Due to the unique nature of this mission and the timing surrounded it, as well as the fact it was intended as a Series Finale, everything in the Finale ends up being quite.. huge.

There is a LOT going on and it all starts.. actually, it basically started the last roleplay of the mission, with everything else leading into it.

But the Finale proper starts here!

 
by Dash- outside the former Farnsworthy Tower

The world itself shook under the pressure.

The weather around the world shifted violently in the last half hour. The skies darkened around the Kingdom. Catrina glanced up from the battlefield to the heavens, wondering if they'd gotten here too late. She hoped not, but after travelling most of the day, nothing would surprise her. With a cautious flick of her tail, she reminded herself now was not the time to tempt fate. The battle raging around the tower was bigger than anything she'd ever seen. Left unchecked, it would do untold damage to the kingdom. And yet, it had to go unchecked until a far, far greater threat was dealt with.

Kadlin would soon release the darkness into the world. Many legends claimed the dark ones would threaten the entire world and worlds beyond. Catrina could see the influence of Kadlin on Farnsworthy's tower, and that of the dark ones.

Armies, brutes, monsters and uncountable other dangers stood between Catrina and the tower. Fortunately, she had forces of her own.

Captain Morgan and Sliver stood at the forefront, waiting her orders. Catrina knew the darkness more intimately than any of them. She'd been under its spell for far too long. Captain Morgan surveyed the battlefield. "So which of those mooks has the big bad girl in it? That'd be the one to take out."

"Most likely," Fahari responded, "none of them. Those are simply a distraction."

"Hell of a distraction, lass," the captain responded. He had insisted in coming with the land team to deal with the final threat against Coconuts' better judgment, leaving her and his most trusted pirates in charge of the ship. She'd insisted he at least take some of the tougher pirates with him and at the moment, he was glad he'd relented to her wishes.

"She's inside the tower, isn't she?" That was a new voice. Vixen joined the others. "Fumblies sensed some wateria nearby. I hope it's one of you who has it and not the enemies out there."

"Wateria?" Catrina asked.

"If he's thirsty," Captain Morgan answered, "I've got a lil extra grog on my ship. Might wanna try that instead, lass."

"No, no," Vixen clarified with a sigh. "Not that. It's a magic power source, not water. I mean, it's a water elemental power source. But you can't drink it. It's a crystal shaped like a tear. Some kind of gem in the middle.."

Fahari finished the thought for her. "An emerald cut roughly in the shape of a star?"

Vixen nodded. "Yeah, sounds right."

Fahari let out a sharp whistle, casting her gaze upwards. Within seconds, a plump golden birdlike figure floated through the air, landing near them on its two long legs.

"What the heck is that?!" Vixen asked.

"Ahh," Captain Morgan said, impressed, "I'd have never thought I'd live to see an actual golden cocoabo. You gotta have some pretty dedicated cocoboa trainin' skills to raise one of them. She's a beaut, too."

Vixen unstrapped two pieces of a glowing lance from her back and assembled them. "Perfect.. Then we can use this to get into the tower. Maybe."

Fahari chuckled. "Maybe?"

"I need to get it to Runic.." Vixen explained. "She'll understand how to use it best."

Captain Morgan drew his cutlass and took the lead. "Lead us to her then lass."

Before they could even start following Vixen, a group of dark beasts and shadowy hellspawns attacked them, no doubt sent by Kadlin to squash, squish and destroy the forces of light.

----------------

Inside the former Farnsworthy's tower - by Dash, assisted by Cameron

Dash surveyed the situation but not to see how bad it was. It was beyond horrid, but that was besides the point. Dash had escaped tougher spots, although possibly none where the stakes were quite this high.

The sorceress had them held tight via her magic. Konall raged against her magic but was unable to break free. Sebastian and Slyenia tried slipping free of their bonds. Their efforts were also for naught. Worse, Dash's arms were pinned too tight to try throwing a piece of flashpaper or bola, even if he could reach them, and he couldn't.

