"Fonda! Tom! Taza! Are you guys okay!?"

Will raced into Lasenberg with his heart pounding and his breathing heavy and panicked, his legs already beginning to scream at him to stop. His wounds were all reminding him exactly why moving fast like this was not a good idea – But he didn't care. He had to know what was happening, he had to know what Dissonance had planned. The moment he walked through the front gates of the nation he felt an arrow whizz by him and he froze, finding a horrible scene before him. Tom, Taza and Fonda were all standing together, with Sapana and Georgie both aiming their bows at them, keeping them from moving completely. Dissonance eventually caught up, shoving Will forward and forcing him to stand still with everyone else. They all raised their hands and did not speak – They were in no position for bargaining, clearly.

"...Now, Will."

Dissonance came closer meanwhile Georgie and Sapana passed him some weapons and armour. As he got them ready, he spoke on;

"Why don't you tell your friends and son the deal I proposed while I get everything ready? Oh, and don't try to stop me."

Dissonance pointed to his two companions.

"These two are great shots, mind you. They know where all the vital organs are."

"Dissonance, we don't have to do this-"

Will stepped forward, but was cut off by the other instantly.

"Tell them about the deal or drop dead, 'Mr. President'!", Dissonance hissed, his tone grave.

"Will?", Tom asked, his voice going quiet.

"What's going on?", Taza cut in, playing with the buttons on his jacket.

"Dad?", Fonda was the last to speak, seeming the most worried.

"Listen... Dissonance has given us an ultimatum. And I want you guys to respond with my answer."

Will moved some of his hair out of his eyes and took a deep breath.

"He said that if we do not rescind our ownership of this land then he will blow it all up."

Will looked around the other three, seeing their eyes grow worried and angry.

"...We... we can't back down now..."

Tom watched, helpless, as Dissonance slowly began setting up explosives everywhere he could. By the walls, by the caravan, by the foundations for the home that was to be shared by the citizens.

"Not after everything we've done. Not after everything we've lost. Not after everything we've given to be here!"

"He won't do it."

Taza shook his head and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"He can't do something like this... he wouldn't destroy so much of this land if he considers it his own, right? He didn't want to destroy the flower field, either, that was an accident! This is just intimidation... right, Will?", the boy spoke on, but it seemed like he was trying to convince himself before anyone else.

"We have to stand.", Fonda was the last to speak, just as Dissonance finished his work.

He stopped and stood quietly over one of the pieces of dynamite, a lit match in his hand. The flame moved lazily in the wind, but he did not light fire to anything.

"...Whatever he throws at us, we stand. We have nothing else we can do but stand for what we believe in. We can still win."

Thirty minutes passed in what seemed to be hours. Finally, Dissonance spoke.

"Well, Mr. President?"

He moved the match forward, a grin growing on his face. Sapana and Georgie suddenly chugged two Fire Nullification potions, clearly not expecting this to end well. Still, they stood. It's all intimidation. It's all intimidation. It's all intimidation... Will raised his head, narrowed his eyes, and spoke from his heart;

"Independence... or death."

Will paused, his gaze setting on Dissonance.

"If we get no compromise, then we want nothing. We would rather die than give into you and re-join your city, Dissonance. You can scare us all you want with your dynamite. You can beat us down and turn our men against us. But we will not back down until we have what we want. That is all."

Dissonance quickly drank a potion of Fire Nullification, lowered his mask fully and laughed.

"Your choice.", the man said, turning his head to the side.

"Goodbye, Lasenberg."

In a swift motion, Dissonance dropped the match and allowed the flame to spread onto one of the pieces of dynamite. In the moment, Will knew he had to act quickly. He grabbed onto Tom and Fonda, meanwhile the blonde grabbed onto his best friend, and all four quickly ducked into the lake, diving to its bottom. For a few seconds they floated underneath the water, hearing muted explosions above and the mad laughter of those who had caused it. Only a few seconds later, the man was forced to go back up, taking a deep breath before he did anything else. He felt someone emerge next to him and opened his eyes, quickly rubbing them to try and get rid of the blurriness over them. To his right was Fonda, soon joined by Taza. The last to emerge was Tom, gasping for air as he did. Will didn't even have time to look around properly before he saw Taza's face go pale as a yell of anguish escaped him, Fonda and Tom following with gasps of their own. The President turned and looked upon Lasenberg – Or, whatever was left of it.

About half of the wall had been completely destroyed, leaving massive holes in the great construct that had once defended all of them. The bricks that they were made of were scattered all around, crumbled into pieces and completely covered the grass. The caravan was as good as gone – All that was left were a few pieces of it scattered in five different piles all around the nation. Smoke was rising from every direction and the sickening smell of gunpowder was beginning to fill the area. Flames were rising on the flagpole, the wooden house bases and whatever trees were left inside the nation's walls, and some of them had started spreading to their piles of building supplies they had kept over from their four and a half month preparation. Everything was gone. With the snap of Dissonance's fingers, it had all been taken from them, it all turned to ashes in seconds. Dissonance's group was nowhere to be seen – But their hollering laughter could be overheard from a distance. All four revolutionaries silently swam to the shore and scrambled their way out of the lake, unable to comment in any way on the destruction. What was there to say?

