Well, here we are at the second to last chapter of the fic. I don't exactly have a joke planned, so uhh… Enjoy the chapter! By the way, does anybody know how to prevent a rewriteable CD from becoming a read-only one? You see, I use a CD to save my fics. But sometimes, all the files stored on the disc automatically become read-only and I can't edit them or save any new stuff to the CD. This is the second time it's happened to me and now I have to reformat the CD and save backups of my files AGAIN!    

So any help on this would be appreciated. All I really need is advice on how to prevent this from happening or on how to change a read-only CD back to a useable one (without having to reformat it). Just e-mail me if you can offer any assistance. And now, on with the chapter!

--------------------------------

Last time on The Runaway…

(To the tune of "Escape from the City")

Izzy: Hey! It's your favorite wizard here to tell ya what happened last time! I had followed that idiotic king into a huge, dark room of the castle. After using a spell to light up the room, I found Reggie, but something was different about her… Before I knew what was happening, she attacked me with a blast of wind! How could she do that!? She's not a witch!

I skated away from her, trying to figure out what happened. Suddenly, I got rammed into by someone. When I looked up, I found Sam, who tossed a bolt of lightning at me! I defended against the attack and made to fight back when I saw a stream of fire coming at me, courtesy of Twister. I dodged it and skated away again. How could this've happened!? They don't know magic, do they?!

After some dodging, I found out that the king brainwashed them and gave them some of his powers. I can't believe that fool would pull something like this! After I fought him a little, he sicced them on me. I would've fought back, but I might injure them badly. So instead, I just dodged their attacks and tried to think of something.

Soon, I just decided to give up and fight them. I was able to knock Sam down by making Reggie attack him. I then knocked Reggie out with a well-placed wind attack. That was when Otto showed up, looking pissed at my actions. I tried to explain myself when Twister punched me out of nowhere, sending me to the ground. I got right back up and knocked him out.

After everyone was healed, thanks to some potions, I flew up to the king to fight him. It was then that he told me the reason why he's been chasing me this whole time and why my parents were killed. I'm supposed to be part of this ancient prophecy that says I'm the strongest wizard and that I'll rule over the wizarding world. I still don't believe that! But no matter what, I will destroy him for what he's done to me!

--------------------------------

The Runaway Ch. 13: The Final Battle

"AHHHHHH!!!!" Izzy roared as he flew towards the king. His body glowed with a white aura as he pulled back a fist. Claudius prepared himself as he glowed with a dark aura.

"Rocket Accel!" The younger wizard called as he became a blur.

"Shadow Rush!" Claudius yelled as he too became a blur and charged towards Izzy.

Otto and the others couldn't make out who was who as the two blurs rammed into each other repeatedly, generating a small flash whenever they made contact. After a few minutes of this power struggle, both wizards crashed into each other, ending their speed spells. They were both revealed being surrounded by their respective auras, which were shaped like spheres. Izzy gritted his teeth as he glared at the king, who gave him a smug look. They both forced each other towards the floor.

When they landed, their auras disappeared and they continued the battle by running/skating along each other. Izzy noticed that Claudius was running the same way he normally does. Both of them glared at each other as they sped along the room, ramming into each other every so often. They even tossed lightning at each other. Every bolt missed their mark as the two wizards were nearing Otto and co.

They split up and went in different directions. Izzy went around the left side of the barrier and the king ran along the right side. The four humans gave a look of shock at the fury and rage in the younger wizard's eyes as he skated past them. The one in the gray hat started charging energy as was the one in the crown. They soon reached the end of the shield and faced each other.

"POWER BEAM!!!" Izzy roared as he held both hands out and fired his signature spell. Claudius scoffed as he fired a beam of black energy from his wand. Both attacks collided, causing an explosion. Everybody looked up as both fighters flew out of the smoke. Claudius flew higher than Izzy and charged with a fist raised. The younger one also held up a fist.

"Shadow Punch!" The king yelled as his fist glowed black.

"Mach Punch!" Izzy called as his own fist glowed brightly. Both fists crashed into each other with great ferocity. Lightning crackled around the two as they tried to push the other back. The lightning was starting to get to Izzy. He was the first to pull back as the electricity faded. Before Claudius can attack, he raised his left hand.

