Skye felt sick. She felt as if her insides were imploding on her as she tried to recover from the complete shit show of an evening she was having. She groaned as her stomach gurgled, begging for food but only causing more pain. She felt like whimpering, she wanted to scream in pain, but kept it all in as she tried to close her eyes for just a moment of rest. She not only felt her body imploding, but her brian scrambling in her own head. It felt like she was spinning around and around but at the same time standing completely still. She didn't know what left or right was, she didn't know what up or down was, all she knew was that she felt sick and wanted to sleep. Then, a small pressure grasped her on the shoulder. She slowly rolled over and saw a face of blue fur. She sighed.

"I just wanna sleep, Krystal," Skye said, trying to avoid a conversation. But Krystal was persistent.

"Please," she said, "Tell me what is happening to you. Let me help you."

Skye reluctantly sighed and sat up, "I feel like I was put in a blender at max speed, if that's what you're wondering."

She nodded, "Okay, but if you don't want to discuss that, discuss with me what is happening outside these walls."

Skye looked at her, "They're trying to find you. They are trying their hardest. But I don't know what they will do next."

Krystal sighed, "What about Fox?"

"Oh him?" she said, "He is trying, but he also is getting flak from someone named General Pepper? Ring any bells?"

Krystal sighed, "Yes, a military leader from our world that helps Star Fox progress in its mission of keeping a galaxy wide peace. He may be doing this because of rising issues due to the sudden disappearance of Star Fox."

"A power vacuum of some sorts," Skye said. Krystal nodded.

"Yes, yes, that," she said, "While we are here, more criminals are enacting their will on Corneria. I don't believe we have much time left."

She whispered something in a different language and then returned to the fox. Finally, Skye sighed.

"I feel… confused," she said, "I want to live my life my way, going to find a home and such. But, I also-"

"Want to join them," Krystal finished, "You want to join those system breakers and their quests, right?"

Skye nodded in surprise, "Yes, how did you know?"

"It's how I felt when I first met Fox," she said, "I felt like I wanted to stay home and be the person I was. But something was nagging at me. Something that made me want to join these strange people called Star Fox. At first, I was hesitant. But again, I felt something pushing me towards that team. For me, it was love. Of course, you could probably tell who. But for you, I believe it is something else: belonging. You don't want to admit it, but you feel like you belong with these people. They speak to you differently, and they don't treat you-"

"Like a freak." She finished her sentence and her thoughts came and quickly were answered. But then, she thought again.

"But," she said, "I feel like there is something wrong with me being there. They're all people of powers, they are human, and, the important part, I'm neither."

"But that means nothing," Krystal said, "It doesn't matter who you are, what you do, it only matters what you choose to do with those thoughts. Hide away because you think you're a monster? Or proudly walk around the streets screaming who you are at the top of your lungs? It doesn't matter if you have powers or not, you can still be a hero even without them."

Skye nodded again but this time couldn't speak as the sound of marching was heard. Krystal hopped up and ran to her bed, nearly jumping under the covers. Skye quickly adapted and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep. The marching continued on for a minute before it slowly faded away. Before she could open her eyes, a voice echoed through the room.

"Hey," the male voice said, calling to someone else, "Who are these two?"

Skye anxiously rolled over and looked to Krystal, who had the covers protecting her eyes from view. The two looked at each other as one Crystalite stomped over and gave a quick overview of each. But, midway through the talk, the man stopped them.

"I think I understand what we need from them," he said. Krystal looked to Skye, a layer of terror plastered in her eyes.

"Use the white-furred one as bait," he said, "If they did decide to stay, which is near impossible after that deal I set, they'll come after us. The blue one, take her for Crystalization as soon as possible. Her telepathy will greatly benefit me."

They two then walked off and the two foxes waited until they were heard no more. Skye looked over to Krystal one last time before she felt sleep beginning to overcome her. She only saw Krystal shedding tears as the darkness took over her vision.


Ex stared into the blank eyes of his reflection in the glass, pondering what to do next. After their run-in with the Crystalites and losing Skye, OBIS had wasted no time deciphering the files that Markus had obtained while the rest of the group hurriedly went to get some rest. Ex decided it would be best if he stayed up a little bit longer to fix some things in the suits. He knew that it would be bad, but he also knew if he didn't he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something bad happened to his friends. He quickly scanned through circuit boards, watching for electrical failures, he checked for dents and scratches, trying to make sure that they were as comfortable and safe as possible, and quickly going over notes that Gaijin had written down about all of their powers, making sure each suit could take it. He then heard a soft beeping noise and turned around, his eyes widening at a sight.

"Shit!" he whisper yelled as a small error on his screen led to a small fire on one of the circuits. He sighed as he tried to fix the minor mistake, cursing himself out from under his breath. He tried his hardest to fix the circuits, ultimately pushing the board away in frustration.

"Hey, OBIS," he softly called out. The AI quickly responded.

"Any repairs I can assist with?" he asked. Ex nodded.

"This circuit board just caught flame," Ex said, "Can you do the repairs for it?"

"While I decipher the Crystalite code," OBIS said, "It may take all night."

Ex sighed, "Alright. Let me quickly run some more tests and I'll-"

"Ex?" a third voice asked. Ex turned around to see Fox standing in the doorway to the hangar. Ex sighed and stood up.

"Hey, Fox," he said groggily, suddenly feeling a restlessness take over him. Fox burst over to him in a sudden bout of speed and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him awake.

"Look, I'm as stressed as you are," he said, "But maybe this is going too far."

"Too far?" Ex said, "What about Krystal?"

Fox chuckled and looked away, "Touche. But still, get your sleep and we can solve more of this tomorrow."

Ex sighed, "I feel like if I sleep, I'll miss something important. A spark could cause this place to go up in flames, or maybe a Crystalite will come out of nowhere."

Fox gave a small grin, "You want action, don't you?"

Ex sighed, "No... Ugh, fine, it's not just that, though. I want to know what I can do! I mean, I can form blades from this hilt thing, and that's all I know. What else can I do?"

"Sleeping is the best way to clear your mind," OBIS said, "Maybe a night's rest will assist you."

Ex sighed, "Fine. Just wanna check one last thing."

He quickly walked over to a small platform that had the bike he and Skye had previously found. On a table beside it, he grabbed what looked like a clipboard. It was silver-grey and it didn't have any pages on it. He placed it face up on the ground and a small holographic figure of the bike rotated around in the air. He watched it and quickly read the description as he heard Fox approaching behind him.

"Reinforced carbon fiber outer shell," he said, reading out a list of details, "Inner graphene and carbon nanotube materials, stronger wheels, better suspension, automated weapons, and defense system, this thing has a lot of potential."

"And what does all that mean?" Fox questioned.

"Well," Ex said, "The reinforced carbon fiber shell makes the outside very strong yet light, making it keep its shake even when hit with huge amounts of force. Graphene is a serious material that when hit can turn as hard as diamonds while carbon nanotubes can basically stop bullets. Oh, and they're both extremely light and flexible. The wheels can be compared to a stranger and more refined version of a jet wheel, which has to stop a plane moving at over two hundred miles per hour. The suspension is just simply better in every way, simply put. And the automated weapons and defense system basically has the same things you would find in a fighter jet and tank."

"Jeez, and all that's in a bike?" Fox said. Ex nodded and chuckled.

"You know what's funny?" he said, pointing to the bike, "I made that."

Fox turned and looked at him shocked while Ex explained, "This was before we met. Way before then. And way before this whole thing. I guess this was back when I used to do things like this for a living. Now, I'm just a student who doesn't know how the hell this is supposed to work."

Fox chuckled, slapping him on the back, "Get outta here and get some sleep."

