Part 4: To Rescue A Spade

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The group managed to make it into the mines through a running spree, forced by Charlie, and made it to the spot where Jack remembered them being together last time.

"This was where he left his pickaxe...we didn't go farther because it would've been out of camp bounds. At first, I thought he wouldn't go inside since he left it there, but he's nowhere here...Charlie, are you sure he's in here?"

"My third eye doesn't lie! He's in here somewhere, I can feel it! Even if it took me a while to get it under my control..." she muttered the last part to herself.

"Well, guess we've no choice but to move on..." Jack shrugged.

"H-Hold on!" Ace stops him and looks at Charlie with a tinge of fear in his eyes. "C-Charlie...weren't we here before??? W-We got attacked by a monster when we were on the search for a magic stone!"

"Hey, guys." Leona whistled for the group as he stopped by a nearby hole in the wall, just big enough for a boulder to squeeze through. "I found something."

"A magic stone??" Ruggie guessed.

"Not even close. Look in here. I found something pretty unusual." the lion gestured. Everyone peeked from the edges to peer down the hole.

"Wh-What the-? A cauldron?!" Sebek's jaw dropped. "Why would something like that be in here?!"

True to his word, in the hole was a familiar black cauldron and from it peeped a voice. "Sebek? That you??" From the rim, Deuce popped up and climbed out when his eyes landed on the group. His eyes lightened up. "I knew it! And you brought the others. C-Charlie! Sol! Grim! You're here as well?! WHY?!"

"We were gonna ask you the same thing!" Charlie butted in before Jack could speak. "We were on a search mission for you!!"

"And you still look fit and well!! Why didn't you come back?!" Grim followed, mad.

"You were napping in that godforsaken cauldron this whole time?? Jeez, man..." Ace sighed, but Deuce shushed them frantically.

"SHHHHH!! Don't make a sound!!" Confusion swept all their faces but Sebek wasn't pleased.

"WE CAME TO RESCUE YOU! BE GRATEFUL, YOU INSOLENT-!"

"Sebek, you too!!" Deuce shushed him. "Keep shouting like that, You're gonna attract-!" but the sounds of shuffling were made out and Deuce paled. "Crap!! It found us!!"

"What? What found us?" Sol whispered, even if she had a feeling what it may be as much as Charlie did. The Seer though was breathing frantically at the terrifying thought of-

"Something's coming!!" Ruggie whisper-shouted.

"The stone....is mine...." Charlie's face grew terrified, flashbacks of the night here way before flooded her mind.

"What the hell...?!"

Grim shrieked as an all too familiar figure slumped from the shadows and into the light.

"That's the monster Deuce told me about!!" Jack shouted.

"But this one's different than what we encountered before!" Charlie defends, taking note of the differences between the new monster and the one she and the guys fought. "It must;ve been hiding when we were looking!!" Suddenly, the monster's eyes landed on Charlie and he grew angered.

"Luchessi....murderer!!!"

"HUH?! Murderer?!" Sebek was flabergasted. "Luchessi, what is the meaning of this?!"

"There's no time for that!!He's blocking the only way out so we need to fight it!" Deuce says.

"HUH?! You can't be serious, man!!" Ace shook his head in disbelief.

"He's right. It ain't over. After that scolding from Vargas, I need to get all my anger out." Leona agreed.

"As do I~!" Floyd smiled. "I'm gonna go for blood since sharkshucker swindled me...."

"Are you guys insane?! This creature's too strong!" Ace looked at them.

"Nah, this should be child's play." Leona brushed off.

"And since I summoned that cauldron as my only form of protection, if I keep using magic, I may...." Deuce muttered incoherently

"It's alright Deuce. We found you, so we'll defend you." Sol assured.

"Besides, I said I was gonna help, no?" Leona reminds. "But if you're still worried...Ruggie, raise your arms over your head and jump."

"Uh, Leona~? Why are you asking me something ridiculous~?"

