It was less than a week later that we got reports of the bird soldier and pilots were acting weird. They talked about needing the black stones and obeying some master of theirs. Their eyes slowly turned color. Red to be exact. The dull tint would soon take over the original color and take it's place. Peppy, Pigma, and I watched for a while as the birds fought their own teammates to get to the stones. Those fucking stones. Why only the birds? What was making them act like this? Was it really the stones that were doing this to them? Those that got close enough to grab some were quickly taken down. They fought viciously to keep the stones in their grasp. We soon joined in with restraining the birds. They were bound and taken away to who knows where. But all I heard out of the birds as they were taken was 'I need it!' I need it? The stones? They had red eyes, was that an effect of the stones as well? Wait. Red eyes. Jay had been wearing sunglasses. Shit! Was Jay the master they were talking about? I looked to Peppy who seemed to have come to the same conclusion as me.
"We need to hurry." Peppy stated and we were off.
We entered the ship and started down the halls cautiously like he would be waiting to attack us around one of the corners. I knocked on the door to his room. No answer like usual. I didn't waste time by knocking again. Instead I hesitantly opened the door. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know if I was right or wrong. Hopefully I was wrong and this was all just a misunderstanding, but then again what were the chances of that? What was there to misunderstand? Jay turned to look at us. Sunglasses on as expected. He smiled a very unnerving smile.
"Hey." He said simply like he knew something we didn't.
"Take off the sunglasses." I commanded.
"Oh so demanding. I guess you know now. Am I right?"
He removed the glasses as directed. His eyes were bright red. The color was almost blinding. This was a much brighter color than the other birds that we had seen. Maybe because he had been exposed to it for a much longer period of time. Other wise I had no clue why.
"Isn't it just great? The stones give us so much power. Master will be pleased. We the shadows will be lead gracefully by master. Gracefully oh so gracefully. Everything is going according to plan. what a marvelous day it is!"
That smile of his quickly changed from that unnerving one to one of pure joy. What the hell? This didn't make any sense. So Jay wasn't their master? That I was glad for but then who was their so called master?
"Shadows? Master? What are you talking about." I asked.
"The black creatures that attacked the city were the shadows. Such wonderful creatures wouldn't you agree?"
"Those things? Those black creatures that were destroying that city? You can't possible follow those things-"
"Follow? We are the shadows, and they are us. I am the darkness and the darkness is me. The elixir stones will power us and master will conquer the world. The stones... I need to obey them... They demand it."
"The stones?! Dammit. We need to get you away from those things."
"No! You won't take them from me! I need them!"
"No you don't!"
I stepped toward him. He pulled out his blaster. I stood with the barrel of the gun right in my face.
"Back away now Mc'Cloud." He ordered.
"Jay don't."Peppy pleaded.
"Can't you see what those stones are doing to you?" I demanded. "Are you really going to shoot me for those fucking stones?"
He looked to his desk for a second and I took that moment to grab the gun and pointed the muzzle down. We fought over it for a few seconds before Peppy and Pigma decided to join in. We easily got the gun from him. He jumped back. He snatched up a handful of the stones and darted out. We gave chase. He slipped in turning one of the corners to my relief. He was about to start running but I tackled him to the ground. I gripped his wrist. He fought to get away. I let go when he kicked my side but luckily for me Peppy and Pigma were soon there. After that it didn't take to long to pin him. He had a firm grip on the stones. I started to pry his hand open which was more difficult than I thought that it would be.
"Dammit no! I need them!"
I was about ready to hit him myself when he said that but I didn't. The stones fell to the ground and Jay struggled to break free from their grip to pick them back up.
"No! Give it to me! Give it to me now!"
We pulled him up and onto his feet and half walked half dragged him down the halls to the infirmary where we tied him down to one of the beds. He struggled to get free but the restraints held.
"Let me go! I need them!"
I struck him before he could say another word.
"You don't need those stones. They are just fucking rocks."
"I need it! I need the elixir! I need to obey-!"
I struck him again. Peppy went to another part of the infirmary with a sigh.
"I don't want to hear another word about it. Nothing."
"Damn pure blood! You'll perish by the wrath of Pharos!"
"Pure blood? Pharos? Who's Pharos?"
"The ruler of the darkness. He will break you!"
"I'm assuming that he's the maker of those stones."
"The stones... I need them! I need them now!"
Peppy came over with a needle. He looked at me and I nodded sadly. He injected Jay with it who immediately calmed down. He stopped struggling but kept talking for a time while the drug kicked in.
"The elixir... Obey... I need to..."
With that he quickly dozed off.