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Betrayal and Purpose

Blind Baking

As Generals had to maintain their anonymity, the tribunal’s three sitting Generals were masked behind protective layers to hide their identities. In fact, the only General actually seated in the large court room was Alex and as far as anyone was concerned, he was the prosecutor. Generals Methuselah, Zachariah and Obidiah were physically elsewhere. Shadowy silhouettes that looked nothing like the real Generals were seated at the three chairs in front of Alex and Raifraize Phulton.

Alex looked across the aisle at his ‘opponent’. It was curious that Raifraize had chosen to represent herself but had an assistant alongside her; a woman with a shaved head and her eyes seemingly constantly closed. Both were in suits but where as Raifraize was in a powerful, striking, sky-blue suit, her assistant was dressed in a drab, gray suit. There was some scarring around the assistant’s eyes and he was fairly sure he saw some artificial skin around her ears which suggested at cybernetic implants. Clearly another Xaosian but one who didn’t have enough money to hide surgical scars or dish out enough money to make the implants look natural. He had to remember that Raifraize may very well have some cybernetics that he was unaware of.

“Raifraize Phulton,” greeted General Obidiah in a calm, level tone that was slightly raspy. “Thank you for making the time to attend this Tribunal.”

“It is an honor, Your Lordships,” she said, bowing.

Obidiah was seen to raise a hand through his silhouette. “Please. We are neither lords nor nobility. We are simply attempting to dispense justice and maintain law and order with the temporary powers we have been given.”

Trust the Whisper to use colored words and be as slippery as a eel. One of the reasons Alex had asked his colleague to participate in this inquiry. Obidiah was one step above a lawyer - he was a spymaster. If anyone could navigate the murky waters of Phulton’s defenses, it would be the General Obidiah.

“So let us begin without delay,” said the shrewd General. “I am sure Commander Clarke has already told you about the risk that is posed?”

“Commander?” asked Phulton, arching an eyebrow in Alex’s direction. “I thought he was a consultant.”

“I served in the military during the war,” Alex provided. “Rose to the rank of Commander at the time. I’m just a consultant now.”

“Still active in military affairs, I see.”

“Not so much. The Lost Fleet and it’s rogue artificial intelligence was brought to my attention as part of my role as a chaperone for Pinnacle students. Understanding the risk that such an entity possessed, I naturally escalated it straight to the military. Especially since I had to fight it alongside an established Templar and her Paladin assistant.”

“I would love to hear more details about that fight. The media has been quite tight lipped.”

General Zachariah coughed. “With good reason, Miss Phulton. Artificial intelligences are widely used in both Xaos and Haven as you are well aware but they are still a proverbial devil here on Incendius. News has already spread of that AI and people have started forming their open conspiracy theories despite the truth we have released. Feeding this fire with repetitive facts will only give birth to distrust in the military and the Generals as a whole.”

General Methuselah let out a gruff laugh. “We’d also have to tell the public that all it took to beat that AI and its whole fleet was a Templar, a Paladin, an ex-military combat engineer, a retired military commander, a physical education teacher and four students from Pinnacle. Could actually boost the legitimacy of our educational program.”

“That’s neither here nor there,” the Sunburst Knight said, waving off the smoking bear, both of them hidden behind silhouettes themselves. “Let’s return to the matter at hand.” The Knight’s silhouette appeared to lean forward. “Miss Phulton, can you assure us that all your systems and infrastructure are immune to the effects of being taken over by a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence?”

Raifraize clearly had prepared for this. Her head was lifted and there was no hesitancy in her response as she said, “I would first need to know what this AI is capable of before I can fully assess whether or not our systems are capable of fending off any attacks. I can, however, safely say that we have not detected any issues within our systems. Since yesterday’s meeting, I had our technology teams scan our systems and detected nothing out of the ordinary.”

“That is reassuring,” commented Obidiah. “You will understand that we cannot release more information of the AI as a matter of national security. However, we must inquire further particularly in the involvement of one Maxwell Magmillion in the acquisition and restructuring of your company, Phulton Patents.”

Again, the lawyer was unfazed and described how Maxwell had approached her about seven years ago and sought to buy Phulton Patents from her. There was some back and forth and eventually, she sold it to him. The transaction was made public and all the regulators had signed off on the acquisition. There did not appear to be anything suspicious about the activity. She reiterated how Maxwell had transformed the company into an investment agency and when he had died under mysterious circumstances, she had bought the company back much like her other colleagues on Maximillian Magmillion’s insistence.

“Something that bothers me,” Alex said, “and something that I think I’d like further clarity on. What was it about Phulton Patents that Maxwell wanted?”

Phulton shrugged. “He never said. He just made the offer.”

“I just find it strange that he bought a company only to completely turn it around. Was there any particular talent that he was after? Some other assets amongst the company that he would have wanted to turn into something else? The building?”

To her credit, she did not show any sort of annoyance at the line of questioning. “Unfortunately, I am not privy to Maxwell Magmillion’s thoughts. It was a lucrative business offer. I would have been a fool not to take it.”

“Perhaps we should rephrase the question,” Zachariah began. “Do you know what Vermilion, is Miss Phulton?”

Alex blanched and stared at his colleague in shock. They had discussed their approach before this tribunal and had agreed not to mention their suspicions that Phulton was using her company as a means to somehow produce or distribute the illegal drug. They simply did not have the evidence to back it up.

“It is a shade of red,” answered the lawyer with a plastered smile on her face.

“Please don’t play coy with us, Miss Phulton. You know exactly what I am talking about and my personal interest in the manner if Vermilion is indeed involved.”

The Sunburst Knight had been the one that had outlawed the use of Vermilion in the first place. He must have taken it as a personal affront that some of the most wealthy people on the Station of the Sun were smuggling it. The budding media was even calling it a ‘Vermilion Epidemic’ because of how many people were being hospitalized for overdoses of the drug.

“Vermilion is a mind enhancement drug,” Phulton said, her expression losing some of that smugness. “It is well-known to enhance one’s cognitive abilities in lower concentrations and in higher levels, it could actually cause one to enter a comatose state. Though I have heard that the reason for that state is that the individuals’ minds are racing so fast and processing so much information that their bodies simply cannot catch up.”

“I too have heard of that rumor,” agreed the Sunburst Knight. “It does not make it any less dangerous. People have died because they have failed to take care of themselves properly while in a constant state of ‘over-inspiration’. A reason why I had it banned across Incendius.”

“Of course. I understand that. What I do not understand is where this line of questioning is going. What does Vermilion have to do with me?”

Alex quietly prayed that Zachariah would not press the issue. They had a plan of attack. They would reassure Phulton that they were not hostile and that they just wanted to make sure that Rahl’s consciousness hadn’t somehow written itself into her systems because of Maxwell. There was never meant to be any mention of Vermilion at all.

“Do you know of Lofraine Ulbermasque?” asked Zachariah.

“General Zachariah,” Methuselah said sharply. “Set aside your own personal vendetta against the criminal underworld and let us focus on the threat of national security.”

“I am,” the Sunburst Knight said sharply. “Lofraine Ulbermasque recently disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Same as Maxwell Magmillion. We have it on good authority that he was the last person that Maxwell visited before he died. We have investigated Lofraine’s dealings and found that one of his charities - the Reaching Flame - was involved in recruiting refugees from other Stations as drug mules for Vermilion. Now I cannot help but wonder if Maxwell didn’t die in that fire after all and perhaps he merely faked his death to secretly escape and command a drug ring. Perhaps Lofraine went with him.”

Phulton remained calm and offered a gentle smile. “That would certainly be scandalous. But I reiterate, how does that concern me?”

“If we take that as truth, then anything Maxwell Magmillion touches is suspect. It would answer Commander Clarke’s concern as to why Maxwell would buy a company and transform it into something else entirely different. He took your assets, your connections and transformed it into part of his drug ring.”

Alex’s eyebrows shot up. That was… an incredibly plausible theory.

“I assure you,” laughed Phulton lightly, “my companies do not have any connection with any drug smuggling rings. I have kept a tight leash on everything I own.”

“I’m sure Lofraine would have said exactly the same thing,” the Whisper said, taking up from the Sunburst Knight’s queue. “And yet here we find ourselves with evidence of the Reaching Flame dealing with Vermilion. So what can we infer from this evidence?” Answering his own question, General Obidiah said, “Either Lofraine was negligent and was not aware of these dealings that Maxwell perhaps had planted in his midst or he was directly involved with it and lied to us.”

“Be that as it may, I am not Lofraine or Maxwell.”

“This is true. You could be worse.” The piercing words of the Whisper put the expert lawyer on edge. “Given the evidence provided, I am going to vote alongside the Sunburst Knight and pursue an investigation into your assets, Miss Phulton. I look forward to your cooperation.”

The lawyer straightened her back and lifted her chin defiantly. “I have much respect for the office of the Generals but this inquiry is a direct violation of my rights.”

“Your right stopped when this became a case of national security,” General Methuselah said sternly. “Vermilion is a national epidemic. I understand that people require some relief from the constant threat of the Darkened, Searanti, random cases of spontaneous conflagration and whatever could cause untimely death on Incendius but turning to Vermilion only compounds to those issues. We must exhaust all avenues to cut off the flow of Vermilion.”

“As I have assured you, I have no connection to the Vermilion drug trade,” insisted Phulton.

“Can I take that as a statement?” Alex asked. She shot him a penetrating look. Her pause spoke volumes. “If you have no dealings in Vermilion, then you have no fear of the Generals’ inquiry… unless there is something else that you are trying to hide?”

She straightened her suit. “No. You will find my practices well within the law.”

Within the law but perhaps not ethical, Alex mentally noted.

“Then you have nothing to hide and this inquiry should pass without incident,” Zachariah said dismissively. “A warrant of investigation will be issued. Expect members of the Inquisition and Commander Clarke’s own team to come knocking soon.”

Phulton bowed stiffly. “Of course.”

Something still didn’t sit well with Alex and the moment she straightened, he immediately cast an illusion over her - nothing more than a twitch of his fingers and a wiggle of his ears was all that was need. When Phulton straightened, she and her assistant just stood there, glaring off into the distance.

“Miss Phulton?” asked Obidiah.

Alex hushed him. “I’ve got them in an illusion. They’re hiding something else.” With a wave of his paws, an image appeared over the heads of the two defendants. It showed the contents of the illusion. To Phulton and her assistant, the two were striding down the hallway of the courthouse, completely in silence. There was a convincing number of people milling about in the courthouse. On Alex’s command, those very same people began to thin out while Phulton stepped outside the building and entered her personal carriage. They were supposedly heading back to her office.

That’s when Phulton’s assistant spoke.

“We need to hide everything we have,” she said sternly. “Every connection to the Association. Everything connected to Vermilion. I can make them all disappear.”

“That will be the least of our worries,” hissed Phulton. Outside of the illusion, the two were still speaking outwardly, the only part of their bodies that mirrored what was happening in the little fake world. “Zachariah made it his personal mission to get rid of Vermilion. The moment the rest of the Association learns that they’re sniffing around, we will be excommunicated. And you know what that means.”

The assistant finally opened her eyes showing the highly enhanced cybernetics that gave her silvery sclera and electric blue-irises with clear circuitry running through both. Alex was grateful his illusions worked on the brain and not just what his victims saw.

“The rest of the Blind Sisters could be threatened.”

Methuselah visibly blanched despite his figure being hidden behind a silhouette. “The fucking Blind Sisters!? She’s in league with the guild of assassins!?”

Alex waved him to silence so that he could concentrate on what the two were talking about.

“They’ll want to cut every tie to Vermilion with us,” agreed Phulton. “If that means burning the Blind Sisters or scapegoating them and us so that the Generals and their dogs can’t be led to the rest of the Association, they won’t hesitate. No. We need to cut them off.” She regarded her assistant with a dark, cold gaze; her eyes merciless. “You saw Zachariah. He’s already decided we are guilty. It’s not a matter of finding the evidence. It’s a matter of ruining us.” A cruel smile touched her lips. “The man is ruthless when it comes to his pet project; his campaign against Vermilion. He knows how to play the system. Even if he cannot find any evidence, he will campaign, he will twist the media and he will play out this scenario for as long as it takes to ruin us.”

She grit her teeth and balled a hand into a fist, banging it against the illusionary carriage’s wall. “If that idiot Lofraine hadn’t lost so badly and been so petty as to hand over his assets to General Solomon of all people, none of this would have ever come to light.”

“What do you suggest we do?”

For a moment, Phulton was silent as she stared at the city passing her by. She bit her lower lip, a rare break in her otherwise unbreakable mask of confidence. “We need to send a message. Show the Generals that they need to back off unless they want to face the consequences.” Her eyes darted towards her assistant. “Those three men who fought Lofraine’s champion. They were all from Pinnacle, were they not?”

The assistant looked worried. “They were. But the Association strictly forbids the use of such knowledge. Competitors and spectators are all immune to retaliation from the Association.”

“I fear the Generals more than I fear the Association,” Phulton replied darkly. “Especially the Whisper. That tribunal was a joke. They already know the truth. They were just extending me a courtesy. A warning that they will shut me down.” The bovine lawyer shook her head grimly. “No. We’re abandoning the Association. Send the Blind Sisters to attack Pinnacle. Kill those three. Let us remind the Generals that we are not without our teeth. They will back off and then we can cut a deal with them. Protection from the Association in exchange for all the information they could want.”

