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Episode Surf

The events of the night left a bitter taste in Surf's broad mouth. Zoom's appearance and testimony followed by Sander's interruption and then Maydoor's call all happened too close together. All had been closely tied to one another. Too many questions floated around his head and he was left wondering who was telling the truth and who was outwardly lying to him.

On the one hand, there was Maydoor. The Fennec Fox was never far away from Zoom and rarely spoke on his own. The fact that he had called Martha directly and not sent her a text instead brought into question whether or not the person that had contacted them was actually Maydoor or some impostor. The fall of AllAle_had left many corporations paranoid and Surf could not help but wonder if that call was some plot from the _Custodes Libertatis to lure them off into some nefarious plot.

Then of course, there was Sanders. Anyone would be a fool to trust the white rabbit. Though his sultry British drawl was charming and Airwave was always genuine, the fact that the hammerhead had actually not gone straight for the food and remained silent spoke volumes. Ironically, Maydoor's uncharacteristic chatter and Airwave's unusual reservation was what triggered both Surf and Martha's fight or flight responses. Martha was working her connections to find out what she could and Surf was entrusted with talking to Zoom.

His fellow fish was currently cooped up in Surf's room. The events of the day had worn him out and he hadn't eaten anything. Surf took some of the roast beef, rolled it up into a sandwich and knocked on his own room door. There was a bit of shuffling on the other side. That was Surf's signal to enter the room quietly.

Zoom was perched on the end of the enormous king-sized bed watching the news and flicking through the screens. What he was looking for remained a mystery. The savory smell of the roast beef alongside a mustard gravy caused Zoom's nostrils to flare. The siren song of the food drew the shark's bright, blue eyes towards him. That and the heavy footfalls of the big, portly whale shark.

Setting the plate down on the bed between them, Surf sat down and watched his fellow IP work through the channels. "Looking for any signs of Ethan?"

"You said that he was going to meet us tomorrow," answered Zoom worriedly. "He must be safe but... I'm worried that it was someone else. That someone was masquerading as him or something."

"What are you thinking?"

Zoom did not reply and kept switching through the channels.

"Look," sighed Surf, rubbing his eyes lightly. "We have to work together on this one. I don't know what's going on. You and I both care about our Hosts. Whatever has happened to Ethan, we're going to do what we can to make sure he's safe but you have got to tell me what's going on here. We're putting Martha in danger. You know I don't want to do that."

Zoom put the remote down. "I know... it's just... I don't know if I can say... I genuinely don't remember anything."

"You've said that over and over since you got here over three hours ago," sighed Surf, his frustration growing. "Martha trusts Ethan. I do too to some degree." Those words caused a sharp look to be thrown at him. "But to your point, there's no guarantee that the guy on the other side of the phone was Ethan. So you need to tell me exactly what's going on, what you're thinking, so that I am not going to go rushing into a damn trap and risk my Host's life!"

He didn't notice he was raising his voice until Zoom physically shrank away from him. Raising a hand in apology, he physically shuffled backwards. "Sorry. I'm just... worked up, is all." He absently rubbed his wide shoulders, massaging the muscles beneath his taut, dark-blue, spotted skin. "Look, you know I'd never lead you astray or turn on you. I'd never sell you out. I just need you to trust me. Please. Just tell me what's going on so I can better understand how to help."

Zoom's eyes remained downcast. "If I could tell you I would..."

"If you could?" he repeated.

The Mako's hands curled up into tight fists. "I genuinely can't remember anything, Surf. Every time I try to bring something up, I just keep drawing a blank! It's frustrating! I don't know what's wrong with me!" He clutched both sides of his head, shaking in frustration.

"Hey, hey," soothed Surf, gently prying those hands away from the pointed head. "Just... what's the last thing you remember?"

Zoom's eyes closed and he turned back to the screen flickering images in front of them. "There was an incident a few days ago in one of Ethan's auditions."

"I remember," Surf mentioned. "Sanders came over to make sure that we were safe. He said it wasn't anything serious."

"It was serious." Zoom lifted his gaze, meeting the bigger shark's. "There was an Independent at the audition. His IP went out to fight. He saved him. They escaped afterward. Ethan thought it might have been a manipulation from... from..."

Surf could join the dots. "The Custodes Libertatis. Ethan thought that the so-called 'Watchers of Liberty' sent those Indies to the audition to see how bad we were so they could recruit them." He shrugged heavily. "It would make sense. Evil tactic but I guess I can understand. Why didn't anyone tell us?"

Of course, he knew the answer to that. Auditions were the jurisdiction of the other executives. Martha and Surf were part of the production team. They would deal with whatever the other executives gave them and make those things into something presentable. How they those final products got to the duo was not their concern.

"Don't answer that," he said, holding up a hand. "What happened after?"

"Ethan took it upon himself to find those Independents," answered Mako. "So we went around looking for information. Luckily, our security team came up with some videos that were going around. Bryce, one of our IPs, had defected and he was with the Independent that we saw at the auditions. We tracked him down to where he was working and made a deal with him and his Host."

Zoom wrung his hands together nervously. "We would bring them as contractors under Ethan. They wouldn't work for anyone else. Just us. Even had this whole career advancement angle that I had thrown at them. Then they threw a spanner in our works."

Surf let Zoom pause for dramatic effect.

"They offered up the Libertatis that led them there."

Surf's eyes widened but he bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything too soon.

"We made an agreement to meet at a place they would state," continued Zoom after a few seconds. "Then we left their place and made arrangements. I distinctly remember calling Sanders for backup just in case. Then... then that's the last thing I remember. I'm suddenly standing in the middle of our apartment, it's dark, Ethan isn't there and it's hours later!"

The Mako was hyperventilating compelling Surf to wrap his large, meaty arms around the smaller shark and bring him over as a hug. The normally charming and composed Mako was breaking down. For as long as he had known Zoom, Ethan's IP was confident and often relaxed. But the shark that he was holding now was a far flung contrast. He was unsure what to do in this scenario. A fearful and scared Mako as well as this intricate web of intrigue was well outside of his comfort zone.

"You're afraid that the Libertatis may have done something, huh?" whispered Surf. "You're scared. I get it. We'll sort this out. I'm sure of it. Trust me."

"How can you be sure!" pleaded Zoom. "This has never happened before!"

Surf gently cupped his fellow shark's chin, lifting the blue-skinned piscine's gaze to meet his. "Hey," he said simply and bluntly. After a second to let that single word set in, he added, "Have I ever lied to you?"

The faintest smile touched Zoom's lips.

Then gravity took over.

Their lips met in an awfully familiar motion with Surf's much bigger mouth almost completely wrapping around Zoom's. Surf's long, flat tongue snaked out between his lips, lapping across Zoom's chin and making the shark moan. Their arms instinctively wrapped around one another, the comfort they drew from one another, this sense of familiarity brought the shaking foundations of their world to stability, drawing themselves into one another more and more. A tightness grew in Surf's track pants as blood began rushing towards his crotch. His immense bulk pressed up against Zoom, the heat from their bodies stirring their arousal all the more.

He gently curled his broad hand against the back of Surf's head and began pitching them backwards onto the bed. He completely forgot about the plate of food that he had sitting between them so it came as a sudden shock when he felt something a little cold and wet press up against his leg. A soft mumble told Zoom that something unexpected happened and they both turned to look down at the horrid mess of roast beef, gravy and mustard smeared all over Surf's gray track pants.

"Well damn," he laughed softly. "If ever there was a mood killer..."

"Oh... I don't know," Zoom said mischievously, that confidence of his returning. "I happen to like mustard."

He rolled his eyes in response. "I know. That's why I made the sandwich for you with mustard gravy. What's your -"

Before he could finish. Zoom was using his superior speed and agility to slide around Surf's grip and push the bigger whale shark onto the bed. He let out a soft yelp as Zoom pounced on his gravy-covered crotch, teeth gently gnawing on the bulge there and tongue just sliding over the silhouette with enough force to lick off the mustard but not dry catch his tastebuds on the fabric.

Surf grunted, biting down on his lower lip and grasping the edges of the bed. Every instinct of his body told him to use those enormous lungs kept behind thick, powerful chest muscles to good use and moan to the moon but he had no idea when Martha would be back. Part of what made his relationship with Zoom so arousing was the fact that neither Martha nor Ethan knew about it. He couldn't even really remember how it started. Maybe it was at a Christmas Party, Zoom was being his usual cocky self and made a lewd comment about the mini-sausages that they were serving. Surf mentioned something about the sausages he was used to being thicker and more meaty in return and then next he knew, they were making out in the coat closet.

Speaking of sausages...

He grimaced as Zoom lapped up the last of the mustard and grabbed the rims of Surf's pants. Having gotten to know the whale shark for years now, he knew that just by nuzzling the balls of the bigger fish, Surf would immediately buck his hips, lifting his rear off the bed. That gave him the perfect opportunity to yank the gray pants right off. A very thick, very erect cock covered in white skin with a dark-blue helmet much like the rest of his spotted flesh smacked the other shark's nose. The aroma of masculinity that emanated from Surf washed away the events of the day like a hot, musky, salty tsunami. As had happened all the previous times they had ever been together intimately, Surf had this uncanny ability to ground Zoom; bring him down from all the flamboyance, grandstanding and acting and bring him back to the primal need that gnawed on them all.

This was expressed when Zoom hungrily gobbled up Surf's fat cock, his cheeks blowing out from the sheer girth of the member in front of him. Though not as long as most of the other cocks out there, Surf sported a tool that would split any_man - or woman - open from its sheer width alone. Beer cans would shy away from its mass. Whether this was something Martha had instinctively created when she had conceptualized Surf remained a mystery as Surf had never thought to ask his Host about _why his cock was just so damn thick. He just knew that it was very_fat and _very sensitive.

And Zoom knew how to get the best out of him.

Just the faintest flick of the Mako shark's tongue against his foreskin, the long, flexible length sliding beneath the spotted flesh and dancing along the edges of his glands was enough to make him grunt, thrust his hips and send a torrent of precum shooting down Zoom's throat. The slimmer shark was more than happy with the result and replied with a long, almost effeminate moan, his eyes rolling in ecstasy. There was a loud shuffling as Zoom desperately began struggling for his own pants, his own hardon throbbing between his legs.

