Author's Note: Characters and concepts are the creative property of Savin Yeatman-Eiffel and Sav! the World Productions.

This is a collaborative work between me and Queenbean3.

Chapter Five: Critical Like Kratos by Queenbean3

If the mere sight of the Crog warship hadn't dropped everyone's jaws, Rush's exclamation surely did. Every head turned to look at Rakesh in horror, but the white-haired man looked as cool and calm as before. Rising from his seat he spoke. "This is no trap. Eva's next Guardians are aboard that vessel. They will transport us to Oban safely."

This caused quite a stir among the men. Rush growled like a caged animal, Stan and Koji murmured nervously to each other, Rick just sat there looking dazed, and Spirit looked as surprised as a faceless being could be. Don was by far the most outraged and leaped from his seat. He came face to face with Rakesh where he was better able to scream at him.

"Are you out of your mind?" Don's face was mere inches from the white-haired man's. "The Crogs are our sworn enemies!"

Rakesh frowned and narrowed his silver eyes dangerously. "Do you mean to say that you doubt the infinite wisdom of the Avatar? He hand-picked each of us to protect Eva with our very lives. Do you dare to question his decision?"

"I question anything that is a potential threat to my daughter's safety!" Don raised a fist in the air as if he were planning to hit the man. Rick decided it was time to intervene and stood up.

"Look, buddy," he said to Rakesh. "It's not the Avatar we don't trust; it's the Crogs. People who've tried to invade your planet twice in a row aren't exactly friends."

Rakesh gave Rick a very icy stare. "It matters not what your personal beliefs are. These warriors are the Avatar's chosen. If you truly care for Eva's safety, then you will follow his orders without doubting them."

Now Rick was starting to get annoyed with him. Like Don, he didn't appreciate total strangers bossing him around. He opened his mouth for a snappy comeback but Eva's voice interrupted him. Until that moment, she had been sitting quietly, studying a pair of dog tags around her neck. Now she stood up straight and tall, and spoke with steadfast authority.

"Guys, Rakesh is right. If we go back to Earth those men from Einherjar will be waiting for us. We're better off with the Crogs. I don't like it any more than the rest of you, but it's our only choice."

Don stepped away from the white-haired man and looked at his daughter. Somehow in the past few hours she had gained wisdom beyond her years. He pondered her words for a few moments before coming to the conclusion that she was right.

Clearing his throat, he gave a command to the pilot. "Rush, you heard what she said. Bring us in for a landing."

Rush gritted his teeth and tried with all his might not to pull a last minute U-turn. His hatred for the Crogs ran deep and just seeing that ship had brought up bad memories of the invasion of his homeworld, Byrus. He could not deny the truth of what Eva said, however, and steered the small ship toward the open hatch of the Destroyer's docking bay. Once they had landed, two huge doors slid together and sealed their only exit. Eva feared that she had just locked herself and her friends into their own coffin.

They went through the motions of disembarking and unloading the cargo. Misha was huddled in her cage, quaking terribly from the wild ordeal she had just been through. Eva wanted to calm her pet, but there was a hiss as the main hatch leading into the ship slid open.

A huge black shape stood framed in the doorway with a bright light shining behind it. The men huddled around Eva, but as the figure stepped forward they all shrank back. The Crog loomed over them all like a mountain dressed in grays and reds, a sharp blade attached to the gauntlet on his right arm. His yellow eyes scanned the tiny creatures until they settled on the smallest one. When he spoke, his voice was deep and heavy, and the air seemed to tremble from it.

"You are the one called Eva, is that so?"

Eva's mouth went dry. She stood her ground and tried to sound brave but her answer came out a high-pitched squeak. "Yes, I am."

His eyes flashed momentarily. The others looked on in apprehension, waiting to see what the massive alien would do next. He clenched his right fist and thumped it against his chest over his heart. "I am Kratos." He lowered himself down to one knee and bowed his head. "I am in your service now. Command me as you see fit."

Eva blinked at him in complete astonishment. Never in her life, or even in her wildest dreams, had she ever seen a Crog bow to anyone, least of all to a lowly human. She had no idea how to respond and stood there in silence until she realized he was waiting for her to say something. Scratching her head she tried to think of a job to give him. "Okay … Errr ... Can you help us with our luggage?"

Kratos glanced around her at the bags and rabbit cage.

"As you wish," he said with a nod. Rising to his feet he sidestepped the group and easily scooped all their things up into both hands as if they were weightless. He then proceeded back the way he had come, toward the open hatch.

