The giant shadow's distorted laughing, Joy's deafening crying, Hitsu's cries of pain, Nox didn't hear any of them. The only sound that filled Nox's ears was the sound of her own heartbeat as she ran from her hiding place. She stopped running once she was in a line with Hitsu and the giant shadow.
"This is it," Nox said to herself, "hold on Hitsu."
Nox took a single deep breath, the past set in stone and the future unknown but all that mattered was the present. Focused and ready, Nox began to spin and twirl as she started her dance. As she danced without any set direction Nox lifted her hands above her head. Her hands slowly fell downward as Nox's fingers moved up and down in a rhythm. Once Nox's hands fell to her sides they too became apart of her seemingly random spinning and swaying.
"Ice..." Nox whispered without opening her eyes.
The moment the word left Nox's mouth snowflakes began to drift from her body. It started with a single snowflake but one quickly became hundreds. Snowflake after snowflake manifested and began to compile around Nox's feet creating a pile that didn't slow Nox's pace.
"I only have one shot," Nox thought, "I have to time this just right."
Hitsu's neon wall made its weakness known as its center began to crack like glass. Hitsu's eyes shot to the crack forming between his hands and he knew its time was short.
"But... I don't have to worry," Nox said with a smile forming on her face, "Hitsu is strong, and I know when to attack. I know because my mom gave me this power, the power of flow!"
Even with her eyes closed the world was perfectly clear to Nox. She could see everything, the grass blowing in the breeze, the bird's wings flapping as they flew away from the commotion, and the cracking neon.
"It's only going to last fifteen more seconds," Nox said, "that means I have fifteen more seconds to make this attack as strong as possible."
On and on Nox danced without hesitation. Pressure and nerves had no effect on her as she simply listened to the cracking neon. All the other sounds were unnecessary distractions that Nox's mind blocked out.
"Ten seconds..."
Hitsu's shoes made a scraping sound as they slide back slightly against the rocky ground.
"Seven seconds..."
Juno's claws scratched the rocks as she gently picked up the crying Joy in her mouth. Nox's smile grew a little, she was glad Juno picked up on the situation.
"Five seconds..."
The shadow's laughing started to fall apart in places as if the creature struggled to maintain its form.
"Three seconds..."
The neon wall was now full of cracks from its sides to its center, the pink barrier a nearly destroyed version of what it used to be.
"Hitsu..." Nox said. Despite her words being much quieter than the ongoing battle Nox's voice forced its way into Hitsu's ears.
"Huh?" Hitsu said as he looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw Nox surrounded by a flurry of snow. He could tell that in mere seconds her arms would be pointed in his direction and the attack would be unleashed.
"... GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Nox shouted as she did just that. Nox completed her final spin and clapped her hands together, her fingers pointed directly at the giant shadow. Hitsu listened without argument and immediately rolled to the side. The neon wall shattered into countless pieces and the shadow's fist crushed the ground in front of it, the hand missing Hitsu by mere inches.
"FREEZE!" Nox shouted as the rocky ground became covered with pure ice. The ice shot towards the creature like a bullet, it created a path across the ground as it flew forward. Without any time to react the shadow's fist was struck by the ice path and was instantly engulfed by the deadly cold. The ice mercilessly spread up the shadow's arm, it spread over its body in seconds. The creature threw back its head as it roared in pain. It soon found its head stuck in that position as the ice stopped around the creature's neck.
"Hitsu!" Nox shouted, "Hurry! Now's your chance!"
Hitsu looked up to Nox and smiled, he understood exactly what she meant. Hitsu jumped to his feet and, with neon surrounding his legs, took off in Nox's direction. Hitsu ran towards Nox at a high speed before he jumped and turned his body towards the shadow. He slid to a stop in a starting position only yards away from Nox, his eyes locked on the frozen shadow. With a burst of energy, Hitsu took off. He used his speed to jump onto the ice path and slide towards the shadow at extreme speeds.
"Thank you Hitsu," Nox whispered.
