Chapter 10, Fall and Rise Again

A pair of loud thuds was heard as the Sisters landed in front of the fleeing team.

"My, my, don't you know it's rude to steal?" One of them coyly asked with smirk.

"Rude, and unsafe as well," the other said, and they both giggled at their own taunts. "You never know how the owners will act."

Seth stepped forward and held his dual-sided wrench, "I'm done playing games with you two cowards!" He then saw Jesse step up with him and nodded to him before looking at the others, "The rest of you go, Jess and I will keep these witches at bay."

Jesse grinned as he drew the pair of wrenches he used, "How about you bring your ugly faces to my wrenches?!"

"Sh-shouldn't we..." Angela started before being interrupted by Seth.

He simply whispered for them to run.

A loud, shrill pair of battle cries came from the Sisters as one threw her ring-blades at the two guards and the other slung her mini-scythe-like blade as they charged them.

The Guard Commando yelled back and twirled his double-wrench, parrying the scythe and he thrust it at one of the sisters, a blue bolt flew from its head at her.

Jesse spun and blocked both rings with one wrench and threw a bolt with the other.

At that, the Guards and the Sisters rapidly exchanged blocks and strikes. The Sisters had the advantage of being able to hoer freely in the air, while Seth and Jesse tapped into their pent up rage and determination, focusing them on the pair.

"This way!" Nash yelled, along with Les, as he pulled them and they took off once again. Their muscles screamed in agony from the constant use, fire seemed to course through every vein and artery, but the power of adrenaline and fear propelled them along the cold, hard ground.

Another thing helped them speed up? Distant roars and groans, along with rotten footfalls as a vile horde gave pursuit.

"NOT AGAIN!" Les shrieked as the horrid mob of corpses gave chase and were joined by mutated wildlife. "Anyone have any grenades?!"

"I do- AAAAAAAAHHH!" Val shrieked as the jaws of a monstrous Hunter surrounded her.

In the intensity of the situation, they had missed the heavy thuds running through the ground that gave it away.

She screamed as the beast lifted her into the air and she drew her knife, and started to repeatedly stab it as much as possible. She shrieked in pain as one of the monster's fangs was driven through her torso and a spurt of blood was seen.

"VAL!" Nash screamed back, looking over his shoulder and his eyes went wide, and he brought out his Saver to try and help her.

However, he saw the amount of blood coming from her wound and felt the sickening, sinking feeling in his heart and solemnly put it away.

The sight made Angela's stomach turn, seeing her friend dangle from the giant beast's maw, and her blood poured like a fountain.

Val growled lightly as her vision went blurry and she felt cold and numb. The extremely foul, rotten breath and saliva of the twisted creature would've made her sick if she wasn't gravely injured. Knowing she only had a few seconds left, she managed to pull out one of her aforementioned grenades, armed it and grunted, "Take it home guys..." she grunted again as she tossed it down the dark gullet as the corrupted monstrosity started to swallow her and her vision went dark.

The giant monster shrieked as its throat exploded and black-red, rotten blood sprayed everywhere and it stumbled for a second before collapsing. It crashed onto the demonic horde, crushing a good deal and throwing the mutated wildlife into a frenzy.

The twisted corpses didn't flinch however and kept up but were slower than the mutated animal crowd.

Angela took a glance over her shoulder and yelped a bit, seeing Taylor's twisted body among the puppet-corpses. Sticky, coagulated blood matted her fur, or whatever fur was left on the poor Guard's body. Her mouth hung open and her eyes were stuck in a blank stare as she pursued the four. Angela felt a rush of bile into her mouth and swallowed it back down upon seeing someone she considered a friend... their corpse being used for such a foul, evil purpose.

Running out of steam (if it hadn't been for the Hammer enhancements, they had gotten before heading to Parson, they would've already been dead), Angela, Max, Les, and Nash desperately looked for a way to lose their pursuers. Max quickly analyzed the possibilities and looked around to for an out, his mind raced at a frantic pace before seeing a possible solution. "That way!" He pointed to a tunnel/passageway that went through a wall.

"I got it!" Nash shouted as they ran into it and he pulled out three grenades and pulled the pins on all three. He chucked the explosives behind them as they ran out of the tunnel.

Seth moved and spun his wrench quickly, blocking and parrying blows with one of the Sisters. The one he was fighting, was the one with the mini-scythe and chain. She was fast and had the advantage of flight, though Seth was almost as fast and managed to stand his ground, only getting a few cuts. At one point, he had both Sisters on either side of him (Jesse had been knocked to the side and stunned temporarily, so Seth leapt to his defense) and had to push himself to move faster as they attacked simultaneously.

