Roleplay:The Elemental Wars

The spiritual successor to The Fury Of The Elemental Gods!

Plot
The Elemental Clans are ten clans scattered throughout Mobius that are each tied to one of the Elemental Gods. Although they don't always get along, major conflicts outside of their respective territories are rare.

Unfortunately, now their deities have disappeared, all contact being severed between them and the Clans' priests and priestesses. Enraged, terrified and shocked, the ten Clans grow restless. Only a mysterious 11th Clan that worships a being of Nothingness known as Nihlus knows what happened to the Elemental Gods...

Rules

 * 1) Do not godmod
 * 2) Do not troll
 * 3) Do not alter the plot, and do not steal it to make your character the most important.
 * 4) Do not just randomly jump into a scene; build up your arrival with things like "(Suddenly, such and such and such)".
 * 5) Do not break the fourth wall
 * 6) Do not derail the plot (especially not with that ridiculous "xD LOL SO RANDUMB!!!1!!" type of humor e_e)
 * 7) No sexual content; kisses and flirting are fine, as are mild innuendos
 * 8) Listen to the moderators if they tell you that you hecked up.

Current Participants
''Moderators are the peacekeepers of the RP (their names are in green). Listen to them if they tell you that you broke a rule, and don't throw a hissy pissy fit if they give out constructive criticism on how you RP.''
 * green - RP Owner/Moderator
 * green - Moderator
 * green - Moderator
 * green - Moderator
 * Tye The Hedgehog - Participant
 * BloodSonic1 - Participant
 * FroZenHyBrid - Participant
 * TheDarkMantis15 - Participant
 * Saren - Participant
 * NLG343-Participant

Heroes

 * The Elemental Clans - played by Ryu and others w/ permission; also anyone can play random villagers/soldiers, but only I get to play Clan leaders/Second-in-commands.
 * The Elemental Gods - played by Ryu and others w/ permission.
 * Lenore the Ice Wyvern - (BDO) Although arguably neutral, she's in the wars simply for the purpose of acquiring lore.
 * BloodSonic - played by Blood.
 * Outback the Hunter - played by Mantis
 * Tye The Hedgehog - Played by Tye
 * Statyx the Hedgehog - Played by Kagimizu

Neutral

 * The Trinity Organization - (BDO) An enigmatic group of interdimensional police, they've given themselves the task of keeping dimensions and timelines fit as they should continue, and thus, they could be both good and bad.
 * Bastille Icaria (Mobius Splinter) - (BDO), led by the Masked Lord, Bastille Icaria is a nation that's known to border the Nature Clan, and they're said to be hellbent on conquering lands without law.
 * Tenshi Furea - (BDO) A master of the sword and a high-pay mercenary, she only takes her contracts in gold and a signed paper. Anyone who double crosses her however, often meets their swift end to one of her three elemental swords.
 * Luisa Shakira Conchita Akemi Rose Aome Misty the Zebra Cat - a molly cat with a long name that looks like a zebra. She threatens the Hunter to let her go back to her Clan in her first appearance.

Villains

 * Those who wish to attack the clans.


 * The Trolls - played by anyone.
 * Rancor the Lynx - played by Ryu; the traitor of the Dark Clan!
 * Nihlic Clan of Nihlus - played by anyone w/ permission. These guys are often traitors to their own clans, and can be seen wielding any elemental ability, not to mention rare and high-powered abilities. These can members are followers of Nihlus, the alternate version of Evil, God of the Trolls.
 * Exspira (Saren) - A wandering ghost who derives the majority of his powers from his talking sword Charon. He just wants to see everyone burn in the end.

Intro
[Within a foggy, dark place on Mobius, a massive, black-robed echidna with a bone mask covering his face stands before the ten Elemental Gods, restrained by the mist itself]

???: And so it comes that I, Nihlus, the Older Brother of the Elemental Gods, truly a band of over-glorified Chaos beasts with elements instead of the might of Chaos, have taken my younger siblings captive after these many thousand years. It wasn't that hard either. I mean, who set you against each other? Who was that dark little voice whispering in your ears, telling you that your opposite number was out to get you and your clan, causing the infighting that stopped your clans from seeing the truth, and stopped you from remembering or seeing that you had an older brother. None of you can challenge me, although I invite you try. I desire to see your elemental spears in action, to learn their power and how to use them properly. Please, siblings, try me.

Voidstar: You're mad...!! No wonder Ka exiled you!!

Nihlus: Ka? Exile? You are wrong. I was the first of you, the one existent first, as Chaos is with the Chaos Beasts. I was not created, I EXISTED, as did they. Ka may have created you, but NOBODY created me. That is why all of your powers are barely a drop within mine - I am a GOD, you are mere beasts, no better than your genetic spawn. I, too, have beasts at my command, and even my ascot, my alternate side as it were, on my side. Slowly, the Chaos Beasts shall join you in prison, then each of the Nega Beasts, Sol Beasts, and even the entire army of Anarchy Creatures, to prove that I truly am the Ultimate Power within the multiverse, because your "Creator" cannot interfere with the events of the Multiverse, only his own "Realm". Now, doesn't that make you mad. Come on, take it out. Attack me. Fiamme, the hothead of the group, come on, strike me down with that spear of yours, and prove me wrong.

[Fiamme snarls.]

Fiamme: And so I shall!!

''[A large spear of molten rock and fire manifests in her hands. She hurls it with both hands, roaring. It flies like a dart at Nihlus, only for him to catch it with both hands, the spear vanishing in a flash of light.]''

Nihlus: Is that it? I'm disappointed. Maybe if you all attack at once...

Voidstar: Yes. All together now, my brothers and sisters...!

''[All ten manifest their respective spear attacks and hurl them at Nihlus, all at the same time. Within Nihlus's hands appeared A ripple of energy, a mirage-like sword that he used to destroy some of the spears, the others vanishing on contact with him with mirage-like ripples where they struck.]''

Nihlus: Well, too bad. I didn't expect you to give up so easily, but that was your strongest? Your signature? No wonder you came here unprepared for your convocation, purely because I drew you here. You are nothing to my power.

Kyanos: It did nothing...?!

Nihlus: Surprised? It is as I said: I am a god, you are mere beasts in my image.

Celeritas: You are no god; you are a devil!

[Nihlus simply raises an eyebrow, before laughing at the comment]

Nihlus: Actually, I am neither. I am the Master Elemental Beast, and you all represent the Lesser Beasts. Like the Chaos Beasts have their emeralds, I shall decide on a prison for you...with my aspect's help.

''[A black silhouette appears in the mist. They all turn to look at it as it takes on a form similar to Nihlus, but in the form of a giant, uber-haired recolor. He laughs as Nihlus sweeps his hand dramatically.]''

Nihlus: As a God, I have aspects, Gods based on myself that are essentially me with an altered personality and abilities. Presenting my aspect known as Evilagram, God of the Trolls!

All: !!

Evil: Yea, that's right, pathetic fools. Now, the true Elemental God and I have buisness, so be good prisoners, and the mist won't cause you more pain than needed.

Nihlus: The mist is part of my powers. It dampens your powers when I want it to, and restricts you movements too...like now.

Neso: You won't get away with this...!!

Nihlus: And whom shall stop me? You? Chaos and his band of beasts? Chrono? That alien Vitiosis? Trollus, who Evil can control? The Ring beasts? I doubt it. I have taken steps to prevent any of them getting involved.

''[None of them can think of an argument. Nihlus smirks.]''

Nihlus: You see? I am not afraid of you. Goodbye for now, my siblings. [Nihlus strides out, while Evil seems to fade]

Part 1
In the Red Mountain Zone, Drakath the Lion, the leader of the Fire Clan, could be seen looking out towards the valley. The second-in-command, Enshoku the Wolf, was standing next to him.

"....sir?" she asked, looking towards him. The lion was silent at first.

"....do you sense that, Enshoku?" he finally said. "That change in the air?"

He did not turn to look at her, his gaze fixated at the valley below them.

"Change?" she asked softly. The lion nodded, his brow furrowed in worry.

"Something is wrong...very wrong..."

The wolf, Enshoku, said nothing. Other than the two leaders mulling over the unusual circumstances, life seemed to continue as normal in the Fire Clan Village. Children were running around and playing, farmers were tending to crops grown in the rich, volcanic soil, and soldiers were ever watchful for danger.

Yet there was no denying that the air was unnaturally tense.

* * * * * In the Southern Tundra, Tunndrae the Fox, the Ice Clan's leader, was walking around, as if trying to find something. She looked troubled.

"This isn't right," she mumbled to herself. "Why can't I sense Kyanos' presence?"

She leaned against a tree, sighing. Close to the Ice Clan village, a female hedgehog was busy engaging in target practice, her face calm and focused as she shot the center of the wooden training dummy with her bow, small shards of ice flecking off the frozen arrowhead as it lodged into the dummy. A rare smile spreads across her lips, as if satisfied with her marksman ability. She nocked another Ice Arrow into her bow, now aiming for the head of the training dummy.

* * * * *

The Dark Clan
Meanwhile, in the Fearful Caverns, Maliseer and her second-in-command Henge were consorting with the Dark Clan's priests and priestesses in one of the cavern's smaller chambers; they were trying to get some sort of sign of Voidstar's presence. Naturally, there was virtually no signal to go on.

"Surely there must be something?" Henge questioned, frowning slightly. An elderly female weasel was slightly hunched in front of what looked like a small shrine.

"Voidstar couldn't have just disappeared off the face of Mobius!"

"I have sensed nothing," the weasel priestess said, narrowing her milky-white eyes at Henge.

"None of us can understand why he's not giving us a sign."

"But he can't just be gone...!"

Maliseer turned her gaze towards the entrance to the main chamber, silent as she ignored the argument. A few soldiers could be seen at the main entrance, arguing with someone else just out of sight.

"I don't care who you think you know, get out of here!"

"Aw, come on, now." A voice sang mockingly from outside. "I just asked to talk to Malimoo. What, do you speak for him now?"

"This is your last warning, outsider. Leave."

The voice scoffed. "You think you can take me on, boa?"

"OI! What's all th' ruckus??"

A male bear marched towards the two, looking quite cranky; things were tense enough around the Fearful Caverns, and he didn't need one of his men arguing with some stranger to make things worse. He glared towards the other Mobian, frowning.

