CHAPTER 19

Popoken. Capital of Poponia. Residence of the Prime Minister.

Popoken, Poponia, 1200 hours

Following a swift attack on the capital by strange elite forces allegedly belonging to the Knights of Spatha, the Poponian military was able to thwart the assault. With the Prime Minister taken to a safe location, he was fine in his reinforced limo, but was quite tired.

The base personnel were easily overwhelmed by the advanced sword weapons of Spatha, with half of the defending forces being massacred with several casualties. Almost all of the Knights were either killed or captured, with only a few members remaining.

With King D6 captured at his secret Dark Castle base, the war was supposedly over. It was still going to be difficult to measure the costs of the great war.

"General...we did it...King D6 has been neutralized." Alexander noted.

"Excellent news..."

One of the retreating attackers notified their cell phones before escaping the area.

"Damn...we were too late..." They noticed some dark energy exuding from the pale body of the minister. The black particles vanished into the sky, leaving no trace. The other members were rounded up and restrained, with their intimidating disguises removed at the orders of the security team. The Knights were chasing a shadow that no longer existed.

"The other four leading members have been unmasked. I knew it all along! They're the other members of Destined Providence! They are going to have a lot of explaining to do!"

"Commander Garlemagne...The raid is now over..." One soldier

"The Knights of Spatha are no more!" Commander Garlemange uttered.

"Excellent...it seems we can win..."

Deenon watched the base cameras record what looked like a dark flash. Something was up.

Dark Castle. Hideout of King D6 of DeDenidea that has been neutralized following a difficult battle with the members of Galaxy Squad. Everything seems over for now.

Dark Castle, unknown location, 2400 hours

Pinkobashi and the crew watched King D6 as they cuffed him along with the members of the Knights of Spatha. The unconscious body briefly twitched, for at least he was alive. He was sleeping. Something just wasn't right. The team watched a strange dark being materialize from the King's body and propelled itself up like a jellyfish. This black beast possessed a single eye with numerous hair-like fronds. The matter flashed up and jetted into the dark sky.

"That's it!" Seginorishippu noted.

The members of Galaxy Squad were shocked to see that thing happen right in front of them. Pinkobashi's mind was plagued by the very nightmare. He was ready to finish that thing off.

"What the hell was that?.." Alexander was confused as the sight of the deadly beast .

"Allow me to explain everything...that thing was Dark Matter...it is responsible for everything..."

"Really?"

"Even this whole war was started because of it..." Hikariowataru added.

"The creature possessed the leaders of both DeDenidea and Poponia in the hopes of weakening their empires so it could take over the planet..."

"We tracked its location here while Project Sundowner was being tested...the failure of the mission forced us underground...the Knights of Spatha are hunted down by both governments...because we know the truth about what it really wants..."

"Dark Matter...that doesn't sound good."

"Not like the scientific dark matter..."

"It is a force that threatens us all...There is only one way to destroy it."

All seven Crimson Cores spun around and combined together to yield a bright flash. A powerful sword descended. Inside the hilt was an orb that had all seven of the cores together.

Pinkobashi had the resolve to pick up the glowing weapon. All the energy surged through his body. He felt liberated when the spark jolted down as a bolt of lightning. The sharp blade was crescent shaped and jolted like plasma. Pinkobashi readied a slash that yielded a plasma burst that zapped across the sky. There was no limit to its ammunition. He left his copy ability weapon behind, for he had no use of applying a copy ability weapon against such a thing.

"The power of light! The Crimson Sword!" Hikariowataru shouted.

"It is an ancient weapon that can only be formed...when a warrior is noble enough to wield it...it believes you are worthy..."

"I got it!" Pinkobashi screamed with joy.

"Pinkobashi...take care of that matter for us!" Seginorishippu demanded.

"Will do, sir!"

"Good luck, Pinkobashi! May the gods be with you!" The rest of them were silent.

Pinkobashi pointed the sword to the sky and it quickly shot him up there..

"If he doesn't defeat this thing...our planet is done for..." Commander Alexander noted.

The Princess looked up into the night sky, praying for his safe return.

He ascended into the dark and cloudy sky. There the strange cyclopean black mass awaited him with its distorted shape, ready to engage with a weapon fashioned from its body.

The two of them clashed swords, and prepared for an epic battle in the sky.

BOSS BATTLE!