Crashing clangs of metal and sounds of energy bolts being fired resonated throughout the ruins. The two Guards put on impressive displays of agility and stamina, thanks mostly to their physical augmentation from Hammer.

During the fight, Jesse managed to get an opening and threw a heavy blow to one of the Sister's faces. The hit shattered the mask she was wearing and knocking her into a stone wall. Both the hit and crashing into the stone had a double-effect, not just shattering the mask but it also seemed to briefly expose the true nature of the Sisters.

A glowing-white figure growled a bit; black wisps of some unknown energy wisped off of its form, making it like a cloak around its tall, thin frame.

The thing was completely composed of energy, like an angry, alien specter. A distorting aura emanated an inch or two around it that seemed to bend and warp reality itself. A pair mostly-black, perfectly-circular, emotionless eyes were embedded in its head; a ring of blazing orange hung in the center of each eye. The face of the spectral thing held no nose nor many other features; save for a mouth bent into a rage-filled scowl. Dark, almost-black crimson energy formed what resembled either a helmet or horns on its "head".

They only got a moment to take in the sight before the entity shrieked loudly, making the two guards attempt to cover their ears and they both yelled in pain.

Rushing wind stirred and dirt, sand, debris and stone flew towards the screaming malice. In the air, the rubble and particles morphed and were twisted.

The ear-piercing shrieking kept the two guards on the ground, yelling in pain and terror as the manipulated debris formed into flesh.

It was a pale-grey color with red markings similar to a type of alien tribal tattoos. It sprouted and spread over the entity like a fungus quickly covering a rock until it was completely figure soon beheld a physical form, similar in shape to the specter it surrounded. The eyes were perfect circles and still held the same unnerving color and designs.

The rushing wind continued though the shrieking stopped as now only ash and dust was collected. It too was being manufactured into something else as it flew, this time, clothing was being formed. Long, dark, black pieces of fabric flowed as they started to form into various pieces. Together, they made a pair of black pants, a medieval-style tunic with long, flowing, and large sleeves. A cloak grew and billowed a bit, it wasn't too long; coming to the figure's knees and had a hood that concealed most of her head. A smooth, black-mask covered even more in conjunction with the hood; taking up the upper-half of her face, leaving only her mouth exposed. It had changed from a scowl, to a mocking and slightly-irritated grin as a dark-crimson crown topped her head over the hood. It held two pairs of horns that curved and pointed at each other.

The last thing to form was a long, black-bladed sword. It was medieval in design with a double-edge, and V-shaped cross-guard with spiked tips and a crescent-shaped pommel with spiked tips as well. Despite it being a long sword, the Sister had no issue holding it with one hand as she and her sibling (who was still in her original attire) turned and faced the two guards.

When the screaming had ceased, Seth and Jesse rolled onto their feet and held their weapons at the ready as they started to try and escape. They both yelled as they found themselves tumbling in the air, each Sister had grabbed them and moved at blinding speed, tossing them around. They were so fast, even with the enhancements; neither Guard could react fast enough. The Sisters weren't even blurs, they zipped around and tossed them so hard and fast, they almost seemed to teleport.

Both of them yelled in pain and terror as they were tossed into, and beat off of nearly every surface. Hard, loud, agonizing thugs rang out repeatedly, mixing with their screams before they pinned to the ground by them. They were cut, scrapped, bruised, dazed, and in awful pain, barely conscious at that point and covered in blood, even with the physical augmentations in their systems.

"I do not quite know if I should be impressed or irritated, making me have to go back to this." The robbed Sister mocked. "I was rather fond of that attire."

"I would say impressed, may need to call the others to deal with the rest. Shame, would make interesting subjects back home..." the other suggested. "Speaking of which," she raised her hand and the containers on each of their backs flew into her grasp.

"Perhaps as pets," The robbed one responded and put the tip of her blade against Jesse's chin, "Both?"

"Or one,"

Seth whimpered lightly and closed his eyes, his ears dropping in anticipation.

Jesse growled and glared, daring them.

At that, the black blade rose high.

The four ran a fair distance away from the tunnel before taking a moment to catch their breath.

"Wh-where a-are we? We can't be that far!" Angela gasped and whimpered, "C-can't believe this..."

Nash held his hand out and a holographic map was projected from his palm. Seeing how they were nearing the outskirts, they had ventured into a mapped-out area. "H-hey, we might be in Comm range!"

"Think we can get some help?" Max asked as he took a swig of water, "We're not going to last much longer here..."

