2/2

She was in her closet, huddled in a corner. She was on the verge of tears as she couldn't bare such anguish. She felt a few tears drop when the closet door slowly opened, revealing her big brother and the dog.

The two slowly went up to Jane, so as she doesn't get startled. The dog sniffed her face, making her move about as its wet nose was tickling her. She broke into a grin and then a giggle as it continued.

Edmund came and sat right next to his little sister. "Hey sis." He said.

She looked back at him, very unsure of what to do

"Big brother, I'm scared." She quietly said. The dog ceased its sniffing and went to lay by her other side. Edmund looked at his sister, showing that he wasn't as afraid.

"It's okay Jane." He said. "At least you know you're afraid, but that's a good thing."

The little one looked up in curiosity. "Why is that a good thing?"

Edmund looked at the dog as it looked at them. He reached over as he petted it. "Well, Nic told me something that could really be useful. He told me that there were many ways to confront fear, and we both did just that. We admitted our own fear."

"But, why is that good?"

"Because you can learn to conquer that fear and grow strong. I mean, I was no different from you five minutes ago, but Nic told me that fear can drive us to become strong, so that we can overcome it and protect what's dearest to us."

She let go of her father as he closed the door and went off to work. She watched him go as the dog sniffed her face again, making her giggle. She walked back into the backyard to play around with the dog. She couldn't help but be curious. She didn't like wizards because they've failed to save her beloved mother, yet Nic brought her brother out of the darkness and into the light. What happened to Nic? She was asking questions to herself, starting to feel a change in heart.

With Nic

A little past four in the afternoon, and Nic finally has risen to his feet. He was fully conscious and his body had recovered some strength. He finally took one look around before he took off towards the town. Freesia shouldn't be too far. If it only took him two hours to get here, then it should take the same amount of time to get back.

Nic began his arduous walk back to Freesia. He ventured through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him, which wasn't very fast at all. He could only go as fast as he was when he was being escorted last night. He could only take it step by step. He focused on walking and nothing else. He had to conserve as much energy as he could in case if he confronts those guys again. The odds were that they were six feet under, literally, or they're in the same state he's in. He didn't have the time nor capability to worry.

He eventually made it halfway into the woods, and then he plopped right next to a tree. Just how much did that freaking explosion take out of him?! If anyone had to take a guess, that explosion of negative power drained his body for an extensive period of time. The same with Kecleon. The odds were that he wasn't going to be at full capacity until later on in the evening.

Once again, Nic started to get sleepy.

Later…

Nic shot his eyes wide open. His body was now at full capability. He noticed that it was now night time. Roughly around eleven to be more accurate.

'Dang!' Nic thought. 'It took me this long to reach a hundred percent?! I haven't overslept in forever!" Nic just had to get back to Freesia fast.

It was close to midnight, and he was pretty sure if those three survived, the townsfolk would be at their mercy. He climbed a tree and finally got to a branch. With the speed and grace of a ninja, Nic flew from branch to branch. It wouldn't take long for him to get back to Freesia at this pace.

Freesia

That evening, Hiro held an emergency meeting in the town square. Hiro has been growing exceedingly anxious as to Nic's success. He's yet to return and no one had a clue as to his whereabouts. The townsfolk were just as anxious as they were restless as they gathered into the town. They were still caught up in the potential fear that he might have been killed and the shadow army will come back for them.

Hiro stood up on a platform in front of the crowd of people. His kids could hear him call out for their attention. Jane stood next to her big brother, who held the dog that was looking just as nervous as they were.

"Remain calm! Please try and look out for the positive!" Hiro announced. The voices among the crowd simmered down to nothing as they were turning their attention towards Hiro. "I understand of your concern and worry. I ask that you hold on until Nic comes back to-."

"He's probably dead!" A voice from within the crowd called out, interrupting Hiro. "He's yet to return, so that would mean those three wizards overpowered him and killed him!"

The crowd murmured in agreement at that possibility. Hiro then called for their attention once more. "We're not sure of that yet. There is no guarantee he's been taken down."

