Union, Chapter 8: Assumption of Power

Union, Chapter 8: Assumption of Power Union, Chapter 8: Assumption of Power

Mike had been standing back, assessing the situation by himself. He's just that sort of guy. Anyway, he made a decision. "Bleh, this is just sickening. All this fighting, and in MAH temple. That's it." He drew the Esca Sword from the scabbard on his back, and slammed it into the ground. Massive amounts of all sorts of energy started to enter the sword, and into Mike via his hands. "Ahh yes, this will do." He then did some strange movement of some sort, and two blades of energy - both the opposite of each other - came out of his forearms. "Alright, let's rock the house."
Pokey saw this and was terrified. "WHA!? Sagitta Halt!" He directed towards Mike, but it was no use. The blades themselves actually deflected the energy, causing it to dissipate into the general area.
"Cool. I didn't think that would happen. Now, what to do... Ahh yes, I know, I'll go after Pokey first." Mike ran up alongside Anthadd. "Ready?"
"Of course. What do you have in min- oh. Right. Let's go." Mike and Anthadd ran up to Pokey and engaged him. Solitude started to fire off the arrows.
"Fools, you aren't doing a thing! Knock it off!" Pokey cried.
"This is bad" Morphius thought. "Time to neutralize this problem." The entity began to bend time and space, thus causing the time, and everything else in the general area, to slow and eventually stop. "Mwahah. This oughta buy me time..."
However, Anthadd and co., Pokey, and Clarence busted through the anomaly as if it were nothing. "Blast, I'm STILL too weak right now... To the other temple I go, then." And Morphius disappeared, to the other temple, supposedly.
Pokey was still locked in mortal combat with Anthadd, Mike, and Solitude. Jeff and Dr. Andonuts were standing back away from the fighting, conversing amongst themselves as to what they could do. Luna, on the other hand, was eyeing Clarence suspiciously.
"What in the name of all things good are you doing?" Luna asked Clarence.
Clarence just stood there, jumping around. Luna stared at Clarence, and something clicked in her mind. "You little... crazy! Go away! SHOO!" she shouted at Clarence.
Clarence noted this, and started to run away. He was thinking, This may not be the time to try to do anything that could hurt me, especially when I'm so outnumbered. The dog ran off in the general direction of the car, more than likely to the car itself. Luna gave chase.
Still locked in combat, Pokey was taking on the 3 aggressors. Anthadd suddenly disengaged, as if contemplating the final set of moves in a game of chess. "Guys, try to get back. We... need to do something else. These weapons are not going to hurt him... yet."
Mike and Solitude disengaged, awaiting what it was that Anthadd wanted to do. He raised his swords to the sky, and then...
He yelled out into the glass temple, his words reflecting around the walls.
"Take us to the Dune temple, to face light and darkness eternal!"

7 people stood outside the Dune Temple Pyramid in Scaraba. Solitude sighed. "It's been a long time..."
"You remember..when you built this temple?"
"As a Senshi of thought, I've been around since time itself was created. Which means, I remember things that are buried in the normal minds of peple. it's rather interesting."
Paula ran up to the door. "Look!"
Another plaque was on the door:

Plaque on the Temple Door
Can we be apart?
Can we be together?
Is there a way to have balance forever?
Twixt the twisted halls of the cave
Destroy the pillar; it must not be saved
Senshi Temple Guardians; Unity and Solitude

Solitude chuckled. "Well, we had better get moving into the temple. Unity was rather thorough when she built this."
Solitude walked to the doorway, and jumped...Down??
Anthadd ran to the edge of the doorway, and looked down. "Oh whoa!"
Senshi Unity sure HAD been thorough; she had created a maze to the pillar!
Looking over the top, Mike could see Pokey and Giygas hopelessly stumbling near the beginning, and Morphius not too far ahead.
"Rockwell," Mike said. "You fly overhead and guide us. We need to get to the pillar before they do!"

