The Clash of the Blackstar

XXX

The Clash of the Blackstar

Zachary had never done a mission like this. It wasn't anything super special or complicated, but it was something he dreamed about. He dreamed of being a wizard, and like many kids his age, he even fantasized about finding buried treasure or hidden secrets abandoned in ruins... who said the two were mutually exclusive?

The area he traveled to was humid and thick with life-- as expected for a jungle ruin. The sounds of animals and beasts where everywhere as he journeyed through the wilds. Normally he would be worried or on guard, but his practice with magic gave him more confidence to handle any kind of danger that lurked there. After his trial on Tenrou Island, he was more accepting of such places and dangers. It proved to him he could handle anything, either by his spirits, or the magic he been practicing.

As he traveled, Astral floated beside him, now excited to be in a new location beyond just the comfortable scenery of Magnolia. He took the interest in the wild plantlife, flowers, the sounds and everything. Soft chirps and 'ooohs' of excitement came from him as he would float about. "Astral, don't go too far from me!" Zachary warned to the Star Fairy. "The jungle can be dangerous. "

Ooooh! Astral chirped, not really giving Zachary the answer he hoped for, but good enough. The little fairy creature was insationably curious when he wanted to be. Still, the last thing Zachary wanted to see was his little friend swallowed by some 'pretty' carnivorous plant.

WC: 263

The jungle trail was adventurous, but luckily there were no wild beasts to contend with. Most animals would leave you alone anyway unless you became a threat to them or they were desperate for food. Either way, he had a mighty sun lion in his contracts with Spirits, so he wasn't afraid of any stray jungle beasts.

They soon arrived at the spot Zachary wished to find-- a set of ruins lodged into the a set of cliffs and stretched out to further reaches of the jungle. Stone structures, from elegant buildings to statues of ancient animals were displayed around, with vines and moss growing over it. A great city lost to the pages of history. Being there, Zachary felt excited at what secrets he could find there.

As they arrived, Astral too 'oooohed' with enthusiasm as he floated off his head to explore the airspace around. The jungle was exciting and colorful enough, and to see the ruins made him very excited. Oooh fun place! Fun place! he said in his thoughts, trying to see more of the mysterious place.

Either he was drawn by the mix of plant life over the structure, or maybe felt Zachary's own excitement for wanting to do some treasure hunting-- either way the star critter was giddy with excitement. "Easy, Astral. This place is great, but also dangerous. You don't wanna go flying into any traps, okay? So stay close when we go inside." he said.

Taking out something from his pocket, he revealed a map he got from the client. The job was to find a treasure in the depths of the ruins, find and disable any traps if possible-- to secure a proper route to the main room where the treasure was. He was more than able to take some pieces of importance for himself with the approval of the client. Still, it was a big job for Zachary and one he wanted to do badly.

He hoped there was not too much to get in his way for finding the treasure. Still, this was an S-rank mission for a reason. If he got too complacent, he might get seriously hurt-- and he couldn't always depend on Astral's healing all the time. It tired the little guy out.

However... there was one thing he didn't consider that would be a bigger problem to throw a wrench in his treasure hunting.

... rival treasure hunters.

WC: 404

The two proceeded into the open area of the ruins. The sound of the birds and wildlife was a serene melody for them till...

"YA-HOOO!!" A voice boomed like thunder from the clear blue sky.

Zachary cringed and Astral gave a small yelp that was physically audible to Zachary's ears as the star looked around, concerned where the sound came from. Zachary instinctively reached for his keys in his pocket, prepared as he turned to find the source. There was no one on the ground and not in the distance. At first, he didn't know where it was-- but he heard it clearly that someone shouted.

"HAHAHA! Look on in awe, for before you are the greatest sight you will ever see. Try to contain your enthusiasm, because the show is just getting started!" the voice boomed, sounding awfully braggy and dramatic. Zachary listened carefully and realized the voice was coming from above. Slowly he rose his head up to the ruins-- to soon find the source of the shouting.

At the top of the ruined spire covered in tree roots and moss, a solo figure stood atop it like some kind of 'superhero', standing erect and proud into the sky. He seemed to be a kid around Zachary's age but he couldn't tell by distance. As he adjusted his eyes to the sunlight, he could see he had spiky hair and a short-sleeved outfit with gloves on his hands. With a dramatic stance, he reached out a hand out towards Zachary as if he was some stage performer. "I'm the greatest assassin in Fiore-- BLACKSTAR!!" he boomed, as if awaiting applause.

The jungle was dead quiet as the wildlife had been scared off by the sudden yell that broke the peace. Any tension in the air was now gone as Zachary glared up at the show-off kid who would announce himself as a great assassin. "Are you kidding me?" Zachary asked himself, dumbfounded to be approached by such an eccentric and manic-sounding kid, let alone one who would call himself an assassin. His entrance left nothing to be desired... however...

Aye!! Ahhahaha... Astral giggled, finding amusement in the flamboyant and loud introduction. Zachary wished the little star didn't enjoy it-- as it would only encourage the little guy. He face-palmed himself as he waited to see what would happen next.

"Aha! An unprecedented success... one of them is speechless and another applauds at my overwhelming greatness." he boasted, and with another 'ya-hoo'-- jumped right down from the pillar!

Such a jump Zachary wouldn't have been able to physically stick! He got a bit nervous, but soon he landed on the ground on his two feet- effortlessly. At first, Zachary worried who he was dealing with-- but to stick a landing like that required physical skill to pull off-- oppose to Zachary's preference for book smarts.

WC: 477

Aye--hahahaha! Astral giggled, amused by the overly exuberant stranger, which only made him boast more. It had the purely opposite effect on Zachary who found the situation uncomfortable and overly loud for a jungle.

"Umm... who the hell are you?" Zachary asked, despite the obvious announcement and introduction he gave. "And why are you making such a racket."

