Journey Through All Creatures

Chapter 50: The Xenomorph Showdown

Part 5/5: The Great Escape

Extra note: There will now be only five parts. Parts 5 and 6 were originally pretty short, so I’m going to combine both parts for this one. Enjoy the grand finale of Section II!!

10:51 PM

Above Dread’s base…

Aberration was in a massive transition phase. The sunset on Aberration showing the final sunset for Dread and his tribe. This would hopefully be the end of Dread’s regin over Aberration. Sodden and the others were on their Rock Drakes, right above the front walls to Dread’s base.

“Well… what now?” Dorack asked. Sodden sighed.

“We go. Now.” Sodden said. Then just as Syl was about to launch herself, a Rock Drake suddenly launched forwards from behind and right at Sylveevee’s butt,, causing her to screech and lose her grip on the ceiling. Sodden and Dorack shouted as they gripped tightly on the Roock Drake. Drake roared and glided down too Syl, then another Rock Drake shot forwards at Drake and rammed into him, and he began to fall towards the base. Syl yelled as Sodden and Dorack gripped tightly on the drake. They were doing it easily. Nal, however, struggled to keep a grip. She screamed as she got thrown around, barely holding onto the tail. Dorack gasped as he saw Nal beginning to slip. Dorack shouted and tried to climb down the back of the Rock Drake, but he accidentally misssed a step and he almost fell off. He shouted and gripped tightly on the fur. Nal yelled as she slipped from the tail and fell straight downwards to the base.

“NOOOOO!!!” Dorack yelled. He then leaped off the Rock Drake, and Sodden gasped in shock.

“Dorack!!” Sodden yelled.

“Sodden! Just go and kill him! I’ll handle Nal.” Dorack yelled as he continued to freefall to the ground. He glided downwards to Nal, then grabbed her back, then before they could pull a parachute, they slammed right down into a bush near the base’s front door. Some blood was oozing out of the bush, parts of it pristine and gray-colored. Syl managed to regain her traction and glided down to the ground and slammed onto the path to the base. Sodden leaped off and ran to the bush, then rustled through it to find Dorack holding Nal in his hands. Nal was badly bruised, with her lower leg dislocated. She was unconscious from the injuries. Sodden gasped. Drake then came down too, managing to regain his traction, and Skyocean and Cooper leaped off. They ran towards Nal. They then helped Dorack out of the bush. He limped as he groaned, trying to get out of the sticks and leaves. He got out, then Cooper picked up Nal and carried her towards Drake. Nal was laid down on the wings of Drake.

“I’ll help her. You two get in there. Skyocean will help. Syl, morph back into a human and help me out!” Cooper yelled. Everyone nodded. Syl then glowed brbight magenta and shrunk down to a human, then she ran to Cooper, and crouched down near Nal, and put down a bag.. She took out some bandages while CCooper tried to keep her leg stable. They had to make sure she did not die. Stable respawning is possible for essence over 85 percent stability. Nal only had 45 percent. Dorack sniffled softly, and Sodden grabbed his arm.

“Come on! We need to go! They won’t be fine if we stay out here.” Sodden said. Dorack nodded and turned to him, then they and Skyocean ran to the door. Skyocean took a metal shield out of his bag and ran as fast as he could to the door, shattering it and causing him to be launched forwards. He managed to pick up his feet again. He turned to Sodden and Dorack, who walked into the base with them. The base’s interior was quiet. No one seemed to be around, not even on the stairs. Sodden didn’t know if Dread had actually left. Dorack and Sodden pulled out their shotguns, and Skyocean walked forwards, then towards a metal door on the opposite side of the room. The door had an alarm right above it. Access to tribe members only. As soon as they entered the room, there would be no turning back. Skyocean breathed deeply then began glowing bright blue. He morphed into Dread again. He then used his arm to unlock the door, and open it, and as soon as it creaked open, the alarm went off. Flashing red and white, it made a loud blaring noise. Sodden and Dorack immediately ran through the doorway, and the three walked down the hall, which was flashing red from the alarms. Then they heard deep growling, and Sodden gasped. They stopped moving, then looked around the area, their shotguns out and aiming at whatever came for them. Skyocean morophed back into a human because he had to stay with the others for as long as he could. Then 5 Megalosauruses ran from the lower hall and lunged right at Sodden. He and Dorack then shot two of them in the head and leaped away, dodging the creatures. The other three growled and ran at Dorack, opening its mouth to pick him up. Dorack shot him down too, then another one lunged at his back, and knocked him down to the ground, He opened his mouth to clamp down on his neck, then Sodden struck the Megalosaur’s head hard, and it fell over, and Sodden immediately swung it back around to shoot the creature in the head. Dorack gasped as he gripped his back, and stood up.