"Then where do you think he is?!" Another citizen challenged him. "If he wasn't killed, then how come he hasn't returned from the forest?"

Hiro grumbled in frustration to think of a reasonable comeback, of which none came to mind. If Nic was defeated, then their demise was sure to be as gruesome as his was.

Regardless, he had to remain positive and stay strong.

"Why don't you all have faith in Nic!" Hiro said.

Then there was a swirling of clouds from above. Lightning surged from within the swirling turbulence. The townsfolk were frightened by this phenomenon and Hiro made his way towards his kids. He huddled and held them close. Dale whimpered as it too was frightened.

There was a cold, demonic laughter from within the swirling clouds. A large creature then appeared from the center of the vortex, of which subsided almost immediately. The creature landed and broke the platform that Hiro was using. People backed away in paranoia as they gazed upon this wretched beast.

The creature was humanoid and was blood red all over. Its body was very bulky in appearance. Black runes were encrypted on its arms, much like the ones that were on the pyramid. The being was twenty feet tall with demon-like wings that didn't fold up. It had a crown of jagged horns and claws that were as black as the night sky. It had shoulder length white hair with a strip of black running down the middle. It had two feral eyes that glared at the crowd. The demon bared its hideous fangs, of which made a few people wet themselves.

"Pathetic humans." Conjore, Rune, and Rosa said in unison in a cold demonic voice. "Faith will do you no good as your Mage is long gone, and so will you!"

People shivered at this meaning. Nic has failed to stop them. Their fates were decided on his victory, and now their fates were sealed.

"Hold up." Hiro said, recognizing the three voices. "You're those three wizards who attacked us."

"We were, but now we are reborn as one being." The creature comprised of three wizards responded. "We were almost defeated by him, then our most sacred artifact was shattered in front of our eyes. The energy we thoroughly absorbed from that artifact has unleashed this demon that you see before you. This form is the manifestation of us three in this one body – The Nightmare. A demon created by Lord Zeref that required your nightmares to fuel its power. We wouldn't be fee and be able to slaughter you all if it weren't for him."

The demon unleashed a wave of dark energy that kept the crowd contained as they've tried to escape and run off. Now they were in a dome of see-through darkness. "No one leaves. I'll bathe in every one of your bloody guts, one by one." The crowd of people shuddered and huddled at the potential gory demise that might fall upon them.

Hiro and Jane and Dale were so scared that they've failed to see Edmund walk up. away from the crowd and right behind the barrier. The three wizards in that one body chuckled, amused by this foolish act of bravery. Edmund was shaking while glaring at the beast.

'Oh well.' The Nightmare thought. 'I guess he'll be the first to go.'

Edmund struggled to keep himself from shaking in front of the twenty foot demon. He had no clue as to what came over him, an impulse maybe. Someone had to stand up to the demon, and Edmund was the only one who did so. The demon looked down at the small boy, amused by his actions.

Edmund was tired of constantly living in fear every night. It was about time they were all rid of this nightmare they've been trapped in for such a long time. He remembered what Nic told him about standing up against his fears. He was indeed scared, but still looked at the demon dead in the eye.

"What's the matter boy?" The Nightmare asked. "So scared you can't stop shaking?"

Edmund gritted his teeth. "I am afraid, but I ain't no chicken!"

The entire crowd gasped at this burst of courage and the demon looked somewhat annoyed by this act.

"Very well." The demon raised its right hand that had magic energy and held it up over Edmund. It then used its powers to force Edmund outside the dome, so that it could strike him down. "I shall make you fear me!"

"Edmund!" Hiro yelled out.

"Edmund!" Jane yelled.

The dog barked.

Edmund was prepared for the worst, ready to take the hit for what he'd believed in.

The next thing people saw was the demon getting hit from the side with a Flamethrower. The Nightmare fell on its side before it could strike Edmund. It fell with an earthshaking thud. The dome was dispelled and everyone looked to see where the shot came from.

