User blog:A, Mori/The Forged Fates/Chapters 5-8

Section Selection

Chapter 5: Rebellion
Zachary's voice echoed through the speakers in the building.

" Revelian Zeronius, report to my office, right now. This is urgent. I repeat, Revelian Zeronius, report to my office, right now. "

Zachary interlocked his fingers and placed them onto his desk.

" ... He sure is taking his time. " Ludicrine commented.

" I know. That's why I'm nervous. "

" You think maybe he didn't show up for work today? " Samuel asked.

" He signed in, though. "

" But he never signed out. So we don't know when he left. "

Suddenly, the door to the office swung open with a load roar. Zachary immediately jumped out of his chair.

" Revel-! "

" I came as fast as I could! " Lazro exclaimed, panting.

Zachary slowly sat back down.

" I... I didn't call for you. "

" But you called Revelian for another mission meeting, right? " Lazro asked.

" ... not exactly. "

" Then... why's everyone else here? " Lazro looked around. " ... Hey, are you guys trying to get rid of me?? "

" Nope. It's not about a mission, Lazzy. "

" Sorry, though. We should have invited you. " Zachary said. " You're still a part of this team... "

" ... what's going on, exactly? "

" We were kind of going to scold Revelian. "

" For what? " Lazro asked. " What did he do? "

" He broke the rules of the agreement. " Zachary plainly said. " He went off on his own, without our authorization for a mission. "

" What?? " Lazro asked.

" He apparently went and killed Sand. "

" What?!! "

" ... "

The whole room looked solemn.

" No way... " Lazro blinked. " How do we know he even did this?? "

" Thanks to our buddies in the government. " Ludicrine stated.

" There's a video... " Zachary muttered.

" ... Really? "

" So we're told. " Samuel stated.

" N... no way. This is Revelian... "

" I kind of feel the same way... it's just... hard to believe he'd do this? " Samuel said. " I mean, he does sometimes try to take things over for himself, but he wouldn't go without the permission of the gang. He's one of us... "

" I... I'm kind of hesitant to actually show you guys the video, because of what's on it. "

" I can't believe it. " said Lazro. " Not until I see it... "

" Really? "

" Yeah, me, too. "

" I trust you, Zach, but if we need to see it, then I'm fine with it. "

Zachary hesitated for a moment, and then sighed. " Alright... let me pull it up for you guys. "

Zachary pressed a number of buttons on his computer for a few moments. Then, after a while, he turned the monitor over towards the others.

" Again, I guess I should warn you guys about what's on here... "

" We can handle it. " Samuel spoke. Lazro nodded in agreement.

" Okay. Here you go... "

Zachary pressed another button. Suddenly, the computer screen lit up.

''A number of images flashed across it. It was familiar to all of the group. It looked like the room that they had encountered Dr. Sand in on the Anubis, only littered with small and subtle differences. Dr. Sand seemed to stand in front of where the camera was pointing.''

"HS ffcc66 (Test flight for the Erlik is a go...)" The computer's speakers let out the sound of Dr. Sand's voice, which rang familiarity against their ears.

The screen showed Dr. Sand moving around a number of terminals, pressing buttons and levers and all sorts of other contraptions.

''"HS ffcc66 (... Huh??)" Dr. Sand's voice carried a sense of worry and surprise. "HS ffcc66 (Unidentified aerial object detected... how the hell could anyone have found this already...?)"''

Dr. Sand was shown to be rubbing his head.

''"HS ffcc66 (... Must be some sort of flying monster. No worries...)" Dr. Sand coughed. "HS ffcc66 (If it comes any closer, we'll start shooting it out of the sky.)"''

The image suddenly filled with colours of red, and the speakers rang with the sounds of alarms blaring.

''"HS ffcc66 (What the hell?!)" Dr. Sand exclaimed. "HS ffcc66 (It's breached the ship... how is it moving so fast??)"''

The image showed Dr. Sand looking around at a number of monitors.