"A maze!" grinned Luna, as they continued walking through the hallways. "I love mazes! Especially the really big ones at theme parks, with lots of traps..."
"...did you say traps?" asked Mike, stopping suddenly, and looking around. "Oh jeez, we forgot completely! Luna's right! This place is probably full of them!"
"Well, just don't step on the litle circly rocks that stick out, and watch for tripwires and stuff." Luna said plainly. "Like the one you're about to trip there, Anthadd."
He leaned down to get a better look at it. "It's like a piece of fishing wire, only... I dunno, it's like it's a very special piece of fishing wire."
Rockwell hopped over, and eyed it with his bird's eyes. <It glows.>

Solitude chuckled. "Wow...maybe I SHOULDN'T have let Unity design this place! Haha!"
Suddenly, she choked, and sputtered. Reaching the column, her eyes locked on a face fate had spelled out for many years. "It's...you!"
Pokey grinned mercilessly. "Yes, I have one of your little friends here...I think he wanted to tell you something!"
The boy ripped the gag out of his mouth. He began to yell. "No! Don't worry about me! Get..the pillar!"
Anthadd and Luna paused. The air around them became slowly stagnant as everyone stopped breathing in anticipation. Suddenly, The boy cried out once more. Pokey slammed his hand over his mouth, and Solitude ran to the pillar. Paula reached out for the boy, but Solitude pulled her back.
"Come..the pillar..."
The 7 people powered up their attack.
Pokey suddenly whipped out a knife, and slammed it against the boy's neck. "I swear I'll kill him! Don't you..kill ..that..energy!"
Solitude looked at the boy. His face, paler than usual slowly contorted into a solemn stare. His black hair lay disheveled around his face as he clutched his robe string, and nodded.
Solitude lowered her head. She turned to Pokey. "Kill him."
It was then that Pokey threw the dagger, grabbed Prince Poo of Dalaam by the throat, and hurled him into a pillar with amazing velocity. A dull crack eminated around the temple. He was dead.
"Poooooo!" Paula screamed at the top of her lungs. She grabbed Jeff, and hugged him as she cried bitter tears, which rolled down his uniform. "He..was..so..brave..Pokey, what have you done? You killed one of my best friends! Mere death isn't good enough for you! YOU..will...PAYYYY!"
Paula thew herself to the ground, and began to pray. A solid light poured through the temple, bursting the column of swirling sand, and gripping Pokey in its clutches. "My friend is dead because of you! Why can't you understand the hate you have created! PSI FREEZE OMEGA!"
Anthadd saw an opening, and jumped for it. "Centaurus Flare!" He swung his two swords into the air, and blasted Pokey with all his might. Mike did the same, and Jeff took out a bottle rocket.
"Jeff, hit him now! Make him see the horror he has created!" Paula began to cry uncontrollably, and she collasped on the ground.
Pokey, battered and bruised, had no time to dodge the attack. The ice and energy blasted him square in the chest, and he fell out of the air, and collapsed on the ground next to Paula.

