One week ago…

The door to Big Blue's office flew open and a stumbling Blue ran in. Shocked by the sudden entrance, Big Blue nearly dropped the vial of liquid he was holding. It shot up into the air and he fumbled with it a few times trying to catch it before he finally clamped down on it with two fingers right before it hit the floor. With the vial safe, Big Blue slammed his free fist on the table.

"Geez, have you ever heard of knocking?!" He chided. "Whatever it is you've come barging in to tell me, it had better be good!"

"Deepest apologies master, but I'm certain you'll be interested in this," the Blue said and showed him a photo. Examining it closely, Big Blue's angry scowl widened into a devilish grin.

"Ohh, you're right, I do like this! I like this very much…" He said, taking the photo in his own hand. "Only problem is, that's a lot of people. We'll have to store up a truckload of paint to get them all."

"How long will it take to brew enough?" The Blue asked.

"Oh I dunno, maybe a week or so?"

"Excellent, sir."

Under the stars, an orange hand pushed aside the underbrush, opening up the way to a clearing. Stepping out into the clear patch, Kyle motioned for the others to follow him through, which they promptly did. Each of them stumbled out into the clearing, Andrew tripping on a root and the rest tripping over him shortly after.

"Kyle, are you SURE you know where you're going?" Andrew growled and pushed the others off of him.

"I'm absolutely sure! It shouldn't be too far from here now," Kyle replied, looking up at the night sky.

"It was a lot easier coming here from Slusher…" Hang lamented, crawling up to Michael. Ticks littered his gray skin and Hang held up a finger to try and ward them off with some fire. When Andrew saw what he was trying, he pushed Hang away from Michael.

"Huh- Andrew, what?! I'm just trying to help!" Hang protested from the ground.

"I know, but using heat to detach ticks is just a myth. The truth is, it only makes it worse." His fingers squeezed one of Michael's ticks and firmly plucked it out. "There's no shortcut to this, unfortunately."

"Ow…" Michael whispered.

"Getting all these out is gonna take some time. Time we can't afford to lose," Andrew mused aloud, "Pedro, go ahead with Kyle. Find the witch and come back to us immediately," he ordered. Pedro saluted and got up to join Kyle.

"You sure you're up to this Pedro? You were pretty wiped out when the others found me," Kyle said.

"Psssh, I'm fine! Besides, now I've gotten more rest than the others!" He laughed. "Let's go find our new ally already."

The two of them left the clearing and waded through the forest again. While they journeyed through the plants, Pedro decided to strike up a conversation.

"So," he began, "You had a girlfriend all this time, huh?"

"Eesshh, she's not exactly my girlfriend…" Kyle whispered with a blush on his face.

"And you never told us, you sly dog!" Pedro continued to tease as if Kyle hadn't said anything, "Though I never thought you'd have the charm to snag a magic girl."

"Hey, it's not magic. Just some arcane art passed down for centuries."

"Sounds like magic to me."

Kyle sighed. "I guess you're right. It does sound like magic when I put it like that. Anyway, their gathering place should be right about-" His words stopped suddenly when he felt something wet beneath his foot. "Oh gross, what did I just step in?" When he looked down to see what it was, his heart dropped into his stomach.

Blue paint.

No. No.

"Kyle? Something wrong?" Pedro asked. His only response was Kyle grabbing his arm in a vice grip and pulling the both of them to their destination as fast as possible. Plowing through one last bush, they arrived in a wide, open field surrounded by reeds. It had been the first time Kyle had seen Galaxyrise in what felt like forever, yet it'd be impossible for him to feel any worse. Paint coated the grass and trees, everywhere he looked there were patches of blue. Nobody else was around, except for a certain man sitting squarely in the middle of it all who turned to greet his new guests.

"Ah, Kyle! So I see you really did escape!" Big Blue greeted them, hands behind his back and speaking with a sickening welcomeness. All Kyle could do was stare horrified. His mind had already put two and two together and he wanted so desperately for it to be wrong. Yet, here his worst enemy was, right where he least wanted him to be.