Ex sighed and walked out of the hangar, Fox quickly following behind him. He walked past the holo table in the main room, seeing Tails and Markus slumped over, a glass of water and a cup of coffee next to each. Ex chuckled as he quickly grabbed Tails and held him in a baby position, carrying him to a seat close by and placing him down. He almost immediately groaned in his sleep and adjusted to a better position. Ex chuckled and silently walked over to Markus, who slowly groaned as he sat up. Ex patted him on the shoulder.

"I think we've got someplace for you to sleep," he said, grabbing Markus and lifting him up, and carrying him over to another seat next to Tails, where the two sat down and slept near peacefully. He then turned to the table and walked over to grab a small hard drive that sat in the center of it. He reached, his fingers just barely reaching it as he dragged it slowly until it reached his palm. He then turns and walks to the teleporter, teleports to where his room was and slipped inside silently.

His 'bedroom' was basically the equivalent of a small luxury hotel room. He had a small desk with a double monitor setup, a nice holographic view of the outside world, a pretty big bathroom, and a sizable bed. It could hold two people, but he liked having room to spread his body out on. The bathroom was the equivalent of a master bathroom with a shower and bathtub. Finally, topping his stay off, he had a mini kitchen as well as a decently sized closet with hundreds of clothing options at his disposal. He walked over to the bed, placing his watch and rubbing his wrist after almost four and a half weeks of wearing it non-stop. He then walked over to the closet and dressed in some more decent attire: a gray cotton shirt and some comfy shorts.

He then walked over to the desk and placed the hard drive next to the computer keyboard and laid in bed, refusing to remove his new clothing as he knew Alexi was going to want answers for the shenanigans that had occurred earlier that evening. And for personal reasons. He waited for a moment before finally deciding to walk into the bathroom and quickly removed his contacts, putting on his glasses and laying just above the covers. Finally, he dozed off to sleep but knew where he was going again. Or at least he thought he did.

He woke up, not in a small room of his imagination, but now in a large field that was covered in tall grass, flowers of varying colors, and bright blue skies. Trees surrounded the opening, leaves slowly rustling in the soft wind. Ex stood, the grass tickling at his waist. He looked around and saw a lone figure off in the distance, one with hair about the length of Chesh's hair except stopping at his shoulders. Ex slowly approached, naming the only person he knew it could be.

"Alexi?" he softly called out. The man turned his head, and Ex felt his jaw drop as the man he knew as Alexi turned to face him.

He was moderately built, but not soldier-like. He looked normal, like any average guy he watched walk past him on the street. Every part of his body that was visible was covered in scratches, blood, dirt, and burns. His face was covered in dirt and blood, a visible scar sitting just above his left eyebrow. It traveled from the end of it to the top of his forehead. The front of his hair was charred, like a piece of wood in a fire pit. Some pieces of hair were still slightly burning in front of his eyes, which were bloodshot red. Looking down his body, he could see some chunks of his arm were missing and some parts were burned to a crisp. Ex looked at him with an expression of disbelief and sorrow.

"I don't know this place," Ex said. Alexi shook his head.

"Because it isn't one of your memories," he said, his voice both a mixture of stern annoyance and shaky sadness, "It's one of mine."

Ex nodded looking around, "Seems like it was a pretty beautiful place to go, huh?"

Alexi looked at him shocked, "You know what this is?"

"Yeah, we share both memories and a bit of emotion," he said, "This place feels peaceful and quiet, while also having fear, sadness, and pain buried somewhere in there."

Alexi sighed, "Came falling from so high in the sky my body literally caught on fire."

As he spoke, the winds began to pick up and a storm seemed to form above them. Ex watched as what looked like a meteorite came crashing down into the peaceful field. Ex knew, however, that was far from an inanimate object. Alexi continued as the scene unfolded.

"I had been fighting a Crystalite demigod in modern-day Crete. We had been mostly successful until we knew that the Crystalite was overpowering up in so many ways. In a last-ditch effort, I basically flew it up into the upper atmosphere. Sadly, that only stopped it till a later date and left me falling down and catching fire on reentry. I landed here, a strange field of beauty and awe. Only for me to die a slow and painful death here. Alone, no one there to help me or save me. But my death was considered honorable enough that my spirit would inhabit the weapon I used: a short sword. The same sword that your hilt used to have. But, due to one of your previous heroes' stupidity, they lost the blade."

Ex chuckled as he watched the sword in his hand stay its normal silver, but its hilt began to rapidly change colors. Ex tilted his head, to which Alexi chuckled at that.

"What?" he asked, "Did you think that each weapon had the same color scheme?"

"Kinda?" Ex admitted. Alexi laughed.

"No worries," he said, "This won't be here for long. Gonna see about that Crystalite stuff while ya sleep if that's alright."

Ex shrugged, "Do I have a choice?"

"Not really," Alexi chuckled. Ex snorted.

"Alright, get outta here," Ex said, trying to change the subject. But before he could, Alexi turned to him.

"I, um, had a question," he said nervously, "Why did you let me fight back there? I thought you wanted the glory."

Ex was taken aback, "Glory? You think I want glory? Nah, I just wanted to see what I could do with my powers and you suddenly popped into my mind. I screamed your name and, I dunno how, I guess I must've formed a secondary body that-"

"My consciousness can travel into," he said, a smile growing on his face, "That means I can fight too."

"But let's play it smart," Ex said, "Use it like I've got your back."

"And you've got mine," Alexi said, chuckling at the line. Ex nodded.

"I'm gonna do some mental training and thinking while I'm here," he said, "You get that hard drive knowledge ASAP."

Alexi nodded as the world slowly faded back to a black void that Ex was familiar with. He quickly surrounded himself in a near-invincible wall and a huge dojo formed around him. He smiled as he began to mentally test his abilities, one after the other, all night long. Or so he thought.


Felix awoke from his slumber, sleeping decently compared to his previous situations. He sighed as he sat up in the bed and looked over to a reflection in the mirror. He saw himself, his chin and neck growing an extreme beard. He stood up and sighed, deciding whether or not it was better to shave it off or not. He stood at the mirror for a moment and pondered. He thought of what Marzia would say in this situation. The thought of it suddenly filled his chest with multiple emotions. Sadness, knowing that he has been away from her for over two months now. Anger, knowing that the Crystalites have her and are threatening to kill her. But towering most of them: determination. The knowledge that he and this group of people will make sure that they get out alive. Felix sighs as he walked out of the bathroom, put on some clothes and walked out to the big room where their rooms were situated. He looked down and saw Sean and Mat talking and laughing at something. Felix, without hesitation, vaulted over the railing and landed in front of them. He smiled at the two, who jumped at his sudden arrival. Though, that all faded away quickly.

"Jesus," Sean said with a chuckle, "You scared us."

Felix sighed, "Sorry, just felt like doing that."

Mat gave a soft chuckle, "Understandable. We all kinda have that feeling."

Felix smiled, "Let's go get some food."

He walked away, Sean and Mat following closely behind. The three entered the main room and walked past the table, a silent Markus, and a sleeping Tails. Markus gave a silent wave as the three kept walking to the right of the admiral. They entered the large cafeteria area before a sudden noise was heard: singing. The attention turned to the singing as they walked over to where it was coming from: a small table with a single figure standing at it. They approached and the words became clearer.

"...-hese chains will not hold me down, they'll break and fall to the ground," a voice sang as the group approached what smelled like breakfast, "Can't tame, these lions inside."

Ex was sitting at a table, tinkering with his watch and making adjustments. The three watched and listened as Ex hummed more of the song that was playing on his phone. Mat came up behind and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to jump and turn around to Mat. Sean and Mark came up and sat at the table with Ex, who didn't say anything for a few seconds before Mat broke the silence.

