Battle Heroes X Vetera: S01E12

Plane, Train and Pain is the twelfth episode of Battle Heroes X Vetera. In the episode, Julius, Zack and Cloud must embark on a mission to assist another team of rangers in delivering an important piece of equipment.

Julius, Zack and Cloud must embark on a mission to assist another team of rangers in delivering an important piece of equipment.

## The Episode

It was a quiet night in Belview City. Julius laid in bed, unable to sleep. After what he did yesterday, he didn't deserve any rest. He didn't deserve anything. Popple needed him, and he wasn't there to support her. All day, his mind was bombarded with the same words. *Failure. Screw-up. Craven. Coward.* As he laid in bed, staring at the ceiling, Julius heard his morpher go off. The teen snapped back to reality and lightly groaned before rolling on his side to reach his bedside table, where he knew the source of the noise was. Julius picked up his morpher and answered the call.

"Hello?" He answered.

Space Commander Roy's gruff voice began to speak. "Julius, this is Space Commander Roy. I need you to scramble your team and get to the city park for an aircraft pick-up. You're needed for an emergency mission. Roy out." The call ended.

The red ranger got out of bed and stumbled through the darkness of his room for the door. Once in the hallway, he went to Zack and Cloud's doors, knocking on them.

"Guys, wake up. Roy needs us for a mission at the park." Julius announced.

Cloud's groggy voice emanated from his room. "An emergency mission at...2:00 in the morning? Who commits crime at 2:00 in the morning?"

A flash of light filled Zack's room before he emerged. he was morphed and ready to go. "No sunlight, few people outside, it's the perfect setting for a crime," Zack reasoned. Cloud soon left his room as well, also morphed.

"Alright, I'll go start the Delta Cruiser. You guys can go get Popple," Zack suggested.

Julius used his morpher and morphed as well. "Roy just asked for us three."

"Makes sense, she's still going through what happened to her dad. Then there's whatever you did to her. She hasn't answered any of our call."

"What really happened last night, Julius?" Cloud questioned. "Seriously, just lay it out on us."

Julius shook his head and walked past the two, going down the stairs. "It was just an arguement, alright?"

"Doesn't seem like it," Zack countered. "Come on, might as well tell us now before Popple tells us."

Julius walked out of the door and opened the garage, revealing the Delta Cruiser. "Can you just shut up about it? Let's get this mission over with so we can go home."

Zack got in the front seat. "Popple it is."

Julius and Cloud got in their seats and Zack began the drive to the park. The ride was silent. Everyone wondered what mission could be so important? When they arrived at the park, an aircraft was there to pick them up as promised. Space Commander Roy greeted them as the three got on and the aircraft went off the ground.

"You made good time. This mission is extremely time sensitive," He said as the three sat on the bench across from him in the back of the aircraft.

"What's the situation?" Julius asked.

The Space Commander took a deep breath before beginning. "At around 10:00 in the evening, we received word that the black box to Bane's shuttle had been found on Earth."

"Black box?" Cloud asked, confused.

"A black box is a device that contains a recording of everything that transpires on a vehicle. Since his shuttle exploded, we've been searching extensively for it. It could contain valuable information on how to combat the void."

"And I'm guessing a certain special someone doesn't want that happening? Was it Bane?" Zack guessed. "Did he escape prison and we need to deep six him?"

"We don't know yet, Zack. But if it was Bane, you would be tasked with bringing him back into custody, *alive*."

"Right..."

"Another group of rangers were tasked with delivering the flight recorder to Belview City via train. And 30 minutes after they departed, communications went dead. Your mission is to catch the train, figure out what's going on, and ensure that the box gets to the SPD lab safely."

Julius pondered the mission. "So now we're on our way to one of the train stops, right? So we can hop on once it arrives?"

"If no one on board is responding, then that means the train's compromised. No way in hell it's stopping so we can get on," Zack answered.

Cloud perked up. "Which can only mean one thing..."

Roy reached next to him and distributed black backpacks. "Yes, you three will have to land on the train from above."

Julius whipped his head to Roy. "Wait, WHAT?! You want us to jump from here onto the train?!"

"Correct. Take some to prepare yourselves, we're still far off from our target."

"How about these other rangers we're helping?" Cloud asked.

"They're another team of rangers just like yourselves, stationed farther west. They're the ones who found the box and brought it to our state. The team's lead by a Rufus Jones."

