New Beginnings : Rise of the Darkness

Discovery (Last Chance Pt. 1)

Penny POV
I stumbled back as Lodestar's form began to glow brightly, like the light of a thousand suns. A blinding flash temporarily smothered the room in its oblivion, and when it faded, it took me several seconds to register the change.

"What's happened to your powers?" I gasped, realising that Lodestar's suit had changed. Lodestar's eyes were widened with shock and amazement, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

A wide grin spread across his face, his cheeks curving to an evil height. As he placed his palms against his staff, a crackle of purple electricity sent me jumping back yet again.

Lodestar's brows knitted in confusion as a huge purple butterfly emerged from the jewel-set staff, bolts of lightning sizzling on its wings. The butterfly fluttered out of the window, like it always had, but this time it left behind a purplish trail that vanished seconds later.

For a moment or two, everything was silent as the two of us pondered wat had just happened. Then suddenly, the sound of crackling and static filled the room as a purplish aura materialised around Lodestar's face.

"What?" he murmured. "I didn't even aviniatize someone!"

"Oh, but you did," a whisper came. "Lodestar, I am Unleasher. Aside from my old powers, I want you to give me the power to travel through time, and let me reverse history! This way, I can have as much time in the world as I want!"

Lodestar seemed to calculate his next moves as he rubbed his temples and answered, "Well then, Unleasher, I am Lodestar. I will grant you the powers you have asked for, but on one condition: give me those Kyras!"

"And to help you in your mission, I am delivering a special package to you," I chimed in. "The Vika, Resister, will make you invincible to any superpowers so long as you wear him around your hand!"

The last I heard was the sound of ether transforming the villain before a cackle, "Let's see what you think of this, heroes!"

"Vikana." Lodestar's sharp voice stunned me for a second as he grabbed my hand. "Hasn't Unleasher already been aviniatized before?"

I ran through my memories of each villain, gasping when I realised, "She has!"

"That means," Lodestar spoke slowly, as if for dramatic effect, "The avinia broke the magical charm."

Fang POV
The eight of us were chatting up as we ate our lunch at the AstralCafe, just like the past few days. Apparently, Aerial had an excellent sense of humour. He told us joke after joke, making us laugh so hard that our sides hurt.

Suddenly, a blue portal whirled to life beside us, sending us scrambling back and transforming immediately. The nearby onlookers gasped, shrieking as they backed towards the entrance of the cafe. But one piercing voice rose above the rest.

"So the message was real!" Bibi breathed. She stalked over to our sides, passing us a letter that read, Dearest me, I know you're probably feeling confused about receiving a letter from your future self. But for now, to keep the continuum of time steady, all I can explain is this: come to the Astral Cafe for lunch exactly two months before finals, and your discovery will change your life. Love, Future You.

Suddenly, a tall figure emerged from the portal. Even with Aerial's incredible height, she was still evenly matched with him, and her silky black hair whipped around in the light breeze that soared from the windows. Her suit was light blue and white, combined in a blend of perfection. Lastly, her dark eyes matched her expression as she tucked a sharp-tipped sword into a glimmering holster.

"Astro, Moonshot, all of you look so young!" the woman's face softened as she glanced at us. But her eyes settled on Bibi as she rushed forward and laughed, "Bibi! I knew you would trust the message!"

"Who are you?" I asked in confusion.

"And what are you doing here?" Hydro added.

"Yeah, that's not a fun story," her face set into hard lines as she explained, "I am Voyager, and I am here because something big has happened in the future, changing the whole course of time. I need to warn you to stop it, before things go wrong."

"Could you clarify?" Aerial questioned with a similar expression to mine.

"Okay, I guess I need to start from the beginning," Voyager facepalmed. "I am a superhero, just like you guys. In the future, Astro, you will find my Kyra and give it to me to help you guys defeat Lodestar and Vikana. My powers are to travel through time and monitor every time period to make sure nothing goes wrong. Today, or actually 200 years into the future in my present, I felt something distrust the time continuum, and my investigation has proved that it was caused by the villain Unleasher."

"How? Astro already gave her the magical charm!" Teleto asked, disbelief changing his tone.

"Lodestar must have found a way to break through it," I guessed quietly. "But I still don't get it. If you have the power of time travel, why didn't you travel through time and defeat Lodestar and Vikana? You have to know how all this ends, and you can change the events and help us win!"

"It's not so simple," Voyager argued. "Time is a precarious thing, and one small manipulation can change the whole course of time and cause everything to happen in reverse! Why do you think I risked coming here? I hold the most dangerous Kyra there is—the Kyra that solves the problem when all others have failed. The Kyra of the Last Chance."