Winded, I curled into a ball, covered my ears and waited for the noise to stop.

Wheeljack and Rewind were shouting in my ear. They were demanding to know what was going on.

"Cape... Red mask... fast," I managed to gasp out. My attacker apparently wasn't interested in me. By the time I had caught my breath, he had already vanished.

A wall of ice was blocking the way out. Fuck!

I tried not to panic. Really I tried. I was in the middle of a cape battle, I had to get out of here. I ran back the way I came, deeper into the graveyard. There were plenty of ways in and out of here, one of them had to be clear. If not, I could always find somewhere to hide and wait things out.

My shoulder was still hurting, a quick check showed a shallow gash. It was bleeding but I would be okay for now. I needed to move fast so I tossed my bag away. There was nothing important in there, nothing nearly as important as my life anyway. In the distance I could hear what sounded like dogs and the occasional explosion.

"Taylor! You need to get out of there! That was Oni Lee, if he's here Lung can't be far behind!" Came Wheeljack's frantic voice. He was almost shouting at me through the Bluetooth.

Nodding, even if he couldn't see it, I forced down the panic and made for another exit. Wheeljack continued to feed me information that he was pulling from the internet. "Oni Lee's a teleporter, he leaves short-lived clones behind, and uses them as suicide bombers. His power is possibly limited by line of sight." Nodding again, I tried to keep to the shadows. "If this is right, Oni Lee and Lung are rarely apart."

Stopping in the shadows, I felt myself tremble. Lung, the leader of the ABB, was a pyro-kenetic brute that got stronger the longer he fought. When he first arrived in the city, he took on the protectorate and won. Even more terrifying, he had fought the Endbringer Leviathan to a standstill.

Coming to a junction I turned outwards, heading for another exit.

Before I could reach it, I felt something move behind me. I threw myself forward and a knife passed where my neck had been. I rolled over but the clone was already dust. Fuck!

Looking around, I spotted Oni Lee. He was standing on a nearby ship, looking away from me. Whatever had his attention must have been important, I watched as he collapsed into dust.

Whatever was going on, it was happening further in, near the centre. So I planned to skirt the edges of the graveyard as much as possible. If I could just get around the next hull there would be– an explosion knocked me off my feet, throwing me backwards and knocking my mask loose. Another ice wall blocked the way.

Dazed, I laid there, looking up at the sky. My thoughts were sluggish, but I kept wondering why Lee hadn't finished me off. My body ached and my ears were ringing from the last explosion.

As the ringing faded, I realised I could hear shouting on the other side of the ice.

Pulling myself up, I straightened my mask and crawled towards the wall. The mask had cracked in places but the lenses were okay. The voices were muffled, either from the wall or because of the ringing in my ears, but Rewind was in my pocket. His hearing was as sharp as ever.

*They're setting explosives! Run!*

At Rewinds shout, I forced myself to my feet and ran. Ducking behind an old dumpster I covered my ears just as the explosions started.

Explosions echoed through the graveyard, making the ground beneath me tremble.

A wall of ice, nearly 10 feet tall now circled the graveyard. I was trapped and Oni Lee was still here. Somewhere in the darkness, something roared.

That's it. I've had enough! In the back of my mind, I felt something give.

/Everything you've experienced, everything you are... /

*Taylor, Listen to me! I know you are scared, but you need to stay calm and get out of sight. Whatever is going on, you are not the main target.* Rungs voice crackled through the bluetooth, something must have broken and was interfering with reception *Take a deep breath...An...rE...* Rungs voice crackled and faded as the bluetooth died.

/...Has led you to this moment./

Movement above me caught my attention. Oni Lee was standing on top of a nearby wreck, he stared at me before idly tossing a grenade in my direction. I threw myself forward to avoid it. It exploded behind me, reinforcing the ice wall. When I looked up, Lee was gone. He knew I wasn't a threat, he was just toying with me.

/Now... Reach out and take hold of the flame/

Anger surged at the dismissal, pushing down the fear. No! I refuse to die here tonight! A cold sense of calm flowed through me. The fear and anger were there, but it was buried deep in me, like I was floating above it all.

If escape wasn't an option, I'd have to see this through. I pulled my gun. I doubted it would do much good, but it was better than nothing.

I made my way deeper into the graveyard, following the sounds of fighting. I tried my best to stay out of sight. Sticking to the shadows, moving only when I was sure it was safe.

When I reach the clearing, it looked like a scene from hell.

There was fire and smoke was everywhere, reflecting on the rusty boats and casting everything in the same ghastly red and brown colours.

It was clear who was winning. Four teens were scattered around the clearing. In the middle of it all, a vengeful demon, stood Lung.

He was nearly eight feet tall, scales covered most of his body and his face was twisted into something inhuman. His metal mask was slowly dripping off his face in molten droplets.

The man in bike leathers pointed his arms and hands. What I thought was smoke from the fires moved to cover Lung. Lung sent a wide blast of fire towards the smoke user. He threw himself sideways, the fire clipped his shoulder and he rolled to put it out. The darkness lifted briefly before closing in around his head.

A stout, butch girl commanded a pair of monsters to circle Lung. Forcing him to turn to keep them in sight. A blond girl in a tight, purple costume aimed a gun at Lung and fired. The bullets flattened harmlessly against his scales.

Oni Lee appeared behind the blond, knife in hand. He slashed at her. Another boy, dressed like something from a ren-fair, gestured and Lee's body jerked, throwing off balance. The blond girl turned, but Lee turned to dust before she could shoot.

The butch looking girl whistled, one of the monsters tackled Lung from behind.

