Apophis's Hive

Frost yawned as she got up from her soft bed in Jade's cabin. The earlier night, she dreamed of Mecha Snowyclaw and Metal Frost beheading her over and over again, cackling as they tried to cut off her head for good. When her head fell off, it regenerated on her neck, and the process of killing her had to repeat... ugh. It was a nightmare for both the dream robots and Frost herself.
"Yaaaawn."
Looking at the posh linings and furniture, she sighed and wiggled her claws. If only her friend Snowyclaw could see this...
"I've heard of one too many stories of heroes succumbing to stress, magic spells, etcetera, from Oreo. I would snort and laugh at their rues. But is that happening to me now?"
Do not despair, Frost. It will only damage your sorrowful heart further. whispered the sleepy voice of Icirrus Chronos. I am not one to assure a gnat, being considered the evil one, but I can try to.
Frost thumped her fist onto the dresser. A perfume bottle rattled and sprayed a misty cloud of sweet scents in Frost's face, and an alarm clock went "RING! BRING! WAKEY WAKEY CAKEY CAKEY!"
“Deity of frozen time and truth! You don't understand!" shrieked Frost.
Frost, I have sifted through your memories, the very energies that compromise your own soul, of course I understand-
"YOU DON'T! ONLY SNOWY UNDERSTANDS!"
I'll suck you into a memory so that you'll understand...
"NO! DON'T!"
"Frost?" squeaked the timid voice of Pink, a few doors down the hallway. "Are you okay?"
The clanky and furry footsteps of the cyborg, fortunetelling wolf echoed down the wooden depths until Frost could feel her admirer right next to the doorknob.
Just as a knock struck her door, she was sucked into a memory.. for some dratted reason that Frost liked and hated at the same time.

"Frost? Frost? Good. You're awake."
Frost's vision slowly started to brighten as she shot her eyes into Snowy's gentle, caring, kind, beautiful... well, there were a billion words that could be used to describe Snowy's face, of course. She looked much younger and less stressed than she had been last time she was organic... which was creepy, considering that she looked angelic, and Frost saw her that way when she sacrificed her goodness and free will (until she was upgraded to have a form of free will)... well, you probably get the idea.
Frost felt the folds of the memory around her, and realized she was actually within it - free will and everything, but somehow, she was following a track in the time of the universe. A few holes fell into her mind's depths, but weren't too significant, as most were the size of a penny at most. She realized the memory that should've been clouded by many other memories and thoughts was as crisp as a Honeycrisp apple - Snowy's faint lavender scent, the spring breeze, everything.
Leaves coated with cool mountain dew (the morning kind, not the fizzly pop) crunched under her neatly washed fur, and she was wearing her old, less-defensive outfit but with more visible inhibitor rings - elf-crafted anklets, slighty-different colored elf helmet, lower-grade spirit armor, and different tail armor.
"The Alphas said we were heroes - but why? And why assign us to try to find the 10 heroes before the Third Phantom War starts?" asked Snowyclaw, although she seemed to be stating a fact more than asking debate questions.
Frost wanted to say that the war had just started, and that there were 16 heroes - 13 of them discovered, but she knew that doing so would eradicate the memory, or at least alter it so that it wasn't true anymore, so she nimbly said: "I - I don't know, Snowy. You revived them with the words of the Jamaasians, so shouldn't you know?"
Snowy rolled her eyes, and mockingly rocked her head.
"Just as naive as usual, kiddo." muttered Snowy, her breath warm above Frost's head. Frost took a note that Snowy was
a. standing above her normally, but staring down at her like she was E.T.,
b. ignoring the blossoms falling on her back and making her look extremely angelic
c. not realizing that she was abandoning her Animal Jam Spirit personality and becoming the raw Snowyclaw Frost adored and loved.
"Come on, Snowy. I have a few friends that should be either another hero or be able to help us." said Frost, beckoning Snowy to follow her.
Just as Frost was beginning to leave the open, beautiful field they had slept in over the night, Snowyclaw grabbed her by the scruff and reined her in.
"Woah there, hosay. We need to hunt for breakfast first. A rumbling belly is impolite, and we need to make GOOD IMPRESSIONS." said Snowy, raising an eyebrow.
"Snowy, don't make me." I growled, unsheathing my claws.
Using her great skills, Snowy quickly judo-flipped me onto my back, and I felt a bone nearly crack. Even in a memory, Snowy's fighting skills hurt a lot, even when she was clearly holding back. That, I admired, but also feared would be turned against me... which was true, considering her not-so-long-ago roboticization.
"I made you. You stand corrected." replied Snowy.
