Chapter 9 - My Resolve, Our Resolution!

“General Okayama, we have conflicting investigative reports on-“

“Hoooold,” the pearly headed young man leaped off of the furnace in the diminutive, yet saturating apartment. Clothes, plates, all accounts of food, mainly pasta, splattered over the kitchen sink in a muddled vogue, and the ceiling fan was missing three blades. He squatted down on the kitchen table, knocking down an assortment of silverware in the process. He folded his arms over his knees, which were folded just below his face. He looked on with a glum yet estranged expression. Despite his appearance, it was obvious he was a high ranking member of a military squadron. He didn’t look any older than 18, and he adorned a high honorific badge across his right shoulder. “Why are you here, Major Kazin? It’s after 5 pm, I have no more business at the IMO headquarters.”

Major Kazin looked up, and sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose, looking down and taking notice of his superior’s untidy apartment. He adjusted his high trimmed shades and stared back at Okayama. “I apologize. Should I have knocked first?”

“That would be a start, though it wouldn’t hurt your credibility to bring me a Jalapeño  Popper.” Okayama replied irately, glaring up at his nearly 7 foot tall underling. “It must be important if you came down here though, it better be worth interrupting my after hours.”

“Yes well, regarding the investigation of the Channel 05 News Station in Heretic,” Kazin began, adjusting his shades, filing the report in his hands, he scanned the report. “We had evidence that pointed it the source was by an external induced explosion.” Okayama nodded with a slightly irate sigh, resting his hands on his chin blankly, as if annoyed he was getting information he already knew crammed back into his cranium. “Recent examinations say this may have been a collapse on the internal structure. One of the support beams in the building had collapsed which is a possibility of a collapse. Or more like, it was destroyed.”

“Humph, what is that supposed to prove?” Okayama questioned, Kazin looked up. “We have stronger evidence and countless eye witness accounts that suggest it was an explosion. Challenging that is rather redundant, don’t you think? It’s like cutting down a tree with a fish.”

“I’m not challenging the initial theory sir-“

“You said you had contradicting evidence. Pinpoint me exactly where that contradiction is, and why it’s relevant, and stop wasting my time. You’re boring the shit out of me.” Okayama said impatiently, narrowing his pure white ominous eyes. Kazin cleared his throat professionally and stood tall.

“We believe the perpetrators were inside of the building during the collapse, and there was a third party responsible for the destruction of the building on the outside.”

“That’s a strong argument you make, but it’s rather fruitless without evidence. What’s the proof?” Okayama stood straight on the table, now staring on even grounds with his subordinate, his white hazy eyes looked on irksomely.

“We found a body inside.”

“Were you honestly expecting to find something else?” Okayama replied sarcastically, folding his arms.

“I mean one of the bodies was unique.”

“Did it sprout a tail?”

“She was identified as Clara Underwood, the Anchorwoman for Channel 05.”

“So she didn’t have a tail?”

“No, sir, she didn’t have a tail.”

“Fascinating. Well, I know about her death. What about her is unique?”

“She was found inside of the debris of the News Station, yet she died of a gunshot wound.”

“As opposed to being crushed and flattened? That is news, from Clara Underwood.”

“Right,” Kazin sighed. “We believe the station was attacked by two parties, they didn’t appear to be working together. The good news though, and the main reason I came here, is because one of the cameras in the debris, by some long shot, managed to pick up an image of the perpetrators leaving the incident.”

Okayama’s eyes widened lightly, he grinned. “Now, why didn’t you just say that from the get-go? So then, who was it?” Okayama folded his legs, sitting back down on the table.

“The Golden Eagle of the Rose.”

Okayama laughed heartily, for the first time, showing genuine interest in the case. It was a name he apparently didn’t expect to hear. “Well, that is interesting! Very well, this is what you’re gonna do. Gather the assassination and interrogation squadron and surround the Vault’s perimeters.”

Kazin nodded. “Very well, sir. Will you lead the expedition?”

“Nah, I told you, these are my off hours. I’m on salary, so fuck you and your crew,” Okayama rested the back of his head on his hands. “Though, there is someone I’d like to recommend to you. Since we are dealing with Vault, you may want to consider calling up her.”

“You can’t mean-“

Okayama smiled cockily with a tilt of his head. “Velvetti.”

-~-

“Welcome to the team, Travis Reid. Good to have you in,” Willy said, standing by his fellow crew members in the assorted hallway, all four of the members (excluding Sabre) looked on, poised and professional, except Rubie, who fidgeted with her royal colored cape as if bored to bereavement. Willy raised his hand, offering a shake to Trav. Trav lightly smiled, accepting Willy’s firm handshake.

“You know, it doesn’t seem fair he didn’t take the initiation test,” Rubie blurted out, raising her hand as if being called on. She lowered her arm to her level, pointing to Trav with a quirky smirk. “This little punk should take it too, otherwise, we won’t know what he’s really worth.”

Ten’s green eyes examined the area with a profound interest. “A test? I never took a test?”

“She’s lying,” Jesse said coldly, folding his arms, his blue scarf covering his bottom half facial features. Jesse’s words were as chilled as frost. “There is no initiation test.”

“Right,” Willy said, glancing back at Trav, raising a smirk. “Ready for your test, Trav?”

Trav’s eyes widened. “A test? You just said there was no test-“

“They’re only fanatical; they have a lot of team spirit. They only want the best for our team.” Random enthusiastic habitats of the Vault surrounded the room, throwing up their hands in unison.

“The spirit of Ares blazes within us!

“Our heart is a raging dynamite ready to explode!”

“My eyes glisten with the inferno of courage!”

Trav scratched his chin, looking back up at Willy. “So, is this a loyalty test or something?”

Willy simply looked on and smiled peculiarly, “Something like that.” Trav raised a brow. From Willy’s mystique, it could be anything. He wasn’t the easiest guy to predict. He waited further, when Willy spoke up again. “You have to fight-“

“Darn, I knew it. I have to fight you, don’t I? Are you an idiot? Why are you always dragging me into your battles, man?! Now you’re even making me fight against you?! Where is the righteousness in this situation!-“

“Ten.”

Trav stopped, looking up at Willy, removing his hands away from his head he was clutching in disbelief and anguish. “What?”

“You have to fight Ten.”

Ten waved. Trav wiped his nose, his eyes shrunk, and his facial features swelled like an old raisin. “What?”

“It’ll be easy. His body is only as hard as steel. Just aim for the cylinder heart,” Rubie said, cocking her head back with a beaming smirk. She playfully gestured her hand for a motion forward, staring at Trav with slight pity. “From what you’ve told us, it shouldn’t be much of a problem.”

“I haven’t told you anything,” Trav said, wiping sweat from his forehead. They couldn’t be serious. They really wanted him to fight against that metal contraption? His body looked four tons harder than Xero’s, and Willy couldn’t put a powerful dent in his armor. What was he expecting to be able to do?

Ten stepped forward, his mere metallic footsteps quaked the ground, or so was the sensation. The room seemed to tilt forward by his overwhelming presence. Trav looked up in awe, as he stood easily three feet taller than him. Trav gulped, deciding that if he was going to swallow all of his panic and angst, he had to do it now. If it was a test of loyalty, they at least wanted him to try, he figured. Or maybe they didn’t, maybe it was a test to see if he would harm his comrades? Trav didn’t try any further to wrap his brain around it, thinking things through was never his strong suit. He acted purely on impulse. Trav stepped in front of Ten, standing as tall as he possibly could in the situation, though he still took note of how towering Ten was to him. He briskly looked up, gulping, attempting to portray a stern look across his face.

“Well, if that’s what Willy wants… I’m in,” Trav said, gathering all of his inner confidence he used to face Sidian in the gym during his time period in 2012, only Ten, physically, was a lot more appalling and threatening, yet his personality and poise said otherwise, ironically. Ten stared down apathetically.

“Yes, you may begin when you are ready,” his deep, mechanized voice pronounced. Ten clenched his steel fists, holding them in a straight column from Trav. Trav took an unorganized, untrained stance. Willy and the others of his team all took notice of this. Willy studied Trav’s maneuvers with an insightful eye. Rubie shook her head in apparent disapproval. Willy and Jesse merely observed inquisitively.

“Here I come!” Trav announced head on, leaping off of the ground, going for a direct charge for Ten, relying completely on instinct rather than common sense. Trav, losing his footing almost instantly after the leap of faith, was caught in the stomach by Ten before he could even make a move. Trav leaned down his head, coughing up a fair bit of saliva, as he was pushed back by pure force on account of Ten’s metal hands. Trav caught his fall in the open floor, catching his breath, the breath that was just socked right out of him. Trav suddenly felt a surge of pain radiate through his person. He clutched his stomach with a sharp twinge, coughing faintly.

