The Omega Timeline

Chapter 40: Bereft - by Ben

“What is she doing here?!” Jethezzar thought, his eyes peering across the skyline. The city was emptier than the last time he was here. Perhaps the mysterious forces against him had evacuated them. Jethezzar clutched onto his rune tighter. Despite the silence of the city, encountering that purlovia and… her, proved to Jethezzar that these foes had gathered an army themselves.

“I can’t take them all on at once, especially with the chance of ambush like that weird creature. No, total war must begin. I must bring everyone from the dark obelisk to the city to crush these fools once and for all.”

Jethezzar stared at the rune in his talons one last time. It seemed to be humming more frequently than when he was in that desert. He caressed the stone with his talon, and looked back, where the Black Obelisk was. It seemed to be humming more violently.

Without a word, Jethezzar took to the skies and flew back.

~

Buddy looked up in the skies to see that familiar bronze wyvern flying back to the Black Obelisk. He sneered, and turned to Tago.

“He’s going back to the obelisk.”

Tago looked at Buddy with a weird expression.

“You want to follow him?” she asked with a hint of disbelief.

“What? No! I just… think something’s off.”

Buddy suddenly felt a piercing pain in his head. Buddy let out a groan, rubbing his head with his paw. Tago looked at her buddy in worry. She nudged his side, and he collapsed to the ground.

“Huh? Buddy? What happened?!” Tago asked, grabbing Buddy.

“Buddy!”

It was too late. Buddy had found himself in another one of his visions.

Buddy looked around in confusion. The city he was in was filled with fire, and a large dragon that towered above all the buildings was breathing fire into the streets. Buddy let out a shriek of terror, and began to run away.

BAM!

He was stopped by a familiar-looking blue dragon. It sneered and swiped at Buddy. Buddy dodged out of the way, and looked around to see humans and creatures fighting amongst each other in a fierce battle. Blood was everywhere, and overgrowth was present in the buildings. But as Buddy looked around, something told him that this…

Was the city he was present in.

Buddy let out a gasp of air, as he was jolted awake by Tago.

“Buddy! What happened?” Tago asked as soon as his eyes fluttered open.

Buddy shoved past Tago and clambered onto her back. Tago looked at him with confusion. Buddy squinted his eyes at the buildings the Rock Drakes had positioned themselves at.

“We need to warn everyone that they’re coming. All of them. We need a new game plan. We’re all too spread out, we’ll be crushed in seconds.”

“But how do you know-”

“It doesn’t matter how I know! Just go go go go!”

Tago didn’t protest. She ran forward, off the observatory, and flew off to warn everyone.

War was coming.

~

Ben had a weird dream that night.

He was in a mansion, standing at a table, staring at a book, and being interrogated by some blurry voice he couldn’t recognize. He was sweating beads, and with a scream of rage, retaliated with some nonsense.

“Why would I write a book like this?” he had said.

Then, the walls of the mansion came toppling down, crushing him and killing him. He heard a beep in his head, and he woke up in his bed, safe and sound. After much time spent in his bed, he finally decided to go out to the bar to get a drink.

“And now here I am, with these two guys,” Ben thought, looking back and forth from Bear and Joe Kong. The three of them were just wandering the streets aimlessly, no purpose in mind. Bear was looking around the city, eyes wide and walking on his two legs. He scratched the back of his head.

“You’re So Stupid you said there was going to be a wyvern coming,” Bear said, looking around suspiciously, “But there’s no wyvern!”

Just then, a huge gust of wind blew on them. All three of them were pushed over, and they all let out gasps of shock. They looked up in the sky to see a bronze wyvern flying away and toward the Black Obelisk. As soon as Bear spotted him he gasped and began to call out to it.

“Hey! Wait! Come back so we can fight you!” Bear screamed out to him. Joe Kong nudged him.

“Don’t aggravate him… If he’s running away then that’s a good thing,” Joe Kong scolded him. Bear frowned.

“I’m so sorry You’re So Stupid. I won’t do that ever again,” he apologized, tears forming in his eyes. Then he began to burst out in tears. He fell down onto his haunches and looked down at the ground sadly. Joe Kong looked at him weirdly as he crumpled to the ground in despair.

“I’m sorry I made you upset, I didn't mean to,” Bear wept. He wiped his paw in front of his eyes and continued blubbering like a baby. Ben sighed, rubbing his forehead and tapping his foot on the ground impatiently.

“Why did I agree to help you,” he muttered under his breath.

Just then, they heard the flapping of wings again, and Joe Kong and Ben turned to see a smaller wyvern and a purlovia headed toward them. Joe seemed to recognize the purlovia. He rushed up to the duo with a smile.

