“They couldn’t have been knocked out already, could they?” asked Aurin, as he and Luna landed on floor twenty with their Minakai. Arium and Dogember had fallen to the tower leaving Spikruption and Splashard to take over.

“Maybe,” said Luna, “or maybe we’ve managed to miss them entirely?”

“I’m both relieved and upset.”

Luna giggled. “Are you really relieved?”

“Yes,” said Aurin. “As much as I would love to wipe the floor with more Zodiac members, it would be nice to just head home later and not have to worry about being shanked in my sleep.”

“If they were going to kill us, they would have done it already,” said Luna.

“Sagittarius did try,” said Aurin, but he realised Luna was going to retort. “I know he and Libra were rogue and Leo insists that they aren’t murderers, I just can’t help but wonder how long it’ll take for me to push them to breaking point.”

“We tend not to think about you too much,” came a voice from the corner of the room they had just walked into.

“Virgo,” said Aurin, turning around.

Standing before him was Virgo and Pisces, alongside one of her Doripper, this did not surprise Aurin. What did surprise him, however, was the tall man in the bull mask. It had to be Taurus, the Zodiac elite in possession of the Ethruki.

“What are you three doing here?” asked Aurin.

“You three?” asked Pisces. “You three? You’re an insolent little punk, you know that? I should just—”

Taurus held up a hand to silence her. “No,” he said coldly. There was a strong, controlled ferociousness in his voice.

“Yes, Master,” said Pisces, “I lost my temper, I apologise. Allow me to deal with them while you and Virgo continue.”

“I allow it,” said Taurus.

“We’d love to stay and chat, Aurin, but we’ve got an important matter to attend to,” said Virgo, one corner of his mouth turning into a smile. “Shall we go, boss?”

Taurus gave a silent nod and headed out a side door with Virgo while Pisces remaining, summoning a second Doripper.

“You just can’t leave us be, can you?” asked Pisces. “Every chance you get, you interfere. You didn’t learn from my last lesson, so perhaps you’ll learn from this one?”

“This time, he’s not alone,” said Luna, bracing herself as Splashard positioned herself in front of her tamer.

Pisces cackled. “Having your little girlfriend here won’t be enough to save you. Do you realise the power that we Zodiac elites wield? You think those grunts that do the scouting, treasure hunting or whatever other miserable task we ask of them hold a candle to ones like me?”

“I’m not going to talk in circles with you lot anymore,” said Aurin. “Leo can pretend you’re not the bad guys by saying you’re not murderers, Virgo can pretend you’re doing all of this for a greater, noble purpose, but you’re an organisation of thieves and deceivers.”

“So be it,” said Pisces. She clicked her fingers and her two Doripper charged.

Spikruption and Splashard wasted no time in leaping into action to take on a Doripper each. The huge, red dinosaur kept his head down and rammed his spike into the Doripper’s eye, then spun around and slammed it onto the floor with a whip of his heavy tail.

Splashard was bitten in two by the second Doripper, but she used the two sections of her body to double team the ravenous fish, beating it with her watery fists and tail. Not to be defeated so easily, the Doripper washed her away with a summoned wave, then rammed her upper half into the wall.

Things had taken a turn for the worse with Spikruption, whose early advantage was cut short when he attacked with his tail and the Doripper caught it in its mouth. It bit hard as Spikruption flailed in pain.

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“Push through!” called Aurin. “Trap him underneath and serve up some grilled shark.”

Spikruption jumped into the air and whipped his tail underneath himself, landing on top of his opponent and pinning him down. He breathed deep and unleashed an intense fire blast at point blank range on the underbelly of the Doripper. It roared in agony as it was being burned, but an unexpected attack disrupted Spikruption’s focus.

Aurin saw a glow fade from Pisces as a brown-tinted crystal shattered in her hand. She was using magic of her own to aid her Minakai in battle. The Doripper wriggled free from Spikruption and bit the Minakai on the neck. Suddenly, the Doripper released Spikruption as Aurin used an Air Crystal he had found earlier.

“If you want to fight dirty, bring it on,” he said, pulling out the only other crystal he had; a green-tinted Nature Crystal.

“Do you really thi—”

Pisces was cut off as her second Doripper flew past her and slammed into the wall. It burst into blue light and vanished from the tower as Splashard headbutted the remaining Doripper. Spikruption joined the beatdown and the two quickly defeated the remaining one.