"Let me help!" Les approached as Nash pulled out a small comm relay dish out of his mechanical arm's forearm. It pointed into the air and spun around, "B-before my team was killed, our wire picked up a signal. We couldn't tap into it, but it was there." He grabbed Nash's arm and pointed it in the direction he spoke of, making Nash yelp in surprise.

The dish stopped spinning and a series of blue lights lit on arm. "H-he's right! It's faint, due to the interference but I might be able... to... got it!"

Garbled static came through at first, various mechanisms in Nash's arm could be seen moving, tweaking the signal and tuning it. Soon, a voice came through.

"Praetorian Relay, please state your Name and ID Status Code."

"Nash 2354, Code Zeta, put me through to Chief Ellipse now!"

"Transferring"

It was less than a second later that Chief Ellipse picked up, "Nash?! Have you made it out?!"

"Negative! We've suffered many casualties and need evac now!"

"You know the radiation in the city makes it impossible for our ships and Atmos to fly in Parson... how far are you from the border?"

Nash pushed a few buttons on his forearm, "Sending location now, hurry sir, don't know how long I can keep this line. We can't stay put for long..."

Angela and Max exchanged glances in nervous tension as they waited for the response. Les looked around, his eyes always moved, looking out for any signs of trouble.

"...You need to get closer..." The tone of Kaden's voice was pained, "You're too far in for me to send in any troops... best I can do is have some waiting at the border."

Before Nash could respond, Angela stepped forward and spoke into the transmitter, "KADEN! We have cores! Nearly all of the team is dead! We need to go now! Please! Send them in and we can meet them!"

Kaden started to respond but was cut off by Les, "Sir! This is Les of Upsilon Squad! If you don't send in troops to help, we won't make it!"

The Lombax Chief sighed and rubbed his face, "Hurry to the border, I'll do the best I can, now go!"

Max gasped, "Do as he says! Go! NOW!" The Markazian yelped and started to bolt towards the border.

The others wasted no time and followed suit, looking over her shoulder, Angela saw what had spooked Max.

From the dark corners, the melancholy and shadowy passages, emerged four, robbed figures. All of them had black masks covering the upper half of their faces. Their hooded, flowing robes covered the majority of their bodies. Armored hands and feet, along with crimson, four-pointed crowns on their heads made it so that only their pale-grey mouths were visible. Each of them held long, black-bladed, double-edged swords with v-shaped handguards on the handles, and a small, crescent-shaped blade at the base of the pommel. They each held their swords at an angle, across their chests as they started to pursue the even more terrified survivors. Their footfalls were silent, and they almost seemed to glide across the ground.

Pulling out their pistols, Max, Angela, and Nash started blind-firing them as they ran. Streaks of orange Vector rounds burned through the air. Most of the rounds weren't close to hitting any of the four ghouls. The black blades cut through the air and seemed to absorb any shots that would have hit their wielders. Dark, angry, devilish chants, in a completely unknown language, came from the cold, monstrous mouths.

Terror and adrenaline propelled the remaining along. These masked and robbed phantoms were by far the most unnerving thing she had seen; yes, even more than the twisted and torn-up body puppets. Those were disgusting and disturbing, but it was easy to see they were just puppets, tools, machines used by their masters. These shadowy, haunting foes were malevolent, insidious evil incarnate. They also proved to be a good deal faster.

Looking back, Angela blinked and the four chilling apparitions had vanished. She swung her head around, looking for where they might have gone.

There was a loud sound of rushing wind and a chilling scream from Les. One of the robbed ghouls had leapt down from the side and impaled the terrified Guard with its blade. The black sword rand through between his chest and stomach, blood began to seep from his mouth. He let out a weak yell and futilely tried to fight his way out of the situation.

In a quick motion, the creature swung its sword and sent Les flying into a rock wall. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Nash turned and looked up, just in time to see another try to do the same to him. He quickly rolled to the side and, with his mechanical arm, grabbed the handle of the sword as the blade was embedded into the ground.

Turning, Max saw Nash's predicament and, having only two rounds left in his revolver, pulled it up and quickly fired.

The entity shrieked loudly and in a near-deafening pitch as the round hit its head. It writhed a bit before flying up into the air and into the distant shadows.

Not wasting time, Angela, Nash, and Max resumed running; though they didn't too far after coming to the final bridge that led out of the cursed city. Beyond it lay the border not more than a mile away.

Less than fifty feet in front of them, at the end of the bridge, were the three remaining ghostly enemies. They each held their swords the same as before and they were walking calmly towards them. To their left and right was a high plunge to a hard, rocky landing.

Angela looked behind to try and find another route, only to see something that made her heart sink. The gruesome horde of corpse puppets was nearly upon them.

