the thought.

"That is correct, but not just any offering. It has something of significant value and containing immense magical power." The figure monotonously answered.

"Est was it? I thought a divine goddess is supposed to be kind and benevolent? How come you are asking so much of us?" Laren sadly pleaded with her.

"That may be true but nothing comes without a price. Its just how things go." Est answered her in the same tone.

"Then tell us what we should offer then!" Paris demanded from her.

"That is for you to decide and for me to judge." The goddess apathetically answered.

"Hmph. So much for being a kind goddess." The dancer muttered under her breath. Est noticed this but didn't care for much.

"Can we offer more than just one in order to compensate for the requirement?" Nathan asked.

"You may but it may not guarantee that it would be enough." Est plainly answered him. This caused the entire team to feel even more overwhelmed.

"So what now? Do we all offer an item each?" Nathan looked towards his group.

"I say its worth the shot. If we can't solve this with quality we might as well use quantity." Dylan reasoned.

"*sigh* Fine. If this ends up failing we just ended up losing items for no reason." Paris un-eagerly disagreed.

"An item from each of us? But I don't have anything on me to give. I haven't found anything for me yet." Laren felt ashamed.

"You have that necklace of yours." Dylan pointed towards the necklace around her neck. "Why don't you offer that instead?" He suggested. Laren defensively grabbed hold of her necklace and pressed it close to her chest.

"I'm sorry but I can't offer this. This necklace means way too much for me." She reasoned out. "I'm essentially useless without it." This caught Est's interest but was subtle about it for no one to notice.

"Well you can't just decide not to give up anything. We need to win this if we want to keep going!" Paris urged her. "Come on, think about it. If we win this challenge we can easily win the next one since the other team will be losing two players. That is easily a better trade-off!" She enticed her. "And besides, Chris might be giving away another item for the winners. You can have that all for yourself if we win." She added.

"Hmm...alright. If it means that we'll win than I guess I won't mind giving this up." Laren hesitantly said as she removed her necklace. Est took note of this.

"Have all of you decided on what to give?" The goddess asked them in a serene tone. Everyone nodded in agreement. Everyone, except Laren, brought out the different items they had obtained throughout their stay. "Alright. Let's start with you." Est pointed towards Laren. Laren was shocked from seeing this.

"M-me? A-alright." She stammered. Laren slowly walked forward with her necklace in hand. She presented it to Est in which she accepted.

"Hmm, what a beautiful necklace. It looks simple yet elegant." Est commented on it. She circled her thumb on the gem piece and felt the magic coursing through it. "And holds a lot of power as well." She noted. The necklace started to glow bright and quickly vanished. Laren no longer felt the magic power emitted by her necklace. "Alright. This is enough. I can begin the rite now." She said to them. Everyone was surprised to hear this.

"What!? If all this time you wanted the necklace how you didn't you just said so?" Paris complained to her.

The goddess aptly ignored her and closed her eyes. With cupped hands she soon started to chant in an unrecognizable language in a hushed tone. The radiant light shrouding her figure started to glow even brighter the moment she began. Gathering in the palm of her hands were small particles of energy that slowly formed into a small sphere. As more energy particles gathered, the sphere slowly grew bigger until it was the size of a tennis ball. Her chanting soon stopped causing the flow of energy to cease, stopping the sphere's growth from getting any further. Everyone just looked awe struck at the small creation Est had made out of thin air.

"It is done." She told them in a calm manner. "Now. Where's that suit of armour?" Est now asked. Everyone stepped aside to let the hulking red suit walk towards her. "Hmm, what expert craftsmanship." She commented. "Too bad that snake of a host had you corrupted." She shook her head solemnly. "Don't worry. I'll fix you." Circling a finger on the suit's chest piece caused it get enveloped in a thin veil of light. The light soon shattered causing the suit to suddenly go limp. "Here." Est pressed the small sphere on to it's chest allowing it to slowly phase through. With the orb now inside it didn't take long before it took over. The gaps on the suit started to glow and the eye holes lit up. It was now evident that Est had given the suit life for it stood up tall once more and looked up towards the goddess in-front of it.

"My mistress." The suit spoke in a deep voice as it bowed down on to one knee. The dawn team was left speechless.

"Rise." Est ordered the suit. The suit obediently followed her orders and stood up.

"What are your orders?" The suit submissively asked.

"No. Not my orders. But more rather hers." Est aimed towards Laren.

"M-me?" Laren was surprised to hear this.

"Yes. From this day forward, you shall follow her command without fail." Est gave the suit her final orders. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my mistress." The suit gave her a slight bow with one hand over it's chest. It then turned around to face Laren. "A pleasure." The suit gave her the same gesture. Laren was speechless.

"Wait, how come she gets to be the only one to order that thing around?" Dylan questioned Est's decision.

"What you give is what you get. That's just how things goes." The goddess answered him with a slightly mocking tone. "That is all for now. I bid you good luck." Slight rumbling was suddenly felt in the room causing some dust to crumble down from the ceiling above them. You'll all be needing it." With that note her body flashed brightly for a brief moment before vanishing. No trace of her was left except for the same statue as before.

"Great. What an answer. I'm sure her and Clint can get along real well." Dylan shook his head and let out a deep sigh. "Time to get out of here I guess. I'll be going on ahead." He stepped back inside the dark hallway now and was gone.

"I'm gonna go now as well." Nathan said before also leaving.

"Fine. Come on, Laren. Tell that suit to hurry it up as well." Paris asked her before leaving the two alone.

"Alright!" Laren responded. She faced back towards the suit of armour now. The suit was so massive in comparison to her that she still couldn't believe she has full control over it. "Well, umm, we should get going now." Laren told the suit.

"Yes." The suit bowed and walked towards the dark exit. Laren followed slowly behind.

---

Back on over to the main hall, Chris was just silently awaiting the two teams to return with their final work. Soon enough, Dylan came out first from his team's side with no one else following behind. He wasn't at all surprised to see him out here first.

