The Finale continues in part II which is much longer than part I.

With such an active mission, I have a ton of PC's and NPC's to go through. I also add a few new names to the battle. Just to make it more epic. It's really a challenge and a blast trying to get the right 'feel' and 'mood' for drastically different characters, although having Cameron (and for part III, Aleena) editing helps a fair bit.

Cyber Sunset's sarcasm should and hopefully does feel different than Konall's or a snarky Dash line. Characters like Wildfall and Xodus are going to feel dramatically different about what's going Fumblies, who's had an extensive history with Kwadlin, the main villain. Anyway, this brings our heroes together and into battle with the great dark beasts!

 
(Beta editing by Cameron Millar)

 
Cyber Sunset had teleported ahead to scout their surroundings as three other people made their way north with him.

The normally high-spirited Becky Joy had been feeling down ever since she parted way with her young friend Amy Anne and Amy's family. After all, Becky had grown quite fond of the girl in a baby sister kind of way. Becky had promised to help get them away from a dangerous killer bug infiltration, and Cyber Sunset, Fahari and Todd Blackpaws had all showed up to help her!

Becky thought that was nice of them and it was also lucky that they managed to find Becky, since it seemed like in this weird world, nobody knew where anyone else was!

Anyway, after Becky and the others got the family further south, the family insisted on going on alone, knowing Fahari and Todd really, really, really wanted to get up north to meet the mysterious Lady Whiteclaw!

Although Becky was down, she'd started to cheer up from hanging with Cyber Sunset, Fahari and of course her good friend Todd Blackpaws, whom she knew best of the three. When Sunset teleported ahead, Becky happily skipped ahead of the furries, who hung back with Todd playing a ballad he'd heard as a young kit. Becky got out of visual range. Todd called for her to slow down but she didn't listen. Todd smiled, figuring the girl could take care of herself.

Fahari quite liked it, and applauded at the end. "Excellent rendition of a favorite song of mine. Very well played, Mr. Blackpaws."

"Thanks. And it's Todd, not Mr. Blackpaws, remember?"

"Ahh, that is correct; my apologies."

"So have you figured out what your visions of Dash means?" asked Todd.

Fahari shook her head. "I have some thoughts, but I'd rather not share them at this time. I do sense it's important. I must get in touch with him soon to make sure he's taking the vision seriously."

"I'm sure that can be arra- hold on." Todd sniffed the air. "Do you smell..." His question was interrupted as the panthress-like Fahari took off at top speed. "Trouble? Guess so."

Todd unslung his guitar and rushed to keep up. He could feel the drugs boosting his speed and reaction time and hoped it wouldn't cloud his or Fahari's judgment.

 
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After being given some time to clean up and adjust to their new surroundings, Cattaras Whiteclaw, Sir Fumblies and Zanther Wolf were summoned to the main hall of Mountaincenter Village for a quick meal to restore their strength. Lady Whiteclaw and her versions of Daisuke and Cattaras sat at a rather large roundtable, which looked more than suitable to hosting a dozen guests plus half as many hosts. Lady Whiteclaw, of course, sat at the head of the table. To either side of her sat her mate and brother. Cattaras strutted in with a confident swagger.

Lady Whiteclaw had ordered extra space be given around the guests to make them feel comfortable. Aside from the six, only the heads of the guards ate at the main table, and they all sat much further down the table, gathered together, quietly exchanging plans. The hushed voices were out of respect rather than an attempt to stay covert as they knew the winged wolf and four furries could hear every word spoken.

Cattaras took his seat, eyeing his food before looking up to see the others starring at him. "What? Something on my face?"

Sir Fumblies, who'd followed him in a moment earlier, shook his head. "I think they're expecting a 'Hello' before you tear into your food, Cattaras."

"Oh. Hello. Food isn't eating itself," Cattaras said, taking a large bite out of his yeti steak. Cattaras's doppelganger shook his head slightly, taking one of the two instruments that each looked like a combination of knife and fork in different proportions, as well as a proper hippie salad knife and Knobbish butterknife. The Cattaras of this world delicately picked up his foon even as his counterpart simply picked up a slab or meat, and ripped a piece off as if it were live prey to be slain.

