Destined: The Six

43. The Golden Bear Buddy and His Friends

          It goes without saying that Jeremiah and his blessed comrades were doing horribly. Castle had attacked during the night and ransacked the shelter that they had been staying in. However, Heather had been able to get a few arrows in before the metal villain got away, so that was positive news. As of then, the four heroes were searching for a new shelter to hide from Castle in. 

          "I hope either Tamara or August gets here soon," Dylan mentioned as he chewed on a granola bar the team had found at an obliterated convenience store. They had looted many of such sites in case they got hungry, but none of the stores could really serve as shelter. Dylan's right, Jeremiah thought to himself. There's no way just four of us can defeat him, even if we have our blessings.

          Even if the team couldn't defeat Castle, it could not be said that they didn't try. Belle was noticeably more calm and confident than the Belle that Jeremiah had barely known a week or two ago. Jeremiah couldn't believe all these things had just happened in two weeks. He sat down on a rocky ledge, trying to imagine what life was like before he got swept away by a talking shadow wolf and forced to fight a metal creep named after a type of architecture.

          Heather sat down next to him. "This is pretty insane, standing here while waiting for a freaking force of nature to come and fight us," she said. Jeremiah had to agree with her, based on his thoughts prior. He looked around the sky, on the watch for platinum blue blurs across the horizon. He saw one, heading straight for him and his friends.

          "Sweet mercy," Jeremiah muttered, then raised his voice so his friends could hear. "Castle incoming! Check it!" He pointed to the sky, and everyone looked. They saw Castle, and unsheathed their weapons, ready for a serious fight. Dylan and Belle performed Danse Macabre, And Jeremiah became Shadow Jeremiah with Marionette. Heather wished her bow into existence. As Castle landed, he formed a shock wave, knocking everyone else back a little.

          "I have a plan," Heather whispered to Shadow Jeremiah. "I just need to get close to Castle. Distract him." Shadow Jeremiah immediately complied, charging straight for Castle with his spear raised. The metal creature looked up and raised his arms in protection, but Shadow Jeremiah had remembered to electrify his spear, and lightning arced everywhere as he struck. Shadow Jeremiah, not one to do things with mediocrity, struck again.

          Of course, Dylan and Belle were in a helping mood, and they joined Shadow Jeremiah struck the metal man-creature. Again and again, lightning and sparks flew, and Shadow Jeremiah hoped for Heather to initiate her plan soon, for he knew that they wouldn't be able to strike Castle much longer.

          "Heather! Any time now!" Shadow Jeremiah cried out to Heather as Castle swept the three away from him. They landed on the ground rather painfully, six feet away. Shadow Jeremiah soon wished he had said nothing, however, as Castle immediately turned his attention to the mistress of life.

          "You wouldn't mind telling me what the master of shadow speaks of, would you?" Castle asked, taking a few ominously slow steps toward her. Heather, even in the face of twisted metal horror, remained calm, and told him what Shadow Jeremiah spoke of. "This," she said. "Ursa Aureus! Leo Aureus! Tigris Aureus!" she shouted, and thrust an open hand in Castle's direction. 

          A liquid like molten gold flooded from her hand. It formed into a golden bear first, one the size of a house, then a golden lion the size of a car, with a glittering golden mane, and finally a golden tiger, between the size of the lion and the bear. Shadow Jeremiah rose up on one elbow and grinned when he saw the bear. "Hey! That's the golden bear you called at Castle's fortress! And a lion and tiger, too!" he proceeded to grab his staff and get on his feet.

          "Oh, my," Castle muttered when he saw the golden entourage that Heather created. With equally ominous steps, Shadow Jeremiah and Heather's Three Golden Beasts advanced on their platinum nemesis. Castle, who was a fearless man-creature, advanced in response. After a few ominous moments, however, the two sides decided to just leap at each other and hope for the most entertaining outcome.

          It was proved in this moment that Castle was not a very wise mega-villain, otherwise he wouldn't have gone against such powerful-looking enemies. As soon as Castle even got close to Shadow Jeremiah, Tigris swiped a golden claw at his face. Leo bit his arm, and Ursa aimed a Bear Punch at the metal man-creature's stomach. 

          Shadow Jeremiah appreciated his golden friends and their beastly powers. Ursa's Bear Punches would send Castle flying into a wall, and the two big cats would bite and claw. Shadow Jeremiah, being an overall polite hero, contributed to Castle's severe denting. It seemed that Castle didn't even have a chance.

           Tigris would swipe, then swipe again, sending sparks flying in every direction. Leo would bite, causing Castle to shout in pain at the very violent annoyance. Ursa would always either initiate  or end with a Bear Punch, letting Shadow Jeremiah add in some lightning shenanigans for some extra effect. Finally, Heather came up with something even more awesome. 

           "Magnum Aureus!" She cried out. The Three Golden beasts turned back to floating molten gold. Their molten gold all united together, then solidified into a frightening beast.

          The Frightening Beast in Question was amazing. It had Leo's head and mane, Ursa's size and body, and Tigris' claws and stripes. Somehow, instead of coming together as some strange, Frankenstein creature, it was an elegant, powerful beast, like a muscle-bound bipedal lion with giant claws and stripes.

          Magnum lumbered toward Castle at a frightening pace. With one swing, he slammed Castle, sending him flying into the distance with a cartoonish sparkle. Magnum Punch, Shadow Jeremiah thought to himself, before defusing and passing out.