-CHAPTER 5: Sacha's Last Stand-

The night skies of the Fairy Glade were shown as beautiful as they could possibly be. A bunch of stars started to sneak their way out into view, leaving a soothing amount of light shine down upon the path. But... it would have been something to sit back and watch if Globox and his team weren't chasing Sacha and Mr. Dark to reclaim the Blossom of Time.
"Come on Clark", Murfy commanded. "Pull faster you goof!"
"I'm trying! I'm trying!"
Clark's position upon the rickshaw that he was pulling showed himself as a determined creature, but at the same time, a huge amount of sweat started to pour down the side of his face. This left Globox to lean forward and see his tiredness for himself... before he jumped out front, brought one of his hands around Clark's shoulders, and used the other to take a hold of the second handle.
"Need help, Clark?"
They started running in synchronization, allowing them to move much faster. A smile started to show up upon his face, knowing that they might just be saved yet. From back inside the carriage, Yura was seen getting out a set of blue and gold flags, and waving them while cheering at the same time.
"Talk about a serious double act!"
"Never mind that," blinked Ly. "They're heading towards the hillside! Be careful, both of you!"
They looked up upon the hill, and that was when they maintained their speed upon going uphill. The distance between them and their enemies were closing inch by inch. Meanwhile, at the top of the hill, the two police Teensies were seen out again. The one wearing the hat started to show a relaxed expression, while the one with the moustache had his fists clinched in a light rage.
"All's quiet around here tonight, ladies and gents", started the hat-wearing Teensie.
"Okay, if nothing interesting happens within the next five seconds I'm gonna dunk your head in the nearest Plum Juice barrel I can find!"
The first Teensie started to show a bit of a nervous face across him... until the sound of the turning of wheels started to get within their hearing range. They looked at one side of the road, and saw Sacha and Mr. Dark zooming past them in flying speed, and two seconds later came Globox and his team in the rickshaw. As soon as silence came back, the first Teensie's face started to show a smile.
"You were saying?"
The second Teensie started to show a panicked expression upon its face, leaving it to start rubbing its nose with a slight bit of anxiety showing within its mind. From nearby, the rickshaw started to head its way towards the hill overlooking the village. From down below, the flying figures of Sacha and Mr. Dark were coming down to one sole location - Globox's home.
"They're going inside... my house?" he asked with shock. "But... why?"
"Stop asking stupid questions and start heading inside!" Murfy sneered towards him.
He pointed straight towards the house, leaving them all to start coming down the hill together. Time was running out for the group, knowing that the reclaiming of the flower has started to get more complex than it seems. Add to that his home being their enemies' target, and they've just ended up with instant panic juice.

---

Uglette's hut was still as still as ever, where she herself was seen walking across the room, and looking towards a bunch of eggs all huddled together - roughly six hundred of them in total. She looked on at them, and gave out a depressing sigh at them. But then... the front door started to shake, leaving her to look towards it.
"Who goes there?"
There was no response upon its opening. She stood still, with her feet starting to tap among the dirty ground below. But... the door continued to shake. That left her to sigh, and place her hands upon her head with anger. And then, she came straight towards it herself, allowing her hands to give in a tighter grasp around her head.
"Globox, if that's you, how many times have I told you that I don't want you around anymore???"
She growled, and brought one of her hands out ready for shoving him, using the other one to open the door with. But... as soon as she opened it, the sight of Sacha and Mr Dark were brought into her view. She then started to shake, and take a step back at the sight of them, wondering what the pair could end up doing to her.
"Uh-oh...!" she muttered.
With a gasp, she brought her hand towards the door, and slammed it shut again, before locking it. She then looked out of the windows, looking at how the pair would focus at it. But then... Mr. Dark brought out one of his hands, and sent out a yellow aura towards the keyhole. A few clicks were heard, leaving a panicked expression to show on her.
And then, the door was brought open, leaving her with a freaked out expression right across her. She took a few steps back away from them, showing fear right across her eyes, and unknowing of what they could end up doing to her. They came towards her, with their hands outstretched, showing vile expressions coming right across them.
"What do you want with me?" she asked nervously.
