Slave of the Phantoms

''' WARNING: This story contains some blood. '''

Feel free to fix any spelling mistakes, but other than that please do not edit this story.

If you see any grammar mistakes, please tell me in the comments.

If you see any mistakes, please tell me in the comments so I can fix them!

I love it when you comment, so please do! Thank you!

Chapter 1: Captured
Star gathered her things, getting ready to leave her cottage. The wood of her little cottage was rotting much faster, and the smell of phantom goop was everywhere. The air was heavy with phantom smog, and Star could tell they were getting nearer.

Star grabbed her trusty stone sword and her bow. She could hear the phantoms outside her cottage. Star ran to her bedroom, grabbed her arrows and rushed out the back door... but she was too late.

The phantoms had surrounded her cottage, some had armor and a few held maces, all ready to attack her.

Star swung her stone sword at the phantoms with all her might. Bulky phantoms swung their maces at her, luckily she dodged, but her sword was crushed.

Star ran into her cottage and hid behind a lump of withered wood. She grabbed her bow and fit an arrow to the bowstring, ready to fire.

Suddenly she felt the slimy tentacle of a phantom grab her by the neck.

"You're not escaping that quickly".

Chapter 2: The Cells
Star woke up inside a purple metal cell. It was a medium sized cell, with three solid metal walls and a barred door.

It had a toilet, a sink, a desk, a bed and small windows on two walls of the cell. A large phantom was at the door of her cell.

He was a dark purple phantom with thick armor and a huge phantom spear that was covered in spikes.

"Hello, I am General Arim, and I believe you are Star?" the phantom replied.

"Um, yes.. but how did you know?"

"One of my slaves informed me you had built your cottage near one of my camps. And now that I have seen some of your skills... I think you will be very useful to me".

Star shuddered. This was definitely a powerful phantom, and she couldn't imagine what he meant by that."Anyway, here are some of the main rules" Arim handed her a sheet of paper through the bars.

"I'm going to put you into slavery, so on the back of that paper is your jobs you have to do for today. And if you have any questions, your neighbors can help."

Star watched as Arim floated away, and something felt familiar about him... but she wasn't sure what.

She looked back at the sheet of paper. The rules were... Star looked at the sloppy writing again. Those are some dumb rules. She thought.
 * 1) WHen a phaNtom guard tels yuo orders, yuo do it and gards hav spearS
 * 2) dO not EScape
 * 3) do WHATEVER generAL Erim Arim say and be polite too him  andhe has larGe purple speer with spIKes
 * 4) JaMers that do not obey will be punishd
 * 5) noo cOMplaining or arguING AT Guards

As she was reading the paper, four strange animals came by. They were either gray or black with shades of purple on their fur. Their eyes were pale and their fur looked slimy and torn.

"What is wrong with those animals?" She asked one of her neighbors.

"The phantoms call them 'the unknown'. They are animals that have either been infected with phantom blood or have been taken by the phantoms." She replied. "What do you mean 'taken by the phantoms'?" Star asked.

"They have been trapped in the cages for so long working for the phantoms that they.. become one themself."

Star looked at the eagle. "Whats your name?" Star asked.

"Mari. And your name is Star?" She said.

"Yes. Well, nice to meet you." Star responded.

Chapter 3: Put To work
Star looked up from her bed to see a guard at the door.

"Its time for work, Star" he said. The guard unlocked the cell and opened it. Just like General Arim, the guard had a spear, but it was shorter and wasn't as spikey.

The guard led Star through many tunnels and rooms, a few of them had cells but they were all dripping with phantom goop. They arrived at a huge outdoor factory with thousands of pipes and machines everywhere.

The guard pushed Star into a room built on to one of the huge machines. She saw many animals grabbing giant bags and climbing to the top of the huge machine, dropping the bags inside.

Star looked at the two rusting ladders and back to the phantoms surrounding the entrance to the room.

"Grab one of those bags and bring it to the top of that machine, drop it into the giant hole then climb the other ladder back here. If you refuse to work, you will be punished." The guard said to her.

Star cautiously walked to the pile of bags and grabbed one by the string. She walked to the ladder and slowly began to climb it. Bits of rust and metal crumbled under her paws as she crawled the ladder, the bag weighing her down.

Star could barely hold the bag up, she was sure she would fall. The thin metal bars were bending under her weight, and every step it was harder to climb. Star clutched the ladder with all her might and pulled herself to the top.

There was a huge hole surrounded by machinery, but there was no space on the edge of the hole to rest. Star hung on the ladder and threw the bag into the hole, then sidestepped onto the other ladder.

Star slowly climbed down the ladder, making sure she wasn't too close to the fox that was climbing down underneath her. The metal bars of the ladder were even thinner here, bending down terribly under her paws. Clumps of rust and metal fell with almost every step.

Star froze when she heard a loud creaking under her paw. The bar she was standing on was bent, and it just kept bending until it snapped with a loud crack. Star lost her footing and was left with her hind legs dangling.

Star clutched the bars with all her might, pulling herself up. As she reached the unbroken parts of the ladder, she saw the broken bar of the ladder fall down right on the fox that had been climbing down.

Star watched in horror as the fox fell off the ladder and fell all the way down to the ground. Star finished climbing down the ladder and stared at the limp fox's twisted and bloody body. A large male fox ran at Star.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER! HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A THING TO HER! SHE WAS MY ONLY ONE, MY ONLY FRIEND AND YOU KILLED HER!"

Star felt horrible, she would never do such a thing! "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean it!"

The male fox bared his teeth and lunged at her. Just before he made contact, one of the phantom guards stabbed him in the leg with a spear.

"Get back to work!" The phantom ordered. The fox quit talking and limped away.

The phantom slapped Star's face. "You get back to work too!" Star went back to her work, a terrible feeling in her heart.

Chapter 4: The Creature
Star lay in her cell, looking at the empty cell next to her.

To her right was the cell with the eagle named Mari, and to her left was the empty cell. Star saw tons of phantoms looking for cells to put new slaves, but they never used that specific cell.

Inside was a bowl of water, a ripped bed and a bowl. If there even was a toilet, it probably was in the covered part of the cell.

Star lay in her bed, staring at that empty cell. It was always empty. It never changed. It was never used. It wasn't a cell, it was a cage. It was a cage for a beast.

Star focused on those thoughts, repeating them over and over in her head. Ever since she had started work, she tried to forget the incident with the fox.

Star woke up in the middle of the night. Most of the phantom guards had dozed off or fallen asleep, but they would wake easily. Star relaxed. It was the first time it had been quiet and peaceful since she was captured. As Star started to fall asleep, she heard growling.

It was coming from the empty cell. A low growling sound was coming from the darkness of the cell. Star looked closer, and she could see yellow eyes.

She could barely see the dark shape of the creature. She could see its deadly black claws, white teeth, and a spiked tail swinging back and forth.

Star leaped back as the beast lunged at the cell bars, quickly slinking back into the shadows. She saw huge dents in the thick bars where the beast had bit it.

Star shivered. She would never sleep knowing this beast was right next to her, always watching her. She could see the faint shape of the creature pacing around the shadows of the cell.

Star lay back down in her bed, watching the yellow eyes as they moved around the cell.

But no matter where it moved, it was always looking at her.

Chapter 5: Thoughts
Star woke up to the loud noise of hammers hitting metal.

She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep with the beasts eyes watching her all night. The yellow eyes were gone now, and she couldn't see the dark shape of the creatures body in the cell.

Star looked at Mari. "Did you know there is a beast in the cell to my left?" Star asked Mari.

"Yes." Mari replied.

"Do you know what it is?" Star said. "Its a creature that the phantoms created, they combined a wolf, a lemur, a crocodile and a phantom. After the experiment was finished, the creature betrayed them so they had to lock it in that cell. Ever since then they have called it the Shadow Killer." Mari explained.

"Woah... that sounds.. terrible." Star replied.

"Its not the only experiment they have done using animals as test subjects. It really is terrible." Mari said sadly.

Just as Star was going to get a drink, a phantom guard came to her cell.

"Time for work." He said in his gruff voice.

Star got up and followed the guard. They went to the factory and followed a path to a big machine. The machine had huge pipes, tubes and pumps, and a thick cloud of steam billowed from a giant tube.

On one side of the machine was a giant wheel, and tons of animals were struggling to turn the wheel.

The guard pushed Star over to the wheel and told her to turn the giant wheel along with the other animals.

Star slowly turned the wheel, many thoughts swirling in her mind. She thought about Arim and Mari.

Something about them was very familiar, but she had no idea what. How are an eagle and a phantom related?

Star continued to spin these thoughts around in her mind, spelling their names differently, changing their colors and twisting their body parts around in her mind.

''Mari, Iram, Amir, Riam, Arim, MIRA. ''Star twisted the letters around in her mind again, and again.

''Mari, Arim and Mira all have the same letters! What does this mean?! Mari is hiding something very important from me. I need to know what this all means! ''Star thought.