Luna lifted her head from Pokey's unconscious body. "Barely alive... He could be revived, but I'm not about to waste my heal powers on scum like that." she said, scowling in Pokey's general direction.
Paula and Jeff were hugging each other, both trying to be brave, but at the same time, tears streamed down their faces. Poo, the noble warrior from Dalaam, had died right before their eyes. Hadn't he been through everything with them?
"I think we should kill him." Paula said, with fire in her voice like never before.
"We'd better make up our minds, before he wakes up, and runs off again." Mike said solemnly.
"Right." said Solitude, stepping out of the shadows, and standing beside Luna, her long black hair greatly contrasting Luna's hair, long, and white-gold. "We all attack together!"
"Whoa, we're gonna attack? This looks kinda fishy. But, oh well, k. Let's do this." Mike stated. "But, I don't think that this should happen now. It seems... odd, ya know?"
"Well, yeah, but he killed Poo. He must pay." Paula said.
Solitude stood there, watching and waiting for an answer.
"Well Solitude, should we REALLY do this?" Mike asked.
Solitude smirked. "Make the decision. It doesn't really matter what choice you guys make."
"Guh? Why is that?" Luna asked.
Mike stood there. "Ya know, I was watching Poo when he died. I'm kinda wondering whether that really happened. Don't ask, sometimes I just think that maybe... just maybe... this is a test of sorts? There have been weirder things that have happened before."
"That is a really, really good point." Anthadd stated. "Well Mike, since it WAS you who noticed this, what is it that we should do?"
"Well, I personally think that, although I may regret this later, Luna should revive Pokey." Mike said, and took a couple steps back. The others looked shocked, Paula especially. "I know, I know, but seriously, I think that that would be the best course of action as of right now." Solitude nodded slowly.
Luna stood there, assessing the situation. "Well, now that I think about it..." Paula was still weeping over Poo's body. Mike stood there, watching the skies, hoping that the next decision that was about to made be the right one.

Backtrack a short while to the Gulf Temple...
Clarence was escaping, choosing to wait for a better time to face Pokey. He turned and noticed Luna chasing him.
<At least I can confront this one before going...> He leapt in the air, and landed on the floor. Luna had disappeared before he pounced.
<She teleported? Doesn't anyone stay put when I want to kill them?>
He went back to the pillar room, but everyone had gone.
Clarence sniffed around. Something caught his attention. He ran over to the dead squirrel, which had become entirely inedible. Clarence's eyes glowed with fury.
<First, Pokey kills SimonBob... now, he destroys my lunch! That's it! No mercy for him!>
Wasting no time, Clarence went back to the Chevy. He decided to wait for instructions or inspiration.
He waited.
And waited.
Eventually he fell asleep, having waited for a very long time.

Solitude looked at her Mini Computer again. "Well, we have two more temples to g-"
"How can you even THINK about temples! Poo is dead, Pokey is under you shoe, what are you DOING?"
Solitude glared at her, a new fire igniting in her pink eyes. She grabbed Paula by the collar roughly, and met her, face to face. "I don't think you realize the precariousness of the situation! If you think Poo dying is horrible, then consider everyone you know, love, and cherish being destroyed becaue WE, the only ones who can fix this, couldn't do that! There are people I love in this solar system too, and losing ALL of them would be a crime as we could have saved them! You COULD NOT have saved Poo, and you could not have saved Ness!!!"
She turned on her heel, and began to walk toward the remains of the pillar. Paula picked her arm up from the ground, and weakly reached it out toward Solitude. "What..did you say?"
The color drained on Solitude's face. She mentally kicked herself as she realized they didn't know yet...
She turned around, and walked back to Paula. Huggling her slightly, a single tear rolled down her face, feeling the foreboding agony in Paula's eyes. "Paula.. I don't know how to say this..but Ness is dead too."
"NO! THAT'S A LIE!" Paula rammed upward, knocking Solitude in the jaw. She was knocked backward by the tremendous amount of energy. Solitude stared at her, dumfounded. "No..it's true...Pokey..burned him alive."
Paula stopped, and collapsed on the ground. "Take me to them!"
"I can't..it's the land of the dead. No human has ever returned.."
"But...you aren't human, are you?" it slowly dawned on Paula. "You..you AREN'T human! You can take me there!"
"Paula....."
Rockwell cut in. <Look, I've been to the land of the dead. It's not heaven, it's not hell, it's just...nothingness. but true heroes DO get the chance to return in another form, as I did.> he said, preening his feathers.
"So what should we do? And what about Pokey?"

