“Ikken!” Rai shouted, blasting through a pack of ghouls.
“Galactic-” Neptus fell to a knee, coughing blood. Looking up, a ghoul lunged at him, but a root burst forth, smacking it and a few other ghouls away, before retreating back into the hole.
“Neptus!” Rai shouted, reaching out, and Neptus grabbed ahold of his forearm.
The root once again emerged beneath Rai, flinging him along with Neptus, high over the heads of the many ghouls. Retreating underground, the large root swirled around smacking many ghouls as it did.
“You good?!” Rai shouted as they soared through the air.
“I’m fine…” Gazing at the countless ghouls waiting below, Neptus shouted, “I’ll go left!” activating his galactic wave.
A large root burst through the ground, sending many of the ghouls sprawling backward.
Gripping the tip of the root, Rai spun around it a couple times, before slowing. Gazing at the root, he said, “How’re you hanging in there?” The very tip of the root, no bigger than Rai’s finger, nodded, signaling Plu was fine. Gazing at the stairs, the Minus was still making its way up with Mocorri’s body. “I thought Abminus were supposed to revert back into a seed after they die…” A screech reverberated from below as the ghouls hastily climbed the root, causing Rai to furrow his brows. Taking a deep breath, he let go, sliding down. Focusing on the first ghoul, he shot a smaller version of ikken, piercing straight into the skull of the ghoul. Pointing at the ground, he fired off many more ikken bullets!
“He’s not even aiming at the ones running directly for him?!” Neptus said, watching Rai from a distance.
“Thirteen, fourteen,” he gazed over at Neptus. “Racking up shards over here! You still at zero kills space boy?!”
“Shut up!” Neptus shouted back.
Shot after shot, Rai killed ghouls below, until one on the root got close enough, attacking him. Jumping off, Rai shouted, “All yours pal!” The large root slammed the long line of ghouls climbing it against the ground, smearing their remains as it quickly retracted into the hole. Rai closed one eye, continuing to one-shot ghouls, until the floor erupted and the root reappeared just in time, allowing him to slide down safely. Leaning back, a claw whizzed by, accidentally slapping another ghoul in the head that was targeting Rai. “Crap…” he muttered, running toward the stairs. A ghoul lunged after him, but the root next to Rai wrapped itself around it, yanking the ghoul back into the smaller hole, killing it.
Neptus, landing on the ground, said, “Gotta be quick,” slapping his hand on the floor; three seven-foot plants emerged as a result. Gripping his chest, he spat blood onto the floor, and soon each plant started to die. “Not yet!” he shouted, pouring more flux into the plants. Once again, they regained their brilliant shades. Reactivating galactic wave, he took off as ghouls quickly swarmed the area; when they arrived, the forward motion of the astral wave, caused them to flip over, hastily dragging every ghoul toward Neptus. Expanding the galactic wave, Neptus caught many more before jumping between the plants he summoned. The plants popped, and their gravitational pull took effect immediately, but first he made sure to send the wave up, over and around the plants, creating a never ending loop. “The forward motion of the galactic wave prevents the ghouls from swarming… meanwhile, the black holes will continue to rip apart those attempting to squeeze through the gaps.” Lunging over the swirling defense, a ghoul extended its tentacle, but the gravitational pull sucked it away, ripping its body in two once it rotated between two of them. Neptus cover his face with his arm, blocking the occasional splatter of blood as ghouls ran straight into his trap.
“How’s the shower!?” Rai hollered, riding the root through a crowd of ghouls.
“Twenty-three and counting!” Neptus shouted.
“…I never counted Plu’s! I’m still winning!” Rai redirected his attention to the ghouls blocking his way to the stairs. A screech emerged from above, and Rai noticed as more ghouls raced down the tunnels, heading their way. “More?!”
The skin from one of the ghouls suckers slid back, and in its place, a slime covered claw slipped out. Screeching, the ghoul darted toward the protective barrier, leaping incredibly high and landing a few feet from Neptus, slashing him across the back. “Gah!” Turning, the creature was then yanked back, torn in half like the others. One ghoul managed to detach from the wave using its sucker to defy the gravitational pull as it crept toward Neptus. “Persistent bastard, aren’t ya,” It lunged, but Neptus dropped down, thrusting his feet upward, and using the momentum of the ghoul, he sent it hurling into the wave, wear it was carried off toward the black holes, meeting the same fate as the rest. “I can’t keep this up forever…” His core was starting to pulsate; he could even feel it cracking! One by one, ghouls took turns attacking Neptus, but he took advantage of their clumsy attacks, redirecting them back into the galactic wave.