I chuckled, first a sparking snort, then a full-fledged conflagration of laughter.
"That's my motto, Snowy. Let's go hunt."
We ran off in opposite directions, happy to be with each other.

The memory faded, and Pink entered, not a second too late.
You see, said Icirrus Chronos. I see all, hear all, and understand all.\
Frost was soaked in her own sweat from the power of the memory, and had an ocean ringing in her ears.
"Frost? What happened to you? Didn't you use the shower last night? And why do you smell like autumn leaves and lavender? Don't you use Suave Kids 3 in 1 Shampoo that smells like candy?" asked Pink.
"Phantoms can't draw upon darkness during the day, and are more aggressive due to aggravation, but during the night they lurk in dark places and are merciless assassins.” said Frost.
Pink's mouth formed into a pout, although it was hard to tell underneath all her clanking cyborg parts.
"You did NOT try to change the subject, did you?"
Frost laughed nervously, and tried to shake the sweat out of her fur.
"Uh... no. Just phantom habits in a nutshell." fibbed Frost, her fur now coated with more sweat than she had to begin with. “And... don't ask about the sweat. You won't like the answer."
Pink frowned at her nervous answer, but didn't ask as Frost intended.
"Anyways... your apprentice, Tempest, just got an omen from her... friend in here." Pink bonked her noggin, which Frost found amusing since it sounded like a hollow, metallic clang.
"She says its urgent, and you have to get there ASAP.
“If by chance, you need us," continued Pink. "we'll be in the woods around this hemisphere of Hyrestia, training against golems and phantoms. Apophis's power is growing in leaps and bounds as the recent drama in Jamaa has been producing more energy and minions for him."
Frost shuddered, but before she could say anything, Pink continued, much to her annoyance. Pink seemed marred from Frost letting her talk... too much. (Marred is a Yorkshire word I picked up in the "Secret Garden" that means petty and spoiled.)
"Hey, Jamaa and Drama rhyme!"
Frost rolled her eyes.
"It's obvious, kiddo. Now, go train. Ignacio and Amanda also need to get a bit beefy, as most Twolegs are cowardly softies." growled Frost.
Mocking a loyal soldier, Pink stood in a bipedal way and saluted Frost.
"Yes, ma'am! Ma'am!"
Frost's expression softened from Pink's funny bouts.
"Heh, that doesn't sound right. It's 'Yes Sir! Sir!'!"
Pink chuckled.
"Hey! Where IS Frost, that sleepy bird？！" shrieked a voice outside, sounding too much like Tempest in a partial-tantrum. Her tantrums were like... well, tempests. Too fitting, Frost guessed.
"You should be going, Frost. I got caught up in one of her tantrums once, and believe me, I still can feel her claws and teeth biting into my hide."
On that happy note, Pink teleported out, and Frost was left to escape the cabin and calm Tempest before spatulas started to fly.
Don't ask.

Outside, in the yard of Jade's cabin, Tempest was leaning on a piece of Metal Frost that Jade kept in her cabin yard for some weird reason. Aside from a few charred parts and some slash marks from Psycho Pearl (at least, that was Frost's name for Pearl's charged and enraged version), it was in fine shape for a spoil of war.
Around the large, open moor behind the cabin covered with frozen dew and thick packing snow, and a lot of evergreens ending the sparse moor crowded with brittle grass and animal holes, icicles hanging from their branches. In the distance, the tops of mountains glimmered, which made Frost homesick for Mt. Shiveer. Sure, Frost was able to access Jamaa whenever she wanted, but she couldn't stay for long, else she left their timed mission in jeopardy.
"I waited for so long, Frost, I swore that you were losing a race to a snail. I've been waiting out here for at least an hour." snarled Tempest. Her nebula black-grey fur was starting to lighten, and Frost started to wonder if she once were a pure white wolf before being partially corrupted.
"I would've died from boredom and rage if I were you. What did you do?" asked Frost.
Tempest rolled her eyes and cocked her head, and whistled.
POP!
In a tiny explosion of blue and pink (don't ask about the gender color scheme), Matilda the bone dragon appeared by Tempest, and snorted a little smoky mist from her nostrils.
Somehow, when you touched Matilda, you felt a thrumming heartbeat emanating from her, and her shrill breathing rattling her bones, which Frost deemed magic, although it still disturbed her to find a dinosaur-like skeleton acted like it was stuffed with organs, muscles and other bits and bobs, not animated with an artificial core for a soul.
