The Moon was still up in the sky, it was now midnight.
Huang, Isabella, Noah and Maxwell were walking in the mist covered swamp with the former admin holding a small map and a flashlight in the other hand, getting a good look around their surroundings.
Isabella had her hands placed together, looking a bit out of it as she still remembered the gruesome details from the hospital scene and had yet to get over it.
Noah looked nervous as he walking next to his dog, making sure that he won't run off again. He looked quite tired and hungry after a whole day in the forest.
"So, the two people we are gonna look for after we find the two other elements are the drunktard park ranger's daughter and Patrick's lousy kid who's been making googly eyes at my daughter, is that right?" Huang asked, glancing at Isabella.
Isabella simply nodded.
Huang let out a long sigh.
"Well, I can still feel some spiritual energy that could belong to two people in this giant dump so hopefully, they're still alive." Huang said.
"...I'm sure they are." Isabella said, sounding confident about her statement.
She then looked at his map, looking at the places marked where the two elements could be.
"...How do you know where the elements could be?" Isabella asked.
"I've been surveying this swamp even longer than you kid and managed to track down these elements and marked them on the map so I wouldn't forget where they are." Huang said.
"...If you knew where they were, why din't you pick them up?" Noah asked.
"With the Grinning Ghoul on my ass, how could I? No matter where I hid, that thing would always find me whenever I got close to those elements. I may be a Omnipotent now but I'm not suicidal." Huang said.
"...How did you become the Omnipotent of Spirit anyways? You weren't one when you were still the admin of F, right?" Isabella asked.
"No, I wasn't. In fact, I died before all that stuff with the Erasure whatever went down and got brought back to life when it was over...though, it was thanks to my revival that I became the new Omnipotent of Spirit." Huang said, looking the other way.
"...Getting revived back to life was enough to make you into a Omnipotent?" Noah asked.
"No, it doesn't work like that. It just happened that after Minami finished her job, the elements split up and while my spirit was descending down from the heavens, the spirit element just happened to attach itself to my body." Huang said.
"...When did you notice that you had that element?" Isabella asked.
"...It happened in prison." Huang said, after a moment of silence as he began to remember.
------
Far away from Dahlia, in a prison building.Inside a cell, Huang was sitting on a bunk bed and was fortunate enough not to share a room with another prisoner, the last thing he wanted was to share the same cell with Belle, it would of been way too awkward.Huang's head was sweating as he was holding a cup of water taken from the sink, staring into his own reflection."After that Tournament and Universe 11 preparing to go to war with Fujitor's council, I've been feeling just...odd. I felt like I was going through some changes, think of it like puberty but I couldn't tell why, my entire body felt like it was on fire and whatever medicine I took wouldn't stop that feeling from going away. And at that point, it happened." Huang said.
As he was about to drink, his hands turned transparent and his glass fell through his hands, shattering on the ground to his shock."Huh!? What the!?" Huang asked, staring at his see through hands, reasonably horrified as he stood up."I was very scared when that happened, who the hell wouldn't be after seeing their own hands turning invisible like that, I thought I was gonna disappear but I was fine for the most part." Huang said.His hands changed back to normal, making his confused."...What's...happening to me?" Huang asked himself."For the sake of my sanity, I decided to ignore it and tried to go to sleep. But then, he appeared." Huang said.
"Hey. Wake up."Huang's eyes opened and he found himself not in a prison cell, but instead in a white empty area with nothing in sight and he was sleeping on the ground."...Huh? What the piss shit?" Huang asked, rubbing his eyes.He slowly stood up, looking a little nervous as he had no idea where he was before he turned to his right and saw a person standing there on the other side.It was a bald orange skinned teenager wearing a long sleeved orange robe, holding his hands together as he stared at the pale man."...Who the hell are you?" Huang said, raising an eyebrow while keeping some distance from him just in case."Oh me...I guess I am a friend, of sorts, atleast to you due to the circumstances." The teenager said, looking a bit shy as he scratched his hand."...A friend? I have never seen you before. So, what the hell is this about? Is this another one of my fever dreams again?" Huang asked, folding his arms."It would be quite a lot simple if all of this was a dream, wouldn't it? It would be nice if every terrible thing that has happened to us was just a bad nightmare but...reality is far more cruel than even I could of imagined so, I'm afraid not." The teenager sighed.He walked up to Huang, holding his hand out."My name is Charles. I was one of the Omnipotents, once." Charles said.Huang still looked confused as he din't shake Charles's hands at all."...You're Charles? The Charles?" Huang asked."Oh, you know about me?" Charles asked, looking curious."I read your file. You were born in Dahlia and lived with your dad because your mom died when she gave birth to you. Then at the age of 9, you unlocked your power and channeled the spirit of your mother to talk to her and ended up summoning a bunch of more spirits which freaked out the townspeople and they kicked you out. Then you met the Omnipotents and died at the hands of some lunatic and his mutant gang. That about sums it up?" Huang asked."...Yeah. I don't like what happened, we were just getting started by trying to change the world only for some random guy to kill us because he felt like it, it's pretty unfair when you think about it. How would you feel knowing that your destiny was to die because fate decided so?" Charles asked."...Kid, you have no freaking idea. If Herman din't use his wish, I would be dead cause no one in their right mind would want to bring back a bastard like me back into their lives." Huang muttered.After saying that, something hit him. With him experiencing these weird changes, with what happened to his hands and now him suddenly meeting former Omnipotent of Spirit couldn't be coincidence."...The fact that you are here talking to me can't be just happenstance unless this is a dream, with what's been happening to me lately and seeing my hands turn ghostly like that...fuck, I'm the new Omnipotent of Spirit, aren't I?" Huang asked, after connecting the dots.Charles blinked, looking impressed."...Wow, you figured it out that quickly? I was just planning to tell you that myself...it usually takes a bit for someone to figure out they are a Omnipotent unless someone tells them they are one. You're smarter than you look." Charles said."Don't take me for a fool, kid. I din't become the admin of a F branch simply by drawing straws you know." Huang frowned."...Right. Well, yeah, you're the new Omnipotent...though, do you have any guesses in how you acquired this power?" Charles asked.Huang shrugged."Well, I was dead for a bit and then I was brought back just as soon as the elements split up...I guess that element just flew right into me on my way to that ship, maybe." Huang said."That's probably the most likely case." Charles nodded."...How fitting that the guy who died ended up with the element of Spirits." Huang grumbled to himself."...Regardless of how it happened, it doesn't matter now. You are the Omnipotent whether you like it or not, but I din't come here just to tell you that." Charles said.Huang raised an eyebrow."What do you want to tell me?" Huang asked."...Do you know the Grinning Ghoul?" Charles asked."...The Grinning Ghoul? That stupid folktale made up by some superstitious morons? What about it?" Huang asked, not liking where this is going."...Well, that thing is real but it's much more than just a Ghoul. That thing is Tarus's element with a form of it's own, it's been hiding on Earth since the day Tarus died and it's been getting stronger each day by eating the fears of unsuspecting folks who wander around in the swamp past Campanula Park and then kills them. That's how the legend around that thing started and I think it's been taking advantage of that to become even more powerful than it was when it was still attached to Tarus. Even after Epilogue, it still came back to Earth." Charles frowned, looking serious.Huang stood there, processing this information."...I can tell you are not making this up but if this thing actually exists and might be dangerous to all of us, then why did you come to me?" Huang asked.Charles twiddled his thumbs and looked a bit awkward."...Well, you are the new Omnipotent of Spirit so I was thinking that maybe...you could do something about it." Charles said."...You do know that I'm in prison, right? How the hell do you expect me to get out of jail, do you think if I tell the warden that the creepy killer ghoul from the forest is real and that I'm the new Omnipotent of Spirit who can stop it, they will believe me? Do you know how stupid that fucking sounds?" Huang asked."...They won't believe you but who says you have to tell them? You have the power of Spirit, you can try to phase through the wall and escape that way, but they will likely notice that you are gone and will come after you." Charles suggested."If I escape from prison, there is no chance those guys will ever consider paroling me, they might sentence me to a lifetime without appeal, the last thing I want is to betray my family's trust because of some stupid killer fear element creeping around the woods like a slasher from a bad horror movie! Forget it, find someone else to bother and have them save the day, I'm busy." Huang said."...Well, you could stay in prison as much as you want but if that element will find a way to extend it's power to the rest of the world, your family might end up dying before you will get released from prison so...what's more important? Your appeal or your family's life cause I'm getting some mixed signals here..." Charles said, twiddling his thumbs.Huang's eyes widened in response, gritting his teeth.If this kid wasn't fooling with him so he can send him on a wild goose chase by using his family as leverage, then maybe he should consider investigating just to make sure he wasn't being tricked.Swallowing his pride, Huang took a deep breath."...Fine, since you are using my family as blackmail, which by the way is a low blow, you dick, I guess I'll go and see what I can do about this creepypasta legend of your's." Huang said.Charles smiled, looking relieved."Oh, good. Just so you know, after Ini, Rita and Ken's spirits were freed from that demon, their elements should be somewhere in the swamp aswell. You should probably find them, they could be useful in taking down that thing, if you know any people, you could give them those elements so they can become Omnipotents and help you defeat the Grinning Ghoul before it becomes too powerful for you to handle." Charles explained."...I'll keep that in mind. So, how do you expect me to escape from prison without being seen exactly?" Huang asked."That's up to you to figure out. You said so yourself, you din't become a admin by drawing straws." Charles pointed out."Tch, smartass. Well, if you have nothing else better to say, then buzz off. I have work to do now." Huang said."...Geez, you don't have to be so mean about it, you know." Charles pouted.Charles started to fade away from Huang's vision."Take care...and try to lighten up a bit. No one likes a jerk." Charles said, before he disappeared.Huang rolled his eyes."This coming from the dead guy who is forcing me into this by using my family to get me to do his bidding. Yeah, right." Huang spat.Now with him out of the way, he closed his eyes.And he was back in his prison cell and looked at his hands.He got up from his bed and looked around, considering his options.Huang could use his new power to phase through the wall like Charles said but he would get detected by watchdogs so that's a no go.As a Omnipotent of Spirit, perhaps he could have the ability to jump into other people's bodies but then they would notice that his body is missing...but if his own spirit could leave his body to possess another, maybe that way..."...This is gonna be weird but it's the only way out." Huang sighed.He walked up to the cell bars, looking around for a guard."Hey, guard! Come up here, I don't feel so good! *Cough* I think *Cough* I came down with something nasty...I feel...like I'm about to...pass out." Huang said, slowly.He collapsed on the cold floor.A black skinned guard arrived quickly, standing in front of the cell and looked at the floor, seeing the unconscious Huang on the floor."Oh, crap! Hey, are you okay?" The guard asked, with wide eyes.Huang din't respond.The guard grabbed his keys and opened his cell, walking in and grabbed Huang by his shoulders."Hey, buddy, wake up, what's wrong with you?" The guard asked.At that moment, a ghostly form of Huang jumped out of his own body and leaped into the guard's body instead.The guard's pupils vanished, leaving them blank as Huang examined the new body he was controlling and then looked at his own."...Wow, this is just...I don't even know how to describe it...let's just get this over with." Huang sighed, as he picked up his own soulless body and carried it out of the cell by using the guard's body to do so.The possessed guard walked past a few cells, Cassidy's father was in one of those cells, sitting on his bunk bed and crying himself to sleep.The guard was close to the entrance, with the only obstacle being a prison guard sitting behind his desk, reading the newspaper. He adjusted his hat to cover his eyes before walking up to the desk with Huang in his arms."This guy has passed out, I think he might be sick. I'm taking his body to the nurses station so he won't infect anyone." The guard said.The other guard looked up from his newspaper, staring at Huang's body oddly before looking at the guard."Uh, sure, go right ahead." The guard shrugged.The possessed guard nodded as he walked through the front door."Huh, wait, that's not!" The other guard said, standing up.Huang, still inside the guard's body, began to walk a bit more faster away from the prison building, getting closer to the road as he could hear the alarm going off in that building.At that moment, his spirit jumped out of the guard's body and landed back in his own body.The guard collapsed on the ground while Huang opened his eyes and stood up, wiping the dirt off his shirt before looking down at the guard."Sorry, pal, this was weirder for me than it was for you." Huang frowned.And then he turned around and began running down the road, heading into the forest.------
"I eventually reached Dahlia and went right into the swamp where I encountered the infamous Ghoul and it's been tailing my ass since then. And now, here we are." Huang said, gesturing at everything around them.
"...Huh. So, that ectoplasm substance that I found was from you?" Isabella guessed.
"Yeah. Besides possessing bodies and objects, I can use the element's energy to turn it into ectoplasm but I can do more with it besides throwing things at the Ghoul. That said, I'm still learning the basics so I still haven't figured out how it completely works, it's not like these things come with instruction manuals on how to be a Omnipotent." Huang sighed.
"It would be helpful if we had one of those things." Noah said.
Maxwell barked, agreeing with Noah.
"...How are you gonna explain this to the police? They believe you killed those cops and kidnapped Noah, not the Grinning Ghoul." Isabella said.
"We'll cross that bridge when we will reach it. For now, we need to find those elements, then your friends and deal with that monster before Sunrise, hopefully all of us will be alive till then." Huang said, placing his hand on his head.
Isabella simply stared at her own hands, taking a deep breath.
"...Yeah." Isabella said, before looking ahead with a brave expression on her face, determined to find her two lost companions no matter what.
THE GRINNING GHOULPART 3Just around the corner.
There was a giant cobweb placed in between two tress with a glowing snow globe featuring a large grey factory and snowflakes were falling down inside that globe.
The two kids, the former admin and the dog reached the cobweb and looked at the snow globe.
"There it is. The element of Snow." Huang said.
"...It doesn't like the wolf who jumped in my body." Noah pointed out.
"Some elements aren't even sentient like the Grinning Ghoul or your element, kid. The globe isn't the element, it's what inside the globe that counts." Huang said, folding his arms.
"...Why is it stuck on that cobweb?" Isabella asked.
"Who knows, maybe one of the Grinning Ghoul's lackeys put it there to prevent anyone else from finding it. Now one of us need to climb up there and grab it." Huang said.
"...I suppose I can do that." Isabella guessed.
"Are you sure? I can climb it." Noah suggested.
Isabella shook her head.
"No, I'll do it." Isabella said.
She grabbed onto the web and started to climb it, reaching for the snow globe.
A ball of web was shot out of nowhere, covering her glasses in web.
"AH!" Isabella yelped, falling off the cobweb and was grabbed by Huang before she could crash on the ground.
"What the hell!?" Huang asked, looking up.
Sitting on a tree branch, there were spider monkeys. Literal spider monkeys, with red fur, four arms and eight eyes for each, screeching at them as one of them lunged at the cobweb, pulling out the snow globe and shot a string of web out of it's wrist, attaching to a tree branch and swinging off, away from them.
"Damn it, we can't let that monkey get away with the element!" Huang yelled.
"Where did these things come from? I haven't seen around before." Noah noted.
"...They too are probably fear creations of the Grinning Ghoul." Isabella guessed.
"That doesn't matter, go after it!" Huang said.
The other spider monkeys lunged at them, a few of them tackled Huang and knocked him on the ground, beginning to punch him in the head and grabbed him by his single hair strand.
"AH! FUCKING PISSCAKES! GET OFF ME YOU FOUR ARMED FUCKS!" Huang yelled, shielding himself.
One spider monkey landed on Isabella's head, grabbing her hair plaits and tried to pull them off.
"OW!" Isabella yelled, gritting her teeth.
More monkeys began charging at Noah and Maxwell, the dog growled at the monkeys while Noah stood in front of his dog and aimed his hands at the monkeys, his eyes were glowing.
"
STOP!" Noah announced.
The monkeys suddenly stopped in their tracks and remained there frozen, so did the ones attacking Huang and Isabella.
"...Oh, you made them stop." Isabella noted.
"I guess even creatures of fear are still creatures and can still be affected by the animals element." Huang guessed, standing up and adjusted his single hair on his head.
Noah looked at the monkeys intently.
"
Now, sit here and do nothing, okay?" Noah asked.
The monkeys nodded, they remained there without moving.
"...Wow, they're listening to me." Noah said, looking surprised himself as his eyes stopped glowing.
"Good job, kid. Now let's catch up to that primate before it takes off with the Snow element." Huang said, running off after the simian.
Isabella nodded as she, Noah and Maxwell went after Huang.
It din't take long for them to catch up with the spider monkey who was swinging from tree to tree, it's head turned around 180 degrees, roaring at them before spitting more web balls at them.
They dodged the web balls and Huang gathered spiritual energy in his hands, turning into ectoplasm and launched it upwards. Instead of hitting the spider monkey, it cut right through the web.
The spider monkey screeched, falling towards the ground before shooting another web out of it's wrist and attached it to a tree branch, starting to climb up.
Noah pointed his finger at the monkey.
"Sic em, boy." Noah ordered.
Maxwell growled as he started running towards the monkey, leaping towards it and grabbed it with his mouth, landing on the ground.
With the monkey in his mouth, Maxwell plunged his teeth into his skin, causing the monkey scream as Maxwell was shaking his head around before spitting the monkey out, crashing it's back against a tree and slowly slid on the ground, sticking it's tongue out and it's multiple eyes staring at the sky.
The monkey dropped the snow globe on the ground and burst into smoke.
Noah ran up to his dog.
"Good job, boy." Noah said, high-fiving his dog who lifted his paw to high-five his master.
"...Wow, that power of yours was pretty useful for this situation." Isabella noted, adjusting her glasses.
"Well, I doubt the Grinning Ghoul used up all the aces in it's hands, it won't rely on spider monkeys when we will face it for real." Huang said, walking towards the glowing snow globe.
He picked it up and showed it to Isabella.
"Here it is, now we just need to find the Metal element and we can concentrate on finding your friends. Keep it safe and do not lose it, this isn't a ordinary toy." Huang said.
Isabella stared at the snow globe and nodded, slowly taking it off Huang's hands and studied it carefully.
"...How long it will be till we reach the element of Metal?" Isabella asked.
"It's not that far according to the map so let's grab it quickly, I can sense someone's else presence in here." Huang said.
Isabella nodded again, placing the snow globe in her pocket as they followed after Huang, who used the map to find the next element.
------
With the snow globe glowing in her pocket, Isabella looked curious for a moment and looked up at Huang.
"...If the Grinning Ghoul is a element...how could it become so strong? I thought elements were just powers that Omnipotents have and use, not actual sentient beings." Isabella said.
"The elements started out very weak and they become stronger thanks to the Omnipotents they are residing inside in. It depends on the Omnipotent, if they develop along with their element as a result of training or through something else, the element will become stronger and reach a new height, to the point where the Omnipotent can expand it's influence in distant places and give others similar powers." Huang explained.
"...It's kind of like in Universe 6, the Necromancy element was all over the place without a host and that group of Neonytes used the orbs to wish it away. And those Omnipotents from Universe 1 were acting very differently when they unlocked their elements." Isabella said, placing her thumb on her chin as she was thinking about this.
"Some elements that are minor in nature are usually harmless and not as destructive but elements like Fear and Necromancy are definitely up in there with the most dangerous elements, in fact, these elements have their own category." Huang grimaced.
"...What kind of category?" Isabella asked.
"...I don't know if this is real or not but I once found the journal that belonged to a ancestor of mine, back before the Omnipotents existed, the kings from Universe 0 were using the elements but the most dangerous elements were kept inside a box, they called it Pandora's Box, like the one in Greek Mythology those guys from Universe 5 are obsessed with. Fear was part of those elements and seeing all the damage Hastur has done with that element, I can see why." Huang said, looking over his shoulder.
"...But how did the element gain a form?" Isabella asked.
"...The form the Grinning Ghoul has is most likely a Susanoo, those things are the physical forms of the elements." Huang said.
"...Su-Sa-Noo? What is that?" Noah asked, confused.