“Come on, what was that?” Rubie taunted teasingly with a bright smile lighting the room like a montage of Christmas lights. Despite her personality and habits, she was easy on the eyes. “What was that you just spit up? What little sense of your dignity you had left?”

“Shut… the hell up!” Trav made another charge, throwing a punch for Ten. Ten simply side-stepped, stepping away from Trav with a sweep. Trav glared on, throwing a barrage of punches for Ten, all untrained, impulse punches Trav merely threw as a throw-and-pray sort of deal. He had only hoped at least one would hit. Despite his size, Ten proved to be quite fast. Not a single one landed. Trav began panting, already out of breath (again).

“You need to take a breather?” Rubie chuckled with gusto. “Loser’s corner is down the hall, next to the Failure’s Convention.”

“You’re not taking me seriously, are you?” Trav said in between intakes of air. Ten simply stared down at Trav for a few seconds. Trav took his silence as a good enough answer. “You hit me once… why did you do that? Why won’t you hit me anymore? Are you taking pity on me…? Man, I didn’t ask for that, I don’t want that! Take me seriously!”

Ten looked down, what Trav would have considered pity, but it wasn’t quite that. Ten made no attempt at hiding his disapproval, which seemed out of character of him. Weird, how could he say that to someone he barely knew? Ten continued to look on, and finally lowered his head, staring Trav in the eyes with a serene resolve.

“What is your resolve, Travis Reid? Why go this far for us? For a future you cannot hope to save?” Ten said with his robotic voice, taking one step closer, his figure towered over Trav’s. Trav glared up, as if appalled he would ask that question. Trav wiped his mouth, smiling.

“One man believed in me,” Trav replied simply. “He believed in me, and I believe in him. Together, we can win the world. That much, I know,” Trav replied with a cocky smile, glancing over at Willy for a brief second. Willy caught the glance, and smirked back, as if proud with his answer.

“Well, that sounds unbelievably vague and cliché, not to mention unrealistic,” Rubie said, rolling her eyes and folding her arms, looking away as if in inclusive disgust. Trav ignored her comment, and walked over to Ten, extending up his arms 110 degrees from his body, his right arm more curved than the left.

“You ready to finish this, Ten?” Trav said with a boastful, self complimenting smirk. Ten’s face merely smiled, even if it wasn’t entirely visible by his overbearing metal body.

Abruptly, with no warning, the Vault alarm sounded off in a fierce chime, sounding like a military alarm. Red lights flashed across the locality inside, the members inside of the Vault’s alarm on their faces could be easily deciphered. Most were afraid, some were angry. Jesse merely sighed, Rubie clenched her fists gritting her teeth, Willy’s eyes plastered across the walls.

“What the hell is that?” Trav asked through the alarm. Willy turned to Trav smoothly.

“Cipher Red,” Willy replied austerely, looking up toward the exit doors. The people within the Vault’s main halls began taking an emergency shuttle exit within the base, others stood firm, running for the exit doors, equipped with various weapons of sorts from the stock piles on the wall. With a sudden, bewildering silence in the atmosphere, Willy slowly turned his head to his team.

“Everyone, get ready. Sabre will be expecting us.”

“Sabre isn’t here Willy!” Rubie exclaimed angrily, the anger not directly gunned for him, but she was angry at the situation no doubt. Willy’s eyes widened slightly.

“Well, that’s not good at all. That would explain the wide scale panic,” Willy said, almost absent mindedly. The others seemed not to notice it, or mind it at all. Trav rubbed his temple. Jesse began moving forward in front of the others.

“We have to take Sabre’s place, and preserve the hideout at all costs. Everyone, be prepared to sacrifice everything for our name and resolution,” Jesse said, speaking like a true leader. Willy nodded in concord.

“It must be the government administration,” Willy exhaled, walking next to Jesse. He slowly began building up his pace, a dead determined glare plastered on his face, his brow raised accordingly, he looked ready to knock some heads. Rubie clashed her fists together, exhaling from her nose in a bull-like fashion. Ten merely followed, walking normally among his teammates. Willy turned back to Trav, noticing he was staying still.

“You coming?” Willy asked legitimately, holding out his hand. Trav stared into Willy’s eyes for a brief second, and shook his hand. “If you’re on the team, get your game face on.”

“Damn straight. Let’s bust some heads.”

-~-

“Oh boy, it seems my face will have to settle inside of a battlefield once more,” the doctor of the Vault, Kaidoh, stepped inside of the main hall, his left hand gestured with a tilt to his face, holding a small hand sized mirror in place. “I suppose I could use a quick wash afterwards, yes? Only a good leisurely gawking is in order, ladies.” Kaidoh waved his right hand majestically around his face with a cocky smirk, a bunch of Vault ladies surrounded him, hearts shaped in their eyes, calling Kaidoh’s name like horny dogs, embracing Kaidoh from all angles. Kaidoh smiled, his teeth twinkling in the sunlight outside.

“Do not fret, ladies, everyone will have a turn. Let us be off, and protect the Vault with our utmost potential!” Kaidoh said, a sparkling glitter of blue dust swirled around his being. Was it magic? Looked like it. The ladies were in awe; even some men were swayed by Kaidoh’s majestic conduct.

“The time for Vault’s ascension into the heavens, begins now. Let us shine on a pedestal upon God’s throne.” Kaidoh wiped his goldenrod hair behind his face with a conceited smirk. He was ready for this.

-~-

“Seems we’ve broken through the first line of defense,” an officer said, his badge glistening along with his figure inside of the walls outside. He was smoking a blunt, blowing a puff into the air, he suddenly coughed afterward. A female officer next to him spoke up.

“Seems the Vault is at its most vulnerable now. Sabre is gone, that leaves us to target them with no benevolence.” The woman said, her natural blue eyes, though bright, had a unique ring around them, her pupils were unnaturally small. “We shall inform Lieutenant Velvetti of our feat. The Vault goes down today. What are your current orders, Colonel Rash?

“Those revolutionaries have had imaginary dreams for far too long. They have been sidestepped from reality. It is time to put them in their place. A cold awakening, a dreamless world. This world should not be lived in dreams,” the smoker, Colonel Rash, replied, taking another exhale off of his blunt. He looked over at his partner. “Captain Kana, dispatch the 4^th squadron and surround the boundary. Make sure no one escapes. If they do, drag them back by their nose hairs, dead or alive.”

The female captain in rank, Kana, nodded, taking out her radio, she began ordering those on the other end of the receiver according to Rash’s expectations. Colonel Rash looked through his sunglasses, a mischievous scowl upon his face.

“If this goes well, we won’t even need Velvetti, or the Supreme Commando.”

-~-

A crimson haired woman looked on from the outer bank of the island. She appeared on a hilltop, alone, dressed in a white badge of honor, which she adorned with pride. She licked her lips, looking down at the battlefield, as if she could see all, as if she was sitting upon God’s throne, watching the peasant flitted ants make their way across the island. Her emerald eyes lit up, placing her hands on her hips, her military robe of honor blew with the rustle bustle of the wind. She slowly kneeled down, holding up her arm in a vertical position from her body, her palm lit up, materializing a beacon of light which seemed to have molded from an acute paradise.  The orb condensed, creating crystallized sparks around her person, lighting up her face from view, where no one but her could see.

Inside of the orb was Willy.

“Willman. I look forward to meeting with you once again.” She leaped down, sliding off of the hill, the orb decomposed within thin air, disappearing within the light it was made. She flipped off of the ledge top, and vanished from nowhere, her body dispersing as a beam of luminosity, lighting up the heavens with a divine prowess.

The raid of the Vault had officially begun.

CS Update: Wiki is Active!

I'm making this short update post to inform you that the CS official Wiki is now officially up and running. Well, it was up and running before, but it had no relevant content to CS. Now it does, so if you would like to check up on some info in CS you may have missed, or just knowledge for knowledge's sake, whatever, it's all there.

