PROJECT Earth

Chapter 21: Family matters (Season 1 finale part 2)

Five minutes… In five minutes I'll be too late… I can't be late… No, I'll make it, no matter what...

I walked into the arrivals hall, looking for an exit before being stopped by one of Viktor's security robots. Ah, great these things walk around public places too now?

''Identification is required from this point forward.'' It said, standing in front of me. ''If you are not in possession of a valid identification you will be removed from the city, this is to prevent terrorist attacks. Thank you for your understanding.'' Pfff, more like Viktor likes to hold tabs on people…

''I really don't have time for this.'' I said, pushing the machine to the side. In response the machine grabbed my arm and repeated itself.

''Identification is required.'' The machine said, its grip around my arm tightening.

''Ok that's it, I've heard enough… Yi!'' I yelled as Yi's armor formed around me. My blade floated in front of me before I grabbed it.

''High power source detected, contacting authorities High alert proto-'' The machine was interrupted by my blade as I made a clean cut across its neck, beheading the machine.

''Next time someone tells you that they don't have time, leave them alone.'' I said as I massaged the spot on my arm where the machine had grabbed.

''Mark, we don't have time to waste. We only have four minutes remaining.'' Yi remembered me of what I needed to do.

''Right…'' I said nodding. ''Yi activate the stealth drive, I want to stay hidden for as long as possible.'' Yi complied as the armors colorful neon orange began to dim and turned black.

''Ready to go.'' Yi said as I activated Highlander and took off towards the exit of the building. I was so preoccupied with saving Emily that I didn't even notice the people around me cheering.

I shot through the city at high speed, it was another day filled with traffic, I narrowly dodged a pair of incoming cars as I made my way to Emily's high school. Alisha's training sessions in the crowded city really were good for something. Who would have guessed?

''Yi how much further?'' I asked as I ran pass a couple of parked cars.

''You're nearly there but I don't think we'll make it at this speed.'' Yi said worried. ''Time is running out, and we still have quite the distance to travel.''

''Got it, faster it is!'' I said as I began to test my limits once more. ''I wanted to save this as a last resort but I guess I have no choice but to use it…'' I murmured as I began focusing on the Overdrive.

''Mark? What are you talking about?'' Yi asked confused before being surprised by the speed we were reaching.

''Target Identified as Emilia 'Emily' O' Neill. Where is your relative knows as Markus 'Mark' O' Neill?'' The Vel'Koz model asked hovering inches away from Emily. ''Fail to comply and you will be disintegrated.'' It said in its metal, monotone voice.

''I-I don't know what you're talking about… My name isn't Emily… M-my name's Luxanna'' Emily lied nervously moving a lock of blond hair behind her ear.

''Lie detected. Where is your relative. You have five seconds to comply.'' The Battlecast began to float a bit lower and readied its tentacles to fire its disintegration ray. ''Five, four, three, two-''

''Ok, ok, Fine! I am Emily O' Neill! But… but I don't know where my brother is!'' Emily said, tears forming in her eyes. ''For all I know Mark is dead!'' She said beginning to weep, dropping to her knees.

''Lie detected. Disintegration…'' Vel'Koz suddenly stopped storing up energy and turned away from Emily. ''High power source in close proximity. Contacting Creato-'' The Battlecast turned around to face the way before being tackled down to the ground by a black flash, the machine let out a metallic screech as both me and it hit the ground.

Its tentacles shot up into the air before wrapping around me, constricting me in the machines grasp. ''Scanning. Target detected. High alert protocol activated.'' Vel'Koz said throwing me into the brick wall of the school, making a few teachers and students run in panic.

''Ouch…'' I said slowly getting up from the ground, scattered with bricks from the wall.

''Prioritizing target.'' Vel'Koz said as he looked at Emily. The mechanical monstrosity quickly charged Emily, trying to get a hold of her. She screamed in fear as the Battlecast got closer to her before being lifted off the ground.

''Got ya.'' I said carrying her in my arms. ''Stay put until I tell you it's save, got it?'' I asked Emily. She quickly replied by nodding a few times before I rushed off to fight the small Battlecast.

''Target lost. Beginning environmental scan.'' The mechanical void beast said.

''Looking for me, four eyes?'' I asked standing behind the machine as it slowly turned around to face me. ''Wait you actually have four eyes, damn there goes my joke…'' I said putting a hand on my chin, thinking about another comment to make before having to dodge a set of missiles.

''Calculating reply… You talk too much.'' The Battlecast said before slamming its tentacle down towards me.

''Wow was that an attempt at a comeback? I'm actually impressed.'' I said raising my sword to slice through the mechanical tentacle with Wuju Style. ''Too bad your performance wasn't that good, you didn't make the cut sorry bud.'' I joked as the tentacle fell next to me. ''Hehe, cut.''

''Calculating odds… Repairs are required, retreating.'' The Battlecast said firing another set of missiles and a Tectonic Disruption before starting to hover away.

''Aw cute, it thinks it can run.'' I said with a chuckle before dodging the attacks thrown my way and setting chase with Highlander. ''Hey man, you dropped something back there.'' I said catching up to Vel'Koz. I jumped up against a building to launch myself above the Battlecast and threw my sword trough the head of the machine, nailing it to the ground. ''Let me be the better man here and return the favor.''

