Save me, Save you ~End of Alpha~
Kagami, a lord of nature.
Ideally, Nick would be thrilled at the prospect. Kagami would top all of them in skill and having her on their side makes the battle far easier. Though the main kicker, Nick wouldn't have to keep his villain escapades a secret from her. With 100% transparency and more time to spend together, putting his life on the line to save the world isn't much of a burden anymore, not that Nick considered it a burden at all, you get the gist.
But reality had different plans. Nick mentally kicked himself. Idiot, dumbass, imbecile. How could he be so blind? The signs were there. Kagami had been acting strange lately and it wasn't Toby's influence, it was the fire gormiti! They must've discovered her powers and manipulated her into trusting them. Darn, if only Nick stuck by her side more, they wouldn't be in this predicament.
A bright light dawns on the group, not at all fazed by the weird phenomenon for it's none other than the Old Sage. If he's here, then Kagami's capture really is a big deal.
The warlock's gaze locks onto Takahashi's and it was clear those two had history.
"Old Sage…." Takahashi mutters in awe. To see the old sage, his mentor now of all times, Ono wishes they could've met in better circumstances.
Despite his radical shift in appearance, the Old Sage knew that old man sitting by the sofa is none other than little Takahashi Ono. "It's been a long time my friend. I've seen you've aged much."
"Pardon my intrusion-"Nick butts in, "But I'm presuming you're here because you felt the orb too?" Nick doesn't want to spoil the reunion but if Kagami's a Lord of Nature and the Lava gormiti have her, then it's even more important they get Kagami back.
The Old Sage sighs, "Yes, I felt it's presence just as all of you did."
"And Kagami." Toby adds, "Is she really…?"
The Old Sage combs his beard, not desiring to bear the bad news. "I fear your friend is indeed a Lord of Nature."
"Then we gotta help her! She's one of us now!" Lucas says. He's met with reassuring glances from the others.
Razzle climbs to the counter, wanting to have a better view of everyone. "Sorry to spoil the enthusiasm but Old Sage, what do the lava gormiti hope to accomplish with the girl?"
"Yeah, Razzle has a point," Lucas says. "And even if we find that bookstore, what if they already expect us to show up? They'll be gone before we know it and that's the only lead we have."
"And we can't transform into Lords either." Toby includes. A couple of teens against big full-fledged fire gormiti? It's a suicide mission. Plus, Nick hasn't fully recovered from yesterday and Jessica's MIA. They're chumped.
The Old Sage sets his staff down. "I'm sure Takahashi filled you in on the final evolution."
"When our orbs were sent to Earth." Nick verifies.
"Yes. The lava gormiti harnessed the power of the fire orb to open a rift."
"I don't get it. We needed all four orbs to open a rift to Gorm. How did the lava gormiti do it with one?" Lucas admits.
The old sage explains. "Now that the fire orb is restored your powers have increased tenfold and so has your orbs."
"But that doesn't explain how they got to earth in the first place. And how they hid amongst us for so long either." Nick states.
Unfortunately, even with his immense wisdom, the Old Sage had no answers to Nick's questions.
"Regardless, we can't let them have the orb or Kagami."
Unprompted, Jessica barges into the living space, out of breath from running. "Guys! You felt it too?"
Before the guys could answer Jessica, right behind her trail enters a breathless Mark. If the situation wasn't so dire Toby would've smacked his head on the counter repeatedly. Of course, in what's probably the most crucial mission they've had yet Jessica had to bring Mark of all people. He swears if Jessica told Mark anything his sanity will snap in two. Mark didn't have a place when it came to Gorm – something delicate and reserved to the four of them.
"What the? Mr Ono? And who's this old man? I thought Nick was sick! Why is he up and standing? And there's a weird lizard staring at me. Jess, what the hell is going on?"
Jessica covers her face and shakes her head. Too focused on the visions and getting to the boys, she had forgotten about Mark.
To make matters worse, Razzle just had to comment on Jessica's new boyfriend. "So this is the infamous Mark you've all been talking about. He is handsome, I can see why you chose him, Jessica." In a weird synchronized motion, everyone (excluding the old sage) smacked their hands to their foreheads, almost like a group facepalm. Razzle and his big mouth.
