You are all going to hate me for the ending of this chapter. I'm sure of it. But anyways, this is it! The chapter I've been dying to write and that one that's going to answer all your questions! Let's do this!
Just a note, slightly different writing style at the beginning. I want to give it a try. Hope it's good. And once again, this chapter is unbeta'd.
Reviews
SCP277: Well, I suppose you're just going to have to wait and find out. ;)
BrutusPrimus: What can I say? I aim to please.
Guest: The Flood are awesome, aren't they?
Nexus Gundam: Here you are! Hope you enjoy!
WinstontheNinja: I've now finished the entire game. And I might. Not quite sure what I'd use though. Maybe a retriever...
Lil'Manuel.G: Thank you very much. And I understand your concern, but is isn't needed. There is reason behind Cinders interest in John, and it'll come to light eventually. I'm not the kind of writer to put something in my story without some sort of explanation. Even if I have to come up with something ridiculous, I'll always give some sort of explanation. Though I try to make it realistic. FYI, Cinder's reason for interest in him is realistic.
Alpha701: Yep. That pretty much sums it up.
TheGreatUncleanOne: *Evil laugh*
Guest: You'll find out. And probably.
Jack54311: Thank you. And I honestly never though about that. I'll try to find minor discrepancies like this in the future, but no promises. I hope I didn't leave you waiting too long.
somerandomdovah: After you read this chpter, you won't have to worry about being disappointed.
Guest: *DEFIBRILLATOR*
Schmitty16: Glad you like it! And sorry, but I don't want to update too fast. Otherwise I'll run out of reserve chapters.
GiveMeButter: Thank you! Now for your answers. A. When John meets the UNSC, no. He won't get spartan armor. Plus, I'm on the ropes on how they'll meet. Either the UNSC will find Remnant, or John will find the UNSC. I'm not sure yet. B. I think the mrk VI armor fits him best as well. C. I'm afraid not. Sorry.
Smurphy1999: Thank you. And you'll find out this chapter.
thermalsnipern7: I'm not even sure what Harbinger is.
Mnt Jew: Yeah. They're awesome.
Raraiki: I know! There aren't very many with Forerunner stuff in them.
darkromdemon: Thank you!
GREAT CELESTIAL-DRAGON: It is a pretty even contest, isn't it? ;) I think you'll find that this is that something. Though not so much the harder to stay secret. Not yet, at least.
polarpwnage: You're bipolar.
I HAVE A QUESTION TO ASK YOU ALL! I'M BEGGING YOU TO PLEASE ANSWER THIS QUESTION! What do you honestly think of my quality of writing? Is it bad? Is it decent? Does it affect your reading experience? Please, please answer it. I'm desperate to know. Also, another less important question. What do you all think of the new summary for the story?
Remnants Reclamation
Evolution often prepares a person for many different things that your likely to experience in life. It writes a 'code' of sorts in your brain that gives you instinct on how to react to a situation. Your first love. Your first breakup. Doing something good or bad. Getting angry, being aroused, depressed, or confused. Evolution prepares a person for a great many things in life. But sometimes you experience something that evolution never expected, and when that happens, you feel lost. You don't know what to do. You simply want to stand there until something happens that your instincts are prepared for so they can guide you.
That was how John felt right now. He didn't know what to do. Not. A. Clue. He had been at Beacon saying goodbye to his girlfriend before they left on their mission, a floating sphere comes out of nowhere, spouts a bunch of nonsense, and then transports him to a room with a poetic monster. Evolution never prepared him for that.
"What are you?" John asked the giant worm-like creature.
"I? I, AM A MONUMENT, TO ALL YOUR SINS." The giant creature said ominously, the room rumbling as it spoke. Its voice was very deep and scratchy. It almost sounded like a human male. Almost.
Its voice was neither friendly nor hostile. John didn't know whether or not to answer. Or how. It felt like it had an aura of death around it, that and he could feel the immense amount of worry, anger, and hostility coming from Aries, Harpy, and Remus.
"Not very descriptive, are you?" John said, trying to calm himself down a little with humor.
The creature let out some sort of loud gurgle. "I AM THE ERADICATOR OF WORLDS. THE CONQUEROR OF ENTIRE CIVILIZATIONS. THE DESTROYER OF FLEETS OF THOUSANDS. CONSUMER OF THE MINDS OF BILLIONS! I AM THE INEXORABLE FLOOD THAT DROWNED THE GALAXY IN A CASCADE OF FLESH AND METAL AND FEAR! I AM THE ONE THAT BROUGHT THIS GALAXY TO ITS VERY KNEES! I AM THE PLAGUE YOU WROUGHT UPON YOURSELVES! ...BUT THOSE WHO BUILT THIS PLACE SIMPLY REFERRED TO ME AS THE GRAVEMIND." The huge creature, now identified as the Gravemind said.
Assuming the Gravemind was telling the truth, John wasn't sure if he should be impressed or scared. He settled for neither, as what it was saying wasn't even making any sense. He had a hard time understanding what it meant when it said it brought the galaxy to its knees. John wanted to ask what the creature was, but he figured that it wouldn't give him a straight answer again. So instead he asked, "Why am I here?"
"MANY REASONS. YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE THE ANCIENTS DEMANDED YOUR EXISTENCE, AND MADE IT SO. YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOUR FOREFATHERS WANTED YOU TO BE PLACED HERE, AND MADE IT SO. BUT AS TO WHY YOU STAND BEFORE ME, CHILD OF MY ENEMY, YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE I WISHED YOU BE HERE. AND I HAVE MADE IT SO."
"Ancients? Forefathers? Child of my enemy" He wondered to himself. "But why?" John asked aloud.
The Gravemind made a sound like a hum. "YOU ARE HERE TO GIVE ME WHAT I HAVE BEEN STARVED FOR SO LONG. KNOWLEDGE. YOU WILL SUSTAIN ME WITH WHAT I WANT UNTIL MY CONQUEST TO FREEDOM IS COMPLETE, AND OTHERS MAY FILL THE GAPS. YOU WILL ALLOW ME TO KNOW OF THE UNIQUE ABILITIES YOUR SPECIES HAS EVOLVED TO HAVE. YOU WILL MARK THE BEGINNING OF THE END. AND SO THE FATES HAVE SPOKEN, THE THREADS OF DESTINY WOVEN."
"Do you need to keep on rhyming? It's getting annoying." John said, tired of the creatures vague style of speaking. Why couldn't it just give him a straight answer?
"THERE IS MORE COMPLEXITY TO MY WORDS THEN THE SIMPLE RHYMES YOU SEE. BUT THEN I HAVE THE MEMORIES OF MANY POETS FAR BEYOND YOUR LIMITED HUMAN CULTURE. I HAVE THE QUICKNESS OF INTELLECT TO COMPOSE ALL MANNER OF POETIC FORMS AS I SPEAK RATHER THAN LABOR OVER WORDS FOR DAYS. I HAD ASSUMED THAT THE ABILITIES OF YOUR SPECIES AS WELL AS THE HYBRIDS WOULD HELP YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT. IT APPEARS I WAS WRONG. PERHAPS YOU ARE MORE SIMPLE THEN I PREDICTED."