“Buddy! What’s up?”

“No time to explain. Just go to the mansion. Now. War is coming.”

“Wha-”

“Just go! We don’t have much time to waste, we need to warn everyone else!”

Tago and Buddy flew off, and Joe looked on in worry. He nudged Ben with his arm.

“Come on human. Let’s go.”

Joe rushed off to the stairs of the mansion, and Ben looked on in irritation. He stepped over to Bear and kicked him in the back.

“Let’s go.”

Bear let out a sniffle, and got back up on a bipedal stance.

“Right. Right. Thanks, Ben.”

The three rushed over to the mansion stairs and clambered up top. They could notice wyverns and other flying creatures flying up to the mansion as well with humans and other creatures atop.

As Ben set foot upon the stairs, he grimaced.

“Shouldn’t have gotten into this mess,” he thought as he began to run up the stairs, “I really shouldn’t have…”

~

Jethezzar landed at the Shadowkeep, and he could hear a commotion coming from within. He grumbled to himself as he squeezed past the doors and into the area where all the thrones lay. There, everyone seemed to be discussing a plan for what was to come next. Apex lounged in the back, while Captain Shortstacks and Willow seemed to be the biggest mediators of this conversation, while the King Titan would butt in with some ridiculous statement, making everyone groan in annoyance. Jethezzar scanned the crowd and noticed three newcomers. A weird monkey, and two humans, one who was shirtless and barbaric and the other who seemed more distinguished although ugly.

“Why don’t we just let Apex do the heavy work and destroy the city? I highly doubt anyone can stop him, even with combined forces,” Captain Shortstacks suggested.

“I don’t know why I’m here,” Cauldron said, “Even though I’m supposed to be died. But… I want to smash smash smash little creature to bits.”

Sig spotted him and smirked at him, swinging her tail round and round.

“My my, look who’s here,” Sig implanted within everyone’s thoughts. All heads turned to the wyvern. Drain spotted him and stepped forward.

“Where have you been? We’ve missed you,” he said in a mocking tone. Ember snorted, and his Lieutenant shuffled uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head.

“I went back to the city. There’s more of them than we thought,” Jethezzar explained.

“Well, d-did you win?” Lil Jack stuttered. He was hugging both of his legs and was sitting next to Michael.

“No. I lost. Which is why I came here to-”

Fjordur’s Dragon suddenly let out a loud laugh, pointing his talon at Jethezzar with tears in his eyes. Jethezzar stared at him, his eyes boiling with rage, and when he stopped laughing he finally uttered a few words to follow.

“You’re pretty weak for a wyvern! I’m surprised you lost not once, but TWICE! Against these creatures who are supposedly ‘weak’,” he said, looking from creature to creature. The King Titan nodded, looking at Jethezzar with contempt. Apex’s eyes darted down to him.

“Does it matter?! NONE of you helped me take over that city! Instead you sat by the sidelines and watched as I fought THREE wyverns at once! I was about to win too, mind you, but NO! ALL OF YOU ARE WEAK PATHETIC COWARDS!” Jethezzar bellowed. Fjordur’s Dragon let out another chuckle, walking up to look Jethezzar in the eye.

“You don’t scare us weakling-”

Jethezzar let out a scream of rage and pulled his talons back. He lashed out at the dragon, slashing him across the face. The dragon let out a roar and retaliated with a swing of his own, but as it came flying toward his face Jethezzar lunged up and grabbed the dragon by the throat. Jethezzar clamped down tightly, and although it didn’t break skin he still felt the pain. He let out a roar of pain and began to squirm around, but Jethezzar was too angry to be properly defended against. Jethezzar slammed him against the stone ground, almost crushing Rockwell. Rockwell let a gasp out and jumped out of the way, staring at the wyvern with annoyance. But he didn’t dare speak a word.

Jethezzar pressed his wing against Fjordur’s Dragon, keeping him from moving. He looked up at the others, who were backing away. Even the mighty King Titan seemed wary of him. Jerry was grinning wildly at the scene, and Sig giggled again like a little girl.

“From now on…” Jethezzar screamed, “Things are going MY way! None of you are like me! None of you have accomplished things like me! I’m stronger, smarter, faster… I’m better than all of you. So all of us will go to the city and take it over. That is FINAL!”

No one had any complaints. Nobody had any objections. They all just nodded silently, not to dare challenge Jethezzar’s new decree. Samuel looked on at the situation with a glare, his hands in his pockets.

“Then let’s go crush those weaklings!” Jerry suddenly screamed out. Sig looked on at the newcomer with intrigue. Apex stepped forward. His fiery eyes were pinned to Jethezzar’s.

