The Wolf Kronicals 5 (Chapter 17-20)

Chapter 17- Howling Island

“……Um…Hi…”
Ski jumped and turned to see a young boy with short black hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a black jacket with a hood that he had over his head and some blue jeans. His sneakers squeaked in the wet grass. Ski had never seen this boy before.
“Oh, hi! What’s your name?”
The boy sat down and took his hood off, revealing his spiky hair.
“My name’s Kegamin.”
“Kegamin? Wait, aren’t you that boy that…”
“Maliko’s little slave boy? Yeah, that’s me…”
“Oh…How old are you?”
“I’m 13.”
“Wow. You’re young.”
“…Yeah…”
“So, what are you doing here?”
“…I don’t know… I’ve been Maliko’s slave so long that I haven’t really talked to anyone in years… Just lonely, I guess.”
“…Hmmm… Well, You must have a lot to talk about.”
“Well, yeah. But its not like anyone really listens to anything I have to say.”
“I’ll listen.”
Kegamin’s eyes widened as he turned to Ski.
“Really?”
“Sure! Why not?”
“…But, why?”
“I know what its like to be lonely.”
Ski put his hand on Kegamin’s head and he smiled.
“Cool. Thanks. But, I don’t know what to talk about…”
“Um, okay. How about Maliko? You’ve been with her so long… Do you know any secrets about her?”
“Yes.”
“Ooooo! Tell me!!!”
“Okay! Um, Lets see. She writes manga in her spare time. Her newest one is called Maliko VS. Ski- The Epic Battle. It has very poor drawings. I don’t know why. Her art skills are amazing… If you ask me.”
“Really?”
“Uh huh. She draws pictures of you and her all the time.”
Ski blushed and cried out “Me and her doing what?!”
“Fighting.”
“Oh… Well, um… What else do you know?!”
“I know she has bunny pajamas…With the ears and feet and tail and everything.”
“O_O Really?!?!”
“Hehehe… Yeah.”
Ski looked at Kegamin and pulled him closer. He pointed to the sun going down in the distance.
“Look. When’s the last time you saw that?”
“With my Mom… When I was 6.”
“What happened to her?”
“Maliko killed her.”
“W-what?!”
“I said Maliko killed her.”
“I know what you said. I’m just surprised.”
“Why?”
“…I really don’t know… Hey! I thought… everyone said you had amnesia!”
“I did… I guess I just… remember…”
“That’s so weird…”
“I know…”
“So… Where are your father?
“She killed both my parents and kidnapped me. She thought she erased my memory, but she didn’t. I didn’t want to die, so I went along with it.”
“So… You were acting this whole time?”
“Yeah… At least until I can find a way to go back home… But what’s the point… She killed my big sister, too.”
“Huh? Who’s your sister?”
“Do you know someone named Peach?”
“O_o That’s your sister?!”
“Yeah…”
“Oh, wow. That’s horrible…(In more ways that one…)”
“It’s alright…”
“Alright?!?! How can it be alright?!”
“… I got over it years ago…”
“…Yeah, but still…Aren’t you sad?”
“…No…”
Ski knew he was lying. His eyes were starting to get watery and his body was shaking.
“I’m not Maliko… You don’t have to hide your tears from me.”
He held Kegamin while he cried. He told him about how much he missed his family and all the stuff they used to do together. And the entire time, Ski listened sadly. Eventually, Kegamin stood up.
“Hey… Thanks for listening to me… I feel a little better… You’re a good friend.”
Ski stood up, too.
“I wish I could help you more, but I gotta get going.”
“Why? What’s the rush?”
“I have to search for this thing called a Crystal Rat.”
“Hey! I know where that is!”
“You do?! Where?!”
He pointed over the ocean into the distance.
“Over there, in a place called Howling Island.”
“Why is it called that?”
“Because the entire island is shaped like a wolf if you look at is from above.”
“OMG! Thank you!!!”
Ski grabbed Kegamin and hugged him and ran off to tell Disen.
“Bye!” Kegamin called after him.
“Bye! And thanks again!” Ski called back.


