Fighting Impossible Odds
Gwen walked silently as the group moved through the maze, mentally preparing herself for what was to come. Upon awakening, the others had quickly informed her and Raimundo of the plan and neither could say that they liked it. Stopping Zarlak basically fell to her while Rai would be responsible for most of the work gathering and stopping Zarlak's minions. The plan banked on them having more power then either was sure they possessed, even at the best of times. They still had yet to return to full strength after the last battle.
At least we're not doing it alone. She thought, looking around the group. Miss Crystalgazer was leading the way through the maze, an ectoplasmic being and a genie beside her and the school librarian behind them, ensuring that no one got lost. The four were the only members of staff Miss Crystalgazer would allow to help, wanting the others to stay behind to keep the students as safe as possible.
There was also the two young wizards and their friend, Cassie, beside her, their knuckles going white as they clenched their wands. For all the courage that they'd shown before and determination to fight, they were still just teenagers and had never been in such a battle that they couldn't escape from before. But despite their fear, she knew they wouldn't back down. They were definitely true heroes.
Finally, Ubos was floating between Gwen and Cassie. Sensing the power emanating from him, it was the fact that he would assist her with the spells she needed to cast that reassured her the most. Mixing different types of magic was normally very dangerous, but when done correctly, it had potential for power beyond most people's wildest dreams. It was that power that would decide the fate of the world on this day.
Within another area of the castle, Zarlak's magic was noticeable wherever you looked. Green magical blasts were hitting everything, destroying some items, transforming others. The once peaceful looking school quickly became a dark and foreboding fortress.
Looking around, satisfied with the arrangements, Zarlak sat down in his throne and watched magical images of his minions moving through the dome and attacking the Wizard High Council members that had noticed his work and were trying to stop him.
"Pathetic fools." He sneered, as two four headed dragons left three wizards in a bloody mess on the ground before burning two more and a witch. "My forces capture every magical creature in Vonderland, cause every witch and wizard to hide under some rock within the castle and I put up a dome that only dark forces can pass through and yet they still think they can stop me." Chuckling, he wave his hand and the picture repeatedly changed as he searched for the dark ones of the surface world.
Rai slowly pushed his intangible head through the wall and looked from left to right, searching for any threats. Seeing no one anywhere in visual range, he pulled his head back in and let the gold glow around the Serpent's Tail in his hand fade, reverting him back to tangible form.
"It's all clear. Let's move before that changes." He said, stepping aside as Miss Crystalgazer stepped up to the wall and opened the pathway. The group quickly filed out and shut the entrance again before setting off through the castle as quietly as possible, hugging the walls as to avoid attention.
Passing a window, a scream caught the groups' attention. Bursts of fire and magic appeared frequently over the castle wall, blocked from causing damage by the dome, as wizards and witches fought against unbeatable numbers of dark creatures. It was clear to everyone that while they'd been recovering, more and more of Zarlak's forces were making it to the surface. And with the rate at which they were coming, there would be enough of them to conquer all of America and Canada, at least, by nightfall.
"Still think we have enough power to do this?" Gwen asked, turning worriedly to Ubos.
"Yes, but we must hurry and end this before it can get any worse." Ubos answered, his voice filled with his own worry. "We must find Zarlak immediately."
Gwen's eyes glowed blue in response as she searched for Zarlak's energy signature. It wasn't as easy as usual and took much longer then expected as the dome gave off the same signature and was everywhere, but after a few moments of intense concentration, a spike of power more concentrated then the dome crossed her senses. Smiling victoriously, her power in her eyes faded away and she turned to the others.
"He's in the great hall."
"Then let's go blow his old, decrepit butt back to that pile of rubble where he belongs." Cassie exclaimed, marching off. The others quickly followed.
The dark smile only continued to grow as Zarlak watched the images before him. Unseen to the Wizards opposing him, a dark cloud, the sign that his forces on the surface were near, quickly approached. It wouldn't be long now. With the army of dark beings waiting for his return close by, and almost all of his servants bellow reaching the surface, he was nearly ready to begin the final phase of his plan.
With everything going as planned, despite the inhabitants of Vonderland and it's unusual guests having managing to escape him, he turned his attention to other matters.
