FSE

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Chapter IX

Pollenburn

"Son-of-a-bitch!"

Marcus let out a cry as he slammed the door shut. Dozens of arms thrust after him but were pushed back by the large, metal frame. The burly roo pressed his weight against the panel accompanied by Snakebite and Max. Even with their combined weight, it continued to shudder and shake. The small room filled with bedrolls was a dead end and they were trapped.

"This is insane!" Jacob exclaimed, shaking his head. "We're up against a total whack job that can change his forces on the fly!"

As if hearing him, a sharp bone exploded out from the metal door, stopping just inches away from Marcus' nose. It quickly retreated back with an ominous hissing.

"Why does he want me...?" Jacob wondered aloud. "How could I possibly help him?"

Joanna stepped in front of him defensively and told the others to back away. The three men exchanged one nod before immediately moving away from the door. Just as the door flung open and vicious infected came pouring in, Joanna thrust her paws forward. Large spikes of earth suddenly erupted from the ground, spearing those closest to them and blocking the doorway.

"He seemed particularly interested in your ability to see things beyond our world," she responded, slowly lowering her paws. "Perhaps he wants you to find his wife and daughter."

"What good will that do?" he responded. "He can't bring them here. If he tries, they'll just degrade like the Puritan."

"He is the 'Chaos Lord of Manipulation'," Joanna responded with a shrug. "It seems to me that he has a Seal far beyond out comprehension." She looked worriedly at the rock barrier. "To be able to move all matter, even at an atomic level... he could literally rearrange the cosmos as he sees fit."

It occurred to Jacob that a power that vast could end entire worlds just by hurling planets into suns or by removing certain components from a critical powers source. He almost ripped the organs right out of everyone in the room just to coerce Jacob to join him.

"But he fears Realmbreaker, yes," Snakebite said suddenly. "He wishes to use it. Yes. But he fears your retaliation. If he wanted to kill us, he would have. He wants you to come of your own free will. Yes." Snakebite nodded to himself. "Yes. _Realmbreaker_can shatter Seals. Without his Seal, he will be unable to see his wife and daughter again. Yes."

The walls suddenly shuddered. On the opposite end of the room, the mix and match of metal plates ripped right down the middle like it were just a sheet of paper. A large plant slipped through the tear, bearing a big, blood-red bulb. The entire flower suddenly blossomed in front of them. Several green skinned furs stepped out, horrid facsimiles of real people. They moved faster than the zombies. Marcus, by far the fastest of them all, was the quickest to react and swung Windbreaker around. Streaks of light shaped like whipping winds snapped at the mutants, tearing them to shreds and ripping the flower by its stem.

Other parts of the walls began to peel open with more bulbs coming out.

"Joanna, get that barrier down!" Max shouted. "Snakebite, where's the closest exit to this place?"

"Eastern gate," grunted Snakebite. "I'll lead us there, yes!"

While they spoke, Jacob had a brief moment of insight. Hades was after his sight. A sight that could cross the boundaries of space and time. He turned his gaze towards the rapidly growing horde of green mutants... and narrowed his eyes. Realmbreaker threw at him its usual mix of random images but he forced himself to focus just on the mutant closest to him. With no past and no true free will, the creature was easy to interpret. He could see its composition even though there were elements to its body that he did not entirely understand, likely hybridised to make itself more stable on Mortaelis.

But amongst it all, he saw a thin thread that was different from any other he had seen before. In his mind, he followed it to its roots... To Hades. With a grunt, he threw his paw forward, sending a bolt of Realmbreaker right at the green mutant. It struck dead on but he sent it past just the creature's physical body, following the thread back to its master.

He actually saw Hades recoil in pain and surprise as _Realmbreaker_struck the chimeric creature.

In response, each of the green mutants stopped their advance. Even the zombies that were revealed as Joanna dropped her barrier were frozen. Max immediately swung Eden around and pulled the trigger to his massive gun. A ball of flame erupted from the enormous barrel. It passed right through the zombies, scorching their flesh and turning their bodies to ash.

Jacob closed his eyes for a brief moment, memorising the feel, taste and sensations of Hades' threads. When he opened them again, he could see their faint outline hanging from the mutants like puppet strings.

"They're not actually alive..." he murmured softly. "They're just puppets... Hades is using his Seal to move their bodies..."

Marcus seized his arm. "Come on, Jake, let's go!"

"One second," he answered, pulling his arm away. He lifted his paws towards the approaching plant puppets. There were about two dozen of them and using the lightning form of Realmbreaker could get taxing very quickly. Drawing inspiration from the 'threads' connecting the puppets to Hades, he closed his paw and then spread it open again in a quick, jerking motion. Dozens of tiny needles of _Realmbreaker_shot from his palm. They cut right through a good number of the threads holding the puppets. As they were moving, his aim was a little off but those that had been struck stopped their advance or crumpled to the ground entirely.

"What did you do?" Marcus asked, awed.

"Hades moves matter," Jacob answered, sending a second wave to drop the remaining mutants. "The way he's controlling these things is by moving their bodies. They're not actually alive. They're just meat sacks."

"That's great," said the roo. "Come on! We've got to get out of here!"

Jacob let himself get dragged out in the hallway, Max and Snakebite providing fire to clear the hallway. The flower zombies were not being directly controlled like the others. No, they were still slaves to the parasitic plant that had invaded their bodies. These creatures did not have any of the ghostly threads attached to them, but they smelled of Hades. It was a strange, alien, pungent smell that left a wrinkle in Jacob's muzzle, sort of like burning rubber with a sickly sweet scent of apples cooked with too much cinnamon. Something told him that wasn't really what Hades smelled like though, it was the scent of his power.

The scent of his Seal.

They broke out back into the stronghold courtyard. Snakebite shouted and directed them towards the eastern side of the facility, the very same gate Jacob had snuck in through days ago. The massive watchtower Jacob had toppled with just a few explosives he found lying around still lay across the courtyard, although now covered in vines and the deep red bulbs that had burrowed their way through the underground part of the hideout. Infected came rushing at them from all directions but Joanna kept them at bay, creating a tall, ring of rock that moved with them.

It almost seemed like they would be able to get away and regroup, but the moment they drew close, the iron frame swung shut, blocking their path. The metal bars suddenly merged together, forming a sizable barrier that loomed overhead. Several of the infected were suddenly flung towards the merged gates. Their flesh fused with the metal, their twisted, screaming features embedded into the barrier. But somehow they were still somewhat alive. Their arms and limbs were free to flail about, grasping for anyone that drew close enough.

"Motherfucker!" Max growled. He hefted Eden and pulled the trigger. The high calibre bullet shot forth like a cannonball encased in flames and powered by one of the many Seals he synchronised with. The very air sizzled with power and Jacob could sense Hades' presence in the air again. The bullet just stopped in mid-flight, the flames instantly extinguishing before the projectile was torn to pieces like a cheap piece of origami in a blender. The shards dropped to the ground, instantly liquefying and seeping back into the wall.

One of the many faces fused with the wall suddenly gagged. The barrel of a gun erupted from its throat, blood spurting from the abrupt mutation. The infected's eyes were still wide and alive even as the barrel began spewing bullets straight at them.

Joanna swung her paws upwards, causing the rocky barrier to rise and close in around them. She gasped when a bullet slammed into her right shoulder and she fell to her knees.

"This is fucking insane!" Marcus shouted. As the rocky barrier closed in around them and plunged them into darkness, the roo cast some light from his paws. "The bastard can change anything around us! How the hell are we meant to fight him when he can just move matter however he pleases? Hell, if we even get out of this place, he could just drop the whole fucking Stronghold on us!"

"Yes," rumbled Snakebite. "He moves matter. He controls it. But why does he not just control us? Why not move us as he sees fit?"

"He's playing with us," answered Caroline, gently seating herself beside Joanna. She quickly apologise to the vixen before digging into the bullet hole and prised the shard from her body. Joanna's regeneration quickly pushed the rest of the bullet out in a spurt of blood. "He wants to break Jacob. Hades mentioned that he lost his wife and child, right? Maybe he thinks that if Jacob lost us, he'll be compelled to 'search' for us as well."

Jacob considered just giving Hades what he wanted but something told him that it would not be that simple. The Chaos Lord would not simply just let everyone go if he surrendered and he doubted he could control his powers so simply by just searching for someone. He couldn't even find Alicia...

The rock dome around them suddenly began to melt away like it was made of chocolate, the earth falling on them in long, sticky globs. Joanna growled and swept her paws around her in a wide arc. The remainder of the barrier shattered and were sent sailing in all directions. The infected around them were thrown back, crashing into one another of in the debris.

There was a distinct lack of the green mutants. Jacob pondered on that a moment and asked the question Snakebite had voiced...

"If Hades can move matter why doesn't he just control everyone?"

Caroline, her Seal Weapon in hand, swung the parasol at the rapidly rising infected. Icy bolts shot from the tip of the weapon, spearing the infected to the ground. In a matter of moments, though, the ice just and the infected were scrambling back to their feet. "Like I said, he wants you Jacob. He wants you to come willingly."

Jacob shook his head. "No...it's not that. Well, it is but... there's something else..." He slowly rose to his feet, watching as the infected shambled towards them. "Also... why aren't we infected? Where's the pollen in the air?"

His friends and allies all exchanged glances, wondering the same thing.

Trying to remember how he had seen Hades' controlling strings, he strained his eyes trying to see them once more. The faint trickle of the strings could be seen high in the sky. A whole network of them flooded out of the Stronghold from various windows and doors but they passed over the battlefield and disappeared towards the southwest... towards Pollenburn.

"He's got a limit..." Jacob murmured softly. "He's controlling all those mutants in Pollenburn as well. Probably guiding the infected there but he doesn't have enough capacity to guide them here. He can't control everyone." He began feverishly looking around, trying to see where the source of the strings were coming from. Metal walls and hard rock barred his vision. He closed his eyes, reaching through the realms of possibilities with Realmbreaker. In the confusing mess, he saw a large, blood red flower sitting in the same torture room that Marcus and Joanna had been held. Another sat within a watchtower on the southern side of the Stronghold and a third rested inside what appeared to be an underground pen for the mutant rats that Rattlesnakes had used. The strings were spewing from them but they were ultimately connected to something... something in the deeper recesses of the facility.

Jacob grunted, staggering slightly as his eyes began to feel like someone was pressing hot pokers against his retinas. He shook his head and held his paw out in front of him, just over Max's shoulder. With a shout, a full beam of Realmbreaker erupted from his palm, a single, concentrated blast as thick as his arm. The pillar of light cut right through all the infected in its path, stunning the creatures or completely causing them to fall.

"When did you learn how to do that!?" Max exclaimed.

"I drew inspiration from the Puritan's Beams," Jacob grunted, slipping past Max down the path he had just created. "Come on. I know a way to piss Hades off."

"Do we really want to be pissing off the guy with the power to move anything and everything?"

An infected lunged at Jacob from the right but Marcus was instantly there, cleaving the zombie in two with his blades. The roo spun around, his swords outstretched. Whipping winds launched up from around him, enhanced by searing lasers. They ripped the infected apart within seconds.

"If Hades had any balls, he'd face us head on," growled the roo. "He's hiding so we need to bring him out." He nodded towards Jacob. "Let's squash his precious flower."

Jacob hurried straight down the path made by Marcus. As he approached the door leading into the holding room, the walls doorframe began melting towards one another. But that was a direct sign of Hades manipulating the environment. He immediately hurled a lightning bolt of Realmbreaker at the changing metal, sending it straight back to Hades. He could see the Chaos Lord sensing the attack and immediately pulled back with a grimace, eyes wide in shock. The melting frame stopped, giving Jacob time to squeeze through.

"Here again," Marcus grunted, eyeing the two, still bloodied racks.

"It's the first time I 'released' you," Jacob laughed shortly.

Marcus gave him a faint nudge but the smile on his face faded when he saw the big red flower blooming at the far corner of the room. He immediately covered his nose, fearing infection but Jacob wasn't so scared. Hades didn't want him dead.

"I see what you are doing."

He froze.

