Hey guys, it's been a while. Sorry. Anyway, I promised a mostly Grant one, so that's what I'm gonna give you. Hope you guys enjoy this one. Dragiam20, Cya at the end.

Grant's P.O.V.

"You're 18!?" She nodded. "Yes. Why? Is that surprising?" I nodded slowly, and she smiles. I would like to say I said something smart, or maybe even funny, but the only thing that came to mind was, "...Wow...you're hot…" I covered my mouth as soon as I said it. I started to take it back, but she laughed and smiled at me. "It's not the worst pickup line I've ever heard. Once, a guy just up and asked me for my number. Didn't know my name or anything." She smirked evilly. "He got a well-deserved slap."

I murmured a small, "Oh…" I didn't push any further. I couldn't tell if it was a threat, or if she was testing my gall. I didn't want to find out. She led me further into the temple, and I looked around in awe. Everything was amazing. From the earthy, rock walls, to the training facilities, even the bathrooms. (Don't judge me. Have you ever seen a more efficient disposal system than being disintegrated by lava? It never backs up. Even when you stuff tissue in it. Believe me, I tried.)

She eventually led me to a large, indented part of the temple, cut off from the rest. "What is this place?" She smiled, as if remembering something from long ago. "This is the library. It is our repository of creatures, Ground civilization and beyond." I looked around for a long time. There were huge racks of tablets, each inscribed with a description of a creature, and it's silhouette. And, in the middle of them all, curling out of the ground, was the Ground civilization tablets. There were much fewer of these, but I could feel a connection to each of them. More than I had felt with even Fire or Darkness.

I looked back at Aziza, and she looked like she was waiting for something. I turned and approached the shelves. I recognized Red Ruby's tablet, and many others I didn't. Out of nowhere, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia, as if an old, childhood friend I hadn't seen in years had just given me a hug. I touched the rack, but I had no idea which ones to pick. My hands drifted over the tablets, touching each one in turn. I was searching for just the right fit. Something that felt right. Natural.

I was about to give up, until my hands touched a significantly larger tablet. It was brown with silver accents around the edges. I brushed away some dust, and I felt a large wave of sadness pulse from the slab of earth. I frowned, and I felt for the creature. It had gone through so much in it's life. So many terrible masters. So much pain. The last of its kind. I almost hesitated in picking it up.

Though this creature had gone through a lot, I knew that I needed a partner, and it needed a new, kinder master. I took it off the shelf, along with a smaller, more used tablet. The smaller one was made of the same earth as the first, but had claw marks in it that were a grey-ish color. I read the smaller tablet's inscription. "Iron Liger…" I felt a feral edge from this creature. It might be hard to tame, but if I could do it, I would reap a great reward.

I turned to find Aziza looking over my shoulder. She nodded and said, "Good choice. But, are you sure you want that creature? It...It's been through a lot. It might not be friendly towards humans anymore."

I was tempted to put the tablet back in its place, but I shook my head. "No. I want these two." She nods and looks at me. "Okay. Choose one other from another civilization." I shrugged and chose a random tablet from Darkness. It read, "Kronax the Brutal." I felt a warrior's life pulse from the tablet. This creature had done any number of things. It had served both terrible and wonderful masters. It would take the orders of anyone it saw fit to work under. I respected that.

Master Aziza led me to what I remembered to be a Kaijudo arena. It was much larger than the one at The Temple. I looked around, and saw many duelists gathering around the arena. I could hear some of them whisper, "So, this is the new guy?""He looks scrawny.""No, he looks weak."

That last comment really got my blood boiling. I didn't much care who I had to go through at this point. After a while, I heard Aziza calling me. "...ant…GRANT…!" I jumped, and looked at her. "Oh. I'm sorry Master Aziza. I-""Your blood runs hot." She interrupted. "That's good. Healthy even."

I looked at her oddly. "Uhhh...How…?" She smiled at me and looked towards the arena seats. "Who among you is brave enough to take on the 'fresh meat?'" I grumbled at that, but didn't say anything to annoy or offend her. 'I need to stay in her good graces. If she isn't around, I don't know what I'll do. I barely know anyone here.'

