Wow this chapter is nearly double the others. I'm happy to have it done though; now that it's out of my head, I can use the open space for other things like school...hopefully.
Sounds like my fight last chapter wasn't too bad, so let's hope this chapter's fight scene is good enough. Also, I don't know why I beat up on Guren. I love him so much, but for some reason, I enjoy writing chapters that make the characters go through physical pain like this.
If I hadn't expressed it already, I want to thank you all for your support on the story! I'm really happy this story was enjoyable for you all! Here's to our last and final chapter!
Ceylan arrived at school rather late, hoping to avoid speaking with Guren. It wasn't like the blue-haired teen hated Guren or something; he was actually feeling guilt for the past two days. He hadn't meant to be so harsh to Guren; his harsh words had been mostly in the heat of the moment. Oh sure, he did mean that Guren was a goody-two shoes, but not in a mean way. Guren was too nice, far too nice for his own good. He was always finding the best in people, and trying to bring that out in others.
When Ceylan entered the classroom, he was a little shocked to see that Guren's seat was empty. Normally the other boy would be at school early, hence on why Ceylan opted to arrive later than usual. A quick feeling of dread filled Ceylan's body as he wondered if something bad had happened on Quarton, but just as quickly, he shrugged off the feeling. Guren was a big boy and was pretty strong when he was Bravenwolf, so he was sure Guren was fine. The other teen was probably just at home taking the day off.
"Waiting for someone?"
Ceylan spun on his heel to face the owner of the voice behind him, hiding the fact that he had just nearly jumped out of his skin. He found Gen standing behind him, a stoic yet arrogant look in his eyes that always managed to piss Ceylan off. Crossing his arms, the blue-haired teen scowled at the other boy.
"Why would I be waiting for Guren?" Ceylan questioned. "The guy's just probably taking a day off from school. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"
Gen scoffed, preparing to snap back, but was stopped by the teacher telling the two boys to sit down. In a huff, the two went to their respective seating. Ceylan attempted to pay attention in class and not think about the fact that something may have gone wrong on Quarton.
When Toxsa arrived at his next class, he found it odd that he hadn't seen Guren pass by him at all. The two didn't share any classes together, but usually the younger boy would see Guren as they passed each other during passing period. He saw Ceylan, but he didn't see the other boy, which sort of worried the video game expert. He knew Guren had gone off to save Quarton from Vilius, but had something gone wrong? He really hoped nothing bad happened.
He hadn't meant to be rude to Guren yesterday. The routine on Quarton had just annoyed Toxsa enough to cause a fight with Ceylan and Chooki that sort of roped Guren into it. The other boy was the only one of them who didn't antagonize him as much as the other two. He was a great friend, and Toxsa felt guilty for acting coldly to him. He hoped everything had gone smoothingly at Quarton, but shook the thought out of his head because of course things went okay; Guren was fine and was probably just taking a me day or something. Everything was fine.
Chooki was grabbing his lunch, and debated on sitting with Guren. He had that same thought yesterday before he was pulled away by his team to eat lunch with them. He had seen how upset the other boy had been when Chooki was passing his table, but he had ended up with his teammates instead.
He looked around the cafeteria, but saw no sign of the boy with red in his hair. Dread instantly filled Chooki as he made his way over to the table with his group of friends. He had felt guilt over leaving Guren to face the problem on Quarton by himself. It was dangerous to face Vilius and his goons, as four Knights, but going alone just intensified the danger level.
Chooki had felt guilty for snapping at Toxsa and Ceylan over the past couple days. Like the others, he had felt boredom over doing the same, constant routine in Quarton, and he was feeling the pressure of school, sports, and the weight of two worlds on his shoulders. All of that had just escalated when the moment was made available, but Chooki still felt awful for losing his cool.
Collecting his thoughts and focusing on one of his friends who had asked him a question, he silently hoped that Guren was alright, and that Chooki hadn't made a mistake by letting Guren go to Quarton alone.
Guren had stayed in bed for the beginning of the day, feigning illness so that he could stay home and not go to school. His dad easily bought the lie and called the school, informing them that Guren was sick and wouldn't be going into school. Max stayed curled up with him on the bed, having sensed that while Guren was feeling terrible, it wasn't because of illness; he was a cat, and cats knew these kind of things.
