Chapter 23
Jimmy unleashed a stream of fire from his mouth that collided with Corin and he was engulfed in an explosion. However more vines came out of the earth, wrapping around where Corin had stood, shielding him from the attack. Jimmy took another drink from his bottle and let loose another stream of fire but this time Corin leapt out of the way of the attack. He landed on a branch of his giant tree, staring down at the Avatars.
"I made the mistake of underestimating you Avatars once by challenging you in direct combat, preferring to fight my pray head on. This time we are in the center of my Bloody Garden, here my power is absolute." Corin said with a laugh.
"Take this!" Elliot plunged her sword into the earth.
Arondight glowed bright blue and from out of the ground shot streams of high pressure water. Corin waved his spear and sent more vines to intercept the attack. The water shot tore through the vines easily and Corin jumped off the branch before he was hit. He landed on the ground and stared at Elliot.
'Lancelot's sword is rumored to have complete control over water, making it from the air itself and even able to drain water from living things like trees and living beings. Too bad for I came prepared.' Corin chuckled.
Elliot and Jimmy fired a combination of water and fire attacks that would have blasted him to pieces but he did not dodge. He waved his spear and a flower twice the size of a human came out of the ground and absorbed the attack.
'This won't do.' Andromeda commented to Gwen. 'Corin is far too formidable to be taken out in a head on attack.'
'Then we need to distract him while Dawn finishes her Method.' Gwen held her sword tightly. 'I'll give him something fight.'
Gwen charged forward, her speed enhanced great by Andromeda's powers and prepared to cut through Corin. The Masked Jungle Hunter slammed his spear into the ground and green glowing moths appeared him that launched themselves at Gwen like bullets.
'Don't let them touch you!' Andromeda warned her Avatar.
Gwen jumped back, firing a Spectral Volt that went through the mass of moths creating a cluster of explosions. The moths flew around Corin, waiting for his next command. Gwen landed next to Elliot and Jimmy to plan out their next move.
"We can't attack like this; he'll take us out one at a time." Gwen said before they launched another attack.
"Those moths act as heat seeking missiles, exploding on contact with anything." Andromeda spoke up. "They are faster than bullets and almost impossible to spot even if your eyesight is enhanced by Spirit Energy."
"So we can't charge at him head on." Gwen finished.
"So how do we hit him?" Elliot asked, anxious to finish the fight.
"Relax, I got this." Jimmy smirked.
Jimmy walked forward, towards the masked spirit while the moths got ready to attack. Purple liquid appeared inside the glass bottle as Jimmy took another drink. The swarm of moths flew down to kill him just as he spewed a blast of purple smoke that enveloped the swarm. The moths fell to the ground, the green glow dying just as their bodies dissolved into thin air.
Corin's yellow eyes flared as Jimmy walked through the purple mist, remembering the Personal Method of Dionysus the Spreader of Drunken Madness. Going up against Andromeda's Avatar was going to be challenging with two more Avatars with her. Corin was prideful but he knew that Andromeda was more powerful than he was and with his avatar backed by two more he needed to rely on strategy instead of brute strength to win. He slammed his spear into the ground and more vines erupted from the ground surrounding the Avatars.
"Nice try!" Elliot swung her sword and a whip made of pure water blasted out of the sword, slicing through the vines closest to her.
A vine came out of the ground and grabbed her leg, yanking her down. She kicked and slashed the vine with her sword, slicing through it but more vines came out held her down.
"Get off me!" Elliot shouted.
Corin, sensing that one Avatar was down while the other two were distracted leaped up and landed on the ground. Standing above Elliot who froze and gulped in fear Corin raised his spear, enjoying the look of fear in her eyes. Gwen turned and saw Corin standing over Elliot with his spear ready to impale her.
"Elliot!" Gwen shouted.
More vines came out to block her from reaching them no matter how many she slashed apart with her sword.
'Andromeda! I need to stop him!' The silver shining aura around Gwen flared.
'Gwen, are you about to...' Andromeda started but Gwen had already started.
Bright stars manifested from the bright aura around Gwen as she concentrated with her eyes closed. 'I'm sorry but desperate times call for desperate measures!'
'Just aim carefully, a single miss and Elliot could be killed!' Andromeda instructed.
