Chapter 9: Fallen City

"Sorry, the Mayor can't see you right now, but I'll be happy to take care of you…" The purple, sparkled princess sneered as Dragstor scanned the room. He had his crossbow aimed at her and simply said,

"Sorry, I'm not interested in dealing with secretaries." Dragstor fired the crossbow at the princess, but she teleported right before the bolt hit her. After the bolt hit a wall, the door closed behind him. It was completely dark in that room, now.

"I forgot how annoying that is…" Dragstor muttered, remembering the princess' power of teleportation. He pulled out his knife and squared up his body, waiting for her to strike. He knew that before she would reappear, he would hear that wind chime noise. His muscles tensed up in anticipation. All of a sudden, she appeared to his right and kicked the hand that was holding the knife. Dragstor cried out in anger and pain as he dropped the knife. With the same foot that kicked the knife out of Dragstor's hand, the princess drew back her leg, then let that foot push Dragstor, then spun around and roundhouse kicked his chest. Dragstor cried out as he flew against a wall, cracking it. He slumped to the floor, fatigued from all of the fighting he had done up to that point. He was in a daze but managed to look up to see the princess coming at him. She ran at him full force with her right hand cocked back with that sparkly, purple aura. Once she was close enough she jumped with the intent of punching Dragstor in the face. Dragstor, with his adrenaline kicking in, rolled out of the way, causing the princess to punch the wall.

"Ah! Ow, ow!" The princess bemoaned as she held her hurt hand with the other. Dragstor took this moment of bought time to counter attack. He picked himself up and jumped at the girl, grabbing her head and pushing it against the wall. She was heavily pained, and her cry verbalized it. With her head still grasped in his hand, he threw her backwards onto the floor. He took a couple of deep breaths, then trudged over to her with the intent to continue pummeling her. She was about to pick herself up when Dragstor tackled her and hit her a couple of times in the face. She gave out frustrated and pained groans until she teleported away, and Dragstor accidentally punched the floor. He growled upon hitting the floor, but gave an even more excruciating cry of pain when the princess teleported on top of him, forcing his face into the ground. Through a combination of getting struck by other enemies, general fatigue, and the princess' attacks, Dragstor's body had finally succumbed to the punishment and lost consciousness. The princess wiped the blood from her nose and breathed deeply.

"So, there is a person under that armor…" She muttered. She looked at him for a moment, then said aloud,

"Well, you wanted to see the mayor. I'll take you to him."

Meanwhile with the Twins…

Brittni and Brett made their way through the door and found themselves in a room filled with… Mirrors. Mirrored walls, that is. They took a few steps in. As soon as they were both in, the door behind them shut, startling them.

"What the he.." Brittni started before she was interrupted by a distorted, omniscient voice coming from speakers above.

"Ah, more Horde scum. Come to play in my Mirror Maze, have you?" The voice said, cackling evilly. The voice was that same deep, nasally voice that tormented Viktor and his team: The Mayor. Brett groaned in frustration,

"Who are you? What is this place?" Brett asked, discontented. The Mayor cackled in reply,

"Ha! You barge into my home, attack my staff, and demand answers of me? How rude!" The Mayor continued laughing, bring static into the speakers. The Twins groaned and cringed at the static. Brett then yelled,

"Listen! We just want the Mayor. If you give him up, this can all end." Silence followed Brett's declarative for a few moments. Then all of a sudden,

"HAHAHA! You two think you can intimidate me? Do you realize how many of your comrades I've killed since this siege began? You're just pawns being played by Hordak!" The Mayor said, sounding more angry than before. Brett growled upon hearing that. The mayor continued, "I'll tell you what, though. If you manage to get passed my Mirror Maze, I'll surrender myself. What'dya say?" The Twins looked at each other for a moment, then grinned.

"Make it through your stupid mirrors?" Brett asked, chuckling.

"You really don't know who we are, do you?" Brittni chimed in. They both started laughing, together. An irritated growl came from the speakers,

"Enjoy your last minutes of bravado you have. You'll lose it as soon as you go through my mirrors!" The Mayor said, finishing his threats. After that, the speaker made a clicking noise and it went silent. The Twins looked at each other then went over to the entrance to the Mirror Maze.

