A True Hero

15 - CROWNED

"Don't you dare try to stop me," Magolor warned, triumphantly raising the crown. The four dragons hissed and spit at him, but they kept their distance. "You know as well as I do that this is Landia, and you know that she must be destroyed."

"You are the one at fault, Magolor," I returned, slowly stepping into the room. "You and your friend Galacta."

He stopped right before the crown touched his head. "How do you know who Galacta is?!"

"Landia told me," I growled, almost to him now.

"And you believe that lie?" he asked, but it sounded more like a statement. Before I could stop him, he mounted the crown on top of his head. I and Landia rushed forward to retake the crown, but a large explosion thrust us into the metal wall outside of the doors. My head ached as I moved to a sitting position, and my ears rang. All of the windows in the quarters were cracked or shattered, and all of the Captain's treasures were scattered on the floor. But what scared me most was the demon standing in front me.

The crown had completely taken over Magolor, making him grow four times his size and turning his ears into what looked like spiked horns. His gloves now had fingers, and the wrists had giant purple-blue rings on the end with fancy patterns and drawings that moved and reassembled on their own accord. His eyes had turned red, looking much like the Captain's, and his cape had transformed into a pure white cloak. Worst of all, the Master Crown had grown, too, and was writhing and convulsing as if speaking to the possessed Halcandran.

"Now, I will finish this once and for all, Landia," he roared in a voice much deeper than his typical one, and traced a star shape with his fingers. Recognizing it as some kind of spell, I pushed the pile of dragons out of the way as a vaporizing beam shot from the hole. It looked as though it came from another dimension. "I will finally turn Halcandra into the utopia it was always meant to be! I'll-"

"Stop, Magolor," barked a gruff voice behind me. I turned to see the Captain standing with his shield and lance poised to fight once again. Yamikage followed close behind him, accompanied by Amai, Garlude, Blizzard, and a battalion of troops.

"So you finally call me by name, Galacta," the beast rasped.

"Galacta...was my ancestor...." the Captain stumbled, nervously glancing around him.Magolor simply laughed at him in mockery.

"You offend our Captain, you offend our army!" Blizz yelled, and a cheer rose from our comrades. "He may not be Galacta Knight, but he still has his power!"

Having captured the moral of his team, he dashed forward to engage with Magolor.

"No! Blizzard, wait!" the Captain yelled. Before he did something foolish, Landia and I caught him and dragged him retreat.

"What are you doing?" Blizz cried as we pulled him and the others away.

"Retreat and get help," the Captain ordered, turning to face Magolor. He looked as if he was about to unleash a sword beam but was suddenly trapped by spiked vines. Two interdimensional tunnels had appeared next to him while he was distracted and were now piercing him. He cried in agony as Magolor squeezed his fist, making the vines contract tighter, and then they pulled away, taking the Captain through a star shaped hole. Magolor laughed maniacally then teleported away, leaving a smoking and trashed room behind him.

"What now?" Garlude asked as we stopped our flight. "We need a plan."

"The Captain said to get help," Amai said. "We should round up all available forces and go out to look for him."

"We don't know where they are. We cannot fly around space randomly searching," Yamikage said. "Our first step is to think about where the Halcandran has taken the Captain." We fell silent and into deep thought. Where would Magolor take the Captain? Why would he? He referred to him as Galacta; while the Captain denied being the infamous warrior, it would make much more sense if the Captain was Galacta Knight. If he really was such a person, there would only be one logical place where Magolor could carry out his vengeance.