The Minus, sensing Rai approaching the stairs, turned around. The veins along its body pulsed in a green color, different than the normal, but soon enough, ghouls rushed to the stairway, blocking the path entirely. Noticing Neptus, its root legs wriggled about, glowing in the same color before continuing up the enormous trunk.
“What?!” Neptus shouted. The ghouls were willingly thrusting themselves into the blackholes. “Galactic-” Placing his hand over his mouth, blood dripped through his cupped fingers. This doesn’t look good…
Seeing his dilemma, Rai shouted, “Plu!” and the root next to Rai disappeared underground. Gulping, he glanced at the many ghouls in front of him, “Here goes nothing!” Rushing up the stairs, he hopped over a ghoul that lunged at him, attempting to use its body as a means to launch himself further; instead, he slit his leg on the sharp bone protruding from its back. Rolling off the back of the ghoul, he shouted, “Ikken!” firing a bullet and killing a second ghoul; meanwhile the ghoul he rolled off of, slammed its tentacle down, missing as Rai continued to roll away. It slammed its tentacles down, one after another, each barely missing Rai. Pushing off the ground, Rai, regained his footing, however, the ghoul lunged forward, hugging him with the thick end of its four arms, where the claws couldn’t protrude. “Sorry,” Rai muttered. Three bullet ikken’s, one through the chest, one through the neck, and as the creature unraveled its octopus-like arms in pain, a final shot straight through its head. “You’re not my type.”
Meanwhile, bit by bit, the gravitational pull of the plants Neptus summoned weakened, allowing for ghouls to gnaw away at the plant itself, and once they ripped it apart, the black holes vanished. Neptus lifted his hands in self-defense, but a large root suddenly emerged, snagging his outfit and carrying him high above the ghouls. “Thanks for the support Plu,” Neptus said, though he was dangling quite high. The many ghouls below screeched, awaiting the root to halt its ascension. Once it stopped, a ghoul lunged onto the root, carefully making its way up. Sensing this, the root tried to move further away, but in doing so, it eventually came to a halt. “Plu? Hey Plu?!” He glanced over, he noticed ghouls surrounding Rai. Neptus placed his hand on his chest, he furrowed his brows. If I continue to use flux, at the rate my core is cracking… Gazing down, another ghoul jumped up, steadily following the first.
Zig-zagging up the stairs, Rai fired many more ikken bullets, effectively killing the ghouls around him. Rushing forward, a ghoul extended all four of its tentacles, but Rai swiftly jumped into its chest, firing ikken bullets as he forced it up the stairs use his flux-enhance strength, but then he was tackled by another from the side. The moment he landed on the floor, Rai gripped the dead ghouls protruding tentacle claw, smacking it into the temple of the ghoul trying to eat him, killing it. “Phew…” His head was hanging off the side of the stairs, and he was already halfway up the gigantic trunk! He attempted to lift the dead ghouls off of him, but seeing another running down the stairs, he a dead ghoul, pulling it over him, attempting to flip over and sent the ghouls off the side. One ghoul jumped on right after the other, stabbing sporadically at Rai. “Dammit turn!” Rai’s face was growing red from the pressure as even more dogpiles. Luckily the body of the two dead ghouls were protecting him. Flipping over, Rai snatched the side, holding on as the ghouls plummeted, however, one managed to stick him in the back, causing him to scream. Slowly he lifted himself, breathing heavily as he gazed at the many ghouls still in his way. Removing his hand from the wound he just received, it was dripping red…
***
“Dammit!” Stella said with a look of concern. Appearing behind her, Eloise smashed her fist into Stella’s abdomen, sending her flying into a pillar. Swiping the dust cloud away, she shouted, “Try this!” Her third legacy activated, slicing through the air. From it, three claw marks in the form of concentrated flux launched at Eloise, but Stella didn’t stop there; rapidly swinging, dozen more flew out, easily slicing through pillars on the way.
