Apocalypse: Dawn of the Dead

Alright guys, here I am, uploading on time for a change and on the verge of passing out from exhaustion in the middle of the afternoon. I'm running on three hours of sleep, and I can't go back to sleep because my dog threw up on my bed, and I am now forced to clean my blankets and bed sheets.

Stupid washing machine, making things complicated.

Oh right, my regular AN nonsense.

We're getting close to the last ten chapters of Apocalypse, which as I've said before, is a story that consists of 50 chapters, including an Epilogue since I'm a tad OCD like that. This is where I'll come at you hard with good stuff, so if you've enjoyed my work so far, get ready for the chapters leading up the finale.

Also, motivation for updating my previous chapters comes and goes, purely because I am quite lazy. I'll get going on chapter 2 and so on eventually, but I will finish reviewing and editing everything before I start on my next story.

Shoutout to those who review last chapter, which includes Knightmare Frame Razgriz, Dustchu, Trapinchh, lolperson2, tjelledge262, BobbyD (thank you for reviewing all of the chapters, you rock) a guest review known as monkeyface, a Guest reviewer, another guest, Dogsled Shepard, Killz718, Lord rage quit, MetaKnight0011, and xNewWorld, as well as a new reviewer known as eel3234. You guys are amazing, please keep reading and reviewing and sending me feedback.

Enjoy!

Chapter 38: Of Secrets and Plots

"To know that one has a secret is to know half the secret itself"- Henry Ward Beecher

Flashback

Area 51: No Man's Land

Samantha glanced back as Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey rushed out into the wilderness, fleeing from the lone complex in the charred landscape. Or what was left of it anyway. She turned her head forward, before the few charred and flaming Zombies that had survived the missiles stumbled after them.

The Teleporter inside of the small warehouse whirred and a massive surge of electricity surged throughout the area as a man slowly appeared in the device. After a moment, he had an indistinct form. Then he became solid until he took the form of a man with bright electric blue eyes.

Edward Richtofen flexed his fingers experimentally and said "So…it begins again"

Illuzio appeared beside him in a flash of light, frowning.

"Are you OK Edward?" Illuzio asked.

"I…I am fine. Better than fine…I am…confused, Illuzio. My…mind is so clear. It is as though I never touched that damned pyramid…" Richtofen muttered.

"You regained your sanity? The voices are gone!?" Illuzio said, a smile breaking out on his face.

"Yes…apparently so…Samantha's powers are mine" Richtofen said as he flexed his hand, green electricity discharging from it.

"We should meet up with the others. I took them to this time period in the hopes that my theory on time travel was correct, which it was. They're in a small safe house I made a few states away" Illuzio said with a grin.

"Let us go then, my friend. We shall begin again, and be greater than ever before!" Richtofen said with a triumphant grin. The two men vanished in a flash of light and reappeared outside of a small destroyed house in the middle of a ravaged city. The house looked to be in better condition than some of the other ones in the area. Richtofen glanced at Illuzio, who nodded, and then proceeded towards the house. Richtofen opened the door, and was immediately shoved against the wall and had a pistol jammed into his face.

"What the-!?" Yena had time to say before Richtofen kicked him away, sending him flying across the room and slamming into the wall with a snarl. Sophia and Porter looked over at Richtofen in surprise and said "Edward?"

"And Illuzio!" the jester yelled cheerfully, stepping into the room.

Richtofen ignored him and said "All proceeded as planned. I have full control over Element 115, the M.P.D., and the energies within it"

"So, what happened after you guys left Der Reise?" Porter asked.

Richtofen said that it would be a long story, and so the remaining members of Group 935 pulled up chairs and sat down, and listened to Richtofen's incredible tale. They were amazed that they could have possibly survived for so long under such impossible odds, but with Illuzio's assistance, they made it back to the Griffin Station in one piece.

Illuzio then explained how Samantha had used an Anti-Vril Generator, the one Maxis had created, to try and force Richtofen back into his body, but it backfired and allowed Richtofen to both keep his powers and regain his body. It also negated the effects the M.P.D. had on his sanity, and got rid of his schizophrenia and psychosis.

"The subjects and Samantha escaped. They are probably running to wherever the leaders of this country reside, the White House, correct?" Richtofen asked.

"White House is where the President lives. I don't think he'd be holed up there though" Yena admitted.

"Ah well. It doesn't matter I suppose" Richtofen said with a shrug.

"So, what now?" Yena growled as he slowly got to his feet.

Richtofen thought for a moment and said "I believe we should recuperate from our recent battles. We no longer have to worry about the undead threats, as I control them now. I have already ordered my undead minions to retreat into the earth and sleep"

"So, we just sit here and relax?" Porter asked.

"For now, yes. We must tread carefully from here on in. We must fade into obscurity, and into the very shadows of legend. Or rather, into the shadows of anonymity…BAH! We must vanish from society, and become known only to ourselves!" Richtofen growled angrily, annoyed at fumbling his words like that.

