Hi and welcome to another chapter! This time we have more things happening that will lead up to the final big battle! Please enjoy!
Diamanda sat in her cold cell, too weak to get up. She saw a shadow and looked up at Sage and Skelemandarin.
"What do you want now? You sex starved or something?" She growled.
Sage and Skelemandarin were disturbed by her question. They looked at each other.
"N-no."
"Why would we do that?" Skelemandarin asked.
Diamanda shrugged.
"I dunno, usually captors would try to get with their prisoners in these types of stories...what stories have I been reading?!" She asked herself, now fully getting what she asked was bullshit.
Sage shook his head.
"Anyway, you'll be happy to know that our army is almost ready to go. With them and this," Sage touched Diamanda's choker.
"we will destroy the Hyperforce and that pesky Willow." He sneered.
Diamanda growled and tried to stand up but fell to her knees. She looked up at them with hate in her eyes.
"You know you're just going to lose. It's clear as day." She growled.
Sage leaned down to her.
"Oh really now? Now that I have your choker and my own personal Sueronian stone, nothing is going to stop us." He snickered, holding out a purple stone.
Diamanda tried to grab for it, but Sage quickly took it back.
Skelemandarin sighed, truly pleased.
"I will finally win this war and destroy my brothers, those girls, and their precious leader!" He cackled.
Diamanda raised an eyebrow.
"What about your original counterpart? When he has his baby he will come and kill you." She pointed out.
Skelemandarin smirked.
"Oh I have plans for him and his bastard child. The child's DNA would be very beneficial to us."
Diamanda shivered by the tone of his voice.
Skelemandarin looked up at Sage.
"Let's go Sage, we have a lot of work to be done."
"Of course, enjoy rotting here Dia dear!" Sage chirped before the two left.
Diamanda growled but hung her head.
"Willow...Hyperdorks...kick their asses. I could but without my choker I'm powerless." She thought, trying to morph a ball of fire.
However as she tried before, nothing came of it.
From that day, everyone was preparing for this final fight. Both the Sueronians and the Hyperforce were collaborating for the day when the formless army will arrive. Anxiety and determination flowed through everyone as they prepared for that day. It was the same for their enemies too, as they created the Formless army and Sage fully got ahold of Diamanda's choker.
The dawn of the third day came, the sky was painted with blues, pinks, oranges, and purples as the sun rose. Chiro, Gibson, Arwen, Trent, Brittany, and Nova were waiting for the Sueronian ship to arrive. They were near the Pit of Doom and just the aura of the place sent shivers down their spines. Old dark green crystals laid in ruins as the castle of the fallen Skeleton King laid in ruins.
"You sure this is the rendezvous point? The Pit of Doom of all places?" Nova questioned.
"Marie said that this place would be good to hide their ship until the concert starts. Not my choice but..." Arwen shivered as she clutched her arms.
"It's better than nothing."
Trent twiddled his fingers nervously, knowing he would meet the other competitors when they landed. Brittany patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." She assured him.
Trent sighed, feeling a bit better.
"Besides they smell fear anyway."
Trent's muscles tightened at that and he gulped.
Suddenly they heard a loud noise as the looked up to see a huge ship land just several feet away. The others backed up a bit, coughing at the dust the ship gave off. The door to it opened and many girls darted off the platform and surrounded the guys, minus Trent.
"Omg are you Chiro?! You're so hot!" One Sueronian chirped.
"My name is Sueanna Robella-!" Another Sueronian cooed to Gibson, causing Brittany to growl for some reason.
"No my name is much cuter!"
"My dad once tried to sell me to strange men as a prostitute, but then I found out I was a princess! Isn't that cool?!"
"No I'm a goddess with the burden of being immortal! That's better than you, princess bitch!"
The guys' were in a hurricane of emotion at so many Sueronian auras at once. Suddenly a loud whistle made the girls froze. Marie, along with a female Sueronian with purple and pink hair, and a male Sueronian with red hair and spectacles stepped out.
"Ladies! Those are the Hyperforce members! They are not target practice!" Marie said sternly.
The girls looked at each other before realizing. They then went back inside, muttering a few 'sorrys' to the team as they went.
