Chapter 10: Silvally

Yeah, I know. Real original chapter title.

It had taken Buddy practically the entire rest of the day to finally escape from Hiccup and Toothless. How he did it, he'd never tell them, even if he ever did regain his voice.

He'd run all the way to the cove, where he found Mortem waiting patiently for someone (probably Hiccup or Snivels) to stop by and tell him he was in the clear. Whenever Buddy heard the distinctive wingbeats of an approaching Night Fury, he'd hide underneath Mortem's massive dragonet bulk until Hiccup and Toothless gave up and left.

Curious as to what was going on, Mortem asked innocently, "Are you playing hide-and-seek?"

Buddy shook his head. "No, I am not."

"Then why are you hiding?" Mortem asked, his eyes reflecting his confusion.

Buddy pondered how to answer before going for the blunt approach. "Because I need to do something on my own, and my master is very persistent."

To a dragonet, that was rather hard to understand all by itself. "So, do you wanna play hide-and-seek? I can be it first."

Buddy got out from underneath the large dragonet. "No, thank you, Mortem. I don't want to play. I just need to lay low for a while."

"How come?" Mortem couldn't help but ask.

Realizing that this conversation was going to take a while, Buddy sat down next to the Red Death dragonet. "My father is Archon the Arceus, and I don't want to let him down. Being the creator of the Multiverse, he sets the bar high for all other beings. I want to give my father a reason to be proud of me, other than my existence. I know he loves me, he's told me several times before. It's just, one of those things about being a son is trying to give your father, or mother, a reason to be proud. I feel it's an obligation I need to fulfill by myself, without too much assistance." He turned his head to look at Mortem. "I really don't mean to lay all this on you, it just helps to talk to someone who can actually understand me. All Master ever hears from me is grunts and growls. Right now, I'd give just about anything to get my voice back, even if it's just for one little minute."

Mortem just blinked all six of his eyes and gave Buddy a friendly, draconic smile (or at least, as friendly as his species could manage). "Maybe we could try to help each other?"

"What do you need help with?" Buddy asked.

Mortem lowered himself to the ground, resting his head on his front paws. "I can't find my mama," he said.

Buddy's turned to look at his new friend. "Your mama?" He was no stranger to the final fight on Dragon Island that had ended with the fiery demise of the queen of the nest. It was just one of the many things that was often brought up at the Resistance.

"I know I'm supposed to have one," Mortem said. "I saw lots of other dragons with their mamas. Where's mine?"

Buddy sighed. He knew he had to tell Mortem the truth. He just hoped the dragonet would understand. "I'm sorry, Mortem. Your mother is dead."

Mortem perked his head up and looked at Buddy, confusion in his eyes. "What does dead mean?"

Oh, how was Buddy going to explain that? He had a feeling that if he said something like, "Your mother's been blown to bits," or "She's nothing but bones now," Mortem would be unable to comprehend. So, he settled with, "It means she's sleeping and she's never gonna wake up."

"When is she gonna stop being dead?" asked the clueless Mortem. "I'm getting really hungry, and I want her to bring me food like all the other mamas do."

Buddy let out a heavy sigh, he turned to face Mortem with his eyes the gentlest he could manage through the helmet. "Listen carefully, Mortem. Your mother is never coming back. But it's better this way. See, your mother was a very mean dragon. She didn't treat any of her subjects with respect. She'd force them to bring food to her, and if any of them didn't bring enough, she'd eat them alive. The queen of a dragon nest is usually demanding, but not in the way your mother was. She was hardly even a dragon at all. She had to be killed."

Mortem just lowered his head to the cove floor, his eyes a little overcast. "What about my papa?"

"Only females can lead the nests," said Buddy. "The males are slightly smaller and exist primarily for the purpose of making dragonets with the females. Your mother would have cast you out of the nest as soon as you were old enough to look after yourself. If you were a girl, she'd keep you there and teach you how to be a queen, like she was. Your father, wherever he is, doesn't even know you exist. The males leave right after they finish mating with the females, and they never know whether or not they have dragonets. It may seem like a drag, but that's just the way things are with your species."

Whether or not Mortem understood all of that, Buddy could tell that he got what he had been trying to tell him. "So, what do I do?"

"You stay here with us," was Buddy's answer. "We are more than capable of protecting you, Mortem. You can trust us, I promise."

