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  "We will help you," Chrissy said. "We are all a part of one another now. Your battle is our battle." Jimmy smiled.

  "Thanks Chrissy," he said. "That means a lot." Chrissy and Cat carried Tabitha away to a nearby shelter. Jimmy walked over to Karen.

  "I couldn't tell when I touched your mind," she said. "Did you have stronger feelings for her than you do for me?"

  "I loved her once," he replied, "but she could never show she loved me. I couldn't love you more or less, but YOU love ME. That is why we are the way we are. Legandria tells of this."

  One from Virtue's unknown past

  Shall unknowingly wreak havoc on him

  His mind shall shatter

  Though his love is true

  But he shall realize

  Why he exists

  And it is in his existence

  He shall believe in most.

  "My existence, why I'm here, is why I survived. You are all that is left in my mind, Karen. And this woman is now nothing more than a memory forever lost in time."

  Karen smiled, and the two of them walked back to the dorms together, knowing full well that at least for now, both of their minds had found peace.

  Chapter 17 - On Solid Ground

  * * *

  17

  "On Solid Ground"

  Jimmy woke up the next morning feeling strangely refreshed. Who would have thought his mind would be freed in such a way that he felt such peace. Even Janie took notice, and the night before, they had talked about the past, and reached a level of understanding he didn't think possible. So waking up like this, though novel, was exhilarating. But this happy feeling was soon interrupted when the whole room began to shake.

  "What on earth is going on?" he said to himself aloud. He looked out the window and saw people running out of the dorm in a panic, stumbling around. He quickly gathered his things and raced out of the building. Soon after he left, the tremors slowed down‚then finally stopped. He stood there next to Janie, looking around at the havoc.

  "This is very unusual for this area," Jimmy said to her quietly. "I mean, could it be the mines, or a fault line that we haven't noticed?"

  "It's peculiar," Janie said. "Maybe we should do some research into this." Jimmy had a multitude of resources at his fingertips via his own computer, but he humored her, if only to not strain their budding friendship.

  "Sure thing," he said politely. "Maybe there are some maps of the tectonic plates, or other statistics we can look up to correlate with this quake." At that, the two of them headed to the library.

  * * *

  Upon entering, they made their way to the computerized catalog and began looking for books on the geology of the region.

  "You think we should also be researching the mines beneath the city?" Jimmy asked.

  "It's possible," she replied, "but highly improbable. The quake was felt quite far away. I'm almost positive the disturbance was tectonic in nature."

  "We always used to think alike," Jimmy remarked.

  "You know," she replied, "if you didn't get so bent out of shape upset over things all the time‚" Before she could finish her sentence, another quake shook the building. Janie and Jimmy went to run for the door. The crowd made its way through the door, but before Jimmy and Janie could escape, the celling collapsed in front of them, and blocked their escape.

  "We're trapped!" Janie yelled.

  "Follow me," Jimmy said. He grabbed her hand and literally began dragging her up the stairs. Suddenly, the staircase began to crumble behind him. They made it to the roof, but the building was collapsing.

  "Oh my God," she said, "What are we gonna do?" Jimmy looked at her briefly, and let out a sigh. He reached behind him into what Janie thought was empty space. She was puzzled, but became even more so once Jimmy pulled a sword from the nothingness, his cloaked sheath. "What the hell is that?" He raised the sword above his head.

  "Courage, be my strength!" The golden power exploded from the sword, enveloping his entire body in golden light. The light energy fused to his skin, becoming the golden armor of the Avatar of Courage, transforming him into the Hero.

  Before she had a chance to react, Jimmy scooped her up and took off from the roof of the building just as it collapsed beneath them. They touched down a block away. He set her down on her feet, and she took a huge deep breath and looked right at him.

  "How the‚" she stuttered. "When were you going to tell me this?"

  "I wasn't," Jimmy said. "And now neither can you. Promise me you won't tell anyone what I am."

  "I promise," she replied. Jimmy tried to contact Chrissy and Lauren with no response.

  "Get out of here as fast as you can," Jimmy said to her. "It's not safe here." She nodded and began to run. Just as Jimmy turned to head back to the building, Janie screamed. Something from beneath the ground grabbed Janie and pulled her underground.

  "Janie!" Jimmy yelled, running at the spot she vanished. He dived into the hole in the ground, carving the rock as he plummeted. He fell through into a cavern that was nowhere on their geological maps. Suddenly stone warriors came out of nowhere. Jimmy charged his sword and began blasting them. He ran forwards to meet them, and began slicing through them one by one, making his way down the corridor. He soon came upon a room containing a huge machine that appeared to be sucking magma from beneath the Earth's surface‚and some strange mole-like man operating its controls. As Jimmy entered, it stopped and turned to face him.

