Ch.96: Battle for the Sky Dimension! The Wasteland vs. The Shadow Armada!

"Look alive, everyone! We're coming up on our destination!"

Team Ravenfield, old and new, joined Arid on the quarterdeck as the Wasteland passed over the Swamp Zone. Ella carried the ten keys in a pouch, where they rattled and shook inside as they closed in on their home dimension. Light seeped through the bag, pointing up at the sky.

Garret lifted himself on the railing and squinted ahead. "So, the idol is in a dimension hidden in the sky?"

Ella nodded. "Based off the coordinates and our estimations, it's directly above the Great World Tree. An entire dimension left undiscovered for several millennia."

Tony crossed his arms. "When I looked into the history of Apollo, he casted one final spell into the sky to hide away the Idol of Origin. He must've created an entire dimension to hide it away. Who would've guessed it was hidden within the sky itself?"

Ava glared. "An entire dimension within the sky? Is that even possible?"

"We'll know once we see it," Willow said. "How do we get through, though?"

Griffin stepped forward, massaging his right arm. He could still feel a slight tingling from Ambrosine's surgery. "Since we have ten keys linked to this dimension, I imagine they unlocked the dimension for us. The question is how to actually unlock the dimension with them?"

Gwyn tilted her head. "Do you think there's secret keyholes hidden inside the clouds?"

Flint laughed. "That'd be silly."

Arid grabbed the intercom and asked, "Graham, how high up is the access point to the dimension?"

"Let me check…fifty kilometers above."

Arid's eyes widened. "Fifty kilometers?! That high up above the ground?"

Gwyn glanced at Flint. "Is…that bad?"

Flint scratched his nape. "Generally speaking, not many flying Pokémon go that high above the ground, so yeah."

Garret glared. "Some Pokémon suffer altitude sickness at around two or three kilometers off the ground. No wonder we never discovered a dimension like this. No creature would think to reach it." He glanced at Arid. "Can the Wasteland keep the air stabilized for us?"

Arid glanced at Jones for an answer. The Barbaracle helmsman tinkered with the control panel before saying, "The ship is designed to combat altitude sickness for high flights like this. If I tinker with the passive shielding, we should be able to ride up to those heights without suffering the negative side effects."

"Should?" Wes asked cautiously.

Just then, Indigo, Leigh, and Ambrosine walked up to the quarterdeck. "Captain," Leigh addressed. "Weapons have been primed, and the crew is ready for combat at your command."

Arid nodded. "Alright. Make sure they stay put. We're going to be climbing high into the sky." She saluted and flew back down.

Indigo crossed her arms. "Still no sign of the shadow army, Captain."

"Good. Those mages bought us plenty of time."

Wes frowned. "I hope Cielo and the others are okay."

Garret touched his shoulder. "Don't you worry about them. I've known the mages for some time, and they're the strongest there is." Wes smiled in relief.

Arid pointed to the sky. "Jones, take us up!"

"Aye, Captain!"

Jones slowed the ship until it stopped and boosted the gravity generators. The ship hummed from below and jolted from the shock. Everyone grabbed hold of something to keep steady as the Wasteland began its ascent into the upper atmosphere.

They passed through a sea of clouds and popped up from the top, climbing higher and higher with increasing, yet steady speed. Curious, Wes peeked over the railing and saw the Swamp Zone shrinking below them. The higher they climbed, the smaller the Great World Tree looked in comparison.

"Whoa…" he awed. Team Ravenfield joined him over the railing and peeked down.

"This is amazing," Flint said.

"I've never been this high in the air before," Tony commented.

Ella laughed nervously. "Y-Yeah, this is totally not nerve-wracking."

Griffin glanced at her. "I didn't think you were afraid of heights."

"I'm not, but I don't think anyone wants to think about falling from this high up."

Arid glared at them. "Just stay in the ship, and you'll be fine." He grabbed the intercom and turned a dial before speaking into it. "Desert Beasts, we're currently ascending the skies. Stay seated and remain calm until further notice. If you start feeling lightheaded for whatever reason, inform me immediately."

Indigo looked up at the sky and squinted. "This is definitely an elaborate way to keep treasure hunters from looking into the idol."

Tony nodded. "Although, this does mean Apollo knows where the idol is, so he won't need the keys to get here."

She grimaced. "Ugh, that's right."

"Still, the fact he hasn't tried to break into the idol's dimension means even he can't access it without the keys, so we still hold the power dynamic."

Gwyn looked around as the atmosphere started darkening around them. She flinched as a sharp chill raced through her body. "C-C-Cold!" She staggered from the railing and hugged herself.

"Come here, Gwyn." Flint pulled her into a hug, letting his body heat warm her. She sighed and melted into his embrace, nuzzling her face into his mane.

Ella hesitantly peered down and saw frost forming over the hull. "Jones, these shields protect us from the low temperatures, right?"

Jones kept his eyes on the console, steadily controlling the gravity generator's output. "They weren't made to handle conditions this high up, but they'll protect us from the wind chill. Anything that isn't naturally adapted to the cold will likely freeze this high up."

Ella pulled herself back onto the ship and grabbed the key bag. The force they admitted grew stronger, causing the bag to gravitate toward the sky. "How close are we to the dimension?"

"We still have some distance left to travel, but we're halfway into the air. If we continue at this speed, we'll be there before you know it."

Ava crossed her arms. "So, it's a waiting game."

Alex leaned against the railing and rested his elbows over it. "This'll be over before we know it. Kind of an anticlimactic way to end a war, though I'm not complaining."

The group settled themselves onto the quarterdeck as the Wasteland continued its ascent into the sky. As they waited, Tony decided to hang over the railing to take in the view. He let his hand dangle, sweeping through the thin wisps of cloud hanging at the high altitudes. He let his attention wander, looking for anything of interest to pass the time. So far, nothing but the darkening atmosphere and the sea of clouds below.