BANG!

The illusion immediately dropped and a surprised Phulton and her assistant were left blinking in confusion at their surroundings. Alex’s fist hurt from where he had struck the wooden podium he had been standing against.

“You will do no such thing!” he barked.

Phulton glanced around confusion on her face. “What… What just happened?”

“You were in an illusion,” growled Methuselah darkly. “You essentially confessed all your ties to the Association, to Vermilion and a notorious guild of assassins which you would have commissioned to assassinate members of a college founded by the Generals! This goes beyond international security. This is outright terrorism!”

“I knew you were tangled in a mess, Raifraize,” sighed Obidiah, disappointment dripping from his voice. “But I never thought you would resort to trying to blackmail us with death threats and then using that threat to negotiate your own protection against your former colleagues.”

Alex glanced at the Whisper momentarily, wondering if the greatest spy amongst the Generals had already known of Raifraize Phulton’s involvement and how deep her influence spread. It wouldn’t surprise him. What did surprise him was why Obidiah even participated in this exercise if he already knew the truth.

Zachariah growled and rose from his seat. “You are under arrest, Raifraize Phulton, on counts of conspiracy, drug trafficking and attempted assassination. I’m sure we can find more charges but for now, that is more than enough to ensure your arrest.”

The dark smile on Raifraize’s features sent a chill through Alex’s spine. “Attempted assassination?” she asked.

The crimson Wulfun’s heart went cold. “What did you do!?”

She gestured at her assistant. “The Blind Sisters have taken leaps and bounds since the Fall of Haven. All it took was a simple second of your boasting for my assistant to already issue the kill order for your precious students. Only now it won’t be limited to those three men who infiltrated the Association. This is no assassination attempt. It will be a slaughter.”

Silence rang throughout the court. Images of students and staff slaughtered by the most notorious all-female assassin’s guild of Incendius flashed through Alex’s eyes. His first thought was to immediately call JD and get his son out of there…

… then Methuselah started laughing.

“I thought you smarter than that, Phulton,” boomed the big bear.

“Pardon?” she asked, unfazed.

“You forget, Pinnacle College isn’t some fancy, warping campus for the wealthy. It is effectively a moving military academy. A fortress. Even if your assassins could get through its defenses, you’ll have to deal with its greatest assets.”

“It’s students,” Obidiah said grimly. “Each student is enrolled in the college for a minimum of thirteen years. Each year, they spend traveling to the Stations to learn and grow their power. Our first graduates should be just finishing this year. They have faced far worse than a meager assassination attempt. You didn’t send your Blind Sisters to kill.”

“You sent them to be slaughtered,” Zachariah snarled.

A dark smile touched her lips. “Perhaps. But the Blind Sisters are more than just the assassins sent on a contract. They are an institution. An idea. What, I wonder, would it say about the Generals’ great flying fortress if it was penetrated by Incendius’ best? What would happen to the confidence in the Generals’ ability to lead if even one of their precious students or staff were hurt or killed?”

The Generals were quiet and Phulton too a seat in front of them, folding one leg over the other.

“Make no mistake, the Blind Sisters will find their way onto the campus. Even if their initial assault fails, they will infect its halls. Constantly stalking its students and nipping at the heels of your staff whenever they let their guard down. No one will ever have a moment of sleep within its walls.” She folded her hands together. “Now, we can finally begin to negotiate. I will state my terms. Meet them and I will call off the Blind Sisters. Reject and you will find your bastion of hope and unity tainted by the shadow of death.”

Trapped and cornered. Somehow, Raifraize Phulton had managed to trap and corner the Generals even and expert spymaster such as Obidiah. Not through cunning but through brute force. She found a flaw in their defenses and twisted it to her advantage.

Just like a lawyer.

“Bitch…” snarled Alex, baring his fangs.

First Blood

As much as Kane hated being sidelined, he was smart enough to understand when it was time to back off from a fight. There was a lot of heat on him and the rest of of the Iconoclasts especially after what happened to Lofraine. The media was just starting to hear about how the renowned philanthropist would be surrendering himself to the Generals’ custody for some reason. The Association had probably already heard about Raifraize’s being summoned by the very same Generals so it wouldn’t take long before they started inferring that Kane and his team may have started something. While the laws of those blood matches guaranteed contestants and spectators would be free of retaliation, these laws were just a loose collection of agreements. There was nothing stopping any member of the Association from doing something entirely unrelated to the Iconoclasts.

So Kane reluctantly agreed to keep his head down.

Besides, it gave him time to focus on his schoolwork. Not that he had been neglecting them. He was still excelling at a Grade A and still racking up the points. Of course, his cousin was still middling at an F which motivated him to attend JD’s Ars Ignea Pungo class. From what he had seen, his cousin was really starting to make use of Conflagration and moving up from the beginner techniques to more advanced skills. Anyone could throw a fireball but sending out a remote-detonation fireball was something else.

The class was held in one of the bigger Combat Simulators and, true to his word, Rayne was there alongside JD and Skye. Rayne wasn’t the instructor himself - that honor went to a Red Draconis whose wings looked like they had been burned and never recovered. Some of the man’s scales were missing and others were scratched gray but he had a decent, lean build that belied a mix of strength and speed. Perfect for the Art of the Fiery Fist.

Professor Kal’muuri had everyone arranged in perfect lines and going through set formations and movements.

“One!” he would bark. Kane, alongside the other students, would throw their dominant fist forward and take a step forward.

“Two!” The students would then thrust their other arm forward and again step forward but the moment their feet hit the ground, they made a sweeping gesture with both arms, flinging them to their sides, palms outstretched and arms pulled back like a pair of wings.

“Three!”

Kane thrust both palms forward and quickly followed it up by launching himself into the air and letting loose a double kick. This was mirrored by the others around him.

“Good!” the red-scaled dragon barked. “Once more! One!”

They repeated the cycle over and over again.

“Clarke!” barked the professor. “I know you need those swords but you need to maintain your balance. The Art of the Fiery Fist has a lot of jumps and wide, sweeping gestures. If you lose your balance, you are likely to disrupt the flow.”

“Sorry, Professor,” JD huffed. Unlike the other students, his cousin had the extra weight of Conflagration’s backpack and those two swords to contend with. They were disruptive to his movements. Kane made a note to see if Hunter could make the weapon lighter or get rid of the backpack all together.

On the far end of the simulator, trying to make himself as far from the instructor as possible but not immune to Rayne’s gaze was Skye. Despite being moderately fit, the Tigris was not one for physical combat. His orange and black fur was absolutely drenched from exhaustion and he was panting, barely able to follow the movements.

Kane mentally laughed at the stereotype of magic-users being physically lacking and shuffled a little closer to his cousin as they made their way through the formation again.

“Time to put some fire into it!” barked Kal’muuri. “Start channeling magic and show me the Flare Kick. One!”

Kane thrust his right fist forward. A short burst of flame erupted from his fist. Beside him, JD did the same only his cousin had to thrust the sword in his paws forward. The burst erupted from the tip of the blade as expected. Skye barely managed a small splutter. His Force reserves were depleted. Being someone who relied heavily on the energy from Spirits, he had very little in his own stockpile.

“Two!”

He thrust his other paw forward. There was no burst of flame this time but as he swept his paws back to his sides, there was a surge of fire that followed his palms, sweeping heat to either side of him in a defensive position. JD mirrored the gesture but his flare of fire was much shorter as he struggled with the weight and momentum of the swords. Skye collapsed at this point.

“Three!”

Kane thrust both fists forward at the same time, a jet of flame shooting outwards like two, crimson blades. The double kicks followed shortly afterward only this time, there were two rising fireballs that shot from feet.

JD tried the same but the extra force that came from throwing fireballs disrupted his balance and caused him to tumble to the ground. Some other students messed up the technique as well. One poor soul didn’t guide his magic in the right direction and actually shot the fireballs from his heels, sending him skyrocketing into the air before crashing back down. Some chaperones went to make sure he was okay while Rayne saw to Skye, feeding him an energy potion similar to what Hunter’s weapons generated.

“A lot harder than just swinging your swords, huh?” Kane asked, holding out his paw to his cousin.

The Red Lightning grinned sheepishly and took the offer to lift him up to his feet. “Yeah. I’ll be honest, I’ve just been approaching it in a way that I’m waving my swords around like they were wands to make the right symbols to cast the spell. I really haven’t given it much thought of using my whole body to make those symbols and integrating it into my fighting style.”

“You’re really more of a stabbing and slashing sort of guy. Ars Ignea Pungo is all about making sweeping attacks that spread the fire and deal as much damage as possible in a limited area. It’s not really known for its precision.”

He felt a tap on his shoulder and it was the old, red dragon.

“Good observations, Mr. Fenn. Five points.” He then gestured towards JD. “How do you suggest our young, bladed pugilist adapts his fighting style?”

“Thanks,” Kane said, turning back to his cousin. He gently took one blade of Conflagration and then held it in a reverse grip. “You’re still new to your equipment and it’s messing with your balance. You lost control the farther the tip of the blade is from your center of gravity. So let’s get rid of that. Hold it like this and give it a try.”

JD cocked his head to the side and flicked at ear at him. “A reverse grip…? Huh. I’ll give it a try.”

He picked up his second sword and took the first one from Kane. Then went through the cycle again. With the swords held closer to his body, he was able to unleash the sweeping gestures more easily. The double-kick needed a bit of work and more power. The fireballs launched from his toes puttered out quickly.

“Excellent, Mr. Clarke!” exclaimed the Professor. “Five points. Another five to you, Mr. Fenn.”

Then the dragon moved on to help the other students.

“Is that how you rack up the points?” JD asked. “You help those that are failing in front of the professors and they praise you for getting them over the line?”

“It helps,” Kane answered with a grin. “That or just sleep with the professors. Whichever works.” He tapped the flat side of JD’s blades. “Word of advice though, don’t go thinking that you have to follow the Ars Ignea Pungo styles as gospel. These classes are here to provide a guideline on how to use the techniques. You’ve got to take what you can from them and make them your own.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” Kane grinned at his cousin, clapping him on the back. “I mean, think of it this way. Conflagration builds energy the more you swing it around. Every move in Flare Kick uses up energy to produce fire. You’re going to run out of juice by the time you go to the finale.”

JD glanced at his feet for a second. “I think I get what you’re talking about.” There was a second where he seemed to just stare off into the air. His blue eyes suddenly became hard and laser-like in focus. “Let me try something give me some space..”

Kane stepped back, his eyebrows raised. For a second, he locked gazes with Rayne who was keenly watching.

The Red Lightning made sure he was aiming at nothing in particular before he flipped his right-hand sword to the forward grip and his left blade was in the reverse grip. He took a deep breath… then launch forward, moving his whole body several steps as he unleashed a wicked, wide-sweeping slash from his right-hand blade, slashing from the hip to shoulder of an imaginary foe. He then brought that sword back in the opposite direction, building momentum. JD then thrust that sword forward, unleashing a finely crafted blade of flames straight forward that almost looked like someone had forged fire into a spear and shot it forward with the force of a ballista.

In the next instant, two things happened.

First, JD flipped his right-hand blade to the reverse position and pulled it back. At the same time, he flipped his left-hand sword to the forward grip and charged forward, placing himself just about where the fiery spear dissipated. He slashed twice with his left blade before thrusting forward. This time, the flames exploded like a shotgun blast - a burst of fire that spread out in a fan with enough force that actually launched JD backwards. He used this to his advantage. He flipped his left sword back into the reverse position and swept both arms back, mimicking the latter half of stance two of Flare Kick. Flames engulfed both blades.

In less than half a second, JD crossed his two swords in front of him and launched himself forward. Two fiery wings exploded from his swords, forming a protective shield in front of him. Kane could almost hear the cry of an eagle as JD collided with the imaginary foe, stopping exactly where he had been pushed back last time by his own blast.

The Red Lightning used the momentum of his charge to launch himself upwards, flames exploding from his heel and sending him spinning upside down in a perfect circle, his legs fully outstretched to form a fiery wheel. The second his feet touched the ground, fire burst out from the heel of his other foot to unleash a second flame wheel. The momentum of the attack was enough to send him spinning upright and lifting him up into the air long enough for him to swing his two, flaming swords behind his head and then bring them slamming back down. A geyser of fire erupted from the blades, expending the remaining energy gathered from the blistering combo.

Professor Kal’muuri’s jaw hit the ground. As did a few others. Skye gave him a thumbs up and said something about at least one of them getting good grades in the class. Rayne looked pleased with himself. Kane was undoubtedly impressed even more so because he could clearly see his cousin taking his advice to heart. JD completely utilized the limitations of Conflagration - the fact that it needed to build momentum - and made it a strength. Flare Kick basically had someone remain stationary but JD incorporated distance and movement into the technique to build up the power needed to generate fire. He also saw hints if another Ars Ignea Pugno technique in there when JD did his charge that generated fiery wings from his swords - Phoenix Charge.

“That was awesome, cuz,” exclaimed Kane, clapping his paws together. “Just don’t expect an enemy to sit still and let you finish off a combo like that, though. That was a long sequence.”

The crimson Wulfun beamed at him. “Thanks for the help, Kane. That’s twenty points in my book.”

