"And so it is that these four large armies meet on the field of Hachiman. There is Saburo and his army, Fujumaki, Saburo's patron, is also here with support. There is also a warlord named Ayabe who resides but beyond this forest. And, of course, there is the source of all of these problems, Jiro. His army is the largest of all. Come, we must go and aide Saburo."

Nomu took off, leaping out of the forest he and Iz were hiding in. Tsurumaru, Tango and Kyoami were still searching for Hidetora, but this battle was far more important. He and Iz needed to be here.

Iz immediately took off after Nomu. Meanwhile, in the center of Hachiman Field, the battle had begun.

"They're coming fast!" Jack shouted to Saburo.

"I know! Just hold your unit steady!" Saburo drew his sword.

Jack surveyed the enemy army. They had been watching all morning. Ayabe's army had marched towards them, so Fujumaki marched forward to meet them. Fujumaki had pushed them back into Jiro's army, and Jiro had annihilated the remainder of Ayabe's troops. Then he had marched forward and did the same to Fujumaki. It was down to these last two armies. Jack had been given control of a unit of warriors called Samurai. At first Jack had asked if Nomu and Take were also Samurai, but Saburo referred to them as Ronin. Jack shrugged. Time to fight.

Jiro's cavalry were drawing close. Jack knew the plan: Saburo's men, armed with a strange type of primitive rifle called an Arquebus, who were hidden, would march to the front of the line and take out Jiro's cavalry. When Jiro's ground forces marched through, Jack would take the Samurai and hold off until Iz and Nomu got back, hopefully with Hidetora. After they arrived, the plan was to take Hidetora and escape. Jack's unit was vastly outnumbered by Jiro's ground troops, but he hoped to win by the raw skill of his men, coupled with cover fire from the Arquebi. The cavalry were only about a hundred yards away when Jack heard Saburo yell, "NOW!" Jack ducked, as did all of his men, and they heard gunshots from all around them, then the whinny of hundreds of horses, and finally, the dull thud of hundreds of bodies hit the ground. Jack looked up and saw Jiro screaming. The remainder of the cavalry were still charging, and still getting shot.

"Why isn't this working? We should be able to advance while they reload!?" Jiro shouted.

"If one gun can fire while another reloads, continuous fire can be achieved. The might of a warrior is no mach for the brainpower of a very smart young man." With that, Saburo smiled down at Jack.

"My idea," Jack said under his breath.

The cavalry were gone. The riders who had survived were getting up, drawing swords, and joining the ground troops.

"FIRE!" Saburo shouted. The arquebussier continued. It was now the ground force that was getting ripped up. But their forces, who were much larger to begin with, had greatly increased from the remaining cavalry, and eventually were but fifty feet from the arquebussier line. There was less than half remaining.

"FINAL VOLLEY!" Saburo shouted. The arquebussiers fired one last time, and Jack shouted "RAN!" He had meant to shout "run" but the men got the idea. Jack summoned the Green Rose and charged with them. The men crashed into Jiro's infantry. Jack hacked through three men, scouting for Jiro. His eye caught him at the back of the line.

"Coward," he snarled. Jack leapt into the air at Jiro and landed right in front of him. Jiro gasped and drew his sword.

"You little brat! Time for you to learn what it's like to fight a Samurai!"

"Bring it!" Jack leapt at Jiro again, upslashing at him. Jiro parried it and stabbed at him, but Jack spun around the blade and kneed Jiro in the stomach. Jiro keeled over, but quickly regained himself and tripped Jack. The Rose spun away from him, and Jiro pointed the tip of his blade right into Jack's face.

"Time to die!" Jiro brought the sword up.

"Not today!" Jack remembered the ocean and the Green Rose was in his hand. He swung it at Jiro, and…connected! Jack saw blood and a tooth fly out from Jiro's mouth as the Shogun fell to the ground. Jack stepped on Jiro's face to deter him from getting up, and looked at the battle. He had lost almost no men! The plan had worked perfectly!

"Attack!" Jiro shouted from the ground. Out of the surrounding woods, thousands of soldiers, all armed with swords, streamed out. The arquebussiers quickly opened fire, but were immediately surrounded.

"You'll die no matter what, Jiro!" Jack shouted. He put his hands around Jiro's throat. "Any last words?"

"Nope." Jiro snapped his fingers, and the sky went dark. Jack looked up.

"No…" the sky was filled with floating beasts. Obviously Emos, but Jack had no clue what kind. They looked like the Gargoyles of the Old One's Lore, but in their hands they held large swords.

"What do you call these bastards?"

"Panics. Have fun!" Jiro punched Jack's leg. Jack pulled it off of Jiro's torso, swearing. Jiro got up, held his sword out, and brought it down into himself. Meanwhile, all of the men, even Jiro's, were staring up at the Panics, looking, well, panicky.

"Jack! Are those Gakis?" Saburo had joined Jack.

"No. Tell the men not to look in their eyes. And, are those weapons made of Metallica?"

"We of the Council for Attaining Divinity are here on a very special day. First, Taro's replacement has been chosen, and we would like to also welcome a new member entirely. Taro's replacement is a man we have met before; he has subbed for Taro or Jiro numerous times. Please welcome Take."

"Tony, have you any word on Jiro?" Randall Flagg asked.

"I believe the Rose bearer has gotten the best of him. No matter, his time was limited here anyways. Now, the new member's name is…um…hey, what was your name again?" Tony Accardo asked.