"Gust attack!" He slashed at the air in an attempt to distance himself from the king. Unfortunately, the attack had no effect on the man, who grabbed the boy's arm. He spun Izzy around and tossed him towards a wall.

"Wooooooooaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!"

"This'll end you." Claudius said as he held his wand forward. A ball of dark energy appeared at the tip. The group's eyes widened as they saw the attack forming.

"Watch out Izzy!!!" Sam yelled. Izzy opened his eyes and saw the king.

"Shadow Ball!" The king tossed an immense ball at Izzy, who righted himself. His hands started glowing.

"Thunderbolt!" He fired numerous lightning bolts at the ball. The attacks collided and pushed against each other. After a few seconds, the lightning faded, but the ball was still there! It flew towards Izzy, who planted his feet against the wall and started skating. The king's attack crashed into the wall, creating a small explosion.

'Whew! It's a good thing I was able to stall that attack!' The boy thought as he continued skating along the wall.

"You won't get away that easily!" Claudius roared as he fired many Shadow Balls. Izzy skated around each attack. The missed attacks blew tons of holes in the wall. After about a minute or so of dodging, he jumped off the wall and charged head on for the king with a fist raised. He would've landed a punch, but Claudius grabbed Izzy's fist and tossed him towards the wall. The boy crashed into it, creating a deep dent.

"Ugh!" He groaned as he picked himself off the wall. Claudius charged at him. Izzy flew up just as the man crashed into the wall. The king launched a bolt of dark energy at the boy, who narrowly dodged it.

'Man! He's a lot tougher than I thought.' Izzy thought. He fired a lightning bolt to deflect another dark energy bolt. Claudius rammed into him, tossing him back another few feet. 'I need to call my sword! It'll give me some kind of chance.' He looked down at the spectators.

'I need to use a shield to defend myself though and I can only use one shield at a time.' He dodged another attack by flying to the left. 'It's my only choice.' He stopped and held a hand towards his already-active Power Shield. 'I'll only need it for a few seconds.'

"What's he doing?" Otto asked confusedly.

"Beats me." Reggie answered.

"Shield Transfer!" Izzy yelled. The Power Shield protecting Otto and the rest disappeared and surrounded him. He then held up his left hand. "Oh mana, come to me!" Claudius charged for him as the blue disc came down. Izzy saw an insane, murderous look in his eyes as he pulled the sword from the shield. He started charging energy as Claudius started to pound on the barrier, cracking it slightly.

'Almost there…' Izzy thought. The sword was then fully charged.

"Yes! Shield Transfer!"

Before the shield broke down, it disappeared again and surrounded the humans. Izzy released the energy in a Hurricane Spin, surprising Claudius. He pulled up a black barrier to defend against the assault. The shield vanished as the sword struck it repeatedly. Before the attack ended, the kid managed to slash the king's chest. Claudius doubled back and held his chest as Izzy tried to get over the effects of his attack.

A few yards from the battling duo, Adrian seemed happy at the current state of affairs. He still had his Sight Shield activated, so no one noticed him.

'Hmm… Izzy seems to be lasting, but the master hasn't even used his full power yet.' He thought. He gave a glance towards a nearby balcony, which led to a hall. He then looked at the humans and the duel in the air.

'Maybe I can even the odds.' He moved to the balcony and flew down the hall. He deactivated his shield. 'I'm probably breaking every law, but I don't care. My love is in danger and I'd gladly betray my king for him. Besides, I never really cared for that blow hard. Just survive long enough, Izzy.'

--------------------------------

"He seems to be doing pretty good." Sam said as Izzy fired a Power Beam at Claudius. The king didn't feel the attack.

"What? He's kicking that guy's ass!" Otto cheered.

Izzy got knocked into a wall.

"O   O Or not…" Otto said to himself.

"Didn't that king dude say Izzy is the most powerful wizard?" Twister asked.

"Yeah. It has to do with that prophecy." Reggie said as Izzy got sent to the ground by a bolt of dark energy. He quickly flew back up.

"I wonder what does the whole thing say." Sam said, putting on a thoughtful expression.

--------------------------------

'"The hundredth descendent of Merlin will be the strongest wizard."' Adrian thought, trying to remember the prophecy as he flew.