Then silence.
…
...
…
Wait for it.
…
…
…
"IT TALKS?!" To think, Paula Pickney's manic rants might have some weight. They were weirdos. Weirdos with a talking lizard.
Jessica doesn't know what to say. What do you say in these situations? Sorry Mark, I'm a lord of a foreign land and can transform into a big giant lady with wings and fight evil lava people with my friends? Oh, and Kagami can too but she's captured by the same lava people? He's seen a talking lizard so that couldn't be too farfetched, right?
"Sorry, dude." Lucas says, now standing beside a befuddled Mark." Sleep spore!" he blows, and a cloud of dust is emitted out of his mouth, straight into Mark's face.
Mark swats all around his face, coughing trying to rid of the spores. "Lucas?! The hell-" His vision clouds and, feeling himself getting sleepy, Mark falls to the harsh wooden floor in total slumber.
"Oh snap! I didn't think it'd work." Lucas comments, sniffing his breath.
"Mark!" Jessica reaches out to her boyfriend, checking his pulse and breath. He's still breathing, praise the orbs.
The old sage coughs, diverting the attention, not knowing how to react. "Though weak, I can still sense the orb's presence. I can gate you to the location, but you must hurry –"
"What about Mark? I can't leave him like this." Attempts to discuss Mark's state were dismissed as Mr Ono, despite the injuries, tries to get up from the sofa. Nick and Lucas force the old man back down. "You're in no condition to help. We'll take care of it."
"But Kagami, she-"
"I'll save her." Nick cuts in. "I promise I'll bring her back. You can count on me – no, all of us."
Takahashi is Kagami's grandfather and her legal guardian here in America. It's his duty to protect her, not for her father, no, for himself. He must be the one to go to her. However, he could tell Nick would do anything to save her. Takahashi relents on his stance, the adrenaline dying down and the pain telling him to rest. He sinks back onto the sofa.
Jessica lugs Mark to the adjacent sofa. "Besides, I'd rather not have Mark stay comatose all alone." Jessica stares at her sleeping boyfriend snoring away. At least she can explain this all as a dream.
The guys signal to the old sage they're ready to leave. Razzle hops onto Jessica's shoulder.
"Sorry, but I need you to stay here." She apologises to the dino, setting him down off her shoulder onto the counter.
"Why? You kids need more firepower!" Razzle wrestles the air, proving his point.
"There's a sleeping guy who shouldn't be here and an injured old man. We need someone to look after them while we're gone." Jessica sees Razzle's shoulders sink in disappointment, for once he wanted to join the fight. Jessica pats his head. "Please, Razzle. For me?"
Razzle sighs. "Okay, I'll stay but only because he's your boyfriend."
Jessica thanks the dino before joining her friends. The Old Sage does his thing, the four now covered in a bright beam of light then disappear from the living room in a flash.
The warm welcoming feel of the living room is replaced with the chill and dreariness of the streets. They were empty and the walls were covered in graffiti. Barely anyone in sight on this gloomy morning, the bookstore stands in front of the teens.
Lucas goes to peek into the windows, it was completely dark, he could barely see a thing.
Disregarding the others' confusion, Nick already makes his way into the store. Though Jessica stops him in his tracks, grabbing the back of his cardigan. He shoots her an unpleasant look.
"We don't know what or who is in there. Shouldn't we come up with a strategy first?" Jessica explains.
Nick stops to think. "We'll just act like usual customers until something comes up." With the plan in motion, (the others didn't really have a say) the group heads into the bookstore. The door is unlocked, and their eyes adjust to the darkened shade compared to the brightness of the morning.
Boxes are piled everywhere and most of the shelves are empty. Whoever lives here is amid packing up.
"Hello?!" Toby calls, kicking away some boxes to have a better view of the vicinity. The group spreads throughout the room keeping close to each other. Jessica cracks open one of the boxes revealing books, not surprising this is supposed to be a bookstore. However, when Jessica goes to flick through one, her eyes widen.
"Guys, I think you need to check this out!"
In the back of the bookstore, Kagami was laid to rest on one of the beds. Flamma occupied her bedside, staring at the sleeping girl. She looks so sound and peaceful sleeping as if time didn't matter, not that it was the case anyways.
