(A/N: New story folks! This time, it's personal!)

Story note: This takes place in Hunger where Sam confronts Drake in the power plant.

Sam stormed down the hallway of the power plant. He expected Drake to be here. It wasn't exactly something he was completely sure of, but he had this feeling that told him that this was the case. As he felt the dark shadows of the power plant approach him slowly but surely, a shiver boomed down his spine. His brain was on high-alert now, his nerves and his mind reacting to smallest sound or movement. But he also had the small, small surge of hope somewhere deep down inside him.

He entered a very large room which was apparently the reactor. There were a lot of Uranium rods to his left, and the reactor itself was also pretty close. But all those things were not interesting at the moment. The interesting thing now was Drake, for Sam wanted to kill him really bad.

Then, he saw him.

He was standing down the end of the corridor, a wide grin of evil spread across his face.

-''Hi, Sammy.'' He chuckled with the shark mouth. ''Let's talk.''

-''Drake.'' Sam growled, doing his best to hide the intense fear he felt growing inside. He raised his hands slightly, but Drake wasn't stupid. Having been almost killed by that same move, he raised his tentacle, having it writhe in the air, as if a surge of electricity coursed through it.

-''Uh-uh-uh!'' Drake chuckled, evil grin still on his face. ''You try that, and I will release the nuclear radiation into Perdido Beach.'' He revealed his human hand from behind his back. It was holding some kind of remote. Sam guessed that it was used to control the reactor staves.

-''One press, just one simple press of the button will cause the staves to come out of the reactor, and the radiation will spill out all over the place. And maybe it fell to the floor ad broke? Can you imagine your dear Astrid without any hair, Sam!'' Drake half yelled, the excitement growing. Sam let his arms hang right back down.

-''Unless… there's a way you can save your cocky girlfriend, if you're willing to do it…'' The grin never came off of his face.

-''Drake…'' Sam began, trying to find the words. ''What do you want?'' he asked, trying to sound brave, but feeling the courage crumble. Drake laughed triumphantly.

-''You know what I want.'' Drake was getting hysterical. Unless Sam wanted everyone in Perdido Beach to die, he had to obey his smallest order. Sam sighed and gave up. Whatever Drake wanted to do to him, it would not be enjoyable. Sam then fell down to his knees. Quickly as a snake, Drake strode over to him and gave him a kick to the ribs. Sam let out a cry of pain and fell down to all fours. He tried getting back up again when Drake landed another kick, this time to the side of his head. Sam grunted and lay still for a few minutes. Drake snickered as he placed the sole of his boot on top of Sam's neck. He pushed down a little and the grin stuck to his face like glue.

-''You like that, huh!'' he then furiously yelled, stomping down harder. Sam did his best to push himself up, but that only resulted in his own harm. He also tried gripping for Drake's leg, the one that pinned him down, but to no avail. Drake had positioned himself so that he couldn't be reached. If, somehow, Sam could reach it, Drake could just whip his hand or arm and Sam would stop trying. The perfect plan for torturing one of his worst enemies.

-''Drake…'' Sam called out, but Drake's ears weren't having any of it. Instead, he removed his boot from Sam's head. Sam didn't think for a few moments, and started to get up slowly. Why had Drake stopped?

Almost instantly, a pain so severe, so intense, that it caused Sam to scream in agony, was felt. On his back, a pain so sharp, so fierce. A pain felt from a whip. Sam grunted and tried to roll around so that he would face up, but just then another piercing snap and a searing pain applied to his back. He screamed and then whined slightly. The pain was unbearable.

-''Oh, and by the way, Sam. Have you pee yourself yet? They said that I did when they removed my arm, which hurt pretty much. Have you done that yet? Have you peed yourself yet?'' He asked maniacally while landing several more whips. Sam no longer moved, as his back started to fill with loose skin that bared his flesh, and at one place, a rib. Drake whipped him one more time. A grunt of pain.

-''Drake…'' Drake then heard a voice inside his head. The Gaiaphage? No, it wasn't… It was different somehow. It caused the same uncomfortable shivers to run down his spine, but somehow it was different. Drake temporarily stopped. When he didn't hear it anymore, he was to resume to his previous actions. He raised his arm for another good whip.

-''Drake…'' There was that voice again! Drake growled, and then kicked Sam multiple times in the head and the ribcage several times to ensure he stayed down. He then turned around so that he was facing the doorway that Sam had come in through. He could see someone standing there. And as he looked at it more and more, he recognized the figure.

-''Caine?'' he asked shortly. More he couldn't say before an invisible, giant fist smashed into him, sending him flying backwards. He tumbled down the floor, stopping just inches away from the radioactive pool. He grunted of pain, before getting up to his feet slowly and with a lot of effort. He gritted his teeth and looked at where Sam was lying. Approximately 10 feet away. But why had Caine attacked him? It was he who gave him the order to do this.

