p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Why did you do that?"/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue pried her eyes open. Creticus stood on the opposite end of the glass chamber that surrounded them. His arms were splayed against the glass, his head bowed, almost in defeat. When he didn't turn to face her, Blue assumed he must've thought she was still class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General continued speaking, his voice adopting a hardened undertone. "It didn't have to end this way. You didn't have to give him the power." He curled his hand into a fist, thrusting it against the bulletproof glass. His voice remained even, shocking Blue. As if he were unraveling from within, the Author's control and harmony over his world completely gone./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Hell, he's going to find a way to kill us all. Some loophole. You made a deal with the Superior - that doesn't mean he'll keep his word." He sighed. "Everything's so fucked up because of him." He paused. "Everything I did is because of him."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue turned her head to face the monitors hanging from the ceiling, still displaying feed. The small movement drained her. The team was still there. Lloyd was screaming something inaudible at Angel. Nox was paralyzed./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1" class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue squeezed her eyes shut. The Superior didn't do this. The General didn't do class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue did./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"And she just made it so much class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""The team," She rasped, not realizing how deprived of water she really was. Her throat felt scratchy, and her body felt like a mangled wrung towel. Heat clawed at her throat, burning beneath her /span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"She heard heavy footsteps approaching, and soon Creticus was trying to pull her to her feet, but she sank back down. "I can't..." Creticus remained still for a moment, then propped her up against the glass wall so blood wasn't rushing to her head. Blue shut her eyes. "I'm sorry. I put everyone through enough pain. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I caused your deaths on purpose."br /br /Creticus stared at her. "We're fucking characters."br /br /"No, you're not." Blue opened her eyes, then blinked away the redness in her vision. "You've already proved that. Everyone has."/span /p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""We have to go," Creticus's eyes scanned every inch of the glass chamber, skimming over the surface as if he'd checked every area a thousand times. "He's planted explosives around the base. We're surviving on borrowed time. Don't know how long until they go off."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue coughed, a dull ache in her lungs. "The team-"/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""- The team can take care of themselves. We need to start thinking about how we're getting out of here."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue chuckled and then grimaced, shutting her eyes. Even the smallest movement caused pain to light up her bones. "It doesn't matter. There's no way out. I really don't care about what happens to me anymore. As long as this world is kept protected and the team is alive."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""He's going into /spanemyour/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"em /emworld!" The General growled. "He's going to destroy and then rewrite everything. Just because he can't kill the team doesn't mean he can change this world. Get /spanemup/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s2", Blue/spanspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Teh. Not like I can do anything about it at this point."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General ground his teeth, although deep inside, he knew it was pointless. Blue was right. There was no way out of this mess. Not when the Superior had already class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space"br /br /"This world..." Blue glanced around her, seeing pieces of the walls and floors materializing into thin air. "It's unraveling. Becoming undone. Either the Superior is doing this on purpose, or he's not strong enough to mentally hold every particle together." Blue's eyes traveled back to the monitors again. Angel had still not relinquished her psychic grip on the team. Lloyd was practically screaming his lungs out at this point. Blue could almost comprehend what he was saying. He was demanding to know what was going on. She could guess they probably already knew that their world was disappearing. She could see it in the feed. The forest around them was shriveling like a dying tree after a forest fire. Dread settled inside her, her heart hanging by a thread. The team would disappear anyways, drown with the /br /A low rumble shook the base, and Blue's eyes widened in panic. That was emnot/em the sound of her world's unbecoming. Dust and ceiling pieces descended like rain, and the bulletproof glass prison rattled as if shook with thunder. Blue couldn't move. The glass become more of a protection than a prison. She wondered if it would be able to withstand an entire building collapse on top of them. And even in the aftermath, how would they escape?br /br /Another rumble made the ground vibrate, and the sound of blasts shook the area. The monitors went dark, the lights blinking /br /Blue couldn't believe it. The Superior was willing to sacrifice his base to ensure the Author's death. Then she remembered. Not like he would need it anymore. emHe's OP at this /br /Debris collapsed on top of the chamber, jarring it violently. A scream rattled the darkened room. Blue realized it was /br /A shadow swooped over her. The General was using his body as a shield to keep debris from reaching her. But she knew it was futile against the weight of an entire facility. Cracks began to run along the length of the glass in a lattice design. Blue held her breath, preparing for the end of her /br /Movement stirred in her peripheral vision. Glancing to the right, she noticed two people rush into the room, but it was too dark to see their faces. One of them held something that shimmered with a cold blue fire in their hands. They tapped against a section of the glass, and honeycombed yellow lines radiated outwards, revealing a hidden sliding door. One of them screamed something before they slid on their knees on both sides of Blue and Creticus. One of them raised the blue fire in his hand over their heads. A blue dome of light spread over them, and the world fell apart./span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue pried her eyes open. Creticus stood on the opposite end of the glass chamber that surrounded them. His arms were splayed against the glass, his head bowed, almost in defeat. When he didn't turn to face her, Blue assumed he must've thought she was still class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General continued speaking, his voice adopting a hardened undertone. "It didn't have to end this way. You didn't have to give him the power." He curled his hand into a fist, thrusting it against the bulletproof glass. His voice remained even, shocking Blue. As if he were unraveling from within, the Author's control and harmony over his world completely gone./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Hell, he's going to find a way to kill us all. Some loophole. You made a deal with the Superior - that doesn't mean he'll keep his word." He sighed. "Everything's so fucked up because of him." He paused. "Everything I did is because of him."