A/N: Last time, the Runners teamed up with Marc and Megan Clark to infiltrate the Dreamer's Gestalt to locate the MIA Lee, and in the process discovered that the Gestalt was a twisted plan concocted by it's Queen, Altari Yume, who is also in league with the Black Tundra. While they managed to crash the induction ceremony and knock out the BT member with Yume, the deranged Queen took a serum concocted by the cult, and transformed herself into a powerful, giant, mutant bee monster! How will the Runners deal with this! Can they bring down the Queen, save the brainwashed kids (Lee included), and put an end to the Hive mind Gestalt once and for all? Find out on the grand finale part, starting now!
The Runners could only look on in utter shock as they saw the now-mutated Gestalt Queen buzzing above them. Marc and Megan, meanwhile, were absolutely horrified at the sight.
"Oh… my…," Megan stammered.
"WOOHP tunnels!" Marc finished as the two continued to stare.
Before anyone could act, the mutated queen buzz-roared again as she released her black stinger towards the Runners, which Jordan noticed and shouted, "Evasive maneuvers!"
They quickly split up just as the stinger hit the spot they'd stood on, and as they did, Jordan fired another -Ice Spear- at the monster. But to her shock, the spear just reflected off, leaving no signs of injury on the monster's body.
"Of course, it had to deflect my spell," she sarcastically commented. "But on a serious note, this is really bad. Summoning monsters, I can deal with that trope. But being transformed into one?! Talk about overkill and disgusting!"
"What's worse is that the monster she transformed into is the -Mind Queen- from the -Green Union-. I remember from the articles and Let's Plays that this monster was a pain in a neck to deal with."
"Well, we're out of the game world right now. So I don't think she can use her Hive Mind ability. Which means we still got a chance!"
But just as Jordan raised her staff, the Mind Queen let out a buzzing screech, causing the Runners and the Clarks to cover their ears. But as they did, the incapacitated Gestalt members began to move as they charged at the Runners, which Armand noticed and shouted, "Look out!"
They all quickly jumped back and hid behind the podium as Jordan used her staff to conjure a large ice wall between them and the brainwashed army. As she did, Marc tried to activate his earpiece. But when he looked, he noticed that the army wasn't responding to it.
"B-But... That's impossible! I thought I modified it to the right tempo," he wondered.
"It's not you, Marc. That monstrous queen must have something to do with it!" Megan guessed as she glared at the army trying to crack the ice wall wide open. As for the Runners, they continue to hide behind it as Armand glares at his friends.
"Still have a chance, huh?" he sarcastically asked. "I think her army says otherwise."
Zeus's eyes then widened and said, "Of course. I almost forgot that Black Tundra gave those strange nanobots to Yume. So they might modify the transformation serum to allow her to control her army with the Mind Queen's abilities."
"So we have no choice, huh?" Jordan glared at the transformed monster before she turned to her shrunken friend. "Gus, stay here. We'll take care of Her Majesty."
"Are you sure? I thought..." Armand started.
"Yeah, we're newbies at this whole Runner gig. But level and ULO experience-wise, you might not able to survive this battle. Just wait here and if things get rough, get the Clarks out of here."
"But, wait, I…" Armand started to say in protest, but Jordan and Zeus charged into battle with the Mind Queen. Jordan blasted the Queen with more ice and water attacks, while Zeus charged in with his katana, bombarding her many energy waves and power slash attacks. However, the Queen just shook the attacks off, and with two swift sweeps of her legs, she knocked both Runners to the ground with blows so heavy that it knocked both of their HP down to 1.
"Zeus! Jordan!" Armand shouted as he helplessly watched his friends struggled to recover to no avail and the Mind Queen slowly approached them. He growled in frustration and punched the wooden floor of the stage. "I know they want to protect me and the Clarks, but they are my students and friends, and I'm not going to let it end like this!"
With that declaration, he drew another card from his deck box and transformed it into the same yo-yo that he bought from the other day.
"-Zero Acrobat-... I already have fulfilled many of the requirements to use its full power and came up with some skills to go with it. But will it be enough to stop the Queen?" he wondered until he noticed something behind the ice wall.
