And here is the fifteenth (sixteenth) chapter of this story! Today, we will be facing Mutaku, who will finally get a face! I hope it wasn't too big of a surprise - the signs were there. This is the first phase, so there's gonna be a second one, too. But not too much detail on that one now - let's focus on this first phase. And I'm sorry you had to wait so long for the next chapter, but I was very busy with other projects and homework. But first, the reviews:

Wendy Pierce: Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I too hope they'll soon make peace. Actually, I don't think Mutaku will kill Lanny, but she certainly is capable of doing that. At least, she won't kill him yet. She still needs him to do stuff for her.

Vanessa: I think it's a mix of both. I too was busy and I was glad I could post this. Off course this'll be shorter than the Three Kings of Legend. To be honest, I'll reveal who the host is this chapter and how they're gonna cooperate. Thanks for reviewing!

Enjoy!

-Writer207

It was hard to leave Boomer.

Both Boz and Brady had wanted to stay with him but the doctor, the son of Timothy Kalooka-Kahn, shooed them out. Apparently, he needed to be alone to be able to know what poison had come inside Boomer's body. Mason was staying with him, so the two brothers and Mikayla could go inform Lanny about what had happened.

As soon as they were in Lanny's room, they had no idea why he would wreck his room. He wasn't present, and neither was Yamakoshi. They did, however, find a small note on his desk, asking Lanny to come to Mt. Spew. It could also ask someone else to come to Mt. Spew as written by Lanny, but there was a name they couldn't ignore.

"Mutaku," Mikayla read out loud, and so the trio made the trip to the volcano. They guessed Mutaku had kidnapped (fishnapped?) the ugly fish to blackmail Lanny into working with her. this meant she had found herself a host, which definitely wasn't good news at all. If Lanny was forced to go to the volcano and work for Mutaku, they would make sure to free him before she had a chance to kill him.

Their trip was spent mostly in silence. Not a word was spoken on their way to Mt. Spew, except for when Boz tried to have a conversation with his older brother.

"Hey, Brady," he began, hoping his brother would at least react. But he didn't. after an awkward silence, Boz continued.

"You know," he said, "this is very hard for the both of us. I mean, I don't know how you see it, but I guess we kind of jinxed it with fighting. If we hadn't been so stupid and childish, one of us could've drunk the poison and Boomer wouldn't have to lie there, but walk alongside you to find Lanny." Brady did grow a little interested in what Boz had to say, but only because Boz implied he would have taken a sip first, thus causing the original Kings to go to the volcano.

"It should've been me," Boz continued when Brady didn't say anything, "Yes, Mikayla, it should. You remember what happened when I inherited Brady's King Ring. It didn't obey me as Boomer's did. I was never meant to be a King of Legend, nor will I ever be. I'm the replacement guy, only being called upon by the island when one of the Kings would quit." Brady had no idea what to say about these words, thus he continued listening.

"The prophecy's right. Boomer was taken by food and I surely will be taken by failure. And yes, that is worse than injury. At least you can see the wounds when you're injured. The failure, that's me. Now, that part of the prophecy's already solved. I'm sorry, Brady, but you're gonna get injured. I sincerely hope you won't have to face the consequences because I failed."

The other half of the trip was spent in silence, but this time they all had something to think about: Boz' monologue. Brady had no idea that's how Boz thought about himself. The more he thought about it, the more he realized it might be true and quite damaging for his self-esteem. Only later did he realize Boz had mentioned he inherited Brady's King Ring.

At last, they had reached the volcano, entering it and off to search and find Lanny. They stuck together, hoping to find him soon and get out before Mutaku would find out they came for him. however, that was easier said than done, as there were many hidden paths and corridors in and underneath the volcano, some of which could lead you directly to the lava.

Eventually Boz, Brady and Mikayla wandered into an unknown area of the volcano. It couldn't be called 'underground', but it sure felt like they were underground right now. In the back was a small lava pool, which lit up the entire area. There was one more person present in this area, and he lay quite close to the lava pool.

"Wow, get away from there!" Boz yelled as he and Mikayla ran to the person. His was facing the lava, his back to the three newcomers. Brady just slowly walked closer, suspicious of this person that just happened to be randomly lying on the ground. when Mikayla and Boz were about to drag him away from the lava pool when Boz saw his face.

"Brady, it's Lanny!" he yelled, causing Brady to run the last few meters. Boz hadn't lied – it indeed was Lanny. This raised a lot of questions. What was Lanny doing there? How did he end up in this particular area? Did he get lost after going on a volcano hike? How come he actually got himself unconscious in this very specific area near lava? If he was going to take a nap, the heat and light of the lava were much more bearable at the other side.

