Black Magic

'What?' Went Bash, shocked and surprised. 'How?'

'That's not important right now, is it? Now, unless you want my baby Roadblock to hurt you,' She stroked Roadblock gently with one hand, then stuck out the other. 'I would like that anti-love potion please.'

Bash held his tail up sharply, Terrafin balled his hands into fists, and Whirlwind fired up her horn. 'What makes you think we'd let you take this?' Asked Pop Fizz, clutching the jar of antidote closely.

'I didn't. But I thought it was worth a shot.' She sighed and shook her head. Daintily she climbed on top of her beast and gripped its horns tightly. 'Anyways, go on Roadblock. It's supper time!'

Immediately Roadblock pounced at them, hissing away. But before it could sink its sharp, yellow teeth into them, Terrafin punched it directly between its eyes.

'Get away, Pop Fizz! Take the potion with you!' He said before he turned his attention towards the shadowy beast again. It got up again, just as hungry and twice as agitated. Its rider was just as angry.

'Fine, if it's a fight you want,' she gripped Roadblock's horns tightly. 'Then it's a fight you'll have!'

'Bring it.' Terrafin cracked his knuckles and brandished his fists. Whirlwind fired up her horn, ready to charge at them. Flashwing raised her tail and adjusted her aim carefully. And Bash raised his tail, all set to attack.

For a moment, there was a pause, as everyone waited for someone to make the first move. The tension was thick. But it was shattered instantly when Flashwing summoned a large crystal lighthouse, and shot a beam of pure light at the two of them.

It hit them both. For a moment, Flashwing had them in her grasp, letting her blinding light completely engulf them. She channeled all her energy into the attack, to the point where even the rocky ground around them was ground to dust by pure light energy. Eventually, she could do it no longer, and stumbled to the ground. The crystal lighthouse itself crumbled into millions of shards afterward.

'Flashwing!' Yelled Bash. 'Pop Fizz! Why'd she collapse?'

'I-I think it has something to do with that particular move.' Said Pop Fizz. ' Does she use that one often?'

Bash shook his head. 'Don't think so.'

'That's it then.' He turned to face the cloud of dust falling in front of him. 'But those two should be defeated.'

But as the dust from the rocks cleared, the mabu and the shadow beast still sat there. They were severely weakened, and the mabu woman lost most of her fur. But both were still in one piece.

The mabu woman got up furiously blinking. 'It won't be easy to defeat my Roadblock. I made sure of it. I've spent the last couple years making sure that he was stronger than all my other prototypes.' She laughed, her mocking tone coating every square inch of her voice.

'Now,' she grunted as she pulled herself onto Roadblock. 'After them, my baby!' She yanked its horns tightly and thrust it forward. All Skylanders in its path immediately jumped out of the way, with Bash dragging Flashwing by the tail.

Whirlwind shot a healing rainbow at Flashwing, which woke her up. 'You okay?''Yeah, yeah, I think so.' Nodded Flashwing. Whirlwind reached for her claw and pulled her up. But when she did, Whirlwind immediately had to push Flashwing out of the way as Roadblock rammed at them again.

'You think you can fight?' Asked Whirlwind.

'I can probably shoot,' Said Flashwing. Whirlwind nodded, then motioned at Flashwing to get behind her.

Roadblock twisted around again to see the five Skylanders ready for a fight. Bash and Terrafin shifted their stances into something combat ready. Pop Fizz pulled out a variety of potions. And Whirlwind and Flashwing had their horns and tails aimed at Roadblock.

Roadblock snorted at them, prepared to charge again. The mabu curled her lips, scarily eager to charge at them. Her keen face, her lack of fur, all the grass stains and smudged makeup from the day's event, they all culminated when she climbed on Roadblock. It all made her look mad.

The mad mabu yanked at Roadblock's horns, commanding it to charge forward again. This time, however, the Skylanders were ready for it. As it rushed towards them, Pop Fizz tossed an ice potion at it. It shattered at its feet, and ice formed at its feet, freezing it in place. It tried to pull itself out, with the mabu aggressively tugging at its horns, but the ice had frozen it well in place. The Skylanders immediately rushed towards the beast, ready to finish it off.

The mabu, however, refused to give up, and hopped off Roadblock. As the Skylanders rushed towards Roadblock, she reached inside it and pulled out a leather pouch.