"I fed Matilda, of course, and trained her. You would be surprised by how agile and strong bone dragons are, and how they are almost as loyal as dogs." remarked Tempest, scratching Matilda's white cheek. She opened her mouth, and blew a close-range flamethrower that was alit with white specks, and was mostly purplish black. Frost was lucky she was at least a yard away from the bone dragon, or she would have been slowly and surely barbecued.
"Uh... I guess. What were you going to say, Tempest?" stuttered Frost. She didn't want to get a Tempest-scar smack-dab on the face, so she pretended to understand. Deep down, however, she was obligated to say her opinion: that the bone dragon was a feral creature, and without Tempest's aura of darkness (permanent, thank and curse goodness) and her magic strength, the dragon would've rampaged and tried to kill 'em all already.
Tempest sighed, and for a moment tried on an anime "Ugh" face.
Epic fail, unfortunately, as it looked like she was hiding a smirk or something else.
"I was going to tell you some news, Frost. It's both good and bad news."
Frost anticipated the news with bated breath, wondering what the degree of goodness and badness would be.
"First of all.. Snowyclaw is normal now, but has... ah, some recoveries to make. She will assist us from now on, although we need to be gentle on her, as she is getting used to her new DNA structure and improved powers. If Ledra were here, she could remedy - Well, er, come on out, Snowy!"
As soon as Snowy leapt out of a bush, Frost started to shed happy tears, seeing her friend back to normal after quite a while of Snowy being a corrupted villainess.
"SNOWY! SNOWY! YOU'RE BAAAAACK!" cried Frost, leaping into Snowy's chest, ninja-bear-tackle-hugging her.
"Oof! I'm not an Alpha appearing to normal Jamaasians, stop!" moaned Snowy, but she too was weeping tears of joy.
"On a sadder note.." continued Tempest.
As Tempest began to speak, Gleam flew down from who knows where and headbutted Snowyclaw affectionately. The two heroes stood to attention, despite Snowy never seeing Tempest before, and listened in intently.
"Pink is deathly ill, and may not survive to see the end of Apophis's tyrannical terrorism rule. Her body is rejecting the forced legionization, and even weaponizing and upgrading her parts to the highest caliber won't heal her. None of the rare plants in Jamaa will save her, either.  Even the best mechanics and witch-doctors in Hyrestia and Jamaa can find a cure for her, so she is fighting a slow death even as she assists us bravely."
"B-but Pink acted normal when she told me to meet you, Tempest!" stammered Frost. "I would've traveled back in time and healed her, but I can't allow a paradox on top of all of our problems.... I can't live knowing I failed three of my allies..."
Snowy raised a bushy eyebrow.
"I know you supposedly failed me, and now Pink, but who is this other one you are referencing? And where has Ledra gone to?" asked Snowy.
Frost's tears reverted to rueful ones.
"I-I'll fill you in later. Listen to what else Tempest wants to say." shushed Frost.
Snowy was unused to Frost being so emotional and rash, but heeded her warning.
"More bad news..." said Tempest. She seemed to be rueful to be telling her trusted allies all this news in a nutshell, as copious tears were streaking down her white snout.
"Apophis has gone to the Hivern, a cavern in the side of a mountain close to the next town in a jungle close to the sea. The mountain's name is Poseidon's Helm, as it's shaped a bit like a helmet, and the town's name is Siarnaq. Seems like the gods that vacationed in this lush dimension left a large footprint, I see."
Frost rolled her eyes at how diplomatic Tempest sounded.
"You're talking a bit like Alia from the MMX series." noted Frost.
Tempest's cheeks flushed, making her look like somebody forgot to wash cherry soda stains off of her fur.
"I do NOT!"
Just before they could get into a fistfight, Snowyclaw played a simple but velvety tune on her flute to calm them.
"Geez a wheeze, you two are so brash! I can see why Tempest is your unofficial apprentice." muttered Snowyclaw.
"Say what?! How did you know about that?" yelped Frost, surprised by her vast knowledge.
"Snowyclaw knows more than she lets on," stubbornly said Snowy.
"Ugh." muttered Frost. "Anyways, I'm tired of this dillydally, so I command we ride Matilda and Gleam to the Hivern!"
Despite having no backup and leaving before the others came back from training, the others obeyed her orders, a bit too much like phantoms following their king blindly, oftentimes unknowing that they were serving half of Apophis, the Jamaasian and Egyptian monster of chaos.
As Snowy boarded Gleam with Frost, she gently elbowed (or is it kneed with quadpedals?), and smirked.
"I see that leadership streak was inherited from Mira and Sage both, Frost." she whispered.
"Shaddup." replied Frost.
But as they took off into the brisk and sunny skies, Frost started turning the remark over like a waffle, fully absorbing the compliment... and remembered the old days, only in a horrible way.