Nic was on a building right next to the demon, ready to breathe another Flamethrower.

Hiro, Jane, and Dale all sprinted towards Edmund and embrace him in a hug, with Dale licking Edmund's face all over.

"Edmund! You're okay!" Jane said, happy to have not lose another family member.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright!" Hiro said. He looked up at Nic who had just jumped onto the ground. "Thank you so much Nic!"

Nic just nodded and focused his attention back on the demon that was slowly getting up, looking at NIc in the eyes.

"So, you've survived." The hideous beast snarled. "I should have known you were still alive. You're so troublesome."

"What can I tell ya, I don't go down easy." Nic stated. He got in a fighting stance, prepared to attack.

"Let's finish this, shall we?" The three voiced monster spread its wings and took flight.

"Hiro, get everyone to safety!" Nic commanded, not taking his eyes off of the monster.

Without hesitation, Hiro did as told and directed everyone away from the fight. "C'mon everyone, let's go!"

"Wait!" Jane and Edmund said, both turning toward Nic. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"I can handle this thug." Nic said, still looking at the soaring monster. "You just worry about getting to safety."

With all of that being said, the townspeople made their way out of the area, with the two kids looking back one more time before turning a corner and leaving.

Nic and The Nightmare waited until the townsfolk were a far distance away from the area. Once they saw that the people were out of town, the two glared at each other.

"I'm gonna need some help." Nic muttered. It's true. Nic's gonna need some more fire power if he's going to conquer this demon. This was no doubt going to be harder than last time. The dark magic energy was more potent than from before, add the fact that it was three mages combined and encased into one demon.

He had all of his strength back from that snooze he had, but he didn't wanna bring Kecleon out again. If anything, she must have accumulated a ton of damage from that last fight. She had to rest while someone else tagged in.

Nic threw up a poke ball. "Greninja, let's go!"

Greninja appeared right next to Nic. It was ready to fight the big monster that was circling over their heads.

"Geez, has that guy looked in the mirror lately?" Greninja said, annoying the monster. "Hey buddy, there's this thing called lotion, you could really use that!"

The Nightmare merely gritted its teeth and awaited for their attack.

Greninja turned towards Nic, seeing him shift towards the Sky Plate. "What's the plan?"

Nic observed only for a few seconds before answering. "We lower him to the ground and attack him from there, but we need to be aware of his power."

With only a nod afterwards, Nic spread his wings and flew up. He readied himself to use Wing Attack. He sailed towards The Nightmare with his wings glowing.

The Nightmare, on the other hand, was waiting for Nic to make his move. He saw Nic fly high towards him for an attack, he made no attempt to dodge. Rather, he zoomed straight in.

Nic could see The Nightmare flying in towards him, and he was flying in fast. When he was within range, he lashed at him with his wings. He could've taken the hit, but The Nightmare was more than fast, it was predicting Nic's moves.

The demon grabbed his wrist and gave Nic a punch to the gut, literally knocking the air out of him. Nic gasped as the impact was heavy. Not only was he fast, but stronger as well. The beast held him by the throat for a few seconds before throwing him to the ground. Nic was sailing straight down, with The Nightmare speeding faster than a jet to ram Nic in the back, making the velocity increase dramatically.

"Die!" It shouted. Greninja saw this and rushed towards the falling Nic. He crouched down and leaped super high into the air. Its Bounce was making it fly into their direction.

The twenty foot demon didn't think of Greninja before the last second. When it turned to see the frog, it was given a foot to the face. He swiftly grabbed Nic from the fall and he used Bounce to push The Nightmare away as he also sailed back to the ground. Greninja landed safely while the demon was spinning a few times before regaining his balance.

"You okay Nic?" Greninja asked, helping Nic stand on his two feet. Nic coughed a little and finally looked at his pal.

"Yeah, I'm okay." He responded. He then looked up at the horrifying figure making its way towards them. "But he saw straight through my attack. That was Rune's magic. Wait…did it say it was those three combined? If so, then that would mean that thing can use their abilities as well. That would explain such a reflex to my attack."

