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_ Act 9: An Acrolyte and a Hard Place _

"Is that it?" Morta asked, her left eyebrow rising slightly in curiosity. "What a pathetic display of power. That, I hope, isn't your true potential. My shields didn't budge below 50%. Such a sad waste of energy. I don't know why she thinks you are trouble."

"Who is she?" I asked, regaining my composure as I gripped my gun's handle again. "And what are those damn shields made out of? I hit you head on and at close range. You should be singed."

"Krazite, you fool," Morta laughed, raising her mechsuit's right arm now. "Only 10% Krazite though. You couldn't get these shields down with that little, it seems. I'd hate to imagine your reaction if it was completely made out of the stuff though. You'd have no effect." She swiped down quickly, the large robotic hand heading in my direction.

I attempted to dodge it, but I failed as it struck me in the stomach and the momentum flung me back and right into the now closed elevator doors. I let out a pained scream, falling onto the ground.

"See?" she asked, grabbing the back of my collar with her right hand and lifting me into the air. "You'll never be able to penetrate this shield so you can go ahead and die like your friends will at the bottom of the building."

Her hand adjusted as her left one grabbed my neck while the other formed a fist and before I knew it, she was both choking me and punching me several times in rapid succession. Morta seemed to scoff and the clunking of her metal boot could be heard as she tapped it on the ground.

"Do I need to ask again, you meddlesome maggot?" she asked. "If this is all you can muster to take me on, then you are already dead. I'm not sure how you could have survived the sudden usage of purified Nether Energy through Sprock's Nether Form, but you cannot handle my mechsuit. That just does not make any sense to me."

"I haven't even begun to fight you," I coughed, slowly rising to my feet, though I was still hunched over and on one knee as I was somewhat breathing heavily. It did feel like I was fighting Sprock again, but a mechanical version.

"Oh, am I not a worthy opponent to you because of my size or my sex?" she asked, letting a low growl escape her lips. "Your ignorant prejudice angers me. Perhaps you should die already before more of my own brain cells die listening to your lies about not beginning to fight. I sense your power. It appears to indeed be exhausted. I suppose the blockades those imbeciles made actually forced you to use your full potential to get up here. Pathetic."

"You're the weak one hiding behind a mechanical suit and a gauntlet of goons," I said, now standing fully on my feet. "I'm not sure how that constitutes you having power. You're nothing without goons or that suit." "Trying to get me out of this suit isn't a worthy tactic," she said in a very annoyed tone as she rolled her eyes. "I would prefer you to accept your defeat gracefully, but pitiful creatures such as yourself do not seem to know what grace even is."

As she talked, I noticed her left hand beginning to glow slightly, forming an energy ball around it. I narrowed my eyes and as soon as she lifted her arm up to aim it at me, I kicked it hard with my right leg. Obviously startled by the sudden kick, she stumbled back as she held her arm, letting out a soft groan. A cocky smirk formed on my face, replacing my frowning expression.

"By the looks of it, you didn't expect that," I said, still huffing and puffing. "I've still got fight in me, even if I've exerted some of my energy getting up here."

"Some?" Morta asked, laughing. "You are at you're limit, but at least you will fight now." She then charged at me, clearly readying an empowered punch from her mechsuit.

I narrowed my eyes and jumped back a bit, avoiding the punch completely. She adjusted quickly and I had to duck to avoid her other clenched mechsuit fist from connecting with my skull as it perhaps could have done some serious damage. I continued to avoid her punches, seeming to learn her pattern of punches.

"Quit dodging like a coward and die like a man!" she shouted as I blocked another punch, though I countered it by grabbing the fist and flipping her over and onto the ground.

Morta let out a surprised groan, seeming to not expect such a direct counter. I panted slightly as I was beginning to lose more energy by the second as dodging was already exhausting me. She was a formidable opponent that was for sure. The blows and quick successions in evasion would take a lot out of anyone. She stood up a bit quickly, clearly having fewer injuries than I did because of that damn mechsuit.

I managed to draw my gun again and aimed it toward her. I narrowed my eyes angrily at her sudden laughter as she stood back up.

"That didn't work the first time, it won't work now," she said. "Any direct contact will be deflected, you fool!"

I fired at her position, though I was slightly off as bullets whizzed past her several times. I fired toward the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast corners around her. She dodged them and landed back where she was before.

"Your aim has surely gotten worse in such a short time," she said. "Giving up now, entering the state of desperation?"

"No," I said, having a small grin now. "I wasn't aiming directly at you. I aimed around you. You know that modification, right? The one that shot that flamethrower bullet?"

"Yeah, the useless piece of trash that couldn't penetrate my suit," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Well, it was created by a pyrotechnic on my team," I said. "It has two features. The flamethrower feature and the other feature is similar to that of a modified grenade."

My grin widened into a smile when she seemed to immediately grasp the concept I was trying to explain. She looked around slightly panicked. The small grenades on the ground were surrounding her and I held up my gun, clicking the button on the side. Rather suddenly, the grenades opened up on the ground and spat out large, thick vents of fire around Morta. There was even gunpowder leaking and forming the square around her, letting the vents of flame become a surrounding wall of flame. The orange flames sparked, reaching about fifteen feet into the air before they moved toward each other, forming into a 'roof' of the square. "What the hell is this?" Morta asked. "You really think a flaming prison will keep me from killing you?"

"No," I said. "Don't start assuming things now, especially after your lecture. I'm not naïve."

"If you knew this wouldn't hold me, then what are you doing?" she asked, uttering another very annoyed growl.

I watched as purple orbs formed around her suit's hands and she punched through the flames. She did just as I thought she would do and seemed surprised that the hole immediately patched itself up.

"Look at your suit's hands," I said. I looked at them myself, noticing the burn marks and the paint already beginning to melt off, let alone perhaps the rest of the hand on the suit. The metal seemed very fragile as it melted quickly, revealing Morta's own hands.

"You clever bastard," she said, narrowing her eyes at me. "This doesn't guarantee you a win."

"I didn't expect it to," I said as I watched more of her suit begin to melt from the intensity of the heat within her flaming 'prison'.

There was then a sudden blast of energy that broke through the prison and caused me to enter a defensive stance as I stood my ground so I wasn't blown into the wall behind me again.

"I didn't need my suit to kill you, it just made things cleaner," Morta said, now with a strange deeper tone voice following her own high pitched feminine toned one. "The four of us are appoint Dons for a reason, Mr. Lane. It isn't just a title. It signifies the amount of strength we have. I'm the fourth Don, Jagger is third, Bortelli is second and Vinchi is first. Don't get fooled into thinking that gives you a linear understanding of our power. She bestowed it onto us and we will make sure no one opposes us."

