The Omega Timeline

Chapter 59: The Uprising

by Moon (First Half), & Ben (Second Half)

Word Count: 3875

~

The city was in pieces. The battle had destroyed many buildings and monuments, though the sky had been healed from its once dark appearance, and all that could be seen now was the ruins the fight left behind. The ones who refused to follow Drain had only recently been unfrozen.

The ebony-feathered Terror Bird was leaning against the wall of a ravaged building, his wings unfolded slightly and his gaze at the sky. Ember Black was admittedly tired, and not to mention surprised and bewildered at the state of the city. It had gotten even worse than he’d expected, but then again, what exactly did he expect from that foolish bat he’d originally been allies with?

There was a sound of footsteps as Captain Shortstacks walked over to him, stretching his back slightly and making a small groaning sound. He shook his arms out for the third time since being freed from stone.

“Hey,” Shortstacks said.

“Heyy?” Ember said, glancing down at him.

“Who do ya’ think won?”

The King Titan had gone further into the city the moment he was unfrozen, Ember’s guess being to search for Drain or do who knows what. Jerry was close by, but he didn’t seem to be paying attention to anyone near. He was staring up at the sky with a weird look Ember didn’t like while holding something tightly and close to him.

Then there was the ginormous beast of a dragon, Apex. He seemed to be grappling at buildings weakly, still unused to the feeling of being unfrozen. Wings curled up, body shaking slightly, breath raspy, muttering for someone under his breath. He looked like a whelp that just hatched out of his egg, looking for his parent.

Ember coughed and said to Shortstacks, “You think I know? Our adversaries are idiots, but Drain is too. I expected better from him.”

“Well, I’ll give it to the bat and say he managed all of this mess.” Shortstacks said, gesturing to the city. He seemed impressed with the wreckage as he looked out at it. He uttered in a prideful hypnosis, “It almost matches the might of my British Navy.”

He scuffled slightly at the ground with one of his hind legs, before tipping his head to the side as he heard something a ways away. He could hear lots of different sounds, including ones he didn’t recognize. It almost sounded like some deep groaning that reverberated throughout the air.

“What now?” Ember murmured, turning his head and looking back.

“What is it?” Shortstacks asked.

“Those sounds,” Ember replied softly.

“Sounds? I don’t hear nothin’,” Shortstacks said.

Ember looked over at where Jerry was. Jerry had crouched slightly where he once sat, his head and torso twisted slightly to look towards the noise.

~

The sound was getting noticeably louder and louder.

And closer.

“Do you hear it now?” Ember asked Shortstacks, almost getting irritated by his ignorance. The captain let out a sneer.

“Do you take me for a fool? There is nothing but the roar of that cursed Titan afar!”

Ember almost rolled his eyes while looking at him.

“Right, I have to remember this buffoon is so short it would take a minute longer for him to feel the rain compared to anyone else,” Ember thought, almost snorting.

At this point, Jerry stood up tall and proud. He took a slight whiff of the air, his eyes bloodshot.

“Fresh meat.”

WHOOOOSH!

Something seemed to be floating through the air, something so sharp it made a noise as it flew through the air. Captain Shortstacks looked around, dumbfounded. Ember squinted his eyes, looking up at the mystical skies and saw something gliding toward them. His eyes widened.

“Look out!”

“Huh?”

With outstanding speed, a blur of feathers dived down at Captain Shortstacks. Almost out of instinct, Ember kicked the short man out of the way, causing him to stumble backwards and causing the blur to hit the ground where Shortstacks was once standing.

KABOOM!

Concrete flew up into the air. Jerry’s eyes widened, his head darting over to the commotion. Apex weakly lifted his head, his orange eyes hazy.

Jerry watched intently, his fists clenching, preparing for a battle, waiting to see what exactly had landed in this city of constellations. Captain Shortstacks began to cough heavily, shooting up from the ground and drawing his sword.

SHING!

“You traitorous SCUM! What is your purpose?”

“Idiot, look in front of you!” Ember shouted.