Mortem gave his new friend a brief smile before staring out at the lake in front of him. "What are your mama and papa like?" he asked.

"Well..." Buddy hesitated. He knew the answer to half the question, but the other half was a bit trickier. "My mother is Archia the Shiny Arceus, but she didn't actually have me. See, Archon and Archia created me from seventeen of these slates each containing the power of different elements, known as Type Plates. I've still inherited all of their powers, including the ability to change my type at will, but I cannot use them so long as I'm wearing this helmet." He lifted an insectoid claw to point at his headwear. "Shortly after I was, uh, 'born,' I lost control of my powers and started destroying everything in my path. My father helped the Resistance create this helmet to neutralize my powers until I become strong enough to control them. Ever since then, I've been working harder and harder to be the best I can be, and make my father proud."

It sounded a little better than the story of Mortem's mother. At least, it was to the dragonet.

Buddy stood up. "Believe it or not, talking to you has actually helped me feel better. Thank you, Mortem." He started to head towards the cove's exit.

"Where are you going?" Mortem asked, worriedly. He didn't want to be left alone again.

Buddy stopped and looked over his shoulder at the dragonet. "With luck, forward."

He then broke into a run towards home, leaving a company-seeking Mortem to figure out the meaning of what he had said.

Hiccup had to cancel what was supposed to be the team's first day back at the academy because he had gone out to look for Buddy. By the time he got back, the only light in the sky came from the stars and moon. The rider and Night Fury duo found their friends at the team home at Raven Point.

You could only imagine the look on Hiccup's face when he realized that Buddy had ended up returning home all by himself, while he had gone and spent the whole day practically turning the entire island upside down looking for the Type: Null.

Buddy gave his master a sort of croon before retreating upstairs for the night.

Hiccup stood there frozen for...he wasn't sure how long. He could vaguely hear Snivels and Astrid calling his name, but he had lost all the brain function he needed to respond.

A good, strong punch in the shoulder from his wife brought him back. "OW!"

Snivels couldn't help laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen you stare like that since the night you shot down Toothless. You know, when that fireball exploded from behind Astrid? The look on your face was just..."

"Stop talking!" Hiccup managed to shout, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "You can't just go around saying stuff like that!" He could see the look Astrid was giving him out of the corner of his eye. She didn't look surprised, but there was definitely some amusement.

Snivels shrugged. "Well, she was bound to find out eventually."

Hiccup knew he was right. But did that really have to happen now, of all times? He avoided making eye contact with Astrid as all the other team members in the room laughed at what was occurring. Even Kickin' Hawk, who seldom laughed, couldn't resist a chuckle.

"SEe hoW ThEy'RE aLL laUghINg At YoU?"

Hiccup stiffened at the sound of those voices. They were the same ones from his dream. He hurried back outside, shutting the door behind him. He couldn't help but wonder if any of his friends could also hear it.

"TheY caNNoT hEaR mE," said the voices. "I aM OnLY sPEAkinG tO YOu. YoU HavE yET To anSWeR Me. LeT mE feED ofF YoUR neGaTiVE eMoTIonS aNd I wiLL grAnT YoU wHATevER yOU deSIrE. Do wE haVE A dEAl?"

Hiccup shook his head frantically. No. It's a trick. It has to be a trick.

"SmARt bOY," said the voices. "I cAN UsE thAt In A pAWn. BuT I aM sTiLL wEAk, aNd thE Light iS ToO sTRonG. WhAT a piTY. TheRe mAY bE eASieR pREy elSEwherE, BuT doN'T thINK THis iS tHe laST YoU WilL eVEr HeAr oF Dark Matter."

Finally, the voices left. Hiccup had a feeling he wouldn't be hearing them again for a long time. Still, the idea of whatever it was that was speaking to him returning someday, like it said it would, sent chills down his spine.

Something slammed into his back, and he turned to find the door to the house open with Astrid, Snivels and Kickin' Hawk standing in the doorway. Hiccup had been standing in close proximity to the front of the house, so the door ended up hitting him in the back when Astrid opened it.

"Sorry," the former Hofferson apologized when she heard her husband cry out in pain from the impact.

Hiccup shrugged it off. "I actually kinda needed that. All these voices in my head have been driving me crazy."

Kickin' Hawk looked alarmed. "What kind of voices?" he asked.

