Secret of the Idol pt2: Souls Tied by Fate

by PokeMaster64

Entering the crossroads of their perilous journey, Team Ravenfield embark on their quests of personal discovery as the world grows darker by the day. The Tribe of Shadow's presence is driving the world to madness in fear of the end. In the final days, pushed to their limits, will Team Ravenfield secure the legendary Idol of Origin and reignite hope throughout Mysto?

94. Chapter 94

Ch.94: Invasion of Darkness! Escape with the Keys Pt.4!

"Switching on systems, now!"

Hidden outside the academy's realm, buried inside the walls of the canyon, the Wasteland lay docked in a shallow cave waiting to takeoff at a moment's notice. That was the idea, at least, though no one was prepared for an emergency launch in a dire crisis.

Once the crew got to their stations, Jones reached the quarterdeck and powered on the Wasteland's systems, sending power into the gravity generator. With the crew on a time crunch, he had to push the startup procedure without causing internal damage, something he was more than capable of even under the stress.

He pointed to the crew waiting on the main deck. "Secure the lifelines! This isn't going to be a smooth takeoff. Ray, prepare the laser cannons! We're probably going to fend off against a lot of shadows!"

The Luxio saluted. "On it!" He raced down below deck.

Jeffery floated up to the quarterdeck and landed on the helmsman's shoulder. "Please tell me you aren't going to do anything reckless! It's bad enough you're going to ram this thing through that chaos, but you expect us to fight back against a whole army?!"

Jones turned some nozzles and flipped a switch. "The captain is waiting for us. If we don't get to the Idol of Origin before the shadows, everything's lost. Speaking of which…" He pulled out the key bag. "Banama, Lyra!" He tossed the bag to the Raichu and Zangoose on the main deck. "Get that into the internal compass system. Once we clear the way, we're heading on a direct course to the idol!"

They saluted. "Roger!" Banama exclaimed before the two ran off.

Jones grabbed a lever and pulled down on it. The airship jostled a bit, startling everyone below, before slowly levitating into the air. He cranked the wheel and turned it down the tunnel leading out of the cave. He flipped a switch, activating the lights in the front to show the way.

"It's going to be a tight squeeze, but we'll have all the airspace we'll need once we get outside." Right as Jones was about to throw the ship into forward, the intercom system installed in the control panel buzzed. "What is it?"

"It's me, Graham. I'm in the navigation room," the Gallade addressed.

"If you're worried I can't navigate through a dark tunnel, you've got some nerve questioning your helmsman."

"Don't act arrogant, I'm serious. I'm picking up something on the sonar. You might want to look at this."

Curious, Jones pulled out a panel hidden into the side of the console, displaying a transparent glass with a sonar of the ship's surroundings. His and Jeffery's eyes widened as little blips went wild around the ship, popping up everywhere and growing in number.

"W-WHAT?!" Jeffery squawked. "What's going on?!"

Jones blinked twice before turning his head up. Over the loud hum of the gravity generator, he could faintly hear something chittering over the ship. Seconds after detecting the sounds, the cave ceiling became littered in dozens of red eyes poking out of the darkness, glaring down at the pirates' airship.

Jeffery turned pale in the face. "Oh sweet Kyogre…"

Jones grabbed the intercom and screamed into it, "Desert Beasts, prepare for battle! Don't let them get near the ship!"

As soon as his voice boomed over the airship, the shadows detached themselves from their hiding places and divebombed the ship in a fit of cackles. The entire Wasteland became engulfed in a dome of darkness as gunshots and spells rang out from all over.

---

Griffin anchored his feet down as kinetic slashes struck against him. The arrow markings layered over his skin pulled him in conflicting directions against his will, slamming him through the street and rubble, each one going off like a timed bomb.

He dragged his claws into the ground as the last of the kinetic slashes went off. When he looked up, the Pangoro puppet charged at him with his invisible saber. He tensed his muscles and swung into the blade, parrying Dugald's strike. The kinetic marks layered over Endless Regret, but quickly faded due to its magic negating properties.

"Exosus Release!" He swung again, releasing a concentrated burst of magic that sent the puppet flying backwards.

Dugald slammed his heels down and skidded to an immediate stop. The hollow glow of his eyes flashed as the distortion making up his blade rippled with intensity. He gripped the hilt in both hands and slashed across the ground, scraping up a layer of earth that climbed in height.

Griffin raised his sword over his head and slashed down, splitting the rock wave with Exosus Release. From the parted wave, Dugald lunged through and thrusted his weapon at the Grovyle, who deflected it across his sword. He dug his toes into the street and pulled in the puppet by the wrist.

"Crescent Blight!" He swapped out Endless Regret for the broken scythe and slashed it down the length of the puppet's arm. Soul energy poured out of the cut like smoke.

The Vector Falchion's form fizzled out, but it wasn't gone. Instead, Dugald outstretched his other hand and channeled the spell through his claws. "Vector Falchion." He swiped across Griffin's chest, marking him with three arrows.

Griffin skidded back and held his chest as the arrows blinked. He changed out Crescent Blight for the Twin Storms. "Try this!" He leapt into the air and reared his arms around himself, preparing to torque his body.

He waited until the kinetic arrows went off, spinning his body in place as the stored force increased his rotational speed. Wind channeled around him, and he divebombed onto the undead knight. Dugald clenched his fist and struck into the cyclone, stopping it in place.

Once the kinetic arrows faded, Griffin leapt out of the wind and summoned No Peace, slamming it down on the puppet's head. The energy traveled down to his legs and shattered the street. Darkness sprayed out from all the puppet's facial orifices, but he remained unbothered by the pain. Worst of all, the soul cut across his arm sealed shut with the darkness.

Dugald grabbed the war club and flung Griffin off. After Griffin landed on the street, the undead knight channeled his Vector Falchion through his hilt once more. He touched the blade's tip to the ground and sprinted forward, carrying a trail of kinetic force behind him that was building in strength.

"Shit!" Griffin summoned Pride of Leones and ducked behind it.

Once he was in range, Dugald scraped his sword the rest of the way and slammed it across the shield, followed by the shockwave trailing behind him. Like being struck with the might of a point-blank hurricane, not even the Pride of Leones could stop Griffin from being blasted backwards. His feet sank through the ground as he skidded across it, scraping up his legs with dozens of cuts.

The Grovyle collapsed forward, using his war club to keep himself upright. "D-Damn…"

Dugald reared the sword back and charged once more. Griffin changed out his weapons and summoned Endless Regret. However, right as the puppet went for the attack, someone came flying over Griffin's head and struck Dugald in the chest. They flew backwards and rolled over each other through the ruined street.

Griffin picked himself up and squinted, noticing a Kecleon had tackled into the undead knight. "Wha…?"

"Weren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on my crew?" Griffin glared over his shoulder as Arid came stomping up behind him. The Darmanitan captain grunted as sand particles hung around him like an artificial magic aura. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Those crazy bastards can take care of themselves."

Griffin cracked the aches out of his shoulder and straightened up. "These things are tough."

"I can't tell you how many times I've riddled that one with holes. They're practically unkillable."

The puppets picked themselves off each other and set their sights on their opponents once more. The hollow glow of their eyes shined brighter as they summoned up their spells, Dugald wielding his distorted blade and Andreas summoning his bow and arrows coated in his empowering magic. In response, Griffin raised his sword while Arid summoned his shadow sand.

"Shall we, Arid of the Sand?" Griffin asked.

"Don't get in my way, Blood Moon."

Dugald charged at the duo while Andreas let loose dozens of prismatic arrows. Griffin charged toward Dugald while Arid slammed his hands down and infested the ground with his shadow sand. Spikes of black sand rose up around Griffin, shielding him from the arrows. Once he and Dugald were in range of each other, two spikes shot up and dug through the puppet's arms. With his target temporarily restrained, Griffin plunged his sword through the puppet's chest.

"Exosus Release!" He released the energy straight through, ripping apart the puppet's back.

Andreas morphed his constructs into a sword and shield. He sprinted up behind Dugald, raced up his body, and leapt over Griffin. He tossed his shield at the Grovyle's exposed back, but sand spikes shot up and destroyed it instantly.

"Where are you looking?!" Right as Andreas turned toward the shout, a giant hand of sand slapped across his body and punted him through the ground. Arid clenched his fist and fired black sand bullets from the knuckles. He peppered into Andreas as he stood up and snapped his fingers, igniting the sand into a torrent of black flames.

Dugald recovered from Griffin's attack and punched him across the face. Griffin stood his ground and ripped the sword out of the puppet. He swung it under himself and threw an upward slash, splitting through the knight's face. He jumped back before the disoriented puppet could strike with his sword.

Griffin landed next to Arid and channeled Exosus Release through his sword. "You're not too shabby, old man."

Arid scoffed. "You sound like that annoying Dewott."

"I'm aware." He glared as the puppets picked themselves up again, shrugging off their injuries as the darkness repaired their bodies. "There's no way these things can regenerate forever, so what's their limit?"