“Let’s fly then. All humans can just ride with us, along with the creatures incapable of flying,” Apex said, staring down at Jethezzar. Jethezzar met his glance.

“You…” Jethezzar thought,

“Are my biggest threat.”

~

Jay was pacing back and forth, while Jack just watched, sitting down on the ground. Jack fiddled with his thumbs nervously, looking around the cave at the rest of those who stayed behind.

“Why won’t dad let us out there to fight? We can fight them! We know how to use a sword! And we have these… medallions. They’ll help us out in battle, right?” Jay said. He paused in his steps and looked at Jack, “So why? Why not?”

Jack shrugged.

“No idea. But hey… if it comforts you, once this is all over I have a good feeling we’ll be going home. This is gonna be over soon.”

“But what if it isn’t over? What if dad gets hurt out there?! Then what would happen next?!”

Jack got up and grabbed Jay by the shoulders.

“We can’t worry bro! We’re just kids, what are we gonna do to stop a bat? What are we gonna do to stop a DRAGON?! Come on man calm down! There’s no way we’d be any help, we’d just slow them down!”

“You’re just scared,” Jay spat, “You always have been.”

“Shut up!”

“No you!”

“No, YOU!”

“Boys!” a woman called out to them. Both of them turned around to see their mother, Arianna, and Emma standing at the cave tunnel that led to the rest of the mansion.

“Sorry mom! Jack’s just being a coward!” Jay told her. Emma ignored the two brothers’ feud and rolled her eyes. She turned to the others, who looked at her intently.

“Buddy and Tago have come back. They say that this is an emergency,” Emma claimed. Steve ran up Dr. Yang’s back, and Dr. Yang immediately rushed down the tunnel. Sylas followed suit along with Ruby and Neddy. Sylveevee’s children seemed to already be gone and in the mansion. Jay sighed and walked past Jack, bumping into his shoulder.

Jack looked back. Erica was still interacting with the White Obelisk, with Sylas laying on the ground next to her, unconscious. Its automated voice rang out, and Erica slammed her fist into the terminal.

“Erica! Are you coming?”

“Not now,” Erica yelled back. She stared at the interface again, his eyes bloodshot red, “Not now…”

Jack then looked at Samuel’s pet dodo. It was crumpled on the ground, curled up and unresponsive. Jack walked up to the bird and nudged it with his finger. It didn’t make a single move.

“Poor thing,” Jack thought.

Jack turned away and rushed down the tunnel to meet with the others.

~

Emma’s eyes darted along the room as the chattering of creatures and humans alike filled her senses. There were a lot more creatures considering a bunch had been abstracted not too long ago. It was already beginning to turn night, and the sun was setting over the lands.

“Okay, is everyone here?” Buddy asked, looking amongst the crowd.

“My husband isn’t here,” Arianna pointed out while raising her hand.

“Neither is my sister or Drake,” Skyocean observed.

“And Joe Kong isn’t here either…” Dr. Yang muttered.

Just then, the flapping of wings gushed out from the outside. All eyes turned to see a magenta wyvern with Drake, Aragorn, and a strange fox on top land in the backyard. The wyvern transformed into Sylveevee, and the three rushed into the home.

“Arianna!” Aragorn cried out.

“Aragorn!” she called back. The two embraced. As soon as they pulled away, Arianna began to look Aragorn up and down.

“Are you hurt? You’re hurt aren’t you?”

The fox, which had seven tails, somehow, looked at the couple with a smile. She looked around the room, but that smile quickly turned to a frown. She blinked her eyes rapidly and took a seat on the floor. Sheeri looked at the fox suspiciously.

“Hey wait a minute, who are you?”

“Someone who helped us,” Drake said, “If she didn’t step in to help, we would’ve all been dead. We had a run in with Jethezzar.”

“She has valuable information too,” Sylveevee said. Emma stared at the fox and squinted her eyes at her.

Then the doors burst open. Joe Kong was at the door, along with an awesome-looking black bear and some guy in a cloak who seemed pretty mad. Joe Kong ran up to the dining table with the bear following suit.

“I found people willing to help us in our cause,” Joe Kong explained. He turned to the two new recruits, “This is Bear, and this is Ben.”

Andrew turned to face the two. He stepped over to the two, and Bear looked at Andrew with bulging eyes.

“I’m glad you two want to help us. You too, fox,” Andrew said. Bear grinned and his tongue hung out of his mouth goofily.

“I love to help!” Bear declared. Andrew turned to Ben, looked him up and down, and then reached his hand out to shake.

“Pleasure to meet you too.”

Ben reached his hand out and gripped onto his hand tightly, shaking up and down.

