Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

The Omega Timeline

Chapter 55, Part 2: Totality

- by Ben

“There are no winners in war.”

Andrew released the string of his light bow and the arrow of light instantly shot out and hit Drain in the chest. The dragon-sized beast let out a howl of pain as its scales were finally penetrated. All the while, the light and darkness from both the Heralds were clashing with one another, trying to one up the other. Andrew floated into the air. He noticed that unfreezing Tago and combating the black mist was slowly taking away the light from his body. At the same time, Drain could also be harmed.

This was going to be a difficult battle.

Andrew looked down to see his Knights clashing with Drain’s Nights, but as he watched, Drain swooped forward, slamming into Andrew and sending him flying into a building.

BAM!

Andrew crashed through the walls and into the stairway, which barely dented. He could see the debris falling down onto Emerald, unaware of the fact because she was busy fighting Prince Caldren.

“WATCH OUT EMERALD!”

Emerald looked up, and quickly dashed out of the way, causing the building debris to crash upon Prince Caldren’s head. Prince Caldren let out a roar of rage and tossed the debris to the side, picking up his mace and swinging at Emerald again.

Andrew clung onto hope as much as he could, but the light was already shimmering. Drain let out a devious laugh, taking to the skies.

“The tide’s finally turned, Herald,” Drain echoed. He opened his mouth and let out a guttural roar, spewing out purple flames onto Andrew. Andrew quickly dashed to the side, dodging it instantly.

“I really have to focus on this guy,” Andrew thought, forming another light arrow to his bow, “He’s so aggressive. Sorry, everyone. You’ll be on your own until I figure something out…”

Drain let out a bellow and breathed more purple fire out onto the streets.

As Buddy looked at Drain, he couldn’t help but feel shivers. This must have been the vision he had all that time ago. Just looking at Drain felt as if he was staring at death itself. Buddy could feel his armor crack at his presence. Buddy needed to focus on the others, Andrew would take care of Drain.

Before Buddy could help any of the others, he was suddenly confronted by a familiar looking blue dragon. Buddy paused in his tracks. It was much too large to be the one he encountered back at his home world…

“We meet again,” the dragon bellowed.

He swiped at Buddy. Buddy instinctively dashed to the right. Most of this dragon was covered in tough, black armor, but just laying eyes on Buddy seemed to make his armor grow and his body enlarge. There was no doubt about it. This was the dragon that Rockwell had summoned all that time ago.

“I never knew your name,” Buddy told him. He jumped up and slashed at the dragon’s armor, leaving a dent. The dragon smirked. His armor only continued to harden, while Buddy’s armor continued to crack.

“I may not have had a name then, but I do have one now,” the dragon snarled, “Entropy. For I shall destroy all who have put me upon this world.”

Entropy opened his mouth and unleashed a breath of fire onto Buddy. Buddy closed his eyes, accepting his fate, when something small latched onto him and carried him away. Entropy looked confused, his fire breath halting and his head jolting to the side. His eyes pierced the savior and he snarled.

“Cursed wyvern! I thought Drain had already cast you in a prison of stone?!”

Buddy looked up to see that Tago was carrying him. Buddy looked up at Tago and nodded. Tago lurched back and then flung Buddy at Entropy. Buddy latched onto Entropy’s face and began clawing at his unprotected head, making Entropy yell out in pain and blast fire all over the buildings. Entropy reached his hand out and clawed Buddy off his face, throwing him to the side, but not before Tago swooped in and punted Entropy in the face.

POW!

The impact was so much that Entropy went stumbling into a nearby building, causing it to come crashing down. Buddy let out a vicious cough. Blood shot out onto the concrete, and he groaned to himself. He was barely holding his own, even with the armor that Andrew had given him. Tago swooped down to check up on him.

“Are you okay Buddy?” Tago asked, a look of worry on her face. Buddy shook his head.

“This isn’t working out,” Buddy coughed, “I’m not that strong anyway, I don’t know why Andrew chose me to fight. Joe would have been a better pick.”