Marie turned to a Sueronian with long red hair and black clothes, who was looking over the group.
"You too Yui." She sighed.
Yui jumped a bit before turning. Along with her long red hair, she had red eyes and a curvy strong body. She also had a small beauty mark on her cheek and ruby red lips.
"B-but I have as much of a right-!" She began before the other red haired Sueronian clapped his hands.
"You need to practice for tonight, not only on your routine but your character." He said.
Yui glared as she went inside.
Marie turned to Arwen and walked up to her. The two hugged briefly before the other Sueronians went up next to her.
"Sorry about that, they haven't gotten the hang of using their stories and characters yet." Marie said.
Arwen laughed.
"Oh please Marie we were the same way when we were their age!" She said, playfully smacking her shoulder.
Marie shrugged.
"Eh true enough, anyway it's great to finally meet you all in person. We've already met but these are a few staff members. This is Kala Victoria and Niro Blaze." She said, motioning to the other Sueronians.
Chiro scratched his chin.
"Uh it's nice to meet you." He said.
Niro nodded.
"Same to you, you and your team are quite famous in some areas back home." He said.
The others looked at each other.
"We are?" Nova asked.
Niro crossed his arms.
"Of course you are, many of our scouts travel in many alternate universes just to interact with you. Why not here I'll never know." He sighed.
The others looked at each other again, surprised.
"Uh by interact what do you mean?" Gibson asked.
Marie turned to him.
"The scouts that go to your world use their wish fulfillment to hang out with you basically and have all sorts of adventures...changing a lot of things in the process though." She explained.
They didn't even want to know what was being changed.
Kala waved a bit before going over to Brittany and Trent. She pulled out a clipboard and looked over the names.
"Brittany Lobel Sapphire Sophia Rainbow Diamond?" She asked.
Brittany stepped forward.
"Yes ma'am." She said.
Kala looked at Trent.
"I'm guessing you are Trent Havier Loren?" She asked.
Trent briefly nodded.
"Erm yeah." He said.
Kala smiled.
"I knew it! I was just making sure!" She chirped before checking him off.
Niro side glanced Trent coldly.
"You're the male half Sueronian?" He asked.
Trent nodded. Niro looked ahead.
"Good luck." He uttered, though his tone implied otherwise.
Marie glared at him as Arwen clenched her fists, the others growing pissed as well. Just what was that supposed to mean?!
"Niro, we talked about this." She whispered.
Niro looked at her harshly.
"I'm being honest. There's a ton of girls that will no doubt have a lot more attention and better chances than he does." He stated.
Trent looked down.
"If he even has a shot at being chosen, he has to work pretty damn hard."
Trent then looked up at him.
"Okay."
Everyone paused.
"What?"
Trent looked around.
"Sounds hard but I think I'll do okay." He said shrugging.
Niro blinked rapidly.
"D-Don't take it so easily-!"
Marie stepped in front of him.
"Don't mind him, if you and Brittany are set you may go in and practice for tonight." She said.
The two looked at each other and nodded. They went over to the team first before they went inside.
"So...I guess this is it." Brittany breathed.
Chiro nodded.
"Yep, don't worry we'll get them." He said, assuring them.
Gibson looked up at Chiro.
"We still need to go over several tactics before tonight comes." He said.
Chiro nodded and looked over at Marie.
"We'll call you to go over the plan!" He called out to her.
"Sounds good to me!"
Trent nodded, feeling incredibly nervous.
"Well good luck then." He said, smiling a bit.
Nova nodded.
"Good luck to you too." She said.
"Come on you two, you need to be registered." Marie called out as Kala and Niro went inside.
Chiro looked at Trent.
"Did you say good bye to Willow?" He asked.
Trent smiled.
"Of course I did, she wouldn't let me live it down otherwise." He said, chuckling a bit.
"Heh that's true." Arwen sighed.
Antauri smiled, thinking of her.
"Well see you." Brittany said as the two left for the ship.
"See you!" Most of the others called.
Antauri waved as the two entered the ship and the doors closed. He stopped waving and looked down a bit.
"Willow..."
Willow sat in her room, fondling her necklace.
"Dad...you gave me this to protect other planets, to protect others..." She said to herself.
