Rain poured like the sky was having a full-on breakdown. Thunder roared, lightning lit up everything in sharp white flashes, and the crew sprinted through the flatlands of the Rufty Mountains like their lives depended on it—because they kinda did.
Wind howled, slapping trees sideways and making mountains look like they were about to wobble. Clothes soaked, hair drenched, and Mason's voice cut through the storm louder than the thunder:
"Something was up! No shit that Dark Don was gonna betray us soon!"
Sophia whipped her head around mid-run, rain streaking down her face.
"Who knows where Celestia could be?!"
Nobody slowed down. Angel shouted over the chaos, "I can't open portals! Prophecy rules—they're blocked!"
Another lightning bolt hit a mountain top, lighting up everything like a camera flash from the gods. William hustled up next to Sophia, yelling, "It would be great for someone to—"
BOOM! Thunder cut him off mid-sentence. "—THINK OF SOMETHING!"
That's when everyone stopped at once, skidding in the mud. A massive blue river stretched ahead, wide as forever, feeding into the Unknown Sea. No name. No one talks about it. Just big, blue, and intimidating.
Angel squinted through storm-blurred glasses. His hair stuck to his face, but he clocked the river. Then lightning struck again.
He shook his head hard. "I got an idea!"
Angel bolted toward a big log like it weighed nothing and slapped it down into the river. He eyed some jagged rocks nearby, a whole pile of wooden logs stacked against them. Javier raised his hand, levitating the logs with his Control powers and flinging them into the water.
"We'll use em' as a raft!" Angel hollered as thunder shook the sky.
Then… that noise.
A blood-curdling roar echoed from far off. Low at first. Almost like a dinosaur that skipped breakfast.
Everyone froze. The rain, the river, the night sky—it all just felt heavier. Lightning flashed, and there it was: a silhouette. A monster. Huge.
Angel wasted no time. He jumped on the raft. "No standing around! Come on!"
Jocabed facepalmed mid-storm. "You think that thing's getting us to Celestia?"
Sophia smirked, "It's only gonna get us to Celestia in a thousand years."
But before anyone could argue, the roar hit again—louder. The silhouette shifted in the next flash of lightning. Then another one appeared. And another.
One in front. One behind. One in the middle.
Sophia tapped the pink button on her headphones, recording the roar. Then, whispering low and cold:
"Don't…. move."
Out from the shadows, they finally saw them—Griorgriffons.
Bipedal stone-skinned beasts. Parallelogram-shaped heads with jagged rocky spikes. Tiny arms. Black, empty eyes. And jaws filled with way too many messed-up teeth.
Everyone knew the drill: Don't move. Don't talk. Don't make eye contact. Not even a blink if you could help it.
The Griorgriffons circled the crew, sniffing, growling low.
One tail-smacked William right across the face. Man didn't even flinch—barely. Lonnie side-eyed him with that one thing and we're all toast look.
The creatures circled… paused… lifted their heads…
And turned away.
Relief hit everyone like fresh air.
Then.
"AHHHHH-CHOOOOOOOO!"
Keyler. Of course.
Sophia whipped around, furious. "KEYLER, I SWEAR—"
The Griorgriffons snapped back toward them, jaws open wide. The first charged. Everyone lit up their Elements at once. Mason yelled:
"YOU'RE BUYING ME SO MANY DOUGHNUTS FOR THIS, KEYLER!"
"Sorry guys! I got allergies around Griorgriffons!" Keyler yelled back, stretching his spider legs behind his back.
The fight popped off instantly. Jocabed rammed the first Griorgriffon, sending it flying into a mountain with debris raining down. Emely swooped in from above in her Ice Bird form, freezing it solid before it shattered into icy chunks.
But another beast wasn't down. Jocabed shouted already battered, "It bit Jocabed's neck hard, slamming her into the mud. Kwa'asja rolled in armadillo-style to help, but the beast snatched her mid-roll and yeeted her across the field.
Keyler in spider form tried to clamp onto it, but got kicked like a soccer ball across the flatland. William zipped through the storm in pterodactyl form, slamming his beak into the monster again and again until blood sprayed everywhere.
Finally, William pierced clean through its chest like lightning. The brute dropped.
Third one lunged—and Sophia was already on its back, biting down tiger-style, spinning it into the dirt like it was nothing. Fedjina dove down like a meteor, spiraling in flames—until the beast caught her mid-air and hurled her at Sophia.
Mason didn't wait. In Doughnut Bear form, he grabbed the thing by its skull and full-body slammed it into the mud. Lonnie kicked it sideways in Forest Fawn form, and Javier's quills lit it up from a distance like a living dartboard.
Mason uppercutted it skyward, Kayson aerial-slammed it back down with both fists, and Angel opened a portal under it just in time for Mason to knock it straight through.
Angel wiped rain off his glasses like nothing happened.
"Lava pit in Scarletsville. Nice place."
When it was finally over, the crew was wrecked.
Ryan slumped against a rock, bandaged up, clutching his chest. "How the heck are we getting to Celestia if Angel can't portal us?"
Jocabed wasn't looking great—laying down, Arctic Fox form, blood matting her white fur. Her neck was torn up bad.
Keyler, back in base form, let out a tired sigh. "Lonnie… you got anything?"