"Hey, Chris. Have you been waiting here all this time?" Dylan asked.

"No. I spent most of my time at a five star establishment drinking martinis while Skell kept a close eye on you guys from outside." The host plainly answered. The gamer started to laugh but quickly stopped when he noticed Chris was being serious.

"Wait. You were being serious?" Dylan looked embarrassed now. Moments later the sound of hard metal boots echoed out from the dusk team's entrance. A few seconds later Lucette stepped out with the new armoured Clint following behind. Both of them soon noticed Dylan and Chris with the latter two unaware about Clint.

"H-hey guys!" Lucette sheepishly waved at them. Clint didn't say anything.

"Where are the others? I can understand why Dylan is here first but you? Don't tell me you betrayed them now." Chris looked skeptic of her.

"Wh-what? N-no! I would never do that!" The princess defended herself. She felt Clint starring daggers at her but just brushed it off for now. "They're fine. They are just cleaning up is all." She gave them an unconvincing smile. Chris though, he just gave her a suspicious look.

"Alright." The host gave her a slight nod. He then looked towards the blue suit of armour and gave it a quick once-over. "So tell me, how were you guys able to do it?" Chris questioned her.

"Well, umm, you see...uhh..." Lucette thought hard on what to say. Her train of thought was soon interrupted when the sound of another pair of metal boots echoed out from Dylan's team's tunnel. Soon enough, the rest of the dawn team came walking out with the red suit of armour behind them.

"Hey guys!" Laren excitedly waved at them. Nathan and Paris just casually walked towards them.

"You seem peppier than usual." Chris noted with a disgusted look. He then examined the red suit of armour right behind her. "And it seems you guys are succesful as well." He added. "Hmm, and here I am hoping that only one team to be succesful." He shook his head in a dissapointment. "Oh well, I time to perform a series of tests to see who's is better." Chris declared.

"What? Why? Our whole team is here except for hers!" Paris complained as she pointed towards Lucette. "Shouldn't that be enough for us to be declared the winner?" She argued.

"I only care about the suits. As long as its here it doesn't matter if only one person came back with it." The host answered her back plainly. "And besides, Leonard walked out on you guys so its not like your team is complete either." He reminded her.

"Hmph. Fine." Paris begrudgingly agreed.

"Alright then. Let's begin." The host smirked and flicked his fingers. Pillars of flames started to gush out from underneath both suits of armour causing panic amongst the contestants.

"Ah! Put it out! Put it out! Put it out!" Lucette freaked out for the hem of her skit got caught on fire. Nathan, who was standing close by, quickly drew out his katana and sliced off the burning end of Lucette's skirt. "Phew...Thanks!" She looked quite relieved now.

"What do you think you're doing? You trying to kill us or something!?" Paris confronted Chris about it.

"Yeah! A little warning next time!" Dylan angrily added.

"Eh. Like I said, I only care about the suits." Chris lightly snickered. "Anyways, I'm just doing a little resistance test is all. While I still had control over them I made sure that they'll be immune to any elemental effects. By doing this, I can see for myself how well protected the 'soul' in these two are." He explained to them. Chris flicked his fingers once more causing the flames to intensify. After a short while, both pillars slowly died down to reveal the end result. Both suits looked to be glowing bright red due to the intense amount of heat exerted on both of them.

"Now. For the final touch." He flicked his fingers again causing water to suddenly gush down from above. Thick amounts of steam quickly filled the tomb. As the steam drifted away, only the blue suit, Clint, was left standing and looked to be completely unaffected by intense battering both had received and still stood strong. The red suit, however, lost all it's luster and got slightly deformed with burnt blotches all over. It was bent over as well looking as though it was exhausted.

"What the? How is that possible?" Dylan went wide eyed for he couldn't believe in the result.

"Hehe...perks of being under my control." Lucette alter whispered smugly from her ring.

"You did that?" Lucette whispered back.

"Yup! Otherwise he would've suffered the same faith." Lucette alter proudly answered back.

"Isn't this technically cheating?" Lucette whispered again looking quite worried now.

"Eh. As long as no one knows it doesn't really matter. Now, pipe down before you get caught!" The former scolded her now. The latter just gulped and hid her hand behind her back.

"Well, its clear to me now on who won this test." Chris smirked. "For the first test, the dusk team earns a point." He declared. "Now, for the second test. The quality test!" He announced.

"A quality test? Are trying to make us lose on purpose or something!?" Paris complained. Chris though just wagged a finger at her with a smug look.

"I'm not talking about the exterior here. I'm talking about the soul's quality. This test is to prove whether the soul looks stable or not." The host further elaborated. "Now...open up them chest pieces so that we can begin! Let's start with the dusk team since they passed the first test." He motioned for Lucette to get started.

"Oh, umm, alright." Lucette walked towards Clint and examined the chest piece. She looked confused for she didn't know where to start.

"On my shoulders. Underneath the paddings." Clint silently instructed her. Lucette nodded and began working on removing the front half of his armour.

"Eep!" She shrieked lightly as the plate fell on the ground.

"Okay. Move aside now." Chris waved her off. Lucette stepped aside allowing the host to move towards Clint. "Oh my..." He was taken aback on what he saw. Inside he saw the crudely made sigil drawn in dried out blood with scorch marks spread all throughout. "This suit might look good on the outside but not in here it seems." He noted. "Well, let's see how the other team fairs." Chris now motioned for the dawn team to start. "Also, make it quick. We're running out of time here." He added.

"Dylan! Go and quickly remove it's armour!" Paris ordered him.

"Alright. Alright. No need to get all hussy now." Dylan looked mildly irritated with her. He approached the red suit and was about to start but stopped when he realized the suit was too tall for him to see over its shoulder. "Damn. He's too tall for me to see over!" He complained.