"Judas Iscariot."

"The swords are. Wait, are you saying that only Metallica affects these beasts?"

"You say true, I say thankya. That means the arquebussiers are worthless?"

"I'll tell them to draw their swords." Saburo hurried off.

"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY LISTEN UP! THE WAR IS OVER! JIRO IS DEAD! WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER IF WE WANNA SURVIVE! WHO'SE WITH ME!?"

Everybody, even Jiro's troops, yelled and held their swords in the air. The Panics let out a screech that chilled Jack's bones. What was he doing! He couldn't fight these things! He needed to get out of here, and fast. Around him, the soldiers were screaming and literally running for the hills beyond the forest. Jack was about to follow suit, but he came to his senses.

"For them it's the scream that affects people, not eye-contact! Or maybe it's both…" Either way, it wasn't going to affect Jack. He saw that Saburo was also holding his ground. Good man. Jack got up just in time to see the Panics screeching down towards the field.

"GO!" Jack shouted to Saburo. Jack leapt in the air and slashed one of the Panics. The panic disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.

"Sweet!" Jack said, and pumped his arm. He landed perfectly. About twenty yards to his left Saburo was also fighting. Jack parried a blow from a panic that was hovering about a foot away from his face and killed it. There were a lot more to go.

Meanwhile, Iz and Nomu looked on with horror as the Panics swarmed all over Hachiman field. They ran faster to get to the battle, but were still a ways away.

The battle pressed on. There were Jack and Saburo in the center of the field. Nomu and Iz were about a kilometer away. And another kilometer after that was Tango, Kyoami and Hidetora.

In the fray, Jack and Saburo were losing the fight. They were both getting small wounds, and Saburo was very tired. Finally, Jack looked up from killing one and saw Nomu and Iz running towards them.

"YES! Finally!" he shouted. He blocked above his head, expecting a blow that never came. Instead, the Panics were flying high, high, into the air again. And screeched. Just in time, Jack threw down the Rose and covered his ears. That dimmed the noise a lot, and the sensation of, well…panic. Saburo was following suit. Now it was the Panics that were getting discouraged, for their mind ploy wasn't affecting their enemies. Letting out an angry howl, the still-hundreds of Panics screamed down to the ground again.

"Saburo!" Jack shouted, and made eye contact with him. Saburo immediately got the message and nodded. They faced opposite directions, Jack, west, and Saburo, east, and jumped backwards so they were back to back. The Panics charged them, and they individually parried them off, spinning and slashing their respective weapons, each covering half of the clock. As this started, Iz and Nomu arrived and started to take some of the heat off of them.

Finally, it was over. Nomu slashed and killed the final Panic, and the sky was clear again. Kyoami, Tango and Hidetora had arrived, and they were all in a brief reunion.

"Father…" Saburo choked out.

"Saburo…my son…" Hidetora said.

Jack looked at them, standing across from each other, just staring. Hidetora had come back to his senses. All was well. Then Saburo fell to the ground, nearly dead.

"MY SON!" Hidetora shouted, and knelt beside him. He wept silently.

"What happened!?" Jack asked in alarm.

"Pure exhaustion. Some people aren't meant for fighting battles like that. His time was short, anyways."

Jack knelt beside Saburo, too. Saburo looked at him.

"Jack…what you said before your men charged at Jiro…"

What had he said? That seemed so long ago. He had said…

"Ran. I meant to say run. What about it?"

"Ran…in one of our language, Ran means chaos. I was just wondering how you knew it…" with that, he died.

There was a moment of silence, then Hidetora held his hand out to Nomu. Nomu silently drew his sword and handed it to Hidetora. Hidetora closed his eyes and held the sword over himself.

"My lord…the Rose."

Hidetora opened his eyes and looked at Jack. "Jack, I am a relation to Samuel the Great."

"What? Who is-"

"Never mind. Just know, that I had acquired the Rose for myself as a young man. I used it to win many wars, but in the end, I ended up killing my own wife with it. I was grief-stricken, and knew I was not worthy to wield such a great weapon. I sealed it away. Just think of me, and it will be yours. There is another gift for you, once you get it. You'll know what do to." With that, Hidetora brought the sword into his stomach. His eyes opened wide, and he fell to the ground. Nomu retrieved his sword.

Jack thought of the old man who he had barely known, yet had taught him so much in such a short space of time. There was a blinding flash of white light, and there was a long Rose with a spiraling thorny vine curling around the stem in Jack's hand. This Rose was slightly longer than the Red one, probably almost five feet long. Its stem was dark purple.

"What will become of your world now that all of the kings and shoguns are dead?" Jack asked Nomu.

"They'll manage. The more important question is about all of the worlds in general."

Jack and Iz nodded. "Tango, by the order of Shogun Nomu, General Jack Brown and Iz of Paradise Islands, you will take full control of this land. Good luck."

Tango sat there stunned. Iz, Nomu and Jack turned and walked away without another word, on the way to another world.

A few days later…

Carol fell down on the warm beaches of Paradise Islands. The one named Sugo had taken her. Now he stood above her, staring down with his Guy Fawkes mask.

"Remember, Carol. Find him, kill him, and get back to this beach. You have five hours. If you're late, we will destroy this world to make sure you can't escape."

"What!? You'll destroy an entire world?"

"Don't think we can't. Don't try anything funny, just be here as soon as it's done. You don't want the deaths of over a hundred thousand people on your conscience, do you?"