He craned his neck to get a view in front of the ship, but stopped as he felt the Eye of Odin spark. Curious, he followed the direction of the magic and looked beyond the rear of the ship. He squinted into the foggy distance, but saw no trace of anything other than the open skies.

"Huh." He scratched his head in confusion.

Indigo joined his side and tapped his shoulder. "Something wrong?"

He knocked the side of his head. "I think my eye's on the fritz. It's detecting something, but I don't see a lick of anything."

"Really?" She glared at the distant skies, seeing nothing as well. "Weird. Maybe it's not use to these high altitudes."

Tony glared. "Maybe. Hmm…" He looked over his shoulder. "Yo, Arid! Tell Graham to run a sweep of the area."

The captain shot the Dewott a confused glare, but picked up the intercom and dialed the navigation room. "Graham, it's the captain. Are you detecting anything unusual in the skies?"

"We haven't picked anything up on the radar, Captain. The skies are clear."

Tony glared. "Nothing in the air."

Indigo touched his shoulder. "You're probably paranoid because of the high altitude."

"I am many things, but I know I'm not crazy." He let his eyes wander to her shadow arm, sparking an idea. "Indigo, do you think you can form some sort of shadow lens with that?"

"Huh?" She raised her arm and morphed her hand into a thin piece of violet glass. "Sure, yeah, but what for?"

"Just…testing something." He grabbed her wrist and positioned the glass over his artificial eye.

The sparks of the eye reacted with the glass. As Tony peered through it, the colors of the sky became inverted through his artificial eye. It was a nauseating change it scenery, but he powered through it and scanned his environment.

His eyes widened as something came into view. A vessel draped in white fog surged out from the clouds and rose at a leveled height with the Wasteland. When he set the glass down, there was nothing following the ship. He checked through the lens again, seeing the smoky white vessel in full, followed by an entire fleet of similarly sized and smoky vessels.

"They're invisible."

Indigo's eyes widened. "What?"

"They're invisible! They're negating the radar!" Tony spun around and yelled, "The Shadow Armada is behind us!"

Before anyone could react, cables of darkness fired from the aether and struck the Wasteland from behind. It jostled the ship, toppling everyone over, and briefly stalled them in the air. Tony peeked over the side again and saw the cables had black claws digging into the hull.

Arid picked himself up and yelled, "Jones, full speed ahead!"

"I'm trying!" the helmsman yelled. "Something's pulling against the ship!"

Everyone raced to the back of the deck and watched as clouds of darkness spewed from the empty skies. From the fog, full-sized airships flew out bearing the insignia of the shadows on their sails. Dozens of ships appeared behind the larger, leading airship, arming their cannons toward the lone pirate vessel.

At the tip of the leading airship's bowsprit was the leader of shadows himself: the Shadow King.

Wes' eyes widened. "No…"

Garret clenched his teeth. "The mages couldn't slow them down. Did they…?"

Griffin pulled out Endless Regret. "No time to think about it. Captain, time for battle!"

Arid grabbed the intercom. "All hands, battle stations! Ray, prepare the cannons! The rest of you, get ready for a brawl!" He dropped the intercom and pointed at Jones. "Keep steering this ship toward the dimension entrance. We'll hold off the shadows."

"I won't let you down, Captain!" The Barbaracle helmsman cranked up the gravity generators and gripped the wheel.

Arid gestured to the collective Team Ravenfield. "We can't let those ships follow us into the idol's dimension. We're taking them out of the skies!"

Ella punched into her paw, laughing. "Oh, this is going to be fun!"


More cables fired out from the shadow armada, latching themselves to the Wasteland and slowing it down. The Shadow King, with his arms crossed and standing at the tip of the leading ship, watched as his ships began to drag the pirate ship toward them.

Aeternus slithered behind him and bowed. "My glorious king, we've successfully grappled the enemy vessel. Shall we signal our men to board?"

The king narrowed his eyes. "Keep your distance. They are not to be underestimated. Order all our ships to open fire on their ship. We'll salvage the keys from the wreckage."

Aeternus bowed. "As you wish, sir." He backed away and pulled out a crystal orb to make the call.

The Shadow King glared up at the sky, peering into the distance ahead. He felt it, a subtle spark of magic hidden deep within the unexplored aether. Distances far beyond the reach of most Pokémon, and the destination of a forgotten tomb crafted in his image. He could sense the overwhelming power beneath the miniature spark peeking into their realm.

"It's been a long time, Idol of Origin. Return to your rightful master, and we shall remake this world for the better."


From the crow's nest, Jeffery peeked through a telescope and squawked as the shadow armada adjusted their cannons. "Captain! They're preparing to fire on us!"

Arid waved to Jones. "Maximize the shields, now!"

Right as Jones flipped a lever, streaks of purple light fired from the shadow fleet and toward the Wasteland. A green bubble shimmered around the airship, absorbing the cannon fire. Everyone covered their heads as the shockwaves rumbled through the ship. The barrier rippled from the multiple impacts, traveling all the way to the opposite side.

Arid grabbed the intercom. "Return fire! I repeat, return fire!"

Hatches opened up across the hull, and multiple laser cannons poked out. Blue lasers fired out and zigzagged through the air toward the enemy fleet. Shadows lunged from the ships and intercepted the lasers like living shields. The lasers instantly dispersed the shadows, but petered out from the collision.

"Captain!" Ray called through the intercom.

"I see it! Keep firing until you find an opening!"

The Wasteland continued its laser assault, where more shadows emerged from the ships to shield them with their bodies. Chains of blue light exploded behind them, rattling the air and clouds. From the smoke, the shadow fleet fired off a second wave of cannon fire, blasting into the ship's shield.

