Abandon All Hope, Embrace All Chaos

by Zeroth17

During the Science Fair in Megaville, a gate has opened to unleash a force beyond imagining. Now the heroes scramble to survive, the villains reign, and Chaos Descends upon the multiverse. Rated M for Violence, Foul Language, Sexual Themes, Nudity, Horror, And References to other 40k Fics and TTS. (Powerpuff Girl Doujinshi/Warhammer crossover) (Cover Art by Symptom99)

13. Tales of the Ruined Labyrinth

Opening File: The Labyrinth of Ruin

The Labyrinth of Ruin is one of the Three Dark Labyrinths of Chaos. The triad being the Labyrinth of the Abyss, the Labyrinth of Midnight, and the titular Labyrinth that housed the dread prisoners of the Forces of Chaos. It's actually less of a prison and more of a planet sized city where the drags, slaves, and unwanted have to fight for their lives against cannibals, rapists, savages, and the worst of humanity. Anyone that survives is usually picked up by Warbands or by Fabius Bile for his experiments.

It is the size of Jupiter, covered entirely in dense cities that were filled with killzones, monsters, traps, and Chaos Spawn. The guards intentionally give insufficient rations so that the prisoners devolve into cannibalistic savages that feed on each other constantly. Murder and rape happen as often as one takes a breath, and is home to numerous Chaos Cults, warlords, and cannibals.

The Labyrinth is divided into several hundred layers, each containing various hazards and conditions to those finding themselves in its depths. The harshest being the Outlands; an area shrouded in darkness to where the worst of the worst are thrown and left to either rot or be killed and/or devoured by the millions of bio-organic weapons that have been unleashed into the area, forcing the people trapped there to consume the flesh of the weapons, turning them into monsters themselves.

The warden, known only as the Warden, is an eccentric man who runs the Labyrinth and the only bastion of order in it, while his guards are exceptionally ruthless and heartless savages that are taken in and subjected to extremely painful biological, chemical, and mechanical enhancements, before being mentally tortured until they are undyingly loyal to the Warden. They are then integrated into a biomechanical shell, and then given the task to kill everyone they see in the Labyrinth, capture those of lesser crimes, or to stay in the Wall or the Sanctioned to guard it.

Multitudes of the population resort to extreme substance abuse in order to cope, willing to create intoxicants from quite literally anything, including blood, sewage, or even chemical runoff from the machines that power the entire labyrinth.

Close File

...Beware the Labyrinths for one churns the souls of the dead, one is a cage that corrupts the pure into the wicked, and one that holds the damned. They churn power like none could ever dream. Such as the will of the Labyrinths; the eaters of the damned...

.

.

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Close file: The Wall

The Wall is a complex resting inside a volcano that was resting inside a super volcano, abruptly the size of Texas. The inmates are either of the penultimate of the worst, or unfortunate souls that happened to be captured by the White Ships and sent away to the Wall. Mortality rates are higher than that of the rest of the Labyrinth, save for the Outlands.

The Warden's territory, known as the Sanctioned, is populated by structures known as Mega-Blocks around the Wall, capable of holding an entire city's worth of people. The police force for the Mega-Block are the Street Judges. The role of Street Judges combines those of judge and police officer, thus avoiding long legal wrangles by allowing for criminals to be tried and sentenced on the spot, similar to the Adeptus Arbites only more ready to massacre entire Block's worth of people.

Another faction under the Warden's control are the Secs. Each sec is based on a situation that needs correcting. For example, if there's a situation involves the nuclear generators of the Labyrinth, a sec trained to deal nuclear disasters will be sent in. Or if the masses attempt a coup against the Warden, a sec trained to quell riots and civilian riots will be sent in. Due to this situation-based formation, each sec is given equipment and training based around their situation. As for the situations they are based for, they can be ranged from basic policing to being the Warden's personal guard.

To list a few; Red Right Hand, the personal bodyguard of the Warden. Cemetery Wind and Deathwatch; assigned as the Black Ops of the regime, with the first unit being for open warfare and the second being for infiltration and elimination operations and espionage. The Executers; assigned to deal with any incidents involving the various Chaos Cults. The Silencers: assigned to monitor and eliminate anyone who may leak information from the regime's inner workings to Chaos Cults. The Canal Slickers: assigned to clean out the Wall's sewer system (Believe me, it's a lot more dangerous than it sounds). And the Wall Guard; assigned to defend the outer parts of the Wall.

Close file

...Beware the Wall for it has devoured entire worlds.

---

Far in the Warp rests the three Labyrinths of the Dark Gods: The Labyrinth of the Abyss, where the souls doomed to experimentation by Bile's lay and where the Doubter has been laid to rest, the Labyrinth of Midnight, where potential warriors for the Dark Gods are sent to be corrupted and molded into monsters, and the Labyrinth of Ruin, where the prisoners and dregs of Chaos are sent to die. Each a dark and horrific place where not even the purest soul can survive without being corrupted into a slave to the Gods. As the title of the chapter suggests, we will be looking into the third Labyrinth.

The Labyrinth of Ruin was a place where the worst of humanity reigns, ruled by a sadistic Warden, and populated by cults, heretics, freaks, mutants, monsters, rapists, psychopaths, sadists, and Chaos Spawn. A place where dissidents, revolutionaries, aspiring leaders, political prisoners, fallen commanders, and any who challenge the might of various Chaos Lords are thrown in and left to either die or to fend for themselves.

Even the only bastion of order in the Labyrinth is a crime ridden cesspit, barely any different then the rest of the horrid planet, the difference being that there were people fighting in the name of order.

A blasphemous place where hope and a future are merely a legend, a dark abyss where purity is abandoned by even children, and a black place where sin reigned eternal now and forever more.

These are the tales of the Labyrinth.

---

Walter and Jesse

Gunfire and explosions sulfated the air, louder than the roars of the machines that dominated the skies and the winds generated by the breaths of millions of monsters. Rivers of blood and body parts flowed through the dark engines, grinding them down and reducing them to a slurry of pulp that was fed to the reactors of the Warden's tower.

The dregs that resided in the grinding processing planet took samples of the slurry for use of intoxicants. While the guards watched over the power stations, the slurry was reduced to a paste that was then hypercharged with electrons before being fed to the reactors, powering the entire station in a continuous cycle of death and pulping.

Lusterless black ooze slithered through the sewer lines that were collected by the dregs and taken through a secret passageway in the wall, climbing through halls slick with grime and rusting stairs that creaked like wood with every step, and the door frames grinding open as they entered a bleak and sterile room.

In it were two men, both some of the best chemists in the Labyrinth: Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.

The former was a 51-year-old man with a shaved head, lightly wrinkled face, a pair of cracked glasses covering dark blue eyes, a goatee, and a porkpie hat covering his head. He was dressed in a dirty white shirt under a tattered brown leather jacket, dirty jeans, and brown shoes. The latter was a 25-year-old man with short brown hair, a full beard, steely blue eyes, and an angry glare at the dregs. He was dressed in a dirty black and white checkered jacket over a black shirt with a flaming skull design, dirty black pants, and dirty white sneakers.

The older of the pair extended a hand to the dregs, who gave him the vials before he paid them in meatballs he made from the bodies of various druggies that died while high on their product. Once those things ate the meatballs and retreated to the sewers, Walter walked to a chemistry set and added the slurry and the black ooze to a flask filled with a solvent.

"So, Mr. White, what's this new formula you're cooking?" Jesse both sincerely and sardonically asked, putting a hand to his head as he stared on at Walt putting on a gasmask and apron as he began working on his latest batch of intoxicants. Walt ignored him and continued to work, remembering what to do like the back of his hand.

If the ephedrine or pseudoephedrine isn't already in pure powder form, then it must be separated from the tablets of cold medicine that contain it. To do this, the cold medicine tablets are mixed with a solvent and the solution is then filtered and exposed to low temperatures to separate and remove the inert material of the tablet.

The pure pseudoephedrine is then mixed with red phosphorus and hydriodic acid. The red phosphorus is then filtered out (and later reused), and the remaining acid is neutralized by adding a lye solution. A substance is added that will bind to the meth, and the liquid meth is then drained out. Hydrogen chloride gas is bubbled through the liquid meth, making it a crystalline hydrochloride salt.

This is poured through a filter cloth, and the meth that is left on the filter is then dried. Once dry, the meth is "stepped on" (mixed down with inert filler in order to maximize profits), weighed and packaged for shipment or sale.

As Walt went over his mental checklist while he and Jesse worked on their batch of meth for the degenerates around them, the solution from the slurry and the black slime flowed into the mixture before it was collected into a glass trey dish, pitch black and thick as paste.

"Black meth?" Jesse inquired as he brought out another vial for the solution before Walt used it to collect the excess fluids from the batch.

"Consider it a... commission from one of our buyers." Walter replied to him, placing the trey in a makeshift fridge that he managed to cobble together with several parts, "They're looking for different highs when they get used to the other stuff." He muttered while looking out the window to the city.

The 'city', if it could be called that, was a grey colored hellscape with lightly ruined buildings, the streets were decorated with the bones and skins of the dead, the frenzied masses either killing, eating, fucking, or sleeping either in the buildings and bloodstained streets. Many more were hiding inside the buildings or in the small network of tunnels, ruining their bodies with excessive drinking and substance abuse while either consuming the bodies of the dead or philosophizing on the suffering that they experience in the Labyrinth.

"Hey," Jesse nudged Walt in the side, getting his attention of the cooker, "The buyer is here."

With fear, Walt nodded and wiped off the dust on his clothing, not that it mattered since there was no cleaning machines in the Labyrinth, or if there were, the Warden would be hording them for himself, his staff, and the guards.

From the staircase, came their buyer, the Man with the Silver Face. A 7-foot-tall monster of a man with pale skin that barely contained his muscles and were lined with bulging veins and scars covering him, stringy white hair covered his deformed head, while a necklace of skull sat around his neck and a dark silver mask covered the upper half of his face as ghostly white eyes peered out and bore into their souls. Covering him was a sleeveless black shirt covered his upper body, black pants and knee-high black leather boots, fingerless black gloves, and black heavy sword resting on his back.

Both Walter and Jesse were nearly knocked unconscious from the overwhelming fear that his presence induced upon them, barely able to stand as Walt stepped forwards to present their product.

However, two more people came before he could utter a peep. The first was an obese and bespectacled man with combed black hair and a goatee, his legs shriveled and malformed as his barely mobile body was confined to a wheelchair, his upper body was covered by a tall grey shirt and his lower body covered by a pair of sweatpants. If he was to even survive a single hour in the Labyrinth, he must be the leader of a powerful faction.

Beside the wheelchair bound man, was a 14-year-old boy with short blonde hair, wearing a mask made from the face of some other man with long brown hair attached to it, wearing a bloodied blue t-shirt and beige shorts, and brown shoes. In his arms was an Autogun while around him were various faces sewn together into a morbid parody of a robe.

The first was Edgar Jomfru and no one knew the other's name, merely calling him the Teenager.

"Greeting, Mr. White." Edgar started, the Teenager pushing him closer to the chemist in an act for intimidation, "I assume you have the drug we paid you and your partner so handsomely for?"

Walt nodded sycophantically, going to the makeshift fridge and opening it before retrieving a racket with several vials filled with a blue liquid that held several baby blue flakes resting at the bottom. "Exactly to your instructions, but I admit I was not given the most... reliable of materials to work with. But I promise this will be worth your time."

Edgar took the racket from Walt and examined one of the vials before humming to him, "Looks like what Pickles took during that concert." He mused, putting a hand to his chin before turning to the chemists, "It'll do. Thank you, Walter. I will ensure that you and Jesse will be paid handsomely if the drug meets my expectations. I will contact you when I have made my decision."

"If I may ask..." Walt politely interjected as to not anger the buyer and his bodyguards, "What is that drug?"

Jomfru raised an eyebrow but shrugged and decided to humor the chemist, "In the universe that I and my colleagues came from, a secret organization known as the Tribunal created a special drug. They call it; Totally Awesome Sweet Alabama Liquid Snake."

"Well, that's a mouthful." Walt snarked, causing his partner to chuckle.

Edgar kept his composure, but an exhale of amusement escaped his nostrils, "Indeed, but the drug, when ingested, will cause mind shattering hallucinations that will render the user a blank slate, ready to be reprogrammed. However, flaws arose when a side effect was revealed; the drug was still alive inside the subjects and when under enough stimulus, the drug living in their fat cells will ignite. Blue phosphorous snakes would them shoot forth from the orifices of the users, and they would go mad with rage."

"All of their orifices?" Walter asked with his eyebrows at his nonexistent hairline along with Jesse. Why they weren't fazed about the blue snakes was when the two first encountered Chaos and when a pregnant woman suddenly gave birth to a tentacled monster that then assimilated his mother. Suffice to say, that their suspension of disbelief has had quite the workout ever since.

"I'm afraid so." Edgar confirmed, "I'm hoping that you and your partner could help us to rid the side effect. And as for this batch... Well, we will find out when we test it. If your mixture has indeed corrected these mistakes." He motioned for the Teenager to roll him out but then a thought occurred to him as he raised a hand, causing the boy to stop him before he turns to Walter and Jesse with a glare that made them stiffen.

"Make no mistake. The only reason I don't kill you is because you two are the best and perhaps the only chemists in the Labyrinth." Edgar told them in the kind of tone that hid a dangerous edge under its politeness, "However, even if I can't kill you, I can make your lives more of a hell than it actually is."

Both Walter and Jesse swallowed their breath as Edgar then snapped his fingers, the Teenager complying almost immediately as he wheeled him out, but the Man with the Silver Face remained behind. He grunted with giving them an intimidating look but then he left along with his leader.

Walter and Jesse both practically collapsed in relief from the lack of the intimidating presence of the Silver masked man and the Revengeancers themselves. The two didn't know what those maniacs would do with that kind of drug, but for the life of them... they didn't want to know.

---

Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men

Very few beings to be kept in the Labyrinth of Ruin that has a reputation even second to the Warden. Even Warlords that have conquered entire sections of the Labyrinth did not even compare to the power that the Warden held over the Ruinous Labyrinth. Only one has a reputation that was second to the Warden's, a god in the form of man, unconquerable and unstoppable.

His name was the Homelander.

An ashen colored skull was crushed under his boot, the dust it was reduced to flowing away in the wind. The Homelander was not the man chained by PR and the Press, not the slave to Vought and their grips on him, not bound by the blackmail that Maeve pulled on him. Now, there was only him and nothing to hold him back, now he could let loose on everything.

The Homelander's upper torso was bare save for bloodied bandages wrapped past his elbows, his unkept blonde hair fluttering in the wind, his icy blue eyes deadly staring into the distance, his face the expression of calm yet his eyes showed the elation of killing. His bottom half was covered by the bloodied bottom half of his costume, covered by the tattered remains of his American flag cape tied around his waist.

Shots came from the army of the Silver Halberds, the bullets shattering against his skin like glass and deflecting tank shells with merely the flick of a wrist. His eyes charged up before his heat vision was unleashed, cleaving through the hordes of mortals in front of him.

One cult infused themselves with massive amounts of a Warp tainted version of Compound V, becoming practically monsters in human skin with bolts of electricity, torrents of fire, blasts of laser vision, and various other powers that he saw on his earth.

They were slashed apart by his heat vision.

Another cult augmented their bodies with crude yet advanced cybernetics containing numerous deadly weapons, able to destroy entire battalions of imperial guard regiments.

They were torn apart by him flying through them at top speed.

Another cult implanted devices called the Poor Man's Rose into their bodies and detonated them as a means to take him out for good.

He happened to survive the blast by some miracle despite that he would have most assuredly been killed by a nuke.

Homelander kept wandering the Outlands and the other sections of the Labyrinth that lacked the bastion of order that the Wall and the Sanctioned had, killing and eating whomever he came across with no restricts, no care for his self-image, and no care for the word of the people. Such were his thoughts as he wandered into a dreary abandoned city taken from some backwater universe and duped here during the Labyrinths construction.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a sound from near him, seeing a figure standing in the middle of the street, clothed in nothing and shamelessly showing his form to the god in human flesh. It was Gecko, one of Starlight's old friends during her earlier years, apparently having the ability to regenerate.

Deciding why not, Homelander merely fired one shot of his eyebeams. It was enough to sever the arm with little effort, but oddly the boy did not even utter a grunt of pain from the blast of superheated plasma. Suddenly, the limb grew back in only a few heartbeats, but it seemed different, more muscled and thicker skinned. Raising an eyebrow, the Homelander merely fired another blast of heat at Gecko, who suddenly vanished in a flash before reappearing beside the former and slugged him across the face... only for his fist to explode into a slurry of bone and blood after the punch and for Homelander to not react in the slightest.

Growing annoyed, Homelander grabbed Gecko by the throat and threw him towards an abandoned building, collapsing it with not even a hint of effort. But before he could go about his way, Gecko leapt out of the ruins of the building and sucker punched Homelander into the street, his landing creating a dump truck sided crater in the pavement. Getting up without a scratch, Homelander saw that Gecko seemed to become a mountain of engorged muscles that barely could be contained by his skin, his genitals absorbed back into his pelvis, veins thicker and bulgier, the skin changed to a thicker and more malleable composition.

Still seeing the healing punk as more of a nuisance, Homelander struck Gecko in the chest so hard that his ribcage caved in and splintered while his heart and lungs burst apart and for all other bones in his body to break. Gecko recovered in an instant and then threw a punch that the mass murderer caught before he punched Gecko in the ribs again, only for them not to shatter against the force of his punch.

Using his X-Ray Vision, Homelander was quite surprised when he saw Gecko's internal organs; he was stuffed with redundant organs with bio-plastic coatings that cushion them from blows, restructured and reinforced bones that had more, a redundant nervous system that functioned through a neuro-conductive fluid that flowed through them like veins that made him impossible to paralyze, rubbery muscles that were impossible to snap or tear, 4 twenty chambered hearts that pumped hyper-adrenaline saturated blood, and bone marrow that could produce gallons of blood for his body's needs.

