Chapter 35

The factory was imposing, to say the least. The path Sam followed led to an abandoned loading dock. The entrance was old and rusty, and the door was completely missing. Although parts of the factory were still in use, this warehouse was long since abandoned. Even though it was daylight, Sam could barely see past the door. An impenetrable wall of darkness blocked the way.

"Well, this is delightful," Sam said with a sigh. With nothing else to do, he entered the warehouse. The light of the outside drained away, leaving an inky blackness inside. Although it was dark, Sam was able to make out rusty piles of junk. The center of the floor was taken up by an old, broken down conveyer belt with numerous mechanical arms in various states of disrepair. There were six, thick metal beams on either side of the warehouse. They were incredibly rusted, and barely looked strong enough to bear the weight of the ceiling. But what really caught Sam's attention was what lay in the back of the loading dock. A number of metal sheets were welded together in the shape of a giant throne. Sitting atop the throne was the blackest rabbit Sam had ever seen. He was like a black hole, even in the already dark room.

The Black Rabbit looked at Sam. "Messenger. Finally we meet face to face. It's a pleasure."

"I can't say I agree," Sam replied, charging a Frith Beam in each hand.

"Oh my, so violent. We've just met and already you want to fight? Tsk tsk, you humans have no manners."

"With all that you've done, you're the last one to talk about manners," Sam shot back.

The Black Rabbit chuckled darkly. "Well, I suppose I cannot disagree with that." He hopped down from his throne. The darkness in the room seemed to shift around him as he approached Sam. "What is the rush? Most things in life don't run towards death. Trust me, it's my department."

"Most things aren't confident they'll beat death." Sam's hands glowed brighter, piercing the darkness in the room, but stopping short of the Black Rabbit himself.

The Black Rabbit responded in a serious voice, all joking forgotten. "Then you are foolish. None on this plane can truly defeat me. I have been cast back into the pit too many times in the past, now I'm here to stay. Prepare yourself, Messenger."

With no further warning, he lifted a paw and sent a dark wave of energy at Sam. It struck the teen across the torso and threw him back, leaving a painful burn on his stomach but leaving his clothes unharmed. Sam's head struck the side of the conveyer belt. Before he could react, he felt an icy paw press against his throat. The Black Rabbit's dark chuckle filled Sam's ears. "Is THIS how you plan on defeating me? Pathetic." He hooked his claws on Sam's shirt and began to rise off the ground, carrying the teen with him. Thinking quickly, Sam charged his green power and punched the Black Rabbit in the stomach. He grunted and dropped Sam onto the conveyer belt.

"Oh good, there IS some fight in you." With a flick of the Black Rabbit's paw, the dilapidated machinery groaned to life. The Black Rabbit sent another wave of energy at Sam, pinning him to the belt with a dark cloud. It began to move, dragging the teen towards the rusty arms. With a grunt, Sam charged Frith Beams in his hands. A loud, tearing noise echoed through the warehouse as the cloud dispersed. Sam rolled to the side, just as a sharp arm slammed onto the belt where his head had been. In one move, the teen rolled off the conveyer belt and threw an energy ball at the Black Rabbit. He was thrown out of the air and crashed into the thrown, destroying it.

Sam landed hard on the floor. This can't go on, he thought desperately, putting a hesitant hand to his bruised throat. He's just too strong, I can't hope to take him on directly like this. There must be some other way to… A look around the warehouse gave him an idea. Hey yeah, that could work! Sam ran to hide behind one of the support pillars as the Black Rabbit burst from the pile of metal where he had landed.

"My throne!" Sam winced as the Black Rabbit's eyes began to glow red. "Messenger, you and everyone you know will die in agony!" The metal began to blacken, and rose into the air. "Now die!"

Small chunks of metal began to break off from the sheets and flew at Sam. The teen barely had time to duck behind a pillar as shards of metal embedded themselves in the ground beside him. A bit of preparation, and Sam was ready to get to the next pillar. Somehow. Readying his fire power, Sam sprang from behind the pole. The Black Rabbit unleashed another storm of shards, only to have them knocked away by a wave of fire. A stray shard burst through the flames, and embedded itself in Sam's thigh. Limping, the teen made it to the next pillar. He grimaced as he tried to get the shard out of his leg, but it was dug in too deep. It would have to stay for now.

