Sorry...it's been way too long. Chapter!
Chapter Twenty-Nine: To Steal the Light
Gabe was the first to freak out at the news.
"Sasha!" he exclaimed. He summoned Blinder Beetle and banished himself within seconds. Ray and Allie freaked out.
"Wait! Gabe!" Allie called to no avail.
"Not again!" Master Jaha practically wailed.
"What is with you adepts?!" Master Isao shouted.
"We gotta go after him before the Choten gets to him!" Ray exclaimed. Masters Kimora, Nadia and Chavez, who could hear the commotion over the radio, sighed in exasperation as well.
"Thunder Guardian Shaw K'naw!" Ray summoned. Allie put her hand on his shoulder, and Master Jaha noticed just in time to put her hand on Allie's.
As they materialized, Ray immediately asked Shaw K'naw to help them find Gabe.
They followed the robotic bird to a door, and ran in to see Gabe speaking to Sasha, thankfulness covering his face.
"Gabe!" Ray called. Gabe turned and sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sorry for worrying you all." he apologized. "But the Choten hasn't been found."
Suddenly, Light creatures surrounded the group, buzzing angrily. Sasha, saddened, looked apologetically at the group. "They detect a being of Darkness."
Master Jaha pursed her lips. "I promise, I'm not here to hurt Light even though I'm Master of-"
"It is not you." Sasha clarified, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
Allie recoiled, realizing. She felt a tear roll down her face. "Right. Um, I'm sorry." She released the Cloak. "I wear the Cloak of Darkness permanently, until my death. I'm sorry, I can't remove it. But I am not here to hurt you." The creatures buzzed again.
"The girl is telling the truth." Sasha backed her up. "Please, do not be bothered by her presence."
The creatures retreated reluctantly. Their bright eyes kept an unnerving watch anyway, and Allie felt like a criminal.
Guilt washed over her once again. Why her? Why was Megaria so fixated on her?
Why couldn't everyone just leave her alone?
They jumped as they heard crashing. Sasha immediately went to see the problem, telling them to stay put. Gabe pursed his lips.
"She's going to be fine." Ray told him.
"Seriously, Sasha's strong." Allie agreed.
"I know." he said, lips still pursed.
They heard blasts, a veil opening, then quiet.
Sasha flew back in, stone (or perhaps metal) faced.
"No creature is hurt. No true damage except a few scratches. One small gem was taken, but that's it-"
"Gem?!" Ray exclaimed. "Could it have been-"
"-the gem of the shining star?!" Allie finished.
"I'm not sure." Sasha responded, sheepishly. "All I know for sure is the archangels are upset, screaming about 'Kaiju' and 'portals'."
"Oh no." the three said, at the same time.
Master Jaha took a deep breath, rubbing her temples. "Alright. He will try to go after us. Let's go to the temple and plan."
Quickly saying goodbye to Sasha, the group opened a breach and went to the Temple. The other Masters were waiting for them, Master Jaha having warned them about the gem.
"We have two options." Master Isao laid out as they sat. It was a nice exception for the adepts to actually sit in the discussion. "One is to go after the Choten, or apprehend him in the Null Zone. Or we can wait here, for him to come after us."
"We can't stay here." Ray, Master Kimora and Master Chavez said immediately. And simultaneously.
"Well we know what we have to do." Master Nadia proclaimed, looking at Master Chavez with a slight smirk.
They prepared a route. Ray said a quick goodbye to his parents, who had been waiting at the temple since after the Kaiju "meeting".
The Masters and adepts walked through the breach, and started down the route to Kaiju.
"There's no other place he could go." Allie whispered, worried for the Mage of the Null.
They reached the clearing, where Kaiju was waiting. "He is on his way." she informed, darkly.
Allie ran to her side first, releasing the Cloak and holding up her inactivated gauntlet. The Masters followed suit, Gabe inspecting a panel Kaiju brought up to see where the Choten was.
Then, he walked into the open. He slowly clapped his hands, raising the tension and causing the Masters to narrow their eyes at him.
"Wow, I must say. Amazing. You knew exactly where I was going, and you got here first." the Choten congratulated. Then, they saw the five creatures behind him.
"An Essence Elf." Master Kimora pointed out.
"A Cyber Sprite." Master Nadia noticed.
"A very young Blaze Belcher." Master Chavez commented.
"A Gigabolver." Master Jaha added.
"A Thunder Cruiser." Master Isao finished, pursing his lips.
The Choten clapped again. "Very good."
"You can't control all of those at once." Ray glared, almost mimicking what the Choten had once said to him.
"And they're not very powerful." Gabe muttered to himself. "Except maybe the Gigabolver."
"You misinterpret my intentions." the Choten said, smirking. He smirk widened as Kaiju stepped back.
"No...no...they are all here." she whispered, terrified. "No..."
Allie gasped. "Five stones, five creatures of different civilizations! Kaiju might...she might..."
