The village had quickly become a battlefield. In the air, Nina was doing all she could to fight off any new dark mages that flew toward the village. In the treetops, Neko was striking down ones that got through, yet some did get by him. The elder kept the ones getting through from causing too much damage. Ethan had it worst of them, Grimshade was proving to be a stronger opponent then any of the other dark mages he's fought, and Ethan was fighting with all but his limit. If he pushed any harder, he might lose control to the power of Bloodmoon, and he feared that Grimshade was fully aware of that. "Is this truly all you got, with the stories my clan tells, one would think the legend that stopped us before would have more bite." Grimshade stated as the two of them exchanged blows. Fighting with melee tactics, Ethan wasn't giving Grimshade any opening for spells. He held the white cane he fought with as a sword and channeled magic through it with each swinging strike. But Grimshade matched his tactics with ease, blocking with his own staff and channeling magic as well.

~ Ch.7: Battles and Animation

There didn't seem to be any end in sight of the approaching dark mages and Nina was reaching her limits. Another dark mage tried getting by and she turned and swung her wings, sending a wave of energy striking down the dark mage. Breathing heavily and going numb from exhaustion, she accidently let her guard down and her wing was hit by a stream of magic. With a yelp of pain she started to fall and crashed through the roof of one of the huts. Seeing Nina fall, Neko's worry made his guard drop and he was nearly hit as well. Refocusing, he swore and doubled his effort, hoping that Nina was ok. Keeping the dark mage that hit Nina in sight, he made sure to hit him twice as hard.

With a strange mix of alchemy and engineering, Remmy had managed to create a new core for Diesel. "Alright…" he said as he picked up the newly formed gem with a bright glow. "Time to get this installed and hope it works." He finished before looking from Diesel to Wendy. "You got that spell ready?" Remmy asked. The young mage was about to nod but a loud crash shook the hut surprising both of them. "What the hell just happened?!" Remmy shouted and nearly dropped the new core. "Sounded like it came from upstairs." Wendy said looking at the ceiling. She ran toward the stairs with Remmy reluctantly not far behind. When they got upstairs the first room they saw was totally trashed with a hole in the roof. Looking up through the roof, many dark mages could be seen. "We need to get Diesel back up and going." Remmy said with wide eyes. He moved to go back downstairs but Wendy stopped him. "Wait, do you hear that?" Remmy stopped and listened. He did hear something, it sounded like someone was whimpering in pain. Scanning the room he noticed a pile of debris just off from where the hole in the roof was. "There!" He said with a point before running to the pile with Wendy. Digging through it they soon found the source of the whimpering. Nina, and she seemed to be barely conscious. Wendy immediately examined the damage, a severe magic burn on her right wing and several bruises and scrapes, most likely from the impact. Wendy turned her focus to the magic burn and did her best to heal it. "Is there anything I could do?" Remmy asked. Wendy thought for a second then remembered something. "Phoenix tears, if you could find some then that will help a lot." She said and Remmy nodded, leaving the room swiftly searching before something crossed his mind and he shouted. "Wait… where the hell am I supposed to find phoenix tears?!"

Back outside, the fight wasn't going well for Ethan, Neko and the elder. Neko was nearly exhausted from the battle with more and more dark mages slipping by. The elder was also reaching his limit as the waves of dark mages increased. Meanwhile, Ethan was barely hanging on. The fight against such a stronger opponent was truly taking its toll. He was out of options, he had to give in to the full power of Bloodmoon but, just remembering that monster was frightening. He decimates all in his path. Ethan lost focus and took a solid hit to the side, sending him skidding and rolling along the ground until he hit the bell with a loud ringing sound. The elder let his guard down at this and was hit toward the bell as well. The two of them struggled to get up. "This battle… is over. You all… have lost." Grimshade said. He then walked toward the elders hut but stopped to look back at the two downed mages. "Finish them off." He said as he continued into the hut. The dark mages within the village all turned toward Ethan and the elder and chanted holding their hands or staffs forward. Dark magic gathered before them all and streamed forth, just as a speeding object zoomed out of the trees and flew right in the line of fire. "What the-?!" A few dark mages said in shock as they saw the two still alive… and a floating sword in front of them. "It can't be." The elder said. "Oh, it be all right." The elder turned toward the entrance of the village and saw Yoshi running in. The dark mages all fired dark magic at the newcomer but all blasts were blocked by the floating sword. "Why the hell is that sword not destroyed!" One of the dark mages shouted in panic as it withstood another wave of spells. Yoshi looked up at all the mages in the air. "I could tell you what exactly you're up against. But quite frankly I don't want you all to soil yourselves while floating above us." Yoshi said with a slight smirk." In anger and panic at the unknown weapon and the newcomers confidence the dark mages opened fire with more blasts of dark magic.

