The bolts of lightning were magnificently blinding, as Madison looked up to the sky with a huge smile plastered wide across her face. She recognised that signature lightning; she would recognise it anywhere. Sure enough, a figure began descending to the ground like a powerful warrior goddess, with shimmering rainbow dreadlocks and muscles much larger than Madison's face. She stood at a grand seven feet tall, much taller than the girl who lay behind her. But these two were far from strangers.
"Little sis, let me take care of this," Brunette smirked, patting her sister's hair as she stepped forwards to face Valor alone. She took another step, before her body moved like lighting, causing her to dart towards Valor at a similar speed to light. Within a moment, she had slammed her fist towards his gut, drawing out the minimal air in his lungs, before spinning to the side and kicking him down towards the ground.
He skidded lifelessly across the battlefield, but quickly stood and wiped his blood from his lip. His breathing was ragged as he growled, but Brunette only smirked and held her hands out in preparation. Electricity sparked all around her, as a large ball of magic and rainbow lightning began to form, zapping around within her hands before she pulled back her arm and launched it across the field.
"Too fast," Valor gasped, as it slammed directly into his chest and exploded with a massive magical force, shocking his entire body and propelling him back into the outer facility wall.
"Goal!!!" Brunette cheered, whooping and celebrating with a smile. "Somebody get him a medic!" She laughed, watching as the rubble shook and revealed Valor's hardy determination.
"Don't underestimate me, you weird disco freak!" Valor growled, launching fire from his hands as he propelled himself towards her. "I'm sure somebody would pay a lot of money to buy a dragon lady," He smirked, glancing between Madison and Brunette.
"Oh, you think you can sell me?" She hummed, glancing back at her little sister with a smile. "Sorry, but I'm already sold, sold on kicking your ass!" She laughed, once again filling her hand with magic as she blasted forwards and smashed his face into the ground. "Is this the best you've got? Come on, this is a special event," She smirked.
"Shut the hell up," Valor growled, struggling to stumble away, only to notice that his shaded glasses had disappeared from atop his head.
"Guess I gotta make this fight lit then, literally ," Brunette smiled, as she happily slid on the sunglasses she had stolen from Valor, before lifting her hand up towards the sky and causing clouds to darken above them. Before Valor had even attempted to run, hundreds of thunderbolts started striking ground all around him, lighting up the entire battlefield like a blazing disco party. Soon enough, the lightning barrage began to merge into an epic beat, all while Valor had to continuously dodge for his life. In the end, he was unsuccessful, as his entire body was fried and bloody.
"Is that it, man?" Brunette asked, jamming out to the beats of her lightning whilst Valor struggled to even stand.
"You want an attack? Fine. Tell me what you think of this," Valor muttered weakly, stuttering and shaking as he stumbled to his feet. As soon as he was standing though, his hands began to glow with a fiery orange energy, as he swiftly turned and fired a beam directly towards Madison's body. She attempted to dodge, but the beam collided with her leg, knocking her to the ground with little to no mobility.
"Sis!!!" Brunette gasped, her eyes turning red with rage. "Oh, you're gonna die now," She growled, turning back towards Valor with a bloodthirsty glare, before flying straight forwards and stomping him endlessly into the cold stony ground. "No one hurts my family or my friends!!" She yelled, reaching down and grabbing him by the head, before lifting him up and using his body like a punching bag. She continued on for many minutes, until he was nothing more than an unconscious, limp body.
"Brunette! It's good to see you," Madison smiled, struggling to stand as she attempted to stumble towards her. Realisation soon hit though, as she turned back and glanced sideways over the cliff. "Quick! We need to go down there! Zenith fell!" She panicked.
"That's a mighty big fall," Brunette mumbled, glancing idly over the side and causing Madison to tear up as she stumbled towards the edge. Without warning, she transformed slowly into her Dragon form, flying weakly towards the ground in a desperate attempt to check on him. Brunette, on the other hand, simply hopped over the side and flew down behind her sister, catching on to the long slash marks that had been engraved into the stone all the way down the cliffside.
The two of them landed and began their search, until finally, Madison looked up towards a familiar figure. Standing idly atop a boulder, Zenith was haphazardly brushing off his clothes and stumbling weakly through the mismatched rubble.
