It was an apocalypse. The air was filled with the sound of explosions, gunfire, ships fighting overhead, and the screams of the dying or wounded.

The Praetorian Guard were manning several anti-air turrets with dozens more soldiers on the ground repelling the Drophyds to protect the civilians funneling into the portal in the Court of Azimuth. Its namesake, newly stripped of his rank of General, stood next to it, helping organize people through the portal along with the Dimensionator's self-declared keeper, Kaden.

Every other Lombax passing through the portal gave Alister a glare of pure contempt and hatred over his betrayal of their kind. All of them knew what he had done when the evacuation was announced along with the fact that the former General was to be exiled from their new home, and Alister didn't attempt to argue. He saw how much pain he caused in believing Tachyon, and he was willing to pay the price. He was surprised they didn't outright execute him, but he knew being left behind with Tachyon was no different.

It didn't mean that he didn't have to feel so hurt from the looks he was receiving, though.

Kaden stood next to him, scanning across the mob of Lombaxes hurrying through to the new dimension. He was looking for his wife and son, making sure that they at least made it through before he follows everyone else back in with the Dimensionator. He prayed to the Zoni that they would make it, because the Dimensionator was hit by a stray shot during the evacuation. It wasn't enough to close the portal, but Kaden's familiarity of the design made him know that it wouldn't be able to open another one, lest he risk a Dimensional Cataclysm.

He could repair it, but the tools, materials, and time he would need to do so were borderline impossible to get under the circumstances, with Tachyon hellbent on his genocide. Whether he liked it or not, this was the last portal to their new home, and if they didn't make it, well…

They'll make it.

As Alister and Kaden stood next to each other, one Lombax passing by gave Alister a swift gut punch, making him double over in pain.

"You're a disgrace." He hears him say before the attacker passes through.

Alister doesn't bother to look up to find him, but he feels Kaden grab his arm and help him up. Alister gives him a small nod.

"Thanks." He says morosely.

"Don't mention it." Kaden replies, but with no warmth or sympathy. Alister knew Kaden blamed him for all of this like everyone else, but he was thankful that he wasn't saying it out loud, at least. He was just glad that he was still alive.

Eventually, the current wave of Drophyd forces began to retreat just in time for the last couple hundred Lombaxes to head through the portal, giving enough time for the guards to evacuate themselves. As the last few get to the portal, Kaden's heart sinks.

Marie and his son never made it.

But as the dread sets in, Alister turns to him, and rests his hand on his shoulder. "Kaden, now's your chance to get to safety. Take the Dimensionator and go before they get reinforcements."

Kaden glares at him and shoves the hand off his shoulder. "Not without my family, Alister. They didn't make it, and I'm going to find them." He says with a cold determination. "You stay behind and leave the portal open for anymore stray Lombaxes. If I'm not back in 10 minutes, close it."

Alister's eyes widen. "But Kaden, the Dimensionator can't open another rift in its condition! If you don't make it in time, you won't be able to—"

Kaden grabs him by the collar of his suit, surprising him.

"Alister, you didn't listen to me about not trusting Tachyon, and look at what that did!"

He gestures his arm around them, with the demolished buildings and columns of smoke rising into the orange sky. The sounds of war have eased from the Drophyds pulling back, but they can still hear some screaming in the distance along with collapsing rubble. There are a few stray gunshots as the enemy finishes off any Lombax they come across in their retreat.

He locks his gaze into Alister's. "So just for once, do what I say before more people get hurt."

Alister's expression displays a look of guilt and sadness, but he nods. "Just hurry." He says quietly. "I don't want you to get hurt from my mistake."

Kaden lets go of him with a stern nod, and began to sprint furiously to his home, dispatching any stray Drophyds left behind in the retreat that had the gall to get in his way. One of them managed to get a shot off, but it only grazed his arm. He ignored the pain, along the stitch starting to form in his side. He counts that It's been one minute, meaning he has nine left to get his family and run back until the portal closes.

The further he gets from the Court, the more corpses he sees lying on the ground. Some were of fallen Drophyd soldiers, but many more were Lombaxes who didn't make it to the Court. Kaden tries to ignore them, and focuses on the path ahead, not willing to believe that his family laid among them. Two minutes.