"The four teenagers were completely different in powers and abilities and all of them were strong. It makes me wonder as to what else has changed since my banishment." He muttered, stroking his beard as he waved his glowing hand, changing the images before him yet again in search of warriors of light. Many wizards crossed through the magical image, but Zarlak paid them no mind, seeing nothing but the usual amount of skill of Master Wizards. Morty cops past through from time to time, but they didn't even gain a flicker of interest from the dark magic practitioner.
He was about to consider his search pointless and give up, but just before he did, a teenage boy with black hair and clad in a navy blue Gi appeared. A powerful, wild, white aura surrounded him as he shot into the air faster then Zarlak had ever thought possible and threw his fist into a giant, deadly looking machine, flying through and out the other side of it. As he did, a girl with red hair and green eyes, clad in black pants and a purple top, shot up to the top via a grappling hook, and lashed out at the two riding it simultaneously with her feet. Zarlak didn't care about the girl, but watched with fascination as the boy gathered energy in his hands and blasted the device into oblivion the second the girl got the villains away from it.
"Have you found something worthy of your attention in the world, Master Zarlak?" A deep, husky, barely feminine voice asked, diverting Zarlak's attention to the entrance. There, smiling maliciously with yellow teeth, was what looked like an old hag. She was just slightly taller then Cassie, but almost twice the width. Her skin was a disgusting grey and she had little fat or muscle on her, leaving her bones to stick out at the joints. Instead of five fingers, each hand had but three and each one was shaped more like a long and thick talon. Her hair was snow white and her eyes were dominantly yellow with red irises. She was clad in nothing more then blue dress that looked more like an old, overgrown rag, with a bone hanging around her neck and a pink ribbon in her hair.
"Ah, Lady Zog, I see that you have arrived." Zarlak said, pleased, but being careful not to show it. Zog already thought that she'd become his queen and he wasn't going to encourage that thought in any way. "I have been observing the world for potential threats and I may have found one." He told her, turning back to the image just in time to see something brown twitch around the boy's waist. Previously, he had just thought that it was part of the boy's sash, but now, on closer inspection, he could see that it looked like a monkey's tail.
"Another child?" Zog asked in disbelief. "How are children becoming so dangerous?"
"This one isn't a wizard, his powers are of a different source. There's others with powers outside wizard magic hidden within Vonderland too. A member of the Dragon Order, a sorceress, a Xiaolin dragon and a telepath. It's very interesting." Zarlak responded, his interest being peaked again as the images changed to a ghostly, but clearly still living, boy with snow white hair and green eyes in a black and white jumpsuit fighting another, more malicious looking ghost while a red skinned cross between a bat and a stingray flew nearby. The images changed again to show a blond boy in meadow. Unlike the scenes beforehand, this one didn't have any conflict, confusing Zarlak for a moment. His confusion was rectified a moment later however, as a white sword, shaped similarly to a key, with a blue and gold snowflake at the top appeared in the boy's hand, the boy smiling fondly at his weapon as the sunlight reflected off of it. "Amazing! Now that's a special boy." Zarlak muttered, recognising the blade. However, before he could examine the boy or the blade anymore, the image changed on it's own, in accordance to the spells that he'd cast, and showed him a corridor within Vonderland currently in use by the headmistress, three other teachers and the three children that had caused him so much grief in the background, along with the four new teenagers.
"Well, it looks like our thorns have chosen to reveal themselves." Zarlak chuckled before turning to Zog. "Go and bring me your equals. I believe it's time to show these goody goodies just what they're up against."
Zog merely cackled and set off to do as she was asked. Zarlak summoned his staff and fiddled with the black wings on either side of the orb, smirking the whole time. He now had more power then any other being on the planet. He was on the Earth's surface again and he no longer had any need for the Ultimate Book of Spells. With nothing holding him back any longer, he would rule over all and crush anyone that opposed him. Starting with Ubos, the children and those who had chosen to stand beside them.
The group kept low as they moved, ducking beneath the windows and avoiding every creature they past. Ignoring a few close calls, they made it through the castle without incident and quickly got to the last door between them and their target.
"Is everyone ready?" Ubos asked firmly, looking over everyone in turn. Each member of the group nodded, determination covering their faces and hiding the fear within.
