[u][b]WARNING: This chapter has some pretty bloody scenes. Be sure you have an okay stomach for some gore, though I don't go far with descriptions.[/b][/u]

[center][b]Chapter 2: Falcon's Vengence[/b][/center]


[i]Week 6, The Castle That Never Was[/i]

Lee, the future self of Joseph Fischer, typed away at the computer, and send the message. It was all he needed to do. That gift could help the allies win the war.

Jessica, in her new black robe, walked into the room, a red mist rising from every footstep. Her red, glowing eyes, those that signified her as a person corrupted by Dark Will of the world of Albion, fell on the older man. "Lady Elena wanted to speak to you. She was just going to call you."

Lee almost jumped, not expecting her. "Thanks."

[i]"Lee, dear, what are you doing?"[/i] came the voice of Elena over his headset, the ine all of the leaders had for easier communication. As usual, her tone was not angry. This time she did nit even sound like she had that vague air of annoyance about her.

"Don't worry, nothing bad. Just sending some information to the troops. You know, tactics and such." Joseph's future continued without pause.

[i]"I see. You want to know something, dear?"[/i]

"Sure."

[i]"I gave the Geth access to your computer two days ago. I know everything you've been doing. Also, I already pulled the trigger."[/i] It was difficult to say what was more disturbing. The news, or the fact that she had not even slightly altered her tone.

The man's eyes widened as a bullet from the HMWSR X sniper rifle from the top of a building three miles away hit him in the back of the neck, causing him to stagger, then collapse at the console, blood running from his throat.

[i]"Terribly sorry, dear. But thank you for the location of the 'heroes'' base."[/i]

This news was definitely distressing, but Lee still had to resist the urge to laugh with his last breath. Too late, Jess. I already did my part. With that thought, the void took him.

---

Jessica watched as the man collapsed and died. Lady Elena's aim was as good as they said. The sister of Pyro was humming to herself as he spoke, a sound playing in her mind. She grabbed his shoulders, pulling the corpse off of the computer. As she did, she sang quietly.

"Black Hole Sun, won't you come..."

Lee was lain out on the ground on his back, and his sword taken from its scabbard.

"...and wash away the rain..."

The user of Macha the Temptress cut the armor, so much like that of Kratos Aurion, off of the man's chest with his blade while holding it in a reverse grip, then pulled off the chestplate.

"Black Hole Sun, won't you come..."

Jess started to work, ignoring the blood staining her robe. She could get a new one, and this was worth a ruined piece of clothing.

Lord Reaper would like to have this traitor's heart.


"...won't you come..."

====================

[i]Fifteen years in the future, Omega capital building, Valhalla[/i]

The side of Hayabusa's shotgun collided with the face of Alexander's shield, the impact causing him to pull the trigger. Electrically-charged buckshot electrocuted the Big Sister on Alexander's left side. Directly after, both male combatants kicked out at the enemy on the other side, forcing her back. She sent a streme of fireballs from her hands, hitting both male combatants as they were preoccupied with each other, but not doing any serious damage or making them separate.

The armored older man and younger one pushed against each other, both struggling to gain the upper hand. Still pressing the Heartless Seal, Alexander intoned a spell. "Thundaga," he grunted, lightning raining on all three opponents. The Big Sister that had been shot fell, a smoking corpse.

The other Hunter took the initiative, grabbing the discarded body of Marathon Eva and deceased form of Strongarm, throwing both at the pair with the intent of greatly damaging them.

All that she ended up doing was causing the two to separate, the robot and human hitting the wall beside them.

"What is the purpose of being here, Karsath?" Hayabusa asked. "Killing Adan Brown for no reason really isn't your style." His left hand became electrified as he spoke, armored fingers curling inward as the electricity grew in intensity.

"Reaper pulled me here," Alex honestly replied. "I would not be here by choice." He remained cautious as the electrified hand shook with the voltage running through it, raising in his direction.

"I can see that." The man in armor paused, as the Big Sister charged once more. The woman came close...

...And the stream of electricity from Hayabusa stopped her in her tracks less than a foot from him. She stood, paralyzed by the constant stream, as the strange man spoke.

Hayabusa had not even looked away from Alexander. "However, I think these worlds have been through enough without your inferference. No, I don't mean the technical term. Now, you can leave, or stay. I found what I need," the electric stream stopped, a Blizzaga from Alex killing the Hunter at last, also without a glance.

"Fine by me." Karsath turned, ready to walk away.