"So," he said, "Did you stay up all night?"

Ex shook his head smiling, "Nope, not exactly."

Mat wasn't convinced. His voice was somewhat shaky and his eyes were a little red.

"What do you mean not exactly?" he questioned. Ex shrugged.

"Hard to explain," Ex replied, "But I have another consciousness in my body that stayed up and basically gave me some knowledge that he thought would be helpful. His name's Alexi. Care to say hi?"

His eyes suddenly jolted into a neon blue color as his body looked at the rest of the group, "Howdy."

He jolted again and his eyes were back to being hazel and he chuckled, "Again hard to explain."

Sean shrugged, "Well, that wouldn't be the weirdest thing I've heard recently."

Mark sighed, "Well then, I believe I came here to get some food. Anyone else?"

"I'm afraid I cannot serve food in my current state," OBIS said, "I need a quick repair of-"

"The reactor," Ex said, "I've gotta do that. You guys can go out and find someplace to eat."

"Where do you want us to go?" Mark asked, "We don't have any money!"

"Your watches can use a system," Ex said, "That can basically give you infinite money. Dunno how the fuck it works, but it does."

Sean and Mark nodded and stood up and walked away. Mat, however, stayed for a moment longer and watched Ex tinker with his watch before he spoke.

"I never got your name, Ex," he said. Ex looked at him and chuckled.

"Oh right," he said, "Kegan."

He chuckled, "Like that comedian?"

Kegan chuckled, "Yeah, parents thought the name was a good name for me. But, I'm the utter opposite of that guy. Unfunny, not comedic, and nothing related to funny can stick with me."

"What do you mean by that?" Mat questioned. Ex stood and sighed.

"I can't make jokes, honestly," he said, "Anything funny I say just falls flat or it isn't funny at all."

Mat nodded, "I understand that. You're not funny and don't know how to be funny, so you don't make jokes."

"Yep," he replied, "Pretty much just stick to laughing at jokes but don't tell 'em mentality."

Mat nodded in understanding, "I get that. I was a little shy when I first started talking to people and I was personally afraid of what to say. But, after doing some acting classes, I found out how to be funny in conversations and be...well, me."

Kegan smiled, "Thanks for the advice."

Mat stood and Kegan followed shortly after and he quickly ran through the halls, leading down to what Mat assumed was to the reactor. After a minute of nothing, the lights suddenly flashed and then returned to normal. A light tapping of footsteps was heard as Kegan came running back, now drenched in sweat. He was panting hard.

"Holy shit," he said between breaths, "It took… what? Less than ten seconds with Alexi's help? But still, it's so hot in there! OBIS, how much power are you using?"

"Less than twenty-five percent power," he replied simply, "Simply put, I have more energy directed into power consumption in order to speed up this file decrypting. Speaking of which, Markus is asking for the group to be ready in about twenty minutes."

"What the fuck?" Kegan asked in confusion.

Mat chuckled, "Well, mind if I helped out a little bit?"


Crystal felt the wind push by his face so quickly that he almost was deafened by the amount of noise. The clouds raced by him as he kept going, pushing himself more and more until finally, he heard the crack of wind behind him. The sound barrier was officially broken, and his suit was still intact. He smiled, which grew into a sudden joyous cheer of excitement as he started to spin in the air before diving downwards towards the clouds below. He watched as the ground below quickly approached him, so in response, he leaned up and forward, shooting forwards just before he hit the ground. He watched as the salt ground below him shot by him with blazing speed and he quickly looked up, making sure he wasn't going to hit anything. Before he could, however, he felt himself lean up slightly. Just enough to where his knee scraped against the ground. He felt the burning sensation followed by the sudden loss of altitude as he collided with the ground and began trying to stop himself from sliding too much. Finally, after bouncing twice, he was able to upright himself and float above the ground. His breathing quickened as he tried to calm himself. Another whoosh of air came behind him as he spun around and saw Beth floating there, her wings carrying her just enough to be face to face with Crystal.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned. Crystal nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "Just a couple of bruises. I'm fine."

"That impact-" Beth tried to say but was interrupted.

"Did nothing to you," another female voice said. Crystal and Beth looked below themselves, seeing Anahella standing there with her robe somehow floating over her like an umbrella. Crystal floated down slowly while Beth failed to follow and dropped down beside Anahella, who swatted away the dust particles. She sighed.

"Terribly sorry for my absence," she said, "I've been busy with some… other things."

"Well," Beth said, trying not to let the pain sink into her voice, "It's good to know you're still alive."

Anahella sighed, "I believe I was interrupting something important. Again, terribly sorry, but I needed to talk to you all about these events."

"An explanation would be greatly appreciated," Beth said, walking closer to her. She took in her appearance: she wore a dark-colored button-up shirt that resembled something out of the American Civil War and her pants were baggy jeans. Both articles of clothing were torn and cut badly, showing places on her knees and shins. Scars followed her skin everywhere, like a stream of bad luck had hit her at one point. Beth was about to comment on the appearance when suddenly, a grey liquid flew off her cloak and right in front of Beth. She jumped back and used her staff to keep the strange liquid at bay. The liquid formed itself into a less detailed copy of Anahella and stood in front of her, making an odd-sounding noise similar to a high-pitched whirring engine. But it didn't attack. It only defended the monk for only a moment before it retracted back onto the cloak. Beth sighed in relief, only to look to Anahella, who was now in what looked like shock. Beth tilted her head.

"The staff," Anahella said, referring to the staff in her hand, "Where did you get it?"

Beth looked at the staff. It wasn't anything else she hadn't seen before in movies and games. The whole staff was a metallic yellow, too bright to be gold, but not bright enough to blind everyone who looked at it. It was just a bit taller than Beth, the top about a head taller than her. The bottom of the staff was flat but covered in a silver metal pommel. The top, however, was not smooth. Instead, it had a levitating orb of what looked like wind or air. It was near translucent, except for the small bits of white energy that flew around the orb. Around it was three prongs of some kind holding the energy orb in place. They curved around the orb, but also pointed upwards into a slight point, just in case she needed to stab something. She looked at it and then back to Anahella.

"Well," she said, "It's a long story, but we-"

"Do the others have weapons too?" she asked, her voice now sounding somewhat frantic. Beth looked to Crystal, who shrugged in response.

"I-I… yes, we all got something," she said, "Crystal got some strange, well, crystal that morphed into a necklace that allows him to fly. Felix got some strange bands that increase the strength of his punches, and-"

She stopped when she realized that Anahella seemed to be in a petrified state like she had been turned to stone. She shook out of it and watched the two.

"It appears that I have also missed out on some important details," she said, the cloak falling down to its normal position, "So, how and who shall explain first?"

"Well, we can explain a lot easier," Crystal said, fanning himself, "In a lot less hot weather."

Anahella nodded and Crystal quickly grabbed onto her cloak while swinging his arm to his side. A bright flash later and they were back at the base, to the sound of whirring and machines working far off in the distance. Markus sat at the table, seemingly frustrated with the task he was attempting to accomplish. He sighed as he saw Crystal in his banged-up form and sighed.

"Ex is in his workshop if you need him," he said, "I think that german medic is with him too."

Crystal nodded, "Alright, I need to get Gaijin the results of the tests."

"Then come with me," a sudden Gaijin said, appearing next to Crystal out of what seemed like thin air. He chuckled as he pointed to his watch.

"Trying out this new thing," he said, "Short-range teleportation. Long story, but I can explain more when we get to Ex."

Crystal nodded, "Beth, can you stay and accompany Anahella for the time being?"

Beth nodded, "I can."

Crystal and Gaijin quickly exited the room while Beth and Anahella sat down on a pair of chairs close to each other, Anahella staring intently at her, waiting for an explanation.

