Ch.71: Ella Steps Up! The Psychic of the Sun!
Ella stared at her new weapon, the Daybreak, with stern, focused eyes. Two days with it in her possession and she has yet to unlock the very secrets promised within. Willow said it wasn't the time to remove her headband, but the Espeon had a limited threshold for her patience.
Regardless, she took her time to learn the weapon's weight and length, to get an accurate feel of how it must be wielded. She questioned the design a lot, as it looked like the baton state with three extra batons on both ends of the staff. It was an odd design choice, but Willow once again reassured her that the weapon is specifically meant for psychics.
Ella was taking Daybreak out for another test run, getting much needed practice from Wes. He gladly volunteered, for he was curious of how much she has grown in the last few days. So far, he was impressed. Compared to her first day with a staff, she swung Daybreak like a master. Or, at the least, imitated that of a master without bonking her head.
She spun on her back with the staff twirled between her legs and struck Wes by the side. He purposely took the blow to test the momentum in the strike. His aura took the damage, but he could feel the force it carried. Ella flipped onto her hindlegs, having adapted to standing on them, and thrusted the staff at his head.
Wes rolled back and spun on his back, kicking the staff out of her paws. It clanged behind him as he got back to his feet. Ella pouted. "Heeey! Don't go hurting Daybreak!"
Wes snickered. "Aww, you two bonded!"
Ella rolled her eyes and strutted around him. "Hmph!" she hummed with a flick of her bangs. She picked the staff up and willed it back to its baton state. "Mock me all you want, but I must treat Daybreak like it's another person. It is an extension of my will and all that jazz."
Wes tilted his head and examined her with a light grin. "I see…" He chuckled behind his paw.
Ella raised her brow. "What's so funny?"
"Heh…I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing because…well, look how much you've grown!" Ella blinked with confusion. "I've never seen you so passionate about learning a new skill! It's only been a week, but…you're really changing." He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I take back all those times I called you a snobby princess. You're just as awesome as you are now!"
Ella blinked, then smiled at him. "Thanks Wes." She looked down at Daybreak, then suddenly shot suspicious glares. "Wait…when did you call me a snobby princess?"
Wes puffed his cheeks out and darted his eyes around. "Definitely…not before we dated…" She slugged him in the foreleg, hard. "OWWWW" he whined, rubbing his sore foreleg. "I'm sorry!"
Ella huffed, then drooped her ears and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, too. Here, this'll make you feel better."
Wes honestly expected a hug, but he got a different, shocking surprise. She leaned in and gave him a friendly peck on the cheek. She meant nothing more than that, but Wes' face flushed deep red and his ears and tail flew up. A shiver went up his body before going completely rigid.
Ella chuckled behind her paw, smirking. "What? Just a friendly little kiss. Heh…you were always awkward about that stuff."
Wes loosened a bit, but covered his face under his hat. "Y-Y-Y-Yeah…" He turned away and shivered in place.
She giggled aloud, feeling fits of laughter bubbling to the surface so great that she had to hold her stomach. "You're such an awkward dork!"
"S-S-Shut up! It's just weird being kissed by your ex!"
Ella patted him on the back. "Keep it together, champ." She headed back towards the shop.
Wes shook all the awkwardness off and quickly followed after. Once his face felt moderately cool, he asked, "S-So…I've been meaning to ask. Are you…ever going to find something for a career path?"
She glanced at him with a raised brow. "How so?"
"I still want to be a treasure hunter, that much is obvious. Flint wants to be an archeologist and Gwyn wants to run her mother's shop. Not sure about Tony, maybe stay as a thief, but at least Griffin has a line of work to fall back on." He gestured at her. "You? Not so much."
Ella shrugged. "Eh, if nothing works out, I'll just keeping working towards my Ancient Text major."
"Doesn't seem like something you want to do. You have good grades, but not the right attitude."
The Espeon sighed and stopped at the door. "Look, I just don't know yet. Between my parents and this whole thing with the shadows, not much time to think about my desires. We can't all be as sure-fired as you." She pulled on the headband. "All this talk of destiny and junk makes me wonder if the future is truly set. A stupid prophecy warning us we could all die does not help my confidence."
"You sound fine."
"Someone has to keep calm around here. I'll be as snarky as I have to if it'll keep me from having a panic attack," she said with a proud smirk.
Wes shared a soft smile with her. "Are you just worried that you don't know what you want?"
She sighed and rubbed her foreleg. "Best way of putting it…"
Wes hooked his foreleg around her neck and pulled her into a side hug. "Then maybe we should find out what you do like! We could go all around the region and find something that suits your tastes! You could be a fashion designer, or a spa person, or a treasure hunter-!"
"Wes," Ella mumbled warningly.
Wes sweated with a sheepish grin. "Or, you know, a…bar owner," he finished with a quiet chuckle.
Ella rolled her eyes, but smirked nonetheless. "Well, at least you're trying." She reached for the door and placed her paw on the door, slowly sliding it open…
…A moment of pause…
Wes and Ella's eyes widened, then immediately jumped away from each other as arrows of black struck down on the porch from behind. Wes sensed a hostile magical presence, while Ella sensed the sudden change in the air behind them. The attacks completely obliterated where they stood. They rolled across the porch, then faced the sudden ambush.
Black spears with coarse textures, rattling like they were possessed. They dug through the floorboards, drilling themselves loose, then pulled out. They spun through the air, then flew at the Eeveelutions. Ella extended out Daybreak and deflected the spears. Wes activated his Amulet of Umbra and let the spears pass through him.
"Wes!" Ella shouted.
"Yeah, I know!" He pulled out the Vortex Amulet and leaped at the spears attacking Ella. He aimed the amulet and sucked the levitating spears into the void. The ones that attacked him homed in on him, but he intercepted and sucked them in as well.
Ella growled and glared off at the distance. "Is this what it feels like sensing enemies?!"
Wes tucked the amulet away and got into an attack stance. "For the most part!" He glared cautiously. "But you're not sensing what I'm feeling…"
"Don't have to…I can see it."
Clear as crystal, a force they haven't faced in quite some time made its return. The screeching and laughing as a dark fog inched towards the shop. The gleaming red eyes that pierced through locked on the two Eeveelutions, greedily wishing to have the first kill.
That wasn't all. They saw the figure floating above the fog. A Cradily very similar to the Purrloin the intercepted weeks ago. Same evil aura tainted with the darkness and an evil glare for them only. However, unlike the poisonous feline from before, their new enemy came ready with black sand surrounding her body. She flew with a pair of misshapen wings.
It wasn't long before their teammates came rushing down after hearing the commotion. They recoiled in surprise, with Tony commenting, "You have got to be kidding me!"
Courtney happened to follow and poked her head out between the group. "What's going on?"
