Sorry for the wait, I had a lot to do and think of for not only this chapter, but I couldn't wait and did the next chapter as well. So tomorrow I'll post the next chapter of Abyss Riders.

Also I was putting the finishing touches on a side Project. It's a side story called White Dragon's Case: The Crimson Love Letter Story, it's a Case Closed and my The Black and White Dragon Prince story crossover. I go into more details in chapter 32 of The Black and White Dragon Prince story, so you can check out the details there. But I won't post that story until after the next chapter of the Black and White Dragon Prince.

Now let's start Chapter 9.

Chapter 9

Ride Off Into The Mountain Of Fates Crossroads

After walking through the desert for a bit the gang arrived in Chesedonia, with Cindal back in her Pokeball. "We finally made it to Chesedonia." Guy said to everyone. "From here, we head by ship to Kaitzur, right?" Tear asked everyone. "If we go to the Malkuth consulate, they should show us to the ship." Jade said to everyone.

That's when Luke got a killer headache. "Not again!" Luke said, as he put a hand on his head. "Luke! Another headache? They're becoming more frequent." Guy said to Luke. "It's gone now. I'm okay." Luke said to everyone.

"No, you should get some rest just in case." Guy said to Luke. "Then let's go to the inn. We have to decide what to do about Ion, too." Anise said to everyone. "All right." Luke said to everyone, as they walked to the inn.

But once they got to the inn, Luke got another killer headache, and walked away from the Inn. "What's wrong, huh? That's not the way to the inn!" Asch's voice said, echoing in Luke's head. "Shut… up…" Luke said to Asch, getting everyone's attention.

Then Luke moved like he was under control. "Hah, look at you. You're connected to me. You ARE me!" Asch's voice said, echoing in Luke's head.

"Master! Are you all right?" Mieu asked Luke. "Luke, what's wrong?" Tear asked Luke.

"Let's see, what next... Turn your sword on that woman." Asch's voice said, echoing in Luke's head. "Shut up! Stop controlling me!" Luke said to Asch.

That's when Tear walked up to Luke, but Luke was forced to bring out his sword and point it at Tear. "Luke! What are you doing?!" Tear asked Luke, surprised by his actions, as Diaz sneaked around Luke. "It's… it's not… me! My body's just…! S-stop!" Luke said to Tear.

That's when Diaz reached Luke's side, and grabbed by his left shoulder, forcing Luke to him. Then before Luke could do anything, Diaz punched Luke in the face, knocking Luke out. "Was that really neversary?" Guy asked Diaz. "What, he was acting weird. Best to knock him out before he did something stupid." Diaz said to Guy.

"Let's just get him inside. We can wonder what just happened later." Natalia said to everyone. "Okay." Diaz said to Natalia, as he picked up Luke, and helped drag Luke into the Inn.

After entering the inn and getting a room, Diaz tossed Luke onto one of the beds. "What's happened to Luke?" Guy asked everyone. (Maybe those headaches are messing with his head) Charcadet said to everyone. "Charcadet said it might be the headaches." Mieu said to everyone.

"Hmm, health problems, huh. If I have to nurse someone, I'd be better off with a rich geezer who's ready to kick it." Anise said, earning an ear pull from Whina. "Keep those gold digging thoughts of yours in your head." Whina said to Anise.

"Colonel, do you have any idea what's wrong with Luke?" Tear asked Jade. "Hmm…" Jade said, as he started to think. "Could it have something to do with that man who looked like Luke? The one they called "Asch"?" Natalia asked Jade.

"I'd prefer to avoid commenting at this point." Jade said to Natalia. "Aka, you know something but don't want to share." Diaz said to Jade. "Jade! Stop teasing us!" Guy said to Jade.

"I'm not teasing anyone. I just feel that Luke ought to be the first to learn of matters that concern him." Jade said to Guy. "Master's waking up." Mieu said to everyone, as Luke started to wake up.

"What were you saying about me?" Luke asked Jade, as he sat up. "It's nothing. How do you feel? Does it still feel like someone's controlling you?" Jade asked Luke. "No… I don't feel anything, now." Luke said to Jade.

"Dist probably did something to you at Choral Castle. I'll have him remove it when we catch him." Jade said to everyone. "I sure hope so. By the way, what are we gonna do with Ion?" Luke asked everyone.

"Until we know the Six God-Generals' objective, we should keep Ion out of their hands." Tear said to Luke. "I think he's asking if we should take Ion with us, or hand him over to someone else." Diaz said to Tear.

"Could you take me with you, if it's not too much trouble?" Ion asked everyone. "Ion! Mohs will be angry with us!" Anise said to Ion. "Emperor Peony entrusted me with his letter of peace. So I'd like to report to him about the Akzeriuth rescue operations myself." Ion said to everyone.

"I think that's a fine idea. Once we're finished in Akzeriuth, you can head back to the capital with me." Jade said to Ion. "Oh, I'm sorry. It's up to Luke to decide, isn't it?" Jade asked everyone, acting like he cared what Luke thought.

"Do whatever you want!" Luke said to Jade, not caring. "Thank you, everyone." Ion said to everyone. "Now that we got that taken care of, we should get going." Diaz said to everyone.

