PT1: Sorry if these chapters take longer to upload. I feel I've reached a point where I can extend the minimum word count from 1,000 to 2,000. More content for you, and better projects for me.

Voltera bounded through the halls of the Temple. She had just received word that PT was in the infirmary. She rounded a corner and crashed into a familiar face.

"Are you alright dear?" Volteer asked as she climbed to her feet. Voltera nodded.

"I have to get to the healer's den." Volteer nodded.

"I heard what happened to PT and was on my way there now." He nodded for her to follow and they took off down the hall.

XXXXX

"Everything hurts," PT moaned from the bed. His parents sat next to him as Aquaila went searching for some healing crystals.

"How are you son?" his dad asked.

"Is this what internal bleeding feels like?" His father chuckled.

"That's my boy." PT would've laughed, but it may have killed him to do so.

Five broken ribs, a pneumothorax, vertebrae T5 through T12 shattered, and a concussion, Pain said, appearing next to PT's bedside. You have seen better days, my friend. Before PT could ask, Pain answered. They can't see me. I feel I would be a lot for them to handle.

A door banged open. PT turned to see who entered.

"PT!" Voltera dashed over to his bedside. She moved to embrace him, but PT held up his hands.

"No hugs, please," he said. "My torso would feel like a bag of twigs." Voltera gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"Punctured lung, five ribs snapped, and a spine that's shaped like a question mark is what I mean." Voltera's eyes widened. "I also dinged my head, but I don't think there's any drain bamage."

"How did this happen?" a new voice asked. Volteer stepped into the room, followed by the other Guardians. PT paled.

"Him," he said. Volteer gave the human a confused look.

"Who?"

"Him. He's back, Volteer." The Guardians understood what he was getting at, and they adopted the same expression of dread.

"How?" Cyril asked.

"Armageddon," PT's dad said. The Guardians yelped as his parents emerged from the shadows.

"Who are you?" Terrador asked.

"I am Jacob Taylor," PT's father said. "We are PT's parents." The Guardians all looked at PT.

"I though you…" Volteer said. PT nodded.

"So did I." Volteer looked back at the two other humans.

"How do you know?"

"Because we've been held captive by the bastard for the past ten years." The Guardians' eyes widened at that.

Aquaila entered with some crystals clutched in her maw.

"Found them," she said, dumping the crystals onto the bed.

"Could you put them in my hand?" PT asked. "I can't lift my arms." Aquaila chuckled and obliged. As she did, PT's mother spoke up.

"I thought only dragons could absorb those crystals." PT shook his head.

"Not anymore." He crushed the crystals and his parents watched in shock as he absorbed them. He sighed in satisfaction and leapt off the bed. "Thanks, Aquaila," he said.

"Let's get that armor off of you," Aquaila said. PT unbuckled his cuirass and his gauntlets. He went from piece to piece, unlatching his armor from head to toe. His mother's hand went to her mouth when she saw his hand.

"PT," she gasped. Jacob's eyes widened.

"What happened?"

"Armageddon happened," a new voice said. All eyes turned to find Axius standing in the door.

"Armageddon did this?" Jacob asked, pointing to PT's prosthetic. Axius nodded.

"Your son saved my life." His parents looked back at PT, whose attention was occupied with Voltera.

"I'm glad you're okay, PT," the Lightning dragoness said as she rested her head on his shoulder. PT stroked her neck and nodded. He noticed his parents' gaping mouths and chuckled.

"Voltera," he said, gesturing to his parents. "These are my parents. Mom, Dad, this is Voltera." His parents said nothing. Voltera's smile began to waver. What were they thinking? Did they like her?

A grin split Jacob's face. "Well I'll be damned! My son's all grown up!" Voltera let out a sigh of relief. "Name's Jacob."

"I'm Samantha," PT's mother said. Voltera nodded and smiled.

"PT," Volteer interrupted. "You may want to let the others know that you're not dead." PT chuckled and nodded.