Using the full force of his heat vision, Homelander incinerated Gecko's skin but the latter leapt at the former and slugged him across the face, sending him back as his feet buried themselves into the ground to stop his momentum. Now annoyed, the god in flesh speared towards the still recovering and unleashed a flurry of punches so strong that they would have obliterated buildings designed to withstand nuclear war, however Gecko's body was not reduced to a slurry of blood, instead gaining a carapace of ebony chitin that was invincible against the heat of his eyebeams.

A massive fist then slugged him in the face, not even injuring him before he was thrown back a few feet.

Gecko was now 12 feet tall, his entire body, though still humanoid, covered in scales, spines, and bristling hair where thick plating doesn't protect vital areas except for a large external heart on the right side of his chest. His eyes were a burning red with his cheeks silted open showing red hooked fangs, the mouth filled with green harpoon tipped tongues and two extra jaws with red needle-like fangs.

A mass of thick tentacles ripped out his chest and back lashed at Homelander's skin, that didn't even faze the Supe as they slashed against his skin. Powerful blasts of heat came from his mouth, incinerating all that was in front of him except Homelander who was not even moved by the blast. A gurgle rumbled from Gecko's throat before a blast of green caustic fluid from his gut, hitting the blond god-like man in the face but while the splash of chemicals dissolved the stone buildings and the street, there was no effect on the Homelander, who merely charged up his eyebeams.

The blast of his eyes nearly engulfed the city, but Gecko managed to withstand it as the blazing heat flayed against the hyper-chitin that composed his epidermis when suddenly it stopped and Homelander came flying at him.

Gecko intercepted him with a punch, whose shockwave shook the city as they collided, the two speeding through the empty city with explosive shockwaves boomed out from each collision before the giant slammed both of his elbows down on the Homelander's back, sending the blond god in flesh into the streets that buckled under the weight of the landing. Homelander barely was affected before a fist rammed into his face, widening the crater even further before the blond supe cracked Gecko over the face, sending him into the building and firing his eyebeams that scorched through the stonework like butter.

A swarm of microspores that could devour materials spewed from Gecko's orifices, reducing the building to slurry before they converged on a surprised Homelander who responded by firing his eyebeams, but they only moved out of the way before striking the blond madman in the chest, causing a yelp of surprise to issue from his throat. He blasted the swarm away with his heat vision, that reveal a rapidly healing chunk of his chest that had been exposed, revealing his ribs, heart and lungs that was quickly concealed by his healed skin and muscles that healed over.

Enraged, Homelander slammed both his fists down on the ground, the shockwaves tearing the street apart and dissipating the swarm, revealing Gecko who was now constantly emitting several tons of the microorganisms per minute. The Homelander rocketed towards Gecko to kill the brat, before he was envelopment in the swarm of microorganisms, seemingly killing him before another shockwave blasted them away to reveal the unfazed blond supe who then stuck the mutated creature in the chest so hard that it split in half, a feat that surprised even he.

The two halves flew into the street, crashing into the ground like two slabs of mutated meat before a building destabilized by the shockwaves fell on Gecko, seemingly killing the regenerating and adapting supe for good. Suddenly, the flesh began to bubble as massive purple-black tentacles grew from all over his body lashed out, breaking through the building and grabbing him with such strength that he couldn't rip himself out. The rest was revealed moments later, a mass of bubbling, oozing, and writhing flesh that was covered in eyes and mouths that screeched at him.

This form was even more incomprehensible than the last; cartilage and bone marrow were now one in the same, the brain cells had separated and spread out throughout the mass to become various nerve bundles that allowed for preservation of thought processes, the mouths were connected to various 'sacs' that broke down and wrestled nutrients from anything he could eat, the cells were more like protoplasmic clumps of nucleic acid rather than actual cells.

It burst out from building, now the size of several buildings that then opened a massive gaping maw of rending sabre-like fangs capable of piercing power armor, attempting to impale him on a million blades of death. They shattered against his skin, but he was caught in the jaws of the beast whose bite was faster than he could react to. The bite crushed against his torso, but it survived the Homelander than grabbed the jaw of the beast and slowly pushed the mouth open, resisting the beast attempting to crush him.

Homelander slowly slid out of the mouth, covered in saliva and blood as the fangs slowly grew back, firing his laser eyes into the purple black flesh of the beast but the flesh seemed to merely absorb the heat of his vision. Growing frustrated, Homelander reared his fist back and struck above the mouth, the flesh somehow solidifying and sending it back as if it was solid instead of liquid. It shattered and reformed to its usual shapeless mass before it flared its thousand arms at him.

"WhAt ThE hElL aRe YoU!" Came the guttural scream from Gecko's throat, despite the lack of an expression present.

Homelander's only response was to tilt his head to the side and give a face splitting grin as his eyebeams charged up while the tentacles lashed at him. The blast of undefinable energy eclipsed the city in a blaze of red, reducing Gecko to ashes and the city to a mass of molten ruins. The blast lit up the Labyrinth, reaching even near the darkest parts of the Labyrinth.

XXX

It was a base in another abandoned city, home to thousands of Chaos Cults all coming together in a massive conglomerate of madmen and creatures that had come together to kill the Homelander after they were trapped in the Labyrinth. Now, they were all watching a live-feed from hidden camera creatures from a distance to Homelander's fight with Gecko, but the results were not what they had been expecting.

Sitting near a screen that showed the results of the battle between Homelander and Gecko, where the Boys and the surviving members of the Seven; Butcher, Hughie, Frenchie, MM, the Female, Starlight, and Queen Maeve. All huddled into this backwater part of the Wastes to kill the Homelander.

"Oh, god." Hughie was nearly in shock when he saw the battle between the Homelander and Gecko, running a hand through his hair, "Gecko barely did anything to Homelander!"

Everyone's reactions were the same as Hughie's; their faces overcome with either shock or disbelief.

Frenchie stands up and runs a hand through his hair, "Well, it seems we need a new plan."

"Fuck all that's done! I saw him get hit by 20 nukes! TWEN. TY. NUKES! He didn't even look fazed by the blast!" Hughie roared out in disbelief, looking close to a heart attack from the stress of this situation.

"Even if he had survived the blast, the poison emitted by the Roses should have killed him for sure." Marvin growled angerly, not believing that the weapon didn't even a poison that could kill most creatures would not even have an effect of the Homelander.

Butcher seemed particularly steamed as he chomped on a cigar, thinking about how nothing that this damn prison planet could kill the Homelander despite their efforts and the efforts of every single Chaos cult in the Abandoned Wastes. However, seems Frenchie had an idea for why they were failing as he stood up.

"To wit, I believe I know our failings." Frenchie began to explain to the others in his thick accent, thinking that maybe he has a way to kill the blond god, "The Homelander's power now is mind over muscle. The mind can only perceive limited amounts due to the limitations of the brain and the senses but Homelander can detect with perfect precision, the position and the momentum of every atom around him. That's how he can affect both."

"But... that's not possible!"

"That is the thing!" Frenchie retorted as he stood up, "Homelander believes he is merely stronger! He can redefine Newton and Einstein, alter quantum mechanics with his brain, warp reality! He believes he is invincible and thus he is!"

The others were astonished yet now in an even worse mood; given that the Homelander believes that he is invincible, so he will be. It'd be impossible for them to kill him now!

"Ye of little faith." Frenchie waved their cynical looks off as he grinned, "I know how to beat him now."

XXX

It was later that he kept wandering around the Abandoned Wastes, the Homelander found himself at peace as he had not encountered any lifeforms in his vicinity for days now. A sense of emptiness came over him in the same way it did whenever he stopped killing, like his unconscious mind was reaching out and trying to convince his conscious mind to stop his madness.

It was in these moments that Homelander could help but to think in these peaceful moments, was it all worth it? The Homelander wondered what the point of this mindless destruction was, now that he had a moment of reflection quiet wind swam through his hair that fluttered listlessly in the wind.

He had no regrets in killing anyone, not now and not ever. But the pointlessness is what made him slowly stop, even as he slaughtered millions of people, the initial rush of the first kills slowly faded away and all that was left was a hole that could never be filled. An ocean of bodies and blood was left in his wake, yet it was only in that ocean did he feel anything other than the emptiness. He indulged in death and destruction, yet that was numbing him as he would always win with his invincibility being his sole weapon.

...he couldn't stop as this was his addiction. An abstract substance that feed the part of his brain that helped the ancestors of humanity survive when they barely came out of the caves for either food or supplies. Killing things was his only purpose left, and he would do it until the day he died. Such was his will.

The train of thoughts came to an end when he heard someone yell out, "OI. CUNT."

Homelander turned and sped towards the source of the sounds that plagued his hearing, cleaving through acres of land that were in his way until he stopped as his vision bequiffed him of a familiar yet surprising sight. It was Billy Butcher, barely having changed a day since New York was lifted into the sky and made to assemble the Labyrinth; short black hair, a heavy beard and mustache, dressed in a black button-up shirt over a black duster, black cargo pants, and black leather boots. And a silver watch on his right wrist but that wasn't important.

Around him were the others and Starlight and Maeve. Hugie and Mother's Milk had both gained beards and were dressed in dirty and rugged clothing, Frenchie now having longer hair and having grown a beard while wearing dirtied clothing, the Female somehow looked even more feral than before with fangs and bone claws while clad in ragged and tattered clothing. Starlight had abandoned her old outfit entirely, now having a leather jacket over a torn shirt, a pair of denim jeans, and dirty shoes. Maeve hadn't abandoned her costume, but it seemed to be reinforced and modified for it to cover her arms, legs, and back, with a helm that resembled a Spartan's with a power sword in her hands that arched with energy.

Suddenly, millions of people and creatures armed to the teeth, composed of hundreds of Chaos Cults that were in the area, with every single crosshair was aimed directly at his head and ready to fire. A chuckle bubbled from Homelander's throat as he spoke for what felt like the first time in years.

"This?" Homelander gestured around him, to the Boys, Starlight, Maeve, the cults and the millions of creatures that surrounded him, looking at the red haired supe who rallied them to this end goal, "This is the best you can send after me? Honestly, Maeve; I'm almost insulted."

"Come down and we will spare your life!" One of the leaders of the cults shouted, pointedly ignoring his taunts and brandishing her sword at him, encouraging the others to do the same, "You are surrounded!"

"All I'm surrounded by is fear." Homelander retorted before brandishing both of his bloodied and bandaged fists, the teeth of saws reeving in the back of his head as his eyes turned a radiant crimson, "And dead men."

A blast came from his eye beams, incinerating hundreds in a single motion before they could even pull the trigger, several million bullets and lasbeams shattering against his skin in a storm of steel and energy beams. He kept firing his heat vision, slicing through even the most heavily armored vehicles and positions, before several missiles came flying at him that harmlessly exploded against his skin.

Homelander laughed at their pathetic attempts before torrents of Warp Lightning and Warp Fire came flying at him that he dodged with ease. Enemy psykers came barreling towards him like telekinetic missiles wreathed in holy Warp fire that were killed by Homelander's eyebeams in a blast of malleable energy that distracted the mass murderer from the blasts of a Lascannon that struck him across the back that barely fazed him and only drew his ire.

Suddenly, a blast of light hit him in the side of his face, throwing off his aim and slashing a building. His furious gaze turned to see Starlight gathering entire cities worth of power into her hands before launching them at the Homelander who casually moved out of the way of both blasts when abruptly a daemonkin leapt toward him from one of the abandoned buildings with its rending claws out only for the blond god to reduce it to pulp with merely the bat of a hand.

Maeve then rocketed towards him with her Power Sword out, but Homelander merely moved out of the way casually without even a thought when more projectiles and lasbeams came towards him without an effect on even his skin, before he lit up his eyes and lasered the other infantry units even as they attempted to make a fighting retreat from him.

Before the blond bastard could continue his attack, Butcher pushed a small button on his watch. Suddenly, this feeling of unease came across him as he looked upon Butcher with something that was neither yet both unease and fear. It was then that the Homelander noticed several daemonkin and psykers flailing and screaming in agony, falling to their knees and desperately trying to get away. Daemonkin ripping themselves out of their hosts and leaving them liquified husks as they disappeared into the Warp to recover.

It was then that Homelander felt... odd, like his body somehow became heavier and more trapped in his skin. Suddenly, Maeve leapt into the air and speared towards Homelander with her Power Sword blazing with power and reared back to strike. He couldn't react in time before the sword cut into his side, under his ribs but not hitting his organs.

A blaze of agony coursed through his veins as a bellow of pain ripped from his throat, blood spilled from the wound and stained the blade. Maeve gaped in shock as did Starlight and the Boys when they saw the injury that her blade inflicted, "It actually hurt him."

"I knew it!" Frenchie called out, gaining Homelander's attention despite the pain along with the others, "The Homelander's reality warping is Warp-based! Now that Butcher is a Blank, we now have a chance!"

Homelander gaped when he heard that. He wasn't invincible anymore... he could actually be hurt... he could actually die...

"Oh, what a day..." Homelander's expression twisted into a face of deranged elation that wiped away whatever satisfaction Maeve and the rest of his enemies had in that moment, before he screamed out, "WHAT A LOVELY DAY!" He then threw a fist that send shockwaves throughout the area, uprooting entire buildings from the air being dragged from his punch and sending several people in the vicinity flying into the air, including Maeve who was sent flying and her blade dislodged from his side.

"Frenchie, what the hell is going on!?" Hughie screamed in terror as they shots resumed in an attempt to kill him again.

"Butcher must have neutralized his invulnerability, but not all of his powers!" Frenchie theorized with his powers, "We still need to deal the killing blow!"

A cackle of twisted delight echoed as he reared both of his hands back before slamming them both into the ground, splintering the street with the shockwave collapsing several buildings around him, killing thousands of cultists instantly. Maeve barely had a chance to react as Homelander suddenly appeared in front of her and threw a twisting punch that would have killed her instant had she not ducked in time, the spiraling force cleaving a building in half as the queen was forced on the defensive while the blond god in flesh kept delivering a series of punches that resembled a tornado of blows that disintegrated part of the bridge they were standing on before her sword met his fist as a storm of wind and energy frayed out before it broke in a blast of concussive force, destroying the rest of the bridge.

More shrill shrieking cackles issued from his throat as he turned his demented gaze towards the one million cultists left, all flinching at his gaze before he suddenly reached speeds near light as he cleaved through every single cultist that he saw before reappearing before the Boys and all of their reinforcements suddenly burst into red vapor that stained the roads red.

The Boys all got back in terror at the ecstatic look on Homelander's face before he gripped Butcher by the throat before he could react. "This rush..." Homelander let out a shuddering breath of ecstasy as he gave a deranged look at his arch enemy, who did not even react even in the face of death before him, "It's better than I could ever imagine! For this, I'll make your death quick."

"I ain't scared of you, cunt." Butcher growled out, not scared in the slightest of the blond destroyer.

Homelander only gave a sound of amusement before giving Billy a pointed look while still grinning, "You can't kill me, Willaim. Why are you still trying?"

"Cause this is a distraction." Was Butcher's only words before he whipped out a Hecter 6 pistol from his belt and fired into the wound made by Maeve's strike to his side, expanding the wound to where the bullet slashed it to near his spine. A screech of agony came from Homelander as he dropped Butcher who was caught by Hughie and Mother's Milk before grasping at the wound, howling and gapping... before his howls morphed into shrill cackles of ecstasy as he snapped his head back to turn his frenzied gaze upon them again as they reeled at its sight.

"Do it... Hurt me harder!" Homelander demanded before he bellowed out in loud cacophonous shrill cry of frenzied derangement, "HURRTTT MMEEEEEE PLENTTYYYY!"

He threw a punch that split the street and one that the Boys barely evaded before he was slashed across his right arm by Maeve's sword and blasted in the gut by Starlight, sending him back before he struck the soles of his tattered boots into the road, crumbling it as he came to a halt. He let out a shrill cackle as he saw the two approaching him with angry stares as Starlight readied her orbs and Maeve's sword arched.

"Well, well... You two finally grew enough balls to stand on your own two feet? Hilarious! You ladies itching for a fight?" Homelander finished that with his heat vision charging up before he then slammed his fists together, creating a pulse that left his fist smoking, "Well, I'm happy to oblige!"

The three charged at each other, disappearing in a flurry of strikes and flashes that erupted in shockwaves that rippled throughout the city they tried to eviscerate each other in a blaze of light. Homelander swung his arm so quickly that it cleaved through a nearby pillar that Starlight ducked under and struck him in the gut with a light coated fist that barely affected him before he grabbed Maeve's arm as she attempted to strike him with her Power Sword and then flung her into the street that splintered against her body.

Starlight barely managed to weave herself out of his flurry of strikes that seemed more like missiles than punches, uppercutting Homelander in the jaw with a light coated fist but he only cackled even as blood came out of his mouth and he slammed both his fists into the road that splintered against the force, sending her flying into the nearest pillar. Maeve, who got back up as Homelander attempted to finish off Starlight, slashed him across the shoulder with her Power Sword, grazing his shoulder but merely removing his attention from Starlight and onto her.

His fist drove through Maeve's armor and her chest, coated in blood and liquified entrails before she could even react. Blood upchucked from her mouth as she slumped as Homelander grinned dementedly, watching her as the life exits her body before he punched in the face by a screaming and enraged Starlight. She sent him flying back, and then put her hands on Maeve's wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, looking like she was in a mad frenzy of sweat and tears. She managed to conjure enough heat from her orbs of light for the wound to cauterize, but it did little to repair the internal wounds and the broken bones, but at least she was still breathing.

Homelander howled out in insane glee before he let out a bellowing scream, reaching sonic waves that shattered the road and buildings around him. Starlight barely managed to leap out of the way of the blast, lest she be reduced to soup even as he stopped screaming, ignoring the shots in the back from Butcher and the Boys who grabbed autoguns in an attempt to wound him to little effect.

Starlight uses her light beams to slowly disorient Homelander before charging in while he was distracted, ramming both of her fists into his gut. The blow sent him to the ground, shattering the wall that he landed on before he quickly recovered and then clapped his hands together, creating a massive shockwave that nearly shattered Starlight's ribs had she not had her durability, but it disoriented her from the shock. Before he could continue, Homelander's calf was slashed by Maeve, who used whatever was left of her strength to wield her Power Sword.

