Chapter Nineteen: The Great Battle of Swords
Lothor looked down at the ship as the Al Bhed crew were out of it, trying to figure out how the engine had the problem that it did. They had no idea it had been tampered with by Ivicar. Gripping the Sword of Darkness, Lothor closed his eyes and channeled the Black Energy from it into himself. He then put the sword into the hilt on his belt and bent over, picking up the Cannon of Ki.
"What are you going to do with that?" Zurgane asked, holding the Sword of Light himself.
"I'm channeling... my..." Lothor said, struggling to lift the cannon onto his shoulder. "Energy... into... this."
Zurgane and Lothor were then both thrown onto their backsides as the cannon fired. Black Energy erupted from it, mixed with his Negative Lifestream. Lothor was someone so foul, his evil had tainted his Lifestream into the type of foul mixture that caused pools of Negative Lifestream to accumulate under the crust of every planet with beings on it as evil as him. The very pools that were commonly known as "Sanzu Waters".
"Watch out!" Cid the pilot screamed as he saw the ball of Black Energy and red Negative Lifestream fly toward his ship. He leapt forward and tackled his daughter Rikku out of the way.
"Ahh! What!?" Rikku yelled as she first felt her father ram into her, then rolling on the ground back up to her feet. She watched in horror as the ship exploded before her eyes.
"Noooo!" Yuna screamed, running from the surrounding woods to her cousin Rikku. She had gone out with Trueheart and Tidus to search for food a half hour earlier and were returning from their hunt. The scene she returned to was not one she expected, and would be burned into her mind forever.
Tidus' eyes began to glow the orange glow of the Corona Aurora. Wind began blowing around Trueheart at the same time, as the duo began looking around for the culprit.
"Father! No!" Rikku screamed, falling to her knees in horror as flames danced around where what was left of the ship sat, smoldering.
"Don't cry little one... You're suffering will be short..." Lothor said, floating down to the site of the wreckage, causing Zurgane to float down with him.
"Who are you!? Why have you done this!?" Yuna screamed, tears falling down her face.
"Lothor..." Tidus spat, causing his sword to appear in his hand.
Rikku pulled out her daggers. "So this is the leader of the Morphing Masters you told us about!?"
Lothor bowed as he set foot on the ground. "Oh, good. I see my reputation precedes me! And my dear Tidus, it is so good to see you again. You see, you have something that belongs to me..."
Trueheart shook his head. "There is nothing here for you, clown. Leave at once."
Lothor frowned. "Oh, pretty please?"
"Firaga!" Tidus screamed. Massive fireballs appeared around Lothor and his henchman.
"Don't make me laugh. Zocato!" Lothor said. The Anti-Magic blast destroyed the fire around them, simultaneously knocking Rikku, Yuna, Tidus, and Trueheart off their feet. "Now! General Zurgane? Point the Sword of Light at Tidus and take back what's rightfully mine."
He must be speaking about the Crown of the Gods, though I don't know why he thinks it belongs to him... Tidus thought as he jumped up to his feet. As he did, he saw lightning erupt from the Sword of Light and begin travelling toward him. Even with his enhanced perception and reaction time from both the Morphing Grid and the Corona Aurora, he knew he would not get out of the way before the Sword of Light hit him.
"Not on my watch!" Thor screamed, throwing his trusted hammer Mjölnir at the blast, blocking it from getting to the Corona Aurora.
"Who are you!?" Zurgane demanded.
"I am an emissary from the High Ones. I have come here searching for great evil that has entered this, my universe. After much thought and concentration, I believe I have finally come to the end of my search! You are the cancer my people sensed enter into this realm from some unknown place, and my journey ends here. I will ensure your end!" Thor said, picking Mjölnir up from the ground.
Lothor laughed and dropped the Cannon of Ki to the ground, dancing in place like the court jester he appeared to be. "Oh, look at me! I'm an emissary of the blah blah blah! You make me sick, ya steroid ridden freak. Zurgane? Let us destroy them all!"
"With pleasure!" Zurgane stated happily. He pointed the Sword of Light again, that time at Thor, and shot another beam to take his powers.
"No!" Trueheart cried out, finally recovered from the Zocato blast. With a burst of pure Spirit Energy, he created a barrier around Thor and blocked the attack.
"You idiot. Actually swing with it. Like this!" Lothor yelled at Zurgane, prancing forward before swinging the Sword of Darkness at Tidus, who had leapt forward to protect the injured Rikku and Yuna.
"Don't think you're going to do this without me, you glory hog!" Loki cried out, descending from the sky. He held a curious sword in his hand that he used to hit the ground as he landed, causing it to quake and crack under him.