The rack to his right suddenly warped and took on the bizarre features of Hades, the crocodilian feature pushing seamlessly through the metal.

"Do you think destroying the plague will harm me? I already told you. This means nothing to me."

Jacob lifted his paw towards the flower, alabaster lightning crackling between his fingertips. "You expect me to believe that you just started his plague because you had put all that time and effort into creating the _Valkyrie's Kiss_and decided to use it anyway even though you knew it was useless?"

The other rack began to reshape and formed into Hades' visage, covered in blood.

"Would you not? Should you be gifted with something you find utterly useless, would you not use it at least once just for the novelty of it?"

"Ignore him, Jake!" growled Marcus. He eyed at the Chaos Lord with a snarl. "Only a sick bastard would do something terrible just because he could! You've killed thousands of people!"

"Would I be worse than someone who would do something terrible for his own selfish needs?" The face on the right suddenly reshaped itself, becoming the face of a handsome cougar. Marcus instantly gagged. The voice emanating from those lips changed. "Why would you say all those things, Marcus? You knew how much it hurt me and you were just like me. You were just trying to cover your own ass."

The other face on the left changed to match the visage of Eric. Covered in blood, the effect was more haunting. "Langley killed me. You had a whole day to catch up with me but you just left me there to die. How could I tell you the truth when I couldn't trust you? Why should I trust you with avenging me when you spent so long tormenting me and didn't even care enough to check up on me when I didn't appear?"

Marcus pressed his paws, swords in paw, against his ears. "Shut up! You're not Eric! You're not!"

"Get a hold of yourself, soldier!" barked Max as the others filtered in. Joanna blocked the door again with a wall of rock. "Hades is just playing you!"

"You were always so short sighted."

Even Max froze, his eyes wide. The face on the right was back to looking reptilian, a dragon, male. The one of the left was that of a male lion.

"You have no pride in your sexuality," the lion snarled. "You think defending our name and acting tough gave you some credibility? That you weren't gay because you were raised by two gay men?"

Max rolled his eyes at the creatures. "Nice try." He pointed at the dragon. "Josh has a lisp and constantly bats his eyes." Then he pointed at the lion. "Hal never said that. He never thought that. I got into fights because I found something worth fighting for. They kicked me out because of that. They're pacifists and didn't want a 'warmonger' under their roof." He puffed out his chest proudly. "But I still bear their name proudly. I'm a Lionhart because it's for them that I'm defending this world from assholes like you. So why don't you just..." Max immediately brought _Eden_swinging around to the right rack.

"... FUCK..."

BOOM!

He fired and the rack shattered into a million bits. Then he turned to the lion.

"... OFF!"

BOOM!

Marcus shook his head in disbelief. "You just blew up your parents..." He gave Max a surprised stare. "Your gay parents."

"Yeah?" Max answered. "So? What's the matter with having been raised by two dads?"

Marcus recoiled, lifting his paws and shaking them madly. "N-n-nothing! I think..." He blushed faintly beneath his fur. "That's pretty cool."

The dragon nudged him lightly. "Hey, you lived in a family where everyone bones one another, right? It's just like that. Except kinkier. The city gives you access to very weird shit." He nodded at Jacob. "Jake, do something about that flower, will ya?"

When Jacob didn't respond, the dragon's smile began to fade. "Jake?"

For his part, Jacob still heard Hades' voice in his head. Though the lightning crackled at his fingertips, he didn't launch it quiet yet...

"Nothing you do will stop this," Hades taunted. "The plague will overrun Pollenburn and all those people in the city, your brother included, will be lost to you. Severing my control over the infected will only make them unpredictable, wild. Come with me, surrender, and I will ensure their safety."

Jacob closed his eyes briefly and a smile crossed his muzzle. "You know, I get it."

Hades was silent.

"It's not that you don't care. It's that you've given up hope... but at the same time, are holding onto it tightly. It's just like these zombies. You knew it wouldn't work but you're still trying to bring it back in some way. You keep telling yourself it won't work but looking at that flower, the one sitting right in front of you on that pedestal, you can't help but think that maybe, just maybe it might work."

He could see Hades flinch in front of the pedestal holding the original Valkyrie's Kiss.

"Newsflash, Hades."

Jacob launched the bolt and it collided with the flower. The thousands of strings connected to the controlling flower were instantly severed and he traced one of the links straight to Hades. The Chaos Lord gave a cry as _Realmbreaker_struck him and he staggered, falling against the wall while clutching his heart. The flower itself turned a shimmering white before dissolving in a flurry of twinkling, dust-sized stars.

"There's a reason why hope was in the box," Jacob finished.

******

Hades, eyes wide, couldn't believe what had just happened. He, Hades, the Chaos Lord of Manipulation, eons old and with boundless experience under his belt had just been slandered and harmed by an insolent pup. Yes, he held a weapon of insurmountable power but he shouldn't have been able to hurt Hades so much!

"Did you understand the reference?"

He turned. R3 leaned against the wall to his left, reading a book. "I have no time for this!"

A sky-blue trident mixed with gold was suddenly barring his path. R3 wasn't even looking up from where he held up the weapon. Something... was odd about the device. As Hades examined it, he felt his heart constrict in fear. Within the weapon was sentience and the immense power of an entire reality. It was like a Puritan in a stable Seal World. No... not a Puritan. Puritans were mindless. The entity behind the weapon was intelligent and he could feel it mocking him.

"In a world far from your reach, there is a legend about a pantheon of gods trapping all the evils of the world within a box. Or vase. The translations are a little vague. But they entrusted this box to a woman, Pandora. Unable to resist temptation, she opened the vessel and unleashed all the evils in the world. She shut it, however, but only Hope remained."

R3 straightened, swinging the trident over his shoulder. "Jacob told you that there's a reason hope was in the box. Hope, an evil. Because it prolongs suffering. It makes us hold onto things that are long dead. Sound familiar?"

Hades snarled at the Chaos Lord. "I do not need to be lectured by the likes of you!" he snapped. "Your power may be vast but don't think that mine is to be belittled!"

He turned away for the bearer of trident and cast his gaze back into the stronghold. The Wielder of Realmbreaker and his allies were rushing to the second flower located on a southern watchtower. "I aimed to break him. Have him experience my loss so that he will be compelled to work beside me!" He made a slicing motion through the air. "No more delays!"

As Reaper shattered the second flower, Hades seized the base of the watch tower, tearing its supports right out from underneath it. He grinned with satisfaction as the entire structure wavered precariously began beginning to topple.

"So... You plan on killing him then?" R3 said dismissively.

It took a second for Hades to realise that his actions could lead to the _death_of Reaper. Before he could act, however, the big cobra - Snakebite - seized Reaper and the smaller woman, that Boswin woman, under his arms and vaulted right off the falling Tower. The vixen did the same and she dove cleanly into the earth, using her blasted Branded powers to avoid damage. The other two, the dragon and kangaroo, easily jumped off as well, using their various powers to avoid getting hurt.

Snakebite landed deftly on the ground with a loud crash, his enormous metal feet smashing dozens of infected right beneath him.

"Wow... so much for fall damage," Jacob laughed. "Thanks Iro."

"Yes," answered the cobra.

Hades felt both relieved and infuriated. Now, managing the plague fell entirely on the original Valkyrie's Kiss and the last control flower. He could sense the strain on them and as a result, the infected and his troops in Pollenburn were starting to suffer.

"He draws strength from those around him," Hades rumbled darkly. "I cannot touch the Unsealed without risking another Great Seal War. However... the others are just as vulnerable." His eyes narrowed on the image of the bronze dragon. A snort left his nostrils. The stubborn creature would not go down so easily and was too much trouble. The sow still had her value and could be used. It was between the kangaroo and the cobra.

The group began racing towards the chamber holding the last control flower. Perhaps he would lose the plague but if he gained the Wielder, he would be the richer for it.

... he made his move.

******

"Oh come on!" Jacob bellowed. "This!? Really!?"

Strangely organic arms began jutting out of the walls, lunging for them as far as they could go. They scratched and clawed, catching Jacob's coat before he lashed at them with a bolt of Realmbreaker. He could feel every little slash going straight to Hades but that only drove the Chaos Lord further. The arms drew closer, the walls sliding across the floor with the intention to crush.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Marcus repeated over and over as he led the team down the quickly narrowing hallway. Joanna was right behind him and she stopped here and there the prop piles of rock against the walls, stalling their advance. But every time she stopped, the arms would seize her. Max sliced at them with the massive bayonet of Eden and then pushed her forward.

Jacob suddenly didn't like his odds being at the back of the group. He hoped his words against Hades hadn't inspired the Chaos Lord to abandon him as a prospect and just kill him outright. When the walls surged forward, he decided to hold back on sending bolts straight to Hades, content for the moment to keep the grasping arms away. The arms almost completely consumed his vision as he felt the walls start to brush up against his shoulders. He was forced to angle his body slightly as he ran.

Marcus suddenly gasped ahead as he burst out into the adjacent room. Joanna arrived a second later and she immediately spun, seizing the walls with her paws and using her supernatural strength to keep the walls from closing further. But the might of a Chaos Lord was greater and no matter how firmly she kept her paws on the ground, the walls were still closing in with the might of the entire mountain moving. It did not help that the arms lashed at her, claws raking against her flesh and face.

Max burst through a second later, slicing at the arms as much as possible. He joined in Joanna's valiant efforts, dropping Eden entirely and seizing one side of the closing wall with both hands and digging his heels into the ground. Marcus drew inspiration from the moment and did the same with the opposite wall. Nothing they did slowed the advance of the wall.

Jacob squirmed as he was forced almost entirely to his side. He couldn't take full steps anymore and he felt like he was just shuffling through a sea of flailing limbs, barely making any progress. With Caroline and Snakebite still ahead of him, he wondered if this was how Hades hoped to trap him. He could barely see through the arms as they wrapped around him, tugging and pulling at him like they were dragging him into the darkness.

He couldn't see.

He couldn't breathe.

Suddenly, the limbs froze and turned an icy blue. A second later, they completely shattered as the walls lurched forward. The icy chunks rained down on Jacob, making him grunt but he saw the light at the end of the narrowing walkway. There was only Snakebite between himself and freedom. He surged forward but found the arms quickly shooting back out of the walls, seizing his shoulder and keeping him from freedom.

Then, twin red lights shot through the darkness. The lights, the two red eyes of one of Snakebite's mechanical snakes, shot towards him, sinking its fangs into his shoulder. He gave a cry of agony as the snake suddenly yanked him off his feet, pulling him up and through the slew of arms. The ground came crashing against his back, leaving him gasping and bleeding.

But he was out.

The pained cry from behind them made them both turn.

"Hold on!" Joanna shouted, putting all her might into keeping the walls from moving.

Max thrust his hand through the arms. "Grab my hand!"

But through the arms, Snakebite was barely visible and his enormous frame, already forced on its side, had all but vanished in the sea of dark limbs. Caroline threw her hand forward. Though the limbs were once again encased in a coating of ice, somehow they did not shatter. Hades had adapted so quickly!

"Iro!" Jacob shouted, leaping to his feet. He flung a lightning bolt of _Realmbreaker_into the horrid cacophony of grasping arms. The white lightning arced from limb to limb, immediately shattering them and sending bolt after bolt towards Hades. But the annoyance could no longer cause the Chaos Lord to flinch. The walls surged closer. The sounds of bones and metal starting to get crushed accompanied by Snakebite's cry of pain cut right through his heart.

Jacob seized the colliding walls. Lightning cascaded from his paws, crippling the assaulting encroaching arms. "You can make it!" he grunted. "Just get... Move... forward!"

He caught sight of Snakebite's features, their gazes locked. No fear marred the cobra's features. Not even a shred. Instead, the cobra lashed out with the remnants of his strength, seizing Jacob's collar.

"Promise me you'll remember me! Remember my name!"

Jacob seized Snakebite's wrist, his throat suddenly closing up. His own words came back to haunt him. Words that had encouraged Snakebite to make the most of what little time he had left despite living on borrowed time.

