This is a momentous chapter in the story. From here on out everything starts to move towards the end and climax. As such as I outlined in the preview last chapter many background issues will be coming to the fore, two very important ones in particular. But do not be fooled, the tension they are all under does not ease in the slightest, instead it only grows. Overall it's not light bedtime reading, the story takes another turn for the darker from here, and that's pretty much how it's gonna be from here so there will be no more soft chapters.

And that I'm told is what makes a story good. I hope you'll agree. Good luck!


Calm Before the Storm.

Early afternoon.

Billy was the first to regain consciousness a few hours later, perturbed as to why his mattress was so hard. He sat up in his bed, only to realise his bed had been replaced with the concrete floor sometime during his sleep.

'What happened?' Soon the events of that morning played back in perfect order, the new clothes, finding Mandy, breakfast and the crowd at the bar, their first drink and getting very drunk. Then they had been bought back here, left to sleep it all away together. He remembered their conversation on the way back, his drunken drawl of laughter, and teasing Mandy over what had occurred in private between them at the river. 'Damn, I guess I broke my promise.'

Another thought occurred to him. 'I wonder why I'm not sick with a hangover. How am I remembering all this anyway?'

He didn't think much more of it though as he rose to his feet, stretched back earning a number of satisfying cracks and pops, before he looked down to the young girl still asleep on the bed.

Mandy was curled up with her face nestled in the soft pillow, with a look of blissful content that neither Billy, or anyone else, had ever seen before. He felt his heart constrict in his chest at the sight. 'Oh god, she's so beautiful. More beautiful than the most beautiful gem, or sunset, or… What would she think if she knew how I feel?'

Once more he sighed to himself at the most logical outcome, considering her cold and distant nature, and though it dragged his heart down like a weight he admitted the reality nonetheless. 'She would drop me like a deadweight if she ever found out. If I want to go on being with her, then I can never tell her. She must never know how much I love her. At least that way I'll still get to be her friend. Maybe though… maybe one day it would be alright to tell her, if ever the time comes.'

He smiled sadly as her chest continued to rise and fall softly as she slept. Just once, if he could just touch her, if he could just show a little of how he felt into her. He couldn't help himself. He reached out with his hand and with all the tenderness he possessed gently stroked her hair along the side of her face. Mandy sighed softly in response as Billy pulled away. Leaving her there he turned from the sleeping girl to leave, intent on finding Grim again.

Once she could hear him walking away Mandy opened her dark eyes to stare at his retreating form, having been awake the entire time. 'Billy, you make it so hard to be strong. I wish I could… No, I can't give in. I mustn't give in or I'll loose everything.' Mandy gritted her teeth behind her lips as she continued to stare at the door as he left. She fought for control and order against the wish that had bought her nothing short of total ruin in the future she had found herself in, but this time found little energy left to do so. Sitting up she swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to think.

'This is so wrong. I know it's necessary, I know I have to do it, but this isn't natural.' Her mind began to test new waters long since forbidden. 'What… What if I didn't go through with this anymore? What if I just gave in and tried to continue on with Billy still by my side? Would that really be so bad?'

Then of course she remembered the ruined state her society had been left in. 'If I did that then I'd fail and everything would come apart like it has now. But what if the collapse wasn't because I didn't let go? What if it was something else that caused it all to go wrong? But what else could it be besides that? Maybe it's because I didn't do enough to get rid of him that he's dragged me down. I have to sever the bonds before it's too late! Should I?'

Exhausted mentally she set her forehead down in her hands, focussing on the here and now to clear her thoughts of the insane back and forth argument between the different sides of herself. Not for the first time did she momentarily wonder if she was loosing her mind, and if so was it because of being around Billy, which of course bought her straight back to where she started.

'I don't need this now. Right now I have to focus on what's at hand. Once I find out for certain why everything's falling apart then I can plan on how to avert it. Until then, I have other work to do.'

With that in mind she rose from the bed and hurried on outside to catch up to him, adjusting her green tank top and hair on her way out. After walking in silence through the various concrete corridors of the ratty base they found Grim in one of the hallways near the command centre speaking to the general they had been introduced to earlier. The two turned to see them approach.

"I see you two are once again able to walk on your own two feet." Grim remarked sarcastically, ignoring the harsh glares Mandy aimed at him.

"Grim, what was it I said earlier?"

"That was only for people back in Endsville." Grim smiled at her as she bought herself under control. She couldn't have herself doing something demonic to Grim while there were important witnesses like Mac standing there.

"So Maxine, good to see you up and around again." Mac said to the girl in question.

Not particularly listening Mandy absently looked down to her hands. She hadn't realised that since the shower, breakfast, getting drunk,and passing out with Billy, her hands had now completely healed. There wasn't a trace of the painful wounds inflicted there, and there wasn't even any scarring. Just smooth porcelain skin.

"How did I recover so quickly? I mean, it was only a day or so ago when I was…" She paused as her mind became bombarded with traumatic experiences. She quickly forced the painful thoughts from her mind. "… Well you know. And here I am now walking around without any problems. How did my hands heal so quickly?"

Mac thought for a moment. "Do you remember anyone applying a gel to your hands? It has a cooling sensation. Ring any bells?" He asked openly.

Mandy remembered the ride back from the prison, when the medic used some of it. "Yeah I remember."

The general nodded. "It was a solution based on vat grown stem cells. They take the place of any destroyed cells, healing injuries by replacing the damaged flesh. It revolutionised medicine when it was invented in the early imperial days. Too bad it's in such short supply, the majority of the populace can't get a hold of anything like that."

Billy frowned. "How did you get it then?"

"We procure large amounts of the stuff in raids against the laboratories where it's created." All three could easily read between the lines, they were taking it from those who were most in need of it. Wisely though nobody bought it up.

Mandy shrugged. Billy turned his attention on Grim. "What were you two talking about?"

Mac looked back to Grim before he spoke. "I was telling Grim the plan for tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow evening?" The two asked together.

"The final attack we agreed to help with." Grim answered.

Mac began to explain to them the plan they had been brewing for years. "Basically the entire revolution is based around starting a chain reaction in the population living in and around the city. The bulk of our forces will attack around the eastern perimeter of the urban area, driving inwards as quickly as possible. The empire's forces still outnumber us, but if we can sweep in as far as we can early on, then we can get the locals to rise up and revolt with us. Then, with the added population around the outer suburbs in revolt we will move progressively further inwards, stirring up even more people. This will cause an unstoppable wave that will sweep through the city from east to west, and totally overwhelm the machines and security forces, surrounding them and annihilating them."

"Yeah okay, but what about us? Are we supposed to be part of this wave or what?" Billy asked. Mac shook his head.