"Now that was just rude." He thought. "What are you going to do to me?" He asked, deciding to try a different approach.
It growled. "YOU SHALL JOIN ME, AND WATCH AS TIME FOREVER PASSES INTO THE ENDLESS VOID. AND YOU WILL QUENCH THE THIRST I HAVE WRONGFULLY SUFFERED FOR SO LONG."
After it released that ominous sentence, John could see a hoard of rotting tentacles slowly rising up from the darkness. John carefully started walking backwards as he became more worried. Joining it didn't sound like a good thing. He decided that if he was going to get out of there, he would need some help.
He tried to summon Aries. But instead of the light drain of aura he usually felt when he summoned a crawler, he felt a much bigger drain. In a flash of white and orange, John saw the biggest creature he had summoned to date. It was twice the size of him and looked almost like a human with a beetle shell on its back. It had two arms, one with a big canon on it, and the other had an orange sword. The term, Promethean Knight, popped into his head.
That was all he was able to observe before the Gravemind let out a huge roar and recoiled as if struck."IMPOSSIBLE! SUCH CREATURES SHOULD NOT BE HERE! THEY SHOULD NOT SERVE YOU!" The Gravemind growled. "YOU ARE DIFFERENT. I WILL SEE WHAT YOU HIDE!"
The Gravemind let out a deafening roar that made the earlier one pale in comparison. And with that roar, John saw a swarm of creatures climbing over the side of the platform he was on. He only had a moment to see what they were. It used to be human, but there was something protruding out of its neck and it's head was forced back and to the side. Its flesh was rotten and green, and there were tentacles of bone protruding from one of its arms. The sight of it made Johns stomach want to throw up his breakfast.
John pushed aside his disgust and quickly shot it, but with its death another five took its place. Despite the fact that they were all rotten, they was moving faster then even a normal civilian could move. John and the Knight began unloading into the hoard of rotten flesh while also walking backwards towards the door at the end of the bridge. The knight fired a round at the hoard, and a red ball of energy with smaller balls orbiting it flew out of its cannon. It impacted with one of the creatures, and exploded in a flash of red light, disintegrating all the walking corpses in the blast zone.
Despite the Knights firepower, the hoard became so large that shooting it had little to no effect, so instead John and the Knight turned tale and ran as fast as they could.
They got close to the door, and for a moment John was afraid because he didn't know how to open it. But when he got close it opened automatically. The moment John crossed the doorway, John was confident that they could lose the hoard of undead behind them. But as if the universe was out to prove him wrong, some of the Graveminds tentacles wrapped around his legs, tripping him before dragging him backwards.
The Knight jumped in his path and slashed the tentacles apart, rewarding it with a cry of pain from the Gravemind. John quickly got to his feet and started running again.
"YOU CAN RUN TO THE ENDS OF THE GALAXY, CHILD OF MY ENEMY! BUT YOU WILL SUCCUMB TO YOUR FATE! YOU WILL FALL LIKE ALL THE OTHERS BEFORE YOU!"
The two of them ran through the hallways that John noticed were made out of the same metal as the room the Gravemind was in. Unfortunately, the only light source seemed to be the metal itself and the light it produced was very dim. That added with the gurgling and howling sounds of the zombies behind him sent fear through every part of his body. John just hoped that he would be able to get away from them.
After what felt like hours, John and his Knight had finally lost the undead hoard. They had managed to find and hide in an empty room. John was lying on his back gasping for breath while the Knight stood guard at the closed door.
After a few minutes of catching his breath, he stood up and took a look at the Knight. Having time to observe it, he was able to see it in more detail.
It stood on two thick, strong looking legs that were identical in design to that of human legs. It had two arms, one had a interestingly designed orange sword, the other had a roughly rectangle of grayish metal with three cylinders on the end of it, and from what he had seen before John knew it was a powerful cannon of sorts. Its face was covered in white metal and had two piercing orange eyes. It had a large back with three spikes coming out of the back of its head connected to the neck. There were two orange half-spheres on the underside of its back. Though the creepiest part might have been the pair of black human-like arms coming out of its chest.
"Okay. We need to find some way out of here. I wouldn't suppose you know a way out?" John asked the Knight.
He hadn't actually been expecting an answer, so he was shocked when he heard a deep and rough voice in his mind respond. "We must find a terminal where we can contact the Monitor. It will help us."
Johns jaw dropped. "You can talk!?"
"Yes."
"How!? Why can't any of the others talk!?"
"The Crawler and Watcher you have respectively designated as Aries and Harpy do not have the necessary processing power to speak. All others only contain basic AI's that are for nothing more then following orders. And I can only assume that the Soldier is naturally quiet, and therefor doesn't speak. Or it never has anything to say."
"...Wow. This... This is so cool. Now maybe you can answer some of the questions I have about you and the others. And also as to what the hell this place is."
"All can be explained later. The monitor should be more then willing to inform you. But now, we must find a terminal."
"Alright. But first, do you have a name? Because if not then I can give you one." John said.
"I do not have a name. My prior designation was Knight Strategos. You may call me what you want."
"How about I just call you Strategos?" John asked.
"...That is acceptable."
"Great. So what are the other ones names?"
"The Didact did not see them as strong enough to deserve names."
"The Didact?"
"The monitor will explain that as well."
"Oh. Alright. Well then lets go." John said. He and Strategos carefully walked out of the room and examined the area for any sign of the walking corpses. But sighting none, they picked up the pace and sprinted down the hallway. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"
"A terminal. It will be circular and coloured yellow and blue." Strategos said.
"Alright."
As they looked, a thought popped into John's head. "Atlestian Knight, Promethean Knight. Looks like me and Atlas each have our own kinds of Knights." John looked over at the Knight running beside him. "Except that just one of mine could probably destroy a hundred of theirs." John smirked at the realization that he was able to make something immensely superior to the mass produced Atlestian robots that everyone thought was the pinnacle of technology. Yet he, all on his own, could make robots ten times as advanced. The irony was undeniable and amusing. Although, a Paladin could no doubt give Strategos a run for his money.
His thoughts were cut short when they found the terminal Strategos was talking about. John walked up to the eyeball-like holographic terminal and just stood there. "...What am I supposed to do?" John asked Strategos.
"Touch it."
John looked at his hand and hesitantly brought it towards the terminal. He touched it, and the terminal turned orange. The image winked out and in it's place was a symbol that he didn't recognize. But just as quickly as he thought of that, the translation of the symbol entered his mind. Reclaimer. That was what the symbol meant.
"Reclaimer! At last. I have been attempting to contact you. It is fortunate you had the sense to seek out a terminal. Remain still, I shall bring you to me." The voice of the floating ball came out of the terminal, but before John could say anything the yellow rings from before surrounded him, and he was gone.