Thor jumped up and laughed as he performed a backflip. "Nice to see you, too, brother! Where did you get the sword!?"
Loki laughed. "Athena let me borrow it. It is called Excelsior! I figure a sword from the High One over the Department of War Tactics is bound to give me a boost!"
Zurgane yelled as he fell onto his face. Lothor grunted as he jumped up and landed gingerly on a tree branch. "Why don't we take things back to where I have home court advantage, huh?"
The seven warriors then watched as Lothor chanted an ancient incantation. Before they could react, they found themselves within the Great City.
. . .
Rumple shot blast after blast of Nathadian Magic at Dracul, but could not seem to land a hit. What made things more difficult was that Dracul was running from place to place, hitting those within the group, making Rumple continually doubt his aim, for fear of hitting anyone other than the giant Dinoman.
Mary, who had leapt into the surrounding forest when Dracul had first begun his attack, clenched her fist. This isn't what David would want me to do... He would want me to act like the queen I was! The queen I am! I must protect what is left of my family!
Dracul laughed as he turned to look at Rumple, while the rest of the group were on the ground in pain in front of the Ghost of Darkness' temple. "And then there was one..."
Rumple cast a Barrier spell around himself as Dracul raced forward to strike him. He could only Hope he would survive the attack to throw a counterspell.
"Meledon Conversion: White Mage!" Mary shouted. White robes appeared around her as she said the phrase. She then put her hands out and zapped Dracul. "Slow!"
She then floated through the air to Rumple as Dracul appeared to be going at walking speed. Rumple looked at her and laughed. "First of all: it is great to see you actually using your heritage. You are of the Order of Meledon!
"Also, Time Magic from a White Mage?"
Mary laughed as she stared at Dracul as he continued walking toward them. "I picked it up from a scientist that was once under my employ. I figured I should use it against this speedster."
"Yes. Even with the spell he seems to be moving at a normal pace! I..." Rumple stopped and frowned. "Take care of him. I need to prepare myself. Lothor... he is here!"
"You can feel him!?" Mary said, panicked.
Rumple nodded. "Oh, yes. He is less than a mile away..."
"Haste!" Mary cried out as she cast the spell over herself and Rumple. "We'll both need it."
As Rumple nodded, they suddenly felt an earthquake. They knew not it was caused by Loki slamming the sword Excelsior into the ground.
Rumple nodded and began racing toward the presence of Lothor. As he did, the spell on Dracul began to wear off.
"Curaga! Regen!" Mary yelled, casting curative and regeneration spells on those from her homeland. She fell to her back as she did, unable to keep her footing as the quake continued.
"Emma!" Baelfire screamed, feeling recovered from Dracul's attack. He watched as the quake began to cause the temple housing the Ghost of Darkness to begin to slip into the Earth. Emma was still trying to gain her footing and had fallen and was rolling to the hole the temple was making.
"Ahh!" She screamed. As the temple began to fall completely into the Earth, however, a black and blue cloud rolled into the area. As it disappeared, Emma fell to solid ground.
"What just happened!?" Will demanded angrily.
Dracul looked around in confusion. "What!? How did we get here?" He turned and found himself in the Great City, along with those who were around him, and also those who had been fighting Lothor at the same time.
"That would be because of me." Rumple said, not taking his eyes off of Lothor. "I heard him casting a teleportation spell and I piggybacked onto it, extending it to you all..."
Lothor sneered, mocking the first few lines of what Rumple had said. He then spoke by saying, "Well, the time has finally come, has it not? The time when I will-"
"Ahh!" Triassic Geki screamed as he was thrown into and through one of the walls of the Greater City. Gruumm raced in after him, screaming wildly.
A few moments later, through the same hole, Mesogog went flying into the city, covered in Purple Psychic Energy. Within seconds, Lije of the Dawn floated down and into the city as well, ready to continue the fight that had started outside the city walls.
Lothor began stamping his feet on the ground in anger. "Are. You. Kidding!? What is going on?! This is a private venue! Okay... Who else is here!?"
"It is time for you to meet your end, Lothor!" Octomus cried out, gritting his teeth to not feel the pain from his transformation. "Tycon!? Attack!"
"As you wish, Master! Ahhh!" Tycon screamed. He rushed forward and began attack those surrounding Lothor. Octomus himself stepped back into the shadows, not only due to pain, but also because he knew he would be useless in battle, since the ability to use Magic within the Great City had been taken away by Jakon when he had wished it so when he had tricked the Djinn, Ifrit.
