Previously on Protector’s of Worlds:

Without even using their powers, our heroes were able to defeat the automatons, Camosneak and Hopacid. Once they forced Uell to flee, they retrieved their items and started chasing after him…..

What’s next for our heroes? Let us proceed………..

X

After escaping and getting as far away as he could from the humans, Uell entered an unknown room housing a massive cybernetic creature, hooked onto pipes and tubes. He looked at the stump where the robot’s left hand used to be and still felt the burning pain from his minor face wound, all of this beginning to infuriate him.

“Damn those bastards?!” Uell shouted out in anger. “How could such inferior lifeforms be able to damage me and my suit!?!”

Rushing over to one of the control panels near the giant cyborg, he rapidly pressed the buttons with the robot's remaining hand.

“If that’s how they want to play, let’s see how they handle this one!” Uell said before pushing one last button.

This caused the pipes and tubes to detach themselves, releasing a hissing sound when they did, from the cyborg, awakening it as its eyes glow a bright orange……

X

Moments have passed since they got their items back, Calem, Marcel, and Julie ran through the corridors and hallways just to find the doctor, but to no avail. They were however able to find something, something that made sorrowful…..

Coming to a corridor, they came across the aftermath of a massacre. The floors were scattered with the dead bodies of many animals, carnivores and herbivores of many sizes along with the torn-apart bodies of drone automatons. Guts, intestines, wires, and tubes were scattered about on the floor as blood and oil painted the walls.

Looking at the massive loss of life before her eyes, Julie clenched her fists in anger. Suddenly, out of the numerous corpses, they noticed that one was still alive. It was a Haostriye, missing a big chunk of its stomach, coughing up blood, as it was making a dying chirping noise. Feeling sorry for it, Julie approached it, shushing it softly and petting its neck as she tried to comfort it in its dying moments. Calem and Marcel just looked on, amazed that Julie was completely calm and caring towards the creature but they also felt sorry for her.

With one final sorrowful cry, the Haostriye perished, closing its eyes slowly as it passed on peacefully. Julie petted it one last time as she stood up, sniffling and crying from the experience.

“Do you know what my mother did for a living?” Julie asked in despair, confusing her friends. “She was a zookeeper, she loved and cared for animals so much, she didn’t care what species they were. Insects, arachnids, reptiles, lizards: It didn’t matter to her, she valued them all.”

Julie stopped for a moment, chuckling a bit with a hint of sobbing. “When I was young, I asked her why she cared for animals, even the gross ones, do you know what she said to me?” She asked Calem and Marcel, who said nothing. “Her response was “All living things have a purpose in life, no matter how small or scary they are. They are important to our world and must be treated with respect.”

“Respect…….That word stuck with me………Animals aren’t just tools to be used, they are alive and must be respected……” Julie stopped for a second as her sadness quickly turned into anger with her right hand reaching out and absorbing the air before summoning her halberd. “Something that the doctor clearly has no sign of! That bastard is not leaving this ship alive!!”

Fully enraged, Julie used her speed to pass through the bodies, leaving Calem and Marcel behind. Stunned by this, the two ran after her, running as fast as they could.

X Roin X

After having escaped from the escalating battle, Roin and the freed Iguackos decided to take a breather and rest. After a few minutes of peace, the group suddenly heard the sounds of running from the distance, coming towards them which prompted them to rise up and prepare for whatever was coming. With the noises getting closer, Roin and the others maintained themselves as the mysterious figures were revealed, turning out to be……..Velu and Floso!!

“Floso!!” Roin shouted out with joy, seeing his lover okay as he ran to her.

“Roin!!” Floso yelled as well as she quickly embraced him before the two kissed on the mouth as Velu checked in with the group.

“Is everyone okay?” Velu asked them.

“Yes, sir, we are,” A female Iguacko said to him.

The group started to approach Velu as Floso and Roin stopped kissing as the female Iguacko caressed her boyfriend’s cheek, who just simply smiled.

“Oh, darling. I was so worried when we split, I thought I was never gonna see you again. I thought…….” Floso stopped when she saw the mangled and broken hands of Roin. “R-Roin……What happened to your hands?!”