Surf mentally smirked to himself as he angled his right foot down towards where he knew Zoom's crotch was. He felt his lover flinch and hesitate before seizing the fuzzy slippers that Surf was wearing and tossing them aside. This left bigger shark barefoot, allowing his flexible toes to reach down and gently press against the twin members that was straining against Zoom's beige pants. Another difference between them was the fact that Zoom had the more traditional 'feral' set of twin cocks their seaborne cousins had. Sometimes, it made him feel jealous - having two dicks was very sexy and one of the reasons he was attracted to Zoom. But then he recalled the joy he felt fucking Zoom while holding onto those cocks, rocking back and forth as their hips collided, one dick in each hand and then feeling his lover's seed drool all over his fingers before Zoom would lick them off.

That image just made him hungrier and hornier, applying pressure against Zoom's crotch and feeling the intense heat radiating from those dicks like twin, heated rods in a nuclear reaction about to meltdown. Zoom whimpered, a sound barely audible through the gargantuan cock in his muzzle. No matter how many times they had done this, the slimmer shark had never quite gotten used to the sheer girth of Surf's member. Even more so when he was being pleasured by the bigger fish in some way. Zoom barely managed to get his pants down past his thighs before Surf was already gripping the very erect cocks between his toes, pressing them against Zoom's hard abdominals.

There was a mumbling coming from Zoom and he tried to pull away but Surf grabbed the back of his head and pushed him back down against his cock. There was a very audible squiring noise coming from the cocks pinched between his toes. This was exactly what Zoom loved.

"I know your - urf - suit is expensive," Surf grunted. "I know you don't want - urf - your spunk on it. Ah! But I don't care._You _need this."

There was another whimper but the response from Zoom's cock said he was not opposed to this. He loved it and he knew Surf was right. Zoom reached up, holding onto Surf's broad thighs, preparing for the ride of his life as Surf took care of him...

Knock-knock-knock.

Both men froze.

"Surf, dear?" came Martha's voice from the other side of the door. "Zoom? Are you in there?"

Both sharks exchanged glances, eyes wide in terror.

"We are, Martha," Surf replied, urging Zoom to sit up.

"Oh good. I was worried when I didn't see either of you. Mind if I come in?"

Neither of them were quite ready to reveal that the two IPs were lovers for years. Nearly stumbling over himself, Surf jumped to his feet and scrambled towards the door, Zoom rolling on the ground to avoid being trampled. The door knob twisted and the door cracked open. Surf slammed against the wall beside the door, leaning against it casually while making sure to keep the lower half of his body out of sight. He was grateful that he hadn't removed his shirt. Managing to keep his features sombre, he regarded Martha solemnly.

"Not a good time," he said gently and silently as if he didn't want Zoom to hear. "I'm just in the middle of comforting Zoom. I think we're - urk!"

He barely bit back a gasp when he felt Zoom's hungry tongue brush against his balls. Fighting the urge to look down, he felt his cheeks rise in temperature as the Mako shark greedily went to down sucking on each testicle one at a time.

"Is something the matter?" Martha asked, genuine concern on her motherly features. Even with the night she had, she was still looking out for others.

It killed Surf to lie to her. "I just remembered that I may have left something in the oven," he said, managing a shaky grin. "I wanted to make sure I got Zoom something to eat even if I had to stuff it down his throat."

On that, Zoom immediately grabbed Surf's rapidly deflating cock, pulling it under his swollen balls and began nursing it, his pointed nose prodding Surf's balls to provide dual sensations that almost made the whale shark collapse to his knees and moan like a cat in heat.

"Just don't hurt him," Martha said gently. "The poor guy has been through a lot tonight. I'd hate to have to rush him to the ER and get his stomach pumped or something." She waved absently and turned to leave. "Thanks for taking care of him, Surf. I'll go check the oven and maybe get myself a bite to eat. I _barely_had dinner with all that happened tonight."

"There's still - mmmhm - some food in the fridge. I've packed them up on the third level."

She gave him thanks and he waited until she was out of the bedroom hallways and in the kitchen before he shut the door and immediately turned towards the ravenous Zoom. He grabbed the smaller shark by the shoulders, pull him up forcefully and them pressed their lips together, his tongue diving into the other fish's throat and tasting his own seed. Zoom flung his legs around Surf's waist, practically pinning him against the door and pressing their bodies against one another. Being the stronger of the two, Surf easily half-waddled, half-strutted to the bed while their tongues ravaged each other, eyes shut in unbridled passion. The only time he actually knew when to collapse onto the bed was when he felt the mattress brush against his knees. The big whale shark tipped over, sensing the surprise in Zoom's tongue-play as he leapt off the floor. He was gentle enough not to crush Zoom beneath him but rough enough that when they hit the bed, he could feel the Mako shark's heart racing through his muscles chest.

"Fuck, I needed this," panted Zoom. "Fuck me. Fuck me hard, stud."

Grinning from ear to ear, Surf lifted his lover's legs into the air, exposing the shark's needy hole. He followed through the familiar motion; pushing his erect cock covered in a mixture of his precum and Zoom's spit into the surprisingly tight opening. Natural regeneration for IPs naturally meant that even after years of being fucked by the very thick whale shark, Zoom was still as tight as the first time they had decided to go for anal - something that Zoom never regretted. Just an inch in and he already felt a wall of tightness that wrapped around his cock and caused him to squirt more precum. Zoom grabbed a nearby pillow, biting down on it hard to keep himself from moaning too hard. With desperate, pleading eyes, the Mako gave Surf a nod, prompting him to push even deeper.

Surf complied, pushing in another inch. Balls churning like machines, precum poured out of his cock like a waterfall, filling Zoom and already leaking out past his wide dick. The pressure building in his groin was becoming unbearable but he didn't want to finish too soon. So he held on, gripping Zoom's legs for support and thrusting deeper and deeper. Each repetition of the motion drove him an inch deeper, that familiar warm of his lover wrapping around his cock. Zoom was loosening up but he would not let himself let go of any inch of Surf's dick even when the whale shark pulled out. When Surf retreated, Zoom squeezed down to slow the member's withdrawal. He would then sense when Surf wanted to re-enter him and unclench, giving passage to that fat cock.

It wasn't long until Surf's balls slapped against Zoom's ass. The light shock of those heavy, cum-filled wrecking balls slamming against his ass caused Zoom to let out another moan, muffled by the pillow between his lips. His twin cocks squirted excitedly, painfully erect and shooting ropes of precum from their pointed tips like one of those showy fountains in Las Vegas. Surf pulled out and slammed back in with increasing frequency, each push lifting Zoom off the bed ever so slightly. The loud, wet slapping intensified as both sharks quickly approached their climax.

Pressure and heat built within both of them, sweat dripping off their bodies and soaking into the shirt Surf was still wearing. The noise of the TV lay forgotten as their furious lovemaking drowned everything else and all their senses became focused where two sharks became one. The intensifying pressure of Surf's cock pressing up against his prostate was enough to make Zoom explode. He arched his back, fingers twisting the sheets beneath him. Blood pumped in his ears at the same rhythm was Surf's ferocious pounding. Surf was hit by a degree of tunnel vision. All other sounds, sensations, smells and even his sight became entirely focused on Zoom and the glorious moment that his cock slammed completely into his lover. Precum was soaking the sheets beneath them, growing thicker and thicker with each passing second.

"Fuck..." moaned Surf. "Zoom..."

"MmmmmHmmm!" moaned his fellow fish, confirming that he too was close to climax.

"Oh god..." grunted the bigger shark. "Oh fuck... Here I... here I -!"

With a gasp, Surf threw his head back and pushed his cock all the way to the hilt into Zoom with all his might. Zoom was lifted about half a foot off the bed, arching his back in ecstasy as hot, warm cum came exploding out of Surf in a single, powerful gush. Zoom's eyelids fluttered as he felt the familiar but still fantastic seed pour into him and he finally let the dam break. His own cocks erupted, shooting twin streams of cum in diverging directions. One splattered all over his muzzle while the other struck his shoulder. The Mako shark continued to convulse over and over, each one sending a ripple of spasms throughout his body and sending wave after wave of cum shooting from his cocks and soaking him and the sheets beneath him. Conversely, Surf's single blast made Zoom feel full but he could still feel the whale shark pumping him with seed at a slower, less explosive rate. Surf was more a leaker whose volume would continue to pour out of him at a steady, calmer rate while Zoom would keep erupting like a volcano.

Zoom squirmed here he lay as the last of his orgasm faded, one last twitch signaling his finish. He had to force himself to unclench, allowing Surf to keep filling him as the big, whale shark was still cumming into him. Surf, in the meantime, gently extracted himself from Zoom, a gush of cum pumping from his cock and a flood oozing from Zoom's ass.

The two sharks instinctively wrapped around one another, Zoom resting against Surf's chest as they cuddled, bathed in the flickering lights of the TV. No words needed to be spoken. They kissed. They hugged. They both laughed a little as - even ten minutes later - Zoom felt Surf's cum sliding off the whale's big belly as he continued to squirt more of his DNA out of that fat cock.

"I love you," whispered Zoom.

"I love you too," Surf said, affectionately kissing Zoom's pointed nose.

"We should get married."

It was an old conversation and Surf countered with, "Okay. You tell Martha and I'll tell Ethan."

But this time, it was slightly different. "If we ever find Ethan..." mumbled Zoom.

Instantly regretting his words, Surf said, "Hey, let's do it this time. When we find Ethan, we'll tell get them both in a room, tell them we love one another and then we'll get married."

Zoom laughed softly... then he noticed Surf's serious expression. "You're serious?"

"You want me on one knee?"

The Mako Shark gently pushed him with another laugh. "No because you _know_I'm the one that has to propose."

"Because you have to make it a spectacle."

Zoom sat up and flexed an arm. "It will be the biggest, most extravagant proposal in the world! Both Realworld and Overworld!" Then he turned to give Surf a pointed look. "I'm going to have fireworks, an orchestra, skydivers spelling your name in the sky as we watch on from a hot air balloon and you're just going to stand there, looking at me like you're saying, 'Bitch, just put the ring on my finger.'"

