Primo Victoria: Part II

< Primo Victoria

## Team B

As the van charged towards the flames, various screams were heard. "MR. LI, STOP!", "Just stop, we're going to fucking die!", "ARE you out of your mind?" The screams continued as the driver continued to drive towards the flames, a look of stanch determination on his face. The creatures continued to bang on the roof of the car, their screams still just as haunting and bone-chilling and then it happened - the old man drove them into the flames.

"STOP!!!!" Blossom's loud scream rang through the air, as flames leapt into through the open windows and whipped around the vehicle, the screams of the passengers even louder as they docked for cover where they could. The beings attached to the car dropped as they continued through the flames, letting out ear-splitting screams.

Once they made it to the other side of the bridge, Li slammed the breaks of the car, pulling it to a stop, and wiped sweat off his forehead - somehow, maybe by pure miracle, he remained unharmed. He quickly glanced out the back window of the car, noticing the beings were paused behind them, most in a giant pile of burning bodies. Feeling a small sense of relief, he then began looking down at his companions. "Are all of you okay?"

"NO, we're not fucking okay!" Blossom screeched out, as she sat up in the car, holding her left arm due to feeling intense pain from various burns on it.

"Oh, okay. The first aid kit is back there if you need it," Wen Li said, as he flipped the windshield wipers on once again, scraping the charred remains of the creatures from the windshield. "At least we all - except for the things - made it out alive."

"That fire was traumatizing," Chris said, relieved that he was alright. He turned to Wen Li, feeling a bit mad. "For future reference, never do that again, even if you are trying to save us."

Samuel looked around him. "What the *hell*, old man?! Did you ever take a defensive driving course in your time as a taxi-man?" he shouted to Wen Li.

"Old man?! Are you questioning my driving skills?! Let's see you try better when you have demon things punching the windows and roof of your van!"

Melissa grabbed her arm, she had been burned by the flames since she had been seated next to one of the windows, she glared at Li. "We don't need people going crazy and doing risky things, driving us THROUGH fire was stupid and risky! In fact why are you even here? Aren't you a little old to be on a mission?"

"Come on guys, we don't have all day!" Blossom interrupted, opening the first aid kit back up again and using some of her water to cool the burns. "Let's get a move on."

As Steven writhe in pain from the mysterious blue flames, he turned around to make sure they were safe. Thankfully, there was nothing behind them - but a collection of corpses, burning in the mysterious wall of fire. *Where, how.?* he thought, his head spinning.

Samuel looked through the shattered glass, Remnant Rock now closer than before. The surrounding area, previously looking like a grayish clay - was now revealed to be metal. The complex itself was a massive, gray, featureless building. Empty boats stood docked and ready, platforms stood above the sea, and black lighthouses watched over the area. Intending to get a closer look, Samuel looked through his rifle's scope. *Hmph.*

"I think I see a few guards, not sure. They're in this odd, green armor. Do we continue driving, or go on foot? Not to repeat what happened last time, but this car isn't safe."

"The boy is right. We need to get out of this van" Li stated, beginning to get up from his seat. "I can tell it suffered internal damage from that fire and could go up at any moment. Go, move, now, hurry, run!" With that, the old man was out of the van, with the others following behind quickly.

Blossom ran along with the others. As she ran, the details of the guards standing in wait on Remnant Rock began to become more vivid. Their odd, green armor was the color of vines, with their helmets following suit. Their long, thick boots were the only part that were not green and were instead black. As Blossom stared at the guards, what she did not realize was that she was slowing down and the rest of the group was way ahead of her.

"Come ON Blossom, you're holding us up!" Melissa shouted from way ahead.

"Coming!" Blossom began sprinting up towards the group.

Running as fast as he could, Samuel suddenly heard something in the distance. Briefly looking behind him, he watched in horror as the vehicle he carefully selected was now set ablaze. Confused, and not wanting to fall behind, he continued running.

The group continued on-wards, as they reached a point in which the bridge prepared to fuse with a downwards metal road. "Almost!" he called out.

Everyone nearly reached the bridge's end - until a familiar obstacle appeared. To everyone's horror, blue embers once again appeared, rising; before completely obstructing the entrance to Remnant Rock. Not wanting a repeat of recent events, the group stopped in their tracks. They watched as a similar fate hit the sides of a bridge - a blockade of flames, lighting up the left and right sides. It was like an "arena" - they were now encompassed.

Seeing the wall of fire, Blossom stopped running instantly, gripping her gun tighter as she glanced around the "arena."

"FUCK, now what's happening?!"

"I, well -" Samuel readied his rifle, pointing every which-way. "Keep, keep on guard!"

Li unsheathed his dao as he turned back and looked at the van, now in a fiery red blaze. "Our van!" he mumbled quietly.

"So much for the first-aid kits." Steven said, nervously.

"Now, how are we supposed to get out of this?" commented Melissa.

"I am unsure. The best course of action would be to remain here, it would not be wise to continue forward." Chris looked around the bridge, when he noticed something odd about the wall they had previously driven through. Examining it closely, it appeared some rapid movement began to happen towards the bottom. A swirl, of sorts, as if a spiral portal of embers was created. It continued to move, before slowly spiraling violently; becoming a homogeneous light blue.

At once, the spiral was thrown directly at the group, spinning violently. Everyone prepared to move from its trajectory - before it shot into the air, dissipating.

Looking into the newly created hole, figures began to emerge.

"What the hell, this never ends. I didn't know I was going to be dealing with THIS when I agreed to this mission," Blossom exclaimed, aiming her gun at the figures.

"This isn't too bad," Wen Li commented, holding his dao up defensively.

The figures at the other side of the bridge walked very passively. As if taking a stroll on some warm day, they certainly did not appear as enemies to the group.

The figures walked closely, and it could be made out what they were. Five in total, following one. There were four Alchemilia style androids - not like Wellington. Featureless, gray, mechanical humanoids. Each had a cyan light emitting from their head. Massive and bulky, fascinating feats of engineering.

Leading these androids was the most intriguing. It was what appeared to be a regular human, a female general of Alchemilia. She wore simple clothes, not the usual Power Armor. A black, long-sleeve buttoned up coat, with streaks of red. Her skin had a bit-tan, and her uniquely red-hair was housed by an Alchemilia cap. The woman, despite approaching an armed brigade, had no visible weapons. She spoke quickly. "I am surprised you all made it this far. But this is where your expedition ends. Come with us - all of you are under arrest."

Melissa felt rage building as she heard the woman, glaring at her. She spoke. "What did you just say, you little bitch? Don't you dare tell any of us what to do - and you aren't arresting anyone."

The woman smiled as all laid their weapons on her - yet, she stood her ground. Briefly, she turned to Melissa, smiling. "It is not 'little bitch', I'd prefer General Nabi; Melissa." Melissa stood surprised.

The general turned her attention to the rest in the group, laughing softly. "What is this? The Freedom Fighters?" She sighed. "You all are pathetic. Do you intend to continue this reckless self-indulgence? You've loaded up some third-grade weapons in that pitiful little van, storming a military installation to kill innocent lives. Why? Think about that. I am letting you do this voluntarily - come with me, and there will be no bloodshed. Hell, refer me to Atticus and Marshall, I might give you a nice cell."

Blossom, feeling weak and powerless, dropped her weapon in shame. "I... surrender." The words rolled off the tip of her tongue, the sound of her voice immediately made the group turn towards her. A tear rolled down her cheek, thinking that, after all she had gone through to get here, she had surrendered to the hands of Alchem. She could only imagine how disappointed the group, especially Atticus, was. Blossom simply didn't realize what was about to happen and what it really meant for her to go on this mission. She finally got a taste of what war was really like.

Steven mumbled something quickly, not really a serious of words, rather a meek, shaky noise from his throat. He attempted to correct himself, not looking Nabi or his compatriots in the eye, but keeping them down. "I surrender." Steven bit his lip, chewing uncomfortably while he began to sweat. "It's the only... logical... course of action. Marshall, Atticus, and Fontaine are in the tunnels underneath. Just don't hurt them, please."

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Blossom screamed at Steven. "Why the HELL did you say that, fucking bitch?!" Blossom slowly lost control due to the horrible events of the day, even more showing that she was truly not ready for this. "Don't EVER open your mouth again, asshole!" Blossom turned away for a second, crying slightly.

Steven clenched his teeth and began to tremble, still keeping his eyes down. He mumbled incoherently, avoiding Blossom's eyes.

"Well, we failed," Li said, dropping his sword and raising his arms above his head. "Might as well give up. We're screwed. I surrender."

Samuel slowly lowered his rifle, his hands shaking. Months of preparation, hope, ambition - for this? He was mixed with frustration for Steven's decision, and sadness for their failure. Solemnly, he placed the intricate weapon on the ground. "I - will . . I surrender."

Melissa tore her eyes away from Nabi to look at Blossom. "NEVER speak to my brother like that again, understood?!" She then turned to Steven. "I can't believe you'll betray us like that, What is wrong with you?! We are suppose to be a team."

"Melissa, please." He spoke, struggling through a stutter. "I can't let you die, and we don't have a chance in hell here!"

"We had a chance if you and Samuel didn't act like cowards and give up instead of sticking to the plan!"

"Melissa, my deepest apologies," Chris said. 'But I'm with Steven, Li, Samuel, and Blossom on this one. There's no point anymore, not when we're probably thought of as terrorists and running into big armies..." Chris placed his arm on the ground. "I surrender."

"Magnificent," began the General. "While it was only now that you have come to understand the potential consequences of your actions, you've chosen wisely to bite the bullet. Do not worry - your friends will be found and captured. Mr. Alchemilia would not want that kind of garbage dead." Chuckling, the red-haired woman raised her gloved hand. Miraculously, a set of glowing blue handcuffs appeared on the wrists of Blossom, Steven, and Wen Li.

Behind her, they could notice a large black vehicle approaching - like a limousine, with no windows in the back. Two armored men emerged.

"Those who chose wisely - wait in that car or be forced in. Allow us to address your *friend.*" Nabi said, motioning for them to head inside.

