Quest for the Omnistone

Chapter 10: The Quest Begins

Steven:

The moment the words left my lips, Crystal arrived, breaking the tense atmosphere in the room. "Sorry. I had to check with the TM on something." she said as she sat down, her eyes fixed on her com-link.

"TM?" Max asked.

Crystal tore her gaze away from the device's screen and rolled her eyes at Max. "The Traveler Master, Maxie."

Max narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Don't—"

Johnny cleared his throat, stopping the would-be argument from escalating. "I believe Steven has something to say." He said, jerking his head in my direction.

"Oh, why didn't you say so, Steven?" Crystal asked innocently, folding her hands on the table. Max scoffed at that, earning a glare from her.

"There appears to be other 'Hoods' out there." I began. "I was talking to Percy in Camp Half-Blood when a pink hooded figure appeared out of nowhere. It ran towards me with a claymore, but before it could get within a ten-meter radius, another figure appeared. This time, it wore a black hooded cloak. It attacked the Pink Hood and they... dissolved into mist right after. No portals were used."

Crystal's eyes were closed in concentration as she clasped hands in front of her; meanwhile the rest of the D.T.C. began talking to each other all at once, wondering whether those two other hooded people were threats or not.

"Who are these 'Hoods'? What relation do they have with Red Hood?" Max's question rang out loud and clear. Not being able to come up with an answer, we remained silent for a few seconds.

"Well, the Black Hood must be good. He kept the Pink Hood from attacking Steven." Johnny pointed out.

"Unless they were both bounty hunters after Steven's head." Max countered. "That would mean the Black Hood only kept Steven from the Pink Hood so that he could attack Steven himself."

"Thanks, Max." I said sarcastically. "That's thinking positively."

He shrugged. "Hey, it's a possibility."

Crystal shifted in her seat a little. "Interesting theory, Maxie. But wouldn't, uh, Black Hood have attacked Steven right after taking care of Pink Hood instead of dissolving into mist?"

"Point taken." Max conceded.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Crystal exclaimed, startling Danny since he was sitting right beside her. "I hate to change the topic, but I think I've found a way to get rid of Red Hood."

"Great!" Lazlo said, the 'unknown Hoods' problem leaving our minds for a moment. "Is it permanent?"

"Not really. It'll keep him at bay for a hundred years or so at the very least." Crystal replied.

"Good enough for me." Raj said. "What is it?"

"It's something called the Omnistone. It'll render him powerless and banish him deep inside the multiverse. He'll be held inside by the essence of the multiverse itself." Crystal explained.

"Is it safe to do that?" I asked, leaning forward in interest.

Crystal hesitated a little too long for my liking. "More or less. He needs to be in full strength to break through the barrier. The multiverse can't keep chaos contained in only one area, but it may be able to slow down the process of chaos regeneration."

"Good. That's settled then. Where can we find the Omnistone?" Hailow asked, elated.

"Well, you see... that's the thing. You can't 'find' the Omnistone. You have to make it." She replied.

We silently digested that piece of information.

"How?" Clam asked, scratching his head.

Crystal made a holographic screen above the table. "The Omnistone must be made from the twelve birthstones: the garnet, amethyst, aquamarine, diamond, emerald, moonstone, ruby, peridot, sapphire, opal, topaz and turquoise." As she listed them down, each gemstone appeared on the screen forming two horizontal rows.

"Great. Let's go down to the Seven Dwarfs and ask for access to their mine." Max joked half-heartedly.

"We can't use just any gemstones though." Crystal added. "They must have some sort of sentimental value. The, er, Travelers told me that they're spread throughout the multiverse."

My heart sank at that. "Throughout the multiverse?!" It might take weeks, even months to find the right ones!" I exclaimed.

"Then we'd better get started." Crystal replied, looking at me expectantly.

"Just a sec." I said. "Crystal, Jarvis said that Red Hood appeared in Hogsmeade earlier. Did you see him?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, yeah, I did." Crystal replied, cringing.

"And?"

Crystal seemed reluctant to tell us. "Well, we talked... and he... said something about visiting... you."

"What?!" The rest of the D.T.C exclaimed in unison.

 I snapped into action immediately, pressing a button under the table. A loud 'BEEP!' sounded throughout the building. "Jarvis, strengthen the defenses around the base and have all guards alerted and on patrol."

"Yes sir."

"Why didn't you tell us right away?" I said, rounding on Crystal.

"I— I forgot, Steven. I'm sorry! Besides, we were busy with our missions!" Crystal retorted, crossing her arms in front of her.

We glared at each other for a few seconds before Crystal's eyes suddenly glowed, turning a dark gray color. It was only for a moment though because when she blinked, her eyes were back to their normal color. I wondered if I just imagined it.

"Uh, Crystal?" I began, all the anger suddenly drained out of me.

She suddenly stood up. "I have to go." She went out of the door before we could even ask why. Is it just me or... did she look scared?

"Uhm... did you see what I just saw?" Max asked, fiddling with his Omegatrix.

"Crystal's eyes? Yeah." Johnny said, his eyes still trained on the door of the Technolab. "They glowed... gray."

"At least I know I'm not going crazy." Max exhaled, placing his head on the table.

"Where's she going this time?" Danny wondered.

I sighed, trying to push away the concern threatening to consume my mind. "We'll have to ask her when she gets back. Right now, we have some jewels to find."

A/N: So the quest finally begins! What do you think is going on with Crystal? Where will they search for the gemstones first?

Heads up to the Narnia fans, we may be seeing the Pevensies in the next chapter, which I will publish tomorrow... or later if I get bored. ;)