''Ca-ca-cal-calcula-t-t-t-iiiiiinnnnnngg… Def-f-f-ea-t-t-t-t.'' The Battlecast said with a distorted voice before the light in its eyes turned off. I walked up and pulled my blade out of the machine before inspected my handy work.

''Pretty clean if I say so myself.'' I said dusting off the remaining dust from being slammed into the brick wall of the school.

''And that with minimal damage to the city. We really are making progress.'' Yi said laughing a bit. ''Don't forget about Emily. She's still waiting on you remember?'' Yi said reminding me to turn back, leaving the metal carcass behind.

''Hey, are you ok?'' I asked crouching down in front of Emily.

''Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for saving me.'' She before starting to sniffle a bit. ''Mark, is it really you?''

''Ofcourse it's really me, why would you ask such a weird question?'' Right after replying to her question I remembered I still had the stealth drive activated. ''Ah, I see why. Yi would you mind?'' I asked as Yi turned off the stealth drive. Emily smiled at the sight of the orange color of the armor, like it was a signal for her that it really was me.

''Oh Mark! I missed you so much!'' She yelled hugging me. ''I-I-I'm so sorry for what I said back in the hospital!'' She said crying tears of happiness. I took off the helmet of the armor and gave her a stern look before smiling, making her smile aswell.

''I know you didn't mean it. I was mad at myself aswell for what happened to dad, but he made a choice that night and I'll honor him for it by watching over the city, even the world if I have to.'' I said putting the helmet down next to us before enjoying the reunion to its fullest.

''I have so much I need to tell you!'' She said giving me a look filled with excitement. Before Emily could continue talking again I raised my armored hand, silencing her.

''I need to go. Nathalie is waiting on me.'' I said picking up the helmet. ''You need to get out of here before more Battlecasts show up. Go home to mom and stay there.'' I ordered.

''How is Nathalie doing!? She disappeared almost without a trace with you two weeks ago! Did you two run off and get married? Tell me!'' Emily said getting impatient, making me chuckle a bit.

''No, we didn't get married. Now go, get out of here. The city is going to be in complete chaos, I don't want you to be in danger.'' I said getting back up and putting my helmet back on.

''Promise me you'll come back to tell me and mom what happened…'' Emily said holding me in a hug that would make a wrestler jealous. ''Cause if you walk off again, I'm going to be pissed.''

''Heh, I promise I'll tell you two most of it, I'll leave out some details ofcourse.'' I laughed as Emily gave me a disgusted look and let go of me.

''I'll tell mom you're ok.'' Emily said waving to me as I ran off with Highlander active.

Marriage huh? Heh that gremlin sure has some imagination…

''Agnes we're in position but I don't see a herald guarding the place.'' Damian said looking around the command center. ''Not to mention its way to dark in here, I can't see a thing.''

The command center we entered looked almost abandoned, the lights were turned off inside and there was barely any power. The only thing lighting up the dark room was the light of our armors. The green and yellow lights scaring the shadows away.

''I don't like this one bit.'' I said, taking a closer look at the dust forming on one of the tables. ''I mean this place is deserted.''

''It doesn't matter as long as you two got power, you should be able to hack into the network. Just let Ekko and Damian do their thing.'' Agnes said over the coms.

''I think we found the pc were looking for.'' Damian and I said in unison as we walked up to a huge monitor connected to multiple wires and computers.

''What makes you two say that!?'' Agnes asked getting excited.

''This thing is huge. Nath make sure no one sneaks up on us, I got this.'' Damian said cracking his knuckles and stretching his fingers before opening a holographic hacking tool and going to work on the pc.

''Nath I don't like this place. There is supposed to be a herald guarding this place right? What if it's an ambush?'' Leona asked as we scouted the place.

''I know Leo, I feel the same way but we need this information if we want to know what Viktor is up to.'' I said crouching to inspect some footsteps in the dust. ''Leo you're better at tracking than I am, how fresh are these prints?''

''Good find! These have to be recent… That means that the person may still be in the facility...'' Leona said deep in thought. ''Damian! Ekko! Hurry up! We don't have long before the herald returns!'' Leona yelled through the room.

''Yeah, yeah don't rush us.'' Damian said getting nervous. ''We almost got everything. Agnes how much of this are you getting?'' Ekko asked Agnes.

''A ton of information, blue prints, programs, a ton of advanced stuff. Wait! That's it! You guys can stop. I got an encrypted file with hints about a power source. I'll get to decrypting directly! Now go! Get out!'' Agnes said excited.

Damian let out a sigh of relief before closing the holographic menu's he used to hack the pc. ''C'mon let's go. I don't want to be here when that herald comes back.'' He said walking towards the exit and opened the door. ''Nath you coming?'' Damian asked as he walked out of the command center.

''Mark? Yeah it's me, we got the data we needed, Agnes is decrypting it right now, we'll know our next move in a few minutes.'' I said over the coms. ''Is Emily ok?'' I asked carefully.

''That's great! We can get to work on taking the city back, I'll regroup with you two in a few minutes.'' Mark sounded happy. ''Emily is save, I made sure she went home. I'll be there in fifteen minutes, love you.'' He said casually, making me smile.

''Dawww, you two are so cute together.'' Leona said making me blush.

''C'mon you gossip girl we need to get clear before it's too late.'' I said smiling as I walked up to Damian.

''Took you long enough. What did Mark say? Is he pleased with the results?'' Damian asked. I walked up to him, inches away. I was about to put my hand on his shoulder when I noticed a strange object flying towards us.