Steven looked to the ground before starting to walk towards the car. "Please Melissa, give up. We can figure this out after, but only if you live through this." Steven said, before looking back with tears welling up in his eyes.

Blossom walked behind Steven towards the car, getting in and sitting next to him. Behind her followed Chris, Samuel, and Wen Li. All of them looked solemn knowing that they had failed the mission, had failed Fontaine. That their last hope had been revealed. The car was dead silent inside, so quiet one could hear a pin drop.

Melissa was now the sole person within the flaming arena. Ignoring her pleas, her comrades did not choose the most bravest decision - rather opting for a tactical surrender. She gripped her shotgun tightly, loading the pump and confidently aiming it at the red-haired woman.

Shrugging off Melissa's angered eyes, Nabi began speaking once more. "So, this is it." she said, amused at the lone wolf that stood before her. "Amusing. You certainly aren't the stuttering mass that you were those months ago. Come, do as your friends would." Melissa continued to stand strong. "Oftentimes a lack of confidence manifests itself as overconfidence - your friends wouldn't want you to die."

Hit with a jolt of frustration once again at her friend's failure, Melissa's fingers nearly retracted, almost pulling her weapon's trigger. She stood there, glaring at Nabi. A silence - and then she spoke again. "Do you want my friends dead or alive?" Melissa said, a hint of defeat in her voice.

"We do not intend to kill -" Without another word, Melissa pulled the trigger - aiming at Nabi.

In a matter of seconds, Melissa watched as her bullets was seemingly deflected by the General's gloved hand. Before she could shoot again, Melissa found herself knocked back. Laying on the rough pavement, her eyes began to fill with blue hues - and then nothing.

Melissa's eyes peered open, blinded by the white light above her. Her body rested on a thin mattress. For a brief moment, she was unsure of where she was. The room she was in was barren, featureless. It was gray and dusty, with only one small frosted glass window. Most would not be able to sleep comfortably with how bright it was. Melissa walked over to the room's sole sink, washing her face with lukewarm water.

As she examined the room, Melissa noticed a man turned to the wall in a nearby bed. Approaching him, her suspicious about where she was confirmed. Looking at the brown-haired man, she could at least be thankful Alchemilia allowed her to stay with her brother. For now, she chose not to speak to him after his compromising of the mission at the bridge. Melissa sat, saddened. It would be here, she thought, the rest of her life would be.

Steven turned from the wall, looking to his sister. He said no words.

Melissa gasped as she got a splitting headache, she closed her eyes placing her hand over them. She thought back to the dream she had and shook her head opening her eyes once more. "You shouldn't have told them," she said in a whispering voice to Steven. "Now we are locked in here while Atticus and Marshall could be getting killed."

Steven remained on his bed, looking at Melissa. To him, it was the most tactical choice. Their interrogation would have been inevitable. "I did, I did what was logical..."

"It wasn't logical, it was stupid now we are stuck in these cells for the rest of our lives!" She yelled.

"You just don't get it." Steven rested his chin on his hand, continuing to speak quietly. "That woman at the bridge, we, we were surrounded. They'd have found out anyway, I didn't want you to be hurt.. You were lucky that woman didn't hurt you that much. W-we should never have come here-"

Melissa glared and took a breath, fuming with anger. "We knew this was a risk when we all agreed to take part of this mission. Just because we get caught doesn't mean we throw the others under the bus, we could have stalled them. At least to let Marshall and Atticus get a good head start. We might've gotten hurt really badly. but it's what we agreed to from the start. We didn't come here to betray our friends at the first flicker of danger!" She said. "I have never been more disappointed in you than I am right now."

"Melissa listen!" Steven said, his tone picking up

"I did what I had to do to keep us safe. If we would have stayed and fought we would have been killed. And if not killed, then beaten, captured, and then tortured for the location. If it wasn't for me, we could be rotting in a dark cell all alone."

"How do you know that's not what they are gonna do to us next? Do you really think they will treat us kindly forever?" She replied.

Steven stood up and grabbed Melissa by her shoulders. "I know they won't treat us great forever, but hopefully they treat us kindly long enough for us to figure something out."

She shoved him off. "Do not grab me like that again, that is the third time you have done that. You can believe whatever you want but it was not the best choice to just give up like that." she said before sitting down on her own bed.

Steven turned back and sat back down on his bed before mumbling to himself "Fine I won't, and it was for the best at least I didn't get the shit kicked out of me"

"I may not be the bravest person, but I'm no coward either!" Steven said

"My staying home was calculated, I know we had no part joining in on that crazy fight, and you had just as little logic and reason to run off and join that suicidal militia" Steven said with anger growing in his voice

"Just shut up, Steven. I don't want to hear this nonsense anymore," Melissa snapped, turning around in anger and with slight tears dripping from her eyes. She felt a heavy mixture of feelings - sadness, disappointment, worry, shame.

They had come this far only to be captured, only to have their only hope given up by one of their own. This was so unlike the Steven she knew, he had always been a solid rock.

She began to take slow and steady breathes, calming herself before speaking again. "You know, Steven, I remember the day I left for the Militia. You were so angry at me, you called it a suicide squad then too and I fought you every bit of the way. But you were strong, relentless, did not give up on your view. Even after I was already walking to join them. What happened to you?"

She felt Steven's steady gaze focus on her, as her words shocked even herself. She didn't know how, but she felt a strange sense. Memories of times forgotten flooding her mind - faint memories of her parents, times with Richard and Steven growing up, forgotten pets and friends.

Gasping at this revelation, she held her hand to her mouth. "I remember..."

Blossom paced around the room, leaving her without anything else to do. She felt the gaze of Wen Li as she paced.

"Mr. Li," she asked. "Do you think Atticus will make it out okay?"

"No. He is probably dead," Wen said as he sighed, looking at his aged hands. "It is best to move on. Weeping will do us nothing."

"Thanks for the reassuring words." Blossom rolled her eyes. "Also um, sorry for calling you an old man earlier. Was just under pressure."

"It is fine, Miss Cane. I apologize for raising my voice earlier," Li looked at Blossom. "Is there anything else on your mind?"

"You can just call me Blossom." the girl sighed. "Nothing really, just Atticus. What am I going to do without him, without a job, in *prison?"* Blossom's head hung low. "My parents would be yelling at me right now. 'Look, you wasted your good life to go off with a boy in a suicide mission! You had a safe life where you were here. Now you got yourself in prison, eh.' They probably hate me now."

A tear ran down Blossom cheek, leaving her sniffling. "And I was trying to be calm earlier, but it's just all so overwhelming. I don't know what's wrong with me. I wasn't ready to come here. I'm not brave like the rest of you. I've lived in COSL all my life, you know? I'm not used to all these strange demons and such. I've never been adventurous or anything. But I wanted to help, I wanted to be useful for once. I now realize that was the wrong choice."

"You are useful. You have been. You have a place with us." Wen said. "Sure, Marshall is very unhappy with you for stealing his best friend but, you have been useful. We need you."

"Thanks but, how did I even steal.. *Marshall's best friend?"* Blossom asked.

"Truth be told, only Marshall thinks this. Atticus was his anchor, so to speak. Now once you came into his life, he thought he obsessed over you and abandoned everyone else in his life."

"He doesn't obsess over me." Blossom replied. "I'm sure if Marshall and Atticus tried to make it work, they could become friends again."

"Too bad they're dead," Wen chuckled.

"What the HELL? Do you even care about them??" Blossom asked, furious at the old man's laughter.

"Huh? Oh, that. I was joking, you see? They survived a car crash, they can survive this," Li responded calmly.

"Haha," Blossom scoffed. "What a funny joke. Absolutely hilarious how you'd mock my boyfriend's death." She turned away from Wen Li, staring at a wall. "Feels like it's been days already."

As Blossom turned her heard as she heard a noise on the opposite side of the cell, Li was nowhere to be found. Through the doored wall, she could hear a faint "What were you saying?"

"What the hell, where are you?!" Blossom yelled. "Let me in there!"

"Technically, this is out and you are in, not reverse," Li corrected. "I'll get you out as soon as I grab a few things," Li hurried off.

Li ran down the textured hallway and to a clean, white table with messy papers and files, scanning it. Above the table, a bulletin board of notes, flyers, and posters. He quickly found a small but incomplete map of the building and shoved it into his pocket. Footsteps sounded as he hid under the table. The guard stop and carefully looked over the board. Li crawled from under the table, standing up behind the man. He tapped his shoulder lightly and asked "Care for some tea?" to which the guard exclaimed "Mother—" before being punched. The guard fell to the floor.

"One too many lumps."

Li hurried away from the guard, and peered down the ground floor of the prison. Quickly, he examined the crumbled piece of paper. It did not provide much, but it did give him ideas of a plan for escape. "Interesting. Entrances out of the prison at the ground, fifth, and tenth . . . . biological testing? Android storage? Those weren't here before. Ah, there we are, third door from the right." Li walked forward, carefully correlating the map and the prison, before arriving at what seemed to be an ordinary cell door. Opening it - a gray staircase revealed itself. "Bingo."

Wellington stepped into a metal room lit by cold blue lights, nearly blinding and almost obstructing the man standing in the middle, pouring over a set of documents. "Ah, Chris Wellington."

Chris awoke, surprised to find that he was alone. *Where had everyone gone?* Then he remembered - the weird woman had caused all this. He was got a strong sense of déjà vu, until he attempted to open the room's door. It was shut tight, and through it's small window he could slightly make out rows of repeating doors. This was a prison.

Samuel's hands twitched at the sound of movement within his cell. Interrupting the meditation he had been preforming in one of the cell's corners, Samuel began speaking. "Took you long enough."

"Samuel?" Chris asked. "Why are you in here with me? Where is everybody else?"

Samuel stood up approaching Chris. "Do you remember the bridge? Once we all walked to the car, they forcibly shut you off. Precautions, I guess. They drove us here, searched us, and placed everyone in different cells." Samuel sighed. "I don't know where the others are, but they are probably nearby. It's over - we failed."