The guy snickered as he looked to Zachary and got up close to him. "Heh, need me to repeat myself? Guess its natural that your in shock from my greatness. I'm Blackstar, the world's greatest assassin! Try to contain your enthusiasm to be in the presence of a great star like me." he boasted.

Zachary felt a headache coming on just by hearing him. "There is no need to shout. We literally are the only ones here," Zachary mentioned.

"Yeah, but when your a big guy like me, you tend to be loud to. Don't be ashamed, kay?" he boasted still.

Are you kidding me? The kid is shorter and probably younger than me... Zachary thought to himself as the kid beamed as he had just become a wizard saint or something. He was a bit much to take, but the bigger problem was why he was there and what he wanted. Zachary's eyes glared at the stranger, Blackstar.

"And what exactly are you doing here?" Zachary asked.

Despite the distrust Zachary didn't bother to hide from him, Blackstar looked a bit innocent about it. "Oh, well I am here to explore the ruins. When I'm not a bad-ass assassin, I am treasure hunting! One of my many hobbies I am amazing at!" he answered.

Bad... ass...? Astral repeated, not knowing what that word was.

Alarmed, Zachary reached out and took hold of the star fairy into his arms, as if to cover his ears. "Hey, Loudmouth! Watch your language around my friend, okay? He is pretty much a child so I'd appreciate it if you mind your language!" he shouted, Astral confused as he was squished in Zachary's arms.

Blackstar blinked as he saw the star-shaped creature. "Oh, my bad," he said, his arms now behind his head modestly.

"Typical of you, Blackstar..." a voice spoke up!

Both Zachary and Blackstar looked surprise by the voice-- but soon the rumble of the ground gave way to t he presence of another. With a loud crack and pop-- a hole of earth opened up and out appeared it. A red-colored creature with odd tendrils from its head, a mammal-like appearance that resembled an Echinda. He had a humanoid body, with a white crest over his chest. His hands were gloved, sporting sharp looking protrusion spikes from his fists. He also wore an odd choice of sneakers with a metallic mesh to it. He popped out of the hole in the ground, making Astral curious too. "Seriously, you're such a blabbermouth. Assassins are quiet by design, you know. " he replied.

"Dude, don't go harshing my entrance man. Oh, this is Knuckles. Knuckles the Echinda." Blackstar introduced.

Knuckles looked up to Zachary, who seemed to be a bit more serious and sterner than Blackstar was. Curious, Astra sqirmed out of Zachary's arms to look at the red character too. "Um... nice to meet you too..." he said, but then shook his head. "Wait a minute. Just hold on-- we got a problem here. " Zachary shot to Blackstar, now annoyed by his too-fast-to-keep-up personality.

WC: 575

Finally, the mouthy blue-haired assassin and his red companion looked to Zachary, realizing his error to go on and on as the star mage had the chance to finally speak. "Look here. The simple fact is, I am here also to find the treasure in these ruins and investigate it. I already spoke to the client and made the plan to find it for them. So that means we are well... chasing after the same goal."

Blackstar paused as he looked at Zachary, unlinking for a moment. It was an odd silence, only broken by the soft cooes Astral did as he pondered what was going on. "Oh, I see how it is. I understand completely," he finally spoke.

"Oh, here we go again..." The red Echinda grumbled as he raised a paw to his forehead.

"So, a rival finally appears to challenge me, right before my victory can be claimed. I'll give you this much, you got guts, kid." he said, overly confident as he nodded to himself.

Zachary felt the urge to tilt in uncertainty. It was like the kid didn't even hear him. "THat's not what I said. All I am trying t o say is maybe we should--"

"BUT I AM NOT GONNA LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THAT!!" He shouted aloud and raised a hand high. "YOU MAY WANNA TRY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER BY MAKING ME FEEL SMALLER BY COMPARISON, BUT THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN BE BIGGER THAN A STAR LIKE ME!!"

Finally, both Zachary and Astral were dumbfounded by his overly eager mouthing off. Even his companion seemed dumbfounded by his attitude.

"You may as well go on home, kid. The treasure is as good as mine! Good luck getting home. Later!" he said and took off in a sprint for the ruin entrance. "YAHOOO!!!"

"The hell?!" Zachary gasped, now looking angry as the other kid stormed off like an idiot. "We pratically are the same age, calling me kid! I might be a bit older than you!"

As the wannabe-assassin took off, the red Echinda looked to Zachary with an apologetic look. Nothing personal, kid," he said, this time his gruff and mature voice sounding more appropriate to call Zachary a 'kid'. "But Treasure Hunting is our thing. If you insist to beat us there, good luck to you."

With that, the red creature took off after his idiotic master.

The sheer shock gave the rival team a head start, but soon Zachary shook his head, causing Astral to be temporarily tossed into the air from the movement. "What just happened here?" he asked the little star.

Astral could only give a soft little breath, as if not sure and saying 'I-don't know'.

WC: 455

Despite the sheer insanity that had occurred the moment the Blackstar kid had appeared on the scene, Zachary had recovered enough to proceed further with the job. He felt he had a bit more of an edge to know how to be cautious in places like this, than some lunatic running after treasure to stand out more. With Astral square on his head, Zachary proceeded into the ruins after him.

The inside was more like a maze than a ruin, as many passageways led to different places. It would require caution to navigate safely. Not only did Zachary resort to leaving chalk marks on the walls to mark his position, but he also took into account the state of each passageway and other odd features that had ultimately one outcome.

Traps. Places like this were filled with booty traps designed to catch or kill tomb raiders and the like. While Zachary had no interest to defile the dead, he certainly knew what obvious traps were there. Even more to just walk around carelessly in these ruins without a plan. Despite the eager nature of his companion, Zachary insisted the star stay close to him or stay on his head-- to avoid setting off any traps.

