"The Brave 12 and the Cursed Lava Monster"

They, the Brave 12, were traveling through a freezing cold meadow. They were walking through the meadow when they heard a mysterious voice call to them.

"Come."

"What was that?" J.D. asked.

"It was probably nothing," Vince answered.

They continued on and heard the voice again.

"Come."

"There it is again," Sakura pointed out.

"Yeah," Fu agreed.

They continued on and heard it again.

"Come to me."

"Where is that voice coming from?" questioned Naruto.

"I don't know," Lincoln replied.

They continued on, and the voice called to them again.

"Come."

"Who's there?" Jack inquired.

They noticed an owl emerge from the treetops.

They continued on, and the voice called them again.

"Come. Come. Come."

They drew their swords and prepared to fight.

"Show yourself!" yelled Jack.

"Come on out!" J.D. commanded.

"Come to me!" cried the voice.

"Coward," Jack murmured.

They ran, but the voice followed them. They subsequently came across a scorched and charred environment.

"What happened here?" wondered J.D.

"This entire land is burned and totally desolate," Lily noted.

Laney picked up the soil and it was all ash. "This land was burnt millennia ago."

"Yes," Jack replied. "Something horrible has destroyed these regions. A very familiar evil."

"And I have a very strong feeling that it was Aku who did this," Varie concluded.

"Me, too," J.D. acknowledged.

"Yes!" answered the voice. "Come to me!"

They continued on, passing many old, rusted out Viking ships and the skeletons of Vikings who had been dead for thousands of years.

"Fascinating," Lisa commented. "These Viking ships have been here for 9,000 years, even after the Dark Ages."

"I am very familiar with the Vikings," Jack explained. "They taught me their fighting styles."

"What caused all these vikings to perish?" Naruto wondered.

"Aku probably," Fu concluded.

"Yeah," Vince agreed.

They spotted a light coming from the top of a nearby mountain and figured that's where the voice was coming from.

"Come!" cried the voice.

They walked to the mountain, reached the bottom, climbed up, and entered a cave that led down into the mountain.

"Come!" cried the voice.

"This could be a trap or a test," J.D. speculated.

They step onto the floor, and countless spears are thrown at them; they evade all of them, and Lily grabs the most of them. As the walls of the next room began to close, J.D. slashed a spike, creating a gap. They were in the next room.

"Come!" cried the voice.

"The voice is calling us farther in," J.D. explained.

"Yeah," Sakura nodded. "But what does he take us for?"

The floor was rising and elevating them towards the ceiling, which was covered with stalactites waiting to impale them.

"What fools we've been!" J.D. yelled.

As the cave closed, they dashed into the next room. They then noticed another room.

"Come," said the voice.

"The voice is still calling us," J.D. said.

"Take a look at this," Lisa remarked. She showed them a viking soldier's skeleton.

"Looks like he's been here for a while," J.D. noted.

"Yeah," Lily agreed.

"What do you think killed him?" Lincoln asked.

"I'm not sure," Jessie admitted.

Jack yanked on a web, breaking it, and crystal shards flew in both directions, ready to skewer them.

"Everyone stay close," J.D. urged.

J.D. wrapped them in a force field bubble, and they dashed into the room, the crystals bouncing off the force field. They left the room, slipped on some rocks, and fell into a tall room with sharp stalagmites, where they spread their wings and grabbed Jack and Jessie.

"That was close," J.D. admitted.

"Yeah, but look," Lincoln pointed out. "More warriors."

Some skulls and skeletons were impaled on the stalagmites.

They went over to a structure that was slamming teeth and had to time it correctly.

They jumped through it all and made it through. They went down another tall room, and it had a death worm like machine, and they cut all the teeth.

They were in the heart of the mountain when lava poured into the room, and they ran to see numerous rock platforms in a lake of lava. They flew over to a lake island where a rock figure arose and awoke. He made a mace out of rock and crystal.

"Welcome to your doom," the Lava Monster growled.

They stood ready.

"Many warriors have been lured here to their end," Jack said.

"Why have you done this?" J.D. asked.

"My purpose is to battle," Lava Monster explained.

The Lava Monster swung his mace at them, and they ducked and cut him, and he screamed and lava flowed out of his body.