"Who is 'she'?" I asked, looking back at her through my arms covering my face. "You've mentioned her several times now and still haven't said much."

"That's for me to know and you to die to find out," she said, before her body was wrapped around in a purple aura. She swooped down and connected a powerful punch to my jaw, causing me to fly back and tumble several times on the ground.

I slid on the roof before barely stopping at the edge. I coughed up blood and blinked as my vision was already blurry from that one hit. I began to stand back up and wiped the blood from my chin and mouth. My body shook, telling me that I might not last much longer against her. I gasped for air for a time, looking at my surroundings before hearing her roar and charge at me. I managed to barely dodge the blow, but saw how the lowered wall behind me just crumbled into dust.

"Fine, you can still dodge," she growled angrily, landing a few feet away from me. "You've forced my hand then. Welcome to your doom." She clenched her left fist and held it in the air as a grin slowly grew across her face.

Wind began to swirl around her as her fur began to grow out slightly, becoming a lot more feral-looking. Her fingernails grew out rapidly into large and long claws. A light blue stripe zig-zagging across her left and right forearms also appeared. Her muscles bulged out throughout her body, most notably on her arms, legs and abdomen. Her eyes were pitch black, vacant of any emotion that I could detect. Her tail grew triple its original length, totaling to be perhaps my height in length alone. It twisted and turned until it formed into a razor sharp variation of what looked like an axe.

I bit my lower lip as I was still breathing heavily from the blow earlier. She looked like she had gained an incredible amount of strength. It was obvious that these Dons would have something to do with the liquid nether like Sprock. Only this form seemed much more concentrated and controlled. It felt horrifying, just in its presence. Her height had changed as well. What was now a small and annoying Promus was now a ten foot tall muscular female wolf creature that I wouldn't create even in my wildest dreams. Well, there was one dream similar to this, but that's beside the point.

My assessment was then broken by and ear piercing roar as she stepped forward. I looked around as I was backed into the lowered wall. I looked behind me and down at the ground, noticing it was a long fall. I saw Tay and the others still holding off the goons from below, seeming to be alright. I felt something near me before instinctively dodging a swipe from Morta.

"You should pay attention to your enemies, not your friends," she snarled. "If they're that much of a distraction now, perhaps I should just kill them, too? I'd do it once you're dead anyway."

"You lay a hand on them while I'm still alive and I will make you regret it," I snapped, letting out a growl of my own now.

"So you choose to die first?" she asked. "Very well then."

She let out another howl and charged at me. I was struck as I moved toward the center of the rooftop, gasping out in pure pain as I flew back and into the wall of the next building. I coughed up even more blood, my vision beginning to worsen as I tried to stand. I tried to make myself aware of my surroundings as I heard her land in the room. I couldn't tell if we were in an apartment or not. I didn't hear any screaming, nor did I feel any blood on me or the floor besides my own. I then grunted as Morta grabbed my collar and quickly in rapid succession punched me several times directly in the face. I felt her grip tighten on my neck as she was annoyed with the fact I hadn't died yet and threw me into the undamaged wall to her side. I gasped for air, falling onto my knees and practically vomited blood as she walked toward me.

"You should be dead by now," she snarled at me. "I'm not sure what's protecting you, but you can't count it as a blessing. You probably feel like you want to die right here and now to avoid this suffering any longer." I groaned as she lifted my head. "Well, if you won't die, then I'll kill your friends so you have no reason left to live." I was then forced back onto the floor as she walked back toward the hole.

"Tay..." I managed to cough out. "No... Bernie... Minnie..." I began to force my arms to comply and managed to get my torso up off the ground slightly. "Your... fight is with me.... Not them." I vomited more blood all over the floor, feeling my insides burning because of it.

Morta seemed to ignore me as she jumped from the hole down below.

"No!" I shouted, groaning and falling forward as my arms gave away and I couldn't move them. I closed my eyes, trying my hardest to move my body to run after her, but nothing worked.

As my eyes remained closed, I began to see images of Tay, Minnie and Bernie within my mind, all being killed by the monstrous Morta. My fists clenched as I began to seethe with rage for her. I didn't want to let her win. No, I couldn't let her win. I couldn't let my friends die. I felt strange, something suddenly flowing through my bod as my eyes opened and I stood up with ease, though I was still visibly injured. "Morta!" I shouted at the top of my lungs."You coward! I will kill you!" I then ran toward the hole in the wall and jumped out of it, following Morta's steps exactly. I saw her arriving on the scene and let out a growl of feral aggression, my speed increasing rapidly before I landed atop one of the Crimson Gavel cars.

"So you're able to fight still?" Morta asked, having Tay in one of her hands while I saw Bernie and Minnie having already been injured and knocked into a car. I was no time in running at Morta, striking her with a punch that had the strength to even surprise me. It caused her to lose grip of Tay and drop her. It even managed to send Morta into a wall. I still breathed heavily as I had dropped my gun and attacked her head on with nothing but my bare fists. Tay coughed behind me and seemed very shocked that I came down to her rescue again.

"She said you were dead, Lane," she said, hurrying to her feet.

"I'm not," I said. "Close, but not today. Just stay back and hold off any reinforcements if you can't aid Bernie and Minnie. This thing is the third don, Don Morta."

Tay nodded and hurried over to the car though she threw out a couple of modified frag bombs a few hundred feet in front of me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just trust me, Lane," she said. "Make her walk over them."

I nodded as Morta roared, now recovered from the surprise hit.

"Impossible, you don't have the strength to knock me down," she said, then narrowed her eyes. "Your eyes, your hands... They're different. I see someone really does have their own energy supply. That's what's saving you. If I can deplete that, then you will die along with your team." Another evil grin washed across her face.

"Bring it on," I said; putting my fists up and chose to ignore the fact they had a faint glow around them similar to Morta's.

She charged at me, disappearing from my sight. My eyes roamed around as I concentrated and stayed calm. I then sensed her to my left and dodged her attempt at striking me, counting her with an elbow to the top of her head. She let out another surprised grunt as she fell to the ground, but quickly climbed to her feet and swiped under me. She connected, causing me to flip, but I made myself land on my feet and managed to also land a direct punch to her right arm, injuring it quite a bit. She let out a pained howl, rolling away from me, knowing that I connected with it.

"You should be dead," she coughed, getting up to her feet with ease, though she had quite the nose bleed and a slash across her arm when my fist connected, indicating I had hit her with a punch and a scratch. "And you shouldn't be able to harm me in this form."

"This form?" I asked, grunting as I walked toward her. "This form is nothing but brute strength. This isn't impressive. It's downright deplorable. You can beat me up, cheat and go after my friends and repeatedly insult me to create a false sense of feeling superior, but it will get you nowhere."