Ski looked and looked but couldn’t find Disen anywhere.
"...Man, This sucks... Am I going to have to go alone?"
Just as he said that:
"Ah!"
"W-what was that? That sounded like a girl's voice... But there aren’t any other girls here besides Maliko, Nivea and... !!!!!"
"....Well, tell me, Nurse... Is it possible to give yourself open heart surgery? Because that's the ONLY way you're going to live if you don’t tell me what I wanna know!"
"I told you! I don’t know anything!"
"Wrong answer!!!"
"Disen!!! Stop!!!"
"Huh?"
"I know where the Crystal Rats are!"
"You do?! Where?!"
"On this place called Howling Island!"
Disen turned to Kalila.
"I guess fate has spared you today. Consider yourself lucky."
"Disen..."
"What?"
"Were you really going to kill me? We were friends and I healed your wounds so many times. What would Maliko say if she saw you now? She could never love you the way you are now..."
Disen's eyes glowed in rage.
"What... did you say to me?! I'll kill you!!!"
He picked Kalila up and bashed her head into the ground a few times until she lay bloody and unconscious then left her there and walked to Ski.
"Soooo... Where is this "Howling Island"?
"Disen!!! You could have killed her!!!"
He started to run over to her, but Disen grabbed him.
"Where do you think you're going?
"I have to help her!"
Disen's eyes glowed again as he grabbed Ski.
"You will do no such thing..."
"Disen...!!!"
"Let's go! Now!"
".........Come on..."
Ski picked Disen up and started to fly over the ocean.
"Don’t drop me!"
"I wont..." Ski whispered, even though he considered it.
In about 10 minutes, Disen noticed a sparkling in the distance.
"Hey... Isn't that..."
"It's Howling Island! Kegamin was right!"
"Right...? About what?"
"He was the one that told me where the island was."
"...He is, huh?"
"Yeah. Come on, Let's grab one!"
Disen ran over and tried to grab one, but he was too slow and it got away. He tried again and again and after about 4 more tries, he got one. It squealed loudly and struggled to get away.
"What do we do now?"
"We have to extract some of their blood."
"How are we supposed to do that?!"
Disen pulled out a needle and stabbed the rat's back, then took some of his blood.
"....Disen..."
"Yeah?"
"Where did you get that needle?"
"Kalila."
"....Did she give that to you?"
"...No."
"..........."
"What?"
"...Nothing..."
"Okaaaaay...? Geez, man. You’re more confusing that the real story behind Koopa Kid's birth..."
"............"
"Alright, we have it. Let's go back."
"Okay."
When they got back to the island, Disen suddenly grabbed Ski and held him down.
"Ouch! Disen, Stop playing games! We have to get this to Maliko!"
"No, I have to get this to Maliko! She hates you... To think that you saved her... She'll be crushed..."
Disen pulled out another, much bigger, needle filled with neon green liquid. It glowed brightly in the sunlight.
"W-what are you doing?! What is that?!"
"This is Herotoxis. ...Let's just say... A very deadly poison for angels."
"...Disen... You cant do this! I just helped you!"
"...No. According to you, Kegamin provided the location. You're just the messenger... And the messenger’s purpose is shattered when the message is delivered...."
"...!!!"
Disen pulled Ski's head to one side and stabbed him in the neck with the needle, ejecting the substance into Ski's body. In less that a few seconds, Ski's body began to react negatively and jerked forward as Ski gasped for air. In less that a minute, Ski stopped moving and he lay helpless in the grass.
"...Don’t worry. It won’t kill you... I'll leave that to Maliko."