Guren's body still ached from yesterday's battle, and his arm was still in pain, but he was at least feeling a tad bit better than he did the day before. He was settling down for another nap, when he sensed that his core brick was glowing. Guren briefly thought about not going to Quarton, but his sense of duty wouldn't allow that thought to go into action. Willing his bones and muscles to move, he got out of bed (startling and upsetting Max), grabbed his core brick, and wobbled his way out of his house.
Ceylan, Toxsa, and Chooki were all at the end of lunch when they saw their core bricks glowing. Each of them debated going to Quarton, but ultimately decided against the decision and placed their bricks away, hoping to have not been spotted by anyone.
Mr. White was expecting (hoping) for the other three boys to show up so that Guren could get some rest, but the front door opened to reveal the leader of the Tenkai Knights.
"Guren, you need to be at home resting!" Mr. White protested.
"I'm going to Quarton," Guren replied, doing his best to not wobble to the basement.
"You're still too injured to face Dromus," Mr. White argued, following closely behind Guren. "If you go now, you may not come back."
"I'll take that risk," Guren replied with determination in his voice.
Mr. White was quite surprised to hear the teenager say such a thing, and Guren used this as his opportunity to sprint to the basement and to the portal. Mr. White recovered after he saw Guren open the door and ran after the teen, arriving too late; he witnessed Guren insert the core brick into the portal's console, and was teleported to Quarton. Mr. White stared at the empty portal in worry and concern.
He sincerely hoped that wouldn't be the last time he saw Guren alive.
Sprinting hadn't been the smartest thing, because even as Bravenwolf, his legs gave a protest to the exertion they had been subjected to. Beag ran up to him, greeting him cheerfully like usual and asked to where the other three Knights were; Bravenwolf lied once more. Beag then expressed concern for the Knight given the beating the other day, but Bravenwolf waved off the concern and inquired what was the matter. Once again, a mining crew had been attacked; Bravenwolf had an idea that it was Dromus just trying to draw Bravenwolf out into another battle. Ordering Beag to follow him, the leader shot off for the mines in his Titan Mode.
Beag followed closely behind, resolving to not leave the white-and-red Knight's side. He may have come off as ignorant, but Beag was more insightful than he let on. He had a feeling something had happened within the group; he hadn't been ignorant of the rising tension within the group. He was aware of it, but informed his soldiers that it was only a healthy debate amongst the four, and that they would resolve it quickly. He didn't want his soldiers to have doubts about the Knights; he wanted them to look up to the Tenkai Knights and believe in them. Seeing Bravenwolf almost die had spooked Beag terribly, and it was now his goal to not let the leader fight alone; not if he could help it.
Dromus, already in his Titan Mode, overlooked the battle between the Corrupted and Corekai with Venetta beside him. Both of them were waiting for Bravenwolf to arrive; they had something to finish. Venetta was the first to spot the Knight heading for them. She readied her daggers, which was a hint to Dromus that Bravenwolf had been spotted. He drew out his own weapon, spotting Bravewolf approaching.
"The fool," Dromus commented loudly. "He's determined to get himself killed."
"Makes the job easier for us," Venetta commented, a smirk evident in her voice.
"That it does," Dromus replied to his companion. "Let's go and make his death swift." He hopped off the cliff the two had been standing on, heading straight for Bravenwolf.
Venetta jumped after her partner and slide down the side of the cliff, a chuckle escaping her vocal chords as she continued down the cliff-side.
"Let's have fun first!" Venetta proposed as she hopped off the cliff-side and bounced off of the heads of Corrupted and Corekai alike.
"That's the whole point of this, isn't it?" Dromus replied.
Bravenwolf noticed two figures approaching, instantly identifying them as Dromus and Venetta; at this point, he doubted the two figures could be anybody else but them. He watched as the soldiers that had previously been following him run past him, off to assist their fellow brothers in arms against the Corrupted. Beag was the only one who stayed with Bravenwolf, and he even raised his laser gun at the approaching Dromus and shot at him.