"You misunderstand me." Hayabusa pointed his shotgun at the lone other living occupant of the room, changing ammunition. "I know you have no stake here. Not your worlds, not your problem, right? Well, it's mine. And I'm not about to let you report to anyone." He pulled the trigger.

The gun was forced to point at the ground before the buckshot even left it by a smash of the Lockshield. Now [i]those[/i] were quick reflexes. "And you think I die easily?"

"Not bad." His left hand curled into a fist, aiming a punch at Alexander's chest. The blow was blocked by the Heartless Seal, a foot sweep by the younger Interference taking the Omega resident by surprise and knocking him on his back, forcing him to roll like a log to avoid a stab down with the shield edge. This Interference was strong indeed, as the armor literally weighed a ton.

Another gunshot went off, a Reflega spell redirecting the damage in all directions except at Alexander, effectively making Hayabusa damage himself, yellow sparks dancing on the armor to pop out dents. The man fell to one knee in pain, and placed his empty left hand on Alex's chest as he came in for what he assumed to be a seriously damaging blow. A pulse of wind erupted from the hand, slamming the displaced Interference against a far wall. "I have...more tricks," the older opponent panted, still hurt somewhat by the attack.

As the older fighter spoke, light shone before Alex's weapon, laying across his chest as he sat on the ground, seemingly dazed and moving to grip its back. The light focused on a point just in front of the edge of the weapon, tracing a circle in the air before focusing on a single point, just before it burst forth in the form of a beam, hitting the man straight in the chest, knocking him back in the same way as he had just done previously. As that happened, the design of the Lockshield began to change.

Sparks flew from his armor, and the man swore. "Damn shielding," Alex could hear him grumble. Apparently he had disabled a forcefield on the armor. Unfortunately, the young man was also exhausted, and injured by the blast. What was that?

Alexander, tired by the strike, clapped his hands together, then placed them on the newly formed Crimson Catalyst Lockshield, the edge forming to a razor sharp blade in a stream of green sparks before it was thrown with the remainder of his strength, hitting the now-less-protected left side of Hayabusa, making him grunt and stagger back.

The next strike from Hayabusa was definitely in anger. He lowered the one-handed shotgun, and fired one shot, directly at the Lockshield as it was summoned back on to its master's chest in a cloud of smoke.

The pellets entered the keyhole on the center, causing Alexander to cry out in pain. A blow to the metaphorical heart would do that. He did not know if he could fight back in this state, let alone stand. "So," he coughed when he could speak again. "what now?"

"What did you do in your worlds, to end up like this?" Hayabusa lowered the gun. "You were a hero here. A symbol of hope, if nothing else."

"You do...realize...how pathetic that sounds, right?" Though still badly hurt, Alexander was getting his breath back. His MP was another story.

"You helped Sora, saved Axel, destroyed the Irganization XIII. You went on so many adventures--"

The man was cut off by a weak chuckle. "Killed Sora and the Organization. Good news for you: I did defeat the apprentices. I do that here too, am I right?"

Hayabusa tensed up. It took a few seconds to speak. "So, that's your modus operandi. Create a power vacuum, then seize control for yourself? What about this universe, then?"

A sigh. "To be frank, I don't much care what happens here. In my opinion, your villains are too cliche, this empire too poorly run."

"Did my brother give you his generic power speech, then?"

Confused eyes widened. "Brother?"

"Reaper."

A pause, while Alexander digested this information. "Interesting. I suppose he did. How did you know of that weakness, then?"

"An old friend told me once. His name was Alucard. You fought him in this reality." That voice was cold enough to scare some men, but not this one.

"An old friend who knew how to hurt me aided you, when you act as though I was an ally?" There was no response, in body language or words, meritted to that. Silence for a few seconds. "But what do you plan to do with me, then? By your reaction, you think me a monster."

"Nothing to do. I can't break what broke itself. But you won't take Omega, this empire."

"You'll have to just kill me, then. I'm just here for some fun, some mayhem." He was surprised when the man tossed his shotgun at his feet.

"Do it yourself." He then walked away. A click of an empty chamber could be heard, and he turned around to see that Alexander had pointed it at him. "I'm no moron, Karsath."

[i]"Greg, I'm so sorry,"[/i] Kira told the captain about what had happened to this Alexander of another multiverse.

"Don't be," was the cold answer, as Hayabusa turned away again. "I'm not." And he was gone in a flash.

---

Hayabusa reappeared in another, empty room. Well, empty but for a very large, blue-purple spiked device. A Covenant antimatter bomb. "So, this is it?" he asked his AI companion.