"You've always been a coward," she told him. "I might not remember our childhood, but from what I've seen of you now, it probably wasn't much different! You hide from any slight sign of danger, that's probably why I joined the militia in the first place. You are so overbearing and controlling!"

The android nodded, the events from before slowly coming back to him. "What happens now that we have failed? Are we going to remain here forever?"

"No." responded Samuel, confidently. "I do not intend to remain in this raggedy prison forever. We'll be out before the day ends."

"How do you plan on getting out, sir? We seem to be tightly imprisoned in this cell, and surely they have guards outside," Chris said.

"Of course they have guards outside. If I am to be correct - they're coming now."

“Coming?” Chris asked. “But why, unless...” He paused for a second, knowing that these guys wouldn’t just let somebody they considered a criminal out. “They’re getting us for some kind of torture.”

Samuel chuckled. "Do you even feel pain?"

Before Chris could respond, he could hear sounds of a lock turning on the door's other side. At once, the metallic door opened loudly and slowly. Peering into the room were two figures, completely clad in black armor. At first glance, one might assume they were an android.

"Chris Wellington? You're needed with Dr. Alchemilia. Get out of your cell and come with me - be quick.." said the one of the guards.

Deciding it was best to not remind Samuel that he was concerned about him, Chris nervously exited the cell with the guards. “Alright, I’ll come, but where is he?”

"That's why you should follow us." responded the man. The guard closed the shut and locked the door to Samuel's cell, leaving the man alone.

Chris anxiously followed the guards, looking around Remnant Rock's prison. It was a singular, massive room that seemed to extend in all directions. To his left, a metal fence prevented a drop from ten stories down. The hundreds of doors made Chris anxious, wondering what type of people Alchemilia had stored here. "Do you know what he needs to see me for?

"Aren't you an android or something? Probably work or whatever. You'll see when you get there."

"I suppose that makes sense," Chris replied. "Though admittedly, I'm feeling very nervous."

"Considering how confident you were in destroying this building, you shouldn't feel nerv-" Eerily, the guard stopped mid-sentence for several seconds. Wellington and the other guard looked to the man.

Before Chris could comment, he found himself pushed aside by the silent guard. Looking up - he saw the guard choking the other. The other could barely muster out a word, attempting to claw out of the other's tight hands. The armor did not protect the man. As if gifted with a supernatural strength, the guard threw the man across the protective fencing. He fell violently to the bottom, dying instantly.

The lone guard took off his helmet. Looking down to the bottom of the prison, he took out a small pistol, aiming at his skull. "Yes, yes, yes..." he said, before pulling the trigger.

"This is bizarre," Chris said, astounded at the scene he had just witnessed. Staring at where the guards had been, he decided not to go further. Maybe this was his chance to escape and find the others. He looked around the area where his cell was with Samuel, hoping the others weren't too far behind.

*Andy did not perfect emotions. Let's see if I can get more than two.* Samuel opened his eyes slowly, ceasing a meditation that he had began when the android was out of his cell. He placed two fingers on the gray, metallic door in front of him. As if none had bothered to lock the door, it quietly swung open at Samuel's light push. Samuel walked out of his cell, looking around the massive area.

"Ah, there you are, Samuel. Those two guards were very strange," Chris said, as he noticed Samuel. "We need to explore this complex, it will surely lead us to the others,"

Samuel quickly walked towards Chris. He talked in a quiet tone. "What happened to the guards - well, no time for that. My cell was unlocked, managed to get out. First order of business, we need to find Wen Li."

"Where in here do you think Mr. Li is?" Chris asked. "While I was here briefly before, I have yet to memorize the layout. This is a very intricate structure,"

"When were you ever at Remnant R- well, that's besides the point." Samuel peered downwards. He could barely make out a large door at the prison's bottom. "We can't lose time. We need to find a ladder and see if we can catch Wen Li - he is out by now, I am sure of it."

"I agree, but where on these premises would a ladder be?" Chris asked, as he and Samuel began walking around. He wasn't going to bring up his previous journey to Remnant Rock (which, as he saw it, had been the catalyst for the big mess) ever again.

"Just - just look around. We don't have a lot of time." Samuel quickly walked through the prison's tenth level, being careful not to make his footsteps too loud.

"Did you hear that?" Chris asked Samuel. "It sure sounded a lot like Li."

"Keep your voice *down!* Nothing sounded like Wen Li, get a ladder -"

One of the prison hall's many cells swung open, interrupting the silence Samuel was attempting to set. Wellington's observation had been correct - emerging from the door, carefully observing a crumbled paper. Absolutely surprised, Samuel did not wait for greetings. "I- Well- Is that a map? We need to get out of here."

Before Li could respond, a figure crept up behind Samuel and Chris. The man took a puff of his cigar before speaking.

"*Out?* One cannot simply get out of Remnant Rock. Now, do not cause any more trouble than we need to by kindly going back to your cells and closing the door behind you."

The man took a final puff, then dropped it, stomping it out.

"Who even are you?" Chris asked. "Because I find it highly impossible that there's no way out of here."

Samuel ignored Chris's curiosity, and looked at the man without fear. "We'll be out before the day ends - I said this before. "

"Sure ya will - Inmate #4279." Just then, two more armed guards appeared behind them. "Nobody has ever gotten out under my leadership and nobody ever will. One more time. The easy way or the h—"

Several loud sounds of sparks began to reverberate through the loud hall, breaking the prison's eerie silence. At once, as if a generator failed, the lights that illuminated the main prison hall slowly began to shut themselves off. First, the prison's top light - then, the lights of each level. Only the dim lights that could be seen through cell windows lit up the room.

*So, you're alive. Go figure.* Samuel looked to Wen Li and Chris, nodding. Fontaine had explained this would be the most important part of Primo Victoria - they knew what had to be done. Praying that the dark room would be enough to shield them from bullets, they quickly diverged from the armored guards. The sound of gunfire would not impede them from opening every prison cell in sight.

## Team A

*Slash, slash, slash.*

The sound of swiping could be heard in the still air, as the light and monitors of the room shut off. Backing up, Atticus looked around the small breaker room, the knife still in his hand. To him, it was somewhat claustrophobic - in each corner, four glass chambers protected a conglomeration of wires and processors. Monitors surrounded the room, and a collection of generators stood in the center.

The lights continued to shut off, and Atticus looked at two men that lay on the ground. After exiting the train station, he and the others made their way through Remnant Rock's lower facilities to the breaker room. Fontaine had seemingly vanished, opting instead to search for any future threats from Alchemilia. After catching the two off guard, subduing them was simple - though their motionless bodies served as a reminder of what he had become.

The room was now completely covered in darkness, with Atticus and Marshall having no way to see.

*Now to shut off communications. Come on. Think. What was it Mr. Li said? Oh. "Simple." Right.* Marshall grabbed a switch and then pushed a button, cutting off all communications and transmissions. "Atticus?"

"Yeah, Marshall?" Atticus answered in pitch black.

"We should have packed a fucking flashlight."

"No shit, sky is blue," Atticus snapped, folding the knife and stuffing it down his pocket. "Find the wall and use it to guide yourself out of here, it won't be long before they figure out what we've done."

Now outside of the room, Marshall placed his hands on the smooth walls of the building, looking for a possible exit. "Do you even know where to go from here? You have a map?"

"No, I don't have a map," Atticus replied, following the wall as well. "I wonder where Fontaine is."

Marshall stopped walking. Pulling a lollipop out of his pocket and unwrapping it, he spoke. "I don't know, he never came back." Marshall started walking again, still dark. "Who cares, anyway? We're doing fine without him," Marshall said, now with the lollipop hanging out of his mouth.

"Keep your voice down," Atticus whispered. "Alchem employees could be anywhere right now. And we DO need Fontaine, he's the only one that knows where we should even be going." Looking ahead, he noticed a green light slowly illuminating.

"We should maybe head for that area. Be careful though, and be ready for anything."

"Sure, whatever," Marshall said as he sucked the lollipop. "Just because I'm still going along with you doesn't mean I approve of your girlfriend."

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Atticus snapped. "Let's focus on what's important."

Eventually, they came to the source of the green light. A large metal door stood before them, green light seeping from it and illuminating the halls in an eerie glow.

Atticus opened the door to an uneasy sight. The door opened to another large, hallway. The floor was a metallic black. It was not a lamp that gave way to the green light - lining the corridor were massive, cylindrical tanks, illuminating the room with a mysterious glowing green liquid. Inside - featureless human bodies. Gray and muscular - they gave him an uneasy feeling. Nearby, notebooks stood atop each other in neat piles.

"Fine." Marshall cautiously stepped into the room. "Creepy..."

"What the fuck...?" Atticus asked as he slowly crept over to one of the tanks and tapped his finger against it. "What is going on here?"

"*What is going on*?" A woman dressed in a military uniform - that of a general - stepped out from between two tanks. "What is going on is the maintenance of Artificial Tieflings."

"Arti—What!? Who are you?!" Marshall questioned.

"I am General Selma Klosterman." She stepped foward. "These brings you see before you are Artificial Tieflings. You know not of a Tiefling?"

Atticus stepped back, his hand instantly going to the gun on his right side. "No, what are those?"

"Do not do it, Atticus Anoethite." Immediately, two armored guards entered the room behind the two rebels. "A Tiefling is the offspring of a Demon and a human. An artificial one - one produced by us."

Keeping his hand on his gun, Atticus examined the guards. "How do you even know my name? And what do you mean? Why are you producing these...things?"

"We know all about you, Atticus, Marshall Rooke. Your other questions - classified information - even for your perceived usurpation of rank." She turned away. "We do not punish lightly those who disregard our rules."

The second of the guards slipped his finger onto the trigger of his gun, casually lifting it and firing at the head of the other, unsuspecting guard. Before anyone had a chance to react, he turned it on the general.

"Now, now. Know your place." She said, walking towards the exit. "Put it down, surrender yourself and you may live."