Captain Shortstacks raised his eyebrow and let out an “oh” in realization. As the dust settled, the mass of feathers emerged from it, letting out clicking noises and staring at the stubby body of Shortstacks. It peered down at him, clicking its beak some more in hunger.

Staring at him with beady, empty eyes, you could barely tell it was alive. Ember took a few steps back, carefully studying the specimen. It appeared to have a beak like any other bird, and an abnormal amount of feathers for a dinosaur on an ARK, almost too much. It looked like a smaller Yutyrannus, if Yutyrannus were the size of Utahraptors.

Captain Shortstacks glowered at the beast.

He didn’t seem to realize that it had purple veins running across its body.

“Stay back! You understand me, do you not? So STAND DOWN.”

The creature almost gave a grin at his words, as if whatever controlling it was amused by his defensive nature. Without warning, it lashed its claws at the captain.

The captain barely managed to dodge out of the way, but the creature simply kicked Shortstacks back in response.

The creature began getting closer, and Shortstacks let out a yelp as he fell down to the ground, his sword clattering to the ground nearby. The creature prepared to strike Shortstacks again, but then he slowly felt the blood trickle up his cheeks and into the air.

WOOSH!

Ember looked ahead to see Jerry concentrating on the formation of blood. It condensed into a set of solid arrows and then rushed forward, piercing the beast with no mercy. The creature let out a grunt, seemingly unaffected by the attack, only being pushed a few steps back. It didn’t even seem to be bleeding. All that was exposed was the strange silver-blue glow within.

Jerry lifted his eyebrow, confused.

“I can’t,” Jerry said, “Move your blood.”

Jerry flashed a grin.

“We’re going to have one hell of a time.”

Jerry let out a monstrous roar and charged at the creature. The creature made no noise, but charged at Jerry with equal vigor. Shortstacks began to let out whimpers as he crawled away from the ensuing battle.

Ember immediately looked over to Apex for protection, despite his grogginess. It was just their luck, but it appeared that the source of groaning had just penetrated through the walls of Constellation City. A swarm of medium-sized herbivores and raptor-esque creatures began to plummet through the streets, breaking through windows and destroying walls without pause. They began to attack Apex, biting at his scales and slashing at his body. No cuts were made, but Apex could barely move as he was slowly overwhelmed by his exhaustion and by the mindless animals.

“There’s one place we can go…” Ember glanced up at the floating mansion. He had visited it once, but never again. He nudged Captain Shortstacks.

“We need to get to the mansion,” Ember declared, “We’ll be safe there.”

Captain Shortstacks seemed to be hyperventilating. He nodded, biting his lip and forcing himself to stand up, his legs shaking. He grabbed his sword, and, together, the two fled the carnage.

~

Entropy let out a gasp as the stone folded away from its body, as if he was malting. His eyes pierced the white-black skies, pupils dilating in awe at the view.

His awe was quickly wiped as he felt a fleshy hand grab his throat and shove him up against a building. Entropy let out chokes as he saw the glowing purple eyes of the King Titan peer into his soul.

“Tell me,” the King Titan glared, huffs of steam pouring from his mouth, “Where is that demon?!”

Entropy barred his teeth, letting out a hiss and trying to push the miniature King Titan away.

“Your guess is as good as mine!”

The King Titan let out a huff of annoyance and let go of the dragon, but not before gripping his throat harder. The King Titan’s purple eyes glowed brighter, and he suddenly turned away, beginning to take small steps away from the dragon and through the streets.

“Where are you going?!” Entropy shouted at him, “We still have unfinished business with that sick Drain!”

The King Titan didn’t respond, it was almost as if he was in some sort of trance. He began batting buildings away, making his way to the edge of the city. Entropy let out an exasperated sigh, getting up from the ground and taking in a deep breath. He could feel the fire rage inside his heart.

“I’ll find you Drain… and I’ll kill you for your betrayal.”