"Beag, go and assist your men," Bravenwolf ordered, raising his shield slightly as he prepared for the oncoming attack.
"I'm afraid that will have to be an order I must ignore, sir," Beag responded as he continued to fire, though he moved his target of fire to the quickly approaching Venetta.
Bravenwolf turned to look back at him in surprise. The leader of the Corekai didn't stop his assault, keeping his gaze on Venetta as she approached, only a few meters away. Bravenwolf was tempted to argue with him, but decided not to do so; Beag was just as stubborn as any of them, and it actually felt nice to have someone willing to fight beside him.
"Okay," Bravenwolf said. "I'll take on Dromus and you fight Venetta, deal?"
If Beag could smile, Bravenwolf bet he would be. He paused in his assault to give the Knight a salute, before going back to his attack on Venetta.
"Yes sir," the leader said.
Bravenwolf returned his attention to Dromus, who was closer now, holding his weapon up to strike Bravenwolf down. The Knight raised his shield up in defense, protecting him from a major blow as the black-and-gray bot's sword made contact with the shield. The force had Bravenwolf skidding back an inch, but he didn't topple over or lose his balance; he just moved back a little.
"I'm surprised to see you standing, Bravenwolf," Dromus greeted, sounding sarcastic as he spoke. "I thought for sure you'd run back home with your tail between your legs."
"You apparently don't know me well at all," Bravenwolf spat back.
"On the contrary; I know you quite well. You're the idiot who's about to die because he was stupid enough to come back to greet death," Dromus responded, swiping the shield away and kicking Bravenwolf in the stomach.
Normally, the kick would have just made Bravenwolf skid back some feet from the kick, but the Knight was still weak from the battle he had the day before, so the kick was strong enough to make him fall onto his back. A quick spike of pain ran up and down Bravenwolf's spine, but the white-and-red Knight did his best to will away the pain and rolled over, avoiding a stab from his doppelganger.
"Hmm. You're pretty wiley for someone who was almost killed yesterday," Dromus mocked. "I was expecting you to just flop around."
"Sorry to be a disappointment," Bravenwolf remarked, moving from his knees to lung at Dromus, actually managing to wrestle the other bot to the ground; Dromus hadn't been expecting Bravenwolf to have enough strength to do so.
Bravenwolf's victory was short lived because his arm protested against the exertion it had just undergone, and this moment of pause gave Dromus the opportunity to slash at the Knight, sending the weakened bot off of him.
Well that didn't go as planned, he thought to himself as he slowly got to his knees, only to be kicked in the head. Okay. That one majorly hurt.
"I'm going to enjoy every moment of this," Dromus stated wickedly as he stalked towards his prey.
"Really? I hadn't guessed," Bravenwolf responded with snark in his tone, forcing his legs to work.
"Stubborn to the end," Dromus commented. "Your death will be a pity."
"We'll see about that," Bravenwolf replied, rushing at Dromus with his sword despite his protesting arm- raised.
Class after lunch was just mid-way through when the three chosen Knights were hit by an image of Bravenwolf fighting Dromus sword-on-sword, only for Dromus to use his shield to smack Bravenwolf off his feet. The white-and-red Knight fell to the ground from the hit, followed up with being stepped on by the black-and-grey bot. The image had been sent from the three core bricks; which had been continuously glowing since their first call to action. The core bricks, sensing that their owners were not going to take action, took matters into their own figurative hands and sent the image of what was happening on Quarton so the three would understand the severity of what Dromus was doing. The images had caused the three teens to nearly shout in class, but they had gotten a hold of themselves quickly and simply made an excuse to their respective teacher's before packing up and rushing out of their classrooms.
Even though they had each resolved to no longer help Quarton, seeing their friend getting beaten up by Dromus made their guilt rise to an unbearable level. No matter what happened, Guren was their friend, and abandoning him to die at Dromus' hands was not an option any of them wanted to entertain for a moment longer than necessary, so they were off and running. The three almost ran into each other, literally, in the hallway as they ran for the exit.
"You saw it too?" Ceylan questioned the two other boys as they ran for the bike rack. "With Bravenwolf and Dromus?"