“And twenty points for such an exemplary display!” barked the professor. “See that Terrance! There’s no harm generating the fire from your heels! Use it!”

Kane hadn’t even caught that. Flare Kick had fire generate from the user’s toes but JD seemed to take what he saw from that other student’s bungle and turn it into an impressive double somersault that generated more power for the finale.

The question remained: how did he come up with a near-flawless combo in such a short time?

“What inspired you to weave all that into one?” he asked.

JD shrugged at him. “What I saw and what I observed from the rest of the class. I’ve been working on something like that for a while.” There was this strange glint in the wolf’s eyes when he emphasized the word ‘while’. Kane wasn’t sure exactly what the joke was - if there was one - but he just laughed anyway.

“I’ll have to see what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that,” he growled.

“You’re a sadomasochist.”

Kane beamed but his features immediately fell when he saw a dark cloud literally explode out from behind JD. He had no time to react as a hand came stretching out from the cloud and grasped the side of JD’s muzzle, pulling it in the opposite direction of another hand that was gripping a black blade with yellow circuitry running through it. That blade was placed against JD’s neck…

“And you are an assassin,” JD mumbled between the fingers.

The big bear’s heart was frozen in shock then he looked down and realized that JD - still holding his swords in a reverse grip - had plunged them both into the groin of the would-be-assassin. The dark cloud vanished from behind him revealing the woman with a completely shaved head marked with various forms of circuitry and dressed in tight-fitting blood-red leather.

“Want to know something about my Redwing Combo?” JD asked no one in particular. “It’s still not perfect.”

BOOM!

Fire exploded from his two swords, blasting the woman’s entire abdomen to cinders until there was nothing left except a charred spine. The assassin held her stance for a second… before her body collapsed.

“I still have a lot of power left after all that. I need to manage it better.”

Similar black clouds burst out from all around the combat simulator, assassins emerging from them and immediately moving to attack. Students scrambled away from the blades, putting up their defenses while the assassins swung vibro-blades that were designed to cut through bone. One girl fell to the ground and held up her hand to defend herself. The assassin against her showed no mercy and sliced off three of her five fingers in one swing. Another group of guys were cornered by the intruders only for the assassins to lift wrist-mounted crossbows and shoot them in the stomach, forcing them into a slow, agonizing death.

“What the fuck!?” Kane shouted. “Who the fuck are these!?”

“The Blind Sisters,” JD answered with eerie calmness. “The premium assassin’s guild on Incendius. Made entirely of cybernetically enhanced human women. They don’t come cheap.”

JD suddenly vanished and Kane just felt a brush of wind from behind him, causing his fur to stand on end. When he turned around, JD was already kicking the assassin that would have skewered Kane to the ground, the woman choking from the deep gash across her neck.

“What are they doing here?” the bear growled, forming fists. He reached into his ever-present duffel bag and pulled out Going Postal.

“Making a big mistake.”

One of the women screamed as she was suddenly hurled across the entire simulator and crashed into a wall, her limbs a broken pretzel of bones and blood while purple fire burned her flesh. Rayne lowered his fist, his eyes seething with demonic energies.

JD’s gaze went back to that girl that had her fingers severed. Kane followed his gaze and watched that same girl telekinetically strangle the assassin that had assaulted her. The same girl cast a simple healing spell that regenerated her fingers. Then she grabbed the Blind Sister by the face. The assassin’s head launched off and slammed into the nearby wall. Just the head. The body remained where it was just a foot away from the Pinnacle Student.

Those three guys that had their bellied punctured by arrows were getting up. One had turned his body to steel and flexed his abdominals, shattering the arrow. The other was casting a healing spell that just caused the arrows to completely dissipate. The last just yanked the arrow out and threw it back at the assassins. It sped right through the chest of one of the Blind Sisters.

“For an assassination guild, they didn’t do their homework, did they?” Kane huffed. He spun around, swinging Postal around. The Blind Sister gunning for a sneak attack pulled back before her blade could strike him. Blank envelopes fluttered out from the mailbox-shaped hammer… and promptly exploded. The assassin was reduced to ash with some charred body parts flying off across the combat simulator.

“They just attacked what would be the equivalent of an international guild of assassins,” JD agreed. “They may be the best here on Incendius but they just challenged a college where adults are trained to defend Tower Thirteen alongside the instructors that are training them.”

To his point, a whirling ball of death began bouncing between the Blind Sisters.

“Observe, students!” Professor Kal’muuri cried as he unleashed flaming kick after spinning fiery punch across the combat simulator. “This is the true power of the Ars Ignea Pugno!”

The Red Draconis was bouncing from target to target, unleashing blow and fiery blow with dizzying speed and increasing collateral damage. He hit position one of Flare Kick against one Blind Sister and then rocket off to another and hit position two. He unleashed the rising kicks against a third with position three. As he did so, a carpet of flames filled out his burnt wings like a fiery cape, the flames growing longer and longer with more and more distance he covered.

Suddenly, Kane realized why Rayne had signed JD up for this particular professor’s class.

“Skye!” JD shouted suddenly.

Kane jerked his head to where the exhausted Tigris was being backed against a wall by a Blind Sister. The tiger was paralyzed with fear and exhaustion, his eyes darting around for someone to save him.

“Fuck,” he growled and charged across the room to the two.

The Blind Sister, likely realizing that she was soon to die, grabbed Skye and caught him in a headlock, her blade angled at his neck.

“Not one more step!” she barked, forcing Kane to stop in his tracks. “I’ll kill him! I swear!”

The bear sneered threateningly. “You kill him and you die shortly afterwards. Problem is no one is going to resurrect you or treat your wounds when you do.”

“Just let him go,” JD said, holding up his paws. The blades of Conflagration were sheathed. “He never did anything to hurt you or offend any of you.”

“It doesn’t matter!” the Sister screeched. “He will die if you take another step forward!”

JD’s eyes then darted to his friend. “Skye… You got this?”

Skye nodded slowly, a hard look in his eyes.

“Kane… back off.”

The black bear glanced at his cousin for a second before slowly lowering his hammer. He flashed a grin at the assassin.

“Girl, you are so fucked.”

“H - H - Hey JD…?” Skye croaked. Though his voice was wavering, there was a crystal-like hardness in his green eyes. He was casting something but he needed time. A distraction. That was how his magic worked, after all. “How can you be so calm when… when you’re forced to kill…?”

For a second, JD cracked a brief smile. “Kane is a psycho so he wouldn’t care about killing someone. Rayne is a Demon Prince and he’s probably killed more than anyone us combined in his long life. As for me…” A sad smile touched his lips. “Well… I just think of the alternative. Either they die or you guys do. And I can’t live in a timeline when none of you are in it.”

Kane had all of a second to wonder at the strange choice of words before the Blind Sister suddenly screamed. His eyes darted back to Skye as the Sister holding the Tigris suddenly went stiff. Her whole body was spasming and her eyes were glazed over. A wispy trail of crimson light oozed from her eyes and mouth, swirling through the air and being sucked up into Skye’s bangle. It took him a second to realize that the screaming wasn’t coming from the Sister itself… but the energy that was being siphoned out of her… her Spirit Energy.

“Oh shit…” he whispered.

The Blind Sister’s body collapsed. There was no mind or soul within the empty husk. Skye staggered forward, falling to his knees. JD was immediately there to catch him. The Tigris wrapped his paw over his own muzzle but in doing so, brought the bangle into eye level. Skye immediately threw up.

Rayne stormed over. The sounds of fighting had ebbed. “Are you three alright? What happened?”

“We’re fine…” Kane rumbled, glancing briefly at the Demon Prince before turning back to Skye. “Sort of.”

“What happened?” Rayne insisted with greater urgency.

“Skye… was being threatened. He escaped by sucking the Spirit right out of his captor.”

Rayne’s eyes widened. “I see.” He turned to bark ordered. “Get campus security! We need medics for those that are injured! Everyone stop gawking and move!”

Locked Down and Locked Out

Hunter saw the black cloaks with white trims before he saw anything else. He immediately rushed to Aria and Tanar who were at the forefront of the crowd demanding answers. The gondala station leading to Pinnacle had been closed down and a line of burly men and women wielding various weaponry was keeping anyone from boarding. Plumes of smoke were pumping out of the hovering facility and occasionally, there was a burst of magic that set him on edge.

He tapped Tanar on the shoulder and came up beside the Leomian. “What’s going on? What’s happening up there?”

“No idea,” answered the lion, shaking his head. “Aria and I were just waiting for the results of Alex’s inquiry when we heard the explosions from Pinnacle.”

“Who’s up there right now?”

“Rayne and the kids.”

His heart froze up and his eyes darted up to the floating campus that might as well have been its own city. There was only a few pillars of smoke compared to the rest of the facility but there was more to this than just an attack on an educational facility. Pinnacle College was a fortress, a bastion of advancement and the outreach of Haven to Incendius. An attack on the campus regardless of impact would strike a blow against that very ideal.

“Pinnacle is packed with the best and brightest from Haven,” Hunter said, his muzzle dry even as he spoke those words. “It’s filled with people that deal with this kind of stuff on the daily. Whatever ‘this’ is…”

Aria turned her head to regard him. “I’d feel better if we can be up there and help. However, these military grunts won’t let us through despite being chaperones and our rank.”

“Can’t you just fly up there? I made sure to build Searsparrow with that ability…”

“Alone?” she countered. “Without knowing our foe?” A soft smile touched her lips. “There was a time where I would have done exactly that but those times are well behind me. I no longer have an even-handed career soldier to temper my impulsiveness or an immortal Chronomancer who will always make me look better in comparison.”

Hunter quickly flicked open his Sequencer and began using it alongside his matter converters. Light danced from between his fingers as he melded metal, created circuitry and synchronized it with his Sequencer. Within five minutes, he had a high-performance drone ready to go.

A big, heavy, metal hand fell on his shoulder, causing him to immediately freeze. “I do hope you are not planning to use that to circumvent the current security measures and leak what could be happening on campus.”

He slowly turned and froze as he found the red glow of an Inquisitor’s red, artificial eye staring into his own. Every bone in his body turned as cold as the gray metal that made up the Inquisitor’s power armor. Standing at an imposing seven feet tall, the human was encased in huge, bulky, gray armor that was powered by a compact generator. He was broader than even the military-trained Wulfun and his armor covered him from neck to toe. The Inquisitor didn’t wear his usual skull-shaped helmet which left his pale features and short cropped, black Mohawk for all to see. His features were craggy and weathered, a sign of his age. The one good eye was still a sharp black as he gazed down upon Hunter judgmentally.

“Ah…” began the Wulfun. “I… Well… Uhm…”

“Inquisitor,” Aria said brusquely, pushing past Hunter and making a point to remove the Inquisitor’s armored hand from the silver Wulfun’s shoulder. “I am Templar Aria Valkyrie. I demand you let us through this embargo and onto the campus.”

The Inquisitor raised one eyebrow at them. “Templar Valkyrie. A pleasure to finally meet you in person. I am Effriine La’Dulton. Inquisitor of Incendius.” He turned his gaze up to the floating school. “As much as I would love to grant you the access you crave as well as investigate the issue myself, I find myself stymied by the Generals’ orders.”

The Generals themselves had barred them from helping Pinnacle? Hunter’s mind immediately went to Alex. The crimson gunman had organized a hearing with Raifraize and a tribunal of Generals. Could it be that something went horribly wrong and now they were forced to stand by until it was resolved.

He wasn’t the only one to come to a conclusion. Just a look at Tanar indicated that the lion shared his theory.

“Which Generals?” Aria demanded. “The Sunburst Knight? As I recall the Inquisition no longer answer to the Church and are under the command of the Inquisitor of Silence.”

Inquisitor La’Dulton returned a gentle smile. “Regardless, Tower Thirteen is in a tenuous state at the moment. It would not do to spark an incident between the men and women who currently stand as the pillars of stability and act as the foundations of our recovery.” He gestured for them to follow him as he dropped his voice. “Though I would hazard to guess that theirs aren’t the only pillars that our society stands upon, yes?”

“Are you talking about the Asso -” Hunter blurted only for Aria to press a finger against his muzzle. Being out in the open in such a crowded area was probably not the best place to talk about such things.

La’Dulton led them away from the crowd, his power armor surprisingly quiet save for the heavy footfalls of his weight against the cobblestones. Once they had some relative privacy in a quiet alleyway, he turned to face them.

“Your activities have not passed the eyes of the Inquisition, Lady Valkyrie,” said the Inquisitor. “Needless to say that your discovery of the Lost Incendian Fleet sparked many people’s interest. Particularly the rumors that the supposed artificial intelligence that you encountered was actually a maddened Incendian Blacksmith that had fused himself with the very fleet itself.”

Hunter’s heart began closing its valves, turning his blood cold and tightening his breath. For his entire life, the Inquisition was this scary figure that you never wanted to encounter. Innocent or no, the Inquisition found everyone guilty unless proven otherwise - at least that’s how the stories went. Supposedly, the Inquisition had softened its stance in the lead-up to the Fall of Haven which was one of the major reasons why they were unable to root out the corruption in the Church by the time the Fall occurred. Under the Inquisitor of Silence otherwise known as General Elisha, they were being more transparent to the rest of the world.