Star was so consumed in her thoughts she didn't realize that she had stopped turning the wheel and made the entire wheel stop. Star woke up from her thoughts and realized what had happened.

A gruff phantom guard walked up to her.

"What exactly are you DOING?!" He yelled.

"I'm so sorry! I was lost in my thoughts and forgot what I was doing-"

"WELL YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO LAZE OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF WORK! You over there! get over here!"

The guard pointed to a large wolf at the back of the wheel, and he walked up to the guard nervously.

"Punish this arctic wolf." The guard ordered the wolf. The wolf walked up to Star and bit her shoulder, hard.

Star shrieked in pain as blood dripped from the deep wound. The wolf pushed Star to the ground and finally let go.Star howled in pain and clutched the wound.

"Be quiet and get back to work!" The guard slapped Star's face and pulled her to her feet.

Star tried to be quiet as she continued to turn the giant wheel. It was much with a deep wound in her shoulder, but she managed to get past work for the day.

When her chores where done, Star was exhausted. She had extra work because she had stopped the giant wheel, and her wound hadn't settled very good.

Star lay in her cell, staring the cell where the 'Shadow Killer' was. Mari wasn't in her cell at the time, but when she came back, Star was going to have a serious conversation with her.

Something very important is going on, and no one was telling Star.

But she was going to find out.

Chapter 6: Transformed
Star sat peacefully in her cell, waiting for Mari to come.

She decided to go to sleep because it was taking to long. As star lay down in her bed, she heard a bloodcurdling scream. In the middle of the room, one of the Unknown had dropped to the floor and was twisting around in pain.

Star stared in horror as the Unknown's back split open and a slimy tentacle sprouted out. More tentacles began to grow all over its body.

The Unknown let out another bloodcurdling scream as the lower half of its body dissolved into thin air. The Unknown's body rounded in shape, its front legs dissolved and were replaced by more tentacles.

The Unknown screamed its last, as a slimy black film covered its face. Star continued to watch in horror as the Unknown fully turned into a phantom, a huge white eye forming on its face.

It slowly lifted itself off the ground, hovering there.

Star shoved her face in her pillow. She had to face the fact that someday that was going to happen to her.

''I need to escape... and when I do, I will come back here and free everyone. Or else we all will share the same fate.. ''Star thought, trying to hold back the tears.

The next morning, Star found Mari in her cell.

Star slammed her paw on the cell bars, hoping to wake Mari. Mari opened her eyes, groaning.

"Mari, I need to have a little chat with you."

"Okay okay, but please don't hit the cell bars so hard next time." Mari replied.

"Okay, but WHY IN JAMAA IS YOUR NAME MARI?!"

"Oh, my mother didn't know that the Mari Tablets were a thing when she named me."

"No, why does Mari and Arim and Mira have the same letters!" Star yelled.

"Oh. Umm... I dont know..."

"Mari tell the truth! Aren't we friends?" Star asked.

"Its better that you don't know. I'm not telling you anything more." Mari said, turning away.

Star sighed.

''So much for that. ''She thought

Chapter 7: The New Job
Star followed the phantom guard to the factory.

He led her along a long path that went though almost a third of the badlands. Finally they reached a giant phantom train loaded with cargo.

Thousands of animals were chained to it, slowly pulling it across the badlands. The phantom guard chained Star to the giant train, behind a brown hyena.

Star pulled the train along with the others, looking at the hyena in front of her. He was very skinny, with claw marks and small wounds all over his body.

She guessed that the phantoms used him to punish other animals, because his claws and muzzle were stained with blood.

Star continued pulling the train through the badlands, for about 6 miles. Every time she slowed down or looked away from where she was supposed to be going, a phantom would whip her. Unfortunately, Star had to learn that the hard way.

After Star had pulled the train for 2 hours, she was done pulling the train and went back to her cells, witch took another hour.

Star slumped in her bed, truly exhausted. She had been put into slavery for at least two weeks, and her jobs got harder every day.

After thirty minutes of rest, Arim came to her cell.

"Well hello Star. I heard you haven't been very obedient lately." Arim said.

Star moaned but didn't say anything.

"Not very talkative are you? Well, I have an idea that might make you behave more. I hear you are very kind, and you were truly heartbroken when you accidentally killed that fox on your first day." Arim sneered.

Star looked away and groaned.

"Oh don't be ashamed. I would have killed her myself if you hadn't. Anyway, back to the main point. I have a new job for you, and I think you will enjoy it. There are some other slaves that have been very VERY disobedient. I cant punish them all, so when YOU see a slave not following the rules, you must punish them. Don't think of being gentle, give them your worst. There must be blood and screaming, if there isn't, one of the phantoms will then punish you. Sound good?"

Star stood silent.

"I'm guessing that is a yes. Your job starts now." Arim opened the cell door and left the room, indicating to his guards to watch her.

Star left her cell nervously. She couldn't resist work, or she would be punished again.

One of the phantoms told her she could only be in work room 1, 2, and 3.

Fortunately, Mari was working in the factory. Star wandered through each of the work rooms, hoping everyone would obey.

As Star was walking through room 2, she saw a sloth that was supposed to by fitting phantom tubes together, but was bending them instead.

"Aren't you supposed to be putting those tubes together?" Star said.

"They wont fit." The sloth said, pretending to be concerned.

"I saw you bending them so they would not fit. You have to be punished now." Star said, trying to be stern but failing.

"No! Don't punish me! I wasn't bending them, I was following the rules!" The sloth pleaded.

Star grabbed the sloth's hind leg and bit it very hard. The sloth shrieked and tried to pull away, but that forced Star to bite harder.

Finally the sloth stopped struggling and Star let go immediately. Star looked at the horribly deep wound in the sloths leg.

Star walked away and tried to ignore the sloth's cries and screams.

''This is the worst job. I would rather pull that train for an entire day. But how did Arim know I would hate this so much? ''Star thought.

Unfortunately, many animals were disobedient, and Star had to punish at least 9. She bit 3, clawed 3, whipped 2 and had to claw a poor bunny's eye.

Finally after an hour, one of Arim's guards told her work was done for the day. He also gave her a new list of work for the next week, witch was even more disappointing.

For the next week, in the morning and at dusk, she would have to punish slaves that did not obey. At noon she had to do some of the worst jobs, besides punishing.

But at the very end of the week, she had to watch over a group slaves.

Their names were Flora, Mighty, Count, and Mari.

Chapter 8: Nightmares
The next week was horrible.

Star had to punish anyone who did not obey, in probably the worst ways.

She didn't realize how many animals didn't obey... in just one day she had punished 18 slaves. She had to make a few poor animals completely blind, and left others with horrible wounds.

Tomorrow she had to watch and punish four animals - Flora, Mighty, Count and Mari.

Mari was never in her cell at dusk, so Star couldn't tell her what was coming tomorrow. Before Star went to sleep, General Arim came to her cell.

"Hello again Star. Are you enjoying your new job?" Arim said.

Star shrugged but kept silent.

"You are very interesting Star, I admire that. As for tomorrow, you are going to watch over a few very disobedient slaves. I believe you are friends with one of them."

Star glared at Arim, not responding.

"My best guard will be putting them to work, but YOU will be the one to make them obey. By that, I mean punish them. Why am I choosing you? Why couldn't I choose another phantom or the Unknown?"

Arim laughed.

Star rolled her eyes.

"You have great power hiding in your soul. I can feel that power, and I am putting that power to the test. Tomorrow you begin your task, but remember, I am always watching you." Arim sneered.

Arim left the room, leaving Star alone to sleep.

Star listened to the low growling of the Shadow Killer until she fell asleep.

.

.

Star woke up to a loud roar.

A blinding light had filled the rooms, so bright all the phantoms dissolved into purple dust Star leaped up from her bed, her tail wagging excitedly behind her.

Rescue had come.

Sir Gilbert broke through the walls into the room with a ground breaking roar, red fire flaring from his giant paws.

Huge vines broke the other wall, Cosmo leaped out from the hole, his staff glowing with greenish light.

Graham swung on the vines through the walls, orange light surrounding his outstretched hand.

Purple light blasted through one of the broken walls, Liza ran in, her staff glowing bright purple.

Peck flew into the room with a splash of paint, pink light trailing behind her paintbrush.

The final wall shattered as Greely leaped in with a tremendous howl, blue fire bursting from his paws.

Star shouted in joy, waiting for the Alphas to blow her cell open. The Alphas went throughout the room, freeing all the animals in the room.

Star smiled widely as the Alphas freed her, and she thanked them generously. The Alphas moved on to the empty cell, faint crying coming from the shadows of the cell.

"Wait no! Not that one! It has a deadly beast trapped in there, not an animal!" Star shouted, but it was too late.

Sir Gilbert broke the cell open with one swipe of his huge paws. The crying stopped, and a flash of black flew through the entire room.