The sorceress (Dash was pretty sure the 'nice' part could be dropped) ignored their attempts. She was actually whistling to herself as she worked on whipping up a large dark.. something. It wasn't a portal, meaning the most likely scenario would be she was pulling together something to take care of Dash, Konall and Slyenia permanently.

Still, the fate of the world was at stake. Maybe he could slip free.. Oddly, the sorceress turned to him, an evil looking mockery of a smile on her face. "You don't really think you can slip free, do you?"

"Maybe not," Dash answered. "But we'll stop you, one way or another."

"You won't be stopping anything," she coo'ed, directing her attention at Dash. "You're going to die. You won't even have a soul remaining!"

Dash eyed her over. Interesting comment. Forbidding.

"It is interesting, isn't it?" she continued. Dash's eyes narrowed. She laughed. "You know what's going on, don't you? Your compatriots are oblivious, even now. Not that it matters.. I'm going to.."

"Yeah, yeah, we know what you think you're going to do," Dash interrupted her. He let his mind go blank, falling into the moment. If she was reading his mind, he’d minimize what was there to read as best he could. "I've dealt with tougher second rate mages.."

Her nostrils flared dangerously. "Second rate? How dare you?!"

Dash struggled against the restraints, then relaxed, realizing it was pointless. "I've heard better threats from middle school children. Seriously, 'How dare you?' That's it? Where's the flare?"

She grabbed Dash by his throat. Her face was already red. "You're dealing.. I'm.. you... I'm the most powerful sorceress in this pathetic room!"

Konall's voice. "Yeah, that's 'cause there's no other sorceresses in the room. If Kadlin were here, or Becky, or one of those bunny mages, or, Hel, even that idiot Jester King."

"Shut up!" she screamed. "Stop it, this is hard. I meant the world, you idiot! No, the planet!"

"Okay," Dash snarked. "Calm down, drama queen."

"That's it, you're - " she paused, her face going white. "This is only a distraction, isn't it? What is it? The brute isn't smart enough."

"Who, me?" Konall asked.

"So it has to be.." the sorceress turned her naughty glaze upon the previously ignored Slyenia. "You! What are you trying to hide?!"

Slyenia glanced up at a spot behind the sorceress. The sorceress immediately knew what was going on, but was under assault before she could react. She looked over to see something tiny hanging in the air, blasting her with tiny blasts. "What in the blazes?! Is that a.. mosquito?!"

"A part of my cysuit," Sylenia said, the bond on her weak enough that she could finally slip free.

The voice of the sorceress turned icy cold. "Pathetic little nuisance. I'll show you what real familiars look like!"

With that, four rather large familiars burst through the room. A giant mosquito, an oversized goat, a really big meat golem, and a ten foot tall Tyrannosaurus Tex. They grow 'em bigger in Lone Star, but this one looked pretty massive.

"I've got backup of my own," Sylenia said, glancing over as Dash managed to slip free of the weakened hold against him while Konall simply overpowered it, rushing into an immediate attack on the sorceress as Dash spread out to look for an opening to attack.

----------------
Remainder of Finale by Dash
In the heart of Degrassi

Eight figures stood inside of a circle drawn in blood.

Their guards, lackeys and soldiers stayed several feet outside of the bloodstained circle. It was for the Elite 8 only. The new and more deadly Elite 8.

By far the biggest figures were the armored Black Paladin and Daisuke, whose face was now covered in a demonic looking hockey mask, the color of bleached bones. Between the two stood the only female among the lead eight. Snow White had a rather large vine draped protectively over her shoulders. Jester King of Beasts and Bones muttered incantations as Blake Cutler and Slit watched impatiently. The last member of the eight, Mortimor, stood in as the representative of the Trinity.

The other trinity stood on the inner circle surrounding the Elite, along with Mimi, Jester King's sidekick Princess Precious, Knob Smashers, and more Muri-Dan lackeys among others.