Chapter 18- Rejection and Redemption

Disen ran off to find Maliko. When he got there, Maliko lay on the floor, blood leaking from her hands.
"About time you got back! ...She's useless like this. She's just sitting there...dying... Geez, she's getting blood all over the grass! If you're gonna self destruct and die violently and slowly, at least have the consideration to show some class and wipe up after yourself." Shadow smiled evilly at Disen, who ignored him and fed Maliko the blood forcefully. Eventually, she stopped bleeding and woke up, dizzy and dazed.
"...What happened?"
"Good. She's back..."
"Hey, Disen!"
"What, Shadow?"
"You know... You really didnt have to kill everyone..." Shadow laughed. I mean, I understood Nivea, because she got annoying, but Kalila? And Ski.... Oooh, man. That was cold. He told you everything he knew...and flew you to the island AND brought you back to life... I think I rubbed off on you a little too much..."
"...Disen... What is he talking about?" Maliko asked, still dizzy.
"Nothing, Miko. Let's go."
"Not so fast..." Shadow walked up to Disen and grabbed his shoulder. Disen turned and punched him in the face.
"...Geez. Your fists feel like they're made of frozen turkeys..."
"Disen..."
"Huh? What's wrong, Miko?"
"....Where's Ski?"
"Oh, don’t worry! I know you hate him...I took care of him for you. *Blush*"
"...What?"
"Huh?"
"What did you say?!"
"I said... I... took care of him... for you?"
"Disen!!! What did you do to him!?"
"He poisoned his bloodstream."
"WHAT?!?!"
"Don’t worry, Miko. I didnt kill him! I figured you'd wanna do that yourself..."
"Disen... How could you..."
"What? What did I do?"
"How could you hurt him? What did he do to you?!"
"Miko..." Disen reached for Maliko's hand, but she pulled back quickly.
"...Disen... What’s wrong with you...?"
"Huh?"
"It's not like you... It's not like you to hurt anyone... I thought Ski was your friend..."
"...Yes, but he was your enemy..."
"...Where's everyone else...?"
"...They'll recover..."
Maliko stepped back and stared into Disen's eyes.
"Disen... I don’t think..."
"....You don’t think what?"
"I don’t think... we can be friends anymore..."
"What?!"
"Disen... Look what you did..."
"So what? We don’t need them... We can be fine living here on our own... We can leave them and find a place all our own... A sanctuary..."
"Disen... This WAS my sanctuary... I created this place so no one would ever have to be alone! This was supposed to be a safe haven to lost, orphaned and abandoned demons, remember?! I can't be friends with someone who so easily hurts the ones who trust them... Even if I believed you... You might hurt me, too..."
"Miko... I'd never hurt you... I..."
"...I wish I could believe that..."
"Maliko...After all I did for you... You...you're rejecting me...?"
"...As long as there are others in this world that cares about me... I’ll never leave..."
Maliko turned and ran out of the forest in the direction Disen had come in.
"Miko..... Miko! Come back!"
"Heh heh..."
"What's so funny?!"
"Wow... You do all this for a girl and she still turns ya down... That's why you never trust dames..."
"Shut up!!!"
Disen's legs felt weak and he fell back, sitting in the bloody grass and leaning on a tree.
"I told you this would happen... I give her a day to come back and try to kill you when she sees the real damage..."
"No... She wouldn’t hurt me..."
"Why do you think that?"
"I'm too important to her. She'd do anything for me... She loves me..."
"And...Here's the denial period..."
"......Shadow..."
"Hmmm?"
"Do you think she'll ever love me?"
"No."
"....."
"Not now, at least... Listen to what she said. She told you what she wanted..."
"She did?"
"Uh huh... Think... She said "...As long as there are others in this world that cares about me... I will never leave..." Right? So that means... to get her to go with you..."
"I have to destroy every other person in this world that cares about her."
"...Um..." Shadow started to object but sensed a great evil plan. "That's right."
"So... That’s what I have to do."
"Well, who's left?"
"Lets see... I got Nivea, then Sai, Then Kalila...Then Ski. Who else is there?"
"Um... Who told you where the Crystal Rats were?"
"Ski said Kegamin told him...!!!"
"Oh, yeah. Kegamin..."
"He should be easy... Now I just have to find him..."
The bushes shook just as Disen was about to get up. He turned to see...
"...Kegamin?! What are you doing here...?"
"Master sent me to retrieve you."
"Master... You mean Maliko?!"
"...That is correct. Please, come with me."
"Kegamin..."
"Hm?"
"Do you value your life?"
"Master said my life holds no value."
"So...If you were to die..."
"I don’t want to die."
"Why not? You are being treated so cruelly with Maliko..."
Kegamin gave Disen a blank stare.
"Do you even know what that means?