"No. You have a different role in this. You three will be responsible for attacking the Empress' fortress from the west, coming out of the ruins on the other side of the range. You three have the honour of storming the palace, and killing the Empress, bringing an end to over a thousand years of tyranny and domination, so don't screw up."

The two kids stood there in silence. 'I have to kill myself? They want me to… Wait, I'm not part of this organisation. I'm not the one who wants myself dead. All I need is to confront her personally. She'll know why all this has happened. And the records of who it is that's after us would surely be kept there. She'll tell me everything I need to know, and if she gets any bad ideas in that corrupted head of hers, then I'll dispose of her myself and go to the computers for answers. Besides, considering I've become a mockery of everything that I stand for, perhaps it's for the best, I won't allow her to further degrade my reputation.' She began to think again on their important role in this event. 'Hang on, why would they…'

"But if the Empress' armies are falling to pieces and her society has collapsed," Mandy asked the general, "why do you need us for this? Why not just send in a squad of your own in there to take her down? I mean why are we so special?"

Mac looked thoughtful for a moment before giving a sigh. "You know you really don't miss a thing do you Maxine?" He looked down to the girl who had figured him out. "Alright listen. The truth is the revolution was originally supposed to take place a few years ago. Mandy had sent four infiltrators out to destroy us from within. They were her ultimate weapons, biologically engineered people who could use underworld powers. They were only children when they came to us. But instead of destroying us like they were supposed to, they for whatever reason chose to join us, and the four became our trump card. Empress Mandy is immortal. She cannot be killed by any means except through the use of supernatural powers. The four were the only ones who could do it, so the idea was that they would attack the fortress and kill her, while we took care of the city."

"So why didn't it happen?" Mandy asked, now becoming more intrigued.

At this the general's face seemed to darken at the memory. "There was a fifth, different to the others. It was loyal to the Empress and, if what little we know was right, was created from her own genetics." He scowled in a haunting hatred. "It infiltrated us right before we were about to attack. It found the four rogues, killed them, wiped out half of the base, and disappeared, without anyone ever scoring so much as a glancing hit. We only think it was created from the Empress herself because of a transmission we intercepted from her to it. Other than that we know nothing. Because of that… monster, we had to abort the revolution, and wait for another time. Because we couldn't find anything else capable of killing the Empress, we essentially just planned to go ahead with the revolution and forget all about her. When we found you three all that changed. You three essentially became our new trump card."

Billy and Mandy again stood in silence. "So I suppose that's why we were given better service than everyone else?"

"And why I caught you watching us outside the bar after we agreed to fight for you."

The general nodded, though his eyes and hands fidgeted momentarily. "I'm sorry you three, but this is war." He remained downcast in a fake show of guilt, though from their lack of reaction he couldn't tell if they were buying into it or not. "The fact is you three are crucial to the success of everything we have fought and suffered for our whole lives. I hope that you will see reason and agree to participate of your own free will, after all we did save you from torture and death, and take you in, shelter you, feed you, and clothe you."

Looking at them he saw Maxine beginning to look at him with a hard stare. "You and your organisation aren't as noble as you make yourselves out are you?"

"You guys don't rescue people out of wanting to help them." Grim stated. "You do it because those people are of value to you, because they can serve you in your war against the regime, don't you?"

"Did you really think we were a charity organisation?" The suddenly very cold and unsympathetic general asked. "Now if you two don't mind, Maxine and I have some personal business to attend to." Billy and Grim glanced at each other while Mandy raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" She asked with growing suspicion.

"We have something you may be interested in." He answered cryptically while looking to her with a light gaze, though strangely impersonal now that the less than humanitarian manner of his philosophy was beginning to be revealed.

"I have to speak with my companions first, in private." She stated firmly, a hidden threat evident for whoever was unlucky enough to be caught spying on them. The general relented.

"Alright. Meet me outside the detention centre in fifteen minutes." He then left them there alone amongst the hallways. Mandy led them through the base towards a more secluded area in an alley outside the markets. There she paused in thought.

"I don't trust that guy." She spoke with a thoughtful scowl. "He's keeping things from us and I know it. There's too many question's left unanswered. How was it that they just so happen to mount their attack on the prison right when we were there? We still don't know anything about these people or him."

"He's constantly got that little smile on his face, but it just looks forced." Billy interjected. "He seems fake."

They both looked to Grim, noticing him standing in silence with a barely perceptible feeling of tension. Mandy gazed at him intensely. "You know something that we don't know."

The heavy set man sighed. "When I first found the resistance I knew that they weren't going to mount an attack like that just to save two children. I needed something of value to them, something that would make it worth their while. So I gave them you. I told them about our powers and that we would be very useful in their campaign. I told them that we would help them in their operations if they broke you out, they agreed."

"You sold us out." Mandy spoke in shock.

"It was my only choice. There was nothing else I could do that would have gotten you out."

"But then why are they trying so hard to get us on side?" Billy asked.

"Mac wants complete control over the organisation. He won't want any kind of dissent to threaten that. He wants us to obey voluntarily so we'll be that much more effective for him and his own goals." Mandy summed up.

"We won't be with these people for much longer though. Whatever way they do things doesn't matter to us." Grim replied reassuringly. Billy and Mandy relaxed at that, as soon as they had what they were looking for they were out of here.

Content with their new found understanding Mandy began on her way back, Billy and Grim leaving her to go back towards the bar for more food and drink. Mandy made her way through the network of tunnels gradually making her way back to where they'd spoken with the leader, then delving deeper into a more secluded section of the base. After a few minutes searching she found Mac standing at the entrance to a long hallway flanked by two armed guards. He looked impersonally down towards his unknown enemy as she gazed up at him with an equally flat stare. "Follow me."

Mac led the girl through the entrance down into a previously unknown, restricted area. "On the way out of the prison we came across someone you may be interested in, something that may make you think twice before you turn down fully joining us in our struggle." She listened intently as he explained. "We captured the officer in charge of that hellhole. He's currently imprisoned here."

Mandy's heart skipped a beat as she began to brew over the thought of who this man was. 'Could it be the one who tortured me? Surely there were other officers in that place. Maybe it's someone else.' She found herself growing anxious as the general led her past one after another of the cold steel doors lining the dank corridor they had entered into.

'And what if it is? What am I supposed to do with him?'

Finally they stopped before the door at the end of the corridor on the right hand side. Mac looked sternly upon the door as he grasped the circular handle, twisting it around, before the door swung open.

"You..." Mandy spoke almost in a trance as she gazed upon the bound man sitting on his knees in the cell. The very man who had sneered at her as she screamed in pain just days ago.

