Crunch and Rok-ko were will at Dingodiles shack, Crunch was finally relaxed about the whole Elemental situation... but still wanted to hurry to rather them all up somehow, "Hmm I think I'll go and see what's on TV!" Dingodile said, he went to switch it on, the TV screen wasn't very clear though, due to bad reception from living way out in the middle of the pacific ocean, Rok-ko hovered over to Dingodile "heh and this is what they call modern technology? please!" "I'm trying to get a good reception mate so be quiet!" Dingodile messed with the Television settings, Crunch just watched them closely with little interest... and soon, Dingodile finally got a 'good' reception "Yes got it!" he cheered, he sat back to see what'll appear on the screen, and a news reporter appeared, "Oh boring! it's the news!" Rok-ko moaned, "Well tonight on channel 7 news, there has been rather strange happenings the city Irvine, California. There's been countless reports of fires all over the city, even the fire trucks cannot keep up with this very, terrible, tragedy..." poke the news reporter, that news quickly caught Crunch's attention and he looked directly at the Television screen, "Yes Natalie, the reports of mysterious fires happening all over the city! It is unknown to who is to blame, Police have been sent in to investigate but most of us are simply escaping from the city!" another reporter said, but he quickly ran from the scene only with the camera crew! Many other people were seen screaming in the background too, Crunch watched carefully... "Hmm yeah that's obviously the work of Py-ro.. but why the hell is he terrorizing a city of mindless humans anyway?" Crunch said, Dingodile and Rok-ko just shuddered, Crunch thought for a bit "Hey Dingodile, do you know where that city Irvine, California is anyway? I must go there..." Dingodile quickly grabbed out his map of the world, and looked around, "Ah hah! It's not that far from here, perfect!" Dingodile told Crunch, "Where a bouts is it?" "It's just on the coast of the North American continent! I'll go and take ya and Rok-ko right now!" Everyone headed outside onto the Iceberg, and headed to the boat "Right mates! This shouldn't take as long as the other trip so get ready!" Dingodile yelled, rather eager to help out in the situation.

Dingodiles boat had now arrived near the shores of Irvine, on the way they had seen other boats moving in the opposite direction "Sheesh Py-ro sure has spooked these humans out!" joked Rok-ko, "Well it'll be good with the humans gone from the city, easier to find him..." replied Crunch, Dingodile stopped the boat near the docks, "Hey umm you guys can go on ahead, there's noooo way I'm joining in that madness!" "Heh well yeah sure Dingodile, But thanks a lot for the help and generosity you've given me so far though, it's good to meet up with old friends" Crunch told Dingodile, "Hey no problem mate! Well good luck getting these elemental mask things, I gotta go now!" said Dingodile and he headed off back out to sea, they waved goodbye.