"Well this is going wonderfully," Sam said sarcastically. Looking around the pillar, he saw he still had two others that he had to set up. They were the ones along the back wall, closest to where the Black Rabbit's throne used to be. The Black Rabbit himself floated in the air along the back wall, over what used to be his throne. Sam shook his head. The first one will be easy. Sam peeked around at the pillar closest to him. It was close enough to handle from where he was, and with a quick flick of his hand, it was done. Unfortunately, the Black Rabbit floated between Sam and the fourth pillar. It's too far to throw from here, Sam realized desperately, and there's no way I could make a run for it with this thing in my leg. I have to think of a way to get around- Sam froze as he looked around the pillar again, and the Black Rabbit was gone. "Where did he…?"

"Boo!"

Sam was suddenly struck from behind. The blow was so hard that it sent the teen flying across the warehouse. He landed with harsh cracking sound, and skidded along the floor. Sam felt a sharp pain in his side as he rolled to a stop. His breathing was labored, possibly indicating a broken rib. Looking up, Sam saw he was lying right next to the fourth pillar. Perfect! The teen worked quickly, and was just able to finish his preparations before he felt himself be lifted off the ground. In a moment, he was face to face with the Black Rabbit.

"This was moderately amusing, Messenger, but you try my patience. I am done playing with you. First, you will be mine. Then, I will use you to kill all your little friends. Sounds fun, does it not?"

Although the force of the Black Rabbit holding him up made it hard to breath, Sam managed to gasp an answer. "Actually…I like my plan…better!" He brought his arms up and blasted the Black Rabbit point blank with a two-handed Frith Beam. The beam struck him in the chest and sent him flying backwards, deeper into the warehouse. Sam landed hard on the ground. The teen shakily got to his feet and began to run towards the warehouse entrance.

*click*

Sam snapped his fingers, and the warehouse burst into flame. Unbeknownst to the Black Rabbit, Sam had been planting grenades at the bases of all the pillars in the warehouse. The pillars were severely rusted, and the explosive force was more than enough to destroy them. The frame of the warehouse held for a moment before it cracked, bringing tons of metal down onto the Black Rabbit. Sam ran as far as he could with the metal shard in his leg and his injured rib, and he hit the ground as the warehouse collapsed. He covered his head as bits and pieces of metal flew through the air. In a few moments, it was over, and Sam lifted his head. He turned, and saw the destruction that used to be the warehouse. Thousands of pounds of jagged metal lay in a dusty pile, with the Black Rabbit underneath it all.

"I…I won," Sam said in disbelief. "I really won." The teen slowly stood and stared at the destroyed warehouse. Then, he began to look around and to the sky. "But I'm…still here? I thought I would be taken away once I have finished this." No one answered his question; Darkhaven was completely silent. Sam smiled. "Well, I guess I'll go back to the down, then." He turned to leave. "I can't wait to see the looks on everyone's faces. They're going to be so-" He froze when he heard the sound of the metal behind him shifting. Sam turned and watched with growing horror as a large section of the warehouse collapsed in on itself, as it if were melting. A few moments later, a shaky, black paw appeared.

The Black Rabbit pulled himself out from the wreckage.

His body was littered with numerous, deep gashes, and his left hind leg was clearly broken. As the Black Rabbit tried to pull himself free, he lost his footing, and fell down the large hill of metal, landing hard on the ground in front of Sam.

The teen was on him in an instant. "You just don't want to die, do you?" Sam said, a yellow, glowing hand pressed against the Black Rabbit's throat. "How the hell did you live through that?"

The Black Rabbit coughed up a small amount of blood and spat it on the ground. "My plans…are not yet complete, Messenger."

"You're done," Sam replied, grasping his throat tighter. "There's no way you can win now. I doubt you can even stand up, let alone get past me. Give up."

"You think it's that easy, human? Please. Let me tell what will happen: I will take you for my own, and I will use you to kill your friends." Sam punched the Black Rabbit in the face, but he simply chuckled. "The bucks will die. All of them. The does will be kept for breeding. I need to start replacing the army that YOU killed." Two punches this time. Still no effect. "I think I'm going to hang on to that one you like, though. Glade, I think her name was? I think she would make a wonderful concubine, and-"

Sam squeezed the Black Rabbit's throat so hard, he could not speak. The teen's eyes began to glow white, and his arm quivered in anger. "You won't touch her, you evil bastard! I'll kill you before you even see her again!"