“Hm.” Instantly appearing before Stella, Eloise smashed her head into the rocky pillar behind her, spinning a full three-sixty before thrusting Stella to the floor.
Stella flipped backwards moments before hitting the ground, skidding against the dusty floor when Eloise appeared beside her, “Dam-” a fist collided with Stella’s face. Again and again, Eloise instantly appeared next to her, and the cave where they dueled had glowing streaks of electricity all over. Activating her first legacy. “Ahhh!” Stella exploded outward in half-dome energy, obliterating everything nearby.
“Pathetic,” immediately the dome of energy was sliced in two; gripping Stella from behind, Eloise spun full circle before slamming her into the ground.
“Gah!” blood spat from Stella’s mouth, quickly, she held her guard up as Eloise rained down a series of thundering punches! Activating her fourth legacy, energy whiskers grew on Stella’s face—vanishing, she reappeared behind Eloise, cracking her leg down.
Blocking it with one arm, Eloise slightly turned her head, catching Stella’s infuriated gaze, “What’s wrong, have I not satisfied your curiosity?”
Stella’s energy tail whipped against the ground, “For someone like you, I figured small talk be considered a distraction.”
“Precisely,” Eloise said, and the Eloise Stella thought was standing before her shimmered in electricity before exploding, sending Stella flying back, slamming against the wall of the cave.
“The fight is over, you stand no chance of defeating me,” Eloise said.
“That’s where... you’re wrong...” Stella said, stepping out of the smoke. In her hand she had a device with a button on it. “I’ve got bombs rigged all over this place.”
Grimacing, Eloise said, “You should be ashamed to bear the title of Nefarian.”
“This coming from a human turned Abminus… Before the Shattering, you were just a normal princess among men, fighting a senseless war. But after...” Stella laughed, placing her hand on her forehead. “Just look at what our Mother has given you!” Her laughter came to a slow, before muttering, “It makes me sick…” And she pressed the button.
“Uh!” Eloise glared up as explosions rocked the cave! Instantly appearing at the wooden blade in the ground, Eloise yanked it out, thrusting her arm skyward; although the hilt remained, the wooden blade busted, sending a web of electricity straight into the sky. Once it collided with the collapsing rubble, it rapidly spread throughout the entire cave around her, holding everything in place. Suddenly, flux-fused claws exploded on contact with Eloise, causing her control of the web to falter. They slipped slightly, but Eloise was able to force them to a standstill once again. “Quite the predicament… you’ve put me in…” Eloise said with a smirk.
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Chuckling, Stella said, “You can let it fall and kill us both, but as a result, you’ll also be trapping your apprentices. Fortunate for me, that doesn’t seem like your thing!” she swung, sending two her energy claws at Eloise, causing minor explosions on impact. When the smoke cleared, Eloise had blood protruding from her mouth and her hair was slightly frayed at the edges. “Eloise the generous!” Stella laughed. “I’m guessing attacks like that normally wouldn’t do much damage, but with you focusing all your flux on the web, rather than on your own defenses, you don’t really have much of a choice, do you?” Stella sent another attack, colliding with Eloise. After the smoke cleared, upon seeing Eloise’s confident smile, Stella grimaced. “I hate that smug look! Farewell, Princess!” she said laughing as she launched one attack after another.
***
Lily held her guard up as Rumple slammed his enlarged arms made of vines down, causing the ground to crack beneath her feet. Wincing, she shouted, “Discharge!” and mounds of earth formed along her hand, in the shape of enlarged gloves.
Rumple swung at Lily, causing her to jump back, however, she immediately leapt back into the fray, smashing her enlarged fists into his chest. “Why won’t you die!” he slammed his vine arms down.
Skillfully maneuvering around mass of vines, Lily flipped over Rumple by kicking off his arm. Absorbing the earth and roots compiled on her left fist, she shifted it to her right, expanding her fist into one almost as large as Rumple. “Overkill!” she smashed him with all her strength, spreading the vines outward under the weight of the attack. The vines slowly unraveled, revealing Rumpel. “I did it…” Lily wiped the sweat from her forehead, turning to Eiji to give him a thumbs up.
“Gotcha!” Rumple shouted, and his vines reformed around him, snagging Lily’s foot in the process.
