The light didn't go unnoticed. As bright as it had been, you had to be blind not to see it. Leo also didn't miss the large silhouettes that were shown in it before they disintegrated. Add that with the fact it came from the direction the others had fled towards, the turtle turned dragon had a fairly good idea of what was going on. That large head turned back towards his opponents, those blue eyes flaring now with it's own inner light. And he wasn't the only one not happy. His brothers walked up to stand next to him as glowing eyes stared the heralds down.
A drone chose that moment to try and interfere...and promptly got smacked with Mikey's tail without him even looking. It flew in a long arc before it crashed into the forest beyond.
Pestilence actually backed up a step from those furious gazes. "War...we should retreat..."
"I will do no such thing!" Came the bellowed answer as he remounted. "I have not failed before now and I refuse to fail here!" Then he kicked his mount into a charge, a black sword appearing in his grip as he closed in.
A coloum of water blasted War in the face, knocking him right back off of his mount again. Then the turtle turned dragon let the stream of water fall and collided with the hybrid mount. Teeth and claws dug into the creature even as it returned the favor. Both large beasts now locked together as each tried to tear the other apart. Leo took those bites and scrapes and growled the pain away. His patience with these intruders finally at an end, Leo's teeth dug into the living metal and bit in deep as he was thrown on his back.
This may seem like a dangerous position to be in, but it did have it's advantages. War couldn't get a clear hit in on the dragon with his ride in the way, and Leo's hind legs were in the perfect position to rip apart that unprotected stomach area, which is exactly what he did. Those powerful legs pushed his claws deep inside the body of the mount, and he began ripping those legs downwards. Opening large gouges in the thing. He tore through wires, cables and energon lines and everything else he came into contact with as he repeated his movements over and over again with speed you wouldn't expect from such a large body. By the time Raph crashed into the thing, knocking off of Leo in the process, there was nothing left intact on that midsection. The mount rolled away, it's stomach sparking and the purple energon that gave it life leaking out.
It was also the same substance that allowed it to try to get back up again, refusing to lay down and just die. It didn't even have the chance to do that before Donnie and Mikey closed in on it and tore it apart. By the time they stepped back again, War was left with nothing but a pile of scrap parts scattered everywhere to ride. Something he couldn't seem to wrap his head around as Leo rolled back to his feet. "No..."
That act opened up the doorway for these dragons, and they now burst through it. A roar from Raph led their charge, and the heralds and remaining mounts found themselves buried under who knows how many tons of dragon anger.
Leo once again faced off with War, his jaws snapping dangerously close to the unholy mech as he struggled to hold them at bay. War was not so quick to give in however, even after the loss of his mount. He managed to bring a fist to the dragon's side knocking the creature off of him. Mikey came at him as Leo rolled away, and kept rolling until he collided with Pestilence and is mount. Even as Mikey latched onto War's arm Leo calmly turned his attention to the leg of the mount, bit his teeth in, and ripped it off. It stumbled on three legs for a moment before War crashed into them. War and Pestilence was knocked away, the mount suffered the same fate as it's companion as Leo tore it apart.
War got back to his feet, his face furious. Then a snarl found it's way to his lips as he charged the distracted Leo, his black sword held high. Raph slammed into the ground in front of him before that sword could come down. And he was not a happy puff the magic dragon. The red banded reptile not only released his dragon breath, but his eyes glowed red and his whole body burst into flames as he let out that rage filled blast. Flames that didn't hinder him in the slightest as he advanced on War.
