“Still not as smart as you were in my time,” Remnant replied.
They swung their weapons at each other a few more times, then locked them again.
Remnant explained, “Yes, it’s been me this whole time, making all the changes. I want you and your friends to suffer for what you did to me. My plan is to kill everyone you know and love and watch you suffer. All before I finally kill you.”
He turned his head to Master Nether and yelled, “Nether, it’s time!”
Nether stopped and nodded his head with a smile. Spex and Remnant continued to fight. Nether went on the offensive and stabbed Tana in the shoulder.
“Ahhh!!” she shrieked in pain.
She then fell down, gripping her shoulder. Kaido started to look angry.
“You bastard!” Kaido angrily yelled.
Nether then started to power up and transformed into his Shadow Form. He had a demonic looking mask on. Kaido raised his sword over his head brought his sword down for a high attack. Nether blocked the attack with his sword in one hand and with the other hand punched him hard in the stomach. Kaido bent over, holding his stomach in pain, and took a few steps back. Spex then started to remember what was about to happen.
“NO!” Spex yelled.
Remnant began to keep Spex busy. Then push him up against the wall.
“Do you really want to change the timeline? A major event doesn’t happen because the Protector of Time said otherwise. Do you want that on your conscience?” Remnant asked him.
Kaido stood back up and went in for one another swing of his sword. Kaido swung fast but Nether grabbed Kaido’s sword by the blade, as Spex pushed Remnant out of the way and started to run towards them, His hand was up facing towards them, trying to stop time. Remnant spun around and stabbed spex in the stomach and pushing him back up against the wall.
Spex’s power didn’t work. He was in great pain and cough up a lot of Blood. Master Nether then stabbed Kaido through the chest with a smile on his face. Tana looked up with wide eyes in horror. Nether then yanked his sword out of Kaido’s chest and Kaido fell on his back dead next to Tana. his eyes were still open, lifeless. Tana was staring at him in shock, reaching out to him with her hand.
“No……no, no, no, no…. Kaido,” she murmured softly.
Ansel was looking on, awe-struck as well, “No... why.”
Tears started running down Tana’s face.
“Damn it. Why?!” Spex bellowed.
He barely had the strength to even get angry. The blade of the scythe still lodged into his stomach and blood dripping from the wound and his mouth. Remnant was still holding his scythe to make sure Spex didn’t move and interfere.
“That’s one down. Nether finish the rest,” Remnant ordered, ignoring Spex.
Nether gave a sigh through his mask.
“Fine, but only because these brats will get in my way otherwise. At least, from what you tell me anyway,” He replied.
Black aura began to surround Tana. She lunged up and slashed her sword at Master Nether. He blocked the attack with his own sword, but the force sent him flying backward through the wall behind him. She grabbed Kaido and jumped to the center of the room. She kneeled down and put her hand on the back of his head and elevated it up. The aura around her mostly subsided. He coughed up blood, looked at Tana, then closed his eyes again.
“No, please stay with me! Kaido!” she said to him.
He opened his eyes again, then looked at her.
“So, this is how it ends?” and started to cough again.
“No, it’s not, please!” Tana said back.
Kaido smiled, “Tana. I want you to call me, Mabel.”
She paused for a moment then asked, “Really?”
He replied softly, “Yes.”
Tana tried to fight back crying.
“Mabel…I love you…please, don’t go,” Tana said and started crying.
His eyes shut and Spex felt his energy fade. Tana then sat there in silence.
Nether appeared back in the room. Spex tried to get up but felt immense pain after attempting.
“Alright. I think I need to teach you a lesson, Tana,” Nether said to her in an angry tone.
Tana looked back at Nether, the black aura was raging around her. She looked lost in anger as she transformed into her uncontrolled shadow form. She lunged and slashed at Nether as he blocked quickly with his arms. Nether failed Injuring both his arms. Nether grunted in pain.
“…. And here is number two,” Remnant said, looking at Spex.