"Yeah," Chooki replied as he frantically undid his bike lock - he hadn't been this shaken up since the cup finals two years ago. "Bravenwolf looked like he was in bad shape. A swipe like that shouldn't have had him off his feet."
"He didn't show up to school today," Toxsa spoke up as he slammed his helmet on his head and threw his lock into his bag. "Do you think it had something to do with yesterday on Quarton?"
"If it did, then he's an idiot to be going back today!" Ceylan exclaimed in a combination of worry and anger.
"Let's go guys!" Chooki, on his bike with his helmet on but not strapped, ordered as he began to bike it to Mr. White's shop.
Toxsa and Ceylan were right behind him within seconds, never once losing pace as the adrenaline flowed through their veins. They pedaled faster than they ever did before, nearly running people over with their tires as they sped past people on the sidewalk. They made it to the shop in record time, and all but threw their helmets off onto their bikes as they rushed into the strange little shop. Mr. White was nowhere in sight, but the three teens had an idea on where the elder man was. They threw the basement door open and patiently waited for the metal doors to the room the portal was housed in to open. Mr. White rounded on the three of them, first showing surprise over their appearance before a glare formed on his face; an angry Mr. White was a rare Mr. White indeed, but the boys knew he had every right to be upset with them. On the screen behind the elderly man was the fight Bravenwolf was in against Dromus.
"As much as I'd like to reprimand you three for your recent behavior, I'm afraid that there's no time. Bravenwolf isn't at his full strength, and I'm afraid that Dromus may use his canon blast any moment now," Mr. White explained, his face mixing with worry. "You three need to get to Quarton quickly."
"Right," Chooki replied for the group.
"Cheesy forgiveness speeches later?" Ceylan asked as he jogged over to the portal.
"Definitely later," Toxsa replied. "Time to go and save our buddy from that Dromus creep!"
The three placed their core bricks in the slots, and were taken to Quarton instantly, under Mr. White's watchful gaze. A bit of the tension he had felt before dampened thanks to the three boys' arrivals; if they got to Bravenwolf in time, then everything would be alright.
"Beag!" Bravenwolf shouted when he saw the Corekai fall.
The Tenkai Knight ran to defend the leader from a blow by Venetta, but he was tackled to the ground by Dromus.
"He's not your concern Bravenwolf, I am!" Dromus stated, powering up his Dark Energy Cannon.
Not this again, Bravenwolf thought angrily, powering up his Bravenwolf Cannon. Well, it's like Mr. White would have probably said: fight fire with fire!
When Dromus released his energy beam, Bravenwolf released his, letting the two different energy beams contend with each other.
"Over there, what's that?" Valron, already in Titan Mode (like the other two Knights were), questioned with worry evident in his tone.
"Those look like energy beams!" Tributon supplied.
"From two cannons," Lydendor added. "Let's step it up guys!"
"Right," the two replied as they pushed just a little bit more to be faster.
Bravenwolf groaned at the energy he had used up for his cannon, reverting out of his Titan Mode. He was almost running on empty, and his body was protesting the use of it. Then, of course, Dromus (still in Titan Mode, which wasn't fair in the slightest) had to walk over and slam his foot onto Bravenwolf's chest, putting on pressure that had Bravenwolf nearly screaming out in pain; the Knight would not do it, however, because he didn't want to give his opponent the benefit of hearing him in pain.
"You know Bravenwolf, I am going to miss you when you're dead," Dromus taunted as he continued to press down.
"I'm sure you'll cry a tear over me," Bravenwolf shot back, his voice filled with contempt as he attempted to move the foot off of him.
Just like the day before, the blade of Dromus' sword laid at his neck, ready to slice it off in one clean swipe.
"A fighter until the very end," Dromus remarked with a slight tsking noise at the end of the sentence. "Goodbye Bravenwolf."
Bravenwolf closed his eyes and waited for the blade to swing back and swipe off his neck, but he was surprised to hear three roars of fear and anger before he heard metal against metal. Someone was kneeling beside him - he could tell by the sound of something landing close to him - and a hand touched him, shaking him slightly.
"C'mon Bravenwolf, get up!" Tributon's voice pleaded.
"Tributon?" Bravenwolf questioned, opening his eyes.