Meanwhile, Megan was using a can-held ice-based gadget called Aero-Solid to keep the ice wall solid. However, when she saw Lee behind the wall trying to get through, she stopped, feeling bad for her brother. It was at that moment, however, that Armand saw the gadget and got an idea.
"Megan!" He called to her, getting her attention. "That freeze spray you've got! Use it on me!"
"Use it on you?! Are you nuts?!" Megan shouted in dismay at his idea.
"Just trust me!"
With much reluctance, Megan sprayed the Aero-Solid at Armand, who then prepared himself.
"Alright. I've only got one shot on this."
Stretching out his right arm wide, a small black hole starts to appear on his palm, and just as the spray reaches him, he shouted, "-Void Absorption-!"
The hole then expanded from his palm into a size of a shield as it vacuumed up the spray until there is no more of it.
"No way!" Megan shouted. "He absorbed all of the spray?!"
After absorbing it, the hole quickly disappeared as he closed his palm.
"Alright. It's not like Jordan's magic, but it'll have to do. Now, if my hypothesis is correct…" Armand said as he then assumed a battle pose with his yo-yo in front of him. "-Void Realize-!"
Suddenly, ice began to emerge from Armand's hands, covering most of his hands and his yo-yo. His left hand then slowly morphed itself into a yo-yo with ice spikes, while his right hand now had a smooth yo-yo-like ice sculpture. Armand then started tossing both of them around before circling them in an "Around-the-World" trick, much to the Clarks' shock.
"Whoa…" the two said quietly in shocked silence.
At this, Jordan and Zeus managed to recover enough to witness Armand's transformation, which caused them to gasp in shock.
"Test successful," Armand spoke up. "Declaration: -Void Ice Arms: Hailstorm-! Proceeding to demo phase!"
Once he declared this, the Mind Queen noticed the new Runner's icicle weapons and buzz-roared as she charged towards him. However, Armand responded by tossing his spiked yo-yo to the bee monster, causing the spikes to pierce through its chest. The resulting attack caused the monster to screech before she fired a stinger at the shrunken teacher, at which he tossed the smooth yo-yo to counter it. When the attacks collided, the stinger froze solid before shattering into pieces and then hitting the bee square in the face.
"Void... Ice Arms?" Zeus repeated in confusion. "Sure, I could understand because of his element. But creating weapons from skills? I never heard anything so strange and crazy before."
"I know… and I like it," Jordan said with a huge smile.
The Mind Queen attacked with everything she had: her wings, her legs, and her stingers. But Armand used his ices yo-yos to cancel out or deflect her attacks, while also bombarding her with his spiked yo-yo to pierce her form and his smooth yo-yo to freeze parts of her body. With each of his attacks landing, she grew weaker and weaker. Finally, with one last double attack from both yo-yos, the Mind Queen let out a painful buzz-screech.
At the same time, just the brainwashed Gestalt followers breached the ice wall, they all suddenly stopped and fell unconscious at once, including Lee, much to the Clarks' shock.
"Uh… what just happened?" asked Marc.
Jordan, seeing this along with Zeus, quickly realized, "He did it! He's weakened the Queen so much that her hold on her followers has been broken!"
"Armand! Finish her before she can recover!"Zeus called out to the new Runner.
"Don't worry," Armand muttered as his eyes began to glow purple. "I'll make sure I'll dethrone this queen for good!"
With a strong swing, he threw both of his yo-yos into the queen's chest, sending her into the wall where she was then encased in ice. Upon seeing this, she frantically buzzed as she struggled to free herself from it. However, Armand's yo-yos began to glow as the purple glow in his eyes intensified.
"-Void Release-..."
The yo-yos then grew to the size of frisbees with more icicle spikes forming on the left one and a light blue aura forming around the right one.
"-Hollow Barrage-!"
Armand then swung his enhanced yo-yos at the bee monster repeatedly, eventually getting to a machine gun-like speed as the monster began to buzz-screech in pain. The whole attack took about 30 seconds with her chest, face, stinger, and wings continuing to be pummeled by the enhanced weapons. And with a scream from the Runner, he made one final swing with the right yo-yo, which was now enveloped in an opaque blue aura, causing it to crush the monster's head and encased her body in ice in the process. With that final attack, the Mind Queen fell to the ground and disappeared into a cloud of red and black data. Upon seeing this, Armand sighed in relief as his weapons melted, with the second yo-yo disappearing in the process.
