Chelsea felt the warmness of the wind rush by her, this time glad that it was not as a result of falling to her almost certain death. She still couldn't believe she was ridding an hypogriff, she ran her hand through irs cool, silky, feathery mane. She smiled and turned to Justin.
"This is amazing." She said over noise of the wind as they were flying towards the exit.
"It won't be if we run out of air." He returned, looking at Tony who was out in front. "How many more minutes. "
"Maybe ten."
He swore then called out, "Try and keep up will ya?"
She looked down and saw the ground beneath them, if she fell she was sure gravity would not be so friendly this time.
"I'm afraid I'll fall."
"What aren't you afriad of?" He asked a little indifferent. He then saw the terror in her eyes. He had to help her. "Fine. Chels eyes on me."
"Huh?"
"Tony's almost there but we can reach him."
"He so good at everything. "
I'm right here. Justin pushed it aside and gave her the most encouraging smile he could muster. "Come on Chels, you if a noobie like Tony can do it then you can. You've been training for shit like this for months."
She stared at him blankly. Then came the loopside grin. She nudged her hypogriff in the side with her foot and she went zooming past Justin. He watched after her a little stunned. She's not such a scaredy cat after all.
The three continued upwards. They had gotten past the sky of the dimension of chaos which they noticed was getting closer to the main gate. They were now in the small dark space.
"Chaos is trying to break into the real world. " Justin yelled.
"Then it'll have to deal with me first." Tony said
Chelsea kept her eyes fixed on the the bright gates just a few feet away. She adjusted her glasses and egged her beast on. The rush of panic and excitement made her feel some what thrilled. Eventually they croseed the gates and were back in the main world.
Chelsea hopped down and lay on the ground. "Oh sweet ground... and I'm not falling towards it."
Even the hypogriffs gave her weird looks.
"I'd encourage you to get up." Justin said sharply.
"Why?" Her eyes were still closed. She really wasn't taking this seriously.
Tony saw what made Justin alert. "Chelsea. "
She sat up and looked in the direction they were looking. Her eyes widened in horror. Two men were approaching and unfortunately, she recognised both of them. She drew her laser pointer from her pocket and pressed battle mode. "Tony shut the gates. "
Tony pulled his dagger out of its sheath, it turned into a key as he ran towards the gates.
"I don't think so." Panic snapped his fingers. Tony felt an invisible arm grab and flung him across the ground. He landed hard.
"Tony!!!" Chelsea ran to his side helping him up, "are you okay?"
"Yeah." He spat out a little blood getting to his feet. He turned to the brothers. "I might not know how to fight but... you're gonna pay for that." The key became a dagger again.
"How did you find me?!" Chelsea scowled at them.
"That's hardly what matters." Fear grinned. Immediately, a rush of stormy wind burst through the gates, "Chaos and discord are on their way."
"Chelsea, they're crossing the gates, Tony has to shut it down." Justin called out.
She understood. Both of them had to cover Tony.
"What's the plan." Tony asked.
"Go. Me and Justin will take care of them." She whispered. These guys had almost killed her in her dreams their last encounter,. She wasn't sure if this time it'd be any different but there was only one way to find out. "Justin, I'll take ugly, you take chubby."
Justin grinned as he cracked his knuckles, "sounds like a plan. "
They attacked but the brothers were onto them, trying to get past the two to get to Tony who was busy studying the gates. The vacuum of air hardly seemed to be pulling him in but everything else, was well, going down the drain.
"What's going on?" Chelsea called to Justin. Dodging a swipe from Fear's blade.
"As the dimension gets closer so does its...attributes. For clarity, its going to turn into a mini wormhole." He punched Panic, who stumbled back in anger.
"You little-"
"Brother, stop the Keeper." Fear shouted. "I'll deal with them." He snapped his fingers. Chelsea could feel her feet being lifted off the ground.
Panick seized the opportunity. He moved to where Tony was still inspecting the side of the gate.
The sound of shrill feminine laughter was heard.
"Chaos and Discord." Justin gasped. He too was suspended in air just a few feet from Chelsea. He had to get her down so she could help Tony. "Drop us now."
Fear chuckled, scrutinising him. "Son of the Controller of Chaos, my the sisters will be happy to see you."
"That's not going to happen."
"Its inevitable. What will your mother say if she saw you now. Trying to protect these people who killed her kind."
Chelsea turned to Justin. "What's he talking about?"
Justin said nothing, a cold glint in his eyes.
"Justin, join us. A powerful being like you... you belong with us. We can offer you more than the Alliance."