"How hard could this be?" Brett commented, walking towards the entrance of the maze.

"He sounded pretty confident…" Brittni cautioned, putting her hand on his shoulder. Brett nodded in response.

"But he doesn't know who what we can do." Brett said, winking. Brittni smiled and nodded. With that, the Twins took a step into the Mirror Maze. The moment they entered, a mirror shot up behind them, preventing them from going back.

"That's getting really annoying." Brittni muttered. Brett looked around. It was the Twins' reflection all around.

"Kinda creepy…" Brett commented. They both then began walking. As they were walking, they heard a couple of hushed voices. They quickly unholstered their weapons and went back to back, brandishing their weapons, and scanning the area. All they saw were their own reflections. For a few moments, they kept their battle stance. After hearing nothing, they put down their weapons and turned towards each other. Brittni shrugged her shoulders. Brett looked around then said,

"Well, we're definitely not alone. Stay frosty." Brittni nodded, and they both continued their sojourn around the Mirror Maze. Thanks to their observational powers, they were easily able to navigate the maze without having to backtrack too much. The Maze was mostly a bunch of hallways filled with the mirrors. Sometimes they would get into rooms, but mostly it was hallways. As they were walking in one particular hallway, those hushed voices started up again. Once again the Twins brandished their weapons and looked around, seeing nothing but their own reflections. The voices stopped again.

"The Mayor's messing with us…" Brittni miffed. Brett gave a thousand yard stare at a particular mirror in front of him. Brittni noticed his beguilement and asked, "Brett? What do you see?" Brett held up his hand in a stifling motion then slowly walked towards the mirror he had been staring at. There was something different about this reflection. He had noticed that as he was walking towards the reflection, it wasn't completely in sync with his movement. He got within a foot of the mirror, stared deeply, and made a couple of faces. The reflection mimicked his movements and facial expressions. He stared even harder then sighed. He began rubbing his eyes, then started turning his head towards Brittni.

"Sorry, I think this place is getting to me-" Brett started until he turned his head all the way and saw the horror on Brittni's face. Her visibly shaking finger pointed at the mirror in front of Brett. Quickly, Brett turned back at the mirror. Although Brett's expression was that of perturbed horror, his reflection was different...

...It was grinning.

Before Brett could react, the reflection's arm came from the mirror and grabbed him by the throat,

"You're not real… I am" the reflection said, coldly.

Meanwhile, with Dragstor and the Princess…

Dragstor groaned lowly as he slowly awoke. His vision was blurred. He blinked a couple of times before he saw the princess in front of him waving. With adrenaline kicking in, Dragstor went to move his arms and legs, to no avail. He grunted as he tried to move them. He looked up at each hand and each leg. He was chained to a wall, it would seem. He looked around and found himself in some kind of cell.

"Have a nice nap?" the princess asked, sarcastically.

"It wasn't bad, though I admit I usually wake up to much older women." Dragstor shot back. The princess rolled her eyes and said,

"Your siege is going to fail. Your little soldiers aren't going to make it through the Mirror Maze. You've done nothing in this attack except inconvenience the Rebellion and the Horde." The princess said, sternly. Dragstor lowered his neck and started stretching it to the left and right.

"I wouldn't put your money on it. The Twins' are much more than they appear. They'll get right through any little trap that your precious, disgusting mayor has in store for them. This city will be rightfully claimed for the Horde, just as it should be." Dragstor sneered. The princess' face changed from cocky to incredulity. She glared coldly at Dragstor and asked,

"What did you say? 'Just as it should be?' You think that what you and the Horde are doing is the right thing? What did Elberon ever do to the Horde? There are innocent people here that are just trying to live their lives! Explain how their burned homes and dead family is, 'Just as it should be?!'" The princess said, accusingly, while pointing a finger at him. Dragstor's breathing became more agitated.

