Zachary left the Wall and headed back into the city. He couldn't do much down by the Wall without more preparation, and how one prepares to get past an unbreakable wall was beyond him. How about getting more power? Kaa'is asked, receiving a feeling of disgust from Zachary. He knew that in order to gain power people need to die, and he was not at all comfortable with that. At the same time he also knew that Kaa'is had a point, and he despised his situation because of that.

Zachary started to brainstorm possible methods of escape. He could go either through the gate, break through the Wall or go over the top. The gate would be very heavily guarded, so doing that alone would be near suicide. The Wall itself is virtually indestructible. And to get over the top would need a way to penetrate the aerial barrier. But he explored the possibilities further, going over each of them in detail in his head.

-The Gate. A heavily militarised zone. Getting in would either need the utmost stealth or incredible strength. Considering the likely soldier density, invisibility would be the only way for him to achieve the necessary level of stealth, and an invisibility device is much too complex to assemble in these circumstances. Even with a team of top engineers an effective invisibility cloak has thus far remained fictitious. Besides, if they were smart they would have probably thought about invisible kages. And the Gate would not simply be left open, and opening it would almost certainly attract attention. The alternative to stealth is strength. Zachary has the engineering knowledge to create some very powerful weaponry even from simple parts. Yes, do that Zachary. You know how quickly we could be free if you did that. But he was loathe to think he could kill hundreds of people in a single blow. But think, Zachary. It is not just us who would benefit. The entire population of Sovereign could be free- free to feel the weather, free to travel again, free from the oppressive grasp of the military. You would be heralded as a hero! But at what cost? The deaths of hundreds of people? The military are people too. Barely. You know their atrocities. Who is not to say they won't kill us once we get outside anyway? They clearly have military on the outside. If they have an exterior base as well as an interior base then the Gate will merely be a choke-point and we'll all get massacred. Speaking of which, who is to say the Gate doesn't open only from the outside? Jail cells can't be opened from the inside, so why would this be able to? In that case the Gate would merely be an easier point to break through.

-The Wall. Virtually indestructible, although anything can be broken if you try hard enough. A brute force approach is futile, and such resources would probably be better directed at cracking through the Gate. With enough spirit we could possibly disassemble the Wall from the inside, rendering to be nothing more than an ordinary wall. Maybe, but again at what cost? No cost, only gains. We'd have to murder people to do that, and I'm not willing to do that. We don't actually have to murder people ourselves. We could search for dying people instead and consume their spirit when they die. That's almost as bad. But it isn't as bad. So far there exists no known technology which can get us through the Wall without breaking it somehow. I don't know how to make any ghosting machines or teleporters. Perhaps we could tunnel under it, but that would involve venturing into the unknown. We don't know whether it's unprotected if we go deep enough of if its foundations seal off the entirety of Sovereign.

-The Aerial Barrier. This is almost as unknown as travelling under the Wall. It is currently too far away to analyse. From what he could see from down here it appears to be some form of kinetic shield. It's so high up that this box is large enough to have its own weather systems. As it is clearly not built from solid kinetic core, it would likely be much weaker than the Wall itself, but its awkward position makes tampering with it more difficult. He would need to get a closer look, and that would mean somehow scaling that height safely. A small shuttle could do it, and he definitely had the ability to make one of those, although that would have the disadvantage of drawing a lot of attention from the entire city, and quite likely the cannons of the military as well. Another more novel approach would be to scale the Wall. Being made of steel he would attach himself to it magnetically using Polarity Cores. At that altitude, without high-altitude training, he would need to have some form of breathing apparatus, but that would be easily obtained. He was liking this idea. Perhaps a set-up similar to a carriage on the old skyways. I still say we blow up the military and waltz out of the gate. For an onikage whose powers revolves around machinery, you have such little appreciation for the elegance engineering. I just don't appreciate taking such a round-about way of escaping. The aerial barrier will probably prove to be just as futile to break through without the spirit of a hundred kages. There's no way to know until we look, now is there?

By the time he had finished this brainstorming Zachary had made it back to his base. Before entering, where he would be able to start designing this carriage which climbed up steel walls, he checked around to ensure that nobody was watching. It had become routine, as he knew that he could not afford to let his base, a cache of technology, become known.

Sector Z- Golden Mercenary Meeting Chambers

Kisheto leaned against the wall in the meeting chambers, his arms crossed as he stared out the window into the courtyard outside. He was completely zoned out, oblivious to the dead serious meeting going on around him. But I could also just wear a mask... and if I wore a mask, then it could be anyone and then I could say ' no, I was at home, see?' and show them a picture. Yeah, having the ability to make clones would be the best, and plus, I could have my clone go to school. If they saw me outside of school I'd just run away and have all my teachers as alibis, I mean, no one would honestly believe there's two me's. I could steal anything and if-

"KISHETO!" Hector's unusually tense voice caused the boy to flinch as he quickly ripped his gaze from the courtyard and looked to Hector in guilt. He spoke out, still startled by the sudden snap to attenion, "Y-yeah?!" Hector sighed and shook his head, "We just went over this the second time, hermano. I think it'd be better off if you rested as a civilian." Those around Hector nodded in agreement to his words, excluding Kisheto who shook his head, "Hell no! I told you, I wanna get in on the action!" Hector then raised a brow and tilted his head, "Okay, then tell me, what is our plan? Actually, do you even know what's happening?"

Kisheto rubbed the back of his head and squinted as he thought hard, but shook his head in defeat, "C-can I... uh... get a summary?" Hector sighed once more and crossed his arms as Ishigo spoke out sternly, "Scouts have reported the highest concentration of hosts around Sector Z since the void gate opened, enough for us to suspect that people are looking for us. On top of that, the Blood Saints took in the entirety of Squad 3, which was our best general-purpose squad. We have no clue if they're dead or alive, and they brought in the most resources and were the most capable of all."

Hector nodded to Ishigo to express gratitude and then looked to Kisheto, who spoke before he could. "Wait, wait... no, actually, hold up, um, Blood Saints?" Hector chuckled and shook his head, "Ok, hermano, seriously? You never heard of em? In the news? Rap songs? On the clothes of preteen wannabes? Nothing?" Kisheto shook his head, seeming completely lost. Hector continued to chuckle and pressed a few buttons on the central table, which also held a hologram device in the very center of its surface. Within seconds, the display showed the image of a group of hooded thugs under a unique symbol. Hector pointed to the image and spoke again, "These fuckers. Before the apocalypse, they were just 'all-talk' gangsters that had heavy influence through pop culture and the ability to afford excessive bail. Don't get me wrong - they knew how to fuck shit up, but now..." He pressed a few buttons once more and the image was replaced by a small video of a man in thick, crimson robes resting each hand on the head of two captives who were blindfolded on their knees, with their hands tied behind there back. After a brief monologue, spoken in an unknown language, the man's face, which was partially covered in a hood, but managed to reveal his lips and nose, tensed. In that brief moment, his hands visibly turned to a black steel, and his entire body began vibrating. At this point, the camera, which proved to be of poor quality, redirected itself to the lower bodies of the captives. There, it was made clear that they were tied directly to the floor, and in a quick second, the camera flew back to their heads, which were then instantly ripped off by the robed man who simply pulled upward. They heads popped off with ease, and left a mess of blood in their departure.

Hector then shut off the video, and looked to Kisheto. "Those two people, Vinny and Joseph, both were mercenaries in training," he said in a very regretful tone as he stood there solemnly to pass a moment of silence. Afterwards, he looked around the room, "These fuckers are finally a threat to us. Their leader, as you saw, has a kage giving him that strength. The guy's name is Robert Andrist, and he's a sly fucker. Was a politician-typa guy before hell rose. You all saw it. You witnessed him just declared war on us, and that means our people." At this point Ishigo stepped forward, placing both his hands on the table as he leaned forward, "We're sending out three of the remaining seven squads to locate and assault the MS. Right now, we think that at most, their leader and his two younger cousins have kages, and each one of his cousins leads a certain half of his forces. This guy is going crazy and drawing a lot of negative attention towards Sector Z, so this isn't just a search and rescue mission. If we manage to get squad 3 out of this, we're still going to enforce our secondary directive: finish those terrorist fuckers."

Julian had been standing next to Kisheto, paying attention, but only barely. He had despised all the negative energy that filled the room, but knew that it was all for the greater good. Still, the thought of having a killing intent as harsh as the one that Ishigo suggested shook him, and he began doubting his choice to join the forces. "I'm going to need some time..." Hector chuckled, "Of course. You will be a part of the last squad to depart. Take the time to train and get used to our tactics, and again, Julian, thank you for joining us. I really appreciate it." Julian smiled weakly and simply nodded, giving up on trying to voice out against the killing. Kisheto, however, spoke out once more, "So what about me? When do I go in?" Hector looked to Ishigo and raised a brow, and in response, Ishigo looked back to Kisheto. "Look, you can go train for now, but I think it would be best you either just take it easy or focus on defensive objectives for now." Kisheto frowned and crossed his arms, ready to speak again, but Julian placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head, easing him out of it.

Hector looked around, "Alright. Squad one is already taking preparations to engage, so in the meantime, we all got work to do. Keep things flowing, fuckers. Dismissed."

Zachary entered his base, sat down at his workbench, pulled out a dirty sheet of paper, something reminiscent of a pencil and a bite to eat and began planning his design. A carriage is what he wanted, a small one capable of carrying a person and some cargo. It would need a conventional carriage engine to provide movement across the horizontal. It would also need another engine to attract it to vertical metal walls as if it were a skyway. Even if he didn't use it to scale the Wall he could always use it as transport, for him and a crateful of tech and supplies. Holding him and supplies would best be done if the cabin was enclosed. The cabin would need some reinforcement so it continues to hold stuff in when on its side and upside down. The driver interface would perhaps be the most technical part of the build, as typically that relies on electronics, which are difficult to jury-rig together. An analogue system may be necessary, even if it's a bit out-dated. To keep other people from driving off with it he could disconnect a vital internal component using his powers, such as the battery.

Zachary fleshed out his design and ran some calculations to determine how much power his engine would need. Then he started thinking about where he could find what he needed to build it. He could take the chassis from an existing carriage and modify it to his specs. He could also take a carriage engine. The apocalypse may have left no functional vehicles left in Sovereign, but that doesn't mean all the engines are beyond use. However, finding a fully intact carriage engine would be difficult, as any scavengers looking for kinetic cores would find them in those engines. But Sovereign was a bustling city, so there are many vehicles to be scavenged. For the climbing up walls functionality he could take and modify a skyway core unit. They ran on polarity cores, and polarity cores aren't particularly useful in a post-apocalyptic wasteland without specialist knowledge so they would not have been heavily scavenged. Perhaps the hardest part would be getting everything back to his workshop, as these components would be rather heavy.

If we had more power you could just carry them back, Kaa'is suggested. Zachary didn't give Kaa'is a reply, and tried ignoring him. Perhaps if he found a carriage in close enough to working condition he could repair it on the spot and drive it back. But not straight to his workshop, as a running carriage in a silent city is in no way discrete and would attract unwanted attention. He'd have to find a secondary location to work on it and stash it, not too far from his workshop.

"OK, time to go scavenging," Zachary said to himself. He packed his bag with useful supplies- food, water, a few choice tools- checked that his kinetic shield and air cannon were in working order, and departed.

Arianna held her breath as she walked past Samuel, who was on his way out of the mansion. He looked pretty satisfied, although his purple eyes unnerved her. His kage must have been in charge throughout their little discussion. At least now she knew that he had a kage. It would help her in the future, if he ever returned and caused trouble.

Mathias’s words still rang through her head, unnerving her at her core. Did he notice her telepathy when she heard Samuel’s thoughts? Or did he have a kage that could tell, somehow? She even wondered if she had accidentally let a thought of her own pass into his mind, which had happened before under times of nervousness. That thought unnerved her even more. Arianna had tried very hard throughout the past year to put up a block on her mind, preventing her from unintentionally letting her own thoughts be transferred to another’s. Before this little accident, she thought she had mastered the ability. Perhaps she was wrong…

Arianna paused before she re-entered Iktomi’s “throne” room, gathering herself. She ran her hands through her hair and over her face, wiping away the uneasiness that plagued her. For now, she was safe. Arianna didn’t doubt that Iktomi would protect her under any circumstances, but now she wondered if his work would end up harming her. He was a large power in Sovereign now, and with large power comes enemies. Was she really safe here? Not from Iktomi, but from his enemies? Surely staying here meant that she was on his side, when really she wasn’t on any side at all. She sighed and ran her hands over her face again. For now, she would stay. She couldn’t leave Iktomi right after she had found him. She wanted to know so much more about him than she did now, and she intended on finding out.

After taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, Arianna turned the knob. Her gaze immediately went to Iktomi as she stepped into the large room. “Well, that certainly was intriguing.”

Sector Z - Golden Mercenary Barracks

It was decided. The squads would deploy as soon as Hector gave the clear, although the first squad was already setting out to begin the mission. In the barracks, as the commotion died out due to the departure of the mercenaries, Ishigo sat on the top bunk of a lone bed in the back of the room. The room was soon void of all mercenaries, and Ishigo was pleased to have finally found what he was looking for:

Solitude. It was extremely rare for him to ever find the time to simply rest and find peace. No, Ishigo was always out and about, always finding a way to help those in need. It took a lot out of him, but by now he was used to it. Still, as he lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, he wished that he could have more moments in which all he needed to do was lay back and dream. Dream about things that once were or things that may be.

As his eyelids grew heavy, Ishigo took a deep breathe and relaxed, feeling his consciousness slowly fade from him as he slipped into another dream in the shadows of his solitude.

