Volume Five - Fear

## Chapter 49 - El Caballero Orco

"Breaking news! After a fierce battle with Adriaan van Kooji, the headmaster of this school, Asaka Kazuyuki was apprehended during a fierce confrontation with a local mail man. Kazuyuki is currently on trial for his crimes, the trial is expected to last shorter than most, but they never take a day." Andromeda turns off the TV, and turns towards Jack. "...This...is bad..." Andromeda says. "Fiora and Kooji are gone, and Kazuyuki...is still alive." "At...least...Bertram's alive...right?" Jack asks, as Andromeda remembers it indeed...Bertram was the only teacher still alive and awake.

"Are...Candice and Kasper alright...?" Andromeda asks. "...I'm not sure. I heard they went off with Bertram to train." Jack answers, as he sits down next to her. Andromeda leans on Jack's shoulder, and believed that things were getting better. At least...Kazuyuki was not a free man...Jack turned the TV back on, Andromeda had no idea what he would change the channel to, hopefully not the news. Whatever channel it was, Andromeda never found out, because they heard screaming outside.

"What now...?" Andromeda demands, as she and Jack go to walk outside of the room, and the apartment building, to see something...horrific. The creator was humanoid enough, but its legs were like segmented, jagged metal plates, one fourth of his torso was metal with a small cylindrical canister containing some sort of glowing lime liquid was on his chest. His head was a knight helmet, with glowing green eyes seen beneath the visor, the tail was long, segmented and had curved blades at the end, and the hands were claws, sword like claws. The figure had a spike on his shoulder, dark green skin, and was muscular yet skinny.

"Hmm...perhaps you'll be captured." The figure says in a deep, male voice, with a bit of a muffled reverb echo. "I killed them before they could register the pain. Torture is something I abhor." "I see..." Andromeda replies. "And you are?" "Erzomaur, why is it that you wish to know my name?" The figure, Erzomaur, asks. "So I can remember your name and face after I've killed you." Andromeda replies, as she sends her Psychic Weapons at Erzomaur, cutting one of his freakishly long and sharp fingers off, as he ducks and rushes towards her at absurd speeds.

"Gh!" Andromeda shouts, as she tries to leap back but feels her foot cut, and watches half her foot fly away. "What?!" Andromeda demands. "I'm sure you could guess from looking at me. I try to be merciful, let I appear as a nightmare." Erzomaur says. "A consequence of being a Shazarak, that few others of my kind care about." "What is a 'Shazarak'?!" Jack shouts. "You are blessed for not knowing." Erzomaur answers, as he rushes at Andromeda to kick her in the back of the head, launching her upwards, before preparing to slash her in the back. A gunshot is heard, and Andromeda falls into Jack's arms. "Oof!" Jack exclaims.

"Thanks..." Andromeda says, as Erzomaur stood there. "Why didn't you..." Jack trails off. "Why would I attack a defenseless opponent. I'm surprised you haven't used more Psychic Weapons." Erzomaur says. "Assuming you'd give me the time." Andromeda remarks, as she, indeed, sends some Psychic Weapons at Erzomaur, who seems to anticipate this as he leaps onto one of them and runs along it, before swinging a slash at Andromeda's horn. She feels it cut off, but by now was dulled to this particular pain. It didn't stop if from being painful, however, they were then kicked aside after a few more gunshots were heard.

"I would say it is best to surrender." Erzomaur says. "I don't want to be the cause of your deaths." "Then this isn't a fair fight." Andromeda growls. "That I do not care of. Only mindless beasts could be considered worthy of death." Erzomaur replies. "You are fortunate to have been found by me. There are others here, looking for a body to bring back." "Other...Shazarak?" Jack asks. "Yes...and compared to me...they are demons." Erzomaur replies, as kicks both of them to knock them out cold.

## Chapter 50 - Deja Vu

The spaceship landed in the hangar bay of a much larger spaceship, The way they were designed, they could be pirate ships. Andromeda had woken up long enough ago that she could see this, but she decided not to make any sound, and knew she couldn't break free. She turned over to look at Jack, who was still out cold with a trick of blood running down his ear. She always hated this sight. Hated seeing him hurt, but...he was essentially a soldier. He was bound to get hurt at some point.

Jack was woken up, as Andromeda pretended to just wake up. They were walked out of the spaceship and into the dark corridors. Despite being completely different colors, it reminded her of Darkstar. She saw herself, felt herself being dragged by those evil humans to her cell when she was just a little girl. Then, it finally hit her upon seeing a few other Shazarak...these...monsters...she had...she had seen one of these monsters working with Darkstar all the way back then. Or...she thought it was "way" back then.

"This will be your cell block." One of the Shazarak says. "You will be changed into your prison clothing." "Don't touch me!" Andromeda snarls, glaring viciously at the Shazarak who had said this, who only seemed mildly frightened. "Fine, then. Your human can change you instead." Jack blushed upon hearing this, as the Shazarak removed his cuffs. "Don't go running off, or else we will eat you on the spot." The Shazarak says. "E-eat...?" Jack whimpers, bags forming under his eyes immediately as Andromeda thought she saw a strand of hair turn white. The Shazarak then leave the room they had put them in.

Andromeda sighed and took off the battered clothing that she had been wearing for a while now, hoping the darkness would obscure her. She didn't know if Jack was looking or not, but hoped these...things...weren't. Especially not after they said they would eat Jack if he tried to escape. Ah...yes...these fools said that...she would have to kill them for threatening to devour him. Jack helped her put on one of the battered jumpsuits. Of course it couldn't fully fit, but it would do...and of course it wouldn't matter if she just sliced the heads off these things.