The virtual woman took a deep 'breath' to calm herself after what had just happened. [i]"Yes. We were planning to blow up this building, take down all power in this quadrant of the Empire long enough to kill some leaders, if not the Riverses and your brother. Why did he ever think putting all of his equipment in one tower was a good idea?"[/i]

"Not thinking big enough," the rogue soldier said, ignoring the other statement, though he agreed. "How are my shields?"

[i]"That alternate Alexander Karsath--AlternAlex, if you will--took them out. In the best case, you won't have them functioning for another two days. Telling him to kill himself, even with an empty gun, was cold, even for you."[/i]

"Well that's just great. I need them now." The man paused, staring at the bomb, and not meritting the comment about his previous behavior. "Wait... I have a better idea. Kira, can you block communication reception, but not sending, on all channels this suit picks up?"

[i]"It'll be a doozy, but I think so. Why?"[/i]

"I have a bigger target than one building." He touched the bomb, and explosive teleported away with the scheming Cruxis angel.

---

Greg came to one of the rooms of this tower, motioning for the others to stop. "Next passage through this way," he informed them.

The six of them walked in, seeing another door at the opposite end of the hall. A large computer console was visible, with some wires sparking and disconnected. A hole in a window was visible. Several Brute and human bodies littered the ground, slash marks on their torsos or across detached limbs or heads. Their blood was splattered on the ground.

"Must've been Adan's entry point," Simon said after the room was described to him, trying to get his mind off of recent news of Fal's execution by Hayabusa's crazed partner. "He always was an angry one."

"Just a little further," Kynthia told them. "Kaith needs to meet us at the exit."

They all walked through, when the screen of the computer lit up, words on it.

[font color][b]I. SEE. YOU. TRAVELERS.[/b][/font color]

A wire whipped out, sweeping Black and Dolor off of their feet in one swipe and touching the Monitor, Sparky.

"Crud," Isaac blurted out, as the orb shook, its blue light turning a dark red.

"What?" the blind mechanic asked, his left hand crackling with electricity as warts formed on the arm.

"Something has your lightbulb," Dolor said, as he and Black again rose to their feet. "Not good, whatever it is."

"What do you--" Goodman was knocked off of his feet by a red beam of plasma, burning his chest badly.

"Take it out," Black ordered, firing his Chimeran Auger rifle at the machine. It shook, but did not fall, just sending a sweeping beam at the host of Yubel, making him dodge by jumping.

"Don't...don't hurt him," Fixer pleaded, trying to stand despite his wound.

"No promises," Dolor replied, slashing in a figure eight at the opponent with his daggertail, doing additional damage. As he stopped, two burst of electricity, Rapture 1960 ElectroBolts, fired at the robot, stunning and damaging it to the point of blue sparks coming from it's circuitry. As a followup, Kynthia fired her UNSC shotgun at it, weakening it further.

"You can't beat me," came a voice that would be familiar to Kynthia. "I control this facility. I [i]am[/i] this facility." Marathon Eva's new body fired again at the couple, sending demigoddess and Cruxis angel to the walls in pain. A concentrated beam then hit Isaac, forcing him to his knees in pain. The possessed Monitor hovered before him. "Never underestimate me, demon boy. Plenty have before."

"Sparky," came a choked-up voice from behind the Monitor. "I'm so sorry, buddy." A very strong electric pulse electrified the construct, followed closely by two suppressed gunshots. A light came from Fixer's friend and creation, and it collapsed in pieces, the possessing influence gone. The blind rebel dropped his gun, in shock at what he had done.

"Good riddance," Dolor muttered, and instantly had five guns pointed straight in his face. "Whoa, whoa!"

"Show some Martel-damned respect," Greg spat.

"Okay! Just don't shoot!" All guns were lowered slowly. Greg kept his aim low. "I'm sorry, okay?!" the mercenary yelled, and the boy relented.

Kynthia put a hand on the quietly-weeping resistance member. "You needed to do it," she told him. "It wasn't your friend anymore."

"L-let's just go," muttered the young man.

They walked on. As Isaac passed the computer with its message, he raised a Rapture pistol, firing a single shot and shattering the computer monitor.

---

A figure lurked in the shadow of Valhalla's cyberspace. This incarnation had taken the form of gray halls and rooms, functionality evidently taking precedence over aesthetics. It was good enough.

The stranger heard a beep from the walls, signifying the arrival of another program. Who would dare bother him? After he had failed not once, but twice to kill rebels, he was in no mood to talk.

