Episode 20: Fractured Frontlines
Chaos erupted on multiple fronts as R. Dogder's forces tightened the noose.
Somewhere over the Sea of Japan
The private jet carrying Nathan Moya, Derek Crosley, Tiago Moura, and Ferrum Ironfist (Zach) sliced through the clouds toward North Korea. Their target: Ri Kwon Jae, a reclusive vampire Wrathborn said to command vampire bat manipulation and eternal night.
Tiago touched an old map, his Past Sight revealing hidden routes. "He's been hunted by the regime for years. He could be a powerful Guardian."
Suddenly, alarms blared. The plane shook violently as purple energy blasts ripped through the wing.
"Big Five!" Nathan shouted, weaving desperate illusions to hide their descent.
From a stolen fighter jet, Laughter cackled maniacally, his infectious laugh echoing over the radio. "Hee-hee-hee! Guardians? How funny! Time to crash the party!"
The plane spiraled downward, crashing into the dense jungle below in a fireball of twisted metal. The team emerged battered but alive. Ferrum formed iron shields while Derek charged the air with electricity. Laughter landed dramatically, still giggling, flanked by Glimmerfall minions.
"Playtime!" Laughter shrieked. His hypnotic laugh induced violent hallucinations in the group. Tiago clutched his head as phantom pasts overwhelmed him. Nathan countered with layered nightmares. Derek unleashed lightning storms while Ferrum hurled iron spears. Epic explosions lit the jungle as they clashed against the unhinged general.
Rhino Valley – Collapsing Safehouse District
Kevin and Kim Al Anzi turned the streets into a warzone. The Supernatural Rampager was fully unleashed — white-blue circuits blazing like molten stars. Kevin's punches shattered buildings, sending concrete and glass raining down. Kim's Desert Requiem answered with towering sand golems and razor mirages that sliced through steel.
"You fight for nothing!" Kim screamed, forming a colossal sand serpent that slammed Kevin through a storefront.
Kevin roared, the Rampager mantle amplifying his rage. He erupted upward, destroying the serpent in a cataclysmic wave that leveled two city blocks. "Your mother wouldn't want this!"
Damon May charged in to help, hollow heart burning, but a suited figure materialized in a flash of legal seals.
Law Orderlae — Damon's arch-nemesis, the Lawsuit's King. Sent by higher Wrathborn powers, he wielded bureaucratic Glimmer energy. "Damon May, you are hereby served for unlawful existence!" Reality-warping lawsuits bound Damon's limbs, draining his Hollow power through endless red tape and court summons made manifest.
Damon screamed in fury as the burning void in his chest struggled against the suffocating law.
Nearby Streets
Wyatt Freeman heard the thunder of hooves. Behind him appeared Headless Dullahan, one of R. Dogder's Big Five, mounted on a demonic black horse that growled like grinding bones. The Dullahan held his flaming head as a lantern in one hand, whip in the other.
"Wyatt Freeman," the severed head intoned. "To Hell with you."
Dullahan cracked his lash. The whip distorted space, attempting to send Wyatt straight into a nightmarish hell-realm. Wyatt dove aside with pure instinct, the lash carving a rift in reality where he had stood. He grabbed a fallen taser from a downed enforcer and charged.
The fight was brutal. Dullahan's horse breathed fire while the headless rider lashed relentlessly, each strike threatening banishment to different realms. Wyatt dodged with desperate speed, tasing the horse and landing blows on the Dullahan's armored body. "Not today, you freak!"
Willowbrook High School – Night
Bangu and Jackson the Soul Eater clashed in the ruined gym. Bangu's insane physicality let him move like lightning, landing devastating punches that cracked Jackson's stolen soul armor. Jackson countered by ripping at Bangu's spirit with tendrils of pure essence.
"You taste… delicious," Jackson hissed.
Suddenly, Laker and Layla burst in, arguing loudly.
"We should have gone with Kevin!" Laker snapped.
Layla slowed time around them. "We need a plan, idiot brother!"
Before fists could fly between the time twins, a massive explosion rocked the school. R. Dogder's elite minions — heavily armed Glimmerfall soldiers — bombed the building. Half the structure collapsed in a deafening roar of concrete and fire.
Bangu woke up coughing dust, head spinning. Through blurred vision he saw Dogder's forces dragging away the unconscious Laker, Layla, and Jackson.
"No…!" Bangu tried to run, using every ounce of his insane physicality, but dizziness betrayed him. Strong hands grabbed him. Darkness swallowed him as they took him too.
Rhino Valley
Kevin and Kim's battle raged on, leveling more buildings. Lil Micah's frantic barking mixed with Devonte's screams for the first aid kit as Peter desperately tried to stabilize Sasha.
The war had become total.
To Be Continued