The sky darkened.
"Is it what I think it is?" the Apple said.
Three tones were the sky: red, green, and gray.
The red represented Diu Ero, the green Ae Ahl... and the gray.... Ke Bao?
"Of course! Ke Bao, balance, scales, Libra!"
In the night, two stars twinkled: Zubeneschamali and Zubenelgenubi.
Picky and Tracy looked up at them.
"Look at the stars! They're so beautiful!"
"W, what?" the Apple looked at their foreheads.
The Marks of Ae Ahl were... transforming?
"Gar do Ae Ahl, gar do Ke Bao nara? The Marks of Ae Ahl, becoming the Marks of Ke Bao?"

"Well... maybe we could bring Pokey along." suggested Luna. "I dunno HOW we'd do it... ideas, anyone?"
Mike stepped forward. "Well... we'd have to contain him, in case he woke up, and make sure his power wouldn't break the barrier. And it would have to be a small container, something that could fit in a backpack."
"We could just kill him, here and now." Jeff spat out bitterly.
"No. That'd be sinking down to his level, which is exactly what we don't want to do." Solitude said firmly.
"Whatever we're going to do, we'd better do it fast. He could wake up any minute." Luna said quickly, trying to divert another argument between the last two chosen ones and Solitude. "He's only out cold, and he could probably blow this place to kingdom come if he really wanted to! So let's get going!"
"Too late!" laughed a snotty voice behind them. They'd left Pokey alone a minute too long. "Weaklings! You could've killed me right there, and you let me live!" he sneered nastily. "That'll be your undoing, you stupid warriors! 'Cause I DO really wanna blow this place to kingdom come!"
"You wouldn't dare."
"Yes I would! Are you doubting my love for evil?"
"Yes" Anthadd said in a second.
"What?" Pokey dropped the small rock he was holding. He was utterly astounded. "You doubt my embrace of Diu Ero? The power which I will corrupt, the power which has corrupted me?"
"You bet!"
Jeff stared. What was Anthadd playing at? As he looked, he saw Anthadd wink at Solitude. She slowly nodded, chuckling. She began talking. "Well, prove it."
"I could take out everyone in this room with a single blow!"
"Phtt. prove it."
Pokey stuck his neck out, looking more pig like then ever. "What? You wish to die?"
"Go ahead, bring it on, pig boy." Paula said, standing up.
"I will then! Go ahead! COWER!" He said raising his arms. Three balls of light formed, and he began blasting at the walls mercilessly. Solitude and Paula jumped into the air at the same time.
"Black Ice Omega!" they shouted. A wall of opaque ice formed around Pokey, tapping him in a cage with his own power ricocheting around. Jeff could hear faint cries from inside the cage, but they weren't loud enough to drown out the laughs that rang around the temple.
"What a fool. Trapped by his own ego....Hey, I have an idea!" Mike said. He leaned over, and whispered it into Jeff's ear. Jeff began to grin, and he nodded in glee.
He pulled the Shield killer out of his backpack, and took aim. A ball of energy blasted the ice, freeing pokey instantly.
"Look what you've done! NOW I AM FRE--Ooph!"
As he stood in triumph, Mike swung a bottle at him. Encasing him, he corked it and grinned.
"So, who wants to hold the bottled Pokey?"
"I will!" Paula said. She looked into her purse, and found a tiny music box. She attached Pokey's bottle to it, and turned the crank. A beautiful song began to play as Pokey twirled around endlessly. He sneered at her from inside the bottle, banging his little fists against the glass.

Clarence woke with a start. He was still in the car, but now the car was moving.
<Woah, woah! Where are we going?>
--> Tracer System picked up reading from unknown user.
<Where does that mean we're going?>
--> Unknown. System is being controlled remotely.
<Remotely?!> Clarence was shocked: If SimonBob was dead, then who could be in control of the car?
<Who's driving?> he asked.
--> Large disruption in signal is causing remote control activation. Disruption identified as supernatural skill, "Stellar" type.
<Then either Pokey or one of the idiots is driving me somewhere... and I'm guessing that only Pokey's powers are strong enough.> Clarence cleared his throat and questioned the online system again. <Where... are... we... going?>
--> Unknown. Car is being driven via manual system. Estimated destination is Temple of Bob, but data is insufficient to confirm.
<Are we taking the optimum route?>
--> Yes.
Might as well let whoever it is drive the car for now, thought Clarence. If it is Pokey, maybe he's luring me to a trap, so he can blow me away with his evil power. Which is really nice of him, because it's exactly what I want.
Clarence settled back in the seat, as well as a wolf can settle in a car seat, while the radio turned itself on and tuned into a local classic rock station.