Still, it was hard to build that trust after generations of stories about the Inquisition’s ruthlessness.

“I can neither confirm nor deny any rumors,” Aria answered tactfully. “Though I suspect that is not really why you dragged us away from the crowd.” She folded her arms defensively. “What is it you want, Inquisitor?”

The Inquisitor smiled mildly. “Straight to the point. Very well.” He held out his palm and a small display sprang up from the palm. “Recently, you have been making inquiries. I understand that you spoke with Lofraine Ulbermasque and then Raifraize Phulton. Miss Phulton is currently in the Generals’ custody while Mr. Ulbermasque mysteriously disappeared after handing all of his assets into the care of General Solomon. I have been conducting my own investigation into the two particularly with relation to the drug known as Vermilion. Are you aware of it?”

Hunter gulped loudly, catching the attention of both Aria and the Inquisitor. He ducked his head, trying to appear small and avoid the Inquisitor’s gaze and mask the gulp behind a cough.

“I know that the Sunburst Knight outright banned the use of the narcotic,” answered Aria.

“It may interest you to know that I have been following a particular ring of Vermilion distributors. I had long suspected the Lofraine was actually using his Reaching Flame charity to get people to traffic the product under the guise of charity and Phulton has been using her connections to protect those people legally. Armando Delize, a known shipping magnate, is the one that provides the means to transport the drug while Ophan Sapphine, a military contractor provides protection. Saz Daur, the owner of multiple pharmaceutical companies here in Incendius, is the one that develops Vermilion for them all.”

Those were all the names in the list that Lofraine had given them initially. The Inquisition already knew but hadn’t acted. He had to wonder why.

“I assume you have evidence?” asked Aria. “And is this your attempt for us to consolidate our investigations?”

“Evidence is sadly the one thing I lack,” replied La’Dulton. “They cover their tracks very well. The pattern is there and can be inferred. Once you know what to look for.”

“And who told you to look?”

La’Dulton’s lips twinged upwards in a smile. “One Maxwell Magmillion before his untimely death.”

Now things were getting interesting.

“The reason we were asking around both Ulbermasque and Phulton is because we’re interested in Magmillion,” Tanar admitted. “We believe he took something incredibly powerful and dangerous from the Lost Incendian Fleet.”

“Did he now?” asked the Inquisitor, genuinely surprised. “Of that I can neither confirm nor deny as, I am sure you know, Magmillion died years ago.”

“We’re aware. That’s why we went to the last people he contacted.”

“With good reason.” La’Dulton nodded in understanding. “It makes sense. We had interpreted his death not to be a suicide and had long believed someone had murdered him. His activities prior to his death had him purchasing the very means that the people I mentioned used to distribute Vermilion. He then appeared to work hard to dismantle those companies and reconstruct them as something more beneficial to society in general. We had always assumed that one of them had ordered a hit on him discretely but if it was actually some sort of demonic weapon…”

Something about those words struck Hunter as strange. The Inquisition was meant to be investigators so it would not be so hard to believe that they had tied the multiple companies of the Association to the Vermilion trade. But at the same time, he found it very hard to believe that they would know so much about Magmillion and not know about the Association.

“Something I find weird,” he admitted, “is that when we asked Lofraine about what he knew about Magmillion, he willingly gave us the names you mentioned.”

A look of concern crossed the Inquisitor’s expression. “Did he now? I would never have expected someone so intertwined in the drug trade to betray their own. Then again, the threat of demonic corruption can change anyone’s tune. We would have to investigate it further.”

He decided to press further. “Who is we? The Inquisition or the Association?”

“Hunter!” exclaimed Tanar.

The Inquisitor’s expression changed to an unreadable mask. “What a curious accusation. Just what are you accusing me of, Hunter Hart?”

Hunter puffed out his chest, holding his ground against the intimidating Inquisitor. “Just something that’s bugged me about you, Inquisitor. Given what we know, I find it really difficult to believe that you’ve linked those people to the Vermilion trade and haven’t come to the conclusion that they’re part of the secret capitalist cabal known as the Association.”

Before Tanar could protest further, Aria held up a hand and regarded the Inquisitor suspiciously. “He has a point, La’Dulton. If we were able to pierce the veil of the Association, surely an established Inquisitor should have done the same. So that leads me to believe you are either incompetent or…”

“You’re in the Association’s pocket!” Tanar shouted.

La’Dulton broke into a faint smile. “Clever. Allow me to allay your fears.” He placed an armored hand against his chest. “Yes. I am under the employ of the Association. But make no mistake, the Association does not seek anarchy nor does it seek to undermine the Generals’ authority. Simply that they are exercising their right to use their hard-earned money in a way that they see fit especially when it challenges a norm that is both foolish and archaic.”

“You’re calling bloodsports and dealing in drugs ‘foolish and archaic’?” Tanar growled, fangs bared. Hunter mirrored him, hackles raised.

“Your ‘bloodsports’ are opportunities that enables the strong to take what is rightfully theirs. As for the trade of Vermilion, the drug itself is not toxic or overly addictive. Just because it has side-effects for those that abuse it, it does not mean that it should be outright outlawed. Is it not an overreaction that just because a few bad eggs could not control themselves, Vermilion is outright banned?”

Hunter drew the blade of Wildfire. “Is that why you had Magmillion killed? Because he agreed with the Generals and turned your Vermilion ring into something more profitable, you killed him? He showed you a better way of making money and you still killed him!”

La’Dulton’s expression darkened. “Now there rests the greatest mystery, doesn’t it. Who killed Maxwell Magmillion?”

“You did!” Tanar snapped.

Aria lifted her hand again, her eyes never leaving the Inquisitor. “No. No they didn’t. That’s why they’re so afraid. Why he is here to try and find out what we learned. Because they’re not sure who killed him. Why he was so interested when we mentioned it could be something from the Fleet that caused his death. Also why Lofraine was so eager to give us those names. Why Phulton was scared about a potential AI outbreak. Because they genuinely don’t know.”

Aria straightened, lifting her chin at the Inquisitor. “The Association is all about control. They flout the control that they have over the populace in the Generals’ faces. They enjoy the delusion that they appear to have more power than the people in authority. So when something is not under their control, they become scared. Paranoid.”

La’Dulton let out a soft chuckle. “How very insightful.” He crossed his arms. “Tell me then, what do you think will happen now?”

She stepped up to the Inquisitor. Though his power armor placed her at a whole foot shorter, it seemed that the Angel was far more intimidating. “You are going to let us go. Because we still know something that you don’t. We know what Magmillion took from the Lost Fleet. You don’t. You’re going to report to your masters that it could be something corruptive. Then you’re going to arrange a meeting between us.”

“And what is to stop me from capturing you now and forcing the truth out of you?”

Hunter felt a chill run down his spine and a distinct terrible emptiness forming in his chest. It was the absence of magic. Inquisitors were known from their ability to disable anyone’s ability to use magic through the Illuminus Weizar. He could already see Wildfire starting to lose its fiery glow. Tanar and Aria remained strong. Inquisitors could not disable Valors.

“Information freely given is far more truthful than one forced out through coercion.” Aria tilted her head tauntingly. “As an Inquisitor, you should know this. People are more likely to provide what information will satisfy their captors than the truth. Anything to make the torture end.” She folded her arms in a mirror to him. “And here is something you may not know, but I happen to have some pull with the Generals. If you want them to back off from Phulton, perhaps you should cooperate. After all, you did just give us the names of three other collaborators that I’m sure the Generals would be interested to know about.”

“Assuming you escape me,” La’Dulton said. Despite these words, he unfolded his arms. “But you have a good point. Perhaps we could organize a truce. Collaborate. Especially if the threat is as dire as you claim.”

Aria didn’t respond and just kept staring at the Inquisitor, her very presence seemingly growing with each passing second.

“Allow me to provide you with one bit of information that will hopefully show the Association’s good will,” La’Dulton said, taking a step back and offering a slight bow in her direction. “Do you know the cases of spontaneous combustion wracking Incendius?”

“What of it?” Aria asked.

“There is a direct link between it an the distribution of Vermilion after Magmillion died.”

The three members of the Godslayers frowned and regarded the Inquisitor with furrowed brows.

“What…?”

“People only started bursting into flames after Magmillion perished,” La’Dulton said. “After the Association did it’s investigation, we discovered that those who are suffering such a terrible fate are those who have come into contact from Vermilion that was directly produced by the companies that were bought back by the Association from Magmillion.”

So many questions swirled around in Hunter’s mind. Did Magmillion set up a trap? Did he purposefully buy those shell companies, turn them profitable so that the Association would buy them back and taint their Vermilion supply just so when the spontaneous combustion cases started after he died, someone would investigate and be drawn to the Association. It was a long game and one that required incredible sacrifice especially since Magmillion died in the process.

Given the evils of the Association though…

No, that didn’t make sense. The question of FireFeather remained. What was that sword’s place in this scheme and where was it?

“Why didn’t you stop trading?” Tanar asked. “Why still keep pumping out Vermilion?”

The Inquisitor offered a grim smile. “That’s the thing. Though the members of the Association tried to curb the flood of tainted Vermilion, the cases just kept rising. Even after an entirely new batch was produced with new equipment, new distribution methods and new everything, it was still tainted. People who consumed Vermilion would still randomly burst into flames. Artists who desired extra inspiration, addicts looking for the next high and even members of the Custodia Lupus looking to find excitement in their eternal vigil exploded at random. Even old stocks of Vermilion produced before Magmillion’s acquisition seemed to be tainted.”

La’Dulton shook his head grimly. “Nothing seemed to work.”

“And why would the Association stop a flow of cash even if it killed a few as long as it was never traced back to them, right?” Hunter scoffed. “Can’t help but wonder if Magmillion purposefully set this trap so that the Association would crumble under their own karma. Maybe if you assholes just took the companies as is without the Vermilion trade, none of this would have happened.”

“We will never know.” The Inquisitor took a few steps back. “I will bring your message to the Association. I will be in contact.”

“Wait!” Aria cried. “What about Pinnacle?”

The Inquisitor laughed softly and snapped his fingers. “Ah, I had almost forgotten. It seems that Raifraize Phulton has gone… a little rogue. Perhaps she sensed that the Association would be willing to throw her to the proverbial wolves much like they cut off Lofraine now that she is in the custody of the Generals. She is holding your precious college hostage and is flexing her influence over the Blind Sisters. I would not be too worried, however.” He bowed towards Aria. “Again, as a sign of good faith, I shall have the Blind Sisters cease their attack.”

“How kind of you,” Aria answered, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

That was not a favor. It was another flex of power. Effriine La’Dulton was clearly telling them that he could control the guild of assassins and could deploy them at a moment’s notice.

The Associations power was vast indeed.

Ominous Distance

The infirmary at Pinnacle was really more like a full-on hospital with complete privacy for its residents and patients in mind. With so many of its students engaging in dangerous activities for their rubric, personal goals or loyalty to their homes, the facilities needed to be pretty sophisticated to deal with all sorts of injuries. Staffed by nurses and doctors, there were over two hundred wards that could house up to four students each and an additional one hundred private rooms.

Given his recent experience, Skye was provided one such private room hours after the attack of the Blind Sisters. The therapist that had attended to him had been… unhelpful. She could not understand the turmoil he felt or the disgust he had in himself for what he had done to that poor woman. Platitudes about fighting for his life, justifications of the assassin’s death and even trying to frame him as a hero only made him sick.

He sat quietly in the private room, eyes facing the window but not really taking in the beauty of the Gray Mountains or the rest of Corona. The Sun Spire had started to ‘set’ casting a beautiful twilight on the white city. Little lamplights decorated the streets, providing illumination.

The world beyond the sterilized walls seems so vibrant and lively. But beneath the flickering lights, he could see something else. Spirits were everywhere. Especially in such a highly-populated area, Spirits formed more easily. The stones, absorbed every footfall that passed them, carrying with them the worries, urgency and thoughts of a population basking in the holy light of the Sun Spire. Even the simple leaves that dangled from trees amongst the plazas had their own little spirits within them. The air itself was rife with them, whispers of all the souls that wandered the streets of the City of the Sun.

His eyes were drawn to the Sun Spire… or rather beneath it.

There was something there. A immense presence. A shadow that loomed over all of Corona that only he could see. The more he focused on it, the greater it grew. Black tendrils crawled up from deep within the mountain, seeping across the streets, rising up the Sun Spire and shrouding the light at the top. It spread across Gray Mountains, crawled across the sky and grew bigger and bigger until it blanketed everything beyond the window.

Two red eyes burned within the darkness, staring straight at him.

A loud keening screeched through the air forcing Skye to immediately plug his ears. He wanted to turn his gaze away but he just couldn’t. He grit his fangs together, fighting against the presence. Tears of blood streamed down from the corners of his eyes and every bone in his body turned to ice while his veins were afire like lava flowed through them. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t. Every part of his body was paralyzed.

The presence was getting closer… and closer…

… he could see it just outside the window. Smoky, clawed hands reached for the window-

“Skye?”

A large, clawed hand suddenly rested on his hand and he jerked in surprise. The creature was gone. Corona was back to basking in the soft, purple light of a setting Sun Spire. No dark shadow. No burning coal-like eyes. Not bloody tears running down his face. Just him in the private ward of Pinnacle with Wood standing beside him, a hand on his shoulder and a bouquet of purple flowers with yellow stamen in his other hand.