The vines lunged at Gwen to finish her off but she did not attempt to run. She opened her eyes, desperately trying to keep calm. With just a thought star bolts blasted forward at the vines, blowing them apart with a few flying past them towards Corin. The Masked Jungle Hunter looked up to see star bolts flying at him. Eyes widening at the familiar form of attack he jumped into the air over the star bolts as flew under him while missing Elliot.
They slammed into the giant tree and tore through the bark in the form of a large explosion. Elliot fired beams of blue light from her sword, destroying the vines that held her down.
"That'll teach ya!" Elliot jumped back onto her feet. "Where'd he go?!"
Corin had landed on a branch and stared down at Gwen who ran up next to Elliot to check on her. He recognized those star bolts as part of Andromeda's personal Method, Galaxy Storm. Granted those few star bolts were nowhere near the full power of Andromeda's Method the fact that her Avatar had been able to master a small part of it was unnerving. A full barrage would have vaporized him, his tree, and half the forest instantly leaving nothing left.
"That was...awesome." Gwen looked down at her hands. "I can't believe I did that."
'Your training has done well to bring you this far but I don't recommend you use Galaxy Storm again unless it's a desperate situation.' Andromeda replied.
'You're right,' Gwen sighed. 'It'd be fun to blast that tree apart if not for the fact that everyone is trapped in it.'
Corin jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly on the ground just a few feet away from Gwen. He pointed his spear at her, a sign that she understood all too well.
"You want to settle the old fashioned way?" Gwen narrowed her eyes as she held her sword in a ready position.
Corin did not answer. He had no patience for talk during a hunt. Gwen's use of Galaxy Storm had surprised him and he dare not give her a chance to use it again.
"You're not taking this psycho alone, Gwenny!" Elliot stood next to Gwen with her sword ready. "This guy's asking for it!"
"Be careful child, Corin specializes in close range combat. That spear is his favourite weapon and he is proficient in wielding it." Andromeda spoke.
"Not to mention that the Bloody Garden is still active." Lancelot pointed out.
"Leave that to me." Jimmy took another drink from his bottle.
He spewed another purple mist that covered the area.
Xxx
Dawn ran through the forest, panting even though Luna's power was allowing her to run faster to avoid being attacked by vines or possessed animals.
"We're coming upon the first point." Luna said. "Right here!"
Dawn stopped running, taking deep breath before closing her eyes and putting her hands on the ground. A circle encircled her, lined with what seemed to be runes that glowed brightly that matched the glowing moonlight color of Luna's specter form.
"First point complete." Dawn stood up. "Three more to go."
"Now we must travel until we reach the western end of the garden." Luna spoke. "With the Masked Jungle Hunter occupied I suggest we move through the air to get there faster."
"Agreed." Dawn closed her eyes and spread her arms out.
The bracelet glowed and Dawn was engulfed in a bright moonlight colored aura. She slowly floated off the ground, rising into the air.
'Make yourself completely weightless, much like the spirits whose bodies have no mass.' Dawn said inside her head as she concentrated. 'Gravity has no meaning in the Spirit Realm and it has no meaning to its Avatars.'
She opened her eyes to see herself floating in the air, looking down at the forest with the giant tree casting a huge shadow over where she had previously stood.
'It worked!' Dawn laughed happily.
'Now is not the time to be celebrating. We must move west now.' Luna pointed out.
Dawn nodded and flew off, moving as fast as she could while remembering she had almost no experience flying.
'I can only hope the others are holding out. From what I heard, the Masked Jungle Hunter is very dangerous, even for an experienced Avatar.' Dawn thought.
Xxx
Gwen brought her sword in a downward swing which Corin blocked by raising his spear over his head, catching Gwen's sword before it touched his head. Corin shoved Gwen back and slammed his spear onto the ground. Vines erupted from the ground around him, forming a web of vines throughout the surrounding forest. Gwen and Elliot stayed together as Jimmy prepared to use his Mist of Madness Method again.
"Oh no you don't!" Corin waved his spear.
A swarm of moths appeared out of the trees near Jimmy and flew around him.
"Oh man!" Jimmy jumped back and started running. "You're on your own! Sorry!"
He jumped from branch to branch, dodging moths and vines like he was in the Olympics as he vanished into the dark forest.
"He's always the first to run away." Elliot sighed, keeping her sword up as the web of vines advanced on her and Gwen. "I'm surprised that he was able to stay around this long."
"He runs away a lot?" Gwen asked as they stood back to back.
"He has a lot of bad luck and everyone has gotten used to him running away in the middle of a fight." Elliot replied. "Never mind that, what should we do?"