"Please. Allow me to do it." The red suit said in a gentle manner in response. This caught Chris's sudden attention. Reaching for its shoulders, the suit managed to undo the bindings and remove the large bulging chest piece. A bright, blue light escaped from inside, revealing small orb floating gently inside. Its radiant glow and brilliant gleam quickly caught Chris's full attention.

"Now that is what I'm looking for!" He excitedly exclaimed as he gazed upon it. "Looks like the dawn team has won this round." Chris declared. The dawn team cheered at the mention.

"Aww." Lucette pouted.

"This feels rigged." Lucette alter scoffed.

"Now that the scores are tied, its time for the final test." Chris gave a dramatic pause. "The control test!" He revealed with a smug look.

"Yes!" Lucette alter yelled loudly, causing everyone to look towards Lucette.

"Feeling confident are we?" Paris glared at her with both hands on her hips.

"Hehe...S-sorry." Lucette looked nervous.

"Okay then..." Chris looked weirded out by her. "Anyways, let's proceed. I'll make it quick." With a snap of his fingers two holographic panels appeared right in-front of him. One panel being blue the other red. "Since its a tie we'll be doing this at the same time. So both teams get ready." He smirked. Quickly inputting commands on to both panels, a bright light suddenly flashed right above the suits of armour. Seconds later strings made out of light started to slowly slither down from the top, attaching themselves on to both.

"Let's begin!" He exclaimed as he tapped on both panels. The strings suddenly tightened forcing both suits of armour to stand straight and stiff as well as lifting them slightly off the ground. Both suits were visibly rattling, showing resistance to the host's attempts. With another snap of his fingers both were soon dropped and got forced down on to their knees with their heads down. Ominous silence filled the air for neither one of them made another move.

"Now...kill them all." Chris ordered with a grim smile. Both suits of armour suddenly came back to life with their heads raised. They soon got up and faced towards their respective teams with their weapons now drawn. "The pressure is on. First team to regain control wins. Good luck." Letting out a soft chuckle he quickly vanished to leave them at the mercy of both suits. Both suits slowly walked towards their previous controllers with the intent of taking them out.

"Stop!" Paris ordered but was to no avail. "I said stop dammit!" She cursed but still nothing. The red suit of armour swung its poleaxe down on her in which she was able to quickly dodge out of. The force of the attack was enough to shatter the ground in which she stood. "Damn...that was close..." She said in relief.

"C-Clint...y-you are still in there right? Please stop?" Lucette begged as she nervously stepped back away from him. No response came. "H-hey! Do something!" She whispered to her ring.

"Eh. Later. Let's give them a show first." Lucette alter responded with a devious chuckle. Lucette just took in a heavy gulp. "Oh don't give me that look. You think I'd actually let you die if I can help it?" She sounded sarcastic.

A hard metal clang suddenly echoed out from over on the dawn team's side with a loud thud coming afterwards. Dylan was soon shown to have been sent flying towards the back wall with a large dent on his abdomen.

"*cough*...Not this again..." He said while struggling to push himself up with his sword.

"Dylan watch out!" Laren called out to him.

"Huh?" He looked up in-front of him only to see the suit right in-front of him now with its poleaxe raised up high. "Oh shi-" His character disappeared before he could even finish his sentence.

"Aah!" Shrieking came from Lucette's end as she desperately tried avoiding all of Clint's thrusts and jabs at her. "Ah!" She tripped over backwards moments later as she stepped back from a side slash. Clint was now towering over her with his sword pointed down on her. "D-do something!" She begged now.

"Alright. Point me towards him." Lucette alter answered. Lucette quickly pointed her ring forward causing it flash out brightly. "Now, be a good boy and step aside." The reflection commanded. The blue suit paused there for a second, processing what just happened, before continuing to jab down on them.

"Eek!" Lucette braced herself on what's to come with hey eyes shut. Feeling nothing had happened yet she slowly opened her eyes and saw the tip of the blade just barely touching her. Looking up she noticed Clint's entire arm was being held back by bindings made of light wrapped around him coming from her ring.

"Run!...I can't hold this for long!" Lucette alter urged her to go. Without saying anything, Lucette quickly got up and ran. The reflection let loose of her hold on Clint making him jab the ground instead and causing the blade to get stuck. "Quickly! Behind that pillar!" She ordered. Lucette did as she was told and went behind the nearby pillar.

"W-what was that!? I thought you said you had it?" Lucette exclaimed in shock.

"That damn host must've overwritten my control!" Lucette alter said irritably. "Looks like I'll have to set it back manually myself." She sighed.

"But that means you'll be exposing yourself! I can't have that from happening yet!" The princess looked anxious for her plan.

"The others are too pre-occupied to notice so just follow my lead." The reflection strongly said with a hint of confidence in her tone. Lucette though, not so much.

Back on over to where Clint stood he had finally pulled his sword free from the ground and started to slowly creep up on the pillar Lucette had ran to. With his sword arm raised he was about to cut down the pillar in one swing and was about to when something had suddenly swept him of his feet and crashing down on to the ground. He was forced down even more with a hard stomp on to his chest. Clint looked up to see Lucette standing over him.

"Hmph. Not so tough are you now?" Lucette alter triumphantly said, while trying to pretend to be the real one. She was looking down on him with the top end of her staff pointed right at him. The reflection continued on to aggressively stomp down on his chest repeatedly. Clint tried to retaliate back by slashing with his sword but couldn't for the real Lucette had pinned his arm down.

"Hurry!" She urged her reflection now for she was struggling to keep hold of Clint's arm.

"Alright. Way to ruin my fun." Lucette alter sighed. Placing her free hand on top of his metal chest, her palm pulsed out a bright flash of light before slowly removing it. His entire body soon glowed bright, encasing him in a bright veil. Clint now laid motionless on the ground. "There. That should do it." She said while taking a few steps back. Lucette did the same and got right back up.

"Did it work?" She anxiously asked.