So far, they were lucky. The worst they had was merely getting a little turned around with dead-ends or chambers with no value. The building was still sturdy, even as vines and moss grew over parts of the passageways.

"Wow... this place is huge," Zachary said, realizing there were several levels and places still left to search. He had a general direction in mind but no way to tell where the treasure would be kept beyond in the deepest part of the ruins.

It was then that a loud 'clank' echoed in the room that made him flinch and freeze-- afraid he triggered some trap or mechanism. However, what gave away more clue of what happened-- was the annoyingly loud yell from a certain person.

"WHAAAAAAA!!" Blackstar's voice echoed.

Zachary's face cringed with a frown as he heard the scream. It seemed the kid ran into one of the traps. For a moment, he hesitated-- he knew he was a rival and someone who had no interest to cooperate with him. Still, the shout sounded bad and full of distress. He had half the mind to just press on and ignore it.

Still... his gaze went up to Astral. The little star looked to him, with a cute, confused look on his face. The face was too innocent and cherubic to resist. "I gotta do the right thing, don't I...?" Zachary asked hypothetically.

Astral only gave a soft coo as he tilted his body lightly, like a tilt of his head in confusion.

A sigh escaped Zachary, realizing there was no question about it. Instead of pushing forward in another direction, he went to the source of the scream.

It took him down a floor and to a dark corridor-- which was soon barred by a large, rusty gate. Beyond it, was the blue-haired kid from before with his red creature companion. They were stuck in an odd situation where the two walls of the corridor were shooting projectiles from spots in it-- poison darts by the look of it. From there, the red creature had hidden low in a blind spot-- while the kid, too big to hide anywhere was dancing and darting away from the flying darts.

The idiot had triggered a trap, and clearly wasn't going to be able to escape with both parts of the corridor blocked.

"WHOH-- hey! Watch it-- GAHH! Hey, that stung--!!" he shouted, as if he almost got hit. Whatever it was, or even if the poison was volatile, it didn't matter. He would be a pin-cushon if he wasn't careful.

Looking around, Zachary found something. A lever covered in vines and moss attached to the side of the room. With a quick grab for it, he pulled the lever and the sound of grinding gears echoed through the chamber. After a few seconds, the poison darts stopped firing. Despite it, he kept on dancing and moving around as if his life depended on it. The gates blocking both sides soon lifted, causing the trap to end. Still, Blackstar didn't have a clue as he kept moving around like his butt was on fire.

Knuckles, however, noticed Zachary and the trap ended. He soon turned to Blackstar, an irritated look on his face. "Blackstar... BLACKSTAR! THE TRAP WAS TURNED OFF!" he shouted, soon causing him to pause in mid-step.

The boy soon came to his senses to soon see the trap off, and Zachary standing at the end of the hallway, with a dull, almost stupified look on his face. "You seemed to of stumbled into some trouble..." Zachary said mildly, sarcastically hiding the annoyance he held for needing to save him after Blackstar pretty much told him to get lost.

WC: 825

Blackstar looked at Zachary with a stunned but embarrassed look on his face. His shock, however, turned to a crossed look. "W-Well I didn't want your help. You might as well turn tail and run now before YOU get caught in a trap and I have to save you." he bragged.

Zachary was starting to seriously hate this kid. He was so prideful and pompous it was almost embarrassing to watch. Luckily, he was 'punished' as his red-skinned companion swiftly jumped up and punched him in the back of his head with the sharp pointy knuckles. "You MORON! I ALMOST BECAME A RED HEDGEHOG BECAUSE OF YOU!!" Knuckles shouted at his friend.

"Oh come on... that was nothing. A little ... excitement, goes a long... " It was then he noticed one of the darts had stuck him in the shoulder, making him pull it out. "Oh... my arm is feeling sleepy..." he said, his arm now dangling with a loss of sensation and movement.

"Is this guy for real..." Zachary asked himself with a sigh.

However, watching from the safety of Zachary's head, Astral felt compelled to go closer to Blackstar. He floated off and approached him. Seeing the injury and fatigue now showing on the boy, despite his boasting-- Astral couldn't ignore it. He soon let out a soft coo and closed his eyes, causing the aura of starry magic to appear. It soon spreaded outward and covered Blackstar-- even Knuckles. Slowly, the small prick of blackstar's shoulder vanished, and he felt feeling back in his limb again. Even the punch impact where Knuckles had delt healed right before their eyes.

Once Astral's heal ended, he opened his eyes and smiled cheerfully as Blackstar flexed his arm, amazed to have his body healed by the little creature. Hehehe... owchies gone! Aye! he cheered.

A broad smile showed on Blackstar's face as he picked up Astral from the air and held him up with adoration. "HAHAHA! Wow! You're one amazing little star dude, dude!" he said boastfully.

Zachary frowned at the fact the star healed Blackstar-- but didn't mind it. If anything, Astral was as caring and compassionate as he was, and he didn't hesitate to act on it. Even when he probably should. Still, Astral was a generous little creature who always wanted to heal someone hurt.

"Hey! You wanna ditch that loser and join team Blackstar?" He boasted.

"H-Hey! Some gratitude, jerk!" Zachary responded back.

Astral gave a confused look at Blackstar. After a bit, the little star wiggled free of his hands and floated back up into the air-- to fly right back to Zachary's side. Zachawy fwiend! Zachawy not losew... he chirped telepathically, though not sure what a 'loser' was.

A cocky grin showed on Zachary's face as Blackstar processed this. After a moment, the kid held his arms behind his head modestly. "Fine-- it's your call. But don't think this changes anything. I'm gonna get that treasure! See ya!" In all chaotic fashon, Blackstar took off down the hall once more, leaving Zachary in the dust.

Even Knuckles looked more annoyed than before as he saw his partner run off. But before he persued him, Knuckles turned back to at least speak to Zachary. "Um... thanks for that. Sorry," he said and ran off after Blackstar.

