Disclaimer: I do not own Alvin and The Chipmunks, nor do I make any money whatsoever from writing and posting this fanfiction.

Chapter 13 – Picking up the Pieces

A smile slowly spread across Aaron's face as his eyes began to close. It was over. He would finally be reunited with his brothers. He had fulfilled his promise... the hardest promise he had ever made. He had lived..

Aaron's body disintegrated in a flurry of black ash. And the obsidian crystal...

Shattered into a thousand pieces...

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Simon's blue aura rippled brightly as it grew larger and larger as he pushed his way through the crowd. People, recognizing how similar his power was to the figure who had been inside, quickly moved out of his way. Having subconsciously shifted into his human form so as not be recognized, Simon touched his hand to the powerful barrier. Even after Aaron's death the barrier had not fallen, proving just how powerful Aaron had been.

As he pushed his hand against the barrier Simon felt his power being drained away by the powerful symbols Aaron had bound into it. Scowling, he summoned more power than he ever had before and flooded the barrier with it. Seconds later the barrier shattered into pieces and disappeared. Victorious, Simon summoned a burst of Lunarium and transported himself into the center of the room.

Closing his eyes he allowed the thick feeling of latent Lunarium to wash over himself. Even though Aaron was dead, and the obsidian crystal destroyed, his power still made the very air heavy and hard to breath. Growling and howling in pain, Simon spread his aura around the entire stadium and ripped away all traces of Aaron's latent energy from the room.

His aura vanishing, Simon dropped to his knees breathing heavily. Who knew removing such power from a room could take so much energy? Struggling to his feet, Simon spun around and walked over to where Aaron had dropped his sword. Reaching down he picked it up and slid it through his belt. Turning around again Simon found that the crowd, policemen, Dave, Theodore and Alvin in his human form, had entered the stadium.

Ignoring them all Simon flared his power and vanished in a storm of blue energy.

Dave moved his car through traffic as he drove home. He knew that for his sons it was still sinking in that someone they had cared for was dead. Theodore and himself were taking it better than Alvin, and definitely better than Simon, but than again, they had been nowhere near as close to Aaron as Alvin and Simon.

Looking in his rear view mirror, Dave smiled slightly at the sight of Theodore and Alvin fast asleep in the backseat. Now, if only he knew where Simon was he wouldn't be so worried. Simon had disappeared from the stadium to who knows where and, if he understood the crystals correctly, Simon could have used it to move halfway across the world in seconds.

Sighing, Dave pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. All he could do was trust Simon was okay wherever he had gone and would come home safely. But after what he had just seen...

He wasn't sure if just hoping was enough...

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Simon howled in anger and sadness in the middle of the destroyed clearing where Aaron had trained him. It was obvious that Aaron had fought here before arriving at the stadium. Aaron would have known he stood no chance but had fought without them deliberately. Sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes, Simon wondered why Aaron had done it. They had only known each other for a short time.

Sighing, Simon sniffled again.

The reason was of course obvious. Aaron had felt connected to them as a family, like they were the brothers he had lost long ago. Pulling Aaron's now sheathed sword out in front of him Simon looked at it long and hard. He knew what he was going to do. He and Alvin would continue training and would do what Aaron had done. Hunt down the Tainted and Corrupted as they appeared. Then they would train until they could defeat him.

They would do it, for Aaron...

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Simon pushed open the front door and walked slowly into the house. Nodding to Dave, he walked into the bedroom and placed the sword against the wall. His eyes glowed blue and then his entire body glowed brightly as he returned to his true form. Tired from having used so much energy, Simon struggled up onto his bed. His head touching the pillow he fell asleep instantly.

Alvin blinked in shock. Simon had walked right past him without acknowledging him before instantly falling asleep. But then again, he shouldn't really be surprised. Though his senses were nowhere near as good as his brother's, he still had some skill and he could tell that Simon had almost no energy left. Standing from his chair Alvin walked over to stand beside Simon and covered him with his quilt. Bending down he kissed Simon on the forehead before standing and walking out of the room.

