Bakade looked all around as she stood atop a tall spire of rock. Nothing had changed. They were still surrounded by destruction.

She looked down at Nugget and stared at the sleeping hen. Nugget's chest slowly rose and fell as she slept tucked under Bakade's arm.

"Ssssooorrryyy," Bakade whispered as she slowly pet Nugget's head. "IIII wwwaasss tttooooo wweeeaakkk."

"Oh? Hoping for a change?"

A beautiful woman surrounded in a bright light appeared beside Bakade.

"I think you're plenty strong already though," she mused as she tapped her finger on Bakade's chin. "But, if you're serious, I have the tools to help you."

Bakade seemed wary of the stranger. Her fiery eyes stared at the burning radiance of the woman. She stood still as her muscles tensed slightly.

"Oh? What's the matter? Are you afraid of me young one?" The stranger asked.

Bakade took a step back, and shifted around so that her body was between the woman and Nugget. "Nnnoooottthhhiiinnnggg wwwrrrooonnngg wwwiiiittthhh bbbbeeeiiiinnnggg cccaaauutttiiooouuusss."

"Fair enough. But now, why don't we have a chat?" She offered as two chairs appeared out of nowhere. "Not about power, but what's really, truly on your heart."

----------------------------------------

"Shoot him! Just shoot him!" Og'drimun shouted.

Sentenza shifted the unlit cigarillo from one side of his mouth to the other. A moment later he rolled off away from the fleshy room as a frozen spike slammed into the ground where he was.

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The cowboy glanced at the room full of people, and smirked. "You can handle yourselves, right? Right."

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Ted asked as his eyes shifted from Sentenza to the slowly retreating robotic limb.

Sentenza didn't say anything verbally. He just tipped his hat, and then sprinted off in the opposite direction.

"Wait!" Shrieked Og'drimun. "You can't just leave us here!?!"

But, Sentenza was already gone. Sprinting out towards the tunnel that left the arena where the wolf and robot were battling it out.

"We're dead," Og'drimun bemoaned. "Absolutely dead."

"What? Don't trust us?" Lulu teased. "Think we can't take a wild animal and a bucket of bolts?"

Og'drimun stared at Lulu in disbelief. "Uh, our killer gunman is gone. Our muscle head king guy isn't here. The physically and mentally enhanced machine abandoned us. All we've got left is my Supreme magic, and Death's sick skateboard tricks."

He's right. They're probably the gnarliest tricks that have ever existed, or maybe even been dreamed of. Death said enthusiastically.

"What about Narissa?" Ted asked. "She's done some crazy stuff. And Lulu's more than shown she can hold her own when push comes to shove."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence dear," Narissa sighed. "But I'm a little busy trying to make sure we don't get stranded here."

Lulu punched Ted in the arm. "You can certainly sound like a genuine snake salesmen when you want to."

"Wha? I mean, I just didn't say anything that wasn't true?" Ted tried to explain.

Og'drimun sighed. "Alright. Alright. Alright. I guess Death and I will hold off these apocalyptic level threats." The small demon cracked his neck to one side and then the other. "No big deal. Guess I should've expected this level of burden to be placed on my stunning shoulders."

Death scratched his head. Uh...what?

Og'drimun flew inside Death's ribcage. "Don't worry, I've got a plan! As long as I stay in here, I can protect you from them and take a few shots myself." He said proudly.

Bro...that's absolutely genius! Death shouted. Aroooo! I'm like some sort of mech now! Don't worry, I won't let you down dude.

"I never doubted it," Og'drimun smirked as he crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Now let's roll out."

WHOOOOO! Death cheered as he raised his arms into the sky and ran outside of the room.

Almost immediately the two of them were blown away by one of the shockwaves crested by the clashing blades.

Ted sighed. "Well at least they've got enough enthusiasm, right?"

"If that was all it took, there'd be a lot more success in the world." Narissa mused.

"True, but even a rube will win a prize once every blue moon," Lulu added.

"Then I guess we're sort of just hoping they avoid us then?" Ted suggested. "Unless Sid, Tryzel, Nugget, or Bakade reapper somehow."

"That'd be quite the longshot," Lulu threw in as she sat down in the corner and leaned her head back against where the walls met.

"You can't rely on others all the time," Narissa said. "You've got to learn to take care of things yourself as well. You won't always have your friends around Ted."

Ted kept his smile up out of habit, but he understood that better than she knew. He was intimately familiar with losing everyone close to him. Sure it was probably his own fault, but that didn't make it any better.