Lothor looked at Rumple. "Okay, so if we are not going to be interrupted any-"
"I, the almighty Master Xandred, appear before you all with my newest weapon! I will crush all of you under my feet, and then you will all come with me to the Netherworld to serve me as my Nighlok army!"
"Who in the holy world is that!?" Lothor demanded, not recognizing Xandred as the former Morphing Master he was.
Rumple shook his head. "Aye... You sure have surrounded yourself with an odd lot..."
As the two former partners got lost in thought while they stared at the chaos of battle ensuing around them, Dracul rushed to Mesogog. "Master!? Are you okay!?"
Mesogog sighed. "I will be. Just get me out of here."
"But we must fight these foes to get Lothor's power!" Dracul demanded.
Mesogog laughed. "No, no... I have sent for... reinforcements."
Dracul, understanding what Mesogog meant, chuckled and picked his boss up. He then jumped into the air, landing a half mile away from the city. As he began to streak toward Mesogog's complex, he turned his head and laughed as he saw an army of dinosaurs begin to make their way to the Great City on Mesogog's command.
Back at the Great City itself, Lothor sighed. "Okay... if there will be no further interruptions, I-"
"RWAR!" A tyrannosaurus yelled as it barrelled into the city, oddly using the front gate and not destroying any more of the city wall. Many other dinosaurs ran in after the T-Rex.
"What is happ-" Lothor began.
"Geki! Geki!" Dan shouted, jumping off a dinosaur while the others did the same.
Triassic Geki, blocking a blow from Tycon, turned his head and laughed. "Alright! You brought reinforcements!"
"Technically Mesogog did, but we used our Spirit Animals to convince them to help us out! So... Who do we target!?" Mei shouted over the noise of combat.
"I don't know! Just help me with this guy first, okay!?" Triassic Geki said as he rolled under a massive punch from the giant red beast.
"Wait... Lothor!" Rumple said, pointing to Master Xandred as he swung his sword at Rikku. "Isn't that the Savage Sword."
"Oh, yeah... it is..." Lothor said, staring at it curiously.
"You fool! Don't you know what that can do!? How irresponsible are you!?" Rumple sneered as he began to run toward Xandred.
"Oh, yeah... That's... really bad!" Lothor said, shaking his head and chasing after both Rumple and Xandred.
While Lothor ran past Rumple, Rumple felt himself get pulled behind a tower. It was his group he was traveling with. "What is it!?"
Emma shook her head. "We have no Magic here! There's something strange about this city."
Rumple tried conjuring some Magic, but was shocked to find he could not. "Now what?"
"Well..." Mary said, no longer a White Mage. She stood to the side, revealing Killian behind her.
Rumple sneered. "You!"
Baelfire jumped in the way. "Whoa, Papa! Wait! Wait! He saved us."
"What!?" Rumple said in confusion.
"It's true." Belle said, taking her husband by the hand. "We were about to be attacked by a big red beast when we all fell through the floor."
Killian nodded. "I know a lot of secret passages around here."
"We can't trust him!" Rumple snapped.
"What choice do you have? Hmm? You want to go back out there with no powers? You'll be as useless as me." Killian said. He then moved to a wall to his left and tapped a brick, causing a door to appear. "So? Coming?"
Mary looked at Rumple. "I say yes." She then turned and walked into the corridor.
One by one, each from the group made their way into the door until it was only Killian and Rumple.
"Listen, here. If you are leading us into a trap then so help me I'll skin you alive." Rumple said, walking up to Killian.
"Noted." Killian said, not looking away.
"You first, mate." Rumple said.
"Alright, Dark One." Killian said as he turned and walked into the corridor. As Rumple followed, the door closed itself and vanished.
While that occurred, Loki cried out in pain as Lije blasted him with a psychic attack. He fell to the ground and the sword Excelsior left his hand, skidding across the ground.
Tidus, recognizing Loki as someone who had been trying to help them after Lothor had attacked, rolled over and stood before Lije. "Leave him alone!"
Lije of the Dawn laughed. "You fool! Don't make me destroy you, too!"
Tidus' eyes began to glow once again with the power of the Corona Aurora. "Don't test me, little girl!"
"Little girl!? You'll regret saying that!" Lije cried out. She pointed the Sword of Power at Tidus and shot a blast at him.
Tidus instinctively put his hand out and caught the blast in his hand. As he did, he saw immense power flow through his hand at the meeting point where his body touched the attack from the psychic child. Lije saw this and sneered, amplifying the power she was using to attack Tidus.
Suddenly, Tidus felt his mind under attack from the raw psychic power coming from the evil child. Tidus fell to his knees and cried out in pain.