“Of course,” Ben said. He was sweating and his legs were quivering. Neddy gasped at the sight of him.

“Yooo! Ben! I didn’t know you were brought here too!” Neddy yelled out. Ben turned to face him with a sneer. He raised his eyebrow.

“Who are you.”

“What? It’s me, Neddy!”

Ben looked at him with irritation.

“Who’s that.”

“You’ve gotta remember me-”

“Nah. I don’t.”

Andrew turned to face everyone.

“So that’s everyone! Except for Erica and Sylas, but I’ve been made aware that she’s busy with something important,” Andrew said, “Now Buddy what did you want to tell us?”

Buddy looked at everyone, and stepped up onto the table.

“War is coming. I had a vision… The city was in ruins and there were bad guys everywhere. There’s almost as many as us. I was thinking we could come up with a new plan.”

“Wait a minute, HOW many of them are there?” Sheeri said, fear in her eyes.

“Just as many as us-”

“Woah!” Rage suddenly said, flicking her tongue, “Sounds like even more fun! So what’s the big deal? Why couldn’t we have just stuck with the original plan?”

“Because, one of those bad guys is a big dragon that’s even bigger than this mansion!” Buddy screamed, “Of course we need a new plan!”

“Bigger than this mansion?” Sunhigh shuddered, “That’s pretty big.”

“So yeah. We need a new plan. Any thoughts?”

They all began to discuss and talk, but Emma was distracted. She stared off at Ben, who was staring at the fox intently. He had a pair of sunglasses on and was wearing a gold heart locket that was identical to Aurora’s, but she could still tell he was intrigued with her. The fox looked back at Ben, but didn’t seem to think anything out of the ordinary.

Emma’s medallion suddenly began to glow, and a vision passed Emma’s eyesight. The same man that she was looking at was hanging still from a noose, his hands bound behind his back. He was in a very very VERY familiar environment.

The city of Tortuga.

There were screams and gunshots, and then a glitch reverberated throughout her ears, and the man’s dead body disappeared, sucked into a blue portal.

The vision ended, and Emma stared at Ben with shock.

“This man was in Tortuga?!” Emma thought with dilated pupils, “But I don’t know who this is! Who is this man?”

Ben suddenly slammed his fists on the dining table, looking at the fox with a stare.

“Sunny, what are you doing in that fox’s body?”

“Whaa? How do you know my name?” Sunny asked, taken aback. All eyes turned to Ben.

“Hey, you interrupted me,” Orbit sneered at him. Ben pointed a finger at the fox, who they now knew was Sunny.

“I’m just asking a question. Why are you a fox now?”

“You’re asking as if I know!” Sunny shouted back, “I just came to be this way! I didn’t ask to be like this! I don’t, I don’t even know who you are! Why are you in my business?”

Ben glanced away. He had a frown on his face, as if he were disappointed.

“Anyway, back to what I was saying. You said they are all situated at the Black Obelisk because they can bring in more villains? Well why don’t some of us go there to deactivate it so they can’t bring in more-”

“Well we tried that last time and almost got killed. So no,” Ruby firmly said. She looked at Sunny with a raised eyebrow. It was as if she recognized her. Sunny shifted uncomfortably. She whispered something into Neddy’s ear. Then he whispered something into Aurora’s ear. Aurora scratched her head.

“Probably just a coincidence,” Aurora muttered.

“Well if they’re all coming here… Maybe not,” Erica said. All eyes turned to her. She came in with a variety of TEK weapons in her hands that ranged from bows to swords to axes to knives. She dropped them onto the dining table.

“Woah where’d you get that from Erica?” Andrew asked. Erica gave a soft smile to him.

“I managed to spawn in a bunch of these… fully powered with element too. It had a limit, but this should help out those without powers.”

“You really do amaze me Erica,” Andrew commented, picking up a TEK knife to inspect it. Erica smiled at his compliment.

“So you’re saying a bunch of us should go to the Black Obelisk?” Aragorn said.

“Yeah.”

“But who?”

Jay stepped forward.

“I want to go!”

Aragorn looked at Jay with a glare.

“No Jay. I won’t allow any of you to go out and-”

“Dad, if everyone’s going here then there won’t be anyone to defend it! You’re all adults and strong. I’m just… a kid. You need all the strength to fight the big battle. So let me go!”

Aragorn sighed, and Arianna gently grabbed Aragorn’s arm.

“Let him. He’s grown.”

Aragorn looked Arianna in the eyes with a smile.

“I guess you’re right. Okay Jay. You can go.”

Moonhigh and Sunhigh stepped forward.

“We want to go too,” Moonhigh said, turning to Sylveevee, “Can we go?”