"I'll be here. Goodbye." Carol took off into the jungle. She ran for nearly twenty minutes when she crashed through the brush into a large clearing that the Capital of Paradise Islands was built. She was immediately surrounded by a quartet of Town Guards.

"Speak your name!"

"I'm Carol. I'm from, uh…Bryn. Is there a man named Iz here?"

"It's her!" one of the men shouted. "Get her!"

The men closed in on Carol, who was too stunned to react. Was she that bad? Then she summoned the White Rose and held it out.

"Ring it!" one of the men shouted. Carol looked up at a large bamboo tower and saw a man ringing a large metal bell. Immediately following, the townspeople scrambled out of shops and houses and converged in the center of the town, while a group of soldiers streamed out of a barracks to Carol's right. She did what Sugo taught her to do if she was in trouble. She held the White Rose in the air and concentrated with all her might. From the Rose, a large burst of flames flew into the air and took the form of a heart. This could be seen for miles around, and it would tell Sugo and hopefully the others that she was in trouble.

"What the hell?"

All of the soldiers stopped, broke formation, and looked into the sky at the flaming heart. Even the villagers stopped scrambling for the Town Center and looked. Then the soldiers collected themselves and charged. Carol screamed and closed her eyes. She wasn't nearly ready to take on an entire army regiment. Right before the soldiers got close enough to attack her, however, a man wearing a Guy Fawkes mask crashed through the jungle, holding a Blue Rose. The soldiers looked away, but before they had time to react Sugo was cutting through their line like butter. He had killed three of them in the first second he had started fighting, all taken with one swift blow. He then leapt into the thick of their line, spinning his Rose as he went. Another five men died, and the rest all lunged at Sugo. Sugo jumped into the air and downslashed one of them. This left maybe twenty remaining. Sugo raised his Rose into the air and screamed the word,
"Tempesta del lampo!" Bolts of lightning struck, from the sky, the ground all around him, each one hitting an individual soldier. Sugo remained in the air, hovering, for a full ten seconds until all of the soldiers and guards were nothing but fiery heaps. Then he gently floated to the ground.

"Carol! I knew this was a bad idea! You are worthless! I'll kill you right now!" Sugo screamed. "Except I can't. Fuck. Come with me, I'm just going to destroy this entire world."

"No. I won't let you, you fucking little coward!"

Sugo became quiet. His biggest insecurity was people calling him a coward. He could never tolerate it. Ever. No matter what The Maker's plans were, Carol would die now.

"You little bitch! Never say that again!" Sugo's eyes, his real ones, lit up with fury beyond anything anyone had ever seen before. Carol was lucky he was wearing a mask, because that look really could kill. Sugo charged at her, brandishing his Rose. Carol got ready to fight, but before Sugo could make it to her, she heard a familiar voice call out a familiar word: "Lampo!"

"Jack!" Carol looked around. Meanwhile, a single, small bolt of lightning rained from the sky and nailed Sugo square in the back. Sugo did a double-take and fell to the ground. Swearing loudly, he got up and ran again at Carol. This time, Jack leapt from where he was standing and kicked Sugo square in the face. His mask broke, and he fell to the ground, covering his face. He looked up. Carol saw a blue eye was exposed, and from this eye she could tell Sugo was scared. He got up, still covering his face, snapped his fingers, and was gone.

"Carol!" Jack shouted. He ran to her and embraced her. For a second, she stood there. Then her arms went up and embraced him back. There they shared a silent kiss, Iz and Nomu looking on smugly a few yards back.

After a minute of this and they seemed nowhere close to stopping, Iz cleared his throat loudly. "Um, Jack? We kind of have work to do here."

Jack looked up. "Right." He laughed nervously. "Sorry. Carol, this is Nomu," Nomu nodded. "And Iz." Iz waved.

"You're Iz!?" she asked incredulously.

"You're the one they sent to kill me!?" Iz mimicked her tone of voice perfectly.

"Um…yeah, sorry about that. What have you three been doing?"

"We should sit down and talk."

Twenty minutes later, the four were sitting in a coffee shop, telling each other their respective stories. After Jack, Nomu and Iz had left Nomu's world, they had planned on moving immediately to the next one, but had instead decided to go back to Paradise Islands for a pit stop. While there, they had received an ominous message from a robed man with bandages all over his face that said somebody would come in the next few days to kill Iz, and they should wait this person's arrival. Nomu demanded they heed the warning, so they stayed a couple days.

Carol, immediately following Herman Melvin's telling her her mission, was trained to fight by Sugo, and also to cast the magical flaming heart. After that, it was right to work killing Iz. She did not know why they wanted him dead, only that it was VERY important. It took them about an hour each to tell what had happened to each of them, and it was dark by the time they were done. Iz invited Carol to come back and stay with them at his mansion (he had been promoted to Grand General.) Carol accepted.

Later that night, the four were all sitting around the fireplace, sipping wine (Jack and Carol had both accepted the offer of alcohol this time) and discussing their plans for the future. Finally, they decided it was time to go to bed, at around midnight. Jack took Carol by the hand and lead her upstairs to talk for a minute before they went to sleep.

"Carol, I missed you so much. Listen, I need to tell you something. While you were gone, I learned of a tradition called Seppuku, or ritual suicide, practiced in Nomu's world. You being gone caused me to want to kill myself. It was the knowledge that you were alive that kept me going. I just want to say, if we're separated again, that I love you."

