Jackson opened his eyes slowly. His version was blurry and his memory a haze. The sun was blinding, striking him directly in the face. He moaned as he turned away from it.

He jumped from his position as his eyes focused on Barbara. She was sleeping with her head laying on his bed. His movements woke her. Her eyes locked on him and she gave him a silent smile. There was no hint of the Berserker in her now, instead she gave off her old innocent aura.

“Barbara?”

Jackson spoke slowly, testing her. She looked at him intently but didn’t say a word. It was indeed the old Barb.

Quickly looking around the room, Jackson saw Gypsy and Angela sleeping at the foot of his bed. Angela’s head was where Jackson’s left leg should have been. However, his substitute had been destroyed last night. Now he was half a man once more. He felt voluble, a feeling he hated.

The room itself was quite large. He was lying in a four-poster bed with purple curtains tied opened. The room was mostly made of large stone bricks or wood but several impressive portraits lined the walls. Joseph was asleep in a rocking chair while Alice and Charley slept while laying their heads in his lap. They looked uncomfortable on the floor. Franklin had passed out in a corner and Ms. Jinx was laying against him with her eyes closed.

Jackson pulled himself into a sitting position and examined his body. Most of his wounds seemed to have healed yet there was no sign of the black infamous armor. But he could feel it flowing under his skin. Waiting, waiting to come out.

It was Jackson’s movements that woke Angela who screamed in surprise. She leapt across the bed and hugged him while the others snapped awake. Joseph got scolded by his two friends as he pushed them to the floor while drawing his blade. Ms. Jinx sprinted to the bed with Franklin following behind. Gypsy blocked their path while trying to fore Angela off Jackson. Barbara just watched with a blank expression.

Everyone settled down a moment later, though Jackson could feel the tension in the room. Joseph spoke first.

“Congrats. You won man.”

He spoke with a smile and gave a laugh. Jackson laughed to, happy when it didn’t hurt. Sadly the girls didn’t seem to think this was funny.

“Won? Did you see the city yesterday? Parts are still burning!”

Angela rounded on her friend and pointed a finger in his face as she snapped.

“That stupid little girl did all this! It her fault and worse she dragged my Jackson into it.”

“Your Jackson?”

Gypsy hissed, still trying to separate her from Jackson. Before a fight could break out, Barbara grabbed her swords and pointed them at their necks. Both backed off but continued to glare at each other. Barbara then crawled onto the bed and sat on his right side before lowing the blades to her side.

“Can we not fight.”

Ms. Jinx said in a low voice. Gypsy glared at her before taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“So that was the Berserker.”

Franklin said. His voice was grave and his body seemed to shake. Jackson nodded, trying not to look at Barbara.

“How did you fight that thing on your own? How did you survive, twice.”

Jackson pulled back the blankets and looked at his left side.

“This was the price for survival.”

Ms. Jinx hid her face while Gypsy, Joseph and Angela looked away. Franklin just stared at Jackson with this strange stare. Part pity but envy.

“Where are we?”

Jackson asked, changing the subject.

“The palace. The queen felt bad after that spoiled bitch did that to you. It’s a right mess out there to, the guards are stretched thin and the hospitals are all full.”

Angela answered, anger taking her voice. She was shaking.

“Worse still, they expect you to come to the party tonight. Either so you can accept your prize or throw it in her face.”

“Party? Are they insane? If things are as bad as they say-”

“That’s what we said but the Queen wants to celebrate something. She’s seriously distraught and I don’t think she’s thinking clearly.”

“If I wasn’t requ-”

Gypsy froze mid-sentence. Jackson looked at her. There was no shock or surprise on her face. Just anger. Joseph looked like he was in mid-nod, frozen in place. Jackson tapped Barbara next to him, she didn’t react. The entire room was frozen.

“Sorry, but I really needed to talk with you.”

The voice almost made Jackson jump. He looked to the entrance and saw the girl from last night. She was still in full armor, her sword at her side and a stern expression on her face.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Catherine. I’m from the future, sort of. Listen, tonight the war begins.”

“The future? Your telling me you’re from the future?”

“I don’t care if you believe me or not. Everything is just simpler if you listen. Especially if you want to save Gypsy, Angela and Elizabeth. Because if you don’t listen to me they will die tonight at that party.”

“They’ll die?”

