Invaded (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XII

Jackson

Music: ROUND2 from Dragon Saber

It took less than half an hour after Mackenzie and I had located our first orb to find the second. She had smelled smoke from somewhere far away and wanted to investigate, so we followed the smell to a...

Volcano.

"How many times are we going to have to say that this place truly has everything?" I asked, gazing at the large mountain-like structure in awe. I had actually never seen a volcano before, so this was quite an experience.

"Sure is quite the sight," Mackenzie nodded. We stood there for a few more seconds before I asked her, "Wanna go inside and look?"

"Eh, why the hell not," Mackenzie laughed. With that, the two of us took a walk down the trail leading to the volcano. On the way there, we passed by a small table with gas masks on it.

"We probably need these," Mackenzie suggested as she grabbed one and put it on. I took one for myself as well. It was then that I noticed a glow from the top of the volcano. I looked at Mackenzie and simply pointed to the glow. She nodded, and without a word, the two of us advanced.

We spent the next twenty minutes or so climbing up the volcano, until at last we finally reached the top. We looked down into the interior of the volcano, and sure enough, along with the magma there were several rocks, and one of them emitted a glow that had to have been from the orb.

"Would you say it's safe to go down there?" I asked Mackenzie. She simply nodded and started to say, "Okay. We're going to need to be careful climbing down-"

"Or we could take this trail downwards," I suggested, pointing to the conveniently located trail. Mackenzie looked at the trail, then me. Then she rolled her eyes and muttered, "Alright. Whatever."

So we took the trail. It was a long, downwards, spiraling trail that eventually led us to a series of rocks, which seemed to act as platforms leading to the orb.

"Okay, I went last time and activated a booby trap in the process. I'm afraid it's your turn now, Jack," Mackenzie laughed. I sighed and began leaping across the rock platforms. The rocks were fairly large, so I had a very high margin for error, but it was still frightening. I mean, one wrong move and I'd be boiled in the magma brewing right below me.

After about four or five jumps, I finally reached the final rock platform. Sure enough, there was a pedestal with the orb sitting right on top of it. I grabbed it and carefully made my way back to Mackenzie.

"Phew," I said once I got back, wiping sweat from my forehead.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Mackenzie said, laughing. I rolled my eyes at her and we began the trip back up.

At least until the rumbling began.

Mackenzie

Music: Boss arrangement from Gradius Galaxies

A rumbling sound began, and the floor began shaking under Jack and I's feet, knocking us both on our asses. Both of us took a look back at the magma, and sure enough, it was beginning to rise.

"Jack... I've got a good idea right about now," I stammered, slowing beginning to back up.

"And what might that be?"

"Run."

That's when both Jack and I burst into a full-on sprint up the spiraling path. As we were travelling upwards, so was the magma. Every so often, I'd turn my head for a split second to look at the rising magma, and it seemed to be getting progressively faster.

"Jack, move it!" I urged as we both picked up the pace. Eventually, we reached the top without a second to lose. Unfortunately, that was when Jack ended up tripping, causing him to fall right back into the hole. Luckily, he got both hands on the ledge before he fell further.

"JACK!" I screamed, running over to him. I quickly pulled him up, and then right as I did, I noticed something odd.

"The magma... it's lowering now," I observed.

"That's, uh, not normal," Jack said.

We both chose to ignore it and began the walk down the mountain. When we reached the bottom, we happened to run into Heath and Eghosa.

"Hey guys!" I said to them, waving and smiling. Both waved and smiled back, and Eghosa asked, "How many orbs do you guys have?"

"Two," Jack replied.

"Same here," Heath said.

"So that means we have one left," Eghosa muttered. "Should we look for it?"

"Maybe Sam, Elle, and Julianna already have it," I suggested. "Why don't we look for them?"

"Sounds like a plan," Jack said, and everyone else nodded. And so, we traveled away from the volcanic land in search of our remaining friends.

Sorry for the delay. I'm really not going by my "one chapter per week" deal anymore now that H&S has started lol

No idea how the next chapter's going to work out, so we're gonna wing it. Good idea, right? Right. :)