"Based off the rate we're going, not even close to what we're dishing out currently." Arid channeled more sand around himself. "Even so, they're still puppets. They may have the tactics of a living creature, but not the indominable spirit."

"Then we keep fighting until our chance to escape."

"One glorious battle for another!"

---

"Noitcnitxe Yar!"

Zaros stepped out of the way and dodged Isidore's laser, smirking to himself as it obliterated some rubble up ahead. "Everto." He casually lifted his finger and fired back at her.

"Elbakaerbnu Reirrab!" Isidore manifested a barrier in front of herself, negating the beam attack. "Take me seriously, Delarosa! Evaw Fo Sekips!" She slammed her staff down and sent forth a wave of metallic spikes.

"Now why would I do such a thing?" With his arms crossed, he manifested his Guardian's arms and pummeled through the metallic wave. He chuckled as he advanced forward, carving himself a tunnel through the spell. "I'm not the one throwing everything away just for the sake of their pride. You had your chance, and you choose to back out of our deal?"

Isidore flipped into the air, conjuring fireballs around her staff. "I make deals with devils, not you!" She fired down the fireballs.

"Tempus Point."

The fireballs exploded into the ground, blowing apart the metallic wave. Once Isidore landed in the street, she was suddenly greeted by Zaros' smug grin before being clobbered in the chin by his Guardian. She sailed over the street before skidding off her back and slamming into a barely standing wall.

"You're saying I'm worse than a devil? My, my, never before have I received such a wondrous compliment." He smoothed back some stray hairs atop his head. "Then you must understand just how out of your league I am. I was born gifted. Based off how your parents viewed you, you were lucky to be born."

She picked herself up, growling at him. "I'm going to rip your throat out."

"I do enjoy a spot of mindless insults as much as the next fellow, but is there such need for rudeness?" He raised his finger to fire another Everto.

Isidore slammed her staff down. "Ned Fo Eryp Srepiv!"

The moment Zaros took another step forward, a black ring opened up in the ground. To his surprise, demonic snakes burst out of the ground and sank their fangs into various places over his body, including directly to the neck. He doubled back, gagging as the snakes bit down harder on his skin. His eyes widened as he saw something like molten liquid traveling through his veins.

Isidore spun her staff and charged a spell at the tip. "Once I blast you, that molten venom will react and rip you to shreds! Die, you bastard!"

Zaros, for a brief moment, was paralyzed by the surprise attack. However, much to Isidore's horror, his cunning grin stretched over his lips again. She went to fire the attack, but shuddered as she felt a wave of distortion hit her. She blinked twice and saw Zaros had disappeared. She looked down at the end of her staff and saw she was no longer charging the beam spell. Or, more accurately, she had just fired it without realizing.

"Tempus Point: Skip." Her eyes widened, feeling the Watchog's hot breath against her ear. "I skipped you five seconds forward in time and left behind that molten venom in the past. You already fired that spell of yours."

Isidore instinctively swung for his head, but he decked her across the face with his own fist. Blood sprayed from the corner of her mouth. As she stumbled back, Zaros grabbed her by the robe and held her up.

"There's a simple fact to life you must understand. There are those who stand above the weak and helpless, and then there's you: the weak and helpless." He smirked. "You and your fake magic is just a cheap imitation of centuries of progress."

Isidore tried to power up another spell. "You—"

"Guardian, show this whelp her place."

Her vision became flooded in a storm of punches flying from behind Zaros. They suspended her in the air with the force of their fists, beating into every inch of her body. Blood sprayed from her face, some splattering over Zaros, and some bones could be heard breaking beneath the skin. The Guardian ended it off by punching her into where she trapped Zaros with the snakes.

He raised his pressed fingers. "By the way, thank you for telling me about that venom. Very educational."

Isidore, peering through the blood running down her eyes, turned her head to see she was lying in a pool of orange goop. Her eyes widened, realizing what it was. "NO—"

"Ignis Cast." He snapped his fingers, sending flames in her direction that instantly reacted to the venom, causing it to explode under her.

"YAAAAAAH!" A torrent of flames engulfed the Ambipom, incinerating a good chunk of her robe and burning through her body. The top half of her right ear and the left hand of her tail were incinerated on the spot while her back took massive amounts of heat, charring the flesh and causing it to bubble.

Adding onto her torture, Zaros fired several times into her with Everto, riddling her with holes. One passed through her neck, five went through her chest and stomach, and another ripped through her charred right cheek. In the span of a couple seconds, after the explosion, Isidore fell face first onto the ground cloaked in black smoke and the aroma of burnt flesh.

Zaros laughed and turned away from the roasted monkey. "You are so pathetic. I do hope honoring that worthless mind reader's final mission was worth all this suffering, my dear. Maybe I should keep you alive to experience unending agony." He grinned over his shoulder. "Or maybe I should resurrect Chantal and turn her into my slave. I can order her to kill you over and over again, and I'll keep reviving you over and over again so you can experience being killed by your true love for the rest of eternity. Wouldn't that be swell?"

He frowned, seeing she wasn't responding. He looked at her charred body for a moment. There wasn't so much as a twitch coming from her. She didn't have a magical aura to detect, though that just meant she couldn't take as much punishment.

He shrugged and walked away from the presumed corpse. "Oh well, it was a fun idea at the time—"

BAMF!

His eyes widened as several lasers flew into his back and pierced through him. His Guardian barely reacted in time to deflect the beams heading straight for vital areas. Zaros stumbled onto his knee and grasped his neck as blood dripped down his suit.

"You…tricky witch," he coughed.

He glared over his shoulder and saw said witch picking herself off the ground, though barely. Though nearly half her body was torched in the explosion with a scorched robe hanging over her body like a tatter curtain, not to mention her whole left foot disintegrating into ash, Zaros could tell the adrenaline filling her system numbed whatever excruciating pain she was going through.

She struggled to swallow, but managed to down what little saliva was left in her mouth. She glared at the Watchog with magic crackling off her staff. "If I'm pathetic, then you must be one hell of a loser to turn your back on me!"

Zaros glared back at her before straightening up. "These injuries are superficial at worse." He closed his eyes and smirked. "You've got guts, though, I can't deny that." He raised his finger, the tip crackling with Everto. "Guess I should execute you with a modicum of your dignity intact."

---

The veteran Ravenfield Trio launched themselves at the Shadow King, who cloaked himself in a field of black string. He blocked a powerful dive kick from Willow and tossed her aside. He ducked under a flying kick from Alex before blasting him in the back with a black energy beam. Ava cut her way through the strings and crossed her swords at his neck, but the king caught the blades and kneed her in the chin.

"Everything that I strive for will not be undone until I've obtained the power to change this broken world!" He grabbed Ava and tossed her at her teammates.

Alex and Willow, after picking themselves up, caught their fortune telling ally. "You good?" Willow asked.

Ava massaged her jaw. "Barely."

The Shadow King dug his hands into the ground and fired off blades of darkness that rent the path ahead. Ava and Willow jumped out of the way while Alex took them head on. He grabbed hold of one of the blades, which pushed him through the earth. He pressed into the sides and snapped it in two, instantly destroying it. However, from its blind spot, the king hurled at him with a dropkick to the face.

"You foolish mortals only delay my fate!" The Shadow King pulled on the strings wrapped tautly around his fingers.

A grid of string rose from beneath the earth and brought along the entire of the rubble, ground, and everything into a massive tidal wave. The Shadow King kicked off of Alex's face and catapulted himself over the earth wave, which swept over the disoriented Scrafty.

"That is the price of your endless hubris!" he continued to taunt.

"You're one to talk!" He saw Willow's sword flying toward his face and used his string to pull himself out of the way. Willow instantly teleported to her sword and spun her body to slice across his face. "How proud do you think yourself under the foolish delusional you can bring about a utopia!"

He caught her in a neck of string and pulled her closer, grabbing her by the face. "Do you deny the faults of this wretched world? This region alone has suffered under the effects of hubris, so to what end will the rest not follow its descent to destruction?" He fired strings into the ground and pulled himself and Willow down at high speed. "You have no right!"

They crashed down into the earth, where he threw the full force of his weight and landing onto Willow's body, burying her deep under the surface as the ground split apart around them.

"This is all in the name of divine justice!" he yelled.

"HA!" He turned up just in time to see Ava divebombing out of the sky. He dodged her dual sword strike, but her Guardian's arm launched from her shoulder and grabbed him by the throat. "If it's a right you seek, this world belongs to the next generation, not your twisted idols of the past!" She crossed her blades and went at him like a guillotine.

The Shadow King effortlessly grabbed and crushed her constructs in his grip. "This has nothing to do with the past. You lot lump the word future in the same category as utopia. What foolish thinking! So long as ambition and ideals exist, there will always be conflict and hatred in this world! Past, present, future! It's all the same!"

He coiled his arm in string and socked her in the stomach. Ava doubled over, spitting up blood. Her loss of concentration caused the Guardian arm to fade. With her disoriented, the king whipped his leg and delivered a roundhouse kick into her hip, causing her to scream out in pain.