“You good?” Sodden asked. Dorack nodded as he turned to his right.

“Yeah.” Dorack said. Then they continued to walk, then they heard a deep, booming voice.

“Don’t go any further.” The voice growled. Sodden and Dorack gasped.

“I knew it.” Sodden whispered softly.

“I’ve been waiting here. I knew you’d come back. Why can’t you just give up? It’s over for you guys. Don’t you see? All I need to do is send you guys back when Serenity dies in two hours. Oh, wait. It should be one… nevermind. It doesn’t matter. You’ll be dead long before then.” Dread sneered as he stormed to Sodden. Sodden then took a cryopod out of his bag and dropped it on the ground. Reaper came out of it. She looked around, then noticed Dread slowly walking towards Sodden.. Reaper growled deeply and lowered her body, ready to pounce. Dread stopped moving and chuckled.

“Go ahead. Send her at me. I’ll just defeat her again. There’s nothing you can do. Okay… any last words?” Dread sneered. Sodden scoffed and walked ahead of Dorack, towards Dread at a slow pace.

“I’m the one who should be asking that question. Though I think you’d just go on and on about that crap with the… “cycle” that you describe.” Sodden shouted. He then whistled loudly, and Reaper screeched loudly and leaped over Sodden, right at Dread, then Dread got knocked down, and Reaper tried to hold him down, but Dread was holding her neck and legs and tried to throw her off. Skyocean scoffed and morphed into Dread again to hold him down. Skyocean ran at Dread and lunged at his arms, trying to hold down his left arm. Dread gasped and kicked Reaper backwards, and she rammed into the wall, and got up, groaning softly. Dread then took out a sword from his bag and struck Skyocean in the shoulder with it. He yelled in pain as he released his grip on Dread, and he morphed back intoo his human form as he was too injured to shapeshift. Dread growled and stood up. Skyocean groaned softly as he tried to get up. His shoulder had a crack in it, and it was bleeding out. He fell down to the ground again, and he was lying on his hips, and he clutched his shoulder. Dread then yanked the sword out of his shoulder violently, causing Skyocean to shout in pain as his shoulder became even more fragmented. Reaper then lunged at Dread’s head, pinned him down again, and Dread roared as he tried to shove her off. Dread grabbed Reaper’s neck with both hands, then Dorack ran at Dread and swung his shotgun down to his left shoulder. He slammed down onto it, and Dread yelled in iain, then he kicked Dorack hard, then threw Reaper off and stood up. Reaper hit the wall again, and got back up, slightly disoriented. Reaper growled and ran at Dread again. Skyocean scoffed and took a medical brew out of his bag. It was the last one he had. He quickly drank it down, and his wound began to shrink. The blood stopped pouring out. Then as he finished drinking it, his wound was gone and he no longer hurt. Skyocean growled and stood up. Sodden was sitting besides a doorway, gripping the device in his hands. He was waiting for the right time to strike. Dorack leaped at Dread, then punched him in the face and grabbed his left arm, and Dread then grabbed his legs with his right hand and swung him upwards, and slammed him into the ground. Dorack shouted in pain as he hit the floor, and he tried to get up, then Skyocean and Reaper ran at Dread, striking his back at the same time. He shouted in pain as he got launched forwards, hitting the wall hard. Dread growled softly and groaned as he got up. He scoffed and turned around to Skyocean. He took a sword out of his bag, then ran at Reaper, and swung the sword right at her neck. Reaper leaped out of the way, dodged it, then Skyocean leaped at his shoulders and grabbed his neck, pulling him down to the ground. Dread slammed into the ground again, shouting in pain. Skyocean growled as he took a sword out and stabbed his left shoulder with it. Dread growled as he lifted his feet, trying to crush Skyocean’s legs. He repeatedly struck them, and Skyocean groaned as he tried to break apart his shoulder, but he groaned in exhaustion and dropped the sword right on his back, then fell over. Reaper lunged at his neck and grabbed it, then lifted it up and slammed it down into the ground again. Dread then flipped over and grabbed Reaper’s legs, then stood up and threw her across the hall. She slammed into the ground again, and she was becoming more bruised, and blood started coming out of her legs. Dread then turned to Dorack and grabbed his neck, then pinned him down to the ground. Dorack gasped, trying to hit Dread’s hands away, but he wouldn’t budge. Reaper could barely stand. Skyocean couldn’t even stand at all. Dread groaned as he pinned down Dorack’s legs with his legs.