"And what do you think you've been doing?" she asked. "Ever since you dropped your gun, all you've been doing is using brute force as well. You're already changing into one of us, Mr. Lane. Though you have a limited supply of energy. I can exhaust that and if I do, you're dead!"

"One of you?" I asked, looking down at my still glowing hands. I blinked, not having enough time to think before she connected a direct blow to my chest and sent me flying into a nearby Hoovercar.

Morta wasn't wrong. I was becoming weaker by the second as I was running on whatever was keeping me alive right now. I pulled myself up to my feet and watched Morta come at me again. I needed to end this and fast so I could get medical relief. I timed it as she drew near me before grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into the car behind me. I let out a feral growl again before landing several very large and powerful blows into her throat and then into the side of her head. She screamed out in agony, surrounding her and me in the purple aura from before. Her body then reverted to normal and fell limp as she now had a crushed skull as the right side of her face was now dented inward.

I went wide-eyed at that, backing away in horror as she just fell forward onto the ground. I stumbled and placed my hand onto my forehead before falling over myself. My vision became blurry again as rapidly, my energy was depleted. I gasped for air again as the feeling of vomiting came back to my body. I was turned away from Morta before I heard Tay screaming at me again as I saw her shoes running toward me.

"Lane!" she said, sliding over to me. "Stay with me! I'll get you back to the others, I promise!"

I felt her begin to lift me up before she suddenly stopped and fell onto the ground next to me. I looked around as best I could as I fell back to the ground, groaning as Tay now lied beside me. I heard a low hum of laughter before I was kicked hard in the stomach causing me to roll over and look at the deceased Morta. I coughed up more blood before vomiting onto the street next to my head. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a man walking in between myself and her. He was a gray figure in my vision, but I could tell from seeing his white teeth that he was grinning.

"Nighty night, Mr. Silverbane," I heard him say before I blacked out.

What happened between then and when I woke up was obviously a blur as I couldn't remember anything. I vaguely remember screaming and hearing the noise of some sort of torture. I began to come to on a bed that wasn't all that comfortable. I rubbed my forehead as I sat up and tried to opened my eyes. My vision was still blurred for a moment before it finally became focused in the room. It was dark and I couldn't see that much regardless if my eyes were closed or not though. I felt around, noticing my injuries were healed once again as I didn't have any obvious cuts on my arms anymore, along with feeling for dried blood on my chin. I climbed out of the bed, letting out a soft groan as despite the visible injuries being healed on the outside, it seemed like I still recovering on the inside. A light in the room did turn on as soon as I was balanced, followed by a strange laugh.

"I figured you'd wake up on your own," the voice over an intercom remarked. "Yes, yes. I know what you're thinking. Why am I still alive? Where am I? Who is this talking to me and why do they have such a soothing voice?"

"Two out of three isn't bad," I said, looking around cautiously. "Well, if you know what I'm thinking, then spill the beans already. Who are you and why am I here?"

"Oh, you spoil sport," the voice said. "If I told you right away, that wouldn't be fun now, would it? You killed Morta, which is only slightly impressive. Brute force is manageable if you know how to counter it. The body's going to be a great addition to my experiments, as are your friends."

"What?!" I blinked and then looked up at the intercom. "What did you say?"

"Ah, there's the petty rage one gets when someone they like or love is mentioned in a possible life threatening or altering situation," the voice chuckled. "What exactly do you plan on doing apart from punching your way out of that room and into my staff? I'll have you know that is a death wish."

"If you harm any of my friends just even a little, I'll make sure you're afraid of me," I said. "This is some sort of laboratory from what I gather, so it'd be a real shame if some of your experiments suddenly vanished or were killed."

"You're not really in any position to make threats," the voice said. "There's a drug going through your system that may have helped your healing process, but your perception of reality is warped right about now. If you do manage to get into the hall and start looking for a way out or for your friends, you won't find them easily. In fact, you won't know if it's real or not."

"You sound like a sick bastard,' I said before jumping back as I thought there was someone behind me. I blinked and looked around, noticing no one was there.

"I assume you didn't believe me," the voice said. "Looks like I'm still always correct. I must say examining you was quite intriguing."

"Why is that?" I asked as I tried to not let the bothersome feeling of someone behind me distract me again.

"Have you still ignored the painfully obvious fact that you shouldn't be alive?" the voice asked. "At least three times you've come close to death and each time you were saved by your built up energy."

"I don't know what you mean exactly, but I don't think I like how that sounds," I said.

"No one ever does," the voice cackled. "Enjoy your attempted escape, my friend. My guards won't even be bothered to stop you. Now, onto Subject Number 45785. Ah yes, the Lunga girl. Oh, silly me, I left the intercom on. Tata for now, Mr. Silverbane."

"Lunga?" I asked, letting out a loud groan of pain as it felt like my head was throbbing as I stumbled more toward the door. "Tay... I gotta get out... of here..."

I grabbed the door handle and pulled it down, blinking as it easily moved and the door opened outward. I leaned against the wall now, my breathing growing heavier. I had to find out whatever the neutralizing agent for this drug was and obtain it. I rubbed my eyes and gasped out, coughing as I tried to stand back up. The walls moved in a wavy motion, appearing to be more like liquid to me than a solid. My body felt like it was overheating, which lead to me pulling my shirt off and throwing it on the ground. With one look at it, I noticed that I was indeed sweating like a pig. My cuts and bruises were gone, which was a relief. I stumbled down the hallway and leaned against an open door. Inside it was dark and I heard a slight echo of a voice behind me. I coughed again and stood up, blinking as I turned around.

"What the hell...?" I asked, a horrifying look coming across my face. I was staring at a familiar face. An extremely familiar one, at that. I noticed the light orange fluffed fur, the soft curves and most importantly, the blood spattered in the middle of the stomach, where a gaping hole was present. It was Marci. "No, no, no. You can't be here. I helped bury you. I mourned you. I still do. No, no, no."

"I'm here," Marci said with a hint of anger in her tone of voice. "Why did you do it, Lane? I thought you were going to stop the Gavel from killing us."

I blinked and rubbed my eyes now, but she didn't disappear.

"I-I never said I'd be able to stop them," I said, coughing. "I warned you that they were coming." I let out a pained groan when I suddenly felt her hand smack my cheek with a hard slap.

"You warned me to run, but not my father," she said, even angrier now. "I refused to listen. I refused to abandon him. Sal caught wind of it and quit just a few hours before, betraying both my father and I. What did you do? You arrived at the scene of the crime and willingly killed me even though you could have pulled me off and gotten me some medical attention!"

