Okay, first off, why did everybody like Matt so much last chapter? ? x) O-kay, peoples, it's time we saved Danika! Here we go!
The Dawn's Arise: Danika Anderson Sees the Light!
Delightful Mansion
A band of Teen Ninjas burst into the currently-deserted mansion, guns ready as they aimed around a bedroom with a king-sized bed. "Yeah, this was the Delightful Children's room all right." The leader said. "You sure it's in here?"
A shadow being slithered in and faced the leader, smiling and nodding. This shadow was none other than Maleficent, Lucinda's shadow. The being slid under the bed and found a secret compartment in the floor, pulling out a box. She presented the box to the Teen Ninjas and opened it, revealing what looked like half of an old helmet.
The Teen Ninjas tapped their BRAs and concealed their armor as Olivia Johnson and her henchwomen gave smirks. "Perfect. Now to wait for the freaks to deliver the rest."
Final Brain
"Are you sure about this, kid?" Cad Bane asked Nolan as he and Aurra were fixing their ship for take off. "Not that I have any problems with acting behind Brain's back, but YOU could get in a lot of trouble."
"To heck with Brain. I need to help Danika." Nolan told them.
"Whatever you say, kid." Aurra replied. "Ship's ready for take off. Where to?"
"The front of the castle; we need to get her."
Bane did as told and lift the ship out of the hangar, landing at the front part of the castle where Danika still sat, lost in her depressing thoughts. "Danika!" Nolan called, rolling to her. The goth glumly looked up a bit to face him. "Danika, come on. We're going to get you help."
"No one can help… no one wants to… no human on Earth wishes for selfless desires…"
"Danika, just come ON! For me… please…"
The two were several feet away, but Danika could plainly see the strong pleading look in his eyes. "Okay, then…" she sighed depressedly, standing up and slowly walking toward the ship. Nolan turned and rolled in beside her as Bane and Aurra began to lift off again.
"Alright, guys, let's get to Virginia." Nolan ordered as they took to the sky.
From one of the base's many balconies, Darth Genious watched them, smirking in his mind.
Cleveland, Virginia; rainstorm night
A Brotherhood ship landed a few feet outside the city as April Dickson dashed out, carrying the sickened form of Midna in her arms as the cloudy sky roared with thunder. "Hurry up!" Gary the Stormtrooper called after her. "I don't wanna miss poker night with the guys."
The streetlights were the only light visible in the pitch-black rainy city as Midna kept trying to gasp for breath. "It should be… just around there…" Midna panted, weakly raising her arm to point to an alleyway not too far. April hurried down and made another turn right, finding Dr. Facilier's Voodoo Emporium, the parallel torches above the doorway burning bright despite the rain, as well as the flames in the skull.
After his whole ordeal with that alternate timeline, the witch-doctor was busy fixing up the artifacts in his shop. He heard his door suddenly swing open and jumped around, immediately raising his magic cane when he recognized April Dickson. "You! Stay back, now. Chad told me about you, and I ain't lookin' to be robbed again."
"Please, I'm not here to hurt you, but this creature needs your help." She held up the dying Midna.
"Holy…" Facilier gasped, "The Firstborn of Shadow! I…" He hesitantly looked around his shop, then grabbed some kind of cup off a shelf. He pulled a lid off and reached into his pocket, where he pulled out a dim-red fruit which he squished the liquids out of, into the pitch-black drink in the cup, which he stirred with his cane. "Here, drink this." April sat the Firstborn on the table as he poured the drink into her mouth. He pulled away after Midna drank a good amount, still trying to breathe.
After a while, Midna's color returned to normal. She stopped trying to breathe as she felt herself healing. "Thank you…"
"What was that?" April asked.
"The Drink of Shadows, best healing potion known to Twilight Realm. All shadowbending mages know how to make one. It's imbued with Shadow Chi, so it gives chi back to shadowbenders who've lost it. What happened?"
"It was Lucinda. She… sucked the life force out of her… or something."
"Ahh. So that's how she did it."
"Did what?"
"Just earlier, Lucinda made a deal with someone and changed the timeline with her magic. She ended up destroyin' herself, and this time was changed back to normal. Good thing ya got Midna ta me when ya did. She's a god, so she can't really die… but just lyin' there, extreme pain, barely able to breathe at all… it's a fate worse than death. Sometimes, April… the immortal life really is a life of suffering."
"Sounds like it… Anyway, I know we're technically on supposing sides… but Danika is Midna's Guardian. And she-"
"Ah know everything. Clockwork told me. He wanted me to give you this." He pulled out a Spirit Ball and placed it in April's palm. "And you'll also…" he reached under his table and opened a secret compartment in the floor, pulling out a box which he placed on the table and opened, "need this."
The two studied the item inside; it appeared to be part of a helmet designed just like Midna's. "What is it?" April asked.