The Nightmare growled as it was flying over them again. It simply chuckled. "Not too shabby. Still, it won't work. I must thank you though. We've always thought that The Nightmare was sealed within the pyramid, but it turned out it was the spear. With this new body and power, we can give people what they deserve – death!"

"We'll have to block its vision so that it won't see our movements." Nic noted.

"Leave it to me!" Greninja stated. Greninja then used Smokescreen to encase the two in smoke so that the demon couldn't see them.

The Nightmare clenched his fists as he looked left and right, but couldn't see through the thick smoke. He flapped his wings and make the smoke cloud vanish, but Nic and Greninja weren't there. It descended to the ground and looked about, moving its head left and right.

It had just forgotten to look behind.

It was shot in the back with a Dark Pulse and an Air Slash combo. It fell forward with a monstrous thud, it screaming as it fell forward. Nic and Greninja both appeared from the alley way just across from where they were. They've managed to make it there before their cover was literally blown.

The demon was about to get back up, but was slammed into the ground once again by Greninja's Bounce. The beast crashed with a huge thud, making a small crater.

The beast spread its wings and shot up from lying down. It turned and glared daggers down on them. "You had the element of surprise." It admitted. "But your luck's run out!" It pointed its demonic hands down towards the ground, making five humanoid monsters from the pavement. They were about Nic's size, so they weren't too big, but now they had to deal with six opponents instead of just one.

"I'll take the stones, you stop the demon!" Greninja said. With no room to argue, Nic flew up towards a flat building roof and stood up. Greninja was using smokescreen to provide himself cover so that he could use Water Pulse and Dark Pulse to stop the monsters while their vision was sullied.

Nic looked up as the beast looked down at him, preparing to launch an attack.

"Nightmare Stream!" A wave of pure darkness went blasting down towards Nic, who countered with an Air Slash. The two attacks collided, but the stream still burrowed towards Nic through the smoke, but the blast wave was somewhat weakened.

"Drill Peck!" Nic's mouth then glowed and became a cone-shaped glow. He then began spinning like a drill and went straight through the middle of the stream. He escalated through the attacked and drilled into the horrid monster's abdomen, causing it to fly back several feet. The monster gritted its teeth and flew in towards Nic. He tried to use Aerial Ace, but the monster anticipated the attack and punched Nic as soon as he'd gotten close. Nic flew back and spun a few circles, which made him a little dizzy. He didn't have time to register the blast of negative energy coming his way. The attack hit him dead on, sending him crashing through a roof.

"Want more?!" Shouted the monster. The thick cloud of dust didn't subside just yet, so The Nightmare couldn't get a visual of him.

He saw what looked like a spacial mirror and it shot a blast of negative energy as well. This had send The Nightmare soaring through the air and crash down on the ground with the sound of thunder.

Nic emerged from the crashed roof and slowly descended to the ground. He was getting pretty tired. Already, he was badly bruised and scratched about. The beast sat up, showing its angry expression as to Nic's relentless behavior.

"How did you like a taste of your own medicine?" Nic asked in a rather mocking tone. "Mirror Move really does the trick."

The beast got back up and looked over to see that Greninja had already taken care of the stone monsters. He'd went to regroup with Nic and the two were now fighting side by side.

"You guys are too persistent! Why don't you just die?!" The monster demanded.

"Because we will never rest until you're defeat is certain! You've put a lot of innocent people out of their misery, and we'll never forgive you for such a wretched thing!" Nic exclaimed.

"The innocent don't deserve this torture. Just by picking on the weak only makes you a big coward!" Greninja shouted.

"A coward?! If anyone's to be a coward here, it's you!" The Nightmare stated.

Nic squinted his eyes to make him look as serious as serious could get. "We'll see."

