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Episode 8: I Feel the Earth Move

Three blind mice, three blind mice, See how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer's wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?

Nursery Rhyme

"There isn't some trinket I can give to Rocky to make her remember who she is..." Jacob turned towards Zack who stood on a tall, crystal precipice. "... is there?"

The angel regarded his charge who sat on a similar crystal ledge nearby. Both were facing the impact site of the enormous comet that had struck the already existing crater. Instead of a wave of ice and fire that destroyed everything and everyone in its path, the comet had crystallised everything within the plane of the Seal.

Countless Fossilised stood frozen forever in crystal, reaching desperately for a salvation that would never come. At the very centre of the crater was the frozen visage of Rocky Groundwater... or was is Rose Earthsire... In either case, she stood on a crystal pedestal, arms spread wide and looking towards the sky like she was hoping to be lifted up into the heavens.

"All Rocky needs to remember herself is already inside herself," Zack answered with a gentle smile. "If she is to remember who she is... she has to do it of her own power."

Jacob sighed. "So in short... We're screwed."

"Not necessarily," Zack answered, smiling down at his charge. "Memories are more than just your recollection of events. More than one person experiences an event." He raised a paw and small globe of light appeared in his palm. "Our stories are written in tandem with those of others especially when we experience the same event. While we won't share the same memories, the similarities between them and the fact that these memories are from the same event will unite our hearts as one... or perhaps drive them further away..."

The globe in his palm began to shoot out soft, thin tendrils out in various directions. Some of the tendrils snapped halfway while others began branching out. It was almost like watching an ethereal, white tree growing out of Zack's palm.

"How does this help me save Rocky from being lost in her memories?"

"Quite simple, really," Zack chuckled, closing his paw around the globe. "You've shared the same events haven't you?" He turned towards Jacob and deposited a small, crystal seed into the other wolf's paw. "The seed is there. You just need to water it, nurture it and give it enough sunshine so that it'll grow."

"Don't suppose you're going to tell me what type of water to use, are you?" Jacob asked bitterly, regarding the seed in his paw.

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Zack leaned forward and poked his nose playfully. "I'm your guardian angel, Jacob. Not your nursemaid."

With a faint smile, Jacob pushed off the ground and stood on the crystal precipice, surveying the desolate land around himself. While the whole landscape had never been beautiful to start with... just seeing the crystal-covered planes gave Jacob the chills.

"I've got to ask..." he whispered. "Even if we do manage to beat Belford and everything turns out good in the end... What'll there be to save? Basically all of Graesham is dead... the city has been destroyed... I know Belford has to be stopped... but what do we get out of this...?"

"Perhaps that is a question best directed at yourself," Zack answered. "What have you learned?" he asked in an almost patronising manner.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Nothing. This whole ordeal was about robbing people of their memory to make them 'perfect'. Get rid of their capacity to form memories and rid them of their old memories. That'll make them 'perfect'. Fact is, that just makes them static. They don't evolve. If you can't form memories, then you'll never learn from past mistakes and grow.

"I already knew this. But I'm not like that. I know my mistakes and I learn from them. It's what basically kept driving me throughout my entire life and why I've survived this long."

"You say that now," the angel said, a knowing smirk on his muzzle. "But there's one bit of your past you're still unwilling to learn from."

Jacob gave his guardian a raised eyebrow. "What? That one time I accidentally detonated a bomb in a city while trying to disarm it?" He raised his paws in surrender. "Fine, I admit it. I made a mistake. It's red wire then blue wire."

"I wasn't talking about that and you know it."

Groaning, Jacob dropped his paws to his sides and let his head hang backwards. "Fine... So maybe I'm still a little... skittish about learning who I was before I had my memory wiped... But I'm getting there!"

Zack poked his shoulder with a finger. "You do realise that no matter how resolute you are, you're foundation is still shaky if you can't accept your own past. You're going to have to figure out who you were at one point or another."

A soft whine escaped him as he turned to Zack almost pleadingly. "I know... but can't I learn about that after I've lived a long, fulfilling life of mass murder, bloodshed and gratuitous violence?" A grin crossed his features as he spread his arms wide. "I mean, wouldn't it be great if some great superhero came up to me and delivered the final blow before reminiscing about who I could have been since they figured out who I was? Then, I could just say something like, 'That's life for you' or 'Doesn't matter where you start, it's where you end' before dying."

He turned to Zack, almost pleadingly. "Wouldn't that be better?"

The angel just gave him a lopsided, exasperated smile.

Deflated, Jacob sighed and slumped forward. "Fine... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn that I was some cute, cuddly, fluffy ball of fur with big eyes and a sunny disposition." He ran a paw through his hair. "I suppose it'd be funnier if I meet someone like that, tell them I was just like them and either fuck them silly, corrupt them or kill them there an then."

Zack placed a paw on his shoulder. "You know, I can't wait for the day when realise that all these 'evil' deeds you do and think of always turn out to be 'good'. You kill a person, it turns out he was a mass murderer. You drop an anvil on an old woman, it turns out you actually fixed her bad back. You feast on the flesh and blood of countless innocent babies and it turns out all those babies were plague-bearing children who would've caused a world-wide epidemic and you took the disease all into yourself for the sake of all."

"Will you just wake me up already?"

The angel pressed a paw against his back. "Sure thing."

And Zack pushed him off the ledge...

**** Jacob woke to the soft snoring of Leo and the Rex's gentle breathing. Sandwiched between the two, he was surprisingly warm especially with his coat draped over them. All the worries of the world faded for the moment as he cuddled up next to his mate and half-brother, taking in Leo's earthy scent and Rex's clean, crisp one. He guessed the latter was a lot like how he smelled because everyone always commented on how he smelled odd.

Those worries returned when he clasped his paws around Rex's tight pecs and felt a slight... cold... something against his palm. Brow furrowing, he pulled up said paw and found the crystal seed that Zack had given him.

No trinket, huh?

Reinvigorated, Jacob stood up, a little surprised his ass wasn't sore after being ridden so lovingly by his mate.

Branded regeneration, I guess.

He poked Rex with a toe, causing the Starlord to moan and roll over, pulling the rest of the makeshift blanked over himself and leaving Leo nude. Jacob inclined his head to the side when he saw Leo's thick, throbbing meat fully erect and dripping with precum. Part of him wondered what Leo could possibly be dreaming of... the other part wondered if his mate had been hard the whole night... the last part screamed...

"Suck him off... Go on... You know you want to..."

Jacob scowled and flicked Spectre away.

I don't need a horny little shoulder conscience.

While he was tempted to find the nearest bucket and fill it with water to wake both wolves, he decided that the last thing he wanted was to violently wake up two people he would be relying on in the battles to come.

Instead, he bent down, letting his muzzle hover right over Rex's ear.

"Your brother just fucked you."

Rex's eyes snapped open in horror.

WHAM!

... and he got up so fast, that he slammed his head against Jacob's, sending the latter reeling with a yelp. The sound of his mate in distress woke Leo who was suddenly up, alert... and erect.

Jacob growled, rubbing his forehead with one paw. "Dude... That was uncalled for..."

"Telling me you just screwed me was uncalled for," Rex grumbled, wrapping Jacob's coat around him. "I mean..."

"You're gay," Jacob finished, getting up to his feet, standing fully naked and with his arms across his impressive chest. "You've had sexual relations with your half-brother and his mate. Rex, get over it. There's nothing wrong with that."

"But..." The Starlord sighed and nodded. "Okay... Okay... I know... I guess..." He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing lightly. "I'm still... Still getting a little used to the fact that... Well... I like cock."

"Boy does he ever!"_Spectre snickered. _"Did you see the look he gave you when you and Leo were going at it!?"

"Well get used to it," Jacob answered, leaning forward and licking his brother's nose, making Rex giggle and pull away. "I'm going to be reminding you as often as I can from now on."

Often not in the most appropriate of times...

... and you'll probably hate me for it but I'm going to do it anyway because it's funny.

He just imagined making sexual innuendos about Rex's orientation during a press conference or something similar. Maybe get Rex a T-shirt saying 'I -heart -' followed by the image of a rooster. Better yet, maybe one that said 'I feel like - insert image of a rooster - tonight!'

"Oh god..." Rex murmured, cringing slightly. "You're thinking horrible thoughts that are likely to get me killed, aren't you?"

If you can die of embarrassment, then yes... yes I am.

"Not really..." He winked at Leo and leaned back, nestling in against his mate's massive chest and feeling that hot, dripping cock crawl up his back. "I want you around so I can screw you for all eternity." He grinned at his half-brother. "Didn't you hear, I'm half-demon and I'll devour your soul if you trust me."

It was Rex's turn to roll his eyes, throwing the coat around him back at Jacob. "Well, Mr. Demon, hurry up and get dressed so we can shower and kick some ass."

Hmmm... Showers...