Walking into the living room, Alvin stopped in shock as a powerful source of Lunarium filled his weak senses. Focusing with difficulty to locate the source, Alvin found his eyes widening in surprise. It was coming from right across from him in the house. Spinning around, Alvin caught the sight of a glowing yellow crystal which was hanging around the neck of the last person he would have ever thought.

How in the world had Dave gotten a crystal?

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Theodore stood outside of the kitchen as Dave and Alvin talked quietly to each other. Alvin was harshly questioning Dave about the mysterious crystal he had gotten. But Theodore was barely paying attention. He already knew exactly what had happened. Just as he had known when Simon found his crystal and when Alvin had gotten his. Just like how he knew there were three Tainted currently walking across the lawn towards the house.

Sighing when he noticed no one else had noticed, Theodore silently walked out the back door. As he walked around the house he slowly pulled his crystal out from under his hoodie. His small green crystal glowed brightly as he flooded his entire body with Lunarium. Though he did not know how to shift into a human form, he had other skills he could use without shifting as his brothers and Aaron did.

Walking in front of the house, Theodore crossed his arms and looked up at the three massive Tainted walking across the lawn. Mentally connecting himself with nature, Theodore caused a massive graveyard of spikes to raise form the ground and impale the Tainted. Then he called the heat in the air to condense and sent a wave of fire towards the Tainted destroying them instantly. Knowing that Alvin, and maybe even Dave, had sensed what just happened, Theodore spun around and disappeared back into the house.

It would do no good for his secret to be discovered yet. His brothers still had far too much to learn...

Alvin rushed outside, his eyes glowing slightly as he looked around in confusion. He was sure he had sensed Lunarium being used just a few seconds ago. Looking down at the lawn Alvin's eyes widened. The ground was all dug up and burned in some spots. Shaking his head in confusion, Alvin looked around, straining his senses to the maximum. Once he was sure there was no one outside though, Alvin spun around and headed back inside, shifting back to his chipmunk form as he did so.

Alvin watched Dave hang up the phone and Theodore sleepily walking towards the bedroom. Grinning slightly, Alvin found himself happy that Theodore at least didn't have a crystal. Even if he knew a few things from what they told him and the guidebook, he was in less danger because he had no crystal. Turning, Alvin jumped up onto the table and looked up at Dave who had a pleased look on his face.

"What has you so happy Dave?" questioned Alvin

"We were just requested to do a benefit concert," answered Dave with a grin.

"When?" responded Alvin

"Three months, plenty of time," answered Dave before yawning loudly.

Waving goodnight to each other, Dave and Alvin headed towards their separate bedrooms. Closing the door quietly behind him, Alvin quickly climbed into his bed. He knew that the Seville family would never be the same again after what they had been through with Aaron... but he wouldn't give up the time they had spent with Aaron for anything in the world.

Aaron had been family, and it would take them forever to get over his death...

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Meanwhile, in a hidden fortress deep within the Alaskan ice sat a figure wrapped in dark energy. He sat in a large blood red throne with spikes coming out the top. Spanning the entire large cavern in front of him were thousand of Tainted and in front of them were a small group of fifteen Corrupted. Grinning evilly, the figure motioned with his hand. Four massive blurs appeared in front of him as four figures appeared out of nowhere.

"My most loyal Arch Shadows, now that the foolish Aaron is finally gone we may begin my plan," rasped the figure.

The four figures knelt down to the ground in front of the figure. Each of them wore thick black armor with long black capes. None of them wore helmets and each of their faces were revealed in the dim light of the room.

The first had long red hair and redish yellow eyes. The second short green hair that spiked in every direction and greenish yellow eyes. The third, medium length straight blue hair and bluish yellow eyes, and the final one had white hair that was tied back in a spiky ponytail along with whitish yellow eyes. Hanging around each of their necks was a brightly glowing blackish yellow crystal.

"With these solid crystals of taint you are my strongest soldiers, so it is with you I leave a new task," continued the figure.

"I, Lord Shadow, command you to destroy the Seville family!"

A/N: So the beginning of the chipmunk's journey ends. But the danger Aaron had hunted all his life now has his dark goals firmly set on the chipmunks. Will they survive the encounter or perish trying?

Be on the lookout for Crystals: Squeakquel to find out.