"We just got here, and Luek needs to rest." Natalia said to Diaz. "He can rest on the ship. Plus the God-Generals could show up at any time. It's not like we have a large gap between us and them." Diaz said to Natalia. "He's right, the more we stay in one place, the more likely they'll catch up to us. We should head to the Malkuth consulate." Jade said to everyone, as they started to move, with Luke dragging his feet.

A few minutes later they made it to the Malkuth consulate, where they went to the top floor, and met with the commander of the place. "Colonel, Luke, we've been waiting for you. We received word via carrier pigeon form Dorian General Grants. He plans to proceed to Akzeriuth with a vanguard unit." The woman said to Jade and Luke.

"Whaaat?! He's too early!" Luke said to everyone. "We should hurry, too." Ion said to everyone, not knowing Sync was right on the other side of the wall.

Inside the mark that Sync left on Guy acted up and Guy fell to his left knee. "Guy?!" Luke asked Guy, as he moved closer to check him. But that's when Guy pushed Luke to the ground. "Oww! Guy, don't tell me Asch is controlling you, now?" Luke asked Asch.

"I don't think so… I don't hear any voices, anyway." Guy said to Luke, as Jade moved closer to him and looked at his arm. "Hmm, your arm's been scarred. This symbol… it looks like a curse slot." Jade said to Guy.

"Curse slot?" Luke asked Jade. "Yeah, what is that?" Diaz asked Jade. "It's a Daathic fonic arte applied to a person's fon slots. It reads information from the brain using the person's memories to control him." Ion said to Diaz.

"Shall I call a doctor or a healer?" The woman asked everyone. "I'm fine. Let's get on that ship and hurry after Van." Guy said to everyone. "Isn't it dangerous, though?" Luke asked everyone. "The curse slot's power varies depending on the proximity of the user. The user is probably nearby. We should get away from Chesedonia." Ion said to Luke.

"Right this way." The woman said, as she started to lead them to the ship. "Luke, help me with Guy." Diaz said, as he and Luke moved to help Guy onto his feet. "Only a Fon Master can use Daathic fonic artes. He must be…" Ion said looking out a window.

Outside, Sync was a little surprised by all this. "He's resisting more than I expected. No matter. They'll be caught up in Akzeriuth, anyway." Sync said, thinking out loud. That's when a shadow appeared over Sync.

"Huh?" Sync asked, as he turned his head to see a stone column flying towards him. "Whoa!" Sync said, as he dived out of the way, as the stone column hit the wall and smashed through the wall.

Inside the building, the wall suddenly smashed with rubble going into the building, making everyone scream and startled them. This made everyone stop and turned to see Scarlet slowly walking into the building, in his Great Tusk form, with Cyclizar behind him.

"Scarlet!" Daiz said to Scarlet. "What are you here for Ion again!?" Anise asked Scarlet, getting ready for a fight. "No… care… of… Ion… Me… want… Vio… let!" Scarlet said to everyone, pointing his right tusk at Diaz. "Me? Why me?" Diaz asked Scarlet, pointing to himself.

"Fight… Me… want… fight." Scarlet said to Diaz. "So you just want to fight me. Can't this wait until later." Diaz said to Scarlet. "No… Fight… now!" Scarlet said to Diaz, as he got into a fighting stance.

"We don't have time for this!" Luke said to everyone. "Colonel. We'll handle him. You all get to the ship." The woman said, as she drew her sword, and a large number of Malkuth guards came rushing into the room, weapons at the ready. "Thank you. But be very careful. He's dangerous." Jade said to the woman, as the gang started to leave.

"Hah. He's just one guy wearing rocks and bones. And where a large number of warriors with steel armor and weapons. This will be easy." A man said to everyone, as they charged at Scarlet.

But Scarlet charged at them, and when they clashed, Scarlet won the clash and knocked the group of guards to the ground. Then two guards tried to attack Scarlet from the sides, but Scarlet blocked their swords with his tusks, then he forced their weapons away before slamming his tusks into the guards guts, sending them flying into the wall.

Then a guard tried to attack Scarlet from the back and yelled as he did. But Scarlet didn't turn around, instead he just did a kick with his leg, hitting the guard in the gut, sending the guard flying into a wall, and causing the guard sword to go flying out of his hand and into the air.

The sword was about to come down on Scarlet, but Scarlet caught the weapon in the air. Then he used both his hands to bend the sword like it was a piece of tin. "Easy huh?" Another guard asked the man, before Scarlet roared at everyone and lunged at them.

Outside, the gang was running as fast as they could to the ship, with Luke and Diaz doing their best to move while holding a weak Guy. "Is he behind us?" Guy asked everyone.

"Don't worry about that. We just need to get on the ship and get some distance between us. Cyclizars can't swim in the ocean any more than a person can. Once we're out to sea, we'll be safe." Diaz said to Guy, before they heard an explosion. "But we should pick up the pace!" Diaz said to everyone, as they started to run faster.

A minute later, the gang reached the ship, and Luke yelled at everyone on board to get the ship moving. Worried about Scarlet catching up, the gang moved to the upper deck as the ship started to leave.

