The Ol' Switcheroo

by CloverCloverClover

What if Amalthus had awakened Mythra instead of Malos 500 years ago, so best girl (Nia) and best bro (Malos) got more screentime? Among a bunch of other things? Let's find out. (TITLE DOES NOT REFLECT THE TONE OF THIS FIC) ACT 5 FINALLY FINISHED! AVOID COMMENTS ABOUT CHAPTER 25 UNTIL YOU HAVE READ IT IF YOU WANT TO AVOID MAJOR SPOILERS!

17. Chapter 17

28.

Sylvie sighed to herself as she unrolled a large map onto the coffee table in the common room of Rex and Malos' suite, Rex and Malos flanking her on both sides of the sofa they shared. "What I am about to tell you is...no one can know," she muttered, dragging a hand across her face. "You...just can't tell Morag."

Rex harrumphed angrily to himself. On the promise of getting information about Tora's location, he had agreed to keep Sylvie's secrets safe. He didn't like it, not one bit, keeping secrets from friends. But he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Without information on where Tora actually was, they could be combing the desert for months and not find anything.

Sylvie examined the map for a moment, then removed a pen from her jacket, pulling off the cap with her teeth. She made a mark on the map in an area labeled with some buildings. "At this location," she muttered around the cap, "There is a factory."

"Those all look like empty buildings," Malos said quietly.

"They were. Old mining town in the desert, called Victis." Sylvie leaned back from the map. "Abandoned nearly a century ago when the mines dried up. It used to have one of Mor Ardain's largest tank factories, since it was so convenient to transport resources from the mine straight to the factory. Was a comprehensive factory, too – had all the equipment to take in raw ore and spit out a tank on the other side. The factory was abandoned...until recently."

"So what's being made there now?" Rex glanced up at the woman. She looked down at him, trouble still written on her face. And...a trace of anger at him, maybe? He watched her as she turned to look at Malos, examining her expression carefully. When she looked at him, she had such admiration written on her features. What had happened on that date Malos had gone on with her?

"I guess you'll find out soon enough, no point in keeping it secret," Sylvie muttered. "It's an artificial blade factory."

Rex's eyes widened in surprise. He had never even heard of artificial blades until he had run across Tora. For Mor Ardain to have an entire factory for them…

"Why is this such a secret?" Malos' face was cloaked in shadow.

Sylvie's shoulders hunched over as she answered. "What's going on there…isn't strictly legal. Foreigners aren't allowed to own businesses in Mor Ardain. And that factory is owned by one of the nopon trade guild masters. Bana."

Rex looked up in shock. "Wait. Bana? Bana of Argentum?"

Sylvie glanced down at him. "That's right."

Rex leaned forward in shock. "I...wow….well, I guess maybe I shouldn't be too surprised. Bana did take frequent business trips. Still, small world."

"Bana. Isn't that the guy you were working for before you found me?" Malos asked.

Sylvie looked between the both of them in shock. "What, you...know Bana?"

Rex laughed. "In a way, it's thanks to him that we met in the first place. But wait, what are you saying? Bana was the one who kidnapped Tora…? Why?"

"I couldn't really say," Sylvie said with exasperation. "Bana's not exactly under my command or anything. He's got his own motives. Probably got something to do with the fact your friend had an artificial blade of his own. I...tried getting him to give him up, but he has no intention of doing so."

She paused, considering. Then she leaned forward to mark the map again. "Approaching the factory directly probably isn't the best idea. Here, by this outcropping, there's an old mining tunnel that accidentally punched through the factory walls one day. It all got patched up, but I'm sure a big strong man like yourself can find a way to bust through." She smiled wanly up at Malos, who remained completely impassive.

Rex was the one to ask what was on Malos' mind. He was a clever kid, when he wanted to be. "Hold on," he said, pausing for a moment. "So...this factory is secret, right? You don't want Morag, or presumably the Emperor to know. And it's pumping out artificial blades. So...who else does know about it? I don't suppose it's just you."

Sylvie was silent, stone, not looking at Rex.

"What you are talking about here," Rex snapped, "is a damn secret army."

"It's a Brionac party secret, isn't it," Malos said, quietly. Sylvie looked at him, eyes unreadable. "That's a dangerous game, you and your friends are playing. In pretty much any nation in the world, this would be considered treason. And why the need for a secret army at all?"

"Right, first off," Sylvie said, getting defensive, "This isn't that unusual in Mor Ardain. Lots of the nobility and even the factory owners have their own little private armies of mercs and men at their beck and call. It's a...political bargaining chip, you might say. Emperor keeps being hardheaded about the invasion, Brionac reveals a new corps of artificial blades, fancy shiny, people go nuts, gives us political leverage, you know." She sighed, leaning back, placing the cap back on her pen. "That's why I don't want Morag to know. They know ahead of time, they might get a stick up their ass about the law, shut the whole operation down, no matter how valuable a contribution it would be to the war effort."

Malos was silent. He wondered if Sylvie really could be that naive. She might claim it was just for political leverage, but there was no way he was buying that. There were ways to get political leverage without having an army completely under the control of the Brionac party, with no loyalty to the Emperor.

"Well," Rex said, finally, leaning forward to roll up the map. "Assuming you're telling the truth...thanks, I suppose. I gotta say, I do feel pretty good about our chances. If there's one thing Bana likes to skimp on, it's security."

Sylvie eyed him dubiously. "Look, kid. I don't know how you knew Bana before. But I suggest you don't underestimate him. He didn't get where he is by being an idiot. There's not a nopon alive more ruthless than him."

Rex paused as he stood with the rolled-up map. "Sure, sure," he said, smiling. But really, how bad could it be? This was Bana they were talking about. A loudmouth with lots of money, sure, but that's all he really was. "I'm gonna go stash this," he said, waggling the map.

As Rex walked away, Sylvie rose to leave herself. Malos grabbed her arm before she could go. She looked down at him in surprise. His face was still completely cloaked in shadow. "So," he began, "Why did you tell us all this?"

Sylvie was silent.

"This puts you in danger," he continued. "Giving up a party secret? One of this magnitude? That's why you had to come here in secrecy, right? What's your angle? Trying to win my trust by giving up secrets to me?"

"No," Sylvie replied, quietly. "I...just didn't think it was right that your friend was kidnapped. Isn't that enough…?"

Malos stared at her, as she stood there, framed in the light of the window, the silver skulls of her uniform burning with an eerie blue glow in the pale moonlight, looking down at him with such a sincere expression, and he believed her. This woman, who had told him she wanted to conquer the world, to initiate the largest war Alrest had ever known, to mark her name in history with blood, looked sad, vulnerable, even in her killer's uniform. And for the first time, he understood what the horror of what people called the Clockwork Demon really was. How it could reach down, through the centuries of violence, how it could make lunacy seem sane, how it could make jackals even out of the kind-hearted.

He released her hand, and she clutched it to her chest as if she had been burnt. She turned again to leave, but paused at the door, looking back at him. "I'm...not a bad person," she murmured.

Malos was quiet for a long moment, as she lingered there at the door. Finally, he sighed. He wondered, in another life, raised in another place, what Sylvie might have grown to be. He looked at her, and he felt something he had rarely ever felt before.

He felt pity.

"I believe you."

29.

The next day, Zeke, Pandoria, Nia, Dromarch, Rex, Malos and Poppi all gathered in the motorpool of the palace. Poppi had been more than willing to go trekking out into the desert on foot, but Morag had arranged for them to have some vehicles. "It is the least I could do," she said, as she met them in the motorpool. Nia felt somewhat bad for her. She could tell Morag was ashamed that she couldn't attend them in the search for Tora, but she was unwilling to leave her brother's side.

The vehicles she arranged for them were small, light, off-road military vehicles, squat and square, with four large, broad tires for finding purchase in loose sand, not weighed down by much armor. "I...hmm," Morag said, staring at the vehicles. "I don't suppose I considered who would be driving. Have any of you…?"

"I think I could handle it," Rex piped up, his eyes gleaming with interest.

"Yeah, how hard could it be?" Nia spoke up as well. Sure, she had never driven something like this before. But it looked kind of neat. And it seemed simple enough. "Just spin the wheel, right?"

Morag eyed the two of them dubiously. "I don't think so." Her eyes flicked upward, to Zeke. "Well, I know you have some experience driving, Zeke." He grinned, tipping his fingers towards her in a casual salute. "But who else..."

"I think I can probably handle it," Malos spoke up. Morag turned toward him, raising a curious eyebrow. "Let's just say I've handled more complex machinery than this in the past," he said sardonically.

"Fair enough," Morag replied.

Poppi was outright shivering with excitement and impatience. "Daylight burning!" she cried. "Drivers decided? Then we go now!" She pulled out a small map, covered in complex-looking paths and mathematical equations. "We follow Poppi's optimal search pattern. We-"

"Actually, Poppi," Rex said, as he and Malos glanced at each other, "We...got a bit of a tip last night as to where Tora might be kept. We have a location we think we should check first."

"Oh, really?" Morag said, interested. "What sort of tip?"

Rex was quiet for a moment, as he unrolled a map of his own. "Ah. Just, uh. Someone who said they thought they saw where the blade who kidnapped him touched down in the desert." He grimaced, and Nia cocked an eyebrow, curiously. Rex was a very bad liar.

Morag looked as if she could tell as well, but she kept her silence. If she was hurt, she didn't show it. "Hmm. Fair enough. I'll leave you to it. I wish you the best of luck." She left, quickly walking back to the palace, her boots clicking against the pavement.

They split up into their different vehicles. With Malos and Rex leading the way, Poppi insisted on traveling with them so she could see where they were going. That left Nia and Dromarch to ride in the vehicle Zeke was driving. She sighed, climbing into the back as Pandy and Zeke took up the front seats. "Whoa!" she cried, as the vehicle lurched forward, with stronger acceleration than she had been expecting, as Zeke slammed on the gas, following after Malos. She glared up at him. "Hey, don't go nuts on the gas, yeah?"

"Quiet, backseat driver," Zeke drawled, grinning as he followed Malos out the gates of Mor Ardain, out into the desert. Sand kicked up behind them in massive clouds as the vehicles tore across the harsh desert of Mor Ardain, Alba Cavanich disappearing quickly behind them.

Nia looked out the window, watching the terrain speed by in interest. It seemed that in the harsh light of the sun, many of the more vicious-looking creatures she had seen on her first ride in to the city had gone into hiding. It made sense that they'd mostly be night-hunters. Who would want to deal with baking in the oppressive desert heat all day?

She poked her head around the front seat, glancing out the windshield, looking at the vehicle racing ahead of them. Malos seemed to be having a fun time driving, taking jumps off of small dunes and rock outcroppings.

She wondered why it was that Rex had lied to Morag. Rex...she knew him well enough to know he wasn't a natural liar. He wouldn't have done it unless he had a good reason. She realized, with a bit of a start, that that was the first time she had ever thought that way about anyone in years. She...had become so used to running, and lying herself, that she just assumed lies came naturally to people. For so long, the only one she had ever really trusted was Dromarch. She glanced over to her side, where Dromarch was curled in the seat next to her, resting his head in her lap as she idly scratched behind his ears. And even Dromarch...she'd never assume that he'd lie to her, of course. But she knew he'd...sugar coat the truth for her. Rex...it was nice to know someone who would always mean what he said. Even Malos was like that, in a way. Although Malos...did seem like he had his secrets to keep.

They had been driving for a few hours. Nia had begun to get bored. Zeke and Pandy had spent the entire time teasing and flirting with each other, and it had gotten old long ago. "So," she said, jumping in during a lull in the conversation. "You and Morag seem like you know each other a bit?"

Zeke looked back in surprise, his one good eye widening. "Oh! Practically forgot you were back there."

"Zeke, you're driving," Pandy warned.