"cru·el
cru·el [kr? ?l]
(comparative cru·el·er, superlative cru·el·est)
adj
1. merciless: deliberately and remorselessly causing pain or anguish, or insensitive to the pain and anguish of others
2. bringing about pain: bringing about pain and distress, or painful to bear"

"O_O That's... right..."
"Spazz..." Shadow laughed from the background.
"What does knowing this word have to do with death?"
"Don’t you hate your life with her?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because she loves me. And being loved by Maliko is worth the pain she ensues."
"...I know... Kegamin... What was she doing when she sent you?"
"She was crying."
".......I see....."
"Someone has made her very upset."
"I know."
"I don’t know why you are so sad. Maliko loves you, too."
"Maliko doesn't love me."
"I have never seen her shed so many tears for someone she didnt love."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your funeral... She did nothing but cry... Now please... Come with me."
"Oh yeah! I forgot!"
Disen stood up and walked behind Kegamin until they reached Maliko's house.
"She is in her room."
"Thanks, kid."
Disen ran upstairs and found Maliko sitting on her bed, bleeding badly.
"Miko?! What happened!!?"
"....Disen... What are you doing here?"
"You called me."
"I never called you."
"But Kegamin said you did."
"Yeah, and he already brought you once... and you told me you hated me and you tried to kill me! You know that! What are you doing here?!"
"What are you talking about?!"
"I'm not stupid and I'm not forgiving you! So don’t think that'll work! Just go away!"
"But, I..."
"I said Get out!"
"No! I wont leave you! I have to help you!"
Disen ran over and looked over Maliko's wounds.
"Maliko... I'll help you... Then you'll love me, too..." He whispered to himself.
"Disen... Just leave me alone..."
"No... I have to prove that it wasn’t me that hurt you like this..."
"Why are you helping me?"
"Do you really want to know the answer...?"
"Yeah..."
"It's because... I really lo~"
"Look!"
"Huh?"
"That's the person that hurt me!"
She pointed out of her window and Disen saw that the person really did look like him. Spiky black hair, dog ears and tail, dice headband and black jacket. He was running towards the portals.
"What the..."
Disen climbed over the balcony and jumped. Remember, it was only the second floor.
"Hey, you!"
The person stopped running but didnt turn around. Disen ran up to him and grabbed his arm and cried out. It looked like he was looking in a mirror. Everything matched perfectly. The eyes, the clothes, the hair... Disen stepped back.
"Who are you?"
"I'm you. Well, that’s what everyone thinks..."
"Huh?"
"Do you really think you had it in you to attack your friends? Do you remember when you fell from Ski's back? You were unconscious, so I quickly dragged you into the bushes, attacked them and knocked them out, got the antidote and came back, gave you the antidote and hacked into your memory... so you think that you did it. It's what Master Shadow ordered, after all. Something about betrayal and death and something or other... His only rule was not to tell you."
"What are you doing, you moron!"
They turned to see Shadow behind Disen.
"I was just telling Disen your plan."
"And what was my rule?"
"Don’t tell Disen the plan...Ooooo....Oops..."
"You IDIOT! You always do this!!!"
"Sorry, Master..."
"This is why I don’t trust you anymore... Fine. Now you know the truth... So what?!"
"...You little..."
"....It was funny, though. You were all "She doesn’t love me... My life is a lie... Waaaaa!!!!!"
"I'm so confused... So you mean... I never hurt anyone..."
"Of course not! You're a wimp..."
"Shadow. Why would you do this to me?"
"Um...I'm evil?"
"Yeah! He's evil!"
"Shuddup!"
"...That’s your new minion... You replaced me...with him...? Are you serious...? Why does he look like me?"
"Oh! I forgot! I don’t really look like this. Look!"
He snapped his fingers and a glitter of light surrounded him. Disen closed his eyes and when he opened them, he saw a boy standing there, dressed in a navy blue T-shirt and a black hooded jacket. He had blond spiky hair that blocked his eyes until he brushed his hair to the side to show that his eyes were a very dark violet, one step away from black.
"My name's Warps."
"....Warps? That’s a weird name..."
"It's because I can do this!" Warps dove at the ground and just sunk into the dirt.
"Whoa! Where did he go?"
"Here I am!"
Warps popped out behind Disen.
"That's cool!"
"Thanks! I like being you more, though. Wanna be friends?"
"Sure."
"Hellllloooo!!! Remember the plan!!! You are NOT supposed to be friends with the enemy!!!"
"Enemy?"
"Disen is the ENEMY! You are such a~"
"A genius, right?"
"...No."
"Awwwww...."
"Anyway... Disen. Do you want to stay here and endanger Maliko's life or come and train with me again?"
"I think I'll stay. I'm not scared. I can protect Maliko with the skills you taught me."
"You little ungrateful..."
"J"
"Stop smiling!!!"
"Well, I guess I'll see you later, Warps."
"Where do you think you're going?"
"To tell Miko the truth about how I feel... If I'm going to endanger her life... At least let her know why..."

