The Story of the Wild Ones

Chapter 23 (final chapter)

Finally, Ashley and Jinxx woke up, CC came back into the main room, and Jake made a reappearance. We all looked at each other and nodded.

It was time.

Together we walked outside to see the group of the Legion of the Black already standing outside. "It is time, my brave warriors," Andy said. We all bowed our heads. Adrenaline rushed through my body. It was finally happening. No more living in terror of who would die next or get kidnapped. We're going to end it, once and for all.

We stuck close together and snuck our way towards the FEAR building. Once the hill was in sight, we split up into our three groups. "Stay safe," I whispered to Andy, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before going to my group.

We looked over the hill and saw five FEAR shadows standing guard in front of the building. The Wild Ones, excluding me, made a line, and we all filed behind them. We marched towards the shadows, showing no sign of hesitation.

Once we approached them, a young boy ran forward. I reached out to grab him, but he slipped away and threw his Legion of the Black pendant at the shadow, who caught it, not paying much attention to the boy before crushing the metal pendant. Intimidated, the boy ran back towards the end of the line.

The Wild Ones and the FEAR shadows stood there, staring at each other. No one moved or said anything. It was agonizing, so I was relieved when CC finally ran forward and punched the ground, sending shock waves through the Earth. The shadows dissolved and disappeared into the building. Everyone stormed into the building after them in a mad dash, almost tripping over each other.

I led my group of four to the cells. "Search up and down for any Legion of the Black members still in the cells. If you find any, do as I showed you and jam the knife into the keyhole. Once we're done, we're going to bring whoever doesn't want to fight back outside and join the fight against the shadows," I instructed. They nodded, and we split up, racing up and down the hallways.

It wasn't long until I reached my first cell. "How many of you are up to fight?" I asked. A few people volunteered, but the rest just remained quiet. "Alright," I said, sticking the knife up the keyhole, breaking the lock and setting the captives free. I did a few more cells before I realized all of them were empty. I brought all the captives I rescued with me to the front of the building, where I agreed to meet the rest of my group. There was a large mass of people with dirty faces and ripped clothes. If I had more time I would've felt pity for them, but I was too focused on the attack to think of anything else. "If you wish to fight the FEAR shadow warriors with us, follow us inside. If you want to stay out here and not fight, do so. Legion of the Black, LET'S GO!!!" I screamed, leading a small army inside the building. We ran like that until we caught up with the rest of the Legion of the Black. My heart sunk as I realized we were losing. There were more shadow warriors than I anticipated, and a few bodies were already on the ground. I stood on my toes to try and spot Andy, but I didn't have much time to look before I got knocked in the head. I crumpled to the ground, and looked up to see a FEAR shadow looming over me. It stabbed its staff down, but I rolled out of the way just in time. I leaped to my feet, and managed to get in a punch. That caught it off-guard, and I managed to rip its mask off.

I discovered that under the masks, the shadows had no face. It had a head, similar to one of a human's, but no facial features. I watched in horror as it let out a screech and combusted into ash and dust.

The image shook me up, but I dismissed it quickly as I saw a FEAR shadow attacking the young boy that threw the pendant earlier. I saw the boy fall to the ground, and the shadow raised its staff. Not wasting a second, I ran over and grabbed hold of the staff. The shadow, obviously annoyed, tried to shake me off, but I refused to let go. I thrusted the staff forward, hitting the shadow on the head. The blow loosened its hold on the staff, and I managed to shake it free and pierce the FEAR shadow with the end of the staff. It let out a screech before turning into dust and ashes. "Thank you," the boy said to me before running off to fight.

I looked around, and smiled. The Legion of the Black were making a comeback. The number of FEAR shadows had lessened. I watched as Ashley grabbed hold of a FEAR shadow warrior's staff and yank it out of the shadow's grip before slamming it into him. The shadow let out a scream before dissolving into ash and dust. There were only about three FEAR shadows left now. They all looked at each other, realizing they were horribly outmatched, and let out a scream before turning into dust simultaneously.

All of us looked around, confused. Finally, someone shouted, "WE WON!!!"

Screams and cheers louder than ever before filled the building. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and whipped around to see Andy standing there, smiling at me. "We won," I whispered, tears pricking my eyes as I embraced him in a hug.

The suffering is over. We, the Legion of the Black, have won.

**Author's note**

And here we have reached the last actual chapter. I'm posting the epilogue in a few minutes.