He staggered and let out a grunt of pain from the slash when suddenly a shot impacted him in the ribs, causing him to stagger more before he saw Butcher standing with his Hecuter 6 out with the barrel emitting smoke. More shots came out, hitting his shoulder, knee, arm, and thigh, not breaking his skin but bruising him heavily to where he grunted from the impact. Butcher opened the chamber with the flick of his wrist and the empty clip fell from the gun before he reloaded in just a second, slamming the clip into the chamber and cocking the slide in but the blink of an eye.

The two stared at each other while Kimiko and Frenchie helped Maeve to her feet and while Hughie supported Anne with walking as she was still disoriented by the shockwave rattling her brain. Neither Butcher nor the Homelander making a move, each still as a sculpture with not even the twitch of a muscle. In a flash, Homelander rushed towards Butcher with his fist reared back before the latter fired his Hecuter 6, striking the former in the elbow and throwing off his punch so that it only hit the air beside his head, which he took advantage of and fired another round into Homelander's jaw, hopefully cracking it before Hughie grabbed him and pulled him away before he could be turned to pulp by another punch.

Seeing Homelander's frenzied gaze turn to him and Hughie, Butcher let out the bellow of a dragon as his eye beams made from back on earth blazed through the air and struck the mad Supe in the chest. Homelander wailed out as burns appeared on his chest as he staggered back, panting even as the charred flesh peeled off as his body tried to cope with the injuries and the absurd adrenaline high that he was experiencing, his nerves firing so rapidly that the agony was exhilarating, his heart pounding against his ribs like a horse's heart, his veins filled with half part adrenaline and half part blood, fatigue toxins building up only to be neutralized by the increase cell activity in his flesh.

Steam hissed between his toothy agony filled grin, wisps of evaporated sweat arising from his follicles, sizzling blood coming from his wounds as they clotted and healed. His movements were slight sluggish, moving in flash-steps towards them that got longer with each movement.

"This is it." Frenchie whispered to the others, "He is running on fumes. We can deal the killing blow now that he's exhausted. Still, be careful."

Butcher merely responded by yanking Maeve's Power Sword from her hand, much to her protest, before walking up to the still grinning Homelander who stilled. The two were still for what felt like hours before both of them roared and charged at each other for one final fight.

Homelander's punches were now depowered by Butcher's presence enough for them to only bruise Butcher, but they hurt none the less, wailing on his ribs and arms as Butcher blocked before the latter swung Maeve's Power Sword that the blond bastard dodged and weaved himself away from. Butcher attempted a downward slash, but Homelander batted it out of the way before slugging Butcher across the face and kneeing him in the ribs, bruising them but not breaking them before Butcher slashed him across the chest. Steam came from the wound as boiling blood spilled and dried as it healed before they came again when the Homelander was struck in the arm, side, leg, face, shoulder, and neck as Butcher's swings became a tornado of grey steel against the cackling Homelander who seemed to be getting wilder as his strikes started to crack Butcher's bones.

A fist from Homelander drove into Butcher's face, knocking him back before he upper-cutted Homelander in the jaw, sending him back and barely regaining his footing. The heat from the wounds started to show as his veins glowed and his eyes blazed red, his body boiling from the amount of Warp energy he was drawing out subconsciously.

The two looked at each other in blazes of hatred, the tension building as the city shuddered, fists clenching to where the air rumbled, their stares burning in the desire to see the other burn. Another moment of silence came over them as they waited for the other to make their move.

A scream rang out before they charged; Butcher's face twisted into a roar of pure hatred while Homelander's face twisted into a howl of excitement, sword and fist raised and posed to strike at each other. Homelander swung a punch that would have collapsed a continent at Butcher's face, only for the madman to duck, letting the fist swing over his head before then plunging the sword into Homelander's chest. He didn't even grunt as the blade slid through his ribs and pierced his heart before it came out the other side. Steam spewed out of his mouth, nose, eyes, ears, and wounds, heat irradiating from his body that slowly began to cool as he slid off the blade and fell to the ground with an unceremonious thud.

Butcher made a sound of relief as did the others before they heard a voice, "DAD!" They turned to see Ryan Butcher running towards them alongside the other cults that came towards the team, hugging his dad while his father glared at the cults.

"You cunts took your time, eh?" Butcher snarked in annoyance.

The others didn't give him the satisfaction of an answer as they looked over the body of the Homelander, "Is he dead?"

"I think so." Hughie said, not realizing that he just jinxed it.

Suddenly, a noise bubbled from the Homelander's throat, causing both the Boys, the Seven, and the others to stop and turn, blood bubbling out from between his teeth. His lungs heaving and his soulless sapphire eyes wide and crazed, the noise grew louder and louder, unnerving the people around him.

The noise became a wild giggle, banging against his teeth and lips and increasing in volume before his mouth parted. The noise then became a demented cackle; one so shrill and piercing that it echoed through the sky. The cults backed away as Ryan clung to his father in fear, Anne being bearhugged by her boyfriend in fear, Maeve having a terrified expression at the shrill demented cackle issuing from Homelander's throat, MM and Frenchie backing away in terror while the other Chaos and the citizens of the Labyrinth couldn't contain their fear.

A look of utter madness overcame his face, continuing to laugh as its pitch reached near ear-piercing volumes. As he laughed, his breath became more choked, becoming less as laughter and more desperate heaves of breath, the crazed expression never leaving him. A heave, and then another, and then one final heave and choke until he fell silent; his face frozen in a wide eyed and demented grin that forever scarred all those watching.

The silence had deafened the empty city like a bomb, before Homelander's eyes turned to Butcher, who almost flinched as he raised two fingers like a gun to point at him before he uttered his final words.

"You're pretty good."

And with that the Homelander fell dead and the Abandoned Wastes were left in silence once more.

---

200 Floors of Hell

The Mega-Blocks covered an area roughly the size of Russia from old Earth, housing nearly 20 billion people. 95% percent of them are criminals and the other five percent are the Judges and soldiers of the Wall, but if that is so, one must ask; why have they not united and rebelled against the Warden?

The answer is as simple as the question: None of them can get along.

Every cult in every Mega-Block of the sector is either too self-concerned or too self-destructive to unite with each other against the Warden, making them easy targets for the

On the top floor of Peach Creek, in a room overseeing the 200 stories, was a grown-up Lee Kanker.

She had changed quite a lot in the last 13 years: Lee was now a very attractive 25-year-old with her formerly curly red hair now being a pixie cut, exposing her dark blue eyes and forehead. Her freckles were gone while her cheeks had long, yet lightly faded Glasgow smile scars and she seemed to have quite a lot of scars and tattoos all around her curvy model-like body. The most noticeable change was that where her forehead should be was a patch of barely noticeable scar tissue. She was wearing a white tank top, black weathered jeans, and grey socks while sitting on a grey couch. In her hand was a white inhaler with a clear capsule that was filled with a caramel-colored liquid.

Around her were magazines, empty beer bottles, the unconscious bodies of many men and women hooked on her product, the walls covered in occult symbols, and all kind of Chaotic weapons. Lee merely had a blank expression as she palmed the inhaler before taking a puff from it.

Suddenly, the room seemed to light up while slowing down as she exhaled. The smokes flowed from her mouth in sludge-like paces as her eyes rolled back into her head. Every beam of light, every drop of water, every insect, and every speck of dust glazed idly in her drugged sight. Her head laid back as her mind flowed elsewhere, to places she wanted to forget but couldn't.

A 17-year-old Lee laid there on that cloth pile bed, naked, only a blanket covering her as the tribe leader sat by her, also devoid of clothing. The scar from the removal of the skin on her forehead was still present but the Glasgow scars were absent, her hair was bone straight and neck length, and a look of utter emptiness adorned her face.

The cult leader exhaled smoke from his pipe before looking down at her, saying in the honeyed voice that grandfather would say to their grandchildren, "Wow. Just... wow."

He took another smoke before gently caressing her head, making her squirm in fear.

"You were amazing last night." The tribe leader whispered to her, before he got up and put one some pants, and then he left the tent, leaving her to her lonesome.

Lee then quietly burst into tears, burying her face into the makeshift bed. She cried for hours, flooded with self-loathing and praying that all of this was just some nightmare. But she knew that it wasn't.

And that hurt more than anything.

The drug lord snaps out of that flashback as the effects of the drug slowly wore off while she just lays back on her couch, dazed from the buzz that the drug she made gave her. Vaguely, she thought about her sisters and what was happening to them back home, wondering what they would think of her if they saw her now; the leader of a band of drug dealers and cultists that did fucked up things without even a lick of reason.

None of them knew how amazing it felt not to be evil. Thinking about times long past, Lee pulled out an object from her pocket. It resembles an egg, covered with human facial features arrayed across its surface, giving it a rather disconcerting appearance in tune with the crimson coloration.

"Lee." The woman in question heard her name and turned to find a short haired, bearded man in a leather jacket, black shirt, black pants, and motorcycle boots, his expression calm and collected even when her gaze met his, "We got trouble."

The drug lord still had a dull expression as she slunk off her couch, got her shoes on and walked with her henchman to see who was disturbing her.

XXX

Peach Creek: 197th Level

A few levels down, Lee and her enforcer, Caleb, met with Kay and several other of her underlings. A man with dark skin, a beard, and a chain necklace. He wore a yellow shirt, open leather jacket, black jeans, and black shoes. In the other room were three shirtless men, heavily tattooed, gagged, bound and bloodied on their knees with panicked expressions, that grew when they saw Lee appear, her arms crossed while staring at them.

"They were selling Sternhammer product on my level." Kay says calmly, motioning to the 3 gagged men who squirmed at Lee's presence, "Warned them off with a beating a couple weeks ago. Guess it didn't work."

Lee was unimpressed as she lazily stared at the black skinned man, "You can't deal with it yourself?"

"I can deal with it." Kay replied defensively, shrugging his shoulders in a laid-back way. The flat stare on Lee's face as well as the scoffs and mocking chuckles from the other cultists and drug dealers told another story.

"The question is whether you wanna make an example of them." Caleb said in his gravelly voice, telling her that they could do whatever they wanted to do these men that are bound before them, who screamed against their gags in fear.

Lee calmly looked at the three tied up men, her face and eyes not showing any expression as her gaze bore into them like holes in the void, before turning and walking to the window, calmly stating, "Skin them. Toss them over the balcony." The tied-up men started yelling and screaming but the gags muffled it while the cultists grinned at seeing their terror.

"Hit em with a little Slo-Mo first?" Kay suggests to her, thinking that since they had some spare inhalers from their last deal, they might as well use them.

Lee turned away while putting hand to her head and resting on it, hiding her sadistic grin, "Sure."

XXX

The Kanker Clan cultists dragged another of the men to a table and held him down as they cleaned their knives for skinning, with their victim screaming to where his larynx was being strained. The first one, skinned from neck to waist, was then dragged to the edge of the balcony by the cultists, panting and shuddering, begging helplessly and breathlessly, "Please... Please... Please..."

Either they didn't care or enjoyed his suffering as they brought him to the balcony, forcing him to stare down the 200-story fall. Before they threw him off, a cultist forced a white inhaler with the caramel-colored liquid into his mouth and pressed his thumb down on the capsule, forcing him to take a hit.

Suddenly, the world seemed to slow down as the cultist dropped the inhaler, letting it fall down from the 200-story fall.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity, he watched the caramel liquid swish, swirl, droplets deforming into flowery shapes before rejoining the greater mass. Then he felt hands push into the skinless portion of his back before the ganger threw him off.

For a few moments, he felt the sheer agony of something hitting the raw muscle and nerve before his eyes took in the sight of falling in slow motion. The people staring in horror, the dust fluttering through the moon roof, water dripping from cracked pipes while deforming and reforming in abstract shapes, and smoke twirling in serpentine fashion.

For the rest of the way down, an overwhelming calm came over him as he felt that this was not a bad way to die.

XXX

Peach Creek: Ground Level

At the ground level, a young mother carrying her son was simply walking to the nearby grocery store in the Mega-Block. Suddenly, a body falls a few feet across from her, splattering bloodily as she and others around her gasp in horror. Another body falls adjacent to the other one, causing more screams from the people around. The mother looks up to see a third body falling towards her.

She screams and steps out of the way as the third body goes splat where she stood, with the people around them running away in panic.

XXX

200th level

From the top of the 200th level, the Kanker Clan look down from the balcony, before a cultist says to the others and to Lee, "I told you we should have done this later at night." Their leader simply scoffed and rolled her eyes, while a smirk adorned her face at the man's words. What were the odds that the Judges or the Warden's forces would show up?

Little did they know, this horrible act would be their last.

XXX

Three hours later

Grand Hall of Justice

In the Grand Hall of Justice, a massive tower-like structure, black in color but with the Wall's sigil holographically displayed, two judges walked down the stairways with reports for an investigation in their hands.

The first Judge was a gruff and intimidating man, his face hidden by a black helmet with red accents that covered the upper half of his head, adorned in the same body armor as the rest of the Judges in the Wall's sanctioned borders in the Wall. This is the infamous Judge Dredd.

The Chief Judge was a dark-skinned woman with short brown hair, wearing a dark blue uniform that signified her as a Chief Judge of the Council that oversees the sanctioned parts of their territory while the Warden runs things from the Wall.

Sitting in the cell was a blonde woman in a Judge's uniform, examining an old photo showing a father, mother and child all smiling into a camera, suffering severe folding creases that nearly obscured the photo. Letting out a rueful sigh, the woman folded the photo back up and slid it into her sleeve, not realizing that the Chief Judge was talking about her.

"Cassandra Anderson, 21." The Chief Judge began as she and Dredd watched her through the one-way glass, "Born in the Miracle Towers block, 100 kilometers from the nearest Gelar Field generator. At age seven, she lost both parents to gang related violence. As is usual with orphans, she was given a judge aptitude test at age nine. It classified her as unsuitable, but she was entered into the Academy on special instruction. In the Academy, her record was never better than borderline. Her final Academy score put her three percentile points below a pass."

"So, what's she doing in a uniform?" Dredd asks harshly, incredulous that someone that didn't pass the exams would still be in a uniform.

The Chief Judge said nothing, merely watching forwards to the glass and pressing a button, activating an intercom, "Rookie Anderson?" Anderson immediately straightened when she heard the Chief Judge's voice, automatically issuing 'Sir!' from her mouth. A question immediately came from the Chief, "How many people are observing you?"

Anderson didn't react, merely focusing on instinct. A distortion in the air, light, and sound came, almost like a ringing seizure as an aura only visible to her surrounded the area. A pulse akin to a heartbeat came from her, showing her the cell, the outside where two people stood and the guard outside, standing stoically while the noise around him increased.

Reality came back to her in put a snap as she focused her gaze at the one-way glass reflecting her image, "Two."

"What can you tell me about the person I'm with?" The Chief asked her, earning her a glance from Dredd.

"Male. Another judge." Anderson answered as she focused her powers on Dredd, his aura silver with streaks of red swirling and reforming, "I can feel anger. And control. But..." She trailed off as she focused more on Dredd, who's aura was intensifying with each word, "There's something behind the control. Something... almost-"

"Okay, Anderson. That will do." The Chief Judge cut her off before she could dig any deeper and aggravate the judge, who has clenched one fist in anger.

"She's a Psyker." Dredd remarked in anger. The Chief wasn't surprised, Judges have had to kill several Psykers in the sanctioned parts of the Wall's territory in order to prevent any intrusions from the Warp.

"The Judge's Council and the Warden himself have chosen to overlook her status. So, you will, too." She informed Dredd, explaining what she means when they've recruited a Psyker to the ranks of the Judges, "She's the most stable Psyker we've ever come across by a huge margin. The Judges are losing the war for the sanctioned territories. We believe she could be a major asset. As I said, her final score was only three points below a pass. It's marginal."

"It's not marginal. She failed." Dredd refuted the Chief's claim, still as stubborn as a rock in his belief.

"The girl's getting one more chance." The Chief retorted, turning to Dredd who matched her gaze, "I want you to take her out, give her one day out in the field. Supervised. See if she makes the grade. Sink or swim. Chuck her in the deep end."

"It's all the deep end." Was Dredd's only response.

Suddenly, a ring from Dredd's wristwatch shows that he had been assigned to a triple murder at Peach Creek, likely the Chief Judge's work given the faintly visible tug on her lips. Dredd didn't react, only walking out as Anderson came out of her cell, following him down the hall.

The Chief Judge frowned, thinking that they need to do something about Peach Creeks' rampant crime, activated her comms, "Have a squad of the Silver Sabers accompany them. Tell them that they must prepare for a raid when the Judges arrest one of the Slo-Mo dealers. That place is a hellhole, and it needs to be cleaned out."

XXX

In the hall, Dredd and Anderson, who was now in her Judge's uniform and with her helmet tucked in her arm, were walking down the stairs to the garages where the former began instructing the latter on the assessment for the Judges.

"A rookie Judge on assessment is likely to be involved in armed combat. One in five don't survive the first day." Dredd informed in his usual blunt and to the point tone, "You may be required to carry out on the spot executions of convicted felons."

"Yes, sir." Anderson replied dutifully before Dredd continued.

"Incorrect sentencing is an automatic fail." The judge listed off as they continued walking to the Law, "Disobeying a direct order from your assessment officer is an automatic fail. Losing your primary weapon or having it taken from you is an automatic fail."

"Yes, sir." Anderson repeated, not at all dully as Dredd turned to her. Her expression wooden and masking any and all fear or nervousness that had been building inside her, him giving a grunt of miniscule respect as they both tuned out the automated voice reminding them of their vehicles checks.

Dredd turned his gaze to the path they were walking and declared, "Your assessment starts now."

If she had much less self-control than the Academy's teachings had been into her, Anderson would have been cheering in excitement, but that would have resulted in an automatic fail on the test, so she kept it to herself. They exited the Grand Hall of Justice and descended the entrance where their Lawmasters awaited them as she put her helmet on while they boarded their vehicles.