The crew stumbled backward. The cannon fire struck harder than the last wave, causing the shield to flicker briefly before solidifying again. Arid growled. "They're amping up their ammunition."

Indigo glared. "And with us restrained in the air like this, they can focus fire on a single area until the shields fail."

"Then obviously there's only one recourse for this." He pointed at Team Ravenfield. "We're taking down those ships barehanded!"

Wes and Garret looked at each other and nodded. They turned to their respective teams and yelled, "Team Ravenfield, let's show them what we're made of!" The collective team nodded and raised their weapons. "Attack!"

Tony raced up to the railing and leapt into the air. "Flint, give me a boost!"

"Guardian!" Flint's Guardian burst out from him and reared its fist back.

Tony pressed his feet together and landed on its knuckles before being catapulted off the ship. In response, shadows swarmed from the ships and flew at the Dewott like a cyclone of darkness.

He smirked. "Oh please! Nebula Rider!" He kicked his feet down and spawned his storm cloud. "Light Speed!" He and the cloud glowed with electricity and darted forward with a burst of speed, punching a hole through the shadows.

The Shadow King and Aeternus watched the streak of lightning divebombing onto one of the further ships. Aeternus pulled out his orb and yelled, "Sapienti is on the Umbra 13! Take him down!"

Tony tucked and rolled onto the main deck, landing on his feet with a graceful pose. "Hellllllo, shadows! Where's the entertainment?"

He smirked as Shadow Pokémon emerged from below deck, brandishing swords and flintlocks. He heard something crashing down behind and glanced over his shoulder. A monstrous Shadow Heracross loomed over him with its giant, sparking horn. It leaned down and roared in his face.

Tony flicked some murky drool off his cheek. "Oh goodie, you must be the clown. Do you do balloon figures?"

The monster's horn glowed with concentrated magic. It reared its head back and swung at its smaller adversary. Tony merely smirked and leaned back, letting the horn fly over him. Once it completely passed him, he fired a Lightning Shot through its eye. The monster roared and stumbled back.

The shadow crew charged at Tony with his back turned, but he spun around and threw a Ventusphere like a bowling ball, knocking the shadow crew into the air.

"Sorry, gents!" Tony exclaimed, snickering through his teeth. "I'm commandeering this vessel for myself!"


"Exosus Release!"

Griffin gripped onto the side of the ship and fired into the shadow cables. They hissed from the volatile magic, but repaired the frays and damage in an instant. Griffin swung himself onto the cables and slashed into them. He cut through one, but the severed halves snapped back at each other and fused as if nothing happened.

He growled. "You've got to be kidding me."

Ava jumped off the ship and landed cables with impeccable balance. She chuckled to herself. "This is just like walking the tightrope." She conjured her swords and raced along the cables, slicing through them as she passed. They continuously fused themselves back together, but Ava had a different goal in mind: taking out the harpoon cannons keeping them anchored.

A corrupted Ursaring poked his head out the hatch and saw Ava running toward them. "Kill her!" More corrupted Pokémon popped out along the hull and fired their guns.

She cut through the bullets and caught the fragments in her psychic field. With a flick of her finger, she sent the fragments back twice as fast. Some managed to duck back in the ship, but others were dealt instant headshots, causing them to go limp and plummet out of the hatches.

"Want to see a trick, boys?" Ava stopped on the cable and fused the hilts of her swords together. "Here's a little trick from my youth!" She tossed the combined blades and sent them flying like a remote buzz saw. It sliced across the hull, cutting through the harpoon cannon and shredding any unfortunate crewmen who dared to peek outside.

With the harpoon destroyed, Ava's improvised tightrope faded. She bounced into the air just before it faded and kicked off the ship to catapult herself into the sky. She looked down and saw Griffin watching her from another set of cables.

"How about a combined attack?" she shouted.

Griffin smirked and reared his sword back. "Exosus Release!" He swung and fired directly at Ava.

She caught herself in a psychic field and cupped her hands together. The volatile energy struck dead center, allowing her to wrap her field over it and channel the flow between her hands. The glow of blood red and teal formed into an expanding orb of condensed magic. She split it off into a dozen orbs and juggled them about.

Once her buzz saw finished cutting around the airship, she exclaimed, "For my next trick, I'll need a volunteer! How about this lovely airship?" One by one, she chucked the volatile orbs into the ship, manipulating their trajectory to strike various points across the hull.

The results led to explosive chain reactions across the shadow airship, ripping the hull apart and exasperating the damage she previously inflicted. The mast caught fire, and the main deck went up in smoke. The shadow crewman ran around in a panic as the ship started losing altitude before collapsing under the destruction and plummeting out of the sky in flaming pieces.

Ava backflipped through the air and landed on another shadow cable beside Griffin. "How would you rate that performance?"

He chuckled. "A solid ten from me."


The shadow fleet fired off another round of cannon fire that curved through the sky, striking the side of the ship. Black goop splattered near the cannons and slid its way inside the ship, much to the alarm of the Desert Beasts.

"We've been compromised!" Rico yelled.

Drake pulled out his katanas. "What is that stuff?"

The black sludge conjoined near the center of the floor and swirled into each other. Sparks of darkness shot into the air with purple light seeping out. The pirates backed away as hands reached out from the goop. The corrupted shadow crew pulled themselves from the floor, brandishing their swords and guns at the horrified pirates.

"They created a portal inside the ship!" Malcom yelled.

Ray, who was still manning the cannon controls, glared through his visor. "Keep them off me while I focus down the other ships!" He traced his paws across the tracking orb, setting off the laser cannons.

