Episode 29

Episode 29: Stop The Clock.

Onyx, Callisto, Toraleth, Scrungus, Xavier and Praxis are set to hang by the order of the Venom Wraiths, but not before their friends have anything to say about it. With the help of Atlas, the second half of the party plans an ambush right in town as they are about to be hung. Atlas distracts the guards as everyone takes their positions. As they lie in wait, Callisto, having refused the offer to join the Venom Wraiths, is placed with a noose around his neck along with Toraleth, and Gemevieve and Scrungus are placed right above tanks of water to be drowned, crowds of civilians beginning to form around the gallows. Onyx, Praxis and Xavier are held back, set to be hung only after the current four have died. After being sassed by her, Belladonna begins to drown Gemevieve in her tank early, Gem cracking and flailing as she is dropped in.

Just then, the plan begins to unfold: Wood interrupts the event, charging out into the crowd with a dramatic and flashy appearance. He calls out Belladonna for her villainy and evil, and promises to bring her to her doom right then and there. Belladonna is enthralled with his little performance, giving Baird a moment to rush and shock the whole area with thunder, hoping to destroy the gallows and the water tanks before the others are sentenced to die. With this, chaos breaks loose: thunder and lightning spreads throughout the gallows just as Toraleth and Callisto are about to hang. A crescent shaped energy bursts through the area, severing the ropes just as they would have choked. They land safely on the ground, as Baird’s thunder knocks almost everyone else back. Gem is stuck in her tank for a bit before the glass is broken by Cici’s axe, and Scrungus punches his own way out of his. Pallas and Atlas turn their loyalties around, and begin fighting other Venom Wraith guards and Belladonna herself, defending with poisonous nails.

The fight is chaotic, the gallows beginning to burn away from Toraleth and Callisto’s fire abilities. While the Shepherd crew are escaping their restraints and taking down guards, Pallas and Belladonna go head to head with each other, Pallas using a mysterious, black dagger with strange fractals on its blade. However, Belladonna overtakes him, plunging her poisonous nails deep into his neck, injecting him with deadly nightshade. Pallas dies right there, Atlas cradling him in his death. Atlas, enraged, takes Pallas’s dagger from him, and avenges him, using it to fight Belladonna himself. Belladonna gets what’s coming to her, falling victim to Atlas’s blade as the gallows burn to the ground. Belladonna turns to dust, with Atlas announcing that he will now run the Venom Wraiths with the intent of reform. A new age will come for Zada and the Venom Wraiths, regardless of which Wraiths stay with reform and which ones surrender. Atlas proclaims,

“Those of you who wish to meet the same fate as Belladonna, keep fighting. Those of you who are tired of the meaningless suffering we’ve brought upon everyone, now’s the time to turn. It’s time to take things back, to end the evil we’ve done, to replace it with something good, something better. It’s time to turn coat.” (Atlas, Episode 29: Stop The Clock)

Atlas thanks the Shepherd kids for their help, and promises that they can rely on the new, reformed Venom Wraiths in the future. As some of them watch as the gallows burn, a mysterious, hooded figure on the other side of the fire is seen briefly. The figure, with glowing blue eyes, says and does nothing before turning and disappearing from sight. Scrungus sees the figure again before he leaves, who gives him nothing but a slight nod before disappearing yet again.

Before they leave, Atlas promises to rebuild in the memory of Pallas and create a new beginning, again promising their allegiance and trust. The Shepherd crew, exhausted but relieved, returns to the boat to get some rest, helping one another with their injuries and begin to prepare for upcoming adventures. With every champion found, it is time to begin the search for everyone’s respective Divine Weapon.