Finally, Beth broke the silence, "So, do I start? Or… do you sta-"

"You start," Anahella said quickly. Beth sighed.

"Alright," she said, "While you were away, we found this place called Centerpoint that had this strange museum. The museum had artifacts that called to all of us, but Felix was the first to break. He grabbed a pair of bandages that warped around his arms and forced him to break another exhibit that broke another and another and a bunch of weapons went flying to different people. Well, they are more or fewer artifacts."

"Describe them to me," Anahella said. Beth sighed.

"Okay then," she said, "Quick rundown: Felix got some type of bandage that wrapped around his arms and wrist, Mark got a pair of gauntlets that suddenly turned invisible after a few seconds, and Sean got some kind of war hammer that glows green every once in a while."

"Dan got some type of damaged sword but still, it's a sword, Crainer got some kind of white and yellowish glowing ring on both of his index fingers, and Ian got some kind of book that only he can read."

"Then we have Evan, who got a bracelet on his left arm that is constantly glowing yellow, Delirious got some form of a machete that is strangely old yet new, and Brian got some kind of goggles that somehow formed into sunglasses. Strange, but not the strangest thing I've seen."

"Then there was Mat who got a shield, Steph got some strange kind of whip-like something from Wonder Woman, and Gaijin got a katana or something."

"Then we have Ex, who got some type of hilt that works only with his powers, Chesh got a pair of strange gloves, and Crystal got a necklace that enhances his powers greatly."

"Finally, you got Joe, who has what looks like metal wings or something, which helps out a lot. I got this strange staff, and Dave got some useless pair of sharp rings."

"Those 'sharp rings' you speak of are not to be toiled with!" she said quietly, "Those are weapons that can control the water element, form it into blades, and use water as propulsion. They may seem like bad weapons at a glance, but their magical capabilities are nothing to scoff at."

Beth stared at her intently, "You know what these things are?"

Anahella looked at her and sighed, "It is a long story of how these weapons came into existence."

"Not really," Beth replied, "We saw a story about it at the museum. The weapons were created from a group of people known as the Divines and they ruled over both the Vortex and World Zero."

Anahella cut her off, "But that isn't the end of the story. Did it specify why the weapons were created?"

"Short one at that," Beth replied, "But yes: a Divine named Omiteksiu, a divine with no powers to speak of, got jealous of the other Divines. He was the third son of a trio of brothers. Him, a strange Divine of no powers to speak of, Decoza, the Divine of evil and death, and Mendilza, the Divine of good and life. There are hundreds of more Divines to speak of, but I shall just wait for now."

"Mendilza and Decoza were the first brothers of the family, meaning their powers were much greater than the other Divines who came after. But for some reason, Omiteksiu was born without powers or abilities, or so they thought. So, due to this, the mother of Divines labeled him as the Divine of balance, to help create a world of peace and tranquility. It would be a responsibility he wouldn't take lightly."

"The two brothers had the ability to create life and death itself, and constantly would try to outclass the other, creating bigger and bigger creatures. Of course Omi, as he was called, would balance the ecosystems of their environments each time it became unstable. Remember the dinosaurs? Legend says that he sent the meteor that destroyed them and hundreds of others because he thought that the creatures were too unbalanced. Sadly this would lead to his downfall."

"The brothers became more and more jealous of Omi's constant interference in their game. So, they came up with an idea: banish him. Because he had no powers, he could do nothing if he was sent to live among them. Or so they thought. So, they did just that: they kidnapped him and threw him into a pile of rocks, where he would sit for the rest of eternity. But, they then came up with a creation to rival all of their other ones, one that was based on the Divines themselves: the human being."

"Without balance, however, humans became powerful. They grew societies, fought wars, and created gods of the Divines. Jesus, Rah, Buddha. Name any name, and they most likely were Divines altered into gods."

"But…" Beth cut into her explanation, "What about Omi?"

"I'm getting there," Anahella said, "Anyways, Omi somehow escaped the prison he was confined in, finally free. And angered. Severely. More or less, he went mad at the sight of humans, and he swore his revenge against his brothers, not knowing the full extent of how it would work out. It took years of deception, hiding, and more, but finally, he found his path to revenge. A blacksmith. A single man that could help him get back at his brothers. He lied to the man, telling him that he would give him as much money as he could to get what he wanted: a weapon that could kill gods. The blacksmith didn't comply, saying that it was impossible. So, Omi instead asked if the blacksmith could create armor that nothing could break. The blacksmith agreed to this, saying that he understood his want for protection."

"After a week, the blacksmith came to him and showed Omi his 'armor', to which Omi gave him his reward: immortality. He could not die of old age, meaning that if Omy wanted, the man could work for him forever. Of course, he refused and watched as the man seemingly infused life into the armor, which morphed into what we know today as the Crystalites. That was when Omi learned his ability: to give certain life energy to anything, whether it was inanimate or not. With his powers, he created the Crystalite and gave life to a monster and an idea. An idea that would cause the deaths of millions. An idea… of balance."

"To him, human beings were…well, unbalanced. He thought that their creation was going to be the end of the world that he was sent to balance. So, his quest was set: return the world to its natural balance. His way."

Beth nodded, "By killing everyone?"

"That's the simplified version of it," Anahella said, "I'll make this last part brief. After Omi had killed hundreds of thousands of people in the World Zero realm-"
"Wait," Beth stopped her, "This is all in World Zero?"

"Yes," she replied, "It was so long ago that no one remembers it. Anyways, the Divines ruled over this realm, so they came up with a solution: trap him in a different realm where he couldn't hurt anyone. This realm became what we know today as the Vortex, a realm that would be created through the imagination of human beings, just so that they could torture Omi. Of course, this just made his need of balance more dangerous, as taking over these worlds would allow him all the resources he needed."

"Skipping a bunch of not so important details, Omi's first victim was found: the blacksmith. He vowed that he would make his mistakes right by helping the Divines stop his idiotic conquest. So, the Divines recruited him to create weapons infused with Divine essence, giving it a remarkable ability. Hundreds of weapons were made, giving them an army of what they called guardians the opportunity to fight back against them. Some were in World Zero, so in case Omi ever did escape, while most others fought the man head-on. But, over the years, the weapons have been lost to time and I do not know where they lay anymore. They could be here, there, anywhere. All that matters is that those weapons are in the hands of genuinely good people."

Beth tilted her head at the last part, "These things think we are-"

"Good people," Anahella said, a soft smile growing on her face, "Yes, and I believe them too. You are all people: flawed, hurt, but still willing to help others."

Beth smiled, "Well then, I'll make sure we won't let you down."


Crystal and Gaijin approached the workshop where Markus said Ex was. Inside, they heard a soft whirring before entering to a surprise: Ex was nowhere to be found. A small machine scanned over a group of suits that Ex had been working on. The two looked at the desk, seeing that he had left his phone out and next to it was a schematic of a suit and of what looked like a motorcycle. The two looked around, seeing that he wasn't anywhere in the room, before checking the desk again and seeing a small note on the desk. It read the following:

Hey guys! Just taking a quick break from the suits. Got a little frustrated. If you need me, I'll be at the center fighting arena… thingy. Sorry!

Yours truly,

Kegan

"Kegan?" Gaijin questioned. Crystal answered.

"That's Ex's name," he said. Gaijin nodded in understanding.

"Oh, alright," he said, "And that makes you…?"

"Noah," he replied, "And Chesh is Bill."