Lonnie shook her head. "Out of energy. Vines only for now."
Everyone else was battered. Fedjina's beak was cracked, wings torn. Sophia had fresh scars but held up. Keyler somehow walked away in one piece.
Jocabed though…
She was lucky she was still breathing.
Sophia finally stood, rain dripping off her headphones. She looked toward the Forgotten Wizard's Domain in the distance, back where they started. Smirked a little through the pain. "EVERYONE!" Eldritch yelled in the distance.
"I JUST GOT THE PORTALS TO WORK! NOW GET TO CELESTIA!"
Everyone just groaned.
***
Duke clutched his injured arm, cybernetics spitting sparks. His wings drooped unevenly, armor crushed and peeling. With one tortured groan, the whole suit detached and crashed to the dirt in a heap.
Neon green energy flared off his skin like a wildfire breaking loose.
"That's enough warm-ups," Duke muttered, voice flat and icy. "Playtime's over." Energy curled around his fists like living smoke. "I'm done pretending you can keep up."
Starla stepped back, breath shaky, but her glare stayed locked in.
"Oh, still staring me down?" Duke lifted his cannon with a lazy smirk. "Okay."
Starla sprinted forward, fists blazing with astral fire.
Duke fired.
The blast smacked into her chest point-blank, launching her through building after building. A chain of explosions thundered across the skyline. Starla lay crumpled in a crater, flames flickering weakly around her body.
Duke leveled his cannon at her again. "Stay down already—"
A sonic boom ripped the clouds apart.
Duke snapped his head up just in time to see a figure plummeting from the sky, wrapped in dark violet energy. Blushinites froze mid-battle, staring up in awe as if a star was falling.
But it wasn't a star.
It was wrath.
The figure smashed into Duke like a meteor, detonating in a blinding shock of light. The ground quaked. Towers caved in. Distant mountains cracked.
Duke crashed hard, cannon skidding away.
Standing over him: Scourge Don. Mask fractured, claws like obsidian.
"Touch her again," Don said, voice low and dead calm, "and I'll peel the wings off you."
Duke laughed weakly, blood sliding down his lip. "Bro, look in a mirror. You're one bad day away from being the villain of your own story."
Don pressed a boot onto Duke's chest. "Maybe. But right now? I'm the wall you're not getting through."
Scorch landed beside Starla, snarling as Starla forced herself to rise.
Duke wiped the blood from his mouth, grinning crookedly. "You're all so obsessed with hope. Makes stealing your futures way too easy."
He lunged upward, neon fist crackling—aiming straight for Don's spine.
Don didn't even flinch.
He caught Duke's fist with one hand.
A thunderous shockwave ripped across the battlefield.
Don's eyes flashed, slamming his other fist into Duke's jaw. He hit Duke with a blitz—left, right, overhand, spin-kick—finishing with a brutal dropkick that blasted Duke through several towers.
Rubble rained. Duke's neon eyes flared in fury.
"KNEEL TO THE NEON!"
They rocketed at each other. Their punches collided mid-air, unleashing a shattering shockwave that rippled across the entire Land of Hearts.
Starla climbed onto Scorch's back, the two flying toward safety as rain sliced through the air like shards.
Above them, Duke and Don tore across the sky like dueling comets. Don flipped into an axe kick, sending Duke spinning. Duke shot back up, flash-kicking Don in the chin and grabbing him mid-air.
As they plummeted, Duke yelled, "YOU HAVE THE WRONG MINDSET!"
They slammed into the ground like a dropped nuke. Dust rippled for miles.
Duke dragged Don up by the throat, moonlight painting them silver.
"End of the road," Duke growled. His fist glowed neon. He slammed Don in the face, then punched him skyward like launching artillery.
He teleported, striking Don from every angle—rapid hits cracking the air. Don shot across regions: smashed into Scarletsville, ricocheted off Thunderstark, and finally crashed above the Gadian Sea before plummeting back to the dirt, carving a crater.
He wasn't moving. Mask fractured. Blood dripping.
Duke landed beside him. Don tore the silver cannon from Duke's arm with cold precision—wires tearing, sparks flaring—then crushed the weapon between his hands until the energy died.
A silver Power Gem fell loose from Duke's grasp.
Don stepped forward—
Voices pierced the storm.
Olsen. Prince. Demaurion. Archie. Ella. Eli.
"Don," Olsen called, steady but gentle. "Come with us… or fall apart alone. We need the Gems to stop Duke. To stop everything coming."
He stepped closer. "I was your first friend. That never stopped being true."
Don stared silently. Inside, the real Don pounded at the walls of Scourge Don's mind, drowning, suffocating.
Was there even a point?
He turned away without a word. His cape dragged through the dust behind him.
As he walked, Power Gems slipped from the torn fabric—cyan, pink, black.
Duke's eyes locked onto them instantly.
While Don kept walking into the storm, Duke teleported—scooping up the Gems, tucking them under his wings, disappearing in a neon blink.
Four Gems now.
Back at the cave, Starla curled beside her three Gems, too battered to rejoin the fight. Scorch sat next to her, silent and watchful.
She stared at Don's silhouette fading into the raging clouds.
"…Think he's gonna make it?" she whispered.
Scorch didn't answer.
Just lowered his head.