The remaining Guard drew his wrench, "No matter what happens to me... run, and don't look back." He ordered Max and Angela before letting out a war cry and charging the specters.

Angela held her gun, it only had three rounds left, while Max's gun only had one and they quickly followed Nash's lead.

The Guard's yell was full of anger and fury as he threw a blue bolt of energy from the head of his wrench.

The three ghastly apparitions leapt over the bolt and the center one came down and threw a stab at Nash.

Nash leapt to the side, throwing an elbow to the foe to his left while simultaneously swinging his wrench at the center one. The elbow strike barely moved the dark entity, and his wrench managed to parry the stab from the center fiend.

Max looked for a way to get around the three and held his gun at the ready, waiting for the right instant to use this last round.

Angela was doing the same, not wanting to get too close for fear of the blades and not wanting to shoot and accidentally hit Nash. At the same time, she couldn't see a way around, and the foul crowd behind them was getting disturbingly close. She thought her heart was going to explode; they couldn't stay, but could run.

The shrouded terrors were more than a match for Nash. He was quite quick and used his mechanical arm as much as his wrench to parry and strike at the three.

It became apparent however, that Max and Angela had little choice but to try and get around.

"Follow me!" Max shouted and charged the fight, keeping to the right side and aiming his pistol as he ran with Angela right behind. The moans and groans and roars rang out as the foul crowd of decaying puppets had set foot onto the bridge.

The last Guard grunted as he both; locked his wrench with one of the ghouls' blades, and had caught one with his mechanical arm. The third one was about to deliver a killing stab to his throat as Max and Angela bolted for it. It shrieked as Max fired his last round into the back of its head and Angela fired one round at each of the dark monsters.

The one Max shot in the head was the worst-hit, and like the one previously, it flew off in a gust of wind. However, there was an unintended consequence. Nash yelled as the wind, and the motion of the fleeing specter, knocked him aside and over the edge of the bridge. His yells grew more distant as he and one of the ghouls fell.

Max and Angela, now the last two, gave it their all as they sprinted for the border. The cores on their backs bounced slightly in their containers as they ran. Looking behind, Angela noticed the remaining, hooded entities were gone, leaving the distorted, twisted monstrosities going after them.

Angela's blood almost ran cold upon hearing distant giggles and insane, mocking laughter coming from above. Two, all-too-familiar figures hovered in front of them. The Sisters landed in front of them, blocking their path.

"Insolent pests, enough of this! Snooping into matters that do not involve you! Now, give those back, and your end will be quick." The robbed Sister stated, her blade held low, indicating they knew that Max and Angela were defenseless.

Angela looked at Max as they put their hands up, "Wh-what now?"

"Run!" A voice that didn't belong to Max or the Sisters rang out as a pale figure leapt at the Sisters. He held a double-ended spear and brought it down at them.

The robbed Sister yelped and blocked the spear with her sword, while her Sister threw her mini-scythe at the stranger. Their speed, and that of the stranger was incredible, both parties moved so fast, there was barely a blur as they exchanged blocks and parries. Ravage sounds of metal-on-metal clashes and war cries rang out.

After a brief moment, Angela was able to see this pale stranger was in fact, Virgil, the one she had seen with that Calamity monster. He turned during a very brief pause, "GO! NOW!"

He didn't need to say it again, as the pair turned to flee.

Max yelped as he was tripped and face-planted on the ground. A chain was wrapped around his ankle; it led to the un-robbed Sister who had managed to break away from Virgil and started to go after them.

Angela saw Max go down and started to turn and stop to help when the chain caught her foot as well and she was yanked off of her feet.

Both she and Max tried to scramble to their feet and get to safety past the border less than a quarter-mile away.

The Sister though, was too fast and she was upon Max in less than a second.

Angela's heart sank to far below her stomach as she watched the Sister stab Max over and over with her scythe.

Max howled and tried to fight back as best he could as crimson-purple blood began to pour.

She couldn't believe what she was seeing... tears poured and in that desperate moment; a burning rage, that had been held back by fear, burst out of Angela as she yelled in a fury and pounced at the Sister. A ferocity and terrible wrath she had never felt before poured as she began to bite, kick, punch and try anything to hurt their foe. She was in such a maddening amount of outrage that she didn't feel the scythe's blade sinking into her side for a few seconds. It wasn't until the Sister hit her in the forehead with her elbow; knocking her to the ground did she realize how much trouble she was in. She gasped and coughed up some blood, as did Max, as she looked up at who she knew was going to kill her.

The clashes and clangs of the other Sister and Virgil's fight rang out in the distance, faded as Angela was focused on the shimmering blade that dripped with her blood.

