"Well, well! What do we have here?"
Gin and Babbo turned towards the sound of the voice and found a strange looking man with a freaky looking gas mask. He was wearing a robe that covered both of his hands and he also had dark blue hair with a strange earring that looked like a chess piece.
"You know when I followed you down here I had my doubts, but the idea that you managed to make it this far without a scratch is an impressive feat kid."
"Wait a second!? Who are you?" Gin asked as the masked stranger laughed.
"Oh my bad, allow me to introduce myself." He said before pulling off his mask.
"The names Ian, and I'm a rook for the Black Cross." He explained before showing his right hand that had the tattoo of a solid black cross with a skull printed in the center of it.
Gin instantly recognized the image as the same picture that the masked man showed him back at his school. Suddenly the ground began to shake and then the ground suddenly erupted and a huge spike of black crystal appeared. The crystal began to change and morph into a giant golem.
"W-what is that!?" Babbo shouted as he and Gin watched the Crystal golem tower above them.
"Weapon ÄRM: Chain Spear!"
Suddenly a large group of chains pierced the golem and then with one tug the golem was ripped into pieces. Gin and Babbo felt their jaws hit the floor as Ian retracted his chains while the golem shattered.
"Now then kid! If you would be so kind as to hand over that ÄRM and I'll be on my way." Ian said as his chains seemed to hover in front of him.
Gin felt a chill run down his spine as Ian smiled. He looked down and saw Babbo staring blankly at him almost like he wasn't scared at all. Gin reached down and grabbed the hammer end of Babbo and looked back at Ian.
"What exactly do you want with this hunk of junk anyways?" Gin asked as Babbo ran into his head.
"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A HUNK OF JUNK!?" Babbo shouted as Gin glared daggers at him.
"YOU! WHO ELSE YOU GIANT TOY!" Gin said as he tried to punch Babbo only to hurt his hand in the process.
As the two fought Ian stood patiently and soon enough the two stopped their argument to see him giving them an eerie grin.
"Well, to be honest, I don't want him, but my boss on the other hand! I believe he wants his property back." Ian explained as Babbo grew more and more irritated.
"And who said I was your *Bosses* property! I'll have you know I do what I want to!" Babbo shouted as Ian began to laugh hysterically.
"Well, In the end, it doesn't matter anyways, because..." Ian explained until he suddenly shot his arm forward which sent his chains towards Gin and Babbo.
"I'll take you whether you want me to or not!" Ian exclaimed as his attack destroyed the pedestal.
Gin just barely managed to dodge that attack and now he quickly began to look for an escape route, however, no matter where he looked there was one exit. Once again a volley of chains appeared through the smoke and pierced the ground in front of Gin but this time, the chains had brought Ian towards Gin.
"CRAP!"
Ian slammed his fist into Gin's stomach and instantly Gin felt his ribs break from the impact. After that, Gin was sent flying into the wall behind him while Babbo fell helplessly to the ground.
"Huh? Don't tell me that was all you had kid? And Sombra made you sound like some kind of badass!?" Ian said as he strolled towards him.
Gin suddenly remembered his encounter with Sombra earlier in the frozen tundra and how he ran away.
"D-Don't tell me.....You work for Sombra?" Gin choked out as blood slowly trickled down his face.
Ian looked surprised for a moment then he instantly busted into a fit of laughter.
"OH MY GOD! PLEASE DONT TELL ME YOU THINK I WORK FOR THAT WEAKLING!?" Ian shouted as he tried to catch his breath.
"Listen up kid! That weakling is nothing but a pawn! Heck, the only reason he has this stupid little kingdom in the first place is because the Black Cross in the last war games GAVE it to him!"
Gin felt something boiling in the pit of his stomach as Ian continued his annoying little rant.
"The Crystal Empire was a dying kingdom full of idiots! Not a single person from this kingdom had any magical talent so then came Sombra a pitiful Magic user who joined the Black Cross just so he could take over his home. Of course, no one wanted this place so our leader just gave it to him!"
Gin felt his blood begin to boil as the memories of the suffering townsfolk began to surface.
"What a shame! This kingdom is gonna suffer again at the hands of the same man who tried to rule over it before! Hey, why don't I make you a deal? I can make sure the citizens of this kingdom never have to suffer again! All you have to do is hand that ÄRM over to me and I'll make sure that there protected under the Black cross."
Suddenly Ian felt a strong magical power and saw Gin absolutely fuming with rage.
"You bastard..." Gin said as he pulled himself out of the wall.
"Unforgivable! I may not understand what's going on! But I can tell you are no gentlemen!" Babbo shouted as Gin picked up the hammer.
"Babbo! Let's teach this guy a lesson!" Gin shouted as his magical power covered the room.
"Well looks like the kiddies still wanna play! Ok......LETS PLAY!" Ian said as he swung his chains back towards Gin, however, this time instead of dodging he sprinted towards Ian.
"Dodging an attack like this is difficult but even I can tell that his chains can't travel in a straight line!"
