A new enemy Chapter 7: We cannot trust her, a wild kratts fanfic

Hello guys, I'm back with a new chapter! I'm sorry you had to wait for such a long time, but I hope you will find that this chapter was worth the wait. Sadly, the next chapter will probably only come in six months or more, because I just started my last year of school where I'm already gathering points for my finals. That means lots of studying for exams and doing homework.

But now, I hope you have fun reading my newest chapter! I will give some explanations at the end.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Wild Kratts', nor do I own their characters. They rightfully belong to Kratt Bros Company, PBS and 9 Story. My OC Yami belongs to me. The songs I suggested belong to their rightful owners, I incorporated one of the lyrics into my story as dialogue, but I did not write any of them. 'Abracadavre' belongs to Kevin Sherwood, I just adapted the lyrics inside this chapter.

We cannot trust her

BG Music: It's raining somewhere else - SharaX

Chris woke up in his bed, moaning. That had been the most horrible nightmare he has ever had. Martin, in incredible pain, this enemy he wasn't able to defeat, Jimmy, tortured by Zach, the fear for his other teammates.

He held his head, trying to soothe the throbbing in his brain, when he suddenly froze. He felt something that hadn't been there before. A stitched wound on his shoulder, but still fresh.

It wasn't a nightmare.

Everything...everything had been real! The blood, the pain, he had really lost his brother! But why was he alive then? Why was he in the Tortuga? Why were there bandages on his wounds?

"Why didn't she kill me?" he whispered, but then, he heard voices coming from the main room. He recognized Aviva's and Koki's voice, but there was a third one. One he had already heard. It was somehow different, but thanks to his sharp hearing he still knew who it was.

The voice of his attacker. The one that killed Martin was right outside his room, only a few feet away! He felt the anger rising inside his throat as his fingers turned into claws and he ripped the bedsheets apart, before storming out of his room and towards the three people standing there. Aviva, Koki, and a girl he had never seen before, but his senses told him that it was his enemy. He tackled her and started clawing at her, determined to win this fight.

But she wasn't fighting back. No matter how hard he hit her, she was just lying there, her eyes filled with sadness and guilt. He could hear the others screaming at him, begging him to stop, and he felt her own thoughts trying to tell him that she regretted her actions, and that it was his right to have his revenge, even if it meant that he would kill her. He wanted to stop. If she didn't fight back, it would be cold-blooded murder to destroy her now. He didn't want to stoop even lower as her, because, even if he had been unconscious, she still saved him. He just wanted to stop his anger.

But he couldn't. Something was controlling his movements, still lashing out at her face. He heard something rip open and saw the metal underneath her fake skin, but her right arm was bleeding from all the wounds, and something inside him was thirsting for that blood, fuelled by his anger and his hatred.

'Please, make it stop!' he cried in his head, hoping that someone would hear him and stop this madness. He wasn't even inside his body anymore, watching everything from a third person's perspective. He saw that his hair was slightly longer than before and that his muscles were stronger, but the scariest things were his eyes. The irises were dark red and the part that used to be white was yellow. Then, he merged with his body again but he still couldn't do anything.

Suddenly, he felt two strong arms ripping him away from his victim. He still lashed out, trying to hit the person behind him, when he finally heard a voice next to his ear.

"Chris, calm down! Everything is OK now, I'm here. Everything is going to be alright."

Chris felt tears forming in his eyes when he recognized the voice. "Martin..." he whispered, feeling the new presence inside him back down and hide again as he retracted his claws. "Martin!" he screamed, turning around to hug his brother and crying into his chest.

"I'm safe, Chris. It's OK." Martin said, hugging him back and soothing him. From the corner of his eye, he saw the girl stand up again with the help of Aviva and Koki, who were still shocked by Chris' anger and attack. The ripped skin on her face and body started to glow purple and grow back, but her arm was still bleeding heavily. He motioned for his girlfriend to take care of her wounds and lead the still sobbing Chris towards one of the chairs so he could sit down.

"But – but Martin...I thought you – you died." his little brother hiccuped. "She said that – that this poison would...kill you."

Martin sighed, remembering the pain he had been through. "Yes, Yami tried to kill me. But that wasn't the girl you just attacked. It was another side of her, composed of hatred and thirst for revenge. But I know that she changed. I don't know exactly how I know it, I just kinda feel it. She doesn't want to hurt us anymore."

"Then, why is she here?" Chris started, but in this moment, the girl came back, her arm covered in bandages.

"I want to atone for my sins. I have made a terrible mistake, and I have come back so you could decide what you want to do with me. I do not seek forgiveness, but judgement. And if it is your will to destroy me, then do it, please. That's why I didn't fight back."

Martin stood up, ready to hold Chris back if he wanted to attack her again. "Yes, but you already helped us. Without you, I wouldn't be able to live adventures anymore."

His brother looked at him confused. "What do you mean? What did she do to you?"

Martin swallowed hard, afraid of his reaction. "Well, the poison she talked about seems to have a horrible side effect on human flesh, or at least her flesh. It got slowly destroyed. Then, she started replacing her lost body parts with technology. And that's what happened to me, the poison destroyed my right arm and now I have this."

Suddenly, his arm started to glow blue and his skin moved, revealing silver metal interrupted by light blue power currents that were pulsating with energy.

'A cyborg...she turned you into a cyborg!' he yelled at Martin in his thoughts. He didn't want the others to hear it, especially not...her. 'That – that is..." Martin closed his eyes, waiting for his brother to be disgusted. But Chris didn't have the time to finish his phrase.

"Guys, what are we going to do with her? You are, like, our leaders, so you should decide." Aviva asked, holding the injured girl's arm.

Martin looked at his brother, whose eyes had gotten dark all of a sudden.

"Lock her away. I will think about that later." he ordered, going outside. He needed time to process what he had just lived through, and he still needed to know why he lost control like that.

"It's the poison's fault." he heard the girl whisper when he walked past her, as if she had read his mind. "Because it causes so much pain, it creates a second personality which takes over when you have strong feelings, be it anger and hate, or even sadness. It makes you go insane and controls your body. That's who Yami is, that's the one that hurt you." She stopped when Aviva lead her towards Chris' cell, the only safe room that they had at the moment.

He stared at her as she disappeared behind the door, feelings mixing up inside him. He somehow felt that she tried to help them, but she had caused so many of their problems they had now. Martin had been injured, and he himself seemed to have a second personality now that made him go insane. Outside, he walked towards a big tree and started climbing up to a big branch where he would be able to sit down. Being close to nature always helped him to think, especially now that he was part wolf. It was then that he realized.

"Wait, if the poison affected me, but I didn't lose any body parts, I must have only had a small dose injected into my body. But if I already have that problem, what's going to happen to Martin?" He started trembling, imagining what his brother would become if this insanity took over his body. And with his robotic arm, who knew what damage it could cause?

But as important as that was his own problem. Especially now, with her around, he didn't know if he would be able to control himself. If she was right, and him getting angry would trigger his dark side, then he could attack his friends every time he saw her or even thought about her.

Suddenly, he heard someone calling out below. "Chris! Chris, where are you? Are you alright?"

He slowly breathed out, trying to forget what happened. "Yes Martin, I'm up here." he answered to his brother, who sighed and came climbing after him. Chris noticed that he was more agile now with his new arm, and that perhaps it would help them in the battle against their enemies.

"Is everything OK?" his brother asked him as soon as he had pulled himself up next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he sighed, pulling up his leg and resting his chin on his knee.

"Dude, I can feel that something is bothering you. I'm your brother, remember?" Martin smiled, but his eyes showed his sadness. He knew that Chris wasn't alright, not at all.

He couldn't hold it in anymore. "I – I am just worried about what she just told me. If a small dose of this poison made me go insane, then what is going to happen to you?" he blurted out, earning an understanding look from his brother.

"Yes, I've been worrying about that, too. But she explained it a bit, at least what she understands. Oh my, I think I'll have to start from the beginning, it's really complicated. Well, you see, my arm needs a source of power, and her body, too. To get that power, we both have a part of what she calls 'The Stone'. It's a black and white sphere that came here from outer space more than a thousand years ago. Then, it got into her possession, but she couldn't use it for one reason or another. But after the whole "poison destroyed her body and she had to rebuild it herself"-thing she was able to use the black half of it to power her new body, but the white half was still out of her reach. Then, in your battle, she was somehow able to finally use the black half's power completely, and it helped her lock away her evil personality. I am able to use the white half, so my second personality is also restrained, but she told me that, sometimes, it would get so strong that it takes over even with the Stone's power blocking it. Fortunately, she can help me control myself when that happens, so I don't cause too much damage." Martin ended his explanation.

Chris nodded. "So, when is it going to happen?" he asked.

"Honestly, I – I don't know." Martin whispered. "But I hope I'll have enough time to prepare myself."

That evening, Chris turned around in his bed, unable to fall asleep. He just couldn't forget the past events, the sight of his brother's blood and his own body, turning into a monster out of control. After telling himself to just ignore the pictures in his head, he finally fell asleep.

He woke up in a very dark place. It seemed to be a forest, because there were dark shapes that he assumed were trees, but there were no sounds, only thunder cracking in the distance. He also couldn't smell anything he connected to a forest: No other animals, no tree-sap, no grass, not even fresh air. Everything was covered in a thick fog that made seeing more and more difficult. He started wandering around, looking for an exit, feeling his way around so he wouldn't run straight into a tree.

He had been walking for what seemed to be an hour when he suddenly heard footsteps behind him. He stopped and turned around, but there was nothing, and the footsteps had also stopped. He started walking again, and the footsteps followed him again. And then, he remembered his nightmare almost a year ago, the one before his first transformation. It had started almost exactly like this one, but he had been followed by a wolf back then. The footsteps he heard now were clearly human. Suddenly, he felt somebody standing right behind him. He turned around, trembling, and faced his haunter.

It looked exactly like himself, but, at the same time, it wasn't him. He recognized it as the "wilder" version of himself that had taken over his body that day. Longer hair, red and yellow eyes, and claws instead of fingers. But in addition, pointy fur-covered ears were growing out of the back of his head.

"Who are you?" Chris yelled, panicking. "What do you want from me?"

'The creature', as he had called it, just grinned, showing its fangs, but there was no emotion in its smile. "I'm your anger and your fear." it finally answered, its voice being still Chris' voice, but mixed with growls and hisses. "Your sadness and your hatred. The insanity you're trying to hide. The dark side you can't escape."

"No, I'm not going to go insane! You will never control me ever again." Chris screamed, running away. But the creature was always next to him, no matter how fast he was, no matter around how many corners he ran.

"Face it, Chris. You can't escape me, I'm a part of you. Even if you tried to lock me away, I'm getting stronger. And one day, you will be too weak to hold me back, and you will fall to insanity." it hissed into his ear.

"As for my name..." It was now directly in front of him, forcing him to stop, when a tree suddenly stretched down its branches and trapped him, making escaping impossible. "I'm Stonebreaker. Your brother once gave me this name because you broke the stone around his heart, but now, I will break the walls that are holding me back. One day, I will take back what I deserve: your body, and your entire being!"

Chris tried to break the wood that retained him, but every single second he was in this place, he felt more of his sanity slipping away.

"Chris? Chris, wake up!" a voice suddenly called out to him. He felt the branches around him loosen a bit, and Stonebreaker's outlines started to fade.

"No! Not now!" he screamed, but he was already too transparent to touch Chris. "You might get away now, but I will come back every night, until you give up!" Then, he vanished.

Chris woke up again, covered in sweat. Martin was shaking his shoulder.

"Are you alright? You were screaming in your sleep." he said, looking at him with a worried look in his eyes.