"Dredd to Control, we're on our way to Peach Trees." Dredd reported as they boarded their Lawmasters, reeving them up before spearing down the streets into the Sanctioned, heading directly to Peach Creek.

XXX

The Wall

The sound of a watch ticking echoed in the room of one Officer Rama of the Silver Sabers; a lean and handsome man with short black hair, light skin, and currently dressed in a wifebeater and black sweatpants. He was currently on his knees while praying with an Imperial Rosarius, whispering his thoughts to the Aether in hopes that the Emperor would shine his light onto the Labyrinth of Ruin and help those not corrupted by its slithering evil.

Hiding the Rosarius in his shirt, Rama exited his room and reached the exercise room, working out with his fellow Sabers as they kept themselves in shape for when they need to be deployed. It was their same daily routine; get up, exercise, eat the green slop they serve for them, get into uniform, maintain their gear, practice at the firing range, practice hand to hand combat, and then go back to bed.

Thankfully, Rama's attention was then interrupted as klaxons blared. They were being deployed.

XXX

The Sanctioned Streets

In the streets of the Sanctioned territories, a van sized ship known as the Barge speared through the streets with any and all criminals and secret Chaos worshippers cowering at its sight while fleeing in terror. Inside, all the Sabers all checked their executioner pattern rifles while the miniature capsules that digitally contained their bolters and extra ammo were stored in their belts.

The Sabers were clad in black uniforms that were a blend of flak armor, standard bullet resistant material, and Kevlar, not the best protection against gunfire but it does its job well. They also had silver skull-like helmets that housed a variety of scanners and targeting systems in the situation that they can't see properly. Their executioner rifles were in the same vein as the Lawgivers, able to change ammo-types and firing speeds on the fly.

"Ok. Listen up." Their commander, Jaka, an Asian man with a lightly trimmed goatee and a serious expression, started explaining the details of their mission, "Our target is Lee Kanker. I'm sure none of you know who I'm talking about, so I'll simplify. This woman has become something of a legend in the underground of the Blocks. Worshippers, gangs, killers, they all respect and fear her like a god of death and blood. For the past 10 years, Peach Trees was ruled by gangs of all kinds, until Lee showed up, forming a cult of psychopaths and drug dealers that took over in just 9 months with the production of Slo-Mo. I don't care how big she is or how she made Slo-Mo, she must be stopped. That enterprising bitch has been collecting the rent of the people of Peach Creek to keep their heads down and/or for them to by her stock. Our mission is simple; we go in and take her out!"

"Yes, Sir!" The Sabers shouted in sync, before they went back to working on their guns and equipment, with Jaka continuing on.

"Now Kanker isn't alone in this." Jaka continued, "Because Kanker is the main manufacturer of Slo-Mo, she naturally has more than enough muscle to protect her investments. She has several thousand cultists, brutes, and thugs at her beck n call, but she also has two trusted guards. One, a fucking Mad Dog. A maniac who's killed hundreds with his hands and feet, would tear down walls for his boss. The other, Caleb. One of her best enforcers, has a rap sheet that reads like a Stephen King novel. He keeps Mad Dog in check, but don't be fooled; given the opportunity, he will pepper you with bullets. They also likely have a techie who runs the cameras and information of the Block, be sure to get him at the first moment possible."

"Focus at all times. We take the place floor by floor. Silence every spotter, secure every corner." Jaka then locked the clip of his rifle into place before saying, "This won't be the first time the place has come under fire. The gangs once banded together take her down, but they failed. So, be ready. We are dealing with a force ready and willing to fight. I don't want to see any empty seats when we're done, but I'm not holding my breath. Once the Judges arrest and/or execute the perp behind the triple homicide, we raid Peach Creek and take down Kanker. Before that, we keep the people calm and try to keep them from the crime scene." Jaka then slammed the butt of his rifle to the floor and yelled, "Now, let's clean up this fucking block!"

"SIR, YES, SIR!" The Sabers yell out, ready to purge another cult.

XXX

Peach Creek: 200th Level

In the 200th level, things were happening while the Judges and the Sabers were on their way to take out Lee and her cult. Some jackoffs apparently got scared of what was going to happen and attempted to escape from Peach Creek while they could, only for Lee's lackies to catch them and beat them into unconsciousness before bringing them to Lee herself.

Now, bleeding and heavily bruised with their mouths duct taped closed, their hands bound in razor wire, on their knees on plastic tarp, and nearly crying and pissing themselves in terror were seven boys. The oldest was 15 while the youngest was 12, all of whom were crying and screaming into the duct tape gags while the cultists stood around them with their guns at the ready in case they tried anything.

Leaning against the wall, Lee slowly ate a hamburger from one of the vending machines in the block while Caleb and Kay stood beside her, the expression of the leader empty and placid even as her stare bore down the backs of the kids' heads. Another man was leaning on the wall beside Caleb's; a man almost a head taller than Lee's leather wearing enforcer, having short bone straight black hair with bangs hanging from both sides of his face, roughly framing it, his face having two cold blue eyes, a straight nose, olive skin, and a neatly kept goatee, wearing a grey long sleeve shirt under a red open hooded sweater, black pants, and black shoes.

This was Mad Dog.

When Lee finished her burger, she crunched the wrapper up into a ball and dropped it into Kay's hands before walking up to the captured children, staring down at them with barely hid hatred. The kids screamed harder when they saw the revolver sticking out of the waistband of her pants.

"You know, normally I don't like killing kids." Lee said in a tone that almost reminded the children of a mother talking down on them, "But for a bunch of snitches, I'll make an exception." She then whips out her revolver and shot the first child directly in the head, causing the other children to scream and cry out in fear and for her henchmen to look away in disgust.

Then she killed the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth in the same way, a bullet to the skull. When she got to the last boy, one who was wearing a pale-yellow shirt and grey shorts, he began screaming and begging into the duct tape gag on his mouth, screaming even harder as he felt the barrel of her gun on the back of his skull, closing his eyes so that he didn't see it coming... only to open them when he heard her gun dryfire.

He saw her standing beside him, a hand on his shoulder and her empty gun in another, smiling in barely hid sadism as she leaned down to where her lips brushed against his ear. "Watch this for me, I'll be right back." She spoke in the same tone as a mother soothing a child from a nightmare while setting the empty revolver on the boy's shoulder and running a hand through his sweat and blood drenched hair, before standing up and walking to Kay, who still looked away but reached into his pocket.

The boy shakingly turned his head to see what she was doing, only to see her walking back to him with a hammer in her hand. The boy only had a second to scream before the cult leader/drug lord then swung the hammer so hard that right side of his forehead caved in. He fell onto the plastic tarp, seizuring from the head wound only for Lee to strike him in the head again and again, staining her hand in blood and grey matter with each strike until the head was reduced to nothing but blood and mush.

Finally stopping after she saw that the boy's head was mulch, Lee let out a breath of pure relish before picking up her revolver and walking away from the seven bodies, while hearing her men wrapping up the tarp and carrying it off to the trash bins. Lee either didn't see or didn't care that her lackies all glared at her in disgust, even as she washed her hands and the hammer from a sink nearby before wiping her wet hands on her pants, not caring about the mix of blood and water staining them.

Before she left, Lee turned her gaze to her henchmen, who has stopped glaring, but disgust was still present in their eyes, especially Mad Dog's, who was an inch away from his face turning into an all-out sneer of anger.

"Well? What are you all waiting for?" She said to all of her henchmen, her face the picture of calm and unfazed, "We have a bunch of deliveries to make throughout the building. Get back to work." With that, Lee walked off to her quarters, presumably to do whatever she wants in the meantime.

Sneering but relenting nonetheless, her henchmen continued on with their work, getting vials of Slo-Mo and packaging them for their deliveries outside Peach Creek and placing them in bags for those inside Peach Creek. It didn't wash out the bitter taste of seeing Lee kill those kids out of their mouths, but it most certainly helped out. It almost made them forget their troubles almost, even if it meant selling their souls to a devil draped in beauty.

"God, wonder why we put up with her shit, eh MD?" Kay asked Mad Dog, who scoffed in agreement even as they took a hit of some Slo-Mo to cope.

"Ay, she is a succubus. Beautiful, but steals your soul." Mad Dog said as they looked on, thinking about what they did to get here and how they ended up here, "Lee is like PCP, you both love it and hate it."

"Ain't that the truth." Caleb interjects as he appears, startling the two while taking a smoke, "Speaking of PCP, I got some. Sternhammer said something about being unstable or some shit. Lee mixes it with her Slo-Mo to heal her from her memories and addictions."

"That bitch is crazy." Kay scoffed, looking over the balcony in though before something caught his eye and he took a closer look, "Hey, Caleb. Something's going on at Ground Level."

Raising an eyebrow, the drug lord's right-hand man looks over the balcony before he saw what Kay meant and moaned out in annoyance, "Oh, shit. MD, get down there and see what's going on." Mad Dog immediately got to his feet and dashed to the nearest elevator and headed for the ground floor.

XXX

Ground Floor

Outside the Mega-Block, Dredd and Anderson dismounted their Lawmasters and started walking to the entrance of Peach Creek, just as a Barge landed gently near them and opened to reveal 20 Silver Sabers, armed to the teeth as they joined the Judges in their walk into the Mega-Block.

"Sergeant Jaka." Dredd said to the commanding officer of the Sabers, saluting as did Anderson and the rest of the Sabers, "Keep the civilians away from the scene of the crime. Use rubber bullets if you have to. The rookie and I will handle the homicide."

"Yes, sir." Jaka nodded off before he announced to the other Sabers, "Visors down!" The Sabers all then lowered the raised visors on their helmets, concealing their faces as they advanced ahead of the Judges into Peach Creek in order to quell the citizens of any panic. As the Judges reached the entrance of the Mega-Block, Dredd then started questioning Anderson.

"Okay, rookie." Dredd began, not looking at her or vice versa as they approached the Mega-Block, "What do you know about Peach Creek?"

Anderson immediately answered her assessment advisor's question, "Sir. Peach Creek houses 75,000 registered citizens and 86,000 unregistered citizens. It has the highest crime rate in Sector 13. Unemployment rate of 96%. And more than half of the residential levels here are classed as slums."

As the Judges slowly reached the entrance, they stopped when Dredd saw a vagrant sitting against the wall of the entrance, a disheveled and unkept man wearing rags and tatters with a beanie and a sign that said, 'Homeless junkie. Will debase self for credits.' Dredd stopped Anderson as he then demanded, "Rookie. Judgement."

"Vagrancy, three weeks in the Wall." Anderson answered automatically before then suggesting, "But prioritize murders?"

"Correct." Dredd declared before he pointed a finger at the vagrant who looked scared at the sight of two judges, "Don't be here when we get back."

The vagrant could only manage a scared look on his face as he muttered out, "Yes, thank you Judge." The two then left but the Vagrant didn't move, mainly because he didn't know where else to go.

After the silver doors opened to the main floor, Dredd and Anderson then entered the ground floor of the high rise with the Judges heading to the crime scene as the officers had moved in to deal with the population, watching them were disgruntled civilians and members of the Kanker Clan that had blended into the crowd, watching and waiting to see what they would do so they could react. The skylight of the Mega-Block revealed the eternal night that they faced, the only reason they survived was the generators and Gellar Fields that surrounded the Labyrinth.

"So, why do you want to be a judge?" Dredd questioned Anderson on her decision to join the Street Judges. Anderson gave him a confused look before she then composed herself and answered honestly.

"Sir. I want to protect and serve the city." The blonde Judge began as they walked down some stairs that led to the atrium of the ground floor, "To make a difference."

Dredd didn't give her a look, but his words made his feelings on her reason clear, "Make a difference to a block like this?" He gestured around him, to the criminals, junkies, unemployed people, and scumbags that settled around them.

"I was born and raised in a block like this before the Wall's Justice Department took me." Anderson explained, though she conceded a point to Dredd's retort, "I know there are good people inside, good families just trying to get by." She then looked at him when he turned his gaze to her, "Yes, I believe I can make a difference."

The only word that Dredd gave was "Admirable." as they got to the crime scene. As they expected, a crowd of people had gathered around the scene, attempting to take pictures of the bodies, while the Sabers were keeping them back while one of them began setting up security tape, a medic was already at the scene examining the body for the medical report he was to write up.

"Move along, move along!" A Silver Saber said in a deep filtered voice via his helmet as his fellow troopers keeping the civilians away from the crime scene, as he was rolling out police tape, "Please remain behind the security tape! There is nothing to see here!"

Pushing through the crowd, or rather the crowd moving out of the way in fear, Dredd and Anderson walked into the scene of the crime as one of the Sabers retracted the security tape for them to enter, with the former asking the medic on the scene, "What have you got?"

The medic, a brown-haired middle-aged man in a Med Center outfit named TJ, looked up from the body that was somewhat uncovered, his face set to grim as he reported to Dredd while writing on his clipboard, "Three stiffs in a somewhat fucked up condition."

Dredd's made his response by grabbing one of the shrouds and pulling it back, semi unveiling one of the bodies; The face was intact, but the cranium was all but pulverized with blood and brain matter reduced to slurry. The civilians reacted with disgust and horror, but Anderson swore she heard a woman ask, "Oh, did you get a picture of that?" Unseen to them, Mad Dog, who was watching while wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses to disguise himself, started to sweat a little. Now that the Judges were here, what was going to happen?

Covering the body back up, Dredd advanced along with Anderson to the medic as he asked, "You based in Peach Creek?"

The medic nodded and responded, while writing something down on his clipboard, "Med Center, level 25."

"You ID'd them?"

"Mostly." TJ responded, pointing to two of the bodies as Dredd uncovered one of them to examine it briefly, "These two are registered to this block."

"And him?" Dredd pointed to the third body, who was covered up and his bloodied hand sticking out of the shroud.

"I'll have to run his blood through a DNA profiler," He replied grimly, before adding with his eyebrows up for emphasis, "If I can figure out which blood is his."

Dredd then pulled the shroud away from another body. Same as the other, face intact but flattened like a fleshy pancake, the brain practically mush. The civilians exclaimed in disgust again before the large and intimidating Judge pulled the lips of the corpse back to find what appeared to be a frosty burn on the inner parts of the upper lips and gums.

"What do you make of this, Rookie?" Dredd asks to Anderson who walks over and looks at the white burn. A curious expression took over her face when she examined it, based mostly as she had no experience with this kind of burn.

After a moment of hesitation, Anderson decided to answer honestly and shook her head, "I don't know sir."

If the veteran Judge was annoyed, he didn't show it as he sets his gaze at the top floors of the Mega Block while getting up, calculating in his head before he answered, "It's a cold burn from a Slo-Mo inhaler."

The rookie Judge raised an eyebrow, she hadn't heard of this kind of drug before, "Slo-Mo?"

"Only just hit the grid, but it's making big waves." The medic informs Anderson, recalling numerous Slo-Mo junkies recently, "Makes the brain feel as if time is passing at 1% its normal speed." That caused the rookie Judge to look up at the top level as the former finished in a grim and dark tone in his voice, "Guess it felt like a long way down."

Anderson blinked, envisioning it in her head; skinned, exposed muscle nerve flaring up against the air brushing on them, blood leaking from the wounds, before then given a hit of Slo-Mo and thrown off the ledge of a balcony, falling down while experiencing it in slow motion, realizing there was nothing you could do as you plummeted to your death, before hitting the hard concrete of the floor. Anderson shuddered, maybe some people deserve it, but it chilled her to her bones none the less.

XXX

Grand Hall of Justice: Control Room

At the control center for the Grand Hall of Russia, amidst the buzz of others giving feedback to those in the field, an elderly control operator shifted through the digital criminal database got the identifications of the 3 victims: Jesus Marki, Tom Salman, and Ephraim Rakim.

After getting the confirmation, he reported to the Judges in the mega block, "Positive on your IDs. All showing convictions for possession of narcotics. Transmitting data now."

XXX

Peach Creek: Ground Level

The IDs appeared on Dredd's holo-watch; they were raggedy and scummy men, with many scars or deformities. Junkies. Likely just trying to make a big score, only to mess with the wrong people when they got too bold, like every other kind of dealers and cults out there.

"Small time perps. Junkies. No known gang affiliation." Dredd stated to Anderson who looked at the screen, before looked at her and asked about her observations of the situation, "What is your analysis?"

The rookie Judge just looked around the crime scene and reported honestly, "Drugged, skinned, displayed in public? I think it's a punishment killing. Someone's trying to send a message."

"Yeah," TJ said as he walked up to the two with his full report completed on the crime, "Don't fuck with the Kanker Clan."

The Judges looked at the medic in confusion with Dredd asking, "The Kanker Clan?"

Seeing that they didn't know what was going on in the Mega-Block, TJ motioned for them to follow him, "I'll show you." Dredd and Anderson looked at each other before they followed him out of the crime scene before Dredd yelled to Jaka, "Sabers! Hold down the fort!" The elite officers saluted the Judge before getting back to their duty.

XXX

Peach Creek Level 25: Med Center

Soon after TJ led Dredd and Anderson away from the crime scene, they took an elevator to Level 25 where they were led to his office in the Med Center. It was a dirty and shitty place like the rest of the Block before they came to a monitor where he pulled up a holographic screen that cycled through all kinds of criminal IDs before settling on one; It was a 19-year-old Lee Kanker whom had much longer hair that reached her shoulders with a bandage on her exposed forehead, her eyes giving a dark and traumatized look as she fearfully stared at the camera, dressed in brown dirty rags that were soaked in blood.

"We have her prison record from when she began her sentence in the Wall," TJ explains to the Judges, wearily looking at the photo, "The picture's pretty old but that's her. Lee Kanker, leader of the Kanker Clan. A former sex slave from The Dawn Raiders bandit clan during the Era of Rending. The clan was arrested by the Judges due to acts of cannibalism and raiding. Rumor has it she was forced into all kinds of horrifying shit that destroyed her mentally, leaving her a target for prison rape."