"You're all going to pay for your crimes against humanity!" shouted the mountain of metal. "I won't let you out of here alive!"

"I did nothing, truly." She opened the door and, turning back, gave one final message. "If you wish, seek higher personnel for assistance." Selma stood in the doorway, waiting for a response.

The man looked at the woman with frustration for her arrogance. Without another word, the man aimed his small pistol at the woman's forehead - then pulled the trigger. She fell to the metallic floor.

"Stop right there!" Atticus yelled out, quickly pulling his gun out and pointing at the guard. Due to a sudden sense of adrenaline, he boldly put his finger on the trigger and held it there - after all, the man could turn on him and Marshall next. "What have you done? Why are you killing these people?!"

"Are you fucking serious? What the hell is wrong with you?" Marshall shouted. "I fucking hate this place."

"No time - hurry!" responded the guard, frantically. "I'm Reti, one of Fontaine rebels. Your group was captured, but the power is out - quickly." The guard stepped over the bodies that lay on the floor, running into a dark hallway.

Atticus stared down at the two dead bodies, pools of blood slowly filling across the floors. A sense of nausea passed over him as he realized the two were dead due to them - they had gone on this mission to avenge Savannah's death and now more people lay dead. *This is justice...?*

The words of the guard echoing in his head, Atticus gripped his gun tighter and took off after the man, leaving Marshall behind in the room.

The trio raced down the halls, Reti leading the way. "They're this way, in the cells!" During their dash, Reti had explained to the two that he was part of a rebel group under the lead of Fontaine - rogue Alchem guards that would attack from the heart of Remnant Rock when the time was right. Due to fears of their operation being compromised, the existence of the rebels were kept from Atticus and the rest of his group.

"This is it!" shouted Reti. Immediately, he began typing a pass-code into a numerical lock on a gray door that stood before them. "Two two eight . . . nine two two . . . " As Atticus waited in anticipation, a sound could be heard - screams, gunfire, muffled through the other side of the door.

Marshall shoved Atticus aside, opened the door, and looked out into the fiery prison.

"What the hell is this?"

He looked upon the dimly lit prison from the eighth floor, seeing the riots, the fire, the fleeing prisoners. Prisoners rushing in front of him, shoving, kicking around, trying to get out.

"The motherfuckers are here, they released the prisoners. We need to find Li, Steven Melissa, Chris, and Samuel."

"How are we going to find them in this mess?" Atticus exclaimed. "They could be anywhere!"

"You better start looking! By now, they could be *dead* - probably are. Come with me if you wish for the exit." Intending to only stay for a brief moment, Reti prepared his scoped rifle frantically.

"I'm not leaving them in this hellhole," Marshall responded.

Scanning the area, Atticus slowly began to lose hope at finding their friends. There were just too many prisoners roaming about, causing absolute chaos. "We can't leave," he directed towards Reti. "We can't leave them here, not after coming this far."

With his sentence finishing, a loud scream rang through the building, the source of it unknown. Atticus instantly looked back at the crowd, scanning it quickly before taking a step into it. "That sounded like Blossom, I'm going to look for her. She could be in danger!"

He was then swallowed into the crowd.

## Protagonists

"Just *die!*" The Alchemilia guard held a tight grip on Samuel, penetrating a black knife into his right shoulder. Loud sounds of shouting filled the prison hall, a caravan of both Alchemilia prisoners and guards running through the unlit pathways. Bullet shells reverberated through the room. Once Samuel, Chris, and Li had opened a few cells and revealed their plans - a riot was inevitable, as the once imprisoned people of Remnant Rock's prisons attempted an escape.

"Not yet!" responded Samuel. It was up to him to complete his own duel - most prisoners had their own objectives. Samuel tightly squeezed the man's wrist, surprising him. Quickly, he removed the knife from his shoulder. Before the guard could launch another attack, Samuel placed him into a choke-hold - throwing him over the railing. Feeling a sharp pain, Samuel ran forward, attempting to ascend to the top-level.

As Chris quickly ran through the crowd of people, he witnessed a frenzy of chaos. Inmates pushing on each other and throwing one another down, guards shooting at the crowd or. . .each other. Smoke filled the air and Chris saw fires bellowing from the cells as beds and sheets lit up. With the smoke continuing to fill the air, people began screaming and running. Chris quickly followed after Samuel, trying not to lose focus on the man.

Running wildly and relieved that he could not sweat, Chris had lost sight of Samuel. He looked around for some sort of exit, noticing an exit towards the end of the corridor. Relieved that he finally found it, he began running towards them. Before he could make it, a very familiar young man ran out through the junction hallway. It was Steven.

"What are you doing here?" Chris called out to him.

Steven kept running for a moment before stopping, realizing he knew that voice. Looking around for a brief second before seeing Chris. "Well me and Melissa were in a fight locked up in our cell, and just as it went quiet we lost power, our cell opened up, and then the riot started. So I took my chance and knew I had to escape so i just ran and ran until I found and exit" Steven said as he gasped for air

"Well, we better get out of here. If we don't now, we might get trampled by the other inmates with the same plans as us." Chris began running for the door, with Steven following.

"Chris wait" Steven shouted out as he began to slow to a walk "We have to find the others Chris if they are still back in that blood bath we have to go back and find them!" Steven exclaimed

"Steven, I don't really think that's wise," Chris explained, turning back. "I want at least one of my friends to make it to safety, but we can't go back there. They'd probably destroy us both."

"One, Chris? Came here together, we are leaving together." responded Steven, clenching his fist. "I'd - I'd" He spoke slowly. "I'd rather die than leave Melissa behind. I - you're an android, right? You can protect me, you've made it this far. Come on." Steven looked confidently, opposite of Chris.

"Look, Steven, the last time I had faith in a friend to survive..." Chris said, pulling Steven out and taking a deep breath. "She was murdered. And it's not like having one arm, even if it's a gun, helps our case."

Steven tightly clenched his fist, remembering the fate of his sister's friend. "That only gives me more resolve, Chris! We - that's what we are trying to prevent. We came here not knowing what would happen. You're more powerful than any guard - I want to know I made an effort to protect my sister."

“You should go find her yourself then,” Chris said. “I feel as if I’m more vulnerable here due to being an android, so I think you’re just gonna have to go without me.” Without another word, he entered into the bright hallway.

"*You -"* Steven gritted his teeth as the android stepped away. "Coward." Chris slowly came out of view. "Just you wait, Melissa." said Steven, as he ran into the hallway.

Chris crashed into some weird structure as he ran through the corridor. Maybe he shouldn't have been so selfish to Steven about surviving, and this was his punishment. His thoughts were then interrupted by a loud thud.

Blossom Cane stepped out of her cell and surveyed the area. Smoke began to fill the air as there was fire spreading like crazy in her wing of the prison. She quickly got down low to the ground, crawling and surveying the area. Her wing was filled with prisoners trying to escape in an erratic manner, but Blossom took care order to avoid getting smoke in her lungs and to avoid getting trampled by the other inmates. The screams of prisoners echoed throughout the rooms. Blossom reached the end of the hallway, getting back on her feet to run.

Blossom looked down towards the railing on the 5th floor, seeing the mass amount of prisoners fleeing the prison. A large, male prisoner walked up behind Blossom and threw her over the railing.

"EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES!!!" he shouted, watching Blossom as she fell down the gaps between the stairs.

Blossom screamed as she fell down to the 3rd floor, The scream was so loud that it rung throughout the prison, despite all the commotion. Blossom lay there, unable to move, in complete pain. She shrieked as she tried to drag herself to a corner where she would not be trampled.

Atticus ran through the crowds of people, pushing up the stairs in a heavy struggle. He was drawn by the sound of a young woman sobbing, it sounded like it was further up the steps. As he ran, he could hear the sound grow closer. He finally got to floor three, pushed his way through the crowd and found the source of the sobbing. Just as he had feared, he saw Blossom laying in a corner by the railing, sobbing. "Blossom!" he exclaimed. "what happened?" Her body lay there limp as she looked up at Atticus.

"Someone pushed me off floor 5!" Blossom cried out. "I can't move!"

"Where are you hurt?" Atticus asked quickly, bending down and attempting to lift her up by her arms.

"*Ouch!*" she screamed. "That's where it hurts! My arms, my legs!!" she let out a cry of pain.

"Alright, alright," Atticus let go of her arms, allowing her to lay down again. "Are they broken or just sore? Either way, I'm going to have to carry you out of this."

Bending down again, he placed his arms around her waist and slowly lifted her, ignoring her cries of pain as he adjusted her to fit into his arms.

"I'm guessing they're broken, but I don't know for sure." Blossom looked at Atticus, feeling a slight bit of comfort. "Thanks. I'm glad you were able to find me."

"No need to thank me, we're going to get you out of here, don't worry about it," Atticus told her as he blended back into the crowd, heading towards the area he had left Reti and Marshall in.

Running through the crowd with Blossom in his arms, Atticus finally noticed the railing for the second floor staircase and began to make his way towards it. "We're almost out of here, Blossy. Just wait a bit."

The girl didn't respond, still in clear pain. Just as Atticus reached the railing, he felt a large rumble shaking the whole floor with smoke rising from the lower sections. Tightening his grip on Blossom, he gritted his teeth as people began to push him into him. *Did an explosion just happen?*

"Hard way it is." The general swung at Li, missed, and hitting the wall.

"That working out for you, Santo?" Li grabbed Santo and shoved him against the wall. Santo pushed him down to the ground, punching at him, but Li rolled side-to-side, causing Santo miss and hit the floor. While Santo glanced at his bloody knuckles, Li took the moment to pick himself off of the ground. Li sweeped his leg at Santo's, narrowly missing. Santo became angry and pushed Li into the wall. "*Goodbye,* Inmate #4280." Li took one last breath before knocking his head forward at full force - breaking the general's nose and knocking him unconscious.

"*Goodbye,* Giovanni."

Li walked over to the general's motionless body. He bent over and pulled the pistol from the man's holster. "Might as well."

