Inside the cave again...
James and Preston were fighting each other on the bridge that they were at before. James tried his best to avoid every single punch that Preston attempts to throw at him. Some he dodged, others he didn't. Doesn't help that the two were on a rickety bridge over a trench of darkness.
Preston was able to knock the geeky goth with a punch. James fell down onto the boards he was standing on, almost breaking them in the process. The goth grabs onto the rope connecting the bridge, trying to stand himself up onto his own feet. He glares at Preston, anger still seen in his eyes.
"You know this is the end of the line for you, Louiston..." Preston growls, stepping closer to him. "If you just stayed the hell out of everything that me and Esma were doing...didn't tell Beebee I was cheating on her with Esma...you didn't try to destroy everything I know and love...it didn't have to lead to something like this..." James stood up, holding the side of his stomach, before glaring upward at Preston.
"Yet you've tried to help Esma...MorcuCorp was not a place full of heroes..." James said, not removing his glare off of the prep. "...And you knew that Esma was a bad guy, the moment you laid eyes on her. I thought I knew you better than this, Preston..." The prep walks up to the geeky goth, grabbing onto his arm. "...You didn't have to go and do this...you knew you didn't have to..."
"But I had to..."
"For what? To date Esma?" The geeky goth shook his head, still not removing his glare from Preston. "What kind of bastard cheats on his own true love...I thought you loved Beebee..." Preston rolled his eyes.
"Oh give me a break..."
"What kind of human even are you?" Preston than punches James in his cheek, knocking the boy to the ground.
"You know NOTHING about me and Beebee's relationship! If you dated her, you'd know how much of an idiot she is!" James stood up, balling a fist.
"But she still loves you! THAT is how you treat her back by doing?!"
James punches Preston in his cheek, sending the prep backwards. The prep kept his balance, before glaring at James, wiping blood off of the side of his face. The prep kept a fist prepared, before walking closer to the geeky goth, who was still berating him for his actions.
"I never wanted to see you as some asshole from the first time we met, Preston...but you chose to do what you do, now...you have no other choice but to give up..." James said, still bitter. "You lost Beebee, whatever crazy plan you have here is done for...the SPA Agency will hear about this once we're out of here...it's over, Preston...it really is over..." Preston lowers his arm from his face, charging straight at James.
"It's only over...until I SAY IT IS!" Preston shouts at the end, charging at James, sending one more punch at him.
James was knocked down, breaking right through the weak boards on the bridge. He kept looking up, falling straight down to his doom. He had no idea where the darkness goes, but if it's his own death, he never knew it would end like this.
He felt tears coming out of his eyes, realizing his life might actually end rather sooner than he hoped for. He would end up leaving Jenny, Ray, Raven, Violet, Leaf, Aunt Nova, his own mother, all of his other friends. If Leaf and Makoto really did run back to the portal, he guesses that he will die trying to save two people.
But before James could feel any sort of pain, he noticed that there was purple magic around him. He opens his eyes, before looking up, seeing Leaf, holding out a hand off of the edge of the bridge that leads to the exit out of the cave. Leaf felt weak, as the energy in the Nightmare Realm still hurts him when he is using magic. He tried his best to lift James out of the trench.
Once James was out of the trench, Leaf fell to his knees, feeling completely weak now. The geeky goth kneeled down to his aid, as Preston remained standing in the bridge when the whole ordeal happened right in front of him.
"You survives?!" Preston shouts, glaring at the two boys. "THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
Preston shouting that was a massive mistake once he did that. The prep noticed the entire cave shaking once he let out that scream, before looking up, seeing the many rocks beginning to fall off of the ceiling above. One of the rocks landed right onto the bridge, just as Preston tried to back up from it. The prep tried to get off the bridge, only for the entire thing to collapse as he attempted to run off of it. Preston fell right into the trench.
James helps Leaf up, looking at what just happened in front of him. The two slowly made their way out of the cave, James keeping Leaf standing by his arm as they were walking out of the cave. More rocks came down from the ceiling above, as the rocks tore up the bridge and filled the entire room.
"Thanks for saving me back there, Leaf." James said, as he still tried to bring Leaf out of the cave before it entirely collapsed.
"No problem, man..." Leaf said, feeling pain after using magic to save his best friend. "...Wish Preston decided to take over some...dimension with cotton candy instead...that would be a lot more humane than this hellish area."
"I know..."