Making her point, Anchor bursts into the room, shushing Flamma before she could say anything. She could only look at him, perplexed.
"Vestalt heard footsteps from the front." Anchor whispers, not wanting to alert their guests of their presence.
Flamma shrugs at Anchor, not getting what he's trying to insinuate. It was rare but they did get customers.
"Vestalt believes they might be the lords of nature. They're here for Kagami. They must've sensed the bright light from the orb."
Maybe Flamma should've placed a blocking spell on the orb, though she doubts she could get close to that thing. It burned the Commander's hand to a crisp! Anything she tried to do, she might end up with a crisp hand or potentially affect Kagami in some way.
Anchor lightly pushes Flamma away from Kagami, scooping the sleeping girl in his hand, holding her bridal style. "Take the book and the orb. We're tasked to escape from the back."
"And the Commander?" Flamma asks.
"She'll deal with them. We must leave. Hurry!" Anchor doesn't want to leave the Commander behind, but he saw how devoted she was to her mission. She won't let it fail, even if it means having to stay behind.
The boys crowd around Jessica, and they too have different expressions of shock. It was a Gorm book, though it doesn't look like the ones from the primal pad. No, this looks different, almost like a book of spells.
"That confirms it." Toby states. This isn't a normal bookstore and Kagami is in here somewhere.
"Are you in need of some assistance." A voice echoes from behind the group and they all yelp, startled. Turning to the voice, an old woman stands behind them. Jessica and Toby visibly relax though Nick keeps his guard up.
"Actually, I'm curious where you got this book from," Nick asks, trying to hide the callousness in his tone. He doesn't trust the lady, not making his distrust apparent.
"You know, I'm not quite sure, maybe it's my memory." The old lady chuckles, still smiling widely. Toby and the others felt oddly uncomfortable by the lady. That smile wasn't the same as Mr Ono's, no, his felt genuine. Hers is forced.
The older lady continues. "I do remember finding this book series somewhere stashed in my basement. It's out right in the back."
"Pardon our intrusion since we're just customers, but could you allow us access to your basement?" Nick questions again, this time placing practical interest in the woman's gestures.
She chuckles again. "Why, I can go and get what you need. You're searching for this book series, yes? I'll be right back, just give me a second."
"Um…we can do it ourselves!" Lucas speaks up, having an inkling of what Nick's attempting. "You must be tired from all this packing. We're young and healthy teens."
"Yeah, and you don't have to worry about us stealing anything! We're not like that!" Jessica adds.
The lady's eyes twitch. They've pressed her. "I'm not worried about you stealing anything. You seem like lovely people. Unfortunately, I can't let you in my basement."
"And why's that? Is there something that you don't want us to see?" Nick pokes, digging his nails deeper into the discussion. She's hiding something, possibly the fire orb and Kagami.
The lady chuckles again, except this time it wasn't forced. No, it was more of a sinister cackle. "Oh, I have nothing to hide since you already know what's in there."
"Enough of the bullshit! Where's Kagami!?" Toby demands.
"She's gone."
"No use in lying to us. We know she's here along with the fire orb!" Nick says. The guys take their battle stance, ready to attack at any moment.
"There's no purpose in lying to you, Lords of Nature. I'm merely the distraction."
The old lady disappears in a flash, leaving the group startled. They all form a circle around each other, observing every inch of the room waiting for her to attack.
Alas, Vestalt is outside. With a click of her fingers, the quiet bookstore implodes in flames, leaving nothing left but debris and ashes raining down. She reaches for her hand, unveiling the cloth covering her arm. There, painted on her flesh, is a red tattoo of a strange marking.
"Now that my cover's blown, I won't need this body anymore."
The duo fire gormiti runs out of the bookstore, not looking back for a split second. Anchor carrying Kagami (even with his immense strength, he is somewhat alarmed at how light she is) and Flamma hauling the book and orb.
The duo stops at the sound of an explosion. Finally looking back, a huge body of smoke emits to the sky.
"You don't think…" Flamma starts. It was a stupid thought, that the commander would fall but Flamma couldn't bear to return to Volcano Mountain without her. The others - Magmion, Obscurio and Magor - they intimidated Flamma. Vestalt protected them. Without her protection, Flamma didn't think she'd be able to stand that place enough to not lose her mind.