“There’s a reason for everything,” Tago said, quickly looking back at Entropy. He was barely recovering from the onslaught of attacks, and was slightly bleeding. His armor thickened.

Tago shot her head back to Buddy.

“Look, the armor’s based on positive emotions and memories,” Tago reminded, “Is there anybody that you care about or love that could give you that?”

Buddy shut his eyes.

“Think,” Buddy thought, “Dawn Pryde? No, we barely met. What about my…”

“Family…”

A memory shot through Buddy’s head, one he couldn’t recall.

~

“So tell me you love me… Even if it’s hard…” a familiar voice began singing. Buddy blinked his eyes and noticed it was a small Purlovia singing.

“Was that the Purlovia that claimed to be my son? What was his name, Jake?”

A soft, female voice joined.

“I’m sitting here wondering… where you are!”

Buddy looked to the right. A beautiful Purlovia was nudging her head to the small juvenile. Buddy blinked his eyes. He recognized her. He couldn’t remember, but now he could.

This was his wife, Janae.

Buddy looked up to the heavens. Life had been so beautiful with her, and their three children, he could finally remember. He could remember! And his name wasn’t Buddy either, it was-

~

KABOOM!

The explosion rang throughout Buddy’s ears. He was sent flying into a window, crashing through and ending up in a living room with a turned off fireplace. He let out a groan, and blinked his eyes, looking out.

“Ughh, what was that?” Buddy thought, blinking his eyes and feeling his vision wane. Buddy’s eyes darted to the armor on his body. It seemed mostly intact. Had that memory really repaired his armor?

It all felt like a distant dream, but as Buddy struggled to get up from the ground, he heard footsteps behind him. Buddy turned around to see two humans cowering, each in the dark black armor. Buddy fully turned around, and he suddenly felt a whip lash out at him.

“S-Stay back!” Lil Jack cried out.

“Yeah, beast! Get outta here!” Michael added on, waving his sword around flimsily. Lil Jack turned to Michael.

“Hey you’re the one with the sword, go get him!”

Michael nodded weakly.

“Yeah yeah just keep whipping at him!”

Lil Jack kept whipping at Buddy, and each lash made Buddy roar out in pain. He was too weak to stand. As Lil Jack continued his assault, Michael rushed forward with a battle cry.

“YARGGHH- OWWWW!” Michael howled as Lil Jack accidentally whipped Michael on the bottom. Michael dropped his sword and clenched his buttocks, sweating profusely.

“You idiot, you hit me!” Michael cried.

“You were in the way!” Lil Jack protested, lowering his whip.

Buddy took his chance to attack. He kicked the sword away with his claws and then bit down onto Michael’s arm. Michael let out a howl of pain, and Buddy quickly tossed Michael to the side, making him crash into the fireplace. The metal grate shut down on him, trapping him in place.

“What the- HEY! GET ME OUTTA HERE THIS INSTANT!” Michael shouted. Lil Jack saw the situation unfold before his eyes and instantly thought of a plan.

Run.

Lil Jack began to scream like a baby as he quickly crashed through the other window and began making a run for it down the streets. Buddy sighed, but as he was about to return to the fight, Entropy swiped at the building’s roof, causing it to go flying off. Entropy peered down at Buddy, his eyes filled with rage.

“Found you,” Entropy snarled.

The armor on Entropy’s body began to click in place, and Entropy grew once more. By now, Entropy was around the same size as Drain, and the armor on his body had jagged spikes and was pulsating fervently. The hate was immeasurable.

Entropy opened his mouth again.

“Time to end this Purlovia’s life, once and for all.”

Before Entropy could unleash hell, Drain’s ears perked up.

His body was filled with arrows of light, but each time one of the enemies was wounded, a spurge of hate would pass through their bodies and heal him. Each time one of his own Nights felt endeavored by their pettiness, he would grow stronger. Drain grinned as he saw Entropy’s armor. While he couldn’t be harmed by Andrew, Andrew couldn’t be harmed by him either. He was just too quick. So if he-

Drain willed the armor around Entropy’s body to disappear, and disappear it did. The armor flew off Entropy’s body and clicked onto Drain’s, infusing into his scales and ridding the light that was once embedded inside. Andrew felt his spirit waver as all the wounds Drain had disappeared. The darkness continued to grow, overtaking more of the light in the sky.