"...Ugh, do I have to explain everything today? Fine. The Susanoo or Titans or whatever everyone else calls them, they are gigantic majestic things that Omnipotents summon and stay inside those things to keep themselves safe while the Titans do all the fighting for them, whatever forms they have depends on Omnipotent and the element, they can be either monsters, buildings or anything really. In some legends, they say that they are Guardians for Omnipotents only, not like the Guardians of today, more like the ones from Heaven who were sent to help the Omnipotents in their time of need and crap. From what I heard, that Kschlvokyan bitch from 8 screwed us over had a Susanoo that acted like a giant version of her for the most part but that's just one example." Huang said, looking at Noah.
Noah understood what he said, looking interested.
"...Guardian angels...I think I like the sound of that. It makes sense." Noah said.
"...Hastur. He was the previous Omnipotent of that element and with it's help, he managed to take over many Universes?" Isabella asked.
"That was a exaggerated rumour to intimidate his opponents. He din't take over Universes, he only took over smaller galaxies one by one with his expanding army of robots, sending squads of them in multiple parts of a Universe to take them over, it was a slow process that would guarantee total domination. The only places he was successful with was a galaxy from 7 where that fake Earth was located at, another galaxy from 11 and a few planets from Universe 5 and 6 but from what I heard, the squad from 5 got annihilated by a Guardian's gigantic gas monster. With him travelling from place to place and experiencing new fears, it allowed his element to grow and become more powerful which is why we are having this Grinning Ghoul to begin with, thanks to Hastur and his moronic goal." Huang spat.
"...But, what did we do to deserve that Ghoul's wrath? We never knew it existed till now." Noah said, looking frustrated by what he was hearing.
"To that thing, it doesn't matter who it's victims are. The people's fears are to that thing what fruits and meat are to us humans, food and needs their fears to survive. That's the only thing that creature is best at: spreading fear and nothing else." Huang said, shaking his head.
Isabella frowned, wondering about that as she stared at her toes. They don't know what that creature's goal is yet beyond eating and spreading fear. There has to be a reason for why it's doing all of this, right?
She then looked at the snow globe in her pocket, actually considering using the element but there is a chance that Jordan or Cassidy might need it more than her.
"...Okay, we're here." Huang said.
Isabella's trail of thought came to a stop when she heard Huang and looked forward.
They reached a large rock...but there was no element there.
"...Are we sure it's here?" Noah asked.
Huang looked at the map marked with a X before looking at the spot, confused.
"...It's supposed to be here. I checked this spot a few times myself, it's got to be here." Huang said.
"...I guess someone got here before us and took it." Isabella guessed.
"Ah, fuck. Oh, if I'm gonna catch the dick who took it." Huang said, looking annoyed.
"Looking for this?"
Isabella recognized the voice and turned around.
The lavender woman in the black raincoat wearing the purple scarf was there, holding a fist made out of metal in her hand, it could be worn as a glove.
"And for the record, I'm a female so I don't have that." The woman clarified.
"...It's you." Isabella said.
Huang and Noah turned around aswell, looking at the metal fist in her hand.
"That's the element. She has it." Huang frowned.
"I never thought that I would see you three still hanging around here. The girl with the spectacles, the short onion man, the child and his loud mongrel." The woman said, looking down at the dog.
Maxwell showed his teeth, growling at the woman.
"Classy." The woman deadpanned.
"Have seen you seen Jordan and Cassidy?" Isabella asked.
"I don't know who those two are but I haven't. Not that it matters anyways, I came here for this." The woman said, gesturing at the metal fist.
She looked down at Isabella, looking at the glowing object in her pocket.
"...I see you got the element of Snow before me. Oh well, Metal is the best one out of the two so I won't bother fighting you three for it. And considering where we are right now, it would be a bad idea for me to risk my life for that snow globe when that thing is still around." The woman said.
"...You are here for the element?" Isabella asked.
"Yes. Originally, I was aiming for the element of animals but the element already bonded with the child so that is not a option anymore." The woman said, shaking her head.
"...Why do you want that?" Noah simply asked.
"Simple, I need it for my own purpose. But I wasn't just looking for this element in particular, I was also looking for any leftover weapons I could find and use them." The woman said.
"...Weapons?" Isabella asked.
"Isn't that what they are? Before Omnipotents bonded with these elements, humans used them in war to conquer territories after all so they are technically weapons when you think about it. In fact, I was in the next Universe, the fifth one and tried to look for that box containing the chaos element but it was already taken before I got there unfortunately." The woman said.
"...But aren't you a human too?" Noah asked.
"Either way, I now have what I was looking for. So I'll be leaving this strange place and go somewhere else so you can keep the Snow element, I don't need it." The woman said.
She turned around.
"Good luck with fighting that monster." The woman said, starting to walk away.
"Hey, wait a second, lady! We need that element, I saw it first!" Huang said, pointing his finger at her.
"Too late, I got to it first. Maybe you should of taken it when you had the chance. Besides, I'll need it more than you three will, atleast this will protect me from being shot to death when I'll reach the place I need to get to. I'm sure you can win without it but whatever happens to all of you is none of my concern." The lady said.
Huang, refusing to back down, walked towards the woman.
"Listen, hussy, I don't know what secret mission you are involved in that you need to steal elements but I don't care, give us that element or else!" Huang said, grabbing her by her wrist.
The woman turned around, pulling her hand out of his grip and grabbed Huang by his shirt collar, lifting him up.
"Mind your business, old man. I can break you in half if I wanted to." The woman hissed with venom in her voice, the former admin could see her green slit eyes shaking in anger.
Huang was gritting in teeth, despite her threat, he still glared at her.
"Hey, stop! Violence isn't the way to solve this!" Noah protested, getting between the two.
Isabella just stared at them without changing her expression.
"...Wait. Our fears are exposed by the mist, how come you aren't affected?" Isabella asked.
"I was exposed. I had to deal with my own fears when I arrived in this grotesque swamp." The lady said, still sounding furious as she held onto Huang.
All of the sudden, something jump out of hiding. It was a jester wearing flashy yellow clothes, with blood covering his lips, red eyes, sharp teeth and a demented grin on his face, aiming his knife at the woman.
"Look out!" Noah said.
The woman dropped Huang and grabbed the jester by his throat, her grip was tight.
"And this is one of the reasons I need to get out of here very quickly, I have wasted enough time here." The woman said.
She squeezed his throat so hard his head began to inflate and burst like a balloon, confetti flew out.
Huang was on the ground, watching in shock as she dropped the jester's body on the ground and stomped on it, his body went poof.
"...That was...random." Isabella commented.
"If you want to fight me for this hand, then go ahead, but I have a feeling this will be a battle you won't win, old man." The woman said with intent, still staring at Huang.
Huang spat.
"You little!" Huang said.
Noah grabbed her by her hand.
"No, stop!" Noah said.
Isabella, before she could do something, looked at Noah and so did the woman.
"What do you want, child?" The woman asked.
"Please, let us borrow that element, once we are done using it, we will give it to you so you can have it for yourself if that's okay, right?" Noah asked.
Isabella looked at the mysterious woman who was silent, she can tell she was taken off guard by Noah for some reason as he got on his knees.
"We need that to save Jordan and miss Cassidy so they don't die, I promise we will give it back to you." Noah said with pleading eyes.
"...Ugh...I..." The woman said, stumbling over her words as she din't know what to say to that.
"Please!" Noah said.
"...Okay, just don't look at me like that again. I...can't resist those eyes." The woman sighed.
"...That worked? Really?" Huang asked, looking confused by her sudden change of demeanour.
Isabella looked surprised as the woman handed the metal fist to Noah who picked it up.
"Thank you." Noah smiled.
"...The reason I give this to you is because you remind me of someone close to your age but that was a long time ago. You can have the element." The woman said.
She looked at Huang and Isabella.
"But I want it back once you are done using it. If you happen to die against that thing, then I'll have to take it along with the Snow element as a bonus, understand?" The woman asked.
"That's fair. I'm sure we'll be fine." Isabella nodded.
"Okay then...I'm not planning on staying around here to be ambushed by my darkest fears so I'm taking off. Good luck." The woman said.
She turned around and began walking before she stopped for a moment.
"...This entire mist, it's the fear element, right? Or atleast a extension of it. I considered the possibility of inhaling the smoke into my lungs and possibly giving me a bit of it's power...but it would be too dangerous and it's not worth the risk in my opinion." The woman said.
And then she continued her walk, waving at them.
"Farewell." The woman said.
"Bye, I hope we can meet again!" Noah waved back at the woman.
"...She is weird." Isabella asked.
"She is more than weird, she is crazy. Good riddance." Huang groaned, standing up and wiping the dust off his shirt.
He turned to Noah.
"Good job with convincing her to give us the Metal element by using your puppy dog eyes, now we have all we need to face that creature." Huang smiled, taking the metal fist.
Noah nodded as he went back to petting his pet.
"...We need to find Cassidy and Jordan first. Do you know where they could be?" Isabella asked, turning to Huang.
"If I had to guess, when we will find those two, the Grinning Ghoul will be close so we need to be careful when that happens. I can try to locate them by sensing their spiritual energy...and they must be." Huang said.
His eyes turned yellow for a moment before he turned to the South.
"There!" Huang pointed in that direction.
"They are there?" Isabella asked.
"Yeah, I can sense their spiritual energy from a distance. We need to hurry." Huang said.
Isabella nodded as the three and the dog began running off.
------
Back in the theater, the Grinning Ghoul sensed the presence of more people approaching.
A full length mirror phased out of the floor just in front of the creature.
It looked into it's reflection as the mirror showed him the image of Huang, Isabella, Noah and his dog running, heading to where Cassidy and Jordan are being kept at.
The Ghoul's grin grew larger, cackling with amusement as it's eyes began to glow, preparing something for it's guests.
------
Huang, Isabella, Noah and Maxwell continued to run and they were getting closer to their location, managing to see a tall building in the distance.
"...Are they inside that place?" Isabella asked.
"I'm sensing them there and there is enough fear energy inside that place to make your skin crawl. We found the Grinning Ghoul's stronghold." Huang said.
Noah looked nervous, as he was still shaken by his last encounter with the Ghoul.
"Don't worry, I won't let that monster get near you, I promise." Maxwell barked and only Noah understood what he said.
Noah slowly nodded.
"R-right!" Noah said.
They eventually arrived in front of the place.
The building they were seeing was a grandiose theater building which had no windows but the front door was opened, releasing massive mist that went into the swamp and above the door was the marquee saying 'The Grinning Ghoul's Playhouse' with the Comedy and Tragedy masks below it.
"...This is the place? A giant theater?" Isabella asked, confused as she saw how out of place this building was in contrast to the rest of the swamp.
"If the sign wasn't a dead giveaway, I'm sure we could of guessed for ourselves that this is the place." Huang groaned.
Noah looked intimidated before he tried to put on a brave face.
"...We should go inside and find miss Isabella's friends." Noah said.
"...Right." Isabella said, taking a moment to mentally prepare herself.
As they were about to enter in the theater, the ground began to shake.
"Sweet coconut Christ, what now?" Huang asked, sighing.
Isabella's knees were shaking while Noah fell on his butt and his dog started barking.
Something massive burst out of the ground just behind them and they turned around.
When the dust cleared away, they could see a gigantic serpent creature that looked quite similar to a Hydra but the most disturbing thing about this creature was that it's entire body was made out of dead Neonytes that were slain in Hastur's invasions.
"W-what is that!?" Noah asked loudly, already looking scared.
"...It looks like one of those things from Greek Mythology, I think they call it a Hydra...but I don't remember it being made out of dead Neonytes." Isabella pointed out as she carefully backed away from the corpse monster.
"Well, isn't this just swell?" Huang deadpanned, looking annoyed as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a gun.
The Hydra roared as it leaped into the air and landed in front of the entrance, causing a shockwave that knocked them on the ground.
"Hey, kid, can you be able to control this thing!?" Huang asked Noah, pointing at the Hydra.
Noah looked at the creature and focused, trying to do so but couldn't.
"...I...don't think so!" Noah denied.
"Great so this won't be so easy after all." Huang said.
The Hydra raised it's clawed hand and began to swipe at the group as they got up and split up from each other.
Maxwell was barking at the Hydra as Noah picked him up and began running to get distance from the monster.
Huang aimed his gun, shooting bullets into the thing's throat but they barely did any damage as it swung it's head towards Isabella, opening it's mouth that was filled with more Neonyte corpses and tried to gobble her up.
Isabella, with no weapon, picked up a rock and threw it into it's mouth before she ran off. The Hydra spat the rock out and began swiping again, smashing through the trees.
Noah threw himself on the ground to avoid the Hydra's blow as he placed his hand into his mouth and whistled.
"
HELP! WE NEED HELP!" Noah yelled out.
A roar was heard and a bear arrived, heeding Noah's call and charged at the Hydra, clawing at it's massive body, scratching through the mountain of corpses it was built from.
The Hydra roared in pain as it clawed the bear and knocked him on the ground, leaving marks on it's body and a concerned Noah ran up to it, wanting to make sure it was okay. The bear was alive but he was in too much of a bad shape to continue the fight.
"I'm sorry, I din't mean to get you hurt like this." Noah frowned.
Huang stared up at the Hydra, seeing that none of their attacks worked and decided to try something else as he looked at his own hands.
"This is gonna get weird again but this will get the job done!" Huang declared.
He turned ghostly and jumped into the Hydra's throat.
The Hydra felt something weird in it's body before it suddenly froze up.
"Huh, where did Mister Guzman go? Noah asked, looking around.
"...I think he jumped into the Hydra's body and is possessing it." Isabella said, staring at the giant beast with the same expression.
The Hydra uncontrollably lifted it's giant hand and sliced through it's own throat, cutting it open and it's head crashed on the ground, the corpses that formed that head fell apart, followed up by it's body.
Huang jumped out of it's body and landed on the ground, no longer a ghost.
"Phew, it's over...ugh, you have no idea how awful that thing's insides smelt like, it's like being inside of someone else's coffin." Huang sighed, placing his hand on his nose.
"It was made out of corpses so I can imagine so..." Isabella said, still staring at the Hydra's head.
Noah looked uncomfortable as he saw it's headless body.
Suddenly, it's neck began to bulge, causing the three to turn around.
"Ah, shit, what now?" Huang asked.
"...If I remember correctly, if you cut off the head of a Hydra, it will just-" Isabella said, raising a finger.
Three more heads made out of corpses burst out, dripping with multi-coloured Neonytian blood.
"Grow more heads." Isabella continued mentioning that fact.
Huang looked at the thing exasperated.
"Daughter of a cock!" Huang cursed.
Noah gulped as Maxwell stood in front of him, barking at the three-headed Hydra.
The Hydra heads roared in anger as they were about to charge at the group.
Then, someone covered by shadows jumped off a tree, leaping towards the sky, being illuminated by the moon before they began to descend down, kicking one of the Hydra heads with enough force to send them crashing on the ground, much to the group's surprise.
"What the?" Huang asked, looking surprised that happened.
The person jumped away from the Hydra and landed in front of them. It was Eamon, his back turned to them and was already in a fight stance, staring at the Hydra.
"...Who are you?" Isabella asked, as she has never seen him before.
"It's Eamon, one of the Guardians. I'm sure he is not here to fight us, I hope." Huang said, surprised to see him.
Eamon turned to the three.
"I never imagined our paths would intertwine again, Huang Guzman." Eamon said.
"Did you come here to help us?" Noah asked, looking relieved.
Eamon nodded.
"I decided to act on my own instead of waiting for the situation to get worse. I will keep this foul creature at bay while you three deal with the creature of fear." Eamon said.
"...Are you sure you can handle it? That thing can regrow it's heads, it will take you a bit to actually finish it off." Isabella said.
"Fear not, I am a Guardian, I may be from the weakest category but I will not fall that easily." Eamon assured her as he stared back at the Hydra, gesturing at it to attack him.
The Hydra heads roared as it got back up and charged at Eamon.
"This is our chance to get in the theater while he keeps it busy, let's go!" Huang said, grabbing the kids by their hands while the dog followed them.
They ran past the Hydra and ran right into the building.
Noah looked behind him and saw Eamon dodging the monster's hits and delivered a swift kick into one of it's chins. Seeing that he can take care of himself, he ran after the others.
-----
They were now inside the theater, standing im the middle of a hallway on a long red carpet but the walls were made out of flesh with posters on the walls.
Isabella looked at the posters, one featured a Cassidy with her arms wrapped around herself, covered in bruises with a title above her saying 'The Love of A Father', the next one showed a burning house with the title 'The Burning of the Son of a Charred Star'
"...Can you feel Cassidy and Jordan's presence?" Isabella asked, looking at Huang.
Huang took a moment as he looked around, trying to get a trace of their spiritual energy.
"...I can feel someone's presence in the upper floor, just above us." Huang said.
Isabella looked forward, seeing a double door at the end of the hallway and nodded.
"We should hurry." Isabella said.
They ran towards the door only for it to open on it's own.
Huge beady red eyeballs with bat wings flew in, staring at the intruders who walked in and they screeched, alarming the entire place of their presence.
"Shit, it knows we are here now! Let's go!" Huang yelled.
They ran away from the floating eyeballs and made it out of this hallway without being attacked.
The four reached a really long circular staircase that could lead them to the next floor.
"Will we get to Jordan or Cassidy if we go this way?" Isabella asked, pointing at the staircase.
"We won't be able to know by sitting here on our butts, now move it!" Huang ordered.
They began running on the stairs as fast as they could.
The Grinning Ghoul was watching from the mirror, standing on it's stage as it raised scythe arms and threw them down.
A giant scythe came down from nowhere, The stairs were sliced into pieces and the group began falling and they were screaming.
The bottom floor opened, leading somewhere painted red and they fell in before the floor closed off.
-------
They continued falling into they landed in a single roller coaster train car that was sitting on a long track.
"...Is this...a roller coaster?" Noah asked, sounding unsure as his dog was sitting next to him.
Isabella looked around and saw that they were inside a gigantic red cave and it was very hot in here as she pulled at her shirt collar.
"It's very hot in here, that much I can tell." Isabella sighed.
"It's probably because of the flames just below us!" Huang said, pointing down.
Isabella and Noah looked down and saw the surface covered in huge flames surrounding the track, much to Noah's fright.
"A-are we in the bad place where bad people go to? But I haven't done anything wrong!" Noah cried out.
The roller coaster vehicle started moving at full speed, going down on the track line before moving upwards.
"I hate theme park rides!" Huang yelled.
"That makes two of us!" Isabella said, having a hard time resisting the urge to vomit and tried to prevent her glasses from falling off.
Noah looked up and gasped.
Three small devils with wings carrying pitchforks descended down, flying around the vehicle, laughing at them with their flashing beady red eyes and grinning as they pointed their pitchforks at the track.
They shot lightning from their pitchforks, shattering a part of the track, making a huge gap between the two sides and the vehicle was about to be plunged into the Inferno from down below.
"We're gonna fall!" Noah pointed out the obvious as his dog barked at the devils.
Huang gritted his teeth before he showed his gun to Isabella.
"Do you know how to use one of these things?" Huang asked.
Isabella looked at the gun with shock and shook her head a few times.
"N-No! I never used a gun before in my life!" Isabella exclaimed.
"Well, this will be your first time using it, shoot at those small creeps to keep them off our asses while I make sure we don't die!" Huang said, shoving the gun on her palm.
"But, how-"
Before she could continue, Huang closed his eyes as he leaned into his seat with his back.
"Now is not the time for sleeping!" Isabella said, looking scared as she looked at the weapon she was holding.
Huang's spirit jumped into the vehicle itself and it suddenly lunged off the track and landed on the other side without falling in the flaming pit, confusing Isabella and Noah.
"W-why did the car jump out like that?" Noah asked.
"
I'm taking control of the vehicle, just make sure my body doesn't fall off into the fire, I'd rather not use a roller coaster car as a vessel for the rest of my life!" Huang exclaimed from inside the vehicle.
"...This is weird. Just, very weird." Isabella commented.