Carol just stood there, staring up at Jack for a full five minutes. Then, "I love you too."

Jack smiled and kissed her. Then they both went into Jack's room, into Jack's bed, and did what teenagers do best.

The next morning, Jack got up bright and early, at 7:30. Carol was still sound asleep next to him. He lay there for a minute, thinking. Then he got up silently and went downstairs. To his surprise, Nomu was also up and drinking a glass of tea.

"Morning," he mumbled.

"Good morning, Jack. Did you sleep well?"

Jack paused. "Um…yeah."

"Good."

Jack sat down and asked, "Is there any food we can make without Iz to cook it?"

Iz had cooked all of their food so far, for most the food on Paradise Islands was as alien to them as a car would have been. It was delicious, though.

"There's bread."

"Great," Jack groaned.

"You're right. I wish Iz was up."

"Go wake his ass up!" Jack said, and laughed. Nomu just stared.

"I'm up!" a voice called from behind them. Jack turned around and looked at the doorway, where Iz was standing.

"G'morning," Jack mumbled again.

"It IS a good morning, for you at least."

"What's that mean?" Jack asked. But he knew what was coming.

"You left your door open. I walked by it, and noticed Carol was asleep in it."

"Um…well, you see…okay, you caught me."

"Nice," Iz smiled. Jack grinned at him. "How old are you? Fifteen?"

Jack nodded. Iz grinned. "Wow."

"What are we talking about?" Nomu asked, which prompted Jack and Iz to burst into wild laughter.

"Wow. W-wow. You are-I can't believe…I disown you, Nomu," Iz said seriously. There was a pause, and he and Jack once again started laughing.

"I don't see what's so funny," Nomu said simply.

Iz was about to explain when the foundations of the house were shook by a wild crash.

"It's coming from Town Center!" Nomu shouted. Iz was about to ask how he could possibly know that when there was another crash, larger this time. Chairs fell over, cabinets opened, the chandelier flew off of the ceiling, and Jack and Iz were thrown to the ground. Nomu had already leapt through the window.

"Let's go!" Iz said. He grabbed his spear, which had rolled into the kitchen, and jumped through the hole Nomu had made. Jack ran back to the stairs.

"Carol!?" he shouted.

"I'm up here!" was the reply.

Jack charged up the stairs, pushing over shelves and other loose furniture that was blocking the stairs. Finally he made it to the top. Carol was lying on the ground, underneath the bed, which had toppled over.

"Shit!" Jack kneeled down and put his hands at the bottom of the bed. "Push!" he yelled. Carol pushed up and Jack pulled up. The bed went up a few inches, and Carol pushed herself out. Jack dropped it on the floor, creating a very audible thud.

"What the hell's going on!?" Carol shouted.

"I have no clue!" Jack replied. He took her hand and kissed her. "Are you okay?"

"A little sore, but mostly okay. Not sore from the bed, either."

Jack laughed, but another large crash from outside made him trip. "Let's get out of here!"

They took off down the stairs. Jack pulled out his newest Rose, the dark-pinkish one, while Carol summoned the White Rose. It was an interesting thought that summoned the White Rose, but as soon as she figured out what it was, Carol had sworn to herself that she would never tell anyone what it was. They reached the front door, and Jack kicked it in.

"Why'd you do that?" Carol asked.

"I don't know…I've always wanted to kick a door in." At this point there was another booming crash.

A few minutes before, in yet another world…

A high school alternative rock band, the Roundhouse Kicks, was performing at a party. It was made up of Leonardo diBenedetti, lead guitar and vocals, Dewey Virgil on bass and vocals, Kyle Son on keyboard and Teddy Gamble on drums. This was their first performance. They were performing for free at a New Year's eve party, and they had lined up several covers, along with a couple original songs to play. The party was jumping. There were almost nine hundred people there, all juniors at Shermer High School.

Attention should be called to the lead guitar of this band, Leonardo diBenedetti. Called Leo by everyone else at school, he is what would be called a "troubled teen." His parents are going through a divorce. And on top of that, the girl he has loved for almost a year now ignores him. They used to be best friends, but somehow they grew apart. They haven't spoken in almost two weeks. Leo is now in a repressed state of depression. He's finally had enough. It's three in the morning. The party is over, after one last song by the band. Leo got up on stage and said into the mike, "This is our last song for the night. You've been a wonderful crowd. I'd like to dedicate this number to someone who means a lot to me. My life is brilliant…"

The music struck up. The song was You're Beautiful by James Blunt. The crowd was loving the song, people rocking back and forth, guys kissing their girls. It almost made Leo stop singing and just cry. But he held on. It was almost over. His hand slowly felt the small lump in his pocket. It was almost time.

During the last couple lines of the song, "there must be an angel with a smile on her face, when she thought up that I should be with you," Leo made eye contact with the girl. Her name was Erika Baker. She bore an eerie resemblance to a girl who lived in another world named Carol, just as Leo bore an eerie resemblance to a boy named Jack Brown. She looked, amazed, up at him, and he smiled sadly at her. The last two lines of the song are, But it's time to face the truth…I will never be with you.

The song was over. As soon as everyone started clapping, Leo withdrew a revolver from his pocket, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger.

Jack rushed outside, pulling Carol by her hand. He immediately was caught when he looked up and saw a large red orb hovering in the air.

"What is it?" Jack asked. It was pulsing slightly, and blood was dripping from it in many places.