“This ends now!” Dread yelled as he took a sword out of his bag, then took his left arm and pinned down Dorack’s left wrist with it. He lifted the sword high in the air.

“Any last words, idiot?” Dread sneered. Dorack scoffed.

“No one… messes with my friends… and gets away with it!!” Dorack screamed. Dread growled and was about to bring the sword down, when Sodden ran right behind him, and swung the device right into Dread’s left wrist. Sodden barely missed Dorack. The impact was directly into his singularity, immediately causing Dread to shout in pain, and he dropped the sword on the ground and released his grip on Dorack. Dorack gasped and stood up, thenn Sodden knocked Dread down to the ground. Dread’s implant was crackling, glowing orange-red. Tons of purple-blue ooze poured out of it. The singularity inside was pulsating red. It was critically damaged. It was a direct hit. The biotoxin began flowing through his essence, causing his essence stability to drop rapidly. Dread groaned as he was pushed down on his belly, trying to move his legs. He could barely move them. Sodden then picked up Dread’s sword and lodged it into Dread’s implant, further damaging its essence. Dread shouted in pain as he began to feel queasy, and he coughed some blood. He could barely breathe. Sodden growled and crouched down near his head.

“Where’s Serenity?” Sodden asked. Dread scoffed.

“As if… as if I’ll tell you…” Dread said weakly. Sodden then grabbed the back of his head and pressed it down further into the ground. Dread yelled in pain as he continued to lose his stability.

“I’m going to guess she’s in a room somewhere down here.” Sodden said. Dread growled softly.

“Yeah… incubator near the tip. Speeds up… embryo growth by 10 times. You only have 50 minutes to get that Reaper out, Sodden. How are you going to… ugh. You’ll fail. You will not win. All it takes is for her heart to stop… and…” Dread said weakly.

“Listen. If that happens, we go to Ragnarok immediately. My tribe will protect us.” Sodden said. Dread growled softly.

“Okay, okay… yeah. You’re smart. You’re the one to kill me. But she… she’s the real catalyst. You… you’re done… you won’t be able to do it… just… can’t…” Dread said weakly. His speech began to trail off. His essence began to decay. Essence stability was down to 20 percent. Dread sighed softly.

“Just… go… get her… just leave…” Dread said quietly. Finally, his speech stopped, and he was barely breathing anymore. Sodden stood up and walked forward. He picked up Dread’s sword and ran down the halls, and Dorack crouched down near Skyocean to help him. Dread’s implant flashed rapidly, a red and orange color, then it made a ding noise and became gold, then its color darkened and faded away. And a death message appeared. For Sodden. Dorack. All of Nudon. For everyone in Drake Death. The culmination of what had lasted over an year. Sodden ran down the hall, then saw a giant blue door near the bottom. He looked up at it, and it was wide open. Inside was a giant cryopod like structure. It had a glass hatch on the top. There was a panel on its side. The inside was soft and warm, and warm air was pouring in through the machine. There was a tube attached to Serenity’s belly. And on the panel, there was a countdown. The embryo’s picture was shown next to it. The embryo had quadrupled in size since then. It was getting close to being done. Sodden scoffed and swung the sword at the panel, smashing it and causing it to malfunction. He didn’t have time to lose. It caused the cryopod to make a whirring noise, then it faded away. The tube then disconnected and the air stopped pouring in. Then the hatch hissed as it began opening. Sodden gasped. He walked to Serenity, then put his hands inside the hatch, and picked her up with his hands, and when Sodden was done, he found her bag, then put it on his back, making him quite heavy, then he walked out of the room, trying to get back to the exit. Dorack had put bandages on Skyocean’s legs, then he saw Sodden slowly walking with Serenity in his hands. Dorack ran to Sodden.

“I’ll carry that other bag. Get to Drake. Okay?” Dorack said. Sodden nodded. He walked up to the exit, about to leave the place.

Sodden rose from the entrance, and Cooper gasped as he stood up and looked at Sodden. Every piece of Drake Death’s tribe was gone. All their tames and structures were unclaimed. There were multiple soldiers from the tribe dying due to their creatures going wild again. Some lost control of their creatures, others were eaten. Sodden hadn’t won yet, though. He still had to get that Reaper King out. Cooper ran to Sodden and Sodden gave him his bag.