Gwyn swiftly pushed her back into the shop. "Sweetie, stay inside and don't come out until we say so!"
Ella glared. "Better yet, get your mother! NOW!" Courtney was shaking, but obeyed and scampered back inside to fetch her mother.
Griffin drew out Endless Regret and aimed it at the army of darkness. "We can't get any peace and quiet without you freaks coming along, can we?"
Rubia narrowed her eyes and snickered. "Foolish treasure hunters…you are in the presence of your end. I am much more than that weakling, Lithia. Thanks to the superb genius of Lord Aeternus, I have evolved beyond that of a Pokémon!" She spread her wings and laughed aloud. "Take note of the symbol of death! The iron rains await to coat this lush land in your scarlet life force!"
Tony smirked and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "What beautiful imagery! Truly a work of art!" He glared coolly. "And you know what they say? Art is never truly appreciated until the artist goes to the grave!" He threw his hands out and fired two powerful Lightning Shots right at her.
Rubia glared and commanded the iron sand to spin around her. Not only did it block the Lightning Shot, it trapped it with a cloud of iron. A cloud shaped like a sphere, with electricity bouncing around inside, perfectly stabilized. The shadow Cradily laughed. "The magnetic properties of this sand leave half your spells utterly useless…to you, at least." She fired the sphere back at them.
Tony got in front of them and held his hands out. "Fulgur Channeling!" The sphere slammed into his hands. He absorbed the electricity, but the sand bunched into sharp blades and cut his skin as it flew by. "AGH!" He held his wrists and stumbled back.
"You okay?!" Flint asked.
Tony clenched his fists and watched as the sand particles returned to their wielder. "It's iron…it must be some magnetic ore she's channeling. She's shaping the sand to create weapons."
Griffin growled and leaped straight forward in the air. "Try blocking this!" Exosus Release exploded from the blade as he went for the swing.
Rubia, however, just smirked. "Don't have to."
Griffin swung, but felt the sword stop in mid-flight. Exosus Release canceled out, revealing the sand particles surrounding his sword. He hung from the suspended sword's hilt, glaring at the ancient plant.
Rubia laughed. "Oh, how weapons become your worst nightmare when they turn on the wielder. Can't fight my magnetic hold in the air." She flicked her tentacles, commanding Endless Regret to spin out of Griffin's grip and aim right at his neck.
Griffin snapped his fingers and sent the sword away, leaving only the sand behind. He held his hands out and shouted, "Exosus Release!" The far more violent explosion of magic blasted the ancient plant in the face and sent him flying back at the ground. He landed, dragging up dirt from under his feet.
He prayed for his attack to land a damaging blow, but the clearing smoke revealed the disappointing results. A sphere of metallic black, solid and reinforced, smoking from the heat of the hateful magic. Not a scratch to be seen. The solid structure broke down into particles and dispersed into a dense cloud, surrounding the ancient plant.
She laughed haughtily. "The power of darkness has made me far stronger than you hopeless mortals! I have exceeded my predecessors of the shadows!" The sand clumped together and formed dozens of sharp spears. "Make this easier on yourself while you still can! Relinquish control of the keys and I shall make your deaths only moderately painless!"
Wes tapped his Star Amulet and brought out his magic. As his fur turned purple, he shouted, "These keys don't belong to you! If you want them, you'll have to try and kill us all!"
Rubia seemed to smirk as her eyes lit up. "I can get behind that! Spear of Darkness: Iron Night Rainfall!" The spears wrapped in a thick cloak of darkness before being hurled down on the treasure hunters.
Gwyn slammed her hands down. "Accelerated Growth!" The grass grew to ridiculous size and bunched into a dense wall. The spears drove into the grass shield, but burned their way through. They targeted the wide-eyed Mew, but an orange crystal fist sprung from nowhere and slammed into the spearhead.
Half the spear broke into grains and scattered in the air. Flint let out a mighty cry as his Guardian fully materialized and bashed its rapid-fire fists into the spears. Sand and darkness blew apart.
The sand bunched together into a large drill and slammed against the Guardian. Flint flinched at the discomfort transferred to his chest, but he ordered the Guardian to grab hold of the spiraling drill head and push back. The grinding of solid mineral against the Guardian's hands shot sparks.
Wes leaped over and activated Mystic Burst, slamming his paw down on the drill and breaking it into pieces. Before it could reform, Griffin pulled back Twin Storms and slashed with violent air slashes that sent the pieces flying back to their wielder. Rubia didn't flinch as the pieces were caught in her magnetic field and orbited around her.
She glared. "All that effort and I haven't even broken a sweat? Pitiful."
Tony wiped the blood off his arms and smirked. "Nah. We're just going easy on you so you don't throw a tantrum."
Her glare turned dark and irritated. "I will make an example of you, otter. Shadows!" They cried out to their active leader. "…tear them apart."
Like a chaotic hurricane, the shadows rocketed forward in a large horde, cackling with mouths wide up in horrific grins. It was like an avalanche of snow coming right towards them. The team held up their weapons and got into readied stances. A cluster of shadows sprung from the pack and lunged right at the treasure hunters in sinister glee.
SHINK!
A gust of wind flew past the team, alarming them for a brief second. Then, to their eyes' amazement, quick successions of slashes cut through the cluster, leaving the shadows stunned in confusion. An Absol appeared in a quick flicker, kicking up dust in her landing. She wielded her sword in her teeth, with her eyes closed in a serene manner.
A brief calm overcame the chaos, then the shadows screamed out in agony as they exploded into shreds of darkness. The team was awestruck as they watched the shadow confetti flicker through the air. The shadows quickly tried to reform themselves, but Willow simply whipped her head around and flicked the sword seemingly once, only to deliver a brutal series of slashes that further shredded the phantoms.
Rubia watched in curiosity as the shadows, meeting the end of their regenerative abilities, fizzled away into nothing. Willow casually turned herself around and faced the large horde of fog looming over her. Thousands of red eyes glaring down on her with hatred, yet also cautious skepticism. The Absol grunted quietly, then bared her teeth.
"Get the hell off my lawn."
The shadows wailed at her in booming screeches, but not a flinch or sign of cowardice to be seen. She stared at them with stone cold eyes.
Rubia narrowed her eyes. What is this?
In the team's silence, Ella broke out in excitable cheers. "HAHA! Yeah, Master!" She showed her teeth in a wide smirk. "What the hell?! I thought you were done with fighting!"
Willow looked over her shoulder and flashed her own smirk. "Being retired doesn't mean I've lost my touch." Ella grinned, feeling almost giddy seeing the Absol finally back in action. "Now, if you kids are done gawking…" She swung the sword with brilliant strokes, parting the grass in her way with sharp breezes. "Mind helping me with the gardening? We seem to have a surplus of weeds today."