The track continued, doing a few loops before continuing on normally.
A few more devils appeared, shooting at the track, making small gaps as they aimed at the group next.
Isabella lifted the gun, a bit heavy for her, her hand was shaking as she tried to shoot at one of the devils but she missed as one of them flew to the right.
"
You are gonna waste bullets by shooting like that, kid!" Huang said, while leaping from part to the other.
"This is the first time I'm using a gun, what do you expect!?" Isabella asked.
"
Just try to aim carefully at their wings and nothing else!" Huang suggested.
Isabella then uncertain as she glanced back at the devils, closing her eye as she tried to aim at one of the devils' wings with perfect accuracy.
She shot a single bullet and managed to strike one of them in their wings and they began to fall into the fire.
Isabella looked surprised that she was able to hit him before she began shooting at the other two, hitting their wings and caused them to fall.
While she was shooting at them, the track seemed to reach it's end but it was gonna lead them into the fire pit from below and there was another track in the distance, there was a lever placed next at the end of this track.
Huang's soul temporarily left the vehicle and jumped into the lever, pulling it down before hopping back into the vehicle.
The track line extended, connecting itself to the other track and the ride continued normally.
"This is fun!" Noah cheered, not looking that scared anymore.
"No, it isn't!" Isabella exclaimed, missing one of the devils.
More devils began appearing, destroying more parts of the tracks and Huang began making huge leaps to other sides while Isabella was shooting at the devils, managing to shoot a few more before the gun ran out of bullets.
"I'm out!" Isabella said, while holding onto Huang's body.
The vehicle was about to go upwards on the track with continuing as there was another track just below that they needed to land on but the devils flew in front of the end of the track and all of them aimed their glowing pitchforks at the ride together, to unleash a blast that will destroy the vehicle.
"
Hold onto your pants cause this is gonna get messy!" Huang exclaimed from inside the vehicle.
The train car began to speed up, Isabella held onto the car for dear life while Noah held onto his dog, he was having fun as the train car went upwards and crashed right into the devils before flying off the track, sending them down into the flames.
The vehicle landed on the next track and it looks like they were reaching the end of their ride as there were was a diverging point, the main track was leading down into the fire pit and the other line stopped short before it could reach a gigantic gate but there was a lever nearby that they could use.
Huang jumped from the vehicle and right into the lever, pulling it down.
The track line extended and connected to the other side, reaching the gate as Huang moved to the car on the other path and began going towards the gate as it began to slowly open.
His spirit left the vehicle and went back into his body, opening his eyes and leaned forward, placing his hands on his head.
"Damn, that was a rush." Huang sighed.
Isabella immediately gave Huang his gun back, not looking comfortable with it.
"I don't like using that." Isabella justified.
"...Let's do this again." Noah said, looking entertained by this hell ride.
"No." Isabella and Huang said at the same time as the vehicle went inside past the gate.
------
Their ride reached the end as the group got out of the train car and looked around.
They were in a backstage area for actors only and there was a single door at the end of this area called 'Jordan Saint'.
Isabella looked at the door and with caution, turned to Huang.
"Can you sense someone in that room?" Isabella asked.
Huang turned his head to it and nodded.
"Yeah, I can sense someone in that room. Patrick's kid is probably in there." Huang said.
Noah looked at the door and could see smoke peering out from under the door.
"I see smoke!" Noah said, pointing at it.
Isabella quickly rushed to the door and tried to open it but it was locked.
"Jordan! Jordan, are you there!? It's me, Isabella!" Isabella asked, knocking on the door.
-----
Inside, the entire house was falling apart and the flames devoured everything and getting to closer to Jordan who was paralyzed by his own fear, holding onto himself while sitting on the ground, shaking in fear.
"No...no...you're just trying to trick me again." Jordan muttered to himself as the flames were getting closer.
-----
"Jordan, can you hear me!?" Isabella asked.
Looking worried, she looked at Huang.
"Can you try to get in the room and find him?" Isabella asked.
Huang nodded and his form turned transparent, phasing through the door.
He was unharmed by the flames in this state as he walked into the burning house and saw Jordan in the center.
"There you are. Come on, I'll get you out of this place." Huang said as he walked up to him.
Jordan was shaking as a leaf, not looking at Huang.
"No, this is just another hallucination...you're not real." Jordan said.
Huang raised an eyebrow.
"Kid, I'm real as day. Now come on, if you don't get up, this place is gonna collapse or we will be burned alive if you are gonna take your sweet time to get up." Huang said, looking impatient as he tried to grab Jordan by his shoulder to get him to get up.
"I said you're not real, damn it! You're the Grinning Ghoul using someone else's form and you will try to burn me alive! Leave me alone!" Jordan yelled back at Huang, removing his hand away from him.
Huang, looking annoyed, was about to pull him up till a piece of the ceiling collapsed and was about to crash on him before he turned into a ghost and jumped backwards, landing back in the backstage area.
"What happened?" Isabella asked, looking confused after seeing that Jordan wasn't with him.
"That kid is not listening to me, whatever the Grinning Ghoul did to him caused him to lose his freaking mind and confuse me for a hallucination, he is in the same state as Noah was before you snapped him out of it. He is gonna be burned alive when the thing decides to put him out of his misery." Huang said.
Noah's eyes widened.
"No!" Noah said.
Isabella banged her fist against the door.
"Jordan, it's me, Isabella! We're here to save you!" Isabella yelled.
"H-How do I know you are the real Isabella and not a freaky burning hallucination, huh?" Jordan asked from the room.
Isabella, confused, looked at her own hands before looking at the door.
"...Well, I'm not burning for one thing and I don't know how I can prove that I'm a not a hallucination without entering in that room and getting burned myself. But you need to let us help you get out of there before the fire kills you! Just let Huang help you get out!" Isabella said.
"Leave me alone! I'm not falling for your tricks!" Jordan said.
"The kid lost his marbles, there is no way we are gonna pull him out of that room willingly." Huang frowned.
"But we can't let him die in that room just like that! If you were able to save me from my own fear, surely there is a way to save him from his own fear too!" Noah said.
"It's hard to help him when he is not letting us help!" Huang said.
Isabella was thinking, trying to think of a solution fast before his time was up and then looked at the door.
"What can we do to convince you that we are not the Grinning Ghoul in disguise? What will it take to convince you, Jordan?" Isabella asked.
"...I want this fire to go away, I want to be somewhere cold where I can relax, I don't want to be end up like my mom." Jordan said.
"...End up like your m-?...Cold..." Isabella repeated herself.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the snow globe, looking at Huang and Noah.
"We need to give this to Jordan, let him have the element of Snow so he can save himself." Isabella said.
Huang din't seem to like the sound of that idea by looking at his expression.
"Let him become a Omnipotent? That kid? He is irresponsible!" Huang exclaimed.
"Irresponsible or not, he is still a human being and I'm not gonna let him die like that." Isabella said.
She shoved the snow globe in his hands.
"Take this to him so he can break it open and merge with the element before time runs out." Isabella said.
Huang still looked unsure but someone's life was at risk and din't want to be responsible for the death of a kid and so sighed in defeat.
"Fine." Huang said.
He turned to the door and concentrated as his hand holding the globe phased through the door, reaching the other side.
"Hey, Jordan, grab this!" Huang said.
He threw the snow globe and it landed in Jordan's hands, startling him.
"What the hell?" Jordan asked, in confusion.
"Jordan, that snow globe contains the Snow element! Break it open so you can earn it's power and save yourself from the fire!" Isabella shouted.
"...The element of Snow? What kind of bullshit are you trying to sell me here?" Jordan asked, shaking his head.
"I'm not lying, it's the truth, you need to bond with the element before it's too late!" Isabella shouted.
"She is right, you need to become the Omnipotent of Snow, Mister Jordan!" Noah shouted next.
"O-Omnipotent? Wait, who are you?" Jordan asked as he din't recognize Noah's voice.
"My name is Noah, Isabella saved me and she wants to save you too! Just do what she says and you will be saved me, trust in your friend, she is not a illusion of your fear! Just please don't die!" Noah yelled.
Jordan was sitting there, his eyes were shaking as he stared at the glowing snow globe in his hands.
"...If what you are saying is true...then-" Jordan said.
The fire was now close to reaching his face and Jordan stood up.
"AH!" Jordan yelped, dropping the snow globe on the floor and it shattered.
Snowflakes began to flow upwards from the globe's remains, swirling around Jordan, protecting him from the flames.
Jordan, in confusion, looked at himself as he stared at his charred hands.
"...It...doesn't feel that hot anymore...I feel...cold...what it this?" Jordan asked himself in disbelief.
Snowflakes landed on his fingertips and looked up, seeing snow falling from the white sky, landing on his body.
He stared at the sky in amazement before he realized that he wasn't in a burning room anymore and looked around.
He was in the middle of a field covered entirely in snow, including the trees.
"...Where the hell am I?" Jordan asked, under his breath with water vapor coming out of his mouth.
He looked to the right and saw someone in the distance, sitting in front of a bonfire.
Jordan began walking towards the person to take a closer look.
He saw a girl who was his age, she had blue skin, green eyes, short brown hair reaching her neck with two fringes sticking out in front of her eyes, wearing a warm white robe, sitting in front of the fire with her hands placed on her knees as if she was waiting for someone.
Jordan din't know who the girl was but she din't look threatening in his eyes as he walked closer to her.
"H-Hello?" Jordan asked.
The girl turned her head to Jordan, sizing him up before staring at his face.
"...You look cold. Sit in front of the fire, it will help you get warm." The girl said.
Hearing the word fire was enough to get Jordan to walk back.
"I'd...rather not to. I think I prefer to stay in the cold, I like it better this way." Jordan decided.
The girl raised an eyebrow, with a amused look on her face.
"You want to be cold than warm? Heh, you are a odd one. I can barely stand this winter and I was the Omnipotent of Snow. It seems your path will be a lot more different than mine was." The girl.
Her statement confused him.
"...The Omnipotent of Snow? My path? What are you talking about? Who are you?" Jordan asked.
"...Tell me your name and then I will tell you mine." The girl decided.
Jordan raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious but he din't find any harm in saying his name anyways.
"It's Jordan. Jordan Saint." Jordan said.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Rita." Rita said.
"...Okay. Rita...do you know where we are?" Jordan asked.
"We are somewhere in Avalpeak in the Winter Continent." Rita said.
Jordan looked even more confused when he heard that.
"Avalpeak? The Winter Continent? But I was in the Spring Continent just a few minutes ago." Jordan pointed out.
"You're technically still there but not there at the same time, mentally speaking." Rita said, pointing at her own head.
"...You are not making any sense." Jordan said.
"...Yeah, it doesn't." Rita admitted.
She stared at the snowflakes from the sky, they were falling down slowly, landing in her hair and shoulders.
"...I was born here, atleast that's what Cyrus told me." Rita said.
"Cyrus? The old geezer?" Jordan asked.
"The same, but he was a lot younger back when I met him...according to him, when I was a baby, my mother ran away from my father who was a coward, he made a deal with someone and couldn't refuse it, after she discovered that I had the element of Snow, she took me with her and ran before my father would find out." Rita frowned.
"What deal?" Jordan asked.
"I don't know all the details but it wasn't good. Cyrus happened to be in the area and my mom brought me to him to take me to another continent so I can live a better life and she died from the cold...I stayed with Cyrus for a bit and took me to Dahlia and paid some people to take care of me. I learned that there was no snow in the Spring continent and used my power to make it snow, everyone freaked out and believed me to be a witch, my foster family kicked me out and left me to leave in the wilderness to die." Rita sighed, blowing vapour out of her mouth.
"...That's fucked up. Why the hell would they do that? You were just a kid, you din't mean to harm anyone." Jordan said, not looking happy about that.
"...People were scared and din't know who I was past my own power. Then I met Ken and we found more kids who were like us, trying to survive together in a cruel world and try to make things better but someone else had other ideas and killed us in cold blood then after years of silence and peace, my soul got kidnapped by a monster and used me to do his bidding. I had nothing but misfortune ever since I was born but I always tried to put on a happy face so the others wouldn't worry about me, I was trying to hide my pain like a coward." Rita said.
"...That makes us two of us then." Jordan admitted.
Rita turned to look at Jordan, waiting for him to continue.
Jordan sat on the ground, not close to the fire as he stared towards the sky.
"...My mom passed away from a accident that destroyed her and our house and then it was just me and my dad and we live together in a apartment. My dad is busy with court stuff so I do my best to get myself in trouble by skipping class, getting bad grades and pulling stupid pranks to get his attention and make everyone notice me. Putting on a dumb smile on my face and acting like the class clown was my own way of hiding my pain so I wouldn't have to face it..." Jordan sighed to himself.
"...That sounds awful...I'm sorry." Rita said, looking the other way around.
"...I don't care how stupid I have been acting, as long as I'm able to get someone's attention, it's good enough for me. I don't have that many friends, I only hang out with the cool kids but I'm mostly along for the ride and they aren't my buddies or anything." Jordan said.
"...I'm certain you will find friends of your own who will want to be around you. I mean, who wouldn't want to have someone acting like a fool to cheer them up, right?" Rita asked, smiling.
Jordan laughed awkwardly as he rubbed his hand at the back of his head.
"Heh, you are not wrong about that...so, earlier, when you said that you were the Omnipotent of Snow and me following my own path...does that mean...I am a Omnipotent like you and the guys I saw in that Tournament on TV now?" Jordan asked.
"Well, you broke the snow globe and released the element, din't you? You wouldn't be here if you din't bond with my element. So, yes, that makes you the Omnipotent of Snow now." Rita confirmed.
Jordan looked shocked as he looked at his hands, he definitely felt different than before, he can tell so she might be telling the truth.
"So, does that mean I can like make snowballs by snapping my fingers, cause a snow storm and all other cool stuff too?" Jordan asked, judging by his tone, he sounded excited.
"...Uh, yeah, you can do anything that is atleast possible with your element. Just don't go overboard, okay?" Rita asked.
"Eh, no promises...so, are you okay with me having your power?" Jordan asked.
Rita was quiet for a moment.
"...I don't know what to make of you just yet, I have yet to see you in action but I suppose I will be okay with it if you promise me one thing. I'm not asking much, just a small favor to ask of you." Rita said.
"Sure, what is it?" Jordan asked.
"...When you have time, can you go to the Winter Continent, to Avalpeak and find out what my father got himself involved in and caused my mother to run away? I want to get some closure on that. Can you do that for me or am I asking too much?" Rita asked, turning to Jordan, waiting for his answer.
"...I think I can do that. Once we do something about that stupid grinning thing anyways." Jordan nodded.
Rita had a long smile on her face.
"Good. His name is Nicholas Frost, that's my father's name." Rita said.
Rita then stood up as the bonfire died out, a harsh blizzard started, surrounding Jordan and Rita as they stared at each other.
"...I hope you will have a better life than I did. Jordan." Rita said, before she vanished into the blizzard.
"H-hey, wait!" Jordan said, reaching out to her.
There was no response and Rita was gone, he couldn't see her past this blizzard before he stood there.
"...Dude...I'm a Omnipotent now? That's so...cool..." Jordan said, clenching his fists, feeling amazing like he could do anything now with no one being able to stop him.-------
His eyes opened, still staring at his charred hands.
"....Dude, that was heavy. Huh?" Jordan asked.
He turned around and saw that he was still in the burning house and the flames were about to engulf the spot he was standing on.
"HOLY CRAP!" Jordan said.
He blew water vapour out of his mouth at the flames around, the fire began to shrink slowly and then it ceased to be.
"Woah, this is amazing! Hell yeah!" Jordan grinned after seeing the results.
He turned around and blew more vapour on the fire blocking the door, it vanished and then ran to the door, kicking it open and ran out.
-----
The Grinning Ghoul's body contorted, it's hold on Jordan was broken.
The creature snarled in response, gritting it's teeth as it looked into the mirror to see the group reuniting with Jordan outside the burning house.
-----
Jordan closed the door, sighing to himself.
"Damn, that was a close one." Jordan said.
"Jordan!" Isabella said, running up to him.
Jordan turned around to her.
"Oh, hey, Isa. That was pretty intense, huh?" Jordan asked, smirking.
"...I'm glad you are not dead." Isabella smiled.
"Same goes for you. I thought you were a goner for a moment there." Jordan said.
He then looked at Huang.
"Huh? You're Tiffany's dad, aren't you? What are you doing here?" Jordan asked.
"Besides saving you kids, I'm trying to prevent shit hitting the fan by destroying that thing for good. My plan din't involve you becoming the new Omnipotent of Snow, though." Huang said.
Jordan shrugged.
"Well, it's too late to do anything about that. But still, you guys should of seen me back there, that was kickass!" Jordan cheered.
"Language." Noah said.
Confused, Jordan turned to Noah and his dog.
"You're Noah, right? We've been looking all over this place for you." Jordan said, getting to his level.
"If it wasn't for Miss Isabella, I likely wouldn't be here. I'm glad that I was able to help you in your time of need." Noah said.
"Heh, thanks kid. I'm glad that both of us are alive and I'm sure Cassie will be glad too." Jordan smiled, slapping his hand on the boy's shoulder.
Now that he mentioned her, he din't see the park ranger with the others.
"...Hey, where is Cassidy? Did you guys find her?" Jordan asked, sounding concerned.
"She is probably somewhere in this theater building, I imagine. I hope she is okay." Isabella muttered.
"Cassidy is tough as nails, I'm sure she will be fine. So, where do we head off to next?" Jordan asked.
"I can sense her presence somewhere in the next floor. The element of Metal is still in our hands so maybe we can give that to her so she can have the means to defend herself when we will confront the Grinning Ghoul." Huang said, showing Jordan the metal fist.
"...Huh. Metal would suit Cassidy, she has strong hands, I know that from a bitter experience." Jordan commented, rubbing his right arm.
"We should hurry. Take us to the next floor." Isabella said.
Huang nodded and held his hands out.
"Grab my hands and hold onto each other." Huang suggested.
Isabella grabbed onto his wrist while holding Noah's hand who was holding his dog and Jordan grabbed his other wrist.
Huang began to fly upwards, focusing his spirit energy to make himself and the others transparent as they phased through the ceiling.
-----
They phased through the ground and landed on their feet, letting go of each other as they examined the area they were in.
The area they were in was a white expanse with nothing in sight except some graves with tombstones and flying mirrors.
"...What is this place?" Isabella asked.
"It looks kind of trippy." Jordan commented, staring at the sky.
Huang stared at the graves and to his shock, there were tombstones with the letter 'F' with initials and numbers next to them, they were the code names from F and most of them were familiar to them.
"...The past doesn't die that easily, huh?" Huang sighed.
Noah looked at the mirrors, he could see some areas within those mirrors, he walked to one of them and tried to put his hand on it and it went through, it was like liquid.
He pulled his hand out and turned to the others.
"Look at this." Noah said, pointing at the mirrors.
Isabella walked to the mirrors, looking at each of them, some of the areas looked familiar.
The Theater's first floor, the hospital area she was in, the roller coaster ride in Hell, the burning house and areas that were unfamiliar to her.
"...These are areas of the Grinning Ghoul's building. I think we could jump into either one of these through the mirror." Isabella guessed.
"We need to find the mirror where Cassidy's area could be." Huang suggested.
Jordan looked at each mirror and saw a mirror that featured a smashed living room before it showed a image of Cassidy hiding somewhere and crying.
"Hey, that's Cass! She is in trouble!" Jordan said, pointing at that mirror.
A giant tombstone burst out of the ground, getting their attention.
The tombstone rose to the sky with a giant 'F' letter on it and two people sitting on top of that tombstone.
A woman with long black hair and green eyes, wearing a black cloak and sitting next to her was a blonde guy in a blue hoodie.
"Who is that?" Isabella asked.
"...I have a pretty good idea who that is." Huang grimaced, glaring at the people on the tombstone.
The woman had a smug smile as she stood up, raising her arms and puppet strings appears on her fingertips, launching them down and attached themselves to the bodies inside those graves.