"You think that your little Rebellion is so noble? So perfect? How wrong you are. Let me educate you a little bit. When I was just a boy living with my family under the 'protection' of the Rebellion, how do you think they treated us common folks? My family were simple farmers. They taxed us to death and provided no protection, whatsoever. My mother worked hard to make sure we were raised correctly, while my father and older brother worked in the fields from the early morning to the late night." Dragstor's voice went from calm to bitterly enraged, "And despite all that hard work that my family performed, there was one point where they had to spend their tax money to buy medicine for me. Because they couldn't pay the taxes, guards were sent; not to protect us, but to arrest my father. My brother tried to fight them off, and in response, they killed him. After that, it was just my mother and me. Where was the pure, infallible Rebellion that you love and worship at that time? Nonexistent. They were the evil, tax leeching, punishers that only cared for their own. With the Horde, I found purpose, honor, and most importantly, protection. You can defend the Rebellion all you want, but understand the truth. The Rebellion is not what you think it is." Dragstor started breathing hard after that long lecture. For the longest time, neither of them said anything. The princess' scowl turned more into a somber, puzzled look. After a little while, the princess finally broke the silence.

"...I'm sorry…" the princess said, a tear strewing down her eye. She sighed, and rubbed the tear from her eye. Although Dragstor's story did enlighten the princess' mind, she knew that it did not excuse Dragstor's actions, "that may be true, and that is sad, but that does not excuse this attack. Yes, you and your family were innocent, but guess what? So were all the civilians that have been killed today, and yesterday, and everyone that's died since the Horde started the war!"

"Save your sanctimony," Dragstor said, callously, "the Rebellion brought this upon themselves. If they'd surrender, then we wouldn't have to kill everyone in our way."

"We will never surrender." the princess said, confidently.

"Then you will die." Dragstor retorted.

"I've heard enough from you. It's time to take you to the Mayor…" the Princess said

Meanwhile back at the front door of the castle...

Viktor and the remnants of his squad were still having trouble holding the door. It was down to him, Levi, Ethel, and two other soldiers. There still had to be at least a couple dozen rebels firing at them. The situation was definitely looking bleak. A beam of energy whizzed right passed Viktor's face, barely missing him.

"Ergh! Geez! Where is the armoured division?!" Viktor yelled, sticking his rifle back out through the window and firing blindly. One of the soldiers crouched under the window spoke up,

"We lost radio signal, sir!" The soldier yelled. Viktor groaned, continuing to trade fire with the rebels outside that were slowly pushing towards the door. Their suppressive fire was mostly keeping the Horde soldiers down. A moment later, a rebel got to the window and fired two shots point blank into Levi's shoulder.

"Gah!" Levi screamed as the lasers that struck his pauldron started slowly burning through it and getting to his skin.

"Levi!" Ethel screamed as she saw him get shot. She was right next to the window, on the opposite side where Levi was shot. Within a few feet of the target, Ethel used her stun baton to shock the rebels hand and drop his weapon. She then used the energy blast function on the baton to send the rebel flying off the porch of the castle. Ethel then ran over to Levi and dropped to her knees to check on him. She tore off the pauldron where he had been hit and tore off a piece of his bodysuit to bind the wound. No sooner did she do this, did another rebel get up to the window and fire a few shots into her back, causing her to collapse on top of Levi.

"Ethel!" Levi yelled. One of the Horde soldiers near the door fired a few shots at the rebel soldier that fired at Ethel, eliminating him. Soon after that happened, however, a beeping came from the door and the rebels that were near the window started running, while simultaneously firing to cover their retreat. Viktor was confused by the retreat, but soon recognized the beeping. He gasped and yelled to the soldiers,

"Grab Levi and Ethel! We've got a bomb!" The one closer to Levi and Ethel grabbed Ethel and slung her over his shoulder and started running towards the staircase. The other soldier was running but stopped mid run when the beeping finally stopped.

It was a time bomb. Its explosion splintered the doors, fractured the door frame, and incapacitated the soldier closest to it. It knocked Viktor, and the soldier carrying Ethel to the ground. Levi was blown away towards the staircase. Viktors ears were ringing. He was on his hands and knees coughing. His cough sounded distant, and his vision was blurry. He looked up and started shaking his head, his vision slowly coming back. When he finally came to, he and the rest of his team were surrounded by those purple armored rebel soldiers and guards. One of the more decorated soldiers approached Viktor. He was probably an officer, Viktor figured.

"You put up a strong resistance." The officer said, "but it was all for nought. You failed. The Rebellion has won this day."

