Part 6 - The Final Showdown

Crusherwhite awoke next morning feeling happy and refreshed. He took a quick glance at the pendant which lay on the floor. "Thanks, Lola," he thought as he got out of bed. He picked the pendant up and hung it from the necklace, along with his half of their friendship charm. He opened the passage and took one final look at his room. "I might not see this place ever again, but I'll know that I gave it my best shot," he told himself as he made his way to the main room. He made his way through the passageway and began to think about how to fight SoulGunBlack. "It'll be hard to fight if I don't know what he can do. I guess we'll worry about it when the time comes," he said calmly. He emerged in the main room where everyone else was waiting.

"Did you have any nightmares last night?" Chris asked out of worry. He thought that SoulGunBlack had sent him another dream of them hating Crusherwhite. Crusherwhite shook his head.

"No. For once I actually had a proper sleep without any nightmares," he said happily. Chris breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that's good news. Another thing I'm worried about is those cuts on you," he said, only just noticing the three cuts. Crusherwhite forgot that he never explained the cuts to his owner. And so, he went into an explanation of how they had arrived there. Chris nodded. "I see. So SoulGunBlack did that while he was in control of your body. The dagger used also appeared in your room. The cuts must be protected by some form of magic, otherwise blood would be leaking by now," he said, pondering their method of finding SoulGunBlack. Lola waited patiently at the door.

"Well, let's go then," she said. "We have to find the great power as described in that book." And without another word, she bolted out of the house. Crusherwhite sighed.

"Come on. Let's finish this ordeal," he said, following them. Chris, Sarah and their pets all gave a nod as they followed Crusherwhite, ready to face SoulGunBlack.

On the outskirts of Neopia Central, between Faerieland, Altador and Shenkuu, Chris and the others began to search for any clues.

"Knowing my luck, we won't find anything," Chris said glumly. Crusherwhite walked over to him and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find something. We just have to," he said, trying to cheer Chris up. His three brothers were running towards them.

"We found a strange door in some weird rock," Horizongold101 said.

"Follow us," said Lupussilver. And with that, they ran off. Crusherwhite and Chris ran after them, hoping that was what they were looking for. Within moments, they had arrived. Three dark energy beams were connected to a large rock, and the rock had a purple door on it.

"The beams seem to be coming from the Focal Points," Sharkgrey said, pointing towards the clouds that held Faerieland. Sure enough, one of the beams was coming from Faerieland. "So this must be the pathway to the great power." He began to push against the door. It wouldn't budge. "Could I have a hand here?" he asked. Lupussilver and Horizongold101 nodded and walked over. They then began to push as well. It still wasn't moving. Now Lola and Sarah were pushing the door with all their strength. Soon, all of Sarah's pets were helping. It still wouldn't move an inch. Crusherwhite merely walked over to it and grabbed the handle. He pulled and the door swung open easily.

"I hate it when you do that," Horizongold101 told him. Everyone then walked into the doorway. Within a few minutes, they arrived in what looked like a prison.

"Is this Darigan Citadel?" Crusherwhite asked, looking around. Chris took in the surroundings.

"It looks like it, but nobody's moving," he said. Sure enough, all of the prisoners and everyone else in the prison were completely frozen, as if time had stopped completely. Chris moved forward slightly, knowing that he and his friends were unaffected. "How did this happen?" he asked.

"That would be my doing," said a cold voice. Chris turned in that direction and saw a shadow Lupe. Crusherwhite immediately recognised it.

"SoulGunBlack! What are you doing here?" he demanded angrily. The shadow Lupe merely smiled.

"The great power rests here. It is my key to dominating this pathetic world," he said with an evil laugh. Chris stepped forward.

"So you're the one who been causing my Crusherwhite so much misery. We're going to stop you," Chris scowled. SoulGunBlack merely smiled and shook his head.

"I'm afraid this invitation is extended only to Crusherwhite. The rest of you must leave," he said. Sarah stepped forward to stand by Crusherwhite's side.

"You brought misery to my friends. I'm afraid that makes it my business to be here as well," she told the shadow Lupe, her voice filled with anger. All of the other pets stepped forward and gave a nod. SoulGunBlack looked at them for a moment and then focused on Crusherwhite.

"You don't need these people. They'll only hold you back. Friendship brings weakness," he said coldly. Crusherwhite just laughed at this.

"That's because you've never had a friend in your entire life. However, I know the truth about you. I know how you truly feel inside," he said calmly. At these words, SoulGunBlack reacted in a very strange way.

"We'll see just how far your friendship carries you then. I'll await you in Lord Darigan's throne room," he said before disappearing, two animated suits of armour now blocking their path. Crusherwhite merely smiled. He pulled out his Bone Sceptre and leapt at them. His attack was too quick to see but by the time he landed, the armour had fallen to pieces.

"Let's get going," he called to the others. They gave a nod and all ran towards the castle. There were plenty of attacks on the way by strange creatures, but together, Crusherwhite, Horizongold101, Lupussilver and Sharkgrey were able to repel them all. Eventually, they stood outside the throne room. "Ready?" Crusherwhite asked. They all gave a short nod. Crusherwhite pushed the door open and saw SoulGunBlack in the middle of the room.

"Well, well, you actually made it. I guess your friends are powerful after all. Too powerful to be allowed to interfere," he said as he snapped his fingers. A dark barrier separated Crusherwhite and all his friends from each other.

"Release them at once!" he demanded. SoulGunBlack shook his head.

"Only if you defeat me," he told Crusherwhite. Crusherwhite charged at him, Bone Sceptre raised. He leapt in the air and brought his weapon down hard and fast. SoulGunBlack easily blocked it with his own Bone Sceptre. "Does this look familiar to you?" he asked, bitter sarcasm in his voice. Crusherwhite did a back flip to prevent himself from getting hit. He pulled out his Illusens Earth Potion and unleashed the magical energy blast - it was intercepted in midair by another blast. SoulGunBlack was smiling. He was also holding an Illusens Earth Potion.