"It's a heart," Carol replied in awe.

The heart pulsed violently, blood spurted from several places on it, and the ground shook with a large BOOM!

"Well, we know what the quakes are from…but what the hell is that?" Iz said. He and Nomu had come up from somewhere behind them.

"I have no clue…do you think it's only in this world?"

"The only thing I know for sure is that if it keeps going it's going to destroy this world," Nomu said. "We must stop it."

"How?"

"I have no idea."

"Me either," answered Carol.

Jack, Carol and Nomu looked at Iz.

"Well, there's an oracle that lives in the mountains on Serenity Isle. We usually go to him for help."

"Who's we?" Nomu asked.

"Nevermind that. I'll get us a boat."

In another world…

"What do we do about that infernal heart?" Tony Accardo asked.

"What is it?" The newest member, Judas Iscariot asked.

"I don't know…I have sent Randal Flagg back to his world to consult his master."

"Are you not his master, my lord?"

"In a way. He is merely a representative of our most senior member, aside from me."

"Who would this be?" Judas asked.

"You are a very inquisitive neophyte…and you still have to prove your worth in battle. Very well. He is called by his followers The Crimson King."

Jack entered the cave of the Oracle with apprehension. The Oracle's name was Agbala, or Sacred One in the original tongue of the Islanders. Iz said he was over a hundred years old.

He definitely looked over a hundred. He was very skinny, probably weighing just over a hundred pounds. Despite this, he was very tall. Jack could count all of his ribs.

Iz whispered to Jack, "He's an ascetic."

"QUIET!" Agbala shouted. Iz lowered his head. The Oracle was standing clad in a dirty loincloth. His face was obscured by a strange mask…Jack recognized the mask.

"You're a member of the Seventeenth!" Jack shouted.

"Jack! SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Iz shouted, keeping his head down.

The Oracle started towards Jack. There was a roaring fire in front of him, but he took no notice as he walked right through the searing bonfire!

"The Seventeenth is made up of those who do not exist. I exist, child of Samuel."

Jack also bowed his head. If this man, if that was what he was, was truly not a member of the Seventeenth, then why the mask?

"I apologize sincerely, divine one," Jack uttered the apology used in his land when one offended a priest.

The Oracle made a noise with his throat, and turned to Iz. "My chambermaids tell me you have received a promotion. They speak very highly of you, Iz."

"Thank the gods for me, o sacred one." Iz's head was still bowed.

"But what is it you have come to seek? You may raise your head now."

Iz raised his head. Jack started to, but the Oracle yelled, without looking at him, "NOT YOU, BOY!"

Jack kept his head down. "You know of the bleeding heart down above the main isle?" Iz continued.

"Ah, yes…it is a very bad omen. A very bad omen indeed. I know of your quest, Rose Warrior," Agbala said, turning to Jack. "You may raise your head."

Jack did so, and began to speak, but Agbala cut him off. "That heart is very important. It is the heart of a real person who is in grave peril. If he dies, I believe that all hope is lost. Not just for this world, but all others as well."

Iz nodded. "What would you have us do?"

"Jack, Nomu, Iz, continue with your quest as if nothing is wrong. Send the girl to a special world to save the injured person."

"NO!" Carol shouted in despair, upon hearing that she and Jack would be separated again. She started towards the Oracle, but he turned and just looked at her. She froze and backed off.

"You may go now."

"But how do we know which world it is?"

"It'll be the one that doesn't have a large heart floating in the middle of it."

Agbala walked slowly to the back of the cave and disappeared behind a shroud. Jack saw many female figures descend upon him. He turned his head away and walked outside.

They weren't out five seconds when Carol threw herself into Jack's arms, sobbing. Jack stood there, shell-shocked, for he had never seen her like this before. He looked up at Iz, who shrugged, looking exactly how Jack felt. Jack put his harms around her and just held her. Nomu touched Iz's shoulder, and they turned and began walking down the path. Finally they were gone, and Jack said to Carol, "Baby, what's the problem?"

"If you leave me alone again, I'll never see you again," Carol sobbed.

Jack was taken aback. "Why would you think that? It's not like we'll be leaving each other forever."

"It's just a feeling, but I'm sure that if we split up, even if we do see each other again, it won't be the same…you'd leave me, or I'd leave you, or we'd forget about each other…"

They stood there in silence. Then Jack put his hand under her chin, lifted her head up, and kissed her. "I'd never forget you."

She looked up at him, blinking tears out of her eyes. "Promise?"

"I swear on my life."

"Okay…but promise we can spend tonight together?"

"I was planning on it anyways."

Carol smiled. Holding hands, they walked down the slope towards the harbor, ignoring the tremors in the earth.

That night, for some reason the beating of the heart had stilled somewhat, and the crashes were reduced to small vibrations that they barely felt. Iz and Nomu had wisely left to spend the night at an inn. They knew Jack and Carol needed some time alone. Iz had left Jack a very advanced-looking machine he called a "stereo." He'd also left Jack some CD's to put in it, and showed him how to use it. Jack was amazed when he heard music playing from the device.

"It's very expensive, so be careful. It cost me almost as much as this house."

"I'll be careful," Jack said in amazement.