The black creature slashed his sword back, with Pinkobashi quickly dodging the attack. The puffball relentlessly flew close to the monster and swiped a few times. The dark sword wielder projected a powerful beam of energy that zapped through the sky in a matter of seconds. They clashed several times before he raised his sword and flashed when he prepared to fire a charge shot. Pinkobashi timed his strike as soon as the enemy fired it to reflect back at the target just before it could hit him. He could tell that damage was dealt to the enemy matter, but the creature quickly recovered from the attack and fired more laser bolts. The monster kept relentlessly assaulting him with a series of sword slashes, but Pinkobashi was able to descend to evade the attacks. When the creature fidgeted from being stunned, he charged forward and returned back to his original position. The pink warrior barely missed the attack and saw the warrior preparing another charge blast from his sword. He dodged the swipe and braced the swift beam attacks emanating from the swordsman's sword. The creature charged forward and nearly skewered him, but he descended just before the dark matter could reach him. He charged forward and slashed back at him again with precise strikes each time the master retreated and readied for another charged attack. The creature soared above him and dashed at him when he wasn't looking, the sword tearing through his body, but he was still able to fly upward. His immediate wound did not phase him in the slightest. He charged at the master and was zapped by two laser bolts that set him on fire for a few seconds, leaving him stunned for a bit and sending him briefly falling, but he was able to come up and reflect a charged blast back at the dark matter. He rushed again and struck his target a few times, the strike wearing down his opponent. The stunned beast charged forward and caught him by surprise once again. Pinkobashi felt like he was bleeding, but the incident was only internal, so he kept fighting again while the matter did not relent. Two more hits and he would be history. The matter was about to finish him off and prepare another charge attack. Pinkobashi returned the attack back at the last second, the blast causing the dark creature to implode on itself and the pieces scattering all around the attack. The pink one sighed with relief and prepared to go down, yet the pieces reformed themselves into a nightmarish black mass. The mass pulsated and flashed before a large revolting eye popped out of the circle. Ten petals which gave the creature propulsion sprouted all around the back of its body. The true form of Dark Matter was exposed. Pinkobashi tried to fly backward as the beast charged. The petals separated and flew up and down in an arched fashion, each of the circular projectiles exploding in the sky. The creature dashed forward and fired off a series of black lightning beam attacks from its eyeball, Pinkobashi dodging each blast as he searched for an opening. The loud pings generated from the plasma expelling from the eye were bothering him.

He struck it a few times with his sword slashes to hurt the creature as it spun around and fired off more plasma blasts in an irregular motion, narrowly missing each hit that seemed to home in on him. The pieces quickly separated and the creature bolted forward three times in quick succession, but Pinkobashi flew low to avoid the charging attack. The petals separated when he swooped down, with the window being brief, so he made his four hits count by reflecting the explosives back and stunning the creature a few times just before they could reform. He dodged a few more lightning attacks from the creature and sliced at its body a few more times. He descended to avoid the charge attack, narrowly dodging two but was hit on the last strike. Pinkobashi was now in critical condition, tiring even with his strong will to fight. He sensed the pattern of the spinning black mass and timed his flight accordingly just enough to reach him. The creature fired more lightning beams from its eyes, the pink blur weaving through the beams and readying for a final strike that used up all his energy. The titanic strike tore through the creature's flashing body, stunning it for a few seconds before it could emit beams of light from its body and generate a giant explosion. Pinkobashi was right in front of the blast, being knocked back but still able to briefly regain his consciousness for a second. The flash was brief, but the impact made him lose control of his crimson sword for a fraction of a second, grabbing it with perfect timing. The teammates below could witness Pinkobashi swiftly descending from the sky with a ultrabright rainbow trail. The pink blur was still able to navigate the rough winds of the sky forcing him in different directions. He dreamed of a better tomorrow when the war would finally be over. His teammates watching him from the top of Dark Castle were glad to know that the war was finally over.

"It looks like the slim odds were in our favor..." Hikariowataru reckoned.

"He destroyed Dark Matter...we're safe..." Seginorishippu affirmed.

"He did it! That son of a bitch did it!" Alexander hollered.

"Hooray!" Isha chimed in.

"I can't wait to celebrate!" Blaze shouted.

"The planet is saved!" Ruby asserted.

"I knew he had it in him!" Jack noted.

"Pinkobashi! What a man!" Ariana retorted.

"He's so dreamy..." The Princess swooned.

"Indeed...quite a fair chap..." her butler joined in.

"There he is!" The animal friends pointed to the comet as he landed about a few miles away from the entrance to the castle. The puffballs and the animals quickly raced after him to find that he was alright. The almighty crimson sword landed by him in its current state to be picked up and studied for future intergalactic confrontations. Within a few hours, they would send a transport plane back to pick them all up and take them back to Poponia. Pinkobashi kept seeing visions as he looked up to the stars above. He kept seeing a black circular mass about the size of a small moon and cities in flames. Something was coming. He felt that the apocalypse was only beginning, yet the harrowing outcome was inevitable. The only thing to do was to prepare for the worst. The rest of his friends celebrated his safe return from nearly meeting a horrible end.