"Heads up, I'm gonna go get Andrew and the others," Pedro quietly told Kyle before disappearing in the foliage behind them.

"Big Blue… What are you doing here!?" Kyle asked, his voice shaking.

"Oh, you know, just doing a little REDECORATING!" Big Blue shouted and pulled his hands from behind his back, revealing a can of blue paint and a wet paintbrush.

Alarms went off in Kyle's head. "YOU MONSTER! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM?!" He yelled.

"Come on, you're a college student, aren't you? Can't you use that big brain of yours?" Big Blue taunted.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Kyle screamed and ran at Big Blue. Sending fire through his feet, he boosted himself forward like a rocket… only to slam right into an invisible wall. The blue boss himself hadn't even flinched. Kyle got up and pounded on the forcefield like a little child until he tired himself out.

"Are you done?" Big Blue asked.

"How… How did you…" Kyle panted.

"I didn't do anything!" Big Blue said, feigning innocence. "You'll have to ask THEM!" His fingers snapped before pointing upwards, drawing Kyle's attention to the witches descending from above. They looked the same as the last time he had seen them except for the fact that they were covered head to toe in blue.

"No… No no no no no NO NO NO!" Kyle panicked. A white outline appeared around him as a witch lifted him up and flung him away into a tree. Whack! When Kyle opened his eyes a few seconds later, the other Slush Defenders were already on the scene.

"Sorry Kyle, we came as fast as we could!" Pedro told him. The others looked shocked and horrified except for Andrew, who looked ready to kill.

"So we've got all the leftovers here now!" Big Blue laughed. "Gentlemen, meet the Azures!" He said, waving his arm out to gesture to the newly blued witches. "Like the name? I got it from Portuguese. Really makes them feel mystical, doesn't it?"

The other Slushers charged at Big Blue and attacked. Fireballs flew from Hang's hands, Pedro fired his blaster, and Andrew even tried punching and kicking the forcefield. All their efforts did was elicit a yawn from Big Blue. Meanwhile, the Azures were free to pelt the Slush Defenders with magic bolts.

"MALLORY? MALLORY!" Kyle called out among the chaos, "MALLORY, WHERE ARE YOU?" Somehow he failed to notice the witch descending behind him until she spoke.

"I'm right here…"

Kyle turned around, only to be met with a backhand to the face. As he fell to the floor, he realized it wasn't a witch who had greeted him, but a cold-blooded Azure. Desperately, he tried to convince himself that she was lying to him. Yet, the Azure before him looked exactly like Mallory, only with a brand new coat of paint.

"Mallory, no…" She picked Kyle up by his neck. "Mallory, don't you remember me?! We were so close to each other! We talked all the time! I-" He was cut off by a magic bolt blasting him away. With nothing left to do, Kyle laid helplessly on the ground while Mallory returned to her new master.

Back with the other Slushers, all attempts to fight their opponents were failing. Though they had turned most of their efforts to fighting the Azures instead of Big Blue, the magic users kept protecting each other from blaster shots and fireballs.

Then suddenly, a green lasso wrapped around one of their legs. With a quick tug on his pen and the line coming from it, Michael slammed the roped Azure down on the ground. For a moment, the forcefield around Big Blue faltered and Andrew was able to shove his fist through. Of course, it repaired itself almost immediately, but it still caught Big Blue off-guard.

All of a sudden, the shining lights in the starry sky overhead caught the Azures' attention. Immediately, Hang, Michael, and Pedro took advantage of the distraction and attacked as many Azures as they could. The shield kept going down for brief periods at a time and Andrew's assault intensified with his blows starting to bend the forcefield even at full power. Clapping his hands twice, Big Blue ordered the Azures to drop all defenses and launch a full-scale magic assault on the Slushers, an order they complied with. Overwhelmed by the blasts, the fighters were pushed back. Even Andrew could no longer even get close to Big Blue.

