Time to wrap up the Degrassi storyline, although there is an epilogue to each mission, and a third epilogue, in the fifth part of the Finale.

Enjoy, courtesy of Mitch and me.

(Written by Dash) For Sebastian Dash and his allies, this went beyond what Dash had expected to be the worst case scenario. Oh, it had just about everything the worst case scenario had. Faced with a direct battle on enemy grounds, featuring multiple members of the Elite 7, Dash and his allies were already feeling the effects of battle.

However, Dash hadn't counted on fighting against a couple of recent KOKOL defects to the Feline Empire's side. Shamus XTreme and Becky Joy. He should have known better.

Besides those two, the enemy count included the newly arrived Muri-Dan and Cattaras as well as potentially dozens of Knob Goblins who might cause trouble for Dash and company. Just to keep things firmly in the impossible odds side, there were another three unknown potential Elite 7 helping Cattaras's anti KOKOL efforts.

Dash had allies. Todd had taken off, trying to avoid a psycho Asian girl's deadly pistols, but Janos and Shadow were still in the fight. Dash himself had to deal with a now familiar old enemy; Cattaras Whiteclaw, the once estranged brother to Dash's traitorous love, Catrina. The two had faced on a number of times, both one on one and as part of bigger group battles.

One moment, Cattaras was lying, recovering from a double attack from Janos and Dash. The next second, he'd thrown his full weight at Dash, sending Dash down and knocking Dash's longsword out of his grip. Fortunately, Dash managed to avoid being trapped under Cattaras this time. Cattaras pounced, attempting to get on top of Dash. Dash kicked out with his leg, but Cattaras displayed his trademark battle intelligence, grabbing Dash's leg and slicing it with those nightmarishly sharp claws of his, drawing a scream and a trail of thick red blood from Dash's leg.

Janos and Shadow weren't in any position to help, either. Lapine was still engaged in an elemental war with ice mistress Becky Joy. Fighting when out-numbered requires a special type of skill. Fortunately, the thugs seemed hesitant to interrupt the one on one fight with Cattaras and Dash, and Todd had lured Mimi far enough away to hopefully make it a one on one battle until Dash could help. Meanwhile, the magic being flung between Becky and Lapine kept the others at a safe distance.

However, that left Janos and Shadow with the burden of the Knob Goblins aiming squarely at them. Currently, the two gathered back to back to avoid being ambushed. Their styles were radically different; they had all of no experience fighting together and just about as little in common in every other possible way. But against this threat, working together wasn't optional; it was synonymous with survival.

Thunder rolled in the distance like a defiant cough of anticipation over the unmoving humid air. Shadow drew his short sword to the ready, while Janos flipped a shoulder pad he'd torn off one of the other Knob Goblins, willing and able to use it as a weapon. In the distance, Becky slipped and found herself blasted with a streaming hot blast of soup. She cried, which caused her four Knob Goblins, and three others, to surround her protectively. Lapine hesitated and started to apologize but had to defend herself against the Knob Goblins rushing at her.

A couple of Knob Goblins rushed in. Shadow slipped behind one and drew his sword across the Gobiln's throat, slicing it. It was only a quick attack, designed to take the Knob Goblin out of the fight, and left it gasping for air, not quite dead. Before Shadow could finish the job, he found himself nailed from behind. Meanwhile, Janos threw the shoulderpad, knocking the other Knob Goblin unconscious. The others rushed in and met similar fates. The Muri-Dan stayed content to watch and choose their spots. The Knob Goblins' ineffective measures amused them. Shamus watched, confused and not wanting to draw attention to himself.

The Knob Goblins continued to fight. Shadow proved himself a true master of his sword, while Janos used any weapon he could get his hands on, conventional or otherwise. Red rushed in at Janos, who sliced his arm open with a large piece of wood.

"Watch out, Red!" Becky yelled in concern as she countered Lapine's sleazy ray with an ice beam. Becky threw an extra powerful snow blast at Lapine, forcing her back. Becky then turned and ran towards Red to make sure he was okay, applying a burst of cold to the wound to keep the bleeding down. Her eyes burned with rage.