Chris sat upright, unsure if he should tell his brother about the nightmare. Perhaps he could help him, but he wasn't sure about that, it would probably just be another thing that would make him worry.

But he also knew that if he just kept everything for himself, one day, he would break apart. So he started to speak.

After he finished, Martin started thinking. "Well, I really don't know a lot about that matter, you should ask Yami about it. If she can help me, she should also be able to help you."

"But what about my new personality?" Chris held his head. "If I see her, it might break out again, and I don't want to put any of you in danger."

"Yeah, that makes it a bit more complicated. I don't really know about that." Then, Martin put a hand on his shoulder. "We'll try again tonight. If the nightmare comes back, you'll have to talk to her. Because if what Stonebreaker said is right, I could lose you to him any time."

Chris sighed as Martin walked out. What should he do? He needed Yami and her knowledge, but he just couldn't trust her. He would have to wait and see what happened next.

Martin's POV:

Outside, Martin was trying out the features in his new arm. His favourite part was that he could fire out his hand and use it as a grappling hook, or completely separate it from his wrist and use it as a homing missile. He was also able to fire lasers out of his palm and transform his hand into all kinds of tools. This was something that would be a great help in their fight against the new robots Zach created.

Suddenly, Aviva came out of the Tortuga and walked towards him. "Martin, can I see your arm for a second? I have to see if I can make any modifications on your CPS so it will suit you better. I just have to get a quick scan." It was only now that Martin noticed the small device in her hand which they usually used to scan the animals so they knew what abilities they had.

After a minute, the scan was over. "Thanks, Martin. I'll just analyse the scan and talk to you about it later." Then, she went inside again. He wanted to get back to his training when he suddenly heard a whizzing sound that he knew all too well.

"Zachbots!" he screamed, trying to warn the others so they could start the engines, but it was too late. The Tortuga was already surrounded from all sides, even from above.

'Zach must have inserted his camouflage devices inside all of his robots.' he thought, while charging the laser in his arm. That way, he was able to take out a lot of them, and when his laser had to charge again, he used his grappling hook to grab one robot and throw it inside a bigger group. But it didn't matter how many he destroyed, more and more were appearing from behind the trees.

He heard the others getting ready inside and saw Chris running outside ready to transform when he suddenly felt a sharp pain inside his chest and brain. He grabbed his head and started screaming while his surroundings turned red.

BG music: Adens Sky – Rise up

Chris' POV:

Chris ran towards his brother, ready to help him in his fight, when Martin suddenly started screaming in pain, clenching his head.

"Martin, are you alright?" he yelled, but instead of getting an answer, Martin's scream turned into laughter, crazy, insane laughter. Some Zachbots came closer and tried to grab him, but the brother in blue just made a blade of blue light appear in his hand and sliced right through them. Then he turned around, making Chris gasp.

He had straight lines of blue energy all over his face and neck, and the edges of the armour on his arm had tuned as sharp as razor blades. But the scariest things were his eyes: completely black, with only one spot of blue light to replace the pupil.

It was as if time itself had stopped. Chris stared at the being that had once been his brother, and the cold, glowing pupils stared back. "M – Martin, what happened?" Chris stammered, stumbling back.

Suddenly, the being grinned. "Enemy detected!" he said. It sounded like Martin's voice, but at the same time, it wasn't.

"What? But I – I'm your brother!" Chris cried, but to no avail. The cyborg was already swinging his blade and pointed it at him.

"Code blue: activated. Elimination sequence: starting." Then, he raced towards him, blade outstretched. Like that, he would be able to slice right through him, just like he did with the robots.

Luckily, Chris managed to snap out of his trance and dodged the weapon just in time. It got stuck in the ground where he had been standing just a second ago, but the cyborg just made it disappear and changed his hand into a spinning blade. Chris jumped out of the way before it could cut it's way through his skin and transformed.

'What should I do?' he thought, trying to dodge all the attacks. 'I can't hurt him, Martin is still somewhere in there. And as long as he is there, I can't fight the Zachbots!' He also tried to get to his brother via their mental connection, but as soon as he thought that he was able to get through, it was as if a drill was forcing it's way through his skull, so he stopped. That moment, Aviva, Koki and Jimmy came running outside, all of them with their suits on and ready to activate so they could fight the robots. But before Chris could warn them about Martin, the cyborg had already noticed them.

"More enemies detected. Proceeding towards: annihilation." the voice said, while he pointed his laser cannon at them.

'NO!' Chris roared in his thoughts, directed towards everybody, and he slashed the cyborg's shoulder. Most of his power was absorbed by the armour and a part of his paw was cut open, but he managed to dig a claw inside the skin, making the cyborg roar in pain and looking back at him, face distorted by anger.

Chris jumped backwards, but it was too late. One of the shots from the cannon grazed his leg, burning his fur and skin. He rolled through the grass to put out the fire and got back up, standing on three legs and lifting up the injured one.

The cyborg narrowed his eyes. "It seems as if you're more dangerous than I had expected. Level of danger: + 50%. Status: Enemy N° 1. Must be destroyed before proceeding to other targets." Then, he stretched out his hand. "Target detected. Missile: locked on target."

Chris started to run. The cyborg was about to fire his homing missile! He knew he couldn't escape by running, but perhaps it would give him enough time to think about a way to destroy it before it got to him.

"Missile: loaded. Firing in three...two...one...ignition." With an incredible speed, the cyborg's fist left its space and came flying towards the wolf. Chris heard it coming closer and closer, and he could almost feel the heat radiating from its propulsion engine, when he suddenly heard a crashing sound. But before he could see what it was, a huge explosion occurred on the clearing, enveloping everything in a cloud of blue smoke.

Chris opened his eyes, but everything was blurry, and the noise from the explosion had left a high-pitched sound inside his ears. He could still see the grass in front of his nose and his body was hurting all over, so he reckoned that he was still alive. He tried looking behind him to see what had stopped the missile, but the smoke still hadn't cleared. Instead, it was burning in his eyes and lungs. As soon as his hearing was better, he heard metal crashing onto the ground around him and he could distinguish the shape of a Zachbot. Apparently, the strength of the explosion had disrupted their engines and made them fly into the trees around them or directly towards the ground.

Suddenly, a Zachbot fell to the ground right in front of him, creating a wind that made the smoke clear up a bit and revealing a shape that he knew too well.

'Yami...' he hissed in his thoughts, growling. Before him stood the one who had tried to kill his brother.

Yami's POV:

Sitting inside her cell, she had heard sounds of fighting coming from outside. She was unsure if she should go out and help them, when she suddenly heard Martin's laughter.

'No, it can't be! It can't take over already!' she thought, panic slowly filling her. Martin didn't know enough about the stone and his other personality to control it, but she had hoped that she would have enough time to teach him before it got too strong.

She knew that she wasn't allowed to break out, even if it was to help them, because then, Chris would probably lose control again. She started pacing while listening to the sounds coming from outside, hoping that they would be alright without her interfering.

But then, she heard Martin talking. "Target detected. Missile: locked on target. Missile: loaded. Firing in three...two...one...ignition."

Somehow, she knew that he was talking about Chris, and she made her decision. To protect him, she had to risk him being taken over by his dark side. So she changed into her armoured form, started destroying the wall with a sword made out of purple light and then broke out, just in time to see the missile heading for Chris in his wolf-form.

For a normal human, it would have been impossible to reach him before the missile did, but she wasn't a normal human. Activating her super-speed, she raced towards Chris while loading her own laser, and when she was between him and the weapon, she destroyed it with a single hit.

A fraction of a second before the explosion occurred she activated one of the Creature Powers she had stolen from the Kratts some time ago. It was Bat Power, and with her new wings, she was able to protect Chris from the fire. But the shock-wave still made him fall to the ground, and the only reason Yami was still standing were her claws she had dug into the ground.

After the fire had disappeared, she deactivated the Creature Power and made the sword reappear in her hand again. She knew that, even if Martin had just fired his hand, it would reappear instantly, so she had to be ready for another attack at any moment.

Suddenly, a flash of blue light made the smoke clear up, and she could see Martin, or what used to be Martin. She knew that what she was seeing was the materialisation of Martin's other personality, created by her poison, her technology and the power of the Stone.

He leaned his head to the side, grinning insanely, but there was annoyance showing in his glowing pupils.

"Who are you that you dare to interfere? If I want to eliminate an enemy, he shouldn't be able to survive for more than a minute, yet now it has already been two."

She shuddered, recognizing the slight distortion in his voice that she had also had before she had been able to control her dark side. "Martin, I know that you're still in there. You are stronger than the poison, you have to fight it!" she yelled at him, trying to get to him.

"Martin? My name isn't Martin, it's Hikari." the other cyborg said. She froze. It was the exact opposite from her name. 'Yami' was Japanese for 'Darkness', 'Hikari' meant 'Light'. That meant that the Stone played a bigger part in the creation of Martin's other side than she had thought. But the biggest problem was that she didn't know how their powers reacted with one another. One possibility was that they cancelled each other out, another one was that there was no special reaction, but the last one was that a clash of their weapons would be similar to matter hitting antimatter, which could possibly destroy the earth and make the entire solar system disappear inside a black hole.

Hikari frowned. "Status: unknown. Why can't I get any information about you? Well, it doesn't really matter. You kept me from destroying N° 1, so you'll become N°2 as long as I don't know enough about you."

She narrowed her eyes. If he couldn't get information about her, her part of the Stone was probably blocking his power. This would also mean that they couldn't create a black hole. Breathing out, she focused again. At least one thing she didn't have to worry about. Now, she had to find a way to knock out Hikari without hurting Martin, all while hoping that Chris wouldn't lose control, because she reckoned that she would be able to fight Hikari, but she probably didn't have enough power for two enemies that both wanted to kill her.

Making the first move, she sped towards the other cyborg, ready to swing her blade, but he dove out of the way and activated his own sword. He tried to hit her leg, but she pulled it back and pushed his blade away. It was more difficult than she had thought, she assumed that the evil inside him made him stronger. If she wanted to defeat him, she would probably have to do it from the inside, using her mind's energy to break Hikari's control over Martin.

So, she focused her thoughts, trying to use the connection that still existed between their energy sources to penetrate his mind. But she had to be fast, because he would keep attacking her.

Suddenly, many clouds of bright smoke appeared inside her head. They were mixed together at first, but then, they started clearing up and huddling together in different places, each cloud having its own colour. These clouds represented the minds and souls of those around her, and being able to see them was a skill that she had only been able to master after she had gained balance. Behind her was a green cloud, which she knew was Chris, and the pink, orange and yellow clouds to her right were Aviva, Koki and Jimmy. They were moving extremely fast, twisting and turning around. Instinctively, Yami knew that it was because they were scared. Scared of Martin's other personality. Then, she looked around, trying to find Hikari, but she didn't have to look far.

BG music: Abracadavre – Kevin Sherwood feat. Elena Siegman (Call of Duty: Black Ops)

Right in front of her was a huge cloud of black smoke, bigger than all the others. It was constantly changing its appearance, but it always looked dangerous, ready to consume everything in its path.

'So this is what insanity looks like.' she thought. 'This is what I've been for such a long time.' But she wasn't allowed to let that thought destroy her state of mind, because she didn't know if she would be able to repeat it in this fight. Concentrating even more, she tried to penetrate the black cloud with her thoughts and push it aside, so she could see if there still was something left of Martin. The darkness tried to defend itself, slipping away every time she tried to grasp it. And apparently, when she was like this, she also was more vulnerable to its own attacks. She saw it growing tentacles that tried to rip her own soul apart, and she was barely able to free herself.

Finally, she found what she had been looking for: a small cloud of blue smoke in the centre of the darkness. It tried to get out, but the dark cloud was too strong and kept pulling it back.