"Time's up!" A voice says, as Andromeda and Jack jump back and see something that looked like an anthropomorphic, partly metal chameleon, with one eye being similar to a human's, but with no pupil. "What...?" Andromeda demands. "What are you...?" "We are Shazarak. We take other races and make them us." The chameleon says. "Call me Xirnun." "Okay..." Jack responds. "Can I have--" "Your gun back? No." Xirnun says. "Why would we give a prisoner a weapon? Now, follow me."

Xirnun led Andromeda and Jack through the dimly lit hallways, which almost seemed to be more rock than metal at times. The lights were hexagonal and yellow, and the walls were brownish even when clearly metal. The edges were sharp and clearly noticeable, and the ship seemed to fall apart at places. Everything was...horrific. What exactly were these monsters? How could they be...worse than humans? Were they...? ...Were they not...? It was too early to tell, but she had a very bad feeling about all this. She felt her heart race in fear...for the first time since Cygnus.

"Get in separate cells, we're not having more prisoners to deal with." Xirnun says. "Although, it would be fun to have more test subjects to run experiments on." "If you touch me you will lose whatever you touch me with." Andromeda responds. "Ansd what will you use to remove it, hmm?" Xirnun demands, poking Andromeda's half broken horn with one claw, before turning to walk away. "Maybe you two can get to know the other prisoners, before you die or join us." Xirnun says, as he walks away, disappearing from sight.

"...Hello...?" A voice asks in the darkness.

## Chapter 51 - Hell

"Who's there?" Jack asks, as their eyes adjust to the light and they see an alien that appeared to have a round body, four arms, and some sort of mask on? "What's going on?" "Hey, genius, over here." The voice says, as they look to the side and see a...Qhaikra? with a glowing red eye. His skin seemed like sand, and his hair like golden horns. Another look, a robot? Everything here was confusing, but there was no time to be confused. "Who are you...?" Jack asks. "Hah...name's Feralaxadeg." The Qhaikra says. "That's Rato and Scrap."

"Greetings, human." Scrap says. "I'm Jack, this is Andromeda." Jack says, as Rato chuckles. "So...these demons got hold of a Socqreath." Rato says. "Demons?" Jack asks. "'Jack'...I don't have a tail." Feralaxadeg says. "Uh, okay." Jack replies. "I used to have one, before I was brought here." Feralaxadeg finishes. "...What...?" Jack asks, as his heart pounded faster. "They ate my tail, and are building a prosthetic replacement. They're going to turn us all into one of 'em. They already took and replaced Rato's face."

"...No...how...could..." Jack was unable to finish his sentence, as he heard faint growling from Andromeda. "Wh-what about you?" He asks Scrap. "I've been in here the longest. They kept me in because I couldn't fool them like another." Scrap replies. "I don't even want to know what they'll take from you first." "If they touch me..." Andromeda growls. "You'll what? No, seriously! Tell me what you're going to do, because we're stuck here forever, doomed to become demons or dinner!" Feralaxadeg screams, as he falls backwards onto his seat and faintly chuckles. "Don't give us hope...it doesn't exist here..."

"There-there has to be a way to get out of here!" Jack shouts. "There has to be a way for us all to escape!" "And where would we go?!" Feralaxadeg yells. "If a Qhaikra's tail is clipped, he's considered dead. And...Rato, what was your species, again?" "I don't remember." Rato answers. "But I know that, since we lived on a small moon, the Shazarak have likely rendered my species near-extinct, I'm the last of our kind." Jack stared in disbelief, how could monsters like these even exist? It was impossib--...no...it wasn't...impossible...

"...What else...are these monsters known for...?" Andromeda demands, her voice trembling with anger. "...Well...they're...mostly a hive mind..." Rato answers. "Or behave like that at least. I can't tell...they all have a one-track mind to devour and replace with metal as many aliens as they can, and bring them into the fold, hoping they've been driven insane enough to join the Shazarak willingly. Only one managed to get in without insanity, by tricking them. Don't ask me who it was, though. I don't remember their name or face."

"Wait, how many people are still down here?" Jack asks. "I dunno, couple hundred maybe?" Feralaxadeg answers. "Good, maybe we can all form a plan together." Feralaxadeg laughs. "Jack, most of those people are dead! Their organs eaten or just blood loss and starvation! We're on our last legs, and even if we weren't, even if there were around two hundred of us, we still wouldn't be able to escape! No mere Socqreath can fight a Shazarak! What good is an invisible weapon that can't hurt your opponent?!"

"...How do I access a higher percentage of my power?" Andromeda asks. "I think I've done it before, but it always just...happened. I want to do it on-command." "...I'm not a Socqreath, I wouldn't know." Rato says. "Only you know what it's like, but...you can practice." Jack heard grunting, and slashing. Andromeda was clearly slashing apart her cell. He thought about this place, about what had happened. He thought about this Shazarak that wasn't insane. He...thought he knew who it was.

The wall beside him had finally fallen, as he thought he could see ripples in the air around Andromeda, who then came over and hugged him, making him blush as he saw Feralaxadeg raising one of his scaly eyebrows. Andromeda was...crying softly. "...I...can't...let...this..." Andromeda whimpered, as Jack hugged her back. "We...we'll get out of here...I...promise..." Jack replies, as he turned towards the rest. "What do you know about the layout of this prison?" He asks. "There's a bunch of rooms with bars." Feralaxadeg says. "What about shifts?" Jack then asks. "Should be a Shazarak coming, now." "Do they normally have keys?"