"A Fused Shadow." The Firstborn replied, picking the helmet piece up. "One of four of them. This is the second one, the first one's on my head. Each of the pieces are guarded by families of shadowbenders. Facilier's was one of them. The other two are the Andersons and Sommers."
"The Andersons? Danika's family!"
"Right. We have to get over there and retrieve the third one. Hopefully, Nolan is already there with Danika, getting things fixed. We should head over and meet up with them. I'll explain more then."
"Okay… Thanks for the help, Dr. Facilier." April waved good-bye as they hurried off.
"No problem. You be careful now." Facilier told them, and the door shut on their way out. "Ay, Shadow… I guess that's five of the Guardians found." he said to his shadow. "Now to go about searching the other three… and I think I have an idea who they are…"
Anderson Household
Cad Bane's ship parked not too far from Danika's home as Nolan was the first to roll out, followed by Danika, slowly behind, then Bane and Aurra, the rain continuing to pour from the storm. "Let's go. Midna says Danika's sisters would help. Let's hope she's right…"
Nolan knocked on the front door and heard Danika's youngest sister, Payton on the other side. "Who IS iiit?"
"It's us, Payton." Nolan answered.
The 5-year-old Anderson pulled the door open and gave a wide smile. "Danikaaa!" She excitedly ran back inside as the four proceeded to enter. "Brianna, Victoria, Danika's here! And she brought her boyfriend!" Nolan froze where he was as his cheeks blushed red with embarrassment.
Brianna Anderson was lying on the couch in the living room as the oldest sister, Victoria walked in, smiling at seeing her third youngest. "Danika!" She ran and bent over, embracing the shadowbender in a hug. She released Danika after a while, and her smile turned to a frown when she noticed Danika's glum expression. "What's wrong?"
"Your sister's a hopeless sap." Bane replied.
"Huh?"
"Er, what he means is, she was hit by a Darkness Cannon." Nolan said.
"A what?"
"It's a weapon that… awakens darkness inside a heart, or something. Now Danika's turned all… well, gloomy and depressed."
"Oh no…" Victoria quietly gasped. "She was like this before… after our parents went missing. She was so upset… not a speck of happiness in her."
"I've noticed…"
"So, you got anything or what?" Bane asked.
"Hmm… I might." Victoria began to think. "Our parents always used to sing a song to us whenever we felt depressed… It worked before. I'll try to remember it. Here, Danika." She led her sister onto the couch, and Brianna sat up and scooted over so Danika could sit down. Victoria knelt before her depressed sibling and started to sing. "Ahem:"
Across the distance clouds…
The dusk and sadness falls
Like withered autumn leaves
Succumbing to the cold…
But never let yourself...
Fall to the darkness of the night
For across the sky, the rising dawn
Brings forth… the light…
This song touched a spot in Danika's heart. Any negative feelings she may have had, from her parents' disappearance to simply people shunning her, have been replaced by warming memories, of her happy times with her parents beforehand, having fun with the rest of her family, and falling in love with Nolan York.
Nolan spotted the tears welling up in her eyes and calmly rolled over, touching a hand to her shoulder. "Danika?"
Danika burst into tears, throwing her arms around Nolan and burying her face in his chest. "Nolan…" she sniffled. "I'm so sorry… for what I did to you…"
"Danika… don't worry about it." Nolan smiled, rubbing Danika's back. "It's just a scratch. No big deal."
She sniffled some more. "I don't know what I was thinking… how could I ever do that to you."
"Sometimes, we all do things that are out of our control. The darkness overcomes the brightest hearts. But I don't care about any of that now. All that matters to me is… I have you back."
Danika's crying slowly came to a stop. She lifted her head up as she and Nolan exchanged warming smiles. "Hm. I can't believe that actually worked." Aurra chuckled.
"Yeah, I only sang what I remembered." Victoria smiled, scratching the back of her head as she laughed.
The front door was suddenly kicked open, and the lot of them directed their attention as April Dickson hurried in with Midna, dripping wet. "Sorry I'm late." she panted. "…Oh, I see you've already got things settled."
"Yeah… we did." Nolan blushed at Danika.
"O-kay, no time to waste, we got business at hand." April clapped her hands and pulled out the Spirit Ball, handing it to Danika. "I got it from Dr. Facilier. He also told me Lucinda is dead."
"Finally! Good riddance to her." Nolan exclaimed.
"The Spirit Ball! Okay! Now I can-" Danika was about to throw it to catch Midna when-
"Not so fast now." The Firstborn stopped her. "We still need these." Her orange ponytail hand held up the Fused Shadow.
"What are those?"
"A Fused Shadow!" Brianna recognized, crawling under the living room table and opening a secret compartment, with a box that had another helmet piece.