Zachary stood there, blinking for a few seconds at the absurdity of the duo he encountered. "What a strange pair of people..." he commented.

Aye... Astral replied, plopping himself once more on Zachary's head.

WC: 587

They at this point were following the trail that Blackstar had left behind them. Zachary and Astral continued down the corridor and further into the ruins. The one good thing about Blackstar being ahead of them was the doofus had set off a majority of the traps to give a clear indication where to go and avoid triggering any themselves.

THings were going fine as they made their way down deeper into the ruins-- until once again there was another series of shouting.

"The hell with you and running into danger! I told you the floor looked rigged you moron!!"

There was no mistaking it. That was the sound of Knuckles once again insulting his partner. Zachary bit his lip once again, tempted to wish they would get out of it-- but the resulting answer was not positive.

"Hey! It's not like I ASKED them to put alligators at the bottom of this pit!!" Blackstar's voice echoed.

A sigh soon escaped Zachary again as he followed the sounds of the two arguings. It took about a minute, but soon Zachary reached an open chamber with sunlight shining down from above. However, the center of the floor was gone, leaving a gaping hole deep into a cavern. At the bottom was an underground river of sorts-- with crocodiles swimming. In the middle, tangling by a lone vine, was Blackstar. The kid was clinging to the vine with one arm-- while Knuckles dangled from his feet to keep on to something. Despite their dangerous situation, they continued to bicker.

Uh-oh... Astral cooed.

Despite Blackstar's rudeness, he really was in a bind, especially as how the alligators below would try to crawl up the wall only to slide down, their jaws snapping a meter away from Knuckles and Blackstar's feet.

"Oh! You again! Don't think we need your help or anything! We just dropped in," Blackstar shouted, spotting Zachary above.

"NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR PUNS!!" Knuckles shouted, but it only caused a shift in the weight and the vine that grew on the walls to give a small bit.

At this point, it became instinct. If the vines lost a grip on the wall any further, it would give and they would fall into the gator pit. "Darn it!!" Zachary shouted as he dug into his pocket and took out his Celestial Spirit keys. He could only hope he was strong enough to get the two out of there. He took out a key with an eagle's head on top of it. "Open, Gate of the Eagle! Aquila!" he cried.

The swipe of the key caused a flash of light as the glow shown down into the pit-- to materialize as a white and brow colored eagle that flapped his wings beside Blackstar and Knuckles. "Ooooh! Hey there! Hanging around?" Aquila cracked, adding to the uncomfortable situation.

"Aquila!" Zachary shouted, knowing now was not the time. "Just help pull them up! Hurry!"

"Okay, okay. I mean you know I'm a wise-feathered foul." he added again as he flew up and took a hold of the vine with a talon.

Using all his might, Aquila flapped his wings and began to ascend further out of the hole. Blackstar and Knuckles clung tight to one another as they were lifted up. Despite Aquila's lith size, he was quite strong and able to ascend carrying two people like that.

After a minute, Aquila lowered the two-- back onto the solid ground on the other side of the hole. Once the two were safe, Aquila flew back for Zachary. With a grip on Aquila's talon, Zachary hung to the eagle as he swiftly flew him to the other side. The travel was no more simple than a leap across it, but Zachary was safely delivered all the same with Astral in his hood.

As they landed, both Blackstar and Knuckles caught their breath, relieved to be on solid ground again. All the while, Zachary stood there waiting as Aquila softly flapped his wings.

WC: 669

A sigh came from Zachary as he saw the sorry state of Blackstar. "Are you a moron or something? This is not once, but twice I saved your butt and you continue to run forward uncaring if you trigger any trap. Seriously, what are you thinking?" Zachary scolded as Astral hovered above.

"Trust me-- he isn't," Knuckles retorted as he growled at his partner.

"Oh, stuff it, Knuckles. " Blackstar retorted as he slowly rose back up to his feet.

WC: 81

Zachary was startingg to loose his patience and that was the last thing he really wanted to do. Especially when he was in front of Astral. This kid was such a stubborn and ignornat blowheart  it was giving him a headache, and they were in the middle of a dangerous ruin filled with booby traps. This was not the place to be stupid or reckless.

"Do you know how much I am going out of my way to save your butt?!" Zachary asked firmly to blackstar. "After you challenge me, run off, and I save you-- not once, but twice-- you still act like your some big  shot. So get over yourself and stop this!"

Blackstar soon rose up, his hair casting away his gaze so Zachary couldn't tell what he was thinking. However, the smirk to show on his face told Zachary otherwise.

"Well, the way I see it-- your the one following me, because you can't seem to help but notice my greatness." he boasted.

Aquila had a stupified look on his avian face as he flapped his wings softly in place. "Can I peck his eyes out or something?" the eagle asked.

Zachary just shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his hand.

However, it was then that Astral made another move in on the conversation. Seeing how tired and worn out Blackstar and Knuckles were-- the little star glowed and projected his healing magic forward again. Once more, the wounds Blackstar had vanished and both him and Knuckles felt renewed strength in them.

"Astral?!" Zachary complained, feeling upset that the star fairy would waste his energy healing people who refused to listen to reason. "Why would you heal them? They are doing this to themselves."

Astral soon stopped, his healing done. With a soft coo, Astral turned to look at Zachary and Aquila with his big cute eyes as he held a little hand to his mouth, curious why his owner was so upset. Astwal help fwiends. No ouchies. No yelling... he cooed.

Like before, it was difficult to be angry to the face of the little star creature. Aquila frowned as well. "Either he is that ignorant or this star knows how to tug people's heart-strings, ya know?" he sqwacked.

Now back in top form, Blackstar flexed an arm and pointed to himself. "Heh, look-- from here on out, I ain't holding back. We won't need your help. The treasure is all mine-- but since I'm feeling generous, I'll leave you a few gold coins or something. Let's go Knuckles!"