'"The wizard will come to possess a golden wand and the ability to run as fast as the wind. He will also not be able to bear children. This wizard will challenge the reigning king and a million golden lights will fill every section of the dark castle. He will defeat the dark king and peace will exist between all humans & wizards." That's what my mom always told me before I went to sleep every night as a little kid.' Adrian turned at a corner.

'It seems to fit Izzy perfectly. He had a gold wand before the master ordered it to be taken away. He can run as fast as the king—scratch that. He can run FASTER than the master. He can't have kids because he's gay. It all fits perfectly. I never thought that Izzy would be the strongest wizard of all time. Sure it struck me as weird that he had a gold wand, but the thought that he would be part of an ancient prophecy never crossed my mind.'

'But that last part. "A million golden lights will fill every section of the dark castle." Why did it say that unless…' Adrian gasped. 'That's it! That's what his element is! I gotta hurry!' He increased his speed as he flew deeper into the hall.

--------------------------------

"It's too bad we can't help him." Sam said. Izzy started slashing at the king. He didn't seem to be making much progress.

"Maybe we can." Otto said as he pulled out the power block.

"What's that thing, Rocket Boy?" Reggie asked.

"This is what we used to bust everybody else out of here. Maybe we can use it to help Izzy." Otto said.

"I guess that would explain the cape you're wearing then." Twister said as he inspected Otto's cape.

"Oh yeah. I forgot I had this on." Otto said with a blush.

"It's not like we can help anyway." Sam said as he held a hand up to the shield. "It's solid. We'd have to ask Izzy to let us out."

"And I doubt he's in the mood to let us go." Twister said as everybody looked up.

--------------------------------

"Impressive. You can make weapons." Claudius said as he evaded Izzy's slashes. "I can make weapons too." He kicked Izzy back as he pointed his wand above him. A black portal opened up. A black bo-staff that was as crooked as his wand came out of it. Izzy took the opportunity to charge energy.

"Super Magical Violet Tornado!" He pointed his sword forward and fired a tornado at Claudius, who just spun his staff. He negated Izzy's attack. The man charged at the teen, who held up his red shield. Izzy was barely able to hold off Claudius' assault. The king soon knocked the shield out of his hands. It fell to the floor with a clang. Izzy started to panic.

"Rocket Accel!" He turned into a blur and sped around the arena. He got a few yards away when Claudius blocked his way. Izzy quickly turned around and flew away again, but Claudius got in his way again. Izzy wildly slashed the sword in his state of panic. Claudius easily defended against his strikes before floating backwards. A black fireball was forming at the tip of his staff.

"Dark Flame!" Claudius yelled as he launched a stream of black fire at Izzy, who stopped slashing air long enough to notice.

"Oh crap! Um uh… Light Blade!" The sword's tip lit up as Izzy slashed at the flames, splitting Claudius' attack in two. He charged at Claudius, swung the sword, and cut the king's bo-staff in two. The pieces disappeared in two puffs of black smoke. Claudius brought out his wand and fired dark lightning at Izzy.

"ARGH!!!!" He yelled as he got struck by the paralyzing attack. The lightning crackled around his body, preventing him from moving. Claudius backed up and started to charge energy.

"Darkness…" The king started. Izzy broke free and gasped when he noticed Claudius' dark aura growing to an unimaginable size. He started flying away, but Claudius didn't let him out of his sights. "FLASH!!!" A gigantic wave of dark energy struck Izzy, who screamed in pain as the darkness enveloped him. When the attack ended, he plummeted to the ground.

He started skidding on the ground, hitting his head, then his back, and his head again before hitting the Power Shield. He doubled over and stood up, electricity crackling around his body. He looked up at his opponent, but the sight was getting blurry. With a last breath, he lost consciousness and fell backwards. The Power Shield disappeared as he hit the ground. Otto, Sam, Twister, and Reggie skated up to him. Izzy was still breathing, but they were small breaths.

"I did it?" Claudius asked as he saw the scene below him. "I did it!" He raised his fist in victory. "I beat the strongest wizard! I'm truly the king of all!" While the king gave an evil laugh, the humans planned.

"Izzy's down for the count, so we have to step in." Otto said.

"And what can we do?" Reggie asked. She was holding Izzy up.

"Yeah! That guy's strong!" Twister added in.