Nic then began to glow and change into his new form, the Dread Plate. When the glow subsided, Nic had midnight blue eyes. His shoes were a mixture of grey stripes, black, and midnight blue patterns. His jeans were black with a chain on the side, giving him a more punkish look. His sleeveless coat had pure black flames flickering from the bottom up to the back of his thighs. The rest of the sleeveless coat was a midnight blue. Finally, his T-shirt was black with a regular collar, no V-neck, and the sunglasses were hanging from his shirt collar as well.

"You're gonna wish you've never been unleashed!" Nic boasted. The demon just roared as it lunged towards Nic. Nic then disappeared in thin air, having the demon gawk as he kept going forward. He didn't look as Nic reappeared right next to him and gave him an elbow to the face. The beast stumbled back in shock. It failed to detect Greninjs above it as it used Water Pulse straight down on the demon.

The watery explosion subsided and the demon looked perplexed. It bashed its head on a few buildings, not recognizing a thing. It was confused from the Water Pulse. Greninja then landed right next to Nic.

"Ready?" Nic asked. Greninja nodded and the two held out their hands towards one another. Nic held out his right hand, while Greninja showed its left hand. The space between them was being filled with darkness they were making. It was a huge mass of dark rings they were wielding.

"Dark Pulse!" The double Dark Pulse was fused into one huge Dark Pulse, sending a torrent of black and purple towards the demon. When the demon turned to see the attack, it was already too late.

There was a huge explosion that occurred. Dust was flying about everywhere and wind was scattering a lot of debris. It subsided rather quickly and Nic and Greninja both saw that the demon had been blown through four buildings. The Nightmare slowly got up, but it tripped as it did, meaning it took some damage.

"You have infuriated me!" The demonic being yelled. The ground then began to tremble, as the demon began to surge energy between the palms of its hands. It was slowly welding into a compressed sphere of chaos and darkness. Nic and Greninja just how much power this monster was pouring into the attack.

"This is really, really, reeeaaaallllyyyyy bad." Greninja noted.

Nic just looked on and gulped. This was worse than all of those previous attacks, perhaps even worse than that terrifying explosion from last night. If this attack hits, there wouldn't be any trace of them left.

"Got any ideas?" Nic asked. "I'm open to ideas."

"Well, considering that I don't know Mat Block, we can't guard ourselves. And we most certainly can't intercept it, meaning we're down to a few options."

Nic thought quickly as to how to approach this matter. The first scenario is deflecting it into another direction by aiming an attack a little bit lower. The second scenario is to dodge, and the third scenario…well, that would be a death sentence. Taking the hit would be as stupid as Natsu when he jumped on the boat the first night and got motion sickness.

"I got an idea." Nic said. Greninja looked at Nic in hopes that it was a good plan.

"What is it?" He asked.

"This!" Since nothing came to mind, Nic came up with a last resort. His fist had a pink glow and he sprinted towards the demon. Greninja knew what Nic was gonna do.

'Charizard was right, Nic has grown bold.' He thought to himself.

Nic was five feet away when the attack was fully charge, sending off a high frequency.

"Hell Canon!" Nic was able to get there just in the last moment.

"Sucker Punch!" Nic let loose a punch to the demon's chest, having it bend back upon impact. It was unable to predict Nic's attack because Hell Canon required every single cell of concentration from within, meaning that it was vulnerable.

The compressed sphere of death then unleashed itself as the demon was falling back. The sphere was unleashed in an enormous wave of a mixture of pure black, purple, grey, and vermilion. The blast wave was redirected and aimed upwards at an angle, obliterating the top half of a building. The attack kept flying high into the sky, roaring throughout the area. The huge wave even made some clouds move. The wave soon dispersed, leaving the roaring sound to dispel only a few moments afterwards.

Nic barely dodged that assault, and he was left with only a little energy left to spare. The demon itself was lying on the ground from lack of balance from the attack it misfired. The Nightmare laid there in a dusty heap, grunting and growling as it tried to get up.

"You…brat!" It managed to get out. All of that power buildup took a huge chunk of the demon's power away from it, meaning it's just as drained as Nic was. Greninja appeared right next to Nic, ready to make an attack.

