Paws of Pollution

Part one of The Phantom Wolf.

By MewtwoLucario.

See here for the Phantom names of Animals.

A Few Notes from the Author
This story contains some blood.

I will accept fanart of characters, scenes, etc., particularly because A) I can't draw, and B) I'm nonmember, so most of the characters can't be properly depicted with screenshots. If you'd like your art in the story, post it in the comments or on my message wall; you'll be given credit when I add it in.

This is inspired largely by Abbykurle's fanfiction Slave of the Phantoms (and, to a lesser extent, its sequel Rise of The Elements), as well as the Life is Full of Phantoms series by Ellipsity Fieryturtle. I highly recommend giving each a look if you already haven't.

Credit should also go to RandomCharacters and their story The Real Phantom Portal, which originally inspired me to write an Animal Jam fanfic!

And now, without further ado, I present to you: Paws of Pollution!

Prologue: Gold Rising, Spy Finding
It was a dark night in Jamaa. The moon was concealed by pitch-black clouds and a fine mist was spread throughout the land. The air was cool as ice and an eerie presence hung in the atmosphere. It was that kind of night when you just know something bad is going to happen, but you have no idea what that "something" is.

Gold Firstmoon glanced around nervously, gripping his spear tightly. According to Chief Rowdyclaw, his commanding officer, their camp was only a few miles away from the Badlands. "The Badlands are absolutely crawlin' with Phantoms," Chief had said. "I heard that one of their biggest Fortresses is kind of near-ish to here. Personally, I ain't worried about a Phantom ambush, but SOME of ya think that campin' here tonight is suicide. So, I'm gonna be posting a few more guards around than usual."

Gold, unfortunately, got stuck on guard duty. He was charged with guarding the west side (which was also the closest side to the Badlands) along with Count Majorbeast and Duchess Spiritpaw. Count and Duchess were lucky; Count was a dark green Crocodile, and Duchess was a black Wolf. Gold was an Arctic Wolf with, well, gold fur. While his comrades were well-hidden by the shadows, fog, and foliage of the forest, Gold stuck out like a flashing light.

"Hey, Gold?" came a voice. "AAAHHHH!" Gold screamed, whipping around. "Wow, calm down before you wake up the whole camp, would you?" said Duchess. "Oh, h-hey Duchess," said Gold. "Sorry about that, I've just been kinda jumpy lately." "Yeah, I noticed," said Duchess, sitting down besides the Arctic Wolf. "Being on guard duty right at the edge of the Badlands is enough to jerk anyone's nerves."

"Are you sure it's still a good idea for you to be here?" Gold asked. "I mean, you DID just become a mother and everything..." "Gold, I'm fine," Duchess growled. "I come from a long line of fearless soldiers who don't let anything stop them. Not illness, not injury, not even the exhaustion that comes after giving birth." "Yeah, but, what if your pup gets, like, sick or something, and you're not there to help it?" "It'll be fine; it's from the same line of soldiers as me."

Gold sighed and rolled his eyes. Duchess was always like that; she thought that just because she was descended from famous warriors meant that she couldn't let anything stop her from becoming something great. Gold felt like she had been pressured into it, and now she was going to pressure her new pup into it, too.

Suddenly, Duchess grabbed Gold by the shoulder and pushed him down to the ground. "OW! W-what the-?!" "Shush!" hissed Duchess, dropping down with him. "Look!" she whispered, pointing up at the sky. Gold squinted through the fog, and then he saw it.

Phantoms.

At least a hundred of them.

Heading directly towards the camp.

"How many Phantoms is that?" whispered Duchess. "Enough to completely obliterate the camp, that's for sure," whispered Gold. "What do we do?" "Um... quick, you get over there and hide in those bushes, and whatever you do, DO. NOT. LET. THEM. SEE. YOU." "W-what about you?" "I'm gonna alert Chief and the others," said Duchess, standing up and drawing her sword. "We have about another half hour until they get here. Just stay put in those bushes and I'll come back to get you when the fight's over."

With that, Duchess ran into the camp. Casting a glance at the sky, Gold quickly crawled over into a mass of bushes, tucked into the shadow of a large tree. For safety's sake, he poised his spear and gripped it with both paws, preparing to strike with it in case he was suddenly attacked.

A long time passed. Nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a scream rose up from the direction of the camp. "ATTAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!" came a shout soon afterwards. The sound of crackling electricity, slashing metal, and various shouts and war cries followed. Every now and then, an explosion cut through the night, briefly lighting up Gold's hiding place.

After almost three hours of listening to an unseen battle, everything fell deathly silent. Gold's heart was pounding like a jackhammer as he strained to listen for... something. The sound of victory cries rising up from the victorious Animals. The sound of Chief shouting, "Yeah, you better run, Phantoms!" The sound of Duchess' paws crunching against the grass, coming to tell Gold that it was safe to come out.

Another hour passed, and still nothing. Gulping and shaking like a leaf, Gold slowly crawled out from the bushes and stood up. He looked in the direction of the camp and inhaled sharply at the sight. What was once a large group of tents spread out in a valley was now a smoldering black husk. Tattered remains of tents hung limply from their poles, a few still smoking from fires. Dotting the valley were the bodies of dozens of Animals, blackened from fire and covered in Phantom goop. A few Phantoms lingered around the destroyed camp, poking around at what was left of it.

Tears started to well up in Gold's eyes. How could they do this? How could they just destroy them like that? His comrades, his allies, his friends? Dropping his spear, Gold dropped to his knees and covered his eyes. I could've done something... he thought. ''If I had gone with her, I might've been able to stop this. But instead, I hid like a coward. Like I always do.''

Standing up and wiping tears from his eyes, Gold gritted his teeth and let out a low snarl. "You WILL pay for this, Phantoms," he growled. "No more hiding for me. From this moment on, whenever I see one of your kind, I WILL destroy it." He smirked. "I'll get together a whole army of Animals, and I'll lead them to your extinction." And with that, he turned around and trekked off, ideas of a Phantom genocide planted in his mind.

Thirteen lifted the tattered tarp and looked into the tent. "Hey, boss, I found another one!" he called. Eclipse floated over immediately. "Another one of what?" he asked. "Another Light-Skin! Look!" said Thirteen, pointing into the tent. Eclipse looked around for a while until he spotted what Thirteen was talking about.

A tiny, furry, black and dark grey Light-Skin was curled up in one corner of the tent, its head covered with its paws. "A Slouchback pup?" said Eclipse, puzzled. "Hey, remember that black Slouchback who was swingin' her sword around like a maniac? I think she might've been its mother," said Thirteen. "I wonder what happened to her? She kinda ran away from me in the middle of our fight, but I don't know if someone else took care of her."

Eclipse floated into the tent and levitated down to the pup's level. "It's so small... And I think it's sleeping. It must have nerves of steel if it was able to sleep through that hectic battle." Suddenly, the pup's ear twitched. Startled, Eclipse jerked back slightly. The pup raised its head, stretched its body, and opened its eyes.

"Whoa, look at its eyes!" exclaimed Thirteen. "They're white!" And indeed, the pup's irises were pale as snow. "From what I know about Light-Skins, pale eyes is generally a sign of blindness," said Eclipse. "Hmmm..." He got down at the pup's level again and waved a tentacle in front of its face. When the pup jerked back and blinked in surprise, Thirteen remarked, "Welp, it ain't blind. Whaddya think we should do with it?"

Just as Eclipse opened his mouth to answer, the pup suddenly grabbed one of Eclipse's tentacles. "Whoa!" yelped Thirteen. "Calm down," said Eclipse. "It's not doing anything. I think... I think it likes me." As he spoke, the pup gently tugged the Phantom down to the ground and snuggled up next to him. "Huh. A Light-Skin who likes Phantoms," remarked Thirteen. "What are the odds?"

"Hm. Maybe we can use this to our advantage," said Eclipse. "How so?" "Well, this is a Light-Skin who likes Phantoms. Hasn't the King been saying that we could use a spy to infiltrate the Light-Skin territories and gather information about them?" "Oh, yeah, I remember him saying something like that! I think he also said that a Slouchback is our best bet; those things are real popular. And if not a Slouchback, something black and dark grey, maybe with white eyes."

"Yep. And this little... uh..." Eclipse took a quick glance at the pup's underside. "...Guy. This little guy is pretty much the full package. Slouchback? Check. Black fur? Check. Dark grey underfur? Check. White eyes? Double-check. The only things he's missing are Phantom powers and knowledge of what other Light-Skins are like." "Cold, heartless, maniacs who kill Phantoms for fun?" "Bingo.

"Once we get back to the Fortress, go find Excavate and ask him if he can do anything to give this pup Phantom powers - WITHOUT harming him, mind you. For now, help me find stuff to make something I can use to carry this pup back to the Fortress." As soon as he finished talking, the pup gripped his tentacle tighter and let out a small bark.

"...Okay, scratch that, you're gonna have to find the stuff yourself, 'cuz this guy refuses to let go of me." "Uh, can do, boss," said Thirteen, saluting. As he floated off, Eclipse looked down at the pup, still snuggled up next to him and looking up at him with wide, white eyes. "You're, uh... You're not like other Light-Skins, little guy," he said, awkwardly rubbing the pup's head. "But, with any luck, us Phantoms can mold you into a perfect little spy."