"English is hard" Yena snickered.

"Shut up Harvey, or do you wish to get kicked into the wall again" Richtofen asked with a grin. Sophia stifled a laugh while Illuzio and Porter chuckled at that. Yena simply shrugged and said "Whatever. If you need me, I'll be sleeping" Harvey Yena walked into a room to his left and closed the creaky door behind him.

Richtofen shook his head and walked over to a desk, pulling out a large sheet of paper from a nearby bookcase. He snatched a pen from the desk and began to draw a large diagram followed by a series of numbers.

"All of you should get some rest. The planet is recovering from Maxis's failed attempt to stop me. While the missiles did much less damage to the planet than they should have-"

"That was my doing" Illuzio chimed in.

"I figured. Excellent work as always, Illuzio" Richtofen said before continuing.

"The world will rebuild itself, over time. We must fade into obscurity, so we will not be disturbed. We have time, and we will use it to perfect Element 115 experimentation. However, I am tired from the double exchange I underwent, and I'm sure you all are weary as well"

"I could use some shut eye as well" Porter admitted. Sophia nodded in agreement.

"I'm running on fumes here, and I've exhausted my energy stores for now" Illuzio added.

"Then we rest and recuperate, and begin in the morning" Richtofen said, dismissing them. Each of them slept in a different room, while Richtofen continued to jot down on the paper a long and advanced formula.

"I am close…so close!" Richtofen growled in annoyance.

He had discovered, throughout his journey to the Moon, that Element 115 can be used to unlock great powers in ordinary humans if their will was strong, and if they survived the process. This particular ability required a great deal of calculations and planning, and he was determined to bestow this gift to one of his few remaining followers.

Richtofen closed his eyes, feeling the exhaustion setting in. Despite the massive increase in power and his newfound abilities, the transition had drained him of his energy, and he was very tired.

Richtofen began to muse as he drowsed.

Maxis was a fool, he realized...well, not realized. He knew he was a fool…

A true, true fool.

Maxis had tried again and again to foil his plans, yet in the end Richtofen not only gained control of the M.P.D, but he also had a body on top of that.

All the while Maxis was trapped in a small black gem that was lying on the floor in an abandoned space station.

"I should probably go back for the gem at some point…but for now, I'll let Maxis stew in his own misery. I may have freed Samantha's soul from the M.P.D., but she can't return to her own body now. It would be so easy for her to find a host, but that is unlikely" Richtofen murmured as he continued to tiredly write more of the long formula on the paper on the table.

"Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo are with her…they must be wondering where I am…what I am doing…the fools will be waiting for quite some time, as I don't plan on making an appearance for quite a while" Richtofen thought with a small laugh.

His thoughts turned to Samantha…

In all honesty, he really didn't hate Samantha all that much. She was just a scared little girl really. He remembered back when she had fondly called him Uncle Edward. He used to be a role model for her before Richtofen lost his mind and began to experiment on her, turning her into a perfect conduit for the energies of Element 115. When he discovered the M.P.D., he had touched it. He felt insanity and anger pour into him, as well as a myriad of voices clamoring for death and destruction. His growing resentment of Maxis turned to hate and anger, and while he now could think back and say that he had overreacted a bit, he had no regrets over how he had eliminated Maxis.

A fitting end for a fool.

He had grown to fear and resent Samantha for hunting down mercilessly after the past few weeks. Now he felt a little bad for her. How could he not? He had killed her idiot father, and of course she responded like any human would have done. The fact of the matter was that she had claimed the power that he had fought so hard to acquire, and then turned it against him. It was like a slap in the face, that Maxis, for a time, had outsmarted and bested him.

He won in the end though. So where did that leave Samantha…?

Richtofen continued to ponder until he drifted off to sleep, allowing slumber to engulf him and carry his mind to more peaceful things.

A few hours later, Sophia opened her eyes and glanced around the small room she had claimed for herself. She sat up and stretched, letting out a small yawn before getting up from her bed and slipping on her lab coat and buttoning it up.

Sophia poked her head into the room, seeing the sleeping 115 Conduit snoring softly on his chair. Richtofen seemed…peaceful. Something that she hadn't seen him be in quite some time. Sophia slowly crept into the room and walked over to what he had been working on.

"A formula to control the shadows…to manipulate blood and darkness using Element 115…interesting…" Sophia thought with a smile. The Doctor seemed to be even more of a genius than Maxis was, if he could even think of being able to control darkness itself. Sophia had always admired intellect above everything in else in people, so she was downright impressed by Richtofen's successful takeover of the M.P.D. he found that even though he was insane for most of this ordeal, he was still immensely intelligent and cunning.

Sophia looked down at the table and saw an incredibly long and difficult equation written on a small blueprint. Sophia slowly turned the paper towards her and starred at it.