Jacob did the feel the need to hurry and find some place to shower... but it wasn't as pressing as before. While he felt it... and it was tugging at the back of his consciousness... the need to be with these two men was much greater.

Still...

"I suppose that sounds good," he said with a sigh. He rose to his feet, stretched and turned to the others. "So... Don't suppose you know where a good place to take a shower is do you? Or would you rather bathe in the 'holy water' of the cathedral?"

"How appropriate since we're going to go kill the guy who just happens to have preached in said cathedral," Rex muttered, also getting up.

Leo let out a soft whimper as he inclined his head to the side. "Why must we rid ourselves of each other's seed? Will it not empower us in the coming battle? We share each other's strength now. We should charge into battle bearing the results of our union proudly! It will show our enemies the strong bonds we have and allow us to channel our strength through each other's seed!"

Rex looked both horrified and intrigued.

Jacob just grinned and hiked a thumb at his make. "I like his idea. Let's go with that."

His half-brother seized his paw and pushing him towards the exit of the cathedral grounds. "No! In the river! Now!"

"Don't we need soap and shampoo?" Jacob grinned and fondled Rex's balls teasingly. "Or are we going homebrewed?"

"For crying out loud!" Rex wailed. "We're about to fight a guy that robbed everyone of their memories to become 'perfect' and all you can think about is sex!"

"That's the idea," he answered with a cocky grin. "Make the sex so memorable that not even Belford can steal it."

Rex stopped pushing. "I don't think I'll ever forget you, Jacob."

Huh... If I didn't know better, I could have sworn there's something more to that statement than just brotherly affection...

Oh well...

He started striding towards the Shade River with Rex and Leo in tow, Leo bringing their discarded clothing. It was only as he was about to slide into the clear waters that he realised he was holding both his half-brother and mate's paws. A slight tinge of affection blossomed his heart in that small act of love. With the other two wolves, they slipped beneath the calm surface of the river and washed the previous night's evidence from their furs.

Jacob let himself slide underwater for a moment, letting the silent, calm waters soothe him. The dull splashes of Rex and Leo were the only sounds he heard. Calmly, he ran through what he knew of Belford... He had no idea how the 'priest' fought and as such was at a disadvantage. Especially since Belford seemed to prefer trickery to an outright fight.

I'll just have to keep on my toes...

His lungs began to burn and he quickly resurfaced, taking a deep breath. Strong arms wrapped around his chest and Leo began nuzzling him affectionately. A soft smile touched his lips when Leo began brushing his tongue against the back of Jacob's neck.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Cleaning you," Leo replied, a little perplexed. "We do not have soap to bathe one another so I hoped to use the next best thing." He frowned, worry clearly in his eyes. "Am I doing something wrong?"

Yeah... Here in Rillotia, a lick is basically a kiss...

But...

"No. Continue."

He let out a soft sigh as Leo 'cleaned' him, shivering at the touch of that tongue and at the memory of exactly what that tongue could do. Rex looked a little dejected so Jacob beckoned him over. The Starlord shook his head, took one more dip into the waters before re-emerging and climbing into the riverbanks. Rex shook himself from head to toe in typical canine fashion.

Jacob felt the tugging of his OCD gnawing at his subconscious and while he was tempted to remain by Leo's gentle tongue, he had to succumb and pulled away from his mate. As a 'thank you', he turned around and ran his tongue from the base of Leo's thick, broad neck, up his chin and over his nose. Leo giggled at that. Jacob took his mate's paw and led him to where Rex stood.

Both wolves shook themselves dry.

All three dressed themselves once more. Jacob noted with mild amusement that Rex looked a little awkward as he searched for that jockstrap he had broken the previous night. He could almost trace his half-brother's thoughts as they went from searching for the piece of underwear, to realising they had been broken, to remembering why they were broken and then finally to blushing feverishly while trying to hide his growing erection.

With the three dressed once more, Jacob led them back towards the cathedral.

The rest of the Branded and the remaining ANVIL troopers were already waiting at the foot of the cathedral steps. Just in time too as the sun began to rise over the mountains. He guessed that they must've seemed pretty heroic to be stepping towards the cathedral with the sun rising behind them.

Silence ruled as the trio joined the gathered.

It seemed like everyone wanted to say something... or rather... they wanted someone to say something.

Anything to inspire them... So that they could march against their foes with heads held high and hearts filled with pride.

But no one had anything to say...

That's kind of sad...

"Then say_something!"_ Spectre urged, nudging him with a paw.

Hmmm...

"Nothing morbid!"

There goes that idea...

"We're screwed."

All eyes flicked towards him as bodies deflated and hearts broke.

"Not what I had in mind..."

"No matter how you look at it, we're all royally boned," he continued. "Either we beat Belford and we get branded as outcasts by MODD for defeating a terrible foe and destroying their property or we don't stop Belford and we get turned into zombies, devoid of memories and emotions. Whatever the outcome, it's not good for us."

Kerry looked about ready to object but Joanna suddenly placed a paw on her shoulder and gave Jacob a reassuring smile. Out of all his friends, she seemed to know where he was going with this. That gave him comfort and the courage to push on.

"But you know what? We're still going to fight Belford anyway. Belford is trying to trap us in the present. He's trying to make it so that we never make new memories and we never look towards the future. We follow orders blindly so that we become the 'perfect soldier'. He goes on and on about turning coal into diamonds. Well I say, who the hell wants to be a goddamn piece of rock?

"I am not a piece of coal. I'm a goddamn criminal who is used as a cautionary tale against little children acting up and worshiped be demon cults. I am not going to be compared to a lump of rock. Not even if it's been carved into perfection. I would rather be me than just another gem in a treasury." He crossed his arms and winked at Kerry. "After all, I'd rather steal a diamond than become one."

That brought a light chuckle from all those around him.

The tension was broken.

"You've all got your reasons for fighting," he continued. "Some of you will be fighting to protect your families, others to avenge your families. Other are fighting because that's part of your ideals or maybe you're just fighting because you want to fight. Hell, maybe you're just going with the crowd. Whatever the case, those little bits make up you."

The spirits of those around him slowly lifted... They exchanged glances... regarding individual faces, noticing flaws... Flaws that made them all the more special. No one in the crowd was the same person. Their collection of rag-tag rebels was what made them strong. They outshone any diamond and their worth as a whole was much greater than an entire host of diamonds.

"Let Belford call you flawed. Let him say that your 'imperfections' are what stops you from becoming a diamond. It's better to have an imperfect mortal than a perfect diamond." A smirk crossed his features. "It is by mortal hands that diamonds are carved and sparkled after all. Otherwise, they'd just lay buried in the ground.

"That said..." Jacob summoned his blades. "Belford wants to create diamonds?" He thrust his swords into the air. "Then let's bury them in the ground where they belong!"

Everyone in the crowd lifted their weapons and let out a triumphant cheer. Even Max was caught up in the hype.

"For our memories!"

"For our loved ones!"

"For the future!"

They were pumped...

... They were ready...

****

Frozen Sun

Jacob's words were surprisingly uplifting...

I may have misjudged his ability to actually lead.

In times past, I had had doubted he was capable of leading our group of the damned... but hearing his words... I saw a side of him that I never thought I'd see. Back in the mines when he had opted to ally himself with Norton, I had seriously thought he was just a villain allying himself with another villain... But in hindsight... I guess he really was looking out for what was best for the team... and ultimately, he was right.

I felt ashamed that I had lost my temper...

And I felt sorry for Norton... He was just another pawn for Belford... another sacrifice to make his queen... Rocky. It sickened me that Belford had used so many people. I was doubly-appalled at what he did to Gabriel... To use the young, idealistic ram not once but twice... It was heinous!

But I focused my thoughts on my task...

Stopping that Purge Device... whatever it was.

We first needed to procure transport... and the Emerald Crown was the only place we could get a transport.

I will say this now, Myron... That otter is a genius. Somehow, he managed to dismantle and reassemble a truck to working condition so that it could carry himself, Bill and the MODD troops towards the Emerald Crown. I summoned Polaris and Leo called Cerberus. Max rode with me as we stormed up towards the Crown.

To the east, towards the Grey Grounds Graveyard, I could see an enormous crystal pyramid of some sort. No doubt that was Belford's base of operations.

"Bill!" I shouted over the roar of the winds and tearing my gaze from the sight. "What kind of Purge Device are we talking about?"

Bill sat on the roof of the truck since the vehicle was already crowded with the twenty or so ANVIL troopers onboard. The wolf crossed his arms and frowned slightly. He had to adjust his glasses, pushing them back up his muzzle.

"There are three conventional MODD Purge Devices," he answered loudly. "Nuclear weaponry is common enough but is generally frowned upon because of the fact it leaves the location irradiated and nearly uninhabitable. In a mineral-rich location like Graesham, I doubt MODD would drop a nuclear bomb.