"We need to get through these vines and take the fight straight to Corin." Gwen eyed the masked spirit standing behind the vines. "Why doesn't he come out fight us himself?"
"He's concerned with your earlier display of Galaxy Storm, wondering if you have mastered it yet." Andromeda spoke. "He was overconfident when he fought Sarah and doesn't wish to fall into the same trap again. You have a come a long way and you have just reached Sarah's level which is nothing to take lightly."
As the vines crept towards them Gwen levelled her sword as the bright aura around her flared.
"Elliot, I got a plan. Can you hack your way through all this?" Gwen whispered.
"You didn't even have to ask." Elliot grinned.
With that said Elliot jumped forward, slashing and hacking at the vines around her, cutting through anything her sword touched like a knife through butter. When Corin realized his plan was failing he slammed his spear into the ground and all the vines closed in at once, hoping they would catch the Avatars off guard. Elliot simply cut through the vines with her sword while Gwen used her Omni-Glove to fire a Phantom Flare that destroyed the rest of the vines. Gwen jumped into air, Andromeda's power allowing her to jump higher as she jumped at Corin with her sword. Corin blocked her strike with his spear and pushed her back a few feet.
The two opponents stared each other down, no words exchanged between them. Gwen started off by firing a Spectral Volt with her Omni-Glove at Corin who summoned a wall of vines to block the attack. Corin retaliated by slamming his spear into the ground and spikes made of wood fired from the giant tree at multiple angles. Gwen activated a Fortify Method and a circular wall with a seal on it appeared in front of her, blocking the attack.
Corin lunged at her with his spear but Elliot jumped in at the last second, taking Corin by surprise and parrying the spear aside with her sword. Taking advantage of Corin's distraction Gwen fired another Spectral Volt and it slammed into Hunter's chest, knocking him back. Corin landed a few feet back, his chest slightly smoldering only for second before it healed. Gwen fired another Spectral Volt while Elliot fired another blast of high pressure water from her sword at the Masked Jungle Hunter.
The ground where he had previously stood was engulfed in an explosion that sent rocks, dust, and pieces of wood flying in every direction. The cloud soon vanished along with their adversary leaving the two Avatars alone.
'Where'd he go?' Gwen took a deep breath and concentrated.
Both Avatars activated their Sixth Sense, a special ability granted to Avatars that allowed them to sense the spiritual energy of any spirits close by. Depending on how much experience they have an Avatar could sense a spirit within five hundred meters.
'He's close, really close...' Gwen's eyes widened.
"Behind u..." Elliot was hit by something behind that sent her flying.
She landed awkwardly on the ground with her sword flying into the tree. Gwen spun around only to see the blunt side of Corin's spear slam into her face and she was sent flying back. However she was able to twist around and land on her feet with her sword ready.
"You won't need your toy anymore, Avatar of Lancelot." Corin glanced at Elliot's sword.
Elliot jumped up to grab it but a tree branch reached down and picked it up like a hand, pulling it out of Elliot's reach. Elliot landed on the ground and watched as her sword vanished into the valley of leaves at the top of the tree. A vine came out of the ground and wrapped itself around her, completely immobilizing her.
"Damn it!" Elliot growled, trying to break free.
"And now, the main prey is left." Corin turned to Gwen. "Say goodbye to your Avatar, Andromeda. Out of respect I'll be sure to it quick and painless."
Gwen narrowed her eyes and readied herself.
"You will not touch her, Corin." Andromeda spoke, her voice was calm and emotionless but they could hear the dark tone. "You did not learn the lesson Sarah had tried to teach you back then, fleeing back to the Spirit Realm vowing revenge over your broken pride. Continue this fight and you will not walk away this time."
"Don't attempt to scare me! I am not afraid of you! You act so powerful but you rely on this girl to fight your battles while you hide in your dimension!" Corin pointed his spear at Gwen. "Why not come out and face me yourself rather than rely on your Avatar? Are you scared? Scared of being hurt? Scared of dyin..."
"Oh shut up!" Gwen growled, interrupting him. "Here's a thought, maybe Andromeda has better things to do than waste her time on a child!"
"What?!" Corin growled.
"Your after me just because my predecessor kicked your ass which was centuries ago! Get over it!" Gwen exclaimed. "Act like a man and deal with it! I don't care how bad Sarah beat you, that's not an excuse to come after me or endanger everyone else! Like Andromeda said, you either give up now or I will end you!"
