The Tribunal [ C ] The Judgment

Terry walked along the river bank until he sensed Margarita and Zelfire's presence. They were not far away. Only a short way to go before finding the Tribunal and saving his friends.

Margarita, Zelfire, and Loraine's father were chained onto the round platform, which was actually floating in the middle of the pit. Harold was afraid of heights, not to mention monsters, so he was sweating like an oven.

Margarita examined the large room. Three judges in black sitting next to one another, troops at the edge of the pit, and a statue standing in front of them. "So this is the Tribunal? And I had high expectations."

Zelfire: "Quiet. They're about to begin."

Guardian: "Holy judges of the Tribunal, I give you three people who dared to defy us."

The judges murmured to each other, and some reaction from the troops.

"Harold Spears tried to escape from the village, but our forces caught him in time. And these two outsiders have started a fight with our soldiers."

Margrit: "That's right! And what you going to do about it?"

"Silence!" the statue said angrily. "How dare you show such disrespect to us?" He turned to face the judges. "So the, have the judges made a verdict?"

The heroes waited in silence. Harold continued to sweat.

The judges gave each other a glance, then faced the defendants. "Not guilty." the judge in the middle stated.

The platform ring turned sideways and the defendants fell into the pit.

Their fall was cushioned by a pile of soil that felt like mud.

Margrit: "If we're innocent, then we get thrown into the pit. What if we're guilty?"

Zelfire: "I say, either way it's death!"

Harold: "Oh no, this is the underground complex. We'll never get out of here...alive."

Margrit: "There must be a way out..."

Zelfire: "It's a maze without a finish point. The only way is to go back from where we fell, but flying is impossible now."

Margrit: "Then we'll wait here until our strength comes back."

Harold: "Are you crazy? That monster might come and kill us!"

Speaking of monsters, they heard footsteps approaching, and drooling. All of them were alert.

"This way!" Zelfire said, heading into one of the paths.

"Wait for me!" He followed. He stepped on a skull, cracking it. "Ahhhh!"

Skeletons were everywhere. These must have been previous victims of the Tribunal.

Margrit: "Maybe we can take the monster head on."

Zelfire stopped. "Are you crazy? Not in our condition."

It was too late to choose. The lion creature growled and roared madly.

Harold: "This...this is the monster???"

Wonqu took a step forward. The heroes stepped back.

Zelfire: "Don't come near us...I'm warning you...."

Terry busted the door down, entering the pit room. "Alright, where are they?" he demanded. Everybody ran at him and attacked. He got pass the troops and stopped in front of the judges.

The middle judge looked at him with a blank expression. The other two followed.

Terry: "Where's Zelfire, Margarita, and the rest? Where did you put them, huh?"

Guardian rammed his shoulder against Terry, shoving him onto the floor. Terry bounced back up, stepped back, and waited to respond. Guardian ran forward, Terry punched, Guardian uppercut him, knocking him into the pit.

Margrit: "Back off!"

Wonqu snarled and stared at them with threatening eyes. Suddenly, he leaped at Margrit, who held his jaws from opening. The monster struggled to get his mouth free. Zelfire grabbed its hind legs, but Wonqu shook him loose and kicked him. Margrit lost control and almost fell. Wonqu dives his teeth at her, but Margrit evaded, resulting in him biting the wall.

Zelfire: "Hey you! Over here!"

Wonqu turned its head, then its whole body. Harold was motionless with fear. Margrit joined them. Zelfire blasted a beam at the monster. Wonqu opened its mouth and swallowed it.

Zelfire was shocked. "No way!"

Wonqu opened its mouth again, and breathed a ball of fire. The heroes ran for cover. The fire spread after them, then died out.

Wonqu approached, and roared. The heroes took a step back. Wonqu spit fire at them, and they ran as fast as they could.

Harold: "We're going to fry! We're goners!"

When the fire died out, Margrit was pissed. She picked up a chain from the ground and held it in front of her. "Come on..."

When the fired disappeared, revealing Wonqu, Margrit ran and then jumped, landing on top of it. She quickly put the chain in his mouth and pulled. The lion roared and jumped up and down hoping to shake her loose. She held on to the chains tightly.

"Do something!!" she yelled, signaling Zelfire to do something instead of watching.

He punched its face, which felt like iron. "Ow."

Wonqu shrieked. He shook up and down, and Margrit was tossed away. She landed hard. It spit fire at Zelfire, who in respond formed a shield in front of him to stop the flames. The flames pushed him back, advancing each second.

Margrit: "Hey you, over here!"