"Cool," Gaijin said, turning around to the holo screen on the desk. They then looked at what Kegan had been working on: a group of suits that he had been working on. An unfinished circuit board sat by one of the suits: a minimal suit with a decently sized backpack of some sorts and arms sprouting from the pack. According to the notes, the suit was to be covered in a black graphene cloth and armor similar to something from doom. However, it was missing a mask, instead replaced by a chin strap and a pair of small goggles that attached to the helmet. Gaijin then turned his attention to the suit that would be made for him: a deep red and black suit that looked like a mixture of a Japanese gi and a samurai outfit. It was all heavily plated around every part of his body, from his head to his toe. The thing that stuck out the most was the helmet, which was a tight-fitting light brown samurai helmet with a small bandana. The back part of the helmet only stretched down to the base of his neck and the diameter wasn't as large as a normal one. He stared in awe at it for a moment before Noah shook him out of it.

"You know," Noah said looking at his suit, "Never expected to be wearing something like this."

Gaijin nodded, "Yeah, this is amazing!"

The two silently agreed to go see Kegan and quickly walked out of the hangar. They found an entrance to where the large tree was and slowly walked around, trying to find where Kegan would be. Before long, what sounded like three voices were heard before a sudden pair of cracks were heard, similar to gunfire, followed by another sound similar to breaking wood. They followed the sound of Anahella shouting.

"INCOMING! GO!"

She finished and the group watched as Chesh ran forwards and raised a pistol. He aimed at a group of wooden targets and fired three consecutive shots, shattering the weak wood into splinters and dust. Then, he turned around just in time to see a silver staff about to smash against his face. He quickly ducked under and upper cutted the silver attacker, a sudden purple flame appeared around his hand. He breathed heavily as they saw the group. Kegan ran around to them, a fake smile plastered on his face.

"Hey, you guys," he said, a fake excitement filling his voice, "I guess you saw the suits, huh?"

Gaijin nodded, "Yep, mine looks sick!"

Noah nodded, "Yeah, but what about mine?"

Kegan sighed, "Working on it. Gaijin, you have all the numbers, right?"

Gaijin nodded, "On your desk and waiting for you."

"Cool." Kegan only spoke one word as he looked up the tree, seemingly pondering something. Gaijin and Crystal looked at each other before his eyes darted to something in the base: a window to the holo table and where Markus was standing. He stared for a moment before a pair of what looked like armored leggings formed around his legs and he jumped away, a strange face now sitting with him. Anahella sighed as Gaijin approached her.

"What was that all about?" he questioned. Anahella sighed.

"According to him," she said, "While he was sleeping, he had a night terror."

Gaijin nodded, "Is that something bad?"

"In his case, most likely," she said, "Night terrors are forces of evil trying to get to people's heads and change or weaken them."

"Okay…" Gaijin said, "What exactly was it?"

Anahella sighed, "Well, the first thing was that he had witnessed and felt how a previous wielder of his weapon died. At first, it was only storytelling of his death. But then, due to them sharing a consciousness, it all came to him so quickly that he was shattered by it. Then came the second memory. That was his."


Ex felt his consciousness begin to relax after the sudden drop of emotions, feelings, and sensations of Alexi's death. He sighed as he looked down, a pool of tears where his head sat a few moments ago. He felt his mind begin to settle more as he finally tried to wipe away the tears again. A soft voice suddenly appeared around him.

"Ex, you good there?" Alexi's voice faintly asked him.

"Alexi! I need help here!" he tried to shout to him, but to no avail. He could feel Alexi turn away as he believed the teen was still sleeping. He sighed as he tried to regain consciousness, but something stopped him. It felt like every time he tried to wake up, something kept pulling him back into the darkness. He wanted to stand up, but it felt like something was keeping him down. He held his head in stress as he tried to wake up.

"What the hell is going on?!" His voice, instead of coming from him, echoed towards him from around him. He jumped at the sudden anomaly, spinning around on his heel to find the source. Before he could say anything else, a voice caught his attention.

"Why?" the feminine voice asked. Ex spun around to the source, only to stiffen at the sight. In front of him stood a woman in a white shirt and a bright white lab coat. She wore long loose pants and black sneakers. She had long black hair, dark circles under her deep brown eyes, and a face almost anyone in the group could recognize.

"C-Colinne?" Ex questioned shakily. The figure tilted her head as if the name was unknown to her. Ex then looked down her body and looked away quickly, seeing the tear in her clothing where the bullet had entered from. Without warning, the blood flow began to speed up, more blood leaking out onto her coat and shirt. Blood began to drop onto the ground and her shoes, a small pool forming around her ankles. He then looked back, seeing the blood in her mouth as she ground her teeth together. Then, blood began to drain from her eyes as she screamed at him.

"Why didn't you save me?!" she screamed, her voice distorted yet the same to the Colinne he knew. Ex tried to shout back.

"I tried! Can't you see I tried?!" he questioned her.

"But you didn't save me!" she screamed back. Ex tried his best to keep his composure but failed miserably.

"I FUCKING TRIED!" he screamed back.

Then, a second voice came, "You didn't try, stupid! Look what you can do now, why didn't you do anything then?!"

He turned around to see Chesh The questions then began to flow to him: Why didn't he ask Alexi for help? Why didn't he say Tama Unite Ise and stop the bullet? Hell, why didn't he stop the bullet himself?

"No…" he tried to say to himself, "It was just an accident. I couldn't use my powers back then… I was powerless to do anything."

But the thoughts stayed. And more voices kept shouting to him the questions he asked himself. He didn't know the response as he tried to cover his ears and dampen the sound but to no avail, as they just began to scream louder. From Skye to his own brother began to scream at him before finally, he couldn't help it.

"I'LL MAKE IT UP TO YOU!"


Kegan sighed as he replayed the moment over and over again in his head, trying to get rid of it but only making the memory worse. He sighed as he held his head in his hands, trying to make it all go away, but to no avail. He sighed as he stared up into the sky, the sun at the moment almost directly in the center of the sky. It was pretty cloudy, but not enough that the sun was completely out of the sky. The metal below him suddenly began to vibrate a bit, meaning someone was approaching him. He sighed.

"I'm not interested in talking right now," he said to whoever was approaching him. A hand gripped his shoulder. He turned and saw Bill standing there. He stood for a minute before he sat down next to him, sighing as the metal softly groaned underneath them. They sat in silence for a minute before Chesh broke it.

"I just wanted to come up here and talk to ya," he said, "But most of all I wanted to come and apologize for how I've been acting the past couple of days."

Kegan sighed, "No, no. I should be the one apologizing. I've been so caught up in this whole superhero business that I didn't see how stupid I was acting. Thinking tha-"

"No, no, no, no," Bill said, cutting him off, "Don't be sorry about that. Honestly, these are some of the happiest times I've seen you in for a while. Plus, without this, we would probably be dead."

Kegan gave a small smile, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The two sat in silence for a good few minutes again, enjoying the midday breeze and the sun on their faces. Finally, Bill broke the silence with a chuckle.

"You know," he said, "I feel kinda useless because I haven't gotten any powers yet."

Kegan turned to him in shock, "Seriously? I thought your powers would be very cool when you learned about 'em."

"Um, and they are?" he questioned. Kegan smiled.

"Well," he said, "They have to do with your gloves. Your gloves are different because they signify a different portion of your powers. With your left hand, you can borrow a super person's powers for a limited amount of time, about five to ten minutes. If you touch a normal person, that basically gives you an energy boost while paralyzing them."

"Okay, so that's the left hand," Bill said, "But what about the right?"

"Well, the right is more… potent," he said, "With your gloveless right hand, you can steal a person's powers as long as the powers are not artificially made. For example, you could steal Sonic's powers but you couldn't steal the flash's power. But it comes with a downside: stealing their power also kills 'em."

"Oh, one more thing: every power can be basically committed to memory and you can use them for later. But, it means that you'll waste more energy recalling it from memory rather than actually being physically there with the person themself."