Entropy gasped as he felt himself shrink back to his normal form. He looked up back at Drain. He could feel his rage boil up further. Drain had betrayed him.

“How DARE YOU!” Entropy screamed.

Entropy took off to the skies and suddenly pummeled into Drain. Drain went flying and skidded off through the buildings. Andrew drew another arrow back and shot at Drain’s scales. The arrow was simply flicked off. Andrew swore to himself.

Drain grinned as Entropy blasted fire onto Drain. Drain’s armor only grew thicker and thicker.

“Can’t you see?” Drain laughed, “You were just my pawn.”

“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU-”

Drain opened his mouth and blasted purple flames onto Entropy. Entropy let out a howl as they burned his scales, and as he flew off backwards, he suddenly began to turn to stone.

“W-What’s happening to me-” Entropy howled, “YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! I HAVE A GOAL TO FULFILL! I MUST DESTROY ALL-”

It was too late. Entropy lay suspended in the air.

Three Nights down, just a few more to go.

Andrew drew another arrow. He thought about Neddy and Ruby’s romantic relationship. The arrow grew in size and continued glowing. Andrew released the string, and it pierced Drain in the wing. Drain let out a cough, as dark purple blood shot out his wing.

“Idiot,” Drain opened his mouth and unleashed a torrent of purple flames. They didn’t reach Andrew, but as Drain continued to concentrate, so did the beam of flames, until it turned into a hot, concentrated purple laser. Drain swung his head, and the laser cut through Andrew’s arm and a multitude of buildings down below, making them crash down.

Andrew let out a cry as he felt the light shimmer away from his body. He concentrated on the way Jack and Jay loved to bicker. His arm grew back.

“This is getting really tough,” Andrew thought with a wince, “Drain seems so invincible-”

“Don’t give up,” a voice whispered to Andrew. Andrew’s eyes widened.

“Who was that?” Andrew asked aloud, “The One Who Knows?”

“Not a Homo Deus. Just know there’s a way to defeat Drain.”

The voice disappeared, and Andrew let out a sigh to steady his breathing. He didn’t know who that was, but it was enough to give him some hope.

Andrew drew another arrow.

~

Aragorn and Drake were facing off against Milo and his group. Two against three, the odds were definitely uneven. Pat transformed into a Reaper King, and Drake transformed into a Giga. Both of their bodies were still covered in that armor. Pat charged at the larger Drake and quickly side stepped, swinging his tail at Drake and making him get sent flying into a building. The buildings came crashing down, and Drake lost his balance, falling down onto his side. Dr. Bubba and Milo both transformed into Reapers, and the three dashed forward to feast upon his body.

Aragorn quickly sends shadows flying out of the buildings to latch onto the Reapers. The three let out shrieks of annoyance as Aragorn forced them to stay still. Drake quickly transformed back into a human, taking his rapier and dashing forward, slashing at their legs. All three transformed back into humans.

“I probably can’t turn into a Giga for this fight,” Drake thought, looking at all three’s legs. They were bleeding, “Too hard to control. If their serum works like mine though, they shouldn’t be able to transform-”

Drake was suddenly fired at by a bolt of searing hot Element. Drake let out a cry as his arm was burnt. He turned around to see Rockwell standing there, built in Enfestius blasters on his arms. His armor glowed.

“Cease your struggles, mortals,” Rockwell grinned.

“Oh brother this guy stinks,” Aragorn rolled his eyes. Aragorn looked down upon his shadow, and nodded. Aragorn’s shadow rose from the ground, also carrying a giant sword. Aragorn’s shadow nodded at Aragorn, and as the shadows unwrapped around Pat, Milo, and Dr. Bubba, Aragorn’s shadow charged at them.

