Alec made his way through the mangled buildings and piles of rubble. He saw flames rising high into the sky and some that barely rose more than two feet. Everywhere he looked, he could see nothing but destruction and it filled him with dread.

Just a few hours ago, this was a main street filled with people going about their daily lives. They managed to find some form of peace in the midst of this chaos and were trying to bring some normalcy. Yet, that all vanished in a few minutes. Once again, the world came crashing down.

Alec saw some bodies buried under piles of debris and others that littered the street. He was started by the sight of so many dead. Male, female, young, and old, it didn't matter. They were all mercilessly butchered without every knowing why.

In the midst of this death and destruction, two things were all that kept Alec from falling into insanity. One was that somewhere, in all this was Alexis fighting tooth and nail to survive. The second was that weren't that many dead people.

It was a macabre thought to have but it was necessary. He picked up the habit from James to occasionally wander the streets from time to time and speak to the people. During these journeys, Alec had a vague understanding of the number of people here.

This street for example typically had a hundred people going through every day. Yet now, Alec counted somewhere between thirty and forty. Once again, it was a macabre thought to have but the fact that he was seeing so few dead people on the streets meant that the majority of them got away.

Maybe some were hiding in their houses, maybe some were in some home-made bunkers, and others left the safe haven. It did not matter to him. As long as there weren't that many dead, then it meant humanity still had a chance of surviving.

With that in mind, he looked in the direction the Siren ships were and found that a majority of them were congregating around a particular area. Now he knew where Alexis was. Before he went after her, he reached into his back, pulled out a single pistol and checked the chamber then the cartridge. He also patted his pockets to reaffirm that he had two extra cartridges in his pockets.

Alec knew that this would be a difficult fight and even accepted the idea that this might be his last. With that in mind, he started running towards the ships, ready to face his doom.

00000000000000000000000000000000

If there was one word that went through Alexis' mind as her body went flying through a building it was this: arrogant.

During her training sessions with James, she and the others often tried to use their numbers against him and their superior attack power to overwhelm him. Their opponent easily saw through this tactic and stopped them without much trouble. The thing that Alexis remembered through all those encounters was the look on his face as he calmly beat them all up. He looked at them the way an adult would when a toddler or a school kid pick a fight with them. In that moment, they were reminded of their arrogance in thinking they could beat him with force and numbers alone.

Once again, her arrogance led to her making a similar mistake: thinking she could face these overwhelming forces on her own.

She awakened from her sudden attack to see her body rising in the air, held up by Marie's many hair strands. Alexis tore away at the strands on her arms and legs then focused on the ones on her neck. As she was about to get rid of the ones on her chest, Marie flung her body into the ground. The force of the attack knocked the wind out of her and made it nearly impossible to stand up.

"She's gone after a few minutes?" asked Marie, shaking her head "how disappointing."

"It shouldn't really be a surprise though," said Blake "without the full access to her powers, she's just no match for our combined might."

Just then, the pair heard someone speak through their communicators.

"What is going on?" asked Byron "why haven't you destroyed the base already?"

"We're dealing with a little speed bump," said Blake, laughing at his joke "don't worry, we'll get back to work soon."

"I need you to…" but his words were cut off when Blake and Marie turned off their communicator.

"God he talks too much," said Marie "hey, after this, how about we get rid of him?"

"Why stop with Byron?" countered Blake "anyone between us and the Siren leader is just dead weight."

The pair noticed Alexis slowly rising from the ground and focused their attention on her. They watched as Alexis shot forward and dodged the many strands that Marie shot at her. She neared the pair hoping to attack, but Blake swung his bike out and used the tires to block Alexis' incoming fist. Then the man held the bike like it were a club and rammed it into Alexis, once again knocking her back.

"Oy, you lot," said Blake looking at the assembly of men and Hybrids "we've got this covered. How about you lot go ahead and raze this base to the ground."

One of the Hybrids came forward. It's face showed an array of small bulbs that lit up. It looked like it was processing something, most probably the new order. Then, it turned around and raised its cannon-carrying arm. It pointed at the Siren ships then pointed to one of the buildings. In response, the ships started spreading out and bombarded the area with cannon fire and dive bombers.

The pair watched as the soldiers and Hybrids also moved away from the street and spread out. They formed small groups of four and began sweeping through the base with no mercy.

Now Blake and Marie turned around and saw Alexis fling several large pieces of debris at them. Marie used her hair to create a barrier that blocked the attack. What she did not count on was that Alexis used this to get behind them. When she was in their blind spot, Alexis spun around and kicked Blake on the side of his face. Before Marie could react, Alexis punched her in the nose with a jab.

"You," she hissed, staggering back. She touched the place where Alexis hit her and was surprised to see blood was coming out of her nose.

"How dare you," she yelled and launched multiple hair strands at her. Alexis quickly darted to one side and avoided the attack. She grabbed a few rocks and flung it at Marie, only to have her block it again. Marie knew that Alexis was about to pull the same move from before.