"Such tenacity... it's quite admirable for something so weak," The Sister chuckled lightly and held her blade at the ready for the final blow.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Max hold up the core he was carrying and he tossed it at Angela. He gasped and sighed shortly after tossing the orb, "Live... on... bring... them... back..." he said shortly before going limp.

The mysterious orb seemed to fall in slow motion; at least it did to Angela. In that moment, she realized that this was the only way out, the only possible help.

A sound akin to shattering glass ran through the air as the orb shattered next to Angela. The Sister yelled in shock, leaping back as the contents of the orb were revealed.

A small figure that was composed of dark radiation hovered in the air. It somewhat resembled a short stick figure with no hands, feet, and mouth. Black and crimson waves of the insidious energy radiated off of the stout thing; its huge eyes looked at Angela for a brief moment before flying into her torso. The black and crimson energy turned into green/yellow wisps that spun around her in a vortex as she gasped and started to convulse and scream as her eyes shut tight.

A deep, desperate, yet sympathetic voice rang in Angela's mind. "Hello... Angela... I am very sorry for your situation, I am a Kivar, and my name is Isi"

What's going on?! What are you?! Why are you in my head?!

"I want to live and be free, I need you. In return, I can make you strong and make these monsters pay for their misdeeds"

How do you know about what's going on? Can you see through the core?

"Yes I can" its tone was a bit more angry as it continued "I despise the Ucal as do you now, I can help but it will cause pain and some mental and physical changes, is this arrangement acceptable?"

I... I... changes? How? What kind?

"We will both die if this does not occur"

...Do it...

"Prepare and try to relax" At that instant, a blinding, burning force blasted throughout Angela's mind and body.

The green/yellow energy swirled and spun around more intensely, forming a violent maelstrom that forced the Sisters and Virgil back. They all paused and watched as she stood up, shrieking and convulsing as the Bonding was excruciatingly painful; both mentally and physically. It felt as if every facet of her being was pulled apart and a sharp, twisting, wrenching wedge was driven in. Every muscle, nerve, and tissue felt as though it were on fire and being crushed and ripped apart while at the same time, her mind was being battered, shaped, and molded as the Being continued to fuse with her on nearly every level.

Were it not for the enhancements she had received to survive Parson, the Bonding itself would have most certainly killed her.

Multiple patches of white appeared on her fur and expanded until all of her fur was white. Her eyes shot open as they turned into a lightly-glowing, green/yellow color, the sclera and irises both changed to this color. Only thin, diamond-shaped pupils broke the solid color of her eyes. A horrible, sickening cracking sound akin to bones breaking occurred as a pair of curved horns grew from the top and sides of her head. Her clothes were ripped up and morphed as well, into long, billowing black and purple-accented robes that completely covered her from the base of her neck down.

From the ground, extended a long, black, seemingly-wooden staff with a dark-purple, spherical gem embedded in the top.

The green/yellow flames started to die down as her white-furred hand grasped the staff and the pain quickly faded.

Looking at her hand, a feeling of life, power, and wonder rushed her. In her mind, she knew she wasn't the same as before... there was something added and mixed in with Angela's personality. She knew she didn't have two, separate personalities, rather it was that two personalities had merged into one. She could feel Angela and how she felt and thought, at the same time, those thoughts and feelings were mixed with Isi's, and they both formed one, coherent thought.

What... am I? I... I... am... I am... She looked up, remembering the situation she was in, and who it was that stood before her. She looked at the Sisters, more so than Virgil, who was standing off to the side as she took a few steps forward, her staff thudded a bit as she walked with it.

Out of the corner of her lightly-glowing, green/yellow eye, she saw Max's body and the overwhelming wave of rage and spite filled her being. Yet, she kept it hidden behind a calm, sinister, passive-aggressive smile. "Well, well... what do we have here?" She chuckled in a mockingly dark and angry tone, savoring the power she felt. "Isn't this an unexpected surprise? Here you thought it would be easy to kill this rabble, play games with them, and lo! Here I now stand. Do not worry though; I am willing to be civil." He tone dripped with insincerity.

The Sisters, now cautious about what they were now facing, and Virgil, both curious and somewhat tense, didn't move. They stood still and watched.

"Who are you?" The non-robbed Sister inquired.

She placed her hand on her chest and pointed her index finger at herself. "Why my dear, I am Ebony."

Hey guys, so sorry for the long wait. Was a mixture of being eager of getting this chapter right, figuring some things out about it, and life being somewhat chaotic

Also, don't worry, Bryn and his gang will return in the next chapter. I mainly wanted to focus on Angela and her team in this chapter seeing how pivotal it is.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas or suggestions please include them in your review!

Stay tuned for more!