"Hah! Oh, right." He turned his eyes forward again, and swerved to avoid a rock outcropping. "Yeah, Morag and I..."

"Zeke crashed at her place for a while when his pops kicked him out," Pandy explained.

"I suppose that's one way to put it," Zeke muttered. "But yes. I haven't always...gotten along the best with my royal family, let's say. Might have gotten a little banished, back in the day." He stared off into the distance, looking a bit sad. "Was...well, I was pretty young when they first kicked me out. Wasn't sure where to go. Morag's parents offered to take me in, once they learned a wandering Prince was stealing food from the inns in Alba Cavanich."

"Hm. Awfully nice of them," Nia mused.

Zeke laughed. "I don't think it was entirely out of the kindness of their hearts. I think they might have been hoping that one day I'd be unbanished, and in the meantime Morag and I would fall for each other and they'd get a politically convenient marriage out of the deal. But, well, that was always a long shot, so I do appreciate them taking me in. Unfortunately for them, Morag and I...are definitely not each other's type." He chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, she's a good enough sort. But so dour. I kept trying to tell her, look on the bright side, cheer up a bit. Maybe think of something other than swords and battles. I mean swords are great and all, but life needs some spice!" He peered through the window, turning the wheel to the side. "I think we may be here."

They had been climbing an incline for some time now. Malos had led them to a large, rocky outcropping, atop a series of cliffs and sand dunes, overlooking another portion of the desert below. As Nia climbed out of the car, she noticed that the desert was not actually empty. A few hundred feet below them was what looked to be like a few empty, abandoned buildings, blackened with soot and disrepair, the ghostly remains of an abandoned town. A humongous, squat factory dominated the rest of the buildings. And as she squinted, closely, she could see the dim glow of fires flickering in the windows. It seemed the place was not entirely abandoned. She yelped as she was yanked back, glaring up at Malos, who had pulled her.

"Don't stand out against the skyline," he hissed. "We don't want to be spotted. I'd like to keep the element of surprise if we can."

"Spotted by who?" she snapped, placing her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes. She glared over at Rex. "Why don't you tell us what's going on? What is this place? How'd you know to come here?"

Rex kicked at the sand, then threw his hands up in the air. "Ahhhh, fine, not like we can keep the secret from you anyway. You know that Sylvie Senator we came here with? The one Malos went on a date with? Well, he must have really impressed her, because she came to us last night with information about where Tora was. She wanted us to keep it secret from Morag for...complicated political reasons, I guess." Rex raised an eyebrow at Nia. "You're not gonna believe who's running the place, though. It's Bana."

"Bana?" Nia said, eyes widening. "What, you mean that nopon you were working for when I first met you…? Wow, small world."

"I know, right?"

"If this...Bana...has hurt a hair on her Tora's head," Poppi growled, "Poppi will pop him like rotten grape!"

Malos had been busy clearing aside some small bush, hacking away at it with his sword. It fell away, parting, revealing a small, dark entrance into a tunnel into the side of the cliffs overlooking the town. "Well, she didn't lead us wrong," he mused.

Zeke was rooting around in the trunk of his vehicle, going through some of the equipment stored in the boot. "Before we go rushing in," he called, waving a pair of binoculars in the air, "Why don't we do some reconnaissance?"

Nia crossed her arms. "Wow. That is surprisingly good sense. I didn't expect it out of you."

"Let's say my Prince learned this lesson the hard way," Pandy said. "Multiple times. And needs constant reminding of it. Really you caught him on one of his good days."

They lay down on the edge of the cliff, low to the ground, casting their binoculars over the dead ghost town.

There was not much to be seen. Crumbling brick, shattered windows. Even the factory itself still looked, outwardly, to be in great disrepair, the only indication that it was actually operating a dim flicker barely visible through its windows. No guards, no sign of life could be spotted throughout the whole town besides that. Other than some fresh tire tracks, which they supposed were indicators of recent deliveries sent out. They were about to get up and stop looking, when suddenly Rex hissed, "Wait, look! The entrance to the town!"

Driving through the entrance to the town, kicking up dust and small rocks behind it, was a vehicle much like their own. Only this one was painted entirely black. As they watched it pulled up to the entrance of the factory, and a tall, lithe, grim-looking man stepped out of it. Malos focused his binoculars. He could see, from a distance, that he wore a uniform decorated with the same sort of regalia that Sylvie wore, black leather and silver skulls.

"Hard to tell from this distance, but I think that's the rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel," said Zeke. "Fairly high ranking. Wonder what he's doing out here."

"Look, there's Bana," Nia whispered. At the entrance to the factory, swinging open a rusted door, the gigantic nopon had appeared. For a few moments, it seemed as if he was shouting at the officer, who kept approaching despite Bana's increasing annoyance. Finally, with a disgusted shrug, Bana re-entered the darkness of the factory. The officer followed behind him, and the door closed.

"Well, we definitely know Bana actually is here now," Rex muttered, putting down his binoculars. "But I dunno what that Brionac officer was doing here."

"I think we've really learned all we can." Malos got to his feet, tossing the binoculars into the backseat of his vehicle. "I think it's time to head on in."

"Yes!" Poppi said enthusiastically. "Poppi agree!" She flicked her orange eyes on, lighting up the entrance to the mine that Malos had uncovered. "Don't worry, Tora. Here Poppi come!"

30.

The tunnel was long, clammy, dark, filled with the acrid scent of smoke from the factory, thick enough to send them into coughing fits. Poppi's shining eyes guided their way, swinging wildly back and forth in the tunnel as they trotted along, illuminating walls still fresh with the gouges of machinery tearing into the rock, shadows of old support beams dancing wildly across their vision.

It was long, longer than seemed possible, a winding, circuitous path forged by the miners as they had chased after ore deposits, only very slightly heading downward, down toward the town and the factory. Fortunately, if any of the local vicious wildlife had made this tunnel their home, it seemed the renewed smog from the factory had driven them out – while they came across the brittle bones of prey dragged into the tunnel, they never saw a sign of life.

Nia was walking behind Poppi as they continued downward, quiet, withdrawn. For some reason, as they drew closer, she found herself feeling more and more ill at ease. She thought for a while that perhaps it was the tunnel getting on her nerves. But as the feeling grew, became more and more consuming, she realized what it was.

Eyes widening, she reached out through the ether. There was no mistaking it. There were other Flesh Eaters nearby. And that likely meant only one thing: Torna.

She glanced around nervously, at the blades walking besides her. Flesh Eaters left a distinct signature in the ether, but it was extremely subtle unless you knew what you were looking for. Which she did, of course. It only became obvious that something was unusual when they began using their powers.

Her mind raced. If she warned them of what was ahead, the other blades might pick up on what to look for in the ether, and be able to detect her in the future. Well...she supposed it was really only Pandoria who might find out. Malos and Dromarch already knew, of course. Could Poppi pick up movements in the ether like a normal blade could….? She wasn't sure. Some blades were more talented at picking up differences in the signal than others. She had always been particularly good at it herself, and lots of times she didn't notice unless she knew specifically to look. Maybe…

She steeled herself. It didn't matter. She couldn't let them walk into a possible trap. "Guys," she said, and winced as her voice echoed in the cave around them. Everyone whipped their heads around to stare at her. "Ah...guys," she repeated, lowering her voice, "Um...Dromarch...said he smelled something. Something familiar. I think….Torna might be here."

She looked down at him, and even in the darkness she could see her blade's eyes widening. "That's correct," he said smoothly, not missing a beat. "I picked it up not long ago. Faint, but unmistakable."

"Even through all this smoke? That's one hell of a nose you've got on you, puss," Zeke mused.

Dromarch rolled his eyes. "Please do not call me 'puss'."

Nia turned to him, crossing her arms. "You're acting like you know who Torna are."

Zeke shrugged. "Sure I do. Not like they're secret. I've even had a run-in with one of them before. Nasty little man with a bow. Trying to steal some core crystals I'd been hired to guard. He was one hell of a fighter, but Pandy and I ran him off."

Nia uncrossed her arms, impressed. It was a rare human indeed who could stand up to a member of Torna.

"Torna, huh?" said Rex, almost indistinguishable in the darkness. "What would they be doing here…? Could you smell who exactly it was…?"

"No," Nia replied. "But I don't think...I mean, Dromarch doesn't think it's Jin. Jin has a very, uh. Distinct scent."

Malos gave her a frank, skeptical look, then closed his eyes and lifted his head. He knew, of course. He was looking through the ether himself. Finally, he opened his eyes, looking at her as if impressed. "Huh. Well. This complicates things. For what it's worth, I don't feel Mythra out there, so I don't think it's her either."

"D'you think they laying an ambush for us or something?" Rex continued. Nia could hear the worry in his voice. She knew that, despite it all, Rex probably still blamed himself for Vandham's death on some level, blamed himself for being unprepared.

"I don't see how," Zeke mused. "Not like they could have known we were coming. Unless someone spied on us, in which case we're really walking into it, aren't we?" He gave a lighthearted chuckle, as if this didn't concern him.

"Could it be that maybe they have business with Bana? He does have his fingers in a lot of pies..." Rex mused on.

Poppi interrupted them, stamping her foot. "Poppi not care if she have to fight every member of Torna all at once. Poppi is getting her Tora back."

"Right," Malos said grimly. "Let's just try to get in, get Tora, and get out. Anyone gets in our way, well, we'll do what we have to do."

They continued onward, much more tense, down further into the tunnel. It winded on, and on. Rex was beginning to wonder whether Sylvie had lied to them, and there was no entrance into the factory from here at all, when they finally came across a portion of the tunnel where the rough rock surface merged into a brick wall. A large chunk of the wall had bricks much fresher-looking than the surrounding ones, outlined by some cement plastered on to keep them in place.

"Well, I guess she was true to her word," Rex murmured, as Poppi's eyelights landed upon it. "This sure looks like the patch job she was talking about. Right," He looked around, hands on his hips. "Let's think about how to do this carefully-"

Suddenly, with a crash, Poppi dashed forward and slammed her shoulder into the brick. They cracked and bent inward beneath the force of her blow, finally crumbling and falling away with a small rumble.

"Or we could just do that," Rex said, rubbing the back of his head.

Gingerly, they stepped through the smashed hole in the brick wall. It led them out onto a high catwalk, a metal grating lined by rails high above the factory floor.

The factory itself was impressive. Mostly automated, gigantic robotic arms whirred back and forth above an assembly line, slowly piecing together metal frames with an unmistakable human shape. The fires of smelting ore glowed dimly in the distance, and there was the constant sound of metal hammering on metal faintly in the background, as if somewhere else in the factory raw ore was being shaped into the components of the frame. The heat was intense, radiating outward from gigantic generators lined across the factory floor. The interior was also immense, complex branches of different assembly lines merging together in a space nearly as big as the interior of the palace.

Malos whistled. Whoever had put this together definitely wasn't from Mor Ardain. This technology was decades ahead of what the Ardainians were capable of.

"Well, I was right about one thing," Rex said, peering out across the factory. "Bana really does like to skimp on security."

And he was right. The factory was almost eerily empty. Other than the whirring, mechanical movements of the robotic arms, and the endless streams of the conveyor belts of the assembly lines, there was no movement at all save for themselves. "I suppose it might have a purpose in this case," Nia replied. "You wanna keep a secret, you keep as few people who know it as possible."

"Yeah. Or he's just cheap," Rex laughed.

Poppi was standing by the edge of the railing, holding a hand to her face, scanning the factory floor intensely. "Where…." she muttered to herself. Suddenly, her eyes widened. "Poppi...Poppi saw him!" she cried.

She immediately dashed across the catwalk, running towards a large, multi-story control tower that it connected to.

"Poppi, wait!" Rex called, but she ignored him. He sighed, and began running after her, with everyone else.