A tall, Caucasian duelist stepped up. He was at least two feet taller than me, so I had to look almost straight up to look him in the eyes. He had a long, jagged scar above his right eye that cut his eyebrow in half and ended just below his hairline. He was also very bulky, like a football player. But, he had a nervous edge to him. His eyes darted around, almost as if he was waiting for something. I shrugged it off as a normal quirk, until I noticed Master Aziza looking at him strangely. "Lyon? Are you okay?" The duelist looked at me, then at her, smiling warmly. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just been a while since I've dueled, is all. No worries." Aziza smiled, satisfied with his answer. "Okay. Just come to me if you need anything." I swear I saw him bite his tongue. But, contrary to what I had seen, he smiled at her and nodded curtly. "Yes…Master."

He walked away to take his place back at the other side of the ring, and I turned to see Aziza frowning. I heard her say, "…Why'd he say it like that…?" I looked at the other duelist, Lyon. He was obviously on edge because of something…But what…?

The symbol of the Ground Civilization appeared in the air, and Lyon yelled, "Red Ruby of Crystal Caverns!" The red, liquid-esque creature slithered out of the portal, and it formed into an exact copy of Lyon. The Ground creature then looked at me and gave a metallic shriek. I flinched and took a step back. The creature generated teeth sharp enough to cut bone to ribbons. I really didn't want to be on the receiving end of those things… I looked back towards Aziza, and she gave me a confident smile and a curt nod. I turned back towards Lyon and his creature, then took a deep breath. I looked at the first tablet, and steeled my nerves. I dropped the slab of earth and yelled in a loud voice, "Iron Liger of the Earthen Plains!"

I heard a collective gasp, and a Ground portal appeared in the air. Out of it came a 500 pound silver piece of perfection. It was the largest big cat I had ever seen. Its silver coat was marked by three black lines of fur in the middle of it's back, like slash marks. It had teeth like a sabertooth, and the same feral glare as a tiger. Muscles bulged from underneath its fur, and it stood at least 5 feet even on all fours. It's claws were extremely sharp, and were made out of what I assumed to be black diamonds. The creature's tail was lined with small, sharp spikes that glinted in the light.

The big cat set it's sights on me, and I froze in place. I watched almost in terror as the large Kaiju prowled around me, sniffing me, testing me. It stopped right in front of me and looked into my eyes. Once it was satisfied, the creature grunted and did what I thought to be a nod. It took a kneeling position in front of me and I obliged it, climbing on. I was in a stance reminicent of a biker's, and I was strangely comfortable.

Lyon sent his creature towards us, and Liger dodged quicker than I could tell him to. I willed him forward, and he dashed after his off-balance foe. Red Ruby turned in an instant and slashed at my creature's side, causing a large gash in his side. Liger halted momentarily, but took off again after a second. 'This creature is tough.'

After a few missed hits, Liger finally managed to land a blow on the liquid-esque creature. The creature hissed, and I noticed something wrong with it. Red Rubies are usually…well…red. This one was a sickly shade of grey. It's movements were jittery, like someone…or something…had possessed it. It was also a lot more agressive than most of its kind. This type of creature is known for being tough, yes, but also very laid back and relaxed.

The creature slithered around Liger, and spotted me. It lunged for me, but the big cat's tail lashed out and captured the creature, squeezing it in a death grip. If it had been any other creature, they would've been trapped. Sadly, that was not the case. After a brief struggle, Ruby got away and encircled us in a red, liquid-metal wall. Liger crouched down and pounced high into the air. When I looked up, I was close enough to touch the ceiling. When I looked down, we were at least 100 yards into the air, everyone below me staring up in shock.

Liger began it's descent down, and I felt pressure build up around its sides. Lyon made his Ruby creature form jagged spikes below us, much to the horror of Aziza. "LYON, NO!" He ignored her, deadset on his decision. I saw Liger look back at me, almost as if asking for permission. I nodded, seeing as I had no other choice.

Liger turned towards the fast-approaching ground, and a loud growl escaped his lips. He tensed for a second, and as we were just reaching the spikes, he let out the most fearsome roar I'd ever heard. A blast of white, pulsing energy shot from his muzzele and destroyed the spikes, and sent the creature back to the Ground civilization.