Li ran down the hall, his breath faltering with each step. The fight was beginning to tire him out, but he had to keep going. Seeing the shape of a figure at the far side of the room, he placed his fists in a fighting position and slowly crept towards them, having a hard time seeing in the dark.

Just as he approached them, they stepped forward and grabbed his right hand, preventing any blow that Li was prepared to give. "It's me," Samuel's voice bellowed out. Li lowered his hand at the sound of it, smirking. "About time you showed up. Old age getting to you?"

"None of that," replied Samuel. "Next time we do this, have a -" In the darkness, Samuel noticed a dark mass approaching Li. Intending to operate quickly, it prepared to jam a knife into the old man's neck. Feeling the grip, Wen Li readied himself to retaliate - before a loud bullet shell eliminated the threat.

Samuel gripped the pistol tightly, smiling. "- plan. Can you see the map?"

"Too dark. Where are the twins, Android, and Blossom? Grab and go." Li slammed his hand on the wall suddenly in frustration. "I cannot crack it. The inmate placement algorithm. Just run a bit until we find them, should not be too hard."

"An algorithm is irrelevant when a *riot* is going on. If they're not here, and I've think you've scanned this level enough - check upstairs. I've been running up and down this place for a while. Should be higher." responded Samuel.

"Wonderful. Let's go." Li started running to the end of the corridor as he noticed Samuel was a slowing. "Move it, let's go, *old man!*"

"Thirty is *not old!"* Samuel quickly sped up his pace, easily catching up to and passing the old man. Fortunately for the both of them, the seventh level of the prison was mostly clear. Passed the repeating cells, a metallic door slowly came into view in front of them.

Melissa's body was littered with bruises as she continued to run through a dark passageway. The adrenaline that ran through her almost lessened the pain of her face colliding with a metal railing some minutes ago. There was no sense of organization for the caravan that crowded the pathways. Dozens of prisoners had died not only from being shot by guards - but slow, painful deaths from being trampled.

Over the prisoner's heads, Melissa noticed where the group was now arriving. Coming into a view - a dead end with one generic cell door. Her nerves spiked, fearful of the fatality a sudden about-face would cause. Fortunately, the quick-thinking of a female prisoner did not allow this to come to fruition.

"Staircase!" the prisoner's yell could be barely heard amiss the sounds of bullet shells and screams. Without another word, Melissa and the others began quickly crowding the small door. A gray staircase quickly came into view. Wanting to be quick, the girl tried as best she could to go up the staircase. Even though it was relatively small, the blob of prisoners shifted forward and backward from overcrowding.

After some minutes, an entrance came into view. Preparing for an all too familiar trek, Melissa began to move towards the doorway.

It was not long before the lines of hopeful lavender-clothed prisoners began to fall dead. The small corridor provided great assistance to Alchemilia guards, as droves were shot dead in front of Melissa. Hearing the sounds of shotgun shells, some prisoners quickly began to descend the staircase, searching for an alternative route.

Melissa had to think quickly. She would be either pushed backward by fleeing prisoners, or pushed forward by daring ones. Her heart racing, Melissa looked forward and pushed aside a huddled mass of shot prisoners that were about to fall. Using the chaos to her advantage, Melissa proceeded to turn right, preparing to enter the hallway opposite to the bloodbath.

Melissa pushed passed panicked prisoners, searching for any familiar faces. "Steven! Blossom! Chris?!" She shouted trying to be heard over the noise. *This is hopeless,* she thought. Running to dodge the prisoners and guards, she began searching for a way out of this madness so she could collect her thoughts and figure out her next move.

Removing the explosives from his socks, Marshall piled them near a structural support wall. Pulling the lighter from his pocket, he light it and threw it at the pile before sprinting to get behind something, anything. The explosives went off, throwing him upward. He fell to rubble, scraping and cutting his arms, chest and legs. The explosion took out the support column, leaving a portion of the prison to crumble to the ground. Dust and smoke filled the air of the first level. Marshall pulled himself from the debris, fighting to live. He ran to the stairs, coughing, trying to get above the dusty air. He reached the second floor, before stopping to watch the destruction as more of the prison crumbled.

Marshall looked out at the rubble. He saw movement, familiar movement. *Atticus? Chris? Blossom too. They probably need my help. Fine, I'll go, but they owe me.* As Marshall turned around, he was met by another Alchem. general. Alfred Hermann, his name-tag read.

"*Going somewhere?*" Hermann asked.

"Are they running out of people to fight and bringing you guys in?" Marshall swung at Hermann.

"Not exactly." Hermann, dodging, pushed the boy back. Marshall suddenly lost his balance, falling to the metal floor. Hermann held his hands out, pulled them back far and, like a mousetrap, snapped back, pushing the boy several yards back. Marshall tugged at his one of his guns, "Integrity," as Hermann stepped closer and closer. He finally pulled it out; Hermann became close.

"Genuinely sorry it had to be this way. Such wasted potenti-" Hermann finished as fell to the cold, hard floor. The thud echoed in Marshall's head. The firearm slipped from his hand, falling through the railing to the ground floor.

Li glanced over the railing, watching a section of the prison tumble down. "Some men just want to watch the world burn," he said, sighing. "Open the door now, Samuel. It looks like we do not have very much time left."

Nodding, Samuel began to approach the metallic door. Without thinking much of it, he turned the knob and the door swung open. As light poured into the dark hallway, Samuel prepared himself to enter - before a gloved hand began to squeeze tightly at his neck.

Retroactively, Wen Li quickly prepared to shoot the assistant with Santo's pistol. He prepared to pulled the trigger, before he hesitated at the sight of the attacker's face. The woman from some hours ago, except she was not neat as before. In the doorway stood General Nabi, now in a tattered uniform and a deep cut in her right eye. Remembering the feats she seemingly demonstrated at the bridge, he hesitated for some seconds.

"*Missed me?*" she said, gripping the man tightly. He attempted to claw at her hands, to no avail. A sharp pain hit Samuel, as the woman's hand began to glow a light blue. "Fuck you and the horse you rode in on." At once, in a technique that was familiar to the man - Nabi thew the man across the railing, leaving him to plummet downwards.

Eight feet of metal covered in bone white plating dropped from a floor above, mechanical hands drenched in blood as its eternally grinning face stared Samuel down upon impact - The visage of a canine skull, filled with wires and screws. The area of the floor that Brownlee had landed on was populated only by corpses, their faces twisted into masks of terror. A tail, segmented with a cone shape on the end, began to twist around the monster and move towards Samuel while a static hum emitted from the creature's mouth.

Samuel attempted to crawl away in an attempt to escape from the creature, but to no avail.

The cone at the end of the tail opened into four segments as a long metal needle extended from its tip. Moving like a snake up Samuel's body and to his neck, it found its mark in his carotid artery, numbing the man's body.

The mechanical beast dug his foot into the ground, before pushing off of the concrete to leap to the next floor. It ran, dropping to all floors as it pounced towards the open door that marked a stairwell onto whatever poor soul was heading down.

"Hello Nabi," Li said, keeping his gun aimed at the general. "I assume you were just standing there waiting for someone to open the door the entire time?"

Mechanical screeches continued to echo through the halls like clockwork, as Wen Li fearlessly stared the woman down. "*You're gonna die here!*" she screamed, as the woman slammed a fist onto the metal pathway.

Spontaneously, the burning sheets that littered the prison began to morph. The flames that burned the sheets began to morph, transitioning to blue. They swelled, covering larger areas - like small fireballs. Railing that lined each level received a small, flaming barrier. The prison was now significantly illuminated, the smell of burning linen and corpses from the prison's bottom ever present.

"Then . . . see you in the Underworld, Nabi," Li said, firing at Nabi before she could react. Dropping his firearm, the old man ran to the closest exit he could. A mix of sweat and blood dripped from his face; he was filled with fear.

"You're wasting your*time!*" echoed through the eight floor, as the aggression in the woman's voice confirmed the shot was not fatal. As the old man looked at the now illuminated pathways, he could now clearly see the consequences of his brigade's actions. There was no time to reflect on the lifeless corpses however, as the metal floor lit up with flames in a matter of seconds.

"Cool effect, is this new?" Li yelled out as he kept running. He came to the stairwell where he practically leapt down it to the next floor hoping to evade Nabi long enough to receive help. Looking back, Li lost sight of Nabi. "Guess she hung up."

Wen Li wiped a bit of sweat off his head. He prepared to walk forward, before his progress was halted as chunks of metal began to fly towards his direction.

A massive flaming gap emerged in one of the staircase's metallic walls, as Nabi emerged once again. Her injuries were even more apparent, as bruises and cuts littered her face. "Don't be scared," she said, rushing towards the old man.

"Fuck," Marshall snapped back to reality. He picked himself up and brushed off his *Alchemilia Corporation - 36th Edition* suit and continued toward the staircase. As he made it to the staircase, he heard the screams of his mentor; they grew louder and louder. Marshall began running up the stairs.

Li noticed the boy running towards him, before frantically pointing to him to go the other way, to no avail.

"What is-" Marshall noticed the woman chasing after the older man. "New friend?" Marshall quipped. He began sprinting alongside Li. They made it to the ground floor, exhausted, but kept going. Out in the wide, open courtyard of the prison, bodies lay amongst the rubble and ground. Some from the explosion, others from the doglike mechanical creature.

"So, uh, what now?"

As the boy uttered out the statement, Nabi burst out of the stairwell.

"*You . . "* the woman rapidly walked towards the two. "Evil fucks. Gotten farther than anyone else ever has, congratulations."

Li looked at Marshall, then to Nabi, then down. Li's synapses starting firing rapidly, before coming to a sudden realization. *Didn't she command those gray beings from earlier? Maybe she's one of them. Quick, think. Car horn! That's it! Sound! Loud noises, got it.* At that moment, Li inhaled deeply before letting out a loud screech as Nabi drew closer. The Halan man, not stopping, pointed for Marshall to leave. Instead of obeying the orders, Marshall joined in.