"They said something about the light being too strong," Hiccup said, his face twisted in confusion over the meaning of the phrase. "And then...Dark Matter, or something like that."

That was what Kickin' Hawk was afraid of. "Dark Matter has been speaking to you?" Then he relaxed. "But the light is too strong for it to get to you. Just as well."

"Dark Matter?" Snivels repeated. "That's what Sarabeth said was controlling her, making her do all of those evil things." He was saddened by the memory of his deceased aunt.

Now Astrid was concerned. "When did this start happening?"

"Just last night," was Hiccup's reply. "I'll admit I should have said something then, but I was a little more concerned about what was going on with Buddy."

"Putting the needs of a friend before his own," Snivels muttered to himself. "Typical Hiccup."

Who knows how the conversation would have continued, because at that very moment, Heather and Brandyn came soaring in on Windshear and Buck.

Before anyone could ask, Brandyn started to explain. "Guys, Heather and I were -" He paused, then spoke rather slowly, as if he were considering what he was about to say. "...Patrolling the island, and spotted some Outcast ships heading this way."

"We think, at the rate they're traveling, that they'll reach Berk before sunrise," Heather said as she dismounted her dragon. She exchanged a look with Brandyn that said, "that was close."

That particular news couldn't have come at a worse time. It was well into the night, when most, if not all, of Team Go-Getters was supposed to be asleep.

Cue Hiccup's ever-so-quick thinking. "Gather all the team members you can," he ordered Snivels. "Make sure they're awake. Anyone who's half-asleep will be slow on the battlefield, and we don't want to risk them geting hurt."

In moments, the Servine had gathered Blaze, Ninjark, Adhesive and a very determined-looking Buddy. Counting the four trainers and Kickin' Hawk, the total added up to exactly ten.

Not a great number, but it wasn't really bad, either.

A small group of ships drifted purposefully through the water toward the landmass in the distance. The wind was with them, propelling the vessels forward that much faster. Which was fine with Alvin. The sooner Berk fell, the better.

Savage approached the Outcast leader, his hands shaking a little. "Are you sure we're not going to run into that dragon again, sir?"

"Word around Berk has it no one's seem him since that day," Alvin said, a little overconfident. "Besides, we're Outcasts, we can handle him!"

Savage, however, knew otherwise. "He took out our entire fleet single-handedly! Impenetrable scales, claws that slice through anything, and a roar as mighty as a Thunderdrum!" Very few Outcasts were smart enough to properly use a rather big word like "impenetrable," and Savage was lucky to be one of them.

Alvin was very much aware of how their encounter with that overpowered dragon had turned out, but he wouldn't be the leader of the Outcasts if he let it get to him like it had with Savage.

Suddenly, the boat rocked ominously as something below deck tried to escape. Alvin's Dusknoir, Hyde, and about a dozen of the Outcasts' Houndoom minions had to push down on the hatch to keep whatever was down there contained.

"That Dragon Conqueror is in for one big surprise," Alvin said with a sneer.

The moon was shining brightly over the ocean as the four trainers and their Pokémon partners flew onward toward their next mission. On the surface down below, the shadows of the Outcast ships could clearly be seen moving steadily toward Berk.

But the team had an advantage. While they could see the ships, the men down below likely could not see them. On their regular training routines, Hiccup had been teaching his friends how to move more stealthily at night. With enough training, even the most conspicuous dragons and Pokémon could stay well hidden from any foe.

With every second, they were getting closer to the enemy vessels. They were practically on top of them when Hiccup noticed that Buddy was once again nowhere to be seen. Before he could ask, Adhesive flew over to explain before the Go-Getter leader started panicking again.

"Buddy went to go and get something."

There wasn't time for Hiccup to wonder what that "something" was. They needed to send the Outcasts packing, and they had to do it now.

The first stage of the attack commenced. Pushing on Toothless's saddle, Hiccup urged the Night Fury into a steep dive toward the ships. His midnight-black wings spread wide, Toothless allowed combustible gas to build up in the back of his throat as he readied a plasma blast.

The power of the blast got the main ship rocking back and forth from the impact.

That was the team's cue to join in. One after another, the members of Team Go-Getters dove after their leader.

"Open fire, gang!" Hiccup shouted the order.

