This chapter is somewhat filler, it's meant to introduce new conflicts, and characterize.

I'm getting feedback that Elias is a jerk, good! That's what i'm going for! Also, he has some bigger plans for himself, so he's about to get worse, this chapter is a feeble attempt to give him 'sympathy'.

Ragnarok: Keep writing long reviews! I love 'em!

Uchiha: Good guess, but not quite, the next couple of chapters should shed some light on that.

Also, this chapter was written rather quickly.

ENJOY!

COMMENT!

The APC moved at breakneck speed. Elias was desperately trying to outrace the one thing he could never beat, time. His Vehicle bounced around on the dunes, sending everything that was not firmly secured flying around the cabin.

"Hey, Elias." Antoine tried to get the Prince's attention, who seemed to be in a trance, staring intently at the horizon. He either ignored or did not hear the comment. "Hey!" Antoine tried again, and for a second time his cry was not responded to. He leaned in and yelled a final time into Elias' ear. "HEY!" This last outburst seemed to get the trick done; the Prince loosened his grip on the wheel and looked around, the APC decelerated.

"Huh, What?"

"You were going way too fast. I'd rather wait until I got back to camp to get killed." Ant joked, feebly trying to lighten the mood, despite his pounding headache.

"Whatever." The prince was not amused, and he continued driving.

"Why were you going so fast anyway?" Antoine was suspicious, it seemed that Elias was hurrying, what happened in the meeting with Beauregard.

"If only you knew." Elias sighed, he needed to get back to base ASAP, and he didn't have any time to waste.

"Knew what?" The Prince's comment intrigued Antoine. There was no response. "What happened with Beauregard?"

"Listen, I have to know I can trust you. Whatever I say cannot leave this vehicle." He took a deep breath and prepared to speak. "I tried to negotiate terms with Beauregard, he wasn't game."

"What do you mean?" Ant's headache was slowly dissipating.

"He told me that we should be the one's giving up." He paused; the next part would be painful. "He showed me something terrible."

"…" Antoine said nothing, he was anxious to hear what would come next.

"I saw hundreds of troops, armed with some of the most advanced technology I've ever seen. Large mechs, laser rifles, hyper cannons, you name it." The vehicle sped up. "I have no clue what we're going to do." Elias turned to Antoine, I'm afraid we don't have many options."

"Are we going to retreat?"

"What? No! We may have absolutely no chance of success, but that doesn't mean we should run with our tails between our legs! No, we're staying put."

"Um… So what are we gunna do?"

"Well, we're going to pray for a miracle." His hand trembled as he reached into his coat pocket for a cigar. He chomped the end off and lit it with his lighter, which had a dent in in compliments of the accident. "And then we're gunna go all out."

"Are you serious?"

"We don't have any other options!"

"Yes, we do!" Antoine was flabbergasted, and his headache soon returned. "We could get more re-enforcements, we could retreat and regroup, we don't have to stay here and get slaughtered!"

"I am not going back to Knothole a failure! We are going to beat the enemy, and we will do it here!" He chuckled. "And I'm sure as hell not getting any help from my Father."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand, it's a Prince thing." Elias took a long drag on the cigar, and spat the fumes right into Antoine's face. Ant waved the air in front of his face.

"Ugh, that smoke's making my head pound." Elias turned to look at him, the wide, flat landscape allowing the Prince to take his eyes off of the scene ahead.

"That reminds me, what happened to your head? I was told you got some serious damage."

"Yeah, apparently my brain was swelling, that's all the docs told me…" His voice trailed off, the painful memory was hard to bring up. Elias picked up on the Coyote's sudden depression.

"What's wrong?" Antoine looked away, unwilling to respond. Elias was for one of the first times, sincerely concerned about someone other than himself. "Antoine…" He brought the vehicle to a crawl, and rested a hand on his comrade's shoulder. "What happened back there?"

"I... I don't exactly know."

"Tell me what you remember."

Antoine turned to face Elias. "I remember waking up on a table, my head hurt really badly. And I sat up, only I didn't want to."

"What?"

"I didn't want to sit up, I just did, and I couldn't control myself."

"What do you mean?" Elias was starting to become weirded out.

"It's like I was on the inside, looking out, with no control over my actions."

"Well, what happened next?"

"I slowly got off of the table, and there was someone else in the room, a dingo."

"A dingo? Here? That's really weird." Elias got sidetracked by this minor detail.

"Anyway, I walked up to him, and I just grabbed him! I lifted him up the neck! I mean the poor kid was just freaking out, smashing me in the stomach with his robot arm, it hurt, but I didn't let go!"

Elias was captivated, this was just crazy, he almost didn't believe it, but the look in Ant's face told him it had to be true. "Woah."

"I was holding him so tight he started bleeding, I said something, I can't remember what, and some tiger came into the room. He punched me right in the face, I just dropped the kid, and I started…" He choked up. "I…" It was really hard for Antoine to recall that painful moment. "I started wailing on the old man."

"Holy shit." Elias inconsiderate comment didn't help Ant's mood.