When they arrived at the perch of the cavern's entrance, Frost delved into the Duat, but left enough of her consciousness sticking out in reality so that
1. She could see everything in reality, only using Duat vision and
2. She wouldn't give her comrades a scare if she vanished into thin air.
A tugging sensation yanked at her gut, as if she were bungee-jumping with the cord inserted in her belly.
Her vision went dark for a moment, and Frost nearly had a heart attack. Had she delved too deep into the Duat... or worse?
Then, reality flickered around her, but she couldn't move much (as if she were in an avatar, yeesh), and felt like she were wearing purple, x-ray night vision goggles.
Inside Gleam, she saw massive white mana pools necessary to keep a mythical creature mythical, and inside Matilda... a white core surrounded by nightly darkness.
Snowyclaw was blinding white, as if she recolored herself to be pure albino.
Allouette, Frost.
For a moment, Frost saw the core that had been talking to her in her dreams, telling her all about the future in bits, memories and pieces. Suddenly, the image of a Reploid-like robot flashed through her mind, holding a large, green chip labeled Model and apparently screaming: "Model, Power Up! Model Frost - Power Up!"
Suddenly, as the memory was sucked out of her mind by the core, and she detected enormous traces of darkness inside the Hivern, and was pushed with the force of a quarterback out of the Duat, and in reality stumbled backwards.
"Are you okay, Frost?" asked Snowy without looking back.
Man, thought Frost, did Mecha Snowyclaw leave an impression on her organic counterpart... despite being out there somewhere...
"Er.... nothing. Let's enter, shall we?"

When they entered the Hivern, Snowy was nearly knocked back by the sickly sweet aroma of Phantom Pods and the overall musk of the darkness.
"You 'kay?" asked Tempest.
Behind them, Gleam growled at the jewels adorning the ceiling that glowed like the Jamaasian power gems, as if daring them to glow like his iridescent scales. Matilda, however, soaked in the energies of darkness, acting like a filter, which helped the heroes concentrate on exploration, and seemed to grow more powerful, signaled by her aura of death growing perpetually stronger and her internal core glimmering with larger mana reserves.
"I'm okay... its just that as pure as many claim I am, darkness is lethal to me. I think that with Matilda and Tempest absorbing the dark energy, I'll be fine, though." muttered Snowy.
Tempest whimpered as she just noticed her fur growing noticeably darker by the minute.
As they passed a cluster of pods, Frost nimbly slashed the coral-like clump, and it started to secrete a purple liquid. One more scratch, though, and both the clump and the liquid dissolved into dust, leaving some orbs of energy to float into them to resonate within their bodies. A pouch of gems appeared in its stead, and the heroes quickly opened and divided the gems among themselves.
"Hmm.. this is going too smoothly and quickly... I wonder what Apophis has under his sleeve." muttered Tempest. "Take this from a dark shell; Apophis doesn't leave his bases virtually unguarded and without nasty surprises. Plus, he's giving us too many goodies too easily! This is strange for such a cunning creature."
Frost sighed.
"Tempest, we're powerful enough to handle most of Apophis's baddies. Trust us, this will turn out well." replied the leopard.
"I would have to agree with Tempest, sadly." murmured Snowy. "It is unlike Apophis to leave his base unguarded and so easy to infiltrate. Heck, his recently destroyed base underground was hard to access, and the Phantom Factory within the Vortex is virtually impossible to access!"
Frost nearly fumed at her friends "ganging up" on her, but continued to advance and slash pods nevertheless... when Cosmo appeared in a blast of eucaptylus-scented fumes and holographic leaves!
"Waha!" yelped Frost.
Cosmo raised an eyebrow.
"'Waha'? That's a new magical incantation. Hmm."
An aged spellbook appeared out of thin air, in yet another blast of perfumes (Get it? No? Sigh.), and scratched something down on a blank page using a goose feather dipped in wildberry ink. Either he was writing down Waha, taking notes on their looks, writing a diary entry, making a new recipe, or wasting time. None of the possibilites were promising.
Frost rolled her eyes as Cosmo slid the spellbook into a space inside the Duat, shoving it aside like it was somebody in his way in the enchilada line.
"Anyways... I've come to tell you Apophis is up to no good. These Phantom Pods are mysterious... I wonder what plot Apophis has up his sleeve (ho ho ho, if he has any) right now... Anyways, get some boomseeds, you'll need them! Don't forget to light a torch, lighting the ancient braziers will let a pathway of mushrooms grow for you to cross! Defeat the phantoms you find, and find the red Alpha Stones infused with pyrokinetic powers, and insert them in the flame sigil near the doorway to Apophis's lair! And ignore what advice Greely tells you!" advised Cosmo. His tone was more solemn than he should've been, although his breath smelled like peppermint and he kept on chewing bubblegum as he spoke, which was agitatedly annoying.