Fumes rose out of the center of the circle, drifting into the skies. Suddenly, Daisuke turned and roared into the distance.

"What're you doing?!" Bones snapped. "Stay focused on the summons, you big dumb brute."

"No!" Mortimor snapped. "He's right, I smell the stench of our enemies!"

"I don't care!" Bones called out. "Once we finish this summon.."

That's all he got out before a blast of fire sent him sprawling backwards. The masked Daisuke threw himself towards a seemingly empty section of land, catching the invisible Prince Blahking and sending him flying back, breaking his concealment spell. Fluffy Hamster hopped off his shoulder just before impact. A second later, five other figures also shimmered into visibility.

Daisuke immediately turned his attention to MTiger, who was flanked by his bodyguard as well as a comma chameleon and Grillhamo. Snow White summoned forth a series of deadly vines while the Trinity and Slit burst into battle with their trademark lightning speed to attack Amrus and Shamus XTreme. Meanwhile, Raw Hide and Grillhamo squared off against the Jester King of Beasts and Blake Cutler.

Jester King looked over Raw, Grillhamo, Amrus and Samus. "My, my, first Catrina and now this motley crew. I see your king has a soft spot for traitors!"

"You got that right!" Raw swung a large axe at Jester King, who phased out to avoid it.

"The only traitors here are you!" Grillhamo answered. "To your world. If you follow Kadin, you'll bring an end to us all."

Cutler shrugged. "As long as I get a paycheck."

Before Grillhamo could respond, he was fighting off attacks from Cutler's trademark cutlass. As the two highly trained, deadly warriors squared off, Fluffy dodged, jumped over and avoided Snow White's vine attacks, rushing towards the source and unleashing a powerful fire blast. She rolled to the side to avoid it.

Blahking attempted to catch Grillhamo with his own blast of fire but something sent it veering off course. Blahking looked over, unsurprised to see the Jester King of Beasts, boney arms folded across his chest, with a sadistic smile on his dead skinned face. He shook his finger and made a tsk tsk noise. "None of that, now. A royal punk against the crown prince of the underworld. I'd feel sorry for you.. if I didn't find the prospect of killing you so downright hilarious."

Blahking rushed forward, pulling a blade from a spot previously concealed by his mage's robes, which now flowed gracefully behind him. It took the Jester King by surprise, forcing him to use his inhuman agility to dodge Blahking's relentless offense. Finally, Blahking pulled back as Jester cartwheeled out of range.

"I'm good enough to handle you without magic," the pasta prince of KOKOL boasted.

"We shall see about that," Jester King replied in his demented voice, flying into action.

"Mimi! Paladin! Princess Precious!" Bones screamed. "Guard me so I can finish the Summon of Overtime!"

Mimi and "Princess" glanced toward the fight longingly before stepping besides the towering Black Paladin.

"Stupid guard duty," Mimi whined. "What're we even trying to protect him against, anyway?"

"Us," replied Raw Hide, stepping up to fight with Inuaustin and KIng MTiger's personal body guard following. Meanwhile, as the fight raged on, some familiar faces were returning to the nearby Degrassi Knoll.

----------------

Nearby in Degrassi

Despite the oppressive mood of Degrassi Knoll, several supporters ran up to greet Becky Joy and Cattaras Whiteclaw as they arrived in town, being lead by Jen. The attention didn't go unnoticed.

"Hello, every-1's!" Becky called out, happily waving as the curious Gnolls of surrounded her. "We're back to help, yay!"

A roar of approval went through the crowd. Jen looked around, impressed Becky and Cattaras were received so warmly.

"Bout time you showed up," came a familiar voice from behind them.

Becky recognized the voice. "Todd!" she screamed as she rushed up to hug the fox bard. Todd seemed happy to see her too. Becky smiled and said, "Yup, we're finally here! And so are my friends!"

Todd accepted the hug graciously, having to remind himself there was still 'end of the world' business to attend to. "Yup, I can see that. Mine too."