"So this is the formula…I see…" Sophia whispered as she grabbed Richtofen's pen from his slack hand and began to scribble something down on the paper.

"Shadows and blood…of course…" Sophia murmured as she finally stopped her efforts, smiling at the result.

"What are you doing Sophia?"

Sophia let out a squeak and dropped the pen, looking up to see a curious Richtofen looking at her. There was no anger, no hint of insanity in his electric blue eyes. It was like he had been turned back into the thoughtful and determined young man he had been before touching the M.P.D.

"I saw that you were working on this formula…I think I figured it out for you…I'm sorry, Maxis never let me assist him in his experiments, and I was…well, I couldn't help myself Edward" Sophia said with a small smile, blushing slightly at being found out like this.

Richtofen nodded and looked down at the paper, turning it towards himself. Richtofen's eyes widened and he said in a surprised tone "You…you…"

"Yes?"

"You did it…You finished the equation for shadow manipulation...With this…it looks like I can…Sophia…" Richtofen looked up at her with a small, but sincere smile.

"Well done Sophia. I see that you're much more than a pretty face after all" Richtofen said in a soft tone as he picked up the paper and rolled it up, sticking it in his pocket. Sophia blushed at the small praise and Richtofen said "You have promise, my friend. Now, go back to sleep. I must think of how we proceed from here…there is so much to do…and we must be careful with how we proceed" Richtofen said softly.

"Of course…good night Edward" Sophia said quietly.

"Good night Sophia" Richtofen said as he examined the detailed paper intensely,

Sophia slipped away and left Richtofen to his musings. Sophia glanced back at Edward with a smile before slipping into her room and settling down in her bed.

"Perhaps teaming up with Edward…won't be so bad after all" Sophia thought as she slowly fell asleep.

Richtofen remained awake though, his thoughts racing with the possibilities.

"With the Shadow Manipulation formula complete, it is only a matter of time before it can be perfected. Each of my followers will become stronger than they could have dreamed…I myself will gain powers beyond imagination, thanks to Illuzio's magic and my newfound powers…"

"I wonder how this all began…there's something strange about all of this…something I cannot place…maybe in time, I will find my answers…until then…" Richtofen trailed off.

Richtofen looked up through the hole in the roof at the moon and said "There is much work to do…but…I think I have all the time in the world now. Samantha has gone into hiding, those fools cannot stop me now, and Maxis…well, Maxis is worse than dead"

"I have all the time in the world to perfect the process…to make us stronger, and to make this world better. To improve the human condition…I think that would be a better use of my abilities than conquering this world. I am not alone in this endeavor…not anymore"

Richtofen glanced over at the sleeping form of Sophia for a moment, visible through a crack in her door, and allowed a small smile to cross his features.

"Perhaps it is time for me to retire as well…" Richtofen said softly to himself as he walked back over to his chair and slipped off his combat boots and placed his feet on the table. He leaned his chair against the wall and propped himself up against the wall, tilting his hat downwards to cover his eyes. He slowly fell asleep, unaware that another was watching him.

"So the old corpse succeeded" Yena murmured as he stepped out of the shadows.

"It seems as though Richtofen will change the direction of the project. For the betterment of society eh?...well, we'll see how long that lasts" Yena murmured as he slunk back into his room, pondering what he had just overheard Richtofen say.

Meanwhile:

Present:

Train:

Nicholas yawned and stretched his arms before he felt a pair of lips brush up against his cheek.

"Good morning" Juliet chirped as Nicholas yawned.

"Hey you. How'd you sleep?" Nicholas mumble.

"Better than the past few days. I'm not sure about you, but it's nice not to sleep in fear that Zombies will attack you" Juliet admitted.

"I haven't slept, technically, in days. I was trapped in Zombie Alcatraz for a few hours while like, three days or so passed in your time"

"So, what happened?" Juliet asked.

"It's a long story" Nicholas said.

Juliet wrapped the blanket they had been sharing around them and snuggled close to Nicholas, smiling widely.

"I've got time" Juliet said quietly.

And so Nicholas began his tale.

He told the backgrounds of the four mobsters. Sal DeLuca, Finn O Leary, Albert Arlington, and Billy Handsome. He told of their personalities, their quirks, their criminal records. He recounted how they had been arrested and imprisoned in Alcatraz for their crimes.

And then…he told of their escape attempt.

"Weasel…I don't know what he was thinking, but he made some crazy lie up that he could escape the island in a makeshift plane of his own design…he told the others about it and enlisted their help, but…the plan fell apart"

"And then what?"

"And then things got bloody" Nicholas muttered.

"Sal, Finn, and Billy led Weasel to the roof and beat him to death with a bunch of makeshift weapons….they killed him, just because he wanted to be noticed…to be accepted, you know?"