Zack nodded his head. "Alright, east side meets west side."

The aircraft continued on in silence. Roy cleared his throat. "Mmm...rangers. I know that things are difficult right now, with what happened to Popple. I want to assure you that our best are on the case to get to the bottom of this." Finally, the pilot spoke from the cockpit. "Alright, we're nearing the target. Get ready!"

Zack and Cloud rose to their feet. The green ranger glanced at Julius, who was still deep in thought and poked him with his shoulder. "Look alive, Julius. Mission time."

Julius shook his head to focus himself and got up behind them. "Worry about yourself, Zack. I'll be fine."

"I just don't want you focusing on the wrong things," Zack pointed out.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Rangers?" Roy announced to get the quarreling teammates' attention.

The hatch to the aircraft opened, exposing the team to the nighttime atmosphere. A gust of wind filled the aircraft. They were hovering high above the ground, and even farther away from the city. A dark grassy field was below them. The railroad ran through the grassy area, the train passing through, albeit at a crawl.

"Is there a problem here?" He inquired authoritatively, raising his voice to be heard above the noise of the wind.

Zack shrugged. "Not at all! We'll get it done!"

"Alright, rangers, go go go!" The pilot yelled out to them.

Cloud jumped out first, hollering all the way out. "Awwwww YEAAAAHHH.....!"

Zack rushed forward and leapt out into the night. Julius took a deep breath before running out himself and leaping from the aircraft. He straightened his arms and legs to increase his speed so he could catch up with Zack and Cloud. Below them, the train was now visible below. It was a long and silver one. At their speed, it was growing larger and larger. Zack raised his hand up. "Alright, pull your cords on three! One! Two...THREE!"

The team pulled their cords and immediately felt themselves being yanked up by the parachute. Finally, it was smooth sailing as they slowly descended. The train was still moving below, but it appeared to be moving even slower. As they got closer and closer, everyone could see a thin buildup of smoke coming from one of the train cars in the back. Eventually, the three landed on the roof of a train car in the middle. They removed their packs.

"Now that's how you land on a train!" Cloud said, celebrating their arrival.

Zack surveyed his surroundings. "We need a way in! Let's see if we can get to the edge of this train car!"

The green ranger walked to the edge of the train car and jumped down. A silver sliding door stood before him. He opened it up and let the others in before entering himself. Inside of the train was completely different from outside. the car they were in was well lit with lights all along the silver walls. There were rows of seats on each side of them.

Cloud looked to his right, then to his left. "Alright, so which way do we start?"

Both paths were blocked by sliding doors. As the team pondered the question, their thoughts were interrupted by the sound of gunfire and yelling. They came from the right side, the direction leading to the front of the train.

"Guess we got our answer," Zack stated, summoning his blaster with both hands.

Slowly, he crept towards the sliding door. The gunshots and yelling became louder and louder. Suddenly, a loud impact pierced the air through the door's window, Zack saw a man dressed in black collide face first with the door on the other side. He slowly slid down out of view. Zack cautiously slid the door open. The room was identical to the one they entered, but this one was littered with the bodies of men just like the one who hit the door. They all wore black helmets, black protective vests and coats, along with dark pants and boots. The strangest thing about them were the glowing purple aura that emanated from their bodies. In the center of the room, a red ranger was catching his breath. He was bigger than the three rangers and wore a similar uniform to Julius, but his red was a darker shade and his helmet was noticeably larger. White gauntlet-like weapons adorned his hands.

Cloud looked around the room in amazement. "Awesome! What weapons are those?"

"Huh?" The red ranger immediately looked up and saw the newcomers. Upon recognizing their armor, he relaxed a little. "More rangers? What're you doing here?"

"Space Commander Roy tasked us with coming down here to help when communications were cut." Zack responded.

"Yeah, we had to go black on comms when these bandits arrived," He explained, gesturing to the bodies strewn around the car. "Cleared out most of them."

"Hope not. I'm losing beauty sleep for this, the least you could do is leave me some asses to kick."

The red ranger chuckled at his comment. "I like your confidence." He dismissed his gauntlet weapons and stepped forward, extending his hand. "Rufus."

Zack stepped over the body of one of the men and shook it. "Zack." He pointed his thumb behind him. "Red's Julius and blue's Cloud."

Rufus nodded to them in greeting. "A pleasure. Where's the rest of your team?"

