Chapter 4: painful awakening

The more Terry looked at John, the more he was amazed. His infested friend had incredible powers, somehow having both the brutality of the zerg, with the Protoss' psionic powers. "Incredible indeed." John replied, feeling Terry's thought while in front of him.

Looking towards a dark hallway ahead, Terry spoke, looking at John, "I'll scout ahead. Stay here, okay?" John simply nodded. He turned towards Terry and gasped: his friend was gone!

"Don't worry. I'm right here." A voice said. "I'm just cloaked. It's easier to scout that way. Now stay here. I'll be back in a minute." Seconds later, Terry had come back and de-cloaked, an expression of relief on his tired face.

"We're lucky. There are no guards around." He said. Seeing John's face, he asked, "You okay?"

John spoke, his eyes widened, "How about warning me the next time you do that? You say that I'm scary, but right now, you're the one freakin' me out."

Terry, smiling, answered, "And to think you were saying that 'cloaking's for wusses' not too long ago..." He laughed a few seconds, but quickly stopped, due to the incredible echo of the strange walls. He then continued, "Hem, let's go, okay?"

The two then started trekking down the corridor, carefully eyeing the environment around them. A strange detail caught their eyes: There wasn't a single door anywhere on the corridor.

A few minutes passed, and John finally noticed a strange writing, high on a wall. When he showed it to Terry, the ghost simply shook his head and said, "Can't read that. Hell, I never saw that sort of writing before."

But strangely, John was compelled to stare at it. The language looked strangely familiar. Suddenly, his eyes blanked out, and he stared in awe at the markings, which placed themselves into a word: "Thanatos". He blinked, surprised, and when he stared again, the letters had become unreadable markings once more. Looking under the markings, John didn't see a door. Seeing John's insistent stare, Terry spoke, "What's going on, John?"

John didn't answer. Instead, he muttered under his breath, "Thanatos". His eyes widened, and in a psionic roar, he yelled, "THANATOS!" A door suddenly formed under the strange markings.

Terry looked at the door and at his friend, his mouth wide open. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?" He said, smirking. He then walked towards the door and crossed it, not without staring cautiously at the door, insuring himself that it wasn't trapped. He couldn't wait to enter. Something inside of him knew that whatever was in there was important, crucial. Yet the word wasn't really inspiring him any good. "Thanatos" was the god of death, in the old Greek mythology, hinting at the danger ahead. Meanwhile, John was in shock. How could he have understood the markings, and most of all, speak them out loud? Not to mention that he didn't even know or remember what "Thanatos" meant.

Terry's voice suddenly snapped John out of his thoughts. "Hey, John, what are you waiting for? Come over here." John reluctantly followed, staring at the room before him. It was a massive room, with incredible patterns to the walls, with a throne at the end of the room. It had a deathly image carved on it, though, and was somehow scary.

"Oh, my god..." John said, eyeing the room with excitement in his eyes. Even with its dark looks, it somehow had a strange, entrancing atmosphere. "Beautiful..." Terry said, as shocked as John. Suddenly, though, a voice came from behind them, surprising them.

"A beautiful throne room, isn't it?" The creature spoke like the Protoss, but it had a strange accent in its voice, a little brutal tone that contrasted with his entrancing voice. "You can help me lead on that throne."

"And why would we do that?" Terry said. He turned towards the one speaking to him, and yelled in surprise. The one before him was so horrid, and yet so beautiful... It had obvious zerg traits, as if he had been infested. No, that's not quite right. It looked more as if he had merged with the zerg. John turned to look at him as well, and had a reaction similar to Terry's.

Seeing that, the being laughed and spoke again, "I know I may not be a beauty, but join me, to purge the Universe of our enemies."

Terry shook his head. He felt as though someone was messing with his head. He answered simply, yet directly, "OUR enemies? Yeah, right. Thanks, but no thanks. We have our own causes to fight for."

"And what would those causes be?" the being asked.