Poppi dashed to the control tower, flinging open the door so hard that it smashed to splinters as it slammed against the wall. Inside was a small, windowed room from which you could observe the entire factory floor. A Tirkin, startled, whipped its head around to squawk at her. Poppi almost absent-mindedly punched it unconscious as she tore towards the internal stairs, descending them in leaps and bounds, four, five, half a flight in a single leap.

Finally, she stood on the bottom floor of the control tower, in the small room through which she had glimpsed him.

There was Tora, chained to a table, looking miserable, a bowl of gruel before him, as a Tirkin prodded him with a spear. "Oi, it prisoner exercise time," it snapped at him in its horrible bird-speak. "Fat nopon ought to take opportunity to lose some weight."

"Tora is perfectly healthy size for nopon," he growled back at the Tirkin. "He have no energy for exercise! Stupid Tirkin feeding him awful gruel for days! Nopon need tasty sausages to...to..." Finally, he looked over toward the base of the stairs, where Poppi stood, staring at him. His eyes widened, and he rubbed them, as if not believing what he was seeing. "...Poppi…?"

"TORA!" Poppi cried, her voice thick with emotion. She rushed forward, arms extended. The Tirkin guarding Tora turned around to face her, and didn't even have time to get out a squawk before it was summarily shoved aside, slamming into a wall, slumping down unconscious.

Poppi swept up Tora in her arms, hugging him, laughing as she spun around.

"Poppi! Tora beginning to worry he never see you again! Tora so glad you came!" her masterpon yelled, muffled, as she squeezed him in close. Poppi had never felt so happy, so relieved before. It was like a humongous weight was lifted immediately from her shoulders the second she saw Tora.

Rex and the others finally caught up with her, making their way down the stairs, and that was how they found her, laughing with delight, hugging her masterpon close, spinning around.

"Tora! My Tora! Poppi found you! Poppi here to protect! She never let you get taken away from her, never again!"

31.

It was quick work to snap the chain binding Tora to the table. He bounced happily, rotating his small, stubby foot, stretching out, sighing with relief. "Chain beginning to chafe," he muttered. He glanced around, his clever black eyes darting between everyone. "I...everyone come to find Tora…?" he asked.

"Of course we did." Rex crossed his arms, grinning at him. "What, did you think we were just gonna give up on you?"

Tora was quiet for a moment, then his lip quivered, and he hid his face in his hands. "Tora...very grateful. So grateful...he knock ten percent off your remaining debt to him," he said, voice trembling.

"Wh...are you still keeping track of that?" Nia snapped.

"And Tora very grateful to you as well!" He bounced happily as he looked up at Zeke and Pandy. "Tora sorry, but not sure he remember your names….?"

"Oh, really!" Zeke's eye's gleamed. "Well, littlepon, my name is Z-"

"ZEKE, it's Zeke, his name is Zeke," Nia interupted. Her eyes darted around nervously. "Well, now that we've got you, let's get out of here as quick as possible."

However, Tora had pulled up a chair and quickly slid some fine tools out of his jean overalls, and was using them to deftly remove the bottom panel of Poppi's foot. "That some nasty rattling. Rocket must have really done a number," he murmured. Rex's eyes widened as his hands worked in a blur, quickly reassembling the hundreds of tiny pieces that spilled out of Poppi's foot.

"Yes. Rockets." Poppi narrowed her eyes at Rex.

"Can't you do this later…?" Nia's ears flattened against her head, and her hands kneaded Dromarch's fur in worry. "Wouldn't it be better to just get out of here….?"

"This only take a moment," Tora replied, a screwdriver in his teeth as he applied a few drops of oil to the gear he was working on. "And...ah...Tora..." he breathed in deeply. "Tora understand if...you not want to look...but he find out that his dadapon somewhere in the factory."

"Your dadapon?" Rex crossed his arms. "I thought you said he was…."

"Dead," Tora finished, mopping sweat off his brow as he screwed the bottom plate of Poppi's foot back on. "Yes. Tora...thought he was. But MuiMui let slip that he actually here too, captured by Bana." He leaned back, and Poppi wiggled her foot, the rattle completely gone. She beamed at him as he continued. "Tora...cannot leave without looking for his dadapon. At least looking."

Glancing at Nia, Rex turned back to Tora. "I think you should know...Nia says she thinks that Torna might be somewhere in here."

"Torna…?" Tora shivered. "Nasty people who kill Vandham…? But...Tora must still at least look."

Rex looked around, gauging everyone's reaction. Malos shrugged as his driver caught his eye. "Hey. I'm up for it. But I want more knocked off my debt."

"Yes! Additional ten percent for everyone!" Tora cried.

"I'm all up for helping the little guy look for his dad." Zeke crossed his arms, glancing around. "But if we're going to do it, we should probably move soon. I imagine there must be some sort of patrol that will be here to check on things at some point."

"What about you, Nia?" Rex asked, quietly. "Are you okay with it…?"

Nia, if she was being honest with herself, wasn't. Even if Jin and Mythra weren't the ones out there...the thought of running into other members of Torna filled her with dread. Every time they ran into Torna...Rex had nearly died, Vandham had died...and despite herself, despite the fact that she was...happier, with her new friends, the thought of facing the accusing stares of those she had abandoned sent her heart racing. But she swallowed her fear, and grinned light-heartedly. "I...yeah, sure. But I want twenty percent knocked off my debt."

Tora clapped his hands together and smiled, bearing his tiny fangs. "Tora so grateful. He truly lucky to have friends like you." He pointed towards the back of the control tower, where there was a reinforced metal door. "They keep Tora in that cell most of the time. Inside cell is large access panel to ventilation shaft. Recommend traveling in there to avoid walking on factory floor. Tora not sure where ventilation shaft lead, but sometimes hear voices traveling along it. Maybe go somewhere important."

They quickly set to work. First, Malos climbed back to the top of the control tower to fetch the Tirkin Poppi had knocked out on the top floor, while Rex and Nia dragged the one on the ground floor into the cell. Both Tirkin were, fortunately, still completely unconscious. Malos tossed the both of them onto the bed, stuffed pillowcases into their mouths, and then wrapped them tightly in a sheet, knotting them together into one giant lump. He then tossed a blanket over them, and observed his handiwork. From the door, it looked plausibly enough like Tora was sleeping in the bed, covered by the blankets. "That might keep them off our tracks for a while," he smiled.

While this was happening, Tora stood on Zeke's shoulders at the back of the cell, quickly fiddling with the screws holding the access panel to the ventilation shaft in place. With one final twist, it fell down, Zeke catching it with a free hand before it could clatter to the floor.

The shaft itself was large, large enough for Tora to stand up in, although Malos and Zeke were going to have a hard time crawling along in it, and wide enough for two people to crawl side by side. Zeke pushed Tora inside, and then deftly lifted Pandoria in after him, then pulled himself up. Poppi gleefully clicked her feet together and gave herself a small boost with her jets, leaping deftly up into the entrance. Malos gave Nia and Rex a boost, and lifted up himself. Dromarch, the last, paced back and forth on the ground, crouched, wriggled, and then leapt with fluid grace into the tunnel.

They crawled along as quietly as possible, slowly making their way forward. It was, fortunately, not completely dark: the shaft had regular openings into the factory floor, and light shone through to guide their path.

"Nia, are you sure you're okay with this?" Rex asked quietly, after they had been crawling along for a while.

Nia glanced to her side, where Rex crawled next to her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. It's no big deal. Don't worry about me." With a start, she realized she was trembling. Rex must have felt her shaking as she was pressed up next to him in the tunnel. She took a deep breath, steeling herself, and then shot him a fanged grin. "Seriously, I'm alright, I don't need to be babied or anything."

Rex was quiet, not responding. He merely turned his eyes forward, a small frown on his face.

Eventually the tunnel opened up into a much larger room, with room for them to stand. Multiple, smaller tunnels snaked out of it. Two gigantic, slowly rotating fans opened up onto the factory floor, their shadows flashing them in and out of darkness.

As soon as they entered the room, they could hear voices echoing throughout it. Heading towards the source, they noticed that one of the fans lay directly over what looked like a well-lit equipment room, full of boxes of blinking lights and bristling with knobs, levers and buttons. Pacing around it irritably was Bana. And standing calmly in the center, his arms crossed, was the Brionac officer they had seen entering the factory earlier. Malos put a finger to his lips and they all held their breath, listening to the conversation.

"...Bana tell you you not have to come," snapped the large nopon, as he bounced back and forth in annoyance. "You Bana's customers, not Bana's boss. You have no right..."

"You operate this factory at our mercy and tolerance, Bana," the Brionac officer interrupted. His voice was cold, dry, like silk drawn across a bare sword. "A word, and you'd be kicked out of Mor Ardain. Or hanged. We do a lot of hangings these days."

Bana bristled. "Like to see you try," he snapped. "Don't forget Mor Ardain not the only country in the world. Many like to buy artificial blades. You threaten me, maybe I just take my business to Uraya."

"There won't be an Uraya, soon enough. It will be an Ardainian province soon." The officer watched Bana like a snake ready to strike. "I don't like being here any more than you like me being here. But do you realize what your little stunt at the palace did?"

"It not my stunt. I tell MuiMui to capture Tora and artificial blade, not blow up dinner party doing so. MuiMui an idiot!"

"Your man was able to walk into the Palace because of holes in security that we spent months setting up," the Brionac officer hissed. "All that effort, wasted. We were waiting for an opportune time to strike. We've had to push our plans up to tonight, before they re-establish security. We may never get another chance."

"Oh, and what plans are those…?" Bana asked, smugly. When the Ardainian officer replied with nothing but cold silence, the nopon laughed. "Oh, no need to be coy. Bana already know what you up to. Bana have his own spies, you see. Better ones than you can afford. Enough money buy you any information."

"You don't know what you're talking about." The officer glared at him, but looked suddenly uncertain. "Only a few people know about this at all."

"You going to kill Emperor," Bana replied sardonically.

In the tunnel above, Nia clasped a hand to Rex's mouth to prevent him from speaking as his eyes widened in shock and his mouth opened.

"Bana has known for months now," the nopon continued. "You see what a good business partner Bana is? Knows to keep discretion. And then you insult him by demanding on-site management."

The Brionac officer was quiet. When he spoke, his voice was deadly, furious. "I'm here," he hissed, "To make absolutely certain that nothing goes amiss during the plan tonight. That nothing that you do interferes with the execution. Like you already have by exposing the security gaps. By tomorrow morning, it won't matter anymore. I'll leave, and Architect willing, we won't ever have to see each other again."

Bana muttered to himself. "Bah!" he said, finally. "Just do not go touching any equipment!" He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Inside, the Brionac officer sighed, then pulled out a chair at a nearby table and began disassembling a small handgun.

Rex backed away from the fan, further into the tunnel, his eyes still wide. "They're going to kill Niall…?" he whispered frantically.

"It certainly seems like they're going to try," Zeke replied, his voice hushed. "He does have Morag at his side. But..."

"We….we need to get out of here, we need to get back and warn them-" Rex began.

Tora, however, too intent on finding his dadapon, had wandered away during the end of the conversation, going down a tunnel where he thought he had heard a familiar murmuring. And now, he came bounding back, quivering with excitement, his eyes gleaming. "Friends come quick!" he said, barely keeping his voice under control. "Tora find him! Tora find his dadapon!"

32.

Tatazo sighed, placing a small paw against the glass of his prison, looking down upon the vast, sprawling industrial complex that he had helped create.

It was a luxurious prison, to be sure. After the initial capture with Bana, once the machines he had built had begun to turn a profit, Bana had become much more willing to treat Tatazo well, even when Tatazo would talk back to him and curse him. And...well...Bana was no fool. He knew that no matter how much Tatazo might hate him, some material comfort would make him more pliable, more willing to work, than if he had kept him in a sterile prison. Never had he ever given Tatazo anything close to the possibility of escape, though. No, Tatazo was Bana's golden goose, and the legendary nopon pirate wasn't letting him get away.