“Do you yield?” Aurin asked his and Luna’s Minakai bore down on her.

Pisces had a pained look on her face. “You little punks…” she spat, bringing her hand up as though to summon whatever her third Minakai was, but she brought it back down again. “No sense in fighting a battle I can’t win,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Then move out of our way before we make you,” demanded Aurin.

“I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again soon,” said Pisces, reaching for an Orb of Return and disappearing from the tower before Aurin and Luna’s eyes.

The two looked at each other and both exhaled a massive sigh. Suddenly, they began to laugh. It wasn’t so much a laughter of happiness, more so laughter from not quite knowing what to say.

“Come here, Spikruption,” said Luna, walking over to his tail and applying a salve. She had used her last Healing Herb, but at the very least she could numb the pain and keep his wound clean.

Spikruption nuzzled Luna affectionately, careful not to jam his spike in her eye.

“I wish I had something useful to help you out with,” said Aurin.

“We’re a team, it isn’t a debt owed.”

“I know, but you really were a lifesaver just now.”

“Well, you kept her distracted enough that she didn’t command her Minakai properly. Like I said, we’re a team.”

“Is this team foolish enough to try and find Virgo and Taurus?” asked Aurin.

“The same Taurus who wields the power of an Ethruki?” replied Luna.

“Wields it poorly, but yes.”

“I don’t think we really have much choice in the matter.”

With that, the two tamers pressed on. The rest of the floor seemed relatively clear, no doubt the wild Minakai had been swiftly handled by the two Zodiac elites. Anywhere Aurin and Luna spotted a wild Minakai, they headed a different direction before they were detected. Their Minakai were weakened already so fighting was risky, and it meant that Virgo and Taurus had not gone that way.

“Floor twenty-four,” gasped Aurin an hour later, as he and Luna landed with a very weak Spikruption and Splashard.

They had only just managed to escape from a rampaging Hogannon that shot fireballs at them like bullets from a machinegun. Had it not been for them finding the elevator by accident, the run would have come to an end.

“Should we cut our losses?” asked Luna.

“We’ve come so far!” said Aurin. “We know they’re still ahead of us, they have to be.”

“I think they’re too far ahead to catch up,” said Luna, looking defeated. “More Minakai are spawning to replace the ones they took out and the traps are rearming themselves. That poison trap would have cost you the run if I didn’t have an Antidote Herb.”

“Maybe you’re right,” said Aurin, looking at his injured Minakai. “You’re tired, aren’t you?”

Spikruption roared in denial, but it was not his usual powerful roar.

“Please get the orb out,” said Luna. “We’ll go back, I’ll hatch this egg and we can let our Minakai rest.

No sooner had she said this than Splashard glowed a blue light and vanished from the tower. Luna looked at Aurin in a panic as she disappeared seconds later.

“Whoops,” said Virgo, emerging from down the corridor. “I must have grabbed a crystal by accident. At least she gets to go home now.”

“I’ll make you pay for that,” growled Aurin as Spikruption reared up.

“No,” said Virgo, “you won’t. We’re going to have another talk, you and I. Most of the Zodiac higher ups are convinced that your vendetta towards us—justified as it may be—has clouded your judgement so much that you cannot be reasoned with. I, on the other hand, believe that there may be some getting through to you.”

“After everything your organisation has done to this town, to my friends, why would I trust anything that you have to say?”

“You trusted Leo enough to let him give you the full story about Sagittarius and Libra.”

“So that whole thing was a set up to get rid of them?” asked Aurin, confirming a suspicion he had. “He didn’t come to us just because Kyle asked him to.”

“Leo is a loyal man. He is a true believer in what we do and has gone above and beyond for the Zodiac Squad time and time again. The fact that you thought it was remotely possible that he would have come to you without informing Taurus first is laughable.”

“He’s a hard one to read.”

“On the contrary, he’s the easiest to read of any of my brothers and sisters. He will do whatever he’s told, even at the cost of his personal goals.”

“Is that why he didn’t take part in the national championships this year?”

“It is as I said,” said Virgo, shaking his head, “he is loyal to our cause.”

“Alright, I’ll take your bait,” said Aurin.

Virgo looked confused. “Bait?”

“You want me to ask what the purpose of Zodiac is, right? This cause you’re talking about.”

Virgo smiled at Aurin. “I will only tell you if you are willing to listen.”

Aurin nodded. “Tell me then, what do you and your people really want?”