"Dad!"
"MY BABY BOY!!" Beejay wrapped his tires around him.
"I'm so sorry... I just wanted to protect you..."
"I know, but as a father, it's also MY job to protect YOU," Beejay hissed. "I can't lose you again, Crusher. Not again, please,"
"I promise, never again. Will... will you all help me come up with a way to defeat her?"
"Of course," Beejay grinned before frowning. "Did she hurt you?"
"No, but she came close."
"THAT BASTARD!" Beejay snarled, ready to tear anything apart.
"Is there anything we could do to stop her?" Pickle asked.
"Combine and unlock Crusher's magic," Xander spoke.
"I'm ready, Papa. Do what you have to."
Xander nodded and took out a knife. He gently scraped it against Crusher's skin, causing it to bleed.
"Now, I just need to repeat the same process I did for Blaze and AJ's spell."
He twirled his tires around, magic coming out and swirling towards Crusher.
"Papa? If I can't control myself, keep Blaze and the others safe." Crusher said.
"Alright," Xander nodded. "Beejay?"
Beejay nodded and made the others stand behind him. The fillies and foals stood behind in fear as well, unsure what was about to happen.
Xander allowed the magic to enter Crusher's injury, causing a sizzle of pain.
"Come on... gotta keep it together..." Crusher hissed, closing his eyes to take in the pain.
His whole body turned black while his lightning marks went red. His eyes started to go full red and black as his wings came out, sharp and demonic before he released an inhuman roar.
"Holy cow!!" Darington shrieked.
"I think we should give Crusher a LOT more space!" Pickle said, yanking the group back into the next room.
Crusher snarled and released another roar, blocking the ground from escaping with a forcefield.
"Make it stop! MAKE IT STOP!!" Starcatcher screamed.
Crusher released roar so loud that it made the windows shake and crack.The foals and fillies began crying in fear, but Starcatcher was wailing the loudest. Pickle and Blaze held her, as did the other trucks for the other foals and fillies to calm them.
"Crusher is getting out of control! What do we do?!" Stripes cried.
"We can't break the spell or we'll damage him." Beejay hissed. "We have to bare it a little while longer,"
"We have to calm the little guys! Especially Starcatcher-- this is probably bringing back horrible nightmares for her!" Stripes cried.
"Shh, shh, it's okay," Blaze hugged Starcatcher.
"That's the same roar M-M-Mika did before she... she... SHE KILLED MY MAMA!!!"
"Shh, it's okay, Starcatcher," Blaze petted her to calm her down. "Crusher wouldn't do anything like that. Not on purpose, anyway,"
"Blaze, maybe it's not a good idea to keep the foals near Crusher while he's like this," AJ said.
"Not like we can leave..." Darington motioned to the forcefield blocking the door.
"But I can teleport us outta here!"
"Oh, right! I forgot about that!" smiled Gabby.
AJ held onto the foals and fillies before teleporting out of the room. And afterward, he came back to retrieve Blaze and the others.
"Can you two stay here and calm Crusher?"
"We will certainly try," Xander nodded.
AJ smiled and got the others out to safety. Beejay stepped forward and tried to calm his child down.
"Son... you need to listen to me." he spoke. "You need to take control of this. Please,"
Crusher glared at him with a snarl, but Beejay's eyes shown true compassion.
Something he thought he would never be able to feel again.
Staring into his father's eyes made Crusher calm down instantly, eyes and skin returning to normal before he collapsed on his stomach, out of breath.
"W-What...? What happened...?"
"You went out of control," Xander sighed as Beejay and him helped him up. "How are you feeling?"
"I feel weird... d-did I hurt my friends?"
"No, you didn't hurt them," Xander said. "But the foals and fillies were really scared. Probably brought back those memories when they were slaves."
"O-Oh..." Crusher hissed.
"I suggest we let the foals and fillies calm down before you approach them or the rest of your friends again," said Beejay. "We need to train and work those powers of yours."
"O-Okay..." Crusher nodded. "But... how will I control them?"
"We'll need you to focus on them," Beejay told him. "Focus and concentrate in controlling them,"
"Okay... h-here goes nothing..."
Crusher took a deep breath and stretched out his wings again as his whole body changed form.