Then everyone, including the Alphas, dropped dead. Star stared in pure horror.

"Why are you sad, little one? I'm just keeping you safe" An eerie voice said.

A flash of pain and everything turned black.

.

Star lay in her cell, watching phantoms hurry back and forth, carrying pipes and other things like that.

One phantom had a key. He was murmuring things to other phantoms, but she couldn't understand because they were speaking in phantom language.

Unexpectedly, the phantom grabbed a spear and stabbed two of the other phantoms. He growled at the remaining phantoms, and they all backed off.

Star realized the phantoms was Arim.

Arim stuck the key into one of the locks of the cell with the Shadow Killer inside. There was one more lock that didn't have a key.

"Witch one of you has the other key?" Arim said in English.

The phantoms all shrugged. Arim killed each of the phantoms, then grabbed a key from one of the dead phantoms.

Arim slipped the key into the last lock, then turned it until they heard a click.

The cell door flung open, and a shadow flew through the entire room, and everyone dropped dead, including the slaves.

Star looked away in fear and sadness.

"Why are you sad, little one? I'm just keeping you safe." Another eerie voice said.

A flash of pain, and everything turned black.

.

.

Star woke up from her dreams, breathing heavily.

She could hear growling from the Shadow Killer in the 'empty cell'. Star lay back down, haunted by her dreams, but she managed to sleep through the night.

Little did she know how real these dreams could be.

Chapter 9: Losing Control
Star woke up and followed Arim's guard to the factory.

There she met Count, Flora, Mighty and Mari.

Count was a red and white tiger with gray stripes. Flora was a blue and pink otter with purple eyes. Mighty was the brown hyena Star had seen pulling the phantom train through the badlands.

Mari's eyes widened when she saw Star.

"Guard, you never said Star would be here." Mari said sternly.

Star was surprised that Mari would act like she was the boss of that guard. The guard glared at Mari.

"Star is going to watch over you, making sure you do what you are supposed to do." The guard said as if he wasn't bothered by Mari talking to him so stern.

"Count, your going to be making phantom pipes. Flora, your going to be putting the pipes together. Mighty, you connect the pipes to that machine over there. Mari, you give everyone the right supplies, they should be in that pile over there. Star, watch them closely."

Everyone began their work, Star watching everyone very closely. She didn't understand how these four could possibly be such a handful.

As soon as the guard left, she saw how. Count stuck the nails and bolts in the wrong side of the pipes. Flora started taking apart pipes instead of fitting them together. Mighty took pieces off the machine, not even half of them were pipes. And Mari took all the pieces and brought them back to the pile.

Star growled, yelling at everyone to get back to work. They took a glance at her, but didn't stop.

Star ran at Flora, grabbing her tail.

"Stop this right now!" Star yelled.

"No. This is our last chance to get away. Come on, its your chance too. Don't you want to leave this horrid place?" Flora said calmly.

''I really do want to, but Arim said he is always watching me. If I leave now, I will only get captured and punished. ''Star thought.

Star bit Flora's stomach, blood dripping onto the rocky ground. Count ran to Flora.

"What did you do to her! I thought you were with us!" Count said.

"I am, but you are supposed to be doing your work!" Star yelled.

Star leaped onto Count, digging her claws into his flesh. Star grabbed him by the neck and threw him to ground, holding him there until he stopped moving.

Star ran after Mighty, who was trying to hack one of the machines.

"Stop it Mighty" Star growled.

"No, i'm not wasting this chance to get out if this place." Mighty said in his hoarse voice.

"Stop Mighty, this is your last chance!"

Mighty shook his head.

"Fine, have it your way." Star hissed.

Star grabbed one of his wounded legs and bit it as hard as she could. Mighty screamed in pain, Star biting harder and harder until finally he fainted.

Star let go, breathing heavily. She ran over to Mari.

"Mari, i'm warning you, stop this now." Star hissed.Mari realized what was happening to Star.

"Sorry Star, but i'm going." Mari flew away as fast as her wings would carry her. Star ran after Mari, leaping up into the air and nearly grabbing her leg.

Arim's guard had been watching, and he threw his spear at Mari, barely hitting her wing. Mari screeched, her right wing tipping down. Star jumped and grabbed Mari's wing, pulling her hard to the ground.

Mari screeched loudly, batting her wings on Star's head, knocking her out.

Chapter 10: Answers
Star woke up in her cell.

Mari was watching her concernedly.

"Are you okay?" Mari asked

"Ya... I just feel like something happened, but I cant remember"

"Something DID happen. You almost killed Count, Mighty and Flora!" Mari explained.

"What?! What do you mean?!" Star asked.

"You.. you won't understand" Mari said.

Star looked at her.

"I think its time for some answers." Star replied.

Mari sighed.

"Alright.. I will tell you everything. You see, long ago when Mira and Zios created everything, Zios had made a special power inside the first animals. It gave them a certain elemental power, either nature, fire, ice, water, rock, crystal, wind, light, shadow or lightning. Zios named them all something that either sounded like the name Mira, or had the same letters as the name Mira. And for generations the family passed on this power to their children. Only animals that already have that power can tell if someone else does." Mari explained.

"Okay. Now what about Arim?" Star asked.

"Well... Arim is my brother."

"YOUR BROTHER!?" Star yelled.

"Don't freak out, I will explain. Arim used to be an eagle, just like me. But we were captured by the phantoms when we were only kids. The power of the phantoms was so overwhelming, we couldn't use our powers in the cell, but the phantoms had already figured out we he had Zios's power. I had the power of ice, Arim had the power of lightning. After a while Arim finally lost hope and gave in to the phantoms. They turned him into a phantom and the phantoms let him become a general because he had Zios's power. Ever since then I've been trying to reason with him, but nothing seems to work now." Mari said sadly.

"Wow.. that's horrible." Star responded.

"But there are two more things. I've tried to stop him from noticing, but Arim realized that you have Zios's elemental power."

Star was shocked.

"ME? Really, me?"

"Yes, you. I have already sensed it." Mari responded. "And about you almost killing Mighty, Count, and Flora, I found out why you almost did. It was because you were starting to turn into the Unknown."

"Oh.. well... umm what do I do about that?"

"I'm not sure, but you need to fight it when you feel it coming." Mari replied.

"How do I 'feel it coming'?" Star asked.

"You will know." Mari said, laying down in her bed.

Star sighed and lay in her bed to rest.

Chapter 11: The Plan
Star woke up for work.

She had planned that she would try to avoid Arim as much as she could. Star looked out the cell door to see Arim talking to the other guards.

"We haven't been feeding it for months and its still alive!" One guard said.

"That is because it holds great power. True, mountain breaking power." Arim said.

"Its not worth it! Its just gonna turn on us again! It ain't gonna serve us." A young phantom guard said.

"Ya, face it General, its just another experiment gone wrong." Another guard said.

"DO NOT QUESTION MY CHOICES! You just haven't seen the secrets of this magnificent beast!" Arim growled.

"You aren't even a king, so why are you telling us what to do, huh?" A guard said.

"I am your GENERAL." Arim sneered.

Star looked away as Arim zapped the guard to death. The other phantoms backed off.

"Now, where is the key." Arim hissed.

The guards looked at each other and shrugged.

"WHERE IS THE KEY."

"We d-d-don't know G-g-general Arim." The young guard stammered.

Arim raised his staff and small bolts of lightning rained down, almost hitting the guards.

"FIND THAT KEY NOW OR YOUR DONE!" Arim shouted, electricity coming out of his long tentacles.

The guards scurried away, but Star could tell they were just trying to get away from Arim.

Arim looked into the shadows of the cage with the Shadow Killer. He smiled and hovered away.

Oh no! Don't do this Arim, don't you dare release that thing! Star thought worriedly.

.

After Star pulled the phantom train for a while and went back to her cell, she found Arim unlocking one of the keys of the cell with the Shadow Killer.

"Good, all we need is one more key. Although I wasn't expecting you to find the one inside the vault. Now, bring me the last key." Arim said.

"One of the phantom kings destroyed the other key." A phantom said.

Arim stared at the phantom, his face twisted in anger.

"Then look at the lock, and make a new key that fits perfectly inside." Arim replied calmly.

The phantoms glanced at each other, then nodded at Arim and looked at the lock. Arim smiled and left the room.

I need to stop them before they release that thing and it destroys all of us! Star thought.

.

.

It was time to watch the slaves and punish them.

Star left her cell and went to the work rooms 7, 8, and 9. Fortunately, work room 9 was the room right next to her cell.

It was time to stop the Shadow Killer.

Star wandered around room 9, only looking at room 8 and 7 every few minutes. Star's plan was simple, but it was a big risk. This is how it goes: Simple.
 * 1) Get the phantoms to leave her cell room.
 * 2) Sneak into the cell room.
 * 3) Grab the key from the lock of the cell with the Shadow Killer.
 * 4) Lock the cell with the key.
 * 5) Switch the cell key with the key for Mari's cell.
 * 6) Get back to work.
 * 7) If the phantom see you, pretend to be turning into the Unknown.

