Chapter 15 – Ultimate

Nightmare lifted his head in curiosity, looking around for the disembodied voice. Silence permeated the battle field, Tarnildra and the minions freezing in place to search the sky for what has shouted at them. "What the hell was that?" Savage asked as she turned her head from right to left in search of something that could have that kind of authority. "Show yourself coward!" Nightmare growled. "A coward calls me as such?" the voice said, and a flash of light appeared, leaving the grey cat Kevin in its place, his power rising from him like a silver flame that rested on his fur, "How amusing!"

"A cat?" Nightmare asked in surprise, "And who are you to assume command over me?"

On the ground, Bolt looked at Kevin in shock, and quickly felt the large piece of rock and steel lift from its resting place on his wife, "Come on!" he heard someone whisper. The dog turned his head, finding Wolf standing there with Mittens on his back and Mike using his powers to hold the wall up, "Move quietly!" the Kit said, and zoomed off while Mike vanished. Bolt raced off as quickly as he could, scooping Rhino and his ball up in one of his paws.

"My name is Kevin! And I command all of creation!" the grey cat in front of Nightmare said. The behemoth lifted an eyebrow, and then his chin in laughter, "Then I am your opposite, for I am the death of all I see!" He lifted his sword up, waving it across the battle field as if to show off what he has done. Kevin simply moved his eyes, shifting them to a crumbled building. It was as if time ran in reverse, the walls and stone moving back to their original positions, cracks fusing shut and steel contorting back into straight beams of strength. "Impossible!" Nightmare said as he watched the damage he did reverse itself. "You are nothing but an evil, wild rage and instinct with no concept of the sacredness of life!" Kevin said to him. In fear, Nightmare lifted his sword again, this time above his head. It came down, striking the flames of Kevin's power, and quickly disintegrated down to the hilt. "GYAAAH!" Nightmare shouted out as he watched the sword he and Bolt created just vanish in his hands. "You kill mercilessly!" Kevin said, and Nightmare lifted his hand, clenched a fist and punched. His arm stopped out in front of the cat, the flames of power simply licking his skin and turning it as black as night. It quickly crumbled away, leaving nothing in its place. He tried to bring it back, tried to regrow his appendage but it would not come back, it just remained as if it had not existed. Nightmare looked at him again, a light of familiarity revealing a memory, "You!" he said quietly, "You are the one who freed the guardians in the first place!"

"That I am!" Kevin said as he lifted his paw, "I will also be the one that destroys you!" Nightmare roared, letting several powers flow at once. The gravity well weighed down on the small cat while his black fire completely engulfed him. From out of his eyes came lights, lasers that were aimed right at him and with a point of his finger, ordered his minions to attack. They all forgot their previous orders and raced in, flying running and jumping towards the little kitten as Nightmare attacked with as much as he could. "Think we should help him?" Savage asked, only to watch the black fire and the light from the lasers spread out, engulfing the minions and nearly blinding Nightmare. "Nah, I think he's got this!" Dustin said in shock. "Who is this kid?" the Felarian asked. "That's my son!" they heard, and turned to the voice. Shadows and Sassy stood there proud of their smallest child. Penny, her mother, Hazel, Mir and Anna all stood next to them, watching him display his power in awe. "Wait, your…" Savage tried to say. "He's also the closest to a god any living thing can get in power!" Sassy said as she smiled at her son.

The light faded, revealing Kevin as he floated there and Nightmare as he used his remaining arm to cover his face. "How can this be?" the behemoth asked, "No living thing can have that much power!"

"And yet I stand here before you with the power to create world and dimensions as I please!" Kevin said. "Wait, create dimensions?" Mittens asked as she was helped up by Bolt, "So that Astral World was…" Mittens turned to Hazel, the kit shrugging her shoulders, "Don't look at me!" she said, "I still don't understand it!"

"You use fear to hunt and kill others, and now it's time for you to face the ultimate fear!" Kevin said as he once again lifted his paw. Nightmare took two steps back, his jaw open as far as it could fall, "Disappear!" was all Kevin said, and waved his paw in front of his face. It was like Nightmare was whipped away by his fur, vanishing from sight. The background changed as well, from smoke and destruction to sunshine and piece. Birds chirped as they happily flew around enjoying the day. "What the hell…?" Dustin asked, "That little brat is that powerful?"