He looked up at her with terror in his eyes. He struggled against the cuffs that held his hands and feet secure together behind his back. He was rough in appearance, and with his black leather greatcoat gone he appeared very spindly and feeble. Mandy simply stood in the doorway, gazing down at the man as memories of his face rose in her mind, memories tainted by so much searing pain and hours of screaming. She felt sick inside at the sight of him and all the bureaucratic corruption and lies he stood for, and the fact he had been the one to inflict such agony upon her suddenly felt like the greatest insult of her life.

Deep within her an incredible surge of rage welled up as she stepped through the doorway, Mac closing it behind them. He cowered in fear as she loomed over him, gazing up in terror as her face darkened with an unholy wrath.

Mac reached around to his side, procuring the pistol Grim had bought to him from the girl's bag on his request. He handed the weighty 1911 to Mandy. "Do what you will." The officer's face once again shook with fear and panic as Mandy reached out and took the weapon, drawing back the slide, and letting it snap forward with a loud…

"Click!"

"NO! OH PLEASE GOD NO! Have mercy, please! Please don't! Don't! O-ho no!" Mandy ignore his wails and begging for forgiveness as she levelled the gun at his head. The once conceited and arrogant officer closed his eyes, whimpering in terror as he awaited the bullet that would destroy his brain before he could realise it. The sight bought a feeling of satisfaction to the heartless girl, until his bottom lip started shaking, tears running out his eyes down his pitiful, wretched face.

"No please, d-don't kill me, please no don't kill me please…" He whimpered while trying to curl up at her feet and make himself as small and as pathetic as possible. In all the shallow and depraved and spineless things he had done in his life, this, shedding all veils of human dignity and decency in a desperate attempt to cling to his wretched life, took the cake.

Mandy, though cold-hearted, merciless and vengeful as she was, the satisfaction at having broken him down to such a shameful level of worthlessness soon fell away, replaced by a sense of complete and utter contempt and ultimately deep disgust. What she saw now bought no dark satisfaction to her at all. She simply could not withstand the derision she felt of seeing this nauseating excuse of a human being snivelling and grovelling at her feet, shaking her head in absolute dismay. 'Ugh. I swore I would never be arrogant again after the MND, I swore I would never make decisions based on ego, but even I'm too good for this.'

She lowered the gun, seeing the man slowly look up and his terror slowly subside.

"Worthless scum like you are beneath me." She spoke with venomous scorn driven by the pit of revulsion in her stomach. "You're not even worthy of my time."

Without a word she deposited the weapon behind the back of her jeans and turned to leave the cell. Though she couldn't see the officer, she knew he was looking at her back gasping for breath in shocked relief.

And though she had her back turned to the officer, she could still feel his face curve into a vile, mocking grin.

"Heheheh…"

Mandy's eyes grew wide, and her fury returning in a wave so powerful the other two occupants of the room felt it. She held out her hand and summoned Judgement. Whirling back towards the vile man and bringing all her strength to bear she swung it.

A blood curdling roar of hateful demonic energy echoed throughout the base, as her weapon did what it was created to do.

The general recovered from the sudden shockwave of terrifying primal power to look down upon the man below. Mandy's scythe hadn't even touched him; she had swung it through the air in front of him. "You missed."

Mandy didn't move. Her face was set in a mask of cold detachment, single-minded and merciless in her purpose of carrying out her revenge. Mac's gaze wondered from her to the man in front of her, and realised exactly what she had done. His face was twisted and gnarled as if to scream in the worst agony imaginable. His eyes had curled up in their sockets, a thin stream of blood running down from behind each eye. He was set that way without movement, dead.

Mandy returned her scythe to her side, willing it back to the netherworld before she turned and walked away. Exiting out through the long corridor into the base her face remained in the scowl she had cultivated and grown for years, only now it was complete.

Mandy had killed someone in cold-blood, had sent their soul to the depths of hell as eternal punishment for their crimes, and felt neither guilt, nor pity, nor remorse. As she made her way back the crowd parted ways in front of her, warded off by the feeling of absolute darkness and terrifying malevolence that radiated from the green tank top clad girl.

She had taken a life. Today she had become one with the darkness.


As the mass of people froze at the feel of the malevolent entity, turning to stare at the girl as she passed them by, off to the side a boy in a worn black jacket with his back turned remained unaffected. Once he had sensed she had passed he turned his head around to look at her retreating form, the general following shortly after.

'She's different now. She feels powerful, like some part of her's complete.' He thought of the waves of malevolence that rolled off in her wake. He hadn't felt anything like it ever before, the closest being on the day she had explained the reason for her vengeful ways to him, the day he had changed.

Looking to the hallway they had emerged from Billy quickly made his way through the now quiet crowd, slipping quickly down into the corridor without anyone noticing or the guards nearby saying anything. At the end of the row of doors one remained open. Working his way quickly down to it he peered into the cell.

Billy immediately gaped in stunned silence at the body of the man, the blood draining from behind his eyes. 'He was the guy I knocked out when we left. He also looks just like the guy we met in the street.' Leaning in he touched the body with his boot, causing it to keel over onto its side, causing blood to leak out of his nose, mouth and ears in thin rivers onto the floor. His brain worked, quickly coming to a conclusion. 'He was the one who tortured Mandy.'

Seeing now that his face was still twisted in an endless scream, his shocked features changed as a new sensation took over. A cruel smile pulled upwards on his lips, moving onward to form a ferrel, sadistic grin.

"Heh heh heh heh… AHAHAHAHAAHAAA!"

Moments later, as Billy followed after his friend in heading back to their rooms, the crowd froze once more as a second pulse of ominous intent flashed throughout their midst, only this time it was savage, murderous, a barely restrained frenzy of killing fury. Turning to where they thought it had originated they found only a young boy walking down the busy hallway, smiling quietly to himself.

An instant later, as quickly as it had begun, the horrifying demonic presence was already gone.


Late afternoon.

Following a call for the entire base's population to assemble, Grim, Billy and Mandy had gathered at the front of the auditorium chamber. They stood off to the side of the stage as General Mac addressed several thousand troops gathered below and in the grandstands, while the rest of the commanders stood around the trio. Mandy stood watching cynically with her arms crossed in front of her, Billy watching next to her. She looked to him as he stepped a little closer, and could see the tension in his eyes. Against her better judgement she herself moved just a little closer as well until their arms were touching. Though she didn't want to admit it she was nervous. As had happened too many times since they'd left Endsville nearly two months ago, once again the gravity of the situation reminded them both of just how young they really were. The general was currently explaining the exact contours of their mission, which was to take place in exactly twenty four hours time.

"Groups A, B, C and D will make a rapid attack from the north-east to the south-east, beginning at 19:00 hours." He indicated with a laser pointer towards a large map of the city hanging above the stage directly behind him. On it was marked the positions each group would take, and the direction they would attack in, spreading throughout the city.