The Wiki covers (or will cover in the future); characters, settings, organizations and groups, story arcs, and more! The link to the Wiki is in the external links section at the right >>>

In case you don't feel like clicking all the way over there, I'll supply a link HERE

Yours truly,
Travis Reid

Chapter 8 - Team Willy

The world around Willy swiftly came into view. His consciousness slowly returned to focus on the world engaged around him. He found himself in a familiar room, the Medical Unit Wing in the Vault. He had been in here a few times before, not exactly his cup of tea and biscuits, certainly not a place he would choose to be. Willy sat up, suddenly feeling a jolt of pain cascade throughout his body. He found it restricting to move, the bandages wrapped up around his chest and his right arm. Normally after a few good hours of sleep, Willy’s body was able to rapidly heal at a supernatural rate, but not this time apparently. The damage done in his battle with Xero was far too staking on his being.

Damn, I almost forgot! Willy grimaced, narrowing his eyes toward the door on the other side of the room, unusually far away.

“I wouldn’t venture too far in your condition. Your face must be shed from approaching sunlight!” A lighthearted, patient voice called from the back room. Willy froze up instantly, cutting his eyes slowly to the back room. He swallowed slightly before sitting up in his bed. He heard little footsteps echoing across the hallway, he immediately knew, not only by the voice, but by the slow pace of the footsteps who was treating him, if it weren’t obvious enough by the room stature of assorted picture frames covering the entire room of single close ups of as certain individual’s face. That was the only detail he seen and needed to know.

“Kaidoh,” Willy said slowly, finally turning his full body around to face the man who walked through the room, adorning a crescent style of ornaments, light blue hair styled, twin mirrors attached to both of his robe pockets.

“I’m a doctor, little swan, and you are 100 years too early to be referring to my face without a proper resignation,” Kaidoh said rather sharply, which Willy challenged with a simple scowl. Willy turned away, knowing that in these types of arguments, even Sabre couldn’t beat him. “You took quite a beating there,” Kaidoh stated bluntly, reaching inside of a file cabinet across the room, rummaging through many materials inside. “If Sabre was only a few more minutes late, I might not have been able to save you.”

“Was it really that serious?” Willy asked, staring down at the ground with an endless, unfocused gaze.

“Yeah, your pressure points were completely jammed, and your brain lost signal with your body. Seems your nerve receptors were jammed. Basically, your CPES Aura abilities were completely shot down, and had it not been for my interference and emergency surgery, you surely would have died within the hour. Whoever did that knew what they were doing, indeed. That’s not even mentioning all of your other external injuries. Those six broken ribs were pretty troublesome as well, with a pierced lung and all. Jeez, you’re a mess; so unmanly of you.”

Willy nodded slowly; he was hardly listening to Kaidoh, his thoughts completely focused on something else, Xero, and Clara. He killed her in cold blood, right in front of him. Willy clenched his fist, his silent rage began flaring in him. He couldn’t just sit here sulking, he had to act. Willy slowly stood up, once again, and headed for the door. Kaidoh turned his head toward Willy, pulling out a pill bottle from inside of the cabinet. “Wait up, slow down your trajectory there young swan, and please turn your average face to my attention.”

Willy looked back over his shoulder, as that instant he did, he caught the approaching pill bottle with his right hand. The pure lift of his arm sent a large jolt of pain through Willy’s body. He grimaced, shaking it off. Kaidoh grinned from behind, sitting on Willy’s bed.

“I know how you get in these situations, so just go and bleed to death, but at least you could take those antibiotics.” Kaidoh winked. Willy smiled.

“Thanks Kaidoh.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“So Trav, this is the gang!” Sabre sat on the bar stool holding a beer. Trav stood next to him, glancing around the large lobby.  Large assortments were sorted over the hideout, many tables and chairs rowdily loitered around, many statues of a golden eagle floated above the ceiling. A small crowd began cheering at the new arrival, as beer and smoke dispensed in a wild sense across the room, many fists began flying, chairs crushed, had Trav not ducked, he would have been rammed into an incoming large man who was shattering the glass bottles across the bar table. Another smaller man ran up and slid the big man down the table. He hit his head on a supporting pillar in the room, causing a picture portrait to crash down upon him. Trav watched with widened eyes.

“Uh- what- what the hell?”

“Nah, it’s normal. They often fight when they’re happy,” Sabre said as if it were no big deal at all, taking a sip of his beer bottle. He leaned across the counter, smacking himself in the face, he looked back groggily to Trav.

“You’re already drunk after one drink?! How sensitive can you be?!”

“Amm nawt droonk!” Sabre uttered out almost incoherently. Trav’s eyes widened, pointing at Sabre.

“That’s exactly what a drunken person would say!” Trav exclaimed, leaping across the bar as another man flew past him. Trav crouched down underneath.

“This is crazy! How can these guys be so disruptive?!”

“This is the only life we have now, Trav,” Sabre said, slouching down on his chair, his cheeks suddenly back to normal color. Trav looked up with even more widened eyes, clearly reaching the size of the moon now.

“What the hell?! You’re sober within seconds?!”

“Trav, I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet,” Sabre said, setting his beer aside. Trav looked up, attempting to tune out all of the noise. Sabre cut his eyes toward Trav casually, without a care in the world. He almost even looked bored. “My name is Sabre, but I’m more known around here as the Golden Eagle of the Rose.” Sabre held up his hand, Trav taking it with a diligent shake.

“Nice to meet you sir,” Trav said, clearly unsure what else to say. He wanted to ask so many questions, but he couldn’t bring himself to. “My name is Travis Reid.” Sabre nodded.

“Right, I know you. There’s a group of people I’d like you to meet Trav. Follow me if you will.” Sabre said, pumping Trav on the shoulder. Trav stood up and followed Sabre out of the room. Trav hit his head lightly tapping himself in the right temple. What was he getting himself into? Things were even more chaotic now than they were a few hours ago, which he could barely remember. It was more than any average person should be able to process.

Sabre walked through the hallway, making a left turn down a red carpeted hallway, which he found strange considering there was no carpet in the lounge room or the other rooms. Trav followed peculiarly, a brow raised the whole way. Sabre opened the door to the end room on the halls, motioning for Trav to come inside. Immediately after Sabre opened the door, Trav held his nose tight with both hands.

“Jesus! What’s that horrid stench?! That is ass at its nastiest!” Trav obnoxiously scowled nasally. Sabre inhaled deeply filling his lungs with the malicious air. Trav literally felt like he was going to pass out, maybe even venture into a stifling coma.

“Yo! Golden-rod! What’s up?!” a loudmouthed girl with sharp features leaned against the center table and chair in the room, wearing a rather uncanny hat and ruby crafted gemstones draping down from the hat on chain. She was wearing a casual red robe, yet was torn in about 50 places. Trav couldn’t make out all of the defining details at that moment due to the reeking aroma, but he did notice a large brew of steam mounting in the kitchen. The room was apparently a small apartment inside of the Vault.

Suddenly the girl’s chair was pulled out from behind her. She fell to the ground on her back. She glared up, her eyes shot up with an infuriated glower. “You asshole! You did that on purpose!” she pointed up at the man behind her, who walked toward the wall.

“Loudmouth Rubie’s reputation exceeds her,” a sapphire haired man leaned against the wall, crossing his arms with a casual lean, a deep blue scarf draped around his neck, he wore a casual black T-shirt underneath his white, blue trim layered jacket. He looked up, meeting eyes with Trav with a glacial iciness. He nodded slowly, gesturing up a quick hand on acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Rubie. “Your ass was in my face. I didn't like it.”

“No one said you had to look at it! I didn’t even want you to look at it Jesse! And couldn’t you just move?! Like you just did?! Was knocking me down even necessary?!” she pouted, while the man, Jesse, looked over at the corner of his eye.

"It's more fun to move you," Jesse said with a unique chill. Trav could have sworn his throat chilled from his words.

“Interesting bunch,” Trav said with a sigh. Sabre smiled.

“’Course, you know, we’re all that’s left of the rebellion. Everyone here is crammed as a exultant family. These three here are the two other comrades of Willy.”

“Three?” Trav took a swift look at Jesse and Rubie, then directed his attention toward the kitchen. He squinted his eyes. In that same instant, a frying pan along with a thick carved chef’s knife lunged forward at an intense speed, the knife merely scrapping Trav’s cheek, while the frying pan hit his face, knocking him against the wall sideways. The knife stuck through the wall next to Trav. He looked up slowly, a quite horrified look upon his face. Jesse looked up nonchalantly, directing his eyes away from the floor toward the kitchen.

A man walked out of the kitchen, as his steps emerged closer, a quake in the floor began to feel more apparent. His footsteps also had a metalized feel, squeaking profusely with each closing step. As his face came into view from the steam, he looked down at Trav. Trav’s eyes widened intensely, attempting to crawl back up using the wall as a measly support.