“Lily!” Eiji called.
“Stuck!” Lily said, trying to release her foot, but then Rumple grabbed her.
“You’re gonna have to do better than that!” he shouted, slamming her into the ground. Wincing, Lily pushed off the floor as a fist smashed the surface. “Now the piggy runs!” The earth cracked under Rumples feet as he lunged toward Lily, smashing the ground again and again in attempt to hit Lily.
Eiji, watching from the distance, gritted his teeth. Ripping off the necklace, he said, “How’s this thing work?!” He rubbed it, but no genie came out. He prayed to it, but no deity arrived. He even gave it a passionate kiss, still nothing. “Think Eiji!” he said, pacing back and forth.
Lily, side stepping Rumple, thrusted her arm upward, but the mass of vines slightly parted, making her miss.
Swinging his arm, Rumple smacked her, sending her flying into the wall beneath the statue.
“This guy’s tougher than I thought…” Lily said, detaching herself from the wall.
“Is that all you got!” Rumple said, turning into a large ball of vines and bulldozing toward Lily.
Lily raced along the cave, leaping to her left as Rumple plowed straight through a small pillar.
Meanwhile, Eiji was humming gibberish, eyes close with candles placed around his necklace. Peaking through a single eye, both widened realizing the danger Lily was facing. Snatching the necklace, he shouted, “Come on! If not now, when?! She’s out there risking her life…” After a moment, he pulled his arm back, yelling, “Fine! I don’t need ya,” throwing it far away. Rummaging through his bag, he tossed aside a mirror, and after, a wand; but he tested it first to make sure... Flipping the bag over, nothing else fell out. “Forget it,” he said, racing towards Lily.
Tripping over a rock, Lily fell to the floor.
Rumple appeared over her, both arms raised. “Die!”
“Take this!” Eiji shouted, jumping on the head of Rumple. One by one he cut away at the vines with the dagger he kept on him. “I’m coming for you!” He cut yet another vine, wiping sweat from his forehead, he continued, “…Eventually!”
“Get off you little twerp!” Rumple attempted to sweep him off.
Gripping the dagger with his teeth, Eiji slid down to Rumple’s back. Dropping the knife into his hand, he continued to saw away, but upon noticing that they reattach themselves, he muttered, “Ah come on…” Finally grabbing ahold of Eiji, Rumple thrust him away causing him to bounce against the floor a few times, however, Lily managed to catch him before he went flying off a cliffside.
“You okay?” she asked, setting Eiji down.
“Yea…” Eiji said, his head in a whirl.
“Thanks for covering me,” she said. Placing her hand on her chest. This feelings new... She felt a lingering pain beginning to build.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” Eiji said, shaking off the headache.
“Hard not too...” Taking a breathing, she glanced confidently at Eiji, saying, “You think I could get a lift?”
“You bet,” Eiji responded, and they both rushed Rumple. Grasping Lily’s hand, he dug his feet into the earth, thrusting Lily into the sky.
“Come on!” Rumple shouted.
“Discharge!” the rooted-earth form, slipped to her fingertips, and giant ball, many times bigger than Rumple appeared as Lily poured a massive amount of flux into it. “Take this!” she shouted, thrusting it down.
Rumple seeing the looming shadow, summoned more vines, increasing his size yet again, before taking Lily attack head one; a shockwave traveled throughout the cave.
Grimacing, Lily roared, pushing forward with all her might, however, Rumple equally pushed back.
“Give… give up already!” he shouted.
“Not a chance! I will never-” Snap! The large mound of earth suddenly burst under the pressure, creating an enormous dirt cloud.
“Lily!” Eiji shouted; he couldn’t see a thing.
“Gaahhh!”
“Lily!” Eiji rushed in, following her scream. “What’s wrong?” he said, kneeling over next to her, but as the dust cleared, he couldn’t believe it... Both of her wrists were snapped in a different direction.
Lily’s face distorted in pain, did her best to hold in the pain. “Aaah!” she cried out, unable to contain it any longer.
“Now look what you’ve done.” Rumple appeared from the dusty shadows, his vines withered and old. Eiji, picking Lily up, carried her over to a corner of the cave, gently laying her down. “Stupid girl,” Rumple said.