''DAMIAN WATCH OUT!'' I yelled jumping in front of him, raising shield to protect us as I blocked the impact of the object, which bounced off of my shield and fell to the ground, exploding. I dug my shield into the ground, creating a blast shield which made sure I was able to protect Damian. Most of the blast was contained due to my shield absorbing it, but the power threw me off my feet.

''Hmpf, ofcourse the girl blocks it.'' A mechanical voice said as the smoke cleared, I traced the voice back to a man with white dreads and two pistols, twirling them around as if he expected the outcome. Next to him stood the guy same guy from the festival, Yasuo.

''Nathalie! Are you ok!?'' Damian rushed to my side, supporting my back with his hand. ''YOU BASTARD HOW ARE YOU OK WITH ALL THIS!'' He yelled at the augmented ronin.

''Didn't I tell you to leave this place and to never come back?'' Yasuo said, putting his hand on the hilt of his blade. ''You know the consequences of returning here.''

''What is going on here? Damian do you know this guy?'' I hissed in pain as I grabbed my sword from the ground before getting up again.

''You haven't told them have you? Is it out of fear, Damian? Or out of shame?'' Yasuo said chuckling lightly. ''Well, go on… Tell her who I am to you and your sister.''

''Shut the hell up! You stopped being my father when you decided it was a good idea to work with Viktor! Not to mention the things you did to us before Viktor appeared! The abuse! The beatings! You are nothing to me or Alisha!'' Damian yelled with hitched breaths.

Damian… Why didn't you tell us before?

''I see how it is.'' Damian's father said calmly. ''Flynn you take the girl, I take that little runt.'' He said tightening his grip on the hilt of his blade.

''With pleasure.'' The other guy said as he stopped twirling his pistols and pointed both at me.

I looked over to Damian who stood completely still, glued to the ground. I wasn't sure if he was afraid or angry but I had to protect him at any cost. ''Damian stay close to me, if anything happens I'll be able to protect you, I promise.'' I said trying to get him to answer me.

''Stop me if I try to kill him. He doesn't deserve to die. Yet.'' Damian said, holding his baton up with two hands. His father started to laugh uncontrollably at his comment.

''Do you really think.'' He said pulling his blade from its sheath. ''That you can best me? Your sister couldn't and neither will you.'' He said beginning to charge Damian.

I stood in his way, blocking the charge with my shield. ''If you want to get to him, you'll have to go through me first.'' I said pushing him back.

''With pleasure.'' Yasuo said as he dashed pass me, pulling out his blade at the very last second creating a cut in my side. In response I slashed at him with my sword which was blocked within a second by the butt of a pistol.

''Ah, ah, ah. You're my problem pretty bird, boss man said so himself.'' The other guy said as he pushed my sword away with the butt of his pistol. ''You're allowed to be amazed by my skills. The name´s Flynn and I'm the deadliest assassin in the world when it comes to guns.'' He said cockily while forcing me away from Damian and his father fighting.

''Pfff, amazed? You're just another crook with a gun.'' I said unimpressed as I slashed at him with my sword. ''Hell you're so slow, my grandma could keep up a fight with you!'' I mocked as Flynn desperately blocked my blade again with his pistol.

''Lucian why would you be ok with this? You used to fight with us!'' Leona tried reasoning with the champion the man was fused with, as I raised my shield to block a strange cross-like projectile fired from his pistols, it hit my shield but penetrated it, leaving a slight burning feeling on my body. ''Answer me!'' Leona demanded.

''Ugh, can you shut your champion up?'' Flynn asked annoyed, firing a double shot from his pistols which were blocked again by my shield. ''I suppose you don't have the willpower to suppress her, damn this is going to be a pain in the ass.'' Flynn said, running around me, firing multiple short bursts of rounds into my shield.

''At this rate Yasuo's going to overpower Damian… We need to do something, Leona got any ideas?'' I asked mentally, while blocking another set of attacks. ''I can't keep up with him anymore for some reason.''

''It's because we got hit with Ardent Blaze, the cross thing he fired. Every time he hits us anywhere, he gains a small burst of speed, that way he can run and gun… But I got an idea.'' Leona said as I readied my shield. ''Just hear me out on this one and follow my lead.''

''Enough!'' I yelled activating Shield of Daybreak and throwing myself forward from behind the shield, attempting to bash the guy with my shield.

''Ha, nice try pretty bird.'' Flynn said mockingly as he but a foot against my shield and used it as a launchpad, vaulting off of my shield, while in mid-air he fired another set of rounds at me hitting me in my shoulder before landing flawlessly on his feet, still aiming his weapons at me. ''Getting tired birdie? Or was that just you being sloppy?''

I put my shield on the ground and hid behind it, dropping my sword next to me so I could hold my shoulder in pain. ''Hurts don't it?'' I heard Flynn call from the other side of my shield. ''Pure energy burning into your armor. Good luck with that.'' I could hear his footsteps getting closer to my shield as I readied myself. ''C'mon on out pretty bird, surrender and I might let you live as my pretty little songbird, it would be a shame if I had to clip your wings.'' I heard his footsteps stop near my shield.

He fired a beam from both pistols into my shield, making me cry out in pain as the beam penetrated my shield just like the Ardent Blaze, the only difference was this one hurt a lot more than the Ardent Blaze.