"Just do it or you're getting a knuckle sandwich." Leona leered down at him, putting pressure on the hyena. Ruggie tried to hold it but gave into the pressure and relented. He raised his arms up and jumped three times until something clattered out of his pocket.

"It's another magic stone!" Sol swiped it.

"YOU RAT BASTARD!!" Sebek roared and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt, hauled him into the air. "I can't believe you still decide to go with this scheme even in situations like this!!"

"And it's much bigger than the ones we had..." Jack points out.

"No! Leona!!" Ruggie growled, turning to his superior. "You went against me!!"

"Lil Sharksucker's too greedy...I've lost all respect for him at this point...." Floyd frowned. "But at least he's a worthy opponent on greed terms with Azul for one. But now that we've got the stone, this monster's as good a dead." Immediately, the monster's gaze drifted to the stone in Sol's hand.

"Ugh, at this rate, there's no point in fighting for it back...you won't get anywhere near it!!" Ruggie yanked himself away from Sebek and snatched the stone from Sol and guarded it.

"That's miiine!!"

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Suddenly, a sharp force had kicked it's head from the side and sent it slamming into the wall. Charlie, having donned her Guardian Form from the day of the VDC, had leapt onto the wall beside her and propelled herself forward and kick the monster with her Percussive Strike attack in the blink of an eye. She landed on the ground Gracefully and smirked at the other's completely speechless faces and mocked them with, "You're Welcome! Be honest: it's getting annoying with that 'stone is mine' shit constantly!" However, the monster had other plans and lurching itself away from the wall, sped towards Charlie, hands outstretched and speeding towards her, but Ruggie tackled her, pushing them both away before the monster could grab her. Leona hit it from behind with a water bolt, dealing some damage to it, taunting,

"Oi. She's not the only opponent you gotta deal with!" The monster lurched around and began to cast blot darts toward them, but with Floyd's assistance, the bolts ritoched back at the behemoth. With it being distracted, Charlie had flown up over it and sent a powerful Heel Drop Kick right on it's head, squashing it to the ground.

"Jeez, Charlie's gotten stronger..." Ace paled.

"This one's much more different than the one we encountered like last time..." Deuce agreed.

"But she and the others can handle it like nothing!" Jack finished.

"That all you got? Weak!" Leona scoffed. "Oi, Ruggie, you tappin out?"

"No! I'm fine, thank you!" he rebuffed.

"Leona's already in his own league and Ruggie saved Charlie before the monster could grab either one of them!"

"They won't be given.....mine....give me Luchessi...!" the monster growled.

"Ugh, this is annoying, dealing with this shit..." Floyd groaned. "But I'm not one to surrender. And if you dare lay a hand on my little Sea Star...i'Ll MaKe YOu PaY!" he threw a wind spell towards it only to follow with a strong physical strike towards the body, sending it scooting back. This made the first years, minus Sebek, pale in fear.

"Remind me not to make Floyd angry ever again..." Ace shook.

"This is no time to gawk! We need to help them! Weak humans, get back if you don't want to get injured!" Sebek steps forward. "I'll handle this myself!"

"Last I heard, you don't make the rules!" Ace taunted with a smirk.

"He's right. This is not like the time before!" Deuce reminds himself. "Let's go!"

But the monster, let out an abominable roar and blasted away the guys with one powerful strike. The guys screamed as they all went airborne at the attack and Charlie, protected by Sol, nearly hit the ground.

"What the hell?!" Sebek boomed. "How did it get so strong?!"

"LUCHESSI...!!" the monster screeched. "Murdereeeeeer!!"

"Why does it keep saying that?!"

"Because I killed the monster when me and the guys were last here! It must've known I did it since my magic is the same!" Charlie explained.

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'I've no other choice. I have to fight it myself.' she decided and ran after it.

"Charlie, no!!" Grim cried. The monster threw its arms down, but she dodged it and using its head as a step, leapt up and onto one of the support beams on the ceiling. But the monster, with the axe, swung up and tried to hit her, but she flew off in time and used the same technique when she dislocated a student's shoulder with a leg kick. The monster roared in pain as she leapt off and backflipped away, regaining her ground.

