A slightly different look for the Finale pages.

Thanks to help from Cameron and Mitch, this's a massive piece, but we still managed to get it out pretty quick. It still holds the quality writing, too. A massive battle (more like the first few parts to an all out war) highlights it, but we get a look back at AiL's season one history through King Mtiger, who also meets up with .. you'll see.

(Prologue by Konall)

 
Seaside Town

Konall Bearsmasher surveyed his forces. All the members of the Committee For Drastic And Unnecessarily Lethal Solutions were here, as well as a couple dozen KoKoL troops. There were still several hundred zombies left shambling around the city against these thirty, but it would have to do.

"Listen up men!" he shouted. "Today, we have a battle on our hand to determine the fate of our city. We're outnumbered by a lot, but that just means that there's plenty of glory for everyone. When this fight is over and we've won, bards will sing our praises, people will buy us free drinks wherever we go, women will throw themselves at us, yes even you Cassandra. I'm thinking 2, 3 chicks apiece easily. Probably dozens for me. Oh, and the city will be safe once again for habitation, if that's the kind of thing that drives you.

"Now, we've got some of the finest warriors in the... Okay, well at least they're good at killing. We've got some excellent killers here and for those of you with less combat training, you just have to keep the zombies off their backs. I know this may be one of the toughest battles we've ever face. Hel, it might take us most of the afternoon. But we'll get through it, and when we get back the drinks are on me.

"Oh, yeah, and for those who die you get to go to Valhalla for an eternity of fighting, looting, raping, pillaging, and drinking yourself into a stupor. Let's go!"

Thinky coughed. "Oh, yeah," said Konall. "Thinky, you wanted to do something with those cowardly whatchamacalits?"

"They're called tactics," said Thinky.

"Right."

Thinky took Konall's place in front of the group. "Okay, we're using a star formation. Each of our Committee members is going to have 2 of you regular guys on either side. We'll be arranged in a circle, and the committee members will stand out a pace from the circle with 2 of the regulars on either side a pace behind. It'll make things a bit tougher for us veterans but it should give the rest of you a break. Archers will be in the middle, and they'll help out any side that's being overwhelmed."

A woman's voice said "Um, is it too late to join up."

"No, Aleena," said Konall, "We've got room for one more. You can use my bow and arrows again, and take your place with the other archers. I'm surprised you agreed to come along."

"Well, I fought for justice back on my home planet. These people here need protection as well."

Another voice said, "I too, am come to join thy warfaring party."

"Max!" said Konall. "Glad to see you could make it. You join Aleena."

Konall signaled the army to march out, and they did to the cadence of Spaz's accordion.

It wasn't long before they came upon their first horde of undead. There were dozens, missing limbs, eyes, flesh, or more. They shambled but they shambled quickly. They slammed into formation, but the men held their place. The committee members fought well, and on the points of the formation they were taking on 2 or 3 zombies at a time. The less experienced soldiers were safe between the points of the star formation, and two of them worked on one zombie at a time.

The end result was a group of zombies reduced to their component parts while the formation stood. Not a man or woman had fallen, yet, though there were a few injuries.

So far the first confrontation went well, and Konall knew they could do two, three, maybe even five more of these without taking any casualties. But they would be going into dozens upon dozens. Each death would weaken the formation, and then the bodies would start piling up. Could they hold out until the end? No, there was no way. But maybe something would tip the scales. And maybe they'd all die heroes. There were worse fates.

 
(Reflections of a King - by Dash)

 
An undisclosed location in the Kingdom of Loathing's castle town

MTiger, appointed King of the clan Kingdom of Loathing, stood and surveyed the damaged lands of the Kingdom which had appointed him king those many months ago.

Time is often presented in poets and paintings as a fluid thing indeed. The time between now and the last time MTiger stood here for the sun's daily awakening stretched on in his mind like the neverending horizon line of another perfect dawn. Still in other ways, that day seemed as close to MTiger as the very royal attire he wore.

The last time he'd stood here, it was with the old King of the Kingdom of KOL about to be laid to rest. The old King lead the Kingdom of Loathing to a hard fought victory over the then-rival nation of Pertene in one last, desperate, and decisive victory. MTiger himself was soonafter presented the opportunity to lead his beloved Kingdom. He accepted with neither doubt nor hesitation.