''NOW'' Leona yelled as I kicked my shield out of the ground, towards him, distracting him and using Zenith Blade to get closer to him. Flynn fired a set of rounds after I got near, but Leona and I already predicted this as I spun out of the way, giving me an opening to grab my shield. I picked it up and threw it into him, knocking him away a few feet. With a loud thud Flynn fell to the ground.

''Heh, so the little birdie still has some tricks hidden up her sleeve.'' He said getting up, while clutching the part of his stomach that got hit by the shield. ''You forgot one little detail. You threw away the only thing blocking the bullets.'' He said cockily as he fired a barrage of bullets.

As the rain of bullets got closer, I panicked and tried summoning a Solar Flare, my sword started to glow bright as a beam of energy shot down from the sky. That'll stop him!

Flynn dashed forward, avoiding my attack while still firing more bullets. I was stunned by his dodge. How? We planned for all of this. Didn't we? I didn't have more time to think as the first of the bullets began to hit me, with every bullet that hit, the burning feeling got worse, every shot of the barrage hit me, nearly destroying my armor completely.

At the end of the barrage I could barely stand on my feet. With my armor in tatters I tried raising my sword to fight back. Flynn just chuckled at my final attempt as he put his guns together, firing another beam into me, knocking me to the ground.

My vision blurred a bit as I searched for my sword which I dropped when I fell to the ground. I could see a shadow towering over me and two guns being aimed at my head. ''Like I said pretty bird, I'm the deadliest assassin in the world.'' He said twirling one of his guns, throwing it and catching it without looking, still pointing the other gun at my head.

''When it comes to guns, no one is better than me.'' During his monologue, I found my sword and tried to slash at him, but Flynn was too quick and shot two shots into my arm, making me cry out in pain. ''Now, now little birdie stop trying to play tricks on me.'' He said crouching over me. ''I wouldn't want to hurt you.'' He said carefully running an armored finger over my cheek, before playing with my hair.

''You disgust me. Do you really think I'm just going to surrender and go with you?'' I asked before spitting in his visor. ''You disgusting ape.'' I said venom marking my words. Flynn clearly wasn't expecting the remark. He quickly wiped away the saliva mixed with a bit of blood from his visor and put a pistol against my head.

''Why you! I should just blow a hole straight into your-'' ''Enough. Know your place Flynn.'' Yasuo interrupted sheathing his blade. ''You have your orders, no killing the champions.''

''I'm an assassin, not a soldier.'' Flynn said getting back up, still pointing his pistols at me. ''I don't take orders, I kill and get payed.''

''You know what will happen to you if you don't follow the orders, Viktor will have your head and you know it.'' Yasuo said coldly. ''Now hold down my son, I need to talk to this one.'' Flynn complied and pointed his pistols at a downed Damian as Yasuo waked over to me.

''You're going to get on the coms and tell your little boyfriend that you failed, after this moment you will die, I just need him here to see it.'' Yasuo said sinisterly as his shadow towered over me.

''Go to hell.'' I said earning myself a foot in the stomach making me cough uncontrollably.

''Do it or he dies.'' Yasuo said pointing at Damian. ''I should have gotten rid of him a long time ago anyway.''

''You're bluffing, Viktor will have your head if you lost a champion for your own selfish kicks.'' I said cracking a grin.

''Have it your way.'' Yasuo said grabbing me by the collar of my armor and threw me into a nearby wall, knocking the air out of my lungs before I hit the ground, hard. Yasuo quickly walked up to my grounded form and pulled me up again by my armor, holding me in place. ''Now get on the coms with Yi and that boy or I will kill Damian slowly and a lot worse than I was planning on doing.'' Yasuo ordered, his armored mask inches away from my face before dropping me to the ground again with a thud.

I coughed and gasped for air before weakly raising a hand against my visors earpiece, activating the coms. ''Mark.'' I said still trying to breath steadily. ''I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop him.'' I said feeling a tear run down my cheek.

''Nath? NATHALIE! I need you to hold out for a few more seconds, I'm almost there!'' I could barely make out the last part of his sentence as Yasuo pulled off my helmet and crushed it underneath his foot.

I looked down to the ground, beaten and bloodied. I could feel the burning feeling the bullets had left all over my body while still trying to regain control over my breathing. So this is what it feels like to be a hero, huh… It could be worse, I suppose…

''Time for you to die.'' Yasuo said pulling his blade from his sheath. The sound of the metal of his blade coming out of the sheath send chills down my spine. He inspected his blade, carefully cherishing the touch of its metal between his fingers as he ran the blade between them.

''Hey boss man, hurry up I got money to collec-'' Flynn was interrupted by a lightning fast punch, sending him flying through the automatic doors of the command center.

I looked pass Yasuo with a smile filled with hope on my face as I saw Mark standing next to Damian, his armor creating sparks of pure energy, radiating off of his body. ''Don't you dare touch her like that, ever again.'' He said looking in the direction Flynn was thrown.

Within a second of Mark appearing, Yasuo pulled me up by my hair making me yell in pain and forced me to my feet as he put his blade near my throat. ''You move and I'll slit her throat.'' Yasuo said coldly. My breathing hitched as Yasuo raised his sword closer to my throat.

''C'mon Damian get up, I need you for this.'' Mark said offering Damian a hand before helping him back to his feet. ''You know what to do.'' Mark said out loud, making Yasuo tense up and moved his sword up against my throat, remaining motionless.