Dredd wasn't fazed but Anderson raised her eyebrows at this while TJ continued, "Anyone else, you'd say it was bullshit, right? Not with Kanker. Her trademark is violence. Not so long ago, there were 3 main gangs hustling for control of Peach Creek;" The screen showed a long-haired ganger with all kinds of piercings and blade tattoos, with the upper levels highlighted in blue. "The Twisted Blades," It then showed a short haired man with serpentine tattoos with the middle levels highlighted in light green, "The Sons of the Serpent," And finally, it showed a bald man with tattoos that blackened nearly his whole head with white cracks akin to broken glass with the lower levels highlighted in yellow, "The Broken."

"Then Kanker arrived." TJ narrated as it then showed the Kanker Clan, highlighted by red as it slowed spread from the top floor to the bottom as the other gangs disappeared from the hologram, "Took over the top floor of the block and started working her way down. 9 months passed, she had control of everything. Levels 1 to 200, all hers."

"And how did she get away with it?" Anderson asked almost innocently, as she knew why but TJ answered anyway.

"You know how often we get a Judge up in Peach Creek?"

The rookie didn't respond, so Dredd responded for her as he got closer to the screen, "Well, you got em now." He inputed the DNA profiles of the three victims, with the system highlighting the 39th level, "The victims are registered to apartments on level 39. Likely killed over a turf issue, so the perps will probably be there." He then said to Anderson, "Rookie."

Anderson immediately gave the correct answer, "Find out where the Clan operates on this level and hit it hard." The medic typed in something that narrowed it down to the fourth apartment on the northwest side of the level with Anderson saying, "That would be here."

The Judges nod before heading out to the 39th level.

XXX

Peach Creek: Level 39

On level 39, two gangers swaggered to the dealer's apartment. The first one had long dark blonde hair, and wore blue jeans, a white shirt, and a red jacket. The second had spikey black hair and wore a grey sleeveless hoodie with a handbag over his right shoulder and blue jeans. These two are Scott and Mark, best friends but also heavy Slo-Mo addicts, so they were coming in for a fix.

The two got to the door of the apartment that emanated muffled music and did the secret knock, causing a ganger from the other side to open a view port before asking for a password. The first one gets it right and the ganger on the other side lets the two into the crummy and dilapidated apartment. In there was Kay, along with a shirtless heavyset ganger with a shotgun, a bald ganger that was currently beating his wife, a few tramps, and some other junkies just laying around.

Kay gets up from his chair, wordlessly extending his left hand that was then filled with several credits. He receded his left hand and counted the money. Seeing the payment was right, he extended his right hand to them that had two Slo-Mo capsules. The younger gangers grabbed the caps and sat down at a two-person chair, shaking the inhalers before plugging down the capsules, sending the narcotic into their systems.

The cold smoke issued from their mouths as the world stilled, the room grew bright and colorful while the music became slow and distorted. Their eyes rolled back into their heads as they laid back on the couch in bliss.

XXX

Outside, Dredd and Anderson emerge into the hallway that the apartment was on. Searching the hallway for no gangers or cultists, the two sneaked to the edge of the apartment door while readying themselves under the barred window for the break in. Before they do, the door to an apartment diagonally across from them opened, revealing a small boy who froze when he saw the Judges. After a few seconds of staring, he responded by closing the door.

With that out of the way, the two readied their Lawgivers for the shootout before Dredd then asked Anderson, "I take it this your first time in non-sim combat?"

"Yes, sir." Anderson replied as she steadied her nerves.

"Been wondering when you remember to leave your helmet on." Dredd replied, referring to the fact that Anderson refused to wear her helmet, preferring to leave it digitally stored in her belt.

"Sir, a helmet can interfere with my psychic abilities." Anderson informed Dredd as she literally needed to keep her head clear of any object if she was to read their minds. It took her five times of trying to use her powers with a helmet on before she got the hint.

Dredd just gave her a flat stare that made her uncomfortable before he dryly stated, "...I think a bullet can interfere with them more." That caused Anderson to have a flat look of her own, but she wiped it off as Dredd pulled out a sticky charge and pulled off the tab with his teeth before placing it on the door to the apartment, pressing the right button that started the countdown.

As the charge started beeping to signal the countdown, Dredd asked a slightly jittery Anderson, "You ready?"

"Yes, sir." She immediately answered, causing the male Judge to turn to her and see her jittery posture making him raise an eyebrow.

"You don't look ready." He deadpanned as he looked over her, causing her to blush slightly before steeling herself.

"It's just adrenaline, sir." She assured him as the beeping of the charge quickened. Just a few seconds later, the duo turned away from the charge as its beeping quickened before it detonated.

XXX

Back in the apartment, the world still stirred slow in the eyes of the two younger gangers.

Suddenly, the door's lock blew off as a white flash outlined the door as the force slowly deformed it into a curved state. White specks of light seared from the spaces between the door and the doorframe as the hinges ripped away, the guard's exposed skin rippled as waves of pressure and heat crashed into his torso, sending him flying back.

His eyes widen as two Judges, one male and another female without her helmet, barge into the apartment. The gangers with guns raised their weapons but they were too slow to fire. The bald one was shot in the mouth, the fat one was shot in the abdomen with the bullet piercing the wall behind him, and Scott attempted to shoot them but was shot in the right cheek, with the bullet exiting his left cheek, the force bulging the muscle until it popped in a spray of blood, leaving a horrid exit wound.

The Slo-Mo in his system let all the details flow through his sight; flesh piercing, rippling, and tearing, blood flowing in globules from wounds, the flames discharged from the barrels of their weapons, and arduous smell of smoke from the grenade. Mark held up his hands up high in surrender as his best friend's body fell into his lap while the Slo-Mo wore off and the Judges had their guns pointed at him and everyone else in the apartment, who immediately got on their knees with their hands up like Mark.

Anderson was lightly shaken by the shootout, her hands shaking while holding her Lawgiver, pointing it at the people down on their knees in front of her. It was the first time she ever shot someone, much less an actual perp.

"Rookie." Dredd called out. When she remained silent, he turned to her and grounded out, "Anderson. Judgement."

Immediately defaulting to her perfect memorization of the Judgement scales, Anderson blustered out, "Crime: possession and use of controlled substances. Sentence: two years to the Wall."

Dredd was silent before he corrected her, "Don't tell me, tell Control." Anderson mentally kicked herself for that and brought up her wrist and contacted Control from the communicator in her suit.

"Anderson to Control?"

'Copy.'

"Requesting meat wagon to Peach Creek, level 39. We have..." Anderson trailed off as she looked at all the criminals in the room, "...four bodies for Corpse Starch and eight live for the Wall."

'Copy that. Meat wagon inbound.' Control replied as Anderson cut off the connection.

"All right. Let's get them cuffed." Dredd ordered before he then pointed his Lawgiver at some of the perps and motioned for them to stand, "Move! Up!" The perps fearfully complied, getting to their feet and then to their knees as the Judges cuffed them one by one, until they got to Kay. Anderson was about to cuff him when she noticed a tattoo on the back of his neck, an eight-pointed star inside of a heart.

"Sir, this one's a gang member. He..." She trailed off when her powers suddenly kicked in as images flooded into her head; a dark-skinned woman violently tried to escape his gasp as he raped her, his friends holding a man down as he skinned him with a knife, tearing off the man's shoulder and backside. Anderson blinked, realizing who this is, "Sir, it's him."

Dredd was disinterested as he continued cuffing the other perps, "Him who?"

"The man who murdered the people in the atrium." Anderson clarified. Kay immediately turned to her in confusion, wondering how she knew that while Dredd merely cuffed the last perp before he turned to Anderson.

"You sure?"

To be sure, Anderson forced Kay to turn and face her, showing his suspicious expression as he narrowed his eyes at her, "99%"

"Can't execute a perp on 99%." Dredd informed her as he walked up to Kay, who turned away as the Judge got into his face, "You could save me a lot of paperwork if you just confess right now." Despite the intimidating aura that the Judge was emitting, Kay didn't speak. Dredd merely kept his eyes on him as he to Anderson, "We'll take him in. See how he holds up after a few hours of interrogation."

Kay was spun around by Anderson while they forced him to move, walking him out of the room at gunpoint as the ganger simply had a dazed and pained expression on his face. It was that point when Mark began to reconsider his life choices.

However, as the Judges walked Kay out of the room, they didn't notice the camera that watched them when they raided the apartment.

XXX

200th level: Techie's room

In the uppermost levels of the Mega Block, living in a room hooked to the security system, was the techie for the Kanker Clan.

He was a 20-year-old with long ginger hair, a geeky physique with mechanical eyes, and a kanji tattoo just above his left eyebrow. He wore a yellow t-shirt over a grey long sleeve shirt and blue pants with grey sneakers. His job was to simply monitor the Mega Block for any disturbances, which was easy due to his prosthetic eyes being connected to the system.

The less said about how he got those mechanical replacements, he didn't want to say.

He was simply making some figurines out of wires since he usually didn't have much to report, and even when there was something to report, it was usually just some of the guys having fun or roughhousing. But today was something different entirely. Something caught his eye as he put down his wiry creation and switched to the feed showing the distribution center, that also happened to be Kay's apartment, and was missing the ganger himself with the other people tied up. Rewinding the feed, it showed him being arrested by two Judges, and it was

At seeing this, the techie panickily muttered as he began typing on his keyboard, "Oh, shit. The Judges? No, no, no..." Quickly doing some work on the communication line, he got Caleb on the line and reported, "Uh, Caleb? There's a problem on level 39."

XXX

196th level

"The Judges hit the distribution point and shot the place up, took out a few of the boys." Caleb informed his boss as they walked down the halls with Lee with the gangers and cultist immediately knowing something was happening since Caleb informing Lee of something meant business.

"So what?" Lee calmly yet flippantly replied, unintimidated by the Judges or the fact that they hid their distribution point, "We're overdue for a bust. It's just the Judges showing their faces, reminding the citizens they exist."

Her right-hand man shook his head before he revealed the bombshell, "No, Lee. They picked up Kay."

"Executed?" The cult leader was unfazed by the news as she inquired uncaringly to her right-hand.

"Interrogation." Caleb replied that word most definitely getting her attention as she turned her head, "They're taking him in right now."

"Fuck!" Lee swore. If they took Kay into interrogation, he'll squeal to the Judges, and they'd all be executed or sent to the Wall.

Caleb then stops with some other Clan members showing up by him, thinking about the same thing she is, "If Kay talks..."

"If they're taking him in, he'll talk." Lee cut her enforcer off, staring blankly in thought as she mulled over the situation, trying to think of an edge out of this.

Her right-hand man then asked bluntly, "Lee, what're we gonna do?"

The drug lord was silent for a moment, thinking before an idea got to her. Reaching into her shirt, she pulled a piece of paper from under her bra and handed it to Caleb, who raised an eyebrow and unfolded it, "Take this to the technician and follow his instructions." Her right-hand man nodded as he and the gangers headed out, leaving her alone.

Lee only sighed and put her face in her hands before sliding them down while leaning back against the wall, why did she have to deal with these idiots? It'd been at least 7 years since she has had to deal with soldiers like these, and that was a time she couldn't forget.

Her 18-year-old self swung down an ax, decapitating a teenager mutilated beyond utter recognition. She was dressed in a ragged yet formfitting outfit, leather straps holding it in together with boots and gloves, her hair now shoulder length and wild with her Glasgow scars adorning her cheeks.

The bandits watching looked impressed, with the leader clapping, "Very good, Lee. I think you'd be a good addition."

She just had a sadistic grin on her face.

Lee sharply inhaled as that memory resurfaced again, gritting her teeth and curling her fists hard as she forced it back down her into the darkest recesses of her mind, snarling to herself, "Keep it together, Lee..."

What she didn't notice was the egg-shaped object stirring slightly in her pocket.

XXX

Peach Creek: Control Room

In the third sub-basement of the Mega Block was the control room for Peach Creek, where the team that was assigned there was supposed to be operating on the security system for the Mega-Block happened to be slacking off from their duty, as they saw no need. The Judges and the Sabers were here to do their job, so what was there to do?

Unseen to them, the terminal by a sleeping guard lit up and, if he had been aware to see it, displayed the security gates being disengaged. Further unseen to them was Caleb and two clan members who approached the center with guns ready. Swiftly, the three barged into the control room and opened fire before the team had a chance to react, sending bullets and blood flying through the air, killing the officers instantly.

As they walked in, one of the guard's stirred and groaned as he tried to get up. Not giving it a second thought, Caleb commanded one of the two clan members with him while not even pointing at the still living guard, "That one's still breathing." The ganger responded by putting a bullet in the still breathing guard's head.

"Control room is secure." The right man hand contacted the techie through a walkie talkie, who relayed the instruction back to him. As per the techie's instructions, they then removed some plugs from the main control terminal and hooked in plugs to a portable router given to him by the techie that acted as his way of controlling the system instead of simply interfacing with it.

"Router's in." Caleb contacted the techie as he saw the screen signal that the connection was established, "You're good to go."

XXX

200th level: Techie's room

The techie nodded, as he got the message, "Thanks, Caleb. I owe you one." He then hacked into the main server while Lee watched him like a hawk. He shuddered, those eyes of hers seemed to irradiate an aura of utter domination, whatever else was behind that gave him nightmares just by wondering what it was. Finishing the commands necessary for the next part of the plan, he contacted the sector command.

"How much longer?" Lee inquired, her calm tone masking her impatience as her fingers curled and dug into his shoulders.

He winched from her touch and meekly replied to her, "I'm almost done, boss. Just give me a second."

The line rang for a few moments before it opened up with a female voice saying, "Sector control."

"Sector control, this is Peach Creek control." The technician replied in a voice that hid his nervousness from the operator, "I just wanna check you were notified about the def-con systems test today."

"Copy that." The operator said, before replying after a pause, "Peach Creek, we don't have you down for a def-con test."

"Yeah, we must be. If you check the..." He trailed off as the operator reported back with, "I've got nothing." The techie flinched as he could feel Lee's gaze intensely boring into him as she leaned next to him, her face expressionless and calm but the glint in her eyes promised untold pain if he didn't resolve this, she would make what she did to him back then seem like a pleasant dream.

Nearly cracking from the stress, the techie shouted into his mic, "God fucking damn it, sector! I-I put in the notification myself 3 fucking times since last month! We are good to go right now! I've got my... supervisor breathing down my neck!" He meant that last part literally, making a hint of a sadistic smirk pull at Lee's lips before she squashed it.

"Hold fire, Peach Creek. Let me get on this." The operator complied, pausing for a second as she put in the block into the system before answering, "Okay, I put you on the system. Hall of Justice and all emergency services are notified to ignore your status. You can run the test any time you like."

"Appreciate that sector," The technician breathed a sigh of relief as he nearly collapsed against his chair, "You just saved my ass over here." Again, he meant that part literally, causing Lee to let out a small giggle before she composed herself.

"You're welcome, Peach Creek." The operator hung out with the techie leaning back in relief while his boss simply rested her arms on his desk, folding her hands and putting them to her lips.

"Good job." Lee complements blankly, before starting off at another part of the room, lost in her thoughts.

XXX

Peach Creek: Service Elevator

Back to Kay, he was not having a good day.

Not only had he been forced to kill three guys when it was supposed to be his day off, but he had to watch his boss murder seven kids because they were just being snitches, before then watching as she bashed the seventh's skull in with a hammer, and just when he thought things would settle down, the cops just happened to bust into his apartment/store, kill two of his men and one of his customers, and are now taking him in for interrogation.

Yeah, it's been a very bad day for this guy.

Desperate to find a way out of this, Kay looked around the elevator for a way out of this before he locked onto a holstered pistol on one of the Judge's sides. In a split second, he checked for any of them looking, before he attempted to make a move.

However, his attempt was foiled when Anderson's powers suddenly kicked in and she announced, "He's thinking of making a move on your gun."

Dredd, who's seen it all at this point, merely gave the stoic reply of "Yep."

Silently groaning, Kay gave up on the attempt as Anderson then reported, "He just changed his mind."

Dredd's response was somehow even blunter than before, "Yeee-up."

Kay then looked to the touch screen of the elevator and saw that they were at the atrium, signified by the elevator doors opening with the Judges reuniting with the 20 Silver Sabers that were stationed on the ground floor. The Sabers surrounded him in formation as they slowly marched to the entrance.

'Come on, Lee. What the fuck's taking so long?' Kay worryingly thought.

XXX

Peach Creek: Control Room

"...Then enter the passkey and you should be inside." The techie said to Caleb over the walkie talkie as the former worked with the instructions the latter was giving him.

As instructed, he typed in the passkey for the def-con systems into the terminal. Almost immediately, a female automated voice announced, "Security protocols accessed." The screen then showed a tab popping up with the words displaying being, "Are you sure you want into initiate the WAR protocol?" with the automated voiced saying, "War protocol accessed."

Caleb's response to the terminal's question was to press 'Okay.'

"Blast shield initiated."

XXX

Peach Creek: Atrium

Outside of the Mega Block, the holographic signs for the mega block went out, which was even more noticeable due to that the city was engulfed in a massive snowstorm and that it was night. Back inside, Dredd saw that the vagrant didn't leave from his spot, meaning he was going to have to arrest him. "I warned you. Get up. You're heading for the Wall."

Before the police and troopers could get Kay out of the block and into the Barge and especially before Dredd could arrest the vagrant, an automated voiced abruptly announced while an alarm sounded, "Stand clear of doors." The vagrant only had a second to look up and let out a high-pitched scream as the blast shield doors suddenly closed with a thunderous slam, liquifying him and startling the occupants both inside and out, while the automated voice blared out from the intercom, "All citizens remain calm."

"What the hell?" Jaka yells as Dredd and Anderson look at each other while the rest of the Silver Sabers got on guard, weapons raised and minds racing.

Suddenly, they heard various slamming thuds from the upward parts of the complex, signaling the sealing off of the windows letting blackness consume the interior with emergency lights shrouding everyone in red, while two blast shields slowly sealed off the plexiglass covered skylight, cutting Peach Creek from the rest of the Sanctioned city.

"Lockdown complete." The automated voice announced before the interior lights hooked into the railings of the upper parts came online, relighting the inner part of the block.