John and Strategos reappeared in a brighter metal room. His stomach didn't feel as bad as it did the first time. He heard humming and he looked up to see the floating ball with the golden eye. "Reclaimer! It is good to see you are alright. My apologies for the inconvenience. The Gravemind attacked my defenses and took control of the teleportation grid and transported you to it instead of here. But I have retaken control. However, if we do not act immediately, the parasite will cripple this facility and find its way to the surface. Please, follow me."
The ball turned around and floated away. John decided to recall Strategos for the time and chased after the floating bowling ball.
"Hold on a second! I need some answers!" John said as he jumped into the balls path.
The ball tilted its 'head.' "But we can not waste any time. We must act now."
"Well that's too bad. All I know is that I was at Beacon saying goodbye to Ruby, you show up, and then I'm in a room with a giant poetic worm. And then I'm forced to run away from a bunch of walking corpses. If you want me to do anything, you'll start explaining things. Now." John said, staring into the large unblinking golden eye.
After a few moments of silence, the ball spoke up. "Very well Reclaimer. I see now that you do not know as much as I initially suspected. I am 135 Unhallowed Curator, Monitor of Preservation World 02. I am a very advanced sentient Forerunner AI. My task here is to conduct research on the Flood and attempt to find a weakness, as well as watch over your species to ensure you remain well. Tell me, how much do you know about my makers and those that came before them? And about this world?"
"Nothing." John said. He was still trying to understand the monitors title.
"I see. Then allow me to explain things from the beginning. Long ago, there was an ancient civilization known as the Precursors. They were inter-galactic. The answer to every question was known to them. And before you ask, no. I will not tell you if there is an afterlife or if there is indeed a god. There are some things you need to find out for yourself. They eventually came to this galaxy and breathed life into it. They created many species. One of them was you, and one of them was my makers, the Forerunners. The Precursors looked at each of their creations when they were at a significant technological state to see which one was the most worthy of inheriting the Mantle of Responsibility. Those who held the mantle were to be the protectors of the galaxy. The Precursors looked at the Forerunners and decided that they were not the ones destined to hold the mantle. And so they went to your species, and planned to give the mantle to you. My makers were outraged by this, and so they declared war against the Precursors for the mantle. They committed genocide against their entire race. When the Precursors were nearly extinct, some went into hiding while some reverted themselves into a form of dust that would later reform them after the war was over. But over time the dust became corrupted, and instead of bringing back the Precursors, it created the Flood."
"The Flood is a parasitic organism that thrives by consuming other sentient life of sufficient biomass. When enough lifeforms have been consumed, the infected subjects join together at a sequestered location and create a Gravemind, which then acts as a central processor to all infected within range. It is essentially the leader."
"When the Flood was created, it began consuming and destroying all life in the galaxy. The Forerunners fought the parasite, but the Flood's strength was too great, and they were pushed back. Many species went extinct during the war. Eventually, my makers realized that they couldn't beat the flood, and created the halo rings. The halo rings were designed to wipe out all life in the galaxy, with the intention of starving the Flood to death. The halo's were fired, and all life was destroyed. But the Forerunners had collected and indexed samples of all remaining species in the galaxy. After the halos fired, ships and sentinels were sent to planets with those samples. They repopulated the planets with the species that once lived there. However, even though the flood was to be starved to death, the Forerunners feared another outbreak. And so they created Preservation Worlds. Planets designed to keep a species alive in a slipspace bubble for a long duration. The intention was to allow your species to survive even if there was a Flood outbreak that destroyed the rest of the Galaxy. And that their species is to stay in the slipspace bubble until I determined that there would be no future flood outbreaks."
John was silent for a few minutes as he processed everything he heard. "This... This is impossible."
"The impossible is merely a goal that has yet to be reached. And I assure you, everything I have said has happened and is true."
"This... Is so much to take in. And I really doubt your making it up. But, what about that orange crystal that I absorbed? Why does it allow me to summon all those creatures? Why are some smart while the rest aren't?" John asked.
"The crystal was a device that was given to me by my makers to give to one of your species. The one chosen to contain the crystal would be the one that is able to shut down the slipspace bubble and would take on the role of helping humanity claim the Mantle of Responsibility. I have been watching the progress of your species outside of this world. The destruction of Installation 04, as well as the catastrophic damage to 05. Both of which were to stop the Flood. I believe that the possibility of a Flood outbreak is very low, and so I decided that it was coming time to introduce your species into the rest of the galaxy. The crystal, also known as a Promethean relay, is an object that is used to control the teleportation grid of all Promethean units. At the end of the war, the Forerunners infused the Keys of the Mantle into some of these relays, as well as other devices, allowing them to be absorbed by a living creature when given the command. It is why you are able to call and order them as you do. And as for their intelligence, when they were created there were anomaly's in some of them. These anomaly's made a select few of them more intelligent then the rest. Sentient. These beings are known as Alphas."
"...This really is hard to understand, but let me see if I can get this all straightened out. A long time ago, A species called the Precursors made the Forerunners and Humanity. The Forerunners killed off most of the Precursors and they turned into dust to hide. The dust turned into the Flood and it started destroying the galaxy, so the Forerunners made and fired the halo rings to kill and starve the flood. They made our planet and gave you a crystal that you gave to me. Now, I'm supposed to deactivate a bubble around our planet and then what? What happens to me after that? What'll my purpose be?"
"As one of the inheritors, it will be your duty to help humanity gain access to all Forerunner technology and uplift your species to their rightful position as protectors of the galaxy. You will also use the Forerunners gifts to help protect the galaxy from whatever threats that may arise."
"... Okay... But why me?"
"You contain one of the seeds that the Forerunner Librarian implanted into your species. You specifically contain the genetic imprint of 'Legacy of Infinite Starlight.' A very accomplished Forerunner soldier. And how true his name was, considering he only perished due to the activation of the Halo Arrays and not the Flood. Now, while I did specifically choose you because you contain an engram within you, regular humans are just as capable of obtaining the Key, should they show the proper traits.
"Seeds? I don't understand what you are talking about."
"The librarian put select sequences of DNA from some forerunners into humans, which then helped to influence those people and the generations to come afterwards. Everything they did was for the betterment and advantage of your species."
"Wow. This is... Wow. Wait a minute, why would the Forerunners put the Flood on Remnant if they wanted to protect it from the Flood? Doesn't make much sense to me."
"Because it was the perfect place to study the flood. Containment procedure prevented the flood from escaping, and if there was a galaxy-wide Flood infection, there would be no way for the Flood to enter this planet from outside of the bubble. And with no way for the Flood to escape the containment area, it was the perfect way to conduct research about a cure or weakness to the flood."
"But the Flood escaped anyways."
"No, they did not escape. They were released. Someone, another Reclaimer, deactivated the containment locks. When that happened, they attacked the server rooms in section 18 and connected with the facility's network. I was able to stop the Gravemind from accessing too many systems, but it is only a matter of time until they gain complete control."
"Okay. So including that, have I got it all?"
"Most of it, yes. However, I'm afraid that I cannot allow you to lower the bubble just yet."
"Why not?"