At Maliko's House:
"Maliko... I have something to tell you..."
"Huh? What is it?"
"I don’t know how to say this..."
"...Um...Take your time?"
"I...um...I....l-lo....um....."
"Disen?"
"Maliko! I'm sorry!"
Disen turns and runs out of the house. Breathing heavily, he hears a voice.
"Couldn't do it, could you?"
He looked to see Shadow.
"Shadow... What do you want from me?!"
"Nothing..."
"...Huh?"
"......."
"Shadow... Are you...sad???"
"...!!! What?!?! No! I'm NOT... sad.... Ewww..... Emotions...."
"......"
"........"
Disen turned and walked away. On the way, he found some blue flowers. He picked the petals off of about 5 of them and mixed them with the poison in the needle. The poison soon turned yellow. He put it in his pocket. Soon, he found his way to Crescent Mountain. There, he stared at the sunset and prepared to go back to the darkness. Remember, he was only back for one day... Just as the sun was going down, Maliko came running.
"Disen!!!"
"Huh? Maliko? What's wrong?"
"I had to send you off, didnt I?"
"Oh...yeah..."
"Goodbye, Disen. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you, too."
She held him close and he put his arm around her. He had barely 10 minutes left... He handed her the needle.
"What's this...?"
"Its the antidote to Ski's poison."
"Huh?"
He explained what Warps had told him and Maliko held him tight.
"I'm sorry I got mad at you..."
"It's okay..."
(It's a better chance that any... I might as well... Here goes...) Disen thought to himself.
"Maliko..."
"Yeah?"
"....I love you..."
"...!!! Huh?"
"You heard me! I love you!"
"Disen...!"
"I've loved you, like, forever! But I couldn’t tell you..."
"Disen... I love you, too..."
"*MEGABLUSH* Y-y-y-y-you d-d-d-do???!!!"
"Uh huh..."
Disen held her tightly and kissed her cheek.
"I guess... It's time for me to go."
"....Oh...Yeah..."
"Bye, Miko."
"Bye, Disen."


