Meanwhile, back at the castle, Belos looked up from one of the balconies, waiting for the rogue witches to strike them down and capture them.
"You'll... ugh... never get away with this, Belos!" Gabby strained.
"Oh, I believe I will," Belos turned to them. "If they don't come now, I would have to petrify one of you to be an example. Either way, I WILL win,"
"BELOS!"
A yell from below caught the emperor's attention, and his eyes narrowed to see Blaze step forward in his witch form, followed by Stripes and AJ.
"Blaze? Is that you?" Watts asked with a stunned look.
"Yes, it's me," Blaze nodded as he held out his staff towards the emperor. "but here, I am Spitfire Clawthorne, son of Lilith Clawthorne, and nephew of the Owl Lady Edalyn Clawthorne! And I'm here to get back my friends from you, Belos!"
"So modest..." Belos huffed as he jumped down to face him. "try and beat me. I dare you..."
He took out his own staff and stood in a battle pose. Blaze snarled, his spare hand in flames before he went over to attack.
Meanwhile, Crusher watched the battle from his own flying staff as he made his way to the back of the castle.
"Spite is a good fighter. He'll keep Belos distracted long enough... I hope..."
He soon made his way to the back of the castle and jumped off from his staff. He then used his magic to keep his staff before he dashed through the halls, creating a cloak and hood to not be recognized by any of the passing guards. He soon made it to the dungeon and found Pickle still struggling inside.
"Oh, Pickle..."
He slowly approached his best friend and gently cupped his face. Pickle snarled at him, savage black eyes glaring, which caused him to sigh.
"Don't worry, Pickle, we'll break this curse… somehow…" he then took out his staff. "For now, this should help you,"
He raised his staff and shot the beam of magic towards his eyes and face. Pickle struggled for a moment, but soon, his struggles ceased, and his eyes slowly returned to normal.
"Ugh... what happened? Crusher? Is that you?"
"Yeah, it's me," Crusher smiled and partly uncovered himself from his hood to face his cursed best friend. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, but what happened?" Pickle glanced around. "Why do I feel so weird... and are those wings on my back?!!"
"You were cursed into an owl beast by Emperor Belos," Crusher told him.
"The creepy guy with the mask? Why would he curse me?"
"He did it to lure Blaze and AJ back here, most likely," Crusher sighed and shrugged.
"Blaze and AJ?" Pickle was growing confused by the minute. "Wait... they know something about this? And why are you human? Or elf? Or... whatever you are?"
"I'm a witch," Crusher chuckled before focusing on the chains around Pickle's neck. "Hang on, let me get these off of you…"
"Wait... a witch?!"
"Pickle, I promise to explain later," Crusher told him as he twirled his finger into a circle to cast a spell. "For now, let's get these chains off you, so we can get the others out of Belos's cages,"
"Uh... okay..." Pickle then watched in amazement with a gasp as Crusher used powerful ice to destroy the chains that held him. "Whoa... can you teach ME to do that?!"
"Maybe with glyphs since only witches can use finger magic," Crusher smiled as he destroyed the last of the chains. "There you go! You're free,"
"Thanks!" Pickle beamed. "Now, let's get the others!"
Crusher nodded and hopped onto his back before they both dashed out of the dungeons and out through the back. Pickle took off to the sky and headed above the castle to find Blaze and Belos fighting while Stripes and AJ were now trapped in the same cages as the others.
"Oh no! He got Stripes and AJ!" Crusher hissed. "Come on, Pickle. Time to dive,"
"Got it!" Pickle nodded and dove down towards the others on the balcony with a roar, causing the others to look up in surprise.
"Pickle!" Stripes yelled excitedly. "You're... almost normal!"
"His sanity's back, that's for sure," Crusher hopped off of Pickle and landed with a thud, removing his hood to face them.
"Crusher?!" Darington's jaw dropped. "Woah! You look kinda like Blaze!"
"That's 'cause… he's my brother," Crusher shrugged with a grin, watching the other's faces grow from surprised to disbelief.
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!" Darington cried in shock.
"I know, crazy huh?" Stripes agreed.
"Hurry! You gotta get us outta here so we can help!" Starla urged.
"Right," Crusher nodded and took out his staff.
He tapped the end of the staff on the ground twice, and the cages shattered with an electric blue glow.
"Whoa! Amazing!" Watts exclaimed.
"ACK!"
Everyone turned to see Blaze forced into a cage, his staff broken while Belos towered over him threateningly.
"NO!!"
Crusher snarled, his whole body erupting in electric blue magic as his eyes turned full-white. He teleported in between Belos and Blaze, staff out and ready to fight.
"You... will NOT hurt my brother, Belos!"
"Ah, Dynamite Clawthorne," Belos sneered. "I thought that you would return. Return back to the castle, where your magic belongs…"
Crusher growled and hit his staff on the ground, causing everyone from the balcony to teleport behind him. He then lifted his finger to cast a spell, destroying the cage around Blaze before helping him up.
"Thanks, bro..." Blaze sighed in relief. "I thought I was dead there for a sec,"
"No problem," Crusher smiled then he turned back to face Belos, who had called on his guards as they all surrounded them.
"You will NOT escape so easily, Clawthornes…" Belos spoke as they all marched forward threateningly.
Blaze grabbed his broken staff and hissed as they were surrounded. Everyone else gulped.
"What now, what now?!" Pickle panicked.
"We get out of here," Crusher twirled his staff around.
He tapped his staff on the ground as hard as he could, causing a blast of light to appear and surround them. As soon as the light ceased, the group had disappeared. Belos snarled.
"I WILL find you, Clawthornes, and I will END YOU BOTH!"