"Ah," Bill replied, "So… how would I know if the powers are working?"

"Well," he said, looking down at his hands, "I think it'd be pretty obvious."

Bill was confused at that until he looked down at his hands, which were now covered in lines of purple fire. They traced the bones on the back of his hands and up his arms to his elbow. He watched in shock as they then retracted back into his palms before disintegrating into smoke. He chuckled at the sight.

"Well," Kegan said, "That was interesting."

"But not the worst thing we've seen before," Bill chuckled back. The two gave a small laugh before they stood and turned back to the base.

"Do you think it will be easy to control?" Bill asked. Kegan shrugged.

"Try thinking about it like something you are very good at. Say... like that Candy Crush style game you play. You focus on that and then, one leads to the other, you get better at controlling the powers."

Bill nodded, "Sweet. Also, it's Huniepop."

He said the last part with sarcasm, making Kegan chuckle. Kegan looked down the side of the base he jumped from and then to Bill, who sighed as he didn't know what to do.

"How are we gonna get down again?" Bill questioned. Kegan smiled and grabbed his arm.

"Hold on to your lunch."


Felix entered the base to see Markus still standing at the table while Tails was groggily walking around. For a moment, he forgot he was carrying boxes of fast food and placing it onto the table, Markus only looking up for a moment before sighing.

"I'm working," he said, "I don't have time to eat."

Felix sighed, "You've been working until you pass out. I think a little food would be helpful."

Markus waved him away, "We're almost finished. I'll eat then."

Felix sighed and threw him a burger, the food sliding on the table and it landed in front of the Admiral. He looked at it and then to Felix.

"I'm allergic to sesame seeds," he said. Felix sighed.

"Stupid motherfucker," Felix swore in Swedish, "It doesn't have seeds."

Markus looked at the burger before sighing and giving in as he grabbed the burger and unwrapped it. He quickly dug in and his eyes widened at the strange taste of food.

"The hell is this stuff?" he questioned. Felix sighed.

"Green food," Felix replied, "Made in a lab rather than from actual animals."

He stared back at it, "This is old stuff."

Felix didn't bat an eye as he knew that Markus was in the somewhat near future relative to them. He sighed as he looked around, quickly handing Tails some fries and walking out of the room. He sighed as he grabbed a burger and quickly began to eat it while Mark and Sean talked about something that he didn't want to pay any attention to. His mind was only on what they were going to do now. They were going to stop what seemed like a huge dictator demi-god of some kind and save his wife. He held his head in his hands as he thought about what the Crystalites were doing to her, holding her in a cell and just waiting for a savior to help her. He sighed before returning to his food. Suddenly, a yell could be heard and he looked out the window to see Ex holding Chesh by the arm and the two slowly dropping downwards. On Ex's back, it looked like some kind of jetpack as the two slowly fell to the ground before they hit the ground with a thud. A second later, Ex and Chesh came up to the sitting Felix who still unfazed ate his food.

"So," Chesh said, "Any news?"

"Nothing really," Felix replied nonchalantly, "Markus will be ready soon."

"Ok," Ex said, "I'm gonna go finish up some suit errors and I'll meet you guys when we're ready."

Felix nodded as Ex ran off and Chesh just stood there, not knowing what to do at the moment. He then sat down and sighed.

"You got any more of that?" Chesh asked, referring to the food. Felix looked at him and gave a small smile.

"Sure." He reached over and grabbed another burger before sliding it to him. Chesh took it and unwrapped it, the table got really quiet all of a sudden. Felix sighed.

"Sorry if I sounded upset with you there," he said, "I'm just-"

"Stressed?" Chesh finished, "Yeah, no worries, I am too."

Felix kept eating, "Wait, I never caught your name."

"Bill," he replied quickly, "It's Bill."

"Nice to meet you," Felix said. Bill extended a hand.

"Please, the honor is all mine," he said, most likely referring to Felix's fame as PewDiePie.

"Well," he said, shaking his hand, "Let's not let that get in the way of what we were doing."

Bill nodded, "Of course. Just wanted to meet someone that was an idol for me."

Felix smiled at that, "Let me guess: not too interested in the whole Reddit stuff, huh?"

"Yeah," he said chuckling, "The floor gang stuff is also a little over the top."

"Hey," he said surprisingly casually, "I understand. That type of thing isn't for everyone."

Bill gave a small smile back. Before he could respond, Sean ran up to them, looking near out of breath with excitement. He looked at them before bouncing a little bit back.

"Come on! The files are decrypted!"

Felix immediately stood up and Bill ran forwards at the sound of it. Sean waited for Felix and the two near sprinted into the room and saw on the table now the file was decrypted and Markus was standing at the end of the table staring at a small document before looking at the group.

"Please tell me Ex is finished with those suits."


Skye woke up to a clanging on her wall. It echoed so she could barely block it out. She sighed and kept her eyes closed. She was tired, and almost nothing was going to stop her from sleeping. The clanging continued until finally she heard the rustling of sheets and peeked out to see Krystal standing up and watched as she walked to the opening and began conversing with someone close to them.

"You're going to wake her up," she said sternly. The voice responded quietly.

"Well, she ain't gonna be sleeping much longer," the voice replied. The voice was Spanish, young, and seemingly pooling with excitement. Or at least it was the other day. For some reason, the rooms would constantly change the position of prisoners in order to confuse people and, more likely, to make sure they can't escape it so easily. Skye sighed as Krystal kept talking.

"Then it must be a good reason," she said. The voice was silent for a moment before responding.

"Been hearing around the guards," he said, "They're talking about the Crystal King and his powers 'returning.' He has powers?! Dios mio!"

"Yes, that is surprising," Krystal said, devoid of actual surprise. Skye could tell she was lying, but the other person quickly dismissed it.

"Okay," the Spanish voice said, "But that's not all. There is a group of people that they call the system breakers that keep on messing things up."

Skye couldn't help but smile, knowing exactly who he was talking about. But that was cut short when he spoke again.

"They said that they are going to start taking people away," he said, causing all the blood in her body to rush to her heart or stop. She couldn't tell anymore.

"W-what?" Krystal stuttered.

"Yeah," he replied, "I've- OW!" Someone hit him on the shoulder with an audible slap before he continued, "We've heard that they are frantically preparing for an invasion."

"Invasion?" Krystal said, hiding some excitement in her voice, "When?"

"Sometime in the coming days," another female voice said. Her voice was stern and to the point. Skye sat up in near shock.

"What?" she whispered. Krystal turned around to see her before sighing.

"My guess is you heard all of that?" she questioned her. Skye nodded.

"Every bit," she replied. Krystal looked out again.

"The only thing we can do now," she said, "Is hope. Hope for the best."

Skye nodded, "They'll come for us, I know it."

Krystal smiled and nodded, "I know. It isn't like Fox to leave one of us behind."

"Same with Ke-I mean Ex," she replied. Krystal tilted her head but was cut off by a sudden bout of marching approaching quickly. She turned and dove under her covers, Skye following closely behind. She laid there for a few minutes before Skye then heard what sounded like metal moaning as it was bent as she sat up in curiosity. She still heard the noise, but it was somewhat far in the distance. She sighed as she stood up and went to check on the noise. She leaned over the cell door groggily, only for her to fall over and nearly faceplant into the ground. She stood quickly, realizing the obvious: the invisible wall was no longer there. They were free, somehow? She quickly ran to her vixen roommate and tried to shake her awake, only for her hands to shoot straight through her body and she began to phase through the floor. Before that, however, she felt a force push her upright and a sudden shock as she began to levitate above the ground. She giggled at the whole thing for a moment before she knew what she wanted to do. She spun around and flew out of her cell, looking around at the other prisoners. She looked over at her temporary roommates: a group of three sleeping together. Two women and a single man.