“Syl, we need to go.” Sodden said as he turned to the other Rock Drake, a magenta colored one. Syl nodded, and Cooper picked up Serenity and put her on the back of Syl. Sodden climbed down, and after he did, he saw Dorack coming out, with Skyocean limping on a crutch. Both went to Drake, and got on too. Nal had recovered mostly and she was on Drake’s back. Cooper climbed up onto Drake’s back, with Dorack and Skyocoean. Both Drake and Sylveevee took off and went to fly back to the Aberration Kingdom.

11:18 PM…

The group had just arrived back in the Aberration Kingdom. Syl and Drake were morphed into human form now. They were running towards the main entrance to the castle. Sodden had Serenity in his hands, and Nal and Dorack were besides each other, running behind Sodden. Syl, Drake, Skyocean, and Cooper had opened the door and had cleared the way for them to enter. When Sodden entered, Syl walked to him.

“Come with me.” Syl said. Sodden nodded, and Syl walked to the left, towards a door. The door led down to a basement, and there was a chamber at the bottom. Syl opened the door, and Sodden walked down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he saw three big cryopods lined up on the right of the wall. They all had a panel on the front, and there were two holes in each one, with a rubber like formation hanging from each of them. The pods were for Reaper extractions. Syl walked ahead of Sodden, and towards one of the pods. Syl stood besides the panel and Sodden walked towards it.

“Okay. I know you’ve never done something like this before. Basically, you gotta use a rotating drill made of wool to softly push the Reaper towards the… well…” Syl said as she pointed to her behind. Sodden gasped softly and nodded.

“Okay, then if its head starts sticking out of the opening, you gotta get that thing out. It’s not fully conscious. But it will wake up after a few minutes of being out, so you have to get her out quickly. This will not be easy, but it has to be done.” Syl said. Sodden nodded. There was a small pair of steps near the side of the pod, and Sodden walked to it, then walked up to the top of it. Syl then looked at the panel and activated the hatch. The glass door hissed as it opened slowly, and Sodden then placed Serenity in the hatch, her head facing to the front, and the soft rotating device on her belly. Sodden placed her body inside, and Syl closed the hatch. Sodden sighed and walked back. Syl then activated the rotating sphere, and as soon as she did, gas began to pour into the pod. It was cool and soft. It would ensure the Reaper King came out. Then, sure enough, they heard quiet clicking noises, and then quiet huffing. Syl gasped and walked to the other side of the pod, then walked up some smal set of stairs. She then put her hands inside the rubber, then watched carefully as her behind began to move softly. The Reaper King screeched softly, half conscious. It was growling softly, trying to move. Then it got moved backwards, towards the lower end of Serenity’s stomach and towards her behind. Syl gasped as she saw a small, dark brown and slimy head poke out of the hole. Its eyes were shut, and it could barely move its head. It tried to move out, but it was stuck. Syl sighed and put her hands on the head,, slowly and carefully pulling it out. The Reaper King was still half conscious, so it barely moved. Syl then finally got the tail out. Serenity then gasped softly as she opened her eyes, noticing where she was. She looked behind her to see Syl holding the Reaper King in her hands. Serenity gasped softly as she looked ahead. Sodden walked to the panel and looked up at her.

“Hey. How you doing?” Sodden asked. Serenity sighed softly.

“Alright, I guess. A lot better since that thing’s gone now.” She said. Syl then turned to Sodden, and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could do it, a arm suddenly wrapped around her neck and a dart suddenly got slammed into her neck. She screamed and gasped softly, groaning a bit, then she fell over to the ground, unconscious. Then someone walked from behind Syl. Sodden gasped in shock. It was Rod.

“Did you really think you would get away with this?” Rod sneered. Sodden scoffed.

“How did you even get in here?” Sodden asked in confusion. Rod chuckled.

“That’s not my concern.” Rod growled. He then took a pistol out of his bag then pointed it at the cryopod.

“You are going to step away from that panel right now.” Rod growled. Sodden gasped. He had no choice. He backed away slowly. Rod growled softly and walked closer to Sodden.. Serenity gasped in horror and yelled as she tried to bang on the hatch. She was able to flip over, but she couldn’t sit up right. The Reaper King was on the floor besides her, curled up and growling softly. It would wake up soon due to the conditions. It had woken up completely in Dread’s base, but after losing the conditions it needed to live, it fell asleep again. But now, its consciousness was returning. Sodden backed away, holding up his hands as Rod aimed the pistol at his chest, walking towards him.