Without any argument, Knuckles slowly followed his partner while the boy just darted forward down the hall.

"That boy is missing a few feathers in his cap, if you know what I'm saying," the spirit eagle said as he soon perched himself on Zachary's shoulder.

WC: 472
TWC: 4808

Despite the peanut gallery between Zachary's cherubic star fairy and his eagle spirit, he preferred their company over the impulsive ninja wanna-be and his red-headed partner. The red echidna, Knuckles, he honestly didn't mind as badly but the fact they appeared to be a pair. Whoever they were in reality, Zachary really didn't see them as a serious threat considering it seemed Blackstar was more hot air than anything else.

While Astral didn't want to see t hem fight, he too had to admit, he didn't want to compete against one another for a job. In this case, Blackstar seemed to be the more competitive one and was gladly to make it into one.

With now Astral on Zachary's head and Aquila on his shoulder, Zachary moved further into the ruins and was now getting close to his destination. They soon reached a large stone hall-- this time with openings to the outside barred by pillars. It was far more spacious than the cooridors but more open to a wide, large space. It was hard to imagine a chamber so large after so many intriquite passages and traps. The only thing in the large chamber was a few large thrones with stone statues sat upon them, each one ranging to about

Zachary grew more cautious as he proceeded forward. More so he was also expecting some loud, arrogant blunder from the blue haired 'assassin' who kept shouting out. Still, he saw no major traps or places obvious for ones to be.

"Huh... do you think we actually came out ahead of that jerk?" Zachary asked, looking around at the large room.

THe eagle looked around but gave a soft squawk as he looked to the far side of the room. "I hate to crush your optimism buuuut..." the eagle gestured a wing forward dead ahead for Zachary to look.

He looked to the far end of the room, and there they were. There, at a round-shaped door-like contraption, one that he was trying to open. Blackstar pressed against it with his shoulder and force of his body to get it to move, but it wouldn't budge. Nearby, Knuckles stood there watching his partner with crossed arms, clearly letting Blackstar having his way with the door.

"Well, at least its not a boulder rolling down a hall to crush them," Zachary commented to his friends as they saw Blackstar as well. With a heavy sigh, Zachary slowly took his time to approach.

Blackstar grunted and strained to try and push the large stone away from the doorway but it wouldn't move. All the while, Knuckles rubbed his head as his partner continued to do futile and foolish attempts. By the time Zachary got there, Knuckles was trying to kick the stone down-- which naturally was fruitless.

He paused for a moment then spoke up, as if waiting on cue. "Have you tried 'Open Sesame'?" Zachary joked in his way of saying 'hello again'.

"H-hey! No fair! You stole the words out of my beak!" Aquila sqwacked.

Turning around, Blackstar found Zachary again watching him with a bleak expression. "Oh, you survived huh?" he said rather casually.

Zachary wanted to comment how this kid was the one who nearly died twice -- but said nothing. Arguing with his words were a waste of time.

"Well, hate to disappoint you but I'm here first. What ever is behind this door is mine." he declared, before charging once more to the door-- only to have his shoulder receive a jab of the immovable object.

With a heavy sigh, Knuckles spoke up. "Will you give it a rest, blackstar. This is not moving. Even I can't tunnel through solid rock like this." he growled, but the boy refused to listen.

As Blackstar continued to assault the door, Zachary glanced around. He soon saw the glyphs on the ancient wall. It showed like lines, forming symbols but led to the floor. Curious, he visually followed the glyphs down, and saw as the lines and symbols led through out the large chamber. The lines carved into the floor led to a series of pedestals-- large enough for a grown person to stand upon them. He slowly counted one, two, three-- four pedistals, all connected to that big stone door.

A smirk came to Zachary's face as he had an idea how to open the door.

"You know you could keep on pushing till you're knees give out... or you can open the door the RIGHT way? " Zachary asked.

"Yeah?" Blackstar grunted as he continued to push, "And what would... that be?"

Zachary shrugged his shoulders as he reached up and secured Aquila from his shoulder to his arm, allowing room for the eagle to stretch out along his arm. . "Oh, I'd be happy to tell you... for a price, of course," he added.

Finally catching Blackstar's attention, he stopped pushing against the door and slowly turned around. Stomping up to Zachary, he got right up into his face with a glare and looked up at him crossly. " Oh, yeah? And what would that be, huh?" he asked rudely.

Zachary didn't crack his smirk as he glared back at him. "You stop being a condescending jerk, listen to me-- and agree to share the treasure evenly between us. Agree to that, and I'll help you open the door. Easy," he replied.

Blackstar still glared at Zachary crossly, from not only the times they interacted up till now, but also for his now smug attitude to him. He didn't answer but grumbled a bit under his breath. It went on for a minute-- till Knuckles let out a sigh and shook his head. "Oh for the love of pete-- just agree to the damn deal, Blackstar! I'm a tomb-raider, not a tomb-shopper!"

Finally backing off, he crossed his arms. "Alright, I'll agree to the deal... for now..." he said, looking now as bitter as Knuckles was for his own foolishness.

Unwilling to do this further, Zachary let the smug act drop. "Good enough. Okay, this is what we have to do." he explained as he looked over the room.

WC: 1024
TWC: 5823

With the two in agreement, at least for the moment, Zachary spoke up at what he observed and pointed to the large stone disc that blocked the way. "The door is blocked by a giant stone wheel of sorts, and it likely moves when a mechanism is triggered. The only way to open it is to trigger it," he explained, "Now look at the hieroglyphs around the door."

The group took attention to the lines connecting the door and along the floor. "Those lines are all connected, from the doorway to other places in the room. Namely-- a series of platforms. Likely to open them, you need to be on the pedestals to open the door." Zachary explained as he pointed to them. "Get all of them, and the door will open."

"Great-- thanks buddy!" Blackstar said quickly, as if to end the topic and went running for one of the pillars.