Remmy had been all over the hut looking for the phoenix tears. And was about to shout in frustration until he spotted what looked like an alchemy table in the kitchen. Alchemy, phoenix tears were used in that! He made his way into the kitchen and raided the cupboards. Finally finding a batch of the stuff he grabbed some and left the kitchen. He saw Wendy helping Nina down the stairs. The scrapes and bruises looked like they were gone but Nina's right wing still had the magic burn and from the look on Nina's face, it was causing a lot of pain. The small zurg ran to them and held out a few of the vials he found. "I got the phoenix tears, now what?" He asked. Wendy grabbed the vials and opened them. "Now I'm gonna need to apply it to the magic burn along with a healing spell." She said as she turned to the pained nightfright. "Nina, this will hurt a bit. You're gonna have to hold out your wing for me." Nina nodded and lifted her wing out. Wendy carefully poured some drops of the phoenix tears along the magic burn while softly chanting a spell. A thin white mist fogged around the magic burn and it slowly healed. When it was gone, Nina tried moving her wing but flinched slightly. "Your wing is gonna be sore for awhile. The effects of magic burns tend to linger even after they're gone, I suggest not flying for a few days." Wendy said. "Ok but, what about those dark mages? If I can't fly I won't be much help." Nina said in worry as she put away here wings. Remmy snapped his fingers to draw the twos attention. "Not much worry there. Diesel is about to be back in action soon. Now let's hurry and get him back!" He said as he ran to the front room where his mech friend was.

Several flashes of dark purple and black colored lights lit the village as Yoshi swiftly dodged the dark magic blasts with ease. He had gotten the dark mages attention all on himself and drew them away from the others. Brim was still floating and blocking as many spells as he could, much to the anger of the dark mages. "What the hell is this blasted thing?!" One of the mages shouted. They had gotten real close now and Yoshi let out a smirk. He darted left to a wall, jumped onto it and rebounded off. He caught Brim in midair and spun, hitting all the chasing dark mages at once. They all fell in a near unconscious daze, yet they held no wounds. One dark mage still stood through his pain and glared at the red clad pirate. "What kind of sorcery is this?" He growled. Yoshi just looked at him with a smirk. "How about you take a guess. A sentient object oblivious to weaponry, resistant to magic, and simply dazes its foes." He said and his smirk grew at the look of fear on the dark mages face. "Just what are you? How can you control one of those?! HOW CAN YOU CONTROL AN ANIMATED?!" The dark mage asked in increased panic. "I'll let you in on a secret, I don't control him. Brim is my oldest ally. We had an established bond long before he became animated. And he is no normal animated either. He is what many during the battle against the animated called the cursed animation." Yoshi explained. The dark mage nearly fainted hearing that. He had heard a tale of something by that name, but, no, this man couldn't be. "Yo-you're him, aren't you? Yo-you're the crimson pirate, the cursed swordsman." The dark mage said with a shaky voice. Yoshi frowned with a pained look. "Yeah, that's me alright." He said. Not able to take anymore, the dark mage collapsed, and Yoshi looked up at the next wave of dark mages who were heading toward the village center. He quickly followed.

"Alright ladies, this is the moment of truth." Remmy said as he climbed onto Diesel's chestplate and looked at the hole where his power core used to be. "Wendy, ya got that healing spell ready?" He asked as he held out the new power core. "Yes but, mister Remmy, how's a healing spell supposed to help a robot?" Wendy asked to which Remmy just turned and said. "Just trust me, that spell may be the most important part of this." He then took hold of some loose wires around the hole and attached them to the new core. Upon attaching the last wire, Diesel gave a sudden jerk and Remmy lost his balance and fell off. Diesel then let out a loud mechanical shriek and started spazzing about. "Do the spell now!" Remmy shouted as a spazzing arm sent him flying with Nina running to catch him. Wendy faced Diesel and started chanting her spell, nothing. "Remmy, it's not wor-" She stopped as she saw the mech getting up onto his feet. "Wendy, you need to focus on his core! He is reanimating but his systems are not online! You need to heal him quickly before he fully animates!" Remmy explained to which Wendy nodded and poured all her focus into a healing spell on the core. A bright light shone within the core and spread throughout Diesel. All the cracks and breaks around Diesel began to mend, even the broken cockpit glass. Before the glass fully mended, Remmy climbed up and hopped in before sitting at the control console that started to flicker online. The console suddenly went red and an alarm went off. "Alert, intruder at control con-con-console." Diesel spoke in a shrieking voice. "Diesel, old buddy, it's me, Remmy!" The zurg said a little frightened. "Identity not in da-a-atabase, i-i-i-intruder will be terminated." The mech said as it raised the arm that held its gun. Nina ran forward to hold the arm back and Wendy kept her healing spell going. Remmy was afraid. "Diesel, please. You have to remember me. Remember all we've been through. Diesel!"