I rubbed my cheek and was on one knee due to the slap causing be to lose my balance for moment.

"You were completely impaled," I said. "Look... You even have the hole. No doctor could patch that up. How the hell are you here?"

"Does that matter?" she asked, grabbing my right arm. "What matters is that you were too late. You killed me because you were too afraid to let me live and know that you didn't stop the assailant."

I let out a loud pained groan as her grip seemed abnormally tight on my right arm. I tried to break free, but I couldn't, soon bending over in pain as her other hand had punched me square in the gut. I coughed more, this time spitting up saliva as she still held onto me even though I ended up falling over. Next came a powerful kick into my abdomen, causing my breathing to fall short for a few moments as I let out another pained groan.

"See? You couldn't save me or my father," she taunted. "You got lucky with that girl saving your ass from that man and even luckier that you guessed before that Shock Gun could open up on her and kill her. Do I need to also remind you that only seeing her nearly die again gave you the capability of killing someone? That's pathetic. You're pathetic, Lane. You're nothing but talk about wanting to protect the ones around you. You run or let them die and for that, you should be the one dead, not me. Not my father and not those two men that tried to do the world a favor by attempting to kill you!"

"No, Marci," I coughed, groaning as I was punched in the stomach again. "Y-You weren't like this... Not when I met you..."

"How would you know?" she asked, lifting me up very easily. "You knew nothing about me, yet you were so concerned when you saw me. Why the hell did you even care? I didn't need you. No one needs you, Lane. You're better off dead!" It was then she punched me directly in the jaw and let go, sending me flying into a nearby bed and practically knocking it over. I was already bleeding from my mouth by just one punch. Not even Morta did that successfully with one punch. I got back up to my feet, clenching my fists.

"What's wrong?" Marci asked. "Am I getting under your skin? You can't fight the ones you once fought for, can you? No, you can't. That's why your hurt and bleeding and I still have no new bruises. That's utterly pathetic. I did forget to mention that Morta girl though. The only reason you even recovered was because she went after your friends. If you fought her with all you had from the start, it wouldn't have escalated to that." She then lifted my chin and punched me once more in the jaw, then she did it again and repeated this several times until I was backed into the corner of the room.

I coughed up more blood, groaning as I couldn't hold onto anything, nearby, so I fell onto the ground against the corner with Marci over me. She lifted her right leg and stomped on my right leg, which caused me to scream in pain. She did this tactic several times before gripping me by the neck and resumed punching me.

"Give up already," she said, growling out of anger now. "You can't do a damn thing. You're a failure. You're going to let your friends die like you let me die!"

"Shut... up...!" I managed to finally shout after spitting up more blood. "If you're actually Marci, then you'd... know... I know she wouldn't do this. I don't understand... your anger toward me..."

"You killed me!" she yelled out, tossing me back toward the bed and I let out a silent scream as it hurt quite a bit as I had landed on the metallic part of the bed.

"I...I didn't kill you..." I said, still coughing as I managed to get up. "My patience... is gone, Marci. Get out of here or I will kill you myself. What you're doing... is not something you're obligated to do."

"You're going to kill me again?" she asked, laughing. "Let's see you try." She suddenly vanished from my sight, though I did notice something strange about her as if she had some of my energy.

I then sensed her behind me, already rapidly speeding into my location. I barely managed to dodge what looked like a powerful strike aimed for my middle back. I did, however, manage to grab her shirt and twirl her around and slam her into a nearby shelf.

"Lucky," she groaned, hopping up with only the use of her legs and nothing else. "I won't be so easy to catch next time."

I was panting already and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"What are you trying to prove, Marci?" I asked, becoming angry myself. "You were killed by the Crimson Gavel, not me."

"You still don't understand," she said, dashing toward me at a lightning fast speed.

It was too fast for me as I was knocked back, landing a few feet in front of where she stopped on my back. I had trouble getting up, being much slower than her. She took advantage of that by striking me in the stomach with her knee again, I rolled over in the air and before I landed, I noticed something peculiar about Marci. Her eyes, hands and arms were all had a faint blue hue, similar to mine from earlier with Morta. I then realized something. This Marci wasn't real. Was I hallucinating? Maybe I am, but these blows feel incredibly real. I'm actually bleeding and I feel pain on every part of my body that she attacked. I landed on the ground with a painful thud.

"I think it's time to end this," she laughed. "You can't fight back. You even tried, too." She lifted up her left hand and the hue around it intensified before she quickly brought it down onto me.

I blocked it at the last minute with my own arm, which now had the same blue hue as it did before. The only difference now was that I wasn't in a life threatening state. I let out a loud grunt as I forced her punch back and made her stumble s she was obviously surprised. I got up with a little bit of effort and stared her down.

"Yeah, that's the look of realizing you were betrayed," she laughed. "Gonna fight me with your actual strength?"

"No," I said rather coldly. "I don't have time for these mind games. I'm going to 'kill' you and move on."

"Oh?" she asked, laughing even more now. "Just try me." She disappeared again.

I narrowed my eyes, letting out an annoyed growl of my own and immediately caught her by the neck when she reappeared behind me.

"I told you, I'm through," I said, slamming her into the shelf. "Be an annoyance all you want. It'll only end in death."

Wasting no time, I unleashed a barrage of punches onto her, which she managed to block most of them. I was becoming rather annoyed as I grabbed her and shoved her against the wall.

"How about you give up now?" I asked. "I told you I don't have time for this." "Then make time," she said, groaning. "I'll be back, you pathetic coward." I then blinked when she dematerialized right in front of me. I looked around and looked over my hands and not a trace of her was left. I sighed and groaned, holding my stomach as none of my wounds healed and my pain was still there. I headed toward the door and back into the hall, only to have the drug hit me like a truck again as I stumbled even more down the hall. The wind echoed in my ear, which made it hard to tell if there was any guards near me or not.

The path ahead of me zigged and zagged, appearing to be broken at some points. It caused me to act like a smaller path was there than there actually was. I continued down the hall, holding my stomach as I coughed up more blood from before, blinking as I heard footsteps. I quickly ducked to the side of the wall and tried to listen for them, but they suddenly disappeared. I peeked around the corner and didn't see anyone. I then stood back up and began to move toward the end of the hall. When I opened the door, I blinked and dodge a sudden swing of a fist. I bit my lip and let out a yell as I charged at whoever swung at me, but nothing was there and I slammed myself into a wall.

Groaning, I rubbed my head and then my nose as I regained my balance. I heard laughter echoing far away from me. While looking around to find out where the voice came from, I felt something graze my right shoulder. My hand immediately went to it and I felt blood coming from the graze. I then noticed a hole in the wall in front of me as I was at the end of the hallway. It was a bullet.