"You hurt my friend!" Becky yelled, although Janos and Shadow were too busy taking care of Green and Goblina to comment. Before they could kill either Knob Goblin, Becky blasted them both with an ultra powerful snowstorm, sending them tumbling. Lapine frowned, but decided to take the free shot at the distracted Becky - only to have her attention diverted as a crossbolt whizzed by her head.

"Hey, knock it off!" Lapine commanded, but Shamus simply aimed another bolt at her.

"Sorry, Lapine. I'm sure you're a great.. er.. whatever you are," Shamus conceded. "But if you're not retreating, I need to take you down."

Lapine's responded by pulling a sleaze grenade, a lightning grenade and a stench grenade and throwing them all at Shamus, sending him running for safer grounds. As Janos and Shadow found themselves surrounded and outnumbered by the Knob Goblins, Dash had managed to maneuver Cattaras towards a nearby tree. Cattaras dove at Dash, who slipped behind Cattaras, grabbed his head and rammed it repeatedly into the tree. Cattaras felt his vision blurring and swung his body wildly, breaking free of Dash's grip. He continued the momentum spinning around, and dropped Dash with a roundhouse kick that nearly dislodged Dash's jaw.

"Dash?!" Lapine tuned away from the fight and prepared to blast Cattaras, only to suddenly fall to her knees in agony. It took her a full five seconds to realize a crossbolt was lodged in her shoulder.

Not the best news for our heroes.

Meanwhile, Shamus and Becky helped Red to his feet. "Get over here RIGHT NOW, Darson, cause I said so!"

"But miss Joy, should we really be retreating during such an important battle?!" Darson responded. "We should stick around and die for honor's sake!"

"I hate the dying part!" Shamus protested. "This fight is way out of our league. Let's just let them handle it. It's too scary for me."

"And too boring for me and I ain't gonna let you get hurt today!" Becky said, her eyes welling up with tears. She stopped herself short of actually crying. "So we're gonna go!"

"Yeah," Green said. "This fight's stupid, anyway. And big bro don't look so good."

"Alright, if that's what Becky wants..." Goblina started. Darson sighed and fell in line. After all, he'd joined up Becky before she's joined the Knobs.. so his first loyalties should be to her.

Red was out cold from his injury so they had to carry him. The two started towards the center of Degrassi Knoll, all but unnoticed as elsewhere, Cattaras Whiteclaw watched over Lapine's misfortune..

 
(Written by Catrina and Dash)

 
Cattaras smirked at Lapine as she fell, then began to move toward Dash. "This time you won't be saved in the nick of time- not by your friends- and not by my sister!" Again, that glint of doubt in his eye....

Dash tried to rub a bit of the agony out of his jaw. "Catrina? What're you..."

Cattaras growled. "You been sticking it to any more of my family lately, meat?" He took a swing at Dash that would have been devastating if Dash had let it hit him- which he didn't, barely avoiding it at the last second. Dash responded by trying to kick Cattaras's legs from under him, but it only had enough force to send Cattaras staggering forward.

"So who got to her? You or that idiot master of yours?" Dash pushed himself up into a kneeling position, but he knew he was in serious trouble.

Cattaras showed fang again at that! "Daisuke is... stronger. It is only right that he should lead. That and... well I don't look forward to the consequences of losing a challenge to him..."

"And yet your sister leads him around like a puppy, doesn't she?" Dash shook his head. "I don't get you. You'd think after all the times I beat you you'd realize strength isn't anything. Being faster, more agile and smarter helps a lot more."

Cattaras scowled, but didn't say much beyond, "I saw you wore your collar with pride yourself." He looked thoughtful though.

"Catrina and I were always equals," Dash said, trying to prepare himself for another attack. Still.. the look in Cattaras's eyes. "Do you even know what caused her to.." Dash's voice trailed off. He didn't have the words to describe it, but they weren't needed anyway.

They both knew about Catrina's fall from grace.

Cattaras growled, also preparing to spring. "Yes... and no."

