The day had finally come.
Anthony was walking down the path to the entrance of the Sowei City Castle. He could feel the piercing glares of the soldiers around him on his back. Renée was walking beside him, her palm resting on her sword's handle, ready to unsheathe it should anything happen.
The two didn't speak a word to each other throughout the entire journey. Eventually they reached the entrance to the castle. The wooden door creaked as it was pushed open, revealing a dimly lit hallway. At the end of the hallway was aa room with a desk in the middle, where Frederick Gaspar was sitting.
There were eyebags under his dark purple eyes clearly indicating he hadn't slept last night. Standing next to him has a man wearing glasses, and behind the two was something covered by a red cloth and two soldiers.
"We're here to demand-" Anthony tries to say, before he is interrupted.
"That I release Soweiland, yeah yeah. You really think it's appropriate to talk to a king on vacation about this? Go bother the governor instead." Said the King.
"You had him executed, sir." Said the assistant.
"Oh yeah. I did do that. So you two kids can scram or you'll share his fate."
"We aren't leaving." Said Anthony.
"Alright then. FIRE!" As he yells this out, the two soldiers remove the cloth from the equipment behind them and reveal two cannons, pointing straight at Anthony and Renée. The cannons fire, and Renée takes out her sword, slicing through the slow cannonballs headed their way.
Meanwhile, the King jumps on the desk, tosses his cape away, unsheathes his blade, which is covered in a dark purple flame of some kind, yells out a battle cry and lunges at the two trying to stab them.
Renée blocks his attacks, but suddenly, he slams his foot on the ground, which causes a pillar of stone to emerge from the ground. He kicks it Renée's way, and she barely dodges.
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Meanwhile, on the outside, the rebels have assumed that the cannon shot was the signal they were expecting, and have started running towards the castle. Leo's elite team is leading the charge, with Banner specifically doing the most damage to the enemy lines, dual-wielding two automatic rifles.
O'Lop was having the time of his life smacking people in the face with a hammer. Meanwhile Leo was looking around, trying to figure out the enemy's positions.
"Buckethead, 8 o'clock!" He yess out, and O'Lop turns around and hits a soldier who tries to sneak up on him.
"Outback, ready the explosives. I see armoured cars on the way."
"Aye aye, Chief."
Leo then spots a red dot hovering over a rebel, and pushed him away before he got shot.
"Vigilante, they have snipers, you think you can-" Leo tried to say, before the sniper was knocked down by someoene behind him. "Nevermind, keep doing what you were doing. And Banner? Good job, buddy."
Turns out Nick Godsmyrn had left Jessica back at the estate, and had snuck his way into the battlefield, behind the enemy lines. He proceeded to stealthily take down most of the snipers.
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Back inside the castle, Anthony and Renée were busy dodging the mad monarch's attacks. Lasers were flying left and right, the King created various hardlight constructs and also attacked the pair with various rocks.
"We need to fight back to get outta here!" Yelled Renée.
"Get outta here it is, said Anthony, as he tried to make a run for the door. Unfortunately for him, a rock emerged from the ground and blocked the door out.
"You aren't leaving this room alive." Announced Gaspar. "You took a gamble coming in here, and you know what happens to gamblers." A new wave of cannonballs shot towards Anthony, which he barely dodged.
"I've had enough of these cannons!" Said Renée to no-one in particular, then ran towards the assistant and the soldiers.
The assistant tried to stop her, but he punched him in the face and kicked him in the stomach, knocking him away. She then stabbed the first soldier, before being hit in the back by a stray rock, and falling to the ground. The other soldier tried to stab her, but she sweeped his legs and sliced his chest open once he fell.
Meanwhile, Anthony had grabbed a chair that he used to block Frederick's attacks. After a long string of blasts, the king had to stop and catch his breath, and that's when Anthony fought back. He rammed him with the chair and slammed him on the wall. That did nothing but daze the king, who immediately blasted Anthony towards the other wall. Renée tried to sneak up on him, but thanks to his amplified hearing, he noticed her and grabbed her by the leg. He lifted her up so they could see eye to eye.
