Title: His mission

After The BRAIN is destroyed, the world begins to settle once more, everything heals and life begins to grow. One of the fallen gets a second chance to revive what was lost in battle. But can he succeed?

I Still Own Nothing!

_-_-_Part 18: Heat_-_-_

5 continued to stare at the meter even hours after it stopped functioning. He felt as though he was paralyzed again as his optic looked on blankly. After his mind began to work again he dropped the cold meter to the floor and got up on shaky legs. His gears skipped around and shuddered as he began to panic. He looked around and moved to get his old quiver-like bag. He slung it over his shoulder and ran to the cylinder.

Opening it he grabbed his crossbow and reached back to place it with the few sewing objects that remained inside. After it was in securely he reached for his scissors and grabbed the meter. He cut the long tube that connected the meter to the cylinder before putting it with his crossbow. He didn't know how much noise he was making until the door to the cylinder was opened forcefully.

9 looked in and moved to the other, his light staff illuminating the dark space. 5 cringed as his optic closed in pain from the brightness. Once he saw the youngest stitchpunk he gave him an odd look before looking down in a disappointed pout.

"2…he's gone." He said firmly, his hands clenched into fists His panic and confusion quickly pushed aside to make way for his growing anger at the ninth stitchpunk.

"No! That can't be…you said that he had time…He…He's really gone?" 9 gasped a bit and the put a hand up to his head.

"You heard me." He grumbled as he turned away. 9's head perked up when he heard 5's voice's tone. Reaching up he rubbed his own arm before he spoke.

"…What are you going to do?" He asked moving closer to his brother, though 5 only moved away.

"I don't know," He sighed and shook his head. "I'm going to go look for him. I have to try; I can't believe that he could be defeated this easily. Not when he was so strong before."

9 moved closer and put his hand onto the others shoulder before 5 shrugged it off harshly.

"I'll go with you." The ninth said softly as 5 shook his head.

"No…not this time 9. You can't…If it wasn't for you 2 would still be here!" He suddenly yelled at him. He honestly didn't mean to, and when he realized his outburst he looked at 9 with wide optics. He made a pained sound before turning on his heel and ran to the containers lid, shoving it away as it creaked throughout the dark building. 9 tried to call out for 5, but no sound came. Any other time he would have fallen into a depression over 5 admitting that it was his fault but now he knew there was only one thing he could truly do.

_-_-_

5 ran through the streets, over wood and stone, decomposing bodies and rusted metal. It had stopped raining soon after the fifth stitchpunk began his way over the deserted roads. He felt terrible about how he suddenly yelled at 9, but he wasn't regretting it. He had suppressed those feelings for so long. Getting them out felt like a large weight was lifted off his shoulders.

After what seemed like eternity passed and soon 5 had to stop his movements. He hunched over and placed his hands on his knees, panting softly as a hand moved to clutch one of the buttons on his chest. Suddenly without warning, his head picked up as he began to sense the slightest form of movement. Turning he grabbed his crossbow out of his bag and loaded it with a needle, though he would have no use for it. He could easily see 9 and 7 as they ran over the ground 5 had only recently covered. He gasped and ran towards the two.

"Why are you here?" he asked, his voice sounding more firm then it would have normally, and his words easily translated into 'don't want you here'. 9 of cores picked that up right away.

9 looked down; he had the appearance of shame on his face as he glanced to 7 for some help, though she would give him none.

"5…I'm sorry about what happened…I told you once and I'll tell you a million times more. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" He shouted before his voice was muffled by 7 who covered his mouth as a reminded that they were still close to the emptiness. He pulled away and nodded softly, taking a moment to calm down. "I never meant to hurt anyone, I never intended for anything to happen… I have nothing against 2! He was the first one who showed me kindness in this world, so even if you don't want me here…I'm not doing it for you! I'm going to look for 2 because he deserves it."

5 froze and closed his optic. He knew he couldn't forgive the other just yet. 9 couldn't possible know what he went through with 2's soul. 7 could see the hardship that 5's mind was going through and shook her head.

"He's not going to let up you know, might as well accept his help." She sighed and gave 9 a hard stare.

The healer looked down and put his crossbow back into his bag. Turning to 7 he almost completely ignored 9.

"Is 8 scouting too?" he asked as 7 shook her head.

"He's with the others. You know that the twins would have wanted to come with you so he helped to keep them from following us. He's keeping them safe in the building until we get back."

He nodded with the information he was given before looking to the road.

"We're going to the emptiness; we have to reach the library to find 2's body." He said softly. "Were going to take the main road, don't worry about staying covered. The beast may still be out there or closer then we think, so stay close and try not to get separated. 6 told me that time isn't on our side anymore, and I believe him. We have no time to waist."

