~ Chapter Seventeen ~

Drastic Measures

Kubritz whirled around.

Walter had joined the fight, dressed in nothing but the dark brown shorts he used to wear, his glowing eyes were full of fury and rage, and he had fists full of knives at the ready. Before the Colonel could do anything, Walter wrapped her neck tightly in a headlock and pressed the sharp blades to her neck.

Kubritz yelped out in shock and began to fight against him, but she didn't let go of Barbara's neck.

Roaring, Walter peeled Kubritz's hands from Barbara, freeing her from her chokehold, then threw the Colonel over his head and across the room. Kubritz screamed, and she slammed against the staircase wall headfirst.

Barbara collapsed to the ground, gasping in the air, coughing, and felt dazed. No amount of air she breathed in seemed to be doing anything; she felt weak and nauseous. Walter was instantly on the ground in front of her, reaching for her.

"Barbara! Are you-?"

"Get the baby," Barbara cut in hoarsely, leaning over on all fours, still coughing and gasping for air. "Walt, grab him! Don't worry about me. Kubritz isn't after me. She is after you and our son!"

Walter's eyes widened for a millisecond at her words, but if he was shocked at her calling Walter Jr. their son, he didn't let it phase him. If anything, it made his rage more clear. Within an instant, he whirled around to face Kubritz, who was crawling towards the screaming baby.

"NO!" Barbara screamed, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Walter, STOP HER!"

Walter snarled viciously, jumped across the scattered coffee table, books, and spilled planters, and threw knives at Kubriz before she could touch the baby.

The knives hit her sleeve precisely and nailed her uniform to the staircase wall. Kubritz cried out in shock and went to yank her arm free from the wall when Walter threw more knives, nailing her other arm and then legs to the wall. Kubritz roared, trying to pull herself free, but she couldn't get enough traction to move, and Walter slowly approached her like a hunter would its victim.

The Colonel stopped trying to free herself when he suddenly chucked another knife at her, purposely missing her face by inches. Kubritz yelped out in surprise and gaped at him.

"I… you… you could have KILLED ME!"

"If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead," Walter growled, tossing the knives in the air some more before catching them quickly in his hand. With her contained, he bent down and scooped a screaming Walter Jr. into his arms before facing Kubritz again with a deadly glare. Walter Jr. clutched at Walter's stone chest and began to calm down instantly.

"Why don't you just kill me, monster?" Kubritz snarled. "Why are you holding back? Isn't that in your nature?"

"I am not a monster anymore, though the idea has crossed my mind," Walter growled at her. "You have entered my home unwarranted, assaulted the woman I love, and have mistreated my child. For that, I really should kill you."

"So, do it," Kubritz challenged, but Walter bore his sharp teeth menacingly at her.

"Don't tempt me."

Just then, the door to the basement opened, and NotEnrique and Aaarrrgggghhh ran over to them, both their eyes wide as they took the scene in.

"Oi! What is goin' on?" NotEnrique began.

"Take Walter Jr. upstairs and tend to the other children," Walter instantly ordered, handing his wailing Familiar to NotEnrique, who took him without question. Walter then turned to Aaarrrggghhh. "Bring Barbara upstairs with you. Take care of her until I have returned. I have unfinished business with this woman."

NotEnrique and Aaarrrgggghhhh nodded, their faces grave, but they crossed the room and sat next to Barbara, who was leaning against the wall, barely conscious.

"Doc…?" NotEnrique asked quietly. "You okay?"

"I don't…" Barbara whispered, touching her throat and wincing in pain. Everything was spinning. "I don't know."

"Come on, doll." NotEnrique encouraged, patting the crying baby on his shoulders, then turned to Aaarrrggghhhh, "think you can help her out, big guy?"

"Yes," Aaarrrgggghhh replied in his deep and slow voice. "Come on, Ba-bu-rah. You'll be okay." He then gently gathered her up in his arms and took both her and Walter Jr. upstairs.

Walter watched them go and was mindful of how limp and weak Barbara was in Aaarrrggghhh's giant arms. Every moan escaping her lips from the pain made him furious. He clenched his claws into tight fists, and Kubritz smirked darkly at him.

"So, what now, Changeling?" She drawled. "If you're not going to kill me, then it seems that we are at an impasse. You want me to leave your little monster family and your lover alone, and I want all aliens and creatures of magic wiped from this planet. But, we can't all get what we want, now can we?"

"I have," Walter whispered, and she glared at him. "Now, before we get to more primitive measures, I demand to know who you are and why you are in my home!"