Chapter One: The Interrogation
15 years later...

The dungeon of Fortress Voidstalker was dark, and dreary, and various other "d" words commonly used to decribe dungeons. Aside from the fact that the whole place was used to hold captured Light-Skins, it reeked of despair (and lots of dust) and radiated an energy that practically screamed "YOU WILL NEVER ESCAPE".

Shadow absolutely hated going into, or anywhere near, the dungeon. Ever since he was little, he had avoided it as best as he possibly could and would only go in if someone else was with him - and even then, he kept shivering with fear and picturing himself behind the bars of a cell. You're half Phantom, stupid, he'd always remind himself. ''You're King Zap's secret weapon, his spy. They wouldn't throw ya in here unless ya did something REALLY bad like, I dunno, set a pod on fire or something. And even if ya did, you'd still only be here for a week at best.''

Still, he couldn't help but put the dungeon near the top of his "List of Fears", right above horror movies but below spiders and Light-Skin attacks. And yet, for the past ten or so years, he had always been brought down to the dungeon to act as a translator between Creech (the language of the Light-Skins) and Phant (the language of the Phantoms) during interrogations.

So, despite every inch of his being telling him to book it back up the stairs, Shadow reluctantly followed the guard who had brought the summons to him down, down, deep below the surface. The only light came from the green-flamed torches on the walls and the purple, glow-in-the-dark rectangular spirals on Shadow's fur and armor.

Finally, they came to a set of tall, iron doors. The guards positioned on either side of the doors wore the skulls of Light-Skins atop their heads, and their long, purple spears were covered in dried red blood (Shadow always tried to convince himself that it was all for show and those weren't really skulls or Light-Skin bloodstains).

"Worst, Frequency," said Shadow's guard. "Oh, hey Thicket," said Frequency, the one to the left of the doors. "Hey Shadow. You guys here for the interrogation?" "No, we're here to frost a cake," Thicket replied, earning a chuckle from the other guards.

"I feel real confident 'bout this 'un," said Worst. "Number 34 is bound to be close to crackin' by now. This is, what, his seventh year down 'ere? Anyone's spirit would break if they was locked in a cell for seven years straight." "That's what you said about Number 97, and we all know how well that turned out," argued Frequency.

"Yeah, yeah, 97, whatever," said Thicket impatiently. "Just let us in, wouldya?" "Huh? Oh, right, sorry." Worst and Frequency each pushed open a door, the hinges creaking loudly. "There we are," said Worst once the doors were wide enough. "Thank you. Come along, Shadow," said Thicket.

Thankfully, the interrogation room wasn't too far from the doors. It was small, but at least cleaner than the rest of the dungeon. The only furniture in the room was a metal table and a chair for the prisoner. A small hook on the far wall was used to attach to the prisoner's chain, and the only light source was a single torch on the wall.

Shadow took his normal position against the wall opposite the door, while Thicket went to wait outside the room. After a while, the door was suddenly thrown open. Three burly guards dragged in a snarling Sandpaw, who was fighting with all his might to break free. A blue-eyed Phantom carrying a clipboard brought up the rear, closing the door behind her. It was Pawn, the head interrogator.

Once the Sandpaw was securely chained to the wall, Pawn turned to Shadow. "You know the drill, right?" she asked him. "One of you speaks, I translate it into the other's language, and I don't say anything otherwise," Shadow mumbled. "Very good."

Pawn turned to the Sandpaw. "Number 34, aka, 'Elm Sabreapple'," she said. Shadow translated. "Pawn. Shoulda known they'd send you in for me." "Yes, yes, you're very intimidating and all that. So. Seven years, huh? Very impressive." "Seven years, five months, one week, two days, ten hours, eleven minutes, three seconds and counting."

"Mhm. So, it says here that you were captured during the Battle of Fang Cavern. If I remember correctly, that was when you and your little friends tried to dig a tunnel under this very Fortress and use it as an ambush route." "Friends, schmiends. I barely knew any of those losers. I only teamed up with 'em so I could destroy your kind once and for all."

"My kind? Quite rude, if you ask me." "So what?" Pawn was silent for a moment, then motioned for the guards to follow her to the other side of the room. Shadow stayed put as the Phantoms huddled up and began to whisper to each other.

"And what about you, huh?" Elm snapped at Shadow. "Ya traitor. Crossed over to the Phantoms' side. Figured YOU, of all Animals, would've figured out by now that they're nothin' more than cold, heartless maniacs who kill Animals for fun."

"They are not," Shadow hissed through gritted teeth. "And for the record, I didn't exactly have a choice whether to 'cross over' or not." "Death seems like a better option to me." "That's not what I meant."

Before Elm could say anything else, Pawn and the guards floated back over to the table. "That many Light-Skins wouldn't be in one place by pure coincidence," Pawn said. "Obviously, someone told you all to be there at the same time. So." She tented two of her tentacles. "Who's your boss?"

Elm remained quiet, although his glare could cut steel. "Who's your boss?" Pawn repeated. "Your leader? Your chief? Your big cheese? Your grand poo bah? Your... master?" At the word 'master', Elm's eyebrows slightly rose. "Aha," said Pawn, in the tone one would use as if they had just figured out which pieces of a jigsaw puzzle were to be connected to each other.

In a fraction of a second, the three guards had surrounded Elm and pointed their spears toward his throat. "Urgh... I'm not tellin' you... pollution-causing cyclopes... anything..." "Master," repeated Pawn thoughtfully. "Let me think... Hmm..."

"I... will not... go down... without... A FIGHT!" All at once, Elm threw the guards off of him, snatched one of their spears, and used it to break the chain. He flipped the table and lunged at Shadow, letting out a long, Sandpaw howl. Shadow dropped to the floor and rolled to the side, dodging the attack.

Elm whirled around, snarling. Shadow jumped to his paws. The two canines began to circle each other. "Listen, we don't have to fight!" said Shadow. "I don't wanna hurt you, and I'm about 47% sure that you don't wanna hurt me either! Just tell 'em who this 'Master' guy is and maybe they'll go easy on ya!"

"Liar!" Elm shouted. "You know as well as I do that they'll kill me as soon as I spill the beans! Do us both a favor and kill 'em all now, then we can escape together! Or, better yet, kill 'em all now and off yourself on the way out!"

"No! I'd sooner rot in this dungeon than betray the Phantoms!" "Fine, then. You asked for this!" Elm lunged at Shadow again. This time, Shadow faced the attack by rising onto his back paws, using his front ones to keep Elm back. Elm clawed and bit at Shadow, but Shadow managed to push him onto his back and leap away.

By this point, the guards had re-oriented themselves and were rushing over to the fight. Noticing this, Elm pounced once more, and this time, he succeeded in pinning Shadow down. "I am NOT going down without knowing that you're already dead!" he screamed.

But just as he was about to clamp his jaws down on Shadow's neck, one of the guards jabbed his spear straight through the Sandpaw's head; in through one ear, right out the other. Elm's body stiffened, then collapsed.

Panting, Shadow pushed the dead Sandpaw off of him and staggered to his paws. "Well, um... Th-that didn't go as expected," he said. "You're tellin' me," said the guard who had stabbed Elm, pulling out his spear. "Consarnit, this was my favorite spear. It's gonna take days to get these bloodstains out."

Pawn, who had been pushed against the wall when Elm flipped the table, floated over. "Thank you for your service today, Shadow," she said. "And good job keeping Number 34 busy. You two," she said to the other guards. "Return 34's body to his cell. I shall report this to King Zap at once, and he will decide what to do with it. Shadow, you are excused for the rest of the day."

With that, Pawn left the room. Shadow, however, stayed put. How could she be so calm? he asked himself. I almost just died''. I could've been killed. Ended. And she's just like, "Well done, Shadow; tip-top fight you did there; aren't you strong."''

...Why did Elm want to kill me? It didn't make any sense. Shadow hadn't said anything that could've offended Elm (at least, he didn't think so). Did Elm want Shadow dead because he was half Phantom? Because he thought he was a traitor? Or...

Did Elm want Shadow dead because Eclipse had tried to kill him?

When he was younger, Shadow would often beg Eclipse, his father, to tell him how he was found. It was the same story every time: a group of Phantom-hunting Light-Skins had set up camp close to the Badlands, the Phantoms had attacked them and destroyed their camp, Eclipse had found Shadow in the ruins of a tent, he had brought him back to the Fortress, and a scientist had injected Shadow with Phantom DNA to make him half Phantom.

Elm had looked old enough to had been around when Eclipse found Shadow. Maybe he had fought the Phantoms, survived, and sworn vengeance on them for killing his friends? Then maybe he had seen them carry Shadow off to the Badlands, and sworn to kill him, too?

Sighing, Shadow began the long walk back to his room. He was eager to leave the dungeon behind him, but the possibility of him being directly responsible for Elm's seething hatred of Phantoms continued to tug at his mind.