Tony cracked his knuckles and pulled out his electrified scalchops. "With pleasure." The other stepped up and drew their own weapons/spells.
Rubia glared at the resisting Pokémon, inspecting their rampant boldness, then broke out in quiet laughter. "I can sense the great skill you carry, Absol, but it won't be enough." She floated down to their level. "I am on a far greater plane of existence now that I have accepted darkness. Your blade won't hold up against my power."
Willow simply shook her head. "You poor, dumb child…as if I would waste my efforts on such an unworthy fool." She narrowed her eyes coldly. "I already see several weak points in your stance and guard. Reliance on that sand of yours won't save you from a master such as myself."
Rubia felt her anger rising. "Cocky bitch…"
The Absol then smirked. "Though, your own efforts won't be wasted. I have the perfect sparring partner for you." She glanced at Ella. "Give her hell, my disciple."
Ella blinked, taking a moment to process, then recoiled with a loud, "EH?! ARE YOU INSANE?!"
Willow chuckled. "See for yourself."
"I can't fight her! I'm still in training!"
"You'll be fine." She winked encouragingly. "You're ready."
Ella eased up and stared with shimmering eyes. "I…am?"
She nodded her head at the ancient plant. "It's time. Take off the bandana and you'll see you're much stronger than before."
Ella stared at her, analyzing the confidence in her eyes. No wavering in her decision or regret to behold. Dead seriousness with a warm encouragement, all in a single look. The Espeon thought she'd be crazy to take her word for it, but she herself felt her brief hesitance to diminish. She still had her friends to call upon.
Right now, it was time to prove her worth.
She breathed out, then walked towards Rubia with eyes narrowed with aplomb. The Cradily has heard much of this particular Espeon, ridiculed among the shadows and heralds, especially Nightmare and Aeternus, as the weak link to Team Ravenfield.
She groaned and flicked her tentacles. "Don't waste my time with this pathetic creature. Slaughter her!" The shadows sprung to her side and lunged at the Espeon.
Ella didn't back down, nor did she put up resistance. She closed her eyes and focused on the path ahead. Two shadows, arms morphed into swords, struck down on the Espeon with all their might. A blur of green and blue, however, countered their blows and held their swords in place.
"Step off," Griffin growled.
"Let the lady through," Tony ordered with his trademark smirk.
The horde of shadows roared and towered over the Espeon to crush her in a sea of darkness. The ground split open and wooden spires shot out before dividing the shadows and batting them out of the way. Gwyn had her hands through the ground, having eaten her Informis Oak berry. The shadows screeched and tried to converge again, but Wes and Flint's Guardian slammed into the massive clusters and knocked them down.
Rubia narrowed her eyes angrily. "Troublesome treasure hunters…"
Ella stamped her paw down and faced her opponent. Her fur swayed against the wind as she stared her down. She pulled out Daybreak and extended it, then spun it around before assuming an attack stance. All Rubia could do was stare back with a much less enthusiastic expression.
"I'm not wasting my precious time fighting a helpless princess."
Ella smirked. "Oh, I'm a princess, alright. And I'm here to deliver the royal ass whooping." She gripped on her bandana. "But I'm not as helpless as you believe." She yanked the bandana off and threw it down to the ground.
Willow grinned. "Good…how do you feel, Ella?"
Ella glared for a moment, then eased up as she examined herself. "…In all honesty, I was expecting something a bit more grandiose."
"My suggest is to take it easy."
"How so?"
Rubia growled and lifted herself into the air. "Enough!" The magnetic sand took the shape of dozens of knives. "I'll put an end to this quickly!" She flung the knives straight at her.
Ella shrieked. "What do I do?!"
"Use your powers and JUMP!" Willow ordered.
The knives were a meter away from skewering Ella. In that short window of time, she crouched down, her heartbeat slowing with the precious second she had. She closed her eyes, then jumped as high as she could.
She felt the air rushing past her fur. And, because she wasn't hollering in pain, she successfully dodged the attack. She opened her eyes a bit. "Heh…hey, that wasn't so-HOLY MOTHER OF ARCEUS!"
The Espeon didn't account for how much her psychic power boosted her jump. She just did what felt like a normal amount for a jump. Where was she now? Hundreds of feet in the sky!
She immediately clung to her staff and shivered with panic, her fur standing on end. A few seconds of cowering later, she realized she wasn't falling either. She wasn't even holding herself up with her Psychic, so she didn't understand what was keeping her afloat.
That's when she looked at Daybreak. A teal light surrounded the seven-section staff, her psychic aura, and kept her suspended in the air. It reacted to her psychic powers and acted accordingly to her desires. In other words, it kept her from plummeting into solid dirt.
"Whoa…" she awed. "This is so freakin' cool…" She stepped onto Daybreak like a broomstick and wobbled to keep her balance. "Ugh…why couldn't I have learned to ride a broomstick?"
She sensed a disturbance through her fur. Refusing to look, she guided Daybreak out of the way and narrowly avoid an upward shower of spikes. Ella wobbled on the thin staff, just big enough to stand on with a paw. She looked around and saw the high-speed flying Cradily zooming right at her.
"So, you've learn some new tricks?! You better hope they keep you alive!" She summoned more of her black sand, forming them into the shape of two giant cubes.
Ella's face paled. "Eep…"
The cubes loomed side-by-side of her and hurled into her. Ella closed her eyes and Daybreak ceased levitating, dropping her just before the cubes slammed into her. She flailed her forelegs as she desperately reached out for Daybreak.
"And this is why I hate skydiving!" She grabbed Daybreak and mentally commanded it to slow her fall. As she eased to a comfortable speed, more iron spikes rained down after her. She glared and stood atop Daybreak. "Okay, so a small jump sent me all the way up here. Let's see one I can do on the offense."
She concentrated psychic power into her gem, then unleashed a wide beam that pulverized the sand spikes. Rubia formed a shell over herself and blocked the beam as she was engulfed.
Down below, the others paused in their fight to gawk at the brilliant light. "Legends above…" Tony muttered in shock.
"Holy me!" Gwyn exclaimed. "I've never seen Ella fire something that big!"
Willow smirked. "It's the results of her patience. A long-awaited gift of hers as finally returned, with improvements to the rough patches."
Wes grinned. "This is Ella's first big fight! This is so AWESOME!"
"Uh, can we worry about our own lives first?!" Flint shouted as shadows started swarming him. His Guardian appeared by his side and thrashed against the dark cluster.
The shadows flew upward and fired down dark magic beams. Griffin jumped and slashed through one with Endless Regret, absorbing the magic through the blade before erupting it with his own. "Exosus Release!" He swung and obliterated the shadows in a red blaze.