"Magic has given opportunity to everyone, and that includes the morally corrupted," the Shadow King spat. "Marauders, thieves, pirates! We live in a world where becoming a bounty hunter is a viable career path! Mysto is the prime example of us losing control of society, all because the gift of magic brings out the worst in us! How many times must I say it until you get through those thick skulls? All you're defending is a world built up on our failures!"

Ava staggered back, clutching her hip yet remaining defiant against the king. "How can you be so blind to the harm you'll cause if your vision becomes reality?"

He scoffed. "Because I rather be the villain than be passive to more hardship. Sometimes you need to systematically destroy everything until peace can be obtained, and I'm willing to destroy anyone who gets in my way until someone starts making sense."

"Ugh…is that how you see it?" He glared and saw Willow picking herself out of the ground. "Fine, Mysto has serious issues with laws and how justice is served. What makes you so sure your grand plan won't backfire? You want to corrupt every creature on the planet to lose the will to live? How long until they develop their own form of ambition? You want a world created from the grudges and hatred of our shadows to be the dominant species of the planet? What kind of peace is that?"

"…" He clenched his fist tightly. The string floating around his arm whipped up erratically. "Watch your tongue, woman."

"That's not how you talk to a lady." He glared ahead and saw Alex limping toward them, holding his bleeding arm. "You and I…have been stuck with each other for a long time, Shadow King. This isn't about us. You want the world to suffer because of the way it treated your friend. You want to world to suffer for creating the very monster that terrorized them several millennia ago. This was always about Dougal!"

"…" The king glared at him. "So? What if it is?"

"You are willing to destroy everything we've built up under the vague premise we'll become our own destroyers?"

"It's inevitable, with or without my influence," the king said. "A world governed by hate, with the power of the gods flowing through Mysto, is bound to create a threat worse than my own. What hope is there sticking to the status quo? Ripping everything from the roots and starting over is the key to salvation."

Willow growled. "A world without love is not salvation."

Ava formed her blades. "A world without ambition is not salvation."

Alex raised his fists. "And a world without hope is doomed."

The king grunted. "You're all delusional. Holding onto these worthless ideals."

"If they're so worthless, why are we still standing? Defying you?" Alex retorted.

The king's glare deepened. "You're wasting time with these speeches. Even now, you three are barely clinging to life while I continue to be rejuvenated by darkness. Why are you still fighting?"

"Because unlike you…we know what it means to be a hero. That, unlike your negative view of this world, is objective fact." The trio raised their weapons and took on their attack stances. "So, deal with it."

The Shadow King scoffed as his string billowed around him. Absolute rubbish.

---

"GYRAAAAAAHHHH!"

The monstrous shadow bird, formerly known as Krystal Frostwood, screeched out to the sky above as a crimson powder flew from its wings and scattered into the air. All present company capable of sensing magic detected its volatile nature and jumped for cover as the air became scorched in a powerful explosion.

Cosette grabbed the frozen Cybil by her scarf and pulled her down before the explosion passed over them. "What are you doing standing around like that?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Cybil ignored her scolding, instead curling up on the ground with her face twisted with grief. "K-Krystal…Krystal…" Her eyes stung from the lack of tears and the smoke in the air, yet she couldn't register this pain over the one quaking inside her chest.

Cosette grimaced. "You poor thing…" She growled and picked herself out from behind cover. "Dammit, Krystal!" She aimed her revolver and fired five rounds into the monster. "How can you do something as stupid as turning yourself into a monster?!"

The monster swatted the marbles away just before they uncompressed bursts of air. It opened its layered beak and fired a stream of crimson bombs. Cosette shielded herself, but a massive tree shot up from the ground and took the explosion for her.

"Is now really a good time to be blaming her?!" Cosette looked to her left and saw Gwyn and Ella ducking behind a chunk of wall. "I don't think this was her decision!" Gwyn scolded.

Cosette sighed and clenched her fist, compressing more air marbles. "I know. I'm just…venting, I guess."

Ella peeked out from behind cover and fired a psychic beam into the monster's head. The blast knocked it off balance and caused it stagger backwards. "What do we do? We can't just kill her! She might still be alive inside! Right, Gwyn?"

Gwyn clenched her teeth. "I do sense some form of life force inside, but this is different to when I interacted with Indigo while she was brainwashed. This darkness surrounding her is strong. I don't think I can heal her. We either need to kill the Shadow King or find some way to expunge this crap."

Cybil fired a couple shots over her cover before ducking under another explosive wave. "What about holy magic? That stuff can repel the darkness, right?"

"We don't have any holy magic, though," Ella reminded. "Team Shatter Star knows a priest, but he's not here. Plus, there's no telling how strong this stuff is. There's so much of it coming off of her."

Krystal growled. "Then we're going to have to try this my way." She jumped out from behind the rocks and sprinted at the monster.

Gwyn gasped. "What are you—"

"If I can touch her, I can compress her! That'll at least buy us some time to find a cure!" She unloaded her entire chamber of marbles into the monster, staggering it with bursts of air.

The monster stomped backward on its talons, shaking away the dust. All five of its eyes widened and took a quick scan of the area before sensing the Cinccino running under its body. It splayed its wings and rained down volatile powder.

Cosette noticed and covered her mouth. "Shit!"

The monster screamed and detonated the ground beneath it. The shockwave carried over to the girls and ripped the ground apart. Ella and Gwyn stood their ground while Cybil covered her head against raining debris.

When the smoke clear, the monster bird lowered its head to check for Cosette's remains, only to find nothing but blackened earth. Not a shred of scattered flesh or charred remains, or even debris from her revolver. It lowered its head closer to the ground for a better look before spotting something glinting in the light.

A single white marble.

The monster moved closer, but was startled back as the marble flashed in its eyes. Cosette uncompressed herself and loaded in a marble. "Sorry about this, Krystal!" She fired into the monster's beak and snapped her fingers, unleashing another of the Delibird's compressed explosives. It ripped through the creature's layered beaks and set its face on fire.

Cosette kept running under its legs and ran up some rubble. Once she reached the top, she kicked off and backflipped onto the bird's tailfeathers, catching herself on one. She pulled herself onto its back, careful as she moved while the monster stomped around in a blind frenzy. She sprinted for the center of its back, channeling her magic into her hand.

"This is for your own good, Krystal! You can thank me later!" She lunged and reached her hand out.

All of a sudden, the monster twisted its neck around and caught her by the tail. Her hand was an inch off from touching the bird's back. Cosette screamed as the bird threw her up into the air and opened its newly regenerated beak to ultimately swallow her whole.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no—" Cosette screamed, flailing her arms hysterically.

Before the monster could eat her, Ella's Daybreak batons came flying in and scooped Cosette off right as it snapped its beak shut. It turned around to fire an explosive wave, but Ella rocketed into its face wrapped in psychic energy and dropkicked it.

"Your roommate is not on the menu!" Ella snapped.

Giant tree roots grew out of the ground and coiled around the monster's body. Four rose over its neck and slammed down to pin its head to the ground. Gwyn grunted, feeling the roots strain against the monster's brute strength. "Cosette, do it now!"

Cosette hung onto the Daybreak batons and nodded. "Get me in closer! It'll be faster if I compress her near her center!"

Ella swiped her paws. "Right!"

Cosette divebombed with Ella's assistance and stretched her hand out. All five of the monster's eyes locked onto the careening Cinccino and let loose a ferocious roar. Its entire body glimmered in crimson powder. With a snap of its beaks, the exterior of its body let loose an explosive wave.

The blast threw Cosette and the batons backwards, as well as Ella and Gwyn. They crashed into different rockpiles that collapsed on top of them. The blast also instantly incinerated the roots that were pinning the bird down. It rose up from the smoke and cleared it away with the beat of its wings. It reared its head up and screeched into the sky.

Ella pushed herself out of the rubble and growled. "She was strong before, but she's not holding back this time."

Cosette picked herself up and rubbed her head. "She's too big, too. I would need to take her by surprise if I want to fully compress her down. I didn't anticipate her being this challenging."

Gwyn glared. "What are we going to do?"

Before any ideas could be shared, the girls gasped as Cybil ran out of hiding and spread her arms out in front of the monster. Just from her body language alone, they could see she was shivering in terror, yet she stood firm against the creature.

"Krystal, please stop!" Cybil screamed. "It's me, Cybil! Your girlfriend! You have to remember me!"

Attracted to the noise, the monster looked down in her direction and opened its mouth, charging up a stream of bombs.

Cybil clenched her teeth. "You can't be gone! You just can't! I don't know what I would do with myself if I lost you. You've made me a better person ever since we met. I can't imagine a future without you, Krissy! Please, you're stronger than this! Listen to my voice! Fight its control! You're the strongest person I know! It's like you've always told me. Whenever the world tries to push you back, the only direction you move is forward! So please, come back to us! Come back to me!"

Sadly, her words fell on deaf ears as the monster bird's mouth became engulfed in clusters of charged bombs. She could only stare in dismay as the monster, without hesitation, fired a stream of bombs on her position. She couldn't move or turn away, left paralyzed by her pointless efforts.