But it seemed this new foe had tricks up its sleeve as it dropped the lantern it was holding and from its hand, it grew long blot-like chains, the tips forming sharp claws. "This is new..." Charlie looked on with some anxiousness.

"Look out!" Jack cried as the monster began it's new attack, throwing all five at once, but Charlie evaded them in time as they struck the ground she stood at every second. The first few that retracted followed her, but she was quick to slip by them enough. The monster threw them a second time, so Charlie switched tactics. She ran forward, evading the chains, tumbling and rolling, as she leapt forward, screaming her warcry as she power-kicked it away, sending it crashing into the wall as debris and rock tumbled down over it, burying it alive. She stumbled as she landed, grabbing her leg as she winced. She looked down to see that one of the chains had managed to cut her left thigh, the fabric of her striped stocking was ripped as a prominent gash was shown, bleeding profusely.

"Charlie!" Deuce ran towards her, kneeling beside her, analyzing her wound. But he didn't get far as the monster burst forth from the rubble, shooting the chained spikes towards the both of them.

"Deuce, look out!" Charlie grabbed him and jumped back before any of the spikes could impale them. They stumbled as they flew back but after regaining their footing, they breathed quite heavily.

"Geez, it's like it's anger is making it stronger!" Deuce panted. "But never mind that, here!" He rips off the bottom hem of his pant leg of his PE clothes and using the thick strip torn off, he wraps it over her gash as a makeshift gauze cloth and knots it firmly to ensure it would stop the bleeding temporarily.

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"You can't take this thing down on your own." Leona reminds her.

"You don't think I know that?!" she snaps back. "There's only a method to taking it down. And I'm gonna need everyone's help. On my signal, blast that son of a bitch with everything you've got! All of you!"

"But what about you?!" Ace demands.

"Don't worry. That sucker is mine to finish." she assured. "Hey, Beasty!" she sang, catching the monster's attention. "Come and get me!" She taunted and ran towards him once more.

"Again with the running at him?! That won't help you!!" Ace groaned. But to Ace's surprise, however, she had grabbed a handful of dust and using a small smoke potion she had with her on hand from alchemy class, smashed the tube, and fused with the sand to blind the creature. It roared in pain as she jumped up and propels herself up and over the monster, twisting her body like a drill as she screamed, "NOW!!" All at once, the team had blasted rays of fire, water, wind and even earth towards it. The monster tried to bat away their attacks, not noticing Charlie behind him. Quickly, she clutched the stone taken from Ruggie and whispered a spell onto it and, it changed color for a spilt second before reverting back to how it looked normally. She ran towards the monster and charging towards it, fast and silently, she reeled her hand back, the stone in her hand and plunged her hand into the monster's back.

The mosnter felt a pain blossom behind its back as Charlie wrenched her hands inside it's chest, until she felt a huge clot of blot in the center of its chest and smiling sadistically, ripped it out as some splatters splashed on her face. The monster convulsed in pain as it's stomach began to light up, only adding more pain to its squirming body. It fell to the ground, crying out in pain, but Charile stood over it, malice laced in her eyes.

"You want the stone...? You can HAVE it!" she snarled as the light from the monster spread throughout its body as its cries of pain grew more and more suffering. She stayed where she was, watching as the monster, crumpled on the ground, screamed as the light bared more and more, bright as when she destroyed the first creature who tried to kill her. The others watched in horror, morbid fascination and fear as the monster suddenly began to swell like a balloon, stretching its skin further and further to the point of blowing up.

"Crap! He's gonna blow!!" Deuce shouts as everyone fell to the floor for cover. And just like that, the monster exploded. The stone inside its chest had ripped its skin, and tore through its body as if it were paper, some splatters of ink had splattered against the walls and ground while the rest had vanished into nothingness. The screaming died down, and all was silent.

No one moved for a while, til Ruggie broke the silence as he looked up meekly and towards the remains of the monster and Charlie. "Is it...over?"

