Homecoming(II)

"Hey MUTT?" Natalie called, as she and the others filed into the Den's main control room. It hadn't been long after Savage had left unexpectedly, did Tanya thoroughly kick Tyler's ass one-handed. That seemed to be the highlight of the sparring session, though it was also one of the few moments they spent in the impromptu sparring area. "Do you know where Savage ran off to?"

MUTT was just finishing attending to Kyle's untreated leg when they came through the doors, throwing aside the bloodied wipes and cutting the loose stitching thread. He looked up as the other Warriors approached, treating their weapons with noticeably more care.

"I do not keep tabs on his location," MUTT answered briskly, gesturing to Kyle that he was done, and turned back to put aside his medical equipment. Kyle slowly sat up, mindful of the tenderness in his leg as he sat up, pushing himself off the table with a slight grunt. He limped off a few steps, before Isaac moved in to help him to a proper seat.

"Thanks," he said with a small smile, finally letting out a sigh as he got comfortable on the chair. Isaac quickly moved on around the table the chair was up against. The towel across his shoulder quickly fell onto the table.

"Gonna go shower," he called, as he vanished beyond the other doors. The others gave their own individual responses, though Tanya gave it a few seconds before she quickly followed after. Though from the looks she and Isaac had exchanged previously, they didn't let subtlety take over their intentions.

When the doors closed a second time, Tyler and Kyle both turned to look at the door, before turning to look at one another. "They're really going to…?" Tyler asked, scratching the side of his neck as he allowed a limited wondering of his mind.

"Do you really want an honest answer to that?" Kyle asked back, a look spreading across his face to back himself up.

And it was a combination of these efforts that quickly brought Tyler's to his answer. "Yeah…good point."

"So, you don't keep tabs on Savage?" Natalie questioned, one eyebrow raised as she leant back against the table MUTT was working at, her arms folded while his fingers rapidly moving across the keyboard. "Seems a bit unlike you, MUTT; keeping tabs on us a while back."

"Savage has specifically requested I not keep track of him," MUTT responded, sparring a side look at the Natalie as he slowly moved across to work on another computer. When he moved, Natalie quickly slid into the place MUTT previously occupied.

"You won't find anything on there," MUTT's voice came just as her fingers found the keys to access the secured computer. "Besides, you won't be able to access the computers in here for a while."

A faint frown appeared across Natalie's face at this, as her hands slowly found their way onto the desk either side of the keyboard. "Seriously? Because Kyle thought it was a good idea to look up porn while everyone else was asleep-"

"Yeah seriously though, dude, you need to see a psychiatrist," Tyler interrupted, gesturing across to the Black Delta-powered teen. "I mean, some of the noises that came from those videos…even Jesus can't save you."

Kyle's response was simple; an eye roll, accompanying the dismissive wave.

"Besides," Tyler quickly rose from the edge of the table and approached Natalie and MUTT, hands sliding into his pockets. "We're just worried about Savage. I mean, shit, that was the first time I've seen him have that look. And that look wasn't a good one, that's for fucking sure."

"Yeah," Kyle agreed, leaning back against his chair to see the others; could have been easier to ask Tyler to side-step, but whatever. "That was a look that says he's seen shit."

Natalie looked across at Kyle, raising one eyebrow slightly. "I'd say less 'seen crap', more…shock, with some…thing mixing it up. Can't think what though."

The others quickly lapsed into silence, thought consuming the teens as each tried to figure out what was missing in their assessment of Savage's uncharacteristic reaction. But though her mind was preoccupied with this, Natalie couldn't help but notice how MUTT had grown quiet as well, his fingers coming to a stop against the keys.

It was at this point, Natalie suddenly realized she wasn't sure what to say MUTT was doing; processing, obviously, but…there was something about the subtler movements-the slight head tilt, as if listening for something she hadn't heard, the way the robotic fingers hesitated to continue typing numerous times, among others she had seen-that seemed far too organic for his cybernetics to fake. Natalie sometimes wondered just what MUTT was exactly.

She had been so caught up in her thoughts, that when MUTT spoke all of a sudden, her knee-jerk reaction was to look at anything other than MUTT. But nothing came into view quick enough, so she simply settled on looking at her worn trainers.

"While I do not know exactly where Savage is gone, what I do know is that wherever he has gone, he has taken his armour with him."

