They all took around 8 months to recuperate and prepare to beat Darren. During those 8 months John worked himself to the bone, giving his physical prowess a huge boost.
"John, when did you get so ripped?" asked Allie, John looked down at himself. All the muscles in his body were extremely defined, like a greek god.
"He doesn't just look strong, he's actually on par with me, one of the physically strongest beings in the universe," explained Oliver.
"Well on a different note, now that you have fully mastered Harmonization you can beat just about anyone. It's a very good tool to have in your arsenal, use it carefully," said Jax.
"I've been working hard too, Jax has taught me just about everything you could know about magic," said Allie
"Now she is an extremely skilled mage," added Jax.
"Alright guys, to avenge Kate's death, let's defeat Darren!!" John says as he raises his fist.
"Yeaahh!!" yells everyone else, but Oliver stays silent.
"John, don't get in a rush, you need to treat this seriously, while you have gotten extremely powerful you still have to be careful, Darren is not like anything you've ever seen," says Oliver.
"Oliver is right John, you need to be careful when fighting him," says Jax.
"Then when do we fight him?" asks John.
"When the time is right," replies Oliver.
"But I'm ready, I know I can win," John argues.
"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!" yelled Oliver. He calms back down, "you don't know the half of it kid, just go to bed and we'll continue this tomorrow." John doesn't say a word and goes to his sleeping quarters.
"Take it easy on him Oliver, he's just a kid and he's already been through a lot," says Jax.
"I know, you're right Jax, thank you," replies Oliver.
"Let's all get some sleep," says Allie as she goes to her sleeping quarters...
"Allie's gone!!" yells John, "I think she was kidnapped, I can see signs of a struggle," he added.
"What, how could this be? Nobody but us knows we're here," said Oliver.
"It was Darren," said Jax, "I can still feel his faint presence."
"We have to go get her now," said John.
"But, John-" John cut Oliver off.
"No buts Oliver. We have to go get her, who knows what Darren will do to her."
Oliver sighed, "you're right, but promise me you'll be careful John."
"I promise," John nodded his head at Oliver.
"Alright then let's go save Allie," said Jax. "I'll create a portal to get there faster," he added.
"Thank you Jax," said Oliver. The three of them went through the portal and appeared at the front gates of Darrens castle. "Now guys we have to be discrete-" John kicked down the giant metal gate interrupting Oliver.
"Let's go," said John in a stern voice. They dashed off, into the castle and went to the main lobby. "It's empt?," said John in surprise...
"Well, well, well. You didn't learn the first time, did you? You won't escape this time... Oliver Rignheart," Darren had finally appeared, everyone could feel his presence, they were petrified, none of them could move.
"Such a malicious aura," said Oliver. John finally got the courage to turn around.
"He's so tall!! And he looks way too strong," he thought. "What did you do with Allie," he yelled.
"You mean what did we do with Allie," said Darren as he looked past them, John turned around to see Kate.
"Kate!! How are you alive?" John said.
"I brought her back to life... In exchange for the location of your hideout, and she's no longer that weak version of herself that you once knew. She is now, much, more powerful," said Darren. Kate activated some kind of ability as Darren finished his sentence.
"Oliver, why is her entire body turning black? Are those mini planets floating inside her!?" said John.
"Now Kate is in her true form, her strength and speed has increased 100 fold," said Darren. Kate, without saying a word, attacked the three of them,
"Harmonation 40%," said John, his body turned a dim white. He easily deflected her attack and countered, she flew back, into the wall, destroying a small section of it. Kate walked out of the rubble unharmed.
"She's extremely durable, let us handle this one John, you focus on Darren," said Oliver. Oliver and Jax powered up, "let's get her Jax."
"Wait Oliver, something has changed about her, I can't tell what it is yet but it feels familiar, hold your ground," said Jax. Suddenly Kate's body started glowing dim white like Johns did, "that's what I was feeling, she copied John's Harmonization," said Jax.
"That's right, she can copy any ability she sees in action," Darren replies.
"Great, this'll be fun," said Oliver in a sarcastic voice.
"Well let's finish her off before she can copy any more technique's, ready?" said Jax.
"Let's go," said Oliver.
"Limit break!" Jax casted a spell on Oliver. His power went through the roof, the entire room turned red from the glow of Olivers mana. Oliver and Kate went at it, their battle started making the castle fall apart.
"The castle will be destroyed at this point, I have to teleport us all somewhere else, but I don't have a spell big enough to teleport us all," thought Jax.