That's when they saw Scarlet and Cyclizar slowly walking up to them, holding a guard by the throat with his right hand. Seeing how everyone was too far for him and Cyclizar to jump on, Scarlet roared at them, before throwing the guard at them, making the guard land in the ocean.

This scared everyone a little, and Luke yelled at the crew to go faster, which the crew did. Soon they started to fade from Scarlet's view. But then Scarlet turned his head to a row boat.

After a bit at sea everyone started to calm down. "That's weird. After we left Chesedonia, the pain just vanished." Guy said to everyone. "You call that wired. Not the fact that Scarlet threw a stone column into a building and took out all the guards at the Malkuth consulate, all because he wanted to fight me?" Diaz asked Guy.

"Relax Diaz, we got away from him." Luke said to Diaz. "Relax. What part of this journey has been relaxing? We're being chased by bad guys and a fierce beast, all the while rushing to catch up with a guy who hasn't exactly earned my trust yet. Not to mention that Guy has a curse on him, that practically makes him a puppet. So tell me, how am I supposed to relax?" Diaz asked Luke.

"Well we don't have to worry about the curse for now. The curse slot user must have been in Chesedonia after all." Tear said to Diaz. "It's a good thing we got away form Chesedonia so quickly, Guy." Natalia said to Guy. "yeah." Guy said to Natalia.

"But still, who could have cursed you?" Qadira asked Guy. "Well, it was Sync who cut my arm like this when we crossed paths in Chesedonia last time. Does that mean he's the user?" Guy asked everyone. "Most likely." Ion said to Guy.

"For now let's just try and rest, it's been a long day, and we'll reach Kaitzur in the morning." Whina said to everyone. "Now that sounds like a plan." Diaz said to everyone, as they went to have dinner then get a good night's rest.

The next morning, they reached Kaitzur, and after making landfall, Jade told everyone that Akzeriuth was to the northeast, past a place called The Deo Range. With that information, Luke ran on ahead, making everyone groan a little, before going after him.

After a couple hours of jogging/running thanks to Luke's impatience, they reached The Deo Range, which was a small mountain range with many paths that went in all directions.

"Man, at this rate, we'll never catch up to Master Van. We shouldn't have wasted time in the desert." Luke said to everyone, whining. "What do mean "wasted time"?" Anise asked Luke. "I mean wasted time. We don't need Ion anymore. The war won't start as long as I'm around." Luke said to Anise, earning a slap to the back of his head by Diaz.

"Luke, helping a friend is never a waste of time. And stop being so prideful of yourself, had it not been for me you've never had made it this far." Diaz said to Luke. "He's kinda right. Diaz has been a big help when facing the God-generals, plus you're being arrogant, and that's coming from me." Tear said to Luke.

"The peace is based on the respect the Malkuth Emperor and Father have for the Fon Master. Without Ion, there would be no mediator." Natalia said to Luke. "No, it's not that either country holds respect for me. They merely want Yulia's Score. I'm not really needed." Ion said to Natalia.

"I can't agree with you there. You carry weight as a deterrent, Ion. Even if you do owe it to Yulia's Score." Guy said to Ion. "I see. You're all still young. So, how about we get going now?" Jade asked everyone, before walking away.

"How does he pull out a line like that at a time like this? You can never tell what that guy's thinking." Guy said to everyone. "Who cares, let's just get going. Akzeriuth on the other side of this place, and the sooner we're through, the sooner this will be over." Diaz said to everyone, as they started to move. 'But Luke… You do need to be more careful with your words.' Guy thought, as he looked at a Luke pouty.

After a while of wandering around the many paths of The Deo Range, Ion started to have a hard time breathing and huffed loudly as he dropped to his knees. "Ion!" Anise said to Ion, as Whina gave Ion a look over.

"Are you all right? Do you want to rest a bit?" Tear asked Ion. "No… I'm fine." Ion said to Tear. "No you're not. We've been moving at a faster pace than what you're used to. You need to rest for a bit." Whina said to Ion.

"Whina's right. You have to rest!" Anise said to Ion. "We're taking a break, everyone!" Anise said to everyone. "A break? What are you talking about?! Master Van's gone on ahead!" Luke said to Anise.

"Luke! There's no harm in resting a little!" Natalia said to Luke. "Yeah. This is a tough mountain past. There's nothing we can do." Guy said to Luke. "I'M the ambassador! If I say we go, we go!" Luke said to everyone, earning a mean look from everyone, with Anise being the maddest of them all.

"Listen, you…!" Anise said to Luke, but stopped talking, when Diaz put a hand in front of her. "Everyone take five, me and Luke are going to have a chat." Diaz said to everyone. "We're not having a chat, nor are we resting. We're leaving now." Luke said to Diaz, as Diaz walked up to Luke.

And right as Diaz got close to Luke, he punched Luke in the face, knocking Luke out. Diaz then grabbed the back of Luke's clothes, and started to drag him away. We'll be right back, stay here and stay out of trouble." Diaz said to everyone.