One would get mad to think that Blackstar just brushed them off, but Zachary remained calm as he saw Blackstar jump right on the pedistal. With his weight, there was a loud grind of stone and it sank lower than before. Once itt stopped, he jumped off. He intended to go to the next one-- however, the moment he did, the stone groaned again and the pedestal rose again, returning to its rightful place.

"Huh?" he asked, dumbfounded.

Zachary shook his head as he wiped his brow from watching his stupidity. "Um... Four Pedestals, remember? You need to have ALL of them pressed down and likely, what I presumed, all at the same time-- to open the door, " Zachary explained. "It's designed to be opened with a group. And if I am guessing right, we need no more than 4 people to open the door."

A grumble escaped Blackstar as he got off the pedistal again, and looked to Zachary. "So... you want us all to stand on the platforms at the same time? Is that all?" Blackstar asked.

Zachary nodded. "We could use objects, but I don't see anything around here heavy enough. So it's just gonna be us. "

Clearly, being the smarter of the duo-- Knuckles cleared his throat to interject and looked to Zachary. "There is only one problem. For enough weight, we need more people. I barely pass in weight for a normal human-- as do your pigeon friend and fairy friend." he retorted.

"I'm an EAGLE, Reddie-locks!" Aquila cawed angrily and flapped his wings.

Zachary smiled at knuckles at his comment. "Well, I figure all of you together could even out pass for a normal person's weight I think. If you will not mind," he offered.

Knuckles grumbled at the idea, but didn't contest it. However, as they did this, Blackstar was counting the platforms, and on his hand. "Two... Three... -- wait a minute. We are one short. How are we supposed to do this with one person short?" he argued aloud.

A smirk once again came to Zachary's face as he slipped his hands into his pocket. "Yeah, that is the problem isn't it," he said, his voice clear with sarcasm, "If only SOMEONE here was capable of SUMMONING magic to get one... more... person, hm?"

The sheer boastfulness of Zachary was now rubbed right into Blackstar's face, making him now bothered and grumpy. He was now getting a taste of his own medicine, though Zachary was a bit more modest in his own opinion. He waited to hear Blackstar's admittance before he did any more. "So, will you agree to stop being a pain in the butt and share the treasure then?"

"Alright, alright! No reason for you to be an annoying jerk about it!" he retorted and returned to the pedestal, standing on it to do his part.

Though with the rude responce, Zachary agreed to do it. "Okay, Astral, Aquila-- I want you two to join Knuckles over on his own. While you do that, Ill get on mine and summon another spirit to help." he said to his friends on him.

"Ya got it, Z-buddy! Let's go Butterball," Aquila said regarding to Astral, who merely gave a cheerful chirp and flew off with Aquila. As he approached his own, he saw that Knuckles, Astral, Blackstar and Aquila were now on one side of the room-- and he would be on the other with the now-empty platform.

Pulling out his Gate Keys, he pondered which spirit to summon. "Okay... I think this should do the trick..." he mused and took one with the emblem of a fox on it. He held out the key before him. "Open, Gate of the Fox-- TAMA!!" he called and flicked the key through the air.

There was a sudden flash of light before him, followed by a puff of smoke. Out from it, appeared a humanoid-shaped fox with bright yellow fur with violet markings and tips on her ears, and white on her chest. She was regal looking and mysterious at the same time. A true vixin.

The loyal fox, Tama soon knelt down before Zachary with humility. "How many I be of assistance, Master," Tama replied humbly.

Zachary smiled. Out of all of his spirits, who he treated all as friends or family-- Tama was the only one to truly submit as a 'servant' or 'minion' to Zachary's magic. He never asked it and even told her to be herself and not so uptight, but she wished to out of respect for him. "Hi Tama," he said with a smile, "Listen, we could use your help. We are trying to solve an ancient ruin padlock that requires four people to stand on these pedestals around the room. We need one more person. Would you mind horribly if you act as our forth?"

"Of course not, Master. " she replied politely. With an elegant hop, Tama sprinted across the room to the remaining pedestal on the room. At first, Zachary worried if Tama's weight wouldn't be enough due to her size and lith build-- but her weight was enough to make the stone sink.

With that settled, Zachary hopped onto his own and it began to sink too, triggering the last object in the room.

WC:1036
TWC: 6859

For the moment, everyone cooperated as they stood on their respected spots in the room. At first, nothing happened, but soon there was a loud click and movement. The sound of a sliding stone moved, soon revealing it coming from the stone slab that blocked their way. The door was opening, slowly but surely. Finally, it locked into place and kept open.

"YAHOOO!!" Blackstar cheered and hopped up from his pedestal. "JACKPOT!!"

Unfortunately, that was a fatal mistake. When he did, the pedestal rose again and something else triggered as well. The room rumbled, as something dangerous was about to appear. Zachary glared at Blackstar with a grumpy look that screamed, "you just had to do it, didn't you?'.

WC: 120

Zachary heard the change in the atmosphere. While the doors were opened now, Blackstar's movement caused a hidden trap to activate. Suddenly a rumble came from the nearby towering statues that lined the room. Tama's fur went up in alarm, Aquila's wings flapped and Astral looked around nervously.

Suddenly from the edges of the room-- the statues' eyes glowed red and began to move. Dust, stone and debris fell off them as they moved, and slowly rosed to their feets. There were four in total, all of them moving up as if awakening from a long sleep and angry as their eyes soon came to Zachary, his friends and Blackstar.

"Uh oh..." Zachary breathed as he backed away, seeing the danger of their situation.

"Oh, so more traps huh?" Blackstar said, not even bothered. " Bring em on, ya stone-headed morons! Blackstar is gonna serve you a healthy searving of whoop-ass."

"Please stop talking..." Knuckles sighed.