At 9:00 PM., the two were sitting down to a nice, romantic dinner in Iz's dining room. Jack, who had some cooking experience, had made a lavish dinner that consisted of something Iz taught him to make, called a pizza; he had made an old-fashioned steak; a type of noodle called spaghetti; and he had even managed to steal some wine from Iz's cellar. The night went perfectly. They saved the night, delaying their misery by simply forgetting what they had to do the next day. They went through two bottles of wine between them, and decided to stop after that. Then they made a fire in Iz's fireplace, and made love on the couch in the living room. They both fell asleep and woke up in each other's arms. Carol smiled at Jack and he kissed her. Then she turned around and they tried something new.

While they were having the best night/morning of their lives, and Nomu was sleeping soundly in Granny Smith Inn, Iz was standing underneath a very old palm tree, staring out into the ocean, on the beach where Jack and Nomu had first arrived. It was just past midnight.

He had left the inn at ten o'clock, right after Nomu had fallen asleep. He had scribbled a quick note incase Nomu woke up, saying he had gone to visit his girlfriend. He actually did. He walked across the town and into the slums, where he spent half an hour looking for her shack. He finally found it. She was awake.

"Sandra?" he called from outside. She appeared at the door, wearing a tattered shawl. Iz almost cried. She had lost weight since he had last seen her. She was among the few poverty-stricken people on Paradise Island, making her of the lowest social class in the Caste System, called by the government the Kaiser system. Her net worth, deemed by the government, was less than 15 shells (15 dollars.) Iz's was over three million. He was of the second-highest class, so it was illegal for her to live with him, or for them to be married. Though there were many political activist organizations working to abolish the hated Kaiser system, it had persisted. Iz gave these organizations money whenever he could spare it, but to no avail. Although technically Iz could be dishonorably discharged (and possibly jailed; she would be sentenced to death) from the Chief's Special Forces for being romantically involved with her, most of Iz's colleagues turned a blind eye towards he and Sandra.

She ran to him, and he engulfed her mouth in a kiss immediately. He unsung the package he had carried with him from his shoulder, and gave it to her. She opened it. It was full of ten-piece shells.

"Oh my God, Iz…you shouldn't-"

"I have to. I love you, Sandra, and I can't stand to see this happen to you."

Sandra could barely pay rent for her shack, and if evicted, would be arrested and jailed for being homeless. Paradise Islands was actually the exact opposite to the lower-class citizens.

Iz and Sandra went back into her shack and made love. Then Iz told her that their problems were almost over. She asked how that could be, and Iz replied he had made a deal with a man named Tony Accardo, who had promised to use his political influence and raw power to force the government to make changes. He told her that soon she would be able to move in with him. All he had to do is kill Jack Brown.

Iz mulled over this. He really liked Jack, and Carol and Nomu. Could he do it? He thought of Sandra. Then he thought of the love Jack had for Carol, and how much he really liked her. He thought of the father-son relationship Nomu and Jack seemed to be forming, and how much he had been counting Nomu as his best friend. Could he do that to them? Could he do it to Jack?

He had no doubt that he physically could kill Jack. All he had to do was stab him in the back at the right moment, and he and Sandra would live happily ever after. But he very much doubted his heart was in it. No, he could not do it. When Accardo's man got here, he just had to tell him the deal's off.

"Iz. Tell me, how goes your mission?"

Iz whirled around. There was a tall robed figure standing right behind him.

"How the devil did you-"

The man put his hood down and bared his teeth at Iz. Iz gasped. The man had fangs dripping blood. "My name is Judas. How goes your mission?"

Iz almost ran, but he regained his composure and said, "Tell Accardo the deal's off. I can't do this."

"Oh, I'm afraid you can do it. For if you don't…" Judas trailed off. He gestured behind Iz. Iz looked around, and saw Sandra lying on the ground, bleeding.

"YOU BASTARD!" Iz shouted. He had brought no weapon.

"You shouldn't have gone to visit her."

Iz ran to her and turned her body over. She was alive, that was good. Iz noticed two small holes in her neck, dripping blood.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER!?" Iz shouted.

"Settle down, she'll live. Do you know what a vampire is?"

"What, you mean to tell me you're a vampire?"

"Not a vampire, THE vampire. I am also known as Dracula." Iz just stood there, stunned. This man was insane. "Soon, she will be one, too. Oh, and I want you to know, I did to her what you humans called 'fucking.'"

Iz's fists were clenched. If he had a weapon, he would surely kill this man, if that's what he truly was. "What do you want me to do?"

"Fulfill your end of the bargain, and we'll give her the antidote. She'll be back to normal, with all of her memories. Deal?" Judas held his hand out.

Iz paused. "Deal." he said. "But it will take some time."

"You have all the time in the world. In the meantime, she'll be safe." With this, Judas snapped his fingers, and he and Sandra were gone.

"Sandra…" Iz said. He turned and walked back towards town.

Meanwhile, in The Fortress, fifteen of the seventeen members of The Seventeenth were in a meeting.

"That is not the issue, you fool! Why does it matter who kills him? All we need to make sure of is that they fail! Who it is will be revealed to us in good time!" Webb, who had the rank of 5, was saying to Sugo.

"Or, we could find out who it is, and take care of him. That'll be the quickest and easiest way," Sugo responded calmly.

"Then they just send another person! You are a fool to think they'll give up after one try!"

"Enough," Herman Melvin said. "Here's the plan. Sugo, you work on who it is. Webb, tail Jack from a distance and make sure he's safe. I, meanwhile, will take an army of Emos and attack the CAD compound, creating a diversion. I'll send Kevin on his first mission. He'll capture one of the CAD members and bring him to us. We'll figure out, through interrogation and/or torture, why they want Jack dead in the first place. Gentlemen, meeting adjourned. Sugo, send for Kevin to meet me tomorrow morning at 9."