"Look!" Anchor directs their gazes at an upcoming figure. On further inspection it wasn't a human, no it was a gormiti. It was none other than –
"Commander!" they both shout in glee.
The commander, now in her gormiti form, rushes towards the duo. Even Anchor couldn't contain his smile. He too, can't imagine returning to Gorm without the Commander. Nonetheless, that doesn't mean he doubts his leader, but he can't deny the possibility the Lords of Nature besting her.
"Good to see you two made it out of there." The commander comments, eyeing the book and the orb. In turn, Flamma hands the glass case back to Vestalt, not wanting to hold it any longer.
Anchor gazes at his wrist. The tattoo that gave him this glamour. To be honest, he was growing sick of this body. It felt cramped and small, plus he didn't like the extra finger, he found it unnecessary. Everything felt off, but no more. "I'm guessing it's time to say goodbye to these forms." He sets Kagami down by a tree stump. Anchor channels his energy into the tattoo. His body contorts and transforms back into his original state.
"Flamma, you too." Anchor directs, going back to pick up Kagami, now even smaller in his large arms.
Flamma flinches, hesitating on transforming. It's not that she doesn't like her original body, though, she will truly miss hanging around the humans. But she chose this path and there was no going back. Thus, she does the same, casting away the meek human body and converting to her true form.
"Let's descend deep into the forest. We don't know if they have more allies."
Not even one step taken, a bright light descends from the sky like lightning, jerking the group away with the sheer force. The light dies down and, with the flashing of sparks still surrounding him, an old man stands firm.
He and Vestalt have a staring competition, battling it out through their gazes making it clear they were on opposite sides of the battlefield.
"Old Sage." are the only words Vestalt utters. She never faced off against the Old Sage before but, given the gravitas of the situation, she had predicted things may have come to this.
The old sage breaks his gaze away from Vestalt, now eyeing the sleeping girl, Kagami, in the other fire gormiti's arms.
"Return the girl and the orb and I will spare you from harm." The old sage says, anchoring his staff right at the group.
Anchor and Flamma look to Vestalt on how they should proceed. Vestalt waves them off, signalling to them not to do anything and that she's got this. She steps up to the Old Sage. "I don't want to fight you. You are a formidable foe and I can't deny your strength."
The old Sage raises his staff. He wasn't about to let his guard up; they were planning something. She wouldn't dish out compliments if she wasn't.
From her back, Vestalt reaches out and shows off a small ball. Flamma's eyes shoot wide open. She wasn't going to use that now, was she?
"However, we can't let you ruin our plans." Vestalt smashes the ball into the ground, shattering it into pieces. Anchor steps back. Fighting the Old Sage, just imagining it gets Anchor's juices flowing, but he can't get in on the action. Kagami comes first.
A thread of smoke trails the ground, swirling and forming a shape. Then out pops a head, faceless as if masked with cloth. It roars out an ear-piercing shriek, stunning the Old Sage. The others use this as an opportunity to run.
Before the Old Sage could stop them, the faceless being jumps out from the shadows readying a swipe at the Old Sage's head. He blocks the attack with his staff. Then he shoots out a beam of light, knocking the humanoid away from him. Barely doing anything to the creature, it's already getting its footing back. A cut is apparent on its chest, it splits wide open, revealing an eye. Its pupils dart all around until stopping right at the Old Sage.
The Old Sage prepares another attack. He wouldn't be able to go after the fire gormiti with this being in the way, nonetheless he could still feel the Lords' presence. It'd be up to them to stop the fire gormiti now.
Underneath the rubble that was once a hoax of a bookstore, the debris rocked up and down slightly. The motion gradually speeds up, picking up the pace until a flurry of rock and ashes fly to the sky. Out emerges the group of teens, shielded by a dome of sorts. Who made that dome? None other than Jessica herself, struggling to keep it in place.
"You can stop now, Jess. We made it out." Nick reassures the girl and the dome disperses. Jessica leans into Toby supporting her weight. The group coughs and hacks at the incoming smoke and head away from the debris and into the forest in the back. Jessica, still leaning on Toby for support, sits down on the grass, catching her breath and gasping for the clear air. The guys dust the smoke from their clothes.