Sylveevee crouched down and pinched both of their cheeks with a smile,

“Fine. Just don’t get hurt, okay?”

Andrew turned to the children.

“Should we ask Tago or one of the flyers to bring you there then?”

Jay opened his mouth to answer, when suddenly his medallion began to glow. Aragorn looked on with wide eyes, as a portal manifested behind Jay. The others gasped as Jay turned around to face the portal in awe.

“This is my medallion power?” Jay realized, “Sick…”

“I guess not,” Andrew said. He sighed, closing his eyes to relax, “You three can go now. Stay safe, okay?”

Before the three left, they all grabbed weapons off the table, and entered the portal. The portal lingered on for a little longer, and Jack stared at the portal sadly.

Sylveevee stepped forward to talk next.

“I wanted to say something. Sunny helped us discover some valuable information-”

She paused and looked on to see Jack grab a weapon off the table. Without any warning, Jack jumped into the portal right before it disappeared. Everyone just looked on in surprise, before the conversation continued.

“We found these books at the manor, right? Well we think that these are the uh, ‘universes’, we come from,” Sylveevee explained. She pulled out a stack of seven books and spread them out across the table. Everyone immediately began to mutter amongst each other. Erica’s eyes widened, and Andrew looked at her in worry.

“Just look. Queen of Aberration. That sounds like me,” Sylveevee proclaimed. Aragorn seemed distraught after staring at his story. Darkhide couldn’t believe it.

“I- But why? Why are they all books? I thought- are we even real?” Darkhide asked. He turned white, “We’re not real are we?”

Everyone began to talk amongst themselves, some felt hopeless and bitter while others were filled with rage. Aragorn just looked at the books on the table, his fists clenched as he read the title,

“The Terrible Demise of Tortuga.”

He grabbed the book off the table, and looked at the front cover to reveal the author of the story.

“SunnyFox57,” Aragorn read from the cover, “Wrote this book. Wonder who that could be!”

All eyes turned to Sunny. She cowered in her seat.

“No wonder how you knew my name! You wrote our story!” Aragorn yelled at her, “Who even are you?!”

“I-I-”

“I what huh? Are you even real?! ARE YOU THE ONES WHO PUT US HERE!” Aragorn bellowed, reaching over the table to grab her. The others quickly restrained him, and Andrew rushed over to shield Sunny.

“Stop this! This all has to be some sort of misunderstanding!” Andrew screamed.

“Don’t be naive Andrew! That fox is playing with our lives and you know it!”

Meanwhile, Aurora was inspecting her own story. She looked at the cover, and then her eyes widened. She glanced over at Ben.

“Now this can’t be a coincidence!” Aurora slammed the book onto the table and pointed at the author of the story.

“What? You’re a writer Ben? You didn’t tell me!” Bear exclaimed with surprise.

“No no no NO!” Ruby screamed, “This is madness!”

Yelling and screaming filled the room, and Ben clenched his fists. He slammed his fists onto the dining table.

“SHUT UP!” Ben shouted.

Everyone became silent. Ben looked everyone in the eyes. He could hear all their thoughts screaming at him to kick him out, kill him, or to tear him apart limb from limb.

“First of all. I quit writing. I couldn’t have written this book. Second of all. Why the hell would I write about ME suffering? Why would I write about ME going onto an island I couldn’t escape when I was about to graduate? WHY WOULD I DO THAT?! Wouldn’t I want to give myself a happier ending?!”

Everyone looked at him with deadpan expressions. Sunny seemed terrified. Ben glanced over at her.

“And Sunny? It must be a coincidence. Let’s be for real. There are plenty of Sunny’s out there. If any of us really had the power to bring you all into this weird place, why would we want to help you? Wouldn’t we want to kick back and watch the chaos unfold?”

Andrew dropped his head sadly.

“I’m sorry for the troubles you two. We’re all just… really stressed right now. They could come at any moment,” Andrew apologized, looking out the window, “Please. Let’s just leave it at that, everyone. We all come from different universes, but so what? We still need to work together to find a way home. And those villains are in the way so we need to stop them!”

Everyone let out a cheer, and began to pump their fists in the air.

“Yeah let’s go beat those bad guys uppppp!” Bear screamed out into the air with both of his paws in the air. Freya laughed and screamed back in delight.

“Beat up those beasts!”

Ben didn’t follow with the cheers. He stared at the book some more.

“Why would I write a book like this?” Ben thought.

A sudden realization struck Ben in the head.

Ben’s hairs stood up on end, and he looked at the wall in horror. He heard the sound of wings flapping.

“EVERYONE WATCH OUT!”

KABOOM!