“You okay?” the green dragon asked.

Skye glanced from him back outside. For a moment, he was afraid the Spirits had abandoned him but he could still see and hear them. In fact, he could still see that dark presence in the distance. If he focused on it, he was sure he could draw it but he turned away from it. He blocked them off. All of them. Shielding his mind and heart.

“I’m… not sure,” he admitted.

“Sorry I wasn’t there,” Wood said, placing the flowers in a vase nearby. “I brought you your favorite flowers.”

He smiled faintly. “Spirit Lilies.”

“Yeah. I remember you liked them.” Wood gave him a smirk. “Not because they actually have anything to do with Spirits but just because of the name.”

On Miasma, they were called Metatron’s Tears, after the God of the Mind or Apostle of the Mind depending on which religion was subscribed to. However, when Skye had migrated to Haven, he was surprised to find that they were called ‘Spirit Lilies’. It amused him how much the Church wanted to wash away any mention of other Gods apart from the Mother Goddess. That fascination led his friends to believe that he liked the purple flowers. They were gorgeous and had a musky, sweet scent and they really popped in the room so Skye had grown to like them.

“Thanks,” he mumbled, resting his eyes on the flowers. Simple Spirits inhabited the plant. Nothing overly powerful or strong. Still, he could see in them the love of the florists who planted them, the frustration of the salesman who couldn’t sell them and finally Wood’s concern and absolute joy at seeing them.

“How are you doing?” Wood asked again. “Anything I can do to help?”

Skye offered a bitter smile. “I don’t think so, Wood. Everyone’s been through that door and tried to offer me some form of comfort. None of them can understand.”

Wood squeezed his shoulder tightly. “Is it because you killed someone today?”

Funny. He was the first person to actually ask what was bothering him. Everyone automatically assumed that was what bothered him. He was not so fragile as to cow at death. Part of his shamanistic arts was to basically kill the spirits around him to use them to power his spells. Slaying that member of the Blind Sisters did not shake him.

It was what came after.

“It isn’t.”

“Huh…” rumbled the dragon. “Sounds like everyone either wasted their time or you figured something out yourself. Why don’t you tell me what’s bugging you? Maybe I can help.”

“I doubt it…” he sighed. “But seeing as you’re the only person that asked…” He turned to face Wood. “Being a Shaman doesn’t just mean I’m dragging spirits to me and using their energies for my spells. It also means opening myself up to them. It’s a sort of two-way street. Most of the time, Spirits don’t fight back. They don’t have an understanding of death.”

“Most of the time…?” Wood repeated but didn’t press further.

Skye appreciated that and turned to look back at the Sun Spire. “In general, I’m more sensitive to Spirits than everyone else. It’s like… another sense. It can be overwhelming especially in a big city like this. So I’ve had to force myself to shut off that sense. But when I drained that assassin of her Spirit… I had to open my ‘eyes’.”

A look of concern crossed Wood’s features. “What did you see?”

He turned back towards his draconic friend, puzzled at the question. How could Wood ask the right question?

“I… I don’t know,” he responded. Skye looked back towards Sun Spire. “There’s… something under the Sun Spire. I… I don’t know what is it. It’s immense. Powerful. Every time I let down my guard, I feel it reaching out for me. It blankets the sky. It takes over everything and…” He hugged himself, shivering against the lingering presence. “I’m afraid of it…”

Wood’s strong arms wrapped around him. “Hey, hey… It’s okay to be scared.”

“But what does it mean?” he demanded, starting to sob. “What is that thing?”

“It’s your Bedcrawler_._”

He frowned and lifted his head long enough to give Wood a puzzled stare. The dragon pressed a hand gently against the back of his head and forced him to rest his cheeks against the broad chest.

“Right, forgot you didn’t grow up with Havenese parents,” Wood chuckled. “The Bedcrawler is the monster that lives under your bed and will nibble on your toes if you’re not asleep by the time your parents tell you it’s time to sleep and aren’t covered up properly. Every time it nibbles on your toes, you lose a little bit of your height. That’s why you’ll never grow up to be big and strong if you don’t go to bed on time.”

Skye again pushed back against Wood’s hand. “That sounds like -”

Wood pushed him back down against his chest, likely trying to keep him from seeing the blush on his green-scaled cheeks. “Yeah. Yeah it is.” The dragon sighed softly. “It’s a monster that’s designed to scare you. But when it comes to monsters, you can only confront it. Stay up and wait until your parents are fast as sleep, cast a simple light spell and look under your bed from the Bedcrawler. When you see it isn’t there, you realize that there’s no reason to be afraid.”

The shadows crept up from the corner of his vision and he shut his eyes, focusing on the feeling of Wood’s strong chest against his chest and the gentle heartbeat of the dragon. “This isn’t some fairytale or some story that parents use to get their kids to go to sleep, Wood. This is real. That thing is out there. It’s after me…”

“Then let it come.”

Skye balled his paws into fists. “Don’t tell me that we’ll face it together. None of you can understand what it is. I don’t understand what it is.”

Wood let out a hearty chuckle. “Dude, do you think we really understood what we were going up against when we fought Rahl?” He felt the dragon shake his head. “But naw. What I was going to say is that you won’t know what it is until you let it come to you. You don’t know its intentions. You don’t know what it wants.”

Only then did Wood gently push Skye away so that their gazes were locked. “Look, I’m a Fallen, Skye. For all of my life before the Fall, I thought all Fallen were evil. But then I Fell. And I realized that you shouldn’t be afraid of the things that people say are ‘bad’ for you. It’s okay to be a little selfish every now and then. It’s okay to lock yourself away and demand privacy. It’s okay to masturbate, lust, overeat and just be lazy every now and then. As long as it’s done in moderation.”

Wood gave him an encouraging smile. “People want us to be perfect. The world just wants us to be who we are.” The dragon’s blue eyes drifted towards the window and he held up a hand in the direction of the encroaching shadow. He formed a fist… and then gave the creature his middle finger. “Whatever is out there, it can back of until you take care of yourself. If it wants something from you, it can damn well ask politely instead of scaring the shit out of you.”

That dark figure seemed to shrink in Wood’s presence and recoil at the gesture. “Can you… can you see it?”

“Nope. But I’ve seen you looking out there so I figured…”

That made Skye laugh a little and he straightened, feeling encouraged and stronger. He stepped in front of Wood, pressing a paw against the glass. The shadow on the other side hesitated… and held up a smoky hand to mirror the gesture. It was not threatening… and now that he got a look at it… it didn’t seem hostile at all. Sadness oozed out of it. Sadness and desperation.

“I never looked at it like that before,” Skye admitted. “It was just so… new. So scary. I wanted to push it away because it was different. But now that I look at it…” He closed his paw into a fist and let out a little chuckle. “You know… as a shaman I should be listening to the Spirits more. I should be soothing them, easing them and using their power to heal the land. But here I am shutting them out because they’re too noisy…” Skye sighed and turned back to his friend. “I feel like such an idiot. Like I betrayed who I am.”

Wood gave him a gentle smirk. “Yeah well. Join the club. When I Fell, I felt like I betrayed my mom and all of you. I was meant to be the strong one. The fighter. JD was the rogue and you’re the wizard. But then I ended up becoming more like a blackguard than a paladin.” He sat down on the armrest of the chair that Skye had previously occupied. “We all stumble. But that doesn’t mean that we have to go back on the same path. If you fall off, make your own path. Make it your own.”

“Maybe I can be some sort of ‘Fallen Shaman’ or something,” Skye chuckled. “Don’t know for sure. But I’ll figure it out.”

“And we’ll be there to help you out. All of us.”

Skye nodded in appreciation. “Thanks, Wood. Of all the people who came to talk to me, even that clueless therapist, you’re the one that got through I appreciate that.”

The dragon beamed. “I’m not just some muscle. Besides, everyone was a little busy.”

“Oh yeah?” Skye sat down on the other armrest. “What did I miss?”

Pinnacle was naturally put on lock down after the Blind Sisters’ attack. No one was allowed in or out. Rayne and the rest of the staff inside the campus scoured the grounds for further signs of the Blind Sisters and found a few pockets here and there. Students were told to bunker down in their dorms but, naturally, they went out and helped subdue the Sisters anyway. Kane and JD were amongst them. Wood had been patrolling alongside them.

The college was only recently reopened and that was when Aria and Alex had come in with their individual reports.

“What happened with Uncle Alex?” Skye asked, using the affectionate nickname he had given to the only father figure he had ever encountered when he moved to Haven.

Wood growled, baring his fangs and his wings ruffling in agitation. “That bitch Raifraize Phulton basically cornered the Generals. She was the one that sent the Blind Sisters at Pinnacle. It wasn’t just after us. Apparently what she wanted to do was tell the Generals that she was willing to damage their reputation on Incendius by targeting what was basically a symbol of their ideals.”

Pinnacle wasn’t just a college for the upcoming defenders of Tower Thirteen after the Fall had exhausted their resources so much. It was the Generals’ project to unite Tower Thirteen in the absence of the Eternal Prophet and a broken Church. Give people hope in the next generation. Attacking it would cast that ideal into doubt.

How could the Generals say that the next generation could protect them if they weren’t alive to provide that protection?

“Were there any casualties?”

Wood shook his head. “The Blind Sisters, despite their technology, are still a backwater guild of assassins. This is basically the second time Pinnacle has come to Incendius in the past thirteen years so they had no information on our defenses or the students. Phulton sent them to die. As a statement.”

“What did the Generals do?”

“What ever good lawyer would do. Stalled.”

Skye broke into a grin and chuckled behind a closed fist. Wood continued by telling them that while the students and staff curbed the seemingly relentless assault from the Blind Sisters, Aria was with Tanar and Hunter in Corona trying to get in. There, they met one Inquisitor Effriine La’Dulton. The Inquisitor was crooked, being in the pocket of the Association. Apparently, Phulton had gone rogue. Knowing that the Association was likely to gut her off like a gangrenous limb, she decided to add a bit leverage by attacking Pinnacle which the rest of the Association did not like. So they sent the Inquisitor to negotiate.

La’Dulton had the Blind Sisters retreat with the promise of getting in contact later for negotiations. The Inquisitor revealed that the cases of spontaneous combustion were directly linked to the Vermilion trade. After Maxwell Magmillion died and the different Association members kicked up the production and distribution of the drug, people started exploding. They did their investigation and found that those that died consumed their Vermilion.

“That’s enough to bring them to justice,” Skye said. “We should bring this to the Generals.”

“Already done,” answered Wood with a wave of his hand. “They’re pondering what’ll happen next. Not to mention the Inquisitor of Silence is getting involved since one of his own seems to be in bed with the Association. But Aria and Rayne wants to still talk with the Association.”

“Why?” Skye asked. He waved a paw in the direction of the window, gesturing at the city beyond. “Why even bother? We have enough evidence of their own admission that they are the cause of the pain that has hit Incendius and caused so much suffering to infuse the city!”

“Because it doesn’t answer the question of what happened to Maxwell and FireFeather.” Wood stood up and let out a heavy sigh. “Remember, Skye, we’re here to stop an apocalyptic prophecy. That means we need to find the sword that Maxwell took from the Lost Fleet. We don’t know where that is. The Association is our best connection to it at the moment.”

“So we have to entertain their politics long enough for them to tell us what we need to know.”

“Or at least where the Firefighter is,” confirmed Wood. “Lofraine said the guy is the one that wielded a ‘bizarre sword’ and was Maxwell’s champion in the fights. But apparently he disappeared when Maxwell died.”

“Or maybe he was bought off by someone else in the Association.”

“That’s what we’re thinking. So our terms are basically to give us FireFeather and we’ll put in a good word with the Generals.”

Skye folded his arms and shook his head. “I hate the idea of appeasing those monsters… Whenever someone dies, their Spirit energy disperses. It births multiple spirits but that pain, suffering, regret and all that they feel at death taints those spirits. I can’t imagine what that arena must be like.”

“We’ll probably figure out soon enough,” Wood sighed. “We’re expecting that call soon.” The dragon gave him a concerned look. “Will you be okay by then?”

The tiger turned back out the window, his little feather earring brushing against his shoulder. The shadow had retreated, an aura of understanding oozing from it. For now, it seemed, it was appeased.

“Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

?

Oil to the Fire

The call had come the following morning. Delivered by the nameless master of ceremonies with the burn and a barely hidden explosive collar, they were called to a quiet warehouse that was reserved entirely for their meeting. The entirely of the Godslayers attended, foregoing any classes and preparing themselves for the fight they knew was inevitable. Kane, his hair now a blazing neon green, followed the nameless MC into the warehouse. It was very late in the evening when they arrived and the MC was waiting for them in front of the large doors into the warehouse.

“This way,” said the man, his eyes cast down and looking defeated as always. Kane rolled his shoulders, bones crackling as followed the others through the door.

Most of the warehouse was cleared out around a single, round table where three figures sat. Behind those three were another three people. That Inquisitor, Effriine La’Dulton, sat at the table as well but was positioned in between the two parties. There were enough seats for every one of the Godslayers to sit down but Kane refused to sit and instead hung back while Aria, Rayne and Alex took their seats directly opposite to their hosts. JD and Tanar sat down to flank the oldest of the group leaving Hunter, Wood, Skye and Kane standing.