“Why couldn’t you just… give up when you had the chance? Like Dread said, all it takes is for a death message, red or gold, to appear on Terad’s tribelog. I’ll just kill you and put you out of your misery.” Rod growled. His fingers rested on the trigger, about to pull it. Syl groaned softly as she began to open her eyes, her vision was blurry. She groaned as she got up. Her torpor had drained completely, and she felt a deep pinch in her neck. She took the dart out of it, and gasped as she noticed Rod trying to kill Sodden. Syl scoffed and took a sword out of her bag, and ran at Rod to strike him. Rod scoffed.

“Yeah. I’m not dumb.” Rod growled. He then turned around to Syl and pulled the trigger, launching a bullet into her shoulder. Syl screamed in pain as she fell to the ground, gripping her shoulder. Rod chuckled and raised the pistol again, aiming it at her chest. Syl gasped as she looked up to Rod, aiming the pistol at her. Syl’s sword was on the ground, besides her. Sodden ran at Rod, trying to tackle him, then Rod took another pistol out of his bag and aimed it at Sodden. Sodden gasped as he stopped moving. Rod scoffed.

“Well. Unless you wanna return to the Island with base stats, and unless Sylveevee wants to die, I’m gonna suggest you stop moving. Just watch the carnage unfold. You see… that Reaper King was about to wake up in Dread’s base. But you stopped the process. But you merely delayed his awakening. And it’s even better when Serenity’s awake… heh. Yeah… you’re done.” Rod sneered. He looked up at the cryopod. And sure enough, the Reaper King was beginning to stand up, growling deeply. Serenity gasped in terror and started banging on the glass. The Reaper growled as it crept closer and closer to her. Sodden gasped in horror.

“No…” Sodden said. Serenity was gasping quickly, trying to keep the Reaper away from her. The Reaper King would not budge. Serenity then kicked it against the wall, and held her foot against the wall, trying to pin down the Reaper. Serenity gasped as the Reaper shoved her foot away and lunged right at her chest. She screamed loudly as the Reaper punctured her shoulders with its claws, ripping her body apart and causing blood to spray across the pod. Syl yelled and ran to the side, leaping forwards. Rod pulled the trigger but Syl dodged it, and Syl lunged at Rod. Sodden gasped in shock.

“Go save her! I’ll handle Rod!” Syl yelled. Sodden growled and ran at the pod, which was beeping loudly. It was broken. Serenity screamed as the Reaper dug right into her chest, causing blood to pour out of her. She tried to hold the Reaper back, but to no avail. Sodden picked up Syl’s sword and swung it at the glass, and it directly struck the sides, causing the whole thing to shatter and vanish, with shards falling onto the floor. Sodden immediately grabbed the Reaper King and pulled it right off of Serenity. It screeched loudly as it tried to escape. Sodden ran to a nearby cage, reserved for Reaper Kings, and Sodden kicked the door open with his foot and threw the baby into the cage, then locked the cage immediately. The Reaper couldn’t get out. Sodden then turned around to Serenity and ran towards her. Sodden picked up Serenity, who was coughing and sniffling, gasping softly. She was barely conscious. Then, they heard quick footsteps. Cooper and Drake ran downstairs.

“Hey! What’s all the commo- OH MY SWEET JASPER BERRIES!!! WHAT HAPPENED HERE!!” Cooper yelled in shock. He noticed Serenity bleeding out, blood all over the pod, and Sylveevee being strangled by Rod. Drake gasped in horror.

“Tell Skyocean to get down here!” Drake yelled. He ran at Rod and grabbed his neck, throwing him off of Syl. Syl gasped as she stood up, gasping for air. Syl whimpered as she walked over to Cooper. Cooper embraced her just then.

“Cooper. Go help Sodden.” Syl said. Cooper nodded. He let go and ran to Sodden. Blood was dripping onto the ground. Sodden had gotten a few gauze pads on her chest and shoulders, but it wasn’t enough.

“Okay. Come with me. Fast.” Cooper said. Sodden nodded, and they both ran straight upstairs.