Juliet nodded sadly, and Nicholas said "Finn, Sal, and Billy were put to death by the electric chair…and that's where things get interesting"

Juliet listened in awe of how Illuzio had been searching for scapegoats for his rage and frustration at Richtofen, and had found it in the form of four mobsters who were obviously doomed to death for their atrocities anyway. So he had stolen their souls just before they died, and transported them to an alternate reality of Alcatraz Prison, where Zombies roamed and attacked in a very twisted version of a Zombie Map.

"It's like a Mob of the Dead or something" Juliet said jokingly. Nicholas gave her a half-smile and said "Well, they tried to escape, but in the struggle against the Zombies they got killed. They then got sent to the Afterlife"

"Afterlife?"

"Not that kind…think of it as another alternate dimension, or something to that effect, where you float around as a ghost with electrical powers, and you can see things that you can't see when you're alive. They returned to their bodies, and from there they would fight for their lives, trying to build the plane that Weasel had told the so much about"

"I thought the plane never existed though. And wouldn't they have known that beforehand?" Juliet asked.

"Illuzio wipes their memories every time they all die, and they just start all over again from round one" Nicholas said.

"But, sometimes, they would survive long enough to make it to the plane, and then fly into the skies to freedom. But every time they did, a storm would blow them off course and make them crash onto the Golden Gate Bridge. They were constantly taunted with the promise of freedom, only to have it yanked away over and over again.

"Eventually they would find a recording of a guard they killed during their first time fighting the Zombies. Stanley Ferguson. He basically explains how Weasel lied to them about the plane, and that the Mobsters killed them. His message would then explain that the hell that they're in, isn't real. At that point, they would somehow end up on the Golden Gate Bridge and Sal, Finn, and Billy would kill Weasel. At that point, the cycle would continue all over again"

"How horrible" Juliet murmured, and Nicholas brought her closer to him.

Nicholas told of his conversation with Illuzio, and how he had met up with the Mobsters. He told of their treatment of him. Of how Sal was the boss in charge, Billy was the bloodthirsty killer, of how Finn was the wisecracking yet sympathetic one…and how Weasel was just a victim being tortured again and again.

"Weasel was the only one who knew what was going on. Illuzio had created this massive illusion that Samantha was in control of the map, all the while pulling the strings himself. He would help Weasel occasionally, but never enough to help him survive any longer than the final fight on the bridge" Nicholas explained.

"When I arrived, that changed. While I fought with them…I sensed something in them change…I don't know what, but maybe they were reminded of something when they fought with me. I even saw a softer side to Billy…" Nicholas muttered.

Nicholas explained in detail of their battles against the undead, of their trips to the Golden Gate Bridge. Of acquiring the Golden Spork and fighting Brutus, and finally…

Discovering the truth.

"Weasel fled to the bridge when we uncovered the recordings…he was scared…who wouldn't be?" Nicholas said quietly.

"What happened next?" Juliet asked, in almost a whisper.

"I managed to calm the others down. I explained things from Weasel's perspective…after that, I talked to them about the state of the world right now, with Richtofen destroying everything…having to deal with this so soon after my grandma's death…I guess they felt bad for me…I don't know…anyway, we found Weasel, just as he went into the Afterlife" Nicholas continued.

He told the Zombie fighting cheerleader how they were then teleported to Icarus, Weasel's plane, and flew to the Golden Gate Bridge for one final showdown. While the others were more than happy to kill Weasel out of rage, Nicholas out a stop to it and made them realize the error of their ways…or at least when it came to Weasel. He couldn't make them repent, but he let them see that Weasel wasn't completely at fault, and the Mobsters forgave one another.

He then explained how Illuzio arrived and sent Nicholas home, with the promise of ending the cycle once and for all and sending the Mobsters to a better place.

"I wonder where they ended up" Nicholas mused as he finished his tale.

"That was so much more exciting than what happened in New York. We just prepared for the fight and fought the Blizzard Zombie. You know the rest really" Juliet said with a grin.

"I'm still tired from dealing with that crap on Alcatraz" Nicholas admitted, and Juliet looked at the bags under his eyes worriedly.

"Come on. Let's catch up on some sleep" Juliet said, snuggling up to his side.

"I wonder what happened to them…" Nicholas muttered; glancing out of the window as the snow fell around them.

Juliet placed her hand on top of his in a comforting way and said "I'm sure they're in a better place"

Nicholas closed his eyes and Juliet did the same, and they fell asleep, allowing their weariness to fade away as sleep took hold of them both.

Meanwhile:

Joe popped open another Monster and took a sip, shivering slightly as insane amounts of sugar rushed into his system. He had been driving the train for a few hours now, and the monotony of it was getting to him. The train was pretty much going on its own, but he had to keep watching the controls and occasionally had to fix something. Iva sat in the chair next to him, sleeping peacefully with a small blanket draped over her, courtesy of Joe.

"She's cute even when she's sleeping" Joe said quietly with a smile as he turned his attention to the tracks. They were making good time. It was Noon now, and they would make it to Los Angles later that night.