''Don't forget who's holding the stings here boy.'' Yasuo warned. ''Any sudden moves from you and I'll spill the insides of her neck.'' Damian tried to throw a small device at Yasuo, but instead collapsed again, making the device roll towards Yasuo who started laughing as he crushed the device with his blade. ''Even to others you're a disappointment.'' Yasuo mocked.

Yasuo pulled back his blade near my throat, still laughing. All hope I previously had was gone as I felt the tears roll down my face faster. I'm not ready to die… I-I can't… He can't… ''LET GO OF ME YOU FREAK! MARK, MARK I LOVE YOU!'' I screamed in panic as I struggled to get loose, tears beginning to stream down my face uncontrollably.

''I know you do.'' Mark said unaffected by the situation. ''I love you too, with all my heart.'' He said without a single hint of fear or anger. Almost as if…

''He doesn't even love you. If he loved you he would be pleating for your life.'' Yasuo said mockingly. ''He used you as an object, pathetic.'' I felt stupid, so stupid as what Yasuo said was getting to me. I looked down at the ground, almost accepting what Yasuo was saying. No, Mark loves me! I just know, he does!

''I'll miss you.'' I whispered as Yasuo moved back his blade to execute me. I closed my eyes accepting the inevitable. I heard a strange pop sound and felt a weird sensation before slowly opening my eyes again. Time had stopped around me and Yasuo as Mark and Damian high fived eachother outside of the strange time bubble.

''Phew, you had me worried there for a second kid.'' Mark said as he walked into the bubble, unphased by its effect. He walked up to Yasuo and moved away his blade from my neck before picking me up, carrying me bridal style. ''You didn't actually think I was going to let him kill you now did you?'' Mark asked as he looked down at me in his arms.

''For a second there I was.'' I said as he wiped away a bit of blood coming from my head. ''You almost gave it away though, if you kept this act up a bit longer I'm sure you wouldn't have fooled Yasuo.'' I said smiling at him while he cleaned my head wound.

''When this bubble drops I will slice you all apart, you know you can't beat me Mark, none of you can.'' Yasuo said with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

''I know, none of us can at the moment. We still need to grow as a group. That's why I had Agnes create this.'' Damian said pulling out small injection pen. ''It's a special toxin that will paralyze for a couple of hours, that's more than enough time to get you locked up somewhere where you can't harm anyone, ever again.'' He said jamming the pen into his father's unprotected arm.

As the time bubble dropped, so did Damian's father, completely unable to move his body. After losing consciousness he defused with Yasuo, showing off his human side. Damian stood towering over his father's defeated form before turning his back to him.

Mark wasn't paying attention to the beaten man anymore, his full attention was on me, he had put me down on the ground, away from Yasuo as he inspected my wounds. He carefully moved his hand over my arm that received a double shot from Flynn, making me groan a bit in pain. ''I don't think its broken, but it isn't fine either.'' He muttered to himself.

''I'm fine, I can still fight. It just needs a moment to rest.'' I lied to myself while slowly trying to stretch my arm, making me hiss in pain. ''Ok, maybe not.'' I said groaning. ''Wait what about the other guy!?'' I said remembering Flynn being thrown into the building.

''He's gone.'' Ekko said, his voice coming from Damian's armor. ''There's no traces of him or his armor anywhere, he must have used one of those portal grenades.'' He said a bit disappointed.

''Not that it matters right now. He's going to need time to recover from that blow and the same goes for Nathalie, she needs medical attention and rest aswell.'' Mark said helping me into a sitting position. ''We should regroup at the base and plan our next move.'' Mark said before putting a hand on his helmets left side, listening to the coms.

There was a moment of silence before Damian started to listen in on the conversation as well. Dammit why did Yasuo have to destroy my headgear…

''Agnes calm down what did you find out?'' Damian said starting to panic. ''What do you mean right now!?''

''Hold on a moment Agnes.'' Mark said taking off his helmet as he sat next to me so I could listen in aswell. ''Nath's headgear got destroyed, this way she can listen in too. Continue please.'' He said handing me his helmet.

''Like I was saying, Viktor is moving his experiment out of the city at this very moment! We need to stop him right now! We'll never get a second shot at this!'' Agnes explained again, slightly out of breath. ''I got most of the field operators into the city, they can function as a distraction for the Battlecasts, but they can't stop the convoy, it's too well protected, so our only option is to fight fire with fire of our own.''

''What kind of convoy are we talking about? Anything I need to know?'' Mark asked with a frown. ''I suppose Zed and Fiora are guarding the damn transport? That's what you meant with fighting fire with fire right?''

''Yep, all the heralds left their posts immediately after your first sighting, except for Yasuo and Lucian. They moved in on your position.'' Agnes said thinking of a strategy.

''I'll go.'' Mark said getting back up. ''I can take Roxanne on. The last time was pretty close and I just know she's still struggling with herself.'' He said stretching his legs.

''No way in hell that you're going alone!'' I yelled at him, causing a light headache in my own head. ''We move as a team, not alone.'' I tried argue.

''Nathalie, look at yourself. You're in no condition to fight, you need a doctor to take a look at you.'' Leona said a bit worried about me. ''I know we can take a hit and that we'll bounce right back but this is overdoing it a bit.''

''No… I will protect Mark, whatever the cost.'' I said hesitantly as I slowly got up, only to fall forward almost immediately. Before my body could touch the ground Mark had already caught me, supporting my nearly numb body.