"Orbital bombardment is another option but last I checked, none of the orbital weapons platforms were anywhere near geosynchronous orbit around Graesham. They are general clean and efficient but costly since MODD has to get weapons up to the platforms and the chances of missing are a little higher than the acceptable rate.

"There is the third option which is, of course, to carpet-bomb the location with a variety of payloads. Usually they start off with some conventional warheads to flush out anyone hiding underground or something and then bombard the location with napalm. If that isn't enough, they follow up with a second bombardment of explosives before dropping nerve gas to get rid of any remaining life forms. Overkill is to drop an air fuel bomb..."

I gulped loudly.

That last one really sounded like overkill...

But I had to admit... it seemed pretty efficient. Bombs to drive out or bury anyone hiding underground... napalm to burn the land... a second bombardment to flush out the last remnants of survivors or blast holes into bunkers and then nerve gas to kill all life. The air fuel bomb would likely level the entire location and burn the rest of the nerve gas so that it wouldn't spread any further.

"The third is the cheapest method of Purging and it'll be difficult to stop if that's what we're up against," Bill shouted. "It'll be a whole wing of bombers coming at us and stopping them will be difficult."

"Eden can stop them," Max said confidently. "We've got our Animus too. If it comes to orbital bombardment, I'm sure Kerry can freeze the payload before it comes down here. If it's a nuclear drop, we can intercept it."

"That's assuming it's any of those," Bill answered just as we approached the entrance to the Emerald Crown.

The ANVIL troopers remained disciplined and stormed out of the truck, guns pressed against their shoulders as they hurried around to form a defensive line around us. Polaris lowered myself and Max onto the ground while Leo jumped off Cerberus. Bill and Myron jumped down from the truck, the two approaching me.

"The Purge was meant to come from Angelsea," Bill said worriedly. "That's the city of an Elemental Lord. Elemental Lords general have a 'unique' Purge Device associated with them. Then again, they could always send a SWORD elite over and that'd be just as good as a Purge... maybe worse."

I had to frown at that.

I had heard about the power of many members of the Special Weapons and Operational Research Division of MODD. We even faced a few off them in Pollenburn. They didn't seem that special. Just more MODD soldiers equipped with Seals. But by the way that Bill spoke about them... it was like they were on par with Elemental Lords who were supposed to possess enough power to level entire cities.

"Are SWORD members really that strong?" I asked.

"They didn't seem that special back at Pollenburn," Max huffed.

"Those were lowly soldiers," Bill answered with a grunt. "Generally, SWORD soldiers assigned to the command of Elemental Lords are lowly foot soldiers that just barely passed training. True SWORD members must be capable of taking down Puritans and are on the same level as Elemental Lords. The elite of SWORD are beyond that. Rumour has it, they are in possession of what are known as 'Forbidden Seals'."

This was the first I had heard of the so called 'Forbidden Seals'... I remember in Ascensionist Texts, they spoke of the 'Forsaken Seals' which were the Seals of the Five Fallen Angels; the Seals of Creation, Destruction, Alteration, Manipulation and Connection.

Were they the same?

"Forbidden Seals are supposedly Seals with absolute power," Bill said. "That is to say, their abilities have no limits to their application but they come at a steep cost. For example, there is a Seal that is capable of pushing any object - be it living or not - well past its physical limits to almost godly stages but at the cost of that object's integrity.

"Only the elite of SWORD are capable of synchronising with the Forbidden Seals as they are supposed to be relics from the Seal War."

Leo let out a rather confused whine. "Those Seals seem to be weaker than regular Seals... Do not normal Seals have no cost to their usage except for the toll that must be paid upon their creation?"

Bill nodded grimly. "Indeed. But a Seal is constrained to the Elements. Forbidden Seals have no such restrictions. They affect everything and anything without limit. As long as you pay the price, your power is absolute."

That... That was scary...

I never knew that such Seals existed... and they were in the possession of MODD!

I was starting to have doubts that Jacob's crusade against MODD would actually succeed... Then again, we weren't against MODD... just against Balthazar. I'm sure with this knowledge, Jacob wouldn't go rushing head-long to defeating all of MODD... If that was even possible...

"Ma'am!"

It took me a few seconds to realise that I was being addressed.

Turning, I found one of the ANVIL soldiers running up to me, waving. "Ma'am! You'll want to see this!"

Now what...?

I pulled my spears from where they were hidden under my poncho and hurried after the soldier. Leo and Max flanked me while Bill and Myron hung behind but still following. We wended through the ruins of the Emerald Crown until we came to what appeared to be the hanger.

My heart sunk when I saw countless transports had been crushed, overturned or devastated by the onslaught of the past few days. Honestly, I would be surprised if any of them had survived.

And surprised I was.

There was one transport that looked semi-serviceable. It looked a little banged up but I think it could fly... but then again, we are referring to me here. For the past few years, the most daring I've been is to sneak a cracker or two, breaking my diet. I had no idea what made a plane fly.

What really surprised me, however, was the big Alsatian kneeling in front of the entrance of the transport, paws pressed against the back of his head and the other ANVIL soldiers pointing their guns at him.

Sergeant James Canis...

"Sergeant?" I asked, hurrying up to the canine. "What are you doing here?"

He snapped his burning, sapphire-blue gaze at me. "Yoga, what's it look like?"

"Shut up, you!" one of the soldiers yelled, raising his gun. He made to strike Canis but I quickly stopped him with my spear.

I was a little surprised someone was willing to defend me... especially a MODD soldier... I liked it.

"He was trying," Max snickered, hiking a thumb at the transport. "I bet he was fixing this bird right up, hoping to take it out of here. Then we arrived and screwed up his plans."

Canis glared at him next. "Wow... So you've got some brains left in your skull. It's not all in that belly of yours."

"Why you -"

Thank the gods I have two spears. I kept Max from striking Canis with the other spear while using the other to stop the guards from hurting Canis any further. I could see a rather nasty gash across the canine's forhead.

"Myron, think you can fix this thing?" I asked.

The otter wandered over to the plane, rubbing his chin as he examined it. "Hmmm... The engines looked a little banged up but that's easy enough to fix... Some of the internal wiring might be a bit difficult but I can do that easily... Yeah... I can fix it. Give me an hour."

"An hour!?" Canis scoffed. "Kid, I've been working on this all night. I've barely gotten the engine working!"

"You did a good job, though," Myron said with a big grin. "You just forgot one thing."

"What?" Canis snarled with unchecked venom.

"Engines need fuel."

...

If I wasn't so polite, I would have laughed. The look of shock on Canis' face and the following blush said it all. The soldiers didn't hold back and Max threw his head back, letting out a hearty guffaw. Leo laughed loudly just because everyone else was laughing. I think he had no idea why everyone else was making fun of Canis but just wanted to fit in.

"Don't suppose you've come to your senses and are going to take this thing to escape, are you?" Canis growled, eyes locked with mine.

"No," I answered curtly, still trying to fight a laugh. "We're going to take it to intercept whatever Purge Device is on its way here."

"Good luck with that."

"You don't think we can stop it?" I challenged.

"Not if you don't have a pilot."

...

I waited for someone to speak up and tell me that they were able to fly...

... but no one spoke up.

I glanced around at the soldiers... All of them just shrugged. I gazed at Bill who shook his head and told me - in a matter-of-factly tone - that he was scared of heights. Myron said he just knew how to fix planes, not fly them.

Perhaps we didn't quite think this through...

"Stuck, aren't you?" Canis snorted. "Whatcha gonna do now?"

What were we going to do?

Jacob was counting on us to ensure he didn't suddenly die from being carpet-bombed or having a nuclear warhead dropped on his head.

Wait...

If Canis was hoping to fly this thing out of here...

I turned to the Alsatian.

"No way, lady," Canis growled, apparently reading my mind. "No way in hell am I going to fly this thing for you. It's suicide!"

"It's suicide either way," I snapped back, all mirth fading from me. "Stay here, you die. Take the plane and flee, you die."

"What makes you think I can't fly it far and fast enough to get the hell out of here?"

Something bubbled up inside of me and I leaned forward, pressing the tip of my spear against his nose. "Because you try," I sneered low and deep, "and you die."

Sometimes... I scare myself...

That old, dark Kerry was starting to appear again... and I swore I would never be that person again...

Canis didn't seem perturbed. "You don't have the balls."

I lowered my spear so that it was levelled directly at his crotch. "Pretty soon, you won't either."

He held my gaze, unwavering. I will admit, he impressed me.

I wonder if he's available.

No!

Focus, focus!

"Well, you better get to castrating, little lady," Canis snarled. "Way I see it, you lose too. Without me, you don't fly."

Of course, he was right. We needed him... I just had to come up with some way to convince him to fly us...

Wait!

"Then how about this?" I answered, pulling away from him and straightening. I didn't lower my spear from where it was levelled at his crotch partially because I had to keep him on a short leash but also because I got a little giddy from the sense of control I had over him. "Fly us to the Purge Device and then drop us off. Then you can take the plane and take it out of here."