"He did it… he really did it!" Jordan exclaimed, in complete awe at what she had just witnessed.
"Armand beat the Queen!" Zeus gasped also in utter shock.
"That was… awesome!" Marc declared in excited.
"It was incredible!" Megan added with glee.
As Marc and Mega celebrated Armand's triumph, he approached his Runner friends and offered his hand to them.
"Still think that I can't beat an MVP at Level 13?" he snarked, at which Jordan smiled in response.
"Don't get your hopes up," she said as she grabbed his hand, allowing Armand to pull her up from the floor. "That Mind Queen is nothing more than a phony monster. You'll need more than a fancy skill and weapon to beat a real MVP."
"Yeah, sorry about that. But it's the only way to stop the Queen once and for all." Just then, Armand realizes something. "Hang on, what about that Black Tundra member who helped her?"
As they looked around the stage, they gasp to see that the said man somehow disappeared.
"That snake... he escaped while his girlfriend transformed into a mutated bee monster!" Jordan growled.
Then, the two heard Zeus sigh as they turned to see him standing up and says, "Considering what just happened, I think for him, it's for the best. In his eyes, I'm guessing he just saw Yume as one of the cult's many customers and/or followers that they could manipulate for their own gain. But don't worry. Our weapons are coated with a special antidote program that allows any victims of their serum to change them back to normal."
Zeus then pointed at the back of the monitor, at which Jordan and Armand see that the queen is now back into her human self and unconscious just as the experienced Runner had predicted.
"However, given how she consumed the serum, I have a feeling she's not going to be well enough for interrogation for quite a while, because of the severe side effects it has had on her memory and body."
"I see. I guess we have no choice but to turn her into the authorities and let them give her medical attention," Armand grimly suggested as they stared at the queen's defeated state.
"How cruel..."
The boys' eyes widened when they heard Jordan's voice and turned to see her glaring at the queen.
"I know her motives and twisted agendas are wrong, but even she didn't deserve this," she growled. "Those Black Tundra guys... they're no WOOHP villains, they're just downright callous and heartless! I'll make them pay for this!"
"Easy, Jordan. The good news is we won the fight and saved all these kids, including Lee," Armand pointed out.
"Yeah, and don't worry, we'll bring down the Tundra eventually," Zeus added.
"Well, until we do, you can count on me to be there to fight!" Jordan declared.
"And the same goes for me!/" Armand agreed.
Zeus only smiled at their commitment and determination as he replied, "That good to hear you two. Thank you."
Jordan and Armand respond with a smile to their experienced friend.
"Alright. Now that's all settled, any ideas what we're going to do with the now-former Gestalt members?"
Armand then pointed below, in which the two look down and saw the now unconscious members who seemed unresponsive even when the siblings pass them by.
"Uh, yeah... Please don't tell me we have to use our weapons to bring them back to normal," Jordan complained in worry.
"Nah, don't worry. We already called in the experts to handle this mess," Marc said as he showed an MP3-like device to the Runners.
"H- I mean, they might able to find a way to deactivate those nanobots," Megan added. "Though I don't know how long it might take, though. I don't want Tony to worry over him or worse, use his bedroom as his own."
As soon as Zeus sees the device on Marc's hand, his eyes widen in realization before he checks on his RunCom.
"I don't think you guys have to wait for results. I think we might have a cure for the victims with some help of ours."
But as he tries to call back home, Jordan quickly stops him and interjects, "Although, we do have a condition before we give it to you. Don't worry, we won't ask you anything materialistic."
She then turned to her Runner friends and winked at them, at which they realized what she meant as they respond with a smile.
"Basically, we just need you to keep our powers and statuses as Runners a secret," Armand told them. "Except for maybe Lee, since, h-he… can b-be…"
Armand then stuttered and stopped sp, eaking before he suddenly collapsed to everyone's shock. Jordan could only let out a startled gasped as she watched.