"Of course it did!" The reflection replied proudly. "Watch." She gestured for Clint to stand but nothing happened. "What?" Looking surprised, she gestured for it to move once more but still nothing. "Somethings wrong here." She said cautiously. Lucette looked worried now for this was the first she saw her acting like this.

After a few seconds had passed the veil that encased Clint had suddenly shattered, signaling that he had broken free from the reflection's grasp once more. He soon got back up and lunged his blade at them but Lucette alter managed to tackle both of them out of his way.

"Damn. Something is preventing me from regaining control!" She hissed. She kept a hard glare on the blue suit for it was waiting for them to make a move.

"W-what do we do now?" Lucette panicked.

"Get as far away from here as you can. I'll see if I can still fix this." Lucette alter replied.

"B-but-"

"I said GO!" She assertively said. Without making any other arguments, the latter ran. Clint made an attempt to pursue her but the former got in his way with staff pointed right at him. "Oh no you don't. I'm still not yet done with you!" She said defiantly.

"Aah!" Nathan yelled for the red suit had landed an upward swing causing blood to splash all over coming from his chest for he was sent flying backwards. He landed flatly on the ground, barely holding on to life. His soon flickered out seconds later. Paris and Laren just looked on in shock from the side. With him now gone, the suit now switched over to both girls, dragging its bloodied weapon along the ground.

"Stay here!" Paris ordered as she quickly rushed towards the suit with her rapier off to her right side. Her movement started to hasten up for she went in for a swift forward thrust. The red suit of armour though was still able to react on time and just simply side stepped out of the way. Not being dissuaded she immediately followed it up with a diagonal upward swing but got easily parried downwards, trapping her blade arm in place and leaving her wide open in awkward position. With her guard now down, the latter flicked its weapon upwards in attempt to hit her with the back-blade. The dancer though was just barely able to avoid it by dropping her weapon and diving towards her left.

"Ah!" Paris winced in pain the moment she hit ground, leaving her to slide across in pain. Her sudden drastic move had caused her to break her left arm. Powering through the pain she felt, she forced herself to get right back up and face towards her opponent. She held on to her left arm tightly while slowly backing away from the red suit of armour, dauntingly moving towards her. The dancer had let out a slight gasp the moment she had unknowingly backed herself towards a nearby pillar. Paris now faced the suit up close, towering over her. She made one last effort to run away but the suit managed to grab her by the neck and forced her back onto the pillar, slightly raising her off the ground. All colour from her face was slowly draining as she struggled to catch her breath.

"La...ren..." The dancer reached out to her only remaining teammate. With nothing left for her disposal, Laren ran towards them and made an attempt to pull the suit away from her

"No! Let her go!" She cried out while trying to pull the arm off. The suit won't budge with its grip only slowly getting tighter. Paris only managed to let out coarse gargles as she tried desperately to hold on. "Please! Let her go!" Laren started crying now while still tugging on the arm. This time however things were different. The suit's arm suddenly twitched causing to let go of its grip on Paris, dropping her on the ground as a result.

"Paris!" Laren exclaimed as she knelt down beside her, placing her on to her arms. The dancer just let out a soft moan as she laid their fainted. Her attention was suddenly shifted towards the suit for rattling came towards it. At first she got startled for they were completely helpless but soon noticed something odd was going on. The suit was holding down its arm as if it was trying to resist something while at the same time slowly backing off away from them. It soon fell down on to its knees, shaking. The soul inside was noticeably pulsing out for the glow was escaping through the gaps in its body.

"Must...not...Aaah.." The suit forced itself to speak once more. "Aaaah!" It screamed once more, causing the soul inside to glow even brighter and pulsing out. Laren took notice of this and realized what was happening. She stood up strong and immediately started barking out orders.

"S-stand down!" She ordered. The red suit started to get all conflicted for the soul inside was fighting back.

"Aaah!" The suit started to yell while slowly backing off with both hands grasping on to its helmet. It soon backed itself on a nearby pillar. After a short while the soul inside glowed immensely before dying out. The soon then fell front first onto the ground making a metallic crunch as it did. Nothing else came afterwards for the suit just lied there motionless.

With the whole ordeal now over Laren dropped down on to her knees. Her rapid breathing was the only thing left she could hear for everything that just happened was all too much. She leaned her back towards the pillar and was about ready to collapse. A distant crash caught her attention though accompanied by some muffled voices but she was too tired to try and make out what it was or meant.

Back on over to the other team, Clint was placed down on his back with the chest plate having been ripped off from its hinges. Both Lucettes were standing over him from both sides. The reflection though looked to have been badly injured for cuts were present all over her body. She seemed to be holding on to a pair of chains of some kind for it was glowing in a sapphire hue.

"So what now? He doesn't seem to be moving?" Lucette worriedly asked.

"And time!" Chris's voice suddenly blared out, before the reflection could speak. His body soon appeared on the center platform with a bright flash of light.

"Quickly! Head on over there first and keep them distracted. I'll try to see if I can get him moving again." R. Lucette instructed for her to do. Without saying another word, Lucette nodded and made her way over towards them. "Alright. Let's see if this works again."

"Chris? What's going on?" Laren curiously asked for she had approached the host first.

"The test is over. Why else would I be here?" The host replied in snarky manner.

"The test ended!? Who won?" Laren now started to look a bit panicked.

"Definitely not you, sweetheart." She heard Lucette alter say from beside her. Looking towards her, the young princess only had a look of complete embarrassment with her face all read because her ring was the one that said that.

"H-huh?" She starred at it wide eyed.

"Umm, what did you just say?" Laren looked surprised at her.

"N-n-nothing! Y-you must be m-mistaken is all!" Lucette stammered out of embarrassment. "A-anyways. Which one of us won?" She asked Chris in order to change the topic.

