"What's that?" Petra eyed the newspaper on the Kitchen table, picking it up to look at the headline.

Man died in Tarley Wood amidst weather chaos

"Oh no," Ruby said, peering at the newspaper over her shoulder. "Someone's actually died?"

"Yeah." Petra flicked to the page with the full story, skimming it quickly. "He got hit by a giant pink hailstone yesterday."

"That's awful." Ruby's shoulders slumped, taking a step back from Petra.

"We should have stopped it sooner." Petra placed the newspaper back on the table and walked upstairs and plopped down on her bed.

"How were we supposed to know that something like this was going to happen?" Ruby followed Petra into her room. "This isn't our fault. We just need to stop it as soon as we can, so no more can happen"

"Yeah, you're right." Petra gave her sister a weak smile and picked up Kammie's research.

Petra and Ruby spent the evening reviewing everything they knew about the gateway and how Astral casting worked. Hoping to find a clue to how they might stop the gateway leaking all this magical energy without having to destroy it.

"This is useless," Ruby said. She was led down, head hanging off the bed while Petra sat on the floor surrounded by paper.

"I've gone over everything countless times. I just don't know enough about it to find a way to stop it without destroying the whole thing. Even then we don't know what will happen. We could make things a whole lot worse."

"There's no choice then." Petra pouted.

"We might find something at the lamp when we meet the others later." Ruby had optimistic note to her voice, but Petra knew that it was only to make her feel better.

The twins walked through Tarley Wood feeling like they were already in Silva Hollow. The trees had grown to great heights. Crystals covered them, twinkling in the sunlight. Their normal quick pace had slowed to an amble. Telling themselves it was due to having to forge their way through the thick forest. They both were wanting to put off the inevitable and savour the last few moments where they had the possibility of going to Silva Hollow.

Bang. Swift heads turning towards the sound. Pausing for a second to see if they can see the source of the bang. They couldn't see much past the dense forest though.

"That was weird," said Ruby, starting to walk again.

Petra had an inkling she should investigate the strange sound, but they were already running late to meet Kai and Three. So, she left it and followed Ruby trudging through the overgrown forest.

They finally arrived at the lamp and bench, covered in leaves and out of breath. Petra waved at Kai and Three. But they weren't alone. The two agents they had seen countless times were with them. 25 had a hold of Kai's arm as he struggled to get out of his grip. Kai stared at the girls and shook his head at them. Ruby grabbed Petra's hand and began to walk her out of the clearing.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" 43 shouted as she grabbed Petra and Ruby's arms before they could get away. Dragging them over to the bench and forcing them to sit down. Petra stiffened as 25 waved some sort of gun in their faces. Or at least Petra thought it was like a gun. It was shaped like one and black but covered in different flashing lights and switches. An LED screen above the handle said stun.

"Don't move." 25 instructed them as he started to whisper in his partner's ear while the gun stayed pointing at them.

"What's going on?" Petra whispered to Kai.

"I don't know, they were here when we came through the gateway." Kai said, eyes not moving from the agents in front of them.

43 glanced at them. Instantly they all straightened up, mouths wired shut, trying to conceal the fact they had just been talking.

"What do we do?" Ruby whispered down the line. "If they know, then Frayda is definitely going to know we're still using it. And we won't be able to destroy it." She rambled on. Petra put a hand on her arm to calm her down.

A body began to push through the gateway, accompanied by a gaggle of guards. Frayda. Surveying the scene in front of her as Blu took his spot next to his mother. The guards swarmed around them. Seven of them stood to attention behind Frayda, ready to spring into action as soon as their leader gave the word.

The group all slunk back on the bench. Shoulders dropping and gazes suddenly finding the ground interesting. All of them except Petra. She straightened her back and glared at them. If this was it and they were going to be defeated, then she was going down fighting. She opened her mouth to shout at them but was interrupted.

A flash of purple light tore through the forest. Illuminating everything. A beam of lightning struck in the middle of the group. The force of impact flinging everyone backwards. Everyone scrambled to their feet. Petra stood up but another bolt of lightning hit a few metres away. She managed to stay on her feet this time, just. Blinking lightning making it hard to see. She watched in the glimpses of light as everyone ran for cover as the rainbow lightning rained down on the forest.

It was chaos. Lightning was everywhere. Trees fell. Fire erupted, swallowing the areas the lightning struck. The smell of smoke engulfing the glade.

The guards stumbled around, trying to find Frayda. The ones who did find her, crowded around to form a protective barrier. Some of them visible shaking and starling at every strike of lightning. Blu stuck to his Mother awaiting further instructions, only flinching when the lightning struck. The agents stuck in the middle of all of it. Darting to the side when a streak of lightning got too close. They stared at each other, a telepathic conversation assessing what they should do.

Kai grabbed Petra's arm. Pulling her towards safety. One step out of the clearing and lightning struck the tree next to them. It came crashing down blocking their path. Kai quickly pulled her another way out, but it was engulfed in fire. Every route they took, they were met with lightning strikes or a fire that was caused by them.