"It is because of the species you call Grimm. I have studied some of them. They are indeed fascinating creatures. They do not require water, nourishment, or oxygen. But it is also because of these things that I cannot let you lower the bubble. If they were to evolve in intelligence then it is possible that they could become like the flood, traveling trough the galaxy and infecting planets with themselves. Therefor, in order to lower the bubble, we must first eradicate the Grimm from your planet."
"Oh, gee. That's all?" He said sarcastically. "You don't think that we've tried that? Humanity's been stomped on by the Grimm for centuries. Don't you think that if we could kill them all we would have?" John asked.
"Of course. But while I do not know much about the Grimm's origin, I do know that they all originate from one point. You could say that they are 'fueled' by this point. If the origin where to be destroyed, the rest of the Grimm would soon fallow."
John froze. "Wait wait wait, your saying that if we can find and kill this point, this origin, we can kill all the Grimm?"
"Yes."
He stood still in shock. The Grimm, thought to be the greatest enemy of mankind, could all be killed if they could find and eliminate the source of them. It was a mind blowing fact. The Grimm had long been thought to be unbeatable, but now this ball, this monitor, could fix everything.
"How do we find the source?" John asked.
"Uncertain. I currently have no way of finding the source of the Grimm, however, I am attempting to find it so we may exterminate it. However, it is possible that there is more then one creature giving birth to Grimm. Now, I have a question for you. During the Key's absorption, I sensed some abnormalities. Could you please tell me in detail how your ability to summon Prometheans works?"
John shrugged. "Sure. I am able to summon the Crawlers, Watchers, Soldiers, and now I'm guessing Knights, all at the cost of a certain amount of my aura, which is then used to maintain them. And when one of them is killed or I recall it, my aura starts regenerating the same amount of aura it took to summon and maintain them in the first place. Speaking of which, what are they?" John explained.
"Knights are an advanced form of AI made from the biological forms of Forerunner Prometheans. The Crawlers and Watchers are simply less advanced AI's who's bodies were built, instead of composed."
"Composed?"
"There are devices known as Composers, created by the Didact. They were created during my makers war with the Flood. They were designed to bridge the organic and digital realms, turning living beings into metal constructs. However, their loss of sentience was not expected, and when my makers attempted to revert the constructs to their biological form, it only created abominations."
"So, they were once living creatures?"
"Yes. Now, going back to our previous topic, it is truly fascinating that the Relay is using your aura as a power source. Normally a relay would be powered by a generator on a planet. Before your mother stole the Key, it was powered by a vacuum energy generator."
John froze. "Wait, my mother? You knew my mother?"
"Not personally, no. However I saw her steal the Key as well as one of my experimental weapons, the one you hold right now. It astounding that the human that took the Key also happened to have a child with one of the Librarians seeds within. The odds of that happening are indeed phenomenal. But we are getting off of the primary topic. I am still unsure, even to this day, how it is that your species managed to unlock your souls as you did. My makers knew about this and knew that their souls could become physical, but they were unable to unlock its secrets. It makes me wonder how it is you did. But, I suppose it is what I believe your species calls, 'dumb luck.' Most interesting." Hallow said, before the monitor seemed to sink into its thoughts.
"Okay. Now going back to my mother, I want you to tell me everything you know about her." John said sternly.
"Hm?" The Monitor shook its 'head,' as if clearing the thoughts from it's mind. "Oh. I know very little. She stole from me, and then returned to steal from me once more. Such hubris! She wanted to steal the weaponry that is housed in this facility. I attempted to reason with her, but she refused to listen. As a result, I was forced to put her in stasis for the time being. After all, protocol states that your species was not to know about me or my makers until the slipspace bubble is down, and no weaponry is to be distributed until then as well."
Johns heart nearly stopped. "You... You have her here? She's alive and here?"
"Yes. Would you like me to take you to her? Perhaps you could reason with her."
"Yes. Take me to her."
Hallow nodded. "As you command, Reclaimer." Hallow said and floated down the hallway, with John chasing after him.
"Why do you act as though I'm in charge?" John asked, curious. he may have been distressed that his mother could still be alive, but he was still curious.
"Because you are. My makers chose your species to follow in their footsteps, to inherit the Mantle of Responsibility and all that they created."
"Soooo, does that mean that you belong to me?" John asked.
"Yes. I follow the orders of all Reclaimers. However because you inherited one of the Keys to the Mantle of Responsibility, I will follow your orders over all others. But those of your species that wish to harm others I will not listen to."
"Okay. But what about the Faunus? What about them?"
"The Hybrids, or the Faunus, as you call them, were my makers attempt to improve your species. It indeed did work, unfortunately, many members of your species dislike the Hybrids, and it is unlikely that your species will accept any of the genetic modifications that would improve them. I will listen to the Hybrids just as much as I would listen to your own species, however your orders still take precedence over theirs."
As he finished saying this, they arrived in a new room. The room was more of a giant hallway with dozens of pods lining the sides. Each pod was big enough to house one person, and each one had a glass shield on the front. The monitor floated halfway down the hallway and turned to one of the pods. John noticed that they were all empty, except for the one Hallow was staring at, which had frost covering the glass. "This is her. I shall revive her. One moment please."
John watched as the frost slowly disappeared, and the door swung upwards. A women fell out of it and landed on her hands and knees. She looked up at him. He recognized those blue eyes and that black hair. He had seen them in the pictures at his home. This was his mother, and she didn't look any different then how she did 15 years ago.
"Mom?"
She stood up. "John?"
He threw himself at his mother and wrapped his arms around her. "Oh my dust, it's really you! I never thought I would see you again!" He said with tears falling from his eyes.
"John. It's really you John. Your so tall. You've grown so much. How long have I been in there?" She asked, tears welling up in her eyes as well.
John separated himself from her and looked her in the eyes. "You've been missing for fifteen years. Why did you leave us?"
"I was planning on coming back." Her eyes shifted over to Hallow, who was hovering idly nearby and watching their reunion with interest. "It's that things fault I'm here!" She said furiously and made her way towards it, only for John to hold her back.
"Wait! He's not bad. He's a friend." John tried to explain to her.
"He kept me locked in that thing for fifteen years!" She yelled hysterically and pointed at the stasis pod she ocupied just a few seconds before. "That's fifteen years I'll never get back! Fifteen years I won't be able to watch my baby boy grow up!" She said, anger and tears till emanating from her.
"While I may not be able to show you your son as he grew up, I can tell you that you did not age while you here inside the stasis tank. You are still the same age that you were when I was forced to put you inside it."
"You see!? He admits that he kept me trapped in there!"
"I had no choice. You would not listen to reason, and protocol states that your species must evolve naturally with little to no help from me or my makers technology, and no members of the population is allowed to use my makers technology outside of the facility. Your son was the only exception and that is because he contains the Key within him."
"What the hell are you talking about!? All I wanted was a few of your weapons! They would have helped humanity immensely against the Grimm, but you refused to help us! You have all this great technology, but you haven't helped us at all!"
