Toon Warriors: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The dreary plains of New Romania were even bleaker than before, as the gang stepped through its portal. Charles looked around, saddened that Equestria has been changed into such a nightmarish realm; even the once-healthy trees in the Everfree Forest were stripped bare of their leaves. In place of cheerful birds, crows and ravens perched upon the branches, glaring menacingly at the strangers passing by.

"This place looks even creepier than I thought," commented Bert.

Charles stopped and bent down to examine a wilted flower. His fingers gently caressed its brittle petals, but he jumped back when he saw a tendril of thorns surrounding the flower, literally choking the life out of the poor plant. He said, "Rayian has gone way too far this time. His invasion of the toon world have taken a toll on the environment and wildlife. Everything in the dimension is dying; it'll be much worse if he takes on the human world."

"I'm sure the scales have already tipped by now," replied Alex II. "One step further and this universe will be extinct. We'd all be extinct."

"Like Dr. Grey said, something should be done to save both the Toon World and the human world, not to mention to restore the moral balance. If Rayian wants a war for the safety of both worlds, then so be it."

They continued further into the region, until they came upon the center of what used to be Ponyville. From above them a flock of ravens soared overhead; Charles took it as a sign that Rayian is on his way. He said, "Stay on your guard, guys. The king has arrived."

The team immediately steeled themselves for the encounter. Sure enough, Rayian materialized before them, followed by his wife, son, and daughter.

"Wretched mortals," he sneered. "Took you long enough to show your faces in my kingdom. You've been a thorn in my side ever since you rescued those fillies."

Charles replied, "Rayian, your days of terrorizing the two worlds are over. You're going to pay for what you did to the Toon World!"

"On the contrary, young man, it was to compensate for what I had lost a few centuries ago. There was a time when I once reigned supreme over all of Eastern Europe; I drank the blood of the victims who dared to defy my authority. That is, until one of them decided that enough was enough and dethroned me. I lost everything! My kingdom, my followers, even my beloved Izabela...she was the love of my life. I can still remember the first time we met..."

"And you can join her in-"

Belladonna butted in. She said, "Oh, no, you don't, buster! My hubby's not as weak as you think he is. The princesses are still in the dungeon; once we're through with you pipsqueaks, he'll drink their blood and become the most powerful being this side of the Underworld. Whoever teleported you out of the Mushroom Kingdom must not be so very smart, huh?"

"Actually, she is," replied Jenny boldly.

Rayian growled. "Her? Cassandra? I knew she would get involved. She was my firstborn; Izabela and I cast her off at the time of her birth. She was worthless because she did not develop a taste for human blood. An outcast, like the rest of you..."

Charles said, "She's on our side now. She sent us to send you back to the Dark Void and make you stay there, permanently!"

Rayian snapped his fingers to summon the Mane Six's relatives and friends. He said with a smirk, "I do not intend to leave my throne anytime soon. It's going to take more than just a mere threat to flush me out of this world. Consider this group, my fellow slaves; perchance they look familiar to any of you?"

"My parents!" gasped Twilight.

"Our folks!" screamed Applejack and Applebloom.

Fluttershy wept for her vampirized animal friends. Rayian continued, "And let's not forget, Rainbow Dash, your 'dearly departed' mother. You thought you and your father lost her a long time ago, but I have found her and made her a worthy addition to my clan. Your loved ones are here to help me accomplish my goal, which will not be completed until every single one of you is defeated and assimilated. Your efforts to stymie my conquest are useless before me and there is nowhere else to run but to your doom. Join us, Charles Roberts, for today is the day the royal Fox family will be the unrivaled tyrants of the entire universe!"

"What you're doing is slowly killing the universe," protested Charles. "Your dark aura is outweighing the good aura of the two worlds; if you take us down and turn us into vampires, all life will be gone and the Earth, as well as the planets surrounding it, will collapse. And when that happens, there will be nothing left standing in the empty void."

Rayian roared, "I DO NOT CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PUNY HOMEWORLDS! As long as I have my New Romanian empire, my reign will last forever! My ex-daughter's words to you about saving the universe are pure lies! Nothing can save it!"

"Then it looks like we have no choice. We're going to take you and your clan down...the hard way!"

The vampire fox turned to his slaves and ordered them to attack. "SEIZE THEM!"