Zachary glanced at the four of the statues, realizing he had to think of a best plan. The best combative spirit he had out was Tama though limited in abilities for combat. Still, the two of them-- Tama and Aquila could help. He turned to his spirits. "Tama! Aquila! Can you find em off together?"

"Of course, Lord Zachary," Tama said formally as she took a fighting stance, her fur on edge and her tail flishing.

"YEAH!!" Aquila cawed in excitement and flew right into the fray. "Let's go Foxy! Time to Rock and Roll!... Get it? Rock and Roll."

The tension died with the terrible joke. "We get it Aquila. Focus please," Zachary sighed.

WC: 272

Despite t he eagle's bad joke-- Tama didn't hesitate to enter the fray. Speedy by nature, the fox spirit dashed across the open floor to the nearest statue. While the big statues were large and strong, they were also slow-- but all moved in the direction of Zachary and Blackstar-- the best targets to hit for who intruded upon their sacred ground.

Tama used her fast movement to climb and scale up the front of the first one, not hesitating to kick off its face as she flipped in the air, then to extend her arms to release magical shards of light around her. "Hoshi no Tama!" she called out, releasing a barrage of jagged light fragments! The shards flew forward, aimed for the head of the first statue.

The statue lumbered, blinded by the lights but also the 'pain' for what stone could feel, of the shards pelting its face. As she acrobatically flew across the room, Aquila flew to the nearby statue. With a caw, the eagle flapped his wings, sending a blade of air forward that smacked into the statue.

Sadly, the statue didn't flinch but left a mild scar against the face of it. Annoyed, the statue reached up slowly for the bird, attempting to swat it away. "Whoh! Easy big buddy! No plucking this bird's feathers! Caw!!" he talked as he dodged and waved, distracting the lumbering giant.

All the while Zachary looked in concern. He didn't know how he was gonna stop four of those things. He turned to Blackstar, hoping he could help. "Hey! Don't you have some tricks up your sleeve? For all your boasting, you must be able to pack a punch at least?" Zachary said in an insisting manner to the ninja.

Blackstar paused as he thought, then soon let out a sigh. "Alright... I guess I can show you just how a star handles these things." he said as he took a fighting stance.

"Oh brother..." Knuckles groaned.

WC : 330

Blackstar rushed forward with nothing-- no weapon, and no clue . He blew right past Tama mid combat and he charged right for the big statue that had yet to blunder over to where they were. Zachary watched as the energetic kid jumped up and smashed his fists together. Suddenly a discharged of multi-colored lightning almost seemed to form around him. "BLACKSTAR..." he cried as he charged for the statue's face. "BIG WAVE!!"

He thrust himself into the giant's chest-- and upon impact a pulse of the same energy erupted into it. The impact was so strong it caused the giant to buckle. A groan was released before the giant fell backwards and slammed into the floor flat.

Blackstar landed on the ground with ease, looking cocky all the while. "Heh, nothing big for a Star like me, eh?" he boasted.

Zachary looked on with a mildly irritated look. He was an idiot from the way he did things, but he was certainly tough. Still, he never saw magic like that before. He wasn't even sure what he saw that caused that eruption.

It was then something caught his eye... a gem in the far end of the hall, up above the exit. It gleamed as one of the few places where the light of the outside came through. Further the gem was the same color and gleam of the eyes of the statues now coming to get them...

WC: 240

it snapped in Zachary's mind. The key to stop the giants and escape the death trap. Out of all his active summons, one he knew could hit the mark in the gem in the back of the room. "Aquila! Destroy that gem in the wall. It's controlling the giants! " he declared, pointing to the device.

The eagle with his super sharp-eyes soon saw the gemstone on the wall, finally having his attention focused to see the glittering gem-- and a couple of the giants trying to lumber into his path. "Easy-peasy lemon squeezy!" the eagle cawed and soon made a darring dive forward. Using his fast speed and quick senses, the eagle dodged and weaved around the giants and their limbs that tried to catch the feathered spirit. When he had a clear line of sight with his target, the eagle gave another caw and flapped his wings. The flap sent him upward, along with a cresent blade of air that went flying forward to the relief with the gemstone.

The wind blade smashed into the gem and shattered it. The fragments scattered and clattered onto the floor below as Aquila flew back. In that instant, Tama and Blackstar also backed away... to discover the giants had stopped moving completely.

The light in their eyes slowly died down... however, in their place a new danger came.

The ceiling had begun to tremble as if a cave in was starting, along with the giants as they too began to collapse.

"D-Darn it. Run! Run to the other room!" Zachary urged.

Realizing the danger himself as well, Blackstar turned and run. Rrealizing time was limited, Zachary waved the keys he used for his spirits. To aid their own escape, Zachary sent them back to the Celestial World as he grabbed hold of Astral from the air to cover him as he ran for the now open doorway that was once blocked.

They saw as the stones began to cave down, blocking their former exit.

WC:334

Zachary reached into the next room with Astral clutched close to his chest t o protect him from any rubble, but luckily the cave-in only stopped in the last room. They were now safe but the cave in dropped the door in, leaving the exit blocked. Zachary, Blackstar and Knuckles with him, both caught their breath as they realized they had made it safely out of the hurdle.

Zachary wanted to comment about Blackstar's recklessness, but he was too tired to say anything.

"Whoo! That was a rush!" Blackstar shouted proudly as he then started to stretch in place as if it was no big deal.

The twitch on Zachary's forehead wouldn't stop as he turned to the blue haired youth. "A rush? RUSH?!" Zachary shouted. He let go of Astral, who soon fluttered up and around Zachary in surprise at his anger. He stomped over to Blackstar, his anger clear on his face. "You and your dumb bravado almost got us both squashed like bugs! What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted.

This time, Blackstar gave Zachary a grumpy look, his cocky demeanor finally giving away to his anger. "Hey, I can't help it if you can't keep up. If you are gonna play with the big boys, you gotta be willing to take some risks. " he boasted.

