Somewhere far away, a black figure felt something leave this world. He dropped to his knees as fire coursed through his veins.

"One down," Armageddon said. "Too bad. I wanted to kill Vylor in person." He approached a large metal door and the two apes guarding it snapped to attention as he approached. He decided not to kill them this time. He was in too good a mood. They stepped to the side and the hydraulic door slid open with a hiss.

"Good to see you all again," he said. His audience growled at him. "Tough crowd." He stepped towards one of the captives. "You will be pleased to know that the loss of the Scimitar of Light has crippled everyone's spirits. The next phase should be easy."

"YOU'LL NEVER WIN!" another captive yelled. Armageddon leaned down in front of him.

"Oh, but you see, I don't have to win. I have someone who can do it for me." He stepped to the side and his captives gasped. "My, what a fine reunion!" he exclaimed. One of the captives growled.

"No," another said. "It… It can't be!" The being that lurked in the dungeon's shadows emerged fully.

"I have returned," he said. "I am eternal! I… AM… MALEFOR!"

XXXXX

PT sat on his bed. Three days had passed since they had returned to Warfang and he already wanted to get back out there and raise some hell. He sat at the foot of his bed, thinking. A knock at the door jerked back to reality. He crossed the room and opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw Voltera standing there, beaming at him.

"You're back!" she shouted. She threw herself into PT's arms. The human embraced her and buried his head in her shoulder. Voltera noticed his silence and gave him a confused look.

"What's wrong?" she asked. PT pulled away and crossed his room to the balcony. Voltera followed him and gazed down at the courtyard. Dragons, cheetahs, and moles alike milled about in a state of happiness that was only known to them. Those who brought about that happiness weren't even allowed to feel it.

"Vylor… Vylor didn't make it," he said. He leaned against the balcony railing. Voltera's eyes widened.

"I… I'm so sorry," she said. PT nodded.

"That's why I haven't stopped by," he explained. "I had to help with funeral arrangements." Voltera nodded and kissed the human on the cheek.

"Were you two close?" she asked. PT sighed and shook his head.

"Not incredibly close. Still though, he was so nice." He pulled back his left sleeve, revealing his prosthesis. "He put a lot of thought into this. I may not have known him all that well, but it still hurt to hear he wasn't coming back." Voltera nodded.

"Uncle Volteer isn't taking it that well either." PT gave her a puzzled look. "He and Vylor became pretty close." PT nodded. In retrospect, Volteer and Vylor did spend a lot of time together in the library. Voltera kissed him again and turned to leave.

"It's good to see you again, Voltera," the human said as the dragoness closed the door.

XXXXX

One of the captives screamed in agony as Malefor tested his Lighting ability. His fellow prisoners watched as he was tortured. The three weird-looking ones had chains clamped around their wrists and ankles. The others were simply chained to the stone floor. They weren't allowed to know each other's names, so one of the weird ones came up with a solution. They each went by an alias. The one who was chained furthest to the left went by Sigma. He was one of the weird ones. He had a mask covering his face, but his wiry and 6-foot build easily marked him as a male. He was most likely a cheetah, considering he was a biped.

The next one was Lambda. In contrast to Sigma, she stood at maybe 5' 10", she and Sigma wore matching black robes, but her lithe form was very well defined. She had the same bipedal structure as Sigma, but still wore a cowl. Those two were pretty mysterious.

In the center was a middle-aged Lightning dragoness. Sigma had designated her Iota. She was built like any in-shape dragoness. Lithe and graceful. Her topaz scales reflected the little light of the dungeon.

Next to Iota was her mate, a male fire dragon designated Theta. He was about the size of Ignitus. His dark orange scales and black horns made him incredibly difficult to see in the dark, dank dungeon, but even he wasn't the one they had seen the least of.

On the far right was Omicron. When it is said that no one had seen him, it was true. He blended in with the pitch black that surrounded them and never talked, even when he was tortured.

Sigma screamed again as the Dark Master's electric glee pulsed through his body. Sigma was strong in his own way. He told them that it's alright to scream, but to never give away anything. When being tortured, he said to cry, scream, or bleed your way through it. And that they did, save for Omicron. Malefor and Armageddon's loud attacks were the only thing that let the others know that the prisoner was being tortured.

Malefor seemed to be through with Sigma for now. He stepped back as Armageddon entered again.

"Malefor," the being greeted. The purple dragon nodded curtly.

"Is this Gaul's annoying temp?" Sigma taunted, his deep voice echoing through the room. Armageddon slapped him across the face.

"On the contrary," he said. He turned back to Malefor. "Kneel." The prisoners' eyes widened as the purple dragon obeyed. He dropped in front of the black armored figure. Armageddon let out an amused chuckle. Suddenly, a question came to Sigma's mind.

"What do you want?" he asked. Armageddon turned to him.

"What's in a name?" he asked. Sigma gasped. Armageddon chuckled and turned. Malefor followed him out of the door. As they left, Armageddon turned. If he could, he would be grinning maliciously.

"Remember Sigma," he said. "The horsemen will ride." Sigma growled.

"YOU BASTARD!" he roared. "YOU'LL KILL US ALL!" Armageddon cackled and left.

"Oh well," he said.

XXXXX

Polaris sat on her bed in the dark, sobbing. Axius had fled that day and she hadn't seen him since. What had she done? She thought back to what could've happened as more tears streamed down her face. How could she have let him slip away like this?

"Polaris?" She whirled around to find Axius standing in the door. Her tears of misery became tears of joy. She dashed across the room and embraced him. He held her as she sobbed into his robes.

"You're okay!" she cried. Axius looked down at her and she gasped. His eyes had changed again. His white eyes had reverted back to a piercing blue.

"Y-Your eyes…" Axius sighed.

"I know," he said dejectedly. He took her paw in his hand. "I'm so sorry I snapped." Polaris brushed a paw against his cheek.

"Don't be," she said. "I'm just glad to have my Axius back."