The battle against the dark mages was slowly spreading beyond the village center. Luckily the mages shielding the village had long since cloaked themselves as to not be noticed by the dark mages, but at a cost. With the shielding mages cloaking themselves, their focus was split and the shield around the village was weakening. Slowly, the edges of the shield crept inward, shrinking and letting more of the intense heat of the surrounding inferno into the village. The effort of maintaining the shield was also taking its toll on many of the defending mages as well, evident as one of them collapses and the shield flickers and fluctuates. The shield barely holds and stabilizes, but the rate of it shrinking increases greatly. Soon the inferno may engulf the village entirely.

Back in the village center, Ethan and the elder have just about reached their limit as more dark mages fly in. "This… this is… insane!" The elder says as he pants from exhaustion. "There's no way Grimshade could have this many followers." Ethan said. Looking closely at a few of the fallen dark mages, the elder notices something. Many of them have the same faces. "Clones, he's made an army of clones!" The elder stated. Ethan scoffed. "He probably only has a dozen or so true followers. This would explain a lot. But judging from the strength of them, I'll say they aren't magic duplicates, but true clones." He said as he raised his white cane up as a magic staff and shot down another few dark mages. "Still, an impressive feat I must admit." The elder said as he too shot down an incoming dark mage. The two stood back to back as they kept on fighting. A rather large group of the dark mages was about to get by but a spinning sword flew by and took them down. The elder and Ethan glanced aside and saw Yoshi running in. "Elder, what's the status of the situation?" The red clad pirate asked as he looked at the next wave of dark mages. "It's an army of clones. And there seems to be no end." The elder informed. Yoshi let out a hum. "Doesn't cloning take time though? Unless they found a way to enhance the growth process and everything with magic." He said. "Perhaps they used magic duplicates as a shortcut and a cloning procedure as a way to stabilize them." Ethan suggested. Yoshi looked over at him with a smirk. "Smart thinking bunny buddy. In that case there would be an endless stream unless someone cut off the source." The pirate said as he tossed Brim at an inbound dark mage. The sword then flew around, taking out more before flying back right into Yoshi's hand. Ethan was about to question how the pirate did that but something caught his eye. "Oh no…" the other two looked in the direction Ethan was and were shocked at what they saw. The biggest wave of dark mages so far, and it covered the sky.

Up in the treetops, Neko was barely able to keep himself up as he huffed and panted in exhaustion. Looking at the western sky his eyes went wide. The sky was almost completely covered with dark mages. "No… way… that's just… that's impossible." Neko said as he shook his head in disbelief. In his shock, the feline lost his balance and fell off the treetop he was on, barely catching hold of a treehouse roof in time and swinging onto the path to the ground. Once he hit ground level he finally gave in to his exhaustion and collapsed. Sinking into his shadow, the feline glided toward the village center. Upon reaching the stunned sky gazing trio at the village center, Neko emerged from the shadow and collapsed once more, startling the trio. "Neko!" Yoshi shouted as he ran over to the fallen feline. "Neko, are you ok?" He asked with worry. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just bit off more than I could chew is all." Neko said with a weak smile. "What about the others, please tell me they're ok." Yoshi said still worried. Neko then pointed at one of the huts. "Nina was shot down and fell in there." He said. "That's where your alien friend was last seen, and where Wendy went as well." Ethan said as he saw where the feline pointed. "If Wendy's with them than they are in good hands." The elder chimed in. A blast was then heard and their attention turned back to the incoming army of dark mages. They had started blasting spells of magic at the village from afar! "This isn't good, if they keep that distance then they are out of our range." The elder stated. A sudden distant clanking shortly followed by a whirring sound was heard and they turned back toward the hut behind them.

