The blast had knocked him into a trance. He saw Maximo before him, all wrapped up in what looked like ropes of lightning. “Lex!” the spirit called out in agony. “You must be more careful with this enemy! Remember, I am weak against light elements. Another blast of this will kill me! Keep in mind that my existence is the source of yours!” Lex’s eyes flung themselves back open.
“What the—Where am I?” Mike wondered, suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar place. He turned around and saw before him a man made of darkness.
“You idiot! Are you trying to get me killed?!” the spirit blasted at the confused Mike. Mike saw thick bolts of lightning fly from all directions toward the man of darkness. He witnessed another strange thing. Streaks of silver also appeared from all angles, tackling and wrestling the blue-white bolts. Taking many shapes and forms, the two elements battled one another.
“What the hell’s going on here?! Where am I?!”
“This element of yours better hold!” the man of darkness said in a threatening, also anxious tone, looking about wildly at the battle going on around him. “I liked the prince better! This never happened to me in his body!”
“What?! Who the hell are you?!”
“You imbecile! I am the demon you took from the prince when you killed him!”
“Wh—B—Am I dead?!”
“Idiot!” A streak of electricity blasted the dark one, escaping the defending silver streaks, making the man of shadow cry out. “I will lend you my power! Make good use of it!”
Lex finally stood up. He closed his eyes, seeing his own strength wasn’t near enough to take Electron. For the first time, he entered the realm of his soul on his own will. “Maximo,” he told the man of shadow before him, “I know Electron’s not your favourite enemy, but you must lend me your strength.”
“Yes. My other half is in that reckless Ionide. It must be preserved.” He opened his eyes, and blackness was in them. In an instant, he conjured up a shadowball. “Take this!” He hurled the swift sphere at Electron. There was a heavy impact and a black cloud. The so-called lightning bender flew meters off, taking heavy damage. Mike recovered to his feet, electricity still buzzing about him.
“Mike, are you--” Lex gasped and stepped back as he saw Mike’s face. Darkness shone from his eyes.
***
“Wrath of the purple sun!” Hypno commanded, surprised the battle had lasted so long. Zen looked up and saw what seemed like a purple flood of fire coming down to destroy them.
“Zen! Do something!” Clover shouted. As the fire was about to consume them, a sphere of water covered them. The fire crashed onto the water. Zen strained to keep the shield standing as more fire hurled down at them.
“Zen, what can we do?!” Star asked.
“Your minds aren’t strong enough. Even for me, this is far harder than it appears!” Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet shook and frighteningly became water. As the watery shield and the purple fire consumed each other, Zen and her friends sunk, struggling to keep their heads above the water. Zen looked up at Hypno, who was standing on a rock floating meters above the infinite ocean.
“Come on, Zen! Give us some bloody land!” Kyle said.
“Counteracting his imagination isn’t so easy you know! He has more mental control of this world than I do!”
“Sharks!” Kyle shouted. Hypno laughed as massive black sharks headed toward them from every angle. Kyle’s forehead wrinkled. The deadly-looking sharks were boats. “Good work! Climb aboard!” Kyle called to them, grabbing the nearest boat. The four reached inside the small boat quickly.
“You are impressive indeed, little girl!” Hypno commended, “But my next attack will show who is stronger. Great sky dragon!” With that, a massive grey-winged beast with a ten meter long tail swooped down from the sky.
“Zen!” Clover screeched.
Zen placed her fingers in position. “Great sea snake!”
Suddenly, a massive snake emerged from the water and snatched the descending dragon in its mouth. They looked up at the majestically monstrous thing as it arched over them, diving back under the water with the crushed dragon in its massive jaws.
***
Lex stared awfully at the darkness in Mike’s eyes. He shivered, wondering if that is how ghastly he looked ever so often. The second half… Maximo’s voice echoed in Lex’s mind.
“Mike! A shadow shell! That same attack that Azar and I used and nearly wipe you out. Just gather up some dark energy! I’ll handle it from there!” But Electron wouldn’t just stand by and let them conjure up such a powerful attack. “Mike! Behind you!” Lex gave out, spotting a beam of current approaching him. Mike turned quickly, putting his open palm to block the attack. He closed his eyes as the beam slammed into his left hand, giving off a blinding light.