Lady Whiteclaw took note of the difference between the two but spoke of the matter at hand. "My brother, Lieutenant Cattaras Whiteclaw and I insist on accompanying you on your quest. I know you wish revenge on the one who drugged you against your will, forcing you here, but I suspect you would find it a far easier task with the help of the rest of your lost pride who have been cast upon our world."

"Sounds good to me." Cattaras didn't bother with his instrument of food. It was no coincidence or accident that his eating habits resembled his hunting habits. With a snarl, he asked his counterpart, "Are you going to eat or stare at me?"

Lt. Cattaras picked up his spork and foon, holding them in a proper, gentlemanly manner. "If you'd like, I could teach you the finer points of eating."

"Don't think I need stoogie lessons," Cattaras said, reaching for a drink of water. They hadn't gotten much water during the days on the island, and Cattaras knew better than to trust the island water, so he only drank what he needed to then. He emptied the entire glass without hesitation. "More."

"'More, please,'" Lt. Cattaras corrected him. The tone in his voice made it obvious it was a command, not a polite correction.

"More," Cattaras said, snarling at this alternate version of himself. Cattaras was unimpressed by his counterpart's formal military style outfit; he refused to dress in a similar outfit left for him. He sensed it would brand this other Cattaras as his superior. He also felt comfortable in his loincloth, a traditional Catalina outfit and sane garb for any beast! He spat in Lt. Cattaras's direction, barely missing Lt. Cattaras's food. The military at the other side of the table started to stir, but Lady Whiteclaw held a hand up, indicating them to stay out of this.

"Listen, jungleboy," Lit Cattaras said, snarling. "Don't mistake my manners for me being passive. I can still whoop your ass if I need to."

"Try me." Cattaras stood, his snarl matching his counterpart's. Lady Whiteclaw smiled at the sight of the two starring each other down. Daisuke watched them both while Sir Fumblies ignored it as best he could, sighing but otherwise focusing on his meal. Zanther, who'd been eating behind the two on a bowl on the floor, looked up, whimpered, then buried his head under his paws, wings against his back. Despite that, he still licked at his the food in his bowl hungrily.

"Not at the dinner table, gentlemen. Sit." When that failed to get a reaction from the two, she stood up, roaring. That was enough to get their attention on her. "Let's be seated so we can finish our dinner, and make our plans."

Reluctantly and at the same time since neither would back down until the other would, the two versions of Cattaras sat down and began to talk strategy. "Yes, Lady Whiteclaw," Lt. Cattaras said, used to deferring to his sister, at least in public. Cattaras muttered something which the others barely picked up, but it was enough to bring a snarl to Lt. Cattaras's face.

The near fight had riled up Lady Whiteclaw to the point that she decided there'd be an hour and a half break after lunch while the troops prepared for their departure. Several of their dimensional guests had been traced to an encampment to the south, and more were scattered nearby. They would need help dealing with the dark beasts, but Lady Whiteclaw's forces would need time to prepare. She set her orders up, and then took her mate to her room, while a pair of troops led Sir Fumblies to check on the condition of his recently captured Knob Goblin brutes and soldiers. Fumblies hoped they would know the whereabouts of his other troops, also lost on arrival to this dimension.

While Zanther Wolf snuck out to scout out his beloved friend Becky Joy and the others, Cattaras went to his room, followed not so discreetly by his sharply dressed counterpart.

 
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Earlier, Konall Bearsmasher had gathered his allies, both new and old, around for a meal of their own. Not surprisingly, Konall's far humbler dinner lacked the fancy silverware of Lady Whiteclaw. The meal was tasty, just not in an expensive herbs, sauces and spice kind of way. More importantly, it was full and heavy on meat, even compared to the meal of a predator furry's choosing. Sure, meat counted as the currency in the Kingdom but it also made an exceptional meal when cooked properly. Or even raw, if one had to.

Half a dozen of the finest warriors sat around the main table in addition to Konall and seven others. This was the table for those who would be battling the dark beasts to the north. Word had come the beasts had started towards the small settlement, adding a sense of rushed panic to things.

Kadlin and Aleena sat on one side of Konall while Sebastian sat on the other side.