"Well, at least we know Kagami isn't in there," Lucas says to alleviate the situation.
"Yeah, but now we don't know where the hell she is," Nick says pacing back and forth trying to think of something, anything that could be some hint to where the fire gormiti are going.
Toby seats himself beside Jessica, "They might've headed off to Gorm. We screwed up." It wasn't like Toby to be a downer, but he wasn't one to beat around the bushes.
Nick slams his fist onto a tree. He couldn't give up. He couldn't lose hope. No, he wouldn't let Kagami down, the most important person to him in the world.
How would he save her? He pleads to her to give him a sign.
The world stopped for Nick. He could feel, no hear vibrations – vibrations from the group. Walking, these were footprints, and there are more, two to be precise, close to the gang and others far off. But these are faint, he couldn't pinpoint exactly where they are. Then it hits him.
"Does anyone have a cloth?!"
Toby was about to throw a witty comment until he stopped to think- maybe Nick is onto something. "What are you on about?"
"I sensed it! Footsteps, I-I think I can track down the fire gormiti, but I need something to cover my eyes with."
"I do not copy whatsoever."
Why is his brother so dense? "Urgh. What I'm saying is I need to go blind to use my powers to their full strength!"
Jessica unravels her scarf, tossing it to Nick. He steers off his glasses, blinking a few times while his eyes adjust to the blurriness. He wraps the scarf around his eyes.
Lucas stares at Jessica's neck. Though she tried, there were still purple blotches apparent on her neck. "What's up with your neck?" He asks, genuinely concerned and not in the least knowledge that those are hickeys she got from Mark.
Jessica sighs. "Can you please stop staring. It's nothing."
"Guys! I can feel it! Follow me!" Nick interrupts the conversation (in Jessica's favour) and the group follows Nick into the forest.
To everyone's shock, (and Toby's disappointment) Nick doesn't slam his face into a tree. No, it's as if his eyes weren't covered with a makeshift blindfold. It was quite extraordinary. The group stops in their tracks at the sight of the old sage with an all too familiar creature. It was the being they fought yesterday though a lot different. The one they fought yesterday was the size of an elephant while this being, it looks like an oversized zombie. Luckily, they don't have to do much fighting, the old sage took care of that. The monster is tied up firmly by what the teens presumed to be a light whip.
Whatever the old sage did, it certainly took a toll on him, he was leaning his weight onto his staff, too weak to stand on his own.
The teens speed to his aid but the old sage gestures them away – they had to get to the fire gormiti first, their friend must be their main concern. "I must retire from the battlefield to regain my strength."
The old sage noticed the looks on their faces. Unable to transform he'd be a reliable asset in fighting the fire gormiti. "Do not fret. I can still sense the orb's presence. I will use to remainder of my strength to transport you to your friend."
That uplifted their spirits. They still have a chance to safe Kagami.
"Take us to her. We're ready." Nick says.
The old sage gets to his feet. " I must warn you. There are three fire gormiti you will face. Without your transformed state, I fear to say the odds are stacked against you."
"We can take them with or without our gormiti forms." Lucas states. The others nod their heads, reaffirming Lucas' sentiment.
The old sage, concerned for their safety, can't deny their unnerving desire to save their friend. Like true heroes' worthy of the orbs, they'd throw themselves in danger for the sake of others. They had to try; he could sense that from them. He gets to his feet. He'll help them in any way he could. "Be safe and be wise lords of nature." With that, the gang transcended into light.
Vestalt and co continue into the depths of the forest, Kagami in Anchor's arms and the orb and book with Vestalt. Kagami still hasn't awoken from her slumber, putting everyone in distress.
"How long do we have to run? My legs are cramping already." Flamma whines, slowing down behind the two.
"Would you quiet down! We can't stop until the girl wakes up." Anchor chastises.
"Her name is Kagami! KA-GA-MI! Geez, I know she's our hostage but at least treat her like a person." Usually, Anchor's deadpan nature never bothered Flamma but gosh, would it hurt to be a little empathetic for once in his life!
Anchor is about to shoot another rhetoric until Vestalt puts a hand out, stopping them.