The Black Rabbit's eyes widened, and a huge smile broke across his face. "So angry. So PERFECT!" His mouth open unnaturally wide, and a thick stream of black smoke erupted from within. Before Sam could react, the cloud crashed into him and forced his jaw open. The teen felt something force its way down his throat, and then the world faded to black.

Sam's eyes flickered open slowly. The teen groan and rubbed his throbbing head. He sat up and looked around, surprised to find himself no longer in Darkhaven. Sam was somewhere he had not been in months. The last time he was here, was also the last time he had seen Prince Rainbow before he was captured by the Black Rabbit. Sam was in his mind. The teen slowly got to his feet. "Ugh, what the hell…?" He looked around, trying to find some reason for his being here. "Hello? What's going o-" Sam stopped speaking when something hard hit his head. "What in the…" The teen reached out a hand, and flinched when it came into contact with something metal. But he could not see anything. "What is this?"

"Isn't it clear, Messenger?" Sam looked around furiously, searching for the source of the voice. "I TOLD you that you would be mine."

Suddenly, the usual darkness in Sam's mind erupted into red. The teen was finally able to see what he had crashed into. It was the wall of a cage. Sam followed the glow to its source, and gasped in shock. Floating in front of Sam was a red monster. It was huge, at least twice as tall as Sam. It had the basic shape of a human, but its lower legs had two joints, ending in cloven hooves instead of feet. Its head had two pairs of horns, one pointing upwards, and the other framing its face. A pair of tattered bat wings protruded from the beast's back framing the dark creature in a black shroud. The monster had a bare chest, except for a set of chains that crossed in an x shape across its front. They were held together with a metal clasp in the shape of a skull. But the most terrifying thing about this monster was its face. The monster's mouth was filled with pointy, razor sharp teeth. Behind its eyes was a roaring blaze.

Sam pressed himself against the other side of the cage, as far away from the monster as he could get. "What…what are you?!"

The monster chuckled. Its voice was deep and booming, rattling the bars of the cage. "You don't recognize me? I'm hurt, Messenger. Although I suppose you wouldn't, now that I'm finally free from that damn rabbit."

Sam's eyes widened in realization. "You're the Black Rabbit?"

"Do not insult me. That weak willed rabbit was a puppet. But I could only get so far with him. That's why I needed to…upgrade."

"So who, or what, are you then?" Sam asked, growing slightly bolder. "And what are you doing in my head? How is this even possible?!"

The monster sighed. "You humans and your incessant need to categorize everything. Call me Ira, if you must. As to WHAT I am, well, let me just say that it was surprisingly easy to break past your mind once you lost your temper. And before you ask, yes, this IS your mind. And I'M in control." Ira turned and looked around. "Now then, let's test the controls on this thing."

Sam watched as Ira lifted his arms, and they began to glow with a black light. The air shimmered in front of him and began to brighten. Two orbs slowly appeared in the air, but both were dark. "Hmm, still unconscious. Get up you fool." Sam's head began to ache as the orbs slowly filled with light. The pictures began to get more detailed, revealing a pair of human hands pressed to the ground. Ira smiled a cruel smile. "Good, the hard part is over. On your feet."

The hands pushed themselves away from the ground, and it faded away as their owner stood. Sam saw the vision waver as the person stumbled momentarily, but quickly stabilized. He quickly realized what he was watching: it was a picture of what his eyes were seeing. The teen's suspicions were confirmed as the eyes looked down at his body. There were his cloths, tattered and torn. His body was moving on its own. He glanced at Ira, who was staring at the picture intensely. Well, not entirely on its own. Sam could not stand to watch any longer. "What are you doing? Leave my body alone!" The teen cried out in pain as a wave of electricity spread through the cage.

"Watch your tone, boy. Do not forget who is in charge here." Ira smirked. "This body is mine now. And it is perfect! You have such power." Sam watched as a green, spiked sword appeared in one hand, and a ball of fire in the other. "Oh yes, this will do nicely. Now to test what this body can do. With me in control, we should be able to make it back to your little hill in a fraction of the time it took you to get here. Your friends will be so surprised."