The heroes began to fight the vampire ponies. Rainbow Dash and Fireblaze were left to face her mother, who bared her bloody fangs at them. Rainbow pleaded, "Mom, I know I haven't seen you since I was a filly and I really don't want to hurt you, but this is ridiculous! You've got to fight off his control over you and come back home!"

"Why fight it when you can enjoy it?" taunted Firefly. "Lord Rayian had the right idea when he convinced me to serve him alongside his other slaves. There are many good benefits to being a vampire, you know."

Rainbow was about to charge towards her, but Fireblaze held her back. He said, "RD, don't. She's trying to entice you into killing her; doing that will make you lose her for good."

"Then how the hay are we supposed to cure her without even hurting her?" demanded Rainbow.

Before he could answer, Firefly tackled Fireblaze and sunk her fangs into his neck. Rainbow stared in shock; her boyfriend was the first member of the team down! She flew off towards her teammates, with Firefly going after her.

"Fireblaze's down!" shouted Jenny. "We didn't have time to inject the vaccine into us!"

Charles replied, "Just keep fighting!"

The fight continued. Rainbow had insisted they cure the ponies without killing them, which meant trying hard to survive their attacks and finding a way to distract them. One by one, other team members failed; Snooper was curbstomped when Vampire Big Mac bucked him in the face, Vampire Night Light and Vampire Twilight Velvet tore into CatDog, and the animals brutally mauled Bert to the point that his famous sweater was torn apart. Now it was up to Charles, Jenny, and the Mane Six to flee the battlefield.

"I don't know how in the world Rayian made his team stronger," he said. "There must be a way to disable their attacks and then cure them!"

Jenny answered, "Didn't you remember what Dr. Grey told us? He must have found out about our plan. He wants the vaccines destroyed before he could defeat us!"

"We're still not going to give up, Jen. No matter what Rayian or his clan does to us, we will persevere!"

Suddenly, Vampire Magnum (Rarity's father) pounced upon Jenny and started dragging her away. Charles couldn't stand to watch his best friend getting ripped alive, and he struggled to save her.

"Charles," Dr. Grey's voice uttered in his mind. "Though your teammates have fallen, you are the Toon World's only hope."

He asked, "...Dr. Grey?"

"The secret of the vaccine is one I know so well. It wipes out the virus and restores the memories of the ones infected. Your soul is already bonded with the contents of the crystal; now's your chance to unleash the power of the Red Dragon, and let your aura and that of your ancestor's become one. Use that power to rescue your friends, defeat Rayian, and restore balance to the ailing universe. Become the Dragon! Let the flames of fury consume you!"

Charles took that advice to heart and closed his eyes. A bright red aura surrounded him, instantly transforming into rings of flames; the fur on his body slowly melted away to reveal red scales and his eyes began to change shape and color.

Meanwhile, Rayian gloated over his victory. He said, "With this team or mortals out of the way at last, I can finally lay claim to all of the universe. How does it feel to become vampires now?"

The downed teammates lay still, giving no answer. Rayian continued, frustrated, "Answer me, slaves! Do not ignore your new master!"

Still no reply. This angered the vampire king so much; usually his victims rose up again as new vampires, but this situation was different. None of them awakened and listened to his command. Jane muttered nervously, "Eh, Pops, I think your pony slaves might've overdone it a little..."

"Don't be daft, my daughter," leered Rayian. "There needs to be an explanation to this travesty. WHO'S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS ACT OF UTTER DEFIANCE?!"

The ground beneath them began to shake violently. Mountains crumbled down, its rocks rolling off and crushing various areas of New Romania. The vampire clan became alarmed at this sudden turn of events, but what scared them even more is when they heard a deep male voice booming out...

"LORD RAYIAN FOX! YOU HAVE GONE FAR ENOUGH! THE BALANCE BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL HAS BEEN DESTROYED, AND THE UNIVERSE IS NEAR EXTINCTION! NOW YOU SHALL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!"

Before them now stood a giant red Chinese dragon, whom they did not know was really Charles, roaring angrily at the startled family. Behind him stood a row of spirits Rayian had recognized as the Elders: Excalibur the Swiftfooted (the ancestor of Bunnie), Lord Angus Silverfur of Kilkenny (ancestor of Jenny), Finn Van Snooper (ancestor of Super Snooper), Roland (ancestor of Fifi La Fume), Edward Armington (ancestor of Alex II), and Bertram Raccoon II (ancestor of Bert).