Reactively, Nabi shielded one of her ears from the loud sounds of screeching. Of all the terrorists she had dealt with during her time in the corporation, this "method" of attack was unique to her. She hesitated speaking up, as the Marshall and Li continued to confidently scream as loud as possible. Smiling, the woman prepared to silence the two - before a thought. *Wait,* she thought. Loud sounds? *The art-*

The woman's amusement turned to a bitter rage, as a realization occurred within her. Unaffected by the noises, rings of fire spontaneously appeared around the red-haired woman. She looked to the two in anger.

Marshall was taken aback at the strange occurrence, but trusting in his master, he continued his loud screeches. They come to an end, however - as at once, the woman clenched her fists and let out a loud grunt.

Immediately, the two were knocked back across the floor; hit with a scorching wave of heat. Marshall let out a scream at the sudden shock. As Marshall looked up, he could see a sudden sphere of fire quickly expanding like a supernova. At once, many were instantly charred.

Running down the staircase, Atticus descended onto the first floor again, quickly searching for the entrance he had previously passed through. A quick survey of the room showed just how leveled the floor had been and confirmed his suspicion of an explosion. Before he had time to fully examine the room and possible exits, loud stomping sounds boomed out from behind him.

The metal creature first mauled a rebel on the stairwell, before turning around at the sound of Atticus' heart rate. Returning to a bipedal stance, the doglike monster dropped to the bottom of the stair with a heavy thud. Like a predator salivating at prey, blood dripped from its jaws.

Staring down the creature, Atticus realized how trapped he was due to having Blossom in his arms. While every instinct in his body screamed for him to somehow fight this beast and that this would be his only chance of survival, he tightened his grip on Blossom once more and sprinted into the crowd in the hopes of placing distance between them and the mechanical horror.

The canine abomination shifted into a sprint, pushing anything in his way to the side. Seemingly, it had decided on Atticus as his prey. A robotic growl not unlike a car's engine escaped its jaws as it got closer.

Hearing the pounding of the creature behind him, Atticus continued to sprint across the floor, shoving his way through the crowd. After nearing the other side of the floor, he noticed several doors lining the walls, some ajar and with people flooding into them. He looked over at the door with the least amount of people, shoving through the crowd and leaving through it.

The creature stopped, dead in its tracks as its jaw swung open, unhinging to reveal a metal cylinder with a thin beam of white light now targeting the crowd. As the monster seemingly braced itself, digging its feet into the ground and crossing its arms in an 'x' shape, a chunk of concrete made contact with the back of its skull.

It turned around, looking a young man dead in the eyes. No fear was visible on the boy's eyes, only determination as Chris Wellington stared down the monster.

Picking up a larger chunk of concrete, but keeping his eyes glued on the creature, Chris thought hard about how he could temporarily disable it so Atticus and Blossom escaped free.

As the monster prepared to tackle Wellington, a few bullets connected with its face from the gun of a rebel. Whipping its head around and running at the assailant, Chris sprinted to follow Atticus.

"Atticus!" Chris exclaimed, as he quickly stopped to avoid crashing again. "Where have you been? Is Blossom okay?"

"Have we lost it yet?!" Blossom looked around hurriedly.

"I don't know, I hope so!" Atticus replied, rushing out the corridor and into a new room. The room was long and narrow, with people bustling through, pushing into each other as they ran. Rusted metal chairs and tables were thrown around he concrete floor, light seeping in from the two windows located far apart from each other.

A hard tap on his shoulder caused Atticus to quickly jump around, getting a disgruntled groan from Blossom. Behind him stood Chris, looking slightly tired and missing one arm. The android was repeating his question from before. "No, she's not okay. Looks like she broke some bones, but we can't stand here and talk. We have to get out of here. Fontaine and Marshall are missing, there's some huge creature that was chasing me, killed several people before it focused on me. This whole shit has been a complete disaster and we really need to get out of here."

“I guess it’s not that important to find Fontaine and Marshall,” Chris said, understanding the urgency of the situation. Along with the others, he began to run, making sure Atticus followed behind him. "We need to look out for traps.”

"I highly doubt there's random traps laying around," Atticus remarked, running to keep up with Chris. "Just keep an eye out for any exits we could escape from. I want to get Blossom to Port City, at least."

After running down the corridor a bit, Atticus noticed a longer and less crowded section of it, trailing off into a dark, largely unseen hallway. "Let's go down this way."

With the small group descending upon the path, they ran through the darkness until a small wooden door came into sight. A small square glass window on the door was stamped with **ALCHEMILIA AIRCRAFT HANGAR**.

"I think it would be dangerous to attempt an aircraft escape, but considering how crazy everything has been, I'd be willing to do anything that will get us out of this terrible place," Chris said, as he slowly pushed the door open.

"Mother*fuckers.*"

Across the hangar and standing by a soldier was a tall man in a lavender suit, with his white hair wild and his green eyes wilder. Light reflected off of his glasses as Gabriel Alchemilia stared Atticus down. His face began to twitch as he met Atticus' eyes, twisted in rage.

Seeing the man responsible for all the troubles they faced in the past few months standing just a few feet from him, Atticus felt angry and emboldened. "Oh? So you're escaping like a bitch while everything around you is burning down?" He glared at the man, mirroring his rageful gaze.

Gabriel stepped forward, his shoe scraping against the concrete ground as he held a cane in his clenched fist, his knuckles white. "Hoho, you're approaching me?" A manic delight entered his eyes and lit them up. "Instead of running away, you're coming closer?"

Staring at Gabriel and the guard behind him, Atticus backed up a bit, feeling Blossom's weight in his arms still. "Why are you escaping? Can't handle some smoke after all the fires you caused?"

Letting go of Blossom with one hand and adjusting her weight onto his other arm, Atticus dropped his free hand to his waist, pulling out one of the Five-Sevens he had brought and raised it up. "I wouldn't suggest coming closer."

Even though he had never actually used his weapon before, he was beginning to feel uneasy with how close Gabriel was getting.

"Come on, Atticus," he snarled, baring his teeth. "I can't beat the shit out of you without getting closer." Twisting his other hand around the metal snake coiled around the tip of the cane, he pulled just once to reveal a green blade of light, long and thin.

With a mad spark in his eyes, he quickly shot forward towards Atticus, the sound of a gunshot ringing out through the room following.

Gabriel swung his sword to the side as the bullet collided with it, filling the room with the deafening sound of metal heating up, like the whistle of a kettle. The bullet shot through the nearby guard's helmet, leaving a smoking hole as fell to the ground. Gabriel grinned. "Tell me, Atticus, is this justice?" He landed on the ground, closer to Atticus. "A useless endeavor."

With the gun in his hand shaking, Atticus's breath caught as he stared at the now lifeless guard laying in their own blood. Dead due to him, because he tried to be the hero of the situation. Knowing he couldn't back off now, Atticus turned his gaze back to Gabe, his voice shaking slightly as he began to speak. "No, it's not. Far from it. You would know about murdering innocents though, right? Do you remember Savannah?"

Alchemilia's face flashed to anger. "I've done nothing wrong! Hundreds of lives for one?!" He began to stomp forward, his blade at the ready as his eyelids twitched violently. His fingers began to shake, so he clenched his hand again into a fist. "A three-hundred year empire gone because a hired gun went off-orders and killed one bitch!? You piece of dog shit!"

Marshall briefly looked in awe at the prison. Even if whatever it was would lead to certain death, the collection of blue and red hues that slowly swallowed the entire prison was beautiful him. He looked in shock, before Wen Li screamed for a bright hallway. The boy did not have time to think as he rushed towards the exit. The metallic tiles reflected the fire that slowly "chased" him. Sweat dripped from their bodies as Marshall and Li ran, both from Nabi's supernatural fire and exhaustion. They ran aimlessly, searching for an exit - before the bolded word "Hangar" stood out to them. Immediately, they ran for the open door.

Gabriel bit his lip, stepping back from Atticus slowly. "M... Marshall Rooke..." The slow steps back quickly shifted into a sprint, before leaping behind a Hummingbird. Desperately, he searched through his jacket to find a radio. "Hello!? Fuck! FUCK!" The small object was completely crushed, absolutely unusable.

"Chris," Atticus snapped. "Take Blossom from me and hide with her somewhere safe while Gabe is distracted."

Chris grabbed Blossom from Atticus' arms, rushing into a nearby plane without a word. The plane was huge, with scarce windows, and did not have a protective seal over-top the door. He locked up the doors and laid Blossom down in a small blue seat, crouching down behind one of the front seats so that he could see the encounter.

"Throwing a party?" Li quipped. "Shame we weren't invited."

Gabriel's signature footsteps of his irregular gait echoed in his head. "It's been a while, Gabriel."

Seeing the commotion occur, Atticus instantly jumped behind one of the hummingbirds stacked around the hangar, leaning against it and looking around the corner of it, looking for any sight of Gabriel. "Where did you go, you bastard?" He called out, tauntingly.

Gabriel grinned, though his eyes remained manically focused, before launching himself at Atticus from the shadows. The light of the sword returned, bathing both Gabriel and Atticus in a sickly green tint. Gabriel bared his teeth further as he swung the blade, narrowly avoiding Atticus' neck as he kicked off of the white haired man and began to run.

"Too slow!" Alchemilia shouted, jumping forward as he swung again, this time making contact with Atticus' hand, removing his little finger and leaving a nasty cut.

Feeling pain sear through his hand and down his arm, Atticus dropped to his knees involuntarily, overtaken. "Fuckk..I-" With a loss of words, he gazed upwards at Gabriel.

Gabriel stood to his feet, swinging the sword around lightly as a natural extension of his arm. "This really is the greatest high - Victory, that is." Raising it above his head, ready to strike, he adjusted his glasses. "Being able to see someone who thinks he's hot shit and, well, metaphorically tell him 'No, I refuse!'" Gabriel began to laugh, "That's the best feeling!"

Atticus gazed at the man, a half-smile spreading across his face as he spoke. "I agree."

