Yay, another chapter!

Hope you enjoy, please don't freak out... Not that you would or anything...

I'll explain in the next update if you don't understand.

... But it's pretty obvious I think.

Review! Enjoy! :)

I woke up slowly, colours of chaos flashing in slow motion. I quickly sat up, watching the horror filled scene in front of me. What had happened while I was unconscious? No one could answer me as splatter of blood landed beside me, a drop sinking into the back of my hand.

"MaAx." I heard an almost taunting voice. I whipped my head around the room. A battle was ensuing, with each and every mutant fighting against an Eraser. Hundreds of bodies were already lying lifeless on the ground, but as I turned, I watched as Caige joined them. Scholar followed and her body fell on top of his, a stream of blood oozing from her head.

This isn't happening, this can't be happening!

My head turned wildly as I looked around, desperate for them to still be standing, to survive. On one of my turns, Fang was standing above me. He held his hand out and yelled something, but no words came out of his mouth. I didn't move quickly enough and soon he arched forwards suddenly before falling over, his head landing on my knees. It took me a few seconds to see the back of his dark colour shirt wet with a pool of blood.

I tried to scream as bodies fell around me, but my voice caught in my throat. I put Fang on the ground and backed away, needing to run away from this nightmare. Out of the corner of my eye I spotter Harmony. She was sitting on her knees, staring of into space while Zen yelled in front of her, desperately squeezing her hands. Two Erasers noticed and grabbed Zen from behind, ripping Harmony's hands from his and trapped his arms to his side. The other took Harmony by her shoulders, shaking her hard, letting her head flop forwards and back while her brother screamed. The Eraser threw her into a wall, letting a loud snap fill my ears.

I ran over to her, picking up her limp body, cradling it. The blank expression on her face never changed. She didn't wake up, and she didn't take in the sharp breath like usual. She didn't even move when her eyes rolled backwards, a fluid running from her ears.

My vision was blurring as I held her, the sounds being blocked from my ears. I remembered Zen and turned desperately to find him. He was still fighting against the same Eraser, but kept his eyes on Harmony, like I was invisible. I didn't even get a chance to run to him or call out before the Eraser grabbed his neck in one arm and the top of his head in the other. He pulled in opposite directions quickly and a snap identical to Harmony's sounded and Zen crumpled to the ground.

No one noticed me, no one attacked me. I could only stand in the middle of the battle and watch it unfold. "MaAx." I heard the voice again. But this time, it faded into a shout.

"Max!" Jace was shouting at me and I turned to see him holding out his hand to me a few meters away. I ran for him, tripping over something and falling to the floor. I looked back to see Nudge staring at me with dead eyes. "Don't stop, run!" Jace was yelling when I tried to run back to Nudge and whip the blood from her temple. I turned reluctantly and stared to run again.

I had almost reached Jace, trying to avoid battles going on all around me. I was just out of his grasp when an Eraser caught my wrist. He pulled me backwards, but I brought my feet up and pushed off him, lunging straight for Jace. But he only looked at me regretfully and full of remorse. I noticed he was already starting to disappear. And when my fingers had reached him, he was already gone.

I crashed to the ground and hit my head on the blood stained floor. I couldn't move anymore as I lay on the ground. No one was left standing and bodies covered the floor like tiles. Suddenly, the walls were filled with bright light as a wall blew out. Explosions occurred all around us, destroying the laboratory, and destroying us. And as soon as it was there, it was gone again. And the separation from the death ceased to exist.

I shot up, panting heavily in the darkness. I looked cautiously through the bars to the room filled with cages, each holding a member of my flocks. A dream, that's all it was. I had to slow down my breathing and calmed myself before noticing someone else's heavy breathing behind me. I turned quickly and had to peer into the darkness. Zen was sitting with his back o me, holding his neck like it would break if he let go. He didn't notice me, only continuing to rock back and forwards, panting heavily. "Zen, are you alright?" I asked him quietly. The sound of my voice made him jump and he turned to face me, letting the light catch his face, skin as white as a ghost. He opened his mouth to speak, but only shuddered and went back to rocking. "Calm down, you're fine." I said and reached out, rubbing his back, gently in case he was bruised. I could faintly see him shaking his head as he whispered under his breath. I had to listen hard to make out the small murmurs.