She remembered when her father gave her his necklace.
"Glory, happy birthday." A handsome man with black hair said, holding out a small gift box.
A toddler version of Willow grabbed it and quickly ripped the box opened, excited. However she then was confused as she held up a necklace with a large red jewel and a black metal holding it.
"What's 'is?" Willow asked.
Her dad then kneeled down to her.
"That is a very special necklace Willow. I want you to have it." He said.
Willow tilted her head and burrowed her eyebrows.
"Why?"
Arwen looked at her husband, wondering what he'll answer. Frier smiled and stroked her hair.
"You're very special Willow and someday you are going to help so many people on many planets other than Natulis. This necklace will be very important." He said, putting the necklace around her neck.
It looked a little big on her.
Arwen snickered loudly as Willow frowned.
"Uh don't worry, you'll grow into it." Frier said nervously.
Willow closed her eyes and touched the necklace. The door suddenly opened, causing her to jump a bit. Antauri flinched.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said.
Willow laughed a bit.
"No you're fine, I'm a bit on edge today." She said as Antauri sat on her bed.
The two didn't speak for a while, the anxiety between the two growing.
"You think we'll win?" Willow asked softly.
Antauri closed his eyes.
"I am certain we will be victorious this time, though I too understand everyone's fears." He said.
Willow looked at him then back at the ceiling.
"I just want to live in peace for once, just once! Is that so wrong?"
Antauri looked at her and moved closer to her.
"Of course it isn't. Wanting peace is something many of us feel, though it does not come easy."
Willow stared at him, feeling mixed feelings of sadness, fear, and love.
"There are times when peace is disturbed by those who wish to spread chaos and disorder. Our job is to stop it from spreading and keep peace. It isn't easy, but it's worth it." Antauri finished before giving her a small smile.
Willow smiled, feeling warm.
"Yeah...I guess you're right." She said.
The two sat in silence again before Willow gripped her sheets. She looked troubled.
"Something wrong?" Antauri asked.
Willow shakily sighed.
"It's just...I'm a little worried about losing control over my powers." She sighed.
Antauri was confused.
"A few months ago when Mandarin 2 attacked the robot the first time, I almost lost control of my darkness. I...I'm just worried that it will happen again. I can barely control my aura as it is." She sighed.
Antauri raised his head a bit. Chiro once told him that Willow was slowly getting a hold of her aura about a year ago. Has no one really told her since?
"Willow about that."
Willow looked over at him but Antauri shook his head.
"Never mind, I'll tell you after the battle is over."
Willow blinked before continuing.
"I'm also worried that if my rage grows enough, that I'll turn into my dragon form and..." Willow bit her lip as she began to tear up.
Antauri cupped her face, wiping her tears away.
"Your dragon form?"
"I guess it's a part of my back story and it's just something my necklace can make me do!" Willow huffed.
Antauri nodded, getting it.
"Don't worry, we'll be there in case anything goes wrong. You don't have to worry about being alone anymore." He said and that caused Willow to tear up.
She sniffled and wiped her eyes.
"God how did I get this lucky to have you?" She huffed.
Antauri chuckled, his cheeks blue.
"I can ask myself the same question about you."
Willow froze, causing Antauri to worry that he said something wrong.
"O-oh I apologize, I didn't mean to offend. I was just saying-"
Willow snickered.
"I know what you meant, it's fine." She said.
Antauri sighed a bit before getting up.
"Wait!" Willow grabbed his arm.
Antauri looked back at her, she looked off to the side and blushed.
"C-can you stay here a bit longer? I mean Chiro won't be back for a while so..."
Antauri blinked before nodding.
"I don't see why not." He said before laying next to her.
Willow smiled and scooted closer to him, holding his hand. The two fell asleep, using what little time they had to rest.
Mandarin groaned a bit as Otto snuggled up with him.
"Can't you all do this in the command center?" He asked as the Hyperforce sat around in Mandarin's room.
Chiro shrugged.
"We thought you might want to be a part of planning." He said.
Mandarin wiped his forehead.
"I've been feeling out of it all morning, it's probably not the best time for me to plan an attack." He sighed.
Nova looked concerned.
"You don't think you're going to into labor today are you?" She asked, worried.