  "You must be the one the Master warned us about!" he sneered. "I am Grand Master Talbit. This world is littered with the surface dwelling creatures that are the bane of my existence! But the Master will make you into his slaves as he has done before! And I will start with you, human."

  "That's Hero!" Jimmy yelled, charging his sword. He took shots at Talbit, but he dodged them. He grabbed a weapon‚a gun of some sort from the machine.

  "The power of the earth itself shall be your undoing!" he yelled. The rock face slid open, and Jimmy saw Janie dangling over a pool of lava. "Perhaps you would like to see a demonstration of its power!" He fired the weapon at the ropes Janie was attached to, and she began to instantly fall. Jimmy's eyes began to glow as a feeling came over him‚.and he ran at blinding speed, dashing over the lava to catch her, landing safely on the other side. Talbit ran at Jimmy, and swung the weapon, and Jimmy blocked it with his sword. Then the feeling began to continue to take over him. He heard Janie screaming in terror behind him crouched in the corner, and at the same time heard the voice of someone whispering in his ear.

  "You are The One," it whispered. "You are the focal point. The entire vastness of space and time begins and ends with you. You have the power to stop the Evil One. Save her."

  Jimmy gritted his teeth as he pushed against his sword harder, and he felt the energy of the weapon and the machine that powered it suddenly filling him.

  By the Orb of Light,

  May Wisdom, Power and Courage unite

  Under the power of Triad!

  Golden light burst forth from his armor, radiating as the power within him also exploded. The machine burst and exploded, and the energy became the fuel for Jimmy's strength.

  "I will save her," he whispered. "I will let nothing stop me. Courage is my strength." He pushed Talbit back, and in one final swing, charged his sword with Triad power and sliced clean through the weapon‚.and Tablit. His remains fell into the lava pit and burned and melted into nothingness. Jimmy walked over to Janie and held out his hand.

  "Don't be afraid," he said. "I am the Ultimate Warrior‚.the focal point of everything‚.Life itself. I won't let anything hurt you." She nodded, and leaped into his arms. He took off through the rock and landed a safe distance away from the chaos.

  "This isn't over," he said to her. "The tunnels he created deep into the earth have allowed the magma to escape. I need to plug it." He lifted into the air, and took off in a flash. He headed north at light speed to the northern part of the Hudson Bay. He carved out a huge chunk of ice and flew back ju
st as quickly. As he reached the chaos where the tunnels were, he threw the ice chunk with all his might, and it crashed through the earth, smothering the flames and hardening the magma below. As he set down on the barren earth, grass and flowers began to grow beneath his feet, and Janie watched this with amazement.

  "Order must be restored before the power leaves me," he said as he touched the sword to the ground. The area began to change around them‚as the buildings raised, and everything went back to what it was before. It was then the power flowed out of him, and he was back to being just Jimmy. He fell to one knee, leaning on his sword. Janie slowly and carefully approached him.

  "Are you alright?" she said, stammering. "I'm sorry‚I was so scared‚"

  "Don't be," Jimmy said, still gasping for air and straining from weakness. "It was you that gave me the power‚the courage to defeat him. Maybe I can explain it to you someday."

  "I know what happened between us happened," she said, "and I know it hurt. But I'm happy knowing you're still my friend, and even happier knowing I enrich your life." She took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and reached out to Jimmy. He grabbed her hand, and she pulled him to his feet. "If you want to talk, now seems to be the time. This time I'm ready to listen." Jimmy smiled, and they walked back towards the dorm. Still, in the chaos, Jimmy was still concerned as to why he was unable to contact Chrissy, or worse, why Lauren was nowhere to be found.

  Chapter 18 - Together

  * * *

  18

  "Together"

  Lauren had just left the college and was on her way back home to visit her family. The quakes that were felt caused her classes to be cancelled, so she felt it was a good time to head home and relax and visit. As her car travelled down the highway, a blinding light flashed in front of her, and she could feel the car levitating into the air. As it rose higher and higher, she tried to open the doors, but couldn't. She pulled her sword from its sheath and readied herself for what was about to happen.

  When the car came to a halt, she was in front of an enormous castle in the sky. Before she could react, the car moved again, spinning around and lifted into the air, she stared directly into the eyes of a giant. He violently shook the car, and Lauren fell out. He caught her in his other hand, but her sword remained trapped between his fingers. He looked in at her.

  "You are the one the Master has been worried about," he said in a loud booming voice. "Scrawny little thing you are. Yet he claims you have the heart of the Immortal Dragon? I highly doubt that." He took her into the castle and threw her into a cage. He then put the sword on the wall. He turned back to her, a small grin on his face.

  "What do you want with me?" She asked adamantly.

