Chapter 14:
"Ultimate Wind!" Called Rex, swiping the card.
"Ultimate Leaf!" Called Zoe, swiping her card as well.
Both Ace and Paris charged at Gigas, slamming right into him and sending him staggering backwards. The Spectral Tyrannosaurus had no time to respond to their attack, as in the next second the Nanotyrannus fired another bright orb towards it, hitting it square on. The blast caused the Spectral Tyrannosaurus to crash to the ground, and it turned back into a card.
Rex clenched his fist in triumph and Zoe nodded at him.
"It's still too late for you to celebrate! Spectral Stinger!" Foolscap called. The Spectral Stegosaurus once again fired a barrage of needles towards the three dinosaurs. Black Crystal once again raised his hand, and the Nanotyrannus quickly rushed up in front of Ace and Paris, blocking the needles by swiftly hitting them with its tail, causing them to fall to the ground before they got a chance to hit Ace or Paris. The Three dinosaurs then charged at the Spectral Stegosaurus, all ramming into its side at the same time, causing it to fall crashing to the ground, and in the next second it turned back into a card.
"Two down…" Rex said.
"One left." Zoe said, as they both turned their attention to Sheer and Maximus.
"Don't think you'll get me as easily as those two!" Sheer growled "Take them down, Maximus! Spectral Punisher!" She called. Sharp spikes jutted out from the ends of the Spectral Triceratops's horns, and it quickly fired an intense beam towards them. Ace and Paris quickly jumped out of the way as the Nanotyrannus fired yet another white orb towards the Spectral Triceratops. The orb and the beam collided in mid-air and for a short while they seemed to struggle to push each other back, but in the next second the force of the orb caused the beam to disperse, and it hit the Spectral Triceratops square on, making it fall down on the ground, turning it back into a card.
"We did it!" Zoe cried triumphantly "We won!"
"Yeah, good job, Ace!" Rex said as he returned Ace to his card, then slashing it again to make Ace appear in his small form. Zoe quickly did the same.
"Don't think for a second this is over!" Sheer said furiously as she picked up Maximus's card from the ground "We'll be back!"
"Yeah, and once we are you're going to be very sorry!" Foolscap said as he and Gavro went to get their cards back as well.
"Oh yeah? It was bad enough just to meet you bird-brains again, thank you very much!" Zoe said, sticking out her tongue at them.
"Grr! I'll remember that!" Sheer said as she took of from the ground, quickly followed by the other two "You can count on it!"
"Hey, who do you think that masquerade-guy was, anyway?" Gavro said as they flew of.
"Who cares?" Foolscap said "But now that I think about it, it sure looked like him and those brats knew each other…"
"Let's save that question for later." Sheer said "Like, till when we're far away from here!"
"Good idea." Gavro said, and soon they were all out of sight.
Rex and Zoe both followed the three pirates with their eyes until they were out of sight. Then they quickly turned to each other.
"There's no time to waste!" Rex said "We have to go help Max out!" Zoe nodded and they both prepared to run of after him.
"You will do nothing of the sort." Black Crystal said as he returned the Nanotyrannus to its card and put it back in his cloak. They both stared at him.
"What are you talking about?" Zoe said impatiently "We have to go! He might need our help!"
"Even if that is the case, you must both stay here." He replied "There is nothing you can do to help him."
"But we can't just sit here and do nothing!" Rex shouted. Black Crystal turned towards him.
"You said it yourself." He said "None of you have mastered the Evolution Slash since you haven't unlocked your hidden power yet, so the chances of you defeating this enemy are slim to none." He finished.
"So what you're saying is that you knew all along Max wouldn't stand a chance, and still you let him go?" Zoe asked angrily "So you basically sent him to his own doom!" Black Crystal turned to her, and when he spoke again there was a clear hint of sadness in his voice.
"It was his own decision, not mine." He said "I strongly doubt he would have allowed me to stop him even if I had tried to. His own brave heart made him take the decision to take on the enemy on his own. Not for his own sake, but for yours. If you truly are his friends I'm pretty sure you can understand just how he must have felt…" Zoe's anger died away, and she felt a wave of sadness well up inside her. It was true, and she knew it: Max had wanted to fight the white-haired man alone so that they wouldn't risk getting hurt. She slumped down on her knees while desperately fighting her tears…
"So…What are we going to do?" Rex asked quietly.
"There is only one thing we can do right now…" Black Crystal said as they all looked in the direction Max had gone "We will simply have to wait here and hope for the best…And be prepared for the worst…"
"Ultimate Thunder!" Max called, swiping the card. Lightning bolts struck down in front of Chomp and quickly made their way towards the Giganotosaurus. The lightning scored a direct hit, but it still didn't seem to feel anything. Chomp then charged at the Giganotosaurus, but before he was able to reach it, it swiped him with its powerful tail, sending him crashing to the ground.