"Hey, look, your friend's okay," Brunette chuckled, knowing deep down that Zenith had been the one to slash the cliff side with his sword. Madison cared very little about how he survived though, she simply flew down and tackled him into a hug, holding him tight whilst he chuckled and gently smiled.
"Guess you won then," he said, holding her close and carefully petting her hair.
"I didn't, Brunette did all the work." She muttered, before leaning back and slapping him lightly. "And don't you dare scare me like that! I thought I lost you!"
"I'm good, I'm okay," he laughed, brushing off the minor hit. "But my hands ache a lot. And my leg got hit by a rock... but I'm good." He shrugged.
"Let's just check on the others," she sighed, attempting to step away but immediately face planting into the floor due to her leg.
"I'll carry you," Zenith chuckled, picking her up within his arms whilst silently avoiding Brunette, who had been glaring intensely the moment he touched her sister.
"Yeah. Let's go back to your ship," Brunette growled, walking off towards the shore with Zenith quietly wandering behind.
"Oh, yeah! Jade is there, he can heal my leg." Madison smiled, nuzzling up in Zenith's arms as she relaxed and closed her eyes.
"He's probably paying more attention to the other person on the ship," Zenith chuckled, holding her close as he gently smiled and kept up with Brunette's pace.
Meanwhile, the others had collectively freed the remaining animals, before looking around for any remaining cells. Zero on the other hand had been left under the watchful eye of Haylee, who removed the needle in his neck and was gently bandaging the wound whilst his body was propped up against a nearby wall.
"... S-Sword… My swords!" Zero shouted, as he woke up from his slumber in an instant, causing Haylee to fall backwards with a scream. "Huh? Who are you?" He muttered, still a little hazy from the drug that plagued his system.
"It's me, Haylee." She said softly, sitting back up and slowly shifting forwards. "Are you ok?" She asked, reaching out to touch his cheek.
"My swords are gone," Zero gasped, looking around in a frantic panic.
"It's ok, it's ok. At least you're safe." She said, trying to calm him back down. "Your crew will help you look for them."
"That chick drugged me and stole them!" Zero growled, barely listening to anything that she said.
"Hey! Calm down!" Haylee pouted, sitting down atop his lap and glaring at him directly in the eye. "You're ok, we can get your swords back. But we need to get to the others first." She explained, gripping his shoulders while she spoke.
"Those were my parent's swords," Zero mumbled, looking down towards the floor with a sigh.
"And I promise that you will get them back, just calm down." Haylee smiled, standing up and gently holding his hand, before lifting him up from the ground as well.
"Alright," He sighed, agreeing to her terms despite clenching his fists extremely tightly. Haylee noticed and kept her hand locked around his, rubbing his knuckles and attempting to calm him down.
"Anger isn't good for the heart," she said, leading him back towards the others as they all stood idly in the front room, preparing to walk down the mountain whilst discussing who was cuter between Pip and Olga.
"Clearly, Pip is the most adorable member," Elez said. "He's smaller and fluffier than Olga."
"Olga is cuter, he can turn into a pillow," Kauna argued.
"I thought Madison was the cutest," Kaizo mumbled, all while Pip was taking a nap atop Olga's shoulder, nuzzled up to the boy's neck in his fox form.
"Wait, you think Madison is the cutest?" Kaylo asked, looking back towards Kaizo with a curious stare.
"Nu uh, I don't approve." Elez growled.
"Are you her dad or something?" Kaizo asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"I am," Madison's dad said, but he was completely ignored by the arguing boys.
"No, of course I'm not her dad. But I think she's cute, me and Zenith already have a competition for her." Elez hissed.
"Competition for what?" Kaizo asked.
"To get her attention, you know. To be her boyfriend." He said, causing Kaylo to glance away in sorrow, since he had been crushing on the Angel boy for a while.
"I'm her boyfriend," Kaizo shrugged, pushing past a few more trees.
"What?!" Elez yelled, causing his wings to puff up in annoyance.
"What?" Kaizo hummed, confused why he was yelling.
"You're her boyfriend?!" He gasped. "Since when!?" He growled, annoyed that this was so sudden.
"A bit ago," Kaizo replied, turning back with a stern glare. "You can't take her from me."
"But you're an idiot! Why would she choose you over me?!" He groaned, stepping up onto the deck of the Nightshade Pirates ship.
