Thanks to: Meg, Kira and Spongey, the three lovely people who reviewed the last chapter.
A Big Shout To: The England cricket team - good luck in the World Cup! (we'll probably need it...)
Random Quote: Oooooh. This is really rather painful! (Skinner from 'Hot Fuzz', after getting his chin impaled on a steeple of a miniature model church. This film is released in the US on April 20th and I heartily recommend you all see it - it's extremely funny AND one of the main characters wears a Bristol Rovers shirt in a couple of scenes!)
And finally... it seems normal service will be resumed next week, as the BBC will be carrying WITCH on where they so rudely left off last week.
The stage was set.
On one side, a group of young guys and girls on a noble and courageous quest, with magic in their hearts and bravery in their souls.
On the other, an enormous, evil, hideous beast which scraped a massive foot on the ground as it fixed them with a stare which told them all they needed to know about what was on its mind - destroy - and it wasted no time in setting to work as, with a loud bellow, it charged at the group.
"Not so fast!" Cornelia said as she laid her hand on the floor. "Earth!"
The ground in front of her suddenly began to crack, breaking up into large chunks to form a rough, jagged surface.
"That'll slow it down!" she said to herself with a satisfied smile.
Unfortunately, the Ankylocephadon had other ideas.
Instead of stopping or brainlessly charging through the jagged little peaks, it simply leapt over the obstacle. For such a huge, lumbering beast, it was surprisingly nimble. As it turned out, it was also surprisingly supple - whilst in mid-air, it suddenly arced its back to one side before swinging itself around, sending the club on what turned out to be an unbelievably telescopic tail hurtling towards the crowd at great speed... and Bloom was directly in its path.
"Bloom! Look out!" Sky yelled.
Bloom did so, twisting her body acrobatically and jumping back just in time as the creature's weapon whizzed past her, missing by inches before slamming into the wall and leaving a small crater.
"Phew, that was close." Bloom exclaimed in relief as she watched the creature bring its weapon back to iteself, before suddenly wincing and dropping to one knee, clutching her left side.
"What happened?" Sky asked as he raced to her.
"I don't know. I can barely breathe." she groaned sharply as she tried to inhale, but something was stopping her. Timmy ran a medi-scan over her.
"What does it say?" Sky asked him.
Timmy peered at the readout, and gave the device a quick tap as though he didn't quite believe what it was telling him.
"It's reading multiple fractures. Half the ribs on her left side are broken."
They looked at him in disbelief.
"That's impossible! That thing didn't even touch her!"
"I know. Maybe it's the dark magic that thing's composed of."
"It looks like Darkar's pet is gonna be more dangerous than we first thought." Tegryn said when he heard this. "It's a good job I'm feeling more dangerous too!"
He breathed in deeply as he began to muster his power - he could tell that a creature this heavily armoured would take an attack with a lot of force behind it. He was right about one thing - ever since venturing down into the Under-Realm, his power had most definately increased. His eyes were closed, his mind completely focused as he drew more and more power to his attack, so much so that his entire body began to glow with currents of energy that swirled gently around his body.
Finally, he flicked his eyes open. The Ankylocephadon was there right in front of him with its back turned, with a number of his friends flittering around him trying their hardest to make an impression, and failing miserably as their magic blasts just bounced off it.
"Guys! Move it!" Musa yelled from behind Tegryn. They all turned and looked, and quickly scattered, landing tiredly a safe distance away and reverting back to their normal forms as they slumped breathlessly onto the ground. The Ankylocephadon also turned and looked at him, but he didn't run. This was just another target, and so he charged.
'Come on handsome, just a little further' Tegryn thought to himself, knowing that the closer he could get the beast to come to him before unleashing his attack, the less chance he would have of missing. Soon, the time came.
"RAGE BLAST!" he cried at the top of his voice as he let loose, sending an insane amount of energy straight at the monster. Tegryn struggled to keep his footing and he skidded back a yard, so powerful was the force of his attack. Thankfully, his blast hit the beast straight between the eyes and sent it flying, tumbling over and over itself along the floor as it went.
But then something unexpected happened. The monster was somehow able to regain its footing and it stood fast, head bowed into the Rage Blast as it planted its huge feet into the ground. It fought hard against Tegryn's attack, ploughing a foursome of furrows into the hard stone floor as it was pushed back until eventually it was able to stand still.
Tegryn halted and stared at the creature, who glared back at him from across the room. With a loud roar, the Ankylocephadon charged once more, before leaping into the air and curling itself into a ball which shook the ground with every bounce, its speed ever-increasing. Musa and Tegryn looked on in horror as it bore down on them, before leaping out of the way. The monster-ball crashed into the wall behind them, sending a powerful tremor through the room that nearly took everyone off their feet.
Chunks of the ceiling started to fall in on the group, small at first, but soon getting larger and more difficult to dodge.
"Quick! Gather round us!" Mimi yelled and she and her sister linked hands. Soon, everyone was huddled in the protective shell of the Harmonic Shield as lumps of ceiling crashed all around them. Musa looked up, and gasped as she saw the pained expressions on the twins' faces - their effort was taking everything they had, and if they were to lose it now, everyone was done for. She quickly stood up and took Nini's hand.