Surf grinned broadly and crossed his arms behind his head. "You know me too well."

The Mako slapped Surf's belly, loving how it jiggled a little in the process. "Come on. Martha is probably worried. You got some cologne?"

"Always."

Thankfully, this was a tried and true ritual so Zoom actually had left some clothes in Surf's room many times before. So they got undressed, pulling some of the spare clothes from Surf's dresser and then headed back out into the kitchen. Martha was at the kitchen counter, absently eating some of the leftovers while watching something on the television. She met them with a look of concern.

"Are you two alright?" she asked. "You both look like you ran around the block five times at high speeds."

Always the charmer even in his disheveled state, Zoom said, "Surf just pounded some sense into me. I'm feeling much better now. Thank you both for your hospitality."

Martha beamed at him. "I'm glad you're feeling better. I was going to reprimand Surf for fucking you in your state as that'd be akin to taking advantage of someone helpless but seems like it turned out very well."

Surf visible blanched and Zoom's jaw dropped open in shock.

She rolled her eyes at them both and waved her fork absently in their direction. "Oh please, I've known for years. I'm just surprised you two haven't told me. Though I suspect that's because you" - she looked directly at Zoom - "were always afraid that Ethan might not approve."

Zoom blushed and glanced away slightly. "Uhm... yeah. You know Ethan. He's not exactly... sociable so I was scared that we started hanging around one another more because we were... you know... a _couple_he might not like that."

"I'm sure he'll change his mind eventually," she laughed. "Honestly, you two, I'm happy you find one another. Love is very rare. True love, even rarer. And what I see between you two" - she pointed her fork from Surf to Zoom - "the fact that you can be with one another and then proceed to have passionate sex with one another and come out of it better is a testament to your true love. I envy that." She sighed softly and smiled. "Anyway, how about you two take a nice, long shower and then we'll hit the hay? We've got a big day tomorrow."

"You don't mind if...?" Surf asked tentatively.

"If Zoom sleeps in your room with him? Goodness, Surf, I'm sure he's done that many_times before. If I didn't mind then, I certainly don't mind now. Just please take that shower before you go to bed. Our poor housekeeper has complained to me _many times about the state of the sheets." It was clear she was just joking but Surf couldn't held but think of the many times that he and Zoom had - multiple - sessions in his bed and left the sheets for the housekeeper to clean up. Clearly the poor lady had been vocal about it.

Blushing, Surf ducked his head and mumbled, "Yes, ma'am."

Martha laughed and shooed them away.

As the duo left, she glanced at her phone, regarding her call history... and the multiple times she had attempted to call Ethan only for it to go straight to voice mail...

"Oh Ethan," she sighed softly, a gentle smile on her features. "I wish you were here to see our boys grow up."

_ _

Chapter 9

The previous night had left Martha Halladay shaken. Nothing she could dig up with her vast resources could shine any light on exactly what had happened with Zoom, Ethan Maydoor and Simon Sanders. None of her own people knew anything about some secret operation to obtain the assistance of Independents or that Independents had invaded one of Maydoor's auditions. After Surf had told her everything that morning, she felt the smack of the 'glass ceiling' that she had always been wary of. Fully aware that she was the only female executive with the privileged power of being one of the top officers of Horizon with access to the Overworld and possessing a unique IP and Function, Martha had always known that her position was tenuous at best. Raven, Ethan, Van and Simon were also employed with the company for far longer than her. That they would have a 'boys' club' would be natural but inexcusable.

That was why when she stepped into the Horizon building the following morning after her debriefing from both Zoom and Surf, she did so with purpose and elegance, not letting it feed any sort of paranoia and approaching this all with a clear, sound, logical mind. If she started lashing out and claiming sexism or misogyny without evidence, that would be her neck on the line.

And where would that leave poor Surf?

The events of the previous night still swirled about in her head as she boarded the elevator in the high-rise building. Her heart fluttered a little at the idea that Surf and Zoom had finally come out to her about their relationship. Yes, she may have somewhat coaxed it out of them but she was absolutely giddy about the fact that love blossomed under her house. Sure they kept it from her for years but it was an unorthodox relationship. Being supportive of them was more productive than being offended that they didn't trust her enough to tell her outright.

Martha allowed her mind to drift off to the wonderful day when Surf and Zoom would get married. Maybe being there for when he'd propose would be a bit _too_invasive but she did imagine that Surf would probably make a nice home-cooked meal before popping the question. If _Zoom_was the one proposing, he'd probably do something extravagant with fireworks and a band. It made her wonder what kind of wedding they'd have and how she'd hold back tears when Surf eventually kissed Zoom on that altar.

Just thinking about it made her emotional.

Surf was pretty much like her child and she was so happy and proud that he had found someone to love.

The elevator dinged at her as she fanned herself with a paw, trying to cool herself down as the emotions of that imagery invaded her mind. The person who stepped into the elevator made that so much easier.

"Simon," she greeted, quickly wiping away a tear with the heel of her paw. "Good morning."

The rabbit gave her a curious look and reached for a handkerchief from the breast pocket of his suit. "Top of the morning, Martha, dear. Are you quite alright?"

"Just thinking about a drama that I watched last night," she sighed, accepting the silk square and lightly dabbing the corners of her eyes. "After you came calling unexpectedly, I had to watch something to calm my nerves. It was quite moving." She handed the handkerchief back to Sanders.

"Oh really?" replied the rabbit, taking the piece back and meticulously folding it into a perfect triangle before slipping it back into his pocket. "What was the show called? I'd be interested to see what kind of show would move our esteemed Chief Production Officer to tears even the following day."

If there was something that Martha was good at, it was improvisation. Often times, she had to be on stage and dealing with questions and the public and those questions were rarely scripted.

"It was the latest episode of The Wanderer."

Sanders threw her a sour look and grimaced. "Oh, that drivel? Really, Martha. I expected better." He finally reached over to the number panel and hit the button for their floor. "That show is a clearly scripted piece of garbage designed to prey on the basic need of everyone to find love and companionship. It pines to the lowest common denominator. Women will dream of the 'rugged, handsome, loner' just wandering into town sweeping them off their feet and even men would be growing aroused at the mere concept of having so many beautiful women throwing themselves at them."

She gave him a sly smirk. "Are you just jealous that you didn't come up with the idea sooner?"

The rabbit rolled his eyes and turned that grimace into a smirk. "I admit, I did_once try to acquire the rights to the show when it was going under. Sadly, the purchase was swept out from under me. This _was_several years ago when _Horizon wasn't the reality TV titan it is now."

A reality TV titan, yes, but that was all they were. Countless other networks raked in far more revenue by branching out into other programs. Even the most basic network had celebrity talk shows that filled in the void of afternoon broadcasting. Horizon had significantly lower viewerships during the weekdays between the hours of 8 and 6 simply because everyone was either working or commuting. New and upcoming shows would have to compete for prime time slots because those ten hours were filled with a _fraction_of the viewers they could have. Even if they showed news programs that regurgitated information from other channels they could get more revenue.

Yet Raven would never listen and insisted on Horizon's identity as a singular reality TV network.

"Speaking of acquisitions," she broached, "anything new on your radar?"

"None that would warrant your notice," answered Sanders far too quickly for her liking. "Everything is still transitory at the moment. I will know more come tomorrow morning."

Tomorrow morning. An interesting time frame particularly since she was meant to met Ethan this evening. Did Sanders suspecting something?

"If you need any assistance in the matter, I'd be more than happy to collaborate," she offered. "My projects are almost completed after all and we've only got that new IP, Gladius, that you've sent over. He's a little rough around the edges but I'm sure he will be the next greatest hit."

"I'm glad to hear it," answered Sanders. Despite the pleasant smile on his muzzle, there was a clear look of boredom and dismissal in his features like he couldn't wait for the elevator to hit the 30th floor so that he could get off. "How is Gladius by the way?"

She had _just_given her assessment of the hippo so it was clear he was barely listening.

"He will need work," she answered patiently. "Still quite in shock about being here in the Realworld."

The elevator dinged and the silvery doors began to slide open. Sanders didn't display his usual British charm and allow her to go first. Instead, he basically charged out of the lift like she was diseased.

"Have you seen Ethan by the way?" she asked suddenly, just a step behind him.

That caught his attention. His long ears stiffened and led the way as he turned to face her. "No I have not. Why do you ask?"

Now she had him. But she had to play it cool and safe. Again, she had little evidence on what exactly was going on. Making waves and throwing accusations around without cause could get her fired.

Or worse.

"I haven't heard from him since that incident you mentioned at his audition a few days ago," she lied, keeping her features in a worried mask. Gently curling a finger around her chin, she looked worriedly out the floor-to-ceiling windows the marked the foyer of their floor. "You don't think anything bad has happened to him, do you?"

"What makes you say that?" he pressed.

She turned to him worriedly. "Well, you just said that you haven't heard from him. If he hasn't been in contact with you, the Chief Security Officer, since the incident, something must be wrong."

By placing the puck back in his court and referencing his own words, she had put him on the defensive. Sanders' lips turned upwards slightly as the verbal sparring took on a new turn.

"Ah, apologies. I had thought you meant to ask if I had heard from him today. Allow me to allay your fears." He waved her down. "I last heard from Ethan yesterday. I had asked him to keep in contact with me ever since the incident. Just in case."

"In case of what?" she pressed.

The white rabbit turned, waving a paw absently over his shoulder to dismiss her. "Nothing you need to worry yourself about."

She was _not_going to let him get away with treating her like a princess or brushing her off so callously. "It isn't the _Custodes Libertatis_is it?"

For the second time, she had caused him to freeze in his footsteps. Only in this instance, she could feel his irritation radiating from him like a dark cloud. Though his shoulders appeared relaxed, his stance easy-going, there was just this aura about him that triggered her fight or flight instincts.

"I'm afraid I cannot answer that," he replied.

Instead of going down the route of being defiant, she said, "I understand. The Libertatis_are incredibly elusive and after what they did to _AllAle, I can wholly understand why any sighting of them would be cause for worry." There was no reaction on his side so she continued. "You will let me know if there is a threat to my life, won't you?"

