The air inside the Cartenone Temple pulsed with compression energy. Every step Brush took felt heavier, as if the ground itself tried to flatten him into the code. Shadows of Solo Crusher stretched endlessly, folding into impossible angles, each movement threatening to crush, trap, or erase.
"Watch the shadows!" Frostbinder shouted, her icy streams freezing segments of the compressing floor, forming stepping stones for the team.
Equinox — fully in her anime horse-girl avatar — leapt forward. Her boots struck the ground, sending shockwaves through the fractured temple floor. Lances of violet light extended from her hands, spinning in arcs that sliced through Solo Crusher's folding shadows. Her long hair streamed like data ribbons, catching stray pulses of corrupted code and redirecting them into harmless fragments.
"Focus on the core!" Brush yelled, teleporting through compressed zones. Miss Krita glowed with Creation and Destruction fused, painting guardian titans into existence that clashed against the shadows like living murals.
Solo Crusher flexed, compressing the battlefield further. Each attack it threw seemed endless — waves of shadow spikes, cubic constructs folding in impossible loops. "You cannot break me! Loops are eternal!" it boomed.
Equinox twirled midair, her lance spinning into a glowing arc. "Loops can be broken!" she shouted, charging directly at the general. With each step, her hooves left glowing trails of code, a chain of pulses that disrupted the compressive energy. Her lance pierced a fold in the shadows, unraveling a segment of Solo Crusher's loop into harmless light.
Frostbinder's ice met the loosened shadows, freezing fragments that threatened to engulf the team. RobbRox reconstructed collapsed walls into barriers and bridges, giving FooTube a platform to stream viral disruptions directly at Solo Crusher's visual feed, momentarily disorienting it.
Brush formed a shockwave fist, integrating Bing's Interconnectivity to link his team's abilities. "Now, everyone!"
Equinox leapt high, spinning her lance in a rainbow arc. At the same time, Brush's shockwave collided with Solo Crusher's core shadows, while Frostbinder's ice shards pinned the general's limbs, and FooTube's streams created a cascading distraction field.
For a moment, the shadows hesitated — the compression faltered. Solo Crusher flickered violently, cracks of unstable code appearing across its form.
"It… cannot… be…" it roared, but its voice faltered as Equinox landed in a final strike, her lance plunging directly into the loop's center. Light exploded, cascading through the temple's chamber. The folding shadows collapsed, flattening and vanishing like broken files.
Brush's fist glowed one last time, shattering the remaining compression. Solo Crusher fragmented into harmless data shards, the first guardian of the Cartenon Temple finally defeated.
Equinox landed gracefully, hair streaming, her violet eyes scanning the chamber. "This is only the beginning," she said, voice calm but firm. "The temple's guardians are tied to its code. More will come, and the trials will grow harder."
Brush nodded, chest heaving. "Then we keep moving. The Nexus isn't waiting for us to recover."
The temple walls pulsed again, hinting at deeper chambers, more corrupted guardians, and the escalating challenges that awaited.
The Cartenone Temple Domain had begun in earnest — and the first test, Solo Crusher, had already shown the team that survival meant more than just strength; it meant coordination, strategy, and trust in each other's true forms