The pirates backed away in fear as more of the shadow crew poured out from the portal. However, after backing away a couple meters, they stopped and looked at each other. Seeing the fear they all shared caused their own to melt away. They've been scorned and bullied by the shadows for far too long, and they refused to show weakness in a dire hour.

Banama growled at the invading army. "We're the Desert Beasts! We don't back down from a fight!" His cheeks sparked wildly. "If they want a fight, we'll give them war!"

Leigh brandished her battle claws and roared, "Charge!"

The pirates raised their weapons and charged at the shadow crew. Swords clashed and gunfire went off as the two sides pushed against each other. Stray bullets flew near Ray's control seat, but were reflected by a timely barrier from Lyra. The silent Zangoose squeezed her concertina and sent out a wave of inspiriting energy to her crewmates, wrapping them into a fervent orange glow.

Drake dashed through the shadow crew, slicing off limbs and heads in single strokes. Malcom cracked his knuckles across anyone that got near him. He grabbed one shadow crewman by the jacket and tossed him into the air, open for a hail of gunfire from a terrified Smith.

Rico and Pain Train charged through the shadow crew and went for the ones hanging in the back. "Lock them down!" Rico yelled.

Pain Train sprouted pink chains from his back and pierced them through the crewmen, restraining their movements. Rico spun on his hands and dealt brutal kicks to their heads, splattering the dark matter across the floors and ceiling. He flipped over a sword swing and landed on a downed crewmen's head, snapping the neck.

"Yo-hohohoho!" Julius barreled through the shadow crew, socking them with his pincers and slamming his pincer cannon for an explosive punch. "Walkin' the plank's too good for ye scallywags! Ye be headin' to the great junkyard in the sky!"

Zerif leapt through the air, throwing down cutlasses and piercing heads. He landed and instantly decapitated a crewman. He caught the airborne head and raised it to his teddy bear hanging in his hair. "Look alive, Mr. Pooky. Tonight, we slay our tormentors!"

Fulke swung off the lanterns and bashed in the heads of any shadow crewmen he passed with his club. The black blood sprayed onto the floor, to which Cheshire bent down and scooped some of it up. He snickered and splattered the blood over some cursed throwing knives.

"I command you to throw yourselves off the ship," he whispered to the knives. He threw a handful of them into the crowd, piercing a dozen shadow crewmen. He cackled in delight as the possessed crewmen lost control of their limbs and walked themselves to the portholes. They dove out and plummeted to their demises. "Send me a postcard when you get out of the morgue!" Cheshire doubled over and cackled louder.

Using the purple charm in his gauntlet, Tyrone teleported across the ship, dodging the shadow crew's attack. He winced as his arm tensed up in pain, but he powered through it to keep dodging their attacks until he teleported up against a wall. He panted as the crewmen approached him, training their guns on him.

He grunted. "End of the line for me." He raised his hands in surrender, causing the crewmen to laugh. He smirked a little. "I've been hanging around pirates for too long." The green charm in the gauntlet glowed. He snapped his metallic fingers, causing vines to grow out from the walls.

The shadow crew gasped and tried to flee, but the vines grappled their limbs and tossed them out through the cannon hatches. Tyrone collapsed onto his knees and gripped his aching arm, but laughed through the pain.

"Having fun, Tyrone?" He looked up as Banama bashed a crewman into the floor and zapped him with electricity.

The cursed Tyrogue scoffed. "Shut up."

Banama smirked. "That's what I thought. Lyra, heads up!" He grabbed the crewman's neck with his tail and tossed him into the air.

Lyra squeezed her concertina and blasted them with a sonic beam that ripped their head to pieces. She bowed in the rain of shadow blood.

Banama whistled. "She plays a mean song."

"HA" Leigh shredded another dozen crewmen and glared at the portal as more spilled out. "Banama, help me with that portal!"

He cracked his knuckles. "Aye!"


"Divisio Regulae!" Garret leapt from the ship and slashed his paws across the cables, severing the space between them. The cables tried to reattach themselves, but the deleted space prevented them from reaching each other. "Warp Pad!" He bounced off a magic circle and threw himself into the remaining cables, severing them from the ship.

Seeing the severed cables, Griffin and Ava lunged themselves back onto the side of the Wasteland. After securing himself, Griffin yelled up, "The cables have been cut!"

Arid turned to Jones. "Increase our speed!"

Jones increased the gravity generators and took off. More cables fired from the pursuing ships, but Garret bounced through the air to deflect them. "I'll defend the ship! You keep moving forward!" he yelled.

Willow walked up to the railing and nodded at Ella. "Want to help me plunder a ship?"

The Espeon smirked. "Right behind you, ma'am!"

She pulled out her sword, tossed it into the air, and performed a bicycle kick. The sword went flying through the air. Garret intercepted the sword and kicked it harder into one of the shadow airships. It flew over the heads of a working crewmen and plunged itself into the mast.

"What the?!" a Shadow Frogadier gasped.

Willow and Ella instantly teleported to the sword, where Ella performed a breakdancing field of psychic waves across the ship. The waves blew the startled crewmen off their feet and sent them flying overboard. The Shadow Swanna helmsman jumped away from the steering wheel and pulled a flintlock from his wings, but Willow lunged over the railing and headbutted him in the beak. The corrupted swan collapsed with a smashed beak bent back into his face.

More crewmen raced up to the main deck with their swords drawn. "What the? How'd you—" one of them started.

Ella summoned Daybreak and spun it around herself. She scraped it across the floor and sent streaks of psychic energy into the crewmen, knocking them into the air and sending some plummeting over the side. "Thanks for the lift, boys~!"

Willow grabbed the wheel and smirked at the other ships beside them. "Isn't Tony on one of the other ships?"

Ella smirked in return. "Oh yes~!"


