Chapter 29 – The End Part 1

Cody kept his eyes shut, as a ringing sound filled his ears. He blinked his eyes open and let out a series of coughs as dust and debris filled his mouth. He slowly lifted his head and was shocked to see everything around him was blurry and twisting in an odd fashion.

"You ok?"

Cody whirled around and came face to face with Julius and Rafael. Julius's blue hands were glowing and Cody could now see that he was creating a force field around him.

"I guess so," Cody replied in an uncertain tone, popping his ears. "How did you-"

"We came just in time," Rafael said, his fingers twitching at his sides.

"Don't we always," Julius couldn't help but let a grin come to his face.

Cody gasped, his eyes widening. "Zack!"

Julius slowly put down his hand, the force field around them disappearing. He placed his hands on Zack's stomach, and his eyes shifted from blue to red.

Cody looked around and saw that everything was knocked out of place. Dust and debris were everywhere and everything was knocked over. Some of the building support systems were lying on the ground. Cody could see his friends had force fields around them too. Mike and Rikku were the only ones without ones.

"Cody, he's waking up."

Cody turned back to his brother and let out a laugh of relief when he saw his brother stirring.

Zack's eyes fluttered open and squinted. His eyebrows knitted in confusion. "Julius? Rafael?" he asked quietly. He groaned and put a hand up to his head. "I feel like I've gotten run over by a truck."

"Oh, Zack," Cody laughed and gave his brother a big hug.

"Easy, Codes," Zack groaned, sitting up. Nevertheless, he gave his brother a hug in return. "I kept my promise."

"I knew you would," Cody replied. "Everyone's here now, we should be able to return Crystal and Rikku back to normal."

"What about Rumiku?" Rafael asked, getting to his feet. He looked around and saw Sydney running over to them, a walkie-talkie held up to his mouth.

"She's knocked out," Cody replied. "She should be fine."

"Not necessarily," Sydney said, pulling the walkie-talkie away from his mouth. "Uncle Christian says it's possible that she could still be under the influence of her curse." He then turned to Zack and Cody. "How're you guys doing?"

"Zack?" Cody asked, turning to him.

"I'm ready to kick some butt, Codes," Zack said getting to his feet, cracking his neck.

Cody grinned, getting to his feet. Flames burst around Zack hands, as they curled into fists. His eyes narrowed as soon as they locked on Rikku. He slowly started to walk over to her. "Hey, Rikku!"

Rikku, who was bracing herself on one knee, broke her glare from Mike and turned sharply to look at him. "Well, well, well, Male Fire is even more hot-headed than I thought."

"You're fighting me, not him," Zack said, his eye shifting over to Mike, who was doubled over on the ground, breathing heavily. Mike slowly got to his feet and stumbled out of the way. "It's time to fight fire with fire, Rikkula."

"Don't call me that," Rikku hissed.


"Hey, is she ok?" Mike asked, heading over to Noah, who had a force field up around him and Rumiku. He stopped short when he saw that Alan had his arms around her.

"She's still knocked out," Alan said, turning to Mike, his eyes glowing purple. "She's having an inner battle, it seems."

"What do you mean?" Mike asked, breaking his gaze from Alan before dropping to Rumiku's side. He gently brushed her hair away from her face.

"Have you ever seen her powers completely take her over?" Alan asked, squinting his eye at Mike. He slowly shook his head.

"I thought that's what cause her curse to take her over," Mike muttered. Alan shook his head.

"No, it's not," Noah said, jumping into the conversation. "Rumiku always hates going into battle, but she always does it because she knows she has to. If she uses too much of her powers, they take her over. Let's just say it's not the most fun thing to have to worry about."

"See, her eyes are black and blue," Alan said, lifting one of Rumiku's eyelids. Mike slowly nodded. "The black parts represent the darkness inside of her. She's had to live with this her whole life."

"As you can see, her curse isn't taking her over anymore," Noah said showing Mike Rumiku's fingernails and teeth. "It's just the darkness now."

"Well, what do we do?" Mike asked.

"We wait," Alan replied. "She can only do this herself." Noah's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What?"

"We have to get out of here," he said, his ears twitching. "Someone's coming, and fast."

Alan's eyes widened. "CRYSTAL!"

"Silver Twister," Noah said spinning in a circle. Wind rushed out of his hands, gently pulling the group of them up off the ground and into the air. He gently guided them over to the other side of the room, seconds before Crystal burst into the room, riding on the back of her guardian, Dricer.

"Eros, Taki," Alan said he gently set Rumiku down on the ground. In a burst of white light, Alan's two guardians appeared by his side. He easily gave one command. "Go." The two dogs ran towards Dricer, barking and growling, teeth bared.

"SilverTatsu," Noah's guardian appeared by his side, in human form. "Do the best you can, but be careful."

"Yes, master," SilverTatsu said with a nod before holding out his hands. "Thorned Affection." A giant hammer appeared in his hands. A pair of black wings slid out of his shoulder blades and he shot forward.