Kane appraised the members of the Association.

“Now that we are here,” said the portly human with a ridiculously thick mustache that drooped down past the corner of his lips. His hair was slicked back, silvery gray and his features were craggy. There was a strength in his broad shoulders and barrel chest that suggested that at one point, he was a soldier or at least worked out. “I am Ophan Sapphine. I own the Crimson Crusaders a paramilitary group that serves as a contractor to many private groups here on Incendius. ”

He then gestured to the man on his left. “This is Armando Delize. Owner and the Delize Shipping Conglomerate.”

Armando was Rephrian of the crocodile variety. Tallest amongst the three, he was a little on the lanky side despite what his suit tried to hide. His scales were polished like diamonds and his claws were perfectly trimmed. Everything about him was immaculate. Not a strand of his clothes were off and this blonde hair was perfectly styled both with product and magic.

“We run a large variety of shipping companies all over Incendius,” Delize explained. “Both within Incendius and without.”

Sapphine gestured at the man to his right. A dour looking Sapien of the chimpanzee subspecies who was slouched in his seat and wore thick glasses. The man’s head was completely bald, only covered in his short, black fur. The smallest of the three, he was dressed in more casual clothing; a shirt, cargo pants and went around barefoot.

“And this is Sar Daur. The owner of Sunfire Pharmaceuticals. They are the premiere pharmaceutical company here on Incendius. Based on Incendius for Incendius.”

Sar waved at them but said nothing.

“Do we need to introduce ourselves?” Aria asked. “Or shall we trust that you have gathered sufficient information on us through whatever unscrupulous means you used to sneak your messenger to us undetected.”

Sapphine offered her a thin smile that sent cracks across his craggy features. “How astute. Very well.” He leaned back, hands folded together. “So let us put it all on the table. We want to stop the cases of spontaneous combustion being caused by our Vermilion and we want your team to stop investigating us.”

“Then just stop producing it,” Hunter stated bluntly. “Is that so hard?”

Sar Daur scoffed derisively. “Vermilion is not harmful if taken at appropriate dosages. Like any drug, overdose can be fatal. We cannot be responsible for how people use our product. Yet your General Zachariah, the Sunburst Knight, would demonize a completely legitimate product to stroke his own ego and cement his own power.”

Alex growled. “The Generals are not there to seize power. They are there to provide the foundations for a government to take root. Local governments in cities are free to rule themselves. The fact that Vermilion is banned all over Incendius is a reflection of how dangerous it is not because of the policy of the General.”

Daur turned away, rolling his eyes dramatically. “Just the narrow perspective I’d expect from a grunt.”

Alex kept his cool just as they all felt the crushing emptiness of the Inquisitor’s special anti-magic field being activated. Kane tightened his paws into fists and was glad he had drawn Spicy Meatball before he had entered. There were too many shadows in the warehouse and he was sure there were hidden dangers there.

“Policy can change,” Sapphine said, a small smile on his face. “Perhaps as part of this, we can negotiate the lifting of such bans. After all, what better way to highlight the benefits of Vermilion than to remove the harmful aspects of it introduced by a foreign agent?”

The slimy words made Kane’s skin crawl and his fur stand on end. His eyes went to the Inquisitor who had yet to say anything in the conversation. What had caused a man who was meant to protect the world from such corruption turn to the Association? Money? Power? Security?

For the moment, his thoughts were disrupted as he followed the Inquisitor’s gaze to JD who was the only one who was leaning back in his chair and had his bare paws up on the table. Apparently, the Red Lightning was taking the meeting in a far more relaxed manner.

“Now that we have told you what we want,” Delize said. “How about you tell us what you want?”

“How about we address the elephant in the room first?” JD said abruptly. “We haven’t introduced everyone yet.”

Deliz chuckled. “Where are my manners?” He gestured at La’Dulton. “You already know Inquisitor La’Dulton.” He then gestured at woman behind him dressed in what seemed like ceremonial robes befitting someone from the priesthood oft he Church. “This is my champion. She is the Speaker of Flame. She is an expert in Pyromancy as her name suggests particularly the somatic means of invoking Pyromancy. She could invoke a fireball by simply uttering a single letter and were you enter a conversation with her, you would find yourself turned to ash before she finished her sentence.”

“Charming…” Tanar growled. “An exaggeration but charming anyway.”

Sapphine gestured at the towering human behind him. “This is the Lord of Lava. My champion. He is an exceedingly rare practitioner of Lava Manipulation. The art of mixing Geomancy with Pyromancy is incredibly powerful but also very rare and I am lucky to find someone who was loyal to me. The Searanti may worship the ash that their volcanoes spew out by my Lord is able to generate actual volcanoes.”

“And my associate here is the Death Fire Alchemist,” Sar Daur said, grinning savagely. The Alchemist’s species was hidden behind a flat, white porcelain mask that didn’t appear to have any eyes. His head and body was masked by a hood and cloak leaving him to appear little more than a white curtain floating in the shadows. “He knows how to ignite the blood in your veins with a few poisons. He can bottle inspiration. Turn rage into a powder. Can the spark of life. It was with his assistance that I was able to manufacture Vermilion.”

“So we know who to kill if we want to stop the flow,” grunted Kane, returning his own savage grin. “Good to know.”

Sapphine ignored him. “Now that everyone is introduced…”

“That’s a lie,” JD interrupted. “What about the two dozen or so women conveniently wearing blindfolds and equipped with advanced cybernetics hiding in the extremities of the warehouse? Aren’t you going to introduce them?”

The Association representatives’ eyes went to La’Dulton who quirked an eyebrow at JD.

“You are extremely perceptive, little one.”

“That’s not all I am,” snickered the Red Lightning, leaning back further in his seat to the point where he could have almost tipped over. “For example, I am pretty sure the only reason you called this meeting was because you three are afraid that the rest of the Association might just cut you off and turn on you if this goes south.” He pointed at the three company owners. “I mean, there was definitely more than you three in those skyboxes at Helioclast.”

Kane’s grin grew broader. That was a very good point. Those celebrants wearing golden masks definitely numbered in the dozens. Even counting Lofraine and Phulton, there were far more people there than these three.

“Curious,” Sapphine said, “I don’t recall ever seeing you fight in the arena. Did you spectate perchance?”

“Not really. But I did get a front seat view of Lofraine getting thrown out of his little host’s seat.” He flashed Sapphine a mischievous grin. “All things considered, you guys really should put more than two guards in front of the host’s box if you wanted to protect them. Unless that’s the entire idea? You get pissy your team lost so you go up there personally and shoot the host?”

The mood in the warehouse suddenly grew colder.

“We are getting distracted,” La’Dulton said. “Tell us what you want.”

“What we want,” Aria said at length, “is the truth about Maxwell Magmillion.”

“What is there to tell?” Delize said. “We did not call for him to be killed. He bought our companies from us. Though he stopped that avenue of producing Vermilion, it never stopped us. The way we saw it, we came out richer for it.”

So the Association didn’t get Maxwell killed… If not? Then who?

“And what about his champion?” Aria pressed. “What about the Firefighter?”

“What about him?” Sapphine countered. “He died alongside Maxwell.”

That was new information… Or was it…? Slowly, Kane’s eyes drifted to the only other person in the warehouse that hadn’t been called out. The mysterious master of ceremonies… the one with a burn on the side of his face. His conversation with JD came back to the forefront of his mind.

“How did the master of ceremony’s master learn that Aria’s investigation was linked to Kane’s assault”

“The question is, why would Lofraine be dumb enough to give us the names of the people who ran the ring?”

A thought began to form in his mind… a theory… a conspiracy that started a fire that quickly grew into an inferno. As he began thinking about it… as he began putting all the pieces together, it grew more credence. He was turning towards the MC and charging over to him before anyone else could say anything.

He had seized the man by the shoulders and was shoving him towards the table, throwing the man onto the round table.

“Kane!” Alex shouted.

“What is the meaning of this!?” barked Sapphine.

“Firstly,” Kane growled, pointing at the paramilitary commander. “Shut the fuck up with your hoity-toity demands. You ain’t a fucking king. Secondly…” He jabbed a finger at the man in front of him. “He’s the fucking Firefighter!”

He glanced over at JD. His cousin was grinning. That was all the confirmation he needed.

“That’s absurd!” barked Sar Daur. “That’s just -”

“Did you fucking send someone to tell us about Vermilion?” Kane demanded.

“What?” answered the monkey. “Why would we?”

With that confession, the rest of the Godslayers immediately realized the same thing.

“He approached us after we interviewed Phulton,” Aria gasped. “He told us that if we wanted to know more about the truth, we need to look into Vermilion. That’s how we knew where to start looking.”

Slowly, the other members of the Association were starting to stand and even the Inquisitor was rising.

“That’s… No one else should know…” began Deliz. “Especially not someone with a collar! Who are you? Who are you working for!?”

The MC just lay on the table, staring defiantly at them.

“Allow me to answer that,” Kane growled. “He’s the fucking Firefighter!” He reached over, grabbed the man’s collar and, with a simple pull, yanked it completely off. It was inactive, the lights blinking on it was just for display. “He killed Maxwell! He’s probably the one tainting Vermilion so that he can bring you all down!”

Suddenly, the MC began laughing.

“What’s so funny, fucker!?” Wood barked.

Only then did the bald and burned man sit up, running a hand down his face. “So close. You were so close.” He lifted his right hand into the air. A tongue of flame burst from between his fingers. An intense heat washed over the warehouse accompanied by a blistering light that forced everyone to shield their eyes. Even the Blind Sisters who were hiding amongst the empty shelves and crates were forced to look away.

The flames twisted into the shape of a large, fiery bird. One of the bird’s wings stretched upwards and solidified into the serrated edge of a curved blade. The other shrank and curled around the Firefighter’s hand to form a guard over the hilt. A long, straight edge jutted from the guard and touched the tip of the curve blade, making it look like a scimitar and longsword combined into one.

“If you think my motivations are so simple as to bring down a criminal organization,” growled the Firefighter. “You are sorely mistaken.”

CRASH!

Kane jerked his head towards JD who had tumbled back off his seat. Comedic timing aside, he was surprised when his cousin rolled off the ground, grabbed the edge of the seat in one movement and then threw it at the Firefighter. Magmillion’s champion saw the movement and swung FireFeather_,_ a blast of fire incinerating the wooden frame in seconds. What he did not see was the bolt of crimson lightning that snaked its way past his flames and stopped behind him. The glistening white edge of Validation was suddenly pressed against the warrior’s neck.

“Let’s try this again,” JD said cheerfully, holding out his other paw and curling it around the MC’s chest. “Hi, I’m Jack Denver Clarke. Nice to meet you, Maxwell Magmillion.”

Jaws hit the ground. Even Kane found his shoulders going slack from the weight of this revelation. The master of ceremonies that had been ushering in their fights, that had delivered the messages from the Association and been shadowing them for what seemed forever… was not only the Firefighter but also Maxwell Magmillion. Moreover, he certainly held FireFeather.

“Excuse me!?” exclaimed Sapphine. “Are ya’ll telling me he is Maxwell!?”

“You of all people would never see the obvious if it was buried right under your nose, Ophane,” mocked Maxwell. “It was the best way I could hide while simultaneously undermining your efforts.” He reached up and shook JD’s paw. “Hello, I am Maxwell Magmillion. I am the Firefighter. And I am going to kill these bastards here and now.”

“Oh, okay,” answered JD blithely. “Before you do, mind if I ask you some questions?”

“I suppose it won’t hurt. What do you wish to know?”

“Why!?” Kane roared. “Fucking why!? Just why!?”

Maxwell’s lips curled upwards in a sad smile. “Because these morons are incapable of seeing anything beyond money and profit.” He gestured at the three members of the Association. “It’s just like they said. I could buy off their companies. Stop the production of Vermilion from those avenues but it won’t stop them from just forming other companies and pumping out more. Even though they knew that Vermilion was causing people to die, they still sought out ways to make it because it was a good way to reel in new customers and retain them thanks to their addiction.”

“I thought people didn’t start exploding until after you died…?” Skye asked.

“I followed the records as well,” Tanar quipped. “The cases of spontaneous combustion only began being reported shortly after your supposed death.”

“I wasn’t referring to people going up in flames randomly,” Maxwell said with a shake of his head. “I’ll get to that. I was simply referring to how the Association abused the illegal status of Vermilion to tantalize people and then keep them on the hook for their addiction.”

Sar Daur lifted his head. “If people -”

“Save me your justifications and blame-shifting, Daur,” snarled Maxwell. “You still continued to make the drug even though it was made illegal by the Sunburst Knight. You can’t claim that you were fighting for some freedom of industry or speech by making more of it as a sign of protest and then blaming the deaths from overdose on those who consumed too much of it. You had a responsibility to stop but didn’t. Even when you knew that people were exploding because of it, you still kept making it.”

Alex let out a derisive snort. “The citizenry wasn’t the ones addicted to the drug. You were.”

“Well said,” Maxwell agreed. “Addicted to the profits it bought. I gave you all an out. I turned your companies into something better. Something with a higher profit margin. But you just couldn’t stop! You used all the resources I had built to peddle your foul, red dust!”