"There was so much..." He said, barely audible and turned away from me, still holding his neck. "So much..." He wouldn't stop muttering to himself under his shaky breaths. It could have been so much anything, but it made me think of my dream. And he was right. There was so much. So much blood.

Little did I realize I had had my first future vision in the small series I would see. And he had seen and experienced the exact same thing.

"Max?" I heard a voice from behind me once more. My cage wasn't in the same place. Fang was now across from me and I could see him with his face buried into his knees, moving only when he breathed. But he wasn't the one calling to me now.

"Jace, you're awake." I sighed relived, blocking the previous images from my head. Those were most definitely real. Zen's blood was in me as we spoke, and Jace still had the burn marks branded into his skin to prove the events had happened. "Are you okay?" I asked him, knowing very well his answer wouldn't be the truth.

"Fine..." He responded, trailing off as if he would say something else, but he didn't Zen had stopped shaking a bit so I moved over to Jace, now inspecting him. The only noticeable differences were that he looked much more distorted, with a cut and swollen lip and a bit of a dark ring around his eye. Blood was still staining his hair and clothes. But not only that, his shoes were missing, an in their place the metal ring was wrapped around his ankle.

"What is that?" I asked, pointing to it. He shook his head and shrugged as I reached forwards. He brought his foot up willingly to show. I looked as hard as I could in the dim light. I realized that the ring was much more advanced than I thought. There were three layers to it, the base, the hollow inside and the translucent metal covering. The insides almost looked like the motherboard of the computer Nudge had once taken apart. Wanting to get a closer look, I grabbed the ring and pulled it closer to me, not ending with the best results.

A small shock zapped my fingers as I pulled. Thinking it was just me, I gave a huge yank. Jace yelled out and fell backwards as I let go, the zap to my fingers much stronger. "Jace, what happened?" I asked him as he sat up slowly, rubbing his head and clenching his teeth.

"I don't know." He admitted, looking at the ring. "But it felt a lot like Caige." He slowly pulled on it gently, not enough to let it zap him again. I noticed the area around the ring had turned red and raw as he pulled upwards, the skin staying attached to the metal. Whenever he tried to pull the skin away, the cuff would zap. It was like it was sewn into his skin with an indestructible thread.

"What is it supposed to do?" I asked him finally as he gave up on pulling it from his skin. He didn't say a thing, or move. He just stared at the door, looking like he was expecting something to happen. Nothing did and a shocked look came over his face. "Jace, what's wrong?" I asked but he ignored me. He stared at the door again, his eyes piercing as he clenched his fists. After a long silence, he suddenly rammed his fist on the bottom of the cage.

Across from me, Fang snapped awake, peering at me questioningly through the darkness. But I continued to stare at Jace. "Jace, answer me!" I shouted but he shut his eyes, putting his fingers to his temples. Now his teeth were clenched as his eyes squeezed tight harder and his fingers tensed up, pushing extensively into his temples.

"Max, what's wrong with Jace?" I heard Harmony's voice from below Zen's cage. I shook my head a bit before looking back to Jace. "I don't know."

He stayed like that for a good two minutes before he opened his eyes wide, panting as a bead of sweat ran down from his forehead. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked. His fist had woken up most of us. I could see Crest staring concerned from beside Fang. "Can't you guess?" He asked staring at Jace who only sat looking confused and almost scared at the door. That's when it struck me. I was dense not to realize it before.

"Jace you can't..." I trailed off as he shook his head, not loosing the wideness of his eyes. "He wouldn't still be in there if he could." Scholar said, looking angrily when she noticed the cuff on his ankle. Jace was muttering to himself now, just as Zen was before.

"But... this isn't possible." I heard him whisper to himself. But it turns out it was very possible, and a reality now. He was completely stuck, and you could bet he didn't like it.