  "I know what you are, Power," the giant said. "My name is Olgus. For a millennium I have been trapped within the planes of the sky, trapped in the clouds, unable to finish the Master's work. That fool Ivan thought that the Red Orb alone contained the power...but I know better. The Triad itself is the key to the Ultimate Power. I would have undermined Ivan's whole plan had it not been for the interference of the Red Witch! Once I take control of the Ultimate Power, she will be the first to suffer for locking me away! But first...I must start with you." He leaned in closer, as if he were staring her dead in the eyes. "I can see the soul of the Immortal Dragon dwelling within you. You can't hide it from me."

  "I hide nothing," Lauren shouted fiercely. He ripped her out of the cage fiercely and began to squeeze her in his hand.

  "I could push the life right out of your eye sockets," he said. "Now tell me the secret of the Ultimate Power!" As Lauren struggled, she felt something strange. Her own rage had been building...and her eyes glowed with flame.

  "I don't know the secrets of the Ultimate Power," she said through gritted teeth. "But I know what I have within me is enough to stop you!" She focused her rage, and at once, the sword pulled away from the wall and stuck into his back. He instinctively reeled back in pain, and released Lauren. Lauren fell to the floor, and as quickly as she got up, she ran between his legs. She held up her hand, and the sword pulled out of his back and flew into her hands. She held it up.

  "Power, be my strength!" The sword caught fire, and the flames leaped all around it as they flowed down the hilt of the sword, surrounding her entire body. The flames covered her entire body in the bronze armor of the Avatar of Power, transforming her into the Dragon Lady.

  "I will squash you like a bug!" he yelled. Lauren took off into the air and took sword blasts at him, all the while trying to avoid his swinging arms. None of it seemed to phase him. At one point, she bumped the center pole in the room, and things shook. It was then she had an idea.

  "Time to bring the walls down!" she yelled and she charged her sword and slashed through the beam in several places. It began to crumble, and with great force, she burst through the ceiling. The entire castle collapsed on top of Olgus, and Lauren flew safely back to where her car was. She lifted it into the air and flew it back down to the surface. But upon landing, she saw a shadow. Then a huge thud. Olgus had escaped the rubble, and came down to the surface to get her. She took off into the air, but he managed to grab her. Her arms were pinned, and he began to squeeze.

  "Perhaps I was wrong," he said. "Perhaps the power isn't in you at all, and that it only exists in that Red Orb. No matter, I will crush you now, and the Triad will never be able to stop me!" He squeezed tighter, and Lauren began to worry. But then a voice whispered in her ear.

  "Your heart beats with the flame of the Immortal Dragon," it said. "Let your rage ignite your spirit, and release the power within. Your bloodline will fuel the end of the Evil One, and bring justice to our brood. Finish what your enemies could not. Destroy him with the might of the dragon's spirit!"

  As she felt the energy within her, she remembered the incantation from before, the same incantation her family passed on from generation to generation...the unification of Power itself.

  By the Orb of Light,

  May Wisdom, Power, and Courage unite

  Under the power of Triad!

  Her entire body caught fire, and Olgus felt the burning sensation in his hands. He was forced to release his grip as the power exploded, and the flames burned red hot, turning her armor blood red, transforming Lauren into the Dragon Warrior. Before Olgus could react, Lauren let out a war-like scream as her sword split into two...the first engulfed in flame, the second in a blue glow of ice. Her body caught fire once again as she screamed, flying through his hand and into his chest. She slashed through him, slicing his heart and his organs with furious swipes of her brands, and exiting through his back. She landed on the ground, crossing her swords as they pointed to the ground. Olgus clutched his chest as he fell forward with a thud...followed by an explosion. At that point the energy left her, the swords became one again, and her human form fell to one knee. As she breathed heavily, she looked up at the sky.

  "All these years," she muttered, "all these years you taught me, grandmother. Now I understand the lessons you tried to teach me. Power is without reason, but when the spirit of righteousness is within you, the Good prevails." She breathes heavily. "I can control the rage...but the spirit within must always control my heart." She slowly got up and headed for her car. She attempted to contact Chrissy, but for some reason, all she got was static...

  Chapter 19 - No Contest

  * * *

  19

  "No Contest"

  Chrissy had just arrived at the annual Bloomsburg Fair, and was excited to get a taste of the great food and the sights of this year's fair. Once in, she wandered through the crowd, pausing for a moment only to buy herself an ice cream. As she made her way through the fair, eventually she came upon the carnival rides. She looked on at all the sights, as she heard workers in the stands shouting for customers to play their games. As she walked, one ride in particular caught her eye. She went in closer to see indeed, it was a moonwalker ride...an inflatable room the kids bounce around in. She laughed to herself, remembering her own childhood.
Something drew her closer though...and as she peered inside, an explosion overtook her, and it was as if she were pulled feet first into the inflatable. The air pressure quickly made her gasp and lose consciousness.