Only then did he turned towards her, his smile pleasant and welcoming... the smile of a snake as it is about to strike. "Of course, my dear. It's my job to make sure everyone is safe. If you are worried, I can assign a security detail to you."

She allowed her wavering frown to turn into a slight smile. "Thank you, Simon. I greatly appreciate that. I feel much safer already."

"Excellent. Now if you will excuse me..."

The rabbit turned and continued down the hall.

Martha allowed herself a soft sigh as he left and turned in the opposite direction, her gaze hard and her smile fading instantly. There was one thing she had confirmed from their conversation; Simon could not be trusted. Zoom had mentioned that he had contacted Sanders and had enlisted his help with the Libertatis. The fact that he wasn't saying anything even though she had given him ample opportunity said so much more than if he had confessed that he was keeping the information from her for her own safety.

No... Simon Sanders could not be trusted.

******

Waking up in the morning after such an exhausting night had Ryker wishing that he could just call in sick and leave it at that. But he needed to work and support the gym that he had already devoted so much time to. Admittedly, rousing to the warm embrace of Bryce was a welcome sight and this time, the much bigger crimson wolf wasn't so eager to leap away from him to maintain 'boundaries'. They both showered - with Decanter providing his usual service of readying their clothes for Ryker - and then headed back towards the kitchen to eat breakfast.

Ryker was very surprised when he found Tess standing by the kitchen island with a large plastic bag of sweet and savory smelling-bread. His mouth watered immediately and he was instinctively being drawn towards the bags before he could question what Tess was doing here so early.

"You guys are out there fighting the good fight," she answered. "I figured if you're going to be protecting me, I might as well do what I can to support you. So here, I brought everyone bagels."

"You don't have to do that," he said, digging through the bag and pulling out a ham and cheese bagel.

"I don't have to, I want to." She gave him a light punch. "Took me all night to come to terms with the fact that you're literally out there fighting evil corporations that want to control our minds. It was really selfish of me to try and force myself back into your life when you've got all this stuff going on. I am not going to be the queen bitch that'll say 'it's your costume or me'. That's just stupid."

He gave her a pointed look as Bryce plucked out two bagels for himself. "You know we're not dating or married, right?"

"It's the same principle," Tess answered with a wink. "If you need me to run interference, fetch your homework or something, just let me know. I'll be happy to help. Just make sure I don't get kidnapped again."

Ryker ducked his head, ears folded back. "Yeah, fair enough."

She left shortly after they all shared breakfast to go to her job, leaving Ryker to go to his job. The hours just seemed to fly by as the dreaded hour of when they would meet with Martha Halladay approached. Part of him dearly wished that every minute lasted an hour but every time he would look up at the clock, it would seem like half-an-hour had just passed. Before he knew it, it was time for his workout.

Bryce approached him with a friendly clap on the shoulder. "Ready for your workout, Boss?"

Ryker nodded. "Yeah. Where's Arthur?"

"I spoke with him earlier today," replied the taller wolf. "We said last night I'll be taking over your workouts, remember?"

He scratched the back of his head. "We did? I'm... I'm not sure I recall that. I _was_pretty out of it."

"Well I remember and we did. Come on. Let's go hit the weights. We're doing free weights today."

In the entire time that he had been working out with Arthur, he had never dared to do free weights. Afraid he would injure himself due to his pointed lack of exercise in his young life, he had told Arthur he wasn't confident enough with his strength to be doing anything without some sort of machine backing him up. That was why most of the workouts he did needed some form of support.

"Bryce -" he began as the red wolf guided him over to one of the benches.

"I know, I know. Arthur told me all about it. But you're never going to get any better unless you actually work on your weaknesses. Focusing on your strengths will only deepen your weaknesses. So come on, we're doing something light. Incline bench press with dumb bells. We'll start out with ten pounds." Bryce handed him a pair of ten pound weights. "Nice and light. Let's see your form."

Ryker sat down on the inclined bench and leaned back. "Okay... Here goes..."

Having worked in the gym for about a month and a half, he had seen people use the bench in a similar fashion before. Leaning back, he let the weights rest about shoulder height with his arms bent and then pushed upwards. Bryce immediately guided his paws a little more over his chest.

"You're working out your chest, Boss. Not your shoulders. Push from your chest. Feel a tightness here." He emphasized his point by gently pressing his fingers against Ryker's minuscule pectorals. "Try again."

Ryker did as he was instructed and admitted that he did feel a bit more pressure and strain coming from his chest than his shoulders. When Bryce didn't comment, he guessed that he was doing it right and quickly powered through a few more.

"Slow it down, Boss. Don't let your arms collapse either. Have total control going up and coming down."

"Isn't the point to pump these out as fast as I can so I can fit more into the workout?"

Bryce shook his head. "No. Hell no. It's quality over quantity, Boss. If you do the same exercise the wrong way a hundred times, you'll only make things worse. It's like if you break a leg and need to recover. You don't just leave the leg as it is. You need to reset the bone and exercise it so it heals right. Speaking of which... Are you right-handed?"

"Uhm... Yeah?"

"Figured. You're favoring your right a bit. Your right arm goes up faster than your left. Try to make sure they go up at the same time."

That was definitely something Arthur never pointed out to him. He wondered if that was because Arthur was afraid of insulting him or because the boar didn't actually know anything about actual weight training. That also brought to question whether or not he should start getting everyone to start studying so that they could get their license and _not_get sued.

"Focus, Boss," Bryce chastised, looming over him. "Don't let your mind wander. Focus on the movements." He gently cupped the edges of the dumbbells and guided them back up. "There you go."

After an easy set, he dropped the weights.

"Watch out when you do that," Bryce warned. "Especially with heavier weights. When you're going to drop the weights, try to put them down on your knees first, sit up and then roll them off. If you drop them from where you had then, you could really injure yourself."

Ryker recalled where the weights where, hovering beside his chest, and realized if he had been hefting twenty-pound weights or - if he ever got that strong - sixty - dropping them abruptly could end in serious injury. Strangely, instead of a spark of fear, he felt... enlightened. Bryce's teaching method was very rewarding. Nothing as harsh as Takoshi but still corrective and not too soft like Cliff.

"Thanks," he said with a smile. "Want to try heavier weights?"

Bryce already had a pair of fifteen pound dumbbells ready for him. "You read my mind."

After some more incline bench presses, they went to just straight bench presses with the same dumbbells. The exercise went with some educational factoids as well with Bryce mentioning the scientific names of muscles and how they worked. It surprised him just how knowledgeable the tall wolf when it came to anatomy and had to question where he got all of this information. However, he had little time to ask as his mind remained solely on the workout.

An hour later, he was exhausted and his chest was feeling incredibly pumped. Bryce took him up to the fourth floor where a protein shake was prepared. It tasted strangely lemony and salty at the same time. It was also incredibly grainy like he was drinking a slurry of citrus-infused seawater. The first mouthful made him feel sick but he managed to down it before he went to take a shower. Takoshi still hadn't met him for their usual rendezvous and he guessed his bear still needed that much needed time to come to terms with their new dynamic.

He ate lunch with Bryce, this time having a tuna salad dish. Then it was back to work. When his shift was finally over and the sun was shrouded by the skyscrapers of Manhattan, he headed up stairs and mentally prepared himself for what was to come. His stomach was doing somersaults by the time eight o'clock came. Alongside his IPs he met Cliff and Arthur on the sixth floor patio. Hayden was out with his football friends leaving the rest of them with some modicum of peace. They entered the dark expanse of the Overworld and began their preparations.

Dressed in their outfits but again without their masks, Ryker and Cliff waited on the rooftop with their IPs, waiting and watching the dark skyline of the Overworld that was occasionally broken by the headquarters of the various corporations that dominated the psychic realm.

"Ready for this?" Cliff asked, breaking the pensive silence. "We've never met Martha Halladay before so we don't know what she's like."

"I've done some research," Decanter announced. "She is the latest executive to join Horizon's_Overworld club having only risen to the rank of Chief Production Officer four years ago. Before _Horizon, she was head of programming in other minor networks around New York, particularly up in Albany. Horizon poached her and she's been the 'face' of Horizon since then. Both in and outside of the Overworld. From what Maydoor tells us, she's purposefully kept unaware of many of the other truths about Horizon's practices in the Overworld. She is being told that Dosers are actually on par with real IPs."

"We could use that," Takoshi rumbled. "I don't know about you, but I wouldn't trust any son-of-a-bitch that paraded puppets in front of me and pretended they were real for four years."

"That's what Maydoor is hoping," replied Decanter.

They needed Martha on their side. With two executives against both Raven and his remaining executives, they could cause a schism in Horizon. It would weaken Raven and since Martha was the 'face' of the corporation, anything she said would have some real impact. The problem was that Martha wasn't just some dumb face. She was incredibly intelligent and had the entire day to do her own research. Again, Maydoor hoped for this and was hoping Martha would find the evidence of deception herself so that all he had to do was confirm it. Clues had been left and Maydoor had spent the rest of the day gathering supplementary material to help convince her.

Now it was just a matter of waiting...

Cliff's phone vibrated and everyone present turned towards the tiger. Cliff's blue eyes widened momentarily then he gave them a grin, holding up his phone.

There was a text from Ecks.

"It's go time," he announced.

Ryker gulped, feeling his throat go dry as he picked up the metal mask that would hide his identity. With a nod, he placed it securely on his face, immediately switching on the voice modulator that would similarly mask his voice. He stepped up onto the ledge of the building, Cliff right beside him. They exchanged glances. Then, with a simultaneous nod, jumped off the edge of the building. There was a flash of exhilaration, that moment when his feet no longer touched solid ground and gravity began dragging him towards the streets. But there was never a single shred of doubt in his mind.

A gust of wing blasted past him. Takoshi was suddenly a few feet beneath him. The big bear dressed in the tattered samurai garb angled himself right beneath Ryker and then spread his arms wide, slowing his fall. Ryker fell gently against the bear's broad back, spending a moment to hold onto the thick neck and relishing the warmth from the hard muscles beneath. Takoshi turned his head towards him a bit, nuzzled him ever so slightly, bringing back memories of when they had committed to their all-out attack against AllAle and they had traveled along the New York City skyline, practically flying though the air with Takoshi's power alone.