''If one Light-Skin hated me that much... Who's to say others won't want me dead?''

Chapter Two: Study Up
Shadow's room was located at the top of one of Fortress Voidstalker's many towers. The walls were painted dark blue and the floor was covered with red carpet. Against the eastern wall were a bookshelf and a desk, the latter of which had two laptops resting on it.

The western wall had a TV, an entertainment center, several game consoles, and two beanbag chairs. Around this area were various cases for DVDs, CDs, and video games, along with controllers for the different consoles.

Tucked into the northeast corner, to the right of the door, was a bunkbed, with Shadow's bunk being on the bottom. On the southern wall was a single window, which led to a makeshift walkway to the very top of the tower.

Normally, stepping into his room gave Shadow a sense of calmness. His room was his sanctuary, his place to go whenever he was having a bad day. There were few things that watching cartoons or playing video games couldn't fix. But this time, the only things Shadow felt were confusion and worry.

Sighing, Shadow climbed onto his bed and laid down. For a while, he just stared blankly at the wall. Or maybe it was into the eyes of his dragon plushie; it was in front of the wall so he couldn't really tell. His mind was racing in a million directions, desperately searching for a logical explanation for Elm's attack.

Maybe he fell asleep, or maybe he just lost track of time, but Shadow could swear that when he finally got up, it seemed later in the day than it was before. He padded over to the bookcase and pulled out a thick, heavy book with a hard wood casing.

The cover read A Guide to Light-Skins and their Guardians in big, bold letters, with "Third Edition" written below in smaller print. The cover was also decorated in several pictures of Light-Skins, one of which was a blue Slouchback wearing a tattered, purple cape.

Shadow sat down in one of the beanbag chairs and opened the book. My sixteenth birthday is in only a few weeks, he thought. ''And that's when King Zap is gonna send me into the Light-Skin territories. I better use the time I have now to memorize whatever of this book that I can.''

Luckily, he had already read most of it by this point; all he had left were the sections on the Guardian Stripefur, Slouchback, and Spoteye. He turned to the first page on the Stripefur Guardian, and began reading.

"Lord Pouncer is the Guardian of the Stripefurs. He could most likely be considered the most dangerous out of all the Guardians. From what we have gathered, Lord Pouncer is highly aggressive towards Phantoms and, on occasions, anyone who isn't him. He frequently disagrees with the Slouchback Guardian (see: Sulker), as their methods of attack are quite different from each other. A few Kings believe that we might be able to use this to our advantage."

Shadow gulped as he looked at the portrait of the Stripefur Guardian. Lord Pouncer was definitely a tough cookie. "Sure would hate to run into him," he said to himself, turning the page.

"Sulker, the Slouchback Guardian, is the one we know the least about. Unlike his sometimes-rival Lord Pouncer, Sulker believes that the key to defeating us is through stealth and reconnaissance. Several times he's managed to infiltrate hives, towers, and fortresses undetected, something that is obviously going to be a problem. Sulker was the one who stopped the eruption of Mount Crack-A-Talon; though he was captured shortly after, he somehow managed to escape."

Sulker's portrait seemed to stare directly into Shadow's soul, causing a chill to run down his spine. If this is the guy who stopped Mount Crack-A-Talon from erupting, he must have really powerful magic, Shadow thought. He turned the page just so he wouldn't have to look at that icy stare anymore.

"Flower appears to be the leader of the Guardians. She is a Spoteye, which is a bit peculiar since Spoteyes are rather rare. We have deduced that she is the most kind-hearted of the Guardians and the easiest to reason with; however, when it comes to Phantoms, all "zen-ness" completely evaporates and Flower becomes as eager to destroy us as any other Guardian. Perhaps one day, we may be able to talk things out with her."

Unlike Lord Pouncer and Sulker, Flower's portrait gave off a soft, friendly energy rather than an openly hostile one. She was also smiling, something that Shadow guessed she did often. Shadow found himself smiling back, calm and relaxed for the first time since the interrogation.

"Maybe this thing's right," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe when I go to the Light-Skin territories, I'll meet Flower, and maybe we'll get along. Maybe I'll be able to tell her and the other Guardians that Phantoms aren't what they think they are.

"Maybe, just maybe, I'll be the one responsible for ending this old-as-all-heck war, and Light-Skins and Phantoms can finally live in harmony."

Chapter Three: Hunters in the Badlands
A few days later, Shadow and his brother Darkbolt were exploring some ruins in the Badlands, far from the Fortress. They were the remains of a communications hub, built by Light-Skins during the Phantom Resurgence to relay messages about Phantom activity back to the Light-Skin territories. Obviously it didn't take long for the Phantoms to find out.

The ruins consisted of twenty small buildings arranged in a circle, with a tall tower in the center. Three of the buildings held what looked like spying robots; seven contained weapons, armor, and crates of long-rotted food and algae-filled water; five were filled with bunk beds and appeared to be sleeping quarters. There was one building isolated from the rest that was giving off a foul stench - it was painfully obvious what that one had used been for. The rest contained lots of computers and monitors.

"How long do ya think this whole place has been here?" Shadow asked as they entered one of the food storage buildings. "At least fifteen years longer than Dad's been alive, maybe even longer than King Zap!" Darkbolt answered. "Look at this!" He picked up a mostly intact front page of a newspaper, which was written in Creech. "What's it say?"

Shadow took the paper and looked over it. "Hmm... 'Chaos! Disaster! Phantoms build gigantic mobile Fortress!' What? A mobile Fortress? But I thought the Crawling Castle was just a legend?" "Maybe that's just what they wanted us to think." "Who's 'they'?" "Doesn't matter. Keep reading!"

"Alright, calm down. 'Try as they might, the Alphas couldn't keep word of the Phantom Fortress from reaching public ears. While being held captive in the Phantom Vortex, Greely managed to acquire the Phantom Beacon, which contained the plans for an enormous mechanical Fortress. This Phantom Fortress can destroy so much with a single step, and the Phantoms are marching it right towards Jamaa Township!

"'The Alphas are currently devising a plan to disable the Fortress, but Greely (big shock) has vanished again! What's even stranger is that Graham has detected high-level energy readings! Could this be the long-lost Sheep Heartstone? More as this story develops.' The rest is just about some place called the Hot Cocoa Hut losing almost 2,000 customers every year."

Darkbolt put a tentacle on his forehead. "Wow. I... I can't believe it." "What? That the Crawling Castle was real, that we managed to lose one of the most vulnerable and defenseless Light-Skins in the world, or that an edgy emo Slouchback stole the Beacon whilst encaged in an invulnerable crystal?" "What? No, that the Light-Skins have dumb names for everything. Seriously, what kind of stupid, made-up word is 'Sheep'?!?"

Shadow rolled his eyes, but a distant sound made him prick up his ears. It sounded like talking.

Talking between two Light-Skins.

And they were getting close.

"Quick, hide!" Shadow whisper-shouted. "What? Why?" "Just do it!" "I'm just sayin', it really doesn't make sense," said one of the Light-Skins, loud enough for Darkbolt to hear. "Oh. That's why."

Shadow and Darkbolt dove behind one of the crates just as the Light-Skins were only a few feet from the door. "It ain't gotta. He's the boss, he can say whatever he wants." snapped the other Light-Skin. "That doesn't mean he can just call 'em that when they're not even biologically related and not expect anyone to question it! I doubt they even like him that much." "Shut up."

Shadow risked a peek over the top of the box. He saw a Tinybeak and an Icespot standing in the building, uncomfortably close to their hiding place. The Tinybeak had green and silver feathers, with blue eyes and black markings shaped like five-pointed stars. It was wearing a green Hood With Feather, a white Tattered Scarf, a green Slingshot, red-and-brown Arm Cuffs, and a Western Tail Scarf.

The Icespot had dark blue fur with a red underside, black eyes, and purple rosette markings. It was wearing a black-and-red Scorpion Helmet, a blue Double Spiked Collar, black Dual Samurai Swords, blue Yeti Claws, and a white-and-black Skunk Tail.

"Are you sure we should be out here?" asked the Tinybeak. "Fortress 07-9-B is kinda close to here. Wh-what if a Phantom finds us?" "Then we kill it and eat its liver. Or whatever internal organs it has. Besides, we're Phantom Hunters. We shouldn't be scared of the things we're hunting." "I'm not scared, Paws. Just cautious." "Whatever, Itchy."

"What are they saying?" Darkbolt whispered. "Um..." "C'mon, spit it out!" "Their... Their names are Paws and Itchy..." "Yeah, and...?" Shadow took a deep breath. "They're Phantom hunters."

Chapter Four: A New Threat
Darkbolt inhaled sharply. "WHAT!? B-but the Light-Skins haven't been into the Badlands ever since the Battle of Fang Cavern! Wh-what are they doing here?!?" "Shh. Maybe we'll find out if I keep listening."

Paws' head suddenly shot into the air. "What's wrong?" Itchy asked. "I... I thought I heard something. Sounded like... Phantoms." "Wh-what?" "Hmm... Must've just been my imagination."

