Another chapter, yay! That makes 15 in all, it seems like only yesterday I started writing.

Ragnarok: I hope you don't want Elias to get taught a lesson anytime soon, he's got bigger plans. And make the reviews as long as possible, i love 'em!

Jaydan: Yes, things are about to get really crazy

Anyway, in order to clear up any confusion, I decided to offer a timeline before this chapter starts, it is centered around Antoine.

Let's suppose that this all starts on a Monday.

MON

11am Ant is summoned to castle

11:30am Ant arrives at Castle

12pm receives commission, sent to meet other troops

12:30 meets Solman

1pm Leaves for Sand Blaster's camp

7pm Arrives

8pm gives speech

8:30pm assigned midnight patrol

9-11pm takes nap before mission

11:30 starts patrol

TUE

1am hits minefield

1:30 encounters 7 D.E.L legionnaires

1:45 kills 4 enemies in hand to hand

2am heads back to camp

3am arrives back at camp

3-7am sulks in room, does not sleep

7-7:30am goes to ceremony, receives medal for bravery

7:30-10am Sulks in room, does not sleep

10am dragged out of room, confronts Elias

10:15-10:30 drives APC

10:30 confronts Elias again, is told to get some rest

10:30am-1:30pm dream sequence

1:31 shell hits APC

And that's about it.

This chapter took FOREVER to write, i started off, and i couldn't stop. This WILL be the longest chapter i ever write, probably.

Now something important, THIS CHAPTER TAKES PLACE BEFORE, AND AT THE SAME TIME AS THE PREVIOUS ONE. That means that the beginning is before the previous chapter, and it eventually catches up, and passes it.

It also takes a long time for anything to actually happen, I wanted to introduce things from a lowly D.E.L soldier's viewpoint, because they aren't the bad guys their made out to be.

Hope you enjoy.

Brandon loved his job; working in the medical ward was exhilarating work. He knew that every day he had a chance to save lives, and have a real impact on this war. As a young dingo he escaped the wrath of the second enerjak, and wound up being taken in by the D.E.L. His experiences with them got rid of his natural xenophobia, and for the small price of one robotic arm, he was allowed to serve others as a medic. Somehow he ended up with the Great Desert chapter, and was quietly serving his deployment against the Kingdom's forces.

He knew little of the Kingdom; none of the troops were familiar with it. Brandon had been told by the Baron that it was a corrupt, oppressive nation led by a tyrant, but he said that about anything that wasn't D.E.L. All Brandon cared about was saving lives, and doing something for his fellow mobians. The steady stream of casualties that flowed into the medical ward was straining the recourses of the small staff, but they continued on, desperately trying to help everyone. Brandon's biggest fear was not that a patient would die under his care; that happened all the time, it was when a soldier came in, and it was too late.

The worst moment of his career was only this morning. At about 3am 7 casualties were brought in, 3 were a bloody mess, the victims of some sort of explosion. The other four were savagely cut up, the victims of a bladed weapon, Brandon could only stare as their lifeless bodies were carted into the ward, but only for technical purposes, there was nothing they could do. As soon as they entered the ward, they were headed for the morgue. That was singlehandedly the worst moment of his medical career, but what was coming up would turn out to be the strangest.

Brandon was waiting for his shift to start; he had 15 minutes, so he took a quick walk around. It was inspiring to see so many troops in one place; his confidence soared the farther he walked. His pleasant walk was halted though, when a few sirens began to sound around the camp. The Dingo looked up, expecting to see something, but all he saw was the blue sky. Over the sound of the sirens something else could be heard, yelling off in the distance, the sound of clanking metal, Brandon was left to wonder what was going on.

The medic decided not to wait, he ran to the ward to check with the others. The medical ward was a relatively new building, with clean white hallways and state of the art equipment. It looked quite impressive on the outside, but on the inside the hospital was in chaos, the medics stood around, not fully understanding what was happening. There were infantrymen in the ward, barking orders at the medics.

"What the Hell is going on?" Brandon shouted at the nearest soldier.

The soldier turned to face him, it was an older dog, and he got to the point: "We got tangos coming in, just one vehicle."