"Yellow's out of action," Zack explained quickly. "We never had a pink assigned to our team."

"I see. Well, follow me, I'll introduce you to the rest of my team so we can get down to brass tacks."

Rufus turned around and exited the car through the door. Julius, Zack, and Cloud followed through to the other train car. This one contained significantly more room than the last, as it had no seats taking up space. A blue ranger was reading a manual, a green one laid on the ground, inspecting two blasters, and a yellow and pink ranger. were taking turns looking through the sliding door on the other side of the room.

"Team?" Rufus said, raising his voice to get their attention. Everyone looked up. "The Space Commander sent help to help deal with the situation. Meet Zack, Julius, and Cloud."

Julius, bouncing through his mind that he should say something as his team's leader, stepped forward. "H-how's it going?" He mentally hit himself for stammering.

The green ranger leaned on his elbows and looked at the three. "Back-up? Do we even need it? I *guess* I could use some...did any of you bring snacks? We've been here for hours!" He rubbed his stomach for emphasis.

"That's Edward. Weapons expert."

Edward waved from the ground. "Seriously, I'll take anything. Even a granola bar!"

Rufus turned to the other rangers. "Don't be fooled by his lack of professionalism, he's a valuable asset to the team."

"Come on, Rufus, I'm starving here!"

The red ranger now gestured to the blue ranger. "This is Roger, our technology specialist. One of the smartest men I know."

"That would be hard to count, considering your age and how many men you must have..." Roger caught himself. "...Thank you, sir. Nice to meet you three. You must be the team from Belview, right? Good work dealing with Bane, it'll be interesting working alongside you."

Finally, Rufus led the boys to the pink and yellow rangers. "And these two are-"

The pink ranger perked up. "Marge!"

The yellow ranger perked up as well. "And Tina!"

"Nice to meet ya!" They said in unison.

"Cool!" Cloud acknowledged. "You guys even sounded alike!"

Marge and Tina's helmets were dismissed, revealing their faces. They both had olive skin and long black hair held in ponytail fashions. A closer look showed that they had the exact same face. "That's 'cause we're twins!"

"They've been rehearsing that for a while!" Edward called out in a sing-songy voice from the back.

Marge whipped her head towards her teammate. "Shut up, Eddie!" She turned back, her voice back to normal. "Anyway...nice to meet you! It's hard to meet people when you're always busy saving the Earth."

Zack shrugged coolly. "Yeah, it's hard being the last line between the planet and total destruction. Right, Cloud?"

Cloud was still staring at the twins. "Heh...yeah, you said it. So...you two.."

"Are our vehicles expert and intel agent," Rufus pointed out. "Marge and Tina have gotten us out of a lot of pinches throughout the years."

"How long have you guys been rangers for?" Marge asked.

"Ehh, give or take a couple of years," Cloud answered. "We've seen our fair share of danger. Typical life or death scenarios, just another day in the life."

Marge and Tina giggled with each other. Rufus looked at the twins, then at Zack and Cloud and shook his head, as if this was a common occurrence.

"Anyway, that's introductions. Let's get down to business." He said walking to the center of the room. His teammates circled around him instinctively. Julius, Zack and Cloud followed.

Once everyone was together, Rufus broke down the situation. "We loaded up the train at 12:00 and were on our way to Belview City when we heard the sound of metal being torn from one of the train cars in the middle. When we went to investigate, swarms of these men in assault vests dropped in. We've been occupied with them for a good while. Problem is that at some point, we started slowing down to a snail's pace."

"I can answer that," Zack said. "When we were landing, we saw smoke coming from the back. Guessing that's where the engine is."

Roger closed his manual. "Correct. It's as I feared, these hostiles were decoys, meant to occupy us while they sabotaged our locomotive. Question is, was the engine the only way we were crippled?"

Rufus mulled over this. "Good point. We need to consider every option." He looked to Marge and Tina. "Marge, Tina, thoughts?"

Tina spoke up. "Well, I didn't see anything tracking us as we were leaving, so I don't think it could be one of our baddies."

"How do you know this?"

"I was kinda, maybe, sorta...hanging out on top of one of the cars snapping pictures as we were going..."

Rufus put his palm on his helmet. "Why would you do that? We're on a mission!"

Marge came to her sister's defense. "It was a beautiful night! When would we ever get the chance to take a picture on top of a train?"