'Poor Martin. If I don't do anything soon, he will be consumed by the darkness, and I'll never be able to save him!' She tried to shield his soul from Hikari when, suddenly, she heard a voice inside her head.

Hikari: I can fly like a bird not in the sky, which can always swim and always dry. Say goodbye at night and morning hi. I'm part of you...what am I?

I follow and lead as you pass. Dress yourself in black, my darkness lasts. I flee the light, but without the sun your view of me would be gone.

I can see the damage that I am causing you is so benign. You want me to be gone, but I have just begun! I am the only one undone! I'm a broken miracle now in your head.

Martin: I don't feel like I am real, but I know it's all imaginary. Are they real, and do they feel? Is all the pain...just inside my head?

Hikari: I am what men love more than life, fear more than death or mortal strife. What dead men have and rich require. I'm what contended men desire.

You want me to be gone, but I have just begun! You will never know how far I've come! What goes up must never come back down in your head.

Martin: I don't feel like I am real, but I know it's all imaginary. Are they real, and do they feel? Is all the pain...just inside my head? It's all inside my head. It's just inside my...it's all inside my...they're all inside my...I see them always but they're all inside my head! All inside my head! They're all inside my head!

Yami: It's killing me to see I'm killing you. Death is magic say 'Abracadavre' now. You see me now you don't cry when I am gone.

Yami felt the black cloud slowly consuming her. This was all her fault, but she just couldn't give up! She had to find a way to wake Martin up, to give him enough strength to escape this madness. Suddenly, she heard a weak response to her own radiating energy coming from the small blue cloud, showing her that he was still able to fight back. Trying one last time to restrain the black energy, she combined her radiations with those emanating from the blue cloud. Somehow, it worked! Chains made of bright blue and purple light started to wrap around several parts of the black cloud, pulling it together and allowing the blue cloud to expand a bit, when the voice addressed her personally this time.

Hikari: These shackles they come with certain opportunity. They won't let me get away...but they show me we're the same! We're the same! We're the same! They show me that we are the same!

Yami: I can't give in! I won't give in!

Hikari/Martin: It's not a state of mind. I'm wretched but I'm powerful and I don't feel like I am real but I know it's all imaginary. Are they real and do they feel is all the pain...just inside my head? It's all inside my head. It's just inside my...it's all inside my...they're all inside my...I see them always but they're all inside my head! All inside my head! They're all inside my head!

Despite all her efforts to free Martin from Hikari's grasp, she had to watch as the blue cloud started to fuse with the black one. The blue parts of the chains started to disappear before they were too weak to contain the black energy anymore. The black smoke just ripped apart what remained of them and started surrounding her. She felt herself getting weaker by the second, and almost as if she was looking through a thick pane of glass, she saw Hikari in the real world capturing her almost defenceless body and put his energy blade against her throat, ready to separate her main computer from its energy source.

She knew she had lost. Even if it wasn't her who would destroy the world, Martin would now drown in the insanity she herself had inflicted on him and become Hikari, a threat with power almost equal to her own, a threat the world wasn't ready for.

Suddenly, she saw something else. Chris started moving again! He slowly stood up and started stumbling towards them, still in his wolf form, his eyes closed. A faint shimmer of hope appeared in Yami's heart, but it disappeared as soon as he opened his eyes. His irises had turned red and were glowing, his fur became darker and thicker, and all of his limbs got stronger. His dark side had turned him into the ultimate killing machine, and he was out to kill her!

The view of the outside disappeared and she saw herself being consumed by the black cloud again. Soon, she would be too weak to escape this "soul mode" and Hikari would be able to destroy her body without her trying to fight back. For one more time, she tried to escape, when she suddenly saw another black cloud crash into the one that was capturing her. Violently, she was jerked back into reality where she saw dark Chris slashing Hikari's unprotected shoulder. This gave her an opportunity to free herself and jump away from both of them so she could grasp the situation completely.

Apparently, only a second had passed while she was fighting Hikari in soul mode. The others were still standing in the same place, and Hikari had only been able to capture her because of his super-speed. Using her technology, she sent a message into their suits containing a battle-plan. If she wanted to bring both Martin and Chris back to normal, they would have to work together. Aviva and the others would be able to manage Chris while she tried to take care of Hikari.

From the corner of her eye, she saw Jimmy nodding towards her, signalling that they had gotten the message, and activating his CPS just like Aviva and Koki. Then, he ran inside to retrieve some of her weapons she had given Aviva so the scientist could study them. Within the message were the codes they would need to activate them, and these weapons would give them a clear advantage over Chris. Relieved to know that she had help, she focused on her own enemy again.

Chris had bitten Hikari's normal arm, drenching his blue jacket in blood, while the cyborg activated his blade to slice the werewolf's head off. With one small shot right next to Chris' jaws, she made him let go of the arm and also startled Hikari, which made him focus on her again. He narrowed his black eyes while charging his cannon, but Yami could see that he was getting tired. Soon, the blood loss would kill him, so she had to act fast.

BG music: Krewella – Alive (Teqq Remix Nightcore)

Chris was nowhere to be seen when she dove underneath the cannon's shot, but she heard the other members of the crew attacking him a few yards away. Hoping that they would be able to turn him back again, she just dodged all of his other attacks, slowly leading him away from the spot where the others were. Once she was far enough, on the other side of the ship, she fully activated her robotic body. She had refrained from doing so because the sheer energy that would be emanating from her body would damage any living organism around her if it was exposed to it directly. Martin's body wouldn't get damaged because the Stone's own energy would form a natural shield. The others were shielded by the Tortuga between them.

Taken aback by this change, Hikari had no chance to escape her. With her new abilities, she pinned him to the ground, disabling his arm. He groaned and tried to fight back, but he wasn't strong enough to lift her off him. One more time, Yami got into soul mode. The black smoke cloud was as big as before and the blue cloud had almost completely disappeared inside. Instantly, it noticed her and tried to fight her. It knew that her new abilities were non-existent in this realm, and it started wrapping around her and draining her energy. She realized that she had to find a way to defeat it and free Martin before he had completely disappeared.

Suddenly, she heard a voice inside her head.

'Need some help?'

She froze, recognizing her own voice from the time when she was insane. 'That's right.' she thought. 'My second personality is locked away but not completely gone. And in here, she is able to communicate with me.'

'You're right. And I can see you struggling. Just let me help you, I'm stronger than you in here.'

Could she trust her? Probably not.

'But you don't really have a choice, do you?' the voice asked.

"You're right. But if you try to betray me, I will fight back until you are too weak to do anything for a long time!"

'Deal. This will be over before you know it.'

She felt her own purple cloud of smoke grow bigger and darker, but it didn't turn completely black, it rather turned a really dark mixture of dark blue and purple.

'What...is this?' she heard Hikari say inside her mind.

"Well, sometimes, you just have to fight fire with fire!" she screamed, as her cloud became a spear of smoke which parted the black cloud until she reached the small remaining patch of blue. With all of her strength, she pulled it out entirely, waking Martin from his trance. She could see him in her mind in front of her, freeing himself from his black chains and joining hands with her.

Combining their energy once more, they finally managed to lock Hikari away in a secure room inside Martin's mind. They looked at each other one last time and nodded before exiting soul mode and getting back into the real world.

Yami reversed the complete activation before she helped Martin get up again and they ran towards the others. Chris was still fighting, even if he also started showing signs of tiredness. He used a moment when Aviva lost focus to bite her leg, causing her to scream in pain as blood dripped from his jaw.

"LET HER GO!" Martin roared, racing towards his brother and ramming his knee into Chris' ribs. The werewolf howled, letting go of Aviva and attacking Martin instead. Jimmy and Koki dragged her away from the fighting brothers and tried to stop the bleeding until Yami helped them to get her inside where they could help her with their medical equipment.

Outside, Martin had somehow managed to pin Chris onto the ground and was trying to penetrate his mind so they could turn him back to normal, but it was impossible.

"It's no good, I just can't get in! If I try, I fear that I won't be able to get out." he panted, still exhausted from the fight.

"We have to try to combine our minds. If the stone is completed, we might have enough strength to free him." she thought out loud, kneeling down beside him.

He nodded and they joined hands again before concentrating to dive into Chris' mind.

Inside, a huge storm was raging, enveloping a castle that Martin revealed was Chris' mind and soul. But trying to get inside would have been a suicide mission in that state. Before they could think of a way to stop the storm, a huge wolf made out of wind, clouds and lightning leapt out of it and started attacking them.

"Martin!" Yami cried.

"Yeah!" he answered, knowing exactly what she was thinking, before gathering energy in his hands.

'If his other personality was able to take over, that means that his feelings weren't balanced anymore. Martin represents love and I represent hate, together, we are able to balance the world's energy!' She remembered what the first Guardian of the Stone had told her, and that was when she realized: with Martin, she would be able to bring the world back onto the right track, where humans would stop destroying it for their own profit.

Martin had gathered enough energy and, with a powerful scream, he released an orb of blue power that hit the black wolf right on the forehead. It howled loudly before it started to dissolve and the storm died down before it disappeared in a patch of black sky right behind the castle. They both looked at it, worry showing in their eyes, but they knew that they couldn't do much more. That was now a part of Chris and nothing could make it disappear. They just hoped that it would work long enough to help him control it.

When they returned to their reality, Chris had just morphed back into a human. Yami stood up and turned towards Martin.

"If he sees me, I fear that he will lose control again. Can you take him inside and tend to his wounds? I'll help you with yours then." After that, she went back to her cell and closed the door, but just so Chris wouldn't be able to see her. With the gaping hole in the wall this room wouldn't have been able to contain anything.

Two days later, Their wounds had almost healed thanks to a cooperation between Aviva and Yami. They had used both their knowledge about animal healing capacities and the antidote to develop a drug that sped up tissue growth and cell development when applied to a wound, but it only worked because the entire team had worn their suits more often now. To function properly, the drug needed highly adaptable cells, an ability that appeared after a person had activated her Creature Power Suit multiple times. They had also moved the Tortuga somewhere into a forest in the mountains, so it would be more difficult for Zach to find them, also thanks to a new camouflage technology Aviva, Yami and Koki had thought of together.

After all of her help, the team had started to trust Yami more. Martin, Aviva and Koki had helped her repair the hole in the wall and change the way her room looked so she could feel at home. Nobody talked about it, but everybody knew that they would probably need her now to keep Chris' and Martin's other personalities at bay.

Only Chris was still avoiding her, causing her heart to sting a bit every time he turned away when he saw her. But she just had no idea how to make him trust her. Perhaps he just needed some time. She couldn't blame him, after all, it was still her own fault everything had ended up like that.

During the days following the one when they fixed her room, she started working on the Tortuga with Aviva and Koki while the boys were out. Now that Zach had created newer and better robots, they had to create better technology to be able to defend themselves and defeat him if there was another incident with animals. Together, they developed special weaponry and even included some of the CPS' technology into the ship, so it would also be able to morph if there was need to.

BG music: Fairy Tail – Past story

But one evening, while she walked into her room after a long day working on a new computer system with Koki, she walked past Martin's room and heard Chris yelling something. She didn't want to eavesdrop, so she accelerated, but even then it was impossible to miss:

"Just why do you keep trusting her? It's her fault you...we are like this. Remember how you lost control? You tried to kill us! Same with me. And she said herself that it was because of the poison SHE injected into your bloodstream and that got into my body after she hit me! But now, you just act like nothing happened, like she is a part of our team."

"Chris, calm down! If she really wanted to harm us, she wouldn't have helped me regain control. And she helped you, too!"