"DIE!" Corin jumped forward, swinging his spear.
Xxx
"Coming upon the next point now." Luna spoke.
Dawn nodded and landed on the ground in the middle of a clearing. Like before she put her hands on the ground and a circle lined with runes appeared around her glowing brightly.
"Second point complete." Luna stated. "Two more points to go."
Dawn nodded but before taking flight again something caught her attention. Floating bodies with short arms, yellow eyes, glowing bright green and transparent enough to see through appeared around her.
"Drones." Dawn stated.
"Corin does not use drones with his Method, child. This is another spirit's work." Luna stated.
The drones charged at her but Dawn was already prepared.
"Repel!"
Another circle with markings drawn inside the lines appeared around her and released a bright blue light into the sky. The drones were tossed back, like they had been hit by a battering ram and dissolved when they hit the ground or trees. The circle faded as Dawn cancelled out her Method.
"We have already suspected that Corin's presence here was the working of Nebula but to only send drones after us...Is he so determined to avoid a confrontation?" Dawn asked.
"The Stalker in the Star is cautious, sometimes too cautious that he actually would do anything to avoid fighting directly." Luna replied. "We must move quickly if we are to save the cast, before the Masked Jungle Hunter's Method kills them."
Dawn nodded and jumped into the air. She had grown used to be able to fly thanks to years of meditating, able to keep a calm attitude even in the worst of times.
"If the Bloody Garden kills the all of the cast wouldn't Nebula be forced to show himself when his Avatar dies?" Dawn asked.
"If he hasn't already prepared a way to avoid that." Luna answered. "We must consider that he has a plan to escape even Corin's eyes."
Xxx
Sword and spear grappled against each other as their owners pushed against each other with everything they had. Gwen jumped out of the way as Corin tried to bisect her and fired a Spectral Volt as she flew back. Corin blocked with his spear and retaliated by slamming his spear into the ground and vines came out of the ground, surrounding Gwen.
"This tactic again? Do you have anything new?" Gwen asked as she drew another symbol with her Omni-Glove. "Phantom Flare!"
She was engulfed by a blast of blue fire that reached out the burned the vines that tried to grab her. The flames faded a moment later revealing Gwen was completely unharmed.
"Fell free to think of something new." Gwen looked up at Corin. "You might actually surprise us."
Corin growled. "You want something new? How about this?"
He waved his spear and a swarm of moths appeared, flying around him in no kind of formation.
"That's what you call new?" Gwen raised an eyebrow.
Corin waved his spear and the moths around him grew in size, until they were the size of a horse. They looked much more intimidating with their slightly transparent bodies, the pale green aura, and the bright yellow eyes.
"Does this meet with your satisfactory?" Corin asked rhetorically.
Before Gwen could answer Corin pointed his spear at her and the moths shot at her like a barrage of missiles. Gwen jumped out of the way of one moth and charged at Corin, using her enhanced speed and strength to leap at the Masked Jungle Hunter.
"Gwen wait! You've let yourself be open to..." Andromeda started but she was too late.
A moth flew at Gwen and she slashed it in half, only for it to explode and send her flying back, hitting the ground with a loud thud.
"Crap..." Gwen groaned as she sat back up.
She held her sword up sat as she staggered to stand up; making sure none of the moths attacked her while she was down. The moths flew around Corin fast, almost too fast for her to keep track of and they left no weak points for her to slip past to get at their creator.
"I tried to warn you. Corin's moths derive Life Energy from the Bloody Garden and they can be used as suicide bombs." Andromeda pointed. "You cannot attack them directly."
"I figured that one out." Gwen groaned as she looked up at the masked spirit. "I am getting really tired of this guy."
Corin slammed his spear into the ground and Gwen instantly knew what he was planning. Leaping back she just barely avoided being skewered alive by wooden spikes coming out of the ground.
'Okay, Andromeda, give me the quick version of how Sarah beat this guy.' Gwen thought.
'You think Corin would allow himself to be defeated by the same strategy?' Andromeda asked.
'He probably suspects that Dawn is up to something but so far is more interested in me. So he's either an idiot or he's already got a plan for Dawn if he knows what Luna is capable of. If Dawn can't cast whatever Method she has planned to deal with this tree we need something to fall back on.' Gwen explained.