A large group of them sprung from the dust and grabbed hold of the Grovyle. They took hold of his arms and readied to sink their claws into him. A flurry of Lightning Shots, however, cut through them and tore their bodies to shreds. Tony smirked cockily. "You owe me one, Hothead."
"Shut up, Sparks." Griffin ripped his arm free and gripped one of the shadows. It screamed out in agony from Griffin's spiteful aura burning it. The Grovyle smirked as he felt the anger absorb into him. "These things are a gold mine for my anima."
Gwyn dodged Spears of Darkness while countering with her whip arm. She slashed four in a row, then turned her arm back to normal and fired bark projectiles. The shadows braced the hits and swirled around the Mew, trapping her in a cocoon of darkness.
"This one! This one must be silenced! This one must be captured!" they wailed, repeatedly firing at the trapped Mew.
Gwyn shrieked and jumped around the shots. "I have no idea what you're doing, but I'm not your prisoner!" She pulled out a Leech berry and threw it into her mouth. Her body exploded with green light and shed the oak wood off her body for her red fur and tendril hair.
The shadows fired dark beams at her, but she struck them with her tendrils and sucked up the magic. She clasped her hands together and slammed them into the ground. The shock blew the shadows away from her. She aimed her tendrils and fired back the absorbed magic with twice the power, exploding them into pieces.
Shadows soared into the sky and fired down arrows on Wes and Willow. They shared a nod, then Willow leaped. With swift movements of her head, she cut down the arrows in the blink of an eye. Wes formed a Warp Pad under his feet and rocketed up until he was directly behind the shadows.
Their eyes widened at the blinding purple light emanating in front of him. "Mystic…BEAM!" The magical beam vaporized them on the spot.
Willow landed safely and smirked. "Mystic Beam…that's one of your old man's favorites."
Wes landed next to her and grinned. "I learned two of the Mystic spells just from watching him."
Willow laughed. "Keep that up and you might learn the two advanced Mystic spells." She raced off and started slashing down shadows.
Wes blinked. "The advanced leveled…?" He grinned with sparkling eyes. "Sweet~!"
Back in the sky, Ella flew back and glared at the smoking sphere. It crumbled back into sand and swirled around Rubia. The Cradily opened her eyes and glared at the Espeon. "Just as I thought. You aren't worth the trouble."
Ella blinked through her glare, then raised a cocky smirk. "Heh…I wasn't even trying to shoot at full power." She looked herself over and laughed. "I feel nothing different, but I can tell I've gotten stronger." She raised her paw and tauntingly beckoned the ancient plant over. "Let's see how much trouble I really am."
Rubia growled, then fired off knives of clustered sand. Ella leaned to the left and swerved around the knives. She hopped off her staff and flew herself at the Cradily. She raised her paw and flicked her digits, mentally swinging Daybreak into her. Rubia formed a staff of her own and blocked the attack.
A clash of telekinetically controlled weapons.
Ella glared and swung her paw down, commanded her staff to spin and grind against the sand staff. Rubia grunted and increased the density of hers. Ella focused on the ancient plant before firing a telekinetic pulse directly at her mind. The shock hit Rubia so hard, she lost her concentration, allowing Daybreak to break through the sand staff and bash her on the head.
The Espeon laughed aloud. "HA! I didn't think I could do that!" She snickered through her teeth. "Now all I need to do is learn to teleport and I'll be set for life!" She fired another psychic beam at the shadow Cradily.
Rubia expanded her wings and thrusted them into a dense barrier that cupped the telekinetic blast. She summoned more sand from inside herself and fired it around the barrier. The sand swirled together into small spheres.
Ella stopped firing and observed the spheres. "Oh please, I can play baseball with these stupid things!"
Rubia, however, just laughed. "Keep in mind, weakling, that I control the magnetic forces of this mineral. And we are in the zone that generates the most storms of any region!"
Ella's eyes widened, then gazed up at the gray clouds overhead. The tingling in her fur told her something was coming. With the spheres hovering around her, she could tell she wasn't in for a welcoming surprise.
Flashes of blue rumbled in the clouds, centered right over her head. Rubia was still, staring at them, then flicked her tentacles down. Streaks of lightning came down from the sky and struck the individual orbs, wrapping them in their thunderous energy. Ella was prepping to fly as fast as she could from the orb field, but it was too late.
Trapping her in a cage of lightning, she was bombarded with an agonizing wave of pain and suffering. She screamed at the top of her lungs, feeling her skin burning and her muscles convulsing. It was no magic aura, but her psychic field kept her from suffering severe, even fatal, damage. It didn't, obviously, lessen the pain coursing through her system.
Rubia threw her head back and laughed maliciously at her suffering. "All that poise and self-confidence and no effort to back it! This is the big leagues, sister! You're no threat like your pathetic teammates, and they are inferior to the darkness! You were doomed from the start!"
Ella found the willpower through her pain to clench her teeth and shoot a venomous glare at the ancient plant. "Hasn't…anyone…told you…not to monologue…when you're…losing?!" She flicked her digits.
Daybreak flung itself out of the electric cage. Ella couldn't think straight and just wanted it to whack the shadow plant senselessly. Instead, much to her surprise, the two ends of the staff detached and soared right at Rubia. Surprised herself, she whipped up some magnetic sand to counter it, but the rest of the staff came spinning and jabbed her in the stomach.
The two separate batons flew behind Rubia and, syphoning off the bond with its wielder, fired jagged psychic beams straight into her back. Rubia cried out in pain. The beams were actually burning her, like they were accelerating the molecules to cause burn damage.
Either way, it was enough to break concentration and release Ella. Unable to concentrate herself, she plummeted through the air with a pounding headache. However, as she tried to muster up a levitation field, the rest of her staff separated into five batons and flew to her aid. Four of them positioned under her paws and slowed her fall until she was floating.
Her eyes widened. It was like she was standing on some sort of hover glider. Looking around, she saw the rest of her staff. Four batons supporting her in the air, three batons surrounding her like flying sentry turrets. She could see her own psychic energy connected with the weapon. She could feel her own presence in the staff, like it was its own living being.
A psychic weapon meant for a powerful psychic. Ella blinked at the main baton, the one with the grip. It floated close to her side, almost like a bodyguard. It was odd. She was in control of it, but it felt like it was standing by her side own its own.
A short, quiet chuckle huffed from under her breath, then she broke out into a wide smirk and laughed through her teeth. "Best. Weapon. Ever."
Her moment of glee aside, she focused back on the fight and, just as she did, narrowly avoided projectile spikes flying her way. She yelped and took off higher into the sky. Rubia flapped her magnetic sand wings and pursued her prey. She summoned more sand from her tentacles and fired them into arrow shots.