“What the hell is this guy?! What is up with you people?!” Trav began panting, clutching his chest in a near panic state. Sabre looked up, as if confused.

“What? That’s just Ten. He’s just an android chef.”

Ten appeared, standing tall, over 8 feet tall. His body was an entire metallic canvas, similar to Xero but on a much larger scale. His eyes were completely neon green, with a darker shade of green as a pupil; his body was a rusty red, with a blue eagle painted across the right side of his chest. The most peculiar of all though, he was wearing a party hat with blue ribbons adorned on the top. Trav’s mouth gaped open as he looked up.

“My apologies, Travis Reid,” the android said slowly, his metallic voice nonchalant. “My arm short circuited. You may punish me with a paddle.”

“Alright so, this has to be a dream, all of this. There’s no way this is real life. You’re all just there in my dreams, this is all a dream. Why are you guys hiding like cowards then? You should go out and fight if it means that much to you!” Trav said in disbelief, with a slight terror lifting his voice. After all he had been through the past 24 hours; he felt he had a right to make a judgmental statement.

Sabre and Jesse both looked at Trav, and remained quiet. Rubie leaped over the table with one foot, and tackled Trav outside of the hallway. Jesse only slightly opened his eyes, while Sabre looked on.

“You think what we’ve been going through for the past decade is a dream?! You got a lot of balls to say something like that twerp! Don’t talk like you know everything!” Trav looked up, a blank expression plastered on his face. Inside, he felt completely conflicted, he didn’t know how to react at all. He wanted to believe he was dreaming, but she just tackled him, that hurt. He lost consciousness at the news station; he woke up in pain, more psychological than mental. “Those fiends have stolen away our freedom! Just their presence masks a sense of insecurity and taints all of our hearts! We’ve fought against these monsters for over a decade, and now they’re finally tired of us, they’re going to wipe us out! Before you go and blurt something entirely stupid and judgmental like that, you should think about us, think about how we feel, what you would do in our shoes. This isn’t a dream, this is the harsh reality. If you’re not going to accept it, then go sell yourself to K.I. and get the hell out.”

Trav looked up, resting his head against the scarlet carpet masking the hallway. He placed his hands over his face. “I see.”

Rubbie stood up, walking away from Trav. Trav made a slit in between his fingers to watch her walk away, watch her turn her back on him. “Wait.”

Rubbie stopped.

“You must be in pain right now,” Trav said, relying completely on impulse now. Sabre curiously looked on; Jesse closed his eyes once more. Ten stared apathetically. “You must have been going through a lot. I apologize, I don’t know what I was thinking. Well, I wasn’t thinking, how can I think in this situation?”

“Is this your way of asking for forgiveness?”

“Not at all,” Trav said, slowly sitting up, using the wall to lean on support. “I really couldn’t care less if you ever forgive me in this world, but…” Trav spoke up. “I have made a decision.” Rubbie finally turned around to face Trav, her garnet eyes glared at him with a certain intent he didn’t quite recognize. “Seems Willy was telling me the truth. I do want to help, any way I can.”

“The first thing you can do is man up and stand tall,” Rubbie said, walking back inside of the apartment. “Apparently you’re Willy’s accomplice. If so, I hope he teaches you exactly what it means to fight for us, and how to be a proper man.”

“Very well, Trav, if Ten and Jesse are okay with this, would you like to become a member of the Vault core squadron, Team Willy?”

Trav simply nodded. “I’m in.”

Jesse nodded apathetically. Ten smiled. Sabre chuckled.

“Welcome aboard. Once Willy awakens, we’ll all meet up and discuss what’s next.”

Willy walked through the lobby of the Vault headquarters, his hands in his pockets. He looked around, everyone that was fighting earlier were asleep in awkward positions on the table, floor, and even bar counter. Willy sighed, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at each one of the ones on the floor, and immediately headed in the opposite direction.

“Willy, mind if we talk?” a feminine voice echoed from afar. Willy stopped, turning around, facing the android girl who had saved him from Xero’s wrath in the station, Yuki.

“Yuki?”

“Hi Willy.”

“What are you doing here? You don’t usually lounge around headquarters.” Willy asked casually, slightly tilting his head to his right. Yuki smiled, adjusting her glasses on her face.

“You don’t need to worry, Trav has already settled, and is staying here for the night as well.”

“I see.”

Yuki stood up from the bar stool, walking closer to Willy slowly. Willy stood and watched her approach. Yuki stared into Willy’s eyes, boring through his soul, she was always good at catching him off guard, she was so unpredictable, Willy never knew what she was planning, just like her brother.

“I wanted to see you before I left.”

“Where are you going?” Willy’s eyes widened slightly.

“Away.”

“Broad term. Mind explaining?”

“I’m going away on a mission.”

Willy scowled slightly, Yuki looked on passionately. “If you really cared about us, you’d stay here with us, you know. Yuki, everyone knows about these secret missions.”

Yuki looked down, her cold grey eyes staring with a sad concentration. “I have to do this, not only for my sake, but for Vault’s too. You know how much influence he has, and he could find us, through me.”

Willy shook his head slowly, clearly in disagreement. “You can’t keep doing this forever. You can’t keep doing this to us. Just think about Sabre.”

Yuki paused for a short while, making her way out of the sliding glass doors. She looked back one last time before walking outside. “I’ll do what I have to do. Give Trav my regards.”

Willy nodded. “I’ll tell him everything.”

“Hopefully only everything he needs to know. Meet up with Team Willy, Sabre should have your first assignment with Trav ready.”

“You’ve talked with Sabre?”

“Nope,” Yuki smiled, disappearing outside in the cold brittle storm. The thunder roared, shining a sapphire light through the room, illuminating Willy’s face as he watched Yuki part. Willy closed his eyes, and kicked one of the tables lightly across the floor. He walked inside of the red carpeted hallway.

Chapter 7 - Hollow's Bell

It was a tenebrous, soulless night. Not a single star gleamed in the dark sky, not a single platoon of official enforcers in the street, not a single individual wandered the sidewalks, constantly flashing with a boundless set of street lights. The moonlight engraved a silver lining among the city’s silhouette. Perhaps an epic foreshadowing for what was inevitably intended to transpire. Ryoku would not agree.

Ryoku wandered the street, wearing a black, leather coat, his hands placed in his coat pockets, indifferently fondling on the small bit of pocket change. On Ryoku’s ears were headphones, reverberating a silent melancholy through the shadows. A man used to living in the shadows, obscured from civic communities and public eyes. Ryoku’s eyes opened, revealing the scarlet laced, blood drenched eyes, staring up at the hazy moon stymied by the clouds in the sky.

“Death is the only thing that is a promise in life,” Ryoku said, not particularly to anyone. In his free time, Ryoku rather enjoyed being poetic, reciting lines from various poems and songs he had heard in his lifetime. Ryoku vanished with an immense speed, his body appearing through a flicker of dark matter, re-appearing on the nearest rooftop, the stars twinkling before a colossal twilight. “My blood streams through my veins cold, searing my one existence into a tragic fate foretold ♪.”

“Is that a song, Ryo?” a man said, sitting next to Ryoku on the rooftop. One second ago, he literally was not there. This alarming entrance had no effect on Ryoku, in fact, he was expecting him. His face remained distant, hidden by the fabrics of his hood garment. Ryoku turned casually to the new advent arrival, closing his eyes. A large rumble roared in the city tops, followed by a streak of lightning.

“Not quite, merely a recollection of my posture and trials,” Ryoku said with a sigh, watching the flowing midnight clouds. “Poetry is but a sword of lightning, ever unsheathed, which consumes the scabbard that would contain it.”

“Anything else you wanna spring outta’ your ass my way?” the man asked with a hearty, yet somewhat frantic chuckle. His voice resonated with a sinister string. Ryoku’s sense of humor clearly collided with this man’s, however.

“Have you completed the task Haize has allocated to us?” Ryoku asked, completely changing the subject matter to more pressing, serious matters. “We each have our own part in this; you had better be doing your share too, since you have time to criticize me.”

The man threw his hands up, “Oi, absolutely, Ryo!-“

“Don’t call me that.”

“I’ve apprehended the girl,” the man said. “She knows nothing.”

“She does know something. She knows much.”

“Yeah? You try interrogating her then hotpants. I’m telling you, she’s stubborn as a mule – won’t talk at all. I actually had to force her to talk to me. Man, she really has no manners.”