"Well, I never asked for her help. After what happened, I don't want to have anything to do with her. She wanted to destroy you! You were unconscious when it happened, but I heard everything she said, I almost felt the hate that was inside her body. A person who is that evil will never stop. If she stays here, she will betray us sooner or later, why can't you see that?"

"Chris..." Martin's voice started to break, not wanting to believe that his brother was really thinking what he was saying. But Chris interrupted him.

"Even if YOU decide to just overlook what she did, I can't and won't forget it so easily! Every hour of my life right now, Stonebreaker is still watching me, waiting for the right moment to strike. When I sleep, he is there, ready to drag me into his sea of madness. I'm too weak for him, everyday he gets stronger, and one day, I will be gone, Martin, fallen into insanity, because of her poison! I will never trust her, now that I saw what can happen to us at any given time. Heck, she isn't even really human..." he covered his mouth after he realized what he just said. Outside his room, Yami ran away, her heart broken into a million pieces.

"So I guess I'm not human either." Martin said coldly. Ignoring Chris' apologies, he left the room and went outside. There, Aviva and Koki were waiting for him. He guessed that they had heard everything, Chris hadn't been really quiet. But Aviva motioned for him to come with her.

Further in the forest, he suddenly noticed somebody sitting underneath a big tree. After coming closer, he recognized Yami, sobbing. In wordless agreement with Aviva, he sat down next to her and put a hand on her back.

"Hey, are you alright?" Aviva motioned for him to go on. He sighed. He wasn't really good at comforting. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it that way..." But he didn't even know if he believed himself. A tear slid down his cheek. Would him and Chris ever be as close as before? After this, he wasn't sure.

Suddenly, he felt a finger on his cheek, wiping over the tear. He opened his eyes, only to see Yami looking at the single tear-drop.

"But you can still cry..." she whispered. He took a closer look at her face. The sadness in her heart was real, he could feel it, but there were no tears. "I – I thought I wouldn't need them. I thought that – that I would destroy myself anyway. And now..." she stopped for a second, letting the tear slip from her finger. "...my soul has moved on, but my body is still the same."

Overwhelmed by her sadness, he hugged her. But then, he felt a huge wave of feelings washing over him.

'Perhaps he is right.' he heard her voice say in his heart. 'Perhaps I'm really not a real human.' He was able to feel everything. Anger against herself and her actions, shame that she had caused so much trouble and had hurt all of them, sadness about what Chris had said. But what surprised him was the love she had in her heart. Love for Chris. The one who kept rejecting her, whom she just overheard saying that he would never trust her, and who didn't accept her as a member of the team even if everybody else had taken her in.

'So that's why she was able to free herself from her hate.' he thought, slowly letting go of her. She looked at him with her brown eyes, pleading for him to stay silent. He took her hands and looked back, feeling the energy pulsating through both their fingers, so similar, yet so different. Without saying a word, he promised, knowing that she would understand what he wanted to say. She tried to smile, but he knew that his brother's words had struck her heart, leaving a wound that he couldn't close.

They both stood up and Aviva also hugged her, showing her that she didn't think the same way as Chris. Warmth filled Yami's heart. Even if Chris wouldn't accept her, perhaps she had found a new family.

The next morning, Chris sat outside in the grass, facing the trees. Inside, Yami worked with Aviva on the Tortuga, but sometimes looked at the brown-haired man. She couldn't see his face, but she somehow felt regret radiating from his body. Suddenly, Martin came and sat down next to him. They didn't say a word, but she guessed that they were talking things over about what had happened. Some minutes later, he got back up and walked towards the girls to ask if he could help, but Yami, remembering something that the younger brother had said, pulled him aside.

"Martin, who is Stonebreaker?" she asked quietly, so Chris couldn't hear her.

"It's the name of Chris' other personality. You see, he has had nightmares with him ever since the...incident. And he hasn't gotten much sleep because of him. Are you able to help him?" he asked, his heart slowly filling with hope.

"I hope so." she answered. "But I would need for him to trust me, at least a bit, or else I won't be able to do anything. Don't force him!" she said, guessing what he wanted to do. "If he comes because he wants my help, that means he trusts me well enough for me to really help him."

Martin nodded and went to help Aviva lift up a big metal plate so she could work on the technology underneath it. Looking at Chris for one last time, Yami went back to her work, hoping that he would accept her help.

A few hours later, Chris came down from the roof where he had watched some birds when he suddenly saw a note on the table:

'Chris, could you please come outside?'

He read it, confused about why somebody should write a note instead of just calling him, but he still left the ship. After he had walked a few steps, he heard somebody calling him from one of the trees. He felt anger rising in his throat recognizing Yami's voice. What did she want from him? Did she want to separate him from the others so he would be easier to kill? Well, if that was what she wanted, he wouldn't give up without a fight!

"I know that you can fight Stonebreaker on your own, but only if you know how to do it." That made him stop in his tracks. How did she know? But he realized she must have overheard him telling Martin, not very difficult, given that he had yelled loud enough for the entire team to hear. Instantly, he felt bad again.

"I – I'm...uh...sorry. You know...for what I said yesterday." Yami felt her heart stop for a second. Perhaps there was a slight possibility for him to accept her one day! But it was only a possibility.

"So...uh...I guess...you can help me?" he asked nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't want her to help him after what she had done, but deep down inside, he knew that he didn't have a choice. A couple more sleepless nights and he would be an easy prey for insanity.

"Well, yes, I can explain it to you and help you with the first steps, but it's still you who will have to defeat Stonebreaker in the end. We can start now if you want, or later, but I'll stay here so you can't see me." she said.

That was probably better for all of them.

"Uh...what am I supposed to do?" He just hoped that her advice would help. He already felt Stonebreaker tugging at his mind.

"You said that he was attacking you in your dreams, right? There, he has an advantage. He can pull you towards a part of the mind where you are weaker than him: the emotional centre. You can beat him, but only if you build your own battlefield. What is the opposite of emotion in your case?"

He only had to think for a second. "Reason."

"OK, so you have to build valid arguments to weaken his attacks, and to defeat him, YOU have to induce the battle. But do it only when you are ready to face him! If you lose on your own battlefield, it could be that he will take over instantly. You'll have to train first, and once you can fight here, you will be able to fight in your mind, too. Additionally, the training will improve your ability to concentrate, which will in turn make it more difficult for Stonebreaker to get in. Hopefully, you will be able to limit his attacks to your emotions. That's what we're going to try first."

"But what kind of arguments should I gather?"

She hesitated. "Well, Stonebreaker is getting his energy from your – your hatred towards me. So you have to find rational reasons for you not to hate me." She would have never expected that. This training could really be positive for her. But she had to ignore her wishes for the team. Once Stonebreaker was defeated, she would see if Chris could see her in a different way than he did now. "And you also have to train with Martin, because he has lots of experience. You will need to train in human and in wolf form, who knows what Stonebreaker is going to do."

"OK, thanks." he said, ready to leave.

"Wait! If you want to, when you face him for the first time, I can come with you, so you're not completely alone. I can't fight, but I can try to support you..." She didn't know if he was still listening. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' she scolded herself for just starting to talk. There was no way for him to accept that kind of help, and now he would also think that she was some kind of freak...

"I'll think about it." She stopped, hearing his footsteps as he left to look for his brother.

'Just what is going on in his head?'

Chris' POV:

He just didn't know why he had said that. She was his enemy, she wasn't supposed to offer her help! That was so weird in so many ways. But every time he tried thinking that she probably did this to destroy him from the inside, something in his heart told him that he was wrong, that she really wanted to help him. That was also the part that had rejoiced upon hearing that she would help him.

He grabbed his chest, confused about himself. He should hate her, yet there was a bit of warmth left in his chest after they had talked. Perhaps insanity was closer than he had thought, he had to act fast.

Martin was in Aviva's lab where they tried out combining his arm with his suit. Using Yami's tricks, they were able to program his suit with the new features she had developed months ago: realistic mode, where she kept the animal's colour scheme and had the same sensual abilities as them, and battle mode, which she had originally used to fight Martin, where she had heightened stamina, strength and fighting abilities, such as the possibility to combine different animalistic traits like retractable claws from the lion's power and the defensive powers of the armadillo.

"This is so great! Why have we never thought of doing that?" he asked, eager to try one of them out.

"Because we didn't know how we would be able to activate. We still used a system that required touching the animal whose disk you had to activate. Yet, when Zach disrupted your suits, I saw that you could activate it without touching an animal and even without a disk. I have since been trying to recreate that, but I wasn't able to. Now, I've been trying it out with Yami and we managed to build a version compatible for the Creature Power Suits based on her own body. Which is a robotic masterpiece by the way, her technology should have been invented more than a hundred years in the future!"

Martin grinned, changing his right hand into a screwdriver and removing the disc-reader from his own suit. He was really getting the hang of these new features.

"But you will be the only one able to use this new system right now, because it requires a link with the brain to choose what animal you want to become. Your arm already has this connection, and it will be easy to link it to your suit."

"But – but does that mean...that Chris can't try it out with me?" He stopped his work. He didn't want to have an advantage over his brother, he knew exactly how Chris would have enjoyed these new possibilities.

"Sadly, it won't be for fun anymore, you know that." Chris suddenly said, stepping into the lab. Aviva had told him about the newest feature before, but he had stopped thinking about creature adventures. Zach had become too powerful for them to ignore him, and after his two last attacks, they all knew that he wanted to destroy them. So they had to do everything in their power to defeat him once and for all. It wouldn't be easy, they would have to use every single advantage they could possibly get.

"Yes, I'm just trying to forget it for a minute. We have to get stronger, I'm aware of that, but if we only think about battle, we are going to destroy ourselves. From the inside." Martin pointed to his chest.

Chris sighed. His brother was right. Their whole team had grown together over their work. His brother and himself loved discovering new creature powers and trying them out, Aviva had always pulled them out of dangerous situations thanks to her inventions, Koki thrived on programming computers, and Jimmy had managed to make his greatest hobby, playing video-games, into his job. Smiling, he remembered the day they all first met, still so young and happy, when they didn't have to care about the villains yet. And now? If it went on like that, Zach would defeat them one day, but with them gone, he could become powerful enough to take over the world. He had already proven to be ruthless enough in the last few weeks.

The blonde-haired man turned to his suit again, ready to resume his work, when his younger brother interrupted him. "Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"Could you help me train, please? I need to know how to fight to defeat Stonebreaker."

"So you finally talked to her." he said proudly, putting down his suit to hug him as Aviva watched them, smiling. "Of course I will help you, that's what brothers are for!"

"Thanks bro, I'm glad that I can always count on you." 'Even when I really mess up.' he thought to himself. Just what had he been thinking that evening? His anger had gotten too strong, he had to begin his training.

And fast.

BG Music: Graveyard Kitten - SharaX

"Very good, Chris. But try hitting the dummy multiple times now, so you can knock out an opponent more easily."

He had started the practical training the next morning, after he had been studying human and wolf anatomy for almost the entire night, only allowing himself to sleep for ten minutes at a time, which also helped with keeping Stonebreaker from entering his dreams. But reading for such a long time had paid off: he knew every vital spot, how many hits he would need to break a bone and which parts of the body he had to strike to render his enemy unable to fight. But that was only a part of the training. Right now, he was practising with Aviva and her special training dummy that measured the power of his hits and gave him points. Once he had gathered enough points, the dummy would move on to the next level, first going into defensive positions, then even fighting back.

But it was only filling in for Martin, who was training with Yami. He had to strengthen his mind to be able to resist Hikari if he tried to break out again, something that was as important as keeping Stonebreaker at bay. He also had to learn how to fight properly using his arm. They had went further down the mountainside so they wouldn't put the team in danger if anything happened, but Jimmy was still ready to teleport anything away that was accidentally fired into their direction.