"That trick won't work on me again," said Marie, and immediately turned around. She sent out several strands intending on catching Alexis, but the latter held up a broken metal grate. The strands wrapped around it and gave Alexis the time she needed. The girl slid under the grate and delivered a dropkick squarely on Marie's chest. Alexis watched as Marie staggered back but still remained vertical. Determined to change that, Alexis charged forward again. This time, she leapt up and rammed her knees into Marie's face, sending her crashing through a building.

"Holy hell," said Alexis, landing on the ground 'I didn't think I could do that.'

But the time for patting herself on the back would have to wait. Alexis now heard Blake yelling at the top of his lungs and spun around. She saw him seated on his bike as it flew through the air and arced down towards her. Though Alexis rolled to the side and avoided a head-on collision, the blades that were attached to the wheels landed a deep cut on her side.

She got up and winced at the pain. The blood was seeping out of the wound, but she was confident that her regeneration would take care of things.

"Why?" asked Alexis, trying to buy some time "why are you betraying your own people?"

"My people?" he repeated in a mocking tone "my people didn't give a damn about me when I lost my arm. Humanity rejected me, took away my job and left me on the streets. But now look at me Alexis. I have more power in one hand than most people gain in their life."

"But its come at a cost," she countered "you've lost control of yourself."

"Oh that's the funny thing," he said, flashing her a wicked smile "I was always in control."

"But, the signal that was used on us."

"Gamma explained it to us," he said "the signal was meant to unlock our full powers and help us embrace our new forms. You rejected that power and that's why Gamma modified the signal to turn you into an obedient puppet."

"Unfortunately though, it didn't work out. But hey, two out of three isn't a bad deal."

Alexis was about to say something when she saw him rev the bike. He sped towards her and she ran to him. When they were close enough, Alexis leapt up in an attempt to avoid the bike. As she was in the air, she saw Blake press the brakes and skid the bike to a halt. She landed on the ground and instinctively knew what was coming. Alexis immediately bent forward to avoid the bike that swung the place her head was.

With her back still facing him, Alexis did a leg sweep and knocked Blake off balance. Before he hit the ground, she grabbed his bike and rammed the front of it into his chest. Blake grit his teeth, but his eyes widened in pain.

"Take that," she declared. Blake reached up for her and Alexis darted back.

She looked like she was about to attack him again, when a sudden loud bang echoed through the area. The noise was so sudden and loud that both of them stopped what they were doing. Alexis and Blake now turned in the direction the shot came from. To her horror, she saw Alec being held by two enemy soldiers.

"Well I think that's enough from you," said Byron, pointing a gun at Alec "don't make a move, unless you want your boyfriend to meet an untimely demise."

"You're barking up the wrong tree here dumbass," said Alexis.

"I only screwed him because he kept begging for it," she said "god, you should have seen how desperate he looked."

Alexis seemed calm yet her mind was racing. Her stomach was twisting into knot and it took all her self-control to keep her hands from shaking.

"Is that right?" asked Byron, now lifting Alec's head up. Alexis watched in horror as Byron revealed that Alec's face was half covered in blood, courtesy of a wound on his forehead.

"So you don't mind if I kill him?" he asked.

"I'd be careful if I were you," she said "he's nothing to me, but he sure means a whole lot to the Azur Sky."

On hearing this, Byron's face twisted into one of anger.

"That's right," he said, hissing at Alec "the little shit got in cozy with that damned meathead of a Commander and now they treat him like royalty."

"Exactly," said Alexis, her eyes momentarily looking at any way possible to free Alec from the enemy's clutches.

"Think about it, if you kill him, then the Commander and the rest of them will chase you to the end's of the Earth in retribution," said Alexis.

Byron used the pistol to stroke his chin. Alexis momentarily hoped that the man might accidentally pull the trigger and solve her problem. Alas, nothing like that happened.

Instead, the man seemingly considered what Alexis said and proceeded to shoot Alec in the kneecap. He let out a sharp cry of pain while Alexis clenched her fists. She now focused every ounce of control she had not to run to him.

"I'm not really worried about James' wrath or whatever," said Byron, calmly "after all, once this is over, the rest of us are going to be treated like heroes among the Siren forces."

"The rest of us?" she repeated.

"This whole act wasn't something any one of us could have pulled off," said Byron "it was a team effort."

"You mean…"

"Everyone leader in the Resistance was in on it," he said and purposely kicked Alec in the chest, simply because he could.

"Hey Alec," said Byron, grabbing Alec's hair and lifting his head up. Alexis saw the pain in his eyes as he looked at Byron with a murderous gaze.

"How's it feel knowing that you're going to die like some dog in the street?" he asked, in a cold voice.

"It's a lot better than spending a night with your mom," said Alec and gave the man a bloody smile.