Meanwhile, Anthadd had brought out a thin volume, and blew the dust off it.
He slowly flipped to the final page.
"Why is this the only page that's ripped? Does it have some sort of meaning?" he remembered asking when he'd stumbled across it that long time ago.
And those questions still persisted.
Reading from the translation he'd memorised, Anthadd related the contents of the partial page to himself...

Translation of the Page
When darkness and light struggle for dominance, nine will fight for bal...
...
Libra Balance
...
Argo Navis Wave...
The world...
One will make...
Sacrifice for the well-being of all.

Even as he was learning to read Sugemic, this reading had chilled his blood.
But recently, he had wondered if Argo Navis Wave and Libra Balance represented Stellar skills.
But why Argo Navis? That was split into three constellations long ago: Carina, Puppis, and Vela.

"Zubenelgenubi... Zubeneschamali... the brightest stars of Libra, the Balance, the Scales. And Picky and Tracy, the brightest powers of Ke Bao in this world."
The Apple was looking at a piece of paper. It was scrap, having been ripped long ago.
On it was written part of a prophecy.

After Paula had collected herself a bit, she began talking again.
"Which temple are we going to next?"
"Whichever one you want, Paula." Anthadd said.
Paula raised her eyes toward the top of the temple, deep in thought. "Well...I'd like to go to the Ember temple myself. Where is it, anyway?"
"Inside the volcano, Fire Springs."
"Oh!" She said, mystified. "So... I've seen it before?"
"The entrance would not have been visible to you at that time."
"Why not?"
Mike looked up. "I think I can answer that. The temples seem to me that you have to be loking for them to find them, almost." "That's why the last temple, great plain temple, will be the hardest to find. To the aveage eye, it is merely a hole in the ground."
Paula thought about this, and shook her head.
"I don't get it. We aren't fighting for Ae Ahl, but we are called the warriors of it."
Anthadd smirked. "I think a great many propheciess were broken when we began looking for the Temples. Like the nightmare rock said, we will change destiny, no matter what we do."

Clarence woke up. The car had stopped, somewhere in a plain. <Where am I?>
--> Somewhere east of Eagleland. Nearby to the Temple of Bob. Remote driver has halted. There is 1 message waiting for you.
<Play it.>
The message played. Clarence knew the voice. It was Pokey.
"I drove you to the Temple, now get some power and free me! *Snort*"
<Temple?> Clarence wondered aloud as he got out of the car. <What temple? All I see is a plain, and a rabbit hole...>
Deep within Clarence's pseudo-magic driven mind, a primal instinct awoke. Rabbit holes meant rabbits, and rabbits meant food. Clarence ran over to the hole, to check for the scent. How long had it been since he had eaten?
As he ran, however, the ground began to open up, outwards from the hole. Clarence backed up as the beginnings of a staircase formed. Awestruck, he descended the stairs.