"HS ffcc66 (Engines attacked... It-it can't be... how is he here?!!)"

''Suddenly, Dr. Sand looked up towards the large glass pane before him. Outside of the widow stood the silhouette of a figure.''

"HS ffcc66 (N-no... it can't be...!)"

''The figure broke through the glass, shattering it. The figure stepped into the visible light.''

''The room was filled with gasps, as the figure appeared to be Revelian. It was a big, one-eyed gridmaskian figure, with spiky hair, and Revelian's outfit.''

''"HS ffcc66 (You... n-no... what are you doing here?!)" Dr. Sand's voice was now frantic and panicked. The man sounded like he was facing a monster.''

The image of Revelian on the monitor did not speak or respond.

''Suddenly, the image of Revelian reached out his hand. Dr. Sand seemed to be impossibly drawn to it, and flew through the air until Revelian's hand was wrapped around his neck. Dr. Sand gasped and struggled, punching Revelian with all of his might, but to no effect.''

Dr. Sand's struggling slowly came to a stop.

The image of Revelian moved out, carrying Sand's unmoving body out of the ship.

The ship was then shown to crash, and the video turned to static.

The room was silent for some time more.

" ... the ship was recovered, along with the video... and we were notified it and given permission to interrogate and apprehend Revelian. "

" I... I can't believe it. " Lazro managed.

" Are we sure that was him? " Samuel asked.

" I had doubts myself when I first saw this... but, I thought about it, and it's kind of hard to say that it was someone else. If there was any sort of look-alike that pulled this off, then it's a mighty big coincidence that it's specifically a look-alike of Revelian... and that it can match his power, too. " Zachary sighed. " I guess we can't really be 100% sure about it until we get a confession, but right now, he's under enough evidence to be put under arrest. "

" Look on the bright side. At least we're not going to have any more sand attacks, right? " Ludicrine piped up. " I mean, all there is to do now is to find the Medusa doohickey and save everyone who's petrified in sand. "

" The Medusa technology on the ship this video was recovered from is nowhere to be found. "

" It self-destructed like the other ones? " Lazro asked.

" No, " Zachary responded, " there's reason to believe that it was taken off of the ship. The remains of the Medusa Generators couldn't be found, so we don't believe that they were destroyed. "

" Then who has the Medusa Generators? " Samuel asked. " Y-you can't be saying that we think it's Revelian? Why would he take them and not tell us about it? "

" I... I think the same question can be asked about why he went off and killed Sand without telling us about it. " Zachary sighed.

The room was silent for a while longer.

" I... I'm guessing that you guys have also been thinking about... what Sand said... "

" What?? "

" What're you getting at?

" I think you know... I mean, it's about Revelian... the dark matter invasion... "

" Wait, you don't actually think that stuff Sand was on about is legit, do you? "

" I'm sorry, but I'm not entirely sure that we're safe trusting Revelian. Especially after what just happened. "

" I mean... going off and killing the bad guy, sure, that's pretty bad, but this is Revelian... "

" I just don't want Ludus to have anoth--a dark matter invasion. " Zachary quickly spoke. " ... we've been through enough already. And right now I'm not sure how much I can trust Revelian... "

" So, what're you saying? " Ludicrine asked. " We're just gonna head off, find him, and arrest him? "

" We're going to try to get him to turn himself in peacefully, yeah. We'll at least give him the benefit of the doubt, though. Once we find the Medusa Generators and fix everything, then we'll try our best to get him free, and... try our best to have things return to normal. Until then, the first step is an interrogation... "

Zachary sighed.

" I know it's kind of odd to be in this situation, again... but we have to pull through and get to the bottom of this. "

Zachary looked up towards his colleagues.

" Do you guys agree with this? "

" Sure... " Lazro and Ludicrine slowly nodded.

" Alright, thank you. "

" So, when are we going to interrogate? " Samuel asked.

