//------------------------------// // Agony Is Better Than Misery // Story: Marks Of Babylon // by Phoxjes Rome //------------------------------// Marks of Babylon Chp. 7 Agony Is Better Than Misery "Are y'all sure 'bout this?" Applejack asked, as the group ran from the train station through the streets and to the castle. "It's our only lead!" Twilight answered. "Even if it's a small hope, it's still our best bet so far!" "But you got that book from a Babylonian! Are you really going to go by their lead that they so willingly gave you!?" Rarity questioned the princess. "If it means getting my friend back, YES!" She answered again, running faster. Evening was fast approaching as they headed towards the castle. The sun was already setting, and the sky rippled with color. As the girls made their way to the front doors of the castle, another figure had been observing them for as long as they had been off the train. "...Heart." He began. "What it would mean to possess a heart. How what we feel differs from what we believe we feel. Why those ungrateful enough to possess a heart live. Who does carry a heart and who should carry a heart. Where those who are ungrateful for a heart keep a heart. When those ungrateful realise how meaningful a heart truly is." A stallion can be seen walking up a cliff in the dark looking at his mask in front of him. Once he was on the very edge of the cliff, he replaced his Mask back on his face. "Decisions and opinions persuade me to follow back here." He said to himself as he prepared to jump from the cliff. "There is only one living creature in this world who I must test for their heart." He forced out his wings. "Fluttershy." He flew down to the crystal empire from the cliff where he was looking over. "If you do not prove your worth to me, then like many others whom I have faced..." He landed and walked up to the castle. "Your life will end." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ""Babylon"?" Cadence quoted. "That's correct." Twilight simply replied. "I've never heard of it. Aunt Celestia has certainly never spoke of it, and as far as my knowledge, neither has anyone else in the kingdom." "Really? Nothing at all?" "So we travelled all the way here for nothing!?" Rainbow Dash asked, sounding irritated. "I'm afraid that it appears so. I'm sorry; if there was anything I knew, I'd tell you." "It's not your fault, Cadence. They would've never come to a war if he hadn't made the choice." Twilight explained to her friends. "Who made what choice?" Asked Rarity. Twilight place the book Calsuricxs gave her down so her friends could see as well. She was on an open page with a silhouette of a stallion with a mask of the Marks of Babylon with red marks on. They recognized him by his cavalier hat. It showed him standing on a pillar lifting a heart into the air above him. "Normally, the Babylonians would've aged normally and passed away eventually like everything else, but one of them, Phoxjes, traded his heart for some ritual that keeps him and his friends young, alive and powerful forever." "Oh great! First they're dangerous, and now they're immortal?" Rainbow Dash complained. "So now he can't feel anything inside?" Asked Applejack. "He can't, nor could he for the last thousands of years. I guess his friends just meant that much to him." "Oh dear." Began Rarity. "Imagine how much he had to go through to keep them safe. And he may do the same to us or even Spike right now. Poor darling." "I thought I told you to stop calling me that." Shouted a young dragon's voice across the room at the open door. "Spike!" Most of them shouted at the same time. When they took a look at him, they caught sight of the outfit he was wearing. The top looked like a black leather robe over his torso, although it didn't cover his right shoulder or arm. His pants were dark brown and made of fabric. Over the trousers they noticed he was wearing what looked to be a long leather komodo. "Spike, what's with the getup?" Twilight asked in sheer confusion. "The Marks said that if I'm gonna be a hero, then I better dress more appropriately for combat." Spike replied. "THIS is a combat outfit?" Twilight continued to analyze. "How did you get in!?" Asked Cadence. "Wasn't too difficult." He smirked as he walked up to the ponies. "I had a little help." "Your guards may be shiny, and the head may be Twilight's brother, but they can't really do much against thousands of years of training, as opposed to only about 2-5 years." He pointed at her. "Look, what does the Babylon want!?" Asked Twilight knowing that this wouldn't end well. "Well world domination would be nice." He joked. "Spike..." Twilight growled. "If I had it, I'd probably just hand it over to Illiux or Xandra. Then followed by a way for me to grow bigger other than by my greed, having Rarity as my wife, the great dragon migration under our command, and of course, the most important of all..." The mane six and Cadence perked up. "... Er, nevermind." "Yes, Twilight was just telling me about some certain goals of theirs." Cadence started. "Or should I say, yours." "Oh goody! Has she mentioned the part where it's apparently necessary to blow up the Crystal empire!?" Cadence looked puzzled. "...No; that never came up." "Oh in that