The graves began to shake and the corpses of the admins and their allies began to rise from those graves, most of them were recognizable to Huang but the states of their bodies was a different story as most of them looked exactly as how they died, with strings peering out of their chests as the woman was using them as puppets.
"W-what are those creatures!?" Noah asked, standing behind Isabella while his dog barked at them.
"It's a giant army of zombies." Jordan said, looking surprised.
"Those are my former colleagues, the ones who died anyways. I guess this area was planned out for me if by any chance the Grinning Ghoul caught me and tried to bring out my worst fear." Huang guessed, reloading his gun.
While they weren't looking, someone invisible grabbed the mirror leading to Cassidy's fear area and began running off.
"And they took the mirror." Isabella sighed.
Jordan, with a confident smile, stood in front of the group, staring at the F zombies.
"Okay, it's my time to shine now! Prepare to be amazed by the new and improved Jordan Saint!" Jordan announced, aiming his hands at the zombie horde.
"You sure you know how to use this power in combat?" Huang asked.
"Don't worry, I've got this in the bag. I've played many games killing zombies." Jordan grinned, cracking his fists.
"Great." Huang sighed.
A skeleton anthromorphic fish with torn pants that looked similar to Sidra Harpo lunged out.
Jordan opened his hands, his hands were swirling with snowflakes, shooting large snowballs at him, burrying him in snow long with a couple of dead bodyguards from Universe 1 as the rest of the zombie horde began to split up.
Isabella's eyes widened as she quickly backed away from the corpse of Fujiko Kimura who's body was stitched back together piece by piece, clawing at Isabella with her fingers, swinging and missing before Isabella kicked her backwards, that corpse was quite fragile as she collapsed into many, many small pieces, unnerving Isabella as one of her eyeballs rolled towards her.
Allowing the corpse of Dickard Kent with a sliced throat and a missing ponytail to sneak up on her and grab her from behind, while making some really disturbing noises as he wrapped his rotting hands around her torso.
Isabella kicked him in his manhood, releasing herself from his grip and ran off as Huang aimed his gun at his head.
"Even in death, you are still a perverted sack of shit." Huang said.
He shot him right in the head, blowing it off his shoulders.
"Wanted to do that to him since the day I laid my eyes-"
His speech was interrupted by Yaruda's corpse with lifeless eyes rising from his grave, wrapping his arms around Huang's neck as opened his mouth, revealing his sharp teeth to devour Huang.
Huang's face turned red, running out of oxygen and phased through Yaruda's arms before pointing his gun into his mouth and shot a hole through the back of his head, Huang ran off as Yaruda crashed on the ground.
Noah was backing away from three anthromorphic wolves.
Two of them were the wolf brothers, Nickel and Tommy, both covered in cuts and their stomachs were wide open with their organs hanging out and missing their tails and standing in their middle was a tall thin wolf man with brown fur, wearing cracked black shades hiding his yellow eyes and a metallic clawed hand for a left hand, wearing a snazzy red suit jacket and trousers with a similar colour without shoes covered in dirt with a white tank top and suspenders, pulling out a gun and aiming it at the kid's head.
Noah took a deep breath, focusing on the two wolves standing near this well dressed anthromorphic wolf and they immediately turned on the wolf man, bitting into his chest and ripping his guts out. Placing his hand on his mouth in disgust, Noah ran away and Maxwell followed after him.
Jordan was having the time of his life, shooting snow projectiles that had the forms of bullets into zombie crime members from Universe 5 before someone lit his snow on fire and he turned around.
The bloody corpse of the magician Leonidas Cailloux had his wand pointed at Jordan with the headless corpses of Chuo Omesata and Franziska standing next to him, holding their own heads in their hands and behind them was a old wrinkly woman who had a long stitch starting from the top of her head down to her waist, keeping the two sides of her body intact as she released a blast of green energy at Jordan who rolled out of the way before he could get hit.
He sent snowflakes from his sleeves, sending them swirling at the four corpses before it turned into a gigantic tornado of snow, lifting them upwards and left them to spin around in the tornado for a little while.
Isabella tried to look around for the mirror as she saw the invisible person running behind a crew of Metalmen who looked rusty and broken and standing in front of them were three scientists. One of them caught her attention as a man with red eyes, long slick black hair that reached his waist and had a wide forehead, wearing a lab coat on his shoulders, a black buttoned shirt with a red cravat, a white jacket suit, wearing black pants with cobra patterns on them and red pointy shoes. His name tag said 'Hakuja Akuma'. He was standing there, holding a jar containing someone's brain while his entire skin was covered in frostbite, lifeless as a statue.
Huang was running away from the spears being thrown at him from Cleopatra and Lane, standing next to Amenhotep with a snapped neck. Their attacks phased through his chest before he rolled on the ground to avoid the red beam coming from Kazumi Hanzo who had a sword stuck into his chest.
With his hands placed on his head, he looked around to see if he could find any corpses for him to use and to his luck, he saw Kazumi's subordinate, Koshi Buredo, standing next to him.
"That guy was Kazumi's strongest guy so I might aswell use him." Huang said.
His form turned ghostly and jumped into Koshi's corpse, taking control of him as he stabbed his master through his back with a bone blade, his blade burst through his chest before he had the corpse run away and guided it towards Amenhotep and his family with the corpse getting stabbed by their spears before slicing their heads off with a sword made out of his bones that he pulled out of his chest.
"Huang, use that body to fight them so then I can retrieve the mirror!" Isabella said, pointing at the F11 crew.
Koshi's head nodded as he ran towards them, making a secondary bone sword.
The scientists stood in front of the Akuma scientist, the big scientist with black hair who's head was smashed wearing black gloves with the name tag 'Ludwig Von Kaiser' and the other one purple hair with the name tag 'Jason Lithium' began to attack Koshi's corpse, he ducked down and cut their chests open vertically, splitting them in half before launching a bone blade out of his chest, stabbing the Akuma scientist and shattered into ice and then continued his path as he began brawling with the Metalmen while the one holding the mirror that lead to Cassidy began to run and Isabella followed him.
Jordan was blasting the ground with a snowflake beam, covering it in snow, jumping out of the way and watched as assassins from Universe 2 and members of a mafia group from Universe 3 fell on the snow and were sliding down on the ground.
"Hah, that's what you get you bastards!" Jordan laughed, sticking his tongue out at them.
Only to be kicked in the chest by the corpse of Gin Ketsueki, knocking him back as Jordan stumbled backwards before a completely burned up Morgue snuck up on Jordan and bit down on his neck.
"GAAH!" Jordan screamed as that felt really painful.
"
Help him!" Noah ordered, pointing at the wolf brothers.
Nickel and Tommy, after finishing devouring the insides of whoever that wolf was, they began running towards Jordan and lunged at the burned Morgue, knocking her on the ground as they plunged their teeth on her face, ripping her burned flesh out and eating it.
Jordan was gritting his teeth, looking at his bite mark as Noah ran up to him.
"Are you okay?" Noah asked.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine, but damn stings!" Jordan cringed.
Huang, piloting Koshi's body was tearing through the Metalmen, cutting them in pieces with their oil covering his rotting skin before a burned man with a moustache in a brown suit wearing a fedora with the symbol of a red celestial moon on his back, standing on top of a tombstone saying 'F-AC3' and threw some glowing poker cards at Koshi, the cards exploded and blew up his body to bloody pieces before Huang was sent flying, landing near someone's grave.
"Where did that guy come from!?" Huang asked.
Noah saw Isabella chasing after the invisible and looked at his dog.
"Maxwell, go help Isabella." Noah said.
"Okay!" Maxwell barked.
The dog ran towards them and stopped at a spot where the invisible man would run to and he tripped on the dog and collapsed on the ground, letting go of the mirror.
The man turned visible, revealing to be the corpse of the admin of F11, Alistair Eldirass, who's eyes were blank with blood flowing out of his eyes, ears and mouth.
Isabella pulled the mirror from under the Neonyte and showed it to the others.
"I got the mirror back!" Isabella exclaimed.
A puppet string from F attached to the mirror and pulled it out of Isabella's hands and landed in her own hands instead, grinning at everyone while standing on top of her tombstone.
Huang glared as he aimed his gun at F, shooting a bullet right at her face.
Her blonde companion jumped in front of her, taking the shot as the bullet pierced through his skull and collapsed on the ground.
F, grimacing with anger in her eyes, shot a puppet string to a grave near the giant tombstone, it's tombstone just said 'One of the spare Minami's' and pulled her out of the grave before the mastermind jumped off the tombstone, taking Minami and the mirror with her.
Lea-Maria, with a bullet wound, raised her arms and her eyes glew as the remaining corpses ran towards her, forming a crowd and got into position.
F and Minami landed on top of the zombie crowd as their bodies fell apart, their pieces along with the pieces of the corpses that were taken down started to rotate around F and Minami as they were in the center before those pieces began to form something huge.
"...That...looks familiar." Isabella commented, gulping as a huge shadow towered over her, Huang, Jordan, Noah and his whimpering dog.
It was a giant woman that looked very similar to the Epilogue Minami and Fawn formed into once with the help of the Omnipotents, made out of the body parts of the members of F, taking a few earthquaking steps towards them, raising it's fists and brought them down.
Jordan jumped in front of the group, aiming his hands and unleashed a swirling vortex of snowflakes, with enough force to send the gigantic Epilogue corpse stumbling back as it was being covered in a big pile of snow that made it harder for it to walk.
Huang flew towards the giant corpse and phased through it's chest.
A few seconds later, F was thrown out of the snow covered Epilogue and her back smashed against the giant tombstone before she collapsed on the ground.
Huang jumped out of the Epilogue and leaped into the giant tombstone, causing it to fall down and all F could do is watch with wide eyes as the tombstone crashed down on her, breaking into pieces while a big puddle of blood leaked from underneath the tombstone remains.
Huang pulled himself out of a tombstone piece as he stood there, cleaning the dirt off his shirt while glaring at F's corpse hidden by the rubble.
"You deserve a lot worse than this." Huang said.
Without F managing the puppet strings, the giant Epilogue corpse began to fall apart and pieces of many F members were raining down from the sky.
The mirror to Cassidy's area was falling down at the same time and was grabbed by Jordan before it could shatter on the ground.
"WOOHOO! We beat the freaking boss!" Jordan cheered victoriously, holding the mirror above his head.
"...Gross." Isabella said, as someone's head landed next to her.
Noah's face was a bit green as he stared at the pieces of those corpses, looking at Morgue's faceless gaze as he could swear she was staring at him with her eyes.
"Now that we have the mirror, let's get in there and save the girl. That grinning bastard set up this pointless distraction so he can have enough to feast on her fear." Huang said, placing the mirror back to where it was.
"Don't worry, Cass, help is on the way!" Jordan yelled, leaping through the mirror first.
Isabella carefully placed one leg in the mirror before putting the other in and went through with her entire body.
Noah jumped through the mirror, followed by his dog.
And just as Huang was about to get in next, he suddenly feels a spirit nearby before he turned and for a moment, he thought he could see someone small with blue hair and wings standing in front of the corpse pile before they vanished out of sight
He shrugged it off before he went through the mirror next.
-----
They were standing inside a living room, it was in a complete disaster with a lot of things smashed or thrown into the wall.
"...This place is...messy." Noah commented.
"Looks like a tornado struck this place. I hope Cassie is okay." Jordan sighed.
Isabella looked at the floor, picking up Cassidy's hat and saw a shattered photo frame of a younger Cassidy, standing in front of her parents, smiling.
"...I wonder if Cassidy's fear may be related to her family somehow." Isabella muttered.
"
H-hello? Is someone there?" Cassidy's voice asked.
Everyone immediately began looking around.
"C-Cassidy? Cassidy, where are you?" Jordan asked.
"
Jordan? Is that you?" Cassidy asked, her voice sounded shaky.
"And I'm here too, all of us are here to help you. But where are you?" Isabella asked.
"
You have to get out of here, please run!" Cassidy asked from somewhere.
"Run, why? What's going on? You don't sound like yourself here." Jordan said, confused.
"
Go away! If he finds you, he will!-" Cassidy yelled, her voice was coming from the closer under the stairs.
"Who will find us?" Isabella asked.
Before she could get her answer, she heard a raging roar as the living room wall shattered and the brute that resembled Cassidy's father charged in, causing everyone to jump back.
"Holy shit! This guy is massive!" Jordan said.
Cassidy's father grabbed Huang by his throat and smashed him against another wall knocking a expensive vase on the ground, blowing smoke out of his nose into his face.
"
YOU, I REMEMBER YOU! YOU ARE THE BASTARD WHO CALLED ME A DRUNKTARD, AREN'T YOU!?" He asked.
"Well, technically, I was accurate so it's not like I was lying or anything and you smell a lot worse than the guy you are modeled after." Huang said, his voice sounded funny due to the guy's hand wrapped around his throat.
The father let out another roar as he tossed Huang aside like a ragdoll before he turned to face the others.
"
AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU BASTARDS, HUH? ARE YOU THE ONES WHO INFLUENCED MY DAUGHTER AND TURNED HER AGAINST ME!?" The father asked.
"....So that must be her fear. She is deadly afraid of her father..." Isabella said to herself.
"We din't turn her against anyone. You better leave Cassidy alone or we will make you pay!" Jordan threatened, clenching his fists.
"
OH, YOU'RE GONNA WHOOP ME, PUNK!? WELL, GIVE IT YOUR BEST SHOT! ONCE I'M DONE KILLING YOU BASTARDS, ME AND MY DAUGHTER WILL HAVE A LONG TALK ABOUT THE COMPANY SHE KEEPS." Her father responded.
"...What a terrible man." Noah sighed.
Jordan, glaring at the guy, turned to Huang.
"Hey, Mister Guzman, toss me that metal hand, I'll give it to Cassidy, try to keep this bozo distracted while we focus on saving her." Jordan said.
"What am I, a punching bag? Ugh, fine." Huang sighed, reaching his pocket and threw the metal fist at Jordan as he easily grabbed it.
"Hey, drunktard! I'm talking to you!" Huang called out Cassidy's father.
The father charged at Huang again, swinging his fists and they phased through Huang's face.
Jordan, Isabella, Noah and his dog ran towards the closet under the stairs and opened it.
The light from outside brightened the dark closet and they saw Cassidy curled up in a ball and crying in her knees.
"Cassie?" Jordan asked.
Cassidy looked at them.
"Guys, get out of here, I mean it! He is gonna kill you!" Cassidy said.
"...That guy, he is your dad?" Jordan asked.
Cassidy nodded.
"Yes. He is the one who did this to me." Cassidy said, pointing at her bandaged arm.
"...What kind of a man would do that to their own children?" Noah asked.
"...This isn't real. That is just a fear hallucination caused by the mist, that isn't your father." Isabella said.
"H-he sure looks real to me and acts just like him to be a hallucination!" Cassidy cried, her eyes were red from crying.
Jordan stood in front of Cassidy, getting to her level.
"Cass, I'm sorry about your dad but you have to face him. You can't run away from your past forever." Jordan said.
"...But he is stronger than me, he will break my arm like he did last time when he was beating up my mom and I tried to save her. There is no point in fighting him." Cassidy said.
"He won't, because we are with you. He will have to go through us to get to you and he won't win that easily." Jordan said.
The sound of shattering glass was heard in the background and Isabella turned her head to Cassidy.
"...You and Jordan taught me how to be brave and convinced us to save Noah. We are not gonna leave you behind to suffer, we will help you face your fear." Isabella said.
Cassidy looked surprised but was delighted.
"...T-Thank you. But I can't do it, he will just beat me up again." Cassidy frowned.
Jordan showed the metal fist to Cassidy.
"With this, he won't be able to lay a finger on you." Jordan said.
Cassidy wiped her tears as she stared at the fist.
"W-what is that?" Cassidy asked.
"Once you put this on, you will find out what it is. This will help you fight your dad." Jordan said.
"...Jordan..I...I don't know if I can!" Cassidy cried, placing her hands on her head.
Jordan then grabbed her by her shoulders, looking at her in the eyes.
"Cass, do you trust me or not?" Jordan asked, very seriously.
"...I...I trust you." Cassidy nodded.
"Good. Then put the glove on and trust me, this will work." Jordan insisted, putting the metal fist in her hand.
Cassidy just looked at the fist before she looked at her bandaged hand. She slowly held the metal hand above her bandaged hand and shoved it into the metal hand.
"...Okay, now what?" Cassidy asked.
The group turned around and saw Huang being thrown against the wall.
"FROG CRAP!" Huang yelled before he landed on the floor.
The angry father turned around, gritting his teeth as Cassidy slowly stood up, standing behind the group and stared at her father with fear in her eyes.
"
THERE YOU ARE, YOU BASTARDS! NOW I'M GONNA TEACH YOU A LESSON FOR TRYING TO BARGE INTO MY HOUSE AND STEAL MY DAUGHTER FROM ME!" The father roared, charging at them like a bull.
Noah hid behind Isabella while his dog growled at the charging man and Jordan turned to Cassidy.
"Cassidy, punch him now!" Jordan yelled.
Cassidy, however, was completely paralyzed as she couldn't find move a muscle and din't do anything, she remained still.
"I...I..I-" Cassidy started.
"
Hey, get a grip on yourself!" A male voice said.
That voice grabbed Cassidy's attention as a black skinned hand grabbed her by her wrist and caused her to turn around, she was facing a 16 year old boy with black skin, short black hair with black eyes, wearing a long sleeved black robe, he had a angry expression on his face.
"
Are you just gonna stand there and watch him beat up your friends just like that, huh!? Are you a coward!?" He asked.
"...Who are you?" Cassidy asked, looking confused.
"
It doesn't matter right now, use the power inside that hand to face your inner demons and put an end to this. This is your fear, go right up to it and punch it as hard as you can! Don't chicken out on the people who risked their lives to save you! You want to save people, right? So stand the fuck up for yourself and show them what you are made of, don't make me regret letting you have this element, you got that!?" He asked, getting close to her face.
Cassidy, intimidated slightly but encouraged by the man's words, nodded, clenching her fists.
She pulled her hand out of the nameless man's grip and turned to face her father, running in front of the group.
"STOP!" Cassidy yelled, gesturing at him to stop with her own hand.
Her father stopped running and stared at Cassidy with a smile on her face.
"
AH, YOU FINALLY GOT OUT OF HIDING. READY TO ACCEPT YOUR PUNISHMENT?" Her father asked.
Cassidy clenched her teeth, her fists were shaking as the metal glove she was wearing began to glow, a black aura surrounded her bandaged arm.
"Wrong. You are the one who is gonna get punished, dad. I'm not gonna let you harm these people, cause that is my duty as a junior park ranger, to help people in their time of need." Cassidy said.
She took a few steps towards him.
"You put so much fear inside me, all this time I thought I can't win against you after last time but now I realize that I am much more stronger than I realize, more stronger than even you." Cassidy continued.
She stood in front of her father with red eyes and a determined glare on her face.
"And I am not gonna allow you to hurt anyone else again, not on my watch." Cassidy said.
Her father was taken back by this as he took a step back.
"
W-what? Are you talking back to me, giving me a lecture? H-how...HOW DARE YOU! I AM YOUR FATHER, YOU LITTLE SHIT! I MADE YOU!" Her father roared, rising his fist above her head.
"Miss Cassidy!" Noah exclaimed, trying to run to her but was held back by Jordan.
Cassidy's eyes glew black as the bandages around her arm snapped into shreds, revealing her arm now covered entirely in metal as she swinged her metal fist at her father.
"
I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU ANYMORE!" Cassidy shouted.
She punched him right in the face and send him flying into the wall, breaking right through it.
Cassidy's arm was still raised, glaring at him while the others stood there in the background with surprised looks on their faces.
"Wow..." Isabella said, speechless.
"Damn...I'm never gonna piss her off again." Jordan said, gulping to himself.
Noah looked happy however.