"A bullet?" I asked myself, looking back toward where it would have come from. I didn't see anyone there. "Not again. I seriously don't have time for hallucinations."

I felt the presence again and dodged another punch. This time, I grabbed the arm and looked up at the assailant, being surprised yet again. It was Sprock.

"Miss me, punk?" he asked, breaking my grip and upper cut me very easily as the shock let my guard down for a moment.

I stumbled backward, rubbing my chin as I noticed he had the stab wound I had inflicted on him in his transformed state.

"You don't look too happy to see me," he said, aiming a laser pistol at me. "Why do you think that is, hmm?"

"I'm sure you already know why," I said, standing up, though the room around us both continued to swirl. "You're dead, just like Marci is. Yet you're here. You're probably just another hallucination."

"Can a hallucination do this?" he asked, shooting at my left shoulder and the bullet went into it, causing me a great amount of pain.

"Maybe," I said, gritting my teeth and holding the pained shoulder now. "Marci was able to hurt me and make me bleed. Whatever's going on, it has the potential to fatally injure me and I'm not letting that happen. Marci nor you will stop that."

"That's a funny assumption," he chuckled. "Considering the circumstances, right? I have the gun and all you have is your loud mouth. Where's your team to help you? Your false confidence as a leader? You weren't worth of the Crimson Gavel or the Cryptic Guard. You avoided any possible conflict that resulted in killin' anyone the entire time you were there. Just became a paper boy and that was it. The Gavel ain't for cowards, which is why we should have turned you in or killed you on the spot!"

The more Sprock talked, the angrier I became. I dodged a third bullet, which was aimed for my head this time and grabbed the hand holding the gun, knocking it out of his hand and landing a punch into his abdomen. I then looked up at him, surprised when he reacted very little to it.

"I ain't that easy to take down," he said, grabbing me by the neck and then shoved me into the wall.

I let out a scream of pain, feeling the bits and pieces of the now shattered wall dig into my bare back as I had gone through it. When he let me go, I fell into a wider room and onto a few crates of wooden boxes. Needless to say, I had splinters in my back now.

"This is incredibly boring," he said as he had disappeared from the hole to being directly behind me again and then picked me up from the crates only to throw me into metal ones now.

I let out another scream of pain, coughing up more blood than before as it was incredibly difficult for me to stand up now. I had to hold onto the crate behind me as Sprock just waited for me to fully stand back up. As I rose, I noticed the same hue around him that Marci had, knowing it was a hallucination right then and there.

"Can't take a beatin'," he chuckled, leaning against another crate. "Come on, give up. Let me just kill ya and you'll be doin' the whole world a favor."

"Funny, Marci said something similar," I said, groaning as I looked up at him. "She didn't get to kill me either."

"Too bad for her," he said, striking me in the back of the head and nearly causing me to fall over.

I managed to somehow overcome the force and keep myself standing. I wasn't sure how, but I didn't feel the same driving force that did let me overcome my injuries when I fought Morta or the transformed Sprock for that matter. He struck me again and my legs almost gave away, but I still managed to keep standing. I then grabbed his arms and rammed my forehead into his. Hearing him groan, I used it to spear myself into his gut, sending him into a stack of nearby metal crates.

I lifted myself up and let him slide down; yanking his collar as I punched him repeatedly like I did Marci as after all both had tried to kill me now. However, with Sprock I felt like I was releasing a lot of built up rage as they seemed to be more rapid and harder hitting than the ones I unloaded onto Marci. I couldn't stop myself. I let out a very angry growl like before and head butted Sprock several times before becoming dizzy and letting go of him. I held my forehead, as it did hurt, but Sprock was apparently knocked out from my sudden rage. He then disappeared just like Marci did.

"What the hell's going on?" I asked myself, coughing. "I need to find this... damn antidote and find the others."

"I should have arrested you when I had the chance," a female voice said behind me, which made me jump.

I turned and assumed a defensive stance, then went wide-eyed.

"Yuno?" I asked, blinking.

"No, Santa Claus," Yuno said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, it's me. You look pretty beat up, Lane. I don't see any guards here, so who or what exactly beat you up?"

"It was nothing," I said, holding my head still. "What are you doing here, Yuno? I thought you headed back to the Cryptic Guard base."

"I did, but I came scouting again since there's not much to do in Tonoko now that the Crimson Gavel are fighting their way to get to you here," she said. "So I decided I was going to see if you needed help."

"Thanks, but no thanks," I said, looking at her. "I declined your help back then but you still told me what you knew anyway."

"Well, the information on the Shadow Vault was vital, wouldn't you think?" she asked.

"No, it wasn't vital," I said. "I planned on taking out the Gavel and helping Roland defend this city from the Guard. They would never get to the damn Vault."

"You poor naïve fool," she laughed. "The Gavel isn't as powerful as the Guard is, Lane. You'd need a better army than the Seekers along with your own lackeys to discourage them from breaking into Jaden and getting into the Shadow Vault."

"Are you undermining me?" I asked, coughing even more now as I stood up straight again.

"Maybe a little," she smirked. "Why? Does that agitate you?"

"Maybe a little," I mocked. "Get out of here if you're just going to mock me."

"Nah, I don't think I'll do that," she said, approaching me now. "Instead, surprise!"

I then blinked, feeling her gun pinned against my chest. I raised an eyebrow, hearing the gun being cocked and ready to shoot.

"Bye bye, Kane," she smirked, firing her gun.

I felt the bullet pierce through my chest. I gasped and looked at her both confusingly and sadly. I couldn't breathe and I stumbled forward once the gun was pulled back before falling onto my stomach.

"Pfft, too easy," she said, turning and beginning to walk away. "I guess he gets what he wants now."

She made it to the doorway before blinking and looking back as she noticed my left arm moving.

"It's not that easy," I groaned, looking up at her. "I'm not dying until I've finished what I've started." I proceeded to get myself up and held onto the metal crate next to me. I then looked down at my wound and noticed it wasn't very deep. I bit my lower lip and grunted, digging into it and letting out a pained scream as I dug out the bullet. I then threw it away in a random direction. The wound bled, but it didn't bleed too much.

"Impressive," she said, laughing. "Can you handle another girl though?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, then blinked when I watched Yuno dissipate like Sprock and Marci had.

Before even a minute passed, another female figure jumped down and in front of me. I sighed and looked around.

"Who are you and what games are you playing?" I asked. "Yuno doesn't just dissipate and Morta's also dead. That can't be a coincidence."

"Oh, so I don't have to keep beating you up until you catch on," Morta smirked. "Fine, be a party pooper."