case..." On cue, a large boom and massive rumble from outside the castle caught their attention. Smoke entered the room from all available directions. More explosion sounds and vibrations came, each one getting closer to the throne room. "... It's apparently necessary to blow up the Crystal empire!" He finished looking smug. "Ahh!! My castle! Alert all unaware guards! We're under attack!!" Cadence continued to shout down the corridor. The doors slammed open as a loud field of smoke and small traces of fire burst through them. As it did, Spike looked shocked at the sound, and then scared at what was about to come in. "I trust you need no introduction for this young dragon." A stallion older than all the mares entered the room, walking in his black leather coat, jacket, jeans and boots, in addition to being soaking wet. He stopped next to Spike and placed his hoof on his shoulder. "However, if you recall my previous presence, that would perhaps be more respectful, as you appear have more concern about my presence." He finished showing no emotion under his mask. Spike slowly nodded and backed off in fear. "Wait, wait, don't tell me." Started Rainbow Dash. "You walked in, too." "Partly, as I found it necessary approach you in a proper manor, your majesty. However, a small selection of your guards attempted to prevent me from reaching this room. As honorable as it was for them to do what they were trained for, I found it necessary to make my point clear that I will stop at nothing to obtain my objective, even if it requires injuring innocents." "So you instead blew up some parts of a castle!?" Asked Twilight. "Partially correct your highness. I chose to test some of your guards and their will to fight on. Whilst admittedly strong, clearly their wills were not strong enough." "Excuse me, but what does that have to do with damaging my castle!?" Cadence replied. "Princess Mi Amore Cadanza?" "Yes. And you are?" "Phoxjes Rome. Guardian, Mark of Babylon, Goth faction leader and self-proclaimed hero." "Well it doesn't matter who you are; you didn't answer me before!" "Every action is destined to have a consequence in return." "Enough!! Why are you here!?" "You clearly do not understand my true intentions, princess Cadence. I am here for more than one reason, one of them being looking for the Element of Kindness, miss Fluttershy." "Yeah, well, you're never gonna get to her!" Shouted Rainbow as she covered Fluttershy underneath her. She then charged straight at him. "Take this!" She shouted as she prepared to assault him with her flying kick. He then prepared for the impact of her attack by countering with a head-on strike, but just then Spike then ran in front of him and blocked him from her using himself as a shield. "Uh-oh." she called as she the purposely hit the ground rather than either of them. She then flew back to the girls. "If I could feel pride, it would generate at this moment for what you have just done." Phoxjes complimented. "Spike, what are you..." "Do you understand?" He started to make his way over to the girls. "Understand what!?" "I have done nothing to your former friend. What he has just done then was of his his own choice. Now then..." He looked down at Fluttershy. "Phoxjes Rome." He lifted his hat slightly to greet her. When he did the ladies all noticed an unusual feature about him. He had what appeared to be shattered remains of a horn on his head. As if some pony or something had snapped it off. "I am aware of who you might be, miss Fluttershy. You are, after all, the cause of more than 80% of my Babylon becoming annihilated." "Um, well, I, uh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" She managed to stutter out in fear as he began to approach. "I forgive you, Element of Kindness. In all honesty, I never accused you alone to begin with. Upon my analysis, the one who once meant more than the very world itself to me is the cause of my actions." "Uh... Who are you talking about?" Asked Cadence. "Princess Celestia, but it matters not." "Why?" Asked Twilight. "What do you have to do with the princess?" "Perhaps another meeting will answer that. But for now, I understand that you are rather proud of your magic and elements. However, what you do not seem to show any sense of responsibility or respect towards is the motivation and determination of your enemies." "And you feel you do?" "I cannot feel much, if anything. With all my victims I am able to show both manners and understanding, even if they only commit crime for their own selfish deeds." "Okay, so you seem... Heroic, but that still doesn't answer my question." Twilight turned back to him and Spike. "All that you require to know is that I have known Celestia longer than you may believe, or wish to believe." Phoxjes looked down. "Moving on, miss Fluttershy." She also collapsed on his words. "I demand that you and I battle. If you are victorious, than I shall grant you and your friends one agreed possibility." "Eeep!" She squeed. "In addition, that was not a request." He began to approach her as Twilight tried to defend her. "Hey! Stay away from her!" Called out Twilight. To their surprise, he actually did stop. "Very well." He looked at her. 