Meanwhile, back at the Mirror Maze…

This is something the Twins would never thought they would ever experience. Brett was being strangled by… a copy of himself. Brett gasped for air and grabbed at the hand that was holding his throat, trying to pull it off. The Reflection's grip remained firm, however. Brittni was several feet behind the left of Brett. She took out her pistol and aimed it at the reflection. She squeezed the trigger, but a hand from her left pushed the pistol up, causing her to shoot the ceiling. Brittni quickly looked to her left and saw a reflection of herself with a menacing grin. It had one arm stretched out, grasping her pistol, while the other was waving at her. Brittni tried to pull the pistol away, until the reflection used the waving hand to punch her right in the left cheek. The power from that strike caused Brittni to fly into the mirror, opposite of her reflection. The mirror made a cracked silhouette of Brittni's body, and pieces slowly started chipping off the mirror. Brittni groaned in pain. Meanwhile, Brett was trying to fend off his reflection. He pulled out the saw from his bracer and started cutting the hand off that was holding him. To Brett's surprise, it wasn't flesh and blood that was being hacked up, but pieces of… the mirror. Finally, he completely cut off the hand, which released his throat. The hand fell to the ground and shattered everywhere. Brett dropped to the floor on his knees and started coughing and gasping for air. His reflection stood there and pulled its arm back, staring methodically at its now missing hand. It took a step outside of the mirror, then another, until it was completely out. Brett looked up and saw that some of the nearby mirrors' pieces began flying towards the wrist of the reflection, slowly regenerating its hand. The reflection studied the phenomenon, then started flexing its fingers back and forth, as if seeing how its hand worked. It then balled its hand into a fist and threw the punch straight at Brett. Brett managed to roll out of the way just in time for the hand to smash into the ground, causing its newly formed hand to shatter just like the last one.

Meanwhile, Brittni's reflection also started stepping out of the mirror, her reflection being a bit more erratic. Brittni was slumped on the floor, hurting from being thrown at the mirror. Her reflection started making jerky movements towards her, readying its fist to punch Brittni. As the reflection swung its fist, Brittni moved her head to the right and the reflection punched the mirror. Instead of the mirror shattering, however, the reflection's fist went right into it. Brittni switched glances between the fist and her reflections face. The reflection started retracting its fist when Brittni grabbed the reflection's closest leg, and slammed its knee on the ground, shattering the knee. This caused the reflection to fall over, half into the mirror, the other half shattering on the ground. Brittni picked herself up and stared at the half bodied reflection. It used its arms to turn itself around and position itself to look at Brittni. It then started crawling through. Once it did, Brittni stomped its head into the ground, completely fragementizing it. She stomped harder and harder until it was just particles of mirror. She took a few deep breaths, then looked over at Brett. She saw that his reflection would strike at him, lose parts of itself, and regenerate. Brett's reflection went in for a particular punch, aiming at Brett's face while he was laying on the ground. Before the fist landed, Brett held up his bracer saw. His reflection's fist was met with his bracers saw, slicing and shattering it, as the momentum propelled the fist forward. Brett rolled out of the way as the rest of the body fell forward, shattering into tiny little fragments of mirror. He then stood up and glanced over at Brittni who was continuing to stomp the fragments of mirror that tried to piece itself together as her reflection. She looked over at Brett,

"We need to destroy these mirrors. That's what's causing them to regenerate." Brett said, and pulled out his pistol. Brittni did the same and they started firing at all the mirrors near them. However, the particles from the mirrors that were flying off, flew towards the reflections, causing them to keep regenerating. Brett growled and fired at the reflections.

"Any other ideas?" Brett inquired as he fired his pistol at the reflections. Brittni thought for a moment and remembered back to when the reflection went through the mirror. An idea popped into her head.

"Brett, cut one of those mirrors off. I have an idea." Brittni said, grinning. Brett nodded and went to work on a nearby mirror he hadn't destroyed yet. He sawed the four corners then picked it off the ground.