"We are both soldiers of the Dominion, under the rule of Emperor Jim Raynor the first."

The being didn't understand anything of what the man in front of him was saying, as he was staring with obvious envy at John. "You are ready, my servant. Now, join me." He said, oblivious to what Terry was saying.

John felt entranced, his will slipping away, but he regained his senses, realizing that the one in front of him was manipulating him. Suddenly, he yelled, "NO! GO TA HELL, YA SCUM!"

The being was obviously in shock. How could a being he had infested be so rebellious? "How dare you speak that way to your master, you puny imbecile?" He said. Suddenly, a psionic storm appeared where John had been standing seconds before. Seeing the danger coming, John had jumped into the air and now fell towards the strange being, which summoned a shield around him and repelled John's assault.

"Know that I am Thanatos, insignificant fool! I shall NOT be insulted like this!" the being said, a crisped expression appearing across his face. His eyes became blood red, as he suddenly prepared himself to attack. John had stood back up again and was standing tall, his eyes showing pure, insatiable bloodlust.

Meanwhile, Terry was simply in awe over the events. Seeing his friend and Thanatos' expressions, however, he cloaked and tried to find a weapon to help his friend with. A strange weapon was besides the throne at the end of the room. It was shaped like a scythe, with two ends of psionic energy. He went to pick it up as John and Thanatos started to fight.

Thanatos charged ahead, throwing a psionic bolt at John, who swiftly dodged and slashed his foe with his claws. Thanatos laughed, as the claws bounced over his psionic shield. "You'll need to do more than that." Strangely, though, John smiled and slashed again, this time trying to focus his psionic energies as he had done back when he awoke.

Strings of psionic energy quickly bolted from his fingers, bolting through Thanatos' shield. Thanatos teleported himself, as John's bolts pierced his shield like butter. He shuddered. How could that thing be so strong? How could it rebel itself against him? It just made no sense. Suddenly, he heard a faint footstep noise behind him and turned around.

Terry was charging forward, with Thanatos' own twin-headed scythe in his hands. He jumped at Thanatos, with the swiftness of any good ghost, and tried to attack, but Thanatos teleported away again just in time, arriving in the air, over John and Terry. With angry eyes, he looked at both of his enemies. "What are those things?" He wondered, as John and Terry looked for him.

Suddenly, a door opened at the edge of the room, attracting John and Terry's attention. "Now!" Thanatos thought, as he jumped at Terry. The well- trained ghost had heard and felt Thanatos coming, though, and he jumped aside, firmly holding the twin-headed scythe. He then attacked Thanatos, who dodged the strike with fluid movement. A loud roar suddenly echoed, attracting Terry and Thanatos' attention.

A fierce battle was raging near the opened door, as John and a strange being were fighting. The being wasn't unlike the ones John had killed, except that this one felt...different. John didn't care, though, as he fiercely attacked the being, which dodged the attacks as though he was made of air.

Suddenly, Terry felt a very sharp pain in his arm. Thanatos had noticed Terry's lack of focus and he had violently taken his weapon from Terry's hands, breaking his foe's left arm with a loud snap. Before the ghost could realize what was happening, though, Thanatos then plunged the weapon into Terry's chest, pulling it out seconds later, soiled in his enemy's blood.

In a stare, Thanatos caught Terry's silent agony. The ghost had been trained not to show pain, but now, it was so sharp that he almost let out a scream. Taking a deep breath, he noticed that his left lung had almost been pierced by the strike. Gritting his teeth, he jumped at Thanatos again, hoping to take the weapon out of his foe's hands. It was no use. The latter had just teleported away.

Now, Thanatos was just in front of John, and the other being had somehow disappeared. His weapon in his hands, he was even more confident now. A joyful, sadistic look appeared in Thanatos' eyes, as John stared in turn at his agonizing friend and at Thanatos. John suddenly charged at his deadly nemesis, this time with desperation as much as fury. Thanatos expected this, and tried to teleport, but noticed that he had used too much energy. He would need to rest before teleporting again. At this, he raised his weapon to block John's charge. Luckily, the weapon's power blocked John's attack and repelled him.

