Into the Fire:
Having left Birabuto Kingdom boundaries with her orange stomach chakra, Daisy had made an arc around the northwest of Castle Town en route eastbound towards the Chai Kingdom. Already, she had to take down several Guardians that seemed to become tougher and tougher to avoid with each chakra she collected. Due to the Silent Realm not being a physical world, she didn't have to worry about fatigue, but combating the Guardians without elemental abilities proved to be time-consuming. The last time she heard Geno's voice, he had said she had four hours remaining, and that was a while ago. With three chakras collected, she still needed the other four chakras with likely only about three hours to go.
After getting used to my Betedaimon body, this normal form feels so foreign, she thought as she ran. And then if I – when I finish this trial, I'm going to wake up back in my Betedaimon body, just to go and get myself permanently returned back to normal. I have to readjust to one just to switch to the other. I didn't have that issue when switching from normal to Nova Form...
Daisy's eyes went wide, her pace slowing but not stopping. Maybe that transition from normal to Betedaimon and back is a part of the process of mastering the Nova Form! Just like when switching from normal to Nova, I have to be able to switch from normal to Betedaimon without a refractory period! It should be just as smooth as going into Nova! That way, when I'm finally done with the Betedaimon, changing to Nova will be even easier than before, and that'll be where a lot of the power and energy wasted with the transformation will be saved!
Suddenly, she felt a claw slash at her back and strip away her root chakra. As she rebounded out of the hit, she saw a Guardian staring her down and her red chakra resting in its palm. She dealt a Flurry Punch that chained into a Smash Punch with her other hand in a furious retaliation, knocking free the root chakra for her to reclaim. The Guardian tried to strike back with another clawed swing, but missed and was met with a forceful kick to the head. A double-palm strike to its torso from the Kruna of Earth knocked it down for good. She went to go retrieve her root chakra and then resumed her sprint for the Chai Kingdom boundary, haste apparent.
This is ridiculous, Daisy thought. With three chakras claimed and less than four hours remaining to get the others, I can't afford to waste any more time like this! I am going to run right through any Guardian that wants to try and get in my way again, no holding back!
The chakras of the solar plexus, throat, forehead, and crown awaited somewhere, and Daisy had to find them fast. Time was running out for her.
Time had already ran out for the Kruna.
The hellfire spread out into the sky above, prompting King Boo and Solovar to bolt down to the ground to avoid getting singed. Flames rained down on the immediate vicinity and forced everyone, Kruna, Sweep, and Boo alike, to back off and move away. The few bystanders that hung around to view the scene fled the moment they saw the intense nature of the raging fire. Neva tried to get off a shot on the conjuring pot with her crossbow, only for the wall of fire to block any way of reaching it.
"You're wasting your time, little girl," said Tamara. "There's been nothing you can do to stop it!"
"And since our work is done here, we're leaving!" added Maki.
King Boo ripped open a portal for escape. The Black Mages all ran for the portal and passed through, not even giving so much as a second look at the results of their combined efforts. King Boo looked like he wanted to say something before he left and closed the portal behind him, but he seemed like he wanted to ensure he got away from the fire as soon as possible. That left Bowser, Warra, Athelstan, Marut, Ramona, and Neva alone to try and halt the progression of the inferno. The elemental wielders Neva had called were scattered throughout the city, and it looked like they were going to get some action. Marut watched the hellfire spread and realized it moved just as quick as it did in the vision Marissa showed him.
"This is it, everyone!" Warra shouted over the crackling and burning of buildings.
"Where is Andrew?" Ramona asked.
"We can't worry about him!" Bowser yelled. "He's grown; he can watch over himself!"
The hellfire forced the Kruna into a continuous backwards stagger as Bowser did all he could to quell the flames and as Warra did all he could to douse them. The remains of the Thwomp were swallowed, and it only took moments for Chai City Town Center to be completely engulfed. Neva let frost flow from her crossbow to smother the wall of fire from overhead, and Marut tried blowing the flames into each other. Ramona tried canceling out the energy of the fires with light beams, and Athelstan, not able to come up with anything else to do, picked up nearby cars and karts and hurled them in tight spirals to try and disrupt the inferno. Despite their combined efforts, the fire continued spreading and they found themselves backpedaling faster in an attempt to create some sort of space.
