Nowhere

Artemis's eyes snapped open. They were in a dark room with red tint everywhere. It was like Artemis was wearing red-tinted glasses. There was dried blood everywhere in the room. Artemis knew, without knowing that he knew, this was where the entity was imprisoned.

Artemis looked around the room. His friends lay slumped against the wall. Holly was next to him. He gently shook her. "Holly?" he asked. She opened her eyes.

"Where… where…" she began. Artemis just held her hand. It was the only form of comfort he really could think of at the moment. No1 and Qwan began stirring.

"Fear, panic, alarm, dread…" No1 murmured. At least he was alive at the moment. The two demon warlocks opened their eyes. Qwan looked around the room.

"Artemis, what do you think?" Qwan asked. Artemis knew what he meant.

"The power of the entity will sap our strength. For the world outside, it will be a minute but here I believe it will be only two hours until we die." Artemis said. Holly's grip on his hand suddenly tightened. No1's eyes went wide and he shuddered. Artemis noticed all their breathing rates had slowed.

"It is taking control already," Holly said. Everyone noticed there was something defeated in her voice. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. "Is there any hope?"

"No." Artemis said. No1 looked down.

"Maybe there is. I grabbed the orb just before it made us disappear." No1 took out the orb that was previously behind him and it rolled into the center of the room. Artemis shook his head.

"That orb is created of the power of the Ancients. It won't work here unless the Ancients are at full power and nearby it." Artemis said, defeated. No1 looked down.

"It is weird," Holly said suddenly. Everyone looked up at her. "When I was young I always wanted to be a part of the LEP recon, and I always thought I would die during a fire fight or by natural causes. I never thought I would die in a place like this or with a human and two members of a supposed extinct species. And I definitely didn't think I would die being friends with the once-was monster that kidnapped me." Holly chuckled weakly. Artemis smiled a small smile.

"When I was young I always knew I would be a criminal. I didn't think of anyone but myself. I always thought I would die when a criminal venture of mine went too far. When I kidnapped you," Artemis gestured to Holly, "I was just a monster. I still thought only of myself. I never believed I would die with friends. I always thought I would never have friends." Artemis said. Qwan chuckled.

"We proved you wrong, didn't we?" Qwan said. Qwan sighed. "I was always taught humans were monsters. I was taught they didn't care about anyone but themselves and it was my job to help exterminate them all. But you proved my teachers wrong, mud boy. The one thing I never predicted was that I would die over ten thousand years after I was born." Qwan said. No1 smiled softly.

"I was taught the same things always. I was taught demons would come back to earth and destroy humans. I was taught they were terrible beings that would just kill us without a second thought. Since I never warped, everyone would torture me in any way they could. I was taught I was lesser than them, and I never had so much as a friendly acquaintance that I could talk to." No1 said.

"To tell the truth, my only regret is the fact we still could've helped everyone. But it is too late for that now." Artemis said. He could feel it in himself that all their heartbeats were slowing. He slowly made his way the center of the room, right in front of the orb.

"So we leave this world," he began, placing his hand on top of the orb.

"Not as enemies," Holly continued, placing her hand on top of his.

"Not as superiors or inferiors," No1 said, putting his hand on top of Artemis's and Holly's.

"And not as separate species meant to hate each other," Qwan said, putting his hand on top of everyone else's.

"As friends." Artemis finished and the orb gave a feeble flicker. As one, their hands fell away from the orb as they fell to the ground. As the quietest thud made by their bodies hitting the floor echoed through the room, their hearts stopped and shut down.

A/N

Wahh! This hurt a lot to write. But it isn't over yet! I own nothing, and REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! You all are probably itching to flame me, so go ahead. FLAMES ACCEPTED! (But not wanted)