"Huh?" He was confused.

"Listen, we got one enemy vehicle approaching, we're gunna engage, and we need you guys ready to handle any casualties."

"Ok." Brandon nodded and went to join the other medics. He met up with Senior Staff Surgeon Keelan Faulk, an experienced Robian Tiger, he chose to have his lower body roboticized; allowing him to retain the dexterity in his hands and remain effective at surgery. He was surveying the remaining supplies, making sure that there was enough to get through until the next shipment came in. "Um… Sir?" Brandon raised a halfhearted salute, simply attempting to spur a conversation.

"Huh?" The tiger raised his head; he looked terrible, probably because he had volunteered for 3 consecutive shifts. "Oh, Bowman! Nice to see you here!"

Brandon hated being called by his last name, but he had gotten used to it. "Yeah, so do y-"He was cut off by a large boom outside, the whole building shook. He instinctively cowered, while Keelan merely stood there, nonchalantly. It took a moment for Brandon to realize that it was just the D.E.L's artillery firing, probably at the lone vehicle. The troops who were also in the room quickly left to check on how the situation was developing.

"Bowman, get up, and help us get our supplies ready, just in case we have any survivors to take care of." Keelan motioned to the other staffers. They only had a few minutes, the artillery had stopped firing, and he silence was only temporary, Brandon snuck outside to see something awesome. A mangled APC, decorated with royal insignia, was being dragged into camp, the engine block was missing, and the only reason that the cockpit was intact was the copious amount of steel that was placed in front of the dashboard. The windshield was smashed, and the back was only slightly damaged. The vehicle was slowly taken to the engineers. How anyone could survive was beyond him.

Following close behind the vehicle was something strange, Brandon could make out 8 figures, 6 gorillas and two others, they were either carried, or walked under their own strength through the front gate. They were under guard, but after what they just went through, it was unlikely that they would have tried anything. It was the first time that Brandon had ever seen Kingdom troops, but he was mostly surprised that they were walking, let alone alive. All except one, there was one casualty that was carried in-between two of the captured gorillas on a stretcher, covered with some sheets, some sort of sword lying next to him sheathed. The dingo ran up to them, to check on the last casualty's condition.

He was met with grimaces from the royal troops, who were unwilling to trust an enemy they've been fighting so viciously. Brandon attempted to ease their concerns. "I'm a medic; I just want to check on this guy."

They unwillingly relented, and allowed the medic to examine their comrade. As they walked towards the infirmary, Brandon leaned down, and inspected the coyote's wounds thoroughly. The most noticeable was the one on his forehead; he had received a crushing blow to the head, although Brandon couldn't exactly tell how, he knew he had to get this guy to the E.R now.

He ordered two idle soldiers to take the stretcher from the new prisoners, and take it ASAP to the hospital, they responded quickly, and it didn't take long for the wounded coyote to get to the E.R.

Brandon followed them in, and was met by the Medical ward staff, they were going to ask him where he was, but when they noticed the steady trail of wounded approaching the hospital, they saved their questions for later. The gorillas were mostly unharmed, only cuts and bruises, with the occasional fracture.

Bowman couldn't stop staring at the chipmunk/squirrel thing that was off to the side, reluctantly being treated for minor injuries. Apparently he was driving, and the fact that he went relatively unharmed was nothing short of a miracle. He managed to overhear a small part of the conversation between the wounded and the doctor, enough to understand that this guy was actually the prince of the Kingdom of Acorn. He was awed, to have actual royalty in his presence! Even though he was told to feel nothing but hatred for the Royal family, he couldn't help but feel a small amount of respect for the Prince. Brandon was quickly dragged away, Keelan quickly taking him to the E.R.

"Brandon, this is probably the most serious case I've ever worked on, I need your help." The tiger flung open the doors to the emergency room, and motioned to the unconscious coyote lying on the table in front of them. "After closer examination, it seems that the patient's brain is swelling, if untreated, it could cause massive damage to the frontal lobe, and probably death." His nonchalant tone surprised Brandon, there was absolutely no concern, or fear in the Senior Surgeon's voice.