"Are we having any sort of noticeable effect on this fire?" shouted Bowser. "It looks like we're doing next-to-nothing!"
"What kind of horrible fire is this?" Ramona wondered aloud. "This is not normal!"
"Let me go!" Andrew demanded.
"I'm sorry; what was that?" Marissa asked.
"Either let me go around you, or I'm forcing my way through you!" the Kruna growled.
"And what do you hope to accomplish by doing that? You think you're just gonna waltz up to the flames and you and your weak friends are gonna throw your paltry little elemental blasts and everything is going to be okay? I don't think so."
Andrew clenched his teeth in frustration. "It's better than not doing anything-"
Marissa just shook her head. "Instead of running like Geno would-"
"Geno wouldn't run!"
"Instead of running like Geno would," Marissa repeated. "You're going to try and put out an immortal hellfire? Now, suppose you all succumb to the inferno? Then what? You know what. It will be the same thing we just saw, only in place of the one you called 'Elkon,' it'll be me, and I intend on doing things much more ambitious than wiping the planet clean." She started cackling with malice. "Does the thought of self-preservation suddenly seem more appealing? That's pretty much all Geno can hope to do-"
"Why do you keep bringing up Geno?" Andrew asked.
"Because that's all he's been concerned with!" snapped Marissa. "He's been running because he knows he can't beat me. Sure, every once in a while he'll act like he has a shot at taking me down, but he knows that the moment he starts to falter, he's going to bail. He has to if he wants to survive. He doesn't share the immortality that I do. He's lived a very long time, no doubt, but he's vulnerable and he won't last forever. He knows that, but he doesn't know that I can see right through him, and I don't need a Malocchio Eye to come to that conclusion."
Andrew flared an orb of shadow in his left hand. "I've heard enough! Let me through so I can help my friends."
"Oh please," Marissa said, flicking her hand. "I could probably help you disband the fire; more than your friends can anyways. These kinds of things are my speciality, but you'll have to do exactly as I say."
"Give me one good reason why you should be trusted."
"I'm the one that foresaw the fire, wasn't I? I delivered the message to alert you all so you wouldn't come here after the inferno had already spread. Do you want to waste time trying to decide whether I should be trusted, or not?"
Andrew sighed, dispelling his dark energy. "Okay, fine. What do you need me to do?"
Marissa took off her hat and made a wide-arcing motion with it in the air. Her Power Vase appeared overhead and drifted to a soft landing on the ground.
"Just one thing," said Marissa. "Donate all of your available energy into this Power Vase."
In the Silent Realm, Daisy stood at the top of a steep hill overlooking the Chai Kingdom. Just before she had arrived at Chai Kingdom boundaries, she found her purple-indigo forehead chakra in the outskirts of some nearby bamboo forests, and now only needed three more chakras. She gazed at the landscape, trying to spot any signs or clues as to where any of the remaining chakras could be. What she saw confused her and made no sense. She remembered Chai City being in the direction where she was looking, but she saw warped smoldering and buildings crumbling and fading away.
What's all that about? she wondered. Why does it look like Chai City is disappearing?
Daisy stood there, staring at the sight of the vanishing city. It was strange to her that it seemed to be disappearing from the inside out, emanating from the center of the city and outwards. She couldn't dwell on it for long, for she only had so much time.
That's so strange, she thought. I was born not too far from there – like literally a couple miles from Chai City. It's been built up a lot since the last time I saw it, but why does it look like it's on fire? There's no fire in Silent Realms, are there? I guess this means there aren't any chakras over there?
Chai City looked like it was slowly shrinking before Daisy's eyes. She cocked an eyebrow, confused by the interesting sight. From what she saw in the Silent Realm, there was no apparent cause for Chai City's mounting destruction.
I guess there aren't any there, she decided. Probably not in the Chai Kingdom at all; the deepest into Chai Kingdom I've been since returning to Sarasaland was in The Deep Wood at Marissa's Lair, and I doubt there'd be one there. But I do know of a place where there might be one...