The next morning, Jack and Carol said their goodbyes. They partook in a very long kiss that embarrassed Iz and Nomu while they sat there waiting at the cave where they could leave this world.

They finally broke up, and Carol gave Iz and Nomu a hug, respectively.

"Take care of yourself, girl," Iz said.

"Goodbye, and may God be with you," Nomu said.

Carol thanked them. Jack summoned the Green Rose and tapped the wall. The emblem of the Rose appeared, and the four of them walked into the wall and found themselves on the platform. Carol immediately turned towards a door with a picture of a large, bustling city on it. The tallest building in the city dwarfed the rest of them. On the top, it had two large spires.

"This is it. I can tell," Carol said philosophically.

"I trust you."

Nomu walked towards the animated door, with the flashing lights. "Here is next." He opened it with his sword, and he and Nomu walked inside. Jack looked at Carol again, and saw she was crying.

"Hey, it's alright. I'll see you soon, OK?"

She nodded. Jack kissed her again, and walked through the door.

He found himself, Nomu, and Iz inside an illuminated hallway filled with flashing lights. There was the definite smell of blood in the air, and they could hear the low growls of creatures they didn't even want to fathom.

"So…what do we do?" Jack asked.

"I don't know…OH MY GOD!" Iz shouted, and pointed behind Jack. Jack whirled around, and almost had a heart attack.

What he saw could be classified as nothing less than a demon. It was about seven feet tall, and had white spikes jutting out of it's shoulders. It was humanoid other than the fact that it was completely brown, had leathery skin, and glowing red eyes. It growled at Jack and lifted its hand. He was rooted to that spot in fear. The thing swung its hand at them, as if it was throwing something. It did. A searing fireball appeared out of nowhere and hurled towards them. Jack summoned the Purple Rose and deflected it. The thing raised it's arm back again, but it's head was blown off in an explosion of blood from behind it. Jack looked back and saw a man in a green combat uniform, holding a pistol. He was wearing a helmet that obscured his face.

"Can you speak?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm Jack Brown."

"Nomu."

"Iz."

"You guys have weird-ass names." He pulled his helmet off, revealing blue eyes. His hair was a buzz-cut, and it was blonde. "Corporal Flynn Taggart, USMC." He held out his hand. Nomu took it and shook.

"What's USMC?" Iz asked

Flynn started. "You don't know? Are you lab workers?"

"No…um…well, I guess we should tell you our story." Jack said.

And they did.

"What do you take me for, a moron?" Flynn demanded.

"No. I swear it's true."

"Well…I suppose weirder things have been happening." Flynn sighed and patted his pistol he had put in his holster.

"What is happening?" Jack asked. The smell, the growls, the monster…this couldn't be right.

"Let me start at the beginning. USMC stands for United States Marine Corps. I'm a member who was fighting in the squadron of Lieutenant Weems, but that fat pig was a rotten bastard. He ordered me to kill this man…this unarmed, innocent civilian. Instead, I punched that bastard in the face. So, I was transferred here to clean up and look after the UAC workers. UAC stands for the Union Aerospace Corporation. This base you're standing in is located on Phobos, one of the moons of Mars. These UAC guys were on to something big…something about ancient Martian ruins and a portal of some sort…anyways, they created a technology to instantly teleport people from one place to another. Transportation between this base and the one on Deimos was easy as hell. This tripled the research capacity. But…a few hours ago, we got a call from Phobos saying Deimos had disappeared from their radars. We double-checked, and it was gone. Then Lieutenant Garrett, who was in charge at Phobos, started yelling, "There's something' fraggin' evil comin' outta' the portal! Requesting military assistance immediately!" We heard gunshots and screams, along with growls…soon we lost all contact with them. They got all of the marines on Mars to meet at the main base. They armed us and sent us to Phobos…but they made me wait outside the base because I had the lowest rank. They left me with nothing but this fuckin' pistol…anyways, I heard their screams on my radio…soon they were all dead. I had no choice…I couldn't fly that transport. So I went in…there were some humans…but not really. They were green and rotting, they smelled like sour lemons…I thought they needed help but one of them shot at me. I took them out, but then I saw one of the brown things…I killed him and finally moved on to the next sector of the base…when I met up with you guys. You don't know what's going on either, do you?"

"Wow…that story just blows ours away," Iz said in amazement.

"Lemme see that thing again," Jack demanded. Flynn stepped back and Jack turned the monster over to see it's body. "I've seen this before! In the religious texts at my church! They made us take a class on demons, and there was a picture of one of these…it's called an Imp!"

"No kiddin'?" Flynn asked. He was about to speak again when he was cut off by a loud roar from the next room.

"What the hell!?" Jack exclaimed.

Flynn whipped his gun out and made a shushing gesture. He crept towards a large section of the wall that was a lighter shade of gray than the others. He pressed his hand to a hand-shaped panel of the wall and the door slid open. Immediately Flynn was taken down by a large pink blur.

"What the hell!?" Jack exclaimed as the Purple Rose appeared in his hand. Iz poised his spear and threw it at the pink blur. It nailed it, the pink monster was thrown on its side. It recovered and charged at them. Jack got a look at it's face. It had glowing yellow eyes and sort of resembled a pig. It had very large teeth and a muscular body. Jack screamed and raised the Rose. The thing was nearly five feet away when Flynn shot it twice in the back with his pistol. It stopped, confused, and turned towards Flynn.