Wendy was hidden inside a nearby cabinet under Remmy's order while Nina was using all her strength to hold back the mech who was starting to go berserk. "What's happening, why's Diesel acting like this?" She asked as Diesel tried to throw her off and Remmy held tight to the seat in the cockpit so he wouldn't get tossed around. "He's gone full animated, he doesn't recognize any of us." Remmy explained. He then pounded on the control console. "Diesel please, you got to remember us! Remember me! Remember our crazy exploits we've been through!" Remmy tried getting through to the mech. An idea then crossed his mind. "Remember… memory! Of course!" The small zurg reached into a secret compartment on the console and pulled out a disk case. He then pried open another compartment on the console that held a disk drive before inserting the disk. "Time to jog your memory old buddy." Remmy said. Diesel froze as the disk was inserted. Within his databanks, various images and recorded footage were uploaded.

"Systems online. Greetings creator." The mech had said to a tiny alien being. "Hello Diesel. My name is Remmy, and we are gonna have the best adventures together." The small alien said as the footage changed to more images and footage of various points in time. One of which the mech was heavily damaged. "Systems b-b-b-beyond repair-air-air." The mech informed a sad looking Remmy. "Don't say that buddy. I can rebuild you, I can make you stronger, you'll see." The zurg said determined. As the footage flickered to black before flickering back online to a hopeful looking Remmy. "I am… still functional? How?" The mech asked the small zurg. "I… raided an abandoned factory in Aekea for some parts. But it's not enough." Remmy said looking saddened. With a scan the mech could tell his repairs were a temporary fix. "System stability is low. Possibility of system failure at 90%." Diesel said. A look of determination made its way onto Remmy's face. "I'm not losing you buddy. I've got a plan." The footage then went to various images of plans, schematics, and the build of their base in the Aekea outskirts. Footage of the raid on an abandoned g-corp building then followed. "System stability now at 85%." Diesel informed. With a grin of pride, Remmy let out a laugh. "Once we get your systems back up to 100, we can use my latest invention to get you some upgrades buddy!" He said. Diesel tilted his head in curiosity, accidentally making Remmy hit his head on the cockpit window. "And what invention is that?" The mech asked. Remmy rubbed his hurt head but was too proud to complain. "A reverse engineering device. Old buddy, once you're ready, we are taking on the big boys and then nothing can take you down. Next stop…" The footage then cut to different images as the spots in time were mentioned. "J-corp." A spooky looking building was seen with a schematic of an intimidating low armor mech design beside it. "S-corp." An image of a building in a snowy area was seen with a schematic of a high armor mech design. "E-corp." An image of an egg shaped base by a mountain was seen with a schematic of a medium armor mech design. "No matter how bad you get banged up, I will always be here to rebuild you buddy." Remmy said with a sincere voice as footage of him tirelessly working on putting Diesel back together after the events of e-corp played.

The red glow and alarms from the control console slowly faded away and a static noise was briefly heard. "Systems online." Diesel spoke as he looked around. "Is everyone… ok?" The mech asked. Nina released her hold on the mech and Remmy wiped away some tears. "Yeah, we're just fine ya big lugnut." The zurg said trying to not get all emotional. "It's safe to come out now Wendy!" Remmy called. The young mage opened the cabinet door and peeked out. "Mr Diesel is all better now?" She asked. "Scans indicate all systems green. Hmm? Wait… scans pick up… a life signature? I am… alive?" The mech questioned. "Animated, old buddy. The last upgrade I had planned for you." Remmy said as he patted the control console. "I had it planned for quite awhile but the last parts were near impossible to find. Heh, luckily ol' Nic came through earlier and managed to obtain some for us." The small zurg explained. "Those purple crystals he gave us, what were they? The item isn't in my information databank." Remmy was about to answer but a long range scanner screen popped up with a proximity alert. "What… it can't be…" Remmy said with fear. "What is it Remmy?" Nina asked as she saw the look of fear on the small zurg's face. "I believe a look out the window would answer your question." Diesel said as he pointed to a window at the front of the hut. The group looked and gasped at the sight. The sky was full of dark mages and they where blasting the village from a distance. "The-there's so many. What can we do?" Wendy asked shaking in fear. Nina hugged the frightened little mage and Remmy grit his teeth. "Might I suggest… E-Series?" Diesel spoke. Remmy jolted and snapped his fingers. "Diesel, you are a metallic genius." Remmy said with a smirk.