Becky looked at Todd's companions. Most of them she didn't recognize, but the Goblin Smasher was one of Sir Fumblies, Becky forgot his name. Then she knew the Ireacan buddy of Todd's and.. Becky squealed as she spotted Sassy Snake in the distance, rushing over to hug her old friend from Degrassi!

"I think we're going to need all the help we're going to get," Todd said, tail flickering.

"Yeah," came a familiar voice. "Probably."

Todd looked over as one of the space elves walked into view. You could tell just from the walk; only Glyn had that swagger, at least among the space elves Todd had met so far. What'd they call themselves? Oh, right - the Morlencir. "So who else's joining this party?"

"Party?! Ladeelahleeeeeeee!" came a familiar voice that made Todd and Glyn wince in anticipation. "I thought we were here for a fight, but what the heck, right?"

"Where'd you come from?!" Becky asked, oblivious.

"I don't know." The newcomer- the insane Jay- shrugged and walked past them. "All I know is, I've somehow discovered Lou, my shoulder demon of immense power, is located somewhere in Degrassi, and the only way to save him is through epic battles and extensive over-narration."

Cattaras growled. "Prince Blahking sent us to take care of the main town while he takes his so called 'Elite seven' to take care of Kadlin's Elite Eight. Then again, maybe we'll find them first before the spoiled prince can get to them."

"Hello, Becky," Sassy Snake cried out upon seeing her old friend. "It's nice to see you again."

Becky rushed over to hug her too. "Yeah! I bet there's a lotta bad guys in Degrassi, huh?"

Glyn glanced towards the town. "I'm getting a number of readings consistent with mutated Goblins. Some of them defy analysis. It also seems like your Elite seven and eight are about to start a fight. But there's also another concentration of energy midtown."

"So," Jen asked. "We either investigate the energies, join the battle against the Elite over Blahking's orders - not that he holds dominion over us, or we split up."

"No," Cattaras answered. "We'll investigate the energies and secure Degrassi. Then we can join the fight. MTiger and Blahking should be able to handle the Elite until then and I want my town secured."

"Then we can help Mr. Prince and King kitty?!" Becky said, throwing her hands up in excitement. "Hurray!"

Cattaras nodded. "Exactly, Becky. Let's get to work."

----------------

Having studied world history and current events, Sir Fumblies recognized some of the groups surrounding him. There were woodenknuckles, Redwood Knuckles and Zombas from Adrule attacking them. At first it seemed like Catrina was joining them but it quickly became obvious this was in fact the mirrorworld versions of the two. Good. The more allies, the better. Of course, the real goal here would be to get into the tower to take down Kadlin by any means necessary. Fumblies grinned as he realized that odds weren't quite so stacked against him, as along with troops from the Blood Clan, he found himself being assisted by ninjas, monks and druids alike in their fight against the hordes and hordes of enemies. Most of them seemed to be twisted, more dangerous versions of the shadowy creatures Sir Fumblies and company had run into in the mirrorworld. No doubt there was a relationship between the two. Fumblies suspected that the traitorous Philler was involved here, but right now that didn't really matter.

Just as another wave of dark beasts broke through, Fumblies noticed what looked like members of the Philler Gang from Honorburg. It wasn't too surprising the ragtag group of rogues and villains showed up, but Fumblies couldn't tell whose side they were on this time. But nevermind that as some more familiar faces burst through the fighting, taking out Kadlin's demons and her loyal goblin chef-mages left and right. With groups, people and monsters pouring in, Fumblies wondered if it would be getting hard to move soon from lack of space.

Back to those familiar faces. It was two of the furries, Vixen and Fahari, who burst through the battle first, but they weren't alone. Although Catrina and Fahari were of course familiar to him, the others weren't although Fumblies could tell they were allies.

"I found your wateria.." Vixen said, looking around. "And some allies."