As the night lights grew stronger, Kyle staggered onto the battlefield. His presence caught everyone's attention immediately. Back hunched over, fists quivering with power, Kyle's entire body was coated in green flames. Just managing to lift his head up, he uttered a single warning:

"…Run."

Heeding his message, Andrew grabbed Hang and Michael and ran for it with Pedro right by his side. Looking back, Hang could see Kyle cry out and raise his arms before throwing them down. The lights overhead grew into magnificent comets as they started falling right on Big Blue and the Azures. One by one, a storm of stars rained down on Galaxyrise.

CRASH! The ground they struck was upturned. CRASH! The plants nearby were set ablaze in a brilliant green. CRASH! Smoke kicked up and prevented anyone from seeing what was happening behind them. Then a burst of green fire started hurtling right towards the fleeing Slushers. Shaking his arms free from Andrew's grip, Hang shoved his hands out and redirected the fire around them until it stopped coming. All at once, the uproar the star storm had caused stopped. Both Andrew and Pedro stopped running, gasping and panting for breath.

When they returned, the first thing they noticed was Kyle. He was on his knees and motionless, but still in one piece. Aside from that, the entire area was charred. Fallen Azures were scattered about, yet Big Blue himself was nowhere to be seen. Approaching Kyle, Hang put a hand on his shoulder, half to comfort him and half to make sure he still had a pulse. Weakly, Kyle slapped Hang's hand away. Wanting to say something, Andrew opened his mouth but then closed it again immediately afterwards. Instead, he just gently tugged at Kyle's arm.

"Come on, we should get out of here," Andrew said. With a sigh, Kyle got up. Sensing Kyle's pain, Michael pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. It was a map he had been drawing since they entered the woods again to avoid a repeat of the first time they went in. After using the stars to find their direction, Michael led the others out with Andrew at his side and Hang and Pedro lagging behind to try and comfort Kyle.

Partway through, the mood seemed to finally be lightening as the group focused more on finding their way out and planning their next move than on what had happened. Just when they found a trail that would lead them to an exit, a sudden buzzing noise cut through the silence. A white light pierced a nearby tree and sliced through it, sending it crashing down right in the Defenders' path. Andrew got in front of the others and blocked them in time. The trunk landed inches away from Andrew's feet. Jumping out onto the fresh stump was a hostile Blue… holding Ben's Sticksaber.

"Oh no, Ben…" Andrew groaned. Then more buzzes and hums made themselves known. More white lights glowed in the forest's darkness. They were surrounded by Blues, each one holding their own Sticksaber.

"What the- Heads up, gang. Looks like we're fighting a bunch of imitators," Andrew growled. Pulling out their weapons and prepping their powers, the Slush Defenders charged fearlessly into one last strange battle that stood between them and civilization.

Opening his eyes, Big Blue found himself being carried in mid-air through the forest with a new forcefield projected around him. Looking around, he spotted Azures all around him whisking him to safety. One of them approached him with concern in her face.

"Master Big Blue, are you harmed?" The Azure asked.

"Nope, doesn't feel like it, and it's all thanks to you beauties! Very good work handling our little contingency," he told them.

"Thank you, master," The Azure said with a bow of her head.

"Eh, don't mention it… But come to think of it, we seem to be leaving with less manpower than I'd hoped."

"The losses can be made up for many times over. We can easily locate our sister clans. I'm sure with a bit of convincing that they'd be happy to join your side."

Big Blue grinned. "I like the way you think! Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to welcome you all into the ranks of the Blues. You've earned it." Turning around in his bubble, Big Blue observed smoke rising in the horizon. "As for our little friends," he continued, "That's probably not the last we'll be seeing of them, but a man can dream can't he?" Big Blue roared with villainous laughter at his own statement. A few seconds later, the Azures joined in. The trail was alive with cackling as they continued to carry him all the way back to his home base.

The End.