" Whenever he shoes up. " Zachary responded. " If he doesn't show up by the end of the work day, though, then we can meet up first thing tomorrow, go to his castle, and see if he's there. "

" Sounds like a plan. "

" In the meantime, let's just chat, I guess... "

The four proceeded to chat throughout the rest of the work day.

" Revelian didn't show up, then... "

" I guess we'll have to go about it tomorrow. "

Zachary sighed. " I can't believe this... "

" It's a shame that this all has to happen so close to our anniversary, too. " Ludicrine emphatically sighed.

Chapter 6: Pressure
" Thanks for meeting this early in the morning, guys. " Zachary nodded to his colleagues. " We can head off to Revelian's house, now. "

" Are we walking or riding? "

" We'll be taking one of the company automotives. "

" M'kay, then. "

Zachary pounded on the large front door of the Zeronius castle. There were some muffled voices, shouting, coming from the inside. Then, a stout purple figure opened the door.

" Hello. "

" Hi, Cygnus. "

" Yo, what's up? " Cygnus waved.

" We need to see Revelian. " said Zachary. " Is he home? "

Cygnus snorted. " You think I would've answered the door if he wasn't? "

" We alright to come in? "

" Hold up. " She turned from the door.

" Company! "

" Who is it?! "

" It's me! " " It's Sam! "

Cygnus giggled. " Dragon, angel, glasses, cyan! "

" Alright! "

Cygnus opened the door. " Come on in, dudes. "

The four entered Revelian's abode.

" Be with you in a second! " Revelian called out from across his castle.

Before they all could even settle down, Revelian was hurrying up towards them.

" Hey, why're you all here so early? " Revelian asked them.

Zachary held up a piece of paper.

" What's this? " Revelian looked it over quickly. " ... authorized interrogation of Revelian--what's this about?! "

" I think you might know, but I'm kind of hoping you don't. " Zachary sighed.

" ... what the hell is going on? "

" Revvy, " Ludicrine suddenly spoke, " would you mind sitting down? "

Revelian looked them over with visible anger and uneasiness. However, he slowly pulled a chair over, turned it around, and sat down in it.

" ... good... " Ludicrine blinked. " ... er... what now? "

" Can you tell me what the hell this is about?? "

" Revelian, " Zachary interrupted, " we have reason to believe that you've gone off without authorization. "

" ... what are you talking about? "

" Just a few days ago, we all agreed that we wouldn't go attacking Sand's or anyone else's forces without agreeing to what was going on first. "

" Yeah, I know. And I haven't gone off and done anything since we were on his ship. "

Zachary sighed. " Well, right now there's a lot of evidence saying otherwise. "

Revelian jumped out of his chair. " What are you talking about?! "

Revelian was expectant of a response, though the gang was silent, and held a solemn air.

" There's a video that shows you on Sand's ship, and it shows you killing him... "

" What?! "

" There's also no sign of a Medusa Generator on the ship anymore, meaning that they've been stolen. "

" There's no way that's true! "

" Well, we couldn't find you during the time that it happened... "

" Come on, guys! " Revelian laughed a bit nervously. " You know me, I wouldn't do that. "

" Not to be rude, but you kind of just did. " Ludicrine raised a hand. " I've forgiven you for the whole "Blue Buddies" incident, and you've made up for it the best you can, I know, but it's not really that far away that I still have as much trust in you as I've had before. I don't know what I can say for everybody else, but I hope for their sake, whatever they believe in turns out to be right. "

" ... " Revelian was silent, but stared at the others with some contempt.

" ... Revelian, we can go somewhere if we can just know what's really going on... can you tell us? "

" I don't know what this is even about! " Revelian started to raise his voice. " I swear, I haven't done anything! "

The room was silenced, filled only with the sound of Revelian's loud breathing.

" Revelian... " Samuel suddenly spoke, bringing Revelian to look his way. " Can I ask... you never explained to us how you combined from Raserai and Verlassen... how did you? "

Revelian simply stared at him.