In an instant, it was chaos. The not-very-brave Outcast soldiers scattered to avoid Stormfly's spines Wavern and Blaze were close behind, raining deafening and fiery mayhem on the watercrafts. Windshear unleashed a flurry of her own spines, alongside Ninjark's Water Shuriken and Adhesive's toxic fluids. Kickin' Hawk and Buck's attacks were much more physical. While the Hawlucha piledrove a good number of Houndoom, the Grapple Grounder swooped down onto the deck of one of the smaller ships, grabbed several soldiers in his coils and started squeezing them tightly enough to make their eyes pop right out of their sockets.

Safe behind a crate at the bow of the main ship, Savage nervously scanned the skies. "Do you see the dragon, sir?"

"Quit your whining," Alvin said sternly. "Release the Changewings!"

Hiccup steered Toothless around for another attack run, avoiding crossbow shots as they moved across the sky. Even though he knew the Outcasts probably couldn't see him from so far below, he shook his head with exasperation. Alvin really needed to train them better, because their aim was absolutely terrible.

"Get ready for another plasma blast, bud," he said.

Toothless growled and opened his jaws, already gathering blue fire at the back of his throat. But just then, the hatch on the main ship opened, and a trio of angry Changewings burst free from the cargo hold and immediately flew for the heroes soaring above the fleet of ships.

Each member barely avoided the blobs of acid the camouflaging dragons spat at them. "How did they even get those?!" Snivels shouted to no one in particular. "You'd have to be either the bravest or most stupid person ever to go anywhere near a Changewing!"

Adhesive winced a little. "You might not want to say that in front of Glory."

At that very moment, a loud, yet nowhere near mature, roar made the Changewings freeze. They knew that sound, and they did not like it one little bit.

"What was that?" Heather asked, scanning the area.

Adhesive looked over his shoulder, barely catching a large object heading their way through the air. He smiled.

"Reinforcements."

Hiccup turned around, curious to see what the Poipole was talking about. He nearly fainted at what he saw.

It was Buddy, riding on the back of Mortem, who was lucky to be just old enough to get himself airborne.

One good look at Mortem was all it took to make the Changewings scatter and fly away in fright. No way they'd be sticking around as long as they knew what kind of dragon Mortem was.

Now it was right back to how the fight was going before, this time with the added firepower of a Red Death dragonet. Buddy joined in, too, with his Air Slash.

Things were going smoothly until Hiccup was suddenly pulled right out of the saddle. He cried out as Toothless started plummeting helplessly toward the ocean surface.

Quick as lightning, Verne and Wavern both went into a dive, catching Toothless in their talons just before he hit the water. Snivels and Blaze both sighed in relief. "Nice catch, guys," the Servine complimented.

While all that was happening, Hiccup had found himself face-to-face with Alvin. It took a moment for Hiccup to realize that Hyde was holding him by the back of his shirt collar.

The treacherous Outcast leader unsheathed his sword. "Nobody move, or the boy gets it."

The Go-Getters know full well what he meant, and each directed their dragons into a safe hover.

Alvin opened his mouth to speak, but then noticed by chance that his men had stopped moving as well. Even Savage was standing as stiff and still as a statue.

"Not you, fools!" Alvin snapped, pointing at their aerial adversaries. "Them!"

All at once, the soldiers sighed in relief as they allowed their muscles to relax. "Thank you, sir," uttered Savage. "That was a very hard position to hold."

Alvin turned back to look at Hiccup, who had been struggling in Hyde's grip while he'd been yelling at his soldiers. "Care to tell us where you're keeping that dragon?"

"What dragon?" asked a genuinely confused Hiccup. Team Go-Getters had so many different species, it was hard to tell exactly which one Alvin was referring to.

Expecting that to be the Haddock boy's response Alvin chuckled. (If Hiccup had to guess, the Outcast leader probably missed that fact that his confusion wasn't a trick to get Hyde to release him.) "You take me for a fool, boy? Whatever kind of dragon you sent out, we'll be able to find it, sooner or later. You should know how it single-handedly took out my entire fleet." He started pacing back and forth as he spoke. "Our arrows were incapable of penetrating its scales, its claws sliced through out mast like it was a wee little toothpick, and its roar was as mighty as a Thunderdrum. Does any of that sound familiar to you?"

Now Hiccup, and the team, for that matter, knew exactly what Alvin was talking about. Adhesive confirmed this when he couldn't help but blurt out, "Dreki?"