---

~Ishigo sat upon a bale of hay, staring out the half-open barn door. It was raining, the random patter of the raindrops being the only noise filling the otherwise quiet air of the emptied barn. Ishigo rarely took his gaze away from the hypnotic precipitation, but every now and then, he would look down at his feet, realizing how small they were. His eyes would then dart towards his outstretched arms and he would look upon them as if they weren't supposed to be there.

"I'm... this is..." he said quietly, realizing he was lucidly dreaming. He was a young child again, and he could tell it was a dream, but it was also a memory. A wave of nostalgia had worked its way into the forefront of his mind, and now he was reliving a memory. He knew, no matter how lucid he was, he could not change this memory. It was the most haunting aspect of the past: What happened happened. And that was it.



Suddenly, the barn door swung open a bit, only to reveal Ishigo's father, drenched in rainwater, rushing in. He took off his hat and tossed it to the ground, and proceeded to take off his vest and wring it out. He then turned to Ishigo and gave him the warm, reassuring smile that he was famous for. "Rain caught me while I was workin' the fields y'know? Gotta keep an eye out for the waters these days. Spring likes to surprise yah." Ishigo's face slightly lit up with a faint smile and he got up to run back to the back of the barn and retrieve a blanket for his father.

"Pa, yah already gotta cold. Stop workin for a bit, please?" Ishigo said softly. His father took the blanket and simply chuckled. As he dried himself off and then wrapped himself in the blanket, he sat down next to Ishigo and put an arm around him. "Now, Ishigo, y'know I've got work to do. Can't letta lil' sneezer get me down, y'know?" Ishigo chuckled and nodded. His father then looked out the barn door and sighed, speaking out once more. "Plus, I've gotta work twice as hard now, since yah mother's pregnant." Ishigo smiled again and looked to his father before speaking, "So... did yah pick a name yet?"

His father smiled and looked back to Ishigo, "Nah, we're still deciding. Why? You wanna name the lil bugger?" Ishigo chuckled and nodded, "I have a cool name in mind. But..." His voice trailed off as he looked away and then sighed, giving up at the thought he was about to express. His father looked at him and raised a brow, "What now? What were yah gonna say Ishy?" Ishigo shook his head and looked down, "It's nuffin, Pa." His father chuckled, "Now c'mon, Ishy, yah gotta be straight with me here. You aren't jealous of a newcomer, are yah?"

Ishigo chuckled and looked back, "No, pa, it's just... What if the baby doesn't like me? And, what if you're still sick when it comes? We need to make sure everything is done so the baby can have a good life. Ma's prolly gonna be tired after sendin him here, so that means it's up to me, right?" Ishigo's father simply stared at his son with a surprised expression. "Ishigo..." He shook his head as he realized what his son had been worrying about, and then chuckled softly, "...you're somethin' else, boy." Ishigo smiled slightly and then looked up, "Wh-what? Did I do somethin wrong?" His father chuckled and looked down at him.

"Nah, yo. Listen. You've been given a great gift by the gods. You know what that is?" his father spoke with a very calm and gentle tone, relieving Ishigo of the worries he had. Ishigo looked up and shook his head "Nah... what is it?" His father then smiled, "You're a hero by heart." Ishigo chuckled at his father's words and then shrugged, "I'm just a kid, pa." His father then nudged him with his elbow and spoke again, "Look, lil one, you're right. Everything's gonna be a helluva lot harder when the lil bugger pops up, but its ok. We've got the spirit of Valira coursing through our veins. You know what that means? We don't back down in the face of nothin. No matter how hard it'll be, I know you'll be able to handle it, Ishy. You're gonna have to take care of the lil bugger. You're gonna have to protect 'em, make sure that nothin tries to hurt 'em, y'know? I've tried my hardest to be the best father I could be for yah - to teach yah, and guide yah, but truth is... you've taught me. You're special Ishigo, and I think - no, I KNOW you'll be the best big brother this little bastard could have."

Ishigo stared out at the rain, nearly zoning out as his father spoke, but he absorbed every single word and committed it to memory. He knew those words would guide him when the time came, and he was relieved to have been spoken to. "Thanks.... pa." His father chuckled and held him close as he, too, looked out at the peaceful rain, "No prollem, Ishigo."

---

Ishigo's eyes opened as he took a deep breath; his rest was short, but it was enough. He didn't like delving too far into his memories, as the happy ones were reassuring, but they were all cut short by a darker ending. Instead, Ishigo sat up and smiled faintly, remembering his father's words. Jin's voice broke his inner peace as he sounded out from nowhere, "I can read your inner thoughts, Ishigo. The ones that you try not to pay attention to? The speculations, the 'what if's, and all. Let me tell you something: dreaming is a beautiful thing, but there's a line between dreaming and hoping. If you lose sight of that line... you'll only make yourself miserable." Ishigo sat there, emptying his mind as he chose to ignore his kage. He was about to get up and resume his duties, but in the distance he could hear the steady crescendo of a very familiar noise. At first, he felt the growing wave of swishes that eventually evolved into the arrhythmic pattering he was so comfortable with. He lay back down and sighed, closing his eyes and smiling as he slipped away again, lost to the sound of rain outside.

Mathias and his men were escorted into the factory, Crowley gave them a brief tour where Mathias learnt a great deal; The factory dwellers preferred to be known as "The sheltered" for each and every person residing within resolved this place to be a great sanctuary. Ontop of this he learned that they had been busy preparing there own defenses and tradings. Many of the sheltered had experience with tech and were able to get a small brigade of security droids up and running. As the tour concluded, Mathias was taken into Crowley's quarters where he expected they had much to discuss.
"I'd like to thank you again for coming for us. As you've seen, we have been quite self-sufficient, but we cant go on forever and circumstances are getting the better of us." Crowley explained with a heavy tone, his eyes were dark and solemn, Mathias wondered when he last slept. "The Winters family will gladly accept you all as new additions, we cant house all of you though. How would you feel about staying here? Being given more resources in exchange for loyalty? I could ensure secure trading routes plus fully protected access to the estate." As if by some potent magic Crowleys face came ablaze with joy "That...That would be marvelous I'll have a talk with the leaders but I'm sure they will all agree...We just have one problem...follow me."

What was this creature? Human, or at least the remains of one. A behemoth stood before Mathias and Crowley, a beast subdued in thick metal chains. With every muscle brimming and many bones showing, this man had digressed far from humanity. "He was one of us, his name was Greg, a cook by trade." It was sights like these that Mathias was glad he had a flask full of whiskey readily available, taking a large gulp he inquired "How? How did he get like this?" The beast grunted and roared as it pulled on its chains. "At one time almost half of us here had kages, now its only a handful. They couldnt control them, became more violent. Most left, for the safety of the remaining sheltered. Greg stayed, he gave us no choice. Been like this for months."
Mathias understood, but was sure he was missing something. "So they left, whats the problem?" Crowley turned to face the beast, to face Greg. "The problem is that they are coming back, they aren't human anymore, but they remember, they know that we are here and they've started attacking, at first it was once every few weeks...now its several times a day. We cant hold out much longer."
Mathias thought for a moment, after ironically finding a year of peace in this hell, he was to once more go to war with those who threatened his success. "Does Greg have any family? Any friends?" The response was a clear shake of the head from Crowley and it was all Mathias needed.
This is our chance Mathias, are we going to ignore it? Boreas encouraged This feast would make us so strong.
Using his cane, Mathias stabbed into an old rusted pipe, water began to spurt out and gather around the creature. Mathias lowered himself to the ground and put his palm to the water, it began to grow colder. In seconds what was once liquid became solid, the frost reaching its way toward the chained husk.
"What are you doing, Mr Winters what are you doing?" Crowley went to stop the crippled man but was halted by his piercing eyes and deep tone "I'm starting as I mean to go on. Your people are my people now, the threats will end Mr Crowley, that is my promise to you." Using all his energy Mathias forced the frost to consume the giant, crawling up its body. Chains rattled, Greg resisted, roaring and uttering sounds beyond description yet Mathias did not yield "You cannot stop me monster! I am the great devourer!" A bright flash and a relentless gust of wind filled the cellar in which the stood, throwing the two men onto the floor.
Yes, Yes Mathias do you feel the power? has your hunger been satisfied?
As the icy fog lifted, the once snarling husk was now a pale, shimmering statue. Mathias felt strange, he did feel the power. Crowley went to lift him off the ground but before he had a chance Mathias had lifted himself. "Mr Winters, your cane...your body...Your healed!" Mathias laughed "Yes my friend, and i'm just getting started."

Zachary walked through the streets of Sovereign, searching for parts for his latest invention. The streets had chunks of rubble scattered around them, but not nearly as much as one would expect. The flood which had raged through the city during the cataclysm had washed a lot of the stuff in the streets away, carrying it either out of the city or banking it up against the Wall or in low-lying areas. Large debris like chunks of buildings mostly remained in place, but lighter things like vehicles were washed away. Mostly intact buildings could also be searched and possibly give good yields if you go to the right places, but they are generally rather dangerous as intact buildings make good bases and lairs, which means they are quite likely occupied. In searching the streets one inevitably comes across other people who have also braved the streets, but the majority of people in these ruins are sensible and avoid strangers so Zachary didn't have a hard time walking.

After just short of an hour of searching Zachary found something on his list: a skyway unit. It had fallen from the building above, which was now little more than a pile of concrete chunks and mangled steel, and was sticking out from the rubble. Not seeing anyone else around, Zachary approached the machine. He strained against a slab of concrete on top of it and slid it off with the sound of rocks grinding, more fully revealing the machine. He laid a hand on it and an image of it assembled itself in his mind's eye. Skyway units are heavy-duty devices, housing enough polarity cores to hold heavy traffic in mid-air continuously for weeks. They are also sophisticated machines, capable of projecting a stable winding energy-based road. Overall they are extraordinary devices, however in this form they are also much too powerful for a single carriage. What Zachary wanted was a few key components which he would modify. The magnetic attraction part is the main feature he needed. He would also need some of the projection. He also needed the polarity cores from it. Through his mind, he analysed the machine and found all that he needed to be there and intact, and accessible by plasma cutter. He just needed a way to carry those parts home, as even taking just that would be much more than can be carried by hand.

I say kill a kage, take their spirit and use that power to carry everything home as if it were light as a feather, Kaa'is suggested sarcastically, receiving dismissal from Zachary. "We need something with wheels. If we had something with wheels we could just put them in it and roll it home. But of course everything floats in our age, or at least they did until they all broke." Zachary racked his brain for something with wheels that he could use, and he lit up like a metaphorical light-bulb when he remembered. "Shopping trolleys! They're perfect. A simple machine designed for carrying loads, they are reasonably sturdy so they wouldn't have all gone bust and if they have then they can be easily fixed, and there are lots of them in known locations."

So we're off to the shops, are we? I think it's past five, so they'll probably be closed, Kaa'is joked. Zachary laughed a little, which was a rare response from him towards Kaa'is' words. He then nodded, found his bearings, tried to remember which way the shops were, and then began walking towards that part of town.

The pain tore Weston from reality. The world was a bubble filled only with pain and anguish. With every blink of the eye, a new method of torture appeared to murder him over and over and over again. A dozen steel blades impaled him from behind, a thousand barbed arrows rained from the gray skies, a dulled guillotine beheaded him again and again. Time lost meaning as reality itself focused its fury upon Weston Meyer. Eventually, faces other than his own entered the void, their eyes full of contempt. They stabbed, bludgeoned, cut, and maimed him for hours, days, years, and centuries. The faces became familiar: Weston's mother, his father, his uncle, the citizens of his childhood home. They were all happy as they beat and battered the helpless man. They betrayed him; stabbed him in the back: None could be trusted. The faces then became Weston's. All of them enjoyed the self-punishment: He could not trust himself.

Weston seemed to experience a lifetime bleeding buckets and hoping for death. Reality became pain and betrayal, and time became a lie that only deepened the wounds. The weight of untrust was unbearable, overshadowing even the pain of the blades piercing his body. Suddenly, everybody was an enemy and a liar. There was no distinction between friend and foe. Fear and hatred burned inside Weston's belly. Just as it reached the boiling point however, it all stopped.

---

One Year Ago

---

The pain and hate disappeared, leaving only the feeling of the cold, wet, hard ground pressed against the front of his body. For a moment, he had no idea where he was or why, confused by the cracked asphalt and wet ground in absense of rain. Then it all rushed back: The briefing, the flood, the falling tower. Sent nearly back into shock, Weston immediately pushed himself to his feet and scanned the area.

The steel walls around the fort's courtyard had been all but annihilated by the fallen skyscraper and powerful quake, leaving a few small portions that surviving soldiers used as support as they recovered as best they could. Most were surprisingly calm, or perhaps too shocked to panic like the rest who screamed profanities and claimed that everything had ended. One man knelt in a lingering puddle and stared blankly at the sky, muttering, "They locked us in. We're trapped," then began yelling, "We're fucking stuck!"

This prompted Weston to look up at the sky as well, assuming the man was only raving like a lunatic. However, to his dismay, a faint glimmer could be seen in the skies above Sovereign almost like a massive bubble encasing the city. The glimmer had a distinct curve to it, leading Weston's eyes down to it's source. He found himself limping toward a broken part of the wall, hoping to see the outside of it and ignoring the fact he was limping at all. However, he was in no way prepared for the sight beyond the wall.

Sovereign was a sea of fire burying what was once the Jewel of Gaia. The scene resembled the images of the Realm of Sin from movies and other media: A world of fire and brimstone and chaos. And behind the torched skyline was a massive barrier encircling the entire former metropolis. Operation: Spartan. The Wall had been raised and quarantine had commenced.

"I'm sorry, did we do all this?" A cold feminine voice spoke from nearby.

