The Beats Go On

Chapter 79: Don't Do It!

🔺Chapter 79: Don't Do It!

Yup, that was Sese alright.

But how should the group approach him? Fly over Racu and ambush Sese from the air? He'd beaten them before though, and considering this realm was in a place like his base, there was no telling if he knew this place better than the group did. For now, Clie hovered out of sight and tried to make as little noise as possible. It was getting a little tiring though, so Clie opted to set the group down on a tall, stabilized pillar instead.

"So...what should we do?" Digo asked.

"We don't have much time...I say we make a move for it, then everyone for themselves," El replied.

"What! No! We can't risk our lives all in one go like that!" Ami spat.

"Well do you have a better plan?!" El hissed.

Just then, the group noticed something shining rise out of the ground, and it was spinning slowly. It may have been corrupted, but they could see faint sparkles of yellow every now and then.

The treeangle! It was right there!

But Sese was also there as well...

Well, this would be the group's chance to prove themselves again...but at a bit of a gamble. If they lost, they risked giving up the larger treeangle pieces to Sese, who would then have all the pieces and would be able to destroy them. Then the Corruption couldn't be cured and the world would be doomed. But if the group won, they'd be able to get the final piece, restrain Sese (maybe uncorrupt him too), and have a chance at fighting the mastermind of this place. It was a gamble because of what Sese (and possibly Racu) could do, but...what other choice did the group have?

The spinning yellow treeangle awaited them...

They had to do something.

"Clie, do you think you could possibly fly over there and swipe the treeangle from its location?" Cas asked. "Like, all in one go? You can wish for special Corruption-nullifying gloves and see if they appear to help you not get corrupted!"

"Yes! Fetch big shape!" Ari added.

"What if it's magically locked into place and I can't get it to budge?" Clie asked.

"That's fine, just get out of there as quickly as possibly and try and come back to us without getting seen," Coco replied.

"Alright....I think I can do this!"

Clie took in a deep breath before flying over to where Sese was, flying high so that he was unreachable by Racu and undetectable by Sese. As Clie flew, they repeatedly muttered that they could do it and make the swipe to motivate themselves. Clie wished for the gloves, still unsure about using the strange world's magic...but was surprised to find gloves on their hands regardless. They sped towards the treeangle, coming in from the sides, and held their arms out, ready to grab the treeangle at any second. Clie braced for the treeangle to hit their hands....

BZZAP!

Clie was thrown back by some mysterious force, and looked up at the treeangle.

It was protected by some kind of electric field!

Clie's gloves sure weren't shockproof, but Clie remembered plan B and immediately flew away from the temple without making a second attempt at stealing the treeangle. However, Clie halted as a sword swung down in front of them.

Sese had seen them.

"Well, well, well...what do we have here? I thought you silly little vehicles were confined to that poor old run-down city..." the corrupted serpent sneered.

Luckily for Clie, the group of shapes were watching the whole thing from afar with their tools. They could see Clie was in trouble, and had heard the electric shock. They could flee, sure, but...they had to help. Wishing for a way down the pillar they were on (that went over Racu's area of guard as well), they all got down onto the ground and ran over to the scene. Wasn't like they cared about stealth at this point, but Sese heard them approaching and turned around.

"Argh! You pesky brats! I knew you'd follow me here..." Sese snarled. "Well...not like you'll stop me anyways!"

He slithered over to the treeangle, leaving Clie unharmed. He then brought out a remote of sorts and hit some buttons.

"Clie, stay out of this. We're gonna need you to get our injured selves out of here if push comes to shove," Coco stated.

"I hope we don't fail again...." Ina mumbled.

"Me too..." Ami sighed.

The shield to the treeangle was dropped, and Sese reached out to touch the treeangle...

"Sese, you don't have to do this," Digo said, causing Sese to briefly halt in front of the treeangle.

The serpent then turned to him.

"What would YOU know about what I have to do and don't have to do? You haven't lived my life, you haven't experienced my thoughts, you know NOTHING!"

"But...you can still change!"

"Hah! I'd never fit in with you all. Just let me do this and quit wasting my time!"

Sese quickly reached out and made physical contact with the treeangle. It started to spark some, and then both it and Sese started floating into the air. Sese dropped the remote as energy started flowing from the treeangle into him, and the group stared in shock at what was happening.

"Give me life, give me energy, give me..."

Sese's eyes widened as a surge of energy shot through him.

"POWER!!" he growled as he absorbed the energy into his being.

The group ran up to Sese to stop him, but a shockwave of energy suddenly burst forth from him, knocking them all back. They could only watch as a bright light covered Sese and shut their eyes tightly as it grew brighter and brighter. The sound of another shockwave hit them, but they felt nothing this time. Slowly but surely, the group opened their eyes to view the sight in front of them.

It was Sese...but...different.

Instead of a serpentine body, it was a humanoid form. He still had his triangular head and same mannerisms, but...he was dressed in a pirate's outfit and standing on two legs. Sese looked down at his new body, examining his arms and hands and legs...testing them, too. Felt strange to have them, but thanks to the treeangle's energy, he found them rather easy to use. He looked up from himself and stared at the group, smiling sinisterly as he drew his sword.

"Well well well....how the tides turn..." he sneered as he began to approach them.

The group slowly got on their feet, preparing for a fight. They'd failed to defeat Sese when they first encountered him...

But they weren't going to fail again.