"I didn't stop…" Ant held up his hands, still covered in blood. "I turned his face into a bloody pulp. I only stopped because the kid said something to snap me out of it."

"What did he say?"

""You're gunna kill him!"" Ant held back tears as he quoted Brandon's words. He took a deep breath and held his head in his hands. "Luckily, the kid knocked me out with some kind of sedative before I lost control again." Antoine paused.

"Wow." Elias tried to think of something to say, but he didn't want to anger the Lieutenant.

"God…" The coyote looked pleadingly up at the Prince. "I had no control over myself." Antoine was devastated, he knew that there was something seriously wrong with himself.

"Then who did?" Elias hit the problem on the head, he asked more probing questions. "If you weren't the one in control, who was?"

"…" Antoine didn't want to answer; he wasn't sure how Elias would respond to the fact that his most trusted comrade was a schizophrenic, slightly sociopathic killer who occasionally slipped into total madness. He looked away, and stared out of the passenger window.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"It's… hard to explain."

"Antoine…" Elias pulled his subordinate around to face him; the coyote didn't look him in the eyes. "Look at me." He still wouldn't make eye contact. He resorted to using a word he didn't use often. "Please." The formality surprised Antoine, who finally looked Elias in the eyes. "We are about to face the toughest challenge yet, and I must know that no one I'm working with is a liability." He sounded sincere, because heactually was sincere, something the Prince was not used too.

"There's something wrong with me." Antoine struggled to find the words. There were still tears in his eyes.

"Well, it might be the brain damage." Elias tried to understand, he needed to know what was wrong with Antoine, he needed to know if he was still of use to him.

"No, it was there before." Antoine was choking up.

"it?" Antoine's choice of words confused Elias.

Antoine desperately searched for the words to describe what was wrong with him. "Are you familiar with Schizophrenia?"

"No." Elias's answer didn't surprise Antoine.

"I…" Ant struggled with the words. "I hear things."

"Like voices?"

"Yeah."

"Oh" Elias slumped back in his seat, completely floored by the news. He was still confused, this didn't answer his question. "But that doesn't explain who was in control."

"Well, it's really confusing." Antoine didn't want to continue this discussion.

"It's ok, keep going."

"At first I thought it was just a voice." He turned, and stared out of the passenger window. "But it's really a lot more." Ant sighed deeply. "It's like another me."

"Holy shit." Elias was intrigued. This was interesting.

Antoine ignored the exclamation. "It's hard to explain. But this 'thing' in my head isn't just a voice, but I can't really explain what it is." Ant turned to face the Prince. "That is what took control; somehow I think the brain damage made it possible for it to take over when I'm at my weakest." He chuckled. "I guess the truths out, I'm crazy." He wiped his eyes, trying to clear any tears that might have formed.

Elias took the new rather well. "I guess we all are in our own way."

"What? Didn't you hear me? I'm a schizophrenic who could lose control at any moment! Aren't you worried?" Ant was scared of himself, how the prince wasn't surprised him.

"Nah." Elias stepped on the gas, and the APC steadily sped forward. He turned to focus on the road. "To be honest, I'm just glad you told me. And besides, I trust you, Antoine; I know you'll get through this alright."

Antoine suddenly had a newfound respect for the Prince. "So, you're not worried?" He was momentarily distracted from his severe self-loathing.

The prince was exultant; he knew just how to shape this to his advantage. All he had to do was keep Antoine occupied until he was needed, and then he could not only win the war, but do some major housekeeping as well. "Antoine, out of all the Shit that happened today¸ I'd have to say that this is some tame news." Elias turned towards the Lieutenant and puffed on his cigar. "And you've still got a job to do." He patted him on the back. "That refinery won't take itself."

"Yeah." Antoine was pleased, the Prince took the news better than expected, but of course Ant had other plans for himself. He didn't care about Elias' problems, he knew what he had to do in order to save the men from being annihilated, and he just hoped Elias stayed out of his way. The two soldiers continued on, they had just unknowingly dragged themselves to the opposite corners of a metaphorical boxing ring, about to face off.

They arrived at the base, tired, and deserving of rest. Elias silently trudged to the HQ tent, with Antoine following quickly behind. Once inside the tent, and when Antoine was completely sure they were alone, Ant asked the Prince a question.

"Is there a phone?"

"Yeah, right over there." Elias pointed to a corner of the tent, to a large device that could only be described as obsolete. Antoine hurried over to it, and picked up the receiver. He began to dial a number,

"Calling the wife?"

Antoine decided to make his intentions known, damn the consequences. He turned and said with a straight face. "I'm calling the Freedom Fighters."

OH SNAP (i like saying that at the end of chapters)

What will Elias' response be?

What is Antoine doing?

What is Elias' plan?

What is Elias' other plan?

How does Ant have service in the desert?

Why are you still reading this?

Why do you like this story?

Answer any of these questions in a comment for extra credit and 1 (imaginary) cookie!

How will the Freedom fighters respond to being called? (assuming they get the call at all.)