"Then let's get this party started." Rai stated, stepping before the group and aiming his hands at the double doors. "Wind!"
The doors were blown off their hinges and soared across the room. They were on a collision course with Zarlak, but with a casual wave of his staff, he blasted them into dust.
"I was wondering how long it would take for you to show up." Zarlak said uncaringly, rising to his feet as the group crossed the threshold into the room, all of them glaring heatedly at the dark wizard.
"Back your bags old man, cause we're sending you right back where you came from." Gus growled, brandishing his wand.
"I highly doubt that, elf boy." Zarlak taunted, sneering right at him as the blond stiffened. "You and your little friends didn't stand a chance before. Now I'm far more powerful then any wizard has ever thought was possible. All of you combined don't even hold a candle to me."
"We'll see about that." Jake growled, transforming in a flash of fire a split second before he and Rai shot into the air, right at him.
But before they could reach him, the wall to the right exploded inward as a giant, roaring ball with spikes, like the end of a mace, rolled into the room, right in between Zarlak and his enemies.
"Whoa!" Jake cried, altering his flight path upward. Unable to fly vertical, like most of the other Valour Guardians' flyers, he only managed to avoid being cut to ribbons by the sudden burst of wind Rai released below his wings. "What is that thing?" He gasped.
"Besides bad news." Rai added, glaring down at the mobile shredder as he reached Jake's altitude.
"The master's pet." A deep voice responded from behind the land bound group, forcing them to scream and scatter as it's owner charged in. getting back up from the ground, the group found him to be a humanoid rhino.
Before the group could prepare to attack again, six flamethrowers shot through the hole in the wall, forcing everyone to throw up magic shields, or a blast of wind in Rai and Jake's case. As the flames died down, two giant bodies of blue and yellow entered the room.
"Awe great, the multi-headed pains in the butt are back." Raimundo groaned, flying back as one of the heads of the four-headed dragon snapped at him. "How can this get any worse?"
"I'm sure I can find a way." Green magic, that looked more like fire then a beam, struck Jake in the back at that, right in between the wings.
"AAARRRGGGHHH!" Jake screamed, falling forward at a dangerous speed. Terrified for his friend, Rai focused his power into a small tornado below Jake, catching him and gently lowering him to the ground.
"I should have known better then to ask that."
"Guys, more are coming." Verne yelled, his eyes widening in fear as a horde of dark creatures charged towards them from outside.
"Teachers, with me. We must stop them." Miss Crystalgazer shouted, running towards the hole. Together, she and the teachers raised their wands and took off outside, keeping themselves between the room and the horde.
"And the group is already divided." Zog cackled, raising her hands, bringing forth her fiery, green magic again. "Now to destroy them all."
"We'll see about that!" Cassie growled, shooting a beam from her wand right at the hag. However, Zog's power proved to be too much as she raised one hand and blocked the oncoming blast with one of her own. Cassie placed both hands on her wand and grunted and groaned as she put every drop of magic she could into her blast, only for Zog's magic to continue pushing hers back.
"Fool! You're magic can do nothing against me." Zog cackled, adding her other hand and even more power into her blast.
"Maybe not alone, but she has us!" Gus shouted as two more blue beams combined with Cassie's tripling its size and strength. Cassie smiled as she looked at her friends, standing on either side of her. Zog however, scowled and grunted as their blast equalised with her own.
The Rhino man charged at the trio, smirking to himself as they failed to notice his approach. He was within ten feet of them when Verne caught him in the corner of his eye and turned with a look of horror on his face. The Rhino man just laughed at his face and was about to gut him with his horn when a blast of fire struck his side and sent him to the ground, screaming in pain as he rolled away.
"Nice shot." Namine commented by Jake's side as her glowing hands healed Jake's wound.
"Thanks. I try." Jake responded, sighing as the last of the pain disappeared from his back. Rising back to his feet, he turned to thank her, only to grab her hastily and take off into the sky, narrowly dodging the rolling, spiked ball. "Man, that thing's just as likely to take out an ally as it is us in such a small space. What compelled Zarlak to bring it in here?"
"I don't know, but it does give me an idea." Namine replied, frowning at where Rai was busy dodging two dragons on the other side of the room. Following her gaze, a sly smirk crossed Jake's face.