Some of the recruited fire and water wielders had made their way to the Kruna and went to work trying to put a cease to the hellfire, but all they managed to do was slow down its progression. Buildings continued to crumble and burn. The sound of crackling, explosions, and screams flooded the air. No doubt that there were people trapped within the numerous buildings now consumed in fiery death, just as there were many more unknowingly awaiting their doom in the path of the ever-expanding inferno.
"We're sorry we couldn't alarm everyone!" one of the fire wielders said.
"AHHHHH!" a voice called out in agony. The outline of a stout figure cut through the wall of flames and sprinted his way towards the Kruna and the gathered fire and water wielders of Sarasaland.
And then it happened. Wario ran past everyone, flailing his arms and screaming, "AHHH-WAWAWA-WAWA-WAWA! MY BUTT'S ON FIRE!"
"I got it," said Warra. He sent a swift blast of water at Wario's backside, effectively saving the yellow-suited man from immolation.
"Well, at least we put out that!" Athelstan cheered.
"Personally, I would've just left it on him," said Bowser.
"Oh, now is not the time, Bowser!" Neva yelled. "This fire is too voracious!"
"Thanks there, man in blue!" Wario said. He turned to Bowser, asking, "What are you doing here?"
"What are YOU doing here?!" Bowser snapped back.
"We had a gaming conference at the Chai City Concert Hall!" Wario replied.
"Yeah, you picked the best time for that," said Neva.
"How was I supposed to know that this would all happen?" asked Wario. "All I knew was that this conference was supposed to be a revenue booster and raise hype for 'Wario Ware: Island Frenzy!' But now, it's all gone up in flames! I'm gonna think long and hard about giving Sarasaland a bad review on next week's news feed!"
"Gee, that's so pressing!" exclaimed Bowser.
"It is!" Wario replied, not noticing the koopa's sarcasm. "Can you imagine the coinage that I missed out on because of this stupid fire? The confidence of my customers and fans must be so shaken now! They're gonna remember this conference not for the game demos, but for the fire that burnt down the game demos! It'll be like DashCon all over again! You want a convention? Nope! Sorry! It burnt down! So did the ball pit! And are you guys making this fire worse or are you actually trying to put it out?"
"What do you think we're trying to do, Wario?" Bowser said. "If I have to say it, you don't know your ass from a hole in the ground – just get outta here man! While you still can!"
"And get a new pair of pants," Athelstan added. "They've burnt a little more than you would've liked!"
Wario jumped in shock and held the holed back of his pants. "You don't gotta tell me twice! I'll leave you guys to it! You all look like you know what you're doing!"
As Wario bolted down the street and away from the flames, Warra muttered to himself, "I sure hope we know what we're doing."
Andrew held out his hands and let his elemental energy flow into the Power Vase. He was concerned that he was going to break the vase, but it sucked up his power like a magnetized sponge. Marissa watched with a blank expression and plenty of patience. When the Kruna of Shadow ran out of power, Marissa capped the Power Vase and stuffed it under her armpit.
"Thank you, sweetie," said Marissa.
"Don't call me that," Andrew grumbled.
"I was just trying to be nice is all," replied Marissa, her voice eerily quiet. "I can't be nice?"
Andrew facepalmed himself. "Okay, so what's going to happen now?"
Marissa pulled out her Mystic Broom and let it hover in front of her. "Hop on. And hold on tight!"
As Marissa sat down on the broom, Andrew took a seat right behind her. The broom lifted the two up into the air. They hovered out of the alley and above the many buildings of the city until they reached a point high above the entire metropolis.
The sight was a horrific one, to say the absolute least. From overhead, the hellfire billowed and consumed much of the inner part of Chai City. All around the perimeter of the flames, Andrew could see bursts of water being thrown at the fire. Along with help from Chai City firefighters, the efforts of the many fire and water wielders that Neva had gathered seemed to be eliciting some sort of effect on the inferno, but it did not appear to be enough. Sirens, screams, and general chaos echoed into the atmosphere. The fire was still spreading and growing larger, forcing everyone down on the ground back.