Bash noticed, and ran towards her. But she had pulled out a flask and tossed it at him. From the bottle, a pillar of flames rose, barely scorching Bash.

'Bashie!' Called Flashwing. How dare she hurt her precious Bashie! She aimed her tail at her head, and shot out a barrage of crystals.

The mabu woman dodged just in time, but Flashwing didn't give up. She carried on sniping, vicious and angry. Wherever the mabu ran to, she shot. There wasn't a place where the mabu could run and hide; Flashwing always caught up.

With the mabu occupied, the others focused on Roadblock. Terrafin and Whirlwind unleashed their attacks, aiming with precision and force. But Bash, upon his first swing, noticed a crack in the ice. 'Pop Fizz, do you have any more ice potions?'

Pop Fizz scoured his bag, but looked up empty-handed. 'Nope.' He shook his head.

Bash nodded, then resumed his attacks. But with every swing, he increased in force. Every hit was aimed at the same place, and within minutes he managed to open a wound. But the ice was cracking fast. At this point, everyone knew that. And though Pop Fizz has joined in by throwing acidic potions at the beast, it still wasn't enough to cause great damage.

The four worked faster and faster, but Roadblock was mere seconds from breaking free. Bash knew he had to do something quick. Anything. The ice looked as fragile as could be. All Skylanders involved racked their brains for a plan. But before they could, the ice shattered.

Instinct took over for a moment. Bash pounded the ground, sending a stone uppercut at Roadblock. It tossed Roadblock in the air, giving them a little more time to think of a plan. But not enough, for Roadblock came plummeting down fast after the nods. But Bash sent another uppercut at him, which launched it up again. Then another. And another. And another.

'Okay, guys, anyone got a plan?' Asked Bash. Roadblock came down again, and yet another uppercut threw it up.

'I don't think we can even plan on how to defeat this thing.' Said Whirlwind.

'Honestly, I think so too.' Agreed Terrafin. 'It's way too strong to be taken out with a strategic plan. We should keep going and try to wear it down with everything we've got.'

'What about you, Pop Fizz?' Bash turned to face him.

Pop Fizz didn't say anything in return. He merely opened his satchel and pulled out a small flask filled with a violet liquid. 'I have a small temporary plan. But you have to let him go.' He pulled the cork off the flask.

Bash nodded, sensing where this was going. As Roadblock went down again, he gave it one last uppercut, then turned to Pop Fizz. 'Now!'

Pop Fizz downed the flask's contents, and the change was instantaneous. His light fur color darkened into a navy blue. His yellow eyes turned purple and crazed. His teeth and fangs grew longer and sharper. And his size multiplied tenfold. So much so that when Roadblock came crashing down again, Pop Fizz could catch it by merely extending his hand out.

Pop Fizz went berserk on Roadblock. He tossed it about. Squeezed it. Twisted it. Banged it against the hard rocky ground. Even swung it around by the tail as if it were a toy. Everyone thought that this would finish the beast off for good. So much so that they sat and cheered for Pop to finish it off.

Soon Pop Fizz was almost done winding it up by the tail. He twisted it up good, and was almost ready to throw it. It had obtained a fresh set of scratches and bruises, but everyone involved was certain that it would be defeated if Pop Fizz kept up being a berserker.

But just as he was about to let go, the potion wore off. Pop Fizz gave out a large belch and instantly popped back into his tiny gremlin form. Roadblock was dropped in its head, but it soon recovered from the brief shock. When it did, it turned its attention towards Pop Fizz, snarling and drooling like a wolf.

'Niiiice kitty…' Pop Fizz attempted to calm Roadblock down. From the distance, the mabu woman laughs before giving a yelp of pain. That same yelp of pain cane from Roadblock too, as a series of rainbows came raining down on it.

'While you were in berserker mode, I called for backup!' Yelled Whirlwind. 'They should be here anytime soon, but we need to keep it distracted for now.'

Pop Fizz nodded, then reached into his satchel to take out another potion to toss.

The battle carried on. Flashwing ran after the mabu woman, sniping away. Terrafin delivered a series of furious punches, then with a mighty growl summoned a frenzy of mini-sharks to aid in the battle. They bit Roadblock like piranhas, latching onto its ears and tail.

Whirlwind had summoned some aid too in the form of storm clouds. They shot out white streaks of lightning at Roadblock. Combined with rainbows of doom, the air around Roadblock was filled with attacks.