"Well, both teams, or just you two more rather, managed to cut me from my connection which in itself is quite impressive considering that you two are the weakest links in your team." Chris stated bluntly to both of them. Both girls didn't know how to respond to that. "However. There is still one little problem. None of them are moving. You may have gotten rid of my control and that's it." He pointed out to them. "So I'll just have to take that in as tie meaning a tie breaker is in order." He announced.

"Hey! Say something!" The reflection urged her to speak in a whispered tone from her ring.

"Wait, so you managed to fix it?" Lucette whispered back.

"Yes! Now go! Otherwise I'll do it myself!" Lucette alter snapped at her.

"R-right, umm, hey Chris. Actually I, uhh, umm, do have control over Cli-I mean, the suit." Lucette anxiously said towards Chris. "It just, uhh, slipped my mind to show it to you is all." She gave him a nervous smile.

"Really now?" The host just gave her a knowing look. This made Lucette even more anxious. "Alright. Show it to me then." He said with a more calmer look. Lucette felt she breath easier now. "However!" This caused her to flinch. "If you end up failing and wasting my time I'll declare you as the loser. No pressure." Chris smirked. Taking in a heavy gulp, Lucette turned to face the still unconcious Clint.

"What now?" She whispered softly.

"Point me towards him!" Her ring answered back in the same manner. Reluctantly raising her arm forward, she aimed her ring towards Clint. The gem on her ring soon emitted a faint glow, causing the same affect on the suit as well. Silence filled the room as they all awaited for an outcome. A minute had passed and yet still nothing.

"A-anytime now haha..." Lucette laughed nervously for nothing was happening. Chris though already grew impatient with his arms crossed and foot constantly tapping.

"This is getting us nowhere. I'm sorry but-" The host cut himself when he noticed a bright flash came from inside Clint's chest. Moments he slowly sat up with an arm providing some support. He shook his head for a bit before standing up straight and making his way towards them.

"Ugh...what happened? Why does my head feel so...fuzzy?" Clint groaned. He looked around and noticed that the tomb was a complete mess, as if a battle just took place. He soon noticed his chest piece was ripped off along with the other suit laying flat across from them. "Wait...did I...do all this?" Rather than answering him, Lucette looked at him with pleading eyes and suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, startling him. "Umm...what?"

"Oh thank god it worked! I don't want to be placed on the spot like that again!" She cried.

"See...told ya I got it...haha..." Her ring said although sounded as if she was heavily out of breath.

"Well that was rather unexpected.." Chris blinked. "Anyways..." He snapped his fingers causing his panel to appear. "That concludes the challenge. The dusk team has claimed today's victory. Congratulations." He nodded towards them. "Unless the dawn team has something else up their sleeve." He raised a brow towards Laren with a smug look. The remaining dawn team member gave the crimson red suit one last look before shaking her head no with a sad look on her face. "Alright then. I'll see you all outside." With a couple commands on his panel the contestants were all soon transported out of the virtual world with Chris following afterwards.

---

Back in the real world all of the contestants, minus Leonard, had all gathered in the center of the challenge room, awaiting for their teammates to finally step out of their pods. Moments later the pods containing them opened up, releasing the contained pressure inside. Clint however upon exiting still felt nauseous fell sideward only to be stopped by the frame of his pod.

"Ugh...why does my head feel even worse?" He moaned as he tried to regain some of his composure. He still had his teeth gritted for it was unbearable

"I warned you about the effects and yet you still wouldn't listen." Skell sighed with his arms folded as he watched from the front stage.

"Hey, it makes for a dramatic show." Chris chuckled lightly while seated on his swivel chair. He watched as Clint got helped in rejoining his team with a concerned Phoebe under his arm. "Sleep it off, Clint. The dizziness is only temporary. It'll be gone the next morning." The host assured him. "Hopefully that is." He said slyly under his breath. His partner just rolled his eyes at him and shook his head.

"Isn't it about time we end things off already?" He reminded Chris. "I'm pretty sure the dawn team is going to need a lot of time to prepare for tonight." Skell smirked at them.

"Fine. Needed to prepare a few things for tomorrow anyways." Chris said in a rather uncaring tone. "Like I said earlier, the losing team will be facing double elimination. Good luck to you all, dawn team. You're all going to need it." He chuckled lightly. Leaning back on his seat now, he placed an elbow on it's arm and rested his head on his knuckle along with both legs crossed. "You may all leave." He gestured for them to leave with a sweeping hand gesture. The contestants all started to head out with the winning team looking quite relieved for the day was now done. The losing team however left with looks of disappointment knowing they'll be facing elimination later tonight.

"Clint one moment before you go. I, or we rather, need to talk to you about something quite important." The host called out to him suddenly, stopping as well Phoebe in the process. They both turned around only to be met with Chris' steely look. The doll faced girl couldn't help but feel frightened for her teammate's sake.

"No need to worry, Phoebe. Nothing bad is going to happen to him. You may go on ahead." The co-host reassured her in a gentle tone. "C'mon, Clint. This won't take long."

Taking in a deep breath, Clint carefully removed his arm from Phoebe and gave both hosts a slight nod. "Don't worry yourself too much about it." He said in the same calm demeanor he had always held before shakily walking towards both hosts.

"A-alright. I-I'll just be in the food tent." Phoebe meekly responded before exiting. The double glass doors soon closed behind her.

"Now. For the matter at hand..." Chris smirked at him. "Would you like to keep your new class?"

(Confessional)

Phoebe: G-given how Chris stared at him m-makes me f-feel very uneasy about w-whats going to happen to him. I-I just hope bad is going to happen.

Clint: Hmm...pressing matter, especially one this late into the game. On one hand I'll be able to surprise everyone on the battlefield but on the other hand I'll be forced to relearn how to fight. He gave me until the start of the next challenge to give him an answer. I just hope whatever I choose I'll still be able to perform my best.