"Wot's all this?"

"Oh, thank Gorsh, some authority." The unseen-to-Maliseer Mobian exclaimed. "These two dinguses are refusin' to let me speak to my old pal Maliceman. Y'know, the guy in charge 'round these parts? Think he might like to know I'm here, at the VERY least."

The bear crossed his arms, lip curling a bit.

"Our clan leader is a woman, not a man. Yeh'd know tha' if you actually were her 'pal'."

He sighed a bit, arms dropping to his sides.

"Either way, she's busy. If yeh wanna speak to her that bad, yeh'll hafta wait a bit."

"Male, female, who cares?" The still-out-of-sight Mobian sang. "'Sides, I already know what's gotcha'll so busy, so I'll just let myself in, iff'n ya don't mind'n." As he said this, a red hedgehog pushed his way past the guards and into sight of Maliseer.

The two guards at the door protested and stumbled a bit as Blood shoved past them, and Maliseer, who was now able to see the hedgehog, immediately let out an agitated growl.

"Him? Now?!" she hissed to herself, marching out of the smaller chamber and towards Blood.

"You!"

"Hey hey hey!" Blood sang. "How's it going, Malibu Stacy?"

"Do not call me that!" she yelled, slamming the end of her weapon on the ground in frustration.

"Why are you here?!"

Blood placed a hand over his heart, his eyes slightly wide. "Shocking. I woulda thought you'd be more appreciative after I came all this way to offer my help with your...." He glanced at the priestess. "... Little prorblem."

"...how do you know about this?"

She frowned, shouldering her weapon.

"Just because you wouldn't let me in your little club don't mean I don't got good senses." Blood sang, smiling. "Granted, I may pay less attention to Voidstar, and don't exactly worship or follow him like you fine fellows do, and not gonna say that's because you rejected my application, but I still look in on the situation from time to time."

He tilted his head the other direction, smiling less. "So the question returns, why am I here? I know you don't like me, and honestly, that hurts. Like, a lot. Because, frankly, I like you. So I thought I'd be a nice guy and come offer my assistance."

The statement honestly confused her, and she quirked an eyebrow at Blood.

"You...like me?" she said, her voice faltering slightly. It wasn't too noticeable, however, especially since she swiftly regained her composure.

"Anyways...why are you so keen on helping us? Is it solely to try and get in our good graces? Or do you really care about Voidstar's disappearance and the potential havoc it could wreak on the Elemental Plane of Darkness?"

"A little from column A, a little from column B." The red hedgehog teased. "Or maybe I just don't like when things happen without me knowing about it. Maybe I just want to be in the know. Who knows? Intentions are tricky things, aren't they?"

"..............."

The bat frowned, shifting the scythe in her hand slightly.

"I say we kick 'im out," the bear muttered, crossing his arms again.

"Believe me, it's tempting," Maliseer said, her eyes still fixated on the red hedgehog.

"But...perhaps he can help us in some way."

"I'm glad you think so." Blood said smiling. "But let's move on from that question and ask another. Such as why would Vidster not respond to anyone?" He prompted Maliseer to answer.

"...either he's somehow been so severely weakened that he no longer emanates any kind of energy that our priests and priestesses can detect, or he's not on Mobius. There could be other reasons, but those two are the most probable as of now."

"Good, good." Blood sang. "If those were true, either or, what, or more likely whom would cause it? Who could wish ill will upon our patron saint of shadows?"

The look on Maliseer's face seemed to suggest that she didn't want to say exactly what she thought had caused Voidstar's disappearance. Especially since it seemed so improbable.

"Nihlus."

The name seemed to startled the bear, and the small crowd that had gathered due to curiosity let out a soft, collective gasp, punctuated by worried murmurs.

"He...he's on Mobius...?!" came one frightened question.

"Ah, you think so?" Blood sang on, clearly happy. "Then if he's the perpetrator, who else would be a target? "

"Clearly, the other Elemental Gods and Goddesses," said Maliseer, frowning and looking off to the side. She wished she was wrong, that Nihlus wasn't the culprit.

That he was nothing more than a bad dream.

"So, what's our course of action, cap'n?" Blood asked.

The bat let out a frustrated sigh, ears pinning back slightly.

"I don't know...! Nihlus' unique energy signature is impossible for our priests and priestesses to trace, because of the fact that it's...well, it's nothingness! No one has any idea where to look for him, and even if we did, we'd have no chance of taking him on our own...! None of the Clans would..."

Blood leaned in closer, tilting his head down slightly. "No-one can take him alone." He spoke with emphasis. "Then I ask again; what's our course of action?"

"I don't know, I just said that! If we just sit here, nothing will get done, but we can't go after him ourselves...! The only thing I can think of is going to the other Clans, but..."

"But what? The clans haven't worked together in a long time? Some don't like each other?" He spread his arms, leaning back. "Aren't you glad you don't have me?"

"...the only clan we consider allies is the Poison Clan, but...they're all the way on the continent of Northamer, in Old Robotropolis..."

Blood blinked a few times. "See, I was alluding to me as a good solution to that. First off, fast travel ain't a big thing. Second of all, clans you don't like, I have something in common with. Thirdly, I am a very trustworthy person, most of you just don't agree."

"............"

Maliseer sighed, putting a hand to her temple.

"You know what? Fine. You can help us. It's not like we're gonna get through this without help..."

"Glad you see things my way." Blood sang, looking to Varjud. "Though, even with my eloquence, it'd be beneficial to take a clan member along. Y'know, extra witnesses to my story." His look turned from the bear to the priests.

The elderly weasel had briefly stuck her head out of the small shrine-chamber, peered at Blood, and then retreated, grumbling something about 'too much noise'. Varjud groaned a bit and crossed his arms.

"Ugh...this'll be a right fiasco, won' it?"

Blood lightly punched the bear. "Ah, don't be so pessimistic, Virgil! Worst case scenario, every clan we visit tries to kill us on sight! Adventure awaits!" He sauntered back out the entrance to the Caves, giving a cocky look to the guards as he passed them.

"It's Varjud," he grumbled, frowning when Blood lightly punched his shoulder. Nevertheless, he followed the hedgehog out the cavern entrance, while the two guards only glared at Blood.

As the two left hearing range of the cave, Blood turned to Vajrud. "Hey, quick question, how well do you know Melissa?"

"Her name is Maliseer. And...well, I've known her for about 10 years. Her da' was leadin' the Clan when I firs' arrived as a wee lad..."

A somewhat somber look shadowed his gruff face. Memories of him as a child, first arriving at the Fearful Caverns with what remained of the Moonthunder Cult...his silently weeping mother carrying the limp form of his younger sister...

"Oh, well, excuse me for giving nicknames to people I like, Valerie." The hedgehog joked, smirking. "First stop?"

Varjud was secretly glad that Blood didn't catch the saddened look on his face; he didn't want to have to explain why that happened.

"Well...firs' we'll have to get to the Great Continental Bridge if'n we wanna get t' Northamer. We're gonna see th' Poison Clan first, if possible."

"Ey, fast travel!" Blood shouted. He snapped his fingers, a blue light quickly surrounded them before vanishing, and they were there. "And here we are, Northamer. No, please, save your applause, I am the best, I know."

Varjud was clutching at his chest, not out of pain, but pure shock. His eyes were wide, and he stumbled a bit, obviously having never done this before.

"WARN ME NEXT TIME, PLEASE!" he barked, managing to steady himself as he glared at Blood.

"I'll consider it. Poison Clan, this way!" He said quickly, walking towards the remains of a city, which Varjud recognised eventually as Old Robotropolis.

While Varjud hadn't been here as often as some of the others (primarily Dark Clan trading caravans), the place was still distinct enough for him to recognize it.

The Poison Clan
Meanwhile, the Poison Clan village seemed to be in the same state as the Dark Clan village; people were tense, but trying to resume life as normally as possible. Three soldiers were stationed at the gate leading into the village, and the sight of two figures approaching set them on edge. The female wolf in the trio promptly drew her weapon; a tulwar.

"Halt!"

Blood immediately complied, shouting out towards them. "Hello! We're friends! He's from Dark Clan! I'm.... Not."

"......."

The wolf allowed her sword-arm to fall to her side, but she kept a tight grip on it.

"Come closer, please!"

Varjud had already started walking towards the three soldiers, and once he and the wolf were able to get proper looks at each other, the Poison Clan soldier sheathed her weapon.

"Varjud, what brings you here? And who's this...colorful fellow?"

She peered curiously at Blood, who smiled as he glanced over the soldiers.

"Fast Travel Man Blood, at your service."

"Enver...I do believe we know why our Gods have disappeared," said Varjud, a grim look on his face. The expression caused the wolf's faint smile to falter.

".......come inside, then."

She motioned for Blood and Varjud to follow her into the village. Blood happily fast-walked, catching up to Enver before falling in step behind her.

"So, I take it you have your own idea as to why you're out of the loop." He said.

"The best theory our priests and priestesses can come up with is that Dantamu is somehow gravely injured, and too weak to send out a reliable energy signal."

"And, well, we need not name names, but we do know the responsible party to why Dante and Voidshard are in such states." Blood said quickly. "So with that out of ze way, course of action comes down to all the clans coming together, or focusing their efforts on eliminating said responsible party, as none of you can take him down alone."

He folded his arms leaning against the wall, staring at Enverinar with a smile. "Glad you concur."

The she-wolf swiftly turned on Blood, a look of surprise on her face.

"You know why they've disappeared?! You know who took them?!" she asked, having to restrain herself from grabbing the hedgehog's shoulders.

Blood gave her a look as though she looked stupid. "Take a wild guess." He said sarcastically. "The someone with something to gain From the disappearance or death of some elemental gods."

He stood back off the wall. "Sorry I'm dancing around the name, but given the reaction from the last guys who figured it out... Well, thought you might want the chance to keep wraps on it if you so desired."

Blood's reaction only made Enverinar glare at him.

"Well forgive me for not being all-knowing," she grumbled, straightening up a bit. She was about to say something else when Varjud suddenly interjected;

"Nihlus."

She turned to look at him as if he had uttered an obscene swear.