Star wandered around the three rooms, glancing at the cell room every now and then. As Star went into room 9, a blue cheetah leaped from his work station into the cell room.

The cheetah raced out of the cell room.

"Catch that blue cheetah! He is escaping!" Star yelled. Most of the phantoms had seen, so they believed her.

As all the phantoms left the room, Star rushed into the cell room and grabbed the keys.

"What are you doing?" Mari asked.

"Switching keys so that the phantoms cant unleash the Shadow Killer." Star said, trying to lock the Shadow Killer's cell.

"Instead of saving me?" Mari replied.

"That cheetah ran into the factory, and the factory is FILLED with phantoms. He will be caught instantly, so I don't have enough time to free you." Star said, finally locking the cage.

Star could hear the cheetah yelling, witch meant the phantoms had caught him. She put the Shadow Killer's key on the hook Mari's key was on.

Star tried putting Mari's key into the lock, but it wouldn't fit. She heard the phantoms getting close. Star shoved the key inside, but it broke in two. The phantoms were just outside the room.

Star left the two pieces on the floor and ran into work room 9.

As Star got into room 8, the phantoms entered the cell room. They saw the broken key and glared the cheetah, thinking he did it when he ran into the room.

Some phantoms carried the cheetah away, probably to be killed. Star continued work.

The plan had worked.

Or not.

Chapter 12: Shadows Emerge
Star looked at the small plate of meat the guard had given her. Star ate the meat and drank some of the gross water from the sink.

The phantoms still hadn't found out about the key getting switched, and they still had to make a key for the second lock.

Even better, the phantoms were extremely confused that 'Mari's key' would not unlock her cell. That was great news for Mari, because she didn't have to work.

All the phantoms were confused, and none of them dared to tell Arim.

Even though Star had extra work, she was happy.

.

"WHAT!!!!!!!!" Arim screamed.

"We're sorry General!! That cheetah messed up everything, we don't know h-"

Arim picked up the guard and threw him across the room.

The guards scurried away and backed against the walls as Arim passed them. Arim picked up the keys and observed them closely.

"Someone just switched the keys! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT!" Arim growled.

So much for that plan. Star thought as she watched Arim from her cell.

"Anyway, I made the key for the second lock. I figured you wouldn't be able to, and I was right." Arim sneered.

He grabbed both keys, and began unlocking the cell.

No no no no! DON'T DO THIS! Star thought. Arim unlocked the cell and opened the door, smiling evilly.

"Get a prisoner!" Arim shouted. The phantoms grabbed a monkey and held it in front of the cell.

Yellow eyes appeared in the shadows of the cell, slowly getting nearer until just its muzzle was visible. It had sharp black teeth, and a pitch black tongue flicked out like a snake. The Shadow Killer leaped from its cell, so fast it was just a flash of black. The Shadow raced from the cell to the monkey, then leaped onto the ceiling, hissing and shooting electricity from its mouth.

Electricity blasted most of the phantoms, killing a few of them. The monkey stared in horror, bloody claw marks covering his face.

Arim raised his staff and slammed it to the ground, lightning raining down on the Shadow Killer. The Shadow dodged most of them, and deflected the rest with his own electricity.

The Shadow flew from the ceiling to Star's cell, leaping from one cell to another. His sharp claws made deep dents the the cell bars, and the prisoners began clawing at the dented bars.

The Shadow Killer leaped onto the walls, blasting electricity at the phantoms. Luckily, the electricity blasted Mari's cell lock off, and the lock flew at Star's cell, breaking the bars.

All the phantoms began zapping the Shadow, but only a few zaps made contact. The Shadow Killer raced through the room, clawing phantoms and biting their tentacles off.

Arim threw his spear at the Shadow, but he simply caught the spear with his long striped tail. The Shadow broke the spear in two, charging at Arim with wolf-like speed.

Arim side-stepped and punched the Shadow's crocodile-like jaws. The Shadow whirled around, slamming Arim's head with his thick tail. Arim immediately got back up and grabbed the Shadows tail, giving it a strong bold of electricity.

While this battle raged on, Star had managed to pry the broken bars open, escaped and freed the rest of the prisoners.

"Come on, this is our chance to finally get out of this place." Mari said, leading the other prisoners out.

Star looked back at Arim and the Shadow Killer fighting.

"I want to, but I just..." Star trailed off when she saw Arim get a skull breaking hit on the head. Blood spilled out of his hard armor, electricity forming from his tentacles.

Mari must have felt something too, because of her slightly sad and surprised expression.

"They will finish this by themselves, but we have to... NO!" Mari said as Star ran back into the cell room.

Star growled at the Shadow Killer. It was chaos - phantoms running all over the place, electricity shooting back and forth, blood everywhere.

But despite everything, something was urging her on.

Star jumped onto the cells, then leaped onto the Shadow Killer's back and bit his neck. His tough scales protected himself, but Star did deal a lot of damage.

The Shadow Killer flung himself onto the ceiling, causing Star to fall painfully to the ground. Star got up and ripped a bar off one of the cells.

Star threw the cell bar at the Shadow Killer, almost hitting him but making him fall. Six phantoms zapped the ground where the Shadow lay.

He dodged two, but got hit by the rest. Star ran up to the Shadow and bit his leg very hard.

The Shadow gripped Star's throat and threw her so hard she broke through the wall.

Star slowly got up to see herself in a small room. In one corner of the room was a giant cell with a pile of weapons inside, including her bow and arrows.

Star leaped back into her cell room to see the Shadow Killer biting Mari's throat.

Star ran at the Shadow, her claws outstretched. Just before she made contact, Arim threw a broken spear right at the Shadow's back.

The Shadow Killer screeched in pain, letting go of Mari and pulling the spear out. Mari landed in the corner of the room, coughing and wheezing.

"I knew you still cared.." Mari coughed.

Arim scowled and punched the Shadow in the face, knocking him out.

At that moment, Star had forgot the phantoms were her enemies, but she remembered right when Arim knocked her out too.

Chapter 13: Its Time
Star woke up inside her cell, her head aching.

The phantoms had covered all the holes and cracks in the wall with phantom goop, and the broken cells were replaced with new ones.

Star looked at the cell to the left of her. The Shadow Killer was laying in his cell, still knocked out.

Strangely, Star felt bad for him. Star looked at Mari, who was laying in her bed, just barely awake. Mari had ripped some cloth from her bed and wrapped it around her neck.

Star did the same, ripping off the sheet of her bed and wrapping it around her wounds.

"Mari, did the prisoners escape?"

Mari looked up at Star. "Only one. We tried to sneak out the factory, but the phantom guards caught us. I managed to get away and help you, and one cheetah escaped, but the others were caught."

"Oh." Star said sadly.

.

.

For the next month, Star watched the phantoms closely.

She had found out that during dusk and dawn the phantoms switched guard posts, and it only took them 7 minutes to do so.

She also found that once every 3 weeks, the phantoms would leave at dawn to renew the spell that kept Mari from using her powers, witch took 20 minutes.

Star had been trapped for 8 months, and she felt it was finally time to escape.

In two days, just before switching guard posts, the phantoms would leave at dusk to renew the spell. This was the perfect time to escape, because the phantoms would leave for 27 minutes.

The spell also was at its very lowest, so they would just barely be able to use their powers. If they were lucky, the spell will vanish before the phantoms renew it.

During work tomorrow, Star would peek around the place. The phantoms were beginning to trust her, so it would be easy to look around and not be punished.

Star would find a way into the weapon room she found while fighting the Shadow Killer, take a weapon, free Mari, sneak out the factory and fight the guards, then escape.

After Star found a way into the weapon room, everything would be set. Almost.

One thing was missing.

Star didn't have her elemental powers yet.

.

.

Star sat on her bed thinking, as the phantom guard came.

"Its time for work Star." He said, opening the cell door. Star walked out the cell, then stood still and awaited her new orders.

"Today you will be granted permission to freely wander the entire structure. You are not allowed to go outside or into the factory, so you must stay indoors. If you see any slaves that are not obeying, punish them. Don't forget that Arim will be watching you, so don't do anything foolish." The guard said, then hovered away.

Star wandered around, punishing the disobedient slaves. It creeped her out to think that Arim was watching her, and she knew he was.

Finally Star turned a corner and found a large door. She turned the knob and quietly pushed the door, but it didn't budge. Star peeked through a crack in the door and saw a pile of weapons locked up in a cell.

That must be the weapon room I saw when fighting the Shadow Killer. Star thought.

Unfortunately the cell needed a key, because it had a lock on it. Star tried pushing the door open again, but it still kept shut.Star looked at the walls around the door, looking for a button more a lever. Strangely, one of the metal panels of the wall turned a lighter color, almost as if it was glowing. Star pressed her paw on the metal. The metal panel slid into the wall and the door opened. Star silently gasped, then walked inside.