Shadow breathed a sigh of relief. "So, how're we gonna get that information?" Itchy asked. "It's not like any of those computers work anymore. Not after they've been sitting here gathering dust for sixty-two years."

"It's simple, Itchy," Paws replied. "All we gotta do is capture some Phantoms - five should be enough - and use their electricity to restore power to this place. The generator's right inside that big tower. Once the power's back on, we can search the computers for information on the whereabouts of the Crystals." "But what if the generator or the computers still don't work?" "Then we cry a lot."

Shadow translated their conversation. "How are they supposed to use Phantoms to power the generator?" Darkbolt asked. "Dad told me about that," Shadow replied. "They're gonna poke the Phantoms in the eye with this long, spear-looking thing called a blinder - aptly named, since it'll blind the Phantoms. The pain is supposed to make 'em release a whole bunch of lightning all over the place. Paws and Itchy must be expecting the lightning to hit the generator."

"There it is again!" Paws suddenly shouted, drawing one of his swords. "Itchy, I don't think we're as alone as we thought." "Um, o-okay," Itchy said nervously. He took out his slingshot, put a rock in it, and pulled it back. "Wh-where are they?"

"Hm..." Paws began to creep over to the crate that Shadow and Darkbolt were hiding behind. Shadow felt his heart beat faster and faster as the Icespot slowly approached. Darkbolt began to sweat nervously. The brothers exchanged terrified looks.

Suddenly, using his sword, Paws cleanly cut the crate in half. "AUGH!" Darkbolt dropped to the ground and covered his head with his tentacles, but Shadow leaped away and turned to face the hunters.

Paws' and Itchy's jaw and beak, respectively, dropped. "Is that...?" "A Phasmofera!" Paws exclaimed eagerly, drawing his other sword. "I thought all of those were gone!"

Phasmofera? Shadow thought. What in Mira's name is a 'Phasmofera'? "Um, I think you're confusing me with something else," he said. "I'm not a Phasmofera. I don't even know what that is."

Ignoring him, Paws called over his shoulder to Itchy. "Don't just stand there! C'mon, let's get it!" "Wait! I'm not trying to pick a fight with you guys! Me and my brother were just exploring and-" He was cut off by Paws leaping forward, slicing at him with his sword.

"OW!" Shadow exclaimed as the blade grazed his right shoulder. "Shadow!" Darkbolt shouted, rushing forward. "Are you okay?" "Ugh... Y-yeah. It's just a scratch. It'll heal."

"Oh, this is just too good!" Paws exclaimed. "A Phasmofera and a Venemutare! Itchy, forget the mission! Let's take 'em down and bring 'em back to the base! Master Phantomslayer is gonna be so proud!" "Whatever you say, Paws!" Itchy replied eagerly.

The battle dragged on for hours. Paws and Itchy fought with vigor, determined to take down Shadow and Darkbolt. Although Shadow tried to explain that he and Darkbolt meant them no harm, it quickly became apparent that the hunters weren't going to stop until the brothers were either dead or knocked out, after which they could take them back to their "base", wherever that was.

Eventually, after about six and a half hours and the fight slowly progressing to outside, Itchy looked off into the northern horizon. "Um, Paws?" "What?!?" "We should probably retreat." "Why?" "Look north."

Paws did so, and he was greeted with the sight of hundreds of Phantoms, heading right for them. "...Uh oh." He sheathed his swords and backflipped away from Shadow and Darkbolt. Itchy launched himself into the sky and flew over to hover above him.

"This ain't over, ya here?!?" Paws roared at Shadow and Darkbolt. "When we get back to the base, we're gonna tell Master Phantomslayer about you two, and he's gonna send us to track you down! Just you wait!" With that, he ran off, with Itchy flying close behind him.

Shadow and Darkbolt were still for a moment, trying to catch their breath. They looked north and saw the hundreds of Phantoms, then at each other. "...Hallucia?" "...Hallucia." The air in that part of the Badlands was filled with Hallucia gas, which caused whoever inhaled it to see things that weren't really there. Phantoms born in that area generally learned how to tell the difference between real things and Hallucia-caused ones.

"What do you think they were talking about back there?" Darkbolt asked. "About those 'Crystals' Paws mentioned, I mean." "No idea. What I wanna find out is why they called me a Phasmofera and you a Venemutare. I don't even know what either of those are, but judging by their reactions, they're probably important."

"Maybe someone back at the Fortress knows. We should go back and ask around." "Okay. Come on." The brothers began the long trek back to Fortress Voidstalker, hoping that somebody would have more information on this new, impending threat.

Chapter Five: Departure
They were halfway back to the Fortress when Shadow suddenly stopped. Darkbolt kept going for a while, but then realized what happened and turned around. "Shadow? C'mon, Dad's gonna be wondering where we are."

"I..." Shadow sat down, wrapped his tail around his paws, and looked at the ground. Darkbolt, confused, came back over. "Sh...Shadow? You okay?" "I'm... No. I'm not okay." "What? Why not?"

"Well, think about it. If Paws and Itchy make it back to their base and tell their boss about us, and he actually listens to them, then he'll most likely hire more Phantom hunters and tear up the whole Badlands looking for us. If we stay here, we're just gonna put everyone in danger."

"So? You saw how we were doin' back there! Those two ran off like a couple a' scared little Proto-Phantoms!" "Yeah, but only 'cuz they breathed in Hallucia and thought hundreds of Phantoms were heading for them! If you had seen hundreds of Light-Skins coming towards you with the intent of ripping your tentacles off and using them as false mustaches, you'd've run away, too."

"Alright, alright, I get it." Darkbolt rolled his eye. "What's your point, anyway?" "My point," Shadow growled, a little ticked off, "is that as long as they know we're in the Badlands, they won't stop at anything to find us. Fortresses will be leveled, Phantoms will be killed, the Badlands will stop being the safe haven for Phantoms because Light-Skins will be ruthlessly prowling it day and night.

"You can stay at Fortress Voidstalker if you wanna, but I'm not about to put everyone's lives on the line to save my own fur. I'm leaving the Badlands. And I won't come back until I know that all Phantoms will be safe from Phantom hunters for the rest of time."

Darkbolt's jaw dropped, and for a moment, all he could do was stare. Finally, he snapped back to reality. "Are you crazy?!? You can't leave the Badlands all on your own! What if you get captured? Or hurt? Or killed?!?" "All the dangers that would face me if I waited until King Zap sent me out on my sixteenth birthday."

"B-but... But..." "But nothing." Shadow got up and began to walk away, leaving Darkbolt floating there. When they were about three feet away from each other, Shadow paused and looked over his shoulder.

"As I said, feel free to stay at the Fortress if you want to. In fact, go back there. Tell Dad where I've gone. Tell him I'll be fine. You can 'come with' after you tell him. I'll wait for you at Lithium Rock. But..." He sighed.

"I know you like the back of my paw. There's only a 43% chance that you'll come with me. The other 57% says that you'll stay behind. So, just in case, goodbye. Thanks for being my brother all these years. I'll see you later." With that, he walked on, without another backward glance. Darkbolt floated there for a while, before finally turning around and continuing towards Fortress Voidstalker.

Lithium Rock was actually a small hill about seven miles southeast from the Fortress. It was named after a legendary Phantom hero who single-handedly fought off an entire army of Light-Skins with only her bare tentacles, so the story went.

For the longest time, Shadow had never gone past Lithium Rock. It was something of a border marker as far as he was concerned; a border that, if crossed, would plant him directly into the Light-Skin territory. Even now, he could vaguely make out the shapes of trees in the far distance - the outskirts of the Brown Woods.

"I guess every hero's gotta set off on their own at some point, right?" he told himself. "Well, I won't be totally alone, if Darkbolt decides to come along. Which he most likely won't."

He sighed. "Who am I kiddin'? He's a totally normal Phantom, not a Teneum. Even if I somehow managed to blend in with the Light-Skins, he'd stick out like a sunflower in a lava field. He can't shapeshift, he's too big to be passed off as one of those 'Pet' Phantoms some Light-Skins have, and if anybody saw him, he'd be five kinds of screwed. He'd just be in danger if he came along."

Shadow was quiet for a moment, then let out a sardonic laugh. "He's trapped between a rock and a hard place," he said. "On the one paw: Stay here, get tracked down by Paws' and Itchy's boss, be the cause of thousands of Phantoms' deaths, then die himself. On the other paw: Come with me, be surrounded by Light-Skins, eventually get spotted by one of them, then finally find out what the inside of a Chomper Plant looks like."

"On the third paw," said a voice from behind him, "come with you, stay alive, end the war between Phantoms and Light-Skins, and become heroes." Shadow whipped around and found Darkbolt floating only a foot from him, a grin on his face.

"You... You're gonna come?" Shadow asked, though he already knew the answer. "Well, I weighed the options," his brother answered. "I could stay home an' miss out on being half of the duo who ended the war, OR, I could come along, travel all across Jamaa, end the war, become famous, have my name written in the history books... I think you get the point."

"So ya came to boost your ego?" Shadow joked. "Yeah, 'cuz that's EXACTLY what it needs, to be on steroids," Darkbolt replied, earning a laugh from both of them. "Oh, by the way, I already told Dad. He took it surprisingly well."