"Girl, I like the way you think." With the thunderous clanging of Spike coming in close behind him, Jake took off like a rocket, locking his sights firmly on the four headed nuisance.
Rai was not having a good time. It was taking every aerial maneuver and alteration to wind patterns that he knew just to stay alive. Diving to the right, avoiding a flamethrower, he almost immediately had to spin to the left to avoid a snapping mouth before coming to a sudden halt with a gasp as another set of fangs appeared right in front of his face.
"What do I look like, a chew toy?" Raimundo cried, dodging as two more heads came in for the attack and causing them to collide. As the four dragon released three simultaneous flamethrowers, he altered his flight path upward just enough to see the red reptile flying in his direction with the spiked ball right on his tail. Taking note of Jake's smirk, Rai quickly caught on and dug an item out of his pocket.
"Golden Finger!" He shouted, pointing the Shang Gong Wu right at the four headed dragon. The beast froze instantly with half raised eyebrows as the golden artifact glowed, leaving him defenseless. Jake altered his flight path a moment later, elevating up into the air and over the dragon seconds before Spike crashed into it. Snerrot and Rowce screamed as both of their large allies shot their way and followed Jake higher into the air, only to scream louder as pain exploded inside their heads. Namine watched happily, with one hand by her temple, from Jake's arms as the plummeted right down on the other dragon.
"Nice move Namine. That idea never crossed my mind." Jake said, staring down at her proudly.
"What about this part?" Raimundo grinned, pointing both of his open palms down at the overly large trio. Taking the hint, Jake smirked before taking a very deep breath. "Wudai Star Wind!" Jake released the biggest flamethrower as the destructive gales left Rai's hands. The wind dramatically increasing the fire's size and power, the flamethrower hit the ball and dragons as they tried to get up, resulting in a chorus of squeaky screams and a deep roar. As the attack ended, six Ratfinkles lay unconscious on the ground and a number of the ball's spikes had bent so much out of shape that it was stuck in one spot.
"Woo Hoo! Four down, two to go." Jake cheered excitedly.
"Ignoring the army the teachers won't be able to hold off much longer." Namine responded, sobering the dragon. "This is no time to celebrate. Even if the last two opponents in here were the end of it, they are by far the most powerful. We need to get back to work now."
Back on the ground, Gwen leapt from left to right, dodging fire, stray magic and careless tails as she approached Zarlak, Ubos forever by her side. It was a very difficult journey, and one she'd rather have postponed to help the struggling wizards as they scattered so as to dodge the rapid fire magic shots Zog had switched to, but he pulled on through.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shouted a very pained voice. Through the corner of her eye, she noticed the Rhino man charging right at her. Unperturbed, she barely slowed down at all and just raised her glowing hand. "Merchcus Veridactus!" A blue beam struck the creature, and with a hoarse scream, he flew back into a wall with a bang, denting in halfway through, and slumped to the ground.
It was when the squeaking screams of the dragons sounded that Gwen finally made it to her mark. Getting a sense of satisfaction at Zarlak's scowling face as he watched three of his greatest forces fell, she moved a little in the opposite direction of his vision and raised her hands.
"Terra Tremo Eradicko!"
The sound of an explosion caught Zarlak's ears not a second before large chunks of stone slammed into his back, knocking him painfully forward, only saving himself from an agonizing face plant by levitating at the last second. Righting himself, he whipped around to see what attacked him and roared in rage at the sight of scattered stone where his throne used to be.
"Who DARES attack me? SHOW YOURSELF YOU INSIGNIFICANT CHILD!"
"Show myself? I'm not exactly hiding." Gwen retorted smartly, relaxing her body so as to look as uncaring as possible in the sight of his rage.
"YOU? That's not possible. I drained your powers! You should be able to do anymore then levitate a feather." Zarlak scowled, his hands and staff glowing in his rage and disbelief.
"Then I guess the spell you used wasn't suitable for effectively stealing a sorceress' powers. You drained me pretty badly, but a full day of using my powers does the same thing and my body does restore my power levels eventually." Gwen responded nonchalantly before dropping into a battle stance, her own hands glowing as much as Zarlak's. "But enough with the pleasantries. Twista Combetitius!"