Feralaxadeg shrugs. "Maybe? I dunno. Look, we probably can't escape." "We can if we work together, we don't need to wipe them out to escape." They then hear whistling, and turn to see a rather shiny Shazarak walking along the hallway. He turns to look at each of them, as he sees Jack and Andromeda. "Oh, guess our walls can't get in the way of true love." The Shazarak says. "If only we had an oven, the thought of eating something raw always...brrrrr!" "Well, guess I'll take the girl to be eaten first. Might want to get rid of the distraction fir-GAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Shazarak's hand had fallen to the ground, and the key he was holding also fell. He stumbled back, as Andromeda glared at him. "Only...Jack...can touch me..." Andromeda growls. "Guards!" The Shazarak screams, as he slams his fist on a button and runs out of the room. Jack quickly grabs the key and uses it to unlock his cell, as he and Andromeda begin to open the other cells. "That...worked..." Jack remarks. "Yeah, well we're not out yet." Feralaxadeg replies. They hear growling and turn to see more Shazarak enter. Andromeda turns to face them.

"Stay behind me, I'll kill them all." Andromeda says.

## Chapter 52 - Demons

The Shazarak that stood there appeared to be holding laser rifles. The aimed directly at Andromeda and fired. Yet...all the lasers seemed to at least be somewhat blocked. Andromeda held her arm in pain, as it had been hit, as the Shazarak then charge up the laser rifles again. Andromeda quickly cut their heads of before they could fire again, and grabbed Jack's hand to run with him out of the prison. Andromeda's jumpsuit had been burning from the heat of the laser for a while, as another Shazarak rushed at them and slashed.

Before the Shazarak could get the remains of the jumpsuit off its face, it was split in half down the middle, as Andromeda and Jack kept walking, and Feralaxadeg, Rato and Scrap looked on. "This is too good to be true. Why didn't that other Socqreath that was captured do this, exactly?" "Socqreath that are royal are stronger than normal Socqreath, and Andromeda seemed to have become stronger by using the wall as a punching bag. Unfortunately, these are just 'goons'. We're dead if it takes this long for her to kill just one."

They continued to walk along the dimly lit corridors, the lights flickered at times and the alarm was faint. Andromeda held Jack's hand as they walked. Then, Jack screamed in pain as he fell backwards with his hand flying through the air. "Wh?!" Andromeda grunts, as she sees a...bird? like creature flying through the corridors, holding an energized sword. It rushed at her and she quickly ducked, feeling part of her back be hit, and burned. She fell on one knee as the now-split in half Shazarak fell to the ground.

"Jack, please...stay back." Andromeda said with tears in her eyes, as she was started when she heard footsteps. An odd, lightning bolt-like eye accompanied a perfect circle of an eye, as the creature they belonged to walked out of the shadows. The tail had a claw on it, and the mouth had four sharp teeth on the outside of it. The hands and feet looked the same, like more claws. The creature grinned. "What a lucky day! I never have imagined I would be able to ex-" Andromeda wastes no time, and cuts off the limbs and head, leaving the creature to fall over and die. "We don't have time for that." Andromeda says, as she and Jack keep walking.

## Chapter 53 - Chain of Command

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN THESE FOOLS NOT DO ANYTHING RIGHT?!" A deep, gruff voice shrieks. It belonged to a tall beast, with green skin, yellow eyes, white pupils, and sharp, yet not spiky, dark grey metal armor, which did not shine. His subordinates around him were Erzomaur, a man with a shiny, smooth human-like face wearing a long white hooded robe, and a curvy woman whose head was like a crown of horns and whose body was, indeed, metal.

"You need to be fair to them, they were going up against a royal." The man in the robe says. "Speak when spoken to, Sechsgrad!" The beast roars. "Sir, I--" "Will fail me again, Erzomaur?! It is your own fault you lost a finger!" "Lord Zahsakar, may I please help Andromeda learn her place in this universe?" The woman asks. "No you may not, Bellatrix!" Zahsakar roars. "Sir. I do indeed very much believe...that it is time for Proto to go on patrol again." Sechsgrad says, interrupting them.

"...What?!" Zahsakar, Erzomaur and Bellatrix roar at Sechsgrad in unison. "That thing is untrustoworthy!" Zahsakar roars. "That thing is evil!" Erzomaur yells. "That thing is dangerous!" Bellatrix shouts. "That thing...can kill a royal Socqreath." Sechsgrad replies. "Do you want Andromeda gone or not?" "...Very well. Proto, when you see Andromeda, do NOT, even for an INSTANT, hesitiate!" Zahsakar roars. "Hesitate? Proto is not Erzomaur. He doesn't even know the meaning of the word."

"She's cleared a path for us, perhaps we can escape." Scrap says. "Escape, we will escape, by blowing everything to Hell." Feralaxadeg says. "But, Andromeda and Jack still--" "Have hope? Don't make me laugh." Feralaxadeg says, cutting Rato off. "We'll blow up the docks first."

## Chapter 54 - The Ultimate Warrior

A Psychic Weapon clashed with a claw.