"Hey, you guys are gonna destroy my castle if you keep that up, I'll move us," said Darren. He just snapped, without saying a word, and everyone was teleported out of the castle, "this is the planet of Ark, it's my training area, inside my pocket dimension, it's thousands of times more durable than our dimension."
"How did he do that, that would take an insane amount of magic power, and he did it without saying a word!" thought Jax. Oliver and Kate's battle didn't even stop for a second, both of them moving at the speed of light.
"While I'll admit you are strong, you're not strong enough," said Oliver, he stopped for a second and said in a deep proud voice, "come to me... Supreme Ax Rita." All of the sudden a giant ax came flying out of the sky and right into Oliver's hand. It had a handle with a guard on it that had spikes, it was really long with a giant crescent shaped blade on the end of it. "My ax is one of the strongest sacred treasures of all time, weighing over 460 tons," Oliver said proudly.
"That thing's over one million pounds!!" thought John. Oliver re-engaged in battle swinging the ax around like it was nothing.
"I know your durable Kate but can you take this?" Oliver started floating, "Raging Sun!!" said Oliver.
"That's one of the strongest spells in his arsenal," said Jax. A mountain sized sun appeared above Oliver's raised arm.
"This is your end, Kate," Oliver crushed Kate with his attack and destroyed the entire planet. Suddenly there were a whole bunch of explosions in the distance,
"What's going on?" asked John.
"Oliver destroyed a lot more than just this planet, he destroyed the entire Galaxy we were in," said Jax.
"I guess we're gonna have to move again," Darren snapped and they all appeared on a new planet.
"Oliver, rest for now, me and John can handle Darren," said Jax.
"Fine, but only for a little bit," replied Oliver.
"Let's beat this guy and get Allie back," said John.
"If you say so kid," Jax smiled.
"I'm not gonna mess around with this guy... Harmonization - 100%!" John's body turned completely white.
"No holding back," said Jax as he powered up, his eyes were surrounded in blue aura and blue lines formed on his face going down his neck, and each of his fingers glowed blue as well, "Combat mode," said Jax. When Jax finished transforming they attacked Darren simultaneously.
"You guys are surprisingly fast," said Darren. Suddenly John landed a huge hit on Darren from behind, "but I just saw him in front of me just a moment ago, clone magic? No, it was an after image," as Darren finished his thought John had hundreds of after images all around Darren. "He's moving so fast, I can't see the real him?" John attacked so fast that Darren couldn't even react, dealing catastrophic damage to him, destroying a section of the planet. "Hahahahaaa, you got some speed don't you boy," Darren said as he stood up, whipping the blood from his mouth. "I guess that means I'm just actually gonna have to try now," Darren laughed again. His eyes turned a glowing green, he grew green horns, green stripes surrounded his body and he had green mana coming off his shoulders.
"Where did all this power come from, it's like he's not even the same person anymore," said Jax. "Hold up John, you'll need this, Sacred Crystal!" yelled Jax, "come to me... Staff of Zeldran," a staff formed out of the ground and into Jax's hand. "Sacred Crystal release, sacred ability activate, Overdrive Limit Break," said Jax. "This is the strongest spell in my arsenal," he thought.
"What did you do Jax!?" asked John.
"This ability takes all my physical and magical strength and transfers it to you as well as breaking your own limit, now win, for us-" Jax passes out.
"I promise I will win, Jax," replied John.
"You know... that old man made a mistake, leaving just you to try and defeat me, maybe you could have in my base state, but you have no chance now," said Darren as he unsheathed his sword.
"Bring it on!!" yelled John.
"Be careful what you ask for," said Darren. They both rushed each other and clashed in the middle, they both pulled away and continued fighting, they moved so fast, there were just little flashes of light. "It's been 5 hours, does this kid ever get tired?" thought Darren.
Oliver looks up, "he's slowing down."
"Is that all you got boy, you've barely even put a scratch on me," said Darren. John didn't respond, he rushed at him again.
"I must keep my promise," he thought. "I will defea-'' Darren dodged and cut John's left arm off right above the elbow.
"What were you saying, something about defeating me?" Darren said with a smirk.
"Ah-, yo-," John was in too much pain to get a word out, he started breathing really heavily, like he had to force the breath in and out. He ripped off a piece of his shirt and made a tourniquet for his arm. He stood back up all bloody and looked Darren straight in the eyes, "I said. I. will. Defeat you!!" Darren let out a hysterical laugh.
"You still think you can defeat me? Look at you," his voice went serious, "I'll just put you out of your misery." John yelled as he attacked Darren, mustering all the strength he had left. Darren whispered in his ear, "too slow," as he cut off John's other arm in the same place. John's body gave out and he hit the ground, "is that all? I thought you were going to defeat me." He gave out another laugh as he snapped his fingers, two wooden posts came out of the ground and chains tied around what was left of John's arms that held him up in the air.