“Dark Ion Blast!” the boy commanded, the spirit of darkness’ voice blended with his own. His right hand glowed silver. There was also a second layer of power covering it, a dark glow. He ran up to the enemy, suppressing the current with his left hand. There was no resistance.
SLAM!!
The fist that was clothed in silver and darkness made a rapid connection with the enemy, and the place shook. A tail of electricity struggled to keep up as Electron shot off almost faster than the eye could see, plunging again into the same river, sending ripples that would reach the furthest ends of it. Mike turned and faced Lex, who wasn’t wasting time either. A super dense, highly energetic shadowball was in his palms. “There’s no way he can get up from a blast like that!” Mike said.
“He did before! Come! Gather some dark energy! We’ll finish him off with an even grander attack!”
“Alright, I’ll try!” Mike put his palms in position. “Amazing!” the Ionide gave out, seeing how quickly the shadowball was forming.
***
“Wrath of judgment! Fire and Brimstone!” Hypno commanded. At his command, massive boulders and equally large balls of fire tore down from the heavens at Zen and her companions. Before any could harm them though, a thick shield of ice came over them. The shield cracked and caved and melted as heavy boulders and orbs of fire crashed upon it.
“The water! It’s gone!” Star announced. And so were the boats.
“It seems he doesn’t multitask very well,” Zen said, “he’s trying to conserve his mental energy and focus only on his immediate attacks… That might be the key I’m looking for.” Zen placed her fingers on the sides of her head again. The ice shield was instantly fortified. Hypno cried out as his floating rock became water. He fell through the water, making a good landing on his hands and feet. As Zen had expected, the rain of fire and brimstone had ended. Zen relaxed slightly and the shield of ice vanished.
The earth quaked as a giant four-armed monster of stone came up from it. Almost simultaneously, a huge metal snake bored from out of the ground and wrapped itself around the thing of stone, crushing it mightily. The iron snake rushed off toward Hypno. The metal snake turned into a bending patch of grass.
“Zen, can’t you imagine a bloody sword through his chest or something?!” Kyle asked.
“It’s not that simple,” she tried to explain. “These scenarios are visual representations of the limited mental power we battle with it. I’m exhausted now. Can’t make anything strong enough to kill him.”
“Lightning!” Clover shouted, getting their attention skyward. A thick white streak of lightning wriggled quickly about the sky like a snake, slithering speedily down toward them. A water shield quickly covered them. On striking the water, the current quickly spread about the shield, electrifying the water. Zen fell to her knees in exhaustion.
“This might be my last attack,” Zen panted. The shield of electrified water rushed off toward Electron in the form of a snake. There was a loud poof. The watery snake became a cloud of smoke.
“I’m tired of this nonsense!” Kyle gave out, gripping his sword tightly. “Zen, cover me!” With that, the boy tore through the quickly clearing smoke, his master’s bla
de in his hands.
“How insultingly pathetic!” Hypno scoffed, and the ground below Kyle’s feet began to break away, revealing an endless, dark abysmal void underneath. Kyle uttered a cry of panic as he began to fall.
“Brother!” Clover cried out. As Kyle began to sink to his peril, he flew back up with gloriously white and beautiful wings.
“Zen!” Star grabbed the collapsing girl. Massive black snakes rose up from the chasm to devour Kyle. To make matters worse, his wings suddenly turned to sand. With a bay of desperation, as the snakes wrapped themselves around Kyle, with all his might, he flung the sword his master gave him at the mastermind with the strength and accuracy of Blade himself. In a jiffy, the approaching sword was only millimetres from Hypno’s throat.
Zen and her team looked dead ahead at Hypno. They realized that they were back in the meadow of Rander. Kyle was gripping his sword tightly in his right hand, panting and sweating heavily.