Marut quivered as he clutched his blade, his legs turning to jello as the Kruna and their help were all forced further and further back form the center of Chai City. Screams continued to fill the sky of people who either never got the warning or were too stubborn to leave. Already, two more of the water wielders that were with them had got caught in the inferno and were burnt alive. He looked at all his teammates as they did all they could against the hellfire, only to achieve very limited success. To make things worse, everyone was losing energy fast. The inferno only continued to expand and grow stronger.
Adrenaline swelling within, Marut started to become short of breath. Death was staring at them all and pulling its way closer. The toll it was racking up did not stop climbing. Images of Marissa's vision depicting all of the Kruna being burned alive haunted Marut. His eyes began streaming tears as fear for his life took over. He wanted to run so badly, but they couldn't. They had to try their best to stop the hellfire, but if they did too much, they would all perish.
"W-Why now..." Marut sputtered. "Why this? What is this? It doesn't fit the rules! We're either fulfilling our duty as Kruna by staying here to fight this fire and die, or we willfully abandon an entire city! Either way, we lose – how can that be right?!"
The hellfire looked just as it did in Marissa's vision. It looked as if it was melded with souls of the tormented and fiends unknown by mortals. The more he stared at the fire, the more that eyes and mouths became discernible.
"This isn't how it's supposed to work!" Marut cried. "The good guys are supposed to win in times like this! Come up with a well-thought out plan! Overcome the odds and unlock a new power in the nick of time to save the day! Something!"
Warra took several leaps back and tried to pull together his remaining energy to unleash a Hydrocannon, but upon firing off the pressurized water, he soon realized that it would not be enough to overcome the insurmountable size of the flames. Angered, Bowser made several jumps backwards as well and put out a Tavado blast, only for his fiery torpedos to be burnt themselves by the unreal inferno. Neva's Novado did not have much more success either.
"So what now?!" Marut screamed. "After all we've been through, we're all just going to die?!"
Athelstan channeled into his Alkemei Odina, jamming his foot into the ground to kick up the entirety of the street in front of them. The ridge created did manage to halt the progression of the inferno for a few brief moments, but it didn't last. Before long, the flames climbed over and resumed chasing the coalition of elemental wielders.
"We're all good aren't we?" Marut asked, tears in free flow. "Why is this happening? We're supposed to come through in times like this... all of us..."
"It's too much!" one of the fire wielders hollered. "Fallback! Bail out!"
"You damn well better not!" Neva screamed.
"We have to!" yelled one of the water wielders. "There's nothing we can do! We've tried everything!"
"We gotta GO!" another fire wielder screamed.
All of the assisting elemental wielders subdued their energies and removed their focus from the hellfire. They turned and fled down the street with urgency. Whatever shame they developed from their decision, they hid, and they did not look back, nor did they think to wait for Neva and the Kruna. With the drop off in resistance, the inferno resumed expanding at its previous pace.
"Even they gave up?" Bowser yelled. "This is their nation! Not ours!"
"If we don't do something quick, we're all gonna fry!" screamed Ramona.
"I'm out of energy, you guys!" exclaimed Warra.
"Don't you all get it?" snapped Marut. "We all got to this point to win, not to lose! We're not supposed to lose situations like these! We're not supposed to die!"
Athelstan once more put his Pendant of Strength to use and kicked into the street. With each leap backwards, he forced punishing kicks into the ground to set up a series of wedges and ridges to delay the flames, but he too appeared to be running low on power. Soon, he didn't have enough energy to work his Alkemei Odina.
"I don't know... what we can do here, guys," said Athelstan. "There's no telling how many people have been caught in there already. If we don't turn tail and get out of here now, we're going to end up like them!"
"No!" screamed Marut. "NOT LIKE THIS!" A waterfall of tears streaming from his eyes, he choked the grip of his ninjato with all his strength. "What the hell could be the reason for this madness?!" Lightning began to form around his tool. In all the instances before, the lightning would jump from his ninjato to a target, but this time, it constrained itself to the blade. This development caught the attention of all his teammates around him.