"Why'd he take his armour with him?" Kyle questioned, looking around at the room, as if somehow the walls would be the ones to answer his questions. "Pretty sure there haven't been any Demon sightings."

"Yeah," Tyler agreed, looking from Kyle and back to MUTT again. "Besides, you would have told us if any Demons decided to rear their fulgy mugs. Right MUTT?"

Natalie expected to hear MUTT's response shortly after Tyler's question, but after a few moments of silence, she did start to wonder what MUTT was thinking of saying. But just when she expected him to speak, if he was going to, they were all cut off when an alarm sounded from the consoles.

MUTT immediately acted, walking around to deactivate the blaring alarm and flashing light, and began looking into the alarm.

"Demons?" Tyler asked, not sure whether to be serious, in the potential matter at hand, or to attempt a half-smirk at the previous conversations' topics; whether fate had listened to them, in one way or another.

"In a way; appears that a group of the human militia has tried to enter the city, though a pod of Wolkeins seems to have turned up at the same time. They've engaged, though the humans are suffering losses."

"Oh, so a two for one, eh? Lucky, lucky day," Kyle replied with a shard of sarcasm, as he tried standing once again; but the moment he tried putting pressure on the recently stitched leg, he took a pained breath through his teeth.

"I think you should stay here for now, Kyle," MUTT informed, manoeuvring around Tyler to approach Kyle, as he slowly took his seat once again. "You've started to build a resistance against the smaller doses of Instinct I've been giving you, so I've had to increase the dosage. This does have the negative side-effect of taking longer to take effect, due to the resistance."

"So it's just me and Nat again?" Tyler asked, looking across at the girl he named as he slowly followed in the footsteps of MUTT. A nod from the robot confirmed Tyler's question.

"Look at it this way," Natalie tried to comfort, walking around the consoles again. "Think of it like when they were in Japan; only…we're doing something the entire time," she gave a small shrug, heading towards the same door they had walked through not fifteen minutes earlier.

"Yeah, 'cause only dealing with Demons and shit towards the end was so boring," Tyler remarked, and Natalie found herself he wasn't fighting to stay afloat in the midst of all his sarcasm. But all she showed was a small chuckle as a smirk crossed Tyler's own lips, the pair of them quickly heading towards the door.

"Don't worry MUTT, we'll take care of it," Natalie called, reaching the part where the doors automatically slid open.

"No need to disturb the fuck buddies," Kyle called from his spot across the room.

While the comment brought a chuckle out of Tyler, Natalie only responded with a half-hearted smile tugging at one corner of her lips. She was sure he hadn't done it intentionally, but she couldn't help picking up on the edge to Kyle's words. Not a resentful tone, more of a…lacking a better word, he sounded pissed off.

But she quickly shook her head of this thought process, and called back, "Same goes for you!" as she and Tyler vanished beyond the closed door.

Kyle rolled his eyes slightly, shifting in his seat to look across at MUTT. "I think she was talking to you."

"I highly doubt that."

\/

A sigh slowly passed his lips as he slowly slid down the side of the nearest tree, coming to a rest when he was sitting against the base. Merrick had spent the best part of the last half hour setting up the small clearing for the pair of them; not that it was a difficult task to complete. Gather some firewood, making sure that he had somewhere comfortable to sit. Not much was needed for a bed.

He had grown to like sleeping under the stars.

But even as he tried to relax, Merrick couldn't help but flick his gaze up to the tree opposite him. He hadn't seen any movement in the entire time he had been working. Not even the slightest quiver of a disturbed leaf. And while he was used to silence and stillness from Zen-Aku, in ways that some would definitely find unnerving, this was something else entirely.

Merrick almost lost track of just how long the pair of them had been wandering the country, ever since they had parted ways with the Wild Force Rangers. They had travelled the length and breadth of the States, or at least most of it. They never stayed in one place for very long; Merrick only held small jobs, washing dishes in greasy spoons and the like before they found themselves on the move again.

Turns out being stuck to a cursed Wolf mask for 3,000 years didn't count for much when people were looking to hire him. Though it wasn't as though Merrick wanted any of these jobs; and it wasn't like Zen-Aku had any need for the 'dirty coin' as he called it. In fact the only reason he got as many part-time jobs as he did was to not draw unwanted attention from other people. Namely the smell whenever he went into the local town to get supplies, and the occasional jacket.