11:48 PM…

It had been 30 minutes since the attack. Aberration Kingdom almost had to go into lockdown mode. Rod was inside of a cage in their dungeons. Their dungeon room was on the second floor of the castle. Syl was inside the throne room, along with Cooper. Drake, Skyocean, Dorack, and Nal all stood outside of a big room, lined with raised beds. Each one had a blanket sweeping over them. To the corner was Sodden, sitting on a chair next to Serenity, who was lying on a bed. She was unconscious. She had stitches and staples on her chest, a blood bag attached to her right shoulder, and stitches on her shoulders. Her health continued to decline. It was at 9.4. Another second passed. 9.34. Sodden sat there, nervously. He hoped it would be enough to get her going again. But her heart was slowing. Sodden really did not want a death message to show up, for obvious reasons. Sodden sat there, tapping his foot against the floor. Then he stared down at her chest, and noticed some blood was oozing out of her shoulder. Then a crack appeared. Sodden gasped. He immediately grabbed a bandage out of his bag and pressed itt down on her shoulder. The blood bag unfortunately got disconneccted. It tore itself out of the shoulder because of the pressure of the stitches. Sodden stopped the bleeding, but he had to pray she would be fine on just 6 pints of blood. But the health was declining faster. 8.9. Then 8.8. Then 8.67. Then 8.49. Sodden scoffed and walked to the other end of the room, where there was a debifillaltor inside a small glass box. Sodden openned the box and took the debfillator out of it. He walked to Serenity, then took the debfillator out of the bag it was in. But he noticed, it was dead. It had a red light on the bottom. Sodden groaned and sat down on his chair. 7.8. 7.6. 7.45. Nal and Dorack walked in to see Sodden’s head down. Dorack sat down on the bed besides him.

“Dude. What’s wrong?” Dorack asked.

“Freaking debfillator’s dead.” Sodden said. Dorack sighed.

“We need gasoline for that. Is there gasoline in here?” Dorack asked. Nal then took a bin out of the underside of the bed Serenity was on. Nal looked inside, and sure enough, she found a small cup of gasoline. She ran to Sodden, and Sodden grabbed the can and oopened the defib’s fuel tank. Sodden poured it into a metal sphere, then closed the tank down. Sodden turned it on and stood up, then placed the pads on Serenity’s chest. 4.7. 4.5. 4.3. Sodden had to act fast. He then held the shock machines over her chest.

“Clear!” Sodden yelled as he brought them downwards, sending a shockwave through her body. But her heart could barely start. 3.8. 3.6. 3.3.

“I’ve been here before, Sodden. Just keep trying.” Dorack said. Sodden took a deep breath, then did it again. Her heart couldn’t start well. It was barely going. And Sodden scoffed and looked inside of her mouth. He opened up Serenity’s mouth and looked inside. Sodden groaned and reached inside, then slowly lifted it out. It was some kind of device. It was made to block her airway over time. To ensure Sodden couldn’t get out of the place without consequences. Consequences that would arrive in 15 seconds. Sodden groaned softly and put his head down, and he activated the defib again, sending another shockwave through Serenity’s body. It barely accelerated her heart enough. 1.3. 1.02. 0.89. Sodden refused to give up. He then put his hands on her chest, then began rapidly pressing down on it. Sodden groaned as he kept doing it 10 times, two per second. Sodden kept trying. Then after a minute of going, Serenity’s eyes suddenly shot open, and she woke up, gasping quickly. She then moved her arm towards her chest,, and Sodden then sat down near her, right on the bed, sighing softly. Serenity chuckled softly. Sodden sniffled softly, gasping in relief.

“Oh… thank god…” Sodden sighed. He held Serenity’s hand, relieved that everything was okay. Sodden looked down at her, and Dorack gasped softly as he put his hands to his mouth. Sodden sighed softly as he stared at her. Serenity sighed softly as she tried to sit up. Her back hurt, and she was still in pain. But she was here. That was all Sodden cared about. It was over. The Aberration Ravage was over for good this time. Sodden sat on the bed near her, and Serenity sat up against the wall. Sodden embraced Serenity with his arms, and so did Serenity.

“I really thought it was the end…” Sodden said, his voice cracking. He sniffled a bit. Serenity chuckled softly.

“Yeah. Me too. Thanks, bro. We’ve come quite far, huh?” Serenity said. Sodden nodded softly.