After a few minutes of dragging Luke away, Diaz let go of Luke. Then Diaz slapped Luke, hard, waking Luke up. "You hit me again!" Luke said to Diaz. "You weren't leaving me much choice. The closer we get to Akzeriuth, the worse your attitude becomes." Diaz said to Luke.

"I don't have an attitude." Luke said to Diaz, as he stood up. "Yes you do. Now tell me why are you acting like this?" Diaz asked Luke. "I don't have to tell you anything. I'm the leader here." Luke said to Diaz, as he tried to walk away, but was stopped by Diaz.

"Only because that rock says so. You have shown no signs of being a real leader. So answer my question. Why are you acting like this?" Diaz asked Luke. "Because the sooner we get to the Akzeriuth, the sooner I'll be a hero, I'll be free, and I'll bring real peace to the world." Luke said to Diaz.

"Who told you all that?" Diaz asked Luke. "Master Van did. He told me that I have the power to do that." Luke said to Diaz. "And what is that power?" Diaz asked Luke. "I don't have to tell you." Luke said to Diaz.

"And why not?" Diaz asked Luke. "Because Master Van told me not to." Luke said to Diaz. "Man you're an idiot." Diaz said to Luke. "Excuse you?" Luke asked Diaz.

"You want to be free, but you're here because of a rock, and whatever plan you have, isn't yours it's Van's. If you want to be free, then put in some effort and do something yourself." Diaz said to Luke.

"You just don't understand. Ever since I lost my memory, they've had me locked away. Van is the only one that didn't treat me like I was a fragile little kid." Luke said to Diaz.

"But you are a fragile little kid. From the short time I've been with you, whenever something doesn't go the way you want it too, you whine and blame your memory loss. But have you ever once tried to improve? Have you ever thought about changing things? Have you ever thought of anything other than your kidnapping or losing your memories?" Diaz asked Luke.

"I don't have to tell you anything. We've wasted enough time here. Let's go!" Luke said to Diaz, as he started to walk away. "You know one of these days, hero or not, if you keep up with that personality of yours, you'll be all alone, and no one will want anything to do with you." Diaz said to Luke.

"I'll never be alone. I'll alway have Master Van." Luke said to Diaz, before turning a corner, and getting out of sight of Diaz. "Something tells me that's not a good thing." Diaz said, before going after Luke.

After reconnecting with everyone, they started to make their way out of The Deo Range. And after an hour of wandering, they found themselves a spot where multiple paths connected with a large rock standing straight up in the middle.

"Look, the exit. Once we get past that rock, we'll be in Akzeriuth's territory." Whina said to everyone. "Then what are we doing walking?! Master Van is just ahead, let's go!" Luke said to everyone, as he ran ahead of everyone.

But Luke stopped running, when a shot was fired and hit the ground right in front of him. "Stop!" A female voice said from above. This made everyone look up and see Legretta. "Tear, why do you continue to spend time with those people?" Legretta asked Tear.

"I'm under orders from Grand Maestro Mohs. What about you? Why are you kidnapping Ion and traveling to the Sephiroth?!" Tear asked Legretta. "To win freedom and free will for human beings." Legretta said to Tear. "What do you mean?" Tear asked Legretta.

"This world is completely controlled by the Score. People read the Score for anything they do. The Score rules their lives. Don't you think that's wrong?" Legretta asked Tear. "The Score doesn't exist to control people. It's merely a tool to help them follow the correct path." Ion said to Legretta.

"Perhaps for you, Fon Master, but most people depend on the Score. It controls them. The worst cases consult the Score to see what they should have for dinner. You are no different." Legretta said to Ion.

"We don't go that far, but… If the Score shows the future, then it's best to live as it says." Anise said to Legretta. "The Score you get read on your birthday is a useful reference." Guy said to Legretta. "Yes. And you hear your life's Score. From the moment you're born, so…" Natalia said to Legretta, but was interrupted by Diaz.

"But what if the Score says your future is to live alone and have no loved ones, to be a joke of the whole kingdom, or to die in a very painful way. Can you really just accept that kind of fate?" Diaz asked everyone.

"Maybe not. But in the end, relying on the Score makes life easier. Mind you, the Scores other than Yulia's are vague and hard to understand." Jade said to Diaz. "Life can't be made easier. Only by living your life the best you can, can you adapt to it. And of course the other Scores are hard to understand, because they're random thoughts. All of the Scores, Yulia's included, are just what a random person thought was a good idea, it doesn't mean it is." Diaz said to Jade.

"I see that at least one of you is sane in this world of madness. Someone has to change it." Legretta said to everyone. "Tear! Diaz! Join us." Legretta said to them.

"I still don't trust my brother, and you're his loyal partner. Until my suspicions toward him are cleared, I can't return to you." Tear said to Legretta. "And just because you and I agree that the Score is stupid, doesn't mean we're on the same side. You may talk about freedom and free will, but you've already taken too many lives for me to accept that your way is the only way to freedom from the Score." Diaz said to Legretta.

"Then I'll stop you two by force!" Legretta said to Tear and Diaz. Then they heard stomping, and Diaz felt some form behind. Everyone turned their heads to see Scarlet and Cyclizar walking up, with Scarlet in his Scarlet Beast form.

