Part 4 - A Scaly Situation

Crusherwhite awoke with a jolt. He felt something sharp poking into him. He got out of bed and looked at it. "Just a bit of straw," he thought, relieved. He looked out of the window. It was still rather dark outside. "It must be really early," he said to himself as he opened the passageway. He had decided to show Chris the arena he had found. He came out in the main room and made his way over to Chris, tapping him gently on the shoulder and gently waking him up.

"Crusherwhite, it's still early. Go back to bed," he told the white Lupe sleepily. Crusherwhite shook his head.

"There's something I need to show you," he told Chris. He made his way to the passage again, waiting. Chris pulled himself out of the chair and followed, still confused as to why Crusherwhite had awoke him so early. Within a few moments, they had arrived at the door. Crusherwhite pushed it open and walked in, saying to Chris, "Come on." Chris was shocked as he saw the huge Battledome arena.

"Wow! Exactly how long has this been here?" he asked. Crusherwhite walked over to the centre of the arena and pushed a button hidden in the floor. Three targets appeared behind him. Crusherwhite span around and hit them with the Scarab Ring, the acid melting them.

"I found this place when we first found the passages," he said. Chris nodded in awe, admiring the room he stood in.

"How about, after we sort out this whole curse ordeal, we get some proper training equipment installed?" Chris offered. Crusherwhite smiled.

"That would be great; thanks Chris!" he said, leaping into his arms. Chris smiled as he stroked Crusherwhite gently.

"Let's go back up. Everyone will probably want to hear about the next dream," he said to the Lupe. Crusherwhite raced to the door. Chris sighed as he thought about what had been happening recently. "How much further will SoulGunBlack go to keep us from stopping him?" he thought as he made his way back to the main room, Crusherwhite at his side. They came up from the passageway, noticing that everyone was awake and waiting for them, knowing what had happened. Crusherwhite stepped forward.

"In my dream, I stood in Shenkuu. It seemed completely normal. I tried to fight SoulGunBlack there. I also saw myself freezing the last Focal Guardian," Crusherwhite told them sadly. Chris knelt down next to him.

"It's okay. You didn't mean for it to happen. Even with the three guardians gone, we'll do everything we can to stop him," he said. Crusherwhite nodded, his hope restored a little by Chris' words.

"There's only one problem left. If we don't know what we have to stop, how will we stop it?" Lola asked. Crusherwhite walked towards her and patted her on the shoulder.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he told her. "So off we go." He ran to the door, eagerly awaiting the others. They set off for Shenkuu.

When they arrived, they took a moment to observe the city.

"So far, it looks perfectly okay," Chris said. Crusherwhite stood on one of the bridges, looking down underneath him. Lola walked over to him and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Tell me what's on your mind," she said, trying to relax him. Crusherwhite sighed.

"SoulGunBlack said that the curse had affected Shenkuu, but in a different way. He didn't tell me in what way it had been affected, though," he told her sadly. Lola smiled.

"Don't worry. We'll stop it, no matter what form it takes," she told him confidently. Crusherwhite suddenly noticed something coming in the distance.

"Get back!" he yelled, pushing Lola to safe ground just as the bridge was smashed by a huge tail. As he fell, he grabbed the tail. The tail lifted him up, and he found himself staring into the eye of a huge Cobrall. The overgrown petpet threw Crusherwhite away, only for him to be caught by Lola.

"You okay?" she asked. She stared at the huge creature. "How could a Cobrall get so big?"

"I don't know, but we have to stop it!" Crusherwhite said, preparing himself for battle. He fired a Water Jet attack at the creature to get its attention. The Cobrall tried to crush him but he flipped onto the tail as it smashed into the ground. He ran along the creature's body, firing acid from the Scarab Ring all the way. The Cobrall let out a screech as the acid began to eat away at it. Crusherwhite was now on its head and he opened his Illusens Earth Potion and aimed straight down. A powerful magic blast smashed into the Cobrall, causing it to fall. Crusherwhite leapt back onto safe ground as the creature fell. "Well, that was interesting," Crusherwhite said happily. Chris smiled.

"That's my Crusherwhite - so calm and confident," he said proudly. He walked over and stroked the Lupe gently. Lola stepped forward.

"How exactly will we repair the damage to the bridge?" she asked, looking at the destroyed remains.

"We can't. We'll just have to rely on the citizens here to do it," Crusherwhite told them as he walked away.

"Is it just me, or does he seem a little strange to you?" Lola asked Chris as she watched him. Chris just shook his head.

"He hasn't had a lot of sleep lately. I suggest we just let him be for now," Chris said. They returned home.

Back at Chris' home, they sat in a circle again.

"So, does anyone have any ideas for our next move?" Chris asked. Everyone shook their heads. "Until we find a way to pinpoint SoulGunBlack's location, we're stuck," Chris said glumly. Sarah raised her hand.

"Maybe the locations affected by the curse will give us some clue as to his whereabouts," she suggested.

"That's a good suggestion, Sarah. The only place I think is likely is Darigan Citadel. "However, SoulGunBlack would never be able to get there due to all the guards," Chris said. Crusherwhite shook his head.

"I can't think straight. I'm going to bed," he said with a yawn as he opened the passage again.

"I think I'll get an early night as well," Lola told them as she followed Crusherwhite. Chris let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess we'd all better get an early night," he suggested, going to the chair. Everyone nodded and within a few short moments, they had all fallen asleep.

Crusherwhite had another nightmare that night. This time, he was standing in a strange place, darkness completely surrounding him. "What's going on?" he asked himself.

"I have to show you the truth of what will happen if you stay with them any longer," SoulGunBlack told him. Chris appeared in front of Crusherwhite and was looking at him in disappointment.

"Crusherwhite, you are a disgrace to me. Leave and never return," he said as he disappeared from Crusherwhite's view.

Lupussilver then appeared to him and said "You disgust me. To think I looked up to you!" Crusherwhite was confused. Why were they saying these things to him?

The rest of his friends soon appeared one after the other, saying things like: "You are a pathetic excuse for a Neopet," and "Why did I ever like you in the first place?" Crusherwhite was trying his hardest to keep back his tears, but they came through despite him.

"You can escape this fate. All you must do is run away. Leave them and start a new life," SoulGunBlack told him. Crusherwhite awoke and looked at Lola. She was still fast asleep, so he crept over to his desk and pulled out all his Battledome equipment. He noticed the necklace that Lola had given to him. He threw it to the ground and wrote a small letter before climbing out of the window. "Go to the place they would least expect you to," the voice of SoulGunBlack told him. With one final look at his home, he turned and ran as fast as he could towards the Haunted Woods, tears streaming down his face as he ran. He knew he would never see them again, and he also knew that they wouldn't care about his disappearance. He vowed he would never return again.