Pat and Milo both unhooked their swords, slashing at Aragorn’s shadow. Aragorn’s shadow sank into the ground, and then rose back up and slashed at the two’s necks. The two barely weaved out of the way. Dr. Bubba took out a brew with red liquid and chugged it down. He stopped bleeding, and with a whim, he transformed into a Raptor. He jumped on top of Aragorn’s shadow, pinning him down. The others gathered around to destroy it, but Drake quickly charged in as a Kaprosuchus and managed to knock Dr. Bubba off.

“UGH! You annoying little brat!” Dr. Bubba snarled, “I regret giving you that serum to this day.”

Milo suddenly swung his sword at Drake, and Drake barely managed to deflect it with his thin rapier. Milo snarled at Drake.

“You’re going to pay for killing Dr. Bubba, filthy guard.”

“You bastard,” Drake barked back.

With overwhelming strength, Drake managed to push Milo back, and Milo stumbled. Aragorn’s shadow suddenly took his sword and shoved it straight into Milo’s stomach.

Milo gasped. But as Aragorn’s shadow retracted, Milo let out a cry and collapsed to his knees, tears collecting in his eyes and his armor hardening.

Pat gasped. His eyes wavered, and then he gritted his teeth.

“YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!” Pat screamed. He clenched his fists, and suddenly the armor around his body began to harden. Spikes shot out of his armor, and two large swords grew in Pat’s hands. Pat let out a scream and slashed them both at Aragorn’s shadow, destroying it immediately. Pat swung his swords at Drake next.

But before he could, something strange happened. All of the armor pieces surrounding Pat broke, and his swords shattered in a million pieces. Pat gasped, as he looked down upon his body. The armor pieces had disappeared. Flown off somewhere.

Drake took his opportunity. He swung his rapier to the side, but not before Dr. Bubba pushed Drake, causing him to stumble to the ground, and then Dr. Bubba got into a wrestling match with him, trying his best to pin the guard down. Dr. Bubba’s armor had also disappeared, and so had Milo’s. What was going on?

As Milo seethed on the ground, clutching his wound, Pat looked up at the skies to Drain. He blasted a beam of purple flames onto Andrew, who dodged out of the way and unleashed a volley of light arrows back at him. Their battle of attrition was dragging on for too long, and he noticed that parts of Andrew were returning back to normal. The darkness continued to creep up on the light.

“HEY DRAIN!” Milo shouted up to him, “OUR ARMOR’S GONE, HELP US OUT HERE!”

Drain ignored them. Whether or not he could even hear them, they weren’t sure. But Milo was hurt badly, and needed help. Pat cursed to himself and picked Milo up. He ran forward and kicked Drake in the head, who let out a howl and clutched it in pain. Dr. Bubba got up.

“We’ve gotta get out of here. Find a safe place and help Milo!” Pat told him. Dr. Bubba nodded.

“Right. Our time here’s up anyway. No need to fight anymore. Let’s get out of here.”

Pat transformed into a Procoptodon, putting Milo into his pouch. Dr. Bubba hopped on his back, and the three hopped out of the fight zone, until they reached a facility that seemed abandoned. The door was kicked open. They ventured inside and realized it was a lab.

~

Meanwhile, Aragorn was fighting Rockwell. Aragorn swung his sword a few times at Rockwell, but Rockwell merely dashed to the side and shot more blasts of Element in retaliation. Rockwell’s armor allowed him to be quick and nimble, compared to his old age.

Aragorn sighed to himself. This was going to be annoying. He looked around him. Buddy was nowhere to be seen. Emerald, Tago, and Star were focusing all their efforts on Prince Caldren, whose armor made him tank all of their attacks, Drake was hurt, and Erica-

Rockwell let out a howl of pain as a bolt of Element hit him in the back. Rockwell’s back bent over, and he let out a grunt as he rubbed his spine. Hunched over, Rockwell turned around.

“Which dastardly fiend was that?!”

“That would be me,” Erica revealed herself, floating down in her light armor, a light rifle in her hand. Rockwell pointed a finger at Erica.