The geeky goth looks behind himself, still disturbed that they were leaving the Nightmare Realm without Preston with them. The geeky goth never wanted things to lead to Preston supposedly dying in this dimension. He still couldn't believe what he had witnessed right in front of him. He too was close to death, but still, he couldn't believe that Preston was gone.
"We gotta keep moving if you're going to survive..." James said, as the two exits the cave. "Makoto, help me out here! We got to get Leaf out of here, now." Makoto held onto Leaf, then the three of them started to make their way to the portal out of the Nightmare Realm.
Outside of the Nightmare Realm...
Jenny still remained standing on the branch, looking towards the portal, hoping her boyfriend, and her two other friends manage to make it out alive. She kept the crown in her hands, as Esma was able to get herself loose from the magic.
The MorcuCorp girl lands onto the branch where Jenny was at, ready to grab the Nightmare Crown back from her. So Esma charges straight at the girl, reaching for the crown. Petal and Pine-Cone tried to throw magic at Esma, but she was too fast for them to stop her this time.
Esma leaps at Jenny, attempting to grab the crown back from her. Jenny tried her best to keep the crown away from Esma's reach, only for it to almost fall out of her hands when she was holding it near the edge of the branch by mistake. Her final attempt to grab a hold of the crown was futile, as it slips out of Jenny's hand, and off of the branch.
Thankfully, for Jenny, the crown broke, just as Makoto, James, and Leaf all jumped through the portal at the same time. The three made it through the portal as the crown hits the floor.
Once the Nightmare Crown broke on the ground, the portal disappeared behind them. The force-field outside started to go away, bringing back the beautiful blue sky. The blue fog went away after a couple seconds later. Now that the Nightmare Crown and the gem were destroyed, Leaf's energy was coming back to him. He stood up from the ground, as Esma and Jenny were staring down from the branch they were sitting on.
"Where the hell is Preston?!" Esma asked, glaring down at the three that made it out of the Nightmare Realm in time. Leaf, with his energy not getting hurt, snaps his fingers, appearing right next to Esma.
"Well...you see..." Leaf started off saying, before floating in the air next to the girl. "...Preston, may or may not be..." Leaf snaps his fingers again, causing himself to be trapped in a floating cage. "...Trapped in the Nightmare Realm inside the same exact cave that you and him found that rare metal inside." The boy breaks the cage he made appear, then shrugs his shoulders. "So...yeah...the bitter irony. Am I right?"
Edna stared at Leaf with her mouth open. She couldn't believe that James and Leaf just abandoned Preston in the Nightmare Realm without a second thought. She grew angry almost instantly, as she balled a fist, ready to punch Leaf for his actions.
"Yeah, I had a feeling you'd want to punch me for that..." Leaf said, before zooming pass Esma as she threw a punch at him. Leaf was now before her. "...You know, fighting an elf who can teleport isn't helping you one bit, dude. Just saying." Leaf then holds Jenny by the shoulder. "Oh, before I forget."
Leaf teleports himself and Jenny over to James, who was watching the whole thing in front of him. Leaf then floats himself back up to Esma, giving the girl a smirk with his arms crossed.
"Oh, be smug all you want...once Morcubus leaves prison, your sorry ass will be done for Leaf. You, James, and Jenny's sorry ass are going to be the first people I will go after first!" Esma shouts, poking the elf on his chest. "DO YOU HEAR ME?!" The MorcuCorp girl asked harshly, moving herself closer to Leaf's eyes, glaring into them.
"I hear you." Leaf said, keeping his arms crossed as Esma was glaring at him.
"FURTHERMORE, I WILL..."
Without warning, Esma heard the sound of police sirens outside of the warehouse. She stopped telling, before her angry face turned into a face of pure fear. She looks over to the giant broken window of the warehouse, seeing that there were police sirens outside of the building, most likely because of her.
"That's the SPA Agency, isn't it?" Esma asked, looking down at Jenny, James, and Makoto. Jenny was slowly nodding her head. "It's for Leaf?" Jenny shook her head 'no' at her. "So...it's for me? They are arresting me?" Jenny nodded her head with a smirk on her face. "Of course they are..." Leaf gave Esma a smirk, before lowering himself down from the branch she was standing on.
"But wait...who called the SPA while we were in there?" James asked. "It doesn't seem like any of us had the time to do that." Jenny looks over to James.
"I guess Beebee was the person who did that." Jenny said to him.
"Right." James glares up at Esma, pointing at her. "Now you have to surrender." Esma lowers her head, growling, and shaking her head in annoyance.
