Chapter Text
At the Merchant Port, clouds of darkness were beginning to form over the immediate area. Denizens of the port were growing signs of worry and confusion.
Among the crowd was Lovemore, still a little beaten up from the first encounter with Rector. She noticed Isabelle in the crowd. “Excuse me!” Lovemore ran up to meet Isabelle. “Why is everyone gathered up here?”
“This is everyone’s home,” Isabelle replied, “And while that’s obvious, we’re preparing for whatever is coming towards us.”
Lovemore nodded in understanding, looking up at the clouds alongside Isabelle. “...I would not give up hope,” she said, “My friends and I are going to put a stop to this. So, no need to frown!”
Isabelle put on a fake smile for a moment.
That was the key point in which airships began to fly over the Merchant Port. Like clockwork, the first to show their face at the meeting point was Zex. She hopped off the airship and let her wings guide her down to the ground safely. Clairen followed suit, but with a parachute to boot.
Next was Glodis and Misty Hylees. Misty grabbed Glodis once more and hopped off the airship with a parachute deployed shortly after, letting them land onto the ground without a scratch. “Glad you could make it,” Zex quipped, “But where’s the last one?”
Suddenly, the port began to rumble. Then, everyone turned towards the archway that greeted the Merchant Port’s newest entrants: Chris the Fictional Traveler, Maypul, Kragg, and a whole lot of Wallrunners!
Zex’s eyes widened along with Misty’s. Glodis slithered up to Kragg and gave them a hug, saying, “Earthling Kragg! Glad you could make it!”
Chris gave a thumbs-up to Misty and Zex. He declared, “I think we’re gonna be good enough to fight Rector now! To the Frozen Gates!”
And just like that, with multiple airships at the ready and Wallrunners holding the ground level as they charged across the terrain, everyone was on the way to the Frozen Gates.
The Frozen Gates were only an hour away, but in that time, dark constructs were keeping Chris and friends occupied. Thankfully, it wasn’t too much of a challenge for them now that they had almost the entirety of Aether on their side.
As soon as the temperatures began to drop, Chris knew that they were getting closer. The clouds above were entirely covered in darkness. The gates were just ahead, and they were big.
Zex, Glodis, Lovemore, and Misty got off of the airships and Chris hopped off one of the Wallrunners. They all looked up at the gates.
They were ready for whatever was about to come at them in the next… few… seconds!
From underneath the ground just in front of Chris and his friends, Rector arrived via a Hellish summoning sigil. He removed his hood and revealed his white fur coat covered in signs of the devil and satanic markings as if someone could summon off of him alone. “You’ve made it.” Rector spoke in an ominous, but slightly mocking tone. “But just how long will it take for you to leave Aether, whether it is back to Crystalga or in Hell where you all belong?”
Chris yelled, “We have an army at our side!”
Zex declared, “We’re gonna end you!”
Misty said, “You’re gonna be put back in the litter box!”
Lovemore said, “It is time for the fighting to stop!”
Glodis slithered forward and screamed, “Time to go home!”
Zetterburn, Forsburn, Kragg, Wrastor, Orcane, and Clairen all stepped forward. They prepared themselves for a fight they would never forget. Rector raised an eyebrow and then proceeded to chuckle. This chuckle led into laughter, puzzling everyone.
“It’s just so precious to see all of you together,” Rector said, “It almost brings a tear to my eye! Unfortunately, you seem to forget that I have a future emperor with me.”
From behind Rector came forth Emperor Loxodont, still decked out in his corrupted invincible armor. Clairen gasped.
“Time for your end!” Rector pointed at the group of heroes. “Loxodont, exterminate them!”
Loxodont began the battle with a powerful swing of his new giant hammer. Everyone scattered.
Chris made a first move, pulling out the Silverwing Quill from the confines of the necklace he adorned. He dashed to Loxodont and slashed away at him.
No dice. He was undeterred. Unmoving. He grabbed Chris by the leg as the poor Fictional Traveler attempted to retreat. In one fell swoop, he raised him up in the air and then slammed him down to the ground, making Rector cackle.
Misty dashed towards Loxodont alongside Glodis who also made an attempt at damaging the titanic elephant. Loxodont retorted by grabbing Misty's ankle and sending her flying across the air and back to the ground a few feet away. Then, he grabbed Glodis' tentacles and launched them away like they were a slingshot.