'Did... Did that actually work?' Twilight thought to herself. "You will fight in her place. However, before we begin, perhaps you can answer this question. Why have you chosen to put your own life in danger, as opposed to allowing the element of kindness to feel possible pain?" "Because, well... Because I'm her friend! And I'll never want to see my friends get hurt! "So you are protecting her? Noble. Truly. However, shielding one from another only proves so much. If you were be killed in this battle, where would that leave her?" "Wh-what?" Twilight felt scared at his words, as he has literally just said he could kill her right here and now, and in a very casual tone for him. "She would become defenseless, an easy target. If you protect her now, it will only prove that you believe she is weak without you." "T-that's not true!! She is strong! Strong enough to handle any pony! Or even a dragon! She proved that to us once, and she even convinced the spirit of chaos to change! She is strong enough!" "That spirit was once almost considered a son to me, until you forced him to change his nature and join you against his will. I fail to see how what has happened to Spike is any different." "If it helps, he turned evil again a couple of seasons ago!" Pinkie interrupted. "So then, you say I am wrong? That this girl can survive, regardless if her friends are there for her or not?" "That's right!" He then took his mask off slowly, showing Twilight his Ruby eyes. She saw the constant expression of anger in his eyes and eyebrows. His eyes were very much different to anypony else's. They had the pupils, irises, and everything, but they had no white reflection. There was nothing there at all; it looked as they he had been hypnotized. "If you believe she is strong, yet still wish to battle me in her place..." "Wait!" Shouted her one time assistant across the room. "Spike!?" Twilight had hope that maybe that talk the two of them were just having might of helped. "Yes?" He turned to him. "If they're gonna switch opponents, then can we as well?!" He asked enthusiastically. "Hm? You wish to take my place against the princess of friendship? You understand that you will be fighting against your old mistress." "SHE WAS NEVER MY MISTRESS!! Plus, I only want to do it because I wanna face Twilight at least once before you're gonna kill her." "It is your decision if you wish to, boy; I am an honorable stallion. However, I ask you to recall what it was that I said about the use of apostrophes In my presence." Spike looked in fear, realization and idiocy. "Uh... Not to use them." "Excellent. It is good to see that you can learn quickly. Now go forth and eradicate that element of harmony." "Yeah! Alright Twilight, let's do this!" Spike called as he cracked his knuckles walking over to her. "No. No, you can't really try this, Spike. Please, I'm your friend, not him!" "If she was your friend, you would be trying to stop me rather then them. She cares only for her friends and herself, leaving all she despises to live in misery. It is beings such as her who are the cause of the collapse of our Babylon." "AAAUUUUGGHHH!!!" Spike roared as he pounced on her and tried to fire his flaming breath directly in her face. When he landed, he actually managed to slam her right down, and open fired. She did however cover her face with a magic shield, then attempted to buck him off of her. He dodged and clung onto her mane and spun round her. He then grabbed her by her fore hooves and threw her away across the room. "My..." She picked herself up. "Some dragon's certainly gotten stronger." "Now she is mocking you, and declaring that you were weak in the time you had with her." "Yeah, well, THOSE days are OVER!" He created the same small flaming meteor and sent it hurling at her. "TWILIGHT!!" The others shouted in concern. Xandra's light then showed from her chest and faded once again. "Come on we need to help her!" Ordered Rainbow Dash. They knew that the Babylon barrier hadn't been set up, so they had a fair chance, until... "You shall not dishonor this challenge; this battle shall stand." Phoxjes flew right in front of them, preventing them from reaching the fighting two. "No, you're just not gonna stop us!!" Rainbow charged directly at him. He prepared for this by flying up at her and grabbing her by the neck, then threw her downwards. She managed to stay in the air, but he then rammed into her, crushing the ground throwing her up and bucking her into Applejack. "Ugh... Hey!" He then grabbed her by the back hoof and spun her around, knocking her into Rarity and Pinkie pie. He released and sent the three of them flying into a wall, cracking it. Fluttershy looked in horror, then became enraged. "How... How dare you..." She turned to him. "HOW DARE-" He flew straight up to her, placed his left hoof on her shoulder, and forced his right hoof right into her chest, knocking every sack of air out of her, leaving her literally speechless. "O--ow--" she weakly gasped out. Before collapsing. Twilight and Spike were still fighting each other, until she saw what he had just done to her friends. "You... You... You absolute..." She was about to release her true anger and power out on them, when she was reminded. "You know Twilight, the angrier YOU get, the more serious and stronger HE'LL become!" Spike taunted. She