"Listen lady", Mr Dark started. "We just want to borrow your house while we prepare a little ritual."
"What if I refuse the offer?"
"May I remind the piranhas down the river how tasty you are?"
He pointed outside, leaving her face to continue to show a huge amount of fear brought inside it. A thought popped up in her mind, showing how she could end up being pulled apart by a set of piranhas. The thoughts vanished, leaving her face to show even more panic than what she had to begin with.
"Okay, get on with it! I can't wait any longer!"
She brought her hands on her head with a fear filled expression brought upon her head, with thoughts that her time would soon be up. Meanwhile, Sacha gave out a smile, and turned back towards Mr. Dark with a sly expression starting to show up across his face and his hands clinched together with anticipation.
"Master," Sacha smiled, "you know what to do."
He gave out a nod, before taking out the flower and placing it on a small table in the middle of the room. From nearby, Sacha made his way towards a stack of plums in a corner, and squeezed out some of the juice, before rubbing his hands and face into it. While that happened, Uglette tried to crawl her way out of the room, but... she was soon caught.
"DON'T - MOVE!" Mr Dark's voice thundered across the room. "Remember, if you mention one word towards the people in the village about this you won't be speaking to them again!"
A powerful energy force started to show up on the tip of his finger, leaving her face to show more nerve than ever. So that left her no choice but to cautiously make her way back towards her previous position. As that happened, Sacha came back towards him, bringing his plum juice covered hands over the flower.
"Right, it's all set! Get ready!"
Mr. Dark gave off a face filled with confidence upon his hidden face, knowing that time was almost up for the world they were currently living in. That left Uglette to end up on the edge of tears... but that was until the doors swung open, leaving Globox and his group to storm inside, each of them looking angered.
"HOLD IT!"
"What the-!" Sacha blinked with surprise.
"Okay, who brought the geeks into the party?" asked Mr Dark with a serious voice.
He brought his hands together and brought his eyes towards them all with vicious expressions. Meanwhile, Uglette brought her hands behind her eyes, trying to hide her cowardice expression, and shaking at the same time. She then started waving about with her hands, showing a leaving gesture brought upon them.
"Globox, what are you doing? I told you I don't want you around anymore!"
"Listen sweetie, I'm here to save you here! I don't know why these two guys are here, but if you can just fight against them, then you know that you will survive this!"
She remained still and silent, with her eyes starting to widen. Several thoughts started to show up within her mind - what if Globox was actually telling the truth to her this time? Either way, a pain filled expression started to show along her face, leaving her to cover her face with worries starting to show across her.
"You better do it quick! I can't be forced around here much longer!"
Her cries left her to look on at her with a more sympathetic look. She soon brought her hands slightly away from her eyes, whom she herself was starting to get teary-eyed at the whole scenario. The very pain of his soul mate left him to leer on at Sacha and Mr. Dark with anger, before looking at the others with a shifty look.
"Let's go for it, all of you!" commanded Globox as he jumped up on his tiptoes.
"Roger!" Ly shouted while saluting.
And then, they all dispersed across the room, ready to make their strike. Ly ended up climbing her way up a nearby table, looking on at the group at an all fours position. Her focus was then brought onto Sacha, whom was seen getting close to putting the plum juice onto the flower, leaving her eyes to widen.
"This is for portraying the planet like this!" she shouted towards the Governor.
She then made a leap straight into the air, with her hands out, both charging with a bright white aura around them. And then, she launched a ball of light straight towards the pair, causing them both to duck underneath it and leaving it to strike the table that the flower was on, leaving the furniture to crumble into ashes.
"Very clever move, fairy", said Mr Dark with a sarcastic tone. "Now how about you take a step back and deal with this?"
Mr. Dark brought out both of his hands, which both started to glow with a deep purple energy force. Several bolts of light started to strike between his hands like an electric current. And then, he sent both hands forward straight towards her, causing a long wave of energy to go straight towards her.
"Yaaagh!" Ly exclaimed.
The wave soon went straight through her, leaving her to remain stunned for a few seconds, before she fell to the floor in an unconscious state. The sound of the fall left Murfy to do a loop-the-loop in the air and look straight towards her with a shocked look starting to show on his face.