"I am so sorry." the Mage whispered to the horrified creatures. "I am so, so sorry." And then her eyes went black. Darkness surrounded her, but not the kind that would comfort Allie.
The ultimate blackness of Null.
The Masters cried out in shock. "What's going on?!"
"No!" Ray shouted.
"Kaiju!" Allie screamed.
"The creatures!" Gabe exclaimed, causing Ray and Allie to give him a "no-kidding-captain-obvious" look.
The stones rose, whether from a pocket, pendant or opened palm. They, like magnets, met over Kaiju's head and began to glow. The creatures, as if in a trance, surrounded Kaiju the same way the stones had. Their spirits started to seep out of them like mist.
"No!" The Masters tried to pull the creatures away. Allie ran to Kaiju and tried to wake her up. Gabe tried to fight off the Choten. Ray ran next to Kaiju, when suddenly, the stones combined into one, glowing stone. Kaiju's eyes went from black to gold, and her body began to glow golden.
"This stone is the key. The one who touches it will find the portal to answers." Kaiju, or the entranced Kaiju, spoke melodiously. The Choten ran to it, but Ray wouldn't have it.
"No!" Ray grabbed the stone, causing the black and golden storm to cease in an instant. Ray's body began to glow.
"No!" the Choten shouted. "You cannot steal my answer, my light!" He tried to tackle Ray, but an invisible barrier knocked him to the floor.
"Ray!" Allie and Gabe cried out. The Masters gasped as he began to float in a golden bubble-looking thing, then began to spin. The light was blinding, but Ray could see them covering their eyes. The last thing he saw in the Null Zone was Allie screaming.
"Ray!"
Ray blinked, finding himself in the golden bubble-thing still. But around him was an endless sea of stars.
"Welcome." a melodious voice greeted. Ray turned around rapidly, looking for the source of the voice. He heard laughter. "I'm sorry, you won't be able to see me. But I welcome you, Raiden Pierce-Okamoto, to the realm of infinity, where I can answer any question."
"Wait, how do you know my name?"
"Are you sure you want that to be your one question?"
"No! I just...um..."
More laughter. "I can answer any question. About your life, about someone you care for...anything at all."
Ray remained silent. He could ask anything at all. How to bring the creatures back, what his life would be like, if his friends would be happy in their lives.
Heck, he could even ask if Allie likes him as much as he likes her.
But there was one important thing, one that stood out from the rest.
"I've got it." Ray said. "How do we stop the Choten for good, and all his followers, forever, and can Kaiju be brought back to the human realm?"
"Those are two questions, dear."
"In a sense, they both are combined."
The voice sighed. "Alright."
Ray's question, or questions, were answered. With this knowledge, he took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you." he thanked, confidently.
"You will be sent back now. Be warned...your friends and allies are very worried about you."
Ray's expression darkened as he nodded. The bright light flashed again, the spinning beginning. Ray closed his eyes, and waited for it to stop.
While all this occurred in the portal of answers/infinity, the others were freaking out in the Null Zone. Kaiju was crying over the the dead creatures.
Gabe took his backpack and slammed it against the Choten's head, as if to make sure he was definitely knocked out.
The Masters were discussing what to do with the Choten, as Allie paced back and forth.
"He'll be back in a few minutes, just a few more minutes." she murmured nervously. Gabe put. Comforting hand on her shoulder as Allie freaked out.
"When he comes back, I think it's time you told him how you felt." Gabe said.
Allie blushed. "Why are you bringing this up now?" she mumble-asked.
"You've been putting it off."
"I don't want to ruin our friendship." Allie justified.
"I think you're just worried about being rejected."
Allie reddened further. "Shut up, Gabe."
He laughed good-naturedly. Then, the spinning ball of light reappeared. The Masters jumped, as Allie gasped. Kaiju glanced up, tears still running down her face.
Ray stepped out of the light, which dissipated quickly. Allie ran and jump-tackled him into a hug.
"Ohmygosh, thankgoodnessyou'reokay." Allie rushed out.
Ray laughed, supporting himself from the ground. The Masters sighed in relief, and Gabe kneeled next to him to make sure he was fine.
"I know how to finally stop the Choten," Ray said. "and I know where Kaiju belongs."
They all looked to him.
"Kaiju has to drain his mana, and he has to go to a human prison." Ray said. "And Kaiju belongs on our side of the veil."
Allie felt tears run down her face. But for the first time in quite a while, they were tears of joy.
Yeah, slow updates...I literally had the worst writers block, no excuse there. When I finally got inspiration, I wrote the entire thing. Yes, I wrote this entire chapter today. So...um, sorry again, and sorry if it has a whole ton of mistakes. On the bright side, about two to three chapters left! One will have a lot of Rayllie fluff, because I love them. (As if this story didn't have enough of it.) See you soon!
~Phantom-chan