Mtiger again read aloud the same ancient poem he'd read that morning.

"'Victory, thy name is sultry steel,
'Yet thy remains mangled flesh and bone shattered in twine.
'Glorious your dawn and frightful yon night.

'What horror have I wrought to win thy appeal?
'Thy honor ne'er questioned in our nattering mind,
'For in battle, life is then the privilege, born of steel's might.

'Mangled flesh that will not always heal,
'Nightmare which hardly fade with time.
'They linger on well past morn's bright.'"

It spoke to Mtiger on the horrors and price of war, yet from the very horrors of war he took the comfort of the familiar. He'd lived through the battle of Pertene and seen it through the end. Moving to King, it would seem the war with the Knob Goblin King was at an end, even though their spirit would, sadly, live on in the Feline Army. At least, for the time being.

The two wars had much in common. Traitorous actions tainted the Kingdom of KOL's victory near the end of both wars. Almost immediately after the Pertene / KOKOL war, the Kingdom of KOL was drawn into a conflict in Degrassi Knoll, where the Knob Goblins and Penguin Mafia had long struggled for power. At MTiger's orders, KoKOL veterans Prince Blahking and Konall Bearsmasher were joined by newcomer Sebastian Dash in an attempt to covertly raise trouble with the Knob Goblins and Penguin Mafia on behalf of the Degrassi government. Konall then discovered a penguin hidden base on the far reaches of The Big Mountains. Raw Hide, a longtime jerk who had nevertheless fought with KOKOL in the Pertene war, proved to be their most effective weapon there.

Attention was diverted away from both factions as MTiger's kingdom found itself sending aide to the Mysterious Island of Mystery, where Catrina Whiteclaw, who'd come into the association with the Kingdom of Loathing, proved herself as invaluable on her first mission as her ally Sebastian Dash had on his first mission. OR Mtiger himself on his first few battles during the war. MTiger smiled with pride as his mind, already on the quick course of KOKOL's recent history, continued forward to consider the kidnapping of the Toot Oriole. It would turn out after extensive investigation that the ones to blame for the Toot's disappearance were the Knob Goblins. Catrina introduced a new ally of her own, Feena, who ended up being the key in their efforts to stop the war between the Knob Goblins and Penguin during the course of saving the Toot. Even so, the Knob Goblins continued to prove a pain as the Kingdom of KOL found one of its own outposts under attack from the Knob Goblins. Catrina's quick thinking once again put an end to that. Their attention was again drawn away from the Knob Goblins, however, as things in the Kingdom took a far more sinister twist.

The Orb of the Sun, which had originally been used as a distraction to the Knob Goblins and thought to be powerless, came back into play. It had somehow made its way into Hey Daze with potentially cataclysmic consequences. Prince Blahking sent four KOKOL associates in to recover it, after leading those same four associates to be backup during the Outpost incident for Catrina, Dash, Feena and Vixen. The four associates became stranded in Hey Daze, leaving MTiger to have to send Dash, Feena, Vixen and Catrina with a host of others to recover both the missing Sun Orb and their trapped allies.

They recovered the Sun Orb, which quickly vanished from their possession again. Of the four associates sent into the twisted and fiery zones of Hey Daze, only the bounty hunter Shamus Xtreme returned. The others were lost, possibly forever.

The Kingdom of KOL turned its attention back towards the Knob Goblins, looking to end the war properly. To that end, MTiger had Prince Blahking seek out official approval from the Council of Loathing. In a tiring and annoying meeting with them, KOKOL was asked instead to clear out the crypt, which had become "defiled." Oh, and they asked Blahking to "pick up a mosquito larvae while he's out there." The fact that these assignments were, in fact, in two separate areas of the Kingdom proper may have genuinely been lost on them. Under the promise of a full meeting of the Council of Loathing, which would be required to approve support for KOKOL in the war efforts, Blahking gritted his teeth and send adventurers out to take care of both tasks. Unsurprisingly, the veteran Sebastian Dash was able to (with a little help from an old friend) secure the first mosquito larvae for the Council. On a more surprising note, Catrina and Feena gave credit for striking the fatal blow to the Bonerdargon (the cause of the Crypt's defilement) to Shamus the bounty hunter.