“Shut your mouth,” Eiji said, fury in his eyes as he turned to face Rumple. “You’re going to pay for what you’ve done!” Suddenly the necklace started to glow, and at the same time, roots emerged—from Eiji’s skin! Soon, his whole body became enveloped in a blinding light.
“What?!” Rumple stated, holding his hands up.
When it dissipated, Eiji wasn’t standing before them, instead, it was an extremely hefty fellow wearing an orange cape with large green spikes on it. He was mostly bald, but he had spikes along his head matching the ones on his cape. Caressing his long-braided beard, which had green and orange beads in it, he glanced down at Lily. “Who do we have we here?”
“Who the fuck are you?” Rumple said.
Kneeling over, the figure snapped one of the horns on his head off. “Sorry little one,” he said, forcing Lily’s wrist back into place, causing her to scream. Tilting the cone, a yellow liquid poured out onto the wound. The liquid sizzled before disappearing, healing the wound. He proceeded to do the same with the other.
Not long after, Lily opened her eyes. “The pain?”
“They’re not completely healed yet, so you must be careful not to reagitate it,” the mysterious figure said.
“Ignoring me… I’ll just kill you as well!” Rumple shouted. Blood spurt from the corners of his mouth, as he forced more flux into his vines, once again growing slightly larger.
“Who’re you?” Lily said, steadily rising to her feet.
“Hmm, who am I… That’s strange? I have no idea who I am,” he said, placing his hands up in confusion. Turning toward Rumple, he said, “But something’s telling me, I’ve got to take this thing down here. Sniffing the air, the figure said, “What a strange smelling creature… Not of the Nephilim, nor is it one of them…” Furrowing his brows, he said, “Excuse me, what might you be exactly?”
“Die!” Rumple shouted, curling into a ball and rushing their way.
“Two can play that game,” front flipping, he turned into a ball and his cape expanded, covering him in the spikes along his cape. Rocketing forward, the spike ball collided with the much larger ball of vines.
“That puny attack doesn’t stand a chance!” Rumple shouted, he menacing laugh echoing throughout the cave.
Far above, peering over the battle, Fu said, “I found where all that ruckus is coming from.”
Tofi leaned over Fu, pressing his wooden face into the dirt, while gazing down. “Lily!” she shouted happily, jumping to her feet and rushing down.
“Tofi wait?!” Fu said, but it was too late, she was already halfway down. Sighing, “Still, what’s up with this place? Even the earth feels like its flooding with flux force…”
In the meantime, Lily checked around for Eiji, but she couldn’t find him. “Maybe he went on ahead…” Gazing at the two behind her, after sniffing the air, she said, “Whoever that is… they’re definitely Nefarian.”
Rumple continued to laugh, but slowly he noticed that his ball of vines was decreasing in size. Bit by bit, the thorns on the Nefarian cape were tearing the vines apart! “Impossible!?” Rumple compiled more vines, but it wasn’t enough, they were being destroyed faster than he could reattach them. He gazed as the light splintering through his vine defense, until a large spike split through, smashing into him and sending him sprawling backward, smashing heavily into the wall of the cave, before falling to the ground.
Springing out of the ball form, the Nefarian, clapped his hands together, saying, “Looks like my job here is done.”
“He did it,” Lily said as the rounded Nefarian walked over to her.
“Miss, it was please to meet you. However, it is time I must be going.”
“Excuse me, before you go, did you see where Eiji went?”
“Eiji?” the Nefarian put their hand to their head, scratching it.
“Yeah, he with me moments before you showed,” Lily said.
“Never heard of them… but here,” he snapped another horn off his head, handing it over to Lily. “If he’s hurt, give him this.”
With a smile, light enveloped them, until once again Eiji reappeared, screaming, “You’ll pay!” Running forward, he tripped on a rock, sliding across the floor. “Oof…”
“Eiji?!” Lily said.
Swiftly standing, he glanced around. “Where’d the vine dude go?” Noticing Lily doing better, his eyes lit up, quickly running over. “Huh… Your wrists?”
“Yeah, their fine now,” she said. “Thanks to whatever this is,” she said, handing the stuff over.
“Did I black out or something?” Eiji asked.
“Guys!” Tofi shouted, joining the group.
“Tofi?” Lily said.