They couldn't relish the moment too long, however. Takoshi grabbed his arm and immediately spun him around, hurling him boldly back through the air and sending him sailing back high into the air, his power over the winds adding to Ryker's momentum. As Ryker passed the top floor of their building, he saw Takoshi generate a powerful whirlwind beneath himself and launch him back into the air. Back in the Realworld, a few people on the street would've gotten an unexpected gust of wind blast them.

A broad smile on his face, Ryker turned upwards towards his next IP.

Decanter shot through the air, a trail of glass propelling him through the air like a spear of ice. The rhino held out his hand and Ryker gladly accepted it. His momentum took both of them off the glass platform with Ryker leading the way as they soared higher on Takoshi's winds. Something told him that was exactly how Decanter liked it; with the wolf host taking the lead. Not that Ryker minded. Gravity soon took control again as they topped a few nearby buildings.

Glass immediately manifested right beneath their feet, slippery but stable enough that it guided their descent slowly down towards a nearby rooftop. The temporary slide almost generated faster than gravity could cause it to tumble towards the ground and crumble to dust. For a moment, both he and Decanter was sliding down on the slope side by side, hands held tightly. Then, as they reached the rooftop, Decanter jumped off while the glass and continued to generate an upwards slope. Ryker's direction suddenly changed, sending the wolf sailing into the air once more.

Again, there wasn't a shred of doubt in his mind that Bryce would catch him.

Flames warmed his back as the crimson wolf came shooting up from behind, catching him in those strong arms of his and propelling them higher into the air thanks to bursts of flames erupting from the heels of his feet. They soared higher than ever, almost coming to level with some of the more moderately sized skyscrapers. From there, he could see a good part of the island. Between patches of darkness there were glorious and at the same time grandiose castles to corporate greed. Sparkling and brilliant monoliths of color and light, beacons of deceptive hope that would draw in the lost and destitute from the Overworld only to strip them of their will and freedom.

From a height he could never have achieved without all three of his IPs, he could finally see the Overworld for what it was; a broken land consumed by the greedy and privileged. A battlefield ravaged by wealth and corrupted by would-be Overlords. A mirror of the Broken Server of Dreams.

"I'll make it whole again," he whispered softly.

Just as he would fix the Broken Server, he would do the same with this world. At least as much as he could.

"What's that, Boss?" Bryce asked over the howling winds and roaring flames. "Couldn't hear you!"

Ryker smiled at him and slowly peeled himself away from the crimson wolf. "This is my stop! Catch you at the next one!"

He dropped away, gravity once more claiming him...

... until Takoshi came zooming in from his left, catching him in those thick arms and propelled by whirling winds. He had to laugh a little as he recalled Tess' comparison of them being like superheroes. Here he was literally flying through the air out to save the world. She would've punched him for that.

They soared towards Horizon's headquarters but approached it from the north, having to wind their way around most of the island to avoid other corporate headquarters before finally making their way towards the studio. Where before they approached it from the ground, now that he could see it from above, he could see just how vast the grounds really were. There had to be at least seven full-sized production studios on the lot, each one was as big as a warehouse. Other building representative of their physical counterparts in the Realworld were pushed away from the studios. Having never seen the actual building in real life, he had to wonder if _Horizon_traded height for width.

Behind the glamorous lot, roving spotlights and constant canned laughter erupting from the studios was a nondescript park parking lot. Darker than usual thanks to the general vibe of the Overworld, the cavernous expanse echoed with every little sound made. When Ryker slid down on another glass slide beside Decanter, he could feel the the void-like emptiness within the multi-storey building. A hollow chill wrapped around him, the cold emptiness within the structure reaching out to grab him and dissuade him from entering. Seeing Ecks alongside Maydoor by the ramp leading down to the structure sparked a little bit of hope, enough to guide him towards the two.

Once again, Ecks was beside his IP, the strangely silent Brooklyn. Both were dressed in their full Custodes Libertatis attire with Brooklyn showing off his full form as a fiery phoenix. Maydoor was clean, composed and looking rather confident. The Fennec's big ears swiveled towards them as they approached.

"Strange," said the fox loudly. "I thought you said that Wild Card hadn't joined the Libertatis. Yet here he is wearing one of your masks."

"The events at AllAle had accelerated rather quickly," explained Ecks. "Between leaving an Independent endangered as their identity gets compromised or giving them some form of equipment to protect said identity, the Kage made the decision to make him an honorary member. Besides, I think he's more than earned it."

A faint smile touched Maydoor's lips. "I suppose he has."

"Speaking of which," Ryker began, coming to stand in front of the two. "I don't suppose we're at any risk of our identities being revealed to the rest of the corporate world seeing as you actually found us, right?"

"That's what I was doing today," replied Maydoor, holding out a hard drive. "Everything that I had compiled on you is stored here. I've wiped it from our servers and made sure there are no other copies. The only loose end would really be Zoom."

Ryker looked to Ecks and the masked dragon nodded at him.

"We have intelligence suggesting that Zoom will be here as well. He went to Martha Halladay last night and sought help. Not sure why exactly but they are coming here together. It will be our opportunity to close any remaining holes and make sure you are all safe."

Safe. The keyword for Maydoor. The poor guy just wanted to be safe. Money, power and fame didn't get him that level of security. Now he was sticking his neck out to end the immediate threat to his life; Raven and Horizon. Ryker sympathized with Maydoor as he had gone through something similar; to put everything on the line for a single chance at freedom. The similarities in his fight against AllAle were startling. He hoped that it would turn out similarly for the Fennec.

"Let's not keep Martha waiting," Maydoor announced, turning towards the ramp. "Tonight, everything changes."

With the Chief Operations Officer of Horizon in the lead, Ryker and the rest of his friends headed down to the garage. He found himself striding next to Brooklyn and turned towards the phoenix.

"You've been silent this entire time,"_he said. _"Any thoughts on the situation, Brooklyn?"

The phoenix turned bright, orange eyes towards him, a faint smile touching his beak and then lifted his hands. The bird's fingers twisted and moved in a series of patterns before he pulled at the white scarf around his neck. There was a ragged, pink scar across his throat that even his feathers could not cover for some reason. It took Ryker to realize that Brooklyn was speaking in sign language.

"Wait... You can't talk?" he blurted. "I mean... I'm sorry..."

Ecks supplied the answer. "He can talk. If you know American Sign Language. It took us a year to learn so we can converse with one another again. A consequence of the fight against the Leoman Brothers_."_

Ryker then remembered the scar across Eck's face and the damaged eye. _"Delete..."_he gasped.

"That's right." Ecks explained that in the fight against the Leoman Brothers, both he and Brooklyn acted as the vanguard of the Kage, taking the brunt of the Brothers' attacks. This naturally meant they suffered from the most brutal effects of Delete. The Function could deal damage that never completely healed. With Ecks' Recall, however, that could be more easily nullified but after Ecks and Brooklyn both suffered near-fatal injuries - Ecks getting a Delete_to his face and Brooklyn having his throat slashed open by the Function - both passed out and couldn't use their Function. While they survived thanks to the other _Kage who finished the battle, they regained consciousness days later - almost two weeks for Brooklyn. Using Recall - while tempting - was far too dangerous at that point.

"Going back several hours let alone days could be devastating to the psyche," Ecks explained. "Even I am not immune to the disorientation that comes with suddenly having skipped several days. We don't even know if it's completely possible. I've never tried and I didn't want to risk our lives for something as trivial as my eyesight and Brooklyn's ability to speak. At that point, we were just happy to be alive. Besides, we made it work."

Ecks threw a loving gaze at Brooklyn and the phoenix returned the smile as well as a nod. The fiery bird whose flames strangely didn't light up their surroundings signed something.

"He says that we are just like a phoenix,"_Ecks translated. _"From the ashes, we rose better than before."

That was what a truly well-synchronized Host and IP looked like. They powered through hardship together, built a relationship around overcoming adversity and grew stronger for it.

"Out of curiosity, what's your synch-rate like?" Ryker asked.

"I haven't checked recently,"_replied Ecks. _"It doesn't matter to me. We trust each other enough that I don't need to quantify that trust with percentages."

That was true partnership and made Ryker question his quest to get perfect synch-rates with his IPs.

Such thoughts were banished to the back of his mind when they reached the third floor - the middle floor - of the parking lot. Across the dark structure filled with grayed-out cars stood Martha Halladay alongside two sharks. One was clearly Zoom, looking rather bland in the tan suit and the other was a large, portly whale shark that looked like a bouncer at a seedy nightclub. Halladay, herself, was dressed in a severe-looking black suit with high heels. She looked far less approachable than what the posters and news feeds portrayed. With her reddish-brown hair tied up in a bun behind her head, she looked both worried and cross at the same time like a middle school teacher having just caught her students doing something colossally stupid.

"Ethan!" she immediately exclaimed, taking a step forward. The big whale shark immediately grabbed her shoulder to keep her from striding forward too far.

"Stay calm, Martha," Maydoor said. The fact that he was speaking loudly surprised all three of the Horizon employees.

"What are you doing, Ethan?" demanded Zoom. "What are you doing with those... those people?"

They strode across the parking lot until they were about twenty feet from one another so that Maydoor didn't have to shout. Ryker had to wonder if Maydoor had chosen this parking lot not only because it was close to _Horizon's_headquarters but also because the acoustics were fantastic and allowed the normally-silent Fennec to speak without raising his voice too much.

"Allow me to explain, Zoom," said the COO calmly, his speech clearly well-rehearsed. "I've come to a conclusion that I think you all would be interested in." He paused, waiting for their reaction but when no one said anything except for a faint whimper from Zoom, he continued. "Raven has been lying to you, Martha."

Zoom's eyes instant went wide. "Ethan! Wait -"

"No, Zoom," snapped the Fennec. "There comes a time when we have to determine if what we are doing is right. We are the very heart of operations in Horizon. We have to ask ourselves if we are acting with integrity. Just because it is how we have been doing things for years now, it doesn't mean that it has to be how we keep operating. We cannot expect the best from our people if we do not act the best ourselves." His eyes darted back to Martha. "You have been lied to, Martha. By Raven, by me, by Sanders. By everyone. When an IP becomes a Doser, they don't come in with some wide-eyed fascination of the Realworld. They are completely mind-controlled robots that had no sense of self whatsoever. They are _puppets_that are copied and pasted to other Corpsmen to spread their influence and name across the world and are little more than cannon fodder for the rest of the corporation."