Ella narrowed her eyes, then commanded the three sentry batons to fire down on the projectiles. The sand exploded to pieces, but reformed and resumed their chase. As long as Rubia could concentrate, her attacks can't be stopped so easily.
Instead, Ella decided to take herself higher. She felt the cold air as she ascended the sky, fighting back the bitter chills biting her skin. She looked back and saw the sand attracting more lightning, then taking the shape of a cube with a gaping hole. Possibly a cage to trap her in with limited escape options.
That wasn't happening on her watch.
Ella burst through the clouds and swerved around the stray lightning firing all over. She yelped from a zap singing the tip of her ear. She whined after smelling the burnt fur. "My precious fur! I'm so sorry!" After this, she was booking an extra-long spa session. Her poor, luxurious fur suffered enough strain for one week.
The Espeon closed her eyes and focused closely on the lightning in the clouds. Timing was key since lightning was pretty fast. The second she sensed the change in the air, she reeled back and avoided a bolt flying by her face. She glided through lightning bolts firing all over, keeping special care of where she was at all times.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this," she praised herself. She glared. "But where's big bad and crazy?" Her fur tingled in alarm. "There!" She divebombed to avoid the cube trap flying out of nowhere. Her three sentries turned and fired psychic beams at the cube.
Ella pulled up and soared across the clouds once more, but was met with another surprise attack. This time, a large whip of black sand coated in the lightning. She veered out of the way, but her uniform was slashed across the right side. She winced at the burns, but powered on through.
She closed her eyes and tried to reach out to her opponent via telepathy. She did it once before back in the water temple, though when she was putting massive strain on herself. But now, she might have an easier time so long as she can remember how she did it.
'Testing…Testing, one, two three.'
"What the?!" she heard somewhere in the clouds. "Where are you?!" Ella smirked.
'Ooh, so this is what it feels like to have mental conversations. I'm upset I never discovered this sooner.'
'YOU?! Get out of my head!'
'Hmm…NAH! I'm having too much fun!'
'Grr…foolish girl…you don't even realize the forces you are challenging!'
Ella's sixth sense went wild again. She tried to dodge, but a large wave of sand overwhelmed her and piled around her. She kicked and screamed as she was swallowed into the perfect cube, this time completely sealed shut. Rubia dropped from above and landed on the cube.
"And now, I invite you to enjoy our electroshock therapy. It's quite invigorating…for me!" Spikes formed out of the cube. Acting as lightning rods, the attracted the lightning from the clouds and electrified the inside of the cube.
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Ella screamed in agony.
Rubia floated back and laughed as the Espeon screamed inside. She could just imagine her flailing and kicking, her fur burning away and her bones sizzling against the heat. She was going to enjoy listening to the Espeon quiver and scream until she was cooked alive.
Ella's screaming lasted a total of ten seconds before all went quiet inside. Rubia chuckled and floated closer to the box. "What? That's it? I expected more from you." No response. "Oh, did the more weakling had enough? Are you dead yet? I hope you're not. I'm having too much fun torturing you."
She parted open the front of the cube, while forming a spear wrapped in Spear of Darkness. "You need to be strong to survive. And sadly, you're outclass-!"
Four batons flew out and rammed full force into the Cradily's face. She felt something, maybe her skull, cracking as she was rocketed backwards with batons blazing out psychic energy like, well, rockets. They fired a short concussive blast before returning back to the crumbling cube.
Rubia shook her head angerly and scowled as her skull and face healed up. "How?!"
Ella floated out of the crumbling cube, not looking all that bad. She held up Daybreak as a four-sectioned staff while riding on three of its batons. She smirked. "These things make surprisingly good barriers." She cleared her throat, then winked with a smug demeanor. "Did you enjoy my acting? I think my screaming was pretty convincing."
Rubia growled. "You dare make a fool of an ascended being?!" She summoned up the sand before her, mixing shadow power through it. "You shall atone for your misdeeds!" She fired a spiraling beam of magnetic sand and destructive shadow.
Ella spun her staff, then separated it into the batons. They spaced out into the four corners of a square. They lit up in psychic energy and connected, creating a thin teal barrier that shielded Ella from the blast. She smirked at the futile attack.
"Got anymore bag of tricks?" she asked mockingly. She raised her brow when the attack ceased and the sand retreated back to Rubia.
The magnetic sand swirled overhead and took the shape of a large set of jaws, similar to that of a trap. Attracting the lightning of the clouds, the jaws lit up in blinding light.
Ella blinked, then deadpanned. "Ah shit…" She took off flying on her separated staff as the jaws chased her down with vicious snaps.
She swerved downward, firing off psychic beams to slow the ancient plant down. Rubia pulled up a barrier of her own and sponged the attacks. Ella knew if she was a bit more experienced with her abilities, this battle would be over in seconds. All she could confidently manage were psychic beams and barriers.
There's got to be a way to put her down for good. She looked at her separated staff. There's still so much I need to learn about Daybreak. All I really know is that it magnifies my powers through each of the batons.
…a lightbulb dinged in the Espeon's head.
Magnifies my psychic powers, eh? Ella looked back as the snapping jaws drew closer. I need somewhere to draw her attention, though.
Thinking had to wait. The jaws got a sudden boost in lunging and nearly bit down on the Espeon's tail. She connected five of the batons, balancing herself on the last two, and spun the staff against the jaw's teeth. Barely a crack to be made.
Ella growled, then put a little more force into her hit. Channeling psychic power around the staff, she spun it like an out of control windmill and slammed it hard on the teeth just as it went to snap down on her. The added strength to the staff shattered through and broke off a piece.
Rubia flicked her tentacle and commanded the chipped piece to reshape into dozens of knives. Ella flicked her digits wildly and commanded all seven batons to strike down the knives in a blinding flurry. She kept herself afloat in the air, diving straight down as the knives quickened their furious chase. Rubia followed behind, diving at full speed and whipping up more of her magnetic sand.
Ella flew on four of the batons and took a sharp right, nearly falling off from the sudden directional change. She glared back, then flicked her digits, ordering the three hovering batons to fire psychic beams at the chasing plant. Rubia used her sand as whips and struck down the beams, then threw a whip straight for the Espeon's ankle.
She yelped before being flung off Daybreak. The sand coiled around her and brought her straight to Rubia. The shadow plant growled before shaping more of her sand into small pyramids. She attracted the lightning once more and charged the pyramids with it.
"This time, you won't be acting your way out of this one!" Rubia snarled. Ella squirmed in the tight coils. She lit up her gem, but more coils wrapped around her head. "Ah, ah, ah. No more of that."
Ella gritted her teeth as the coils squeezed her, suppressing all manner of movement. "You're a…sore loser…" she huffed, feeling great difficulty in breathing.