They then heard soft rumbling across the ground. The ceiling of the Ark seemed to shake. The surface was clearing out. Reaper Kings, Seekers, all were digging underground. Ready to invade the underground caves. There were 70 survivors total on the surface, all on Rock Drakes. They watched the northern horizon as it glowed bright orange, shimmering brightly. Then a white glow appeared over it. Rays of light blasted across the horizon. Into their eyes. The survivors then let out cheers of excitement, some launching flares into the air, small fireworks bursting in the air. The sun began to peek over the horizon, and as its disk rose above the horizon, the survivors in Aberration Kingdom couldn’t help but look up.

“It’s 11:53. Sunrise is happening. The Ark is entering its polar day. No sunset…” Sodden said.

“Until approximately September 2nd…” Serenity said, smiling, Dorack sighed softly.

“It’s poetic, isn’t it. A new age on the Ark, a new period of daylight. God… what is it like when polar night comes?” Dorack asked. Serenity chuckled.

“Everybody’s just fighting over getting drops over and over. They have to bring insanely powerful creatures up there to survive the waves of Reaper Kings, both wild and tamed. That’s why a lot of breeding happens during the polar day.” Serenity said.

“Well… what was it like when you came over here?” Sodden asked. Serenity chuckled.

“It was like late August when we got here. First sunset was coming. Everyone was hyped. Well… at least until the whole… thing.” Serenity said.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s over, though. Dread’s gone for good. Now we just gotta get out of here.” Sodden said.

“What about Rod?” Nal asked. Sodden sighed and stood up, taking Serenity’s hand. She slowly stood up, and looked up at Nal.

“Sylveevee will keep him in the dungeons. They have to ensure he never escapes.” Sodden said. Dorack chuckled.

“Well… in that case… you know what that means. Time to go back to the Island!” Dorack yelled. Everyone cheered in excitement as they walked out of the room. It was going to be near 10 AM on The Island due to the distance. But this wasn’t anything to Sodden. He would do whatever it took to eventually reach Dead Earth.

Day 15 of Aberration

12:04 AM…

Sodden and his friends were outside the walls. Sylveevee was morphed into a Rock Drake, and Drake, Cooper, and Skyocean were all near her. Sodden and Serenity faced Cooper.

“Well… guess this is it. It was nice seeing you.” Drake said. Sodden nodded.

“Yeah. It was good seeing y’all. Thanks for all your help.” Sodden said. The others nodded in affirmation.

“Well… when you get back to the Island… what are you gonna do?” Skyocean asked. Sodden sighed.

I’ll probably just start collecting resources to prepare to go to Ragnarok.” Sodden said. Syl nodded.

“Well, you wanna go now?” Syl asked. Sodden and his friends nodded, then climbed onto her back. Sodden sat up front, Serenity was right behind him, and Dorack and Nal sat behind her. Syl then turned upwards. The others waved their hands. Sodden sighed softly.

“Yeah. See y’all later.” Sodden said. Then Syl rooared and took off, gliding towards the north, to the terminal at the Ancient Device, aka the portals.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After some time, the group arrived at the portals. The big, overhead arcs going over the place, and a big metal ground extending across the place. Towards the end of a wall was a big tall, circular portal and in its center was some kind of transmitter. It was placed sideways, facing away from the wall, and it was quite large. The group traveled towards it, and there was a spot inside for transport between Arks. Syl then walked towards it, as it hung over some kind of metal floor, and Sodden got off the Drake to walk towards it. He used his implant to open its inventory, and there was a big holographic screen. Then he went to the “Transport” tab. The only option availble was The Island. For that, they needed the artifacts, all of which Sodden had. He took all three out of his bag, then placed them inside a container that had exited the transmitter. Then it retracted backwards, and the artifacts dissolved into the machine. Then the transmitter glowed brightly. Sodden then activated the transport mechanism. The transmitter flashed brightly, and made a deep beeping noise.

“Transport confirmed. Transporting to The Island in 120 seconds…” The transmitter said in a computerized voice.

“The main Rockwell Terminal is broken, so it’d be wise to use this.” Serenity said. Sodden nodded.

“Yeah, but what happened to it?” Dorack asked. Syl sighed.

“It’s likely Terad’s past shenanigans with the transport device to Extinction possibly drove its mechanism to become disabled entirely. The only way to restart it is to prove you’re worthy. Collecting the Alpha tributes from every Ark in the main path. From Ragnarok, Crystal Isles, Lost Island, and Fjordur. It’s 10,000 element, all these alpha tributes from bosses, 1,000 runes. You have a lot ahead of you guys.” Syl said. Sodden chuckled.

“We will do it. We can do it, guys. Right?” Sodden asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. Syl sighed.