"We-Well I suggest that…" His voice shook, he couldn't stop staring at the patient, his forehead was misshapen, and he seemed to be in so much pain, even though he was unconscious. Brandon paused, and took a deep breath. "We need to cut out a piece of the skull, giving the brain room to swell, or we could at least drill some holes." It sounded so weird to talk about drilling into someone's head, but the severity of the situation had not fully sunk in for the young dingo. He stepped forward and leaned over the patient. "What do you think?" He asked the tiger.

"Good idea." The surgeon replied monotonously.

"What are you guys doing?" A new voice chimed in, from behind the two doctors. It was a soldier, one of the troops who were escorting the casualties into the fort; he had somehow made his way into the E.R. They were a female cat.

"We're trying to treat a patient here." Brandon dismissed the infantryman.

"Don't be a smart ass, I mean why are you doing this? He's the enemy, he'd kill you in an instant, and you should worry about helping out your comrades."

Brandon was going to respond, but yet another voice did that for him. "That would be against his orders." This voice was familiar, and he instinctively snapped to attention. He heard a low chuckle. "Now now, at ease, soldier." It was the Baron, also known as Beauregard Rabbot. His cane made a clicking noise as he walked into the E.R. "Your orders are to preserve the life of this soldier, at any cost."

"Why?" The female feline was entitled to ask, and the Baron felt like answering.

"This particular Oppressor happens to be my nephew in law." The aged Grandmaster stood by the operating table, and leaned down. "I do wish we could have met under better circumstances though. It's a shame." He turned to face the doctors. "You will take care of him." He motioned to Keelan. "Do whatever you have to do, and most importantly, make sure he's ready to go in a few hours."

"WHAT?" Keelan couldn't control his outburst. "There is extensive surgery required to just keep him alive, there's no way we can possibly have him in traveling condition in only a few hours!"

"I suggest you rethink your attitude doc. I don't believe you understood what I said. You will take care of him."

"Why should we treat the oppressor?" Brandon decided to speak up also, voicing genuine concerns. "You've always told us that the Kingdom was evil, and we shouldn't help them, so why should we do it now?"

"Because, I might hate him, but I don't want my niece to be a widow!" He raised his voice. "Don't you think that I'd be the first one to take him out back and shoot him for what his Kingdom's done to us? But I have to keep him alive, I owe his niece that much…" He grew silent, and waited for the others to respond. "Do you understand?" Brandon refused to speak, Keelan was still fuming, and the unnamed cat simply observed.

The silence grew unbearable, and Brandon simply stepped up to the table and prepared his instruments. Keelan followed after, and after administering copious amounts of anesthetic they silently began their work, with only the occasional word between them.

Beauregard observed and motioned for the feline to leave, when she had left, the Baron prepared to say something else, but was interrupted. A messenger stormed into the emergency room, frantically looking around. When he noticed the Grandmaster, he took a deep breath and began to speak.

"Sir, our guest is waiting."

"Let him wait, I'll speak to him when his vehicle is repaired." Beauregard was happy to talk to someone.

"No, I mean the other guest…" The messenger didn't like speaking of sensitive matters in front of the medics.

"oh!" The Grandmaster rubbed his hands together, genuine glee came to his face.. "Our esteemed new ally, I'll see him immediately, send him to the courtyard, I'll be there shortly." Beauregard left the room, but not before reminding the Surgeons: "Remember, ready in a few hours."

The two doctors momentarily paused to look at each other, who was this 'ally'? They continued their work with this question in the back of their minds.

"Brandon, pass me the scalpel."

"Here"

"OK, making an incision into the scalp, in order to expose the skull." Keelan slowly did as he said, and the smashed front of the skull was seen bare.

"Ugh." Brandon used tweezers to pick out small pieces of skull. It was mostly intact, so they had to make an incision.

"I'm going to drill four holes into the patient's skull in a rectangular pattern, weakening the skull and giving the brain room to expand." Keelan reached for the broad drill, and motioned for Bowman to hold the coyote's head steady.