Weston flipped around, expecting to see the woman speaking behind him, but no one was there.

"That bonding was a lot more painful than I thought. Physical pain isn't as common as you'd think in an endless Void." The voice managed to remain nearly emotionless while keeping a sarcastic tone.

Again, Weston turned to look for the voices source but found no one.

"Oh right, you weren't expecting this. I'm sure this wasn't the most pleasant of days then. The apocalypse is probably quite a shock during peacetime. If it happens again, I'll try to make sure a smaller town gets obliterated."

A sign, once colourful, stuck out from a pile of broken concrete. The area was mostly a clearing, as it had mostly been carriage parking. There had only been one building in the area, a supermarket. The front wall had caved in, leaving the inside open to the air, although the roof was still mostly there to protect it from the weather. As it was late in the day, the city was already very dark as the tall Wall prevented the city from receiving any direct sunlight for the majority of the day, a condition to which inhabitants had managed to adapt to. Due to the darkness, the interior of the supermarket was veiled by shadows. Zachary, curious of what laid inside, took out and turned on a light core from his backpack and stepped into the darkness. His light revealed the scene inside, which was one of disaster much like anywhere else in the city. Shelves which had been full of stock had toppled, sending their contents sprawling across the floor. All this was covered in a fine layer of plaster dust from the ceiling. Many of the lights which had been hanging from the ceiling had fallen. But there was one thing which stood out from the mess, and that was the smell. It was indescribably horrid: a concoction of rotten meat, off milk, bad eggs and mouldy fruit which was an assault on the nose. Zachary retched at the stench and used his spare hand to pinch his nose.

Recovering from the smell which had attempted to turn his stomach inside out he took a closer look at the goods which had been spilt. Using his foot to nudge aside the covering layer he found a thin layer of sticky sludge covering the floor under the food. A year of rotting had left this disgusting residue across the ground, and it was probably the source of the smell. If Zachary were to recover any food from here, it would have to be canned food.

Suddenly he heard a rustling noise from behind him. Turning, Zachary saw the silhouette of a man crawling through the rubble with the light flashing off his eyes, circling around him at a distance and blocking off his escape. Should have just grabbed a trolley from outside and been done with it, remarked Kaa'is in an I-told-you-so tone.

The man, although his proportions had been distorted from what could be considered humans, snarled at Zachary, the light revealing his sharpened teeth. "So, the prey has entered our nest. We shall eat well tonight." This Conduit unnerved Zachary, but then again so did many Conduits who wanted to kill him. Perhaps it was their combination of an animalistic and sadistic natures. Zachary realised that as Conduits went he was a very lucky one.

Zachary, get ready to fight! Kaa'is instructed. Zachary drew back into a longer stance just before the Conduit charged, his long limbs covering the ground between them like a lion charging after their prey. Quickly Zachary grabbed a can of food telekinetically and hurled it at the Conduit at great speed. It struck with a crunch and the Conduit reeled back in pain, the now-ruptured can clattering on the floor. Zachary pulled up another one and launched it again, but this time the Conduit jumped aside with unnatural speed. Zachary hurled two more cans this way, his eyes now streaming as he was no longer protecting his nose from the miasma which filled the building, and the Conduit avoided the projectiles both times. Without warning the Conduit retched and vomited up a slimy projectile which flew towards Zachary. The vomit projectile was mostly reflected by Zachary's kinetic shield, splattering around the ground in front of him, but a few drops drops got through to his shirt where they hissed and steamed.

Zachary looked down in disgust at the powerful acid which was slowly eating through his shirt, but Kaa'is immediately screamed out Zachary's mistake. You're not watching him! Unfortunately their opponent was too swift and just as Zachary looked back up the Conduit was upon him, knocking him to the ground and pinning him there. The claws which had replaced his fingers attempted to slash at Zachary, but were deflected by his kinetic shield. Up close Zachary could see in detail the man's features. Something dark and dried, perhaps a mixture of blood, vomit and rotten food, was smeared around his mouth, which was filled with a set of sharp teeth. The man also did not wear clothes, with only body hair filled with grime covering him, and his breath stank almost as bad as the food. But this was no time to analyse, as Zachary could not rely on his kinetic shield alone. Already he was grappling with this monster of a man to hold him back from biting him. Thinking mostly by instinct, Zachary used his magnetic powers to pull his wind cannon out from underneath him and hold it up facing his assailant. The Conduit was about to hurl up another acid ball into Zachary's face when the wind cannon fired. The sound was like a drawn-out gunshot, and the blast of air rushed over Zachary and struck the Conduit square in the chest from almost point blank, knocking him 6 metres away.

No longer pinned down, Zachary quickly scrambled to his feet and held the air cannon with his hands. The Conduit was about to jump at him again when Zachary knocked him down and away with another pulse of high-velocity air, this time slamming the Conduit against a wall. Growling, and reluctant to surrender, he tried again, taking a couple of strides towards Zachary before he fired again, but this time the Conduit side-stepped, avoiding the pulse, and then lunged at Zachary. Strike! As the Conduit came towards him into melee range in mid air, Zachary swung out with the butt of his air cannon. As he did this he found that the air cannon moved faster than how he would normally be able to do so, as Kaa'is was using his powers to move the air cannon as well. The air cannon struck the Conduit's head with superhuman force, and the Conduit fell with a crack, clutching his bleeding head.

This is your chance, Zachary, Kaa'is said, Put this beast out of its misery, make the world a safer place and stop being a wimp.

Zachary looked around and saw that there were numerous heavy metal things he could use to crush this beast's skull and kill him. Then Zachary realised what he was thinking and caught himself. Before Kaa'is could do anything more Zachary fired the air cannon at the Conduit, bouncing him across the ground and out of the supermarket building. "Go on, get out of here!" Zachary shouted after him, and the Conduit, ready to admit defeat, picked himself up and scampered away.

Kaa'is tutted in Zachary's head. Should have killed him when you had the chance. Now he's probably going to hunt down some poor defenceless family and eat their children.

Zachary sighed. Kaa'is often found a way to make hard choices seem more painful. "Come on, let's get out of here," Zachary said, picking up his dropped light and walking out of the supermarket into the fresh dusk air. He noticed his heart's thumping slow down as the adrenalin in his system started to wear off, and his breathing was returning to a normal state. Finding and taking a shopping trolley that was mostly intact, he added, "For the record, there aren't any defenceless families in Sovereign nowadays." Touché. "Now let's get home. It's getting late."

Sector Z - Golden Mercenary Training Grounds

Kisheto stood in the center of a multitude of tents in one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. He was standing in Sector Z's very own full-terrain biodome. It was a giant chunk of underground space that was created in such a way to mimic a very low-density forest, with patches of trees that dotted the vast, artificial environment. The "sky" seemed to disappear into an eerie black, although it was obvious that nothing but land and metal lay above, as the entire environment was created underground. The entire stretch of land was about three square miles in area, and the only entrance was a long trek through an increasingly widening path. This path connected directly to the courtyard, and at an average walking speed, it would take a good fifteen minutes to get from the courtyard to the opening of the training grounds. At the entrance, a sort of outpost was set up with tents and makeshift barracks, as if to simulate an actual on-the-spot encampment. From here, the Golden Mercenaries were sent out into the artificial wilderness to train their tactics. If not for strategic practice, the mercenaries made their way to the artificial lake found in the center of the entire structure, where they would train their bodies and skills in groups. Kisheto had been taken back by the set-up, but piped down upon learning that the grounds were actually purposed for preserving a natural side of life in the case that the shelter sectors were the only option left, as that was the purpose they were built for in the first place. The Golden Mercenaries had simply turned theirs into a training ground, although it was made clear that the grounds were to be available to the public on off days.

As Kisheto continued to stare out into the beautiful, man-made "outdoors", Julian stepped out of the closest tent and walked up to the boy. "They said you could check in for the assignment given to squad 2," he said crossing his arms as he stopped next to Kisheto.

Kisheto smiled and looked back to Julian, "Oh, the party that's tryna get to the radio towers or whatever?" Julian simply nodded and then looked to Kisheto before turning his head to gaze back at the landscape as Kisheto had been doing. "Ishigo told Hector to put me on hissquad. Me and him are... well... we're the ones goin' after the Blood Saints and squad 3." Kisheto frowned, "Wait what? I can't come?!" His voice gave off the frustration he was burying inside. He wanted to be a part of the movement, and he wanted to be a hero. After years of living the life of a petty thief, Kisheto was finally given the opportunity to be somebody. He saw his encounter with the Golden Mercenaries to be the very essence of opportunity calling his name, and he was not going to let anything prevent him from taking it. Julian, who had managed to get rather close with Kisheto in the brief time they had spent together, chuckled and shook his head. "You're not ready, brothah," he said slowly, in his soft and smooth voice. "We're simply not lettin' you get yahself killed, 'nah mean?" Kisheto shook his head once more, "Bullshit. You don't think I can handle it because you think I'm weak! HA! I'll show you, yo. I can whoop ass if I just... y'know. Actually try."

Julian laughed and patted Kisheto on the back before turning away, "Listen, yulo, you gotta keep yah head on straight. We'll need you eventually, so we can't have yah dying before then, 'nah mean? Besides, what kinda friend would I be, sending you off before you got some decent trainin, hm?" Kisheto smiled at his words and scoffed, but decided not to say anything, a choice that was rather rare for the boy's usually-impulsive nature. Julian looked back and smiled, "Training starts in an hour. Yah got CQC today, so. Don't get yah rear handed to yah, alright brothah?"

Kisheto laughed, "Yeah, I gotcha. Make sure you whoop ass out there, yo."
Julian chuckled at his statement and waved him off, "Yosim Verado, yulo."

No one...

She was alone. Well and truly alone. Where did Hilda go to? Why did she disappear? Was the promise she made a lie?

Hayami was on the verge of crying, tears welling up on the corner of her eyes. Each footstep she took though the dusty remains of the city reminded her she walked alone, her parents gone, her inheritance, her servants, and everyone who cared for her.

"Stop crying. We become weak. Make strong. Survive. We survive with no her, just two of us."

.. We'll get through this, together. Just two of us...

For the first time since the shuttle crash one year ago, Hayami broke into tears and collapsed on her knees, crying out loudly amongst the rubble of the once great Sovereign. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't want to survive alone. She was tired of being strong. She wanted her life back. She wanted her parents back, her life, her servants, her room in the penthouse suite. She wanted to have those prawn things again, she would even eat those yucky vegetarian meals they cook up once in a while.

But most of all, she wanted Hilda back.

All those years she had taken her for granted, heaped abuse on her, both physically and mentally, and yet always Hilda remained at her side. She was the only on who didn't lie to her, the only one who was there for her, and the only one who really cared about her. Hayami had realized that only when Hilda was missing.

"...ilda....Hilda....come back... Hilda..."

As its host lay bawling and sobbing in the dust, Raijin, the great maned gorilla, sat on it's hindquarters and awaited for her to finish.

Bitter can make strong, after all.

Sector Z - Training Grounds: Central Lake

The central lake in the middle of the man made land was a pristine display of clear blue water that brushed against a clean shore. A squad of mercenaries jogged along the shore, energetically chanting as they began their daily routine. It was a training day; the mercs were either pushing themselves to the limit or knocked out in the various medical tents. The lake was shaped like an oval, the top of which connected to a route leading to the entrance of the Training Grounds. West of the lake, mercenaries training their bodies, running along the long shores or engaging in other physical fitness routines. To the east, the mercenaries were practicing close-quarters-combat in groups of one-on-one and two-on-two spars. Kisheto, who had finally had a chance to dust off some of his physical slack via rigorous exercise, now stood facing Josh, one of Hector's best mercenaries.

"You don't seem to understand how this works do you? But at the same time..." Josh's voice sounded condescending, although his frustration was brought upon himself, as he had felt he had failed to teach the boy how to engage in physical combat. Kisheto interjected with a snicker, "...I'm whoopin, right?" Josh chuckled. The boy wasn't completely wrong - although he failed to grasp even elementary concepts of basic CQC combat, he had managed to find himself obtaining the upper hand when locking fists, quite possible out of sheer luck. However Josh knew better than to credit the boy's continuous sparring success to mere chance, "You have your own way of dishin' out blows. I don't understand your fighting style, but damn, it works." Kisheto smiled, "Yeahyeahyeah, it's just how I do, y'know? But yo, tell me somethin'. I overheard uh... the spanish brothah, forgot his name, but..."

"Hector." Josh said as he shook his head at the boy's forgetfulness.
Kisheto nodded anxiously, "Yeah yeah, him, uh, he called you up to tell you to get ready for..."
"...the mission?" Josh finished his sentence with raised eyebrows, expressing his intent to simply get the boy to spit out whatever he was saying.
Kisheto nodded once more, "Yup, the one with the blood fuckers right?" Josh laughed and nodded, "Yeah, why? You wanna come? They're about to leave, actually."
Kisheto chuckled, "I wish, I was gonna ask you if you could put in a word for me with Hector. He said I couldn't go..."
Josh smiled, "Sneaky little punk. What makes you think I'd disobey him? He knows what he's doing, dude. Just trust him." Josh then stretched his arms and looked at his watch with a yawn, "Actually... I should be getting ready for that. Shit, where did I put my armor, though?"