"Maybe you're not an option," Lezlie smirked, causing Elez to glance over with a growl.
"Let's just drop it," Haylee sighed, letting go of Zero's hand the moment he had calmed down. "Zero had his swords stolen, and I don't want Elez punching anyone."
"Kaizo might," Zero chuckled, noticing Kaizo's glare.
"Please, just don't," she said. "I think we just need to sit down and eat some food, does that sound good?" She asked. "You do cook the best food," she smiled at Zero, causing Kaylo to pout in the background.
"Need my swords to cook," Zero mumbled.
"Seriously, I can't do anything right, can someone help me out here?" She asked, looking back towards Jesabele and Kuana.
"You think we have leashes on the boys?" Lezlie laughed.
"I'd hope so," she sighed, looking up at them all sternly and placing her hands atop her hips. "All of you, relax, right now!" She ordered, but considering her height and the small kitten that had climbed up on her shoulder, Haylee was far from intimidating. The two crews began to laugh at her adorable nature, but the figure standing behind her was more than enough to silence their chuckles.
"Well hi there," Brunette smiled, crouching down to Haylee's height, and softly petting the black and red kitten that sat idly atop her shoulder.
"Ah! Rainbow lady!" Haylee screamed, jumping back behind Zero and holding tightly onto his forearm.
"Close, but no. Brunette, Brunette Nightshade," she smiled, holding her hand out towards the crews.
"Wait, like Madison's sister?" Kaylo muttered, glancing around the ship and spotting Zenith and Madison chatting nearby.
"Yup, I'm the oldest," Brunette grinned, waving towards her father with a happy smirk.
"Oh cool," Haylee mumbled, still holding tightly onto Zero's arm since Brunette was far taller than her.
"I'll go make some food," Kaylo sighed, turning back and stepping slowly towards the staircase.
"Wooo, food!" Kaizo cheered, allowing Kaylo to nod as he walked off towards the kitchen, leaving the others standing idly above deck.
"Wanna go intrude on Jade and Altary?" Elez asked, looking around at the others curiously.
"Na, we can just get them when it's time to go," Lezlie said.
"Alright," he shrugged, staring briefly at Kaizo with a death glare, before running off to tell Zenith what he said. The others ignored his exit, whilst Madison's dad walked off with Brunette to have a private conversation, leaving everyone else to help out with setting the table.
Eventually, Kaylo stepped out of the kitchen and presented their dinner, calling everyone to the table as they ate and chatted like old friends. Jade and Altary had grown closer over their short time alone, whilst Madison and Kaizo sat close at each other's side, causing Elez and Zenith to glare in anger and jealousy.
After hours of celebration and chatting though, the two crew were finally ready to depart, allowing everyone to sorrowfully say their goodbyes. Zero was the first to depart, as he patted Haylee's head and turned away to board his own ship.
"See ya around," he smiled, winking gently as he slowly turned away, causing her to blush and slowly smile back.
"Have fun kicking some ass when you get your swords back!" She called out, allowing Zero to laugh as he waved and disappeared.
"See you soon," Kaizo hummed, pulling Madison into a hug, leaving Elez and Zenith glaring from afar. Brunette was quick to interrupt them though, as she lifted Elez and Zenith in her arms, hugging them tight and slightly crushing their bodies within her grasp
"See you around dorks," Brunette chuckled, leaning down and whispering to them both. "Hurt my sister and I'll rip your arms off." She smiled, dropping them both as she turned and flew away. Madison's father soon followed, as the remaining Star pirates announced their goodbyes.
"I hope to see you soon," Jade smiled, leaning deeply into Altary's embrace as the two boys prepared to depart.
"Same here, I look forwards to seeing you again," he smiled, letting go of as he slowly stepped away. "Stay safe! I don't want to see you hurt!" He called out, causing Jade to immediately blush and wave him off.
"You too!" He replied, smiling one last time before Altary left the ship.
"Bye pup boi," Pip waved, sitting idly in Madison's arms as he smiled at the humanoid dog boy.
"I'm a doggo, but close enough," Olga chuckled, patting Pip's head one final time as he too turned away and left their ship. Soon, both crews were ready to depart, as they raised their flags and set sail on the open oceans, with each ship sailing differently in order to follow their separate paths.