Elsewhere, Mimi smirked down at the writhing Todd Blackpaws. "Serves you right, creep- talkin to a lady like that." She reached down to grab him by the fur and pull him to his feet- when she noticed his robes fall open a bit. "Geez! Are you naked under there?"

Todd replied breathlessly. "Hey! These robes are hot, bitch!" He then whined as he was stood up by his ears- but not for long as Mimi delivered a quick, vicious elbow to his midsection- sending him back to his knees.

"The only thing hot here is Blake!" She answered, smiling as she starred into space. "But don't tell him that."

Blake, standing behind her, subtly cleared his throat to announce his presence.

Todd smirked looking up at the both of them. "I'll just give you two some alone time," he said, before trying to crawl off to safety, which was cut short when Mimi stepped on his tail, drawing a yelp from Todd.

"Hold it right there, mister!" She turned to Blake. "How long were you standing there?!"

"Since the low blow, actually." Blake seemed to strike a pose without really trying.

"Why are you always spying on me?" Mimi folded her arms over her chest. "I'm starting to wonder how much confidence you have in me."

"Little." Blake smiled, glancing at Todd. "I'd say I do it to watch that posterior of yours- but I'm afraid I'll wind up like your foxy friend there."

"Oh, sure, when it"s time for a serious emotional talk, you turn into Mr. Sense of Humor!" Mimi threw her hands up in frustration. "And you wonder why I've been turning all of my attention towards killing!"

"No, actually I didn't wonder that at all," Blake answered.

As Todd listened to this a smirk spread across his face. "Gee, why don't the two of you get it over with and start screwing like bunnies..." Both Mimi and Blake turned their attention to him. "SHUT UP!" they cried in unison- then noticed he'd slipped around the corner and out of sight!

Lapine groaned and ripped the crossbolt out of her shoulder, letting out a loud scream as she did. She hadn't thought the move through; she'd planned to simply heal the wound, and forgotten about the after effects of the brash move.

"Oh, hell, I'm sorry!" Shamus yelled. "Let me get you to a healer so you can surrender peacefully!"

Todd came around the corner and stopped- seeing his bunny bleeding he growled. "She is a healer, Doofus- now let's you and me have a little talk."

Shamus glanced around, then looked at Todd. "Waitaminute.. you're talking to me, aren't you?!"

Todd felt his rage building. He bared his fangs. "You see any other assholes shooting up pretty bunnies here?" He was unarmed- he didn't care. He wanted a chunk of this guy!

"Inu, kick his butt!" Shamus pointed dramatically. "Oh.. right. Hey, how about we just hold this off while I call a familiar to watch me kill you, we okay with that?"

"How about you watch as I kill you with my bare hands!" Todd screamed as he charged Shamus, looking to tackle him to the ground.

Shamus's eyes narrowed; he kicked and screamed like a girl. "No one brings up my collection of dead familiars and gets away with it!"

"What the...?" Todd had his fist cocked to start doing some damage on Shamus (small damage- he's not the best fighter after all) but the remark by his former ally stopped him cold. "Who said anything about familiars, man? Other than you that is."

Shamus kicked him away. "Look, so I let them sit out in a few months or years, and maybe there was an alleged incident with me, a gruel and barbed wire. don't judge me!" He dove for his crossbow- only to come up short as Todd blocked his path. "Hey, move!"

Todd grinned and started to answer but found himself blindsided by a Muri-Dan! He wasn't the only one the Muri-Dan had their sights on. Noticing a ratlike streak rushing at the two from a distance, Janos pulled Shadow out of its path. The blur skidded aside and slowed enough for Janos to recognize it as a Muri-Dan. No surprise there.

"Watch out for that speed," Janos warned as he threw a small rock at the Muri-Dan who avoided it easily. It rushed at Shadow, but Janos was able to grab Shadow's sword and used it to trip the Muri-Dan up. It went down with a yelp. Janos wordlessly handed the short sword back to Shadow.

"Thanks." Shadow Darkstep attempted to drive it through the heart of the Muri-Dan, but that blinding speed allowed the ratlike creature to dodge the attack easily. So, why're you fighting here, anyway?"