He yanked out his scythe from Spex’s stomach and punched him in the face hard. Remnant turned to see Tana in front of him and she slashed his chest open. He fell down to one knee to assess his wound. Nether rushed over and slashed his sword. He looked around and Master Nether was gone.
He got mad and mumbled, “Nether.”
Tana raised her sword above her head. Remnant raised his scythe quickly and froze time around him. Even though he couldn’t move, Spex was still able to still see Remnant get up and hobble away. After he exited the room, time resumed. Tana hit the floor with her sword. The force of the attack creating a hole in the floor and the wall near Spex. She looked around for him and Nether.
Vlaykre and the other adults appeared and saw Tana in her Shadow form.
“Tana, calm yourself, now!” He yelled.
He ripped the mask off her face and the shadow dissipated off her. She fell unconscious to the floor and Her mother ran over and took Tana her arms.
They saw Kaido laying on the ground. Regan walked over and picked up him up.
Spex coughed and point to one of the holes, “Vlayru is through that hole.”
Ayla and Ryuu ran over to him and pulled him out. He was unconscious and beat up like the rest of them, but was back to his normal state. Icarus looked out the window for a moment and studied the outside view. Ryuu and Ayla started tearing up.
“Vlayru, we are so sorry,” Ayla said to him.
“I’m so sorry, son,” Ryuu said hugging him.
Icarus then spoke, “I sense Nether is running away. I’ll go after him.”
He put his hand up in the direction of the window and busted the window open with Sand Blast. He then jumped out of the broken window and out of sight.
“We don’t have a lot of time to wait for them to heal. I know what do to.” Vlaykre told them.
Regan asked, “What about Kaido?”
“He’s coming with too, obviously. He’s not dead yet,” Vlaykre Answered.
He picked Spex up and looked back at Regan.
He asked him, “Why do you care so much about him?”
Regan looked at Kaido, “He’s my son.”
Chapter 20 – Darkness Returns
Spex faded in and out of conscience as they were brought to Vlaykre’s castle in Abeyance. He woke up feeling a lot better but was slightly sore around his stomach. He sat up and looked at him stomach and was bandaged up. He looked around and saw that he was lying in a bed. Ansel and Tana were in their own beds on the other side of the room. It looked like they were in a sort of hospital wing full of beds. The room had dimly lit with old florescent lights on walls. The walls were made of old brick and stone. There was a female humanoid creature, wearing a nurse outfit, tending to them. The nurses had purple skin and hair.
“How do you feel?” a voice asked him.
Spex turned around and saw another female humanoid creature standing there, waiting for a response. he had never seen these creatures and took him by surprise.
“Uh, yeah I’m fine. Thank you,” he replied.
Vlaykre walked into the room and spoke, “I see you are up.”
“Yes, feeling much better too,” Spex replied.
He realized that he may not have his hood and goggles on. He snapped his hands up to his head and felt around. his hood and goggles were still on. He gave a sigh of relieve.
“You’re good. I know you don’t want me or anyone else to know who you are, so I had my summoned nurse
s here help you. You were close to dying, so we put you in a healing tank,” Vlaykre explained.
Spex then replied, “Thank you for that. So, you can summon creatures that aid in healing?”
“Yes though, it takes a lot out of me to do this many,” Vlaykre replied.
Spex then got curious, “You said a healing tank?”
Vlaykre nodded his head, “Yes, it’s something I recently discovered. It’s a type a liquid found here in Abeyance that has healing properties. It’s called Regenium.”
“That’s a new one,” Spex said.
Spex and Vlaykre looked over at Tana, as she was opening her eyes. Vlaykre got up and walked over to her.
“Tana, how are you feeling?” He asked.
She looked at him for a moment, then her eyes widened and immediately sat up.
“Mabel!” She yelled.
Vlaykre put his hand on her shoulder to calm her.
“Calm down and relax. Who is Mabel?” Vlaykre asked her.
Spex then spoke, “That’s Kaido’s real name, remember?”