"Alright ladies, stand back and watch." Remmy said as he pressed buttons on the console in a swift flurry. Wendy and Nina stepped back and Diesel's armor plating started to shift. Clanking sounds filled the air as the mech's form shifted. His arms became cannons, red tubes exposed on his shoulder and knee plates. His armor took on a lighter appearance. "Mobility status, high. Armor status, medium protection. Energy egg cannons, online." Diesel spoke and pointed his cannon arms out the window. "Alright Diesel, Prime the cannons." Remmy said with a smirk. A whirring sound filled the air as energy built up in the cannons. "Ladies, ya might want to cover your ears for this part." The zurg warned as Wendy and Nina followed his warning. "Targets locked." Diesel informed. "Fire, energy eggs!" Remmy shouted and with a loud energetic screech, two egg shaped energy projectiles fired off out the window and into the sky. Outside the hut, Yoshi, Ethan and the elder all covered their ears at the loud energy screech. Almost at the targets, the energy eggs split into fragments and exploded on impact with the army of dark mages, lighting up the sky. "Whoa! Where'd that come from?!" Ethan asked loud as he hoped he had no loss of hearing. The door to the hut opened and out walked Diesel, Nina and Wendy. Yoshi's jaw dropped at the new form Diesel has taken. "Diesel? Is that you?!" He asked. The mech let out a laugh. "Affirmative captain." He said and Remmy cheered loudly at the sight in the sky. "Holy cow! E-corp tech packs a punch! Even if it's just a reverse engineered copy of it and not the real deal, just… wow!" The zurg cheered. Yoshi looked at him with a serious look. "That's not the end of them, they are clones, which mean there must be a cloning mechanism creating more and more." He informed. Remmy nodded and pulled up a screen for the long range scanner. "So we need to find a source point of life signatures and possible power fluxuation. Got it!" He swiftly pressed a few buttons and Diesel's rocket jets came online. "Alright Diesel, let's take flight!" The zurg said with great enthusiasm. In the air, Diesel's form shifted again. His body went horizontal with the cockpit locking in place to the chestplate. His legs melded together and his arm cannons melded to his sides. "E-series flight mode engaged!" Remmy said as the mech turned jet sped off to the west where all the dark mages were coming from.

After the mech zoomed off, the remaining group gathered in a circle to plan what to do next. "Alright, even with the dark mages being handled we still have the inferno around the village to deal with. Wendy, I'm certain there are injured mages in the village, can you go with Nina to search and rescue?" Yoshi asked to which the young mage nodded. Ethan looked toward the edge of the village and saw the shield fluctuating between visible and transparent, it was shrinking fast. "We are going to need a way to get them out as well. The shield around the village doesn't look like it could hold much longer." He said. Neko winced in exhausted pain but stepped forward. "I'll go with them as well, I could get them out safely through the shadows." He said to which Yoshi turned to him with a worried look. "Are you sure? You strain yourself just shadow transporting one person, this is a whole village of people we're talking about here. And you're weak enough from fighting as it is!" Neko was about to argue his decision but was distracted by a light surrounding him. Wendy was healing him. "I could heal him as well after each transport. It's the best course of action to evacuate the village." She said as her spell finished and Neko stretched away what little fatigue was left. "I suggest finding the defender group first, they are the ones maintaining the shield and with the state it's in… I worry for them." The elder said. The designated search and rescue team nodded. Before leaving, Wendy did a quick healing spell to heal everyone.

With the search and rescue group gone, the elder turned to Yoshi. "Thank you for returning when we needed help." He said. Before he could respond, Ethan clapped his paws together. "Alright Mr plan-it-all. What do me and the elder do now?" He asked to which Yoshi's expression went serious. "I sense an immensely strong force within the village, but I can't pinpoint it." He said and the elder's eyes went wide. "Grimshade!" With the waves of dark mages, he forgot about the leader of them. "He must be in my hut! We have to stop him before he gets the book of light!" The elder ran toward his hut as fast as he could with Yoshi and Ethan right behind him. As the elder went to open the door, it was blown off its hinges by a burst of magic, sending it and the elder flying. "Elder!" Ethan shouted as he went to see if he was ok. Yoshi was about to as well but a dark chuckle stopped him. He turned toward the hole where the door once stood as did Ethan and the injured elder. "You all put up a valiant effort, but I'm afraid it was all in vain." Spoke the dark mage leader. He held up a hand, holding a white book that seemed to emit its own light. Then the other hand, which held a black book that seemed to consume the light around it. "The book of light… and the book of darkness… together once more." He said with a voice of victory. Yoshi ran forward to try and snatch the books but a surge of magic pushed him back. "This day, this day marks the beginning of a new Gaian age! The age… of chaos!" Grimshade shouted as he brought the two tomes together above him. They began melding together and turning a deep crimson as the dark mage leader let out a grand laugh of triumph