Frost's eyes were tired from rolling them all day, but she rolled them nevertheless.
"Thanks for the advice, Cosmo. Like we already didn't know that. We're dimwits, after all." she mumbled, tone laced with sarcasm.
Without reply, Cosmo surrounded himself with holographic, bottom-of-lawn-mower smelling leaves. When they sank into the musky ground, Cosmo had completely vanished... probably via Duat travel.
The lawn-mower-bottom smell was probably to peeve Frost.

As soon as they got to the flame sigil, Greely appeared in a bout of smoky, death-laced mist where mist skulls fell like snowflakes around his appearing body. God, was it easy to smack the wolf Alpha right there and then in the groin, but none of the heroes were that unjustified to the wolf that refused to give them the Dragon Heartstone he was hiding, much less help, until Frost forced it out of him.
"Ack. Cosmo gives bad advice. I loathe it when ordinary Jamaasians pretend to play the hero in our Adventure Base Camp simulations, but Mira's spoken words are the creed." growled Greely, his armor clanking on himself.
The heroes gave each other looks of Greely-despising, inquisitivity (is that a word?), Greely-loathing, and did I said Greely-loathing?
"Mhm hmm hmm ahem. Anyways... I've come to tell you Apophis is up to no good. These Phantom Pods are mysterious... I wonder what plot Apophis has up his sleeve (ho ho ho, if he has any) right now... Anyways, get some boomseeds, you'll need them! Don't forget to light a torch, lighting the ancient braziers will let a pathway of mushrooms grow for you to cross! Defeat the phantoms you find, and find the red Alpha Stones infused with pyrokinetic powers, and insert them in the flame sigil near the doorway to Apophis's lair! And ignore what advice Cosmo told you!!" advised Greely.
"THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT COSMO TOLD US, WITH A FEW #$%^(&*% TWEAKS!" shrieked Snowy.
Greely scowled, making his facial scowl wrinkles deeper than ever. Then again, since Shade was reincarnated into Ledra, then molded into Copy Ledra, and was now fighting unwillingly with Xaia, Screech and Twilight, his face was waxed into a scowl.
"Now, that is not how a lady speaks to her superior. Sleep, now, and be taught proper ways in your nightmares!" snarled Greely.
From the tip of a gnarled claw, Greely generated a serpent of gaseous Shadure that slithered on command towards Snowy. She nimbly started to flee and throw pure shroyukens at the snake, but it kept on following her.
Suddenly, Frost's eyes flared up, and she screamed. Red light filled her eyes, and she started to glow.
"Look away!" yelped Tempest. "Kyurem tells me she's unleashing Power Out!"
Snowy didn't want to get bitten by the Shadure, but obeyed.
Just as they looked away and dove into an alcove where any explosion couldn't get them, a white and red explosion filled their eyes.

When the dust cleared, soot covered the cavern floor, and many of the jewel's energies had been snuffed out by a black hole that sucked in mana where Frost was standing... in the Duat, of course, Frost, thank Zios, didn't turn into a spacial monstrosity.
"I am Powered Frost..." growled a voice. It was raspy and deep, as if it were deprived of water for thousands of years, but was nevertheless ancient... and dangerous. Snowyclaw could feel the chills of frostbite spreading down her spine like an epidemic.
Greely had fallen unconscious on the cave floor, many wounds covering his body, but slowly enough, his essence was slowly teleporting to Cosmo's infirmary.
Snowyclaw wondered what happened to Metal Cosmo and her Prelate, but her line of thoughts were quickly cut off by the monster that approached her.
Frost's fur was soiled and ruffled badly, as if she had stepped through a tornado while gardening, but a lot of her clothing was altered to suit her extrodinary power... and most likely, being possessed by Icirrus Chronos, reassembling inside the form of Remy the dragon.
Snowyclaw looked at Frost's appearance from the paws up as to absorb it in a timely manner. Her legendary glove was torn up a lot, and had three others on her other feet, with serpentine coils of frost snuggled stiffly around her legs. Her tail armor was now white and red, with icefire flares surrounding it and flickering, making her look badass. Her wings-less phoenix armor now had wings (what a surprise) that resembled the white, furred protruding wings of Icirrus Chronos that acted like a scarf that billowed in the wind, making her look even more badass.
Then... the face. Ah, the most horrendous part of Frost's form. First Tempest had lost control, now Frost! What would happen if Vicky lost control?!