"Any ideas, Sammy?" Otto asked as everybody turned to the brainiac, who seemed to be stumped.

"Come on. Think, think, think…" Sam said. The camera went inside his ears, where a shot of his brain going through a brainstorm was seen. The camera went further inside, showing pictures of some rather unrelated stuff like an ice cream cone and a tennis racket before an image of Izzy in the hospital was displayed.

"A wizard's wand is important because it is the source of his power. Only the most powerful spells can be done with it. If you don't have it, you can only do parlor tricks and defensive spells." The memory said.

"Brain blast!" Sam exclaimed while holding up a finger. Everybody gave him a weirded out look. Sam turned to the camera. "This Jimmy Neutron moment was brought to you by our author, Prince Izzy, who's a complete nutcase."

(Me: Damn straight!)

"-   - Anyway…" Sam turned back to the others. "If we can get his wand away from him, he'll lose his powers."

"Ok. And how do we get up there?" Twister asked.

"With this." Otto said as he brought the power block to everybody's attention again. He hit it a few times. The block spit out a few items. A hat shaped like an airplane, a cap that kept disappearing and reappearing, a hammer, a raccoon statue, a feather, and a hat made to look like a dragon's head appeared. Otto looked at the items and at his friends.

"Ok. Twist, you get the feather and the dragon hat."

"Got it!" Twister replied as he grabbed the two items. In a puff of smoke, he became Cape-Dragon Twister. He was wearing the dragon hat over his normal hat and the same yellow cape that Otto was wearing.

"Squid, you take the hammer and that jet hat." Otto said.

"Ok." Sam grabbed the two items Otto mentioned. He was now Hammer-Jet Squid. The jet hat replaced his shark helmet and he was wearing a black shell like Otto was earlier.

"What about me?" Reggie asked, eyeing the last two items.

"You take the statue and protect Izzy just in case that king tries to attack him." Otto replied. Reggie huffed in frustration and grabbed the raccoon statue. She became Tanooki Reggie. "And see if you can wake him up." Otto pointed at the unconscious boy.

"If I'm not mistaken, that last hat allows you to become invisible." Sam said as he picked up the hat. Otto grabbed it.

"Right. I'm gonna see if I can get close enough to that wand while you and Twist distract him." He took off his helmet and got ready to put on the vanish cap.

"Hold it. What if we get hit? If I understand this reference, one hit and we're toast." Sam interrupted.

"Oh yeah…" Otto said thoughtfully. He looked at the block.

"I wonder… Give me a star." He pounded the block and a star popped out. Twister caught it and his clothes started flashing. "Give me a mushroom." Otto hit the block again and a mushroom came out. He grabbed it, but there was no effect due to the power up he already had. He handed the block to Sam.

"I guess you can tell it what you want before hitting it if anything happens."

"Alright. Give me a star." Sam said before hitting the block. A star popped out and he became invincible. "Come on, Twister!" He jumped and the jet hat activated, directing him towards the king.

"You better get going, bro. That star's effect doesn't last for long." Otto said as he put on the vanish cap. He disappeared from Twister's view.

"Right. Good luck, dude." Twister replied before jumping up and joining Sam. They charged towards the king.

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA—Huh!?" Claudius yelled as he noticed the advancing humans. "How the—!" He was interrupted as Sammy crashed right into him. Claudius got burned as a result of the blond boy's fleeting invincibility. Sam followed up his tackle with a few hammers. Claudius pulled up a black barrier and defended against the attack. Twister rammed into the barrier and shattered it. His own invincibility ended as well.

"Ugh! Dark Flame!" Claudius pointed his wand at Twister and fired. Twister activated his Dragon Hat's ability and fought back Claudius' flames with his own. The attacks collided and the two struggled for dominance. Claudius started to win the battle of strength when Sam threw some hammers at him, ruining his concentration. Twister's fire attack outdid Claudius' and the king got struck. Claudius got tossed back. He righted himself and fired a dark bolt of lightning at Sam.

"Star!" He said as he pounded the block. He grabbed the star that popped out and defended against the lightning. Sam charged for the king again.

"Shadow Rush!" Claudius sped around the arena, avoiding Sam's hammers. He was stopped by Twister making a column of fire appear in front of him. Claudius charged at him.