"Where's Patrick and Ryan?"Noah asked as Sydney rushed over.

"They're out in the hall, trying to stop Koto and them," he replied breathlessly. "Max and Tapeworm are with them." All of them jumped when there was a loud crash and Patrick, Ryan, Max, and Tapeworm burst through a wall and into the room. "I stand corrected."

"Pat!" Noah raced over to his brother and helped him to his feet.

"I'm fine, Noah," Patrick said wiping a line of blood off of his forehead. "They backed off. They just disappeared. I don't know where they went."

"I get the feeling this won't be the last time we'll see them," Ryan said shaking dust from his hair.

"It never is," Max said, lighting crackling around her hands. "I just don't think we'll be seeing them again for a long time."

"How's everyone doing in here?" Tapeworm asked.

"Sydney, what's going on?"

"Sorry, Uncle Christian," Sydney said moving the walkie-talkie back to his mouth. "Rikku and Zack are fighting and it's obvious that because of what Mike did, that's she's starting to get tired. But, Zack isn't all the way back up to his normal strength."

"Yes, Rikku is the strongest out of all of them. Zack and Cody will be the ones that end this once and for all. How's Cody doing?"

"He's fighting with Crystal," Noah said grabbing the walkie-talkie. "She's riding on Dricer. It looks like she was taken over too. Eros, Taki, and SilverTatsu are helping Cody out."

"And how's Rumiku doing?"

"She's trying to fight off the darkness in herself. We don't know how it's going. Alan's trying to see into her subconscious state and tell us what's going on."

"Ok, guys, listen carefully," Aaron's voice came over the walkie-talkie. "You're going to have to go inside of her and push out the darkness yourself."

"What?" Noah and Sydney cried in unison. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"You're going to have to use Ryan for that one," Christian's voice came back on the line. "He's the only one that can move through shadows. This will work too. Trust me."

"Whatever you say," Sydney said with a sigh. "Ryan, come here!" Ryan rushed over, hearing the urgency in Sydney's voice. "I need you to go into Rumiku's body."

"What?" Ryan asked, his eyes widening.

"We need you to go into Rumiku's body and push out the darkness inside of her," Sydney replied.

"But, what'll that do to her powers?" Ryan asked, his fingers twitching at his sides.

"Don't know. That's a risk we're going to have to take, dude," Alan called over. "I don't think she can take much more." Rumiku was starting to twitch in Alan's arms, making faces of pain every now and then.

"Just hang on, Ru," Mike whispered. "Everything will be ok."

"Look out!" Tapeworm yelled, as a wave of fire rushed over to them. All of them dropped to the ground, feeling the heat wash over them. "They're going to have to be more careful."

"Zack needs help," Max said grabbing onto Tapeworm's arm. "Come on, let's go. It'll give them more time." Tapeworm nodded and the two of them rushed over to help out. Julius and Rafael were reflecting stray attacks back at the fighting groups.

"Ryan!" Sydney shouted at him.

"He's going to have to go now if he's going to save her," Christan said in an urgent tone over the walkie-talkie. "She won't last much longer."

"What do you mean by that?" Sydney asked sharply. "She's not going to die is she?" There was silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie. Mike grabbed it from Sydney's hand.

"IS SHE GOING TO DIE OR NOT?" he yelled, his voice cracking.

"Calm down, will ya?" Aaron asked. "Geeze, teenagers and their hormones. I don't ever want to grow up."

"She's not going to die, in the funeral, six feet under, sidewalk memorial sense," Christian replied slowly.

"Then what the hell do you mean?" Mike demanded.

"She'll only be a shell of her former self," Sydney whispered, realization setting in. Mike gazed up at Sydney in shock, the walkie-talkie sliding out of his hands.

"Ryan! Go now!" Alan snapped, tightened his grip on Rumiku, who was starting to shake violently.

"Wait," Mike said getting to his feet. "Take me with you."

"I don't think she could handle that, Mike," Alan replied. Mike waved him off.

"Please," he said turning back to Ryan.

"Look, you don't know her like I do," Alan said, trying to get Mike to listen to reason. "If you do this, you could hurt her even more."

"Just because she's known you longer-I can help," Mike snapped. "I swear."

"You guys are going to have to make a decision fast," Patrick said as he and Noah held onto Rumiku's legs, trying to stop her from shaking. He winced when he got kicked in the face. "It's getting harder and harder to hold her still."

"If you don't do something now, she'll be gone from us forever," Sydney wailed. "Hurry up!"

"Ryan," Alan said in a warning tone.

"Come on," Ryan said with a heavy sigh.

Mike gave Alan, who rolled his eyes, a smug look. Ryan snapped his fingers and the two of them turned into black (Ryan) and light blue (Mike) vapor before disappearing into Rumiku's body.

"We're really inside of her?" Mike asked, looking around. All he could see in every direction was black.

"I guess so," Ryan replied. He stopped spinning when he saw a light out of the corner of his eye. "Look over there. What's that light?"