"What did we do to deserve this?" Marut cried. The lightning around his ninjato continued to intensify, yet remained contained to his blade despite the building density in power.
"What's this?!" Bowser thought aloud. "This is a new one!"
"Marut!" Warra called out. "Marut!"
"Answer when you're being talked to!" yelled Bowser.
"I don't wanna die!" Marut screamed. "Nobody dies!" He kept urging all of his available energy into the lightning, forcing out everything he had. "I just wanna make it all go away! C'mon! C'MON!" He did not stop charging his ninjato until all his power was locked tight around his blade, unaware that he was executing a fully-powered Lightning Blade technique.
The Kruna and Neva all stared at their air teammate in awe of what he had produced. Marut thrust his Cyclone Ninjato to the sky. The lightning finally leapt out and branched up into the heavens and brought a wicked downdraft that stopped the progression of the inferno. The power of the lightning contorted the sky above, drawing clouds and evoking even more lightning around them. Thunder boomed and split the air as water squeezed out of the gathering clouds to become rainfall.
"Everyone – GET BEHIND HIM!" Warra shouted. "He's not thinking!"
Marut's teammates got out of his line of sight as he brought down his ninjato and made a sweeping horizontal swing, unleashing a swath of lightning that burst through a massive chunk of the hellfire. The moment he let the energy loose, he collapsed and passed out. For as grand as his move was, it only succeeded in pushing back the inferno. And although it pushed the fire back a considerable distance, it still raged on from other directions and in other parts of the city. Even the thunderstorm that formed overhead could not overcome the magnitude and might of the hellfire. The sides of the inferno closed in to cover up the massive gap formed by Marut's technique.
After witnessing what had just happened, the Kruna all resigned to the fact that the hellfire was far too much for any of them to overcome. Judging by how barren the city was the further out they moved from the center, those that didn't get caught up in the inferno had already evacuated the city. With that in mind, the Kruna made the decision to fall back. Neva bolted forward and picked up Marut and his ninjato before the flames got to him and took off to escape down the street with the rest of the team.
"Why are we still hovering up here?" asked Andrew. "Why aren't we doing anything to stop the fire? I'm pretty sure this thunderstorm isn't gonna cut it!"
Marissa didn't reply. She stared at the monstrous inferno, her arms crossed and a sly smile stuck to her face. It was as if she paid no attention to the inferno below.
"Marissa!" Andrew grunted. "We've been up here for quite a while now, and you haven't done anything!"
"I'm sorry," Marissa replied. "I was thinking about working on a currency for Goombas and Rexes to use. Does my hair smell nice?"
"What does any of that have to do with any of this? And... yes, it does smell nice... but, again! What does that got to do with what's going on down below?"
Marissa began chuckling. "Exactly."
Suddenly, Lord Arkana turned around and grabbed Andrew by the shirt. She pulled him up off the broom and held him out so that he dangled from her hand in the air. Her smile evolved into a nasty grin.
"I hope you've learned your lesson, Kruna," said Marissa. "Don't trust a demon witch."
Marissa pulled back and threw the shadow wielder at the heart of the wall of fire down below. She then yanked up on her broom and soared off in the direction of her mansion, laughing in a demonic baritone. Because of her hasty departure, she did not see the wave of cosmic light soar through the air above Chai City that saved Andrew from certain death.
"We're not gonna make it!" Ramona screamed.
The hellfire had somehow accelerated its speed of expansion, as if Marut's Lightning Blade had angered the flames themselves. The inferno now seemed hellbent on not only consuming all of Chai City but the Kruna as well. They ran as fast as they could, but the hellfire was gaining on them. The fires seemed to be forming "arms" to try and wrangle in the fleeing elemental wielders. Doom had been a possibility all night, but it had now become imminent.
Just as Neva was about to get singed, the same wave of cosmic light that grabbed Andrew dove down to snatch her and the rest of the Kruna. The cosmic light then soared off into the sky for a nearby cliff face a safe distance away. At the instant the cosmic light escaped, the hellfire's power intensified in rage and tripled both its rate of spread and its temperature of burn. The inferno's flames bounced around with instability, enlarging its scope to consume all of Chai City.