A/N: Wow! The story finally reached 50 reviews! Sorry I wasn't able to update sooner! Now, I know you all were left hanging after that cliffhanger, so here's the next chapter! Just as a forewarning…you might need some tissues for this chapter.
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The Death Flood appeared to have a mind all its own, as it twisted in the direction of Danny and his friends. Danny struggled to shrink back, but Vlad had weakened him so much, he could barely move. The Death Flood lightly scraped Danny's shoulder, and he instantly felt a piercing coldness grip him, and his energy draining. The black form pulled away quickly on Vlad's orders, and the cold dissipated. Shivering, Danny looked around at the frightened expressions of his friends, just as fearful as he was.
Vlad smirked as he noticed Danny's pained expression. "Yes, it hurts doesn't it Daniel? Don't worry though; I don't intend to kill you quite yet. You need to suffer a little more...watch your friends and your world die at the hands of the Death Flood that you helped bring about!"
Danny stood up suddenly, his body shaking from the pain he had suffered. He was hurt, but he was not going to let Vlad think he was weak. "You're a sick, cruel, and evil man Vlad! Why did you kill my family and lie to me all these years?"
Vlad smiled, knocking Danny to the ground with a whip he had been carrying in his pocket. "You really are a naive one, aren't you Daniel? Your father was an idiot, and your mother didn't deserve to be with him. Your sister was merely an annoyance that I had to dispose of."
"Don't you DARE talk about my family like that you despicable cretin!" Danny screamed, running toward Vlad in a mad and hateful rush. His anger, however, had caused him to forget about his injuries, and he collapsed on the floor again.
Vlad seemed to pay Danny no attention. "Too weak to retort, aren't you, Crytopyrite? As for why I lied to you, it's because I had to manipulate your trust, so you would be blind to the power you contained within you, until the time was right...the time for my reign to begin!" He gestured toward the Death Flood hovering next to him. "That time is now Daniel, and I must go."
"Go where?" Sam and Danny asked at once, fierce malice burning within both their eyes.
"Why to Elementum Academy and the Forest of Life of course!" Vlad said with a maniacal laugh. "Best if I destroy your Elemental food supply, and all your friends before I destroy you!" With a crimson light, Vlad and the Death Flood vanished.
We have to follow him!" Valerie cried out. "Vlad and that Death Flood are going to destroy everyone!"
"Valerie, what about Danny?" Sam asked, frantically touching Danny's rings to heal the wounds that Vlad had given him. The bleeding had stopped and Danny looked a little stronger, but the healing power didn't seem to have as much of an effect as normal. "He's hurt badly!"
A loud voice suddenly interrupted their argument. "Sam! Are you all right? We were so worried about you!"
Sam turned and saw her parents in white Elemental-proof suits they had designed, running toward her.
"We heard everything!" Sam's mother exclaimed. "We're so sorry we didn't believe you before about the Crytopyrite being good." She pulled Sam into a tight hug.
Sam's father shook his head. "I can't believe Vlad was just deceiving us the whole time. He wanted to bring the Death Flood for himself." Suddenly, he looked down and noticed Danny. "Is that...is he…the Crytopyrite?"
Seraphine spoke up. "That's him. His name's Danny, but I'm not sure if he's in the condition to talk right now. Vlad was torturing him."
Mrs. Manson gasped. "Oh you poor thing! Those weapons he was using were only supposed to be used in a desperate situation, such as if our world was being invaded! To think that Vlad used them to…" She glanced down worriedly at Danny. "That insane Pyro fooled us all!"
"You can say that again," Tucker and Dash muttered at the same time.
To everyone's surprise, Danny began to sit up, feeling a little stronger. "Mr. and Mrs. Manson...can I ask you something?"
"Why of course Danny," Mrs. Manson answered, then paused. "It is Danny isn't it?"
Danny nodded, a strange look of determination coming across his face. "Do you know...where the Orb of the Cryto is? It's really important."
"Oh! You mean the one from the legend?" Mr. Manson asked. "Vlad hid it so you wouldn't be able to find it, but we know where he put it, why?"
"It's the only thing that can stop the Death Flood," Danny said. "I know." Unnoticed to anyone but Sam, a troubled look glowed in Danny's eyes.
"Fine then," Mrs. Manson said. "Stay here, we'll get it for you."
"No," Danny nearly shouted, his voice rising slightly in tone. "I need to do it. I know that I'm injured, but there isn't much time. Sam and I will go and retrieve the Orb."
"Well, what about us?" Dash asked, turning toward Danny. "What should we do?"
"You guys need to go back to Elementum Academy and warn everyone as soon as you can." Danny answered, urgency written on his face. "From what I heard, Vlad's destroying the Forest of Life first, so you should have time to warn everyone." He turned toward Sam's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Manson can take you over to the Academy, then come back for Sam and me."
"We can take them in our jetcopter." Mrs. Manson offered. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"We're sure, Mom," Sam answered. "Danny and I can take care of ourselves. Just hurry!"
The group began to run out of the room, toward the garage where the jetcopters were kept, when Mrs. Manson stopped outside the door. "The Orb is down in the basement. If you take the first pathway on the right, then the second pathway on the left, you should find it on the altar." With that, he ran to catch up with the others.
