Blaze took a deep breath and lifted his tire. The others gasped as he made a magical circle in the air.
"Whaaaaaaaa...?"
Crusher was the only one who was staring in complete horror as a realization dawned upon him.
'Blaze... was a witch?!?'
Blaze soon made the circle expand and swirl it towards the monster still flying at the sky. In an instant, the beast was captured with a net of magic.
"You got it!" Darington whooped
"How did you do that, Blaze?!" Watts asked.
"Yeah, how did you cast a witch spell?!" Stripes questioned. "I've seen those only in books!"
"It's... hard to explain..." Blaze chuckled. "But I guess I need to flat out admit it-- me and AJ are witches."
Crusher froze. 'He AND AJ were WITCHES?!?'
The others, on the other hand, had their jaws dropped.
"WITCHES?!"
"Yeah, we came from another world with magic around every corner," AJ explained.
"So, friends know what monster is?" Zeg questioned.
"An owl beast," Blaze sighed.
"What's that?" Gabby asked.
"That, basically," AJ explained, pointing to the monster struggling in the net. "but they usually don't appear unless someone is cursed into one,"
"Aunt Eda was cursed into one..." Blaze muttered, "but why would anyone curse Pickle?"
"THAT'S PICKLE?!?" the group gasped.
"Yeah..." Blaze slowly nodded. "it's him."
"WHAT?!" Crusher zoomed to the monster in disbelief. "B-But HOW?! AND WHY?!"
"I don't know..." AJ sighed. "But I wouldn't recommend getting close. When someone is an owl beast, they completely lose control and act like a wild animal."
As if on cue, Pickle let out a wild roar and began to tear through the net.
"AJ, use your magic to strengthen the net!" Blaze called out.
"On it!" AJ spun a circle with his finger to unleash another magic burst towards the net.
Pickle snarled and growled, trying to get free. Crusher stared at the being that was once his best friend as he gritted his teeth.
"Who would do this?! Pickle... he would never piss anyone off for anyone to do this!"
"No one else in this world that we know of is a witch," Blaze explained, which made the dark blue truck to discreetly tense at that. "So it must be someone back in the Boiling Isles. Probably someone super—"
As he thought of someone who would do this, Pickle broke free from the net and galloped through the woods.
"Oh no!" Darington gasped. "Pickle's getting away!"
"After him!" Blaze yelled.
They all zoomed after their friend and chased him to an empty field, where Belos was standing and waiting for the creature's return.
Blaze and AJ gasped and skidded right to a stop at the sight of him.
Could it be?
No... it couldn't.
Could it…?
"Well, well, isn't this a surprise?" Belos confronted the group.
"E-Emperor Belos?!" Blaze gasped, trembling.
"You are a long way from home, rogue witches," Belos spoke before turning to Pickle. "Oh, and I see you found my little experiment,"
"Experiment? You know this guy?" Darington asked as Crusher stiffened at the sight of the emperor.
No.
Anything but… HIM.
"Yes they do," Belos chuckled. "And I will take my experiment back home with me!"
He used his magic to capture Pickle then he climbed on his back and rode him towards the doorway, which enlarged for the monster to fit inside as they both disappeared into the portal.
"Oh no! What can we do?!" Watts asked.
"We've got to go after them!" Blaze sped forward. "Come on!"
The group nodded and followed after them. Only Crusher was hesitant to follow as he stared at the portal. Immediately, horrid flashbacks blocked his vision, causing him to shudder.
The chains…
The evil laugh…
The abuse—
"Crusher, come on!" Stripes yelled from the portal, snapping him from his trance.
"C-Coming!" Crusher shook off the memories and drove forward.
'Now is not the time to be a coward. You've GOT to save Pickle.'