One woman was clearly African American and also a medic. Her dark skin was covered in splotches of dried blood and bandages. Down her body was what looked like a medical harness that used to carry medical supplies to and from her desired destinations. Finally, a white headband wrapped around her forehead and brought up her ginger red hair. She seemed to sleep pretty peacefully, leaning closer to the male figure she had been talking to earlier.

The guy was strange. He wore lime green clothing that made him look similar to a daredevil sports biker. Another standout trait was that his legs were...well, not even flesh and bone. Instead, he had a pair of metallic legs that ran up into his shorts with a small cylindrical device on the side of his waist. His face was covered in a black mask with white triangles that were made to look like teeth. He wore a sleeveless green bulletproof vest, but it only covered the top part of his upper body. His helmet was a leather cap and headphones while his eyes were covered by blank goggles, unable to see his eyes. He slept somewhat comfortably, even though he had all the equipment on his belt.

Finally, there was the woman they had met previously: Wraith. She wore a black suit and black boots with a light gray scarf wrapped around her neck. Her suit had purple accents sprawled and purple bands on her arms. Small things protrude from her shoulders and her shins. Her boots were tightly strapped onto her legs and her hair was messy falling down her face. She slept slumped over on her side as peacefully as a person like her could. Before Skye could turn away, a voice echoed around her.

"I know you're there," Wraith's near monotone voice stated. Skye spun to face her.

"How?" she questioned. The voice echoed in.

"Pretty complex, so you wouldn't want to hear it."

"Oh-kay… so what can you tell me about the Crystal King guy?"

"Other than he prefers Omi? Nothing much," she sighed tiredly, "You could go check it out. But I don't know the limits of the blue fox's powers, so be careful not to hurt her."

Skye nodded, "I won't. I'd be losing another friend and I can't let that happen."

She slowly walked away from the cell and to what looked like a huge state platform at the edge of the room. She turned around and saw that the other end of the room had a door that led somewhere. She ran over to the door quickly and peeked through, seeing another set of cells and prisoners in the other room. She didn't know how long it went for, and she didn't intend to find out.

"Nope."

She ran back to the teleporter and quickly looked at the two buttons leading up and down. She pressed up, only for her hand to move through the keypad. She sighed and floated upwards.

"Right. I'm only a spectator in this."

She floated upwards so quickly that she overshot where Omi would be. Suddenly, she was being exposed to the sky and sun above. She looked around her, now seeing the island in its full form. The main part of it all was the four tall towers on the corners of the island, a red light pulsating from the top of them. At the top of the building she was on was also a red light at the tip of it. She then looked up to see a batch of triangles in a circle above the island and tower and they tapered downwards to the seas of the island. A forcefield.

She then saw multiple buildings on the island surrounded by plains of green and gray. Streets paved between the building she was in and multiple others. Then, another thing caught her attention: a huge building with a control tower looking out the window. That was where Krystal had told her about where she had slapped the shit outta Omi. Skye chuckled at the thought before looking down and seeing that the tower grew below into a huge building similar to a shopping mall. Most likely, that was where those people were being taken. They were being taken there to die and Skye hated it that she had to watch it all unfold.

She turned around and saw that the prison she was in was actually the center of the island. Multiple other buildings stretched around them. Hangars, factories, bunkers, and multiple guns could shoot seemingly anything outta the sky. She sighed and looked back down at the building she was in before deciding to find out what the hell the Omi guy was planning.

She sped across the island and phased through the strong metal walls of the control room. She looked on as multiple Crystalites typed into computers and watched above as camera footage of multiple worlds flickered on the screens. Above them was a railing where Omi leaned on in boredom. She watched him slowly turn his head around to each screen before groaning in frustration.

"Where are they?!" he screamed. Skye presumed that he was referring to the group and co, but wasn't fully sure until he spun around to face the guards behind him. He now dawned a long black robe with a long cape and tactical boots that went almost as high as his knees. The shirt and pants below the cape were a similar black but with white and gray accents. It looked a mixture of old battle armor and a modern bullet-proof vest. He walked over to his soldiers, who held what looked like a mask similar to a normal Japanese old-time mask: white background paint with green, black, and silver paint. Or at least that's what she thought until one of the Crystalites spoke up.

"Your mask, sir," it said confidently, "Just the way you remember it: a platinum background to make your enemies cower with fear, with obsidian shards to show your unwavering nature in battle, and emerald gems to show the power of which you can give to them. Of course, along with the Incor, you so desperately need it. Oh, right, and the silver to blind your opponents with your success."

Skye couldn't help but chuckle at the sound of what sounded like something out of a fantasy movie script. She still watched though as Omi took the mask and stared at it for a moment, seemingly contemplating if he should put it on or not. He softly chuckled before placing the mask on his face, muting his laughter now. Seconds later, he began to groan. Groan in pain as a sudden sizzling noise was heard and small trails of steam radiated from inside the mask. The groans turned into screams of pain as he fell to his knees in agony. Skye felt herself back up as the steam dissipated as quickly as it started and Omi was on his hands and knees, his breath quick and short. One of the Crystalites knelt down beside him and tried to help him stand, only for it to gasp as a sudden green crystal pierced its chest and seemingly tore it to shreds, leaving only small crystal bits left. Skye left shocked, watched as Omi began to chuckle at the sight, which evolved into a small laugh, which then turned into a crazed cackle as Omi stood.

The mask he had put on was now molded to his face, each expression, each movement, each blink, and smile was caught on the mask. His mouth was now a black void with no teeth or tongue, just an opening into nothing. His laugh was now distorted into an ear-piercing noise, almost as if he was dragging his nails on a chalkboard while strangling a cat. He sighed as he stood, a scary smile drawing onto his face.

"Get the troops ready," he said, "Expect our guests to arrive sometime soon."

The Crystalites nodded and ran off, but not before Omi raised his hand.

"Oh, and one more thing," he said, causing the Crystalites to turn around near-instantly, "Prepare the generator in the slim chance things don't go our way."

The Crystalites around them turned to face him in what seemed to be shock. Omi only looked at them sternly before they all returned to work and the two Crystalites before nodded in fear.

"Right away," the Crystalite said. It communicated to others through a radio set before leaving the room and everyone returning to normal. Skye didn't know what to do except follow the Crystalites that were now going towards a teleporter pad. She groaned in frustration as she knew she couldn't follow them. Then, one of the Crystalites started a conversation.

"Why does he want us to set up the generator?" it asked the other one. This Crystalite had a distinct design to it: a black ring wrapping around its neck and flowing up the back of its head. The other one was a generic Crystalite except for the fact that he wore a near translucent upper armor, giving him a much darker green color.

"Why do you think?" the armored Crystalite asked sternly, "Because he knows that if the system breakers actually get the prisoners, he won't have anything else other than his huge ass army. Without leverage, he's going to have the force of a billion worlds crash into him."

"But that is if the system breakers can actually bring them together," the ringed Crystalite replied. The two then laughed as they reached the teleporter and hit the button, starting the teleportation process. In a split second, they were gone. Skye stayed floating for a moment before sighing and spinning around, only for her vision to be consumed by black and the ear-piercing laugh of Omi. She then felt herself fall onto the ground below her and stick to it as if something was holding her down. She struggled until the pressure stopped and a sudden chuckling was heard.

"So, you're the one sneaking around my base at night, hm?" Omi's voice echoed through the void. Skye sighed as she stood.

"Yeah, who's asking?" she asked, playing off his words so she didn't give Krystal away.

"You are a serious nuisance in my hair, little girl," he said, "Or should I call you Skylar?"

She gritted her teeth, "Call me that one more time, and I'll rip both of your eyes out!"