''Your life isn't something I'm willing to pay for stopping Viktor. I can handle this one, honestly.'' Mark said squeezing my good arm carefully. ''I'll be back before you know it.''

''But what about Zed? Or Viktor? What if they're on the convoy aswell? What will you do when you get outnumbered?'' I asked worried about Marks safety.

''Hey, have a bit of faith in your boyfriend.'' He said slowly helping me back to the ground. ''I got it all covered, if I find this weapon he's working on, I'll shut it down and retreat'' Mark explained slowly moving a lock of hair behind my ear before moving his hand behind my head, moving my head forward a bit.

''Promise me you'll come back alive.'' I said moving a bit closer to his face, my eyes never leaving his.

''I promise I'll do anything I can to keep you safe.'' He said before making his move, kissing me. It wasn't the answer I was waiting to hear but the kiss made me forget that for just a moment too long. My mind was beginning to drift off as Mark stroked the back of my neck, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine. I gasped for air during the kiss, not wanting to break it up just yet. After a moment I couldn't hold back any longer and let out a moan of pleasure before I felt something sharp sting my leg.

''What the!?'' I pushed Mark off of me and looked down at my leg. I noticed Mark throw away another pen with medicine in it. ''What did you do to me!?'' I nearly yelled, beginning to feel dizzy.

''I'm sorry Nath, but I can't risk having you follow me into this mess. I'm so sorry but I just don't want you risking your life.'' Mark said with a hurt expression on his face.

''What. Did. You. Do.'' I said getting mad. ''What did you just inject into my body!?''

''It's a sedative, it'll numb your pain and make you fall asleep for a bit. That'll give Damian some time to get you to a hospital and get your wounds treated.'' He said getting up, still giving me a guilty look.

''When I wake up.'' I said feeling my eyes get heavy and felt a dizziness. ''I'm going to kick your ass.'' I said before closing my eyes, drifting off into a deep sleep.

''Whoa. What the hell did you do to her?'' Damian asked in disbelief.

''I drugged her obviously.'' I said picking up Nathalie's unconscious body and carried her inside the command center. ''I got some sedatives from Agnes. Just in case one of us… lost it.''

''But was this really the right idea?'' Damian asked. ''I mean I kinda understand but… dude you just straight up Bill Cosby'ed her man, not cool.'' Damian said making me laugh a bit.

''Big difference.'' I said pointing a finger at him while still snickering at his comment. I put Nathalie down on an empty table inside the building before turning to Damian. ''Ok listen. I want you to get Nathalie to a hospital. You and her both need medical attention and Agnes is busy right now.'' I ordered.

''But I can help! We took both those guys down!'' Damian started to argue.

''Yes but first of all, I need someone to protect Nathalie and second, you collapsing and dropping your time device wasn't planned. If Yasuo was on edge, that little slip up could have gotten Nathalie killed.'' I said crossing my arms.

''I know, I know. I nearly screwed up, but it worked out in the end right?'' Damian asked as I gave him a bored look. ''Got it, I'll get Nathalie to safety.'' Damian said looking pass me, over to Nathalie's beaten body. ''I know you lied to her about her being alright, how bad is it really?''

I looked at Nathalie with a worried look, her chest rose slowly and dropped a few seconds later. ''I-I'm not sure, but her arm could be broken and her ribs took quiet the hit aswell.'' I said looking at Nathalie. ''To me, your job of keeping her save is way more important than saving the city.'' I told Damian as I put my hand on his shoulder.

''Got it, I'll make sure she gets the best treatment.'' He said giving me a large smile. ''Good luck taking Zed and Fiora on, and come back in one piece you hear?''

''Take care of my angel, Damian.'' I said putting on my helmet. ''And Leona…''

''Yes, Mark?'' Her voice still came from Nathalie's armor although Nathalie was unconscious.

''If I don't make it back, make sure Nath gets to see that video I made for her… and tell her I'm sorry, for doing this to her.'' I said taking a deep breath.

''How about you come back alive and tell her yourself.'' Leona said in her standard cheery voice, with a hint of worry marking her words.

''I'll try my best, I promise.'' I said activating Highlander and running off.

''Hey, princess look alive. Yi is on his way, we lost contact with the other team about half an hour ago.'' Tobias said nudging me.

''Sorry sir it's just… I've been trying to keep the Demacian down, but she keeps slipping at times.'' I said looking down at my phone. ''How do you do it?''

''I struggle with keeping him down aswell.'' Tobias said tightening the grip on the steering wheel as he waited on a traffic light.

''Wait you struggle with your champion aswell?'' I asked confused. When it comes to fighting Tobias always looks like he's in full control, right?

''You two should get ready, Yi is coming this way, no need to keep him alive, I got what I needed from him.'' Viktor's voice came from the radio in the truck. ''The vehicle will keep driving to its destination. I need you two to keep him busy.''

''Yes sir. C'mon princess, follow.'' Tobias said, stepping out of the truck.

''Hey what the hell!? Get back in your car man! The light is green.'' A random person yelled as Tobias fused with Zed. A bright red light blinded the guy in the car as Tobias sliced off one of the mirrors of the car.

''What are you waiting on, Princess? Fuse with the Demacian and get ready. He's close.'' Tobias turned to me, unsheathing his blades.

I complied and fused with Fiora. I looked around the cross road as the truck behind us started driving off. Well so much for our way out of the city.