"Now why would I fly a perfectly good escape vehicle towards a Purge Device?"

"Because either way, you win," I said coolly. "Either we destroy the Device and you get to fly free... or you pass the Device and put as much distance between you and it before the bomb drops."

Canis sighed. With a shake of his head, he clearly conceded defeat. "Fine... It's a good compromise. I mean, the more time we spend here bickering, the less time I have to put distance between me and your goddamn suicide mission."

He got to his feet, towering over me and regarding me with a mix of distain and begrudging respect. "Fine... Get the plane flying, tell me where to fly and I'll get you there. Apart from that, you're on your own."

That sounded fine to me.

I didn't have his loyalty but I at least had his promise.

I wonder how Jacob earned people's loyalty...

... What's more... I wondered how they were doing...

*****

The Purge of Graesham

The Grey Grounds Cemetery had fallen deathly silent.

Even with over three hundred 'perfect soldiers' standing perfectly still, their bodies made of nothing but pure crystal, the landscape was completely devoid of sound. The towering pyramid rose from what had been a memorial of all those that had died due to the Fossilisation Plague, a cruel sentiment to what the Plague ultimately led to.

Joanna Swan, Taylor Yates and Rex Nebula marched towards the army with their weapons drawn. Leading them was Jacob Reaper, eyes sharp as his blades. At the forefront of the crystal army was none other than 'Father' Randall Belford.

The gorilla had discarded his priestly robes and had donned a full set of crystal armour. The clear, greenish plating had black metal plating under the crystal. It looked light and flexible but still very strong. In one hand, he held his weapon, Earthen Incense, and in the other, he held a rolled up piece of parchment... No doubt a scroll of some sort.

Jacob stopped his advance a goof fifty metres away from Belford.

There was nothing more he wanted to do than to wipe that smirk off the gorilla's face... Better yet, he would love to rip it off.

"Welcome," Belford announced, spreading his arms wide. "Welcome to my Pyramid of Perfection! Have you come to shed your weaknesses and achieve true perfection?"

That brought a faint smirk to Jacob's lips. "If you're so perfect, why don't you tell me?"

The gorilla sighed dramatically, lowering his arms. "Alas... there are some who are just not worth the time and effort to make perfect. No matter how much you polish a stone, not every chunk of rock can be turned into a diamond."

His eyes shifted past Jacob and locked on Joanna. "But my dear, Miss. Swan... Surely you have more sense than to follow this imperfect specimen? Had you been stronger, you would never have let that poor little girl cured of the Fossilisation Plague only to be brutally murdered by your paw. Perhaps had you been perfect, you would have seen the flaws in your companions and not let yourself become tainted by that corrupting Brand."

Belford raised his hand - the one holding the scroll - and offered it to Joanna. "It isn't too late. Come. Perfection knows no bounds."

Joanna remained rooted in position but remained silent.

The gorilla clicked his tongue in disappointment. "Alas... I expected more from you..." His eyes went over to Taylor next. "And you, my poor son. Perhaps had you been perfect, you would not have broken the hearts of so many men. We do not discriminate between sexes here or sexual orientation for that matter." Belford spread his arms again. "Perfection is limitless and we accept any and all that are willing to transcend these mortal coils to reach that perfection.

"Won't you join us?" Belford finished, holding out both his arms.

"My version of 'perfect' isn't the same as yours," Taylor snarled, flames engulfing his chakrams.

Sighing very dramatically, Randall Belford turned his gaze towards Rex. There was a tired and almost patronising smirk on his face. "Rex... So flawed... so weak... Even you can see that your entire life has been spent in nothing more than the shadow of people's expectations of you. Perhaps if you hadn't been so flawed, if you had been perfect, you would never have fallen so far as to rely on a criminal to find your strength.

The gorilla offered his hands once more. "Perfection awaits."

Rex snorted. "Stars flicker and twinkle. They don't have one, perfect stream of light."

Disappointment seemed to genuinely cross Belford's features as he shook his head helplessly. "Ah... Alas... Some in this world are just not worth perfection..." He locked gazes with Jacob once more. "But all are still welcome. Are you sure you will not consider, Jacob Reaper? Perhaps had you been perfect, you would never have let Balthazar twist your past as much. Perhaps you would have been able to escape him and your parents would still be alive."

There, Jacob had to smirk. "If I had been perfect then, I would never have met Jo, Tayl or Rex. What makes you think I'd trade a 'flawed' present and an uncertain future for a 'perfect' past?"

Belford's smile remained in place. "So you would cast your lot with destiny and let where the ever-changing tides of fate take you instead of having a firm, solid past, present and future?"

"Better question," Jacob retorted. "Do you think that even if I had a solid past, a strong present and a certain future, I wouldn't do anything to change it just for kicks?"

The priest threw his head back and let out a long, gruff laugh. "Ah! I see!" His eyes turned back to Jacob, bright and filled with endless glee. "So you are 'perfect' in your own way! I seek perfect knowledge and surety! You seek perfect change and a never-ending eddy of motion!"

He threw his arms back, grinning broadly and eyes wild with mad excitement. "Then let us see who will triumph between us, the Seekers of Perfection! Come, Reaper! Let us see who is truly perfect!"

With those words, the entire crystal army suddenly surged forward as a single, unified organism. Each step, each swing of their arms and each smooth gesture was in tandem with one another. Their faces were all the same... the emotionless, plastered countenance of Randall Belford. The real Belford laughed as his army marched past him, disappearing from view.

Jacob lowered his blades calmly. "Jo..."

The earth began to rumble...

The ground beneath their feet suddenly heaved upwards, forming huge cracked mound. The sudden hill moved towards the approaching army, crossing the distance between them in a second.

BOOOOM!

The titanic Behemoth erupted from the mound just as it piled beneath the army. Crystal limbs flew everywhere as the enormous Animus erupted from deep beneath the ground and knocked the vast majority of the army aside, sending their cracked bodies hurtling towards the distance.

A deafening roar erupted from high above the battlefield.

Even without looking, Jacob knew what was coming.

_Massive_beams of light descended from the skies like heaven itself sent down righteous judgement to smite the evil crystal hordes of hell.

That thought gave Jacob a small sense of satisfaction as Spectre slammed into the ground in the middle of the army, unleashing a blinding flash and an ear-splitting sonic shockwave that shattered many of the crystal soldiers to bits.

Those shards quickly stopped in midair, levelled themselves at the Branded and Rex... and shot towards them like homing bullets! The air around the group suddenly erupted into an inferno-like heat. Red flames swirled around them, forming a protective dome that easily melted the crystals before they could completely pass through. Those crystals too big to completely melt were swept up by the tremendous winds of the firestorm.

The flames exploded outwards, sweeping over the battlefield and pushing back Belford's 'perfect' army. Prometheus, Taylor's Animus, stood proudly over the Branded and one Elemental Lord. The fiery, four-armed lion let out a thunderous roar and charged forward, joining the battle against the crystal army.

"Now I have you!"

Randall Belford appeared beside Jacob and swung his mace -

...

... only for the weapon to pass right through Jacob...

"What...?" Belford exclaimed, utterly startled.

From the base of the pyramid, right in front of the entrance, Jacob Reaper, Joanna Swan, Taylor Yates and Rex Nebula stood. They locked gazes with Belford just as the gorilla realised all too late what had happened.

Jacob stuck out his tongue at the gorilla. "You're not the only one that can manipulate Light, asshole!"

With a satisfied grin and a slap of the ass thrown in for good measure, Jacob hurried into the pyramid itself with his companions in tow. He had to admit, it was one of his better plans. It was far from perfect. He could easily use his manipulation of sound to 'throw his voice' so that his own light clones could appear to talk. Throwing Taylor and Rex's voices was significantly harder. A reason why Joanna's clone didn't have the opportunity to speak. Jacob had been caught off-guard by Belford's question and didn't have enough time to instruct Joanna to speak.

Using the diversion and their Animus, Jacob led his team around Belford and his army and straight into the pyramid.

Their first objective wasn't to get rid of Belford.

It was to save Rocky.

Bypassing Belford and saving the Elemental Lord of Earth was necessary. Fighting both the gorilla and Rocky would be a nightmare and a half. So, it was decided that Rocky had to be saved first.

How they did that... well...

Jacob ran through the crystal hallways of the pyramid, occasionally checking his right coat pocket to make sure that he still had that crystal seed that Zack had given him.

I have no idea how a seed is meant to save Rocky... but I just hope it's enough...

They suddenly came to a massive stairwell... With stairs going up and stairs going down underground.

"Which way?" Taylor demanded.

"Up," Rex answered, pointing upwards. "The bad guys are always at the top of the final dungeons. Basements tend to be the bonus areas where you can pick up extra health potions or some of the best equipment without going into post-endgame play."