“I………I did what I had to do to save my people,” Roin said, sounding with no regret in his voice.

In the distance, Envi, who was still shocked after what happened between him and Uell Morro, walked upon the group, who was talking amongst themselves. He quickly hid to the side and creeped his head out trying to overhear their conversation.

“Okay, now that everyone is here, it’s best that we find a way out of here,” Velu said to everyone.

“But how? We don’t know anything about this thing,” A female Iguacko said.

“And what about Envi?” a male Iguacko said.

“He doesn’t matter anymore,” Roin said. “What matters now is our survival!”

The group agreed with his sentence as Envi pulled his head back as they continued with their conversation. As he thought about how to get past them, a male Iguacko appeared from right behind him, quickly causing Envi to notice him.

“AAHHHHHH!!!” Envi screamed out, scared by this as the male grabbed him by his crest and pulled him out.

“Hey, everyone, look who decided to show up,” The male said as everyone turned to him, only to see the traitor, Envi, restrained by him. Just looking at him was enough to make the others bite their lips in rage at the sight of the betrayer.

The male then threw him to the floor and as Envi was about to get up, he sees about 7 Iguackos coming towards him, proceeding to beat down and stomp on him while shouting out…..

“You Filthy Traitor!!”

“Die, you scum!!”

More and more of them joined in as Envi tried his best to shield himself from the blows, covering his face with his arms.

“That’s enough of this! Stop!” Velu shouted out as he and Roin moved their way through the crowd, causing them to cease and back away from them. Envi then pulled his arms down as his face was battered and his nose was bleeding.

“Pick him up,” Velu ordered as two male Iguackos grabbed Envi by his arms and pulled him up, facing the others with a nervous look on him. “So, what should we do with him?”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Let’s kill him!” A female Iguacko said as others shouted out in agreement.

“Yeah! He must pay for what he has done!” A male Iguacko shouted out, gaining more support from the group as Envi started to look tense.

“W-Wait…..You…..You can’t be serious, right?!” Envi asked in a stuttered voice.

“I’m afraid they are, Envi,” Velu replied to him.

“B-But……Come on…Let’s be reasonable here,” Envi said.

“Reasonable!?!” Floso stepped in. “After everything you've done, after all the deaths you have caused, you really believe we'll be reasonable with you!?!!

Envi didn’t say a word: he just looked at the floor, deciding to play it silent….

“Whatever, we'll deal with you when we find a way out of here,” Roin said.

“Heh, good luck with that,” Envi said to him. “You’ll die of old age before you can even find the exit. You don’t know the layout of the ship,”

“That’s true, we don’t…….. Roin said as he approached Envi, face-to-face. “But you do.”

“Huuuuhh…….” Envi paused, knowing his rival was right. “I……..don’t remember that much, it’s kinda big.”

“Really? Well…..” Roin said as Velu shoved his staff into Envi’s throat, nearly choking him. “I suggest you start remembering,”

Not able to speak, Envi just simply nodded as the group started to move forward, Velu, Roin, and Floso leading the way with the restrained Envi right behind them…….

X

Somewhere else, a lone drone automaton rapidly fired its rifle at nearby charging animals, bringing them down and killing them. Suddenly, it was tackled to the floor by an Arctolozex, which had numerous scars on its snout and a few bullet wounds all over its body. The robot attempted to push the giant carnivore off of it, but the Arctolozex resisted before biting down on the automaton’s head. It didn’t do anything at first but with enough pressure, its teeth managed to pierce through the metal and crush the head as the predator proceeded to tear it right off from the neck, splattering oil everywhere. Tossing the robot's head aside, it looked for any other opponents, but all it saw were the dead bodies of animals and drone automatons.

Seeing that there were no more threats, the Arctolozex decided to leave, searching for an escape from this place. It glanced for a second in one of the corridors as it saw something moving at great speeds to the left, something purple. It passed on in an instant, leaving the Arctolozex unable to catch a glimpse of it. However, two more figures were running to the left at normal speed, allowing the carnivore to get a good look.