Chapter 19- Shadow Games

The next morning:
"....Maliko....Wake up..."
*Yawn* "Yeah? What's up, Ski?"
"I have something to tell you!"
"Okay. What is it... HEY?!?! Wait a second! How are you awake? I didnt bring the antidote yet!"
"Shadow helped me!"
"O_O Shadow?!"
"Yeah! That’s what I was trying to tell you! He's helped all of us!"
"Why???"
"Well, he said that he wants us to meet him in front of Fear's Nightmare in an hour."
"Why?"
"I don’t know!"
"Miko!!!"
"Huh?"
Nivea came running up the hill on Orichal as Aurora flew Kalila.
"~Mikoooo-chaaan!!!!"
"Nivea!!!"
Nivea jumped off of Orichal in mid-dash and fell on Maliko. Sitting up, she held Maliko tightly.
"Nivea... I didnt see you in a long time. Please tell me you're alright..."
"Oh course I am! What about you??? Ski told me everything! Where is that double crossing traitor?!"
"...Disen's not a traitor..."
"What?"
"I said Disen is NOT a traitor!"
"How can you stick up for him after what he did to us?! Are you that dense!?"
".....He saved me..."
"Listen, Miko. We are best friends and I love you and anime as much and even more that the next person, but sometimes... You gotta stop living in your little fantasy world... Disen doesn’t love you and he is not good for you..."
"Shut up..."
"Miko... Please, listen to her! He tried to kill us!"
"That wasn’t him!!!"
"How do you know?"
"Because he told me! And I trust him!"
"......"
"He said some weird guy in all black just came out of nowhere and told him the whole thing... That was that guy that hurt you... Not Disen!"
"Hahahahaha! Yeah, right! You actually believed that crackpot story?"
"....She's not lying."
"Ski? What did you say?"
"I said She's not lying. I saw that guy! That’s the one that told me to go in Maliko's room! Remember, Maliko? Kunai in Luki's head?"
"It was him...?! He'll pay for what he did to Luki..."
"Are you guys serious??? I don’t believe any of this!"
"Nivea...!!!"
"You just want to protect that idiot! He's dead! Whets left to protect?"
"...Stop... Don’t say that..."
"And you know what? I'm glad he's dead!"
"Shut up!"
"How about you make me? We are supposed to be best friends and you choose this loser over me? Screw him AND you!"
Nivea kicked Disen's headstone and it cracked at the top and fell over, breaking a chunk off of the top. Ski and Kalila gasped and stared in surprise and shock when Maliko lunged at Nivea and started violently biting her shoulder close to her neck... really close...
"Maliko!!! STOP! You'll kill her!!!"
But Maliko didnt stop and Nivea fought back. She slashed at Maliko's face until blood oozed from her eye sockets and the deep gashes on her cheeks. Nivea's right shoulder was almost eaten through completely, and blood was still pouring from it. Maliko and Nivea continued to fight violently and brutally until finally, the two of them passed out from blood loss. Kalila and Ski silently and carefully carried them onto Orichal and Aurora and flew back to the hospital to repair their deep gashes and wounds.
The next morning, Maliko and Nivea were wrapped up but showed no signs of waking up. About a week passed and they were still unconscious. About 2 weeks later, Nivea's eyes opened slowly. She tried to move but the hole in her shoulder had not completely healed and she cried out loudly. She looked over to the right the best she could and saw Maliko lying in the bed, bloody bandages covering most of her face, and patches over her eyes. Blood trickled down from the patches and formed a puddle on her pillow. Nivea stared in horror at the sight of what she had done to her friend. Tears ran down her face, but it hurt to cry so she closed her eyes and drifted back off to sleep. She awoke about an hour later to Shadow standing over her, staring with uncaring eyes.
"...what do..you...wa...nt...?" Nivea struggled to speak.
"You look hurt."
".........."
"That’s too bad..."
"...?"
"I'm holding a tournament tomorrow. The sake of your souls depend on it."
".....?!"
"I'm calling it the Shadow Games. Get it? ^_^"
"....................."
"Geez... Tough crowd..."
"....."
"Maliko did this to you, huh?"
".....yeah..."
"I know. I saw the whole thing."
"......"
"Hahahahaha! I cant believe they really expected you to believe that bogus story! I mean, You SAW Disen attack you and everyone else! You're supposed to be her best friend. How easily she changes sides when a guy is involved, huh?"
"......"
"I agree with you totally... If I were you... I'd still be upset..."
"......"
"I have a deal for you. I heal you and Maliko and you can join my side and fight it out in the tournament..."
"...no..."
"Why not?"
"Because......I know…your type…of game…whoever loses the game... loses their...soul...right?"
"How about if I promise not to take any souls for that match? It will be a match with only pride to lose..."
"........"
"I'll heal you anyway... Just think about it, okay?"
"......"
He touches Nivea, chanted some weird words and a blue light glowed. Then he touched Maliko and did the same.
"You'll be fine in the morning. Remember... Think about it..."
"........"
Shadow walked out of the room and Nivea thought and thought, until she finally fell asleep.
The next morning, Shadow heard a knock on his door. He opened it to see Nivea standing there, shivering. Shadow smiled and let her in.
"So... You've decided to join me..."
"Only until I fight Miko... Then... I'm gone."
"...Sure... Go back and I will pick you up in a few hours. Train until then..."
"Yeah."

