Aadil (EARTH NINETY-SEVEN - LOCATION: SAN MARCOS, TEXAS):

Screams echoed throughout the streets of San Marcos as I made my way through the rushing masses as they fled from whatever horror they had witnessed. All around me were people clutching their limbs as blood spurted from wounds deep enough but just shy of severing their limbs.

The part of the city I was in was still intact, but the further north I went the brighter the city became as flames spiraled out of crumbling buildings.

KRISHHH!

The sound of the nearby park burning filled the darkening sky, drowned out only by explosions and screams. I had to stop now and then to help a civilian who was pinned under debris, but eventually, I came across my first Darkblade.

Crouching behind some debris, I observed the grotesque monstrosity, an amalgamation of creatures strung together like a figurine from the mind of a demented child. They all looked different, but this one had several eyes, and two mouths, but no discernable nose or ears. Black sludge dripped off of it as it towered over the corpse of a still-breathing woman, her hand out-stretched at me. Her stomach was split open, and half of her melted face dripped onto the rubble. She let out one final gasp as the Darkblade tore into her ribcage and crushed her organs, killing her instantly.

A man nearby, presumably someone who knew her, screamed in grief as he ran at the abomination with a rusty metal pipe, but he was swept aside by a hidden tentacle that was coiled around its distorted body. It stole the pipe from his hands and plunged it into his leg, making him yelp in agony as it tore through his tendons and came out the other side, with its small hole containing bone and flesh.

The man dropped to the ground as he writhed, and when he turned around, the Darkblade didn’t waste a second. It tore into his skull and ripped out his cranium, pieces of his skull clattering to the floor. He slumped over, and chunks of whatever was left of his brain dribbled out, hitting the floor with a wet SLOSH.

There was nothing I would’ve been able to do for either of them, as the second I got there, I had already noticed the hundreds of Darkblades crawling around in the flame-obscured upper floors of the buildings near me.

Sneaking through ruins and stepping over corpses, I made my way closer and closer to the school. I climbed up through a nearby building to see where I was and was able to see Saint Junith’s just a few blocks away. I felt my heart drop as I witnessed the Celestial Kraken hovering over the flames obscuring most of the ruins, covering it in shadows. The Darkblades were constructing something that looked like a large drill, although I didn’t know what for.

Scanning the surrounding area, Darkblades were scouring the streets, although, with only seventy-thousand people, chances were most of the populace was wiped out. If Alisha was still alive, she’d have gone back to the warehouse, meaning that was my next destination.

CRSHHH!

Looking back to the Kraken, I heard a deafening noise as the drill-like machine was driven into the ground, shaking the entire city. The courthouse a few blocks away collapsed, its domed roof crashing down and crushing anything and everything inside.

I desperately looked over the burning city, trying to find any way I could get to the warehouse, and then I saw a sky-blue vehicle. This one was a bit bulkier and was the type Randall drove. He named it “Barbara” even though it was inanimate, and apparently, it was called a “pick-up truck”.

I leaped off the building, my wingsuit deploying, as I flew down to the truck. I landed on the roof with a loud thud and accidentally alerted a few surrounding Darkblades.

They screeched and began to run towards me, ramming the vehicle, denting its charred paint, and chipping the window. I heard metal creaking as I broke the glass on the top and hopped in, placing a slefter into the key slot. The truck’s engine turned on and I ran through some of the monstrosities outside. The heavy dark purple sludge that replaced their blood painted the truck as I tried to make my way out. I wasn’t going fast enough, so I pressed the boost button on the slefter, and within seconds, I lurched back in the seat as I rocketed forward, barreling through a crowd of Darkblades.

I drifted through the streets, almost tipping the truck multiple times but somehow managing to stay upright. I crashed into a few buildings, but most of them had already been reduced to piles of rubble. Smoke drifted out into the twilight sky, the flames illuminating the destruction. Blood-stained debris covered the roads, and although downtown was relatively small, collapsed structures still blocked the roads.

I knocked over a crumbling, but still-standing, building to try to slow down the horde. It worked, but although I tried to speed away, the debris crashed onto the truck, denting the roof. The vehicle swerved a bit but I managed to get it back under control. I looked at the side mirrors to see if I could catch a glimpse of any Darkblades, but couldn’t see any, meaning I was in the clear. I sped as fast as I could away from the city and to the warehouses.

Swerving through the streets, the ground shook with tremors as the drill bored its way down, sending up a plume of smoke into the air. When I left the city, I could still see it, and then I heard a whirring sound coming from above. I looked up through the hole in the truck’s roof and saw imperial URE halocrafts retreating, meaning that whatever they were here for was enough to attract the attention of the Realm Knights. But then again, whatever was happening wasn’t my problem just yet, as all I was focused on was finding Alisha and arresting Frenzil.

Michael (EARTH NINETY-SEVEN - LOCATION: SAN MARCOS, TEXAS):

The smell of mildew crept up my nostrils, making me gag as the hostile scent invaded my body. I struggled in vain as I looked down to see that every part of me was bound to a beam, meaning that although using my powers wouldn’t hurt me, the beams could melt and the roof would fall and crush me.