"Hang in there, Ly! I'll save you!"
He then started flying towards her himself, but while that happened, Sacha managed to notice it, picked up a very large... banana... and attempted to swat him with it. But no matter how hard he tried, Murfy was still able to reach her, whom brought her eyes slightly open in a weakened state. Before he could do anything else, the shadows for both Sacha and Mr. Dark crept over him, causing him to turn around and see them face to face.
"Let go of her, you useless mugs!" brawled the greenbottle.
Sacha gave out an angered sigh. "Who are you calling useless, partner?"
With that, he took a hold of Ly by the arms and started carrying her outside, away from the battle scene. This left the pair to jump out of the windows and start chasing him across the plains ahead. He soon made a turn around and started flying up towards the roof of the hut, where she was placed in a comfortable recovery position.
"Get down, you rotten fly!" Sacha cursed towards him.
Murfy's eyes widened, as he looked down and saw both Sacha and his master looking up at him, leaving his eyes to turn from their regular iris-less color... to deep red. He then left Ly safely upon the roof, before he started to fly towards the pair himself, with his face starting to show anger and rage.
"Fly? That's a plain insult! You can't do that to me, you imbeciles!"
He took off high into the sky, with his wings starting to hover at a brisk speed, before he did a front flip within the air, before coming straight down towards the pair with his hands out in front of them. And then, he brought himself level among the ground, and drew back his fists ready to inflict damage upon the pair.
The punch left them both to flip and almost trip. And as he flew up, he pulled a raspberry back at them. This caused Mr. Dark to send a flame out onto one of his own hands, launching it straight out towards the greenbottle, whom instantly took cover underneath it. The sight of the dangers were instantly brought upon Clark's eyes.
"Murfy, don't go too far! They're just pinching you down!"
"Oh yeah, well if that's how you feel like how about you go in here head first?"
The vision of him being a part of the fight started to go through Clark's mind, as well as several different strategies all at once. And it was there that one of them managed to stick out firmly, causing his eyes to widen and his fists to be brought back as he took a few light steps back. And then... he gave out a charge.
"CHOO CHOOOOOOO!!!"
He continued to run among the ground, with his feet causing light footprints within the terra firma. And then, he reached Sacha, whom looked on at him and blocked off the attack with the force of one of his hands, causing him to stagger backwards slightly with a dizzy expression starting to show upon his face.
"You're tough, but not tough enough! And..."
Before he could even finish speaking and try another move upon him... he looked on towards the door leading inside Globox's hut. And within it, the gray-scaled Blossom of Time was now starting to turn into a shiny platinum color. The sight of it caused him to rush his way right inside the hut, with a proud smile showing.
"Whoa! The flower's almost ready! Quick, rise it up master!"
With that shout, Mr. Dark came back inside, and brought his hands over the flower for himself. This caused him to let it rise up into the air, and with every inch it rose, a petal fell off from the blossom. The very sight of it caused Globox to gasp, before he rushed over to the scene for himself.
"Don't even think about it!"
Before even taking in any second thoughts, he made his way towards Mr. Dark, and pounced on top of him, causing the magic to malfunction and the blossom - or whatever's left of it, which shows a quarter of its petals already removed - to drop. Globox looked on at it, and used one of his hands to take a grip of it by the stem and keep it far away from his enemy.
"What makes you think that this blossom is worth fighting for?" Mr Dark growled. "Drop it, or I'll drop you!"
Globox's expression continued to show determination. "I will not let the village down like this!"
As soon as he said that, Mr. Dark brought out both of his hands, and sent a dark aura around the flower, which gradually seemed to feel like poison to Globox's hand. But... he soon resisted the magic, and brought out his other hand to start punching him back... right onto his enemy's face.
"LEAVE IT ALONE!!!" he exclaimed while punching at the end of each word.
The third punch caused Mr. Dark to end up flinching his way down towards the ground, with his facial expressions starting to show weakness. That left Globox to start edging away, with the flower within his hands. But... what he didn't realize, was that the petals were still being removed... and it was there that it was down to the last five.
"Uh-oh...!"