The red ranger groaned. "Don't tell me you were up there as well. Please."

"Of course not!" Marge answered defensively. "I was chatting with the cute conductor."

"Mmmm..." Rufus uttered. "What about you three? Thoughts?"

"Could be a bad guy of ours," Cloud offered. "The Negative Ranger."

Edward perked up. "Ooh, sounds cool. What's his story? One of us gone rogue?"

"Nah, he's this monster made up of this dark energy!"

"Then why call him the Negative Ranger? He's not even one of us," Roger questioned.

Cloud looked away. "Look, it sounded cool and we all agreed it was cool when I used it, okay?"

"Cloud's right," Julius agreed. "...About it being one of our guys, not the name...not that the name isn't cool..." He shook his head to get back on topic. "Look, that energy of his has the power to make people go crazy. Fits the mark."

Rufus crossed his arms and thought for a second. "Alright, here's what I'm thinking. Roger, if the engine's messed up, think you can do something about it?"

Roger nodded in response.

"Likewise for you, Marge. Could you give a diagnosis of the train if you reached the front car?"

"Of course! I'm the best at what I do!"

"Perfect, here's the plan. We split into two teams. Edward, Marge, Tina, Zack, and Cloud, you five will fight your way to the front so Marge can work her magic. Julius and I will go with Roger to the engine car. Sound good?"

Everyone agreed. "Then let's do this thing. Stay frosty, everyone," The red ranger said before turning around and walking out of the room in the direction of the back of the train. Roger followed behind and Julius turned to his friends.

"See you in a bit, guys," He said.

"Yeah, you too, Julius..." Cloud said, looking at Marge and Tina as they summoned their helmets again.

"Come on, Julius," Roger called from the other side of the room. Julius jumped a little and quickly made his way to follow the blue ranger. In the other train car, Rufus was taking point.

"Julius, get behind me. Roger, take anchor," He commanded. Julius squeezed past Roger and started walking behind Rufus. "So, how long have you really been a ranger for?"

"Like Cloud said, couple of..." He sighed. "One year."

"It's impressive what you've already accomplished," Rufus admitted, opening the door to enter the next cart. "While still being completely green around the gills."

Julius struggled to hide his hurt. "That noticeable, huh?"

"Very. I thought Zack was the leader this whole time."

"Yeah, I get that a lot, too," Julius reasoned. "I guess I have a thing for blending in the background."

"That's something you can't do as a leader. You have to assert yourself, make decisions, be heard. Or else your team is just a loose confederation of soldiers."

Julius looked down. "Right...how did it all come together for you?"

Rufus took some time to think. "Took a long time. Lots of work and lessons getting drilled into me, but one day it all clicked. And it's not just you, you have your team to help you as well. You were all put together for a reason."

Julius thought about his last words. *You were all put together for a reason.* The journey continued on in silence, save for Rufus checking the door's window, then giving a clear signal that there were no hostiles inside. As they walked through yet another door into a train car, Rufus paused from the front. He raised a hand to signal the others behind him to stop. Ahead of them, under the door, Julius could see a familiar purple fog leaking in from the other side.

"Oh, no..." He managed to get out of his mouth. He was frozen in place like an icicle. But the trouble didn't end there. On the other side of the train car, the door opened up, revealing the Negative Ranger. The void began flowing into the room at a faster pace.

"You know what I came here for," He stated. "Tell me where the flight recorder is."

Rufus put his fists up, materializing his gauntlets again. "There's not a chance of you getting it."

Julius snapped out of his shock. "Rufus, we gotta go. You can't fight this guy, he's too strong!"

"You want the black box? You're gonna have to spend the time with me to get it," Rufus said calmly.

The void started spreading even faster, almost at Rufus' feet. Roger seemed to catch on to something. He opened the door behind him and tugged on Julius' shoulder. "We have to keep on moving, Julius! Come on!"

"We've fought him before, he can't do it alone!"

Despite his protests, Roger pulled Julius out of the train car so they were stand outside between two cars. "Julius, Rufus stayed behind to buy us time. If we get to the engine car fast enough and get us moving again, that thing will be forced to retreat."

Julius hesitated. Roger looked up at the top of the train car. "Look, Rufus is a tough guy. He knows the risks. He also knows his way around a fight. Come on, we can cover ground faster if we travel on the roofs."