"Lookie here, where's all that determination you showed earlier, what about that promise you made. I thought you were going to defeat me," Darren laughed. "You did keep me entertained for a while. I'll give you that, but this is boring now, so how about we finish this up so I can get back to my domain." Darren went to land the final blow on John. Oliver stepped in at the last second and caught his sword.
"I'm sorry I'm late," he said in a stern voice.
"Oliver, that's not your normal mana," said John in a weak voice. Oliver's mana had changed, it had a tint of orange in it. "Don't tell me, you're using your life force, using that is a forbidden technique, it will kill you," said John.
"I am fully aware of that, but I couldn't stand there and watch you suffer anymore," said Oliver.
"You've gotten a giant power boost, so this is what life force does, let's see if it's enough to defeat me," said Darren. Oliver, without hesitation, attacked Darren and caught him off guard, "my arm! You punched it clean off, how!?" "No matter, I have plenty more where that came from," Darren grew 6 tentacles with sharp blades at the end where his arm used to be. Darren attacked Oliver with his tentacles.
"Ha, that barely even tickled," said Oliver with a smirk. "Forbidden spear," Oliver thrusted his finger through Darren and shot him back.
"You think a hole in my chest is enough to stop me?" said Darren, they both went at each other, moving so fast that it shook the dimension. They were fighting for a while when Oliver's mana started to diminish, "it looks like your life force is starting to give out," Darren attacked and slashed Oliver's left arm off.
"Divine Axe Grace, sacred crystal... release," said Oliver. A light as bright as the sun came from the end of the ax releasing all the stored up energy in it for Oliver to use, "if I'm going down, you're comin' with me, because I am Oliver Rignheart ruler of the kingdom of Rignheart and I will relieve it of your clutches if it's the last thing I do!!" yelled Oliver, he was filled with such compassion. His flames turned black, "I will use my greatest spell to wipe you from existence!! The flame that no mortal can wield. Bide by my command... The indomitable spirit of Amurastu. Strike down my foe in an eternal flame... Raging Black Sun!!!!"
"Imposible, he can't have that much power. It's beyond anything I've ever seen." thought Darren. The explosion was so great that it destroyed Darrens pocket dimension they were in, which sent them back to their original world. Suddenly they were all back in Darren's castle.
"How did we get here," said John in a weak voice.
"Hahahahahahahahahaaaa, you failed yet again Oliver," Darren had gone insane. Oliver was just standing there, the flames gone, steam coming off his body.
"I can no longer move, I'm almost completely out of life force," whispered Oliver. John heard the sound of a blade cutting through flesh and looked up to see one of Darren's blades piercing Oliver's heart.
"Oliver!!" Yelled John.
"That's a poison blade, he isn't coming back from that one," said Darren smiling. Oliver went limp and fell to the ground. John's rage started to consume him.
"How could you!?" he yelled. His eyes turned completely black, black mana filled in where his arms were cut off, it was coming off of his entire body. "You will pay!" John attacked Darren, he moved so fast, too fast, his sword connected with Darren's neck, suddenly there was a really bright light...
"John. John! Are you listening?" said Allie, the bright light had gone away.
"Where am I? What happened?" thought John.
"John, are you ok? You seemed to be in a daze," asked Oliver.
"Yeah I'm fine, sorry," replied John.
"Are you sure? because you just stopped mid battle with Oliver and just stood there for like 30 seconds," asked Allie.
"If you're still sad about Kate's death from a couple of months ago we can talk about it if you'd like," said Oliver.
"Wait, approximately how many months ago did she die?" asked John.
"Well it was about seven and a half months ago if you wanted to be exact," said Oliver.
"That would mean that we haven't fought Darren yet," muttered John.
"Yes, that would be correct, we haven't fought Darren yet, none of us are ready," replied Oliver with a confused tone.
"We haven't fought Darren yet, so that would mean-" John came to a realization. "We have to get out of here!" he said.
"Why? What's going on?" asked Oliver.
"Darren knows where we are, he brought Kate back to life in exchange for the location of our hideout," John said in a rush.
"Wait, wait, wait, how do you know all this John?" asked Oliver.
"Yeah, how do you know for sure?" added Allie.
"Oh, you probably won't believe this but ... I'm from the future," John gave a cheesy smile. Oliver and Allie stood there staring at John in disbelief.
"Let's say I did believe you," said Oliver, "how would that even be possible?"