Konall drained a mug of some kind of booze he couldn't quite identify, not that he was really trying. Booze is booze, and the stuff here had a decent kick to it. "There's a lot of people working together for the first time, so Kadlin suggested we do ourselves a proper roll call. Name, specialty, title. That sort of thing. For example, me Konall!" Konall beat a beefy forearm across his chest. "I'll be leading this expedition because I am the chosen champion of the spirit world and I can and will punch your face in if you disagree with me."

"Whatever." Kadlin rolled her eyes at her brother's antics. "I'm Kadlin Bearsmasher, representative of the proud, noble, and elite Feline Empire." She ignored her brother making snide comments about 'dirty cowards' under his breath. "I have powerful and deep magic unrestrained by any mortal limits."

A few grumbled at her introduction. Aleena spoke next. "I'm Aleena. Most of you know this, but I'll be providing ranged support, and healing if needed. I look forward to working with you all."

Next to her sat the only two representatives of the tribe on Aleena's side of the table. The one closest to Aleena introduced himself and her brother. "I am Zella, a Sai master. This is my younger, bigger brother Lincus. His specialty weapons are the gauntlets."

The younger brother, almost half a foot bigger than his impressively tall sister, gestured towards the two gauntlets sitting in front of him. They looked quite heavy, and each gauntlet showed off razor sharp talons, with the knuckles having metallic looking studs. It looked like it could do a good deal of damage in the right hands.

Two next figures sat on the same side of the table as Kadlin, Aleena, Zella, and Lincus. "Right, then. Th' names be Hudson- that's me, and Ozzie here. We'll be providin' support for our healer types. Tactical management. Wh'ver it takes, right, Ozzie?"

Ozzie nodded vigorously. "Errr, yes, quite right. Being an accountant I.. well, to be honest, I'm totally out of my element here. Just ask Mr. Sebastian Dash here. But I'm here for whatever you need. Managing supplies in the most mathematically fair .. er, right. Moving along?"

"Sebastian Dash," Dash said flatly. "Sword mastery. Veteran fighter. Lookin' forward to getting this thing over with."

Dash sat opposite of Konall. After he spoke, the introductions worked their way up the other side of the table, back towards Konall.

"Ahh, Sassy Snake." Sassy was a little nervous to be speaking in front of all of these warriors! She glanced to Dash and then Ozzie for support and approval before continuing. 'Hudson,' not so much. "I'll be healing, or helping with healing, so I won't be up front for the fight, hopefully. Thank you for this wonderful meal, by the way."

Konall simply nodded. The man sitting next to Sassy spoke. "Shallan, spear expert."

Men of few words. The next three men kept it similarly short. "Toz. I'll handle ranged support. Bows, arrows, knives."

"Able. Any weapon I can get my hands on."

"Cage. No weapons, but I fight real good."

A woman who'd helped Konall adjust to leading the village spoke last. "And I am Caedmon, ex village chieftain. I'll be your second in command. Like our other healer friend, I shall be assisting you from the battle lines. My magic will help defend us against any unforeseen attacks. It will also allow me to heal our wounded quite effectively."

"Now that that's done, let's enjoy the food and booze," Konall said. "We've got to clear the beasts before we can get to Lady Whiteclaw, and we've got to get to the Lady so we can figure a way to finish off this Philler joker once and for all. I'm anxious to have his head hanging on my wall."

 
-------------------------

 
As Becky skipped ahead of her furred friends Todd Blackpaws and Fahari, she came across the odd sight of several figures in some kind of free-for-all battle!

Becky didn't know what to think when she saw Cyber Sunset in a fight, so she did what came naturally and tried to defend him against that stranger who ran around in those furry shorts, or whatever!! Well, they weren't really furry. It didn't matter.

Becky rushed towards the battle, eager to help out Cyber Sunset since Becky knew he was an ally. When the strange dark skinned man lifted a spear over his head like he was gonna kill Sunset, Becky rushed into action, blasting him with powerful icy winds! The stranger turned and quickly spoted Becky in the distance. He eyed her cautiously, turned, and ducked & rolled, grabbing his spear mid roll and coming to his feet. He moved with absolute precision as he changed his roll and grabbed the staff, coming out a few feet closer to Becky than he would have otherwise while simultaneously bringing himself close to the adequate cover of a hilly area. Becky could sense this was a trained, dangerous warrior.