"I'm Colonel Kubritz, leader of the Area 49-B Army," Kubritz explained in a dark voice, "and it is my job to know all about things that aren't quite… human and either expose or destroy them."

Walter raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh?"

"Yes, and I know all about you, Troll Changelings," Kubritz said softly. "I know you take the identities of infants from all around the world and live their lives in their place. I also know that magic is embedded in the infants, which ties you all together. I want to expose that magic and have it in the Army's grasp." Kubritz's eyes flashed dangerously. "So, I'm going to make a deal with you, monster. Release me, and I promise that I'll-"

"I'm not making any deals with you," Walter suddenly snarled at her in a rough and guttural voice. He clenched the sharp knives in his hands and paced the floor in front of her. "You're on my turf now, Colonel, and therefore, you're going to abide by my rules. So, as a way of introducing myself, let me give you a quick history lesson about Changelings that you, perhaps, did not know. In the past, Changelings did not live by honor. We assassinated anyone that got in our way of victory for Gunmar, the Black, and I was the leader of them all. Now, while I have cleaned up my behavior and changed my ways, that doesn't mean I won't still make exceptions for evildoers who threaten the ones I love."

Kubritz snorted. "Love," she then tipped her head back and laughed, "you don't know the meaning of the word."

"You'd be surprised," Walter growled, and Kubritz's amusement snapped into a full-on rage.

"No, I refuse to believe that. You? With Doctor Lake? A human? No." Kubritz shook her head with a dark smirk. "You're a Troll. It's impossible to be considered each other's mates or romantic partners!"

Walter chuckled darkly and raised his eyebrow at her. "Oh, you should have seen us a few hours ago, then, Colonel. It's not as impossible as you'd think." He usually wouldn't have divulged anything about his and Barbara's intimate life, but the shock and disgust on Kubritz's face was worth it. She began breathing deeply, losing all cool, and bore her teeth at him in pure fury.

"You disgust me. Now, I'm only going to say this once, Changeling. If you want to protect your Familiars and Barbara from myself and all of Area 49-B's wrath, then turn yourself in. Come to our lab and work with us. We only wish to understand more about your kind."

Walter's smile slowly darkened. "I'm sure you do. You only want to expose our existence and have us as your lab rats, isn't that right?"

Kubritz smirked. "And what's so wrong with that? Shouldn't parents have the right to know if their newly born infants are theirs or not? Think about that baby boy you valiantly protected just now and how you would do almost anything for him? Surely, you don't think the parents of these children would feel the same way?"

"I have no doubt about that, but with our once vicious and evil leader gone, there is no use nor plans to use changelings as spies anymore," Walter argued, crossing his arms over his chest. "The Gumm-Gumm war between humans and Trolls is over. The good trolls won, and there will only be peace from here on out. My kind will no longer take any more children from their homes."

Kubritz tipped back her head and laughed a chilling laugh. Walter gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the knives in his hands. She then shook her head at him.

"Oh, honey, you're very wrong because the war I'm fighting in is far from over."

Walter scowled at her. "It most certainly is, and I'm going to make sure of that, right now." He then looked up the stairs and barked, "NotEnrique! To me!"

Kubritz continued to try and release herself from the wall and his knives as NotEnrique clambered down the stairs and approached him carefully.

"Yea, boss?"

"Go downstairs and bring me the Book of Ga-Huel from my possessions. The Colonel wants to expose the existence of the Changeling Trolls and destroy us… but I think I have a much better idea."

"The Book of… what?" Kubritz asked blankly as NotEnrique left wordlessly towards the basement. "What's that?"

"Oh, just a little something that has come into my possessions from centuries ago, and I use whenever I need to," Walter explained smoothly. "It's got everything you desire in it. It has ultimate power."

"You have a book of magic?" Kubritz asked with slight awe, and Walter nodded.

"Gumm-Gumm magic, to be exact."

"So, it's dark magic?"

Walter smiled darkly. "Yes, you could say that it is."

Just then, NotEnrique walked up from the basement, holding a large black book, and handed it to Walter. He took it and began flipping through the old, worn pages. Kubritz hissed through her teeth and tried to pull herself off the wall, failing yet again. She exhaled out in frustration.

"No matter what you do to me, I'm going to come back and destroy all that you hold dear! Mark my words, Changeling, I'm not one to trifle with."

Walter stopped at a page, quickly read through it, then glanced up at Kubritz. "Neither am I." He held up his claw.

"Wait," Kubritz begged, beginning to panic. "What… what are you going to do to me?"

"I'm going to stop you from threatening the ones I love for good."

