Hey there everyone! Again I apologize for being late but right about this time of year, come the tests. Anyways now that it has been over and dealt with at last I will now continue the story that I hope none of you guys have lost interest in yet!

Enjoy!

Chapter 16: The Truth Behind the Incinerator

"Who is this 'Incinerator' and why is she so dangerous?"

"As I said before she is one of the most powerful wizards known in the entire history of the spiral. She might even have enough power to overthrow Malistare and all of Wizard City by herself. So far her power is unmatched and all who have survived her attempted assassinations were killed by her in a revenge attempt. Though her power is great her story is heart breaking. It all started when she was a young girl living in the city. She was such a bundle of joy back then and she even visited all of the worlds of the Spiral. I took care of her when her parents had to attend to important matters. She was such a bright person and what a imagination she had. But one night when her parents went to an important meeting, the most shallow and desperate actions were taken place. The murder of her parents. Malistare kidnapped her as the parents were ambushed at the decoy meeting. Malistare knew something wasn't normal with her and he needed to find out what it was about her that sparked an interest in him. Ever since then he has been training her to become the most dangerous killing machine the Spiral has ever known, next to Deth that is. But what makes her so dangerous isn't the constant training and strength, speed, etc. It's her magic. The magic she possesses isn't what he's after but what he needs. She can somehow use raw magic."

"What's raw magic?"

"Raw magic. The most dangerous power in the entire spiral. It's feared for the destruction it could bring so any usage of it is strictly prohibited. It can either be of much usage like healing 100 people at once or it could kill 100 perfectly healthy people at once. This is only the tip of the iceberg and even most of us don't know the fullest extends of it's frightening power." Brianna said as she realized how dangerous things had just gotten.

"There is no way even the 15 of us combined can even stand a chance against raw magic. She really is a killing machine." Eve said seeing the grim situation as well.

"As if Malistare wasn't a big enough problem. Come on we have to go back to Ambrose and give him the report anyways. Let's get out of here." Connor stated and soon after only the 6 of them remained. Seth suggested that they head back to the city as well to see what to do next, seeing as the situation changed from bad to horrible. After they had all left the old krok, he prayed for their safety in the future.

Back in Malistares Lair we see him talking to the Incinerator again.

"So then you did deal with the big mouth then?" Malistare asked.

"Yes, I used some fire magic mixed with a drop of raw magic to make sure he turned to ashes. Shall I head back to deal with Krokopatra next?" She asked.

"Yes. We cannot have any leaks of our plans to our enemies understood?"

"May I ask why her though? She is a valued ally who could change the entire battle."

"She can change the battle, but in their favor. I thought she was an ally but it turns out she wants to help the city. That's why we have to kill her immediately, so our plans will not leak out so easily."

"Understood. I'll deal with her quickly." She vanished from the room quickly afterwards.

"So now they see what they're up against hmm? Good. Fear in their hearts should make it easier to take over. Especially fear in them." He points to the powerful group of fighters. "With fear in them this war is officially over! I've won!" He laughs diabolically and it echoes through his lair.

"So you've defeated the tyrant Krokhotep but you've discovered an even bigger threat than Malistare hmm? Not good. Not good at all. Right now she sounds as if she is still too young to think for herself so for now we are safe. However this will change in the future and I'm becoming much too old for fighting. I'm sorry to say this but all of you will have to fight this Incinerator instead. It seems as if we have about 2 years to prepare."

"How are you so certain we have 2 years?"

"This crystal ball can show me what will happen to Wizard City up to about 5 years before it happens, and it seems in 2 years the city will be in ruins with her sitting in a throne in front of Bartleby."

"Then we have to train until we drop every day until then!"

"Yes you 9 must push your limitations way beyond the point they are at now."

"We won't fail Ambrose, we promise you this!" They all vanished quickly afterwards. Once Seth and his team had arrived back to the city, a messenger quickly ran towards them and ran off without saying a word. Things seemed so much more busy since they had last left and they were wondering why. They rushed towards the headmaster's tower to see what was going on. He said it was just an emergency drill and there was nothing to be worried about but he lied. He didn't want the 6 rookies getting involved in a mission like the one coming up in 2 years. He said to go back to Krokotopia to defeat Krokopatra. As the 6 proceed inside the tomb they wonder what was going on in the city.

"What do you think they were doing back in the city?"

"Don't know, it looked like they were preparing for something. I couldn't tell if it was good or bad but something tells me that I wouldn't like it."

"No kidding. I even saw people rushing towards the shopping district for some reason."

"Well whatever the reason is, we'll find out later. Right now we're on a mission to figure out what's going on with Malistare and stop Krokopatra." They arrive at the massive statue of the giant krok statue sitting in the Well of Spirits. "Here it is. You guys ready?" They all nodded and walked into total darkness. After they walked out the dark hallway they saw an old man who gave them directions on how to go to Krokopatra and leave this place in peace for good.

"Go and defeat her 3 sons. After that you may fight her but be warned! Her sons are almost as powerful as she is so you must be careful." The old krok explained and he pointed to his right, showing them a portal. Once they stepped through the portal they ended up in a strange area with purple all around. They saw the 3 kroks but they were all on the floor defeated already. In front of the 3 kroks was a boy with dirty blonde hair, grey eyes, and black and white robes. He sat there looking in the air like he was waiting for something.

"Geez I didn't think it would take this long for them to get here. I already beat up these guys and now I don't have anything to do until they get here. I just want to fight something already!" He didn't seem to notice them yet as he was talking to himself. Finally Destiny decided to break the silence to ask him a question.

"Hey are you ok?" He turned around quickly and his eyes widened as if he won the lottery.