It was Marcel and Calem, who were trying to catch up to Julie, despite their difference in speed. Just by looking at their armor, the Arctolozex knew who they were: they were the creatures who stopped it from getting its meal! Its eyes turned into ones of wrath as it began chasing after them, wanting revenge!

While the two were running, Marcel heard something coming from behind them. He looked behind him, only to be terrified by what is approaching them……

“Uhhhhhh……Dude?!” Marcel shouted out, trying to tell his friend.

“What?!” Calem asked but got no reply as he saw Marcel just looking behind him. He does the same and only sees the Arctolozex, coming their way at a rapid pace.

“Holy shit!” Calem shouted out. “Run!!”

They gave it everything they had, going much faster than they originally had while the giant predator continued its pace……..

X Julie X

Her only thoughts were on Uell Moroo as she stormed through the hallways. The endless cruelty she had seen from him…….turning living things into cyborgs against their will and treating them like disposable objects………..It was too much for her. She grew to hate him and wanted to make him pay!!

She then quickly stopped, skidding across the floor as she looked up, coming across a massive cybernetic door. Suddenly, it opened up right for her, having Julie realized that Uell might be in there. Upon entering, what she saw inside…………..only deepened her hatred for Uell Moroo.

It was a massive and wide laboratory, fitted with operating tables, surgery tools, mechanical tentacles, and stasis tanks. The disturbing parts were the mutilated and bloody bodies of animals, some of which were still alive with most of their bodies cut apart and replaced by cybernetic ones. In the stasis tanks, filled with greenish liquid, housed cyborgs, ready to be awakened.

“Finally, I thought you would never show up,” Uell’s voice with a mocking tone said from out of nowhere, startling Julie for a bit as he walked out from the front, slowly approaching her.

“You!......” Julie said, her voice full of hatred.

“Yes, “me”,” Uell said, once again making fun of her. “Now, before you do anything, let me explain……..”

“Don’t try to talk your way out of this!” Julie shouted out, pointing her halberd right to him, quieting him but also amusing him. “I don’t want to hear another thing from you, you sick freak! I’m going to slice you into a million pieces!!

“Well, if that's what you want, go right for it,” Uell said, tempting her for an attack as Julie prepared to strike. “But, you’re gonna have to go through him first,”

“Him?” Julie asked right before stopping in her tracks. “Who’s “Him”?”

After asking that, she got her answer when something massive tackled her to the floor and placed its left massive paw on her, trapping her and knocking her weapon away which allowed Uell to flee. As he tried to wriggle herself free, she saw that what was bounding her turned out to be a cybernetically enhanced Arctolozex. It had its right paw replaced with a mechanical one, its middle section cut off with a robotic one with spines in its place, a cybernetic left leg, a metallic tail, two robotic eyes with an orange glow, and a cybernetic lower jaw with a red section.

The cyborg raised its right paw and attempted to squash Julie like an insect but she rolled out of the way, having the cyborg create a dent in the floor. She moved in the direction of her halberd, picked it up, and spun it a bit, preparing for combat. Julie charged straight forward and started slashing at the Cyber-Arctolozex’s left leg multiple times before jumping up and slashing its snout, leaving deep wounds as blood began to leak out.

Julie landed safely and jumped back as she observed the damage she did, but noticed the cyborg didn’t react to it. No signs of pain or any other emotion…..nothing.

The red section of the cyborg's mouth started to glow before firing a reddish beam at Julie, who managed to jump out of the way. The beam then hits a wall, melting it before stopping. Julie looked at the liquified remains of the wall, knowing that that could happen to her in seconds, so she better be careful.

The fight went on as Julie dodged the huge claws of the Cyber-Arctolozex with Julie retaliating with her more speedy blows from her halberd, mostly to the legs, but doing nothing to the creature. It fired a few small heat blasts toward her, who managed to avoid them by doing some cartwheeling. It then tried slamming her with its tail, but Julie jumped high into the air and landed on its back before running straight to its head, halberd in both hands and hoping to deliver a finishing blow. However, the cyborg noticed this and stood up on its hind legs, causing her to fall off.