Kubritz snarled out a stream of curse words. "Harm me, and I'll make you pay! I swear on my life, I will make you pay!"

"No, you won't," Walter whispered, "because you won't remember anything after this."

Kubritz's eyes widened, and her struggling turned aggressive, but Walter was already chanting in the Trollish language, swirling his clawed hand above his head.

"Tel'daakaan daan ghec ac ogaraan ach. Dekaan dhakhaan rhaan ghekaan duun shuukuuch, ac kaar dar't ghekaan rhaan huukhaalaal ac duul'daan." (Erase all memories intertwined with this night. Thine fate shall be mine to control, and what's mine shall be protected in whole.)

A bright green light suddenly encompassed Walter's hand, and magic suddenly began swirling around the room like smoke, surrounding her entire body.

"What are you doing?" Kubritz screamed, but Walter kept chanting in Trollish.

"Dhuugaar ach o'zaan taac ac maar, Colonel Kubritz, dhuur a duuch't dar o'zaan akogaal." (Forget all you've seen and heard, Colonel Kubritz, for a troll's wrath you've incurred.)

Kubritz's scream filled the entire room as bright green magic swept from his hands, across the room, and penetrated her mind. The smoke-like magic flowed through her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth and took over every inch of her body. After a few seconds, the magic faded, and Kubritz's eyes rolled up into her head. Her body then went limp against the knives holding her up, and she was unconscious.

Walter shut the Ga-Huel with a snap, smiling in dark triumph, as excess magic left its pages.

"What did you just do to her?" NotEnrique asked quietly, looking unsure.

"Don't you know your own first language, NotEnrique?"

"Yes, I do. But, I'm not sure if what I heard is what you did." He approached the limp Colonel and smelled her. "Did you... kill her?"

"No." Walter looked away from the Colonel and glanced at the stairs, in the general direction where Barbara and the babies were. "I have protected all that I love from her."

"How?"

"I took away her memory using an emotional anchor memory charm. She'll remember who she is and everything else before meeting us, but she won't remember everything I am emotionally attached to. That includes you, myself, Barbara, Aaarrrggghhh, and the babies."

"Whoa," NotEnrique gasped, "boss, that's some dark Gumm-Gumm magic!"

"I know," Walter whispered in a low voice, "but desperate times call for more desperately drastic measures. I wasn't going to let this woman hurt those I love and care for."

"But what about the other creatures the Colonel is searching for?" NotEnrique asked quietly. "She said that she's going to destroy anything that isn't human! Shouldn't we be lookin' out for any other creature and help 'em out?"

"Whoever or whatever she's hunting down so intensely will have to fight and face her in battle just as we had to with Gunmar, Angor Rot, and Morgana. I have no emotional attachment to them, so, unfortunately, I cannot help them." Walter handed him back the Book of Ga-Huel and turned away. "I've taken the Colonel off our path completely and made her forget that she's met Barbara at all." He glared at the unconscious Colonel now. "Without any knowledge of her or us, we'll be safe from Area 49-B, for now. I hope."

Walking swiftly through the dark forests of Arcadia towards the ominous Area 49-B headquarters, Walter drug an unconscious Colonel Kubritz's body across the gravelly paths by her leg, not caring to be gentle or kind with her. He had carried and flown the unconscious Colonel fifty miles outside of town, landed in front of the front doors, and wanted nothing more to do with her.

Upon seeing him approach, two outside guards paused from chatting casually with each other, gasped out in horror, and raised their guns to him.

Snarling, he stayed a reasonable distance back and threw Colonel Kubritz's limp body the remainder of the way to them. The soldiers stared at Walter, with mouths dropped agape, then looked to their unconscious leader.

"Holy!" One soldier gasped out. "What is… who are…?"

"I'm no one you want to mess with," Walter growled out. "Now, take your leader back and leave me be. Whatever mischievous and villainous plans you have for Arcadia, I want nothing to do with them."

Spreading his long, bat-like wings, he went to take off in flight before they could attack or say anything more when the doors to the base suddenly opened. Walter expected more military personnel to make a standoff with him, but instead, an enormous glowing figure strolled towards him.

Now, it was Walter's turn to stare with his jaw open in shock.

The male was dressed in a type of military outfit, had blue skin, which seemed to glow like a nightlight. He had four eyes on his crest-like face and fangs for teeth. Whoever or whatever this being was not human but was the alien-like creatures he's heard crazed humans raving about through the passing weeks.

They were real.

Behind the giant alien, four black metal robots, with red light for eyes, walked out behind him and were ominously watching him, waiting for their orders to strike him down.