"This thing's a moron, we can kill it!" Iz exclaimed. "Jack, do something!"

"Right!" Jack ran at it, but it was hopeless. The thing was fast. Flynn was shooting at it, but the pistol barely slowed it down.

Jack brandished the Rose at the thing and screamed, "Lampo!" A single bolt of lightning appeared about an inch below the ceiling, and rained down on the pink monster. It stumbled, roaring in pain. Flynn had reloaded and was emptying the cartridge into it. Finally, it quit. The pink monster fell to the ground and died.

"What's this one called?" Flynn asked, breathing heavily.

"Um…I've never seen this one before."

"Then it's a pinky demon."

Nomu laughed, which made Iz and Jack laugh. Flynn chuckled, more to fit in then because it was funny.

"So what's the plan?" Jack asked.

"Make it out of here, I guess. I have no clue how, though."

Flynn turned and began walking back the way he'd come from. "Are you coming?" he asked. Jack, Nomu and Iz immediately followed.

They walked in silence for about an hour. The growls got steadily louder, and they smelled blood. Finally they came upon what Flynn called a door. To the other three it looked like another wall, but when they got close enough it slid open.

A horrifying sight greeted them. There seemed to be a small army of Imps, standing in formation. Floating in the center of them was a

"Cacodemon!" Jack shouted without thinking. The Imps and the Cacodemon all turned towards them.

"Jack!" Iz shouted.

"Sorry."

All of the Imps gave a roar in unison, and swung their arms back over their shoulders.

Twenty fireballs spewed at the heroes at once. Nomu shouted "Schermo!" and brandished his sword in front of them. The fireballs were ten feet away and coming fast.

Right before they hit, Nomu leapt forward. All of the fireballs seemed to explode in midair.

"Shield spell," Nomu muttered.

"What the hell?" Flynn stuttered in bewilderment.

"I'll explain later." Nomu leapt at the demons, who had just launched another volley. He cut one out of the way, and jumped over the rest; he landed in front of the nearest Imp and cut him down.

"Let's help!" Jack shouted. He charged, Iz following close behind. Flynn drew his pistol, clutched it in two hands, and shot at the nearest Imp. He hit it in the shoulder. It turned to him and fired a fireball. Flynn dove to his left; the fireball missed him by a few feet. He raised the pistol and shot three times into the same Imp. Every bullet hit its target, the Imp crumpled to the floor, dead. Then a foul stench reached his nostrils…

Flynn whirled around and faced the zombie. It was a former marine, and he was toting a large shotgun. Flynn dove just as the shell shattered the tile where he'd been standing not a second ago. Flynn put the muzzle of the pistol right next to the head of the zombie and pulled the trigger. The head exploded in a splash of red,, and Flynn caught the riot gun before it hit the ground. It was an eight-shooter, a pump. Four shots in it. Flynn swung around, aimed it at the nearest Imp, and fired. The Imp's head exploded, and it fell to the ground. Flynn aimed at another and fired. This time he hit it square in the chest. It stood there for a second, then fell down dead. He was on a roll. He aimed at another and was about to fire when a fireball exploded about an inch in front of his feet. This one was bigger than the others, and it had come from above.

The explosion sent him to the ground, but his steel cleats had protected his feet from the splash damage. His eyes went up and he saw what Jack called a Cacodemon. It was red and round, and had one large green eye and a smirking mouth.

"Holy shit!" Flynn shouted, and he rolled over, swinging the shotgun around. He pointed it up, straight into the beast's mouth. It opened its mouth, and spit another fireball. Flynn squeezed the trigger, and the shell fragments broke the fireball. Flynn pumped the gun frantically and fired again. The fragments flew upwards and drove themselves into the Cacodemon. The thing was barely fazed. It spit another fireball at Flynn, who rolled over again and drew the pistol. He pointed it up and fired straight into the monster's eye, but it closed it. The bullet seemed to get stuck in the eyelid, for Flynn saw blood drip down. After, it opened its eye again. Flynn fired the last three bullets into it and tried to reload. He dropped the clip.

"Shit!" he dove to the ground again for the clip, narrowly avoiding another fireball. He pressed the button that emptied the pistol, and put the new clip in. He started towards the Cacodemon, but slipped on the old clip and was back on his ass.

"Smooth, Flynn," he said to himself. Then he leapt to his feet and shot at the Cacodemon. It was bleeding freely from several places now, but showed no signs of slowing. Finally, ten bullets later, it fell from the air, making a low grunting noise as it died. Flynn got up and saw Nomu stab the final Imp through the stomach with his sword. He raised the Imp in the air, then wrenched the sword sideways. It made a nice clean cut, ending the Imp's life.

"Is everyone okay?" Flynn asked.

"I got burned a little, but other than that I'm okay," Jack said. "Nomu, what was with that shield thing?"

"It's the same principle as your lightning spell. Metallica is a very potent material for magic. I learned many spells while I was studying the ways of the warrior."

"Why didn't you show us before?"

"Lord Hidetora had strict rules against using it unless it's an emergency. Not much he can do about it now, though, right?"
"No there is not. Jack, what'd you say that big thing was called?" Iz asked.

"Cacodemon. By the Man Jesus, all Hell's broken loose!"