“Weak minds are easily deceived. She is but a mere mortal, after all. We do not often look underneath the underneath-“

“Okay look if you’re gonna start getting all intense serious face and poetic again I’m leaving. Seriously, no one thinks you’re cool when you do that.” the man stood up. Ryoku sighed in response, finding this conversation more of a nuisance than an actual business leap.

“What of your second task?”

“Oh? Right,” the man’s hands lifted up to his hood, pulling it down, draping over his back. He grinned, revealing some considerably thrilling fangs. He smiled delightfully.

“Those little twerps have successfully traveled through the Timestream to this day and age.” Zeru said, smiling as if it were all a little game he was playing, and winning. “They’re playing right into our hands – even Prince Sidian is so gullible.”

Ryoku remained silent, observing the dusky sky once more, allowing a light breeze to flow gently in his face, the chilling night air was dazzling. “Sidian does not concern us,” Ryoku spoke bluntly, the mere mention of Sidian’s name sending an intense chill down his spine, rummaging down his body. Ryoku apathetically shook it off. “Our target is Willman.”

“It’s no sweat anyway,” Zeru said with a light laugh, folding his arms, looking down over the city alongside Ryoku. “With Willy’s big sister on our case, it’ll be even easier. We may even get admission to Nebelion!”

“Nebelion’s passive customs will ultimately lead to their demise,” Ryoku said. “Those two siblings, along with that family of theirs, will lead to a revolution. Our goal is to see it through.” Ryoku closed his eyes. “Which is why, as long as circumstances do not condone, we are not allowed to meet face to face with Willman. If he sees me…” Ryoku lifted his hand to his face, clenching his leather gloved fist. “It could tip any natural balance in the Timestream, to the point refurbishment is unattainable.

Zeru chuckled heartily, standing up, he strode over to the door for the entrance of the rooftop casually with no care in the world. He placed his hands behind his head while watching Ryoku. “Hey dude, heard of that new organization that is suddenly skimming into public animosity.”

Ryoku turned to Zeru, cutting his eyes Zeru’s way. “Vault or Aura?”

“Aura,” Zeru said with a trivial smile. “They seem interesting.”

“How so?” Ryoku questioned, barely showing an apparent interest any way.

“They have an interesting goal, interesting cast, and an intriguing leader,” Zeru replied with a quirky smirk. Ryoku did not seem amused or concerned. Zeru sighed, “Guess I have to spell it out for you.” Zeru walked toward Ryoku, staring at him from the back. “We need to make a trip.”

Ryoku’s eyes narrowed. “My heart trembles with the solid ache of vengeance.”

“My apologies, Ms. Winterstone, but we cannot identify the properties of the War Rune,” the attorney said with profound apologetic tone.

A red haired woman with mid-back length red hair which curled elegantly in blissful strands behind her back, leaving coiled bangs stranded down her forehead, wearing a black as night corset with a royal purple lining, revealing a large portion of her stomach, while sensually revealing a savoring flavor of cleavage. A red rose adorned between her breasts on the corset. She wore a black knee length skirt with a purple wrap tied around her waist. She placed her hands on her hips as her most notable feature, her amethyst eyes stared coldly at the attorney. She flicked her crimson hair out of her face with a turn of her neck.

“Yes you can, and I ordered you to do so,” Rouge replied gravely with a cold, stoic stare. “Unless you aspire for termination in your near future, you will uncover the secrets of that rune. It’s the only lead we have, and I intend to use it,” The attorney replied, before placing his hands before his waist, presenting himself in an orderly, honorable fashion. He set off, leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.

Rouge sighed, looking out of the window of the main Aura headquarters. The rain began to pick up immensely, and before long, a deafening roar of thunder blasted through the heavens, followed by a swift flash of azure lightning, lighting the first half of Rouge’s face as she stared callously out of the window. Above all else, she felt desperate inside. She slowly bit her lip as she turned away from the window, the lightning outside reflecting off of the window glass. Her crimson hair drenched in her face as she gazed down at her feet.

“These runes must be the secret to K.I.’s power. I have to uncover this power, and defeat them myself. I at least owe that much.”

“How do you intend to do that?”

Rouge heard the voice, the hollow voice called across the room. At first, she thought it was in her subconscious. She then heard the constant ringing of a bell inside of her head. It was a strange bell, hollow in its resonance, as if it had no soul, no meaning at all into its melody. Rouge closed her eyes, rubbing the temples on her head. She sat on her desk in her rolling chair, pressing the intercom button on her phone to her secretary on the first floor.

“Please, turn on the A.C immediately. It’s a little stifling in here.” She requested, more like demanded, resting her head on her desk. All of the stress at work must have finally been getting to her, in a horrid way. She usually dealt with stress well, but this day in particular had been very nerve-racking. After seemingly discovering a secret to the world’s enemy’s ominous energy source, they were unable to crack the code to using it and destroying it without discovering how it worked was nigh impossible. With all of this on her mind, she needed breaks, but never wanted to go through the initiative to take them. She never had time, time was not easy to come by, and it waited for no one.

“We meet at last, Blackrose Rouge,” Rouge heard the voice again, but this time, she could swear she heard it from the ceiling. She looked up, flicking on the lamp light at her desk as she looked up at the man literally standing from above her ceiling, his feet planted on her wall. The black leather jacket was the first thing she noticed, followed by his shaggy/spiky black hair. He folded his arms as he stared at Rouge with apathetic crimson eyes, Rouge’s amethyst eyes, perplexed by the man standing in front of her, or rather above her, jumped out of her seat.

She reacted immediately, reaching for the quadruple bracelets fashioned around both of her wrists. She tapped one of them, conjuring up a large array of miniscule needles to surround the man, and stab into his body around his neck, aiming to sever his veins and neck muscles with a dangerously accurate display by all 10 needles. To her surprise, the man simply unsheathed one black dagger with blood red edge linings, deflecting the needles all in a three severe slashes, small sparks glistened in the room, as the small droppings of the needles echoed in the empty room with the exception of these two extraordinary people. The man landed on the ground, holding his right arm above his face twisted in a horizontal curve, he twirled his dagger in his hand, sheathing it in his pouch just below his belt for his black gothic style chain pants. The man looked up, flicking his black stylish hair out of his face with a single swipe. Rouge merely looked on in disbelief. She suddenly backed up, but a scowl remained apparent on her face.

“Who are you? How did you find me? What do you want with me?”

The man’s face came into view with a lining of sapphire light from outside of the window, illuminating the face of that of Ryoku. He held his black gloved hand toward Rouge clenching his fist in midair.

“A black heart reminiscent of ghastly intentions, I stand before you, my lady, not as an act of contravention.” Ryoku lifted his index and thumb fingers in midair, pointing at Rouge. “You are the Aura leader, am I right?”

Rouge regained her balance, glaring seriously at Ryoku. “Answer all of my questions first, and I’ll answer yours.”

“My name is Ryoku,” Ryoku replied, placing his hands casually in his pockets. “I have intel on your organization, I know all of your goals documented on every last one of your private investigated files,” Ryoku said, midsentence Rouge gasped, but attempted to remain composed, as to not give away anything dire. She still wasn’t sure she could trust this man, after all.

“I want you; because I believe you could use my help, as much as I could use yours.” Ryoku said, bowing in a sign of respect for Rouge. “I come humbly before your presence, Blacksheep, as an ally, fighting the same war of generations to follow, were we not to act on the Black Doomsday.”

Rouge’s eyes widened. “H-how do you know about that day?”

“How do you?” Ryoku countered, glaring seriously.

“You brought it up,”

“Actually, you did, just now.”

Rouge scowled, adjusting her bracelets on her left wrist. “What are you playing at? You think you can barge in my private office and request for assistance from us? The fact you got around security only further proves my point.”

“There is need for haste,” Ryoku replied simply, folding his arms. He slowly walked forward to her, to the point their bodies were nearly touching. Rouge stepped back, as she felt the warmth of Ryoku’s breathing, that sweet scent of breath she ironically loved. Rouge’s eyes glanced around the room before glaring back up at Ryoku seriously.

“As far as I’m concerned, you have nothing to offer me, even if you are talented in the stealth and precision department.”

“We are after the same prize,” Ryoku said simply. Rouge’s eyes widened as she looked up at Ryoku’s. She waited for him to continue, which he did. “You want the spawn of The Kid, do you not?”

Rouge looked down, nodding barely. “How do you know all of this?”

“I told you, I have intel,” Ryoku said, turning his back to Rouge, he walked toward the open window, looking outside, another flash of blue lightning illuminating his visible complexion. Rouge stared from where she stood, swallowing, awaiting Ryoku’s next move. She used her hand to flick a strand of crimson hair out of her left eye.