Jess popped her head through the curtain hanging by the entrance of the pilot's room and said "Hey Joe. How's it going?"

Joe held a finger to his lips, and jerked his head in Iva's direction, and Jess nodded and lowered her voice.

"It's going good. If my calculations are right, we'll be in Los Angles by 10 tonight" Joe said with a grin.

"So, what're we going to do when we get there?" Jess asked.

"We regroup when we get there, hopefully Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo can come with reinforcements…whatever that is. The survivors will be there too, as well as everyone who heard our message. We figure out a plan of action, fight off the Zombies, storm the M.P.D. tower, and find Richtofen. We kill him, and I go back to playing Halo and worrying about us being ready for MPA and our football team's terrible win/loss ratio"

"You think things will ever be back to normal?" Jess asked.

Joe sighed and after a moment of silence, said "No…things will never be the same Jess…"

"Yeah…poor Liam…" Jess said quietly.

"You know, I never really got along with him. He was such an asshole to me all the time…but he was still my friend…no matter how much he pissed me off, I never wanted that to happen to him" Joe said quietly.

"How do you think Judith is coping? They were really, really close"

"She's hurting inside, for sure. But, she's a tough chick, so she'll pull through. Liam only broke up with her because he didn't want her to suffer if he died in the future…I wonder if he somehow knew he'd die…" Joe muttered.

"Fate works in weird ways" Iva mumbled as she opened one blue eye and regarded the two teens with a sleepy smile.

"Hey Iva. Sleep well?" Joe asked as Iva yawned widely.

"A bit. Thanks for a blanket by the way. I was a bit cold" Iva said gratefully, wrapping it tightly around herself and shifting into a more comfortable position in the chair. Jess noticed that it was rather cold in the pilot's room, and she noticed that the AC in this particular room was cranked up insanely high.

"I have the AC cranked up in here to keep me awake" Joe explained.

"How are you cold? Aren't you Russian?" Jess asked.

"I was raised in America. I've been to Russia only five times, so I'm not really used to cold weather" Iva said, pointedly ignoring the snow they were currently driving through.

"Wait, it's cold outside. Why do you have the AC cranked up super high if it's already cold out?" Jess asked.

"BECAUSE…if I turned the heater on, which Iva wanted to do, and shift from cold to hot would make it nice and cozy in here, which I don't want. I'll get sleepy" Joe replied

"And?" Jess prompted.

"One of the two of us has to be awake to drive the train to Los Angles. Me and Iva know just enough about trains to keep this thing going to Los Angles. We can't afford to get sidetracked, take a wrong turn, or god forbid, get derailed. We can't screw this up" Joe explained.

"That's pretty smart actually" Jess admitted.

"Thanks" Joe replied, grinning a little.

"Hey, where's Marcus?" Iva asked Jess, who flushed pink.

"Sleeping. A lot of us are catching up on sleep. You should too Joe" Jess said, a hint of concern in her voice for her friend.

"Yeah, you really should get some rest Joe" Iva said worriedly.

Joe waved off her concern with a hand and said "I'm good. You guys rest up though"

"If you want, I'll have someone else come up here and keep me company while you sleep. John's pretty smart, he'd be helpful up here I'm sure" Iva said, sounding a little concerned for Joe.

"Nah, we found this together, we ride together" Joe said cheerfully, and Iva flushed pink and buried her face in her pillow.

"Men. So stubborn" Iva growled, smiling to herself.

Meanwhile:

Train Roof:

Samantha couldn't help but smile as she watched the snow fall around her. She was cold, yes, but it was something she didn't really care about. The cold air whipped by her as the train soared through yet another city on their frantic journey to Los Angles, to stop the madman that was Edward Richtofen.

Despite how close she was getting to the teens she had befriended over the past few weeks since the outbreak, she needed a little alone time. Up until now, she had only been able to really confide in Jax, the first human to agree to be her host. Now that he was aiding the survivors, she felt that she really couldn't talk to anyone about the strange transition she was going through.

Her new powers were unsettling enough. She started out as just being able to manipulate Zombies, and then she could channel the 115 energies in her body. But ever since Porter's death, she felt that her powers were changing. And then with Jason, and then Yena, another change with each of their deaths.

She was confused…what did it mean? She knew she had absorbed their life essence, and in a sense killed them, but…was there more to what she was doing.

"Hey Sam"

Samantha smiled a little and zipped her jacket up a little more to cover her neck. Sieger sat down next to her, having no problem keeping balance on the moving train and seemingly unbothered by the freezing cold air.

"Hey Sieger…" Samantha murmured as she looked up into the sky.

"What's up?" Sieger asked.

"Thinking…everything's happening so quickly now, isn't it?"

"That's a matter of perspective really"

Samantha cocked her head and said "How so?"

"Well…" Sieger trailed off as he laid down on the roof of the train so that he was looking up at the rolling sky above him.