Everyone just stared at him for a long moment... Jacob thought he heard crickets chirping.

"You play way too many videogames," Jacob accused, hurrying up the stairs.

"You don't play enough," Rex countered, tailing him.

"I can still kick your ass though."

"Not without cheating."

"I wasn't talking about in videogames."

Joanna laughed and Taylor added his own snigger. Rex rolled his eyes and told Jacob that after they rescued Rocky and killed Belford, they were going to have a round at Dance-Floor All Star Mix... or some other game he was apparently good at.

Jacob agreed that he'd hold his half-brother to that promise.

"You will not succeed!"

A stream of Belford clones suddenly came pouring down the stairwell as well as an army of the same clones came rushing up from behind.

"We're trapped!" Rex cried.

"Not quite," Joanna answered, spinning her sai in her paws. "These things can't be nearly as strong as the real one!"

She has a point...

Jacob clutched Requiem, pulling the trigger of the blade. A high-pitched scream erupted from the blade but before it could damage his ears, he swung the sword straight at the Belford clones. He focused all the sonic energy into a single, curved blade and sent it screaming at the clones. Even as each clone lifted their copied weapons to defend themselves, they were cut in half by the sheer might of the sonic blade.

Mercilessly, he swung Requiem over and over again, sending blade after blade of sonic blasts at the clones and driving them back. They advance was slowed but they were still making their way upwards.

"Jake! I got the next one!"

Grinning, Jacob quickly leapt into the air, somersaulted over his companions and landed face-to-face with a Belford clone bringing up the rear.

Swish!

He beheaded the clone and clashed blades with another.

"All yours, Twinkle!"

Rex groaned at the nickname. "God, that's going to stick, isn't it?" he asked, lifting his free paw towards the sky, palm facing up.

"You bet, Twinkle," Taylor snickered, hurling both his chakrams at the clones. The flaming rings cut even easier through the clones.

Rolling his eyes, Rex focused his power into his palm. Small, glowing particles gathered around his fingers, forming a spinning spiral discus... almost like a spiral galaxy.

"Galactic Discus!"

He threw the large disc straight at the clones. Sparing no one, the disc tore right through them even easier than Jacob's sonic blades or Taylor's chakrams! The disc was even under Rex's control as it easily carved all the way up the stairwell, clearing the way. It quickly made a return trip. Rex caught it and threw it downwards at the remaining clones, slaying each of them with ease.

Jacob could only watch as Rex caught the disc and let it dissipate into thin air.

"Wow... one of the Starlord's signature moves," Joanna commented, one eyebrow raised. "I heard even you had trouble pulling that off."

Rex shrugged and winked at Jacob. "What can I say? I'm feeling pumped today."

Considering how I pumped you full of my seed...

"We're going to need moves like that against Rocky..." Jacob murmured, storming up the stairs once more.

The stairs seemed to go on forever and the pyramid would occasional quake from the impact of the battle outside. Their path was illuminated by the crystal of the pyramid itself. The crystals let out an eerie, greenish glow that just made the interior of the pyramid look like some ethereal cave filled with sparkling gemstones. It was beautiful... In a creepy way.

BOOOM!

The pyramid wall suddenly shattered.

Behemoth staggered partially through the shattered wall. Countless crystal soldiers were crawling all over him. The Animus let out a tremendous roar and bounded away from the pyramid. Some of the crystal shards landed on the staircase... and they quickly reformed into Belford's emotionless visage.

The crystal warrior grew a sword in one hand and lashed out at Jacob.

CLANG!

Jacob shoved the crystal soldier back and quickly delivered a spinning slash -

CLANG!

... that bounced right off the warrior's crystal form.

Oh damn...

"Jacob!"

Cling-Clang!

Joanna jumped in front of him, crossing her sai in front of her as she blocked the crystal warrior's attack. The warrior's other hand started to shift... the fingers merging into a single, sharpened point.

No!

CLANG!

Rex jumped in on time, knocking the second blade to the ground.

Damn! This thing is strong!

Large spikes started forming across the creature's torso, pointing themselves at Rex and Joanna. Taylor jumped over the two and quickly delivered a kick to the creature's face. The crystal warrior staggered from the force of the blow, its head actually twisted all the way around.

The warrior straightened... and turned its head back slowly... Belford's expressionless gaze glaring at them.

Oh that's creepy...

Jacob glanced at Requiem...

Well... No time like the present...

"Guys! Back down!"

None of his companions had time to react as he quickly charged past them and slammed his blade against crystal soldier's chest. He was well aware of his opponent lifted its blades to counter. Quickly, he pulled Requiem's trigger, unleashing the high-pitched sonic blast from the weapon. The crystal creature began to quake and shake, shuddering from head to toe but its movements were undeterred.

Jacob played with the frequency and amplitude of the soundwaves, twisting and altering them to find the perfect pitch...

That crystal sword was lifted above the creature's head...

Come on...

... the sword went rigid... ready to come down...!

Where the hell are you...!?

... the blade came down!

No!

CLANG!

"I got you, Jake!" Rex shouted. The wolf's sword, Shimmering Hope, stood proudly against the strong crystal sword of Belford's 'perfect soldier'. Taylor slipped behind the creature and pinned it's arm behind its back. Joanna stabbed it through the chest with her sai.

The crystal form of the creature began to shift... spikes starting to form all over its body...

Oh crap -

Crrrrack!

A large, serpentine crack appeared from where his blade pressed against the Crystallized shoulder. Whatever movement or thought the creature may have had all stopped as its entire body began vibrating wildly and countless cracks appeared all over its body. The spikes growing all over its body crumbled before the rest of its body began to fall to pieces. Even with its face permanently frozen in a detached expression, Jacob could swear there was a look of relief on its face.

The Crystallized shattered completely, leaving large chunks of glimmering, greenish rock scattering down the stairwell.

"Damn... Those things are strong..." Rex murmured, rolling his shoulders. "Think we killed it?"

About twenty steps down, the crystal shards abruptly stopped... and began rolling towards one another...

Oh for the love of...

"Not by a long shot," he muttered, pushing his half-brother back up the stairs. "Come on! Beating it isn't our goal!"

Jacob glanced over his shoulder once more as he bolted up the stairs. The crystal shards began to slowly reform the Crystallised. Oddly enough... it seemed to be reforming a lot slower... Parts of the crystal were still vibrating and he seriously doubted that his sonic attack was what kept it from reforming this long.

That's weird...

Maybe they're not so 'perfect' after all...

He pushed the thought behind him

Gotta save Rocky first.

The spiralling staircase abruptly flattened out and Jacob found himself rising onto a flat surface, crystal surface inside a cavernous room where the slope towards the apex of the pyramid was visible above their heads. An enormous, crystal door rose in front of them, the surface made with the frightening visage of countless pained bodies tangling over one another, reaching for a freedom that they could never achieve. Beyond the door was a single figure that whose features were blurred by the refractions of the crystal surface.

Standing in front of the door...

... were four Crystallized.

Shit...

Despite his reservations, Jacob grinned and swung his blades confidently. "First one to smash their bad guy gets first shot at Belford."

"That's not fair," Rex chuckled. "You've got the advantage with your Sound-based weapons."

"Exactly."

Jacob launched forward and slammed Requiem against the throat of the closest Crystallized. He pulled the weapon's trigger and quickly recalled the frequency and amplitude of the sonic attack he had used to shatter the previous 'perfect soldier'.

Crrrrack!

Yes!

He planted a foot against the creature's chest and kicked off. The force of his blow completely shattered the Crystallized. The instant his toes touched the ground, he sped forward and -

SMASH!

... shattered another Crystallized with ease. The other two quickly tried to lunge at him. He spun and impaled the right one on Radiance and then swung the skewered crystal soldier into the other. As the two hit the ground, he slammed Requiem against them and pulled the weapon's trigger.

CRACK!

They shattered a second later.

He knew they weren't down for good...

These things would just keep coming back... and he would run out of strength sooner or later.

Gotta make this quick...

Jacob dismissed his blades and quick pressed his paws against the massive, crystal door. With a loud grunt, he pushed the door wide open.

Beyond was a cavern with a column of crystal leading directly down from the apex of the pyramid. The rest of the cavern was completely barren... almost like it was made as a battlefield. Standing in front of the column...

... was Rocky Groundwater.

The Elemental Lord of Earth stood in full Seal Armour... From head to toe, she was covered in a bright green and gold armour with pauldrons shaped like delicate leaves. Her shield hung on her right arm while she held Earthborn in both paws. Her helm looked like a classical helm with a grilled visor ready to drop over her blank eyes when needed. Hanging over her helm was a bright, golden halo. On her back rose a pair of crystal butterfly-like wings.

Jacob resummoned his swords, bringing them up to the read.

"Here we go..."

****

Frozen Sun

"What is that?"