"There's only one way to find out," Mike replied, and started in that direction.


"Looks like you need some help," Max said as she caught Zack as he was about to hit the floor.

"Thanks," Zack gasped, getting to his feet. "She's getting tired, but not fast enough."

"Lightning Strike," Max shouted, shooting lightning out of her hands.

"Mystic Force," Tapeworm shouted, shooting white lightning out of his hands. It hit Rikku square in the chest and knocked her back a little bit.

"You think that's going to stop me?" Rikku asked, cracking her knuckles. "Think again."

"Blazen."

Zack's guardian appeared at his side, in his human form. He saluted Zack and waited for orders. Seconds later, DalFang, in his human, form appeared by Rikku's side.

"DalFang, buddy it's me, Blazen," Blazen said gliding over to DalFang. He glared at Blazen with dark eyes.

"Your buddy's not here anymore," DalFang hissed, his tail swishing violently. "You're the strongest anymore." Wings slid out of DalFang's shoulder blades and shot forward, slamming Blazen into the wall, his hands closing around his throat.

"DalFang, stop," Blazen choked out. "You don't want to do this."

"I'm the strongest. Not you," DalFang hissed.

He opened his mouth and a ball of fire slid up his throat and onto the tip of his tongue before he extinguished it by closing his mouth. Smoke slid out of his nose as a growl rumbled in his throat. He closed his hand into a fist and punched Blaze in the stomach.

"Ugh," Blaze doubled over, groaning in pain. He brought up his knee and slammed it into DalFang's stomach, knocking him back.

"Burning Hellion," Zack shouted, his whole body erupting into flames. He shot forward, slamming into Rikku, tackling her to the ground. "Volcano Explosion."

With a loud bang, a ball of fire erupted around the two of them, knocking them apart. Zack groaned in pain when he landed on a pile of rocks. Rikku flipped backwards, pushing off a wall, and diving towards Zack.

"Seafoam Typhoon!" A wave of water knocked Rikku off balance in mid air and she slammed into the ground. Julius shook the remaining water off his hands and rushed over to Zack. "You ok?"

"Yeah, thanks man," Zack said sitting up. He shook his head. "There's no way we can stop her."

"There's always a way, we just have to figure it out first," Julius muttered. "Raf, do you have any idea."

"Unfortunately, no," Rafael replied. "Normally, this all relates back to the Ancient times of the Elemental Kingdom. But, I can't see how this relates to that."

"There's gotta be something we can do," Zack muttered. "There's always something. Maybe…maybe there's something in this building. Something that Core has been hiding that we can use."

"It's a possibility," Julius said quietly. "I'll stay here and help hold off Rikku and Crystal. Raf-san, you go tell Alan, Patrick, Noah, and Sydney that they need to get to Core's office as fast as they can. As soon as they find something, come straight back."

"You got it," Rafael said with a nod before dodging a wave of water that shot by them. He jumped over large piles of debris, and ducked behind support systems before making it over to Alan. "Julius just sent me with an important message."

"What is it, Raf-san?" Sydney asked. "It sounds important."

"Is there any possible chance that Core left some of his plans, or findings in his office?" Rafael asked, looking from Patrick, to Noah, to Sydney. They all exchanged glances.

"It's possible," they replied in unison.

"Julius is convinced that Core could have left something important that could help us with Crystal and Rikku," Rafael quickly explained, looking over his shoulder. "Alan, could you teleport them to his office?"

"Yes, but I'd have to take Ru with us," Alan replied. "It does sound safer there."

"Where's Mike and Ryan?" Rafael asked, looking around. Wordlessly, Alan motioned to Rumiku. "What?"

"It's for her own good," Sydney replied before moving the walkie-talkie up to his mouth.


"Uncle Christian, we're going to get Alan to teleport us to Core's office."

"Why're you doing that?" Christian asked, placing a hand on his head mic. He and Aaron were sitting in front of his many computers. Graphs, charts, and blue prints filled every screen.

"Sydney, what's going on?" Aaron asked into his own head mic.

"Mike and Ryan are now in Rumiku's body. Cody, Eros, and Taki are fighting Crystal and Dricer. Zack, Blaze, Max, and Tapeworm are fighting Rikku and DalFang. We're all getting tired. We're slowing down."

"What does Core's office have anything to do with this?" Christian asked, furiously typing on his computer.

"Rafael and Julius think that Core may have left useful information in his office."

"What about the rest of Wingz Corp?" Aaron asked.

"They disappeared. We don't know where they went."

"Alright, just get Rumiku to Core's office," Christian replied. "Try not to move her too much, or something bad could happen."

"Alright."

There was a crackling sound and the line went dead. Christian sighed heavily and rubbed his forehead, hanging the head mic around his neck.

"Tell me," Aaron said quietly. "Will they make it?"

"It's going to be a long fight ahead of them, Aaron," Christian said, his face in his hands. "But, they'll all make it out of there. I'll make sure of it."

"Crystie," Aaron whispered, hanging his head.


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