A Knob Goblin rushed Janos, who smiled, snatched the Knob Goblin's helmet off his head, and knocked him unconscious with it. He turned towards Shadow without a smile. "Meat."

The other Muri-Dan rushed and caught Janos by surprise, but Shadow caught him in the upper shoulder with a bleeder arrow. With a scream, the Muri-Dan darted into the distance to tend to its new wound. "Yeah," Shadow Darkstep replied. "I'm here for my hometown, actually. To get the Feline Empire out of it."

Janos didn't reply, which was perfectly fine by Shadow. "Never was a talker myself," he said as he launched into another attack on the next set of Knob Goblins. The ground suddenly rumbled and began to buckle! Elsewhere, Dash ducked under a roundhouse kick from Cattaras, and did a couple clumsy but effective backflips to take himself out of melee range of Cattaras's claws- at least for the time being.

Cattaras stopped his attack growling. "What they did.. what we did... From what I understand of it, it was only designed to... amplify that part of Catrina that is Feline... to make her more willing to be with her own."

He dropped his fighter's stance, pacing- his scowl still where it was but for a different reason. "What... This Catrina is not the Catrina I know and love- the one who I shared my life with back to mother's teat. She... we do not understand it.. even the clown is perplexed."

Dash kept his guard up, but didn't press an attack. "So what was it? Magic? Poison?"

The growl that Cattaras gave Dash made him wonder if the big cat was about to attack again. "Poison? Why would I poison my own sister? No, even when I felt forced to kill her, it would have been in an honorable way!"

"So what did you do?!" Dash demanded to know. This was more than a simple betrayal. Something else was at work but Dash had no idea what.

Another growl- of frustration? "It was the clown's doing! I merely... fetched." He scowled at the word.

Dash stood, his shoulders sagging in defeat. He banked everything on a single question. "How do we fix it?"

Cattaras glanced sharply at dash but held his growl- this time. "Haven't you been listening to what I've said? We-do-not-know-why she-is-as-she-is!" He said, giving every word its full emphasis as if trying to drill them into Dash's head. "The clown is baffled- and if he's at a loss, what do you think we're going to be able to do?"

He growled at Dash again. "And besides- what makes you think that I'm willing to let my sister go back to the way things were? Daisuke is her mate now- and forever, until he dies."

He then smirked. "Now, if that so-called 'king' of yours was willing to fight for her... But then she would still not be yours, meat."

Dash nearly growled but refused to be overcome by the anger. "Are you really that stupid? Catrina, your sister, is gone. Look into her eyes, Cattaras; that isn't your sister, that's evil personalized."

Cattaras seemed to swell in rage as he prepared to defend his sister's honor- but just as quickly he deflated. The voice that Dash heard next was almost a small, frightened kitten.

"But... how would she... where would such evil come from in her?"

"I don't know, but there's a darkness in all of us. You should know that better than.." No.. that probably wasn't fair- or accurate. "As well as any of us. If there's magic involved.."

Cattaras only snorted at that. "You sound like the monks of our village- always telling us what would happen if we ignored the Goddess's ways."

"I've seen her, you know," Dash answered. "In a vision. Have you ever stopped to consider they might actually be on to something?"

Cattaras laughed. "The ravings of a half dead piece of meat? I should take this as gospel?" He then smirked. "Besides- from what I've heard about her, all you probably got out of the Goddess was a good f-"

"Cattaras!" a familiar voice announced as Princess Precious rushed towards the two, along with Lapine, who'd managed to heal herself, barely, and still looked in horrible shape.

"Dash, we got a problem." Lapine's voice was weak and she was visibly limping.

Cattaras didn't exactly wince, but his ears clamped down against the Princess's voice. He glanced back at her. "What?" he growled.

"It's some kind of demon! It's throwing our guys around like nothing!" The Princess screeched. "What're you gonna do about it?!"