Entropy looked around at the rest of Drain’s former allies, or at least, what was left of them. Besides Prince Caldren, who was stuck in one of the walls of the many buildings, Dr. Bubba, Milo, Pat, and Rockwell had disappeared, and so had Michael and Lil’ Jack. Entropy was the only one remaining.

With that, Entropy took to the skies and flew off.

WHOOSH!

Entropy’s wings created a heavy draft of air which hit Prince Caldren. Prince Caldren let out a roar and stomped his feet into the ground, still unaware that the great war between heroes and villains had already ended.

“I… KILL YOU!” Prince Caldren shouted.

There was a shriek in the air as the stampeding zombies began to get closer and closer. Prince Caldren could hear the noise coming closer. In a panic, Prince Caldren tried to push and pull, but to no avail.

“Me… need… help,” Prince Caldren muttered, “ME NEED HELP!”

Even the dumb brute of a Dinopithecus seemed to smell the incoming danger, the rotten teeth, the infected claws and the damaged souls. The roaring got louder, and Prince Caldren let out a small whimper as the ground began to shake behind him.

“Please…”

“SCREEEEECH!”

~

Jerry grinned as the Yi Ling attempted to pounce on him. Jerry dashed to the side and delivered an uppercut to its body.

WHAM!

The Yi Ling let out a grunt as it took a few steps back, letting out heaving coughs. Saliva dripped down its jaws onto the ground, its rolled up eyes getting even hazier. It looked disoriented.

Jerry clenched his fists. More blood began to pool up near his feet, but there was only so much to go around. He was already beginning to run out. Jerry shook his head.

“I have no need for such things,” Jerry said, clutching his gold cross necklace with his left hand, “Esmeralda… are you seeing this right now?!”

The mindless creatures that were attacking Apex seemed to be coming to a halt, freezing in place and becoming as still as the stone statues the villains once were. The Yi Ling looked like it was getting more focused.

Jerry redirected his attention to the Yi Ling, letting go of the cross and clenching his fists tighter. He began to let out a chuckle as a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek.

“BRING IT ON!”

The Yi Ling flashed a smile and charged forward, raising its claws and scratching at Jerry. Jerry tackled the Yi Ling to the ground, and with all the strength he could muster, began pummeling his fists into its ribs.

POW POW POW!

Jerry let out a demented laugh as he punched its flesh, though it was still unfazed by Jerry’s assault.

POW POW POW!

Jerry let out a roar as its skin began to tear and reveal what was underneath. It was like a silver-blue goo, moving and shifting, hiding away from Jerry as he tore at the flesh of the Yi Ling. He could see the organs of the dinosaur inside. The beating heart, the shifting lungs, and even the pumping veins. Eyeing the heart, his eyes dilated, and with a cry he grabbed at it and tore it away from the vessel.

RRIPPPP!

Silver-blue goo seemed to jump off of the heart back in the body of the Yi Ling. Jerry stood up from the creature with a triumphant pose, staring at the beating heart in his hands in awe.

“You…” Jerry said with a whisper to himself, “This is what you gave me.”

Entranced by the organ in his hand, he didn’t seem to realize that the Yi Ling hadn’t fallen yet. It gave a soft glare, and with a quick kick, Jerry went tumbling to the ground.

“Ooof!” Jerry grunted as he was knocked back, dropping its heart in the process. Jerry tried getting up, but the Yi Ling quickly slammed its chicken-like foot onto Jerry’s chest, forcing him down.

PUNT!

Almost in a teasing manner, the silver-blue goo inside the Yi Ling’s cavity reached out in the form of strings and latched onto the heart which Jerry dropped, reeling it in and popping it back in the body of the vessel.

POP!

Jerry laughed at the sight, clenching his fists tightly, his arms outstretched.

“I see it now,” Jerry snarled, “You’re no animal, you’re not even alive.”

Jerry gave a grin.

“You’re just some twisted puppet, aren’t you?!”

The Yi Ling didn’t give a response. It opened its jaws and quickly bit down hard on Jerry’s right arm, ripping it off with quick speed and precision!

RIPPPP!