“I knew a woman like you, thought she could defeat me, but I always win!” Rockwell shouted, “I always come back-”

Rockwell paused, as the armor around his body began to harden. He shook his head.

“I really need to keep my rage in check,” Rockwell thought, as he saw a Procoptodon hopping away with Dr. Bubba on its back. He looked back up at Drain. That foul beast was taking advantage of them like pawns. Once Rockwell’s armor reached its max capabilities, Drain would just take it away for himself. Rockwell couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let it reach the max.

“For now, this will do,” Rockwell thought with a smile, “I need this armor for later, but I can’t be caught. I saw that Milo fellow got wounded badly. I could ‘convince’ them to give me some of their serum.”

Aragorn swung his sword at Rockwell again, and Rockwell dodged, snapping his back back in place. Aragorn was starting to get annoyed by this old man. But there was simply nothing he or Erica could do. He was just too quick.

~

Caldren swung his mace at Emerald. Emerald skittered up the building’s walls before the mace came crashing down onto the building. Emerald jumped off and swooped down at Caldren, biffing him in the face. Caldren let out a howl of pain.

Star, who had been mostly passive in the fight for whatever reason, finally made her move. She dashed forward and slashed at Caldren’s legs with her Terror Bird claws. Caldren let out a roar as the Dodo bird chuckled to herself. Tago swooped in and blasted fire onto his face, scorching his face further.

The three quickly regrouped, side by side and ready to face him again. The armor on Prince Caldren’s body seemed to really accelerate his durability and stamina. Prince Caldren didn’t even look exhausted yet. He let out a roar and pounded his chest with one of his fists.

“YOU ALL DIE NOW!” Caldren shouted angrily.

“I don’t think so,” Emerald snapped back. Tago grimaced as Caldren swung his mace again, and the three moved out of the way.

“Damn it,” Star thought, grinding her beak, “I just need to…”

“Transform.”

Star gasped, as she felt her body transmogrify. A white light flashed, and Caldren shielded his eyes as the white light finally passed, a woman with flowing, black hair remained, the armor around her changed to fit her body. She looked down at her tan hands, and moved around her fingers. She grinned.

“Heh. It really worked,” the woman began to laugh, “IT WORKED! I’M HUMAN AGAIN!”

“What the,” Tago muttered. The woman looked up at the beast.

“Hey there! I’m so glad I can finally talk,” the woman said. Caldren let out a roar, seemingly apathetic toward Star’s transformation, and swung his mace at her again. The woman dodged to the side, then rushed up to Caldren and slammed her fist into him. Caldren stumbled backwards a little bit, and while Tago continued blasting fire onto him, Emerald climbed up a building parallel to him and afterwards dashed down, slamming him into a building.

SMASH!

Caldren’s body went tumbling back, and his head slammed through a window. Caldren let out a roar as he struggled to get up, his head stuck again. Caldren burst through the building and swung his fist at the woman, who weaved to the side.

“Who are you?!” Emerald asked the woman, “What happened to Star?”

“I am Star,” the woman replied, “Long story short, name’s Nova. Yeah I know one of you is already named Nova, sorry about the complication. But I think I can shapeshift-”

“Like Drake?” Tago asked.

“Yeah, like Drake,” Nova replied, “Too bad for me I couldn’t control it. Only way I was able to get out of that stupid dodo form was by laying low and concentrating as hard as I could-”

Caldren picked up his mace and swung at Tago again. Tago flew to the side. This game of cat and mouse was angering Caldren by the second. He let out another ferocious roar, and his mace began to grow in size.

CLICK CLICK!

By now, Prince Caldren was holding up a mace three times his size, and almost as large as a building. Prince Caldren raised his mace, and the three looked up at the mace in horror.

“NOW YOU DIE!” Prince Caldren was about to slam the mace down when the mace suddenly crumbled to pieces. Prince Caldren let out a surprised grunt, and he looked at his body and noticed his armor was flying away and merging with Drain.

“Now’s our chance!” Emerald shouted, “GET HIM!”