Ryker's eyes remained fixed on Halladay. Her features were unmoving... save for a single moment when she let her gaze drop.

"I see you already knew this," Maydoor observed.

Martha Halladay nodded grimly. "I had my suspicions," she answered. "It started last night, actually. I was having dinner with our latest acquisition, Gladius."

Takoshi's paw tightened into a fist right beside Ryker. "Fuck..." whispered the bear softly. Ryker wondered if he had come to the same conclusion - that this 'Gladius' could've been one of the IPs they had fought the first time they had engaged Horizon.

"Zoom came to us," Martha continued. "Speak of losing you. Simon then came shortly afterward. Spoke worriedly about you and said he was checking up on me." A soft, cynical smile touched her features. "But here's the funny thing. After making sure I was 'safe', he basically rushed Gladius and his Corpsmen out of my place. You would think that if he was truly worried about me, an executive, he would have rushed me out and brought me somewhere safe." She folded her arms, gazing out of the car park. "I'm not sure if he did it intentionally but I had this sneaking suspicion that he valued Gladius far more than he valued me." Her gaze turned back to Maydoor. "That's when I did some digging of my own."

The big whale shark took a step forward, once again bringing him beside his Host. "How long have you bastards been tricking us into believing that Dosers were real people? That all the things you've done at the auditions were even remotely_moral? Blood sports? Fatal competitions? _Death traps!? And what's worse is that you used Martha's image to promote all of this shit! What the hell!?"

Ethan dropped his gaze. "It was all to ensure the smooth operations of Horizon."

"By _lying_to us and keeping us oblivious so that we'd keep up this 'genuine' performance? Were we just another one of your 'actors' in another show!?"

Ryker was finding it hard to differentiate who the victim and bad guy really were. His gaze was darting from Martha to Maydoor, back and forth. At the same time, he spent a few seconds watching the crushed Zoom watching the exchange, looking so defeated and deflated; a stark contrast to the confident, flamboyant showman that had strode in to their gym with an ultimatum just yesterday afternoon.

"It was Raven's idea," Maydoor said. "But I bear the guilt of allowing it to happen. I reasoned that it helped production and developed this narrative that _Horizon_was warm and welcoming, that anyone could compete or play a part in any of its many reality TV shows." He shook his head fiercely. "But I won't let that stand, not anymore."

Zoom stepped forward several steps, putting him in front of Martha and the big shark. "What are you saying, Ethan? Are you betraying us?"

'Us'. Zoom was still loyal to Horizon. Just like he was yesterday. This would make things much more difficult. Ryker, gently closed his fingers around his phone, ready to play his part should the need arise.

"No," answered Maydoor firmly. "It's Raven who betrayed us. I am just doing what I can to keep us safe." He held up his phone and hit a button. A soft beeping came from Martha's phone and she immediately retrieved it, opening the file that the Fennec had just sent. Her eyes instantly went wide in shock.

"This... This can't be real..." she gasped.

"It is," answered Maydoor, making Ryker wonder exactly what the Fennec had sent the strong lioness. "There's a phenomenon known as the Overlord. Basically a new age god. Raven is trying to become one. To do so, he needed to focus all his attention on a single aspect of modern life. He chose reality TV. It's why he's been so dogmatic about maintaining Horizon's course as the singular station for all reality TV needs."

This was starting to sound like the exact same speech given the previous night. Ryker sincerely hoped Maydoor had some more ammunition than just the same pieces regurgitated.

"No..." whispered the big whale shark. "That's... That's insane!"

"What?" pleaded Zoom, turning around. "What is it, Surf?" Surf, the enormous shark, showed Zoom the phone and Zoom visibly took a step back in horror. "What... That can't be..." He then turned to face Maydoor. "How did you get this?"

Maydoor offered a small smirk. "Raven hid his tracks really well. He would never let anything compromise his ascent to an Overlord and has kept his apotheosis a secret to most. Too bad Sanders didn't do such a good job." The Fennec crossed his arms smugly. "Despite being the Chief Security Officer, he actually has relatively poor security. Then again, I_am_ the Chief Operations Officer so I know how his systems work."

Now Ryker was really curious what was on that evidence.

"With some help from my Libertatis friends here," Maydoor continued, "we actually managed to extract a lot of information from Sanders' systems. As it turns out, he knows_Raven is trying to be an Overlord and is actually planning to usurp him. He hopes to let Raven do the heavy work of promoting _Horizon to become the sole provider of reality TV in the state, maybe even the country, before getting rid of him and taking over. He's already started gathering loyalists. He _really_shouldn't use the company email servers for these communications."

"Bet he was hoping that the CEO wouldn't bother with communications form the CSO to smaller grunts," Cliff growled. "Typical corporate hierarchy bullshit."

Ignoring the feline's comment, Maydoor continued. "Sanders has done his homework and found the steps to becoming an Overlord so he can become one himself." The Fennec lifted a finger. "First, one needs to merge with your IP. That's why we haven't seen Deadair in a long time."

"That's not..." began Zoom but his voice died as a croak in his throat.

"Next," Maydoor said, "you need to ensure that you recruit a set of subordinates. You need to make sure they are loyal to the company and that you induct them into your corporation with IPs similar to your own. He did that to us, Martha. He went into the Overworld and planted the seeds of Horizon into us like what our Corpsmen do to people abroad. I assume you found that out too."

The lioness nodded grimly, her gaze on the phone in front of her.

"These people, the officers, will then have to sacrifice the devices that they first used to enter the Overworld to the Server. We've done that. But here's the final nail on the coffin. The final piece that convinced me to turn against Raven." Maydoor lifted a finger. "He needs us all dead."

Ryker went rigid and immediately spun towards Maydoor. The shocked expressions on his IPs, Cliff and Arthur all spoke of their equal surprise but the cold expressions on Brooklyn and Ecks told of how they had been well aware of this information.

"You're... you're joking, right?"_stammered Ryker. _"You can't be serious... Murder?"

"I'm very serious," Maydoor responded, dropping his paw. "When you think about it, it makes sense. To become a god, you need to have absolute control over every aspect of a concept. In today's modern world, no one man can run a corporation. Independents might be able to make their own mark but they can never become as big or as powerful as a corporation. So you will need officers and executives to run the corporation while you remain CEO. Your officers will rule the other aspects of your corporation. The security, the finances..." He gestured at himself. "The operations or..." Then he turned his paw towards Martha. "... the production line."

Ryker's jaw dropped as the cogs began clicking together. Worse was when he realized that by getting rid of the officers of AllAle, he may have unwittingly helped in Emile's ascension. Little wonder how the snake could still begin his apotheosis even after all the damage that had been done to him and his company.

"You can't become the absolute god of a certain concept with there are people ruling the other parts," Zoom whispered, his voice trembling. "So in order to become that god... you need them dead..." He lifted his gaze towards Maydoor. "So... we were just there to make Horizon powerful enough so that when he becomes Overlord he'll have dominion over everything that's related to reality TV?"

"More than that," Ecks explained. "By sacrificing your phones to the Server, your link to the Overworld, everything about you perceived by mortals in the Realworld is linked and sucked into the Server itself. That means your very identities as part of the corporation becomes linked to the Server. The final step in ascension is to absorb the Server into yourself. But if you still exist, you will have control over the aspect of the concept that the Overlord is trying to control. You could realistically tear him apart if you wanted. That's why the officers and their IPs need to die_. When the Overlord is made, he can't have any weaknesses."_

Only more evidence that by going after each of the officers of AllAle, they had inadvertently helped Emile in his ascension to an Overlord. Then again, if they hadn't acted, the would-be-God-of-Beer would have been more powerful. That also added another angle to the murder of Aileen Raskeil.

Had Emile ordered his own officer murdered to help his own ascension?

Ryker turned towards Decanter. The rhino's face was constantly switching between shock and anger.

"Is that enough evidence, Zoom?" Maydoor pressed. "Can you see that we are in danger and we need to defect? Can you remain loyal to Raven despite knowing that we are going to get killed?"

Zoom shook his head, staggering forward but stopping about midway between them. "Ethan... Fuck..." He closed his eyes, fists shaking. "I... You know I can't but... but I just wish you had told me sooner! I just wish you had come to me! Come to us!"

Maydoor's expression fell. "What do you mean?"

A soft clattering hit Ryker's ears. It was Martha dropping her phone on the ground.

"Raven," she whispered softly. "I couldn't trust Sanders. I wasn't sure if I could trust you. So I went to Raven... and he... and he was the one that told me everything."

Ryker's heart froze. "Oh no..."

Clap-clap-clap.

The slow, dramatic, sarcastic applause of a villain.

Ryker watched in absolute horror when a crow dressed in a white suit with black pinstripes strode out from behind an SUV, his feathered hands applauding as he strode into view. On some unspoken cue, four other figures emerged from various parts of the parking garage. An elevator announced its arrival with a loud _ding_and the silvery doors peeled open to reveal a glowering Simon Sanders flanked by an equally annoyed hammerhead shark, Airwave. From behind them, stepping out from underneath the ramp was a big, burly panda bear accompanied by an enormous, Great White Shark who looked about ready to burst from the white collared shirt he wore.

"Oh no..." Ryker whispered.

Takoshi was already reaching for his swords and flames had burst out from Bryce's paws, encompassing them. Glass shards materialized over Decanter's shoulders, hovering ominous in the air. Arthur drew his golden sword, brilliant red flames encompassing them. Strangely, neither Ecks nor Brooklyn said anything and remained unmoving.

"That was honestly a brilliant piece of theater, Ethan," applauded Raven stepping up to Martha. The lioness regarded the crow with wide-eyes and took a step back.