And though Tatazo hated to admit it...he had some pride in what he had built here. He had pride in everything he built. This factory was a monument to efficiency and engineering. Tatazo hadn't wanted to help Bana. But it was difficult for him to turn his brain off. He went crazy without things to build and improve. So with lack of anything else to do, he had helped build Bana his war machine factory.

He did what he could to slow things down and throw wrenches in Bana's plans. He had a secret series of toggles and cleverly hidden levers, secret combinations of buttons, that would cause various small disasters in the factory, or slow down production by as much as fifty percent. Sometimes he would flick these, and Bana or MuiMui would tell him to fix things, and he'd get a few wonderful hours to himself before he simply went and flicked the switches and set things right again.

Still, it rankled him to see the artificial blades turned into war machines. And it rankled him further still to be working for those who had murdered his father and stolen his life's work. At least Tora had gotten away. At least...he could hope that he had.

His ears perked up at the sound of scuffling in one of the nearby air vents. He walked over to it, squinting up at it. Unlike air vents in other rooms, which were merely screwed in, Bana had ensured that Tatazo would never escape by welding the air vents shut.

"Someone...up there…?" Tatazo called, standing on his tiptoes, trying to peer into the darkness. He could have sworn he had heard voices….

Suddenly, a small, metallic fist punched through the bars of the air vent, tearing the metal in two. Tatazo jumped back in shock as the robotic arm reached over to one of the corners of the vent, found purchase, and with a shuddering screech of tortured metal, ripped it from the wall. Down from the air vent leapt a small artificial blade, but not like any model he had seen before, with a blue hair mold and a white beret, wearing a small red cape. She looked at him with glowing orange eyes and smiled.

"What this...who..." Tatazo gasped in shock. But before he could continue, another, more familiar form dropped down from the air vent, and his eyes widened in awe.

"DADAPON!" Tora cried, rushing forward to embrace his father.

"Tora…?" Tatazo said wonderingly. "It...really you?"

"Dadapon!" Tora cried again as he slammed into Tatazo, wrapping his wings around him. "Tora thought you were dead for so long! Tora was certain of it! Tora so sorry for not looking for you earlier!"

"My littlepon," Tatazo sniffled, returning the embrace. "My littlepon has grown so big! It so good to see Tora!"

"Aww," Pandoria said, watching the two nopon spin around, hugging each other. "That's so sweet." She peered up at Zeke. "Zeke...are...are you crying?" she asked, bemused.

Zeke closed his one good eye, steeling himself with a deep breath. "Absolutely not," he replied, his voice strained. "Definitely not. No."

"Well, that's definitely Tora's da', alright," Nia said, placing her hands on her hips. "Looks just like him. Except with a mustache and all."

Tatazo broke off his embrace with Tora to stare at the strangers filling his room. "Tora, you know these people…?"

"Ah, yes. This is Zeke, Pandy, Nia, Dromarch, Rex and Malos," Tora replied, beaming. "They Tora's sidekicks. He means, friends. He means...debtors."

"Hey," Rex muttered.

Tatazo bounced up and down with glee. "My little Tora, already having people in debt to him. Tatazo is so proud! You grown up so much! Tatazo...sad he not there to see it! And...this..." he pointed to Poppi.

Poppi posed proudly, puffing out her chest. "My name Poppi! Tora built me with own two hands."

"You...finish artificial blade prototype all on your own," Tatazo said wonderingly. He wiped a tear from his eyes with a wing, blinking rapidly. "Tatazo...so, so proud of his littlepon."

"Right, well, I hate to interrupt the happy family reunion," Nia said, glancing around, "But we should probably get going as soon as possible-"

"MuiMui thought he find you here."

The group spun around to face the doorway into the room. MuiMui stood there, arms crossed, Lila standing at his side, a crowd of Tirkin behind him, a smug sneer on his face. "You think you so clever to escape, Tora. MuiMui make sure you chained down to your bed from now on. But..." MuiMui blinked suddenly, looking around. "Who...who all these people…?"

Rex drew his claymore, as everyone else drew their weapons as well. "You aren't taking Tora back. Or his dadapon."

MuiMui's eyes widened. "S-security breach," he said. "SECURITY BREACH!" He moved aside as Tirkin began filing into the room, squawking, brandishing an odd assortment of spears and guns. "Kill them! Kill them, kill them! Save Tora, Tatazo and the artificial blade! Kill rest! Kill!" He glared up at Lila, the sad artificial blade staring back at him with an impassive gaze. "What you waiting for, Lila? Get in there and kill!"

"Roger, masterpon," Lila said, sullenly. She raised her arms, which unfolded into large hydraulic presses.

The Tirkin crowded the room so rapidly, so densely that it was nearly impossible to move. "Damn it," cried Malos, as MuiMui began bouncing away. He swung his sword in a broad arc, sending Tirkin flying and squawking in a blast of black flame. "He's getting away! We have to stop him before he warns someone!"

"Give Tora a boost," Tora snarled eagerly. The Dark Aegis glanced down at him, eyebrows raised. "Tora has a grudge to settle with MuiMui."

Malos shrugged, swinging his sword again, the Tirkin crowding in around him backing off warily. "Sounds good to me." He scooped up Tora, wound back, and chucked the nopon as hard as he could at MuiMui.

Tora soared through the air, flying over the heads of the chaotic crowd of Tirkin. Lila, standing by the door, moved to intercept him. But before she could, Poppi bullrushed through the crowd, sending Tirkin scattering like bowling pins, blocking Lila's hand before she could catch Tora.

"You," Poppi said, her orange eyes beaming bright as Lila looked down at her, frowning, "Are never touching my Tora again."

MuiMui yelped, only a few feet from the door, as Tora slammed into him, tackling him into the ground. "Tora get off," he snarled, as they rolled and bounced around the floor. "Off!" Finally he picked himself up, dusting off his lab coat. "Fine! You think MuiMui defenseless? MuiMui been spy for long time! He remember when you just tiny toddlerpon! MuiMui will recapture you himself if he has to-"

Tora grinned a savage grin at him, pulling a large wrench out of his overalls, smacking it menacingly into his palm. "Oh, Tora love to see you try," he grinned.

MuiMui gave a shrill scream as Tora began beating him mercilessly with the wrench.

The battle was chaos, madness. There were at least two dozen Tirkin, all of them clawing their way over each other to get at their targets. As Tora laid into MuiMui outside the door, Zeke and Pandy fought back to back, Zeke's gigantic sword keeping the Tirkin a good distance from them, Pandy shooting lightning into the crowd.

Dromarch slipped into the middle of the crowd, with the deadly grace of a hunter. Every once in a while, his white tail or his claws would flash above the heads of the Tirkin, and one would let out a final squawk. Even Tatazo was fighting back, menacing the Tirkin who closed in around him with a screwdriver.

Nia, Rex and Malos fought next to each other. The swings of Rex's claymore and Malos' sword would send the Tirkin scattering back in waves – when they tried surging in between swings, Nia would dart forward from between them, laying into them with her twin rings. If the Tirkin closed in too much, Rex and Malos wouldn't be able to swing their swords as effectively. Nia's flashing blades kept them from surging forward too much between swings.

Poppi, in the meantime, faced down Lila. She grabbed her shield from her back, quickly bringing it up to defend herself as Lila began raining powerful blows down upon her with her hydraulic presses. She winced as the shield shuddered and vibrated from the hammering fists.

"Surrender," Lila said, mechanically hammering away, never relenting. "It best if you just surrender to MuiMui and Bana. Like Lila did. MuiMui and Bana always get their way, in the end. They always win."

Poppi's eyes widened in shock as her shield began cracking beneath the force of the blows. With one final blow, it shattered in her hands, sending tortured, shattered shrapnel flying. Poppi was sent flying back by the force of the blow, slamming into a wall hard enough to crack it. She looked up in a daze as Lila descended upon her, black dress billowing around her, hydraulic fists poised to deliver another blow.

"Just surrender," Lila repeated. "Surrender with Tora. At least if you surrender with him..." She paused, and her eyes flicked to Tatazo. "At least if you surrender with him, you get to be around your masterpon. No matter what they do to you, you always have that."

While Lila was looking away, Poppi fired up her rocket boots, slamming into Lila, wrapping her arms around her torso. Flying above the crowd of Tirkin, she smashed her through the glass pane separating the room from the factory floor. She slammed her into the ground with explosive force, punching a crater into the cement.

"Poppi will never surrender!" she cried, raining blows down upon Lila. She glanced up, across the factory floor, where not very far away, Tora was beating a whimpering MuiMui with a large wrench. "Her Tora means everything to her. If Bana and MuiMui take her...they change Poppi so that she not even listen to her masterpon anymore. Just like they did with you. That what happen, isn't it?" She paused in her assault, looking down at the artificial blade pinned beneath her. "They change you."

"I..." Lila gave her a pained look, then gasped as a jolt of electricity shot through her. "Emotional response overridden. Resolving control errors." With a shout, she punched Poppi, sending her flying, landing in a heap next to Tora.

"Poppi!" Tora cried, letting up on his beating of MuiMui to rush to her side. He glanced up in worry as Lila strode towards them, unceasing, merciless.

"Tora," Poppi said, struggling to her feet. She raised her fists, facing Lila. "Let Poppi...protect you."

"Poppi not here just to protect," Tora cried, stepping in front of her. "Tora here to help Poppi too!" He bared his fangs at Lila. "You stay away from my Poppi!"

"Masterpon...being foolish," Poppi said, shaking her head ruefully. "Let Poppi be the one to protect."

"Hush, Poppi," Tora replied, as he stood defiantly before Lila. "Is what a masterpon does."

Lila paused, looking down at the tiny nopon before her, who she could easily crush like a grape. Across the factory floor, MuiMui propped himself up, spitting out a tooth. "What Lila waiting for!" he snapped. "Squash him! MuiMui not care about capture anymore. MuiMui want him dead!"

Lila's hand jerked forward, but then she shuddered, electricity coursing through her. "Internal...control...errors…." she muttered.

"What you waiting for, you stupid machine!" MuiMui cried, staggering to his feet. He bounced irritably, shivering with rage. "I your masterpon! And you obey!"

Suddenly, there was a large explosion of electricity and dark flame from the room they had crashed through. Lila's head whipped around to see the few remaining Tirkin running, feathers singed and burnt, from the room. The others she had been fighting came running from the room.

Along with...Tatazo. Tatazo, who looked at her with sad, haunted eyes.

"N-no," Lila said, smiling for the first time in ages. "No. Lila's masterpon is Professor Tatazo." And she raised her head to the ceiling and outstretched her arms. Electricity coursed through her, shooting off her in arcs, crawling along the ground. She shuddered as the current fried her circuits, singing her dress, until finally she collapsed in a smoking heap.

"What!" MuiMui cried, raising his wings in disbelief. "Stupid machine fried herself! Fine," he snarled. He reached into one of his lab coat pockets, pulling out a small handgun, leveling it at Tora. "MuiMui kill you himself!"

With a yell, Poppi dashed forward, slapping the gun out of MuiMui's hand. It slid across the factory floor, stopping at Tora's feet. Tora looked at it curiously, then picked it up, pointing it at MuiMui. "Oh, tables turned now, eh?" he smiled. MuiMui gasped, collapsing to his feet, scrambling backwards.

Meanwhile, Rex and the rest had arrived, running up to the scene after finishing off the Tirkin. "Tora, wait!" Rex cried. "Don't shoot him! It's not going to make you feel any better."

Tora paused, tilting his head to the side curiously. "What Rex-Rex talking about? Tora think it probably make him feel pretty good."

"No!" Rex shouted in frustration. "You don't need to kill him! Poppi, tell him!"

Poppi shrugged. "Poppi pretty okay with it!" she said happily.