Sadly, upon returning to the Council along with the two main winners, the Council of Loathing seemed to change their tune, saying the only thanks he'd get was consideration for a full meeting with the Council. To actually earn it required them to "impress" the Council in at least two ways. One of those two ways had to involve a Kingdom of KOL member winning a "most impressive bitchin' meat car" competition." Although KOKOL faced opposition in the form of the Winking Judge meatbike pub and clan, it was able to earn a questionable win- again, oddly, from Shamus XTreme. This went down during a KOKOL sponsored carnival which saw a number of entries, with the last three members- the heads of three local guilds- declaring Sebastian Dash to be the one who'd impressed them the most after Dash brought in the head of a yeti which had been terrorizing South Degrassi.

As a reward for "impressing the council," the Nice Sorceress, the last of the twelve Council members, publically promised approval for the Kingdom of KOL's war efforts. It was a high point for MTiger, but one quickly crushed when the Knob Goblin King himself was teleported into the main hall of the city. Unsurprisingly, the Elite 7, the King's most dangerous henchmen, were a major part of the invasion, helping eventually drive the Kingdom of Loathing's security and KOKOL forces out of Seaside Town. They then captured the Concil's dome along with most of the Council, set a magic barrier around the dome, and attempted to burn down the rest of the city. MTiger recently found out the Jester King of Beasts, a twisted member of the Elite 7, made two successful attempts to send KOKOL forces en mass to other dimensions. They over came that, the fire, countless Knob Goblin armies, and more Elite 7 attacks to finally turn the tide.

Once again, things turn to hades as soon as they start to look in the Kingdom of KOL's favor. The Knob Goblins attempt to bring back the undead under their control, but that somehow goes awry and both groups agree to fight off the reanimated corpses of their recently departed allies. But this only happens after a number of inexplicable betrayals rock the Kingdom of Loathing nearly to its foundation. Under the rule of the traitorous Catrina Whiteclaw, the Knob Goblins took over Degrassi Knoll- and became the Feline Empire. They then extended an invitation to the Kingdom of KOL to help deal with the results of the Knob Goblin King's botched spell.

MTiger had no choice to agree. Handling the zombies was a top priority, higher than even dealing with the traitorous Catrina. However.. he was determined to handle this problem directly. He held the Blade of Noz high above his head..

 
(Vixen meets Awakensun - by Dash)

 
Wrong side of the Tracks, Seaside Town

Other than the overwhelming stench assaulting her highly acute sense of smelling, Arc Nicholas had no idea what to make of this disgusting, smelly hippy at first.

Kadlin had assigned two altered beasts to Vixen to help her go about hunting the armies of undead, recently animated or otherwise, that had stalked the lands of the Kingdom. Even the Kingdom of Loathing town guards had been forced back. The undead just kept coming, and from the looks of it, killing them one time didn't always work. There was a chance they'd be back for more.

And oddly enough, as Vixen fought her way along the zombies, this weird and still living hippie type girl rushed up to give Vixen a huge hug.

And oi, did she smell horrible!

"Thank goodness you showed up!" The strange hippie seemed rather enthusiastic. "I thought all the people fighting the zombies had to stop fighting them, but I was chasing after Beanie, and I got lost."

"Beanie? Who?" Vixen considered calling her bodyguards to pull this weirdo away, just to get away from the stench...

"My wind hawk! Becky said you KOKOL people would help me, I'm just glad you showed up! I kind of get lonely." She looked up at the zombies shambling off past them as a strange looking Adrulian hawk landed on her shoulder and let out a loud squeal for attention.

"Okay, you stay with me..." Vixen sighed. "Just don't get in the way. And try not to freak out when you see my two guards.."

Just then, the two monstrous abominations wandered into sight, with the shorter of the two standing around eight foot tall. One had a single glowing eye permanently sealed shut, and saggy reptilian skin. A snakelike eye looked out from under the good eye. The creature had a lizard like tail, and seemed quite male on inspection. Its ears were human, and it wore the leather and metal garb of a Knob Goblin guard- although this was one specifically designed for his new beastial form.