Jackson stared at the girl. He wasn’t a fool, but he also didn’t think the girl was lying. He also didn’t know her. But, this party of clearly a powder keg. True or not, could he risk it.

“I’m listening.”

“Okay, okay… Where do I start? To be honest I spent most of this morning trying to figure out how to get you to believe me that I didn’t put much thought in explaining the situation.”

“Why don’t you start with what will kill my friends.”

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“Hey, is that anyway to speak to the girl who spent an hour ripping Berserker armor off you. You’re welcome by the way.”

“Sorry. What kills the unkillable Barbara?”

“Fine. I wasn’t born at the time so all I have is the stories. Tonight will be known as the night of the Berserker, but not for the reasons you’re thinking.

“Tonight, a group of assassins will descend on the party and start massacring guests. From what I heard it was blood bath even before the incident.”

“That’s hard to believe. Most of the guests are heroes.”

“Heroes who just spent twenty-four hours fighting to the death. The guards can’t cover the whole event and those that are there die before the fighting starts. Unarmed and unprepared, even the heroes are sitting ducks for the assassin blades.

“In the fray Gypsy dies first, then Angela and finally Elizabeth. Once the old Berserker dies, the seed growing inside you explodes and you transform for the first time. A true transformation. A new born Berserker, born of such rage and hatred, will be ten times as powerful. What starts out as a one-sided slaughter gets a lot more complicated when that monster starts hacking away that everything in sight.”

“I still don’t get how Barbara dies? A single cut and bam, she’s full plate mail. She’s a living weapon.”

“The Berserker’s weakness is the host. She died before transforming, beyond that, I don’t know. From what I hear, it was quite messy.

“I guess you can riddle out what caused the war from there. The assassins that survived could no longer speak, thus no one knew who’d hired them. Every nation blamed every other nation. Two weeks from now you, as the living fortress known as the Berserker, single handedly crushed the Republic. In its weakened state, the Demons and Empire invaded. The beast men built up an army of vengeance and burned the Empire. Thus the Empire retaliated. The Demon’s over stretched their forces and ran head first into you. Meanwhile, a Republic assassin took the head of the Demon governors-”

“This history lesson is interesting and all, but I’m more worried about tonight.”

“Right…

“Listen, in short, the world I came from is a burning hellscape. Maybe a thousand people remain and they are so consumed with hatred that they are continuing to battle it out. They have maybe a year left before the food runs out. My father didn’t want me in such a world, so he helped me finish learning time magic. With it I can travel back in time, in a manner of speaking. My world is doomed, but this one is not. We planned to change the flow of time and prevent the war from starting. But he has his own plans.

“He thought that the Berserker would be a large enough threat that the beast men would cancel the party until the threat had passed. However, he clearly failed. Probably as only those in this room plus Edward know he was even here last night. I think he’s going to attack the party tonight in order to save the world. He’ll butcher dozens then get chased to the ends of the earth for his crimes by every nation.”

“So, what can I do? I’m missing a few limbs.”

“Right, right, right.”

Catherine paused, reaching into her bag and pulled out a new false leg. It looked old and underused. Yet, it fit almost perfectly on his stump.

“Sound like we’re better off skipping town before everything goes to shit. No offense, but your father wasn’t exactly friendly last night.”

“No, we need to stop him and the war. There must be away.”

Jackson could almost see the magic bleeding off the girl. Whatever she was doing was starting to hurt her as she lost her control on her emotions.

“He’s the only family I’ve ever had. I can’t let him sacrifice himself in this way.”

“He attacked me, he hurt Gypsy and turned Angela into a puppet.”

“He was holding back. He wanted to hurt you so that those three wouldn’t go to the party as they would be too scared to leave your side.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better. And what do you mean he was holding back? He defeated a group of heroes with ease.”

“He was pulling his punches. Trust me, he a lot more powerful. If Elizabeth hadn’t shown up, I doubt I could have stopped him.”

“Why do you keep calling her that? Her name’s Barbara.”

“Because that’s her real name. You named her Barbara because she couldn’t speak, but her real name is Elizabeth Keller. You’ll learn that in a few months from now while researching the Berserker. That’s not important right now.”

“I think it is. I’m more confused than ever and I don’t see why I should stop him. The plan sounds solid to me.”

“Of course you think that. I don’t want my father to die. He’s all I have. You owe me anyway from stopping him from gutting you.”