Once both brothers were ready, they would train against each other in both human and animal mode, also trying out the Ultimate Creature Powers.

Chris had just delivered multiple powerful kicks to the dummy's belly, which had granted him 20 points, the biggest amount so far.

"It's a good idea to train your legs, since with climbing you have mostly developed the muscles in your arms." he suddenly heard Koki say. She had left her programming for some time to watch him fight.

"You think so?" Aviva asked back. "I mean, I can see your point, but who knows how much time we have before, well, everything that could happen that involves one or even all of us to fight? Perhaps we should take advantage of what we already have and use that." They would have debated even more if there hadn't been a loud metallic crash. Chris was lying on the ground, blushing in embarrassment, next to the training dummy which had had it's head removed from it's shoulders. The number 9000 was still seen glitching on the screen that was attached to its chest, and they saw that its head started rolling down the mountainside.

"Sorry..." Chris mumbled, picking himself up and brushing some dust off his training jacket. The girls didn't say anything, they just stared at him. No word was heard, apart from a muffled "That was amazing!" coming from Jimmy in the cockpit, who had looked over in just the right second to see the move.

"Just what exactly have you done?" Aviva managed to ask after a couple of seconds. She went over to inspect the dummy, hoping that she would be able to fix it in time for Chris to continue his training.

"I – I don't really know. I wanted to try out a spinning kick but I kind of slipped, and when I tried catching myself with one hand, I probably still had enough momentum to hit it and do some damage." he stammered, still confused about what he had managed to do.

"SOME damage? Chris, you've knocked its head clean off, something you shouldn't have been able to do with what you just told me. Be honest, did you use your wolf powers now?" the inventor asked, looking at him.

"Well, perhaps a little. I already told you I didn't really know!" he tried to defend himself. If Aviva got angry, not even the best fighting moves would help him escape her wrath, him and his brother had already had the joy experiencing that a couple of times.

But she just stood up and started thinking to herself. "Perhaps, because wolves are running so much and you acted just like them while you were gone, your muscles are already trained well enough. So if you activate a part of your powers while in a fight, you can deal twice or even thrice the damage a normal human would deal..." she left, looking for spare parts to replace the missing head.

"Looking for this?" they heard a familiar voice say. Chris turned around, spotting Martin who was climbing up the mountainside holding the head in his hands and grinning. "I guess you practised the spinning kick I told you about."

The younger let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Yeah, it worked a little too well." Suddenly, he saw something climb up behind Martin. "A puma! Martin look out!" He transformed, ready to fight.

Martin whirled around, but relaxed instantly. "Calm down Chris, that's not an actual puma. Well, almost. It's – "

'Yami.' Chris thought.

His brother looked at him, perplexed. "How did you know?"

Transforming back, he recalled his first battle with her. "She told me, kind of. I knew that she could transform into a lioness, but I had no idea she could also become a puma." He could see his brother becoming uneasy, even ready to battle him if the memory would cause him to go nuts again, but there was nothing. He was confused himself, he should have at least felt angry at her again, but he guessed that it was OK when she looked like an animal he was kind of familiar with, because he had met many of them during his time as a wolf.

"Actually, she can transform into all kinds of big cats, but I don't really know why." Martin said, happy that Chris had been able to stay calm around her, but now it was her turn to become unsure. "And she doesn't really want to tell. I just know that she has had this ability for a much longer time than you had yours. Well, right now, most of her body is imitating it, but her arm can still transform normally." He then ran towards the Tortuga, screaming "Aviva, it's alright, I found it!" at the top of his lungs while brandishing the head. Chris and Yami both tried covering their ears, their sharp hearings making the volume almost unbearable. They then looked at each other, and Chris even managed to smile a bit, making him even more confused about himself.

Just what should I be feeling exactly?

He woke up again in a dark, empty place. The only thing he could see was a dark blue couch, and on it sat Stonebreaker.

"Just where have you been? Haven't seen you in a while." He grinned, baring his sharp teeth. "Did you really think you could escape me?" he asked, leaning forward, and licked his lips.

Chris scolded himself. The lack of sleep from the previous nights had slowly gotten to him and he had allowed himself to doze off, but now, he was at the mercy of insanity, again.

"Well, it doesn't matter how often you try, because you'll always end up here. And it's not going to stop until you finally decide to surrender." Stonebreaker said, stood up and punched Chris in the stomach.

The young man sank to his knees, trying to ignore the pain to fight back, but his limbs felt like they were being slowed down by glue. His enemy laughed as Chris eyes filled themselves with tears. It didn't matter how much he trained, he was fighting a losing battle.

But somehow, it felt like something was off, and he could see that Stonebreaker had noticed it as well. Suddenly, a crack opened somewhere to his left and started to let in white light. He could feel himself getting stronger, just as his opponent tried to cover his body to protect it.

"What – what is this?" the werewolf asked, panic in his voice.

Chris didn't know, but he had a very good feeling about it. He grabbed Stonebreaker by his collar, smiling. "The tables are turned." he whispered, as the other man tried to free himself.

But before Chris could use his new-found strength to trap him in one place and defeat him, he managed to teleport a few feet away.

"Accept it! You can't defeat me in my own domain, no matter how strong you are!" Then, he disappeared, leaving Chris alone.

Still confused, but sure that he had been able to win this battle, he started curiously inspecting the crack. It looked almost like a fusion of ripped cloth or paper and a broken wall, with edges switching between being smooth and bendable or rough and hard. After a few seconds of hesitating, he stepped through, only to see Martin sitting on the ground. But it was the old Martin, the one who still had both his arms.

"Martin? What – where – is this still in my head? How did you get here?" he asked. This was almost the weirdest thing he had ever experienced.

His brother looked at him, motioning towards his surroundings. "Does this look like reality to you? Well, OK, if you want this to look like reality, it's going to happen. This is the part of your mind that still belongs to you."

Chris scratched his chin as he started to understand. "So you are the embodiment of reason I established the last two days, that's why you were able to weaken Stonebreaker's power."

Martin smiled. "Exactly. He has made the mistake to try and expand his territory in here, but you have done a great job building up my strength. I have to say that I've always been here, but you kind of stopped listening to me some time ago. Which lead to that intruder becoming more and more powerful in here, and me being confined to a very small space." He tried to look angry, but since he had been created by Chris' imagination, it didn't really work out. "Dammit, you couldn't even include that? You could have at least given me some cool animal features, like a dragon tail or something, or perhaps a more interesting environment. But no! You didn't even really know that I existed until now, you just took me for granted! I'm not making an easy job, you know?"

Chris tried not to giggle, but he still gave his reason what it requested. It was fairly easy, just thinking about it made a bright blue ocean and a tail made of dark blue scales appear.

"And that's how you can create the perfect arena to face Stonebreaker." Martin grinned, ending his staged temper tantrum. "I just wanted to let you know how, but that didn't mean I couldn't also get an advantage out of it!"

"Wait, does that mean that I could fight him in any environment I chose to create?" the younger brother asked, the different possibilities playing out behind him.

"Yes. You have to choose one you can use as many fighting skills as possible, but the good thing about this being your head is that you can change it as often as you like, because this is your part of your mind! He also won't be able to escape you like before, and I will be here with you so I can weaken him even further. The only thing you can't influence will be himself. He could change his form every few seconds, so you'll have to prepare for everything. I know for sure that he has three forms: anthropomorphic, as you have seen him until now, animalistic, as a wolf, and what I call his pure form: insanity, where he looks like a dark storm. You probably won't be able to fight him when he is like that, but that is when my attacks will be the most effective. I can't do a lot of damage when he is in his other two forms, so you'll have to handle the battling yourself then."

Suddenly, Chris felt himself fading out.

"Looks like you're being woken up. But know that, now that I'm strong enough, I can free you from his grasp more often, so you can get a bit of sleep. He will be more careful now anyway, even if he will still try to weaken you." the older brother said, smiling at him again

"Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For your help, for everything. Even if you are not really my brother." Chris said, his surroundings becoming more and more blurry.

"No prob. I might not be your brother, but I'm still a part of you. And I'm going to help you to win this!"

BG music: SharaX – Heartache

"Chris? Chris, wake up!" Martin was shaking his brother's shoulder, scared that Stonebreaker had been able to trap him this time.

"Martin, it's alright! I'm awake and nothing bad happened to me." Chris tried to calm him down.

His brother sighed when he saw that the young man was exactly the same as he had been when he had fallen asleep. "I'm so glad you're OK. But this just can't go on like this! I can't always be worried to death when you fall asleep, we'll have to deal with this problem soon."

"Yes," Chris replied, "and I know exactly how to do it." Quickly, he explained what his reason had told him and how he probably had to change his training to adapt it to Stonebreaker's fighting style.

Suddenly, Yami appeared behind Martin, still in her puma-form. Martin looked at Chris, silently asking if he could tell her. The young brother nodded, and Martin started to explain it to her, with her face lighting up a little bit more with every sentence.

"But my suit still isn't ready, and no robot can imitate a human's and an animal's fighting style perfectly. I don't know how we could start this right away." Martin thought out loud.

"You could train with me!" They both turned around as Yami put a paw on her mouth. She didn't know why she blurted this out, it was stupid. But she had just gotten nervous.

Instantly, Chris' look got colder. "No. I know you helped me, but there's no way I'm letting you fight me again." With these words, he walked away. There were just too many things going on in his mind. First, fighting her would bring back the memories and the hate and probably strengthen Stonebreaker, but he also didn't trust her enough. What if she had really just acted all of this out and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to end their team? If she managed to kill him, Martin wouldn't be strong enough to face her alone, and training with him would give her many options to defeat him. Some things were there he just couldn't allow her to do.

Heartbroken, Yami lied down on the ground. Martin petted her, knowing what she was thinking, but he couldn't help her. She sighed, her brown eyes slowly closing.

Why do I keep making mistakes?

That night, Chris hadn't been able to keep himself awake. While he floated through a black void, he hoped that his reason was strong enough to keep Stonebreaker at bay, because he didn't know if he would be able to fight at all. But that hope disappeared the instant he saw insanity appear before him. It was Stonebreaker's pure form, a dark cloud whose form shifted between that of a man and that of a wolf. And he could tell that it was furious.

"That was the last time you escaped me! I'm seriously fed up by you always slipping through my fingers, so now you will stay trapped here while I destroy your reason! I know it was the thing that freed you, but that won't happen again." the dark wolf roared, lightning coming out of his paws.

Suddenly, images appeared around Chris. Images of Yami when she was fighting him, but next to the Tortuga!

"That never happened. Did you really think you could trick me into believing your lies?" He crossed his arms when Stonebreaker appeared next to him in his near-human form.

"Yes, you are right, that hasn't happened. Yet." The werewolf put one arm around Chris' neck, trapping him. "But we both know that she wanted to kill Martin. I don't think anybody would lose the wish to destroy a life as easily as that."

With these words, another image appeared, showing her standing next to Martin's bed, a glowing purple blade in hand which she put close to his neck.

"She can't be trusted. You said it yourself! I'm just repeating your own thoughts, I don't need to think of lies."

Sadly, he was right. Chris felt that he wasn't as sure about his arguments as before, as everything he had built up started to crumble. Not only had the poison created Stonebreaker, it had also weakened his entire being.

"Exactly! You are not fit to be a leader anymore, you just let her roam freely around the Tortuga! That is not something a good leader would do if he really cared for his team. She is dangerous, yet you do nothing to stop her. You have truly become an awful leader, but I, I have strength! I am able to protect everyone when I have the power of a wolf on my side. Just surrender, and everyone will stay safe." the hybrid whispered, his red eyes narrowed. Slowly, Chris felt his grip on reality slip away.

BG music: Linkin Park – Numb

'That's not true!'