The neon around Hitsu's legs separated and floated to his arms as he slid closer and closer to the shadow. The giant monster's body shook in a desperate attempt to break free from its ice prison.
"Because of you," Nox said, "I can say this..."
Using the last remaining neon around his legs, Hitsu pushed off the ice cracking it beneath his feet. Hitsu jumped into the air and flew towards the shadow's chest with his arm pulled back ready to strike.
"...Hello world, It's me..." Nox yelled happily.
The giant shadow let out a final roar as Hitsu swung his arm forward.
"...The new Nox..."
Hitsu's arm slammed into the shadow's ice-covered chest. With the sound of shattering, Hitsu's fist plunged into the monster. The force of the blow destroyed the shadow upon impact and a hole opened in the center of the shadow.
"And I'm here to stay!" Nox finished as a single tear of happiness fell from her eyes.
Hitsu flew through the hole he opened in the shadow and landed on his feet in the grass just past the rocky ground. The hole continued to open wider and wider as the giant shadow became nothing more a giant cloud of black smoke that drifted away in the wind leaving behind nothing but an ice shell.
...
The battle was over. Hitsu and Juno stood by Nox's side, the three of them looking down at Joy who lay in Nox's arms. Joy's arms reached out towards Nox as she giggled happily at her big sister.
"Yep," Nox said, "she's okay."
With a relieved sigh, Hitsu crouched down to the ground and held his neck.
"Thank God," he said, "that shadow was pretty unexpected. I might have been a goner if not for you Nox. Thank you."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you," Nox replied as she allowed Joy to grab onto her index finger, "I wouldn't have had the courage to do that if it wasn't for you."
Hitsu smiled and opened his mouth to say something but stopped abruptly. His head shot in the direction of the ice shell. Nox quickly turned to see what had caused his sudden silence. Nox watched in horror as a dark ball of energy rose from the crumbling icy remains of her attack. The ball of darkness shook and jerked as it floated in the air. Nox prepared for the ball to fly towards her but to her surprise to flew high into the air and towards the dark woods in front of them.
"Juno!" Hitsu shouted, "Get me up there!"
Hitsu ran forward and jump. While he was off the ground Juno slid underneath his feet and pushed him high into the air with her front paws. Hitsu shot into the air high above the treeline, his eyes quickly found the dark ball. He watched as it flew away, far into the forest and disappeared. Expressionless, Hitsu mentally cursed himself as his momentum stopped. Hitsu slowly began to fall back to the ground where he landed safely on Juno back.
"Hitsu!" Nox said concerned, "What was that?"
"The person who was in charge of those shadows took some off their power back," Hitsu explained as he lay on Juno's back, "I'm guessing they gave the shadows some of their power so they could teleport and fuse together like they did."
"Should we go after them?" Nox asked.
"No," Hitsu answered, "they're long gone. But don't worry, it took them a long time to carry out an attack like that. I doubt they are coming back."
Nox let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness," she said, "maybe things can go back to normal now."
As if replying to Nox's words her phone began to ring from her pocket. Nox carefully received the cellphone making sure she kept Joy safely in her arm.
"It's my dad," Nox said as she checked the screen. She quickly answered the phone and placed it next to her ear.
"Hey dad, don't worry we got Joy and she's safe."
In a single moment, the world change. As if it were some cruel joke all of the happiness everyone felt was taken from them. Hitsu watched as Nox's smile faded with every word she listened to her father speak. Her eyes widened in fear and her mouth opened to hang agape. The color left Nox's face as her word began to crumble around her.
"Nox?" Hitsu said nervously, "What's wrong?"
Nox dropped her arm to her side and she slowly turned her head in Hitsu's direction. She looked like she could begin crying at any moment. As she tried to speak Hitsu could clearly see her struggle to force out the words. When Nox did speak Hitsu's appearance immediately copied Nox's. There were no happy endings, at least not this time.
"My mom..." Nox said with a shaky voice.
"...She"
"...She"
"...She"
"..."
"...She's dying."
...
End of Episode 17