"Twister! Catch!" Sam yelled as he tossed a star at his friend. Twister grabbed it just as Claudius rammed into him.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Claudius yelled as he doubled back from Twister. The cameraman spewed fire from the dragon hat again.

--------------------------------

"Come on, Izzy. Wake up." Reggie said while lightly slapping Izzy's face.

::SLAP!::

(Me: I said LIGHTLY!)

"Oops. Sorry." Reggie started slapping his face on the opposite side of a forming bruise. Izzy started to stir.

"Uhh wha? I'm still alive?" He asked as he looked at Reggie. He put a hand to his face & winced in pain. "What happened to my face?"

"Uhh… The king whomped you really hard?" Reggie lied.

"Oh yeah…" Izzy said. He looked around. "Uhh… Where are Otto and the others?"

"Well you see…"

"-    - Let me guess." Izzy looked up at the fight going on. He turned back to Reggie. "  I'd be screaming right now if it wasn't for the damage I just took."

"Why? We're only trying to help ya. We're in danger too." Reggie defended.

"I'm aware of that, but it's not worth you guys getting killed over. After all, you're the stars of the show." Izzy looked up again. "Hey, I only see two of them. Where's Otto at?"

"He turned invisible, I think."

"Oh. He must be using a vanish cap then. But why?" Izzy tried to lift an arm, but it wouldn't budge. "Ummm… Could ya get me a healing potion out of the bag?"

--------------------------------

'They gotta make him stand still for a few seconds.' Otto thought as he flew around the battle. Sam rammed into Claudius and Twister fired a stream of fire at him.

"Ack! These humans are real bothersome." Claudius said as he backed up. "Darkness…" He started to get that huge aura again. Remembering what happened to Izzy, Twister and Sam flew away from the king.

'Now's my chance!' Otto thought as he moved in.

"FLA—" Claudius started, but Otto used a spin attack and knocked his wand out of his grasp. The wand fell and hit the ground with a clang. Claudius looked down.

"O     O AHHHHHH!!!!!"

::CRASH!!!::

"And he beefs it!" Otto yelled as his invisibility wore off. The vanish cap disappeared. Claudius picked himself up from the floor and growled at the interloper.

"When I get my wand back, you're first to die!" Claudius looked around and saw his wand lying a few feet away. Because of the huge fall, he had to crawl to his weapon. He was almost there when…

::BWEEM!::

His wand was incased in ice! Frightened, Claudius turned and confirmed his fears. Izzy, fully healed and looking severely pissed, put down his pointing finger. He started walking slowly towards the king.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Izzy started, chuckling evilly. "The mighty King Claudius. Lost his wand to a bunch of humans." He cast an upwards glance at the floating trio. He then shot lightning at the king, shocking him badly. The king screamed in pain as he started to back up nervously.

"N-now Izzy. I'm sure we can talk about this." Claudius said. Izzy put on a thinking pose.

"Where have I seen this scenario before? Oh yes. For six years, I had to learn to use my powers without my wand!" He shot a Power Beam at Claudius. He laughed again at the king's pain. "You must've had your wand your whole life, huh?" He slashed the king's left arm with an air blade. "Turnabout's a bitch, huh!?"

(A/N: I'm pretty sure I can have him say that in a PG fic. After all, I've seen a few PG movies where they used that curse.)

--------------------------------

"Hey Twister, what happened to your dragon hat?" Sam asked. Twister put a hand up to his head and felt only his normal hat.

"I must've dropped it when I moved away from that guy." He replied. All three of them looked down.

"Aw crap." Otto said.

--------------------------------

"And now to finish this." Izzy said as he held his hand out towards his sword, which was knocked out of his grasp earlier. The sword floated from its place on the floor and came to him.

"Rocket Accel!" He charged head on for the king. He didn't even get halfway to the king when he accidentally stepped on the dragon hat Twister had on earlier. The hat spewed flames from its nose and hit the wand, melting the ice surrounding it. Izzy slipped on the hat and fell.

"Ouch…"

"MWAHAHAHAHA!!!" Claudius bellowed as he grabbed the wand. A dark aura surrounded him as he floated up. "And now…" He aimed his wand at Otto. "Dark Flame!" The black flames shot out and struck Otto before anybody can do anything. The boy lost his cape and started falling head first.

