05: Watch Out For Giants!

Mason and Zelfire suffered a tragic loss, the death of their former master, the great and almighty Master Lang. But life must go on. Their crystal hunt continues…

Zelfire put Lang's body into a dug pit. He buried the body securely and stared at it sadly. "Goodbye...Master Lang..." His eyes got wet, but he tried not to cry.

Mason put his hand on his shoulder, comforting his best friend. "Zelfire...I'm sorry. I know what I say will not bring him back, but we'll get revenge. I miss him as much as you..."

Zelfire ignored him and walked away.

"Zelfire, look I know you're sad and angry, but let's not let your emotions get in our way! We have no time to waste. We have to get the last crystal, before Dark Spectre." Margrit said as if the death of Lang meant little.

"She's right. We're going, Zelfire. I understand if you don't want to come..."

"I'm coming."

So, they continued to their next destination. "Master Lang said the last crystal is in a coliseum or something..."

"He also said it is guarded by two giant guardians."

"Giants? I don't believe it." Zelfire said.

"I know it sounds absurd, but we can't ignore what he said." Suddenly, Mason could feel the ground shaking. Margrit and Zelfire felt it too.

"Do you feel that?"

"Yeah, it's a ground-quake!" Margrit said.

"You mean earthquake!" Mason corrected.

"We're not on earth!" she said.

"It's shaking even more!"

The ground they were standing on rapidly broke apart. The crack got bigger and bigger as the ground moved apart. The heroes were trying to stay on balance and not fall, but they could barely stand still. Moments later, the shaking stopped and everything was at peace again, sound and quiet.

"I think it's over." Zelfire sighed with relief.

Suddenly, a giant worm crawled up from the crack and went up high in the sky.

"W-What is that?!" Margrit said.

"It doesn't look too happy..."

The worm was a tall as several houses and as thick as a tunnel. Its five red eyes (with two rows, three on top and two on the bottom) glittered angrily. It also had a big mouth, its sharp teeth could cut a car. Its skin was made up of thick titanium scales. Drool dripped from his mouth, and it's looking at the heroes. They couldn't do anything but watch in amazement the giant worm, something none of them had ever seen, or imagined before.

"It's a sand worm." Margrit said.

"I think its hungry..." Mason replied, looking at the saliva from its mouth.

"I don't want to end up as worm-bait either, we gotta do something!" Margrit yelled.

The worm roared with its head in the air and grunted. Then it charged at them, and they jumped out of the way just in time. Now, it looked around, then chased after Margrit. She quickly charged some energy and made an attack, but she wasn't fast enough for the hungry giant. She jumped up high, avoiding being swallowed by it. Then it flexed its head and whacked Margrit on the ground. Seizing the chance, it coiled its body around her and squeezed her like squishing a bug.

"Margrit!!"

"She'll be crushed!" Zelfire said.

They quickly rushed to save her, but the ground cracked up again, and more worms pop out. Now, there were at least ten of them surrounding Zelfire and Mason, and one wrapped around Margrit.

"We gotta think fast, or Margrit's history!"

"You distract them, and I'll save her!"

Mason nodded with agreement and they prepared for the worse. Zelfire ran towards Margrit, dodging all the worm's attacks. Mason jumped up high, distracting them so they don't follow Zelfire. Zelfire finally went face to face with the worm that had Margrit trapped.

"Help me! Heeelp!"

He leaped and punched its face, but that only made it angrier. Mason charged energy and released it, killing one of the giant monsters. Suddenly, one of the worms opened its mouth wide and spit out a strange green liquid on the ground close to Mason's foot. The acid burned the ground, disintegrating it into smoke.

"Ahhhh! They can spit acid! Watch out Zelfire!"

"Ok!" Zelfire charged an energy ball and shot it right into the worm's mouth. It exploded the second it touched the ball and left its guts all over the place. Margrit was okay (thank goodness) with only minor scratches.

"Guys, I can use some help here..."

The worms waited to make their move while Zelfire and Margrit joined Mason. "Alright, let's do it together!" Mason said, suggesting they attack together.

"Right!" Margrit and Zelfire shouted together.

So, all three of them powered up and fired their beams at the same time. The power was enormous and destroyed all worms in sight instantly.

"Whew! I thought we were worm food for good!" Zelfire said. The ground shook again, and more worms popped out! Zelfire was totally overwhelmed. "More! Let's get outta here!"

"Good idea!" Mason said.

So, the heroes quickly flew out of the reach of the gigantic worms before they could attack again.

Meanwhile, inside Dark's ship...

Dark Spectre sat on his mobile chair, fingers closed into fists. "I have discovered the location of the last crystal."

"Last? Isn't there two more?" Kano asked, a bit confused.

"One was taken by Blaze. He took it from a beggar."

"That's terrible!"

"Yes, but I must get my hands on the last one, then I'll take care of Blaze."

"Where is the last energy crystal?"

"Somewhere inside the ancient coliseum. You know what to do."

"Yeah, you can count on me!" Kano said happily.

The heroes continued traveling to their destination, until Margrit made a wise suggestion. "Let's go back to our ship and get the T-boards. We can save some energy without flying." she said.

Zelfire: "That's a great idea. I think the ship is not far from here."

"We don't even have to get there. Just wait." She rolled up her sleeve and pressed a button on her arm pad, and minutes later, three T-boards flew at them and stopped.

"Oh, those things again." Mason remembered using one of those things back at the colony. He and Margrit were traveling on the T-boards to get to Kano. "Wow Margrit. You must have known we would need them so you put some in your ship just in case."

"You read my mind! C'mon, let's go! We don't have much time to waste."

So, they got on their boards and surfed the air to the coliseum. On their way, they will once again have to go through another obstacle before they can attain the last crystal.

"Look! It's the coliseum!" Mason said, pointing.

"We made it at last."

They landed their boards on the ground and walked closer to it. At the main entrance was a gigantic door blocking their way inside the building.

"So how do we get in?" Margrit asked.

"We'll do it our way..." He charged energy and began to fire, suddenly the door opened and fell apart. Zelfire stopped with confusion. They could hear a low sound, foot steps from a distance. The sound got louder and louder...it's definitely not a human foot, it's much louder, like the sound of an earthquake (or ground-quake, according to Margarita). The ground shuddered violently with each step, it got closer and louder...

"What is it?!"

"It's a giant! It must be the one Master Lang told us about..." Margrit said in alarm.

A huge dark shadow appeared and covered them. A gigantic monster walked out and stared at them. It was even bigger than the worms, its body was as tall as a building. It has huge horns on its head, with huge, evil eyes, razor-sharp teeth, and a nose. It has three fingers and three toes that can crush a whole bus. It skin was a tough as titanium alloy and its breath can blow a whole town away. Mason and his allies stared at the creature dumbfounded, scared and not knowing what to do next. Mancubus roared loudly and angrily, so loud that they can feel the sound shaking through their bodies.

The heroes were dumbfounded as they witness this giant roaring in front of them. How will they beat this one?