About 5 hours later:
"Okay, everyone! Into the portal!" Shadow directed everyone into a small black portal that lead to an alternate part of Fear's Nightmare. Once everyone was in, stadium lights shot on and everyone was amazed to see how hard Shadow had worked on this. A large battle arena, a racing track, a pool, a hospital next to a large library and a few more unrecognizable machines and buildings filled the entire Stadium. A crowd of half-breeds, much more than 20,000 filled the stadium with cheers and boos. There was a big wheel with a bunch of weird pictures on it. There was a needle, a raindrop, a sword and a sneaker.
"Okay!" Shadow spoke with a microphone. "Now that everyone is here, we can get started!!!"
"Hey! Shadow!!!"
"What???"
"Everyone is NOT here! Where's Nivea?"
"Oh, don’t worry! She'll be here!"
".....um...okay...?"
"Like I was saying... the 2 teams... please come to the podium in the middle of the field."
Maliko, Ski, Sai and Kalila walked to the middle of the field.
"Yeah! Now entering Team 1! Wolfy, Cat Boy, Aqua Lad and Kid."
Ignoring the very violent complaints about the announcement of their names, he continued.
"Wolfy will be the leader of Team Crimson. Now for the winning team... Warps, Samurai, Squirt and Doctem."
"Who?"
"These four will be the members of Team 2. Warps is the leader of Team Twilight."
"It's...that guy..."
"I know..."
"You know the rules. Each team will be faced with a challenge. The team leader will choose who competes in that challenge. There will be four matches. Whatever team loses more matches *Coughteamonecough* will be eliminated. In the impossible event that there is a tie, there will be a tie breaker between Team Leaders. Got it?"
*Loud Cheers*
"Good! Challenge 1! Wolfy! Spin the wheel!"
"...Whatever."
Maliko spun the wheel and it spun and stopped on a picture of a needle.
"Okay! Event 1 has been decided. The 2 competitors must face a bad situation. There are 2 patients with the same disease. A disease that causes the patient to leak blood from his eye sockets and make his head inflate until it explodes. This is extremely painful and the victims last about 1 hour. There is no cure... Seemingly... But there is a library full of medical books. The objective is to cure the patient before your opponent. If the patient dies, you are disqualified. You need a love for reading, a vast medical vocabulary and history and the skill of a master doctor to win. Ready? Good! Now pick your competitor!"
Team 1:
"Kalila! You are the only one of us that actually heals instead of destroy. You go!"
"Okay! I'll do my best!"

Team 2:
"Doctem."
"Understood."

"Okay! READY?"
"I have healed Maliko so many times from so many different...unexplainable injuries, what don’t I know?"
"SET!"
"You will be the victim under my surgeon’s blade and at my mercy when I am finished with you..."
"GO!!!"

Chapter 20- A Doctor's Love

Kalila and Doctem took off. Being the smaller of the 2, Kalila got to the library first. She stared wide eyed at the sign on the door. It read:
Always remember, This may be just a game...but a real life victim's life is in your hands.
"....."
Just then, the little boy's scream from the surgery table snapped Kalila out of her thought just as Doctem arrived. She snatched the door open and dashed to the nearest shelf. Doctem went to the shelf all the way in the back. In about 20 minutes, hundreds of well skimmed books and no results, Kalila was startled by a ripping sound. She turned to see Doctem threw down a light blue book, jumped up and dashed out the door.
"......!!!!"
Kalila grabbed the book that he was reading and read as fast as she could until she got to page 34. It read:

Terephonaria (Tera-phone-a-ree-ah):
The self inflation and destruction of the human body. Occurs in one of every 2.3 thousand people at the ages of 9-14.
Cure: No known cure, though it was argued that a slice of Couple's Cake, in its debut in Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door, actually cured one of the victims. The actual results of that test are still currently unknown...
There was one more test that proved to work 7 out of 10 times in curing this disease. It involved the use of Doctor Richard's stemac~
The page was ripped from there. Someone had ripped the entire page off.
".....Doctem...!!!"
She dropped the book and ran out of the library.
"Shadow!!!"
"...Huh? What?"
"What resources are we allowed to use?"
"Um... anything, I guess..."
"Alright!"
"Maliko!"
"Yeah?"
"How do you make a Couple's Cake?"
"A what-now?"
"Oh! I know!"
"You do, Ski?"
"Yeah! My brothers always ate it with their girlfriends. I've heard it's impossible to eat alone and eating it with your loved ones always brought harmony and peace, even in chaos. That was the basis of the recipe. You take the fiery burning passion of a Spicy Soup and combine in with the delicate soft and frozen love of a snow bunny. That’s how you make it!"
"That makes sense!"
"Why? Do you need one?"
"Yeah! Right now!!!"
"Um...Okay! Where can we get a Spicy Soup?"
"Maliko's Magma Flavored Ramen should do the trick!"
"Yeah! I'll do it right now! I love ramen!"
"What about the snow bunny?!"
"They should be in Shadow's Domain! Its a frozen wasteland in there!"
"Oh yeah! Come on!!!"
Maliko and Ski ran off to make the ramen and Kalila and Sai went to catch a snow bunny.
At Maliko's house:
"Are you supposed to heat the noodles up like that?!?!"
"Yeah! How are you supposed to call it true magma flavored ramen if you don’t heat it up with real magma? It's in the sauce, too."
"No wonder it's so hot! What ever happened to hot water and a microwave?"
"That's for squares!"
"...."
"Here! Add these in the pot and mix it."
Maliko handed him a huge bag of peppers in a boiling sauce.
"What's this?"
"Chili peppers, jalapenos, Jamaican peppers, black pepper, red pepper, bell peppers, sweet peppers and crushed peppers."
"...What's the sauce?"
"Lava."
"You're gonna kill someone with this!!!"
"You've eaten this!"
"And nearly died!!! ...Never mind! How much do you want we to add?"
"All of it."
"WHAT?! I cant!!!"
"Why not?"
"The snow bunny will melt from 10 miles away with this!"
"Just put it in the pot!!!"
"...Fine..."