"Nic, what's the plan now?" The beast was now back on its own two feet, huffing a bit from that attack.

"Eh…win?" Nic said.

"Great plan!" Greninja responded. The two advanced as the demon roared. They both got on opposite sides, left and right, and Greninja and Nic both did a double Dark Pulse once more. The demon held out its two hands, having said block both attacks.

"You fools! I will not lose to such arrogant punks!" proclaimed the hideous beast.

Nic and Greninja both closed in on the demon as it growled fiercely at them.

"Hey, guess what." Nic said.

"What?" The Nightmare asked.

"We don't care!" Nic lunged at the monster's face with a Night Slash, slashing in an angle with a black and red outline arc following. The beast leaned back and avoided the attack and opened its mouth.

"Demonic Blackout!" The beast threw its head forward and unleashed a black and blood red blast right into Nic. The force of the attack had send Nic soaring high into the air, with a gasp of pain and air. He blacked out for about two seconds while sailing up. The Nightmare then shot into the air, attempting to attack Nic with its claws.

Nic regained consciousness and he saw the monster sailing at him. 'He's so powerful! I'll just have to use that to my advantage then!' As Nic was starting to fall, he opened his arms, welcoming the attack. The beast was about to make contact, Nic grabbed its arm, turned it around, and threw him towards the ground. Nic smirked as the demon crashed into the earth. 'Thank you Foul Play.' He thought. Since the beast's strength was greater than Nic's, Foul Play did a whole lot of damage. If Nic had taken that hit for real, then he would've been pierced. Nic straightened out and landed without harm.

Greninja rushed over and regrouped with Nic. Nic looked at him and the two now had the chance to show this monster just who is the king of the ring.

The monster turned over on its back as Nic was carried by Greninja as he leaped from building to building, eventually ending up in midair. Nic then let go and the two were side by side in the air.

'Where did that strength come from?' The Nightmare thought. "We can't lose! Tartaros will prevail! We'll climb to the top and destroy you in the name of Lord Zeref!" It yelled furiously as it wasn't able to move from such a devastating attack.

Nic's eyes lit up as his body was surrounded in a crimson aura. He raised his arms in conjunction with Greninja. Greninja was getting ready to do a Water Pulse as the aura around Nic's forearms was getting even thicker. As soon as Nic touched the Water Pulse, it was encased in this crimson aura. The two were falling at the same time, ready to unleash a brutal and final attack on this beast.

"Listen up! We won't let you destroy those who've suffered enough!" Nic proclaimed. "I don't give a damn about this Lord Zeref! You'll never triumph us as long as we protect those who we hold dear to us!"

The monster gritted its teeth as it couldn't move.

"Take this collaboration attack!" Nic shouted.

"Night Daze!"

"Water Pulse!"

Nic's left arm and Greninja's right arm came down on the monster's chest, sending a massive fusion of water and a pink and crimson forcefield throughout the area. The blast wave expanded as the monster roared in agony. The combo attack surged and there was a massive light that shined.

Once the attack had ceased, Nic and Greninja reared back as they saw the light take the spot of The Nightmare. The light shot upwards and it became a tower of light. At the pinnacle of the light tower, Nic and Greninja both saw that that the light was raining down light meteors, much like a mountain.

Nic couldn't think of what is going on, but the two saw the blobs of light raining down and touch the ground. They all then took the shapes of people one by one. When the lights faded, they showed they were actual people. Nic gawked at this as did Greninja.

"What in the name of sweet tomato sauce is going on here?" He asked.

"Not certain, but if I guessed right, I'd say the lives that were fed to The Nightmare are being revived." Greninja said. Nic took it and saw the people looking at themselves in disbelief. They couldn't believe that they were alive. All roughly five hundred or so. The light tower diminished, leaving the three wizards from before in a crater. Nic walked over towards them. They were all unconscious, but alive.