"Then that makes three." Midna smiled. "The Fused Shadows are ancient artifacts from my world. Dangerous items which can, if touched, awaken the monstrous side of a mortal being that's been long concealed within their very form. Similar to Darkness Cannons, except these things turn you into actual monsters. It's only safe for shadowbenders to touch them. They're objects brimming with incredible powers of shadow, and each one was entrusted to a different family of shadowbenders, and one to me. The only other one we're missing is the one that belonged to the Sommers Family. I can't say I know where that is…"
"I can answer that." Clockwork spoke out of nowhere, suddenly appearing in the corner of the room.
"Clockwork?" Danika spoke, surprised.
"Are you familiar with the blonde female of Sector Z?"
"You mean Ashley, the Delightful Girl?" Nolan asked. "Yeah…"
"Although she didn't always know it, she was a shadowbender, and she was in charge of protecting the last Fused Shadow. She even remembered this duty while in her Delightful state, and hid it within the mansion. And shortly before her revert to an operative, she learned and mastered her shadowbending powers."
"So the Fused Shadow is at Father's mansion?" Nolan asked.
"Not anymore. While Lucinda was destroyed, in both this timeline and the alternate timeline, her shadow remains alive in this timeline. She has found and stolen the Fused Shadow, and has taken it to the Twilight Realm. Without all four Fused Shadows, Midna cannot fully awaken herself as a Firstborn."
"Then we have to go to the Twilight Realm and get it back." Midna declared.
"But how can we get there?" Nolan asked.
"We have something that may help…" Victoria replied, leading them upstairs.
The eldest Anderson brought them to a dim, empty room with nothing but a circular mirror on the other end. "A mirror?" Nolan asked.
"The Mirror of Twilight." Victoria explained. "It's something we've had in our family for generations. To get into the Twilight Realm, a shadowbender would require the Book of Shadows. The only other way… was through this."
Midna drifted toward the mirror and gave a gentle tap with her tiny fingernail. The mirror glowed and erupted to life, spiraling into some kind of portal as it shone upon the center of the room. "Guess that's our cue to go in." Nolan figured.
"Careful." Clockwork cautioned. "Although she is a bodiless spirit, Maleficent's powers are still a consider. You must brave the dangers of the Shadow Realm and face her."
"I'm not afraid." Danika scoffed. "Are you guys ready?" Nolan and April nodded. "Then let's go." The three Team Brotherhood members and Midna all stood on the glowing circle as they were dissolved into Shadow Matter, sucked into the vortex.
"Well, they're gonna be awhile." Cad Bane figured, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it up, and beginning to smoke. "You girls smoke?" he asked the Andersons. The girls all shook 'no' and stared at him weirdly.
"Actually, Bane," Clockwork began, "I have a small task for you."
Twilight Realm (Play the "Palace of Twilight" Theme from Twilight Princess.)
Their disinterred matter forms came back together after coming out the other end of the portal, and the anti-heroes began to skim the unusual realm. The Twilight Realm was a vast plane of floating islands, most of them shaped weirdly as the same features appeared on the tops and bottoms of them, parallel to each other. The sky above appeared to be an image of their own world, and down in the abyss below, the same image was reflected, only it appeared daytime down there, and nighttime up above. Legions of shadow beings drifted across the endless realm as the only light was that of the setting sun in the horizon, hundreds of miles from where they stood, giving the entire dimension a bright orange glow.
"Not quite what you'd expect, huh?" Nolan asked.
"When the gods were designing your Positive World above, they created the Negative World below to balance the light sides and dark sides of the dimension." Midna explained. "This world, the Twilight Realm, was the link connecting the two worlds. It keeps both sides of the coin together. If something happened to one world, it could affect the other. The same rules apply to this Realm Between Mirrors, where the shadows of the world were meant to drift, hiding from the light of day and the dark of night. Living as mixed beings of day and night in the twilight."
"Wow… sounds kinda sad." Danika commented.
"People have always thought of this place as a realm of darkness… but that makes it seem unpleasant. The shadows here are harmless creatures… Well, they were."
"Were?" April asked.
"When Malladus Uno laid his siege upon the world about 30 years ago, he sent his minions to invade this world, too. The Shadow Demons that you may remember who served Malladus were all shadows who were cursed by his influence. It did them great pleasure to finally drag his soul to the depths and never return. But despite his death, Underworld influence remained in the Twilight Realm, and most of the shadows are cursed monsters. He didn't want me interfering with his plans… so he had me banished across the galaxy. Eventually… I wound up on Vaporia. Ho…" Midna sighed in sadness.
"What's wrong?" Danika asked.
"It's always been my job to watch over the Twilight Realm, as the shadows' princess. I've always felt ashamed of myself for failing to protect them from Malladus. Danika…"
"Hm?"
"A majority of shadowbenders draw their power from the twilight. But the dusk occurs when the sun sets on the world, bringing the darkness of night. You possess a different power. Your friendship with Nolan, and the happiness shared with your family… You possess the Power of Dawn. When the sun rises to bring the light of day… that power resides within you."