“Ahh, I get it,” Eiji said, leaning over. “Thanks for saving the day Tofi,” and he patted her on the head.
“Huh?” Tofi said, tilting her head.
“No it wasn’t Tofi Eiji, it was you.”
“Me?” Eiji said and Lily nodded… “So, I used my root power?”
“Mhm, and someone else appeared in your place,” Lily said.
“WHAT?!” Eiji slumped over, tears streaming down his face.
“What’s wrong Eiji?” Tofi said.
“Yeah, I thought you be happy?” Lily said.
“I finally get powers… and there not even mine to use…” Eiji sucked the snot dripping from his nose back up.
Lily sighed, “That’s your concern?”
“Lily, where’s everyone else?” Tofi asked.
“That’s right!” Lily had almost forgotten about Eloise. “We’ve got to find a way to reconnect with her.”
“It’s not… over yet…” Rumple said, barely managing to stand.
“Won’t you stay down already?!” Lily said, clenching her fist, but in doing so she winced, soon recalling the words of the other Nefarian. ‘They’re not completely healed, so you must be careful not to reagitate it.’
“Here we go again,” Eiji said.
Rumple, slowly reforming vines around him, shouted, “Now! Who’s up first-” when the foot of the enormous statue crushed him.
“Hahahah! It worked!” Fu shouted, standing atop the head of the statue. His strings were attached to it. “The flux in this statue is even richer than what I was able to infuse into my own puppet!”
“It’s just Fu,” Eiji said.
“Go gumball!” Tofi shouted, gleefully jumping toward the passage. “Come one everyone, let’s move on-” Tofi was smashed into the wall of the cave by the swinging arm of the giant statue.
Eiji and Lily were in shock.
“At last! Mwuahaha! I’m freeee!” The statue’s arms lifted toward the sky, mimicking Fu’s arms.
“Monster!” Lily said, tears welling in her eyes.
The statue lifted its leg, revealing a seed glowing yellow and green among the splattered blood and clothes. “HA!” Fu shouted, and the statue stepped forward.
“Run!” Eiji shouted.
Seeing the statue close the distance, Lily shouted, “Split up!”
Seeing them go separate ways, Fu said, “Hmm, I’ll go after the goof-ball first.”
Turning around, Lily noticed that the foot of the statue was hovering over Eiji. “Watch out!”
“I thought we were friends!” Eiji cried, attempting to escape the shadow of the foot.
“Friends?! Please! I was merely waiting for my chance to take my revenge!” Fu dropped the leg of the statue.
Eiji, running with all his might, suddenly glowed in a bright light, bursting from the light in a spinning spike ball. The foot slammed into the earth, causing the cave to shake, however Eiji made it out just in the nick of time. Unraveling from the ball form, Eij glanced at a mirror lying on the ground. “Is that me?!” His orange hair had a strip of green running through it. He also wore a strange orange cape with green spikes along it. “Kinda digging the cape…” Again, another shadow appeared overhead, however, quickly forming into the ball, he rocketed forward before the statue could smush him.
“Stay still!” Fu shouted.
“Eiji, that form?” Lily said, as he appeared beside him
“I know, cool right?!” Eiji said, flexing in it.
“You can’t run forever!” Fu shouted, when suddenly a small figure appeared at the cheek of the statue.
“SIT!” Tofi’s fist smashed the cheek of the statue, causing it and Fu to topple over.
“Tofi!” Eiji and Lily hollered happily, she was standing on the butt of the statue, blood trickling from her forehead.
“Hey guys!” she waved happily. The arm of the giant statue swung, narrowly missing her. Landing beside them Tofi, said, “Gumballs acting up again, you guys go ahead.”
“Tofi… are you sure?”
“Mhm.”
“Okay Tofi, but if you end up in any trouble, you get out of here,” Lily said.
“Kick his butt!” Eiji said.
Tofi smile happily as they ran off.
“If you think I’ll let you escape!” Fu shouted, rising yet again.
“How can that statue move so quickly?!” Eiji said.
“Tag!” Tofi said, her little legs crushing into the chest of the statue, causing it to fall back against the cave wall.
“Come on!” Lily said as they rushed through the corridor.
“Tofi!” Fu shouted, glaring at the smiling little girl on the ground.