"Really? What'd he say?" "Well, first he just kinda rambled on about how proud he was of us for setting out on our own, looking to end the war, yadda yadda yadda. Then he mentioned that if we're gonna go into the Light-Skin turf, we need to find someone named Reaper."

Shadow cocked his head to the side. "Reaper? Who's that?" "A Phantom researcher, apparently. Dad says he met him a couple of years before I was born, and he thinks he might be able to help us."

"Huh. Well, okay." "C'mon, we're not gonna save Phantomkind by standin' around like a couple of statues!" Darkbolt exclaimed. "Let's go!" He took off towards the line of trees, laughing. Shadow followed close behind, glad to know that he wasn't going to be alone after all.

Chapter Six: From Another Perspective
Master Phantomslayer hadn't taken the news well.

To be specific, he had stayed mostly quiet, then he told them they were dismissed. He said they were to track down the Phasmofera and Venemutare and bring them back to him alive. But that was the thing - Master Phantomslayer only reacted calmly when he was furious. Paws could only assume it was because he had been so sure that all the Phasmoferas and Venemutares had been killed off by now. Unless he was mad that Paws and Itchy had found them before the Skull Squad did.

"So, remind me." Itchy's voice snapped Paws out of his thoughts. "Why are we going to see Cackle?" "Well, Master Phantomslayer told us to find those Special Phantoms, except we have no idea where they are. And even if we did, we can't catch 'em with just a Slingshot and two Samurai Swords.

"Red said that Cackle's been working on some new high-tech Phantom-hunting gear for, like, two years now, and he's been waiting for someone to test it out in the field. He can't trust Snicker 'cuz, ya know, it's Snicker, the Skull Squad would break it on purpose just to be jerks, and nobody else has had the guts to test his inventions ever since the Spike-O-Matic Incident."

Itchy sighed. "Have I ever mentioned how much I hate it when you're right?" "Seventeen different times." "Well, I'm gonna say it anyway. I really hate it when you're right." "I know."

The long walk to Cackle's lab continued in silence. The two Hunters were surrounded on all sides by metal- metal walls, metal floor, metal ceiling. The Phantom Hunters' base was underground, so there were no windows. Instead, the walls were decorated with electric sconces, paintings, and tapestries. Occasionally Paws and Itchy would pass a door or a hall that crisscrossed with the one they were walking down.

Finally, the Snow Leopard and Owl stopped in front of a big, red, metal door, with a metal gate and several laser beams in front of it. Above the door frame was a metal sign reading "Laboratory", with a few smaller ones reading "DANGER! HIGH VOLTAGE!", "AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY", "CAUTION", and "KEEP OUT!" bolted right onto the door. Two security cameras were positioned on either side of the door, with a highly complex security system located on the right wall.

Paws tapped the button on the security system, causing the panel to fall and reveal a keypad. Paws typed in the password - Blueberry Pie - which allowed a pawprint scanner to pop out of the wall. After accepting his paw, the scanner changed to a retina reader. Then a microphone dropped from the ceiling. "Paws Quietclaw," Paws spoke into it.

A clicking sound from behind him caused him to turn around. A gigantic laser gun had come out from the opposite wall and was aimed right at Itchy! "A-and Itchy Fairjoy!" Paws added hurriedly. A beep sounded off from the security system as it deactivated, opening the door, lifting the gate, and turning off the lasers.

The Hunters breathed a sigh of relief. "I swear, this thing gets crazier and takes ten more years off my life every time I come here," Itchy said, clutching his heart with a wing. "At least he got rid of the Snake Pit."

Cackle's lab was also metal, but it was a shiny white metal rather than the dark grey of the halls. Various desks with blueprints and chemistry sets sitting on them stood around the room, as well as a few strange inventions that would do Zios-knows-what if they were activated.

Paws and Itchy were barely three feet into the lab when the door slammed shut behind them and a siren began blaring. The next thing they knew, they were trapped in a net. "I thought I already told you," a voice shouted over the siren, "I'll have your helmet fixed when it's good and ready!"

A lime green Raccoon wearing blue-and-black Hypno-Glasses and a red Mysterious Cloak walked out from behind a desk. When he saw who was caught in his net, his eyebrows raised. "Hey," he said, clapping his paws to turn off the siren, "you ain't Destiny."

"Cackle, is all this really necessary?" Paws asked. "I get it, you're more paranoid than the average YouTuber when they play a horror game, but a net? REALLY? I thought you were a mad scientist, not a Scooby-Doo villain."

Cackle glared at him. "One more smart remark like that and I'll leave you in there for good next time," he snapped, pulling a remote out from under his cloak and pressing the button on it. The net dropped from the ceiling, the knot untying itself as the net hit the floor.

"What are you two doing here anywhere?" Cackle asked as Paws and Itchy picked themselves up off the floor. "I thought you said you wanted nothing to do with me after the cleaning robot got into the knife cabinet and nearly took off Itchy's foot."

"It's a long story," Itchy said sheepishly. "Basically, we, uh, found a Venemutare and a Phasmofera, and-" "You need some of my technology to track them down and catch them." "Wh... How did you...?"

"It was pretty obvious," Cackle answered. "Follow me and I'll show you what I've been working on." He stood up and walked into the next room, Paws and Itchy following close behind.

Chapter Seven: Project Delta-Y-76
The other part of Cackle's lab was sparsely lit and even more cluttered. The floor was a lot dirtier, too, and stained with what Paws hoped was just chemicals. "Geez, Cackle, do you ever clean up in here?" Itchy asked, treading lightly to avoid stepping on anything gross.

"Of course I do! Five times a day! It just always almost immediately goes back to looking like this for some reason," said Cackle, offended. "Anyway, where did I put that?..."

The Raccoon bustled off, murmuring to himself, leaving Paws and Itchy standing there. The smaller of the two looked up at his friend. "Do you still think this is a good idea?" he asked.

"Honestly? No," Paws replied quietly. "A good idea would be going after Lightning and Blood-Eye now. A good idea would be asking Master Phantomslayer for some higher-ups to help us out. A good idea would be sticking our heads into a pool of acid so we wouldn't have to be the ones to deal with this.

"But we're the ones who found them, we're the ones who reported them, so we're responsible for their downfall. And in order to do it before Kill catches word of the news and blabs to his 'siblings' about it, we need advanced technology that can track them down faster than Execute's nose could ever hope to."

Itchy was quiet as he absorbed the important bits of the Snow Leopard's answer. "....Lightning and Blood-Eye?" he asked finally. Paws shrugged. "I got tired of callin' 'em 'the Phasmofera' and 'the Venemutare', respectively."

"...Paws, you're not supposed to name them. Once you name them, you start getting attached to them." "Slightly modified Pixar references ain't gonna stop me from calling them Lightning and Blood-Eye."

"I found it!" Cackle proclaimed, emerging from under a pile of old blueprints. In his right paw, he held a key. "Found what?" Paws asked. "The key to my heart," Cackle replied, lowering his eyelids and placing his free paw on his chest.

The Hunters took a step back, weirded out. Cackle cackled. "Kidding! Kidding. It's the key to where my new project is. I had to lock it up 'cuz Snicker kept trying to mess around with it." He led them over to the west side of the room, where there was a slightly opened trapdoor on the floor.

Cackle reared back when he saw it was open. "How did somebody get in there without the key?!?" he shouted, yanking the trapdoor all the way open. "Maybe you just left it unlocked by accident?" Itchy suggested, although he immediately regretted it when Cackle gave him a glare that could melt diamonds.

The three Animals climbed down the metal ladder below the trapdoor, entering a blindingly white room that looked sort of like something out of a sci-fi film. In the center of the room was a podium with a large metal box sitting atop it. The box was enclosed in a tall glass case.

Another Raccoon, the same lime green as Cackle, was sitting in front of the podium, gazing longingly at the box. His attire was different from their main counterparts: a dark purple Bat Mask with yellow eyes and the cape cut off; a Racing Jacket with dark purple-and-grey stripes; his only "normal" piece of clothing was his black Pants.

"One of these days," he whispered, seemingly at the box. "You and I are destined to be, Project Delta-Y-76. Cackle doesn't know it yet, but he will soon enough. And when he does, nothing will stop us from fulfilling our destinies. Nothing."

"Snicker Laughingraccoon, if you start attempting to make out with Project Delta-Y-76 again, Mira have mercy on you," Cackle said, causing the other Raccoon to jump. He spun around, revealing that the mask was tugged so far down on his face that it covered his eyes.

"C-cackle?!? H-how long have you been here?!?" Snicker asked. "Long enough to figure out that it was you who broke into the Saferoom," Cackle snorted, sitting down and folding his arms. "My only question is how."

Snicker smirked. "A master thief never reveals his secrets." "...You picked the lock with a hairpin..." "...Yeah..."

Cackle rolled his eyes as he walked over to the case. "I apologize for my idiot brother, guys," he said to Paws and Itchy. "Idiot?!? First of all, how DARE you, and second of all..."