The walls were instantly torn apart, and a blue dragon let out a ferocious roar into the home. Ben jumped out of the way of the falling wall. Everyone screamed and began to run. Freya stood her ground and pulled out her battle axe. The dragon licked his lips.

“Delicious humans… I’m going to have some fun!” Fjordur’s Dragon snarled. Freya grinned.

“Oh we’ll see about that…”

Drake rushed up and transformed into a wyvern.

“It’s two against one!”

Nova suddenly rushed in and blasted an ice beam at Fjordur’s Dragon, which he promptly dodged.

“Make it three!”

Fjordur’s Dragon sneered, and suddenly a woman with a dagger and a man with a sword dropped down from the dragon’s back. Captain Shortstacks and Willow.

“Then allow us to even the odds,” Willow shot back.

~

Everyone else was evacuating the mansion as fast as they could. All the flyers were carrying the non-fliers off the mansion and to the ground level. Andrew looked back in worry at the mansion as he stepped onto a transformed Sylveevee.

“We can’t let them reach the White Obelisk!” Andrew yelled at them all. Aragorn, Arianna, and Emma suddenly jumped onto Sylveevee’s back, catching Andrew off guard.

“The others got it handled,” Aragorn said. Arianna was clutching onto Aragorn’s arm tightly, while Emma was holding onto Arianna’s hand. Andrew looked back at the dragon with worry.

“I’m not worried about Freya. But the others…”

“Don’t worry about them. We need to leave though. Now.”

KAKRASH!

BOOM!

ROARRRR!

A humongous dragon began to swipe away at the buildings, causing them to topple down and crash down below, creating grand explosions. Apex let out a roar and began to breathe fire into the streets. A small bat was flying beside it. Drain. And a human was running along, jumping up onto a stream of blood. Jerry.

“Who’s going to handle that?” Aragorn asked.

SWOOSH!

Sheeri flew past them, and riding her was Skyocean, Buddy, Dr. Yang and Steve. Steve let out a cheer as Sheeri flew towards Apex.

“WE’RE GONNA HIT WE’RE GONNA HIT!” Steve screamed.

“I think they got it handled,” Andrew said.

Another roar echoed from the other side of the city. All eyes turned to see the King Titan walking along the streets, bashing his fist into building after building and crushing a few civilians along the way. Andrew suddenly got a weird feeling in his gut.

“Sylveevee, drop me off toward that thing. I’m gonna fight it.”

“What- Are you sure? That thing is giving me final boss vibes-”

“I’m sure. Just bring me there.”

Sylveevee gulped, but before she left two Shadowmanes clambered onto her. Orbit and Moonbeam. Sylveevee gritted her teeth and flew as fast as she could toward the King Titan. The King Titan looked up and sneered.

“Pitiful things. Leave before I-”

The King Titan was interrupted as Andrew jumped off and let out a bellow of rage, taking out his TEK bow and aiming at the King Titan. Emerald glided into the scene while Tago flew in with Darkhide on his back.

The King Titan sneered and pulled his fist back.

Sylveevee turned away. She began to fly around the city, scouting the area with her eyes for any potential enemies.

“Hmmm,” Sylveevee muttered.

“Plummet,” a voice echoed in her mind. Sylveevee gasped, and she felt herself drop to the ground.

CRASH!

Aragorn, Arianna, Orbit and Moonbeam went tumbling off, and a huge Reaper Queen came into view, licking her tongue and swinging her tail round and round.

“Delicious, delicious prey,” Sig implanted as she began to walk up to them.

~

Meanwhile, Aurora, Joe Kong, Bear, Snake, Rage, Ben, and Sunny were running along the streets, looking at the chaos unfolding. A fireball flew close and almost hit them, smashing into a nearby building and causing it to collapse in front of them.

Aurora looked around worriedly.

“We need to split up. We need to find as many enemies to defeat as possible and it’s not like all of us gathered up like this will be much help in a fight,” Aurora decided. Bear nodded.

“Fine by me. Ben, fox girl, and raptors… Let’s move!” Bear decided. Bear began to run off into a random direction, and Ben, Sunny, Snake, and Rage quickly followed. Emma looked at Ruby and Neddy.

“Let’s go, you two.”

The trio ran off in the opposite direction, leaving Aurora and Joe to their own devices. The two turned around but Joe was quickly greeted with a punch to the face by a fellow Gigantopithecus.

POW!

Joe was sent flying, and Aurora quickly pulled out her spear. Lieutenant Felswand, Ember, and Prince Caldren all stood together in unison. Ember grinned at the woman, and pointed his talon at her.

“Kill her.”