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue turned her head to face the monitors hanging from the ceiling, still displaying feed. The small movement drained her. The team was still there. Lloyd was screaming something inaudible at Angel. Nox was paralyzed./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1" class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue squeezed her eyes shut. The Superior didn't do this. The General didn't do class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue did./span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"And she just made it so much class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space" /span/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""The team," She rasped, not realizing how deprived of water she really was. Her throat felt scratchy, and her body felt like a mangled wrung towel. Heat clawed at her throat, burning beneath her /span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"She heard heavy footsteps approaching, and soon Creticus was trying to pull her to her feet, but she sank back down. "I can't..." Creticus remained still for a moment, then propped her up against the glass wall so blood wasn't rushing to her head. Blue shut her eyes. "I'm sorry. I put everyone through enough pain. I couldn't live with myself if I knew I caused your deaths on purpose."br /br /Creticus stared at her. "We're fucking characters."br /br /"No, you're not." Blue opened her eyes, then blinked away the redness in her vision. "You've already proved that. Everyone has."/span /p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""We have to go," Creticus's eyes scanned every inch of the glass chamber, skimming over the surface as if he'd checked every area a thousand times. "He's planted explosives around the base. We're surviving on borrowed time. Don't know how long until they go off."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue coughed, a dull ache in her lungs. "The team-"/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""- The team can take care of themselves. We need to start thinking about how we're getting out of here."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"Blue chuckled and then grimaced, shutting her eyes. Even the smallest movement caused pain to light up her bones. "It doesn't matter. There's no way out. I really don't care about what happens to me anymore. As long as this world is kept protected and the team is alive."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""He's going into /spanemyour/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"em /emworld!" The General growled. "He's going to destroy and then rewrite everything. Just because he can't kill the team doesn't mean he can change this world. Get /spanemup/emspan class="m_1210359646771178380s2", Blue/spanspan class="m_1210359646771178380s1"."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1""Teh. Not like I can do anything about it at this point."/span/p
p class="m_1210359646771178380p1" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #fffffa;"span class="m_1210359646771178380s1"The General ground his teeth, although deep inside, he knew it was pointless. Blue was right. There was no way out of this mess. Not when the Superior had already class="m_1210359646771178380Apple-converted-space"br /br /"This world..." Blue glanced around her, seeing pieces of the walls and floors materializing into thin air. "It's unraveling. Becoming undone. Either the Superior is doing this on purpose, or he's not strong enough to mentally hold every particle together." Blue's eyes traveled back to the monitors again. Angel had still not relinquished her psychic grip on the team. Lloyd was practically screaming his lungs out at this point. Blue could almost comprehend what he was saying. He was demanding to know what was going on. She could guess they probably already knew that their world was disappearing. She could see it in the feed. The forest around them was shriveling like a dying tree after a forest fire. Dread settled inside her, her heart hanging by a thread. The team would disappear anyways, drown with the /br /A low rumble shook the base, and Blue's eyes widened in panic. That was emnot/em the sound of her world's unbecoming. Dust and ceiling pieces descended like rain, and the bulletproof glass prison rattled as if shook with thunder. Blue couldn't move. The glass become more of a protection than a prison. She wondered if it would be able to withstand an entire building collapse on top of them. And even in the aftermath, how would they escape?br /br /Another rumble made the ground vibrate, and the sound of blasts shook the area. The monitors went dark, the lights blinking /br /Blue couldn't believe it. The Superior was willing to sacrifice his base to ensure the Author's death. Then she remembered. Not like he would need it anymore. emHe's OP at this /br /Debris collapsed on top of the chamber, jarring it violently. A scream rattled the darkened room. Blue realized it was /br /A shadow swooped over her. The General was using his body as a shield to keep debris from reaching her. But she knew it was futile against the weight of an entire facility. Cracks began to run along the length of the glass in a lattice design. Blue held her breath, preparing for the end of her /br /Movement stirred in her peripheral vision. Glancing to the right, she noticed two people rush into the room, but it was too dark to see their faces. One of them held something that shimmered with a cold blue fire in their hands. They tapped against a section of the glass, and honeycombed yellow lines radiated outwards, revealing a hidden sliding door. One of them screamed something before they slid on their knees on both sides of Blue and Creticus. One of them raised the blue fire in his hand over their heads. A blue dome of light spread over them, and the world fell apart./span/span/p