"That is not true. I was the one who gave you access to my makers Regenerative Elemental Crystals. The substance your species has taken to calling, 'dust.' When the Grimm first emerged, and your species population began to greatly decline, I calculated that, unless you received help, your species would be driven to extinction. And protocol dictates that if your species is in danger of annihilation, I am to help you just enough to ensure your survival but also not reveal myself unless absolutely necessary. The substance would have been most helpful during the Forerunner-Flood war. A shame it was developed so late."
John's mother looked like she was going to start yelling again, so John jumped in. "Mom! Please, we can settle this later. Right now can we please go home? Dad will be ecstatic when he learns your alive."
She froze. "... He hasn't moved on?" She asked softly.
"No. He never did. He said at your wedding that he gave his heart completely and entirely to you, and he meant it." John said, remembering the words his dad had said when John had watched a tape of their wedding.
After a moment she nodded. "Okay. Lets go home."
"Pardon my interruption, but you can not go home just yet. I need assistance in keeping the Flood trapped. If you do not help me, the parasite will force it's way to this facility and gain access to every system through the primary server. If that happens, your cities will fall within hours." Hollow said.
"Alright. What do you need us to do?" John asked.
"I need a Reclaimer to get to the breached areas and override the door controls. As for right now, we must arm you. You are already armed with a Z-750 Special Application Sniper Rifle, also known as a Binary Rifle, and are well prepared. However, your mother will need a weapon."
"Alright. Actually, I should go back to Beacon. My team can help us with closing-" John stopped talking as his entire field of vision turned green and he got tunnel vision.
"DO I TAKE LIFE OR GIVE IT? WHO IS VICTIM, AND WHO IS FOE?"
John could hear the sound of the Gravemind in his head. His vision returned to normal and he started to sweat and panic. "What the- Why did I just hear the Gravemind in my head!?" John yelled at Hallow.
"Do not worry Reclaimer. The Gravemind has been known to have slight telepathic abilities. But it can not do anything to you except speak."
"What's the Gravemind?" Johns mother asked.
"I'll tell you later when I tell my team." John replied. "Okay, Hallow. Take me to my team. But how will I contact you again?"
"I have already taken the liberty of adding a direct connection from me to your communications device."
John took out his Scroll, and sure enough, there was a contact with the monitors name. "Alright. Mom, do you want to come with me?"
"Of course. I haven't seen the outside in fifteen years. And I haven't seen Beacon in even longer." She said.
"Very well. One moment."
Yellow rings surrounded the two, and after a moment they disappeared.
After the two of them reappeared, they found themselves in Beacons courtyard. Thankfully there were few people around, and none of them had seen them teleport in.
"So where are your teammates?" John's mother Mary asked.
"I don't know. They might be- There they are." John said as he saw and pointed at his teammates. The three were all standing by the statue. Azure had his arm around Riley and Gemina was standing beside them.
They walked up to them, but their backs were facing him so they didn't know he was coming. "Hey guys! Miss me?" He called out.
The three turned around simultaneously and all shouted, "John!"
They ran up to him and started asking him questions until John held up his hands and said, "Hold on! I'll explain everything in a minute! But first, why haven't you guys left for your mission?" John asked out of curiosity.
"We couldn't go since we were missing a member. Where did you go?
"I'll tell you in a minute. Oh! Yes. Before I forget, everyone, this is my mom, Mary. Mom, these are my teammates Azure, Riley, and Gemina." He said and pointed at each person respectively.
"it is very nice to meet all of you." She said with a smile.
"Wait. I thought your mom was dead." Gemina said, her bright blue eyes slightly widened in shock.
"I thought so to, but turns out I was wrong. Listen, I will explain everything. But all you need to know at the moment is that we need to kill some walking corpses to trap a parasite called the Flood and save the planet." John said.
None of them said anything. But after a minute of silence, Azure said, "What?"
John sighed. "Hold on." John pulled out his Scroll and contacted Hallow. "Hallow, we're ready. Transport me and the four people around me back to the facility."
"Of course Reclaimer." Familiar yellow rings surrounded the five, and they disappeared from the courtyard.
They had gotten back to the facility and John had explained everything that happened to him since he disappeared. Hallow had then explained the past about the Forerunners and John's new role as one of the keepers to the Mantle of Responsibility. Then Azure started complaining how it wasn't fair that John got to call advanced robots to serve him, that he pretty much owned a secret facility with tons of hyper-advanced weaponry, and that he was basically one of the leaders of humanity.
Azure saw it as unfair while John saw it as stressful. He had the responsibility of finding and killing the source of the Grimm, and then leading Humanity. But that last part was up for debate though. It wasn't like he could just pop up and say he was leading. But the moment that he had to announce the existence of Hallow and the Forerunners was a long time away, so he didn't dwell on it.
"Reclaimer."
Hollow brought John out of his thoughts and he turned to the monitor. "Yes?"
"I have analysed your teammates weapons. And, while effective, they are not nearly as effective against the Flood as Hard Light weaponry. I suggest you follow me to the armory so we may find them some new weapons." Hallow said.
John nodded. "Alright. Lead the way. Come on guys!" He said to his friends.
After a moment, Gemina said, "So I just want to clear something up. Your mom found a crystal, a couple of years later you absorb that crystal, and you get the ability to summon those Promethean things. And it was all because the people who built this place made some keys to something called the Mantle, and you needed that key to allow us to get into space? But we still can't get into space until all the Grimm are dead?" Gemina finished.
"That about sums it up." John replied.
"Okay. So why didn't you trust us enough to tell us about the crystal?"
"Because there would have been no point to it. It's not like there was anything you could do, so I decided to keep it quiet."
"John, you should always tell your team everything. And speaking of which, who's the leader of your team?" Mary asked.
"I am." John replied.
"Aww. My baby boy is the leader of his own team." She cooed and wrapped him in a hug.
"Mom. Please, your embarrassing me in front of my friends." John said from inside her embrace. He could hear his teammates laughing behind him.
She let go of him. "That's a mothers job sweetie, and I have a lot of time catch up on." She said with a smile that sent shivers down his back.
After a few minutes, they arrived at another door. "Here we are. This room contains all of the experimental weapons I have been working on. You may pick what you want. But, may I see your weapon for a moment Reclaimer?" Hallow asked John. John held it out to him, and it was encircled in yellow rings before disappearing. "I am simply improving your weapon. It will not take long. Now, please choose your weapons."
John stepped forward and touched the panel to open the door. Everyone's jaw dropped.
The room was filled to the brim with weapons that looked very similar to Johns in the sense that they were all black with orange or red lines on them. There were some attached to the walls, and there were some hovering over some sort of platform on the ground.
"Okay. I know where I'm taking Ruby on or next date." John said.
"Date? John, are you meaning to tell me that you have a girlfriend?" Mary said with a stern look.
"Umm... No?" John said nervously.
"I will be having a talk with her when we get back. No one dates my little boy without me meeting her first." With that she left John and went to find a weapon.
John sighed in relief. "Alright. Just look around and pick what you want." John said. His team spread around the room to look at the weapons. He watched as his mom grabbed two oval shaped weapons and watched as their parts shifted over her hands until they were like big gloves.