Becky started closing the distance between the two at a brisk pace, but Cyber Sunset suddenly teleported in between the two. "Hold up, Becky. We need to know what's going on here."

Becky's eyes lit up. "Fight, fight fight! Wait, huh?!?"

"Hopefully a fight will not be necessary, little one," Xodus said, relaxing his guard, though staying weary of potential attacks.

"You're from Honorburg, right?" Cyber Sunset said to Summer and Wildfall, who'd gathered and looked ready for a fight.

"We might be," Summer said, still feeling confrontational.

"What's it to ya?" Wildfall asked, standing in front of her. Both had their weapons ready for a fight.

"Hold up and listen to the man," Xodus said, wanting answers more than he wanted a fight. "You trusted me to protect you. Trust me when I say we need to hear him out before engaging in what may be a pointless battle."

Wildfall seemed reluctant to let it go but Summer put a hand on his shoulder. "Fine then," she said on their behalf. "Speak."

Todd and Fahari finally caught up to them. "Aw, we missed the big 'hero misunderstanding' fight, huh?"

"Hopefully," Sunset said. "You three were in Honorburg, correct? You were kidnapped, or somehow worked your way into the fight with Philler."

"They were kidnapped," Xodus said, not at all happy with it. "I come to retrieve them from this country."

"Dimension, actually." Sunset turned towards him. "The drugs are compelling you, well, compelling them to fight. The rest of us had to deal with the same thing."

Becky said, "Evil Becky said, 'Beat things up!' She got put to bed!"

"We.. all dealt with the influence in our own ways," Fahari said. "We're hoping to track down the one responsible to deal some justice."

"And more importantly, get ourselves home." Todd looked Fahari over discreetly. As discreetly as a bard can. "As much as I'm enjoying the company, I've got things back in the Loathing Kingdom to handle, you understand."

"Then we shall accompany you," Summer said, deciding for them. Xodus simply nodded in response.

"What she said," Wildfall added.

"She said, 'Then we shall accompany you.' Didn't you hear her? Heehee," Becky 'explained.'

"I saw a settlement nearby," Wildfall said, ignoring the odd comment. "We were going to make out there.. I mean.. we were making our way there. Sound good?"

Fahari nodded. "Yes, maybe we can get an idea of where to find the others stolen from our dimension."

"Or at least," Todd said, as eager as any of them. "A way to get back at that Philler jerk."

 
-------------------------

 
Konall lead his thirteen troops towards the lengthy line of shadowy beasts. They turned, sensing a conflict coming, and started moving towards Konall and his warriors.

"Good," said Konall, readying his shield and haxxor. "The beasts are itching for a fight. This'll be fun." While not as accurate as a sword, his haxxor could cut through a single beast and keep enough momentum to kill several more.

Konall and the others quickly realized some of the beasts moved faster than they looked. Ranged support reacted by scrambling to get into place and firing off attacks moments before the first wave hit. On the upside, the beasts fought like, well, beasts. No organization or planning, just driven by malicious instinct, practice, or training. A shadowy tiger leaped at Konall who slammed the side of the haxxor into the beast. It should have split even the mighty beast in half, but instead the beast was merely sent crashing backwards. It had a nasty wound which the shadowy vespers started covering almost immediately. Another, which looked like a mix of a lion and tiger, although it was half the size of a tiger, followed in, only to be taken down midair by a blast of fire from Kadlin.

Able and Cage parried off the second wave of beasts, allowing Aleena to start picking them off with her arrows. Aleena's mind flashed back to a similar situation some months earlier when she'd battled alongside Konall against the seemingly endless hordes of zombies and undead warriors, crashing against Konall, Aleena and the others in endless waves. This time, Aleena was determined to use her cysuit to better efficiency than she had in that battle.

The warriors fought bravely but the rest of the beasts were starting to catch up. "Don't let them flank us!" Sassy shouted from the back, concerned. She'd heard how dangerous the beasts could be when they had someone surrounded, though it was only rumors as few if any had survived the ordeal.