In Shadow's Domain:
"There it is!"
"Where? I have frostbite on my eyeballs..."
"Don’t worry, Kalila... I got it."
"Thanks."
"No problem."

They met up back at Maliko's house.
"Got the soup?"
"Yeah. Got the bunny?"
"Uh huh. ACHOO!!!!!"
"O_o Bless you, Kalila..."
"Thanks."
"You know, I heard that only a meant-to-be couple can make it."
"That's crap, Ski."
"Yeah, It's only a rumor...I guess..."
"What's wrong...?"
"I always liked the idea that when I get married, the first thing me and my wife will make is a couple's cake to prove we were meant to be..."
He poured the soup into the bowl.
"That's stupid! You're such a sissy!"
She threw the Snow Bunny into the bowl. There was a blinding light that forced everyone to close their eyes. When they opened it, there was the cake. 2 layers, decorated in mouth watering blue frosting and cherry red icing roses formed in the shape of a huge heart on the top and tiny hearts on the sides.
"Did we....just..."
"....make...a Couple's...cake...?"
"Awwwww!!!!!! Ski and Maliko are meant to be!!!!!!"
"SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!!!!!! IT WAS JUST A RUMOR! JUST A STUPID RUMOR!!!!! STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"...Then why are you spazzing out, Maliko?"
".......Um...I...."
She turned and ran out the door. Ski stood with his back turned, face bright red.
"Ski...Are you okay?"
"!!!!!! Yeah! We have to bring this cake, right?"
"Just a slice..."
"Okay..."
Ski cut the cake and walked out.
"You don’t think......um....they..."
"Nah."
"Yeah, you're right. That's stupid. Let's go."
"Okay."

Back at the stadium:
Kalila ran over to her patient on the operating table. It was a little boy.
"Owwwww..."
"Hey..."
"Huh?"
"Do you like cake?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Okay, that’s good. Eat this."
She handed him a small bite size piece.
"Um...Alright..."
He ate it and smiled.
"Wow... This is good... If I wasn’t going to die, I'd ask for the recipe."
"You wont. Just keep eating."
"...Okay..."
Bite after bite, the boy ate and ate...and the swelling seemed to slowly...stop.
"HEY!!!!"
"What, kid?"
"He's healed!!!! I'm done!!!"
"OxO What?!"
"Come look!"
Sure enough, the boy was fine.
"....Team Crimson.......wins..."
"Thank you so much~!!!"
"Whets your name?"
"Lucas."
"....Well, Lucas... You're welcome..."
The boy ran towards the audience and grabbed a woman that was running to catch the boy.
"Mommy!!!"
"Lucas!!! Oh my god... You're okay..."
Maliko walked up to Kalila and put a hand on her shoulder.
"We...just helped...a human..."
"Ha-ha... Well, I sure your pride isn’t all dead yet..."
"Says you..."
"Look over there. Look how happy he is!" She pointed towards Lucas as he took off his baseball cap to reveal...
"He has..."
"...wolf ears???"
"But... I thought..."
"...I was the only wolf demon..."
"What about Disen?"
"He's an orphan..."
"...ISNT he?"