"Ah, the Z-130 Directed Energy Automatic Weapon with an alternate form of a gauntlet. Or suppressor gauntlets as a shorter term. A most excellent choice. When deployed, these weapons are fully automatic and fire small bolts of hard light. And when in gauntlet form, they coat themselves in hard light and allow you to hit a target much harder then you would normally be able to."
Johns mom smiled. "I've made my choice."
As they browsed, John had a thought. "Hey Hallow, why are all these weapons mecha-shift? Were the Forerunners like hunters?" John asked.
"No. I created these weapons as experiments once I saw your species creating weapons with two modes. My makers lacked the agility and strength that you posses with your aura. And melee weaponry was not often used against the Flood, as coming into close proximity with an infection form often resulted in death. But in this case, your auras should protect you."
"Infection form?" John asked, unsure as to what an infection form was.
"I will show you all of the Floods forms once your teammates have finished selecting their weapons." The moment Hallow said that, John heard something transforming behind him. He looked back to see Gemina with a large cannon braced against her shoulder. "What you have here is a Z-130 Directed Energy Automatic Weapon. Also known as an Incineration Cannon. In weapon form, it launches an unstable sphere of hardlight through the air and explodes on impact. This particular version is able to transform into a mace. Gemina pressed a weapon of the side and watched with fascination as the trigger disconnected and formed a small handle. The rest of the incineration cannon shifted upwards from the handle and into a staff, while the volatile red hard light core hovered to the end. To top it all off, three hard light blades formed around the ball of energy. "This weapon's head will explode upon impact with a target when in mace form." John couldn't help but feel uneasy at the evil smile on Gemina's face.
He left Gemina to her evil fantasies and walked over to Riley. She had grabbed a weapon that was shaped like a rectangle. He watched as she pressed a button on the side and it shifted into a long spear with a hard light tip. She twirled it around to get used to its weight. She smiled and said, "I'm picking this."
"This weapon is a Z-180 Close Combat Rifle spear combo. Or a Scattershot Spear. It is your species equivalent to a shotgun. It requires medium to close range when firing to be effective. When in spear form, it can launch its spear tip at any hostiles, and will regenerate within a few short seconds."
As Riley practiced stabbing and slashing motions with her new weapon, John walked over to Azure, who had picked up two small and almost hand sized that each had two triggers. "What the hell are these things?" Azure said.
"These are Z-110 Directed Energy Pistols, or Boltshots, with a melee form of two hard light swords. Because they are made of hard light, it allows them to cut through almost any material. But they are also able to fire bolts of hard light even when the swords are deployed. But only when in pistol form, they are capable of firing quick rounds and an overcharged burst similar to that of a scattershot. Very effective."
Azure pressed one of the buttons, and a orange hard light blade erupted from the handles. "Oh hell yes!" He said excited as he swung around his swords.
"Excellent. Now that everyone has chosen their weapons, we may begin. However, I have one more thing for you Reclaimer." Hallow said to John. The monitor went left the room and came back a moment later with an odd looking object suspended by a blue beam coming from the monitors eye. The object was made up of a red ball of energy inside a donut of white metal, and circling that donut in a circle was three white curved metal panels, like hooked talons. It looked very similar to one of the claw games one would find in an arcade. "This is a Matter Condenser. A weapon I created myself." The monitor said with what sounded like pride in its voice. "It is capable of turning any form of matter into ammunition. There is a very basic AI within it that will respond to your orders, though it will still be able to carry out complicated commands. You simply order it to grab any material, and after a few moments it will be ready to fire the matter as an explosive projectile. But after six shots it will require 1 hour to recharge. I have found a way to connect it to the relay, and as a result you will be able to control it telepathically. It is very durable, and can be used to shield you from attacks. Also, I have finished upgrading your Binary Rifle. You should now be able to launch arcs of energy from your weapons sword form. But be careful not to use it too often, lest your weapon will overheat and explode. Also, any shots should do slightly more damage against regular targets, but it will now do significantly more damage to armored targets."
His sniper formed onto his back. It didn't look any different, but he decided to take the monitors word for it. Hallow released the Matter Condenser and it hovered behind him, pointed up into the air and flush against his back. Its length was from Johns waist to his neck, and it's circumference was only a couple of inches. John tried giving it the order to hover over his shoulder, and it floated up so that the three tipped points were facing forward and the red ball was directly above his shoulder. "This is too cool. So it'll turn anything into an explosive?" John asked.
"Yes. Now, there is one more thing I have to give you all. Please follow me."
Everyone followed Hallow out of the room. Along the way, Azure came up to John and asked, "Hey. Do you think that after this is all over we can keep these weapons?"
He shrugged. "I doubt it. Hallow doesn't want anyone having his weapons right now except for me. Besides, it would look weird if all of a sudden you guys got weapons similar to mine. As much as you might not like it, I think it's for the best that you keep your machetes." John replied, crushing Azures hope.
He frowned. "Fine."
They got to a new room and walked inside. There was a table with a bunch of small devices on it. John could see three different looking devices. "These are known as armor abilities. While they are typically synced with a suit of armor, I have developed a way for you to use them without one. These devices will allow you to do a multitude of things, and through experiments conducted on your mother, I have found a way for them to use your aura as a power source."
"Wait, hold up! You experimented on my mom!?" John yelled incredulously.
The monitor tilted. "Yes, however none of them had any danger of causing permanent harm. I simply wished to learn more about your aura, as while it was theorized by my makers, there was no way for them to predict how it would act. And from the research I conducted, I have learned a great deal about your aura. Would you like to see the data I have collected?"
John sighed in relief. "Maybe later. Now, tell us what these things do." John said, looking at the devices on the table.
"Very well. This one is the Z-5080 Short-Range Spectrum Augmenter. It allows you to see objects through walls. The next is the Z-90 Photonic Coalescence Emitter. It creates a shield of impenetrable hard light that will only fall when the module overheats. When the shield turns red it is an indication that the shield will soon deactivate. However it's cool down speed is quite fast. Finally, is the Z-2500 Automated Protection Drone. It will create a stationary drone that will fire on all enemies within range. This module will also overheat, but like the others its cool down time is short. You may pick what you want, I must go and collect one last thing before you go."
The monitor one again flew out of the room. Everyone walked up to the table. Everyone unanimously agreed that only one person would need the Spectrum Augmenter module, and so John chose to pick it, since he would likely be the one farther in the back and therefore wouldn't need the extra protection that the other modules gave. Mary and Gemina chose to have the drones, while Riley and Azure chose the hard light shields. It made sense since Riley and Azure would be closer to the Flood then everyone else and therefore would need extra protection. Each device attached firmly to their wrist. Everyone gave their new abilities a try. Mary and Gemina tapped their wrists and two drones popped into existence above them while a blue shield formed in front of Riley and Azure. John tapped his wrist and watched as the world lost its detail and turned blue. He could still see the walls and their edges, but now he could see the highlighted form of some flying robots through the walls. The weapons in the room were also highlighted in green light.
John kept on experimenting with his new ability until Hallow came back in with another object in his beam. The monitor dropped the object in Johns hands and he observed it. It was a metal square with a white light in the middle of it. There was an indented line going through the light from the one corner to another. "What is it?" John asked.