"Now what?" Brett inquired. Brittni took the mirror from Brett's hands and said,

"Once they regenerate, lure them around the corner." Brett nodded in compliance. Brittni went around the corner, readying the mirror. The reflections started gathering undamaged particles of mirror and slowly built themselves back up. Once they were fully put back together, they started trudging towards Brett. Brett, while facing the two reflections started strafing to the right where Brittni was hiding around the corner. He then ran passed her, the reflections ready to follow in pursuit after him. The reflections turned the corner and walked right into Brittni's mirror, going into it. With the agility of a mouse being chased by a cat, Brittni positioned the mirror to face another mirror, inches apart. The reflections started running between the two mirrors, trapped between them. Brett ran back over and admired Brittni's ingenuity.

"Now, they're stuck in an endless reflection loop." Brittni said, grinning. Brett gave a chortle,

"Ha! I always knew you were the smart one!" They both high fived. Brett took the blowtorch from his other bracer and started welding the mirrors together to make sure the reflections were stuck in the loop, forever. Without any resistance this time, the two continued their navigation of the Mirror Maze, making it through, rather quickly. Mostly, because, at one point, Brett got tired of wading through the disorienting absurdity of the Maze. So instead of navigating, Brett just shot every mirror in front of him until they finally got through to the end. Once they exited the maze they found themselves in a wide open room with a single door in the middle. Near the ceiling there were a couple of speakers. They started walking towards the door until they heard that cringe inducing voice coming from said speakers. The Twins' groaned upon hearing it.

"So, you made it through the Maze…? I have to admit… that is quite impressive. Heh, heh, hehhh…" The mayor slabbered through the speakers. Brett growled, completely done with the Mayor.

"I've had enough of your talk!" Brett shouted as he fired his laser pistol at one of the speakers. The speaker exploded into a shower of plastic and wires. Some of the wires fell near Brett, onto his head. He shook the wires off his head and let them fall to the ground. Once they fell, he picked one up and studied it. He then turned to Brittni,

"Brittni, these wires… They're close range wires. They're too thin to be far range." Brett said, perceiving the revelation he had just received.

"Which means, that the Mayor's probably nearby!" Brittni said, realizing what Brett just understood. The mayor's cackling interrupted the Twins' realizations as it came through the other speaker.

"Ha! Very good, Horde scum. I guess the Horde isn't completely full of idiots!" The Mayor said, mockingly.

"I hate this guy so much." Brittni said, putting her hands to her ears.

"Why don't you just give yourself up, Mayor?" Brett demanded. The mayor continued cackling in response,

"You know what? You're right. Clearly I cannot best you two. I'm right through that door. Why don't you come say hello?" The Mayor said, sarcastically. Brett thought about the wire that had fallen on his head. He looked up at the speaker and noticed the wire. It wasn't going towards the door in the middle, but going to the left. Brett rubbed his chin for a moment, studying the wire. He then aimed his laser pistol near the blown out speaker and fired just behind where he had previously fired, and made a pattern of about three more shots going from the ceiling to the wall. He was then able to see where the wire was leading to.

"What are you doing, you upstart?!" The Mayor demanded. Brett grinned and started walking towards the wall that the pattern of shots lead to. He then turned his head towards Brittni, while aiming at the wall.

"Brittni, join me in exposing the Mayor?" Brett asked, amusingly.

"Love to." Brittni said, winking and joining him at his side, a few feet from the wall. She then pulled out her pistol and took aim at the same wall Brett was aiming at. The Mayor's voice got much more distressed,

"Wait, no! Don't!" The Mayor protested. The Twins ignored his pleas, however, and fired their pistols, simultaneously. The two beams blasted the wall open, causing plaster and drywall to fly everywhere. After the dust from the blasts dissipated, the plump ruler of the castle was finally revealed. He was situated behind a desk, his lip quivering. The Twins' aimed their weapons at the Mayor. He tried to stand up and run, but ended up tripping over the wheel of his rolling chair. Brett ran into the room, grabbed the Mayor's desk, and hurled it to the left, it smashing into the wall. With that obstacle out of the way, Brett stuck his knee into the Mayor's back, preventing him from picking himself up. The Mayor coughed out a clogged sounding gasp. Brett then grabbed the Mayor by his hair and put his pistol to his head.

"You have a lovely castle, your highness. I think we'll be taking it."

Meanwhile back with Viktor's squad...