Eva looked at the faces of her father and Guardians for some encouragement. The only one who did not look completely flabbergasted was Rakesh, wearing that calm smile once more. "You should follow him, Eva. You want to know where your belongings are headed, do you not?"

She hurried after Kratos into the ship with the rest of the group in tow. They followed him through a maze of corridors that were large enough to be tunnels. The walls were made of dark gray metal and the lighting was a harsh white, like the florescent lighting in a hospital. No one spoke as they walked, and they passed other Crogs moving about the ship. Many of them were armored warriors, like Kratos, but there were those who appeared to have other duties on the ship from look of their dress. Some of them would pause and glance at the newcomers, but most simply ignored them. Eva heard one quietly point her out to another as the human who defeated General Kross and won the Great Race of Oban, which his partner scoffed at. She did not make eye contact with anyone and stayed as close to her guide as she could without being stepped on.

At last Kratos halted them in front of a row of tall doors. "These are your rooms. Decide amongst yourselves which ones you want. They are all the same." He pressed a button on the wall and the first door slid open. After unloading the cargo, he stood before Eva once more. "We will be making the first jump to Nourasia momentarily. Should you need me, I will be on the bridge."

Eva managed a nervous smile. "Thank you very much, Kratos. We'll be okay for now." He gave a short bow in response and left without a word to anyone else. Once they were all in the room with no sign of any Crogs, there was a collective sigh of relief.

The first thing Eva did was remove Misha from her cage and cuddle her in her arms. Once the frightened rabbit had stopped shaking, she surveyed the room they were in. There was a single bed, a table and two chairs; all bolted to the floor. All the furnishings were big enough to fit a full grown Crog, or at least two and a half adult humans. A bathroom stall was also present, but Eva didn't want to think about what a Crog toilet looked like.

Don sat on the edge of the huge bed and rubbed his temples, noting that the mattress felt as comfortable as granite "I have to admit, that went far better than I anticipated. I suppose we should make ourselves comfortable now. We're in for a long trip."

"I won't be comfortable with these Crogs until we're safely on Oban with the Avatar," Rush said. He and Spirit were both standing guard by the door looking very tense. The Byrussian still had his pickax in hand and the Phils was clutching the front of his coat ready to strip and transform at any moment.

"I trust the Avatar's judgment fully," Rakesh said with a smirk. "You would do well to do the same." The others all gave him dirty looks but he merely gazed out the window at the stars. So far, the aloof stranger was doing a fantastic job of earning the group's contempt, but that didn't seem to bother him in the slightest.

Rush glared at the white-haired man behind his purple goggles and winced slightly. His arm was still bleeding from where Joaquin had shot him.

"You had best go to the medical bay and have your wounds treated," Rakesh said. He glanced at Spirit and the bandage on his right arm. "Both of you."

"Bah!" Rush crossed his arms in an attempt to hide his injury. "It's only a flesh wound. I'll live."

"He's right," Koji said. "If you don't have that looked at, it'll get infected."

"I don't need some Crog with sharp instruments poking around inside of me!" Rush bellowed, nearly spraying the young mechanic with spittle.

"If you truly wish to fulfill your duty as Eva's Guardian," Rakesh said. "You must remain in optimal physical condition. If you cannot fight, then you cannot effectively protect her."

Rush advanced toward the ever pragmatic Rakesh. "Listen to me, I've had just about enough of-" A gentle touch at his elbow halted his advance and effectively silenced him.

"Don't worry," Rush heard Spirit's voice in his mind. "I'll come with you."

Rush still stood before Rakesh and growled a little before he turned on his heel and followed Spirit out of the room. Rakesh returned to his star gazing, as if the whole event had never happened.

Eva regarded him with curiosity. Besides Kratos, Rakesh was the only Guardian she had not met before. He had also mentioned her mother, which was doubly strange. She decided to question him about it later, but for the moment, she would settle in.

"So, guys," Eva said. "Who wants to take this room?"

"Why don't you take it, Eva?" Rick said, seated next to his former manager on the bed. "You're the only girl in the group, so you need your space. The rest of us can double up."

"I don't like that idea," Don said. "I'd rather not leave her alone in this place if I can help it."

"She will not be alone," Rakesh said. "There is one more Guardian here."

Don turned to him in surprise. "There is? Where?"

Rakesh turned from the window and smiled. "She is hiding under the bed."