Andromeda and a chameleon-seeming Shazarak leapt back from each other and landed, as the chameleon laughs. And she remembers his name as Xirnun. "Ahahahahaha! Yes, that's it! This is exactly what I wanted from a Socqreath in a fight!" Xirnun shouts. "That luscious body, those dangerous weapons, and...the cold look in your eyes." "What did you say?" Andromeda demands. "About what?" Xirnun asks. "My body." Andromeda answers, her tone becoming more threatening. "I said it's luscious, face it, you are the peak of beauty!" Xirnun yells. "And given you are a royal, it's perfect!"

Andromeda glares at Xirnun for a moment, before sighing. "...Only Jack can give me that 'compliment'." Andromeda responds, as she cuts Xirnun in half, metal tubes shooting out of Xirnun's body to piece himself back together, shocking Andromeda, as Xirnun then seems to turn invisible. "My ability is camouflage." Xirnun says. "Nanobots and scales in my body work together to make it so that I can selectively choose what light I do and do not reflect." Xirnun had appeared behind Jack, who anticipated this and fired at Xirnun with his gun, Xirnun supposedly dodging.

Andromeda screams when her stomach is slashed, but uses this opportunity to grab Xirnun by the arm. She severs it at the same time as his head, and keeps slashing until Xirnun was nothing more than a puddle of blood. "We need to get out of here..." Andromeda remarks, as she holds onto Jack's hand and they run through the hallway, finding the entrance to the hangar bay they entered the ship in. They walked over to it, before hearing familiar voices. They turned to see Rato, Feralaxadeg and Scrap were running with them.

"Time to die!" Feralaxadeg says. "Wait, what?!" Jack yells. "These idiot Shazarak gave me a quantum thingie to replace my stomach. Once we got out of the power dampening, I could teleport around the ship. The bombs are in place, we're going to destroy it!" "What?!" Jack screams, as Andromeda stands in front of him, and prepares to kill Feralaxadeg. Scrap and Rato were backing away. "You, me the Shazarak, we're all going to Hell anyways!" Feralaxadeg roars, before his head flies off.

The light from the recent flicker made Andromeda cover her eyes. When they looked again, a silhouette was standing where Feralaxadeg's body was. When it cam closer, it was a robot. "No..." Rato trails off. "What is that thing?" Jack asks, as Andromeda sends a Psychic Weapon at the robot. In a brief instant, Andromeda is on the ground, bleeding, a horn broken off, as Proto stood over her. "Andromeda!" Jack shouts, aiming his gun at Proto, who was suddenly in front of him and ready to swing what looked like a bladeless sword hilt at him.

Rato had taken the slash, and was grunting in pain, but also grabbing Proto to hold him in place. "You, Andromeda and Scrap need to get out of here!" Rato yells! "What?! We're not abandoning you!" Jack yells. "Are you braindead?!" Rato bellows. "This is Proto we're dealing with, the most feared warrior in the galaxy! All I can do is buy you time! Get Andromeda and get out of here! Scrap can help you get back to your home planet!" "We're not leaving you! You can have a life!" Jack yells. Rato chuckles. "...With a face like this, how could what you just said ever be anything but a lie?" Rato asks. "It was good, getting to know you. Live, Jack, because you still can."

One of Rato's arms flies through the air, as he is bleeding from the wounds in his body. Scrap grabs Jack and Andromeda and throws them on one of the ships, before getting on and piloting it. "Put on your seatbelts!" Scrap shouts. "Wait!" Jack yells, as he tries to reach the door, which closes. The ship began to fly, as Jack helped Andromeda into a seat and put their seatbelts on. Another arm flew onto a window, as the ship flew away. The inertia was as painful as ever, but Jack powered through it and looked at the ship.

Rato was grappling with Proto's sword arm with one of his own, and holding a bomb stick in his other arm. Proto uses his free arm to slash Rato's final arm off, as Rato presses the detonator. "...Goodbye, my friends. I...desperately wish to see my family again." Rato says, as he closes his eyes and, for a brief instant, feels his head be touched by a blade. Then, everything ended. "Proto! Return to the bridge immediately!" Zahsakar roars, as Proto runs through the corridors back to the main bridge.

The ship was shaking, as Zahsakar held Erzomaur, Sechsgrad and Bellatrix. "We must escape from this, and exact revenge on these fools!" Zahsakar roars, as Proto came closer to the engine room, which led to the bridge. Zahsakar flew them out of the ship, right as it exploded.

## Chapter 55 - Return

Andromeda and Jack had managed to find their original clothing aboard the ship, as Scrap continued to pilot them around. Jack sat in his seat, waiting for reentry. Eventually, they were sent through the sickening warp drive. Jack puked immediately, yet...they were still going? "Even with warp drive, there are just some places so far away that it takes a while to get there, if we can at all." Scrap says. "That's why we focus on the galaxy, not the universe, in exploration." "I see..." Jack replies, as he feels Andromeda hug him, and started crying softly.

"A-Andromeda...?" Jack asks, as he hugged Andromeda back. "...Jack...I...I love you...so much..." Andromeda says shakily. "I...had...loved you...even back then..." "...To...be honest...Andromeda...I...fell for you back then, too..." Jack replies, as Andromeda continued to hug and cry. Then...it...hit him...if he did remember correctly...the last he knew her this way was...back then...before all of...this. Jack held Andromeda more closely, and felt himself beginning to cry as well.

They had been through so much together...for so long they had been friends...they had...loved each other...and then Darkstar had them separated, and were...planning something horrible. Jack comforted Andromeda the best he could, as he knew this was the first time in years she had been like this...