Now, deep inside the hole, Clarence gazed upwards. There was a great door... an entrance way of some sort... Clarence proceeded inwards, where he saw a great pillar, shimmering, practically dancing in the light.
The importance of it all suddenly struck Clarence like a fist to the jaw. It was a temple. The Plain Temple, in fact.
<Whoo-Hoo!> shouted Clarence, jumping into the air, beside himself with glee. <I found a temple! I found a temple! No time for losers, 'cuz I found a temple!> He stopped jumping about, and began to make plans. If he could summon Pokey, his mission would be complete. And the car had told him that the temple was nearby, so the return of SimonBob could come that much quicker. Therefore, the first thing to do was call Pokey.
Clarence took a deep breath. Mystical communication had been a difficult undertaking for SimonBob, who preferred the telephone anyhow. What few communication programs he had designed were only moderately up-to-date, and used horrendous amounts of power. With this in mind, Clarence began to concentrate, summoning energy from all around to power himself up, activating his Pseudo-Telepathy ability. Anyone who had witnessed it would have said Clarence was turning green and black.
Clarence's message flew across dimensions, through time and space, over matter and under reality, before arriving in the mind of Pokey. Unfortunately, all Pokey could hear was a blast of noise across his consciousness. The others around him felt a slight disturbance from the loosely-guided wave, but nobody mentioned it right away. They all had more important things to attend to. But Pokey took careful note of the occurence. It must be that wolf whose car I was driving from in here, he thought in the confines of the bottle. I'll use a more secure method of talking to him. Pokey's wave stayed inside its proper dimension, and landed squarely in Clarence's nearly battered mind.

Conversation Between Pokey and Clarence
<Wha...?>
[It's me, Pokey.]
<Pokey? What do you want?>
[You're with SimonBob, right?] Pokey used his most ingratiating voice. [He was a good buddy of mine. He'd get me out of this bottle, for example.]
Then he'd smash it over your head, Clarence thought to himself bitterly. <How can I help?> he thought aloud.
[I don't know... what can you do? You know any magic, Stellar powers, PSI, stuff like that?]
<I can probably use something...>
[Well, a really strong piercing attack would work, I guess.]
<I can do that. But, listen... as soon as you get out, you get your butt over to the Plain Temple, got it?>
[No problem.] Pokey cut off his mind from Clarence's.

Clarence returned to the car and radioed out to the Temple of Bob. A screen in the car showed a menu.

Car Screen Menu
Enter option --> Magical Attack
Type? --> Piercing
Select option:

W Wind

Flare

Earthquake
Target? --> Autofind Pokey
Attacking Pokey with Flare. Is this correct? Yes

The powers of technology sent a wave of magic to the group. A huge heatwave collapsed on them, causing disarray. In the middle of it all, Pokey's bottle shattered, freeing him.
"Hah! Now I'm free, so get ready to feel a new pain!"
Everyone was still feeling pain from the sudden onslaught of Clarence's Flare attack. What would they do now?
"Blarg. GET BACK IN YOUR BOTTLE THIS INSTANT, POKEY!" Mike shouted. "I'm not in the mood for your shenanigans and hijinks right now!" Pokey blinked at Mike. The others just stood around, staring at him. "What, I'm really not in the mood for his actions. So, here's what I'm going to do..." Before Mike could say what he was going to say, Pokey struck him in the back of the head. Mike was unphased.
"Guh? I must be weak from that temporary confinement. This doesn't look good." Pokey said, aware of the impending doom that he saw.
"Oh yes, that's right fatty. You're going to get it." Mike ran after Pokey with a jar. He caught Pokey easily, and proceeded to stuff him into the jar. The task was complete. "Hah, piece of cake." The group applauded. "Thank you, thank you. Anyhow, where are we going? Ember temple? Isn't it this way?" Mike walked in a random direction.
"Mmm... not quite, Mike. It's this way, actually." Anthadd said, pointing in a direction contrary to the one Mike was walking.
"Heh, right. I knew that. Seriously. I was just testing you..." Mike stated plainly.
"If you were testing us, then I want to see what you're like when you're normal..." Luna said.
"... Quiet you. Anyhow, it's a good thing that I remembered to bring a lens so I can play with fire... err... utilize fire in a constructive way. Yeah...."
The group started walking towards their next destination. "Hey Anth, what do you think the nightmare rock REALLY meant?" Mike asked.