"Two of my weapons! Does he have them all?" Crusherwhite thought as he unleashed a stream of acid from his Scarab Ring. The attack was countered by a Scarab Ring in SoulGunBlack's possession. "You have all my weapons, don't you?" he asked SoulGunBlack as he managed to block an attack from the Tooth of Terask with his Leaf Shield. He then attacked with his own Tooth of Terask, only for it to be blocked by his Leaf Shield's twin.

"Does that answer your question?" SoulGunBlack asked sarcastically. The fight continued while Chris and the others watched.

"This is ridiculous. They're too evenly matched," Chris said. "We need to help him, but this barrier prevents us from doing anything." It was then that Chris noticed something strange. Crusherwhite had used his Burrow faerie ability to dodge a stream of acid. He then fired a stream of acid himself to attack SoulGunBlack. SoulGunBlack however had leapt to the side. "That's weird. Why didn't he burrow?" Chris asked. He then figured it out. "Crusherwhite, he has your weapons, but he can't use your faerie abilities. You can win this fight!" Chris called out.

"Awesome! Okay, let's give it a try!" Crusherwhite said. He concentrated and fired a Water Jet attack at SoulGunBlack. SoulGunBlack was too slow to defend it, and was thrown against the wall, hard. "Alright, it worked! Let's do another one," he said as he concentrated again. He fired a Spark and a Fireball at the same time. SoulGunBlack was struck by both attacks and fell to his knees. "One more should do the trick," Crusherwhite thought as his tail became wrapped in thunder. "My Thunder Tail attack has never let me down before, and it won't let me down now!" he told himself as he charged. The attack collided with SoulGunBlack and he was sent into the centre of the room. Crusherwhite walked over and looked at the shadow Lupe, who was trying desperately to get up. Crusherwhite smiled and removed Lola's pendant, placing it on the body of the injured Lupe. Suddenly, a beam of light enveloped SoulGunBlack's body. Crusherwhite looked at SoulGunBlack as his body began to disappear. "You're free now," he told the shadow Lupe as the light faded. SoulGunBlack collapsed and disappeared. All that was left was the pendant. The barrier lifted and Chris ran to Crusherwhite. Before he could reach his pet, they were covered in a beam of light.

Soon, they were back at Chris' home.

"I'm a little lost here. Could you please explain what happened there?" he asked Crusherwhite. Crusherwhite looked at his paws and noticed the cuts were gone.

"In the dream I had about Shenkuu, I tried to stop him from freezing the Shoyru. That's when I discovered the truth about SoulGunBlack. He was being manipulated by a dark energy. This force locked his spirit in his body and prevented him from moving on when he was defeated the first time. This dark energy was also responsible for the curse. When I placed Lola's pendant on SoulGunBlack's body, it released his spirit and destroyed the dark energy. It's all over now," he told them all.

"But what about the great power?" Chris asked, still confused. Crusherwhite shook his head.

"It never existed. It was just a rumour," he explained.

"Well, that's a relief," Lola said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I guess I should go now." And with those words, she made her way to the door.

"Lola, do you really have to go?" Crusherwhite asked her as he walked to her. "I don't want you leaving. You'll probably forget about me again." He began to cry. Lola placed a paw on his shoulder.

"I'll never forget you, Crusherwhite. As long as our bond exists, we'll always remember each other," she said happily, pointing to the necklace. "Thanks for everything," she said to Chris.

"It was no problem at all. We would all really like it if you could come to visit sometime," Chris told her. The others were all waving goodbye. Lola waved goodbye to them all, and left.

"We'd better get going too," Sarah told him with a smile. "We haven't cleaned the house in a few days, and in all honesty, I'm not really looking forward to it." She made her way to the door with her pets following close behind. As they left, Chris walked over to Crusherwhite.

"We'd better get an early night. It's been a huge adventure for us, and I'm rather exhausted from it all," he said with a slight yawn. Four Neomails came through the letterbox. Crusherwhite picked up the first one, opened it and read out loud.

"Dear Crusherwhite,

Since I cannot thank you in person, I have sent this message to you. On behalf of all of Faerieland, I humbly thank you for all of your assistance.

Yours sincerely, Queen Fyora."

Crusherwhite smiled and passed it to Chris while he read the second one.

"Dear Crusherwhite,

Words cannot express our gratitude for all of your assistance. Thanks to you and your friends, Altador is now safe and sound. May the sun shine wherever you go.

King Altador."

This made Crusherwhite very happy. He went on to the next mail.

"Dear Crusherwhite,

Thank you for all of the assistance you and your friends gave to our wonderful city of Shenkuu. Thanks to your efforts, minimal damage was caused and we can rebuild with no problems. Thank you once again.

Captain Tuan."

Crusherwhite never actually met Captain Tuan, but he still felt glad. He opened the last Neomail.

"Dear Crusherwhite,

This mail was sent as soon as you released my spirit. I am sorry for all of the trouble I have caused to you and everyone else involved. Hopefully you will find it in your heart to forgive me. Thank you ever so much. SoulGunBlack."

Crusherwhite just stared. There was no possible way this mail could have been from him. He ignored the thought. "Well, it's nice to know that everything is back to normal. I can rest easy now," he said with a slight yawn. He made his way back to his room, opening the passageway and making his journey through the tunnels. When he emerged in his room, he collapsed onto his bed. "Where did this dark energy come from? Who created it?" These questions still bothered him, but he ignored them and fell asleep. "Well, that was quite an adventure. Hopefully another one like that won't arrive in a while," he told himself as he drifted away.