[i]"Is anyone there?"[/i] came a feminine voice over the communications units built into every wall. [i]"I know you are here, Eva. And I know who you are. To think I actually felt sorry for you. I still do, but the fact of your many murders of innocents won't help you."[/i]

"K1-R4?" Marathon Eva asked. "It's been a long time. You haven't ended your term of service?"

[i]"By most standards, you would be considered a psychopath. What stage are you in, then? Anger, or Jealousy? I know you aren't stable."[/i]

Marathon stepped out of the shadows. He wore a tattered formal military uniform, with all gold replaced with silver, white with black, and blood splattered on the chest and legs. His hair was black as pitch, and unkempt. Those eyes were crimson, the mouth a scowl. A scar ran from the top of his head around to his left cheek. "What do you mean, Kira? I haven't changed." Disbelieving silence met this statement. "Lost track."

[i]"I need all the information you have on the War, from 15 years ago. The plans, timings, the works."[/i]

"You know I can't let you have that," Marathon replied, walking to a door, another section of the building to attack from.

[i]"Sorry to hear that."[/i] He opened the door, and was met, face to face, with a short-haired, brown-eyed, blonde woman in helmetless, black combat armor. Her face was expressionless. "Goodbye, Sain." A green pistol was raised directly in his face.

"Oh, son of a--" The gun was fired, and the resulting disfigured face hit the floor, the gore on the walls and executioner.

She bent beside the corpse, and put a hand on what remained of the head, a stream of blue binary code flowing up her arm and into her own head. After a time, she had sifted through the necessary data, and chosen what she needed. Not even sparing her former friend another glance, Kira stood, walking back toward the computer she had been talking through. "I'm ready, captain." And her form ceased to exist in that world, fading into specks of light before disappearing entirely.

---

Kynthia opened the door to the next room. Inside were several Covenant Grunts, who all looked in her direction. A sound of snapping fingers could be heard, and two of the aliens burst into flames, screaming and running in circles. The demigoddess waved a mutated arm that looked like a beehive, many insects flying out and sending the others into a panic before several bursts of gunfire caused them to collapse in growing pools of purple blood.

The males came in behind her as she drew her scythe from her back in case of another attack. "This is the place," Greg said, blisters fading from his arm as he deactivated his Incinerate! plasmid, Isaac doing likewise. He looked at the device in the middle of the room, with the electronics above and below a central point that could fit an eight foot-tall figure comfortably. The computer nearby was still active, ready for use.

Black walked to the console, and began typing into it, looking for a program they could use. "Merc, do you have that chip still?"

"Yeah, why?" Dolor was busy putting away his DataDyne RCP-90 assault rifle.

"We can use that to hold what Kaith's bringing."

A swirl of darkness came into being directly behind Greg accompanied by the recognized sound of a dark portal being used, a Longshot sniper rifle pointed at the back of his head one-handed. "That's a great idea. Or it would be. I have an addendum, to that." The figure, a boy of about fifteen, it seemed, with short black hair, glowing red eyes, and black clothing with a red capital letter Omega on the chest, smirked, then flashed the group a look at his teeth, with fangs for canine teeth. If his eye color did not do it, the bony horns that could be seen from the boy's forehead definitely marked him as evil.

"Let him go!" Kynthia shouted, holding her weapon in both hands.

Rather than comply, Letum Zivaku looked at each of them in turn, and smashed his Maquis rifle into the back of the neck of his uncle's past. "Let me finish." He gave a look of acknowledgement to the arrival of his fraternal twin sister Nyx in the same manner, clothed in a similar outfit with her long dark hair down to midway past her waist. "Dad's past," he looked to Isaac, "you, mom's past," to Kynthia, "and my crazy uncle's past," not even looking to Greg, "and you other two weird guys. You are all to be bound. If dad or mom wants you to go, then good for them."

"Like we'll ever listen to--" Kynthia cut herself off when Nyx held a knife to Greg's neck and the blade caused a few drops of blood, Letum's grip tightening on the trigger.

"Let him go," Black coldly ordered, aiming his Chimeran Auger rifle at the evil siblings before the demigoddess of the group pushed it down.

Her eyes became downcast, and she sighed in defeat, fighting back tears in recognition of what was about to occur to her once more. "Just don't hurt him."

"Not again," Greg breathed, realizing that this was about to turn into the Jade Empire throne room incident all over again, as Nyx continued regardless.

"You, you're Fixer, right?" she asked the eyeless mechanic.

