"Jack!"

Stryker couldn't even tell he was screaming, not over the rapid crackling and booming of the thunder and lightning. Jack was still floating off the ground, arms at his side with his chest raised, his head thrown back as his eyes leaked black soot. That's what it had to be, right? Just soot, not blood. He couldn't be that effected by the possession.

Enny, Zephyr, Cinder, where were they? He searched and found them huddled by a tree, or at least what had been a tree. Their eyes were wide as they watched him, wondering if he was truly crazy enough to try and reach Jack by himself. He decided he was. Fighting against the raging wind, he turned back to his friend and took another step.

"Jack!" he called again, hoping he would at least turn. "Jack!"

Something about his friend twitched, then he saw his pupils, no longer black but white-blue, move towards him. His mouth moved a little, but remained wide with its silent scream of pain. He took a couple steps closer when he saw the dark tendrils come down from Jack's hair and start to sneak across his face.

"Fight it!" Stryker heard himself scream. "You gotta fight it Jack!"

So close. He could reach his arm out if he could pull it from his shirt. Jack's mouth moved again, and this time Stryker heard his voice in his head. But that was impossible, Jack's conch was gone.

Can't... Jack told him. His voice was frightening, ragged and gritty like he'd just got done screaming. Get away...I can't...

Stryker barely noticed he was holding his breath, that he was frightened. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to stop Jack from turning into something that may kill him a second later.

Cinder forced herself to stand, even though her leg was bleeding from the blow Jack had thrust out. She heard Zephyr say something to her, probably calling her back, but she couldn't stop. Jack was disappearing, right in front of her eyes, being replaced by the Sapphire Dragon. She couldn't bare the thought, she just couldn't. There had to be a way to help, to cure him. She'd die before letting him fall.

Entropy clung to Zephyr and they both stood. This was their friend, one of the only ones to show them kindness. He'd give anything help them, had given anything to help them. It seemed only fitting that they give something to keep him alive.

Rai took his eyes off of Jack and saw that his brother was trying to reach him. No! This is what happened in the vision, wasn't it? This is what caused his brother to die before his eyes. Clay grabbed his arm, moved to shield him, but he fought him every step of the way, screaming his brother's name.

Look at me! he wanted to say. Don't go! He'll kill you! He'll kill all of you!

Stryker was right next to Jack now, he just had to reach up and grab his arm. Pull him back to earth. Get the damned thing that had possessed him out. He didn't notice the others enter the power surge, didn't hear the monks screaming for them to get out. He just reached up and grabbed Jack's clenched hand, not thinking of the consequences.

He didn't even feel the impact of the blast. It sliced through him like a blade, turning his body black; there was a red tinge around it, then he regained his true form and was pushed back. The same happened to the others. Zephyr tried to block Entropy and absorbed most of the blow; when their bodies changed his was blue and Entropy's was white. Cinder was tinted green before she was knocked back with her friends. The ground shot up around them like a geyser, exploding to suck up the rest of the terrain.

******JP******

Chase stepped over Zephyr's lifeless body and surveyed the desolate plain. What had held trees and grass now looked like it had been black and burned for centuries. Jack's eyes were closed as he lay on the ground. His skin was still tinged with black veins and soot was still pouring down his cheeks. Other than that, there was no sign of damage. How quaint. He searched the earth, found Entropy trapped beneath a limp, blood pooling near her head; she was alive, barely. Cinder was worse off, more blood was on her face than skin, and a large chunk of her waist was gone. He reached down and grasped her limp wrist in his hand. Strange, she was still living as well. What would it take to kill them? If he hadn't spotted the one he came for, he may have stomped her brains out himself.

Stryker was laying against a stump, maimed beyond recognition. It brought a slight pain to Chase's chest. He pushed it aside, having trouble when he noticed that a branch had impaled him in the ribs. He pulled it out and swooped Stryker up in his arms. He could see part of his skin was growing back, slowly, but Chase figure the boy would have a face again by the time they reached his citadel.

Zephyr felt his brain tugging back to life, forcing himself to wake, to move. He felt a pain in his left arm, numbness in the other. He forced his eyes open. From where he was laying he could see his brother and the other monks. One of them had been smart enough to use the Sphere of Yun as a shield. It was smashed open, and they were unconscious, but Zephyr could sense that they were fine. Raimundo was going to kill him for putting himself in danger like that. He was about to try moving when something caught his eye. His heart stopped when he caught sight of Chase Young, walking towards him with something bloody and dismembered in his arms. Stryker.

When Chase moved to step over him Zephyr's arm shot out and grabbed his ankle. Chase looked down at him, a disgusted look on his face.

"Let him go," Zephyr growled, ignoring the liquidy sensation in his throat.

Chase smirked at him.

"And what're you going to do if I don't?" he asked.

He pulled his boot free of Zephyr's grasp and slammed it down on his hand. Zephyr screamed out in pain. Chase shifted Stryker in his arms and grinned a terrible grin. He lifted his foot a moment later, let the boy regain his breath, then slammed his heel onto his nose, knocking him unconscious once more. He watched him slip away, then trekked back to his jet, tightening his grip against his nephew's shifting.