The other, seeming more female, seemed to have a mouselike appearance. She a visible four to six inches shorter than the other one, but seemed to more with a more fluid grade. Like the bigger male counterpart, she had teeth which glistened with a potent poison. Her garb was more similar to an Elite guard's, although she wore a bright pink ribbon in her "hair," which was more like a slightly hairier section on top of her head. Indicating she was more mouse than Knob Goblin, her chest was flat like an animal's.

Both looked ready to attack, but Vixen sighed. "Down, bruisers.. she's with me."

Vixen started leading the two towards some zombies to be put down. The hippie starred at the two, but to her credit, didn't actually flip. She looked about ready to, though. "Whoa, those don't look like Becky's, do they, Beanie?"

Vixen stopped cold. "Becky as in Becky Joy?"

Awakensun nearly ran into her. "Yes, Becky Joy! I'm Gail.. but my spiritual title is Awakensun. Oh! Becky's a secret and.." She stopped as the zombies suddenly charged at the group.

"Let's figure that out later.." Vixen pulled her staff out and used it to motion the two brutes into action. She recognized a couple of the zombies as abusive, loud mouthed jerks with hearts of gold from the tavern she worked at all those ages ago. Now, they were nothing but threats to be taken down. Vixen had no idea what, if anything, this "Gail" brought to the table, but she figured she'd find out soon.

Vixen had already taken down a few zombies already with the help of her 'guards.' Vixen had taken the classic 'sever the heads' approach, while the brutes did what they did best; tore the reanimated dead apart in a gruesome fashion.

"Say, can I interest you in a donation to the international foundation for the research and devouring of BRAAAAAAAAAAINS?!" The first zombie said, standing back and laughing.

"Ahhh.. Zombie Carl? I don't know if I'd stay here," another zombie, who seemed to be a badly mauled accountant, suggested. I mean, do accountants exist in this world outside of the Knob Goblins?

"Dude, we're zombies! And not those weakass zmobies either, there's like two dozen of us? Right? ... Right? Guys?" The ugly zombie with the x shaped scar over his eye turned around to see the other zombies running off. The guard altered to be a reptilian tore into the zombie's back with razor sharp claws, dripping with a poison that could even affect the undead. The female Rat Goblin chased down the others, using her tail to choke them and her fists to pound them into the ground. Realizing they weren't going to be able to escape so easily, the other zombies turned and jumped on the reptilian, figuring they had nothing to lose. One smashed a bottle over her head, drawing an enraged howl. That zombie promptly found its arm ripped out by the other brute, even as the rat Knob girl used her tail to slash it and another zombie across the face, blinding both.

"AHHH! Zombies!" Gail yelled in terror, but she stood her ground and raised her staff, using it to focus her shaman abilities. Powerful winds blasted the zombies, sending them flying. If that wasn't enough, it carried Gail's "natural odor" which dealt impressive amounts of stench damage to the zombies. There was an entire half burned city around them and Vixen realized zombies could attack from anywhere.

These zombies didn't prove terribly difficult. Vixen took a couple out with her staff. Unfortunately, the sounds of battle drew in another set of zombies, and this one was more varied. Vixen recognized a very dangerous turtle tamer, with a large, obviously fatal gash down his chest. His body was half burnt, yet he moved with a grace nearly mirroring what he had in life.

"Aw damn it.." Vixen complained. The turtle tamer pulled out a lightning rod, and tried to blast her, but Vixen was able to dodge out of the way, behind a building. The lightning twisted around the corner, but missed her by a wide berth. "You'd think rigor mortises would set in and at least slow them down a bit.."

No such luck. Maybe it was the magic animating them in the first place that kept them moving?

Vixen peered around the corner to see it fighting off both brutes with that staff. The other zombies kept piling on top of them. Gail rushed around the corner to see if Vixen was okay. "There's more types of zombies than Keese in Adrule!"

"I don't know what that means but we better take him down before he.." Vixen's words came true in front of her eyes as she tried to speak them. "Aw, damn!"

"Serve me now, in death as in life, my zombie baby yeti!" He commanded, holding his staff high above him. The dead zombie of a rushing bum tried to ambush Vixen from behind, but she heard it coming. Without looking, she slammed the butt end of her staff into it, then took its barely attached head off with one clean and powerful swing of her staff. All the while, her eyes never left the zombie turtle tamer with the lightning rod.