A voice, unknown, yet familiar, resonated in his ears. But even if he couldn't tell who it was, a slight feeling of security filled his heart, giving him the power to grab Stonebreaker's arm.

'Chris, he only wants you to believe him so he can destroy you and take over. Do not listen to him!'

Suddenly, he knew who was speaking to him. It was Martin, the voice of his reason, but supported by none other than Yami herself.

'I know I've made huge mistakes,' he heard her whisper, even if he couldn't see her, 'but that wasn't the real me. Insanity had taken over nearly the entirety of my mind, twisting my perception of the truth. Just like what Stonebreaker is trying to do to you right now! I know it is difficult, but you have to resist him. If he takes over your body, the first thing he will do is kill the team! For their sake, you have to free yourself from these thoughts and wake up!'

He felt her voice getting weaker, as if talking to him would drain all of her power. Why did she keep doing all of this for him? Offering her help, staying in her animal form so he wouldn't get angry, she even still came back and tried to speak to him over and over again without being angry at him for insulting her.

Suddenly, he knew exactly what he had to do.

"Yami, I'm going to train with you! I will accept your help, even if your actions in the past are still troubling me." he roared at Stonebreaker, who was stumbling back as if Chris had hit him with all his might.

"But – but why? Everything worked out so well! Why do you keep finding the ability to escape me?" he hissed.

"Because I will not let myself be controlled by my feelings. I will always listen to what my reason has to say!" the younger brother said. It was true. He didn't want to train with her, but he realized that he had no other choice. His insanity had just gotten too strong, and who knew how the battle would end if he didn't train with an expert?

As Stonebreaker's grip on him weakened, he could feel Yami's power like an escape rope, ready to help him to get out. Mobilising his last bit of strength, he kicked the one who was trying to hold him back and disappeared into reality.

"We have to find a way for him to get some sleep, or else he will never be able to win." He tried to open his eyes, the voices muffled, as if his ears were filled with cotton. It seemed to be Aviva's voice.

"Chris, you're alright!" Martin, only a blue blur in front of him, hugged him, and tears started staining his shirt.

He didn't say a word, just patted his brother's back to try and comfort him. It was true, if it continued like this, Stonebreaker would beat him in no time. Then, he looked around, looking for Yami. He still couldn't see much, but he recognized her human form, just before he saw that she had collapsed, panting heavily. Koki tried to hold her with Jimmy's help, but he could also see that parts of her were black with purple currents of energy!

He quickly closed his eyes when he recognized her original robotic body, so his anger wouldn't come back. 'Helping me must have drained most of her energy.' he thought.

"I will train with Yami." he suddenly said. Everybody turned to face him, even Martin let go of him.

"Really?" his brother asked, eyes lighting up.

"Yes. I realised that I don't exactly have a choice, and it is the only reasonable thing to do. Taking that choice also was the thing that finally defeated..." he quickly covered his mouth with his hand when he was interrupted by sudden coughs. But when they stopped, he started shaking. His hand was covered in blood, dark purple, almost black, blood.

"What – what is happening to me?" It was only a whisper, but everybody heard it. Martin and Aviva froze in shock and disbelief, and Koki looked like she was about to let go of Yami, but she jerked herself back into reality when the cyborg moved in her arms.

"It's – it's the poison. It mixed itself with your blood and thus increased in volume. That – " she stopped for a second when one of the purple currents on her body stopped glowing with energy. "that's the reason why Stonebreaker had gotten so strong over the past few days. We have to start the training right away!" She tried to get up, but the lack of energy made her fall back to her knees. Holding back Koki who wanted to help her, she uttered some words, almost too feeble to be understood. "It was my fault. I can't give up now, I just can't! He needs me...needs my training..."

Somehow, she was able to stand back up, still shaking and holding onto the table, but determined to train with Chris. She motioned for Aviva to give her a bit of the tellurium that powered their ship so her body would have enough energy for the next few hours, after which her own source of energy would be able to take over.

"Meet me outside...in twenty minutes." she told the younger brother and then stumbled into her room, only to collapse on the floor.

Aviva led Chris inside her lab to give him something against the bleeding. He felt the mixture soothe his pain, but he was still scared. Did that mean that insanity did not only affect his mind, but also his body? He shook his head, trying to get rid of these thoughts. The most important thing right now was for him to gain enough fighting skills to defeat Stonebreaker.

Later, he went outside, where he saw Martin waiting with the other cyborg. She had put on a light purple training suit that covered everything but her eyes, and when he silently asked Martin why, his brother told him that it was for his own good.

"She doesn't have enough energy to keep her human form, but we know what effect her real body has on you, so she put that on to hide it. I'm staying here to make sure that nothing happens, you can trust me." the tall blonde said while Yami got into a fighting position.

"I want you to give it your all. We don't have time for easy training, but we will keep a telepathic connection. That way, I can tell you about new skills while fighting, and you can try them out right away. I promise that I will only use my two forms and no weapons. Do you trust me?" She held out her hand.

After some hesitation, Chris took it and build up the mental connection. 'I will train with you, but that doesn't mean that I will trust you completely. I'm only doing this because of Stonebreaker.'

She nodded, and motioned for him to get ready. Martin gave the signal to start, and instantly, both fighters started sparring. Chris felt anger rising inside his throat, but used it to gain strength and throw Yami onto the ground. She caught herself and instantly jumped back on her feet, before she charged him. They both delivered a couple of blows to each other's stomachs and chests without any of them gaining the upper hand.

Suddenly, Yami shifted into a lioness and tried to jump onto her opponent, surprising Chris.

'Slide underneath me and slash my belly, but without claws!' he heard her voice say in his head. He did as she told him, but instead of slashing her, he made his legs shift and kicked her with all his might, sending her flying a few feet away. He then transformed completely and attacked her again. But because she had more experience, she threw him back and tackled him easily. He tried to free himself, but she was too strong.

'See? You did have a good idea, but now, I've won. You have to use every advantage you can get, or else he will be able to defeat you.' she let go of him so he could catch his breath again. 'Stonebreaker will not hesitate to kill you, you have to think like a fighter if you want to gain control again.'

'She's right.' Chris thought to himself. 'If I was able to kill two alpha males during my time as a wolf, then I'm able to do it now!' He waited for Martin's new signal to charge her again. This time, he only changed his arms and legs to get more power, but he was still able to walk on two legs. He ran faster and faster, until he reached her. She wanted to dodge, but he leaped over her while turning upside-down in mid-air and grabbed her, his momentum being high enough to lift her body off the ground, before he threw her behind him. She shook her head to get rid of the dizziness, but he was already there and kicked her side.

'Very good! I'm now confused and wounded, but think about how you can use your environment. Martin told me you could change it in your head, show me what you can do here.'

He looked around, noticing the trees that were close. 'I have to climb!' he thought. 'If I manage to get the higher ground, I have more possibilities to defeat her.' Starting to run, he wanted to reach the trees before she would be able to catch up to him, but on such a short distance, she was the better runner.

She leaped towards him and hit his leg, an extremely painful wound if her claws had been out. Taking the training seriously, he lift his leg to simulate a real wound. He managed to twirl around and hit her face, a slash that would have made her lose an eye. He saw her nod in approval before she rammed her head inside his chest, pressing the air out of his lungs.

'In a real fight, climbing would be difficult now, but I will have problems following you with only one eye. What else can you do to handicap me further?'

He tried to think, but it was hard while he had to defend himself against her blows. They were coming faster now and would have injured him in several vital places, even after she had closed one of her eyes. He jumped away from her and tried to stay on the side where she had no eye so she couldn't see him, but somehow she was still able to pinpoint his location exactly, almost tackling him again. He rolled out of the way, only to be hit on the back.

'Use all of your senses! If you can't use your eyesight because of one reason or another, you still have to be able to fight. Try it, close your eyes.'

Even if a part of his brain told him not to, to keep his eyes open so he could watch her, he closed his eyes. Almost instantly, his sense of hearing which he hadn't really noticed became sharper, and so did his sense of smell. His surroundings were at first blurry in his mind, but he was soon able to detect her smell and heard her paws slamming on the ground, indicating that she was running. He moved his head and realized that she was running towards him, but was able to jump out of the way just in time. He felt warm wind close to him and slashed in its direction, hitting a bunch of fur.

Using the opportunity where he knew exactly where she was, he held on to the fur and waited for a paw to hit him. Feeling the air shift, he was able to predict where it would come from and bit down on it. He tasted metal but no blood, so he assumed it was her left paw, the one that was robotic. Pulling it towards him, he lied down on the ground and kicked towards the place where he thought was her chest.

'Exactly. A powerful bite will destroy the bones in the paw and your kick yanked my arm out of its socket. Climbing is now almost impossible, and I will be too dizzy to follow you for a few seconds.' She didn't seem to be hurt, but she simulated all of her wounds, giving him a chance to run towards the trees.

He still didn't open his eyes. Thanks to him being only partially wolf, his senses were sharper than those of any other predator, and he could distinguish the trees without a problem. Only climbing would now be almost impossible, but he didn't give up.

He let out loud, high-pitched and short howls into the direction of the trees. And yes! It wasn't perfect, but the echo had helped him to form a picture of the big branches and the tree stems inside his head. Still howling, he started to run on two legs and transformed his paws back into hands, leapt up into the air and grabbed the first branch, using his momentum to swing himself up. He felt for the place where he had localised the next branch and quickly grabbed it to keep his balance. A few feet away, Yami had gotten up and was running after him. Thanks to his sharp hearing, he knew exactly when she would be close enough, and when she was ready to leap upwards to climb after him, he jumped down and onto her back.

She leaped up and rotated, but before she could fall onto him, he moved to the side. He had the air pressed out of his lungs when she landed on his stomach, but she had exposed her underside, the most vulnerable part of her body. So he changed his hand into a paw and put it on her throat, indicating that he had won.

"Your fighting style is already great, I barely had to help you." she said, after they had both transformed back and Martin had helped to tend towards the few scratches Chris had gotten from falling on the ground.

"Well, I was somehow able to recall some of the moves I had learned during my time as a wolf." he laughed, scratching the old scar on the back of his head. "And I tried to copy Martin's moves, since the way he fights is pretty much unpredictable." The fight had exhausted him, but he knew that she had meant her compliment, and that somehow made him feel warm inside.

"That's right!" Martin looked at Chris mockingly. "And yet you always said that I didn't take things seriously enough. But now, it helped you." He offered his brother a glass of water that he gladly accepted.

"And I think that I've found a way for you to sleep a bit before your battle tomorrow."

Chris almost spat out the water in his mouth and started coughing again when he heard Yami's words. He stared at her in disbelief. Did she really think he would battle Stonebreaker the next day? Was she trying to kill him with the effects of her poison?

"Don't look at me like that! It's the only way, because we can only help you sleep once, and you probably won't be able to survive another night with him in control." she told him, knowing what he was thinking. So he was still not trusting her.

"Wait, why can you help me only once?" he asked, after Martin had helped him to stop coughing.

"It – it just takes too much energy." she whispered. "When I tried to get into your mind on my own to help you, it tried to repel me, just as it did with Martin during our last – last fight. It's an automatic reflex, you can't do anything about it." she added when Chris tried to protest. "But we'll have to get in to protect you from Stonebreaker, so he won't be able to destroy you."

Suddenly, Martin started to speak. "Before you ask, yes, WE. You saw that she doesn't have enough energy to stay in your mind for a long time, and an entire night would be impossible. But if we combine our energy source, we should have enough power to sustain a barrier strong enough to repel Stonebreaker for the whole night. She already calculated that, together, our power isn't just doubled, but quadrupled!"