"Do you hear that?" Vestalt asks, glancing all around her. Anchor and Flamma don't answer. Flamma also gazes around. The stress must be getting to Vestalt because Flamma hears absolutely nothing. Though she does feel a slight tugging on her leg. She looks down and it's a vine.
Before they know it, more vines and roots spring out from the grass, gripping and wrapping themselves around their torsos and arms. However, Vestalt isn't perturbed, simply burning the vines to ashes.
"Do you really think a simple trick would work on us?" Vestalt calls out to the unknown. Flamma and Anchor group closer to Vestalt.
Four teens, the lords of nature, appear out from the bushes of the forest. Vestalt rolls her eyes, it'd be easier to not deal with them but here they are.
"Give us back Kagami!" Nick shouts.
Unfortunately, being trapped in a hellish tower for god knows how long meant she never got the chance to fight the Lords of Nature. Vestalt couldn't take them lightly. Despite the stakes, Vestalt chooses to use this as a learning opportunity.
"Anchor, you deal with them. " Vestalt directs to Anchor. She wouldn't go all out just yet.
Anchor flinches. "M-me?" he stutters, honoured yet sceptical that the commander would trust him to handle the lords of nature on his own.
"Is there another Anchor around here? Unless you want Flamma -"
"No! I mean I'd gladly fight, Commander." Anchor corrects himself, earning a scowl from Flamma, not that she wanted to fight them in the first place. He hands Kagami to Flamma then steps forward. "If you want to get to the girl then you'll have to go through me first."
The teens glance at each other, hesitant on proceeding. Yes, they have their powers, but they weren't nearly as strong as in their gormiti forms. Not only that, but their bodies weren't as durable either. One hit and they'd be sent to their deathbeds.
However, none of that matters to Nick. He charges forward at Anchor, ready to lung a punch at the gormiti. Nick's acting completely out of character charging in without thinking of the consequences, but he's been in a near-death experience before and Kagami's right there. Broken bones be damned, he promised Mr Ono he'd bring Kagami back and he's going to do just that, whatever it takes.
Anchor freezes in confusion. Was the kid really going to leave himself wide open or does he have something else up his sleeve? Whatever, he was coming close and Anchor doesn't have time to ask questions. Nick, mere inches away from socking this bastard gormiti, gets his attack easily deflected, Anchor swatting him to the thorny bushes on his left like he was a small fly.
"Nick!" the others call before leering at the fire gormiti.
Easing their worries, Nick comes right back up. "Don't mind me." He grunts, clearly in pain, limping out from the bushes. Clutching his stomach, he exposes part of his flesh. The texture is hard. He hardened his skin before Anchor swatted him. It isn't life-threatening but that doesn't mean the attack didn't hurt if him limping didn't already give it away.
Lucas is up next. The vines regenerate, tightening their hold on Anchor. Anchor rips them off, no need to use any fire power.
Lucas steps back. "Anyone else have any other ideas?" he proposes. Jessica and Toby shrug their shoulders. Toby would've used his mighty tentacles by now, them being much stronger than Lucas' vines and Jessica would've flown to the sky, using an air attack to throw the fire gormiti off guard. They weren't prepared, fighting without their gormiti forms.
A distant squawking is heard from everyone. Anchor, who's been holding back, is on high alert. Finally, maybe there'll be some competition from now on. Anchor searches around him trying to find the source of the sound. Jess, Toby and Lucas do the same, also not knowing what or where the sound is coming from. Anchor checks above. Birds of all kinds flock to him, pecking him with their beaks.
"I-I didn't do anything." Jessica confesses before the guys could ask her anything. The birds, they sensed Jessica was in some sort of peril and came to her aid.
But that doesn't sway the fight in their favour. It just annoys Anchor more. He swats at them, burning them with a simple touch. He'll give the air lord that, she made him use his powers even if it wasn't much.
Jessica gasps, her legs wobbling, watching Anchor torch the small creatures. She hears them, their screams and last breaths as their scorched corpses plop to the ground. "Stop! Stop it!" she pleads for the other birds to escape however they wouldn't leave, adamant on helping. The inner pain, far too unbearable, sends Jessica to her knees.