" It... it doesn't matter. "

" Revelian, please, now really isn't the time for- "

" I said it doesn't matter. " Revelian interrupted him. " ... why can't you just listen and trust in me...? "

" ... where were you yesterday? " Samuel asked, with a hushed, hoarse voice. " You didn't sign out or anything, you just left all of a sudden... "

Revelian stood up, but was silent for a moment. " ... this is bullshit... I shouldn't have to take this from you guys, of all people... "

Revelian angrily stood for a moment, looking as if he were about to act. However, he merely stormed out of the room. The room was silent for some time after, until the loud slam of a door could be heard.

Zachary sighed. " ... I... I'm not sure if he's lying, if he believes he didn't do it, or if he actually didn't do it... but he's doing a pretty good job making us feel guilty about accusing him. "

" He's hurt that we don't trust him. I get it... " Ludicrine closed his eye.

" What exactly should we do, then? "

" Give him some space, first... I think his own guilt will catch up to him at some point, and then we'll know the truth. It's happened before... we can at least trust him this far, and let it be a sign. "

Zachary sighed again. " I hope you're right... it's not exactly the most logical approach per se, but it sounds like something that could work. "

" I'll just be glad when we can put this behind us... " Ludicrine hummed quietly.

The gang waited for a few minutes, in a bit of silence. There was a number of bored sighs that escaped their mouths as they looked around the room of the Zeronius Manor, in expectation for whatever symbol.

However, this silence was interrupted by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching from down the hallway. The gang looked expectantly towards the doorframe, and saw Cygnus sliding quickly to a halt in front of it.

" ... hiya. "

" Hey, uh, I was eavesdroppin' a bit earlier, " Cygnus took a moment to catch her breath, " and, you guys don't want Rev to leave the place, do you? "

" Um... not exactly until we're assured he'll go with us peacefully, no... " Zachary blinked. " Why, does he want to leave? "

" Dunno. Do you know where he is? "

" What?? "

" 'Cause I just checked, he ain't in his bedroom, and I don't know where he is. "

" What??! "

" ... uh-oh. "

Zachary looked back towards the others. " Let's go outside and try to find him! Cygnus, we need you to stay here, in case he hasn't left or if he comes back, okay? "

" Yeah. " Cygnus nervously managed.

" Come on, guys. "

Zachary ran towards the front door, with the others following suit. Shortly after he exited, however, he came to a stop.

Zach looked upwards, and the others did the same. Above them was a large airship which appeared similar to the Anubis they had seen before. However, it currently was much closer to the ground.

The four could also see what appeared to be the figure of Revelian slowly floating up to it.

" Oh no... "

" REVELIAN!! " Zachary called out to the dark matter.

It seemed to be that Revelian could not hear him, as he boarded the ship. It started to fly quickly, and then, suddenly, it warped away.

" I can't believe it... " Ludicrine slumped. " He... flat-out betrayed us! "

" I can't believe... we trusted that jackass, and he turns out to be the one commanding the forces...! " Zachary looked on with anger.

" Wait, let's not be quick to assume that! " Samuel suddenly advised. " He could've been kidnapped or taken hostage... I mean, that's one of Dr. Sand's ships, right? It's not like Revelian and Sand's forces are on good terms at all. "

Zachary turned back to him.

" Maybe... but I have a pretty sinking feeling that's not the case... " Zachary sighed. " We can at least hope that's how it is... "

A metallic voice spoke, ringing throughout the dark star:

"HS ff000 (Alright. It's time to begin the invasion of Ludus...)"

Chapter 7: Second Conquest
It had only been a short time after Revelian was identified boarding the Grim Reaper before the invasion began.

The two CEOs of LDZX, as well as two high-ranking workers for the company, came across a city nearby the Zeronius Manor, in an attempt to once again come in contact with the government and alert them to the events that were proceeding. However, as it seemed, they, along with most people, were already aware of the dangers that were there.

A storm of worker dark matters had begun terrorizing the streets, taking up violent attempts of wounding and perhaps killing their victims. Not only was this commonly successfully accomplished, it was done so exceedingly well, it seemed.