Without his armor, Prince Caldren was easily pummeled into a nearby building. Emerald slashed at Prince Caldren’s arm, and blood spewed out onto her armor. Tago slammed into Prince Caldren, and his head was stuck in the walls once more.

Caldren struggled to get up, flailing his arms around and slamming his feet into the ground.

“HATE YOU I HATE YOU!” Caldren shouted, “I KILL YOU ALL!”

Nova sighed, brushing sweat off her forehead and turning to Emerald and Tago. She giggled.

“That was fun,” Nova said, “Girl power, am I right?”

Emerald and Tago raised their brows at her.

“No, just me, okay. Come on, let’s go help the others defeat that old man over there.”

Nova rushed over to help immediately, while Emerald just shook her head.

“Humans and their weird sayings,” Emerald dashed toward Rockwell, and Tago took to the skies and began to fly toward them.

~

Lil Jack crept back into the building where Michael was trapped, and as he did he saw the Purlovia they had fought was wreathing on the ground, his head in his hands.

“Jack, Janae,” it whimpered softly. Lil Jack clutched onto his whip tightly. Did it just say his name? Before Lil Jack could take action, a high-pitched voice interrupted him.

“HEY! A LITTLE HELP HERE?!” Michael suddenly shouted. Lil Jack jumped from his place. He looked over to the fireplace, where Michael had gotten stuck. Michael began to cough violently.

“This ash is irritating! Why did you run?”

“Sorry Michael,” Lil Jack apologized, “I got scared.”

“Scared? Ridiculous! Some sort of villain you are. Now come, unfree me.”

Lil Jack carefully stepped over to the fireplace. He put his fingers on the metal grate and lifted it up. Michael went tumbling out, coughing voraciously. Both of their armor was still intact, and the fighting outside was already beginning to die down.

“Okay,” Lil Jack said, “Let’s get out of here-”

Michael walked over and picked up the sword.

“Not before I kill this creature thing. It bit me on the arm, it’ll pay.”

Michael lifted his sword up into the air. Lil Jack shivered. The Purlovia opened his mouth again.

“My son, Jake, I’m sorry.”

Lil Jack took a step back, memories overflowing him. His father taking him to the shooting range. His father teaching him the rules of the streets. The first person he jumped with his friends. Mikey, Larry. And then his horrible, horrible death. Lil Jack’s lips quivered, and his armor split open and the fragments fell to the ground. He opened out his mouth and screamed,

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!”

Lil Jack lunged forward and knocked Michael down. Michael let out a grunt of pain, and then elbowed Lil Jack in the nose. Lil Jack screamed out in pain, and Michael lifted his sword and swiped at Lil Jack. Lil Jack quickly rolled to the side, and the sword nearly took his hand off.

“You… What do you think you’re doing?” Michael scoffed, “First you hit me with that stupid whip, and then you stop me from killing this thing-”

“We can’t, we shouldn’t,” Lil Jack gasped, getting up. He pushed Michael.

“Get a hold of yourself!” Lil Jack wept, “This isn’t right… What are we fighting for? For some demon, the devil himself! Even in Hell we can’t help but fight amongst ourselves…”

Tears fell down Lil Jack’s eyes.

“My whole life, I’ve been taught that violence was the solution to everything. It was the way it had to be,” Lil Jack told Michael. Michael gritted his teeth, gripping his sword tighter.

“It can’t be anymore,” Lil Jack pleaded, “Come on. The creature has a family. What happens if we kill him? What happens then-”

“SHUT UP!” Michael swiped his sword at Lil Jack’s face, cutting his cheek and nose and making his head whip to the side. Blood seeped down his face. Lil Jack felt the blood and looked at it in horror.

“You’re an IDIOT,” Michael shouted, “A weirdo, and a freak! Let me do as I please! I was the mayor of Tortuga, I could do whatever I wanted-”

Lil Jack slammed his fist into Michael’s nose, and he let out a shout as blood poured down his nostrils.