“You are terrible at convincing people. Okay, why don’t we bring these guys up to date and work on a plan as a group. Strength in numbers.”

“You mean work with this deadbeat?”

Catherine poked Joseph then slapped him a few times. There was disgust written across her face.

“No thanks. Plus, if we involve these guys, they might die. I think it’s better to work with just us. I guess Aunty Annabelle could help, but she’s about as stable as a tower of cards.”

“They might die either way.”

“Not if we find a way to stop it. You’re Jackson Ripper, the man who single handedly overthrow the corrupt king. Whose strategies saved Demon forge from destruction. I grew up with your stories. I’ve heard all the exploits you will do. If anyone can come up with a plan, it’s you.”

“I haven’t done any of that yet. I don’t even know what a Demon forge is. Those stories aren’t me.”

“They will be. Just think for a minute. There must be away to save your friends and my father. Please.”

“Huh, I don’t know. Unless we can stop the assassins from reaching the party, it seems hopeless. We’re better off not getting involved.”

“Then we’ll kill the assassins before they get a chance. You and I, we can do it.”

“There could be dozens of them. We’re two people.”

“Please, you’re a Berserker seed and I’m a time mage. Who could stand against us.”

Jackson looked at Gypsy, Angela then Barbara. He didn’t want to lose them or put them in danger. Also Barbara was a ticking time bomb, letting her go off would endanger everyone. Letting a single Berserker out would probably cause the war.

“Who’s Annabelle?”

“Aunty? She’s a survive of tonight, like you. She was the one that convinced you to join the Demon’s in the future. Something about losing a friend tonight as well. I was too young to remember the details. Since then, she’s been like a big sister to me, or at least she will be. At least until she died…”

Catherine looked away from Jackson. She seemed to fight back tears.

“Can her current self help us now?”

“Easily, she’s the Demon heroes. Their primary Hero, just like this deadbeat is the Empires. She one of the few people that could go toe to toe with the Berserker. She was so cool.”

“I get it. I have an idea. We’ll protect the party, but we’ll need help. Annabelle, if she’s really that good, also we’ll need your father. Assuming he can keep the Berserker under control.”

“He can. He’s the Master of It now. Not like when he was younger.”

“Then we got some preparing to do. But I got a question since you know so much about Barbara. What happened to her last night? How could she talk? She seemed almost normal, save for the homicidal aura. Now she’s back to this.”

Jackson gestured to her. He wanted a straight answer about his companion. Afterall, he didn’t know much about the Berserker and that scared him more.

“We’re trying to stop the biggest war in our history and you want to learn about the Berserker lore?”

“Yes. I’m scared of her. I’m terrified she’d lose control and murder a town or two. I’m scared like you are that one day she’ll be hunted to the ends of the earth. I need to know.”

“She must be similar to how my father was when he first adopted me. You probably think that the Berserker and Elizabeth are two separate entities in the same body. It not. It’s hard to explain, but the Berserker is the personification of anger and rage. It’s all the rage you feel in your heart, eating away at it every night and day. It’s the darkness that never leave you for a moment. It’s who you are, dipped in all the bad that ever happened to you.

“When you live like that for years, like she did it takes more and more. In short, last night was a nearly complete version of Elizabeth. That was her real self, or what’s left of it after being twisted by the beast for so long. In short, the beast you fought, that maimed you, was the true Elizabeth. When you freed her from the armor, you freed her from the anger. From the darkness. But it consumed so much of her persona, her ego, that all that left is the innocent parts before you. I guess the simplest way to look at it, when you freed her, she repressed all of it. She buried the monster deep in her own heart. But, as I said, the Berserker isn’t a separate entity. She buried herself, her truest self and you know what is left. A shell you call Barbara.”

Jackson looked down, his heart sinking. A part of him wanted to ask Catherine how she knew so much but now there wasn’t time. He grabbed a pen and paper and scribbled a note to the others.

“If I wasn’t required to be there, I wouldn’t go… Where’s Jackson!”

Everyone froze. A moment ago he was sitting there watching them now he was gone. In his place was a note. Barbara passed it to Gypsy who read it carefully. She then reread it and felt her face to red.

“What’s it say?”

Angela snapped.

“I’m off to stop the war with Catherine, see you at the party – Jackson.”

The color drained from those in the room as Gypsy took a deep breath.

“Who the fuck is Catherine?”