"Promise!" shouted the cobra. He threw his head back as the walls closed closer, a pained cry rising from his throat. Joanna grunted and even as Max and the others desperately tried to add their strength, there was nothing saving the doomed Clan leader. Caroline gave up freezing the limbs and seized Snakebite's massive arm, desperately trying to pull him to freedom.

But nothing was working.

"I promise..." Jacob croaked.

For a second, the madness that had haunted Snakebite vanished and the big cobra threw Jacob back, sending the wolf crashing into Joanna. He shook Caroline off and pointed directly at Jacob. The greatest force keeping the walls from crushing him was suddenly gone.

"Remember!" shouted the cobra. "I'M THE MOTHERFUCKING SNAKEBITE!"

BOOM!

******

The earth shook with the sound of explosions and gunfire. Rex kept his head down against the sandy dune while rust-red earth rained down on him. Snipers hiding amidst the junkyard accompanied by mortars prevented them from advancing. He became increasingly aware that every second they spent trying to restrain Sherry was another second that Winston got closer to escape. And if Winston escaped, Sherry's plan could still reach fruition.

Another explosion caused his ears to start ringing and he grimaced loudly, cupping his paws over his big ears. "Goddamnit! We're pinned down!"

Gale crouched behind the poor cover right beside him while Silas was on Gale's other side, keeping his shield up. "She has us pinned down," Gale said. He covered his head as a bullet slammed into the sand near him and showered him with dust. "I'm not familiar with this campaign. I don't know what lies waiting for us beyond that junkyard."

Rex grunted in agreement. They had barely stepped out of the 'home base' on the red, rust-coloured world before they were assaulted by their foes. He glanced over at Gale's shoulder which was now bandaged using the sleeve from his own coat. They had found out the hard way that Sherry had cleverly disguised real ammunition with the virtual ones her 'reinforcements' were using. It was bad enough that if they were 'fatally' wounded they would be sent back to the home base but there was no telling which bullet was real and which was virtual.

"You're both Elemental Lords," Silas growled. "Can't you unleash some crazy attack that'll just level the whole place?"

It was Rex who answered with a shake of his head. "Sherry is a master tactician." The sound of gunfire suddenly fell silent and he perked his ears, swivelling them towards junkyard. He lifted his head just an inch from the small dune to get a better look. A bullet slammed into the dune, showering him with rust coloured dust and forcing him to duck again. "Shit..." he growled, eyes back at Silas. "She would've prepared for each and every one of our techniques. If I were her, if either Gale or I pulled off a big blast, just one shot right here..." He pointed at himself, right between his eyes. "... would be enough to knock us off guard, send us back to home base and stop the attack."

Every 'respawn' still took about fifteen seconds before the victim became fully active again. Though they were not completely bound to the simulation, it was still entirely possible for either of them to start tearing down the simulation room if they were determined enough. The problem Rex feared was that Sherry had likely planned for that very eventuality. In his mind, he imagined Sherry had rigged the room of explode or collapse if it sustained too much damage.

"She's still stalling for time, though," Rex said. He raked his claws through the sands. "Simulation rooms work by using the various Seals to create a virtual world. The sand is real in every sense of the world but it is the Seals of Light and Dark that gives us a sense of space and vastness, creating an illusion. A sort of hypnotism."

"Your point being?" Gale demanded.

"Sherry is still within the same room as us. It's a finite space. She only has a certain distance to run." Rex used his claw to draw a rectangle in the sand in front of him. He created a square for home base and then drew three circles to indicate where they were standing. "We can't just run. I can teleport us back outside the Tower if we wanted but having someone like Sherry at our backs is a very big mistake."

"I've seen her at work," his fellow Elemental Lord agreed. "The moment we turn our backs to her is the moment she cuts us down." He glanced upwards at the clear but still red sky. "We don't know the land. But if I can get high enough, I should be able to do a quick scouting mission." He turned back towards Rex. "Can you get me up there?"

Rex nodded in return. "Typical MODD simulation rooms are no taller than ten storeys. I should still be able to teleport you within the confines of the simulation. Just hope they don't have anti-air missiles..."

Gale gave him a confident smirk. "No missile has ever caught up with me." He gave Rex a firm nod. "Whenever you're ready."

Rex quickly opened a portal discretely to Gale's left. The Elemental Lord leapt through the gateway and reappeared high above them, just barely a dot. Using the power of his Seal, Gale quickly flew straight over the junkyard, surveying the land. None of the snipers seemed to take notice.

Rex breathed a little easier as Gale started his return journey. How dearly he wished his brother was here. Jacob was always a big fan of VBSims and would know the tricks to this particular campaign. He grew a little more agitated as he realised Sherry was really pressing them on time. Not only was Winston the issue but Jake was on his way to the Rattlesnake Stronghold. He was probably already there.

Was that her tactic? Was she trying to make them desperate, causing them to panic?

Gale dropped in beside them, a hail of bullets barely missing him. He then quickly redrew the diagram Rex had made in the sand, indicating the general shape and size of the junkyard. He jabbed a finger against the big, circular plane at the centre of the junkyard, away from the big factory-like structure.

"Sherry is standing there. Out in the open."

"If that doesn't scream 'trap', I don't know what does," Silas grunted. "Did she see you?"

Gale nodded grimly. "I'm sure she did." He pursed his lips. "Something feels... wrong about this. That reveal at the staircase, turning Cal against us... it doesn't fit her usual MO. She's not flashy. She avoids drama."

"I'd rather not think about that crazy bitch's motivations right now." Silas drew a line around the edges of the junkyard, tracing a path from where they were huddled, around to the western side and through what appeared to be a narrow opening on the edge. "Looks like we can sneak in through here. Catch her by surprise."

It was a good though, Rex agreed, if they were working against a pre-determined artificial intelligence that was designed to be blind to that sort of tactic. But so far, Sherry's actions were precise and well-planned. She had timed her reveal to the point where Langley had been waiting in the shadows. She had enough time to turn Cal into a cyborg and flee to set this elaborate battle up. There was a reason why she chose this stage and for someone who planned so far ahead like her, an opening like the one Silas suggested was obviously a trap.

"Better idea," Rex said, drawing a line straight from their position to the circle. "We rush her."

Both Gale and Silas gave him a startled look.

"Rex," Gale began, "I know you want to get out of here but -"

"No. Listen." He said softly. "Sherry expects us to pull off something smart. She's left these openings here... and here... and here..." He pointed at three locations where it would've been easier to slip past the snipers and mortars. "Just so we can slide past them and attack her. But I'm willing to wager that there are traps there. Fatal traps. The one thing she isn't expecting is a head-on rush."

"But we could be killed!" Silas hissed. "We can't tell which bullets are real and which aren't."

"That won't matter if we're invulnerable." He gave the older wolf a smirk. He then picked up a bunch of sand. "This stuff is real and endlessly regenerating. Use it to keep us completely invulnerable and we charge right down the middle. Attack her head on."

Gale made a face but ended with a firm nod. "I'm inclined to agree." He then turned towards Silas. "Think you can keep us shielded?"

Silas ran his paws through the sand, a look of concentration wrinkling his muzzle. His ears were back and Rex could sense his boyfriend's insecurity. Forbidden Seals were restricted for a reason and their use was always extremely dangerous. He hated asking so much from Silas so he was already making up alternate routes. Maybe if he opened a moving portal ahead of them, any bullets that came their way would -

"I can do it," Silas responded.

"You can?" Rex repeated, a little surprised.

The older wolf gave him a firm nod. "Ever since Jake somehow funnelled Realmbreaker_through me, I've felt my grip on the _Seal of Finality has become a little... stronger. I don't know how to explain it but the Forbidden Seal always felt like I was just barely holding onto it with a finger."

"You have a 59% synch rate with it! And that's high for a Forbidden Seal. Any ordinary Seal and you'd have a Seal Weapon but you know how those Seals are. No Weapons, no Armour and every use comes with a steep price." Rex shook his head. "I know I asked this but..."

Silas nodded. "I know. I know. But now... I can actually feel like I'm holding onto it."

Gale let out a thoughtful noise. "I remember reports saying that _Realmbreaker_caused Seal synchronisations rates to fluctuate so perhaps that is what happened." He clapped Silas' shoulder firmly. "But if you can render us invulnerable until we reach the junkyard, we can take care of the rest."

"I can do that, sir," grunted Silas. He pressed both paws against the ground. His entire body began to emit a light blue glow. The glow suddenly expanded outward from him, forming a small dome that encased both himself, Rex and Gale. Where his paws lay, the rusty sand began to dissipate. "Okay! We're a go!"

The trio instantly got to their feet and charged. Gun and mortar fire descended upon them. Not a single bullet passed through Silas' barrier and even when the mortar shells exploded upon impact, they felt nothing. As they drew closer, the snipers became visible. Gale seized several kunai from his bandolier and threw them at the defenders. Each one became encased in the whirling winds of a tornado. Entire chunks of the junkyard were torn up by the raging winds. Rex shouted 'Cosmic Cutter' and sent his spinning shuriken of light raining down upon the junkyard.

Their progress slowed when the flat sands gave way to the uneven ground of the junkyard. But Silas kept up the shield and even though gunfire continued to hit them from all directions, they remained untouched. The clearing amidst the sea of junk came up ahead and true to Gale's word, Sherry remained standing silently at its centre, hands on the hilt of her weapon. There was a look of concentration on her face.

"I had not expected a head on rush," she admitted. "Frankly, I had hoped to lead you into the factory from any of the side paths."

"You knew we'd send Gale on a scouting mission," Rex accused, lifting Shimmering Hope towards her. "That's why you didn't equip any of your goons with anti-air defences. You wanted him to see the openings. I bet something in those openings would've led us straight into the factory."

A dark smile crossed her features. "So you're more than a preening peacock after all. You actually have a good head on your shoulders." She lashed out with her long blade, a sharp gust of wind blasting towards them. Silas' shield kept it from blowing them back. "Let's see how long you can keep it."

Her sudden switch from brooding mastermind to cartoon villainy disturbed Rex but she quickly cast that aside as he turned his attention to defeating her. "Silas, can you keep the guys in the rest of the junkyard off us? Gale, you're with me!"

Without question, Silas pulled back into the junkyard proper, taking his shield with him. Though bullets continued to rain down, it only struck he shield, confirming Rex's suspicions that Sherry had no intention of letting any of her henchmen end the fight too soon.

"You realise, of course," she said, slowly starting to circle them. Gale and Rex complied with the movement, likewise keeping the distance between them. "That should I kill you here, you will not respawn."

"You're facing off against two Elemental Lords," countered Gale. "You must really have confidence in your abilities if you truly believe you could defeat both of us."

"Both? Perhaps not. But one? Well..." She suddenly thrust her free hand forward and made a grabbing gesture, pulling her hand back towards herself. An enormous gust of wind yanked Rex off his feet and threw him straight at her. The Tower of Whispering Winds came shooting towards him, ready to cleave his head right off his shoulders. He reacted quickly, his form vanishing quickly into a black portal only to reappear right behind her.

Rex spun, swinging his blade. Sherry had anticipated the move, keeping the momentum of her swing so that she could bring her sword crashing against Rex's attack.

"You've been watching far too many cartoons," warned the sinister hawk. "Constantly attacking from the rear. Not everyone stands still and looks in shock when you deliver your witty one-liner. For instance..."

Suddenly, the gaps between the Tower of Whispering winds widened, allowing Rex's sword to slip between them. With all his weight on his sword, Rex was unprepared for the sudden lack of resistance and tumbled forward. At the same time, Sherry took two quick steps backwards... revealing Gale's horrified features as the chimp came rushing straight at Rex, his own sword arcing through the air.

Rex used his momentum to quickly duck and roll forward. Gale's feet slammed into his ribs, causing him to gasp. He felt the chimp tumble over him. He uncurled on the ground, grasping his ribs.

"Individually, you both have impressive capabilities," Sherry said, backing away from them both. "But together, you two couldn't be more of a detriment to one another if you slaughtered one another right now."

She was right. The Elemental Lords were part of a single unit but worked independently of one another. Rex, having been consumed with his search for his mother's killer, had spent little time on the field with any of the other Elemental Lords. He knew Sierra got along well with almost everyone and Rocky worked well with Valentine but him and Gale? Quiet, pacifist Gale Winthrop and boisterous, flashy Rex Reaper?