"This is an aura booster. One of the new developments I created through the study of aura. It will improve your aura by 400% for 12 hours. However, there is a great many possible side effects. Extreme exhaustion and depleted aura for up to 72 hours after use, loss of conscious, spontaneous bleeding from the eyes or nose, temporary loss of muscle control, blurry vision, aura fluctuations, extremely painful cramps headaches and chest pains, but the most serious would be slipping into a coma for an indeterminable amount of time. The last one is the least likely to happen, however it is still possible. None of these are permanent, and the longest they should last is one week. It is your choice to use it, however it will allow you to summon more Prometheans. If you decide to use it all you need to to is break it."
"Jeez. You couldn't have tried to get rid of the side effects?" John asked. None of those side effects sounded like fun.
"I have experimented on it in the past to try and improve it. This is the current result. My simulations predict that the previous form would have resulted in the users death after several hours of extreme pain and insane delusions."
John looked at the square in contemplation, not feeling at all confident in using it after hearing that. He looked at his teammates and mother and said, "What do you guys think?"
"It's your choice dude. But bleeding from the eyes doesn't sound too nice. Neither does a coma." Azure said helpfully.
"John. I just got you back. I don't want to lose you." Mary said.
"I honestly don't think you should use it. We've handled hoards of Grimm before, we can handle this." Gemina said, and Riley nodded in agreement.
John thought for a few minutes. Finally, he made his decision. "Guys, mom, the Flood was able to conquer an entire galaxy. Destroy entire armies that had the same weapons we have right now. We're going to need all the help we can get. Besides, saving the planet and hopefully the worst thing that happens to me is a coma? I can deal with that." And with that, be broke the square in half.
As the light flew into him, he watched as his orange aura flared to life around him. Energy filled every crevice of his body, and he felt like he could run a marathon ten times over. He had never felt so strong, so energized.
John turned to his friends and smiled. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go."
As the group of five walked down the hallway they could hear the sounds of combat. Hallow had informed them of their objective before he teleported them to Section 1. All they had to do was push the Flood back, and close the doors. Easy. Except that they had to fight through a mile of Flood before they got to the door.
Hallow had also taken the liberty of showing them the various types of Flood forms. The first was the infection forms. Small, fast, and easy to kill, but possibly the most dangerous. The infection forms attacked in swarms. Hallow had told them that they had small tentacles on their body that penetrate the skin, taped into a persons spinal cord, and unleash an attack on the host's nervous system and killing the host almost instantly. Then it rewrites the neural pathways of the victim's brain with its tendrils and releases it's worst weapon, the Flood Super Cells. These cells caused rapid mutation, and where what turned a person into a combat form.
If infected, the persons body would rot very quickly, and the persons internal organs would liquefy. The biomass would then be shifted to one of the persons arms to appear as hard bony appendages. The parasite would then settle in the persons now empty chest cavity, and it's tentacles would erupt out of the victims mouth, or emerge out of the neck and push the head to the side. Creating a combat form. Riley had puked at the sight of the holographic display of a person being infected, and everyone else had looked a little queasy as well as afraid. Despite being rotten, combat forms were fast and hit hard. And if the body wasn't completely destroyed then another infection form could revive it. But since their weapons were made to fight the flood, the Flood'd body's would be disintegrated upon death.
Then there was the carrier forms. These ones were big and slow. They had a large sack on their back filled with infection forms. If they got too close they would explode and infection forms would scatter everywhere. But the same thing happened if they were shot.
Finally, there was the stalker. The stalker was fast and could climb and surface. It didn't hit that hard, but what made it difficult was it's ability to morph into two different forms. A tank form, which was big, tough, and could puke up infection forms, and a ranged form, which was immobile and fired regenerating spikes at its enemies. But they were easy to kill.
When Riley had asked if Hallow was coming with them the monitor said, "I cannot. Protocol states that I can not be captured by the Flood, for if I am the Gravemind will gain a great deal of information." John didn't blame him. If Hallow got captured then they'd probably be fucked.
They got to a corner and John turned around to his mother. "Mom, you're a full fledged Huntress. Do you want to lead? Your more experienced then us all.
She smiled and shook her head. "No John. This is your team and your mission. You lead."
John nodded. "Are you ready?" He asked everyone and watched as they all nodded. John sighed. "Alright. Let's do this."
They all walked around the corner and saw a huge battle going on. There were the flying robots that Hallow had told him were called Sentinels. Robot guards that were armed with an energy beam. They had been defending the facility for over three months. And as efficient as they were, the Floods numbers had been overwhelming them faster then the facility could produce them. It looked like there were about 300 or so in the large hallway, but it looked like the Flood were numbered in the thousands. Every so often John would see a Sentinel come out of a grey machine on the wall and join the frey. Hallow had told John that they ran on a non-sentient AI and would obey his command.
John saw the Flood ranged forms launching their spikes at the Sentinels. Some of the combat forms were trying to leap at the Sentinels, and they managed to destroy some. The infection, stalker, and tank forms were trying to run past their airborne enemies, but because of that the Sentinels focused mainly on them. And since the Sentinels couldn't shoot the ones shooting them, they were being brought down before their shields could save them.
John thought for a few seconds before summoning 15 Crawlers, 10 Watchers, 7 Soldiers, and 5 Knights. He chose to bring out his alphas because John could feel their urge to fight. He just told them to be careful. Calling all of those took about 75% of his new aura supply. That left him with his regular aura size from before he used the aura boost.
John called out, "Sentinels! Focus on all ranged forms! Only attack other targets if no more ranged forms are around or they are getting too close to us!" The Sentinels immediately stopped firing at the wave of marching Flood and instead focused firing at the ones shooting them. "Knights! Focus on the tank forms! Crawlers, focus on the infection forms! Watchers! Focus on protecting all friendly units but also fire on infection forms as well!" John's Prometheans rushed forward to follow his orders. "Alright. Let's focus on the combat forms." He said to his team and mother.
Everyone spread out across the hallway. His mom and Gemina called up their drones for a bit of extra firepower. The hallway became a mass of burnt flesh and destroyed machines. John saw Riley out of the corner of his eye looking a little queasy. He didn't blame her. Her enhanced sense of smell couldn't have been an advantage in such a situation.
Gemina and the other Knight Battlewagons were doing the most damage with their incineration cannons. The blast radius allowed them to get 5 or more kills with every shot into the parasite packed hallway. Meanwhile John and his fellow Promethean snipers were able to kill an incredible amount of flood, with each shot going through their target and continuing onward until it hit a wall. Riley, Azure, and Mary were all firing their respective weapons and killing a sizable amount of Flood. John noticed that his Crawlers seemed to enjoy pouncing on the infection forms and biting any combat forms that got too close.
After a few minutes of nonstop shooting from John, his team, the Sentinels and the Prometheans they were able to start walking forwards. It was a slow and steady progression. A few meters every minute or so. At one point they pushed up to fast when a large wave of Flood attacked and everyone had to resort to their melee weapons.