Pop Fizz first threw another ice potion at the beast, freezing it in place. He then tossed any offensive potion he had in his arsenal. He kept his satchel well-stocked for moments like that. Anything he could find, whether the gave an electric shock or the sensation of a bee's sting was tossed onto Roadblock with precision. With its legs encased in ice, there was no way it could fight back.

And Bash swung his heavy, spiked tail at the beast. He and Terrafin had to look out for any wayward potions or lightning bolts that could accidentally hit the other. His tail pounded against Roadblock fiercely, hitting its back with fierce force. Every swing was aimed at the exact same spot. Every hit gave Roadblock a tiny bit of damage.

Every attack did not hurt Roadblock much. But they could wear it out bit by bit.

Just like before, the ice cracked soon enough. But this time, Pop Fizz had pulled out another ice potion in advance. 'This is my last flask, but reinforcements should arrive soon, right?' Whirlwind nodded.

Pop Fizz turned back to the battle and found himself looking at the ice. Bold cracks had started to form on it again. The trap was mere seconds from shattering. 'Stand back everyone!' He yelled, holding up the flask.

Everyone took a step back, leaving only a few storm clouds expelling lightning at Roadblock. Pop Fizz then threw the flask. A fresh layer of ice grew at Roadblock's legs. Once it did, all ran back and carried on spamming their attacks.

Merely a few feet away from the battle, Flashwing held her tail up at the mabu woman. Though the mabu had been run ragged by her chasing, Flashwing refused to let up. How dare she try to harm her Bashie! She shot a series of sharp crystals at her again, but once again, the mabu woman ran off before a hit could be made.

The mabu was surprisingly nimble for her species. Though parts of her clothes had been shredded by crystals, she had exhibited great agility against a notorious sharpshooter like Flashwing. 'That skill level could only be obtained by months of training!' Thought Flashwing, as she sent out another stream of purple crystals. 'If she didn't try to stop our date and hurt Bashie, she would have made a great Skylander.'

The mabu tucked and rolled, and Flashwing followed. She managed to make a couple hits before the mabu rolled towards the table. There, the mabu pushed the tablecloth and utensils off and picked the table up. She gripped the leg and faced Flashwing with her new makeshift shield. Once safe from constant crystals, she slipped a hand into her pouch and pulled out a small, red flask.

With a cocky smirk, she threw the potion at Flashwing, eager to watch her burn at last. But though the mabu was nimble and quick, so was Flashwing. She dodged out of the way and landed a few feet away from the resulting blast of flames. She cocked her head over to face the mabu and raised her tail in fury. She felt too weak to perform any other attacks. But when all she felt was pure protective rage blazing in her heart, the thought of taking even a moment to rest didn't even cross her mind.

They carried on their little battle, the mabu throwing tiny flasks of fire at Flashwing. And Flashwing trying to shoot crystals around and above the table. But every one of their attacks was dodged or shielded away, and they were for the most part at a stalemate.

The same, however, could not be said for the team fighting Roadblock. Though they spammed it with as many of their attacks as possible, they barely made scratches on it. It was on its way to breaking out of its icy trap too. Every punch. Every rainbow shot. Every potion thrown. Every swing. It all felt like they were done in vain. With every second that passed, the feeling grew.

But they couldn't give up! The beast and mabu were a threat. Not just to them, but to the rest of Skylands should they escape. As Skylanders, it was their duty to defend the defenseless, and that included preventing threats like this.

So they pressed on, though they felt hopeless and tired. Holding out for reinforcements wasn't easy; it never was. But by Eon's beard, it wasn't something you give up on.

They carried on spamming their attacks, though the ice continued to chip and crack. They worried in their hearts, but they carried on determined. The ice cracked, and Roadblock inched closer and closer to freedom.

Just as it was about to pull out of the icy trap, a beam of ice shot between the Skylanders and at Roadblock's feet. The blast froze it in place again, and the Skylanders turned around with relieved smiles.

Reinforcements had arrived.

'Keeping it cool.' Said Freeze Blade, as he high-fived Camo. 'Is this the beast you were talking about Whirlwind?'

'It is. Thanks for coming on such short notice, guys.' She smiled.

'No problem.' Zap nodded, then skidded over to Roadblock. 'Now ride the lightning, you beast!' He yelled.