Hovering in front of us and slowly cutting through the skies towards Graesham's centre was what appeared to a... a...

... I guess the best way to describe it would be 'flying saucer'.

From where I stood on the hijacked transport piloted by Sergeant James Canis... the thing honestly looked like an alien spaceship making its way towards us. It was even rotating... I think...

"This is what I feared..." Bill murmured softly, his eyes narrowed behind his glasses. "That is the Maelstrom... the signature Purge Device of Angelsea and the Elemental Lord of Water..."

I stared at him, waiting for a further explanation... and perhaps some scant hope that the Maelstrom wasn't as unstoppable as he seemed to be implying...

"The Maelstrom is a frightening weapon..." the wolf continued grimly. "Sergeant, fly us over the Device, please."

"If we get shot, I'm holding you accountable," Canis muttered.

"We won't. The Maelstrom has not anti-air defences. It's designed to attack ground targets. Flying above it will ensure we aren't shot down."

I clung onto the wall of the transport as Canis piloted the transport over the flying saucer. To my surprise, it wasn't exactly a saucer. It actually looked like three concentric rings, with each ring spinning opposite to its adjacent rings.

Three concentric rings...

...

No way...

"The Maelstrom uses anti-gravitational propulsion created by the motion of the three oppositely rotating rings to both keep it aloft and to propel it. That also makes it one of the slowest Purge Devices out there but that said, it is also one of the most heavily armoured." Bill pointed at the outer most ring. "When it gets to its target, all the rings will start rotating faster. This rotating will create an immense gravitational pull but at the same time, the Seal empowering the Maelstrom will also activate."

A Seal... I knew it!

"That doesn't sound good..." Max muttered grumpily. "What's it do? Nuke the place?"

"If only," Bill replied bitterly. "The Maelstrom will start sucking all forms of water from the target area to itself. This doesn't just mean bodies of water like the Shade River or the ocean. It will actually drain the water out of living organisms. People will literally dehydrate to death if they're caught by the power of the Maelstrom."

That was a horrible way to go...

To be drained of all water in your body until you withered up and died...

How could MODD create such a cruel weapon?

But I had the feeling Bill was far from finishing his grim description.

"The circular motion of the Maelstrom will actually cause all the gathering water to spin in a tornado-like fashion. Once enough water has been gathered, it will create a tremendous waterspout that it will then use to devastate the landmass around it. Afterwards, it will deconstruct all the water into flammable oxygen and hydrogen before igniting it all with a tiny spark."

Bill crossed his arms and let out an irritated huff. "That way... it destroys anything on the ground... and in the air beneath it. It's weakness is that anything above it will be unfazed by the weapon and because of its size, it can't truly fly very high."

"So how do we stop it?" I asked, regarding the monstrous ring formation.

The weapon had to be at least a kilometre in diameter! It was huge.

"The Maelstrom has a manual shutdown console on each of its rings." Bill pointed towards the machine "There should be an access hatch on each of the rings we can use to enter the weapon. If we can get to the console within the fifteen minutes before it unleashes its power, we can shut it down safely."

"Can't we just blow the goddamn thing up?" Max asked. "Let me summon Eden above the thing and we can squish it."

Bill glared at him. "The Maelstrom is powered by not only a nuclear engine but also a Seal-based engine. Merely destroying it will cause it to explode violently. It'll be powerful enough to level Graesham and then some." The wolf shook his head and regarded the weapon again. "Our best bet is to shut it down."

"How long until impact?" I asked softly.

Bill shrugged. "If I have to guess? About half an hour. But we can only enter the codes within the fifteen minutes time gap. Still, I don't know the codes so I need time to hack into the system and find them. Chances are, there will be a different code for every console. I can find the code for the first panel easily enough... since I'll have plenty of time... but as for the others..."

"Cannot we just leave one soldier or one of us at the previous consoles when you obtain the codes?" Leo asked, one ear raised and the other flattened. "That way, you can 'hack' into the others and when the time comes, those left behind can simply enter the codes."

Bill smiled at the Tribal. "I like the way you think, barbarian." He nodded. "Yes, that seems most prudent. Get us to the access hatch, Sergeant."

"I still think this is a dumb idea," Canis sighed but he slowly pulled the transport to come level with the Maelstrom. As he flew it around the other ring, we all kept our eyes out for the -

"There!" Bill shouted, pointing at the hatch as he came level with it.

I drew my spears as the ANVIL soldiers and the rest of my team hurried towards the sideward doors. Canis opened the doors, the howling winds rushing into the transport. Leo stood at the forefront of the team where he gathered a ball of crackling, black lightning in his paws. He hurled it boldly at the access hatch, smashing it completely from its hinges.

Canis flew the transport a little closer to the Maelstrom so the ANVIL soldiers just had to step over and not actually jump. One by one, my team boarded the Maelstrom. As I watched them go, I turned towards Canis and gave him a faint smile.

"Thanks for your help."

"Hey, if you die, not my fault," the Sergeant answered. "But for the record... I wish you luck."

That sort of helped...

I thanked him one more time and bolted for the sideward doors. I easily jumped across and the transport pulled away, zooming away from Graesham. I guess I would've felt better if Canis had stayed and we had a way off the Maelstrom but those were the terms of the deal... We got us on the Maelstrom and he got the transport to do with whatever he wanted.

I shook him from my head and turned to Bill. "Alright. Let's find that console."

"Be aware of traps," the genius wolf said, turning and heading down the gently curving hallway of the Maelstrom. "This thing wasn't designed to be easily disarmed."

"Like jumping from one flying ring to another is easy," Max muttered as we broke into a run.

The outer ring had about a kilometre in diameter... that meant we would be hard-pressed to get from one end to the other. I doubted we could run the kilometre and the other concentric rings looking for the console, hacking them, fighting whatever else was onboard in less than half an hour.

I prayed that we would just get lucky...

"Warning! Warning! Intruder detected."

I froze as the metallic tunnel suddenly flashed red.

"Damn..." Bill cursed. "Get ready..."

"For what?" Max snapped.

THWACK! THWACK!

Two of the ANVIL soldiers suddenly went down. Large, metallic rods were embedded through their chests! I turned down the hallway... and held back a cry of shock when a metallic juggernaut began lifting its arms towards us once more... Two, large rods appeared in its palms...

THWACK! THWACK!

Two more soldiers went down, the spears striking them so hard that they were past me and were pinned to the walls!

"What is that!?" Leo cried, black lightning crackling all over his body.

Myron suddenly pulled out a large wrench. "It's a Cancer-class defence robot," the otter answered. "We've got two options. Run or destroy it."

We didn't have time to be destroying a robot.

"We run!" I shouted, seizing the otter's paw and pulling him away from the robot. The ANVIL soldiers fired their lasers at the machine but their weapons barely made dents in it. Bullets seemed more effective but they still bounced somewhat harmlessly off the thick, metallic carapace of the bipedal crab-like machine.

THWACK! CLUNK!

A soldier went down, pinned to the ground by the metallic spear.

"Cancers are designed to use non-explosive weapons to take down their foes..." Myron shouted as the robot's thunderous booms echoed across the hallway. "I guess in a place like this, if they blew something up, the whole thing would go down!"

That made sense... but as another two ANVIL soldiers were struck down, I was horrified to find the poor souls were still alive. The metal spears had pinned them to the wall and they just hung there, twitching and bleeding to death!

"Wait!"

I froze as Bill suddenly turned to the right wall.

"This is it!"

Great... and with the homicidal robot right on our tails...

I drew my spears and stood defensively over Bill. "Okay... Get to work. We'll hold it off."

Leo stood proudly beside me, black bolts of electricity gathering at his paws as Impulse covered them. Max held his staff defensively behind me.

"I'll work as fast as I can."

I tore my gaze away from Bill as the Cancer robot pounded towards us.

A saw a small puff of smoke from its arms.

Creeeeeeaaak!

I froze as one of the metal spears froze right in front of me and quickly curled up into a large, metal ball. I glanced over at Max who held his claws outwards, a grimace on his features. The dragon let out a sharp roar and sent the balls flying back at the robot.

CLUNK! CLUNK!

The machine staggered a bit as the metal spheres struck its heavily armoured shell.

With that armour... there was no way in hell we were going to stop it...

... and it was just about a hundred metres from us...

Creeeeeaaak!

Two more spears turned into spheres in front of me and were quickly thrown back at the Cancer.

CLUNK! CLUNK!

The robot showed no signs of slowing!

"Damnit... I don't think I can keep this up..." Max gasped.

"I've got bad news..." Bill suddenly announced.

"What know?" I snapped.

Creeeeeeak!

I spun back towards the robot...

... and grazed my cheek on the metal spear that hovered right against my face.

"Shit..." Max muttered. "Sorry... He's getting closer... and I'm getting weaker..." He let out an exhausted huff and threw the spears back. I had hoped they would puncture the machine's armour but they just bounced off without slowing it down.