"I took you down once," Zex yelled, "And I'll gladly do it again!" She flew towards Loxodont with her sword thrust out and aiming for his chest.
Clang!
Zex's Hellfire Blade was merely a poke to Loxodont and his armor. For once, in a rare showing from her, she gasped. Loxodont smirked.
Loxodont grabbed hold of Zex’s Hellfire Blade and proceeded to bend it slowly. Seeing the sword bend like it was turning into an arch made Zex panic. “Stop! Give that back!” She cried out.
Loxodont knew he couldn’t lose, so he decided to listen and threw Zex’s Hellfire Blade back to her. He crossed his arms. Rector smiled. “Like I’ve said,” the demonic cat said, “You stand no chance against him! Give up and accept your fate!”
Chris slowly got up. “Never,” he shouted back at Rector, “You can’t keep us down!”
Rector kept his smile. He even chuckled when he saw Glodis, Misty, Zex, and Lovemore stand beside Chris with confidence. “Please,” he laughed, “You really think you can stop my giant elephant?”
“Yes!” Suddenly, Clairen stood beside Zex, plasma sword in hand and visor at the ready. She said, “We all can!”
Zetterburn and Forsburn stood beside Chris. Kragg stood behind Glodis and the plentiful Wallrunners followed suit.
Rector raised an eyebrow. “Cute,” he said, “Loxodont, kill them all!”
Chris and the others braced themselves for a fight they wouldn’t forget. However, a moment after Rector gave the command, there was nothing.
Loxodont wasn’t moving.
“Loxodont,” Rector commanded, “I said for you to end them all!”
Suddenly, from up above, there was a creature who was able to control thunder from above. She put it into the form of thunderclouds. Her name was Absa. “End this!” Absa declared her dominance on Loxodont by kicking a thundercloud into shape, giving a bolt of lightning to strike down and paralyze Loxodont’s armor.
“What?” Rector was in disbelief. The armor was invulnerable! “How are you able to paralyze his armor?”
Suddenly, jumping out from behind Absa was a light spirit who went by the name of Ori. They rushed down and used an ability they liked to call Bash. They jumped onto Loxodont, froze in place, and then leaped off of them right onto Glodis’ hat for safety. This made Loxodont stagger slightly.
Then, all of a sudden, a loud horn echoed through the area. Rector looked behind himself and saw a knight decked in shining armor wielding a shovel. Shovel Knight. Shovel Knight leaped into the air, thrust his shovel downward, and slammed it on top of Loxodont’s head.
“No!” Rector cried out in legitimate anger.
Chris’ eyes sparkled as the cavalry had arrived. Everyone in Aether was here to help.
Ranno arrived, much to Misty’s delight, throwing poison darts towards Loxodont. Mollo, a moth with a handkerchief over his mouth, threw bombs towards Loxodont.
Hodan, a gorilla sage with a towel in his hands, whipped said towel towards Loxodont.
Olympia, the rat with a crystal and true fighting experience, threw a crystal towards Loxodont and clasped her hand together, causing it to shatter and create a small explosion.
Finally, from atop the Frozen Gates itself, a giant polar bear that went by the name of Etalus sat atop them with a look of rage. He jumped down. The ground rumbled as he landed.
Loxodont had already taken a beating from the other Rivals of Aether, but now, it was on. His armor, once invulnerable, was now starting to give in.
Orcane arrived via a puddle of water that was just beside Lovemore. He clapped his hands with confidence.
Chris looked to Rector with a confident grin. Rector began to panic as his plan was falling apart. “You forgot that we have all of Aether at our side,” Chris said, “And all you had was one Loxodont!”
With those words spoken, Chris, Glodis, Misty, Zex, Lovemore, and everyone in the world of Aether jumped towards Loxodont and dismantled his armor piece by piece.
Rector quickly jumped back and opened up a summoning circle. He had to summon something to fight back against this army. He chanted non-descriptive words as he held his breath in a last-ditch effort to bring forth a weapon of some kind.
Loxodont, after taking various attacks from the denizens of Aether and Chris’ friends, fell to the ground, unmoving. The corrupted darkness that eclipsed him and his judgment escaped his body, leaving only his corpse to wither away once more.
