"Here," Luke said, taking the lead. He reached down to one of the crystals and broke a piece off, shaking it in his hand. The light inside suddenly surged, illuminating the way. Luke then led them down several winding paths until a brighter light emerged at the end of the tunnel, leading them into an even larger cavern with more crystals dotting the floors and ceilings, lighting up the whole area. "This is where I first arrived. There are several tunnels here leading out. That one," he pointed to one to the side, "leads to the outside again but it's just a cliff face over the desert. No way down unless you can fly."

"Hold on," Harry said and gently placed Chewie down again, the big guy groaning weakly. Harry then turned to the tunnel they had just emerged from and did the same trick as before, lifting the sand up into the ceiling and forming a barrier. He then transfigured it into stone, blocking the way completely. "Now he can't follow us."

"Still say we should have killed him," Luke grumbled.

"Too risky," Harry said, even though he wondered if it was the right move to let Vorjavik live. He had stopped Luke because he was worried Vorjavik might be tricking them or might find the strength he needed and attack again. But he had also stopped him because he didn't like the idea of killing a bound person. He didn't want to kill at all in fact. He hadn't really before and he didn't want to start now. He might regret it later, probably would, but for now he was just grateful they had made it out. But unfortunately they still had Chewie. "What do we do with him?" he asked.

"I don't know," Luke replied, looking at their fallen ally. "I'm not really a medic. I mean, I know a few things but nothing that can really help him. I can staunch the bleeding but I'm pretty sure that chest wound is the big problem here." He turned to look at Harry. "Don't you know any healing spells?"

"Not really," Harry replied, trying to think back to what Hermione had done after Ron had gotten splinched, what Madam Pomfrey always did but was coming up empty. He had just allowed others to be the healers and not partaken himself. That had been a massive mistake. "I guess for now we just wait and see. And think of what we do next."

"There's a stream that way," Luke pointed at another tunnel. "Disappears into the underground so the tunnel's not that big, but it is drinkable."

"No need," Harry said, waving his wand. One of the crystals reshaped itself into a cup-shape and then Harry poured water into it. He then brought it over to Chewie, dribbling it slowly into his mouth before leaving him to rest.

"Don't suppose you can conjure up some food?" Luke asked.

"No, not food. Just water," Harry replied.

"Alright, well, then I'll go see if there's anything in the other tunnels I didn't check before. I'll be back soon. And careful," he warned. "Had to fight this crab thing by the stream and some lizard thing out on the ledge. There may be other creatures wandering around. So keep your guard up." He then turned around and within seconds, he was gone.

Harry sighed and sat down heavily into the sand, leaning against the wall. It had been a long day. A very long day. And it probably wasn't even over yet. And Harry had arrived here when the sun had been setting. It was far later for him now. He was exhausted, more than he knew. And he was scared out of his mind at what else was waiting for him. And what was happening. Harry wondered if Vorjavik had been right. That this was a contest and that only the greatest would make it. If so, what other kind of champions were out there? And who was organizing it? And what were all those skeletons? What exactly was this place?

He wondered what the others were thinking, back at the Burrow. They were probably going out of their minds with worry, Ginny especially. She would be freaking out, doing everything she could to figure out what happened to him. But would she be able to find him? Harry had no idea where he was, just that it was some desert of some kind. With weird monsters here. He wished Hagrid were here. The big guy would be able to handle them.

Harry looked over at Chewie and his slow breathing. He wished he could help but he didn't know any spell that could. He wasn't trained in healing. Even Hermione was better than him. He was worried he might end up doing more harm than good. But he had to do something. There had to be some way to help him. Harry couldn't let him die. He might have family of his own he needed to get back to.

There was a shuffling noise and Harry got ready to stand up, hand on wand but it was just Luke returning.

"Find anything?" he asked.

Luke shook his head. "Nothing. Couple a dead-ends and a few other tunnels that looked like they led into dead-ends. Didn't want to check on them now." He sat down and looked over at Chewie. "What are we gonna do with him?" He glanced over at Harry. "You really don't have some spell to help him?"

Harry grimaced. "I already said no. If I could, I would but it's not my specialty. I know a few spells but this requires more than that. Potions and stuff that I don't have. My friend Hermione would know more, but…" he just sighed.

Luke nodded grimly. "Well then, there's nothing more we can do right now except pray to whatever gods we worship." He added a twist of sarcasm to that that made Harry frown. He then faced Harry directly. "Get some sleep," he said. "I'll take first watch and wake you if anything happens."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but he was tired, the long and exciting few hours catching up with him. And it had already been evening back home. He nodded once and leaned back into the sandy ground closing his eyes. He briefly wondered about what other threats were out there, if Vorjavik was chasing them or if he was still chained up. He also wondered about what Vorjavik had said, about coming back to life. He wondered if that meant there were others out there like that, who had come back to life.