Slowly, he propped himself up on his paws and knees. "You're just stalling for time," he grunted. "You want us to grow impatient. Jake is out there hoping to stop the plague and you're buying time for Winston to make his escape. You know there's no escape for you."

It took all his effort not to charge at her in that instant. This was a battle of wits and tactics. One slip, one sign of weakness and Sherry would gain the advantage. He tried to keep himself from snarling but the frustration of the situation mixed with the pain in his ribs didn't afford him any sort of cool.

"You best dispatch of me quickly then," Sherry taunted.

Rex ran through all he knew about Sherry's tactics. She was a master at deception and excelled in debilitating her foes. Every time she took the field and even outside battle, her tactics revolved around crippling her enemies before dealing the final blow. In terms of raw strength, she didn't have capacity to outright kill someone who was prepared.

"I trusted you with my life, Sherry," Gale suddenly growled. Rex glanced to his right and was shocked when the Elemental Lord of Wind rose, sliding his Wind Wakizashi back into its hilt. "You had my ear. I always heeded your counsel. I may not have acted upon it immediately but I heard what you were saying. But I am not your puppet like Winston."

The winds around them suddenly kicked up, blowing rust coloured sands all around them. They began whipping faster and harder, building up a terrible wail like a banshee's scream.

"I will not be your tool!" Gale shouted. The winds all gathered towards his right hand, golden light erupting between his fingertips. Forged by the light, the winds solidified into a glistening silver and gold bow. Each of the arms of the bow was designed with its outer edge covered by a bladed edge. The rest was a glistening gold including the ring that formed the guard around Gale's hand. Strangely, no bowstring remained around the wicked looking weapon.

The Seal Weapon of Gale Winthrop.Breath of Destiny.

Sherry did not seem perturbed by the appearance of the weapon Gale seldom used. Instead, she began to lift slowly off the ground, taking up her usual battle position.

"You never were, Gale," she said softly.

There was a strange glint in her eyes that Rex didn't like, the faintest flicker of triumph. He only got half a warning out before both combatants were suddenly shooting high into the air and clashing weapons. The Tower of Whispering Winds slammed against the bladed edge of the Breath of Destiny. Upon contact, a tremendous storm whipped up around the two, sending a blast of wind that knocked Rex back into the ground like he had been struck by a car. Hurricane-level winds began kicking up all around them, tearing pieces of junk straight from the numerous piles and carrying them on a spiralling path around the two. The same winds carried the sands into the air, each grain like a tiny dagger that ripped against Rex's flesh.

"Silas!" he shouted but his voice was quickly drowned out by the roar of the building storm.

CLANG!

Somehow, the sound of the blades of the two aerial warriors rose above the rest of the storm. It was the peel of thunder that silenced all else.

CLANG!

"Silas!" Rex shouted again. He froze when an arm wrapped around his shoulder and drove him to the ground. A dome of light encased him and a shield hung over his head, held by the sweaty and panting wolf. Silas grimaced as the storm around them intensified and the dome protecting them started to shrink.

"Fuck..." Silas grimaced. "I'm not strong enough to keep this up! They're taking away all the fuel I have for my Seal!"

Rex glanced straight upwards. A vertical column of wind had been created only occasionally broken when the two warriors clashed. In that instant, the blast from their colliding weapons shattered the tornado, revealing the two. A moment later, the twister resumed, once again consuming the two combatants.

He doubted that both of Gale and Sherry could remain unharmed if the storm was truly a pure tornado.

"Get us to the centre of that thing!" Rex shouted. He ducked as a large slab of metal that looked like the muffler of an ancient car slammed against Silas' dome of invulnerability. It raked across the surface before being carried away into the storm.

"Are you nuts!?" Silas bellowed. "We'll get torn apart!"

"Trust me!"

And Silas did. The bigger, older wolf gripped Rex's shoulders and dragged them both towards the storm. Rex didn't dare teleport themselves lest he leave Silas' protective dome and get torn to shreds. His eyes boggled when one of Sherry's troops - virtual as they were - were carried up by the tornado and torn into six difference pieces. He was surprised the simulation still remained intact.

They approached the wall of wind; a visible, swirling barrier that could tear a man to shreds. Rex ducked instinctively as what looked like a buzzsaw raced past them accompanied by several nuts and bolts. A faint sizzling his hit ears and he pushed them back. Above them, the sky began wavering. The blood red began fading in and out in a blur of static. The plain, white walls of the simulation room flashed briefly before the simulation desperately tried to maintain the integrity of the virtual world.

He quickly exchanged glances with Silas. The older wolf hugged him tightly, unwilling to let go despite the ferocious winds. Then, as one they jumped past the threshold.

It was like stepping into a house being ravaged by a hurricane, a house just in the eye of the storm. Everything was calm within the walls and the sounds of Gale and Sherry fighting rang clearly and loudly. High above them, Sherry lashed out at Gale with her broken blade, the weapon becoming whip-like. Gale was forced to keep his distance but that did not put him at a disadvantage. He pulled at the invisible bowstring of his Seal Weapon, unleashing arrows of compressed air at Sherry, each one capable of tearing chunks of flesh clear off her body.

Both moved incredibly fast, ducking and weaving beneath one another's blows.

"We need to stop them," Silas shouted. "They're going to tear down the whole tower at this rate!"

Rex was inclined to agree. The simulation was starting to break apart. If the two were allowed to keep fighting, they would bring down the entire tower or possibly create a storm that would be an even greater threat than the plague or the Puritan.

Was that what Sherry wanted? To enrage Gale to the point where he would wipe Pollenburn off the map?

No, that didn't fit her words. That just didn't sit well with Rex. She wasn't megalomaniacal. She was willing to die for a cause. Maybe she saw herself as a martyr of some sort.

A martyr...

"I know how to stop her," Rex said, straightening. "But I need to get up there."

Silas glanced down at the ground and then back up at the column of winds. "Okay... This will sound crazy but what if..." Then he shook his head. "Aw, to hell with it. You better know what you're doing, kiddo." He then turned and seized Rex's cheeks. "And you better not die up there. I am so going to stuff your ass after this."

He pressed their lips together and all the worries of the world, even the raging storm outside of Silas' dome, seemed to fade away. It took all of Rex's willpower to pull away and offer his boyfriend a shaky grin.

"I'm not going to be able to walk, will I?"

"Not for a whole goddamn week." Silas then turned Rex towards the centre of the column of wind. He thrust his paw outwards. A shimmering panel of blue light appeared in front of him, resting horizontally and hovering just a few inches off the ground. Rex exchanged glances with his boyfriend and after a nod of confirmation, he tentatively stepped onto the panel. It was surprisingly solid.

"Using the Seal of Finality to make the air within an area invulnerable..." he said, awed. "Wow..."

"Shut up and run!" Silas barked. A series of panels appeared in front of Rex, sweeping upwards in a spiralling formation.

Rex didn't waste another second and bolted up the steps, keeping his eyes up on the two combatants above him. As he drew closer, every step became more and more dangerous. Gale and Sherry were barely paying attention to him. Both were starting to show signs of strain with Small wounds appearing all over Sherry's body and sweat drenching Gale's fur. It was clear Gale still had the advantage as the more powerful fighter with greater experience in one-on-one combat. As a tactician, Sherry found herself limited within the column of wind, a fate she seemed to willingly accept.

One of Sherry's lashes caught the step Rex stood on and the brief moment when her Tower of Whispering Wind was stalled brought her attention to the advancing wolf. Rex knew that the more enemies she faced, the greater her advantage so he had to act fast.

"Desolation Grid!" he cried, thrusting his paw forward. Beams of light formed the grid of lasers in front of him and quickly rushed towards Sherry. Her eyes flashed and she quickly darted backwards...

WHAM!

Just as a fiery meteor struck her from behind. It was no bigger than a basketball but it still struck her from behind. A cry ripped from her lips as her right shoulder was completely dislocated and fell limp. She then remembered the presence of Rex's Desolation Grid and quickly swerved to the left, away from the lasers but not before they raked across her left arm painfully. The smell of burning flesh and feathers was quickly carried away with the winds.

"Shouting out one attack and executing another secretly," she whispered to herself softly. "You're smarter than I thought, Rex..."

She took no pains to flee.

This was the end.

She had been distracted for far too long and a ninja like Gale would pounce on that opportunity. Her eyes lifted as the arrow of compressed air came rushing straight towards her. The fury in Gale's features, the hatred he bore... it was exactly what she wanted.

She had won.

Except...

"No!"

Thwack!

Sherry's eyes boggled when Rex's form suddenly leapt in front of her, arms wide. The wolf convulsed as the arrow slammed straight into his gut, tearing through flesh and fur alike. Gale's fast reflexes and managed to pull back the arrow before it fully tore through the wolf's abdomen but the damage was done. Blood erupted from Rex's muzzle as he dropped to the ground.

"Rex!" Gale screamed and Sherry thought he heard Silas shout the same.

Instincts took over and she bolted straight for Rex. She caught him before he crashed to the ground. His eyes were shut but he was still breathing. She couldn't understand why he would save her and she desperately searched for an answer in his features but there was only pain there. He lowered Rex onto the ground gently as the storm around them abated, Gale's fury calmed momentarily.

The simulation became far too distracting and she quickly brought up the control panel, ending the farce. The devastated junkyard, the blood red skies and the rusty sands all vanished, replaced by the torn and shattered white panels of the VBSim Arena. Gale dropped down beside her and shoved her back roughly.

"Rex, what they hell were you thinking!?" Gale demanded. "Why would you step in front of her?"

Rex grimaced as his paws began to glow over his wound, healing himself. The wolf pried his eyes open, fighting against the pain. "Son-of-a-bitch that hurts..." he grimaced. Then he locked gazes with Sherry.

WHAM!

The pain was only brief but the moment the powerful blow rang throughout her entire body and send every limb limp, Sherry realised that she had been played. She hit the ground hard and an enormous weight fell on her, a Seal Shield pressed against her back and keeping her from moving. Her eyes didn't leave Rex's. The wolf's lips twisted slightly into a grim smile.

She had lost.

"Because that's what she wanted... She wanted to you to lose it. She was going to be a martyr. If you killed her now, she'd forever haunt your memory and drive your every move. Her words, her motivations and her ideals would never stop guiding your actions." He grimaced and shut his eyes tight. "You can't let her get to you, Gale."

"So you let yourself get shot!?" Gale exclaimed.

"We're her instruments of change, remember?" Rex answered softly, the pain in his voice fading slightly as he continued to heal. "She's invested a lot in us." He flashed Gale a grin. "She's put a lot of time and effort into twisting your emotions, hoping that by you killing her, she'd forever change the course of your destiny. But if someone else became the martyr, if you ended up dedicating your life to the memory of someone else..."

Rex grinned diabolically at Sherry. "... then she'd lose everything. Isn't that right?"

Sherry did not respond. In all her planning, in the plots and schemes she had weaved, she had never counted on Rex throwing himself selflessly into the line of fire just to save her. Admittedly, it was all a ploy but in the moment of shock when she realised Gale would take up Rex's cause instead... She feared everything she had worked for would fall to nothingness.

And it was that vulnerability that Rex preyed upon.

"You..." Gale began, glancing between Rex and Sherry. "You played me..."

Rex laughed softly, still coughing slightly. "Yeah... I know. Sorry. I had to. It was the only way to stop her."

It really was... And Sherry was unsure if she should be infuriated or pleased. She was pulled to her feet by Silas. With one arm completely useless, it was easy for him to restrain her. Her Seal Weapon lay on the ground far outside of her reach.

"So what now?" she asked softly.

"Now," Rex grunted, rising to his feet. "I file an official report. We send you to the Black Ring for containment and to await your trial. You'll be charged for a hell of a lot and you know what?" He offered her a lopsided grin. "You might just be the scapegoat for this whole thing. No one outside this room knows I started the plague here in Pollenburn but after you admitted to starting the one in the bunker, it wouldn't take too long for people to think you're the one that spread it to the rest of the Six Families too."