Seemingly enraged either by the response or the defiance, Byron wheeled back and cocked the gun. He pointed the pistol at Alec and was about to fire when he felt a sudden sting in his hand. He looked and saw the something hit his hand and caused him to let go of the gun.

Byron wheeled and now saw Alexis charging towards him. However, on a moment of reflection, the man saw that she was trying to reach Alec.

Alexis saw the distance between them decreasing with each second. The lump in her throat was getting bigger. Presently, the only thing that mattered to her was getting to Alec. She didn't care about the Sirens, Blake, Marie or Byron for that matter. She had to keep him safe.

Only, she suddenly found that she couldn't reach him. Alexis struggled and forced her body to move but saw that nothing was happening. Horrifying realization dawned on her as she could now feel several thin wires digging into her flesh.

"Don't forget about little old me," said Marie making her presence known.

Alexis ignored her opponent and focused on Alec. He was so close, just a little more and she could reach him. She tried stretching her body and felt the wires digging deeper. She could feel it pierce parts of her skin and feel the blood leaking but she ignored that.

In that moment, she would have gladly given up her life to save him.

"So all that talk was just a load of bullshit eh?" asked Byron to Alexis who did not answer.

"You know what, I've just thought of something more fun to do," he said, and turned to one of the soldiers holding Alec.

"Hey," he said, "lift his head up."

The soldier did and Byron loomed over him while giving Alec a bloodcurdling smile.

"Instead of killing you," he said "I'm going to make you watch as I kill your girlfriend over there."

"What?" asked Alec and suddenly he saw Alexis being lifted high into the air then rammed into the ground.

"Hahaha, keep it up," said Byron, cackling like a child who won a prize.

"NO!," yelled Alec, trying to wriggle himself free, but to no avail. He watched in horror as Marie flung Alexis into the ground without any remorse. Every time she did, he saw Alexis struggle less and less.

Alec screamed at her to escape, he begged for her to run and leave him be, but she didn't listen. Either she couldn't hear him or it was impossible to escape. All he could do was watch in horror as the love of his life was beaten mercilessly by the vilest creatures he had ever encountered.

Alec watched now in absolute silence as Marie lifted Alexis higher than before. He knew that this was it, this would be the final blow. He turned to his right and saw the wicked glee on Byron's face. It made him sick to the stomach to see someone take such delight in making others suffer.

"NOW," yelled Byron "do it, smash her body to the ground."

Marie swung her head down which caused her hair to come down as well. Everyone expected to hear a sickening thud come next, yet nothing happened. Rather than seeing Alexis turned into a red paste, all they saw was Marie's hair hitting the ground one after another.

For a moment, everyone looked around. They scanned the area to see where she was. Byron was the first to notice it. He saw someone managed to free Alexis and rest her against some debris. Before he could point out though, the one that freed Alexis suddenly shot forward like a bullet and grabbed him.

Now, Blake, Marie, Alec and the two soldiers watched as this new entrant lifted Byron up by one hand. The man tried to break free, but found that it was impossible. The grip on his face was inhumanly strong. Then, he tried attacking the face of his enemy and found that that too was a wasted effort.

Blake and Marie looked ready to attack but their feet didn't move. They could feel a tremendous weight bearing down on them. If they moved, they'd be crushed.

Byron now felt the hand on his face tighten. He could feel the pain in his face slowly increase and that caused him to lash out. He kicked and punched and screamed as much as he could but it was all to no avail.

The group watched in absolute silence as the one who saved Alexis, crushed Byron's face slowly and painfully. They heard the sounds of his bones cracking followed by the squelching noise that came from crushing the brains and internal organs. Then, when Byron ceased his struggle and his body fell silent.

The two soldiers that were holding Alec in place were about to fire at this stranger when a sudden thin veil of light passed by them. After that, their heads neatly fell to the ground while their bodies slumped forward.

Alec saw that this was the work of another combatant. The answer came almost immediately as he saw Saint Louis walk forward then stand before him. The tip of her spear was dripping with blood and provided definitive proof that she saved him.

"My liege," she said and in that moment, Blake and Marie felt an all too human chill rush down their spine.

"What are your orders?" she asked, to her leader.

As if seeing her wasn't enough, Blake and Marie now saw Roon coming through one of the narrow streets. She looked at them the way you would a fly or a mosquito about to be squashed.

Alec thought he was dreaming. He genuinely thought that Alexis was dead and that his mind broke to the point he was imagining all this.

Yet, as he looked at Byron's body on the ground, his face ripped off, he looked at the culprit and felt a moment of hope in his chest. This was not a dream, this was really happening.

"James," he said, almost on the verge of tears.

The Commander however, did not respond to the name. His focus shifted from Alexis to Byron and now these two. Of course, there were plenty of others besides them and so he thought of how best to deal with them.

With that in mind, the Commander pressed the communicator in his ear.

"No mercy," he said to everyone in the fleet that heard his voice. To the Azur Sky, it was a clear indicator of their leader's intent. To the enemies, it was a death sentence.