Noah's eyes flicked open. Upon observing nothing but crimson, he vaulted upwards. He stood on a dock. He could see red skies above him, red waters flowing, a red expanse below.. A desperately calming tone was roaring through his ears.

He stood there, watching the river flow and ebb, for what seemed like a lifetime. And still the tone went onwards. He took a deep breath in, centering his thoughts.

Alone at last.

Then he heard a familiar voice, clear as crystal, right next to him.

"This is where the Collective meant to take you before you were summoned to Remnant. I intended to as well. Welcome to the Crawlspace, Noah."

Noah tore his eyes away from the garnet river and turned to his right. There, taking Noah's form, was Firebrand.

"I have to warn you. Something.. Something bad is going to happen. And I'm not able to stop it. You have to warn the others, fight back against the Collective. They're going to attack Vale, kidnap you and turn you into a monster… Everything I've worked for, that we've worked for, will fall. Please, if you have to believe me just one time, let this be the one." Firebrand stated as he looked out onto the scarlet bay, his hands gripping the wooden railing tightly.

Noah looked into those piercing eyes, the features that were his and yet.. not. "Why should I? You're a god-demon. They could just be controlling you for their own purposes." he growled.

Firebrand's face fell. He looked up with a saddened smile. "That's my curse, isn't it? I'm cursed to always know far too much and yet, as much as I try to end this, it never works."

"Your stubbornness, Noah, is my greatest blessing from you. It's also my curse. Just.. just this once, Noah.. me, just this once listen to yourself. I may not be fully myself, now or ever again. But in the end, all I have ever done is for our sake. For our own good. Please."

Firebrand's black and white stare faintly flickered to the normal brown eyes that he once had.

Noah looked into Firebrand's eyes and saw himself in them.

"I'll hear you out," Noah declared.

Firebrand smiled the imperfect but gladdened grin that Noah had only seen a few times. All Firebrand said in reply was "Thank you."

Firebrand's eyes darted to the side. "Your friends - our friends - are looking for you. I've taken you for a bit longer than I should have. Sorry."

"Well, how do I get back-" Noah began.

Firebrand pushed Noah off the railing, into the crimson tides. Noah fell and fell again, back into the world of Remnant.

Firebrand looked down at the red oceans. His expression faded into one of dark sociopathy. "One day he'll understand. He'll understand and thank me." he remarked, his voice cold and calculating as he walked away.

"He will."

"NOAH!"

Noah woke up. "Where the fuck were you? We couldn't find you no matter where we looked! Did you start working full-time at that gay strip club down the street again? What the fuck?" Evan yelled.

Noah looked. "... How long was I gone?" he asked.

"Three days! Thank god we didn't have any matches at that point, or we've been screwed!" Caught roared.

"Why are we all screaming?" Noah screeched.

"Fuck if I know," Tim deadpanned. "Why were you gone for so long?"

Noah stared bitterly at Tim. "Firebrand took me. Warned me about an attack on Vale."

Author's Notes: Firebrand is a really interesting character to write. You might see more of him to come.

We have passed the halfway point. Now the fun stuff comes. Now the freaky shit starts happening.

WARNING: The next chapter has astounding amounts of badassery and should only be read with cool shades on to withstand the blinding amounts of sheer badass. Get hype. It is in my personal opinion one of, if not the, best chapters in the whole damn fic.

Review away, my friends, review away.

I hope the wait for this and the next chapter is well worth it.