"Teggy, what's she doing?" Irma asked.
"She's adding her energy to theirs to try and keep this shield going. It's a rather nifty benefit of all being Melody fairies."
Eventually the monsoon of stone subsided and the three music fairies collapsed to the ground, completely exhausted. Tegryn rushed over and cradled Musa in his arms, who gazed wearily up at him.
"Damn it! What's it going to take to beat this thing?" Riven asked with more than a hint of frustration in his voice as he and the other Specialists stood and faced the monster clambering over the pile of rubble that had fallen on top of it.
"It's going take ages to wear it down." said Sky, who then gasped. "Of course! That's exactly what Darkar's doing - he's just wasting our time. Every minute we spend down here, Will is falling deeper and deeper into Darkar's clutches."
"Plus his little pet is doing a great job of softening us up." Brandon said, looking down at the exhausted fairies and Bloom nursing her broken ribs.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Stella asked.
"I'll tell you what you guys going to do - you're going to get the hell out of here!" Riven replied.
"And how are we going to do that?"
"Me and the boys will keep this thing busy. The rest of you make a break for the door. GO!"
Tegryn got up and stood alongside Sky, eager for the fight.
"You heard what he said. Hurry up and go - we'll hold this thing off."
"No Teggy, you're going as well. Your magic's more powerful down here - the girls will need you to face Darkar a lot more than we'll need you here."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, we've wrangled bigger and uglier things than this. Just look after Bloom for me, okay?"
"Okay, if you're sure." Tegryn reluctantly replied as he turned to Bloom, who was slowly picking herself up, still holding her side tenderly. "Can you run?"
"No, I don't think so." she replied painfully. "I still can't breathe right."
"I'd better carry you then." he said, scooping her up and gently cradling her in his arms before turning to Musa. "You don't mind me doing this, do you Musie?"
"No, it's all for a good cause!" she replied with a cheeky glint in her eye. "As long as you do the same for me when we get home!"
"Your wish is my command, my Princess!" Tegryn laughed. "It'd be good practice for our wedding day! Come on, let's go."
With that, Tegryn and the girls made a dash for the exit, hoping to leave the sounds of the boys battling with the Ankylocephadon further and further behind them. Unfortunately, the monster heard their footsteps running away, and so he turned and started to charge. Recognising the danger, Helia tried to ensnare it with his laser-string glove, but the multi-tonne beast was simply too strong and dragged the Specialist behind him, forcing him to let go.
"Girls! Get out of here! Quickly!" he yelled helplessly behind them, willing them toward the door as the Ankylocephadon quickly closed in on them, swishing its tail as it prepared to flatten them. One by one, the group dashed through the door, leaving only Tegryn, Musa and Bloom bringing up the rear.
Closer and closer they got to the exit.
Closer and closer the Ankylocephadon got to them.
Everyone looked on nervously as they ran with the monster hot on their heels. With barely a second to spare, they made it through the doorway, just as the Ankylocephadon smashed into it and brought the doorway down around it.
Tegryn, Bloom and Musa sat on the floor, panting as they watched the terrifying beast disappear behind the growing pile of rubble.
"Phew. Come on babe." Musa said as she helped Tegryn and Bloom up. "We've still got a long way to go."
Slowly and quietly, Tegryn and the girls made their way through the passageway, which led into another passageway followed by yet another passageway. After a few mnutes of trekking through what seemed like a maze of passageways, they found themselves in a columned hall which led into the corner of a large, rectangular room. Although it was smaller in size then the previous chamber, this room had a lighter, airier feel to it, thanks mainly to the thin openings that were cut through the wall at one end of the room, leading back outside into the main cavern. The group pressed on towards the exit located in the opposite corner, but no sooner had they reached halfway, a large stone door slammed shut, sealing off the exit with a boom. Another large boom behind them told them that the way they had just come in was also shut off - they were trapped.
And, just to make matters worse...
"Well well well - looks like you finally ditched those Red Fountain dweebs!"
The fairies gave a collective groan as the spiteful voice made itself heard. Icy, Darcy and Stormy had materialised in front of them, hovering in the air along one side of the room, their gloomixes glowly brightly.
"Just get out of our way and let us pass! We've already wasted enough time playing Darkar's games, and we don't need to waste any more!" Tegryn yelled.
"What do you say ladies - are you up for a rumble?" Icy asked her sisters.
"Oh yes, just like we planned." Darcy replied as she and Stormy moved out to either side of Icy, as though they were trying to outflank the do-gooders. Instictively, the group fanned out, ready to repel any side-on attacks.
"Very well, one rumble coming up!" Icy yelled as she thrust her arms up in the air. The ground shook violently and a pair of large straight cracks started to appear in parallel between the two longer sides of the room. Suddenly, two vast walls of thick ice rose up out of the ground, reaching right up to the ceiling... and splitting the group into three, one for each witch.
The separated groups of fairies and humans looked up at the witch who had chosen them to be their plaything. Whether they liked it or not, a fight was most definately on the cards... in triplicate.