Wonqu looked at her.

"Take this!" She threw an Energy Bomb right into his mouth, which exploded, blowing up its head instantly, then its body.

Zelfire: "Good job."

Margrit: "I think our powers has come back."

Harold: "You're incredible! You destroyed the lion monster! I can't believe it!"

Terry: "Hey guys. What are you doing down here?"

Margrit: "Terry!"

Harold: "How did you get here?"

Terry: "It's a long story. Now let's get out of this stinking place."

Zelfire: "I was thinking the same thing."

So they flew back up the pit, with Zelfire carrying Joneses.

Guardian: "What? But how? Wonqu should have killed you."

Margrit: "Let's just say he won't be able to kill anyone anymore."

Guardian: "This is an outrage!"

Terry: "Tell me about it. You're the outrage. You people have been throwing innocent lives into the pit to have them killed by your 'pet.' You've terrorized the village for years, and now it's time to end your reign of terror. You hear me, Tribunal?"

Harold: "You demons will rot in hell!"

Judge B: "Foolish young man. Do you know what you are doing? We have been ruling this place before your parents were born. And all of a sudden you barge in here with demands?"

Terry: "It's because you've been here way too long that everybody fears you. Well, guess what? Fear doesn't work anymore."

Judge A: "By the name of the Tribunal, you shall perish! Destroy him, Guardian."

Guardian: "As you wish."

The heroes landed on the floor.

Like before, Guardian charged at Terry. Terry charged at him and they hit each other. Then he punched Guardian in the face, then kicked him into the pit.

Terry: "Can you go find Loraine? She must be in one of the cells."

Harold left at once.

All the judges folded their hands and started chanting. The heroes received major headaches and all their muscles seemed to freeze. They collapsed on their knees and hands. The floor turned into some sort of holy circle, with the heroes in the middle. Everything around them was dark, and the circle flashed a bright light that hurt their eyes.

Terry: "Ahhh, I won't lose..."

Zelfire: "My head...."

The judges continued chanting.

Harold and Loraine saw each other. "Loraine!"

"Father!"

They hugged.

Joneses: "Welcome back, Harold. I'm just glad you're alive."

Terry was still on the floor. He slowly got up, gathering every once of strength he had left, and managed to form an energy ball. He threw it at the middle judge, and it only distorted the judge's bodies.

Judge A: "It will not work, mortal."

He continued chanting. Suddenly, they stopped.

Judge C: "You will soon suffer the same fate as the others who broke our laws."

The heroes kept firing energy balls at the judges. But nothing was working. They continued to suffer with headaches and body aches.

Loraine, Harold, and Joneses showed up.

"Everyone!" Loraine yelled, running forward.

"No!" Harold stopped his daughter. "It's too dangerous."

"But…they are the ones who saved me."

Judge C: "What is happening?"

He was sinking into the ground.

Soon the other judges realized the same thing.

"They're sinking?" Margrit asked.

The judges struggled to stay on the surface, but their efforts were futile. It seemed as though hell was trying to pull them in. The souls of their past victims were drawing them in. They sank lower and lower, and screamed like no one has screamed before.

The heroes just watched in sheer surprise.

Soon enough, the judges' entire bodies sank. Only a hand was left, and then nothing.

The holy circle flashed, and suddenly souls escaped into the air. The heroes backed up, not wanting to be in the middle of it. All the souls have disappeared and the circle vanished.

Zelfire: "What was that about?"

Terry: "Don't ask."

The other three came to join them. "Mr. Spade, Mrs. Margarita and Mr. Lang!" Loraine yelled happily.

Margarita: "Well, it looks like the Tribunal took care of itself."

Loraine: "Yeah. Oh by the way, this is my father."

Harold: "Pleased to meet you."

Zelfire: "You're Loraine's father?!"

Harold: "Yes. Thank you for taking care of her in your dimension. Hopefully she wasn't too much trouble to handle."

Loraine: "Dad…"

Margrit: "No, no trouble at all."

And they all laughed.

Mason and Zelfire stood at the very edge of the cliff. The very same cliff with Loraine jumped off at the beginning. Margarita grabbed Loraine's shoulders. "You take care of yourself now."

"I will." Loraine replied. "Will I ever see you again?"

"If fate permits." she replied. Then she went to Mason and Zelfire.

Harold: "Thank you for everything, strangers. We'll never forget you!" He waved energetically, as did Loraine.

The three jumped off the cliff, and entered the portal.

Loraine kept on waving. "Goodbye!!" There were tears in her eyes, but she had a wide happy smile.

End.