"Grand Elder Xiao Fang!" exclaimed Rayian. "I thought you and your council had disappeared a long time ago..."

"Your attempts to recreate your vile empire are hazardous to the planet's health," declared Charles/Xiao Fang. "For defying your prison sentence and the forced transformation upon unwilling victims, we hereby sentence you to 20,000 more years in Tartarus!"

Jenny/Angus added, "Day and night you will be tortured for all eternity, while we work to reset the balance you so cruelly manipulated!"

Rayian pleaded, "H-Have mercy! All I really wanted was my kingdom...the kingdom your own servant got rid of..."

Charles/Xiao Fang breathed a stream of fire upon the vampire king, stunning him. He growled, "Your lies will never save you from your eternal punishment. We will now proceed to reclaim your former slaves; let it be that no one in this barren region or the regions around it remembers what has transpired in the past few days."

"Mark my words, spirits!" growled Rayian. "I will be back, and when I do, what has been lost will be MINE!"

"Don't count on it," replied Bunnie/Excalibur. As the world around them began to fall apart, a flash of light grew and surrounded the area, glowing brighter and brighter, until it faded away to the silent darkness...

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"...Mr. Roberts?"

Charles woke up to find himself lying in a hospital bed. An ice pack was on his head and one of his arms had an intravenous device attached to it. He looked around him and to his sides; his friends were gone and so was Rayian, his clan, and the ponies. He was back in the human world...and he was fully human again.

"Mr. Roberts, how are your wounds?"

Startled, Charles turned to the nurse beside him. He replied, "Oh...I'm all right. Just a bit dazed, I guess."

"Wow. Those criminals really did a number on you with a bullet to the head. Thankfully, it barely hit your brain, just by an inch."

"Thank goodness."

As soon as the nurse tended to his wounds and walked away, Charles looked over to the side of his bed to find a letter. It read:

Charles,

It's been a great honor working alongside you to battle Rayian. I have some good news and bad news to share with you today. As of right now, the vampire virus is completely exterminated; all the citizens in the Toon World have been properly quarantined and immunized, with the vaccines Dr. Grey made for us. Rayian and his clan were sentenced to spend eternity in Tartarus, so we won't have to worry about them hurting our countrymen again.

As for the bad news, with the Dark Void gone, the villains Rayian had recruited in the past have been released...no doubt they're gonna cause more trouble in the Toon World. Fortunately we've got ourselves a brand-new team; dedicated to upholding justice in both worlds, we've decided to call ourselves the Toon Warriors. And you, buddy, have been chosen to lead us.

Now, I will say it just once-I want to thank you for rushing in to save our lives when Rayian's slaves caught us. Our teamwork gave us a new sense of well-being, confidence, and bravery unlike anything we've ever known, and I'd hate to think about what we'd do if you hadn't used your Red Dragon powers in time. You're a true friend, Charles...a real hero.

Say, once you get out of the hospital, can you come back to the Toon World? We've got a big surprise waiting for you.

Signed, your good friend,
Jennifer Silverfur-Snooper

"Jennifer Silverfur-Snooper?" wondered Charles. "I wonder what's going on between her and Snoop this time...?"

His eyes spotted a pale rose envelope, which came along with the letter, and opened it to reveal a wedding invitation. Charles smiled; his friends were going to get married, and he had been picked to be their best man! It'd be a shame if Jenny went through it without him being involved. Thus, he made it his goal to return to the Toon World as soon as he recovered, so he wouldn't miss the nuptials.

"Are you leaving so soon?" asked the sergeant, watching Charles pack his things.

Charles replied with a nod, "I'm moving. There's a new police department on the other side who may need my services. Plus, my friend's getting married; she wants me to be there at her wedding next week."

"Well, I wish you the best of luck with your new team. We're all gonna miss you, kid...remember to stay strong."

Charles nodded. Soon, all of his stuff were removed from his apartment and stuffed into the moving vans. He got into his Lexus and followed the moving fans through the portal to the Toon World, leaving the human world behind forever.