The aura brought from the flower as it dropped its last few petals left a few shocked faces across the others. By the time there were two remaining, Globox tried to pick up some of the fallen petals from the floor, and tried putting them all back together as accurate as he can, but... it was to no avail. The final petal fell, and a force soon shook through his hands, before a blinding flash occurred in front of his eyes.
The white flash cleared out into nothing, before the whole building itself was seen as nothing but a collective of rubble. It remained still, simmering within the deep red skies for as long as possible... before the ruins started to shake. And it wasn't before long before Globox brought his head out, looking about the scene around him.
"My... home...!"
He then brought himself into a firmly stood position, before he started roaming around the scene, with a face filled with panic starting to roam right across him. He then started searching in the ruins, for any other sign of his group, but... his face soon dived into panic after looking underneath seven slabs of charred wood.
"Where is everyone?"
He gave out a gasp, before he started running around the rubble, looking for any last sight of the party that accompanied him to where he was at this moment in time. The very thoughts of their happy faces started to leave him with a few tears starting to go down his eyes, almost thinking that they might have been burnt alive.
"Ly? Yura? Uglette? Anyone?!?"
He kept on running through the dusty remains, still worrying about their whereabouts. But then... he came to a stop, when he stepped on something - a purple furry tail. The image of Ly being caught between two pillars sprung to his mind, as he tried to pull the figure out... which ended up being that for Sacha, looking bruised and weakened.
"Sacha...!"
"Globox..." Sacha coughed weakly.
Globox's face started to show hesitation. Holy plum juice, I got the wrong guy, he thought. He tried to walk away from the scene, but... that was until Sacha took a hold of his foot, causing him to stay and leave him to turn around towards him with a confused look starting to show right across his face.
"Please..." he said in a weak tone. "I've now realized that what I've been doing was wrong... I never had any intentions that Mr. Dark would end up making a more twisted world than this...!"
He looked up upon the red skies around them, with the cold winds starting to blow alongside Globox's skin, leaving him to look more afraid than before. While that happened, the vision of the fight started to show up within his mind. And it was that that he took a hold of the figure by the neck and shouted in his face.
"What are you talking about?" the toad asked. "You almost killed us!"
"More like..." he gave out two chesty coughs, "He's the one that was trying to kill us all...! I should have realized that the world wouldn't have ended up like this...!"
With that, Sacha started to flinch, with his face starting to show weakness going right through his face. He then gave off a few light coughs, causing some light red drops of blood to form upon Globox's feet. He then got round to shaking them off in an instant, before looking more curious about Sacha's condition.
"I thought this was what you wanted, right?" Globox asked.
Sacha tried to speak again, but... he gave off more coughs, before lowering down towards the ground, clutching onto his heart. It was there that Globox released his grip upon him, and looked down at him with a more sorrow filled expression. Sacha's breathing seemed to show that he was fighting hard for every single one of them.
"Please... whatever you do, get that flower back... the world... needs it..."
"Sacha?"
There was no further response - Sacha just leant back towards the ground, with his eyes firmly shut, and his head tilted towards the right. Some rainfall started to fall between the pair, as Globox was now looking at Sacha's body. Sacha's dead body. With worry showing upon his face, he took a hold of his shoulders and started shaking him.
"Sacha? Please! Listen to me!"
No matter how hard he could be able to shake him, it was all to no avail. There was no response from him, and it seemed that there never will be. With a more disappointed look upon his face, he dropped him to the ground, and started wondering through the rainstorm himself, with his arms hung low and his face starting to show a depressing look.
"How can I be able to get it back now? It's all... gone to waste...!"
He brought out his hands, with a worried look about him. And as that happened, his mind started to wonder. The thought of Uglette coming back into his arms now started to wonder further away from him with every passing second, leaving him to end up almost on the edge of despair. But his shakiness left him to start running faster upon the grounds ahead of him.
"Murfy! Clark! Anybody! Heal, woof woof!"
His squeals echoed across the area, only coming back to him as nothing more but his own voice. He gave out a sigh, before he walked onwards. But then... near the ocean line, something was seen in the distance - some large pole-shaped object in the middle of the sea. His eyes widened, before he came closer towards it.
"Wow, what is that thing?"