"Cut the crap right now," I said, leaning against the crate now. "Who are you? I know you're not that man that took my team and myself into his custody."

"Almost there," she said, though her voice began to deepen to the level of mine.

I raised an eyebrow before I realized what this being was shaping into.

"Me?" I asked, blinking.

The being before me transformed into an almost perfect carbon copy of myself. The primary difference was the fact this copy of me had gray hair, no pupils in his eyes, and a strange black tattoo-like marking on his left arm in the shape of what looked like two lightning bolts crossing one another. He had a slightly better muscle tone as well, along with his fur being a very bright white.

"Still confused, I take it?" he asked. The tone of his voice was a bit more confident than my own and even though the voice sounded similar, it still sounded unique with having a strange hiss to it.

"A little," I said. "What exactly is going on and why were you disguising yourself?"

"I guess I gave you too much credit," he shrugged. "You still haven't pieced together how you're basically talking to yourself. Do I need to spell it out?"

"If you don't, I'll just make you talk regardless," I said.

"Ooh, big talk from a coward," he chuckled. "I'm you, but a much better version."

"Better version?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him out of curiosity.

"Well, let's see," he said, tapping his chin as he leaned against a crate. "I'm the one that let you have the ability to put Marci out of her misery since her injuries couldn't be patched up, I'm the one that made you move when Sprock nearly killed Tay with a Shock Gun, again I made you get up and fight off the transformed Sprock when he nearly choked her to death with his mutant hands and I'm the reason you even had a chance against a brute force machine like Morta. Yeah, I'm a better you."

"Wait, you're Nether Energy?" I asked, blinking.

"Bingo, you finally got it, you noble prick," he chuckled. "That's your biggest problem, by the way. Nobility gets in the way of doing business. You can't stand killing if it isn't necessary and for it to be necessary for you it has to threaten someone's life. That's just sad. If I had my way, then we'd probably have only Bortelli and Vinchi to deal with right now."

"There are standards, you know," I said, looking down at my bullet wound to make sure it was beginning to bleed more. "Everyone has them. I choose to not be a mindless killer."

"Sometimes situations like Morta beating the living crap out of you call for that mindset," he said, rolling his eyes. "Lucky for you though, you caught on with just enough time before that drug kills you and Jagger tries to pry me from your dead body for his own use."

"What?" I asked, then looked around. "Alright, fine. Quit playing your mocking game, uh... What the hell do I call you?"

"Oh, I was thinking something along the lines of Bane," he chuckled. "Mostly because I'll be the bane of your existence for a little while. You see, while you were knocked out like the little grade school pussy ant you are, I managed to stay conscious and overhear some vital information you might not like."

"Then tell me this vital information," I said, narrowing my eyes as I was quickly losing my patience.

"No, it's not going to be that east," he smirked. "First of all, the whole point of this is for you to fight me and kill yourself trying to take on a power you cannot simply overpower and take back. That's the point of the drug. A failsafe, however, is that the drug is also slowly killing you. Judging from how you're not gasping for air, I guess you're still far away from the fatal effect. So let's give him what he wants and let's screw up his outcome. Lane, if you can kill me and regain your power, then you'll know where the antidote is, this juicy information that'll just piss you off and best of all, I'll be back inside that wonderful body and hopefully you'll take my advice on not being a hesitant coward."

"I'll try," I said, then blinked when he angrily slammed his fist on the metal crate he was near.

"There is no try, Lane," he said, sighing. "It's win or die. Guess what? You need to win. Say it with me."

I hesitated for a moment, then groaned when he suddenly appeared behind me and struck me hard in the middle-back.

"I didn't hear you," he said. "Don't make me do that again."

"Fine," I groaned. "I need to win."

"Louder," he said, punching me in the same spot again.

"Goddammit," I groaned. "I need to win. I'll kill you and then kill Jagger next." I turned and tried to grab at him, swearing under my breath when he disappeared and then reappeared back in his original spot.

"Well, I'm not gonna make it that easy, but at least I can tell you meant that," he said. "I know your potential Lane. I'm that potential, but can you survive without me? I'll wager no." He grinned now. "This'll be an extremely unfair match. Wanna know why?"

"Why?" I asked, looking back at him.

He just smirked as I felt something in front of me, blinking when I saw Marci form a few feet ahead. I then heard more noises and looked around, noticing Sprock, Morta and Yuno also had formed. They all surrounded me, including Bane.

"You son of a bitch," I said, gulping.

"Five on one, Lane," he said. "I said this was going to be extremely unfair in order to beat me, but you'll figure it out eventually. That is, unless this fight lasts until the poison kills you or I kill you instead. Ready?"

"Ready," I said, my fists clenching. I was nervous, there was no doubt about that. This would be the first time I ever took on five enemies at once.

The first to try and attack me was Sprock. I dodged his first punch, though Morta had joined in and connected her own as she hit my jaw. I let out a grunt, stumbling back and blinking as I backed into Yuno. She then slammed her elbow down into my left shoulder. The pain from it surged through my body as Sprock grabbed me by the neck and then threw me into a stack of metal crates. I let out a wheezing cough as I was grabbed by Marci and kicked hard in the stomach, wheezing even more now. When she tried to kick me again, I anticipated it and grabbed her leg. I then pushed her back and into both Sprock and Yuno while Morta was the only one that dodged it. I got up as fast as I could before using some of my strength to dash toward Morta, practically clotheslining her as I ran by. I connected with it, still heading in the direction I was facing. I had to think of a plan to thin the numbers and get Bane to fight me one on one.

As I was thinking, I was startled as a large energy blast was fired at me. I looked back as it missed me, noticing Bane was firing at me from a distance. This guy was supposed to be a 'better' version of me, yet he uses dirty tactics. Five on one and staying at a distance to try and screw me over? Yeah, I wasn't going to let that happen.

I ran around a large stack of crates, then pretended to head down the narrow space by imitating that my footsteps were becoming farther away. I managed to at least fool Sprock and he came around the corner and I clocked him with a hard punch. When he went down, I stomped my sneaker onto his right arm. This felt disturbingly pleasant. As I got lost in trying to injure Sprock, I paid no attention to my back so Marci was able to slam a crate into my back, sending me tumbling forward and rolling a few feet ahead of her. I rolled right into Yuno, who tried to smash her knee onto my face. I managed to roll slightly, letting her miss and elbowing her hard in the face and causing her to groan and roll away. At least she wasn't the real Yuno, so I didn't feel any regrets.

I got back to my feet and blocked several punches from Sprock before I punched him directly in the face myself and I managed to make him stumble under a large metal crate. I ran over to a nearby lever and released it, then blinked it when another crate fell onto Yuno and crushed her instead.