"Right." He put an arm over Voltera. "Let's see if we can track them down." Together, he, Axius, and Voltera left the healer's den.

Volteer turned back to PT's parents. "I would like to speak with you two."

XXXXX

Jacob looked out over the sleeping city of Warfang. It was beautiful. He hadn't seen anything like this in a decade. He turned back to Volteer and his wife, his black cloak billowing in the wind.

"What is it you wanted to talk to us about?"

"Your son." Jacob began to grow concerned.

"What about him? Is something wrong?" Volteer chuckled and shook his head.

"Quite the opposite, actually. He's proven to be the perfect match for my niece. I haven't seen her any happier than when she is with him." Jacob grinned.

"I'm glad to hear that." Volteer nodded.

"However, I believe that in his time here, he's grown." Jacob began to grow confused.

"What are you implying?"

"I understand that it has been a long time since you've seen him, but I also believe that he is not the PT you knew. Am I correct?" Jacob sighed and nodded, remembering Ms. Vance's cat.

"I haven't seen him like this," Samantha admitted. Volteer nodded. Jacob then realized what the Guardian was getting at.

"You don't want us to be too overbearing," he said. "You want us to give him some space." Volteer nodded.

"I don't mean any offense, but from what I've gathered, I think he is more than ready to go out on his own." Jacob and Samantha nodded.

"We agree," he said. Volteer's eyes widened.

"You do?" Jacob nodded.

"We haven't seen him in a while, you probably know him much better than we do."

"I do have one question, though," Samantha said. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because I feel like he is my responsibility. Ever since he and Voltera fell in love, I can't help but worry about him. He makes Voltera so happy and I wish to return the favor." Jacob placed a hand on the massive dragon's shoulder.

"Thank you, Volteer."

XXXXX

Diablo watched as Omicron planted his feet against the dummy's chest and kicked off, flipping backwards and landing with catlike grace. His gloved hand shot out and tendrils of darkness erupted from the ground underneath the dummy and wrapped around it, lifting it into the air. Omicron clenched his fist and the tendrils tightened. Omicron spun and his cape swished rather dramatically as the straw remnants of the training dummy rained down around him.

"Rather theatric don't you think?" Samara asked as he punched in the settings for the next opponent. Diablo shrugged.

"Call it what you like, but I wouldn't want to see how he fights when he doesn't use theatrics." They turned back to the ring and their jaws dropped. The maximum number of dummies one could have active at one time was seventy, and that's what the indicator said

"He's insane," Samara said. Diablo just nodded.

The dummies all rushed Omicron. Diablo expected him to just cut through them in an instant, but he didn't. He just stood there. A noise suddenly caught his ear. It was chuckling, Omicron was chuckling. The shadowy figure raised his hands and uttered one word in his distorted voice.

"Submit." Dark tendrils shot out of his body and struck the first line of dummies, embedding themselves in their chests. The dummies began to blacken.

"He's corrupting them," Samara said, shocked. Omicron pulled the tendrils back and they disappeared. The corrupted dummies, now looking like walking, solid shadows turned on their brethren.

"Kill," Omicron ordered. The dummies launched at their comrades with more ferocity than Samara and Diablo had ever seen. Omicron simply spun on his heel and left the training ring.

"Still got it," he said, satisfied.

XXXXX

Axius sat in his room again, pouring over more maps and charts.

"Still at it?" He turned to see Polaris sitting behind him. He sighed and nodded.

"We still barely have anything to go on." Polaris draped a wing over his shoulders.

"Why not relax?" Axius shook his head.

"If it were up to me, I would spend every waking moment with you, but that's not how things are. We still don't even know what Armageddon's endgame is." Polaris kissed him on the cheek.

"You sure you don't need my help?" Axius nodded.

"I don't want you getting roped into this. You could get hurt."

"Well what about you?" Axius was confused.

"What about me?"

"What if you get hurt?" Axius sighed.

"It's my job to protect this world and those I care about from evil, and if I have to give my life to save you all, then I will gladly do so." Polaris shook her head.