"We're back on Earth!" Scrap shouts, as the ship lands with a thud, making Jack and Andromeda fall off the seat. "Wh?!" Jack shouts, as the door opens. "No idea where you wanted to go, though. Hopefully you can find your way back." Scrap says.

Jack and Andromeda get up and look around. It wasn't clear where they were, but there were some houses. Yes...they would find their way back, and know, or at least hope, that the Shazarak were out of the picture for good.

## Chapter 56 - Elsewhere

Dione stood still, staring at Allen intently. The leader of Darkstar walked over to her, and looked in her eyes. "What exactly is your plan to stop me?" Allen demands. "You don't have your pet Socqreath." "Maybe not, but we have us!" Kiyomasu's voice shouts, as Allen turns to dodge being whacked by the cane. Kiyomasu tries again, Allen blocking with his hand as he notices a kick hitting him in the stomach and leaps backwards, before Tsunoi appears from atop a building and slashes at Dione, who grabs the blade of the knife with her hand and flings Tsunoi away, while running after him.

"Amaya Kiyomasu, haven't seen you in a while." Allen says. "How many more enemies have you made?" "Honestly, I have no idea myself." Kiyomasu responds. "But I'm hoping I can take out this enemy...old friend." Kiyomasu rushes at Allen and again tries to whack him with his cane while twirling it. Allen backs away and uses his arm to block the cane, as he then grabs it and uses its leverage to throw Kiyomasu back. "We both know what you're actually capable of, Amaya." Allen says, as he takes out a railgun and fires at Kiyomasu.

Dione had her brass knuckles on, and looked around for Tsunoi. He was very sneaky, and loved to hide. She thought she heard movement, and quickly turned around. Above her was Tsunoi, holding steel cable. He quickly wraps the cable around Dione, who manages to keep one arm from being trapped, and uses this arm to punch Tsunoi hard enough to create a sonic boom, before then breaking the cables rather easily. Dione prepares to pursue Tsunoi, but notices that there is a bomb on her arm. "Gh!" Dione grunts, as the bomb explodes hard enough to knock down the nearest trees.

"Is that it for them?" Tsunoi asks. "No, they are not that easily destroyed." Allen responds, as they hear Kiyomasu call them and look to see him standing atop a tree, pointing his cane at them like a gun. He doesn't fire for a while, as Allen prepares to fire at him. Suddenly, Dione manages to grab the railgun, and crush it. Allen quickly kicks Dione away, as Tsunoi rushes to deal with her. Kiyomasu leaps down and places his hand on Allen's shoulder, his weapons disabling. Allen then kicks at Kiyomasu, who blocks with his cane as he is pushed back.

Dione's arms were restrained by more steel cables, as Tsunoi tried to sweep her. However, he is barely able to make her leg budge, as she kicks him away and moves her arms to snap the cables. Tsunoi takes out a gun and fires at Dione, the bullets exploding upon contact with anything. Dione either dodges or blocks the bullets, but decides to rush at Tsunoi to kick him. Tsunoi leaps back as the kick shakes the ground and creates a cloud of debris. Tsunoi then takes out a Wakizashi and slashes at Dione with it. Dione lets herself be cut and headbutts Tsunoi back.

"Gah!" Tsunoi shouts, as he falls back, before taking out a detonator and smiling. Dione looks around and sees a great amount of C4 explosives. "It's enough to wipe out a city, and should do the same to you!" Tsunoi shouts.

"You should clearly see that you cannot afford to keep fighting like normal humans. You won't even fight us evenly like that." Allen says, as he takes out a shield and makes a blade come out of it. He then rushes at Kiyomasu to slash him, Kiyomasu blocking again as he notices the C4. "No!" Kiyomasu shouts.

The explosion was immensely powerful, and annihilated the area they were in. Allen had blocked it by crossing his arms, although his skin was singed and the armor on his arms was completely gone. Tsunoi was on the ground, burned, as he looks towards where they are. The smoke clears, and they see Kiyomasu and Dione standing there, looking completely fine. A barrier was surrounding them. "Indeed, we all knew you could do that." Allen growls, as Kiyomasu lowers the barrier and points his cane at them, firing energy blasts from it that exploded upon contact.

Allen dodges these blasts and uses his newly repaired gun to fire rounds back, Kiyomasu dodging the rounds. Tsunoi rushes at Dione with knives that had vibrating blades, and slashes, cutting through her arms. Dione quickly grabs Tsunoi's arms and crushes them, but Tsunoi kicks the knives into her legs as she stumbles back. "Gh..." Dione grunts, as Tsunoi walks over to her. "It's over." Tsunoi says. "We are clearly the winners." Dione smiles. "Not yet, you aren't." She replies, as she rushes at him again and kicks him in the chest. Tsunoi feels his ribs crack as he is send crashing through multiple burning trees.

Kiyomasu keeps firing at Allen, and blocking Allen's rounds. He looked for an opening, and soon found it, as he swings his cane to send an energy slash at Allen, who dodges the slash and throws a knife at Kiyomasu, who dodges it. But this was a distraction, as Allen sweep kicks Kiyomasu to the ground and places a foot on his chest. Right as Kiyomasu places his cane on Allen's shoulder. "It was us three who had the best technology...we were gods among men, meant for so much more." Allen says. "I know that." Kiyomasu says. "Then why would you side with the losing side?!" Allen roars.