Delize snarled, baring his fangs and letting out a low growl. He, of all the other men in suits, stepped forward. “So you couldn’t get us to stop and faked your own death. All this time you had been fighting in the guise of your own champion. Then what? You’ve been skulking in the shadows trying to dismantle our operations? If we are talking about deceptions, yours should right up there!”

Rayne cracked his knuckles ominously. “Not on the level of yours.”

Inquisitor La’Dulton raised a hand in his direction. “Let’s not get carried away, now… Everyone take it easy…”

“I waited,” answered Maxwell. “I jabbed at your operations here and there while gathering evidence to bring to the Generals. Once you were all my colleagues and friends and I had already given you enough chances to change your ways. You refused that. So for the past seven years, I’ve compiled dossiers and evidence of your illegal activities.” A dark smile touched his lips. “Phulton would have been able to tell you that the statute of limitations of crimes would be ten years. You can’t be charged for a crime that’s ten years old. So I was going to wait another two years before bringing it to the Generals. But then another opportunity came my way.”

“You poisoned our Vermilion stocks!” barked Sar Daur. He pointed accusingly at Maxwell while glancing from face to face amongst the Godslayers. “If there’s anyone you should be blaming for those deaths, it should be him. We were freedom fighters! We fought against an unjust law! He tainted the Vermilion to kill people!”

“Is that what you believe?” mocked Maxwell. “You think after everything I’ve done, I would go to such extremes?”

“I dunno,” Wood rumbled. “You basically trapped Rhal on the Lost Fleet and fused him with the entire fleet just to escape yourself.”

For the first time since his identity was revealed, the derisive expression on Maxwell’s features faded. “I regret that act, I really do. But I needed to get off the Fleet. FireFeather needed to be removed. The Last Chronomancer had created an elaborate trap but Rahl was getting closer and closer every day to undoing it. If he could do it then the Custodia Goetia would be able to as well.”

Kane was instantly on edge. He glanced over to Rayne and Alex who were equally as alarmed.

The Custodia Goetia. A name he thought he’d never hear in his lifetime except for recounting of the Fall of Haven and those that ultimately instigated the various rebellions that had crippled the Church. He had heard his father rage and rant about them for years. It was General Methuselah’s constant obsession with the Goetia that had driven him to push his son so hard to excel. Hank Fenn kept saying that the Goetia were still out there and that he needed Kane to be the strongest that he could be so that he could help in the fight against them and eventually take over.

As for Rayne and Alex, as veterans of the Fall of Haven, they had been on the front lines against the Goetia. Realizing this, he glanced at Aria. The Angel’s face had become an unreadable porcelain mask but her purple eyes were ablaze with a myriad of emotions.

“Explain,” was all the Angel said.

Maxwell’s burned face twisted into its mocking mask again as he turned to her. “You should know. FireFeather is a powerful weapon and a direct link to the God of Fire, Adramalech. We found it nearly instantly on the Lost Fleet, you know. I spent a year trapped with it and the God of Fire spoke to me during that time. We talked. We conversed. We talked about the Fall. He knew what was coming. If the Goetia were ever to find the Lost Fleet, they would have a powerful conduit to all of Pyromancy. A way to twist every spell they wished to whatever they wanted. Anyone that used any form of Pyromancy would be their unwitting servant. We’ve seen that in Vermilion.”

“What?” Sapphine demanded. “Are you telling me that the old, long dead organization that had instigated the Fall of Haven and been wiped out at the end of the war is the one corrupted our Vermilion.” He threw his head back and let out a jovial laugh. “You’ve gone mad, Maxwell.”

“Believe what you will, Sapphine, but I know what I know.” He turned back to Aria. “The Goetia are the ones that corrupted the Vermilion. I was constantly fighting against their forces when I was part of the Association. But they already had their hooks in these morons.” He gestured at the three men. “I have no doubt that it was their agents that kept them addicted to using Vermilion as an avenue for profit. They are in the Goetia’s pocket.”

“Bullshit!” barked Delize, the crocodile’s large jaws snapping. “We are our own masters!”

“Exactly what a man ignorant of the collar on his own neck would say,” chuckled Maxwell. His eyes never left Aria’s. “We’ve already seen what the Goetia could do. They have cursed the very name of Vermilion.”

“What do you mean by that?” Hunter asked. “Like saying ‘Vermilion’ is what’ll cause us to explode.” His eyes widened and he immediately clamped his paws over his muzzle.

“No…” whispered Aria. Her eyes widened in horror. “We’ve seen this before. They’ve twisted the very definition of Vermilion in the Illuminus Weizar.”

“Fuck!” cursed Rayne. Alex slumped down in his seat, eyes shut and massaging the bridge of his muzzle.

“What does that mean?” Sar Daur demanded. “What? I demand you tell us what that means!”

Aria explained that during the Fall of Haven, the Custodia Goetia were feared for their mastery over the Illuminus Weizar, the very basis of all magic. But it was more than just being able to cast magic of all varieties and in creative ways. The Goetia were feared for supposedly being able to manipulate the very definition of something.

“Magic fundamentally allows us to change the very fabric of something into doing something we want,” Aria explained. “With Deomancy, we can create something out of nothing thanks to magic. Pyromancy generates flames. Hydromancy, water. Geomancy allows us to manipulate earth or make it. But the Goetia took this to another level. If they could discern the definition of something, they could reach into the Weizar and change it. They could corrupt a spell, a word and make it do something they want. A simple fireball spell could backfire or become something else entirely thanks to their tampering.”

“You’re joking,” Sapphine huffed. “That’s impossible.”

“No,” Rayne snarled. “It’s very possible. We all saw it during the war. It was never made public because the Generals feared that it would open the gate for more people to flock to the Goetia and disrupt the order that magic enforces. Despite all its possibilities, magic still has rules. The Goetia were breaking those rules. Imagine what would happen if this knowledge was made public? Imagine how many people would actively seek to break the rules of magic and what chaos it would cause.”

Wrong words to use. Kane saw the ambition in Sar Daur’s eyes, the greed in Sapphine’s and the envy in Delize’s. Even if they left this meeting alive, they would actively seek this knew means of manipulating the very essence of magic.

“If the Goetia are active again,” Alex said, “it’s entirely conceivable that they have manipulated the very definition Vermilion and changed it to cause spontaneous combustion after a certain dosage, when triggered by someone or even at random. It’s why even after you all purged your equipment, distribution methods and means of production, your Vermilion was still causing people to explode. It’s not Vermilion in general. It’s ones produced by you. That’s how specific the Goetia’s power is.” He stood up, slamming his paws on the table. “This has to stop. You need to stop producing Vermilion for the good of all Incendius.”

“We’ll get to that,” dismissed Sapphine, his eyes never leaving Maxwell. “So you got that mystical sword off the Lost Fleet, supposedly spoke to your heretical god and tried to stop our Vermilion production because you saw what the Goetia would do it? You acquired our companies through our sports by masquerading as your own champion, the Firefighter. Then when you saw that we weren’t stopping, you faked your own death hoping that we would see the profit your new companies made and abandon Vermilion entirely. When that didn’t work, you were going to out us to the Generals. However… something changed.” He arched an eyebrow at Maxwell. “What?”

The Firefighter’s confident smirk never disappeared as his eyes went to Kane. “These guys. The Iconoclasts. At first, I didn’t see them more as other competitors working for their mysterious sponsor. But then I saw how they fought. How well they worked together. How they fought for a purpose.” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder at JD. “I saw this one socially and literally assassinate Lofraine and protect the other three as they made their escape. I watched them collaborate with the Angel. I fed them breadcrumbs leading them to this very moment. I had hoped they would see reason and kill you.”

“I don’t like being used,” Kane growled.

“We’re all being used in one way shape or form,” answered Maxwell dismissively. “But now the question remains. Are you going to get in my way as I kill these three? Can you stand up against the fires of a god?”

Inquisitor La’Dulton raised his hand towards Kane. “Choose your next words wisely, kid. Remember that you’re surrounded by over twenty Blind Sisters and are in the presence of three of the Association’s champions as well as their masters. I’m here too. I don’t care if you’re from Pinnacle. There will be fatalities if you stand up against us.”

Kane straightened, lowering his hammer. His gaze drifted across his friends and family. They all agreed silently on the same course of action.

“Part of me is tempted to take the third option just to piss you all off,” he chuckled. “We’ll walk away, lock the door and let you all kill each other. We don’t need to risk our lives for any of you.” Then he grinned savagely and held his hammer in both his paws. “But I’m a selfish bastard so that means I can relate to these Association pricks. Knowing what they know now and with FireFeather right there…”

JD suddenly pulled Validation away from Maxwell’s neck and vanished in a bolt of lightning.

Kane lifted his hammer as each of the Godslayers drew their weapons.

“… you fuckers can’t be trusted!”

?

No Faith in the Flame

“I see what you’ve been doing.”

The deep, rumbling voice of the God of Fire reached through the expanse of the Machine. JD ignored it for the moment as Kane split the table in two. Crossbow bolts from the Blind Sisters hiding in the shadows slammed into the wooden frame. He quickly activated Shukuchi and appeared behind one of the assassins, red lightning crackling around him. Validation flashed through the air and collided with the woman’s vibro-blade. She only had one sword, however, and in the same instant, JD had drawn the second half of Validation and skewered her through the stomach. He made sure the drag his white sword upwards, slicing her from navel to shoulder in one, clean stroke before vanishing into a crackle of lighting.

“You cannot escape my gaze.”

Down on the ground, Aria commanded everyone to find cover. The Inquisitor’s anti-magic field prevented most of them from using spells but for those with innate skills, they were still able to fight. Not to mention they had technology and weaponry. Hunter activated Wildfire and was blocking arrows with his small shield. Skye cried out as an arrow struck his shoulder. Wood yanked it out and caught a healing potion from Hunter, handing it to the tiger while draping them both his wings and running for cover. Valors were not affected by anti-magic fields so both Aria and Tanar were able to make use of Gungnir and Chaosrender. Aria couldn’t user her Deomancy and Tanar couldn’t cast spells but their weapons were still unbreakable so they could brandish them against La’Dulton. Alex had Stellar Quadrant out and firing off into the shadows, forcing the Blind Sisters out of hiding. Though Rayne couldn’t use his demonic powers, he was still a fast and tough fighter and engaged the scrambling assassins just like JD was.

That, unfortunately, left the Association and their champions unattended. Which played well as they turned and ran from the fight. JD decided they could leave. They would not be a problem for now.

Two Blind Sisters engaged him from different sides. He crossed his blades across his body, blocking their swords in one smooth movement. Crimson lightning crackled from his arms and lashed out, striking both of them and paralyzing them if even for a second. One second was all it took for him to plunge Validation through their skulls and immediately end them.

He threw one blade of Validation across the warehouse at another assassin. She lifted her vibro-blade to block it. The Red Lightning struck, immediately appearing right behind the woman and plunging Validation right into her spine. As she toppled, he caught his flying sword and slipped it across her neck, making sure she was dead.

“No!” came the roar from Maxwell. The burned wielder of FireFeather launched himself into the air, a fiery cloak shaped like four wings overlapping one another burst from his back and carried him into the air. He came crashing back down in front of the fleeing Association board. “I’ve come so close to ending your corruption! I will not let you escape!”

BAM!

La’Dulton came flying out of nowhere, powerful rockets attached to his back propelling him across the warehouse and sending him slamming into Maxwell. “Go!” barked the Inquisitor. He held Maxwell down with one hand. “Flee before they can coordinate.” The armored hand he used to hold down Maxwell suddenly glowed bright red and he was forced to pull away. Maxwell’s mere touch could burn anything, it seemed.

He needed support.

Kane came running up to the Firefighter, Spicy Meatball in his paws. La’Dulton stood between them and the fleeing Association. As the big bear came to a halt, there was a bolt of red lightning from behind him and JD stepped out from behind his cousin, white blades shimmering in the dim light of the warehouse.

“Why?” spat Kane. “You’re a fucking Inquisitor! I thought the goal of you gray-assed bastards after the Fall was to be as trust-fucking-worthy! You were neutered by the Church before the Fall and then empowered by the Inquisitor of Silence afterwards! Why the fuck would you kneel to a bunch of greedy, corrupt fucking capitalists!?”

La’Dulton let out one bitter laugh. “What you fail to realize is the vastness of the Association. The Generals are struggling to keep order while pushing ahead with their agenda. But the Association is already in control. They are spread farther than you can imagine. You saw it. Lofraine had someone from the Searanti. I control the Blind Sisters now and I am an Inquisitor! Not even the Generals can boast that!”

“It’s all an illusion of power,” snarled Maxwell, rising to his feet and brandishing FireFeather. “Everyone there is little more than a puppy pretending to be wolves. They will cannibalize one another at a moment’s notice. We are all expendable to them.”

There was a metallic whirring from La’Dulton’s left wrist. Two, large gun barrels sprang up from the back of his metallic wrist. He pointed the wrist-mounted guns at the trio. “Far easier to play the part of the expendable pawn than the supposedly ‘valued’ employee fed empty platitudes and promises that will never see fruition.”

The guns went off, shells as large as a fist hurtling towards them. JD didn’t react fast enough and Kane took three bullets right to the chest.

“Damn…” he cursed and immediately stepped back into the Machine.

“You hold a power not even the greatest Chronomancer could dream of.”