Alvin heard him. "So, that's what you call it?" He raised his sword, pointing it at Hiccup's neck. "Where I can find this Dreki?"

Hiccup was pretty sure that if he told Alvin that Dreki was actually his own anger that was given a mind and body of its own by a concoction Heather whipped up from a recipe found in Adhesive's alchemy textbook from Ultra Megalopolis University, he'd think he'd gone nuts. So, he gave the Outcast leader the only logical answer he could think of.

"I can't tell you."

Alvin took that answer surprisingly well. "Have it your way," he said, lowering the sword.

The next thing Hiccup knew, his entire body seized with pain. He strained to look at Hyde, whose one lone eye was glowing purple and light red. It took Hiccup a minute to realize that the Dusknoir was using Hex on him.

Alvin's methods of torture were definitely getting more extreme.

Of all the friends who wanted to save Hiccup from being seriously hurt (or worse), Buddy was the first to react. The glare he was sending Hyde was so strong, it was enough to make his helmet crack.

In fact, that's exactly what it did.

Small cracks formed around the eyes of Buddy's helmet and quickly started spreading across the entire mask. Buddy paid it no mind, his thoughts were only on saving his master.

The other team members noticed, though, when the mask shattered, revealing a mechanical, lupine head covered in silver fur.

Buddy let out a deafening shriek for the first time since what felt like forever, catching the attention of Hyde. When the Dusknoir didn't falter, Buddy launched himself off of Mortem's back, enveloped himself in flames, and charged.

Hiccup barely had time to see Buddy slam headfirst into Alvin's Dusknoir before the pain from Hyde's powerful Hex made him pass out. The force of Buddy's Flame Charge forced Hyde to drop his hostage, who would have hit the deck of the ship hard if Buddy hadn't caught him on his back. The newly-restored Legendary Pokémon gazed down at the unconscious form of his friend, worry etched into his facial features. Then, without realizing what he was doing, he stuttered out a word.

"M-m-m-master?"

Hiccup stirred, but didn't wake.

And that was okay, because all Buddy needed to know was that his master was alive.

Hyde groaned as he picked himself off the deck of the ship, smoke billowing off his body where Buddy's Flame Charge had struck him.

If Alvin wasn't angry before, he was really ticked off now. "How dare you!"

Buddy glared right back at the leader of the Outcasts, his eyes glowing a blinding white. The wind began to moan, the sails of the ships trembling and the wooden masts creaking. The ocean waves grew larger and more powerful, rocking the ships with more ferocity. The wind picked up, it was whistling now. Buddy spoke to Alvin in a deep, echoing voice.

"You don't know what you are dealing with. You and your men can do and say whatever you want to us, but if you so much as lay a finger on Master, then you will have to answer to the son of Arceus! I saved Master from you once before, and I can just as easily do it again! But this time, you've crossed the line. I never want to see you, or any of your bumbling men and Pokémon slaves, near this island ever again!"

A mighty shockwave of bright aura burst out from where Buddy was standing, sending all the Outcasts, Viking and Pokémon alike, helplessly flying through the air to a faraway location. Even the hard-to-terrify Alvin the Treacherous was screaming like a little girl as the son of Arceus sent him and Hyde packing.

That wasn't all that Buddy's new power had done. He'd also teleported himself and his friends back home to Raven Point. Buddy and the dragons relaxed as they felt their claws and paws settle into the grass.

Buddy sighed happily as the knowledge of the results from his act of selfless bravery finally set in. "I've got my powers back." And my voice.

Adhesive was the first to recover from the shock and confusion of being teleported back to Berk. "You could have used them a bit more," he suggested. "Maybe send the Outcasts packing once and for all."

"I wanted to scare them," Buddy remarked. "Not myself." He saw Astrid dismount Stormfly not too far away and lowered himself to the ground, allowing her to lift her unconscious husband off of the Synthetic Pokémon's back. "Master will be fine after a proper night's rest. In fact, we could all use it right about now."

"Like we needed you to point that out," Snivels muttered under his breath.

Alvin awoke with a pounding headache. Grasping at his helmet with one hand, he unshakingly rose to his feet to survey his surroundings.

All of his mean were scattered around a cave none of them recognized. Little Fireworm dragons were scampering around giant combs that looked like those one would find in a beehive.