Suddenly a young feminine voice wailed in disappointment. "Awww! You jerk. You blew my cover."

Don and Rick jumped off the mattress and backed away. Everyone looked on in shock as a childlike figure with some distinct feline traits crawled out from under the bed. Her TV-shaped head bore a face with bright yellow eyes and a smug grin familiar to all of them.

"Para-Dice!" Eva said, her mouth gaping in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

Para-Dice giggled impishly and sat cross-legged on the bed. "Duh! What do you think I'm doing here, silly? I'm going to Nourasia with you, and now we get to be roomies."

Eva took a moment to ponder this statement. "You mean ... you're my other Guardian?"

Para-Dice puffed out her small chest and beamed with pride. "Yup! The Avatar was impressed by my amazing brainpower and asked for me personally to help save the galaxy. I was only too happy to accept. Finally, a job worthy of my skills."

As the bizarre alien giggled and rocked back and forth on the mattress, everyone in the room simply stared at her. Don leaned against one of the large chairs, clutched at his growing migraine, and muttered under his breath. "I don't believe this. First it's Spirit, then a ship full of Crogs, and now the little prodigy from Weta? Jordan, what on Earth were you thinking?"

Rick noticed the older man's distress and took the lead for him once more. "Well, okay then! That solves Eva's roommate problem. Now, we just have to decide who else is pairing up."

It was decided that the men would break up into three pairs. Stan and Koji remained an inseparable duo, Don and Rick would bunk together, and Spirit and Rakesh would share another room. Rush wound up being the odd one out since he was too big to share a bed comfortably with anyone else, which was fine by him because he liked his space and admitted to snoring loudly.

As they all gathered up their baggage, Don gave Eva some parting words. "I'll be back to check on you later, my dear. Promise me you won't go wandering off by yourself, all right?"

"Sure, Dad, don't worry," Eva said with a smile. "I'm planning to turn in early anyway. This crazy day left me pretty tired."

"I know the feeling. Get some rest, dear. As for you, Para-Dice …" he paused to shift gears from kind father to grumpy manager. "Don't keep her awake with childish pranks. I remember what you did to our star-racer back on Alwas, and I won't stand for any more games like that."

Para-Dice was lying on her back with her head hanging upside down over the edge of the mattress. She waved a paw at him and smiled innocently. "Relax, old man. I'm a Guardian now, remember? I'm on my best behavior!"

Don arched a skeptical eyebrow and walked out with Rick. The other men dismissed themselves as well and went on to their own rooms. Once they were gone, Eva pressed a button on the wall and the door slid closed.

"Well, looks like it's just us girls now," she said, walking over to the rabbit cage. "After I feed Misha I'm gonna wash up and take a nap. Promise you'll let me sleep?"

Para-Dice rolled onto her stomach and kicked her feet in the air. "Yeah, sure, no problem. I've got plenty of computer games to keep me busy. I'll be as quiet as a mouse."

Eva ignored the irony of a cat comparing itself to a mouse and dug out a bag of food pellets from her duffel bag. "Don't tease my rabbit, either. All this action has her really freaked out."

"Myah, you humans are too bossy. Why'd you bring a rabbit into space with you, anyway?" Her yellow eyes narrowed. "Is she your emergency food supply?"

Eva was horrified by that idea. "No! She's my pet! Why on Earth would I want to eat her?"

A devious grin spread across the cat girl's face. "Trust me, once you've been eating Crog food for a few days, she'll be looking pretty tasty."

"I'd rather starve to death. Don't think about eating her yourself, either. I swear I'll sic my dad and all the Crogs on you!"

Para-Dice just laughed at her as if the threat were a joke. Eva liked the bratty child less and less with each second. She wondered if sleeping next to Rush would really be so bad.

The pool in the Floating Temple was the Avatar's window to other worlds. At the moment, an image of Eva was visible in the water as she settled into her room on the Crog ship. Jordan hovered at the edge of the pool, still in his radiant divine form. Seated beside him on a rock was a tiny, withered old man dressed in plain robes with a wooden staff in one hand. Compared to the Avatar, his body was dim and transparent like a hazy fog. His wrinkled lips were curved up into a smile as he stroked his beard, a habit he never quite gave up, even in death.

Jordan had summoned the spirit of Satis shortly after discovering that Canaletto's spirit had survived the battle inside the Arena of the Heart. Although the former Avatar no longer had the powers he once possessed, he retained much wisdom and insight about their common enemy. He still cared about the galaxy he once protected and was more than willing to help his successor in any way he could.