That was the last thought he had before slipping off to sleep.

He didn't know how long he slept. He had woken up briefly to move into a better position before slipping off again. But now he could hear people talking in the background as well as other strange sounds. He blinked and yawned, struggling to wake up. He managed to get up to his feet and crack his neck before getting a look around.

"Gah!" he yelped as he saw the black face right next to him, stumbling away. Once he got a better look, he saw it was just a mask. In fact, it was a whole costume, completely black except for a yellow belt, a strange bat-like symbol on the chest, and white spaces where the eyes would be. Harry frowned, trying to understand what he was looking at it.

"Oh good, you're awake." Harry looked up and saw Luke walking over.

"Sorry," he said, stifling a yawn. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Luke shrugged. "I tried, but you just rolled over. Heard these two coming in," he gestured behind him to another figure that made Harry frown. A man in a white and blue bodysuit with only his mouth and chin showing, his skin a dark brown and his mask having a strange blue slit along the middle. "Didn't know who they were and didn't want to make noise in case they were enemies so I left you as you were and was about to attack when she got the jump on me," Luke nodded at the figure in the strange bat-suit. "Apparently, I'm not as good as sneaking up as she is. But we quickly made peace. Now we're trying to decide what to do with Chewie."

That woke Harry up fast. "What do you mean?" he asked, standing up.

"Frozone…did I get that right?" Luke turned to the man behind him.

"Yeah, that's it," he replied.

"Good. He thinks he can, well, freeze Chewie."

"Freeze him?" Harry questioned. "How does that work? And you can do that?"

"Yep," the man named Frozone replied. "It's kind of my thing. You're just lucky that the air's cooler down here. Up there," he pointed at the ceiling, "the sun was draining my powers like crazy."

Harry frowned, not sure what to make of that. But he was getting that a lot so he just pushed past it. "How will it help him?"

"It'll put him in a suspended state," Frozone explained. "He won't get better, but he also won't get worse. And trust me, right now he's getting worse."

He didn't need to tell Harry that. One look at the big guy and Harry knew that they would need to do something really soon. "And this will work?" he checked.

"I've done it before. Not full-body, mind you. But close enough. And it worked. I wouldn't recommend leaving him in the ice for too long, but hopefully it'll be enough time to find some way to cure the big guy." He tilted his head as he took in Chewie's figure. "Where'd you even find him and what is he exactly?"

"I met him some ways down that way," Harry said, gesturing to the blocked door. "He saved my life. As for what he is," Harry shrugged. "I have no clue."

"Huh," Frozone nodded. "Well, I've met a guy with bird wings and an old man who puked up lava so I guess this isn't the strangest thing in the world." He held out his hands and then Harry felt a noticeable change in the air, like a cold breeze wafting through. Then, twin blasts of cold air shot out from the man's hands, landing right over Chewie. As Harry watched, a block of ice formed over his friend, completely encasing him. Within a matter of seconds, it was over.

"Wow," Harry muttered. "That was something." He had seen a lot of powerful magic in his day, but never really straight from someone's hand like that. That was some serious power. But the guy also called himself Frozone, which made Harry think that this was either his specialty or his one main skill.

"Ok, so we've done that," Luke nodded. "Now we need a plan on how to fully heal him." However, as he said that Harry noted something odd in his voice. A small hesitation. And the way the person in the bat-suit next to him moved, they might have noticed as well.

Harry turned back to Frozone. "I'm going to guess that you arrived the same way we did. Just living your life one second and then the next you're in the desert with no idea how you got there."

"Pretty much," Frozone nodded. "I kept wondering if it was that portal girl behind this somehow, but she can only do make portals to places close to her, so she claims, so for now she's out. Whoever it is, they're very powerful. And clearly up to something."

"Yeah, but what?" Harry asked no one in particular. "Why bring us all together?"

Luke mumbled to himself. "Harry, what was it Vorjavik said? About this place? He called it some sort of contest of champions to see…"

"Who would rise or fall," Harry finished. "And only the greatest will prevail. You think he was right? That we're here to, what, fight amongst ourselves?"

Luke nodded. "Maybe. I've been in an arena or two in my life and been forced to battle for others' amusement, so it lines up. It could be very likely what's happening here."

Frozone grunted. "Had that happen to me and Bob once and few other supes. Some rich dude captured us and had us fight in a bizarre arena while placing bets. We eventually broke out and had everyone there arrested."

Harry didn't know what supes meant but he nodded as well. "Ok, well that's something. But what about all those skeletons? How does that fit in?"