~

Michael looked around nervously. He stepped foot onto the street, and Lil Jack followed. After all the villains had arrived at the city, both of them had been left to their own devices. They had been passed around villain to villain, but nobody wanted them on their team. Now they were all alone.

“Where are we gonna go now?” Lil Jack asked. Michael thought Lil Jack was a massive weirdo considering he had nothing but his underwear on, but he found it comforting being around someone scared of him. Michael’s eyes darted around, when suddenly a blur of red hair passed by. His eyes widened.

“Could it be?” Michael thought. He called out, “Emma! Is that you?”

Michael began to run off after her.

“W-Wait for me!” Lil Jack cried back, running after him.

~

Ben, Sunny, Snake, Rage, and Bear were running along the streets, dodging falling buildings and fireballs. Ben was beginning to tire out, sweat pouring up on his face.

“I don’t spot that wyvern Joe was talking about,” Ben said. Bear looked at Ben in confusion.

“Who’s Joe?”

Snake stifled a snort.

WOOSH!

They all looked up to see a bronze wyvern flying up above. As soon as Bear spotted him, he suddenly shrieked and ran into the shadows.

“What the- What are you doing?!” Rage snarled at him. Bear cowered in the alleyway, covering his head.

“He’s bigger than I thought! M-Maybe you four can handle it on your own…”

Rage sighed and turned to see the wyvern land down on the ground to face them. Jethezzar seemed especially angry this time around. Smoke poured out of his nostrils and he needed to take his anger out on someone.

“You again…” Jethezzar snarled at Sunny. Sunny began to sweat, getting into a battling position. Jethezzar lunged at Sunny, but Rage quickly stepped to the side and punted him in the eye. Jethezzar let out a growl and slammed his head into her, causing her to fly away. Snake quickly jumped onto Jethezzar’s head, scratching and slashing away. Sunny rushed in for an attack, but Jethezzar quickly opened his mouth and shot fire out onto the two of them.

SWOOSH!

Sunny was sent flying away, scorch marks present on her body, while Snake was blown off from the sheer intensity and pressure of the blast. Jethezzar continued to clutch onto the rune.

“Want to run now, human?” Jethezzar sneered at him. Ben blinked his eyes. He waved his hand, and a vine shot out and wrapped itself around Jethezzar’s throat. Jethezzar began to choke, grasping and tearing away at the choker.

“Nah, I don’t think so.”

Ben rushed forward and punched Jethezzar in the face. Although that didn’t do much. Jethezzar tore the vine off his throat, and then swiped at Ben. Ben’s eyes widened.

“USE YOUR VINES TO BLOCK IT!” a voice screamed in Ben’s head. Ben quickly waved his hand, and a wall of vines emerged from the floor, latching onto Jethezzar’s claws. Jethezzar let out a snarl and opened his mouth, shooting fire at Ben.

“DIVE UNDER HIS BELLY!” the voice screamed again.

Ben took the warning and dived under his belly. Jethezzar was caught off guard, turning off his breath and turning around with a snap. Ben readied himself again, but not before whispering under his breath,

“Thank you. Again.”

“How’d he dodge all of my attacks?!” Jethezzar thought, “Could it be… No. He can’t be a seer like Peeri. They would be more prepared if otherwise. Unless…”

“Human. Are you one with the element?” Jethezzar asked him. Ben looked up at the air and scratched his head, dumbfounded.

“The what?”

“Nevermind…” Jethezzar muttered. He thought to himself, “I don’t want to deal with him now. Maybe I can just get him to join our side. He doesn’t look like he wants to be here.”

“Hey. You’re fighting on the wrong side. Join us. There’s so much to gain. You won’t regret it,” Jethezzar shouted out to him. Ben blinked his eyes a bit, before smirking.

“That was the most pathetic attempt to recruit someone to the dark side.”

Jethezzar growled and prepared to spew his fire out again. Vines grew by Ben’s side, when all of the sudden…

A sharp feeling pierced his heart.

Ben’s eyes widened. The strange squeezing sensation that continued to overcome his heart was getting worse and worse. Ben felt himself getting dizzier and dizzier, until eventually he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Jethezzar looked on in curiosity. He walked forward to inspect him, but suddenly a blue portal warped around his body, and he disappeared. Jethezzar’s eyes widened.

“What a peculiar human,” he thought. He scoffed, and turned around, looking at Sunny who was writhing on the ground.

“Nonetheless, I still have unfinished business with this puny thing.”

Jethezzar began to trot over to Sunny, when he heard the roar of a bear. Jethezzar freezed up, his eyes wide in horror.

“What…?”

“NOOOO!” Bear cried out, rushing out of the alleyway, “I won’t let you hurt the fox girl!”

Bear stood up on his two hind legs and glared at Jethezzar.