“Okay. Then good luck out there. See y’all later!” Syl said.

“Bye!” Sodden and Dorack yelled as they waved their hands, and Syl leaped off the wall and glided downwards, then down south, towards her base. Serenity sighed softly.

“That’s it. Well, it’s time to plan for Ragnarok, guys.” Sodden said.

“Yeah. And of course, make sure Terad does not find out about all this.” Serenity said. Sodden chuckled.

“Yeah.” Dorack said. He was about to say something else, when his implant suddenly dinged. So did Sodden and Nal’s implants. They looked down at them. There was a message there. Dorack gasped softly and put his hands on his mouth. It was Codred.

“Guys? If you’re about to come home, come home right now. Terad’s about to raid our tribe. Something about… Aberration or whatever. I’ll explain later.” The message said. Sodden sighed.

“Wait… what happened?” Sodden asked, confused. He then groaned and looked over to the south.

“I think I know. Rod must have snuck to an obelisk, sent a message to the Island, and Terad found it. He knows. He knows of everything that happened down here. God dang… well. Better go, right?” Sodden asked as he turned back around. Everyone nodded in agreement. Serenity walked to him and took his hands.

“We just gotta go. Resources and everything. Our ascension data will allow us quick access to Ragnarok. The problem is getting what we need. Once we leave the Island… there’s no turning back.” Sodden said. Everyone grunted in agreement and looked at the transmitter. There was a bright blue sphere encircling everyone, and big beams of light striking down onto it. Then the sphere suddenly burst and the survivors were shot upwards, out of the Ark, and into a ascension path. From there, they could see the sun rising, its light flowing across the Arks. Fires ignited across the surface in what felt like slow motion.

“Oh, my god.” Sodden said, his jaw dropped.

“Well… we’ll be back. And when we return, we’ll be ready.” Dorack said. Serenity nodded in agreement. Nal had nearly recovered completely. Serenity and Sodden looked down at each other, and held hands. As they traveled through the path, away from Aberration, Sodden sighedd softly and looked at Serenity.

“I’m never gonna let anything happen to you. Terad has nothing on us.” Sodden said. Serenity chuckled lightly.

“You are very lucky to have us, Sodden. I never thought… when I walked outside at 4:40 AM that morning, that the green beam of light I saw was the beginning of… this. This crazy journey we’ve gone on.” Serenity said. Sodden nodded, sniffling softly.

“It’s JTAC forever, Serenity. It’s us that started it all.” Sodden said. Serenity nodded softly. They put their heads against each others, closed their eyes, and Sodden took a deep breath.

“I never thought this would happen again. But you… you came, and now we’re on this awesome journey… one that will change the Arks.” Serenity said.

“Yeah. I love you.” Sodden whispered softly. Serenity chuckled softly.

“I love you too, dude.” Serenity said softly. Their lips began to come closer to each other, making contact in a few seconds, embracing each other as they went through the path. Dorack and Nal were left speechless.

“I knew it from the start. Don’t bully me because of it.” Dorack said. Nal chuckled and lightly nudged his shoulder.

“Shut up, bro. I think we all deserve some peace right now.” Nal said. Dorack nodded softly. The four survivors then approached the Island, and the path suddenly shot downwards towards its force field, directly towards the volcano. A new era was arriving. One of joy, suspense, action, adventure….

And war…

The journey through all creatures had only just begun…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I honestly have no words to say. Almost an year, so much trouble with these chapters… congrats if you made it this far. Nearly 180k words of content is insane. Thank you to anyone who’s read the story, if you just started, you’re in the middle, or you finished reading this very chapter, just thank you for the support, feedback, all of that stuff.

You can expect more chapters per month, for real this time, and enjoy it because… well, Chapters 72-75 will be stupid insanely long.

Expect Chapters 72-74 to break 15k words, or maybe 20k.. And Chapter 75… you do NOT want to miss that.

They will absolutely take time to make. I hope you enjoyed this section. It was big, insanely action packed, and so much stuff happened. But the action in Section 3 will be nothing like you’ve seen so far in this story.

With all that said, thank you to SunnyFox, Nexus, and PrimalApex, who just started reading this awesome story. Thank you to Moon for nearly finishing Section 1! And of course, Ben… thank you for reading thus far and for all your feedback. I hope you all enjoyed this section AND this awesome chapter!

And I will see you all in Section 3 of Journey Through All Creatures!!

Bye-bye for now!

-RelatingHen8906