"Armand?!" Zeus called out to his shrunken teacher. "Hey, say something!"
"Oh no..." Megan said in worry. "Don't tell me..."
However, Armand's head moved to his left and said, "H-Hey... I-I'm still alive, you know. B-But... W-Why my limbs are turning numb?!"
As the others stared at him in confusion and worry, Jordan, on the other hand, suddenly glared at Armand and asked, "Gust... dare I ask what the costs of those skills you used earlier are?"
"T-Those skills...?" he repeated in confusion. "I-I guess... approximately about 60, 80, and 110? I-I just came up with them... based on my skills back in my old game. D-Do you like it?"
However, just hearing those answers made the Water Runner simmer before she shouted, "YEAH, IF YOU LIKE TO LOSE A LOT OF SP AND CONSUME A LOT OF YOUR HP INSTEAD! DIDN'T YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM THAT VOID TOUCH INCIDENT YESTERDAY?! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"
Despite his state, Armand quickly became startled at Jordan's rage as she continued, "Just because you have a unique job class doesn't mean you're exempt from the low SP drawbacks of a -Rogue-! And because you didn't conduct a test on any of your new skills, you've ended up in a state where you can't move!"
"B-But…"
"How could you be so reckless?! Unleashing a new skill without testing it! And letting yourself get drained! What if someone were to attack us right now?! You'd be completely helpless and we'd have to use our energy to protect you and ourselves!"
"Jordan… I–"
"I'm not done!"
As Jordan continued to scold-rant in front of the weakened Armand, Marc and Megan stared at the two in disbelief while Zeus sheepishly chuckled at this sight.
"And on that note, it's time to call back Ms. Reyheart," he muttered before he continued typing on his RunCom.
A few minutes later, the Clark siblings were standing in front of their older brother, who continued to remain unresponsive, while Jerry stood with them with more agents rounding up the rest of the unconscious members.
"Are you sure it will turn him back to normal?" Megan asked in worry.
"With the samples and the papers you've given me, it should be," Jerry said as he approached Lee with a syringe on hand. "However, this antidote is nothing more than nanobots made to deactivate the ones inside his brain."
He then injected the serum in the syringe into Lee's neck and backed away.
"However, it should be enough to snap him back to his normal self."
A few moments passed before Lee then snapped awake startled and worried.
"Whoa… Marc, Meg… w-what happened? W-Where am I?" he asked as he looked down at his clothing. "And what in the heck am I wearing?! White robes are not Lee Clark's style! I swear I look li–"
Before he realized it, Megan pulled Lee into a tight hug as Marc watched happily.
"Welcome back, big bro!" she said. Lee, though still confused, smiled at this.
As Megan continued to hug Lee, Jerry approached Marc and asked, "By the way, how did you manage to find the antidote along with the papers and samples? I thought you two said you weren't able to find the Queen's quarters."
Marc was surprised at this question but then smiled at his boss.
"Let's just say we had some help along the way."
As the siblings celebrated their older brother's recovery, the Runners hid behind the fallen monitor, happy to see them reunited after all of that.
"So you're saying that you three are superheroes who travel around the multiverse and beating up bad guys and monsters?" Megan asked as she and Marc gathered outside the Dreamer's Gestalt building in front of the Runners later while the other agents were still busy inside curing the others.
"Uh, you could say that. But even though the Queen has been brought down and arrested, our war with those Tundra dorks is not over yet," Jordan said in a calm tone.
"The Black Tundra are known to be cunning and manipulative and they will not hesitate to walk over their victims like they're trash," Zeus explained grimly. "That's why we're asking you to not get involved with our cases and battles. I know this hard for you to turn a blind eye to, but we feel that you might more of a hindrance if you try to join in."
"Yeah, we understand," Marc answered, knowing this was likely true.
"Besides, we have our own problems to deal with here," Megan added in agreement.
"And um... It would be nice if you keep our little adventure between you two and Lee. For safety reasons, of course," Jordan asked.
"Not a problem," Megan added.
"You got it," Marc remarked. "Well, see ya around, heroes."
With that, the two turned around and walked back into the building as the Runners looked on.