"Yeah, Dash." Lapine's injured arm slumped at her side. "There were a bunch of Knob Goblin armies that had just arrived to fight us.. and this thing bursts out of the ground and sweeps through 'em, throwing them all aside."

Dash did a double take. "Demon?"

"She said it!" The Princess waved her arms dramatically. "It looked like some kind of angel but it only had a single wing. That makes it a demon. Look it up if you don't believe me!"

"Hmm..." Cattaras growled and looked thoughtful. He then turned to Dash. "Kill you later?"

Dash didn't answer, instead turning to Lapine. "Are you okay?"

"I better be," she answered with a weak smile. "We're gonna need all the help we can on this one."

Cattaras nodded and turned back to the Princess. "Let's see what we're up against."

They arrived to see a massive albino skinned freak, draped in something that looked like a combination of a toga and actual drapes, hovering in the air. Shadow shot a bleeder arrow at it, but it was deflected by in unseen shield. The figure looked to be an easy twelve feet tall and had long horns protruding from his forehead.

"Dreams.. destiny.. bugbears. What do they all mean?" The figure asked in a hauntingly high voice. "Where are they going?"

Cattaras looked up- and smirked. "No brains and no balls, it seems."

The figure ignored him. "These are the things I shall destroy, for I am a force of nature! An angel of vengeance!"

"A mess!" Todd Blackpaws interrupted, as he stepped up into the group. He carried a ukulele to replace the guitar he'd broken earlier in a fight. It wasn't perfect but he'd played worse.

The figure in the air suddenly turned towards Mimi and blasted her with a shadow blast, sending her flying backwards. "That's for killing me, she demon!"

Dash just watched on, wanting to figure what was going on before rushing in. A redshirt brigade of Knob Goblins rushed in, only to be scattered by a lightning storm attack from the mysterious figure. Blake glared up, almost looking bored by the display of power.

Princess Precious watched this in horror- then looked to Cattaras. "Remind me when this is over to talk to you about a uniform redesign, okay?"

Todd began to strum something refreshing as he glanced at the demon. "Hey! Not so rough on the babes!"

"Larry?!" Shamus's shocked voice cried out. Shamus, Becky and her Knob Goblins were just returning to the scene along with Degrassi Knoll's Mayor Zapruder.

Cattaras purred from some unknown reason. "Well- Hello, Larry."

"Hey, what's up? I mean.. prepare to meet your ultimate destruction!" The figure shook his head. "Wait.. how did you know who I am?! And you!!" The figure pointed at Shamus. "NOW you recognize me?! You fail to figure out who I am three times in a row, then suddenly when I came back looking nothing like my old self, you're the first one to figure out who I am?!"

"Well, when you talked about Mimi being the one to kill you," Shamus said, self confidently. "I figured it had to be you."

"BS!" Larry yelled, pulling forth a lit cigarette from that robe.. look, don't ask. "You weren't even there when I blasted her!"

Todd smirked. "You know- cigarettes'll stunt your growth."

"Yeah we were," Becky protested. "You just didn't see us because we were off camera."

"BS!" Larry answered. "That doesn't even make sense! BS BS BS!"

"What's BS is standing here listening to you yap, twinkletoes!" Cattaras roared as he charged the huge... man. He took swipe after swipe at the big man's lower body.. well his legs, really... leaving deep gashes in the flesh with his claws before Larry swung his arm and batted him away like a fly. The big tiger flew backward into a tree and sank to the ground with a groan even as Dash swiped at the hovering figure with his broadsword, which only served to annoy him. He simply swooped down at Dash, taking him out with that single wing of his.

"Knock it off! I have about twenty more minutes of expo.. oh no!" Evil angel Larry realized Mimi was coming directly at him! She pulled out a pistol and shot him in the face, causing him to take a half step backwards. He clutched at his face, even though the bullet obviously did him no harm. A couple Knob Goblin brutes grabbed his arms, but he simply flexed and sent them backwards. He opened his bloodstained black eyes with a murderous glare in them.