Chelsea could hear Tony struggling with Panick she didn'thave time to be curious. "Justin? We need to do something."
"The Alliance keeps their promises." Justin pulled out a small spherical object from his pocket. "As for you, I'm not so sure." He threw it at the lord of nightmare. It seemed to be able to overcome the gravity of the man's trap because it sailed through the air and hit Fear smack in the face.
Chelsea managed to land without looking too awkward. She stared.
"Go!!!" Justin's voice brought her back. She nodded, picked up her sword and left to help Tony.
Justin now faced Fear who was slowly getting up. "Never let my mother's name cross your unholy lips again."
Chelsea reached Tony in a nick of time and hit Panick hard on the head with the butt of her sword. He passed out.
"Thanks."
"No prob. Do you know what to do?" She questioned Tony as she anxiously turned back to check on Justin. He seemed to be holding up well, that was if 'well' was bruised, cut but still fighting.
"I'm looking for a keyhole." He replied as the gates began to shake. "I had seen it just as this guy tackled me and almost threw me back down there."
Chelsea sighed. "Tony, you know what to do, don't be nervous."
He nodded slowly, turning back to the gates, he reached out and felt the side letting his senses guide him. The easy part was actually closing it but the hard part was getting all the chaos back in. He hated anything that was hard. Putting his mind to it, his fingers traced a line to a small, hardly noticeable diagram of a star. In the star was a hole.
Chelsea watched Tony, too nervous to notice Panic come up behind her. He grabbed her from the back and held her neck in his hand. "One click of my hand and she dies."
Everything seemed to stop. The man's beetle black eyes were manically evil but calm. Evilly patient. Fear was pleased.
Chelsea felt the rough long nails push into her skin. Despite that she had to do the right thing. "Tony... do... it."
"Chelsea..."
A surge of energy ran through her. She had never felt it before, bright firey colours swirled almost numbing her senses. A mixture of fear, anger and loss of control. Suddenly she was free on the ground, on all fours but still, free.
She gasped for air, looking up at Tony, "I... said... do it!"
He smiled warily and inserted the key in the hole qnd began turning clockwise.
A dull golden light engulfed Tony's form flowing into the key hole. Anguished cries could be heard as the forces fought against him but he kept turning and his light drove them deeper and deeper letting the gates slowly close, sealing in Chaos and Discord.
The skies turned into a cool twilight blue, the stars twinkling. The wind speed dropped and the agonised screaming seized.
Chelsea was the first to break the still silence, she laughed. We did it. "We did it!"
"Yeah we did." Justin chimed in. Tony ran to Chels and squeezed her in a tight hug.
"You're okay. What did you do back there?"
She was really in no mood to answer questions. She searched the area. The Lords of nightmare were gone.
"We'll get them." Justin said reading her expression.
"What was the whole thing about..."
"Please, don't ask." He began walking towards the city. "Come on, its a long way to your place." He said to Tony.
Tony took Chelsea's hand and very brightly. "Lets go I want to introduce you to my mum."
"Sadly you can't." Justin's tone had that heavy hint of finality. "You'll head straight home, we're going to our hotel. Tomorrow you'll use the key to open a portal to the Alliance of Order's HQ."
"But who'll explain to my mum?"
"I think she'll explain to you."
Chelsea and Justin collapsed on their soft, cool bed in their hotel room. They had earned some strange looks from those in the lobby because of how they looked like they'd been run over by a truck but they were so tired they didn't care.
"I'm so exhausted." She said through half closed eyes.
"Same here." Justin drawled. Almost at the same time, they noticed their hands were touching. They hurriedly separated.
"So... ready to talk about?"
"You're real stubborn aren't you?"
"Nah, just curious." She said watching him as he got up to switch on the TV. It was the news station. Apparently, the chaos had reached various places around the world but luckily, all people could see were just minor natural disasters. She was still listening when Justin changed the channel. "Hey."
She tried to sit up but immediately fell back. She was terribly weak all of a sudden.
"You need rest." He said matter of factly. "You used a lot of energy when you took down Panick."
"There are still..."
Justin shushed her. "I don't want you to die before we talk to the Alliance about my reward. Now get some sleep."
Now that he said it, she began feeling real drowsy. The air conditioning and cool sheets felt like paradise to her aching body. "Fine." She said slurred as he pulled the covers over her.
"Hey, Justin. You're real nice."
"Just doing my job."
"Cut the tough guy crap." She said with a yawn.
Justin couldn't help but smile. "You don't know me." He took off her glasses for her.
"Maybe some day I will."
With that, she drifted off.