Mandarin closed his eyes and shook his head.
"No, the only pain I have been feeling is Braxton hicks, and I've only felt them a bit this morning." He said, remembering the urgent call he made to Tilamat.
Everyone felt relieved, but still felt a bit concerned. Gibson turned to Chiro.
"The advertisements of the concert are all around the city by now, the citizens will flock to the park and to the screens where the concert will be broadcasted." He said, turning on the Tv and showing various advertisements with some of the contestants on them, including Brittany and Trent.
Some of the citizens noticed the advertisements, noting that the park and the time of the concert will be at six pm.
Chiro smirked.
"And so will the Formless, good. When the Formless will group together when the Sueronians are herding them, that's when we come in and take care of them. Then we find Sage and Skelemandarin and finish this." He explained, causing the others to cheer and Mandarin to groan at the noise.
"Stop yelling!" He sighed.
"Sorry, anyway where's Willow and Antauri?" Arwen asked.
Where were they? It wasn't like them to not show up. Nova hopped up.
"I'll get them." She offered, leaving the room.
Chiro turned to the others as Otto raised a hand.
"I just delivered the weapons to the Gary Stus, they're ready to use them!" He chirped.
"Great, in just six hours we will finally-!"
They all then heard a loud scream.
"Nova!" Sprx exclaimed as everyone ran up.
Minus Mandarin, who slowly began clapping.
"G-great motivational speech there, child."
Willow and Antauri were unintentionally curled up together, sleeping soundlessly. However, Nova's loud scream made them fall out of the bed. The others soon entered the room, with Nova pointing at them.
"What were you two doing?!" She demanded.
Willow and Antauri looked at each other.
"Nothing!" They both said.
"Then why were you two asleep on the same bed?" Nova asked, tapping her foot.
"What?!" Everyone shouted, causing the two to blush like crazy.
"Antauri of all people-!" Gibson began.
"We were just sleeping!" Willow defended.
Arwen raised an eyebrow.
"Just sleeping?" She asked, crossing her arms.
The two quickly nodded.
"But why were you sleeping together?" Otto asked.
Everyone listened in, waiting. Downstairs you could hear Mandarin yell,
"It doesn't matter! Get back here and plan properly you school children!"
Ignoring that, Willow scratched her chin.
"Well we were talking and we just...fell asleep." She said softly.
"Is that all you did?" Amanda asked, smirking.
Willow glared.
"Yes! Now come on we got to prepare for tonight!" She huffed as everyone left the room,
Mandarin rubbed his forehead after watching that on the tv he had. It just never ends with them does it?
Trent looked down at his wrist, which had a wristband with a few numbers, '7520'. They were for identifying him on the concert stage just in case something happened to the cameras.
Brittany stretched, now in her Sueronian form.
"I'd thought we'd never get out of there, now come on let's go practice." She said, grabbing Trent's arm and pulled him into another room.
They then came across a huge amount of Sueronians, all talking vividly while a few practiced off to the side. Trent felt his stomach drop at the sight of the other auditionees. How was he going to compete with these girls?! They were so pretty and shiny and him? What did he have?!
Brittany elbowed him.
"Remember, they smell fear." She whispered.
Trent nodded as they entered the room. Trent felt the stares of some of the other girls before he felt two arms grab him from behind. His first reaction was to wriggle out before he looked at who was hugging him.
"Aunt Emmy!" He cried before hugging the ex leader of the Starlights.
Emerald hugged her nephew tightly before they let go.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" He asked.
Emerald smiled and patted his head.
"Did you honestly think I would miss out on my nephew's audition and to my old band no less?" She questioned.
Trent smiled widely while Brittany walked up next to him.
"I...I'm just surprised! How's mom?"
"Still married to that jerk, what else?" Emerald sighed.
Trent rolled his eyes, of course.
"Why am I not surprised? Anyway it's amazing you're here! Is grandma here too?" Trent asked.
Emerald sighed sadly.
"No, but she'll be watching at home."
Brittany smiled.
"U-um it's nice to see you again." She said.
Emerald smiled.
"It's nice to see you again too Britt, your mom says she's cheering for you."
Brittany's cheeks flushed.
"I bet she is."