You are to take as much area as possible before the tanks and gunships arrive. Once they arrive you are to concentrate on destroying them. Let the liberated masses continue ahead to take more ground. Group A and D will skirt around the outside to the north and south respectively, whilst groups B and C will spearhead through the middle. This is why groups B and C comprise the bulk of our forces as you are expected to sustain the heaviest opposition." The mass of fighters listened in silence.

Mac took a moment to glance across to the trio watching from the sidelines. "I have already explained this to you previously. What I haven't explained to you is the plan of another squad attacking the fortress itself has now been re-established." Though no murmur could be heard they all saw the crowd sit up expectantly. Mac gestured with his hand towards the three fighters off to the side. "Some of you would be familiar with our friends Grim, Bil…"

"BILLY WOOOOO!" He waited out the chorus of cheers that emanated from the crowd. Their self-control was only voluntary, and they were expected to act out here and there. In time he intended to change that, but for now he simply let them cheer to their hearts content until the room fell silent again.

"… and Maxine. These three have the power of the underworld at their disposal. They are our trump card in this entire operation. They will be leading Group E from the west. After being dropped off at the foot of the mountains you will advance up and storm the fortress while the guards are tied up in the city below. We will bomb the exterior leading up to your attack. Our bombers will knock out the cannon turrets and open up entrance points in the square perimeter wall. You are to begin your attack at 22:00 hours, when most of the city would have been taken. Any guards around the facility should have by that time gone to fight the bulk of the forces in the city, so once you're through the walls you should face only minimal resistance. You are to advance up through the structure until you find the Empress. Billy, Grim and Maxine are the ones who will take care of her. The rest are to wait a safe distance away in the lower levels of the structure."

Mac paused and took a deep breath, looking across the sea of faces gathered before him. His next words were spoken with quiet but genuine emotion, the full impact of what was taking place playing on him despite his loose moral disposition. "My comrades, I want to tell you all now, that it has been an honour fighting beside you in our struggle. I want you all to take a good look at this place, because once we leave tomorrow evening, most of us will never be coming back. This is the end of the resistance comrades, wether we succeed or not. After this there will be either a beautiful new world order of freedom and prosperity for all to welcome us, or we will all be dead. Until then I want to congratulate you all. You have all done the people of the world proud." The crowd sat silent as he stilled his agitated nerves and wiped away some lingering tears and sweat, some of those in the crowd doing the same.

Mandy stared at him in her ever present scowl, Billy and Grim also largely indifferent to the proceedings. "I wonder how many of the people here joined out of their own free will?"

"I've been talking to people, and from what I've heard, not many." Grim responded so only they could hear. "When they say join, you join. If you say no, they shoot you in front of everyone." Billy and Mandy took the facts easily. No act of depravity by these so-called freedom fighters came as a surprise to them anymore.

Straightening up General Mac concluded the briefing. "We move out at 17:00 hours tomorrow evening. Does anyone have any questions? Are you all clear on what you have to do?" They waited in silence as the crowd sat unmoving and unspeaking.

Mac took one last look across to Grim, Billy and Mandy. "Alright. We have twenty four hours so let's get to work."


Evening.

Grim, Billy and Mandy stood in silence at the top of the dusty red hill, staring at the sunset in the distance beyond the vast lifeless desert that had destroyed every forest and place of natural beauty in this world. Below them the crowds worked feverishly to prepare for their final undertaking. The operators of the equipment that directed the troops wouldn't be sitting back in their seats staring at monitors. This time the entire base would be emptied of every living person as they all took part in the end of their struggle. Out of all this orderly mayhem the three had soon tired of the rush of people and made their way to the surface once more, leaving the perimeters of the base to climb the hill it was built into, simply to take a moment out to gaze out over what remained of the bleak world around them. From there they stood in silence together and watched as the sun set over the ruined horizon.

Here, away from the earth's sole remaining city, the sky was not darkened with pollution, but the effects of the last thousand years had left their mark. It was blood red in colour from the combined destruction wrought by the long gone war and industry, and the low angle of the sun, the darkness slowly creeping in from the east behind them. Higher up in the depleted ozone layer a thin layer of fine clouds of dust and ice reflected the remaining sunlight from the horizon in a brilliant glow or reds and yellows in the west, and streaks of light purple overhead. To the left of the setting sun in the distance they could make out the beginning of the heavy clouds blanketing the city in the distance, the evening sun lighting it in an ethereal green.

Billy frowned slightly. "It doesn't seem right, that something so terrible could look so beautiful?"

Grim shrugged, never taking his now eyes off the distant orb of the sun. "I guess dat would depend on yer definition of beautiful." He had reverted back to his natural skeletal form, free of having to hide behind the mask of humanity now that he was alone with his masters.

Billy closed his eyes and huffed out a smirk. "Hm. What kind of screwed up people does that make us?"

Grim didn't bother answering, but let out a slight chuckle in response.

Billy looked across to see Mandy staring blankly, as if she were in a kind of brooding withdrawn trance. Grim followed his eyes, noticing Mandy seemed to be beginning to slip into one of the voids that were beginning to become a problem for her. "Mandy, after all you have seen here do you still want to rule de world?"

Mandy turned her head slowly and gave him a vacant look, all her brooding and underlying anger still present, though strangely there wasn't the same burning pyre of energy there once was. It was like she was trying to appear as threatening as she was previously, but there wasn't as much of the dark passion and drive behind it as there used to be.

"Grim, Billy, I want you both to understand now that no matter how much you may wish it, I will never abandon my ambitions, and I will never allow myself to become soft and weak. Some day I will come to dominate every living being in the world, and nothing you can say can change my mind. The entire concept of friendship, respect and love is a luxury only for the weak. I do not have that luxury. Why should I choose weakness over strength when there are seven billion people either abusing each other or being abused?" She returned her gaze to the horizon in lingering frustration, Billy and Grim following suite. It was obvious to both that whereas before when she had said such things she had meant it from the depths of her ice cold heart, now the will and dedication behind those words was clearly not as strong as previous. Without another word said they continued to gaze solemnly out into the solemn sunset.

Minutes passed, and the sun dipped further over the horizon, with the colours changing and fading as darkness came in from the other side of the ruined sky. As time crawled on Billy began to think about Mandy and him, and what the future was going to inevitably bring for them. "Mandy, what's going to happen to us?" Mandy returned her gaze to him coldly.

"What?"

"What's going to happen to us, you, me, and Grim? How do we fit into your future?" He asked growing serious.

Mandy returned her gaze to the sunset. This was the time to begin to explain it all to him. "Once I have achieved power and immortality, I will have no use for Grim. I will set him free so he can go back to the way he lived before we came along." She looked up to the reaper who had been listening in. "You hear that Grim, you'll be free to go about your life. You'll never have to see me again."

Grim nodded quietly to himself. Billy remained silent for a moment, thinking. "What about me?"