"Though they live without me," he shouted, "I call upon the services of my Sweet Nutcracker and my polar roid'bear!" he called out, and although there was no immediate response, Vixen realized they were in serious trouble. Awakensun found herself cornered by nearly a dozen zombies and panicked, before using her wind powers to blow them away, two to three at a time.

"Too many zombies!" Gail worried. Even as she blew them away, more were walking, slowly hobbling, and in a few really annoying cases, running to replace them.

"Keep going til you see daylight!" Vixen answered.

"What if it gets to be night?!" Gail worried. "We can't see daylight at nighttime!"

"Just keep fighting.." Vixen answered, not bothering to point out they'd probably be overwhelmed long before nightfall at this rate. She used her staff to take the zombies down at up to three at a time, and sliced open anything that got too close with her pocket knife. She figured she could simply sever the head to end the zombies' threat, but that wasn't her priority right now; getting to that zombie turtle tamer was. Unfortunately, he was ready for her. As soon as Vixen cleared a pathway to her ultimate foe, he unleashed wave after wave of rats at Vixen. She dove to the side, trying to avoid and fight them off, but things were beginning to look bleak.

Surrounded by zombies and starting to run low on mana, Gail didn't look to be doing much better.

 
The KOKOL Castle Town, same location as before

Catrina peered out from the grasses surrounding the clearing. She licked her lips as her eyes took in M'Tiger in all his splendor. Watching him move, the ballet that was the flexing of muscle under his sleek fur- all combined to make her feel almost as badly as the night she had taken him.

But she didn't have time for that today. Daisuke had told her to stay at the camp, worried about battle and the kitten that grew within her. But she had chafed at that, as he should have known she would, and had went prowling for things to do and watch and, perhaps, fight.

Now she had stumbled on him.

She rose and smiled. He was still facing away from her. "You should lose the cape, lover. It hides what a nice ass you have."

MTiger didn't turn. He didn't have to. They could both smell the legions of his armies both near and far; not to mention the distinct combination of rotting flesh, motor oil, booze, and ninja cloth of his personal guard. "A voice like honey, laced with acid. What love we had you tore asunder. What could you offer to me now, except for your just and immediate surrender?"

Catrina smiled though the sting of his words as she sauntered forth. "You of all people know what I have to offer you, lover- you sampled my wares so forcefully before." She purred. "But such a surrender could never be even if we wished it so, as Daisuke is my mate."

MTiger turned towards her and growled, but it was another voice- one without a scent- which surprised both. "Somehow, I think he meant surrender as in to a prison cell and not his bed chambers."

Catrina spun at the words, stifling her own growl. Old grudges die hard, after all. She took the scent again- nothing... "This is a private conversation, Blahkhead. Beat it."

He shimmered into view on the very edge of her peripheral range, obviously ready to attack magically at a moment's notice. "You'll forgive me if I take an interest in this. How's your new army, by the way?"

Catrina couldn't help but smirk. "'One and one and two is eight' is their marching cadence." She shrugged. "They're improving- but still goblins."

The two looked oddly at her, without humor. "Indeed," Blahking commented. Before he could say more, his noble and wise King spoke.

"No matter the manners or mechanics of beast and demon, a demon still it remains. Beast be demon, and demon be beast. Whatever purpose for which you claim to come, lay claim on it, so we may dismiss it as lies and be done with this business."

Catrina's fur rose for a second, but she controlled herself- mostly. "Lies? Then how about this for a lie, lover. He grows within me, he does. And he will be born of me when the time comes. Deny that, if you will!" The last of her ire escaped her with that. "Besides- here we are not enemies- there are worse out there than you or I."

Blahking seemed taken aback by the claim, so didn't speak. The look on MTiger's face became decidedly colder, as if a shadow cast on flat surface of metal and rock. "Indeed, and in truth, we would admit the usefulness of an ally, but your use has been served; your service could be of no further use."

"I think he's saying we're fine on our own," Blahking answered.

With all of that Catrina just... smiled. "Then you'd have no interest in magic to stop the zombies?"

Their ears visibly perked at this. "Would you then claim to know a way of ending this madness beyond madness?"

"How?" Blahking simply asked.

Catrina laughed. "You know what the extent of my knowledge of magic is! No- but I have someone who thinks they know of a way. Interested?"