"Twis…ter…" He groaned as he lost consciousness.

"I got you, Ottoman!" Twister yelled as he dived down. He inched closer and closer to his comrade.

Just inches from the floor, Twister managed to scoop Otto in his arms. Unfortunately, they were too low for him to fly up. He turned and skidded on his back. They stopped a few feet away from Reggie. She and Sam went to them to see if they were ok. They were both knocked out. Twister's cape disappeared in a puff of smoke. Izzy got up and jumped back.

"Are they ok?" He asked.

"They're unconscious." Sam replied. "They should be ok after a healing potion."

"Bad news." Reggie said as she inspected Otto's backpack. "We're out of potions."

"Just great." Izzy said as he looked up at Claudius. The king started to charge energy. "I guess this is it." He said to himself as he lowered his head.

"Izzy, you are not the strongest wizard after all!" Claudius gloated as he charged energy. "Darkness…"

"Izzy!" Someone yelled. The good guys turned and looked at the source of the voice.

"Adrian?" Izzy asked as he saw the form of his best friend floating in the air by the balcony. He had something glittering in his hand.

"Catch!" He yelled as he tossed the object.

"FLASH!!!" Claudius yelled, launching his attack. The object Adrian tossed spun in the air for a few moments before Izzy grabbed it with his left hand. His eyes widened as he inspected the gold stick his friend tossed.

"Th-this is…" He started. The blue jewel at the end glowed brightly and a purple barrier surrounded him, Reggie, Sam, Otto, and Twister. Claudius' attack hit the barrier, but didn't even scratch it.

"This is…" Izzy got a grin as big as a kid who got every toy in the store for Christmas.

"MY WAND!!!" He started dancing. "I got my wand back!" He laughed as he danced around happily. "I got my wand back, oh yeah!" He turned and gave Reggie & Sam a peace sign. He laughed some more before he got a stern look on him. He turned his attention back to Claudius.

"What have you done, Adrian?!" Claudius asked as he turned to the other wizard.

"Just following the prophecy." Adrian replied with a laugh. "And another thing, I QUIT!"

"You traitorous little insect!" Claudius started to charge energy to destroy Adrian when a bright orange light shone out of the corner of his eyes. He turned and looked at Izzy, whose body was glowing with that same light.

"Power…Beam…" He started. Orange energy appeared at the tip of his wand. "BLAST!" The biggest wave of magical energy he ever fired launched out of the wand towards the king. Adrian flew down to the floor to avoid the attack as Claudius flew away. The beam was about to hit a wall.

"Beam split!" Izzy ordered. The beam scattered and became twenty balls of energy before they hit the wall. "Go after that king!" The balls sped off towards Claudius, who started weaving out of their paths. He destroyed a few with some well-placed energy bolts.

"Combine again!" The remaining balls became one beam and struck Claudius. While the king was reeling from that attack, Adrian walked up to Izzy's barrier. Izzy opened it and the wizard in the blue cape walked in. The wizard in the gray hat grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"Adrian! You got me my wand! Where did you find it!?" He asked with glee.

"It was in the king's private chambers." Adrian replied as if it was no big deal.

"Oh thank you so much! I don't know what to say! I could just…just—!" Izzy said before he got Adrian in a passionate kiss. The two tongue wrestled for a few minutes before they parted for air. Adrian staggered around, his face as red as a tomato.

"You're welcome…" He said before he fainted. Izzy shrugged.

"And now, back to the task at hand." He flew out of the barrier and up to Claudius, who recovered from the attack.

"Grr… So you got your wand back." The king sneered. "I can still beat you. Darkness Flash!" Claudius fired the huge attack again. Izzy held his wand in front of him and closed his eyes.

"I hope this works." He said to himself. "Ultra Shield!" A purple barrier identical to the one protecting his friends surrounded him. It blocked Claudius' attack, but it had massive cracks in it. "What happened? The shield that activated when I got my wand completely blocked his attack. Why is this shield cracked?"

"You can use more than one shield at a time now," Adrian, who got back to his feet, started. "But the shields would be weaker than if you used just one."

"Aw man." Izzy said, slapping his head.