Mandy took a deep breath and let it out slowly in a deep heaving sigh. "You have served me well over the years Billy, and I thank you for your years of loyal service. But once I am in power, I will have no use for your friendship. You would have become a burden, and in the future I will have no choice but to leave you to go on alone."

Billy's eyes flickered momentarily. He continued to stare at her while she kept her eyes locked on the retreating sun. Once more it was obvious the will behind her words was failing, but he had sensed that she still fully intended what she had said. Over time he had come to suspect as much on some small level. With a soft but heavy sigh he returned his gaze to the glowing orb once more. "Okay."

"Mandy, keeping order and being respected and feared isn't the same as being accepted by someone who genuinely cares about you." Grim spoke to the girl who never shifted her gaze from the fading twilight. "Don't you get it girl? No one will love you Mandy. It's no way to live."

"I know this Grim. I'm no fool. I don't need friendship or love in my life. Such attachments will only hold me back. They will drag me down in the end. I am breaking my attachments so that I can live, free to do what is needed as I see fit. I don't need love from anyone Grim, and no one should expect it from me."

Grim regarded the girl solemnly. "So be it. Just remember Mandy, you will have to live with your choices for de rest of yer life, and that's going to be a very long, lonely life." He summoned his scythe to reapply his human covering, before they all made their way down in the fading twilight.

As Grim and Mandy led the way back, Billy watched the young woman descend the dry ground ahead of them both. In the last of the days light her outline stood out as a beacon of darkness, a shape of indomitable power and strength. As she turned back to face him the violet dusk light caught on her face, lighting her features up in an aurora of brilliance. It reflected off her deep onyx eyes as she looked back to him, and it caused his breath to stop in this throat.

"Mandy…" He spoke in a whisper.

He found himself frozen in awe as she regarded him. In one moment his thoughts became awash with the deeply held desire to run to her, to wrap his arms around her waste, and kiss her on her lips. More than anything else he simply wanted the dark winged angel he saw before him to be in his life. At that the thought of being apart from her made his heart tighten. He knew that no kind of hell could ever be worse than a life without her.

It was obvious to him now why he felt this way. He was completely in love with her. And she was going to leave him.

"I can't do this anymore."

"Billy, are you coming?" He heard her say, breaking him from his trance back to reality.

"Yeah." Without another word Billy continued on down the hill, the full moon coming out in the destroyed sky high above. As he and the others headed back he began to reconsider what he had decided on earlier. He couldn't go on keeping how he felt to himself. He had to keep her in his life, no matter how much it cost him in the end. Perhaps the time to tell her wasn't as far off as he had originally thought it to be.


Late that night.

Reaching down to a gun rack Billy took hold of one of the powerful plasma rifles the resistance had captured from the enemy. It was bulky and heavy, not ideally suited to the human body as it was designed for use by the Empress' mechanised infantry.

"Billy, seeing as you don't have a scythe of your own you might want to use that tomorrow." Grim nodded in the direction of the shiny weapon in his arms. "In fact you might want to consider keeping it for when we go back. It's more powerful than most of the other weapons we have, apart from the rocket launcher and the scythes."

Billy nodded while Mandy checked over the ones still held on the rack, all obviously too heavy for her. "Hey Grim, do you still have that trunk of weapons on you?"

Grim reached into the inside of his trench coat before he procured the tiny metal case. Placing it carefully on the ground he expanded it to its full size, allowing Mandy to move in and open it. She scanned through the mobile armoury, setting her eyes on the M4 with the red dot sight where the carry handle once sat, the weapon she had devoted her time training with. She proceeded to lift the small but powerful weapon out of its case, holding it between her small hands. After training with it almost exclusively she knew the weapon like the back of her hand. Other than her pistol and her scythe she would be using nothing else when she went into battle tomorrow evening.

Grim reached in and procured several magazines, holding out his hand for her to take them. "These are armour piercing incendiary rounds. They offer the best chance of punching through the armour those machines have on them and destroying their innards."

Mandy took the magazines, reaching in to retrieve another few clips for her pistol. She almost shook her head at her actions. Two months ago she didn't even know how to use a handgun, and still remembered timidly taking hold of it from Grim and firing her first shots. Oddly from where they were now it seemed an entire lifetime away. Now she was handling high powered military arms and powerful armour piercing rounds as if it was no different to packing her books for school. She took the rifle, her pistol and the ammunition back to her room to get them all ready for what lay ahead. Billy watched her go silently.

'I have to talk to her. Either I do it now or I'll loose her forever.' He carefully placed the futuristic weapon in the case, before he set off after the girl.

He found Mandy sitting on her bed, her room lit by her bedside lamp, checking her pistol with as much finesse as a relatively untrained girl could. After all, she was still more used to using her scythe. These were just backups, and though she had taken to using them far more than her usual weapon she had still not been shown how to strip and maintain either of them. She raised her head when she heard the door open, seeing Billy walk in with a strange sort of determination in his eyes.

"Yes?" She demanded coolly, being sure to take charge of the situation.

Billy set his eyes firmly on hers, closing the door and leaning against its surface. "Did you really mean what you said before? That you would have no more use for me, and that I would just be deadweight?" She could sense his pleading that it wasn't so, despite his mask of self-control.

She lowered her head to her weapon once more, loading each of the magazines with seven new forty-five calibre rounds. "Billy, you know I've never said anything I didn't mean. This is no different. If you want someone to follow then by all means follow me. But don't expect friendship from me in the future Billy; that is one thing I will not be able to give. Like I said, you've done well, and for that you have my eternal gratitude, but soon you will begin to hold me back. You and I both know it's inevitable, and was going to happen someday from the very beginning. And when that moment comes I will leave you behind and go on alone. You can't stop it, just accept it and move on." She spoke unfeelingly to the boy as she finished loading the last magazine, setting it down on the table beside her bed. Underneath though the sound of her words was starting to eat away at her. Billy scowled at her.

"You don't mean that Mandy. I know you don't. I know you don't really want to leave me." Billy declared. "I can see it and hear it in how you talk. I heard it earlier, you mean what you say, but you don't want it."

Mandy though simply shook her head and looked away. "Four years ago when we first met Grim you were an idiot, and nothing more than a useless naïve burden, but you were loyal, and that was all that I ever asked for. Since then you have gone from someone incapable of thought, to someone who can stand on their own two feet. You've grown up Billy, there's no denying that. And yet, despite all the growing up you've done, I see the truth, underneath you're still the same naïve idiot you always were. Even after all this time you still don't understand. I will never change from the course I have decided on Billy, and I will never allow anything to threaten that course, not even you. The bonds I have with you have weighed me down, and for some time I've been trying to break it off. That time we went to the mall together, I was about to tell you that it was over when we were attacked. But in the time we've shared together since then I've realised that just saying its over isn't going to be enough."