Viktor groaned, trying to pick himself up. The rebel officer put his staff to Viktor's neck.

"Why don't you just stay down…" The officer suggested, "just make it easier on yourself and tell us where the rest of your infiltration team is." Viktor started rubbing his eyes, then blinked a little bit at the officer. The officer started visibly getting irritated, which was confirmed with, "my patience wears thin. Tell me where the rest of your team is!" Viktor held up his hand, palm forward at the officer and then said, aloud,

"Hang on, the memory's kinda fuzzy… Just gimme a minu-" Before Viktor could finish, the officer growled.

"You have thirty seconds to tell me what I want to know, or I execute your soldiers, one at a time." The officer said, indignantly. Viktor scratched behind his ear a little bit, secretly opening a comm on his earpiece.

"Okay, look if I'm being honest, I have no idea. I mean, have you seen the size of this place? I mean, I could absolutely use-" Viktor started, then emphasized the following, "SOME BACKUP, I MEAN, ANYBODY COME TO THE CASTLE AND HELP. But, honestly, it seems we totally failed. I know when I'm beaten." The rebel officer sneered. He looked over at one of his soldiers and nodded at her. The rebel soldier nodded in reply, drew her sword, and struck it through one of the Horde soldiers, eliminating him. Levi growled,

"You monsters, you can't!- Agh!" Levi started before he was hit in the back of the head by one of the rebels. Viktor gasped, and groaned, sadly,

"Alright! Alright! There's no need for that… The infiltration team is-" Before Viktor could finish, he finally received a transmission from none other than Octavia.

"Viktor, if you can hear me, get down, NOW." Octavia commanded. Obediently, Viktor laid flat.

"What are you doing-" The rebel officer demanded before being interrupted by a laser piercing through his skull. Lasers began flying through the windows, taking the rebels completely by surprise, hitting all of them. Viktor looked outside through a window and saw the White Wolves, Black Bulls, and the rest of the squad that the combat medic, Jackie, was taking care of. Viktor coughed out a few chuckles, completely perplexed, but grateful, at the situation. The Horde soldiers moved in, securing the area. Jackie ran over to Levi and Ethel, beginning a treatment for Ethel. A moment later, Octavia walked through the door, admiring the destruction.

"Fine job, almost holding the line, Viktor. What would you do without us?" Octavia said, chuckling. Viktor laughed, halfheartedly. Octavia then walked over to Viktor, holding out one of her tentacles. Viktor switched glances between the tentacle and her face,

"You can't give me a hand?" He asked, facetiously. Octavia rolled her eyes, then used her other tentacles to pull him up, to his dismay. Octavia smiled, but remained serious,

"In truth, you did hold the line the best you could." Octavia praised, while putting her hand on his shoulder. She then asked, "How's the rest of the infiltration team?" Right before Vikor could answer, they received a transmission from a welcomed voice.

"Viktor? You there?" It was Brittni!

"Brittni! You're alive! How's Brett? Where are you?" Viktor asked. He heard groaning in the background then asked, "what's that?"

"Shut up!" Brett said to the Mayor, then replied to Viktor, "we got the Mayor! We got him, Viktor!" Upon hearing that, Viktor smiled, mouth agape, and repeated the words aloud,

"They got the Mayor! Everyone, they got the Mayor!" An uproar of cheers sounded from the Horde soldiers as they raised their fists and rifles into the air. Octavia stood back with her arms folded, a deep, content smile on her face. Octavia then spoke up,

"That's fantastic. Well done, Twins." She then thought for a moment, then asked, "say, is Dragstor with you?" Silence came from the radio's end for a moment.

"No, ma'am." Brittni said, "we'll bring the mayor back, and search the rest of the castle- wait, hold on! You again!" The radio then went dead.

"Brittni? Hello, Brittni?!" Viktor yelled, trying to reach them. He then turned to Octavia, "we need to get them." Octavia nodded and commanded her troops,

"Alright, everyone split up into four man squads and search every crevice of this castle until you find our team. Move it!"

Meanwhile, back with the Twins' and the Mayor…

Just as Brittni and Brett heard the good news that the rebels had been defeated at the front gate of the castle, the teleporting, aura-emanating princess, with her electronic wind chime noise, arrived with none other than Dragstor, his hands tied behind his back.