"No…" Sam said weakly, still trying to recover from his shock. "You can't! You…" Sam trailed off, despair quickly filling him. "Oh no…"

Ira's cruel laughter filled Sam's mind. "Oh this is just too perfect. If I did not know better, I would almost think Frith was on MY side."

Tears were already forming in Sam's eyes. "God damn it, I told you to stay away!"

Through Sam's eyes, the pair watched the Watership Down rabbits approach, Hazel in the lead.

Hazel walked slowly through the odd surroundings. The path they walked on was lined with dead hrududil, most with their feet missing. Alice's path had ended at the entrance to this strange place. Despite the reassurances of Spartina, who they had run into just as she and Glade were leaving Darkhaven, Bigwig and a few of the owsla members had gone on an infiltration mission into the "warren." But they had quickly returned when they had not found any rabbits, either on sentry or patrol. After the owsla had returned, Hazel led the way into Darkhaven, with the rest of the warren following behind.

The chief sighed as the thought struck him again. Once the warren had woken from the sleep Sam had put them under, everyone insisted on going after the teen. Everyone. Primrose, Clover, and even the Junior Owsla had come, although they were commanded firmly to stay in the back of the group. Hazel led the group slowly, checking every corner carefully before continuing on. Spartina had advised Hazel to head for the warehouse, and that is where he had been going. His excess caution had started when their destination suddenly collapsed to the ground with an echoing crash.

Luckily, they did not have to look very hard. When Hazel rounded the corner leading to the warehouse, he saw Sam standing there, a sword in his hand. Although the chief could not remember Sam ever having a sword before, he was too happy to see his friend to worry about such a minor detail. "Sam!" he called running closer to the teen. "Thank Frith you're alright!" His happiness quickly faded to anger. "I can't believe you tried to leave us behind! We told you not to try and do this on your own, who knows what you could have happened. Did you ever think about…Sam? Are you listening to me?"

The teen was staring through the chief as though he was not there. A slow, insane smile began to spread over his face. Suddenly, he threw the fireball to the ground in front of Hazel, pelting the rabbit with rocks and sparks.

"Sam!" Hazel proclaimed, horrified, "what are you doing?!"

Sam simply looked at him. "Die."

"Hazel!" Sam yelled in alarm as he watched himself throw a fireball at his friend. Luckily it missed the chief, but not by much. He begged Ira. "Please, don't hurt them! Do whatever you want to me, but just leave them alone!"

"By siding with you against me, these rabbits have sealed their fate. Now shut up, I have work to do."

"Hazel-rah!" Bigwig yelled. The captain ran next to Hazel and pushed him back. "What's going on?" he asked, keeping a careful eye on Sam. "Why did he attack you?"

"I don't know!" Hazel replied in shock.

Just then, Pipkin ran ahead of the pair. "Sam, what are you doing? What's wrong?" The teen's eyes flicked to the little buck. He quickly charged a green energy and threw it at Pipkin. The rabbit froze as the ball came closer, only to be blocked as something large threw itself between Pipkin and the ball.

Hazel watched the ball crash into Bigwig, who had dove in the way to protect Pipkin. It hit him hard, and flung him back into the smaller buck. The pair flew and fell in a pile, breathing raggedly. Hazel turned to glare at Sam, who was staring back at him with no emotion on his face. "Owsla! Subdue him! We need to try and pin him down so we can see what is wrong with him." Hazel stepped forward, flanked quickly by Campion, Hawkbit, Dandelion, Holly, and Strawberry. Glade was not strong enough to fight yet, and Spartina stayed back as a last line of defense for the other does. Hazel was about to call the charge when he felt three small shapes wriggle into line next to him. Looking, the chief saw Blackavar, Snowdrop, and Gillia. Hazel growled in frustration. "I didn't mean you three."

"But Parli, we want to help Uncle Sam," Blackavar replied.

"He's so strong," Gillia continued. "You're going to need as much help as you can get."

"We want to help, Parli, please," Snowdrop said.

Hazel sighed and risked a glance back at Primrose. She looked terrified and very worried for her kittens, but she made no move to stop them. As much as it pained him to see his children in danger, he knew they were right. "Fine," Hazel relented. "Just be careful. Stay behind the rest of us, and do not try to fight him alone." They nodded, and dropped into untrained fighting stances alongside the owsla. "Everyone be careful. You all know how powerful Sam is. Watch each other's backs. Charge!" At his words, the owsla ran towards Sam as one.