The herald shrinked back from that extreme heat and he struck out blindly at the dragon approaching him. His sword did hit that body, but when the flames hit his sword, it began to melt under that onslaught. Finally the leader of this group of chaos had to drop it, his own hand now beginning to heat up. Still Raph advanced, his coat of flames growing even hotter, his footsteps leaving fiery imprints on the ground as he closed in. Pestilence managed to scramble out of the way but War was blinded by the intensity of the flames. He was disoriented, confused and those flames began to heat up his plating now. War finally, after everything these dragons had done tonight, finally felt the first inklings of fear creep into him. Urging him to retreat. When he chose to listen, it was too late. The teeth of the fire dragon sunk into his shoulder even as the claws dug deep into each side. The other three heralds flinched violently, even in the middle of their own fights, when War's cries of pain reached them moments before Raph tore War apart straight down the middle.
Mikey's eyes now held none of their usual humor. Pranks were the farthest thing from his mind. His only thought was to end this threat standing in front of him. A low growl came out of his throat as he landed on the back of Famine, who was still mounted. His weight forcing all three of them to the ground. The mount squealed and kicked as it tried to get back to it's feet, but claws latched firmly into it refuse to let it. Famine himself was swinging his morning star at whatever angle he could to get a hit in but none of those strikes had the leverage to achieve the desired effect. The smallest dragon took those hits as he stubbornly held them both down.
Then Mikey growled in pain as Death got a jab into his side with her spear, then set herself to dig it in. Her eyes triumphant, she sneered at Mikey who refused to let his grip go. The warning whinney noise that came from her mount was the only warning she got as she whipped that spear around to the purple banded dragon who was flying low to the ground, straight for her. This one too she manages to draw blood on, but before she could push the blade in farther, Donnie's paw came up and slapped down hard on the shaft, snapping the weapon in two before that clawed appendage ripped her from her saddle and he slammed her into the ground. He didn't stop on that impact though. His lips drew back in a toothy sneer under purple glowing eyes as he opened the ground up under her and dragon fire blasted her into the cavern below. Then he reached over and clamped down on the leg of her mount and drug it over and threw it in on top of her, knocking the climbing herald back down into it. Donnie stepped back a little, then slammed his hole shut on them. Repeatedly. When he finally stopped, both of them were nothing more than faint purple smears on the pit walls. He slammed it shut a final time, entombing those remains in the rock grave he had placed them in.
Donnie's little brother was just as furious. A wind picked up around Mikey and the pinned aliens. It started off as a slow breeze as it circled around them before it grew in size and in strength. Carefully controlled, this rapidly growing tornado didn't move on to devastate the landscape. It stayed in that one spot even as the dragon stepped back. Mikey's head was high, his eyes glowing bright orange as he guided the winds in an even tighter formation. It howled around the dragon now, with him not even stumbling from the effects. His target wasn't so lucky. Pieces of armour was ripped off of Famine and his mount, but it didn't stop there. Fiercer the wind blew, ripping into them even deeper. Then the sheer force of this elemental rage tore them both apart. The pieces now caught up in the funnel as they were swept high into the air, only to fall back to the ground, scattered everywhere, when the wind died down as Mikey's eyes faded.
Leo calmly circled Pestilence, his head low as he growled at the last herald. They had already traded a few blows, with both getting hits in. Pestilence clutched his energon leaking side with one hand as the other firmly held a mace in his grip. Leo was limping slightly on a fore leg, the supporting shoulder having already felt the power of that weapon. Leo ignored the pain as he still circled, the only outward sign of his agitation was the lashing of his tail. Pestilence was the first to stop their evading dance, going straight for the shoulder that Leo was favoring. He was expecting the dragon to dodge out of his way, not for those ice blue eyes to light up brightly. Only then did the herald notice he had stepped right where the dragon had quietly guided him. Over a small, unassuming looking pond. Pestilence soon found out there was much more to it as the water suddenly exploded upward. The sheer amount of water was more than what had seemed to be at first, because this pond was fed by an underground spring. Pestilence couldn't see in this sudden onslaught of murky, now muddy water and when he tried to move away from it he found he couldn't. It wasn't until the water came crashing back down that he understood why. He was trapped up to his armpits in the muddy mess the ground had become under his feet. He looked around in shock as he tried to get out of the slippery mess, panic taking over now as he struggled and only succeeded in firmly entrenching himself even more. It was also that panic that didn't let him see the now flying bluebanded dragon coming straight for his head. When Pestilence remembered about the beast that put him in this situation, it was because Leo's teeth had firmly clamped onto his head before he ripped it off along with the whole top half of the exposed torso.