Now that he finally saw him, Ryker felt this immediate twist in his gut upon seeing the CEO of The Horizon Channel. Everything about the crow screamed distrust and dishonesty. The smile on that black beak was handsome, charming and even alluring. There was a glossy sheen to his black feathers that clearly marked him as someone who took care of himself. With a lean physique, he was strikingly attractive especially with the modest haircut that he possessed; nothing outlandish. It was professional, clean and he held himself with this ease that was both attractively confident and disarmingly approachable. The kind of CEO one would be surprised to learn that he played basketball on the weekends or trash talked kids in videogames after work.

Someone relatable.

"Hacking Simon's account using your knowledge of the systems to dig up dirt on me," Raven laughed, placing his hands on his hip and shaking his head in disbelief. "Even in my wildest dreams, I never would have imagined that approach. In fact, when Martha came to me with her concerns, I went to great lengths to hide all evidence of my activities and goals as an Overlord."

Martha's jaw went wide in her gasp. "So it's true? You are trying to be an Overlord? You... You want to kill us? _All_of us?"

Raven gave her this little smile, his eyes arched upwards and his head tilted off to the side. "You've seen the evidence, Martha. Of course I do."

Surf suddenly charged forward, pushing Martha back and lifting a fist. "You son-of-a-bitch!"

CRASH!

There was suddenly a blur of gray and white and suddenly, Surf was crashing through three minivans. The tremendous Great White Shark that had been beside the panda was on top of him, wrestling him down into submission. To be fair, both of them looked equal in mass though Surf looked like half of that mass came from body fat while the Great White was all muscle.

"You're... You're not even denying it?" Martha stammered, her gaze never leaving Raven. "Why, Raven? Why?"

The crow gave a slow, dismissive shrug. "If not me, then who else? The worlds needs its gods, Martha. I'm just seeking to fill the void that's already there. I'm doing this for the betterment of the world." He spread an arm towards the gathered Independents. "Look at them. Seeking to sow chaos into an orderly system. We had a beautiful equilibrium going on. Then they decided to step in and complicate matters."

Zoom stepped in between the two, surprisingly towering over the avian. His eyes were ablaze with fury and his teeth were bared in barely clenched fury. "What justifiessacrificing us just so that you can be omnipotent!? What makes you think that we'll just go along with that!?"

Raven tilted his head in the other direction before turning his gaze towards Simon. "Why don't you ask our CSO? After all this and despite knowing that I would willingly kill him to make myself more powerful, why would he continue to work underneath me?"

Ryker's fight or flight response suddenly kicked in. Something very bad was about to happen.

"You are the very representation of our operations division," continued Raven. "You have to constantly balance risk versus reward. Place yourself in Simon's shoes. Right now, in this scenario, knowing that I know he's out to steal my godhood from me, would he side with the _Libertatis_or earn some favor from me by culling the traitors?"

"Zoom!" Ryker cried.

The brown-skinned hammerhead shark was suddenly overing right beside the colorfully dressed Mako shark. Zoom's eyes swiveled in his sockets, turning towards the grim-faced Airwave as the hammerhead brought his meaty leg swinging towards his head.

WHAM!

A jet of flame suddenly slammed into Airwave's chest, quickly followed by the fiery fist of Bryce. Both men came crashing down to the ground where Airwave threw Bryce off, using the very momentum that sent them crashing down to his advantage. Takoshi was suddenly sweeping over to Martha, scooping her up in his arms before unleashing a blast of wind that sent him propelling back to the group. A shocked Zoom was momentarily left alone with a relaxed Raven. Glass erupted just inches from the unmoving crow's beak, forming a ragged wall that separated them.

"Run" Maydoor cried. "Zoom! Run!"

There was a moment of hesitation as Zoom exchanged glances with Raven before bolting towards his Host.

Martha was dropped off right beside Cliff while Arthur immediately placed himself in front of the group, shield up. Takoshi took up a defensive position as well, drawing one of his swords and lifting it up beside his head, taking a wide stance. Decanter, in the meantime, turned around and face the remaining officer - the Chief Financial Officer, Van Basker. The panda with deep, black eyes cracked his knuckles ominously and stomped forward. Meanwhile, Raven absently tapped the glass barrier in front of him with a finger, showing mild disinterest.

Without warning, bright red gashes suddenly appeared across the wall, forcing Raven to take a few steps back.

"Down!" Takoshi cried and Ryker immediately followed, hurling himself at the ground as an angry, red blade of energy sliced through the air above him.

"My, my," Raven sighed, dusting himself off as the glass wall crumbled. "You almost got me, Simon. If I didn't know any better, I could've sworn you were trying to get me as well."

Sanders didn't reply as the phone in his hand sizzled with the same violent crimson energies.

"What was that?" Ryker asked, propping himself up on a paw.

"Delete..." breathed Ecks. "Don't get hit." With a flick of his wrists, those might chains appeared around him, the massive hooks once again appearing in his hands. Ryker followed the Kage's lead and summoned Break, holding the golden warhammer in both paws. Cliff did the same, conjuring Open as the dagger that he held in a reverse grip.

"Oh?" Raven commented with a chuckle. "You've managed to manifest your Functions. You must all be very skilled Independents." He lifted an eyebrow. "But one moment... If you are the Independents then we seem to have a little bit of an imbalance in terms of IPs." He made a show of visibly counting the number of IPs in the level. "Yes... We seem to have more IPs than Independents. So unless you've been hiding something..."

Ryker's heart began to pound in his chest. It was the reveal with Sanders all over again.

"You stole my show, you sick fuck!" roared Takoshi. "My name is Takoshi Kumareigi! You convinced George Samuel Drell to drop his samurai project and left his movie to be abandoned! I'm here to get my revenge!"

Ryker quickly glanced towards Maydoor and Zoom. Both of them were the only ones that had seen him perform the Refresh Function on Takoshi back at the arena and had drawn the conclusion that he was bonded with Bryce. Their theories _might_have made it to Raven and the others but only their testimony would back it up.

"And you took my show too!" Arthur barked, raising his flaming sword. "I would've been a regular fish-out-of-water protagonist in modern day New York City and you just left me to rot!"

Raven sighed and dusted his shoulder dramatically. "I see. So you gathered as many IPs as you could to fight your little war. But have you ever asked yourself if what you are doing is right?"

There was a tremendous roar from behind them and suddenly that huge panda - Van Basker - was literally lifting a van over his head and hurling it boldly over his head towards them. The monochrome bear's muscles burst from his suit revealing a network of red colored tubes snaking all over his fur, seemingly pumping him full of the bubbling, crimson liquid. Brooklyn swept a hand upwards, brilliant white flames bursting from his fingertips and immediately encasing the van in searing fire.

BOOM!

The flames caught the gas tank moments later and the explosion sent a shockwave and knocked Ryker back to his knees. He made an effort to keep his hammer from touching anything. Ecks shouted something about keeping Basker busy and surged forward alongside Brooklyn, engaging the titanic panda in hand-to-hand combat. How the CFO managed to hold his own against a Kage and his IP was a mystery.

"How is stopping an egomaniac like you from obtaining godhood by manipulating people's minds and murdernot right?" Cliff snarled. "You just admitted you'd kill everyone here to gain that power, dude. That's totally whack!"

"And yet it is necessary," answered Raven with a shrug. Behind him, Airwave and Bryce clashed. Bryce's fiery fists collided with Airwaves spinning kicks, flames being doused by whipping winds and fire forcing the airborne shark to retreat. Not too far away Surf clashed with the enormous Great White, Surf encasing himself in a thick layer of water that slowed any projectiles that punctured it while the Shark swung claw-like hands through the air, leaving literal ragged gashes of bloody red through space. Sanders placed himself right beside Raven, eyes on the Independents in front of him. He lifted his phone into the air and then brought it down in a wide, downward motion. Another angry, red pillar of crackling energies surged forward, slicing through the concrete and rushing towards them like a shark's fin knifing through the surf.

Ryker rolled to the left, avoiding the bolt easily and scrambling to his feet.

"This world is utterly chaotic," continued Raven, waving his hand dismissively through the air. "There are people constantly competing against one another. Just take my dear friend, Simon here. He wants to kill me so he can take my position." He patted Simon's shoulder playfully despite the rabbit shooting the would-be-Overlord a withering stare. "Yet we are unified by a common goal. All we really want is that oh-so-impossible feeling of safety. We just want security. Security for ourselves, our families, our loved ones."

"Stop monologuing, damnit!" roared Takoshi and swing his sword through the air. A blade of compressed winds lunged at Raven.

Sanders suddenly directed his phone to his right - towards a pillar. "Code Red: Soliloquy!"

Takoshi's wind-blade suddenly veered off towards the pillar, slamming into it and sending rubble and concrete in all directions. At the same time, Bryce's own flames and even Brooklyn's fiery beams bent through the air to slam into the poor, abused pillar.

"What the hell...?"

"His unique Function," Maydoor cursed. "Code Red: Soliloquy. It allows him to direct all effects that he desires towards a single target. He could steal any positive effects from you and direct it to his allies or even make you strike your own friends by mistake!" Maydoor stepped forward. "What are you doing, Sanders!? You want to kill Raven and take his place as Overlord, right? Use your damn Function on him! We can all get rid of him here and now!"

"No!" Martha cried. "We don't have to kill anyone! No one has to die!"

Sanders' face scrunched up in fury. "Maydoor you, fucking idiot. None of this would have happened if it weren't for you. Of course I want to take Raven's place but because of just how fucking sloppy you are, I have to start thinking about the future here. Think about it!" He leveled his phone at Maydoor. At the same time, angry red lightning erupted from his screen and began surrounding him. A deep red, almost black coat tumbled from his shoulders accompanied by a ridiculously high collar. In his other paw, a conductor's baton appeared. "Even if I were to kill Raven here and now, do you honestly think that your Libertatis friends would let me just walk out of here? Do you think I'd let all the effort I put in to becoming an Overlord myself just go to waste like that? Horizon will crumble to ash if I sided with you."

"Exactly!" laughed Raven, again clapping Sanders' back, clearly invoking agitation from the rabbit. "The entire corporation would go down. _Thousands_of employees, both within and without the Overworld suddenly jobless. What do you think that'll do? That's _millions_of dollars just up in smoke. People will suffer. Can you bear that on your conscience?"