-----
Back in the theater room, the Grinning Ghoul gasped as his control over Cassidy's fear was broken aswell.
Gritting it's teeth, it raised it's head and let out a otherworldly shriek, echoing in the entire theater complex.
-------
Cassidy stood there and saw that her father was unconscious before his entire form turned pitch black and disappeared from sight.
She took a moment to catch her breath, relaxing before she looked at her metal arm, looking at it curiously, clenching her fist as she flexed her metal arm.
"Wow, my arm..I feel so...strong." Cassidy said.
When she looked up, she was in a entirely different area all together.
She was in the middle of a large city with buildings built out of metal encased in a large metal dome and around the dome was a giant forest of iron trees covered in snow.
"...Where am I now?" Cassidy asked.
"Can't you tell? Just look at your arm and then at the buildings around you." The same voice from before said.
Cassidy turned around and looked up to see the same boy from before, standing on top of a really huge metal building, his arms were crossed and looked down on her with a proud smile.
"It's about damn time you came to your senses, I was getting worried there for a second." He said.
"...Excuse me, but who are you?" Cassidy asked.
"Name's Ken." He said.
He jumped off the building and landed in front of her and stood up, he was quite taller than her despite her being a year older than him.
"Sorry for shouting at you earlier but I figured that you needed some encouragement and couldn't hold myself back. It was pitiful watching you stand there and do anything while he was wailing on your friends." Ken said.
"...You could of been a bit nicer about it but I understand. Thank you, I don't know how to repay you." Cassidy said.
"Just promise me you won't freeze up like that again and we're square." Ken said.
Cassidy nodded.
"Right...But that glove I was wearing. This is your's?" Cassidy asked, pointing at her metal arm.
"The power inside that thing used to be mine but now it's yours. You are the new Omnipotent of Metal." Ken said.
"...Omnipotent? Like the ones from the tournaments?" Cassidy asked, blinking in surprise.
"Just like them. But your power is different from their's, every Omnipotent power is different and unique in their own way, including the user." Ken said.
He stepped closer to Cassidy.
"I can tell that you have a lot of potential for great things. You are a leader type like I was once and you can lead the group you are with to greater heights. When I was born in this city, these people were only interested in the power inside me and saw me as a weapon but thanks to my uncle, I got out, lived in another town but it din't last for too long and found a group of people who were just like me, we set out to change the world but we never had the chance." Ken said.
He pointed his finger at her.
"As the official Omnipotent of Metal, it's up to you to maintain stability between all worlds so they can stay united for a long time." Ken said.
The metal covering Cassidy's arm went back into her skin, without the bandages, her arm was slightly red and held it with her left hand.
"...This is gonna take a while for me to get used to this but...I'll do the right thing if that's what you are asking of me." Cassidy said with a proud smile.
Ken gave her a thumbs up and nodded.
"See ya." Ken winked.He walked away from Cassidy, going inside a metal building with light coming from inside that building before the area changed and Cassidy was back in the ruined living room.
"Cass? Are you okay? You've been kinda standing there for two minutes or so." Jordan asked.
Cassidy turned around, looking happy.
"Yup, I'm fine. Thanks guys, for all of your help." Cassidy said.
Isabella walked up to her with her ranger hat in her hand.
"...This belongs to you." Isabella said, showing her the hat.
Cassidy gladly picked up her hat and placed it on her head.
"Thanks, I would feel naked without it." Cassidy laughed.
She looked around and Huang laid on the floor, rubbing his head.
"Mister Guzman? What are you doing here?" Cassidy asked.
"Long story short, I'm trying to stop the Grinning Ghoul from killing everyone and I'm the Omnipotent of Spirit, the kid is the Omni of Animals, the dork is the Omnipotent of Snow and now you are the Omnipotent of Metal. Every person in this room is a Omnipotent except Isabella and the dog, basically." Huang said, gritting his teeth in pain after being thrown around in the room.
"...Oh. That's...interesting. I guess nearly all of us are Omnipotents now." Cassidy blinked.
"Hell yeah, you better believe it. We're gonna kick that grinning jerk's ass back to Hell in no time." Jordan grinned.
"Yeah, we will." Cassidy nodded.
She looked at Noah and walked up to him.
"Noah, I'm so relieved to see that you are okay. You aren't hurt, are you?" Cassidy asked, lowering down to talk to him.
"No, I'm okay....I was very scared but thanks to all of you, I'm safe. All of you are the bravest people I have ever known." Noah smiled, putting a hand on his chest.
Cassidy smiled back, putting her hand on his shoulder.
"You are brave too, kid. Don't forget that." Cassidy said.
"If we are done with the reunion, we need to find the Grinning Ghoul, it's gonna come after us now that we prevented it from extracting your darkest fears. It must be very pissed off now." Huang said.
"Not as pissed off as the rest of us are, I'm gonna make that thing pay for putting us through this torture." Jordan frowned.
"Right. So, where do we find the Grinning Ghoul?" Cassidy asked.
Isabella was quiet, stepping back before she bumped into someone large and felt a shiver down her spine as she slowly turned around and her eyes shrunk.
"...Guys?" Isabella asked.
The Grinning Ghoul was standing just behind Isabella, staring at everyone.
The other four turned around and jumped back.
"Shit, it's here!" Huang said.
"So, you want fight us now, punk?" Jordan asked, ready to cover him in snow.
The Grinning Ghoul, instead, wrapped his sleeves around Isabella, grabbing her and levitated upwards, going through a screaming purple void that opened on the ceiling and closed off before they could hear her gasp.
"MISS ISABELLA!" Noah shouted in shock, reaching to her before she vanished.
"F-fuck, hey, Tiffany's dad, can you pinpoint her location and find out where that thing is taking her to?" Jordan asked, turning immediately to Huang.
"I can sense her soul's essence just a few floors above us and she stopped at the last one. And considering how the last two floors were, it will take too long if we're gonna deal with the rest of the shit the other floors have." Huang frowned.
Cassidy stared at the ceiling, clenching her fists with a angry expression.
"We don't need to. We'll get there by force if we have to." Cassidy snarled.
Her entire body turned into metal, including her clothes as she leaped towards the ceiling and smashed through it, reaching the next floor and then jumped again, smashing through another ceiling and continued to do so till they reach the final floor.
Huang, Jordan and Noah stared at the holes she was making.
"Holy crap." Jordan whistled.
"Well, that's one way of getting there without too much hassle. Now let's go after her." Huang said.
Jordan and Noah grabbed him by his wrists as Huang started flowing through the hole while Maxwell wrapped his paws around Noah.
-------
Cassidy, in her metal form, burst out of the floor and arrived in a large hallway located in the last floor and Huang, carrying the others, arrived there as soon as she landed and they looked ahead.
There was a gigantic ape with beady red eyes covering his entire body except his face, wearing a loincloth and holding a giant axe, standing in front of a double door with the Grinning Ghoul's face on it.
"Isabella is right past that door but we need to get past that dumb gorilla somehow." Huang said, pointing at the door.
"Then leave it to me." Cassidy said, cracking her metal knuckles.
The giant ape roared, pounding it's chest with it's fists before it charged at the group swinging it's axe at them.
"Crap!" Jordan gasped, ducking down to avoid getting his head cut off.
Noah held his dog and jumped on the ground to avoid getting hit.
Huang turned intangible and the axe phased through his body.
Cassidy began charging at the ape who brought the axe down to hit her and it collided with her metal fist, smashing right through the blade and punched the gorilla in the face.
The gorilla stumbled backwards from that hit before Cassidy jumped towards it, landing a series of metal punches on it's entire body while yelling out 'RA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA' noises as she was punching the ape in it's eyes before delivering a kick into it's stomach.
"Damn, she is wailing on that thing without any problems!" Jordan blinked.
"I don't understand why she is screaming that gibberish but it works for me." Huang shrugged.
Cassidy stopped her punches, landing on her feet as the ape collapsed on it's knees, holding onto it's sides before she walked up to it, grabbing it by it's legs and began twirling around like a ballet dancer before throwing that ape's body right into the door, smashing through it and landed on the floor.
The eyes on it's body flew out of the ape, revealing to be the red eyeballs with the bat wings, ascending upwards as the eyeless ape's body vanished.
Cassidy wiped the dust off her metal hands.
"So much for a bodyguard, I barely broke a sweat. Now let's hurry, Isabella needs us!" Cassidy said, running into the room.
The guys consisting of Huang, Jordan and Noah followed after Cassidy into the room.
They arrived in a large theater stage room, going past the rows of empty seats and stopped as Cassidy looked ahead.
On the stage, they found Isabella strapped to a operating table, bandaged nurses standing next to her placed her inhaler on a table with surgical tools placed on it but no sign of the Grinning Ghoul.
"Isabella!" Cassidy cried out with wide eyes.
Isabella looked at the group with relief in her eyes.
"G-guys..." Isabella said, looking at her inhaler.
Cassidy immediately tried to run towards the stage and save her.
Then the screaming purple void appeared on the floor in front of Cassidy and the Grinning Ghoul floated out of the void, it closed and landed in front of the group, staring at them with it's trademark grin.
"Damn you!" Cassidy cursed, swinging her fist at his face.
Another screaming purple void opened up and the Grinning Ghoul fell through it before Cassidy could even touch and it closed.
"Huh, where did it go?" Jordan asked, looking around.
"I...don't know." Noah said, looking nervous while his companion stood close to him.
"Ugh, what do you even want from us!? Why are you doing this!?" Cassidy yelled out at the ceiling.
Then, they heard it's distorted voice echoing through the theater stage.
FEARThe Grinning Ghoul came out through another screaming purple void, right behind Huang who turned around and yelped, getting away from it and stood next to Cassidy.
The creature opened it's fog filled mouth, words came out but it's mouth din't move.
It's about fear, humans. In a time before the rays of the Sun ever touched this small fragment of existence you call Earth when the Gods were the monarchs of the Cosmos, A set of elements were crafted and crashed on another Earth, I was among those elements. A more primitive species of humans fought against one another to claim the elements as easily as you could steal candy from a infant.
"...T-the Gods?" Noah asked, confused by what he was saying.
"It's is talking about Universe 0." Huang guessed.
The Grinning Ghoul just tilted it's head.
I am the element of Fear. I am that which makes humans flee from Death, tremble from the sight of physical deformities and close their eyes to look away, granting them nightmares that eat away at their sweet dreams and cause them to lose sleep, generating sweet screams that bring joy to my ears and make your skin crawl. Yes, I am Fear.
"So, you're not a ghost, you're just some cosmic alien thing that crashed on the planet from space? What is this, a bad space horror story or something?" Jordan asked, refusing to believe such a thing.
During my stage of infancy, I was sealed within a box with other elements, a box known to a few as the Pandora's Box, many humans craved for my power but none were able to wield it and I was sealed away again with 11 other elements before my potential could be realized. Then, a human boy, released me and the elements from my prison and I bonded with his body, he had difficulties controlling the powers he gained. The boy known to your world as Jarilo, one of the legendary Omnipotents. My power truly awakened when his worst fear of losing his loved ones was realized but before I could expand, my host died too soon and I was sent away by Ceres and Pax, I landed in this Universe.The Grinning Ghoul then began to chuckle, it's grin was wide.
As this world began it's legacy, the elements of this Universe were under the care of a woman who had affection towards Jarilo who released the elements once again in the air and I bonded with a baby known to you all as Hastur. And he was the perfect one, for he showed how truly powerful fear can be and how powerful I am. When the deaths of his allies caused his worst fear to realize, it exploded, paranoia overloading his senses and became a being that lived to bring fear to many, he nourished me with so many different types of fear in every world we travelled to and I became bigger and stronger. I couldn't asked for a better host, he showed me that Fear is the ultimate power of Godhood."And once Hastur died, you came back to Earth. Our Earth" Cassidy continued, glaring at the creature.
With my growth finalized, I no longer needed a host, I became powerful enough to have my own form but I still needed more fear to reach my full potential. I landed in this forest and began to fill it with my influence, I have gained more fear from my first victims and the legend of the 'Grinning Ghoul' the name they have given me spread around like a virus and I have claimed more victims by draining them of their fears, foolish children who tried to prove their bravery to others by facing me, but so many have failed spectacularly but their foolishness gave me more strength that I need for my own purpose, the reason I was born to begin with."What purpose? What the hell do you want besides fattening yourself up with nightmares from little kids?" Jordan asked.
The Grinning Ghoul suddenly appeared in front of Jordan, shrieking in his face.
"Ugh!" Jordan said, startled as he jumped back, aiming his hands at the Grinning Ghoul.
And there it is, the expression of fright, that is I want to see on every face born in every reality.
It pointed it's scythes at the group.
Can your small minds even comprehend what I could do with this power? To have the power to instil fear in beings that have never experienced fear before? Beings that are beyond humans and other creatures?Thinking about it's questions, Noah came to a realization about what the Grinning Ghoul truly wanted.
"...You want power over the Gods?" Noah asked, gulping slightly as his dog was already trembling.
Yes. To grant them the same fear that has touched many. I will bring fear to every world and every being, everywhere. Forever lost in a mist of FEAR!
"No one would even want that! No one in their right mind would ever want to live in terror forever, who are you to decide that for everyone!? You don't have the right!" Cassidy shouted, gritting her teeth.
Isabella, who was listening to what it had to say, stared at the back of it's head.
"...Then what?" Isabella asked.
The Grinning Ghoul tilted it's head again upon hearing Isabella's question.
Hm?"...Do you truly want to bring fear to everyone and that's it? Can't you think of another way to use fear in some other way besides scaring everyone to death? Is bringing fear to everything in existence the only way to establish your existence to everyone? Surely, there must be something else you can do, not just...trap everyone in their own fears forever..." Isabella said.
The Grinning Ghoul's head twisted it's head 180 degrees, staring at Isabella.
That...is my purpose. This is what I live for, this is what I crave for, this is what I exist for. I am fear incarnate, without the fear from others, I would have no reason to exist. And I do not wish to cease to be, I want to live forever, in a beautiful Cosmos covered in mist where I can play as much as I want in this playhouse that I have created. I doubt that a small mind such as your's would be able to fathom my purpose.
"...Maybe not...but still." Isabella said.
"Like we give a shit about what you want, you din't give a shit when you turned our worst fears against us! And now with these awesome powers, we are gonna kick your scrawny ass back to space where you belong, you grinning shit!" Jordan declared, snowflakes were swirling around his arms.
"Living in fear forever is something not many people would want to happen. Fear exists and many people are scared by something but we can't be scared by it forever, at one point we need to get over our fears so we can grow as people, those who can't face their own fears are cowards, just like me before you forced me to face my worst fear and regain my courage. For the sake of everyone I want to keep safe, we will defeat you right here, right now!" Cassidy said, pointing her finger at the Grinning Ghoul.
"...You are not a God. You are a demon and we will make you return to the realm you came from." Noah said, trying to look brave and his dog barked in agreement.
"I don't give a shit about what happens to the rest of the worlds but if you lay a hand on my family, I will tear you pieces!" Huang declared.
The Grinning Ghoul turned it's head back to them, shaking it in amusement.
Foolish creatures. I control fear in every being born with a consciousness, no matter how much courage you show, you can never delete fear from your hearts. And once I will harvest your fears, my strenght will reach a new height and the mist will shroud this small planet. I will exist everywhere in reality and all of it's fears belong to MY will!The four got into a battle stance as The Grinning Ghoul's scythes began to extend, raising them towards the ceiling as the spotlight covered it and the group.
Even if I have to dissect your bodies and souls to gather your fears with my own hands.The stage floor opened in the center as the corpse of a crime boss sitting in front of a organ appeared on stage, playing a
tune fitting for this battle.
The Ghoul used it's scythes to cut it's own cloak to shreds, revealing it's complete form to everyone else who watched in shock.
"What the hell!?" Jordan asked.
"Disgusting." Cassidy frowned.
The Grinning Ghoul had 8 hairy spider legs, a really thin pale torso with skin tears revealing more twisted mouths, they were all over it's body, the hunch on it's back was it's grinning face only more gigantic, with scythes for arms, two thin arms with gigantic claws peering out of it's sides with two green tentacles growing out of it's abdomen and a giant red eyeball peering through the top of it's head.
All the mouths opened, the Grinning Ghoul's words echoed in the stage.
Now, humans, scream, scream as hard as you can as I will relish in your terror!The Grinning Ghoul elongated it's scythes, sending them towards the group.
"WOAH!" Jordan yelled as he jumped back, barely avoiding the scythes as one of them managed to cut at his cheek, leaving a bloody scar.
"Be careful, this thing is not playing around!" Huang said, grabbing his gun and his form turned ghostly.
The Grinning Ghoul began swinging it's long scythes around while walking on it's spider legs.
They phased through Huang's body while Noah ducked, crawling away from the huge scythes that could kill him in one blow and Jordan stumbled backwards as the scythes nearly cut through his chest, leaving tears on his shirt.
Cassidy charged at the Grinning Ghoul like a bull, one scythe that clashed against her metal armor for skin made a ringing noise as she reached the Grinning Ghoul, beginning to punch him in the face several times.
One of the two tentacles grabbed Cassidy by her foot, lifting her up and slammed her into the ceilling before painfully dropping her on the floor.
The Grinning Ghoul raised the tentacle again and slammed Cassidy against the floor so hard, it shattered and began dragging her through the floor, tearing through it before letting go of her leg and sent her flying till she landed in one of the spectator seats, there were a few cracks on her metal skin but other than that, she was fine for the most part, just a little dizzy from being thrown around so much.
"Hey, you don't treat a lady like that, pal! Eat this!" Jordan yelled, thrusting his hands forward.
He unleashed a onslaught of snow projectiles, pelting at it's body till one of the mouths opened, releasing a wave of fire that melted through all the projectiles and was reaching Jordan.
Jordan, with wide eyes, got down on the ground and avoided getting burned, though a bit of fire landed on his cap which he immediately noticed.
"Ah, crap!" Jordan said, grabbing his cap and blew at it to make the fire go away.
"Stop clowning around!" Huang said.
He was shooting bullets at the Grinning Ghoul, making contact with it's body and then it turned around, facing Huang.
Tonight will be your last time when you will get in my way!The Grinning Ghoul opened it's claws, forming two purple spheres and launched them at Huang, coming at him from left and right.
Huang quickly phased through the floor but the spheres went right after him into the floor as a bright purple light peered out of the holes made in the floor when Cassidy was dragged through it like a ragdoll, the sound of a high-pitched scream was heard when the spheres made contact and Huang was sent flying out of the floor with smoke coming out of him and looked more pale than usual, shivering slightly.
"Are you okay?" Noah asked, running towards him.
"They din't hurt me...but they sure made me feel a bit more intimidated, those blasts were generated by hear." Huang cringed as he could feel the intimidation in his bones.
Noah looked towards the Grinning Ghoul as another one of it's mouths opened, releasing a huge tongue that wrapped itself around Jordan's neck, lifting him upwards before smashing him into the floor.
With a glare on his face, Noah's eyes began to glow and concentrated on it's spider legs.
The Ghoul's legs began to move on their own, releasing Jordan from it's grip as they began walking towards a wall and slammed it into the wall.
Noah was waving his hands as he continued to slam the Grinning Ghoul around, taking it to one wall and smashed it's body against before smashing it into another wall.
While it was getting slammed around, a scorpion tail grew out of it's waist and elongated towards Noah, with enough venom to inject into his body and cause him to die.
Maxwell jumped upwards, grabbing onto it's scorpion tail with it's teeth and bit into it so hard, green slime came out and din't let go off it, causing the venom to land on the floor and melted right through it.
The Grinning Ghoul cut off it's tail with the claw, letting the dog fall on the ground along with the scorpion tail as it's giant face on it's back opened it's mouth, releasing the bat winged eyeballs and flew towards Noah, each of them were shooting purple lasers at him, hitting his body, each laser made a screaming noise as Noah's body was stunned with fear, his skin turned pale and he collapsed on the floor, causing him to shake uncontrollably as Maxwell ran to him, whimpering as he tried to see if his master was okay
With his control over it's spider legs broken, the eyeballs were about to shoot at the rest of the group.