Zex chuckled, much to everyone else’s disgust at the sight.
Rector finished his summon. He had summoned forth a dagger with enchanted darkness.
“Rector, it’s over.” Chris walked over to the demonic cat, coming to a stop just a few feet away. “You had a simple plan to take over Aether, but you forgot, when I’m together with my friends, nothing can stop us.”
Rector hissed and took a swing at Chris with his new dagger. Chris blocked it just in time. “I don’t care! I will kill you for stealing my thunder all those years ago!” Rector took more swings at Chris to which the Fictional Traveler effectively blocked them all. “I had it all! I was going to be the most important figure in Crystalga! But then, you had to work your magic and become the best there was! The ultimate Writer Fighter! Bah! Well, even if I cannot kill you today, I can at least go out knowing I made you sweat!”
Chris took a swing back at Rector, but it missed. Chris and Rector were at a stalemate. “I don’t know what I did,” Chris said, “But I didn’t mean it. I swear! I would never intentionally harm someone for no reason. Please, you don’t need to do this, Rector. We just want to go home.”
Rector roared, taking a swing at Chris. Misty wanted to go out and help, but Zex stopped her, shaking her head as if to say this was his fight.
Rector and Chris clashed blades one last time before knocking each other back. The two stood up, panting heavily. Rector turned to face the Frozen Gates, and then he faced Chris’ Aether army. He sighed in defeat. “The next time we meet, Chris,” he declared, “I will finish you where you stand, and it will be my time to shine!”
Rector spit on the ground and walked through the Frozen Gates without a word. Chris didn’t know what to think. He turned to his friends for an answer that would never come. Then, he turned to Zetterburn. He asked, “He’s not going to be a problem for us back home, is he?”
Zetterburn replied, “I am not sure. However, based on his tone and the way you handled things, I would assume his fight is over for now.”
Chris took a deep breath and raised the Silverwing Quill in victory, leading to everyone cheering.
The battle for Aether was over.
Everything was calm. Aether’s darkness had now been relieved.
The Wallrunners, excluding Kragg, had left to go back to guarding the wall.
The airships that carried everyone here were now getting ready to depart.
“I guess it’s time to go home now,” Chris said, shaking Zetterburn’s hand. “I wanted to thank you for helping us.”
“We should be thanking you,” Zetterburn replied, “for saving our world from the brink of collapse. It would have been impossible to stop otherwise, so we appreciate your cooperation. You all are welcome in the Fire Capital at any time.”
Wrastor cut in. “Same goes for the Air Armada!”
Maypul grinned at Chris. “The Aetherian Forest is open to you at any time.”
Ranno went over to Misty and shook her hand. “A pleasure working with you again, Ms. Hylees.”
Misty chuckled nervously. “The pleasure is mine. No need to be all formal and all. We won.” Ranno laughed it off, much to Misty’s surprise. “Never heard you laugh before, but hey, that was pretty good!”
Zex grinned and fist-bumped with Clairen. “Sorry for getting you all tangled up in this,” Zex said, “But next time we meet, if there is a next time, we oughta do something other than just fight for our lives.”
Clairen nodded and smiled. “Maybe we can chill or something.”
Zex then raised an eyebrow. “Wait, didn’t you say you were gonna disappear when Loxodont was defeated?”
“Oh yeah,” Clairen said, “I guess… maybe the future I’m a part of is still going to exist. But, no matter what, I’ll keep fighting for a better world.”
Zex gagged, but Clairen giggled as a retort.
Glodis shook Kragg’s hand. “It was great to work alongside you, Earthling Kragg!”
Kragg nodded and replied, “Same. We meet again soon. Promise.” Glodis smiled and saluted.
Lovemore bowed to Ori and Shovel Knight. “You both are so much fun! I hope we can meet again!”
Shovel Knight nodded. Ori gave a thumbs-up.
Chris grouped Zex, Glodis, Misty, Lovemore, and himself all together to the Frozen Gates. As the gates opened to a light that showed signs of return to a dimension that they have been eagerly anticipating this entire time, they turned to look at their newfound Aether friends one last time. “Take care!” Chris called out to them. “We’ll see you again soon! Promise!”
The End