From nearby, Savage let out a groan, leaning his hand on one of the firecomb walls as he pulled himself up. "Alvin, where are we?" Perhaps it was bad luck, but the firecomb Savage was leaning on snapped off the wall and clattered to the cave floor.

The effects were immediate.

A loud roar bellowed from within the cave tunnels, and a gigantic Fireworm crawled out of the shadows. Apart from its size, the protuberances in the back and front of her head that resembled a crown set her apart from all the other Fireworms.

The Fireworm Queen set her angry eyes on the lackey who had disturbed her precious firecomb supply.

Alvin let out an animalistic snarl. "I really hate those stupid kids."

It was a sunny day again, much to the delight of Berk as a whole. But before Team Go-Getters could enjoy the beautiful weather, they had to wait for the Viking Dragon Riders to join them for today's exercise.

Not only that, but Buddy had brought an unexpected guest to the academy that morning.

"What is Mortem doing here?" Astrid questioned aloud.

With an unwavering smile, Buddy stated, "Well, I've always wanted a pet, and now that I've broken free of my mask, I have more than enough power to protect him from all the Vikings that inhabit this stretch of islands." He reached a claw up and scratched Mortem in that sweet spot on the neck that all dragons had, making the dragonet croon happily.

"So, this is what Type: Full looks like," Brandyn mused, looking over Buddy with a smile.

That earned him the evil eye from the son of Arceus. "I do not like that name. I'd come up with a new one, but Pokémon aren't supposed to name their own species."

"Well, maybe we can help with that," offered Snivels.

Giving his friend a grateful smile, Buddy replied, "Alright, let's see what you can come up with."

"It should be Arceusson," Adhesive said, almost jokingly.

"Chimeramalgam?" Ninjark suggested.

Hiccup was too deep in thought to listen. He had never seen a Pokémon like the one Buddy had become, one that was so strong and determined. He was happy to have met Buddy, he probably would have still been stuck in the Outcast prison if it wasn't for him. Ever since day one, Buddy had been a friend to him, an ally.

"I might have a name for your species," Hiccup muttered, just loud enough for Buddy to hear.

The Synthetic Pokémon looked at his master. "Let's hear it, then."

Hiccup gazed at Buddy's silver fur, which shone in the bright morning light.

"I was thinking, maybe...Silvally?"

"Silvally," Buddy repeated thoughtfully. He smiled. "I like it."

All it can take is one act, big or small, to allow the true power within to finally shine through.

Buddy managed to surprise us in his own way.

And he is definitely no exception.

Snivels watched as the words "How to Train Your Dragon" appeared on the screen of Adhesive's laptop for a few seconds before the credits started rolling. "Well, that was definitely better than the books," he said.

The Poipole who owned the laptop chuckled. "Told you so." He reached for the wireless mouse he used to move the laptop's cursor. "Wanna watch my favorite part again?"

Snivels rolled his eyes. "We've seen it five times already!" He took a moment to rethink the situation before shrugging. "But I guess one more time couldn't hurt."

With a smile, Adhesive clicked the mouse a few times before the movie started playing at the point he'd selected.

"That's for scaring me."

"Wh-what?! Is it always going to be this way, 'cause...I could get used to it."

Grinning, Adhesive muttered to himself, "That never gets old."

Snivels fought hard to keep a smirk from appearing on his face. He lost. "It's even better in person, believe me."

The two sat in silence for a while before Snivels suddenly commented on something he'd read in the credits. "I was going to ask you who Jay Baurchel and America Ferrera are, but I think I've found my answer." He turned to look at Adhesive. "I couldn't help but notice a thanks to them from Cressida at the end of her last book."

"Yeah," Adhesive said, "The author likes Hiccstrid, too. Speaking of which..." He paused to pull a book out of his duffel bag. "I have a new reading recommendation, and I think you're going to like this one." He handed the book to Snivels, who read the title aloud.

"Wings of Fire."

The Servine smiled.

"Now that sounds promising."

Hey, I had to put the Fireworm Queen in this somehow. Now she's the Outcasts' problem!

In Super Mystery Dungeon, Dark Matter is able to mind control Pokemon that have even the smallest amount of darkness in their hearts. In this series, I tweaked its powers a little, so now it can't control anyone who has a lot of light in their heart.

Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I do. I think it's an improvement, but to each their own, right?