As the Clarks left, Zeus stared at Jordan and asked, "Last time we check, you said they were a quartet spy team."
"I know. But as much as I like their little brother, we can't risk letting Tony in our secret just because he didn't participate in their mission," Jordan explained.
"I guess so. Wish we could've met Tony though."
"Me too," said Armand, before a smile came over his face. "But we closed our first case as an official team, stopped another Black Tundra scheme, and took down a boss for the first time. So get ready world, because the Monochrome Union Runners are coming home!"
With that, Zeus opened the portal as he, Jordan, and Armand entered through it. But as it closed, a mysterious boy in a black coat came out from one of the trees silently observes the whole event. After a few seconds, his body starts to glitch for a while until he disappears in a fierce cloud of purple data.
In a mysterious room, a boy's eyes slowly opened as he found himself wearing a futuristic LED goggles while lying down on his bunk bed. He then got up and removed the goggles as he began to wonder what happened. As he did, his glowing purple eyes fade into a normal green color.
The next day, everyone had gathered outside the Navel house. Jordan and Zeus were standing in front of the family and Armand with their bags.
"Well, it was nice staying with you guys," Jordan told them.
"Yeah, very exciting," Zeus added.
"It was great having you guys here," Daisy replied.
"And quite a change from our usual lives," Tenyu added. "Then again, we should be used to such changes already."
"Well, now that my dad's stakeout is finally over, he can finally get back to a normal routine too, which I am very happy about," Jordan pointed out with relief. "Plus, it means that my bedroom is free from his police antics!"
"If you two like, you are free to visit us again. Though I don't recommend you two to sleepover here just in case," Armand suggested.
"We will, Mr. Blanc," Zeus calmly answered as he bowed.
"Also, make sure to keep in mind when it comes to your custom skills, sir. Otherwise, you might end up with another -Spirit Exhaustion- again," Jordan reminded, which Armand sighed in dismay.
"I know, I know."
Just then, they hear a beeping noise from afar. When they turn around, they see Jordan's father inside his family van as Jordan smiled at him.
"Well, there's our ride. See you at school, Mr. Blanc!" She said before she left and entered the van.
"Thank you again for your hospitality, everyone. We'll see you tomorrow," Zeus said before he followed Jordan.
As the kids left, the three waved goodbye at them and once they left, Tenyu enters the house while Daisy looks at Armand.
"They seem cool for a bunch of students. Heck, you three act like you're all best friends than the usual student-teacher relation kind of thing."
Armand smiled as he watched the van leave their household.
"Let's just say they helped me open my eyes and discover who I am."
"What was that?" Daisy stares at Armand, who is confused at what he just said.
"Oh, nothing. Come on, I need to refine my skills before she snaps at me about it again."
Armand then went inside, at which Daisy shrugged and followed him to join Tenyu.
"So the die has cast. The chosen wielders of water, ice, and null have united with the light to start this war anew. However, their union is still incomplete. To see the light, one must conquer the darkness. And soon, they will find the key that connects to zero."
EPISODE CLEAR!
[You have completed -Dreamer's Gestalt-.]
[-Argust Rasa- has unlocked the passive skill, -Zero Mastery- as a mission reward.]
CURRENT RUNNERS:
Light [Zeus Starr] - Level 40 Blader
Water/Ice [Crystal Aquilla] - Level 29 Mage
Aether [Argust Rasa] - Level 13 Adept [Type: Rogue]
[Next Episode Accepted: -Reaper's Answer-]
A/N: Well, that was a blast! The Clarks are all saved, the Dreamer's Gestalt and its queen is history, and the Runners have saved the day from innocent people once more! Not a bad win for a weekend at large, huh?! I guess we'll just see who is still making the boss for the time being, so until next time, see ya around!
NashWalker: And also, like ToonSchool, Universal Runners will go on hiatus until at least December, so that RunnerAwaker can put more working focus on her solo fics for next month's NaNoWriMo. I know it's asking a lot, but Runner needs this more than we do, and we all wish to be there for her, just as she's there for us. We're currently working on something special for release soon, so just keep your eyes open and we'll send you all in December or sooner!