"I'm...I'm sorry? Wasn't he imprisoned?"

Blood also turned to stare at him. "Seriously? I just got through explaining why I- Whatever." He shook his head. "Well, that's our thing said, and we have.... 8 more clans? To warn, so let us know when you're ready to team up or whatever."

He turned to start leaving, muttering to himself.

"Um, ex-CUSE me, but there's no way I would've been able to guess myself!"

She walked after Blood, irritated now.

"Barely anyone here knows about Nihlus; even I only know about him through word of mouth, and I'm part of the Poison Clan's War Council!"

Blood looked back over his shoulder at Enverinar, turning his head sideways as he stopped. "Again, I only had the one reaction to Nihlus to work off of, how was I supposed to know he wasn't a household threat name? I thought you clans would have-"

He cut himself off, turning his gaze and furrowing his brow. "And now that's a thing."

"The reason we barely talk about him is because up until now, we assumed he was...well, gone," said Enverinar, crossing her arms.

"Gone. No longer a threat. A myth, or just a nightmare to scare little kids. But now...it seems that's not the case..."

On the outskirts of the Poison Clan's lands, the dark green hedgehog emerged in a flash of light. He stood for a few moments, and checked his thick, heavy bronze gauntlets. With a slight growl, he headed in the direction of the Clan's village.

Blood walked past Enverinar. "Can we put this conversation on hold for a sec? A problem has arisen. Not sure who that problem is, but it's arisen."

Enverinar and Varjud looked tense upon hearing this, and they watched Blood walking towards whatever it was he had sensed.

"I know this one... I know, I know this one... But only one?" Blood muttered to himself, stopping at the wall. "I'd expect a larger force... Unless it's a scout, assess strengths and weaknesses... So that would leave.... Who would that leave?"

"What on Mobius are you talking about?" Enverinar asked, walking towards the hedgehog now.

Blood turned back around, looking at Enverinar with a hand out, ready to snap his fingers. "Wanna find out? I know I do."

"Well, yes, I would like to find out," she said, holding out her hand now to take his.

"I mean, if it's a possible spy or som-"

"Hold your lunch!" Blood shouted quickly, snapping his fingers. A blue light enveloped them before quickly disappearing, instantly transporting them outside Old Robotropolis and near Toxic. The she-wolf's head was spinning, and she clutched Blood's arm for support.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Fast travel, baby." Blood sang, placing his free arm on her other shoulder. "Hold your lunch."

"I'm doing my best, believe me," she mumbled, finally managing to steady herself, clearly having never experience Chaos Control before.

The green hedgehog froze as he heard the nearby voices, and turned around to see who was approaching him. The male voice was familiar, and he didn't like that. However, the female voice? It was new, and if there was anything that appealed to him, it was women. He slowly let a smile come to his face, and waited. Blood took one step, and the two were in full view of each other.

"Oh yeah! That makes sense!" The red hedgehog exclaimed. "Hol' up, you're someone I know."

The green hedgehog sighed, and looked at Blood. "Yes, I am aware we know each other. But, I'm not here to bother you, so please, butt out." Instead, he transferred his attention to the wolf, and slowly began to release pheromones to add extra emotional content to his words. "However, I don't believe that we have met. Toxic Stratus, pleased to make your acquaintance."

The she-wolf's ears perked up slightly as she straightened up, the nausea thankfully having dissipated. A friendly smile crossed her face as she held out her hand for Toxic to shake, unaware of the pheromones he was releasing.

"It's nice to meet you, Toxic Stratus. I am Enverinar, the head soldier of the Poison Clan of Dantamu."

Blood sniffed at the air. "Do you smell something...?"

Perhaps it was due to the fact that Toxic's pheromones were most likely targeting Enverinar specifically, but she didn't seem to smell anything odd.

"No...?"

Toxic took a sniff of the air, as a diversion. "Not particularly. But, as they say, he who smelt it, dealt it." In an unusually formal gesture, he took her hand and kissed it. "Now, I will admit that I am not of your Clan, but I bid you no ill will. Instead, I have information for you, about the identity of those who would wish Dantamu harm."

Enverinar couldn't help but blush when Toxic kissed the back of her hand.

What a gentleman, she thought to herself. These thoughts were soon dispelled when he brought up that he might know who would wish harm on Dantamu.

"Y-You do?? Is...is it really Nihlus, like some people are saying...?"

She seemed a bit worried now; Nihlus was something of a nightmarish legend, after all.

"Nihlus? Ha." Toxic scoffed a little at the suggestion. "No, nobody quite so mythical. Most of those I know are not even convinced that he exists. No, the threat is elsewhere. The other Clans are preparing for war, and it is possible that they wish to take advantage of your situation. But the truth is, the ones that have ill will towards you are G.U.N." The hedgehog bowed his head. "From what I understand, they believe that they can harness Dantamu's power to make a bio-weapon to fight aliens, or something along those lines. A poison capable of covering entire planets to extinguish entire species. It is G.U.N. you should confront. Not some rumored monster."

Enverinar seemed quite shocked at Toxic's revelation.

"G.U.N...?? But...but they very rarely bother with us! Why would they pick now to act against us, and even go so far as to capture our deity?!"

Her shock turned into anger; anger at what G.U.N was (supposedly) planning to do with the Poison Clan's deity.

"They want to use Dantamu to make a weapon...those arrogant fools...! They'll tip the Elemental Realm of Poison on its head if they do this!"

Blood, still there and paying attention, cut in. "First off, I was just at Dark clan like.... 5 minutes ago. So I know for a fact that first part about other clans preparing for war is a bald-faced, mulch eating, funstacking lie. Second, I don't trust you in the first place, Toxic, for various reasons. Thirdly, I have friends in G.U.N, and let me tell you - I would be the first to know if they wanted something like that."

He took a step, getting right up in Toxic's face and giving him the evil eye. "Fourth, you have no proof of your claims, nor any witnesses to your accusations. And lastly, I am in a really bad mood right now for reasons I'm sure you know. So, why don't you try convincing me through all of those points before I fast travel your ancillary activities somewhere not quite as nice?"

Enverinar seemed rather taken aback by Blood's sudden aggression towards Toxic, and seemed unable to make a comment.

Toxic snorted. "One clan. Whoop-oh. The Dark Clan isn't really the most aggressive in the world, unlike the Fire Clan, for example. I've heard claims that the Water Clan abducted a child from the Electric Clan, so there's that side of things. The lack of trust is irrelevant, since this information is more relating to the clan, rather than to you. You're a perpetual meddler, always poking and prodding things. You and I, in this situation, are just as suspicious as one another to the closed-minds of the Clans, but we're both willing to help 'em."

He gestured for peace, the only distraction he needed to change his pheromone type into what he hoped was better for calming Blood's already frayed temper. "The G.U.N. information is just what I've been told. Don't shoot the messenger, go find out for yourself just how valid it is. But, considering G.U.N. has all those different divisions, does the head know what all of his limbs are doing?" Toxic simply shrugged, and put a touch more distance between himself and the hedgehog. His hands tensed in his gauntlets. "Honestly, I'm not looking for a fight. If I was, I'd go back to House Thunda. But my job is done, I've given them my information. And I did so for free, unlike those merchants I've heard so much about. Now, either we can do this easy, where you let me go, or hard, where we fight for a while before I escape anyway. But, that wouldn't look too good for your Clan buddies, now would it?" Toxic shifted into a more passive stance.

Blood smiled, narrowing his eyes at Toxic, reflecting a surfacing desire to whack him upside the head. "You talk more than I do, yet end up saying a lot less. Rumors, hearsay, stories, nothing substantial you've offered. I'll make myself clear on this, I'm not with any Clan, so I don't give a flying undressed colourful king what they think of me."

He stood upright, folding his arms. "But since we're being all civil about this, confirm one thing for me. Are you implying that you've been hired by someone other than the Trolls, or is that just poor wording on your part?"

Toxic actually looked helpless. "To be truthful? I don't know who I'm working for on this. Rageik's been giving orders, and they don't make sense to further our cause. Mostly, it's getting information and giving it to the Clans to help them. All I have to work with is pillow talk, hearsay spread through bars and military rumors. You know the drill, information gathering without actual spy work. I enjoy it, but right now, I agree. I've got nothing substantial, because I'm not a hacker, or a spy. I'm a people person, so all I've got is rumor from my contacts, and from what I overhear." He bit his lip. "That's all I can say without shooting myself in the foot. I honestly don't know what my brothers have been assigned, let alone anybody else. All I was told was to gather information relating to the Clans, and Dantamu. The only thing I heard about Dantamu was that some G.U.N. Special Weapons group were building a bioweapon for use on the Black Arms. Something more powerful than ever, which the contact I asked hinted at being the elemental god. The rumors about the Clans preparing for war and the abduction of the Electric Clan kid were just that, rumor. I honestly know nothing else." He sighed. "Honestly, if I was here for any other reason, I wouldn't be alone."

Blood didn't respond for a few seconds, lightly pinching his lower lip in thought. "I'd believe you, but I know when you're spreading your smell all over the place. Honestly, you reek of it." He closed his eyes, waving off Toxic. "Nonetheless, I have some food for thought for now. So, in return, I'll give you this."

Blood stared directly at Toxic. "The Clan Leaders are going to have a sitdown, and soon. All 10 Clans are going to come together, and whoever is responsible for the disappearance of their Gods...." He narrowed his eyes and smirked. "... Will be invited over for tea, crumpets, and a crate of bad times. Now, on your way."

Enverinar had been standing there the entire time, watching the two hedgehogs argue. She fidgeted slightly; so much new information was being tossed around. Trolls, Black Arms, a kidnapping...

She sighed slightly; she had to focus on what was most important to her Clan at the moment, and that was the possible location of Dantamu.

Toxic winced, bowed his head, and vanished in a burst of blue light. The sudden light forced Enverinar to swiftly shield her eyes, groaning a bit.

Without moving another muscle, Blood extended his arm and snapped his fingers, fast-travelling himself and Enverinar back to the village. "Now that that's out of the way, you are coming to the big meet'n'greet, yes?" He said, turning to Enverinar.

Part 3
Meanwhile, walking through the Stormy Ridge, a red hedgehog was exploring it. " Man there's a lot of lightning around here."