"It's not fair that this all fell to you. Don't you want to have your own life?" Axius smiled and put his arm over her shoulders.

"I have my life," he said. "You are my life. I have so much here. So much that I'm willing to die to keep it safe." Polaris looked sullen, an uncommon look from her. Axius began to worry that his role as Paladin Elementum was going to come between him and his lover.

"I… I understand," she said, sadly. Axius shot out of his chair and embraced her.

"If you want me to stop, then I will," he whispered. "I can put all this down and walk away if it will make you happy." Polaris shook her head.

"I can't ask you to do that." Axius nodded. He looked down into her eyes and smiled.

"You know I still love you, right?" Polaris smiled weakly and nodded.

"Of course, I do." They stood their and held each other, just enjoying each other's company.

XXXXX

"So this Armageddon character is bad news," Axos surmised as Vylor finished explaining their enemy. The Scimitar nodded. They sat in the back of the library, where no prying ears and eyes would disturb them.

"He's apparently the one who gave Malefor the power to corrupt others. He's as powerful, if not more powerful, than the Dark Master." Axos scratched under his beak.

"Do we know about his abilities?"

"Some of them," Vylor said, making a so-so gesture with his hand. "He's got some telekinetic abilities, but we don't know their extent. He's also got some form of ethereal energy that he fires from his hands. He blasted PT's arm clean off." Axos nodded.

"Any passive abilities?" Vylor thought for a moment before nodding.

"He severely wounded Cynder, but she could've easily escaped. I think he has a proximity-based ability that nullifies magical abilities."

"It's going to be hard to do any real damage in that case." Vylor shook his head.

"Maybe not." Axos cocked his head to the side.

"Go on."

"Axius was able to get a hit on him." Vylor began to pace back and forth. "There has to be a pattern. It's just a matter of finding it."

"What type of attack was it?" Axos asked.

"Axius controls a unique element, one that only he has mastery over. That attack forced him into a retreat." Axos nodded.

"So Axius' special element may work. Any other ideas?" Vylor nodded.

"PT's sword." He pointed to the weapon, which was laid on the table between them. "It caught a bolt of lightning and sent it back at the attacker." Axos nodded.

"It's the perfect weapon," he marveled, running his hand along the blade. "PT and this sword are the perfect match. PT's armor makes him immune to most magical attacks, and the Arcanite crystal in the sword's cross guard is a perfect method of counterattack." Vylor nodded.

"You think we can hurt him with his own power," he guessed. Axos nodded.

"We still don't know what his goal is from all this," the Avian said.

"True," Vylor agreed. "He may have given something away, however. The question is what did he give away."

"I know," a new voice said. They turned to see Jacob and PT, each wearing normal robes, approaching them. PT the tunic from his first day in Warfang on, and Jacob had his classic black garb. The two humans pulled up some chairs and sat down. "He's given it away more than once." He had Vylor's attention.

"How?"

"I had my speculations, but he cemented my theory when he said something to us while we were imprisoned." PT leaned forward in his seat, his interest piqued as well.

"What did he say Dad?" Jacob became serious.

"He said 'The horsemen will ride' and 'What's in a name?'" PT slapped his forehead.

"You don't mean…" Jacob frowned and nodded. "I should've guessed that from the start." Vylor and Axos were still confused.

"What does that mean?" the Scimitar asked. PT sighed.

"Where we come from, there's a book called the Bible. The Bible speaks of a one true God, also known as 'Yahweh', or 'I am.' The Bible tells of the Universe's creation, the migration of the Hebrews to the Promised Land, the feats and miracles performed by a man named Jesus of Nazareth, and what will come in the end of days."

"How does that pertain to Armageddon's endgame?" Axos asked.

"In the final days, the Bible prophesizes that four horsemen will ride across the sky: War, Plague, Famine, and Death."

"Still not following," Vylor said. PT became serious as well.

"The Bible had a name for these final days, and that name… was Armageddon."