He chuckled, "Is that so? How are you going to do that?"

The room suddenly turned to light as the Crystal King revealed himself, as well as a familiar face. He was holding Kegan and Krystal by the back of their necks and below them was what looked like ferocious dogs ready to tear them apart. Krystal tried to kick her way out of his grasp but to no avail while Kegan kept his legs raised and tried to swing out of his grasp. She watched Omi chuckle at her response.

"Now you see it," he said, "I'm in control of their lives. I choose whether they die or not. But I'm going to show you how hard my job is by giving you a choice: who will it be? This young teen boyfriend of yours or the magical fox? You-"

He didn't finish as Skye stared at him, "They're my fucking friends, you let them go, you bastard!"

Omi contemplated for a moment before chuckling, "Very poor choice of words."

He dropped them and began walking towards her, their screams of anguish suddenly filling her mind and ears. She backed up away from him but only hit an invisible wall in response, having to watch him tower over her and get closer. Finally, he stood over her with a devious smile on his face as he looked down on her.

"Now you see it, right?" he questioned her, "How hopeless it is. I will win, and your friends will die. And I'll make sure you watch as I kill your boyfriend."

Skye couldn't hold back her anger and fear, "He's my friend, jackass! I met him only a month ago!"

"Whatever you say," he said, "But nonetheless, I'll make sure you'll make it to his funeral."

"Not if he-" she was cut off as Omi suddenly disappeared into the nothingness around them. Then, she closed her eyes for a moment, only to fall back and feel the warmth of her bed once again. She shot up, hoping the nightmare would be over as she looked around and sighed with relief seeing that she was with Krystal in the cell again. She looked over to her partner, who sat up and stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"That was all you, huh?" Skye asked. Krystal nodded.

"I knew that I would be in danger if I were to do it myself," she said, looking away ashamed.

"No, no," Skye said, "I understand that. I was thinking the same thing, and I'm glad you did it."

Krystal smiled, "Anything that would be of notice for us?"

Skye glanced outside for a moment, pondering what to say next before sighing. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by something: a soft beeping noise. The two looked at each other before returning to the source of the noise, which caused a sudden whirlwind of noise to ensue. Skye tried to find it before seeing that the cells had changed and the noise was much farther away now. Then, a few cells above and across the room from her, she saw the place of the noise: the cell she had passed previously with those strange people. In it, Wraith stood at the forefront of the cell, holding her forearm to show a watch with a red light blinking constantly and emitting a strange beeping noise. Skye's fears instantly drained away and gave way to a confident and genuinely happy smile. She knew what that meant, and so did everyone else.

The System Breakers were coming.


The light blinked on the holo table as parts of the group cheered and others sighed with relief. The group was made up of the allies they had made and they were ready to bring more if they were willing. The group stood in their respective friend groups while Fox and Tracer stood together and Markus stood next to Tails and smiled at the dot.

"Now that we know where they are, that puts a time limit on this," he said, "They know we know where they are, and they'll expect us to come for them."

"So do we call their bluff?" Tracer questioned. Ex shook his head.

"I think that would be the worst to do," he said, "We do that, who knows how many people he'd kill before we show up."

Markus nodded, "That's true. Which is why it needs to be sometime in the next two days and at their weakest point."

"So what do we do then?" Ex asked. Markus gave a smile.

"Bring their attention somewhere else," he said.

"Like Spy said," Crystal said, "We give them a small enough distraction so that-"

"So that we can get onto the island and get everyone off," Markus said.

"Here's a question," Mat said, "How would we get them off the island?"

"Simple, actually," Gijian said, standing next to his friend, "We reverse engineer their rift bombs and use it as a huge portal gateway to a safehaven and from there, we only have to take them home."

Markus nodded, "There's that, but we also have to worry about how we're going to get them out of the prisons first. Here's our island."

He typed into the table and brought up a translucent image of the island, showing massive pillars, hangars, and two huge buildings in the near center of the island. Roads were there but were most likely not needed. Murmurs ran through the group before Sean commented.

"That's… pretty big," he said hesitantly.

"That's what she said," Kegan suddenly quipped back, causing the room to go into a quick laughing fit. It lasted for a minute before Markus silenced the group and returned to the presentation, an occasional chuckle leaving him every moment.

"Alright, alright, enough with the jokes for now," he said, looking at Kegan, "There'll be plenty of time for that."

He nodded, "Welp, let's get on with this presentation."

Markus obliged and continued, "This island itself is covered by a huge forcefield that is impossible to penetrate or get through, which is why it is our main focus to get past this. The forcefield is held up by six towers: the four towers up here, here, here, and here." He pointed towards the four towers to the corners of the island before continuing, "And the two main buildings here and here." He pointed to both the two buildings in the center of the island, one with a watchtower above and the other with a huge holding area, most likely for prisoners. He sighed before continuing, "Of course, they hold all of the non-World Zero people in that main building while they hold the World Zero folks here, in a smaller building similar to a hangar." The building was considerably smaller than the other one and, like he said, a hangar that held planes and military vehicles, "This is where they try to hide them in plain sight, as well as target them for friendly fire. We think it's a part of the base, we bomb it, and we kill many innocent lives."

"Like misdirection," Fox said. Markus nodded.

"Now, let's follow up on that other plan," he continued, "How are we going to get onto the island itself?"

"What if the island is like the Crystalites?" Ex questioned, the attention of the room turning towards him, "As we saw in Colinne's model of the Crystalites, the part that gave them their toughness was easily dislodged with a certain amount of force. Therefore, what if we hit the forcefield with a huge enough force that we could dislodge the towers for a short period of time?"

"That could work," Mat said, "But it would have to be big."

"How big are we talking?" Markus asked.

"Big enough to rival most nuclear bombs," Mat sighed, seeing that it would be a suicide mission to do that. Markus sighed.

"Yes and we'd have a much bigger problem," he said, referring back to the table, "That bomb would probably also cause a chain reaction from this generator."

The holo table then scrolled downwards and showed a huge generator inside of a huge room of electronics and such. The generator looked like the machine from Half Life and constantly radiated with lightning and electricity.

"This is their main power generator," he said, "The problem with this generator is that it can be engineered to act like a bomb. A simple change in charge and that thing becomes a bomb big enough to obliterate the island and send that world into a mini nuclear winter."

The room quietly spoke amongst themselves for a moment, considering the possibility of what could happen. Then, Ex spoke up.

"Well then that is one of the main objectives," he said, "Get a group down there to defend that place while we take out the Crystalites."

"Then that's how we do that," Markus said, "We can talk that over in a minute, but right now, setup is going to be our priority. Ex, how are the suits coming along?"

"Most are nearing completion," he said, "Just need about…. two more hours of research and then I can have OBIS prepare them and we'll be ready by tomorrow."

"Good. Gijian, how long do you need to reverse engineer-"

"If I have Tail's help, I could finish it by tomorrow."

Markus smiled, "Anahella, how much training can you give them before we send them out?"

"I can teach them a few parts of their power," she said, "But the rest is up to them."

"If you need me to," Ex cut in, "I can add something that lets them use weapons that they are possibly more familiar with."

"Then it's set," Markus said, "We attack tomorrow."

Before leaving, however, Mat had one final question, "How do we get past the forcefield?"

Ex smiled, looking at the gamers in the room, "Who here has played or watched a video on Gears Of War?"

The gamers thought for a moment before almost all answered with a knowing smile.


A/N: ALMOST DONE! This is one of the last chapters of this story and we're approaching the end of the story. Also, at the time of writing this, 469 people have read this story! That's f #*&%g awesome! I'm glad y'all are enjoying this story and I hope that you guys can stick with me for just a month or two more and then it will be done. Again, thanks for reading, and enjoy this chapter!