"Heh heh. One more flash will destroy that shield and you." Claudius said as he backed up. He prepared the biggest attack he can muster. "Darkness…"

"Izzy! You gotta do something!" Reggie, Sam, and Adrian yelled as Claudius' aura started to take up half the room.

"I know, I know. But what?" Izzy asked. He looked at his wand and closed his eyes.

'Mom, Dad, I could really use your help right about now. Wait!' He started to think.

'I'm not doing this for myself, remember? I'm doing this for all those humans.' Everything that happened since he came to Ocean Shores played in his mind. 'That race, meeting Keoni, making that love potion… What about those guys Otto wanted to be together? I won't let that bond be destroyed!' Suddenly, Izzy's body started to glow with a golden energy.

'What is that!?' Claudius roared in his mind.

"Golden…" Izzy started as he opened his eyes. They glowed with the same golden energy he was emitting from his body. The golden aura covered the other half of the room and started fighting Claudius' dark aura. Lightning crackled where the two auras met.

"'This wizard will challenge the reigning king and a million golden lights will fill every section of the dark castle.'" Adrian said, surprising Sam & Reggie.

"What is that?" Sam asked.

"That's part of the ancient prophecy." Adrian replied, not taking his eyes off Izzy.

"So you do know the prophecy." Reggie said. Adrian nodded.

"Does that mean Izzy's element is…?" Sam started.

"Light." Adrian finished.

"I won't be defeated!" Claudius bellowed, raising his wand. "Darkness Flash!" He lowered his wand and the dark energy went towards Izzy.

"And I won't let you destroy the lives of these humans!" Izzy replied, raising his wand as well. "GOLDEN FLASH!!!" He pointed the wand at Claudius and launched the gold energy. The two attacks collided, causing the entire castle to shake from the energy. The attacks went back and forth for a few minutes before Claudius' energy started to dissipate.

'Oh no! I'm too tired from using all those flash attacks!' Claudius thought with wide eyes. 'It's over…' The dark energy completely disappeared and Claudius was engulfed in the light.

"AHHHH!!!!!" He screamed as the camera got white. The camera switched to Izzy, who closed his eyes with a smile and fell. The camera whited out.

"Izzy!" Adrian yelled as the camera whited out. The camera shifted to Reggie and Sam, who looked on with frightened faces. It went white and the camera went to the still-unconscious Otto & Twister. The camera whited out again.

Outside the castle…

"What can be taking so long?" Ray asked. Everybody was situated on the beach; the humans who fought their way out of the castle and any wizard & witch that got out safely. They weren't fighting; just looking at the castle.

"I hope the king wins." One wizard was heard saying.

"You dunce! How can you possibly want him to win after all he's done to us?!" A witch yelled.

"Yeah! Especially to that poor kid!" Another wizard yelled. "I want that kid to win. He'll probably be a better ruler."

"Or he might destroy us for what happened these past six years." A second witch said nervously.

"Like that was our fault!" The first witch said. "That idiot king. He's the one who ordered us to hunt him down!"

"Uhhh… Do you know what's happening over there?" Ray asked as he walked up to the arguing group.

"Why should we tell you, human?!" The first wizard yelled.

"Shut up!" The second witch said, hitting the wizard over the head. "Sorry about that. It seems that some people are still loyal to the king."

"So you guys hate him?" Ray asked.

"Oh yeah! He's a lousy ruler." The first witch replied. "He's destroyed the wizarding world's economy with his plans of war against all humans."

"And you didn't do anything about it?" Tito asked as he walked up to the group.

"We would have tried to stop him." The second wizard started. "But anyone who tried to go against his word was never seen again."

"I just hope the prophecy is right." The second witch said, casting a forlorn look towards the castle.

"Prophecy?" Ray & Tito asked, looking at each other.

"What going on!?" A random person yelled. The group turned towards the castle. A ton of lights was seen coming out of every window. Every wizard & witch started to cheer.

::BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!::

Everybody gasped as the castle exploded.

"Maurice!" Both of Twister's parents yelled.

"Sam!" Paula yelled.

"Reggie! Otto!" Ray yelled as well.

--------------------------------

A/N:

Me: Izzy!

Izzy: What?

Me: Make me a sandwich.

Izzy: ::Grumbles and leaves::

Me: Anyway, what will become of our heroes? Find next time in the final chapter of The Runaway!