Payton looked at his scanner intensely as it sat on the table. The scanned image of Semiwrath brought up on the small screen. He knew this creature was awesome if that playback was any indication, but...the fact he felt like he wasn't even in control at the time... even less so than if he voluntarily let the creature he had become during a match battle for him. To not be conscious of what was going on at all. If he was being honest with himself he had to admit it was more than a little unnerving.

A few times he glanced up at one of the several screens depicting current ongoing matches in different domes. He wasn't really paying attention to the battles going on, every time he noticed a mipedian being used he was reminded of his little search after a very tired Kaz had ported home for some real rest.

Payton had wondered if any of his creature friends knew about Semiwrath, and maybe how to find him. After all who better to ask about this right? And who better to start with he thought than the mipedians, surely a lizard would know something about another. It was a start anyway. But after coming up empty, like 'if there was a dark scaled mipedian running around i'm sure i would've heard about him' empty, Payton ended up with a thought that kept nagging at him.

As he looked up again he startled backwards in alarm at the sight of a certain girl with blonde hair, this time dressed in black shirt and red capris like usual. She smile wryly as she leaned over the turned over chair, "Having a moment?"

Payton rolled his eyes, then himself as he stood up off the floor, "Got a bit on my mind today Sarah, and I didn't need the surprise attack."

Sarah crossed her arms, a tinge of worry crossing her face, "Kaz? or those blobs?"

Payton froze in motion, half sitting back in his chair. He groaned as he plopped down across the table instead, turning his scanner around for her to see. Grumbling as he did so, "No...Semiwrath…"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Oh, that again."

"I know what happened Sarah! I was in the driver's seat when it happened!" Payton roared.

"And has it happened again since then?" Sarah asked in a rhetorical tone.

Payton shook his head, "If that wasn't enough i cant find anything about this guy. I asked every creature i could think of about him and they all came up empty."

"Then why don't you just get it from the source?" She turned the scanner back around, adopting a sarcastic tone and tapping the image as she did so, "It's this new thing going around, tapping into creature's minds while in a battle dome. You should try it some time."

Payton glared at her a moment, "I don't want to get jacked again. The worst part about last time is that i couldn't remember anything."

"And i keep telling you there's no way that could be possible,"

"Alright, then how about you see for yourself?"

Payton's statement caught her off guard. She stared him in the eye as evenly as possible, underneath however she couldn't help but feel a little excited at the thought of playing a new creature. In fact.. The thought was so enjoyable that slowly… a smile formed on her face.

In the same moment, payton seemed to think over what he had said, and the more he thought about it, the more of a good idea it seemed to be. Why not let Sarah take him on with Semiwrath? If the same thing from last time happened again, then she would have to admit that he was right. If it didn't, they would have some information to go on about this mysterious creature. It was a win/win situation either way, and all in the safety and comfort of a battle dome between friends. He even had a creature in mind to take that black scaley on.

"How about it Sarah?" he said as both of them ended up with large sly grins on their faces. He held up his scanner with Semiwrath's scan still in view on the screen and waved it like it was a tempting bribe, "Just need two seconds to transfer him over to you and then…"

"Game on, Lizard boy!" Sarah said with an excited sneer, both of them making a dash for a trading table.

***8***

Cody shivered as he felt hot breath at the back of his neck announcing his captor's return. The dark scaled creature looked over him and the shaky scrawl he had written out thus far, parts of it were scratched out or blotted, other parts of it looked more like some kind of footnote. Fiery green eyes looked over the parchments carefully before setting down a new bottle full of ink and removing the one already on the low table, nearly empty.

The boy sat silently a moment as the black lizard turned one paper over, white tongue flickering in and out followed by a velvety purling hiss, "Is this all you've been able to read so far?"

The boy nodded, looking back at the scroll again, his voice tired and shaky as he pointed to a section in particular, "I tried looking twice and writing down everything that didn't change, looked all night, just like you told me. But here it keeps getting fuzzy. Like this had been in water or something."

The paper was returned to the table with a heavy slam, Cody involuntarily shied away as the face looked where he had pointed on the scroll. He was almost immediately reminded of the purple sludge sticking to his ankles and keeping his legs locked together. Semiwrath's eyes narrowed, his tongue licking his lips as his cold gaze turned to the boy.

"Nevermind this part. It seems what neutrality you possess isn't enough to meet conditions. Move on to this section here and have something by the time i return."

Cody watched as his reptilian captor turned to leave, his long tail snaking behind him as he moved. A flicker of hope dared spark in the young boy's voice, "R-return?"

"Don't get any ideas child, else you…." he halted standing still with eyes going wide. The blue markings on his face glowing brightly as he stepped dizzily towards the nearest wall. Cody watched in confused fear as the dark scaled reptile stumbled, primal hissing escaping his throat as his eyes looked wildly about and halted on him.

The human moved back, uncertain of what was happening or of his captor's intentions, his mind reeling in the lack of options should he be attacked at this point. Thinking about it further only seemed to allow his terrified imagination get the better of him.

"S-sir?..."

Semiwrath's eyes flashed orange for a moment, widening in surprise before squeezing shut in pain, a primal hiss escaping his throat as he reeled backwards and fell to the floor, "...Again...happening again…"

***8***

#Earlier

Sarah rolled her eyes at payton's creature of choice, "Hear'ring? Really?"

Payton just smiled, "Tsk, tsk. The dude may be on the small side, but he's no pushover. Plus those sonic ears are mega useful."

"Whatever you say. Now let's play already so i can prove how wrong you are

Payton smiled, reaching for the location randomizer and giving it a swipe. A series of location images flashed across the screen in rapid succession.

"The location will be… the Eye of the Malstrom."

Payton gave a smile, "Oh this should be good."