"This should be interesting," the old man said with a chuckle. "How long can five humans, four aliens and a rabbit last on a ship full of Crogs? Molly's got quite an exciting trip ahead of her!"

Jordan's eyes did not move from the girl's image. "Her name is Eva. And she'll be fine. There's not much she can't handle."

Satis nodded his wrinkled head. "Hmm, yes, that's true. She'll be quite safe from Canaletto with so many powerful protectors. What of your other friend, King Aikka? How many Guardians does he have with him?"

"I sent two warriors to look after him. They arrived a few days ago."

Satis frowned. "Only two? That doesn't seem fair. He's a king; he deserves better protection than that! Are you sure you're not playing favorites, young Avatar?"

Jordan looked up at the former Avatar with a somewhat annoyed expression. "Of course I'm not! I didn't plan on Eva bringing the Earth Team with her, and I didn't even know Rakesh until two days ago. Once the warship gets to his kingdom, Eva's Guardians will protect Aikka, too."

He returned his gaze to the picture in the pool. Eva was now curled up in bed and drifting off to sleep. Her goggles were stripped from her hair and the dog tags were clutched tightly in her hand. In spite of the hard mattress, the scratchy blanket, her annoying roommate and everything else, her face was calm and peaceful. Jordan smiled, pleased to see his partner still had some small happiness in such troubled times. He wanted to reach through the water and touch her cheek, but remembered he could do that soon enough when they were truly together once more.

Satis noticed his successor's distraction and smiled knowingly. "Ah, to be young and in love once more. I was quite a catch, back in my day. But alas, I had to break so many hearts when I left Adaloo behind me."

The Avatar's glowing eyebrows arched upward in surprise. He tried to picture a younger, less wrinkled and less dwarfish Satis and failed miserably. "What does that have to do with anything?"

The elderly spirit shrugged. "Nothing. I just felt like reminiscing."

Jordan decided he didn't like discussing his predecessor's love life and moved on to a different subject. "Okay then, what should I do about Aikka's Guardians? Should I send him more?"

"Hmmm," Satis said, overgrown eyebrows furrowed in thought. "Aha! I know someone who's perfect for the job. Why don't you call on Sul and send him to Nourasia?"

Jordan was both surprised and confused. "Sul? Didn't he die? I thought he was killed during a freak magnetic storm."

Satis shook his head. "No, no, you have it wrong. He's still alive, and it wasn't a storm that took him at all. He was interfering with Canaletto's plan and so was plucked from the race entirely."

The Avatar's eyes flashed dangerously at the sound of his enemy's name. Sul had been a very powerful magician that could alter the course of destiny. Of course Canaletto wouldn't like that.

"I can take you to where his seal is," Satis said. "But you'll have to free him on your own. We ghosts don't have much power in the living world."

"That's all right. I'm sure I can handle it."

Jordan lifted his hand and waved it over the pool. The image on the surface shimmered and dissipated, leaving his own reflection looking back at him. The sight of his shining body and golden tendrils made him frown in distaste. He never liked looking at himself in this form; it made him feel so alien and inhuman. Averting his eyes, he turned back to his spiritual forerunner. "Okay, I'm ready. Show me the way."

Satis's ghostly form stood up and hovered in the air a few inches, glowing brighter. He aimed his staff at the Avatar and fired a beam of bluish light at him. Almost instantly Jordan was transported to a different location on Oban, one that looked very familiar. It was night on this side of the planet and several moons shone down on the ruins of an old temple. It reminded him of the Temple of the Heart, with the stone giants guarding the entrance, but it was smaller and had broken pillars around it.

Jordan's shining body illuminated the floor, revealing a large and complex mandala carved into the stone below him. He recognized some of symbols that formed the seal and knew they were very ancient and powerful. Not even Sul could have escaped such a sinister trap.

He centered himself within the circle and lifted both arms, eyes closed in concentration. The broken pillars burned with fiery red light, but the color quickly changed to gold as the Avatar's power overtook them. The carvings on the ground also became illuminated and a round pool of light opened up directly beneath him.

"So that's how he did it," Jordan said to himself. "A trans-dimensional portal. Well then, as Eva always says, 'here goes nothing'."