Right?

-''Caine, what the hell are you doing?'' he shouted across the room, but when he looked where the Caine-lookalike had been standing just moments ago, there was no one there. Drake coughed and started to turn in place. Sam was lying lifeless on the floor. That was all sign of life in the nearest vicinity he could see. His eyes wandered restlessly from spot to spot.

-''Who the fuck is there!'' he then screamed furiously, the whip writhing uncontrollably, as if it was longing to dislocate with Drake's body. Drake then felt something he had almost never felt before.

Panic.

It crept up on him slowly, like panic used to do. The sweat pearled down his forehead and he panted and grunted. Turning in place many times, he still couldn't get any view of his recent attacker.

-''Caine! I'm gonna whip the shit out of you! Were the hell are you?'' Drake raged. He turned in place again quickly, making sure none of his sides were unprotected. He was sweating and panting out of the panic that had stricken. Caine could kill him. And as Drake didn't have a gun with him, there was no way he could attack Caine from afar. And he didn't want to risk getting close to Caine to use his whip. That would be suicide.

Suddenly, that same invisible fist smashed in his back, causing him to fly through the air and eventually crash into a wall. He lay still for a few moments as he heard footsteps closing in on him. When he looked up, he saw a tall figure which didn't look anywhere near Caine. He appeared human, or at least humanoid.

-''Drake.'' The figure said. Drake grunted and then with a roar, stormed upwards. He then swung his whip at the assailant, but it didn't have any effect at all. It was as if had whipped a statue. The figure didn't flinch.

-''Drake.'' The figure said once more.

-''Shut up!'' Drake screamed as he whipped one more time. It had the same result as before. The figure didn't move a muscle.

Meanwhile Drake was having his ''chat'' with the mysterious person, Sam slowly got up from the floor. Ever so carefully, he got up to his knees. The pain was unbearable; his back looked more like a spike mat right know. Sam groaned and eventually got up to his feet. If he was this badly hurt from the short time Drake had spent with him, he couldn't possibly imagine what one whole hour would feel like. He stumbled a little, but finally found his balance. The pain in the back seemed to pull back slightly,

-''AHHH!'' he then heard Drake scream as Drake whipped at nothing at all. Sam then had a questioning look on his face. Why was Drake attacking nothing? He then grunted loudly because a wave of sharp pain stroke. He fell down to all fours, wailing because of the pain. When he looked up again, he saw that Drake was looking at him. A few seconds with the two making eye contact took place before Drake yelled again and whipped at thin air.

-''What's up with him?'' Sam asked himself. Drake then stopped, as if on cue. Sam started to walk over to him.

Drake was now sitting on his knees, arm and tentacle lying still on the floor. He tried to look up, but his head fell down. He was then lifted up into the air and thrown through the air. He then crashed down into the ground without a sound. He didn't move.

-''What in the name of… I mean what the…?'' Sam asked himself again. What had just happened? It looked like something only Caine was capably of doing. But Caine wasn't here. Was he?

-''Sam Temple.'' He then heard a voice inside his head. He looked around, just as Drake had done a few minutes before.

-''Who's there?'' he shouted out loud. When nothing responded, he asked it again.

-''This is really weird…'' Sam said to himself. Indeed it was.

Suddenly, Sam saw someone at the end of the large reactor room. It was a pretty tall person, being at least as tall as Quinn, maybe even taller. Because of the darkness in the room, he couldn't really see any more than that. Sam then started move towards the figure, which didn't move.

-''Hey! Who are you?'' He shouted. The figure again, didn't move. Sam now felt the same panic that Drake had felt. Who was this? And what did it want?

-''Sam Temple.'' Again! That stupid voice! Where did it come from? Sam got more worried by the second.

Suddenly, an extremely bright light shone from the figure standing several feet away from Sam. He raised an arm to block out the sharp light as it grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, it started to fade again, and Sam's view fell back to where the figure was standing. There was now something else. Like an angel or a lookalike, but without the wings. A floating white light which had the appearance of a boy. It then spoke to Sam, a voice that sounded much like his own.

-''Sam Temple. Son of Constance Temple and Taegan Smith. Finally, we meet.'' It said. The voice scared Sam.

-''Who are you?'' Sam asked. Just after he asked this, several tentacles, or at least what looked like tentacles, made out of light appeared. And they all went for him. He pulled back in an effort to avoid the tentacles.

-''Don't be alarmed, Sam. You may wonder who I am. All you need to know is that I am a friend. I will not hurt you.'' After he said that, the tentacles touched Sam. The light spread onto his body and then to the wounds on his back. The wounds were glowing for a bit, and when the light dispersed, they were healed. Gone, no longer there. Sam sighed in relief as the pain subdued, not caring how it had happened.

-''I am an avatar of all the good that is in the hearts of you all. You, Astrid, Edilio, Mary, everyone. And just like I'm an avatar of good, there is also an avatar of evil as well. I was created by the one you refer to as ''Little Pete''. His mind is clouded by the autism he is carrying, but that's only half of it. Little Pete is one of the most powerful beings in the entire universe. The Gaiaphage has done its best to make sure his good mind stays clouded, but one little piece of it slipped out, and thus I was created. However, the Gaiaphage found out shortly after, and it is now creating an avatar of evil.''

Sam didn't understand much. ''So Little Pete is subconsciously completely normal, but the Gaiaphage's influence is preventing his mind to show? Is that right? So, Little Pete's mind, or part of it, escaped the Gaiaphage's grip and created you?''

The boy made of light nodded noticeably.

-''That is right. It is good that you understand.'' Sam shook his head in distrust.

-''But what has that to do with us, me? Everyone in Perdido Beach and Coates, what's it got to do with them?''

-''Because the Gaiaphage is powering up. If it manages to complete its transformation, there is no stopping it. It will break out of the ''FAYZ'' and destroy all outside. However, it is weak now, and it needs Quarants to grow, and-''

-''Wait, wait, wait. What is a Quarant?'' Sam interrupted, being very confused with this new, strange word and what it could mean.

-''It's Little Pete's name for those of the likes of you. Those with powers, or as you call them, freaks.'' The light explained. Sam almost nodded in understanding.

-''But why does it need people with powers. And how is it going to use them to power?'' Sam asked with more than curiosity in his voice.

-''Well, the Gaiaphage absorbs your powers and turns it into energy. As for how it does it, we need not speak of that.'' The light explained as well as it could. Sam felt like he was talking to his Physics teacher.

-''Can we do anything to stop it?'' Sam asked with hope fading as he took in the information given to him by the avatar. It nodded in response.

-''Not you. But if Little Pete's mind gets freed, he will be able to battle the Gaiaphage.''

-''And how will we free his mind?

-''Like I've said, the Gaiaphage is too weak to do anything in its current state. This is why it will create beings that will kill everyone living in the FAYZ. If you destroy the avatars in time, the Gaiaphage will peril. And so will the FAYZ wall, the wall that separates you from the outer world.''

-''Okay, that is a sketchy explanation. So to summarise it, kill the avatars the Gaiaphage creates and we will survive?''

-''Yes, that is correct. If you see anyone that is suspicious or acting strange, don't hesitate to destroy that person!''

Sam didn't say anything.

-''I will help you defeat it. You are not strong enough to do it yourselves. Besides, the avatars will see you as primary target due to the strength you possess. Be ready.'' With those words, the light started to fade.

-''Wait!'' Sam yelled, but it was too late. It was already gone.''

-''Oh man… I need a vacation…'' Sam mumbled to himself.

How would things turn out for them?

Sam started to walk back out through the entrance doorway. Outside, he saw a boy leaning against a car, maybe 30 feet away. Sam wondered who it could be, as it was extremely tall, reaching almost 7 feet. He was also fairly strong from what Sam could see. The boy then turned his head in Sam's direction.

-''Hey, Sam! Get over here!'' the boy shouted. Sam didn't do much but obey. He walked over to the boy with quick, firm steps.

-''Who are you?'' Sam asked, but was immediately answered when the buy's arm started to glow a sharp light, the same light that had appeared inside the power plant.

-''Call me Alex. I really don't have a name as Pete didn't name me, but to you and everyone else it's Alex. Of course, you'll have to introduce me, right?'' Sam nodded slowly and then yawned.

-''I'm tired. I'm gonna get back to Perdido Beach and make sure everyone's alright. I hope Zil hasn't caused a big scene over there…''

-''Ha! That little rat! If I could right now, I'd whoop his candy ass!'' The light, or Alex, exclaimed. Sam agreed without saying anything.

-''Lets just get back to Perdido. We'll talk on the road. I don't like talking to people in the middle of the night. No offense.''

-''None taken.''

And so they started to walk back to Perdido Beach, talking all the way about what they would do about all the different events going on in the different places of Perdido Beach.

(A/N: Finally, I've been able to update this story after god knows how long. Anyway, uh, yeah, I know it's kinds rushed, sorta, an' I'm tryin' my best here, so if ya'll have anthin' to say 'bout it, ya'll 'r welcome to do it. I ain't takin' no offence by y' reviews, as long as they 'r not trollin'.)