Star observed the keyhole very carefully, then ran out of the room before anyone saw.

The shape of the keyhole indicated that the key had a double row of spikes on it.

Star closed the door and searched for the key.

.

After three long hours of work, Star passed a bulky guard holding a ring of keys. Star looked closely at the keys and found the one she needed to open the cell with the weapons.

''I need some sort of plan to get that key. I'm gonna need something to distract him to I can steal it...'' Star thought.

Just then, a dark blue snow leopard tied to the wall began to faintly glow.

Maybe he will help me and distract the guard. Star thought, surprised by her strange luck. Star walked up to the snow leopard just as the phantom guard looked away.

"Hey, I'm trying to get one of the keys from that guard over there. Could you distract him so I can steal it?" Star whispered to him.

"Well your lucky, because I am the master of distracting." He whispered back to her.

"Awesome! In case you are having trouble, I can cut these chains to help." Star whispered. She stretched her claws to maximum length and clawed a large cut in the chain, just enough so that he could easily break it the rest of the way.

Star hid behind a large pipe and waited.

"Hey! You fat guard over there! I have a few questions for you." The snow leopard began.

The guard grunted and hovered over to the snow leopard, who immediately started talking nonsense. Star crept up behind him and grabbed the key chain.

She flipped through the keys, until she found two that had a double row of spikes on it. The only thing different was the length of the spikes and the handle.

Star had no idea witch one to pick. Star panicked, trying to remember exactly what the keyhole looked like.

The phantom guard was getting restless and would forget about the snow leopard any second now. Star had no idea what to do.

Breathe, Star, breathe. The words drifted through her mind like a warm light, and Star calmed down. As Star relaxed, one of the keys softly glowed.

Star grabbed the key off the chain and ran away. The snow leopard saw her and stopped.

"Ya know, I think I found the answer to all my problems! Cheese!" The snow leopard finished. The guard sighed and went off to get the leopard some cheese.



.

Star reached the door with the secret button. She pushed the metal panel on the wall and went inside.

Star unlocked the cell with the weapons inside, but didn't open it. She went back to cell for her next job, smiling.

It was time to escape.

Chapter 14: Ready, Set, Trapped
Two days later, one hour before dawn, Star sat in her cell preparing to escape. Star attempted to wake Mari once more by hitting the cell bars, but Mari still lay asleep.

"Mari! Wake up!" Star said in her loudest whisper. Slowly Mari opened her eyes, groaning.

"What is it.." Mari murmured.

"I have a plan.. to escape." Star said excitedly. Mari's eyes widened.

.

Star lay in her bed, pretending to sleep and watching the guards closely.

Finally, after 13 minutes, they left. Almost all the prisoners were asleep, but even the prisoners that were awake didn't notice.

Star had been weakening one of the bars of her cell over the past few days, and now it was thinner and easier to break. Star gripped the bar with her jaws and pulled, trying to break it.

Star pulled harder, biting the bar with all her strength, but it still didn't snap.

"Here, let me help." Mari said.

"How?" Star asked. Mari smiled.

Mari spread her wings, concentrating on the metal bar. Slowly, bits of frost began forming on the bar until it turned into ice.

"Woah..." Star gasped.

"That is what the elemental powers can do." Mari said proudly. Star closed her jaws around the ice, breaking it. Bits of ice fell to the floor, and a few prisoners saw and gasped.

Mari did the same to her cell, but it took longer, then they left their cells and went to the weapon room.

Star opened the cell and searched the pile of weapons, grabbing out a wooden crossbow. From within the pile of weapons, something was faintly glowing.

Star reached inside and grabbed hold of it, pulling the weapon out. Star gasped when she realized she was holding an Alpha Sword.

Star held the Alpha Sword in the air, a radiant glow coming from the blade.

"Woah" Mari said, holding an ice sword in her talons.

"Lets free those slaves and get out of here." Star said. Mari nodded."Your not leaving that quickly."

Mari and Star turned around to find Arim at the exit of the weapon room.

"The spell has already vanished, so I think this battle will be much more exciting."

Arim lifted his spear and pointed it at Mari and Star.

Chapter 15: Battle of Elements
(The song 'It Has Begun' made by Starset goes well with this chapter)

Star growled, raising the Alpha Sword.

Mari used her ice powers to make the blade of her ice sword longer and sharper, spreading her wings and lifting into the air.

The battle had begun.

Arim waved his spear and bolts of lightning blasted Mari and Star, but they swiftly dodged before the bolts made contact. Star ran toward Arim, bringing the Alpha Sword down on his left tentacle.

Arim deflected the Alpha Sword with his spear, at the same time giving Star a strong shock, pushing her away.

Mari swooped toward Arim, hitting his helmet with her sword. She continued doing this until she finally knocked him over.

Mari stretched out her wings while hovering in midair, summoning sharp ice spikes that surrounded Arim, just grazing his slimy skin.

Arim spun around, his spear cutting the ice and blasting them with electricity. Star grabbed a chunk of ice, hurling it at Arim.

Arim used his spiked wristbands to deflect the ice, Mari and Star charging at him, swords ready.

Arim used his spear to block Mari's sword, but Star's Alpha Sword cut off one of the pipes on his helmet, along with the tentacle underneath.

Arim shrieked and leaped into the middle of the room, dropping his spear and raising his tentacles.

Star gasped as electricity formed from the ground and surrounded Arim, making an electric barrier.

Mari created an ice boulder and dropped it on Arim, but the electric barrier blasted the ice to splinters. Arim slowly hovered toward them, the barrier following him, and an evil smile on his face.

Arim sped up, chasing them around the room until finally his electric barrier touched Mari. Mari screeched as she was zapped painfully and forced across the room.

Arim's electric barrier disappeared as he retrieved his spear and hovered above Mari, holding his spear to her neck.

Star watched is horror as he lifted the spear and brought it down on Mari, that evil smile on his face.

Despite her life at horrible risk, Star ran.

She wasn't going to let Mari die.

Not now.

Star leaped, putting her body between Arim's spear and Mari's neck.

Star closed her eyes, bracing herself for the pain.

But it didn't happen.

Star's body gave off a brilliant and radiant light, in fact so bight and powerful it pushed Arim across the room. Mari's eyes widened, her mouth wide open.

Arim crashed into the wall with such force he almost got knocked out. Star got to her feet, the light no longer coming from her.

"What.. what happened? What did I do?" Star asked.

"That... was your elemental power! The power of Light!" Mari gasped. Star's eyes widened.

They smiled.

"Well Arim.. it looks like we beat you." Star said, walking over to Arim who was slumped on the wall.

"You did.. but I will.. I will find you.. and destroy you. You only have.. 9 minutes.. left.. its not enough.. time to free.. the prisoners.." Arim said before he fainted.

Mari and Star left.

It was time to escape.

Chapter 16: The Great Escape
Mari and Star ran through the phantoms prisons, breaking the cages and freeing every slave they could.

Time was ticking down. They hadn't even freed half the prisoners and they only had four minutes before the phantoms would renew the spell and capture them.

Finally Star dropped the Alpha Sword and sat down.

"There has to be a quicker way to free all these slaves. And there is an entire factory that probably has just as many slaves as these prisons have..." Star said, breathing heavily.

Star closed her eyes and relaxed. She hadn't mastered her light powers yet, but she had been practicing while freeing the slaves and she was starting to get the hang of it.

Slowly her vision brightened, and she saw the bright image of a room, probably inside the factory. Inside the room was a small lever.

The lever pulled down and a timer appeared, ticking down from 10 minutes. Star could just barely see the image of cells unlocking.

The bright image of a factory appeared, then it exploded.

Stars vision disappeared.

''Why would the phantoms have a lever that shuts down the systems and explodes the entire factory? Maybe if they had to evacuate and didn't want anyone to know they were there.'' Star thought. She still didn't think making a lever like that would be a good idea, but then again, the phantoms weren't very smart.

Star opened her eyes."I think there is a room that shuts down the systems and explodes the factory. I'm not sure how that would help, but apparently my elemental powers think it will..." Star said to Mari.

"You can always hack into the system and make the lever unlock all the cells." A voice said.

Star and Mari turned around to see a blue snow leopard. Behind him were many freed slaves.

"Your the one who helped me steal the key! Wait.. but how did you escape?" Star asked him.

"Your not the only ones here who have Zios's elemental powers. And I just happen to have the power of water." He said, water beginning to form around his paws.

"By the way, my name is Infinity." He finished.

"So, you said you can hack into the system?" Star asked.

"Not only am I good at distracting, but I'm pretty good at hacking too." Infinity replied.

"But the locks on the cells need keys to open. How does hacking make them open?" Mari questioned.

"Not sure. Those phantoms make things in very strange ways, ways that no one will ever understand. Anyway, lets get to freeing these prisoners!" Infinity explained.