"Hehe…" Danika gave a smile.
"Anyway… let's go. We have a witch to stop."
Stage 56: The Realm of Shadows
Mission: Find the Fused Shadow and stop Maleficent!
The anti-heroes started their journey down a curved path, getting ambushed by some Shadow Babas – shadowy Piranha Plants – from the ground as two of them gnashed their teeth at Nolan's legs. Nolan tried to back away, but Danika saved him by simply cutting the plants' stems off. April shook her arm free of another and used her powers to make the plant's brain ache, eventually making it wither away. After Cheshire ripped the other plants off using her teeth, the group continued to an area where the path became all twisty.
"Whoooaa…" Nolan moaned dizzily, the group suddenly turning upside-down as the path twisted that way. "What's with the messed-up gravity…?"
"Don't forget, the Negaverse is the upside-down to the Universe." Midna mentioned. "And as such, the gravity here is kind of twisty."
"I thought the underside of the world was supposed to be China." April joked.
"Hm hm, yeah, but we're talking about dimensions here. Even if this place is the origin of the Shadow Element, the rules of Space apply as well. Just be careful where you step, and you'll be fine."
"Yeah, if my eyes stop spinning first…" Nolan remarked.
The crew reached the end of the twisty road, still upside-down as the abyss to the Positive Realm was below them. There were branches hanging from a wall beside them, so they held onto Nolan as he used his grappling hook to swing them across by the branches. They swung off the last one, but no ground appeared below, but the gravity pulled them right-side-up and they fell onto a new path. They were on their way to some kind of floating temple as some Shadow Kargarok birds were flying around, swooping down to snap their demonic beaks at them. Danika swung her daggers and killed one of the birds while Nolan shot his grappling hook around the other's legs, releasing the hook from his chair so the monster bird would be pulled down into the abyss.
They proceeded to enter the dark building, having very little light to guide their way. They entered a room where they stood on a high ledge, overlooking a floor covered in some kind of black fog. "Careful." Midna cautioned. "That's Shadow Fog, made from the Shadow Crystals of our realm, overflowing with Shadow Chi. Mortal beings who enter the black fog end up becoming overfilled with Shadow Chi, becoming shadows themselves."
"Yikes. How do we get across?" Danika asked.
"You should be safe, Danika. You see that ball of light on the other side?" Midna pointed at the other end of the room, indicating a sphere glowing with light. "That's a Sol. Like the sun of day, it's used to shun the shadows away. Use it to make the fog vanish." With that, Danika stepped down into the fog and was able to cut through without being cursed.
She picked the Sol up and walked back across the floor, the black fog evading it as a result. April and Nolan got within range and stayed there as Danika led them into a secret hallway, covered in the blackness. Some Shadow Keese, demon bats turned into shadow, awoke from their slumber on the ceiling and swooped down, starting to bite them. Nolan and April tried to shoo them away, but Danika was able to slice them with her daggers. They arrived at another room where Danika cleared the way in the center, noticing a hole, fit for the Sol. She placed the glowing sphere inside, causing all of the blackness to vanish, and a staircase to arise from the floor, leading to a door. (Soooo many rhymes.)
Before they could head up, they were suddenly caught inside a twilight barrier from the ceiling, and a trio of Shadow Soldiers dropped down. April distorted the mind of one of them and Nolan shot the second with a laser. The one that remained, however, erupted a deafening screech which brought the others back to life. "Yeah, that's not gonna work." Midna said. "Try a shockwave." Danika extended a shadow energy field around them, catching the beasts inside, then sent Cheshire to gnash at all of the monsters, too late to revive themselves as Cheshire was able to take out all of them quickly. With them defeated, the barrier disappeared, allowing them all to head up the stairs, and make it outside again.
They stood upon a balcony, overlooking a distant chasm with the next island far on the other side. Light-blue lines emitted a glow along a square in the floor, and rose out into a platform. They all gathered on the platform and allowed it to slowly carry them across. Some Shadow Bulblin Archers riding atop Shadow Kargaroks tried to shoot fire arrows at them, but Nolan countered by shooting missiles their way, exploding the birds and sending the Bulblin falling. The platform was coming toward a floating wall that would likely push them off, but Danika grabbed her friends and used Shadow Veil to squeeze them all into her shadow, easily slipping under the wall as the platform passed by.
They soon stopped above the ledge of another island as the platform vanished, letting them fall to the safe ground. Ahead of them was a series of similar platforms, one column moving up, the next going down, while the third also went up. They jumped across the first column, but the gravity switched them upside-down when they landed at the second column. They remained that way at the third column, but saw no other way to go then, until a platform hovered over above them. They jumped off, and the gravity switched back to right-side-up, landing them on the platform. It carried them quickly across the chasm while another platform was coming over from the other side. The two stopped when they became parallel to each other, and the group jumped to let the gravity drop them onto the other platform before it sped further across the chasm. They repeated this maneuver and dropped to another platform, which finally carried them to another ledge, where they hopped off.