"I don't know for sure myself, but I have an idea of how it happened," said John.
"Amuse me," replied Oliver.
"Well, after you died saving my life, I kinda went into a rage like I did in the fight against Nebula."
"And?" asked Oliver.
"I think I moved so fast that I traveled back in time two weeks before the battle," John said really quickly.
"Hmmm. That could be possible- wait a minute, we fight Darren in two weeks, and I die!? There's no way we were ready," said Oliver in surprise.
"It's because Kate told him our whereabouts and he kidnapped Allie," explained John.
"So we need to move location before Allie is kidnapped?" asked Oliver.
"Yes, we also need to get much stronger, when I traveled back in time my aura changed black, whatever it was it definitely gave me enough power to defeat Darren, so I need to have that before we fight. Also, you need to improve your Raging Black Sun move, it wasn't quite strong enough," explained John.
"I used Raging Black Sun?!"
"Yes, and you almost defeated Darren with it," said John.
"Wait, did you say you had black aura?" asked Oliver.
"Yes, I did."
"There's never been anyone with black aura, that's not an aura color," explained Oliver.
"I'm certain it was black, I swear," said John.
"If what you say is true we need to take our training to a whole new level, you need to get to an aura color that doesn't even exist yet," said Oliver.
"Let's go tell Jax and get moved to a new location," said Allie. They all went back to their hideout, when they got there it was up in flames.
"What are all those little flashes of light," asked John.
"Look closer," said Oliver.
"It's Jax and Kate fighting, but Kate looks different," said Allie.
"Darren shouldn't be attacking this early, what's going on?" said John.
"I don't know how to curtain myself, but I have an idea," said Darren from behind them. They all dashed away and got in their fighting positions. Darren finished his sentence, "It's a little fuzzy but I think the future me sent his memories back with you John, when you went back in time."
"Jax we need to get out of here, have any spells left in ya?" yelled Oliver, Jax appeared next to them.
"Yes, I do," Jax teleported them far away, to a small wooden cabin that hardly had room for the four of them.
"Great so now Darren knows all our moves, he'll be able to beat us with ease, we need to get much stronger so he doesn't see it coming," said John.
"What? And what was Darren saying about you traveling back in time?" Jax asked, confused.
"Right, we're gonna have to get you caught up," said John. John explained everything to Jax.
"That would be possible if you were to move that fast, we definitely need to get you back up to that level and be able to control it, that's the only way we can beat Darren."
"I have an idea, I think I know how I can get to that level," said John, "I need a sacred crystal." Oliver and Jax's eyes went wide open in surprise.
"You're not ready," said Oliver.
"But why, you said I was on par with you, didn't you Oliver?"
"I did say that, but this is a different kind of challenge, there's no take-backs or re-do's, if the original user defeats you they possess your body," explained Oliver.
"I've fought countless battles and we've always come out victorious, please. Let me get a sacred crystal, I want to help you get your domain back, but I'm going to need a sacred crystal," said John.
"I can see how much you want to help me achieve my goal, and I'm thankful for that, but I can't sit back and watch you die just for a sacred crystal," said Oliver.
"I think he's ready," said Allie in a quiet voice.
"You've never seen what a sacred crystal does, how would you know he's ready?" Said Oliver.
"For every battle, every struggle he's gone through. I've been there, I've seen him fight for what he believes in, and if he believes that he needs this sacred crystal, he won't give up until he has it. And if I know John, he won't let anything possess him, he'll come back to us with a sacred crystal," she finished her sentence and everyone stood there in complete silence.
"You know what, I think Allie's right," said Jax. Oliver looked at John in complete silence for a couple seconds. John looked back and held eye contact.
"You are a strong kid," Oliver said quietly, he laid his hand on John's shoulder, "fine you can have a sacred crystal." John threw his hand up and jumped in the air.
"Yes!" he yelled.
"But you must promise to be very careful, you can't die on me," said Oliver.
"I promise," John gave Oliver a hug, "thank you so much." Jax butted in.
"Also, you should know, the sacred crystal chooses you, you don't get to pick it, so don't be disappointed if it's not what you imagined," added Jax.
"That's ok, as long as I get a sacred crystal," John replied excitedly.
"Alright, let's get some rest for tonight. We'll prepare and head out tomorrow, this will be a long journey, it will take years and there will be many hardships, do you think you're ready?" asked Oliver.
"Hell yeah!!" yelled John.
"Don't get too excited this won't be easy, take this seriously," said Jax.
"Yes sir." John replied instantly.
"Let's get some rest for now," said Oliver.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