Then Huang, after getting over the intimidation effect, jumped right into one of the eyeballs and took control, shooting lasers at the other eyeballs instead, causing them to poof into smoke and then switched it's aim to the Grinning Ghoul, shooting fear lasers at it.
The Ghoul used it's scythes to block the lasers and one of it's claws elongated again towards the air, cutting the eyeball in half and releasing Huang who was falling down but was grabbed by Cassidy before he could land.
"Phew, thanks." Huang sighed in relief.
"Always here to help." Cassidy said, before placing him on the floor.
She turned her attention to Isabella, who was still strapped to the table, watching with hard breaths as one of the bandaged nurses walked towards her, holding a syringe.
"Now, miss, sit tight as I administer anesthesia into your body so you won't feel a thing once we begin the surgery." The nurse said, ready to plunge it into her neck.
"
NOT ON MY WATCH!" Cassidy yelled, rushing over to the stage and leaped, landing right on it as she ran towards Isabella.
There were five bandaged nurses in total and Cassidy punched one of them right into the ceiling, she grabbed two of them by their heads and slammed together before throwing them aside and only one of them was carrying a huge hammer and tried to smash Cassidy's face with it.
The hammer smacked into her face, making another crack on her armor before Cassidy ripped the hammer out of her hands and held it above the nurse's head and slammed it down on her, smashing her head into a bloody paste and threw the bloody hammer aside as she reached the final nurse.
She grabbed her by her shoulder and turned around her, headbutting her bandaged face before uppercutting her into the ceiling.
Cassidy ripped the restraints keeping Isabella stuck to the table and helped her stand up.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" Cassidy asked.
Isabella shook her head, looking a bit distant, uncertain if this was most from the atmosphere or something else as she looked at everyone fighting the Grinning Ghoul and tried to reach for her inhaler.
The Grinning Ghoul turned around, spotting Cassidy and Isabella before it leaped into the air and landed on the stage with force, smashing the operating table as it landed before smacking Cassidy off the stage with it's claw and smacked Isabella on the floor by hitting her in the back of her head with a tentacle, causing her to drop her inhaler and her glasses fell off.
Looking pained by that hit to her head, she began crawling towards her glasses.
The Grinning Ghoul jumped again and landed in the middle of the stage, releasing a terrifying shriek from it's multiple mouths that paralyzed the bodies of it's opponents for a few seconds and it began to spin around.
Not being able to move, Huang and Cassidy got struck by the spinning creature of fear, sending them crashing into the wall and then sent Jordan and Noah flying upwards, they landed in one seat from the spectator gallery.
The Grinning Ghoul stopped spinning and it's mouths began to shooting more purple lasers of fear towards the others while they were stunned.
Cassidy grabbed Huang and landed on the floor before they could get hit.
"Shit, none of our powers are able to even damage it, what the hell are we supposed to do!?" Huang asked, looking frustrated.
"...Maybe our individual attacks can't hurt it but maybe coordinated ones can. If we combine our powers and work together, we can do some serious damage." Cassidy said, standing up.
She turned to look at Jordan and Noah.
"Guys, get over here, we have some teamwork to do!" Cassidy yelled.
"Ugh, just hold on a second!" Jordan said, dragging Noah towards her as the fear effect had yet to wear off on him.
Cassidy turned to Isabella.
"It's too dangerous for you to get involved to stand aside for the time being!" Cassidy said.
Isabella did not nod as she was busy finding her glasses, having a lot on her mind right now.
The group gathered together again as they surrounded the Grinning Ghoul, cackling at them.
"Oh, I'll give you something to laugh about you son of a bitch." Jordan said, clenching his fists.
He aimed his hand, launching large snowballs at it.
The Grinning Ghoul opened it's mouth, shooting a giant wave of fire which destroyed the snow and was about to reach Jordan who din't move.
Cassidy jumped in front of him and blocked the fire with one hand, barely hurting her as she began to push it back towards the Grinning Ghoul who took a few steps back before Cassidy punched through the fire, splitting in half and ran to the Grinning Ghoul, delivering a series of punches and kicks into it's mouths while doing the 'RA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA' battle cry again.
Stunned by her attacks, she grabbed one of it's tentacles, lifting it off the ground and began spinning around very fast and used her other fist to punch through the tentacle, tearing it from the Grinning Ghoul's body and it smashed it's giant face on it's back against the stage.
"Yeah, suck on that, bitch!" Jordan laughed.
The Grinning Ghoul got back on it's spider feet, stumbling around from all of that.
Huang concentrated and spat two ectoplasmic spheres out of his mouth, holding them and released them into the air, growing and taking the forms of his two dead bodyguards, Dean and Dave, carrying two tommy guns and started shooting bullets into the Grinning Ghoul's chest.
In retaliation, the Grinning Ghoul began to swipe at them with it's scythe arms, they phased through their ghostly bodies.
As it was distracted, Huang flew around the thing and jumped into one of it's claws, possessing it.
"Okay, kid, do your worst!" Huang said, signaling at Noah with the claw.
Noah nodded as he took control of it's spider legs and smashed the Grinning Ghoul into the wall again while bullets were flying into it's chest.
Huang used it's claw and cuts off the remaining tentacle before he cuts off the other claw, they fell on the floor.
Then he tried to cut off the Grinning Ghoul's head by reaching towards it's neck with it's claw but at the last second, the Grinning Ghoul used it's scythes to cut through it's remaining claw and Huang jumped out of the claw as it fell down.
The Grinning Ghoul, while being shot at, opened the mouth from it's giant face and released a swarm of flesh eating locusts that began to spread out, they began devouring the ectoplasmic versions of Dean and Dave, they din't leave a trace as the rest began to reach the others.
Noah waved his hands and set his glowing eyes on the locusts, forcing them to remain still.
"Mister Jordan!" Noah yelled.
"You got it, little dude!" Jordan yelled.
He launched a snowblake beam at the locusts, covering them in snow before they collapsed into piles of snow that melted on the ground.
The Grinning Ghoul began gritting it's teeth as it shrieked at the air, more screaming purple voids appeared on the ground and coffings popped out, they opened and there were dead Neonyte warriors inside those coffins that were killed by Hastur, some of them were wearing military uniforms and others were dressed as Space Pirates.
They ran out of their coffins and began blasting at the group immediately with their abilities as Jordan placed his hands on the floor, creating a snow dome around them to shield them from their attacks as Cassidy burst out of the dome, leaping towards the ceiling.
She held her fists above her head, roaring as she landed down and smashed them into the floor, unleashing a shockwave that sent the dead Neonyte flying in many directions, their bodies fell to pieces as they crashed into the walls while the Grinning Ghoul was knocked backwards by that shockwave.
Not giving it any chance to counteract, Jordan launched a massive snowball into the Ghoul, knocking it back again.
Huang began hitting him with ghostly spheres, covering the Ghoul in ectoplasm.
Noah clenched his fists and caused it's spider legs to bend and crack, now it was unable to move out of the way as Cassidy charged at it, aiming her fist while the Ghoul defended itself with it's scythes
"
HA!" Cassidy roared, breaking the scythes, punching the Ghoul into it's chest and sent it flying into the wall, smashing through it.
Isabella picked up her glasses and stared in disbelief as she saw the Grinning Ghoul smashing through the wall.
"Heh, yeah! Who is screaming now, bitch?" Jordan cheered.
"...Did we do it? Did we defeat it?" Noah asked.
"Don't celebrate yet. We din't kill it." Huang said.
Cassidy waited for the smoke to clear out.
The Grinning Ghoul's posture was bent awkwardly without any limbs and it's spider legs were damaged from the fight but despite that, it was still grinning and began to laugh hollowly.
Ha
Ha
Ha
Ha
"Ready to throw in the towel yet? Cause we keep this up all night if you want." Jordan suggested.
"...The way you are laughing right now suggests you might still have an ace up your sleeve." Cassidy said, looking serious.
How...interesting that you simple life forms have managed to master these powers in such short notice and used them against me efficiently. Yes, this spectacle has been quite entertaining, but our fun has to come to a end, little humans."Shit, what is it gonna do now?" Huang asked, sweating slightly.
Noah stood in front of his dog just in case.
Jordan and Cassidy were ready to attack it.
Isabella just stood there and watched since that's what she is able to do at the moment.
It's body got back into shape as the eyeball on it's head started to shine and all the mouths on it's body began to open, inhaling something.
Suddenly, the giant mist from the swamp burst into the theater, going past the new Omnipotents as all of it got sucked right into the Grinning Ghoul's body.
"It's the mist! What is it planning to do with it?" Cassidy asked.
"That entire mist is the energy of it's power it had to spread out in the entire swamp to affect us and now it's taking all that energy back into it's body!" Huang said, sweating bullets as he stepped away from the fear creature.
"What does that mean!?" Jordan asked, with shaking eyes.
"We were fighting this thing in it's weakest form and now it's probably gonna regain it's actual form and fight us again!" Huang explained.
"It's weakest form!?" Cassidy asked, glancing at Huang.
Noah stood there, gulping to himself as he looked terrified while Isabella just watched.
All the mist was sucked into it's body, it's eyes were glowing as it's body began to bulge, laughing at the Omnipotents.
Little humans, prepare yourselves. Now, I will show you the true meaning of pure TERROR!The Grinning Ghoul's body exploded into fog that flew upwards in the form of a giant pillar that reached the ceiling.
The mist began to fill up the entire stage as room itself began to change, the walls and the floor turned into flesh and more beady red eyeballs peered out of the walls, staring at the group.
"Well, this shit isn't good!" Jordan said.
"No, it really isn't!" Cassidy said, gritting her teeth.
"We're fucked!" Huang yelled.
Noah was quiet and his dog began trembling.
Isabella stared up at the giant pillar of mist as it began to form a physical form and the spotlight highlighted it.
It took the form of a gigantic humanoid being floating close to the ceiling with huge bat wings peering out of it's back, with a pale ghost face with empty eye sockets, black lips curled into a long grin with waving shadow hair, muscular torso with blue tattered skin that was showing off it's muscle tissues and more of it's skin began to fall off with huge clawed hands, a gigantic Grinning Ghoul face on it's abdomen and gigantic tentacles for legs with a swarm of bat winged eyeballs flying around it.
"DUDE, IT'S FUCKING MASSIVE!" Jordan gulped.
"It took the form of a Susanoo or a Titan or whatever! It's big, that's all that matters!" Huang yelled.
"There has to be a way to beat it, I'm not letting that thing win just because it expanded it's size." Cassidy said, hitting both her metal fists together.
Isabella just frowned, looking at her own hands.
"...What am I supposed to do against it? I...I'm not like them." Isabella muttered.
The giant being, without using it's mouth, spoke to them with a deep distorted echoing voice.
I AM THE EMBODIMENT OF FEAR ITSELF, THE SCREAM MAKER, THE GENERATOR OF FRIGHT, I AM WORLD'S TRUE NIGHTMARE COME TO FRUITION! I AM THE NIGHTMARE GOD, GURATHNAKA, THE FIEND OF YOUR DREAMS!"...G-Gurathnaka? That's not in english, it is?" Jordan asked, turning to the others.
"Does that really matter now!? Just kick that thing's ass!" Cassidy yelled, pointing at it.
Gurathnaka opened it's mouth, revealing the gigantic red eyeball that was on the Grinning Ghoul's head was now it's it's mouth, putting it's large hand into the eyeball, it made squishy noises and pulled the hand out along with a gigantic sword that was big enough to reach the group, Huang recognized that sword and his eyes widened.
"Avoid that giant blade cause if it hits your bodies, your souls will probably end up in it's belly! Even if one of us is made out of metal!" Huang recommended.
"Got it!" Cassidy nodded, being careful.
The dead crime lord began playing a more intense
song on the organ as the battle entered it's next stage.
Gurathnaka swinged it's sword down and everyone jumped away from it but the sword unleashed a wave of fear energy that spread out, phasing through the Omnipotents and they felt the fear energy overwhelming their bodies, causing their skins to turn pale and their began to shake in terror.
"D-Damn it, I can't feel my legs!" Jordan said, nearly falling on his knees.
Isabella was knocked on her back and her glasses fell off, staring at the ceiling, her face turning blue as she had a hard time breathing, she couldn't find her inhaler anywhere.
While they were still paralyzed by the fear factor, Gurathnaka raised it's tentacles and brought them down, smashing the Omnipotents into the ground while paying no attention to Isabella as she wasn't a threat in it's eyes.
"T-that hurt." Cassidy grunted, pieces of metal fell off and exposed her skin as she slowly regained some feeling into her body.
Noah had a hard time standing up as he tried to get up but collapsed on his back and Maxwell was barking at him.
"Noah!" Maxwell barked.
Jordan, gritting his teeth, slowly stood up and yelled, aiming his hands at Gurathnaka and launched giant snowballs at it.
Gurathnaka closed it's bat wings and opened them, releasing bloody spikes that tore through the snowballs and were flying towards Jordan.
Jordan, with a shocked expression, jumped out of the way as the spikes hit the ground.
Huang, holding his head, stood up and looked at the gigantic Titan and flew towards it, phasing through it's torso and tried to find a way to get that mist out of it's body.
Unfortunately, it's entire torso was covered in that stuff and Huang could barely see anything and felt a chill in his bones and a bunch of ghostly arms grabbed Huang and were about to tear him from limb to limb.
"AUGH!" Huang screamed, his form turned intangible and flew away from the ghost arms as he got out of Gurathnaka's body.
He landed back on the floor, next to Cassidy, taking a few deep breaths.
"No luck, there is no way I can do anything inside it's body, it's fear energy overwhelmed me!" Huang said.
Cassidy frowned as she looked up at the Titan of Fear.
"We can't give up now, not when we are just getting started." Cassidy said.
Gurathnaka opened it's mouth and the eyeball inside it dilated.
The eyes stuck in the walls began to glow with purple energy and started shooting fear beams at the Omnipotents.
"WATCH OUT!" Cassidy yelled.
The beams struck the surface from every direction.
Jordan threw the snowballs into the beams to block them only for one beam to strike him in the back and overwhelmed him with fear again, he was too intimidated to fight back.
Huang turned into a ghost and the lasers phased through him and launched ectoplasmic spheres at Gurathnaka with hopeless results as the bat winged eyeballs swarming around the giant Titan destroyed the spheres with their fear lasers.
"Great, my attacks don't work either!" Huang grumbled.
Noah finally got back on his feet and stared up at the giant monstrosity, looking at it's tentacles and the bat wings and tried to take control of them.
The Grinning Ghoul face on it's belly then spotted Noah and it's red eyes glew, staring at the young boy with a intimidating gaze.
Noah's eyes turned white, his body started trembling as he couldn't move a single muscle, he was too paralyzed by fear to do anything.
Cassidy was punching the fear lasers back at Gurathnaka and turned to see Noah standing there and Gurathnaka began to aim him next and raised it's sword.
"Noah!" Cassidy said, running towards him.
She jumped in front of Noah and grabbed the sword with her metal hands, holding it but it's weight was too much even for her strong metal arms and it was close to cutting through her hat at this rate.
"T-Tch! Jordan!" Cassidy shouted.
Jordan nodded, slapping the floor with his hands and launched a snowflake beam that sent him flying upwards, creating a giant ascending snow pillar that was taking Jordan towards Gurathnaka's head while it was trying to pull it's sword out of Cassidy's grasp.
It opened it's mouth, exposing it's eyeball which allowed Jordan to launch a gigantic snowball into the eyeball, actually causing pain to the Titan.
Gurathnaka let out a groan as it closed it's mouth, putting one hand on it as Jordan slid down his snow pillar.
The pain was enough for Cassidy to pull the sword out of it's hand, she was trying to wield it so she can use it against Gurathnaka but it was too heavy for her and so, she smashed the sword against the ground, shattering it to pieces.
"There, now you can't eat our souls without this thing, this should make things a bit more easier." Cassidy guessed.
Gurathnaka removed his hand from his face, not looking intimidated.
SIMPLE CHILDThe Grinning Ghoul face blinked it's eyes and two gigantic screaming purple voids opened up, two beneath Jordan and Cassidy and Huang and Noah.
Two large arms covered in blood and flesh without skin peered out of those screaming voids, grabbing the Omnipotents by their waists and held them.
"S-shit!" Jordan cursed, trying to pull himself out of it's grasp with not much success.
Cassidy bashed her fists against the giant hand but she din't hurt it while Noah was too paralyzed by fear to even respond to it and Huang tried to use his ghostly form but he could feel the hand tightening around his legs and caused him to scream.
Maxwell barked and ran towards Isabella who was still on the stage floor, whimpering as if he was begging her to get up.
Isabella continued staring at the giant fear titan, barely breathing as she placed her hand on her throat, she din't have ideas on how to help them.
Gurathnaka descended down to get to the level of the Omnipotents, staring at them with it's empty eye sockets.
YOU FRAGILE CREATURES ARE SO SMALL, SO PITIFUL, SO...AFRAID. ALLOW ME TO REFILL YOUR HEARTS WITH FEAR
The Grinning Ghoul face opened it's giant mouth, releasing a lot of mist into the entire area.
"D-Damn it, not this way!" Cassidy yelled, closing her eyes.
The dog began to tremble as Isabella still sat there, sweating and her vision was too blurry without her glasses, all she could see was blue.
"...
What do they expect me to do? I don't have any powers, I'm just a ordinary girl who likes bugs, that's who I am, I am not a fighter like them, I can't stop this thing and I can't convince it either so...what am I supposed to do? I'm useless, I depend on medicine to survive...maybe I shouldn't be here, the world is too dangerous for me, I should of just remained in my room and..." Isabella thought, lamenting to herself.
She accidently inhaled some of the mist into her nose and felt something weird.
Isabella glanced at her hand and it started to glow, she can see it even without her glasses and looked confused.
"...What the?" Isabella asked, inhaling more mist in her nostrils.
She felt a weird feeling in her body, it felt chilling for her, it was overwhelming her...was this...fear? Did she accidently breathe into the mist and now has a small portion of the element's power?
As she was studying this new feeling, she remembered what the woman in the black raincoat said before she left.
'
This entire mist, it's the fear element, right? Or atleast a extension of it. I considered the possibility of inhaling the smoke into my lungs and possibly giving me a bit of it's power...but it would be too dangerous and it's not worth the risk in my opinion.'
"...
So, this is your power...it affects the brain and causes the fear sensors to skyrocket...it's no wonder it worked so well on so many people...I...I think I can understand this sensation...what fear actually is...and this thing needs it to be strong. Without that..." Isabella pondered.
With no choice, she inhaled a lot more of that mist into her lungs, she could feel it's terrifying energy surging inside her weak little body, it felt quite painful and yet pleasant at the same time as Isabella placed her hands on her chest, her heart was beating rapidly.
Gurathnaka raised it's hands towards the ceiling as it looked at the giant mist covering the area.
AH, SUCH BEAUTIFUL MIST. I CAN SEE IT NOW, THE ENTIRE COSMOS CONSUMED BY THIS SMOKE AND ANXIETY RESTRAINED BY THE HUMAN MIND RELEASED AND RUNNING WILD, SCREAMS OF SERENITY PLAYING IN MY EARS. THAT'S HOW REALITY SHOULD BE...HM?Feeling some of it's energy entering in someone else's body, it turned it's head around and saw Isabella standing up, shaking with her hands placed on her chest and the giant titan of fear could see her glowing with it's energy.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY ENERGY? RELINQUISH IT FROM YOUR TINY BODY AT ONCE!Pointing it's finger at her, everyone else looked at Isabella.
"It's energy?...Wait, is Isabella inhaling it's mist?" Cassidy asked, looking concerned.
"If she is breathing in that mist, won't that fuck with her brain and cause her to see her true fear instead?" Jordan asked.
