A/n: This started out as an idea for a cool battle scene. Turned into this fic. I haven't really written anything like this yet so please review.

Road to Hell

He'd chased it through the forest, following the trail of destruction. Ripped up trees and torn vegetation marked its path. Why the creature hadn't chosen to fly was unclear, perhaps it just liked seeing its own power wreaking havoc on the landscape.

Or maybe it just liked to see the destruction of life. That much had been made clear when it descended on the small, out-of-the-way outpost. Its attack had seemed pointless. Swooping low, it had breathed liquid fire over everything. Anyone who'd tried to escape the burning buildings in those first few minutes had been grasped up in its razor talons and dashed to the ground.

The first Knights on the scene had made it there almost too late. The three had descended, taking in the destruction, but as yet unaware of its source. The creature made itself known quickly.

He'd seen the dark shape throw itself through the flames. It seemed like it would crash to the ground but a flap of silver tipped wings boosted it up at the last minute. Smoke and embers swirled away as it landed.

He prepared his wrist cannons along with his fellow Knights. The creature didn't blink. It opened its beak and screeched. High-pitched and wailing.

They'd fallen to the ground. Clutching their hands over their ears to try and block out the noise. He'd somehow managed to look up. Only had because he'd felt weak being brought to his knees by a simple noise. As he'd looked up the wail seemed to reverberate, he'd even thought it was calling out the words, is only a taste…the weakness soon destroyed… And the creature cut the cry, silver wings flapping again as it shot up into the sky.

Sparx had raised her sword after it, firing blasts of energy at the smoke filled sky. None had hit their mark.

"Leave it, Sparx," Ace had said. "There are other things to do."

He'd been right. The fires still burned and there were people to save.

The other Knight forgot the words he'd almost heard for the moment. He'd been quickly caught up in the immediate threat. But afterward, he remembered.

And no one believed him.

"Random, we were there. It didn't say anything. You must have been hearing things," was Ace's explanation.

"Like you could hear anything over that racket, anyway." Sparx had added.

Random knew better then to not trust his instincts. He'd pushed it.

Ace had finally forwarded his friend's misgivings up the chain of command. Along with the recommendation that the creature be chased down and destroyed before it could do anymore damage.

"The creature is not an immediate threat," the General's voice over the communication system. "When it shows itself again, rest assured, we will destroy it. But we cannot justify a chase based on the ramblings of one of your Knights, Lightning. A griffin does not speak, nor do they attack based on the desire to destroy weakness. I doubt we will see it again."

She didn't know of Ace's habit of letting his fellow Knights listen in on relevant communications.

"So now I'm a nutcase?" He'd said as Ace cut the channel.

"You know I don't think you're a nutcase. But you don't have any proof it's going to do anything."

"I have what I heard and I have what I… feel."

It was a weak argument and he'd known it.

"Orders are orders, Random. We let it go."

He hated orders. Lately they seemed to have a habit of being based on politics more than doing the right thing. Translation: We can't let you go after the creature because if you're wrong, we will have misappropriated out resources. That could give us a bad reputation. We'd much rather take the risk of you being right and try deal with the problem when it occurs. Yes, it may cost lives, but certain procedures must be followed.

He'd always hated politics. Do Right and Fear Not had turned into Do Right (for the greatest number or richest few) and Fear Not (but you'd better make sure you 'respect' the guy in charge). Then there were the numerous subsections of The Code that went on for at least 40 data screens. It took two screens to say 'don't flirt on duty.'

"How long has it been, Ace, since they let us decide what to do in the field instead of having to check with HQ every time we want to go behind a tree?"

Ace had half smiled at that, but answered seriously. "Too long. At least they can't contact us when we're in another dimension."

"Meanwhile, ours gets trashed by Evils and the Knights are tip-toeing around each other."

"The Evil's haven't taken over yet. And Lord Fear can't do much harm from prison."

"The way things are going he doesn't need to."

"Well, we're still here. And we have Sparx now. She doesn't seem too overly concerned with tip-toeing. But I know her heart's in the right place. We can still make a difference."

"By letting the griffin go?" He'd questioned. Officially, that would have been insubordination. In reality, it was a simple question.

"We let it go."

He'd understood Ace's position. The order had been given.

So why had he defied it?