"Noted" Brandon prepared the skull by wiping the area clear of anything that was in the way, and he held the patient down. The drill whirled to life, and was gently lowered down to make contact with Antoine's skull. Blood slowly bubbled out of the first hole, and the patient's brain could be partially seen within. The process was repeated until there were four holes; the blood was quickly wiped up by the Dingo.

Brandon was just going through the steps, inside he was torn; he sympathized for the patient, but he also hated him. He couldn't understand how Keelan could remain so calm while Brandon was about to burst. Keelan had a job to do, and the fear of Beauregard's wrath spurred him on more than any concern for the coyote. Brandon stared intently at his patient, only now did he realize that he stopped the examination with the patient's head.

"Hey"

"Yeah?" The tiger had just put the drill away, and was preparing to continue the surgery.

"While you're doing the next step, I'm gunna continue the examination."

"You mean you didn't finish?"

"Not exactly…" Brandon leaned over and slowly lifted the sheets up, revealing a startling sight. The coyote wore a blue jacket that was stained with blood, he began to panic. "Oh shit!" He was sure that there was an untreated wound there.

"How did you miss that?" Keelan stopped what he was doing and moved over to help his assistant. At the same time, other doctors made their way into the E.R, having just finished taking care of the other casualties.

"I was too occupied with his head! Let's just get this jacket Offa him!" The Senior Staff surgeon carefully raised the patient's head, and Brandon slipped the jacket off of the Coyote, and he removed the undershirt, what he found surprised him. Nothing, his chest was fine, except for some slight scratches, nothing that could have caused that much blood loss. "What the hell?" This was definitely weird. Brandon turned to face those had just arrived. "Are there any Hematologists here?" One of the doctors raised their hand. A middle aged dog stepped forward; he had optical implants that helped him more closely observe blood.

Brandon tossed the jacket at him. "Take a look." The canine caught it, and held it close to his face.

"This isn't his blood." It didn't take the dog long to find out.

"How can you tell that?" Keelan was skeptical. He returned to taking care of the coyote's injury. He slowly affixed a thin metal plate to the skull, strengthening the skull while also allowing the brain to swell.

"Because it's too dark, there's no way this is mobian blood." The Hematologist stated matter of factlly.

"What do you mean?" Brandon was curious.

"There's oil in this, its Robian blood." He held the jacket up for everyone to see. "This is our blood."

"How did he get it on him?" Brandon refused to see the painful truth.

"Well, I can tell when he got it on him." The dog looked at a nearby clock. It was about 1:50 pm."It coagulated about 12 hours ago, or about 2 am. And from the looks of it, there was more than one source."

"Wait, so he got the blood on him at 2 this morning?" Brandon's mind began to race. "And it came from more than one person?"

"Yeah."

"Holy shit." The dingo backed away from the table, staring at the patient lying on the table.

"What's wrong?" One of the other doctor's asked.

"This morning, we only had 7 casualties reported, and 4 of them were killed the same way…" Brandon paused, he was choking up. "They were killed with a sword." He weakly pointed to the sabre lying at the patient's side.

had finished his work, applying an experimental gel to the coyote's forehead, which stimulated the growth of 'skin', and the patient's forehead looked good as new, he finished it off by wrapping gauze around Ant's head. When he managed to hear the end of their conversation; he carelessly dropped his tool, and confronted Brandon without letting him finish his sentence. "Are you telling me I just saved the life of a killer?"

"It seems that way."

"I'll Kill him!" Keelan looked around, and grabbed a nearby bone saw. "I'll fucking rip his arms off!" The tiger's arm hovered perilously over the coyote's chest.

Brandon held his head in his hands. The jacket was tossed back at him, and the hematologist and the other doctors turned to leave, they didn't want to see what would come next. The dingo was repulsed by the piece of clothing. He felt it with his fingers, he felt something heavy in one of the pockets. Brandon held the jacket with one hand, and dug around in the pockets with the other. All he found was some small trinkets, nothing with any intrinsic value whatsoever, except for a small pocket watch, which contained a small photograph. The dingo stood up, and grabbed the senior surgeon's arm. "Remember, we have to keep him alive."

"Why the hell should we?"