From her cheeks, there were now sharp icicles with edges that resembled teeth. The icicles were connected to the helmet... oh, the helmet. It was stark white, with the yellow midhorn and deep, insane yellow eyes of Icirrus.. without pupils. Snowy used a magical touch extension enchantment, and felt that the helmet felt exactly how Icirrus should've felt - a scaly exterior so brittle and cold that it felt searing hot at the same time, yet felt rough like sandpaper. A white, billowing horn flapped in the apparent wind inside the Hivern, and opposing it on the other side of the shiny midhorn was a frozen horn, as sharp as a spear.
Last but certainly not least...
Frost's eyes were as wolf grey as ever, but behind the cold hide was a burning, mad fire that seemed ready to consume the world in an everlasting conflagration. Frost's eyelids drooped, as if the Shadure snake had gotten her but not entirely... or she was being consumed by Icirrus's deep darkness, induced into the hibernation that her master was awakening from.
"What happened to you?" yelped Tempest. "Is this what I was like when I lost grip on reality?“
”Nothing happened to me, puny mortal! I am Icirrus Chronos, in control of this demigod's body! I will regain power through it, and become the ultimate!" shrieked Frost.
...No, that wasn't Frost, thought Snowyclaw. This was Icirrus Chronos, a deity so powerful that it could destroy the entire world if it was enraged. A deity so powerful that if it were in full control if it fused with Electro Chronos that it would lead the body to shape the world in its image.
Instead of being the brave wolf that Frost always said Tempest was, Tempest quivered in fear.
You are powerful, Snowyclaw. Wrench control into Frost's paws once more. growled an electrifying voice inside her mind.
I am Electro Chronos, spliced from Vicky into your mind, Snowy. The ventis is more of a proper host, but I have seen your purity, and decided to host you instead.
Snowy began to break out into a cold sweat.
"W-what?" she whimpered.
Iccirus scowled as sparks started to jump from Snowy's fur.
"You host Electro, I can sense it. Submit to the vile creature, and become a formidable opponent that will fall at my very claws!" snarled the creature.
"Why me?" inquired Snowyclaw, although it came out sounding more like a whimper than a question.
"You are the most pure of all, and the most powerful creature of all. Who else would be worthy of hosting Electro itself? Vicky was a host for a while so that the soul of Electro could be imported into you. Electro has faith in mortals, demonstrated by his holding onto Vicky just so that the animals could release Snowy from her prison and then go into her instead... What sick ways." snarled Icirrus. By now, the feral streak inside Icirrus was throbbing to escape, as noted by Icirrus's hyperactive itching and her growling. Snowyclaw was worried how much longer until Icirrus would attack her.
Tempest started to glow faintly, emanating coldness and deepness of a blank slate.
The slate for the two pieces of Maximus, Kyurem, is said to have awaited the moment where a hero would fill its body with light or darkness...
Ice started to crawl up Tempest's body until it looked like she was having a severe case of frostbite. The plumes of blue fur started to lengthen until they were large ice wings with two yellow spikes inserted in it. Her eyes started to fade to a slight grey, and her chest scar froze over.
"I won't let you use my mentor's body!" cried Tempest.
A wonder... Tempest is carefully drawing from Kyurem's vast power expanses, yet she is not expending her own body for the power. I admire her for that willpower.
Snowyclaw felt like her head was going to burst from Electro's incessant chatter, but then reminded herself she was marred from her head being her own for almost her entire life (pretty much), and that the wuthering of Electro's chatter wasn't the worst compared to being Mecha Snowyclaw.
Suddenly, a low, cat-like growl-purr escaped from Frost's mouth, and she leapt forward with the agility of a cat, slashing right at Tempest's neck. Tempest dodged with agility she shouldn't have had., and retaliated with a swift blow to the head.
"GRARR!" shrieked Icirrus.
Snowyclaw watched helplessly, frozen in place with fear, as her friends duked it out ferociously.
As she watched the powerful creatures exchange blows and retorts, and a copious amount of blood was shed on the Hivern's ground, Snowyclaw realized something she should've - that the two dragons they used to get to the Hivern were gone. Hopefully not vaporized, but gone.
Snowyclaw, despite being exhausted and helpless, delved into the Duat in a flurry of fear and worry.
Voices howled and hissed in her ears, but grew fainter as she toggled the amount of Duat around her. She saw Icirrus stirring inside Frost, a blinding red and white blob of energy. Tempest was a cooler grey and blue blob of energies, but nevertheless, the two were evenly matched. Snowyclaw decided to delve deeper, as she wasn't seeing what she wanted to.