Kevin slowly floated down to the ground, the silver flames fading back into his body as he touched the repaved roads. "He heard cheers from behind him, causing him to turn his head and watch as his family ran up to him. Bolt and Mittens a little slower because of the black cat's limp. He smiled and allowed everyone to pat him on the back as he walked past them, "Nice job buddy!" Wolf said. "You really took care of him!" Mike congratulated. He quickly reached Mittens and touched a paw to her back legs, instantly healing them. "Ehe!" he chuckled as he blushed. "AND WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" he heard someone shout. Kevin looked up, finding Savage and Dustin just glaring at him angrily. "EEP!" he squeaked, and darted back to Hazel. "Hey, don't yell at him!" she said in his defense, "He had to recharge his powers after saving the rest of us!"

"And why the hell did it take so long to recharge?" Savage asked. Everyone turned to the kitten, his ears once again turned down to pin themselves against his head, "I'm sorry!" he whispered. "It's not his fault!" Hazel said. "Actually, I got scared!" he admitted. Hazel turned to him surprise in her eyes, "I was so afraid that people wouldn't like me, or that I would hurt someone else, that I just kinda stayed asleep. I thought, we'd all be safer!" Hazel looked him in the eyes, shock set on her face with a hint of disappointment, "What?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would end like this!" he pleaded, "This world isn't ready for this level of power, so I was afraid of what they would do to you, or the others!" Hazel lowered her head, "It's ok!" she said, "But what got you to wake up?"

"He was going to kill Aunt Mittens and Uncle Bolt!" Kevin said, "I knew that would have made you sad!" Hazel lifted her head, gratefulness in her eyes as she looked into his, and pressed her cheek to his, "Thank you!" she said as she snuggled up against him. "So can you bring back everyone that died because of that creature?" Dustin asked. Kevin let go of Hazel, and sadly shook his head, "Death is something that is beyond anyone's power, and life is a miracle that is the right of all living things."

From their perch on the building, Terrance frowned as he looked to his Cheetah, "Sorry Tash!" he said and patted her on the head, "There's no bringing your brother back!" She let a tear fall down her cheek, letting another follow and another, "Yah!" she sniffed, "I figured!" She brought up a paw to her face, drying the tears that soaked her face. Terrance knelt down, wrapping her in a friendly embrace, letting her cry until she felt better.

"That is why I'm going back to that dimension!" Kevin said, catching everyone off guard. "WHAT?" they all asked. "From there I can monitor everything, and only intervene when I absolutely need to!" Kevin explained, "I can also balance Neutros' time frame to match Earth's, making it possible to keep real relations with the two worlds. I'm not going to let such a beautiful thing be destroyed!"

"Can't you do that from here?" Bolt asked. Kevin shook his head, "No, I need to be in the dimension between, the Nexus. You'll all have to guard the two worlds."

"I call dibs on Neutros!" Mike shouted, catching everyone's attention, "What?"

"Fine, Mir and I will take Earth!" Wolf said. "Call us if you need to ok!" Bolt said happily, "Till then, I think it's time for Mittens and I to retire!"

"Me too!" Rhino said, "I've had enough death defying feats for the rest of my life! Besides, I've still got to take Angelira out on a date!" The others laughed as the hamster smiled at his own feat of courage. "Well, we'll retire too, I think traveling between the two worlds would be a great way to spend our seemingly never ending lives!" Sassy said, and turned her good eye to her husband, "Yah!" he said, "I'll take that offer!"

"I'll go with you!" Hazel said to Kevin, "No one should have to spend eternity alone!" Kevin smiled at her, "Thank you Hazel!" he said shyly. He lifted his paw, and with one claw, ripped open the fabric of space, back to the Astral World, "Oh yah!" he said as he turned back to Bolt and Mittens, "Don't forget, though you may not be affected by time, death still has its eye on you! Beware the dark ones!" Bolt turned to Mittens with a questioning look, but before they could turn to ask, the portal closed, leaving them with nothing but more questions.

End Chapter 15