They continued along the road and entered another large building, the interior seeming to go up many stories as they gazed up. "Wait a second, couldn't Danika just use her Shadow Glide?" April asked.
Danika became a shadow and tried to do so, but was only able to go up a few inches before she changed back. "Guess not."
"Spirit locations." Midna said. "What can ya do? But we should be able to continue. Use Shadow Breath on those four orbs."
Danika noticed the four orbs on the floor, lined up in a circle. She stood in the center of them and released Shadow Breath from her mouth, spreading it to the orbs. The orbs reacted and alit with light, causing a platform to appear beneath Danika. The others gathered onto the platform as it began to rise up, stopping partway up the ground when four other platforms appeared around it. Three of them seemed to lead to Shadow Fog, but the other looked safe, so they hopped onto it as it carried them further up. It stopped when two more platforms appeared beside, and once more, they got on the one that didn't lead into fog. They jumped off at a ledge and went up a couple stairs, arriving at a dead end, seeing the way out of there still one more floor up.
Nolan shot his grappling hook to the ceiling and stuck it, the girls holding on as he reeled them all up. "You know, with a chair this good, I'm not sure why you'd even need legs." Midna commented. Once they were level with the ledge, the group started to build up momentum as they swung the chair, and Nolan eventually released the grappling hook for them to swing over and land. They passed a door to another outside area, seeing the next building very close to them, but the entrance too high. Danika was able to use Shadow Glide this time, carrying the group up toward the entrance and landing, proceeding to enter. (End song.)
"Well, that wasn't so bad." Nolan said as they entered a darker chamber. "Where are we?"
The group noticed the empty prison cell with broken shackles, and Midna immediately recognized this place. "This is the Twilight Realm Prison. This is where Lehcar EiznekCm was imprisoned. Until Ganondorf released her months ago."
"Boy, she really must be dangerous. Keeping her in a place like this." Danika figured as they progressed down the hall.
"Just what are the Negatives, anyway?" Nolan asked.
"I guess your world can be thought of as the Realm of Light." Midna explained. "The Negaverse is the Realm of Darkness. Each Negative is basically the dark side of each person in the universe. They're total opposites, but they're two sides of the same coin. Two halves of one whole person. And if both halves were to combine their forces, the results would be incredible. The mix of powers of light and darkness…"
"Heh. Imagine if the Negatar combined with his opposite." Nolan chuckled.
"That'd be so crazy, the universe would explode!" April laughed.
"The purpose of the shadows, in this central realm of twilight, is to serve as that wall of blackness that shields both sides from the dangers their opposites could bring." Midna continued. "But it also binds the two together. Showing how even the most opposite forces could bind together for the greater good."
The four arrived at another outside walkway, stopping to gaze at the magnificent view of the sunset.
"Just take a look… be it the dim light that shines before the fall of darkness… or the light that rises to bring the day to the world… such a serene beauty. Shadows have always been such misjudged creatures. People have always deemed them monsters for having come from such a 'dark' realm… but if only they knew. The true beauty this realm possessed… it has always been a pleasure. Ruling over this realm…" Midna shook her head and said, "Sorry. Reminiscing and all that… hehe. Let's keep going. The Fused Shadow is near, I can feel it."
The four found their way to a large, rectangular field, seeing the final Fused Shadow in plain sight in the center. Danika exchanged a nod with Midna, about to retrieve it, until they heard some kind of creepy whispering. A shadow suddenly swooped by and spiraled around the two before flying toward the Fused Shadow. She revealed to be Lucinda's shadow as she let the other two Fused Shadows, which she just swiped, float in midair beside it. "Maleficent!" April exclaimed as they readied their guard.
The shadow flew back when three Teen Ninjas landed in front of each of the Fused Shadows, who were none other than Jamie, Rabakkah, and- "Olivia Johnson." Nolan glared.
"Well, lookee here, girls, the three biggest weirdoes in the BOE." Olivia taunted.
"What are you doing here?" Nolan asked.
"Isn't it obvious? We're, like, going to destroy this place." Jamie said.
"WHAT?"
"Uh, shyah." Olivia followed. "This is the center of, like, goth freaks everywhere. Any decent normal person would know that your kind doesn't belong, Danika. The girls and I tried to, but couldn't think of a way to do it. When, thankfully, this shadow freak showed up out of nowhere and brought us to this place. Apparently wanted revenge against these shadows or something."
"We stole the Fused Shadow from Father's mansion and used it to lure you here." Rabakkah told them. "All we have to do is destroy them, and no more freaky shadowbenders!"
"But you can't destroy this place." Nolan tried to reason. "If you did, things would completely fall off balance."