''If you two get out of my way, I promise I'll do a good word for you in prison.'' Mark called out from the other side of the road. ''Or just walk away and safe me the trouble of fighting you two.'' He said annoyed.

''Not going to happen. I still have a job to do.'' Tobias said waiting on Marks first move.

''A shame, would have saved me sometime.'' Mark said, charging us.

Tobias casted a shadow near Mark and switched places with it, locking blades with him. I wanted to take a step forward to fight next to Tobias when Fiora spoke up ''This is the moment you've been waiting for Chérie, show Mark you're on his side'' Fiora's voice rang through my head.

''If I fail Tobias, he'll have my head… But if I don't hold myself to the plan…'' I said mentally, still frozen on the spot.

''Are you just going to stand there or what!?'' Tobias yelled as he held Mark down before getting a elbow in the stomach, letting go with a grunt. ''Fight or else!'' He said disappearing into the shadows.

I tried to push aside my inner conflict as Mark disappeared and attacked me from where he stood, ending up next to me, ready to stab me if he had to. If he wants to strike me down, if that proves that I'm different, then so be it… I readied myself for the impact of the blade, closing my eyes. What I didn't expect was Tobias pushing me to the ground and blocking the blade by reappearing in front of me.

''You disappoint me princess.'' He said pushing Mark away before grabbing him and throwing him into the nearby traffic lights. ''I thought I trained you better than that.'' He said pulling me up from the ground.

''Tobias I'm sorry, I can't do this.'' I said dropping my rapier. ''I can't bring myself to fight him.''

''So that's how it's going to be.'' Tobias said drawing his blade. ''You truly are just a waste of my time.'' He said thrusting his blade into me, drawing blood. ''Night, night princess.'' He said dissolving into shadows.

''ROXANNE! NO!'' Mark yelled rushing over, catching me before I fell. ''No, no, no not you too. I can't let this happen again…'' He said panicked.

''Don't worry, I'm going to be fine.'' I said with a grunt of pain as I got back up. ''That idiot couldn't bring himself to kill me.''

''Wha-!? Rox you're ok!? I just saw you get stabbed!'' Mark said taking a few steps backwards.

''He made me retract the blades, just far enough to not cause lethal damage…'' Tobias said reappearing from the shadows.

''What do you mean he!? Aren't you in control Tobias!?'' I asked confused as Tobias began to laugh.

''No, he hasn't been in control for quiet some time, I took over a long time ago. Me! Zed!'' Zed revealed as he laughed. ''That fool couldn't even handle half of my power, so I took over.''

''That explains his relentlessness.'' I said thinking. ''But I know he's still in there, there's a good man in there! Fighting to get out!''

''Jeez, are you sure you're not in love with him.'' Mark said looking at me. During the distraction Zed casted a shadow and jumped to it, grabbing a hold of Mark.

''You really should pay more attention.'' He said grabbing Mark by the throat, slowly walking forward, pushing Mark into the wall of a building. ''Well would you look at that, back where we started… You at my mercy, me holding you down.''

''There's just one little difference this time.'' Mark said grabbing Zed's arms around his neck.

''And what's that?'' Zed asked sarcastically.

''I got her on my side this time.'' He said as I thrusted my rapier into Zed's back, making him let go of Mark, giving Mark the chance to kick Zed off of him, catching his breath.

''Do you really think the two of you can stop me?'' Zed said grunting as he turned around with the rapier still in his back. His form towering over me, armblades drawn. ''You're lucky he likes you, if it were up to me, you'd be laying in a pool of your own blood.'' Zed said as he pulled the rapier out of his back, drawing an almost black blood from the wound.

''I know we can!'' I yelled as I dodged Zed's attack by ducking underneath it and grabbing my rapier from the ground. Zed wasn't done yet and created multiple shadow clones, while disappearing into the shadows himself. Not as many clones as usual, he must be weakened…

Zed reappeared from the shadows, ready to stab me again, forcing me to use Riposte, blocking his unexpected advance. After blocking the attack he laughed and disappeared again. ''Time to die.'' He said, making the clones throw their shuriken's at me. Crap why didn't I expect this!?

''Rox! Block the ones behind you!'' Mark yelled as he blocked one of the shuriken's as the other imbedded itself into his shoulder. With barely anytime to react I turned around and stopped both weapons thrown my way.

''Thanks…'' I said raising my blade while carefully looking over my shoulder. I saw Mark pull out the shuriken, the weapon had a bit of his blood on it as he threw it to the ground.

''Don't mention it.'' He said, raising his blade.

We stood back to back, waiting for Zed to pop up again. ''If this really is the champion Zed, we have to be on edge, he knows his limits and most likely ours aswell.'' Mark said looking around wildly.

''Like I don't know that, I've been training with the guy for weeks.'' I said annoyed.

''And you didn't learn shit.'' Zed's voice called out as we got surrounded by shadow clones. He himself walked up to us, slowly but menacingly, he made his towards us.

''He's going to cast Death Mark.'' I whispered.

''Like I couldn't tell due to the small army of shadows around us. The real question is who?'' Mark whispered, tensing up a bit.

''Can you protect yourself if he goes for you?'' I asked unsure of Mark's abilities.

''I can protect us both if I use the Overdrive, but the Death Mark will still hurt.'' Mark said sounding a bit worried.

''Great, just follow my lead.'' I whispered as Zed laughed and disappeared into the shadows, using Mark as his target. I knew it!