'Very well, Sarah conjured a Disable Method that functions much like the Interception Method Dawn used to disable the inner workings of anything controlled by the Bloody Garden. It temporarily caused a disruption in the Garden and gave Sarah the opening she needed to confront Corin head on.' Andromeda explained. 'She used my powers to enhance the effects of the Method since a normal powered Method would be useless against something as big as the Bloody Garden.'
'Okay, Disable Method. Show me the seal.' Gwen saw the image of the seal in her mind. 'Thanks.'
'Be careful, Gwen. It's likely that Corin has anticipated this and won't be taken out by the same strategy twice.'
Another moth flew at her as she memorized the seal and drew it with her Omni Glove.
"Disable!" A seal encircled itself around the moth and it shattered to bits. "Nice!"
"Behind you!" Andromeda spoke up.
Gwen spun around to see another moth trying to attack her from behind and quickly drew another Disable Seal.
"Disable!" Like before the moth shattered when a seal appeared around it.
"Above you!" Andromeda called out.
Gwen looked up and saw another moth flying down at her. This time Gwen simply pointed her finger up.
"Spectral Volt!"
A blast of lightning incinerated the moth in a bright explosion, while Gwen turned around faced Corin. The Masked Jungle Hunter glared and with a wave of his spear the rest of the moths vanished.
"She's as skillful as her predecessor, as expected from an Avatar of Andromeda, but I will not back down. Not after all this, not when I have come this far." Corin growled.
Xxx
Dawn had already finished placing the next part of her Method at the third point and was now moving to the fourth and final point.
"Luna, do you find it odd that nothing was waiting for us at the third point?" Dawn glanced down at her bracelet.
"Perhaps the others have diverted the Masked Jungle Hunter's attention completely away from us." Luna replied.
"Perhaps but I can sense something wrong here." Dawn said with a nervous look. "I can almost hear the trees whispering warnings to me."
"I can sense something wrong as well but if we turn back now we risk the others lives. Now matter powerful and experience they have become Corin is still extremely dangerous." Luna pointed out. "We cannot turn back now."
Dawn nodded and looked ahead. "We are coming upon the fourth and final point."
She landed on the ground, exactly where she needed to be. Standing in a clearing surrounded by trees Dawn gently placed her hands on the ground to set up the final piece of the Method.
But she stopped when she saw her bracelet flare. "Luna, what's..."
"Danger!" Luna shouted.
Dawn spun around to see vines coming out of the ground behind her. She leapt out of the way and summoned orbs of light from her bracelet.
"Interception!" The orbs shot at the vines, hitting them like rockets but the vines remained unaffected.
At least until Dawn gave the command.
"Thirty Degree Angle!"
The vines flew past Dawn, changing their direction and slamming into the trees behind her.
"I sense a stronger concentration of energy being used here, this is not like before." Luna said. "Corin's set up a trap for us."
"Agreed, we must set up the final part of the Method." Dawn nodded and walked over to the spot she had chosen for the final piece.
However it seemed Corin had just a few more surprises ready because a second later a gigantic flower erupted from the ground showing a mouth with large teeth ready to chop her to pieces. Dawn gasped, too surprised to dodge the vines that grabbed her arms and legs. She called upon Luna's power, a bright aura surrounding her as she struggled to break free with her enhanced strength but the monster's hold over her was too strong. She watched as the mouth opened wide, ready to devour her and closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to be eaten there was a blast of fire and a scream.
Xxx
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Explosions rang all around the tree of the Bloody Garden as the Avatar of Andromeda and the Masked Jungle Hunter clashed. Corin dodged another Spectral Vold by jumping and landing on one of his tree's giant branches.
"This is getting out of hand. Her skills with Andromeda's powers and combat skills have allowed her to survive all frontal attacks and her mastery of Methods is on par with her predecessor." Corin growled. "If I can't take her out directly I'll use the power of the forest itself to kill her."
He waved his spear and the tree of the Bloody Garden began to glow pale green.
'Now what?' Gwen looked around. 'That's...'
Gwen watched as small drips of light began to fly up from the forest, like it was raining only with reverse gravity.
'Corin's pulling Life Energy from the forest!' Andromeda sounded alarmed. 'We must stop him now or not only will the entire forest die but he'll have an endless supply of Life Energy to power him up!'
"On it!" Gwen jumped up towards the Masked Jungle Hunter...
...only for a branch to reach out like an arm and smack her back down. She slammed into the ground, letting out a painful shout. Her sword landed right next to her, impaling the ground which allowed it to stand up.