Emerald giggled before pointing behind her.
"I'm also here helping Crystal with her daughters. They're handfuls." She said.
Trent nearly fell over, Crystal the heart throbber was here too?!
"It's the best day ever for you is it?"
"It's been the best year ever!" Trent wheezed.
Emerald took his hand.
"Well then you should come over, it's best to be around people you know for now anyway." She said as Trent tried to let go so he can walk by himself.
They went over to three girls, one of them being the beautiful girl with the red hair and dark skin. With her was one girl with magenta shoulder length hair with blue eyes, wore a blue shirt and white pants, and had dark skin. The other was a girl in lacy pink clothes, had long strawberry blond hair, pink eyes, dark skin, and had cat ears and tail.
"Now do I wink and then blow kisses or kiss and wink?" The cat girl asked.
"You should blow kisses and then wink, It's much cuter!" Crystal said, cheerfully.
The magenta haired girl tilted her head.
"Now mom, with my character should I mention my tragic backstory?"
"No, That'd be too soon! Use your magic when protecting the fans."
Emerald waved a hand.
"Crystal! I got my nephew!" She called out.
Crystal turned and gasped.
"Oh my gosh! He's so tall now!" She exclaimed as they went up to her.
The cat eared girl looked him over.
"He is! And cute too!" She cooed, causing Trent to feel very uncomfortable.
"Marina no, leave him alone." The magenta haired girl huffed.
Marina huffed.
"Fine, killjoy."
The girl rolled her eyes and walked up to Trent, hand out.
"I'm Skyla, the future leader of Starlights." She chirped.
Brittany raised an eyebrow.
"Future leader?" She asked.
Skyla placed her hands on her hips confidently.
"Yep! It's been my dream to lead a musical ensemble and it's going to be this one!" She said.
Brittany wasn't buying any of her bullshit, but Trent smiled.
"Well good luck, I don't know how leaders are elected but I'm sure you'll get it." He said.
Skyla crossed her arms and nodded.
"Thank you, leaders are chosen at the selection ceremony after the concert. So you won't have to wait long."
Brittany internally groaned at her ego, but Trent nodded politely.
Crystal hugged both Marina and Skyla.
"My babies are going to sing in front of thousands! I'm getting nostalgic." She sighed as the girls tried to wriggle out of her grasp.
Marina looked behind them and froze.
"Don't move! It's goth sues!" She whispered.
They heard a scoff.
"Please, I'm a mix of rebel punk bitch sue ."
They turned to Yui and a girl with pale blond hair with blue streaks and alternative clothes. The blond girl crossed her arms.
"Maybe you can not judge people based on what clothes they wear?" She huffed as Yui rolled her eyes.
"Iris please, you'd do the same if they came over to us." She said, causing Iris to scoff.
Iris then looked at Trent.
"You're the only man? Huh, thought you'd be more...dashing." She said.
Trent flinched.
"I don't need to be dashing!" He huffed.
Yui snickered.
"He ain't a prince stu...wait what type are you?" Yui asked.
Trent frowned a bit, unsure by what she meant.
"He doesn't know, he just found out he was half Sueronian a few months ago." Brittany said.
Yui nodded a bit, getting it.
"Okay, don't worry then. I didn't find out I was a Sueronian until three years ago." She said.
Crystal and Emerald decided to leave them alone for a bit, letting them bond.
"Yeah but this guy only found out a few months ago! What is he going to identify as?" Skyla asked.
Trent pointed at himself.
"I'll just identify as me, isn't that good enough?" He asked.
The other girls fell silent.
Marina giggled and patted his head.
"Sounds good to me, you'd probably make girls swoon either way."
Trent blushed, embarrassed.
Iris sighed.
"It's not about making them swoon, we entertain them." She huffed.
"It's a bit disconcerting that you don't have a type yet, but I'm sure you'll be fine." A tall woman in a lab coat with long blue hair said.
Everyone quickly turned to her, not even noticing she was there.
"Who-?!"
"Violet!" Marina cheered, hugging her.
She turned to the others.
"Sorry, this is Violet. She and I were bffs since we were tiny!" Marina chirped.
Everyone nodded a bit. Skyla smiled and crossed her arms.
