Hey guys, sorry for the very long wait.

The nightshift job has been draining me a lot more, combined with being sick off and on, and some family drama, makes it difficult to write at times.

Still, I am not stopping, slow and steady wins the race right?


Chapter 11, Warning


Joram groaned as he lay on the ground and regained consciousness after his three-story fall. His vision was blurry and his ears ringed for a few seconds as he fought to find out his surroundings. He couldn't move, yet he was moving. He felt rhythmic pulses and realized he was being carried and he grunted, "Wh... wha..." He gagged a bit upon finding what felt like cloth in his mouth.

His groans and dazed mutterings went unanswered as they continued moving. The fugitive, lombax king felt that he could move but was unable to. Fear struck him as his vision cleared and saw an all-too familiar mask on the head of his captor. He yelped and tried to flail as much as he could but it was little. As Jorem saw that it was King carrying him.

The pang of fear became a surge of panic.

Especially as he saw a group of old enemies approaching them.


"What do we do about this now?" Ebony started to walk to the side and gave a light laugh under her breath and looked at Virgil. "I appreciate your help thus far, but I now ask that you remove yourself from this." She gave a flick of the wrist, some green/yellow flame flowed off her fingers, and Virgil yelped as he was pulled away from the Sisters by some unseen force and landed to Ebony's right.

"Do you really think you can face us all?" A Sister taunted as she motioned to her sibling and the four, robed Ucal standing around them.

Ebony's sadistic grin widened, "I can guarantee it." She stopped walking and looked at them, "For now though... all I can say is..." Her calm face seemed to melt away and revealed her underlying rage, "YOU INCORRIGIBLE WRETCHES!" She swung her staff at them and white and purple lightning flew from the head of her staff. It instantly branched and writhed like a multitude of snakes. A deafening explosion of thunder shocked the Sisters and other Ucal with them as the lightning struck them, knocking them into a nearby building.

She laughed as she raised her staff and she became a spiraling disk of green flame that pulled Virgil into it and shot off into the distance. It blazed through the sky until it plummeted and impacted a decrepit courtyard and Ebony appeared in the explosion of green flame. She stood at the base of a ruined, stone tower and looked around before taking a breath before collapsing and sitting on a stone. She held her staff in one hand and rubbed her head with her free one.

Virgil groaned as he lay on the ground and woke up, he looked up and saw Ebony looking down at him.

"Tell me, my pale acquaintance, what is your role in all of this?" She asked with a lightly-tired, no nonsense manner.

He stood up and dusted himself off, "I presume you know who I am?"

Ebony stood up and nodded, "Yes, Virgil Northcot, one of the infamous Calamity twins, and wanted dead or alive for torture, harassment, genocide, sadistic killings and... cannibalism." She said the last part with disdain and disgust.

He shrugged nonchalantly, "So? How about tell me how much control does your Kivar have over you?"

She shrugged back, "It swore to help avenge my friends and destroy those that made them die horrible deaths..." She looked down and away as visions of seeing her friends, new and old, being killed. Green flame began to swirl from the top her staff and Ebony's expression twisted into one of rage as she raised her staff over her head. "...And I am taking it up on the offer..." She yelled as she slammed the base of the staff into the stone and a shockwave of flame exploded from her and flowed into the streets. It ran into a mob of the mutated wildlife and the green flame forced itself into their mouths, eyes, and ears. They shook for a brief moment as they came under her spell and retreated into the dark shadows of the ruins. "...Starting... with those wretched devils called the Sisters..."

Her companion perked slightly, the Sisters were a huge thorn in his side as well. "Starting?"

"Yes, they may have done the horrible things to my friends... but if others had acted as they should, if some had stayed and not left..." She closed her eyes as warm, yet painful memories of someone she cherished and maybe even loved. Yes, that's it, at one point she had loved, and then, they vanished. She had feared for so long that something might've happened to them, but when she met Max, he told her, and the bitter pain of being left behind stung twice as hard now, than it did back then. Tears pooled in her eyes before streaming down her white-furred cheek as she grasped her staff tightly. He had left her, and his father was no better... there was no excuse! They could have come! They could have done more to save her and her friends! Like before, she had been abandoned and forgotten, used and dumped! No more! It was time they learned a hard, painful lesson! She wiped her face and relaxed her grip on her staff before turning and looking at Virgil with a malicious smile. "So why are you here? And don't lie to me, I have no patience for it, either you're going to help me, or leave."