Rubia laughed dryly. "I have no regrets. So long as I eliminate you pesky treasure hunters and claim the keys for my master, all shall be set right."
Ella growled through her bared teeth, then surprised Rubia with a cunning smirk. "What was it you said to my friend earlier? Can't fight your magnetic hold in the air?" She squirmed around before freeing her paw. "Can't do much with gravity either!"
Rubia's eyes widened. "Wait, don't-!"
Ella flicked her paw down and, suddenly, a ton of pressure pushed down on Rubia and her magnetic sand. Ella gritted her teeth as she fought through the strain. She hadn't had much practice in altering the gravity of a select area, especially to not affect herself.
Thankfully, Rubia was unprepared for the assault and lost her grip on the Espeon. Her wings gave and collapsed into dust, throwing her downward. The coils around Ella broke apart, allowing the Espeon to freefall back to the earth.
She mentally called out to Daybreak and saw the seven streaking lights heading her way. "Nice!" She looked back down as she fell and spotted a gorge nearby. What caught her attention was the lightning periodically striking into it. It didn't seem to be aiming for anywhere other than that gorge.
It made her smirk deviously. And there's my set up. Daybreak glided under her paws until she was on, then she swerved in the direction of the gorge.
Rubia recovered during her fall and reformed her sand wings. She shook her head and scanned the sky before spotting the fleeing Espeon. She growled. "Cheap trick…" She zoomed after her.
Ella dived into the gorge and flew straight through it. She noticed the large mounds of earth that attracted the lightning. "More magical properties of the land, I bet," she told herself.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Ella felt the incoming projectiles, but they were far faster than anything she trained to intercept. A black sphere struck her in the center of the back and flung her off of Daybreak. She formed a barrier over her body and sponged the impact into the mound.
"Ooouuuhhh…" she moaned. She pulled herself up and shook her head. "How do those guys deal with taking so many hits…" Daybreak floated before her before fully reconnecting into its seven-piece staff. She took hold of the grip and set it back to its baton mode.
She glared up as Rubia approached at near Mach speeds, evident by the cone of air forming around her. Ella quickly strapped Daybreak to her back, powered her legs with her powers, then took off.
Since there were a surplus of mound within the gorge, Ella used them as a stone pathway all the way through. She took long jumps between them without slowing her speed. She sensed the air as Rubia used her pyramids sentries to fire beams of lightning right at her. The Espeon kept on her guard and kept going full speed ahead.
It felt like time was slowly around her. She never experienced moving so fast with her psychic abilities before. It was breathtaking, to say the least. She now understood how Tony felt moving so fast. The rush of wind through her fur and the gentle steps that seemed to take her for miles, she almost didn't want to stop.
She hopped between the mounds with Rubia close on her tail. She formed more of her pyramids and fired even more electrical beams. Ella snapped out of her daydreams when a beam grazed by her cheek, once more singing her precious fur.
The Espeon was reaching her limit on her patience. She glared back furiously and shouted, "I swear, if you do that to my luxurious fur ONE MORE TIME-!" She stopped and jumped off one paw, flying up into the air to avoid a volley of beams.
Rubia laughed evilly. "You have other things to worry about than your dull fur! Like your life!"
"…" Ella closed her eyes, then took a deep, quiet breath. "…dull?"
Rubia darted straight at her while she was motionless in the air. "Got you!" She formed four spears wrapped in Spear of Darkness and thrusted them.
Ella snapped her eyes open, now suddenly pissed off. Her eyes blazed with psychic power, then she froze the Cradily in a psychic field. She couldn't move a muscle, best she could do was twitch.
"I was going to be nice, even though you attacked my friends, but you crossed a line." Ella raised her paws, channeling her power through them. "No one talks bad about my fur!"
She slammed her paws down and slapped the Cradily straight into the ground, violent cracking the ground. Ella felt the shockwaves brush past her. She slowly floated down and landed on one of the rock mounds.
She huffed, then flicked her paw through her fur proudly. "It takes work to look this good." She heard a distinct crackling overhead and felt the approach of a thunderbolt. "CRAP!" She jumped back and avoided it just in time.
However, in the brief flash, a black drill pierced through the light and slammed into her stomach. She gasped out, only barely having time to place a psychic shield over her body. It ripped a hole through her uniform, though.
She was knocked off and tumbled across the ground, landing at the end of the gorge: a massive rocky crater with several of those lightning attracting mounds rung around her.
She pushed herself to her feet and shook her head. She panted quietly. "I don't think I can keep this up all da-AAAHHH!" She wasn't able to concentrate on her surroundings, allowing a spike to sliced across her side. She collapsed and pressed her paw against the wound. She bared her teeth and suppressed her screams of pain.
Now on full alert, she sensed more of those black spikes raining towards her. She rolled and psychically bounced off the ground. She flew around the crater as spikes chased her down. She glared and spotted Rubia flying over her.
"You have nowhere else to flee, Espeon! Now die!" Now with fully charged pyramids sentries, she fired down larges beams of lightning.
Ella threw her paws up and pushed against the beams. The beams rushed over her as she forced them back with a psychic barrier. She grunted and felt the strain on her mind, combined with the wounds she received. She could feel the ground heating up from the lightning. She could see through her peripherals that it was slowly turning red.
Rubia laughed, drawing in tons of lightning to keep the beams going at full force. "Tell me! How does it feel to gaze upon death?! Just give up! You're weak! You can't match up to the Shadow King! None of you can!"
Ella sweated, slowly losing her vigor and her mental strength. The beam inched closer by the second. She panted quietly, then closed her eyes. Teleport, teleport, teleport! She still couldn't. What does a girl need to do to get some darn teleportation?!
She suddenly jolted into the ground, nearly breaking what little concentration she could sustain. She looked down and saw the ground was losing durability under the stress and heat. Ella blinked, then looked at Daybreak. Daybreak! Heed my commands!
Rubia pushed harder with the beams, feeling the last of the Espeon's strength dwindling. "Just a few more seconds and I'll have won!" She laughed to herself. "Was there any doubt? How can a puny Espeon such as you ever match the likes of a being reborn from darkness?!" She glared. "Now…DIE!" Giving one final push, she sent a burst of lightning down the beam and obliterated the ground in a blinding explosion.
A dust cloud was kicked up in the blast, shrouding the whole crater in obscurity. Rubia narrowed her eyes and descended into the dust, roughly where Ella should be…or, hopefully, the cooked smear of her remains.