"Oh, like, we're gonna listen to some legless weirdo?" Olivia scoffed. "I don't care if you're The Brain's favorite. These Fused Shadow thingies are going down, so if you'll excuse me-" She was about to reach out and touch the one in front of her.
"DON'T TOUCH IT!" Midna screamed.
"GAAHH!" Olivia was suddenly met with a painful shock once her hands came in contact with the Fused Shadow. The shadow Maleficent gave a wicked cackle before jumping right into Olivia's body, beginning to fuse with the teenager.
"Uhhh…" Both Rabakkah and Jamie stepped back in worry. "Well, we'll just let Olivia handle things here. Okay with that, Jamie?"
"Yeah, let's get out of here." The girls turned and tried to run away, but they were suddenly surrounded by a squad of bomb-designed Heartless. A timer started at "3" on the Heartless and began to count down, and just when the timer reached "0"-
"AAAHHHH!" Team Brotherhood shielded their eyes from the bright explosion. They uncovered to see the henchwomen were blown into nothingness.
"The darkness overtook them…" Danika spoke.
As for Olivia, the Fused Shadows were absorbed into her body as she and Maleficent began their transformation. (Play "The Encounter" from Kingdom Hearts II!) Her body erupted with green flames as she quickly grew 5 times her height. Red wings appeared on her back, a red tail extended from her bottom, and her skin became red and scaly as her hands and feet transformed into dragon claws. Her mouth also became longer, like that of a dragon, and purple horns grew on her head as she erupted a loud roar.
The dragon flapped her wings and lifted off the ground, soaring far away from the field before turning and coming right back. The four stood their ground when the dragon zipped right over them, the resulting strong winds causing Danika to scream and fall over the edge. "Danika!" Nolan yelled.
"UUH!" Danika landed with a thud on the back of another dragon, with several black parallel wings, a black body, and some golden and tan-colored armor. "W-Whuh…"
"It's… the Guardian Spirit of the Twilight Realm. Giratina!" Midna exclaimed.
"Giratina…" Danika looked up and faced ahead as the dragon was flying after Olivia's monstrified form. She drew out her daggers and readied for battle. "Let's get 'er!"
Boss fight: Olivia Dragon
Giratina soared after the evil dragon as Olivia coughed green flames their way, but Giratina barrel-rolled and avoided while coughing his own green flames back. Olivia took a few hits before flying to the side of the dragon, flipping and charging straight at Giratina, and nearly knocking Danika off from the impact. Danika grabbed the side and climbed back onto Giratina as the Shadow Dragon still kept pursuit of Olivia, eventually getting above her and coming down, wrapping his legs around her and starting to squeeze her tight. Olivia's wings were binded as a result, so Giratina was able to shove her head into a floating island, making Olivia a little dizzy.
Olivia quickly shook the dizziness off and continued to chase Danika and Giratina. Danika ran to Giratina's tail and spewed Shadow Breath all over, getting it on Olivia's face as the female dragon tried to shake it off. Giratina took this time to turn around and ram the dragon's chest, pushing her away before flying off. Olivia recovered and kept after Giratina, gaining more speed as she raised her mouth open and bit down on Giratina's tail. Danika ran down the tail and leapt onto Olivia's head as a result. The monster released Giratina and tried to shake the goth off, but Danika held on to Olivia's horns while Cheshire wrapped herself around the upper mouth, pulling it open.
As the monster was shaking, Danika was able to force it to turn towards the field. With a clear shot of Olivia's open mouth, Nolan was able to lock on and fire a missile, flying straight into the mouth, and down to her stomach where it exploded. Stunned dizzily, the Olivia Dragon fell and came to a crash-landing onto the field, very close to Team Brotherhood. With the dragon stunned, Nolan, April, and Danika proceeded to strike the beast's head with their weapons or powers. After a while, Maleficent rose from the beast and smacked them all away before going back in. Olivia rose to her feet and coughed green flames at the Brotherhood members before taking off again. Giratina soared over the team and blew the flames out with the wind as Danika leapt and grabbed back onto his body.
They continued to chase as Maleficent was using magic to make small bolts of lightning strike down from above, but Giratina evaded and spat a bigger green fireball toward them, burning Olivia's butt. She angrily shot down below and popped back up below Giratina, striking and making the Shadow Dragon spiral around, causing Danika to drop to the abyss. She quickly used Shadow Glide and recovered, flying back up to land on Giratina's back. Giratina kept pursuit after the witches, still dodging more of Maleficent's lightning strikes. Olivia's spiked tail shot out further behind her and struck the spirit hard, but Danika leapt off to grab the tail, holding on tight as Olivia tried to shake her off.