"What skeletons?" Frozone asked and Luke quickly explained what they had seen earlier. He scratched his chin, thinking. "Hmmm. Past contestants, maybe?"

"No," Luke shook his head. "I don't think so. Those skeletons were all different shapes and sizes, some as small as children. And they looked like they were escaping something. I'm pretty sure they all died in that room. I think this place is being used as an arena right now, but something else happened here. And judging from how old those bones are, it happened a long time ago."

"So, what's our next move then?" Harry asked. "And let's not forget that we need to try and help Chewie."

Again he noticed a slight hesitation in Luke's face as well as a grimace. And he knew what it meant. "You don't want to save him, do you?"

Luke looked up at him. "Of course I do," he replied firmly. "But we also need to be realistic. None of us our healers and we have no idea how to help him other than freezing him solid. We need to find out how we came here and how to get back home. And sadly, he's probably going to weigh us down like that." He nodded at the block of ice. "We have no idea what other kind of threats are out there and right now, he's a liability."

"He's a living creature," Harry argued. "We can't just leave him to die."

"If it comes down to me or him, sorry but I'm choosing me and if you don't do the same, you're an idiot."

"I'm not leaving him either," Frozone interjected, crossing his arms. "That's not what heroes do."

Luke snorted. "Heroes? What exactly are heroes because I've seen plenty of so-called heroes in my life. Guess what? Most of them die long before they reach my age, almost always because they're trying to be heroes. Being a hero more often than not guarantees an early death. No thanks. I already d-" He stopped there, pursing hips lips tight for a second before continuing. "I'd rather be a survivor. So yeah, I do hope we find a way to heal Chewie. But if we have to leave him behind to survive, then that's what I'm gonna do."

Harry breathed through his teeth, not sure what to make of this. He could understand Luke's reasoning, but to be so cold about it? So rational? Harry didn't know many people who would act like that. Even Dumbledore or Moody wouldn't leave Chewie behind. They would do everything they could to help him first.

"Heroes help."

The voice came so softly and so out of the blue that it took Harry a second to realize where it was coming from. The person in the bat-suit stepped forward, arms crossed over their chest. Then they pulled the mask off, revealing a girl a few years younger him with short-cropped black hair.

"Heroes help others," she repeated. "They don't run away."

"Well, I'm not a hero," Luke replied. "And I…" he paused there and slowly looked up, the others following his gaze, having heard the same thing. A soft booming noise above them. As they watched, it came again and this time the ceiling shuddered, particles of sand drifting down.

"Oh, what now?" Frozone muttered, holding up his hands while the girl drew several small items from her belt that looked similar to boomerangs. Harry raised his wand while Luke held out his sword. The ceiling shook again and then it did something else. Harry frowned as he watched. It was almost like the ground drew up from above the ceiling, like it was being pulled. This was quickly followed by an even louder booming noise.

"Maybe we should-" Harry started but then the ceiling cracked open and a woman with a green uniform fell through. She landed on her feet though, and was ready when another figure dropped after her. Harry blinked as he witnessed the new person, not sure what he was seeing. It was a humanoid, but with grayish skin and a bloated chin that looked like a frog's, a strange reed-like beard drooping down it. There were three sharp ridges atop their head and there was no nose. Not like with Voldemort where he only had a slit. This person had no nose at all. They also had four arms.

"Hmmm, more people," the figure muttered in a smooth, male voice. "I wander around this desert for hours without a person in sight and now I run into a crowd all at once. Strange. Or maybe not."

The other woman turned and noticed them for the first time. She frowned, eying them dubiously, but then turned back to the four-armed figure. "Surrender now," she said in a voice that seemed like it was used to issuing commands.

"Or what, my dear woman?" the figure asked.

"Or I will beat you into the ground," she replied. As she did, she lifted her arm and the ground cracked open, a large piece of rock lifting up into the air over her shoulder.

"Hmm, a neat trick," the figure remarked. "Here's mine."

The boulder suddenly exploded, fragments of rock shooting out everywhere. Harry and the others ducked to avoid them but the woman wasn't so lucky, being laid out flat from the burst and now scarred from the rock pieces.

Instantly, Frozone lifted his hands, ready for action but the other figure held his up calmly.

"I am Jedi Master Pong Krell, General in the Grand Army of the Republic. And I order you to stand down."

And we're back. Hope you enjoyed the new characters I'm bringing in.

I'll give you one guess for who the girl in the black suit is and she is one of my favorite characters from where she's from.

Frozone, easily the best character of The Incredibles, will have a major role going forward so I hope you liked him.

The girl who can lift rocks, well, you'll have to wait to know more about her.

And Krell is from the Clone Wars Umbaran episodes if you've seen those.

Please leave a review if you can and thanks for reading.