"Forward." she muttered.
"Ehm?" said Icirrus, confused by Snowy's spacing out, but was immediately slashed upon the snout by Tempest.
Snowy's vision suddenly disconnected from her physical entity, and flew through the cavern. Braziers full of warm coals sat near cliffs within the cave, and Snowy slowed down her homing in to take in small details, gather Alpha Stones she discovered, light braziers, and wreck phantoms. She faintly knew that staying out of her body for too long would tax her energy far too much, but couldn't resist clearing the path of obstacles IF they survived the clash of titans.
Just as she started to weaken her grip on the spell, she saw Matilda and Gleam inspecting the flame sigil, scratching at the large column that wouldn't come down.
"Hey, guys, come over to the cavern where Frost assumed her Power Out form. Meet me there, and awaken Frost." said Snowy.
"Erm?" squeaked Gleam, but he nodded as if he understood clearly.
Snowy dropped a large supply of boomseeds and the three red Alpha Stones at the sigil, then started to feel herself be reined in by some odd force, as if she were bait on a fishing pole and the fisherman was attempting to reel in the trout.
"Hurry!"

Tempest saw Snowy collapse, and cried out.
Unfortunately, being a cool and calculated yet feral fighter, Icirrus took the chance to attack, and slashed a deep gash across her chest that nearly matched her scar.
"UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" she screeched as the pain ricocheted through her bones. The Kyurem-generated enhancements flickered once, twice... then vanished completely. The power surging through her left as briskly as a spooked mongoose, and left Tempest feeling very weak - and unwilling to fight.
"Heh. I guess you're too weak to battle. Faint on the battlefield, and submit to the almighty Icirrus!" cackled Frost's body. Icefire alit the dimness of the Hivern, flickering and crackling like the flames that Frost described that she felt inside her when Moonirah died. Maybe this was how true defeat felt. Maybe...
Suddenly, a thought hit her mind like a burly quarterback.
"Frost... do you really want me to die like this? Apprentice's death at the claws of her mentor? Did you ever want this to happen? Do you want the world to remember bitterly that you destroyed their sanity and haven? Don't submit to Icirrus! Fight!" groaned Tempest. She tried to act like a helpless whelp that believed in her mentor, despite how hopelessly corny, cheesy, cliched, etcetera that strategy was.
"Grumfph... mmmfff... Tuh....pust.." warbled Frost. The clothing accessories that Icirrus picked for her started to shrink.
"No!! I'm losing control... Gurglah..wuh...." spat Icirrus, but its grip was rapidly fading on Frost.
The damp breeze inside the Hivern seemed to warm up as a white light coated Frost,and she started to revert to her original state. The copious amount of happiness inside Tempest was too much to describe.
"Ugh. Headache." grumbled Frost, staring at the ground and clutching her head.
Just then, the two dragons rumbled in, and Gleam started to lick Frost across the face.
"Hey! Down, boy, down! Gleam, how many times do I have to remind you that I don't like lickies?" said Frost, clearly cheerful and playful.
"Excuse ME, but how are you so giddy after I fought you relentlessly?" inquired Tempest.
"Ah, I saw all that. Let Gleam use his jewels to heal you." replied Frost. Nothing could be deprived from her tone, as her voice was a blank slate - a creepy amount like Kyurem's demeanor.
Tempest was still furious over how calm and at peace Frost could be after a freaky deity seized control of her body, but let it go as sparkles came down from Gleam's bejeweled wings, and Tempest's wounds closed up.
Snowyclaw got up from her comatose state, and sighed.
"I wish that the rest of th' gang were here, as two of the most powerful heroes weren't enough to rein in a rampant Frost beast. I think that we should go challenge Apophis nevertheless. We don't want to delay things too much, and besides, I've discovered that our souls rein in the primal forces of the deities when they are within us, acting however we need them too, but when we submit, their true personalities shine... or should I said, dim." said Snowy.
Tempest nodded as she started to realize why Frost sometimes slipped into Snowy that, Snowy this. She was wise well beyond her years, full of clear purity, very athletic and courageous, and everything a hero should be. Tempest wondered why she was still a maiden and had no boyfriend/love interest.
Frost dusted off her fur, and licked it. Tempest did the same, wondering what sort of etiquette Frost was doing.. and learned fitfully that wolves licking fur ending up in a slobbery pelt and the nasty flavor of paper imprinted on the tongue.
Awkwardly, Frost turned to her allies, and winked.
Immediately, they appeared on the flame sigil, scaring a few spiders, who scuttled into the darkness and hid there.