"Wait! Only you know how to hack into the system, and the factory will explode in ten minutes. Ten minutes isn't enough time for you to escape. Are you willing to risk your life to do this?" Star said.

Infinity looked around himself, from the slaves to Star and Mari.

"Yes." He said.

Star and Mari nodded. Infinity ran into the factory.

Star and Mari ran through the factory and the prisons, freeing every slave they could. When they found a slave locked in a cell, they told him or her that once the lock made a click, they should run away as fast as they could.

Finally, they only had one room left.

Mari and Star ran into the prison room, but just as they were about to free the prisoners, they heard a robotic voice speak:

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 10 minutes.

All the prisoners began to freak out, screaming and shivering, one even fainted. The prisoners that were locked in the cells shook the bars of the cell, then gasped when the cell door swung open.

"Everyone don't worry! We are going to get you out of here so calm down!" Mari explained. Star and Mari ran through the room, untying the slaves and breaking the chains.

"Everyone follow us!" Mari said, breaking through the walls. Mari at the lead, Star and the prisoners ran after her, breaking through the walls and running through the hallways.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 9 minutes.

Mari, Star and the prisoners finally made it outside the phantoms prisons, the huge factory looming over them.

"Everyone go! Run as fast as you can!" Star said, ushering everyone out.

"I'm going to the other side of the prisons to help anyone who can't get out." Mari said, flying away.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 8 minutes.

Star looked out into the factory, hoping to see Infinity. On the very edge of her vision, she saw a small black dot.

Star waved her paws in the air, the Alpha Sword giving off a light glow. Slowly, the dot got closer, and Star realized that there were multiple dots.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 7 minutes.

Star realized with horror that the dots were the phantoms.

Oh no... the phantoms have renewed the spell! Star thought worriedly. Cautiously, Star tried her elemental powers, but strangely, they still worked.

Star realized the phantoms were running away.

They must have heard the warning and decided to run away instead. Star thought, hiding a smile.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 6 minutes.

Star raised the Alpha Sword and charged at the phantoms, protecting the prisoners. The phantoms saw her and turned away, trying to get away as fast as they possibly could.

Star managed to catch up to one of the phantoms, pinning him down and holding the Alpha Sword to what she thought was his 'neck'.

"Where is Arim?!" She growled.

"I.. um.. he went after you.. um.. but never came back. But please.. please don't kill me!" The phantom stammered.

Star lowered the Alpha Sword and walked away.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 5 minutes.

Star ran back to the exit of the phantom's prisons, leading the rest of the prisoners out.

Everyone had escaped.

Now she just needed to wait for Mari.

Chapter 17: Earthquake
Star stood nervously outside the giant phantom factory, waiting for Mari. Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 4 minutes.

''Where is Mari! This is taking too long!'' Star thought.

Just then, Star saw a blue speck in the sky soaring toward her.

"Mari!!" Star yelled. Mari swooped down and collapsed on the ground in front of Star, panting.

"Its.. Infinity.. he.. a.." Mari stammered, trying to catch her breath.

"We need to get out of here! There's no time to talk!" Star explained. Mari climbed onto Star's back, and Star ran away from the factory as fast as she could.

Star could faintly hear a robotic voice saying:

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 3 minutes.

There was a forest just a mile from my cabin, so if I can find the remains of my cabin I can get to the forest.. Star thought as she ran.

The sharp greenish rocks of the badlands cut her paws, but she continued to run as fast as her legs could go. Star looked ahead of her and saw the ruins of her cabin scattered across the rocks.

Star ran toward the pile of rotting purple wood. As she passed it, her legs collapsed under her and she fell painfully to the ground.

"I cant go.. any further." Star panted.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 2 minutes.

Now Mari was the one urging to go on.

"Come on Star! If we're going to stop anywhere, it absolutely should not be here!" Mari said, trying to lift Star with her wings.

Star managed to get to her feet, but she couldn't run without toppling over.

"Hurry up Star!" Mari yelled.

Star finally got some of her strength back, and began to run toward the forest. Mari lifted herself into the air and flew a few feet above Star.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 1 minute.

Star ran a little faster, her legs aching and bleeding. Just then, a small bolt of lightning shot down toward Star, blasting the handle of the Alpha Sword.

Star yelped and leaped back, her paws burning from the lightning. The Alpha Sword was blasted in the opposite direction, its blade lodged in a boulder.

Both Mari and Star looked back and saw the small shape of Arim.

"Arim.." Star growled.

Just as she said that, Arim zoomed away so quickly it was as if he just disappeared.

Mari tapped Star's paw with her talon. "I think we should get out of here..." She said nervously. Star nodded and began to run once again.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 20 seconds.

Star almost stopped dead in her tracks.

"Not now.." She panted, running twice as fast as she was before. Mari flew above her, going much faster than she had before and not glancing back.

Star ran faster and faster, sharp rocks constantly stabbing her paws, but at this point she didn't even care.

Attention: The factory will self-destruct in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.

The ground shook violently, huge cracks forming in the ground and rocks flying in the air. Star heard a tremendous sound, louder than a volcano erupting.

The ground trembled so violently as a huge ball of fire consumed the entire factory, blasting it to pieces. Pipes and boulders blasted out from all sides.

The explosion pushed Star 6 feet in the air, and 12 feet away from where the factory used to be.

Giant boulders were forcefully pulled out of the ground and blasted in all directions. Star landed painfully on the ground, then quickly rolled away as a huge pipe nearly crushed her.

A nearby group of phantoms were easily crushed by a large slab of metal, purple goop spraying everywhere. Star froze in her tracks as the ground split in front of her paws, green slime bubbling inside the crack.

Star leaped away as the huge chunk of rock she was standing on fell into the giant crack.

Green steam poured out as the rock dissolved in the green slime, witch probably was polluted lava or something like that.

Star flew a foot in the air as another explosion happened, and she just happened to land right next to Mari.

Mari was sitting next to a big pipe, trying to pull her wing out from under the pipe. Another crack was spreading right next to Mari, and she was close to falling into it.

Star ran into the pipe, trying to free Mari. The crack in the ground was so close to them that Star nearly fell into it.

Mari screamed as the crack expanded and one of her legs fell over the edge. Star grabbed Mari's wing and tried to pull it out, but couldn't.

I have to use my elemental powers, its the only way.. Star thought. She closed her eyes and tried to stay calm, witch is pretty hard with the giant rocks falling everywhere.

Star squeezed her paw and finally focused, and felt the gentle heat of light coming from her paws.

Star opened her eyes and waved her paw at the pipe, and a blast of light came from her paw and broke the pipe. Mari quickly crawled out of the crack and over to Star.

"Are you okay?" Star asked.

"Nope. My wing is probably broken.." Mari murmured, leaning against Star. The ground shook wildly as another crack appeared, blocking their way out. The ground underneath the remains of the pipe collapsed and melted in the green lava below.

They were trapped.

Chapter 18: Not-so-lost Lives
Mari and Star watched as the green lava slowly chipped away at the rock they were standing on.

They both tried to think of some way out, but couldn't think of anything that would be successful. The cracks were far too wide to jump, and Mari wasn't able to fly.

"Mari, can you use your ice powers to push a rock over the lava?" Star asked.

Mari closed her eyes, and ice began forming behind a boulder. Slowly, the ice expanded and the boulder rolled over the edge and into the lava, covering it up.

Star was just about to jump across, but the boulder began sinking and small holes appeared inside it. Star stopped just before the boulder sunk in the lava and a thick cloud of green steam rose up.

''What are we going to do? Nothing is working! ''Star thought nervously.

Mari shrieked in warning as the ground shook once again and half of the rock they were standing on collapsed into the lava.

Star sat down on the rock. "Its over. We can't do anything." Star said sadly.

Mari sighed. "Star, there is something you need to know, that I didn't tell you. You see, the world depends on all the animals with elemental powers. So, for example, if someone who had the powers of nature died, the nature of Jamaa would slowly die off. Plants would get sick and stop making nectar and seeds. If the animal of wind died, the air would be unhealthy to breathe in, and oxygen would disappear. If the animal of rock died, the dirt would be unhealthy, rocks would disintegrate. If both animals of light and dark died, the world would be colorless, you get the idea. And all this, would make our world horrible and the phantoms would take over." Mari explained.

Star's eyes widened. Before she could argue, the ground shook wildly and another chunk of rock they were on fell into the lava.

Star fell to the ground, and in the distance, behind thick clouds of dust, a small black speck was running toward her and Mari.

"What is that?" Star asked.

"I don't know, but we need to get outta here before the lava gets to us!" Mari shouted, making a bridge of ice across the lava.

Mari placed her foot on the bridge, but the lava had already melted it thin, so large cracks appeared around her foot. Mari stepped back as the bridge melted completely.

In the distance, the black speck was much closer, and appeared to be blue. Star watched as the speck grew, grew and grew until she realized who it was.

"Mari!! LOOK!!" Star shouted, pointing to the blue animal. Mari looked where Star pointed.