Mandy spelled out the facts as they had been for months. She avoided looking to him, but even then she could sense his shock and the rising heartache in his wide desperate eyes. Steeling her nerves and will she tried to remain calm as everything that had caused her so much trouble and angst was bit by bit laid bare. But instead of feeling like a weight was lifted from her shoulders, she felt her chest begin to constrict, her instincts fighting what she was doing all the way, like pulling out barbed wire. Her breathing became laboured as she started to want to just stop there. But she wasn't through yet. Forcing herself to turn towards him she set her hard gaze on him, his worried gape pleading her to stop, to say it wasn't true. Her heart constricted painfully, but against all she willed herself on to finish it.

"Billy I've decided, once this is all over, I'm not going back to Endsville with you. We will never see each other again. That way the bonds that I have to you can finally be broken, and I can continue working towards realising my plans unimpeded, and none of the decay that's occurred in this future will ever happen." Mandy finished and let out a long shaky breath as she turned away again. In a flash she realised she had finally said what her reason told her needed to be said, and she felt like she had been hit in the chest.

Billy continued to stare in silence as the sudden realisation that he was going to lose her sank in. He honestly didn't care what her reaction would be now. He had nothing to loose.

"I love you."

Billy said it at last in a soft even voice. "I love you Mandy. To be honest I've loved you for so long I'm not really sure I remember a time when I didn't. And no matter what happens I always will."

Mandy closed her eyes. For her it was the worst possible thing he could have said at the worst possible time. All of a sudden the strength of will that had kept her going straight on her path despite all the pain it had caused her gave in. She slumped her shoulders in defeat with her features to the ground. There she sat in stillness as she slowly processed what she had been told. It was strange, despite the mountain of heartache that was crushing her she found it very easy to understand what he was saying, as if she herself had an idea as to what it was he was feeling for her. How did she know what it was he was feeling? But regardless of that she had to deal with it properly.

"Billy… I don't understand. Why are you telling me this? What good could it possibly do now?"

Billy smiled and shrugged. "I don't know. Originally I was going to keep it to myself cause I didn't want to risk loosing you, that way I could at least continue to be with you as your friend, but then you said you were gonna leave me. Like you said I'm an idiot, with nothing to loose anymore. I can't lose you, not like this. And even if I do, I guess I just wanted you to know how I felt about you, before you're gone. I deserve that at least."

Mandy's face hardened into a tired grimace as she faced her best friend once more. "I don't need love Billy. Like I told Irwin, give it up. I know that what you feel for me isn't like what Irwin felt, but nonetheless, you should forget about me. Find someone else to love, someone who can return your feelings, for your sake and mine. But do not expect them from me. Love, friendship, attachment to others, these are weaknesses that I cannot afford to have. They will destroy me if I let them. So I'm putting a stop to it here. I can't keep you around anymore Billy, if I don't leave you behind as soon as this is over, then the weakness the attachment brings will ultimately lead to failure and this future, where I have become weak and my power has been lost." She explained as sternly as she could. Billy looked at her with disbelief and a strain of scandal and contempt entered him.

"That's it? You're leaving everything we have together because you're scared it'll make you weak?"

"Romance is for the weak minded."

"That's pathetic." He remarked harshly. "All these years I thought you were wiser than to believe such crap. I thought you had more strength than that. When did you decide that you were gonna let yourself be controlled by fear?"

"Then what d you want me to do?" She shot back heatedly. "You want me to just throw away everything I've lived my entire life for just so you can continue to have your relationship? You want me to stand back and watch as the entire human race eat each other alive just for you?" She turned away and bowed her head again. "There's more at stake here than your own personal feelings."

Billy's own anger faded away. As much as he had contempt for her views on relationships with other people, he had to admit that the consequences of failure were heavy. In that sense there was a genuine reason to be fearful, if not to this extent. He let out a constricted breath and began towards her as she sat on the bed facing away from him.

"Look, I understand where you're coming from. It's just… I wouldn't feel so bad about this if I knew you didn't feel the same at least some way."

"What do you know about how I feel?" She replied sombrely while turning further away from him, wrapping her hands around her elbows.

"Come on. You can't tell me that you didn't feel something all those times we shared back at the cabin." For the first time Billy smiled fondly at the memories as he moved up behind her, placing his hands softly on her shoulder as she continued to slump despondently. "Do you remember that time we were fishing, and our hands only just touched, how we both froze?" He chucked happily. "Remember when you undressed in front of me? I don't recall you ever asking me to close my eyes or turn away." He smiled softly again and moved his hands along her shoulders closer to her neck. "Do you remember when we were watching that movie, and I held you, and you held me back?"

"Billy stop." She spoke, a noticeable pain in her voice. "Please, don't do this to me. Please."

His smile faded. Saddened he let go of her shoulders. "You're a human being Mandy. You need other people in your life just like you need air. Just someone to talk to, anyone, even if it's not me." He pleaded her, but despite this she remained silent.

Billy sighed, turning and moving away from her. "Okay, so what's your plan? You just gonna move away and not see me again, and assume that in a few years time you'll just forget about the only person you had who genuinely wanted to be with you?"

"Basically that's it." She admitted.

"Mandy if you move away, you'll still know I'm out there somewhere. You'll still remember me, and I know you'll want to have me back if not for just the company. Even if you move away from me, you'll still need me Mandy. Even you can't live completely alone. If you think you can just sever your bonds and it'll all go away then you're the idiot." Billy had known what she herself knew from the beginning. Even if she did leave, that wouldn't free her. "How exactly do you suppose you're gonna get rid of the bonds you have with me when you can't even stay away from me for three days without collapsing in on yourself?

The solemn girl remained quiet as she looked back to him, her onyx eyes turning cold once more. "I will do whatever it takes. No price is too great for order." She spoke to him without emotion, a hard scowl once more upon her features. "Whatever it takes."

Billy took one last look at her, before he made his way back and opened the door to leave, having come to admit defeat. Halfway through the door he paused. As he milled over what his partner had said to him, combining it with the knowledge of her ways, he came to understand just what she had meant, even before she herself knew. 'Whatever it takes.'

He turned back to his best friend with a sad smile.

"You're gonna kill me one day aren't you?"

Mandy just continued to study the weapon in her hands as she sat on her bed, without responding in any way. She neither confirmed it nor denied it, she just continued on as if he had never said a thing. For Billy it was all the confirmation he needed on how it was to end. He smiled and nodded.

"I'll be waiting." He stepped out and closed the door behind him, leaving Mandy alone in her room once more. She looked up, trouble and uncertainty now clear in her manner.