“K.I. and the Vault, they’re both in the way, don’t you think?” Ryoku asked nonchalantly, looking out of the flashing window. Rouge watched his gaze, shaking her head slowly.

“Vault is more of a nuisance, but they do have one crucial member I’m interested in,” Rouge replied rather fiercely. Ryoku turned his head slowly, cutting his eyes at Rouge. “The one by Willman.”

Ryoku’s eyes widened slightly, as if she had struck a petite interest in him. “Is that so?” Ryoku asked. “Yes, he is possibly the most interesting. If you have any dreams of putting Aura on the map, both of them must be terminated.”

“I don’t have any intentions of putting Aura on the map, I only care of ridding the corrupted stains placed on the map,” Rouge replied rationally. “K.I. has declared war. Unless we act soon, the more powerful organizations, like Aura and Vault, will be the first to go.”

“The first to go will be Nebelion,” Ryoku corrected her.

“That’s debatable.”

“Perhaps.”

“I want to help you, Rouge,” Ryoku replied. “But in doing so, I need a favor from you.”

“I never agreed to help you, so why ask for a favor?” Rouge replied frigidly.

“At least hear me out,” Ryoku said, his gaze turning dead serious. “I have long since abandoned my sentimental values, and in doing so, I have restored myself to an elevated portion of self enlightenment. With no more sentimental attachments, before we go any further, I must ask that you kill me.”

Rouge gasped, glaring at Ryoku. “What the hell are you playing at?!” She reached for him, grabbing him by the collar of his jacket. She threw him against her desk, clearing away all of her accessories. Ryoku merely grinned.

“My life is meaningless, and above all a nuisance. Killing me would ensure that Willman would never have to lay eyes on me.”

“You just said you would help me! What would killing you do at all?! That makes no sense! You make no sense! You’re bothering me!” Rouge was screaming, her voice cracked in irritation.

“Then why do you care so much? Your hesitation is apparent. If it holds no sentimental value to you… then strike me down in cold, merciless blood, dear Blacksheep… Stephanie Winterstone… or can you not do it?”

Rouge gulped, shoving Ryoku against her desk, she leaned against the wall. “Are you seriously implying that I have some sort of sappy concern with your well being? That I care about you?”

Rouge forced a smile, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Ryoku smiled in return, walking toward Rouge, he took off the glove for his right hand, caressing her cheek vigorously, with a full intent of passion. His body overlapped hers over the wall, practically pinning her. “My heart aches for you. I want to construct all of the broken fragments of your mind and body, and paint a beautiful new world, one that is not tainted by the corrupted pigments of the new world’s ideals.” Ryoku said, his voice barely rising above a whisper, he said, biting off of her ear ever slightly. Rouge’s cheeks turned a bright patch of crimson, her heart began to beat faster. Could she possibly have wanted this as well? “We can make a night you won’t forget, we can do it anywhere. In doing so, I will show my world.”

Rouge pushed Ryoku off of her, glaring at him with a nearly savage intent. “Get out.”

“Won’t you at least consider my gallant offer-“

“I said leave!” Rouge raised her voice, panting slightly. Ryoku slanted his eyes with a small nonchalant expression. He put on his earphones, drenched his black hood over his head, and walked out of the room, his body disappearing in a surge of dark matter, disappearing along with the shadows, his presence no longer lingering in the room.

Rouge touched her cheeks, they were burning. She felt her chest, her heart was throbbing. She attempted to fight back tears in her eyes, but the surge could not be stopped. Rouge wiped her eyes on the back of her palms, as she looked out of the window. The lightning flashed once more, revealing her mystified face of a dignified leader of an underground organization.

“How stupid… I’m the one who has abandoned their sentimental values… but why… do I care about that jerk?” Rouge stood up, kicking her desk across the room. “I won’t let anyone screw with me!!!”

The ominous ring of the hollow bells ceased.

It was a dark, ominous forest, the only sounds heard of nature were the crickets chirping, but even they would cease among this portentous presence in the woodlands. Inside of the darkened, obscure forest was a pair of demonic statues with twisted, unorthodox faces. The faces weren't natural, and most were carved with a certain corrupted intuition. They personified the essence of life and death. The statues each held up a crystal orb, reflecting off of it the surroundings of the area. As a man walked forward, the crystal balls enveloped with an intense shine. A bloodied scythe carried among the man's back, a large black cloak concealing his identity. Among the accessories adorning this man, besides the scythe, was a necklace of twins dragons performing a helix dance among the centre, of opposing colors of blue and red. It had a shiny, rune-like texture, and glistened off of the crystal balls. Among the scenario inside of the forest, a golden flame ignited, where five other shadows sat, their eyes peered toward the arriving reaper.

“Ah ah, I’m late again, aye?” the man asked, rubbing the back of his head with an innocent, blood carved smile.

“Ehueueue! it’s not really a problem, Asasin, these central point meetings are always unusually boring!! And this night moon bores me!! I just want to eat it and gobble it all up in one stop man!!!” the second man, a golden lightning aura discharged from his fists as he pumped them together, a pair of chestnut golden eyes stared at the opposing man.

Among the center of the group was a man with crimson, death defying eyes. His eyes narrowed, cutting toward the man, Asasin, folding his arms. “Asasin, I trust your hunt went well?”

“Ah yeah, totally,” Asasin replied with a cheeky grin. “Every last member of the Nikusan Tribe of the Middle East, wiped into purgatory. It was pretty sweet, how they begged for death.”

“They were the first to challenge us, thus they will be submerged in perdition first,” the leader replied. “But now, we have a new target.”

“Eh?” The lightning, crazed hyena type man spoke up first. “Vault is it?”

The leader walked toward the fire, the golden flame illuminating off of his face, revealing the face of a corrupted young man bent on the annihilation of the entire human population, the man who had declared the end of the world. The one they believed in and had faith could do it.

“We will move once more, as the Khaotic Sins of Perdition,” he said, the other four members stood up, bowing before their leader. "The Hollow's Bell has ceased. We are free."

Sidian smiled atrociously, a very nasty smirk, as the golden flame from behind him glistened with beautiful sparks behind him, further defining his nature. His grin widened with the flare of a true madman, his eyes widening with a crazed obsession.

“I hereby deem the end of the world.”

Chapter 6 - Purgatory

Trav’s aura flared across the battlefield in a raging display. The pure atrocious aura was black. Debris layered the entire studio remains. The whole confines inside of the vine prison expelled a venomous sensation. Xero effortlessly swatted the rubble with a simple swipe of his metallic hand, bursting the debris into even smaller pieces. Xero stood tall and firm, observing Trav’s unusual aura in the most random power up.

“A syringe… that syringe.” Xero observed, noticing the needle Willy had attempted to put away slyly, however, nothing much could escape Xero’s stare, much like that of a hawk upon a ground prey. “To think you would give that to a mere mortal. Although, I suppose there would be nothing much I could expect out of the morally corrupted Prince Sidian.”

Willy couldn’t let it go, the fact Xero referred to him as Sid, the man he had despised since time allowed him. Willy squinted, staring up at Trav with pristine curiosity. His aura had completely engulfed the area, but what’s more, was his ferocious, bloodthirsty grin. Trav’s body learned forward, his arms spread out wide open, a fanatical smirk expression, as even more apparent by his sudden gesture, a twitch. Trav’s eyes widened with ferocity.

“LET’S GOOO! I’LL SPREAD YOUR METALLIC GUTS THROUGH A TWO KILOMETER RADIIIUS!” Trav exclaimed, inhaling a large amount of air, his chest expanding along with this. Trav expelled a large, inhumane roar with a vicious tongue, a tongue that was no longer the reply of a human. The roar alone created a mass shockwave, expanding the area with a field of rubble, even putting a dent through the vine force field alone. Elementia even took note of its immense physical power. Her eyes looked up, a sudden expression lightened her eyes, fear, perhaps?

Could this be the psychological impact of his sudden power surge…? No, this is different, the aura is… dark. I would even venture to say evil. Xero thought. Xero narrowed his eyes and retaliated, holding up his right arm, two arcs opened through the center front and back on his arm, the cartridges expanded, attracting a mechanical set of twin guns, or as Xero calls them, Flash Blasters, which of itself expanded in an arc, creating two rows of nearly five blasters. The blasters charged up, the front side charging a set of red energy, the bottom a set of blue. As Xero prepared his attack, his right eye surged with an influx of new data. The data scurried through his eye in a flash, and in that one instant, Xero read it all, his eyes widened.