Thanatos then realized what he had to do. He wouldn't be able to defeat his powerful creation alone. He psionically yelled a call at some of his underlings, who came running into the room, charging at the foe who dared to attack their master. Yet, out of nowhere, a strange psionic storm appeared, blocking their advance and hiding John from sight. When it faded away, John had disappeared, and when Thanatos looked at Terry, he had disappeared too. In fury, he roared, furious about letting the two escape.

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Terry tried to understand what had just happened. As he tried to remember the facts, they seemed to slip away from his mind. All he remembered was a strange flash around John, as a three-fingered hand had picked him up quickly, before leaving the room, picking up John at the same time. How had they gone out of the room unnoticed?

"Thanks..." Terry muttered, staring at the one carrying him. He was a Protoss, and his body was that of a high templar. He was tall and dark looking, especially strong for a high templar, with piercing eyes which held both fury and sadness.

John, who was running alongside the two, spoke to the templar, "How about I carry him? You don't look like you're felling so well..."

"Alright." The Protoss stopped, and John also did, taking a short break.

Terry looked at his saviour. He had seen this dark silhouette before. He just asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Tarrat. I am the leader of a Protoss tribe: the Salaha."

It was then that Terry remembered where he had seen him. Being part of an extraction crew of Raynor's Raiders ten years ago, he and the rest of the crew had to neutralize both Tarrat and Duran to take Kerrigan away from a dangerous situation. But why was Tarrat helping him now?

Tarrat was staring at John with pity and anger. "Those fools! How dare they do such a thing?"

John didn't hear that, however, as he heard furious shrieks behind him. "Let's continue, he said. They'll catch up soon if we don't hurry."

Terry and Tarrat both nodded. As John was about to pick him up Terry, the ghost merely shrugged off John's helping hand. "Don't worry. I'll take care of myself." The three then ran as fast as they could, with Tarrat sometimes leading them in strange hallways.

A few minutes later, Terry, John and Tarrat had arrived out of the strange building, and they continued to run, until arriving at a small, well-hidden Protoss outpost. They were out of danger...for now.

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Dan Kealer was looking at his paperwork, feeling unable to take care of it. His dispute with Dr. Carsy was still fresh in his head, and all the events were giving him a headache. He went to his secretary. "Hey, Julie, could you ask Dr. Mary Carsy to head to my office when she'll have the time? Tell her it's important." Dan thought that he owed her an apology for his outburst earlier. He might as well try to be in better terms with the scientist-in-chief.

Mary Carsy arrived ten minutes later, trying to look emotionless. With her blood-shot eyes, though, Dan could see she had cried. "Sit down." Dan said, trying to sound a bit friendly. He was still a bit angry because of her comments, but he calmed down. It was only part of the past, now.

Dr. Carsy went straight to what she thought was the objective of this private meeting. "General Kealer, do you remember the DNA you sent me?"

Dan was surprised that she went on that subject, but he listened to her report nonetheless, and she continued. "I told you that there were Zerg and Protoss molecules into that DNA, correct?"

Dan nodded, unsure of where this was going.

"I have made a mistake, sir. The 'Protoss' molecules weren't Protoss at all. Actually, for now, they are unknown to us. It has slight familiarity with the Protoss' DNA, which would explain the confusion. This is all I've found out so far. Is that all, sir?"

Dan answered, a slight frown on his face. "Actually, I didn't want talk about that."

In a cold, snapping voice, she spoke. "What did you want to talk about, then?"

Dan was starting to feel a bit uneasy. "Well...it's just..."

Julie burst into the room, cold sweat dripping from her face. "Sir, it's them."