In an attempt to stop her from casting a spell he didn't know, Zarlak shot a powerful, green beam right at her chest. It proved ineffective however, as a giant, glowing snakelike creature appeared between them, blocking the blast without even the smallest sign of pain before shooting straight for the dark wizard. The creature's blow landed home and sent Zarlak flying painfully before disappearing, leaving Zarlak to catch himself in the air.
"A totem creature. Very impressive young sorceress. But it will take much more than that to stop me." He shouted, raising his staff. The orb glowed bigger and brighter than ever before and Gwen shivered at the overwhelming amount of power charging within it. "Now let me give you a taste of real power." With that, he aimed at Gwen and shot an immense blast right at her, the energy moving far too fast for her to dodge. Suddenly fill with terror, she flung her hands up again and drew upon all of her power.
"Vortress Nebulae!" A blue force field appeared around her mere seconds before the blast connected. Gwen groaned as the energy of the attack reflected in all directions, struggling desperately to keep the shield up against the assault. "Ubos, I can't keep this up."
"You must try my child. Stay strong and hope that the others can assist us." Ubos replied softly, trying to reassure her. He knew it wouldn't help much, but at least he could keep her focused on the task at hand.
The rest of the group wasn't doing much better. The Gwen and Ubos were temporarily safe behind the force field, but the reflected energy was streaking like lightning all around the room. The fight between Zog and the wizards had come to a halt as both sides jumped and screamed, barely dodging the blasts. It was no better in the air as the boys looped, dove and zigzagged, getting nowhere fast. Even the teachers were having difficulties, though they had also taken advantage of the situation, dropping their defenses and letting the dark creatures dumb enough to approach the opening to get struck by their own master's power.
"Oh man! One false move and we're toast." Jake cried, taking his wings in tightly as a blast shot by right where one used to be.
"I know! I can't even get the time to grab a Wu." Rai complained, twisting away from a blast as only an acrobat could.
"I'll try to stop it. Jake, I'll need a clear shot." Namine called, pulling out one of her daggers. Nodding, Jake altered his course and focused entirely on the blasts before him, getting as close to Zarlak as he could.
"Be ready Namine. You'll have two seconds, at best, when we're in alignment." He said, swooping low and banking right to dodge one blast and turning his body diagonally by ninety degrees to avoid another. Namine didn't respond verbally, she just tightened her grip on her weapon.
Finally getting a three second break, Rai thrust his hand into his pocket and ripped out an old necklace.
"Eye of Dashi, Wind!" Powerful, electrical gales burst from the gem, managing to neutralize the next shot coming his way. In addition, he was able to use the power flaring off of the main blast to weaken and redirect other bolts of dark magic, assisting Jake and the others.
Getting enough room to breathe, Cassie, Verne and Gus simultaneously turned to Zog and blasted her with raw magic from their hands, as none of them had the time to direct their wands and focus power through them. Seeing them coming, Zog effortlessly countered their magic, however, the distraction was all that was needed as another stray bolt bounced off of Gwen's force field and right at Zog's head.
"ARGH, ARGH, AARRRGGHH!" She screamed, her hair sticking up in all directions as she was thrown off her feet and out the doorway. The crash of glass breaking echoed throughout the room a moment later.
"Ouch, that has got to hurt." Gus commented before dodging another green blast.
"Forget her, look up there." Cassie cried, pointing up at Jake and Namine. "Quickly, give him cover." Nodding, the boys followed her lead raised their wands.
Jake was surprised, but very happy as the golden lightning cut off a number of the blasts coming his way and grew even happier as the blue beams hit the rest of them. One or two green blasts got through, but I was a simple task for him to avoid them, banking right here or rising there. Diving again, finally no more than ten feet away from Zarlak, he altered his body and brought Namine into perfect alignment with her target.
"Now girl!" Jake shouted, breathing fire at a stray, green blast. Namine didn't need to be told, as she had already stuck her arm out and thrown the dagger as hard as she could. The dagger soared like a purple arrow and struck true, right into the green orb.
"What? NO!" Zarlak cried, pulling his magic from the staff, desperate to break the connection. It proved to be hopeless however, as the rob exploded within a couple of seconds, blasting him right into and through the thick, stone wall and back outside, screaming all the way.