As Josh turned away, looking around for signs of his gear, Kisheto face palmed, realizing he might have just lost his opportunity to tag along by telling Josh he was denied permission. Josh then turned around and snapped his fingers, "The locker rooms, yeah I left 'em there. Damn, hold on let me go get them." As soon as all hope seemed lost, Kisheto's eyes lit up with their usual mischievous intent, "W-wait, yo, um... I'll get 'em for you. Where are they exactly?" Josh raised a brow at Kisheto's offer to help and chuckled, "Uh... locker 32. There's no combination - we don't really gotta worry about thieves in our base. Just press the little button thing and it'll open. Get my armor, my paperwork, my spray, my rifle, and my-"

Before Josh could finish his sentence, Kisheto was off. He ran with a smirk on his face as he dashed towards the locker rooms, having found his key to the mission in which he hoped to prove himself. Damn! The irony's killer! Gonna have to steal some armor to be a hero. Guess some people never change, huh? he thought to himself as he chuckled. It was a short way to the locker rooms for someone filled to the brim his energy - and it was only going to double once he set foot into the squad he didn't belong in.

Zachary woke up aching. The low quality of the mattress he used did not help in easing the pain of the bruises he had received from last night's battle. Slowly, he stretched himself out of bed and headed over to where he had his showed. He had rigged up a water core over an old drain, along with a mirror he had made an effort to clean, a towel he had scavenged to dry himself with and another cloth with which he could scrub himself with. Removing his clothes, he stepped under the water core and pulled the switch to turn it on. He breathed suddenly as the cold water washed over his skin, then scrubbed down his body of sweat, dust and grime. On rare occasions he would find a dried-out cake of soap to use, but usually he had to suffice with just water and scrubbing. Finished with washing himself he took a few moments to inspect himself in the mirror. A year without proper grooming had left the hair on his head at a medium-long length, not yet down to his shoulders, and his beard had grown a lot past the neatly trimmed goatee he had once had. The rest of his body had also grown more hair, and it had also accumulated numerous scars- some from accidents and some from battles. A year of surviving in this wasteland had not been kind on anybody's appearance.

Over the year he had gradually become acclimatised to the ongoing feeling of filth, but still made an effort to remain hygienic, showering at least every few days, brushing his teeth and washing his clothes. He put his used clothes into a large drum, poured a small amount of washing powder he had scavenged in with them and used the shower to fill it with water. After scrubbing them around a bit he emptied the drum of its dirty soapy water and the clothes. While he rinsed his clothes he eyed the spots of blood on the sleeve of the shirt and his face went grim with the memory. He only paused for a moment before continuing, rinsing the clothes of suds and then hanging them up inside to dry. To aid his hygiene routine he had found a couple of other sets of clothes which fitted him, so he put on a relatively clean set of clothes. He then ate breakfast from his stolen rations and afterwards he brushed his teeth. He had found a toothbrush, but toothpaste was even harder to find than soap so he usually settled with scrubbing them with water.

Fresh and ready for the day ahead, Zachary went to remove the covering to the entrance of his lair when Kaa'is brought a noise outside to his attention. He paused and listened silently, and sure enough he heard a person outside walking around. As quietly as he could, Zachary slunk over to one of the tiny cracks in the rubble and looked out through it. At first he didn't see anything, but then he saw for a moment what appeared to be a pair of legs walking past. So Zachary waited a few minutes, listening around, until he couldn't hear the person outside any more and he was confident they were far enough away, until he opened up his hide-away and exited into the open air towing a trolley behind him and carrying his usual gear. The passer-by was nowhere to be seen so Zachary calmly concealed the entrance and walked off, heading towards where he had found that skyway unit.

Ariela~

A scream echoed throughout the halls of the abandoned hospital. Shrill and earsplitting, it found its way to the deepest recesses of the ominous ruin. At the epicenter of this cacophony was Ariela, panicked beyond belief, and with no way to get her bearings. As the shriek subsided and the room fell quiet, she quickly found herself in need of something to grab onto. Her hands fell to the sink that lay below the cause of her terror. She quickly broke into a light sweat, trying desperately to get a grasp on what she was seeing. She tried blinking it away, but no matter how long she held her eyes closed, when they opened that same distorted face stared back at her.

It was her face, but it was older, much older. She looked to be eighteen to twenty years of age. Her eyes were dead, soulless things that seemed to want to suck her into the world behind the mirror and take her own place in the real world. The most chilling part of it was their appearance, it seemed as though the eyes belonged to some inhuman species bent on world domination. A disturbingly insane smile stretched across her reflections face. She then realized it was mocking her, judging her for every decision she had made up until now. In a sudden burst of anger her fist found its way into the mirror. She stared at the shattered pieces that lay about her, her hand now dripping with blood, tainting the reflections that now stared back at her. They were a multitude, all of them judging, all of them criticizing. Her fear returned and she fled the bathroom stall, learning to cope with her new face would prove to be quite the challenge..

What she saw, and what you all shall see

Samuel~

Night had fallen upon the cityscape, but that had not prevented Samuel from continuing his hunt. He had already killed thirteen on this day, and his slaughter was far from over. Upon absorbing each soul he had found himself gaining a significant amount of power and energy. He found this feeling to be fleeting however, it seemed that simply absorbing spiritual energy would not be enough to gain a significant amount of power quickly. This frustrated him to no end, and now he sat upon the roof of a half caved in department store.

He studied the horizon, the many chords of the city wove between one another. He noticed that from some places two chords shot out of the ruins and followed each other to the night sky. These were the hosts, if the pair was black it was a conduit, if it was gold it was a guardian. He had chosen to avoid both of these for the time being, partly because of his own lack of confidence, and partly because of Miralda's warnings. What he found most interesting of all however, was how each string traveled to a single center, becoming most dense at the exact point the void gate had once been opened at. They than dissipated into what seemed to be thin air. Miralda had told him that they crossed over to the void from there, the thinnest point between the two existences. Apparently the source of all life in the physical world rested within the void, and these chords met at its center.

This intrigued Samuel and he wished to investigate it further, but for now he was preoccupied with other things. Yet another soul had found itself in his cross hairs, and Samuel had tracked the man to this location. His chord of life was dim, meaning he was close to death. Interestingly enough he was paired with a kage, and Samuel could not wait to have his free meal. Miralda had warned him to exercise caution, so he had done just that. He had waited upon this rooftop for an hour, slowly watching as his chord grew thinner and thinner. He was now confident the man posed no threat, and he began his decent.

This meal would be rather tasty indeed...

(Zephyr, I am hoping that our characters could meet here, if you are not ok with that I will just make it some other guy with a kage, holding on too life with a mere thread.)

Zachary had been walking out in the morning shade pushing the trolley, trying to remember his way to the skyway unit he had found earlier. He, together with Kaa'is, had been sure to make careful note of the landmark buildings and the general whereabouts of it when they had found it, but it took him some time to find where those landmarks were. For navigation Zachary mostly used any tall buildings still standing. They pierced into the sky, or at least it would be sky if the Wall wasn't there, and were generally able to be distinguished from each other. The method was not perfect, however. Shorter buildings which are close by can obscure the view of the skyline from the ground, and in the shadow of the morning and evenings, not to mention the darkness of night, the skyscrapers are difficult to distinguish or even see. Regardless, for general navigation it typically sufficed.

Zachary eventually found what he had been looking for, and it was unsurprisingly untouched since yesterday. The polarity cores are rather specialised and not especially powerful in terms of weapons or survival, so are not very useful for the average scavenger. For an engineer, however, they are marvellously useful cores. He approached the unit and took his plasma cutter out of his bag. He did not want the entire unit, with its hundreds of kilos of metal, just some of the key components. He laid his left hand on the skyway unit and allowed the image of it in his mind to guide his right hand with the plasma cutter.

While he was working away, trying to remove the parts, he felt the wind cannon being lifted out of his back. His mind immediately snapped away from the skyway unit. We've been sneaked up on two days in a row. You're getting slack.

A voice from behind him spoke. "This is a mighty fine weapon you've got here. Put your hands behind your head and give us all you've got and we may consider letting you live." The voice prodded Zachary in the back with his own wind cannon. Kaa'is probed out with his magnetic powers, just gently tugging on anything metal, acting a bit like a metal detector. Aside from the guy behind us, I can feel two others, one on each side and a bit behind. Both of them have some medium-length metal object, presumably a club or blade. Zachary complied for the moment, putting down his plasma cutter and placing his hands behind his head, but he also remotely disarmed his wind cannon by disconnecting the battery. For all the thug behind him knew, though, it was till functional.

Zachary then turned around so he could see his opponents. As Kaa'is had detected, there were indeed two more of them, although the two mentioned weapons were not yet drawn. They were all muscular and all their clothes all had tears. Some appeared to be tears from use, but some appeared to be tears from knives. The central one, who seemed to be the leader, was the oldest, around his forties. The one to Zachary's right seemed to be of a similar age. The one to the left was of similar age to Zachary. The thug who was holding the wind cannon tensed up for a moment as Zachary turned, but returned to how he was before when Zachary made no further moves. He motioned to the other two thugs and they began to approach Zachary, or more specifically his bag of tools. Before they could take more than a three steps, however, their weapons, metal bars used as clubs, rose out of their pockets and struck them on the back of their heads, causing them to collapse to the ground. The leader glanced to the side and saw this, and almost in a state of panic pulled the trigger. Nothing happened.

Zachary and Kaa'is realised that this guy had realised that he noticed that Zachary must be a host, and the manner of his response indicated he was not prepared for that. "It must be broken," Zachary said, almost taunting now that he had the upper hand, "Let me take a look at it for you."

The thug instead swung the wind cannon overhead at Zachary, but he caught it with one hand, easily able to stop the metal object. The thug tried to pull back, but Zachary held the cannon firmly in place. After a few moments Zachary wrenched it from the thug's grip and wielded it himself. "Let me show you what this does." Quickly moving the battery terminals back in place, Zachary fired the wind cannon, sending the man flying across the rubble. He quickly picked himself back up and called to his partners, "He's a host! Let's get out of here!" The other two, who had just regained enough of their senses to get to their feet, heard the cry, saw the situation, and fled along with him.

As the thugs fled, Zachary leaned back, smiled and said, "That didn't go too badly."

You know what, I can't really argue. That did go alright.

Part 1 of Collab Between Sage, Skai, and Lost

---

~A squad of seven mercenaries plus Julian stood waiting at the entrance lift. Each mercenary was lined up and facing Hector and Ishigo; the two had been briefing the squad and awaiting their last two members~

"Ay, did Josh get caught up with that kid?" asked Hector as he ushered his men to ease. "Fucker is usually first to line. Someone go get him? We ain't got all d-" his voice was cut off by the shuffling of armor as the final member of the squad jogged up and stood by the leftmost mercenary. Hector raised a brow at the sight, "You haven't worn your helmet in ages Josh... you... where were you, hermano?"

[i]Fuck.... I should've thought this through. Kisheto was already struggling with his breathing, which was hindered by the heavy helmet that covered his entire head. It only made it even harder to mask his voice - he simply stood there and nodded, pointing to his head with a circular motion to indicate he wasn't feeling so hot. Hector shook his head and sighed, "Jeeze, get it together, hermano. You didn't let the boy beat yah, did you?" Kisheto smirked from underneath his helmet and just shrugged.

It was then that Ishigo stepped forward and looked to the men, "Alright, everyone's geared up. Hop in the lift, you know what to do. We'll be moving east the second we hop out, straight to the ruined mall that the Blood Saints occupied. No talking 'till we get there? Alright?"

The squad responded with a unison "Check!" - all but the disoriented "Josh", of course.

---

Iktomi lifted his hand in response to Arianna's return, before swiftly holding up a finger to silence her for the time. "Are you telling me that worthless little gang of nobodies has managed to capture an elite recon squad? Who was leading the squad?" Iktomi pinched the bridge of his nose as the voice on the other side of his ear piece responded. "I knew I should have sent Hali instead. I really can't ignore them any longer can I?" Pressing his ear piece to silence it Iktomi swiftly rose. "Ari, I am going for a walk. Would you like to join me? It will certainly be exciting."

Arianna bit her lip as she listened to him speak with his ear piece. A gang and an elite recon squad? She was surprised that Iktomi had asked her to go with him. A little excitement sounded like fun to her, but to Castiel, it sounded dangerous. "What exactly is going on, Ik?" She asked, wanting to know what she would be getting herself into.

Iktomi shrugged dismissively, a slight smile upon his lips. "Oh, nothing of major importance. There is a pathetic gang that until now has been nothing more than an eyesore. Apparently they managed to capture a recon team, more than likely due to the incompetent fool that was leading them. Now they have become pests, and pests must be exterminated before they begin spreading." As Iktomi approached Arianna he snapped his fingers, causing all of the threads that had been clinging so tightly to the walls to collapse to the ground. "Will you be joining me?"

Arianna blinked, still curious about this gang and the gang's prisoner recon squad. She watched as the strands of threads fell, noticing the way they shimmered in the light. Her gaze then focused on Iktomi as he came closer to her. "I suppose I will come along with you. I don't know if I will become involved in this gang's issues, though. Not unless I fully understand what is happening." She wanted to make it clear that she wanted to observe as long as she could before she had to get involved. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to get involved at all.

"Of course, Ari. I have no intention on forcing you to get blood on your hands. If you are going to be staying with me you may as well witness me in action. The sooner it happens the better." Iktomi's eyes had moved away from her while she spoke, a slight frown on his lips. For a moment he stood still, taking in the now disheveled room before his hands jerked into the air. With the motion all of the threads lifted into the air. Iktomi then began weaving the threads together, constructing a massive platform hovering half a foot above the ground. With another wave, a simple set of stairs formed. Without hesitation Iktomi walked up the stairs before manipulating the threads around his throne to place it on the platform. Moving each hand seperately, another throne was constructed next to his while threads formed upon Iktomi's body, creating a silk robe and crown.

Arianna watched him as he frowned, taking a deep breath. She was glad he understood. As Iktomi created his little platform and throne, Arianna couldn't help but chuckle lightly. It suited him to show off like this. Her brows furrowed as he created another throne-line chair of webs next to his own, but her confusion left her as she recognized the robe and crown he constructed over himself. A giggle escaped her, and she covered her mouth so her smile wasn't so obvious.