"Well, that was... unexpected," I said, groaning as Morta surprised me by appearing in front of me and rapidly punching my gut a few times before finishing off with an uppercut to my jaw. I stumbled back into the wall, groaning.

I then noticed Morta's smirk as she pulled a lever like I had. I looked up and saw a crate falling toward me rapidly. I then rolled to the left, barely managing to avoid being crushed by it. I let out a pained scream and a grunt as an energy blast from Bane struck me, causing burns on my back and on my left arm. Sprock grabbed my singed arm and twisted it as he shoved me into another stack of metal crates. He grabbed my head and then slammed it into them three times. Miraculously, I somehow didn't lose any consciousness. I was extremely dizzy though, but managed to stomp on Sprock's foot and it gave me enough room to jump and bounce from the crate, rotating us around and letting me flip him over and into his own stack of crates. I felt more energy blasts coming toward me and I jumped to avoid them.

I climbed on top of a stack of crates only to be greeted by Morta's hand putting me into a chokehold. Her grip tightened rapidly as I did feel my circulation being cut off. I struggled to think straight, kicking my legs about and luckily I hit her in the stomach but I was hit with another energy blast from Bane, sending me into the door rather roughly. I coughed and gasped, unable to stand at the moment. I looked over to my right and found out that I had landed near a lever. I reached over and pulled it and a crate came down, crushing Sprock as he laid on the ground.

"Two down," I chuckled, panting and grunting as I was in a world of pain now.

I only heard Bane laughing in the distance as I managed to finally stand up. I groaned, wondering what was so funny until I saw it. I went wide-eyed, watching Sprock and Yuno reform in the middle of the room.

"What?" I asked, coughing. "No, I got rid of them..."

"I wasn't gonna make it that easy, Lane!" Bane called out, chuckling. "Figure it out! There's a method to everything!"

A method? What the hell did that mean? I didn't have time to actually think as I ducked below Sprock already charging at me with a clothesline maneuver of his own. I then blocked a strike from Yuno and then one from Morta. Suddenly, they were all on me, causing me to play defensive now. Marci was behind me and she had the easiest way of attacking me. She did take advantage of this as she drop kicked me in my back, causing me to break my own block as I was shoved into Yuno, who uppercut my jaw with the butt of her gun and then shot at both of my kneecaps before Sprock uppercut me into the air. Morta then speared me into a tall stack of metal crates. The impact caused them all to fall around us and I couldn't move.

I was grabbed again by Morta and lifted up into the air, being struck several times by her clenched fist. I saw her inhumane grin on her face. She was enjoying this too much. None of this was real though. The people I fought weren't real. Most of them were dead! The only 'real' person here is myself and Bane. Why did I feel so much pain then? Why did Yuno's bullets actually pierce me? It confused me to no end as I tried to focus as I was being beaten up. I couldn't fight back now. I groaned as I was thrown into Sprock, who slammed me into more metal crates. He threw me to Marci, who flung me into the wall and caused me to go through it and land in the hallway.

I gasped for air and laid there, coughing up an excessive amount of blood. I kept trying to wrap my head around this situation. Bane, these 'copies' and the fact I felt so much pain and my injuries felt real. If Bane was truly me, but a more 'insane' version of me, he should have had the same senses I did. The sense of protection, the sense of honor. The knowledge. I closed my eyes, trying to think as I heard at least one of them coming toward me.

"Yuno, Sprock, Marci, and Morta..." I grumbled, gasping. "All but one... that died..." I clenched my fists, groaning. "Yuno, Sprock., Marci, Morta.... Morta, Sprock, Marci, Yuno..."

I then opened my eyes, realizing something. If I placed them in a particular order, something inside of me triggered. As if I knew how to get Bane alone now. I suddenly regained control of my legs and the pain began to die down as well. I stood back up and saw that Morta had come to grab me. When she did, her hand went through my neck, surprising even her. I grabbed hers in retaliation and let a cold grin form across my face. I then slammed her into the wall before throwing her back into the room.

Bane seemed surprised by this, upping his defenses as I watched his copies suddenly gain an increase in their muscle tone. The grin stayed on my face as I let Sprock try to punch me and his punches went through me like Morta's did. I upper cut him hard in the jaw, then kicked him hard in the stomach and let him land on Morta.

I ran over to a stack of crates and climbed them, deciding I didn't need to use a damn lever. I was soon above a crate that was positioned on a hook before running toward it and jumping. I then landed on top of it, causing it to unhook and come crashing down on Morta and Sprock, effectively eliminating them. I looked over at Bane, who groaned and seemed to take a bit of damage from that. My grin widened now, knowing the order I'd have to kill these copies. Marci and Yuno were left, but I already knew their punches and attacks woudn't easily miss. No, they were too important to both Bane and I.

I climbed down from the crate, staring down both Yuno and Marci. I cracked my knuckles and looked over at Bane.

"Don't look so surprised," I said. "Here, I'll show you how much of a coward I really am."

I pulled out my pistol and cocked it, firing it straight at Marci, piercing through her left leg and then shot at Yuno, who managed to evade my bullets. I looked around and then blinked as Yuno was able to surprise me by flanking my left side and landing a powerful punch into my back. I groaned and stumbled, then gasped as Marci stabbed me with a knife she had taken from her pocket.

"It's not that easy, Marci," I whispered, shoving her back and pulled the knife from my chest. I then used it to stab Marci in her own chest and pulled her down, slamming my knee into her skull. "If you're going to try to kill me, do better than that!" I watched her whine and fall back and onto the ground from the crate. She easily got back up and jumped at me. I dodged her, but Yuno managed to swipe under me and slam me onto the crate, causing me to feel more pain again. I felt her press her gun against my back and she cocked it. I wiggled my right arm free before knocking it away and making her accidentally shoot Marci in the stomach I turned, slamming a fist into Yuno's own stomach and then shoved her to the ground before getting up and jumping from the crates and onto Marci. I rolled with her as we exchanged punches, soon kicking her in the gut and throwing her into a crate.

I hopped to my feet and ran over to a crane and began to climb it. I heard Yuno fire at me, but she kept missing as I was a good distance away from her. Once I reached the top, I taunted her and jumped out of the way as a bullet pierced the rope holding the crane. It snapped and fell forward, slamming onto Marci and causing her to disintegrate like Sprock and Marci had. I heard Bane take more damage from it, noting that his own 'health' was linked to the copies.

"Very wise," Bane chuckled. "But now that you've figured out how to get to me, I'm not going to make her an easy target. Yuno, use your Empowered Imbue!"

"What?" I asked, looking at him confusingly.

