Swiftshadow stared intently at the television. Unease radiated from everyone as they huddled around the television. News channel after news channel played out the same story. Pillars of shadow falling out of a darkened sky. Darklings rising out of murk tearing apart everything in their path. Glowing eyed beasts flanked them attacking terrified people. Their victims changed and morphed into a new beast that joined in the horde.
And there was nothing she could do about it. She rubbed the ache in her side. She managed to very carefully transform into her human form. While her wound was tucked away it still hurt and likely would for awhile. Ideally she would have a few days to recover but she didn't have that time. The world didn't have that time.
"It's the Unicron situation all over again," Fowler shook his head. "So any ideas on how to stop this thing?"
"Wish we could get Optimus and have him zap it with the matrix of Leadership," Suggested Miko.
"Optimus is not here." Said Ratchet, "And this is very different kind of evil from the chaos bringer. It would be unlikely that the Matrix would even affect this Malic Korvoth."
"He was sealed away before wasn't he? Cant we use what those warriors used to seal him back up?" Reasoned Jack.
"Unfortunately the spell that was used has been lost to time." Growled Swiftshadow, "The only person that would even know about it would be Crawford. And Primus only knows where the hell he is,"
Swiftshadow wondered that even if she knew the spell it would even work now that The Wolf Spirit was gone. Her blank shoulder was a testament to that fact. Her soul felt like it had been rubbed raw. It was if a tether she never realized was there had been snapped. A piece of her felt hollow and exposed. Is this what Crawford and the rest of the ancient warriors felt when the other Beast Spirits fell to Malic Korvoth?
"We might have something that might at the very least slow him down." Wilson sat perched on the couches armrest.
"And what would that be?" Fowler crossed his arms.
Wilson dropped into Swiftshadow's backpack, rummaging inside before reemerging again. Swiftshadow helped him back onto the couch. Wilson held out a small metal sphere. "This is a bright bomb. When it detonates it emits a blinding flash of light. It can temporarily burn away the shadows and disrupt any darkling in the immediate area."
"And how many do you have?" Asked Fowler.
"Three." answered Wilson.
"Now how are we supposed to stop a literal god with three cherry bombs?" Huffed Fowler.
"It doesn't have to be these specifically. Super bright light in general is just as effective. So flash bangs or maybe some flood lights could be useful for at least delaying Malic long enough to find some sort of solution." Said Wilson.
"What if we made a super sized bright bomb?" Miko suggested. "Use it to totally nuke Malic Korvoth,"
Would that even work? Just how big would it have to be to even deal do even a noticeable amount of damage?
"Building such a device would take time." Said Wilson.
A sharp spike in ever hanging darkness made Swiftshadow jump. A growing tangling knot of dark energies swelled somewhere inside the hanger. She couldn't see anything yet. It felt odd like it was at war with itself.
"Kelsey? What's wrong?" Asked Todd.
Flicking on her spirit vision she could see shifting shadows shifting and gravitating towards the wall next to fowlers office door. They stretched up over the wall forming a swirling vortex. Judging by the others wide eyes, they could see it too. A white knuckled fist punched out of the vortex. It gripped the wall pulling its owner out. It was a face she knew all too well.
"Julien?" She shouted.
He strained himself trying grab onto anything within reach. He battled for every inch he could get himself out of the vortex. Dark inky tendrils wound around his body pulling him back into the portal. His pale icy eyes locked onto hers. He frantically reached out for her. In his fist was a worn tattered piece of paper.
"Use the spell!" He called out.
Leaping over the table Swiftshadow grabbed Julien's wrist. Her claws dug into his sleeve. Planting her feet she held firm against the darkness. "I've got you. Just hold on."
Wilson clambered up Swiftshadow's body, grabbing hold of Julien's sleeve and wrapping his tail around Swiftshadow's arm. "I'm not letting you go anywhere,"
She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she thought she saw a brief moment of reflection in Julien's eyes. "Spell… only hope." Was all that could leave his strained voice.
Her feet begin to slip from under her. Todd was already there helping to pull Julien out of the hungry shadows. It wasn't long before the others joined in pulling out the boy.
Malic Korvoth was dragging Julien back into his abyss. If she didn't let go she would be dragged along with him. So would everyone else. Before she could even confront the impossible choice fate made it fore her. His wrist slipped out of her grip. White fabric ripped and tore into shreds. the group fell back as they lost the game of tug of war.
With in an instant Julien was gone, swallowed up by the darkness once more. In her hand was crumpled piece of parchment. She didn't need to look at it to know what it was. A small shred of hope.
She didn't have much time dwell on it as the darkness swelled up again. Both rising and falling at the same time. If it was pungent before now it was absolutely stifling now. Tucking to paper in her pant pocket she shifted into dragon form and rushed for the door. The others followed suit. Breaking through she bore witness to a terrifying sight.