She touched down and shuffled over to the Espeon's resting place. The Cradily rolled her eyes. "This was all meant to be. For all your whining about your fur and hopeless insistence of strength, you've lost sight of your life." She formed the sand into a large fan and blew the dust away from the site. "That is why you've failed. Enjoy your time in the afterlife, you foolish…"
A blank look overtook her face, staring at the ground before her. The condensed, magnetic sand rumbled with tension, cracking under the mental connection emanating from its wielder. That look of blankness broke apart, as a look of rage overcame the Cradily with a fury.
"WHAT?!"
What she stood before was not the blackened smear of a once living creature, but a hastily carved hole that led down into the dark. Rubia's eye twitched in anger. She looked around furiously, but all she could see was dust.
"SHOW YOURSELF!"
'Hehehe…you don't have to shout. Let's use our indoor voices.'
A voice that came not from any direction, but within the mind. Rubia glared. 'You! Why can't you learn your place and stay dead?! Don't you see?! You can't beat me! Try as you might, you will never surpass me!'
'And for that…you've committed three offenses in my presence.' Rubia heard the hurried scurrying of paw somewhere in the smoke.
The Cradily's eyes went bloodshot as she formed all the magnetic sand she had on her into knives, wings and claws connected to her, and dozens of pyramids to attract lightning. "Where are you?!" Lightning shot from the sky and connected with the pyramids, then she started firing into the dust.
'Offense number one: you and your goons attacked my friends, me, and endangered the lives of an innocent family that's been through enough of your master's shit.'
"Do you think you've won?! I'm thousands of times stronger than you ever will!" She extended her claws into the dust and swiped wildly at the air, only connecting with ground and stone.
'Offense number two: you damaged my precious fur. Attack me all you want, but I refuse to let anyone destroy the efforts I've made to retain the natural beauty and silkiness of my luxurious fur.'
Rubia took off into the air and transformed every last bit of sand (minus her wings) into thousands of thin, yet sharp knives. "Spear of Darkness: Eternal Iron Blood Rain!" The knives blazed with darkness. "Now disappear FOR GOOD!" She rained the knives into the crater, guaranteeing that not a single one will miss its mark. There were far too many to dodge all of them.
The satisfying clang of iron to ground should've warmed her heart, but there were no agonizing screams. Her eyes widened when two batons pierced from the dust with a blaze of psychic energy trailing behind. She hardened her wings and blocked the two batons. They pushed against her might, forcing her to use the darkness within to increase her wings' strength.
'And finally…offense number 3.'
Rubia's eyes widened, spotting the streak of light flying out from the dust and appearing right over her. She turned her head with a struggle, eyes shaking in shock.
"You underestimated me."
Daybreak swung down with increased force, cracking the Cradily's skull and breaking her concentration. With the power of psychic, Rubia was batted straight downward and crashed through the ground, rumbling the very earth around her.
The ground split open and Rubia roared with rage, firing off streaks of magnetic sand at her opponent. Ella freefell towards her, swerving around the sand with Daybreak fully connected. She smirked. "I wonder…"
She grabbed the end of her staff, then flung it downward. Just as she hoped, the sections came undone, only now connected by a thick tether of psychic energy. The staff-turned-whip struck Rubia square in the face, stunning her for a second.
Ella landed, cushioning the fall with telekinesis, then flung the staff whip at the ancient plant and bound her in it. Using her psychic, she spun herself in place and flailed Rubia around the crater, dragging her through stone and rock. Ella jolted her from the ground, then skipped her across until she collided with the crater walls.
As the shadow plant pulled herself out and got her bearings in order, Ella set Daybreak back to its staff form, then rushed her down. Rubia intercepted her strike with a hastily made staff. Ella grunted, then channeled her psychic power through her staff. Since she still had a long way to go before she could fight properly with it, this was a close second.
She spun the staff between her legs and clashed with the ancient plant's iron staff. Darkness and psychic energy bounced off each other with each consecutive blow. Ella spun on her back and slammed Daybreak into Rubia's side, then jumped back and blasted her with a psychic beam.
Rubia created claws and anchored herself down. "I'm not…done yet!" she screamed, throwing herself at the Espeon.
Ella split Daybreak apart, then leapt over the ancient plant. She flicked her digits down and trapped Rubia under gravitational pressure. She grunted and tried to push herself up while the ground cracked beneath her. Ella elevated herself into the air and spread her forelegs out.
"Tell your boss that Team Ravenfield's weakest link isn't as weak as they judged!" Daybreak's seven batons floated around her in a circle. "You failed because you didn't see me as a real opponent." She aimed her paws down, while the ends of the batons aimed down at the plant as well. "And I'm far from reaching my limit now."
Rubia, trapped and unfocused, could only look up at the ring of batons. They glowed in Ella's psychic energy, then that energy swirled into the center of their circle. Psychic power was building up into a massive sphere of condensed power. That light reflected off her horrified eyes.
Ella glared. "Now, if you're done with your impudent piety for the shadows…let there be light!"
Reaching maximum power, Daybreak fired the condensed psychic energy into an all-encompassing beam that pushed the air apart. The show of power demonstrated diverted all focus away from the gravity trap, but the beam was far too fast for Rubia to effectively dodge.
She cocooned herself within the toughest shell of magnetic ore she could manage, reinforcing it with her darkness. However, she didn't reinforce it in time, for the energy was putting great strain on the shell and cracking through. Rubia kept piling on more of the magnetic ore as her eyes widened with terror in each passing second, the light drawing closer.
"No, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NNNNNOOOOO!" she screamed as the beam broke through and crushed her under its immense power.
The gorge crater erupted with light that could be seen for miles. It clearly didn't go unnoticed by Team Ravenfield and Willow as they were dwindling the shadows' numbers.
Wes shredded a shadow apart with Lumios Storm before commenting, "Is that Ella's?!"
Griffin whistled at the sight. "She's got some power."
Willow spat her sword out and jabbed it into the ground, smirking. "What did you expect? These guys reign supreme in the darkness, but Ella…she rises with the sun."
The blinding light of the psychic beam slowly faded after initial firing. Having exhausted herself from the heat of battle, Ella laid on her side as Daybreak brought her to the ground. She held her forehead and groaned. "Ugh…gave myself another headache…" Feeling curious, she held her paw up and focused. She grinned happily when she saw the familiar teal aura around it. "But I'll take this one over the last!"
Daybreak reached solid ground. Ella rolled onto her feet, feeling a little wobbly, then commanded Daybreak back into its single baton form. She strapped it onto her back, then walked towards the smoking crater where Rubia laid in her defeat.
The psychic blast left her nearly immobile. All she could do was twitch and squirm. The immense force that slammed down on her placed too much strain on her weary body. Her healing factor worked to repair the damage, but she was far too exhausted to move herself.
