New Beginnings : Rise of the Darkness

Prevention (Evolution Pt. 13)

Fang POV
"Psionio!" I shouted to the force-field-wielding hero. "You know what to do!"

"Divide!" Psionio yelled, separating the giant force field that covered us into hundreds of smaller ones. Unleasher and her Vika, Asperia, snarled in confusion from under the domes of energy. Aerial whistled, and both of us sprang for Unleasher as Aerial divided into hundreds of forms.

I tossed my golden sheet to Hydro, who signalled "GO" with her fingers. Everyone locked their aim on Unleasher as Psionio snapped her fingers, letting all the force fields disappear. Asperia reared up on her hind legs, burning with a powerful, blinding light. But Hydro slammed the sheet over her eyes, smothering her as Pyral caged her in a ring of Everblaze.

"Got you!" I said as I looped Hydro's Hydro-lasso around Unleasher's waist, binding her hands to her sides. She growled in frustration, readying a huge ball of flames. But Moonshot neutralised her with a Darkbite, followed by a roar from Pyral, "Destruction!" as a giant ray of darkness smashed into Unleasher's wrist.

"Balance!" I commanded, repairing all the damage that Unleasher had caused, just as Golden Dragon whisked his illusions away and Hydro clicked her Anti-Transmision away from Asperia.

"Here," I passed my magical charm to Rosa, telling her, "This magical charm will protect you from negative emotions, and allow you to keep calm at all times."

"Thank you, Astro," Mdm Rosa said graciously. "Now, if you could excuse me, I need to go back to the Biodome." She offered a last wave before she sprinted away.

"Great job, guys!" I cheered as I recharged Gimmi. "With these new powers, it's getting easier to fight Lodestar once again. And now we can finally protect the people of Brawltopia!"

We gave each other a high-five before we raced off for various sessions—not knowing that soon, a new villain would rise from the shadows. One that was impossibly powerful, and would be almost as impossible to defeat.

<*~*>

"Hey, Bibi!" Sandy gave Bibi a kiss as she set her food down on the table, where the rest of us had been waiting.

"How did your sessions go?" Aerial asked. He, too, had enrolled in the school and started from Grade Six. Apparently, his education in Emvemodoeira, a Brawltopian city hidden in the lushest part of Chile, had allowed him to skip that far. Aerial was three years older than Janet, Edgar, Colette and I; but he still fit in with us perfectly.

"Not that good," Bibi lamented, "I got, like, a hundred different types of homework from Professor Aria—most of which involved me going to the Astral Library here at the Annex, just upstairs. And I hate it there—it's nice to look at for others, but I just have nyctophobia. It's too...dark." She shuddered with the last word. "How about you?"

Aerial answered, "I told the rest of them already—I'm stuck with that stupid History-Geography Collaboration thing, and I end up having to go to the 3D Map Rooms everyday to work on it. The library is eerily quiet up there—the rest of the levels are buzzing with activity. The only other person there is some 4th Grader who just loves looking at the map."

Sandy was just talking about his weird experience at the Agriculture Greenhouse when a thunderous boom resounded from outside. We all jumped to our feet, racing to the Concourse of the Annex and out to the Cryocross Gardens. The Elysian Fields were full of open-mouthed, paralysed people who were staring blankly at nothing. We all transformed quickly, shouting, "Who's there?"

For seconds, no response came. Then the shadows shifted and a figure appeared out of nowhere.

"Larcener?" I gasped.