"It has something to do with this source. I've spent the last few months finding out more about it, but I still don't understand it completely." Yami finished explaining.

Taken aback by what they just told him, Chris faced Martin again. "But...what effects is it going to have on you? You may have more power, but what if the lack of energy...kills you? I don't want you to take that risk!"

"Chris!" Martin grabbed his brother's shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "It's already killing me to see you suffer like that every night, and to know that I can't do anything to protect you. But now that there is a way, I will stop at nothing to help you! Even if – even if that means running the risk to be badly hurt." He then hugged him, feeling the tears that dropped onto his own shirt.

"You might be unconscious for a very long time, but thanks to your heart still working normally you won't die. The others will just have to take care of you until you wake up again." Yami was heard saying, interrupting the older brother. "There is no imminent lethal danger for you."

'For me, on the other hand,' she added silently, 'it will probably be more dangerous because the Stone replaced my heart. I hope that I'll be able to survive.'

That evening, all three of them were sitting in the main room which had been darkened. Both Martin and Yami were hooked up to machines that would help them survive the lack of energy after they had finished. Martin's machine was connected to a defibrillator that would restart his heart if anything unpredictable happened, and Yami's was connected directly to the Tortuga's power core, ready to kick in to power her body, but she didn't know if her body was going to accept the sudden flow of energy. One crystal was alright, but what about a whole bunch? She tried to get rid of these thoughts, it was too late to get back anyway.

Chris wasn't connected to anything, but they still took one safety measure: if Yami's plan failed and they weren't able to sustain the barrier, there was the possibility that Stonebreaker would be able to defeat Chris and completely take over his body. So to prevent him from harming anybody, Chris had been locked inside an extremely powerful cage.

"OK, everything's ready guys!" Aviva told them. She was in a separate room with Koki and Jimmy. One of them was going to keep an eye on the trio, while the other two got some sleep, and they would switch every three hours. If anything happened, they would instantly be able to interfere with a powerful alarm that would wake everyone up, but nobody knew if it would be enough to wake Chris if he was in danger. All of that might have seemed over the top, but they were also practising for the next day.

"Alright. Chris, are you ready?" Yami asked. The brown-haired man nodded and sat down, before he closed his eyes. She then motioned for Martin to hold her hand and also close his eyes.

"Start the telepathic connection, please." Then, she also closed her eyes. She clearly felt Martin's presence next to her, and both of them tried to strengthen the connection between them so they could use the Stone's full power. Finally, she could see him next to her in the dark void of their minds and they both joined hands, when everything disappeared around them.

The entire room was suddenly filled with light when a sudden outburst of energy emanated from the two cyborgs, only to surround Chris. Aviva tried to make out her boyfriend's face, and she could see that he was sweating. Hoping that they all knew what they were doing, she went to sleep, praying for them to stay alive.

Chris woke up in a white room. He didn't see Stonebreaker, so that meant that Martin and Yami had been successful. Instead, he saw his reason stepping closer.

"I see. So you're finally getting a chance to sleep." Chris suddenly saw a huge bed appear in front of him. "Come on. Your body is resting right now, but your mind is incredibly tired from all of the fights against your opponent. The training was great, I've been able to see some of it. But you have to sleep now if you want to be strong enough tomorrow."

It was only now that he realised how tired he really was. Apparently, the fact that he was a hybrid had allowed him to be almost without any sleep for several days, but when he stumbled towards the bed and fell onto it, he was barely able to mumble a "night." before he disappeared in the silence and nothingness he needed.

Everything was quiet when Koki started the first night shift. Chris had gotten completely inert, so she assumed that he had finally been able to fall asleep. But she was extremely worried about Martin and Yami. In addition to Martin sweating, both of their energy currents, either on Martin's arm or on Yami's entire body, began to glow less powerfully. Quickly, she checked their readings.

"Both stable. Let's just hope they will survive the night."

Several hours later, Chris woke up again, his reason still watching him.

"You look a lot better now. Did you finally get enough sleep?" Chris nodded. "Great. But your brother and your new colleague are starting to get weaker, and soon, you'll be pulled back. But you have to start building the arena now, or Stonebreaker might have an advantage. He has to be completely unprepared, that way, you'll be able to weaken him while he is still trying to understand where he is."

"You're right. I only have one chance to do this." he clenched his fist, as trees and walls started forming around them. But as soon as he had finished, he fell down to his knees. "And...and that's what...kinda...scares me." He started shaking. "I – If I make a single mistake, it might actually cost me my life. Don't!" he raised his hand to stop his reason from correcting him. "I know that I won't die, but I will completely lose the control over my body. And when that happens, I might as well be dead. I'm...getting used to the thought, actually. Living in fear for the past few days, or weeks, I've lost count, kinda made me accept death. But I – I just can't accept that I might also kill my friends in the process."

His reason put a hand on his shoulder, understanding showing in his eyes. "Come on, the others are waiting."

BG Music: Angel of darkness - Alex C. ft. Jasmin K.

Chris opened his eyes, frantically searching for his brother. 'Please, let him be alright!' He saw Yami lying on the floor, her armour only glowing a very faint purple, who was being connected to the ship's power core to help sustain her energy system by Koki. Finally, he saw Martin in another corner of their special room. Aviva was holding him and tried to clean his forehead with a cold cloth, but Chris froze when he saw his brother's face, twisted in pain and fear, and blood dripping out of one corner of his mouth.

"C-Chris...ah...Stonebreaker...cough...too...too strong." Martin whispered, eyes widened in horror.

Chris gasped. "Aviva! What...what happened?" He grabbed the bars of his cage, sweating.

"I'm not sure." she replied, trying to stay calm at the sight before her. "But I believe that Stonebreaker attacked them while they were protecting you. Thankfully, they were able to hold him off, but it took them incredible amounts of energy. Martin's heartbeat increased to almost impossible levels, causing some blood vessels to break, and Yami's power was almost completely drained. It will take time to heal, but what's more important is that you're alright. Were you finally able to sleep?"

"Yes." He sat back down, still looking towards his brother. His breathing had gotten slower as Aviva was whispering to him, and he seemed to calm down a bit. "Martin? Can you hear me?" he asked carefully.

"Chris? Is that you?" Martin answered, barely able to raise his voice above a whisper.

"Yeah. I'm alright." Chris barely managed to hold back his tears. Why was all of this happening to them? It seemed like fate was determined to break them, wanting to see how much they could take before going crazy.

"Good. Don't...don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just need to...rest...a little." He closed his eyes, his breathing getting deeper.

"He will need the sleep to heal." Aviva said, using one of the hover-chairs to get him into his room and lie down on his bed. Then, she went into the kitchen and came back with some food. "Here. You have to gain some strength if you want to fight him." She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're nervous, we all are. But we mustn't lose hope! As long as we believe in ourselves, we can achieve anything, no matter what, be it saving animals or defeating an evil second personality."

He sighed and smiled back. "Guess you're right." 'Yeah.' he thought, 'I won't help anyone if I keep thinking about this. Just please, let these not be my last moments with the team!'

About an hour later, everything was ready. Yami was still hooked up to the power core, her energy currents being one of the only faint lights illuminating the room. Chris had put on his special straps that would make sure he wouldn't hurt himself, Jimmy was watching Martin in his room, Koki helped Yami by regulating the power outlet and Aviva had finished setting up the machines that would measure Chris' cerebral energy from a distance, so they would know if anything went wrong.

"Guys?" Aviva and Koki looked up at the sound of Chris' voice. "I know that all of you think that, somehow, I will beat this guy. But you must all accept that...that I could also lose. Please, just let me finish." Aviva closed her mouth again. "If that happens, and you will know when it does, I want you to fulfil my last wish." He took a deep breath. "When my eyes are red, that means that I lost. Nothing will be able to bring me back. So I have one request. Kill me."

Koki gasped. "Impossible! We could never kill you, you're our friend! We – "

"Please!" A tear ran down Chris' cheek. "It won't be me anymore. Anything you will see is an empty shell inhabited by Stonebreaker. I will be gone! But if he stays alive, he will try to kill you, all of you. I don't want my mistakes to cost you your lives!" He started crying, grasping the bars with his hands. "So please, promise me that you will destroy him!"

He saw them hesitate. Aviva bit her lip and Koki rubbed her neck. This was a difficult decision, and they knew that they couldn't do anything without the whole team being there. So Aviva went to get Jimmy and Martin.

After they had explained everything, Jimmy fell back onto one of the chairs, unable to say anything. Martin, still weak, had to be supported by Aviva, but he still managed to walk forward a few steps.

"Are you kidding me? Chris, do you realise what you just said? DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE ASKING OF ME RIGHT NOW?!" he yelled at his brother.

Chris just stared at him, tears in his eyes. He should have known that Martin would react this way. He wanted his own brother to kill him, or watch somebody else do it without interfering. Waiting for Martin to break into his cage and knock some sense into him, he lowered his eyes, but his brother just stood there.

"You know what? Screw you!" Martin hissed through his gritted teeth. "YOU may have given up on your life, but that's not what MY Chris would have done. You are not the brother I grew up with, the brother who went out to save animals with me." He stumbled, but pushed Aviva away when she tried to help him. "I don't care what happens to you in there. Someone who has given up on himself just like that, even when there is still a chance, is dead to me!" And without looking back a single time, he went to his room and locked the door behind him.

Everyone was silent for a few minutes, until Chris started growling. "Fine! I take that as a yes. Aviva, we start now."

"Chr-Chris, perhaps we should wait until he comes back..." she tried saying, but the younger brother interrupted her instantly.

"NOW!" His fangs grew, cutting into his lip. Incredible anger about everything filled his heart, had Stonebreaker really managed to change him that much? But now, he had to focus. One mistake, and everything would be lost...

Sitting down on the ground, he went into a position that would allow him to protect his bones from breaking if he started imitating the movements with his body. Then, closing his eyes, he focused on his own arena.

When he opened his eyes again, he was standing inside a clearing he had created last night. His reason was nowhere to be seen, but that was probably his fault. As he thought about it, he realized that it had been a really bad idea to fight with Martin, but it was already too late. A black pillar of smoke before him showed him that Stonebreaker was there.

Even before the smoke disappeared, Stonebreaker already leapt out to attack him, and only Chris' sharpened senses and heightened reaction rate allowed him to dive out of reach just in time. He instantly transformed and ran past his opponent, slashing his side when he was next to him. The dark wolf didn't even wince, instead, he whirled around and bit Chris' paw, ripping out a bit of fur in the process.

Chris howled in pain, but still managed to slash Stonebreaker's face with his other paw. He then partially transformed back, keeping his fangs, claws, senses and stamina, so he could climb one of the trees. While he was running away towards the edge of the clearing, he started having doubts.

'We have only been fighting for a few seconds, but I'm already injured. He is way stronger than I thought!'

"That's right!" Chris could feel Stonebreaker's breath on his neck before he felt the skin on his back being ripped apart by powerful claws. Despite his vision getting blurry, he kept running. "Did you really think you would be the only one training? I knew you were planning to defeat me, but I'm not letting the chance to have a body of my own slip by so easily!" Chris had been able to climb a tree, but Stonebreaker was slowly lifting himself up behind him, as if he was playing with his prey. "I've watched your every move, analysing your style, developing counter-attacks. Every time you have been training, I've never let you out of my sight. You cannot win this." He came closer. "And I have to thank you, I guess. The hate you've kept inside you increased with every passing day, strengthening me more and more." Chris could now see his reflection inside the red glowing eyes. "Until now, when I'm finally able to defeat you, and take what's rightfully mine!" He started shaking uncontrollably. Was this the end? Would these red eyes be the last thing he saw?