Shadows sliced him from three sides, creating the Death Mark. Zed reappeared, his blade unsheating in mid-air, ready to inflict more damage as the clones threw shuriken's at us. Mark reacted by shielding us with a protective shield, powerful enough to block the thrown shuriken's, leaving him open to Zed.

I activated Grand Challenge as four vital spots got marked all over Zed's body. Due to his greedy advance on Mark he didn't even notice them appearing. ''En Garde!'' I yelled as I charged Zed, not noticing the smile on my face.

Mark dropped the shield after blocking the clones their weapons and quickly jumped out of the way, barely dodging Zed's attack. Zed let out an annoyed grunt as his armblade imbedded itself into the ground, leaving him open for attacks. I danced around Zed using Lunge's reset on every vital I hit. It felt great finally being able to get back at him for all the beatings and humiliations. Just like one of the first nights.

One more vital to go and he shouldn't be able to get back up! Just this last one… My blade was inches away from the vital, when Zed avoided the attack by switching positions with one of the shadow clones surrounding us.

''Did you really think I was just going to let you hit that?'' Zed mocked from a distance while gripping his side.

''You forgot one thing, Zed.'' Mark said grabbing a hold of him, twisting his arms behind his back. ''She isn't alone.'' He said as Zed struggled in the lock he was being kept in. ''Now Rox! Before the Death Mark goes off!'' Mark said.

I walked up, activating Bladework to inflict even more damage and stabbed the vital lightly piercing Zed's armor, careful not to thrust to hard. Wouldn't want to harm Tobias… After the fourth vital was struck, Grand Challenge' victory zone appeared, signaling my first successful use of the ability. The victory zone quickly kicked in and started to heal Mark's injuries he sustained from the Death Mark, making him let out a sigh of relief.

''You can let go of him now Markie, he isn't going to get up in a while.'' I said looking down at Zed's beaten form. Mark crouched over him and poked him a couple of times. ''What are you doing?''

''Just making sure.'' He said before jamming a pen with medicine into Zed's back. ''Don't worry, it's for his own good.'' Mark said taking off his helmet, showing his smile.

''Thank you for fighting alongside us.'' A unfamiliar voice came from Mark's armor.

''Master Yi! What a surprise!'' Fiora's voice said gleefully.

''Wait you two can talk trough the armors?'' I asked confused. ''Why did you never do that before?''

''I tried, but you kept trying to suppress me so I let it slide.'' Fiora said, her accent making it a bit difficult to understand.

''Miss Laurent what a pleasure to speak to you again.'' The voice said again. ''Your company was missed dearly.''

''Oh my. What a gentle man.'' Mark said laughing a bit. ''You two will have to catch up a different time, we still need to stop that convoy.''

''I'll help.'' I said. ''Anything to show that I'm going to change.'' I said with a guilty look on my face.

''I need you to take Zed's body and get it to my team, I'll give you the coordinates. Zed needs to be locked away so my team can try and free that Tobias guy's mind from Zed.'' Mark explained. ''I'm sorry Rox but it's the only way to stop all of them, as much as I enjoyed fighting along side you, we need to split up again.''

''I understand Markie.'' I said with a smirk. ''Good luck, whatever that means coming from me.'' I said looking away.

''I won't forget this Roxanne, I'll make sure everyone hears of this.'' Mark said before putting his helmet back on and running off, leaving only a orange streak behind.

''Sigh''

''You did good Chérie. You showed him that you're on his side, the right side of this conflict.'' Fiora said complimenting me. ''Why the long face? This is a time for celebration, no?''

''I just hope these people can help Tobias. C'mon let's get going.'' I said picking up Tobias's unconscious body from the ground.

I really hope they can treat you, Tobi…

WOOW, hows it going peeps? Emerald back at it with a new chapter! A bit on the long side but that's the way we like it here don't we. Wow that came out wrong… Anyway moving on! Biggest chapter yet and man did it take me a lot of time to get some of these things right. I am tired af. I did most of my school stuff, just a few more projects to run through and baddabing baddaboom, I got vacation!

I decided that during my vacation I'm going to take a break from PROJECT Earth and go on an actual vacation! Aaaaaand I'm going to focus on An Angel's Thief. A side project I've been working on for quiet some time now. It will debut after the next chapter of PROJECT Earth, which will wrap up season 1 completely, and set things up for season 2! WHICH WILL CONTINUE HERE! NO NEED TO UNFOLLOW!

You would have known these things and way more fun stuff, like upcoming chapters, ideas and fun facts if you joined the discord. So come join us! Enter by typing in: discord dot gg /BWpaKr9

Just remember to be respectful to others and don't be racist and we can all have a good time k? And I seriously mean it! There's a bunch of cool people in the discord! We got multiple authors of different stories so I'm not the only one you can ask questions! Maybe your favorite author is in here aswell? Who knows? I don't because it's your favorite author and you haven't joined the chat yet so HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW!

Eghem, sorry about that.

Right before I wrap up the AN I wanted to thank you peeps for all the support on the fic. The follows, favorites, comments! All of it! Just this week we reached over 3.5K views, YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING!

So I'm not 100% sure if I'll be able to upload next week because of school… (Just like last week) But I'll try my best. The next chapter might be a bit smaller but who knows? Maybe I'm just bad at calculating these things.

That's wraps up this chapter of PROJECT Earth! Thank you all so much for reading!

I'll see you peeps in the next chapter!

Until then,

Emerald Out!