"What-no! Damn it," Rex said, looking around him. "This….doesn't feel right," he said, after Malos shrugged down at him. "Executing someone defenseless like this..."

"Rex," Tatazo said quietly, "MuiMui...he spy on my family for years. Gain our trust. Betray us. Steal our friends. Reprogram poor Lila," he said, looking sadly at the smoking heap that was Lila's prone form. "And...kill my dadapon. Some people just not deserve second chance."

"W-wait!" MuiMui gasped, shaking. "MuiMui...not kill your grampypon, Tora. He still alive."

"MuiMui is just trying to save his worthless skin," Tora snapped, jabbing the gun toward him.

"No! It true!" MuiMui cried. "MuiMui...not know much. But he seen your grampypon! He swears it!"

"Then where is he?" Tora cocked the gun menacingly. "Why should Tora believe you!"

"MuiMui not know! But he swears he saw him leaving the factory one day!" MuiMui collapsed, his face to the ground, sniveling. "Please not kill MuiMui! Please! MuiMui...have family! Has wife and kiddypons! Please! MuiMui have loving mommypon and dadapon and sisterpon who miss him if he gone! MuiMui sorry for everything! Please just spare MuiMui's life!"

Tora stared at MuiMui, narrowing his eyes. Finally, he lowered the gun. "MuiMui pathetic," he sighed. "Tora not kill you." He turned around, shaking his head. "Tie him up so he not go warn Bana. Tora not care."

33.

As Pandoria and Zeke led the weeping, grateful MuiMui away to find a place to lock him up, Rex approached Tora and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It was the right choice, Tora," he said, quietly.

"No, shooting him probably be right choice too," Tora mused. "Had two good choices. But seeing how pathetic MuiMui was...Tora not even angry at him anymore. Just embarrassed for him."

Meanwhile, Poppi approached Lila. She gasped as Lila's eyes fluttered open. "Lila...alive?" she said.

"What!" Tatazo cried, rushing over to her side. "Tatazo thought for sure she fry her neural circuitry with that!"

Lila twitched and jerked as another bolt of electricity ran through her. "Lila...alive," she coughed weakly. "But not...for long. This body….falling apart." She smiled up at Tatazo. "Lila...glad she got to see...her masterpon...without the voices in her head...one last time..."

"Lila, don't..." Tatazo began, but was interrupted by another jolt of electricity running through the artificial blade.

Now, Lila turned her gaze to Poppi, smiling up at her. "Lila...also glad...she got to meet her sister...if only…for a little while."

Poppi knelt down, holding Lila in her arms. "Poppi...glad she got to meet you, too," she said, quietly. She glanced as Tora arrived at her side, staring sadly down at the broken robot. "She glad...she got to meet other creation of Tora."

Lila placed a hand on Poppi's chest, smiling. "Lila...can tell...you have...great power...in here."

"In my heart?" Poppi asked.

Lila frowned. "No...in your...ether engine."

Tatazo crossed his arms, glancing over at Poppi. "It true," he replied. "I gave Tora special ether engine designed by dadapon SooSoo himself. SooSoo genius of geniuses. I never able to match his design. Poppi has something very special."

"I want...you to use...Lila's ether engine as stabilizing core," Lila continued weakly. "By using...Lila's ether engine...Poppi will be able to harness even more of her power."

Poppi glanced over at Tora questioningly. "I...it true," Tora replied. "Tora has been working on upgrades for you. High-quality ether engine designed by dadapon will help provide power to auxiliary systems, allowing for uninterrupted throughput from special ether engine to Poppi's primary functions..."

"But..." Poppi turned back to Lila. "Lila...will..."

Lila smiled grimly. "Lila...is already gone. Let me….live on...with you…."

And then, her eyes dimmed, and her head slumped forward to her chest, and her arm fell weakly to the floor. Poppi sniffled, reaching out with a hand to close her eyes. "Goodbye...sister," she said, with a small sob.

Tatazo bounced irritably. "What you crying for? She artificial blade." He reached out, and after quickly fiddling with Lila's head, slowly removed a chip board lined with glowing blue crystals. "As long as her neural circuitry okay, she not dead. I just build her new body."

Poppi paused. "Wait. That true?"

Tatazo crossed his arms. "Of course it is. I helped build you. I know what I talking about. It take a few months, but not nearly as long as initial design process."

"Oh." Poppi got to her feet cheerfully, placing her hands on her hips. "Wow, being robot pretty awesome."

Meanwhile, Tora popped open a maintenance hatch on Lila's stomach. After a few moments, he extracted a small, spherical device, pulsing with glowing blue energy. "Ether engine thankfully undamaged!" He held it aloft cheerfully. "Well, not surprising. They very robust."

He looked around, at Nia, Rex, Malos and Dromarch gathered around him. Zeke and Pandy were approaching too, returning from locking MuiMui in a janitor's closet. "Friends! Are you ready to witness glorious completion of Poppi's upgrade process?"

"Are you ready to witness my butt walking out on you if you don't hurry it up?" Nia snapped.

"Oh, this very special for you, Nia!" Tora said. "You not there for Poppi's original completion. You too, Zeke, Pandy."

Nia crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "Oh yeah. I'm riveted. So exciting, watching you screw a piece into place."

"Oh, much better than that!" Tora turned to Poppi, holding up the ether engine. "What about you, Poppi? Are you ready?"

Poppi posed dramatically, hands on her hips. "Poppi excited to become even more combat-capable!" She beat a fist against her chest, popping open a hatch, revealing an astounding complexity of gears and wires. "Let's do it, Tora!"

"Alright, let's see here," Tora said, whipping out a screwdriver. He reached in and carefully placed the glowing ether engine into Poppi's chest, quickly hooking up cables and securing it in place. "And...there we go," he muttered, closing the hatch. "Upgrade process...complete!"

"Oh, wow," Nia said sarcastically. "That was stunning-what the?!"

Suddenly, Poppi began glowing with a pulsing, intense inner light, pouring out of her eyes, out of the seams in her joints, radiating heat outward. It pulsed, throbbing, growing more and more intense. Everyone shielded their eyes as finally the light burst outward, with a wave of heat and force that blew through their hair. The light slowly dimmed, and…

"Oh, wow, I wasn't expecting that," Rex whistled.

Where Poppi had stood, there was a...new Poppi. She was taller, and seemed more human, older. Where she had formerly a mostly metal, mechanical body, now much of her seemed...smooth, curvaceous. She wore a dress much like the one Lila had worn, though the skirt was cut much shorter, revealing leg joints hidden beneath a flesh-colored, seamed armor. Her hair, still plastic molded in the shape of hair, now had a much larger pair of twin tails, jutting from the side of her head, rather than hidden behind it. Tied around these, long, flowing red ribbons extended nearly all the way to the ground. And crossing her face was now a permanent, etched X, much like Vandham's scars, through which orange light could be seen glowing dimly. Slowly, she opened her eyes, which were still the same, glowing orange, and gave them all a familiar smile. "Wait...where is Poppi? Who are all of you? Ha ha, Poppi just kidding. I still the same Poppi."

"Upgrade process fantastic success!" Tora crowed, bouncing up and down happily. "This Poppi Mark Two! Also known as Poppi QT!"

Tatazo's jaw dropped open in awe. Finally, he wiped a tear away from his eye. "Truly, my Tora has surpassed even his dadapon," he said quietly. "I...more proud than I ever thought possible."

Tora turned towards the stunned party, shivering excitedly. "So? What do friends think?"

"Uh," Nia said, the first to break the silence. "Boy, you sure did give her...much larger…." she raised her hands to her chest and made a squeezing motion.

Tora turned his head to the side curiously. "If Nia has a better suggestion for place to put excess jet fuel storage pods, Tora would like to hear it."

Poppi looked down at her chest, and poked at these new protrusions. "Poppi likes them," she shrugged. "What humans use these for, anyway?"

"I'll...uh...tell you later," Nia muttered.

Then she sputtered in shock as Poppi tilted her head and brazenly blurted out "They some kind of erogenous zone, right?" Poppi shrugged again. "Well, mine full of jet fuel. Poppi thinks this is better."

Dromarch approached Poppi, sniffing tentatively. "Well," he said, sitting back and licking one of his paws, "She certainly still smells like Poppi."

"What Poppi smell like?" Poppi asked.

"Oil and burnt plastic," Dromarch replied dryly.

Zeke slowly looked Poppi up and down, and shot Tora a wink and a thumbs up. "Good taste, furrypon."

"Her fashion sense could be a bit better," Pandoria mused. "Like, why the dress? Why not some shorts, like these?" She pointed towards her own legs.

"You think everyone would look better in tight short shorts, Pandy," Zeke laughed.

"Everyone would," Pandy shot back.

Malos was scratching his chin, circling Poppi. "Sure, she's cute," he said. "But what can she do?"

"Poppi has many enhanced combat capabilities," Poppi replied, eyeing Malos as he circled her. "Increased strength, endurance, dancing ability." She cocked her head to the side, smiling smugly, as she raised her arms, and with a mechanical whirr they unfolded into hydraulic fists, much like the ones Lila had, though sleeker and newer-looking. "Poppi bets she can kick your ass."

Malos paused in shock, then laughed. "Alright. I like this new Poppi." He looked back. "What do you think, Rex?"

Rex had his arms crossed dubiously. He approached Poppi, looking up at her. She stood a few inches above him now. "It's….still the same Poppi in there?" he asked, squinting.

"Of course, Rex," Poppi replied, giving him a gentle smile. "Personality matrix has remained the same."

Rex uncrossed his arms, smiling. "Well then, nothing's changed, right?"

"Yeah, except now there's another person taller than you," Nia deadpanned.

"She's taller than you too!" Rex snapped. He blushed furiously as Nia laughed at him, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Whatever."

"Oh, that remind Tora. What happen to your shield?" Tora asked, peering up at Poppi as she stared appreciatively at her new build-in hydraulic fists. "Tora design you with new weaponry so that both can have access to weapon at same time in battle."

Poppi hung her head in shame. "Poppi is sorry. It destroyed in last battle."

Tora scratched the top of his head. "No need for Poppi to be sorry. If it break, it because Tora did not build it good enough. But now he have no weapon."

"Why not use these?" Tatazo asked, holding up the hydraulic presses from Lila's body. "Tatazo originally design them for nopon use on wings, after all. Only minor changes made to fit them to Lila's arms."

"Hmmm..." Tora said, inspecting the presses. "Yes...yes! Tora thinks he likes this idea. Can already think of many improvements to make to design. Will be fun to fiddle around with and improve!" He grabbed the presses, sliding them onto his wings. "Is all settled then!"

34.

"Alright, if we're all done gawking at the sexy new robot," Nia said, "I think we should get out of here as soon as possible."

"That's right." Rex glanced nervously around the factory floor. It was a tangle of machinery and catwalks, with no clear exit visible. "We still have to get back and warn Niall as soon as possible."

"You follow me," Tatazo said, tucking Lila's personality core into one of the pockets of his large duster. "Tatazo help build this place. He trapped in room for long time now, but he knows exits. He thinks. Been a while."

Tatazo led them on a winding path throughout the factory. They passed by various stages of the assembly line, witnessing the artificial blades being built from the ground up from simple metal frames welded together, all the way to large, hulking mechanical brutes, fashioned to look like giant , musclebound, black trenchcoat-wearing Ardainian soldiers, their faces covered by a black gas mask. They passed by heaps of scrap metal and piles of ore, shipped in along secretive trade routes from Bana's connections in Mor Ardain.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, they came into a large, cement-lined room, the floor covered in scorch marks and small craters. "This testing grounds for blade designs," Tatazo said, eyeing the battle-scarred walls. "We almost to the exit now. We almost free-"

"Ah, yes, 'almost' is operative word there," came a familiar voice.

The party spun around. Approaching them from behind was Bana, his jewels glittering in the thrumming light of the generators, glaring at them.