"Come on Danny," Sam whispered to her friend, gently helping him up and taking care not to cause him any more pain. "Like you said, we have to hurry. Can you walk?"
Danny slowly pushed himself up off the ground, a little shaky, but standing. "I think so."
"Okay, but if you need me Danny, I'm right here." Sam smiled warmly at her friend as the two of them quickly hurried toward the basement.
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Valerie nervously gazed at the scene below, as the Forest of Life was slowly becoming brown and dead, thanks to the Death Flood. "Vlad's down there," she announced to everyone else. "We still have time to make it to the Academy and warn everybody. If we hurry, we might be able to save some fruit from the forest."
"Well, we'll be there in about 5 minutes," Tucker said, who was up at the cockpit with the Mansons. "In the meantime though, this technology rocks! Could I keep one of these jetcopters?"
"Tucker!" Seraphine scolded, "We don't have time for you to be concerned with technology!"
"She's right!" Dash added. "We have more important things to worry about right now!"
"Okay, okay! Sorry!" Tucker groaned.
Valerie didn't remark on Tucker's foolishness. She was too preoccupied with looking at the destruction that the forest was being dealt, and that, if they didn't hurry, people would be next. Her gaze rested on the Academy as the copter lowered itself to land.
"Okay kinds, you go warn all your friends about the Death Flood," Mr. Manson announced. "We'll go back for Danny and Sam."
Valerie was the last one out of the copter, but as soon as she exited, the door closed as the copter flew off back toward the building it had just left. As the group rushed into the Academy, Valerie's thoughts were turned toward her two friends. There seemed to be a reason that Danny wanted to look for the Orb. She knew the legend said something about the Orb, but she couldn't remember what it was. Valerie sighed with worry. "I hope Danny and Sam are okay."
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"Sam, are we close?" Danny asked with concern.
"Sam gently wrapped her arm around Danny's shoulders. "Don't worry, we're close, Danny. My dad said it should be just down this hallway."
Within moments, the two of them found themselves staring at the very orb they had been searching for. It was perched on a stone altar much like the one where Danny's blood had summoned the Death Flood, but this one had bright red stones-pyrite-on the wall behind it. Danny gasped. This was the same orb that The Book of Lost Knowledge had shown him right before he met Sam! Danny gently picked up the orb in his trembling hands, and it instantly lit up with a brilliant, white light. The light quickly died down, and the orb felt warm in Danny's hands. "There's a power coming from it," he whispered to Sam. "I can feel it through me."
Sam was amazed by the Orb as well. "So this is the Orb of the Cryto," she whispered in awe. "It's amazing."
"Come on," Danny said. "We need to go to the Academy. The sooner we stop Vlad, the better."
Sam quickly followed right behind Danny, desperately hoping that their friends were still okay. Luckily, they arrived just as the copter was landing. Sam's parents quickly ran out of the copter and rushed Danny and Sam inside.
"We'll get there as fast as the jetcopter can fly," Mrs. Manson said. "I just hope that your friends are all right back at the Academy."
"So do I," Danny said softly, his eyes clouded with worry. "Vlad's already hurt too many people that I care about! I don't want anyone else getting hurt by him!" He instinctively grabbed Sam's hand. As soon as he realized what he was doing, he pulled his hand away, blushing.
The group was quiet but tense throughout the rest of the ride, but Danny and Sam nearly screamed when they approached the Academy. Vlad had beaten them there, and they could see that the Death Flood was beginning to enter the Academy.
Danny raced out of the copter, along with Sam, as soon as it had touched the ground. They burst through the doors of the Academy to find utter chaos. The Death Flood seemed to stream through the hallways as Elementals collapsed to the ground, dead. All the survivors were running, frantically trying to escape the deadly power that trapped them. Danny stared as he recognized one of the Death Floods victims: it was Roberto.
"I caused this," Danny thought. "I'm the one who caused this horrible nightmare!" He stared in horror at the sight, holding on tightly to Sam. If everyone else he knew had perished, Sam was the only one he had left, the only person left who saw him for who he really was. He didn't want anything to happen to her. "Tucker! Valerie! Dash! Seraphine!" Danny called out, hoping to get a response. He ducked as a beam, burning from a fire that Vlad had set, missed him by inches.
"Danny! Sam! We're up here!" Tucker called from up the stairs. "Come quickly! Seraphine's in trouble!"
Without a moment to lose, Danny and Sam dashed up the stairs to find Tucker and everyone else perfectly fine, except for Seraphine. The Death Flood was quickly advancing on her, and there was nowhere for her to run.
Danny stepped forward, holding the Orb of the Cryto out in front of him. "Leave her alone!" he shouted as a glow emitted from the orb, blocking the Death Flood from reaching Seraphine. The Death Flood seemed to be almost angry, but in flew from the room, leaving the group.
"Thank you so much Danny!" Seraphine said gratefully. "You saved my life! I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't shown up!"
"It was nothing, really," Danny said. relieved that most of his friends were still alive.