Roger bent his knees in preparation before springing up and grabbing onto the ledge of the train car. He helped himself up and Julius followed suit. Together, they made haste, running to the other side and jumping from one car to another. A couple of cars down, they could see the smoke billowing up. As they ran and prepared to jump to the next car, a solid thud stopped them in their tracks. Then another, and another. The next sound sounded like a metal door coming off its hinges. Roger and Julius looked at each other. On the other end of the car, a red blur shot up from the ground below like a rocket and landed in front of them with a hard thud.

"...Crud," Julius said amidst a legion of nervous sounds. Standing before them, a flowing purple aura around him, was Rufus.

...

On the other side of the train, Zack and Cloud were running through the armed forces. The green ranger peeped through the window of the door. There were three bad guys in the passenger car. He opened the door and leapt in, going for the first man. Before he could aim his rifle, Zack socked him with a punch that sent him tumbling into his teammate. With no space to maneuver, the other hostile could only shove his companion to the side and Zack took the chance to land a gut punch, then a left hook. The third man aimed his rifle, but Zack stepped to him bending down, grabbed the barrel, and raised it up as bullets flew out and hit the ceiling. He then used his right arm to strike the man with his elbow. He stumbled back and reached his hip for a side arm. But just as he did, Cloud opened the door behind him, summoned his tomahawk and hit him on the head with the blunt end, knocking him out.

"Man, we are clearing through these guys like knives through hot butter!" Zack said, pleased. He walked over to one of the fallen hostiles and picked him up by the sides of his vest. "Fully automatic rifles and you still couldn't handle us!" He dropped him on the ground.

"Y'know Zack, meeting this other team's got me thinking," Cloud began, opening the door and stepping out of the neutralized car.

Zack followed close behind. "Is this about Marge and Tina? You can't date both of them at the same time, trust me."

"No, not that. Just has me thinking about our team and our roles. What's mine?"

"Takes time to figure out your niche. For me, I'm the brains, the ass-kicker, I can do pretty much everything."

Cloud laughed. "Really, I'm serious, Zack."

"He's right though." A voice said from above. Zack and Cloud looked up to see Edward standing above them atop a train car. He dropped down before them. "I wasn't always the gunslinger I am now. Took years to be able to do this!" The ranger then summoned his blasters and spun them on his fingers.

Zack stared at Edward. "I refuse to believe we're the same rank."

Suddenly, Edward's morpher began ringing and he dismissed his blasters to answer the call. "Talk to me!"

"Eddie, it's Tina. Marge and I cleared up our cars and made it to the cockpit!"

"How's it looking?"

"I...wouldn't know, cars and stuff are Marge's job. Good news is that the conductor's alright. They just roughed him up a little. Tina's all over hi--"

Scuffling could be heard on the other line. "TINA GET OFF THE PHONE! Eddie, the controls are fried. They riddled the panel with bullets. Good news is that since the train was moving before getting damaged, we should be able to get moving again if the engine's alright."

"Phew, I was worried we would have to push this thing by hand to Belview City!"

"Like those noodle arms of yours could push anything," Marge teased.

"I was thinking about not reminding Rufus about you shirking, but thanks for making my choice easier!"

"You remind him, I'm dumping laxatives in all your snacks...again!"

Edward sniffled. "You sure know how to hit me where it hurts."

The green ranger's phone rang yet again. "Ooh, Roger's calling now, gotta take this. Let me know if anything comes up."

"Ooh, he's coming too! Move, Tina!" More scuffling was heard, until Edward answered Roger's call.

"Roger! What's happening?"

The blue ranger's voice was quick and frantic. "Edward, I need you guys to come over here, now!" The call immediately went dead.

...

Towards the back of the train, Roger and Julius were still face to face with Rufus, who clearly wasn't himself.

"Rufus?" Roger called out cautiously.

The other red ranger responded by stepping forward, arms hanging loosely by his sides.

Julius gulped. "That aura, I've seen it before. The men you've been fighting had the same one. And some people in Belview had it too."

"Are you saying that this villain of yours put Rufus under his spell?"

He took another step. "Looks like it. I'll...hold him back," Julius said, reluctantly. *I think I can do this.*

Roger looked back and nodded. "I'll call for back-up as soon as I can."