7 agreed and moved to follow the fifth as he suddenly took off down the path. 9 looked on and smiled. He knew he was shaken by the events that had just occurred, but now 5 was becoming more like a leader and it made him happy. He thanked 2 for it, knowing that the other's stronger side came out because of him.

_-_-_

The three continued to run throughout the broken town until they reached the area close to the battle field. 7 stayed close to 5 but never passed him, the same went for 9. They both followed the healer's lead as the fog began to seep over the roads, consuming it until all the stitchpunk's could see was a few feet ahead of them and a bit into the distance.

Eventually the clouds would have returned to, and the wind would have started. None of them flinched or turned back even though the weather had different plans for them.

Soon after the wind picked up 5 stopped running and stretched his arms out so the others would follow suit. When they stopped he quickly moved to take cover under a broken down car. 9 looked around confused as he clutched his staff to him while 7 concentrated on 5.

"Do you hear something?" She asked quietly, her voice barely a whisper.

5 didn't respond at all, instead just listened to the sounds that were coming from the emptiness.

"I…don't know. It sounds like it's out there." He whispered back before moving to peek out of the hiding space. He closed his optic and tried to hear everything clearly. Soon enough the sound of heavy mechanics seemed to bleed into his head. He made a discomforted sound as it soon became loud enough for the others to hear.

Both 9 and 7 looked around, their weapons drawn and ready for attack. 5 pulled out his crossbow and needles and loaded it again. They stayed as still as they could to reduce the chances of getting caught, though soon their worries would seem to be over. Everything became quiet as it once was, the emptiness was still and quiet. 7 who was used to things like this moved to 5 and whispered.

"This is the calm before the storm."

5 turned to her and was about to say something before their hiding place was smashed away from them. The three stitchpunks turned to the direction of the attack to see the large menacing beast screeching above them, its mechanical arms stretched out as they fell to the ground with an intimidating crash. 9 stumbled backwards as 5 tried to take aim at the beast, 7 however knew that any attack in their position would only result in one of them getting hurt. Moving to the two others she grabbed their arms and jerked them away from the beast. All three turned and began to run off in different directions.

7 took off towards the beast, running under it she began to circle as the large mechanical beast took off after 5. Meanwhile 5 was trying to run as fast as he could. This was all too familiar for his liking as he clutched his weapon to him tightly. He could see 9 as the youngest stitchpunk ran ahead of him and closer to the buildings.

The machine let out a large sound behind him as 5 made the mistake of turning to see what the machine was doing. He saw the large mechanical arms as they were lifted up high, almost as if they were piercing the sky. He watched as they came down and he was narrowly able to avoid being crushed. Pieces of the debris that he was running over broke up and sent him flying a few yards from the machine and landed against a pile of wood that smashed apart under the force of impact.

He groaned and reached down feeling his leg that was almost smashed under a large piece of debris. He watched as the machine moved closer to him and he tried to pull away from where he was firmly stuck.

It reached up to smash down on the small being before something small crashed into its red eye. The moveable spotlight was pulled from behind the beasts head as it shown over the ground to see what had hit him. 5 focused his single optic to follow the spotlight until it finally rested on the ninth stitchpunk who was standing a few yards from him holding a small rock, lifting it up as if to hit the beast again.

5 hardly had time to yell for 9 before the beast took off towards the one who attacked it. 5 made a pained sound as he struggled to get up. A few seconds after the machine took off after 9, 7 came to 5 and helped him remove his leg from under the rubble. Pointing to the beast they both got up and followed after to make sure it didn't harm their companion.

5 was cursing 9 in his mind, he didn't understand why he would do something like that. He was pulled from his thoughts as 7 pulled him away towards the side of the road to run up the leg of a broken machine. From up there they could get a clear shot of 9 as he struggled to run over debris and rubble to escape getting caught. He watched as 9 made his way onto a sort of boardwalk area, much like the area in the emptiness that caused him to lose his map. He hoped that the ground would be strong, and would support the others weight. He did feel better as this area was in a secluded space; it made it difficult for the machine to get through without struggling.

He watched as 9 made it past the boarded ground without anything happened and let out a sigh of relief when the other seemed to be back on solid ground, though the machine seemed to be having trouble moving through the tight area. Suddenly he watched as 9's body jerked downward as one of his legs went through splintered wood and his body fell forward, despite his leg still being in the hole. 5 glanced at 7 and gave her a signal to leave where they were running to move towards the fallen stitchpunk.

The machine was still far behind them as they reached 9. 5 put his crossbow away as he reached to take a hold of one of 9's arms while 7 took the other as both lifted as hard as they could to extract the other from the hole. 9 cried out violently as his leg came out of the hole and 5 felt his soul sink as he saw the damage done to his brother.