"No one actually tried to inhale the creature's energy so it's not the same thing but I don't like the idea of her putting that energy into her body, it could kill her if her fears overwhelm her brain and stops making the difference between reality and hallucinations!" Huang said.
"MISS ISABELLA, STOP INHALING THE MIST!" Noah cried out.
Isabella din't answer to them as she jumped off the stage, looking downwards with her hands placed on her chest with Gurathnaka looking down on her.
"...
I...I'm not afraid." Isabella whispered.
HM? WHAT DID YOU SAY?"I...said...I said..." Isabella said, gritting her teeth.
She looked up at it with a angry expression and glowing eyes.
"
I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" Isabella shouted.
Gurathnaka's face contorted, it's head tilted left with a confused expression.
HUH?Isabella grabbed onto her hair plaits and crashed on her knees, closing her eyes as she concentrated, tears streaming down her cheeks as she had a hard time breathing as something began to form inside her chest.
"
UGH! UUUUUUUUGH! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Isabella screamed.
A gigantic green centipede with red eyes phased out of her chest, it had a really long body and when it left her body, Isabella threw her hands on the ground, taking a deep breath.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!?" Jordan asked, staring at the centipede with big wide eyes.
"It...looks like a centipede to me. But what does that mean?" Cassidy asked, turning to Huang.
"She is probably using Gurathnaka's energy against it, using the fear power to create...that thing." Huang grimaced.
Noah just stared with trembling eyes.
Gurathnaka stared in confusion as the centipede reached the giant titan and wrapped it's body around it's gigantic torso, catching it off guard.
WHAT!?The centipede wrapped itself around Gurathnaka very tightly.
"Holy shit, she managed to trap him!" Jordan said, he couldn't believe it.
"Isabella..." Cassidy muttered.
Isabella turned to the others, looking at them with tired eyes as she aimed her hand at the giant arms holding them as if she was trying to grab them and concentrated, her eyes were still glowing.
The giant arms burst into fear energy that went right into Isabella's body and the Omnipotents landed on their feet.
Maxwell ran towards Noah, barking at him happily and the boy smiled at him, he was glad he din't get hurt before looking at Isabella.
She took more fear energy for herself and grunted, using the energy to create gigantic scary looking bugs around her and they opened their wings, flying towards Gurathnaka.
The eyeball bats were trying to blast the centipede around Gurathnaka's torso but they got overwhelmed by the flying insects that tore them in half, releasing some gross red liquid from those eyeballs before they planted themselves on Gurathnaka's body.
They bit down on his flesh and ripped it out, causing the giant fear monster to roar in pain as it's fear energy in the form of the mist began to leave it's body through the holes made by the fear insects, causing Gurathnaka's expression to fall.
NO! THE FEAR ENERGY, IT'S LEAVING MY BODY! DO NOT TAKE IT FROM ME! I NEED IT TO LIVE!The Grinning Ghoul stomach opened it's mouth and grabbed the centipede with it's teeth and swallowed it into it's mouth, releasing Gurathnaka who placed it's hands together, creating a gigantic purple sphere of fear and throw it at Isabella but stopped as it looked at her face.
Her face was darknened by shadows and glaring at Gurathnaka with small glowing eyes, she looked uncharacteristically intimidating and the creature's body felt paralyzed as the giant sphere vanished.
...
T-THIS CAN'T BE! MY BODY, IT'S REFUSING TO MOVE! H-HOW, HOW CAN YOU USE MY OWN INTIMIDATING STARE AGAINST ME!? TELL ME!Isabella din't answer, she watched as the bugs continued to tear off it's flesh, making more holes and releasing the fear energy into the air, Gurathnaka could feel it's power slowly seeping out of it's body and was growing weaker.
MY FEARS! GIVE THEM BACK TO ME! WITHOUT THEM, I CAN'T!Gurathnaka tried to reach out to grab his energy back but almost all of it went right into Isobella, not allowing it to regain it's strength.
"...Omnipotents....they absorb the elements like sponges...it makes a lot of sense now that I think about it." Isabella muttered.
"Isabella, are you okay!?" Cassidy asked.
Isabella nodded.
"I'm fine...you should focus on taking it out now. I'm gonna take as much as energy as I need so you can finish this." Isabella said, still staring at Gurathnaka, who was sweating and shaking, actually looking afraid.
NO! NO!"Heh, you got it!" Jordan grinned.
Noah aimed his hands and it's tentacle legs wrapped themselves around the monster's body, restraining him.
UGH!It opened it's mouth, it's eyeball was glowing but it cracked and exploded in it's mouth, releasing more mist that went right towards Isabella and the eyeballs inside the walls shut down.
The zombie mafia pianist turned around, staring at them with a confused stare as his body went poof and that small fear energy went into Isabella. Gurathnaka's muscles were slowly shrinking and was losing a lot of power.
Huang just stood and watched the show, at this point, he din't need to do anything to help them out and felt more than happy to watch that creature squirm.
"Jordan! Give me a boost!" Cassidy said, pointing at her fists.
Jordan nodded, creating a giant snowball and Cassidy landed on top of it.
He launched the snowball towards Gurathnaka with a snow beam, Cassidy din't lose her balance as she pulled her arm back, waiting to reach the creature.
"Hey, Gurathnaka! Are you hungry? Then have a taste of my knuckle sandwich,
IT'S ON THE HOUSE!" Cassidy declared.
She shoved her fist into his face, shattering through it like a mirror as she leaped through the hole and landed with grace on the floor, raising her fist in triumph.
Gurathnaka, with a gigantic hole in it's face, twitching as it's giant body exploded into mist, shrinking back to the surface and turned back into the Grinning Ghoul, now wearing it's cobweb cloak.
The creature wasn't grinning, it was trembling and collapsed on the floor, crawling away from the Omnipotents.
"BOOYAH! We did it, we kicked it's ass!" Jordan cheered.
Isabella's eyes stopped glowing and the energy calmed down, taking a deep sigh.
Noah ran up to Isabella.
"Are you okay?" Noah asked.
Isabella looked at him.
"...Yes. I feel weird but I'm okay." Isabella said, with a weak smile on her face.
"You are more than okay, Isa! You are a fucking genius! If it wasn't for you, that thing would of gobbled us up!" Jordan grinned, placing his arm around her shoulder.
"...Yeah. Thanks, Isabella, you were really brave back there." Cassidy smiled, her metal armor retracting.
"...Ugh, thanks, I guess." Isabella said, blushing.
"It's not over yet." Huang said.
Everyone looked at him as he pointed at the Grinning Ghoul, who was sitting in the corner, shaking like a leaf, it was trembling in fear.
D-don't hurt me!"After all the shit you have done to us, you have the nerve to ask us for mercy? Yeah, right." Jordan scoffed.
"...Can we actually kill it?" Cassidy asked.
"At this rate, we will probably need just a few more attacks to finish it. Once it dies, the element of Fear will disappear along with the energy inside Isabella." Huang guessed.
Isabella turned to look at Huang before looking at the Grinning Ghoul.
"...Is that really what we should do?" Isabella asked.
She started walking towards it.
"Huh, Isabella?" Cassidy asked, looking confused.
"S-stay away from that demon! It will try to kill you again!" Noah protested.
Jordan and Huang just watched, not knowing what she wanted to do.
Isabella stood in front of the Grinning Ghoul, watching it shake in front of her like a wet puppy. It's ironic that the creature of fear was actually afraid.
"...You really don't want to disappear, do you? That's your greatest fear?" Isabella asked.
...Yes. You have no idea what it's like to be a element, unlike you humans, we don't just appear in the afterlife, we vanish completely and that is worse than Death. I needed fear so I can survive, I din't have any other choice. That is the price to pay for being a element of fear."You're making excuses now? After the lives you have taken, after trying to take our lives? Putting your own survival on the line is not excusable." Cassidy frowned.
"I personally don't give a shit about this thing being scared to die, we need to kill it so it doesn't come back to haunt us and this world. Isabella, get out of the way." Huang said.
"...They're right. We should send it back to Hell where it belongs." Noah nodded.
Isabella frowned before looking back at the creature.
"...There has to be something else to you besides spreading fear to everyone, right? Can a element change it's thing somehow?" Isabella asked.
...Not possible. The only thing I have ever known is Fear and only Fear, the rest is irrelevant to my existence. What purpose would I have if I can't spread fear?"Ignore that thing, let's put an end to this now and get out of here." Jordan said, ready to unleash a giant snowball.
Isabella stared at the group before staring at the Grinning Ghoul, who looked too afraid to accept it's demise.
Thinking carefully, she placed her thumb on her chin and looked back at the Ghoul.
"...How about this? If we don't kill you, perhaps there may be a way for you to keep existing if you hear what I have to say." Isabella asked.
The Omnipotents looked confused.
"What the hell do you mean by that? We need to kill it! That thing is too dangerous to live, it will try to rebuild it's strength by killing more people!" Huang yelled.
"...Isabella, what are you doing?" Cassidy asked.
"...If you agree to bond with my body and allow me to use your power, then I will give you as much fear as you need to survive but we will take fear from people who are truly bad, not innocent bystanders." Isabella said.
Huang, Jordan, Cassidy, Noah and even the Grinning Ghoul looked shocked.
"I-Isabella!? What are you saying!?" Cassidy asked.
"You're gonna allow that thing to live inside your own body!?" Jordan asked.
"Girl, are you cracked!? Why would you want that!?" Huang asked.
"...I...don't understand. Why? It's pure evil." Noah asked, looking very confused about her decision.
Isabella turned to face everyone, her expression din't change.
"...I already have half of this thing's power and I can understand why it wants it so bad. I don't agree with it's methods but putting it down like a wild animal just because it has a one-track mind doesn't justify murder, even if it isn't a person. So, I will become a full-fledged Omnipotent of Fear once it combines with the rest of the energy inside my body." Isabella justified.
"But still, there are so many ways this could go wrong! What if this thing will take over your body then this whole mess will start all over again!" Cassidy protested, against the idea.
"You don't even know if this will work, do you?" Huang asked, looking baffled.
"I don't know, but I don't killing it will make things better either...atleast, I hope so." Isabella muttered.
She turned back to the Grinning Ghoul.
"Do you accept my proposal? You won't have a form but atleast you will still continue to exist." Isabella asked.
The Grinning Ghoul continued to sat there, confused as it tilted it's head at Isabella.
...Bond with a human host again? How do I know you won't trick me and seal me into another container instead?Isabella shrugged.
"If I wanted to do that, it would be too much of a hassle when instead we could just kill you instead going through all the trouble to lock you up in another box so...that's probably one reason why I wouldn't do that. And it would be just mean to trick you like this after promising you that you will live, I'm not heartless." Isabella said.
The Grinning Ghoul still sat there in complete shock but it felt...touched in a way.
...Very well. I accept your terms, human."...You can call me Isabella." Isabella said.
The Grinning Ghoul stood up and looked down at Isabella while the others were ready to throw down if it tries anything.
The creature smiled at Isabella but it wasn't it's usual trademark grin and laughed to itself.
I can tell you are gonna be a interesting host, I am dying to see the world in a new perspective through your eyes. Let us forge the contract.The Grinning Ghoul opened it's mouth and the element of Fear, in the form of a blue screaming ghoul phased into Isabella's chest and any remaining mist in the area was absorbed into her body aswell.
"ISABELLA!" Cassidy yelled, running towards her but was held back by Jordan.
Sand began falling out of the Grinning Ghoul as it's body slowly crumbled, leaving behind it's cobweb cloak and a pile of it's sandy remains.
Isabella, with wide eyes, started to float off the ground glowing with a ominous aura, her hair plaits rising and her eyes were engulfed by mist.
"
The Omnipotent of Fear has been reborn. Till the day you die, we will be a part of the same stitch." Isabella and the Grinning Ghoul's combined voice said.
"Miss Isabella!" Noah exclaimed, looking worried.
Isabella's eyes returned back to normal and closed them, her body stopped glowing and was falling towards the floor.
"I got you!" Jordan said, running towards that spot and she landed in his arms.
"Is she okay!?" Cassidy asked, running towards her.
"She is still breathing but she will make it." Jordan nodded.
"...This kid..." Huang said, staring at Isabella.
Noah and his dog were looking at Isabella, he was speechless.
The entire theater building suddenly began shaking and it's entire structure was changing, grabbing their attention.
"What now!?" Jordan asked.
"This place isn't gonna explode, will it?" Cassidy asked, looking at Huang.
"How should I know!? But it's probably a good idea not to stay here when it happens!" Huang said.
Isabella's eyes did not stir as her mind was somewhere else entirely.
-----
Isabella opened her eyes and the first thing she noticed was that she wasn't standing on the floor, she was standing on nothing but air.
When she looked up, she was gazing at Space itself, dozens of planets, the Sun and the Moon were in her sight with fragments of a gigantic spaceship floating around.
"...Huh." Isabella said, confused by why she was able to breathe in space.
She turned around and just right behind her was a person wearing a torn yellow cloak wearing a hood covering their head and face, wearing black gloves, sitting on a throne, staring at the girl in front of her.
Isabella turned around, looking back at the main in the cloak.
"...Are you...Hastur?" Isabella asked.
"...It's been a long time since anyone else referred to me by that name." He said.
He stood up from his throne, still looking at the girl with clenched fists.
"How ironic that my new successor would turn out to be a member of the family of the bastard who turned into the monster I was once." Hastur said.
"...I know. I read about what happened." Isabella said.
"...Now that you have tamed the power of fear, does that mean that you aren't afraid anymore?" Hastur asked.
"...Not really. For the longest time, I have been afraid of the world because of my own health problems, I began to see everything as a safety hazard and my anxiety made it harder for me to connect to people. Even if I am a Omnipotent of Fear, it doesn't mean there won't be new things to be afraid of." Isabella said.
Hastur walked up to her and got to her level.
"I see...I hope you realize that once you bonded with this power, there is no way to let go of it. This power will be a huge burden on your shoulders. It's been a curse to me since the day I was born and I was released from it when I died. Now, the element is in your hands. Depending on the path you choose, you can become a saviour or the world's worst enemy." Hastur said.
"...I guess we will have to wait and see what happens, no one knows what the future will bring. Even I don't know..." Isabella muttered.
"But what are you planning to do now?" Hastur asked.
"...Probably go back to doing my own thing. I now understand what fear it is and I'm not as afraid as I was before...but I know I won't be in this alone, there are other people with me with powers and we are in the same situation." Isabella said.
"Indeed. You better take care of those people and not lose them the same way I did. I hope you won't make the same mistakes that I did, child." Hastur said.
"...I hope so too...it's been nice talking to you...Tarus." Isabella said.
Tarus stood up and removed his cloak, revealing his green skinned face with black hair, smiling at Isabella.
"...It's been interesting talking to you aswell...little champion." Hastur said.-----
Isabella was now back in the real world and her vision was still blurry.
"Hey, she is waking up!" Jordan's voice was heard.
A blurred Cassidy walked up to Isabella, handing her glasses back to her and Isabella puts them on.
"Good morning, sleepyhead." Cassidy smiled.
"...Morning." Isabella replied back.
She noticed that she was laid on a very comfortable bed but it was covered in dust and slowly lifted her head first and saw that she was in someone's bedroom and it looked very ancient to say the least.
All of it was painted black and most of it was covered in web and dust including the photos, it looks like no one has been here for a long time now.
Besides that, she spotted a few familiar faces in this room. Jordan who was leaning against a old bookshelf, Huang who stood there with his arms folded, Noah was sitting on a chair with his dog next to him and Eamon, with a few bruises on his skin and clothes was standing at the entrance with his hands placed around his back, looking at Isabella.
"How do you feel, child?" Eamon asked.
"....I feel like myself if that's what you are asking of me." Isabella said.
She placed her hands on the bed and tried to stand up, she nearly lost her balance but Cassidy grabbed her.
"Hey, hey, take it easy, don't rush." Cassidy said.
"...Thanks...where are we right now? What happened to the Theater?" Isabella asked, looking at the room.
"After that thing jumped into your body and passed out, we thought the building was gonna explode but instead, it changed back into this old house." Jordan said.
"This cabin used to belong to Hastur's parents." Eamon mentioned.
"...His parents lived here?" Cassidy asked.
"That is what Sothot told me. When his wife found out that he was a Omnipotent, he left but she was pregnant with his child. When Hastur was born, his fear power was unstable and affected her mind, the mother handed him over to a caretaker from Dahlia which used to be a village back then. His mother...hanged herself somewhere in the forest." Eamon said, with a heavy tone.
"...That's unfortunate." Isabella sighed.
She then looked at Eamon and saw in what shape he was in.
"...It seems like you had it much worse than the rest of us." Isabella said.
"Defeating the Hydra was no simple task, it grew so many heads that I lost count and had me at a disadvantage but I survived. Needless to say, these wounds will heal naturally so do not worry about my health. I am glad that all of you children are safe." Eamon smiled.
Eamon turned to Noah.
"Your father will be pleased to know that you are still alive." Eamon said.
Noah looked at Isabella.
"...Is that thing...still inside you?" Noah asked.
Isabella looked at her own chest.
"...I'm not sure. At the very least, it's back to being a element once again just like the other elements so I don't think it will plan on hurting us again." Isabella said.
"...Oh, okay." Noah nodded, still looking uncertain.
"Still, you took a huge gamble by bonding with it...I mean I don't think I would...but why did you decide to spare it? Did you feel sorry for it?" Jordan asked.
"...I don't know...I guess I can relate to it when it comes to dying, if I was a element that only existed to spread it's influence anywhere with no other goal in general with a fear of vanishing forever, I probably would of had a similar mindset." Isabella said.
"Well, hopefully, that thing will learn to stay put and never come back cause if it does, I'm gonna punch it till my hands get tired." Cassidy said, showing her fist.
"...Oh, yeah, now that it's gone, we don't have any evidence that will prove that you weren't responsible for murdering those two cops, right?" Jordan asked, turning to Huang.
"The only way to prove it that it wasn't me is if you guys tell them the whole story and how almost every person in this room is a Omnipotent and if the truth about this situation comes out, there is gonna be trouble." Huang sighed.
"What do you mean?" Cassidy asked.
"If you tell the authorities that the Grinning Ghoul was real, it killed those officers and not me and that Isabella absorbed it into her being and is now the new Omnipotent of Fear, mass hysteria will happen and there will be chaos, Hastur is still a bad memory to everyone in that town and her being the Omnipotent of Fear will make things worse, everyone will be scared of her and the ISP might considering putting her under lock and key till everyone calms down. Besides, I'm still gonna be in trouble because I escaped from prison anyways putting the death of those cops aside." Huang frowned.
"...That makes sense. I would certainly get incredibly bored if I was locked up in a cell, there probably wouldn't be any bugs for me to collect." Isabella said.
"There is a lot to worry about that scenario than that...but I agree, maybe we should keep the truth under wraps till everything settles down but what will we tell the cops?" Cassidy asked.
"...Just tell them that I kidnapped Noah for ransom and you guys found my hideout, saved him and got out before I could capture you and I ran away, they would most likely believe that story. This ain't the first time I lost a fight against some teenagers." Huang said.
"...But what are you gonna do?" Noah asked.
Huang looked at the ceiling.
"...This place doesn't appear to be in a bad shape all things considered. Maybe with a little cleanup, this run-down house will make a good hideout till I figure out my next move." Huang said.
"...I see. Well, thank you for helping us against the Grinning Ghoul and for saving our lives in that building." Cassidy said.
"I will pray to Vitala for your safety." Noah nodded.
Huang shrugged at before he looked at Jordan.
"Hey, Jordan." Huang said.
"Hm? What's up?" Jordan asked.
"...Don't try anything funny with Tiffany. Cause I know where you live." Huang said with intent.
"Eh, I can't make a promise that I can't keep." Jordan shrugged, not sounding threatened by his statement.
Eamon walked to the window and looked outside.
"It is daylight. It's time for you four to return to your families, you deserve some rest after this long dreadful night." Eamon said, looking at the kids.
------
Outside, the night was over and it was day again, the Sun was in the sky.