It brought him back to his younger days, with the Rangers.

And Shayla.

While one hand was preoccupied with twirling a small stick he had picked up while sat down, the other slowly slide into his back pocket and pulled something out. He carefully opened up the twice-folded picture, the faint creases down and through the middle giving it a slight bend. But the picture was still in good condition.

He still remembered the day it was taken; their encounter with the Time Force Rangers, the fight against the Mut-Orgs. And, as the picture reminded him whenever he look at it, the picnic in the aftermath of the day. While he couldn't recall which one of the Rangers snuck the picture, there were definitely times when he was glad they did. Him and Shayla, half-sat, half-lying across the bench as they watched something in the distance; Merrick vaguely remembered watching Cole and Wes' race.

It reminded him of a time long since gone, a time where things…could have been different.

Merrick gave a sharp exhale, letting his hand fall down against his knee, the picture slipping out of view. He had learned a while ago to not linger on what could have been and pats that nearly were; he'd made more than enough decisions that brought potential futures to a swift end.

One of the first being in the still trees above him.

But it was a ruffle in the bushes that broke his concentration; his gaze quickly flicked to the left, nimbly folding the picture with a single hand and slid it into his back pocket as Merrick slowly rose back onto his feet. Something seemed off about the disturbed bushes, however; the quaking leafs came from the middle of the bushes. It wasn't stemming from the ground up, like it would if a rabbit or bird suddenly darted through.

"Wait."

Merrick didn't even flinch when the gloved hand slowly squeezed his shoulder; he had heard the near-silent descent from the trees. He even picked up the trained, silent steps come up behind him. But he wasn't remotely afraid of this; his sense of smell and hearing was far more tuned than the average human, picking up the faint trace of Zen-Aku approaching. So he remained in place, watching as Zen-Aku slowly moved through his peripheral vision and cautiously approached the bush.

But he couldn't help but notice the slight stiffness in the Org's stance and movement.

Zen-Aku slowly pulled his dagger-flute from it sheath, inhaling deeply to get as much information of their surroundings as possible. Surely he would have picked up any approaching scent, putting him further on edge.

'But something isn't right.'

Though he tried to keep it concealed, Zen-Aku found himself growing more and more irritated by the feeling of not knowing. And that only made him angrier. This become apparent when he suddenly lashed out, a low growl breaking through as his sliced through the top of the bush.

The blade cut cleanly through leafs and stems, the force throwing the torn shrubbery to one side. He quickly advanced, looking through the new gaps he had created. The dagger was raised, ready to bring down on the potential of a risk.

"What is it?" Merrick's voice cut through the silence, finding it quickly growing strain as his muscles wanted to shift into a fighting stance, just in case. Though his days of fighting were long behind him, he still found himself following the same routine day in, day out. But judging by how Zen-Aku slowly lowered his raised blade, he figured he wouldn't need to spring into action.

Until a new voice stepped in.

"You know…"

Both Zen-Aku and Merrick turned sharply on the spot, Merrick shifting into his prepared defensive stance and Zen-Aku held his dagger at the ready. But what they were greeted with, neither of them were ready for.

Merrick's eyes widened, the sight of the wolf-like creature not what he was expecting at all. He was sat upon a partially fallen log, clad in armour that bared quite a few similarities to Zen-Aku's own; the same grooves in the plating, the same patches of fur visible through gaps in the armour, his glowing yellow gaze mirroring that of Zen-Aku's burning glare. He even wore a similarly shaped mask, though visibly suffering far more damage. The only differences he could see right off the bat, really, was the lack on Org horn, and the obvious colour swap; the crimson stood out against the surrounding greenery like an open wound.

"I find it odd, how a Warrior of your calibre, would be fooled by such a novice distraction," the crimson-plated Wolf leaned forward, his burning glare never once parting. "Have you lost your edge, brother?"

Even his words held a very Zen-Aku-like sharpness to them, Merrick noted, as his eyes briefly flicked over to the Duke Org beside him; he seemed to be the one this wolf creature was focusing most of his effort on.

Yet Zen-Aku had yet to say a single word, his glare returning the one he was receiving. His grip around the dagger slowly tightened, fingers flexing as he tried to wordlessly get a handle on this lookalike. This…Warrior resembled him in many ways, but Zen-Aku knew of no other Wolf Orgs, let along Duke Orgs, that had this creatures' appearance. And at the same time, he couldn't escape the quiet, nagging feeling in the back of his mind. That he…knew this mysterious creature.