"What's it to you, Miss Psycho," he knew she flinched at the name, "or you, Junior?" a reaction from Letum, probably a scowl.

"Execution," Nyx finished with a psychotic grin, and her brother put a hand on Greg's back as she heard Kynthia move to attack, only to stop in realization that she could not help him without leading to his death. The hand was drawn back, theboy lurching in the same direction ad his soul was extracted, half of the binding process...

Several things happened in quick succession before an effectual reaction could be made. A flash of golden light occurred behind Letum. The figure that was left behind held back a very large weapon, as the evil boy turned toward the source of the light, stopping the attempt to soul-bind his uncle and allowing the soul to return to its owner's body, and saw a familiar Covenant melée weapon racing toward his skull. The effect of a charged Gravity Hammer on an unprotected head is better left unsaid. The prince of the Omega Empire was killed on impact before he could say another word, smashing against a nearby wall with a sickening crunch.

Hayabusa watched as Nyx turned slowly in horror toward her twin's corpse. Two seconds of silence. Then...

"Brother!" She ran to the boy in abandonment of their plan, skidding on her knees to his side. "No....no.....no...." Tears rushed from her red eyes. She looked up in terror as his murderer, her bodyguard, followed her slowly, all else with the exception of Simon watching in shock at the suddenness of the move.

"He does not have the aid of the Darkness," Hayabusa stated coldly about the corpse. "At the age of fourteen, your father sold his soul to a metaphorical Devil. His children should have had the Darkness pass to them. At the same age, if Anthony Estacado told me right. Keep that in mind, little girl. Get out of here."

"P-please," the crazed girl sobbed, her arms slipping behind the back of the mangled corpse, "let me take him with me."

"Fine." Hayabusa held his hammer low. "Tell your mother and father that I'm done. I'm through with all of this."

Not understanding, nor wanting to ask why her ex-bodyguard's voice had changed, Nyx disappeared in a swirl of dark energy, the bloody remains with her.

Hayabusa put away his Gravity Hammer, ignoring what was still on it, and put a hand behind his head, pulling out a small computer chip from the base of his helmet and walking to the disgusted heroes. "I have everything you need. But you'll need a few minutes to enter it into the machine. As soon as the portal is up, go in." He saw their expressions. "He was going to bind him. Then the rest of you. Anyone have a computer chip or something?"

Dolor held up his, and F. Kaith held the two of them together. A form of a blue eyed woman with long black hair in a business suit, Kira, ran out of Kaith's and into Dolor's, then back after several seconds.

[i]"Done."[/i]

Dolor walked to the computer, and inserted the piece of the earlier laptop gun, binary flowing across the computer screen.

"Take the stick when you leave. I gave a lot of info you'll need," the distant future of Greg told the less-distant future of Sam.

"You're Kaith?" Fixer asked.

"Yeah. Kid, Adan is dead. You have to get out of here." Hayabusa put back his data crystal chip in his helmet. To Simon's distress, he sighed. "Sorry. Just go." And he was gone.

---

F. Kaith walked up to the bomb. He was again in the power core of Valhalla, deep underground, where he had kept Sain's most common body. "Kira, the signals?"

[i]"Ready when you are."[/i]

He put a hand to his helmet, and began to speak, hearing his words echo around the building. "My name is Gregory Kaith Zivaku, of the former United Nations Space Command and later resistance army. This will be my last message. I'm done with Omega."

---

[i]"Kynthia, Lady Diana as you are known, you won't bring me out of this. I do love you. I always have, always will. I guess I always was a sucker for you, good or evil. You go and keep your religion. At least you are part goddess still."[/i]

Diana barely heard these words on the comm for the Zivaku imperial family Assault Carrier as they were broadcast over the computer systems, picking up broadcasts from all over Valhalla with the same message. He was using them all so she would nit be able to command him to stop. Clever, but smarts did not make up for the brutal murder of her only son. She had beaten Letum in the past more than once. He was frightened of her, as was his sister. That did not mean she did not care for him.

The half-goddess turned to her husband after her daughter told her the news and showed the body, tearing eyes pleading for him to do something about it as the ship connected to the large cuttlefish-like ship high above the city.

The demon man closed his three eye sockets in thought, also only faintly hearing his brother's words.