Jerry let out a howl of pain as blood poured from a stump on his shoulder, creating a pool of blood and soaking his body. The Yi Ling stepped back, its eyes still equally unmoving. It let out a clicking noise, looking up at the skies and letting out a screech.

“SCREEEEECH!”

The Yi Ling began to run away, before eventually clawing up a building and running atop the roofs, making its way to the floating mansion.

~

Meanwhile, the swarm of infected dinosaurs around Apex was beginning to stir again, Apex noticed this, and he knew he had to do something, quickly.

“Apex…” a familiar voice seemed to echo in his mind. Apex looked up slightly.

“Father?”

“What are you doing Apex?! You’re stronger than this!”

It was almost as if he were there in the flesh, speaking into his ear! Apex let out a snarl.

“I am.”

“So don’t just stand there! Kill them all, Apex! Kill them all, my son!”

Apex’s eyes seemed to light up with a fire, and smoke began to pour out of his mouth as fire traveled up his lungs into his mouth.

SHOOOM!

Fire was unleashed from the mouth of Apex, filling the streets and roasting the undead alive. Slowly, the undead began to melt into puddles of flesh and silver-blue goo.

When Apex was finished, he began to breathe heavily, still feeling weak and lethargic. It felt like his head was still spinning in circles round and round. The Dagger that Drain had used on him seemed to, well, drain all his energy.

As Apex leaned his head against a building, catching his breath, he could barely see out of the corner of his eye some of the silver-blue goo move through the streets and retreat somewhere else. Apex let out a sigh, closing his eyes and trying to recover his stamina.

“If you were here, Father,” Apex thought desperately, “You’d know what to do.”

Apex could hear heavy footsteps approaching. He let out another huff.

That wasn’t the last of them.

~

Ember and Shortstacks were desperately clambering up the floating stairs leading to the mansion in the sky. They had just left the streets of Constellation City, to which some were covered in beautiful varieties of flowers. Where they had come from was unknown, but it didn’t matter. The beauty of Constellation City was already long gone the moment war was brought upon it.

“So… tired,” Shortstacks gasped for air as he began to slow down. Ember looked back. They were starting to reach the clouds. Ember remembered the last time he was here he was gasping for air, but the recent more proactive threat of the strange beasts drove him to ignore all the pain gathering up in his thin, weak and old legs and to just keep running and running.

“Do you wanna die?!” Ember gasped, also getting tired.

“No…”

“Then we gotta keep moving, come on we’re almost there!”

They let out moans and groans as they began making their way up to the Mansion’s gates. Ember could barely see the familiar sight up ahead. The Omega symbol, the towering sheerness of it, there was still something inspiring about it. It was like a beacon of light in this dark, dark world.

After a minute of running up stairs, they finally made it to the top. Ember noticed, now that he was closer up, that parts of the Mansion were falling apart and already decrepit. Captain Shortstacks didn’t seem surprised at all; he was partially responsible. Shortstacks turned to Ember, his hands on his knees.

“Are you sure this is a suitable place for shelter?” Shortstacks asked, still catching his breath. Ember nodded slowly.

“It’s either up here or down there with the swarm.”

“There were enemy forces up here last time. What about them?!”

“If you want to go down there with the mindless, feral… things, be my guest!” Ember shouted, pointing his claw down the stairs, “Only a few ever went up to the gates of this Mansion, apparently… there’s plenty of food up here anyway. Haven’t eaten in days.”

Ember used his foot to open the gates to the Mansion. They slowly creaked open. Shortstacks looked back down the stairs, and then at the gates. He cleared his throat, adjusting his Navy uniform.

“Aye. Onwards.”

CREAAAK!

The lights were turned off, probably because all the lines had been downed after the battle. It was incredibly dark inside, despite the white light the sky was emitting down on them. Ember stepped in first, familiar with the twisting, turning halls of the Mansion already.

“Follow me, I know where the kitchen is.”

The two moved past the stone Dodo statue, which was no longer spouting water. Ember began moving through the dark halls, Shortstacks following closely behind, his sword drawn. After a few minutes, Ember approached a wooden door and pushed it open. Inside was a large dining hall. Chunks of the roof were missing and there was rubble everywhere. The chandelier had fallen atop the dining table it seemed.