Sassy hadn't counted on the rush from the enemies, which would mean even though they were well behind the party originally, Sassy, Ozzie, "Hudson" and Caedmon would still be in immediate danger of being surrounded. They were the first to assist when someone was wounded, with Ozzie feeling somewhat useless at first but soon realizing he could help identify potential weak spots and of course, yell when the healers were in danger. Of course, his mysterious friend Hudson proved dangerous to any beasts which came into range of her, Ozzie or the healers.

Though Konall continued to lead the charge with the intent to split the animals in two, forcing the enemies out of their natural strategy, the ground shook as more dark beasts continued to pour in from every direction. Konall had seen an endless line of beasts in the horizon. Thanks to Aleena's aerial scouting, he knew it was only the spearhead of a massive bestial army.

 
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With personal matters wrapped up, Lady Whiteclaw's guards, her brother, and their guests began their journey. It was a tough balance between being able to move quickly along with their guests and bringing adequate protection, especially given the presence of the beasts spotted between themselves and the camp to the south.

Cattaras and his mirrored self gave each other a respectful nod before the Cattaras from the 'guest' dimension walked to join Zanther Wolf and Sir Fumbiles at the front of the battalion, along with four of Lady Whiteclaw's guards. His dimensional duplicate joined with his sister Lady Whiteclaw. They'd stay to the rear with two key guards, the Serious Queen of Humans and Fennigichad, a hell spawned warrior who'd time travelled from his original timeline, which was several decades ago.

Four Knob Goblins and four Goblin Brutes, all serving under the command of Sir Fumblies, trailed just behind the group in case of an attack on the rear.

"Are you sure this is enough protection, my Lady?" Cattaras asked in a former tone.

She turned to her brother with a delicate nod. "As I said, we can summon more to battle if needed, but I believe our guards and our 'guests' should keep us safe. With my Wakizashi and Tanto, I can handle myself. I believe you know first hand the fighting prowess of your dimensional duplicate?"

Cattaras stiffened slightly under his formal battle wear. He didn't answer. His sister merely smiled.

"Then I believe we shall be safe." Lady Whiteclaw paused. "Who would that be in the distance?"

"Whoever it is, they seem in a hurry," Cattaras replied. She lifted her head, but didn't bother to raise her voice. The furries' senses were acute enough to pick up the frequent smell of blood on the fields as they crossed, or the sound of each other at great distances. "Would you know who we're looking at?"

Zanther Wolf sniffed the air, and then took to flight, ahead of the others. Cattaras looked over his shoulders, flashing a smirk at the royals. "Exactly who you think it is. We'd better make haste; they're heading away from us. Probably into trouble. I can only identify four of them. The other scents are unfamiliar."

Becky squealed at delight as she saw the winged wolf figure moving in, then yelped in worry when she saw Xodus, Wildfall and Summer turn to attack.

"Hey, relax," Todd told them. He could smell the scent of the freshly washed Wolf, and hear the beating of Zanther's wings in the distance. "Don't worry. He's friendly. A bit too friendly when he's excited, but what're you gonna do?"

"I.. I.." Becky's eyes went very wide. "I love Zanther! Ouch. It hurts my eyes to open them that big."

As Becky slowly got her eyes to go back to normal, Xodus stood down his attack, as did Summer and Wildfall. Still, Xodus stayed on the defensive.

Cyber Sunset teleported back to the group. "What's the hold up?"

Becky pointed to the figure flying through the sky.

"Attack?" He paused. "Or is that your winged friend, Becky?"

"Becky's buddy! Becky's buddy!" Miss Joy said, bouncing with excitement.

"Ooh. Kay, then." Cyber Sunset shrugged. He was still adjusting to the odd woman who acted far younger than her true age, which Sunset figured was in the late teens if not early twenties. She was almost but not quite less mature.

Becky rushed up as Wolf landed, tackle-hugging him. Wolf rolled playfully with her before bouncing to all fours, nudging Becky and trying to get her to look where the others were coming from. Becky's eyes went wide. "Ooooohhh.. more friends."

"I thought I scented something familiar in the group," Fahari said, smiling.