"INFINITY!!!!!!" They shouted.

Infinity smiled at them, then slammed his paw on the ground and water poured out. "Mari, use your powers to make the water colder!" He said.

Mari closed her eyes and cooled the water. The freezing water flowed into the lava, cooling it.

"Great job!" Star said as Mari created an ice bridge and they ran across it. Star, Mari, and Infinity ran across the badlands, constantly dodging boulders and cracks.

.

.

Hours after the earthquake had ended, the trio continued to wander through the badlands.

"I can't believe that explosion was so powerful it could cause an earthquake." Star muttered.

"I can't believe the phantoms would create such a powerful self-destruct. I mean, who would need such a thing like that?" Infinity replied.

"I can't believe we survived!" Mari blurted out. The others nodded.

And on the horizon, just below the setting sun, was the forest.

Chapter 19: Never Safe
"There it is! The forest!" Star shouted, running toward it. Some of the trees had turned purple, and goop was splattered across the brown leaves.

"Oh no.. the phantom 'sickness' has already spread here!" Star said sadly as the others caught up.

"The phantom sickness only got some of the trees. I can see healthy trees behind the polluted ones." Mari said, walking into the forest.

Infinity and Star looked at each other, then cautiously walked into the forest with Mari. After they wandered past the dying trees, they found a beautiful forest full of healthy, green trees and plants.

"Okay everyone, lets set up a camp." Mari explained, and they all leaped off into the woods.

.

Star looked up at two trees bending toward each other, in the shape of a tent. "Hey everyone! I think I found the perfect camping spot!" Star exclaimed.

The two trees were growing inside a small clearing in the forest, and little fireflies were glowing all around them. Stars were beginning to appear in the grayish-purple sky.

Leaves hung from the branches of the two trees, and it looked like green blankets covering the entrance to the little 'tree tent'.

And most of all, a beautiful stream flowed through the clearing. The stars and fireflies reflected off the surface of the water, making the stream glitter and glow.

It was the perfect place to set camp.

Mari and Infinity ran into the clearing and gasped. "It's beautiful.." Infinity said with delight.

"Alright, lets hollow out some stones to keep water and food. Star, can you collect some berries and fruit?" Mari said.

"What about a bonfire?" Infinity asked.

"I think a fire would give out our location. Star, you could just make some light, right?" Mari replied.

"Sure.. but i'm not very good with my powers yet so it will be dim." Star answered.

"A dim light is all we need." Mari said.

"Okay." Star replied, padding into the forest to collect fruit. The trees closed in around Star, but the light of the moon lit up her path.

A tall apple tree stood under the moonlight, ripe apples growing on its branches. Star stood on her hind legs and began picking apples.

Once her paws were full, she walked back to camp, following the scent.

When Star had been trapped, the powerful scent of phantom goop and phantom dust blocked Star's sense of smell, so Star was glad to finally be able to use you sense of smell.

As Star wandered through the forest, she heard a very faint growling sound. Star ignored it and continued walking.

.

Star ran into the camp and plopped the apples inside some hollowed-out stones.

"Mari, I got the apples!" Star exclaimed.

"Great! Alright everyone, lets eat." Mari replied happily. Star noticed that she had wrapped some bark and leaves around her wing as a cast.

Infinity, Mari, and Star sat in a circle and ate their apples, a dim light coming from Star's paws.

"So Infinity, You have elemental powers, but how come your name doesn't have any letters from the name Mira?" Star asked.

"I changed my name so the phantoms didn't know. But the question is, how come your name doesn't either?" Infinity replied.

"I.. I don't know." Star said, suddenly realizing.

"I think I might know why. You see, some elemental powers skip a generation, so parents forget to name a child with the letters M, I, R, and A, or they just don't want to. Sometimes the elemental powers vanish from an entire family and instead go to some other random animal. It's hard to explain." Mari explained.

Star squinted at Mari. "Wha... I'm confused..." Star murmured.

"Okay, let me rephrase that. Most animals with elemental powers have names without the letters M, I, R and A." she explained again.

Star tilted her head. "So my entire family and generation doesn't know a single thing about elemental powers?" She questioned.

"Basically." Mari shrugged.

"Umm, when are we going to go to bed? I've been waiting for a veeeeeery long time and I'm kinda tired." Infinity interrupted.

"I agree." Mari said, throwing away the remains of her apple and crawling into the tent. Infinity did the same, but Star just sat outside.

''I never realized this.. not one member of my family has ever heard of this! I don't get it! Am I special, or this is unlucky?!?'' Star thought, almost bursting into tears.

Star froze when she heard low growling. ''The Shadow Killer.. I totally forgot he would be freed when Infinity hacked the system!'' Star thought nervously.Slowly and quietly, Star crawled into the tree tent. "Mari! Infinity! Wake up! Its the Shadow Killer, he's outside!" She whispered. Star immediately froze when she saw a dark shadow walking around the tent.

Star grabbed Mari and shook her as hard as she dared.

"Mari!! Wake up!" Star whispered as loud as she could. Mari twitched and slowly opened her eyes.

"What is it.." She murmured.

"The Shadow Killer.. it found us!" Star said, forcing herself to not scream.

"The Shadow Killer? Your joking.." Infinity said, slowly waking up.

"No I'm not!" Star whispered, gritting her teeth. Just as she said that, the growling began again, much louder this time. Infinity jerked up and stared at the dark shadow in horror.

"What are we going to do?" Star whispered quietly.

"We could try to fight him, but we can't use our powers or else Arim will be able to track us down. That is if he survived.." Mari replied, watching the dark shadow circling the tent.

"I will try to chase the Shadow Killer off. Keep him out of the tent and help me if I need it." Star replied, quietly running out of the tent.

The Shadow Killer immediately attacked Star, slashing her with his large claws. Star froze in shock, but then began dodging his giant claws and fangs.

Star leaped behind the Killer and bit his tail, but he jumped into a tree and Star fell to the ground painfully.

Star quickly leaped to her paws, but couldn't see the Shadow Killer. Out of the corner of her eye, Star saw the bright yellow eyes of the Killer dashing through the forest.

Star pounced on the shadows, but her paws only met air. She caught a glimpse of yellow from the shadows behind her.

Star closed her jaws on the shadows, and growled in frustration as her jaws closed on nothing. Star repeated that same process again and again, always missing.

The shadows easily covered the Shadow Killer like a blanket, making him almost invisible. Star could only catch a glimpse of his yellow croc eyes flying through the darkness.

''There's no way to catch this thing. He is completely invisible when in the shadows! The only way to catch him is if I use my light powers, but Arim can find us if I do.. Grrr, what do I do!'' Star thought angrily as the Shadow Killer ran through the shadows.

I have to use my powers, only for a second though! Star decided.

Star closed her eyes and thought of the sun, and Star felt warm light flow from her heart to her paws. Star opened her eyes and focused the light on the Killer's yellow eyes.

I have to do this quickly before Arim can find where I am. Star thought.

She focused on the energy n the yellow eyes and waved her paw, a blast of light flying into the Killer's eyes. The Shadow Killer shrieked in pain as the light blinded him.

Star ran at the Killer right as the light illuminated where he was. She held him down with her paws and grabbed his neck with her jaws.

''Star you need to do this.. you need to kill him! He was made to kill, and you need to stop him from destroying all those innocent lives! You can do it Star! '''Just do it! ' One side of Star's mind said.

''The Shadow Killer is just a bunch of innocent animals forged together! If you kill him, you will be the one destroying innocent lives! ''The other side of Star's mind said. Star squeezed her eyes shut and let go of the Killer's throat.

The Shadow Killer ran off, but Star stay still with her eyes shut.

''What did I do.. that was my chance!'' Star thought. Star suddenly could feel electricity in the air, which she recognized as a phantoms electricity.

Star snapped her eyes open to see Arim hovering in front of her. He had a new spear, the handle made from rotten wood and a purple stone tip.

Arim was just about to stab Star with his new spear, but suddenly the Shadow Killer leaped on Arim and knocked him to the ground.

Star realized.

''The Shadow Killer wanted me to use my powers so Arim would come. The he could have revenge on Arim..'' Star thought with pure horror.

The Killer seemed to forget abut Star, so she used this chance to run into the tree tent and warn everyone.

"Don't tell me Arim is out there." Infinity growled.

"Yes..." Star murmured.

"Why did you use your powers!" Mari questioned.

"I don't have time to explain, we need to get out of here!" Star said.

"We could tell you used your powers, so we already packed." Mari replied, pointing to a backpack woven from grass and leaves.

Star picked up the backpack, Mari crawled onto Infinity's back and they ran out the tent.

Chapter 20: Invasion
Star pushed away the leaves of the tent and dashed through the trees at top speed.

She instantly regretted running so fast once she smacked into a tree. Star quickly got up and began running again, still feeling a little lightheaded.

Infinity ran just in front of her, Mari perched on his back. The farther they went in the forest, the trees began wilting. Their leaves were brown and goop was splattered over their pale trunks.