Danika failed to keep hold as Olivia swung her straight upward, but she used Shadow Glide once again and dodged a breath of fire just in time. She rapidly flew around while dodging the green flaming balls, making her way to Olivia. She was able to land on the evil dragon's back, running up with daggers drawn as Olivia was charging a stronger breath of fire, but Danika leapt onto her head and shoved her daggers into her mouth, and through her upper lip. Olivia ceased charging and tried to shake her off, but Danika forcibly turned her body to face the others again. Nolan once again shot a missile into Olivia's mouth, exploding in her stomach and causing Olivia to crash on the field again. With her unconscious for a short time, the three quickly began striking the dragon's head again.
Once enough damage was dealt, Maleficent smacked the three away and recovered Olivia. The dragon flapped her wings and took to the sky again, and Giratina flew by to pick up Danika again, too. The Olivia Dragon turned and faced them as Maleficent used magic to zap more lightning at them, and also fire green energy balls. Giratina was barely able to move as all the attacks gave him a rough pounding, and he was suddenly bashed away when Olivia charged over and struck him. Danika kept hold, and Giratina recovered and kept flying, still going after Olivia as he spat his green flames back.
Olivia took some hits, then flew under the spirit dragon, coming behind and closing her teeth down on his tail. Once again, Danika charged over and dealt a few blows against the eyes with her daggers, forcing Olivia to release. The two dragons then flew side-by-side as they each started ramming the other, Danika keeping her grip as one of Olivia's rams made Giratina spin around, but the Shadow Dragon flew above her head and bashed it with his feet, sending Olivia falling fast down in the abyss. But right away, Olivia shot back up so fast, she sent Giratina flying, and Danika lost her grip and began falling once again.
Danika saw Olivia charging to her from the side, mouth wide open, but she thankfully missed, and Danika grabbed onto her tail. She hauled herself to her feet and ran up the dragon's back again, but when she jumped to her head, Olivia quickly spun and clapped Danika in both her hands. Giratina was flying back to Danika's aid, but Olivia shot her tail at the spirit's chest, and Giratina gripped his heart in pain before taking the fall. Danika tried to shake away from Olivia's claw, but the dragon kept a tight grip, holding Danika close to her face and giving a deafening roar before hurling Danika straight down below.
Team Brotherhood gasped in horror as Danika was falling fast to the chasm with no way to recover. "Danika!" Nolan cried.
After enduring Olivia's tight squeeze and loud cry, Danika was barely able to move, weakly opening her eyes and seeing how far she was into the abyss, still miles from the Negaverse. As her eyes fixed onto that opposite realm, she could see the sun of that world beginning to set, rising to light up the Positive World. Her eyes then narrowed to the eternal twilight sun of the Shadow Realm, and memories started to flow back into her head.
When she was in her room one day, singing a song about Leo after he accidentally almost killed her, brightening Leo's day. When she and Leo went to the dinosaur-themed park, getting scared together. When she and her sisters scared Leo with Danika's shadow, sharing a laugh. When she and Nolan captured Marine on the beach, then decided to relax. When she and Nolan tried to capture Cosmo, Nova, and Kami together. When she and Nolan went swimming in that nighttime lake, gazing at the stars. This whole adventure, journeying with April and Nolan to many strange places, like Vaporia or the dinosaur jungle, and finally going on that date with Nolan on Ember Island. She then remembered bursting into song about him, her true love.
Danika shot her eyes open and turned her form upside-down while continuing to fall. She kept her gaze focused on the twilight sun and felt a change of color around the realm, a different light emitting from the sun. The Light of Dawn. She felt the power of dawn flowing inside her from her happiest moments, and she could feel her Shadow Fury coming on.
Meanwhile, Nolan and April looked into the abyss with sadness, feeling that Danika was long gone. Before he knew it, Nolan was grabbed in the claw of the Olivia Dragon as she passed by, holding the former operative by her face as she prepared to burn him to ashes. Olivia ceased, and they redirected their attention when an unfamiliar roar was suddenly heard. A blinding light rose from below the chasm, and everybody gaped at the sight of a gigantic Danika, in the form of her Shadow Fury. But rather than the pitch-black darkness that was her color the first time, her form was now purely white, emitting a strong and powerful light. Olivia appeared quite small to her, but she charged her green flames and unleashed a massive ray of fire at the giantess shadow.
The flames were blocked by one of Danika's many shadowy tentacles, and the goth grabbed and squeezed the dragon tight in her left hand. She lightly gripped Nolan in her right thumb and index finger, gently placing her friend back on the field beside April. She gave a smile at Nolan before glaring back at Olivia, stretching her arm all around to bash the monster's head against any floating island. One of the bashes sent Olivia falling from her hand, and the dragon recovered as Maleficent stuck her form out, preparing to charge a powerful spell while Olivia was charging another super-flame. Danika only chuckled and smirked, blowing a cloud of Shadow Breath that was as bright as she was now.
Totally stunned by the blinding light, Danika gripped the two in her hand and spiraled them around before smashing them straight against the floor of the battlefield. The Fused Shadows flew straight out of their weakened forms, and Midna went with them as they absorbed themselves into Danika's body. Danika held her right arm out as a humongous spear, forged of twilight energy, appeared out of thin light. She rose the spear high above the evil dragon and pierced. (End song.)