Mtiger turned towards Blahking, who still looked ready to roast her at the first scent of a threat of excuse. "So then?" MTiger asked. "Shall we trust the words of a traitor? All we know, have known and shall ever know being at stake, we already risk it; what more could there be to risk?"

Blahking looked her over carefully, trying to judge her motives and intent. Catrina just watched them both- amused. She trusted Kadin's skill. Either they trusted her and shared the credit- or Catrina acted alone and took the credit for herself- and the Empire. Almost as if judging her worth, Blahking simply nodded to his king.

"So be it, then," MTiger replied in an authoritative voice. "The die of fate cast us together one more and last time. Prepare your army as I shall prepare mine, and lead us where you would, but know well the truth of my words; should yours prove less than true, we will be your moment of reckoning. Fast and true."

"So don't screw with us," Blahking warned, before turning to leave.

Catrina purred. "Well...maybe not with you."

Mtiger turned to her, glaring and growling for a moment. He then turned and stalked away.

"Be thinking of names, lover!" She called after him, then headed off toward their camp, only to be confronted with the unexpected obstacle of a near eight inch long, black eyed golden furred hamster sitting on its hind legs, starring at her and preparing a fire spell. "Watch out, King MTiger! She's gonna sneak up on you!"

"Fluffy, no!" the Prince called out, suddenly realizing what was going on. He rushed to stop the fight from breaking out.

Catrina only laughed. "We are under truce, Fluffy. One I'm not breaking." She paused, grinning. "Never realized how cute you look when you're dangerous."

"Yeah well, how do I know you're not invading?! Huh? That's probably a violation of some aspect of some part of the truce." Fluffy still looked ready to have charred kitty for lunch.

"Stand down and allow our visitor to depart in peace," the King commanded.

"Okay fine.." Fluffy then curled up next to a large oak memorial tree. "But don't try to eat me or else!" As if to show he was serious, a ring of fire burst to life and quickly faded as he drifted off into a shallow sleep.

"I may be having cravings.. but not for h'ors derves." She laughed. "Besides, there is one thing that will ensure I will not attack the King- and he knows it." With that she was gone.

 
(Next three parts by Cameron, and Dash)

 
Seaside Town (yet again)

No question about it, when it came to the zombie apocalypse, Seaside Town was quickly becoming the place to be!

Deep in the heart of the Right side of the tracks, Gail, better known as the wind mage Awakensun, and the rogue traitor known as Vixen found themselves trapped against the Seaside Town Public library, surrounded by a hoard of zombies and rats, with both factions being lead by a zombified Amniote the turtle tamer, known for his talents during his living years. He commanded both the dozens of rats, living and otherwise, and the zombie remains of a baby yeti. Instead of penguins, he hurled rats, the detached body parts of defeated zombies, or even charred rubble leftover from the earlier devastating fire; anything he could find on the ground.

"WE COULD USE A LITTLE HELP HERE!" Vixen cried out in desperation. The two guards Kadlin Bearsmasher had assigned Vixen stood in front of the two as Gail's hawk circled overhead, ready to strike. They readied themselves to fight to the death, when Vixen spotted an incoming army.

"Hey Konall," said one of the newcomers. "There's some people over here who are surrounded."

Konall turned. "All right men, head that way and kill anything that's dead. If it's a mutant freak or incredibly sexy, try not to put a hole in it."

Max shouted "Harm not the rats either. They will come to our aid." He then said to the rats "Fellow rodents, why do you fight the living and side with the dead? You will only join them in the end. Fight with us and throw off your masters." Of course, to human ears this sounded more like "Squeak, scritch scritch, SQUEAK. Squikkity squittity roop mip sqeak snuffle."

The formation tore through any zombies in the path while those in the rear protected against attacks from behind. Konall put his haxxor behind his back and sent two arrows directly into the Amniote's chest before a zombie blindsided him and tackled him to the ground. He brought his hands up and crushed the zombie's head between his fists.

"Are you guys okay?" asked Aleena.

"Been better.." Vixen responded.

"New friend!" Gail rushed to hug Aleena but the guards prevented that. So she turned around and started fighting wildly against the zombies. Meanwhile, Konall found himself surrounded by both the zombie baby yeti and a very much living polar roid bear, which looked like it had been OD'ing on steroids most of its unnatural life. Both seemed enraged by their master's second death.

