Chapter Eleven: My Way
Antauri's eyes shot open. He didn't know where he was. Then, he realized he was being carried. By Kylia.
"Antauri?" Nova's voice drifted to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm…fine," Antauri answered, grimacing as he was put down on the ground. The others were walking; to where was unclear to him now. He began to walk, following them.
"What happened back there?" Sparx asked. "You suddenly fell over and stopped moving. We thought you had…" He didn't finish.
"The Skeleton Prince finally has complete control over Chiro," Antauri said. "He said that Chiro is gone." He closed his eyes and refused to talk.
"Chiro is not gone," Specter said. "I've gone too far; and lost too much to be stopped now." He clenched his fists. "I will not rest until that demon is dead—or I am."
Nova shot him a look, alarmed. "What?!"
Specter didn't say anything else, becoming as silent as Antauri. "We all need to think," Kylia said quietly. "We need a plan."
"Where are we going?" Antauri asked.
"Where else?" Sparx said sarcastically. "The Super Robot's busted, and the Prince ripped apart the Brain Scrambler with his bare hands—which was actually really cool." He glanced at Antauri. "No offense. We're going to the Zone of Wasted Years. Don't ask why; we're following the Skeleton Prince."
Jinmay nodded. "He's probably trying to get somewhere."
Specter activated his jetpack and hovered above the ground. They were now a good distance from the bridge outside ShuggazoomCity, entering the Zone of Wasted Years. "Walking has been taking up too much time. We have to fly!"
The others nodded, forgetting about flying. Otto and Gibson grabbed Kylia's arms, supporting her as they began to fly.
Specter began to fly faster. "Specter, slow down!" Nova shouted.
"No!" was the response. "Anytime wasted is too much! We may already be too late!" He turned back to them, but continued to fly. "I'm beginning to think none of you care about Chiro. I think you just care about stopping the Prince, not saving him."
"What?" Kylia asked, calmly. "How dare you say that I don't care about my own son!"
"I didn't mean you; I meant the Hyperforce." With this, he glared at each of them in turn. "They were built to protect the universe from the Skeleton King—and any other evil they may encounter. That includes Chiro himself. You all think that—if you want to stop him now—the only way is to destroy him, even if it means killing Chiro. I know there is another way. And I will find it."
With that, he shot off ahead of them, vanishing over the horizon. Everyone called after him, but after a while, they began to fly faster as well.
"What's up with him?" Otto asked. "Why's he so mad?"
"He's scared," Kylia told him. "He speaks the truth, almost. He was created to protect Chiro, and if this battle ends badly, then he would have failed in his life's goal. But you also care about Chiro. He just doesn't realize that."
"He's worried that, if he fails, he fails Chiro," Otto breathed. "Failed him as a friend."
Everyone stared at him. "What?" he asked. "I'm smart, sometimes. I just know how badly this could end."
—
Specter flew over the land, the wind blowing in his face. He thought about what had happened. He shouldn't have blown up like that at the Hyperforce. He promised Chiro he would become a member of the team after all this was over, but he couldn't do that if the team hated him.
He stopped flying. The sky was lightening. The wind became chilling, and Specter shivered.
"Why do you continue to pursue me?" a voice asked.
Specter turned to see the Skeleton Prince standing behind him. He seemed calm; like he didn't want to fight.
"Release Chiro," Specter asked. "Now."
"I believe you mortals do not understand the concept of 'no'."
He suddenly lashed out, clipping Specter on the chin with his fist, throwing him backwards. Specter picked himself up and rubbed his chin.
With a yell, he charged at the Prince, only for him to step aside, causing Specter to fall down, looking like a fool. He didn't waste any time; he got right back up, using his ghost claws to strike the Skeleton Prince, sending him stumbling back. He stood up and chuckled.
"You believe you can defeat me," he said. "I'm sorry to say your attempts will be futile. You will only lose your life in a hopeless battle."
With one last swipe of the hand, Specter was sent flying backwards, banging his head on the ground and causing his vision to blur. He picked himself up.
"I am getting tired of your attempts," the Prince muttered. "Dealing with you vermin is beneath me, but you should understand that."
"What are you talking about?" Specter demanded.
"You hate the Hyperforce, don't you? I can see it in your eyes. You believe you are failing your purpose in life, but by hating them, you are hurting yourself even more. The alchemist would be ashamed of you. Tell me… Is this about Chiro…or your ego?"
Specter fell to his knees. The Prince was right. He never even thought about it. He couldn't fight this monster; he wasn't as powerful as he used to be and the Prince was only gaining strength. Now, there was only one thing to do.
"I care about Chiro…" Specter said. "More than anything. I just don't want to fail him."
"Pathetic," the Prince muttered.