"AAAHHH!" a crewman screamed after being kicked out one of the cannon hatches.

Tony dusted his hands off as a corrupted Tauros charged him from behind. He gracefully bowed and kicked his leg back into the bull's chin, flipping him into the air and onto his head.

"Aeternus is really scraping the bottom of the barrel for grunts. Must've wasted all his time making competent minions," he taunted.

Just then, Tony felt a strange presence surge through his mind, but brushed it off as a voice came through. "Oooooh, Tony~!"

He grinned. "Ella. I wasn't expecting a house call, though your telepathy is improving. Congrats."

"D'aww, thank you. Anyway, Willow and I are one of their airships. Want to crash them into each other?"

"I'm hurt you had to ask. I thought you knew me better than that." He smirked. "Give me five minutes."


The remaining occupants atop the Wasteland ducked their heads as more cannon fire slammed into their shields. Flint glared over the railing. "There's still well over a dozen ships hunting us down. What's taking Tony and Ella so long?"

"Don't worry, Flinty! We've got that covered!"

The Flareon turned around and gawked as Gwyn and Ambrosine lifted a strange, wooden cannon over their shoulders. The wood was coiled into the shape of a cone with a large, bulbous sack of blue gel growing from the back. He could sense the magic swelling inside of it.

"Gwyn, what is that?" he asked.

She grinned. "Experimentation at its finest! I turned some plants into an organically grown cannon."

Ambrosine snickered and slapped the cannon. "Loaded with some volatile chemicals and a sprig of my magic for added flavor."

Gwyn tilted her head and fluttered her eyes cutely at Flint. "Would you mind giving us an extra boost so we can obliterate their ships? Please~?"

Flint smirked. "Have I ever told you I love it when you do crazy things like this?"

"Save the flirting for later, Flinty~."

"Yes, ma'am!" He lifted himself over the railing and clapped his paws. "Magnification Rings x4!" Four orange rings projected from the back of the ship, aimed directly at a trio of shadow ships.

Gwyn and Ambrosine lifted and aimed the cannon through the rings. "Embrace nature, you mean ol' baddies! Naturae Fusion Cannon!" The blue gel absorbed into the cannon like loading a shell and firing a powerful blue laser. It passed through the rings, doubling its size and power through each.

The laser grew to such width that it completely encompassed three of the shadow ships. The crewmen braced themselves, expecting to be incinerating, but were startled to find themselves still alive. The laser soon faded with the ships seemingly still intact. It felt like nothing more than a spotlight shining on them for a moment.

Flint narrowed his eyes. "Uh, Gwyn? Nothing happened."

The cannon withered into plant scraps. Gwyn smugly crossed her arms and closed her eyes. "Three, two, one—"

Blue slime exploded out from the ship and enveloped itself over anything in its path. The crewmen tried to shoot it, but the slime lunged and engulfed them into its growing mass. The slime grew exponentially, encasing all three ships in a matter of minutes. The shadow crew struggled within the slime, unable to move and left suspended in their gooey prison.

The slime started reaching out to each other from the infected ships. Once they connected, the slime pulled the ships in and smashed them together. It kneaded against itself, grinding up the hull and compacting everything trapped inside into a tight ball of scrap. Without any means of staying aloft, gravity took over. The slimeball of wrecked ships plummeted out of the sky.

Flint stared at the plummeting ball of slime with wide eyes. Ambrosine walked up behind him and patted his back. "Gives you some extra incentive to treat her nicely after you get married."


The Shadow King remained on his perch, glaring as the Wasteland returned fire on his armada and struck them down from the skies. He remained unfazed even as laser fire soared near his person, absorbed by the living shadow shields. One managed to bypass their defenses and sail toward him, but he merely backhanded and sent the beam soaring around the ship.

His three heralds approached the bowsprit. Voss scoffed. "Nice army, Puck. They're doing a real number on that one ship."

Aeternus rolled his eyes. "Mock me all you want, but I don't see you faring any better at this altitude."

Callista hissed. "They're taking down our ships one-by-one." She summoned up her shadows, but the Shadow King raised his hand and ordered her to stop.

"Save your strength. Everything is going according to plan. We'll be reaching the idol's dimension soon enough. If they continue to resist and survive our ambush, that will be fine."

Voss crossed his arms. "You planned for this possibly? That our ships will be torn asunder in this attack?"

"All will be right as long as I get the idol."

Callista narrowed her eyes and scanned the skies. She raised her brow as she looked further down the row. "Hey Puck, why is one of your ships turning off course?"

"Eh?" Aeternus turned and saw that one of his ships was turning out of formation. In fact, it was turning into the rest of the fleet. "Huh? I don't sense anyone on that ship! Who's driving it?!"

"Puck, look over there!" Voss yelled.

They turned around and saw another ship turning into the fleet, though this time Voss and Aeternus could sense a single magic aura aboard. Aeternus clenched his teeth angrily. "Of course it's Sapienti…"


Tony laughed as he cranked the wheel far left. "This is your captain speaking! We appear to have hit some turbulence. Please stay seated until we ride out the storm. Thank you for riding Air Sapienti, where smooth sailing is not our guarantee."


"Hold onto something, Ella! Time to show you how crazy I got in my youth!" Willow yelled, cranking the wheel far right.

Ella gripped to the quarterdeck's staircase and laughed. "Oh, this is so awesome!"


The two airships turned into the fleet and rammed their neighboring ships. The bowsprits skewered the inside of the hull, ripping through equipment and knocking aside the startled crewmen. Cracks split along the hull and across the main deck.

Aeternus shrieked as he watched his ships tear themselves apart. "I just painted those!"

The Shadow King glared. "They're going to take out the rest of the fleet. Destroy the ships before they crash into any more."