"Pathetic girl. What do you think you can accomplish? My legions with decimate your 'rebellion' in the blink of an eye."
"You're wrong. We have the numbers advantage!"
"Do you?" He then turned to his assistant who was still lying on the floor. "OPEN THE GATES!"
The assistant then pressed a button on his belt, which opened a door on the outside of the castle. The thousand men that arrived with the king to Sowei City exited the building, and joined their comrades on the front.
"More divisions?" Leo asked. "We didn't prepare for that many..."
With the new additions to their force, the Austrians outnumbered the Sowei almost 3 to 1.
As Leo was contemplating their next move, Banner passed in front of him and started shooting towards all directions. He yelled like a madman, and prompted the the enemy armies to start going backwards.
"He's like an one-man army!" Said Tom in fascination, before following Banner into the fray.
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Meanwhile, back in the neighbouring realm of the Above, Nova had gathered his elite in his auditorium. Geowar was worriedly pacing around the room, awaiting his announcement, while Lambda had sat down and started meditating. Titan and Signus were still giggling like idiots about something
"SILENCE!" Yelled Nova from atop his throne, successfully diverting everyone's attention back to him.
"We have been blocked out of the Realm of Terra. Blaze is a traitor. For his punishment, I will cut him off the magic force. This is a lengthy process and will take at least 5 hours. I ask not to be disturbed during this."
"What'd you gather us here, bro?" Asked Titan.
"I want you and Signus- Stop CHUCKLING! To watch over the matter transporter and report to me should anything happen. Lambda, Geowar, I want you to watch the entrance to the auditorium, and not let anyone inside. Did I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir." Said Geowar.
"Alright, fine" Said Titan and Signus with one voice. Lambdas simply nodded.
"Now leave this room. It is time for the process to begin."
The four left to their assigned posts. Nova got comfortable on his throne and his eyes started glowing white as he began the process of removing Blaze's powers.
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Back on the battlefield, Leo had a sudden realisation.
"Buckethead, Vigilante, Foresight, to me! We're going inside the castle."
"What? Why?" Asked O'Lop.
"Roufail and Renée are still inside! Quick, punch through the lines!"
"On it."
O'Lop readied his hammer and threw it with all his power at the enemy lines. The magical weapon released a huge shockwave upon impact, launching all nearby divisions away.
"Jeez dude, how'd you do that?" Asked Tom.
"I don't know!"
The four ran through the newly created path, but were aimed by every sniper in the area. Nick, who had overheard that Renée was still in the castle, ran towards it, taking out as many snipers as he could in the way.
But before he could take down the last one, he managed to fire a shot towards Leo's group, and it ended up hitting Tom somewhere in the chest, making him fall face-first on the floor.
"Oh shit. What do we do now?" Leo asked.
"Just go on without me, I'll live." Tom sputtered.
"He's right." Leo said. "We must end this ASAP. We'll come back for you soon. Let's go."
Leo and O'Lop left, but Banner hung back. He started shooting at the enemies that were getting closer.
"Medic!" He yelled out.
"Medic!!" He yelled again.
"MEDIC!"
Unfortunately, the only medic in hearing distance was none other than Thomas Gardner, who chose to ignore the man's cries. So Banner took it upon himself to carry Tom back to the tent.
"What are you doing?" Asked Tom. "Don't worry about me, you need to fight these bastards!"
Banner said nothing.
"Your stubborness will kill us both..." Tom coughed out before going unconscious due to blood loss.
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Leo and O'Lop had reached the front door, which they kicked open. They ran down the dimly lit hallway, punching and stabbing whatever guard was still inside.
They got to the last room of the corridor, still blocked by a rock.
"Hit it." Leo ordered O'Lop, who brought down the wall with a single swing if his mighty hammer.
They were greeted by an unconscious Anthony lying on the floor beside the entrance, and the maniacal king floating above him, having caught Renée by her shirt's collar.
"Look who decided to join us!" He said once he noticed Leo and O'Lop. "The leader of the revolution has come to save his pets."
He then dropped Renée on the floor and turned to the new arrivals.
"I'll turn you into a door mat."