The silence eventually grew too much for the Wolf, whose glare narrowed. A snarl tore from his throat as he suddenly stood up. This reaffirmed the tension in Merrick, hands raised again as Zen-Aku cautiously brought his dagger up a fraction. And the tension between the two were brought to an all-time high when a weapon mysteriously formed in the Wolf's hands; though Merrick noted how it closely it resembled Zen-Aku's own Crescent Blade.

"We mean you no harm," Merrick finally spoke up, drawing the attention of both Zen-Aku and this other Wolf creature to him. And despite the fact the pair of them wore masks, he could easily tell they were giving him the same look, just with different levels of intensity.

The Wolf slowly raised his blade, pointing it accusingly at Merrick; while a sizable gap was still between the two groups, Merrick did spare a brief glance down to the sword tip pointed at him. "This is not your concern, Animarian; I would suggest that all you bring to this conversation now, is silence."

Merrick's eyes widened at the sharp comment, but the sharp comment on his contribution wasn't the reasoning behind it. "What did you call me?" he asked, shoulders locking backwards as he brought his head up.

"You heard," The Wolf sneered, his glare narrowing mockingly. He slowly advanced, lowering the blade in tandem with his steps. "You reek of the Kingdom, though that is to be expected…" He slowly turned back around to focus on Zen-Aku, pointing his free hand at the Org. "But you…is this how you've been hiding all this time, Naku?"

Movement to Merrick's side caught his attention, just beyond his peripheral vision. Seeing that this Wolf was focused on Zen-Aku, he spared a quick glance; only to have his gaze meet the yellow gaze of the Duke Org beside him. And even though he couldn't get a good look, he was sure he caught something in Zen-Aku's glare.

He seemed just as mystified as Merrick.

"I know not of who you speak, but I suggest that you lower your tone," Zen-Aku turned back to face the Wolf, one of his hands slowly sliding behind his back. Merrick spotted something catch the sunlight behind Zen-Aku, and he was immediately aware of what his friend had armed himself with. "We come here not for conflict."

Though this didn't seem to be the response the Wolf was searching for. His hand visible tightened around the Crescent Blade's handle, as a deep, reverberating snarl tore out of the mask. He gave a sharp flick of his blade, and closed the gap between the groups in the blink of an eye.

Merrick was only barely aware of Zen-Aku rushing in front of him, the gust of wind brushing his hanging fringe the first suggestion to movement. Next thing he knew, both Wolf and Duke Org were staring each other down; half-expecting them to come to blows at any moment. But he had barely attempted to approach and separate the pair when he picked up the hushed, sharp words from the Wolf.

"How could you have forgotten who you are? Where you are?" A lesser being would have felt the sharp sting that came with the cutting words, but Zen-Aku's glare was immovable, staring right back into the yellow glare firing daggers at him. But what was more surprising to Zen-Aku, wasn't the intensity of the anger nor was it the sharpness of the words; rather, what he could see through the breaks in the clouded anger and rage.

But what was that look?

His thoughts were severed by a loud snarl from the Wolf, who turned around sharply and walked away a few steps. His free hand came to his masked face-Merrick momentarily mistaking him for face-palming. But he was quickly proven wrong when the hand closed into a fist, pressing against the forehead of the Wolf's mask, as a deep exhale in the sound of a snarl vibrated out.

"This is your home, Naku," The Wolf turned back around again, the distance between the two re-established; giving Merrick and Zen-Aku that breathing room once again. "Our home, brother."

Merrick had learned to hone a lot of his skills and abilities over the years, both recalling from his past and since he and the rest of the Wild Force parted ways; namely, his way of getting a feel for a person after minimal contact. And he was getting several things already from this Wolf.

"Please, we don't need this to come to blows," Merrick slowly eased forward, one hand momentarily resting on Zen-Aku's padded shoulder as he took a cautious step. A quick look back to the Duke Org brought his mostly puzzled expression, mixed with the underlining, restrained assertiveness Zen-Aku always seemed to have, no matter who he was dealing with. But Merrick gave his own look of reassurance in response.

He had this situation under control…for now.

Merrick then turned back around to the back-facing Wolf, and took another step forward; firmly planting himself between the pair. "We mean you no harm, Warrior."