Nic looked around and saw that the people were looking at him and Greninja. They were finished reminding themselves that they were living once more. They all then went over and clapped in praise for the two heroes. Everyone shouted in congrats and sincere thanks for restoring their lives. They all hip-hip-hoorayed Nic and Greninja and such. It was such a great time.

Eventually, the townspeople came back into town, seeing all of the people return, they all looked as though they were seeing ghosts. Many people began crying on the spot. Some children had immediately ran up to their siblings or parents of whom they have thought they've lost.

"Papa!" "Mommy!" "Dad!" "Honey!" Everyone was in a deep hug as they clenched onto their once lost family members and never sought to let go. Among the group of people rejoicing, Edmund, Jane, Dale, and Hiro found the one person they've missed so much. Christina stumbled about, trying to figure out where her family was. Jane ran up and threw herself onto her mother. She didn't dare to let go. Edmund clung onto his mother as well. They didn't dare to let go. They couldn't believe it, everyone who was a sacrifice was now alive and well, but Christina didn't care because she was with her beloved family again.

Hiro wrapped his arms around his wife and kids and dog. The small family sobbed in relief that they were in each other's arms again. The tears just kept on coming.

"Mommy, we've missed you so much." Jane spoke softly.

"Shhh, it's alright now. I'm back." Christina said, soothing them all. It was the longest time before they've separated from the hug.

"Sweetheart, I'm so glad you're alive!" Hiro said, overjoyed to have the love of his life back. "But…how?" he continued in curiosity. He was indeed overjoyed, but this question raised through every mind of the people who fled the battle area.

She looked over towards Nic and Greninja. Nic reverted back to himself and grinned at the sight of everyone rejoicing with one another. "Nic and his friend right there saved us. They defeated the horrid demon that was using us to fuel its power." She said. "We weren't really dead, but we were release as soon as the creature was defeated."

Every single citizen then looked and stared right at the two. They were the complete center of attention. The two heroes looked on awkwardly as the staring continued. Edmund and Jane immediately ran up to them both and hugged them. Jane hugged Nic while Edmund hugged Greninja, the two were happy to see the two kids smile. Dale was running about, overjoyed in satisfaction.

"Thank you." Jane said repeatedly.

Hiro and Christina held hands and walked towards Nic and Greninja. The two kids pulled away and returned back to their parents' sides.

Hiro and everyone else smiled. "Nic and friend, we can't even begin to thank you for all that you've done for our beloved village. You have no idea how much gratitude we express to you. The entire city of Freesia can't thank you enough for your heroic actions. We will forever be grateful to you. Thank you for everything!"

Hiro and Christina then bowed to Nic and his ninja frog pal. In a few moments, the entire population did the same, which made the two feel embarrassed.

"Please, you don't have to do this." Nic reasoned. "It was my job to help you in the first place." He's never felt so praised in his life. Greninja certainly felt embarrassed as well. They both looked at each other and smiled widely.

Everyone clapped their hands in honor of their hero and his accomplice. "On honor of your bravery, I say a celebration is in order!" The townspeople cheered as they all threw Nic and Greninja into the air.

That night…

The party lasted the entire night, and it didn't stop until morning arose. The spirits were high as people celebrated their rejoiced family and freedom from the awful nightmare. The families enjoyed each other's reunion and now no one had to worry about those three wizards ever again.

The three wizards were tied up with rope around their hands and the Royal Army had come to arrest them. There was no escape once you're in this anti-magic cuffs. The three Tartaros members grunted as they were arrested. Nic just watched as they were taken away. He didn't regret laying the hurt on them, but didn't show any sign of glee as they were taken away. He was still occupied with the thought of Tartaros rising. What if it really did happen?

The party disregarded the damages that Nic and Greninja dished out. There was games, laughter, music, and a whole ton of food. We're talking edible deliciousness on a whole new level. Everyone has never felt so happy in ages.