Todd found himself playing a tune he'd never heard before- but which felt entirely appropriate for the occasion. While Cattaras rose- slowly- and shook off the trip he'd just took. "Let's try that again, bozo!" He then charged again- looking to leap and claw as high as he could get! Larry held his arms up to prevent another clawing and Janos threw a tire at him, followed by a hammer. Shadow just shook his head and joined up with a couple of Knob Goblins to pelt the freaky demon with arrows. Becky and Lapine joined in with magic blasts.

"AHHH!! Sand in my boots!" Larry yelled, even though there were no soldiers who'd take care of it. He summoned a dozen non chocolate chocoboas to rush at the heroes, attacking them randomly and briefly before vanishing.

"What?!" Shamus yelled. "You're not supposed to be alive anyway!"

"Funny story," Larry answered. The combat stopped for a brief moment so he could tell it. "Just as I was dying, I threw up a phonics down, knowing that as a zombie, it would probably finish me off anyway. Well, I died as I was waiting for it to drift to the ground, and a devil came to drag me to Hey Daze. Just as they reached me, the phonics down landed on the demon, which naturally resulted in me coming back in this form."

"That.." Shamus paused to look for the right words. "Doesn't even make sense. None. At all."

"Yes it does!" Larry protested. He clearly wanted to get the fighting back on. So Dash slashed him from behind with his longsword. The fight was back on and it was intense! Several Knollish bodybuilders held up ladders so Knollish swimmers could climb on top, jump off and bodydive at Larry. In retrospect, it was a stupid, stupid attack.

Larry blocked a barrage of arrows aimed at his face. Mimi responded by shooting him in the knee. He let out a scream, then promptly forget about his injured knee. "Blizzard attack!" He raised his finger, and fired several snowballs at the Knob Goblins, which confused them and caused them to start attacking each other. Larry let out a frustrated moan. "Time to kick this up several notches! Blizardara! Blizanada!"

"His level two and three ice attacks! I guess.." Lapine explained as he threw massive ice based attacks everywhere.

Cattaras purred. "Good, wouldn't want to think he didn't put up a fight before goin' down!"

Dash glanced over at the tiger with a smirk, despite the ever present pain of the wounds Cattaras had inflicted on Dash's legs. "You seem to be enjoying the cold..."

"Hey- that's one of the advantages to having a built in fur coat all year long!" Cattaras laughed. "Why do you think Catrina always strutted around in next to nothing? Why do you think Daisuke and I come even closer to showin' the goods than she does- usually?" With that he flipped his loincloth- coming very close to giving Lapin something to smile about.

Dash looked over at the bunny. "This true?"

She giggled shyly. "Yup, it's a lot more comfortable with fur. Plus, I guess it's sexy.."

Dash started to say something and suddenly noticed a burst of light and fireworks around Larry's body.

"Ohhhh, pretty lights," Becky said, hypnotized.

"This fight is really getting annoying," commented Shadow. Red and Green nodded in agreement.

"Not as annoying as the tune Foxboy's playing." Cattaras growled, giving Todd a murderous look.

"I can't help it- it just popped into my head!" The bard responded.

The lights gathered into an ominous set of balls and sparkles.

"Take him down before he powers up his ultimate attack!" Shamus strongly suggested, leading to a wave of arrows and magic, as Cattaras and Dash lead the melee oriented heroes to a direct attack on Larry.

Todd whined from the sidelines. "And make it quick; I don't know how long I can take this crap I'm playing!" He wondered how in the world his uke was sounding like an organ?? Everyone stopped to momentarily give Todd an awkward stare. Then Larry blasted him in the chest with a pearl attack, which oddly didn't stop the song from playing.

The Knob Goblins rushed in and got blasted by Larry's Fallen Icon spell. Becky and Lapine blasted him with a double barrage of ice and water, but were silenced by a mute spell. Shadow sliced through his arm. Larry responded by blasting him with a spell that turned him into a toad for the duration. Janos ripped a tree limb off and hurled it at Larry, who collapsed to one knee, then blasted Janos with an undead blast. Janos collapsed, feeling his life force sapped.

But it didn't matter. Dash and Cattaras attacked him in unity with the others. With a loud explosion of smoke and controversy, Larry vanished with enough force to scatter the heroes like toys.