He reaches a familiar street, the very same one he always took on his daily commute to the Center. To think that just this morning, he walked that very same road without having the need to step around the rubble of the demolished buildings that surrounded him. He pushes the thought aside, however, as he realizes that means he made it with enough time to spare.

He rounds the corner and onto the road that his house laid. All he has to do is gather his family, and escort them back to the portal. Easy enough, seeing how there's no Drophyds around for now. Just a little further ahead, and then they'll all finally be…

Be…

Kaden stops in his tracks as his eyes widen in horror at the half-demolished building that was his home.

"No." He finally breathes, breaking once more into a run. "No, no, no, no, NO!" He cries out as he slams into the front door, bashing it down. He ignores the pain in his shoulder as he frantically looks across the living room, the furniture and décor shaken and displaced from the bombing. He has three minutes, four at the most before they are too late to make it back to the portal.

"MARIE!" He cries out, finding nothing in the kitchen except for food growing cold on the table. He runs back into the living room and up the stairs to the second floor, no longer finding a roof above him. As he reaches the top landing, he begins to hear crying from the nursery.

"Marie?!" He calls out once more.

"Ka… Kaden!" He hears a strained voice call from the room.

He dashes down the hall and bursts into the room, finding his wife pinned under a pile of rubble, blood coming out of the corner of her mouth as she coughs out more. Beside her lays their crying child tucked into her arms, away from the debris.

As Kaden looks on in horror, Marie gives him a very weak smile. "I… I saved him." She manages to say before she coughs more blood into a small puddle, already formed beside her.

"No, Marie, you can pull through this!" He says as he rushes over and tries to lift the rubble, but he fails to move it more than an inch.

He pulls harder and harder in desperation, not caring about the cramps beginning to form in his legs and arms. His shoulder throbbed, and he distantly felt some blood trickling from the bullet wound on his arm. He just needs to lift it a little more, and she can crawl out. Just a little more and they can all leave for the new dimension together. They'll be safe, she'll live, all he has to do is lift a little more and—

He feels her hand gently hold onto his wrist, and he pauses to look down at her.

"No… Save Kieran." She says softly. "There's… still time for him."

Kaden kneels beside her, tears starting to spill down his cheeks. "No, Marie, I-I can save you! I just need to try harder—"

He is silenced by her hand being placed on his cheek.

"It's too late for me, Kaden." She coughs, sounding weaker. "Please… Protect Kieran." She gives him a warm smile as tears of her own start to roll down the side of her face.

Kaden rests his hand over hers, and leans in closer, inspecting her injuries. Her breathing is starting to become very labored, and the amount of blood that's already pooled next to her is worrying. He looks back to the lower half of her body pinned under the rubble and realizes that even if she manages to make it out, she would be in no condition to run back to the portal.

Kaden looks back at her, taking everything inside of him to not break down into an incoherent mess as he realizes that it really is too late for her. He swallows. "I will, Marie." He says in a choked whisper. "I love you."

"I… love you, too… Kay."

He feels her hand tug at his, and he follows it to lean down and give her a kiss, not caring about the taste of blood in her mouth. They break the kiss, and he rests his forehead on hers, gripping onto her hand with his in desperation.

"I don't want to lose you…" He says, feeling it harder than ever to hold back the sobs.

"It's alright." She says, taking more effort to speak. "All that matters… is that… Kieran is safe…" Her breathing starts to become more and more pronounced as it becomes harder to get air into her lungs, and Kaden lifts his head to gaze at her with wide, watery eyes.

She looks back up to him, and wit her remaining strength, manages to muster a smile.

"I… love you… Kaden…"

As she utters those words, Kaden feels her grip onto his hand release, and her eyes slowly close. Her chest falls as she breathes a raspy breath, but it doesn't rise back. Kaden watches as the life drains from her body, becoming eerily still.

"Marie?" He whispers.

He hears no reply.

Kaden grips onto her limp hand, and even more tears fall down his face as he starts to cry. He buries his face into her chest, and he breaks down, wailing.