She looks up and sees the cyborg falling straight towards her, causing her to move out of the way as it falls on its back. Both got up, but it was the cyborg who was first as it quickly charged and smacked its paw at Julie, sending her flying a few feet away into a stasis tank, breaking right through it as glass shatters, fluid spilled out everywhere, and the cyborg within fell out, spasming.

This attack was enough to disorient Julie as she attempted to get up but was unable to. The Cyber-Arctolozex prepared to fire another heat beam until……

X Calem and Marcel X

With the Arctolozex nearly close to biting down on them, Calem and Marcel tried to use as much stamina as they could to outrun the giant. Suddenly, they see the room Julie had entered and see what is going on, which gives them an idea.

Marcel forms a ball of magma from his left hand and throws it at the cyborg, hitting it in the face as it turns its attention toward them. The two then jump out of the way as they enter the laboratory and the Arctolozex storms in, roaring in the process to announce its presence. It examined the place and took note of the Cyber-Arctolozex. It knew that it was a member of its own species, but noticed………something was wrong with it. It slowly got closer to it as it sniffed it a couple of times. When it inhaled an unusual smell came from it, its eyes widened as it roared out loudly before pouncing back, growling at the cyborg, realizing it was an enemy.

The two then charged, colliding into each other as they stood on their hind legs, dealing severe blows with their paws and claws. With the two behemoths dueling, Calem and Marcel rushed over to Julie and helped her up. Back to the battle, The Arctolozex bites down on the cyborg's neck, shoving it to the floor. The Cyber-Arctolozex gets back up and tries to shake the carnivore off, but its grip is too strong as it starts pulling it around. It eventually freed itself and charged into the Arctolozex, ramming its midsection, pushing it forward as the carnivore recovered and roared at the cyborg as the two squared off against each other.

“So, what should we do now?” Marcel asked as the three watched the ongoing battle

“We help it out,” Julie replied to him.

“Help that thing?!” Calem asked, bewildered by what she had said. “Did you forget that it tried to eat your lizard friends and us?!”

“But that was only for its survival, not for malice or some sadistic pleasure,” Julie responded, which got the two thinking. “Look, I’ve seen too much death today and I’m not standing by while that creature gets slaughtered,” Julie responded back as she ran to help the Arctolozex as Calem and Marcel stayed behind, thinking of what to do.

The Arctolozex swiped its right paw at the cyborg, smacking its face and disorienting it, allowing the predator to bite down on its right leg, breaking through the skin as it tried to rip it off. The Cyber-Arctolozex retaliates by firing a heat beam at its back, burning it as its back armor and spikes melted off. The Arctolozex roared out in pain from the burns as it backed away, letting go of the cyborg’s leg.

The Cyber-Arctolozex then goes on the offensive, landing powerful paw swipes on its fleshy counterpart's body and head, leaving deep claw marks. It then spins and swipes its metal tail at the Arctolozex, hitting its head with full force, knocking some teeth out along with blood. It proceeded to tackle its counterpart to the floor, landing on its side before clawing at it relentlessly. The Arctolozex could only struggle and wail out in pain as pieces of skin were torn off.

Now that its rival is heavily injured, the Cyber-Arctolozex placed its mechanical paw on the Arctolozex’s throat, readying to fire its heat beam. Just before it could, a ball of air hits its eye, causing it to break apart. It turns in the direction of the air ball, only to see Julie in the air coming down upon it, screaming with her halberd in her hands. This caused the cybernetic creature to jump back as Julie’s halberd impaled the floor, creating a small shockwave before pulling it out and standing in front of the wounded Arctolozex.

Just when the cyborg was about to attack, Marcel surprised the cyborg from out of nowhere, jumping onto its face before unleashing a flurry of devastating fire punches, each having a hard impact.

“You like that, huh?! Want a little more?!” Marcel shouted out as he continued on, causing the Cyber-Arctolozex to try and shake him off.

Calem joined in as well, landing on the cyborg's back before summoning his sword, and proceeded down its back, slashing at its back armor along with its robotic midsection, leaving nasty sword wounds in the process. Julie then united with her friends while the injured Arctolozex watched this go on.