Captain Shortstacks looked around cautiously, remembering this very room in particular. Ember moved past the destruction into the connected kitchen. There were still plenty of unwashed dishes in the sink. He took a whiff of the air, and then carefully opened up a nearby cupboard, which was actually just a preserving bin. There were stacks and stacks of raw meat inside.

Ember used his beak to take some out, chowing down on the remains. Shortstacks, now a bit less on guard, moved into the kitchen as well to find something to eat.

“Those cursed beasts…” Shortstacks muttered, opening the fridge. There was a bunch of cake inside that was wrapped up. He took it out and tore the plastic wrap off, picking it up with his bare hands and shoving it in his mouth.

“They don’t even talk,” Shortstacks said, almost scoffing at the thought. He turned back to look at Ember, “I’m glad you’re civilized though. We may not know each other well, but I… have to thank you.”

“For what?” Ember asked, looking up from the meat pile in confusion.

“For saving my life,” the captain admitted, looking down at the ground, still looking shaken up by the beasts. The scratches on his face seemed to be healing, “I wish there were beasts such as yourself where I’m from.”

Ember didn’t reply to his comment. Ember thought of his old home, Cryvenall, and the old Kingdom he used to rule. Humans were a rare sight as well. Ember wondered if all humans were as despicable and twisted as his allies.

Before Ember could ponder it any further, there was a loud–

SHOOM!

And a portal opened in the dining room. Four people immediately popped out: a man, two women, and two creatures. The portal closed up, and they all let out groans as they slowly got up from the ground.

Captain Shortstacks unsheathed his sword, pointing it at the heroes.

“Stay back, lest it be your demise you seek!” Shortstacks shouted.

One of the creatures, a Raptor, let out a snarl and barred her teeth at the two, taking a step forward, her red eyes incredibly prominent in the dark.

“Yeah? Make me then.”

The other creature, a fox, glanced at Shortstacks. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in recognition, but they died down. She stayed silent. Ember quickly noted they were outnumbered and turned to Shortstacks, lifting his foot and grabbing his sword, forcing it down.

“Enough of that,” Ember scolded him, looking at them, “I’m sorry about that, we–”

“You,” one of the women glared. Shortstacks noticed her and gulped. It was the warrior who had bested him in combat. Shortstacks dropped his sword, lifting his hands up in the air in surrender. The other woman let out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. She wore black graduation robes. Ember recognized her as one of the people who were first at the mansion.

“We just got out of battle too…”

“Enough of this,” the man said, stepping forward. Ember lifted his eyebrow, recognizing him. He seemed different, considering a few strands of his hair were pure white, but he remembered traveling with him and a few others to the mansion, including the warrior.

“Hey. Andrew, right?” Ember asked. Andrew nodded, noticing his non-aggression.

“Yeah,” Andrew said with a sigh, looking back at the others. They nodded, even though the warrior seemed hesitant to back down, she stepped back. So did the raptor with red eyes. Andrew looked back at the two.

“We’ve got a new problem on our hands.”

Ember’s eyes widened.

“Let me guess,” Ember said, almost shocked, “Mindless, feral creatures?”

“Correct,” the woman in robes sighed.

The fox looked around.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

~

Jerry let out a gasp, his eyes opening as consciousness returned to his body. He looked down at where his right arm was supposed to be. Instead of flesh, all he could see was solid, coagulated blood.

“My arm.”

He sat up from the ground, rubbing his forehead, and then looking down at his blood-borne arm. He clenched the fist of it. It almost looked like solid crystal.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

Something was approaching.

Jerry rose from the ground, letting out exasperated breaths as a new threat seemed to approach. Noticing Apex in the distance, he was slightly relieved he wouldn’t have to deal with it alone, but he had to take a deep breath to ease his mind, which felt like it was on fire.

Jerry exhaled, closing his eyes.

“Here we go.”