I heard everyone in the arena stop breathing for a second, then, to my surprise, everyone broke ut into cheers. "Yeah, newbie!" "Told you he could do it!" "Alright, little man!" That last one made me grumble a little, but I didn't complain. I got off of Liger and rubbed his head. I returned him to the Ground civillization, and relaxed.

I looked towards Lyon to congratulate him on a good match, but his face had drained of color. He was studdering, "N-No...I-Impossible…No rookie could've done…T-THAT!" I frowned, and Aziza did the same. "Lyon, perhaps it is ti-" "NO!" Aziza looked at him in surprise, then glared at him. "Lyon, I am still master. Cal-" He glared at her murderously. "NO! I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!" He walked right up to her and got in her face. "You've been master for less than a month, and you have been bringing stronger and stronger duelists into the order. OUR ORDER! I don't know what you're doing! He shouldn't even be able to control the creature, much less RIDE IT! Ever since Master Dunn died, y-"

Aziza abruptly cut him off with a hard slap to the face. "Know your place, Lyon. We may have been trained together, but you have always been desperate. And Lin-" He glared at her and grabbed her by the neck. "Don't you dare! DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER NAME!" He started lifting her into the air, and my eyes widened at the sight. She was choking, and everyone was frozen in shock. I rushed forwards and grabbed at his arm desperately. "Hey, let her go!" He sneered at me and pushed me down, then tossed her at me. "Stupid brat…" I barely caught her, and she was only half-conscious. I tried to shake her awake, but to no avail. "Master! Aziza, wake up!" She fainted in my arms, and I looked towards the other duelists. By this time, they had gotten in front of me, protecting us from Lyon. One of them directed me towards the infirmary, and Iooked back in shock to see an enormous creature destroying the temple.

Ray Jr's P.O.V.

I was taking a break outside the dojo when I felt the entire ground shake. I ran inside and braced myself against the door. I yelled, "Earthquake!" The students taking karate in the front held on to the supports, as did Alakshmi, their teacher. She looked at me and nodded. She put one of the older kids in charge, and together, we descended the stairs into the temple, careful to close the door after we had gone inside.

About halfway down the steps, a three minute walk, the shaking stopped, and we raced down into the temple. We ran into the common room, and I looked around to see most of the other acolytes and some adepts in the room. "Is everyone okay!?" Everyone nodded, and most people got away with insignifigant injuries, like scratches or a headache.

I delved further into the temple, and found the others regrouping. "Guys!" Master Gabe was checking the monitors, obviously very distressed. He was muttering, "No. Come on...work…" I could tell it was bad if Panopter wasn't working. Since it got some kind of upgrade from Gargle a while back, it never messed up. Ever.

I saw Aurora and the others on the floor, and I ran to them. I kneeled next to Aurora and picked her up. "Aura, you guys okay?" She nodded while rubbing her head. "Just a few bumps and scrapes. We'll be fine. What in the heck was that? No earthquake short of a 5.0 has ever penetrated the temple's security measures. That was nothing close to that." I bit my lip and shook my head. "No idea."

I looked at the others, and they were just starting to get up off the ground. I heard Aurora call me, and I looked down. "Yeah, Aurora?" She had an unsure look on her face, and she sat up and glanced at me. "Ray…I have a bad feeling about this…" I nod and look around. "Yeah…you an me both…"

To be continued…

Hey guys. Dragiam20 here. Wow, it's been a long time. But, it's a new year, and a new, more mature me. The first paragraph or so I wrote after the last chapter. The rest was all this week. I finished this on October 1st. Sorry it's been so long. I have no internet, and I really can't be bothered to write during the summer. Anyways guys, check out my page, and my other stories. I intend to continue them as well. If I get five or more reviews(don't know how many people are reading my stories), I'll try to post new chapters for all my stories in the next few weeks. Read my The Age of Uub Jr. story and leave a review. Even if you hate it. I'll take any kind of criticism at this point. Plus, their whole world is about to have a reboot. And also read my Avatar: The Last Airbender story. I hope you all like it. Anyways, thanks for being patient guys. It really shows how great and reliable fans my stories have, albeit a few. Well, until next time. Dragiam20, here. Cya guys later.