9's right leg had been put through so much trauma from being pushed forward that his mechanical kneecap had actually bent all the way forward. His leg was fixed in one direction, and it wasn't the way it normally should have been. His leg had ended up snapping forward, leaving 9's body shaking as the others took a moment to see the damage.

5 made a sound as he tried to calm 9, but it wouldn't work. The others pain was so great that there was nothing that he could do for him now. The sounds of the beast moving forward quickly brought the healer from the examination as 7 looked at him for instructions.

5 got up and 7 followed him, both holding tightly as they began to move from the beast's sight. It was still trying to escape the narrow path, and if they were able to shake its gaze for even a few seconds, they could escape it for a long enough time to do repairs.

9 held tightly to the other's shoulders as they ran, whimpering out in pain every few seconds. Eventually they reached a building that was mostly in ruins, save for a small section that was more like a cave now. Running in; 7 and 5 made sure that they would be in an area where the beast wouldn't be able to see. When they found a spot they put 9 down with his back against a wall as 7 took the light staff from him and propped it up next to him with the light on. 5 was already kneeling next to 9's leg and looked as though he was about to start looking through it for his repair supplies.

"Stupid 9…what were you thinking!" He yelled at him as he went to hold the area that snapped to see if it could move back to place. Groaning the ninth held onto the others hand that was about to hold his leg. 5 looked at the others hand that held his own and paused for a moment before he lifted it up and held it just as tight, even moving a second hand to hold the others while he waited for the other to speak.

The words never came and 5 could see the reason why. Moving a hand to the others chest he felt the numerous gears turning at an alarming rate, this wasn't good. The other was beginning to overheat. He glanced up at 9's face and saw the pain that he was feeling, he felt it himself before he moved his hand to his shoulder and held him softly, reassuringly. 9 looked to him for help, he could see it. It was the same look he felt he had given 2 that horrid day.

"7…" he started as he looked up. 7 looked to him as she held 9's arm. "Do you think you could support 9 on your own while walking?"

"I probably can." She said and watched as 5 let go of 9 and stood up. Slinging his bag back over his shoulder he helped her up.

"I want you to take him back to the building. His injury is no good out here…and if he stays he may over heat. Not only that, but the machine has him as an easy target. You need to get him back to the infirmary, when you get him there get a cold plate of metal and put it into his chest. That will prevent him from overheating…you have to be quick…it's already starting. "

"What about you?" She asked as she looked back to 9. "Sure he's injured…but you being out here alone will do no good! You know how big the machine is!"

He sighed and paused, reaching up to his head as he traced the leathery patch. Surprisingly he smiled and even laughed a little.

"I know how big the machine is…but I can't risk long time damage to 9. The sooner he's back at the building, the safer he'll be…" He smiled. "Besides, I've already lost more then I'll ever accept. I know the battle field, my face is proof. I've had more things taken from me since then; I'm not going to let the same thing happen to 9."

"What are you going to do? Are you going to try and fight that beast?" She asked. Shrugging the healer smiled.

"I don't know…All I know is that 2 was willing to risk his life for me, I'm willing to do the same for 9. I'm going to reach the library…but it's something I have to do alone."

"You're not making any sense…You know you becoming just as reckless as he is." She sighed and placed her hand over her optics. "When should I leave?"

5 smiled and moved to the opening of their hiding place.

"I'll make sure to lead the beast away. After everything is quiet I want you to run as fast as you can. I'll…try and make it back in one piece. I trust you to keep him safe." He said as he looked back to 9. The youngest stitchpunk was looking up at him with pained eyes, though he also had a peaceful expression. 9 smiled at him and he smiled back. Nodding to him he turned to the entrance and griped the strap on his bag before looking back.

The sound of the mechanical beast screeching made him look to the outside world. He had to leave now if he wanted to lure it away without it seeing the hiding place. Smiling he laughed, It was odd; He was no longer afraid.

He quickly moved from his spot and ran into the emptiness, the beast was only around the corner and he got its attention by throwing a rock at it. The machine hissed as sparks flew all around its cold body. It seemed to scream in his face as it started to charge at him. 5 took off running in the opposite direction of the hideaway, the beast hot on his tail.

Part 18: done…with another cliffy

9 has a knack of having people ask what he's thinking…I liked using the line from the movie in here ^^.

Only two more chapters left! Thank you for reading this new one. I hope you'll come back to read it next week. I really enjoyed reading the comments from the last chapter, I knew that the reactions would be like that but still never really expected those. Thanks for your comments and I hope that this chapter's heroic 5 made up for it…though it probably won't ^^; Thanks for your comments and I hope you enjoy this chapter and next week's part as well.