Though, another irregularity pervaded through the town. The worker dark matters themselves could release attacks that petrified their victims in stone, making them appear like statues. This was something that shared similarities with only one thing seen in the past: the effects of the Medusa Generators.

" ... time to call in the reinforcements. " Zachary muttered.

With a short phone call to his good friend Thomas, the seashore base army was on their way for deployment. Zachary and the others did their best to hold off the forces in the meanwhile, until a number of gridmask soldiers and skeletal soldiers appeared on the scene.

The four later sought a temporary shelter, awaiting further plans for what was to be done.

Zachary leaned back into his office chair.

" Oh, god... " He muttered, breaking into a nervous sweat. " I can't believe that it's happening again... "

Zachary quickly leaned over his desk, trying to steady his breath.

" Another invasion... another great conquest... " He found himself involuntarily muttering this. " I can't believe it... "

Zachary tried to settle himself in this. He would hold back the despair of years and years from his life for just a few more hours, he could hope.

" We're getting reports that Dr. Sand is apparently... sending threats for more attacks. " Zachary informed the others.

" What?? " Lazro questioned. " But... he's dead... isn't he? "

" According to the nature of the messages received, that's... kind of unknown. " answered Zachary. " There's an utmost certainty that he's the one who's in the messages, at least... we don't know who exactly is sending them, or why, though... "

" Huh... " Ludicrine managed.

" That's... kind of messed up... "

" Considering the previous nature of Dr. Sand that we've seen before, though, it's incredibly unlike him to be doing this... especially since it's succeeded in compromising his location. " Zachary sighed.

" So we know where he is? " Ludicrine asked, somewhat enthusiastically.

" Theoretically, we know where the signal is coming from. " Zachary responded. " We at least know where he's been, and we're hoping that we can find him, or whoever it is, there. "

" Well, where is it coming from? " Ludicrine questioned. " Where is this guy? "

" He's apparently based at a factory. It's near a number of power plants located in the Oktov. " Zachary answered.

" Wait, the power plants? " Samuel questioned.

" Yes. They're the ones that have been providing power to the Okto-Gredile border and Universe City, for the most part. What's also interesting is that a couple of them were destroyed recently... and a number of dark matters have been found roaming around there. "

" It was destroyed... just the other day, when we came back from the Anubis, I saw it... "

" Really...? " Zachary looked a bit confused. " What do you think that means? "

" I'm not sure... but I thought it was destroyed by Dr. Sand? "

" Sources say that probably wasn't the case, considering how it was destroyed. " Zachary sighed. " It's kind of a grim thought, about how long the enemy has been right under our noses... "

The room was solemnly silent for a moment.

" ... so, what're we gonna do, then? "

" Well, everybody else is currently occupied with the dark matter invasion... so that kind of leaves us with the job of going to the factory, I guess. " Zachary responded. " ... I'm hoping that this is supposed to mean for us some way of trying to end this whole war, or something. I'm... not exactly sure what to think is behind all this, right now, but... I am getting a pretty bad feeling about whatever's waiting for us there. "

Zachary closed his eyes, and let out a sigh with fluttering breath.

" Once again, I feel it's best to say this... if you guys are having any second thoughts about joining, you don't have to... it's no requirement for you all to risk your lives in this. "

" I'm in. " Ludi immediately responded.

" Me, too. " Lazro followed.

" Yeah, same here. " Samuel finished.

" I... I'm kind of surprised you all agreed to this, again. "

" Hey, we're a team. " Ludicrine stated. " You can't just split us up. "

" Aheh... thanks, you guys. " Zachary feebly smiled. " We could always use your help... "

Zachary stood up.

" ... we'll get there by train. We'll stay together the whole time, but, please, try to stay safe yourselves, if it comes to it. "

There was a resounding agreement from the others.

" Alright... let's head out. " Zachary instructed.

The first half of the train ride was a safe experience for the four.

Chapter 8: Descending
" I... I still can't believe it... " Ludicrine let out a sigh. " Revelian flat out betrayed us like this... "

Ludicrine turned in his chair.