"You can do it, Chomp!" Max cried as Chomp struggled to stand "I know you can!"
"Just give it up already" The man said coldly "You know it's hopeless…"
"No! It's not!" Max shouted back "I'll beat you! Just you wait!"
"Even if you lived for a millions years, you still wouldn't stand a chance against me." The man said mockingly, raising his sword again "Incinerate him!" He called, swiping the Fire-Scorcher card along the blade of the sword.
The Giganotosaurus opened its jaws up wide, and a large, dark fireball began to form in its mouth. In the next second it threw its head forwards, releasing the fireball against Chomp.
"Chomp! Watch out!" Max cried. Chomp was able to jump out of the way just in the nick of time, but although he was able to avoid a direct hit, the attack still grazed his side. He roared in pain as he struggled to remain standing.
"Chomp!" Max cried, rushing up to him. He immediately noticed the Fire Scorcher had left a large burn on Chomp's side. "Don't worry, Chomp…" He murmured "Its all right…I'm here with you, pal…"
"Well? What's the holdup?" The white-haired man said mockingly "I thought you said you'd beat me?" Max gritted his teeth. He knew he still had a stronger move left: The Final Thunder-card he had received from Dr. Z way back then. But would it be enough…?
"I just can't understand you humans…" The man said coldly "You always work so hard for so long to make things the best you can, yet as soon as you get the chance you allow your own foolishness to make it all fall apart in mere moments…"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Max said angrily. The man smirked at him.
"The dinosaurs." He said "They hold possibilities far beyond what you can ever imagine, but in the end you humans just let it all slip you by, because you were so foolish…"
"I don't have a clue of what you're talking about!" Max shouted furiously at the man, whose smile grew wider.
"I didn't expect you would." He said coldly "You're way to weak and foolish to ever understand…"
"That's it! I've had enough!" Max said "Let's go, Chomp! Final Thunder!" He called, swiping the card. Chomp rushed forward, ramming into the Giganotosaurus, causing it to stagger backwards. He then quickly fired a burst of lightning from his horns, hitting it in the side of its body. Immediately after, seven orbs of lightning appeared in a half-circle above Chomp, and he fired a barrage of lightning-bullets towards the Giganotosaurus. It roared as the bullets hit it in the centre of its body, and fell crashing to the ground. Max clenched his fist, hoping it would be enough…
In the next second there was another roar, and the Giganotosaurus rose to its feet again. The Final Thunder had obviously done some damage, but nowhere near enough to hurt it, let alone defeat it.
"No! It can't be!" Max cried in desperation.
"It is." The man said coldly "And now I will put an end to your foolishness once and for all! Dark Inferno!" He called and swiped the card along the blade of his sword. Pitch-black flames enveloped the Giganotosaurus and suddenly it charged right at Chomp. The impact sent Chomp crashing hard to the ground. As he struggled to stand back up, the Giganotosaurus suddenly charged at him again and he was soon surrounded by its dark flames. And as the flames slowly died down Chomp slumped to the ground and turned back into a card.
"Chomp!" Max cried and rushed over to pick up Chomp's card "Its okay, Chomp…" He murmured "You're going to be fine…"
"Well, well. Looks like you've reached your end at last." The white-haired man said as he walked up in front of Max as the Giganotosaurus towered over him and roared. Max gritted his teeth and wished he could do something. Anything. But he couldn't come up with anything no matter how hard he thought. It seemed as if this really was the end. He could feel a wave of fear welling up inside him.
"Don't be too hard on yourself." The man said with an evil grin "I told you it was hopeless, didn't I? And deep down I'm sure you knew you could never defeat me…" Max slowly backed up against the wall behind him, desperately trying not think of how scared he was.
"Now it's time to get rid of you for good, just like I promised." The man said as he pulled out another card from his cloak "But don't worry" He said as an evil grin spread across his face "I will at least spare you the pain of being alone."
"W-What do you mean?" Max said as he slumped onto the ground, paralyzed with fear. The man gave him another evil smile.
"Once I'm done with you, I'll make sure to send your two friends to where you are as well. At least that way you won't have to feel lonely…"
It felt as if the world had suddenly gone completely silent. All Max could hear were the man's words echoing through his head. He closed his eyes and covered up is ears, desperately trying to block them out. And as he did he could almost see Rex and Zoe in front of him, he could even hear them scream as they vanished in a swirl of pitch-black flames…
Suddenly a strange feeling came over him. He opened his eyes and looked right into the white-haired man's eyes.
"I won't let you…" He said as he rose back to his feet.
"Hm?" The man said as he looked coldly at him.
"I won't let you" Max said again, and at the same time he felt his fear slowly die away "I don't care what it means to me, but I won't let you touch them. No matter what happens to me I won't let you hurt my friends! You hear me? I'm going to stop you! Even if it kills me!" He shouted.
What happened next happened so fast Max had no idea what hit him...