“Huh, one of the strongest Knights defeated by a metal beam,” I heard Alisha’s voice tease from right behind me.

“Damn it, Alisha?” I called out, my vision still obscured.

“Hey Michael,” I heard her reply as she flipped on the lights and walked into view.

She looked like she hadn’t slept in days, both her armor and skin torn and covered in dirt. She had a slight limp, which I guess meant that her Frilx had been damaged, presumably at the building where I’d located Frenzil.

The last time I’d seen her, she was wearing the usual Phoenix Assassin suit, metallic darkstone armor covered by a black cloak with a flame pattern creeping up from the bottom.

Her new outfit was armor composed of an alloy I didn’t know, covered by a white cloak that had a metallic glint to it. Sky-blue tubes rode along her armor and cloak, coursing with electricity and plugged directly into her skin, presumably to stop her from exerting too much energy and frying everyone around her. Her neck gaiter was a new addition, along with the cracked orange visor.

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“Why are you here?” She asked, standing just a mere five feet away.

“I could ask you the same question,” I responded.

“You tell me why you’re here, and I’ll tell you why I’m here, deal?”

“Well, my mission is confidential,”

“So is mine,” She said as she stood up.

“It’s strange, I found you here at the same time Frenzil was invading, what a huge coincidence,” I stated as I looked at her face for any sort of reaction.

“Believe me when I say we were caught off-guard when we found out she wasn’t even here.”

“‘We’?” I asked and then realized who the other person must’ve been, “AADIL’S HERE?”

“Yes, we’re just trying to clear our names,” She said as started fiddling with the small screen on her wrist.

“Clear your names because you killed the queen?”

“We didn’t kill her,”

“Alisha we saw you and Aadil running from her corpse.” I pointed out.

“You saw us running from you guys, the ones who were shooting at us,” She countered.

“Maybe they wouldn’t have had to open fire if you guys hadn’t been known for killing multiple government officials!”

“Oh you mean the ones who were accepting bribes and executing innocent people?”

“It doesn’t matter what they did, you guys should’ve turned them in instead of becoming vigilantes.”

“Oh yeah, great idea, turning in the corrupt politicians to their other corrupt friends to decide their fate,” I heard Aadil sneer as he walked in, a door slamming shut behind him, “What could possibly go wrong there?”

“Aadil,” Alisha said walking over to him, “How bad is it out there?”

“Really, really bad” He began to explain after he took a seat and gave Alisha a Frilx, “I barely got here in one piece, there’s Darkblades everywhere. They built something above the school, some type of drill. The tremors destroyed half the city and the roads.”

“Wait, a drill?” I asked, now concerned.

“Yeah, why? Is that bad?” Aadil asked as he started peeling off the loose maroon fabric of the chair.

“Even without context, most people would assume an army of basically superpowered zombies digging into the planet would be bad.”

“Just answer the question man,”

“Can’t,”

“Oh wait, let me guess, it’s confidential?” Alisha asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Yes,” I answered truthfully.

Alisha sighed and walked away, and once she did, I finally noticed the other two who were being chased by Frenzil earlier. They were sitting on the floor staring at a strange device wide-eyed. When one of them, the one with white skin, noticed I was looking at them, he nudged the other one.

“Hey,” I greeted them.

“Hi?” The boy with brown skin greeted back with a slightly quivery voice.

“What’re your names?” I asked the two, but they just looked at each other and then looked at Aadil.

“Don’t tell him yet,” Aadil said as picked off the remaining pieces of fabric, leaving the cheap cushion bare.

“My name’s Michael, Michael Middlebrooks,” I said, trying to seem friendlier.

The pair just exchanged glances and went back to their book-like device. I could hear noises coming from it, almost like it was screaming.

“Torture is a crime in the eyes of the URE,” I called out to them.

“Dude what?” Aadil said as he got up, “What part of this is torture?”

“You tied me up knowing that if I use my ability, we all die,”

“Ok, so that’s called kidnapping and holding you hostage, not torture,”

“That’s the same thing,”

“That’s not even remotely the same,”

“Michael might be right actually,” Alisha said as she came back with a bottle of water, “Are you uncomfortable?”

“My arms are being strained against a cold metal beam, what do you think?”

“Well since he’s getting hurt, it technically counts as torture,” Alisha said as she opened the bottle.

“Are you trying to bring more charges against us?” Aadil said, giving Alisha a death stare.

Alisha shrugged and crouched down to make me drink.

“What’s in it?”

“Hydrogen and oxygen,”

I stared at her, took a small sip, and then took a larger one after realizing how parched I was.

“So do all three of you know each other?” One of the boys, the white one, asked while gripping the blanket with enough force to tear it apart.

“We’ve known each other for years, used to basically be siblings at one point,” I answered him, the other two nodding in agreement.

“So wait, if you know each other, why are you tied up?”

“The keyword was ‘used to’,” Aadil answered him, “I don’t really remember what happened, my memories over the past two years are a bit foggy, but I know that I hated him for some reason.”

“A bit convenient for your memories to be gone now,” I pointed out, “Let me guess, that’s why you didn’t use your powers?”