Aeternus and Voss nodded at each other and leapt into the air. Aeternus channeled his Particle Eraser while Voss engulfed his sword with Fallen Hell Blaze. The two heralds fired their attacks into the crashing ships.


Tony saw the blinding yellow light traveling toward him. "Welp, time to bail! Thank you for flying with us, and remember that the corpses of your fellow passengers can be used as floatation devices!"

He jumped over the wheel and raced down the ship as the Particle Eraser engulfed the first ship. He raced up the bowsprit and leapt into the air before the light engulfed his commandeered vessel.

"Nebula Rider!" He formed his storm cloud and sailed away.


Black flames descended upon the two wrecked ships and slashed down the middle. Willow stepped away from the wheel while Ella backed away onto the quarterdeck. The front halves of the ships burned away and rained down from the sky while the flames began to consume the back.

Willow glared. "Think you can fly us out of here?"

Ella looked up at the air and smirked. "Don't need to."

Tony flew over the flaming wreckage and dove toward the duo. He spun himself upside-down and held his arms out. "Grab on!"

They jumped and caught his hands just before the flames consumed the quarterdeck. He pulled them onto his cloud and sailed away from the armada as shadows spawned from the other ships to chase them.


"Mystic Beam!" Wes traced his spell through the air, cutting down the cannon fire in a chain of explosions. "They're still gaining on us!"

Arid glared at the sky. "We'll be reaching the access point soon."

Just then, Graham teleported onto the quarterdeck. "Captain, I did a scan of the area up ahead." He showed him his notes. "I found the exact area where the access point is and examined the magical frequency it's giving off. It's faint, but I've identified the correct sequence the keys must be used to access the dimension."

Arid grabbed the notes and saw ten dots lined up in the shape of a large ring, each labeled with the respective keys. He nodded and handed the notes back. "You'll coordinate the plan as soon as we reach the access point."

"Right!"

"More cannon fire from above, Captain!" Jeffery screeched.

Shadow cannonballs arched through the air and rained down on top of the shield. The Wasteland trembled from the shockwaves. Arid glared at the shield's ceiling and saw cracks flickering in and out of form. "Jones, how much power are we diverting into the shields?"

Jones kept his eyes ahead, pulling levers and twisting dials. "As much as I can allow to keep at this speed. If we could stop their cannons for a moment, that would give me time to divert power to the gravity generators."

Arid glared over his shoulder as shadows continued to block Ray's laser cannons. "There's still six ships in the sky, and they're too close to the Shadow King's vessel. It'd be dangerous to send anyone near them."

"So, let's double the firepower!" Everyone turned around as Alex returned to the main deck dragging a crate full of cannonballs. "I wrestled these from some shadow men below deck. Don't worry, your crew's got a handle on them."

"What are you up to?" Arid asked.

"If the kid's having trouble getting an opening, I'll make him an opening."

"But we don't have normal cannons anymore," Graham said.

Alex picked up a cannonball and chuckled. "Who said I was going to use a cannon?" He chucked it in the air, jumped, and kicked it at the ships.

Shadows spawned to block the cannonball and exploded, but one of the ship's laser whizzed through the smoke and landed a direct hit on one of the shadow ships. Alex threw two more into the air and kicked them into another cluster of shadows, allowing another round of laser fire to strike at the remaining ships.

Arid smirked. "Ingenious! Jones, full speed ahead!"

"Aye, Captain!" Jones craned the lever and pushed the Wasteland's speed up.


Leigh tore through another shadow crewman and raced to the active portal in the center of the room. A Shadow Hitmonchan burst from the portal and nailed her across the face. She flew into the ceiling, but cushioned the impact with her legs. She kicked off the ceiling and slashed into the Shadow Hitmonchan, ripping his head apart.

Banama raced through the blood scraps and leapt at the portal, charging with electricity. "Get out of our ship!" He slammed his fists down and blasted the portal in a blinding aura of electricity.

Shadow crewmen poking out of the portal screeched in agony as their dark layers bubbled and hissed from the electricity. The portal flickered and contorted, trying in vain to retain its shape. Banama poured on more electricity, roaring at the top of his lungs, until the entire bottom area became engulf in the yellow light.

The electricity ripped through the portal's integrity. Bubbles of darkness exploded all over until it dispersed into a black shockwave. It spread over the bottom deck, knocking back both shadow men and Desert Beasts. Banama, being at the center of the blast, flew back into the walls and crashed into some barrels with a hard thud.

A Shadow Kingler picked himself off the ground and growled. "Do not lose your wills! Keep fighting until every last nonbeliever is—GYAAAH!" Malcom rushed him from behind and drove a cutlass through his back.

"Kindly shut up." He ripped the cutlass out and kicked the dark crab across the room.

Drake raced through the remaining crewmen and slashed repeatedly into their arms and legs, knocking them to the floor in an instant. He sheathed his katanas and nodded to his team. "Let's send them back."

Banama smirked, catching onto his suggestion. "Load them into the barrels and grab the gunpowder!"


Tony landed back on the Wasteland with Ella and Willow. "How we looking?" he asked.

Wes pointed ahead. "We'll be nearing the access point soon. We need to stall the shadows for as long as we can."

He cracked his knuckles. "Then I guess we should start by taking out the leading ship."

Indigo jumped onto the railing and extended her shadow arm. "Leave no survivors!" She morphed her arm into a longbow and pulled back on the string. Violet crystal arrows manifested and loaded themselves into the bow. "Take this!" She released and sent the arrows flying.

Tony perched next to her and aimed his finger. "Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet!" He fired off a barrage of lightning beams.

Clusters of shadows emerged from the ship and shielded against the attacks, but another timely cannonball from Alex punched a hole through their defenses. The lightning beams and arrows passed through and struck the front of the ship.