Dan swore out loud. The ones his secretary was talking about were the neo- confederates, a group formed of the last of the Confederacy's followers. They constantly looked for trouble, often trying to attack influent people or destroy patrimonial buildings, hoping to take the power one day. Luckily, though, their leaders weren't as great as they had been before, meaning that their attacks almost always flopped, and the people would end up seeing them as a good joke, but nothing more. Nonetheless, they were annoying, and judging by his secretary's scared face, Dan guessed that they were probably armed.

The frightened secretary continued. "Th-they wish to speak with you. Shall I let them in?" Dan nodded, exasperated. They would always try and laugh at authority once in a while, hoping to destabilize the power. In pretty much everyone's opinion, they were complete idiots.

Three tall figures entered the room. They looked like nothing more than stupid bums, laughing at Kealer, pointing their knives at him, not too far from Dr. Carsy's cheek. The scientist-in-chief spoke up. "Watch where you put these, you stupid morons!"

"My, my, what do we have here...?" One of the bums said, staring at Dr. Carsy with sizeable interest. "How about supper tonight...with a real man?" He said, showing off his muscles.

Seeing Dr. Carsy's exasperated expression, Dan spoke up. "How about buzzing off, if you have nothing better to do?" He could feel his pressure mounting.

Another one continued, mockingly. "Oh, my. Big general Kealer wants a fight. Let's just hope you'll be in better shape than those people at outpost Star Ray. Say, is it true that you and John Stippler were old friends? It's gotta be hard to lose a friend, hey? Especially when you can't do anything about it, sitting in your office all day."

They had struck a sensible chord. Dan wasn't about to take anymore of this. He lost patience and jumped at the three, knocking them down with swift, precise punches before they could react, a furious look upon his face. He then put his hand into his pocket, taking out a 9mm handgun. With a vein pulsing on his forehead, he pointed it at the neo-confederates and asked them to leave, trying to regain his calm. One of them stared at Dan's gun and panicked. He took his knife and tried to throw it at Kealer's arm, but he missed him and hit Dr. Carsy's shoulder instead.

All of Kealer's anger went out, as he kicked the neo-confederate's face, sending him flying across the room. Seeing Dr. Carsy's bleeding shoulder, fury boiled in his blood. Why had they done this, those morons? As he thought, another knife passed centimetres from his face, missing Dr. Carsy by millimetres. He exploded in fury. "THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA KILL ALL OF YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES! DIE!!!" But luckily for the three, Julie timely burst into the room, accompanied by six security agents, who barely held Dan back, trying to calm him down.

Meanwhile, Dan's secretary went towards Mary Carsy, whose shoulder was still bleeding. "Would you like me to take you to the infirmary, miss?"

Dr. Carsy nodded, with the knife in her shoulder hurting her badly, and she followed her towards the infirmary. Before leaving the room, however, she spat at the ones who threw the knives, muttering insults under her breath, as the three were taken away from Kealer, who was trying to escape the guards' grip, roaring in fury.

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Two days later.

The last two days were a descent into hell for Kerrigan. She was losing her life, her mind. Why? Why had war returned to trouble her? Her soul struggled to get her to stop, to leave. But she had no choice. Yet even then, she fought the bloodlust. The more she fought the bloodlust, though, the more it embraced her. She was becoming the furious queen that she had been. In a small, desperate sob, she muttered two words, desperately fighting her own fate.

"Forgive me..."

Her emotions exploded in an echo of laughter, as the chrysalis holding her collapsed. In an echo of her former fury, the desire to kill returned, stronger than ever. Now, nothing held her back. It was time.

On Char, every zerg was feeling it. In the central hive cluster, a loud laughter echoed, and everything stopped, as every being was now focused on one woman, whose loud, sadistic laughter echoed on the entire planet. "She" had finally awakened. The one who had mercilessly murdered so many of her enemies, the Queen of Blades, had returned...

End of the chapter

Author's note: Yep, it took me a HELL of a while to write this, and I can guarantee that it'll take another while before I post the next chapter. Not that I don't like to write, but I started chapter 5, and I already had to go back to the drawing board with it at least three times. Just to give you an idea.