The slightest twitch of one of the Wolf's ears showed that, even though he wasn't facing Merrick, he was at least partially listening to him. So, Merrick continued, "You know Zen-Aku, quiet well by your words." He took another step forward, though quickly stopped when he picked up the signs of hostility, with the hold over his blade tightening and shoulders rolling backwards. Knowing he was already pushing his limits with this Wolf, Merrick momentarily remained in place, but continued to talk.

"We know of the Power Rangers here; I just want to know if you know of them."

He didn't even see the blow coming, moving faster than he thought possible; the next thing he was aware of, he was knocked to the ground, winded, coughing and groaning as he clenched his now-pain laced stomach. The shadow of the Wolf loomed over him, but the next second, Zen-Aku's shadow had collided with the Wolf's.

Blows were blocked, a body was thrown to the ground and the Wolf's blade was sent hurtling through the air.

"That was not a wise move," Zen-Aku snarled, boot firmly planted across the struggling Wolf's throat. Even as he tried to free himself, the Wolf wasn't going anywhere. And as Zen-Aku slowly leaned down, masked face to masked face, the struggling lessened slightly; but the infuriated look never once left the eyeholes of his mask.

"Now…you're going to answer some questions."

\/

A D-13 soldier ducked behind cover-one of the large, decorative fountains at the centre of Pax Valley that had long since had its water cut off-as an explosion rang out across the area. He glanced over the edge, only to pull his head back down just as quickly as a lifeless body soared over him. The once-living soldier came crashing down, a sickening crunch accompanying his impact and causing a sick sensation to form in the soldiers' stomach.

He was brought out of his focus by something grabbing him by the back of the vest. He let out a shout as he was lifted clear off his feet, his rifle coming free of his hand and falling into the empty fountain as the guard let out a shout of alarm. Primal instinct suddenly took over, and he started taking throwing punches every chance he got; at least a couple of them had to land. And, as hoped, he did feel his closed fists impact with something solid, almost flesh-like. But this only seemed to make the creature angrier.

The stomach-churning, chatter-like noise coming from the Wolkein, however, was abruptly interrupted; replaced with the sound of sharpened steel cutting cleanly through the air. And as the guard felt the grip around his collar slacken, it was replaced by the ear-splitting screech as he fell back on his ass. He didn't even look back as he scrambled to safety, managing to grab his rifle again in the process.

Now one-armed, the Wolkein turned to its attacker and let out a curdling attack screech; only to have it cut short, as a blade was stabbed up through its head, the tip piercing through the top of the skull. Blood spewed from the latest wounds, the whole body going limp and added weight only forcing its head further onto the blade.

"Fuck, these things are dead weight," Tyler grunted, kicking the limp Wolkein square in the chest, pulling his Wolf Blade back in the same motion. Green blood splattered across the ground, some splashing across his boot. Without missing a beat, he stepped off the edge of the fountain and quickly looked around the battlefield. Dead soldiers littered the entire area, a few Wolkeins taking the extra step to eviscerate a select few, less-than-fortunate corpses.

A quick shake of his head brought his attention away from the bloody sight, and caught sight of Natalie dealing with her own pod of Wolkeins; looked like they were getting ready to ambush another group of pinned soldiers. And they would have likely started tearing them apart, had Natalie not thrown them off their prey.

Sudden movement out the corner of his eye caught his attention, and effortlessly dodged the wild swing from anther Wolkein. He quickly retaliated, first with a left hook to the head, and as the Wolkein recovered from that, Tyler kicked the grunt's legs out from underneath it. As a result, it fell off the edge of the fountain and smashed the side of its head against the smoothed concrete; taking a good chunk out and sending an even large crack around both sides.

Tyler stepped down from the fountains' edge, and finished the job with a powerful kick right to the Wolkeins' temple. While he made a slight face under his helmet after he heard the uncomfortable crack that followed the blow, but that was quickly forgotten when he heard a familiar shout. And next thing he knew, Natalie had been thrown back into him, and the pair quickly found themselves slammed against what remained of the fountain. Tyler himself was unfortunate enough to hit a weak spot in the already damaged barrier, and went straight through.

With a groan, he grabbed the smashed edge and pulled himself upright. "OK…what in the name of Fuck was that?" he asked, shaking the disorientation from his helmet; though with the headache he currently had from the impact, the helmet felt just a size too small.