"And when I finally get out, the first thing I'll do is kill that precious brother of yours, well not so precious now, I guess. But it will still be a pleasure to see the look on his face! Destroyed by his own brother...his death will be slow and painful. And I'll also make that other one pay! It's true that she helped me getting stronger, but she has gotten between me and my goal way too often."

That made Chris snap. He didn't know why, but the thought of losing Yami was as horrible as the knowledge that Stonebreaker would kill Martin. With a feral roar, he jumped onto his enemy, making both of them fall down on the ground. He didn't feel the pain anymore, the only thing he saw now was Stonebreaker, the wish to kill him being the only thought in his brain. Biting Stonebreaker's neck and holding down his paws to keep him in place, he kept slashing at his back.

Stonebreaker tried freeing himself, howling in pain while Chris ripped through the skins on his back and neck, but his anger had made him stronger. Finally, he was able to twist his body and kicked the other hybrid off him. Panting, he stood up, blood drenching his fur and dripping on the ground. But despite his injuries, he grinned.

"So that's how it is, huh? Very well. I was worried you'll be an easy opponent, but now, we'll be able to play a little before I destroy you!" He charged and tackled Chris to the ground. The young hybrid yelped and tried to dig his claws into Stonebreaker's belly, but the dark wolf was too strong. Ripping open the skin on his arms and slashing his face, he growled. "Come on, Chris. Let's have some FUN!"

"Aviva, can't we do anything to help him?" Koki yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

"No, I-I'm so sorry, he has to do this alone. I-I just don't have the ability to break into his mind without damaging it. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I-" the inventor whispered as she stared into nothingness. Her voice was almost drowned out by the sound of Chris' screaming and howling, which was only interrupted by short phases of panting. He was now suspended in mid-air, the straps were the only things that kept him from hurting himself.

"Chris, can you...can you hear me?" Koki asked, but Chris didn't notice. He had now opened his eyes, but they didn't see anything, the pupil had completely disappeared. Suddenly, Koki gasped.

"A-Aviva? You might want to see this..."

The young woman turned around. "Wha..." she started, but froze instantly when she saw what Koki wanted to show her. Chris had started crying, without making any sound, tears of blood flowing down his cheeks and dripping onto the ground.

"This...this can't be happening..." she whispered, eyes widened in horror. Did it mean that Chris was dying, that his body had started destroying itself from the inside?

Suddenly, they both noticed a movement behind them. Yami had been woken up by the screams, and despite her low power, she dragged herself towards the cage and held onto the bars. Then mobilising all the strength she had gotten back, she tried building a connection between her mind and Chris'.

"Come on, come on. REACH!" she yelled, collapsing instantly. But she still pulled herself up, again and again, and kept trying.

Finally, Koki snapped out of her trance and went to heighten the level of power supporting Yami's circuits. The cyborg nodded, silently thanking her, and resumed her approach.

"Chris, please, don't give up."

BG Music: General Mumble - Perfect

"This day is going to be perfect!" Stonebreaker chanted, as he kicked Chris over the clearing. The hybrid didn't even have the strength to react anymore, before his darkness ran over and slammed his body against a tree. "The kind of day of which I dreamed since I was small...aww, Chris, where did your fighting spirit go? Did I hurt you too MUCH?" he grinned, slamming his fist into Chris' chest and making him cough up some blood. "Well, too bad for you!" He threw him back onto the ground and put his foot on his head, pushing his face into the dirt which was already covered in patches of blood.

"For one second I really hoped you could entertain me for some time, but I guess I was wrong. That you would give up so easily...huh? What did you say?" He stepped aside and crouched down beside Chris, then grabbed his collar to lift him up so he could look at him.

"I...I won't...give...up..." Chris coughed.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't quite catch that!" Stonebreaker laughed, slamming Chris' face into the ground again, before lifting him back up. "Could you repeat that for me?"

"I will never...give...UP!" he yelled, using his last bit of strength to grab Stonebreaker's arm. Taken by surprise, the dark one couldn't react as Chris slashed his chest. "You're wrong, Martin." he whispered, standing back up and wiping the blood off his face. "I have not given up on myself. Not yet."

'Thank you, Yami. I really needed someone to pull me out of this.' he thought, as he felt her presence fade away.

"Heh, so you still think you can beat me? Pathetic. Have you looked at yourself?" Stonebreaker hissed, holding his new wound. It was true. Chris was covered in cuts and bruises, his clothes were in rags and drenched in blood, and his face was barely recognizable. But he was still alive! Even if he wasn't able to fight in this state, he would try anything to win this battle.

"But you don't seem to be fine, either!" Chris teased. "If you really are as strong as you say, then why was I able to land these hits?"

"Shut up!" his opponent growled. "Maybe I should stop postponing your death and kill you right now!" He charged again, but Chris dodged in the last moment, making him run against the tree. The wood cracked, but Stonebreaker still whirled around, searching his prey.

"Can't get me, huh? Come on, you just said that this was easy!" He dodged another of his attacks.

'If I can keep this up long enough, he might become so angry that he won't be able to concentrate anymore. It's a shot in the dark, but it's my only chance.'

"Could it be that I'm getting on your nerves?" Jumping out of reach, he kept teasing him. "Am I annoying, is that why you look so stressed out?" Stonebreaker tried to tackle him again, but the rush of adrenaline gave Chris the power to leap up a tree and land behind his opponent. "Or is it because there is still a teeny-tiny chance that..."

"Don't you dare..."

"I could actually..."

"No, you won't..."

"Beat you!"

"NEVER!"

Roaring at the top of his lungs, Stonebreaker ran towards him, fangs glistening in the fading light. Chris grinned.

'Yes, focus on me, don't look at what's around you.' he thought, as the trees next to him started moving. Just when Stonebreaker was right before him, ready to finish what he started, two thick branches came from above and dug into the ground, trapping him in between.

"No, it can't be! You weren't supposed to win!" he yelled, trying to free himself, but it was impossible. The trees were just too strong.

"I have to thank Yami, I guess. Thanks to her, I remembered what I'm capable of here." Chris said, coming closer. "And of course, I have to thank you."

"Glad you were able to make it." his reason replied, appearing next to them. "I did my best locking away his smoke form, even though I was weakened."

"Yeah, sorry about that." he winced in pain as the adrenaline disappeared.

"But anyway, what are you going to do with...this?" Martin motioned towards the immobile werewolf.

"Just kill me already!" he hissed, the weight of the wood pressing the air out of his lungs.

Chris put a claw against his throat, but hesitated, and finally pulled it away.

"What?" The werewolf looked up, confused. But then, he started laughing bitterly. "So, you don't want to kill me, huh? You pathetic creature are even too weak to finish what you have started. Go on, let me live. But I'll never leave you alone. Above everything you'll do in the future, my shadow will be looming, waiting for you to let your guard down. You will never have peace as long as I'm here!"

The young brother stayed silent for a moment, then, he turned towards his reason. "Have you prepared what I've told you about?"

"Of course! It's right here." Suddenly, a door appeared out of nowhere and opened, showing a desolate, white room.

"Stonebreaker, I didn't kill you because I'm not the kind of person you are. I know that you want to kill everybody I love, but you're still a part of me. Sure, the part that I'm trying to hide and forget, but I just can't destroy you. Instead, I'm locking you away. You will never be able to get into my head ever again!" With these words, Stonebreaker was pulled inside the cell by white chains. He roared and tried to get away, but the door closed, trapping him inside.

"So, are you ready to get back?" his reason asked him carefully. Chris sighed.

"I...I don't know. I really messed up, and this time, I don't think Martin is going to forgive me so easily."

"Perhaps. But there is still something else you'll have to do."

"Wait, what?" he asked, but he was already fading away. "Martin, what do you mean?"

He woke up in the cage. Yami had collapsed next to it, the connection having taken up too much power. Wincing, he tried to move, only to notice that it was impossible.

"Chr-Chris? Is...is that really you?" Aviva asked when the sensors showed that he was awake again.

"Yes! I've won! It's finally over." he sighed happily.

After checking his eyes to make sure that it was really him, she lowered him to the ground and released him. Koki helped her opening the cage, and when he came out, both of them hugged him, tears of joy drenching his shirt.

But something still felt like it wasn't right. He touched his face, only to feel something sticky.

Blood?

"Oh, Chris! I'm so glad you're alright. You kept screaming for hours, we...we were just so scared that...that you wouldn't make it!" Koki whispered, wiping her tears.

"Yeah, I'm just happy I won't have to deal with him anymore. He was extremely tough, and without Yami's help, I don't think I would be here to tell you what happened. Speaking of, how is she?" he asked, turning around.

"I-I'm alright. Don't worry...about...me. Just...happy you...you're here." she managed to say, smiling, before she collapsed again.

"She'll need to rest for a long time after what she did, but she will make it." Aviva said, after checking the machines she was hooked up to. Suddenly, they heard the sound of a door closing.

Chris looked up, only to see Martin leaning against the wall, his arms crossed before his chest. For one second, he seemed to be glad that Chris was back, but that disappeared instantly.

"Hello." Chris said, but Martin just frowned and went back into his room. He sighed. "I knew it would be difficult. But not like that."

"Come on, we were all a bit tense, I'm sure it will get better." Koki tried to comfort him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'll go and tell Jimmy that everything is fine."

After she had left, Chris sat down on one of the chairs and put his face into his hands, resting his elbows on the table.

'Great! Now, there are two members of the team I'm not on good terms with. But perhaps that's what my reason meant!' He then made his decision.

As soon as she was alright, he would talk to Yami.

"Come on, where is it?" Zach mumbled. Checking every single square inch of the wall, he finally found what he had been looking for: the entrance to her lab. Grinning, he pushed the hidden door, revealing a dark, narrow hallway. There was still dried blood on the floor, but the evil inventor was only looking forward, anxiously waiting for the moment when he would finally hold her technology in his hands.

Suddenly, his sensors picked up traces of her energy. Alarmed, he inspected the walls, noticing the small contacts.

"So, she never really trusted me, huh? A security system. But I'm prepared!" he said to himself, smirking, and took out a device with which he would be able to disable the invisible barrier. A few seconds later, he saw the lights on the contacts go out, signalling that he had been sucessful.

But before he could rejoice, the pale man heard something in front of him collapse. A huge cloud of dust filled with sharp metal particles raced through the hallway, directly towards him! He was barely able to run back into the main hall of the building and hide next to the wall, before the deadly air shot out of the door and filled the opposite part of the hall.

He held his breath and covered his face with his arms until the wind died down, but he was still cut in multiple places. Shaking, he stood up again and looked into the hallway, but it was filled with debris and dust. Nothing was left of the lab he had wanted to plunder.

"NO!" He fell down on his knees. Again, everything had been ripped right out of his Hands, just when he thought that he would have finally been able to win.

But he would never give up. If there was a way he could defeat his enemies, he would find it, even if it took him years!

"Yeah, you should better be careful, Wild Rats, and you too, Yami! Because you, ALL of you, will PAY!"

That's the end of my longest chapter yet. But I know that it will probably be confusing, so here are some explanations:

First of all, the whole Team is completely stressed out. They have had to suffer many heavy attacks in a short time, that's why they don't act 'normally'. Under normal circumstances, Martin and Chris would have probably made up with each other shortly after they had a fight (if they have big fights at all), but now, there are multiple threats around them, causing them to quickly lose their cool.

Secondly, everything that concerns the Stone or Yami's past will be revealed in the next chapter, which will, perhaps, be shorter.

If there are any other questions, I will gladly answer them if it won't spoil anything. And reviews are very welcome, be it a good opinion or criticism, but please, no hate or flames or any of the sort. If you have any constructive criticism thou, it will be gladly accepted! I promise I will try to respond to all of them.

See you hopefully very soon!

GreenxLady