" I kind of feel like hitting myself for it, just a bit. Even if it makes me a jerk. You know why? Because he did this before. And we let him do it again. "

Ludicrine twisted around.

" I mean, it's pretty sucky of me to not trust him again after all he went through... but I also kind of feel like it would've been better for me to have never trusted him, what with all the two-timing. Actually, just for the recent times, " Ludicrine quickly added, " I mean, we kind of got off well with the blue buddies thing, and all the time before... it was good to trust him? He was a good friend. "

Ludicrine slumped back down into his chair.

" I kind of hope that we can actually try and work through this. Somehow... I definitely don't approve of all the carp that he's doing, but I also miss him as a friend... "

" ... some kind of friend we've got, then... " Zachary commented.

" It's hard to judge his character. You know that he's had his moments before. It's... it's the recent death in the family, I'm guessing. He's been really attached to his brother, and it's hit him really hard. He's not taking it the best way, but... there's not really a promise that he'll never go back to being the friend we've known and loved before, ya' know? "

" I really do kind of hope we get the old Rev back, too. " Samuel suddenly piped up. " At least some non-evil version of him. "

" ... I can complain that he isn't the most enjoyable person to have around sometimes... but he is still our friend. " Lazro joined in. " ... call me crazy, but, if we ever get through all this, I'm sure he probably still will be our friend. I dunno... "

Zachary audibly sighed.

" I'm sorry if I don't agree with you guys entirely here... I liked hanging out with him before, but... it's kind of hard to call him "friend" now. "

" ... I... I mean... " Ludicrine started. " ... maybe you could lighten up a bit on him, Zach. He might really be innocent in all of this, who knows. But, even not... it's hard to believe that it's not gonna bounce back and return to normal, you know? "

" How can you say that? " Zachary hissed in an irritable tone. " How do you know this isn't going to end with one of us having to kill Revelian?? "

The others were taken aback by Zachary's words. For a while, they then sat in silence, mouths agape, unable to respond to Zachary's question, and clearly utterly horrified at the very thought of it. Zachary looked at them with a serious expression, which eventually died down, as he looked away.

" Zach... " Ludicrine started, a bit fearfully, almost as if worrying that he could set Zachary off onto another suggestion like the one he had just presented. " Wh... why are you saying this? "

" I... I'm being realistic here, guys. " Zachary replied. " Things have worked out pretty well before, but... it's not like it's always going to turn out that way. "

" But... "

Zachary sighed again, and turned away from the others. " I'm sorry... it's just... I think it's having to do with the whole fact that we're in this kind of situation, anyway. "

Zachary let out another sigh, as the gang looked on in silence.

" Just... " Zachary's voice trailed off for a moment. " ... there was a time before when I was ready to kill someone who was just going to get to live. It was because of a personal death close to me that I was angry enough to be about to do it... I'm... kind of being reminded of it a lot now, so I'm not sure what I'll do. As for you guys... I'm pretty sure you guys might end up the same way if anyone you care about here ends up the same way... "

" Wait, who was it that you were ready to kill? "

" You weren't around when it happened, Sam, but... well, it was going to be Kuipter. "

Ludicrine gasped, and Lazro's eyes widened.

" D-didn't Kuipter already die? " Lazro asked.

" He did, but it was because Shenny popped up and surprise killed him. Revelian was just going to let him go, on the promise that he never show his face again. "

" Yeah... I... I kind of couldn't accept that. " Zachary said. " I knew I wasn't in any state to fight him at the time, but I'd promised myself that, when I was well enough, I'd track Kui down and duel him to the death... "

" W-why?? " Ludicrine asked. " That's... kind of really, really unlike you... even after Revelian would've let him live? "

" Yeah, I know... I kind of wasn't in the right mindset then, I guess, but... I was pretty sure that, because of a couple things that Kuipter said... well, I was pretty sure that he's the person who killed my father. "

The others were in silent shock.