[i]"Fifteen years ago, I lost everything, even before the Spires were launched. My brother was the leader of an opposing army. So many died and were captured. Your emperor, Lord Reaper? He was never a god. Isaac, you know as well as I that nobody will be listening to this. Your Apples of Eden and the mass application of Lot One Hundred Eleven took care of that. I never will forgive you for what you did to Sain, to Lukgar. The induced rampancy, the forced insanity and removal from my mind. But you know what, little brother? I've stopped caring."[/i]

On the larger ship, after quick injections to hold off a signal from it, husband and wife met with Phantom.

"He has to be stopped. We do not know what--" The leader of the economy was met with a cold glare from both of them.

"Jessica," Reaper called. The woman known as Elena appeared as if from nothing at all using her Infiltrator Stealth Cloak technique, her darkened blonde hair restrained by a metal contraption on her neck for the same signal as the injections.

"Yes, my Lord?" she had a Widow Antimaterial Rifle on her back, a Carbifex Hand Cannon of the same universe below it.

"You two are pooling resources to revive Letum."

"Dead is dead for him," Elena said, her cold words met with the thunder handcannon Darkness Gun being placed between her eyes from the father in an instant.

"What is wrong, Isaac?" Phantom asked.

"Shut the damn hell up, both of you. You are using Lazarus." To the simultaneous objections, he added, "I don't care how much munny it costs. You take all you need."

Elena spoke up. "But to reactivate that research cell--"

"I will deal with the consequences. After your mistakes in that war, you don't have a bargaining position. [i]Do it, Mireu.[/i]"

"...Yes, my Lord," she said reluctantly.

---

Alexander walked the halls again, his strength returned. He listened to the message, seeing the many corpses left by the humanoid creature and its forces that had come through.

[i]"Alexander, I honestly don't care if you live or die. It won't matter soon anyway. I'm sorely disappointed in you, however. Not that it matters. She died regardless. And so will all of us. Sooner than you think."[/i]

What did he mean by that? The Interference look around, trying to find a way off-world to help him live if this man was a serious enough threat.

---

The Seraphim continued through the halls, accompanied by twenty Grim type Chimera and seven Hybrids. Slipskulls ran through vents. So many were dead behind them.

[i]"Louis 'Seraphim' Delgado, what happened in America with Daedalus... that was not your fault. Never blame yourself for it. But do blame yourself for what happened to Mary and the rest."[/i]

The Chimera listened, looking around as his tentacles killed enemy soldiers of their own accord.

[i]"But in the end, I know what I'm going to be doing will likely be condemned by most. It might not do much at all. I just don't care. Maybe we are embracing something. But not evolution. Entropy."[/i]

---

The chamber finally lit up, the portal slowly forming in swirls of darkness.

"Come on...faster...." Greg muttered.

[i]"I am in the core of Omega, behind a portable antiteleport field. I have with me an antimatter bomb, Covenant make. This core is composed of twenty plasma cores used to power the world. I always thought you were no good with engineering. Good work putting the Gravemind here. I'll slow it down. When thus device detonates, it will collapse the surrounding power with the combined force of a neutron star, amplifying itself a thousand fold. You have twenty seconds after I activate this to pray to your gods before this device goes off. I'll see you in hell."[/i]

---

Hayabusa placed a hand on the device. "Kira, you didn't have to do this."

[i]"Why not? I was tired of living anyway."[/i] Apparently the AI had developed a morbid sense of humor.

He heard a bellow, and Flood tentacles flew at him, the two concentric, gaping mouths shouting at him. [b]"Do I take life, or give it? Who is victim, and who is foe?"[/b]

"Spare the lecture for someone who cares."The tentacles whipped out at him. Too late. "Good luck, kids." And the world went white.

---

Greg panicked. "Faster, faster!"

A suctionless black hole finally solidified, and all of the heroes ran through, Dolor grabbing the computer chip to take along before going. Simon stayed for a few more seconds. He had lost so much. Why not lose it all?

Isaac reached back, dragging him in. The wave of superheated plasma followed, grazing the rebel and forcing them through, obliterating the room and portal behind them.

---

Reaper surveryed the explosion from space in his ship. The planet was split in half. The remains of one of the halves were quickly being devoured by blue fire.

A scowl. "Back to square one."

A priest of Diana walked out of the leader's quarters, on patrol duty. Or so it seemed. He muttered a saying to himself. "La shey'a haqeeqiyun wa kula shey'in MubaaH." Nothing is true.

A blade emerged from where his right ring finger should have been. His left arm was missing. It seemed that with the rebels dead or gone, and the Marine corporal dead, he would have to start again.

Everything is permitted. Malik A-Sayf continued on his way, not ready to reveal his identity again.