Crystal Sides

Chapter 32: I'm Here

--POV = Patton--

I stared in desperation at Logan's unconscious body, "Logan, wake up! We need you! I need you!"

"He won't wake up, Patton." I felt a cold hand rest on my shoulder.

I gritted my teeth, "Don't touch me."

"It's only a matter of time before he poofs." Deceit's icy voice rang in my ears.

Swinging around to face him, I summoned my discs and fired one at him. In an instant, he flung his hand up and a wall of snakes rose up between us, each long body balancing on another to create a huge barrier. The disc poofed as it collided with the wall, creating a dent where it had hit a few snakes. The wall flowed back down and I fell to my knees, my eyes misty.

I heard Deceit walk up to me and stop a few inches away.

"You're weak." he whispered, "You can't do anything right."

A tear fell down my cheek; I felt worthless here. Suddenly, I heard a growl and glanced up to see Remy standing between me and Deceit, his teeth bared and his ears flat against his head in a snarl. Deceit frowned. Then, with force that made me wince, he kicked the black pomeranian away and he landed a few metres away with a yelp.

"You're just a useless defect." Deceit hissed.

"Get away from him!" I heard a voice yell behind me.

I whisked around to see Logan aiming his gun at Deceit, his eyes gleaming.

"Logan!" I gasped, wiping the tears from my face and rushing to his side.

He smiled at me before turning back to face Deceit, "You're wrong." he said, "You're wrong about everything. Patton is perfect just the way he is!"

There was a bang as Logan fired his gun. The silver bullet flew toward Deceit's chest. But as it was about to hit, it flew right through without even leaving a mark. It hit the wall behind and exploded, making a dent in the white brick.

Deceit's laugh echoed around the corridor, "You really think you can harm me with my own weapon?"

My heart skipped a beat, "What? That's Noah's gun!"

Deceit smirked, "Ah, you see, Patton. Noah is here. He's always here."

I frowned. Then I realized what he was saying, "You're still fused, aren't you?" I breathed.

I glanced at Logan, who just looked grim and guilty. Then I looked back at Deceit, who was grinning, showing sparkling teeth.

"After all this time?" I felt sick, "That's not healthy!"

"I've managed to keep it up for a year now." he teased, "I can keep going. I'm just as great as he was, now! Right, Logan?"

I glanced at Logan, who was staring at the floor.

"You'll never be half the gem Noah was." he whispered. Then he looked up, rage burning in his eyes, "You will never be like him!"

The he leaped forwards, summoning Roman's samurai sword and bearing down upon Deceit, who's expression had changed from smug to angry. He fell to the ground as the sword crashed down upon him. I joined Logan, sending discs flying at him, each one hitting him in the chest. I saw Remy leap up out of the corner of my eye, his teeth fastening around Deceit's arm. Logan, meanwhile, was constantly changing weapons: whip, sword, discs. Deceit looked on the verge of poofing. All of a sudden, I felt snakes coil around my ankles and trip me up. I fell on my face, quickly recovering and glancing back up. Logan was in the same situation, squirming and trying to free himself from the serpents bunching around his legs. Remy was cornered against the wall, snakes spitting at him in rage. Me and Logan were both flung into the air so that we were looking down upon Deceit, who's expression had turned from mocking to rage.

"So that's how you're gonna play it, huh?" he muttered, staggering to his feet, "Well then I guess you two will be more useful with your gems in bubbles."

He summoned a black gun - Noah's gun - and aimed it at me. My heart was racing. I glanced at Logan, who's eyes were full of sorrow.

"I'm here." he whispered.

Deceit smiled, preparing to fire. Then, all of a sudden, a black arrow flew past my head and hit him on the chest, knocking him backwards and exploding on impact. I whisked around and to my utter delight, saw Robin, with his bow in his hand and his murky purple hair flowing.

"You were saying?" he winked.

"Robin!" I yelled.

The snakes supporting me and Logan suddenly collapsed under us and I scurried over to the fusion. Remy leaped past the snakes as they retreated, yapping excitedly around us. There was a flash of light and Roman and Virgil stood before me, their eyes gleaming. I hugged them each in turn, my heart feeling like it was about to burst with joy.

"I knew you'd come, I just knew it!" I whispered, tears in my eyes.

I could see Virgil staring behind me. I turned around and saw that the explosion made by the arrow had created a huge hole in the wall, showing flickers of white and green from outside, lit up by daylight. The sight of colour after the neverending white and yellow gave me hope. Deceit was nowhere to be seen. The snakes that covered the floor seemed to flow out of the hole; I was certain he was out there.

"The battle's not over yet." Virgil murmured.

My heart racing in my chest, I summoned my discs as my teammates summoned their own weapons. Remy shifted impatiently at my feet.

"Then let's win it together." Roman said, his voice determined.

Together, we made our way toward the hole.