Natalie slowly rolled her shoulder, a low groan coming through her filter, as she looked across at Tyler. She then looked back from where she had been thrown from, and nodded in the same direction.

Tyler followed her gesture, and simply said, "Oh…that's what."

Smashing through the corner of a previously collapsed building, came a towering, muscular form of a Demon; its skin a mix of hellish red and ash black, scars like cooled, cracked lava all across its mountainous body. The flesh around the obvious orb embedded within his chest was glowing noticeably, as though an active fire roared with the beast and the cooled lava acted as additional armour.

Its eyes, like two black gemstones jammed into its face, focused on the two downed Warriors, and narrowed menacingly as a growl started to bubble from the depths of its throat. A set of short tusks flanked either side of his jaw-the right tip having been snapped off long before his arrival-and his jagged jaw opened to reveal his crooked fangs.

"That's a big fucker if ever I saw one," Tyler remarked, quickly getting back onto his feet, and after waiting a moment for Natalie to follow suite, and brought his Wolf Blade into a defensive hold. Though his eyes did linger cautiously on that massive orb wedged in the Demon's chest. Was it getting brighter or was it just him…?

Suddenly, the creature planted its clawed feet into the ground, and took a deep breath; pushing its chest forward, while moving his shoulders back in the same motion. And the orb, rather worryingly, rapidly started growing from a dark yellow, to a menacing, angry red.

"Move."

"What?" Tyler turned to look over to Natalie, having been pre-occupied with watching the Demon's movements. But when her hand grasped his forearm, what she said suddenly became a lot clearer.

"Move!" Natalie emphasised her point by shoving herself and Tyler to one side, throwing the pair of them to the ground. And with no time to spare as well; just as they shoved themselves out of the Demon's crosshairs, it let out a bellowing roar. A beam of fire, like liquid metal spewing forth, shot through the air. The already damaged fountain was left in utter ruins, the concrete completely giving out under the unearthly liquid metal.

And from their landing point not that far away, the pair of Warriors got a first-hand look of the destructive power.

"Shit!" Tyler exclaimed, quickly scrambling back along the floor an extra couple of feet as the collecting pool of liquid lava spread out menacingly; though not even coming close to the pair.

"See what all that evasive training was for now?" Natalie uttered as she pulled herself to her feet again; dragging Tyler back up as well, even as he continued to look anxiously to the lava. She gave a light backhand to his chest, more to get his attention than anything else, and advised, "Try to get behind him; when Isaac gets here, should be a lot easier with three of us. Right now, we've got to stall."

"What about those soldier guys?" Tyler gave a quick look around, still seeing the fallen bodies of the soldiers across the entire area. Their guns, and more worryingly, their unfired ammo littered the battlefield like confetti.

Natalie seemed to ponder this point as well, taking a brief moment to survey the surrounding area. "…We'll need to watch our backs, in case anyone gets ideas," she quickly decided, giving a confirming nod to Tyler before looking back to the Demon.

Tyler hesitantly returned the nod, slowly bringing the blade's upper half up to rest on his shoulder. "Love how confident you sounded right there."

"Shut up," Natalie huffed, and Tyler could almost hear the eye roll from underneath her helmet; but at the same time, he was fairly sure there was a smirk there, even if it only lasted for a second.

Both turned their full attention back to the Demon, whose fire beam had died down and seemed to currently be re-charging for the next attack. It snorted, turning to look at the Warriors again, repeatedly dragging one of its feet against the same spot, again and again; like a bull preparing to charge at the matador.

"Well then…let's dance," Tyler concluded, raising his other hand up in a mocking 'come get it' gesture to the Demon.

Perhaps not the wisest of choices, considering, much like a bull, the Demon charged at the taunting gesture, letting out a possessed roar as it bared down on the Warriors.

\/

"What's the status of the central Pax patrol?"

The anxious pen-clicking of the head operator came to an abrupt stop with the voice; he had been so pre-occupied watching the monitors in front of him, he hadn't heard the door to the office opening. Though even with the quizzing tone, the operator knew E had to see what he was seeing. The observation room was specifically designed, with the knowledge that employees were prone to slack off; regardless of how hard-working and devoted they could be.