"Oh no," whispered Tora.

Bana eyed Rex up and down. "Rex. Did not know you were here. So ungrateful of you. First you abandon trade guild, and now you try to steal my property."

"Your property?" Rex asked, narrowing his eyes.

"That's right." Bana pointed a wing at Tatazo, then Tora and Poppi. "All those three my property. You beat up my guards and cause damage to my factory. But because Bana is nice nopon, full of charity, he let you go. Just give his property back to him. Actually..." Bana glanced over at Malos, smiling in surprise. "You also took Bana's property before, when you took Aegis. Bana will be taking him too. Make a pretty penny off of that one."

"Those are all people, not property!" Rex yelled, drawing his claymore.

Bana shrugged. "Bana not get what you mean. People and property not mutually exclusive concepts."

"Friends, we should run," Tora whispered, tugging insistently at Rex's side.

Malos raised an eyebrow, glancing down at the two nopon. Tora and Tatazo were trembling, eyeing Bana with fear. "What's the big deal? He's outnumbered. He's not going to be able to take you."

"This is legendary Bana," Tora replied. "Famous as most ruthless, clever nopon! Pirate terror of Cloud Sea! He not joke to be trifled with!"

"What? Pirate?" Rex turned back to Bana, a quizzical look on his face. "Bana, I never knew you were a pirate."

"Rex stupid or something? How you think Bana got so rich? You think it happen from Bana playing nice and fair? You think he become leader of most powerful Trade Guild just by being good businessman alone? No! Bana stole a bunch of stuff! Of course Bana a pirate!" Bana reached behind him with his wings, pulling out two large, unwieldy shotguns. "And Bana not letting you leave here!"

"We must run! Run!" Tora cried.

"Look, okay, maybe he's a pirate and all, but I'm the Aegis," Malos said, bemused. He summoned his blade to his hand. "I'm pretty sure we can take him."

"Yes yes," Tora said, rolling his eyes. "Sure. You big scary Aegis. But this is Bana."

"Oh come on, how tough could he be," Nia snapped. She was sick of being stuck in this factory. They had pushed their time here well beyond the limit. They were playing with fire. Torna could pop up from around the corner any moment. She began walking forward. "Come on, let's just go-"

Bana leveled a shotgun at her and fired.

Dromarch roared, projecting an ether barrier, but watched in horror as somehow, the shot easily penetrated it, slamming into Nia. With a shout, she was sent flying backwards. Zeke caught her, and she slumped against him, gasping for breath.

"Nia!" Rex cried, his eyes widening in shock, taking a step toward her.

"I'm….I'm fine," Nia said, catching her breath. She drew on her power, healing the oozing wound Bana's shot had left in her stomach, a tattered hole torn in her yellow jumpsuit. "But…that attack went right through Dromarch's ether shield..."

"Yes yes, ether-penetrating rounds," Bana smiled, reloading the shotgun. "Amazing what money can buy you, isn't it?" From within one of his pockets, he pulled out a small remote. "And if you think Bana really outnumbered..."

With a press of a button, one of the walls of the testing grounds gave a mechanical hiss, and slowly began sliding open, revealing…

Nothing but the smoking, shattered remains of what looked to be well over a dozen of the artificial blades they had seen being produced in the factory. Though they were so torn to pieces, it was hard to say just how many there were originally.

"What!" Bana snarled, enraged. "Who destroy Bana's latest shipment! WHO-"

Suddenly, with a massive roar, one of the generators in the corner of the room exploded, sending them all flying to the ground, flames and fuel spilling out onto the concrete. Nia covered her head and winced as, one by one, in quick succession, the other generators exploded around them, blasting them with waves of heat, showering them with hot fragments of metal.

When she finally raised her head, the room was full of thick, black smoke, obscuring her vision. She coughed as she struggled to her feet, her eyes stinging, watering. She could see, dimly, through the smoke, the dull orange flickering of chemical fires, feel the intense heat of them battering against her. She could see no one else. "Guys," she called, coughing again as smoke rushed into her lungs. "Where is everyone? Are you okay-"

She flinched as, suddenly, a hand fell on her shoulder. "Hello, Nia," cooed a familiar voice.

Nia spun around. Staring down at her, a bemused sneer written across her features, was Patroka, long black hair floating around her in the heat, cold blue eyes stabbing into Nia, dressed in her long, flowing white robes beneath simple black armor. Her face, as always, deceptively sweet. Patroka could wear a smile that made you think she was a naive, innocent woman. It was only after long exposure that you'd learn that innocent little smile meant she was laughing at you. Behind her stood her blade, Perdido, tall, lanky, almost insect like, a different weapon held in each of its four spindly arms.

And of course, where Patroka was, Mikhail was not far behind. His face swam in from the smoke as well, followed by his massive, muscle-bound, beast-like blade Cressidus, long red hair flowing down his shoulders. Mikhail, of the empty, laughing eyes. Mikhail, to whom everything in the world was a joke. He had a handsome face, and a mop of blonde hair, and the same cold blue eyes as Patroka. He was dressed in his dark, dull red armor that he usually wore on missions, flashing Nia a dangerous smile. Whereas Akhos or Patroka might be cruel, Mikhail had never been so much. But he seemed...hollow, in a way. Like there was simply nothing left in him even capable of connecting with other people anymore. Like even if he tried, he had simply lost all capacity to care.

Nia slapped Patroka's hand away from her shoulder, scrambling backwards. "You two creeps just...stay away from me."

"Creep?" Mikhail's face dropped into a mockery of sadness. "Nia, that's not very nice. You know how hurt I was to hear you had abandoned Jin? I thought you and I….really shared something special."

"In your dreams, Mik," Nia snapped. She looked around nervously, through the haze of smoke. Where was everyone…?

Patroka followed her eye movements and gave a small chuckle. "Looking for your friends? Well, don't bother. They're all already dead."

Despite herself, Nia felt her heart drop into her stomach. "You're lying."

"Oh, you think so?" Patroka's smile was small, mocking. "Are you certain? Humans die so easily, after all, don't they? You know that better than anyone." Patroka stepped forward, menacingly, her smile growing. "Is it really so impossible that some explosions and some shrapnel killed them? I saw that one kid you liked...Rex, Pyra said his name was...with a hole in his head. Bam, gone. Just a tiny piece of hot metal and he's gone forever. You're all alone now. You're all alone, and we're going to give you what a traitor deserves."

Nia stared at her, eyes wide. "R-Rex?" she called, her voice wavering. "REX."

"I'm here," she heard Rex call back, faintly, coughing.

Nia sighed with relief, then glared at Patroka, crouching, backing up further from her. "You lying bitch. I'm over here! Careful, Torna's here!"

"Where?" Rex called back. "Can't see a damn thing-"

"Oh, enough of this," Nia heard Malos suddenly, irritation in his voice. Somewhere deep within the smoke, there was a sudden purplish-black glow. It shot up high above them, towards the ceiling, crashing against it with a roar, eating it up, carving a perfectly smooth, symmetrical hole opening up onto the dying light of the sky. Smoke began funneling out of it rapidly, clearing the room. Nia could quickly see everyone staggering to their feet, recovering from the explosions. Mikhail leapt forward and grabbed for her, growling with frustration as she nimbly danced out of his reach to go stand side by side with her friends.

"Ugh, whatever," Patroka sighed, and with a flash of blue sparks, she was holding a massive ether cannon in her hands, slung low by her hips. Mikhail sighed, and suddenly his hands were encased in his blade's weapon, a pair of massive gauntlets, each nearly half as tall as he was himself.

"We don't have time for this," Rex yelled, pointing his sword at them. "We defeated your leader before. What makes you think you can win?"

Mikhail gave a lighthearted laugh, clenching his gauntlets into ram-like fists. "You defeated Jin when he was sick, kid. Believe me, you have no idea the sort of true power he holds. What he's actually capable of. The Aegis is coming with us. Nia is getting the death she deserves. The rest of you?" He slammed one gauntlet into another. "Leave or be crushed. It's that simple."

"Okay, well, that's definitely not happening," Rex replied dryly.

"Then there's not much left to talk about," Mikhail said smoothly, and he leapt forward, his fists flying through the air, Zeke just managing to parry them before they crashed into Rex's skull.

The party fell into combat with the four.

Pandy, Zeke, Tora and Poppi all had to deal with Perdido. With four weapons, one in each of his hands – a greataxe, a spear, a katana and a hammer – it was all they could do to slow his assault. Every one of his arms was a competent weapons master. Any blows they thought they might be able to land were parried. Fighting him was like fighting four different blades at once.

Patroka herself nimbly leapt backwards, keeping her range, charging up her ether cannon to fire at the group. She was too quick to keep up with, always jumping back twenty feet, laughing, every time someone drew near to her. Nia leapt onto Dromarch's back to pursue her, to at least keep her moving so that she couldn't freely fire on everyone at will.

Malos and Zeke, in the meantime, battled Mikhail and Cressidus. Malos himself took on the large, beast-like blade, carving deep scores into his body that bled with black flame. Without weapons, Cressidus was largely defenseless against his assault, but he was humongous, and barely seemed to feel the attacks, roaring ferally and trying to rake at Malos with his claws. Rex dueled Mikhail himself, doing his best to block the powerful blows from his gauntlets with Vandham's sword, not able to make much headway into actually landing any attacks.

It quickly became apparent that Mikhail and Patroka, outnumbered though they may be, were not going to be simple to defeat. Though the group was holding their own against them, they were barely managing to land any blows, and any they did land Patroka and Mikhail seemed to shrug off. Rex remembered the words of the Brionac officer, and growled in frustration as Mikhail mockingly feinted left, then attempted to land a blow into Rex's gut, that he only just barely blocked in time. "We don't have time for this!" he cried. "We have to get back, we have to warn Niall-"

There was a sudden roar of black flame, and Cressidus was sent flying backward, smoke curling from him. "Well, we haven't had much time to practice this," Malos muttered to himself. He grabbed Mikhail by the back of the neck, tossing him aside. While the two were recovering, he offered his sword to Rex. "But if we want to end this quickly, now might be the time to show you what I'm capable of now."

Rex sheathed his claymore, taking up Malos' black blade. "Alright, I'm ready," he nodded confidently.

"No you aren't," Malos replied. "Nobody ever really is."

Suddenly, Rex's mind went blank. He couldn't see the battle around him, couldn't hear anything. He was alone, drifting in an endless gray fog, nothing at his side but Malos' sword.

He spun around in the fog. He couldn't think straight. He couldn't even remember what he had been doing, or how he had gotten here. And there, in the center of the fog, was a large, dark...rip...a hole in reality itself.

And as he watched, it began drinking in the fog, sucking the fog into itself, consuming everything around it, and then it was consuming him, and he was in the void, and it was growing smaller and smaller, crushing further and further, until it was an almost infinitely small point, the smallest anything could ever be, crushing Rex within it, until Rex didn't know where the void ended and where he began, until he realized he was the void-

And then everything exploded outwards.

On the battlefield, Rex exploded into black flame. He was a shadow, a living shadow in the center of the flame, his eyes two bright, glowing beacons. He stared down curiously at himself, at the flames running up and down his arms. He looked out across the battlefield itself. People...no longer looked like people. It was like when he meditated with Malos. They looked like glowing clouds of light in the vague shape of people. All except for Malos himself. He looked like a blank spot, a shadow. Though...Rex wasn't sure, but he thought perhaps he glimpsed a hint of gold within the darkness.

Rex looked down at himself. He didn't look like that. He looked like a golden cloud. But at the center of his cloud was a small, black void, a tiny black hole, that was slowly devouring him. And suddenly Rex realized he was hungry. Not...in a physical way. In some way more primal than that. He had a hunger to consume, to be.

The four-armed blade. Rex felt, more than heard, Malos' voice echoing through his head.