"SCARLET! HOW DID HE GET HERE!?" Anise asked everyone, as everyone got ready for a fight. But Scarlet and Cyclizar walked around everyone, and this surprised everyone. Everyone then noticed his eyes were locked on Legretta, and he was walking towards her.

"Just what is he doing?" Luke asked, as Scarlet and Cyclizar stopped in between everyone and Legretta. "I don't know. But don't try anything Luke." Tear said, as she moved to be in between Luke and Scarlet.

"Tear… get away from those rejects!" Legretta said to Tear. "Rejects? Are you talking about me?!" Luke asked Legretta. (And Scarlet based on how you're next to her and he's in front of her.) Charcadet said to Luke.

"So it WAS you people who resurrected that forbidden technology!" Jade said to Legretta, getting a little mad. "Forbidden what now?" Diaz asked Jade. "Jade, no! There are some things people are better off not knowing!" Ion said to Jade. "Ion… you knew?!" Jade asked Ion.

"Can someone please tell us what you're talking about?" Diaz asked Jade and Ion. "Yeah, don't leave me out of the conversation! What are you talking about?! It's something to do with me, right?!" Luke asked Jade and Ion.

"Whose idea was it? Was it Dist's?!" Jade asked Legretta. "Are you talking about fomicry? What good would it do you to know? The die has been cast, Necromancer!" Legretta said to Jade. "Over my dead body!" Jade said to Legretta, getting mad. "And now I will be taking Tear and Diaz." Legretta said to everyone, as she got ready to fight.

"No… Vio… let's… mine!" Scarlet said to Legretta, as he pulled out his last Ignition Key. This Ignition Key had one side being dark purple and had a ghost symbol on it and the other side pink and had a symbol of a fairy, with one of the edges of the key looking like three tombstones, and the other side looking like a sparkle.

Scarlet then opened his key slot and put the key in with the dark purple side facing him. "GHOST!" An aggressive voice said from his belt, as Scarlet ripped it out of the slot with enough force to not only break the crystal off it, but making the tire on his belt spin counter clockwise, and glowed dark purple.

This made Cyclizar's tire sack glow dark purple, as a crystal tire popped out of Cyclizar's throat. "TE… RA… STALL… I… ZING!" Scarlet said, as the tired moved towards him and hit him, causing the tire to fall apart. This let out a dark purple energy pulse, and the crystals attached to his body.

"THE FIRST WITCH, WHO'S WITCHCRAFT IS THE BASE FOR ALL SPELLS, RETURNS FROM THE LAND OF THE DEAD, TO REMIND YOU ALL THE MIGHT OF MAGIC. MAKE WAY FOR FLUTTER MANE!" An aggressive voice said, as the crystal broke apart, revealing Scarlet's new form.

His body still had the scarlet jumpsuit on, but over his body was some dark aqua robes, with a jagged edge at the end of the base and sleeves of the robes, a blood red mark that went from one of the edge on the base of the robes that formed a line up his body, around his neck was a necklace of blood red pearls, his helmet was now the same dark aqua color as his robes, with blood red glass eyes, and on top of his head was a dark aqua witch hat with three blood red spikes sticking out and going up the middle of the hat, and dangling from the hat in a X line up was four dark aqua fabric with three pink feathers attached into the end of it.

In his hand, the handle grew, becoming a dark aqua staff with the handle in the middle, the staff was just a simple bark aqua stick with the tip being a blood red crystal that looked like the staff grew around the crystal.

"You really think just because you change form that you can beat me?" Legretta asked Scarlet. "Yes…" Scarlet said to Legretta, as the fabric on his hat stood up, at the same time Scarlet pointed his staff at Legretta.

Then black energy appeared around Legretta, making it hard for her to move or fight back. Scarlet then started to point his staff all over this place, making Legretta go all over the place, and crash into the rock walls all over the place.

Then Scarlet held the staff of his head and started to spin it at high speed, making Legretta move in a circle, before he suddenly stopped and pointed it up. This caused Legretta to get sent flying into the air and going far away from everyone.

That's when the fabric on Scarlet's hat fell back down, and he turned to everyone. "Now… your… last… form." Scarlet said to Diaz, as he pulled out one of Diaz's Ignition Key.

This Ignition Key was red with a fire symbol on it, the other side was dark purple with a poison symbol on it, one edge of the key looked like a flame, and the other edge looked like dripping goo.

Scarlet then tossed the Ignition Key to Diaz, surprising Diaz. "So this is my last Ignition Key. But why are you giving me this?" Diaz asked Scarlet. "Fight… Fight… with… all… your… might… So… we… know… who… alpha." Scarlet said to Diaz.

"We don't have time for your stupid fight." Luke said to Scarlet. This made Scarlet growl a little, as the fabric on his hat stood up, at the same time Scarlet pointed his staff at Luke. Then black energy appeared around Luke, making it hard for him to move or fight back. Scarlet then pulled his staff back before suddenly pushing it forward, sending Luke flying back into a rock all, making Luke goran in pain.

