Abner's eyes opened, adjusting to the harsh florescent lighting of the Nemesis sick bay. He slowly moved his head, paying attention to the sharp pain in his neck. On the table next to his own lay Aiden's mangled body, covered in tubes connected to the various plugs on his body. A respirator inflated his lungs in a controlled rhythm. Abner groaned as he rose from the table, grunting as his fractured ribs shifted in his abdomen.

His feet fell to the cold metal grating, sending shivers through Abner's body. As he moved to nest to Aiden's still form he checked the monitoring equipment, his eyes skimming through Aiden's prognosis. He watched as the boys chest rose and fell, making sure he was still breathing.

After a moment at the boys side Abner turned, heading to the thick air-tight door. He closed it heading to the core. One thought occupied his mind as he stepped through the door: why was he still alive? He glanced back at Aiden one last time, before the thick door blocked his view.

The breeze whispered in Nicodemus' ears, warning him about the incoming arrows before he saw them. He unsheathed his katana in a single, swift movement, knocking aside the speeding arrows with the blunt edge of his sword. They fell harmlessly to the swaying grass, disappearing into the billowing green waves.

Galloping horses appeared over the hill, their frenzied riders letting loose a volley of arrows. Nicodemus rolled into the attack, narrowly escaping the projectiles. He drew his smaller wakizasha before the archers could pull back upon their bowstrings. The first archers head disappeared in fountain of blood as the smaller sword cleaved it off at the neck. His companion's face widened as the katana sliced his arms off at the elbows, leaving his hands and his bow behind. Nico continued the momentum of his first attack into the legs of the third horse, cutting its legs from under it, flinging its rider from its back. The rider rolled into his fall, coming to his feet bow and arrow facing Nico.

The two adversaries regarded each other, both unmoving for the moment. A Mexican stand-off in feudal Japan. Nico half expected a tumble weed to roll between them. The archer moved first, dropping his bow and reaching for his dagger. Nico waited until he was a breath away before striking. Before the archer realized it, Nico's palm crushed his windpipe, stopping him in mid-strike. The pain never registered as the hilt of the katana struck his unprotected temple, severing the delicate nerves leading to his brain. He collapsed to his knees, blood dribbling from his nose and ears. As the archer fell he and the entire world around Nicodemus vanished into the white sterile world of the Construct.