Cackle ignored him and lifted the case off the podium, carefully placing it on the floor. He picked up the box and walked back over to the Hunters, setting the box down on the floor in front of them.

Now that it was closer to him, Paws could see that the box had a large, red button where it should have had a keyhole. "Um..." "Go ahead and push it," Cackle said. "Something tells me you're gonna like this."

Hesitantly, Paws pressed the button. At first, nothing happened, but then the box began to unfold itself. Itchy yelled in surprise as the box slowly transformed into what almost looked like a walk-in closet without the walls or doors.

Instead of clothes, however, it held racks of armor that looked like they were ripped straight out of a Halo game, many varying weapons - including grenades! - a large computer system complete with GPS, and a few Phantom-shaped test dummies.

Paws whistled in awe. "Daaaang." Cackle grinned with all his teeth (which he had way too many of). "I thought you'd say that. I call it the Arsenal Brick. It's designed to be a fast and easy way to transport weapons, armor, and navigational/tracking/communications systems. This baby can even defend itself with its state-of-the-art security program!"

"I gotta say, Cackle," Itchy said, "as crazy as you are, you're a pretty darn good inventor." "Aw, stop it," Cackle said jokingly, pressing the button again to revert the Arsenal Brick back to its base form.

"So this thing's tracking system will help us find the Phasmofera and Venemutare?" Paws asked. "Absolutely," replied Cackle. "However... There's just one small catch..."

Itchy groaned and clapped a wing over his face. "Of course. Whaddya want?" "Well," said Cackle, "there's a lot of things I want. Money, power, fame, an infinite supply of mustard... But the thing I want most is for my brother to be more of an annoyance than an actual hazard in my lab." He pointed at Snicker, who was dully studying his claws.

"So, to make him more competent, I'd like it if you allowed him to tag along." Paws and Itchy's jaws dropped. "You mean..." "You want us to bring Snicker with us on the hunt?!?" "Yep."

"But... But he's Snicker!" Itchy threw his wings over his head. "He can barely walk to the bathroom without somehow setting something on fire! Not to mention all he's gonna do is try to boss us around 'cuz his ego is bigger than his future!"

"Shush, Itchy," Paws said suddenly, lightly smacking the Owl on the back of the head. "Think about it. Having Snicker come with us will make him less annoying to be around. And it's a pretty small price to pay in return for the Arsenal Brick."

Itchy sighed loudly. "For the nineteenth time, I really hate it when you're right." "Alright, Cackle," Paws said, sticking out his paw. "You got yourself a deal. Better not make us regret it."

Cackle grinned once again as he took Paws' paw and shook it. "You won't."

Chapter Eight: The Tunnel
Shadow shielded his eyes from the sun and gazed up at the mountains. It had been about a week since he and Darkbolt left the Badlands, and finally, they were on the edge of the Light-Skin territories. On the other side of those mountains was the tiny patch of the Brown Woods that the Light-Skins had claimed.

"So those are the Cloudscraper Mountains, huh?" Darkbolt said. "I imagined them taller." "Those are only the most eastern ones," said Shadow. "The taller ones are farther west, around Frostbite Peak. What were Dad's directions again?"

Darkbolt absent-mindedly began twisting one of his wristbands. "Uh... 'Go south until you reach the Cloudscraper Mountains, then look for the lake shaped like a maple leaf. It'll have a waterfall pouring into it. There's a secret passage behind the falls; go into it, and follow it until the end. You'll be in the Light-Skin-owned part of the Brown Woods.' Guess he expects us to find the capital on our own."

Leaping down from the rock he was sitting on, Shadow winced as he felt the grass beneath his paws immediately shrivel up and die. He had been surprised to learn that his Phantom blood had affected his entire body to kill any plant life it came into contact with. He wondered if this "Toxic Touch", as Darkbolt called it, would work on Light-Skins.

The search for the lake took quite a bit longer than the brothers had anticipated. There were about ten mountains separating them from the Light-Skin lands, most of which had several lakes surrounding them. By sundown, they had managed to find about fifteen lakes - one of which was somehow shaped exactly like a DNA strand - but none of them was the right one.

"This is taking too loooooong," Darkbolt complained. "I wanna go find Reaper nowwwwww. Why is this so haaaaaard?" "Because we're in a foreign land looking for a lake with a very specific shape that's probably eroded away by now, with a waterfall that's probably dried up by now, which is hiding a tunnel that's probably caved in by now," said Shadow, who was also irritated at how long it was taking.

"You realize that doesn't help, right?" Darkbolt asked. "Whatever. C'mon, I can hear rushing water up ahead. Maybe that's the falls. If not, we'll find somewhere to spend the night and keep searching in the morning."

Trotting over a foothill, Shadow was greeted with a lake shaped vaguely like the head of a trident. At first, he thought it was just another false alarm and Lake #16 wasn't the right one - but then he noticed something.

There was indeed a waterfall pouring into the lake, right at the lake's middle "prong". He could vaguely make out some kind of shape behind the falls: dark and rounded, looked like it went pretty deep.

"THAT'S the lake?!?" Darkbolt shouted in disbelief. "Well, no wonder it took us so long to find it! Dad gave us the wrong shape! It looks like a bird talon, not a maple leaf!" "Dude, that's a trident." "It's a talon!" "Trident." "Talon!"

Shadow sighed. "Okay, let's just... Agree to disagree. From my perspective it's a trident, from yours it's a talon, and Dad thinks it's a maple leaf. Let's just get into the tunnel before someone sees us." "Who the heck else is gonna be out here?" "Paws and Itchy, maybe." "Oh. Good point."

The tunnel wasn't at all natural. Erosion alone couldn't make it as semicircular as it was, or make the stone as smooth. And it definitely wasn't made by Light-Skins, unless they liked carving Phantoms into the walls. There were a few torches placed here and there, but all of them had been extinguished long ago.

"What do you think this was used for?" Shadow asked, eyeing one of the carvings. It depicted five large Phantoms, each holding a mace, hovering triumphantly over the bodies of several slain Light-Skins. "Probably for spying," Darkbolt answered. "If this really leads into the Light-Skin Brown Woods, then the Phantoms must have gone through here to hide among the bushes and stuff for reconnaissance back during the Resurgence. Definitely looks old enough to have been around by then."

The brothers continued down the tunnel, occasionally stopping to look at the carvings. It was kind of weird how much they varied; one carving depicted several Phantoms and Light-Skins bowing before a large bird of some sort, while the one right next to it showed several Stripefurs leaping towards a tiny, huddled group of terrified Proto-Phantoms.

"What do you suppose THAT is?" Darkbolt asked. They had stopped to look at what was probably the strangest and most detailed carving of all. Some kind of creature was standing amongst the ruins of what looked like a Light-Skin town.

It had empty eyes, a long, Longjaw-like snout, a long striped tail with spikes on the end, and legs and a body much like a Fastspot's. On its back were two small, bat-like wings, and its underside was thick and plated. Two curled, demonic horns and a pair of Slouchback-esque ears were on its head, and a row of short spikes ran down its spine.

Its legs had small Phantom tentacles on its wrists, elbows, and ankles, and each paw had five large, hooked claws. Its mouth was open, revealing two rows of jagged teeth and a long, forked tongue. There were rectangular spiral-shaped markings on its body and a large bolt of lightning emerging from its mouth.

The creature was likely some kind of mutated Phantom, but it didn't look like anything Shadow had ever seen before. He had seen Phantom mutants before - they were some of King Zap's best soldiers - but that... thing... was something else.

He looked at his brother. Darkbolt was staring at the carving very intently, his mouth slightly open. He quickly came back to his senses and closed it, but...

Did Shadow imagine it, or was Darkbolt's tongue forked now?

He shook his head and shrugged. "I dunno. Probably some kinda weird monster from ancient Phantom folklore. C'mon, let's just keep going." "Okay..."

The two brothers continued down the tunnel, although Shadow glanced back at the carving, then at Darkbolt. He just couldn't shake off that feeling of unease.

Paws had called Darkbolt a 'Venemutare' and acted like it was something important. What if a Venemutare was a Phantom that went through a slow but steady evolution until it became that creature?

What if Darkbolt...

Was going to become a monster?

Chapter Nine: The Empty Forest
Shadow and Darkbolt didn't stop to look at any more carvings, although the former still occasionally glanced at them. He didn't see the creature again, although the carvings still varied from each other. He saw one with a Bigchest tearing the tentacles off a Phantom, a sadistic grin on the Light-Skin's face, but the one right next to it was a Longear and a Woodhoof, laughing and cuddling with about seven Phantoms.

"So..." Darkbolt's voice broke the silence and made Shadow jump slightly. "What do you think all these carvings are about? Seems like whoever made this tunnel decided to sculpt willy-nilly. Look, some of them aren't even finished." He gestured to what looked a half-carved banquet table, Light-Skins and Phantoms alike around it.

Shadow rubbed his chin. "Well... If this was built during the Resurgence, then all those more... uh... violent carvings might be depicting the struggle between the Phantoms and Light-Skins to see who gets to claim Jamaa. Or maybe this thing's been here since the Rise of the Guardians, so the war carvings might be about when Phantoms nearly won."