He looked over through the darkness. He could see Patroka's blade, like a dancing golden spider, whirling through the void. He reached out to it, and it recoiled, the golden lights of its form shrinking a bit. But it felt so good, it sated the gnawing hunger inside of him. Greedily, he reached out for more.

Malos watched as Rex, wreathed in black flame, drew power from Perdido, sucking in a twisting cord of golden light from the blade that withered and turned black the moment it touched the flames surrounding Rex. Perdido was twisting, screaming, his limbs snapping back and forth hopelessly as his essence was slowly drained out of him. He nodded, a cruel smile lighting up his featured, as he turned and did the same to Cressidus, drawing a cord of golden light out of him as the beastlike blade writhed on the ground.

Mikhail got to his feet, looking over at Cressidus in shock. "What are you doing, you monster?" he cried, leaping towards Malos.

Malos leapt backwards, laughing, dodging his attacks. "Wait your turn. You'll be next."

Nia stopped her pursuit of Patroka, feeling strange movements in the ether. She looked back across the battlefield, her eyes widening as she saw Rex consumed in dark flame. He...it was like the wound that she could feel inside him sometimes, the wound from using Malos' power, had opened up and was devouring him from within. "No," she whispered to herself, turning Dromarch around, steering him back across the battlefield, racing towards Rex and Malos. "No!"

Malos finished devouring Cressidus, the large blade retreating back into his core with a whimper. With a savage twist, Malos sucked the last of life out of him, and his core crystal crumbled into black dust. Mikhail stared at his hands in disbelief as the gauntlets disappeared from them.

Malos barely had time to turn before Nia crashed into him, tackling him. "Bastard," she cried. "Whatever it is you're doing to him, stop it right now."

Malos turned to look at Rex. Perdido had withered before his assault, and with a final flash of light, retreated back into his core as well. Across the room, Patroka let out a cry of rage as her ether cannon disappeared from her hands. Rex stared down at the core crystal, still active, still alive.

"Well? You going to finish him off?" Malos asked, ignoring Nia for the moment.

"I..." Rex's voice sounded like it was echoing to them across a vast distance. "I...no...not right."

Malos shrugged. "Have it your way."

And suddenly, Rex was no longer a shadow surrounded by black flame. He was his normal self again, crashing to the floor, gasping for breath. Nia rushed to his side.

Patroka dashed across the battlefield, snatching up Perdido's core crystal. She stared down at it in disbelief, then back at Malos and Rex. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," she muttered. "I'd heard you'd done something similar to Obrona."

"Then maybe this will surprise you." Malos lifted a finger, and suddenly a massive blast of black flame sent Patroka and Mikhail hurtling backwards, slamming into a wall.

"We...have to get out of here," Mikhail muttered, as he staggered to his feet. "He's going to do...that...to us, if he gets the chance."

Patroka stared down at the core crystal in her hands, then looked back across the battlefield at Rex, an odd expression on her face. "I...yeah, let's go," she muttered. The two of them leapt over the chemical fires slowly sputtering out on the concrete, disappearing down a hallway.

Nia's head was pounding with anger as she knelt by Rex, who was swallowing air in great ragged breaths. She had gotten….used to the idea that Rex would hurt himself with Malos power when it was necessary. She hated it, but she had gotten used to it. But this, this was so much worse...and damn it, she had started to like Malos. "You're a bloody bastard," she hissed at him, as he approached her. "Brute. Butcher."

Malos' eyes widened. "I thought you'd like this aspect of my power," he said, seeming genuinely surprised. "Using it, Rex can reconstitute himself. It's risky to use, of course. It can consume you if you're not careful. But he feasted on that blade. He should be fine."

"I..." Nia glanced over at Rex, then reached out through the ether. It...was true. Physically, Rex was fine. But the wound within him, the part she couldn't heal, no matter how hard she tried….it had worsened, torn open like a hole within him. She looked at Malos, her eyes widening. Malos knew his power could physically hurt Rex. Did he...just not know about what else it was doing to him? Would that be...such a surprise? Malos was many things, but he was no healer. Was she the only one who could tell the deeper damage it was doing? Did Rex himself even know?

"I'm….fine," Rex said, finally catching his breath. "Just..." he shook his head, blinking flashing stars out of his vision. "Just give me a second, here..."

"Take it easy, you big idiot," Nia muttered at him, as he tried to stand, and fell backward on his ass.

Tatazo, who had cowered in a corner during the battle, finally removed his wings from his eyes. "It...over?" he said, cautiously. "Where Bana go?"

"Just a moment. Poppi scanning." Poppi's eyes glowed red, and she slowly rotated around the room. "Poppi detects no biological signals other than party here. It seem Bana escape during confusion."

"Tora suppose even legendary Bana know when to pick his battles," the nopon mused.

Zeke strode over to kneel beside Rex, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You alright there, chum? That was...some intense Aegis mojo there."

Rex, finally recovering, shook his head once more, then struggled to his feet. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright." He took one final breath, closing his eyes, then opened them once more, full of determination. "We can talk later. We have to get back to the palace as soon as possible."

The party cautiously made their way around the sputtering flames of the destroyed generators, running down a long hallway to the humongous double-door exits of the factory. It opened up into the abandoned ghost town surrounding the factory, a lonely wind blowing dust through the streets. Daylight had nearly gone, the sky stained red and purple by the setting sun. Rex groaned as he put a hand to his eyes and peered at where they had entered the factory, the mine sitting on a cliff far above the town. "Damn it, it's gonna take us way too long to get back up there to the trucks," he muttered.

Tatazo pointed to their right. There sat a few large delivery vehicles, presumably used by Bana when he was shipping products out or material into the factory. "Why not take one of these? Tatazo can hotwire."

They all piled into the back of one of the trucks, as Malos took the wheel and Zeke took the passenger seat of the cab. With a little fiddling from Tatazo, and a shock from Pandy, the truck's engine roared to life. Malos slammed on the gas, and it lurched forward at incredible, dangerous speed, tires squealing before they found purchase and the truck began tearing across the desert.

Nia sat next to Rex quietly in the back of the truck, watching him closely. He...seemed alright. But at the same time, she could feel that wound within him, like a great bleeding hole. She reached out through the ether, probing at the wound. She...didn't know what it meant, really. It...didn't quite feel like a physical wound. But at the same time, it felt like it should be something that should have Rex on the ground, screaming in pain. But here he was, looking perfectly fine. And as dense as he was, she didn't think that he was trying to conceal the pain this time. Was this...inner wound something that not even he could detect…? Was her own sense of healing just going haywire…? Nia shook her head. If there was one thing she knew, it was to heal. Mending came to her as naturally as breathing. It wasn't her imagining things. But just what the wound was, she didn't know.

Night fell as they drove across the desert, racing back to Alba Cavanich. "Look, it the palace!" Tora cried, peering out a window in the back of the truck.

They all turned to look at the monolithic, imposing black palace of Mor Ardain. And as they watched, Brighid's blue flame burst out of one of the windows.

35.

Morag sighed, rubbing her temples, as she listened to Sylvie badgering her brother.

They were within the throne room, Morag, Aegaeon and Brighid standing in one corner, chatting idly, while Niall sat at his sprawling desk, nodding politely as Sylvie rambled on and on. Morag had told him that he simply shouldn't allow her to make visits like this. But Niall had insisted that, as Emperor, he should have an open door policy for, at the very least, the more important Senators representing each party. And well, for the Brionac party, that meant Sylvie. Who made full use of the time.

She was dressed in her Brionac uniform as always, black leather inlaid with gleaming silver skulls. She was pacing back and forth in front of the desk, which had an unrolled map pinned to it. "Look here, your majesty," she said, jabbing her finger toward the map. "Uraya has ramped up their power armor production. New workshops here, here and here. Now, their industrial capacity is pathetic compared to our factories. But Urayan power armor is no joke. Now, we all know this war is coming. The more you delay, the more Urayan soldiers will be equipped with power armor when we finally do face them. We should strike now, when-"

"Not when negotiations are ongoing, Senator," Niall replied calmly.

Sylvie threw up her hands, glaring at him. "Then at the very least, let's approve some sabotage. We have spies in the region. A few well-placed bombs will-"

"I do not wish," Niall interrupted, still calm, "To inflame tensions with Uraya while negotiations are ongoing."

"This could make your precious negotiations go smoother!" Sylvie shouted, slamming her fist down. "When do you think Uraya is more likely to make concessions? When they're well-equipped for war? Or when they can't even provide their soldiers with basic equipment? I'm practically doing you a favor, here!"

Niall opened his mouth to reply, but was suddenly interrupted by Aegaeon.

"Wait." the obsidian blade held a hand up as everyone looked at him curiously. "Quiet. Do you hear that?"

They all listened for a moment. Brighid furrowed her brow. "I don't hear anything-"

And then, there it was. The unmistakable sound of distant gunfire.

Sylvie frowned. "One of the battalions must be breaking regulation on the curfew for live-fire target practice."

"No," Aegaeon muttered, suspiciously. "The shots are too irregular for target practice. Something's wrong-"

Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open, revealing the lumbering figure of someone clad in Urayan power armor, face concealed behind a massive gray helmet, more Urayans visible behind him. He raised a rifle, and immediately aimed directly for Niall and fired.

Sylvie shouted, tackling Niall to the ground, upending the desk to form a barricade as Aegaeon, Morag and Brighid immediately dashed to the door, cutting down the Urayan. More gunfire erupted as the Urayans behind him opened up with their weapons.

"Urayans!" Sylvie snarled, drawing her sidearm. She glanced over at Niall, who was pale, trembling beside her, crouched behind the desk. "You alright, your majesty?"

"I...yes," he said quietly, catching his breath. "Thank you, Senator."

Sylvie leaned over the upturned desk, squinting, and popping off a few shots with her handgun, nodding in grim satisfaction as one of the Urayans fell with a scream. "I don't understand," she snapped, ducking back behind the desk, wincing as the wood above her splintered as they returned fire. She grabbed another clip from her belt, sliding it into her gun. "How the hell are Urayans even here?"

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the palace, as Brighid unleashed massive wave of blue flame, blowing out a window. The Urayans, those who were not killed by their armor melting around them, scattered. Dull, distant thuds, muffled explosions, and the cracking sounds of gunfire, told her there were more on their way. "I don't know," she said calmly, "But it seems like there are a lot of them."

"Oh ho ho, well," Sylvie said, rolling her eyes, "Sure seems like debate's a moot point now, eh, Emperor? You might not want to invade their capital, but they've gone ahead and invaded ours first. For counter-strike, I recommend-"

"Can we please wait until the danger is over," Morag snapped, "Before we go ahead and score political points off this attack?"

"I...uh, right," Sylvie replied, somewhat abashed.

"Something about this isn't making any sense," Aegaeon said, as he pulled a book case down in front of the door to the throne room. "This many Urayans entering the capital by stealth is impossible. And there's no way they made it past the fleets. What exactly is going on here…?"

Sylvie leapt over the desk, heading to a small radio communication station installed in the wall. She flicked it on, wincing as the sound of screams and gunfire echoed through the throne room from the radio. She tried flicking through a few different stations, getting the same result on each one. "...Architect's hoary hangnail," she said, paling after she flicked through one station. "That was the receiver in the Senator's quarters. I...recognized some of those screams."

"So. It seems we don't know where in the palace is safe or not." Niall stood, brushing dust and wood splinters off himself.

"Well," Morag said, catching her breath and sheathing her swords, "It seems the throne room is as safe a place as any, for now. I recommend we wait until the situation evolves, then see if we can't hail friendly forces on the radio."

They waited for a tense twenty minutes. It seemed that however the Urayans had managed to make their way into the capital, they had managed to bring a lot of their equipment with them. Explosions rocked the palace, sometimes dangerously close, close enough to send books falling to the floor from the bookshelves with the aftershock, and the gunfire went on forever, unceasing. Sylvie kept trying to hail friendly forces on the radio, but every station was filled with the sound of gunfire, or dead air. Even the stations outside the palace, from the civilian defense force, were suspiciously quiet.