"Second wave!" Tony ordered. He and Indigo fired off another round of attacks.


The Shadow King glared as the second wave flew at his ship. "Callista."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The shadow spider leapt over him and conjured her shadow arms. She flailed them around until they morphed into a giant shield. She braced herself as the attacks impacted her barrier, all without breaching the other side.

"Nightmare," the king called out.

The boss shadow appeared from behind him and raised his hand. "Spear of Darkness: Dusk Rain!" Dozens of shadow spears conjured above his head. With a flick of his hand, they flew toward the Wasteland.


Tony and Indigo winced. "Oh no!"

"Guardian!" Flint yelled, sending out his Guardian. "Blockade Reflector!"

It crossed its arms and projected the blue crystal shield, expanding it to encompass a portion of the back. The shadow spears rained down against the ship's shields, some managing to pass through its weakening structure. The Blockade Reflector dealt with the remaining arrows and redirected them into the sky.

Wes leapt over Flint and fired a Mystic Beam at the leading ship, only for it to be deflected by the Shadow King and explode across the sky. He landed and growled. "That one's going to be impossible to take down."

Indigo glared at Tony. "Want to try something crazy?"

"You entice me. Let's do it!"

They linked hands and aimed them at the leading ship. Indigo morphed her shadow hand around Tony's arm and extended it into a giant crossbow. A giant crystal arrow loaded itself in. After giving Tony the go-ahead, he channeled his magic through the arrow and coated it in electricity, wildly sparking into the air.

"Ready…" Indigo lined up their shot.

"Set…" Tony focused through his artificial eye.

"Twilight Piercing Storm Arrow!"

The crossbow released and sent the arrow flying like a bolt of lightning toward the Shadow King. Shadows tried to shield against the arrow, but it effortlessly passed through and incinerated a whole through their cluster.


"Incoming!" Aeternus yelled as the arrow came dangerously close to the ship.

The Shadow King extended his hand and widened his stance. The arrow impacted the palm of his hand, and he growled as he pushed back against the assaulting force. The lightning crackled all over, burning marks across the ship and his arm. The heralds ducked their heads as sparks shot off against the mast and most of the main deck.

"Not…yet!" The king gripped around the arrow and shattered it to pieces, sending fragments of electrified crystal scattered around him. Some cut across his face, but they healed off immediately.

The heralds stood up as their king collapsed to his knee. "Your Majesty?" Voss called out.

The Shadow King raised his hand and stared at the gaping, burning hole in his palm. "This is nothing." He tucked it under his cape and pointed with his good hand. "Keep firing!"


The Wasteland continued its steady climb into the sky. Graham stood by his side, reading off his calculations and checking the sky for faint points of magic within the air.

Graham soon pointed out and shouted, "There! I see it right there!"

Wes pulled from the fighting and raced over to him. He squinted at the air as they closed in near the supposed location, and he sensed faint magic similar to that of the keys. As Graham indicated, ten spots in the sky lined up in a ring shape and projected the familiar auras of the keys.

"This is it," he whispered. He looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Everyone, we're nearing the dimensional entrance! Ella, hand out the keys!"

Ella nodded and reached into the bag. She tossed the Space Key to Wes, the Nature Key to Gwyn, the Storm Key to Tony, the Fire Key to Griffin, the Water Key to Flint, and took the Earth Key for herself. "We'll need help opening the portal!"

Ambrosine raced to her side and snatched the Time Key. "I'll help!"

Garret flew down on the ship and grabbed the Power Key. "As will I."

Alex fired one last cannonball and ran over to take the Metal Key. "Let's put an end to this nightmare!"

Arid stomped over and claimed the Darkness Key for himself. "Jones, make sure no one interferes while we open the portal."

He saluted. "Aye, Captain!"

"Get us as close as you can!"

Jones cranked the wheel and steered toward the location. More cannonballs fired on the ship, withering away the shield's defenses. A cannonball fired through, but Graham jumped in front of it and redirected it back with a portal. Ava and Willow leapt into the air and sliced down another wave of cannonballs without triggering the explosive compounds.

Jones grabbed the intercom and yelled, "We need help suppressing the shadows. Focus your fire on the leading ship!"

"Way ahead of you, Jonesy!"

"Ray? Is that you? Why aren't you manning the cannons?"

"Because we need to dump some extra cargo back at those creeps."


The back of the hull opened up, revealing the final surprise installed into the new Wasteland: a catapult. Julius and Banama cranked the catapult into position while Leigh and Cheshire loaded in a barrel stuffed with the fallen crewmen and pockets of explosive powder.

"How we looking?" Leigh asked.

Ray held his paws out to map the trajectory of their shot. "A little to the left. More…more…stop! Perfect!" He smirked back at Banama. "You're clear to fire!"

The Raichu grabbed the lever and pulled it back. The catapult released and flung the trapped crewmen out of the ship, sailing toward the shadow armada.


Voss squinted at the newest projectile. "Is that a barrel?"

It collided onto one of their remaining ships, and the heralds gasped as it let off a mighty explosion that instantly took out the front of the ship. Plumes of black smoke filled the air and wrapped around the ships. The heralds and the Shadow King stumbled back, coughing on the horrid air.

"I can't see anything!" Callista hissed.

Aeternus growled. "Someone! Clear away this smoke before—"

A second explosion rattled them, followed by the distinct creaking of a collapsing airship. Two more explosions went off after with the same noisy results. Worst of all, more smoke filled the air and made it impossible to see past their hands, much less breathe.

The Shadow King glared, sensing through the smoke as the Wasteland continued flying ahead. None of this matters, for I am the only one who can control the idol's power. Remain patient, and all of this will be worth the wait.