“Interesting fight you managed to put up, little girl, but where skills seem to be levelled, endurance makes the distinction.” The man put his fingers at his temples. Kyle looked over at Zen, who seemed to be on the brink of collapsing. Hypno released a strong pulse of power. The four were thrown back forcefully. Unable to see, Zen was in even more panic than anyone else. Kyle landed and rolled, losing the grip on his sword. Clover slammed into a tree, losing consciousness instantly. Star alone managed to make a proper landing, skating backward on her hands and feet. There was a new look on her face. She knew it was time to show her strength.
Still having the enemy in sight, she conjured up quite a bit of mana. “Anam Resal!” she commanded, and a blinding beam of raw blue mana shot from her hands toward Hypno. Not even such a high-level spell would get the best of this master mind though. Star watched as the mana struck and wrapped itself around an invisible shield, a mentally formed forcefield. Star shielded her eyes from the bright mana that engulfed Hypno. She felt her mana drop drastically. “What the— No effect?” As the brightness cleared, it was revealed that Hypno was unharmed.
“Clover!” Kyle called out, and ran to his unmoving sister. He shook her until she opened her eyes.
“What’s happening?” she asked faintly, holding her aching head. “Stay here by this tree. I’ll go get Zen,” Kyle told her sternly, shaking a little. He rushed to the unconscious girl. Her eyes were closed and her grey hair was in all over her face. “Come on, wake up, little girl!” Kyle shook her, but there was no response.
***
“That’s it!” Lex gave out, struggling to keep together the massive amount of dark energy. Mike too was containing in his hands a very dense sphere of darkness that could easily make dozens of shadowballs. He felt a tingly pain as the armour about his hands tore away slowly.
“This better do it, Lex!” Mike shouted over the rustle of the immense power, unable it hold it much longer.
“Alright!” Lex ran up to Mike and slammed his sphere with his friend’s, fusing them. The now massive sphere pushed against its holders, but Lex stood his ground, having a bit of experience. Lex took the massive and heavy shadow shell in his hands, relieving Mike of it. It wasn’t as dense as it was when Azar compressed it, but it was certainly no toy either. Darkness buzzed about the ball like electricity. Small pebbles rose from the ground where Lex stood, and the air had become tense, saturated with power. Pain waved across Lex’s entire body. He was sure he felt the bones in his arms crack in strain. By now, the darkness in Mike’s eyes had faded. Mike and Lex looked on as Electron was coming toward them from the distance. Just in time.
“I’ll hold him while you deliver the package!”
“Are you crazy?! You will not survive!”
“I did before! Just let me enter the Legend State! I won’t be long!” Electron paused as he was a few meters from them, analyzing and calculating the deathly power of the shadow shell. Mike stood before Lex, his fists tightly folded. Sparks buzzed about the damaged Electron.
“Your power is impressive, but my element is superior,” Electron said, and created a hollow sphere with his palms. Quickly, he generated a massive ball of electricity, one surpassing all the others he had created.
“I am ready,” Mike finally said, his eyes wearing that powerful silver glow.
“So am I!” Electron announced.
“You sure you can take this hit, Mike? This shell is even bigger than the last!”
“You still don’t understand? In the Legend State, I am invincible,” Mike assured.
“Begone!” Electron bade, and sent at the Ionide a massive streak of electricity. Mike could have dodged it probably, but he thought it best to remain before Lex. The beam struck him. He skated back about a half a meter toward Lex, spreading his arms out to fully shield Lex from the attack. Also, in that instant, he sent four massive spikes from his feet down into the ground to anchor him. “Why won’t you die?!” Electron blasted. Finally, the assault had ended, and Mike was unmoved, unharmed. Mike looked straight ahead at the panting Electron. His hands were still outward, but there was no more power left in him. “Just what the hell are you?!” he raved, finally some sense of fear in his voice. “Never before have I seen a defence my electricity cannot penetrate… I have no choice but to call on my brother… There is nothing he cannot destroy.”
“Mike! Get him fast! I’m at my limit here!!” Lex’s clothes were being torn apart by the energy the shadow shell was pushing off. Electron made a jump, and fire came under his feet.