Kiyomasu fires his spear, right when Allen kicks Kiyomasu in the jaw after having broken multiple ribs with his foot. Both of them stumble back, as Allen gets on one knee, and so does Kiyomasu. "Join my side, Kiyomasu, and we can make this world into our image." Allen says. "My image of a perfect world...is far different from yours, Davidson." Kiyomasu replies, as he stabs his cane into the ground, making energy webbing erupt from it and attach onto, trapping, Allen. "Gh!" Allen growls, as the webbing grows rods like dynamite sticks. "Let me show you my idea of your justice." Kiyomasu finishes, as the rods glow brighter.

Kiyomasu turns around, as the massive explosion mostly goes upward, almost reaching space, and was many kilometers wide although behind Kiyomasu, the shockwave bending around his forcefield. The flames made his body appear like a silhouette, and his eyes were not visible under his hat. His robes and trenchcoat fluttered wildly, as he walked away from the massive pillar of flame. Both Tsunoi and Dione had noticed it. "Lord Allen!" Tsunoi shouts, as he rushes to the pillar. The flames subsided, as the smoke cleared. Allen's arms were eviscerated, and his head was badly burned, along with his back, but...he was alive.

"Tricky as ever, Kiyomasu...that is what you'll need to fight us." Allen growls, clearly in pain. Tsunoi helps him up, and with what looked like a teleportation device, vanished. Dione helped Kiyomasu up, as they looked on at the destruction. "...We managed to destroy the schematics, but Tsunoi has a photographic memory, I believe." Kiyomasu says. "We need to alert the others immediately, or we could be on the brink of a full-scale civil war."

## Chapter 57 - Le Méchant Prodige

Jack walked through the dark alleyways, looking at the broken street lamps and cracking buildings. This was an old town, one that had not seen the same technological advances as the rest of the world. Yaidon was also a secretive and secluded town, and people seemed to try not to make eye contact with anyone. Jack then saw a door, and decided to open it, although it was locked. He quickly took out a key to pick it, and opened the door. It seemed to be a broken-down casino, and no one was in it. Jack walked in and looked around.

As Jack continued to look around the casino, he remembered what had happened earlier. Andromeda was recovering in the hospital, and the doctors had told him that a section of her brain was missing. And so recently, there had been an explosion close enough to somewhat burn the city. Jack turned around and saw a billiard table with no billiards in it. When he turned to look somewhere else, there was a run-down slot machine. Everything was old and broken, as if this place hadn't been used in decades.

All of a sudden, a great many loud bangs were heard, gunfire, and it was nearby. Jack rushes to the door and kicks it down, trying to not be heard, as he begins to walk down the alleyway. He thinks he can hear loud screaming, as he continues to walk. Slashing, clanging, from knives or swords maybe? Perhaps both? He didn't know, but he decided to keep on walking, as the gunfire illuminated the alleyway partly, and Jack could see harsh shadows on the walls, one of something. When he had made it to the end of the alley, the fight was over, a squad of bodyguards and their client were dead, and a pitch black figure stood there.

The figure held a cane in one hand, it appeared to have just stopped smoking as if it had fired a bullet. In fact, all the guns here seemed to be bullet guns. The man twirls the cane and breaks it apart to compress it down to a size that could fit in his body-covering cape. He wore a top hat and had medium length, shaggy black hair, although his back was still turned and Jack could not see his face, he seemed to, for now at least, not have noticed Jack, who considers walking away. Then, the man turns around and bows, as Jack thinks he sees a pure white face, like a ghost's.

"Hello...boy." The man says with a somewhat British accent, as he throws a knife at Jack, who quickly dodges in fright from seeing it. He could now see that there were three crescents used to form a smile on the man's mask, a drama smiling mask. The man takes out a gun and begins firing, as Jack gets behind a trash can. He tries to think, before noticing the garbage bags. He throws one to the side and one above, as they are fired at. He then takes out his gun and unloads bullet after bullet at the man.

The man seems to fly back from the assault, but as Jack looked closer, he saw warps around the bullets, as they fly in the opposite direction, forcing him to duck. "This isn't happening..." Jack mutters, as he turns and sees the man seemingly flying from place to place, as he takes out another knife and rushes at Jack, slashing at him. Jack dodges but feels his cheek get cut, grunting from the sudden pain, as he tries to kick the man, who seems to vanish in a cloud of smoke. Jack is then kicked back and quickly kicks back, the man dodging and kicking him into the air multiple times, also slashing him across the chest, as he falls.

Jack falls on his back and thinks he hears cracking, as he shouts in agony. His eyes then adjust to see the man standing over him and aiming his cane, another gun, straight at him. Jack had no way to tell what horrifying expression rested behind that mask, but he still felt terrified to his core. He was shaking, and sweating, as it became hard to hold his gun. He was unable to move, as he stared into the hole of the cane gun, expecting a bullet, or a laser, to come out at any moment and hit his head.

The snap of a camera is heard, as they turn to see a civilian standing there holding the camera. The man aims his cane gun at the civilian and begins firing her down, before throwing a knife into her skull. Jack, meanwhile, was rolling a tank of truck gasoline at the man, as he fires at it and runs. The resulting explosion obliterates the area building by building, as Jack runs, panting and terrified, trying to not get caught in the blast. But it was no use, he was hit by the shockwave, and slammed into a wall with a groan of agony, as a knife hit his shoulder and made him drop his gun.