"Please, magic... don't make me lose control again..." Crusher whimpered. "Please don't make me hurt my friends..."
He let the magic course through him as his eyes started to tear black tears. He began to fly up, his body glowing as his tires glowed lightning blue.
"I can do this... I can do this!"
He twirled his tires around, feeling the energy swirl through him as everything around him began to glitch and shift and be affected by his powers. Xander and Beejay held themselves still, careful as the surroundings began to shift and change and alter.
Crusher took a few deep breaths as he tried to control the surroundings. "Come on... just don't let your emotions get the best of you..."
The glitching soon stopped, which made the duo sigh in relief.
"Did I do anything...?" Crusher asked.
"No… but let's concentrate on your powers little by little," Beejay suggested.
Crusher sighed and sat on the floor, watching as his darker skin faded away.
"It's hopeless, Dad... I can't do this..."
"No, no, don't give up hope," Beejay helped him up.
"It's going to take a long time to master these powers, but if I don't, Mika will destroy everything! And I already scared the foals and fillies out of their minds..." Crusher looked down in shame, tears beginning to form. "I'm a monster already..."
But, he saw his father and Xander looking at him, and soon realized he was crying, so he wiped the tears away.
"Sorry... I know I should keep up my royal image..."
"No, no, there is no royal image to keep," Beejay sighed and held him.
"It is alright to cry," Xander assured him. "You feel pain, so it is alright to let it all out,"
Crusher felt the sadness wash over him instantly, so he began to cry in his father's tires about everything, tears pouring down his cheeks.
Him not being able to control his powers.
Him fearing he would let everyone down.
Him fearing he would lose his dad and papa.
But worst of all... there was the fact that he got his mother killed.
Beejay patted his back. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Shh, let it all out,"
"Am... am I the reason I got Mom killed...?" Crusher trembled.
"No." Beejay shook his head. "It was never about you. It was those pesky mortals who couldn't accept me. It was never your fault,"
"But... I'm a monster... I scared my friends out of their wits, and Blaze and AJ were willing to sacrifice everything for me... and look at how I repayed them..."
"It wasn't in your control," Xander patted his back.
"But... w-what am I gonna do now? I'll never be able to destroy Mika..."
"Never say never, son, chin up," Beejay offered a smile.
"I guess I need to keep trying, but... will you go check on the others for me?"
"I will do that," Xander offered before disappearing to the other room.
Beejay smiled gratefully at his lover before turning his son. "Do you want to try again, Crusher?"
"Yeah, but... will you hold my tire the whole time?"
"Of course," Beejay nodded and held his tire.
"Okay... here goes nothing..."
Meanwhile, Xander had gone to the other room to check on the others.
"Friends?"
"In here, Xander," Blaze's voice called.
Xander headed over to see the fillies and foals cowering and sobbing as the trucks held them.
"How are they holding up?"
"Still pretty scared," Darington said as he held Blake and Quizon, who were shaking.
"How's Crusher?" AJ asked.
"He's… doing better," Xander told them.
"You see, guys? It was just temporary," Watts smiled.
"I-Is Crusher… better now…?" Yza asked.
"Yes, little one, and he feels so bad for the way he scared all of you," Xander said.
Some of the fillies and foals looked relieved. Only Starcatcher was still sobbing in Blaze's tires.
"Starcatcher... it's okay," Blaze smiled. "Everything's better now."
Even Parker did his best to comfort his sister. "Sis… please calm down… it's okay…"
"He... he looked as if he wanted to kill us..." Starcatcher trembled.
"But he wouldn't," Stripes assured her.
"Yeah," Pickle agreed. "We know Crusher. He would never do it on purpose,"
"I think it just reminded you of some bad memories, didn't it, sweetie?" AJ asked, stroking her head.
"Yes!" Starcatcher whimpered.
"Starcatcher, those bad memories are long gone," AJ said. "Mika will never hurt you the way she did again."
"Yeah," Blaze agreed, petting her back.
"But... how can I help Crusher stop her when I'm such a coward...?"
"Shh, you're not," Blaze smiled. "You just need to find your inner strength,"
"How can I do that...?"
"Just concentrate and think to yourself on your priorities," AJ said. "Should you run or fight?"