"Catrina, two Cattarases, Daisuke, Sir Fumblies," Todd said, focusing. "A bunch I don't recognize but smell familiar. One smells like Jester King but.. female?" Todd shook his head, feeling a little queasy at that last one.

Wolf let out a sad moan.

"I wonder what that means," Summer wondered.

"Wolf wants to go home," Becky said, frowning as she pet Zanther. That helped a little. "We gotta get him home."

"The sooner, the better," Xodus agreed, eager to get his countrymen back to their own dimension. Cyber Sunset quickly explained the situation to Lady Whiteclaw. They could see the battle to the south of them, with their allies quickly being overtaken by hordes and hordes of the dark beast.

Lady Whiteclaw spared no time in leading the charge to help.

 
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Konall's group had been surrounded for several minutes now. The Berzerker drew his troops together, hoping to keep them focused on opening a hole in the enemy formation. It wasn't working. Dash, Kadlin, and three tribe warriors had been wounded. Sassy and Caedmon had healed Dash and Kadlin back to fighting strength already, but the troops had to protect the healers and wounded. Ozzie stabbed ineffectively at a dark beast in the form of a house cat, but it disarmed him after Ozzie's third swipe of the fight.

An oversized bearlike figure towered over him. Konall parried a blow from the bear, but the impact took Konall off his feet. Konall prepared to try to avoid the next attack, but the bear suddenly went limp and fell forward. Konall refocused his eyes, and spotted a spike jolting from the now dead bear's chest. It retracted. Only when the bear fell could Konall see the figure standing behind it.

Aleena.

Sassy Snake immediately applied something to Konall's arm. It stung, but it stopped the bruising and bleeding immediately.

"Thanks," Konall said. "Something has their attention."

Konall saw and pointed out a path opening up in the seemingly endless mass of enemies.

"They're under attack!" Ozzie called out. "Ohh, dear. I do hope whoever's attacking them is on our side."

"If they're against these beasts, they're allies for now," Kadlin said, firing off sleaze and fiery attacks at the enemies. The smell of burned shadow beasts was similar to the smell of any other live animal being cooked, but stronger and more disgusting. "If they're not on our side, we'll.. oh. Nevermind."

The first sign of the other force busted through the air. Zanther Wolf! The winged wolf announced his arrival with a relentless wave of ice blast attacks, shot from his mouth. It was enough to cause the dark beasts to turn their attention to Zanther, whose body was covered in patterns which now began to glow a bright blue. The creatures surrounded Zanther, who responded by letting loose an icy area of attack, generating from his body and covering any dark beasts around Zanther in a thick layer of ice.

Cattaras leapt into action next, turning briefly towards Konall and Kadlin. "'Bout time I found you."

"Hmph," was all the response Konall had time to utter as the beasts' attacks on the party intensified. They shifted their attention back to finishing off Konall and his crew before the newly arrived help could do any good. Oddly, another, fancier dressed Cattaras dove in with a more refined version of Cattaras's fighting style.

"You must be my dimensional duplicate's allies," this new Cattaras said before tearing out the throat of an oversized shadow duck which had corkscrew-like talons. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, circumstances aside."

Er, that was the other Cattaras who said that, not the throatless duck-monster.

Two figures suddenly appeared in the middle of the fight, one with a flash of light and a vaguely metallic twang, and one in smoky darkness and the echo of a demonic explosion. Dash recognized the figure which had appeared in the flash of light as his old ally Cyber Sunset but not the other figure, who wielded a spear with deadly efficiency.

"Sunset," Dash said, parrying an attack from a beast before finishing it off with his trademark broadsword, Bad Beats.

"Got your old sword back, huh?" Cyber Sunset battled with his own electro-blade. "Good."

Neither Dash nor Konall recognize the other figures, Wildfall and Lady Whiteclaw's front guards. The more familiar Becky Joy, Fahari, and Todd Blackpaws were the next to jump into the fight, with Todd using his bard magic first to support his allies and weaken the dark beasts and then to help with tending to the injured.

Konall and Dash recognized Lady Whiteclaw, but only by her royal garb. Other than a spot on her rear, she was identical to the Catrina they knew and were at war with.

"Are they falling back?" Dash called out. It was pretty obvious they were. "Guess Lady Whiteclaw has them spooked."

