Chapter 11: In Which There Is A Climax

Candi had had better evenings.

She was backed up against the wall by the Shadowed One. Her foe had a sword in hand and a psychopathic glint in his eye. Candi, meanwhile, didn't have a way of using her Caramel abilities at the moment. The odds were a little one-sided.

"Any last words, soldier?" the Shadowed One asked.

"Um... parley?" Candi asked.

The Shadowed One chuckled and raised his sword. Suddenly, there was a wet thunk as a bun collided with the back of his head. Candi and the Shadowed One both turned to the seats. Taffyel was standing on one of the chairs, a bag of buns in his hands.

"Boo! Get off the stage!" Taffyel yelled, hurling another bun at the Shadowed One.

The Shadowed One ducked the bun and clenched his teeth.

"What is this insolence, boy?" the Shadowed One asked angrily.

Candi smirked.

"What? You really thought we would try to take you alone?" Candi asked.

The Shadowed One turned back to Candi, his sword ready to strike again.

"Explain this audacity!" the Shadowed One ordered angrily.

"We brought backup. Taffyel, Shadowed One. Shadowed One, Taffyel." Candi introduced.

Another bun hit the Shadowed One, knocking him off-balance. Candi formed a caramel staff and swung it into the Shadowed One's stomach.

Citrusella and P.I.X.A.L. entered a long, bright, white corridor. At the end of the corridor was a pedestal with a small key on it.

"Do you think that's our ticket out of here?" P.I.X.A.L. asked.

"Yes, and you will never reach it." a voice replied.

Before them, an army of white coated soldiers appeared. Each of them were heavily armed, had blacked-out eyes, and blocked the path to the pedestal.

"You will never regain your mind, Flugpucker. You and your friend will remain here for all time, no more then figments of my imagination, because this is my mind." the Shadowed One's voice hissed.

Citrusella stepped forward.

"No, it's not! This is my head! I say what goes around here! And I say I'm taking it back!" Citrusella said.

"You and whose army?" the Shadowed One's voice asked.

"This one." Citrusella replied.

Out of nowhere, as if walking out of fog, ranks of soldiers in both red and blue stepped up behind Citrusella and P.I.X.A.L., each one ready to help them get to the pedestal.

"I think you just lost." Citrusella added.

"No! This is impossible! Get them!" the Shadowed One's voice ordered angrily.

The white soldiers charged. With a mighty bang, the red and blue army fired into their ranks, and a large number of white coats dissolved into dust. The red and blue army charged into the white one, and Citrusella and P.I.X.A.L. charged with them. Citrusella soon found that the white coats could not touch her. If they did, they dissolved into dust, and if they didn't, they were simply attacked by Citrusella's soldiers. It was hardly even a fight because Citrusella and P.I.X.A.L. seemed to simply walk through a sea of white, dust spraying like surf around them.

Citrusella was reclaiming her mind. The Shadowed One was losing.

Candi ducked under a swing from the Shadowed One's sword and retaliated with a kick to the stomach. The Shadowed One quickly swung back, stabbing at Candi's head. She ducked and the Shadowed One missed, yanking a few hairs from her head.

"Ow!" Candi exclaimed.

"You think that's painful? Let me show you real pain!" the Shadowed One sneered.

Suddenly, the Shadowed One was lifted off his feet. Taffyel raised him up above his shoulders, roared, and threw him at the seats. The Shadowed One landed with a mighty crash, wrecking three chairs.

"Thanks for the demonstration, Shadowed One." Candi said with a smirk.

The Shadowed One bellowed with rage as he climbed to his feet.

"WHY DO YOU FIGHT? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOU, YOU IGNORANT CHILD?" the Shadowed One asked angrily.

"You stole my friend's body, you made her get mad at my girlfriend's best friend, you turned my girlfriend and my other friend into dolls, and most importantly, your making her do bad things, and I won't let you get away with that!" Taffyel replied angrily.

The Shadowed One climbed to his feet.

"Your friendship is worthless! Citrusella Flugpucker is gone, and she is NEVER. COMING. BACK!" the Shadowed One thundered.

A purple fireball exploded from his body, sending Candi and Taffyel flying into the backdrop of the stage. The thin plywood broke easily, and they landed backstage with a crash. The Shadowed One stormed up to them, a purple fireball in his hands.

"When I'm done with you, there won't even be enough to bury you." the Shadowed One snarled.

Citrusella stepped out of the spray of white that had filled the center of her mind. She looked at the key, scrutinizing it for several seconds.

"He's going to fight back, isn't he?" Citrusella asked.

P.I.X.A.L. walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, but you made it this far. What makes you think you can't finish this?" P.I.X.A.L. asked.

Citrusella looked at P.I.X.A.L.'s eyes, a hint of doubt in her expression.

"I believe in you, Citrusella." P.I.X.A.L. said reassuringly.

Citrusella nodded and grabbed the key. As soon as she did that, the whole world was swept away.

The Shadowed One held his sword over Taffyel's head. Taffyel shut his eyes, preparing for the pain that would follow.

Suddenly, the Shadowed One screamed and clutched his head. There was a sea of color as the whole of Citrusella's mind seemed to fly before her eyes. She would have been nauseous, except she couldn't even feel her own body. As far as she could tell, she didn't even have one.

Suddenly, swathes of black streamed towards her. Pain pulsed through her ethereal body as she felt the Shadowed One fight for control of her very being.

"You are weak, Citrusella Flugpucker. Your just a naïve little buffoon with the intelligence of mortar. You have no chance of ever defeating me." the Shadowed One's voice sneered.

The Shadowed One's voice was drowned out as voices of encouragement entered her metaphysical mind. After the voices stopped, there was a loud screeching and the black splotches in her mind began to dissolve.

Taffyel opened his eyes.

The Shadowed One was clutching his head as dark energy poured out from his eyes and mouth. He wasn't even screaming anymore because he was just thrashing as power seeped out of him. People began to reappear in their seats, looking confused but otherwise none the worse for their dollifications. Before long, the room was filled again, and the last of the Shadowed One's energy seeped out of Citrusella's body. Eventually, she fell to her knees as the glowing receded. A single puff of white smoke emerged from her mouth, and it gathered next to her and formed into P.I.X.A.L., who swayed dizzily from side to side before regaining balance. Citrusella groaned and threw off the cloak.

Someone in the audience began to clap, and before long, there was a standing applause.