found it difficult to make a decision a this point: herself, or her friends. She was almost brought to tears. "You monster. You monster!" She charged directly at him. "How dare you!" He charged back and overpowered her greatly. She was sent back flying into a wall. "Uh...ugh..." She weakly stood. "You recklessly use your elements to defeat opponents you consider an actual threat, caring not about their fate..." He fired some sort of mostly red and black energy from his hoof at her, knocking into the wall again. "Ah!!" She cried. "You fight in the name of your ruler, without notice or consideration that she is either too weak or too much of a coward to battle in her own name..." This time, his hoof lit up in the energy again, but this time it was used to ram into her directly. "Ohh!!!" "You care not about the struggle and the strife of the ordeals that your opponents face..." Another attack. "Ugh!!!" "You allow your friends to suffer without cause simply because you believe that friendship will be the cure of everything, when the truth remains that the magic you are fortunate, yet ungrateful, to wield is the only real answer for you..." Another strike. "Ugh..." She barely had any physical energy left. "You treated your former assistant with the worse possible care of any other living creature you know or even knew, expecting him to accept this." Another energy attack. "Agh...ah." She fell down, on the brink of unconsciousness. "And yet you view me as the outlaw." He finished attacking. "I understand why you do not wish for me to continue my path on restoring my Babylon; you wish for your world to become perfect in harmony, where there is no war, no crime, no famine or pestilence." "That, young Princess, is exactly what me and my Babylonians intend to do; split this world in half!" He lifted her head up slightly so that he could see her face wincing in pain. "One half shall remain in peace and harmony, whilst we bring the other half into chaos and disarray. If this happens, my Babylon will have become restored, and perhaps then every pony can be happy." He let go of her. "True, I, nor any creature, can determine how this idea will result, yet I passionately believe that this will save Equestria and Babylon. The idea of it: Babylon floating in-between both halves of the world, restored and perfected." "H-How can yo-you save a-an-nyth-ing by dest-destr-o-ying the w-w-world?" Twilight asked in between breaths. "There is a distinct difference between destruction and sacrifice. I will not allow all that has been lost to be in vain. Perhaps, in the next life, you can understand my intention." He looked slightly miserable. With that he reached for his belt over his tight Gothic jeans and pulled out what looked like a handle of some sort. It became more clear as he pulled. It was a sword. An Eyelander in fact. He turned round and prepared to put the sharp straight weapon to proper use. He raised his hoof holding the sword and struck it right down into her body. As his swing came striking down into her flesh, a loud metal clang was heard on impact. "I remember you." Phoxjes quietly told the newly arrived stallion looking him dead in the eye. "You are important to both of the princesses in this room; they both share the same feeling about you, one which I can no longer feel: love." "That's right! Both of them are important to me, and I shall defend then with my life!" The captain of the guards tried to strike again with his spear, to which Phoxjes was quick to defend himself by blocking. "Sh...Shin...y?" Twilight looked up with one open eye. "D...dear?" Cadence walked back to the center. "Twily! Cadence! It's alright; I'm here now!" He looked both relieved and worried. "You may be here now to save them, but I am still alive and standing, meaning that my endeavors for victory shall continue." Phoxjes continued. "You will not ever lay a single hoof on MY family again!" "I no longer have a family. Because of that, yours is of no importance to me, Shining Armor!" "Cadence, get out of here before they hurt you, or get to Flurry!" With that, she began to proceed her way out of there as fast as she could. They both charged at each other with their weapons and saw them clash. When they did they forced them into each other and stared at each other in silence for the longest time, neither one of them wanting to give up. "Wow." Spike commented. "White and blue vs black and red. This could make for a good movie." "Spike!" Twilight argued. "This isn't the time to be entertained!" "I heart fully disagree; now is the perfect time. But then again Twilight, i shouldn't bring up anything i have an opinion on, should I(?) So unless you wanna take this disagreement to a personal level, stay outta this!" His claws once again glowing in a green fire as his fists clenched. "*sigh* Spike, be honest. Do you really want to fight because you believe that, or do you wanna fight because the Babylonians told you to?" "Be quiet! The Babylonians treat me way better than how you did! And they actually taught me to defend myself! Here, I'll show you!" Spike prepared the flame meteor again and was ready to fire at Twilight again, until she fired a spell directly at his hand where the fire ball was, causing it to implode on