"Now that was nicely done." Ubos said proudly as a tired Gwen gave a relieved sigh and dropped her force field. "A great display of teamwork. Now, let's get out there and make it count."
"Right." The others chorused before rushing out the holes. Looking around the courtyard, they were delighted to see that the stray blasts seemed to have knocked all of Zarlak's minions back a fair distance from them and the teachers were working hard to keep the wounded beasts at bay.
"You know, Ubos and the Guardians can deal with Zarlak just fine from here on out. We should help the teachers." Verne stated, stopping in his tracks.
"But even with his staff made useless, Zarlak's still got all the power of the artifacts and Lucky Girl." Gus responded hesitantly, looking at where Zarlak was slowly rising.
"No, Verne's right. The Valour Guardians are more than powerful enough to deal with him. Let's help Miss Crystalgazer." Cassie responded, startling the boys. Neither of them thought that she of all people would ever step down from fighting Zarlak and proving herself to be as great as Gwen.
The purple haired witch did want to fight Zarlak. She wanted to prove herself to everyone. However, she had accepted that she wasn't ready to stand equally by the heroes' side yet and that her powers were needed elsewhere. And as surprising as it was, even to her, she was ok with that. Not waiting for the boys, she set off towards the army, her wand at the ready and her friends close behind.
Ubos and the Guardians watched on for a few seconds with pride at the future true heroes before turning back to the matter at hand. Taking off, Rai and Jake flew side by side at the recovered, enraged Supreme Wizard and shot their elemental blasts simultaneously at him. Zarlak raised his hand with a growl and created a shield, easily blocking the two columns as the boys, in perfect synchronization, flew around and launched a fist at Zarlak from either side of him, forcing him to fly back. Any hope he had of the duo crashing disappeared as they moved in perfect sink again Jake twisting in his direction and Raimundo landing gracefully on Jake's back and pulling out his purple blade, looking much like a dragon rider.
"Lucky Girl, let us do our part now. They won't be able to distract him for long." Ubos stated, moving before her. Lowering himself to down to her chest, he opened himself and flipped his pages to one titled 'To Return Magic'. "Place your hands on my pages and concentrate on returning all of the stolen magic within Zarlak."
Doing as he said, she placed her palms firmly on the paper. A moment later, golden energy shone from Ubos as Gwen's eyes and hands glowed blue right as they started chanting.
"Let our magic now unite
To undo the evil within our sight
Magic's gifts now gone, consumed by thee
Reverse the curse, set the magic free!"
The gold and blue magic mixed and shined brightly as they finished chanting and shot a beam straight at Zarlak with the speed of lightning. Distracted by chain made of gales, courtesy of Rai's blade, Zarlak failed to notice the beam until it struck him.
"AAHH! What is this?" He screamed in terror as the power dug effortlessly through him. Reaching the core of his powers, it found the stolen magic and it was at that moment Zarlak figured out what was happening. "NOOO!"
Beams of every colour of the rainbow shot out of every inch of Zarlak and scattered throughout the area, some flying towards the sky or the castle, while many more flew to and through the portal and other entrances to the centre of the Earth. A particular blue beam shot straight over the blue and gold on assaulting Zarlak and hit Gwen. The young sorceress sighed in relief as she felt her powers regaining the strength she'd lost in the fight and even surpassing her usual peak.
As the last of the stolen magic returned from whence it came and the spell ended, the heroes and teachers cheered with joy and the dark creatures grew nervous as the dome protecting them from the Wizards beyond fell. Zarlak wasn't looking much better, puffing and panting as his body tried to adjust to the sudden power drain.
"How is this… possible? How could you drain the power from ME?" He scowled, turning an infuriated glare at the two responsible.
"Combining different types of magic is potentially disastrous. However, when done correctly, the results have just as likely to be miraculous." Ubos said smugly before moving aside as Gwen's energy built up. "Now I believe you will Lucky Girl a much more worthy adversary."
Her whole body glowing, Gwen levitated herself into the air. Her hands shined like stars as she raised them, gathering and concentrating her magic.
"Interdamotor Elaborator!" The temperature around her hands shot up as a rippling beam of pure heat flew on its way straight towards Zarlak.