Pulling his second gun out of its holster, he aimed it upwards at Gabriel, shooting twice.

Gabriel swung his sword, a bullet flying away yet again, though this only left an opening for the other to strike him in his chest. "Sh- shit!" He exclaimed, staggering back and biting straight through his lip in pain. His white suit began to turn red around the bullet hole, but Gabriel pressed on back towards Atticus, "I can take this!" He swung his sword wildly. "I'll disintegrate you, you bastard!"

Avoiding the swinging blade, Atticus threw himself backward, landing on his back before kicking forward and making contact with Gabriel's knee, using the chance to fire his gun again.

Li slowly walked farther into the hangar. Out of nowhere, a bullet came from above, piercing the older man's right shoulder. He fell to the floor, but caught himself.

Gabriel shifted the sword into a defensive position, in an attempt to deflect the bullet. Raising himself again to his feet, he twirled the sword around and stepped on Atticus' aimed hand. Gasping for air as his shoulder twitched, uncomfortable seconds of silence were broken by Gabriel's hushed rage. "Know your place." With a shout following, the sword plunged into Atticus' stomach.

Screaming in pain as the sword tore through him, Atticus dropped his gun, his scream becoming inaudible low sounds as he struggled for air.

"My heart-" Gabriel gasped, swallowing saliva. "-and actions are entirely unclouded. They are all those.... of justice." He pushed the blade further, grinning for yet another few silent seconds before he collapsed to the ground as well.

The old man peered upwards into a hanger, searching for the location of the assailant. Unfortunately for him, this only made him an easier target. A red dot quickly manifested itself on Wen Li's forehead, before a shot was fired. The man did not scream, as life drained from his body. His vision blurred as he fell to the floor, killing him instantly.

Marshall frantically pulled a gun out of his holster, screaming at the loss of his comrade. He shot aimlessly, above, attempting to pinpoint the location of the gunmen. At once, the attackers revealed themselves. Thirty men armed with grenade launchers, pistols, and blades of plasma quickly rushed towards Marshall. He attempted to pierce their armor with his bullets, but to no avail. Not caring for Marshall's desperate assault, one man kneed the boy to the ground. As Marshall lay on the cold metal floor, he felt the force of a metal fist connecting with his jaw. The pain would only end as a blue blade plunged itself into his heart.

A solemn picture developed in the room. The bodies of Atticus and Gabriel lay stiff near each other, each man having died from their wounds as they bled out over the floor.

Across the hangar, the Alchem guards hovered over Li and Marshall, gazing down at their work with slight smiles on their face. The other members of their group, the "Devlin siblings" as their data read, had already been killed by the android. Only Chris Wellington and Blossom Cane remained and their capture was imminent.

The scene then darkened into complete blackness, before crumbling into particles and blowing away, leaving Atticus blinking at the entrance of the hangar, Chris next to him and Blossom in his arms. Gabriel stood with his guard near a hummingbird, his hand over his cane and his gaze focused on Atticus, rage flowing through it.

Processing his vision, Atticus knew what he needed to do - it was up to him to prevent all of those deaths. He didn't even have time to be shocked by his vision. Quickly moving Blossom to one arm, he grabbed one of his guns from his holster and shot towards Gabriel. Firing several rounds, he shot at Gabriel's guard first, killing them instantly before turning the weapon on Gabriel and shooting his cane out of his hand, blood flowing in its wake.

"Mother*fucker.*" Surprisingly, Gabriel seemed relatively unfazed, though with a cursory glance at his bloodied hand he noticed a severed pinkie. "Do you believe in gravity, Atticus? The idea -" He winced in pain. "- that two people are drawn together by fate?" Alchemilia began to feel around in his pocket, desperately, while he spoke. "There's no reason that you should be the one standing in front of me, of all people, and yet..."

Keeping his gun aimed on the older man, Atticus smirked. "Yeah, I guess fate works in mysterious ways. It's led us to here. How does it feel to have your shitty empire falling down? Do you feel powerful now?"

"Shut the FUCK up!" He jumped forward at Atti with a small knife from his pocket, barely enough to leave a cut, as his eyes flashed back into manic rage and his mouth twisted into a snarl.

Slightly surprised at the man's new form of attack, Atticus pressed his finger on the trigger again, shooting off several more rounds at Gabriel in a blast, only stopping when Gabriel dropped to the ground, dropping his knife.

Gabriel crawled backwards, using his arms to prop himself up. Blood began to shoot from his mouth in small fits of coughing. "Y... You are my greatest regret..."

"Passwords..." Samuel launched four grenades towards the metallic door. The explosion blew the door open, revealing a massive aircraft carrier illuminated by daylight. He looked down at the scene before him, from the second level. Standing out from the barren area, he watched in surprise as Atticus loomed over a pathetic Gabriel, gun in hand.

The man jumped downwards into the hangar, carefully carrying a stack of glossy tablets with him. As he walked down, he could see Chris come into view, observing the altercation. "Hey!" he called out. "I'm getting the hell out. Are you coming?"

Deciding not to question the sudden arrival or the blast, Atticus looked over to Samuel, keeping his gun aimed on Gabriel. "How do you plan to get out of here? And what are we going to do about this rat?"

Samuel ignored Alchemilia, and continued to be fixated on Atticus. "He doesn't matter. I'll get one of these jets and leave."

"Okay, but we need somewhere safe for Blossom, her legs and arms seem to be broken," Atticus told the man. Glancing down at Gabriel, he began to speak again. "We can't just leave him here, the whole purpose of this mission was to get rid of him."

"No time for prisoners, Atticus. We're sitting ducks. You and Chris work something out - I'm taking one of these choppers," replied Samuel.

"Chris, can you please carry Blossom to the aircraft with Samuel? I want to remain here..for now." Atticus asked, staring down at Gabriel, who simply stared back with pain ridden across his face.

“Sure thing, Atticus,” Chris said, taking Blossom from Atticus and placing her in his arms, he began motioning to Samuel as he headed to the aircraft. “And let me know if you need any help with Gabriel.”

Upon entering the hangar, Li motioned Marshall to go ahead with Samuel and Chris to the Hummingbird. Li slowly waddled with pain over to Atticus. "Come on," he said monotonously, looking down at the man. "It's done."

Samuel silently noted as Marshall started to follow him. The two followed the man briefly, as he searched for an appropriate vehicle to use for his exit. In one of the room's corners, his choice would come into view. Neatly parked on the light green floors of the aircraft hangar, was a glossy black hummingbird. The aircraft had large rocket mounts in its front, and was capable of seating about ten people. Brownlee smiled at the sight. Carefully, he placed down his grenade launcher and a set of tablets.

Samuel opened up the back-doors of the vehicle, revealing sizable leather seats. "Get in. Now."

Looking over at Li, Atticus nodded slightly, knowing it was time to leave. Placing his gun in his holster again, he turned away from Gabriel without saying a word, following behind Li as he walked towards the hummingbird, the only sound audible Gabriel's coughing fits of laughter.

Melissa limped forward in the metallic, dark hallway. Her right arm was black with burns, cuts, and bruises. As the sharp pains coarsed through her veins, she remembered vividly the great explosion of fire that occured within the prison. The blast had killed a majority of the guards, making her escape easier, but the twisted faces of corpses were imprinted within her mind. She did not wish for this pain to break her.

A bright door slowly came into view. She could barely make out the evening sun shining into a room in front of her. Confidently, she walked forward into the room, which housed dozens of aircraft carriers. She scanned the room, before noticing the faces of Chris and Marshall before. With an ounce of adrenaline, she ran forward towards them, pain all over her body.

Steven ran back down the hallway, stopping just before the main corridor to stop and scan the area for his sister. "Melissa! Where are you?!" He shouted out, trying to get his voice to carry out over the riot but failing. "This is going to be harder than I thought," he mumbled to himself. Seeing no sight of his sister, Steven ran into the chaos, dodging gunshots and avoiding fights as he continued his search.

Steven scrambled to a corpse, searching for an intact radio. From body to body, all he was finding was junk crushed under the rubble. "Come on, come on... Yes!" He nearly shouted under his breath, finding what he'd been looking for as he quickly punched some numbers in. "Fontaine? Are you there?!" A few seconds of silence passed before a gruff voice responded.

"Yeah, right here. Are you with your sister? Go get her and head for the hangar, you need to get out of here as quickly as possible. We don't have much time."

"Alright." Steven spoke, dropping the radio into his pocket as he ran.

Breathless, Steven continued to run, hearing the metal pounding behind him grow closer. Barging into the hangar room, he saw his sister running towards their group, everyone seemingly being there. Sighing in relief, he took off running again, before coming into contact with a figure on the ground and tripping over them. Looking up, he noticed a silver-haired man on the ground him, covered in blood from various gunshots. Standing up, he was unsure of what to do and looked over at the group hovering around the hummingbird.

Pouncing from the roof and drenched in blood, a broad-shouldered skeleton of metal and bone loomed over Steven. Gabriel grinned, shedding all pretense of pain and weakness. In one fluid motion, he grabbed his cane again and stood to his feet. "Bravo, Hound! Who's a good boy?" Steven's face froze in fear as he felt the presence of something massive behind him. He reached into a pocket, before finding he had no weapon, and then finding a fist through his abdomen.

There was no pain, only shock as the canine-skulled monster grinned emptily behind. Steven reached to grab the fist, one hand still in his pocket, as Gabriel ran to duck behind cover. Blood dripped from Steven's mouth as he realized he could not speak, and thus only had one option.

*"Call me only if something goes terribly wrong and you can't make it out alive."* Fontaine had told him a few minutes prior, and this seemed like as good a time as any. His sister, yes, he had to do this for his sister. Out of his pocket slipped a radio, along with the gruff voice of one John Fontaine.

"I understand. Godspeed - Steven Devlin."

"*No!"* As if she herself had been the victim, Melissa felt a frustrated nauseousness. Her vision blurred momentarily, as the life slowly drained from Steven. Her legs moved forward, running towards Steven.