Will's hands were trembling as he looked down. He promised them freedom. He promised them a safe home. He promised them independence. And here they stood, watching it all fall apart before them. The President, however, did not have time to even think through everything, or to let himself be taken away by another dream already pulling him closer and closer into its embrace. Dissonance, Georgie and Sapana had returned to the nation's remains, and were already getting ready to hunt them down and finish this once and for all. Will felt himself being pulled somewhere, jumping into a crater that the explosion created, unsure where he was going but following nonetheless. A minute or two later of running and he was sitting in a small room paved by dark bricks, Tom shutting large, metallic doors behind them. He pressed his back against them and sat down, everyone staring at him in complete shock.

"When... when did you make this?!", Will shouted out, looking around.

There wasn't a lot there, but the room seemed sturdy enough to keep them safe from the three maniacs above for a while. Tom looked up, breathing heavily. He wiped sweat and soot away from his face.

"I figured... we might end up getting in a sticky situation. Me and Taza made this."

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Tom looked at his friend, who, as always, continued nervously playing with the buttons on his coat.

"I guess Errett wasn't the only one with secrets..."

"...Well this won't hold for long with what those three have up there!"

Fonda sighed, sitting down on the floor and starting to stroke his tail nervously with his hand.

"So what do we do? D-dad? You have a plan, right? Some final idea?"

Will looked down at the floor below him, feeling his legs completely fail him. He collapsed to the ground, sat down, and put his back against the wall. His men needed him to act – They needed him to pull out his final trick, do something that could save them here. But his mind was blank. What could he do? There were psychopaths with explosives roaming above, they had no weapons or armour, and even if they did have any, they were all too hurt to fight because of what Errett had done. No matter how hard he thought, he could not see a way out of here. Every plan he thought of meant death, every way out he imagined didn't seem to work. There was one way, one chance he could possibly make it out of here. One way he could make it out alive. One way for Fonda, Tom and Taza to survive, and for all four of them to walk out of this bunker breathing – But he wasn't sure if he was ready to commit. He stood up, lowered his head and took a deep breath;

"We have lost everything.", he started, his voice low and tired.

"...We sit here awaiting death. I see no way for us Lasenbergians to walk out of here.... but I see one last chance."

Will paused as the rest of the group gasped, realizing what he meant.

"...We can walk out of here as citizens of the City of Dissonance. We shall shed our uniforms. I will cut a piece of my white shirt off and wave it."

The man crossed his arms and looked aside.

"We will surrender."

"Willz, we can't! We can't do that!", Tom was first to object, obviously.

He had that flame, he had that passion, but it would only get him hurt, and deep inside Will knew that well.

"Tom, we have no choice. We're gonna die here if we keep fighting!", Fonda, luckily, a voice of reason, cut in and tried to talk the blonde down.

"Mr. President?", Taza spoke up, stepping forward.

He removed a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and passed it over.

"Before you step out...."

Will looked down at the page.

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

"I grabbed it before we went to the Two Towers... in case anything happened.", Taza carried on as the President read over his own words, his hands trembling and eyes filling with tears.

His gaze settled on the very bottom of the document, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Signed By:

President Will Ash

Vice-President Thomas 'Tom Indeo' Sabuta

Flurry 'Fonda' Ash.

ERRETT

Toby 'Taza' Smith

"...We are a nation. Even if Dissonance takes everything from us, we are one. Even if we surrender here..."

Taza smiled.

"The ink on this document is dry. We will grow stronger. We will rise again. All hope is not lost. But right now... Mr. President, we trust your judgement."

Will folded the declaration and placed it in his pocket.

Without another word, the president took off his jacket and put it down for a moment. He unbuttoned a part of his white shirt and removed his hand from one of the sleeves, pulling at it with all his might with another. With a rip about half of the sleeve was torn away, and he placed it aside as he buttoned his shirt back up. Everyone else removed their jackets. The piece of the shirt Will prepared was dirty and bloodied, but he did not care. He knew Dissonance would get the message. He turned to his men one last time, and even Tom was silent. There was a glare in his eyes – A glare that told a million things. He did not know what the boy was thinking - But he knew one thing for sure. Whatever happened, he had those three with him. Two young boys and his own son, who tried to start a nation and lost more than they even had. He raised the piece of ripped cloth and slowly walked out of the bunker, being followed by Tom, Taza, and Fonda. He eventually emerged in the crater they had jumped into, and before Dissonance could fire an arrow at him, he quickly lifted the shirt and waved it. The man looked down, his grin growing wide and his laughter getting maniacal.