Streams of white lightning poured out of his mouth, shocking Roadblock. It's shadowy body rose in a manner similar to fur as electricity ran through it. It let out a scream; the first sound of agony it made that battle. But once the outpour of electricity had been released, it continued trying to break free from his trap. Its attempt was short-lived, however. Once Zap let out his barrage of lightning, the other Skylanders chipped in.

Terrafin, Bash, and Barbella ran up to Roadblock, being the melee fighters. With the addition of Barbella, the battle was marginally easier. She used her boulder barbells with finesse, managing to channel all her strength into pounding Roadblock hard. With every few pounds, she would summon a giant rock to toss at the beast. With grace and strength, every attack hit the beast effectively.

In the distance were, Whirlwind and Pop Fizz, along with newcomers Zap, Camo, Freeze Blade, and Torch. While Whirlwind summoned more storm clouds, Pop Fizz threw more potions and Zap let out a steadier stream of lightning than before. Camo grew his explosive melons, carefully tossing them through the gaps at Roadblock. Torch, however, try as she might, could not find an opening to shoot flames through.

But as a melon flew past her and through the chaos up front to land on Roadblock, an idea popped into her head. 'Camo!' She called out. Camo cocked his head to face her, still tossing a melon towards Roadblock.

She smiled and propped her flamethrower up. 'Wanna give those melons a little more firepower?' She asked, a wry tone in her voice.

Camo grinned, excited at where this was going. 'Definitely!' He nodded, and with a flick of his tail, a patch of exploding melons grew around him.

He tossed one in the air towards Roadblock, just as before. But just before it passed by the other Skylanders in front, Torch shot a small flame at it. Like she predicted, the melon was set ablaze, and it was tossed between the other Skylanders onto Roadblock. The moment the melon hit Roadblock, the melon exploded. Unlike the melon's usual explosion, where pulp and seeds would spray everywhere, a small combustion of flames occurred once the melon hit Roadblock. No one was hurt by it except for the beast.

Her plan worked beautifully. And with a nod from Camo, they carried on doing it. With both their sharp aims, they managed to keep sending a steady, consistent series of flaming melons towards the beast. Luckily for them, there was always a gap big enough for the flaming melon to pass through without harming another Skylander.

The same could not be said for Freeze Blade. Ever since the start of the battle, he had circled around everyone else, throwing his chakram through any gaps between the attacking Skylanders. The battle up front was messy and busy, with every gap between the Skylanders to Roadblock opening and closing just as fast. Though Freeze Blade had a decent aim, even he had limitations.

He skated around, searching top to bottom to try and find a way through. As he scanned the area, he noted that the icy trap encasing Roadblock's feet was cracked and chipped again. To the point where if Roadblock were to give itself a good pull, it could break free.

He swiftly skated forward and scanned the lower area. The mess of legs and attacks made it hard to find an opening through. But after much skating around and scanning, he found a tiny entrance. With a determined gaze, he took a deep breath and focused on the spot. Instantly, a beam of ice magic was shot out, and it sailed between the Skylanders' legs, and right at Roadblock's feet again. Thus, it continued to remain frozen in place.

The fight continued, with every Skylander fighting hard. It was a battle everyone had to grind through. Roadblock had been significantly weakened, but it still had enough fight in it to keep going. Every so often, Freeze Blade had to shoot another blast of ice magic at its feet. But as they wore down Roadblock slowly, they also wore themselves out.

They still pushed on, as experienced warriors do. But they grew increasingly ragged as they did. Terrafin, Whirlwind, and Bash especially. They had been fighting physically for a while, and the only thing that kept them pushing forward was sheer will. Bash summoned any strength left in him and pounded against Roadblock's side. He nimbly moved his head to avoid being hit by a flaming watermelon and watched as it smashed against the shadowy beast. Roadblock, upon being hit by the melon, screamed out in agony for the second time in battle.

It was mere minutes away from being defeated. They all knew it. All they needed now to finish it off for good was a little more push. Maybe if they had a little more additional help from someone, they could defeat it faster, but none of them could slip away and call other Skylanders to help out. No one else could fight for them now. Maybe Flashwing, but she was…

What was Flashwing doing? Bash knocked at Roadblock's side again, before he did a quick scan of the area around them. In the corner of his eye, he saw Flashwing, still locked in a battle with the mabu woman.

