Dark Rainbow (E.N.D!RoWen One-Shot)

The Book of E.R.C. Etherious Romeo Conbolt.

A moment ago, Wendy had managed to get possession of it.

Now, on the other hand...

Now, she felt as if the book itself was trying to get possession of her.

Several multicolored and vein-like markings began to manifest on her arm and spread throughout her body. Her breathing started become shaky and it became faster and faster as she felt as if the heat emanating from the markings were starting to burn inside of her body. The markings latched on to her left lung and her beating heart, which was now pulsating violently in her ribcage as if to try and fight off this new burning sensation in her body.

That wasn't all she had to be concerned about as she now had to worry about...him. She did everything in her power to help, rewriting the Book so that he retains his humanity in the new that he has now.

The purple-haired boy faced the dark mage in the gold mask. His arms and forehead covered in multicolored scales and just as colorful horns had now appeared on his head. The Rainbow Fire he wielded had seemingly fused with a much blacker one.

Romeo Conbolt had become something other than human.

"So...you've finally come out of hiding...Etherious Romeo Conbolt," the masked mage said with a half smile on his face. The now somewhat demonic-looking Romeo walked towards the dark mage, nothing but determination in his eyes. Determination to put an end to the masked mage. Of course, he noticed Wendy struggling just to stand up right, let alone breathe; the demonic rainbow flame draining her energy and her body sweating from the burning that she is enduring. As much as he liked to thank Wendy right now for using the Book to save him, seeing her like this worried and angered him to an extent.

And then, Wendy fell. Her eyes unable to stay open. Her body unable to hold on. The markings had taken over her body, her heart and her soul. "WENDY!" Romeo cried as he ran to her side. Her body fell into his arms, barely conscious. "Hey...W-Wendy. W-w-wake up. H-hey. Wake up, Wen," Romeo said, tears starting to form. He shakes Wendy's body lightly, desperately trying to coax her back into consciousness. "T-t-this isn't funny, Wen! Wake up! Please! WENDY!"

"Look at your friend. She is suffering because her interference with the Book," said the Masked Mage, smiling lightly. "In a way, it seems that you are hurting your friend even more than I could." Romeo didn't respond. His expression was now that of sorrow and anger. Sorrow and anger for his close friend. Sorrow and anger for Wendy. His Wendy Marvell.

"You should be thanking me," the Masked Mage continued. "You were on the brink of death. Your father's desperate cries for help are the only reason you're even alive at all." "Y...y...you bastard," Romeo growled, turning his anger towards the dark mage. And then, before the Masked Mage even had time to react, he felt the full force of Romeo's fist, which was engulfed in the dark rainbow flame.

"YOU BASTARD!" Romeo roared as he repeatedly punches the Masked Mage in the face to point where his golden mask began show a few cracks on its surface. The Mage simply half-smiled and caught Romeo's fist. "Your strength is fairly impressive, Etherious Romeo Conbolt," the Masked Mage said in an amused manner. "But you're not the only one with that kind of power."

Romeo was rather confused by this...that is, until he found himself being tossed into the air and back on the ground. To his surprise, he saw that the Masked Mage now had greyish black scales on his arms with pure black fire surrounding them.

"You see, you and I are not so different, Etherious Romeo Conbolt," the Mage said as he charged at Romeo, who responds to this by using his arms in an attempt to block the attack. The shockwave resulting from this sent Romeo flying. The Masked Mage charged at him again, landing a blow to Romeo's gut.

When Romeo landed back on the ground, he got up weakly. He coughed out blood. His own blood. This was no ordinary Mage he was facing. He was dealing with another just like him. "It seems that you are inexperienced with your power," the Masked Mage said as Romeo tossed a dark rainbow fireball at him at point blank range, only for him to dodge it. "That is a real shame."

"I'm not... I'm not... giving up," Romeo responded, using whatever strength that he could muster to again punch the Masked Mage repeatedly, the rainbow flame surrounding his fists. The Masked Mage responded in kind, bombarding Romeo with a barrage of punches of his own. Eventually, the Masked Mage proved too much for the young Etherious as he began to beat him into the dirt like a punching bag.

By the time the punching stopped, Romeo's blood was already dripping from his mouth as if he were being broken down from the inside. "You're such a disappointment," the Masked Mage scoffed in a somewhat frustrated manner, a dark flame forming in his palm with the intent to kill. "Begone, vermin!"

Ba...bump...

Wendy's finger twitched. Her barely alive heart beating very slowly at first, pumping slightly faster and faster with each passing second. Her breathing followed suit. Slowly, she mustered the strength to stand back up. And when she did, she felt like a completely different person altogether. The same dark rainbow flame that Romeo wields began to form on Wendy's arms and there now a white-ish rainbow light with vein-like markings noticeable on her chest, where her heart is. The light even pulsated like a heartbeat would.

Only one thing was certain at this point: Wendy Marvell was now reborn as an Etherious.

Almost immediately, Romeo and the Masked Mage spotted her. Romeo was surprised to see her standing back up while the Masked Mage was rather amused. "W-Wen...," Romeo muttered, a slight tear forming in his left eye. "Interesting," the Masked Mage said. "Your interference with the Book should have killed you or even corrupted you. And yet, here you are. Still standing. Let's see if we could fix that."

The Masked Mage then proceeded to pull his dark flame squarely towards Wendy. The flame then took on the form of an arrow-like projectile and he fired it directly at Wendy's heart. "Wendy! Get out of the way!" Romeo yelled, the tears leaking out. The Masked Mage merely smiled as the dark flame arrow moved closer and closer to its target.

His would-be satisfaction didn't last, however, as the girl seemingly vanished mere nanoseconds before the dark flame arrow made contact with her skin. The Masked Mage's confusion turned into shock when she suddenly appeared from behind, preparing to strike; the glow on her chest pulsating quickly in sync with her heartbeat. Her Sky Dragon's Roar, now infused with the dark rainbow fire, sent the Masked Mage flying into the air, causing his body to land on a nearby wall.

By the time he got back up, Wendy had already rushed to Romeo's side, using her magic to heal him. Before the Masked Mage could even process what had just happened, the two began to attack him from all sides, some of his bones breaking with others being bruised and slashes leaking out blood began to appear all over his body. He landed on the ground, only barely mustering the strength to get back up.

"It seems...that I've...underestimated you both," the Masked Mage said, trying to catch his rugged breath. And with that, the Masked Mage disappeared into a black mist of his own making, just as Romeo charged at him to land the killing blow.

Both were catching their breath, no doubt exhausted from a combination of the fight and the demonic energy flowing through them. Wendy fell into Romeo's arms, clearly tired from everything that's happened. Romeo carried her over his shoulder as he started walking to go get help.

He'll have to thank her later. Right now, he's turning his attention towards finding a way to undo all that the Masked Mage had done to them... assuming such a thing were even possible.

Perhaps then, things may go back to the way it used to be.

- - -

Sorry if this fic feels a bit rushed in some or most areas, especially the end. Kinda wished put a bit more polish into it. I honestly wasn't sure how to end it. Anyway, I do hope you enjoy it.