"You may think it's a weird transition, but to someone like me, it makes sense. You're absorbing their powers, more or less, and making them your own" Sieger said thoughtfully, apparently able to read her mind at the moment.

"OK, and…?"

"To someone like Edward Richtofen, it's another hitch in his plan, and a reminder that he's not the only one who has powers obtained through the M.P.D…you're a threat, Samantha. No matter how much he tries to brush it off, he sees you as a threat" Sieger said to her.

"He should" Samantha said in an annoyed tone.

"Hmmm…"

"So, how do you know so much?" Samantha asked for the umpteenth time.

"All in good time" Sieger replied airily.

"You're weird" Samantha muttered as she laid down on the roof of the train next to him, shivering slightly. Now the cold was getting to her. Of course it would, right when a cute guy showed up and started talking to her.

"You alright?" Sieger asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A little cold" Samantha replied. Sieger nodded and waved his hand casually, creating a wraith of flames around them, warming the air considerably around them. Samantha smiled and said "Thank you"

"No problem" Sieger said with a small smile.

"Doesn't that tire you out?" Samantha asked.

"What? Making Hellfire?" Sieger asked, and Samantha nodded.

"Not really. I've been doing it for so long its second nature to me now. Only if I use it in large quantities for extended periods of time, like last night when I fought Yena and the Blizzard Zombie" Sieger replied.

"Interesting…so what all can hellfire do?" Samantha asked.

"It has all of the properties of regular fire, though I can will it to do what I want it to. I can set this whole train on fire, but burn everyone on it but you if I wanted to" Sieger said with a grin.

"That must take a lot of control" Samantha said, sounding impressed. Sieger picked up on this and said "Well, it takes years of practice. This level of control didn't just happen overnight Sam"

"Too bad I don't have that much control over my own powers" Samantha muttered.

"Well, from what I can tell you've got pretty good grasp of your powers already, considering you've gotten most of them within the past few days" Sieger began.

"When you killed Porter, you gained his ability to generate an aura shield, hence that black and green aura that flickers around you sometimes. It makes you stronger and harder to take down, and it serves as a protective force rather than an impenetrable shield like Porter's aura did" Sieger continued, and Samantha nodded.

"Jason had the ability to manipulate the energy, not electricity, just energy, in the world around him and use it to augment his physical strength and to use it in bursts, sort of like what Richtofen can do. When you absorbed his powers, you gained increased physical strength, an all-around boost in your abilities to manipulate the 115 energies in you, and the ability to throw up barriers of pure energy"

"As for Yena, you can obviously control shadows like Yena could, and I'm sure with some practice you can shadow walk. You should probably have Yena's regenerative powers too" Sieger said.

Samantha pulled out a small knife from her boot and pricked open her finger, drawing blood. She turned her finger over and allowed a drop of blood to fall onto the roof of the train, only for it to slowly float up to her a few moments later.

"Nowhere near as effective as Yena's, but still effective nevertheless" Sieger commented.

"So, I have all of that, plus what I had already?" Samantha said to Sieger, who nodded.

"Most of that was pure guesswork and theory, but yeah, you're pretty much able to absorb the powers of other 115 C Conduits. If you killed me, you'd be able to manipulate hellfire to a degree"

"Why would I kill you though? You're my friend" Samantha said with a small laugh. Sieger gave her a grateful smile at that, and Samantha looked away, blushing a faint pink.

"Hey Sam…"

"Yeah…"

"Thanks…for you know…trusting me on this. I know you just met me, but…I'm going to help you guys stop Richtofen, no matter what" Sieger said quietly.

"I know you will Sieger" Samantha replied, a small smile on her face.

The two shared a peaceful silence on top of the train, enjoying the silence, the cold, and the company. Two humans who would probably find no others like them in the world, so they took great pleasure in each other's company, for there were no others like them in the world, that would understand their pain, their struggle, and their quest.

Save for the man they were both trying to destroy.

A Few Hours Later:

Location: Unknown

"Ah…Victor…you're back again?" a familiar yet evil voice asked.

Sieger opened his eyes, not even surprised to find himself as a small child instead of the young man he was in reality. He was in that large room with the intricate pentagram in the center, with an emaciated man kneeling in the center, wrapped in black chains and unmoving.

Sieger cocked his head in confusion and said "What…what is this?"

"A dream…nothing more, nothing less…"

"It feels so real though"

Little Sieger, do you forget who told you what you know? I told you the secrets to his madness… bah…I get so little credit in this twisted little nightmare we live in…" the man said with a disappointed sigh.

"Harvey Yena…what is going on?" Sieger asked as angrily as he could in the small weak voice that he had as a child.

"Hehehe…you all did a good job, killing me like that. I never would've suspected, or even dreamed that poisoning me would be that effective…man I wish I had seen that coming" Yena drawled. Sieger let out a yell of rage and pulled out Lux and shot at Yena, only for the bullet to bounce off of him and slam into the side of the wall.