"Dragstor!" Brittni exclaimed, "you're alive!" The princess had that sparkly, purple aura around her left fist. She glared at the Twins,

"And he'll stay alive if you hand over the Mayor!" the princess threatened. Underneath Brett's knee, the Mayor spoke up,

"Ah, Glimmer, my girl. How nice of you to arrive," the Mayor started, "and with a prisoner, no less? Excellent work!"

"Shut up!" Brett yelled at the Mayor as he held the pistol to his head. He then looked at Glimmer, sizing her up, "Glimmer, huh? How fitting of a name."

"Let him go!" Glimmer, started, "or I'll… I'll kill him!" Dragstor chuckled in response, until she motioned her aura-emanating hand closer to his neck. Brittni gasped at that action,

"Wait! Don't hurt him! We…" Brittni started. She switched glances between the Mayor and Dragstor, "what if we trade?" Brett and Dragstor looked at her, puzzled.

"Brittni, don't do it. He's much more important than I'd ever be. He's the key to this city's cooperation." Dragstor said, reassuringly, then added, "besides… she's a noble rebel princess. She'd never kill me, she doesn't have the skin for it." He then looked to Glimmer and said, "do you, Princess?" Glimmer growled and glared at Dragstor, the purple aura around her fist becoming more erratic. Brittni looked at Brett, with a supplicating gaze.

"Brett… we can't take that chance. We can't let a comrade die." Brett switched glances between Brittni and Dragstor, and started stammering.

"I… I…" Brett sighed, "okay, fine." Brett got up from atop the Mayor. The Mayor slowly pushed himself up, and looked back at Brittni, then Brett, with his devilish grin.

"Looks like the good guys won today." The Mayor said as he chuckled wickedly. Brittni and Brett glared at him. Glimmer let go of Dragstor, and he started walking towards the Twins. Time seemed to slow as the following segment played out:

The two were walking towards their designated locations. As their steps became parallel, Dragstor and the Mayor turned their heads towards each other. The Mayor grinned that same wicked grin he gave the Twins. Behind Dragstor's masked face was rage and a sense of duty. Without much thought, and his hands still tied behind his back, Dragstor bent down and swept the Mayor's legs, causing him to fall backwards onto his back.

"Oof! What're you do- Agh!" The Mayor protested in agony as Dragstor stood up and started stomping on his stomach. Before the Twins could react, Glimmer reacted first. She had teleported right behind Dragstor. What she did next caused Dragstor to lift his head up, and stop stomping. Dragstor started groaning, then fell to his knees, and finally forward. In his back was a fist sized crater, blood oozing from it. The Twins stared in horror at Dragstor, and then at Glimmer, who was equally shocked at what happened. Glimmer switched glances between the Twins, Dragstor, and her blood covered, gloved hand. Her lip quivered, and she shuddered at what she had just done. She looked at the Twins. Brett was raising his laser pistol at her, while Brittni ran towards Dragstor. Without having a chance to grab the Mayor, Glimmer decided her only course of action was to teleport away. She did so, right outside the back of the castle. Once she was outside, she fell onto her knees and started wiping the blood onto the grass.

"What did I do? What did I do?!" Glimmer yelled, trying to fight back tears. She teleported again outside the city walls. Once she got the majority of blood off of her gloved hand, she ran to a nearby hill overlooking Elberon. Black smoke enveloped the sky as she witnessed Elberon being torn apart by the Horde. She couldn't hold back the tears any longer and began to sob against a tree, and started hitting it with the bottom of her fists. After crying for a little while, she sighed deeply and sat down on the grass, hugging her knees. She then wiped the tears that were strewn around her face. She took another look at Elberon and suddenly her sadness began dissolving, and started being replaced with anger. She started feeling some kind of darkness begin coming over her that she had never felt before. She gritted her teeth and stood up.

"I did what I had to do. That's just one more Horde officer down. It was the right thing to do. He got what he deserved…" Glimmer began reasoning with herself. She started walking away but took one last look at the city she was assigned to protect. Glimmer left with one last promise,

"And soon… Everyone in the Horde will get what they deserve… Death."