"Finally yes! You guys are here! Now I have something to do!"

"Something to do? What are you talking about, you just defeated all of Krokopatra's sons with no help! How can you possibly be bored?" Jack asked.

"I'm Luke Stormcaster by the way."

"Don't try changing the subject! Why are you here and what are you doing?"

"Well since you asked, I was sent here to run some errands. Not for Ambrose though, I was sent here for Lord Malistare." He smiled an evil grin at them and quickly disappeared. He then reappeared right in front of them with the same grin and his sword out ready to slice. Seth who had been in the front tripped on a rock avoiding the slice but barley with a scratch on his cheek. The others were shocked and could barely see what had just happened. Right when he swiped again the attack was blocked by a blue trident!

"Damn it! You guys are really troublesome you know that?" Connor said as he intervened in the battle. "You're lucky Ambrose keeps a constant surveillance on you guys!" he sounded as if he was having a hard time fighting Luke. "Who is this guy anyways? He seems stronger than most of the fighters in the city."

"My name is Luke and you're interrupting my mission!"

"Mission? Slaughter is more like it. If I can barely stand my ground against you, they wouldn't even be alive right now!" He then saw the black ice school mark on his left arm. "Now I get it. You're a rouge wizard!"

"A rouge wizard?"

"A rouge wizard, they are wizards who have been taken off the path of good and have joined the enemy. Their reasons are unknown and unique. Some to get revenge. Others think the system at Ravenwood is corrupted. Regardless they have chosen a different path then us. You can usually tell if they're rouge by looking at the left arm. You would find a black symbol of what school they're from. Regardless where the symbol originally was, after you go rouge, the symbol moves to the left arm." Connor explained as Luke let him.

"Heh, that's right on the bull's-eye. You know your stuff when it comes to rouge wizards don't ya?" Luke said while smiling at him.

"It's lesson #5 they teach at Ravenwood, everyone must know it. But I'm curious. What made you stray from the path of good and onto the corrupted path?"

"Let's just say that I needed more power. But you really think that you're on the good path don't you? How foolish. They're only using you at the academy don't you see it? They don't care about you they just care about themselves! Didn't you think it was strange when they told us how Deth was just defeated by some random person? There is no way the demon wizard would be defeated that easily. That's only one out of the many lies that they have tried to put in our heads."

"So that's what he told you hmm? When you had nowhere else to go you desperately turn to Malistare for power. But I need to ask. Who did you try to kill?! I know people just don't turn into rouge wizards just like that. So I ask again. WHO DID YOU TRY TO KILL?!" Connor shouted at him but he stayed silent for a moment. He finally spoke after a minute or two.

"I tried to kill Christine Moonblade. I want to kill her."

"Why?"

"That's none of your business!" He swiped at Connor continuing the fight.

"It's useless to fight! We're equally matched!"

"Hah! You think we're equally matched?! I've only been playing with you the entire time! You thought that this was my full power? You're sadly mistaken!" Connors eyes widen at this and from one single attack he was launched towards the wall, cracking and shattering it. He fell to the floor trying to catch his breath with blood coming out of his mouth. Suddenly a big cloud of smoke comes out of thin air in front of Connor.

"Hey Connor, if you're not busy do you think you can lend me some frost flow-" She stopped mid sentence to see where Connor was because he was out of her field of vision. She looked down to see him stained with his own coughed up blood, leaning on the wall while holding his stomach. Her eyes widened at the sight of Connor's beat up position. She sat down immediately to see if he was ok. "Connor what happened? Who or what did this?" He pointed at Luke and she followed where he was pointing. "Of course it's you." Her caring voice turned into an angry one. "Luke you may have a grudge against me but you don't have to involve my friends!"

"So he is your friend. What a weak friend he is." She clenched her fists and started to grit her teeth. Just as she was about to attack him another puff of smoke appears, this time behind Luke and in front of the center of the stage like area which had a big fire in the background.

"What do you think you're doing Luke?" It was the Incinerator.

"I'm doing what Malistare ordered me to do."

"You've done so already. I've taken care of Krokopatra already. Our work here is done."

"No your work here is done! Mine is to stay here and-"

"Stall them until further notice. That's exactly what you've done now we have to go before Malistare gets mad at us. Or rather you."

"Fine, you brats got lucky this time but next time we finish this fight. Especially you Moonblade!" As he teleported the Incinerator looked at the others and she noticed Connor in the back. He was staring at her to in an odd way. She just smiled like she did when she killed Krokhotep and left.

"Connor are you ok?" everyone came rushing towards him but he just sat there looking in the air trying to figure something out.

"She looks so familiar. I can't put my finger on it but I know I've seen her other then at Krokhotep with you guys. Who is she?"

"We can worry about that later. Right now we have to get you back to the city and get you healed up." Seth said healing him slowly.

"So then, is it done?" Malistare asked

"Yes sir, I've completely made sure she's nothing but a pile of ash."

"Good. Anything else on your report? Perhaps something with the rookies popped up."

"Yes sir. The 6 rookies were there but 2 of the advanced fighters showed up. One of which I have always remembered." An evil grin comes across her face. "I always did wonder when and where he would try and take his revenge."

"What are you saying?"

"Nothing lord Mailistare. Just a few memories in my head."

"Be off then. You've done your job."

"Yes sir."

What's this what this? The Incinerator and Connor may have actually known each other before Wizard City?! But getting to the real issue at hand, sorry I wasn't able to update but it was testing week at my school and I had to study a bunch x.x Now that summer is here I'll be able to write more often though so I'll cya guys more often!

Cya later!

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