So whenever someone walked into the room, they immediately got a view of what was on the numerous computer monitors; they lined the wall directly opposite, with one a small personal monitor for each observer to work on and make adjustments. Though it was synced up with the wall of screens, eliminating any sort of privacy to their work.

"The patrol ran into a group of those Demon foot soldiers," the head operator explained, carefully taking his glasses off and rubbing over his eyes with a low groan; trying to relieve some of the strain he felt in his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he had a good sleep in this place. Late nights and early morning hours wrecked his sleep pattern.

He swivelled back around in his chair, facing the personal monitor again. A quick tapping of keys brought up the list of soldiers that had been dispatched; out of the dozen heartbeats monitors that were listed, only three were still activated. "I've got into contact with one of the Southern patrols to help the surviv-"

"Call them off."

The operator paused, slowly bringing his hands from his face and lowered his glasses back over his eyes; adjusting them slightly, as he turned around back around to look at E. "Sir…?"

E's eyes remained on the monitors, darting between the remaining heart rate trackers and the various surveillance cameras surrounding the central monitor. And even with the distance between himself and the screens, E could easily make out the blurs and blue and white darting across the screens. "Don't bring any of the other patrols into the mess of a problem. Order them to avoid the area entirely," E instructed, stepping around the operator and turning his personal monitor around so he could get a better look at it.

The operator looked stunned, and as he watched E looking over his monitor with a keen gaze, he felt that familiar feeling of uneasiness start to appear. He vaguely remembered the few times he had encountered E directly; and with each encounter, that same feeling crept back up time and time again. It wasn't like the guy radiated villainy or had this aura that warranted it; but E was just…the operator couldn't quiet put his finger on what was the cause of it all.

"But, sir. The survivors…" he started again, but the rest of his response died in his throat when E turned his steely eyes over to him. He might have figured out one of the reasons E elected that reaction out of him…

"Two of the Wolves are out there with them," E stated flatly, gesturing to the wall-mounted monitors and turning the personal monitor back around to the operator. "We sent another group out there, we'll be throwing them into the jaws of death. And I may be heartless at times, but even I wouldn't do that to good men."

"But it seems as though that's something you're willing to do…"

The operator's eyes narrowed momentarily at the shade getting thrown at him; sometimes E could be a difficult man to decipher, but there were moments like this where his intentions were crystal clear. "I thought they were all armed with those FMJ rounds that can break through the Rangers' armor?"

E never gave an answer for this question. And as the seconds of silence started to grow, another sensation of dread formed like a ball of ice-cold water in his stomach. But he never got the opportunity to ask the question he wanted to know-though he feared getting the answer he dreaded-as E spoke up before he had a chance.

"What's this here?" E asked, gesturing to the right-most monitor on the wall. "Something the aerial reconnaissance picked up?"

The operator turned around in his chair again, quickly focusing in on the selected monitor. While the rest of the surveillance showed images of the city, some following other patrols and others focused on specific points of interest, this one screen showed something completely different. It was showing…forests?

"Looks like something caught its attention," the operator noted, quickly leaning forward and tapping away at the keyboard. The heartrate tracker on the central monitor was quickly switched over with the forest surveillance feed, and with a few clicks and commands typed in, various zoom and enhance features were applied. "It may take a while to figure out what's going on out there."

"Just focus on finding out where it is," E ordered sharply, gesturing to the monitor once more as he quickly headed out through the door. "The second you do, report to me immediately."

\/

"The Warriors have taken the bait," Batibat smirked as she watched through her viewing portal, wisps of green energy connecting her swirling hands to the tear in reality that stood before her and Death. She looked over her shoulder to see what her Masters' reaction was, but her expression stiffened somewhat when she noted how closely Richter was standing to her, looking over her other shoulder.

"Interesting strategy; though your plan does entirely rely on the Rangers' empathy for the soldiers," Richter noted, giving a side-long glance to the she-Demon. Though his gaze returned the portal shortly after a garbled-screech of a Wolkein came from the portal. "Or perhaps it's relying on their protectiveness over their home."

"Either way, it's working," Death hissed across at the Admiral, acidic-green glare brightening under his hood.

Batibat gave a slight look over her opposite shoulder; the pair of Hands usually were at each other's throats, trying to gain the upper favour from the Master. Though it seemed there was one thing in existence that they could be united against; and that was standing behind Batibat's left shoulder, giving an apprehensive look at Death's words.