Dredd and Anderson looked at each other while the Sabers lifted their facemasks to discuss what was going on. Jaka tried to contact Control but couldn't get a signal, with his PDA showing that the block was undergoing a def-con systems test.

"What happened?" The commanding officer asked any of his fellow officers who looked confused at what was happening.

"It appears that the War protocol was engaged." One of the officers hypothesizes, before a pondering expression came across his face, "But this block wasn't on the system for a def-con test, last I checked."

Another officer, Alee, glared at the other, Emel, while motioning all around them, "Well, they clearly are, genius!"

The latter simply rolled his eyes, "I checked this morning. They were not set for any test for months. So, how are they able to activate the War protocol?"

"Well," Anderson interjected, gaining all their attention as she believed she figured it out, "If they have a hacker and have authorization for the def-con test, all they needed to do is set up an alternate router, punch in the passkey, and the test goes through."

Jaka's jaw was on the floor at the explanation from Anderson, "Is it really that fucking easy!?" Before any of them could confirm it, a soft yet infinitely cold voice rang on the PA system that made everyone who wasn't the Judges or Sabers stop dead.

XXX

200th Level: Techie's Room

Back at his room, the clan techie typed somethings into his computer before confirming to his boss while handing the microphone to her, "You're patched in."

Lee wordlessly grabbed his microphone before sitting down at a pile of sheets that acted as the techie's bed. She adjusted it before resting her head on her hand and after a moment of quietly clearing her throat, she made her proclamation.

"Peach Creek, this is Lee Kanker."

XXX

198th Level

Gangers, thugs, cultists, and psychopaths of all kinds, led by Caleb, grabbed whatever gun they could take while running down the corridors, ready to slaughter on their boss' orders.

"Somewhere in this block are two Judges and twenty Silver Sabers. I want them dead. Until I get what I want, the block is locked down. All clan, every level, hunt the Judges and Mambas down."

XXX

Mad Dog's apartment

A shirtless Mad Dog was seen in his apartment, practicing his martial arts skills in massive amounts after wrapping bandages on his arms. The other killers holstered a lot of knives into two black fabric sashes before slinging them over his shoulders, before grabbing two katanas and holstering them to his sides. Mad Dog merely then grabbed a skull bandana tied it around his neck, covering the lower part of his face with his eyes covered by a pair of shades ready for some carnage.

"Everyone else, clear the corridors and stay the fuck out of our way until the shooting stops. If I hear of anyone helping the judges, I will kill them and the next generation of their family."

XXX

Level 1: Atrium

Back at the atrium, everyone stared upwards as the PA system relayed her final message.

"As for the Judges and Sabers: sit tight or run. Makes no difference. You're mine."

It was then that all civilians scrambled back to their homes as the Judges instead looked ready for a fight. Kay was taken with them as a potential hostage before they made their way up the levels to find a position for them to strategize.

XXX

Level 20

The Judges along with the Sabers steadily made their way up the Block through the levels, checking every corner for gangers, thugs, or junkies attempting to jump them but they thankfully weren't ambushed at any point as they reached level 20.

"Control, we have a situation in Peach Creek. Do you copy?" Dredd reported to Control through his communicator. When he got only static, he tried again, "Control, do you copy?"

"My comms are down, too." Anderson reported, with the other Mambas confirming with theirs.

"The shielding must be blocking our transmissions." The sergeant deduced, before groaning in exasperation, "Great! That means we can't call for backup!" He took a breath for a second before commanding, "We'll head for the Med Center. The medic should be able to help us."

The rest nodded in agreement as they silently crept up the levels of the high-rise before reaching level 20. Suddenly, the lights in the area went out, leaving the entire Block bathed in darkness and leaving them blind to any and all attacks. Siezing the opportunity, Kay immediately retched himself from Rama's grip and sprinted down the hall. Rama immediately dashed to catch him only to cease his pursuit when he heard a shout from Dredd.

"Rama! Leave him! Return to your position." Dredd called out as they got behind the balcony walls of the floor, hoping to hide from any potential attacks. Rama looked to where Kay ran off to in frustration before obeying his orders, crouching down and getting behind the walls. A few moments passed before one of the Sabers tapped on Dredd's shoulder.

Judge Dredd turned to him with a questioning eyebrow raised, with the officer signally that they found an apartment to take refuge in, pointing to one that seemed to be empty just across from them. The Judge gave the signal to go ahead, causing five of the Sabers to head to an apartment that appeared to be empty, lining up to shoot the door open and take refuge.

Mentally, they counted down.

10

Before the Sabers fired, Anderson's powers suddenly kicked in, causing her to slightly grimace from the pain, feeling as if something is watching them from above.

9

8

7

Thinking about what her powers were sensing, the rookie's eyes darted around the level as they adjusted to the darkness, scanning around as she saw the immaterial waves crashing into each other as the thoughts of the people around her became visible. Suddenly, she felt something from above, causing her to turn her gaze to the levels above them... only for a gasp to escape her throat as time slowed to a halt.

In two levels above and across from them, hidden in the darkness, 5 thugs from the Kanker Clan were lined to the balcony, armed with assault rifles aimed directly at the five that were about to breach the door to the apartment.

6

5

4

Seen only to Anderson, the knob of the door they were about to breach began turn, indicating that someone was opening it from the other side. A horrid realization crashed into Anderson as she realized what was about to happen. The Saber aiming his gun at the knob fired, the fire produced by the chemical propellent creating enough light for the thugs to see while high on Slo-Mo.

3

2

1

Her instincts overriding her discipline, panic superseding her reason as her mouth moving of her own accord, Anderson utterly screamed out at the top of her lungs to Dredd and the Sabers, "IT'S A TRAP!"

0

The thugs fired. The four in front of the apartment only had a second to react to the shooters before they were gunned down, shredding through them with their gear managing to hold until they were pierced under enough fire. The rest of them ducked behind the stone balcony as they and the Judges tried to avoid getting killed by the storm of bullets coming their way, ripping through the top of the balcony like paper.

"EVERYONE FALL BACK!" Jaka yelled as they all regrouped while attempted to return fire. One of the shooters was hit in the shoulder, causing him to stumble back before he fought down the pain through adrenaline along and kept firing, managing to get two of the Sabers in the process. The rest of them crawled on their stomachs, ducked and sprinted to better cover, or stayed and fired at them.

XXX

199th Level: Techie's Room

Meanwhile, in the Techie's room, Lee and her minions were watching the carnage via the cameras placed all around the Mega-Block. Lee watched stoically, but her eyes showed animalistic pleasure in seeing people murdered, Caleb and Mad Dog kept their composure while the rest of the Clan were cheering in delight at seeing those enforcing justice dead.

"Okay, that's 6 down." The techie kept track of the remaining team members left, "16 to go."

"They're holding up longer than I thought." Lee commentated, looking almost surprised that they didn't go down in an instant, "Then again, they are professionals. I shouldn't expect nothing less of them or the Judges."

Mad Dog shook his head while crossing his arms, "Let not the will of the enforcer by brought low by heathens."

"Regardless, all good things must come to an end." Lee then produced a walkie talkie from her pocket before issuing her orders into it, "Everyone! Tear down the Judges and break the Sabers. I want their blood to paint the walls red."

XXX

Level 20

Back with the Judges and the Sabers, they were still trying to take out the shooters, but due to the combination of the darkness, them trying not to get shot, the shooter moving around to circumvent their cover, and the fact that the shooters were at a better vantage point then the Sabers made the task rather difficult. The Sabers had spread out to every corner of the level floor to divide the attention of the shooters with Dredd and Anderson provided covering fire for them, the latter two managing to hit one of the shooters in the chest and eye.

One of the Sabers reloaded his executioner rifle and fired at the upper level, managing to take out the one shot in the shoulder before the remaining three reloading and concentrated fire on the rest. By now, the Sabers were divided into two groups: the ones by Jaka's side and the ones by Dredd's side. Each were trying their best to fire on the remaining three, managing to take out one and severely injure another, but the last was still pouring it on.

Suddenly, they became aware of feral screaming coming from the levels below them. The shooter had suddenly retreated and had fled to the upper levels when he heard the screams, causing the enforcers of justice to look over the balcony to see what was happening... only for most of them to pale when they saw. Even the normally unflappable Dredd could only widen his eyes in shock as he uttered, "Oh, shit..."

Below them were thousands of thugs, cultists, psychopaths, and fanatics, all in a clamoring swarm of people that were quickly ascending the levels from the Atrium and up. The closest level was Level 15 with the frontlines of the swarm reaching Level 16 just seconds later. Thinking fast, Jaka looked around Level 20 for any sign of an escape before he first saw an apartment on their side and the stairway to Level 21.

"EVERYONE FALL BACK!" Jaka roared over the screams of the horde, gaining the attention of both groups, "IF YOU'RE NEAR THE JUDGES, GO WITH THEM! IF YOU'RE NEAR ME, FOLLOW ME! NOW MOVE!

"THIS WAY!" Dredd yells as he and Anderson sprint towards the stairway with the Sabers frantically racing behind them, disappearing from sight while Jaka's group kick the door down on the apartment, sending a teenage thug who happened to be near the wooden door off his feet.

Jaka, along with his group of seven, barged into the two-room apartment, which Alee and Budi immediately cuffing the thug while Rama and Bowo checked the apartment. It had a baby blue couch, a brown table with a bunch of empty glasses and dirty dishes, a kitchen, a pathetic looking bed, a few rugs, a door leading to, presumably, the bathroom, and a wooden cabinet by the entrance.

"Clear!" "Clear!" They both shouted in signal to the others.

"Keep that door shut!" Jaka yelled, causing Bowo and Dagu to slam the door shut, and just in time as the myriad of maniacs and cultists loudly banging along with feral clamoring against the door followed soon after. Just to be sure, Jaka placed his gun down as he and the other four lifted up the baby blue couch unassisted. With an angry yell, the five rammed it against the door, right after Bowo and Dagu got out of the way. Rama and Alee then grabbed the cabinet and pushed it up against the couch, further reinforcing the makeshift barricade.

The team was finally allowed a moment to catch their breathes before Budi checked the windows.

He knocked against the windows, breaking it before the butt of his gun hit the blast shields. With that confirmed, Budi reported to Jaka about it, "It's no use. The blast shield is covering the windows. And we can't use grenades as these things were made to tank nuclear war."

"Shit!" Jaka swore as he slammed his fist down into the floor, looking around the room for a way to get out, "We need a way out."

Rama got an idea. He started tapping his hand around the walls before moving around the flat while stomping his foot to the floor. He stopped at one of the rugs when he heard the tapping, he made came back hollow before he then pulled back the rug to find a concrete trapdoor. Seeing that it's locked, he shouted to the other officers, "I need a grenade!"

Alee responded by throwing him a sticky grenade. Rama caught it in midair before pulling the tab, planting it on the trapdoor, and activating it in just under a few seconds.

"Everyone clear!" The officer yelled before he dives for cover. The other officers overturned whatever they could hide behind before the grenade detonated, sending dust and stone through the room, leaving the newly made hole in the center of the flat. The officers immerged from their covered to see the hole and planned their next move.

Before any other them could jump into the next flat through the hole, Jaka and Dagu noticed the banging and clamoring had suddenly ceased. The two looked at each other in suspicion before looking at the door behind their barricade when suddenly bullets pierced through the couch and cabinet but the two got out of the way just in time.

Jaka tumbled back before he looked to the hole in the floor, "Follow me!"

The sergeant got up when the bullets started firing out from the other side of the barricade and jumped down the hole. He stumbled for a second before he was tackled by 3 thugs before he had a chance to react.

"Jaka!" Rama yelled before he dove in after his superior. The officer landed into a flat of similar décor before turning to his right to see the three thugs struggling to kill Jaka while dogpiling him as he in turn struggled against them. Rama grabbed the thug in the middle by the shoulders and wretched him free of the dogpile before he threw him to the floor before shooting him twice in the chest, and then did the same to another thug that attempted to shoot him and another thug that attempted to rush him after jumping on a table.

Seeing that they need help, Alee looked around for something to use until his eyes locked onto a fire ax with a black plastic handle. Wasting no time, Alee grabbed the axe before he jumped down the hole, seeing Jaka still struggling against the dogpile. Alee let out a yell as he swung his axe down at the thug to the left, embedding it in his shoulder. The thug cries out in pain but attempts to grab the axe before Alee used it to drag the thug away the dogpile, before he then dislodged the axe and swung it down into his chest, killing the thug.

Jaka, who lost his helmet, blocked and dodged the unfocused blows of the thug that kept him pinned until he elbowed him in the throat and then pushed him down and blew his brains out with a shot from his pistol.

As the rest of the team got down with Rama checking the door only to close it almost immediately, Eko then dropped down to the flat, "They're coming!"

They look to the ceiling to hear dozens of men clamoring and yelling before a thug managed to get down to their location only for Rama to tackle and body-slammed him into the wall, crushing the latter's neck while Jaka and Budi aimed their rifle at the ceiling and started shooting. Then the cultists and thugs on the other side of the door started shooting, only for the nearest officer, who happened to be Rama, to backflip out of the way, losing his helmet in the process. Bowo seized the opportunity and started shooting back, killing several of the Clan members in the hallway.

Eko started searching for another trap door, pulling away rug after rug while stomping around until he finds it. Checking through tapping and working the handle, he found that it was unlocked, but when the trooper opened it, a ganger with a shotgun shot him in the face, sending him flying back before he fell to the floor.

"EKO!" Jaka yelled before he and Bowo fired at Kanker Clan ganger with the shotgun, screaming like berserkers as they could see fountains of blood spew out of his wounds and hearing the death-throes of the ganger as he was gunned down and fell to the lower apartment with a wet thud.

Rama tore Eko's helmet, revealing that the slugs went through his cheek, eye, and head. In layman's term, he was dead. Not wanting his equipment to be wasted, the officer gave Eko's rifle and remaining ammo to Jaka who was almost out from the shootout in the corridors. Suddenly, two lucky shots from the lower apartment ripped through the floor and hit Bowo in the leg and ear, causing him to fall backwards while deafened and bleeding in one leg.

Jaka, Budi, and Alee then fired back into the floor, screaming their lungs out, hopefully taking down whatever bastards were down there, while Rama got the helmet off of Bowo, seeing that his ear had a huge rip in it and was bleeding profusely, though the other bullet didn't seem to hit anything important in his leg even if it was still bleeding. However, it was clear that they were still in a deeply precarious situation.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Rama's head. He quickly ran to the sink and opened the bottom of the stove, before reaching in and ripping out a propane tank that began violently expelling gas. Acting quickly before it ran out, Rama then opened a refrigerator, emptied out its contents, and shoved the tank into it and closed the door.

"Alee, help me!" Rama yells out to his fellow officer as he struggles to move the fridge, who immediately ran over to help after checking on Bowo. When it provided to be heavier than expected, Rama called out, "Dagu, help!" Dagu immediately ran over and helped them push the fridge to the door, with it making surprisingly good cover when the Clan members on the other side opened fire on them.

When they were halfway there, a lucky shot struck Alee in the arm, causing him to go tumbling back and hitting the floor, leaving Rama and Dagu to keep pushing on without him. Rama then used his rifle to fire through the wooden door at the mob on the other side while Dagu put his back into it as he kept pushing until they got to the door. Finally making it to the door, the officer gave his partner his plan, while holding Eko's last grenade.

"When I pop this, turn it around!" Rama shouted to Dagu, who nodded before the both of them started counting down, "One! Two! Three!" The religious officer then pulled the pin, opened the fridge door, threw the grenade in, before the two then forced the open refrigerator to face the door.

Everyone in the room then jumped for cover as the fridge exploded, sending flames to scorch the mobs of cultists and madmen to a crisp while it went flying through the room like a falling brick.

XXX

200th Level: Techie's Room

When the hallway on Level 19 was engulfed in flames, Lee blinked as the camera feed showing where the group was suddenly replaced with static, turning to the Techie, "What the fuck was that?" By her side were Caleb, Mad Dog, and bunch more of her clan looked as surprised as her.

"Looks like we just learnt what we're dealing with." Caleb started, getting his gun ready and loaded.

"Don't underestimate them, boss." Mad Dog interjected, knowing the kind of people those men were, "They're part of the Justice services. The only reason we got 8 of them is because we caught them off guard. So, I don't think they'll fall for that twice."

Lee, for her part, kept her composure and turned to the techie, "What's the damage?"

"Um..." The techie flinched before composing himself and looking over the intact feeds for the damaged areas, making calculations in his head before he reported to her, "It's pretty contained. I'd guess we've lost no more than two rooms."

The drug lord hemmed and hawed for a moment as she thought it over before shrugging her shoulders, "That's not bad."

"And around thirty tenants who once paid us rent are now spread all over the fucking walls." The techie finished morbidly, before flinching when that earned him a flat look from Caleb and Mad Dog.

"Check which rooms they stayed in. Clean out their stashes. They should cover the damage." Lee remained collected, before turning to her henchmen and ordering out, "All of you get down there. I want this situation under control."

"Yes, boss." They all nodded, before heading out to kill the rest of the Judges and the Sabers. Wanting to see how this plays out, the drug lord moved the very willing techie aside as she stared at the cameras, intently.

Suddenly, another memory flooded her head.

Her 19-year-old self laid there in rags and chains, crying hysterically as the tribe leader stares down at her, his eyes still yet brimming with desire. He knelt down at her before putting his hand on the left side of her jaw, forcing her to look at him while silencing her crying.

"Are you going to play nice, girl?" He said to her in that same honeyed voice he put on as he did all the other times that he forced himself on her. Lee nodded her head rapidly, her expression one of frantic fear and desperation to escape from him.

The tribe leader nodded in satisfaction while clicking his tongue, "Good. Goodgoodgoodgoodgood."

He then grips Lee's shoulder, making her flinch. He then leads in very close to her, to where their noses almost touch, Lee's expression one of utter terror as he whispers, "You're going to be a very good pet, Lee."

The woman squirms as the tribe leader kisses her on the check.

Lee flinched before taking a deep breath through her nostrils and curling her hands into fists, trying to bury that memory like the rest. Suddenly, she felt something stirring in her pocket. Raising an eyebrow, Lee reached into her pocket and pulled out the Seed, her eyes widening when one of its eyes opened and stared at her for a moment.