“That biomass… you are a spawn of The Kid. Not quite the same, but the genetics are unmistakeable. That syringe, was a syringe of his own powers.” Xero stated, practically to himself, but enough to carry its decibels to Willy, where he heard it all.

“Wait… what?! No… that’s not right! It can’t be! Your sensors are way too screwed-“

“So all along, it was a ploy with that boy. Whose biomass, I do not have data of. Very well, I must eradicate these K.I. monsters!” Xero charged his beams, but in that short instant, Trav vanished from even Xero’s sight. Xero contorted in a look of confusion and horror. He looked around, above, below, everywhere; his sensors couldn’t detect his presence.

“LOOK ABOVE BOYO! COMIN’ DOWN AT YOU… LIKE A HURRICANE! HAHAHA!” Trav exclaimed wildly, as Xero just noticed, Trav appeared above him, leaping down from below, using both cupped hands, smashing Xero’s metal face in. “OH SHIT! That’s hard as… metal! Right?!” Trav flipped on the ground, glaring up at Xero with a sinister resolve. Xero glared down at Trav, pointing his Flash Blasters his way. Trav’s eyes widened, a sudden smile crept on his face, as Xero prepared for fire.

“Trav… no! You can’t take that from point blank range… get out of there!” Willy exclaimed, almost desperately, yet helplessly, from where he stood. Being helpless bothered Willy, which was apparent. If it wasn’t his defeat that bothered him, it was just being able to do nothing while Trav’s marble bag was bursting with every passing second.

Trav laughed hysterically, Xero clearly not amused. Trav lunged for Xero in a chaotic swerve, clearly beyond reasoning now, grabbing Xero by both of his arms in a crossed approach. Upon fire, Trav forced Xero’s arms to position Elementia and Yuki’s way. “I’ll break you. I’LL PULVERIZE EVERY PARTICLE IN YOUR TIN HEAD!” Trav clenched his fists, bending his arms forward in front of his chest. In doing so, he dragged Xero towaerd him, head-butting him directly on his metallic forehead. Trav laughed hysterically, Xero glared menacingly. The dark aura around Trav began to concentrate, most noticeably around his face. The dark  aura began to take physical form, condensing pressurized air around his entire body. The debris began to shake and rumble underneath the stained canvas of dismay. Even Xero could feel this.

“Obviously, you are one of them,” Xero said. “That biomass. That aura, there’s no mistaking it. In that essence, I will destroy you as well. Since you now pose the greater threat, I only feel you should be the first to lose your life. Such a shameless act on a whim. You’re just like the rest of the K.I. scum.” Xero dragged his body back, lifting Trav up along the process. Xero’s arms glistened in a red blaze, as he forcefully overpowered Trav, freeing his arms with a simple yet powerful pull horizontally with his arms in opposition. Trav swung his arms, swinging madly in the air, before catching his fall only two meters from his opponent.

Trav flailed his arms aside, extending his arms outward in a ‘come get me’ stance. Trav expanded, letting loose a roar compacted with adrenaline, but more than that was the obvious intent to kill. Willy, though unable to express, was deeply disturbed by the transformation.

What is this? This can’t be a part of the phase for the CPES, I don’t remember experiencing this drastic of a change, especially so soon.

Trav lunged forward, hurling a punch with great force and velocity. Xero took the punch head on, even stumbling back from the impact. Xero appeared not physically injured, and his outward emotions expressed no sign of concern, but his artificial eye was surging with constantly incoming data.

Trav launched himself forward again, propelling himself, aiming for a swift spin-kick for Xero’s chest. Xero compressed his fists, as metal spikes protruded from the surface of Xero’s mechanical knuckles. Trav seemed to pay no mind, but Xero grabbed Trav’s leg. Trav aimed for another kick, as Xero threw Trav into the vine wall, charged with an impressive speed far beyond any human capabilities, punching Trav in the gut. Blood splattered across Xero’s face and the ground. Xero simply stared nonchalantly at Trav, who growled in Xero’s face.

Trav laughed maniacally, grabbing Xero by the shoulders, pulling him down to his head level and head-butting him into a sweet world of hurt. Trav’s head bleeded from the impact, as Xero flinched back; he leaped back, glaring at Trav.

“If you knew how to use your new power, you may have had a chance. But this is too early for you.”

“You will regret this, in the next world.”

Trav glared up, Xero’s arms began waving in the air in a spherical activity. In doing so, red glyphs were drawn in the air, before revealing the cryptic symbol of Pendulum in the air directly in front of Xero. Xero expelled his arm cannons forward with a commanding gesture.

Out of Xero’s arm compartments dispatched a large array of scarlet tinted metal chains, glowing with an ominous coat of plasma energy. Trav attempted to claw at the chains with an impeccable speed, generating a large burst of ginger sparks. Xero merely shrugged off Trav’s attempt. Even with his newfound power, he could put no dent in Xero’s ultimate offence.

“Wrong counter. The Chains of the Cybernetic Spectrum are completely invulnerable to any attack. And now, allow me to demonstrate the true Lost Arts of the forgotten Pendulum, lost in the fabrics of time.” Xero’s arm compartments closed, Xero traced his hands in the air around Trav’s general vicinity once more. A circle glyph with the same Pendulum seal appeared underneath Trav. Followed by another one that overlapped the original, an even bigger one, and so on, until there were 10 in all. The glyphs and their ancient text circled the ground in a slow clockwise turn around Trav, whom at this point was struggling with all of his might to free himself from the confining clasp of the plasma chains, which were of itself sinking into Trav’s skin. Trav’s dark aura expanded, he screamed, a high pitched scream that pierced the ears of all in the area who heard the intense decibels. Xero however, seemed unaffected in the least.

Willy closed his ears, glaring with discomfort at the scene unfolding right in front of his eyes. “Trav!!” Willy exclaimed, leaing on the vine wall within the inside of the rubble station for support. Xero’s casually turned to Willy, his head cocked to the side almost arrogantly, yet coolly. Willy glared at Xero, absolutely despising his look. Willy, above his hatred for losing virtually anything, hated to be looked down upon.

“I don’t know what it is you want, but I’m the one you’re after, right?!” Willy exclaimed, holding out his arms in an invitation. He knew what he was doing was reckless, but if Trav’s death was burdened on his conscious because of him indirectly, he could never see himself letting it go. His heart was already in a concentrated ache with the death of one of Trav’s close friends, whom was still oblivious to everything, and right now, didn’t care. He just met him yesterday, well actually 23 years ago. “Well then coward, come and face me. Obviously, I’m the bigger threat here.” Willy waved his arms, followed by a rather harsh cough, Willy barely getting the scratch out of his throat, spitting a small pool of blood on the debris.

Xero’s red cybernetic eye turned to Willy, the red eye dilated, surging with masses of information by the second. “To think the great leader of K.I. would sell himself out on such an emotional whim. Yes, heal up those fatal wounds, clear up that puddle of blood and apply a healthy dosage of lozenge, then I will kill you first. Otherwise, stay clear, Sidian Shamal.”

“Ancient Arts; Ten Seal Explosion,” Xero said, hardly above a whisper. He turned to Trav fully, finishing his finger tracings in the air, Xero struck an intense pose, and the glyphs began to glow with an concentrated flash. The energy began building up fast, as the pure force of the technique began to drive Willy himself into a corner. He looked on in shock.

“Damn you Xero! Stop this!”

Trav stopped struggling, his body now held by the tightened chains. Trav spilled no blood, as the pure heat energy from the plasma chains seeped into his skin and closed up the wounds as the wounds were made. Trav’s scream echoed throughout the city in a large frame. Xero reacted not to the insidious voice, that was slowly fading back into humanity. Trav’s humanity slowly began to seep back into his body. His mask began evaporating in the air in a mass black swirl of dark, twisted energy. Trav’s eyes rolled back in his head, his mouth wide open with saliva pouring out, his head leaned back, his body restricted by the conniving chains.

Willy saw the sight, his eyes widened in horror. He attempted to run toward the two, but his injuries proved that fatally impossible, he couldn’t do it. He tripped over a fragment of rubble in the destroyed vicinity. Willy fell on his knees, a sharp portion of glass pierced into his knee, causing Willy to groan in pain. His blood began to taint what he soon found was a body underneath him. Willy covered his mouth and looked away, resisting with his entire urge to vomit. His eyes gazed tirelessly at Xero, noticeable bags placed under his eyes.