"Brisingr!" cried Tempest. Pyrokinetic powers weren't her best field of magic (ask Salsa the elephant, based off of Ibp911, for that sorta thing), but the magic word made things much simpler and easier.
A flame sprouted on the fire rune, first a small ember, then to a healthy campfire, then to a deluxe Mira Flame-size fire. The energies of the red Alpha Stones flowed through the cracks connecting their bases to the rune-based sigil, powering the flame and lowering the column. Somehow, the cavern Tempest and Snowy hid in when Frost Powered Out was distant from this sigil that she transformed on. Her only guess was that a portal opened when they dove away, and transported them there.
Tempest facepalmed as she saw her allies suddenly snatch boomseeds from a nearby pile, realizing what she had done. Yet again, she thought about things too much, and slowed the team down!
"Uh... let's go fight Apophis." murmured Tempest in an awkward tone.
Frost raised an eyebrow, but nevertheless, they stepped over the column... and were teleported to a lava floe in the core of the mountain.

"BWA HA HA HA HA!" was the first thing Frost heard.
The serpent Apophis loomed above them, much larger then he had ever been before, clearly powered by the vile, putrid and simply malicious thoughts that the corrupted generated all over the world. An entire swarm of phantoms surrounded him, chattering like bats and emanating an aura of countless volts.
They stood underneath a Zios Vitality Point, where a green glow surrounded each hero that passed by it. If they were weakened or defeated in battle, they would return to the last Vitality Point they passed at full health. They were almost impervious to damage, although they sometimes were destroyed by skillful spells or sheer luck.
"Puny 'heroes', fight me! Fight for your lives! Or are you yet another stuck-up prodigy I've disposed of?" taunted Apophis. His tone was mocking, as if he were daring the heroes relentlessly to reprimand him, battle him, etcetera, but he knew they couldn't inflict much damage on him.
Suddenly, Snowyclaw threw a Boomseed at Apophis's evil, glaring eye, and it latched on like a burr. In a matter of seconds, it exploded in his face, giving Apophis a new dent in his already horrendous visage.
"Hmph. No matter. MUTATION!"
Frost's eyes widened, but Tempest strangled a laugh.
"Hah! Another useless anime transformation? What is this, Japanese Anime? HEH!" snorted Tempest.
Frost elbowed her apprentice, or rather, kneed her.
"No! Don't laugh! I've faced this monstrosity before, and its not good. It's called the Phantom Mutant, and is a fusion of Apophis with every single baddie he has. It does halt all phantom creation, but oftentimes lets him adapt numerous abilities. Who knows what he'll have now?"
Tempest's expression hardened as she let that sink in.
Just as the transformation finished, Matilda leapt up... and slashed the wrinkled white phantom right across the eye, leaving a nasty gash that would probably end up as a scar. Ichor splashed into Frost's eyes, and all she could sense was the RAWR of the Mutant, and Matilda being knocked into the lava by a flying, ninja bear-hug leg.
"No!" cried Tempest. Frost knew that bone dragons were 100% Fire-Proof, but Matilda would probably need time to recover from the powerful blow.
"Omafrost!" Tempest called out uselessly. Probably randomness of randomness, Frost guessed.
"KEE-AR!" screeched the Mutant.
"Tackle this baby like a regular video game boss?" asked Snowy, turning towards Frost.
Frost nodded.
"Affirmative. Ready when you are."

Get ready for the ride of yar life.... thought Snowy.
BOOMSEED SPAM! SPAM BOOMSEEDS!
As volley after volley of boomseeds attacked the Mutant like very angry, very crazy artichokes, raining down on him and exploding in fart-scented fumes (ick), the ferocity roared and bellowed like a true monster, and blindly lashed out everywhere.
Snowyclaw almost laughed out loud when she saw how pathetic the Mutant was at the might of the boomseeds, literally leaving the mutant in pieces... when Apophis left this defeat cry ringing in their ears as the form started to diverge into normal creatures once more.
"I left you an easy battle because I am reserving my power for something more... Something that will leave the world hoarse in speech and in shambles..." croaked Apophis. "I. Will. Be. Baaaaack!"
With that, an explosion worthy of the closing of the Twoleg World War II (my sad attempt at Roman Numerals. No, not Ramen, Roman.) struck the plaza/battlefield like lightning.... and nothing was left except for a deep abyss where the lava was, a spotless battlefield, and an open portal. Matilda flew up from the bottom as if nothing had happened, and let Tempest scratch her belly.
"Um.. yeah. Monster of the week #65. Wanna go back to Jade's cabin, get a latte, and enjoy ourselves until our friends get back, then leave for the next town?" shrugged Frost.
The others felt awkward, but heeded her word.