“Oh, yeah almost forgot. Anyway, Mabel is in another room down the hall, healing with Vlayru. he was barely alive but, luckily, we were able to save him by putting him the healing tanks. He needed it the most.”
She put her hand her face hiding that fact that she was shedding some tears.
“What about Vlayru? Is he okay?” Tana asked.
“Yes, he’ll be okay now,” Vlaykre reassured her. “You guys snapped him out of the spell he was under. I’m surprised you were all able to stand your ground against them with how powerful they are. You guys did great.”
Ansel, who in the next bed over from Tana, started waking up.
“Ansel, are you okay?” Tana asked her after taking her hands away and looking in her direction.
Ansel nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright. How about you?”
“I’m fine. Wish we didn’t get hospitalized after every big fight,” Tana answered in a soft voice.
Vlaykre responded, “It can’t be helped. You are fighting powerful enemies and don’t have years of training it takes to handle the level of fighting you’re doing.”
Vlaykre stood up as Hana then entered the room, made her way quickly over to Tana. Tan wiped her eyes and hugged her mother.
“I’m so glad you’re alright,” She said to her.
Vlaykre smirked and walked towards the door, “I’ll go see how Mabel is doing.”
He exited the room. Hana and Ansel looked confused.
“Mabel is Kaido’s real name. He just didn’t really like it, so he chose to go by the name Kaido.”
“Oh, okay. That makes sense,” Ansel said.
“So, I have a question. Is Master Nether a cast?” Tana asked her Hana.
Hana answered, “Yes, but he isn’t the actual Master Nether. He just prefers that name over his own real name. like Mabel.”
Spex stood up and stretched.
“I’m going to use the bathroom,” He told them.
He made his way down the hall. It was dimly lit, like the hospital wing. There was old red carpet in the middle of the floor and the sides had different décor like sets of armor and paintings that were very old as well.
“This place has never changed,” He murmured to himself.
He finally got the bathroom and did his business. Afterward, he ran into Icarus on the way back to the room.
“Hey, Icarus. Did you find Master Nether?” sped asked him
“No, I lost track of him. He must have escaped into the Shadow Realm,” Icarus replied.
Spex crossed his arms, “Damn. He’s my connection to Nether Remnant.”
“Well, anyway, can you send me to the future now?” Icarus asked him.
Spex sigh, “I wish I could, but with the change in the timeline I can’t travel or see the future anymore. I don’t know why, though.”
Icarus smirked and explained, “Well, you told me before sending me into the past that you would say that. You also said you are from a time after I went into the past. Basically, if you take me with you to your home, I can then get back to the current timeline. Plus, I really need to leave because my first appearance in this universe is going to happen soon and I know you want to avoid a paradox.”
Spex thought about it, “Oh yeah, that’s right! Okay, hold on to my shoulder.”
Icarus did what he was told and they both disappeared into his aura, reappearing in spex’s house.
Icarus looked around and asked, “Wow, this is your place?”
“Yup, we are currently outside the timeline, but also progressing along with it. It’s really hard to explain. If you had told me that I had already sent you back in time at the current point in time, I would have brought you back here already,” Spex replied.
“Well it happened so long ago I almost forgot to say tell you. So, you want to take me to Earth Realm?” Icarus responded.
Spex took his hood and goggles off. He looked curious.
“I forgot you were from another universe. You said your past self is going to appear at some point after we left, right?” he asked Icarus.
Icarus answered, “Yeah, and I’m not the only one from another universe.”
“Alright, now I need to know. Do you mind if watch what happens after we left the castle?” Spex asked him.
Icarus sighed and smiled, “Alright just for a little bit though.”
Spex smirked back. He turned to his terminal and fast-forwarded the memory to right after they left. Tana’s voice started to narrate.
I looked over and saw Vlaykre walk in with a man. He had black, spiky hair, a vest, baggy frayed pants and no shoes.
“Hana, its Miro,” Vlaykre said.
My mother stood up with a smile, “Miro, it’s so good to see you. What are you doing here?”
