Stanley stood alone in the midst of the physically distorted humans and the fake Ravens.

A lot of the Crawlers had been defeated by now, but there were still a lot more that needed to die. So many more.

Stanley took in a deep breath, understanding that the task before him was the most difficult. Raven was the oldest of all the Novas, and most likely the one with the most powers.

Having lived over a hundred years by now, the amount of different powers she had should outnumber his own. Still, this was his one chance to defeat her, so he had to go all out.

Stanley moved instantly, leaving behind a sonic boom as he tore through the fake Ravens and the crawlers. In slowed down time, he alone moved while others remained stationary.

Stanley focused on the Crawlers more than the fake Ravens. Killing fake Ravens would only lead to bringing out more fake Ravens. However, killing crawlers meant there were not just fewer crawlers, but also fewer locations with large shadows that Raven could play with.

Seeing how she attacked Gray through his shadow, Stanley more or less understood the need to lower the amount of shadow in the area. He couldn’t truly do a lot here, but any change would be heaven-sent.

He killed crawlers, one after another. Unlike the Defenders, who took minutes to kill a single crawler, Stanley could kill many in just that much time.

Killing crawlers still took time, however, as they needed to regenerate before he could tear them apart again. But, with his incredibly sharp sword that could cut through basically anything it came across, he could tear through many crawler limbs and bodies at the same time and also could move on to different targets.

He breathed in through the mask, which helped him not have to slow down to take a breath. With how thick the air was, it took forever for regular air to fill his lungs.

Stanley killed Ravens as well, but all of the ones he did kill were simply illusions, made out of shadow. Once he cut through them, they dissipated into dark mist.

Stanley stopped nearly 10 minutes later, which to Raven was no more than just 6 seconds. The moment Stanley stopped, dust blew in all directions and the sound of everything he cut apart came back all together like multiple explosions happening simultaneously.

Stanley stopped, his muscles burning so very strongly. He had already fought like this twice before, so his muscles pained even when he didn’t move as much.

He needed some rest, which thankfully his body was quite good at. His body recovered by the second, letting him feel relief. Not only that, he felt... something else as well.

The advent of a new power.

It wasn’t here just yet, but it was coming. He could feel it. It usually took time for him to gain new powers, but after having been fed the energy of 3 different strong Novas at once, his body was creating a new power.

Stanley only hoped it was one that could help with the battle.

"You... got stronger," Raven said, although her voice was difficult to pinpoint. It seemed to come from the shadows all around him, moving silently as though she was traveling through the shadows.

"You wanted to kill me, didn’t you?" Stanley asked. "Then show yourself. Let’s fight head-on. Or are you too scared to try and avenge your brother?"

A wave of cackling came from all around Stanley as all the fake Ravens laughed at once. "Your provocation won’t work on me," Raven’s voice came from the shadows. "I have lived in the shadows, hiding myself for longer than even your grandfather was alive. I know what advantages I have and what advantages you have. I won’t get into a fistfight with a man that can cut through my little abominations."

"But, if you must insist that you have someone to fight, I will give you someone to fight," she said.

Something stirred in the shadows close to Stanley. Stanley moved at once, dashing away from the location just in case it was another attack. His danger sense didn’t go off but he was on his toes anyway.

Then, he saw through his future sight what was going to happen. An Ink Crawler came out of the shadows, one that was much smaller in size than the regular ones.

It stood before Stanley, standing like a human on two limbs with two other limbs at the side, and one handing high above.

Stanley was about to attack when he paused. He feared he knew what was happening. He feared he knew the crawler.

"Freddy!" Stanley said softly. It was his friend who had been there with him until the last hours in the town. It was his friend who had saved him and Sheila, so they could escape Raven’s grasp.

He had seen her turn him into an Ink Crawler, but never had he thought he would use him in the fight against him.

"Do you think I won’t hesitate to kill him?" Stanley asked, his body shaking with anger. "I will kill him just so he won’t suffer anymore."

"Oh, sure you can do that," Raven said. "But I must tell you that, unlike the other crawlers, he is a little unique. While his body is under my control, his mind is his own. So, he can see and hear everything. And he can feel everything. Every hit, every cut."

"He will feel all the pain you deliver to him, and he will heal so you can torture him once more. Isn’t that nice?" Raven asked. "And I made sure to put a lot more into him so that he can continue healing for a long time until you can kill him."

Stanley froze at those words, not understanding what he was supposed to do. If Freddy could feel all the attacks, then... then he couldn’t kill him, could he?

"Oh, you don’t want to fight him now?" Raven asked from the shadows. "That’s alright. I have someone else for you to fight anyway."