Pokey and Clarence communique
<Pokey> Hey clarence. You there?
<Clarence> Yeah.
<Pokey> I got out, but I was jacked up and recaptured. I'm too weak. So, you need to get to the Ember Temple. You got that? You can help me there.
<Clarence> Well, alright. Why do I need to go there?
<Pokey> So you can keep those fools busy while I regain my strength. I can't do anything until some time has passed. It's all because we're getting closer to the sun.
<Clarence> Yeah?
<Pokey> Yeah. Now hurry.

"Come, Picky, Tracy," the Apple beckoned. "We have work to do."
"What?" Tracy asked.
"Training. To understand Libra Balance."
"Libra Balance?" Picky pondered.
"A Stellar Skill. Like the ones Pokey has."
"N, no! I refuse!" It was Tracy!
"Why?" Picky asked.
"Those powers killed.... killed... killed... ...Ness. I can't."
"Do you want the world to be destroyed?" Picky demanded angrily.
"How would you feel if you saw your brother killed, burned alive!?"
Picky jumped back, surprised by Tracy's sudden rage.
"You don't know, do you? You wouldn't know what you'd do, how you'd feel if you saw Pokey killed while you were there, helpless, unable to do anything but watch?" Picky tripped on a rock, his eyes reflected in Tracy's.
"You'd like it, wouldn't you?" she cried. "He's kidnapped you, tortured you, neglected you! All sorts of things like that! But Ness was never like that! He was kind, and caring, and looked out for everyone! Then Pokey snuffed his life out like we squash ants!"
"Picky! Tracy!" the Apple cried. "Calm down! I'm sure we can work out a compromise!"
"No, we can't!" Tracy shrieked.
"Tracy!" Picky reached for his friend.
"Yunba nahr aph!" Tracy called out, and disappeared into Null.
Picky jumped in, before the portal closed. But the Apple was too late. He flew into the dirt, then looked at the sky. Zubeneschamali was fading.
"Libra.... it's... disappearing?!"

"I'm not sure. I think the nightmare rock might be playing with our heads...." Solitude said, pondering.
"I think you're just being much too skeptical. This is the nightmare rock we're talking about here."
"He fights for Diu Ero. The Apple of Enlightenment fights for Ae Ahl. We techincally can't trust either of them, or anyone else."
Anthadd shielded his eyes, and looked up into the stars. "Wait..where is Libra? The very Constellation of Balance! It's collapsing!"
Mike raised his eyebrows, then sat down suddenly in the dirt.
"I just realized...what we need to do."
"What?" Paula said, shaking pokey's jar furiously.
"Well... Can Pokey hear us inside that little jar of his?" he said mockingly. He looked inside the jar, and Pokey pressed his lips up against the glass and burped. "I don't think so. What is it we need to do?"
"It seems that something has come between Tracy and Picky..." Mike said airily.
"Is that why Libra is gone?" Anthadd said incredulously.
"Yes. So, we need to reunite Picky and Tracy. Then, when we have destroyed the pillars, there is one more temple that we must regain for the powers of balance: Rockwell's Temple of the Stars."
"The Temple..of the Stars?"
"Yes. It is a temple in the far corner of the solar system that can only be reached by the utmost power of the universe.
"Once there, I'm sure we will see Ae Ahl and Diu Ero. This, of course, is the location of the final confrontation.
"We must throw all of the power in every fiber of our bodies into Tracy and Picky to amplify. As the Balance leaders, our power, once through them, will send a devastating shockwave through the entire universe. Evil and good may be balanced."
As he said these final words, Mike collapsed.
"Mike!" Luna ran up and smacked him across the face. He woke up, groggy. "Huh?...where am I? What's going on?"
Solitude stared, smiling. "It seems someone has tried to contact us through you....And I think I know who it is."
She placed her hand on Mike's, and it began to glow. A single sign emerged: Libra.