He felt like his wits end as he wanted to slug him in the face for his selfish and dangerous antics in this dungeon. However, it was haulted when he saw a bit of red on his arm. He soon ntoiced it too and raised his arm, finding a large cut across his arm. "Huh? Oh, didn't even feel that. " he commented.

Seeing the wound, Knuckles looked to his friend. "Careful. You must of cut yourself among a falling piece of rubble. " he said calmly, hoping to keep his friend in decent health.

Zachary would of wanted to tend to the wound... but someone was more than willing to take the lead.

WC: 337

Zachary watched as Astral floated over to the minorly wounded Blackstar. Like before, the little star glowed with a gentle magical light and proceeded to charge magical energy. As the light graced Blackstar, his wound began to close and the blood began to vanish. It was as if the wound didn't exist as well. Astral didn't hesitate in the slightest to help him.

Zachary couldn't help but worry by the star's compassion... partly cause it could be abused by people. But also, it reminded him of how he used to be.

It was then that it happened, Astral began to wobble in the air as his cure soon finished. Sweepy... Getting vewy sweepy... Oooohh he cooed in their heads, before he began to drift out of the air.

He quickly lunged forward and caught the little star fairy in his arms, realized how wiped out Astral was.

Blinking, Blackstar looked at the little creature confused. "Huh, little dude must be worn out from all the excitement," he commented.

"You... IDIOT!!" Zachary shouted, now pissed off. "Don'tt you know anything?!"

This time he looked furious as he clutched the now sleeping Astral to his chest, the little guy oblivious in his deep sleep. "What do you think healing magic is easy? It's draining! The more he uses it, the more exhausted he gets!" The wild child looked to the little star, now asleep, a pained look on his face. "He's paying for YOUR screwups!"

WC: 244

There was a strong tension in the chamber as Zachary and Blackstare glared at one another. Zachary kept Astral, the now unconscious and sleeping star critter close to him as they had argued. If any more danger befell them, the little guy had no way of acting to heal them.

However, as they argued, Knuckles had kept quiet as he soon glanced around the room, and soon his eyes widened with interest. "Hey, you two. Check this out," he said, pointing further into the room.

Zachary and Blackstar turned to soon see what was inside. The room was soon aglow-- as whatever light was in the room, radiated off lumps and piles of gold and treasure that was lying on the ground. They had finally made it to the treasure chamber and soon found several goodies to be had. Gold coins, gems, relics, all glistening and brilliant inside the room. While there must of been about only for the far side of the room, it was still a grand amount of treasure that could set some people for life.

The glow and allure of the treasure was indeed mesmerizing as the tension of anger soon was diluted out of the room.

"Tell me this is a trap," Zachary signed, still not convinced it was all over.

"WHOOOO!!!" Blackstar shrieked in joy as he ran right for the treasure. The moron of a ninja happily jumped on the pile of gold, and started to kick and toss the gold up, giddy to find that kind of loot. Luckily, nothing happened around them.

"Guess it isn't a trap," Knuckles commented, now on Zachary's side for once.

Meanwhile, Zachary cradled Astral in his arms as he looked around. At the far side of the room, surrounded by the treasure, was a pedistal. On it, was a single golden idol. That was the goal-- the treasure they were looking for. "There it is," Zachary said, slowly approaching the idol carefully.

"HOLD ON!" Blackstar shouted, echoing off the walls of the room. Blackstar jumped up and got in front of Zachary before he could go. "That treasure is mine! The job is for one of us to get the idol to bring it back, so hate to tell you, but that's mine! " He said.

"Are you kidding?!" Zachary grumbled, glaring daggers at the kid. "I saved your ass at least three times now. You owe me, and there is plenty of treasure here. "

"Then you take the treasure," Blackstar countered.

"No. I need the idol. I honor my jobs I take," Zachary confirmed.

Knuckles rolled his eyes and soon rubbed his head, starting to get a headache himself.

WC: 446

The two's bickering was not gonna stop, b ut now there was an ominous silence between them. Both of them stared intently at one another, despite surrounded by the treasure around them. Slowly, each one took a step back from one other.

"That does it. No one disrespects the great blackstar and gets away with it," Blackstar said brazenly as he showed a defying tone in his voice and held his ground near the idol.

Realizing this was unavoidable, Zachary signed as he found a soft place of treasure. He took off his jacket, revealing his fairy tail logo on his hand fully. Using it, he wrapped Astral in it to keep him safe and placed him on the side. "Oh you really are going to need a healer when I'm done with you pal! I had it with your BS, and I won't let you ruin my job here. I'm taking the idol and a good amount of the treasure just to spite you!"

A wicked grin showed on Blackstar. "Ha! Let's party, buddy! I'm gonna make you eat those words!" he exclaimed with pride. With that, he extended a hand high-- and soon there was the glow of magic. Zachary looked with a widened gaze as he saw the magic take shape, changing ino his hand and soon he grasped it. From it was a gleam of metal as he soon took out a lean, sharp and pointy dagger which he twirled in his hand. He then brought it down and took a fighting stance with a grin on his face.

"I see, so you're a Requip user," Zachary commented calmly.

"Compared to a man as big as I am, I wouldn't blame you to give up now," he continued to boast. However, a crossed, determined look was in his eye, now showing he was not gonna be just all talk this t ime. "Even I find myself intimidating at times, so I try hard to not stand in front of mirrors."

As blackstar took his stance, Zachary's resolve soon solidified. He was done playing nice. Though he stood there, magic energy started to waft around him. His eyes were closed, as he focused his power. Even Knuckles looked aware in interest as he saw Zachary's magic flare. In that moment, he snapped his eyes open-- revealing starry eyes in his gaze for a brief moment, followed by a magic circle of celestial magic below him.

"Fine. No more summoning. I plan to take you out myself!" Zachary declared, activating the hidden magic he kept close to his chest.

WC: 432