"What's going on!? Why do I keep having these dreams Yena!?" Sieger growled.

"Fine…I'll tell you…these dreams aren't anything special really, they're your own memories of when we used to talk, mixed in with your current fears and hopes. The dreams are special though, because this is my only form of communication, now that I'm dead" Yena's voice purred.

Sieger sat down and said "So…what did you want to talk about?"

"Ah…that's why I always liked you Sieger, even if you put a bullet into my chest and killed me. You kept me company while I was imprisoned…I wanted to let you know that the key to killing Richtofen, is the staff" Yena said.

"What staff?" Sieger said.

"Not what staff, the staff. The Ultimate Staff. The one that all others try to be and fail…"

"Do you mean the Staff of Magnus?" Sieger asked.

"In another iteration, where you and me don't matter to the grand scheme of things, Ludvig Maxis and Edward Richtofen tried to replicate it, but failed miserably. In this iteration though…it exists…" Yena said cryptically.

"I see…" Sieger murmured.

"Do you?" Yena asked humorlessly.

"Where is it now?" Sieger asked.

"The question that humanity has been asking for eons. This staff does harness the elements and allow the user to control untold power, so long as they are pure of heart" Yena continued.

"Harvey, where is it?" Sieger asked again.

"Oh, it's with Illuzio. He's kept that little thing a secret for a while now" Yena replied.

Sieger and Yena sat there for a while, and after a few minutes of silence Sieger asked "What's death like, Uncle Yena?"

"Death…hmm…it's like going to sleep, if anything else…" Yena admitted after a moment of thinking about it.

"So how's hell?" Sieger asked dryly.

"Hahaha, very funny. If you must know, you little smartass, I'm floating in a pit of eternal darkness at the moment. Sort of like purgatory. It seems as though I'm not quite in Heaven or hell…it's kind of weird, really" Yena admitted.

"Just so long as you leave us alone, I don't care" Sieger muttered.

"By the way, you wouldn't have happened to see a blond haired woman with eyes like mine, have you?" Yena asked curiously.

"What did she do to piss you off?" Sieger asked.

"Nothing, just answer the question" Yena asked, now annoyed.

"No, we haven't, though from now on I'll be on the lookout for someone fitting the description" Sieger replied, earning a growl of annoyance from Yena.

"I think that's all for now…I got the information I needed, and you have some things to think about" Yena murmured as the shadows around them began to close in.

"Wait, what?" Sieger said, sounding surprised. The darkness closed in, ensnaring his feet and slowly dragging him into the ground…or rather, into the darkness.

"You've got a job to do, kid. I hate the fact that I lost to a bunch of kids, but I hate the idea of a lifeless world of nothing ruled by Richtofen even more" Yena growled.

"No! Wait!" Sieger yelled out, his body waist deep in his own shadow.

"You see kid, I was sort of the one who started this mess. Well, Illuzio too. He kind of dug his own grave too. If I ever crawl out of hell, I'll explain it to you" Yena promised with a demonic laugh.

"ENOUGH!"Hyena snarled from somewhere in the room.

"Right Hyena…well, I've enjoyed this chat, but I've got to be going. I've got a not-life of damnation to get back to. Good luck in that fight…" Yena chuckled evilly.

"Damn it! No! There's something you're not telling me! YENA!" Sieger roared as he sank into his own shadow completely, until nothing was left.

"Ah…back into the darkness I go…" Sieger heard Yena mused aloud before all white black.

Train:

Sieger started and his sunglasses fell from his face and landed on the carpeted floor. He glanced around in alarm, his breathing slowing for a moment and his nerves slowly recovering.

"A dream…it was just a dream?" Sieger murmured as he rolled over on the seat and reached his arm out to grab his glasses.

"Hello Sieger" a familiar voice said dryly from across the room.

Sieger looked up in alarm and saw John staring at him lazily from across the room, lying on a sleeping bag and looking very amused. John looked right into Sieger's eyes with a grin that looked strangely triumphant.

John starred into Sieger's eyes with his own.

"Damn it!" Sieger growled as he snatched his sunglasses up off the floor and jammed them on his face, aiming Fatum at John as he sat up. John had pulled out the Winter's Fury at Sieger as well.

"So…that's what you were hiding" John said in a deadly quiet tone.

"I swear to god…tell ANYONE…and I will kill you" Sieger growled.

"Tell me why I shouldn't" John said casually.

"Because I'm the biggest asset you've got. I know how to get in and out of the M.P.D. tower, I know Richtofen's game plan, I've got the best shot besides Samantha of killing Richtofen, and I know how all of this really started!" Sieger snapped.

"Telling them would destroy whatever trust they have in me now…I didn't have many friends growing up…so…I'm not good at this. But don't tell them...please John…I'm not going to hurt any of you…I swear it" Sieger said quietly, almost begging.

"Alright" John said simply, and he laid back on the ground and closed his eyes. Sieger blinked in surprise and said "Really?"