"I don't think you have a say in the matter. I'll try to make this quick." Diaz said to Luke, as he opened the slot on the side of his belt, he put the Ignition Key into the slot, with the red side facing him. "FIRE!" A techno voice said from the belt.

Diaz then hit the button This caused the handle to pop out of the slot, minus the crystal, and made the tire spin clockwise, with the tire glowing red. This made Miles' tire sack glow red, and a giant red crystal tire popped out of Miles' throat.

The tire headed straight for Diaz. "TERASTALLIZING!" Diaz yelled, as the tire hit him and caused the tire to fall apart. This let out a red pulse of energy, and the crystals attached to Diaz's body.

"A MOTH WHO'S WINGS GLOW A WARM LIGHT, WHO'S BODY PULLS IN THE TOXINS FROM THE AIR, THE SUN OF A FUTURE! IRON MOTH!" A techno voice said, from the belt, as all the crystals broke apart, revealing Diaz in new armor.

He still had his violet jumpsuit on, but had a thick white chest plate with four black dots on it, light black armor on his legs and feet with three point white triangles on the sides of the lower legs with the side pointing down being stretched out to his feet, his arms were covered in black armor with really thick gloves on his hands, with his left hand having some orange line on it, on the back of his chest plate was a red circle, with six diamond shaped orange lights floating behind him, with one of the tips being red and pointed to the red circle on the chest plates back, his helmet was now covered with some black glass with some digital red targets shape eyes shining from under the glass, with two curved red pieces of metal wrapped under his jaw and going to behind his head in a point

He lost his blaster. And in his right hand, the handle becomes a long barrel with a large barrel right in front of the handle, a grip in front of that, and a dial right above the handle with the symbols of poison, flames, and sun in that order, with the dial pointed to the poison symbol.

"Okay, not bad. Let's see what this thing can do." Diaz said to everyone, as he pressed the button, and fired a gust of purple smoke at Scarlet. But then the fabric on his hat stood up, at the same time Scarlet slammed his staff into the ground, this made black energy form a bubble around himself, blocking the smoke.

"Well that didn't work. Let's try this." Diaz said, as he turned the dial to the flame symbol. Diaz then pressed the button, and fired a steam of hot flames at Scarlet. But like the smoke, the bubble around Scarlet blocked the flames.

"Can this thing do anything useful?!" Diaz asked, as he changed the dial to the sun symbol. Diaz then pressed the button, and this time, it fired an orange laser at Scarlet, going clean through Scarlet's bubble, and almost hit Scarlet, and making the fabric on his hat fall back down.

"Okay that's more like it." Diaz said, looking at his weapon, as the fabric on Scarlet's hat stood up, at the same time Scarlet pointed his staff at Diaz, making black energy appear around Luke, making it hard for him to move or fight back.

"But… I could… use… some… back up." Diaz said to everyone, struggling to talk. (You heard him, help him! Dragon Rush!) Miles said to everyone, as his body became encased in purple energy, with wings and a dragon head formed the energy around his head and the back of front legs.

Miles then rushed Scarlet, and Scarlet noticed him. That's when Scarlet held his staff straight, and made the black energy move to cover him and get off Diaz. But unlike everyone else, the black energy didn't restrick him, it allowed him to levitate, and dodged Miles' attack with ease.

Diaz then fired a few more laser blasts, trying to wound Scarlet, but Scarlet used his levitation to easily dodged the lasers, with Scarlet rotating himself in all directions in the air.

"He's just showing off. Charcadet use Fire Spin, and make him stop spinning like that." Luke said to Charcadet. (Okay.) Charcadet said, as he fired a stream of fire at Scarlet, that formed a fire spiral around Scarlet, making him stop moving.

But that's when Scarlet stopped levitating, and touched his staff on the flames, turning the flames black. Then Scarlet pointed his staff at Luke, causing the flames to move towards him. "Whoa!" Luke said, as he jumped out of the way.

"Looks like ranged attacks aren't going to be that useful when he's in this form." Diaz said to everyone, as he kept shooting lasers at Scarlet, but Scarlet kept dodging, levitating again. "Then let's try something personal. Susu 1, 2, and 3, Quick Attack." Jade said to the Susus.

(On it.) The Susus said, as they glowed white and moved at high speed towards Scarlet. And while they hit Scarlet, it didn't do much to him. Then Scarlet swatted Susu 1 away towards Diaz.

This caused Diaz to raise his left hand and caught Susu 1. That's when the orange lines on his glove glowed, and the six diamonds on his back flew off his back and towards Scarlet. But before they could hit Scarlet or Scarlet dodged them, they stopped mid air.

"Huh?" Diaz said, as he let go of Susu 1, and wiggled his fingers and moved his hand, causing the diamond to move around all over the place. "Okay, I can see I move these things." Diaz said, as he moved his fingers and hand around at a fast pace, making the diamonds move around Scarlet, confusing him, and making it hard for him to keep track of the diamonds.

"That's a good distraction. Come one Lokej help me with Rock Smash." Guy said to Lokej, as he and Lokej rushed Scarlet. (You got it.) Lokej said to Guy, as his leak started to glow.

(Iron… Tail…) Cyclizar said, as his tail turned silver, and he swatted Guy and Lokej away with his tail.