He didn't care if a stray Drophyd came up behind him to finish the job. He didn't care if the building around them collapsed like the others, burying them all. He didn't care that the portal will be closed by now, leaving him and his son stranded in this dimension. All he cared about was that the love of his life was gone forever, taken from him by some goddamn Cragmite.

He sobs for minutes on end, muttering her name between choked breaths. Would she have been alive now if he came to save her earlier? How long was she trapped under that rubble, suffering? Why did she have to die in such a painful way? Why did everything have to end up like this?

Eventually, his cries begin to die down, but as it does, he realizes that he hasn't been the only crying. He looks back up at his infant son, still cradled in Marie's arm. He leans over and takes him into his own in a futile attempt to calm him down. He looks onto his face, and opens the blanket he's swaddled in for a moment to inspect him for injuries, and is relieved to find none, not even a scratch. Marie protected him well. But as he looks down onto him, Kaden realizes that she called him Kieran. For the first time.

His naming ceremony wasn't until a few days from now, where they would announce their child's name to their friends and family. They've been calling him 'son', as per tradition, but Marie breaking it to call him by his given name as one of her dying words only made Kaden all the more miserable.

"Why did it have to come to this, Kieran?" Kaden asks the infant. "You, and me, and your mother should be in the new dimension right now, starting a new life."

Kieran doesn't say anything, only cries.

Kaden takes a few deep breaths to regain his composure and clear his mind as best he can. He needed to formulate a new plan.

The Dimensionator was broken, and he was stuck on this side of the portal. Tachyon is going to hunt down the Dimensionator to finish what he started, there was no doubt about that. So, he was going to have to hide it somewhere. Best place would probably be one of the abandoned outposts they have all over the galaxy, they should be obscure enough to make them borderline impossible to locate, and their security should prevent access on the off-chance Tachyon does find them.

But as long as Kaden was alive, Tachyon was going to go after him, to the ends of the universe if that's what it took. So… sooner or later, he was going to have to fight Tachyon. And if the current state of Fastoon was any evidence… the odds aren't in his favor.

He could always try living a life on the run, but with Tachyon's power, he would likely become the most wanted person in the galaxy. And even if no one tried to turn him in, Tachyon would no doubt systematically massacre planets he even suspects Kaden is hiding on in order to draw him out.

He could also chance the destruction of reality by using the Dimensionator in its damaged state to return to the rest of his species, but the risk was too high, and he wasn't selfish enough to resort to such a thing. And once again, it was going to be impossible to repair it if Tachyon was going to start breathing down his neck in his search for it.

So, the only option for him was to confront Tachyon. The sooner, the better, to prevent him from killing any more innocent people in order to flush Kaden out.

And when they go to face off, he knows that only one of them are going to walk out alive.

Kaden closes his eyes and he sighs. At least the Lombaxes would be safe, no matter what. Either the Dimensionator's location dies with Kaden, along with any chance of Tachyon finding it, or they wouldn't have to worry about a genocidal maniac anymore. As his role of Keeper of the Dimensionator, it was a win-win situation for his people. And in this apocalypse, that was all he could ask for.

But when Kaden opens his eyes, he finds himself staring down onto Kieran, who stares back up at him, now having calmed down from his crying.

His eyes widen. Kieran was still here with him, he realized. He couldn't go off and fight Tachyon with his infant son by his side, it was a death sentence for him! Tachyon is going to try and kill him in order to fulfill his agenda to exterminate their race, but Kaden knows he can't protect him if it came down to a fight! What was he supposed to do? He had to protect him somehow, but—

He freezes, and feels tears begin to well up as he finds the answer.

He was going to have to hide him, just like the Dimensionator. But it would have to be somewhere far, far away, where Tachyon wouldn't even dream of looking. Somewhere where Lombaxes are an unknown species, and are oblivious to his genocide. Somewhere where he would have to be alone.

Somewhere like another galaxy.

More tears fall down Kaden's cheeks as he clutches desperately onto Kieran. To think that only minutes ago, he lost his wife, and now, he was going to have to lose his son. The only thing that made it bearable is that he knows it's going to be for his own safety, even though it's going to be at the cost of growing up alone. He won't know a single thing about his culture, his parents, or… even his own name.