Iktomi turned his head back towards Arianna, his frown replaced by a wicked grin. "Well,aren't you going to join me? It would be a waste of a throne if someone weren't to use it." Pressing his ear piece once more, he began speaking. "Hali, Leo, I need both of you to report to the HQ. You will be assissting Alex in transporting everything of value to our secondary locations. I am leaving our current base and would rather it not be left exposed for others. After getting everything into the tunnels I will need you to collapse the entrance on this side. That is all, you won't hear from me again until I see you in person."

Arianna's face flushed, eyeing the second throne. What was he trying to do by getting her to sit there? She moved over to the small table and picked up her rapier where she had left it, then tentatively moved up the steps to stand on the platform. It felt oddly squishy under her feet, and she wondered why her shoes didn't stick to it like a bug in a web. "I'll join you, but I'd prefer that you call it a seat in my case," she said politely.

Iktomi nodded slightly, before deconstructing the high back of the throne and shifting it to appear more similar to a regular chair. "As you wish Ari." Turning his head forward, Iktomi chuckled slightly. "I however will be remaining in my throne. If they wish to call me an Emperor, then an Emperor I shall be."

---

~Sideroads, one block away from the ruined mall~

"Yes, FUCK, I saw 'em..."
Hector looked at Jesse, who frantically answered him in his hushed tone. Hector turned around, giving the signal and whistle to the squad which immediately halted. He then pointed to Ishigo and directed him forward. The squad was located at the entrance to the mall, which was now merely a caved in hole in the face of the structure. It opened up to a huge entrance plaza with three parallel escalators ascending to the food court. From the entrance, the squad had taken cover the second they sighted a little group of the gangsters resting upon the defective escalators.

Ishigo dove forward and slipped into the shadows of the mall's plaza. As he shifted from shadow to shadow, Hector directed individuals from his squad further along key cover points until he finally gave the signal to Kisheto. "Get it together, Josh, you've been out of it long enough. Focus... on my mark.... GO."

Kisheto nodded and broke off into a silent sprint, treading lightly until he neared his cover point...

...only to trip over some loose rubble and drop his rifle. The rifle hit the ground with a loud, echoing clamor that caused the thugs on the escalator to spin around and draw their weapons.

"FUCK HERMANO!" Hector yelled as he ran forward and dove for Kisheto, who, impusively, also yelled out.

"SHIT MY BAD YO!"

It was only moments after his exclamation that a wave of bullets pelted the ground around them from above. The gangsters wielded a variety of guns - from handguns and revolvers to sub machine guns and shotguns. As the bullets rained upon the squad, Ishigo quickly emerged from a shadow on the side of the escalator. He counted seven total thugs in the immediate vicinity and swung over the side to kick one of them off. They weren't prepared for the assault at all - they were wearing civillian clothes and their guns were obviously not of the top tier expected from the most notorious gang in Sovereign. As the first gangster hit the ground below and instantly fell unconcious, the next attempted to kick Ishigo down the escalator, but he responded by deflecting the kick with an elbow, only to twist into his deflection and grab the leg. Having caught the gangster off guard, he swung to the side and tossed the second thug off the escalator to the same fate as the first. His attack instantly caused the remaining thugs to focus their fire on him, giving the mercenaries below to ready their weapons and retaliate with suppressive fire. Hector was nearly lost at the sudden deterioration of his plan, but he quickly shook off his disorientation and grabbed Kisheto by the shoulders, yanking him up to his feet. His voice had given him away, but Hector had no time to be mad. "RUN, HERMANO!" he yelled as he pushed Kisheto away, drawing his own rifle. Kisheto turned around and shook his head, "Hell naw! I got this, yo, just le-"

Before he could finish, a second squad of thugs shot out of a hallway located on the right side of the plaza's ground floor, right where the mercenary squad was located. They let loose a spray of assault rifle rounds, managing to catch Hector in the leg and forearm. Hector fell to a knee and impulsively shot a few bursts of his own rifle at the new comers, effectively taking out two of the four thugs in the ground squad. The two others closed in, but Kisheto dove in front of Hector, taking two bullets to his upper back and a single bullet to his lower left abdomen. He cried out in pain but managed to roll out of the way of danger, and his body shield had given Hector enough time to crawl out of harm's way as well, but only on the other side of the escalators. Two Golden Mercenaries, which had been positioned behind two pillars that supported the food court above, turned the corner and rushed to the two remaining ground-level Blood Saints, and with a quick draw of each of their blades, they slit their throats, ending the ground combat.

From above, the Blood Saints began retreating as Ishigo continued to gracefully slip out of the way of their bullets and return with his own attacks, picking them off the escalators one by one. As soon as they were out of range, they began contacting for back up. Ishigo took this time to turn around and return to his comrades, but he was dissapointed at the sight. Julian stood above Hector, guarding him, and Kisheto was unable to be found. All the rest of the Golden Mercenaries were ultimately unscathed due to their successful cover. Ishigo rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration, "Damnit Hector..."

Near the back corner of the entrance plaza, Kisheto forced his way through two double doors, barely conscious as he stumbled through them. He found himself in a large empty hallway that connected to an open courtyard ahead of him. He clutched his abdomen in pain as he trudged forward into the open area before him, where he looked left and right desperately. He was confused. He should have stayed with his squad, but his fight or flight mechanism overtook his conscience and by the time he gained his senses back, he was in the middle of nowhere, stranded in some random location of the mall with a bad wound.

Fuck, yo... This hero shit is such a drag.

---

Approximately 3 Walmarts in The Air

Iktomi glanced over the side of the flying platform of thread, a slight smirk upon his lips as he saw the mall that the Blood Saints used as their headquaters. "Arianna would you be able to inform me where the largest concentration of people there are? I don't care about the recon team, they are already dead more than likely, I just want to teach the Blood Saints what it means to go against me." He turned his head towards her, his smirk growing broader.

Arianna looked up from the view of the desolate city below them and turned her gaze to meet Iktomi's. He seemed a little too eager to demonstrate his power. "If you get me close, I believe I'll be able to. There is a limitation on my ability." She sighed softly and stood, gingerly walking over to the edge. She knelt down, watching the mall get closer and closer. Closing her eyes, Arianna directed her focus and spirit on the building. The slight whispers and mumbles seemed to be a jumbled mess towards the center of the mall, in what appeared to be a courtyard. She also seemed to feel some different kind of spiritual attraction towards a few individuals. What am I feeling, Castiel? She asked him.

Castiel hardly knew the answer. It was something he had felt all the time in the void. Except it had changed. In the void, the feeling let him know whether a kage was an Onikage, or a Kamikage. Now the two completely different kages seemed to melt into one. He couldn't tell the difference unless he knew the name of the Kage, now. We're feeling the spirits of kage's living within their hosts. This ability must have been strengthened while you were nourishing yourself at Iktomi's home."

Arianna pursed her lips. This would serve usefull in the future, as long as she didn't become malnourished again. She reopened her eyes, wobbling a little as she focused back on the environment around her. Turning to Iktomi, Arianna blinked a few times as her eyes focused. "There seems to be more persons in the courtyard of the mall." She bit her lip, unsure if she should mention the hosts. "There seems to be six strong kages as well."

'Archania, I believe that it is time for us to go all out. It has been much too long. I know for a fact that at least one of those six kages is the leader of the Saints, he shall be ours. I need more power if my dream is to be accomplished.' Iktomi pushed both hands down, causing the platform to plummet rapidly towards the courtyard.

'You are indeed correct. It has been much too long since we killed without holding back. You always waited until they entered your lair, but now, you are finally the hunter.' Archania's mandibles clicked together in laughter.

Iktomi slowly lifted his hands, slowing their descent until they completely stopped a few feet off the ground of the courtyard. He turned his body in a circle, a smirk on his lips as his gaze passed over the stunned expressions of a large grouping of gang members. Completing his rotation he settled his eyes upon a random member. "Die." Iktomi's hands thrusted to his sides, fingers curled into fists. The platform that had been supporting both Iktomi and Arianna slowly began unbinding as hundreds of thread needles shot off in every direction save up. Due to the confusion from Iktomi's sudden arrival, and now the hailstorm of silk needles, the gang members had little to no time to react as the needles began riddling them with holes.

Arianna's eyes were transfixed upon the massacre happening before her. She did not dare move in case she would accidently be impaled by the hundreds upon thousands of needle-like silk projections. Even though most of the men held guns, they were no match for the melee of Iktomi's silk. She was tense, and a little frightened, gripping her rapier tightly. The dying thoughts of the men filled her mind, almost horrifying her to her core. Arianna tore her gaze from the slaughter and looked over at Iktomi. He was definitely a different man than the young boy she remembered. Even though he was kind to her, he was certainly anything but with everyone else. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but hear some of his thoughts. She was glad that he was more focused on controlling his threads than thinking about what he was doing or feeling.

When Arianna felt her feet touch the solid ground, she turned and surveyed the rest of the courtyard. None of the men Iktomi was killing were kages, but she felt the presence of one. It was faint, but there. As more men died, the storm of their thoughts began to die out as well and new thoughts were heard. Some were faint and distant, but there was one set of thoughts that was close by, and seemed to be originating from the presence of the kage she felt.

---

The voice was deep and authoritative. It resonated within his mind like a haunting thought scratching at the inner recesses of his conscience. It echoed within his brain, however, with a tone that was just as charismatic and caring as it was firm.

"Move. Or you will die."

Kisheto's eyes shot open as the pain suddenly exploded through out his upper body. He was on the verge of bleeding out, but the voice in his head had given him a surge of adrenaline, partly due to a sudden fear he was shaken by. "Who the fu-"

Before he could finish, Kisheto's eyes were drawn to a large shadow that passed over the clearing before him. He had already began inching away before the deadly rain flashed over the land. He couldn't see exactly what was happening - his vision was still blurred by his pain and state of shock. But the bloodcurdling screams of dying men rang clear in his ears and gave him the strength to drag himself right to the edge of the back wall. As he clenched his teeth in pain, a soft sizzling caught his attention. He could feel the hand he used to cover his abdominal wound start to burn, but he couldn't move it due to his upper wound. However, the sizzling also began upon his shoulder, and he could feel the same burning sensation followed by a feeling that felt as if someone were to stretch his skin to the point of breaking. "F-fuck, what is.... ugh..." His pain overwhelmed him, and he decided that talking wasn't going to help much. This is just perfect... Why did I have to... god damnit.

Arianna blinked, hearing the thoughts express pain and confusion. She glanced at Iktomi. Someone with a kage needs help. I don't think they're a part of the gang, so I'm going to go to them. She warned him through telepathy before turning and sprinting towards the direction she heard the thoughts. When she drew near, she noticed a figure of a young man slouched against the wall. Arianna slowed, not wanting to startle him. I'm here to help, she gently said in his mind.The presence of a second voice in his mind caused Kisheto's eyes to once again shoot open. However, this time, his vision presented him with a youngwoman who seemed a bit too friendly under the current circumstances. "Shit... Hallucinations already?" he coughed out, barely managing to speak due to the blood loss.

Arianna set down her rapier after deciding that he was too hurt to harm her, then knelt down next to him. "My name is Arianna. I'm not a hallucination, and I can help you." Taking a deep breath, she checked his pulse. At the moment, it was faster than normal due to shock. She sighed, looking around to see if there was anything useful. She found nothing. Cursing under her breath, Arianna looked back at the boy. "I'll need to rip your shirt to stop the bleeding," she told him before gripping the bottom of his shirt and ripping the bottom half off. Kisheto winced at the movement, but chuckled, "Was my favorite shirt..." Arianna smiled softly. "I apologize, but I'm sure we'll find you a better one." She then gently removed his hand from his wound and made a make-shift guaze wrap around his abdomen. After tying the wrap tightly, she nodded. "That'll do until we can get you better bandages. Now.. Onto your shoulder."

As Arianna gently moved him away from the wall, she couldn't help but wince as she noticed the bullet marks. The bullets had been stopped by his shoulder blade, but the bone had undertaken severe damage. She furrowed her brows, noticing the wounds changing ever so slightly. How is this happening? She thought. "Can your kage heal wounds?" She asked the boy. Even if he could heal himself, the bleeding still had to be stopped. Without waiting for his answer, she gently ripped his shirt again and made another wrap around his shoulder.

Kisheto merely coughed a bit and let his head tilt back, as he felt tired just keeping it upright. He opened his eyes to the sky and chuckled, "Kage? You mean the spirit freaks? I don't have one of those, yo. I'm... ugh..." He winced as she moved his arm to seal his upper wound, "I'm... freak-free, heheh."

Arianna felt a little hurt by the label of "freak", but didn't let it bother her for too long. After all, he was calling himself a freak as well. "I'm sorry to tell you this," she muttered sarcastically, "But you're a freak, too. I can sense the kage within you. The voice you heard earlier was deeper than yours, and no one was speaking with you. It was a kage." With a nod, Arianna made sure that he hadn't been hit by a bullet anywhere else.

Kisheto coughed a bit as he leaned back against the wall. He had ignored most of what the girl named Arianna had said, but had managed to piece it together a bit. "Nah, trust me... I'm clean." He then sighed as his pain began to become more tolerable. "So.. ugh... you're a good guy, right?" Arianna turned to watch Iktomi, seeing more and more gang members run into the clearing only to be cut down immediately. The amount of blood in the courtyard was enough to make her feel a little sick. She furrowed her eyebrows, turning to look at the young man. "I'm helping you, aren't I? I'm sure if I had wanted you dead, I could have easily cut you in two while in your state. My friend, Iktomi," she gestured to him, "Is here to stop the Blood Saints. I'm just tagging along due to.. well, curiousity."