"Yes!" shouted the Lava Monster. "At long last, after all these years, a worthy opponent."

"You've been cursed, haven't you?" J.D. asked.

"How did you know that?" questioned the Lava Monster.

"I guessed, and I have a feeling something happened to you that led you to be down here for a long time," J.D. replied.

"You are correct," responded the Lava Monster.

"Tell us what happened," Sakura requested.

The Lava Monster shot a beam of light at the ground, forming a rock tablet with Viking Runes on it.

"I have carved a recording of my past so that I do not forget the life I had," the Lava Monster explained. "The man I was. So that thy people might not be lost in the sands of time. Let me take thee all on a journey into the past."

The Lava Monster told them his story. He was a man who lived 9,000 years ago, during the Viking era. In the countryside, a magnificent kingdom flourished and prospered. He lived with a loving family that included a wife, two sons, and a loyal dog. Game was very plentiful, and it's what made the kingdom prosper. On the way back from a successful hunting trip, an omen appeared. A Solar Eclipse took place, enveloping the entire sky. As we had suspected, Aku appeared in the man's kingdom and attacked. The kingdom tried everything to fight back, but their efforts were futile, and they all died. The man attempted to confront Aku, but it was futile, and Aku dealt the man a fate worse than death by imprisoning him within an unbreakable crystal. He watched in helplessness and horror as Aku completely destroyed his kingdom and murdered everyone. Then Aku attacked him once more, picking him up and carrying him to a mountain. It was the mountain, and Aku pushed the man right into the heart of it. The man lay motionless for 9,000 years, never to rejoin his loved ones in Valhalla. But he found a way to manipulate the rock around him, and he formed the body they saw him in, and he created a passage full of peril and danger that only the greatest of warriors can pass through, and the only way to get to Valhalla is to fall in battle to another warrior.

"...and thou art the only ones to survive," the Lava Monster whispered.

"That's horrible!" Fu gasped.

"Aku, you are a menace to the entire universe!" Sakura declared.

"We know how you feel," Naruto responded. "My best friend Sasuke lost his entire family at the hands of his older brother Itachi, and Sasuke was completely obsessed with revenge."

"But we helped him by revealing the truth," J.D. added.

"That's good, and as written, the truth has been told," the Lava Monster responded. "My fate is in your hands."

"Let's help him, guys," J.D. suggested.

"Yeah!" said everyone.

"Prepare yourself," Jack warned.

"Let's do this," J.D. said.

The Lava Monster formed a sword of crystal. "At last. The gates of Valhalla open to me!"

They fought each other and demonstrated their sword skills until Jessie got the upper hand and punched the crystal in his body, shattering it.

"After all these years, my freedom has arrived," the Lava Monster murmured.

He began to glow in a blinding light.

"ACCURSED MONSTER!" yelled the Lava Monster. "YOUR SPELL IS BROKEN!"

He was completely bathed in light, and he was free. For the first time in 9,000 years, he was fully restored as a man.

The man screamed. RRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

They all gasped in sheer astonishment.

The Man declared, "I AM FREEEEEEEEE!"

"Wow!" remarked J.D.

"He's free!" Varie cried.

"Yes!" exclaimed the man. "At long last, my flesh is restored."

He began aging quickly, suddenly.

The man started wheezing. "The Curse is lifted."

He dropped his sword and fell to the ground, and they rushed to him.

J.D. yelled, "Warrior!"

"I... I," Jack stammered.

"Don't worry, my friends," the man replied. "You all fought valiantly. Jessie, you deserve my sword. You are a brave fighter."

"Thank you," Jessie expressed gratitude.

"Thank you," the man replied. "All of you."

And then he died. A great light shone over him, and the Valkyries arrived on their horses, picking up the warrior and riding back up to Valhalla. He smiled at them one last time and they gave him the thumbs up.

"Thank you, Brave 12," the man said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," J.D. replied.

Jessie took the man's sword and J.D. infused it with fire magic as well as the same powers as Jack's sword.

J.D. then carved the word "Free" into the stone tablet, along with a picture of himself smiling. They departed the mountain, and the man, along with the gods of Valhalla, looked down on them.

Continues in part 8