Atticus felt a sense of dread develop him as he watched his vision unfold before his eyes - he had failed to save Steven. But no, he couldn't let himself get distracted here, he could still save a life.

"Melissa, stop!"

Breaking from Li's side, Atticus sprinted across the hangar, quickly catching up to Melissa and grabbing her hand, pulling her back. The metal beast stood in its spot still, its eyes trained on them. "We have to get out of here, you'll only die!"

Melissa looked back at Atticus, tears in her eyes. "He's my brother, we can't leave him here. I finally remembered my life with him and *now* he's dead."

As soon as she stopped speaking, the complex began to shake in a loud rumble, the glass windows shattering over them.

Covering his face with other arm, Atticus turned around and began dragging Melissa with him. "We have to go now. We have no other choice, now come!"

Without a word, she nodded and turned to face his direction, the two of them running towards the hummingbird.

The hummingbird's front window began to close as Samuel hastily situated himself. From the window, he watched in disappointment as the body of Steven Devlin was tossed aside like trash. The mechanical creature moved to Alchemilia, as the two began heading in the opposite direction. As the building continued to shake violently, he turned his fixation escape. He flicked the hummingbird's engine on, causing a whirling sound to reverberate through the interior.

Li watched with uneasy confidence as Samuel took control of the vehicle. Managing a set of triggers and buttons, Brownlee activated the vehicle's four sets of rotor blades. Atticus and Melissa quickly ran towards a passenger door, launching themselves into the aircraft. At once, the aircraft began to ascend.

Not wanting to search for a runway, Samuel launched the aircraft directly upward into the glass ceiling. Firing two sets of rockets, the ceiling was quickly blown open. Glass descended onto the floor and hummingbird, as Samuel maneuvered himself into the newly created hole. This explosion would be followed by more, as sounds of large explosions could be heard below them. Flying into the open sea, Atticus peered into an open window.

Large chunks of metal began to fall into the open sea, as Remnant Rock slowly began to collapse. Each large snake statue slowly began to sink, as large scale explosions befell the city. As Samuel continued to accelerate the hummingbird, Atticus could also see as the Port City bridge began to fall apart. Not wanting to see anymore, Atticus turned his head away. The mission has been completed.

## Epilogue

As the screen centered on the blonde man, a Silivian newscaster, he stared directly into the camera and began to speak without haste.

"Good evening. We interrupt your local broadcasting to bring you breaking news of an apparent attack on Alchemilia Corporation properties. Remnant Rock, headquarters of Alchemilia Corporation and located in Port City, has been bombed, the death toll is in the high hundreds. In our neighboring city of Gladea," the newscaster paused to take a breath as he listened to the news pouring in from his earpiece. "The Alchemilia Corporation building in Gladea has been burnt to the ground, death toll is unknown. Right now, it is unknown who or what is behind these attacks and we hope to keep you updated as news continues to pour in."

The man turned his gaze away, the segment preparing to end. Instantly looking back up at the camera, he began to speak again, shock visible on his face. "I was just informed that the identities of the masterminds behind this attack are now known due to a tip. Apparently the attackers are human and local to Silivia."

One by one, pictures of seven figures appeared on screen, next to the man.

"Steven Devlin - scientist at The Laboratory of the Unexplainable.

Melissa Devlin - the apparent sister of the first attacker.

Wen Li - owner of Plant Empire.

Samuel Brownlee - scientist and owner of The Laboratory of the Mind.

Blossom Cane - an assistant at The Laboratory of the Mind.

Marshall Rooke - long-standing wanted street criminal.

And-"

The newscaster paused again, before continuing.

"Atticus Anoethite - the adopted son of mayor Rosington, officially declared deceased months ago after disappearing in a demon attack on the outskirts of the city. But he is very much alive, and seemingly radicalized. As more news comes in, we'll keep you updated."

The armored man stood below the window, carefully observing the droplets of rain outside. Euclid's weathers were alien to him, and he wished for some air to pass inside the dreary room he stood in.

A cloaked figure sat some feet away from him. Its "face" was a moving mist. Two green eyes could be seen below its brownish cloak. The man turned away from his window, seeking to talk with his visitor. As if cued, the rain solidified itself, becoming suspended in the damp air. He quickly walked to the room's acacia table, sitting down to face the figure.

"Do you have it?" he asked. The metal that enclosed his jaw moved as he spoke. The golden light that shone from his mouth was the same as the light surrounding his white, metallic body.

The figure across from him stood silent for a moment. It lifted its hand, stripping the wood from the table in front of it. The pieces floated in the air, before putting themselves together into an icosahedron. The brownish wood that formed the shape transcended into a white porcelain. The dice proceeded to open its faces, as a black briefcase manifested itself onto the table.

"Yes." said the figure. The man, ignoring what happened, quickly opened the briefcase. Syringes, canisters, of a glowing liquid were encased inside. The liquid would fade between various colors.

"Alchemilia was respected within this world. Was it necessary to cause a scene?" asked the man.

"We wish for our own fun too, Ronin." responded the figure.

The man paused. "As you wish, Yaakov. Tell the others to meet me soon." The man grabbed the briefcase, putting it to his side.

"Alright." With that, the room crumbled like dust.

In the distance, children laughed and played. Birds chirped as they built their nests. The sun awoke from its slumber and beamed done upon the trees and rocks. As footsteps approached, rabbits ran to their burrows. Warren stopped and took a drink of water. As he pulled his head up, a strange figure suddenly appeared in front of him. He was dressed in long, green robes and a hood with wooden sandals.

"Are you lost? Do you need help?"

The figure grabbed him and dragged him into a nearby cave.

"No, but you will soon," he said in a monotone voice.

He approached a large throne of large slabs bound together by rope. Sitting on the throne was a man in dark green robes.

"Just a few more."

"Who the *hell* are you?"

The being wheezed out something resembling a laugh.

A burst of wind abruptly flooded the cavern, drowning the pair in darkness by extinguishing the being's lantern. When it stopped, the girl realized she could no longer feel the ground beneath her. She quickly realized she was somehow floating.

The girl noticed something in the darkness in front of her. A small, white disc, like a distant star in the night sky. It was growing larger, slowly.

Then her vision was flooded with light and her ears were flooded with sound. She closed her eyes and plugged her ears even though it failed to lessen the onslaught. The sphere had encompassed the whole of the darkness and swallowed her.

Then it was over.

Weakly opening her eyes, the girl saw stars and nebulae now dotted a celestial canvas. Where the sphere had first appeared, there were now six figures, some almost human and others completely alien. They looked ahead, away from the girl. One was a tall, muscular man dressed in lavish bronze armor. His legs were resembled those of a bovine, though they were artificial and made of solid gold. The backs of his hands were covered in devices which vaguely resembled clocks. Another was a being clothed in purple robes with yellow accents. It was impossible to make out as it was accompanied by heavy fog.

The most human of the group was a man dressed in regal attire with a crown atop his head. He stood next to a demon male: a tall, muscular, red-skinned creature with horns and hooves. He wore simple clothing, little more than rags. The last two figures could hardly be called beings at all. One had a translucent blue exterior in the general shape of humanoid with a glowing red orb within. The other wore translucent green robes and had a glowing white orb which floated just above its shoulders for a head.

The girl was still trying to process what had just happened when she felt herself being pulled downwards. As she fell, the interstellar landscape was replaced with a clear blue sky.

She had fallen into a desert. She examined her surroundings and found two crude structures in front of her: a large cube made of mud-bricks (she assumed it was a home from an absence around the size of a door) and a small cactus garden. The body of a young boy dressed in crude garb with a scythe through his heart rested nearby.

"*Ask a man of science who I am and they will tell you I am an Alexander-class Reality Manipulator.*"

The girl could tell where the voice was coming from behind her. She turned to face it and saw an open wooden door. The stellar landscape she had seen before was briefly visible on the other side before the door abruptly shut. It changed from wood to sand and collapsed into a heap.

She heard something else, although it was not speech. The girl turned to see one of the entities she had seen earlier, the translucent grey humanoid, had appeared in front of the boy's remains. It took the scythe from his heart and watched as the corpse rapidly decayed into ash. As the process took place, the girl noticed that the entity's appearance changing. It had taken the boy's features, becoming identical in appearance and clothing.

"*Ask a follower of Xeren who I am and they will tell you I am the shepherd of souls, the one tasked with bringing the recently deceased from the living world to the next.*"

The entity turned to face the girl. "All of these titles may be accurate, but they leave out something very important," he said.

A darkness encompassed the area as the desert shifted into the cave where the being had first appeared. The entity began to age rapidly and his scythe became a lantern and primitive clothes were replaced with tattered grey robes.

"My name," he continued. "It's Charon."

Charon reached into a pocket and retrieved a paper. "That's enough about me. You have been afforded an incredibly rare opportunity, Miss Whitesmith. You have been afforded the choice to be resurrected, rather than proceeding directly to the afterlife."

The deity passed the paper over to Savannah. She saw it was a contract, although its exact terms were obscured by strange words or nonsensical specifics. The year, for instance, was rendered as "4736δ". Trying to squint at the fine print hurt her eyes.

"This document does not exist; rather, it is an attempt by the human mind to understand something above its abilities to comprehend. It appears as a contract because that is the closest perceptible equivalent," Charon took out a pen. "All you need to know is that signing this will bring you back."

Metal fingers danced across a surface of opal as they eventually reached a game set similarly to Chess. Three sides decorated with identical pieces, gold, red and white. Moving the pieces around incoherently, the massive golden hand shifted into a fist and slammed onto the board, causing the pieces to fly into the air, slowly as though moving through water.

Clanging erupted from golden feet on the gemstone floor as they were kneeled next to by beings in blue robes - Not quite human, though not too different. Some of the creatures fanned the enormous figure of gleaming aurum with large purple leaves as it approached a white door decorated with intricate carvings and a red gemstone for a knob.

Whilst hooded subjects fitted a blue cape lined with fur and golden runes onto the mighty golden sentinel’s back, its hand met the door, caressing it gently.

Until Dawn >

 S2: