Chapter 6
Death of Old Sandover

KG Corporal Alexander Karsath – 12M 0D 9h 00m

A loud series of beeping noises startled the young man into wakefulness. He propped himself up on his elbow and leaned toward the small table next to his bed, and slammed the leftmost button. The beeping stopped.

Alexander groaned and pushed himself off his bed. With late summer hitting Haven City as hard as it could, Alex had gone to sleep in simply a pair of slacks. Almost automatically, he got up from his bed and moved across his bedroom to the bathroom, turning on the light as he did so. He looked into the mirror, and his shirtless reflection stared back.

The last three or four months had been as rigorous as ever. The Metal Heads were getting increasingly brave, and attacking in more numbers. And Azelas certainly wasn't letting up in his training lately. Alex had gotten to the point where he could fight the larger man and be almost an even match, but Azelas always managed to exploit the tiniest fault in his technique before the lunch hour was over. Alex's body had sustained its share of scars and bruises which were apparent in his reflection today.

Good morning, birthday boy! Joumae called out in Alex's head.

Alex's train of thought came to a complete halt. In his typical morning amnesia, he had completely forgotten that it was his birthday today.

Well, you would've remembered sooner or later. So how does it feel, being sixteen at last?

"...Weird," Alex finally replied. He glanced up at his hair, took a comb off the bathroom counter, and combed his hair back. Up until three months ago, he'd always had his hair simply combed forward when it wasn't magically spiky. He'd decided that he liked it better the other way, and he'd had his hair back ever since.

After a few strokes, Alex left the bathroom and moved over to the closet across his bed. His apartment was rather large, but it only had a couple of rooms. It was more of a hotel room than anything else, though he'd never stayed at a hotel before in the real world. And since the KG paid for the place in exchange for his work, he didn't really worry about it.

As he picked out a shirt from the closet and put it on, Alexander got to thinking. He was now sixteen years old as of today. How many sixteen-year-olds were military officers in another world? A world based off a video game, no less?

Alex sighed. He'd been in this world for an entire year, away from his real home in the real world. There was the Universal Failsafe Law to keep any time from passing there, in order to hide the Interference phenomenon. But how could it possibly hide the fact that Alex would have grown two years overnight? Furthermore, what were the other worlds doing in this time? Were the worlds of Kingdom Hearts, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Chrono Trigger moving along as well? Had a year also passed for Sora, Edward, and... Lucca?

I can't believe you still have a thing for her, Joumae remarked. What do you see in her? On top of that, what does she see in you?

This was not the first time this question had been asked, but Alex had failed to come up with a straight answer. This occurrence would be no different. He couldn't really say what brought him to Lucca, other than that she was a nice young woman that he trusted. But Joumae's other question was valid.

But before he could torment himself with that question, another ringing sound broke into his thoughts. He looked over at the table next to his bed, thinking for a moment that it was his alarm clock again. But he then realized that it was his KG tag right next to the clock that was making the sound.

Alex walked over to the table, picked up his tag, and flipped it open. "Yes?" he asked.

"Alexander! This is the Baron! Are you awake?" the voice scratched through the tag's tiny speakers.

It took a lot of effort not to roll his eyes, but he couldn't resist saying, "No, sir. I'm answering you in my sleep."

"Well, get up!" the Baron barked. "I need you over in Old Sandover, pronto! Expect the worst! Praxis out."

The static ceased, leaving Alex somewhat confused. Expect the worst?

Not exactly something we don't do very often, with the Baron in charge. Now get dressed and moving. I don't want to piss off the Baron any more than you do this morning.


Old Sandover was a small section of the city just east of the Slums. But the Baron had ordered the construction of a very large wall between the Slums and Old Sandover for some reason, so Alex had hardly ever thought to go over there. There was a wide street in the back corner of the slums that led to the wall's door, so Alexander drove his Zoomer there.

He dropped to the lower hover zone and jumped off, and followed the street as it made a sharp right turn. He was now staring at the wall that the Baron was constructing, and it looked almost done. There was a group of engineers and Krimzon Guards milling around at a dug-up section right next to the wall's security door. In fact, the Baron himself was there, with Erol, Torn, and the rest of the KG Commanders behind him.

As Alexander approached, he heard the Baron shout, "Is this thing done yet!?"

One of the engineers, a twitchy, skinny man with spiky white hair and goggles over his eyes, cowered under the Baron. "I-I-It'll be just a little while longer... An hour at the most!"

"Make it half an hour!" the Baron barked. "I know you can do it, Vin, so get to it already!"

Vin flinched, opened his mouth to say something, shut his mouth immediately, and then dashed off hurriedly to join his fellow engineers. Alex decided that this was a good place for a transition, so he said, "You called, Baron?"

Everyone turned to face Alexander. "Ah, Alex," the Baron said simply. "Good time. C'mon, let's go."

The whole group started walking into the small digging site, where the security door was located. The door opened up for them automatically as they approached, and they stepped into a circular room with another security door on the other side.

When the entire group was inside, the door behind them closed and the one in front of them opened. The group moved out of the room and came to the other side of the wall. They were on a dirt path with stone walls on either side of them. Alex looked around and saw lots of very old stone buildings of various heights. Stone walls separated the streets as many, many civilians walked around. There wasn't a Zoomer in sight.

But there were plenty and plenty of guards around. You couldn't look anywhere without seeing at least one Krimzon Guard or military vehicle. Obviously, something very big was about to happen here.

"Hey, Alex!" a familiar voice called out from down the street to Alex's left. Alex looked in that direction to see Azelas walking toward him with a KG rifle in his hands.

"Azelas!? What in the world are you doing here?" Alex asked, surprised to see his prisoner friend here.

Azelas seemed about to answer, but he looked past Alexander's shoulder. Alex looked back in time to see most of the Krimzon Guard Commanders rush past him and Azelas. The Commanders split up along the streets, and Alex guessed that they were going to join up with some of the other platoons further in the district.

"Anyway," Azelas said, regaining Alex's attention, "something big's going to happen here, so they apparently wanted me around." Looking around, he added, "I think that much would've been obvious."

Alex shrugged. "But what exactly is going to happen?"

Azelas took a couple of nervous glances in opposite directions, and leaned in toward Alexander. "A Metal Head attack. A big one."

The Interference froze. "...Sustained assault?" he asked quietly. Long battles were not good for Alex, especially without his magicked garments. His magic was limited, as well as his stamina. He could only use one Curaga per day. And even though he was in far better shape now than many months ago, he could only last so long on his own.

"One can only guess," Azelas answered. He then straightened up and pointed over to the walls surrounding Old Sandover. "From what little guard chatter I heard, it seems like this section of the shield wall is hard to maintain energy to along with the rest of the city." He then pointed at the large wall Alex had just emerged from. It basically isolated Old Sandover and made the rest of Haven City a perfect square. "My guess is they're setting up a new barrier and letting the old one fall apart."

Alexander looked around, slightly nervous. "But... why are there so many civilians walking around? If there's an attack, shouldn't we be evacuating them? Wouldn't there be a panic now?"

Maybe the Baron doesn't want a panic, Joumae muttered. Alex scowled at this thought. Nobody had gotten a memo about this at all? Was the Baron just going to sacrifice everybody in this section?

Alex turned on his heel and walked over to the Baron, Erol, and Torn, who were still standing near the entrance. With a scowl still on his face, he walked over to the Baron and said, "Okay, so what exactly is going on here?"

"A critical operation," Erol answered. "We need to defend this new barrier until it's finished, or else the Metal Heads will overrun the city through here."

"Alright," Alexander replied, "but why aren't we evacuating everyone out of here? If the Metal Heads break in here, they'll kill everyone!"

Torn blinked at this, and looked up at the Baron. "He's right. We should still have some time before the Metal Heads arrive, so we should probably–"

"If we start that now," Erol cut in, "our guards will be off guard by the time the Metal Heads arrive. It's too risky."

"It's risky for them already!" Torn shouted, stepping around the Baron to get face to face with Erol. "We should be protecting these people. We should save as many as we can!"

"Keep your voice down!" the Baron snapped. "The last thing we need is everyone panicking in our direction, Commander. Besides, the Metal Heads will take time to take out any civilians in their path, which will slow their advance."

At this, both Torn and Alexander were in shock. "Cannon fodder!?" Alex exclaimed. "You can't be serious!"

"I am serious," Baron Praxis growled. "If the Metal Heads get to this wall before it's operational, the entire city goes down! We can't afford to waste energy getting even more civilians within the new barrier."

"We can afford it!" Torn argued. "But only if we start right now!!"

"Commander Torn!" the Baron shouted, extremely pissed by now. "You will not be wasting my time today! Your orders are to take your guards and defend this wall from the Metal Heads... and defend nothing else! Is that clear?!"

Alex was just as angry as Torn about this, but he could see that Torn was struggling within himself. A very uneasy silence settled into the group as Torn kept his eyes fixed on the ground.

After a few moments, Torn muttered, "Crystal clear." Keeping his head low, he slowly walked past the Baron and Erol, heading for the security door.

Even the Baron was surprised by this. "Torn! Where are you going?!" he shouted angrily. But the Commander didn't respond as the security door closed behind him.

"A traitor," Erol muttered once it was clear that Torn wasn't going to return. "We'll have to take care of him later."

Baron Praxis grunted. "If he's smart, he'll stay out of our sight." He turned around and noticed Alexander once more. "Hmph. What about you, kid? Are you going to ditch us too?"

Alex clenched his hands into fists, but said, "No, I'm staying." He then turned on his heel and walked back toward his friend, Azelas. He was staying for his friend, not for the Baron.


About twenty minutes passed in silence. Many civilians around Old Sandover began to question what was going on, but nobody was allowed to answer them. More than a few Krimzon Guards simply told them not to worry, or that this was an exercise, or some other such lie.

Since Torn had gone AWOL, Alex was assigned to stand with Torn's division of troops, which included a Hellcat cruiser, about a dozen normal guards, and his friend Azelas. They were positioned in a large, lengthy stone pathway that was walled-in and built fairly high above the ground.

Finally, some static came through on the KG radios. "First wave of Wasps heading in over the wall. Prepare for imminent attack."

Alex, along with everyone else privy to that transmission, immediately became tense. They already had an idea of how large this invasion force was going to end up being, and that was going to make this a long day.

A low but insistent roaring sound began to echo through the area. Everyone looked up at the tall, decrepit wall opposite of the brand new one. And then just about everyone saw it. A group of flying Metal Heads, propelled by large rockets on their backs, with guns at the bottom of their torsos. These were the Wasp types.

Alex looked back to the main KG force nearest to the wall, and looked up to see a similar group of Krimzon Guards with enormous jet-packs attached to their backs. The flying Krimzon Guards flew toward the Wasps and opened fire with the rapid-fire Eco cannons attached to them as well, and the Wasps fired Dark Eco from their own cannons. Thus, a firefight in the air erupted above everyone.

This sent every civilian in the city section into a panic. This was shattering their world; the shield wall was supposed to be keeping the Metal Heads out. The fact that the old barrier was failing had been unfathomable until this very moment.

Alex considered using a Lightning spell to take out a couple of Wasps, but he, like the rest of the ground forces, soon had other things to be worrying about. A small tremor shook the ground and the buildings, accompanied by a muffled crashing sound from the far wall. Azelas, Alexander, and the platoon of Krimzon Guards up in the building turned toward the source of the sounds and tremors, and watched what happened next.

A huge beast simply burst through the stone wall, sending debris in all directions toward the city section. It looked like a very bulky, enlarged, armored rhinoceros, with electricity shooting from its sides into the ground around it. The metal armor covering nearly its entire body seemed much thicker than that of normal Metal Heads, and the electricity it was shooting around itself made it impossible to approach. It seemed invulnerable.

Even Azelas, whom Alexander had known to show very little fear if any at all, seemed extremely worried by the presence of this monster. "Good God..." he muttered. "They sent in an Ele-Beast?!"

As the old shield wall began to collapse on both sides of the breach, many more Metal Heads began to pour in from the opening in the wall. The Grunt and Swiper types were very much prominent in the invasion force, but there were many other larger types that Alex had only heard about.

There were tall, bipedal, lizard-like Metal Heads with little armor on, wielding what looked like slings with which they lobbed Dark Eco at helpless civilians. Those ones were called Sling Blasters. Then there were what looked like bipedal Grunts that were wielding a staff that shot Dark Eco blasts at a rapid-fire pace, which were called Rapid Gunners.

There were also Juice Goons, which were bulky, bipedal Metal Heads with little armor on, wielding staffs that shot out electrical blasts to shock enemies. And then, towering over the humanoid Metal Heads, there were huge crab-like creatures with four sharp legs and a cannon on their right arms, which were called Spider Gunners. Those were heavily armored and really stable.

The Krimzon Guards on the ground, along with the ones stationed with Alexander up in the large buildings, began firing upon all of the invading Metal Heads. Azelas took aim with his rifle, which had been given a grenade launcher attachment. He fired a grenade down into the crowd of Metal Heads, creating an explosion of dark energy that knocked a few of the Metal Heads away and killed a couple of them.

But it was pure chaos. There were so many Metal Heads flowing in rapidly from outside the wall. Alexander had only seen one multitude so large – both in a video and in real life – and that group had been comprised of Heartless. But there were also so many shots going around that it was hard to tell if you were being shot at or not. And civilians were dying left and right as they tried in vain to escape, and their cries pierced any resolve Alex might've had.

"Some help would be great, Alex!" Azelas shouted as he fired another grenade into the throng below. This broke Alexander out of his reverie, bringing him back into the task at hand.

He summoned the Crimson Catalyst Lockshield, and clapped his hands together. His alchemy wasn't limited, so it would be his first option for the offensive. Alex then placed a hand on the wall next to him, and green sparks appeared. The green sparks traveled down along the building and to the dirt next to it, and spread across a large group of Metal Heads.

The monsters stopped for a moment, in curiosity of what was happening beneath them. Then, all of a sudden, a humongous multitude of sharp, metal spikes rose up from the ground, impaling and pounding the monsters as they rose. Most of the Metal Heads caught in the large-scale attack found their skull gems popping out of their skulls right before they faded away.

Good thing we spent some time working on your alchemy, huh? Joumae said over the sounds of battle around them. Why have instant Stonespikes when you can have instant Steelspikes!

Alex allowed himself a self-congratulation, even though the moment was tense. Trying to turn dirt into spikes of steel, especially from such a distance, was a very complicated alchemic feat. But with the studying and practice he'd been doing for so long, he could pull it off most of the time.

The Steelspikes disintegrated back into earthen material, revealing that the attack had left a huge dent in the invasion force. But if one were to look past the broken wall again, one would find that there were still plenty of Metal Heads yet to advance through the opening.

Finally, some static came in through the Krimzon Guards' headsets again. "The new barrier is online!" Commander Erol's voice came in through the radio. "I repeat, the new barrier is online! Our work here is done. Prepare for evacuation."

The sound of roaring engines approached from behind Alexander, and everyone on the building looked toward a section of the building that looked out to the rest of Old Sandover without any wall. A large, red, box-like ship, known as an Air Train, was approaching them. Several others were touching down at various parts of Old Sandover.

The Air Train approaching them rotated to face its rear toward them, and a large door lowered down to reveal the inside. It was empty, save for two long panels on both sides to serve as benches. Erol was standing in the back. "Alright, men! Let's get out of here!"

The Krimzon Guards wasted no time in running up the ramp into the ship and taking seats. Alex and Azelas also moved toward the ship, but Erol drew out a remote-like object and pointed it at Azelas. It was the control to Azelas's Shock-cuff. "The prisoner stays."

Alex and his friend stopped. "What?!" Alexander exclaimed in response. "There's no way anyone can survive by themselves with all these Metal Heads around!"

"That's the idea," Erol replied coldly. Looking straight at Azelas, he said, "You've outlived your usefulness, convict. The Baron no longer feels he needs you. I suppose you can thank this boy for that." He chuckled evilly as Alex and Azelas glanced at each other.

"There's no way I'm going to let him die out here!" Alex snapped.

Erol's evil grin only grew wider. "I order you to get onto this ship, boy. Are you going to ignore a direct order? The Baron doesn't take too kindly to that."

Alex grimaced. As much as he wanted to find a way through this situation, the sounds of the war around them told him that he didn't have the time. "Fine," he said quickly, not allowing himself to think about his hasty decision. "I'm staying."

Erol chuckled again, and the door of the Air Train closed up. The ship fired up its engines once again and flew off, leaving Azelas and Alexander on the high building by themselves. All of the other guards had evacuated already, and most of the civilians in Old Sandover had been killed by now. It was just them and the Metal Heads.

Azelas looked over at Alexander. "You gone crazy, kid?"

"I wasn't going to just let my last real friend die," Alex replied, looking around at the city below them. The Metal Heads were destroying everything they could, including the walls and small buildings. Given that pattern, it wouldn't be too long until they tried raiding the building they were in at the moment. "I've been in a situation like this before. Besides, there might be important survivors here. And with my abilities, maybe we can do something..."

A collective growling sound forced Alexander to trail off. A bunch of Metal Heads were moving down the hall behind them in an approach. Now that they were seen, the Metal Heads moved into a full charge. There were a few Grunts, a couple of Sling Blasters, and a Rapid Gunner in the back.

Azelas grabbed Alexander and pulled him back, and then started running away from the approaching Metal Heads. Alex followed quickly, getting the idea. The Sling Blasters lobbed orbs of Dark Eco at them, which exploded at the spots the two fighters had occupied moments before.

The large prisoner led Alex up some large stairs and around a corner, to a hall with pillars that led out to a pathway on the outside of the building. Azelas took cover behind one of the pillars, and Alex did the same on the opposite side. Azelas fired a grenade from his rifle just as a Grunt rounded the corner. The Grunt was thrown back by the explosion, but more soon followed.

Green sparks traveled across the floor from where Alexander placed his hands, and three rows of Steelspikes rose up at the corner, taking out all of the Metal Heads that were there, which included one of the Sling Blasters. Azelas fired yet another grenade, but the remaining Metal Heads moved out of the range of the resulting blast.

Suddenly, some Dark Eco blasts were shot from behind them, striking Azelas in the back. Azelas went down with a cry, and Alex gasped. He looked back to see a weak-looking Wasp Metal Head, which had fired the shots as it floated just outside the hall. Alex looked back at Azelas, who was now prone and groaning.

Thinking quickly, he switched his Lockshield to the Time Fracture and summoned up some magical energy. Golden energy rose up from his body, and he shouted, "Lightning!" A large bolt of lightning followed the incantation by striking the Wasp immediately, destroying it. To follow it up, Alexander stepped out from his cover and swung his shield toward the corner, shouting, "Slash!" As he swung his shield, the sharp edge created a blade of energy that raced through the air. As the Metal Heads stepped out to fire again, they found themselves sliced through by the Slash wave, and they were destroyed.

Alex ran over to Azelas, internally panicking. The Dark Eco blasts had burned through his tunic, leaving ugly burns on his back. He panicked even more. Azelas didn't seem to be moving much, either.

The boy heard more growling from all sides, and he decided what he needed to do. Before any healing could happen, he needed to make sure that the coast was completely clear. He summoned up as much magical energy as he could, and started to use a technique he hadn't used before.

The space around him darkened a little bit, and green energy shone from his body. As the green light became more intense, he began to rise up into the air a little bit. Finally, the green light left his body and collected at his feet. From the floor beneath him, a large sphere of green light began to expand, enveloping everything around him until it was as large as the building itself. The Metal Heads below watched this spectacle, some of them cowering in recollection of the last time they'd seen green light – right before the Steelspike barrage.

When it reached the peak of its growth, the walls of the sphere slowly began to lower from the top, and bright energy issued forth from the opening. The rushing of energy became more and more intense as the opening widened. And when the sphere had completely disappeared, the entire space around for a long distance was bathed in an explosion of obliterative energy.

The light soon faded, and Alex dropped to the ground, feeling incredibly exhausted. At long last, he had utilized Luminaire. He'd only seen it once in real life, but that had given him no idea of what a rush accompanied the use of that spell.

But he finally broke out of his daze and looked back at Azelas. The Metal Heads in the immediate area should've been more or less wiped out, so he rushed over to Azelas and turned him over. Azelas groaned loudly as he was forced to lay down on his wounds, and Alex winced at his mistake.

"Azelas...?" Alex asked. "C'mon, Azelas... Hang in there..."

Azelas slowly opened his eyes, and his breath became a bit heavier as he faced his pains. "Ugh..." he groaned, convulsing a bit.

Alexander gulped. "Hang on, I'm going to use my Cure spell and heal you, alright?" he said as he changed his Lockshield design to the Heartless Seal.

"No..." Azelas managed to groan. "You've... only got one..."

Alex widened his eyes at this, and said, "You haven't been knocked out, so a Life spell isn't going to work. It has to be Curaga."

"There's... still... a lot... more," Azelas choked, turning his head slightly toward Alex. "Use it... for yourself. I'm... already... long gone."

"What!?" Alexander exclaimed. "...A-Azelas! I can heal you, don't you get that!? Don't get dramatic on me!" As much as he was panicking, he also trusted Azelas's judgments, so a strong part of him didn't want to heal Azelas unless he wanted it, as silly as that was.

"Won't... matter," Azelas muttered, his mutterings becoming less disjointed as he seemed to become numb to the pain. "I can already... feel it. Like my body's... gonna... fade away... Your... spell... won't do any... good..."

"No..." Alex muttered, kneeling down near Azelas. Fear was running up and down his spine. Azelas was going to die at this rate!

"Don't worry about... me," Azelas said, seeing Alex's fear. "People... die... in a war. And I've seen... my share of wars. I'm a... Wastelander."

Alexander's eyes widened a little bit. The Wasteland was the lawless, barren desert area outside of Haven City, where the Metal Heads roamed. Some people were banished from Haven City into the Wasteland to die, but there were a rugged few who made their living on the hidden treasures and hobbies the Wasteland presented, as long as they were willing to fight for it. These people were called Wastelanders, and they were considered the cream of the crop amongst warriors.

"So," Alex said slowly, "that's what you meant when you said that the Baron..."

"...Didn't like my kind," Azelas finished for him. "The Wasteland is full... of banished people that don't agree... with the Baron. We... don't help him, ever." He let out a chuckle at this, but he winced at the pain that was caused by his body's shaking. "So... when he found me out, he... locked me up. He put my talents... to use a couple of times, but... they were mostly... suicide missions. By now..." he added, "I've been waiting for the day... that I would finally be killed by... the Baron's jobs. And this... is it."

A silence fell between them for a few moments. Azelas coughed, and then said, "Besides... If I was... anyone important... you would already have known... who I was and... what I looked like when... we first met... wouldn't you?"

Alex became more than a little angry. "That doesn't make you any less important!" he argued. "I mean... you're the best mentor that I could ever ask for! And... you've been a good friend to me, too..."

Azelas smiled a little. "I'm glad that I... have known you this last year... Alexander Karsath. You've given me something... to pass on, and I'm... proud to have... contributed... to someone who will be... facing many more... crucial battles in the future."

The Wastelander lifted his hand weakly and placed it on Alexander's Lockshield. "So... save that heal spell... for when you need it. I'm done. It's been a good run..."

A violet light enveloped Azelas's body, and then dispersed as his life energy floated up into the air before fading away. Alex watched the spot where the violet light had disappeared, refusing to believe what had just happened. His fists were clenched, and his face slowly turned from an expression of shock to one of anger.

He trembled with rage, looking back down to the ground as he brooded. A few moments passed in silence like this, until Joumae finally dared to quietly say, Alex...

"Stupid!!" Alex screamed, grabbing his own hair and gripping it painfully. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!! I...! I can't believe I just...!" he growled in unbelievable self-hatred.

Alex! Joumae shouted, trying to get over Alexander's own voice. Get ahold of yourself!!

"Gaaah!" Alex shouted, ignoring his counterpart. "I never should've... I never should've bothered with this world! Damn it! I was so stupid...! Stupid for choosing this game, stupid for arriving two years early, stupid for getting stuck in prison, stupid for working for the Baron, stupid for pretending that this world has some good in it..." He started striking the ground repeatedly with a fist. "And stupid! For! Letting! All! My! Friends! Get! Away from me!"

Joumae was absolutely stunned. Hey, Alex...

"No!" the teenage Interference cried out. "You just shut the hell up!! You never have anything good to say! All you do is make fun of me and my mistakes! So just shut up, Joumae!!"

Alex waited, but heard nothing more in his head. With that off his mind for the moment, his mind turned to other things in his rage. He groaned and said, "I... hate this world. I hate it so much..."

Out of nowhere, a growl interrupted his thoughts. He looked around quickly, but saw nothing around. But he knew what was happening. His Luminaire, while being widespread, had failed to take out the entirety of the massive Metal Head invasion force. More were seeking out the last survivors in order to kill them.

Suddenly, something warm began to envelop Alex's lower body where he was kneeling. A black aura had started appearing beneath him, starting from his legs and climbing up his body. With his face still contorted with anger, he rose and let the darkness continue to spread. Above everything else he hated about this world, Alexander especially hated the Metal Heads. There was nothing redeemable about them; all they liked to do was kill, brutally and indiscriminately.

The tendrils of darkness jumped up his body, reaching the base of his neck and spreading out to his hands. It wasn't the automatic transformation that his magical garments granted him; this was a slow transformation into Anti Form, fueled purely by rage. And Alexander had no qualms or questions about it at this point.

The darkness reached his hands, and Alex winced as he felt the ends of his fingers extend into claws. He then closed his eyes as the darkness covered his head and hair, making him a perfect pitch black with wisps of darkness coming off him. When he opened his eyes, they were a solid, bright yellow.

Anti Alexander glanced from side to side, and then turned around. Three Grunts rounded a corner on the stone balcony beyond the walls, and seemed startled by what they saw in the room.

Suddenly, the Grunts found the black creature rushing toward them, and they were slashed by claws before they could react in counterattack. The golden skull gems popped out of their bodies just as they faded away.

The monster that was Anti Alex glanced around, and noticed a large group of remaining Metal Heads gathered together some distance away. He leaped off the building, landed on all fours on the dirt road below, and bounded toward the Metal Heads with a sinister intent.


On the other side of the new barrier, a Hellcat cruiser rose up from the city and came to a hover just above the top of the wall. Seated in it was Baron Praxis, with Erol at the controls. The two KG officers looked down at the city below.

It was a ruins now. All of the buildings had been effectively destroyed, and there weren't any civilians within sight. But while there were still plenty of Metal Heads within the area, there weren't nearly as many as there had been when they had pulled out.

Erol lowered a set of binoculars from his eyes. "That green light must have been one of Alexander's attacks. I'm surprised there are many left after everything he's done to that army."

Baron Praxis grunted. "They were hoping to overrun the city. They hadn't counted on us building a new shield wall and leaving this place to them. Now they'll just kill and destroy whatever they can." He looked over at Erol. "Azelas and Alexander will be dead, then?"

"I'll be surprised if they won't," Erol said with a smirk. "It's just the two of them out there, against all of those Metal Heads. Even Alexander should reach his limit. It serves him right for betraying us and disobeying orders."

The Baron nodded passively, looking down at the ruins. But then something caught his eye, and he did a take at what he saw. The Baron's staring caught Erol's attention, and he looked into his binoculars again to find what Praxis was so surprised at.

And then he found it. Erol blinked and gripped his binoculars tighter, just to make sure he wasn't deluded. As he finally came to grips with what he was witnessing down in the town, he looked over to the Baron, who was also giving him a meaningful look.

Baron Praxis smiled ever so slightly. "That kid seems to have more capabilities than you thought, Erol."

Erol also smiled. "Yes, but... He's perfect."


Anti Alexander jumped up into the air and thrust his limbs outward. Blades of dark energy appeared and revolved around him, slicing up all of the Metal Heads nearby until they faded away into nothingness. Anti Alex landed back on the ground and started looking back and forth again for another target.

But then a pain wracked his whole body, making him stagger and clutch his head. Slowly, the darkness on his body started to flow off his body and dissolve into the air around him, and he eventually returned back to his normal appearance.

For a while, Alexander just stood there, exhausted and thoughtless. The rage was mostly gone. He'd fought so fiercely to the point that he'd forgotten what he was fighting about. Even when he reminded himself of Azelas and the Krimzon Guards, he didn't feel any more rage coming out in response. He felt... empty.

Give it a little bit of time, Joumae stated, knowing that this was the point where he could return to conversing with Alex again. You don't express strong emotions often, so you're emotionally spent. Something just needs to happen to grab your attention again.

Alex took a deep breath to clear his mind and get it working again. What would he do now? There wasn't really much point in fighting anymore. Just about everyone was dead in Old Sandover, and there was no way he could manage to drive off the Metal Heads for good. So it would probably be best for him to return to the city at this point.

Alexander turned around to start walking toward the security door, but then an unrecognizable sound broke into his thoughts. He whipped around and held his breath as he listened for the sound again. It called out again, and it was clearly a child's panicked cry.

Immediately, Alex took to a sprint, jumping over stone debris from fallen walls and dashing through the uneven dirt streets. The screams continued, leading Alexander along as he weaved his way through the forks and turns. Finally, he rounded a corner and came across the sight of a small child being confronted by two Rapid Gunners.

The two Metal Heads stalled in their advance on the child and slowly turned around. Alex quickly listed his options, judged some of their downsides, and assumed that a rush was his best chance, so he summoned the Heartless Seal Lockshield and slashed at the first Rapid Gunner twice before it could fire. He then followed up with a round kick, and then finished it with an uppercut slash that defeated it.

But the second Metal Head, as Alexander had feared in judging the rush tactic, turned quickly enough to fire upon Alex just as he finished off the first one. The Rapid Gunner fired, and a few blasts of Dark Eco caught Alexander in the side, throwing him against a nearby wall. In a panic caused by the pain, Alex hastily brought up his shield to block some of the blasts. But many of them got through, burning Alexander's clothes and body rather severely.

The Rapid Gunner stopped to reload, and Alex panicked as he realized that another barrage would kill him on the spot. Finally, he choked out, "Th...Thundaga," and caused a large bolt of lightning to zap the Metal Head, stunning it for a few moments. This gave Alex confidence enough to ignore his pain for a second, and he intoned, "Magnega." An orb of magnetic energy appeared behind the Rapid Gunner, sucking the monster into it and damaging it greatly. The skull gem popped out of its body, and the monster disappeared.

Alex groaned and did what first came to mind right then. "Curaga." A green light appeared around them, and Alexander's wounds immediately faded away and became healthy. His clothes were still burnt, but his body was now perfectly fine. He took a deep breath, clearly keeping in mind that this was the healing spell that had been intended for Azelas.

Finally, he looked over at the child he had just rescued. It was a boy who looked no older than maybe four or five years old. He had shockingly green hair under a leather cap, and he had large blue eyes. He was wearing a white shirt under blue cloth overalls, a white cloth belt, and no shoes. But most importantly, the boy had a red ruby necklace in shape he recognized. Two circles opposite each other, and two bent triangles extending from the circles, curving around each other like a yin-yang symbol.

"Wait!" a man's voice shouted out, and a figure came out from around the corner on the other end of the road. Alex started to get up using the wall as support, but paused as he looked at the short man running toward them. It was a green-skinned man with what looked like a darker green bush on his head, with a log going through it and a twig sticking out of it. He wore strange glasses that were larger in the left eye, and he wore log platform shoes. In fact, he looked quite like a younger version of Samos the Sage. And Alexander knew that this was exactly the case.

"Don't take the boy, please!" the younger Samos begged Alexander, moving toward the child and pulling the kid closer to himself. "The Baron wants nothing more than to kill this child, don't you see!?"

Huh!? Joumae responded, stating exactly what Alexander was thinking at the same time. But then Alex realized what was going on, and looked at the shoulder plates he wore with the Krimzon Guard emblem clear to see on them.

Alex scowled and pulled off the shoulder pads, throwing them aside. "I couldn't possibly care less about what the Baron wants, alright?" he muttered. "I'm not your enemy."

The young Samos stared for a moment, and Alex could tell that he was taking his strange ears into account. The fact that he didn't have tattoos probably helped. Finally, Samos sighed in resignation and said, "Well then, can you help us? We need to get back to the Sacred Site."

"The what?" was Alexander's helpful response.

Samos rolled his eyes and pointed at a place away from the city wall. Alexander looked in that direction, and eventually settled his gaze on a distant structure. Peeking just above some of the ruined stone buildings was a large wooden hut that looked extremely familiar.

What the...!? That's Samos's hut from the first game! Alex, I'm confused...

Alex mentally told Joumae to go looking through his head for the answers, and looked back at Samos. "We need to get to that hut?"

"Yes," Samos said simply. "It contains a power that draws the Metal Heads to it. That's why they attacked this area of the city. If we can get there, we might be able to stop–"

BOOM!

Alex immediately turned around toward the source of the interrupting sound, holding his breath and listening closely. It was faint, but there seemed to be a rushing sound now... and it was getting louder.

"Oh no..." Samos mumbled. The child moved over to Samos and clung tightly to him.

At last, Alexander realized what was causing the rushing sound. It was water! Lots of it, rapidly flowing toward them! "Crap, crap, crap!" he cursed under his breath. They needed to find high ground, fast!

Alex looked around quickly, but there weren't any immediately available ledges. There was one directly above them, but far too high for them to jump to. Unless...

"Stay close to me!" Alex shouted, clapping his hands. As the kid and Samos moved close to him, a large wave of water crashed through the junction ahead and started quickly rushing toward them. Alex quickly slammed his hands to the ground, creating green sparks that covered the ground they were standing on. Just as the water was about to crash into them, a cylindrical stone pillar rose up from underneath them, propelling them above the wave and setting them to about level with the ledge above them.

The wave crashed into the pillar, and Alex felt it rumble with the impact. "Now get off!" he shouted this time, grabbing the small green-haired kid as he jumped onto the ledge. Samos quickly followed suit, and the pillar crumbled merely moments after they were clear of it.

Needless to say, both Samos and the kid were shocked. "What... What in the world was that!?" Samos yelled somewhat angrily, turning toward Alexander.

Alex rose and looked past Samos, seeing the old hut in the distance. "That was what just saved us. And it's also going to help in getting to the Sacred Site." He then looked over the ledge of the building they were now on, seeing the flooded streets below. "But why did that just happen?"

The young Samos still seemed irritated as he looked out toward the rest of Old Sandover. "They must've broken a dam," he decided after a moment. "Haven City is surrounded by desert and ocean, and Old Sandover is in a place where those two meet. The place where the Metal Heads first broke through the wall is dry land, but another side of the old wall was blocking water. But not anymore, it seems..."

"But why would the Metal Heads destroy that section if it would flood this area?" Alex asked. "They still had their troops on the ground, didn't they?"

Samos opened his mouth to respond, then shut it and thought for a moment. Finally, he said, "Then perhaps it was the Baron who had it done."

Alex scowled. It made so much sense it was infuriating. After a bit of brooding, he said, "Alright, let's get over to the Sacred Site and find a way to stop this attack."


A group of Wasps flew over the tall wooden hut, which was suspended a good distance above the water level by an intricate structure of wooden beams. A Grunt at another part of a nearby building tried to take its chances by jumping into the water and swimming to the structure, but it was electrocuted and killed as soon as it touched the water. When the Metal Heads had broken down the wall, they had exposed a large section of an Eco flow that was still active, which was now charging the water. It wasn't enough power to kill a human in one or two doses, but the effect was magnified by the Metal Heads' bodies.

Alex peeked around a pillar as the Wasps passed over, with Samos and the kid behind him. Assuming that it was clear, Alex dashed forward and transmuted a wooden bridge connecting the building and the hut's base. He quickly dashed across the bridge, and Samos quickly followed suit, making sure the kid was keeping up. When they had all crossed, Alex transmuted the bridge again to destroy it.

They finally reached the hut and went inside. It looked almost exactly like how it appeared in the first game, except that everything inside was old and dark. Alex looked back to Samos and asked, "What are we going to do, then?"

Samos didn't answer immediately, but instead walked toward the center of the room, looked up, and held his hands up toward the ceiling. Alexander and the child watched as a green, glowing, pod-like object slowly hovered down from a compartment in the ceiling and floated into Samos's hands.

"This," Samos said, turning to Alex with the object in his hands, "is the Life Seed. A long, long time ago, there was a great tree that held tremendous power and Eco within it, and this Life Seed was spawn of that great tree, which has since died out. This seed is still a great energy source, even though it hasn't fully developed yet. And the Metal Heads are drawn to it."

Alexander nodded. A lot of this was stuff he already knew. This Life Seed was actually a very important part in the game, and he found himself intrigued by how this was all fitting together. But nonetheless, there was still a problem at hand. "I'm listening."

Samos held the Life Seed up above his head, and it floated back into the air above them. "I have some Channeling ability when it comes to Eco in this form. Not enough to let me speak to the plants, but more than most can claim. For instance, I have just enough power to influence the Life Seed so that it doesn't radiate so much energy."

Almost on cue, the Life Seed lost its glow very suddenly. It rose back into the compartment in the ceiling and out of sight. "Like that," Samos said after a moment.

Alex looked back out the hut's door, and looked over the entire ruins. Groups of remaining Metal Heads all over the place had suddenly stopped in a bewildered fashion. "So now what?" Alex muttered.

"Now we wait," Samos said, walking over to the short kid that had accompanied them. "The energy is no longer attracting them. The Metal Heads have not yet realized exactly where the Life Seed is, so they will eventually give up and head back to their nest. So the attack is now over."

Nodding, Alex kept looking out at the ruins. It almost looked... fairly familiar now. Like it was a part of the game. Of course, it was then that it clicked in Alex's mind: This was a part of the game. This had been an undocumented, but still important, event of the game. What was once Old Sandover would henceforth be called Dead Town.

"By the way, young man," Samos said, breaking Alex's attention away from the ruins, "I don't think we ever exchanged names. I am known to some as The Shadow, but you may call me Samos. And you are?"

Alex shrugged. "Alexander. Corporal of the KG, but... that doesn't really matter to me much."

Samos nodded. "Well, Alexander, it can't go without saying that we are immensely in your debt. Without you, we both might have perished, and the Life Seed would've been lost to the Metal Heads." At this, the kid clinging onto Samos smiled up at Alex and nodded.

The old man's assumption seemed unlikely to Alex. After all, the two of them and the Life Seed were present in the main storyline anyway, so they would've survived somehow anyway. But... when the kid had been cornered by the Metal Heads, it was only by Alex's intervention that he had scraped through that encounter. So what would've happened if Alex hadn't been there.

And then it dawned on him in an instant. Azelas. Azelas would have been left behind whether or not Alex had been involved. Chances are, if Alex hadn't been around, Azelas would've lived long enough to help Samos and the kid achieve the same end that they had reached just now. In fact, that was the only reasonable explanation.

This realization seemed to have created a strange expression on Alex's face, because Samos asked, "Is something wrong?"

Alex averted his gaze. "Someone would've helped you, if not me. He probably would've died anyway, but he would've done for you what I've done now." He then fell silent as he returned to mourning Azelas's passing.

The kid and Samos exchanged a glance, and Samos walked over to him. "That may be so... And the bravery of whatever friend you've lost is nothing to overlook. But the fact remains that you had that same bravery of your own, and we are still grateful to you."

Alexander nodded passively, and continued to stare out one of the windows. The Metal Heads were starting to move out of the ruins now, so it would only be a matter of time before the coast was clear. Then a strange thought crossed his mind, and he looked over at the kid. "What's this guy's name?"

Samos was silent for a moment. "I'm not entirely sure," he admitted. "I just found him wandering the streets some time ago, but the symbol around his neck could mean that he's the true heir to the throne."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Heir?"

"Haven City was originally a monarchy," Samos explained. "It was ruled by a dynasty of kings called the House of Mar, named after the great hero that founded Haven City. But the last king in that line was betrayed by Baron Praxis and banished to the Wasteland, and Praxis took complete control. No one's seen the king in years, but if the king's son were to rightfully reclaim the throne, we wouldn't be subjected to the Baron's tyranny any longer!"

Samos leaned down toward the kid and pointed at the ruby necklace. "The symbol of his necklace is the Seal of Mar, the emblem of the House of Mar. That could only mean one thing; that this boy is the lost heir! This child needs to be kept safe until we're in a position to overthrow the Baron, so he's been in the custody of the Underground ever since."

Sighing, Alex nodded. "I see." Most of this was stuff he already knew, yet again. But none of it would come into play for another whole year.

...Strange. He'd almost forgotten that it was his sixteenth birthday. Alex frowned and leaned against the wall of the hut, very melancholy all of a sudden. This would never have been how he'd have wanted to spend his sixteenth birthday. This would never have been the place he would've been celebrating it. Yet here he was, trapped by a series of accidents.

Alex quickly looked back to the ruins again, and got back to a standing posture. "I'm gonna get going. I can't stand around here for the rest of the day."

Samos nodded. "I see. ...Listen, if you get the chance, look into the Underground. I think we share a common sentiment toward the Baron, and a person with your strengths would be a great help indeed."

The young man stopped as he reached the door, and smirked. "Don't I know it."


Since the landscape now resembled what he vaguely remembered from the game, it was no challenge to navigate his way back to the security door and make his way back into Haven City. As the first door slid open and Alex stepped into the chamber within, Joumae popped into Alex's mind. Hey! I'm back from looking into your memories. Man, there's a lot of stuff about this game world, huh?

"Yeah," Alex muttered, not really caring at the moment. The large door behind him closed and locked itself, and the security door in front of him slowly began to unlock. "...I can't believe it's been exactly a year."

And you're still alive. Don't knock it.

The door opened up, and Alex stepped through. The door was lower than the ground level of the Slums, so Alex had to jump up a high ledge in order to get up into the alleyway. But as he was climbing up, he heard a sinister laugh.

Alex froze for a moment, and then hesitantly peeked over the edge. Erol was standing next to a prisoner transport with a bunch of guards next to him. Alex scowled and finally got onto the ground. As he walked toward Erol, he said, "Alright, what's got you so smug this–"

Suddenly, two guards that had been hidden in Alex's blind spot rushed him and grabbed his arms. "Hey, what the...!?" He squirmed against the guards, but they managed to put something onto his arms before letting him go. Alex glared at the guards for a moment and then looked down at his hands.

Alex froze in fear. Locked onto his wrists were two white bracelet-like devices with large crystals embedded into them. Alexander gasped and quickly looked up at Erol. The KG Commander was holding what looked like a remote control. With a sneer, Erol pressed a large blue button on the remote.

"AUUUGH!!" Alexander screamed as four tiny blades from each Shock-cuff sliced into his wrists, into the exact same places where he already had scars. And before Alex could do anything, Erol had already activated the cuffs' second function. All of a sudden, electrical energy began to violently course through Alexander's body, causing him to seize up and convulse uncontrollably.

Alex's entire world was extreme pain before it became total blackness once again.


When Alexander finally came to, he could immediately tell that he was no longer in the city. He tried moving his limbs, but found himself restrained. At last, he weakly opened his eyes once again, only to be greeted with the sight of a very large and sinister-looking machine above him.

Alex's eyes shot all the way open, and he panicked. He was strapped to the chair in the middle of the high-security cell block! This was where they subjected Jak to the Dark Eco treatments!

"Ah, you're awake," said the voice that Alex had immediately come to hate with a passion. Alex did his best to look down across his strapped body and look at Erol as he walked across the narrow bridge spanning the bottomless pit on all sides of the torture platform. "I was beginning to think about starting this without you. But you are the star of this event, so I decided to wait a little longer."

Alex snarled. "You'd better not do what I think you're gonna do, Erol..."

Erol's sneer didn't fade at all. "And why not? You're a convict again. You disobeyed a direct order from a Commander. How long would it have been before you would run away to the Underground? We can't have a special case like you get away so easily..."

Alexander kept up his glare as he stared at Erol for a few more moments, but saw something in Erol's expression that suddenly frightened him. "That's..." he mumbled, "not it, is it?"

"Heh," Erol chuckled, "I suppose I don't see anything wrong with building upon dark powers that are already there."

"...Gaaah!" Alex shouted, trying in vain to break out of the chair's restraints. The bastards had seen his Anti Form!

In the middle of his struggling, an automated female voice monotonously stated, "Commencing Dark Eco injection cycle."

There was a single moment of tension. And then a current of violet energy shot out of the machine above them and forced itself into Alexander's chest. The pain was absolutely unbearable, and Alex started to scream at the first second. It was... worse than being electrocuted. It was like the Dark Eco was trying to destroy and change every cell of his body by force. Alex's body wanted to black out and throw in the towel, but the energy coursing through didn't allow for that to happen. He had no choice but to wait through the agony.

But eventually, the minutes passed, and the injection cycle ended. Alex's screams and flailing ceased, and he fell back into unconsciousness. The automated voice said, "Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged."

Erol grinned at this. As the guards began to take Alex's limp body back to his old cell, Erol muttered, "He's perfect."


One whole month went by as such. Every day they would subject Alexander to another Dark Eco treatment, and he would return to his cell in unconsciousness. Sometimes he would wake up moments before the next cycle began, but he would be in too much pain to move or resist as they brought him to the chair again and again.

On the thirtieth day, Alex once again woke up in pain. He really wanted to die. But the Dark Eco was still changing his body, almost like it was trying to claim it. So it wouldn't let him die.

So, you're finally awake with enough time to spare...

The sound was so faint, Alex almost didn't hear it. He groaned and stared up at the ceiling as he laid on the floor of his stone cell. "...Joumae?" he croaked, his throat sore... along with everything else in his body.

Yeah, it's me. We haven't... spoken in a while. This Dark Eco stuff has been having a bad effect on me as well... I'm getting weaker.

Alex inhaled sharply.

And it's not like back in Amestris, Joumae continued, where your Anti Form took a personality and replaced me. No... that Dark Eco stuff is integrating the darkness into your body, instead of trying to take it in one shot. Which means I'll be wiped off the slate for good...

Alex tried to get up, but more pain arrived to stop him. "Joumae..." he managed to gasp.

I'm just another part of who you are anyway. You don't need me. I may be the official will of the Lockshield, but that really doesn't mean squat. It's your weapon; it's a part of you. I was just the annoying back seat driver to help you out in the start. Heh heh heh... the tutorial, you might say...

The door to his cell began to open. There we go. Time to exit stage left...

"No..." Alex moaned, but couldn't do anything as two Krimzon Guards picked him up and hauled him off toward the chair again. He offered no resistance, physically and mentally defeated as he was. If he tried to resist, Erol would just activate the Shock-cuffs and bring more pain. And he was getting enough pain as it was.

As he was strapped into the torture chair again, Erol pushed past some of the guards and looked down at Alexander. "Ah, I see you're conscious this time," he remarked. "That's fortunate. There's someone I want you to meet before we get today's session started."

Erol stepped aside as a figure in a black coat came into Alexander's vision. The figure was wearing a hood at the moment, obscuring the face. Slowly, the person reached to his hood and pulled it back, revealing the man's face. The man's eyes were a strange, sinister golden color, and he had long hair that was a dirty blond color. He had short ears like Alex's, and he had a very charismatic face that was bearing an evil grin.

All at once, the pain in Alex's mind cleared as he immediately knew who this man was. His eyes widened and his face contorted into a scowl as he screamed out, "Even!!"

"–injection cycle."

The pain resumed once again, breaking Alexander's moment of intense focused hatred and shattering his mind. He didn't scream as the Dark Eco pulsed its way into his body, but his body continued to convulse.

Two minutes passed, as was the quota for these injections. Yet again, the robotic voice stated, "Dark Eco injection cycle complete. Bio readings nominal and unchanged."

The Heartless apprentice Even looked down at Alexander. The boy was staring straight upward with his eyes half open. He grinned at the long-eared man beside him and remarked, "Truly a remarkable procedure. And only two have survived this?"

When Erol nodded, Even looked back toward Alexander again. "I'll certainly have to study this further. Leave Alexander's treatments to me, and you can focus on the other subject. Believe me, I know more about Alexander's roots more than anyone else."

Erol nodded. "Very well." He and the other guards left the platform, leaving Alexander and Even alone in the middle of the room.

Even grinned. "Can you get up, boy?" At this, Alexander slowly and steadily got up from the chair and stood in front of Even. His expression didn't change, and his eyes never focused. He didn't even seem to recognize Even anymore.

Seeing this, Even was a little surprised. He waved his hand in front of Alex's face, but the boy's eyes didn't follow. There wasn't anything but an automaton inside of Alexander now.

"Ha!" Even laughed. "Go to your cell, now!"

Once again, Alexander did as he was told without response, automatically crossing the bridge and going into his cell. As the door to his cell closed behind him, Even let out an evil cackle and said, "Oh, how the mighty have fallen..."


Disclaimer: Alexander, Joumae, the Lockshield, the overall concept of The Interference, and related concepts and characters are the intellectual property of Newbie-Spud. Kingdom Hearts, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Chrono Trigger and their characters and concepts belong to Square-Enix and its business partners. Jak and Daxter and related concepts and characters are the property of Naughty Dog, Inc.