Ch.12: Saving Matt
Screams tore through the air as more and more of R-Fair City was consumed by flames. Quivering inside the shed she and Cybersquad had found earlier, Lucky cringed and prayed, hoping that her friends, who had gone outside, would be able to end this menace once and for all.
Outside, the Cybersquad was trying hard to support Lucky's hopes. Standing on top of the roller coaster ride, with a Lost ally by their side, the Cybersquad had a clear view to all of the destruction, and hoped that their plan would pan out in the end.
"We got Matt incoming!" said Digit, hovering in the air.
"Are you ready Shari?" asked Inez, looking towards their mystical friend.
"Yes" said Shari, and then turned her attention to the Lost standing before her " Okay, stay skill, I'm not sure how well this will work,"
The Lost just nodded, waiting for the spell to hit. It was a little worrisome, being enchanted by an amateur sorceress, but her magic was the only force around necessary for his plan to succeed.
"Now!" shouted Didge, as the Phoenix closed in within range.
Immediately, Shari started chanting out her spell making the Lost's body glow with blazing white light. He could feel the immense power surging through his core.
"What's that light?" wondered the King Lost, riding up top of the Phoenix's shoulders, and immediately ordered the creature to swoop down and investigate.
On the roller coaster, the Lost crouched in his jumping stance, before leaping up, his claws glowing purple, at the Phoenix, ripping a tear in the mythical creature's hide. The King Lost widened his eyes stunned as the Phoenix cried, and thanks to Shari's magic, the Lost that she enchanted melted into the Phoenix's skin, diving into its core.
The inside of the Phoenix was a fiery maze, where endless flames seemed to burn. The area was quite wide and unending, as if the Lost had entered some kind of Limbo, in which no souls found it very easy to escape.
Finally, hope sparked as the Lost finally spotted Matt, wondering around as if in a daze. He stood worried, calling for help, as if someone was conscious to hear his cries, even though the hope couldn't possibly exist.
"Matt," cried the Lost, immediately catching the young boy's attention.
"Huh!" gasped Matt shocked " It's you! But what are you doing here?"
"Release," said the Lost, reaching a white and purple energized claw towards Matt.
Matt cried out in shock as the claw touched his skin, his mind quickly flashing through all the critical moments that had led up to this current event.
Outside, the Phoenix cried out with pain, confusing the King Lost as he was forced to abandon his perch on the fiery bird's shoulder. Looking up now, from a carnival stand he had landed on, the King glared as his prized weapon crashed into the ground, squishing an array of fellow Lost beneath it.
"It worked!" said Slider, as he and the rest of the Cybersquad exited off the roller coaster and ran to where the Phoenix lay in a fiery heap.
"I hope so," thought Inez, as they got closer to the bird.
Soon, all of the Cybersquad stood right beside the massive beast, reveling in its fierce beauty as it breathed in and out to stay alive.
Worry pricked through their brains as they wondered if Matt and the Lost who had helped them came out alright, and then something amazing occurred. Bursting straight out from the Phoenix's chest, a white flash suddenly appeared, dissolving as it happily revealed the shape of two forms beneath its radiance. One was the Lost, the other was Matt.
Happiness rang out through the cyber-gang as the quickly ran to embrace their lost comrade with joyful hugs, tears and cheers escaping from their eyes and mouths.
Matt was stunned by all the attention at first, his brain still rattled over what had happened to him in the past several days, but nevertheless still welcomed in all of his friends mirth with open arms, because he was happy to see them all too.
Suddenly, all this peaceful joy was soon interrupted as the King Lost let out an ear-splitting scream, crying out that all of his destructive plans were ruined, and that there would be hell to pay for this crime.
Unhinging his jaw to reveal a gleaming set of black teeth, the King Lost stood fiercely in a crouched pose, as wind rapidly came into his mouth, sucking with the force of a vacuum cleaner.