Still, he ignored the God of Fire and stepped back ten seconds earlier.

“Everyone there is little more than a puppy pretending to be wolves!” Maxwell repeated. “They will cannibalize one another at a moment’s notice. We are all expendable to them!”

La’Dulton lifted his wrist-mounted guns and JD was immediately behind him, swinging Validation at the weapon and piercing them. The Inquisitor snarled at him and grabbed his shoulder with his free hand. He flung JD back at Kane who easily caught him.

“Far easier to play the part of the expendable pawn than the supposedly ‘valued’ employee fed empty platitudes and promises that will never see fruition,” snarled the Inquisitor, straighting. He roared and charged at them.

“Toss me!” JD exclaimed and Kane immediately threw him into the air. The bear picked up Spicy Meatball again and lifted it in time to collide with La’Dulton’s massive wrists. Still, no matter how strong Kane was naturally, against the sheer might of the mechanized suit of armor that La’Dulton wore, he was little more than a cub. The corrupt Inquisitor lifted him and his hammer up with ease into the air and then brought him slamming back down.

Maxwell charged, swinging FireFeather in wide arcs while blazing flares of crimson fire that dissipated into ethereal, red feathers. That flames were enough to force La’Dulton back. Maxwell swung his free hand in Kane’s direction, white feathers bursting from his fingertips and descending upon the bear and healing his wounds. Red lightning crackled behind the Inquisitor and there was a flash of white metal. Wires and sparks erupted from La’Dulton’s legs and he turned to try and swipe at JD. The nimble crimson Wulfun slipped between the Inquisitor’s legs, swinging his swords and dealing as much damage as he could before scrambling back up to his feet and standing right beside Maxwell and Kane.

The sounds of fighting intensified around them. Reinforcements had arrived. While there were about twenty Blind Sisters within the warehouse, no doubt the rest of the guild had been waiting to provide support should it be called. Now that the Association elitists had left, they were free to assault Godslayers.

“We need to end this before we’re overwhelmed by the Sisters,” Maxwell snarled.

“You want to reach in and use the powers of the god-weapon of yours?” Kane growled back. “Can’t you just incinerate everyone here and spare the good guys? You are basically the only one that can use all your abilities right now.”

JD made a mental note that he could use most of his techniques and decided he’d jab Kane about the comment later.

“You think it’s that easy? No mere mortal was meant to wield FireFeather_._”

“What the hell have you been doing for the past seven years then!?”

Pain suddenly shot up from his calves. Crossbow bolts tore right through his muscles and sent the Wulfun crashing to the ground. Another bolt shot through the back of his skull, killing him before he hit the ground.

JD slammed his fist against the golden cog of the Machine in frustration. “Okay… need to break this fight down into stages. First, got to get rid of the Blind Sisters. But they’re too spread out…”

“Should you need help, you have but to ask.”

He glanced off to his right where the voice was coming from. One large, black, charred cog with veins of fire pulsing through it hovered ominously away from the other cogs that interlaced amongst the Machine. Within was the fiery realm of the God of Fire. Sitting upon a spiked throne with thorny chains binding him to the flaming furniture was the ominous Adramalech.

“We want the same thing,” the avian god said, reaching towards him and offering a hand. “You are a Champion of Haamiah. Take my power and become mine as well.”

JD grinned brightly at the deity as slowly rose to his feet. “Awww. That’s cute. You think I’m a Champion.”

Adramalech’s eyes widened including the third eye that stood vertically on his avian forehead. “Excuse me?”

“Champions are granted great powers by their patron deity,” JD said, turning back to the cogs in front of him and finding his point of entry back into the timeline. “I never got anything like that from Haamiah.”

“What? Then how can you…?” The god audibly gasped. “You… are a Singularity.”

He beamed at the fiery god again. “Yep! This is all me!”

“What? How could Haamiah allow this? Why would he allow you to alter the timelines so callously after all the planning of his other Champion!? Chronos suffered so much. Sacrificed so much and you, a rogue agent, could undo it all!”

“I guess that’s the difference between you and Haamiah,” JD said with a shrug. “He has faith in us mortals. You still feel that you need to constantly interfere. None of this…” He made a broad gesture around himself. “… would have actually happened if you just didn’t mess with fire.”

With those words, he turned and stepped back into Tower Thirteen.

“You think it’s that easy!?” barked Maxwell. “No mere mortal was meant to wield FireFeather!”

“What the hell have you been doing for the past seven years then!?” Kane shouted back.

JD immediately spun, swatting the crossbow bolts from air with his swords. He balked, however, when he saw Kane go down as his back was peppered with bolts. Maxwell stumbled, one bolt jutting out of his neck but Kane was dead before he hit the ground.

“Turn back the clock! Now!”

Back in the Machine, JD grit his fangs together. There was no way he could swipe those crossbow bolts from the air. So he stepped back a little further.

“We need to end this before we’re overwhelmed by the Sisters,” snarled Maxwell.

Just as Kane was about to counter, JD turned and was immediately encased in crimson lightning. He appeared behind a Blind Sister and cut her ankles before stabbing both blades of Validation through her chest. Another one nearby turned her wrist-mounted crossbow at him and fired. He traveled behind the bolt before jumping behind her. Their blades clashed.

Maxwell screamed. Other Sisters hiding amongst the boxes had fired upon the two on the ground.

They were down again.

“Damnit.”

He was in the Machine again.

“You need my power,” Adramalech pressed. “Simply take it. There is no way you can live through this impasse without it.”

JD sighed softly and turned towards the God of Fire. “No offense… uhm…” He tilted his head to the side. “Exactly what honorific do I use to address you? Lord? God? Your Birdiness?” He shrugged and dismissed the though. “Regardless, I appreciate the offer but if we’re going to make it through this one, we’re going to have to go through it without being having our hands held by the gods.”

“There is no shame is taking help from a higher power.”

He smiled gently as he turned back towards cogs in front of him and then peered past them at the various gears that represented the Blind Sisters. Drawing his swords ominously, he said, “I agree. But what does it say about you that you’re willing to give your help over to me instead of the guy that’s currently holding your sword?”

Adramalech visibly choked.

“He’s got a point,” snickered Haamiah.

JD turned towards the God of Fire and gave him a bright smile. “Have a little faith in the guy that you chose to be your Champion.”

“I did not choose him.”

“Doesn’t matter, does it? He’s the one you’ve invested all this time in. I personally would prefer to stick with someone who I know can do the job eventually than someone else that looks better and new. That’s what faith is, after all. Belief and trust in something with little evidence that it is true.”

JD flashed his swords then gave Adramalech a bright smile. “You’ve asked us to have faith in you since time began. Now have a little faith in us.”

He swung his swords, slicing the cogs that represented the Blind Sisters out of the Machine. Their gears crumbled, peeled away from the greater Machine and tumbled to the black sand below. Then, he re-entered Tower Thirteen.

“You think it’s that easy?” snapped Maxwell. “No mere mortal was meant to wield Firefeather.”

Pain immediately exploded from every part of his body and he dropped his swords. Blood exploded from between his lips as he tried to take a breath. Knees gave out from underneath him and agonizing fire rocketed up his spine. He curled up into a ball on the ground, pressing his forehead against the cold, stone floor.

“JD!” Kane exclaimed. He tried casting a healing spell but swore when he realized that his magic was still blocked. “Hunter! I need a potion!”

Hunter, who was on the other side of the warehouse watched as a shadowy image of JD flashed in front of the Blind Sister he was engaging. The assassin immediately crumbled to the ground, the life gone from her eyes.

“Fuck!” shouted the blacksmith, turning and running towards them. “He did it again, didn’t he?”

“You bet he fucking did!” Kane shouted back. “Potion! Now!”

“What did he do?” demanded Maxwell.

“What did he do!?” roared La’Dulton. “What happened to all my Blind Sisters!? How did he wipe out fifty well-trained assassins in one swoop!?”

“Better question, asshole,” snarled Kane. “Why the fuck did he leave you untouched.”

JD smiled to himself as the warm liquid from a fresh potion was pushed past his lips and he swallowed it through the blood. His wounds began to heal but the pain was still excruciating. All off that suddenly accelerated when a touch of warm fire washed over him. As his vision focused, he saw the white flames descending from Maxwell’s open palm.

“See?” he told Adramalech. “Faith.”

“What?” Hunter asked, propping up his head so he could drink more of the potion. “He’s delirious.”

“Comes with using that big fucking nuke of an attack,” Kane snarled, getting back up to his feet and wielding Spicy Meatball. “But he’s gotten rid of the distractions. Now it’s only you and me, fucker!”

La’Dulton let out a huff and tilted his head absently to the side. “Adorable. You believe a mere Ursus such as yourself capable of defeating me? Do you realize how much goes into making an Inquisitor?”

BAM!

Without warning, La’Dulton was suddenly right in front of them, his huge, metal fist digging into Kane’s stomach. The big, black bear was hurled straight into the crates behind him, crashing through two piles of them before coming to a halt. He was instantly buried in a pile of wood and produce.

“Inquisitors are specially chosen!” roared La’Dulton, spinning around and bringing his fist down upon Maxwell. The renegade billionaire was able to lift FireFeather in time to block the blow but was pushed back several feet from the impact. La’Dulton grabbed the sword and yanked it towards him. Maxwell stubbornly held the blade but came within kicking distance. La’Dulton slammed a foot against Maxwell’s stomach. Rockets at the base of his feet activates, sending a blast of concentrated fire right through Maxwell’s abdomen and sending him crumbling to the ground.

“From the beginning, we are genetically superior to anyone else of our species!” La’Dulton spun towards Hunter and brought his fist crashing down. Hunter barely had time to lift the shield of Wildfire before he was slammed into the ground by the sheer force of the Inquisitor’s attack. “Then we are specially trained. Cybernetically enhanced! Suited in the best power armor on Tower Thirteen! We can take down entire armies by ourselves!”

There was a flash of white.

La’Dulton stopped, his eyes wide. The blade of Validation was buried deep into his chest, cutting through his armor. But it didn’t pierce his flesh.

Still, JD was smirking at him.

“Doesn’t mean you’re perfect,” the Red Lightning said. “Or else you would’ve guarded your magic dampener a little better.”

The Inquisitor’s eyes widened and he gazed down at where the blade pierced. The sound of machinery losing power filled the warehouse. Though he couldn’t feel it himself, he could see that everyone else felt the strength of magic return to their veins.

“No…”

WHAM!

An immense, crystal fist came shooting out from the side, slamming into the side of La’Dulton’s frame and sending him crashing into a nearby pile of crates. Skye zoomed across the floor, carried by his magic. He was casting healing spells at Hunter while Tanar saw to Kane. Aria stood over JD, protecting him as her summoned crystal arm vanished from over her shoulder. Alex and Rayne joined her. JD staggered to his feet at the same time as Maxwell, the latter’s wounds being healed through the magic of FireFeather.

La’Dulton erupted from the pile of crates and stormed forward.

“This is all futile!” shouted the Inquisitor. “You’re struggling against the monster that is the Association! Even if you defeat me, even if you manage to subdue those three, the rest of the Association will come after you! They are vast! They encompass the entire world! There is no escaping them!”

JD let out a soft laugh. “So you think it’s better to accept their help, to kneel in servitude to a higher power than to make your own path.” He stepped forward, crimson lightning crackling all over his body. “You’re turning yourself into a mere pawn to a force that doesn’t even have faith in you and will just use you as a resource to be used and discarded when it suits them.”

He offered La’Dulton a gentle, sympathetic smile. “Have more value in your own worth. Even if you turn to them for guidance and power, show them that they can have faith in you because you can stand on your own two feet and not because you need them to support you.”

Adramalech rumbled somewhere beyond time, taking in the lesson.

Haamiah radiated smug pride.

“You’re just a child!” barked La’Dulton. “What do you know of the world!?”

“I guess that’s your choice,” JD sighed softly.

Then he was gone, reappearing behind the man shrouded in an aura of crackling, crimson electricity. He crossed his blades against the Inquisitor’s back, putting all of his Force energy into the blow. La’Dulton cried out in shock as he was hurled straight at the Godslayers.

Kane intercepted him, bringing Spicy Meatball crashing down upon the armored man with all his might. Lava poured out of the hammer, coating the Inquisitor and heating up his armor. Maxwell jumped into the air, four wings of ethereal flame bursting from his back. He flung his hands forward. A rain of crimson plumes fell upon La’Dulton’s tomb, setting him ablaze and cracking the ground around him, forming a basin of liquid fire. Maxwell then dove towards the Inquisitor, erupting in a blinding burst of fire that sent flames all over the warehouse.

When the flames cleared, La’Dulton lay on his back, his armor charred and heavily damaged. But he was still breathing, barely. Maxwell had the tip of FireFeather leveled at the Inquisitor’s mechanical eye.

“It’s over,” announced the burned human.

The Inquisitor let out a dark chuckle. “No. It is just beginning.” He threw his head back, his laughter crossing over to the maniacal. With his suit losing power, he could no longer move it but he could still move his lips and head. “You have invoked the ire of the Association! Leaderless, the Blind Sisters will come after you! You robbed them of guidance!”

“By defeating you?”

“No.” A dark grin crossed the Inquisitor’s features. “By arresting Raifraize Phulton.”