Yuno raised her gun into the air as I felt a surge of power surge through her and strange light engulfed her. I covered my eyes with my arms before blinking when the light dissipated. She was now dual wielding her weapons with razor sharp blades on the butt of each. Her attire had changed as well. Instead of the same clothing I had seen in Jaden a few days ago, she was now in a purple v-neck collared shirt that had a leather jacket of the same color over it. She was no longer in short length jean shorts and instead she was now in a mini skirt along with some black leggings. Her sneakers had transformed into boots, the military grade. A marking had also formed over her left eye.

"What the hell is this?" I asked, coughing as the drug - or poison, whatever it is - was still trying to kill me.

"You'll find out when you get me back," Bane chuckled as Yuno charged at me.

I dodged her rapid slash attacks and her attempts at knocking me over with an elbow smash. I tried not to be too shocked by her increased attack speed. I tried to land my own punch to her right arm, but she dodged it quite easily before she struck me in the back. I let out a loud pained scream as the blade was pushed in. Once I fell onto my knees, she yanked it out of my bank and then proceeded to hit the back of my head with the front of it. I let out a pained groan as I rolled out of the way of several burst fire shots from her dual guns. I swiped under her with my left leg, catching her right leg and caused her to fall over and bang her head against the metal crate we were fighting on.

I climbed to my feet and tried to take advantage of having her down by stepping on her left arm with my left foot. I then applied all of my weight to it, attempting to break it. I heard her groan and I suddenly backed off, biting my lower lip. I heard Bane chuckle darkly behind me.

"I knew you couldn't do it," he said. "You can't fatally wound Yuno. She's the only friend from your childhood that you have. She's the one that trusted you the most. What's going on here? She kept a secret. She has some sort of strange empowered imbue that she never told her supposed best friend about. That's not the horrifying news either, Lane. You have to kill her to get to me, you know. Sever the bonds with your enemy. Don't let emotions distract you from the ultimate goal. Kill her."

I growled and turned at him, running toward him and trying to throw a punch, but he just teleported farther from me.

"Nope, you don't have the right yet," he said.

"Like hell that I haven't," I said, staring at him now. "Stop this childish game of attempt to screw with my own sense of right and wrong. The fact you assume I'm a coward is naïve enough to make me believe that's your only trick." "Oh, it's not," he grinned. "Look out behind you, Lane." I looked back and then gasped, dodging a slash from Yuno just barely in time. I grabbed her arm and flung her forward. She landed on her feet as they hit the ground only to use the force to propel herself back at me. Before I could do anything, she speared into me and slammed into the wall. I coughed as she grabbed my shoulder and began to repeatedly pound into my skull. I couldn't fight back as I felt my mind resisting urges to. It was as if I was giving up, but I didn't want to.

"Get up, solider," I heard a booming voice say in my head as I was slammed into another metal crate and still being punched quite violently. "Get up. The battle isn't lost. You do what you have to do to survive, no matter the cost. The circumstances may seem grim at times, but that's what we're designed for. Survival. If you defy that purpose, then you deserve to die. You will be forced into doing things you wish you didn't have to, things you would never like. Jump these hurdles. Get up and fight like a solider. Be the man I trained you to be!"

I recognized the voice in my head. It was Commander Vaxis's speech when I first began to train under him. I had admired his determination, which lead me to believing I could befriend and trust him. What he said that day was true, there would be moments where I'd need to survive and do something I didn't like or die like a coward. The other half with myself believing I could befriend him was a load of shit. I grabbed Yuno's right arm as it came down on me again for another punch. I opened my eyes and looked up at her, blood dripping out of my nose and my right eye blacked considerably. I twisted her arm back as I got up, blocking her attempts at stabbing me with her other gun with her free arm before grabbing it and twisting it as well. I shoved her into the crates adjacent to us, walking toward her.

I picked up her weapon and placed it against her head.

"You're not the Yuno I knew," I said, cocking the gun now."Bane's next." I then fired and she fell forward immediately, disintegrating in front of me. The gun in my hand also disappeared.

"Well, I'll be damned," Bane chuckled, smirking. "You finally remembered the old man's speech, didn't you?"

"Yeah, what of it?" I asked. I looked over myself, noticing all of my wounds had disappeared. "Oh, for the love of..." he sighed. "You knew those weren't real. The pain, the injuries. Feeling all of that was in your mind. Hooray, you overcame those obstacles! Onward with the reward to the victor like the usual after school special! In any other circumstance, yes. In my case, no."

"No?" I asked, slamming my fist into a crate and didn't even budge despite it hurting. "I fought those four to get to you and you're not even going to fight me so I can get the antidote and find Jagger and rip his heart out and feed it to a pack of wild Bodaren for messing with my friends? I'll make him pay and you're standing in my goddamn way, Bane. I will end you, even if it means losing whatever abilities you would bestow upon me."

"Oh?" he asked, grinning now. "That's the spirit, Lane. You did earn the right to fight me and yes, I took some blows from each copy being killed. Unfortunately, it's not that easy. You see, I have access to your mind. This fight is going to be nothing but hell for you until you kill me. Now, let's commence fisticuffs, shall we?" He then disappeared on me and I couldn't sense him.

"What the hell?" I asked, running to where had been standing. "Where are you? Bane! Get out here!"

I groaned and held my hand as the room began to spin. I felt dizzy and fell backward, groaning as I landed on something crunchy. I rubbed my head as I blinked repeatedly to get my eyes used to the sudden light before realizing I was staring up at quite a few trees. I got to my feet, looking around as I was in some sort of forest.

"Look familiar?" Bane asked from afar.

"Kind of," I said, coughing. "Quit this playing around, Bane. I - or we - don't have time for this, dammit!"

"Oh, I do have time and you'll make time," he said. "This is my strategy against you. Come find me, Lane. If you can manage to get through this, then we'll have a firefight. What do you say?"

"I don't think I have a choice," I said, looking around.

I began to walk down a small path in the forest, noticing familiar patterns on the ground full of piles of leaves. This continued for a short while before I heard the crunch of leaves to my left.

"Lane, are you out here?" I heard a female voice call.

I immediately recognized it, freezing and gulping.

"No, you bastard, no," I said, looking back slowly.

I saw the woman I heard peeking through the trees. She spotted me and smiled, beginning to walk toward me. She was a few inches shorter than me, had a white blouse and a red skirt with an apron over her outfit, and white slip-ons. Her hair was tied back and in a long ponytail, which matched my own hair color. The other thing that matched was her fur color. It was almost identical to mine.

"There you are!" she said, letting out a soft giggle. Her voice was calming me, which wasn't good given my current situation.

"Mom..." I said softly.