"W-Well... I would run away, but... I think I would wanna fight?"
"That's a good start," AJ smiled. "Now try this; one of us is hurt. We give you something to help battle the enemy. Will you take it and help or run away?"
"T-Take it and help?"
"There you go!" AJ patted her head.
"Huh... maybe you're right. I guess I am braver than I thought!"
"And if you can be brave, then so can the rest of us!" Quizon smiled.
"So... how is Crusher mastering his powers?" Gabby asked.
"He's working through it," Xander smiled. "He's learnt to control parts of it, that's for sure,"
"So, can we go and see him?"
"Not yet," Xander sighed. "Maybe while he practices on his magic, we can all try to come up with something to help him face Mika once more,"
"Hmm... any ideas?"
"Hmm…" Xander thought for a while. "Perhaps we would all need to use our inner magic,"
"Our inner magic?" asked Yza.
"Everyone has magic to unlock, some easier like Crusher's because of him being a magical being," Xander explained. "Others complicated because of being mortal,"
"So... how can we unlock it?"
"A ritual, difficult and risky," Xander spoke.
"We'll do whatever we can," Blaze said. "Even if AJ and I have to sacrifice the magic we have now."
"There is no need since you two have your magic unlocked," Xander answered. "It is easy for you two since your magic had grown from your adventures,"
"What do we need to do for the ritual, Xander?" Watts asked.
"More cutting but we need to have more than one cut to expose more of your blood," Xander answered.
"Okay... we're ready." Starla drove forward.
"Anything to help Crusher!" Zeg cried and drove forward as well.
"I'll do it!" Darington smiled.
"Me too!" Watts told him.
"So do we!" said Stripes as he and Gabby stepped forward.
"Me too!" Pickle volunteered.
"Can... I do it too?" Starcatcher stepped forward.
"Of course," Xander nodded. "If you're all willing to,"
"Just... go ahead and do it," Starcatcher gulped, reaching out a leg.
"Alright, all of you, gather around," Xander took out the blade.
The others did as he asked, and he made multiple small cuts on their bodies.
"Are you doing okay, guys?" Blaze asked.
"It stings a little, but we're okay," Stripes winced, but smiled.
"Good, now that everyone has open bodies, we can begin the ritual," Xander spoke.
He twirled his tires around as magic came out. This time, however, the magic twirled around into chain-like things before he sent it to each of them, the magic chains chaining them to each other as the magic pierced through each of them.
"You guys still doing okay?"
"Fine!" Blake cried, despite the pain, acting brave.
Xander nodded and pierced on the chain, making the burning sensation worsen.
"Ooh... that hurts!! Really hurts!!" Skydance winced.
"Shh, it's okay," Blaze patted her head. "It'll be over soon… right?"
Xander nodded. "Just a little more…"
"You gotta be strong, guys," AJ said firmly. "For Crusher."
The group gulped and nodded, withstanding the pain that came again as the chains glowed red and fiery now. The pain worsened and worsened until the chains glowed purple, which lessened the pain.
"I-Is it over? Did we do good?" Quizon asked.
"Almost," Xander spoke. "Just one more procedure,"
"W-Will it hurt even worse than the chains did...?"
"I promise nothing, but hopefully it wouldn't be," Xander admitted.
He swirled his tires around more before he released black magic, which stringed up towards the group like stitches. It gave a little pain, like actually stitching, as it went through them.
"Yaaah!!! That hurts!" Darington cried.
"It burns still!" Stripes hissed.
"You can do it, guys!" Blaze cheered.
The stitchings came again and again as the skin they had lost were slowly returning and changing in color.
"Wow! Look at that!" Gabby gasped.
"This is amazing!" Watts hissed. "Amazing and painful, but still!"
Their colors soon returned back to normal before the group collapsed.
"Guys?!" Blaze ran to them as they passed out. "Xander, what happened?!"
"It's alright, they just need time to adjust to the magic they have," Xander assured him.
"We better let them rest," AJ said. "Can we go check on Crusher?"
"Of course. He needs to know you all are safe. But let's put these ones to bed first."
"Good idea," Blaze nodded and picked up Starcatcher and Quizon.