He gazed at her from the distance, watching the way she moved around. She had the cold, steely look of a sniper in her eyes. With her tail pulled out and constantly shooting crystals at the mabu and her table-shield, she would side-step all the potions thrown at her. No matter how big the column of flames that rose would be, she wouldn't even flinch. She just did it all with that determined stare. If looks could bring someone to their knees, Flashwing would have won the battle a long time ago.

But he took too long in his head, and although Roadblock was frozen in place, its neck could still stretch out.

'Augh!' Suddenly, Bash felt a sharp pain around his neck. When he tried to twist around to see what caused it, he saw Roadblock's beady yellow eyes staring right back at him. Its jaw was clamped tight around his neck.

Bash felt the pressure pushed into his neck, sharp yellow teeth piercing through his scales. Everyone had heard his cry of pain and rushed to his aid. No matter if the fought melee or long-ranged, they all dropped what they did and came up to him immediately. They all tried to pry the jaws open, but Roadblock had been stronger than any of them had expected. Although it had been worn down by attack after attack, it was still terribly strong.

The pain poked through Bash's neck like a skewer through meat. Soon, a trickle of some sort of liquid ran down from where Roadblock bit him. He tried to pull himself away from its jaw, but it clamped him tightly. His struggle to pull out of its jaw only made the pain worse, and he ended up staying as still as he could while everyone else pulled the jaw off him.

But in the midst of all the chaos, with the Skylanders yelling at each other to 'Do this!' and 'Help me here!', he heard a loud thump.

He could hardly turn to see what it was. He didn't need to, though. Immediately after the thump, a bright purple light hit him in the face. Hardly anything could be seen then. The only thing visible to him through the glaring neon light was the thinning outline of Roadblock.

He tried to gaze around, but all he could see were the outlines of Skylanders. Most shielded their eyes from the burning light, and those that didn't stood there in surprise. His vision blurred up, a side effect of staring at the light. In an attempt to clear it up, he sealed his eyes shut. For a moment, all he saw were colored spots against a dark background. The violet light leaked into his eyes despite his efforts. One of the few sensory reminders he had of the battle. The other was the agonizing scream that roared into his ear.

But once the scream was let out, the crushing pressure he felt on his neck disappeared. The teeth were yanked out of his neck quickly. It left a sharp, painful feeling in its place. But as Bash's body hit the floor, he put two and two together and realized who was doing the attacks.

Soon, the scream stopped. The violet light that leaked into his closed eyes faded away, and he opened his eyes slowly. A few spots from the blinding light blurred his vision. But he could still see the movements of everyone else. The Skylanders walking around checking on each other. The mabu woman attempting to run away, but someone running after her and pinning her arm behind her back. Flashwing running towards him, grey eyes wide with worry and relief. And a smudge of black where Roadblock once stood, surrounding what looked like a tiny shadowy wisp.

OoOoOoOoOo

'Why did you do it?' Asked Terrafin, rubbing his knuckles. By Eon's beard, they were sore.

There was an awkward moment of silence as everyone expected her to speak, but no sound came from the mabu woman. She simply kneeled before them, a Skylander pinning her arms down on either side.

A minute passed, but she still stubbornly refused to speak. Terrafin groaned. Playing bad cop may be instinctual to him, but even he couldn't force someone to talk if they refused to.

He lightly nudged her head. 'If you give a good enough reason, we may give you a lighter punishment.'

'I don't care about what you throw at me.' Grunted the mabu; the first thing she's spoken since her defeat. 'I just want justice to be served.'

'What kind of justice are you talking about? All that stuff with the shadow beast was pretty loony behavior to me.' Said Pop Fizz, as he investigated the glass jar in his hand.

The beast had been reduced down to a little wisp since its defeat, but it was fascinating to watch. It had the effect of a lava lamp, where although it seemed weightless in the jar, it looked like it had some sort of mass. He wasn't entirely sure why; that brand of magic always seemed like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to him. But though he preferred his potions to… whatever it was the mabu did, he knew some other Skylanders who would enjoy analyzing something like the shadowy beast.

The mabu rolled her eyes. 'Says you. Besides, I wanted justice for what I faced. Something that I knew none of you could ever help me with.'

She cleared her throat, then glared at everyone with a victimizing look in her eyes.

'I applied to join Skylander Academy several years back. Back then, I had a wonderful skill set. I was certain that I would get in. Besides being proficient in potions, I had a gift in biological engineering. I was a shoe-in.' She explained, a sentimental tone in her voice.