"Good," Fumblies answered. "Especially since I've found a little help myself in the form of Zed Shinestone and a couple of the space elves. On the other hand there is some bad news as I've sensed several mystical seals around the tower, so we might not be able to teleport up to the top."

"Great!" Vixen threw her arms up in the air. "So all that sneaking around and going undercover with that psycho Dark was for nothing?!"

"No, not nothing," Fumblies said with a heavy sigh. "It just won't let us jump out on her head. We can still use it to avoid the fighting and maybe get a little ways into the tower, but it's going to be rough, even with our best mages on it. Rough and dangerous."

"I'm okay with that," Catrina said, "so long as it gets me to that witch in time to stop her from letting the Dark Ones free."

"I guess you'd know all about the dark ones," Fumblies said with a shrug.

Catrina stopped herself from growling. "Yes. I was manipulated by them. Fortunately, I'm free of their grip now."

"Good," Fumblies said, turning, realizing they didn't have time to discuss the point. "Then we'll have to gather everyone and get into the tower.. before it's too late."

Catrina turned, zipping into action against whichever poor demon was stupid enough to pick now to attack her.

----------------

It hadn't taken long for a group of Kadlin loyalists to attack Cattaras and her crew.

It was mainly Knob Goblins at first, but then an Emo Giant, imp demon, and ghostly mathemagician joined in on the second wave. Fortunately, Cattaras had Becky, Wildfall, the healer Sassy Snake, the bard Blackpaws, Glyn of the space elves and even that insane weirdo Jay to help him out.

The emo giant swatted Cattaras out of mid pounce but that left him open to a depressing combination of ranged attacks from Blackpaws, Beck and Glyn. Cattaras did take down the imp demon, however, while Blackpaws sealed off the ghost with a long forgotten spell of ghostly containment. The lyrics involved mostly questions of who was the appropriate person to call for such an event.

"Maybe that's the last of them!" Becky said hopefully, striking a pose of determination.

"Never!" said a lone approaching Knob Goblin who seemed to glow with power. He raised his hands, causing two large portals to open behind him, allowing for reinforcements to pour through. "We.. shall strike.. down you.. in the name of .. Kad... lynnnnnnn..."

His voice trailed off into a monotone drone. "Ssssome of us got.. ultimate power for.. ult.. 'ate.. loyalty.."

"Oh boy," Todd said, standing near Becky and Sassy, behind Cattaras and Glyn. "There's a lot of 'em.."

They were literally pouring out of the gates. Some were Knob Goblins as well as local animals and thugs from the plains. Others were simply demons.

"I got something better!" Becky yelled, creating a quick ice storm to get attention on herself. "Todd, hit it!"

"Um.." Todd looked around. "Which one?"

"HUH?!" Becky asked, scratching her head in confusion. "Which song?"

"Which enemy do you want me.." Todd paused, trying to follow Becky's often random train of thought. "Ohhhhh.."

"Do the song we talked about.. oh wait..I forgot to talk to you about it!" Becky giggled. "I didn't get to ask you cause we were like all serious and planning, and everything was serious so we were makin' serious plans.. okay, um.. just improvise!"

"If you say so, babe." Todd turned his attention back to preparing to fight.. but that Becky, she had other ideas alright!

She burst into song. "One and one and two is eight!"

Glyn couldn't help but chime in, "I'm fairly sure it isn't."

Becky ignored him and continued, drawing the stares of the others, enemy and ally alike.

"We're all gonna get some cake! One and one and two is eight!"

Wildfall looked befuddled. "I don't think that 'eight' and 'cake' rhyme.."

"One and one and two is eight! We're all gonna...." Becky kept chanting it and after a few verses, several of the Goblins started chanting with. Inspiring Todd to try to compose a tune for it on the fly. The demons watched, wavering, confused. And the crowd repeating it got larger and louder with each verse repeated. It got to the point the Knob summoner started yelling for his summoned minions to stop singing and start fighting.