Countless eyes were now staring down upon the base. A colossal pillar twisted and swirled its way down to the earth. Sharp jagged light arced around it. Billowing shadows rose like smoke. Large tendrils rooted themselves into the desert sand. The tan sand turned grey and what little vegetation was there withered into colourless lifeless husks. Dread and terror filled her gut as darklings broke out of the pillar of doom.
The military base was already on high alert. Army personnel were scrambling for their tanks and jets. Defensive lines were drawn into the desert. Guns and artillery were pointed at the coming horde. But Swiftshadow knew that it was all useless. If Metro Man, the world's most powerful man in the world, could be brought down by a single gem then bullets and missiles would have no hope in a frozen hell. What they needed was light. Bright blinding light.
Or soul fire.
But could she even produce enough soul fire to even begin to slow him down?
A violet streak cut through the darkened sky. A blazing raven darted over the horde annihilating any darkling in its path. He expertly wove between the sharpens spikes that erupted from the pillar. A violet orb formed around the bird that exploded in a brilliant flash.
The shrieks and screams of the darkling horde reverberated inside the earth. It was if the ground was trembling from Malic's pain. Swiftshadow was almost deafened by the sound.
"It is well that you have survived your ordeal, but unfortunate that you now must face another so soon." Crawford landed before Swiftshadow's group. Feathers receded into a torn and ragged tuxedo. Cuts and gouges etched deeply into his flesh. He breathed heavily as if he'd ran a marathon.
"No thanks to you," She grumbled.
"Now dear, you have a lot to thank me for," Crawford panted.
"He did ensure that we escaped the grove," Said Sky. "When this demon came to fruition,"
Swiftshadow hissed in frustration. While Sky and Cliff followed into the hanger, Strong-paw went to keep the rest of the pack safe.
"Yo magic man, how do we defeat that big world ending super being?" Miko called out.
"Not easily, I'm afraid," He panted, "We need all power of the arcane we can muster if we stand a chance,"
Gunfire rattled away at the horde. The bullets splashing harmlessly inside the oozing darkness. A crooked rainbow fell upon a line of soldiers. Each man fell and writhed as fur, claws, and hooves took shape. A couple of crows and a blue jay flew up into the sky. A jaguar pounced upon a soldier. A wolf and jackal tag teamed a retreating solder.
"Do we even have the time for any sort of magic?" Said Jack.
"There never enough time unfortunately. But I can make little more." Violet light wreathed Crawford hands stretching up over his arms. A shimmering ring formed inside his arcing hands with sigils lining the outer edge. He pushed the ring onto the Autobot hanger. A bright purple line carved itself around the building forming an oval border. Radiating upward a translucent violet dome manifested over the hanger.
"Whoah!" Awed Miko.
"Inside, hurry," Instructed Crawford, "This will buy us time but it will not last forever."
Swiftshadow buried the instinct to charge onto the battlefield. She faced herself to ignore the terrified shrieks of men trying and failing to escape their fate. The cacophony of bestial roars would have to be pushed aside. Right now she needed to focus on putting an end to Malic Korvoth, permanently. She couldn't do that there.
She trotted by Ratchet's heals back into the hanger. Each step felt like betrayal to her very nature. She just hoped that Crawford came with an answer and not speak in tiresome riddles.
"Well mister, Start talking," Demanded Fowler as the group crowded inside the hanger. "How do we send this thing packing all the way back to Timbuktu?"
"Firstly Swiftshadow must reach deep and summon the power of The Wolf."
"Uhhh. One problem." Said Swiftshadow, "The Wolf Spirit has been taken by Malic Korvoth,"
Crawford stood in silence as his eyes drifted down to her blank shoulder. "Deodamnatus! Without her the spell will not work."
"The spell you used to seal him away the first time?"
"Yes, It required At least one Spirit and a couple of mortals to channel their power."
Swiftshadow cursed. There had to be a way. Her mind raced for ideas. "Hold on." Her body twisted and morphed back into human shape. She pulled the paper from her pocket hand it out to Crawford. "What about this?"
Crawford opened the paper. "This is just as useless. While it would destroy Malic Korvoth it requires all seven Beast Spirits and seven mortals to work."
"Magic or no magic, I know I ain't letting this planet go down without a fight." Proclaimed Fowler.
"Hello. Why don't we build that bright nuke?" Said Miko.
"Well it kinda sounds like it is our only option at the moment." Noted Jack.
"Maybe we could get the rest of team prime for backup?" Suggested Raf.
The Wolf Spirits words 'You have everything you need,' echoed inside her mind. Swiftshadow wasn't sure if she had would be enough.