Virgil raised a brow, "The Sisters forced me out of this place, my home, and I want it back."

"And them having these cores doesn't have anything to do with it."

"Why would I need those?"

"Seems like they are coveted and powerful in the right hands."

He shrugged, "You want revenge, I want my home, let's get rid of those two and their friends and we'll both be better for it."

She gave a light, narrow glare before nodding. "Fine, before we get to them, there's one thing that needs to be handled. You can fly right?"

"Yes, I can."

"Then keep up" She raised her staff and transformed back into a spinning, pinwheel-shaped mass of green-yellow, flying into the sky. Some jets of yellow energy shot from Virgil's feet and he followed her.


"No! NO! Let me go! Keep me away from these rats!" Joram screamed as King carried him closer to Bryn's gang, Torz and Garth among them. He yelled and kicked furiously but to no avail. The fear toxin in Joram's body had been disabled by King giving him the antitoxin a few minutes beforehand.

King approached Garth and handed Joram to him and Garth offered a case. One of the two girls took the case. Their masks shown lightly in the light of the Atmo, making them stick out in the dark of the night.

"Pleasure doing business," King's distorted, rough voice barked politely and walked away.

"They're creepy..." Slick mumbled once they were gone.

Bryn grabbed Joram and yanked him out of Garth's grasp and got in his face, "We got you, you filthy rug.. now you're going to pay..."

"You are such fools, not killing me immediately!"

"That would be too good for someone like you..." Snake spat at his feet.

"And you just screwed yourselves!" He grunted as Bryn gave a hard strike to his jaw, before forcing him back to his feet.

"You don't get to talk... just take what you deserve..." At that, Bryn threw two strikes to Joram's jaw and temple, making him yelp and collapse. He panted as his lip was bleeding and he had a cut on his forehead. Bryn's expression was one of pent-up anger being unleashed as he threw a couple of kicks to Joram's torso, the rest of the group simply watched, letting him vent. Joram yelped and gasped as he was being pummeled, fear rushed him as he feared the slow demise that was looming over him.

Bryn wound up to hit again, but grunted when he couldn't throw another kick and felt something hold his foot back. He growled lightly as he was kept up on one foot and looked over his shoulder.

Torz had used the hook on his cane to keep back Bryn's foot. "I let you vent, time to hold on for a second..."

The young lombax thief lightly glared at Torz, "You're not seriously going to believe this scum?"

"No, but I do know who he is working for and what they can do." He pulled his cane away, tripping Bryn up a bit and Torz sat down in his awkward-looking position. "If I am right, you have just as much reason to be enraged at the two of them, as you do at this puppet king."

"Puppet king? You don't mean..."

"It makes sense," Garth stated as he stepped forward, "Somehow this tyrant came in possession of a portal at some point and Yates knows him. Only way Yates would allow him into a compound like that, is if he trusted him. So, he's had some kind of consistent communication with Yates, question is, what does he know? And what interest does Yates have with a medieval tyrant?"

"You think Reap might come after us on Yates' orders to tie up a loose end?" Slick added, rubbing his chin, "Something about this whole thing has been bugging me as well." He looked at Bryn and the rest of his friends, "You all know I want this sick tyrant to be killed by all means. However... I always wondered how he came to power so fast... as for the second question, I don't know..."

Luka stepped up and lifted Joram up by his lapels, "What did Yates have to gain from you? And how come Yates didn't crush your sorry tail the instant you came here?" He growled and was quite persuasive. Despite him not being the tallest member of the gang (that would fall to his brother) Luka held Joram so that his feet dangled in the air.

"B-because we're friends! He helped get me into power, as long as I kept him supplied with various materials... and I have insurance as well to make sure he doesn't kill me! You all are such fools..." He yelped as Luka backhanded him and yanked him back up.