Both Crunch and Rok-ko walked around the city, some of the skyscrapers were on fire, many of the buildings were.. Everything was slightly quiet, the city seemed completely deserted... but not quite "Man I wonder where Py-ro is... He's got to be around here somewhere..." Crunch said, "Py-ro!!! Where are ya?" Rok-ko yelled countless times, they were deeper within the cities centre, and they saw an entrance, blocked off by Police "Hmm, these people are blocking the way..." Crunch said "well why not just scare em off?" suggested Rok-ko, "But they're Police, and have weapons. I may be tough but I'm not immortal... well I'll try talking but if that fails, we might have to take them all out... you wait here, cause I'm sure those people will freak if they see another floating mask!" Crunch told Rok-ko, Crunch quickly headed over to where the Police were and to their surprise, the Police didn't seem that afraid, they looked like they wanted to talk, Crunch walked up to the group of officers "Umm hi err... humans, I'd like to access through here, if that isn't any problem... I need to come to find the one who's been causing all these fires" the Police seemed surprised, "Well sir, sorry but this area has been blocked off. Access to the central city is far too dangerous, and we're investigating the situation!" one of the officers spoke, another stepped in "And why are you... dressed in an animal costume? I mean no offence or anything but this isn't a time for dress up parties..." Crunch's eyes widened, and then turned quickly turned vicious as he looked at the second cop, ".. What the hell did you just say?" "Umm but the costume is very realistic though!" "It's not a costume!" yelled Crunch, some of the police looked closely, and were too afraid to think he's real so they didn't say a thing "Sir this is no time for jokes, sorry but you can't get through here either way... please leave the city while you can" Crunch just ignored the cops, and pushed his way through them but a few of them grabbed out their guns, Crunch heard the clicks of the triggers and quickly turned out and swiped the guns out of the policemen's hands! He also grabbed the one by the coat, that insulted him and said "You see.. I AM bloody real!" Crunch growled, holding the man close to his face, the officer was too spooked to say anything and Crunch just tossed him back with the other men, and quickly ran off before the others tried shooting hmm, "Wait up Crunch!" yelled Rok-ko, he quickly caught up with Crunch... All the Police were in so much shock that they just froze stiff, as they watched Crunch run with Rok-ko hovering behind him... "It's... it's... IT'S A GOD DAMN WEREWOLF!" the victim yelled, he ran from the scene as fast as he could, the other Police were still shocked "... Well whoever the hell that and the floating rock mask thing was, I think we should just get the hell out of here anyway!".

The fires became more and more common, but there was still no sign of Py-ro anywhere... this made Crunch more and more frustrated, "OH man where IS he? At this rate, I can't do anything about Crimzon Demoness!" complained Crunch, "come on cuz, I'm sure it's not the end! Maybe me and you can destroy the Demoness ourselves!" Crunch tried to ignore the suggestion, since replying would make Rok-ko angered anyway. But from high in the smoke covered rooftops, Py-ro was actually seen... he'd been watching Crunch all the time since he arrived in the city, he'd been double thinking "Hmm... maybe this furry guy wasn't lying about Cortex controlling him that time, because he did seem... different when I powered him up..." thought Py-ro, Crunch had now stopped walking and just sat on a step, he was getting bothered for not being able to track down the fire elemental yet... Py-ro thought again "Well maybe it wont be so hard to teach him these powers this time? Since he'll have a free mind... I also see he has a lot of hate in his heart, perfect for bringing my favorite volcano back to life! Hate and anger is what makes my powers strong! Hah maybe joining his side wont be so bad after all..." Py-ro then headed down to where Crunch was sitting, he floated in front of Crunch... he looked at him "What do you want? You want to go ahead and taunt me more about not being 'worthy' to use your powers huh? You want to keep running away from me and go burn cities for no reason, then so be it! If I can't get you to join my side I'll just use the others instead!" yelled Crunch, "Whoa man no need to yell! I have... changed my mind..." Py-ro told him, Crunch looked at him with a wary expression "really...?" "Well yes, I thought twice about your offer and I see it's not such a bad deal after all, and I agree.... you were under control, since you didn't seem 'normal' when I powered you up back then but if you really do fail to use my powers right this time...!" "Hey don't worry, I'm sure it wont be so bad now that Cortex isn't around to ruin things for me! Hmm I wonder what it's like to use the fire element...." "Oh trust me... you're going to like it..." Py-ro said, with an evil grin. Rok-ko was unsure about the situation "Uhh Crunch are you sure about this? Py-ro is evil though! No matter what, he's always been evil and I mean, real evil!" "Oh shut up weakling, Crunch will become way stronger while using the fire element!" "I am NOT weak! You stupid fire retardant!" Rok-ko blurted, Py-ro got mad and shot a beam of lava at Rok-ko, Rok-ko fell to the ground and was knocked out "Hey you didn't have to harm Rok-ko, even though he's pretty damn annoying..." "Ehh don't worry about him, we can't be 'destroyed' anyway... well come on then, Crunch. I'll teach you the ways of the Fire element up on his hill." Py-ro hovered away with Crunch following behind, and headed up into a nearby hill... which not many fires were around, Rok-ko was left behind, still fazed from the attack.

Chapter 16