Konall had just enough time to pull out his haxxor again and ready his defense. He blocked a rat off his buckler and slammed the haxxor down on the yeti, turning it to goo and meat. The roid bear leaped at him and knocked him down, while the soldiers on either side of Konall stabbed at it. Konall wrestled with it, managing to roll on top. He got his hand free and with one hand brought down the hammer, living up to his name of Bearsmasher. He glanced down at the holes in his armor. It was already torn half to shreds and he wasn't nearly done with this battle.

Konall surveyed his formation. "All right, Vixen and the brutes, take your places in my formation in between the grunts. Gail, same for you, but the wind is blowing from the North so I want you to stay on the south side."

The small army cut through isolated groups of zombies, boosted by Spaz's magical accordion. Only a single soldier died, when he was suddenly dragged from the formation and swarmed before the others could rescue him.

They came to a courtyard square, where they saw the biggest zombie of them all. The thing was a mass of corpulence twenty five feet tall and almost as wide. Its massive arms and girth were a mixture of fat and muscle in equal proportions. It charged the formation along with the nearby zombies, but the smaller ones reached it first and were dashed on the soldiers' weapons.

"Alright, that's just cheating!" said Vixen. "No fair having a zombie of something that's too large to exist in the first place!"

"I don't know," Gail answered even as she blasted two more minor zombies into the skies with an up-burst of stench and wind. "I read about some pretty big boss monsters in Adrule's temples."

On Konall's orders the formation spread out, and when the bulk surged toward one part those attacked would run away while the rest attacked it from behind.

Then, without warning a massive shape swooped down and snatched two soldiers, tearing them to pieces as it flew off. It was the zombified dragon, and it left behind only a blast of stinking acidic bile that left behind clouds of suffocating gas as it corroded away flesh and armor alike.

"Rangers! Mages!" shouted Konall "I want that dragon on the ground. The rest of you, it's time to show that blob some weight loss."

Gail manipulated the winds to hamper the dragon's flight while archers shot it with arrows. Max drew back his bow, held his breath, and shot the dragon in the eye while Aleena followed his arrow with a hit the dragon's wing muscle.

As the dragon came back, Vixen dodged around the attacks, hurled a lightning grenade at the thing's backside, then started slicing away with twin swords, dramatically yelling "Ayiiiii!"

Meanwhile, Konall and the rest of his crew were hammering on the giant. It slammed its fist into Konall's shield and sent him flying. The beast was barely phased by slamming its fist into the spikes on that shield. Konall roared in anger and charged back, berserking. He dropped sword and shield and pulled out his haxxor, chopping off the zombie's right arm and striking it full on in the belly.

By this point, other, lesser zombies had come in and were investigating. As varied as colors of the rainbow, many of the zombies had given one adventurer or another a serious challenge in life. Now, in death, they poured in like sewer water on a rainy day at our ragtag crew. Konall gave the first orders that came to mind. "Leave the brute to me. Aleena, take the dragon. Everyone else, get me a perimeter."

Aleena started to ask Konall to assign a couple others to help her out, but before two words were out of her mouth Konall said, "Just do it."

Aleena's suit shifted and she took to the air, trying to get around the dragon's breath, claws, and fangs. Finally, she found her shot and took it, placing an arrow right into the dragon's skull. It fell to the ground and took out a group of zombies, barely missing Cassandra.

Konall hacked at his zombie's arm every time it came near, staying out of reach. Eventually it was reduced to bloody sinews and Konall moved in for the kill, striking the bulk of meat in the chest once, twice, and a third time. As the zombie began to loose the last of its unlife, it let out a terrifying death howl that brought the attention of every nearby zombie.

Everyone began to loose heart at the sound of thousands of feet coming toward them. Konall called for retreat and everyone backed up until they were all next to each other. Soldiers died in twos and threes while even some of the committee members fell. And then, the zombies fell. They staggered to their feet, but their movements were shaky, and lacked even the minimal coordination they usually had. The warriors slaughtered the zombies by the dozens, but at this rate, it seemed to be a matter of holding off the inevitable.

* * *

Kadlin turned to Becky. "That's all we can do for now."