"The smart one always run from me," bragged Konall. "Time to hunt them down and finish this!"

Lady Whiteclaw sniffed the air confidently, but then made a face. The scent only confirmed her worst fears. "They're not retreating. They've received new orders. The true fight is about to begin."

Indeed, a bigger threat loomed nearby. The black mass of dark beasts fell back behind this new group far in the distance whose arrival had gone unnoticed thanks in large part to the brutal attack of the beasts which now surrounded this new and small army.

Kwadlin, known under his guise as Leo Philler to some, headed this new army which marched towards our heroes.

"Sassy, second commander Caedmon!" Dash commanded. "Pull back anyone too wounded or tired to fight!"

"Everyone else, same plan as before. Let's end this!" Konall said. "Death or Glory!"

Kadlin and Konall yelled, "For Odin! For Boris!" and in true Viking Warrior challenge led the charge against Kwadlin, who foolishly proceeded his two dozen guards by twenty feet.

Nearly a hundred feet stood between Kwadlin and his opponents. The Viking siblings, Dash, Sir Fumbiles's brutes, Fahari, and both Cattaras and his dimensional duplicate, closed in over the first half of that distance before Kwadlin finally came to a stop, smiling.

Forty feet. As Cyber Sunset and Xodus teleported to the front of the attack formation, a single figure stepped in front of Kwadlin, wearing a strange helmet which looked like a cross between magic, technology, and fashion offense. The man looked like a bone-thin version of Konall but with dirty hippy hair. The horrid thing emitted a piercing loud noise and a flash of mauve light.

Xodus and Cyber Sunset prepared to teleport to attack but instead fell to their feet. Cyber Sunset fell harder. Xodus could barely move but the only motion Sunset could make was trembling visibly. Within seconds, his eyes and ears began to bleed slightly.

Although the wave hit everyone opposing him, the effects on some - Sebastian, Aleena, the Bearsmashers, Wildfall, Blackpaws, Becky and more- were worse than the effects on the dimensional locals. Zanther Wolf, Xodus, Whelk, and Hudson were also hit less hard. Fumblies glared at Kwadlin, who he'd thought of as a mentor, but clearly had chosen to become an enemy.

"Ahh, you've figured it out, my student, haven't you?" mocked Kwadlin. "Indeed. This is a telepathic weapon of my own creation. It's capable of immobilizing even the strongest of my enemies, but some of you might be stronger than my normal enemies. To that end, I instructed my mages and scientists to ensure those we drugged would be weakest to its effect. There will be no heroic comeback through willpower alone. I'll simply see you all executed."

Several figures stepped to the side of Kwadlin. Sebastian Dash tried to growl at the sight of Zedika Dark, Dash's dimensional duplicate. It came out as a gurgle of blood.

Alongside the evil Zedika Dark stood Runic, the dimensional duplicate to KOKOL's own Lapine. Besides the two stood Bandit, the flip version of the Feline Empire's Vixen.

Dash's anger turned to confusion as Catrina, Vixen, and Lapine came into view along with the Black Paladin and Jester King of Beasts. Catrina looked freshly beaten, but they obviously were on Zedika Dark's side.

"How will the fools escape this one?" the Jester King of Beasts wondered before going into a fit of maniacal laughter.

"They won't," Dark said succinctly, drawling his ninja sword. "Kill them, my pets!"

"Assist them, my Elite!" Catrina yelled at the Paladin and Jester King.

And with that, Runic, Vixen, Bandit, Lapine and Vixen drew their weapons, as did Catrina and Dark. Except for Dark and Catrina, they marched forward along with Jester King of Beasts, each one of them ready to kill until their enemies were slaughtered in full.

 
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Will this be the end of our heroes? How will they escape? Ahead - betrayals explained! Battles waged! The fate of two worlds will never be the same as we conclude Return to Mirrorworld!!

The dark beasts are taken care of but our heroes find themselves in an even worse position than they had originally! It's a real comicbook style cliffhanger, so I felt justified in throwing the comicbook style teaser at the end. It wasn't easy trying to find a little something for all the player characters (and many of the NPC's) for the big battle but I am quite happy with how it turns out. It's hard to measure how well I did in terms of each character, though.