" I don't exactly know now... I... I would have to see Kuipter again. See how he fights, how he acts, look at his face, close enough... then I'd know for sure. But, I'm never going to get that chance, I know... he's dead now. "

Zachary was once again met with no response.

" I... I don't know exactly what to think about Revelian, but... I know that what he's doing isn't good. And I just don't know what's going to happen to him by the end of this... "

Ludicrine reached over and gave Zachary a hearty pat on the back.

" Hey, c'mon. We'll work through this. " Ludicrine assured him. " Just like we always do, right? "

" ... are you sure? " Zachary asked. " Maybe... maybe we're just doomed to lose this one... "

" So what if we're doomed? We have the power to change our fates, for the better. We'll work something out for the very best. "

Zachary sighed and smiled. " I hope so... "

" Yeah, aheh. " Samuel smiled cheerfully. " Things may look dark now, but they've looked dark before, haven't they? And we have gotten through it. I'm sure we can do the same now, whether we're facing Dr. Sand, Revelian, or whoever. "

" Aheh... "

Lazro looked out through the window. " Another train is coming alongside us... "

" Isn't that dangerous? " Samuel asked. " Like, isn't it supposed to be only one train to a set of tracks, in case there's a cross in the two tracks? "

" Uh, yeah, I think so. " Lazro replied. " Or else they'd crash, probably. "

" Then why's that other train getting so close to us?? "

" I dunno... but it smells like trouble to me. "

" Uh oh... "

The train was approaching near their level, meaning that it was going at a surprising speed. As it came closer into view, it was visible that the train's passengers were hostile adversaries; the train was full of dark matters.

" Woah!! " Lazro exclaimed. " We've got company!! "

Ludicrine and Zachary rushed over to the windows they were looking at.

" H-HEY! " Ludicrine managed, seemingly without a purpose.

The dark matters then took note of the passengers of the nearby train, and began breaking and opening their windows.

" Oh, crap... " Zachary muttered.

Lazro held up his hairpin.

" C'mon, lucky break, please... " Lazro murmured, as the hairpin then turned into a chartreuse rock. " Oh, come on! "

" Ahh! " Samuel yelled as a few dark matters came close to the windows.

Ludicrine quickly acted, hitting a dark matter with an anchor. The window in between them shattered, letting out the sound of howling winds. The dark matter was hit, causing it to shake and its eye to dim. It ceased movement, and slowly fell behind. The train's motion made it seem as if the damaged dark matter was going away rapidly.

Zachary grabbed for his pistol and shot a few bullets. The dark matters he shot shook when being hit, though seemed not as fazed as by the anchor.

Suddenly, an explosion could be heard from nearby. The gang struggled to keep steady as the train shook in its motion.

" That sounded like it was coming from the engine room! " Zachary exclaimed.

" They took out the engines! We're gonna be sitting ducks for these guys! "

" Get to the front of the train! " Zachary commanded. " We'll wait until the train is slow enough for us to get off, and then we'll try to outrun them! "

The gang then began running quickly through the train cars, avoiding and fighting off the dark matters on the way.

By the time they got to the front of the train, however, they spotted something up ahead on the tracks. It appeared to be an enormous red sphere floating slightly above the ground.

" Hey! " Samuel exclaimed. " Big Halley's finally here! "

" Can you get it to fight off the dark matters?? " Zachary asked.

Samuel nodded, and then turned towards Big Halley. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and then yelled out.

" BIG HALLEY! FIGHT THIS DARK MATTER TRAIN FOR US! PLEASE! " Samuel yelled out at the top of his lungs, hoping that the enormous being could hear him and act upon some will.

By some fortunate hand of fate, Big Halley then quickly moved, going towards the train that was trying to match the speed of the one that the LDZX employees were riding on. Big Halley then unleashed a storm of artillery onto the enemy train.

The enemy train lagged behind their own, though their train was also slowing in speed increasingly at the time.

" Yes! " Samuel cheered. " It's a great thing that we have Big Halley on our side! "

The gang waited until their train had slowed to a complete stop before they decided to jump off of it.