Kisheto looked past her and raised his brows at the sight of the large, silken death machine. "You... wow. Well, I'm Kisheto and uh... thanks for not cuttin' me in two." He chuckled and then coughed weakly once more. "Oh shit! The mercs!" His eyes widened as he looked left and right, realizing how far had had strayed from his comrades. "YO! You gotta help 'em! The Golden Mercenaries are here, too! They're tryna take down the Saint's big man, y'know? We gotta go and- UGH!" Kisheto winced as he attempted to get up, only to fall back down on his rear. "Fuck!" At this point, the sizzling had stopped, and the weird sensation that Kisheto had felt in the back of his mind had vanished altogether.

Arianna looked back at him, her brows furrowing. "The Golden Mercenaries? Are you with them?" She bit her lip, standing and looking around at the mall. Sure enough, the thoughts that she had heard coming from the upper floors were all concentrated around one side of the mall. Small flashes of light and distant gunshots could be seen and heard from that side of the building. "I can't leave you like this. Perhaps Iktomi could go and help them." Arianna watched Iktomi, wondering if he was on good terms with the Golden Mercenaries.

While many in Iktomi's position, slaughtering people in the dozens, would feel something, be it bloodlust or sickness from their actions, Iktomi felt nothing. His thoughts were only on the people further up, the head honcho and his cousins. They were the hosts, thus they were the only ones who could increase his strength. He had noticed it months ago; Killing others like himself made him stronger, and increased his control over his powers. Prior to this he had never sought them out, he simply waited for them to approach him. With the presence of Arianna, though, he needed to increase his power more rapidly. The Blood Saints just gave him a very easy excuse to do so by taking his men.

Slowly the waves of men began to wane until they ceased all together. Flicking his wrist, Iktomi summoned all of the threads back to his position, recreating the platform. Turning his head, he caught sight of Arianna along with another man. With swift strides he approached the pair, glancing down at the man for a moment before shifting his gaze unto Arianna. "That was barely worth the trip. Please tell me that there are others here. The men I am searching for will have Kages."

Arianna glanced down at Kisheto as well, checking to make sure he hadn't passed out. She took a deep breath. "The other kages are all concentrated on the upper floor, over there where the gunshots are coming from." She pointed towards the far wall of the mall. "This is Kisheto. He is a part of the Golden Mercenaries. There are squads of them here, fighting the Blood Saints as well. You'll find them upstairs with the other five kages." She took a deep breath. "I should stay here, with Kisheto. Just to make sure he's safe." As much of a stranger he was to her, she wasn't going to let him just die there.

Iktomi nodded sharply at her last words, before snapping his fingers to cause the plartform to come to his side. "Make sure he stays alive, Arianna. I would like to have a word with him upon my return." Climbing atop the platform and placing himself back into his throne, he took off in the direction of the gunfire, darting between collumns and other riff raff.

---

"BALCONY, 6 O'CLOCK!" The voice of the golden mercenary rang through the air and caused most of the others to whip around and immediately aim their rifles upwards. The squad had progressed further into the mall and had found itself pinned in the large, central lobby area on the third floor. The Blood Saints were coming from all four directions, as the lobby connected to hallways on each side of its structure. The lobby also lacked a direct ceiling, instead, giving way to a large glass ceiling that ascended past the fourth floor, which could easily look down at the third floor lobby via a circular balcony that ran the length of the lobby's circumference.

The Blood Saints took aim from that very same balcony in a group of four riflemen. Hector, who had been limping around with the aid of Golden Mercenary Iosaf, turned his head backwards and took aim with his rifle using only one arm. "LET EM EAT IT! JULIAN COVER THE FRONT!" On his call, the mercenaries that had turned around - five out of the seven that were there - began shooting concentrated bursts of their rifles at the balcony group. However, the three others ran towards Julian, who was sprinting from cover to cover (the cover being various benches, platforms that containted artifical shrubbery, and pillars). As Julian ran out of cover, they fired off their rifles to suppress the wave of Blood Saints that were running down the last set of escalators leading to the fourth floor. The Saints were pushed back, and two of them were thrust backwards as their bodies met with a wave of bullets. In this moment, Julian dove forward and twisted to his left, instantaneously transforming into his smoke figure. He flew forward at a great speed, catching up to two more Blood Saints who had nearly ascended the escalators in their attempt to escape the suppressive fire. With a quick thrust, two pillars of smoke shot out from the large smoke orb. These pillars then transformed into Julian's arms, and he grabbed them by their shoulders while simultaneously flying backwards. He then arched his path upwards, and once he was high enough, he let his arms disintegrate into the same black and red smoke that made up his entire body; the unexpecting gangsters barely had time to scream before their bodies hit the ground with a fatal crunch.

"BALCONY TANGOS DOWN! PRESS THE ESCALATORS!" Hector yelled as Iosaf continued to help him push forward by holding one of his arms over his shoulders. At this point, the three remaining Blood Saints that had managed to climb the escalators had taken position on the side of the balcony. However, before they could aim their rifles at the men now climbing the escalators, Ishigo flew out of the center man's shadow and grabbed his neck while somersaulting in the air. As he completed the somersault, with his feet landing on the railing and his body arched backwards as his arms connected to the man's neck, he lunged forwards. As a result, the man was thrown forwards as well, into the ground below to meet the same fate as his comrades. As Ishigo also followed through with the maneuver, instead of diving into the area below, he merged back into the shadows of the other men who were caught off guard. He reappeared only seconds after to quickly kick one man and elbow the other. In their state of disarray, Ishigo swiped a bowie knife from the man he had kicked, who consequently bended over in pain. With two quick slashes, the throats of both men split open to let loose a spray of blood.

"Clear." Ishigo called out, dropping the knife and disappearing into the shadows once more. The lobby and escalators were littered with the Blood Saints bodies. Now, all that remained was the final push towards the large auditorium located only a short distance further on the fourth floor.

---

Iktomi had abandoned the large platform down on the second floor after coming across an area filled with rubble. Now he simply rode upon his throne, zooming across the third floor towards the diminishing sounds of gunfire. 'There are so many hosts here; it is a shame that I won't be able to kill a couple of them. I don't know enough about these Golden Mercs to risk making an enemy out of them, not yet at least. Clearly they have an issue with the Saints though, which means I can consume them without fear.' His lips flicked up into a smirk as his thoughts drifted lazily through his mind. As the large lobby in the center of the floor came into view, Iktomi began to slow down, coming to a complete stop a few yards away from the main group of mercs. "It would seem you gentlemen are in need of assisstance."

Hector instinctly drew his rifle and set his scope right upon the man's forehead, but reserved his trigger finger. "RIGHT THERE, AMIGO! PAUSE!" At his call, all the Golden Mercenaries excluding the three that were at point, whipped around and aimed their rifles at the new arrival. Suddenly, the shadow behind the man began to distort and twist until slowly, Ishigo rose from it, his arms crossed and his head facing the ground from which he emerged. "On the contrary. It would seem these Saints are dropping like flies..." His voice was firm and low, but to prevent coming off as offensive and insulting, he stepped back from the floating throne and gave the man room to speak comfortably.

Iktomi leaned casually upon his closed fist, gazing impassively at the men aiming their weapons upon him. Before he could respond to the apparent leader of the group, a voice appeared from behind him. Shifting his eyes to look upon the source he could just barely see the man around his throne. "I would hardly call them flies, they are gnats not even worth consuming. More importantly it took ten of you to create this carnage. Take a look down into the courtyard and see the destruction that can be brought down by a single man." Iktomi removed his eyes from the man behind him, focusing once more upon the leader of the Mercs. "I would recommend lowering your weapons. At the moment I have no reason to be hostile. It would be a shame if that were to change don't you think?"

Hector chuckled weakly, "The damn hosts always gotta act so macho, eh? Enough of the banter, you're either against us or in our way." As he spoke, he coughed, indicating that his physical state was declining rapidly. Iosaf, pulled him up to support him even more upon his shoulders and then whispered into his ear, "You can't fight like this, man, it ain't smart." Hector shook his head and then raised his rifle to the air and whistled, after which the rest of the men lowered their weapons as well. Ishigo scoffed and walked around the throne, eying the man with calculating eyes before turning towards Hector. Julian simply remained silent, but eventually turned back and pointed towards a large makeshift gate made of rubble.

"Beyond that wall? You think they're holed up there, brothah?" he asked. Hector simply nodded and then turned to the man who had descended from nowhere, "Know what?" he began before coughing softly, "I could use a hand or two. These fuckers captured my squad and executed two of my best on video. Surely you're here to deliver justice, right, your majesty?" he said as he chuckled, bringing a smirk upon his men's faces.

Iktomi's face remained a straight line, despite the twinge of annoyance that flared at Hector's little comment at the end. Calming himself, he slowly rose out of his throne, before snapping his fingers. The throne shattered into individual threads, before spiraling into the air and weaving together to take a new form. After a moment the webbing spun into a blade. Wrapping his fingers around the handle Iktomi lowered it to his side. "They captured a squad of mine as well. I suppose delivering justice is an adequate description of what I am doing here." His lips twitched into a slight smirk, his lie slipping out of him without hesitation. "Where would you like me to be positioned? As this is your operation, I will follow your lead."

Hector smiled and nodded, "Appreciate the willingess to cooperate, amigo. Don't know exactly what you can do with your silk, but a sword's a sword's a sword. If you wouldn't mind, can you assist my host friends here and take the vanguard. You three could go in for a nasty introduction." He chuckled and pointed to an empty point in between Ishigo and Julian where he would've stood were he in a better condition.

Iktomi returned his nod, striding confidently forward to place himself between the two men that he had been indicated towards. "My silk is very durable, and more importantly very sharp. It is a very useful skill to have when weapons can be so scarce these days." Despite the prospect of the upcoming battle, Iktomi's body remained relaxed, the tip of his blade brushing against the ground as he held it at his side. "I am ready when you gentlemen are."
Ishigo looked to Julian and nodded, and in response he smiled "I'm with yah, brothah." He then turned to the new man, "You too, brothah, for in this moment, you're a comrade, no?" he then smiled once more and turned forwad, clenching his fist until a thick black smoke exploded from his knuckles and soon engulfed his whole body. As he flew forwards, Ishigo tapped the man's shoulder and dashed forwards, "Quick and hard."

Hector whistled to his men who began dashing forward behind the men taking point, "Go get 'em Silky!" he said with a chuckle.

---

From beyond the gate, a man stood at the back of a long stretch of hallway that was cluttered with collapsed roofing. He spoke to about four rows of men, each row having six Blood Saints donning a crimson armor. They all held an assault rifle, but also carried a broadsword upon their hip, opposite to a bowie knife and a revolver on the other side of their waist.

"You could hear them! You could FEEL THEM! And now, you shall SEE them. And if anything I've taught you has sunken into your thick skulls, then today... you will TASTE their blood!" cried Robert Andrist, the leader of the men he now spoke to. He wore a crimson robe over his bright red armor, giving the look of an overly flamboyant monarch.

"Gragas! Perry!" He called as he turned his head to the side. In response, two younger men stepped forward from behind him, both of them taking position to each of his sides.

"You hit 'em first. Take twelve of these dogs with you on the left and right sides. Kill them QUICKLY! If they make it past the pillars," he said pointing to the only two remaining pillars in the hallway, both of which had nothing to support, "I'm gonna go in. And you DON'T want me to go in." As he finished, both of his younger cousins nodded in unison and walked forwards, past the rows of men. They both held up their right hands and yelled for their men to follow. The men simultaneously turned around and began marching behind the two, making their way to the same rubble gate from which the Golden Mercenaries began their assault.

---

"TWO GROUPS!" Julian called out as he quickly flew from the left side of the hall way to the right. From the other side Ishigo nodded and whipped around, stopping right infront of the gate. He raised a hand and waited...

Julian saw the two groups and was immediately spotted. In response the cousins looked at each other and smirked, "TAKE 'EM OUT!" they yelled, and in response the men began firing off bursts of their rifles at Julians locaiton. Julian darted back and forth in his smoke form, trying his best to dodge the wave of bullets.

"THEY AREN'T COMING CLOSER!" he yelled as he continued to dodge the bullets while allowing others to slip right through him (an act that drained a bit of his spirit).

Ishigo sighed, "Damnit..." He then turned to a group of three mercenaries that knelt behind the rest of the mercs and he threw his hand down. In response, the mercenaries, who had three grenade launchers prepared, fired off one round of their explosive weapons and caused the entire wall to explode into a mess of debris. The second the grenades made contact, Ishigo dematerialied into the shadows of the rubble and somersaulted out of a shadow on the other side. Just as this happened, the three mercenaries darted forward, followed by the other two that had taken the front line, and they began unleashing a spray of bullets upon the men who were focusing on Julian. The shots managed to take down about three men from each side, and but the cousins remained unscathed. In response, both cousins dodged to the left of the walls and allowed their squads to take the fire for them.

Iktomi's body twisted and turned as he darted along the walls, bullets flying all around him. The Mercs were quite adept at the art of distraction it would appear, as nearly all of the gang members were focused on them, allowing him to slide up the left side with relative ease. His luck soon ran out as a group of three men appeared in front of him, blocking off his path to the cousins, and more importantly, the leader. His lips slipped into a slight frown as he brought his blade up. "I really don't have the time, nor the inclination to deal with you pathetic fools. Die." Swinging his blade Iktomi sent out three needles, piercing each man through the eye. As they collapsed he moved past them, his eyes set on the cousins.