“I can’t let you… do this! I will crush you all!”

With that last statement, Willy’s eyes widened, a blue tranquil energy appeared around his body. Within that same instant, he noticed the entire world around him was blue, and frozen. The world was frozen. He was the only one moving. He looked around, his eyes plastering everywhere, looking for anything, anything to break this wretched curse. He had no idea what was going on, and in his position, he didn’t feel like contemplating it too much.

“You want to save your friend’s life?” a voice all too familiar to Willy echoed in his head, echoed all around him, drilling into his ears through his brain. He clenched his fists, grasping the rubble, he suddenly sat up, throwing the piece of the burned rubble at 7 o’clock his first position. A shadowy figure walked past the rock, simply sidestepping it with ease. Willy glared at the red burrowing eyes of his visitor in the frozen planes of space/time.

“You have destroyed your friend’s life,” Sid said, staring down at Willy with the impeccable glare of a madman who had lost his happiness a long time ago, who lived with resentment everyday for who he was, a look Willy was all too familiar with. Sid cocked his head back, chuckling slightly.

“What’s so funny?” Willy asked, attempting to get back on his feet. Sid simply stared down at him with an unfortunate yet amused pity. “What the hell are you laughing at?!”

“You’re losing, Willman. You have lost this battle. You are a loser.”

“Shut the hell up,” Willy said, glaring at Sid, a vein popping in his head, his eyes bulged with an anger incomprehensible to even him right now. Sid knew Willy all too well, he knew how to drive him into a corner, even Willy knew that. Sid always won, he hated him for it. He was better, he couldn’t accept such a weakness, especially to another man. “Where the hell are we, anyway?”

Sid looked back down at Willy with a nonchalant smirk. “This is my world. The frozen vacuum of space/time I am able to freely manipulate to my liking; The Frozen Terrestrial. I can even drag others into its vicinity.”

Willy crouched on one knee, bending the other, he placed his hand on his right knee, the other on the ground. “Because of you… this is happening to me. This is all because of you. You son of a bitch…” Willy said, trembling with many mixtures of emotions. “Why the hell are you doing this to me?!”

Sid stared at Willy, as if it were a trick question. “Because you are the most familiar with the games I like to play. In fact, I would venture to say you’re the only one I can play my games with.”

Sid laughed. “I need you Willy.”

“And you need me.”

“RAAGH!” Willy charged forward, throwing a punch at Sid head on, using every ounce of willpower he had left to muster. Sid simply gripped Willy’s arm with his forearm, then elbowed Willy in the face. Willy fell back, before Sid side-kicked him across the chest, sending Willy crashing into the vine wall, which didn’t flinch an inch at Willy’s impact. Willy began panting, glaring up at Sid. Even now, he was finding it hard to breathe. Xero’s damage on top of Sid’s was adding up fast, even multiplying. Willy would not give up though.

Sid pulled out something from his pocket. “Don’t be so hasty. I have a gift for you. I understand you’ve been looking for this?” Sid pulled out a syringe, the same style as the one Willy used, however, the crest was different. It was the traditional crest of the Edward Reid laboratory foundation on the center. Willy’s eyes widened slightly.

“Syringe? There was another one created after us?” Willy asked. Sid pointed down at the syringe Willy used for Trav lying on the floor. Willy looked, picked it up, and examined it. His eyes widened in complete horror and guilt when he seen the crest on that one.

“You… you didn’t…. You…” Willy was speechless, now trembling with even fear. He gritted his teeth. “You… bastard… you switched them?! You mean I gave Trav…”

“He was the one destined to use it, after all. Sooner or later, I would have done the same. Or, even they would have acted before me. It was his destiny to become us, and it is your destiny to watch in anguish, as everything you know and love will fade into an abyssal fissure.” Sid held up his hand, grabbing Willy by the face. Willy grabbed at Sid’s hand, but was easily overpowered. Sid raised his knee, kneeing Willy in the face. Willy fell down, his nose and mouth spilling blood. His eyes wandered lifelessly around the imprison, but the one guy he couldn’t seem to shake out of his mind, was Sid.

“I’ll keep in touch Willy.” Sid said, his voice faded. Willy never seen him leave, he was just gone. He didn’t even notice himself flip back into reality, the colors began fading back to normal, time’s flow continued.

Willy gritted his teeth, and was now crawling toward Xero, his effort and drive unmatched by anyone else. Xero simply shrugged him off, finding it odd that he was even passionate about this. He tainted a trail of blood along his way. Willy’s eyes began to flash, his vision finally completely blurred, his hearing began to distort and wander. He was fading out of consciousness. For once, he was totally helpless, he could do nothing but watch before he drifted off into a realm of slumber.

“Well, it’s about time,” Elementia said, folding her arms, standing above Willy’s unconscious body. Her Pendulum cape blew sideways along the patterns of the wind. “With that cyborg chick down, there’s no one who stands in the way of Sire Xero now. Please, Xero, finish this.”

“Yes,” As Xero intended to finish the Ten Seal technique, a Xero’s chains were suddenly slashed open with a sword, even the seemingly unbreakable Cybernetic Spectrum chains. Xero glared to his east at 3 o’clock. Within that same instant, Xero’s eyes shot a beam of concentrated plasma energy at the designated position without a moment’s delay.

As the smoke cleared, the end hilt of a golden crested sword, a double edged golden crested sword, with two parallel blades attached to the hilt. Xero’s face was caved in by the sudden attack. The sword flipped stylishly in the air, a gloved hand catching it, stabbing it into the ground, placing his feet next to each other squatting over the sword. His samurai armor coat with an illuminating golden trim appeared in the light. Elementia in general’s eyes widened at the sight of this newcomer.

“The Vault’s Golden Eagle of the Rose,” Elementia said, swallowing profoundly, yet she remained outwardly uninitiated, merely surprised. “What brings you here?”

The man’s sapphire eyes looked over to Elementia, his face remained nonchalant. He slowly smiled, “Elementia, the Elemental Eclipse. What a very… graceful appearance. You’ve changed, inside and out.” The Golden Eagle said, his eyes lit with a warmth of a sun, yet narrowed boredly and lifelessly, as if he was not interested in any of his surroundings. “But really, there’s no need to be so formal. I do go by the name of Sabre these days, my lady.”

Elementia walked toward Xero, whom attempted to help him on his feet, yet Xero profoundly refused her hand. He stood up, brushing himself off casually. “To put a dent in me, you are something. Yet…” Xero said. “My scanners detect nothing on its data banks. You are a complete mystery to me.”

Something about Xero’s statement made Elementia uneasy. Her face flustered, she bit her lip, yet tried to hide her outward emotions, something she naturally was good at. “Sabre, you do realize by apposing Pendulum, you oppose us? By opposing us, you oppose the world?”

“I think K.I. already beat you to the punch,” Sabre said, flipping off of his sword, landing with a stylish manner, placing his hands inside of his arm sleeves. “You are wasting your time here. You should leave. You have already made a very ungraceful mess.”

“The core of K.I. lies in front of you, and you are willing to let him walk?” Xero declared nonchalantly, his eyes burrowing into Sabre’s, who remained unaffected, swatting a fly at his shoulder as Xero talked. “More importantly, you dare turn your back on us?” Elementia merely watched from afar.

Sabre walked toward Trav, picking him up on his shoulders. He walked toward Willy, performing the same task on his opposite shoulder. Sabre looked down, his eyes wandered toward the News Station. Sabre’s attention turned to the android sister of Yuki, his eyes widened slightly, for the first time since his arrival, he showed a genuine care for his surroundings. He trembled slowly, turning his gaze slowly back to Xero.

“You sadistic bastard,” Sabre said, a vein popped in his head, as he glared at the male android of the cybernetic duo. Xero’s eyes broadened slightly, his face remaining nonchalant. Sabre walked toward Yuki, now weighing her across his shoulders with the boys. Sabre’s head remained low upon the encounter. He turned his back toward the Pendulum duo.

“You’ve fallen so low, Tetsu Kagame. I will make you burn.”

Xero’s eyes widened, he faltered back slightly. Elementia closed her eyes and shook her head. Sabre leaped out of the hole made in the vine prison.

“Yuki… my graceful love, what has he done to you? I never knew…” Sabre said, closing his eye, a tear washed down his face as he leaped toward the rooftop, away from the ever scarred battle of the US News Station of Heretic City. What he carried on his backs though; was the portal to a whole new awakening to a new world.

A world free from the indulge of purgatory.