“Oh,” Michael realized, as the blood fell onto his lips, “You’re so dead, YOU’RE SO DEAD!”

Lil Jack quickly slammed another fist into Michael, and then another, and another. Michael let out shouts of pain, as the armor around him began to harden, and his hate continued to amplify. Before he knew it, the armor shattered, and both pieces from Lil Jack and Michael’s armor flew out of the building and onto Drain.

Both of them were breathing for air, their weapons both gone. With one last push, Lil Jack grabbed Michael by the collar and then shoved him back into the fireplace. Michael let out a scream of rage as Lil Jack shut the metal grate down again.

Lil Jack took a seat down at the couch, breathing heavily. He looked back at the Purlovia. He sighed, closing his eyes. He was tired of all of this. Just wanted to live a life without constantly fighting.

Lil Jack got up from the couch, walking out the back door and heading off into the distance. Where would he go? He wasn’t sure. He just wanted to find something, or someone that could help him in this foreign world.

Lil Jack looked back at the mayhem. A part of him wanted to help, but most of his heart told him he just wanted to survive.

Lil Jack didn’t look back.

~

Rockwell looked as Nova, Emerald, and Tago joined the battle. By now all of Andrew’s Knights except Buddy were against him. Rockwell knew this was a battle he wouldn’t be able to win. He’d have to escape. Rockwell looked up at Drain. He didn’t seem to notice Rockwell’s armor was still on. Rockwell smiled. Things were going perfectly.

Rockwell looked on at the Knights. Humans and creatures alike surrounded him from all fronts. Rockwell looked back and forth carefully, waiting for the first move.

“You’re surrounded, give up and surrender,” Emerald told him. Rockwell grinned,

“Of course, of course… hold on, what is that? Is that a Giganotosaurus?”

Rockwell pointed off in the distance. Somehow, all of them looked at where Rockwell was pointing. Rockwell grinned. Now was his chance. Rockwell ran as quickly as he could, and by the time they had noticed, he was already long gone.

Rockwell ran along the streets, using the armor to create longer strides and faster steps. Rockwell looked back. Nobody was following him.

“Perfect. Now all I must do is gather the transformation serum-”

BAM BAM BAM!

Blasts of light suddenly shot at Rockwell. Rockwell cursed to himself and looked up. Erica was following him in the sky, firing down at him with his rifle. Rockwell fired back with his blaster arms. Erica swiftly dodged out of the way, younger and more fit than the feeble Rockwell. Even with Edmundium flowing through his veins, his age was catching up.

Rockwell looked at the buildings around. He fired at the support pillars of those instead, and a building crumbled down upon Erica. Erica let out a scream as the building hit her, sending her to the ground. The debris came tumbling down, trapping her in a desolate grave. Rockwell grinned.

“The fools must learn not to interfere with a god’s plan.”

Rockwell could see a building up ahead that had its door kicked down. He could sense lifeforms inside. That must have been Pat, Milo, and Dr. Bubba. Rockwell grinned as he rushed inside.

He saw Milo writhing on an operating table, a large wound in his stomach, and his face pale and sweaty. Dr. Bubba and Pat were arguing about something.

“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST USE THE HEALING BREWS YOU MADE BEFORE THE BATTLE?!” Pat barked. Dr. Bubba barked back,

“Even if I had any left,” Dr. Bubba argued, “They won’t be able to heal the wound he has-”

“Gentlemen, I believe I can help,” Rockwell interjected, his hands behind his back. Dr. Bubba and Pat turned, and glared at him.

“What do you want?” Pat snapped.

“Your friend is gravely wounded, and on his deathbed,” Rockwell pointed out, “You are incapable of saving him. Allow me to assist.”

“What’s the catch?” Dr. Bubba asked.

“Why, there is no catch. All I request is the transformation serum you’ve taken in return.”

Pat took a step back,

“No way, we’re never giving that to you! That’s ours!”

“Tsk tsk tsk, but your friend’s life is on the line,” Rockwell smiled, “Are you willing to throw it away just for a secret?”