(End confessional)

---

(Cabin 6: Paris and Blake's. One hour before elimination)

It was already late evening with everyone preparing for tonight's elimination ceremony happening momentarily. Walking back towards their cabin was Blake who just came back from the food tent looking quite satisfied. As he neared his cabin he soon noticed the lights were on.

"Hmm...could've sworn I left the lights off? Probably just Paris." Thinking nothing of it, the prankster walked up the steps leading towards their door. Reaching his hand towards the door he soon stopped as he heard someone else talking from inside. "Huh?" Carefully opening the door he saw Laren sitting across the table from Paris.

"Oh! Evening, Blake!" Laren greeted him with a cheery smile. Paris was just starring daggers at him for intruding in on them.

"Uhh...hi?. So...am I interrupting something here?" Blake asked the two of them.

"You think?" Paris said sounding a bit irritated.

"Come now, Paris. Don't be like that towards him. He probably didn't expect us to be in here at this time." Laren said in defense of him. "Right, Blake?"

"Y-yeah! And besides, I wasn't like that when you walked on me the other day with Lucette." Blake now argued. The dancer just let out a defeated sigh and turned back around to face her teammate.

"Fine. Just mind your own business alright?" Paris sounded a bit calmer now.

"Alright. Its not like I'll gain anything from bothering you guys." Blake agreed and soon lied down on his bed. With things now settled, Paris and Laren resumed their conversation.

"Anyways, like I said before, we should focus our votes against Leonard rather than split it. Given our situation one vote is enough to send someone packing." Paris explained. "We both know already who's going to get dragged down tonight along with him. We just need to ensure that the tides don't suddenly turn on us."

"Yeah..." Laren responded with a sad look. "Its quite sad really since his strength would have been useful." She reasoned.

"Doesn't really matter. If he doesn't want to cooperate whatever powers he has will be near useless." Paris argued. "Which is the reason why we should get rid of him now that we have the chance. If we can't trust him then there is no point in keeping him."

"I guess..." Laren responded, still quite hesitant with her decision. "I still find it depressing to drop two of our allies for tonight." She said with a sad look.

"Hey, look at the bright side, without both of them running around we can finally work together properly thus ensuring higher morale for our team." Paris reassured her. "How does that sound?"

"Yeah...I guess you're right." Laren looked to have brightened up a bit. "Speaking about that though, I haven't seen Nathan after the challenge had ended. Shouldn't he be here discussing things with us as well?" She suddenly asked.

"Last I saw he was headed back towards the challenge hall." The dancer recalled. "Must be letting out some steam I guess?" She shrugged.

"What if Dylan or Leonard get to him? Wouldn't that make things difficult for us?" Laren gave her a worried look.

"I doubt it. He's too smart for that." Paris shook her head in disagreement. "He seems to trust Ginger and she's on our side. So I don't think he'll actively try to go against us." She pointed out.

"I see. I guess I can trust you on that." Laren's mood lightened up a bit.

"See? Told you there would be nothing to be worried about." Paris said with a slight grin. She then leaned back against her chair with a satisfied look. "Now that's over with, what else do you want to do with the remaining time?" She casually asked.

"I don't know. Maybe talk about other stuff I guess?" Laren suggested, looking quite unsure.

"Alright. What do you want to talk about?" The former leaned forward now, both elbows planted on to the table and fingers intertwined.

"Well..."

(Confessional)

Paris: Finally...I can get rid of both of them! They've been such a pain to keep around with both of them constantly arguing. Makes me wonder on how those two survived during the first half of the team phase. Although I do am worried about the final challenge. I did say there is nothing to be worried about to Laren but that's just to keep her morale up. If we plan on making it to the end then we're going to need all the confidence we can get.

Laren: Paris said there's nothing to be worried about but I'm still worrying about the final challenge. Its three of us against six of them. I'm not quite sure how we'll pull it off. Although I'm still going to be positive about it! If Paris is confident in us then I guess I should be confident as well!

Blake: Ugh...what is it with girls and not wanting to stop talking? I can't even focus on getting a quick shut eye before the eliminations happen! I know I technically barged in on them but its also my room! I still have a say in these things.

(End confessional)

---

(Virtual world: Maze outskirts. Fifteen minutes before ceremony)

Deep darkness crept in the virtual woods for not even the moon's light can penetrate through the thick leaves over the high hanging trees. Silence fell upon the darkness for not even the smallest of critters were making a sound. An eerie place for anyone or anything to hide in.

Clang the sound of two metal objects colliding with each other echoed out from the deep abyss of night breaking the silence. The sleeping beasts soon awoke causing wings to flap out and shrubberies rustling. The sound of metal clashing against each other continued on for an evident duel was taking place within the deep darkness. Two silhouettes with their blades locked were seen to be dueling.

"Heh...you sure are full of surprises." Remarked one of the duelists. The clashing stopped for a second before rustling started coupled with quick, light foot steps. "You're not getting away that easily!" Announced the same duelist before giving chase.

After a short while the clashing continued causing lots of disturbance within the dark forest. The sound of wood getting chopped, leaves being rustled, and steel banging against one another made the fight sound like an intense scene.

"Hah!" Roared the assailant as if performing a powerful attack followed by a loud thump. The sound of a tree getting chopped along with leaves falling down made it clear the attack had missed its intended mark. "No! My sword!" The attacker let out grunts while trying to pry their weapon free.

"I believe this is the part where I win." The other duelist finally spoke up in a calm manner as they approached from behind. The former just let out a soft sigh and stopped in trying to pull their weapon free.

"Alright. I give." They conceded. "Help me remove my sword out of this tree first though." With a nod, the second figure walked up close towards the tree and brought out their blade. With a swift cut from underneath they were able to break the wood setting the weapon free. It fell straight to ground making a soft thud as it hit the ground. "Thanks! Now lets get out of here."

After a short while both fighters had made it safely out of the dark forest revealing the two to be Nathan and Dylan. The cool night breeze blew gently across the open night field with the full moon providing enough ambient light.