Claws and teeth tore into Lung. Rolling Lung tried to find purchase. His now clawed hand lashed out, catching the monster in the side making it yelp and thrash in pain. Pushing his claws deep into the wound Lung levered himself up and drove his other hand into the monster's throat.

It's yelping was cut off and a gout of flame tore through the creature. The dead body pinning Lung briefly. With a scream of rage the short girl ran towards him, a metal rod in hand.

"Bitch! NO!" The blond girl ran forwards, trying to stop her, but she stumbled and fell short.

'Bitch' reached Lung before he could stand, with a crack she brought the rod down on his head. He shrugged the blow off and surged to his feet.

Stepping out into the clearing, I brought my gun up. Lung's broad, exposed back made a perfect target. The noise of the discharge was lost as Lung roared, his body jerked before falling to his knees.

"RUN!" I screamed but Bitch refused to listen.

She brought her weapon down on Lung again and again. I fumbled to reload my gun while the blond girl peppered him with shots.

Lung caught Bitch's hand mid swing. He surged to his feet, crushing her hand with ease. His other hand closed around her throat as her body was covered in flames.

I shut my eyes. The blond girl screamed

/Never look away./

Dropping the body, Lung turned to face me. He was huge, nearly ten foot tall, his body was covered in scales. Large muscles bunched and twitched as his body continued to change, wings started to grow from his back.

With a roar, he charged me. Darkness closed around him but Lung just sent another wide blast of fire.

I tried to run when my leg jerked suddenly, knocking me off balance and sending me to the ground. The impact knocking my mask askew again. I rolled over in time to see Lung right above me.

Panicked, I brought my gun up and fired. There was a sickening squelch as the large, spike tipped round punctured Lungs eyeball before discharging. This time Lung roared in pain.

As he stumbled backwards, the darkness closed in around us both.

I couldn't hear or I couldn't see anything. My stomach rolled as I lost all sense of direction. Then the darkness lifted, leaving a clear path in front of me leading to a hole in the side of a nearby ship. I run towards it.

Lung fired blindly and a gout of flame just missed me, hitting the ship and making the hull glow cherry red from the heat.

Once safely inside, I moved away from the entrance and tried to catch my breath. I could hear more noise from outside. It sounded like the fight was moving away. I wanted to go back and help but... Fuck!

He just... He just killed that girl. He burned her alive! I couldn't get the images out of my head, how could somebody do something like that. My stomach churned and I just managed to pull my mask up before throwing up.

Reaching up, I pulled the broken Bluetooth from my ear and threw it away. It wasn't worth repairing anyway. It was just too fragile. We tried to build too much into it. Thankfully, it wasn't my only option.

Sitting against the hull I pulled Rewind from my pocket, something I should have done earlier.

"Rewind, call Miss Militia."

She answered almost immediately "Taylor! Thank god. Are you okay?"

"I..." I'm not fine. "I'm okay, I'm near the centre of the graveyard. Lung's nearby."

"We know. Listen, do you have a way of letting us know where you are exactly? In two minutes one of Dragon's suits is going to come get you, but she needs to know where you are."

Rewind beeped and a glance at his screen showed my exact coordinates via military GPS. I quickly told them to Miss Militia.

"Right, Dragon says there is a clearing there. Stay out of sight, but the moment she lands climb on and hold on tight."

"He's killing people," I whisper, my voice shaking.

"Which is why you have to stay out of sight until Dragon lands." Her voice was quiet now, eerily calm, as if she was ticking items from her shopping list. Hearing her calmed me a bit, too. "Dragon is almost there, and Armsmaster is on his way and will be there soon afterwards. You have to stay focused, stay hidden, stay quiet and everything is going to be fine."

Nodding, I end the call. I could barely hear the fighting outside now. I needed to move, since I wouldn't be able to see Dragon land from here. It was only as a struggled to me I feet I realised just how tired I was.

Shaking my head to clear it, I pulled my filthy mask back on. What was left of it anyway, and adjusted my scarf.

I took a deep breath and headed back outside, hoping I wouldn't regret it. The sounds of fighting had moved further away. Getting as close as I can to the clearing without being seen wasn't going to be easy, but I had to try.

I tried not to look at the body of that girl and her monsters. They were smaller now, the bones and exposed flesh were sloughing off. It was easier to see they actually were dogs.

Something moved nearby and I brought my gun up. The blond girl was sitting in the shadows, gun in one hand and the other clutching at her side, I could see blood.

"Oh, it's you." She smiled weakly at me. "Thanks for trying. Sorry about hitting you, we didn't see you."

I wasn't really sure what to do. Weren't you supposed to put pressure on it to stop the blood flow? Without really thinking about it I pulled my scarf off and pressed it against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. There was a lot of blood.

"Grue is trying to lead Lung away." She sounded tired. "Don't know where Regent is... bastard. Lee is dealing with the hero's, keeping them from reaching us. I'm Tattletale by the way." She focused on my face before smiling. "And you are waiting for rescue."

Before I could say anything, I was interrupted by the sound of engines. The Dragon suit circles overhead, before going into a dive. At the last moment it straightens, engines straining to reduce its speed, and lands. Its four legs bend to put its body close to the floor. The articulated head turns towards me.

"Get on!" the voice is synthetic but clearly female.

Looking between the suit and Tettletale, I make a decision. Throwing one of the girls arms over my shoulder, making her hiss in pain, I pull her to her feet. She's barely able to walk, but with some effort I manage to get her over to the suit.

Laying her across the suit's back I climb on behind her. The moment I'm on the engines rev-up to speed.

Just as Dragon leaves the ground, Oni Lee appeared. I raise my gun desperately.

Everything went white.