The air around Stormy Ridge always seemed to be charged, making it a dangerous travel for anyone who didn't have some kind of resistance to electricity. Unfortunately the weather would be the least of the hedgehog's worries; Stormy Ridge's main inhabitants were on edge, and wouldn't take kindly to trespassers.

He keeps walking through but he feels a little enhancement in his electric abilities. Not too far from him, however, another hedgehog is on patrol, accompanied by a Mobianized Luxray.

Tye kept walking through the stormy ridge until he ran into both of them. Needless to say, the sudden meeting was quite surprising to the two Electric Clan members. Erosito promptly drew his scramasax.

"Halt!! Who are you?!"

The Mobian Luxray paced off to the side a bit, eying Tye suspiciously.

"Me?, I'm just a normal hedgehog with electric abilities", Tye states to them.

"You're in Electric Clan territory. State your name," the other hedgehog said brusquely, keeping a tight grip on his weapon.

"My name is Tye, Tye The Hedgehog. I didn't know I was trespassing", Tye had his blade on his back currently charged with electric energy.

The golden yellow hedgehog narrowed his eyes slightly, but finally sheathed his weapon.

"Yes, well...now you know. Times are incredibly stressful here, and we don't need strangers showing up and making things worse."

"An honest mistake, yes, yes," the Luxray quickly interjected, looking at Tye; he seemed to not be so suspicious of the other now, and in fact looked apologetic.

"But please understand, a great grief has befallen the Electric Clan. We're all on edge, but I'm sure you meant no harm."

The other hedgehog frowned a bit, until he seemed to have a sudden idea, ears perking up.

"Tye! Have you seen a young porcupine around at all?!"

He sounded urgent.

"Honestly I understand how it is". But then he heard a little urgency in his voice. "A Young Porcupine, you know what I happen to have seen one when I was walking past".

"I don't see how you'd understand what we're going th-....you did?! You saw him?! Where?!" the hedgehog cried.

"I saw him over there, follow me", He leads them to where he saw the porcupine. Elated now, the hedgehog and the Luxray followed Tye.

Tye sees the porcupine up ahead," There he is guys, up ahead". Tye points forward. The hedgehog promptly ran forwards.

"Fulguro!!" he cried out, before suddenly coming to a halt, a look of shock and then great despair crossing his face. The young porcupine was holding a basket full of berries, and he had light reddish-brown fur. He seemed quite confused at the hedgehog calling out a name foreign to him.

"It's...it's not him," the hedgehog mumbled as he sank to his knees. The lad backed up towards an older female, presumably his mother.

Tye looks back at him, "We'll find him, buddy. Easiest way to find him is that we split up".

The other hedgehog put a hand to his forehead, sighing heavily. By now the porcupine and his mother had left.

"I guess you're right..."

"Yeah,Let's get going", Tye says to him.

The other hedgehog stood back up, still looking a bit despondent.

"Very well...no use standing around, I guess."

"Alright; we meet back here when we find him", he said. The other hedgehog nodded.

"Right. I'll go to the east to look. Kasvoi, take the west. The Electric Clan village is back to the south, so that leaves north."

The Luxray nodded.

"Alright Let's do it", Tye heads north of the area of where they were at. The other hedgehog and Kasvoi start to travel in their chosen directions as well.

"He should be here somewhere",Tye keeps searching for Fulguro.

"Who should be here?" A male voice is behind Tye.

"Hu? Who are you. You are trespassing in electric clan territory", Tye looks at the male.

"...Electric Clan? Well, that would explain all the lightning here."

Kasvoi and the other hedgehog were already gone by now.

"why are you here, state your name and your business",Tye says.

"I don't know, Zapzik, and why?"

"Because your trespassing ", He says as he sheathed his sword. "wait, did you see a young porcupine around anywhere".

"Porcupine? Hm....No, can't say that I have. I'd have seen him if since I just got here."

"Do you mind if you can help me with the search for him",he says to Zapzik.

"..." He shrugs. "Sure, why not?"

"Alright, Fulguro where are you", he yells as he is searching for him.

"So this guy's name is Fulguro?"

"Yeah it is,though we can't find him right now.", Tye states with a little worried expression on his face.

"Hey I'm sure we'll find him."

"you think we will", The moment he said that they encountered what looked like another porcupine.

Of course, the figure had a hood up, hiding their full identity. They could be a porcupine, but with the long black jacket, they could well be any sort of species that fit that description. The figure glowered at them.

"Um, could you not be so loud? Some of us are trying to get home here." The voice identified the figure as female, and she was quite clearly annoyed.

"Who are you?" Tye says to the figure before them.

The woman snorted. "You outsiders can call me Zaphiel. I'm a scout, and I only just heard the news. What I'm more concerned about is why you are intruding on Clan land, and why I shouldn't simply force you off it right now." As the female figure spoke, she gestured, creating a dark grey electrical trail behind her hand. "With Haeos missing, the Clan leader's brother kidnapped, and now you two blundering around like a pair of Water Clan spies, it's no wonder things are going wrong."

"I know this is the Electric clan land but Me along with Erosito and Kasvoi were looking for him. But we couldn't find him." Tye tells her then he noticed dark grey trail behind her hand.

"Those two? Bah. Guards, little more. But I know the outside. How do I know that you weren't planted by G.U.N to take advantage of the chaos? What if you are mercenaries, sent by friends of the Water Clan?" The woman gestured again, the dark gray sparks still humming around her hand. "If you really wish to find Fulguro, I daresay that he's been kidnapped. I believe that he's too curious for his own good." Her voice dropped into a growl. "Now, I would recommend you try looking outside our lands, or else troubles might just find you."

"So you're saying he's kidnapped." Tye says in utter shock.

She scowled. "I'm saying that it's a real possibility. Now, is that all? Or do you have another reason to hold me up?" The woman slid her hands into her pockets and muttered under her breath, a faint rumble like distant thunder.

"Do you possibly know where's he at?" Tye says to her.

In that instant, the woman's anger seemed to manifest around her, an aura of dark gray electricity that threatened to engulf her. Of course, it faded after a few seconds, but her dark eyes still showed her rage. "Why would I be here talking to you, simpleton, if I knew where he was? I would have already told the clan that, and he would have been safe. In fact, I should be asking you the same thing," she growled.

"Hey Lady, You don't have get angry at me for that", He said in anger. "I'm trying to find the little porcupine for the electric clan", His energy from his hand seems to be visible in the form of lightning.

"And I'm telling you to look elsewhere. You just accused me of kidnapping the brother of our Clan leader, and you don't expect me to get angry? You've ignored almost everything I've said to you except for the details that serve your own purposes. If he is in Clan territory, then the Clan will find him. Go. Look. Elsewhere." With that, the woman turned and stormed off, growling under her breath as she headed in the direction Tye had come from.

"I didn't accuse you of anything", Tye storms off going towards another area.

Zapzik looks off in the direction the woman had gone. "...Hold on, is grey electricity normal?"

"It's not but I say it's time to head back to the others", Tye says To his comrade.

"...Yeah. Let's go do that. Maybe we can talk to that woman on the way..."

Tye simply nods and heads back to the other.

Zapzik follows.

Tye and Zapzik finally meet up with the two Tye met earlier. "Did you guys manage to find him". He ask them.

Kasvoi and the Electric Clan hedgehog were both looking quite disgruntled.

"No sign of him at all," the hedgehog mumbled, rubbing his temples.

"I don't understand...why would he wander off in the first place?!"

"I don't know why, We may have an idea he might be out of clan territory. This lady named Zaphiel told us he might've got kidnapped. Quiet frankly she has anger issues. She managed to accuse us of being water clan spies." He explains the whole story to them.

"Her name is unfamiliar to me," said Kasvoi, frowning slightly.

"But, if she's that concerned about possible 'Water Clan spies', maybe she's from the Ionic Kingdom? They're our allies, after all..."

He sighed, crossing his arms.

"But, Fulguro possibly having been kidnapped...that is worrisome. We...may have to go back to the village to report our findings."

"I managed to find this while searching", he shows them some type of mysterious ring he found. Kasvoi leaned in slightly, trying to get a better look at the ring.

"That's...hmm. I've never seen something of that design before..."

"Why would it be here in our territory and I noticed there was something like a message in the ground, I couldn't read it well but we couldn't tell who or when did they make it", Tye looks towards the village. "I have a bad feeling something horrible is about to happen".

"...Also, does anybody from this Electric Clan I've heard about use a different color of electricity? Because that Zaphiel chick used grey electricity." Zapzik looks at Kasvoi and the hedgehog.

"Who are-...nevermind. No, no one in our clan used grey electricity. She could've been from the Ionic Kingdom; they are our allies, after all," said the hedgehog, crossing his arms. Kasvoi looked at Tye.

"What message are you talking about...?"

"..." Zapzik closes his eyes in thought.

"...", Tye thinks, "There was one towards where I found this ring. It's somewhere near the entrance.

"Show us," said Kasvoi, trying to hide the urgency in his voice.

"Alright follow me", Tye shows them where the message was at.

Kasvoi and the other hedgehog followed Tye to the place.

"It's right here", He points to the ground as in words it says;

Come find us if you want Fulguro.

Kasvoi stared down at the message, frowning. He didn't seem to know what to say.

"I say something about Fulguro look at the bottom of it. Then It hit him."It says come find us if you want Fulguro".

"...But there's the problem. Who's this 'us' that you have to find?"

"Any Ideas Who could've done it",Tye asked.

"No...none at all..."

"could this be the water clan doing",Tye says.

"Water clan?" Zapzik crouches down to examine the message.

"This doesn't seem right," Kasvoi mumbled, crossing his arms.

"They may be our enemies, but even they are above the dishonor of kidnapping a child..."

"...Oh that reminds me! You may not recognize her, but did Zaphiel happen to come by you? Because I saw her heading off in the direction we went to find you too."

"No one else approached Erosito and I while we searched for Fulguro," said Kasvoi, frowning slightly.

"...Hm. Now that's odd."

"As I said, this 'Zaphiel' person could've been from the Ionic Kingdom."

"But there still one question unanswered. Who could've did this?",Tye asks.

Before long he stop thinking about it and decided to say. " I know you have a leader, should we tell them the discovery we found?"