"Man...you kept beating me every time! Damn..." Dylan gave himself a disappointed look. "You sure did improve ever since that fight we had in that library." He noted.

"Uh..yeah...thanks..." Nathan replied with a sheepish smile. "Analyzing games is sort of my thing so I figured doing it here would help me in combat." He explained. "Although putting it into practice is another story..."

"Well, from what I've seen you've got it down in spades! You sure you're not some pro player or something?" Dylan teased.

"W-what? N-no...not of the sort. I'm just a regular guy with nothing much to do." Nathan protested. "I don't even have any decent equipment back home since my family can't afford anything much." He sadly admitted. "So I just read up and learn about my favorite games so that I know what I'm doing in the event I end up saving enough cash to buy them." He added. "That's the reason why I'm here really..."

"Oh..." Hearing his story struck a chord with Dylan causing him to feel sad for him. "I see..." The gamer didn't know how to respond. After a few seconds of silence an idea soon sprung. "Hey...remember that offer for a secret alliance I made a while back? So how about it?" He offered.

"Umm...I'm not sure about that..." The latter gave him an uncertain look. "Like I said before, I already have my ties set. I don't want to break them by doing this." Nathan reminded him.

"C'mon! Give it some thought at least." The former further pushed with his offer. "Given our team's state we'll be needing all the strength we could get if we want to stand a chance for the final challenge tomorrow. If we don't do something right now I'm for sure leaving with that damn Leonard! So please...give it some consideration." Dylan started to beg. "If not for my sake then think about yours."

"I..." The choice was to heavy to make causing Nathan to take a brief pause. His thoughts was soon interrupted when the intercom started to blare out.

"Attention, everyone. The ceremony is about to begin. Golden dawn elves please be here this instant to cast in your votes. That is all." Chris' voice echoed through the intercom. A neon portal soon appeared in-front of the two.

"Well Nathan?" Dylan gave him a pleading look.

"T-tell me first you have in mind and I'll think about it..." Nathan gave him an uncertain response.

"What!? But...ugh...Fine! Its Laren! She gave up her powers in hopes of winning but wasn't enough turning her into a liability." Dylan quickly answered. "Think about it. Alright?" He said before quickly rushing towards the portal leaving Nathan alone to his thoughts. After a short while he gave himself a quick nod before leaving as well.

(Confessional)

Dylan: Man...after hearing that from him I feel sort of guilty for using him for my own personal gain. Hopefully it turns out in my favor for both his and my sake.

(End Confessional)

---

All the remaining contestants have gathered around the bonfire for tonight's ceremony. The air felt a bit more tense for tonight two contestants won't be making the cut. Both host stood in-front of the losing team with an evil smirk planted on the main host. The co-host raised a silver platter near shoulder height with one hand. Three elf-head shaped cookies lay on top, showing that only three shall remain.

"Ain't this quite ironic? The gold team isn't so golden after all." Chris chuckled lightly to himself. A mix of both dismay and cringe was seen on the contestants faces as they watched him laugh on his own.

"Ugh...Can we just get a move on already? I want to get this damn night over with!" Leonard growled at him.

"That excited to know if you've been voted out huh? Alright. Lets get this show on the road?" The host smirked gave them all a sinister smirk. "Let's get these first two out of the way. Paris. Nathan. Both of you are safe tonight for not receiving a single vote." He announced. Both let off relieved looks while Dylan and Laren remained tensed. Leonard though looked like he didn't even care.

Skell tossed both of them their cookies. The former was able to catch hers that almost flew over her head while the latter didn't manage to catch his. Instead, Kazuo was able to quickly grab it mid-air for he was seated on the stump right next to him and was now currently standing right beside him. Nathan just gave him a confused look, wondering as to what sort of plan he has this time.

"Hey, Chris. Does this count in him getting eliminated if he someone else caught it?" Kazuo asked with a near innocent looking smile. Nathan suddenly felt alarmed after hearing this.

"No. Now sit back down otherwise I'll eliminate you on the spot." Chris bluntly responded.

"Aww. At least I got a cookie." Kazuo walked back towards his tree stump with a disappointed look while munching on the cookie. Everyone was left speechless.

"Okay. Weirdness aside, lets put our serious faces back on and get this over with." The host cleared out his throat and took in a deep breath to regain both his momentum and composure. "Dylan, Leonard, and Laren. The three of you received votes placing you all in this predicament. Given tonight's rulings only one of you will make it out. Do I make myself clear?" He asked them. Neither one of them made a sound nor gave any type of response but looked as though they understood him well enough.

"Alright then. The one who received the least votes making them safe for tonight is...

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...Dylan. Congratulations." Chris nodded towards the gamer. Dylan jumped up in joy after hearing his name getting announced. His other teammates though, wasn't to keen on the results.

"Yes! Woo! I'm still in the game baby!" He started exclaiming. "Looks like your little revenge plan failed! Haha!" The gamer started to mock Leonard. The gang leader just had his teeth gritted and fist clenched.

"Wh-what? H-how? P-Paris? You told me everything was going to be fine!" Laren gave her a desperate look for she was shocked in hearing she got eliminated.

"I don't know! I was sure of it as well!" Paris started frantically looking around as if searching for an answer. She soon spotted Nathan looking down on his feet as if trying to avoid everyone's gazes. "You! You voted her off didn't you?" She pointed a finger towards him accusatively. Nathan didn't say anything and kept his eyes straight on the ground. "Well? Say something!"

"It was for the good of the team..." He muttered quietly under his breath.

"What did you say?" The dancer said, not being able to catch what Nathan had said. The silent boy didn't repeat what he just said and kept on looking down. "Answer me!" Paris started to demand.

"Hey! Lay off him will ya? He obviously made the right choice." Dylan taunted her with a wide, victorious smirk. "Its not his fault he saw me as a better investment." He boasted. This caused Paris to snap making her walk up towards him in a huff.