"But what about the ones with the Light-Skins and Phantoms being all buddy-buddy with each other?" "Wishful hoping, perhaps. Some Phantoms just want to live peacefully with the Light-Skins. Or maybe those are depicting the time before the Great Lie."

Darkbolt didn't respond, which Shadow was expecting. Any Phantom could be completely silenced by the mention of the Great Lie. When Jamaa and all the Light-Skins and Phantoms were first created, everything was peaceful and perfect. No one ever fought, scammed or bullied, and everyone loyally worshipped Zios and Mira.

But one day, an unknown Light-Skin began spreading rumors that the Phantoms were planning to revolt and take Jamaa for themselves. Sometime later, another claimed that the Phantoms had captured and dragged Zios into another dimension, with Mira disappearing after them.

The Light-Skins, deceived by these lies, declared war on the Phantoms for kidnapping and/or killing the very beings that created them. Thousands of years later, history had been twisted and manipulated by the Light-Skins to ensure that absolutely no one remembered the peaceful times; to make everyone believe that the Phantoms were vile, evil creatures, created by the fear and distrust that had run rampant during the early days of Jamaa.

Everything that modern Light-Skins knew about Phantoms - and just about absolutely anything - was built completely on lies. Only Phantoms knew the truth about the start of the war. What nobody knew, however, was where Mira and Zios went, as they truly had vanished shortly before the Great Lie.

Shadow was so deeply lost in thought that he didn't even notice when the ground beneath him changed from stone to grass. He only came to his senses when the stench of rotting wood filled his nostrils, causing him to reel back and hack.

The tunnel had come out of a short cliff face, which was blocked by tall trees and thick bushes. The bushes had several small, red berries growing on them. Past a rotting log surrounded by a few tiny creatures that looked like a cross between a mouse and a bur, Shadow could vaguely make out the shapes of an overgrown dirt path and a fire pit.

"What the heck are those?" Darkbolt asked, looking at the mouse-burs. They didn't seem to notice (or care) that they were being watched. "No idea," Shadow answered. "They definitely don't look like anything I've ever seen before." As he spoke, one of the tiny creatures trotted up to a bush and gripped one of the berries in its teeth. It ripped the fruit off its branch and swallowed it in one gulp. "That's gonna hurt coming out," Shadow said.

Carefully stepping around the mouse-burs and over the log, Shadow looked around. The clearing had definitely been inhabited by Light-Skins at some point. There was a tall tree next to him with several small, wooden planks nailed into it, though many of them looked rotten or loose. The makeshift ladder led up to a wooden walkway built among the treetops. It seemed mostly intact.

Some distance away, Shadow saw a long, moss-covered slide that appeared to lead down from the treetop walkway. It looked more stable than the ladder. Near the slide was several huge, fallen trees which seemed to block another path.

Darkbolt joined his brother in looking around. "Didn't all those books and stuff say that the Light-Skin part of the Brown Woods had a large population?" he asked. "This place looks like it was chewed up, spat out, chewed up again, swallowed, thrown up, liquidized, drank, came out the other end, flushed down the toilet, dug out of the septic tank, solidified, rejuvenated, left stewing in the sun for a week, doused in expired milk, dried with an old gym sock that hasn't been washed in twenty years, buried in a shallow grave, came back from the dead, fell into a vat of acid, then slapped in the face with an onion-rubbed dead halibut."

"....O....kay......." Shadow was kind of unnerved by Darkbolt's description. "But, uh, all those books were written, like, fifty years ago. The Light-Skins must have abandoned this place sometime after then. Come on, let's see if there's anything on the walkways."

Deeming the ladder too risky (and likely tetanus-infected by the rusty nails), Shadow and Darkbolt made their way up by climbing the slide. Shadow's Toxic Touch killed the moss, but not the slide, meaning that it only worked against raw plants.

The walkway was rickety, creaky, and had several planks missing, but it was almost as solid as the ground. Heading to the right of the top of the slide, the brothers found a small, dark blue wooden building with a rotting thatch roof. The entrance was boarded up, with a sign out in front. It read "OU# (scratched) _F B#SI__S#" in Creech and was written with faded red paint. Near the building was a fallen bridge.

"S#rep__ #he_at##," Shadow read the sign above the entrance. "Hmm... Sarepia Theater?" "Never knew Light-Skins were civilized enough to appreciate the arts," Darkbolt snickered. "Wonder what kind of shows they put on? Heh, probably stupid stuff like the word 'gecko' being repeatedly shouted over and over again."

Some distance away from the theater was another wooden building, this one brown and stout with a thicker (though similarly rotting) roof. Unlike the theater, this one wasn't boarded up, although it did have a sign above the entrance with "#U_ OF _US##ES_" written on it, again in Creech and with faded red paint. There was also a fallen bridge not far from the building.

Carefully venturing into the building, the brothers were greeted with a two-story shop of sorts that seemed to sell flags. Most of the flags were surprisingly clean and intact. Even though the shop had been abandoned long ago, patriarchal music still echoed from the static-filled speakers.

"Well, um... This seems like a good place to spend the night," Shadow said. "We can lay on the flags and use 'em as blankets." "Hey, if it means I finally get to sleep, then count me in."

Finding a chest filled with clean, albeit dusty, flags, the brothers spread them out on the ground of the lower floor and curled up on them. Darkbolt was quick to fall asleep, but Shadow stayed awake for a while.

Looking around the empty shop, he wondered why the Light-Skins had abandoned their section of the Brown Woods. In all the books he'd read about it, they said the most dangerous inhabitant were the "Clanners", demented Slouchbacks, Bushtails, and sometimes Bigchests who stubbornly claimed to be "cats". They usually had ridiculous names like "Thrushpelt" or "Yellowfang", whatever those meant. Only a few had normal-ish names, such as "Scourge" and "Blackstar".

The Clanners would attempt to attack just about anything that moved, as they saw everything (especially Woodhooves) as prey. They often narrated their actions (example: "leaps from bushes") or attempted to allow themselves to instantly win by simply speaking ("brakes legs nm nd nn"; this usually only worked on other demented Light-Skins). Longears were common as well, though they claimed to be "kits" and were rarely seen in the wild. Clanners often yelled at actual felines for claiming to be cats, meaning they obviously weren't all that bright.

Shadow really didn't want to meet any Clanners, especially if it meant that they'd either A) Try to convince him to join them, or B) Try to kill him and Darkbolt by simply speaking. He hadn't seen any signs of Clanners (which included, but wasn't limited to: claw marks on trees, fallen arrows everywhere, and Light-Skins lying on the ground with red splotches all over their bodies), but that didn't mean they weren't out there somewhere. This was their "territory", after all.

Shadow sighed and pulled the flag he was using as a blanket farther up his body. He was so worried about meeting Clanners that it took a long time for him to fall asleep.

Which was a darn shame, as if he had been awake, he would have seen the shadowy figure standing in the doorway.

Chapter Ten: TreeClan
Shadow awoke to the sounds of crackling fire and several Light-Skins talking all at once. He immediatley assumed the worst - Phantom hunters had captured him and Darkbolt - but then he began to notice what the Light-Skins were saying.

"...Found him in the Flag Shop..."

"Why's he got those purple marks?"

"He was with a Phantom..."

"...Doesn't look normal."

They were obviously confused. If they were Phantom hunters, surely they would've known what he was, right? Or at least, would've thought he was a "Phasmofera". And surely they would've tied or chained him up if they caught him. But Shadow didn't feel any ropes or chains on him, and he definetly wasn't in a cage.

Slowly, Shadow opened his eyes and inhaled sharply at the sight. He was laying on a large, elevated rock, surrounded on all sides by a sea of Light-Skins. Most of them were Slouchbacks or Bushtails, but he spotted a few Bigchests here and there. They all had brown or greyscale color schemes and wore similar accessories: Worn Blankets, Spiked Collars, Elf Tail Armor, Swords, Bows and Arrows, hats that looked like Bushtails, etc.

"Oh, Zios, no..." Shadow mumbled as he rose to his paws, the crowd falling silent. "Why, why did it have to be Clanners?" He placed a paw on his face... and froze. He lowered his paw and gasped. It didn't have a gauntlet! In fact, all of his armor was gone!

"What?!? Oh, great, these idiots probably stole my armor and pawned it off for more arrows and swords!" A murmur began to ripple through the crowd. Thanks to his sharp hearing, Shadow knew exactly what they were saying, even though anyone could've figured it out.

"He speaks Phantom?"

"That is not normal."

"Is that a thing they teach kittypets to do nowadays?"

"What a weirdo."

''"Weirdo"? "Not normal"? Um, hello, YOU'RE the delusional canines who think you're cats!'' Shadow thought, glaring at the Clanners. Suddenly, one of them in particular caught his eye, one he hadn't even noticed before.

He was a Snowpaw - the only Snowpaw in sight - with light black fur and piercing yellow eyes. He had a white marking shaped like a crescent moon over his right eye. He wore a brown Head Feather, a white Moon Necklace, a green Flag, green Elf Bracelets, and a white Mummy Tail. He wasn't whispering about Shadow like everyone else, just sitting there and watching him intently.