"Jess, what's wrong?" Toby asks her in all seriousness. Hopefully, the fire gormiti didn't cast a weird spell on her.
"I-I sent them to their deaths…" Jessica quakes, completely overcome with shock.
Anchor torches the last few, now a pile of scorched corpses scatter around him. "So, this is all you can do, invincible lords of nature?" The lord of the earth, limping back to his friends after one hit. He's supposed to be the strongest. Lord of the forest, connection to all plants and greenery yet all he can do is control a bunch of vines. Lastly, the lord of air, crying over a bunch of dead animals. The same lord that commanded an army to invade Volcano Mountain. "Pathetic."
These are the same lords that brought back Supreme Luminous, defeated Obscurio, locking him away and bested the lord of evil himself, Magor. They've saved the Gorm and Earth countless times, yet they couldn't beat a meagre soldier.
"Do you think this is a joke?" Anchor cackles. Yes, they were his enemies, but he could see himself in them. His old self, back when he couldn't protect his friends. He would've done anything to save Accend, Tio, Ciber and Impe.
"We're taking your friend! Why aren't you trying?"
These kids, if they really cared about Kagami, if they truly want to save her, why are they hesitating? Why are they not using their powers to the maximum?
The teens don't answer, too drained to satisfy Anchor's curiosity.
Anchor is livid.
"Should we stop him?" Flamma asks Vestalt. This was the most emotion Anchor had ever shown. In that moment, Flamma truly feared him.
"No, we won't intervene." Vestalt answers also intrigued as to why the lords haven't transformed yet. Unless…they can't. Kagami moans, bringing Vestalt's attention to the girl. Her hand twitches.
"If you won't take this seriously, then I'll have to raise the stakes!" The peaceful grassy terrain is lit aflame, setting a scene straight from hell.
"He's starting a forest fire!" Lucas yelps.
The thought of retreating isn't an option. The teens have nowhere to escape. They're surrounded by a circle of fire growing ever closer to them.
"What are you waiting for!" Anchor yells. "Show me the true might of the lords of nature!"
Lucas grabs Toby, snapping him out of whatever state he was in. "Hurry up and do something, Toby! We need water!"
Toby closes his eyes, concentrating. The clouds darken, blocking the sun. A light shower pours from the sky, instantly turning into an all-out downpour. It quietened the flames, but it didn't get rid of them completely.
"What? Why won't it work?"
The flames zone in on them and the group have nothing else to do except hope that the wetness will stop them from meeting the fate of the deceased birds.
"ENOUGH!" a feminine voice calls from the other end. The flames disperse in a flash. It isn't Anchor, he won't answer to anyone other than the commander and that voice didn't belong to Vestalt. Anchor smirks, turning to face the girl, no, Kagami, now standing, her eyes illuminating crimson.
Nick could've cried tears of joy. Kagami's alright. She's saved.
"Kagami!" Nick runs to her. Kagami casts a wall of flames, stopping him and separating him and his friends from her and the fire gormiti.
The orb floats away from Vestalt's hand, landing straight into Kagami's grasp.
"Kagami, you're not acting like yourself!" Nick shouts from the other end. He tries bypassing the flames. No use, he jerks away, nursing his burnt fingers.
"Snap out of it, Kagami!" Toby yells back.
"Yeah, don't listen to the fire gormiti!" Lucas adds.
Kagami stares blankly at them, lost, not really having any reaction of sorts. "Friends…" she repeats back to herself.
"Yes!" Nick says, "We're your friends."
Flamma croaks out, wanting to say something but not having the words. Vestalt signals her to stop.
"Come back to us, Kagami!" Jessica shouts, joining her friends. "They don't care about you! They want to use you!"
"Friends…" Kagami repeats, clutching the orb close to her. "…I don't have any friends." Then Kagami does something even Vestalt couldn't have predicted. She absorbs the orb, leaving nothing left in her hands.
"Did she just…" Flamma starts.
"…absorb the fire orb?" Anchor finishes.
"Elemental powers flow…" Kagami begins, a bright red glowing from her chest.
"Is she…" Jessica doesn't finish her sentence. She doesn't need to. She, along with the other guys, knows where this is going.