Nic, with Greninja involved, was/were the star(s) of the show. Everyone wanted to talk with them. They were pushed and dragged to so many tables that it made the two dizzy. They couldn't even sit down to have a bite of something to eat before a fan yanked them somewhere. They all wanted to thank them for their valiant efforts and wanted to talk with him to get to know their heroes more. They would spend at most five minutes at a table before they were dragged to another.

At one point during the night, Nic had send out Kecleon as well. The people marveled at his other accomplice as well. He explained to everyone that she helped him in his daring job as well, of which the citizens happily accepted. Kecleon was feeling much better than it was earlier, now fully recovered and well rested to play around the entire night.

Around noon, the party began to dwindle down and it was now time for Nic to depart. Greninja and Kecleon both by his side as he looked back and faced the entire down that stood before him.

"Nic, take this." Hiro said, handing him what looked like a check. "You've earned it."

Nic took one glance at the check and his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. The reward had risen to fifteen million jewels.

"Holy freakin protozoa!" Nic exclaimed. "That's a lot of zeroes!"

"Didn't you remember that the job was S-Class?" Hiro reminded him.

Nic looked on dumbfounded. "Oh, right. But are you sure about this? I can settle with the previous reward. You guys being happy is rewarding enough."

Hiro shook his head. "We insist. It's the least we can give you for all that you've done for us. No matter what, you'll always welcome here anytime."

Nic nodded, as did Greninja and Kecleon.

"We're sorry for how we were before." Edmund and Jane said. "We were wrong about you. And we couldn't thank you for how much you've done for us."

Nic grinned down at the two. "Don't mention it. I'm glad that you're united with your mother again." The kids walked up and they hugged him. The dog came up and licked Nic in the face, which tickled. His pokémon looked on as they were mighty proud of themselves for having such a great trainer and family.

"When I grow up, I'm gonna be just as brave as you!" Edmund proclaimed. Dale barked in affirmation. Nic smiled down on the newly courageous person.

"That's a great path to take. Never give up, no matter what and you'll succeed." Nic stated.

"You mean it?" Edmund asked, to which Nic nodded.

Nic waved farewell to all of Freesia as he and his pokémon began walking down the road. They all waved and shouted goodbye and told him to be back soon. Nic told them that he would come visit them soon if we wasn't too busy, and he would never break such a promise. Freesia feels like a type of place Nic likes now. First Fairy Tail, and now Freesia. Nic was feeling at home in all of the right places.

On the road…

On their way back to Magnolia, Nic had turned towards Greninja and Kecleon, who were feeling just as good as he was.

"Hey guys." Nic said. "Thank you."

Greninja looked on and smirked. "No probs. We're there for you thick and thin."

"Yeah. We're PB and J with indestructible crust!" Kecleon said, using the most weirdest analogies you could've imagined, all of which had no relevance. "We're duck, duck and goose. We're green eggs and ham. We're Ed, Edd n Eddy!" (Hehe, because I felt like saying that.)

With all of those freaky similes out of the way, Nic returned them to their poke balls and he had decided to take the way he got to Freesia – through trees. He climbed the branches and raced back towards Fairy Tail, awaiting for the next adventure to come across him.

Sorry that this chapter was insanely long. Normally, my chapters range around 10K-12K, but I was too caught up in the fight scenes that I was making. This chapter was close to 14K!

The Dread Plate felt necessary because of the events that were going on in regards to the situation Nic was in. Yes, I made up The Nightmare, because I had to make some sort of demon. The Dread Plate versus The Nightmare felt reasonable to me that way.

About Bounce. Yes, I'm aware that Froakie and Frogadier can learn Bounce and not Greninja, but let's just say that Greninja learned Bounce as a Frogadier.

Don't expect any updates for a little while. I'm planning on starting up another story and finish up another one I'm doing for a friend. I'll work on the other story for a little bit and come back to this one and maybe alternate after every chapter.

Let me know what you think of this story so far and what you're opinions are on the characters. Let me know if you wanna see more of something or someone in any way.

Favorite, Follow, & Review my story and/or chapter. Review!

Next Time: Two Dragons and a Nic