Admittedly, this chapter was kind of rushed. Sorry about that. I blame a mild case of writer's block. :P

I also blame global warming, just because I can.

Chapter 21: Salvation

Shadow slowly opened her eyes. Breathing was suddenly much easier. Her fur had returned to its jet-black color. She slowly remembered the fight going on and jumped to her feet, quickly regaining her strength. She looked up at the moon and was surprised to see it back to normal. A smile spread across her face. Julien must have succeeded!

"No!" She looked over at Clemson, who was bent over, pounding his fist to the ground. "Damn it all! We were so close!"

Something bowled Shadow over. Cinnamon had her pinned to the ground. "I didn't come all this way to lose, Sun-Chaser!"

Shadow flipped her over. "A shame you forgot that sol vamp are twice as strong as blood vamp." She glanced at the scar that lay where her ear was ripped off. "Guess some people just never learn." She stepped off the beagle.

Cinnamon stood up, seeming confused. "That's it? You're not gonna fight me?"

"Enough blood has been spilled, for one night."

A strong, brief gust of wind nearly bowled them over. Then another. And another. Soon, a huge windstorm broke out. All the vampires looked up, and saw a dark, swirling vortex covering Lumina. Cinnamon howled as she dug her claws into the earth. She was about to be sucked in!

Clemson took a step away from her. "Yeah... I'm a technically a sol vampire, so... See ya!" Cinnamon grabbed his tail in her teeth. "Ow! What are you-"

"I'm not going back to Hell alone!" the beagle yelled through her clenched jaw.

The ginger sol vamp grabbed the grass in an attempt to avoid being sucked into the vortex. "Shadow! Help a sol vamp out!"

Shadow knew better. Sol vampires were unaffected by anything involving Hell, but - in Shadow's eyes - the bamboo lemur wasn't a sol vamp.

He was a Dark One.

The she-cat just stood there, the intense wind blowing through her fur, watching as the to Dark Ones were pulled into the vortex.

The portal to Hell.

She saw a seemingly endless number of other figures being sucked in, as well. Obviously other Dark Ones.

A moment later, an explosion appeared where the vortex once was. The wind slowed to a stop. Shadow let out a sigh of relief. It was over. And the sol vamp had won.

"Sh-shadow?" She whipped around and saw Private slowly picking himself off the ground. The small penguin looked terrified. "W-what just happened?"

She smiled at him. "We won." She heard a grunt and glanced at Rico, who was staring - worried - at Skipper. Shadow sprinted to the leader-penguin, and the other penguins followed. Skipper was breathing, but barely. His feathers were coated in dry blood.

Shadow heard Kowalski's rocket land behind them and turned around. The door opened, and Kowalski waddled out, carrying King Julien bridal-style. "Why do I have to carry you?" Kowalski asked the lemur-king, clearly annoyed.

King Julien replied, "De king - who is me - is being too sore from de giving-of-de-hybrid-ness to be walking."

"Oh, for Pete's sa-" Kowalski gasped and dropped King Julien. "Sweet mother of Charles Darwin!" Julien gaped, as well.

Maurice and Mort came and gasped. "Did we miss somethin'!?" Maurice exclaimed. "'Cause it looks like we missed somethin'!"

Kowalski ran to his leader. "What happened to Skipper!?" He looked at the other penguins. "And the rest of you!?"

"Forget about us!" Private exclaimed, tears forming. "You've got to help Skippah!"

"Uh, right." Kowalski turned to Rico, who hacked up two first-aid kits. Shadow and Kowalski each took one. "I'll work on Skipper. You take care of the others."

The lemurs cautiously approached. "Anything we can do to help?" Maurice offered.

Shadow smiled gratefully. "Thanks. You go help Kowalski. Julien, Mort. You two give me a hand with the others."

They all began treating the injuries. While doing so, Shadow told Kowalski and the lemurs why the mortal-penguins were in their current conditions.

"Wow!" Mort piped when the story was finished. "Clemson was more evil than I thought!"

"Do not be forgetting about de psycho-cute-Cinnamon," King Julien added. "Dat woman was completely nut-so."

Rico looked concerned at Skipper, who was still unconscious. "Ippa okay?"

Maurice turned to face him. "He's certainly been through a lot."

Kowalski added. "But he should pull through."

Shadow let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She gazed up at Lumina. The moon was at Her normal brightness and size. It was all over.

And they had won.

The End.