"You are no match for me, Avatar of Andromeda. You never were, from the moment you entered this forest you were doomed. My Bloody Garden siphons the Life Energy of every living thing caught in it and gives me more power than almost any spirit on this plane of existence." Corin laughed. "Don't bother to use Andromeda's Galaxy Storm or the Ceremony of Summoning, it'd be a waste of your last breath."
He jumped off the branch and a landed a few feet from her. Walking slowly towards her he aimed his spear at her head.
"I have faced Avatars in the past but none of them aside from the Avatars of Andromeda ever defeated me or provided me with an entertaining fight. But even with the help of the Right Hand of the Light, the Spreader of Drunken Madness, and the Heavenly Light you would still lose." Corin chuckled. "Time to die, Heaven's Star."
He raised his spear to impale Gwen through the chest while the Avatar herself prepared another Spectral Volt enhanced by Andromeda's power. But she didn't need to because just as Corin raised his spear he was engulfed in an explosion of fire that sent him flying into the tree as he screamed in pain. Gwen gasped as she stood up; watching as the Masked Jungle Hunter ran around crazily, screaming as the flames tore through his body.
"Perhaps I can entertain you." A familiar voice made Gwen's heart almost stop.
She looked behind her and coming out of the darkness of the forest was...
"Carlos." Gwen whispered.
Corin waved his spear and in a flash of light the flames were gone and his wounds were healing, albeit slowly. Looking up he watched as Carlos walked into the clearing.
"Who are you?!" Corin snarled. "Another Avatar! Just how many are you are going to keep popping up here?!"
"He's as short tempered as ever." A dark voice spoke from the pocket knife Carlos had brought out of his jacket. "The Masked Jungle Hunter, Corin, said to have the patience and skill of an assassin but when angered becomes a rabid animal."
"You got that right, Warhawk." Carlos smirked.
"Warhawk..." If he wasn't wearing his mask Gwen was sure she would have seen Corin's eyes go so wide they'd have fallen out of their sockets.
"I know what you're thinking," Carlos said as his flesh began to turn black and his clothing seemingly fused to his form. "You're thinking..." His eyes became a fiery red. "That this can't possibly be happening to you."
Carlos, now in his 'demonic' form now had the switchblade fused to his right arm where it became a wicked blade that was bathed in fire. "Sorry to say, you're wrong."
He then swung the blade up in an underhanded slash that launched a wave of fire and lava that burst out of the Earth, heading right for Corin.
The Masked Jungle Hunter attempted to use his spear to bat the attack aside, but barely slowed it down. He batted out the flames desperately while keeping out of range of the lava, only for Carlos to launch himself over the stream and kicked Corin right in the head as he passed over him. With the jungle hunter dazed Carlos grabbed his spear arm and tugged on it to force it straight out. His blade came down and cut into Corin's arm, only making him drop the spear.
"Wait for it kids," Carlos said before he turned Corin around, held him by the shoulders...
And head butted him so hard that he flew off his feet and landed on his back.
"And that is how you deal with the Masked Jungle Hunter." Carlos finished, slowly reverting to his human form. "So Gwen, long time no see...okay it's only been like a couple of weeks but who's counting?"
"Carlos, when did you get here? Not that I'm not thankful but..."
"Gwen, I have my ways around." Carlos laid her questions to rest. "Admittedly it tipped me off that you guys hadn't shown up at the place where Chris is waiting before the Dimension Seal Method was cast, so I decided to get on set and look around before Warhawk let me know that he was sensing a familiar...prey of his. He and Corin go a long way back in the day, and Warhawk never forgets a spiritual signature."
He flipped his knife shut and put it in his pocket. "And since he decided to attack you, I'm guessing he knew that you were coming and that you were the Avatar of Andromeda, otherwise he wouldn't have had the time to prepare his main method, and I doubt he was just coincidentally preparing to use it when you arrived. No..." He stepped on Corin when he tried to crawl away. "Somebody told you in advance that your old friend Andromeda would be in the neighborhood...and that somebody is the guy I'm after. So if you tell me what I want to know and promise to leave Gwen and her friends alone I might be nice enough not to torch you until I have to go all over the continent to pick up your ashes."
"They wore a mask! I don't know who it was!" Corin groaned. "They told me that Andromeda had a new avatar who would come here! It was an opportunity for me to settle my score with her!"
"Of course," Carlos nodded. "Now...their spiritual signature. I'm going to take a quick peek at yours, since it will carry a trace of it."