"K…Krystal…"

Before she became engulfed in the explosions, a wall of blue flames cut in front of her and took the explosives, triggering them to explode prematurely. The monster staggered from the blast before faltering again to two powerful dropkicks to the head. The monster collapsed into the ruins of buildings, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Ella, Gwyn, and Cosette rose off the ground and gasped as the remaining members of Team Shatter Star landed beside Cybil. Based off their expressions, however, they looked beyond pissed off.

Cybil pulled herself out of her daze and turned to her teammates. "You guys…"

"You just said that thing's Krystal?" Oswald growled.

Saffiro clutched the hilt of his sword, trying to keep his own temper in check. "I can sense her aura inside that thing, though it's terribly faint."

Ebony snarled. "I'm going to find that damn king and rip his head off!"

Ella, Gwyn, and Cosette ran up to their side. "Save the theatrics for later," Ella said. "We need to contain Krystal now, otherwise something may happen to her before we find a way to reverse this."

Saffiro nodded. "Understood."

Ebony pulled on her scarf. "Cybil, you stay back. Let us handle this."

Cybil frowned, but didn't complain. She silently stepped behind the group. Gwyn placed a comforting hand on her shoulder while the Furret sobbed into her hands.

Oswald widened his stance and took a deep breath. "Alright, Team Shatter Star. Let's make our leader proud, and show those shadows our explosive passion!"

Saffiro and Ebony nodded. "RIGHT!" The trio kicked off the ground and charged at the shadow bird.

The monster picked itself up and saw the group charging toward it. It roared back at them and clapped its wings, sending forth a wave of explosions. The trio braved the incoming, incendiary storm and roared as they met it halfway, ready to take down their corrupted leader at all costs.

---

Though it was hard to believe despite staring them back in the face, Wes and Flint came to terms with the new reality brought forth to them. With barely a second of delay, overwhelmed with emotion, the brothers leapt into the forelegs of the untethered puppet and embraced him in between themselves. Tears flowed down their faces as they pressed their heads into the crook of their undead father's neck.

"D-Dad!" Wes cried.

"It's really you…" Flint mumbled through his tears.

Though a mere puppet physically, thus unable to shed tears of his own, Garret felt himself overcome with emotion as well as he embraced his sons tightly. "My boys. I…I never thought I would be able to hold either of you again. I'm so happy I can see you two again."

Tony picked himself off the ground, massaging his throbbing head, and smiled warmly at the reunion. Heh. You did good, Sapienti. You did good.

The brothers pulled from their father and wiped their eyes. "I…I just can't believe this is happening," Wes said. "To think you were kicking our butts a moment ago."

Garret smiled apologetically. "Yeeeeah, sorry about that." He grunted and held his head. "Everything's a bit of a blur."

"Do you remember anything?" Flint asked.

"Hard to say. Time flows weird when you're dead. I did try to keep an eye out for you boys these last couple years, but…I just remember my soul feeling weird. Next thing I know, I'm blasting my…" He paused for a moment. "Let's see, Priscilla's my great grandmother's aunt, so that would make her my…give me a second."

Wes and Flint sighed with exasperated smiles. Yep, that's definitely Dad.

The brothers flinched as a horrible screech sounded from the distance. Garret snapped out of his thoughts and turned in its direction. "The hell was that?"

Wes winced. "Sounded like Krystal."

"Krystal?"

"Friend of mine. Really cool girl. And…um, recently turned into a monster to save my dumb butt."

Garret's eyes widened for a moment before glaring. "If that's the case, I'm guessing I'm in the middle of the Shadow King's invasion."

"You catch on quick for a dead man." The group turned to Tony as he limped over to them. "Tony Sapienti. Nice to meet you. I'm the guy who stabbed some sense into you."

Garret raised his brow. "Sapienti? Would your father happen to be a man named Leroy?"

"Yep, that bastard's my father."

Garret sighed. "And now I'm glad I considered retiring from treasure hunting. My condolences." He shook his head and glared. "Mind giving me the rundown on our situation?"

Flint glared. "The mages are evacuating the campus. Almost half the population here has been corrupted by the Shadow King or a quarter of his Pestilence knights. The Desert Beasts are prepping their ship to take us to the Idol of Origin."

"The Desert Beasts? Jaime's here, too?" Garret glared, focusing his senses through the campus. "I also sense Ava."

"Alex and Willow are here, too," Wes added.

"Not exactly the environment for a reunion, then." Garret nodded at the boys. "If what you're saying is true, it seems most of the non-corrupted students have escaped, so we best meet up with Jaime's crew."

The brothers and Tony nodded. "Right."

"Which way will the Desert Beasts be coming—" Garret froze for a second before jumping in front of the boys. "Behind me!"

The boys gasped as a sea of black flames, a pale yellow beam, and giant shadow claws ripped across the road. Garret's eyes flashed, and all the attacks were sucked through his eyes like they were miniature black holes. Every scrap of magic broke down into particles, completely disappearing from sight.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

The Ravenfield trio and Garret tensed up as the three heralds stepped out of a hiding. Voss massaged his neck while holding his flaming sword. Shadow Callista crawled over a pile of rubble with twin shadow arms protruding from her back. Aeternus floated in the air with his tentacle legs crossed while also looking quite irritated.

Voss glared at the group, recognizing the defensive stance Garret was taking in front of the boys. "Puck. I thought you said your control over them was infallible."

Callista hissed. "You're surprised by this? The idiot likes putting flaws in everything to make the game entertaining."

Aeternus' agitated smirk stretched wider. "Shut your mouths. Of course they were completely under my control! No amount of willpower could break my modifications." He glared directly at Tony. "Then again, I said the same thing with my prototype War."

Tony stepped out of hiding and smirked. "Aeternus, hello! How you doing? Last I saw you, you let yourself go. You looked like a lumpy potato sack if I remember correctly. Love the new look, but something tells me you're going to be out on a watchlist."

Aeternus snickered as his tentacles wiggled aggressively. "You're really pissing me off, Sapienti. Undoing all my hard work."

Garret stepped forward and glared at them. "So, you're the Shadow King's heralds. I've been aware of your actions in the afterlife, and I don't appreciate you harassing my sons AND their friends." He clenched his teeth and snarled. "And my friends."

Aeternus smirked. "The dead man finds his voice and exercises it with threats. The dead really are a vengeful sort!"

Callista hissed. "Enough of your senseless prattle, Puck." Black smoke rose from her back, taking the shape of the flaming demon knight, Zolvon. "I've personally gathered those souls myself, and I know this one isn't to be underestimated."

The flames flickering off Voss' sword and back grew in size. "Then he shall be a worthy opponent for me. If I can't have my fill against Buster Ravenfield, then this will serve as a suitable substitute."

Garret glared. "Is that a fact?" He glared over his shoulder, sensing Priscilla gathering herself off the ground. He growled to himself before shouting to the boys, "You three get out of here and find cover! I'll hold them off!"

Wes glared. "Dad, we can fight, too!"

"I'm aware of that, but you're all injured! Besides, it's a father's job to protect his family, and I'm not being resurrected without dishing out a serious ass whooping to these freaks!" His quilled fur spiked up, tearing through his garish uniform. "I'm buying you all time to escape!"

Wes gritted his teeth. "Yeah, but—" Flint placed his paw on his shoulder.

"There's no use arguing over it. At this point, he's not the one in any real danger."

Tony nodded. "Best to wait for our ride."

"…" Wes sighed, but ultimately nodded in agreement. "Alright. You better not get torn to pieces, Dad! I've got seven years of life to catch you up on!"

Garret smirked. "How can I not be motivated by that? Get going!" The trio nodded and took off running down the street.

Aeternus laughed. "Oh, you think you get to leave the party early?" He slammed his hand down and sent his Particle magic through the ground. "Only I get to decide when the fun—"

Garret suddenly rocketed into Aeternus and kicked his face inward, instantly dispelling his magic. "Your voice is grating my ears." He wrapped his legs around the clown's neck and torqued his body, forcibly snapping his neck.

"GAAH!" Aeternus cried.

Voss raised his sword up and slashed down at Garret's neck, but the puppet let it pass through him without resistance. He let go of Aeternus and flipped his hindlegs to kick the electric yeti. He activated Warp Pad and launched himself away before a counterattack could be thrown.

Callista and Zolvon kept track of the ricocheting Jolteon. "He's fast. Zolvon, scorch the air! Leave no trace of him!"

"By your command, Mistress!" The demonic knight spun his flaming sword and engulfed the air above in a vortex of heat. Aeternus and Voss covered themselves as their arms caught fire from the closeness.

Callista clicked her mandibles tauntingly. "Try and dodge this, you worthless puppet—"

"Divisio Regulae."

An X-shape cross of white magic cut through the flaming vortex and instantly destroyed it. The heralds watched in disbelief as the bare space remained untouched the flames, leaving a permanent scar of empty space. Garret dove through the empty space and landed in front of the heralds.