“You’re not going anywhere!” Mike told him, and ran after him. He made a stunningly high jump, grabbing hold of Electron’s feet. Mike’s weight was too much for Electron to manage. They both crashed onto the ground.
“Get off me!” Electron blasted, and sent a fist at Mike. Mike grabbed Electron’s hand and slammed a fist into his face. Current rushed through Mike as he dented Electron’s chest with spiky fists. Mike stood, holding Electron tightly. With a mighty roar, Lex hurled the shadow shell at Electron and Mike. In an instant, there was a terrifying noise, like lightning and thunder, and the earth shook. The pulse from the blast sent Lex hurling away. Trees for meters were hit by the pulse and were destroyed, many uprooted by the sudden force.
***
Star’s forehead crumpled. What was that? What is this darkness? Is this the doing of this illusionist?
“What the heck?” Kyle stood and put his hand up before his face, but he couldn’t see it. “Another annoying trick,” he presumed.
“Kyle… Is that you?” Zen asked, touching his face.
“Zen!” The darkness finally cleared away, and sunlight lit the place again.
***
“Oh shit…” Lex groaned, “That must be the heaviest blast I’ve ever seen.” He struggled to stand quickly, seeing the aftermath of the shadow shell. Quite a massive area was totally cleared by the blast. Just up ahead lay a large crater. “Mike!” Lex ran up to it quickly. He reached the edge in a little while and peered down into it. Still in the crater were Mike and Electron. He couldn’t tell if either of them was still alive, or even which looked worse. Mike was armourless and bleeding all over. Bits of iodium were scattered about a mile’s radius from him. Sparks flew all about Electron, who certainly looked like he had had it. With no further ado, Lex rushed down to his friend. “Mike! You still with me?!” He lifted Mike’s head a little. He sighed heavily when he felt Mike’s heartbeat.
“Told you I’d survive,” the Ionide groaned.
“You’re one hell of a piece o’ work, aren’t you?”
“L—Lantern…” Electron’s voice barely sounded. Lex looked up quickly. Electron was still on the ground, his eyes open. The enigmatic man in the black hat was standing over him. Lex had no energy left in him. Mike was worse off. The Lantern’s face grew pale as he looked down at the wrecked Electron. “Please… Get me home… to my brother.”
“You are now obsolete, Electron. How did you manage to have these children defeat you?”
“My brother…. He can--”
“No. His is far too reckless, and his power is too great; I cannot control him. You know that.”
“You know… if you let me die here… he’ll come after you.”
“Hmm… I certainly cannot have that now… All this teleportation… Getting the darkness from that boy will hardly yield a profit,” he considered aloud, sounding quite annoyed.
“Pay me nothing. Just get me home,” Electron insisted.
Lex finally found enough strength to summon up a single sphere of ice. “No you don’t!” He flung it, but it only froze a section of the crater. Electron and the man in black had already disappeared.
***
“Where are you idiots hiding?!” Hypno raved. Kyle hid behind a large tree, holding Zen. Star was with Clover.
“Kyle… tell me where he is and I’ll--”
“No, Zen. You’re too weak. Fighting him in your state is plain suicide,” Kyle whispered back.
“What do we do?” Clover whispered to Star.
“Stay here,” Star told her, and went out from behind the tree, facing Hypno. She gathered up her last bit of mana. Damn. That mana beam really killed me. Suddenly, the man in black appeared before Hypno.
“Stand down, young witch. This party is over,” he told her.
“Lantern, what are you doing?! I have this under control!”
“You were to keep them busy. You have done well.”
“B--”
“Enough.”
“Is Electron finished with the boy?”
“We will discuss that later on.”
“And what makes you think you two are getting away?!” Kyle blasted, standing beside Star, sword in hand, ready to strike. “Where is Lex?!” he asked.
***
“The one called The Dark Lantern,” Maximo said to Lex, having dragged him into a trance, “do not think him weak because he uses others as weapons.
“How strong do you think he is?”
“The amount of dark matter I sense in him is great. It seems though that he treasures it so much he avoids using it at all costs.”
The Seventh Spirit Page 44