Standing in front of the flames, his shape darkened by them, was the man, as he spreads his arms out to reveal many weapons of different eras in his cape, including a rocket gun. "Wh-what?!" Jack screams. "I am your despair, boy." The man says, as Jack grabs the gun with his other arm and begins firing at the man, who keeps reflecting the bullets without paying attention to them. Jack keeps running as he goes down an alley to get to a dock, as he hears a missile coming for him. Jack closes his eyes and begins to tilt his head, as he hears the explosion essentially right next to him.

## Chapter 58 - The Untouchable Killer

The ringing was droning and painful, as Jack finally came to. When he woke up, he saw Andromeda, Candice and Shunsuke standing at his bed, and Kasper sitting. "Wh...what happened...?" Jack asks weakly, as Andromeda, crying, kisses him. "...I...I thought I lost you..." Andromeda whimpers, as Jack remembers that he had been fighting...although fighting was a strong word...the man from the alley. The man who bullets couldn't even touch, or explosions, apparently. "It was...a man with a...smiling drama mask and...top hat...and cape..." Jack groans weakly, as he remembers something else. "Oh...and a frilly collar..."

"Jack..." Andromeda trails off, as Candice looked on sadly, and Kasper seemed to be trying to call someone. "...I think...I might know who this is." Shunsuke says. "What...?" Jack asks. "Yes, I think so. They call him 'The Wicked Prodigy', although no one really knows why, because no one lives to tell the tale of what they encountered. Even with armies of guards they could not even lay a scratch on him. They say he wears his mask because the expression on his real face would kill anyone with sheer madness and fright." Shunsuke answers.

"A...another serial killer...?" Jack groans. "Worse, if he targeted King Rosenstock...it would be more of a nightmare than it already is." Shunsuke answers. "But no one knows how to hurt him, much less stop him." "There has to be a way to stop him." Kasper says. "I'll begin trying to learn everything I possibly can about this Wicked Prodigy." "We need all the help we can get with this one, probably including a spaceship or two." Shunsuke says. "This man is dangerous enough to warrant such an attack."

At that moment, a screen turns on, and they see Grimwald standing there. Although he looked tired like usual, he also had bags under his eyes, as if he hadn't been sleeping, and a bottlecap was visible on the couch. "Can I help you?" Grimwald asks without energy, as they turn to see him. "We need help dealing with the Wicked Prodigy. Some soldiers and a ship should be good enough...hopefully." Shunsuke says. "Soldiers and ships, uh, coming right up. I'll...I'll get you all set up." Grimwald replies, as he holds his head in what looked like pain and fatigue.

"Are you okay?" Candice asks, as Grimwald seems to come to. "I'm...doing alright...I'll go...tell the rest..." Grimwald answers, as he hangs up. "...He clearly hasn't been the same since..." Kasper trails off, as Candice bows her head down and closes her eyes.

"Jack's gone!" Andromeda shouts, getting everyone to focus again. The look out the window and see a car moving through the highway a bit erratically, no doubt Jack was in it.

Facing the Prodigy alone.

## Chapter 59 - Park of Terror

The car continued to drive until it reached an amusement park. The track showed that someone was in said park, and Jack had brought a knife with him. He gets out of the car and looks around, holding the knife in his hand as he waits for something to happen. He decided to make out his surroundings, seeing plenty of game booths that sold plush toys, along with massive rides, one of them a deadly looking rollercoaster, and an army of large, dancing robots that looked like people, animals, aliens, et cetera.

Suddenly, all the lights flashed on, and the stage lights on the ground moved to reveal the Wicked Prodigy standing atop a large...bird ringmaster statue with the words 'All Flags of the Galaxy' on it. "Welcome to All Flags!" The Wicked Prodigy shouts at the top of his lungs. "I want to find that funny...but I can't." Jack replies, as the Prodigy flies down and takes out his cane, firing at Jack with lasers. Jack barely dodges the first assault and ducks behind a pillar to avoid the second one, as he throws the knife at the Prodigy.

The knife was reflected right back at him!

Jack manages to dodge, breathing heavily. "I...I thought that would have worked..." Jack pants, as he kicks open a door and swiftly closes it, before stabbing a pipe through it to try and stop the Prodigy from entering. He then runs around, looking for something to fight with. There were storage supply boxes indeed. However, they didn't seem to hold much. Jack picked up a steak knife and his gun, as he fell down an ice slide and managed to jam his foot against a rock at the last second, otherwise he would have fallen down a cliff.

"Agh! Dammit!" Jack screams, as he turns around and sees a bunch of classic alien-esk floaty rides coming towards him. He manages to dodge them, but not the cane whacking into his face. As Jack was falling, he manages to tilt his head to dodge a knife strike from the Prodigy, as he swings a kick at him...it worked! He actually hit the Prodigy with that! Jack swings the steak knife at the Prodigy, who knocks it out of his hand with a knife and punches him down onto a train track below.

Jack had managed to fall on package peanuts, which broke his fall, as he felt the rollercoaster beginning to move and gulps. "I hate rollercoasters..." Jack moans, as the rollercoaster moves down with the speed he expected. It hurt a great deal and the adrenaline was even higher as he could hear his own heart pounding and his face sweating, but if he focused on screaming, he would be dead. He quickly takes out his gun and fires at the Prodigy, who was on another car. All the shots missed, but Jack ducked down to avoid all the shots from the Prodigy. However, the rollercoaster slammed into a wall of dynamite, which exploded.