"I would hardly class 40% effectiveness as 'working'," Richter remarked dryly, raising his remaining eyebrow at the hooded Hand. His words seemed to agitate the Demon, as he noted the low growl come under the hood and one of his hands slowly moving to the bladeless handle at his side. "But," he started again, taking a small step back in faux respect, hands partially raised. "I suppose it's a start, and it should draw the others out of their little cubby hole."

"Hmm…"

All three paused, and turned around to look over at Master Horror atop his throne, his unseen chin resting atop his closed fist. The bony thumb rubbed against his jaw, supposedly, as he seemed lost in thought. But even when he seemed focused on something beyond those of his Hands' and their actions, they knew to be weary should they risk addressing him.

"Is…something the matter, Master?" Batibat cautiously questioned, giving a light snap of her fingers, obscuring the view through the portal with the very same green magic. This prompted the other two to turn their feet towards the throne as well, giving the Master their full attention.

"I sense something…" Horror muttered, as thought he was responding to Batibat's question but not directly replying to her; only responding to the local vicinity. "Something…that should not…be."

He lifted his head, and pushed his previously propping hand forward, skeletal fingers extending out. The red glow reappeared under his hood as his 'eyes' opened once more.

Immediately, Batibat's green magical-laced portal was briefly overtaking by Horror's own red essence, and as the three standing before it turned back around, it was as though the clouds had parted, and the portal was crystal clear once more. And this time, it was showing something very different to the city massacre.

Instead, it showed a forest, peaceful and untouched by humans, where only a few creatures would venture so far from their modern comforts. Though if anything the portal was showing, only one of the three being shown would even remotely be used to human comforts; and even then, it didn't seem like he was one to take such home comforts.

"The Animarian…he's here," Batibat muttered, unfolding her arms as she turned back to the portal as the red faded, restoring the 'natural' green. Her eyes darted over the image, and widened when she realized who the human was standing with. That armour in those colours, one standing and one against a tree, brought flashes of memories.

"The Warriors survived."

Death's voice seemed far more distant than it actually was, but it sounded much farther as Batibat's focus was put entirely on what they were seeing before them. Her arms wrapped around herself once again, one hand raised to her chin as she rubbed her pale skin in a rare display of nerves.

This was not good, not good at all.

"Both of us will see that this matter is eradicated, Master," Batibat hastily responded, turning briskly around to face Horror once again. "This is a matter that requires both myself and Death's efforts."

Death looked across at Batibat at her claims, though remained silent as he listened carefully. His hands folded neatly behind his back, rolling his shoulders back as he exhaled slowly.

"You think this matter is beyond one of you?" Horror questioned, his tone dangerously calm as he looked over Batibat carefully, assessing her down to the smallest change of posture or tone. And the faint shiver that seemed to travel up and down her spine at his words didn't go unnoticed either.

"The two of us, working together, would ensure this matter is dealt with…permanently," Batibat reasoned, after taking a moment to compose herself and her response. She knew she was playing a potentially dangerous game, at the risk of making both herself and Death seem inferior. But this needed to be eradicated, and that would only be completely guaranteed with the two Hands working in unison.

Horror was quiet in his observations, head slowly turning to one side as he looked Batibat and Death up and down; Richter making the wise choice to step aside from the steely glare, taking this brief moment to have a short look around the chamber.

After a moment, Horror gave a dismissive wave, responding, "Go. I expect this matter to be dealt with, quickly. But failure will be met with, accordingly."

The threat didn't go unheeded by either Hand, who both gave their silent nod of understanding. Batibat looked across at Death, and gave an equally silent jerk of the head; the pair quickly departing from their place before the portal. To make some of the finer preparations needed before they travelled to the human realm, perhaps.

"Well…that was certainly eventful, to say the least," Richter remarked after they vanished into the tunnels, turning his eyes back up to Horror on his throne. When the Demon turned to look down at him, Richter gave a brief, partially forced smirk of acknowledgement. He then gestured to another exit from the main chamber, asking, "Could I, perhaps, have a look around? Under your watchful gaze, of course."

He could almost feel Horror's gaze narrow on him, briefly judging and assessing the possible situations that may arise with him granting or denying this request. In the end, however, Horror leaned back into his throne, giving another wave of dismissal.

"Of course," he echoed Richter's words.

To Be Continued...