There currently was no dark matters within their view. However, it was clear that the battle between them and Big Halley wasn't a victory on their part.

It was visible that Big Halley was currently petrified in stone, having been attacked by several weapons that the dark matters had access to.

" Oh no... " Samuel meekly muttered, looking back with a sad expression at Big Halley's enormous, petrified form.

" ... I'm sure that Big Halley will be alright. We'll find a cure or something... " Zachary assured him. " Right now we gotta keep moving, though. I guess we can manage the rest of the journey on foot... "

And so, they began to walk onwards towards their destination.

Bonus Chapter: Project G.R.I.E.F

 * A number of other videos were also found to have been in Dr. Sand's possession.

Dr. Sand stood in front of a number of his robotic henchmen.

"HS ffcc66 (Simulated battle against Revelian Zeronius... attempt one.)"

''Dr. Sand suddenly ran to the side, trying to get close to a computer terminal. The henchmen all shot minimized blasts of sand at him.''

"HS ffcc66 (E-END SIMULATION!)"

"HS ffcc66 (Simulated battle against Revelian Zeronius... attempt five.)"

''Dr. Sand ran to the side, trying to get close to a computer terminal. As blasts of his henchmen's sand shot out from their limbs, Dr. Sand ducked and took cover.''

''The henchmen edged closer to him, though he tried to come closer to the terminal still. Dr. Sand came close.''

"HS ffcc66 (Yes!)" Sand exclaimed with joy as he finally stood in front of the terminal for a moment.

His henchmen then opened fire.

"HS ffcc66 (END SIMULATION!)" Sand yelled out.

Sand now held a contraption in his hands.

"HS ffcc66 (Simulated battle against Revelian Zeronius... attempt twelve.)"

''Dr. Sand rushed to the side, trying to take cover from the blasts of sand. He then pressed a button on his contraption. All of a sudden, a cage dropped down from the ceiling, and trapped his robotic henchmen inside. They all ceased fire, and began looking around.''

"HS ffcc66 (Aha! I've got you now!)"

The robotic henchmen then fired blasts of sand through the bars of the cage, which still managed to hit Dr. Sand.

"HS ffcc66 (END SIMULATION!)"

"HS ffcc66 (Simulated battle against Revelian Zeronius... attempt twenty-four.)"

''Sand skillfully leapt across the room, pressing a button on his contraption to drop a cage onto the sand henchmen. He then pulled a weapon from his back, which was a large shotgun. He turned and stood over a computer terminal for cover, and shot several rounds of energy bullets at his henchmen, destroying them.''

''"HS ffcc66 (Simulation success...)" Dr. Sand smirked. "HS ffcc66 (This kind of stuff isn't exactly my style... but it's a good thing that aether weapons always get the job done. Now... time to set up a simulation of Revelian and his allies...)"''

"HS ffcc66 (Simulated battle against Revelian Zeronius... attempt thirty-three.)"

''Sand's actions were clear and skillful, as he maneuvered around with surprising speed to avoid blasts of sand. He dropped a number of cages down on his henchmen. Then he once again shot energy bullets into the henchmen that represented Revelian.''

"HS ffcc66 (Target eliminated... now only the allies remain.)"

''Sand stood up again, and aimed his shotgun at the other henchmen. He stood aiming for a moment.''

But he didn't fire.

Sand was blasted from numerous directions.

"HS ffcc66 (E-END SIMULATION!)" Sand frantically yelled.

"HS ffcc66 (Attempt... forty-two... No, e-end simulation.)"

Dr. Sand waited as his henchmen powered down.

"HS ffcc66 (I... I can't do it... I... I can't manage to kill the combatants who are not Revelian...)"

''Sand sulked, and then sat down. He let out a sigh.''

''"HS ffcc66 (God... I'm pathetic.)" He muttered to himself. "HS ffcc66 (... I... I have to work with something else to fight them...)"''

Return to
Section Selection