KINGDOM BATTLE//AU

8//Stopper is back again...WHY!?

   Even with the sharp panic of the bridges enemies, the team continued, now accompanied by the strange Hugger Stew. Now it was time to climb the wooden block tower, which somewhere upon it was climbing Spawny.

   Luckily, the path was straight forward. It was as if someone knew that someone else was to try to climb the tower, so the pathway was made of wooden planks covered with moss. It was a whole ecosystem! Banana trees of many grew upon moss laiden over wood, and vines hung from blocks that jutted out from overhead. Higher and higher the climb came, harder too.

   Luke was trailing behind, breathing still quick and a limp in his step. As much as Cassie wanted to tell him to walk it off, but with how he kept shooting glances at every corner, she knew that he was afraid. Luke had always been timid. A close call must have really frightened him. So, she would fall back to help him stand a bit more straight.

   "You cool, Luke?" She would ask. "You look pale."

   "I'm..." Luke would trail off, still panting. "I think you already know. I'm scared."

   Cassie would sigh. "Buddy, that's in the past now. You ought to let it go. You lived! And your very strong."

   "I guess." Luke would reply, turning to face where Beep-0 and Stew were along the trail.

   The two caught up, and the team just kept climbing higher. Faster as well due to Beep-0 catching up speed with excitement. He had his tracker up, and Spawny was just so close! 

   "Come on!" He would call back to Stew and the two teenagers. "He is right up here!"

   Ignoring any calls for slowing or a simple 'what?' from Stew, Beep-0 would blast his way forward. Why, it was a strange feeling to have a free body! Up high upon a tower running high above a beautiful land, Beep-0 felt so free! Yet he had a task ahead. There...there he was! He saw the curious shape of a little boy just up ahead.

   "Spawny!" He would call. "Spawny! Beep-0 is here-"

   Jumping down from the summit which was just so close, somes the same shape that the heroes have been seeing throughout the whole adventure. First at the bridge block, twice at Rex's lair, and now thrice upon the tower! Who landed in front of Spawny, was none other than Stopper the Hopper!

   Beep-0's excitement was shattered as Spawny was to run from the scene right as Stopper landed, springs bouncing them as they stood with that dumb smirk upon their face. 

   "Leave it Roomba, we got plans for the kid! And I got plans for you 'heroes' and traitor!" Stopper would spit, giving a nasty look at Stew.

   Stew looked furious at being called a traitor, his face almost as red as the skylight above as the sun dipped. "I'm not traitor! I'm Stew!"

   Doubt that he knew what traitor meant, but he had the spirit. But now the heroes had a angry Hugger on their side. Beep-0 stepped back as Cassie and Luke would take the leader, facing against Stopper in this hopefully final standoff. As the sky turned the battlefields grass to a brown, Luke pointed the first shot and the standoff began! 

   Stopper was quick to find cover, bouncing around firing quick shots before disappearing again. Cassie however, was to fling herself in front of Luke anytime Stopper took at shot at him. She didn't know what would happen if he took too much damage, but she didn't want to find out. Over and over again, mostly Cassie would chase around Stopper from cover to cover, the fight turning into a game of tag as Stopper began to start scaling the tower up higher. 

   "Coward!" Cassie would shout up to Stopper, who had jumped up to a higher block. 

   "Your just a nuisance who doesn't know when to quit!" Stopper would shout down to her. "Trust me, you won't go back to your little HQ when I push you off the edge of this tower!"

   That brought up the fact that they were what had to be half a mile or so off the ground. A fall for a living human not protected by the merge magic or whatever would die. Yet Cassie would maintain a steady eye contact until history happened to repeat itself.

   Stopper would look back at the shadow looming to find Stew, block raised. They had no time to react before they were pushed from the high ground down to the edge, in which the weakened Stopper fell right at Luke's feet, hanging onto the ledge.

   Luke would just stand there, frozen with panic. What was he going to do? Stopper was clearly afraid now, so as any good person would do, he grasped hold of their hand and pulled them to safety.

   However, Luke's kindness was not thanked, as next thing he knew was that Stopper had him by the neck, shouting give up at the other two of the party. Stew would jump down, and grasp hold of Stopper in his fuzzy arms in a tight hug. Or more like a jail of sorts!

   "Timeout meanie!" Stew would growl, sitting down with Stopper still in his grasp. 

   Beep-0 would pop his floating head out from his hiding place and ran back to the heroes. "Spawny is right at the summit! We got to go now!" He cried.

   Cassie would nod, pulling Luke away from the edge.

   "Does Stew got Stopper covered?" Luke asked, looking at the two mentioned.

   "Stew has Stopper in timeout!" Stew would say. "Now go save the world like heroes do!"

   With those words, the party ran off as fast as they could towards the summit of the tower. With new energy at the thought of all this being over soon, they were surely ready for what was to come next.

   Right?