Jack slowly but surely managed to crawl out of the water and onto a sidewalk, as he gasped for air. He managed to shakily get to his feet as he felt his own injuries beginning to hamper his movements. Suddenly, a rocket hit above him and exploded the wall, Jack running forwards to avoid the debris, as he does this more as more rockets hit. The Prodigy was laughing as he fired rockets out of the RPG pistols he was holding, before reflecting a missile, which, although exploded upon contact with whatever shield he had, didn't manage to even touch him.

"Fire! Keep at it! Don't give him a chance to react!" The commander shouted from inside the Strike Craft, as he fired lasers at the Prodigy, the lasers also being reflected. A platoon of soldiers fired smaller scale lasers, which were also reflected, as the Prodigy began to slit their throats one by one. "You're not the ones I wanted to have fun with, but I'll kill you too if that's what you want." The Prodigy says, as he takes out his RPG pistol and fires it at the Strike Craft, taking it down as it crashes into and destroys a building.

Jack was running through an abandoned...mall? He thought that was what it was. How could he have been so stupid? His opponent could fire rockets! ...No...not opponent...hunter. Jack's heart pounded harder, and he sweated more. His breathing was so heavy it became difficult, as he tried to look for something to fight with. He takes out a multi-tool he had brought with him, said tool having a screwdriver, a lighter, a knife, a wrench, a drill, et cetera. "Oh, who am I kidding?" Jack remarks.

"AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!" The Prodigy's laughter echoed throughout the mall, as Jack's heart felt like it was about to burst out of fear, and his clothes were damp with sweat. He tried to stay calm, but he couldn't hide the expression on his face. He saw a silhouette that looked like the Prodigy's and fired at it, but when it fell down...it was nothing more than a mannequin. Jack turns and sees the Prodigy leaping through the air, as he hears something behind him and sees a tall, grey alien animatronic with large black eyes.

"Take me to your leader!" The alien shouts, as Jack begins to fire at it, doing some damage to it but not stopping it. "T-t-take me t-t-to y-your lllllle-eader!" The alien shouts again, as Jack stabs it in the eye with his multi-tool and kicks it until it stays down. He quickly avoids gunfire from the Prodigy but feels that he was hit, as his cheek bleeds and his arm was somewhat burned. The Prodigy then came close and swung at Jack, Jack trying to block with his multi-tool as he felt and saw the cane wrapping around his neck, as the Prodigy twirled around, flinging Jack through a wall and onto a large open space.

"AGH!" Jack screams, as he breathes even more heavily. He was bleeding from multiple areas, and there was a fragment of concrete in the middle of his arm. He takes it out as the wound essentially fountains blood, and screams at the top of his lungs. "OH GOD, IT HURTS!" Jack shrieks, as he hears laughter. The Prodigy fires Jack's gun out of his hand, and he had lost the multi-tool. He turned with tears in his fear-filled eyes to see the Prodigy, as he shakily stands back up, beginning to feel dizzy from blood loss. The Prodigy then aimed his cane at him, and Jack just stood there, knowing he couldn't keep running anymore.

Fireworks boomed in the distance, and larger animatronics were heading their way. Jack eyed the cane closely, noting everything about its designed. It was a gun, designed as a cane, and it was pointed at his face. He moved his hand towards his pocket, which held an MGL grenade inside of it. He was going to try and take the Prodigy with him, as his tears were no longer just of pain. "Andromeda...Candice...Kasper...I'm sorry...but I'm not...gonna' make it back..." Jack remarks, as he throws the grenade, as it explodes upon contact with the shield. Jack feels his knee get shot, as he falls to the ground before being grabbed by the neck.

The Wicked Prodigy held Jack by the throat, as he flew upwards and took out another knife. "N...no..." Jack whimpers. "Was that it? Was that all you had?" The Wicked Prodigy demands. "I was rai--you won't care, either now or soon." The Prodigy then begins to stab all of Jack's tendons, making him scream, as he then lets go of him and kicks him multiple times, Jack thought six, and then grabbing him by the head. "You were interesting...and lasted longer than most...but it's over now, boy." The Prodigy says, as he drives the knife towards Jack's aortic artery.

Suddenly, a ladder hits the Prodigy in the face, causing him to fly back and hit a wall with a grunt. Jack falls to the ground, as he feels someone catch him and hears loud clanging metal and crashing. The ladder had fallen to the ground and cracked it, and the person holding Jack...was Andromeda. "Jack...are you..." Andromeda begins to ask, crying. "I..." Jack moans, as he feels himself slipping into unconsciousness. Andromeda continues to hold him as she stands up and faces the Prodigy, who was aiming his cane at her face. Right then, a light flashed. And when it had stopped, the Prodigy had vanished.

"...I hate carnivals like this..." Jack whimpers, as Andromeda places her head on his. "Let's get home, Jack." Andromeda says, as everything goes black.

## Chapter 60 - Resurrection

Eyes opened, everything was dark, with some shades of red, especially for the lights. Someone stood above, a man with black armor and glowing red goggle lenses. "Wh...what...?" Cygnus demands, before realizing...he was alive! Cygnus was stitched together, as he glared up at the man. "I MUST KILL ANDROMEDA!" Cygnus roars. "You will not be leaving this place until I have fully repaired your body." The surgeon says. "Darkstar can still find use in you." "You will not contain me here!" Cygnus screams, as the surgeon places a drill at his face. "I think we will, because Darkstar...will win." The surgeon replies, as he brings the drill down on Cygnus.