"Why is the universe so cruel, Kieran?" Kaden whispers, hugging onto him, savoring the touch.

He sits on the floor like that for minutes, processing the fact that he will soon have to let go for one last time. With one more deep breath, he removes Kieran from his chest, and gives him one more kiss as he swaddles him, promising to make the rest of their time together count. He slowly stands up and starts walking out of the door, but not without turning back to his wife, her lifeless body sending another stab of pain into his heart.

"I'm going to protect him, Marie." He says with a cold determination. "Then I'm coming back for you. I promise."

He exits the room, and heads down the stairs, mindful of the debris littering them. As he makes his way through the living room, he tries not to look at all the photos they have on the walls, depicting his family in happier times that he desperately missed already.

But as he glances at a photo with him and Alister proudly posing together, anger roils through him. If only Alister listened to him, they wouldn't be in this mess. Kaden would be on patrol right now, bored out of his mind, just itching to get back home to see his family again, wondering what Marie cooked for dinner, and if Kieran said his first word yet.

But instead, he was preparing to abandon his son in another galaxy so that he would face a genocidal maniac that killed his wife.

Kaden growls as he walks over the bashed door laying on the ground and steps outside. But as he looks up, he freezes.

Across the yard stood Alister, carrying his staff in one hand, and the Dimensionator in the other, also frozen as he looks onto Kaden.

Neither of them says a word. It's quiet now, with the Drophyds fully pulled back, leaving the air filled with the sound of crackling flames from burning debris. A warm wind blows past them, carrying ash along with it, making their eyes sting. In the distance, a building is heard collapsing from the damages it sustained from a bombing.

It was so quiet that Kaden could hear Alister swallow.

"Where's Marie?" He asks, breaking the fragile tension.

Kaden begins breathing deeply in anguish, seeing nothing but red. Carefully, he sets the swaddled infant in his arms down onto the soft grass beside him, and he starts walking over to Alister with pure, unbridled fury in his eyes. Alister does nothing but stand there, knowing full well what's going to happen.

As Kaden makes it to him, he swings back his arm and connects what had to have been his strongest punch directly into his best friend's cheek, slamming him down onto the ground.

"Marie is dead, Alister!" He screams in sorrow and anger down onto the shriveled heap on the ground, tears starting to form back in his eyes. "She died to save our child!"

He delivers a kick into Alister's side, and he curls up even more, not making an attempt to get up, or even defend himself.

"I had to watch her die in my arms, and I couldn't do anything to save her!" He kicks Alister once more.

"All because you didn't listen to me about that fucking Cragmite, Alister! I was right about him from the get-go, but you didn't listen to a goddamn thing I said! How many other Lombaxes do you think died because of you, huh? Hundreds? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands?" He yells onto him. "Some General you are!"

He rears his leg back for another kick, but stops himself, seeing Alister shaking on the ground as he starts to hear sniffles.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" He sobs. "It's… it's all my fault…"

Kaden puts his foot down on the ground, clenching his fist instead, using his other hand to wipe away the tears in his eyes. "You're damn right it is." He turns and starts walking towards Kieran.

Alister hears him stepping away, and slowly picks himself up off the ground, using his staff for support as he winces from the pain, tears in his eyes.

Kaden picks Kieran up and cradles him in his arm. He looks back up to Kaden with his emerald eyes, and reaches out for him, to which he gives him a finger for him to grab on to. Kieran smiles as he plays with the finger, and Kaden feels his heart soften a little bit.

At least he was going to be able to escape this.

He turns around, seeing Alister leaning on his staff as he wipes away his tears, unable to even look up towards Kaden's direction. He starts walking towards him, stopping for a moment to pick up the damaged Dimensionator that Alister dropped when he fell. After mounting it on his back, he approaches Alister, stopping just short of him.

Alister sees Kaden's feet stop in front of him, and closes his eyes in anticipation for another impact. But after a few moments, nothing happens, and he opens them again to see that he's simply standing in front of him. Reluctantly, he slowly looks up, and meets Kaden's gaze, who glares at him intensely, but with less fury behind it.