Azure sliced off the head of a combat form before uppercutting a tank form in half. He then took the time he had to start shooting overcharged blasts into other flood forms running toward him.
Riley shot a swarm of infection forms before switching to her spear and shooting it into a tank form. While her spear tip was regenerating a Combat form came up and attempted to hit her. She blocked it with the spear and began twirling it around, hitting it in its knees, stomach, hips and head before finishing it off by stabbing it through its face.
Gemina swung her mace into a hoard of infection forms and detonated it, killing them all. She then swung her mace around to hit a tank form before smashing it into the ground with an overhead swing.
Mary used her suppressor gloves to grab a stalker form and rip it in half. She dropped its corpse to grab a a combat form and smash it into the wall before punching a tank form through a crowd of carrier forms.
John decapitated three combat forms in half with one swing, before stabbing a stalker form. He switched Atomizer to sniper form as he back flipped to avoid a carrier form exploding. He got a few feet away and razed the ground with Atomizer to kill off the small mushroom like creatures.
John decided to try out his new weapon. He mentally commanded the Matter Condenser to pick up the corpse of a combat form that had been killed by a sentinel. The Matter Condenser flew over to the corpse. The three metal beams curved to pick up the body and, after a moment, the body seemed to melt into red light and the beams straightened out. John ordered it to fie at a group of ranged forms on the room. The three beams began circling around the red orb slowly as they picked up speed. And after five seconds, a red ball of energy shot out of it and exploded in the center of the group of ranged forms, vaporizing them all.
Before he could admire his new weapons work, he turned to see three tank forms running at him. He shot the first one with Atomizer, before stabbing the second one through the head. The tank form he killed leaned forward, and it's weight took his falchion from his hand before it's body disintegrated.
The final tank form was on him and he stabbed it through the stomach, severing it's legs from its upper body. The top half of the tank form's weight forced him to the ground and pinned his arm to his sides. It shoved its face in front of his, and all of a sudden, John heard the Graveminds voice come from the legless tank form. "FROM END TO END OF THIS GALAXY, MOST ARE BLINDED!"
The tank form raised its large appendage to crush him, only to be punched into a wall by his mother. "Be more careful John. I wont be there all the time to save you." She said.
"I know. Thanks for the save though." John said as he picked up his dropped falchion.
"My pleasure sweetie." She said before leaving to kill a swarm of infection forms.
After an hour of pushing the Flood they finally made it to the door. Once the wall of Flood was a few meters from the door John pressed a panel beside it. The panel turned green and the door starting closing. Everyone kept firing at the Flood even as it closed so they couldn't get through. After a few seconds, the door closed, and all they could hear was the sound of each others breathing and the Flood beating on the door.
"So... We finally did it. That wasn't so tough." Azure said with a confident smile.
"Yeah. But the next ones are going to be tougher. We don't have as many Prometheans." John said after he finished counting how many he had left. He had lost 3 Crawlers and 1 Watcher, but no Soldiers or Knights.
"Eh. We'll wing it."
John could feel his Scroll buzzing. He brought it out and put it on speaker, allowing Hallows voice to project through the hallway. "Excellent work Reclaimer. Your authorization has locked the Gravemind out of those door controls. However, until we can clear the infection from the server rooms, the Gravemind may find a way to override your command. But it would likely take several days for it to develop a method to do so. So there is no rush to clear the server room. I should inform you that the next section has an increased number of flood in it. Good luck Reclaimer."
John put away his scroll and sighed deeply. "It's gonna be a long day." He thought.
Ruby Rose was not having a good day. First her boyfriend disappeared, she was forced to leave for her mission instead of look for him, she fell in a hole into an underground city, and then she was captured by the White Fang. At least her friends rescued her.
"I'm fine I'm fine but listen!" She said as her teammates fussed over her. "Torchwicks got all sorts of weapons down here!"
"What?" Blake said.
"Mechs, androids, they're all loaded up on the train."
"Ah, that's ridiculous. These tracks lead to a dead end." Dr Oobleck said.
"Well, they're going somewhere. We need backup. Let me call John." Ruby said as she pulled out her scroll and called Johns number.
"Ruby, you couldn't even reach him when you tried after he disappeared." Yang said.
"Disappeared? What happened to him?" Dr, Oobleck asked.
Before anyone could respond, a male, robotic voice came out of Ruby's Scroll. "Hello. I'm afraid that the owner of this communication device is very busy right now. Please call back later."
Ruby recognized that voice. "Wait! Your the thing that abducted John!" She yelled at it angrily.
"I did not abduct him. I simply required his help, and I had no time to waste explaining the situation."
"Let me talk to John! It's really important!"
"Whatever your situation is, I assure you it is nowhere near as important as his."
"It is really important! Just tell him it's Ruby!"
"Hmm... Very well."
After a few seconds, Johns voice came through the Scroll. But everyone could hear sounds of combat in the background. They could also hear cries of pain, cries that everyone noticed didn't sound like human or Grimm. "Ruby!?"
Ruby could hear that he was breathing heavily and sounded exhausted, but she was just happy to hear his voice that she ignored it. "John! Are you okay? What happened to you? You just disappeared. None of us-"
"Ruby! What is it!? Now's really not a good time!" They heard a wet ripping sound.
Everyone's eyes widened at the sound of an inhuman roar. One that definitely didn't belong to a Grimm. "What was that!? What are-"
"RUBY! GET TO THE POINT!" Ruby flinched. John had never yelled at her. Never.
She recomposed herself. "Torchwicks up to something! He has a bunch of White Fang and robots! We need help!"
Several seconds of combat was all they heard before he finally spoke again. "Ruby, I'm sorry to say that you're on your own! We got a mission of our own going on and we can't- FUCK!" Johns voice was cut off with the sound of something hitting him. "Oh SHIT! Get it off me! Get it off me!"
"John!? John, are you okay!? JOHN!?" Ruby cried out in worry.
They all heard the sound of something hitting John's Scroll and the sound of it sliding across whatever floor it was on. They heard the sounds of heavy footsteps walking by.
A few seconds later, the screen of her Scroll began flickering as an ominous voice came through the Scroll's speakers. "I HAVE BEATEN FLEETS OF THOUSANDS! CONSUMED A GALAXY OF FLESH AND MIND AND BONE! YOUR HOPE OF VICTORY IS FLAWED! THE ONLY HOPE YOU HOLD IS THAT OF DEFEAT! AND WHEN THIS CAMPAIGN OF OURS IS OVER, I WILL FEAST UPON YOUR BONES!"
They heard something crunch, and then the call ended.
No one spoke. They were all too stunned. Ruby tried to get the signal back, but there was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
MUAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! I know, I'm evil. Two cliffhangers back to back? I must be a horrible person. But in reality, this chapter just reached almost 12K words, and I wanted to give this chapter a dramatic ending. I think I succeeded. So, who can find the hidden message in this chapter? Also, I can assure you all that John is not overpowered and I will not let him become overpowered. This I promise you.
Please review and tell me what you think. And as always, I'll see you next time.