"Watch your tongue," The grey-furred lombax snarled in the king's face, "Only reason I don't crush your miserable skull right now, is because you might be useful in keeping us alive! Now, what do you have against Yates? what did you supply him?!"

"I-I don't know exactly! There was some kind of green crystal... One of Yates' men called it Valkyrie... think it's used in the weapons of this world."

Garth looked intrigued, and looked at Bryn's gang and explained, "Refined Valkyrie has many, many uses. For Yates, that means he can make his own ammunition."

"Is that all you supplied him?" Torz asked with a focused expression.

"N-no..." He gulped nervously, "There were two things, one was common, the other I only saw once and I don't know what it was."

"Start off easy, what was the common one?" Torz asked and looked into his eyes.

"It was a dark red flower that we refined into a white and red powder..."

The Informer, Garth, furrowed his brow and got in Joram's face, "You helped him make Bliss?" He grunted as Torz gently but firmly pushed him back.

"What was the second, rare thing?"

"Some kind of... mystical orb... It terrified my men when they found it and looking at it just..." Joram shuddered and seemed genuinely disturbed.

While Bryn and his friend were quite curious, Torz and Garth were far more so.

"Was it black with red and white swirls?"

Joram nodded, causing both Torz and Garth to glance at each other and exchanged concerned looks.

"I also have a copy of a document that contains information on Yates' financial and criminal dealings, among other various personal information. Once I came to power, I looked into Yates' background, I hired an investigator who managed to dig up all this stuff."

"How come he didn't kill you when he found out? Obviously he knows about this," Bryn asked.

"I... managed to make it look like someone else hired the investigator... neither that person nor the investigator have been seen since I was told about the information."

Bryn's brow furrowed as he took Joram from Luka's grasp. "So you made someone innocent take the fall for something you did? That's typical..." He then threw another backhand strike to Joram's face.

The ex-tyrant grunted and groaned, "They weren't innocent... and the investigator hid the information away before I could see it. He gave me the location on this world, but I haven't had the chance to get it, Yates has been keeping a close eye..."

"Yes I have," everyone jumped and turned as Yates stepped out from behind a rock. "And I see someone has a bad case of Squealer's Mouth."


Ebony and Virgil landed in the town's center and she looked around. She sniffed the air and growled lightly, "They're nearby..."

Her company also sniffed and he looked at her, "Those corpse puppets they use?"

"Yes," She tapped the ground with the bottom of her staff, it echoed loudly throughout the area and all-too-familiar groans and moans came from the dark corners and ragged buildings. Ebony's face hardened as she spotted a Turner and Max among the crowd of misshapen and twisted bodies started to surround them.

The intense rage and anger boiled over inside Ebony and a deep scowl formed before she let out a roar and spun as she held her staff out.

Virgil yelped and leapt over her staff as a ring of white and purple lightning blasted the crowd.

"Your time is up you twisted hellions! Hear my voice, for it signals your end!" She swung her staff at the closest foe and a green-yellow blast of the flame-like energy flew from the orb on her staff. It blew through the groaning corpse and blew it, and ten around it, into pieces. She yelled again and started to spin her staff and thrust it at the decaying horde, blowing any apart that got near.

Virgil, for his part, summoned his double-sided spear and started using the large spearheads to cut through them. He also began firing large bolts of yellow plasma energy into the mob of rotten puppets.

Realizing the threat, the hideous things started to pick up the pace, forcing Ebony and Virgil to move faster. Pieces of mangled and malformed body parts began to build up. Out of the corner of her eye, Ebony saw the cut-up remains of poor Taylor among the crowd, and a few feet beside her, was Max's limply-controlled body. She felt her eyes get wet in both mourning sadness and burning rage as she roared as she raised her staff and pointed it at the sky. The dark clouds, that normally resided above the decrepit city, quickly swirled down and she aimed the top of her staff at her dead friends. Purple lighting crackled in the snake-like cloud as it rushed, and rammed into the crowd. Ebony swung her staff to the side and the lightning-laced, serpentine, dark cloud formed a ring around Virgil and herself.

Virgil, upon seeing the intense rage and pain upon Ebony's face, stood down and observed her attack.