"Let Chiro go…" Specter whispered. "And I'll do whatever you want."
"What ever I want, eh?" The Prince's eyes turned a dark red. "Then die."
Then, a huge explosion sounded. A blood-curling scream accompanied it, traveling to all four corners of the planet…
—
In the nightmare world, the Prince was startled to see a crack appear in the pillar of green light. That wasn't supposed to happen. Then, a shout resonated through the entire dream land, and the ground shook.
"Specter!"
The ground continued to shake, and the Prince took a step back, his hands shaking. "Uh-oh…"
—
The Hyperforce jerked to a stop when a bright flash of white light appeared not far in front of them. They had not seen the confrontation, so they didn't know what happened.
"What was that?" Jinmay shrieked.
They flew as fast as they could, finally reached the spot. Gibson and Otto set Kylia down gently on the ground.
Specter was lying on the ground, his eyes tightly shut, his breathing shallow. Nova ran over to him. The others were about to follow, but another figure picked himself up from the ground.
It was the Prince. His eyes were wide—with fright. Green electricity was flashing along his arms and the rest of his body, and he closed his eyes. Standing up, he let out a yell of frustration.
"What's going on?" Otto asked, scared.
"I don't know…" Gibson said.
"I know what to do now," Kylia breathed. "Please, help Specter."
"What's going on?" Gibson repeated, demanding an answer.
Kylia tensed up. "He's losing control."
With that, she ran towards the Skeleton Prince, taking a shining blue stone from around her neck. The others ran to Specter, but Antauri stayed where he was, his blue eyes shining slightly, although that may have been from the rising sun's reflection…
Kylia ran and reached out to grab the Prince's arm. He looked up and dodged just in time.
—
Another crack appeared in the pillar of light. The green light began to shine brightly out, and another shout sounded as the shaking grew more intense.
"Mom!"
The Prince took another step back, his hand brushing against the door. He had nowhere else to go, and the light was becoming blinding…
—
Kylia showed impressive abilities and agility while trying to attack the Prince. Although, she just seemed to be trying to grab hold of him, not hurt him.
"We end this my way!" she said.
"You think this is going to end so soon?" the Prince asked.
"Yes…I…do!" Kylia swirled around, her dress spinning with her, and grabbed the Prince's arm.
Time stood still.
—
The pillar of light was disintegrating. It wasn't just destroying itself, it was destroying the dream world and anything in it.
The Prince held his hands out, trying to deflect the light away from him. "No!" he shouted. "This can't be the end!"
—
Kylia took the Demon's Stone she was holding and put it around the Prince's neck. The stone shone with a white light, and the Prince stood up, staggered back, and tried to get the stone away from him. He couldn't. It seemed like it was attached to him.
Kylia stood up and stepped back and allowed the stone to do what it was created to do.
Trap evil demons inside of it.
—
He felt his form fading away as he was bombarded with green light. He had trapped the Power Primate—and Chiro—but they were breaking free now, after the attack on Specter.
The Prince gripped the ground, trying to keep a hold on the last of his world, but it still fell apart, like tiles falling into a black void of nothingness. In that void, a white light shone, like a bright star, and sucked up everything—except the Power Primate.
With one last scream, the Prince fell, and into the white light, vanishing forever…
The pillar of green light was the only thing remaining when it became silent. Then, with a flash, it shattered, the green light filling up the plane of Chiro's mind once again, consuming it with a calm, green light.
—
The black on the clothes of the Prince seemingly melted off, being sucked into the stone. White appeared beneath the black; orange beneath the red. His eyes became blue and shining.
The monkeys were shielding their eyes against the bright light. Once the light died down, they looked to the source.
Kylia was on her knees, her arms wrapped around Chiro. His eyes were closed, and he had his arms wrapped around her neck, a smile on his face, tears streaming down his face. The stone was still around his neck, still shining. He back away a little and took the stone from his neck. He held it up before his eyes.
"He's gone Chiro," Kylia told him. "The Prince has been trapped within the Demons' Stone." She smiled. "Even he can't get out of there."
Chiro nodded. "I missed you mom," he said quietly.
She smiled back. "And I missed you. More than you will ever know.
Suddenly, a frown appeared on Chiro's face. "Specter! Where is he?"
Kylia nodded over to the group of monkeys, and they stepped aside as Chiro ran over to Specter. Specter had his eyes closed and didn't see him.
"Specter?" Chiro whispered.
Specter opened one eye, and, seeing Chiro, shakily sat up. "I'll be okay…" he said, his voice raspy. "I've taken harder hits."
Chiro smiled and grabbed him into a hug. Specter blinked, not expecting this, and hugged him back. The rest of the monkeys joined in, along with Jinmay, with Kylia watching not far from the group. She smiled.