"Wait...he can do that?" Gwen asked.
"It's a bit of an outdated practice ever since the Avatars became more reactive than proactive." Carlos shrugged as he knelt down and began to use his Omni Glove to trace a method symbol in the air. "These days you have a few Avatars who provide a lead to an Avatar or several, or you just happen to find a rogue spirit by coincidence and deal with it immediately. This method is used for more...long term searches."
He finished the circle. "Whenever you meet somebody with an active spiritual aura; another avatar or a spirit, even one that has no sentience you can find a trace of it on anybody who has been within a distance of it. And boy did I find what I was looking for." He stood, holding a small golden light in his hand. "Yeah...I found you, you little rat...Nebula."
"That's Nebula's aura color?" Gwen asked.
"Yep...here's yours, just for reference." Carlos' other hand held up an aqua blue light that had a hint of silver sheen to it. "This is what I need. I can use this one little trace and find myself a trail." He smirked. "It went cold years ago. Nebula wouldn't talk to anybody or go near Corin or anybody like him since he knew I could find this. I'm guessing that Nebula did it on somebody's orders."
His smirk vanished. "...If Nebula talks to you again...tell him that I'm coming for his boss, and if he knows what's smart for him then he'll show me where to find him. If not..."
He suddenly reared one arm back.
"Carlos!" Gwen shouted.
THUD!
Corin opened his eyes and saw that Carlos had punched a hole into the ground. The dark haired young man stood up. "With that out of the way...you have other spiritual signatures attached to yours. You've been talking to other avatars and spirits as of late and I want to know why."
"...The Black Star," Corin admitted, not wanting Carlos to follow up on his previous threat. "It's a group that Nebula organized over the years. They're rogue spirits...and we're to carry out the Marauder's orders when he is in hiding. We're usually recruited by being given a choice: serve him or die painfully."
"Die? You moron, I'm gonna kill you if you don't get to the juicy stuff!" Carlos sounded astounded. "Only difference is I'll enjoy it more."
"What juicy stuff?"
"Who they are!" Carlos said.
"I don't know! The Black Star never keeps in contact with one another unless we have to! It's Nebula who talks to us! These signatures are all traces from him!" Corin pleaded.
"I believe you," Carlos nodded, relaxing visibly. "Now listen closely. I know about your little grudge with Andromeda, but if you feel the need to settle that score: go to your home dimension and settle it with her personally. Don't bring Gwen into it. And if you come after me or any future Avatars of Warhawk...you know what Hawk's gonna do to you in this and the next world." Carlos tapped the pocket with his knife in it. "Am I understood?"
Corin nodded.
"...Get the hell out of here before I change my mind and roast you." Carlos waved one hand.
The Masked Jungle Hunter grabbed his spear and fled, forming a portal method to get away quickly.
"...Wow," Gwen said. "Remind me not to get on your bad side...at least not until I can control Andromeda's full power like you controlled Warhawk's."
Carlos donned his usual dumb grin. "Aw Gwen you know I'd never turn Warhawk on you!" He pulled her into a hug and lifted her off her feet. "You're the only one besides me who can annoy Kurt! We're comrades!"
"Gee...thanks?" Gwen replied as she was set back on her feet.
"Think nothin' of it!" Carlos nodded. "Now it's back to the usual tracking for me: travelling all over the continent looking for leads on the Black Star. I hope it takes me somewhere else like...back to Europe! Oh man I can't get enough of Paris." He sighed as he turned away. "I might not be able to help you out if another member of Black Star comes your way, Gwen. So up your training and learn how to be as bad ass as me, and make sure Dawn and Elliot are ready too! Corin's the tip of the ice berg...oh and tell Jimmy I said hi!"
He formed a portal. "Carlos, AWAY!" He vanished into it, and the portal seemed to burst into flames and vanish.
"...God, I pity anybody who ticks that guy off." Gwen muttered.
Gwen watched as the tree of the Bloody Garden began to shrink and the rest of her fellow contestants fell onto the ground. Elliot ran towards them and checked their pulses.
"They're still alive; looks like Corin simply put a Seal of the Void Method on them to erase their memories of being attacked." Elliot said as Gwen knelt down next to her.
"That's good, saves us the trouble of explaining. Right now we need to get them back to where they were before they were attacked." Gwen sighed. "More work for us. Let's find Dawn and make sure no one figures out what happened here."