With the portal's access point in reach, everyone with a key climbed up the masthead and balanced themselves across the posts. Those with magic glared at the sky to see the faint magic points becoming clearer the closer the Wasteland flew.

Garret spun his key between his digits. "Alright, does everyone remember the correct configuration to insert them?"

"Yes!" the group exclaimed.

Wes looked back and saw the remaining shadow fleet being consumed in a thick cloud of smoke. "If there's a time to act, it's now. They're distracted!"

Alex raised his key as it started rattling uncontrollably at the access point. "On the count of three, we jump! Everyone set?"

"Yeah!" they shouted.

Everyone bent down and tensed up their leg muscles. They held up against the constant shaking of the airship and the close shaves from stray cannonballs firing wildly from the blinded shadow fleet. Everyone grip their keys tightly in hand/paw and swallowed their nerves as their target came just overhead.

Alex glared and crouched down. "Alright, on my signal. One…two…"

"THREE!"

Everyone leapt off the masthead and toward the access point. Wes and Garret flung themselves higher with Warp Pad. Ella carried Flint and Gwyn in her psychic field. Arid rose up on his shadow sand with Alex and Ambrosine tagging along. Tony grabbed Griffin and carried him on his Nebula Rider.

"Now!" Alex ordered.

Once they were in position, everyone leapt to their designated key ports. The magically sensitive raced to theirs first and stuck the keys at the magic spots. Those who couldn't sense their location made an educated guess based off the position and distance from each other. All ten keys were inserted into the sky, lined up in a perfect ring shape.

Wes looked around for a moment as he briefly hung in the air. "So, uh, do we turn them or—"

Just then, the ten keys lit up with their respective magic, showering the sky in a blinding rainbow of light. The group fell out of the sky while the keys remained fixed in the air.

"Hang on!" Ella extended her psychic field to catch everyone except Wes and Alex, both unaffected by her power. Alex dove toward the Wasteland and caught himself on the masthead while Wes suspended himself in the air with a Warp Pad. "Did it work?" she asked.

They turned their eyes up to see the keys melting into the magic spots. The light began to extend into each other, transforming into an iridescent vortex of light. Great heaps of magic expanded out as light shockwaves, rustling their fur and clothes.

Ella landed everyone back onto the masthead, where Arid commented, "It worked. It's working!"

Ambrosine gasped. "This is actually happening."

The center of the vortex expanded open, revealing a stormy atmosphere on the other side no different to that of the Storm Zone. Crackles of purple lightning shot out into their dimension, each packed with concentrated magic unlike anything the magically sensitive witnessed.

Garret glared. "I can sense great power on the other side. This is the entrance to the idol's hidden dimension!"

Arid waved down and exclaimed, "Back onto the main deck! Prepare to breach!"

"Aye!" The group grabbed hold of the masthead and swung back down the ship.

Arid jumped down on a cloud of black sand and landed next to Jones. The helmsman gawked at the portal crackling over their heads. "You want me to fly up into that?!"

"No time to second guess ourselves! Full speed up, Jones!"

"Um…aye, Captain." He cranked up the gravity generators and started the airship's ascent up.

"Captain Arid!" The Darmanitan captain spun toward Indigo, who fired on the remaining shadow ship with her arrows. "They're still gaining on us!"

Arid clenched his metallic fist and channeled black sand around it. "Not for long." He jumped onto the railing and punched the air, sending down a black sandstorm to the king's ship.


"Incoming!" Aeternus yelled.

The ship's occupants covered their heads as the black sand smashed against their ship and engulfed it within itself. Blades of sand formed within the storm and sliced against any living creature above deck, taking down some unfortunate crewmen who couldn't get below deck in time.

The heralds, Nightmare, and the Shadow King endured the serrated storm, but were unable to see beyond it. Even trying to sense their target's collective magic auras proved difficult as the sand distorted their senses.

Callista covered herself under her shadow. "My king, what do we do?"

He held his arm over his eyes and glared through the storm. Though the magic outside was distorted, he could still sense the familiar power pouring out from the sky.

"All those years in isolation, the idol has twisted its own safe haven into a realm of cosmic destruction," he said. "I can sense that wildly unstable power raging inside. Perhaps a result of its true power matured after thousands of years, or unkempt without a master to tame the unpredictable firepower beneath?"

"Your Majesty?" Voss spoke up.

He lowered his arm and huffed. "Let them go for now, just until this storm lifts. That idol will be mine soon enough."


Arid pulled back on his attack and jumped back onto the ship. "Okay, that'll buy us some time." He ran over to the intercom and picked it up. "Is the ship clear of pests?"

"Aye, Captain! Every last invading shadow has been kicked off!"

"Excellent. Brace yourselves. We're heading through uncharted territory." He set the intercom back and glared down at the main deck where Team Ravenfield situated themselves. "You better get below deck, too."

Wes shook his head. "Not a chance! We're seeing this through every step of the way."

Ella smirked. "We can take it!"

Flint finished tying himself to the masthead. "Yeeeeah, totally not worried about anything."

Arid sighed. "Very well. Prepare to breach new land!"

The collective Team Ravenfield looked up at the sky as the Wasteland neared the portal. The top of the masthead breached first, sending the vibrations of the storm trembling down the ship. Everyone held on tight as the shaking increased the further the ship entered.

Griffin gripped into the railing and propped himself up. "No turning back now."

Tony nodded. "After everything we've been through…"

"I'm getting a little nervous," Gwyn mumbled.

Wes didn't take his eyes off the portal, glaring at it with an anxious confidence. Though he didn't know what to expect on the other side, he fought too hard for so long to turn back. A grand adventure turned to an apocalypse-preventing mission. Though the overwhelming doubt still lingered inside, he prepared for what's to come his way.

I'm coming for you, Idol of Origin.