"We aren't out of the woods yet, guys," Sam reminded them. "The only way we're going to stop this horrible Death Flood is to beat Vlad!"
"Vlad's on the roof controlling the Death Flood," Dash said. "I heard him saying he'll only let us live if we obey everything he says."
"I would NEVER take orders from that filthy traitor!" Danny shouted. He couldn't take it anymore. Vlad had killed his family, hurt him and his friends, and now he was killing innocent Elementals who had no knowledge of the legend! Before anyone could say anything, he began to run up the next few flights of stairs to get to the roof, with everyone else following behind. Luckily, the power of the Orb helped divert the Death Flood away from anyone Danny and the others ran into. As a result of this, quite a few Elementals had been saved from the Death Flood, but there was a great sorrow in Danny's heart for those he had not been able to save.
When Danny and the others reached the roof, they saw Vlad there, seeming to control every move the Death Flood made. When Vlad saw Danny and his friends, he only smirked, and suddenly the Death Flood was there on the roof with them.
"Well, what do you know? It seems you are stronger than I thought Daniel," Vlad said with a sneer. "You know, however, that you are no match for me. With the Death Flood, I am the strongest being in the world. I will be the ruler of the world, and I will have ultimate power!"
"We'll see about that Vlad!" Danny hissed with anger, pure hatred for Vlad burning in his eyes. "You believe that the Death Flood gives you ultimate power, but you're wrong! It has a weakness, and I can expose it!" He took a step forward and held the Orb of the Cryto, which glowed with a brilliant light.
As Sam and the others watched Danny, she suddenly recalled the final part of the legend: The Orb of the Cryto, fire and ice become one. The sacrifice is complete, and the evil is done. Her eyes widened in terror at the realization. It couldn't mean...could it?
"I don't have time for you and that orb, Daniel!" Vlad snarled. "It's time to end this!" At Vlad's words, the Death Flood rushed toward Danny, but the orb shone with a white light, blocking the Death Flood from coming any farther. Vlad was unfazed. "That barrier will break soon, just you wait!"
Danny stepped forward, glaring furiously at Vlad. "You're right Vlad, it is time to end this. It's time to end the cycle of pain and terror that you started 10 years ago!" He raised the orb above his head, emitting ice from his left hand, and fire from his right. The two energies seemed to be absorbed into the orb, and a harsh wind blew around Danny and Vlad.
Tucker, Seraphine, Dash, and Valerie were confused as to what Danny was doing, but Sam understood perfectly, her eyes widening in fear. "Danny!" she screamed, tears running down her face. "You can't do this! You can't! You'll DIE!"
At the sound of her voice, Danny turned toward her, and Sam could see that he was crying too. "I'm sorry Sam! It's better that only two more deaths are suffered than my own and millions more!" Turning away even as his friends protested, he stared into the center of the orb, saying the chant that would end everything. Somehow, in his heart, he knew exactly what he had to do.
Fire-filled sunrise and ice-covered night,
The world's trapped in darkness, now bring forth the light.
As fire and ice now combine in Earth's wake,
I sacrifice myself for humanity's sake.
As soon as Danny said those words, a blinding white light erupted from the orb, as well as the rings on Danny's wrists, expanding in all directions. The intensity of the strange light caused the Death Flood to writhe, as if the light caused it pain. It gradually became smaller and smaller, and eventually faded away altogether.
The light was too much for Vlad as well. "You-you'll pay for this Daniel!" he screeched, but before he could say anymore, the light caused him to shrivel and vanish, just as the Death Flood had.
Soon the light faded, and everyone gasped, especially Sam. The orb was gone, and Danny had fallen to the ground.
"DANNY!" screamed Sam, rushing over even faster than the others did. She frantically checked for a pulse.
Valerie cautiously approached Danny. "Is…is he still...?"
"He's alive," Sam whispered, "but barely. His heartbeat is faint." Sam was really worried. Danny's skin was even paler than normal.
Danny slowly opened his eyes, which didn't have their usual spark. His normally bright golden eyes were dull and sad. "S-Sam?" he whispered weakly.
Sam gently lifted up Danny's hand, clasping it in her own as tears fell from her violet eyes. "Yeah Danny?"
Danny's strength seemed to be fading, but he kept his eyes open, staring into her eyes as he began to cry as well. "I...love...you..." He raised his head up slightly and kissed her on the cheek, giving her a small smile. Suddenly, he laid his head down as his eyes closed and his body went limp.
"Danny...Danny?" Sam began to panic when she got no response from her friend. "Danny! Don't leave us! You can't! We need you! I need you!" She frantically touched Danny's indigo rings, and her panic grew. No glow emitted from the rings as before. Danny couldn't be dead, he couldn't!
"...Sam?" Seraphine said after a moment, slowly coming a little closer. "Does he...?"
Still keeping her right hand entwined with Danny's left hand, Sam felt for a heartbeat. There was nothing.
"Danny..." Sam whispered, suddenly bursting into tears as she gripped Danny's hand tighter. "DANNY!"
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A/N: I cried while writing this chapter! There's only the epilogue after this. Remember to review. (bursts into sobs)