"...And so I get my white flag! I must say... with what you were against you fought well. I'm impressed."

The four were helped out of the crater by Dissonance's group themselves, a further point of embarrassment to all of them. Still, they tried to stand tall. As long as their nation was still free, however many more minutes it would take, they would be proud of it.

"Of course, we did far better. You never stood a chance in the first place. But still, good try..."

"Dissonance... Don't even say that."

Tom stepped forward, and Will could feel his worry grow. If there was anyone who could make this situation spiral way out of his control, it was this kid.

"You fought... incredibly well. We just fought... a little bit better."

Dissonance came right up to the boy, clearly seeing how much he was agitating him. The blonde's left eye twitched.

"You think dirty tricks are 'fighting better'?! You really think that?!", Tom continued shouting, only making Dissonance laugh more and escalating the situation further.

"Will brainwashed you good, kid.", Dissonance concluded, turning back and looking Tom right in the eyes.

He lowered his voice and smirked.

"You're just a little naïve child though, aren't you?"

This was it. This was what made Tom snap.

"You- Oh yeah, you know what, you fucking asshole?! Why don't we fight right now?! Huh? A little duel, how does that sound?!"

The boy threw himself forward, being held back by Will and Fonda. He was swinging his hands, his eyes filled with rage.

"Tom- Tom, calm- Calm down!", the President tried to speak, but it was impossible.

Taza was standing aside for a reason – He, as Tom's best friend, knew more than anyone that there was no calming him when he got like this.

"Why don't we have a bow duel?! You and me big man, come on! A one man show-down, you greedy son of a bitch! You self-obsessed bastard-"

The boy looked down, growling in frustration. For a moment he stopped speaking, giving Will a chance to calm him down.

"Tom, you need to breathe. You'll get yourself killed! We have to surrender, there's no other way-"

Tom pulled himself away from the President. He was calmer now, Will knew. He allowed him to step forward, stopping right in front of Dissonance.

"You've blown up all of our shit. You have nothing left to lose, right?"

Tom looked around, watching the remains of Lasenberg fall to the flames.

"A bow duel. One on one. Whoever wins gets what they want. What do you say, you little bitch boy?"

"Tom! Tom, please- Dissonance, I'm sorry, he does not speak for me, I swear-"

Will started defending himself, but upon seeing the small twitch in the corner of Dissonance's smile, he stopped.

"Okay.", Dissonance said with a shrug.

"Let's do it. Duel to the death. One on one. You and me."

To this answer, almost everyone seemed shocked. Will, Fonda and Taza most of all. Sapana and Georgie secondly, unsure why their leader would respond to something like this when victory was already in his grasp. And finally, there was Tom – Quickly, all of the things he had said in his angered state dawned on him, and now, the gravity of the situation was settling in with him. Dissonance shrugged once more, sheathed his sword and began walking out of the remains of Lasenberg, his grin wide and proud. His two friends followed behind, giving Tom horrified looks of pity. Dissonance looked back about half way through his walk, speaking with a tone of voice that showed his twisted enjoyment of all of this;

"...Meet me at the Primary Path an hour before sunset. Bring a bow and one arrow. Don't bother bringing extras, Tom."

The man laughed to himself.

"I won't miss. You won't even have a chance to reload. See you then, Lasenberg! Enjoy your last day of independence."

Silence. The worst silence they had faced yet. Nothing could match how they felt – Not after the Two Towers, not after Errett's betrayal, not after the earlier explosion. This was a new feeling of stress and helplessness. The stakes had been raised higher than they had ever been before – There was another chance at independence, sure. But on the other end... Tom could die. This young kid, only fourteen, would have to face death and try to stand tall. There had to be another way out of this, right? They could run, they could have someone else fight. Will would go up there and fire that shot if that was what it took to make sure Tom made it out alive. But would Dissonance even give them that choice? There were so many risks that could be taken, so many choices to be made, so many possible outcomes and none of them seemed good.

And while everyone else was lost in thought, Tom put his uniform's jacket back on.

"I'll talk to Sot. I'm sure he can spare another bow."

The boy rearranged his collar and moved his hands around, trying to ease the pain in them from all of his bruises still left over from the Final Authority Room.

"...Taza, can you come with me? I... I don't wanna go alone."

"Tom, wait! You're not... you're not actually doing this, are you?"

Will came closer, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders. Tom's eyes were filling with tears slowly, and his breathing was growing heavy. Fonda and Taza remained silent.

"What else can I do?!", Tom screamed, his voice cracking.

"This is our final chance! This is it! This is all we can do, and... as Vice-President, it's my duty to do it!"

Tom wiped his tears with his sleeve and turned away, tugging at Taza's shirt.

"I need to get a bow and an arrow. Just one."

Tom paused and sighed.

"I don't plan on missing."

And so he left.