WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! Three magic arrows flew past, breaking the captured Mysticons free from Tazma’s shadow tentacles. Arkayna dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way just before Dreadbane could touch her with his dark energy. She looked up to see Zarya. She was perched on a ledge above them, her bow smoking.
“Hey, tall, dark, and creepy!” Zarya said. “You’ve got something of mine!”
“The Codex piece,” Tazma said. “No!” She ran toward it before Zarya could get it.
“Battle Unicorn, charge!” Em shouted. She sent her Mysticon avatar to rush Tazma, knocking her back.
Zarya grabbed the ancient book and opened it. A swirling blue energy surrounded her. It turned into a magic bracer that coiled around her wrist. She felt more powerful than she ever had before. Energy surged through her entire body. She aimed at the celestial focus and smiled. “Time to howl!” she yelled as her Mysticon avatar, a blue energy wolf, emerged from her arm. The Wolf jumped onto the celestial focus, knocking the meteors off course. Then it tackled Dreadbane to the ground.
The girls watched as the burning meteors changed direction, heading back out into the galaxy. As soon as the Mysticons knew Drake City was safe, they turned to go.
“You Mysticons have ruined everything!” Dreadbane cried after them.
“Oh, we’re not done,” Zarya said. “Choko, go find your friends.”
Choko scampered over to the two foz who’d been hiding at the edge of the cave. They still had Em’s magic orbs. Together they pushed them onto the celestial focus; then the foz rolled away. Once Em was sure everyone was safe, she detonated the orbs with her bracer.
In an instant, the focus exploded into thousands of pieces. The Mysticons ran off before the smoke had even settled.
They heard Dreadbane mutter “I hate foz season” as they ran through the tunnels.
They passed the cave with the Dragon Disk, but the Disk wasn’t there. Someone had taken it. They wanted to stay and find it, but Dreadbane’s army was already after them. There was no time.
“We’ll get the Disk another day,” Zarya said.
“At least we got the Codex piece,” Em said, trying to hide her disappointment.
They ran as fast as they could through the tunnels and out the front gates of Dreadbane’s fortress. There was only one problem: The pirate ship wasn’t there. The fortress was suspended in the air, thousands of miles above land. The Mysticons were completely trapped.
“Kitty totally bailed on us,” Em said as Dreadbane, Tazma, and dozens of skeleton warriors appeared behind them.
“Hold the line, girls,” Arkayna ordered.
The Mysticons turned around, and Em moved out front, putting her shield in between them and the army. But Tazma’s magic was too strong. She pushed the Mysticons back, inch by inch, toward the cliff’s edge. In just a few moments, they’d fall to their deaths.
When they were right at the edge, certain it was all over, the flying pirate ship appeared behind them. Kasey was at the wheel. He looked over and smiled. “Mysticons! All aboard!”
The girls leapt from the ledge onto the deck of the ship. Em tumbled on top of Kasey, who cushioned her fall. “Nice catch,” she said.
“Yes, you are,” he said, smiling.
“Pink Skullz!” Kitty yelled, appearing at the helm. “Let’s show these villains a little love.”
The pirates blasted Tazma, Dreadbane, and his army with cannon fire. The whole fortress was surrounded by smoke as the pirate ship flew away. It wasn’t until Zarya was sure they were safe that she turned to Kitty.
“Didn’t think I’d leave you behind, did you?” Kitty said with a smile.
“Not for a second,” Zarya said. Maybe Em and Piper had thought they’d been abandoned, but she knew that wasn’t Kitty’s style. She might be ready to do almost anything for some gold, but she was also definitely a no-pirate-left-behind girl.
“Oh yeah,” Kitty said, reaching into her pocket. “Here!” She pulled out the Dragon Disk and handed it to Zarya.
Zarya stared down at the golden Disk, knowing how lucky the Mysticons had been simply to escape Dreadbane’s wrath. Now they were high in the air, soaring toward the moon. And they had the Dragon Disk and all four pieces of the Codex.
Nothing could stop the Mysticons now.