Rolynd turned to check on the others.

“I just gotta say: This feels amazing,” said Mars laughing aloud, rolling his shoulders.

“We’re ready,” Charlie said fastidiously.

Rolynd silently nodded. Taking in Mars’ face one last time. The Aegis then placed his hand on the blast door ahead of them. With a single touch, it flew out into the hangar like a pebble kicked by a bored teenager walking down the street.

Immediately, Rolynd could feel the presence of everyone in the hangar, and their precise locations. It was like a second sense. Based on how the air interacted at the bounds of his Aegis, he could vaguely ‘see’ his surroundings in a fifty-meter radius.

There were hundreds of them. Humans, robots, automated defences and vehicles. Even Doctor Hagley was there, holed up in his personal spacecraft.

The instant Rolynd processed this information, faster than his brain could even react to what he was seeing, he released the pressure on the sun he held in the palm of his hand.

A wave of incandescent material fanned out like a gigantic energy blade.

The wave of high-speed charged particles sliced off the heads of all the Elite Combat Droids, tanks, and turrets aimed at the hangar door, barely even leaving behind scrap. The sheer force of the strike was enough to leave an afterimage behind of anything that remained intact. Hagley’s spherical personal craft blew a hole in the ceiling of the hangar. The Doctor would be lost in space for the next hour or so.

An alarm began to blare as emergency barriers worked to fill the depressurising gap left in Hagley’s wake.

For a moment, everything was sucked upwards as the vacuum of space pulled everything to the hole in the ceiling.

Rolynd had aimed slightly up. He didn’t spare their human opponents out of choice, but rather, out of necessity. If he aimed any lower, he would’ve destroyed their getaway vehicle in the line of fire.

All that remained were the human components, hanging in the air on their way to heaven. Among the guards were members of Regent Lucina’s personal military, Angels, dressed in their haloed helmets, with their winged powered armour.

Mars’ body was working on overdrive, his metabolism sped up far past the point of human thanks to his powers. Temporarily lifted into the air along with everything else in the room, he telekinetically pulled himself back to the floor. From there, he became a red blur, barrelling through the ranks of those at the front of the hangar. As he ran, he channelled the great energy given to him by Charlie, releasing it with great relish. The ground beneath his feet erupted upwards with great force. Steel blossomed into gory flowers. To compensate for the great forces acting on his body, he had to spend a great amount of energy and focus simultaneously reinforcing every molecule of his being.

Once the chamber repressurised, a second blast door opened to the right side of the hangar. Aleister had hacked the door.

Sophia rushed out, her orange aegis-scorn blades flashing. The great downpour of bodies returning to earth was blended into an avalanche of meat and metal.

Aleister and Phee both provided supporting fire, having commandeered some high-tech weapons from guards they had defeated.

Carmen hid behind them as they pushed forward, trying to avoid drawing attention to herself. Her healing power was not of much offensive use, so it was best if she stayed out of the line of fire, able to assist if anyone got hurt.

All of the Bloodstones charged through, taking the ground that Mars had cleared. They would have no hope of surviving had they become caught in a choke point with no cover at the hangar entrance.

Then, the nullifiers returned with a great humming.

“Find cover!” Rolynd shouted, ducking behind a metal barrier. He continued to shoot into the chaotic mass of Incandestine forces until he saw that they were getting back on their feet and rallying.

“Get down!”

The air overhead turned into a storm of bullets, both ballistic and energy.

Rolynd didn’t see it happen, but he knew that Mars, who was far behind enemy lines, was being killed.

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“God...DAMNIT!” he screamed in frustration. Moisture welled up in his eyes. Grief, frustration, regret. All these feelings tore at his heart. All the while, the unrelenting barrage of gunfire and ordinance rang all around him.

Then, the nullifiers powered down once more. There was the echoing rumble of a distant explosion.

Grief is recompense for the living. The dead have no use for it. Grieve later.

Catherine’s face briefly flashed through Rolynd’s mind. Perhaps there was still time to save her if he did something. But he couldn’t bring himself to. Catherine’s parting words rang through his mind; Ultimately, he had to trust her.

“Rolynd!” cried Charlie. The younger Bloodstone was pinned behind a piece of metal, gunfire slowly but surely melting away his protection.

Do whatever it takes to keep them safe.

“Damnit…” said Rolynd, wiping away his tears.

Rolynd flew to Charlie, rapidly ‘pulling’ himself through the air with his Aegis by creating a low-pressure vacuum in the direction of his travel.

“You’re safe with me,” Rolynd reassured him, helping him up.