Becky looked nervously towards the four Knob Goblins anxiously watching the two from the sidelines. "Soo.. all done? Zombies all gone, right?!"

"I'm not sure," said Kadlin. "I threw everything I could into it. So did you. I imagine it did something. I hope with all my heart this ended the curse, but even if it didn't it should weaken them. I'm going to go to the surface and find out. What are you doing?"

"Gonna go celebrate with our KOKOL friends and then go to Degrassi!" Becky called her team around her. "Watch this.. hi!"

"Hello Miss Joy!" The four Knob Goblins said, growing a little tired of the routine.

"Be careful," said Kadlin. "And remember some of your friends in KoKoL might be upset that you joined the Feline Empire. Maybe you can party with our people?"

Becky thought that would be an excellent idea and grabbed Kadlin's hand.. "Okay, let's go!"

"I have to see what happened. I am in charge of clearing out Seaside Town from the zombies. I have responsibilities. Maybe after this is over."

"Alright, in the words of the great poet Wheates, 'To part, a taste of sugar and dirt in my mouth. So brief a second; so big a moment. Travel safe on a path angels watch and demons fear to tread.' Or what I like to say is, 'See ya later!'" She waved dramatically, in a way that made her look far less than her twenty plus years of age.

Kadlin looked at her. "I'll see you soon. Okay, team, it's time to head out. Xanadon, you'll need to get on my back. The rest of my team will have to double-time to keep up." Kadlin was out of magic, but that was a small obstacle for her mighty bear form.

She shifted into the ursine shape and Xanadon hefted his box onto her back. He turned to Becky and said "So long girl-mage. Remember, focus on summoning power. Will it to obey your command. And shoot them in the crotch whenever possible."

Becky giggled as she and her four Knob Goblins exited the temple and started mowing their way through the now weakened zombies on her way out of town. Kadlin and company came out right behind them and went the opposite direction.

* * *

Kadlin screeched to a halt. Her third eye sensed something odd about the air ahead. Suddenly, two ninjas dropped a bound figure onto the ground. "Fumblies?" said Kadlin's deep voice. She clawed through his bindings and then transformed back into a woman.

"I was worried they were taking me prisoner for that old show, 'Ex Actor Survivors," Fumblies said, half serious. He fumbled around and fished out a signal flare for his team.

"I didn't know you acted. Anyway, it looks like the zombies are weakened, but my counterspell didn't finish them off."

Fumblies elites arrived on the scene. They were injured and their armor was dented, but none had died.

"I think we need to join these forces together under my command," said Kadlin. "We can fight better together."

"I'd be honored to lead us into battle yet again," Fumblie said, deeply honored.. and deeply misunderstanding her intent.

"No, I need to be in charge. You can manage your own elites but you don't know what my brutes are capable of. I can handle both, so I should lead this party." Kadlin paused, irritated, and added, "Like I was the last time when we broke the magic barrier down!"

"I don't see the point, since there is no magic barrier to break down this time," Fumblies argued, turning to survey the landscape of the battle. He stalked towards it on instinct. "Besides, your spell has failed, and I know the only way to stop the zombie threat."

"Which is?" Kadlin asked, doubtful.

"It's simple, but can I trust you?" Fumblies called his Knob Goblin platoon closer around him. "I guess I don't have a choice. I was told in a dream the only way to stop the spell is to kill the one who started it.. the Knob Goblin's ex king. Of course, this makes perfect sense, since it was he who started the spell in the first place."

"Sounds intriguing," said Xanadon. "The magical theory is sound. It happened to me. After I died all the magical energy I was sustaining in various spells and curses came back to me. The results were not pretty."

"So are we going on our own or should we convince the others to help?" Fumblies wondered aloud.

"Hmm..." said Kadlin. "I say we head out to do it and pick up any help we find along the way. Why fight the individual zombies when we can cut the snake off at the head? Troops, let's move out!"

And the troops set out on the mission that would ultimately determine the fate of Seaside Town and all who lived therein.

*Phew*
Need a minute to catch your breath?

Possibly the most epic battle in AIL history thus far, which is fitting for a Season Finale. We haven't even gotten to the Degrassi Knoll finale at all. Actually, we're gonna take care of that next.