Leo landed heavily on the other side of the quagmire he had created, and ripped the pieces he held apart before his anger at this unholy creature finally calmed. He was now favoring that shoulder heavily and lifted his paw up off of the ground to relieve some of the pain. His head swung around, looking for his brothers who were all now calmly walking over to him. They were beat up, bleeding in a few places and Raph was also limping on a forelimb with blood running down his leg. But their eyes were now calm as they joined him.
Together they stood as they looked out over the area where they had fought so fiercely. Here they stood where the heralds had fallen. Not even humble, even tempered Leonardo could hold back the dragon urge to let out a thunderous victory roar. A roar that his brothers echoed around him.
Not far away the loud noise was heard by the group waiting in the woods. The white dragon's head raised up and tilted as it listened to the sound, and a small dragon smile formed on it's reptilian lips as it lowered the protective globe around those it shielded.
It's tiny charges all stood up from where they were sitting, their eyes full of hope at hearing the ongoing roars. Even Ty managed to push the medics away and stood on his own two feet as hope filled him.
Cris turned to Vicky, her eyes wide. "You don't think..."
Vicky smiled confidently. "No, I don't think. I know." And with those few words she ran towards the sounds that seemed to call out to them all.
Leo was waiting for her at the edge of the trees, as the other dragons waited for their own mates. His dragon eyes patiently watching for her arrival, hoping Mizuchi had been true to his word that they had been looked after. And when she finally burst through she stopped and stared at the destruction she saw around them before her eyes looked up to his. Relief flooded him to see her. The spirit dragon had indeed kept his word. She was safe, they were all safe...
"You did it..." She smiled widely even as sadness seemed to take a hold of her. "I knew you guys could." She ran forward and flung her arms around his leg laughing and crying at the same time. Leo's massive head came down and gently nudged her in reassurance as the others emerged.
Will and Epps both lost the color in their faces as they took in what was left of the base that had been here just twelve hours before. The now emerging dawn bringing it into even clearer focus.
Epps swallowed hard as he looked around. "How in the hell are we going to explain this..."
"I have no clue..." Will replied in a breathless voice.
Leo and his brothers just took satisfaction that their family was unharmed and gave them their undivided attention. But their heads snapped back up, much to the puzzled looks of those gathered around their large feet. Something was in the air, something was still here. Low growls started coming from those throats as dragon eyes swept around trying to pinpoint it.
Eerie wails of anger reached their ears then. And shortly after four large shapes of darkness rose from the remains of the destroyed bodies scattered across the ravaged area. The only thing that could be clearly seen were the sickly glows coming from where the eyes would be. Leo growled a low growl as he shifted his body to put himself between these apparent spirits and his family, noticing that his brothers did the same. All of them prepared to fight these undead forms of their felled opponents, even if they didn't know how.
This fight turned out not to be theirs anymore. With it's own loud roar the white dragon landed in front of the brothers, those golden eyes once again glowing as it stared down the ghostly shapes in front of it. Leo and his brothers stared at it in shock as the glow encompassed it's whole body before it flashed out to contain the vengeful apparitions. Then, just as it had done with Jeff, a doorway of darkness opened. Even brighter the glow became as the dragon, snarling with the effort, pushed these spirits through and into that hole, letting it snap shut behind them once they had passed. It let out a large, weary, sigh before it turned to look back at the dragons gaping at it. A small smile formed on it's lips again as it looked them over with eyes filled with pride and gave them a slow nod of approval. Then it shimmered, and vanished. Leaving everyone staring at the space it had just been.