Brandon presented the photo; it was of a young Rabbot, wearing a wedding dress. "We have to keep him alive, for her. Beauregard says so."

"But c'mon, he killed 4 of our troops; we can't just let him go!"

"We have to!" Brandon felt disgusting on the inside, he didn't agree with himself. He grabbed the other doctor's arm with his robotic one, and was holding him back from finishing off the coyote. He tried to console the surgeon. "I don't like it either, but we have our orders!" The tiger lowered his arm, and the bone saw clattered to the ground.

"It just doesn't seem right." They both looked down on the patient; Keelan patted Brandon on the back. "Well, I'll call the Baron and tell him the procedure was a success." The tiger left the room, leaving the dingo alone with the patient, who was starting to stir, unbeknownst to eh young dingo.

Brandon sat in a small chair in the corner of the room and held his head in his hands, trying to understand exactly what just happened. He just saved the life of the person who single handedly caused the worst day of his professional career. He was so occupied with thought that he didn't notice the patient's movements. The coyote opened his eyes and silently moved into a sitting position; he rubbed his head, and slowly lowered himself to his feet. He made no sound as he stumbled over to the seated dingo. Brandon looked up and saw a large, imposing figure standing over him; they lashed out, and grabbed the medic by the throat. Brandon was lifted in the air, and came face to face with the coyote.

"Whereami?" His words came out ridiculously fast, the act of speaking so painful that it seemed he did it as quickly as possible.

"Ugh. You're -ack- , in the hospital!" His strength surprised Brandon, who was grasping at his own throat. It seemed futile, he resorted to punching the Coyote in the gut with his robotic arm, but it had no effect.

"Whatdidyoudotome?" The primal look in his eyes frightened the small dingo, who stopped punching long enough to answer.

"We, -gasp- stopped your brain from crushing itself within your skull!" He gasped desperately for air. "Please! -ack- let me go! I just saved your life!" These words only caused the coyote to strengthen his grip, his nails dug into the dingo's neck, and blood could be seen. "PLEASE!" Keelan must have heard his cries, and he suddenly appeared in the room.

"What the fuck?" The tiger ran to help his associate. He let loose a massive haymaker that struck the assailant right on the chin, Antoine was unfazed. The coyote dropped Brandon and turned to face Keelan.

"Thatfuckinghurt." Antoine lashed out, and hit the tiger squarely in the face, breaking his nose. He continued his physical onslaught, pounding the old doctor with his fists, turning their head into a bloody mess. The coyote was relentless, not stopping even when his opponent was unconscious.

Brandon crawled along the ground, with something in his hand, trying to help his comrade. "Stop! You're gunna kill him!" The beating stopped. Almost as if he said the magic words, Antoine stopped, and looked around.

"Oh my god…" He let go of Keelan, and the aged doctor's body dropped to the floor. "I'm didn't mean to-"He couldn't finish his sentence, Brandon had jabbed a syringe into the coyote's neck while he was distracted, and a ridiculous amount of sedatives were pumped into his bloodstream. Antoine slumped over, and was unconscious. Brandon slowly got to his feet, and caught his breath.

"Motherfucker. I save your life and I get this?" He spat blood onto Antoine, just as he did so Beauregard entered the room. He didn't catch what was just said.

"What in the hell happened here?" The Rabbot hurried over to Brandon. "I told you to save his life, not beat him up!" He yelled in the Dingo's face, neglecting the wounded tiger nearby.

"We did!" Brandon was pissed. "This motherfucker tried to kill us afterwards!" He kicked the unconscious body in the side. "And guess what!" The Baron grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What?"

"He's the one that killed those four soldiers!" Tears formed in Brandon's eyes. "You made me save the life of a killer!" He pushed Beauregard away. "He could've killed me too! I don't care if he is family to you, we should've just let him rot!" The Baron raised his cane, but sighed, and lowered it again.

"Son, I appreciate you doing your job, now let me do mine." He clapped his hands, and a green Armadillo that was previously hidden revealed herself.

"Matilda, would you escort our guest to the brig?"