Ishigo followed suit, but ran towards the right side. The cousin on the left seemed to dodge backwards, slipping behind the man. Ishigo shook his head and broke into an all out sprint, holding his right forearm diagonally in front of him while letting his left arm trail behind. As he neared the men, a few of them took aim and shot at him, but he simply kicked his left foot forward, arching it to the right to brake himself. Afterwards, he shot his left arm up and caused the shadows of the men (which fell to the left) to fly up in a thick, rope-like projection that pierced through at least half of their rifles. After wards Ishigo spun the other direction and crouched, moving his arms in a way that caused the shadows to project further through the rifles and go all the way around, until the targets' necks were subjected to a black, noose of shadows. Ishigo then clenched his right fist and tugged an invisible rope with his right arm, immediately causing the wrapped men to let go of their rifles and reach for their necks, which were instantaneously snapped. As four of the men dropped dead, the other four began to shoot at Ishigo, but he simply thrust his right forearm up, causing his own shadow to form a wall in front of him that asborbed the gunfire. Don't push it Ishigo... you've got two minutes for the wall.

Two Golden Mercenaries who spotted Ishigo's pinned position ran forward and began firing off rounds that managed to pierce through the abdomens of two blood saints that were on the verge of flanking Ishigo. Ishigo took this opportunity to use his left arm and push it forward, causing the shadow shield to propel forwards as well and knocked the rest of the men off balance. As he did this, the two Golden Mercenaries fired off the last of their current magazine's rounds, effectively killing the two they had wounded. Lacking the time needd to reload, the quickly slung their rifles to their back and drew their tantos. In a quick slash, the first Golden Mercenary sliced off one of the remaining Blood Saint's hands, and as he cried out in pain, he spun and slit his throat. The other Mercenary thrust forward to stab the Saint, but his attack was slapped away with the butt of the Saint's rifle, and as the Golden Mercenary tried to spin into his deflected attack, he was met with a burst of bullets that ran up his spine, instantly killing him. The other mercenary screamed as this happened and attempted to dive forward to stab the Saint's head, but the cousin, who had been creeping forward ever so steadily, swung his arm around, slamming it right into the lunging Mercenary's abdomen. However, instead of a normal thud, the force of the impact resulted in a piercing, flesh-tearing sound. The cousin retrieved his hand, only to reveal a huge metal blade protruding right out of his forearm. The mercenary fell to the ground, gurgling blood for mere seconds before he died as well.

As Iktomi took another step towards the cousin with a blade jutting from his arm, he pushed himself into the air manipulating the threads that made up his silk robe in order to levitate. Flying forward with a burst of speed, Iktomi swiftly angled himself away from Perry the blade user, and instead barred down upon Gragas. However he was intercepted as one of the gang members tackled him out of the air. Losing concentration on the manipulating to levitate, Iktomi hit the ground hard. Shaking his head clear, he quickly caused the webbing of his robe to jut out in spikes, impaling the man. Retracting the spikes, Iktomi pushed the man off of him. Hearing the rapid approach of another man, he attempted to turn to receive him before shots rang out from the opposite direction as Mercs came to back him up. Leaping off of the ground, Iktomi spun his blade in a quick half circle before slashing the throat of another Saint, his blood coating Iktomi's face. Forcing himself to focus once more, Iktomi turned toward Gragas, and the single Saint standing between them, as the other four were being occupied by the Golden Mercs. Thrusting out his hand he sent a miniature barrage of needles from his robe, which at this point only covered his upper body, swiftly ending the life of the Saint. "There is no more running for you my friend. Face me, and be consumed by an entity far above your comprehension." Gragas merely laughed at his words and cracked his neck by turning it to each side. He then smiled menacingly and cracked his knuckles as well. He stood a good foot over Iktomi, and had a great deal of mass that made him tower over the man. He broke into a jog towards Iktomi, which eventually turned into a sprint. He then roared in an inhuman, feral voice, as he charged head on towards Iktomi like the beast he appeared to be. As he neared Iktomi, he swung his right arm back and launched it forward, like a hammer being driven into a nail.

However, in the middle of his swing, his fist grew to the size of a large boulder, bigger than his entire body itself, as it was brought down upon Iktomi.

Iktomi's expression remained neutral even as the gargatuan fist rapidly approached his position. Before it could collide into him, Iktomi dashed to the side. However, his speed wasn't quite enough as the fist clipped his right hand, shattering his wrist. Shaking off the pain to the best of his ability, Iktomi leveled his sword at Gragas before manipulating the threads to elongate them and shrink their width, turning the blade into a spear coming straight for Gragas' chest.

Gragas raised a brow at the spear that flew towards him. He simply held his forearms infront of him, and within a second, they expanded to a size that covered his entire body. The spear thrust right into his left forearm, and a spray of blood splashed onto the ground, but Gragas simply tore the spear out and watched as it fell apart into the small pool of blood that formed beneath him. He smiled menacingly, seemingly to be unaffected by the loss of blood, and proceeded to charge once more towards Iktomi.

Iktomi's lips dipped into a frown, before he forced the remaining silk that made up his robe into his mouth. Excreting the paralytic venom from his fangs he soaked the threads, before he rapidly fired out needles from his lips, aiming primairly at the behemoth's torso. Gragas did nothing to respond to the new attack, taking each needle and feeling nothing more than an itch. He then reared up and shot his expanded fist forward, launching his entire body after it.

Iktomi simply smirked wickedly, before dodging the fist and charge all together, waiting paitiently for the venom to kick in and idly chewing at the wad of thread left in his mouth. Gragas had already felt his body slow down mid-charge, and his attack was easily dodged, causing him to crash into the standing pillar, bringing it down on top of him. Right afterwards, he found it impossible to move, and he lay there, paralyzed under a heap of rubble that exposed only his head.

Slowly Iktomi walked towards the now fallen host, before coming to a halt above his head. Lowering himself, Iktomi stared right into the man's eyes as he spoke in his lifeless voice. "This is what happens when a fly challenges a spider. They get caught in their own stupidity and die." Opening his mouth Iktomi shot a small blade of the remaining silk straight into Gragas' forehead. Keeping his lips parted, Iktomi absorbed the man's soul through his mouth, purely for asthetic purposes. Finishing the deed, Iktomi turned away, flicking his hand to gather the blood coated thread behind him in a large sphere.

On the other side, Ishigo deflected yet another strike from the half-human, half-blade Perry. Ishigo was lucky enough to find that the supporting Golden Mercenaries managed to pick off the last Saint, and now, he could focus on Perry. Ishigo waited until Perry attempted another spinning slash and ducked underneath it, finally managing to touch the man's shadow. He immediately dashed backwards and pulled another invisible rope, causing his shadow to form a spear that shot towards his back. However Perry simply smiled and shivered, causing two sharp blades to shoot from his shoulder blades and stop the solidified shadow in its tracks. Ishigo raised a brow and coughed softly, feeling his fatigue and breathlessness kick in. He'll feel it before he sees it. said Jin, but Ishigo simply could not understand how he "felt" it. Perry laughed and charged forward, thrusting a straight jab with both arms towards Ishigo's torso. Ishigo backflipped out of the way and landed on one knee, and the second he looked up, he noticed something peculiar. There hadn't been a second in which Perry's feet were both suspended in the air. Contact with the ground. Draw him up. Ishigo thought quickly and efficiently, formulating a strategy within seconds. As Perry charged at him for another attack, Ishigo jumped up and over him, dashing straight for the last pillar that remained standing. Perry screamed as he saw he had been overtaken and dashed for Ishigo. Once he was close enough, Ishigo dove for the pillar, expecting Perry to do the same, and to his satsifaction, he had done exactly that. The second Ishigo hit the ground, right before Perry landed ontop of him, he shot two spears from his own shadow upward, impaling Perry through the chest before any of his sensory blades could deflect the attack. Ishigo coughed at the strain and lay there for a second with Perry suspended above him, lifeless and bloody. With a quick roll, Ishigo moved out of the way and let the shadow collapse.

At the beginning of the hallway, Hector leaned against Iosaf and directed his mercenaries to move forward. "IT'S OVER ROBERT! WE"VE WON!" Opposite of his shouting, Robert stood motionless and emotionless. He had simply watched the carnage unfold, not so much as flinching at the death of his beloved cousins. Hector then called out once more, "WHERE ARE THEY? WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY PEOPLE?!"

At this, Robert smirked, "Mercenary... of course.

They're dead, obviously."

"I presume my men had a similar fate, correct, Robert?" Iktomi's head tilted to the side as he walked up next to Hector. Holding his right arm against his ribs, and the thread sphere remaining suspended behind him, Iktomi gazed passively at the leader of the Blood Saints.

Robert simply smirked, "That little recon party? Their souls barely made an appetizer. Send more next time." He then laughed and glared at the four men, Julian finally having materialized next to Ishigo. "It really sucks to be you right now. That feeling of ALMOST being there? Of being so. damn. CLOSE! You see victory just calling your name, having come this far. But, no, this is where you realize it was all for nothing. ALL FOR NOTHING!" He screamed the last sentence at the top of his lungs, managing to shake his immediate surroundings as his body quickly turned into a shiny, black steel. Before the men could respond he slammed his foot into the ground, causing the floor to shake and throw Hector and Julian off balance. The roof began collapsing, and debris began falling upon the gathered men. Two of the three supporting mercenaries were crushed under the weight of the debris, and the crunching of their skeletons confirmed that they were dead. Julian quickly activated his smokeform and simply let the debris slip through him while Ishigo darted from shadow to shadow. Hector rolled out of the way and yelled to his men, "TAKE HIM OUUUUUT!"

Just as Roberts foot slammed into the ground, two pieces of silk parted from the sphere to cover Iktomi's feet, which he quickly used to levitate himself off of the ground to avoid the tremors. When the debris began to fall from the ceiling he contorted the sphere to cover him in a half dome, leaving him clearly in the sight of Robert while protecting him from the bits of roof. "Robert, your really shouldn't scream. We can all hear you just fine, and your pathetic ramblings are annoying enough without them being yelled. It really isn't proper behavior for the indoors." As he spoke, Iktomi focused a massive amount of his spirit into his mouth, creating thread within it. By the end of his little speech he had enough for a couple of small darts, which is all he hoped he would need. Coating them in venom much like he had before, he breathed them out with a sigh. The darts were miniscule, and would not be able to do much damage even at the speed the moved. However they were aimed at both of Roberts eyes, the only vulnerable area's on the man from what Iktomi could tell.

Part 2 of the Ongoing Collab Between Lost, Skai, and Sage

---

Arianna paced in front of Kisheto, biting her lip nervously out of habit. She glanced up at the top floor, where Iktomi had disappeared. Her mind had been cleared of most of the thoughts, giving her a little leeway towards hearing her own a little better. As a telepathic, it was hard to be able to have your own thoughts when surrounded by people. She wasn't worried about Iktomi, moreso anticipating whether she would get to meet the Golden Mercenaries or not. Perhaps she could ask Kisheto about them, since he was a part of the movement? She turned to look at him, then stopped her pacing and ran a hand through her hair. She would ask him after he got medical attention, unless he magically healed himself before. How could the kage live within Kisheto without presenting itself? How could Kisheto not feel the presence of another soul binded with his own? She could, and it was still a strange sensation compared to the other twenty years of having only her soul inside of her.

Kisheto chuckled softly after coughing once more. He then raised a brow and sat up right, shrugging as he felt no pain. He turned to Arianna and titled his his head to the side, "W-wait, so... why did you follow that needle freak? You whoop ass too? Cuz, really, this isn't a place for someone so..." he squinted, holding his tongue as he feared sounding sexist, "... fragile."

Arianna turned to look at him, taking a deep breath. "I may look fragile, but I've taken down hosts much stronger than you. Usually I just use their weaknesses against them, but when that's not enough, I always have my rapier." She gestured to it. As she did so, Kisheto chuckled, "Wh-what? Did you just call me a..." he then began laughing while clutching the spot where his wound used to be involuntarily. "I'm not a ho! YOU'RE a ho!" he said half-laughing childishly, his cheeks pressed up against his eyes.

Arianna frowned lightly, furrowing her brows in concern. "You've lost too much blood. Either your kage is mute, or you're just denying what has happened to you. It's odd that you don't remember binding with your kage." Kisheto's laughter faded and he shook his head, "Nah, I've got blo- Oh shit, um, I didn't mean to call you a... yeah. Sorry bout that." He said, looking down and shaking his head at his inappropriate comment. "Heh, yah save me and I call yah a ho. Pardon my manners, yo. But yeah, I'm no ho and I have no memory of binding with a cod gay. Sorry, yo." He chuckled once more, rubbing the back of his head as he contemplated whether or not he had, in fact, lost too much blood.

Arianna chuckled, watching him. "I think you have lost too much blood." She sighed softly and sat down next to him, watching the other side of the mall where the battle raged on. "You have a kage within you, Kisheto. I'm afraid you're a "freak", too." Kisheto looked at Arianna and smiled mockingly, "Wow, so first I'm a ho, now I'm a freak?" he chuckled and looked at the other side of the mall as she did. "Nah I'm playin. But trust me, yo. I have no kage. I've been here for a year, I would know if I had a monster inside my body, y'know? Uh... no offense. Heard some of 'em are nice, too." As he spoke, his voice reflected a certain tint of jealousy, as if he felt overly "normal" in comparison to the girl he spoke to.