"I think that would be best..."

"Alright", Tye gets up and follow them back to the village.

"Lead the way I guess.." Zapzik follows Erosito and Kasvoi as well.

It took about 10 minutes to walk back to the Electric Clan village. Upon arrival, a few nearby clanspeople promptly gathered, as if anxious.

"Did you find him?" asked a female cacomistle.

Zapzik looks at everyone in the crowd, before scratching his ear.

"No, but...we did find a message; or rather, someone we met found it," said Kasvoi, motioning over at Tye.

"That isn't all we found either, I have also found this ring where the message was at",Tye says looking towards Zapzik.

"...Oh! Do any of you know someone named Zaphiel? Girl wearing a hood, kinda rude, uses grey electricity? Tye and I ran into her, and she said she lived here." Zapzik looks around at everyone, save for Kasvoi and Erosito.

"She also tried to kill us too because she thought we took him, She thought we were spies from the water clan. Honestly I doubt that she is from here, But still..." Tye says sitting down.

"I just said, I've never heard of her before, so she couldn't be from here," said Kasvoi, frowning.

"I've never heard that name either," said the female cacomistle.

"If she's that concerned about 'Water Clan spies', she could be from the Ionic Kingdom, though. But gray electricity...I don't know anyone who uses that."

"It was sorta weird to me when she was creating it, Like it sorta had dark power in it," Tye says. He then thinks, I thought I was the only one who had power like this, well demonic.

"She could possibly be a Spectrakinetic or Spectramancer too, and can mix those two Elements..."

"..."

Tye looks waiting for their leader. Eventually, a female porcupine comes rushing out, looking frantic.

"Please tell me you found him...!"

Erosito hesitated before shaking his head.

"No...not a hair or footprint."

Tye simply looks over.Knowing about the ring and message he found earlier. Kasvoi seemed to remember it, though.

"Wait....what about that message you found?" he said, looking at Tye. Normally the clan leader wouldn't be accepting of strangers at this time, but any news regarding the whereabouts of her brother was welcome news.

"Tell me," she said, turning her sharp eyes towards Tye.

"What is this message you found?"

"During my travels and the search for fulguro I found this saying come find us if you want Fulguro. Beside that there was this weird ring, I had no clue where it came from". He takes out the ring. "It's seems pretty strange to me".

Zapzik has his arms crossed, his eyes closed in concentration. "Hrm..."

"Well me and Zapzik found it near the entrance",Tye says.

"You fond the ring and the message near our village?" said the clan leader, crossing her arms. and frowning slightly.

"Yep. It might actually still be there I think." Zapzik mentions this before returning to his thoughts.

"What might still be there?"

"The message." He returns to his thoughts.

"And the message said 'Come find us if you want Fulguro', right?" she asked, turning back towards Tye.

"Yeah...",Tye says before looking back at her.

She growled in frustration, looking off towards the sky.

"Who could have done this...?!"

"They could have at least given you guys a clue..."

"Maybe this ring may have something to do with this",He looks at the leader.

"We had no warning of this happening. Fulguro wandered away from the village without anyone knowing, and..."

She clenched her fist, trembling; it was as if she was trying to restrain herself from striking the nearest object (or person).

"I should not have let him out of my sight...!"

She looked at Tye when he mentioned the ring, glaring.

"What secrets could a simple bit of jewelry tell me...?!" she hissed. Kasvoi quickly stepped in.

"U-Uhh...perhaps the kidnapper owned the ring...?" he offered. This seemed to quell the clan leader's anger...somewhat.

"...perhaps...but how do we tell who owned it? Speaking of which, can anyone identify the markings on it?"

Tye thought ''Holy crap!!! This chick is serious gonna kill someone if she doesn't sign her brother. But Still, this ring, I could've swore this is the work on one of their enemies. ''For a minute Tye almost got into his thoughts more than he ever has.

Meanwhile, no one really stepped forward to try and identify the ring.

"It could've been the water clan but I've never seen this before",Tye says snapping back in to life. Voltassa seemed to consider this revelation briefly, before shaking her head.

"No...they may be our enemies, but they would never stoop so low as to kidnap a child...if there's one thing all of the Elemental Clans have in common, it's the unwillingness to harm children or bring them into conflict."

"hm... It could be someone who isn't even affiliated with any of the clans",Tye says sounding a bit unsure.

"Yeah!..." Zapzik crosses his arms and peers at the ring.

"Who would do something so dishonorable like that",Tye questions.

"Slavers, for one," said the clan leader, crossing her arms.

"But their pathetic kind is rare around here, thank Haeos."

"That could be possible though even if they are rare around here. Still... Who ever it is they gotta be around here somewhere, if not here in the other clans",Tye says.

"The other Elemental Clans would never allow slavers to join their ranks. But that doesn't mean they aren't nearby Clan territories..."

"..." Zapzik looks at the entrance of the clan.

" I say lets do another sear...ach", He holds his left arm in pain.

"Hey woah what happened to your arm Tye?"

"It's... Nothing, I had bigger wounds than this..." Tye says.

"Are you okay," the female cacomistle asked, looking worriedly at Tye.

"Yeah... it's fine",Tye says.

"If you're sure," she said.

"ugh", He hold his arm in pain again.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Actually I think I might need some help."

"Well, I am a medic," said the cacomistle, smiling a bit.

"Here, follow me."

Tye follows her to where ever she was taking him.

She leads him to a relatively large hut, and goes inside, motioning for him to enter as well.

Tye enters the large hut looking around at things inside of it. The cacomistle had sat down at a small table; there was one other chair besides it.

"Okay, sit down over here, please?"

Back outside...

"...I'm not in danger here, right?" Zapzik looks around.

"You are safe here...so long as you are not a threat to my people," said the clan leader, narrowing her eyes at Zapzik.

"...Glad I'm not a threat then." He crosses his arms, a little unnerved by the leader's look. The female porcupine sighed a bit.

"I apologize for my terseness. but, as you can see, things are rough here at the moment..."

"Yeah, don't doubt it. A kid's gone missing and some suspicious woman with grey electricity's walkin around and vanished..." He crosses his arms and starts to think.

Back inside the medical Hut...

Tye moves his arm " My arm feeling a lot better, Thanks"

"I'm glad I was able to help." She smiled a bit.

"Oh. I Forgot to introduce myself earlier. My name is Tye",He says.

"My name is Kretsene," said the cacomistle, nodding.

"Kretsene that's a nice name", He starts to head off to where Zapzik is.

"Thank you," she said, smiling. "Tye is a nice name too."

She followed him out of the hut.

Zapzik's still thinking, though he opens his eyes when Tye comes. "Feelin better Tye?"

"Yeah I'm Feeling better now",He says.

"Good."

Tye looks over "...", He goes and thinks. "Now what do we do?"

"...Well whatver the people here want to do." Zapzik shrugs upon saying this.

"..."

The clan leader sighed and crossed his arms.

"We really have no choice but to keep searching. But I don't know where else to look..."

"I say lets split up into a few teams and search outside of the clan"

"It seems that's our only option at the moment."

"Alright lets do it",He says.

"Whatever." He shrugs once more.

"Alright Here's the plan we split up into 3 different teams. One will stay here and Look. One would go to the other clans. One is a support group which is divided into 2 groups of 4. Me and Zapzik will lead to the others into another clan. Kasvoi and Erosito will lead the in clan group. Unless if you want to help us clan" He says to the clan leader.
 * (Wait, so who's going where...?)
 * (Tye and Zapzik along with a few members (two) are planning to look for Fulguro in the other clans. Meanwhile Kasvoi and Erosito with pther members are looking inside the clan territory. The leader could decide to go with them or not)

The woman didn't stick to the path, especially once she knew Tye was headed away. Instead, she headed to a rocky outcropping and slammed a knifed hand directly into the face of the rock. Slowly, it melted away, with water dripping from it. She held the stance for ten seconds, but the "rock face" soon fell away, revealing an icy passage into the rock, lit from within by electric candles. Sitting inside the giant boulder was a blue hedgehog, clad in a vest and cargo pants, playing a handheld game. As she entered the main ice-and-stone chamber, the wall reformed itself behind her.

"Well, well, well. I knew I was gonna get a visit from the Nihlic Clan, but the second in command herself? It's good to see you again, Nulla." The woman groaned, and the mist-like shroud disguising the features of her face fell away, revealing the face of a gray hedgecat. She scowled at the troll, but he simply shrugged and set the game onto a stony desk and waited for her to vent.

"I hate this place. The Electric Clan exiled my family as a child. I wouldn't have chosen to come here, but I was the only one that made sense. If only it didn't get me so... riled up." With a sigh, she let the one-time prince kiss her hand. "I take it you did your side of the bargain?" Frost nodded, and gestured to the sleeping form of the missing porcupine.

"Wouldn't still be here if I hadn't. Had to hit him with a bio chip to sedate him, it'll wear off in an hour or so." He shrugged, and slipped his game back into his pocket. "Now, for your part of the deal..."

"Once I get this lump back to the village, I'll make sure to collect up the materials you asked for. Then all you'll need to do is use your Chaos Control to jump to me, then once again to take your reward to wherever you people keep it. Fair?" Frost smiled, and nodded. He picked up a small gun off the desk, and slid it into one of the pockets in his cargo pants.

"Fair." He gestured towards the ice wall, and it opened halfway to the outside. With practiced ease, Nulla muttered a prayer to Nihlus, and called upon her skill with the Mists that shielded her home. As the passage formed itself, she stooped to swing Fulguro over her shoulder. Finally, her smile returned. "See you soon, Frosty."

"Sure thing, Nul." As he watched, the woman entered the mist with their target slung over her shoulder, and vanished. He left the room like that, but as usual waited for the mist to disappear.

"Well, that's one job done. Chaos Control." Frost's voice echoed in the cold chamber, and with that he vanished, leaving the secret Nihlic Clan bolt-hole abandoned.

The Water Clan
The atmosphere in the Water Clan village was currently no different than it was in the other villages of the Elemental Clans; seemingly normal, but actually tense and fearful. Two scouts and a Summoner (a slender female dunnart, a slightly curvy female deer, and a somewhat lanky male desman) were pacing nervously in front of the waterfall that hid the entrance to the Golden Cove and the Water Clan village, as if waiting for something. The dunnart was accompanied by her Summon, a Sea Imp.