"Yessir" She responded quickly. The Robian picked Ant up by the torso, and slung him over her shoulder. She carried him away, down the hallway.

Brandon was still upset. "What are you gunna do? Are you just letting him go?"

"Ah don't have a choice! If we let him die, the Kingdom could use that, say we're savages, refusing to help out wounded!" He yelled at his subordinate. "Even if it wasn't for personal reasons, I still would've ordered you to help him, Understand?"

"yes, sir." He grumbled. He motioned to Keelan. "What should I do about him?"

"You're the doctor, you do something." Beauregard was not in the mood for an argument, and turned to leave. "I have a certain Prince to meet with." He stopped and turned, unwilling to leave on a sour note. "I really do appreciate your efforts. Thank you."

"Sure." Brandon answered nonchalantly. He waited for the Baron to leave, and then he lifted Keelan up, placed him on the table, and began his work.

Elsewhere in the camp, Matilda had just arrived at the Brig, a small, old building that only served one purpose, hold prisoners. She entered through the front door, and proceeded towards the inner depths of the Prison. The armadillo came upon the single cell that held all of the gorillas. She waited for one of the guards to open the cell, and she then halfheartedly tossed Antoine inside. He was still unconscious, and he stayed that way for another hour, until he was violently awoken by his fellow prisoners.

"Hey man, get up."

"Huh?" Ant sat up, his head pounded, and the mere act of thinking caused him severe pain.

"We're moving out, it's time for us to go." The nearest gorilla helped him to his feet. The other prisoners were on the other side of the cell, as far from him as possible. One of the guards tossed a bundle into the cell.

"Hey shithead, you left your crap in the ward." Ant leaned over and opened it up; the sack contained his freshly cleaned jacket, sabre and locket. He slowly managed to get himself dressed, and as soon as he finished, he was herded out of the cell. "Get a move you Fucks! Time to leave!" They were lead outside, and found themselves near the gate, where a large crowd had gathered. Their APC was there too, in almost perfect condition, those engineers took pride in their work. They were quickly addressed by the head of security for the camp.

"Listen up! We're letting you go! When you're little Princess shows up, you will not move, not until he gets in the vehicle, then you can follow after. Do you understand?" The prisoner's nodded. "Good! Now stay there, he should be out shortly." A few more guards could be seen, keeping their eyes, and guns, trained on the Royal troops.

It seemed like forever for Antoine, he had trouble standing, and his head throbbed with every second. Eventually, the Prince did show up. He walked right up to Antoine.

"Are you all right?" There was genuine concern in Elias' voice.

Antoine tried to respond normally, but he couldn't control what he was saying, almost like in the hospital, where he couldn't control his actions. "Ouimacapitaine Neverbeenbetter yeahimgoodreadytogo" He speech was definitely slurred.

In the background, there was an unnoticed figure slowly approaching the APC. They clutched a remote in one hand, and were waiting for the Prince to enter the vehicle. When he did, they placed their thumb on one of the remote's buttons, preparing to trigger the explosive device they had hidden in the vehicle's engine block.

But for some reason they did not press it, something held them back. For all intents and purposes, they had every right to press the button; they were personally wronged by these men, especially one of them. The mysterious figure dropped the remote, and crushed it with their foot. He would rather get his vengeance face to face, and besides, he didn't have long before his absence would be noted back home. He watched with a smug grin as his prey escaped, knowing full well that he wasn't the only one who spared the coyote that day.

The APC drove off into the distance, the occupants blissfully unaware of the sudden end that they so narrowly avoided. They were heading back to base; everyone was a little shaken by what had happened that day. Antoine was slumped in his seat, he refused to sleep, but he knew that it was pointless. His actions in the Hospital proved it; he was losing control of himself. His inner self was now able to slip in and take control, if only for a few moments. He returned to base with the knowledge that things were about to go from really bad, to worse.

Oh Man. That was freaking crazy. I can't believe it's really 4,000 words. HOLY CRAP

i expect Brandon and Keelan to re-appear in the future. And who is the mysterious figure? GUESS, I DARE YOU.

Also, i LOVE all of you. Really, you guys make this all possible.