It didn't work but it was enough to motivate the dozens of demons into attacking. Of course, that broke the singing which broke the hold over the Goblins.. although many of them still refused to attack, still under the sway of Becky's charm.

Some of the beasts were humanoid shaped, while others looked like giant oxen, bears and any other number of creatures. Many resembled no creature in the Kingdom or beyond. In all cases, their features and the details were blurred in dark energy, which seemed to burst ominously from them like living nightmares.

As soon as the attack began, Jay seemed to change, subtly, calling for them to "Bring it on" in a suddenly deeper voice. Sassy sent out a signal for as many snakes as would come to help them while Todd prepared a battle song to help them against the massive amounts of enemies. Becky and Jen started attacking from range while Cattaras and Glyn dove into battle, taking it to the incoming enemies.

It was a ferocious battle from the start! Lou, fortunately for Jay, decided he felt up for a fight today and hopped out of Jay's backpack, where he'd really been all along. The shoulder demon unleashed the powers of a true seventh circle of hell master. Becky quickly pulled a time helmet out of her burlap sack, a gift from the Chrono dragon, and slipped it over her head, allowing her to dole out her wintery attacks even faster. She wasn't the only one bringing a new edge into the fight. Cattaras could feel the nanites he'd been given flowing through him, making him more dangerous than ever. Todd strummed a song The Vixen, his goddess, had helped him improve, devastating the shadowy forces with a song enhanced by divine grace. Even the space elves benefitted from their increased knowledge of the darkness, thanks to lessons from Catrina, Fahari and the pirates on the trip over.

Yes, they were a fearsome sight. Wildfall fought harder and more passionately than ever, supplementing his trademark wooden shillelagh with a brand new shiny (well, actually old and dull) cutlass, courtesy of the pirates. As hard as they fought, it was only a matter of time until they had to back into a circle as the beasts kept pouring in.

"Hold the line!" Cattaras screamed. "Don't let them break us up!"

"This is insanity," Jen called out to him. "Where are all these beasts coming from?"

"Probably," Todd answered, "the plane of the dark ones, but if that's the case, Kadlin's closer to releasing them than we realized."

"For beef jerky!" Jay shouted, taking down a dark beast in the shape of a mutated dog.

"All I know is.. AHHH!" Becky screamed as a dark beast, freshly formed behind her, pulled her and threw her to the ground. She blasted him but an elephant sized, mouse shaped shadow beast tried to sit on her. Fortunately, Cattaras pulled her to the side. Meanwhile, Wildfall and Sassy found themselves separated from the others, surrounded.

"I wanna go home, I wanna go home," Sassy whined, curling up into a ball on the ground.

"Don't fall apart on me now, girl!" Wildfall yelled, pulling her arm, getting her to her feet. "I.. whoa."

A moment ago there had been a huge shadowy beast standing in front of Wildfall. That is, until a huge shimmering blade split it in half. Now, standing there, holding the blade, Wildfall sized the protagonist of a fantastic tale untold. Hardly a teenager with unnaturally spiked hair, the protagonist nevertheless held the blade which had done in the first demon. He looked Sassy over, and blushed slightly.

"Um.. hi there."

"Back to work, you!" The protagonist's burly gun-armed sidekick dropped down to his side, soon joined by the original red mage, the redeemed paladin, the arrogant ninja prince, the hyperactive monkey tailed thief-hero and the chain smoking explosion expert mechanic. The protagonist dove into action alongside his party and our heroes.

Todd couldn't help but take a moment to glance upwards at the small airship, but that was all the time he had before the fighting started up again, more fiercely than ever.

Yup! Pretty epic, huh? Just the start, too. We got three more pieces to go.

The "Fifth part" of the Finale got spun off into its own mission. As of this writing, it isn't going well, but maybe I can finish it off someday to archive it too!

This sets the stage for several battles to play out over the rest of the Finale... Plus, of course, we brought in the RPG homage heroes, so that was fun to write.