Shadow blinked at the Snowpaw. There was something about him that made him stand out from the other Clanners, even though he looked like all the other "cats". Did he know who and what Shadow was? Did he know where the Clanners had taken Darkbolt?

"Alright, settle down everyone," a deep, feminine voice suddenly boomed. Startled, Shadow whipped around. On a ledge above him sat a snow-white Bigchest with grey, lightning bolt-shaped markings and icy blue eyes. She wore a green-and-black Headdress, a black long Spiked Collar, an Epic Healing Staff (How the heck did she get that?!?), blue-and-black Ancient Mira Arm Bands, and Ancient Tail Armor.

"Welcome to Sarepia Forest, young one," the Bigchest said to Shadow. "I am Arcticstar, and this is TreeClan. You have no reason to be afraid. We are a peaceful Clan, and have simply brought you here to welcome you to the Clan." "Welcome?" "Well, yes. Surely you wouldn't have been in our territory if you weren't seeking to join us. Tell me, what is your name?"

Shadow swallowed nervously. He knew saying his real name would probably come back to bite him in the butt later on, but what if there were severe consequences to giving a fake name? "Um... Coal. Yeah. Yeah, my name's Coal."

Arcticstar rubbed her chin. "Hm. Coal, huh?" "Y-yeah?" "Feh. You kittypets are honestly ridiculous, allowing Twolegs to give you such absurd names." What the heck is a Twoleg? Shadow wondered.

"But that doesn't matter. All converted kittypets have their names changed anyway," Arcticstar continued. Shadow gulped, knowing how absolutely stupid Clanner names usually were.

"So, from this moment on, Coal, your name shall be..." Please, not something dumb...

"...Crowpaw." Dang it.

Shadow's "initiation" dragged on for another hour or so. It was mostly just Arcticstar explaining the rules and customs of TreeClan, and telling "Crowpaw" that he would start out as an apprentice to a hunter named Darkmoon. Finally, just as Shadow was about to lose it, Arcticstar finally said, "Clan meeting dismissed."

The Clanners began to disperse, spreading out in all directions. Arcticstar leaped down from her ledge to Shadow's and placed a paw on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Crowpaw," she said. "You're gonna fit in just fine."

When all of the Clanners were long gone, Shadow collapsed and covered his eyes with his paws. "Oh, Zios, why is this happening?" he said. "This is so bad. First, a secret organization of Phantom hunters rise up, then they start chasing after me, now I'm trapped in a Clan with no armor and no idea where Darkbolt is! What else could possibly happen?"

He suddenly felt a paw on his shoulder, smaller than Arcticstar's. He took his paws off his eyes and looked up. It was the Snowpaw he had noticed earlier.

"Follow me," he said.

As TreeClan dispersed from Coal's initiation, the warrior they called Thornfang broke off from the crowd and slunk into the forest. The Fox waited until she was far enough, then placed a paw on the communicator she had disguised as a pink Head Flower.

"Anything to report, Assassinate?" said the monotone voice on the other end. "Yep," she replied, her voice also monotonous. "Everything's going exactly to plan. The Phantom Wolf is as good as ours."

Chapter Eleven: Reaper
Against his better judgement, Shadow followed the mysterious Snowpaw deeper into TreeClan's territory. The Snowpaw didn't say anything else, which Shadow found really worrying. Obviously he spoke Phant, but he couldn't have been a shapeshifted Teneum. Teneums always had a very specific scent about them - acid and chocolate - but the Snowpaw smelt mostly like dirt.

Hopping across a few rocks to cross a small river, the Snowpaw led Shadow to the foot of a tall oak tree. Mostly hidden by its roots was the entrance to a burrow, one that the Snowpaw ducked into. Wary but curious, Shadow followed.

The burrow was a lot larger on the inside than Shadow thought. Bows were hung on the walls, quivers filled with arrows laying beneath them. A large rug made of some kind of Light-Skin pelt (imitation, thankfully) was laid across the floor. Against one wall was a desk piled with papers, quills, and inkpots, a large brown chest laying beside it.

"You can come out now," the Snowpaw said suddenly. Before Shadow could ask who he was talking to, the chest suddenly opened. A black sphere with tentacles and a single, ruby red eye floated out of it, yawning. When it saw Shadow, its eye widened.

"SHADOW!" Darkbolt said, zooming forward to hug his brother. "Darkbolt! Oh, man, I was so worried about you! I thought these Clanners had done something to you!" Darkbolt laughed. "Nah, they didn't lay a paw on me. Well, except for him." He gestured to the Snowpaw, who was sitting and watching the brothers.

Shadow cleared his throat. "Um... Who are you?" The Snowpaw chuckled. "They've been callin' me Darkmoon for a while now, but most know me as Reaper," he answered. His Phant was incredible; barely a hint of an accent. "Others know me as that one weird guy who likes Phantoms for some reason, but that doesn't really matter."

"Reaper? As in, Reaper the Phantom researcher?" Darkbolt asked. "You wouldn't happen to know a Phantom named Eclipse, would you?" "Eclipse of Fortress Voidstalker? Yeah! He's a personal friend of mine. Saved him from some Phantom hunters 'bout nineteen years ago." Realization suddenly struck. "Wait.... You wouldn't happen to be..."

"Eclipse's sons? Yep," Shadow answered. "I'm Shadow, and this is Darkbolt." "Please don't tell me I look just like Dad," Darkbolt said. "If I had a Gem for everytime someone's told me that, I could fill three Phantom Fortresses."

Reaper rubbed his chin. "I was wondering why Eclipse suddenly stopped writing," he said. "Guess he and Fog were too busy raising their new son. But, er..." "You want an explanation for me, right?" Shadow asked. "Well, when you put it like that, it just sounds rude, but yes."

So Shadow told Reaper everything. He explained how Eclipse had found Shadow in the ruins of a Light-Skin camp and brought him back to the Fortress, how a scientist had injected him with Phantom DNA, and how King Zap had wanted to make him into a spy. He explained how they had encountered Paws and Itchy and set out on their own, intending to stop this secret organization of Phantom hunters.

When he was finished, Reaper simply thought for a while. "...Phantom hunters, huh?" he finally asked. "Yeah..." "...Of course. Just as I thought." "Huh?"

Before either of them could ask what he was talking about, Reaper ran over to the desk and began clearing papers off of it. "The only reason I joined this Clan was to try and study the Clanners," he said. "I wanted to see if their delusions were some kind of mental disorder, maybe find a way to cure it. I specialize in Phantoms, but I occassionally dabble in Light-Skin research as well. There's still a lot we don't know about ourselves as a species - probably because most of us are just trying to scam each other out of their Spiked Collars and Top Hats.

"But almost immedietley after I joined TreeClan, this random Bushtail showed up to join as well. Do you know how rare it is for a Clan to gain two new members back-to-back nowadays? I promptly assumed something was up, and I'm pretty sure at least a few others thought so, too.

"This Bushtail is not normal. Her fur is brown and white, but I'm pretty sure it's dyed. Her eyes are this really creepy shade of icy blue - I can't stress this enough, DO NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH HER. I did that once and I saw the abyss. Her voice is about as monotonous as a robot's, if that robot was an actual living Light-Skin.

"I swore she had followed me here, as if she knew who I was. Three times in the first week, I caught her trying to break into my burrow. Arcticstar says she's just from a really weird Twoleg household - and no, I have no idea what a Twoleg is either - but surely even a deity of confusion wouldn't train their pet to stalk this one guy without anyone but said guy noticing, right?

"When you mentioned Phantom hunters, I started connecting the dots. If a secret organization of Light-Skins bent on causing a Phantom genocide got their paws on my research, it would benefit them, right? They could read up on Phantom instincts, habits, and weaknesses, and use those to their advantage.

"Now, picture this. A Phantom researcher joins a Clan. A group of Phantom hunters hear about this. They send one of their agents to infiltrate the Clan and steal his research so they can know the Phantoms' weaknesses. Said agent shows up the day after the researcher and spends her time trying to break into his den. Then two other hunters discover a Venemutare and what they believe to be a Phasmofera in the Badlands. The researcher probably has information on Phasmoferas and Venemutares. Better steal that info fast, they might be on their way to find him!"

Shadow and Darkbolt looked at each other. "So...," Shadow said slowly. "So, you're saying this Bushtail is part of the same team as Paws and Itchy?" "Ding ding ding, give the boy a prize!" Reaper said, walking back over to them. In his paws he held a rolled-up paper.

"What's that?" "A map of TreeClan's territory!" Reaper answered. "Drawn up by yours truly. Ever since Day One, I've been calculating an escape plan for if and when things start to go south. This Clan is pretty heavy on loyalty - as in, the only way out without being called a traitor is to die. But if you simply fake your death and run off when no one's lookin', then the Clan thinks ya went out with honor and you get to escape while your sanity's still intact! Win-win.

"So, here's what's gonna happen. Before that undercover Phantom hunter gets us, we get out of here. And we'll make sure she won't come after us."

To be continued.........