"Um... what's that?" It was then that she became aware of the techie seeing the Seed for the first time and having the same disturbed reaction that she had when she first obtained it all those years ago. Lee then glared harshly at the techie, who flinched back with a yelp.

"Don't ask questions you don't want the answer to." Was all that she said before she pocketed the Seed and turned her gaze back to the cameras. The techie let out an extremely nervous laugh and got back to his job, now too scared to ask.

XXX

Level 19

Back in the flat, Rama was knocked unconscious from the force of the blast, while smoke filled the room and the halls due to the fridge being singed from the explosion that had also embedded it into the wall. The most damning feature that decorated the room is the remnants of the door, which was surprisingly still on its hinges, and the flames of the explosion cooking the dead bodies of the gangers and thugs that tried to kill them littering the hall of the 19th Level.

One of which was still alive as, despite the third degree burns to his face and chest, blood and sweat drenching him as he attempted to crawl to the flat to finish off the officers, only to fall dead with a bullet to the skull by one of the cultists, a red-skinned and trimly bearded one wearing a yellow shirt under a red hoodie, and grey sweatpants, that was patrolling the hall after the explosion.

The gunshot woke up Rama, who started coughing while trying to sit up. He blinked twice before his eyesight cleared to see the others were alright but crouched down and looking on guard. Rama attempted to get his rifle before he was stopped by someone raising an arm that he recognized as Jaka's. He turned to see the sergeant keeping his arm up for a moment before motioning with his hand to the revealed hallway, making Rama turn his head to the door.

In the hallway were dozens of gangers and cultists wandering around Level 19, presumably looking for them to finish them off. Jaka then signed to rest of them for his plan; he motioned for him, Dagu, Budi, and Alee to go though one way while Rama and Bowo head back through the hole in the ceiling.

The officer nodded before silently crawled to an unconscious Bowo who was lying beside a chair near the counter of the flat, waking him up with a gentle slap. Bowo awoke instantly before Rama pressed his hand against his mouth before he could say anything, putting a finger to his lips to get him to be quiet. When the injured officer complied despite the pain, opening and closing his mouth multiple times while pressing his hand to his ear, Rama slowly raised himself and quietly grabbed a small table that was next to the chair, gently placing it directly under the hole before checking the hallway to make sure that they were still concealed by the smoke from the explosion. When he saw that none of the Clan had found them yet, Rama slowly a struggling Bowo to his feet.

He saw in the corner of his eye that the 3 other officers were helping the injured Alee out of the room while he helped Bowo get up to the table. Rama was quietly surprised by how much his fellow officer was able to deal with the pain before they all stopped when they heard footsteps and voices from somewhere in the deeper parts of the hallway.

Someone from the Kanker Clan was approaching.

Acting quickly, Officer Rama lifted the injured officer up to the hole in the ceiling as quickly as he could before the latter gripped the edges of the hole and pulling himself to the upper floor unassisted. Rama took a second to gaze down the hallway. A shadow grew closer while the footsteps and voices grew louder.

They were almost here.

Looking up, he saw Bowo sticking his hand through the hole for Rama to grab. He rushed up to the table and grasped Bowo's hand, who pulled him up to the next floor. Just as he got through the hole, the same, red-skinned thug walked in and scanned the room for a few moments before sighing in disappointment, reporting back to the others with him in the hall, "No one's here."

The others simply grunted before he and they walked off to search a different room for the Sabers.

In the room above where Lee's cronies were, Rama and Bowo finally got a chance to catch their breath before the former quips, "I'd tell you to lose weight, but I know none of that is fat."

Despite the pain he was in, Bowo managed to choke out a laugh before grunting in pain from the bullet stuck in his leg. Realizing that he needs medical attention, Rama grabbed a carpet nearby and ripped a strip off before grasping the serrated piece with one hand.

"Hold still." Rama instructs Bowo, who despite the pain, takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, readying himself for the pain to come.

The religious man dug unto the bullet wound, fast and abrupt with blood flooding, trying to fish the bullet out. Bowo, unable to take the pain, opened his mouth to scream only for Rama to clamp his hand over his mouth and jaw, preventing him from screaming out while using his body weight to stop Bowo from thrashing against him. After a few moments, Rama managed to dig his fingers deep enough to glide his fingertips against the bullet but couldn't dig deeper or he'd expand the wound.

Deciding 'screw it', Rama retracted his fingers from the wound and began wrapping the strip of carpet that he ripped off around Bowo's leg, tightening it like a torniquet to prevent further bleeding. When Rama was certain that Bowo's leg had stopped bleeding, the former helped the latter stand up and assist him with walking out of the room to the Med center.

XXX

197th Level

Lee's henchmen ran down the stairwell with Caleb leading the way while Mad Dog and his disciples were close behind with several more thugs following down.

"I'll take the lift on the west." Caleb commanded to everyone around him, "You guys take the lift on the east. We'll meet at Level 25. The rest of the Silver Sabers should be there. But be careful, the only reason we got half of them is because we caught them by surprise. Now, they're sure to be on the hunt for us."

One thug, skeptical on the serious Caleb's tone displayed, inserted his thoughts, "How are they not the ones on the hunt?"

"Because they're soldiers." The leather jacket wearing man replied, not looking as he advanced to the west corridor, "And we're just a bunch of fucks with guns."

That was the last thing said as Caleb went west with half the gathered while Mad Dog and the rest headed east, some having belt-feed machine guns ready with others having katanas out that were hungering for blood.

XXX

Level 19

With Jaka, Dagu, Alee, and Budi, the four were hiding in one of the stalls in a heavily graphited bathroom while the thugs were looking for them. The sergeant had his pistol close by with its silencer extended, and the officers readied their rifles while they all stared wayward to where the thugs searched.

As the thugs ran down the hallway, the red skinned thug's attention was suddenly drawn to the restrooms while his gang searched the other rooms. For reasons known only to him, he creepily walks through the tiled room, hitting his serrated blade that still had chucks of flesh hanging off from his last few victims to the wall closest in an attempt at intimidation.

In actuality, the hiding men were not frightened at, the only reason they were hiding was because they didn't wanna waste good ammo on lowlifes.

The clanging of the machete rang for a few moments before the thug abruptly kicked open a stall door. Seeing nothing inside, he continues to hit his serrated machete against the wall, making that clanging sound ring through the restroom before he kicked open another stall, only to find nothing again. As the thug neared to where they were hiding, Jaka slowly leveled his gun to the door where the former should be if he was standing adjacent to the stall door they were hiding behind.

Suddenly, the clanging stopped and the 4 saw his shadow under the stall door. The only sound that remained in the air was quiet stilling breaths of Jaka and the 3 other Sabers.

XXX

Level 24

Back with Rama and Bowo, the former was assisting the latter with walking as his leg was still in no shape for moving due to the bullet lodged in his tibia, while they were heading down level 25 for the med center TJ was stationed at in an attempt to find a place to regroup. Opening a door to a mostly empty hallway with Rama wielding his knife and Bowo's baton, the pair started trekking through Level 24 to get to the stairway that led to Level 25, passing by the peepholes where some unwanted people were watching.

"Where are we going?" Bowo asked Rama, delirious with pain and the excessive amounts of endorphins and adrenaline spewing into his system that barely kept him conscious by thinning strings even as he was assisted with walking.

"Level 25. That were a med center is." Rama confirmed, as he continued trekking despite the aches and pains in his muscles from the massive amounts of fatigue toxins that were currently infesting his muscles, "You heard when the medic was reporting the bodies to Dredd. He can help you."

"No..." Bowo moans in dismay. The medic is likely either one of them or will sell him out to the cult for the purposes of keeping his center open.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Rama said calmly, knowing that the medic couldn't be corrupt if he wasn't examining the bodies.

"Don't leave me with that fucking guy!" Bowo practically pleaded with his fellow officer, who hadn't budged.

"He's not one of them." Rama stubbornly insisted, pointedly ignoring the glare that the injured Saber gave him as he trekked on.

"If that bastard cuts me, I swear to God, I'll fucking haunt you." Bowo threatened, though the severe amount of fatigue that he suffered from made it seem more than a little empty to both Rama and he.

"I can live with that." Rama retorted as the two continued their trek through Level 25. But the silence permeating the air was broken when a machete wielding cultist wearing a pale-yellow shirt charged at them from an apartment across from them, screaming like a manic.

The cultist attempted a downward slash only for his machete to meet by the baton in Rama's left hand. Before he could react, the officer parried the machete, smacks the thug in cheekbone of the right side of his face with the blunt side of the baton, before ducking down and slashing the side of the latter's knee and tendon, causing the cultist to collapse while screaming in pain.

Another armed thug emerged from the flat left of them in a frenzy, only for his attack with a machete to be blocked by Rama's knife when he quickly twirled around to face him, before Rama grabbed him from under the knee using his baton and then stabbed him near the pelvis before dragging the knife down to the knee, leaving a massive gash in his leg. Yet another cultist attacked from behind after the last one when down, but was stopped when Rama swiftly twisted out of Bowo's grip, blocking one strike before striking him in the waist, knee, and calf with his baton before another thug wearing a headband came screaming from behind, causing the officer to twirl in the other direction, striking the thug in the neck before using the side handle to pull him in before Rama then stabbed him in the trachea, letting the bastard choke on his own blood before kicking him away.

Quickly realizing that he can't fight like this, the religious officer harshly pushed Bowo to rest against the wall while he dealt against the thugs that were closing in.

Another machete wielding thug with wild hair came charging at Rama with a feral scream, swing wildly with the officer blocking or parrying two blows before he was floored by Rama punching him in the gut with his baton. A cultist then came from another flat, but Rama dealt with his wild swings before striking him in the ribs with the side handle of his baton and then slashing his neck open with his knife.

The thug that was sent to the floor got up to attack again, swinging his machete only to be blocked and for Rama to slash him in the cheek and then roundhouse kicked him back to the floor with a thud. Rama ducked when two more thugs came swinging before he parried their blows with his baton and knife. Pressuring the two, he stabbed the one on the right in the gut as he ducked under a swing before he swung at the one on the left who ducked under and attempted to strike at him, only for Rama to block them and then jab him in the chest with his baton, knocking the wind out of the guy.

A thug running from the south side of the corridor was then intercepted, parrying one swing of his knife before slashing him in the cheekbone and then spin kicking him in the back of his exposed knee, sending the man to the floor before another cultist turned the corner of the hall with a katana, only for Rama to grab his arm, strike him in the head with the side handle of his baton before kneeing him in the ribs and then slamming him face first into the wall behind him before another thug immerged from another flat, swinging at the officer who ducked and struck him in the chest before slicing the left calf, forcing the thug to the ground before he was then jabbed in the head by Rama's baton.

Suddenly, a screaming thug came around the corner and slashed at Rama who dodged before twirled around, blocking the thug's knocking him to the floor before he stabbed him in the chest, then stabbing him in the neck. Another one came screaming with an axe, only for Rama to dodge the swing of his weapon before then grabbing the leg and then driving his knife into the knee, tearing it open as the thug cried out in agony. A cultist in a white shirt appeared from the left hallway of the level as the officer spun around to see him and get a block when Rama swung down, ripping the baton out of his hands and then elbowing him in the neck, but that was where his luck ended as the officer ducked under a swung before grabbing his arm and ending with a jab to the gut and shoulder with his knife before Rama then kneed him to the floor.

Meanwhile, Bowo quite literally dragged himself forward using only his right arm despite the pain in his leg, even as he groaned in agony and even as his ear started pounding from the infection, it didn't matter to him as he grabbed his knife from its sheath and put it in a reverse grip. He needed to help his friend. As he crawled, the cultist in the pale-yellow shirt grabbed Bowo in an attempt to strangle him, only for the officer to grab him by the throat and then pin him down before he stabbed the bastard over and over again in the chest, screaming as he did so to alleviate the stress. When the cultist was dead, Bowo pushed his body out of the way and continued to crawl to help his friend.

Back with Rama, he kicked a thug in the leg and chest before twirling around and blocked another thug's kick, then elbowing him in the ribs and then raising his knife to stab him only the other thug to grab his arm from behind, causing Rama to twist around and then elbow him in the face, breaking his grip on the officer before the other thug came charging back. Rama kicked him in the ankle when the thug attempted a kick, sending his leg off as he was forced to kneel, giving the officer an opening as he stabbed him in the side of his neck.

Before he could grab his knife, the black shirted thug then grabbed Rama from behind and pulled back, causing him to lose his grip on his knife before both of them dragged themselves to another west part of the hallway. The thug attempted to strangle Rama before he then elbows the thug in the side of the ribs or stomach until he let go before grabbing the thug and throwing him to the floor, dislocating his arm and stomping on his jaw, knocking the bastard into unconsciousness.

Yet again, two unarmed thugs came from behind. One punch connected to Rama's right arm to block it before he spun away from a hand chop to the thug's throat before a redshirted thug then spun back and attempted an elbow jab, but Rama caught before punching him in the ear, making him stumble for a second. The other thug tried to right hook the officer, but the latter caught it and kneed him in the stomach, sending him to the floor before the first thug got back and tried to throw a punch, which was caught. Rama used this to force the thug to the floor before he kneed the latter in the face, breaking his nose in the process.

The other thug tackled Rama back, nearly knocking the wind out of the officer, before delivering a series of intercepted blows against Rama before the latter kneed him in the thigh before he held the side of the thug's head and rammed it against a light, shattering it before then slamming his head against each of the lower tiles of the wall, making the thug fall dead from sheer brain damage.

Seeing that there was no more of the Kanker Clan at the moment, Rama was finally given a chance to breath when he saw Bowo dragging himself towards him with his knife in his other hand. The officer grabbed Bowo and helped him to his feet, slinging an arm over his shoulder as the exhaustion caused him to drop his knife. The wounded officer attempted to grab it only for Rama to yank him back.

"Leave it." Rama snapped as the two continued their trek to Level 25.

Unknown to those two, one last Clan member was hiding in his apartment, hyperventilating as he looked at the six-shooter in his hand. Opening the chamber, he saw that it was empty, so he fished into his pocket for more bullets only to his complexion to turn pasty when he felt that he only had one last bullet in his pocket. Pulling it out, the thug stared at it for a second before gritting his teeth and placing it into the chamber.

He checked in the peephole to see that Rama and Bowo were just passing by his room, his chance to kill them fleeting, he had to make the last bullet count. Psyching himself up, the thug threw open the door, only for Rama to see him in just a second. The officer threw Bowo to the floor and then grabbed the thug's arm before he could fire, then turning the gun to the thug's neck as he pushed him to the edge of the doorframe before he squeezed the trigger, firing the bullet through the thug's jugular and the door frame, killing the thug instantly.

XXX

Level 19

The red-skinned thug's head slowly turned around and up when he heard the gunshot from above him. When his thugs came running in after they heard the gunshot, he commanded while motioning up with his serrated katana, "Up. Five floors."

Nodding, they ran off to find the Sabers, with their leader looking around the bathroom one last time. Seeing that it was as empty as when he came in, the red skinned man wear let out a scoff and left.

Hearing his footsteps slowly fade out of the restroom, the Sabers hiding in the stall caught their breath, relief poring over them as they slumped against the walls of the stall.

XXX

Level 25

Quickly ascending the stairs, Rama and Bowo found themselves at a large open area, looking around to see the space was empty. Acting quickly, the duo made their way to the med center, which was visible just a few feet away. Suddenly, the two heard the sounds of the Kanker Clan advancing to their position.

Rama swore before he practically sprinted to the med center, while not going as fast as to aggravate Bowo's wounds. He came to a clear hard plastic entrance that led to another clear plastic door, where he saw the medic from earlier stocking the shelves of his clinic.

"Open the door!" Rama yelled after banging his fist on the door, getting the medic's attention. When there was no response, he banged on the door again, yelling to the medic inside, "Open the door! I have an injured man here! If you don't open up, we're dead!" He kept banging on the door hoping to get the medic to open the center.

Inside the med center, TJ could only stare at Rama before he looked to the side seeing a young woman dressed in tattered clothing and holding a newborn wrapped in a white unstained blanket. She couldn't have been older than 17, yet from the scars and uneven black hair, it was not difficult to say how she got said child.

"Don't do it." She begged him, holding her baby who cooed softly, "Don't get involved."

Outside, Rama turned to see the shadows of the Clan coming from the stairway while their voices slowly got louder, turning to the medic as he kept staring on at them, "Please, they're close. I'm begging you, look at me. Open the door. Please. You can't turn your back on us. Please open the door."

Hearing Rama pled from the other side and the sight of the injured man in his arms, TJ grit his teeth, but his sense of morality override his logic as he let out a muted curse, "Oh, goddamnit!" He pressed a button on the intercom panel, opening the door to the two Sabers. Sighing in relief, Rama quickly entered the center with Bowo in tow, just as the thugs emerged to the hallway, led by the red-skinned thug.

The Clan members looked around the area and the halls around them, before Red motioned around him, "Spread out. Me and my guys'll check the Med Center." The thugs nodded and spread around the level while Red and his men headed for the Med Center.

Inside the center, TJ saw the thugs approaching and swore again before silently motioning for the officers to follow him, "This way." He allowed Bowo to rest and arm over his shoulder as he led the two to a blank looking wall, before grabbing a crowbar that was on a shelf nearby and inserting it into a small opening. He struggled for a second before it popped open to reveal a narrow passageway in the stone wall, motioning to the two officers, "Hid in here."

The two slid into the passageway, Bowo trying his best not to make too much noise as they got to the end of the passageway before TJ closed it. Just in time as Red and his thugs entered the Med Center via the techie, one of them immediately attacking the woman and her child who started crying out in fear and panic, causing TJ to react violently.

"HEY, HEY, HEY! What the fuck are you doing?!" TJ demanded from Red as he got up in the thug's face, only for the man to grab him by his shirt in an aggressive way.