him. "AUGHH!" He screamed as he grabbed his wrist with his other hand while the burning pain lingered for a second. He then looked back at her and decided to attack her physically instead. He ran at her and tried to jab her, only to have her dodge out of the way. He didn't let that stop him though. He attacked her again, yet she still dodged. She noticed that he was a lot faster than before, especially when it came to his reflexes in battle. She had a harder time moving out of the way each time. Eventually, once she was against a wall had to resort to teleporting. Unfortunately, she learnt that was an even worse idea as she then left herself wide open for an attack the second she reappeared. The flash of light had arrived, and Spike let loose the fireball again. Twilight was hit, her body now burning from the attack. Spike then smirked and began to walk up to her to continue his physical damage, but was stopped by a rope being wrapped around his hand again. "Gotcha!" Applejack shouted with the rope in her mouth trying to pull him towards her. "Woah!" He called as he lost his balance, being forced to walk there. "Ha!" Rainbow dash then flew down and grabbed his other hand and pulled that as well. His struggle then began, and both mares pulled at equal strength to prevent him from moving at all. "Illiux, where are you guys?" He asked himself as he was still trying not to be ripped in half by the girls. "What's that supposed to mean!?" Rainbow asked as she had a serious look on her face. "Phoxjes! Are they ready with operation H.R.R. yet!?" Phoxjes was in a one on one weapon press with Shining Armor with his sword against his spear, until he looked up and saw Spike in pain by his position. He then ceased the press by pulling his sword away, moving to the left, therefore allowing Armor to fall forwards slightly, striking his Eyelander directly in between him and his spear and blocking him from using it. Phoxjes then proceeded to knee him in the face, causing him to turn round. Shining was now covering his bleeding face with his fore hoofs. As he was turned round, Phoxjes then picked him up and threw him across the room, giving himself enough room to fly towards Applejack. "Uh-oh." She said as she had to let go of the rope in order to try and block him. As she readied her bucking hoofs, he landed when she tried to kick him, but instead kicked the air, as she was now vulnerable for him to pick her up by wrapping his left hoof around her leg, and his right hoof around her waist. He then lifted her up vertically, and threw her straight down headfirst. While he kept her occupied, Rainbow dash then fell over as Spike was free to use the rope to wrap around her neck. Now it was his turn to pull. She got up as her instincts told her to, realizing she was currently being choked with her strangler on her back. "Yee-haw!" Spike laughed, as he continued to suffocate her, until he felt a magic blast on his back, causing him let go and leaving Dash coughing on the ground. He turned around to see that Twilight was standing again, her horn lighting up, showing she was ready to fight. He smiled evilly as he got off of her and began making his way over Twilight again. Once Rainbow dash had finished coughing, she looked up and started to fly over to stop him, until she was hit by Rarity's body as she landed on top of her. Rainbow then looked up to see that Phoxjes was still battling the other four at the same time, and winning. She didn't know who to help, when the light shone from under the balcony. This caught the eye of everyone there. This blinding light came higher and closer, until Illiux jumped up onto the balcony ledge, followed by Roranxoa standing on a rising pillar of earth on his left, and the wind carrying Calsuricxs on his right. "Is Xandra ready?" Phoxjes asked the three of them whilst he and Spike were walking to the balcony. "Operation H.R.R. is ago, Herren." The non-accented German stallion said to the two of them. "About time, guys!" Spike smiled as he hopped onto Phoxjes's back when he prepared to fly away with them. "Wait! Where're you going!? And what's operation H.R.R.!?" Twilight wanted to know as she was ready to follow them. "Hey, pooch! Ya know what curiosity did to the cat? The same thing what I do ta cats: feed it to ma dogs." Roranxoa called to Twilight. The five of them then dropped down onto the ground outside. Twilight and the others then looked out to see the five of them heading towards Canterlot. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So then, the elements provide the singularity source for the rainbow, then the harmony is emitted in Rainbow form to ascend, then descend onto the disharmony around it?" Xandra was still trying to figure out how the elements function from the three that she helped Spike steal. She figured that the best place to do this would to be outside of the Discord statue, which had been moved back into the Canterlot gardens. "If so, then the elements will have to prevent all recent quarrels among the wielders, otherwise the connection between them could become corrupted. Meaning that, with potential, the smallest argument, even in subconscious form has the capacity of obliterating the elements power." She then continued to write down what she said on the notebook she brought with her. "I'll need to share this with the other Babylonians then." "If the girls fall out, the elements don't do nuttin'. Got it." Capxe was leaning against Discord smoking another cigarette and drinking his Pepsi. On the ground was four other cigarette butts. "Fair way of putting it Caxpe..." She said under her breath. "Xandra!" She heard several voices call her name as she looked up and saw the other five running and flying towards her. "You're here!!" She stood up and hugged Illiux to greet him. "Yes! Get in!" Capxe then greeted Xoa and Cal by using his darkness hands from his cape to high five them. "This is not the time for a reunion. Xandra, you must initiate the plan as we rehearsed." Phoxjes bluntly stated. "Yes, of course." She said as she walked back to wards the statue. The others proceeded to stand behind her. "So this is gonna do, what, exactly?" Spike asked in confusion and excitement. "I believe the visual will speak for itself." Illiux stood firmly while answering. "Uh..." "Just shuddup and find out, really." Caxpe then got out his E-cig and started with that. Xandra then took a deep breath in and out. She used her magic to levitate her saddlebag up and place her notebook inside and pull out the elements of honesty, generosity and loyalty. She moved the elements to one above her, one on the left and one on the right and to make a triangle with her horn in the centre. "Here goes..." She whispered as her horn lit up, and three thin white magic beams connected very slowly to the three elements. "So princess 'I can't do anything to run a country' isn't gonna follow us here?" Calsuricxs asked Spike. "What're on about, mate? Celestia isn't in this chapter." Caxpe then laughed off. "Hahahaha. No I meant Twilight." "Oh, you meant Sparkle the useless!" Caxpe laughed again. "Nah, she isn't coming after Phoxjes and I finished with her and the others." Spike replied. "So you battered her?" Caxpe then asked, patting Spike on the shoulder, before looking back at Xandra. "Top man." "Thanks. Uh... What did you mean 'this chapter'?" "Look, she's ready." Illiux drew their attention to her. The three beams then connected to the elements, which now had a same color glowing outline on the three of them, and the beams them made a circle connecting to the other two. As they connected, the ground started to shake, the magic had a strong wind blowing away from it in all directions. The circle then glowed a similar white color in the center of it, as Xandra then started to scream in pain from the new power. "Xandra!!" Illiux shouted with his fore hoof in front of his face trying to block the wind as every pony's mane was blowing and their clothes flapping in the wind. "Xandra!! Hold on!!" He shouted, as then tried to approach her. "Illiux stop now!!" Phoxjes shouted to him, running in front of him and turning around on his hind legs with his forelegs out to block him. "What are you doing!? She's in pain! A true gentlecolt does leave a lady in such peril!!" Illiux shouted to him. "I am concerned about her as well, however we cannot interfere with the spell!!" The circle then emitted a light blue ring in the center, which then expanded to the edge of the circle, followed by a yellow circle, which expanded from the center to the edge of the blue ring, then a light red ring which expanded from the center to the edge of the yellow ring. "Guys!! What is this!?" Spike then asked the six of them. "Operation H.R.R.!! Harmony Rainbow Refraction!!" A loud boom sound was heard as well the wind faded and Xandra's horn stopped glowing instantly as she dropped to the ground. The circle had fired a powerful Rainbow, which was heading in the opposite direction. It was similar to the Rainbow Of Harmony, but this one was rotating repeatedly so that it connected to itself, forming a spinning Rainbow beam. Once the beam had traveled far enough, constantly piercing through walls, plants and even small animals, there was a rainbow colored explosion in the distance, which was spreading across the land. "Xandra!" Illiux then ran up to her, and picked her head up in his hooves. "Xandra, bist du in Ordnung, mein fraulein?" "Eh... Jawohl..." She replied as she smiled while her eyes opened. Illiux was reassured as he smiled back. "Oi, get a room." Caxpe said to them, as Illiux's horn glowed and a panel flashed in his face. "Ahh! That hurt, you Muppet!" "This power is phenomenal. If we use this magic on the right half, our plan can advance." Phoxjes stared into the distance. "It came from outside!" A voice called from inside the castle. "There they are! They're by the statue!" Two guards arrived at the garden arch as the Marks were spotted. "Call for back up!" More guards arrived as they started to become surrounded. "How many are there!?" "All of them! All six of them! The dragon is with them as well!" "Hey! 'The dragon' has a name!" Spike shouted angrily. "Yeah, yeah, another time mate." Caxpe then back up to the others. "Hey, uh, Il? About now would be awesome..." Cal joined them. Illiux's horn lit up again as the seven of them were then surrounded by rotating panels again. After about five seconds, the panels disappeared, and so were the Babylonians, and the discord statue.