"We will do exactly what we did with AllAle," snarled Takoshi. "We'll break your ass down and wipe your memory clean. We'll kick you out of the Overworld and then hand the reigns of _Horizon_to someone more fitting."

"Like who?" laughed Raven. "Ethan? Martha?" He shook his head with a bitter laugh. "You'll turn on them eventually. You tout yourselves as the 'Watchers of Liberty' but all you are is a bunch of angry cancel-cultists who just couldn't take the fact that people like me have worked hard and sacrificed so much to get where we are and just as we are on the cusp of true greatness, are focusing on a few admittedly heinous acts while spinning a narrative for yourselves to make yourselves sound like the heroes."

"Shut the fuck up!" roared Takoshi and unleashed a barrage of slashes with his sword. With each slash, he advanced a step and at the third slash, he sheathed his sword and immediately drew his second, longer blade - the one used to manipulate water. When he swung it, a wave of water lashed out at Sanders.

The rabbit simply flicked his conductor's baton to the right, directing all of Takoshi's rage straight at a nearby sedan, leaving him completely unscathed. The CSO immediately retaliated by lifting his phone, crackling red energies of _Delete_arcing between his fingers. Takoshi's eyes widened and true fear flashed before his eyes.

"Die!" roared Sanders.

Zoom suddenly seized the CSO's wrist, appearing right beside the rabbit with his eyes incredibly focused.

"You heard the bear."

CRACK!

Lightning fast and with a force that could have broken the sound barrier, Zoom's elbow collided with Sander's cheek. The rabbit was hurled right off the ground, sailing past a stoic and uncaring Raven and crashing to the concrete floor with blood staining his pure-white cheeks.

"Now!" shouted Maydoor, lifting his phone. "Code Red: Wide Shot!"

Thin, red strands burst from his device, streaking out like threads snaked out and immediately connected to the downed Sanders. Those same strands shot towards Airwave, the brutal Great White and even the rampaging Van. Once connected, Maydoor leveled his phone at Sanders. The barely conscious rabbit lifted a paw in his direction.

"No!" cried the CSO.

"Pause!" Maydoor shouted.

Simon Sanders froze in place, a blue aura surrounding him and keeping him in place. The same blue aura surrounded all the other executives of Horizon that were fighting against them. Ecks and Brooklyn, panting and somewhat bruised, panted in relief as Van Basker stood in fury, completely frozen by the Function.

"That is my Function," snarled Maydoor with a dark grin. "Wide Shot lets me replicate the effects of one Function onto others in a certain area."

And yet, Raven folded his arms and sighed. "Indeed it does, Ethan."

Ryker's features fell when he realized that Raven was still very much up and fighting. Why hadn't Ethan's Function worked on him?

"But you forget," continued the crow. "All of your abilities, all of your Functions and even your IPs, are derived from my powers. Everything comes back to the CEO." With an absent flick of his wrist, the blue auras around each of the frozen Hosts and IPs suddenly vanished. Basker finished his blow, sending his fist crashing into Brooklyn and sending the mute phoenix crashing into Arthur from behind. "Nothing you can do will affect me and at the same time, anything _you_can do I can nullify."

Raven tilted his head again. "This little rebellion was quite amusing but all you have done is accelerate your own demise. I'd have to consume you in the end but since you're literally willing to throw yourself into my jaws, I won't pass up the opportunity at a nice, square meal. Perhaps it'll make sure everyone else is complaint at least until I've digested you." He threw Sanders a pointed, smug stare to which the rabbit could only look away.

Raven took a step forward -

... only for Martha to immediately place herself in between them, arms stretched out.

"Code Red: Reaction Shot," she announced.

Everyone immediately froze, even Airwave and Van, regarding her with fear. Puzzled looks were exchanged and even Raven seemed a little amused at the act of defiance.

"Martha," sighed the crow. "What are you doing?"

"Putting a stop to this," she answered fiercely. "Raven, you already have a grip on reality TV as a whole. Why do you even need to become an Overlord? Horizon_as established itself as the premiere network for all things related to the medium. Why go so far as to _kill_eight people just so you can have undisputed god-like power over _just reality TV?"

There was an amused smile on Raven's lips. "Perhaps it is because of the same reason I hired Ethan as COO in the first place." He leaned past Martha a little to peer at Maydoor. "We both share this fear of being insignificant and ousted from our thrones. The higher the pedestal, the farther we have to fall after all." His eyes darted back to her. "The only way we can ensure we will never fall from our great height is to ensure that we control the very rules of gravity. The only way I can achieve that is by becoming god."

"Why did everyone stop fighting?" Takoshi growled, lifting his sword. Zoom was suddenly beside him, immediately pushing his paw back down.

"It's Martha's Function," explained the Mako. "Code Red: Reaction Shot_basically means that _any form of violence inflicted will be retaliated against ten fold. She can choose who gets affected by it, of course, but I think we're all affected." For emphasis, he held out his hand, showing that he was currently encased in a soft, reddish-pink aura. Ryker looked down at himself and noted that even he was wrapped in the aura. Everything from his arms up to his fingertips which were still gripping his hammer tightly.

"It's like a pacification field," Ecks rumbled. "Dangerous."

"Why did you even choose us?" Martha demanded. "It sounds like you have some connection with Ethan. Why would you kill him if you have that connection?"

Raven regarded her with sympathy, lifting a hand and gently cupping her chin. "You'd be right in that assumption. I saw in Ethan the same fear I had when I took over as CEO, that fear that I would never be good enough. In Simon as I saw the flames of ambition that drove me to this position. In Van... well, I saw the trust I have in all of you."

"Trust?" Ryker repeated.

"Of course," responded the CEO, glancing at him briefly. That warm gaze strangely made him feel... comforted, like he was being lectured by a kindly teacher. "Have you not bothered to ask why Van follows me? Simon clearly wants my position but Van?" He nodded towards the CFO. "Why not tell them, Van?"

The panda grunted and rolled his shoulders. In a voice that could make thunder cower, the panda said, "I knew about Raven's desire to become Overlord. Simon probably learned it from me because I'm such an idiot sometimes. But I knew he wanted to kill me. To harvest Outtake and I. But that's because I trust him. He knows better. He's had the experience. He's the one with all the vision, all the ideas and all the people looking up to him. All those people can't be wrong." The panda puffed out his chest. "If I have to give up my life just so that he can make the world a better place, then so be it! Our lives for billions of others are worth it."

Cliff regarded the panda with a look caught between disbelief and disgust_. "That's whack, yo! Every life is precious! You can't just go giving up your own!"_

Raven sighed with clear exhausting dripping from his voice. "Ah the naive mewling of a libertarian still untempered by harsh reality." His gaze went back to Martha. "To answer your question, Martha dear, I saw my innocence in you. Much of the same ideals that the boy there displayed. That is why I sought to protect you from the truth. You would have died knowing that you had saved the world, serving a higher cause. A true messiah. A prophet that would have heralded my coming."

The fingers around her chin suddenly turned harsh as he seized her throat.

"Martha!" cried Surf.

"But you forget," the CEO said darkly. "Nothing you do can affect me. Now that you have used your Function on everyone else, though, you have sealed your own fate!"

Surf stormed forward before Outtake stepped in front of him.

"Nuh-uh, big guy," growled the Great White. "You can't attack Raven. You do, you die."

"No!" Surf roared. "Get out of my way!"

Ryker then stormed forward. Raven saw him and regarded him lazily.

"Come to say something, little pup?" asked the crow with so much arrogance and confidence in his voice that it was like striding through a dense wall of jelly just to get to him. "Come to protest my actions?"

"Sort of," Ryker answered, managing to lift his hammer with both paws. "Only got one thing to say, though."

Raven rolled his eyes. "And that is?"

He rested the head of his hammer on Raven's hand, the one gripping Martha.

"Break."

Brilliant, white cracks suddenly appeared all up and down Raven's hand, snaking up from where the hammer touched his wrist, all the way up his fingers and then down his forearm, stopping about halfway down. For a second, the CEO of The Horizon Channel regarded the phenomenon with curiosity.

Then his flesh, bone and feathers all exploded.

Shock was plastered all over the crow's features as he was forced to let go of Martha and the sheer force of Break caused him to stumble back. Ryker turned and tossed his hammer towards Takoshi before reaching out and grabbing a coughing Martha. Raven's shrill cry of pain was the tortured scream of a thousand banshees.

"Release your Function!" Ryker told the coughing CPO. "We need to get our people out of here!"

Martha nodded between coughs and with a wave of her paw, the red aura around them all vanished. This gave Bryce the opportunity to immediately send a blast of flame from both his paws at Airwave's exposed back, sending the hammerhead crashing straight into Outtake, the Great White Shark. Both the crimson wolf and brawny whale shark immediately rushed towards the party. Van surged forward, arms outstretched towards Ecks who was just raising his hooks to defend himself. Decanter slid into view, sweeping his hands at the enormous panda. Glass shards surged upwards, spearing the panda's chest and halting his momentum.

"Now!" roared the rhino. "Recall us! We have Martha!"

Sanders was suddenly on his feet, completely ignoring his bleeding CEO. "No you don't!" he roared, waving his phone as it crackled with red energies. "Die! Delete!"

Ecks flung his chains around them.

"Recall!"

Ryker threw himself over Martha, closing his eyes shut. That familiar gut-wrenching sensation of flying through the air with the ground leaving his feet swept over him. His stomach somersaulted once... twice.. And a third time before he found solid ground against his knees once more. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, expecting searing pain across his back for where Sanders had struck him with Delete.

When none came, he feared that Delete had severed his spine and now, he couldn't feel anything below his legs. But that couldn't be true as he could feel the awful carpet brushing up against his shins.

Prying his eyes open, he looked up, regarding Martha with a stunned expression. She was regarding him in return, equally surprised. Surf suddenly came into view, gently taking Martha away from his arms.

The whale shark gave him a thankful look. "Thank -" began the IP.

"Ethan!"

Zoom's cry jerked their heads violently towards where Maydoor stood. Blood was exploding out of Fennec's chest, a massive gash appearing deep against his chest and cutting into his suit.

The Fennec's eyes was quickly losing light.

Ryker's heart sank.

"Oh no..."