Then Scarlet stopped levitating, and held his staff in front of his face. That's when everyone's weapons became encased in black energy. Then Scarlet raised his staff up, and everyone's weapons went flying out of their hands.

"Fie, can you tire and use Gust on them and knock them down?" Anise asked Fie, as they rushed to pick up their weapons back. (I can try.) Fie said, as he flapped his wings at Scarlet and Cyclizar. But they hardly felt it.

(Power… Whip.) Cyclizar said, as his tail glowed green and grew longer. Then Cyclizar whipped his tail at Fie, knocking Fie into Anise and knocking her down.

"Whina, Liran could use some back up." Tear said to Whina. "I was just thinking the same thing." Whina said to Tear.

Liran/Inesa/ use Round." Tear and Whina said to Liran and Inesa. (ON IT!) Liran and Inesa said, as Liran let out a red soundwave, and Inesa let out a blue soundwave. The sound waves resonated, and hit Scarlet, and this time the attack actually did something, making the fabric on Scarlet's hat fall down, and making Scarlet and Cyclizar cover their ears.

That's when Diaz finally got his blaster and fired a laser at Scarlet's left leg. But Scarlet noticed the laser, and jumped out of the way in time. But that's when the laser bounced off one of the diamonds and headed for Natalia.

(Iron Defense.) Plata said, as their body turned silver, and they moved between Natalia and the laser. Then the laser hit them, and while it left a burn it bounced off Plata and towards Qadira.

But Qadria used her sword to reflect it towards Baila. (Metal Claw.) Babila said, as her mace glowed silver, and she swatted the laser away, making her mace glow hot for a few seconds.

(Okay enough of this. Reflect.) Jataayu said, as he made a glass barrier that redirected the laser into a rock wall.

"Okay, so my diamond things can reflect my lasers, dangerous, but useful." Diaz said to everyone, as he wiggled his fingers changing this diamond's positions, before firing a laser.

Scarlet then started levitating and dodged the laser. But the laser then reflected off his diamonds and hit the side of Scarlet's arm, making sparks fly and knocking Scarlet to the ground.

"This is more like it." Diaz said, as he wiggled his fingers moving the diamonds around and firing multiple lasers.

Scarlet tried levitating to dodge the lasers, but Diaz would turn his diamond with his fingers, making the lasers hit Scarlet, making sparks appear all over his body. This caused Scarlet to stop levitating and dropped to his knees.

That's when one of the lasers hit the crystal of his staff, and it went into the crystal making it glow orange. This gave Scarlet an idea.

Scarlet then blocked the lasers with the crystal of his staff, making the crystal glow orange brighter and brighter. Soon it started to glow like a small sun, making it hard for everyone to see.

Scarlet then jabbed the crystal into the ground, letting out a massive burst of fire, knocking everyone, but Diaz, down, and even making Luke roll away.

But that's when Luke rolled past the rock and into Akzeriuth's territory. And that's when a feeling entered the head of Diaz, Scarlet, and the Pokemon, with the feeling being a massive amount of fear, panic, and danger. But then Diaz and Scarlet's drivers started to glow violet and scarlet, causing Diaz to hear way too many screams of fear and destruction of the land breaking apart, and causing Scarlet to see something, something buried in the past.

A few seconds later, the feeling calmed down, but Diaz, Scarlet, and the Pokemon could still feel it. That's when Scarlet turned to Luke. "Luke… Born… For… Many… Death." Scarlet said, as he slowly walked to Luke, raising his staff into the air.

That's when the fabric on his hat went up, but bent towards the hat in a curved shape. That's when black energy came out of the crystal and into the shape of a scythe. "Luke…must… die…!" Scarlet said, as he grabbed the lower part of the staff and got ready to slash off Luke's head.

Panicking, Diaz rushed Scarlet in the gut, and forced Scarlet away from Luke. But Scarlet kneed Diaz in the gut, forcing Diaz back a little, before slashing him with his staff, causing sparks to come off Diaz's chest and forcing Diaz back.

"Don't… stop… Luke… death." Scarlet said to Diaz. "What are you talking about?" Diaz asked Scarlet. "Luke… born… death… Luke… born… destruction… Luke… born… fool Luke… born… weapon." Scarlet said to Diaz, confusing Diaz. "What are you talking about?" Diaz asked Scarlet.

"Luke… is… death… Get… out… of… way…!" Scarlet said to Diaz, raising his staff, and getting into a fighting stance. "I don't know what you're talking about? But even with Luke being a pain…" Diaz said to Scarlet, but was interrupted by Luke. "Hey!" Luke said to Diaz.

"I won't let you kill him. If you want him, you're going to have to get through me first." Diaz said to Scarlet, as he got into a fighting stance. "Glad…" Scarlet said to Diaz.

But that's when the ground started to shake, the pebble jumping up a little. This made everyone look down. "Huh?" Diaz asked, before a stampede of completely terrified Pokemon can rush into the Deo Range.

"(STAMPEDE!)" Diaz and the Pokemon yelled, as the gang ran to one of the rock wall, getting out of the way of the stampede, while Scarlet used his staff magic to levitate himself and Cyclizar up and out of the stampede way on the opponent side of the area from the gang.