Finally the desman stopped pacing and turned towards the coastline.

"There! Look!"

His two companions stopped and turned as well, and saw two more Mobians approaching them; a curvy female salamander and a slender female rat.

"They're...they're gone, right?"

The rat nodded, although her expression was still a bit grim.

"We found no traces of Nihlic Clan forces around here. But we have no idea what they're capable of; they could just be hiding."

The desman let out a whine in response, starting to fidget a bit.

"Please don't say that...!"

The rat tapped the male's snout rather sharply, frowning.

"Would you rather I lied and said there were no chances of Nihlic forces coming here, and then we find them attacking us in the middle of the night?" she said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I'm trying to be realistic here, Rasto. And realistically, we all need to be full alert."

The desman backed up slightly, rubbing his nose.

"I-I know...I'm sorry..."

The rat sighed and crossed her arms.

"All of us are on edge, there's no denying that. We just...need to stay calm and keep ours wits about us, yeah?"

She offered a smile as the other three Mobians nodded in response.

"Good, that's what I like to see."

The deer looked up towards the sky; the sun was starting to sink towards the horizon, and the clouds were drenched in colors of pink, blue, purple and orange.

"It's getting late," she said, a slight breeze making her shiver slightly.

"I guess we should think about getting back inside and finding out who's gonna do a night shift."

The female dunnart then stepped forward a bit.

"Uhh...I can probably take the night shift for a few hours," she said, her Sea Imp Summon at her side. "I'll have Bubbles with me, after all."

"If you'll be alright with that, Sulama," said the rat, smiling.

"I'll have someone come out in three hours and trade with you, okay?"

"That'd work out fine!"

* * * * * The sun had now disappeared below the horizon; Sulama and Bubbles were standing near the waterfall, an oil lantern sitting next to the dunnart. She yawned and stretched, a bit wearier than she though she'd be. She hoped that someone would swap places with her soon...

"Maybe this wasn't the best idea...I'm getting really tired."

Sulama sat down next to Bubbles, who was now curled up a bit, apparently having dozed off. The sound of footfalls approaching their location didn't really catch the dunnart's attention at first, having thought it was someone come to relieve her of the nightwatch.

"Thank god, a replacement. Now I can get some sl-"

As she happened to look up, she saw a rather foreboding figure standing not ten feet from her, carrying a sword that glowed dimly. Grabbing the lantern and quickly climbing to her feet, Sulama held the light out towards the stranger, eyes wide. Bubbles had sprang up as well, chittering angrily.

"Wh-Who's there?! Who are you?!"

The figure said nothing, but started to walk towards the Water Clan Summoner with a strong and purposeful stride. Lantern light fell upon the stranger's face, revealing him to be a Mobianized Typhlosion wearing a chestpiece, pauldrons and gauntlets crafted from obsidian. The sword in his hand had muted flames dancing around the blade, and he grinned at Sulama, his sharp white teeth being illuminated by the light.

"Well, well, well," he purred, eyes narrowing slightly at the dunnart. He strode closer to her, looming; he was a good foot taller than her.

"I didn't think the Water Clan would be smart enough to have guards on watch, but even still, I'm disappointed; only one meager girl and her pet? That's all they can afford to send out?"

"S-State your name," Sulama said, doing her best to keep calm; the shaking of the hand holding the lantern betrayed her true feelings.

"Oh, yes; we must be formal, eh?" said the Typhlosion, thrusting the blade into the earth and then leaning on it.

"I am Sedrick. And you are...?"

"S-...S-Sulama," the dunnart stuttered, ears drooping slightly; the predatory gleam in Sedrick's eyes was unsettling her deeply.

"Why the stutter, Sulama? Surely you're not afraid of little old me, are you?"

At this, he straightened up and leered down at her, chuckling a bit. Bubbles hissed threateningly at him, to which he glared at the Sea Imp.

"Stuff it, you abomination!"

Sulama motioned for Bubbles to stand down, prompting another chuckle from Sedrick.

"So it IS your pet, hmm?"

The dunnart looked up at the Typhlosion, trying to maintain her calm.

"Bubbles is my Summon," she said, frowning. "She's not a pet. But either way, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. We're not taking visitors from strangers at these stressful times, especially not with reports of Nihlic Clan members skulking around."

The Typhlosion gasped a bit, feigning a rather dramatic look of hurt. "Skulking? Is that what you think I'm doing?" he asked, a hand to his heart.

"Oh, no no no, there's nothing skulkish or sneaky about my intentions, girl..."

His voice had taken on a decidedly sinister snarl as he ripped his blade from the ground, the metal igniting into flames.

"I'm here to make sure you heathens know your place; beneath the feet of Nihlus and his children...!"

As soon as Sedrick had grabbed his weapon, Sulama stepped back towards the waterfall, but in one swift motion, he had lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her arm, tossing her to the side and away from the entrance to the Water Clan village with frightening strength. She hit the ground hard, letting out a pained gasp and rolling onto her side. The Typhlosion had turned towards her now, raising his blade as if to swing at her. From behind, Bubbles had leapt, landing on Sedrick's back and starting to claw at his head. He let out a furious roar.

"MONGREL!! GET OFF ME!!"

He staggered around, trying to dislodge the angry Sea Imp from his cranium, before his free claw found its way to her throat, grabbing on tight and causing her to screech.

"NO!! BUBBLES!!"

Sulama, still a bit dazed from being tossed, managed to climb to her feet, just as Sedrick flung the Sea Imp at her. The collision sent them both onto the ground with a thud.

"Weak. You're weak! You worship a pitiful god who's naught but a speck compared to Nihlus!" Sedrick snarled at her, starting to approach once again. With a growl, he drove his fiery blade downward, aiming to impale Sulama. With a gasp, she managed to roll out of the way just in time, feeling the heated air gust against her shoulder. The sword became embedded in the ground, and a bestial snarl ripped from the Typhlosion's throat. Abandoning his weapon, he turned on Sulama, who had just managed to climb to her feet; Bubbles was at her Summoner's side once again.

"Tenacious little whelp, are we?" he hissed, advancing towards her, his claws sparking with electricity. The sight of the electricity seemed to scare the dunnart, and Sedrick grinned, relishing her fear.

"Oh, you like my electricity? It's just one of the benefits of being a Pokemon; I get to choose from more than just one Element!"

He suddenly charged at her, the burst of speed not giving Sulama time to react properly. An electrically-charged fist drove itself just below her ribcage, causing a wheezy squeak to escape her mouth. The electricity coursing through from his balled fist and through her body paralyzed her, and caused her to collapse, unable to move. She coughed up a bit of blood; Sedrick had struck her hard.

"Hmph."

Gazing at Sulama's crumpled form, the Typhlosion finally gained a satisfied smirk, striding over to the spot where his sword was embedded in the ground; the soil within a one foot radius was scorched and smouldering. He wrenched it from the ground, his ears perking slightly; frantic, indistinguishable voices were coming from the waterfall. With a faint growl he turned away from the Golden Cove and beat a hasty retreat; despite his prowess in battle, he would be no match for multiple, combat capable hydromancers and hydrokinetics.

Besides, he would be foolishly going against his superior's orders if he stayed and fought.

The Nature Clan
Elsewhere...

The Hunter sat amongst the treetops, keeping watch over the entrance to his Clan's village. He had been there for hours, as if confined to his post... but in actuality, he was there of his own choosing. He was keeping watch for anyone who approached, serving as an impromptu security guard of sorts for his Clan.

Upon further inspection, the Hunter appeared to be a hybrid of a grizzly bear and a dingo, having square-shaped ears and a short muzzle, as well as a long tail. His fur was a golden-brown shade, while his muzzle and arms looked to be a darker color. In terms of clothing, he wore something resembling a black poncho over his torso, which covered his chest and tapered off to a point over his pelvis and rear. A dark grey shirt was visible under his poncho garment, and brown-black pants and boots were also visible on his legs. He also wore a large, wide-brimmed hat, also colored like his pant and boots. Meanwhile, an odd, crossbow-like contraption was mounted on his left arm, currently unused.

There was a molly cat with rainbow zebra stripes running through the rain. She wore a purple, sleeveless turtleneck and a white skirt. Her cleats pierced the grass as she rushed through the showering raindrops.

A hooded figure wearing what seemed to be a muddy brown trenchcoat was sitting on a branch high up in the treetops, his goldenrod fur sticking out like a sore thumb, simply observing the hunter with piqued curiousity. Based on the shape and appearance of the figures ears one could guess that he was a lynx should anyone spot him.

The lynx seemed to be conversing with a sword of some type as if it were alive.

"Charon, is this the place?" The figure asked the sword.

"It is indeed...this place reeks of life."

"That's good... With any luck I'll be able to cut loose.." The figure mumbled.

"Indeed..."

Down on the ground, a male cacomistle was approaching from the village; he doesn't notice the lynx, but probably would if he looked up.

The lynx did notice the male cacomistle. He snickered and lifted his sword into a ready position and the Cacomistle might hear the sounds of a tree branch shifting above him.

His keen ears perked up, and he swiftly drew a scimitar from the sheath, looking around.

"Who's there?!" he called out, now looking up towards the trees, where he heard the noise. A glimpse of goldenrod fur put him on alert; there was someone up there.

"Who are you?!"

The Hunter's ears perked up at the new sounds, and he glanced around to see people down below, while also spotting movement in the treetops near his position. He snarled. Somebody's pushin' their luck... he thought quietly. Just in case, he readied his crossbow, loading a tiny spider-like creature onto one of the barrels. At once, he slowly stood up, scanning the treetops around for whoever was there.

The Lynx jumped down from the branch, a grin on his face as he pointed his sword at the Cacomistle. "What do you think Charon? Should I introduce myself to this one?" The lynx asked his sword.

"Feel free..."

The cacomistle kept a tight grip on his weapon, glaring at the lynx; the feline definitely seemed like a threat to the Nature Clan.

"State your name," he ordered.

"Exspira.." The lynx spoke with a malicious grin that reflected in his eyes. The cacomistle did not falter; he could not allow this enemy to get past him.