"25, 43. Why are you standing there. Get them!" Frayed ordered from behind a muscular guard. A quick nod from 43 and 25 turned to Frayda.

"We never agreed to dealing with a group of kids. Our numbers are too high for this. Bring it up with number 1." 25 shouted above the mayhem around them. 25 grabbed 43's hand, dragging her out of the forest and leaving Frayda to deal with the mess.

"What are you talking about get back here." Frayda bellowed after the pair but the just kept running. She let out a frustrated growl and turned to her surrounding guards. "Stop them."

The guards shared a glance before following orders. Arms ready, they charged towards the group.

Kai pulled out his sword. Grasping it with his better hand and holding it out in front of him. He stood in front of Petra and Ruby, glaring at the guards and ready for action. Three took the spot next to Kai, raising her fists. Ruby pulled the bow from her back and drew an arrow.

The guards began waving their arms around trying to cast. But their attempts failed. They all looked at each other, confused. They tried again but still nothing. Frantically waving their arms, trying to produce something, anything, that will help them defeat the kids in front of them. Kai laughed and began to charge at them, a slight bit of confidence instilled in them.

The guards quickly drew their swords, although they were much less used to using them in actual fights. Kai clashed his sword with the nearest guard. He slashed and stabbed his sword around, trying to control it the best he could without his newfound powers. He cut the guards upper arm and the guard pushed Kai to the ground in retaliation. Three snuck up behind and threw a few punches disabling the guard in the process. She held out her hand and helped Blu up. A nod of thanks and they were both away fighting whichever guard came closest.

Three side stepped to the left dodging one of Ruby's arrows which lodged itself in one of the bigger guard's legs. A kick to the chest from Three and he stumbled through the gateway. An air-high five shared between the two as the first guard was back in Silva Hollow.

Petra watched her friends and sister engaged in battle with the guards, unsure of what to do. She dodged out of the way of a lightning strike and tried to grab a fallen branch which had caught on fire. She at least had something to defend herself with.

The guards were closing in on her. A few arrows rained down upon them from Ruby's attempts to save her sister. But that only seemed to stop one of them.

Petra could sense the lightning above her before she could see it. She tried to move away but it was to let. The lone streak of lighting struck Petra.

She let out a scream. Electricity flew through her. Her whole body jolted. She collapsed on her side, still twitching. Ruby called her name, racing to her side. She grabbed Petra's hand and rolled her onto her back, being as gentle as she could.

"Petra?" Ruby said quietly, trying to get some response from her sister. She flung herself over Petra, trying to protect her from the Lightning that never ceased.

Then Petra felt it. A tingle down her spine. That familiar feeling was back. How? She wasn't quite sure, but she could feel some energy. No, it was the cosmos coursing through her veins. Well, some form of cosmos, it still didn't feel right.

Petra opened her eyes. A golden light radiated out of her. Ruby pulled back, looking at the strange glow that seemed to be getting brighter. Her hand flung across her eyes in a hope to relieve them from the bright light.

Everyone around her stopped. They were all looking toward the radiant halo being produced around Petra's body. Kai and Three took the moment the guards were distracted by the light to push a two more through the gateway. Only three guards, Blu and Frayda were left.

Petra on instinct, pushed her hands forward. The golden light poured from them and pushed back a nearby guard. Everyone erupted into fighting once again.

"What's going on?" Petra asked. She looked down at her glowing hands, turning them over and back again.

"I don't know," Ruby said, squinting at Petra.

"I feel weird." Petra managed to force another guard away.

Light continued to emit from Petra, it was almost blinding. Her breathing quickened and she struggled to move as the tingly feeling spread throughout her body. She started to lose control of her limbs as they jerked slightly due to the electricity that ran through her.

"Look at me, you're okay. Deep breath." Ruby tried to calm Petra down. If they were going to get out of this, they would need Petra to be in control.

Petra looked at her twin in the eye. Ruby tried her best to keep the eye contact through the dazzling light, for Petra's sake. They took three deep breaths together and Petra began to regain some control of her body. The light began to die down, but there was still a residual glow surrounding her. She slowly got up, firing a few beams of light at Frayda.

Three and Kai continued to fend off the guards. Trying to force them back through the gate. Frayda looked on. Not doing anything other than bark orders at the guards.

Blu drew an arrow, aimed towards Kai and released. It flew across the air grazing his side. Kai screamed. Paused momentarily and charged at Blu, holding his sword over his head.

Swords clashed. Blu kicked Kai in the stomach, pushing him away a little. Kai swung, expecting to hit Blu's sword but missed. He sliced Blu's arm clean off just below the elbow. Blu screamed. He clutched his arm, blood pouring out it. Blu was swept up by one of the older guards and escorted back through the gateway.

"I, I..." Kai froze. Wide eyes stared at the blood on his sword. He dropped it on the floor. Jaw slack, looking at the red substance that had sprayed on his clothes.

"Kai, we need to do it. We need to destroy it." Petra shouted across the battlefield. Kai looked at her with a look of horror on his face. "You need to get back through the gateway." Kai nodded at her and picked up his sword.