The distance made things hard to see for him, leaving his expressions to look straight upon the sight of the tower. But... while that happened, the sound of a whistle was heard from nearby. His eyes shot open, and he looked towards the left. A familiar figure was seen coming towards him, leaving him with a joyful expression coming across him.
"Ly!" he exclaimed.
She waved her hands towards him as she continued to run onwards towards him. But then, as soon as she made her stop in front of him - causing a skid mark to form within the ground - her face instantly dropped to a more depressing/serious one. She brought her quivering eyes towards him, and started to speak in a lighter tone than usual.
"Globox, I think the vision has arrived. I don't think we're going to be able to survive this new world that we've ended up with."
"Don't say that now!" he shouted back. "You and the rest of you group have given me confidence! We can do this!"
He brought out his hand, and took a deep hug around her neck, leaving her eyes to shoot open upon the contact brought upon her. That caused them both to force a chuckle, before they looked at each other with their faces starting to look straighter. And it was there that Ly's tail started to drop down to the ground slightly.
"Problem is, how are we to do it? We can't change it back now. Even if we do try, we'll still have some scars remaining. We might as well leave everything to die."
She gave out a sigh, and made a light stroll towards the cliff edge. She sat down upon it, leaving her toes to feel the cold and rough textures of the sea. And then she placed her hands on her cheeks and her elbows upon her thighs, with all hope looking like it was drained out of her. But from behind her, Globox came to her and gave in a light stroke across her back.
"Please, do you want to live a happy life again? Remember the memories, Ly!"
"Uh... yeah?"
"Well how about you get up there and do something about it!"
The very words started to echo within her mind. And then gradually, her looks soon started to pull themselves together. A smile was forced... soon becoming fixed. And then, her eyes started to show more relief alongside them. She made a turn towards Globox, and placed her hands upon his, knowing that determination was to be restored to them.
"If that's what we want," she said more confidently, "then we should go for it. I really hope that the faithful touches of Polokus would be ready to feel us now."
Globox gave off a light nod filled with agreement, while maintaining his focus onto Ly. Then, she stood up, and this left them both to look on at the tower ahead of them, with the sounds of the strong winds and choppy seas being the only sounds that could be heard. But... that was soon broken by the sound of yet another whistle.
"Over here!"
The sound of the squeal caused his eyes to widen, before he looked on at the view towards his left. Several figures were seen running their way forwards, with their hands being waved into the air. And they showed up... as the rest of his team. It was there that his eyes widened with surprise and a grin starting to show up on his face.
"Yura! You're here too! And... Murfy and Clark!"
He waved his hands out towards them as they came towards them. Then, as soon as they made their stop near him, his focus then returned towards the tower. The very sight of it left him to look on at it with a pair of widened eyes brought upon his face, as well as his expressions lightening up even more than they were beforehand.
"I think we're almost certain to get through this!" the toad smiled. "Now all we need is a way to get into that tower...!"
"Ah, but that's where a lot of brains comes in", winked Yura.
She gave out a fold of the arms and a casual wink towards him, before she pointed down towards the waters. They all looked down, and in there lied... Globox's rickshaw. But this time a foam base was set upon it, causing it to float among the waves. The sight of it caused the toad's eyes to widen, before he brought his hands over his eyes.
"What did you do to my-"
"Do you want to be a rubber dingy as we cross the waters?" retaliated the Teensie.
Globox soon brought himself into deep thought. The vision of himself being used to send himself and four others across the waters seemed okay to begin with, but that was until a vision of a piranha coming towards him and popping him like a balloon sent him back into reality. He then shook his head towards the Teensie, whose focus remained on the 'boat'.
"Then let's take it while we still can!" she exclaimed with happiness.
"Fine, although..." Globox sighed, "Why do we have to end up like this?"
He brought his head down towards the ground as he walked towards the boat. While that happened, Ly came from behind him and rubbed him on the back, leaving him to lighten up slightly. Then, they all got within the boat together, and started heading their way towards the structure for themselves. For them, a new vision of the world they live in has been brought around, but if a trip to the tower's anything to make it a better place, there might be nothing standing in their way to get their desires... or will there?

-end of chapter 5-