"Yeah. It doesn't bother me any…I always suspected it…I love it when I'm right, even when it might bite us in the ass later" John said with a laugh.

"John…I'm sorry about what Richtofen did to you…I didn't know he had captured anyone from Sam's group" Sieger said quietly.

John shivered, remembering the torture he had endured. John gave a Sieger a shaky smile and said "Hey, I got out alive, didn't I?"

Sieger nodded and said "So, what do you think of all of this?"

"What? The end of the world? The Zombies? My torture and subsequent experimentation? Or do you mean the causes of this whole mess?" John said coyly.

"You're smarter than the others…and much sharper" Sieger said warily.

John shrugged and said "A bit…Richtofen's got some serious motivation for wanting everything gone and destroyed. I overheard a bit of stuff while imprisoned…so, who's the girl I keep hearing about?"

Sieger sighed, not even bothering to ask how he knew of her, and said "She's…"

Sieger trailed off and looked away. John smirked and said "What's the problem?"

"She…is the reason, for all of your troubles in a way. She is the cause…for all of this mess"

"So, it's all her fault" John said with a small smile, knowing his prying would get some answers to this mess at last.

"No…no…it's not her fault" Sieger said quietly.

"You're dodging the question" John said sternly.

"THEN STOP ASKING QUESTIONS!" Sieger finally bellowed as John, whose eyes widened at the outburst. He could tell that whoever the girl was, it was a sore subject. Nicholas, Nick, Juliet. Andrew, and Marcus burst into the room, aiming their weapons wildly and looking for the source of the noise and the commotion.

"What the hell's going on?" Nicholas asked tiredly.

"Yeah, what's up?" Nick asked, lowering C.N.

"Some of us were trying to sleep" C.N. muttered.

"Nothing…thing at all" Sieger said as he got to his feet, stretched, and walked out, shooting John a dirty look as he walked by.

"What was that about, man?" Nicholas asked.

"We've got to find out what he knows. Before we get to LA" John said to Nicholas.

"OK…so what was that about?" Juliet asked.

"I was trying to get a rise out of him, to get some kind of information. There's this girl…she's important to Richtofen somehow…and I think to Sieger as well…they were probably friends back in Group 935" John mused aloud before shrugging, though the tone of his voice seemed curious and a little defeated.

"John, is this her?" Nicholas asked as he walked over to his backpack, pulling out the framed picture from the lab back in New York of Richtofen, Sophia, and the little girl.

"That's her" John confirmed.

"Who is she though?" Marcus asked.

"Well, Sieger's got until tonight to give us some damn answers. We can't go into this mess without knowing what happened to Richtofen to make him want to destroy everything" Andrew said darkly.

"Give him some time...he'll come around" Juliet said cheerfully.

"I hope so…come on, Joe said that he sees some Zombies up ahead. We should get ready to fight" Nicholas said to the others, who nodded and went over to the next car.

Meanwhile:

Location: Los Angles M.P.D. Tower HQ

Illuzio walked out of a bluish white portal, holding a staff in his hands. It was about four feet long and had an intricate looking design to it, laced with gold silver and black designs. A pure white speared tip of the staff seemed to glow bright white, and give off a faint glow.

He glanced down at it and said "This…this is it"

He looked up at the tower rising out of the ground next to him. It was a massive structure made of metal and other alloys, outfitted with thousands upon thousands of Soul Gems. Most of them were filled, though the life essence of a few thousand more strong souls would seal the deal. The weaker ones would fuel the M.P.D. itself.

Illuzio put the staff away and opened the front doors to the tower. He had cast the powerful illusion spell on the tower himself, and he was certain no one save the members of Group 935 could find it as long as he lived. Illuzio walked into the entryway and began to walk his way up to the top of the tower. That was where his destiny was waiting for him…where he could finally get some payback, ever since he found out all those months ago…

He was on a mission…to kill Edward Richtofen.

And so onward he walked up the stairs, to dance with the devil himself.

End of Chapter:

Richtofen vs. Illuzio.

A showdown for the ages.

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT CHAPTER!

Expect some Survivors action and some high-speed Zombie slaying next chapter, as we lead up to one of the chapters I've been looking forward to the most! Chapter 40! And the last time I looked forward to a chapter, it ended up being my favorite (and personally, I think it's my best one), chapter yet.

And by that I meant chapter 34: Reunion.

Alright guys, I hoped you enjoyed this somewhat shorter chapter. They all can't be super long, but hey, at least I got this one out on time, right?

So like always, please review in the section below. It takes literally seconds and means the world to me. It sounds a bit cheesy, but there have been times where I've had a downright horrible day, and then I see a new review telling me about how much they like the story, and it makes the day awesome.

Seriously, I never would've dreamed this story would be so popular. You all are amazing. Keep up the support, you all are the best. :D

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Until next time, FlygonN out!