"What happened to him?" Brady asked the unnecessary question out loud. Boz shook his head, picking up the body and moving it further away from the lava. Mikayla looked at Brady.

"Maybe it was Mutaku," she suggested. Brady nodded. Yeah, most likely. Didn't Mason say she would attack the royal family? First it was Boomer with the poison and now it's Lanny with … with whatever Mutaku did to him.

Lanny scared them all when he started coughing and suddenly regained consciousness. Boz nearly dropped him, but managed to keep him straight. He even helped Lanny stand up straight. Lanny, on his side, didn't seem to appreciate the help he'd get. He pushed Boz away, left to stand on his own legs, refusing the help.

Eventually he stopped coughing and stared at his hands and then looked up at the three confused teenagers, as they had no idea what just happened. then, an evil grin appeared on his face, as if he had never done anything else but grinning in an evil way. He might have done it before, but never when the kings were around.

"Lanny? What's going on?" Brady asked, daring to put one step forward.

"Don't call me that!" Lanny immediately yelled, then continued talking. "That fool is long gone. He was a genius, yes, but never had the guts to do something out in the open. It's time to change that." This prompted Brady to take a step back again.

"You're scaring me, Lanny, just drop the act! Wait, did you hit your head hard or is it because of the heat." Brady said again, but Mikayla drew her machete. If Boz had one, he would've used it himself. She pushed Brady behind him, who sought the company of Boz, who couldn't stop staring at his cousin.

"It's not Lanny," Mikayla stated, ready to attack the hobbit, "It's Mutaku."

"At least someone gets it," Mutaku, who had already possessed Lanny's body, said, "I was wondering how long it would take you to figure it out. I was planning to blame the owner of this body for my crimes, but I guess I can drop that plan." It was weird to imagine a woman's soul in a boy's body, but according to the Great Book, it has happened before. Seeing it in real life was just plain weird.

"What'd you do to Lanny?" Boz shouted, being genuinely worried about his cousin. Mutaku lifted her shoulders.

"I pushed him out once he realized he was the host. Don't worry, he didn't feel anything."

"You killed him?" Boz shouted again, sounding a little more desperate this time. Brady held Boz' wrist just in case the monkey-boy would do stupid things – he didn't want his stupid brother to do stupid things. Mutaku shook her head.

"I wish I had. He's still in here, somewhere. Once I find him then yes, I will kill him." That was it. Boz needed no more motivation in order to break free from Brady's grasp. He nearly took Mikayla's machete, but decided against it. He could hurt himself if he did that. So without grabbing Mikayla's machete, he ran towards the demoness in his cousin's body. He jumped up and hoped to crush Mutaku out of Lanny.

Mutaku, as a form of defense, simply lifted her newly-acquired hands which got a purple glow around them, placing them as if she would push Boz away from her. The next moment, Boz flew back and hit the wall with a great speed.

Mutaku lowered her arms as Brady and Mikayla rushed to Boz' aid. He didn't appear to be conscious and there was a stream of blood, slowly dripping down his face. He was still alive, though. He wouldn't die yet. Brady turned his head to Mutaku, who seemed to be pleased with what she's done.

"How did you do that?" Brady wondered out loud.

"Learning Dark Magic is something a soul can, but not the body. I rule this body, so I can perform Dark Magic." Brady was about to say 'come at me, bro' and challenge the evil spirit to try and do the same to him, but Mikayla stopped him by grabbing his arm.

"We need to get him out of here," she told him, pointing at Boz. He definitely should see a doctor right now. Brady looked from Boz to Mutaku. She hurt his brother! They might not have gotten along well, but he did care about his well-being. As the oldest brother, he should have protected his younger brother with the red hair. He should've protected the King who thought he was a nobody, for a "replacement guy" has nothing to live or fight for when the guy he replaces has returned.

"But she…" Brady began, but Mikayla didn't let him finish.

"She will be taken care of later. Let's go now." Later, she'd explain they'd better come back with enough guards and maybe an island magician who could try to stop Mutaku and drive her out of Lanny's body. Brady eventually was led by Mikayla's decision and helped her drag his brother out of the cave, into the light side and back to Morris, who would soon have to help a second King.

Both Kings were knocked out, possibly near death. The only royal who might have a chance to stop her was Brady. There was just one problem. If Lanny is still in there, somewhere, he didn't want to hurt his body or kill it, not wanting to risk losing his only and favorite cousin.

Oh, how hard could this life be?

...Okay, this is probably the first and last time there's also something under the chapter, but I just wanted to ask: how many of you expected Lanny to be the host? Like it said above, the signs were there. I hope you enjoyed!