With the gang they all had their backs at the rock wall, in the curved part of the wall trying to avoid getting hit by the stampede, but the stampede was slowly taking out the rock wall, and would soon start taking them out.

Worried about this, Diaz moved his arm, hand, and fingers to force his diamond into the rock wall, forming makeship stairs. "LET'S GO PEOPLE AND POKEMON!" Diaz said to everyone, as he moved up the stairs. No one argued with him and ran up the stairs as well.

And with what little luck the gang had, they all got up onto the top of the rock wall, right as the stampede broke through the rock wall and took over the space they were in. Then as Diaz retracted his diamonds to his back, he saw Scarlet looking at him from the other side of the area, and giving what he thought was a mean look under his mask.

Diaz gave a mean look of his own, not that anyone noticed, before the gang started to run as fast as they could, trying to get away form Scarlet, Cyclizar, and the stampede.

After running for a bit, everyone stopped and caught their breath. "Okay, we're safe for the moment, now can someone explain what Legretta was talking about before Scarlet sent her flying?" Diaz asked everyone, as he turned off Iron Moth, and was in his Violet Iron form.

"We're not talking about this!" Jade said to Diaz, with a mad look on his face. "Colonel… You're actually really angry." Anise said to Jade. "I'm sorry. I lost control. I'm all right now. Let's hurry to Akzeriuth." Jade said to everyone.

"We shouldn't go there." Diaz said to everyone, earning an odd look from everyone. "Are you serious? We're almost there. We can't turn back now!" Luke said to Diaz. "I am. I may not believe in your Score. But I do believe in Pokemon and how I felt. And they only act like that stampede when something really, really, really bad is about to happen. And I don't blame them. I felt extreme danger as soon as you entered." Diaz said to Luke.

"And how do you know that?" Guy asked Daiz. "For me. I think my driver had something to do with that. For the Pokemon, they are more attuned to nature and any human could be. In the history of my world, whenever something big is about to happen the Pokemon in the area senses it and responds accordingly, and since they all ran away, that's what we should be doing too." Diaz said to everyone.

(He's right. Every part of me is telling me to run in the opposite direction of Akzeriuth.) Miles said to everyone. (Danger, danger, danger.) The Susus said to everyone, as they backed away from the direction of Akzeriuth.

(And I may be a fighter. But even my instincts are telling me to run.) Lokej said to everyone. (Yeah, we're not strong enough to handle whatever we're feeling.) Charcadet said to everyone.

(And if things go wrong we don't have the wings to save anyone.) Insea said to everyone. (even my wings won't be of much help if I was fully evolved) Fie said to everyone, holding out his wings. (Nor do I.) Jataayu said, flapping his wings.

(I could do something if I was fully evolved as well, but we don't have time for me to evolve.) Plata said to everyone. (Maybe we should run away as well.) Babila said to everyone. (The sooner the better.) Liran said to everyone.

"All the Pokemon agree with Diaz." Mieu said to everyone. "Well we can't just leave." Natalia said to Diaz. "Fine. Then Guy, take Luke back to the Capital." Diaz said to Natalia and Guy.

"What? Why do I have to go back to the Capital?!" Luke asked Diaz. "Because you're being a pain, but that's a personal thing. The main reason is once you entered Akzeriuth, me, Scarlet, and the Pokemon had the feeling of a very loud siren going off in our heads. A few minutes later, a stampede happens. I don't think this is a coincidence." Diaz said to

"I don't care what you think. I'm the hero here and I'm going. Not you or your stupid Pokemon can stop me!" Luke said to Diaz.

That's when Diaz got close to Luke's face, a digital mean look on his screen. "You're no hero, you're just a stupid, selfish, brat. And no matter what that stupid rock says, you will never be a great hero." Diaz said to Luke, giving Luke a mean look, before walking away.

(I still think going to Akzeriuth is a bad idea.) Miles said to everyone, as everyone but Luke followed Diaz, with the Pokemon having a really bad feeling about this, leaving Luke alone with Mieu.

This made Luke very mad. "Master, you mustn't get mad." Mieu said to Luke. "They all jerk me around and then act like I'm not even here! I'm the ambassador, damn it!" Luke said, getting madder. "Master." Mieu said to Luke, getting worried.

"Master Van's the only one… He's the only one who understands!" Luke said, giving everyone a mean look, before he slowly went after the others.

TWISTED REALM.

Meanwhile in the Twisted Realm, The cloak figure and Eshu looked at the bord, with a serious look on Eshu's face. "This is bad. They have seen all the signs, Diaz has tried to reason with them, and they're still walking right into that death trap." Eshu said to the cloak figure.

"Yes, it looks like we'll lose this round. Best we can hope for is that Violet and Scarlet survive Akzeriuth fall into the abyss." The cloak figure said to Eshu, as he bagged the table, making a table come from under the board, with the map on this table being that of a world of complete sludge and death and only one little town on it.

Hello everyone please like, follow, or review if you like this story. So tomorrow, I'll post the next chapter. I hope you're all ready for the drama of Akzeriuth and below.