Clever. Very clever. No one outside of MODD command would know the truth and she'd end up being executed for her crimes. Everything she had hoped to achieve would be turned to ash and tossed into the wind. She'd only be remembered as one of the greatest villains in all of Mortaelian history.

It didn't matter what the truth was. Not really. All that matter is what people believed. Rex would get away with his crimes. She'd be blamed. And Gale... well...

She locked gazes with her Elemental Lord.

"Nothing will change what you've learned here," she said grimly. "Whether you like it or not, your paths have been altered. Not the way I would have liked... but I at least hope you've learned something."

Rex exchanged glances with Gale and that moment of indecision, the look Gale gave Rex, the regret over shooting the wolf... it gave her some hope.

"Put her in some cell she won't cause trouble," Gale ordered. "I'll retrieve the data. Meet me back here in fifteen minutes. We need to get Winston and then to the Rattlesnake Stronghold to catch up with your brother."

******

"What did you want him to remember?"

Snakebite turned, or at least he thought he turned. The pain of being crushed had been blissfully brief but now that he stood in the full darkness of what he only assumed was the abyss, he was unsure what lay ahead of him. Fear was not an emotion he was accustomed to but not knowing what came next, what lay in the darkness... it frightened the hell out of him.

For so long he had believed nothing lay in the next life for him. The only thing that mattered was what he did with his life. It was this belief that drove him to become Snakebite of the Rattlesnake Clan. He had forgotten that ideal for a few years, becoming obsessed with spreading his own 'plague' and converting others to the _Rattlesnakes._But he was reminded of that motivation by the very same wolf that had reduced him to that torn off his arms and legs.

"You can open your eyes, you know."

Slowly, Snakebite peeled his eyes open. He wasn't sure whether or not he should've laughed when he saw only white light around him but that feeling died when he realised it wasn't actually 'light' that he was staring at. It didn't burn his retinas and he couldn't feel any heat radiating from the source. Everything was just... white.

And standing in front of him was what he could only describe as the Angel of Death.

"Yes," he murmured softly. "I wanted him to remember my name. I wanted everyone to remember my name. Yes."

"Are you sure?" asked the Angel, inclining his head to the side. "Just your name? Not your actions? Not who you were?"

Snakebite snorted derisively and was surprised to find his body surprisingly intact. All the cybernetic implants were gone and he was just back to being Snakebite of the Rattlesnakes. Even the serpentine heads sprouting from his shoulders and the one that made up his tail were back.

"That goes without saying," he murmured, a little surprised at the clarity his mind had taken. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he felt that he could think straight. He wasn't filled with the obsession to spread his own 'infection' around the world or the desire to make sure that everyone knew who he was. That still made old habits hard to kill. "Yes."

"So which version do you want him to remember? The Clan leader of the Rattlesnakes_Clan _or theguy who saved him? Do you want him to remember Snakebite or Iro?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a brief moment then let out a short, mad laugh. "Does it truly matter? I am dead."

"It does matter because you asked him to remember you. How do you want to be remembered? Are you Iro Rakerama? Are you Snakebite? Are you both?"

Snakebite chuckled darkly. "Yes." He thought back to what had driven him to forsake Iro Rakerama and become Snakebite. His defining identity had been bound to the name Rakerama and then he became defined by taking a facsimile of Gale's Seal and using it illegally. "I am more than Iro. Yes. I am more than Snakebite. Yes. Yes."

"Then who are you?"

He shrugged absently. "Does it really matter? Who are you?"

"I am called R3, the Writer of Reality. Is that who I am? No. People know me as a friend, an enemy, a neutral party, a god, a demon, an angel, a devil. But who I am is entirely differently. I am defined by what people think of me but who I am is decided by me and me alone."

Snakebite took the words as some form of lesson. "People will see me however they want. I am a monster. I am a friend. I am an ally. I am a hero. I am all. Yes. I do not care."

"Why?"

"Because I am who I am."

Somehow, he felt that the Writer of Reality was smiling at him. "You do not need to tell me who you are. But how would you like the chance to be who you are? For people to remember you for you instead of the different masks you've worn in your journey to this revelation?"

The Clan leader laughed softly. "What would I do with this chance? Yes. Should I kill? Should I save? Should I love or hate?"

"I think that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself." A door sprang up from behind the Writer, a plain white door with no defining features except for a brass knob. "But here's your chance to do so."

******

Jacob just stared at the mechanical hand sitting on the ground in front of him. The walls that had now been shut tight left the limb hanging out. It lay frozen in that demanding position, pointing at him, telling him to remember... remember. He shut his eyes, trying to sift through the madness of _Realmbreaker_to find Snakbite... But he stopped just as he was about to open the floodgates.

The sorrow of having lost someone, the fruitless search to find comfort in the knowledge that that someone you cared for somehow lived elsewhere... It was exactly what Hades wanted.

It was what defined him.

Rejection of pure, hard fact. Hoping against truth. Delusion in some way to circumvent reality.

Jacob slowly rose to his feet. He didn't even remember when he had fallen to his knees or when the tears had started to fall. As he took stock of his situation, he came to the realisation Hades was just waiting for him to break, just waiting for him to use Realmbreaker for his goals. It was a test. A temptation and one he was unwilling to take.

"I won't forget," he told the ghost of Snakebite. He gingerly got to his feet, paws clenched tightly into fists. If Hades had hoped to weaken him, then he failed miserably. More than ever, he was driven to stop the so-called Chaos Lord.

He spun on his heel, torn coat flapping behind him. "This way," he ordered, marching down the hallway.

Marcus and the others gave one last look at the departed Snakebite before giving pursuit.

The roo quickly seized Jacob's shoulder, trying to stall the wolf's charge. "Jake, are you sure you're okay?"

"No," he growled. "No I'm not." He gave his boyfriend a fierce stare. "Hades did this..." He waved a paw around him. "... all of this, out of some sick sense of pride. The bastard couldn't just let go and he killed thousands, maybe even millions, just because of that!" He pressed a paw against his chest. "He's telling me to let go of my emotional ties but that asshole is the one desperately clinging onto the past and the memory of his family! He's a fucking hypocrite!"

Marcus looked a little worried. "What are you going to do...?"

Jacob glanced back at the barred path and was glad all that remained of Snakebite was that arm. If blood began seeping between the gaps or if he saw anything else... he felt he probably would've broken down and been unable to move.

"I'm going to find Hades and put an end to him before he hurts more people." His eyes darted from face to face. "He didn't want to make an enemy of me. He made the mistake of killing people that I cared about." He shrugged Marcus' paw off. "I make such a bad Worldrider..."

He stormed forward, lightning crackling at his fingertips ready to be launched at anything or at any trace of Hades. He led them straight to a broad, circular chamber that looked like some sort of meeting room for the Rattlesnakes_at the time. The walls were simply overgrown with the vines and flowers coming from the _Valkyrie's Kiss but directly at its centre was another of those large, blood-red flowers.

As soon as he crossed the threshold into the chamber, the vines instantly sprang to life and tried to wrap themselves around him. Marcus was instantly there, swinging his massive curved blades and cutting the fleshy vines away. But even as they fell, the plants just seemed to melt back into the collective mass, regrowing every lost tendril within seconds.

"I'm not going to waste any more time with your games!" Jacob shouted. He flung his paws at the big, red control flower. A wall of vines sprang up in front of the flower, catching the blast from Realmbreaker before it could destroy the plant. As the mutated flora dissipated in a shower of black dust the plants took the chance to counter-attack. Spear-like vines shot out from all directions and shot towards them.

Caroline instantly swung her hands into the air, ice springing up all around them and encasing them within a diamond-hard dome. The vines dug hard into the dome but didn't break through.

"You are foolish to try and use your powers against me," Hades whispered to them all. The ice began to morph and twist, taking on his crocodilian visage. "Your Seals draw power from another world and use it to create in this world. I may not be able to truly create matter but anything already made is mine to shape as I see fit. The more you make, the more I have to manipulate."

True to his word, the interior of the icy dome suddenly began jagged with dozens of spikes angled at the group.

"I too have grown weary of your pretentious morality,"Hades sneered. "The world, all existence, is far from black and white." The spikes began to close in. Caroline thrust her hands outwards, desperately trying to user the power of her Seal to keep the icy spears at bay. But her power was no match for Hades'.

"Can you truly stand on your pedestal when people granted great power do nothing with their power but flounder it on selfish needs and desires? Do they hear your pleas? Do they ignore your cries of agony? Will they heed your desperate prayers for mercy?"

Joanna seized one of the spikes and yanked it clear off the encroaching icy wall. She swung it like a bat, shattering the other spikes around her. The ice suddenly melted in her paws, wreathing her entire forearm and turning into a thick, heavy metal. She gave a cry as she was caught by surprise by the sudden weight, toppling forward.

"Where are the 'merciful gods' who you must dedicate your entire life to in order to receive a better future? Can they truly exist if they would allow such pain and suffering to plague the world? If they were so benevolent, would they not give something more than vague scriptures to be interpreted by the corrupt, greedy, sinful and mortal_heads of a religion based on blind faith? Where is the justice promised when my wife and child were taken from me when they were nothing but good and just?"_

Max gave a shout, telling everyone to duck. He stabbed Eden into the ground, the barrel facing upwards. He pulled the trigger to the enormous gun. Pure fire erupted from the barrel, washing over the ice and melting it rapidly. The spikes dissolved into steam, taking the dome with it. The gaseous mix floated to the centre of the room, coalescing into the vague, ghostly shape of Hades.

"Can you truly say that all is right in the world if you stumbled upon a weapon of great power whereas others have worked countless centuries to uncover its secrets, dedicating their entire lives to that cause?" the Chaos Lord demanded. "Will you be like all the others and use this power for your own selfish gains or use it to help those in need?" He held out his paw towards Jacob. "You know that I will stop should you aid me. You know the quickest and easiest way to make this all go away. Why not just aid me?"

Jacob steeled himself, straightening and giving Hades a defiant stare. "You want to know why?" he growled even as hundreds of vines rose up all around him and loomed ominously over them, their dagger-like points geared to skewer them. "You want to know why even though you've made it clear that you'll leave everyone alone if I surrender myself to you, I _still_won't be the goddamn hero and sacrifice myself in the name of good?"

Hades didn't reply. No one seemed to breathe. Not a single sound was made. In a brief moment, the only two people in the chamber seemed to be Jacob and Hades.

"Well?" demanded Hades, frustration rising from his voice. "Why? Why will you not submit to logic? Why won't you just be sensible? I am offering you vast knowledge, the ability to control Realmbreaker and the lives of those you care about and even the millions that still remain alive in Pollenburn. Why do you still continue to resist?"

Jacob slowly uncurled his fists, the lightning dancing at his fingertips fading. "Because if I did, I'd be making the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives for me pointless. I'd be breaking promises."

His mind went back to Alicia who gave her life fighting against Langley, an innocent life caught in a maelstrom that she never rightly belonged in. Then there was Dorothy who did all she could to save those trapped within her Tor. She could've continued to exist had Jacob hadn't blown open her Tor. Instead she turned into a Puritan, one he was forced to obliterate. Lastly, for Snakebite, who saved him with his last breath.

"You wonder why I'd willingly give up all the power in the world because of people that have already passed. But let me ask you the same question." He locked gazes with the misty form of the Chaos Lord. "Why would _you_sacrifice entire worlds for people that have died?"

"They are not dead!" Hades shouted, suddenly infuriated. "Death is not the end! My wife and daughter are still out there somewhere and I will find them!" He lifted his muzzle, scowling at Jacob. "I see I have been approaching this the wrong way. I hoped to motivate you to find your loved ones by putting them in the same situation as my family. I thought sentimentality would bind you further to this world and drive you further away from an alliance with me. I see now that I was wrong."

Jacob sensed a big 'but' in there and instantly summoned a few bolts of _Realmbreaker_around him.

"You blame me for all of this. Very well then. To show you just how pointless and unfair the world is, to teach you that those with power can and should change the world..."