"For the power of the everlasting flame!" Kagami shouts and she's enveloped in red light. Once the light dies down, standing in Kagami's place wasn't the regular Kagami. No, for she transformed into a gormiti, the Lord of fire. Pink tendrils blow in the wind as Kagami is now adorned in white and red armour. The orb embedded in her chest.
"Wow…" Nick breathes. Kagami retained her beauty in her gormiti form.
Her appearance wouldn't last long, the white dying itself a dark purple colour. From Toby's endless consumption of media, that doesn't mean a good thing.
Kagami faces away from the teens. A beam emits itself from her orb, striking a random tree, opening a path; a path between Earth and Gorm.
Vestalt cracks a breathless laugh. "She did it! The girl did it!" Acknowledging that they don't have time to rejoice, Vestalt grabs the case. "Let's go. The Gorm awaits."
Vestalt and co travel beyond the portal. Vestalt leading the way, Flamma and Anchor in tow. Kagami is last to go, her hand already through the portal.
"WAIT!" Nick shouts, prompting Kagami to look his way. "Whatever they told you, whatever they promised, it's bullshit! You don't have to listen to them, Kagami!"
Kagami chuckles to herself, and she shoots Nick one of her heart-wrenching smiles. The exact same one from the day they first spoke to each other. "I'm not doing this for them, Nick. I'm doing this for myself." And Kagami enters the portal, thus removing the flames. Nick chases after her but alas the portal closes.
Nick drops to his knees. "She's gone." Nick didn't really have a problem with crying, his mother said it was a good thing for boys to cry, to let their emotions out and in his mother's words, not his, word for word, 'Fuck the toxic notion that men can't cry.' Though, when watching any particular sad movie that would normally have him bursting into tears, he tries to keep it in when Toby and Lucas are around or in public in general. Yes, it's toxic but it still feels embarrassing, especially in front of Toby. Though today wasn't one of those days.
"She's gone." He sniffs, a tear falls right onto his glasses. The loneliness welling up inside him is far more excruciating than whatever pride he has as a man. Kagami's gone. The only girl that'd look his way. The only girl that wouldn't fall asleep when he goes on his fungi rants. The only girl who was right for him. The ideal version of him. Now she's gone.
Toby places a hand on his brother's shoulder. Nick looks up at him with tear-stained eyes.
"We'll get her back. You promised Mr Ono that, remember?" Toby reassures his brother.
"How? We can't transform! You saw how that fire gormiti took us out!" Why did Kagami get involved? Nick would've been fine if she didn't know about the Gorm at all, for things to go back the way they should be.
"We still got our orbs. We can make it happen, Nick. We're bringing her back."
"We got your back, Nick. We all feel the same way about Kagami." Jessica includes.
"Yeah, as long as the four of us are together, there's nothing we can't do!" Lucas adds.
"Guys…" Nick wipes the tears from his eyes. He gets up on his feet.
'Don't worry, Kagami. I'm going to save you. Take care just a while longer.'
A/N: That's the end of part 1! It only took like 11 months. Almost a year since I started this fic. Yeah, I know I'm late in uploading this chapter and sorry about that. This is last chapter of this weird summer writing binge schedule so the uploads are gonna be more sporadic from now on until I have some free time on my hands, probably going back to montly-ish uploads again. But first I'm gonna take a break so don't expect an upload any time soon though that doesn't mean I'm leaving this fic on hold. I will finish this story, unless I die and you guys will know cause there's no way this fic is gonna go with a year of no uploads, or 3 months.
Anyways thanks for all the comments and reading this stupid fic in the first place and getting invested in my OCs and all that. Repeating myself, but I original did this for myself so yeah seeing the response is kind alarming (In a good way). Thanks for all the comments too, I read them and seeing your reactions helps keep me motivated.
Also thanks to my beta reader, finalfanaticgorm for helping and sticking around during this weird binge. She helped a lot too so check out her fics during the hiatus if you'd call it that.
This is getting too long so I'm calling it quits here. Get ready for part 2 cause shit's gonna get crazy.
(FUCK YES EVIL KAGAMI I CAN FINALLY SAY IT, JESUS YOU DON'T KNOW HOW LONG I HAD TO KEEP THIS IN!)
Anyways, see you guys in part 2.