The wind was intense and made Ebony's robs billow as the severe maelstrom was a product of Ebony's unbearable sorrow and anger. Her teeth were bared, she held her staff up, and her eyes burned a bright green-yellow as the cloud and lightning ring spun faster and expanded. It made the monsters shriek as they were pulled and pushed by the strong wind and the lighting struck them. In addition to the wind, clouds, and lighting, long tendrils of terrible, black thorns came from the ground and started to slam and impale any remaining monstrosities that managed to escape being affected by the maelstrom.

After a brief minute, Ebony ceased roared her anger and lowered her staff. Pieces of rotten flesh, bone, and limbs lay strewn about and she panted lightly as her gaze lowered to the ground as the intense rage subsided and sadness took its place. She felt tears start to roll as she looked down and a flame ignited on the top of her staff. It morphed into a blood-red flame that spiraled down and around her staff and to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Virgil asked as he approached her.

"Stealing an army..." She held one hand up as she began to chant, "To the beasts which roam these streets, you shall be still and follow my will! You will retake your home by the end of this day's gloam! You will follow my curse, and serve me well, and we will send these reprobates into hell!" She slung her hand tot he side and the red flame billowed down the streets as if it were on the wind. It flowed similarly to water though it was near-silent in its motion.

Upon coming to a mutated Hunter, it rapidly sped up and spiraled into its nose and mouth. The same instance occurred to all of the misshapen wildlife and they all stopped moving as Ebony's curse claimed them.


Elsewhere, a tall, lean man in a fancy, black suit and tie, sat at a table in a small, tent-covered booth and carnival music could be heard coming from outside. He was an adult human male with medium-length black hair and a well-kept beard. A Victorian-style, black top-hat adorned his head as he looked at a desperate-looking lombax male. His voice was calm, and almost soft-spoken but somehow commanded attention at the same time, "So tell me good sir, do we agree?"

"But... how... how can you promise me this?"

The tall, dark-clad man gave a light, reassuring smile and nod, "I have many resources at my disposal, do you accept?" He spread out a piece of paper that looked near-ancient with elegant writing akin to old English.

The lombax looked over the paper, his eyes moved side-to-side as he scanned it. "What about the part that reads, 'and five years per signage of contract, a misfortune will befall'?"

"Oh that, it's not much, just a requirement for this contract to be made. It's a small price, nothing catastrophic."

The stress of his situation was crushing the lombax, he had some awful people after him, threatening his family and he needed money very badly and he gulped nervously.

The top-hat man furrowed his brow as he felt something was off. He looked at his visitor and nodded, "You can have a minute to think about it, I have to tend to something for a moment." He stood up and stepped out of the booth with his walking cane. He didn't need it, it was obviously meant for style with its smooth black body engraved with flowing, silver lines. His black-gloved hand rested on an elegant, glass knob on the top of the cane, with the image of a lion molded into it.

He stepped out into the street and made his way to a secluded spot not too far from the booth and held the glass handle of his cane up to his face. "What is it?" He barked, though not too loud nor stern.

The image of partially-masked face under a broad-rimmed hat appeared in the glass.

"Apologies for the inconvenience our lord, but something has happened regarding the intruders."

The man raised a brow, "What has happened?"

"The last survivor became a host for a Kivar, and has started to cause problems for us."

"I have told you before..."He looked up and saw the lombax he had been talking with, leave the booth and walk away. His expression and voice became darker and more menacing, "...to not play too long with intruders. This is why, and now you just cost me a client!"

Despite his anger, the face in the orb didn't visibly respond, but their voice beheld fear and trembling. "We do apologize my lord, but this was not a result of our games, and this new fusion looks to hold quite a bit of power. She could present a threat to our hold on these ruins. She also has an ally, Virgil."

The man sighed and touched his forehead, "Do your best, do not contact me again unless you need me to come down there... and for your sake, I would hope that I do not." He angrily set his cane back down, the base hitting the ground hard, as he took a breath to regain his composure. His blue eyes flickered, a deathly, pale-red , with the whites being made dark, grey color, for a brief moment before he stepped back into the street.