The blood red flower suddenly began to shrivel up and die. The sharpened vines began to slump against the ground, lifeless and quickly rotting away with the flower.

"... I withdraw my threat. I will no longer actively seek to kill you but you will learn that the world takes lives as quickly as it gives them."

Loud shouts and moans began erupting from the connecting tunnels; horrid screams mixed with pained cries.

"I have obliterated the reanimated dead that I brought back but there are still many that continue to haunt this place. Further, those within Pollenburn continue to exist." Hades' form hovered to the side, indicating a tunnel. "Head this way to the Valkyrie's Kiss_. Destroy it and the plague will be rendered inert and all those that have come back will never rise again. At least..."_ He gave Jacob a pointed stare. "... without intervention."

Jacob was unsure whether to thank the Chaos Lord or condemn him. "You have the power to destroy the Valkyire's Kiss. If you want my help, you'll end this now!"

The misty form of the Chaos Lord began to dissipate. "Don't flatter yourself. You are simply one of many avenues I may wish to take. There is still much more potential for this world. So much more to manipulate."

"If you've withdrawn your threat, then why are there still zombies!?" Joanna demanded. A feral snarl erupted from one of the connecting tunnels. A wide-eyed ocelot with a flower growing out of his jaws stumbled forward. Whether he could truly see was debatable.

"The Valkyrie's Kiss has a consciousness of its own, feral and unintelligent as it is. I merely guided it."

Jacob tried to search for Hades' threads but found, much to his horror, that the Chaos Lord was telling the truth. Without the Chaos Lord controlling the flower, the zombies were driven only to spread. It also became impossible to tell where the flower truly was.

"He really was holding it back..." he murmured. A cough wracked his chest, blood splattering onto his paw. Though he knew it came from Realmbreaker, he realised that it could very well come from a second source. "He was holding back the pollen... Now..." He spun to the others. "We have to destroy that flower now!"

******

The top of the MODD Tower was eerily dark and devoid of life. From there, Rex had a prefect view of the burning city. The fires had intensified. Plumes of thick, acrid, black smoke concealed the stars and caught the hellish red of the flames that gradually turned the city to ash. There were so few lights now in the city but so many in the sky as MODD troops desperately tried to save as many as they could.

"We will rebuild," he told himself.

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind for the moment, he rushed towards the big troop transport sitting at the far end of the open space hanger, a Skytrain-class transport. It was the only ship remaining with everything else having been taken by the MODD troops to help with the evacuation. How this one remained was a mystery but Rex had no doubt Sherry had a part in it.

Imprisoning her in a BLANK Field on the Black Ring was almost too good for her.

As they approached the transport, Rex slowed his advance, wondering how he would deal with Boswin. The old fury at the pig inadvertently attacking his brother burned so dimly in the knowledge that, like him and Gale, the man had been manipulated. He felt... conflicted. Though Winston had his hands guided, it was still his choice to perform the heinous acts that had torn Pollenburn apart.

He stopped at the rear of the tube-like transport. It was about a hundred metres long and could transport up to fifty troops and equipment around the globe on the enormous triangular thrusters positioned on either side of its wings. Unlike most MODD craft, it still needed a runway and was not a VTOL craft, likely one of the reasons why it was left behind by MODD troops. It was old and slow. The rear doors were wide open and there was a clear shot to the cockpit. Through the small cockpit doors, he could see the back of Winston's head behind the pilot's seat.

"We have to tell him," Gale murmured softly. "I don't know how he'll react but he deserves to know."

"We owe him that much," agreed Silas. "I get the feeling that he'll attack us nonetheless but he deserves to die knowing the truth."

Rex had no arguments there and led the way onto the transport.

Alarms instantly began blaring and the engines sprang to life. Boswin likely had seen their approach and had just started the launch procedure. Rex hurried into the transport before the doors slammed shut behind him.

"Winston!" he shouted. "Listen! We need to talk!"

"I knew you would make it here."

The voice that erupted from the PA system was not that of Winston Boswin's... but of Sherry's. Rex's heart began to plummet.

"If you're listening to this, then it means that you've defeated me. Whether or not you killed me is irrelevant. Mostly because right now, in all likelihood, Khan Sho will be sending one of his agents to kill me if you spared me. I am his loose end, after all."

Rex's eyes widened and he spun around. He reached for the power of his Seal only to feel a crushing weight against his chest like someone was squeezing down on him from all directions. The constricting effect of a _very_powerful BLANK Field.

"Please don't try to save me," continued the pre-recording. "I have accepted my fate. You're probably wondering why I would go to such lengths. Why I would try to drive you to become instruments of change and indeed what motivated me to back Winston Boswin and his free distribution of Seals. Well, whether or not you decide to give everyone a Seal, prohibit it or do nothing at all... you deserve to know."

A feeling of dread began creeping up Rex's chest. He peered at the cockpit, at how Winston was unmoving. That dread became panic as the transport suddenly started rocketing forward, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Fuck!" Silas shouted, seizing Rex around the waist and pulling him close. With his superior strength, Silas pulled Rex up to one of the wall-mounted seats while placing himself down beside him. Gale staggered to a seat in the opposite side and strapped himself in.

"I truly believed that change was necessary. I have my beliefs but I hope that you can bring change to the world... because without it, we are all doomed. This was not some political manoeuvre to make sure you all became great leaders. It was out of necessity."

The transport shook violently. A faint feeling of the transport tilting backwards and rising off the runway as it fought against gravity wormed its way into the crushing feeling of the BLANK Field. Rex shut his eyes, starting to feel a little sick. He had never had to use such a primitive plane for so long that constant shaking was giving him a degree of motion sickness.

"Langley truly believed that he needed to make Winston the living epitome of the Boswin name. But he did so relishing the deaths he caused. I do not regret or pity him if you killed him. He was a monster in every aspect of the word." Her soft, sad chuckle followed. "Perhaps so am I to have used him and Winston. But I when I learned of Dietrich_..."_

Sherry took a deep breath just as the transport left the runway entirely and rocketed through the air.

"Gale, you sent me to keep an eye on the Boswins. Langley was already manipulating them by the time I entered the picture. I saw much of Winston in you and decided to use that as leverage. I portrayed myself as a traitor, tired of your inactivity with the hopes to worming my way into their inner circle and earn their trust. My intentions were to betray them. That is why I spent so long filtering the information I gleaned from them to you."

The transport began to stabilise. Rex imagined the fasten seatbelt sign would've been switched off at that point but he still remained seated, regarding Gale with puzzlement. His fellow Elemental Lord returned the gaze. Sherry's confession was... disturbing.

"Now you're wondering what changed. It was who gave Boswin Dietrich_. I was there. I met with the Chaos Lords. The one that spoke was a creature unlike anything I have ever seen before. He called himself 'Hades'. There was another there. He was... different. Benevolent, somehow, though he never spoke. Hades, however... Gale..."_

It was strange to hear a break in Sherry's voice and hesitance. She had always been so calm and controlled... to hear her hesitate.

"I did some research. Though there are no definitive links, I found references to Hades as far back as before the Great Seal War. Images taken at the time displayed the same creature_. I've even discovered that many of the Clans have links to Hades. Some of the oldest Clan members scream his name occasionally. And... Gale, I found that the man who originally gave the Seal your Order cherishes, the one that was used to defeat the Puritan that defined Pollenburn... it was Hades."_

Gale abruptly unbuckled his belt and got to his feet. He marched straight towards the cockpit, Rex and Silas right behind him.

"I was afraid. This was a creature that has lived so long and has affected our world so greatly. Current my investigations revealed that he has ties all over the world including but not limited to Crescenta and Welensha. He might even be behind the Welenshan civil war. We needed a change. We needed leaders who could make that change. Hades is a mighty being and we needed to prepare for whatever else he had in store for us. I've left what I've discovered with Winston. Please. Use it. Bring about the change needed for this world to survive whatever it is that Hades has in store and to stop him."

Sherry had left her discoveries with Winston... Did that mean that Winston knew and had changed his ways?

That thought was dashed the moment Gale pushed open the door to the cockpit. Rex smelled blood. The constant shaking of the transport had caused Winston's head to roll to the side and judging by the fact that the pig wasn't moving...

Gale grabbed the seat and turned it around.

Winston Boswin's eyes were shut tight. Blood stained his pristine, white suit as several spears of metal jutted out of his chest. He was strapped down to the seat, preventing all movement. There was a thick, metal data drive strapped to his hand with electrical tape.

Silas yanked it free and shook his head with a pitying stare at the pig. "He never stood a chance..."

"Just a puppet," murmured Rex in agreement. "I wonder if Sherry revealed everything to him before she killed him..."

"We'll never know..." Silas offered the drive to Gale. The chimp looked down at Boswin's body with pity. It took him a whole minute before he reached out and took the drive from Silas.

"Hades..." Gale whispered at length. "Chaos Lords..." He let out a bitter laugh. "Something tells me this is only the beginning..."

The transport suddenly shook again and Gale immediately spun towards the controls. The entire ship was moving unusually fast. As they watched the speedometer needle began soaring past the recommended speeds. Alarms began blaring and the cockpit was bathed in red light.

"What's going on!?" Rex demanded.

Gale seized the controls, reaching over Boswin's corpse. Tug as he might, the transport would not respond. He began pressing buttons but received no response. "I don't know! We're -"

He was abruptly cut off when the ship lurched to the right. It moved completely horizontally and sharply, throwing everyone against the wall. Rex immediately reached out for Silas, holding onto the big wolf tightly. Without the use of their Seals, they were powerless. Gale still managed to pull himself from the wall and scramble to the console.

"Oh god..." the chimp murmured. "I powered down the engines but... But we're still moving at the same speed!"

"How is that possible!?" Rex demanded.

"I don't know but..." The ninja's eyes went wide and round. "... You won't believe where we're heading..."

Rex was almost too afraid to ask. "Where?"

Gale looked over his shoulder, a look of true fear on his features. "The Rattlesnake Stronghold."

******

"I see what you did there."

Hades offered the Writer of Reality a devilish smirk from where they were perched at the highest point of the Rattlesnake Stronghold. "Oh? And what exactly did I do?"

"Alleviate some blame off yourself so when people start dying, Jacob Reaper can't truly blame you. At the same time, you're bringing his brother here in an 'accident' hoping that it will kill them. The fact that Winston's body is there too would allow you to fabricate some story about how they fought on the plane and it led to their deaths. It'd also destroy evidence of your involvement all over the world. After all, he doesn't know it was you who gave Winston Dietrich, does he?"

The Chaos Lord chuckled darkly and watched as the transport carrying his unfortunate victims came hurtling towards the Stronghold. "You know me. I will not give up on a project so easily. I will see it to the end."

"That's why you didn't just destroy the Valkyrie's Kiss to earn Jacob's trust."

"Indeed." Hades lifted a hand, beckoning the transport towards him. "Let us see where his path leads. Perhaps he will still lead me to my wife and child. If not..." He shrugged absently. "I still have so many more paths to take."

"Like giving Winston Dietrich?"

He nodded his crocodilian head. "I had hoped it would be a way to work around the Dimensional Immunity Response." He grunted and regarded his chimeric body. "I had to create this body from raw materials just to _exist_in this world. I don't know how _you_do it nor do I care. I'd rather not 'birth' myself into this world like Abaddon or take over the body of another like Tiamat. I'd be loathed to leech off the lives of others like Lilith too."

Hades sighed and shook his head. "It proved my theory however. Exchanging some part of yourself, the more precious the better, through a Seal can indeed stabilise it connection to this world. How I will apply that to my situation is still up for debate..."

"So to you, Winston was just a test? Why him though? Why not some random bystander with a Seal?"

"Because true results can only be solidified with replication," answered the Chaos Lord. "Winston had influence and had drive. That weasel was already moving him to become more ambitious and that hawk had links to expand the technique. Now that it has been shared with that half-blind equine, I have no doubt that it will spread. As it spreads, the minds of this world, narrow as they are, will discover new ways to use it. It will evolve without my perspective."

"You bastard!"