Lost who were still feeding on the deleted data were caught totally by surprise as their bodies were sucked up into the air, and their molecules turned into streams of negative energy, feeding the King Lost and giving him power.
One by one, each and every Lost was eaten up and absorbed, except for the Cybersquad Lost which, with help from its new friends, was prevented from being absorbed as the King Lost finished his meal.
Finally, when the suction stopped, the King Lost let out another menacing roar as his whole form began to change. Now with the power of all Lost brewing inside of him, the King Lost grew to about ten times his normal size, his shade-like features appearing even more deadly as his orange eyes glared at the Cybersquad crew.
"Gulp" swallowed Matt " What do we do now guys?"
Fortunately for the Cybersquad, it was their new friend who came up with a solution. Eyeing the prone body of the Phoenix behind them, the Cybersquad Lost thought about how he managed to save Matt, by using Shari's magic to make him match a light as powerful as the Phoenix so he could successfully destroy the virus that had been implanted in Matt's brain so long ago.
It an artificial construct of that light was enough to destroy the evil planted within Matt's brain, then the pure light of the Phoenix, used correctly this time, should be able to eliminate all of the dark energy the King Lost had absorbed. But the question was, did he have enough good in him, like Matt did, to control such a powerful beast?
Knowing that there was only way in which he would truly find out, the Lost sucked up all of his courage and prepared to move on with his bold plan.
Without more hesitation, the Lost dug in his claws to the Phoenix's chest and merged his body with the enormous bird. In seconds, the Phoenix's violet gaze opened back up to reality, awakening to the sight of the King Lost's horrifying form.
The King Lost growled when he saw the body of the Phoenix rise, while the Cybersquad looked stunned.
"Whoa" said Matt, looking at the fiery beast " Hey, where's the Lost?"
And that's when the gang realized just what the Lost had done. Spreading open his new beak wide, the Phoenix cried out angrily at the King Lost while he growled in return. Embers and electricity started forming in mouths.
Opening up his horrible, dark jaws, the King Lost shot out a deadly stream of purple energy towards the Phoenix while the bird responded with a jet of flame.
Fiercely the two moves collided in the air, painting the skies above R-Fair City with a brightness of orange and purple hues. Down on the ground, the Cybersquad watched in awe, wondering which side would win.
A few minutes later, the answer came, as the Phoenix turned up the heat on his own fire burst, making it go blazing white and cut straight through the King Lost's attack.
A tortured scream echoed throughout the horizon as the King Lost was hit and dissolved into digital dust. Yellow and purple sparks rained down from the air, showing that the huge threat to Cyberspace was finally gone.
"Yay!" cheered the Cybersquad, glad the fight was finally at an end.
Yet, as they celebrated, they started to notice the changes happening around them as well. Bit by bit, all the data King Lost and followers devoured returned to its rightful places, restoring R-Fair City to its former glory, and resurrected some citizens as well.
Lucky immediately came out her shed, greeting all the old time friends she thought she had lost forever due to this disaster. Then, the female robot noticed something strange, when she spotted some new citizens among the crowded mix. People-like creatures who were definitely not from R-Fair City.
"Who are they?" asked Jackie.
"I think they're Lost," said Matt, noticing some similar features among them.
"Yes" said the Phoenix, transforming back into the Lost who had taken its form " they are. They're free."
"Are you alright?" asked Slider, as the gang ran up.
"Huh!" gasped Shari when they reached the Lost. The poor shade's body was fading.
"The curse… has ended" said the Lost " Thank you all."
"Hold on!" said Matt, leaning over the Lost's fading body " We can save you! We can…,"
"Matt" said the Lost, interrupting the boy's speech, and placed a claw near Matt's heart " Never forget…the Lost."
And with that said, the only untransformed shade of the Lost's kind, faded away and was gone, sentenced to die and return when the Phoenix was meant to be born again.
Tears fell away from Matt's eyes, as his friends joined in as well. Another victory, more lives saved, and one sacrifice they wouldn't ever forget.
The End