In a flash, Rufus now lunged for the two. Roger turned and leapt down from the car. Julius turned too late and felt the impact of a gauntlet enhanced punch on his chest. The impact was strong enough to knock him off the car and send him flying onto the one behind him. He tumbled on the ground, pain flaring up. Up ahead, Rufus jumped from his car high into the air, his right fist ready to crushed Julius like a meteor. He rolled to the side and watched the gauntlet slam into the roof. There was a very noticeable dent where his fist was. Rufus brought his other fist down again and Julius rolled to the other side, avoiding another lethal blow. He now brought both arms down on Julius, who raised his own arms up to block it. He instantly regretted it as pain immediately shot through his arms now. *Okay next time, don't block metal gauntlets with your arms.* As Rufus prepared for another punch to break Julius' defense, Julius rolled backwards and avoided the next punch, getting up on his feet. Immediately, he put his hand to his chest and winced.

*How do I take this guy on? He hit like a truck!* As if to emphasize Julius' inner thoughts, Rufus stepped forward and threw a right hook, which Julius leaned away from. He stepped forward again and threw a left hook, Julius ducking under the attack. Seeing a chance, Julius attacked with his own right hook and left hook, both catching Rufus on the head. When he went for a right jab, Rufus parried the strike by knocking his fist downward. Before he knew it, Julius caught a stomach punch and a right hook that sent him whirling. Still trying to shake off the pain, Julius watched as Rufus charged with a left jab. Pivoting with his left foot, he avoided the fist and watched it pass by him. The red ranger grabbed the arm, ducked under it and turned it into an armbar lock. Rufus grunted in pain. He twisted on the arm tighter and raised his own left elbow up.

"Come on, man, don't make me break your arm..." Julius said, unsure of himself.

As Julius hesitated, Rufus took the opportunity to raise his right elbow and bash it savagely into Julius' head. The young ranger held on, trying to keep himself together. Another elbow blow connected, but he still held on. *Fight the pain. Do the job.* Rufus' elbow reared back and zoomed towards him again. The pain was unbearable, forcing Julius to let go and stagger back. His head felt like it had been stuck in a beehive. Rufus straighten up and turned towards his opponent, rotating the shoulder that had been strained.

Julius could barely get into a fighting stance. He sized his opponent up. He was clearly muscular with a stocky frame. *Keep going, Julius, keep going. You can do this. I can do this...I...*

Rufus lunged at him again. And in that moment, instead of taking the danger head on, Julius turned and ran. Nothing else mattered at that point besides not taking another hit. He jumped from his train car to another, then kept running to the edge and sliding down. He opened the sliding door before him and rushed in. He put his back to the door and slid down until he was sitting behind it. *Can't do it can't do it can't do it.*

...

Zack, Cloud, and Edward made their way as fast as they could towards the rear of the train. As they moved, Edward continued to call Roger, but there was no answer.

"I don't like this, and there are few things I don't like..."

"Rufus and Julius are there. They'll have his back," Cloud reassured him.

The three approached another sliding door. "Let's just make sure the black box is safe first," Edward said.

The door was opened, and leaning on one of the metal boxes in the room, was Julius. He had his helmet off as he stared off, stuck in his own head. His face was swelling.

Cloud was immediately surprised. "Julius?! What happened to you?!"

The red ranger shifted and looked up. "I...got in a fight."

"With one of those armored jobbers we've been cleaning up?" Zack jumped in.

"It was with Rufus. The Negative Ranger somehow got him under his control."

"This bad guy of yours can do that?" Edward inquired.

"Did it to a whole bunch of people in Belview City."

"Where was Roger in all this?" The green ranger walked behind one of the metal boxes in the room.

"When Rufus turned on us, I told him to get to the engine room and I would hold him off."

"And then this happened." Zack concluded. "How far did he knock you back?"

Julius put his head in his hands. "I...I ran."

"You what?!" Edward emerged from the box, a large silver suitcase in hand. "And there's just a mind-controlled Rufus out there?! Don't you red rangers get special training or something?"

"You know how strong he is, I couldn't handle that!"

Edward looked at the door, then back to Julius, then the door. "Alright, forget it. We have to move, teammates in danger." With that, he walked to the door and exited the room. Zack and Cloud looked at Julius, who was now trying to get up.

"You sure about this? You look like you've done enough," Zack said, referring to his face.

He summoned his helmet again and rubbed his sore forearm. "Let's go."

To Be Continued...