"Divisio Regulae." He spun on his front paws and swiped the air with his hindlegs, cutting through Zolvon's body. Half his upper arms and torso were instantly erased, yet he remained standing as if he were still whole.

"Good Hells!" Zolvon exclaimed. "What matter of sorcery is this?!"

Garret glared. "Any physical matter that overlaps that space will cease to exist in this dimension." He kicked up and struck the knight's chin. The demon staggered out of the empty space, becoming whole again, and fell onto his back.

Priscilla raced through the flames as they faded, channeling Soul Blaze through her fists. She threw a right hook for her traitorous puppet's head, but it passed through him as he turned intangible. He spun on his front paws again and kicked his undead ancestor away.

"I've studied Spatial magic for years and honed my senses to their absolute limits," Garret said. "It takes entire decades of dedication to reach my level of mastery."

Aeternus finally grabbed his head and twisted it back into place. "Is that a fact? Well, unfortunately for you, I have a knack for eradicating pesky magicians like you! Particle Eraser!" He clapped his hands together and fired a wide beam from his palms.

Garret glanced at the fallen Priscilla and swiped the air. "Divisio Regulae: Splice!"

He cut the air again, but this time caused the tear to stitch itself back together. This caused all space between him and Priscilla to be joined together, thus throwing them into each other. Garret grappled with the puppet and kicked her into the path of Particle Eraser, letting it atomize the puppet.

Aeternus immediately stopped the spell and gasped. "No, my toys!"

It was too late. The physical body withered away into Life Particles, leaving behind a glob of orange soul energy. The heralds and Garret watched it take on the vague shape of a Floatzel as it started to fade away.

The soul of Priscilla Ravenfield glared at the heralds for a moment before turning to her descendent and nodding at him. "Thank you, Garret Ravenfield. I owe you a debt of gratitude. Please, win this war for all of creation."

Garret nodded at the soul. "Goodbye, Great Aunt Priscilla."

She nodded and curled herself into a ball as her soul energy faded away into the atmosphere, flying up as an upward shower of particles.

Aeternus clenched his teeth, growling through a furious smile. "I'm getting real sick and tired of people breaking my things!"

"Enough of your whining, Puck." Voss charged at Garret, scraping his sword across the ground. "Fallen Hell Blaze!" He swiped upward into the puppet's face.

Garret let the attack pass through him before jumping into the air. "I have no interest in wasting my energy with you three. My only concern was giving my sons and their friend time to escape, though freeing one of my ancestors was a nice bonus!" He bit down on the upper half of his uniform and tore it off. "You don't mess with the Ravenfields!"

"Oi! Do you know what I had to go through to get those commissioned?!" Aeternus yelled.

Garret formed a Warp Pad under his paws and aimed himself in the heart of the campus. "Try and keep up!" He rocketed away.

Callista summoned her demonic bird and crawled onto it. "Get on! We're leveling this entire campus if we have to!"

Voss grabbed Aeternus and punted him onto the bird. "Quit your whining, Puck!"

"You'd be upset, too, if someone destroyed the uniforms you slaved over designing!"

---

"Hurry, this way!" Randolph ordered, gesturing fleeing students and faculty members along.

He and the rest of the mages were escorting everyone through portals, which were set to take them to Ironworks Kingdom via Margo's request. Though the kingdom sustained grievous damages several months ago, the young queen used every ounce of resources she could muster to fortify it for the safety of her people. Though not a guaranteed haven, it was far enough away from the armada and close enough for an emergency evacuation especially with the last second circumstances.

Little by little, the massive crowds turned to small groups and the occasional straggler stumbling along into the portal. Abyssal Knights tried to chase them down into the portals, but were forced back by Calder and Seraphina through giant tidal waves and blasts of magical flame.

Vernon knelt down and channeled his magic through the ground, sensing out the life force of everyone still inside the campus for any other strays. He sensed major fights breaking out all over, including from members of Team Ravenfield. He shuffled through the darkness to pinpoint uncorrupted auras.

"Not counting Team Ravenfield and their allies, I detect at least seven more individuals inside the campus," Vernon said.

Cielo nodded. "Alright. Randolph and Benedict, you two head into the campus and try to save the remaining students. Once Team Ravenfield escapes with the pirates, help escort Team Shatter Star and their remaining allies."

Randolph spread his wings and took off into the sky. "I'm on it!"

"Follow my magic through the ground!" Vernon yelled before sending wave of green light through the earth like vines. The Flygon saluted to him and took off.

Benedict stepped forward, but paused for a moment. "I can't believe how easily they took down the whole academy. To think these are highly trained students…"

Cielo gritted his teeth. "None of us could've prepared for this. We can't lose hope, though." He pointed ahead. "Don't let a single one of them get through!"

Benedict shrugged off his robe and cracked his knuckles. "I can handle that." He took one step forward and launched ahead with a burst of speed, shattering the ground behind him.

Cielo focused his senses onto the campus, quaking at the devastation before him. Regardless of prophecy, this future of darkness cannot exist. Please, get to the idol at all costs, Team Ravenfield!

---

Saffiro and Oswald screamed as their monster leader blew them back in a powdery explosion. Ebony dashed under them as they flew by and raced up under the monster's chin. It swiped its wing across the ground, creating sparks that ignited the powder on its wings, but Ebony leapt over it and landed a rising kick to the chin.

"Viribus Swipe!" She swiped the air and stole some of the monster's stamina. She grabbed onto its beak and flung herself into the air. "Take this!" She used her scarf to catch a tooth and flung herself back down, striking the top of its head with a brutal punch.

The monster staggered under the blow, but didn't fall. It clenched its teeth and used Ebony's own scarf to spin her around before slamming her into the ground. It raised its taloned feet and stomped down on her, triggering an explosion on top of her.

"Psycho Cannon!" The monster looked up to a giant beam of psychic energy crashing into its face. Ella curled her claws into the weakened earth and held her ground against the recoiled slamming through her head.

Gwyn slammed her hands down and sent out a wave of tree roots. They slammed into the monster and pushed it back, freeing Ebony from under its weight. She twisted her hands and coiled the roots around the monster's neck and wings. "You're not escaping this time!"

Saffiro and Oswald recovered from the last attack and raced past the girls. Saffiro nodded at his friend and shouted, "I'll go low, you go high!"

Oswald smirked. "Right!" He briefly stopped before leaping high up into the air.

Saffiro gripped his hilt and ran full speed at the monster's legs. Blue flames built up around his sheathed sword. "Fuoco Blu…!" He partially unsheathed his sword before slashing five times in succession into the monster's legs. He stopped and clicked his sword back into its scabbard. "Canzone di Fiori!"

Flames burst out from the wounds he inflicted, causing the monster to wreathe and scream. At the same time, Oswald floated high over its head, taking in a deep breath.

"Meteor Impact!" He thrusted his legs downward and careened himself directly on top of where Ebony struck the monster's head, delivering a powerful impact that crushed its head into the scorched earth.

Ebony sprinted at the pinned monster and unleashed a flurry of punches into its face. "Ra-Tatatatatatata!"

The monster snapped its eyes open and let out a deafening shriek that blew the team away. It beat its wings against the ground and triggered an explosion, incinerating the roots off its body once more. It rose to full height and fired a stream of crimson bombs from its layered beaks.

Ella jumped into the air and clapped her paws, casting a wide psychic barrier. She strained herself as the bombs blasted against it, slamming her mind with the mental recoil. By the time the attack let up, the barrier shattered and knocked Ella back in the psychic backlash. Ebony jumped in and narrowly caught her before hitting the ground.

Cosette ran circles around the monster, firing compressed air bullets to draw its attention. It barely paid attention to her, instead whipping up a gust of explosive powder. She instantly compressed herself before the explosion trigger, and her compressed form was lost in the blast.

Saffiro staggered back and growled. "She's too strong!"

"There's no use getting through to her, either," Oswald added. "She's too far gone!"

Cybil gasped before snarling at him. "That's not true! Krystal's stronger than that! There's no way…there's no way she's…!" She clenched her eyes shut. "She can still hear us, I know she can!"

Gwyn kept one arm in front of the emotionally fragile Furret while keeping her attention on the rampaging monster. "Cybil, I feel her presence as well, but it's too faint. I can't determine whether or not she's really alive in there—"

"She's alive, I know she is!" she snapped. "The Krystal I know doesn't back out of a fight that easily! She can get through this!" She stared up fearfully at the monster. "She has to be in there…"

The monster shook off the earlier damage and set its sights on the ground. Saffiro and Oswald nodded at each other and sprinted at it once more. Saffiro leapt into the air and gripped the hilt. "Fuoco Blu…!" He unsheathed his sword and slashed three times into the monster's face before striking downward. "Angelo Caduto!"

Once he touched the ground, flames burst out of the monster's face in the form of a pair of wings. It left an X-shaped scar over the face, where shadows gathered to heal it off.

Oswald raced toward the legs and sucked in a breath. "Dual Combo!" He rushed at the knees and unleashed a flurry of brutal punches. Each hit pushed in the kneecap further and further back until the monster lost its balance. He landed on the ground and jumped back as the monster collapsed.

Gwyn touched the ground and summoned giant sunflowers behind herself. She stood tall and extended her hand toward the monster. "Helianthus Ruin!" Beams of light fired out from the buds and exploded across the monster's face, causing it to scream in pain.

Cybil gasped. "Krystal!"

"It's for her own good!" Ella yelled before charging at the monster. She summoned Daybreak to its staff form and tossed it ahead. It bashed down on its head before breaking apart and assaulting it with a flurry of strikes. Ella flipped off her front paws and catapulted herself into the air. "Psycho Cannon!" She fired a concentrated blast of psychic power down on the monster's back, shoving it into the ground.

Gwyn glared. "Alright, I'm going to make sure this stops her from moving!" She touched the ground and prepared to summon a third batch of tree roots.

The monster, sensing their intentions, roared as another blast fired off the surface of its body. This time, an explosion of black energy rippled off and threw everyone away from itself. The group screamed as the shadow fire laced in the explosion singed their bodies with Oswald taking the worst of it.

Gwyn shielded herself and Cybil behind a wooden barrier while Ebony used her scarf to snatch the others out of the air and bring them behind the barrier. It held up long enough before the blast dissipated. The wood withered away into ash.

Ella winced, holding her burning shoulder. "They really amped up Krystal's power."

Ebony growled. "We can't contain her without getting roasted! Where the hells that gunslinger chick?!"

The monster picked itself up and straightened out its damaged leg. It narrowed its eyes on the group and stomped toward them. Everyone took defensive stances, but gasped as Cybil stepped forward and held her arms out.

"Krystal, please! It's me, your girlfriend! CyCy! Cybil!" she pleaded. "Please, I can't stand seeing you like this! You must fight their control! You aren't a monster or their puppet. Please! PLEASE!"

Again, her feeble cries were met with the growls of a mindless beast, programmed only to kill anything the shadows deemed its enemy. Cybil, despite her insistence, relaxed her posture as she stared into its massive, soulless red eyes. She could see herself in their reflection, and she saw the terrified look she was wearing.

"…You really can't hear me, can you?" she whimpered.

"GYRRRAAAAHHHH!"

The roar blew back her fur and goggles. She stared longingly at the creature for a moment before sighing. She pulled out her eyedrops and applied them to her eyes. She applied a little too much to her left eye, causing a droplet to streak down her face. She shuddered before putting the drops away.

"I'm sorry, Krystal." She sniffled, but reached behind herself and pulled out her rifle, aiming it at the monster's center. "This is going to hurt me more than it'll hurt you. We'll find a way to save you, but I can't let you hurt our friends." She pulled out a bullet with a green bottom and loaded it inside the chamber. "This poison will incapacitate you indefinitely, and it's going to be unpleasant. Agonizing, even. I…I know it'll hurt for a long time, but this is for your own good."

She raised the rifle, but her arms shook, making her aim unsteady. Sets of hands reached out and grabbed her, helping her steady her aim. She looked over her shoulder, seeing the sympathetic looks of her friends, nodding to her that it'll be okay. She took a deep breath, faced up at the monster, and peered down her ironsides.

"I'm sorry, Krystal." She curled her digit around the trigger and mustered the strength to apply pressure. "Please, forgive me!"

Right as she was about to commit to her decision, Monster Krystal suddenly exploded in a flash of white light. Everyone's eyes widened as the beast vanished instantly, not a trace of it remaining.

DING!

Their eyes turned downward, and a single white marble bounced across the ground, smoking with magic. Cybil pulled her digit off the trigger and stared at it, as did everyone else.

"M…Made it in time." All but Cybil took their eyes off the marble and saw Cosette limping toward them. "I don't know what you were doing, but…" She fell onto her knees and stayed a moment to catch her breath. "It gave me enough time to charge up the spell. I compressed her instantly."

"You…compressed her?" Saffiro mumbled.

"Yes. She won't cause any more harm to anyone."

Cybil hooked her rifle onto her back and approached the marble. She picked it up and held it in her hands. "This is…really Krystal?"

Cosette frowned. "I'm sorry, Cybil. I know this must be hard on you."

The Furret frowned before holding the marble to her cheek and nuzzling it. "Krystal. We'll save you, I promise."

The group looked to the sniper with sympathy, her team approaching her and pulling her into a group embrace. She shuddered before pressing her face into Saffiro's shoulder, sobbing quietly as she hugged her compressed beloved.

Ella sighed. "Poor dear."

Gwyn nodded, but shook off the feelings as she sensed something coming their way. Her eyes widened. "Uh, I hate to ruin the grieving process, but…"

Everyone turned around and saw a group of Abyssal Knights and zombified Pokémon appearing over the scorched debris, all eyes set on the group. Everyone gathered near each other and raised their guards, though clearly reluctant to continue fighting.

On top of that, they saw something else picking itself off the ground. The newly regenerated Vashti reformed her head and glared at the group as ice started forming in her hair.

"We're not out of danger yet."

---

It took little time for the heralds to track down Wes' group and the traitorous puppet, who had reconvened with them upon his escape. Atop the winged demonic bird, Aeternus and Voss rained down their magic with Callista's summon fired bladed feathers on the group.

Flint's Guardian ripped through the feather rain while Wes and Tony fired into Voss' flames with Mystic Beam and Lightning Shot. Garret intercepted Aeternus' Particle Eraser and absorbed the magic through his eyes, dispelling it to an unknown location.

Aeternus stood atop the demon bird's head and laughed. "I wouldn't get cocky if I were you!" He leapt off and dove into the street below.

Flint's eyes widened. "Wait, what is he—"

Aeternus landed on the ruined earth, but the ground itself deflated under him. A wave of his magic spread out through the ground before giant spires of earth shot out. The mad clown laughed, twisting and manipulating the spires with hand motions, calling them down on the group.

"Mystic Burst!" Wes leapt into the air and destroyed one of the pillars with an empowered kick.

"Dragon Thunderclap!" Tony clapped his hands together, blowing away the rock pillars in the shockwave.

Voss jumped out of the sky and reared back his flaming sword. "Fallen Memorable Tribute!" He landed and stabbed into the ground, sending forth a wave of shadow spikes.

Flint swiped his paw and yelled, "Guardian, break through!" His Guardian launched forward and felled the approaching spikes with a barrage of punches.

Callista dispelled her demonic bird and dove out of the air. "Kogomor, call down a mighty storm to blow them away!" The bird-like demon formed from the black smoke. He reared back his feathered fan and brought down a hurricane's worth of wind.

The group steeled themselves as the wind and debris blew into their faces. Garret turned himself intangible and raced through the windstorm. "Warp Pad!" At the last second of his intangibility, he formed the launch glyph and fired himself at the shadow witch.

Callista morphed two giant shadow hands from her back and intercepted the Jolteon puppet's attack. "Kogomor, dice this defective puppet!" The bird demon waved his fan again, sending down waves of sharp wind.

Garret braced himself as the winds sliced through his body, cutting up his eyes, face, and legs. Darkness spilled from the wounds and mended the damage. "Album Void!" He widened his eyes and projected an outward force from them.

Callista gasped as an invisible pressure blasted into her and knocked her out of the air. She formed shadow spider legs from her back to catch herself and flipped onto her own legs. "Ozaran, rip their souls apart!" The reaper-like demon formed from the smoke, spinning his dual-sided scythe, and flew at them.

Garret landed next to his sons and nodded at them. "Let's give them the Ravenfield Special!"

The boys grinned. "Hell Yeah!"

They reared their heads back, charging up their respective auras in front of their maws. The energy condensed into spheres of concentrated magic, crackling wildly from the power being forcibly contained into a small space.

"Mystic…BEAM!"

All three Ravenfields thrust their heads forward and fired a triple magic beam that tore through the air itself. The beams naturally conjoined together, twisting their power into a magical drill of pure energy. Ozaran, completely caught off guard, was overtaken by the spell and wiped away in an instant.

The heralds gasped as the beam came barreling toward them, approaching at alarming speeds. Even ignoring the wealth of magic in the combined spell, the pressure it gave off crushed any nearby matter to dust. The closer it got, the more they could feel its effects on their persons.

Aeternus stepped forward and touched the ground. "Matter Shuffle!" Several thick walls popped up in front of the heralds. "Transmute!" He clenched his fingers into the ground and channeled his magic through the walls, changing their composition into a sturdy metal.

The tripe beam attack rammed through the first wall effortlessly. While the proceeding walls held up longer, it was only by mere fractions of a second as the combined Mystic Beam dug its way wall after wall, the pressure getting stronger as it neared the heralds. It wouldn't be stopped by brute force alone.

Voss pushed his allies behind him. "Stay back!" He lifted his sword over his head. "Fallen Hell Blaze!"

Once the Mystic Beam breached the final wall, Voss sliced down the middle and parted the beam around himself. Aeternus and Callista covered themselves as the pressure blew into them from both sides. The ground shifted and quaked under their feet, but they stood their ground. The split beam carved through the ruins of the campus, blowing up everything in its way as the energy began to dissipate.

The Ravenfield family, after exhausting the last of the spell, faltered forward and panted, with the two living Ravenfields running close to empty. Their magic didn't glow quite as vibrantly as Garret's, who wasn't suffering under mortal effects of fatigue.

The heralds brushed away the dust littering the air. Callista and Aeternus looked a bit perturbed from the blast, but Voss wore a large grin on his face as the edge of his sword smoke from the spell's heat. "Excellent. Excellent! Give me more of that!"

"Please stop enjoying this," Aeternus groaned.

Callista sighed. "Coming from you, that's saying something."

Tony ran up to the Ravenfields and asked, "How are you guys holding up?"

Wes gritted his teeth. "I might be reaching my limit soon."

"S-Same," Flint agreed.

Garret huffed. "Defending you three AND fighting them at the same time won't be easy."

Aeternus smirked at the group. "What a shame. I guess you'll have to die~! Allow me to escort you to the afterlife!" He clapped his hands together and charged up his magic. "You can join Priscilla Ravenfield and watch as this world falls into our master's control!"

The Ravenfields tensed up while Tony reared his hands back and rubbed them together, charging a spell. Callista summoned her shadow arms, Voss ignited his sword, and Aeternus looked ready to unleash his Particle Eraser on everything in front of him.

ZAP!

From the sky, a blue laser pierced into their battlefield and separated them in the blast. The Ravenfields and Tony were blown back while the heralds braced themselves against the explosion. Callista waved away the smoke with her shadow hands and growled. "What was that?!"

The heralds turned to the sky and gasped as a foreign airship had entered the sky. It fired off blue lasers from its hull, striking down at sections of the campus and blasting apart any airships that drifted too close to it. Each shot was precise and deliberate, tearing apart all in its way efficiently.

Shadows swarmed around the ship, firing spells at the crew aboard, but gunshots took them out almost instantly and a multitude of spells and the likes were thrown to rend the stragglers.

Garret's eyes widened. "Is that…?!"

Flint grinned. "Sweet! It's the Desert Beasts!"

"The pirates?!" Callista yelled.

"I ordered hundreds of shadows to ambush their ship!" Aeternus yelled. "How the hell are they still alive?!"

Tony glared at Wes. "Still have enough energy for a Warp Pad?"

The Umbreon glared back. "You know it!"

Realizing what they were up to, Voss turned his attention off the ship and ignited his sword once more. "You're not leaving yet! Fallen Hellfire!" He slammed his sword down and sent forth a sea of black flames ahead.

Another round of lasers struck through the flames and disrupted them before they could reach the group. Wes grabbed onto Tony while Garret took hold of Flint. They nodded at each other, formed Warp Pads under their paws, and launched themselves into the sky.

"NO!" Aeternus yelled. He leapt up and flew after them. "Don't let them get away!"

A laser fired down on him. He quickly threw up a barrier, but it wasn't strong enough to absorb the blast. The blast knocked him out of the air and back down next to his fellow heralds.

Wes and Garret continued climbing the air with their Warp Pads until they reached the edge of the ship. As soon as they touched it, Rico and Zerif reached over to pull them in.

"Made it just in time!" Rico exclaimed.

Wes grinned. "You guys are life savers!"

Zerif eyed their extra passenger as he set Flint down. "Uh, who's this guy? And why does he look…weathered?"

Garret glared at the pirates. "I'll explain later! We need to pick up the rest of our party and get out of here!"

The pirates gave Wes and Flint wary looks, to which the former said, "It's cool, you can trust him. Just get the ship ready to launch."

Rico sighed, but called up to the quarterdeck, "Jones, we've got Wes, Flint, and Tony aboard!"

The Barbaracle nodded. "Roger!"

---

As Griffin and Arid defend against a combined attack from Dugald and Andreas, they glanced up to see the Wasteland in full view of the sky, blasting into airborne enemies with its defense systems. "Took them long enough!" Griffin growled.

Arid smirked. "Never underestimate my crew! A pirate knows when it's time to cut their losses and scram! HA!" He summoned up a sand wall and shoved the puppets back.

Griffin scraped Endless Regret across the ground. "Exosus Release!" He rent the earth before him with a wave of hateful magic. It blew the puppets away, slicing into their bodies with magic and debris, and threw them under a pile of rubble that collapsed over them.

Arid punched the ground and formed sand under him and Griffin. "Get ready to jump!" He snapped his fingers and fired them both into the air on a pillar of sand. Once it reached its maximum height, they used the force of the launch to kick off into the air, reaching near the hull of the ship.

When it looked like they would be an inch off, two shadow tendrils swooped down and caught their wrists. They saw Indigo peering over the edge. "We're almost ready to launch, captain!" she yelled.

Arid nodded. "Excellent! Keep firing on the enemy until we have a clear shot out of here!"

"Aye, captain!" She pulled on her arm and flung the two onto the ship.

---

Ella, Gwyn, Cosette, and the remainder of Team Shatter Star stood back-to-back as the army of Abyssal Knights, zombies, and Vashti Ravenfield encroached on them, far too many for any of them to take on.

Ebony pulled on her scarf. "Saff, you think you can portal us out of here?"

Saffiro gripped his sheathed sword. "I would need a moment. I expended too much magic fighting Krystal."

Cybil, after pocketing Krystal's marble, pulled out her rifle. "I'll take them all down if I have to."

Gwyn gritted her teeth. "Get ready."

Ella raised Daybreak over her neck. "For what it's worth, you all are an alright bunch to fall in battle with."

Oswald smirked nervously. "My sentiments exactly."

The group armed themselves and readied to strike back against their advancing foes, but their attention was drawn away to the sky as a flash of purple light came careening down on top of them. The impact sent out a magical shockwave that blew away the shadow army. Vashti resisted the pressure, but a magical beam fired from the smoke and sent her flying away.

The group coughed and waved away the smoke before gasping at the Umbreon knelt down in front of them. "Wes?!" Ella and Gwyn exclaimed.

He turned and winked at them. "I'm not cutting in, am I?"

"Your timing couldn't be better!" Saffiro gripped his sword and channeled his magic through it. "I'll have time to cut open a portal and get us out of here."

Wes nodded. "Best of luck to you guys. You have things covered without us?"

Ebony punched into her palm. "Once we recharge, we'll bury the last of these losers!"

Cybil lowered her rifle and turned away. "Yeah…"

Wes frowned at her. "I'm…guessing you found out about Krystal."

"…Is it that obvious?"

Wes lowered his head at her. "I'm so sorry, Cybil. She got corrupted while protecting me. It's my fault."

"…Heh." She closed her eyes and smiled bitterly. "That sounds like her." She shook her head and glared at him. "Don't let it be in vain."

He glared back. "We won't." He looked up at the sky. "Flint, now!"

The Umbreon instantly swapped places with his brother. Flint held his paws out to the girls. "Come on, we don't have much time to waste!"

Ella and Gwyn glared and nodded at him. "Right!" They ran onto either side of the Flareon and held onto him.

Flint turned to Team Shatter Star and Cosette. "Will you all be alright on your own?"

Oswald raised his fist. "Don't go worrying about us! Just get the idol and put an end to all of this!"

Cybil narrowed her eyes. "Yeah…"

Flint frowned at her. "Cybil, I'm…really sorry about Krystal. I wish we could've done something to save her."

"…" The sniper took a deep breath. "Please fix this. For everyone's sake, and hers."

He nodded before reaching inside his mane. "This might not be the most appropriate time to give you this, but Krystal wanted to make sure it got to you." He pulled out a ring box and handed it to her.

Ebony's eyes widened. "Eh? Is that what I think it is?"

Cosette frowned, having been shown the item before. "Oh…"

Flint sighed before clapping his paws together. He and the girls instantly swapped places with an empty barrel from the Wasteland. As the barrel spun and eventually fell onto its side, Team Shatter Star and Cosette stood in silence amidst the warring around them.

Cybil opened the ring box and gasped at the necklace folded up inside. She picked it up by the fiery, blue diamond, sensing the explosive magic used to create it. She gritted her teeth and held the necklace to her chest. "K-Krystal…"

Saffiro and the others shared sympathetic looks with her before the former said, "It's time to go."

He unsheathed his sword and slashed the air, surrounding everyone in a vortex of blue flame. Once the flames cleared, Team Shatter Star and Cosette vanished from the campus.

---

Zaros turned his attention off of Isidore for a moment, who was writhing on the ground from her injuries, and glared up at the sky to see the Wasteland hovering over the campus. "Well, isn't that just lovely? Those pirates certainly know how to hold a grudge."

Isidore slammed her staff down and struggled to stand up. She growled at him with tears still streaming down her face. "D-Don't you dare ignore me, Delarosa!"

He glanced over his shoulder and flashed her a smug look. "You make poor business decisions, my dear. You could've had it all, yet you choose to rebel. Do you really think playing the hero will change the sins you've committed?"

She staggered forward, barely able to stay on her one foot. "I don't give a shit what happens to Team Ravenfield or any of them. They can die for all I care. But…I'd rather see them win than let a rotten rat like you get away with your god complex!"

He shook his head. "You are delusional."

"You want to talk delusional? You better hope you take all of the idol's power when you use the crystal."

He paused to glare at her. "What are you on about?"

"You're the magic expert, right? Figure it out for yourself." She slammed her staff down and summoned crystals under her foot. "You know what they say about us witches?" The crystals exploded out and launched her at the Watchog. "Never make deals with them!"

Feeling bored, Zaros snapped his fingers and activated his Dark Escape. Isidore gasped and tried to anchor her staff through the ground, but it was too lay. She stumbled over herself and passed through the portal, to which Zaros snapped it shut.

"I've been screwing people out of deals for years. You're nothing special, Izzy." He slid his hands into his pockets and laughed. "As for me, I'll just be biding my time a little longer until the great Shadow King gets rid of every last obstacle in my way."

---

A stray laser from the airship fired down onto the battlefield of the Shadow King and the veteran Ravenfield Trio. They held up their guards against the blast's shockwave, feeling the ground split apart beneath their feet.

The Shadow King parted the dust away from himself and glared at the sky, where he could see the occupants of the Wasteland turning toward the dimensional barriers. He sensed an abundance of magic within the vessel, focusing through the thrusters built into the rear.

"They're planning to escape?" He bent his legs, channeling darkness around them. "I refuse to let you flee with your lives!" He kicked off the ground and shot into the air like a missile.

"Oh no!" Ava gasped.

Willow glared at Alex. "Throw me, now!"

Alex, without hesitating, grabbed her front paws and spun her in place. The wind kicked up around him as he increased his rotational speed. Once sufficient force was built up, he stomped down on his foot and flung the Absol into the air.

The Shadow King ascended faster than Willow could, but she didn't need to. Once she was within a reasonable range, she cranked her neck and tossed her sword like a javelin. The combination of her strength and rising speed allowed it to catch up with the king and impale him through the back.

"GAH!" The king glared at his chest, where the sword was sticking out. "What—"

Willow, Ava, and Alex instantly translocated to the sword's position and grappled with the king. "You're not going anywhere!" Alex yelled. "We're finishing this, here and now!"

"Let go of me, you wretched mortals!" Black string erupted from his body and lacerated into them, yet the trio held on strong as the Shadow King's flight slowed down.

Willow glanced through the haze of string and saw how close they were to the ship. She glared at Ava and yelled, "Time to get out here!"

Ava hooked her arms around them both and pressed her foot down on the king's face. "This is as far as you go!"

The king growled. "Ava Young, don't you dare—"

She channeled psychic energy through her legs and kicked off the Hypno vessel, blasting him out of the sky and sending him careening back into the ruins of the campus. The ground split opened the moment he impacted, sending a rising plume of dust in the air.

Alex nodded. "Don't mess with Team Ravenfield!"

"Get wrecked, you old bastard!" Willow snapped.

Ava turned her sights onto the Wasteland and flew them up. "Let's get moving!"

---

Once the veteran Ravenfields reached the ship, they grabbed hold of the edge and pulled themselves on deck. Instantly, Team Ravenfield ran to their sides and helped them to their feet. "Are you all okay?" Ella asked.

Ava winced. "We'll live."

Alex dusted himself off. "Best to hurry while we can. I don't think it'll take the Shadow King long to get back onto his feet."

Willow glared. "We need to get out of here while we have the chance!"

Wes glared back. "Right." He looked up at the quarterdeck and yelled, "Arid, everyone's here! We're clear for takeoff!"

"Don't tell me what to do, Ravenfield!" Arid yelled back. The pirate captain signaled to Jones. "Prepare the thrusters for an emergency escape!"

"Aye, captain!" Jones spun the wheel and reoriented the ship towards the dimensional walls.

Arid pointed at Team Ravenfield and their allies. "Get below deck with the rest of my crew! This is going to get bumpy!"

Ella gestured everyone along. "This way!" The group ran towards the hatch on the other end of the ship.

Right as the veteran Ravenfields followed behind them, Ava stopped herself and gasped. "Wait."

Alex and Willow slid to a stop next to her. "What's wrong?" Willow asked.

"I think she's sensing my aura."

The group snapped their heads toward the hatch just after Tony jumped down. A head poked out from beneath, and the veterans stared in disbelief at the Jolteon staring back at them. Though Ava alone could sense the aura surrounding him, Alex and Willow were floored by the uncanny face, almost clearly a puppet by its weathered appearance. Yet, the voice and tone gave away exactly what was staring back at them.

"That's…That's…" Willow stuttered.

"G-Garret?!" Alex gasped.

"It can't be…" Ava mumbled, holding her hands to her mouth. "Is that actually you? Garret!"

Garret frowned at them. "I know you three have a lot to say, but we need to get below deck first! Hurry! I promise, we'll have time to catch up later."

Though it was difficult to brush off the flood of emotions suddenly hitting them, the veterans agreed that the mission came first. After Garret jumped back down into the hatch, they followed him down and closed the hatch behind them.

Seeing everyone was below deck, Arid pointed to the dimensional walls. "All set! Take us away, Jones!"

The Barbaracle gripped the wheel. "Aye, captain—" Just then, the ship jostled from an explosion to the hull, causing the two to stagger. "Ah! What was that?!"

Arid spun around and saw a swarm of winged zombies and shadows approaching the ship. The shadows fired off spells on the hull and gravity generators while the winged zombies slammed their bodies against it, digging their claws in to find suitable prey.

"Dammit all!" Arid grabbed the intercom and yelled, "Ray, get them off the ship, now!"

"Sir, they're way too close to the hull! I might end up tearing it open myself if I fired from that close!"

Arid growled. "We can't lose yet, not when we're so close…"

"What do we do, captain?" Jones asked.

Arid channeled black sand around himself. "I'm gonna have to scrape them off myself. Keep the ship steady while I—"

"Everburning Lapis!" Arid and Jones gasped as magma-like stones rained down and ripped the shadows to pieces. They turned up to see a Flygon in earthy robes flying over the Wasteland. "Crepido Disruption!" He clapped his hands and released an earsplitting wave that knocked the zombies off the hull without damaging it.

"Scatter Cinder!" Popping up behind Randolph, Seraphina fired arrows of superheated embers from her hands, riddling any stray shadows further.

From below, a geyser of water shot up and coiled around the zombies. The water enclosed around them like a fist and dragged them out of the air. Following up, blades and bullets of life energy fired into any stray, airborne targets until they were cleared from the ship.

Arid and Jones looked around in amazement. "What is this?" Arid muttered.

"Your opening." The captain looked up and saw Benedict hovering above the ship, flashing him the salute. "Don't waste this chance. Get to the idol as fast as you can!" He kicked the air and rocketed himself into another zombie, tackling it out of the sky.

Jones looked to his captain. "What do you think, sir?"

Arid grunted. "What do I think? You heard the man, get this ship moving!"

"Aye, captain!" Jones pushed on a lever, starting up the airship's thrusters. "Hang on tight!"

Magic erupted from the thrusters and accelerated the Wasteland forward in an instant. The captain and helmsman held their ground as they catapulted into the dimensional walls and passed through them like water. The energy pushed against them and the ship like opposing currents, but only for mere seconds.

The ship pierced out the other end of the dimension and rocketed into the gray skies of the Snow Zone. Despite the chilling air hitting down on them, Arid's grin doubled in size as they rose up high into the sky.

"We made it! We made it out!"

"Was there any doubt, captain!" Jones exclaimed.

"Enough celebration!" He pointed ahead. "Set a course for the Idol of Origin!"

"Aye, captain!"

---

The Shadow King pulled himself out of the rubble and growled just as the Wasteland escaped through the broken dimensional barrier. The black string crackling around him flowed with an intense crimson glow. "Ravenfield!"

"Your Majesty!" He turned and saw his trusted heralds running toward him. Aeternus said, "We just saw them escape. Should we pursue them?"

Before he could give his answer, he noticed shadows looming over them. They all looked up to see Randolph and Seraphina hovering above them, their respective auras channeling their elements.

"You're not going any further, Shadow King," Randolph said.

"End of the line for you," Seraphina added.

All around them, the rest of the Origin Mages entered the crash site. Calder stood atop a pillar of water with bubble floating around him. Margo snapped her fingers and summoned dozens of knives around herself. Benedict merely cracked his knuckles, causing the ground to quake around his feet. Vernon massaged his neck as life energy flowed through his veins.

"There's no escape, Shadow King." The king and heralds turned around and saw Grandmaster Cielo approach them. Magic surged through his leaf fan, to which he pointed at them with. "You will not pursue them so long as we stand!"

The Shadow King growled. "Of all the insolent fools…"

Voss raised his sword. "Your orders, my king?"

Callista summoned her shadow arms. "Say the word, and they'll be executed."

The Shadow King twisted his fingers with black string. "What do you think?" He pointed at the mages and exclaimed, "Blister this entire dimension until there's nothing left opposing my will! After that, we pursue Team Ravenfield! The Idol of Origin will be mine again!"