It just looked on as the tiny little creatures defended it from its enemy. It didn’t understand why. After nearly trying to eat them along with the Iguackos, why would they risk their own lives to protect it…….It didn’t make sense……..

Getting back to the battle, Calem summoned two lightning bolts from his hands and threw them at the Cyber-Arctolozex, who ducked its head as they passed on by it. It then headbutted Calem, sending him flying right into Julie as he crashed into her, knocking them both to the floor. It charged straight toward them but was intervened by Marcel who dropkicked it in the face, causing both to stumble around as Marcel repeatedly punched the cyborg in the jaw. When they stopped, Marcel raised his arms as they started to glow red, attempting to finish the cyborg off, but the Cyber-Arctolozex recovered quickly and smacked Marcel with his tail, hurling him away as he crashed into Calem and Julie, who had just gotten up.

With all three in the same place, the Cyber-Arctolozex was about to fire its heat beam at them to put an end to this fight but out of nowhere, the Arctolozex lunged towards it and bit down on its jaw, breaking the flesh on top but having trouble with the lower half. The cyborg clawed at it, trying to have it back away, but the Arctolozex held up. With enough force, the Arctolozex crushes the cybernetic creature's jaw, breaking through the lower robotic one, and causing a few sparks to fly out. It backs away as the mechanical jaw explodes, leaving it in tatters and shambles.

Now that it's weakened, Calem, Julie, and Marcel go in for the kill!

Getting close to the cyborg and rearing his right fist back before coating it in flames, Marcel lets loose a powerful punch on its left leg, fracturing it as bone pierces through the skin as Calem used his sword to cut its right leg off at the base, causing it to fall forward with its head hitting the floor.

Calem and Julie then jumped high into the air, both hands grabbing their weapons as both started coming down with full force. Once close, they slashed their weapons at the cyborg's neck, cutting through the flesh before fully decapitating it, causing its head to stumble a few feet away as the glow in its orange eyes started to fade away, putting the poor creature out of its misery as its body went limbless.

Now that it's dead, the three get back together, celebrating their victory with some high-fives but is put on a halt as the wounded Arctolozex approaches them and stops for a bit. Calem takes up a long point stance, Marcel slams his fists together a couple of times, coating them in flames as Julie takes up a thrusting position.

Nothing happened at first as the Arctolozex, who softly bellowed, just stared at the three, ready to fight it. However, the giant leaves them be, exiting the laboratory as it slowly limps away, bleeding out as it fades into the darkness……..

With it gone, our heroes' weapons disappeared and they decided it was best to leave as well, going forward into the lab. After getting a few feet away, Julie took a glance at the left.......and what she saw stopped her right in her tracks. Calem and Marcel looked behind, seeing Julie standing still before halting, confused as to why she stopped.

They went over to her and looked in the direction she was looking at.......and saw a ghastly sight. Against the wall were about 5 Iguackos, every one of them having cybernetic limbs or implants, unexpressive as they stood perfectly still. The 2 that Uell showed them back in his operating room was amongst them.

Seeing these people in such a state was too much for Julie, so she summoned her halberd, carrying it over her left shoulder, and approached them, leaving Calem and Marcel behind as they watched on, knowing what she intended to do. Once she got close, she brought her weapon down and was about to strike, but was hesitant at first. After all the kindness they had shown her, she couldn't bear to kill them but didn't want to leave them like this so that they can be heartless beings for the rest of their lives. With much thought, Julie brings her halberd up and in an act of mercy, unleashes a flurry of slashes at the Iguackos, slicing their bodies into multiple pieces, putting an end to their lives............

Once that was done, Julie went back to her friends, not saying a word as they just looked at each other. Calem and Marcel understood how she felt, seeing the sorrow on her face, so they simply nodded, saying to her she did the right thing. Julie nodded right back before the three moved on, going through the huge lab, filled with hatred as they are determined to hunt down the one responsible for these atrocities: The psychotic doctor, Uell Moroo!!

After facing many tough trials on the ship, will they be able to put an end to Uell Moroo!?!? Find out in the next chapter!!