Antonio and Stels reappeared from the teleportation and landed on the edges of the Onyx Pinnacle. Antonio adjusted his glasses and looked down at the magma and bubbles popping left and right.

“Ah, it looks like we made it to the volcano,” Antonio said.

“Wow,” Stels mentioned in awe. “You think you’d be able to withstand the heat?”

“You should know there’s a way.”

“But are we certain we’ll find the gem in there?”

“You can leave if you wish. I don’t need your help at all.”

Stels glanced over as Papeht and Aehaby from different directions caught his eye.

“Oh, so they’re here too. Better check up on the group to see what they’ll be doing and make sure they don’t get in the way.” Stels went off to slide down to the side of the volcano.

Antonio rolled his eyes and made a tsk noise. “That coward, he should’ve said something sooner. But whatever, Tommy should be here any moment now, as well as—”

Another warp light appeared before him as Tommy and Maggie marched over to him with fire in their eyes.

A-ha, what a surprise. “Wait.” Antonio held out his hand in front of the duo to get them to stop. “Tommy, because you used to be one of my good friends, I’ll give you one more chance. Join my guild so you can—”

“Antonio, I know you’re in there somewhere...” Tommy interrupted. “Please come out and—”

“Ha, do you think I’m brainwashed or something, like those other losers? You can’t be serious...” Antonio scoffed, waving it off.

“We didn’t want to do this,” Maggie started. “But we’re taking that final gem no matter what, so you better not get in our way!”

“Same here, but just try to stop me!” Antonio boasted.

The two ignored him as they searched around the outer crates from the volcano.

Oh my god, seriously? Antonio looked over in disbelief. “I don’t know about you two, but if you’re going to check on the outside, then I’ll look inside!”

“Do you hear something?” Maggie asked.

“Nope,” Tommy replied.

Antonio’s blood boiled at hearing the two ignoring him. “Fine, have it your way!”

He took out a blue and tan-colored gem and combined the two, creating a giant hammer. Antonio sprinkled ice onto the ground before getting into a ready stance.

There, he spun the stick and leaped into the air to smash it through the ground and went piercing under the volcano, making a huge hole next to the one with the molten lava.

Maggie and Tommy rushed over to look down at the tunnel Antonio created. “How did that happen?” Tommy asked.

“Whatever it may seem, we got to hurry and get that gem before he does!” Maggie proclaimed.

The two nodded and jumped into the hole. While falling, they took and ripped off the sides of the volcano to slide down on the volcano and chased Antonio down.

.-.-.-.

Eventually, Antonio made it to the surfing ground. Dark-colored caves surrounded the place like a ground hive mind or tunnel system, as lava poured down from other locations. The rough textures and temperatures felt hot for an average person who normally couldn’t handle it without proper clothing and potion usage. Antonio wondered where the gem could be now that he made it to the location.

Antonio noticed a glow from the reflection of his glasses. He turned to see a red jewel on top of a podium. As he walked closer towards it, he wondered why they were this close. But that didn’t matter; he was almost there and just about to get it. When two loud thumps occurred near him, Tommy and Maggie had caught up with him as they tumbled to the ground with their cavern slides going off and into the lava pit.

As Antonio jumped back in shock, he looked over at the others. “Are you crazy?”

“Huh, I didn’t think that would work...” Tommy said, brushing himself off.

“I’ll say, that was close,” Maggie added as she stood up.

“And look at this place,” Tommy added in awe, taking in the place’s scope.

“Will you guys stop ignoring me!?” Antonio yelled out.

Then, after the last impact, the red gem got knocked off of the podium as it rolled down and headed toward the lava. Since Maggie was the closest, she tried to catch it, but it just barely slipped past her fingertips as it dropped into the magma. The three went to the edge and noticed the lava bubbles popping. The gem reached the surface once more, as it went off the stream.

The three ran to the sides to chase after the gem as it went down into a small tunnel. They noticed the caves with medium-sized holes and crawled inside to go toward the next area. Once they made it out to the other side, there appeared to be a regular straight path for them to run across.

After placing their feet on the ground, it seemed to be crumbling off and falling into the lava. Maggie jumped off and made it to the other side of the area. But there was no time to rest and waste; she had a gem to get.

When reaching a dead-end, Antonio took out his glasses to reflect off of a light shining from the cracked ceiling before moving forward. Tommy and Maggie followed him by jumping from small, round pedestals to more. The duo noticed him going to a lower path as the others headed for the higher plains.

“Hey, do you know why he’s going that way?” Maggie questioned.

“I have no idea.” Tommy shrugged. “Do you think the current will go at a different speed, and the gem will head to a path where Antonio happens to be nearby?”

“Hey, maybe whether or not that does work, we can jump at him and extract the gem from the lava.”

“Ok, sounds like a plan.”

“Hey, don’t think I can’t hear you from there!” Antonio called out.

When they got to a lean, straight platform, the ground fell apart from beneath Tommy’s feet as he stumbled onto a lower plain level. Maggie leaned over from above and told Tommy to keep going as she’ll catch up to him later. Tommy nodded and headed off to chase after Antonio.