Hades flinched at that voice and finally turned around. It was that jerky movement that threw the transport carrying Rex Reaper and the others to the side abruptly. He quickly regained his composure and took control of the ship once more but not before taking in the visage of Winston Boswin... that he knew was dead. R3 kept an armoured hand pressed against the pig's chest, keeping him from charging the Chaos Lord.

"This is no longer your fight, Winston," R3 said gently. Then, to Hades, "Glad to see you see your own limitations on the matter."

The words were almost mocking. Hades couldn't stop staring at Winston. He ran through all his senses, tried to see if this was some illusion of facsimile from the Writer. But whatever he sense... it felt so... real.

"How...?" he demanded.

"How what?" taunted R3.

With increasing fury, Hades demanded, "How is he" - He jabbed a finger in Winston's direction - "there right now?"

"You've seen how I work."

"I've seen you move from body to body, talking to the corpses. I've never seen..." Then his eyes widened. A realisation dawned on him. "You're... you're taking their consciousness... That spark... that part of Chaos that they hold within them that allows them to exist... When you take them..." He stormed forward, seizing the collar of the Writer. "You've known all along! You know where my wife and child are! You were the one that took them!"

"Oh them?" said R3, his voice mockingly innocent. "Yep."

"Why have you not told me!? Why have you not led me to them!?"

The Writer's mocking tone vanished, becoming grave. "I've been trying. But I can't interfere fully in your story. I can't just hand you your happy ending. You need to earn it."

"What help have you been!? All you've been doing is telling me what won't lead me to my family!"

"Which is far more than what I've been doing for the countless others that inhabit every reality out there. I rarely make personal appearances, you know. Hanging around with you, while fun, has me clocking quite a lot of hours."

Hades released the Writer in frustration. "Fine! I do not need you're assistance. Or your guidance." He spun back towards the approaching transport. "I will follow my own path! I will kill Rex Reaper, drive Jacob to depression and lead him straight to me!"

R3 chuckled softly. "Funnily enough, you won't do any of that. You'll try but it won't happen. But this will lead you to your family. Just a step though."

The Writer's mixed messaged implanted grave doubt in Hades but before he could ask, R3 was turning around, a hand on Winston's shoulders.

"Come on, Winston. I've got the next chapter of your story waiting for you."

******

The zombie screamed, unleashing an unholy wail and no doubt spurting more pollen. Max staggered forward, using Eden to prop himself up. Beside him, Caroline was desperately trying to keep a zombie from biting her head off. Somehow, all the creatures had the compulsion to sink their fangs into their victim's necks like they knew that was a great vulnerability. Marcus was instantly there beside her, swinging _Windbreaker_and slicing off the undead's head. Even with its head severed, the flower was still bound to the nervous system and restraining Caroline. Joanna had to leap in and break the grasping fingers and throw the body away before Caroline was freed.

Even broken and beaten, the flowers seemed to drive the bodies together. The severed head, no longer bleeding, had thick vines emerge from its neck and pull itself back to the rest of its body like a bizarre spider. In the narrow, makeshift hallways of the Stronghold with the undead everywhere, claustrophobia became an increasing concern.

"Everyone stand back!" Jacob cried. He vaulted over the downed Caroline and thrust both paws forward. A blast of scintillating white light erupted from his palms. It cut right through the army of zombies scrambling for them, tearing through their forms and leaving nothing to regenerate. The strain of launching and maintaining the beam quickly took its toll and a burst of blood backed up in his throat. He swallowed it back down but a second blast came a second later, sending him to his knees with blood gushing from his muzzle.

Strong hand seized his shoulder and yanked him to his feet, guiding his arm over a pair of broad shoulders.

"Come on, buddy," Max grunted. "Gotta save some of that crazy power for the flower."

Jacob couldn't speak. His throat felt like it was on fire and his vocal chords were constantly being rubbed with acid. Most of his body felt numb and what he saw, heard and felt hit his brain half a second later and it all came crashing in muted and detached. He could almost feel himself seeing events unfold from outside his body, like the pain was happening to someone else.

He barely felt Max yanking him back away from the horde of zombies which was quickly recovering. Though the many that Jacob had incinerated remained downed, there were so many more that were shambling their way through the inner depths of the stronghold.

Jacob had no doubt that these zombies were not here naturally. Hades likely brought them in from the city. He shut his eyes briefly and resisted the urge to peer through Realmbreaker.

"Get him out of here! I'll cover you!"

Marcus' bold shout pried his eyes back open even if that small gesture hurt. He watched the roo's big back stand between them and the incoming zombies. Marcus spun, swinging his broad blades around. Wisps of light danced around the edges of his blade, creating a circle that launched towards the zombies, tearing at their flesh. The storm of light didn't last long against the waves of undead but Marcus still bought them time.

The sound of fighting rang in Jacob's ears but by the time Max had turned him around, the noises were an entire second late. He heard Joanna's bone-breaking punch well after the hamster with flowers growing out of her eyes hit the ground. Caroline decided to take a different tactic and created a wall of ice in front of them. Joanna immediate launched at it, sending a powerful kick that shattered its diamond-hard surface. The bladed shards slammed into the zombies ahead of them, paving a good path for them.

Through the increasing horde, Jacob saw a light...

"Light at the end of the tunnel..." he murmured softly. "Either means something good... or we're about to be fucked up..."

"We're almost there, buddy," Max said, hauling Jacob forward through the path the two women had made. "Just hold on a little longer then you can blow up that fucking flower and end this!"

"That is..." he began softly. But he didn't want to finish that thought. A terrible feeling in his gut told him that destroying the flower was far too simple. Hades was controlling it... the link was with him and if he was to believed, he'd severed that link. But now, the flower was acting independently. It had evolved...

What if...?

What if it had evolved to the point where it no longer had a single point of weakness...?

"Come on, Jake!" Max shouted. "Get up! Stop dragging your feet! You're stronger than this!"

Jacob couldn't muster the strength. He felt so weak and even Max's words were starting to sound distant. Whether or not it was the dire situation or the flower sapping his strength through its infectious pollen, he just felt his entire body starting to grow heavy, his eyelids starting to creep heavily to bar his vision.

Just as he was about to plunge entirely into darkness, a pair of strong paws seized his other arm and yanked him to his feet. The warmth that radiated from it was familiar. He remembered them fondly. Remembered how they ran all over his body, held his muscles and hugged him tightly. The passion that radiated from them, seeping into his body as he and their owner became bonded on a deeper level.

"Jake!"

The voice snapped him back to the present and pulled his head up, taking stock of Marcus' snarling expression.

"You're not going to die here, you hear me!" the kangaroo bellowed. "You're going to make it out of this even if I have to drag your lazy ass to that goddamn flower and I have to fight every fucking zombie in this place for eternity until you decide to wake up and save the world!"

He found his strength returning and set one foot firmly on the ground but that very strength left him and he staggered.

"I... I can't..." He coughed heavily, blood splattering from his muzzle. There was a painful writhing within his lungs and he imagined the pollen taking root and ripping his lungs apart. It was getting very hard to breathe.

Marcus' paws suddenly seized his cheeks, forcing their gaze to meet. "You listen to me, Jacob Reaper," the roo growled. "You're not an Elemental Lord and don't have the powers or training of one. You're not an Unsealed with all their crazy strength. Hell, you're not even a Worldrider. But you know what you are?"

He offered Marcus a wry smile. "Your boyfriend...?" Those words took most of his strength and his head slumped against Marcus' grip, his eyes falling shut.

"You're a hero."

He wasn't sure if he opened his eyes or not but suddenly... he was standing in an endless plane of white. In front of him, was a little flower stall, one of those that could be easily carted from street corner to corner. It was plain, made of wood and had three large baskets full of flowers. From behind the stall, a familiar mole dressed in a plain, sky blue dress with a white waistband picked up a few tulips and gave Jacob a big, bright smile.

"Alicia...?"

"You're a hero."

The stall and the mole were suddenly blown away by a powerful wind, their form dissolving into dust that was absorbed into the endless white. Slowly, the image of a strong, powerfully built but busty sow eased into view, fading in. A crown made of golden olive branches was wrapped around her temples and she was dressed in glistening white and gold robes. She stood there, smiling at Jacob.

"Dorothy!"

"You're a hero."

Like Alicia, she too vanished, her image dissolving into the wind. Taking her place was the form of a confident wolf dressed in a full suit of silvery armour. The wolf pulled up a visor that was wrapped around his green eyes sparking familiarity in Jacob but the way he was dressed and the strange aura that emanated from him... it was very odd. Even stranger was the gauntlet Cal wore on his right paw; it was bigger than the left and had a big blade jutting from it.

"... Cal...?"

"You're a hero."

Cal disappeared before Jacob could ask him any questions. The wolf was replaced by the unmistakable, towering figure of a mutant with multiple snakes growing out of his body. Strangely, the cobra was whole. No mechanical limbs and no torn hoods or shredded eye. Seeing the benevolent smile on Snakebite's face was alien as was the fact that he was wearing a rather noble looking suit of silvery-blue armour and a billowing red sash was wrapped around his torso.

"Iro..."

"You're a hero, Jake!"

Suddenly, the white world was gone and he found himself staring back into Marcus' teary eyes. "You're a hero," the roo repeated. "And you can't die here! Heroes don't die just before they defeat the bad guy!"

Jacob lowered his gaze. "That's only in movies and stories..." he mumbled. He sensed Marcus deflate. He saw Caroline had created a wedge-shaped wall of ice in front of them, using it to push the zombies away. From the loud sounds of crashing and rumbling earth behind him, he guessed Joanna was keeping the zombies at bay.

His clenched his fists and set his foot down firmly.

This time, he managed to keep it firmly on the ground.

"And this is a goddamn book," he growled. He set his other foot down, able to manage his own weight.

Marcus beamed.

Then the entire tunnel began to shake violently. Dust began falling down from the ceiling and the metal that made up the hallway began to creak ominously. Marcus barely got time to shout for everyone to hurry ahead before the ceiling collapsed.

The pointed tip of a transport came crashing through the rock and metal, carrying with it half of the stronghold. Flames erupted from the tormented hull as fuel lines and electrical wiring snapped. Zombies were instantly crushed or splattered in an instant.

Jacob's didn't even have the time to drop before a powerful arm yanked him clear away from the crashing ship and -

BOOOM!

******

The engines of the transport erupted into a fiery conflagration, shaking the entire mountain and the majority of the stronghold. Rex was still feeling shaken like his brain had just been put through a blender. It was a good thing that, outdated as they were, the old Skytrains were built with thick armour from the days when Seals weren't used for shielding and damage mitigation. One of the thickest parts of the ship was naturally the holding bay. It was designed to survive a full crash. Even ploughing through most of the Rattlesnake Stronghold nose first had only torn up half of the bay. With the eruptions of the engines, the other half was starting to catch on fire.

Rex unbuckled his seatbelt and nearly dropped down vertically into a roiling pit of fire. He still felt the presence of the BLANK Field around him and had to scramble up the slanted cabin to where Silas and Gale were strapped to their chairs. Silas unbuckled himself and Rex quickly helped Gale.

"Everyone okay?" he asked.

"Somehow, I think Sherry expected us to be attacked," Gale responded with a faint grimace. "I think she intentionally chose the sturdiest ship she could find..." He staggered to the rear of the ship where the rear doors had already been blown open from the crash.

Rex followed Gale to the edge of the ship.

His heart instantly seized up.

Rubble and flames lay scattered all around them. The transport had embedded itself directly in the middle of the Rattlesnake Stronghold and taken a large chunk of the earth with it. Even then, dozens of the flower zombies were closing in.

"We need to find somewhere safe to bunker down," Silas announced. He glanced at the other two. "Can you guys use your Seals?"

Gale's brow furrowed in concentration. Then he looked up into the sky. A grimace crossed his features. "I remember the reason we couldn't find the Rattlesnake Stronghold before was because it had a BLANK generator. It must be active right now. I can see the faint distortion in the air."

"Then we find it, deactivate it and find Jake," Rex concluded. He leapt off the edge of the ship, scrambling down the mound of rubble to solid ground. The moans of the closing zombies didn't deter him. "Come on! My brother is somewhere here!"