Arianna glanced over at him, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lip. "It all depends on the kage, and how it affects the person. I've seen hosts with kamikages go mad with power, and then I've seen hosts with onikages suppress the urges and whispers in their minds to live a half-normal life. Either way, we all want out of Sovereign." Kisheto smiled and nodded, "Yup, yup. Don't worry, yo. We'll get out. Hell, I'll break us out myself if I gotta, with or without mutant powers," he chuckled softly as he finished his sentence, but felt his eyelids grow heavy. He shook his head to ward off the fatigue but he couldn't deny it - he was beyond tired, and the wave of fatigue had hit him unexpectedly. At the same time, however, his wounds were completely healed, and the sounds of three bullets hitting the ground woke him up from a microsleep once more. He sighed and eventually gave in, his head slumping against the wall behind him as his vision went to black. "Just watch me.... yo...."

Arianna's eyes widened, standing up as she looked down at the three bullets. His ability was astonishing, and she wondered how this power could go so unnoticed. Gingerly, she reached down and picked one up, feeling it to make sure it was real. It was definitely dented where it had connected with bone, and a little cracked, but there wasn't much blood or bits of bone on it. She let the bullet drop to the ground and sighed softly. These kages never ceased to amaze her.

---

"NO! IT WON'T WORK! NEVER!" Robert yelled as his arm failed to move. He had been pressed backwards by a great ton, as Iktomi's attacks prevented him from charging in and pushing too offensively. At the same time, Ishigo's sneaky offense kept him focused on defense, and Julian would function as the primary distraction.

Robert growled and raised his right leg, quickly coating it in the black steel before thrusting it towards the ground. However, the second he did this, Ishigo shot forward from behind his shadow - a position he had worked for so long to obtain. With a quick pulling motion, he created a thick vine-like shape out of the rest of Robert's shadow and sent it spiraling around his leg. Using every ounce of his strength, he pulled, and spun around, tightening the grip around his leg and holding it above the ground by mere inches.

"Ugh.... GET HIM!" Ishigo yelled between grit teeth. As he yelled this, the remaining Golden Mercenaries fired their rifles at him, which he easily deflected by transofrming the targeted vital areas into the impenetrable metal. Ishigo noticed this and grunted one last time. With a tremendous strain, he let go of the vine for a split second and then pulled an squeezed with all his might until the shadow completely coiled to the point of collapsing within itself. With a loud splatter and scream, Robert fell to the ground, having lost his entire right leg, which was crushed to nothingness in a mere second. Right at that second, Julian rematerialized from above and fell onto Robert's kneeling body, slamming his foot down upon his head.

Robert's head slammed against the ground as well, and Julian immediately shot backwards in a trail of smoke, leaving the man trembling on the ground.

Iktomi grunted as he pushed himself back onto his feet. For the first time he was feeling the drain on his spirit from all of his strenous activities. 'Damn this is not good. I need to get stronger....I NEED MORE.' His eyes tracked the quick movements of both Ishigo and Julian pummeling Robert to the best of their abilities, demolishing the gang leader before they sent him into the wall. Iktomi clenched his fist, forcing the threads all around to gather together before spinning together into a lance.

Iktomi slowly walked towards the now prone Robert, cradling his right hand against his chest as the pain turned to numbness. "You are pathetic Robert. How could a man like you ever have caught my team. It is time for me to send you away from this world." Slashing his hand down Iktomi sent the lance straight towards the eye of Robert, as his metal exoskelton had yet to break down.

Robert couldn't even raise an arm in defense after the abuse he had taken at the hands of the Mercs and Iktomi. He could only widen his eyes before his life was extinguished. Closing the rest of the distance between himself and the now dead Robert, Iktomi dropped to his knees. Absorbing the spirit of the gang leader, Iktomi moved to the side and rested against the wall beside the man. 'Ari I may need assistance getting back to the platform. I am on the fourth floor; just follow the carnage.'

Edward Vates – Present Time – In the old school
“He’s helped us out Jeff, we could at least do the same for him. You don’t want to cross us Monroe. Chiefs a nasty guy and a conduit, anyone we bring him he kills to make himself stronger or whatever it is they do. Do yourself a favour: take your friends and get away from here.” Came the voice of Marvin, one of the two men that Vates had been talking to. Vates had tracked a group of men from the market to an old derelict school and had approached them for answers. Vates had managed to confirm they were from the same gang that had caused him trouble months ago but that they were under a newer and much more hostile leadership. In return Vates, who was posing as ‘Monroe’, told the men where they could roughly find him. This way he would know where his hunters would be and prepare accordingly; and perhaps more importantly it meant he would know where they wouldn’t be.

Vates nodded and did his best to look taken back by the man’s comment and was about to reply when he was interrupted by another voice close by, “Jeff? Marvin? Where are you? The other building was a bust! Let’s regroup!” Vates was surprised at the close proximity of the voice and realised they would probably see and recognise him; although Marvin and Jeff had been new faces to him, the others were from the old group. Vates made the split second decision to take out the merciful Jeff and Marvin as they turned towards the call. Vates lightly pounced forward and placed his right hand on Marvin’s metal pipe and with his left hand dealt a kinetic jolt to his head, knocking him out (a move Vates has come to call the ‘Night-night Palm’). Jeff saw the movement in the corner of his eye and responded quickly… but not quickly enough, taking a pipe to his face as he spun round. Having dispatched of the two for the time being Vates quickly crossed the room to the door he estimated the others to come through. He pressed his back up against the wall and waited for the others to come in.

“What the fuck?!” gasped a figure rushing through the doorway. The man came in with a rapier held ahead of him and his side was left completely vulnerable to Vates who stepped in to him and delivered a night-night palm. Vates turned to face the next two men who stood on the other-side of the frame in a tight corridor. The first of the last two was about the same height as himself but far more muscular and he held in his hand a bowie knife. Vates had a glancing vision, seeing how the opponent would strike at him. Keeping a firm posture and good footing the man lunged forward with the knife in his right hand and aimed to stab Vates in the chest. Rotating to his right slightly, Vates chopped down on the attacking arm with his left hand, sending the thrust reeling off to the right of him where his right hand was able to quickly grasp the wrist. Keeping a hold of the attackers thrusting arm, Vates put his body weight behind a strong left elbow to the attacker’s straightened elbow snapping the bone and causing a vicious open fracture. The man attempted to scream in pain but Vates left hand then quickly swiped at the man’s throat, not quite collapsing it but causing the sound to come to an abrupt halt. Vates then shoulder barged the man backwards before running up his body and leaping off towards the attacker behind, using his light gauntlet to emit a quick series of disorienting flashes as he did so. The second man was not at all prepared for the unorthodox assault and dropped his hammer as Vates used the man’s blindness to tackle him to the ground. The man landed on his back with his legs open enough to allow Vates to deliver a bursting knee to the groin. As the man sat up and yelled in pain Vates fell into the man’s jaw fist first, knocking him out cold.

‘Well that was unpleasant. If only you could have dealt with than demonic child in the same way.’ commented Janus, whom believed and acted like he was above such violence (although secretly finding such encounters disturbingly thrilling).

Vates completely ignored Janus’ remark. Climbing to his feet he turned to the man whose arm he had broken. The man had passed out (possibly from the fall, but Vates couldn’t be sure which of the attacks had caused it) and was clearly in medical need. Fortunately the bleeding, although bad, could have been worse. Vates quickly cut off the man’s sleeve carefully and used most of it to restrict the blood flow at the top of the arm. With the little left he placed it carefully over the wound as best as he could and used the man’s other limp hand to apply a tiny bit of pressure. Having done this Vates quickly looked through the possessions of the others to find a radio or something similar to get help for the man. No radio could be found, but he did find a flare launcher on one of the others. Vates then went outside and fired it into the air, sending up a green trail of smoke. ‘If they didn’t already hate me enough they certainly will now’ thought Vates.

"Wakey wakey."

An isolated woman's voice called Weston from the darkness. It was a familiar voice, one that had followed him--tortured him--for a year, one that knew him better than any friend but spoke to him as an enemy. The voice had no name, but had a distinct identity. It had no body, but held a firm presence in Weston's mind. It sought to weaken him to his breaking point, but granted him immeasurable strength. The voice was that of an Onikage: A shadow of sin and denizen of the Void.

"So I'm not dead then," was Weston's response, plain and simple. He opened his eyes to the sight of dozens of askew tiles forming what could have once been called a ceiling. It was easy to tell the ceiling used to be white, but it had grayed-even blackened-deeply in age. He was laying belly-up on a very uncomfortable cot, without a pillow or napsack of any kind to keep his head propped up. Wherever he was, the place had been empty for a long time, and it showed. "Either that, or the Void is even shittier than you keep telling me," Weston continued mockingly. However, Electrical cords and wiring were woven through the gaps in the tiles leading to some flickering florescent lights, so somebody new must have moved in.

On cue with that thought, another voice spoke: A boy's this time. "Rise and shine, military man," it said in a similar tone to the Onikage's, perhaps with a bit more spite. "Looks like you ain't dead, and she ain't big on killin' survivors, so you're lookin' pretty lucky."

Weston wasn't quite sure who "she" was, but the boy talking was clearly the one he'd met in the alley before blacking out. A turn of the head revealed this to be true, and also confirmed that he was in what was once a hospital: Dozens of stretchers and sheetless beds were scattered across the white speckled floor. The apparent lack of equipment accompanying the bed, along with the asbestos-ridden ceilings showed that the hospital was quite old and probably in the lower districts of Sovereign.

"What, you too hurt to be a smartass now?" the boy spoke again. He stared down Weston with judging hazel eyes, covered partially by his unkempt dark brown hair. He looked a little tall for what Weston guessed was his age, and he was a bit pale and scrawny to boot. His attire was similar to many refugees Weston had seen: A dark winter coat, heavy jeans and leather boots, all worn heavily from a year in Sovereign. The boy laid back in an old office chair with his wiry arms crossed, waiting for a response from the "military man".

Weston smirked as he turned his gaze back to the aged ceiling. "So what'd you score off my body?" he mocked, knowing the six bullets and soggy MRE he was carrying earlier would be of little use to the boy.

"You military guys almost eat as shittily as we do down here," the kid replied, referring to the MRE. "Here I was thinking you assholes ate like kings or some bullshit," he continued. "You're probly some grunt though. I hear them big shots from outside the walls get feasts every night, then toss the leftovers in those ration crates for the survivors." Although the statement was a bit exaggerated, officers did eat pretty well all things considered, and ration crates were only distributed in the ruined city to make it look like the military was doing something. Weston imagined the food inside them wasn't exactly gourmet.

With a groan, he attempted to sit up in the rickety cot, but to no avail. A searing pain shot up his chest from his abdomen. "I'd just chill there for a while if I were you," the boy warned. "Gettin' shot doesn't heal overnight, and she told me not to let you leave this room."

"Wonderful," Weston sighed, laying back down. His curiosity piqued though, he finally decided to ask, "Who's this she? Are you living with a group of some kind?"

On cue, another voice answered, older and female: "It's just the two of us." Weston turned his head to find the source of the voice: A woman wearing a tattered coat stood at the old hospital room's doorway with her arms crossed and a rifle slung on her back. She appeared to be a bit younger than Weston, but definitely older than the boy. Dirt and partially dried mud his most of her dark caramel skin, but only exaggerated the bright faded blue eyes that judged the broken soldier before her. "That's enough about us for now though," she went on, stepping forward into the room, "I'd like to know exactly who you are."

Weston couldn't help but smirk. "Me? I'm nobody," he said. At this point, it was more than true: He had been stripped of his rank and honor. The military had defined him for his entire adult life, and now he was considered their enemy.

The woman shifted her posture in irritation. "Okay than, Nobody, what's your name? And is this uniform yours?"

For a moment, Weston pondered telling them everything: That his was Captain Weston Meyer of the Continental army, that he was a Conduit, that he simply wanted to die. However, his voice spoke differently. "My name is Deekin," he began. "And no, I found this thing on a corpse months ago." Weston was a bit shocked by his own lie, and wasn't totally sure why he had made it. Hopefully, they would buy the story about the uniform even though it wasn't as worn as their clothes, despite the dirt and grime it had collected recently.

"What kind of a name is 'Deekin'?" the boy piped up. "Either this guy's lying or his parents should be sho--"

"Enough, Aiden!" the woman interrupted. She obviously didn't mean to share the boy's name, but tried to hide her fluster by continuing, "Deekin then. What about your weapons?" the woman pointed to a sword bundled up with two holstered pistols, the blade's pommel giving off a faint orange glow.

Deciding to tell at least part of the truth here, Weston answered, "The sword was a gift from my father, and pistols aren't that hard to come by if you keep an eye open." Then he turned the question back to her: "You seemed to get your hands on a rifle pretty easily, and Aiden here was about to gun me down when he found me."

"Yours are military issue, and have fresh cores in them," the woman answered, showing more than a little irritation in her voice.

Suddenly, another figure appeared in the doorway, this time a larger man's. He wore makeshift armor that appeared to be crafted from older military models, and only covered his torso and leg, leaving his arms exposed. He gripped the door frame anxiously and breathed heavily as if he had sprinted there. "Ren," he spoke, eliciting a grimace form the woman for revealing her name. "They followed us back, and we lost Nathan and Derek and--"

"Calm down Zane," she said sternly, approaching the man and resting a hand on his shoulder. Apparently any hope she had of hiding their names from Weston was lost. "I need you to go to Zoey and tell her to have all scouts return to base. If they know where we are now, we'll have to play this defensively."

"Just the two of you, huh?" Weston piped up mockingly.

"I lied," Ren replied bluntly, "Now shut up and stay there. Your wounds still need to heal and this is our problem, not yours." She looked back at the man called Zane. "Now go. Me and Aiden will get the others," she finished, motioning the boy to follow her as she darted out of the room. Zane did the same, but turned the opposite direction outside, leaving "Deekin" alone.

After a moment of silence, the familiar voice spoke from inside his mind: "So, are you just going to lay here?"

With a smirk, Weston answered, "Of course not. Things were just getting interesting."