The entire realm was swallowed in a flash of light as Danika reverted back to her normal form. She stood beside Nolan and April as they watched the shadow of Maleficent sizzle and burn in the light. The Shadow Demon drifted to the sky as it faded into nothingness. The light went away afterwards, and the dimension was back to its original color. With the magic gone, the Olivia Dragon began to shrink back down, until Olivia was back in her regular human form, rubbing her aching head. "Ohhh…"
"I have been WAITING to do this!" April exclaimed. She reached her arm out and began to close the grip in her hand, using her powers to grab Olivia's mind and giving her archrival an unbearable headache. April's visage seemed to show only anger, continuing to make Olivia suffer and watching her shake and scream in total pain.
"Okay, April, that's enough." Nolan told her. April only huffed and released her archenemy, and Olivia fell to her knees as Nolan approached her. "You know what your problem is, Olivia? You're too obsessed with 'good looks' and popularity to realize what really matters is on the inside. Danika may look like a freak, but deep down she's sweeter than you could ever be. And even if looks DID matter… she's prettier than you could ever be, too. All you are is a pig."
"Hehehe…" Dani giggled.
Sinking all this in, Olivia filled with pure anger and rage, weakly standing up straight as she faced the victors with a fuming look, still trying to catch breath. "I… will not… be called out… by a bunch of… LOOSERRS! !"
The group then looked around and noticed several clouds of Shadow Fog creeping over, guided by legions of shadows as they were all surrounding the stuck-up teenager. "Wh-What are you-" Olivia tried to speak, and was unable to shake free when the many shadows began wrapping their arms around her. "Augh! Get off me! No! I'm…I'm fading! Not now! This isn't how… I wanted it… to end! So many lives to make miserable! So many boyfriends to steal! No! I can't… not right… AAAAAHHHHHH!"
The shadows and the fog all broke away after her entire form was covered. Olivia was now one of them as they all faded into the distance, leaving the entire field empty except for Team Brotherhood. "Well, girls…" Nolan sighed, "now is as perfect a time as any to say… 'twas beauty killed the beast."
A drum solo could be heard in the distance, that plays whenever a joke is told. Nolan gave a wide grin, but the girls only shot him glares as April smacked the backside of his head. Midna then came back down with the Fused Shadows, the three mystical items spiraling around her before they each shot into her body. Midna studied her skin when she could feel the powers return. "Aw, yes!" she fist-pumped.
"Well, Danika." Nolan smiled to his crush. "You can do the honors."
Danika nodded and approached Midna with the Spirit Ball in hand. She readied her throw, and tossed the Spirit Ball at Midna's form, the Firstborn transforming into light and being sucked inside. The sphere fell to the ground and began shaking and beeping like they normally do. Danika walked over to pick it back up, and held it to her face as she sang quietly.
Across the distance clouds…
The dusk and sadness falls
Like withered autumn leaves
Succumbing to the cold…
But never let yourself...
Fall to the darkness of the night
For across the sky, the rising dawn
Brings forth… the light…
The Spirit Ball hovered in midair and erupted with light, now glowing black on the top and white, with some light-blue lines, on the bottom. The ball lowered gently into Danika's hand as she raised it in victory.
Danika captured a FIRSTBORN! Just 3 more! !
The other two heroes went to stand by Danika and focused their attention on Giratina, the dragon coming down and quaking the field as it landed before them. "The time has come for you to choose." The guardian spoke. "Will you follow the Road of Light…" he directed to the Positive World above, "or the Road to Darkness?" he directed to the Negaverse below.
Nolan didn't need much time to think. He looked straight up at the Positive World, seeing the treehouse of Sector V through the reflection. "Neither…" he spoke, rolling past Giratina. "I'm taking the middle road."
"The Twilight Road to Nightfall?" Giratina asked, raising a brow.
"No…" Nolan turned and faced the eternal sun in the distance. "The Road to Dawn…"
April and Danika smiled and faced the rising sun beside him. "And we'll come with you…" Danika said. (Play "Wake Me Up Inside" by Evanescence.)
YES, we finally captured another Firstborn! Lol I just wanted this song to play because I feel like it fits Danika; I picked it as her theme song! Normally, I play a song during a story arc ending, but even though this is just a Firstborn get, I felt like it fits here. Anyhoo, with Midna found, and Lucinda and her shadow destroyed, that means there are only 3 Firstborn left, and only two villains (excluding Gnaa) are left to take down! And the main one we'll be focusing on is Brain! Next chapter will begin Nolan's arduous path to redemption, and eventually the showdown with Darth Genious! And THAT is going to be the best one YET! Why, you ask? Let's just say… I hope you liked "Titans Together". ;D Later, mah peeps!