As he did, Trueheart heard him. Seeing Excelsior on the ground, Trueheart rushed over and picked it up. He then jumped into the air and slashed Lije, causing her to end her attack and fall to the ground in pain.
Trueheart then ran to Tidus. "Tidus, my boy, are you okay!?"
"I... I..." Tidus said, blood beginning to fall from his eyes and nose.
Loki dragged himself to Tidus and frowned. "This is very bad... He has been hit with a very powerful psychic attack. Lije of the Dawn seems to be using that sword in her hands to amplify her attacks. I don't know if there is anything we can do to help him."
Trueheart frowned and looked at Loki. "There must be something! He's just a boy!"
"Well... That sword I brought. Excelsior? It is a very powerful sword. It is said to be made from the same material as my brother, Thor's, hammer Mjölnir. It is virtually indestructible. It may be possible to bond Excelsior to this boy, but since he is not a High One, I don't know if he could survive." Loki said.
Trueheart looked from Excelsior to Tidus and back. "This boy is not just a boy. He is the Sentinel Knight, defender of the Crown of the Gods. He has junctioned himself to that powerful artifact, and he can do so with this sword. Now, Tidus, I- AHH!"
Before Trueheart could finish, a bolt of Psychic Energy hit him in the back from Lije, who had picked herself back up. She held her cut arm with her free one and shot her horrible powers from her eyes. "How dare you! No one attacks me and lives to tell about it, old man!"
As purple lightning danced around his body, Trueheart turned and screamed to Tidus. "Junction yourself to the sword, boy! You can do it!"
Tidus, beginning to understand what Trueheart was saying, grabbed at the sword as it lay beside him. Focusing, he could feel the same connection he had made with the Corona Aurora being made with Excelsior. Suddenly, he felt the powers from the two weapons begin to mix within him.
"And now, old man... prepare to- Ah!" Lije cried out, an orange blast hitting her. She fell to the ground hard. Looking up, she saw an armored warrior she had never laid eyes on before.
He seemed to wear a black robe, with a matching black cape. On his chest was a green gem, matching the gem seen on the hilt of Excelsior, which was in his right hand. Around the gem was orange armor, mostly covering his torso and extending down to his feet, though it did not cover his legs. His wrists were also adorned with orange bangles, and his shoulders had orange pads on them. On his head, the black robe seemed to cover the entirety of it. As some sort of helmet, a crown shaped armor rested on his head, flaring out at the end, in line with where his cheekbones would have been if they could be seen.
"Who are you!?" Lije demanded.
"I am the Sentinel Knight... Leave here at once or feel the wrath of the Crown of the Gods!" Tidus in his new armor declared.
"ARGH!" Lije screamed, shooting psychic energy at Sentinel Knight.
Sentinel Knight focused on the Corona Aurora and blasted a shot out. It destroyed the attack and hit Lije in the torso. She cried out in pain.
"Lije!" Gruumm screamed. He ran to the last of the Dawn species and gripped at her. "Are you okay!?"
"Get... me... out!" Lije gasped out in pain. Gruumm nodded and picked her up, taking her out.
Loki, standing up, walked to Sentinel Knight. "Aren't you going to attack her?"
"No. She is already down. She won't be bothering us anymore... not unless she knows what's good for her. If we do meet again, though, I won't be so generous." Sentinel Knight said. He turned around and could not find Trueheart. "Where is the old man that was here!?"
Loki sighed. "He... he disappeared right before my eyes. I think he may have..."
Sentinel Knight clenched his fist. "No... Trueheart..."
Sentinel Knight was then knocked to the ground as Thor flew into him, being thrown by the blast from Lothor that was aimed at Master Xandred.
Xandred fell to a knee. He gasped in shock as he saw his skin cracking. "No! Ugh! You haven't seen the last of Master Xandred!" He then saw saw a crack in the floor and channeled his Nighlok powers to cause him to turn it into a Gap, sending him back to the Netherworld.
Lothor sneered. "Yuck. I have to remember to tell Zurgane we have cracks to seal up. We're letting vermin in..."
"Tycon!" Octomus screamed from the other side of the courtyard. He watched as Tycon tried to fight off a squadron of velociraptors along with a T-Rex, but was being defeated. "Tycon! We must leave here!"
As Tycon tried to escape, suddenly Dai Shi, in his new dragon form, burst onto the scene. He laughed, carrying the Wild Sword in his hands. "I just wiped the floor with four of warriors out there. You may have heard of them? Ivicar, Jakon, Jor, and App? Well guess what? You're all next! Haha!"