Walter instantly reached for knives and unsheathed them in between his fingers, but the male laughed in a sinisterly low voice and held up a hand to stop him. "Oh, please, Changeling, put those away. They are not necessary. I have no quarrel with your kind."

Walter froze. The alien knew what he was?

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is General Morando," the alien answered, "I'm not from around here."

Walter still did not release his hands from the knives. "If you're not from here, then why are you at this military base?"

"Let's just say, I have some enemies, who have come to this planet that I have to eradicate," Morando said smoothly, "and this human military has joined forces with me to make that happen."

Walter relaxed a bit but still kept his knives in place in between his fingers. He raised his eyebrow at him. "You've joined forces with Colonel Kubritz?"

General Morando chuckled darkly, glanced down at the unconscious woman, and moved her body with his foot. "For now."

Walter watched the General for a few seconds, glancing between him, the black robots, and saw the trembling human soldiers behind him. Walter slowly released his knives and lowered his arms.

"How did you know what species I was?"

"I've heard of Trolls and Changelings. My kind, called Akiridions, has some history with this planet. Centuries past. Your planet has quite the valuable power source within its soils, and until I get the power I seek, as well as kill the Akiridion Queen and King-in-waiting so that I can rule, I'll be here in this small, little town of Arcadia Oaks, a while longer."

Walter narrowed his eyes. "Are you here to kill me or my other troll kind?"

"I don't even know who you are. But, no, I have no quarrel with you trolls."

"Are you going to destroy humanity?" Walter asked lightly, and Morando caught onto his game. His smirk darkened.

"If I must."

"What would warrant that type of attack?"

Morando chuckled. "If the humans get in the way of my revenge and ultimate plans for power. Then, I will destroy every single soul upon this wretched wasteland of a planet like the insignificant bugs they are."

Walter continued to observe Morando with narrowed eyes, keeping his face calm despite the storm of terror and worry building inside him.

General Morando's plan sounded just like Gunmar and Bular's same agenda in taking over the world, and as much as he didn't like it or agree with it, he could do nothing about it. This was not his fight, and even if he did fight, he was sorely outnumbered and outgunned.

"Well, whatever it is you are seeking, leave me out of it," Walter finally said, clenching his claws into fists. "I've already fought in a war and have no desire to fight in another."

Morando laughed a chilling laugh. "Clever move, Changeling…" he paused, then tilted his head, "or is it cowardly?"

"Think what you want and do what you want to, but leave me out of it." Walter then gestured to the unconscious Colonel. "Oh, and by the way, I hope you understand that she only looks out for her best interests, just as I still do. Mark my words. The human snake will betray you."

"Oh, I do not doubt that she will," Morando said lightly with a laugh. "But, I've made working with me worth her while for the time being."

Walter raised a suspicious eyebrow at him. "How so?"

"I've offered her some Akiridion- five technology which will help her protect the Earth, or that's what I've told her, at least. Soon, she will realize that her ambitions are too weak, and she will fall from her power-hungry pedestal. There will only be one ruler over the galaxy, and that will be me."

Walter's heart sank, and he didn't know what to say. Eyeing the guns and weapons draped around General Morando's belt and the ominous black and red robots behind him, who were ready to fight at any second, Walter put on his best acting voice as the evil changeling he used to be and laughed darkly.

"Well, best of luck to you with that. I'll leave you to it."

Walter spread his wings again to take off when Morando's deep voice spoke again.

"A word of caution, Changeling." Walter turned to face him, listening. "Stay inside your shelter and lock and barricade all doors, for tonight, I will strike against my foes, and any of those who stand against me will perish."

"Why are you telling me this?" Walter asked him, narrowing his eyes, and General Morando shrugged.

"You didn't have to warn me about this human Colonel, but you did. So, I'm offering you the same choice. To live or die." He then chuckled darkly. "Besides, you aren't a pathetic human but are a Changeling spy for your former dark master. A warrior. I respect that you have no place in the Akiridion war, and I respect your choice to not fight in it, so long as you stay out of my way."

Walter nodded once, not wishing or daring to say anything about who he was protecting back at home and that he would fight if it meant Barbara's or the children's lives would be at risk. He also knew it was time to leave to not draw more attention to himself than he wanted.

Without another word, he spread his wings and left.

General Morando watched the Troll Changeling's form retreat against the soft colors in the sky from sunrise and smiled darkly.

"Bring the Colonel inside and tend to her until she wakes up," he told the terrified human soldiers behind him, "we've got work to do. Gaylen's Core will be mine, and once I have it, I'm going to destroy the Akiridion royal children, once and for all."