'But then, when I got my letter, instead of the acceptance letter I deserved, all I got was a slip saying I wasn't qualified. Me! Not qualified. The thought is ridiculous, really.' She spat, her voice sour as an old lemon.

'But that wasn't what got me,' She continued. 'What got me was the reasons. "Besides having no format combat experience, she did not communicate well with others during the interview."'

Her lips were stretched into an angry frown. 'The first reason I can understand, but I know my Skylanders. Hardly anyone is a good communicator, yet you dare put it as a requirement to enter your Academy?' She groaned in disgust. 'How hypocritical.'

'So, I used whatever skills I had to try and enact revenge. At first, I used an old factory to house my creations, but it got broken into and my work got stolen. So I had to start again from the ground up. It wasn't easy, but since those shadow beings were only prototypes, I was able to make Roadblock better than all of them.'

'Then what was the deal with the love potion?' Asked Whirlwind, her horn glowing with the colors of the rainbow. The mabu's nerve was unbelievably strong. Not many people they come across suffer humiliating defeats, get interrogated by a team of Skylanders, and still attempted to sound cool and dignified.

The mabu snorted, as if she found the whole situation a hilarious joke. 'That,' She said. 'Was to expose your hypocrisy. You may not know this, but everyone else in Skylands knows about your little crush on Flashwing.' She spat at Bash. 'At least, everyone who pays attention to you Skylanders. Like I did.'

'You two are notorious for not being honest with each other about your feelings. It was honestly pretty annoying. But since the Skylander had wronged me, and I was more than proficient in the art of potion brewing, I figured that it would be a good time to use my skills for something actually worthwhile. And then bringing Roadblock over as backup. It was a foolproof plan to take down a corrupt organization.' The certainty in her voice was unsettling.

'Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up.' Said Pop Fizz with palms held up. 'So your idea of justice for not getting into the Academy was to get revenge by not just brewing a taboo potion. Not just using personal info against us. Not just by sticking a giant shadow beast on us. But you thought that attacking a small part of us would do any harm to the Skylanders overall?'

'Well, you guys are exceptionally close to one another.' She reasoned. While that was true, Pop Fizz didn't think that was enough to cause the downfall of the Skylanders. Her plan had some glaring logical flaws in it.

'So, you admit you're guilty of trying to kill us?' Asked Terrafin.

The mabu smiled. 'Yes.'

'You'll be headed off to Cloudcracker then.' He motioned at her to get up, and she obeyed with a defeated smile. Then they, along with two other Skylander - Freeze Blade and Torch - walked off to the balloon stand.

Bash watched them walk off, the comforting feeling of overcoming a danger-filled situation. But suddenly, he remembered an important task they had yet to do. Flashwing still hadn't drunk her antidote yet.

'Pop Fizz, do you still have the anti-love potion?' He asked.

Pop Fizz nodded, then reached into his leather satchel and dug about. He finally pulled out a small glass jar with a clear liquid in it, and passed it to Bash. After a nod of thanks, Bash turned to Flashwing and pressed the jar into her open claw.

'Drink this. It'll be good for you.' Flashwing nodded earnestly. She twisted the jar open and downed the clear contents.

Bash watched her carefully as she did, observing all the little changes to her facial structure as the antidote did its magic. He saw how her face smoothened up into a beauty he was familiar with. He saw her body relax, as if she were finally letting her guard down. Upon closer inspection, he even saw the color change in her eyes. That blue circle he once thought was a natural part of her faded away. It left behind only the grey, but it didn't make it duller. On the contrary, it made her look more alive and soulful. Less like a creepy doll, and more like her usual self.

She collapsed soon after emptying the jar, falling heavily on the ground. Bash picked her up as gently as he could, and attempted to nestle her in his arms. 'Flashwing? Flashwing, are you alright?'

For a while, there was no response. Bash felt his heart pound faster with fear as every second passed. But soon, Flashwing stirred again, much to the relief of everyone. 'Bash?' She whispered.

Bash heaved a happy sigh of relief. 'Yeah?'

Flashwing thinned her mouth. 'Did all that really happen?' She croaked.

Bash couldn't answer that. Not with words. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, and pulled her in for a hug. There the two sat, both too frightened, shocked, relieved, and tired to say anything more.

OoOoOoOoOo

Your criticism is wanted. And thank you for reading the penultimate chapter. (Yay, I used a million dollar word.)

-Tabbyluna