Eventually the trees became bare and purple.

''That must be the work of Arim's phantoms. In no time this whole forest will be dead.'' Star thought sadly.

Star focused on the trees in front of her, not paying attention to the phantoms chasing after her.

A phantom managed to zap Star, she tumbled to the ground and the backpack flew off her, the contents spilling everywhere.

Tons of phantoms jumped on top of Star, a huge mass of slimy black tentacles. Star shrieked as she was constantly zapped and tackled.

Infinity stopped dead in his tracks and clawed the phantoms off one by one. Mari quickly shot a blast of ice and froze a few of the phantoms.

Infinity pushed the chunk of frozen phantoms off Star and looked at her in horror.

.

.

Star slowly opened her eyes to find herself inside a dense jungle. Infinity was using a wet leaf to wipe thick phantom goop off her paws.

"Wha... What.. Where are we?" Star asked.

"You fainted so I had to carry you and Mari all the way to safety." Infinity said.

Star tried to get up, but winced as her paw stung horribly.

"I recommend you don't move until I get all this phantom goop off. It's harmful, ya know." Infinity said in his usual happy voice. He dipped the leaf in a clean puddle and continued wiping the goop off.

"Where is Mari?" Star asked.

"She said she's looking for something. I'm not sure what shes looking for though." Infinity replied.

"And the phantoms?" Star asked.

"Tricked them into thinking we went a different way. And in case your wondering where we are, I'm not exactly sure. After tricking the phantoms I ran and ran until I found this dense jungle to hide in." Infinity answered.

.

Star lay down on the soft grass and waited for Mari. Her paw didn't hurt anymore, but it felt hot.

Star looked at Infinity, who was standing on a tall tree and watching for phantoms. "I don't think we can wait for Mari any longer, I can see a lot of phantoms coming our way." Infinity called down to Star.

"Well, how are we supposed to tell Mari that we are leaving?" Star called back.

"By using our powers... But it takes a lot on concentration to send messages to one another, and only one animal can sense it." Infinity yelled.

"You can do that?!? Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Star called.

"I don't even know how to do it. If there is anyone who can do something like that, its Mari." Infinity yelled back.

Star sighed. Suddenly, Star could feel electricity in her mind, that seemed to be pulling herself West. As fast as it had come, the strange feeling went away.

"Did ya feel that? That means Arim found us." Infinity called as he leaped of the tree.

"Mari should have felt Arim using his powers too, so she will know that we are leaving. Come on, we can't waste any more time here!" Infinity said as he began to run.

Star got up and ran behind Infinity, constantly looking West.

"Are the phantoms you saw coming from the West?" Star asked Infinity.

"Actually, they were coming from.. mm.. North." Infinity replied.

"So Arim thought he was smart enough to try to sneak-attack on us." Star growled. Star's heart skipped a beat when she suddenly heard a bloodcurdling eagle cry.

"Mari!!" Star cried. She looked at one of the towering trees to find Mari clinging to one of its branches. Star pointed to the tree with her tail.

"Mari is in that tree!" Star shouted. Infinity leaped onto the trunk of the tree and began climbing up. Star stood by the trunk and looked out for phantoms.

Now Star could hear the noise of the phantoms electricity and smell the rotting of plants. Star bared her teeth and got ready to attack..

But then, it stopped.

The smell of rotting plants faded away, the loud crackling of electricity could no longer be heard.

Infinity jumped down the tree with Mari perched on his back. "Mari, how did you get up there? I thought you wing was broken." Infinity asked Mari.

"Well, maybe not broken, probably just sprained." Mari replied.

"Ya, but how did you get up there?"

"I had to make sure what I was looking for was really there, and climbing the tree was the only way to find out. A new energy had suddenly surged through me, and before I know it I was flying, well, for a few seconds." Mari answered.

"Guys.. did you feel that.." Star said nervously.

"Feel what?" Mari asked.

"That.. the phantoms.. it just.. stopped.." Star murmured.

"Phantoms can't stop moving their tentacles, or else they will stop hovering and collapse to the ground." Infinity corrected.

"No.. they just, left." Star said.

Mari laughed.

"Since when do you laugh?" Infinity joked.

"Guys, this is the reason I went out to search." Mari said excitedly.

"And you still haven't told us what your searching for." Star said.

"I found Jamaa." Mari replied.

Chapter 21: Back to Jamaa
"JAMAA?!?" Infinity and Star gasped.

"Yep. And the phantoms probably left when they realized this is awfully close to Sarepia. It's time to go home!" Mari exclaimed.

The trio leaped through the gigantic trees of the forest, heading into Sarepia Forest. As they went, the trees grew thicker and taller, and Star could see wooden planks and ropes laid across the branches of the trees.

A small fire pit came into view, along with a few jammers role playing around it. Star was overjoyed and filled with excitement, but one thought occurred to her. ''Once I get to Jamaa, where will I live? My house was destroyed and I don't have any gems to buy or rent a den!''

Star stopped dead in her tracks at that thought. Infinity stopped and asked "What is wrong?"

"Mari, Infinity, do you still have a house?" Star asked nervously.

"No.. I never though of that!" Mari said, getting nervous.

"We could find some abandoned building and find our own food. I have had experiences like this before." Infinity said, losing his joyful voice.

Star sighed. She looked at the jammers crowded around the fire pit, wearing their rare spikes and worns. She looked like an outsider, dirty and covered in wounds.

"Guys, we can manage this! We just survived prison, an explosion, army of phantoms, and tons of other things no jammer would survive! Besides, we are Zios's Chosen Ones!" Mari said, spreading her wings.

Infinity looked at Star, a wide smile on his face.

"Star, Infinity, you can use your powers together to revive plants and I can help repair a house for us to live in with my ice powers. We have a responsibility now, and Zios chose us out of millions of other jammers. Living on the streets homeless is nothing compared to what we have done today. We will collect the rest of the elements and protect Jamaa together! We can do this!" Mari exclaimed, hopping on Infinity's back.

Star smiled.

"We can sleep in between Coral Canyons and Sarepia, which is somewhere over there if I remember correctly." Infinity said, walking East. Star followed them, feeling a new hope.

.

A shadowy beast climbed up the brown rocks of Coral Canyons, he was known as the Shadow Killer. His scales were broken and bleeding, and wounds covered the Killer's body.

Beside the pain, the Killer continued climbing the hard rocks, up and up, next to the setting sun. Revenge had not gone very well, as Arim had fled in order to catch Star, Infinity and Mari.

But now, the Killer knew that Arim was not alone.

The Shadow Killer had first thought of Star as an enemy, but now, he thought of her differently than he had before. She was kind, and would soon master the element of sun very well.

Maybe, Star wasn't bad. At least, no longer bad in the Killer's eyes. Maybe, he still could love, like the animals he was made from had.

Maybe, the minds of the animals he was made from, still loved, and maybe that would never change. Maybe Star was not bad, and hate was. The Killer made up his mind.

Star was not bad. No matter how much she had injured him, she was not bad.

She was good.

Very good. Good enough to be protected.

Even if she hated him, he did not hate her.

He would protect her, from Arim, from phantoms, from hate.

Star was not bad, nor were her friends.

Star was not bad, but hate was.

The Shadow Killer climbed the top the rocky cliff, the hot sun warming his aching scales. He looked down, down at Star, Infinity, and Mari.

The Killer watched as Star cared for her friends, helping their wounds, and not caring for her own wounds. Yes, she was very very good.

He would protect her, and he would learn to love as she did.

He would love, just like her.

And maybe, just maybe, others would love him in return.

The Shadow Killer lay down on the hard rocks, watching Star and her friends.

.

Chapter 22: A New Adventure Begins
A cool autumn breeze blew through the warm air as Star, Mari and Infinity sat on the cold rocks of Coral Canyons and watched the sunset. The sun slowly sank behind the giant rocks of Coral Canyons, the sky fading from yellow to red to purple to black. Stars were beginning to appear in the darkening sky, and the warm air grew chilly.

"So, how are we supposed to find the other 'chosen ones'?" Infinity said, interrupting the silence.

"We will find out." Mari said.

Infinity tilted his head. "Find out how?"

"We can sense them. We can train and strengthen our powers so it will be easier to search for the 'chosen ones'. But first we need a plan." Mari sighed. "But honestly, I really don't know exactly how to find them."

Mari and Infinity both looked back at the setting sun, needing more hope. Star did the same, and for a moment she thought she saw something standing on one of the cliffs watching her. Before she was sure, the black figure had disappeared.

"Before we do anything though, we should collect some gems and find a home." Star said, interrupting the silence again.

Mari turned toward Star and smiled.

"You're right. Before we begin plans and finding the elemental jammers, we should collect as many gems as we can and find a good home.

_________________________________________________________________

(WIP, I will add more to this story whenever I can so stay tuned! I hope you like it!)

_________________________________________________________________