"What do you want?" he growled, holding his ground.

"Money, women, power, y'know.. The usual stuff.. " Exspira said whimsically as he mocks the Cacomistle. "Now, I introduced myself so why don't you do the same eh?"

The cacomistle huffed a bit, maintaining his gaze on Exspira.

"I am Okade; a soldier of the Nature Clan. And I'm afraid you won't find what you're looking for here."

"Ah, well 'Okade'. There is one thing I'll find here... Can you guess what it is!?" Exspira started to speak, shouting the last word before cackling.

The Hunter watched the group intently, pointing his crossbow in their general direction. Though he was initially outraged that these people dared to approach with (seemingly) ill intent, he remained hidden, deciding that he would only show himself if things went bad fast. Waiting for the right moment was something he had learned was valuable in his job, and this was no different.

However, his gaze landed on the one calling himself "Okade, a soldier of the Nature Clan". Immediately, he lowered his crossbow. Though he did not interact with the cacomistle personally, he was aware of his being part of his Clan, and also wishing to safeguard their village. As a result, the Hunter decided to keep his crossbow down, and resumed watching Okade interact with the person calling himself "Exspira".

Exspira simply kept cackling, as if he told a really funny joke.

"Is it your defeat you'll find here?" Okade snarked, smirking a bit. "You running home with your tail between your legs?"

Exspira simply pointed Charon at Okade, his grin ever present.

"We shall see.. Perhaps I'll burn everything in this forest to ashes, perhaps I'll be defeated.. But I will never run.. Not from an impulsive moron like you.."

"You call me impulsive when I'm simply protecting what is dear to me? Then what about you, storming in here and threatening to destroy the home of my people?"

"Don't forget the people themselves.. Now are you going to talk me to a second death or make the first move?"

"I will not allow you to harm my friends...!" he said, gripping his weapon in both hands now. The blade had begun to glow a bright green.

"Then come, come to your end!" Exspira spoke, holding Charon in a two handed grip as black flames of a rather sinister nature started to manifest itself on the blade.

The cacomistle took two long and swift strides forward before suddenly dashing at Exspira, aiming to slash him with his empowered blade.

Exspira smirked and slammed Charon into the ground in order to spread the black flames on his blade in a small circle surrounding himself, trying to set up an A.o.E for his next move and a deterrent to keep Okade from rushing at him on the ground.

The cacomistle skid to a halt just in time to avoid the flames, gritting his teeth. It looked like Dark-Element magic, but he couldn't be sure. Glaring at Exspira, he instead swung his blade, forcefully hurling the condensed Nature energy that had been coating it into a crescent-shaped blade that shot towards the lynx.

Exspira grinned as he tried to block the attack by lifting up Charon and channeling more of the flames into the blade, Hoping that the collision between the condensed nature energy and talking sword with a boost of black flames would result in his favor.

"Hey Charon, this one worthy of taking seriously or not?" Exspira asked his sword.

"I do not know. Do not let your guard down Exspira..."

"Got it..." Exspira mumbled as he kept a grip on Charon.

The Hunter watched the battle, seeing the two fight ferociously. Eventually, he decided that he would try to intervene, slowly and cautiously descending the tree he was hiding in while making sure he was still hidden. He checked to make sure his crossbow was engaged, and, after a second, loaded a heavy, hard-shelled slug onto the other barrel. Now he was armed for disorientation and capture if need be.

Unfortunately, the dark flames managed to expel the Nature energy. Okade was forced to keep his guard up now...

Exspira smirked and pointed the sword at Okade. "Wow, you really do suck at this don't you." Exspira spoke in a confident manner, in truth he wasn't using any of his own power, rather he was just using the power of the sword.

"I don't need any flashy gimmicks to be good at combat!" he growled, pointing his weapon at the lynx.

"Come and actually fight me instead of sitting inside your little fire-ring!"

"Aw, is someone mad that little ol me isn't taking them seriously?" Exspira mocked as he pulled out a long stiletto made entirely of bone from his left thigh using bone manipulation. If it was any consolation to Okade, judging by the rather pained hiss Exspira gave off, it seemed pulling out his bones hurt like a mother effer.

"No; I'm just disappointed that you're acting like such a coward! I guess you're all bark and no bite!"

That seemed to set off Exspira, who snapped his fingers and watched as the flames dispelled themselves. He sheathed Charon and ran at Okade with the bone Stiletto poised for a stabbing attack at his ribs.

Okade watched Exspira charge at him, and noted the position of his hand holding the bone stiletto. He aimed to try and parry Exspira's attack using his own weapon.

Exspira made a seemingly obvious stab as a way to fake out Okade by keeping his attention on the stiletto hand. If Okade tried to parry the stabbing thrust of the stiletto Exspira would then attempt to plant his off hand in the nature warriors gut and try to impale him in a manner similar to that of Baraka with his bone swords that pop out of his wrists.

'That's it numbnuts, keep your eye on the prize..' Exspira thought.

Okade moved his sword-arm to try and parry Exspira's stabbing attack with his blade, unaware that the lynx was trying to fake him out; he had no idea exactly what his enemy was capable of, after all.

Seeing as Okade took the bait, Exspira's punch to the gut might go unnoticed by the nature clan warrior. If it did, Exspira would then proceed to impale him in a manner similar to that of Baraka while his stiletto hand would most likely end up weaponless if Okade's parry was meant as a disarming tactic.

It wasn't exactly easy to ignore a punch to the gut. Okade let out a pained groan and staggered backwards, away from Exspira's hidden blade. Okade had been intending to disarm Exspira as well, but the punch may have disrupted this.

"You seem to use nature magic well.." Exspira muttered.

The Hunter moved himself into the right position, raising his crossbow again at Exspira. Once he saw the opening, he clenched his fist, causing the hard-shelled slug to fly forward from his weapon and sail through the air towards Okade's opponent. The speed and force of the slug would likely strike Exspira like a weaponized body slam, possibly getting his attention and leaving him vulnerable if it connected.


 * (Saren - does the bug fired at Exspy have any unique properties attributed to magic?)
 * (Mantis - no, it's basically like a tiny cannonball.)
 * (Saren - Ah.)

The insect slammed into Exspira's ribs, sending him skidding to the side thanks to his light weight. "Interference!!" Exspira hissed out, clutching his ribs because that bug hurt him like that one night in Chun-Nan where he pissed off a rather large moose, as he scanned the general vicinity for whoever shot him, leaving him open for Okade.

The cacomistle, having recovered from the punch, held up one hand, from which a glowing green ball of energy began to form. It would take a few seconds to charge properly.

Exspira glanced back at the Cacomistle. "That little distraction may have worked once, but it won't work again.." Exspira muttered, referring to the bug that hit his ribs.

Exspira stuck his hand out and fired two gouts of black flames at Okade, knowing that even if he may dodge these flames would start a rather troublesome forest fire. Especially since the black flames aren't really extinguished as easily as regular flames.

Okade's eyes widened in shock and he swiftly threw the Energy Ball at the black flames, hoping to at least try and disrupt the attack.

Already, the Hunter was loading another slug onto his crossbow, preparing to take aim again. If he could keep getting Exspira's attention and give more opportunities for Okade to retaliate, the danger would be over shortly. He smirked quietly. Betcha didn't expect these to come flyin', huh.

Okade's attack did manage to dispel one of the flames, however he still had to deal with one more headed his way. However, Exspira was not one to fall for the same tactic once, should the hunter fire his projectiles at Exspira he might get a rather shocking surprise.

"Just to let you know, if you dodge this one you'll have to deal with a rather massive forest fire that won't be extinguished by conventional means." Exspira chirped rather happily, excited at the prospect of either watching Okade burn or see him dodge and have to deal with the sinister nature of the black flames.

The prospect of being set on fire was not appealing to Okade...but he couldn't just allow the forest to go up in flames. As a last-ditch resort, he covered his face with his arms and generated a Leaf Shield; the black flames would probably eat through it in seconds, but at least he wouldn't go down as fast.

Even then, there was no guarantee that the fire wouldn't just spread to the grass around him on impact with his body anyways.

Fortunately, luck was on Okade's side to a degree as the flames didn't spread to the grass. However, Exspira sent a wave of black flames at Okade and his surroundings. This time unsheathing and using Charon as a catalyst for the flames as he had put a substantial drain on his own supply of mana and was now relying purely on Charon's mana to see him through.

The sword erupts into fire, and Exspira gains a surge of energy as Charon's mana supplies him with power.

"Burn you worthless pile of filth..." Exspira muttered as he swung Charon at Okade, flinging the black flames on Charon's blade at Okade.

Okade could tell that Exspira was rather unskilled with a sword so the flames flung at him would be easy to dodge, but there was the possibility of the flames starting a forest fire.

Okade had fallen to his knees, the black flames surrounding him. He didn't even notice Exspira using Charon to hurl another blast at him, having been too preoccupied with the agonizing pain.

Another slug flew through the air, this time aimed right at Exspira's head. It appeared that it was meant to knock him down, if not knock him unconscious outright, but it would still stop him from doing something else if it hit.

Okade was in serious danger, he knew it. That meant he'd have to jump out at some point and deal with the intruder personally. This is gonna get ugly...

This time, Exspira activated his ghostly phasing to avoid the slug. The slug had connected the first time because he had not anticipated that there would be anyone with long range capabilities while hidden in the dense foliage of the forest. Now that he was painfully aware of the danger, he had kept an ear up for the distinct sound an object of that size would make as it travelled through the air.

"I told you... That wouldn't work a second time.. However, I do hope you enjoy burning.." Exspira spoke happily as he sheathed Charon and sat crosslegged with his hands up in a sign of surrender.

...damn, thought the Hunter as his second round missed. That meant he'd definitely have to show himself now. Quickly, he loaded a different creature onto his crossbow - a small, fuzzy, rabid creature with huge, sharp teeth, which essentially acted as a living landmine that would chew enemies to shreds. Yeah, this'll hurt.

Quickly, he leaped out from his hiding spot and into the air, limbs spread as he dashed towards Exspira with agility and precision. He was looking to pounce on the intruder, and, failing that, body slam him into the dirt. From there... well, he'd think of that later.

"Decide to reveal yourself eh?" Exspira cackled as he just sat there, The hunter would just phase through Exspira as if he were never there.

