Slave of the Phantoms

''' WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS BLOOD. '''

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

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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 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 the cage.

He was a dark purple phantom with thick armor and a huge phantom spear.

"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. Star thought.
 * 1) WHen a phaNtom guard tels yuo orders, yuo do it (guards hav spearS)
 * 2) dO not EScape
 * 3) do WHATEVER generAL Arim say and be polite too him (he has larGe purple spear)
 * 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 one of the first eagles and wolfs. 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 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.

(I will add more to this story every day so stay tuned! I hope you like it so far!)