Miro explained, “Well actually, I came back a while ago, I thought something was going on here, but I guess it was nothing. Anyways, one thing led to the next and I ended up staying here and helping out the E.T.B. I’ve been training this girl, she’s a great warrior. Her name is Iridia.”
Hearing that name made me remember that girl in the woods that helped me fight the shadow dwellers.
“I’ve met her before. Is she going to help?” I asked Miro.
Miro looked at me and studied me for a moment, “No, she just finished a mission and is badly injured from it. Who are you?” Miro asked her.
“That is my daughter, Katana,” Hana answered.
Miro looked at my mother stunned.
“So, that’s her, huh?” Miro asked.
Mother nodded and smiled, “Yes.”
He smiled back at her walked over to me.
“Nice to meet you, Katana,” He said, shaking my hand.
I smiled and replied, “Same with you, you can call me Tana.”
Spex looked at Icarus with a confused look on his face.
“Is that another one?” he asked Icarus.
Icarus replied, “Yes, he is. There are three of us Universe Travelers. The other is coming soon as well.”
Spex turned his attention back to the playback and continued to watch. His brain was still wondering about different universes. It made him kind of giddy.
“So, you had something to tell us, Miro?” Vlaykre asked,
Miro answered, “Yes, Master Nether was seen outside of Central City. I sent E.T.B. soldiers to apprehend him while I try to find you guys. They haven’t reported back in yet.”
“He’s up to something,” Vlaykre said.
I then remembered something Nether said.
“I might know what he is doing,” I spoke.
The adults looked at me.
“So do I,” said a familiar voice from the doorway.
I looked over and saw Vlayru said there. He looked like he had just gotten out of the shower with half his clothes on and a tower. Next to him was Mabel, Ryuu, Ayla, and Regan.
“Vlayru! Mabel!” I said, overjoyed.
Ansel and I sprang out of our be
d and ran over to them and gave them a hug.
“So, glad you two are alright,” I said to them.
Ansel smiled, “Same here.”
“So, you know what Nether is doing?” Vlaykre asked.
Vlayru nodded at Vlaykre “Somewhat. Crios kept mentioning something about reviving someone and the destruction of the planet. Though, being under the control of Master Nether, I was mostly trapped inside my own body surrounded by darkness.”
The adults looked at each other, with worried faces.
“So, he is going to try and do it again,” Vlaykre said.
I got confused and asked, “Do what?”
“He is going to try to bring darkness to the Living Realm; the same thing he tried to do sixteen years ago,” Hana answered.
Vlayru looked at Ansel, “Ansel, I’m sorry. I gave into my darkness and let it control me. That won’t happen again.” He turned to me and handed me Master Ice’s orb “This is for you. I’m going to use my light powers from now on.”
I smirked and absorbed the orb. Ansel had the biggest smile I had seen on her in long while.
“So then, onto the Central City?” I asked.
Ryuu then replied, “Let’s gear up!”
We got our things together and suited up. Mabel put on his full armor. Vlaykre transported us to outside of the city in the middle of the Nightshade Plains, which was a rock plain connecting the Dark Empire with the Central Union. It was night time and there was a full moon with clear skies. We saw Nether in the distance. He was doing some sort of praying and was charging up a lot of energy.
Regan looked around, “Miro, didn’t you say you send E.T.B. soldiers out here? I don’t see anyone.”
“Yes, I did. Alright plan B, I know something that might help. I’ll be back,” Miro told them.
He then quickly took off towards the city.
Ryuu looked at Vlaykre, “What is the plan?”
Several large black portals opened and what looked like an army of Shadow dwellers appeared out of them.
“Oh, great,” Ayla sighed.
My mother looked behind us.
“Guys, look!” she exclaimed.
I looked over in the same direction as her, along with everyone else, and we saw not only a platoon of Central Union Army soldiers but the militaries of the other nations as well. They all stood at attention. A Central Union general approached us.
The Masters: RE: The New Cast (The Crisis in Time Series Book 1) Page 17