******

Jacob coughed but more from the high amount of dust in the air than _Realmbreaker_or an infection.

A ship.

A fucking ship just crashed into the stronghold!

He almost wished he could've used_Realmbreaker_ to predict that because it just came right out of left field that he was still reeling!

His left shoulder hurt and when he tried to lift the connecting arm, he couldn't. The entire tunnel had been plunged into semi-darkness with only a few of the distant lights and flashes from the ship's electrical wires providing any form of illumination. He looked down at his legs. Still attached and still working. His tail hurt and his lungs were burning.

Max was lying face flat beside him, the big dragon's weight crushing his tail.

He grimaced and gave his best friend a shove. Max replied with a groan and a quick shake of his head. Relief came when Max propped himself on his hands and knees.

"Everyone okay?" the dragon grunted. "Sound off."

Military instincts seemed to have taken over.

"I'm... good," Jacob grunted.

"I'm fine," answered Joanna. "Caroline?" A dome of ice hung beside Joanna. Jacob could see Caroline's silhouette through it and he wondered why she was just standing there. Then, the panicked pounding began. Joanna went rigid. "Oh God... A BLANK Field has been activated!" She began pounding on the other side of the dome. "Caroline! Caroline! Can you hear me!?"

"A BLANK Field...?" Max murmured softly. "Fuck... I hurt too much all over to have noticed... Marcus?"

A loud cough brought Jacob's eyes back towards his boyfriend.

And his eyes widened.

"Oh no..."

The cough was coming from the rubble. Finding strength in desperation, Jacob leapt to his feet and rushed straight towards the pile of twisted metal and rock.

"Marcus!" he cried, yanking chunks of rock from the pile. "Marcus! Where are you!?"

He heard the coughing emerge from his right and he hurried over to where the nose of the ship had embedded itself into the floor. Around the corner was relatively debris free but there was only a small gap between charred and torn metal and the exposed, rocky wall. Through the gap, he could see Marcus standing, all his weight on one leg while a jagged piece of metal erupted from the other. The roo was leaning against the wall.

"Oh thank God..." Jacob sighed. "I thought... Well..."

Marcus gave him a wry smile. "What? I'd die because a fucking plane fell on me? I'm not going out like that."

A series of loud moans and mad wails suddenly erupted from further down the tunnel. Jacob looked past his boyfriend. The flickering lights revealed the rapidly approaching zombies. Even with the crash of the plane, those that had been torn asunder were rapidly pulling themselves back together right in front of Marcus!

"Oh shit..." murmured the roo.

Jacob stood back, white lightning crackling between his fingers. "Make way! Ship or no, I'll tear through this thing with Realmbreaker!"

"Jake! No!"

He froze.

Marcus hobbled over to the gap, peering at him sadly. "You need to destroy that flower."

"I can do that with you beside me!"

The roo gave him a sad smile. "You're exhausted. You're way past your limit. You fought a Puritan, killed hundreds of zombies and..." Marcus shut his eyes, squeezing a tear out. "You've done your best..."

Realising where this was going, tears began to well up in Jacob's eyes. "No... No! Don't you fucking dare! You are not going to be a fucking martyr! You're not going to die! I don't care how it's been hinted all throughout! I don't care if the last nail on the coffin was everyone that died saying 'You're a hero' and you echoing that! You're not going to die!"

He fell to his knees, breaking out into a series of bloody coughs.

Marcus' paw gently pressed against his cheek, gliding towards his chin and guiding his gaze so that they could meet one last time.

"You've barely got anything left in you," Marcus said. "Go to that flower. Destroy it. Stop Hades. Save Pollenburn."

"But... you - Me..." Jacob squeezed his eyes shut together. "We were going to travel the world, goddamnit! You were going to be my bodyguard!"

There was a moment of silence, one that even the zombies respected.

"I think... I was meant to be someone else's bodyguard first."

Jacob peeled his eyes open but he couldn't meet Marcus' gaze anymore.

"Go on," whispered the roo, his paw sliding away from Jacob. "I'll hold them off with what I've got left."

With the BLANK Field up, Jacob doubted that was much. The tears fell freely, each one burning hot against his cheeks and opening new, raw wounds against his heart. He was visible clutching his chest, each wracking sob a dagger through his gut that was twisted painfully.

"Hey Jake...?"

Jacob opened his eyes but not truly seeing.

"Thank you."

Max seized Jacob's shoulders and pulled him away from the small gap as the sounds of the zombies grew closer. The dragon gave the roo one last final salute before hurrying Jacob around the icy dome that imprisoned Caroline and Joanna who was desperately trying to break down the wall.

Again, a sense of numbness and detachment filled Jacob.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The words burned into Jacob's soul... and he came to the painful realisation that Marcus belonged to someone else. It was the final nail in the coffin and he openly wept, the rush towards the end of the hallway becoming a blur of colours and hot, salty tears. He didn't take in the chamber where the Valkyrie's Kiss sat, the oddly organic vines growing from where it rested on a pedestal. Even there was no other light source, the flower itself emitted a bright, red glow. The sounds of approaching zombies and fighting echoed down the hallway. Joanna had engaged more of the creatures.

"Jake, it's up to you now," Max said, guiding him over to the flower. The dragon's head snapped towards the walls as the thick, metallic vines began crawling towards them, reaching for them like clawed hands ready to drag them into nothingness. "You know what you have to do."

"Yes. You know what you have to do."

Jacob stared at the tiny flower before him. So small. So fragile. Yet it caused so much pain and suffering.

"You have lost so much," Hades whispered in his ear.

Everything else around him seemed to fade away. Max, the vines and the chamber all dulled to his senses. All that he could feel and see was the flower on its pedestal and the presence of Hades hovering over his shoulder.

"Friends. Family. Loves ones. But they exist elsewhere. Death is not the end. I have seen it. The Writer takes them. Puts them in other realities. They are reborn. Different but still very much the same."

The different realities... All those jumbled versions that he saw of everyone in life... and then the compressed versions he saw of those that died like Alicia... Was that the work of this 'Writer'?

"You can see them, can't you? You've seen them. You can find them. I can move everything and anything. If you find them, I will bring them."

Hades had the Seal of Manipulation. It allowed him to move entire planets and perhaps even entire dimensions should he wish. The only thing stopping him from moving his family was that he did not know where they were.

"We will just need to overcome the Dimensional Immunity Response. But you and I have infinite potential. I have already started work on working around this phenomenon. Together, we could make the work grow faster. You will be reunited with your loved ones before your heart even has a moment to bleed."

Alicia. Dorothy. Snakebite. Marcus. Even his mother.

He could see them all again.

All he had to do... was accept Hades' terms.

Jacob shut his eyes... and his paw slid away from the Valkyrie's Kiss.

"No."

He sensed Hades roil. "What?"

"No," he repeated firmly.

"Why not!? Don't you care about them!?"

"I do." A soft smile crossed Jacob's features and he felt his heart grow lighter. "In fact, I care about them so much I have to ask myself... What if they don't want to come back?" Given Hades' stunned silence, he knew that he had hit a nerve. "You said it yourself. Death is not final. They are reborn. So what if they're happier in their lives afterwards? What if it's better and the reason they don't want to come back is because we're the ones holding onto them?"

"I love them! And they love me in return! How could they not want me!?"

"Maybe they do but they're just waiting for you to let go," Jacob responded with a shake of his head. "You're in such denial about their deaths and you're clinging onto some image of them that you just can't move on.

He lifted his one working paw over the Valkyrie Kiss.

"They could've changed. They could've become different people. Lived different lives with or without you. The only reason you're not with them right now is that you've clung onto this perfect image of them and refused to let it go long after they've passed. They've moved on. Accept that.""

He smile grew broader even if tears ran down his eyes. "That's why even though you knew that this flower was a failure, you still went ahead and used it. You just couldn't let it go. You desperately wanted to believe that it'd work even if all the evidence pointed to the contrary. You're in denial."

Lightning crackled at his fingertips. Every lance tapped the flower and slowly began to cause its petals to dissolve. "And if I used _Realmbreaker_to bring them back to a world where they've moved on from... Then I'd be just as bad as you."

"No!"

Jacob knew he had won and the moment Hades lunged at him, he immediately slipped to the side. The chamber came back into view, the pointed vines returning to view. The large, chimeric Chaos Lord slammed into the pedestal, seizing the Valkyrie's Kiss in both his hands.

"You will not destroy this!" Hades shouted, pressing the flower to himself, desperation in his eyes. Thick veins pulsated where the flower's step punctured Hades' chest. All the vines in the room suddenly shot straight towards the Chaos Lord, funnelling in through his flesh and pooling into his body, somehow compressing themselves to fit his original shape.

A painful wracking cough suddenly hit both Jacob and Max and they both fell to their knees as blood erupted from their muzzles. Small, wriggling vines even splattered into the pool before shooting straight towards Hades.

The entire room began to shake violently. Hades let out a tremendous roar and thrust his arms into the sky. The silvery vines erupted from his palms, cleaving through the ceiling and disappearing into the depths of the Stronghold. Those very same vines slammed into every zombie in the facility, puncturing the flowers growing within them and dragging its raw matter out of the long dead corpses.

Rex's team stopped in shock as the vines grew out of the very ground and dragged every zombie that was chasing them to the ground, draining the monstrous plant from their veins. Those same vines shot into the sky and rocketed through the air. Like watching roots grow, the vines blanketed the most of the sky on its way to Pollenburn. There, in the darkness, the vines descended into the city, striking every zombie within the city.

Civilians and MODD personnel all watched in mute shock as the threat to their livelihoods were sucked up by the alien, metallic vines leaving only rotting corpses in their wake. Some doubled over in pain as they began coughing up the plants growing within them only for those very same plants to join the writhing tentacle mass in the sky. Those too far into being infected had their bodies punctured before the dark flora was sucked out of them. Medics hurried to the aid of the injured while other just stood in mute shock at what had transpired.

Back in the chamber, the vines began withdrawing from all over Taranebra, sliding back into Hades. The Chaos Lord let out a dark growl as he took in the last of the Valkyrie's Kiss. He lowered his hands, panting heavily with an enormous blood red flowering blossoming from his chest.

"You will not destroy this flower!" growled Hades. "It is now part of me! You cannot defeat me even with all your power! Realmbreaker_is _nothing compared to my abilities!"

Strangely, Jacob was still smiling.

"Villain absorbs all other bad guys despite said bad guys being fully functional to make himself more powerful cliché..." A bolt of _Realmbreaker_appeared in his paw. "Check."

"You are nothing compared to me!" Hades shouted, thrusting his paw forward. Vines erupted from his palms, shooting straight towards Jacob.

The wolf quickly slipped to the right, avoiding the blow.

"Villain gets an overinflated ego from recent power up. Check."

Hades roared and swept his arm to the right. The vines swept Jacob's legs right out from underneath him. Before Jacob hit the ground, the tendrils overwhelmed him, wrapping around his body but leaving his arm with _Realmbreaker_untouched but immobile. Jacob became encased in the vines that Hades immediately dragged towards himself so they were nose to nose.

"You are powerless against me."

Jacob then broke into a grin. "Villain forgets there's another guy in the room."

Click.

Hades' eyes boggled when Eden's enormous barrel pressed up against the side of his head.

"Check," Max growled.

BAM!

At close range, Eden was a devastating weapon even without its Seals. Hades' head was blown _clear_off and the vines around Jacob instantly began to slacken. Though the Chaos Lord began to rapidly regenerate, his flesh knitting together in a slew of metallic vines, Jacob was freed.

And he was within striking distance.

He plunged Realmbreaker right through the red flower growing out of Hades' chest. But one, clean sweep was not enough. For all the things Hades had done, the countless lives that had perished and the pain he had caused, Jacob pooled everything he could muster into the bolt. White lightning erupted from the bolt, shooting all over Hades body and sending the Chaos Lord's body into wild spasms. Every touch of lightning broke of a slab of the chimera's flesh and that slab disintegrated into a cloud of black dust.

A feral roar ripped from Jacob's throat.

For Alicia.

For Dorothy.

For Snakebite.

For Cal.

...

And for Marcus.

BOOOM!