“Yes,” Alisha claimed, “When we locked his memories away, it took his powers away in the process.”

“Wait, so if he doesn’t have powers, then he’s-”

“I can still beat you in hand-to-hand combat, trained by Uso just like you, remember?” Aadil said, nudging my shoulder as if nothing had happened.

“You remember Uso but not everything else?”

“We only erased everything after the Alala mission,”

“Uso? Alala? URE? I’m confused,” The brown boy proclaimed.

“Uso Suzuki was a general of the URE who trained all of us and Keres Alala was a warmongering politician, responsible for some of the worst political scandals in the past twenty years.” Alisha explained before taking a breath, “The URE is an acronym for ‘United Realm Empire’, the overarching government for the multiverse, responsible for resolving and covering up events such as this one, and preventing the complete and utter destruction of reality as you know it.”

“What,”

“Who are those two anyway?” I asked looking over to Aadil, who just shrugged.

“Why would we know?”

“Eh?,” I questioned him, most likely contorting my face into a look of disgust at their carelessness, “What do you mean ‘Why would we know?”, YOU BROUGHT THEM HERE!”

“Yeah, because you were chasing them,” Alisha recalled.

“THAT’S BECAUSE FRENZIL WAS CHASING THEM!” I pointed out.

“You do bring up a good point,” She admitted.

“Well that’s not necessarily a good point, since we don’t know why she was chasing them, maybe they could be her allies.” Aadil said as the three of us turned towards the pair, “So?”

“So what?” The white one asked.

“Are you Frenzil’s allies?” Alisha asked them both.

“I-We don’t think so?”

“You ‘Don’t think so”?” I asked in disbelief.

“Who’s Frenzil?”

“Were you not paying attention to our convo or?” Aadil asked, slightly annoyed.

“Oh you mean the woman who killed all of our friends?”

“Yeah, they’re probably not her allies,” Aadil claimed as he and Alisha turned back to face me.

“You can’t be sure of that,” I said.

“Maybe you’re right, but I just don’t like you,” Aadil said, ignoring my argument.

“You don’t even remember why you hate me,”

“Do I need a reason?”

“Yes, you can’t just hate someone without a reason, that’s dumb,”

“You’re dumb,”

“I didn’t even call you dumb,”

“Yes you did, Alisha he called me dumb just now didn’t he?”

“I think so,” She replied.

“Max, he called me dumb right?” Aadil said, turning to the boys.

“Uhh, I don’t know,” The white boy replied, “Chris?”

“I think he did,” The boy who was apparently named Chris agreed.

“Are you all trying to gaslight me?” I asked, finally catching on.

“No, gaslighting isn’t real, it’s just a word you made up,” Alisha answered.

“Can you all be serious for one sec- Are they okay?” I asked, nodding towards “Chris” and “Max”.

“What do you mean?”

“Alisha, they’re shaking, are they in shock?”

“Oh they actually might be,” Aadil said as he turned towards the pair, now realizing they had hundred-yard-stares.

“You realized just now?”

“Well they were fine before, and since they weren’t talking, we kinda thought they’d be fine,”

“Aadil, Alisha, if they really have no idea what’s going on, chances are they’ve never seen anyone die before today,”

“They’ve seen a lot of stuff they never saw before today,”

“That’s even worse, wait, are they still injured?” I asked.

“OH DAMN! Alisha, you got the Frilx?”

“This is gonna sting a bit,” Alisha said as she walked over to the two and placed the Frilx over the backs of their necks.

“ACK!” Chris yelled as his arm snapped back into place and the gashes crowding his and Max’s faces sealed themselves.

“What the hell?” Chris questioned Alisha as he held a hand to his face, trying to find his missing wounds, “What is that?”

“It's called a Frilx, it uses Chrozium and Source Residue to seal wounds by infusing the compound with your flesh and bones, basically becoming a glue that dissipates thirty seconds after all wounds are healed,” Alisha answered.

“What’s Chrozium and Source Residue?” Max asked her as he got up, his legs wobbling.

“Chrozium is the strongest common metalloid in the multiverse, and Source Resi- Are you ok?” Alisha stopped mid-sentence as she noticed Max and Chris were violently shaking.

“Uh oh, their shock's wearing off,” Aadil said as he slowly got up and backed away.

“Oh god, oh no, NO NO NO, THEY’RE DEAD, THEY'RE ALL DEAD!” Max yelled as he grabbed his head and started pulling his hair.

“BLERGH!” Was the sound Chris made as he crumpled to the floor and began to throw up on the floor as he held himself up using his arms and legs.

Them breaking down mentally made sense since the Frilx cleared the mind, but it was still awful to witness the pair this distraught.

“Please no, no no NO!” Max begged to nobody in particular as he used the nearby shelves to steady himself, “Noah, May, Rebecca, Jayce, Nolan, EVEN RANDALL, they're dead, they're all dead!”

Chris fell back, tears streaming down his blank face as he wore the expression of someone who’d seen his entire world come crashing down. I looked over to Aadil and Alisha who, like me, had recognized that look. The boy had a hundred-yard stare as he realized everything he knew was falling apart.