"Perks of being a ghost you know... I can phase through pretty much anything.." Exspira spoke as he stood up.

The Hunter blinked as he simply flew through Exspira, impacting the dirt and rolling forward before coming to a stop. Annoyed, he quickly got to his feet, raising his crossbow and pointing it at the intruder before speaking in a gruff, guttural voice.

"Yer a weird one, ya are. You some kinda phantom or somethin'?" he said aloud, glancing at Okade once before turning back to Exspira.

"Ding Ding Ding! First place goes to the jackwagon who thought the same trick would work twice in a row!" Exspira mocked. "But seriously, unless you want that guy to succumb to the flames along with a sizeable chunk of the forest... Trying to kill me wouldn't be in your best interests..." Exspira snarked as he pointed to Okade.

Okade had been slowly suffering this entire time, unable to extinguish the flames engulfing him.

Exspira snickered and stared at the Hunter with a smug grin. "So? What's it going to be?.." Exspira asked, a malicious grin on his face since he seemed to be holding all the cards right now.

Exspira simply stood up and started to leave.

"Ja ne. I'll be back to see if the forest is engulfed in flames.."

Part 5
The Troll Moonbase was remarkably quiet, considering the nature of it's inhabitants. For once, there was no dank airhorn music filling the air, nor any crude jokes flying from room to room at the top of the occupants lungs. No, most of them were out in Mobius, following missions that few understood. For the hedgehog in the hooded jacket and his pajama-clad companion, the quiet was frustrating, as neither knew what awaited them in the so-called "throne room". After a moment, the doors slowly opened themselves, and the duo entered.

A deep voice rang out in the metallic room. "Thank you for coming, Reaper." The hedgehog pair knelt as their leader stood and moved away from the throne. "I am sorry for keeping you back for so long." The self-proclaimed True Lord of Mobius was not the most impressive figure in the world, a simple white and orange Shadow-lookalike dressed in a formal but comfortable style, but as Reaper stood and looked at him, the aura around this hedgehog was one of power. He was no simple Troll. The doors closed behind them, and even the faint humming of machinery was blocked off by the impressive soundproofing this room had.

"It was no issue, my liege," he began. "It gave me time to help Anne build her strength." The sickly female waved slightly, and Reaper could feel her telepathic nudging. "Now, Lord Rageik, can I ask what we have been called for?" The demon nodded.

"It is a mission of great importance to me, personally. I would have dealt with it myself, but the Clans have other duties for me to attend to." He gestured, and a hologram of a sword rippled into existence. It looked like a plain katana at a distance, but Reaper's trained eye spotted the telltale amber markings in the blade, and the tiny gemstone finery that made up the tsuba. His eyes widened, and Anne's shock filled their telepathic bond.

"A relic?" she mumbled. Rageik simply nodded.

"Yes, it is. This sword, Trizaterrador belongs to my brother, Hades. He was forced to abandon it at the end of the War, when he fled underground to Asphodel to avoid being sealed. It is imbued with a powerful connection to the element of Earth, so when he located it, he immediately asked me to retrieve it. Unfortunately, until now the Earth Clan has been well-guarded, and there has been no method for you to get in." Rageik paced and gestured once again, changing the image displayed to an image of the Earth Clan's armory. "The Clan is in on edge with the disappearance of Temblor, but at the same time those that are most aware..."

"See the least." Reaper finished. He understood the basic premise. "Anne is to be my support?" The thin girl raised her head and smiled faintly as Rageik nodded.

"Her ability to influence moods over long distance, plus your telepathic bond, makes her an ideal assistance for this. Do you believe you can retrieve it for me?" Reaper raised his head and lowered his hood, revealing the hybrid quills and orange marks that Rageik's blood had given him.

"I accept the task." Anne's excitement flowed, but he could feel her annoyance at his terms. "Sorry, we accept." Rageik chuckled, and the hologram disappeared with a final gesture.

"Then good luck. For the return of our people."

"And for the rise of the True Lord of Mobius." Reaper replied. The traditional farewell of the Everaith Clan always felt clunky to the Power Hedgehog, but he used it in deference to the people that adopted him. With that, Rageik turned and walked back towards his throne and holographic desks, plotting another step in his constant war. Reaper knelt once again, and the familiar weight of Anne climbing onto his back reassured him.

"To the Ruins of Sephazer we go, then. Chaos Control." In a blink of light, the two were gone.

The Ruins of Sephazer, located on the Mobian continent of Soumerca, were the home of the Earth Clan of Temblor. Despite the disappearance of their deity, the stoic clanspeople hid their distress well, and life seemed to resume as normal there. The priests and priestesses had given up trying to contact Temblor, and instead turned their pleas towards other deities of theirs; but unfortunately, they too seemed to be silent. Not even Sephazer himself, for whom the Earth Clan's home was named, was able to provide answers.

The entrance of the Power Hedgehogs was as silent as they had hoped. Neither of them had ever ventured into the Ruins, so it was a rough coordinate Chaos Control. Not an ideal method, but one Reaper was accustomed to. Hunched down in the rocky outcroppings, Reaper felt Anne's warmth slip from his back. He turned, and watched as she slowly pulled herself into a meditative seating position, legs crossed and back straight, even with her eyes closed. A slight shudder ran through her body, and Reaper almost considered giving her his jacket there and then, but it hit him, as it always did. Anne was opening herself up to the world psychically. Instead of rushing in, he let her explore and gather information for him. No words were needed, not with this bond. She shared his vision, and their thoughts were joined through her combat meditation. Instead, he settled into a passive guard stance, and hoped that she wouldn't detect trouble nearby.

Close to the entrance of the Ruins, a couple of soldiers were patrolling the outside of it; a male groundhog, a female shrew and a male stag beetle. They had no knowledge of the presence of Anne and Reaper.

Reaper could feel the soldiers through Anne's strength. She wasn't directly focusing on them, not yet. Her meditation needed time to build in strength to influence them into making mistakes. Finally, she picked one, the groundhog. A slight smile crossed her face, and she nodded to Reaper. Instantly, he began to move, his stealth training taking over. Anne began to focus on the groundhog, bringing her telepathic might on his head. Reaper moved in the same direction, and could feel the meditation falter. He knew her plan, and summoned a fan from hammerspace to his hand, and prepared himself for a stealthy strike.

The groundhog stopped and put a hand up to his left temple, groaning.

"Guh...my head..."

His two companions stopped and stared at him.

"Bundok, are you okay?" asked the shrew?

"I-It feels like something's crushing my skull...!"

Reaper was in mid-air when he heard that, and immediately launched an Air Slash from his fan, aimed at the feet of the two that were left, and transitioned into an Aerial Ace towards the beetle without touching the ground. A second fan rippled into existence as he accelerated further, appearing as a shadowy blur surrounded by air currents.

Not expecting the sudden attack, the shrew and the beetle were knocked off their feet. The groundhog, Bundok, had fallen to his knees, overwhelmed by pain. The beetle was trying to climb to his feet as Reaper rushed at him. The hedgehog didn't even slow down, simply slamming foot-first into his target, and using that to launch himself into the air again, leaving the groundhog to suffer Anne's psychic grasp while he prepared himself to knock the other two out. As much as stealth could work, making the Earth Clan flinch into believing the Wind Clan sent an assassin would be just as worthwhile.

Reaper's foot collided directly with the stag beetle's horn, causing him to stagger back, dazed; the horn was connected to his skull, after all. The shrew scrambled to her feet, her hand grasping wildly for the hilt of her sabre.

"INTRUDER FROM THE WIND CLAN!" she called out, managing to climb to her feet.

"INTRUDER FROM THE WIND CLAN!"

It seems she had fallen for Reaper's planned ploy. He sighed, although he sent Anne an excited pulse through their bond. As he expected, he felt nothing in response, her focus was on keeping Bundok suppressed until he passed out.

"Oh, be quiet," he growled. Another Air Slash flicked towards the shrew, followed by Reaper's feet as he launched himself, foot-first, with another Aerial Ace. By no means was this his most advanced combat strategy, but the fact that he was still yet to touch the ground worked nicely for that "airborne assassin" feel.

By this time, Bundok had collapsed, unconscious. The stag beetle had recovered from Reaper's kick to the face and picked up his quarterstaff, which he had set by the village entrance. The shrew was able to counter the Air Slash by charging her blade with Earth energy and cutting the blade of wind, but she most likely wouldn't be able to stop Reaper's Aerial Ace.

Reaper felt Anne open back up. The touch was faint at first, but it quickly expanded to cover the lands of the Clan. Anne's battle coordination was starting to work it's magic. Reaper could feel her plucking at threads, picking targets and causing tiny little sensory distortions for those preparing to fight. Nerves, tension, fear. Things she sought to create for him to exploit. He let his body go rigid as he slammed into the shrew, but pushed himself into the air not with the impact, but with an Aeroblast to the ground at their feet. His hood threatened to slide off, but he tightened it as he sailed back into the air, fans in his hands and ready to strike.

Reaper's foot slammed directly into the shrew's sternum, causing her to rocket backwards and into a nearby wall. She hit it hard, collapsing into a heap on the ground.

"Polvere...!"

The stag beetle hefted his quarterstaff and got between the shrew and Reaper, bracing himself for the hedgehog's attack. Reaper started to spin, slowly at first, but rapidly increasing in pace. Finally, just as he seemed to blur, a pair of silver darts flew from his figure, straight at the beetle. Reaper stopped rotating at that moment, and launched an Air Slash directly behind them, accelerating the folded, thrown fans even faster.

The darts were coming too fast for the beetle to try and deflect them with his weapon; he had no choice but to try and bear the brunt of the assault using his thick, armored forearms. Bundok was still unconscious, while the shrew, Polvere, was struggling to climb to her feet, breathing raggedly. Reaper timed his movements with the fans, launching himself directly behind them with an Aerial Ace, but cut just short of the beetle's arms. Instead, he slowed enough to be distinct, and rolled into an axe kick.

The beetle still had his arms shielding his face, and didn't quite see Reaper coming at him with an axe kick. He moved them away just as Reaper's attack was about to hit him. Reaper didn't pull his punches, either, and simply slammed into the beetle.