"You...I don't know how you were able to convince him to be on your side but I swear this will be the LAST time you'll be messing with my plans! Got that?" She said sounding very hostile towards him. "Same thing goes towards you, Nathan. You'll regret going against me." Paris added, feeling scornful towards him.

"How are you so sure about that? We don't mind throwing the next challenge just to vote you off. Right, Nathan?" Dylan threatened, pulling in Nathan in the conflict as well. Nathan didn't say anything and just looked away.

"Oh don't worry about that. I don't plan on losing the final challenge so I suggest you better worry about your own hide instead." Paris snapped back at him before stomping away from the scene.

"Well, good luck with that." Dylan laughed.

"Well...that took quite the dramatic turn." Chris commented on the event that just transpired. "You have anything to add to this?" He asked his co-host.

"Nope. I'm just surprised it didn't end in another tie." Skell responded. "I swear...these guys have knack for this." He complained.

"Yeah. Its as if fate is having a hard time in choosing who the rightful winner is." Chris joked. He then gave the camera a quick, knowing glance before returning his focus on the eliminated contestants. "Anyways...Leonard. Laren. Any last words?" He asked them.

"If I ever make it out of this, I'm heading straight for you, Dylan. So you better watch your back." Leonard swore to himself. Dylan remained unflinching.

"Paris...sorry for not making it out of this with you." Laren said with a sad look. "Same goes for you, Alice."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Alice responded with a straight face. Her eyes however were looking off to the side.

"Lovely. Now, go follow Skell here to enter your final trial." Chris motioned for his co-host to finally escort them.

"Alright. Let's get a move we don't have all night." Skell gestured for them to follow him back towards the challenge hall. Both eliminated contestants followed him inside before finally disappearing behind the automatic doors. With them now gone only the remaining contestants were left seated around the fire pit.

"Alright. The rest of you can go and scram now or something." Chris shooed them away. All of them stood up from their seats and dispersed elsewhere into the night. With the main host of the show now finally alone the camera started to slowly zoom in on him. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he prepared himself for his outro.

"Well, there you have it our dear viewers! An episode in where our contestants dabbled into the arts that would normally be seen as taboo elsewhere!" The host boldly exclaimed after opening his eyes. "The golden dawn elves sure did take a heavy hit now that only half their team remain!" Chris gave off a light, sadistic chuckle. "If you can even call them that." He said with a light grin while his eyes stared off to the side. He paused for a moment to completely face the camera.

"Will the dusk team claim another win for tomorrow's final challenge?" Chris dramatically stretched out his left arm to the side. His head facing the same direction. "Will the dawn team make a comeback of epic proportions?" He did the same actions towards the right. "But most importantly...who'll be crowned the final loser for the first half of the show?" He smirked at the camera with both arms now outstretched. "Find out next time on Total...Drama...Dungeon Hunters!"

---

(Votes)

Paris: my vote goes towards Leonard. If he's not going to coordinate then might as well drop him. Its as easy as that.

Laren: I'm voting for Leonard. I trust in Paris' judgement but can't help but feel worried about not contacting Nathan about this.

Leonard: Dylan. Fuck you that's what.

Dylan: If it wasn't for double eliminations I would've voted up Leonard now questions asked. But since it is I need to put my personal vendetta aside and take out Laren. I just hope Nathan does the same.

Nathan: As much as it pains me to say this but Dylan is right. If I want to make it out of here this team is going to need all the strength it could get. So my vote goes to Laren. Sorry

---

Places:

18th: Estwynn Paratus. The Mech and Hero Enthusiast. Role: Fighter

17th: Derek Wright. The Dangerous Outcast. Role: Fighter

16th: Kali Dulal. The Folklore/Mythology Enthusiast. Role: Duelist

15th: Tristan Kell. The Mechanic. Role: Backrow

14th: Gelsey. The Smol Girl. Role: Support

13th: Janet Jordan. The Loner. Role: Tank

12th: Leonard "Jag" Jagging. The Power-Hungry Brute. Role: Tank

11th: Laren Brea. The Ball of Sunshine. Role: Support

---

Author's note: Damn...its been a while since I last made a post. Nearly half a year has passed since I posted the last chapter it seems. Anyways, to make a long story short life finally caught up to me and collage happened. Meaning most of my spare time now is spent on doing my other hobbies and sidelines thus limiting my writing time. On the plus side though I somewhat gained my momentum for writing back but no promises on when the next post will be. I apologize for the inconsistent writing on this one, since the first half of this was made over the course of summer while the later half was made during Christmas so I had entirely different mindsets.

Explanations now aside its time for me to...explain why I dropped Laren and Leonard...hmm...I really need to expand my vocabulary...Anyways. First up is Leonard. My main gimmick for everyone here, not just him, is to exploit there fears and/or negative side of them in some way, shape, or form. When I got Leonard and saw his fear, the fear of failure, I immediately capitalized on it up until his elimination. This in turn made room for interesting interactions and thus making Leonard the way he is right now. Originally his plan to take out Dylan was supposed to be a success as his final send off but given how I had to re-adjust the placements just like how I explained last time caused for this ending instead. So yeah, sorry for all those who liked the guy to see him finally scoring a success in the end. And yes, this was always intended to be a double elim just explained differently.

And Lastly, Laren. To be honest she was intended to be in the merge but since her team was lacking by this point there was no use in keeping her around considering the main anchor for her team to remain intact has gone on ahead. So she was the scapegoat used for Dylan to make it far. So yeah...again, sorry for those who would have liked seeing her in the merge. It just wasn't possible with the changes.

And that is all. No question for today since I don't want to spoil anyone on the main gimmick of the final challenge. Although I would give a hint with this quote:

"My Demon gods have burned away. My throne is destroyed. My grand plan for the incineration of humanity dies with me. But, I will at least deny you this final victory."

And that's that. For those who can guess what final challenge will be about then good for you. 'Till the next time