Finally, Morag sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Well, we can't wait here forever," she muttered. "We should-"

They all jumped out of their skins at the sound of a sudden knock on the door. "Friends of the Emperor!" came a muffled voice on the other side.

Sylvie immediately relaxed. "I know that voice," she said. "That's Colonel Roderich. Thank the Titans, a friendly face."

Aegaeon and Morag pulled aside the bookcases barricading the throne room doorway, throwing the doors open. Beyond it was a grim-looking colonel, his hair gray, skin drawn taught against his face, followed by a platoon of soldiers. He wore a uniform similar to Sylvie's. "Well, well," he said, as he and his soldiers entered the throne room, removing his cap and running a hand through his hair. "We were looking for you." His eyes flicked to Sylvie, and he nodded. "Senator."

"Colonel, what is going on out there?" Morag asked, walking forward. "We were attacked here by a group of Urayans. There's absolutely no communication channels open. What's going on?"

"Yes. They're all over the place." Roderich shook his head as he walked further into the throne room. "I have no idea what's going on with the radio stations being down. But we've finally got the defense a bit organized. We're here to escort you and the Emperor to a safe location."

Suddenly, he spun around, his soldiers bringing up their rifles, as the sound of footsteps hammering down the hallway to the throne room could be heard. Moments later, Rex, Malos, Nia, Dromarch, Zeka, Pandoria, Tora, and Poppi burst into the throne room, out of breath.

"Lower your weapons, these are friends," Morag ordered, walking forward to greet them. "You lot have made your way back at an awkward time. We're...wait, is that Poppi?" she asked, her eyes widening at the sight of Poppi's new form.

Rex stood, seeing Roderich standing next to the Emperor. He saw the uniform the dark-eyed Colonel was wearing, and his eyes widened with shock. "Assassin!" he shouted, flinging an accusatory finger at the officer.

"I...what?" Morag said, turning around.

Just in time to see Colonel Roderich grimly draw a handgun, and point it at Niall. Niall stared up at him, sadness and betrayal in his eyes.

"For Mor Ardain," Roderich hissed, his voice cold, merciless.

"No," Morag shouted, her hands going to her blades.

Roderich squeezed the trigger, firing. Niall's body jerked backwards as the bullet entered his chest. Roderich fired again, and again. Niall fell against a wall, slumping down, leaving a long bloody streak against it.

Roderich turned, a triumphant, awful smile etched against his features.

Morag was only dimly aware of the soldiers around her opening fire, only dimly aware of Rex and his party attacking them, only dimly aware of Aegaeon, at her side, holding his hands to the side of his head and disappearing, with a burst of light, back into his core crystal. The world around her went blank. She drew her blades, and with incredible speed, dashed across the throne room, sliding them into Roderich's chest.

He merely smiled at her as blood began to drip from his mouth. "Do what you want," he sputtered, wheezing. "We have already won."

"Why kill him," Morag asked, her ears ringing. "I'm the one next in line for the throne. Did you think I would go along…?"

"You," Roderich replied, before the lights went out of his eyes, "Will be hung for treason...for conspiring with the enemy. More than enough evidence..." He looked off into the distance, his eyes misting over, "all...worth it...for Mor Ardain..."

Morag slid her blades out of him as he slumped, limply, against her, letting his body fall with a thud to the floor.

"Oh no," Brighid said at her side. For the only time in her life that Morag had ever seen, her blade was openly weeping. She put a gloved hand to her mouth as she stared at Niall. "Oh, Niall. Oh, my sweet Emperor. No, no..."

Morag was oblivious to the battle raging behind her. She approached her brother, kneeling beside him, taking his hand. It twitched in hers, and she lifted her eyes to his face, gentle wiping some of the blood away from his mouth. "Niall?" she asked, softly.

"Scared," Niall sputtered, blood flecking his chin as he struggled to speak. "sc-scared."

And then his hand went limp in hers, and he was still.

Memories of her brother flooded her mind. The first time she had ever held him in her arms. Taking him for long walks on the palace grounds. His childish laughter echoing through the halls, bringing joy to her heart. All gone, now. Gone forever.

Morag stood, her eyes blank, taking her blades in her hand once more. Sylvie was staring at Niall's body in shock. Her eyes slowly rose to meet Morag's. "Morag, I swear I didn't know," she whispered. "I...I would never..."

"Why not?" Malos called, his voice ringing clear throughout the throne room. Sylvie turned to stare at him with wide eyes. He was busy pulling off a helmet from one of the bodies of the Urayan soldiers lying in the throne room, tearing it off with an awful wrenching screech of metal. He looked grimly at what lay inside. It wasn't an Urayan, but rather an Ardainian. "A false flag attack," he muttered. He looked back up at Sylvie. "Why not?" he asked again. "Isn't it just like you said? You do what needs to be done. Even if it makes the whole world hate you."

All the blood drained out of Sylvie's face, and she lifted a hand to her mouth in shock and horror. "Not like this," she whispered. "Never like this."

Morag stared at Sylvie for a long moment. "Out of my way," she said, utterly emotionless. Before her, the battle had ended. Rex and the others had made short work of the soldiers attending Roderich. The sound of shouting voices echoed down the hallway, more soldiers approaching. They did not sound friendly.

She made her way past the group, not listening to a word they said, only pausing at the doors to the throne room. Down the hallway, more men in Urayan armor were making their way. "For Niall," she whispered, quietly. Then she dashed out to meet them.

Zeke watched this, then stared at Niall's body, shaking his head. "Come on. Let's go help her. We can sort this mess out later."

"Oh yes, you should definitely do that," Nia said, her eyes flicking to Niall's body. "Come on, let's all go help her right now. Come on everyone, danger danger, that's right, everyone out! Yes, you too," she snapped at Sylvie, ushering her towards the door. "Yes, let's all go help Morag. Come on. There you go. Go." Dromarch, the last one out, gave her a curious glance as he headed out the door. "Make sure they don't come in until...well. You know."

Dromarch's eyes widened. "Do you mean to…?"

"Yes," Nia said softly. "Hurry. Go."

Finally, Dromarch left the throne room to go join the battle in the hallway, and Nia slammed the door shut behind him.

She dashed over to Niall's body, reaching out through the ether once more. The boy could definitely be saved. When he had been shot, the bullets had passed through his lungs, but not one had hit his heart. In fact, things were not nearly as bad as they seemed. The flame in him still held strong, and probably would for a minute or so more before fading away completely.

Nia breathed deeply, glancing with worry at the door to the throne room. Someone...was definitely going to feel this. But it didn't matter.

With a flash of light, she assumed her Flesh Eater form, long, flowing white robes, her ears growing much longer, revealing the flesh eater gem embedded into her chest. Despite herself, she couldn't help but laugh. It felt so...right, being like this. And the power to heal that danced at her fingertips was simply incredible. So little was beyond her power. She could heal anyone, absolutely anyone, of anything-

Like Vandham? The voice inside her head hissed. Nia paused for a moment, then shook her head. It was no time for that. She had a job to do.

She leaned over Niall's body, gentle light radiating from her, primal waters flowing forth from her fingertips. His tormented, ruined form knitted together neatly before her eyes. She sighed. She...loved this. She loved to heal. It felt so damn right.

"There you go, you're going to be alright," she murmured, as Niall's chest began to rise and fall again. "You're going to be just fine. Don't you worry. Don't be scared. I'll take care of you."

Suddenly, Niall's eyes flickered open, gently. He stared up at Nia for a few moments, as she smiled down at him. "What...what's happening?" he said, groggily, as if he was awakening from a long sleep. He rubbed his eyes, then focused them on Nia. His eyes landed on the red and blue crystal embedded in her chest, and widened.

Nia gasped, then clasped her hands to her chest. She had been so engrossed in healing him that she had completely forgotten how exposed she was.

Niall struggled to sit up as Nia backed away. "You...you're a flesh eater," he said, wonderingly.

With a flash of light, Nia's Flesh Eater form disappeared. She was back in her driver form, her hair shorter, her ears shorter, her crystal covered up by her yellow jumpsuit. "...Aye, that's right," he said quietly. "I am."

"You...saved me..." Niall continued, touching his chest where, only moments ago, ragged holes had been torn in his body.

"Yes. So….please don't tell anyone what you saw," Nia whispered. "Please, alright?"

Niall stood, taking her hands, laughing delightedly. "You...are an angel," he said, his eyes shining bright as he stared at her. "I promise, I won't tell anyone your secret. How could I? You...bought me back from death. You...I can never repay you. All the riches in the world couldn't repay what you've done for me."

"Ah, don't be silly. All I did was put things right." Nia wagged her finger at him. "Now, you're still gonna want to get your rest and eat plenty of food. Your body still needs time to recover. I-"

The door to the throne room burst open, Dromarch leading the way in, followed by the others. "I'm telling you," Pandy was saying, "You guys didn't feel that in the ether? Something weird's going on. Something big-"

"Niall…?" Morag said, wonderingly, seeing him standing by Nia's side.

"Ah, yeah, he's fine. Examined him, turned out the bullets just ricocheted off his rib cage, lucky bugger. A little internal bleeding, but nothing I couldn't patch up," Nia said, as Morag rushed forward to grab Niall by the shoulder, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"I'm real, sister," Niall laughed, as Morag kept poking and grabbing at him. "It's as your friend said. The wounds were less serious than they appeared."

"Less serious?" Pandy crossed her arms suspiciously. "Dude, we saw you get shot point blank in the chest. Like three times." She stared at Niall, then stared over at Nia. "Something weird is going on here."

"Let it go for now, Pandy," Zeke replied. "Let's all just be glad Niall's safe."

"That's our Nia," Rex laughed, beaming at her. The admiration his face made Nia blush. "She's a real saint, that one."

"Oh, shaddap, you wanker," she snapped at him, but wasn't able to contain a small grin.

"Hey, I'm serious. You're one of the best people I know." Rex scratched his chin. "Might have to work on that sailor's mouth of yours if you want to be a saint, though."

"Poppi agree," Poppi piped up. "Even though Nia cannot heal Poppi, Poppi see her healing others all the time. Poppi need Tora for repairs. But Nia is like a Tora to all her friends!"

"Architect forbid. If that were true, I'd have the boys all dressed up half-naked. Actually, now that you mention it..." Nia stopped as Brighid approached her.

She stared at Morag and Niall, as Niall assured her that he was real and alive. "You've...healed the two most important people in my life, bought them back from the edge of death," murmured Brighid. "I hope you will excuse me for this...display of emotion...but..."

And suddenly Nia found herself wrapped up in a tight hug from Brighid. She sputtered, muffled, against her chest.

"Thank you, Nia," Brighid whispered quietly to her. "If there is ever anything you need, anything at all, I will be there for you." Then she let go, blushing slightly. "Well. Like I said. Excuse me for that outburst."

"You all are such a sappy lot. It's no big deal, really." Nia crossed her arms and tried to look annoyed. But try as as she might, she could not stop the large, happy grin spreading across her face.

Note

I told you this was going to be a long one, I had considered splitting this up into two separate chapters. But I figured people might appreciate an extra-long chapter after me being gone for a while. With this all done here, now we just have one more chapter in 'Chapter 4' of the game. Then we move on to Chapter 5.

I've tried hard to make this story more than just a simple retelling of the events of the main game. But the ending of Chapter 5, and the second half of the story, are where things REALLY start to diverge, so I'm looking forward to that

A couple of you noticed last chapter that I accidentally had Zeke shirtless for a scene with Poppi in it, the truth is I just completely forgot while writing that scene, I may go back and edit it at some point. It's not like him being shirtless is vital for that scene

As always, please leave comments! They are very inspiring to read