Pat opened his mouth to speak, but Dr. Bubba stopped him.

“No. I’ll give it to you,” Dr. Bubba begged him, “Just… Please don’t go back on your word.”

Rockwell smiled.

“Don’t worry. I am not here to deceive you, like that beast of a bat. Think of it as a business offer.”

Rockwell opened the palm of his hand out to them.

“Now. The transformation serum.”

Pat looked at Dr. Bubba. Dr. Bubba nodded. Dr. Bubba walked over to a lab counter and began to create it. In just a minute or two, Dr. Bubba had a cup with a purple liquid. He handed it to Rockwell. Rockwell gulped it down.

“Try it. It works. Not a trick,” Dr. Bubba told him.

Rockwell transformed into a Terror Bird. He looked at his claws happily, before transforming back into a human.

“Very well then, give me a first-aid kit. I will patch this man up.”

~

As the debris closed in on Erica, she could feel her breathing elevate. It felt so hard to breathe, and everything hurt. Were her bones broken? Erica couldn’t tell. This armor was unable to tell her how and where she was hurt.

“I hope the others are okay,” Erica murmured to herself, “Andrew… I hope you’re okay.”

Erica felt her heart rate elevate as well. She was tired. She didn’t know if she could hold on any longer.

“I’m… sorry, I couldn’t make it-”

The debris was lifted off of her. Erica let out a gasp of air as she felt fresh oxygen flow through her body. She struggled to lift her body up, and looked on to see a black bear looking down at her with his head tilted.

“Hey there human, good or bad guy?”

“Good guy,” Erica groaned, “Aren’t you supposed to be… back at the mansion?”

The bear frowned, looking worried.

“What mansion? You’re hurt. We need to get you help!”

“It’s too late for me,” Erica whispered, “Take my armor and help-”

“NO!” the bear shouted, “I will not let any more good guys die! Now, tell me who can help!”

Erica sighed, a smile passing her lips. The bear was quite silly.

“Andrew.”

Bear stood up on his hind legs and called out to the world.

“ANDREWWWWW! WE NEED YOUR HELP!”

~

Andrew could hear Bear’s call for help ring in his ears. Andrew looked back at Drain, who had tried in vain to shoot fire laser beams at him, and quickly dashed forward and knocked Drain through an array of skyscrapers.

BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM!

Andrew quickly dashed over to Bear’s voice and noticed Erica laying on the ground, mortally wounded.

“ERICA!” Andrew shouted, dashing over and kneeling down to Erica.

“It’s over,” Erica muttered.

“No it isn’t, I can help you,” Andrew put his hand on Erica’s body and the light from Andrew’s body began to transfer over to Erica. Erica could feel her bones snap back in place. By the time Andrew was finished, half of his body was light, and half of his body was normal as it had been.

“You won’t win if you help me,” Erica told him. Andrew held onto Erica’s hand.

“But if you die,” Andrew said, “If any of you die, there won’t be a point in winning.”

Erica felt more out of breath.

“Just think of the good memories,” Andrew softly told her, “It’ll be okay.”

Good memories.

Erica closed her eyes. And she reminisced as hard as she could. Memories began flowing through her eyes, but they slowly began to transform. Of Andrew. Freya. Sylas. Paul, and Jonathan. Erica smiled. Things were going to be okay.

Erica felt herself drift off to unconsciousness. Andrew looked up at the sky. The light was running low, and the shadows were starting to grow. They were losing, despite their efforts. Was the world really so filled with hate that darkness would win this battle?

Andrew floated up into the sky and faced Drain again. Drain grinned as he saw Andrew.

“Last chance Andrew,” Drain told him, “You know I’ll win.”

“I…” Andrew paused, and then opened his eyes,

“Refuse.”

Andrew dashed at Drain with light speed and grabbed him by the wings. In less than a second, they were at the Shadowkeep, which was up in flames along with the rest of the forest around it.

“What are you doing?!” Drain snarled.

“I won’t let you hurt my friends,” Andrew declared, “Even if it means I die. So come on, let’s have a fair fight.”