As soon as both players were wrapped in a swirl of white lettered code, Sarah opened her new green eyes with a smile, flexing her new tail and claws with a hiss of satisfaction, "Alright, Let's get Chaotic."

Wind bellowed all around her as she bolted across the open stone space of the plateau, the eye of the storm above thundered and whistled angrily among swirling clouds over a single tower. Sarah looked about, feeling a shiver run down Semiwrath's spine.

"This place feels creepier than i remember. Guess Semiwrath doesn't like it here."

A clap of thunder boomed as a bolt of lightning landed close to Sarah/Semiwrath's feet. Jumping back in alarm she immediately took priority and readied an attack… or tried to. She imagined that purple goo Payton had told her about only to find her mouth was completely dry.

"Oh… kay… guess using attacks will be a little harder than i thought."

"Believe me yet Blackie?" Her'ring's scratchy little voice said with a sneer.

Sarah/ Semiwrath whirled around lashing the long black tail with the intent of attack… but it missed completely, earning a hissing growl to escape her reptilian throat and a snicker from Payton/Her'ring.

"What's the matter Sare-bear? Can't control it?"

Sarah hissed again, Ok, so maybe he did have trouble using Semiwrath's attacks before. But that still doesn't mean the rest of what he said was true. But why am i having trouble with attacks? Maybe he uses them differently somehow? … In that case, why not bring him out a bit more. Either way i'm still in control here.

Payton watched as the big black lizard visibly relaxed completely, visibility flickering out for a moment before the markings on Semiwrath's face began to glow dimly, the glazed eyes blinked alight with a new fire as the player underneath smiled, "Oh, Payton…. Catch!"

A swing of that long dark tail and this time a blade of purple shot out, leaping towards it's surprised target. Payton felt as though he barely recovered in time to dodge as he ducked out of the way, staring at his friend in utter shock, "Uh Sarah? You still in there?"

Sarah smiled, "Of course I…."

She froze, her eyes glazing over a moment. Inside she felt as though the body under her control had suddenly become paralyzed. She tried to make it move under her command but found it did nothing, with a burst of frustration she tried to hit something, anything.. Only for a dizziness to fall over her head as she suddenly saw double, like she was in two places at once, and something in her own head was fighting her.

What is…?

Alongside seeing the location in the battle dome, she was somehow stumbling around in someplace low lit and damp, a smell of earth all around her like someplace underground.

"S-sir?..." a scared voice said. She turned to it, part of her felt like her mind was being pushed out of her own head, or was she pushing someone out of their head. Two minds vying for control… but this was a battle in the domes wasn't it?

"Again…" Semiwrath's voice hissed unbidden, "... happening again…. Who are you?"

"Hey Sarah?" Payton/ Her'ring said slowly, she could see him inching closer with a look like concern on his face, "You feeling alright?"

"Who… What is…?" she clutched her head dizzily, her head felt like it was trying to go two directions at once, the blue markings on Semiwrath's face in the battle dome glowing dimly.

Sarah blinked as she stumbled about the room, falling on all fours and looking into the face of a scared human boy. She opened her mouth to say something, her vision clearing just a moment as something in her own head tried to force her out. In that moment as she shook her head she looked down at an open scroll with writing all over it, seeing a blur like four messages at the same time. She blinked in confusion looking again to the boy as he tried to shy away from her.

"Who… are you? What happened to the match?"

The boy blinked, unsure of what to make of the situation, his voice shaky as he answered, "W-we haven't g-gone anywhere, sir."

"No i…." Sarah halted as something filled her mouth, her vision doubling again between here and the battle dome, something hissed as liquid oozed out of her scaley maw, "Out… Out of my head you foul enchanter! OUT!"

***8***

"Sarah! Sarah!" Payton was close to screaming as he shook her shoulders, she blinked dizzily feeling sick to her stomach.

"Payton? Stop shaking me," she blinked seeing the battle dome was inactive like before a match set up. Both she and Payton were their normal selves and their scanners were sitting in their stands waiting to be picked up, "What… just…?"

"You got all dizzy and started mumbling a bunch of stuff, then Wrath's markings started glowing and you attacked me and we ended up back here where you got all totally zoned out. You scared me standing there all zombie eyed and drooling…."

She immediately felt better enough to shove him off of her, subconsciously checking her lip as she grabbed her scanner and headed for the door. Payton hurried after her, backtracking long enough to grab his own scanner out of the room, "What happened in there? That was totally not the same thing i went through. How you feeling?"

Sarah didn't answer him right away, her mind reeling with the last few minutes trying to process it all, what exactly did just happen? And how was it even possible? Memories maybe? Or was something else going on? Question after question formed in her head but any she could answer didn't ease her confusion, though one thing was clear.

"That Semiwrath guy… He's not a scan we should be using."

Payton gave her a sly smile, "Oh so you admit that maybe i was right about not being exactly myself back then?"

The dainian player ignored him, halting as something crossed her mind and refused to let go, "The Keepers of Perim... Come forth the souls of old… rise where we have fallen…"

Payton halted a moment, confusion and slight frustration twisting his face into a deep frown. With a groaning sigh he flopped into the closest chair, "Okay, I give. What's that supposed to mean? And what is it?"

Sarah just shook her head, sitting herself down, "I don't know… but it feels like i'm forgetting parts of it, important parts."

AN: Hova-

Hello, I'm back. I'm not dead and i finally managed to get out of writers block long enough to bring you a full chapter. Oddly one of the longer ones I've ever written.

Since the post before this one i have done quite a bit and plan to do more, of which you can check my deviant page (if you don't know about it and wish to see it, PM me and i'll see about giving you a usable link)

Thank you all so much for being so patient with me and i hope you all have a happy new year!