"...Guess so." Leona nods, a little caught off by what just happened. Everyone got up silently and tersely. Charlie was heaving as if she ran a mile, looking at the carnage she caused.

"...Yea, I think I'm gonna have nightmares..." Ace whimpered as he scooted away from Charlie and the remains of the monster's body.

"Man that was awful...." Ruggie sighed, running a hand through his hair. "But...is everyone else alright?"

"As if I'd lose to an unknown creature such as that!" Sebek waved it off.

"But why'd it end so suddenly?" Floyd asked, still unsatisfied with how the aftermath of the fight turned out.

"At least we can get out of the tunnel now...." Deuce sighed, as he approached Charlie. Standing beside her, she shook her head, not looking away from the mess, telling him to let her talk first.

"Tell us....tell us what happened." she swallowed, her throat feeling dry.

"It appeared from the shadows when I went to go grab my pickaxe...So I ducked into a nearby hole when it managed to lose sight of it, and cast a cauldron to stay out of sight. Now I think I'm gonna pass out...." he leaned against her, feeling dizzy as Charlie managed to catch him, snapping from her staring suptor. She lowered him carefully to the ground, placing his head in her lap.

"Oi! Is he okay?!" Ace ran towards them both, Jack following, as they kneeled beside her.

"He must've been hiding in the cauldron for so long, it took a toll on him...." Jack guessed. Suddenly, a growl from his stomach sounded and Grim couldn't help but laugh.

"Nyahaha! His stomach growled just now!!"

"Of course it would! I didn't eat anything since yesterday!" Deuce scoffed as Charlie placed a hand on his head to calm him down. He looked away with a shy blush as she did so.

"Eh, that sucks. But....we're glad to see you're okay." Ace muttered.

"Yea. If we left without you, guess we couldn't forgive ourselves...." Jack agreed.

"I can nurse you back to health when we get back to campus." Charlie offered with a motherly smile and Deuce looks up at her, gratefully.

"Thank you. All of you."

However, in the center, between the two groups, the puddle quivered as something began to rise out of it forming a mound of black goo.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" Grim points it out and everyone stayed on guard as they prepared to strike again if the monster came back, but nothing occured. Then, the blob started speaking,

"You think you're strong, don't you Luchessi? But you don't know what you're up against. There's more secrets to this world than you believe. If you keep pushing for answers, you'll meet a fate worse beyond imagination. And this will be the last thing you see!" It formed a looking glass of sorts and it showed Charlie, standing in the center of a ring of fire, the flames creeping closer to her, growing higher over her head as she clawed at her hair and let a scream of pure fright leave her lips as the flames engulfed her, swallowing her in their wake. The blob falls back into the puddle as Charlie looks at it, her own petrified reflection staring back at her. Deuce and Jack shared her feeling of immense fear as Ace snarked,

"Pfft! Good luck sleeping tonight!"

"...Let's just get outta here before we get yelled at." Leona sighed, a little taken aback by what he had just seen.

"H-He's right!" Sebek frets. "Thsi mission will go down the drain if we don't get back now!"

"Uh, sharksucker, you okay?" Floyd looks over at Ruggie's pouty face. "What, you don't wanna go back~? Sad the camp's over~?"

"Well, you're right about me not going back...at least not without a few stones!!"

"You're gonna get disbanded and you can kiss the reward goodbye." Jack reminds.

"To hell with the club getting disbanded!" Ruggie snapped back. "I'm gonna dig for as many stones in here til my nails get dirt caked underneath!! Hello, moolah!"

"Geez, he really sees greed over all else?!" Ace can't believe his ears.

"And he said 'to hell with the club being disbanded'....what an ass...." Deuce sighed as he got helped up by Charlie and Sol.

"What selfishness! I've lost all respect for him officially!" Sebek huffed. "We are going back, whether you want to or not!" Sebek stomped towards Ruggie and held the hyena back by his arms and started to drag him towards the entrance, but Ruggie struggled to break free from the soldier's iron grip.