'Kill him? Is that what I really meant? I would never do that. Surely it would never come to that. I'd never get that desperate anyway… But what if I did? What if I can't shed the bond I have with him? What if it really does come to that? No, I could never do that. I wouldn't… would I?'

Mandy sat in silence as her mind reeled over what had just transpired. Groaning she set her weapons down beside her bed, running her hand through her hair in dismay. 'Billy loves me, and I have to leave him soon. Tomorrow I have to fight my way through my own fortress and destroy what remains of my empire, and confront my future self. And what if it's like Billy says and I can't break away from him? What am I going to do?' She sat on her bed, holding the bridge of her nose. Somewhere along the line she knew that something, if not everything, had gone terribly wrong.

Her life had become filled with so much uncertainty over the past few days. Why for example did she know how Billy was feeling for her? The time not long ago when she had been in his arms watching the movie, and the time he had comforted her after her painful ordeal, had felt as if every little part of her existence was just perfect. During those times she had been nestled into his embrace there was nothing that could take away the total sense of comfort she had felt. It had felt right. But how? Why?

Such things were made clear to her now that Billy had come forth and explained it to her. 'Oh god, I'm in love with him. I've fallen in love with Billy.'

As much shock and dismay as her own realisation had bought her, to know that she had sunk so low as to fall in love with anyone herself, it was not the only issue on her mind. As much of a weakness as love and attachment were for her, what she had seen and heard, of how in this future she had sat back and let her power slip away like sand in the wind, in the back of her mind it was beginning to seem more than something a simple emotional attachment could cause. For though she knew sentiments of attachment would chain her down in the long run, the more she thought about it the more she began to wonder if such a fall from grace could really be caused by simple attachment. And as she began to plant seeds of doubt in her original hypothesis, the more she began to wonder if there was something else to blame, something worse what she had not yet noticed.

Frustrated and exhausted by her inability to quell the storm of uncertainty and doubt inside her head she slid off her boots and drew back the covers, getting into bed to try and put it out of her mind for now as she had done time and time again. All the issues she was facing would soon be bought to a head, and all her questions would be answered exactly twenty four hours from now. Turning off the bedside lamp she shut her eyes and let the cool welcoming darkness of the bare room engulf her senses, easing her troubles away.

And yet, as she lay there waiting for the storm to subside and sleep to take her, a new feeling began to make itself known in the very depths of her mind. It was a feeling she hadn't felt for some time now, welling up from some corner of her consciousness she was only vaguely aware of, a faintly ominous feeling, that somewhere there was something that shouldn't be.

Her eyes flicked open. She could sense them; invisible clouds brewing just beyond the horizon. She had only felt the subtle sense of intuition once before, during the months and weeks leading up to the day they were attacked.

Somehow Mandy knew deep within, something was very wrong. Out there beyond the endless desert something was happening.


The full moon shone its piercing blue-white light down on the vast deserted forest, lighting up the mountains, valleys and trees in its sharp, ice cold relief.

The last remaining portions of the cabin still flickered with flame in the deep blue of night. The wide clearing around the charred and broken ruins of the small hideout had become cloaked in a dense haze of ash, dust and smoke from the smouldering remains. The flickering orange light of the dwindling flames and embers barely touched the surrounding trees, before it was swallowed whole by the moonlight, while the warmth of the glowing heap barely radiated out at all in the piercing cold night air.

Somewhere in the darkness and cold beyond the end of the fire's glow a shadow stirred. Concealed in darkness and smoke the figure slowly approached the burnt out ruins of the cabin, the ghostly light of the full moon shining from behind masking the small figure in perfect shadow. The cloak it had worn previously had long since been discarded when it had left Endsville. No one would recognise it out here.

Except his prey.

The figure cast in deep shadow stepped calmly up to the flickering fire with a calm purposeful stride, as if he had all the time in the world. Approaching the glowing embers the all encompassing black silhouette around him slowly gave way, the phantom beginning to form the shape of a mere youth around twelve years old. As he made the last few calm steps, stopping before the burnt out wreckage at his black boots, the flames shone their faint orange glow out, revealing a cold, emotionless face drawn into a deathly scow, the flames reflecting off his cold onyx eyes.

Max stared down at the remains in absolute silence, the fire lighting up the face of Billy and Mandy's friend, and relentless hunter.

Below him the ashes of what was the front porch continued to burn, the flames reflected in his eyes as if to reveal to the world the inhuman creature lying just beneath the surface. From the outside he was an ordinary pre-teen youth. Underneath though, beyond the human skin he was nothing more than a living bastion of darkness, nothing less than the heartless killer spawned from the very blackest pit of hell.

Max was born completely devoid of compassion, love, or any form of care or concern for other people whatsoever, formed with the entire concept of darkness at heart. He had been created by Empress Mandy in the far future, a living weapon with which to destroy all those who threatened her society and her reign, and sent back to aid her in her original takeover as a child. She had trusted Max with this most important of tasks because he had remained loyal to her when sent out on assignment where the other four had betrayed her for their own self-interest. However she realised her mistake in doing so the moment before he had left, when he looked her in the eyes, and she could see just what it was she had created.

Max was ultimately too much like her, exceeding and surpassing her in a dangerous way. Everything she had ever wanted herself to be, perfectly stoic in her control, completely detached from normal human emotional needs, he had fully embraced and lived by. Immediately upon being freed from his mother and master he too had gone rogue, working solely for his own personal plans of power and mastery. His plan was simple, to befriend Mandy as a child, and over time grow close to her. Once he had gained her trust he would destroy the founders of the resistance, including Irwin and his family, so as not to prove a threat at any stage in the future. Then he would take his place at Mandy's side as her right hand, serving her will as she took power, eliminating each and every threat to her control. And finally, once she was in power with the world bowed beneath her feet, he would kill her, taking her place as sole ruler. He would create the perfect orderly society she had envisaged on his own, without her there to corrupt it through the weakness of her own underlying humanity.

But something had gone wrong. Though he had managed to get close to her and gain her trust through four years of fighting alongside her and pretending to be her friend, Mandy hadn't allowed him to become his second in command as he expected her to, having turned down his offer of a pact back at the Doolin Mansion. This had led to the collapse of his entire plan. Following that he had to recalculate everything, trying to figure out a backup strategy to reach his goal. He ultimately came to the conclusion that Mandy herself, with the power of the underworld and of her own scythe Judgement at her disposal, was the ultimate threat to his plans, along with her friends Grim and Billy. Even with his own abilities he knew he would not be able to compete with her for control. She was therefore his most important target, and had set out to kill them on a Friday afternoon in the parking lot of the Endsville mall.

Again he had made a mistake in his plan. The untapped power of Mandy's scythe, combined with that of Grim's scythe and Billy's cunning, had caught him off guard, forcing him to retreat. After he failed again to kill her and her friends when he waited at her house, he began relentlessly seeking any information possible on their whereabouts, and when that turned up with nothing he left Endsville to begin methodically searching the country, going over every contact he could find for both families.