"Oh thank goodness you're alive!" Tributon cried in relief. "How are you feeling? Can you move? Are you hurt anywhere? Well of course you'd be hurt, but are you hurt really really badly? Can you wa-"
"What are you doing here?" Bravenwolf asked in surprise, cutting off his friend's rambling.
"We came to save your behind," Tributon replied, his voice still full of relief. "The core bricks showed us you getting the snot kicked out of you by Dromus, so naturally we came to save you guys, since, you know, we're your friends."
"We?" Bravenwolf questioned, just now hearing the sounds of two fights taking place closeby.
The red-and-white Knight pushed his upper body up, trying to see what was going on, and Tributon assisted him. From his upright position, Bravenwolf watched as Valron and Lydendor took on Venetta and Dromus, respectively. Both were fighting aggressively, and Dromus and Venetta decided that having three able-bodied Knights against the two of them who were already low on energy were not promising odds, so they retreated. Bravenwolf almost released a sigh of relief, but he focused on the reassuring hand on his shoulder from his friend.
"Yeah. After seeing Dromus attacking you, we got over our anger with each other and came to your rescue," Tributon continued in his explanation, sounding serious. "No one messes with our buddy and gets away with it."
"I thought you three were done with Quarton? That we were no longer a team," Bravenwolf questioned as the other two Knights walked over to the two of them.
"You know better than to take anything we say in the heat of the moment seriously," Valorn teased lightly.
"We three just lost our cool," Lydendor agreed. "We let our anger rule us and we said things we shouldn't have. But no matter what, you're our friend, and we're a team, and at the end of the day, we're all there to support each other, right guys?"
"Right," Tributon and Valron replied, looking down at their (badly) injured friend.
Bravenwolf was nearly in tears at hearing his friends. He was so afraid he had lost them; the day they had abandoned him, he had realized how alone he was in the new city. It had terrified him to be alone, to lose the only friends he's ever been able to rely on. Hearing their words, however, comforted the Knight better than any pain relief medicine could, and he nearly broke down from the relief of having his friends back.
"Thank you guys," Bravenwolf said in a tiny, watery voice, and he was sure his friends had heard the relief and near-tears in his voice.
"C'mon man," Lydendor said, holding out his hand to his leader. "Let's head back."
After making sure Beag was alright (Beag was, and he continuously expressed gratitude and happiness to see the Knights back together again), the four Knights returned through the portal and went back to Earth. Lydendor and Tributon had already been holding up Bravenwolf when they went through the portal, so Guren didn't fall through it once they made it back. Chooki and Ceylan kept a good grip on their injured leader, finally getting to see the bruises he had been sporting, new and old. Mr. White walked up to them quickly, releasing a sigh of relief at seeing Guren safe and sound. He had been watching their progress on the live feed, but that didn't mean he wasn't still worried about a possible ambush just before they returned. Guren gave the elderly man a lopsided grin.
"I made it out in one piece," he said.
Mr. White sighed and shook his head with a slight grin. He should have been scolding Guren for his recklessness, but there would be time for that later.
"Yeah, well don't do a stupid stunt like that again, you got it?" Ceylan demanded, sending a tiny glare at Guren. "I meant it Guren, no more solo hero, understand?"
"Of course," Guren responded with a nod. "Besides, with you three by my side, there'll be no reason for me to be a solo hero, right? All for one, and one for all, right?"
The three teens fell silent at the question, looking to each other almost quizzically before finally smiling and giving each other a small nod. Guren's face brightened at the nods, and pulled Chooki and Ceylan closer for a group hug. Chooki grabbed Toxsa and pulled him into the hug, which was met with a mild bit of protest before Toxsa gave in and closed up the circle.
Ceylan and Mr. White would later scold Guren for his reckless behavior. And later, the three boys would apology for the bad attitude and hurtful words they had said to each other. And after Guren healed from his injuries, the four teenagers would go down to the diner and have a drink just like old times. All of that would be done at a later point in time. At that moment, however, they would simply stay in the group hug to reaffirm their position as Knights and as friends to the bitter end.
Ceylan's line about cheesy forgiveness speeches was used by Tucker in Red vs Blue.