The guards that usually accompanied the Chimaeras were well trained to avoid shooting at Rolynd, lest he would turn their weapons against them. But these Angels that had been summoned to the moon from Portum on short notice were not so aware of their enemy’s abilities. And so, they continued to open fire.

Rolynd turned to face them. Frozen gunfire and munitions hung in the air about him. Even the chemical reactions taking place within several grenades were halted within the bounds of his Aegis.

“You who follow orders instead of a moral compass… This is the ‘justice’ that you serve with your lives!”

Rolynd ‘returned’ fire, sending every bullet and projectile back into the barrel of the gun that fired it. Several weapons malfunctioned, being damaged and inoperable.

The multitude of startled Angels stumbled back. Some dropped their weapons in fright after feeling the unnatural jolt of their gunfire returning from whence it came. The frozen grenades returned, flying in a perfect arc back to the contingent.

Except, of course, the explosive weapons had their pins pulled.

The Angels scrambled in panic, but it was too late. A barrage of bright blue explosions turned their bodies into red mist and wisps of black smoke.

Rolynd and Charlie ran through the carnage, regrouping with Sophia’s group, who were standing next to what remained of Mars.

Another explosion rocked the moon base.

The decimated Angels standing in the way of the Bloodstones suddenly began to turn tail and retreat, heading back into the facility. It was unlike the disciplined soldiers to hav their spirit broken so easily. No, something had drawn their attention.

Now, what could be a greater priority than the impending escape of nearly all the Chimaeras in this facility?

Rolynd knew well what that could be. And that meant that now, it was too late for him to make any meaningful change. History had repeated itself.

“He’s gone... There’s nothing I can do for him,” said Carmen, kneeling by Mars’ body. It was unrecognisably burnt, missing several limbs, scorched off by laser weaponry.

Rolynd grimaced. Without hesitation, he used his Aegis to separate Mars’ lifeless corpse from the intact Bloodstone Hive, which still lived, awash with thick blackish blood.

“Rolynd!” Charlie protested in horror. Even Carmen recoiled at the gruesome sight.

“He’s gone, but we still need him.” Explained Rolynd coldly. “…We have to do whatever it takes.” The King said, saying the words that would define the Bloodstones’ resolve for the next four years.

“There’s no time to lose! Let’s go!” shouted a voice. Aleister had already unlocked a spacecraft that they could use to escape.

This was the moment. Rolynd thought in quiet, dreadful anticipation. The hairs on the back of his neck rose up as the feeling of déjà vu struck him like a wave of freezing water.

“Where’s Effie?” Sophia asked Rolynd as they sprinted to the Sparrow’s access ramp.

Rolynd turned, and sure enough, there she stood, staring straight at them, meeting their gaze with a hollow stare.

Her face was as white as a ghost, save for the dark red patches that coloured it and the rest of her like a grotesque work of art…

Sophia followed Rolynd’s gaze.

Effie’s bloodstained visage tried to step forward, staggered, and collapsed onto her hands and knees, vomiting bile and spit.

“Sophia, get everyone inside!” Rolynd ordered. He raced over to Effie, lifting her up by the arm and slinging it over his shoulder.

“Cath-Catherine,” Effie mumbled.

“Shh. I know.”

They stumbled into the Sparrow’s cargo hold.

“Rolynd. The engine won’t start, there’s no fuel cell.” Aleister said. Carmen was at the helm.

“Use Mars,” Rolynd ordered, setting Effie down on her back and closing the boarding ramp being them. His friend quietly lay, staring at the ceiling while tears streamed down the sides of her face to the floor.

Mars’ Bloodstones could be used in lieu of a battery or engine. Charlie could recharge it as they needed.

They began to lift off. The main hangar doors slid open before them, courtesy of Aleister.

In the end, nothing had changed.

“Where to?” Carmen asked.

“Away from here,” Rolynd answered glumly.

A growing hum and they shot off into space.

Rolynd had successfully resisted the doubt and temptation thrust upon him. This outcome was not perfect. But it was his. He knew that real life was not something that could just be changed and rewritten conveniently for the heroes to succeed, no matter how it seemed. The world was not a place of happily ever after, but that was no reason to reject it. No, each crime of misfortune, each failing of fate was a lesson, a reason to change the world for the better. A reason to create something better.

Then, Rolynd saw it, then, a golden glow that rattled the mind. A view that was visible only to him.

The voice of ADAM spoke.

“Congratulations are owed, Rolynd, Son of Laetus. It takes more than simple conviction to willingly relive one’s darkest moments, especially for one such as yourself; It takes a visionary. It would appear that the time has come to show everyone the vision that drives you.”