"You may have done the stupidest and most destructive thing in Lombax history… but you're still my friend, Alister." He says with a subdued anger. "But that is the only reason I am giving you this warning: I never want to see you again."

Alister's face falls even more, but Kaden doesn't relent.

"Marie would still be alive if it wasn't for you, and the same goes for all the other Lombaxes killed by Tachyon. He's going to hunt us down, too, including… my son." He almost calls him Kieran, but Alister has lost the right of ever knowing his true name.

Alister quietly listens as Kaden looks down onto Kieran, still playing with his finger.

"I'm going to hide the Dimensionator to protect everyone. After that, I'm going to have to hide my son. He'll have to grow up alone, but it's the only way he'll be safe. Then, I'm going to come back here and bury Marie like she deserves, before I confront Tachyon and end it, whichever way it will."

He looks back up at Alister, making him stare right into his eyes. "And if I ever see you again, Alister, I… I don't know what I'll do." He says coldly.

Alister's heart shatters as he hears those words. He wishes he could protest, convince Kaden to change his mind, let Alister go in his stead, anything but this. But he only nods. "…I understand, Kaden." He mumbles.

"Good." He says firmly, without an ounce of remorse. "Goodbye, Alister. It was nice knowing you."

Kaden walks past him, and into the ruins of the city to find a ship. Alister turns and watches his childhood friend and brother-in-arms walk away until he is out of sight. Forever. His eyes begin to sting, and his knees give out from under him as it sinks in that he has lost the last person who truly cared for him.

And he had every right to.

"I'm sorry, Kaden." He cries. "For everything." He buries his face in his hands as he starts to sob, regretting ever listening to Tachyon and fueling his genocide, which will soon claim his best friend as well.

He suddenly hears the sound of a ship taking off, and he glances up to see an Angel-Class Lombax ship flying out of the atmosphere, no doubt with Kaden and his son aboard, leaving him as the last living Lombax on Fastoon.

He looks down sadly. He felt alone, like the entire universe was against him. For as long as he could remember, Kaden was there by his side, through thick and thin, hell and high water. But now, he was gone. For good.

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his watch, opening it to view the picture of himself and Kaden. He remembered that day, the day they were both promoted to General. They swore an oath to the Praetorian Guard, but also to each other.

An oath to always be there for the other, no matter what. Even if one of them died, the other had to be willing to personally dig down to hell and drag them back to the living, so that not even death would do them part.

Marie always joked that it sounded like they platonically married, but neither he nor Kaden cared, because they truly felt that way to each other. If they made it to become Generals together from being classmates in grade school, then nothing would separate them.

Alister sighed. If only he could go back to that day he gave Tachyon access to their technology, then that oath wouldn't have been broken just now.

But as he looks at the image, he glances at the clock next to it, and his eyes widen.

He suddenly remembered Kaden's project he was working on before he was assigned to researching the multiverse. It'd been over a year, and Alister didn't really pay much attention to it, being too busy with his new responsibilities as General, but he remembered the absurdity of it.

Something about the Zoni and Fongoids, and some kind of contraption that was connected to the space-time continuum. A 'Keeper of Time', Kaden called it. If something like that truly existed, then there was a chance for him to fix his mistake. To bring back those who died in the onslaught. To reunite with his friend, and save him from his inevitable death.

Alister looks back to Kaden's image, and the grief begins to leave his body as it is replaced by determination.

He looks up at the darkening sky where Kaden's ship disappeared. He wipes the tears from his eyes and stands back up.

"I will fix this." He says aloud with a stern hope as he grips onto his staff with a renewed vigor. "I don't know how, but I will fix everything for you, Kaden."

He looks back to his destroyed home, knowing full-well where Kaden kept his research for his various project.

If he was going to uphold their oath to save his friend, he had better start digging.

Now, some fics have Alister and Kaden team up together after a little spat, but I don't think I'll subscribe to that notion.

I mean, sure, our friends mess up every once in a while, and we forgive them for it.

But if a friend leads to the nigh-extinction of your planet, leading to your wife's death, your child's abandonment, and possibly your own death, I don't think you'd be so quick to forgive them either.