The portal brought him to a place of absolute darkness, a realm that had once been Canaletto's den. The presence of evil still lingered there, and Jordan knew he could not stay long without being detected. He floated through crumbling ruins and thick gray fog, scanning everywhere for some clue to Sul's location. The further in Jordan went the more cobwebs he began to notice, but these were not small webs built by tiny Earth spiders. These were large masses of thread as thick as ropes and covered in a sticky cement-like paste.

He spotted a light up ahead, a faint bluish-white dimmed by fog. As he drew closer, he pushed the haze away with a thought to clear his path. There before him was an enormous spider web bigger than any he had ever seen. Suspended in the very center was Sul. The monk hung with his arms pulled out to the sides, wrists and ankles bound with strong cords of webbing. The white robe and the blue aura around his body had faded and was splotched with black stains. With some effort, he was able to lift his head and open his three black eyes, squinting from the brightness of Jordan's body.

"You …" he said, his voice weak from exhaustion. "I know you … I saw you during the Great Race of Oban."

Jordan came face to face with Sul and offered him a comforting smile. "Yes, back then I was still a mere mortal. But as you can see, I became the new Avatar and I've come to set you free."

Sul turned his eyes away from the shining figure, unable to stand the bright light with his weakened vision. "It is useless ... this is Canaletto's domain. I have tried to escape many times and it has proven impossible ..."

"Come on, what kind of talk is that?" Jordan studied the bonds around Sul's body, deciding how best to remove them. "This stuff looks pretty strong. But don't worry, I'll have you out of here in no time!"

"Try if you must …" the monk said. "But I do not expect you to succeed. You may be the Avatar now, but you are still not ready to face Canaletto …"

Jordan set his mouth in a determined line. "I won't leave you here to die, Sul. You don't deserve this."

Lifting his hands he frowned in concentration. Slowly, the webbing around Sul's body began to drip and melt away. Within moments his bonds were loose enough for the monk to fall limply into Jordan's outstretched arms. He felt much too light and thin for an alien of such tall stature.

Shifting the monk's body to a position more easy to carry, Jordan started floating back the way he came, but stopped midway. Something was wrong. There were noises in the fog that had not been there before. Many sets of purple eyes glowed as a horde of dark spirits gathered around the Avatar and the monk. The creatures ranged in shape and size from tiny insects to gigantic titans, and they all hissed and growled in eerie voices.

Suddenly, a huge shape materialized between Jordan and the seal. It was a phantom more powerful and sinister than all the others combined. The beaked face and the spidery legs were all too familiar.

"So, young one," the demonic being said, its voice a raspy hiss. "You've finally decided to break the seal on the magician after all this time? I fear you have arrived too late. His powers are nearly depleted. I have drained him dry. He is no longer of any use to me."

Jordan's eyes narrowed into angry golden slits. It was all he could do to keep from going supernova right there and blasting the whole dimension into oblivion. "If that's the case, then why do you care if I free him?"

Canaletto pointed a clawed finger at him. "You are no different from me, Whelp. You will use the magician as a tool in your own plans, just as I once did."

"It's not the same! I need his help to save the galaxy. I won't let you destroy everything the Creators worked so hard to build."

The monstrous phantom chuckled coldly. "Your sympathy for inferior creatures is your greatest weakness, little Avatar. Even if you escape from my den, you and the galaxy are still destined for destruction."

The shadowy minions began advancing on Jordan and Sul, black arms and tentacles stretched outward to claim their victims. The monk became uneasy, but Jordan was calm as he gave him an order. "Shield your eyes."

A blinding flash of light burst from the orb that floated constantly over the Avatar's head. Canaletto gave an unholy shriek as his ghostly retinas were scorched and his henchmen were disintegrated. Sul could not help but be impressed by this display of power. His mighty savior carried him past the enemy toward the portal.

Enraged and blinded, Canaletto screeched once more. "You will rue the day you gained your freedom, Sul! You will never regain the powers you once had. You will never again become the master of time, space, and the course of destiny. That shall be my eternal curse upon you."

For the first time in almost a year, a smile appeared on Sul's face. "Your threats are empty, Canaletto. You can no longer control me. I have a new master now." With that, the monk and the Avatar ascended through the portal and disappeared.

Alone in his den, Canaletto's eyes soon readjusted themselves to the darkness. Sneering, he sent a parting message to the Avatar before he went to recover his strength. "Know this, Whelp. You may have freed the magician, but that is a small price to pay. Everything is still going according to plan. I have foreseen your downfall."

Next up, Chapter Six - "Wrathful Like Wolfram". Stay tuned!