"Okay... That was just weird." Todd groaned as he stood up. At least the music had stopped.

Dash forced himself up, as the Mayor handed out antidotes, toadcure potions and echo screens to the afflicted heroes.

Cattaras growled as he stood, stretching his tail lashing the air.

"Attention citizens!" The Mayor called out, bringing a quick stop to the conversation. "Thank you for your assistance, Adventurers. Now please leave."

"What?!" Dash protested.

"Are you serious?" Shadow demanded to know.

Todd shrugged. "Hey I been thrown out of better places than this. Let's go home, sexy." He turned to Lapine and winked. "I'll show you what I got on under this robe."

"Ohh, is that my reward for the mission?" Lapine asked smiling.

Todd smiled, putting his arm around her as she slid up into him like she was born to fit there. "Honey, it would take a year to reward you enough that way. But I'm willing to start tonight!" Lapine giggled- especially as she felt a certain paw on her bunny butt.

"Wait a second," Dash interrupted. "The reason we came here was to make sure the Knob Goblins.. er.. Feline Empire weren't still forcing you into a situation you didn't want to be in. Are you saying that's changed?"

Cattaras had a response. "As I've told you, the Feline Empire only has the people's best interests at heart."

"These two came to me to plead their case!" The Mayor declared. "And I've seen the logic in their arguments."

"Yeah.." Becky shuffled her feet, looking shy and nervous. "So, like, I was bored and tired of my Knobbies getting hurt."

"Don't call us Knobbies! It's degrading!" a random Knob Goblin protested.

"And I was mostly afraid of the fighting," Shamus admitted.

"So we went and talked to that guy!" Becky pointed to Zapruder.

"He's the Mayor, so we figured he had lots of time to make small talk," Shamus explained.

"They convinced me your ill begotten invasion is both scary and boring!" The Mayor declared. "So I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave. As a matter of fact, I already did. Also: Stay off our lawns!"

"I guess if that's what they want..." Shadow turned, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"I hereby give the key to the city to be shared among Shamus XTreme and Becky Joy!" The Mayor declared to all around cheering.

"Or I would if we had a key to the city," the Mayor clarified to less cheering. "Or if we could afford to use locks," he amended to generally dissatisfied grumbling.

"They did help us, however," Cattaras reluctantly pointed out. "Maybe we should give them a fair hearing."

"Hmm.. sorry, as the mayor of two towns, I'm much too busy for such trivial matters," Mayor Zapruder declared. "So while I go plan the parade in honor of Shamus and Becky here, you go help the Kingdom of KOL set up official ambassadorship in South Degrassi!"

"I, what?!" Cattaras protested. "That's nothing like what I suggested at all!"

"Come on, Honorary Citizens." The Degrassi Knoll mayor lead Shamus and Becky off, with Blake, Darson, Goblina, Green, Mimi and Red following, deeper into Degrassi. "Well done.. Let's go check out those mushroom fields Becky was asking about!"

"I gonna learn about mushroom farmin'!" Becky declared happily.

"Well.. I guess we all get something we wanted in the end, huh?" Todd suggested as he wrapped his arm around the shoulder of giggling Lapine.

"No," Shadow protested.

"I will when I get my exorbitantly large guaranteed paycheck," Janos said without emotion. "Later, losers."

Cattaras looked around, confused. "What just happened?"

"I have no idea," Dash said. "But at least it'll give us some time to talk while you help us set up our embassy in South Degrassi."

Cattaras's fur just bristled as he stood there, still lost as to what just happened...

End chapter. Next up: The conclusion to the Zombie mission!

A satisfying twist ending, I'd say, but I might be a lil biased.

It was also really cool bringing Larry back again, since I'd done it before. I loves Shamus's reaction, too, and of course, writing Becky, Todd Dash, and Lapine is always fun.

I hope you've enjoyed reading the mission so far. We still have the Zombie finale to wrap up. And when that's done, we'll finally wrap the season up with an epilogue to handle a few loose ends.