“Get away from her!”

~

Ben blinked his eyes, disoriented by the empty void around him. Stars sparkled and constellations brightened as he found himself waking. Ben groaned to himself as he realized where he was.

“Not this nonsense again.”

He heard the sound of a portal echo in the void, and he turned around to see a man who looked exactly like him step out. He was carrying a beating heart in his hand and a key in the other. Swirling black voids floated over his “eyes”.

“Hello again. Why didn’t you take that offer up with Jeth?” the mysterious man asked, tossing the heart up and down again. Ben clenched his fists.

“You know their forces are stronger in every way than these… heroes. Jethezzar and his allies might be your only chance to get home. You’re so close.”

The man squeezed the heart as hard as he could, and Ben let out a groan of pain, collapsing to the ground.

“Why are you willing to suffer? When the solution is so… simple?”

Ben gritted his teeth, bullets of sweat trickled down his forehead.

“That is NOT an option.”

The mysterious man just stared at Ben a little longer. Then he let out a scream of frustration and hurled the key out into the void. He got up closer to Ben and pointed a finger at his face.

“You always do what is necessary right? This IS what’s necessary!”

“That is NOT an option! I won’t do it! Why do you even care so much about going back home-”

“Don’t pretend like you have convictions to uphold. If you don’t do it, then you don’t love ████ enough! Because if you did, then it would have been an option a long time ago.”

Ben stared at him a little harder. Then, his eyes narrowed, anger boiling over. “I… Don’t love her enough? How DARE you. How DARE YOU. DOUBT ME.”

With a forceful shove, Ben sent him tumbling backward.

“How dare you challenge how much she means to me! How DARE YOU SAY THAT I DON’T LOVE HER ENOUGH!”

“Have you forgotten who I am? Have you forgotten what we’ve done? What I’ve committed myself to… Do you know what I’ve sacrificed? And it was ALL for her! Everything is for her! It’s ALL FOR HER!”

“SHE IS THE REASON I’M STILL HERE, THE REASON I’M STILL ALIVE! SHE IS EVERYTHING TO ME! ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING IS FOR HER, NOTHING ELSE CAN EVER MATTER! I WILL DO ANYTHING FOR HER! AND SHE KNOWS THAT!"

“HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK FOR THE SLIGHTEST MOMENT THAT I DON’T LOVE HER ENOUGH TO DO ANYTHING TO GO BACK HOME! I WILL NEVER STOP TRYING, I CAN’T GIVE UP. I WILL FIND MY WAY BACK HOME!”

“EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!”

Ben let out a cry of pain, as he felt a tightening feeling around his throat. He gasped for air as he fell to his knees, gasping and choking for air. The man looked at Ben with an annoyed look.

“What was that?” Ben asked, letting out a cough, “Why did I… do that?”

Ben let out another gasp of pain. The vision of a man with a goatee and a smug smile flashed across his eyes. Ben got up from the ground, facing his doppelganger. He only replied with a smirk. And a few words too.

“It seems your killer has arrived,” the man softly told him.

A blue portal enveloped the void, and both of them disappeared.

~

“Emma! Wait up wait up!” Michael called out. He ran as fast as he could, Lil Jack following closely behind. By now the two of them noticed there were two other people, a guy and a girl who also had red hair. Michael seemed to finally catch the attention of the girl. She turned around.

“Uhhh, who the hell are you?” the other girl with red hair asked. Emma groaned as her eyes glanced over Michael’s. The guy leaned in to whisper something in Emma’s ear.

“I think that guy has a crush on youuuu!” Neddy pointed the obvious out. Emma rolled her eyes.

“You think?”

“Emma I can’t believe you’re out here in this city all alone! It’s very dangerous! Come here now so I can escort you safely out of the area,” Michael shouted at her. Emma looked at him with a green look on his face.

“And why would I want to do that?”

A look of fury crossed Michael’s face. He pounded his foot into the ground.

“Come on Emma! Those two could be dangerous! You can’t trust them!”

The other redhead looked at Michael with a sneer.

“Dude, can you not be creepy? And like, f**k off?”

The man gasped at her language.

“OMG Ruby!”

“What? We’re adults, Neddy! Young adults at that! This is perfectly normal!”

“I dunno man… We don’t wanna be a bad influence on those kids.”

“Enough! Emma, just come over here already! Stop playing hard to get! I know you like me you just want me to-”

A blue portal suddenly manifested in front of Emma and her team. Emma’s eyes opened in shock.

“Jay? He’s back already?”

It was in fact, not Jay.

Ben stepped out and looked around, his eyes dazy. Then, he spotted Michael. A smile grew on his face.

“It’s really you…”