The mist was gone and the swamp looked like a normal forest now with no traces of the fear element left.
Jordan, Cassidy, Isabella, Noah and his dog were walking in the forest, standing next to each other and they were very quiet.
"...That...was quite a long night. I'm so exhausted, I could fall asleep on the ground right now and wake up when it's evening." Cassidy yawned, rubbing her eyes.
"...But, man, that was some crazy shit I have ever experiences, period. I mean, we are not normal people anymore, we are Omnipotents, man, Omnipotents! Hey, do you think they're gonna invite us to that Tournament game show and meeting other Omnipotents? Does that mean we'll be on TV, this is awesome!" Jordan laughed.
"...I can't imagine being comfortable having someone with a camera filming me." Isabella sighed, rejecting that idea.
"We should keep this as a secret between us and just us, we can't let our families know for now, it will make them super worried and they won't let us out of our houses. Let's stick to Huang's story for now." Cassidy said.
"...Can I atleast tell papa that I can understand Maxwell now?" Noah asked.
"...Maybe not." Cassidy rejected the idea.
"Hey, we should have a secret place where we can meet up and talk, you know? But we can rule out my apartment, I have neighbours and the walls have ears." Jordan said.
"And us having chats at Campanula Park will make us look suspicious so that's not a good idea either." Cassidy said.
"...I have a treehouse in my backyard so we can talk there. I haven't been inside that place since I was a kid but, it should be a good place for us to have a meeting." Isabella said.
"Sounds good. For now, let's return Noah back to his parents safe and sound, get something to eat and rest and we can meet up later at night at your house." Cassidy said.
"That's fine with me." Jordan smiled.
Isabella nodded.
Noah looked at them for a moment before glancing back at his dog, petting his tiny head, it was unknown what he was thinking right now.
-----
Inside the old house, Huang was inspecting the dusty web covered living room, dragging his finger on a dusty table and got dust all over it.
"Once I get a proper shower, I should clean up this place, I can't stand living in filth." Huang said, wiping the dust off.
And then, he felt a spirit's presence, just right behind him, causing him to sigh.
"Well, Charles, there you ago, I saved the fucking day and I'm still in a whole heap of trouble, I hope you're happy." Huang sighed.
As he turned around to face the ghost he was expecting to meet.
Instead, he saw a small little transparent spirit of a boy with red eyes, short blue hair wearing a white robe actual angel wings peering out of his back, standing on top of a couch, he had a calm look on his face.
Huang, looked very confused by the presence of this strange angel boy.
"...What the hell?" Huang asked.
"...
Hello. You are Sir Huang, are you not?" The boy asked.
"...Yeees, but, who the hell are you?" Huang asked.
"...
I'm Aku Chikara. The reason you can see me and no one else can is because I am a spirit." Aku said.
"...Ah, you're the little shit who's been causing trouble with Kazumi's old gang in Universe 6 before this crap. So, what the hell do you want with someone like me?" Huang asked, folding his arms.
"...
I was once on the path of destruction but I am on a path of salvation now. I want to find others who are lost in the darkness like I was once and help them find another way. Maybe with your help, I can find those people and do my best to help them before it's too late." Aku said.
"...Sons of tits." Huang sighed, placing his hand on his face.
-----
Many police cars and a ISP ship were parked in front of Campanula park with a huge crowd of ISP agents and Dahlia's police force standing there, preparing for an assault as news of Cassidy, Isabella and Jordan disappearing began to spread.
Reginald, Christine, Patrick, the police chief and the ISP agents Jacque, Ace and Melvin were also there.
"...Is it safe for us to go in there now? This could be a trap." Melvin suggested.
"That bastard has my son. If we wait much longer, who knows what he will do to them, let's get in there and arrest him already." Patrick said, with a crossed expression.
Reginald nodded, looking concerned and so did Christine who had her hands placed on her chest.
"Alright, men, let's move out." The police chief said, holding a walkie-talkie as he turned to the other officers.
Before they did, they heard foot noises coming from the forest.
"Someone is coming!" Christine said.
Jacque leaned backwards while Ace pulled out his glove and his robotic hand turned into a blaster with a Negation crest connected to it from inside and it was charging up.
Reginald was sweating.
Melvin pulled out his binoculars to take a closer look.
"Hey, hold your fire, it's those kids, they're towards us but I don't see Huang with them." Melvin said, gesturing at Ace who moved his blaster away from the forest.
Reginald, Christine and Patrick looked surprised.
"It's them?" Reginald asked.
"Is Jordan with them!?" Patrick asked.
Melvin checked again.
"...Uh, yes, I think so and they have the bishop's son with them too." Melvin said.
The trio of teenagers and Noah walked out of the forest and were surprised to see a lot of people in front of the park.
"...I guess I should of expected this." Cassidy said, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly.
"...I'm gonna be in so much trouble." Jordan sighed, after seeing that his dad was here too and placed his charred hands in his pockets.
Isabella said nothing while Noah looked a bit nervous as they walked towards the crowd who gathered around the kids.
"Are your four okay? What happened?" The police chief asked.
"...I'm sorry about going back into the swamp without your permission and getting Jordan and Isabella involved again but we managed to find Noah and got him out of there before Huang could of found us." Cassidy explained firmly.
Isabella nodded to confirm her story while Noah remained quiet.
"...So we came all the way here for nothing then after all the excitement?" Jacque asked, with a blank stare.
"At the very least, the kids are safe and that's what matters. But where is Huang?" Ace asked.
"He got away. He is probably not in the swamp anymore." Isabella said.
Before Reginald could question this story, Patrick rushed to Jordan, grabbing him by his shoulders.
"Jordan, are you hurt?" Patrick asked, sounding concerned.
"I'm okay, dad...sorry about leaving again without telling you. I guess I'm in trouble, huh?" Jordan sighed.
"Oh, you can bet on your entire allowance on that...but you're okay so that's what matters." Patrick said, pulling him into a hug.
Christine walked up to Cassidy.
"Thank you for bringing Noah back to us. We will call your families and they will pick you up once we hear the entire story." Christine said, turning to Reginald.
Reginald still looked confused but nodded.
"Ugh, right. Let's head to the police station, Christine, please call Isaiah and the rest of their families so they can rest easy knowing their children are alive." Reginald said.
Christine nodded.
He turned to the ISP agents.
"Forgive me for wasting your time, gentlemen." Reginald said.
"Don't worry, we're used to getting disappointed by now." Jacque said, flicking his left earring.
Cassidy looked happy while Isabella stared at her inhaler placed in her hand as she walked towards one of the police cars, followed up by the two teenagers, Noah and his dog.
Watching from a rooftop, Cyrus lowered his binoculars with a proud smile on his wrinkled face.
"Well, well, perhaps I may have a good reason to stick around and see how this turns out." Cyrus said.
And then something glamorous caught his attention as he spied on a group of girls playing volleyball on the beach with his binoculars.
"And speaking of a good reason to stick around. Heh, heh, heh!" Cyrus said, grinning like a monkey.
-------
Inside the temple, Eamon was sitting behind the table, drinking tea as he was watching the news and behind him were Janus who was floating in his sphere, Cato and Daemon.
"I am relieved that this situation has been solved before it could of gotten out of hand." Eamon said.
"
Perhaps. But I question your logic when you decided to go to that creature's hideout on your own without asking us first." Cato said.
"...I couldn't stand around and not do anything to help, I had to do something to help them to survive." Eamon said.
He stood up and turned to Janus.
"Forgive me for my impulsiveness, Grand Guardian." Eamon said.
"
You have nothing to apologize, my friend. What matters is that those children are safe and sound." Janus assured him.
"
We have reasons to be concerned about that girl who inherited Hastur's power, Isabella Zinnia. Her future worries me. We have to keep a close eye on her and make sure she won't follow the same path as the original Omnipotent of Fear." Cato said.
"They say that history tends to repeat itself...but in some cases, history doesn't repeat itself so hopefully, we won't have to worry about that scenario." Daemon suggested.
"
We will have the conversation about the new Omnipotents later. The Element of Fear has been dealt with but I still have my concerns about our world, the balance is still upset and we need to focus on tying up loose ends." Janus said.
Janus placed his fingers on his forehead and raised his other hand, creating a holographic projection of a ancient metallic gauntlet floating in a circle around in a circle.
"What is that?" Eamon asked, looking at the artefact.
"
That is Jarilo's gauntlet, the tool he used to control his powers when he was still inexperienced. This gauntlet has been made to use the elements, any Omnipotent of this Universe can use this besides the Omnipotent of Balance but we need to find it before anyone else does." Janus said.
"Why do we need to worry about the gauntlet?" Eamon asked, raising an eyebrow.
"
The gauntlet is familiar to the elements and can recognize their energies and if it falls in the wrong hands, someone could use it to take the elements of the Omnipotents from Universe 4 and use them for their own purpose. Reality, Good and Evil are the most dangerous elements out of them all and with Absorption, they would have the power to take any element besides the Omnipotents from our dimension. Remember, many people have been inspired by Epilogue and there are those who may want to be like the maidens and create a permanent Epilogue for a selfish desire. After the danger the Orbs of Fulfillment have brought, I have reasons to be concerned about this artefact being found." Janus said, with furrowed brows.
"I have a feeling our old friends from Pandemonium will be making their move soon once the death of the Space Pirates will be a known fact to everyone and they are running out of criminal organizations to sponsor with each passing day, they might be interested in this gauntlet." Daemon guessed.
"
And according to my informant, the Smith Family might get involved, a few agents from Guzman's group who weren't captured might be hiding in Camelot with their help. Who knows what their objective is." Cato said, crossing his arms.
"Lucrecia still has that gauntlet with her along with the rest of Jarilo's memoirs, they are in a place called Sanctuary in the Autumn Continent but we have lost contact with her ages ago and we do not know if she is still alive. To unlock the path to her Sanctuary, we need to find the gatekeepers and the four keys but they are all over the map so locating them will not be a easy task." Janus added.
"...If all of this is true, then might I suggest getting some assistance from one of the Universes, I'm certain they might be willing to give us a hand with our situation." Eamon suggested.
"You won't need to worry about that, without spoilers, I have a feeling the Omnipotent of Fate will be contacting us soon." Daemon said, the clock on his staff was spinning.
"
We have a lot of work to do. We shall continue this topic for another day." Janus said.
------
Later at night, at the Zinnia residence.
"
Breaking News: The Missing Persons case has been solved.
According to Cassidy Goodwill, Huang Guzman, the former chief of Universe 4's F branch has kidnapped Bishop Ark's son for ransom but Cassidy, with some help from Jordan Saint and Isabella Zinnia, they found Huang's hideout and saved the poor boy but the fugitive has escaped from justice once again." A reporter's voice said off-screen.
A footage of Isaiah Ark hugging his son was shown.
"
The children were returned to their homes safe and sound and Bishop Ark is happy that his son is alive, believing that his prayer has been answered. With Huang gone, Park Campanula has been reopened and the curfew has been lifted." The reporter's voice said.
Bart was sitting on his couch in the living room, watching the broadcast while Futakuchi was in the kitchen, talking on the phone with someone while staring out the window.
"Phew, I'm sure glad this mess has been dealt with and we can finally relax." Bart sighed in relief.
"...Yeah, she is okay. And she thanks you again for that rare beetle you gave to her as a present, everything is at peace, for now. Have a good night, Oiwa." Futakuchi said, ending the call.
She stared out the window, looking at the treehouse, the inside was lit.
Bart got up and walked to his wife as a commercial was playing on TV.
"...I haven't see her inside that treehouse for years now." Futakuchi said.
"I know, it's crazy. And here I thought I would have to take down this old thing but our daughter amazes us again." Bart smiled.
Futakuchi was still staring at the treehouse.
"...Have you noticed something new about Isabella when she came back? Like she is different, somehow?" Futakuchi asked.
"Huh? No, not really, she is still same ole Isabella to me." Bart said.
"...I see." Futakuchi said.
"Well, either way, I can't wait to get some peace and quiet around here now that this whole turnabout is over." Bart sighed, walking back to the TV to continue watching the news.
Futakuchi was still looking at the treehouse however.
"...How interesting." Futakuchi said.
Inside the treehouse.
Jordan, Cassidy and Isabella were there, sitting on the floor as Cassidy was looking around, seeing a few old toys, colouring books and a pimk wallpaper.
"...This place looks pretty decent for a meeting place." Cassidy said.
"I haven't been here for years since I was little. I stopped going inside it and viewed it as a safety hazard for my health like everything else...only after this experience, I have the nerve to be here." Isabella said, holding her arm.
"It's a better place than an attic, that's for sure." Jordan nodded.
"...Yeah. We should probably give Noah some space before we can invite him to our meetings now. We should keep this as a secret and not tell anyone else, understand?" Cassidy asked.
"Yeah...I still feel like myself but at the same time, I feel like a different person somehow." Isabella said, looking at her hands.
"I know the feeling. I won't be able to sleep tonight after today. We kind of saved dozens from being plunged into a world of eternal nightmares, for once I feel like I am someone important and have a meaning in life, man. I feel great." Jordan said, folding his hands behind his neck.
"I can agree with you on that...now I can do more than just helping old people cross the street of climbing up trees to save cats, with this power, I'll do my best to help everyone feel safe." Cassidy said.
"...And we've been witnesses to each other's fears." Isabella pointed out.
Jordan and Cassidy's looks were distant.
"...Yeah...I wish you guys din't see that...back in that messed up living room, I mean." Cassidy sighed, looking at her arm, it wasn't bandaged anymore.
"Don't sweat it, we all went through some messed up stuff back there, it's thanks to you guys that I'm still alive, I will be grateful to you two for the rest of my life." Jordan said, with his hands on his knees.
"...Was your father the reason you became a park ranger?" Isabella asked Cassidy.
"...After he was arrested, I picked up from where he left off. After what he did...I din't want other people to feel helpless like I was and give them a helping hand. I was still scared about what happened but now, I feel at peace somehow...if I have to give the Grinning Ghoul it's that it helped me confront my past and get over it, without this experience, I would probably still be the same person as I was before." Cassidy said, grabbing her wrist.
Jordan stared at his hands, now wearing thick snow gloves to hide his burned hands.
"...The reason my hands are messed up is because my mom passed away from a accident that destroyed our house after she lost her chance of being a movie star and ever since then, I din't even want to get close to a bonfire thinking it will eat me alive...I'm probably still scared of fire, just not as bad as before. Now that I can make a giant snow mountain, I probably don't need to worry about being burned alive." Jordan said.
"...I understand...because of my health problems, I was afraid of a lot of things but now that I know what fear actually is, I realized may of been exaggerating about a few things...And I'm not really good at making friends with someone." Isabella sighed.
"...You don't need to be good at making friends, I'm willing to be your friend if you want." Cassidy said.
"Yeah. You saved our butts back then. You're pretty awesome, Isa." Jordan encouraged her.
Isabella looked at them, a small smile appeared on her face.
"...Thanks." Isabella said, sounding genuinely pleased.
"So, what do you guys want to do now? We still have some time before I have to head back home. Do you have a game console, Isabella?" Jordan asked.
"...I don't play video games. But I do have some board games somewhere in my parents' bedroom." Isabella said.
"Sure, I like board games. I play them with my mom on weekends." Cassidy said.
Isabella nodded.
"...So, the treehouse will be our secret base to have our meetings?" Isabella asked.
"You make us sound like we are part of a secret spy organization when you say it like that. But, yeah, this place is cool." Jordan nodded.
"Yeah, I can this will be our secret headquarters for now." Cassidy agreed.
-----
The woman in the black raincoat with the purple scarf was standing on top of a hill overlooking Dahlia.
"...Once again, I lost my chance of getting myself some elements. Now those kids have them." The woman sighed.
She sat on the hill, thinking to herself.
"...There is a chance that any remaining elements already have bonded with other people so unless a old Omnipotent, I'm fresh out of luck...although, if those kids are gonna head there anyways, they might be useful in getting to that place..." The woman said.
She looked at the moon in the sky.
"...And finally see that person after all these years." The woman said, clenching her fists.
-----
The scene slowly zoomed out of the book's last page, ending with a 'To Be Continued?'
"And so our story ends with the Omnipotent torch passed to a new generation, one more promising than the last one." The narrator concluded.
The book closed and the narrator looked forward, sitting in front of a fireplace with a blurred book placed above it.
"I do hope this story wasn't too frightening for your fragile eyes, my friends and I hope you enjoyed it. So, what is the moral of this story, you may ask?" The narrator asked.
The narrator closed his eyes for a moment.
"...I suppose the moral of this story is that there is nothing wrong with being afraid but we can't be slaves to our own fears forever, otherwise, we will destroy our potential to grow if we allow ourselves to be trapped by our concerns, my friends.
Fear is a common obstacle in our way to adulthood and have to face it head on and there is no shame in asking help from others, whether they are friends or strangers, anything is possible as long as we have people with us to give us courage in our time of need." The narrator smiled, opening his eyes
"The Grinning Ghoul" book vanished from his hands and returned back to it's place in the library as the narrator placed his hands together.
"While those kids have managed to face their fears and defeated the Grinning Ghoul, this isn't the end of their tale, my friends, they will have new challenges and complex ordeals in their grand adventure but next time we will look at a old saga, a tale taking place in my home Universe about a forgotten ancient war that kickstarted the beginning of everything." The narrator said.
The image of the book sitting on the bookshelf became clear and it's cover featured planet Earth with swords clashing against one another with the title called 'Season Zero'
"I am your narrator and this has been another episode of "The Library of Sagas". Until next time, my friends." The narrator waved at the screen.
The Narrator vanished from sight and his chair was empty, the title screen appeared followed by the end credits.------
The entire episode played on a large expensive TV screen glued to the wall inside a large pink coloured bedroom that was fit for a princess
A chandelier, some gifts from family relatives and residents, a closet probably full of expensive clothes, a closed door to the right that leads to a balcony.
And sitting in a princess size bed was a pink skinned woman in her early 20's with sparkly green eyes with long pink hair with a wide forehead, fringe swept to the left with a smaller fringe to the right, wearing a long white nightgown without sleeves, a portrait of her as a baby being held by a lady who looked exactly like her except she was older with dark pink skin and hair pulled into a long braided ponytail and sitting on a throne next to her was a younger Arthur Smith, along with a pink scepter with a heart on top of it with a multi-colored gem on the center of the heart placed next to her bed.
The woman's torso was raised out of her bed and had a long smile on her face, clapping at the TV.
"Wow, that was amazing! That story kept me on suspense, I still have chills down on my spine! This show keeps getting better and better." The lady cheered, looking optimistic.
She turned off the TV as she leaned on her bed, placing her head on a very comfortable pillow, thinking.
"Hm...I remember my dad telling me about that war, our family was big even back then. I wonder what type of people my ancestors were in that Universe and how different their Kingdom was compared to Camelot." The lady said, putting her thumb on her lips.
Then she smiled, grabbing her scepter and jumped out of her bed, not putting on any slippers as she was heading towards the balcony door.
"Well, no matter what happens next, I can't wait to meet those teenagers in person and tell them about my plans for the future! It will be amazing!" The lady giggled, opening the door and walked outside and by looking at the sky, it was midnight.
On the balcony, she was living in a gigantic majestic neon castle with a great view of a city but it was too dark too see it.
Placing her elbows on the railing, she clapped her hands.
Suddenly, the street lights turned on and the city looked like a modernized medieval city but the streets were empty as everyone was sleeping at this hour.
The lady giggled to herself as she stared at the sky, looking at the moon and began to sing, her eyes turned sparkly grey
"
Ooooh, I can see the difference between day and night,
The Sun and Moon share the same sky and yet are so far apaaaart,
Light and Darkness are two colours that clash again and again,
Same old Beginning, same old Endiiiing,
Their story keeps repeating itself, again and again,
Oooooh, if only they could put their difference aside,
Oooooh, if only I could reach the sky and paint over them,
If only, I could make them...
greeeeeeeeey."
THE END...?
(Credits song)