As he calmly cruised across the country from state to state for months on end in search of his quarry, he began to revise his plan once more based on what he had learnt of their original encounter. Mandy's scythe was the world's most powerful weapon, he had felt its nigh on godlike power first hand. With it she had fought him off and, according to the history of his mother's takeover, had planned to use it when she took power, using it to crush her enemy's forces with one almighty wave of destruction after another. His powers were far greater than that of the Grim Reaper and his scythe, and had enough power on his own to take on entire armies. However he was by far weaker than her scythe, and knew he would not survive being attacked with it if Mandy learned how to unleash Judgement's full force.

If however he were to take possession of Mandy's scythe, combining both its and his own monumental power, he would be completely unstoppable. In an instant he would become equal to and above the gods, and in a day's time the world would be at its knees before him. So his target changed from killing Mandy, Billy and Grim, to killing them and taking the scythe.

The only problem was that for the past two months it had been completely unsuccessful in finding them, having searched each and every contact it had recovered from both families and finding nothing. Furthermore though he had managed to pick up several low level energy bursts from Grim's scythe, they were each too faint to be able to trace. Following that failure it had turned to searching back through each of their major purchases for the past few years in the hope of finding some lead there.

It did. Max had noticed in one of the documents taken from Mandy's house was that her now deceased parents had made a number of large purchases, all directed on an isolated patch of forest in a far north corner of Washington. It had followed them there, and now stared down objectively on the remains of what looked to be a large forest cabin.

He didn't move a muscle as he took in the sight. 'The fire was not lit very long ago, it is still burning. It was most likely lit only a few days ago.' He concentrated of the feeling he had picked up on months ago, of the Grim Reaper's scythe being used. 'There is a large amount of residual energy from the scythe here. The three were here for most of the last two months. They left only two or three days ago, and must have burned it down deliberately so I could not follow them. In another few days it would be difficult to tell if the cabin had been destroyed days ago or for a lot longer, and would give the appearance they were never here.'

From his spot before the smouldering ruin he stepped across the bed of flames before him, the heat doing nothing to him as he stepped into where the front room once was. His black shoes made crunching noises against the ash and debris strewn across the floor from when the roof and upper level had collapsed. He continued to scan the rubble for any evidence at all as to where they were currently. 'They must have left with the intent of not returning here. What would be the most likely reason for them to emerge from hiding?'

He gently traced his fingers across the wreckage as he moved throughout the ruin, sensing the ethereal energy left behind in the ash. He could smell the remains of the petrol they had used to burn the cabin down, giving no doubt that it had been deliberately set ablaze. He thought of their situation, living in fear of attack, trying to find out anything they could about their enemy, who they were, how to stop him, hoping he could determine their last move.

'They know it is too dangerous to attack me directly, therefore they would likely try to find any information on me so as to find a weaknesses they could exploit. The only place information on me is available is in the fortress, so for them to leave suggests they know I am from the future. In order for them to access the information they would have to travel to the future. How would they travel there?'

He stepped his way slowly through the house, thinking in silence on everything he knew on time travel. He stopped, freezing in midstep as a thought came to him. 'Mandark was the one responsible for the technology behind her machines. His design was employed in the machine used to send me here four years ago. He created a prototype long before it was ever created, before Mandy came to power. It is the most probable way they will have used. They have left here to go to Mandark, and from there have gone on to the future.'

Max remembered the address for Mandark's Chicago laboratory from Mandy's contact list off her computer. 'I will go to him, and he will lead me to them.'

Without uttering a word he turned around and walked back across the charred embers towards the clearing, to the powerful dark blue Camaro he had stolen from the woman he killed on the night of his departure. As he moved through the remains of the cabin he stepped on a small, charred and warped metal lunchbox, crushing it mercilessly into the ash beneath his feet.

This small act of uncontrolled aggression symbolised something that was taking place within Max. It was evidence of a growing change deep inside him that he had been steadily trying to suppress. Max had been created as a cold and unfeeling creature not just to ensure he would think clearly and objectively, but because of the monumental amount of power that had been stored in him. He and his creator had known of the corrupting effects of the demonic energy he had been gifted with. In order to stay uncorrupted and retain his human form he had to maintain absolute control over himself, to remain stoic and detached at all times. Were he to ever loose control of the titanic energy in his cells the effects would be a rapid degeneration into madness, and destruction and mutation of his human body.

Because of the need for complete control Max had never felt anything above a mere fleeting moment of annoyance. Even the show of great disgust and revulsion from what Billy had said about Nergal and his wife months earlier had all been staged. He hadn't felt a thing.

However lately something was beginning to change. From the beginning since his creation he had continuously feigned loyalty to his mother, in order to bide his time in search of an opportunity to take power for himself. After leaving her behind Max had been at work constantly on his task of befriending, deceiving and ultimately overthrowing Mandy since he had arrived in Endsville four years ago. Since then he had suffered setback after setback, and what should have been a relatively simple task had degraded into four years worth of wasted time and effort, all for no gain. Over the past few weeks a lingering sense of frustration had begun to develop deep within at the years of setbacks, and though he suppressed the unwanted emotions, they refused to go away.

With each and every setback the stabbing frustration grew stronger. And as the frustration grew and his control slipped, he could feel within him the deep reservoir of power growing unstable, beginning to churn and billow as he tried to calm the brewing storm.

'I'm getting tired of this.' Max thought to himself for the first time as he opened the door to the car, setting himself in the drivers seat, closed the door and starting the engine. He turned the car around in the clearing, heading back the way he had come, intent on following the road the three fugitives had taken bound for Chicago, the future, and themselves.

He was catching up.


Okay, so now that's settled, there's one thing I've been wondering for a long time, and be honest. Who saw that one coming?

I based Max's character almost entirely off my all time favourite bad guy the T1000 from Terminator 2, with a bit of Uchiha Itachi and Roy Batty thrown in for good measure. He's like a mini version of him, genetically engineered and with demonic underworld powers. In fact looking back you may be able to spot a number of scenes which I based largely on scenes out of the Terminator movies. The one just then was one of them, though I'll let you figure it out if you want.

Next time Grim, Billy and Mandy depart from the base as they head out to begin their own battle. It's going to be the final time they're able to stop for breath before the end. Also our newly unmasked cold, stoic, relentless killer and agent of darkness Max pays a visit to our mad scientist friend Mandark, and we take one last look at the regretful future Mandy before the confrontation with the dark and vengeful present one that lies ahead.

Until then tell me what you think, although unfortunately as usual I probably won't get around to responding before the next chapter goes up. Thank you for your patience.