"The Maelstrom's target... it isn't the centre of Graesham..." Bill murmured. "It's the Emerald Crown!"

The Emerald Crown...

... we just left the Emerald Crown...

It took us about ten minutes to catch up with the Maelstrom...

... so that meant...

Oh damn...

"Work faster," I urged.

"Kerry!"

I spun -

... a metal spear shot towards me and -

WHAM!

Hit the floor just as another ANVIL soldier was skewered.

Myron grinned, hefting his massive wrench in one paw. "Cover me!" he shouted.

Before I realised what he was talking about, the nimble otter suddenly turned and bolted straight towards the robot! I had no time to shout out his name as the Cancer began shooting more metal spikes at him. I quickly threw blasts of icy energies at the spears, hoping to intercept them. I caught two and Max stopped another one. Leo's powers of Darkness and Electricity were useless against the metallic projectiles and all he could do was shoot bolts of black lightning at the Cancer, hoping to stun it. The brief shocks gave Myron the opening he needed!

The otter suddenly dove feet first between the machine's legs. He suddenly leapt back up to his feet and jumped onto the tall machine's back. With his free paw, he reached against his utility vest and suddenly pulled out four different tools, each one caught between his fingers. Blindingly fast, his paws were a blur as he messed with the Cancer's head.

In less than two seconds, Myron snapped up a screwdriver in his muzzle and leapt off the Cancer.

The machine let out a long, pained groan... and dropped to its knees... before toppling over... offline.

To say that I was impressed... Well... That's putting it lightly.

This little otter actually stopped a killer machine all by himself!

Who said otters were useless outside of water?

Grinner proudly, Myron swaggered up to us just as Bill let out a bright, "Eureka!"

"The first code is in," the wolf announced, getting to his feet. He quickly fiddled with his watch. "We've got exactly seven minutes and thirty seconds before we reach the impact site. The Maelstrom will start activating one minute before we get there but won't unleash its full powers until the last second."

"What are we doing standing around here for then!?" Max snapped, sweat dripping over his muzzle.

He was right...

... we didn't have time to be arguing...

I threw aside all my restrictions and my restrained impulses...

This was a time for action.

As much as I loathed to reach down and look for that Kerry... I needed her now...

I spun around and slammed both my spears against the closest wall. Ice quickly spread all over the surface, freezing the metal and whatever wiring was inside. With a primal cry, I pulled my spears out and kicked the icy wall.

SMASH!

Howling winds slammed back against me as the entire wall crumbled.

Unfortunately, there had to be a good twenty metres gap between the rings...

How were we going to get over to the other ring!?

"My turn!" Leo exclaimed jovially. He took several steps back as black electricity covered his entire body, turning him effectively into an electrified wolf. I staggered back away from him just as he vaulted out of the hole I made and -

SMASH!

... crashed right through the second ring!

"Whoa... Hard head..." Max commented. "But how are we supposed to get there?"

Whoosh!

I staggered back as a vertical plane of darkness appeared right in front of me, over the hole I made. Leo poked his head through, grinning broadly and proudly.

"Come through! It is safe!"

Did... Did he just create a wormhole or some sort of teleportation portal?

Where did he learn this!?

How did he get this kind of knowledge...?

No... Now was not the time to wonder...

We had a job to do and less than seven minutes to do it!

I jumped right through the portal and found myself landing on solid metal... on the other side of the black portal. The others funnelled through one by one. Once we were all clear, we hurried to find the next console.

"Warning! Warning! Hull integrity breached."

"Warning! Warning! Intruders detected."

What now!?

More robots!?

"Activating secondary defensive shell."

What?

The entire ring suddenly shuttered. I lost my footing but Bill easily caught me.

"What was that?" I demanded. "What's a 'secondary defensive shell'?"

The wolf scowled. "It's the result of us breaking through the hull without using the access hatches. The Maelstrom has activated a second, hidden, metallic armour that surrounds all the rings. It's used to maintain hull integrity. But what I'm worried about is -"

"Intruders detected. Activating neurotoxin."

"That..."

Each of the air ducts suddenly began funnelling noxious, green gas into the tunnels.

No!

"We've got to find the panel! Now!" I shouted, pushing Bill forward.

We all bolted after Bill even as the gas grew thicker and thicker. The gas stung my eyes and I tried not to breathe in but with all the running, I was forced to take sharp gasps. The gas left a bitter, mustardy taste in the back of my throat and I began feeling dizzy... my limbs started to feel numb and my muscles felt like every vein was being filled with lead.

I was starting to see double...

Thump!

An ANVIL soldier fell behind us... but I couldn't stop... As much as I wanted to... we had to keep going!

Thump!

Another soldier... Bill and Myron were starting to look weak and everyone was coughing violently.

Thump!

Not a soldier...

... that was me...

Damn...

"Kerry!"

I could not die here...

I had to prove to my father that I wasn't some pawn in some game he was playing with the rest of the world...

I had to save my mother... and my best friend from him...

I won't die here!

With a cry, I slammed both my spears against the metal floor. Ice covered the impact site immediately and I slammed my fist against it. The metal cracked and shattered easily enough but there was a second layer of metal beneath the first well out of reach of my spears. I nearly cried there and then...

Then metal began to bubble and metal away...

I watched as it peeled back, forming a hole where fresh air could seep through with the rushing winds. The neurotoxin flooded out, forcing me to hold my breath a little longer as it was sucked out of the tunnels.

I nearly blacked completely out from the lack of oxygen.

Then I found strong claws press up against my chest and haul me up.

"Are you alright?" Max asked.

I had forgotten he could control Metal...

"Yeah..." I answered softly. "Bill..."

"Working on it..." the wolf murmured softly. He checked his watch. "Damn... We've only got another 3 minutes left!" He went back to working on the console.

Three minutes...

I wasted no time.

Mustering what strength I had left, I turned towards the nearest wall and quickly encased it in ice. I smashed the wall and Max forced the second layer to peel back. Without need instruction, Leo managed to get to his feet and encase himself in lightning. With a tremendous roar, he shot out of the second ring and burst into the third and final one. Another gate of darkness appeared before us.

"Got it!" Bill shouted, leaping to his feet. "Two minutes!"

No time to waste...

My head throbbed and my joints ached... but I somehow managed to step through the dark portal and landed on the last ring. To my relief, the console was sitting right in front of us.

Finally, some luck...

Bill stepped through, saw the portal and grinned broadly. He went straight to -

"Warning! Warning! Hull integrity breached!"

"Warning! Warning! Intruders detected!"

Not more neurotoxin...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

All eyes flicked down the hallway...

A Cancer robot loomed there...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Behind us... another one appeared...

... then the tell-tale hissing of neurotoxin flooding into the hallways...

THWACK! THWACK!

THWACK! THWACK!

ANVIL soldiers fell all around me...

"That's it!" Max roared. He raised his claws into the air. All the metal around us suddenly rose upwards from the ground and wrapped around us in a solid, metal dome. He managed to close to space in time before any neurotoxin could flood inside the defensive barrier and only the light from the console illuminated the space.

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

Massive dents appeared against the wall of the dome.

"Hurry it up, brainiac!" Max shouted. "I can't keep this up forever!"

"I'm working as fast as I can!" Bill snapped. "Do you know how hard it is to crack a code this complex!? I'm getting square roots of square roots just to get past the first layer of encryption!"

"Shut up and crack that code!"

SMASH!

A metal spear slammed right through the barrier and stopped within an inch of my face.

BOOM!

...

That wasn't the sound of one of the Cancers shooting a spear at us...

The floor beneath us suddenly jerked towards the right and I was hurled onto my rear. I could feel the momentum start to pick up... I was actually being pulled towards the outer wall of the ring. Centrifugal force was working against me and I could barely stand...

But that meant...

"Bill..."

"Fifty seconds to impact!" the wolf shouted, his fingers speeding over the console's keys. "Come on... Come on..."

WHAM!

Another spear slammed through the barrier, grazing Max's shoulder. "Son of a bitch!"

Forty seconds...

Come on Bill... You can do it...

SMASH!

Blinding pain rocketed up my left thigh as a metal spear burst through Max's barrier and bit into my flesh. That moment of agony made me realise that we were still trapped in here. Even if we managed to stop the Purge, we still had the neurotoxin and the Cancers to deal with...

Thirty seconds...

Leo knelt next to me and seized the metal rod against my thigh and slowly pulled it out.

Leo... Leo...

Something about Leo...

Twenty-five seconds...

I gripped his wrist, forcing him to stop.

"Those portals you make..." I stammered, fighting off weariness. "Can you make them anywhere...?"

"Only places I have been previously..." Leo answered shakily.

Places he's been...

Twenty seconds... Nineteen... eighteen...

"Can you make one to the cathedral?" I groaned as he pulled the spike right out.

SMASH!

Another ANVIL soldier fell...