"Who is that!?" Yuna cried out, frowning as she stood beside Sentinel Knight. She had been hiding in a tower nearby but couldn't bring herself to hide any longer. She wanted revenge for her people who had been destroyed by Lothor.
"I am the mighty Dai Shi, and-"
"Samurai Power!" App, Jor, and Jakon screamed from the city entrance, running past the Dinosaurs that were fighting Master Xandred, who in a lust for fighting had decided to attack them with the Savage Sword.
Dai Shi fell to the ground. As he did, he cried out, "What!? I thought I destroyed you after Lije of the Dawn attacked you and Mesogog!"
Ivicar suddenly appeared behind them. "I am a master illusionist. I cast an teleportation spell on us. We were just fine." He then laughed, both at evading Dai Shi and also for tricking the trio of martial artists into trusting him.
Octomus limped over to Dai Shi and helped him up. "We must flee from here! It is too dangerous, and not even this new form you have can save us!"
Before Dai Shi could respond, Lothor laughed and blasted everyone, including the Dinosaurs, around him with Zocato power. "Now, everyone calm down!"
Suddenly, the Wild Sword roared. It was frustrated with Dai Shi and the fact he had lost in a battle. It had come back to him while Lije had attacked App and his group, but had decided to leave sensing weakness in Dai Shi.
"No!" Dai Shi screamed. Try as he may, however, he could not grip the weapon and it flew away from the Great City.
Lothor rolled his eyes. "Anyway... Well, each of you has really gotten on my nerves. Time for you to pay for not only taking things from me, Tidus, but also just making this a really bad day. You know how much paperwork all this damage will cause me to need to send to Mesogog, my landlord!? And I'm losing equity on this land as we speak! Just... really, you're all going to pay dearly for this."
Lothor then closed his eyes and gripped the Sword of Darkness tightly. Everyone watched in terror all they saw Lothor begin to glow in Black Energy, ready to strike them all down.
. . .
Regina sighed. "Okay. He's there for certain."
Beelzebub sneered. "Are you sure this time? Last time he wasn't."
"That wasn't my fault. He had been there, but then he teleported away." Regina said, angrily.
Diabolico shook his head. "Why are we wasting our time with these two? They are not Demons! They will not help us with our conquest of the universe!"
"There is much we can learn from them!" Beelzebub said.
"And I haven't been exactly useless..." Mythical Master retorted, hoping to stay in favor with the Demons. He was getting anxious to return to his universe to battle the Power Rangers that plagued him.
Beelzebub grunted. "How else will we defeat the Ethereals than with their power!? You saw how the witch was useful in destroying Michael!"
"But we didn't destroy him! You allowed him to live! With as much as he was obsessed with the Holy War, you are, too!" Diabolico said in frustration.
"What!?" Beelzebub said in anger.
"Yes! You are going to bring him out of that prison when all is said and done to fight him again and prove superiority! I'm not stupid! You are more worried about your sibling rivalry than with the plan Lilith gave you!" Diabolico shouted, letting his doubts fly from his mouth in the form of accusations.
Beelzebub frowned. "We'll speak about your concerns later, after this mission. Everyone? Come now."
As they made their way to the Great City, where they knew not a mighty battle was occurring, Regina smiled to herself. There seems to be discord between Beelzebub and Diabolico... I could use that to my advantage...
While they marched, Mythical Master also plotted. I have to rid myself of this witch! She will not get in the way of my plans!
. . .
In a cottage on the other side of the supercontinent of Pangaea, Deviot looked at his fellow Alphas. They were convened in the cottage that had once belonged to Prue the Witch and her coven.
Fenrir grunted in anger. "They destroyed Cujo. They destroyed Ifrit. They destroyed even Dracula."
"Yes. That was the biggest surprise." Roman the Leviathan said. "If they had the power to do that, they are more of a threat than even Prue originally thought."
Serrator laughed. "I fear we are forgetting to mention they also seemed to have destroyed Prue and her coven as well. What is even more shocking is that they seemed to have defeated Paige as well. She was one of the strongest Witches in the universe."
"What do we do, then!?" Fenrir asked, anger written on his face.
"Well, I have already sent a message to our Alpha Gargoyle brother, Goliath. I may have twisted the facts a little, but he sees the threat these 'Morphing Masters' seem to really be now, especially when he heard of all of all the destroyed brethren from that battle." Deviot said.
"So Goliath is coming? Interesting..." Roman said.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Serrator asked.
Deviot nodded. "Yes, my Alpha brothers. We are going to get revenge! As soon as Goliath arrives, we are returning to the Great City and we are going to get our revenge!"