"Well I should practice, I don't want to jeopardize up my leadership skills." She said before leaving.
Yui and Brittany groaned.
Marina began to follow her, taking Violet with her.
"Wait I'll join you!" She yelled.
"Marina we should go over battle tactics!" Violet urged.
"That's booooring!"
Marina turned to Trent.
"Bye Trenty!" She cooed before following her sister.
Trent awkwardly waved as Brittany patted his shoulder.
"Several minutes in and already a Sueronian has a crush on you...that's pretty amazing." She said.
Iris rolled her eyes.
"Hardly, well I need to go work on my fighting. You coming Yui?" She asked.
Yui shook her head.
"No I'm good for now."
"Wait aren't you going to practice singing?" Brittany asked.
Iris flinched and looked off to the side, frowning.
"I never cared for singing..." She mumbled.
Trent leaned foreword.
"What did you say?" He asked.
Iris turned around.
"It's nothing." She muttered, walking off.
The others looked at each other, what was that about? They suddenly heard a whistle blow. They looked over to Marie, who held a clipboard and had racks of costumes behind her.
"Okay everyone, we have to practice for tonight's concert. Starting with River."
A lot of the girls tensed up at the song title, knowing how hard the choreography was. Trent and the others went up to the front.
Marie looked at them.
"Brittany, Trent, since the citizens are possibly more familiar with you and more recognizable you'll be at the forefront of the song." She said.
"Us?!" Trent questioned as the duo's eyes widened.
Everyone began complaining instantly.
"Why them?!"
"So a man is already up in front of the girls, perfect!"
"This is so dumb!"
Marie whistled again and sighed.
"A lot of you will have the chance to be up front, we have to see which member is better at being center. So you'll have to be at different positions." She explained, reviving a few grumbles from the other girls.
Brittany nodded a bit, no doubt nervous, Trent meanwhile felt terror. Sheer terror. He felt the angry stares behind him.
Marie turned towards the costume racks and pulled out dark outfits with medium lengthened skirts. She pulled out one outfit and held it out to Trent.
"We don't have enough pants for all of the set pieces tonight, so you'll have to wear these..." She said, smiling sadly.
A few girls snickered loudly as Trent looked at the outfit.
"Okay." He said, taking it as the snickers stopped.
Brittany blinked at just how nonchalant he was.
"Can I get my legs waxed real quick? I don't want anyone to see my leg hair." Trent chirped, causing the others to laugh.
Brittany placed a hand on her forehead. Typical Trent behavior.
The evening began to come in and many egear citizens arrive to the park. There were murmurs about what band this was and why they were here. The screen then switched to the bridge as Formless started to cross it.
"Are all the citizens at the park?" Chiro asked.
"Yep! And the concert will be starting in a few minutes so we better get going." Nova said.
Willow then entered the room, wearing a black armored shirt and black jeans with more armor underneath it. She pulled on some black combat gloves and stretched.
"Agreed, I'm ready to finish this." She sighed, Antauri blushing slightly.
Amanda nodded and began to walk off when Arwen touched her shoulder.
"Wait a minute Amanda, I'm going too." She said.
Amanda turned, shocked.
"But mom-!"
"You can't fly and use the blasters at the same time, I can use those." Arwen interrupted her, smirking.
Amanda blinked before smirking back.
"Sounds good to me." She said before they left.
Willow held her necklace close to her before sighing. She looked at Antauri.
"Let's do this." She said.
Antauri nodded and Chiro raised a fist.
"Hyperforce go!"
Mandarin watched as the team left the robot and stealthily went through alleyways. He felt the ship Amanda was using take off, knowing they would land somewhere and wait. He sighed, wiping his forehead.
He wanted to go too, he really wanted to finish his clone but even if he could, they'd want him to be spared. Mandarin will never understand why, however there wasn't much he could do right now. Mandarin sighed and rested back, thinking of ways to at least be of some use to them.
He felt a sharp pain in his stomach and he clutched it. Mandarin quickly realized that this wasn't Braxton hicks contractions, they were the real thing. He sat there for a second, soaking it in before he turned on his communicator.
"Tilamat?"
Oooh boy that ain't good! And how will this battle turn out? Find out in the next update!