Gin sprinted towards Ian and suddenly his hammer grew three times its normal size.
"Now take this! HAMMER TIME!" Gin shouted as he slammed the hammer into the ground, however, Ian managed to dodge the attack.
"Sorry kid but that isn't gonna-" Ian tried to say until he suddenly got struck by Babbo who accidentally ran into him because of the momentum from Gins attack.
Ian was sent spiraling into the dirt in front of them. Gin couldn't help but burst into laughter while Babbo's eyebrow twitched.
"Damn.....I can't believe that I let a kid humiliate me like this. Rest assured kid.....I won't let the same thing happen twice!" Ian exclaimed with an icy tone.
Suddenly the room was covered with a thick layer of magic and Ian stood in the middle of it. Gin got ready for his next attack then something unexpected happened.
"Well, this was entertaining and all but I think it's time to put an end to this little battle."
Suddenly everyone noticed a strange looking creature standing between the two, however, nobody could tell what it was because of all the smoke
"W-who are you?" Everyone asked in unison.
Soon the dust cleared and everyone finally got to see who it was that interrupted their fight. He was a small white ferret with a top hat and a red tie.
"I'm so glad you asked! I am known as the infamous heartbreaker! The man of impeccable stature! I AM-"
"A rat?" Everyone asked in unison which caused the rat to explode in anger.
"I AM NOT A RAT DAMMIT! A FERRET ISNT EVEN RELATED TO RODENTS!! DO YOUR STUPID HOMEWORK YOU DAMN JERKS!"
Everyone felt sweat drop down their brow at the idea that they were being lectured by a freaky ferret rat thing.
"My name is Kororo! And I am the infamous debt collector!" He shouted as everyone felt the tension they felt before vanish.
"Tsk! Whatever I still need to kick the crap out of this guy!" Gin shouted but before he could do anything else Kororo appeared out of nowhere and stood on his hammer.
"Sorry Kid but you couldn't beat a member of the Black Cross even if you tried!" Kororo explained as Gin tried to swing him off but instead he just landed in front of him.
"Just let me handle this, k?"
Gin was about to protest until he saw his expression and decided to step down.
"Your kidding right? Stop messing around and fight me!" Ian shouted as Kororo sneered.
"Don't worry you'll get your fight buddy, now watch this!" Kororo shouted as he suddenly sucked in a ton of air and then began to hold his breath.
After a while, he began to change colors and then in a brief moment he suddenly got winded and fell to the floor. Ian watched this little side show for as long as he could before he felt his blood boil.
"DONT SCREW WITH ME! I'M A MEMBER OF THE BLACK CROSS YOU LITTLE PISS ANT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS LITTLE GAME!" Ian shouted as he summoned his chains again and the shot towards Kororo at blinding speeds.
However, just before the chains could make contact there was a huge explosion that covered the chains and Kororo. Gin held his breath thinking that he had been skewered and Ian grinned in sick satisfaction. Suddenly Ian realized that he couldn't pull his chains back no matter how much force he used.
"Damn, I hate doing that!" They heard someone say in the smoke, however, after the smoke cleared Kororo was gone and now someone new took his place.
"Nice to meet you, names Kororo the gambler." The man said tipping his fedora hat over his pale green eyes while holding the chains in his other hand.
This man wore what looked like a black business suit with black dress pants and black dress shoes. He also had short green hair that stuck out under his hat.
"Now let's get started!" Kororo said as he flipped a coin.
"Heads I kill you, tails I knock you out."
Before Ian could say anything Kororo caught the coin and looked at the results. Suddenly Kororo vanished and reappeared in front of Ian then with one swift motioned he brought his hand up and flicked him on the forehead.
"W-what happened?" Babbo asked but soon got his answer as Ian fell to the floor unconscious.
"Pretty lucky kid!" Kororo said with a chuckle before turning around and walking over to Gin with a serious expression.
"Well, Well! I certainly didn't expect the one to release Babbo would be a kid! But I guess it makes sense that you weren't attacked by my golems." Kororo explained as Gin and Babbo stared at each other in confusion.
"What the heck is going on!" The asked in unison.
Kororo held up his hands defensively as he was bombarded with questions from both Gin and Babbo but stopped them both as he placed his fingers against their lips.
"I'd be happy to answer your questions! Just not here." He explained before pulling out what Gin summarized to be another ÄRM.
"Dimension ÄRM: Babayaga!"
Suddenly the ground underneath then changed and a huge mouth sprung from the earth and swallowed all three of them whole. Meanwhile, Ian slowly picked himself off the ground.
"Dammit!"
Suddenly Ian heard a ringing noise and reached over to his earring.
"Ian return immediately! Phantom has returned."
Ian sneered as he felt the pain spread all over his body. He pulled out another ÄRM and summoned a portal, however, before he left he looked back at the room where he suffered his greatest defeat and swore that next time....
"I'll kill him, I swear it!"
TO BE CONTINUED!