Seventeen seconds... Bill...

"I have never tried making a portal from so far away..."

I realised that we might end up dropping out of the sky and hurtling towards our deaths... Either way... we may end up dying...

Sixteen... fifteen... fourteen...

But you know what?

Thirteen... Twelve... eleven...

A slight chance for survival is better than no chance for survival.

Ten...

Nine...

Eight...

The whole ring began speeding up even faster. I felt my Brand start to burn really badly... the effects of a Seal activating...

Seven...

Six...

"Almost..." Bill murmured.

SMASH! SMASH! SMASH!

The spears practically shattered Max's shield... Cracks appeared all over the barrier, letting neurotoxin seep inside...

Five...

Four...

Three...

SMASH!

Max staggered and fell on his rear, a spear just barely grazing his chest!

"... there...!"

Two...

One -

"Gotcha!"

"Leo! Now!"

*****

Reaper: The Purge of Graesham

BAM!

Jacob's back slammed hard against the solid, crystal wall.

One eye was practically shut because it was so swollen.

He hated the fact that Rocky's weapons were blunt.

Sharp or bladed weapons can kill easily... Puncture skin and rip up internal organs...

... but no_... I just had to go up against the_ one_Elemental Lord who uses_ batons_as weapons!_

Reflexes took over and he rolled against the wall to his left just barely dodging -

SMASH!

... a huge mound of rock that slammed into the crystal wall where he had been standing.

"Laser Leaf."

Damnit!

Jacob kicked up all his speed and bolted away as thousand of green laser beams descended upon him. He swung Radiance around him, knocking what lasers he could back.

"Meteor Raid!"

Out from the corner of his eye, he saw Rex - just as bloody and wounded as he was - leap into the air and swing Shimmering Hope upwards. Huge, burning meteors erupted from the arc of his blade and hurtled straight towards Rocky.

The Elemental Lord of Earth merely swung her paw dismissively at the meteors. The space rocks changed trajectory and sped straight back at Rex, knocking the Starlord right out of the air.

"Burn!"

Waves of scorching surged towards Rocky as Taylor swung his chakrams about. Rocky showed no emotion as she deftly lifted her shield and merely let the flames pound the hard metal. Joanna suddenly appeared behind the Elemental Lord and swung her sai at Rocky.

CLANG!

Rocky blocked the attack simply by reaching over her back with her spare baton.

Jacob grit his fangs together and rushed at the Elemental Lord just as Rocky spun around and knocked Joanna back. He leapt into the air, bringing his swords over his head -

CLANG!

"Tricked you!"

The Jacob in the air suddenly vanished in a burst of blinding light. Rocky may have had empty, hollow eyes but they were still eyes. She grimaced as turned away...

Just as Jacob swung his blades at her from behind and -

SWISH!

... sliced right through her hamstrings!

Rocky fell to the ground, splayed on the ground, staring blankly up at him as he quickly pinned her paws down with his swords, pushing them right through her palms and placing his foot on her chest.

Knowing he had little time, he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out the crystal seed.

"Look at this!" he demanded. "Damnit, Rocky! Look at this seed!"

...

Rocky's eyes locked on the seed.

...

...

To no response...

What...?

I thought -

"Lightning Rock."

Huge, pillars of rock suddenly erupted from the ground around them. One shot out from just beside Rocky. Jacob seized his swords and leapt away as the pillars of rock burst out of the pyramid's frame, shattering its apex and the crystal roof of the chamber.

Dark clouds suddenly gathered above their heads.

Oh crap.

Fwash! Fwash! Fwash!

Boooooom! Ka-krack!

Lightning cascaded down from the dark thunderheads, striking the tips of the stone pillars. Brilliant, green bolts of electricity danced across the surface of the pillars before abruptly dancing between each one. Jacob somersaulted backwards just a stream of emerald lightning shot by him. A whole lattice of lightning criss-crossed the ruined chamber.

Zzzap!

"Aaargh!"

He stumbled forward as he felt a painful jolt shoot up his spine -

Zzzzap! Zzzap!

His body was jerked left and right as more lightning bolts slammed into him. His regeneration was too slow to keep up with all the bolts that kept bombarding him. The pain was somewhat bearable but he just couldn't move in time to get out of the line of fire...!

"Galactic Discus!"

Rex's spiral disc of starlight sliced through the pillars of rock, cutting off the source of the lightning. Jacob felt a wash of relief cross all over him as he staggered to his feet. The pillars crumbled all around him. Rex helped pull him to his feet.

Huge rings of fire suddenly hurled out from behind the falling pillars, streaming towards a recovering Rocky.

"Rock Storm."

The shattered pillars all broke into pieces and swirled around Rocky in a dizzying spiral. Taylor's rings of flame were easily swept aside by the tornado of stone. Without warning, the storm began spreading outwards, slowly pushing the Branded back...

Jacob staggered back with Rex supporting him.

How are we supposed to stop her...?

And what the hell is with this seed!?

He gazed at the seed in his paws... confused why that hadn't snapped Rocky out of her brain-washed state...

"Guys!" Joanna cried. "I'm gonna try something! Don't hesitate, okay!?"

Jacob exchanged glances with Rex and Taylor...

"Go for it!" he cried.

Joanna suddenly threw both her paws into the air...

Rrrrrrrrrrrrr...

The ground shook and rumbled -

WHOOOSH!

A huge geyser erupted from far below them, shattering the already shaky foundation of the crystal platform to bits. It swept up Rocky's storm and broke the floor right beneath them.

Jacob used what little footing he had to leap straight into the geyser, speeding straight towards a falling Rocky. The Elemental Lord of Earth's wings suddenly snapped up and stopped her descent -

Just as Jacob let the power of his Brand flood through him and his form exploded into his Brand Form. With a tremendous cry, he slammed straight into Rocky, plunging both his swords straight into Rocky's chest. His cry turned to one of regret as he quickly spun and hurled Rocky straight downwards towards the ground floor of the pyramid!

Rex suddenly dropped in beside Rocky. "Sorry..." He shut his eyes... and reopened them with reaffirmed determination. "Cosmic Formation!" His blade emitted an ethereal, blue glow before he bolted forwards, slicing right through Rocky!

Rex spun in midair and -

Swish!

Came back with a another slash -

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Rex sliced again and again and again at Rocky, leaving a trail of glittering blue light in his wake. The trail formed the shape of an eight pointed star with Rocky at its centre. He finished it off by leaping to the centre, jumping off Rocky's prone body and coming back down with a high speed slash!

Rocky sped even faster towards the ground!

Booom!

A fiery ball slammed right into Rocky!

The flames dissipated and Taylor emerged from the flames. He threw his head back, his body exploding into its Brand Form, his chakrams burning with blistering fire. He swung at Rocky, huge, fiery rings shooting out of his weapons and slicing into Rocky. He swung ten times, each of the ten rings circling Rocky over and over again, biting into the Elemental Lord's flesh mercilessly.

The ring abruptly aligned themselves one on top of the other just above Rocky, a small gap between each. Taylor climbed the rings until he was at the top. A cry of anguish tore through his throat as he jumped down into the tunnel of flames. Red hot fire joined with his body, consuming the rings until he -

WHOOOOSH!

... slammed right into Rocky

BOOOOOOOM!

SMASH!

Rocky Groundwater... the Elemental Lord of Earth... hit the ground with enough force that it shattered the entire crystal Pyramid of Perfection. The dark clouds above them faded into the morning light just as the water from Joanna's earlier geyser rained down in tandem with the fragmented particles of the Pyramid. The light from the sun combined with the rain and the crystals formed an almost eerily beautiful, glistening, rainbow tunnel where the Branded and Rex slowly descended.

They beside one another...

... their gazes were locked...

All of them regretted what they just did...

Damnit...

Jacob regarded the seed in his paw... letting the rain slowly soak his paw...

Why...?

Why didn't it work...?

I thought... I really thought he we could save her...

He closed his eyes... and his paw around the seed.

Just like Pollenburn... He had killed a friend...

Damn you, Belford... You're going to pay for this...

....

"Is that all you have?"

Jacob's eyes snapped up.

Rocky Groundwater rose up from the large crater that she had made upon impact... behind her... Randall Belford.

There was no time to react...

The in next three seconds... three separate events occurred...

One...

...Rocky brought up Earthborn and crossed the distance between Jacob and herself in that one second.

Two...

Jacob raised his arms in defence... but knew he couldn't make it in time...

No...!

Three...

A figure stepped in front of him...

Schlick!

Jacob had to correct himself...

Blunt weapons could cut through flesh... given enough force...

He stood there... shocked... shaking... and his eyes wide in disbelief...

All his senses were focused on Rocky... more specifically on her eyes...

Eyes that were suddenly filled with life again... and tearing up...

In the otherwise silent world...

... he heard her say one word...

... ask one question...

...

"Luke...?"