She glared weakly at the Espeon who stood above her. As a desperate act of retaliation, she summoned up magnetic sand knives and flung them at her. However, Ella merely held her paw up and stopped them in their tracks. She swirled her digit and collected all the magnetic sand laying around the fallen Cradily. With a mere flick, she tossed it out of the crater.
"…you lose."
Rubia panted heavily, struggling to sit up. "…well…what are you waiting for? Kill me already…"
Ella closed her eyes. "Hmm…nah!" She turned around and started walking.
"WHAT?!" She tried to get up, but fell over onto her face. "Get back here! What do you mean 'nah?!'"
"As much as I would love to put you out of your misery, that's not how I roll." She smirked back. "Besides, why should I care if you live? If I could beat you, the others would do the same…only quicker." She chuckled. "I bet that makes you mad…or, at least, that makes your superiors mad."
Rubia growled and forced herself up, unaware of the darkness opening up from under her. "You think you can just beat me and NOT end my life?! Kill me and leave my honor intact!"
Ella waved her paw around. "I'm beat myself. I'm calling it a day."
"Don't you DARE walk away from me!" Rubia crawled her way out of the crater. "Come back here! We're not done!"
"No, my minion…you're done."
Ella's and Rubia's eyes widened. The Espeon turned around and saw the claws of darkness shooting up from the ground and grappling onto the struggling plant. A form took shape in the darkness, into a figure Ella recognizes. She glared at it.
"Nightmare…"
The boss shadow glared down on her as he held down Rubia. "Espeon…" Ella grabbed her weapon, but eased up when Nightmare said, "I'm not here for you…" He glared to the side. "I sense your annoying friends coming towards us…I can't risk dealing with them."
Rubia panicked, shaking in the boss shadow's tight hold. "Boss Nightmare, p-please! G-G-Give me another chance!" His claws went straight to her neck.
"You've disappointed, you wretched Pokémon. We give you this power…and you lose to a mere mortal? A mortal without magic?" He pressed his claws against her, drawing blood. "He said this was meant to be a mere observation of the enemy, but it seems you failed to do the simplest task…"
Rubia felt herself being dragged into the pit of darkness. "No…NO! Give me more power! I can beat her! I PROMISE! I'LL KILL HER!"
Nightmare muffled her cries and pulled her deeper. He shot his emotionless glare at the Espeon, who was tense as she tried to keep a courageous face. He gritted his teeth in anger, yet he seemed…oddly interested in the results of this battle.
"I've got my eye on you, Espeon…" was his final word before disappearing into the dark portal with Rubia kicking and screaming.
Now to herself, the tension of battle over, Ella let out a long, exhaustion breath and collapsed onto her stomach. "Oh, thank goodness!" She rolled onto her back and gazed up at the storm clouds. She panted lightly. "…everything's sore…everything's real sore…"
She closed her eyes, wishing to rest them for a moment. Her chest rose and fell with each breath, progressively stabilizing with time. She opened her eyes to stare once more at the clouds. A smile formed as a chuckle escaped her mouth.
"Heh…not bad…"
"Ella!" She turned her head and saw her friends, Willow, and Courtney at the edge of the gorge. Wes slid down the steep wall and raced over to her. "Are you okay?!" He slid to her side and helped her up.
She grunted, but showed him a reassuring smile. "I'll be in bed for the next couple of days, but all's well."
The others met up with her, with Flint asking, "Where's the Cradily?"
Ella pointed over her shoulder. "Nightmare was apparently monitoring everything and snatched her away. He was not happy." She snickered. "I think I touched a nerve."
Griffin crossed his arms. "Impressive to see you're still alive."
"I'll…take that as a compliment." Ella rubbed her shoulder. "I'm just lucky she was too arrogant to take me seriously. I'm not going to get the same luxury next time."
Gwyn grinned. "Still, you defeated one of the shadows' warriors! That's so cool!"
Tony help his hip and smirked. "We saw the light show ourselves. Guess your display back in the water temple proves you have a lot of potential."
Ella grinned. "Thanks, guys." She looked ahead and stared at Willow as she walked up to her. "…Did you really think I could beat her all on my own?"
Willow smiled. "I didn't think you could…I knew you would. You should give yourself a bit more credit. You might be stronger than what others or yourself let on."
Ella raised her paw and clenched it. "Heh…definitely felt it."
Courtney bounced around Ella excitedly. "I don't know what happened, but it sounded really cool! You were all like 'HAHA!' They were all like 'MWUAHAHAHA!' But then you did the 'BOOM, BOOM, KABLAM!'" She wagged her tail and grinned. "Can you do it again?"
Ella rubbed the back of her head and chuckled awkwardly. "Err…I'll just tell you what happened." She tried to stand, but had to lean against Wes for support. "Ugh…can someone point me in the direction of the nearest spa? I look and feel like a wreck…"
Willow chuckled behind her paw, then touched the Espeon's shoulder. "You've earned a break, my dear. You still have a long way to go, but you're on the right track."
Ella smiled. "Thank you, Master Willow."
Willow nodded. "Now then, why don't we head back to the shop and get some rest?"
"Those weirdos won't come back, right?" Courtney asked nervously.
Tony bent down and hooked his arm around the kid. "Nah! We scared them off good! They're shivering in their boots! They know we're too tough and cool to beat!"
Courtney's eyes shimmered with admiration. "Really?!"
He scooped her up. "Yep! The shadows are just a bunch of cowards!"
She threw her forelegs up, giggling. "They're scaredy-babies!"
"Exactly!" They laughed and ran back to the shop.
Griffin rolled his eyes. "In all likelihood, they know we can easily dispatch their shadows and whatever minion they send." He held his chin. "Hmm…though, even I'm curious why they don't constantly attack us." He shook his head, then started heading off himself.
Gwyn started pulling Flint. "Come on, Flinty! We might as well unwind in the town!"
He stumbled to keep up with her. "Uh, sure! Whatever you want!"
Wes, Ella, and Willow remained in the gorge as the others dispersed. Willow sighed, placing a paw over her heart. "Even after all of that, you six still know how to keep to your true selves. The horrors of battle can warp many minds…"
Wes glanced at her. "How come you were still able to fight, even after your demise to the Shadow King?"
"If this were days after I woke up, I'd be cowering in the corner. But I've had time to rationalize who I am." She smiled at the two. "Remember…even in the tense times, we cannot lose sight of what makes us happy. I see bright futures for all of you."
Ella smiled and bowed her head, which Wes mirrored. "I'll remember that, Master Willow."
"I'm glad." She waved for them to follow. "Now come. A certain Espeon will appreciate a warm bath and meal after her heroic efforts."
Ella chuckled. "Just what I needed." She felt a nudge against her side. She glanced at Wes. "Hmm?"
He beamed proudly. "Nothing!"
She blinked, then nudged him back with a light smirk. "You…are such a dork."