The teen yawned. In one fluid motion, he stabbed his sword in the ground. A large pulse of red ran down the inside of the blade, similar to how Sam killed Alice. Suddenly, the ground erupted beneath the owsla's feet, throwing them all high in the air. As they landed, cries of pain were heard throughout the battlefield. Dandelion, Strawberry, and Gillia all sported broken legs from landing badly, and Holly, Snowdrop, Blackavar, and Hawkbit were unconscious. Campion shakily got to his feet, being the only one left to fight. With a savage yell, the rabbit launched himself at Sam. Campion was almost on top of the teen, when he held out a glowing green hand. When the hand hit Campion's chest, a sickening crack was heard, and he collapsed, struggling to breathe.

"That was it?" the teen asked. "Pathetic. Fine then. I will kill the bucks, then on to the does." Sam lifted his sword and prepared to stab Campion in the chest, when he heard more rabbits running at him. Sam looked up to see Blackberry charging at him with anger in her eyes, followed closely by Spartina, Primrose, and even Clover. He chuckled and pointed his finger at the group. A burst of black and green lightning sprang forth, arcing between the does and dropping them immediately. Sam was about to turn his attention back to Campion, when he noticed Glade, Fiver, and Silverweed standing further back. They were in no hurry to attack, but neither did they try to escape. Sam smirked. "Or maybe I should go for the REAL prize first." Leaving Campion and the others behind, Sam walked slowly towards the three. Fiver tried tackling him when he got close, but a swift backhand sent the mystic sprawling on the ground. Silverweed reached for his powers to try and break into Sam's mind, but he was still too weak. The teen punched him in the shoulder, knocking him out of the way with a cracking noise.

Glade was alone.

Sam sat on the cage floor, openly sobbing as he watched the Black Rabbit cut down his friends. His heart froze when he watched Silverweed get knocked away, leaving Glade undefended. The doe was barely strong enough to stand; there was no way she would be able to fight against him. "No," Sam said desperately as he watched his hands move towards her. He pushed at the cage with all his might.

The bars trembled.

Ira commanded Sam's hands to grab Glade by the throat and lift her into the air. She whined in pain.

The bars began to give.

Holding Glade in one hand, Ira prepared the sword with the other, lining the tip of the blade up with Glade's heart.

The bars bent.

Glade looked down at the sword with fear. She gave a weak cough and spoke. "Sam…help me…please…"

The bars shattered.

Just as Ira was about to stab Glade through the heart and capture her as his servant, he felt his grip on Sam's body slip away. The doe fell to the ground and the sword disappeared. Ira turned to check his prisoner, and caught a Frith Beam directly in the face.

He screamed in pain. "How!? How is this possible?!"

Sam faced the monster calmly, his eyes glowing white. "Nobody hurts my friends. Now. Get. Out. Of. My. Body!" Sam pushed his powers harder than he ever had before, and the dark red color that inhabited his mind turned pure white. Sam had to cover his eyes against the brightness.

When his eyes opened again, he was lying on the ground. He woke just in time to see the tail end of a dark cloud escape from his mouth. It was large, and dark as the night with red flashes of lightning contained within. The cloud lingered in the air, having no other body to inhabit. Sam could practically feel the rage emanating from it.

"Damn you, Messenger!" Ira's voice shouted. "How you do you pitiful humans ALWAYS manage to defeat me?!"

"We're a pretty stubborn bunch," Sam replied angrily, getting to his feet slowly. He pointed his hands at Ira, and they began to glow. "For what you did to my friends, to all these rabbits, you don't deserve to live. Ending you will be my pleasure."

"You…you cannot kill me," Ira said, this time with a bit of fear tingeing his voice. "I am above you. I am GREATER than you! YOU CANNOT KILL ME!"

Sam smiled cruelly. "Well I'm sure as hell going to try." With a feral scream, Sam pumped every last bit of energy he had into one last Frith Beam. But instead of coming out yellow, the beam held every possible color imaginable. It was a rainbow beam. The beam struck Ira in the middle, and with an unearthly shriek, the cloud burned up, ending the monster's life.

Sam's hands fell, and he hit the ground.