"Shut the fuck up or I'll bleed you." Red said calmly, before he turned to his men and commanded out, "Check everywhere and every corner. Don't leave anything to chance." His gang nod and started searching the place for any sign of the Sabers, before Red then aggressively pushed TJ, who only stumbled a little, "You hiding anyone here, big man?"

"No." TJ replied bluntly, not fazed by this punk's attempts to intimidate him.

"You won't be lying to me now, would you?" Red questioned with a crazed look in his eyes, "I got no time for liars. Puts me in a bad mood. And when I'm in a bad mood, I tend to lash out." He said while waving his serrated blade threateningly in TJ's unmoved face.

Keeping his composure, the medic replied, "I swear, I'm telling you the truth."

"We'll see." Red scoffed as he rudely pushed himself past TJ while his gang searched the Med Center, looking around the shelves stocked with prescription drugs and medical equipment, an examination table, a bin where disposable needles are thrown out, and a bunch of other shit Red didn't care to look at. After a minute, Red turned to see the wall that looked suspiciously normal compared to the rest of the clinic, "Well, what's this?"

Red swaggered over to the wall, looking at it for a second before abruptly started pushing and shoving things out of the way, either breaking or ruining them with his carelessness. In the wall, Rama and Bowo look at each other in confusion at the sudden noises, before Red's serrated katana speared through the stone wall like a 1000-degree knife through water, scaring the two officers when it then retracted before being speared through the stone wall again.

The blade got closer with each stab, Bowo pressing himself against the floor as the blade was aimed higher though that left Rama to be only to press himself against the end of the narrow space in a desperate bid while pressing his hand to Bowo's mouth to muffle his moans, but it was for naught as it kept getting closer and closer to his head. Reacting, Rama turned his head just in time for the blade to merely graze his cheek, but that caused him more than enough worry as blood lightly spilt onto the blade. If Red saw that there was blood on his katana, he would know that the officers were in there.

Thankfully, TJ managed to intervene at the last second, yelling at the thugs, "Hey, enough of this bullshit!" He yelled while pushing Red away from the wall, angering both him and his thugs as one of them slapped the woman to get him to stop, causing her to cry out.

"I'm getting really tired of your shit!" Red yelled at him, pressing a finger into his ribs and getting in his face, then pointing to the scared woman, "Do you want me to slice that bitch open?!"

"Look around you, man! There's no one here!" TJ gestured all around him, showing that the only inhabitants of the med center, "Leave us alone, man!"

Red looked annoyed but didn't deny the medic when he looked around and saw that there were no Sabers in the room with him. Scoffing, Red ordered his men while waving his arm lazily as he slowly walked to the wall to get his katana before he got out of the Med Center, "Let's go. We'll leave guarding this place to Big Joe and his crew." His thugs relented and slowly walked out of the clinic, muttering angerly.

When Red went to grab the katana, Rama quickly brought his hand up away from Bowo's mouth to wipe blood off the blade before letting the sword glide off his glove as the thug pulled it out from the wall, wiping the rest of the blood off of the weapon. Red examined his katana, finding that there was no blood on it, before he scowled and muttered to TJ, "I guess you really were telling the truth, assface."

A blank faced TJ said nothing as Red left the Med Center, the door closing behind him. When he was sure Red was gone and that there were no Kanker Clan around to watch him, TJ bolted to the wall and grabbed the crowbar, prying the wall open for Rama and Bowo to crawl out, the latter opening and closing his mouth in pain.

Immediately, TJ carried Bowo to the examination table, unwrapping the carpet bandage that Rama had used, revealing the wound to had already crusted over with oily fluids with the flesh around it blackened lightly with some puss leaking out. TJ grimaces before steeling himself, turning his gaze to Rama, "Wound's infected. Get me some disinfectant and a few scalpels or anything sharp! I gotta get the bullet out!"

Rama nodded and ran off to find some while TJ got a roll of bandages and medical string for the surgery. After a few minutes, the officer came back with a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and a small scalpel, explaining in an almost sheepish tone, "This was all I could find that wasn't knocked to the floor."

TJ took the bottle and scalpel into his hands, examining them for a moment before he decided to wing it, "It'll have to do. Keep his mouth shut, we can't attract attention." Rama immediately put his hands on Bowo's mouth, who yelled into them in pain before he was silenced when he saw TJ put on some rubber gloves.

"Hey? Bowo?" The officer nodded in when the medic called his name, before his eyes shrunk when he saw TJ uncap the bottle of peroxide, "I'd be lying if I said this wasn't gonna hurt like a bitch." Bowo merely gave a fearful nod and closed his eyes, steeling himself so he didn't see it coming.

TJ poured the peroxide on the wound, causing white foam to immediately begin forming around the exposed and infected flesh with Bowo letting out a scream that was muffled by Rama's hands as the medic poured more to rid the wound of the scabs and solidified blood while using the scalpel to scrape them away. Once the foam and sizzling noise of the bacteria dying faded, the medic made a small incision on both sides of the wound, expanding it slightly as to get rid of any more infected or clotted blood before TJ then traded the scalpel for a pair of tweezers for the really painful part of the operation.

He stuck the tweezers in the wound, digging deep until he reached the tibia and, judging by the scraping sounds that were made when he moved the pair side by side, the bullet. In a swift motion, TJ's tweezers grasped the bullet and yanked hard, but it was still lodged in the bone, causing Bowo to scream and seize before Rama used his whole body to pin the officer down so that the medic could work. TJ yanked again, this time managing to loosen the bullet from the bone, before then one final yank finally dislodged the slug and ripping it out of his leg.

The pain from having the slug dislodged from his leg caused Bowo to let out an ear-piercing screech of agony, one so loud that Rama had to knock him out with a bash to the head so that he wouldn't attract any attention from the Clan outside. With Bowo finally knocked out, TJ used the rest of the peroxide on the wound, cleaning the rest of the infected areas before he then took a needle and some of the thread and began stitching the wound closed, before then wrapping it in absorbing pads and bandages, finally patching the wound.

TJ sighed when he wiped the sweat off his forehead, "Alright, he's patched up. Try to make sure that he isn't seen by the Kanker Clan." The medic sat down as Rama carried and set the unconscious officer on a makeshift bed, the latter looking like he was more relieved than ever in his life.

Rama looked at his teammate in pity before he turned to TJ, "He's boneheaded and stubborn... but he's also a good man. Can you take care of him?" The medic gave an uncertain nod when he put a blanket over the officer's unconscious body.

"Just be thankful that there are no cameras in here. If there were, the techie would have found you and killed you, me, your friend, and the two over there." TJ replied, motioning to the woman and her child, the latter cooing softly as he reached to Rama in a cute baby way. Rama knelt down and extended a finger, letting the baby's small hand grasp it.

TJ chuckled as he knelt down, "Cute little guy, isn't he?" Rama gave a smile and a nod as the medic rubbed the baby's head, who cooed at that, "She was homeless when I found her and took her in, gave birth just ten days later." The woman gave a grateful nod before they heard the sounds of the Kanker Clan arriving, causing Rama to press himself under the window so they don't see him.

XXX

Level 23 stairwell

With the Judges and his team, they were okay. Relatively at least. Several of them had been lightly injured or covered head to toe in dust, narrowly avoiding the reaper's scythe that claimed who knows how many of them. They managed to get Kay back after finding him trying to flee down the stairs and beating him down until he caved.

"Is anyone injured?" Dredd asked Anderson and the Sabers as they got to the stairwell with Kay still in tow, looking like he nearly pissed himself from all that just happened.

The Sabers and Anderson checked themselves over and the second in command replied, "We seem fine, sir."

"Good." The Judge replied stoically, before turning and commanding the Sabers as by their oath they must obey the commands of a Judge, "We'll continue our plan. Let's get to the Med Center." Anderson and the officers all nod before they all head upwards through the stairwell, dragging Kay along, only to stop when they hear voices from higher levels. At the corner of their sight, they could see various Clan members running down the stairwell.

Unfazed, Dredd turned to Anderson and ordered, "Call it." Anderson gave a confused look, making the Judge repeat, "You're on assessment, Rookie. Call it." Dredd repeated as he waited for her response while the Sabers reloaded.

"Multiple armed targets. Obstructed line of sight." Anderson called off as she observed and calculated in her head before she turned to the Judge, "Gas grenades."

Dredd nodded before he ordered the rest of the team, "Respirators." The Judges and the Sabers got their gas grenades out before putting on their portable respirators and activating their helmets' build in air filters respectively.

"Hey, buddy." One of the officers told a nervous looking Kay, as he activated his respirator, "I would hold my breath if I were you." The ganger responded by taking a deep breath before sucking in his lips.

As they got to the next upper corner of the stairwell, the Judge ordered Anderson and the Sabers, "Set your rifles to semi-automatic. We don't want to waste ammo on them."

Everyone nodded and set their weapons accordingly before Dredd pulled out some gas grenades, pulled the pins, and threw them around the corner onto the stairs where the clan was descending. The Judge then raised a hand and counted to three with his fingers then clenched his fist, signaling them to go by the sounds of the grenades exploding.

The team then turns around the corner, started running up the stairs with their guns raised as they saw green gas rise and hear the Clan members start coughing. A few of the Clan had to hold onto the railing due to how hard they were coughing while others had their arms or hands to their mouths to block out the gas, not seeing the team approach through the green fog.

Dredd kicked it off when he shot a ganger 3 times in the chest before getting another Clan member in the head, the others joined in, getting headshots, chest shots, leg shots, or neck shots. Each ganger shot at the fog in an attempt to get them, but due to the gas and its effects on them, they could barely aim or shot before they were met with a bullet.

After that they deactivated their filters when the gas dissipated, the team got to the elevator and set it to level 24. The second the doors opened, one of the Sabers grabbed one of the thugs that was guarding the elevator and snapped his neck before another one took out the other via headshot.

Checking to ensure, no one's there the leader signals for them to move out down the corridor to level 25.

XXX

Level 25

With some of Lee's gangers and thugs, many of them gathered around TJ's med center, armed to the teeth, with the man himself looking out the window, stoic and unflinching.

"I want the North and East corridor totally covered." Big Joe, a heavy set, scarred and leather wearing Clan member growled to his henchmen, "Sal's got the West and South. And spread out your hardware. We're gonna have these pigs back to Lee on a plate."

The criminals all shout and cheer as they got their guns ready, not seeing TJ slowly back away as a mother holding her newborn child looked on fearfully. Rama looked like he wanted to kill them, but the logical side and the emotional side were conflicting with each other.

"Rama, you keep that fucking CHS under the control or they'll find you!"

That caused Rama to pause as he looked at TJ in confusion, whispering, "'CHS?'"

"'Chronic Hero Syndrome.'" TJ clarified as he looked on in one of the windows so that no attention was given to the med center.

XXX

Back with the team, they got to the access corridor for the Med Center while one of the troops tied Kay up on the railing so he wouldn't escape, but another peeked through a narrow opening to the door for the center part of the level and swore.

"We got contact; 25 or 30 armed men blocking the entrance to the Med Center." He informed the Judge who also peeked into the opening to assess the situation ahead of them, "What do you recommend?"

Dredd was silent for a moment, while listening to all the profanities the criminal were spewing, before ordering the team, "We're gonna have to go through them. Let's give them the good news."

After a few minutes, the team gathered around the opening with their guns ready. The Judge then pulled out a stun grenade, pulled the tab, and quietly rolled it to the center of the gathering criminals. The Sabers then took behind the door to the corridor as the sergeant put up a loudspeaker and pointed to the opening, just close enough so that the occupants of the room wouldn't notice.

"Citizens of Peach Creek." The Judge said through the loudspeaker, gaining the inhabitant's attention judging by the surprised expressions from the armed men, "This is the law. Disperse immediately or we will use lethal force to clear the area."

"Where's that coming from?" They heard a thug ask, only for another to reply when he managed to pinpoint the voice, "Over there, access corridor." Most of the team knew their guns were raised without even looking through the opening.

"You have been warned." Dredd continued with a beat, as the Sabers and Anderson readied their guns, "You have 20 seconds to comply."

"It's you who's doing the complying, Judge!" Big Joe shouted to them as he swaggered to the front, "There's 30 of us, and only a few of you. Why don't you all step out of that doorway or we're gonna blow the fuck out of ya."

"10 seconds to comply."

A thug named Japhet replied as they readied their guns, "Fuck you, Judge."

Big Joe grinned sadistically as he leveled his gun, "You got 5."

"Thanks for the heads-up." Judge Dredd quips, before deactivating the loudspeaker as the stun grenade detonated. A flask of white engulfs the area with a deafening ring making all the thugs, even Big Joe, drop to their knees and clutch their eyes and ears in pain, giving the squad an opening.

The team burst from the access corridor and opening fire on the gang. Three of the Sabers managed shoot the 15 thugs on the left while the other 4 managed to put down the 14 thugs on the left. Big Joe growled as he regained some sight before shooting LMG to the team. The team either dodged or got grazed by the full metal jacket rounds before the Judge put a bullet into his chest, sternum, neck, and finally, brain.

After a moment to assess their situation, the Judges and the Sabers quickly secured the area any survivors were immediately executed. Anderson came to a man with curled dirty blown hair with a full beard coughed up blood as he stared up at her, lightly grasping his gun as he pleaded, "Please..."

"What are you waiting for, Rookie?" Dredd questioned Anderson's hesitation at executing the sole survivor, "His crime is attempted murder of a Judge. His sentence is Death."

"Yes, sir." Anderson whispered, steeling her nerves as the man futilely tried to raise his gun only for him to be shot in the head. Dredd said nothing, just giving a curt nod before one of the Sabers abruptly yelled, "Movement! Med Center!"

The team raised their weapons down to the entrance of the Med Center as they heard footsteps clattering faintly in the further parts of the hallway. They tensed when a figure appeared only for it to yell in a familiar voice, "Don't shoot! Don't shoot!"

At first, they were confused for a moment but then the figures got closer, and they saw who it was. Officer Rama, who had lost his helmet. How he managed to get to TJ's med center while being that injured was anyone's guess.

The Sabers signed in relief as they lowered their weapons before Dredd approached the officer, "Officer Rama, it's good to see you're still breathing." He greeted before pausing for a second, "You look like you've been hit by train."

The officer chuckles before he started his explanation, "Practically. We had to fight through at least 20 thugs. Had to be nearly ripped the tendons in my legs to fight off most of them."

Dredd remained composed before he asked, "Joking aside, how many did we lose?" That made the officer stop and looked unsure what to say. The air hung heavy for several moments before one of them relinquished the horrid information.

"9." Rama replied, looking tired yet still having the strength to stand, "8 were killed in the ambush while Eko was killed when we were jumped by more of Kanker's cronies. We got separated from Jaka, Alee, Budi, and Dagu during the chaos."

Dredd only had a stoic look as he nodded, Anderson had a sad expression but kept it to herself, the other officers looked the same as Dredd did. While they wanted to be sad, the truth is that they've been in so many dangerous and destructive operations while losing so many comrades that they've grown numb to losing their fellow officers in these times. That wasn't to say they were apathetic to their deaths as they still cared, but the only thing they could do was kill the rest of the Clan to avenge them.

Deciding to push on, the group got to the Med Center which was only 5 feet away from them.

Wasting no time, the officer knocked on the door, "TJ, open the door!" When the medic didn't respond, he knocked again harder, "Open the door! We have injured and are in need of assistance! Please! I know you can hear me!"

TJ just stood there, looking aside, not saying anything. Rama knocked again in frustration, before Dredd brushed him aside, putting on the intercom and said, "Medic, please open the door and let us in."

The medic responded through the intercom, "Negative, Judge."

"You know what's going on out here. We need a place we can defend."

"Then you better find someplace else." TJ replied with his tone unwavering, as he put his principles over his mortals, "This is a medical facility. Neutral ground."

"Neutral?" Dredd repeated incredulously, "You're not neutral. You're choosing sides."

"Peach Creek has been sealed by blast door designed to withstand nuclear war with a cold fusion reactor powering the whole place. No-one's getting out. No-one's coming in. And you have every Kanker Clan affiliate in the block after your blood. There are no sides. You all are already dead."

The group was silent for a moment before one of the Sabers replied with, "Then help us so we can drag as many of these bastards down with us."

That got TJ to chuckle but said ruefully, "I want to believe me, but I already got one of the Sabers here as a patient whose gonna get slaughtered by the Clan if I get caught. I can't help you. Don't worry, I'll take care of your friend, but that's it."

If they were annoyed by this notion, the Sabers didn't show it as they simply walked off to the south corridor in hopes for a better place to regroup, grabbing Kay along the way. The woman staying with him looked guilty as she held her newborn son in her arms, who reached out towards the team in a cute baby way.

"Seems the Med Center's closed early today." Dredd insensitively said before he ordered to Anderson and the whole team, "Everyone, switch to weapons to silencer mode, keep on semi-automatic. Conserve ammunition. And don't shoot unless you know you're gonna hit." He said that last part to Anderson in particular who nodded while she and the others activated their rifles' built-in silencers, except for Rama, who grabbed some of the guns from the dead and put them and as much clips as he could carry in whatever space was available on his uniform. They slowly started to head out as one of them grabbed Kay.

Suddenly, a platinum haired woman wearing a white tanktop and black pants entered the area, screaming as tears streamed down her face while firing an autogun at the Judges in a blind rage. The two Judges leapt out of the way of her line of fire, while most of the Sabers quickly fired at her, riddling her chest full of bullets as the force knocked her to her back, bleeding profusely.

The woman coughed up blood before whispering to no one in particular, "M-Mommy loves you sweety. She's going to see daddy again. Take care of yourself... Mommy loves you..." In that moment, Anderson saw it as her powers read the woman's last thoughts; she was the wife of the perp she shot, and the mother of a small little boy, barely ten years old and with nowhere to go. Anderson looked like she wanted to vomit but kept it down, sometimes she wished that she was like Dredd.

After that, the rookie couldn't hold in a question to Dredd, "Sir, what about the prisoner?"

"Explain." Dredd's only response was.

"Well, it's just that under the circumstances, he could be a liability." Anderson clarified and to an extent the Sabers could see her point. If Dredd did, he didn't bother to show it as he stuck to his duty and gave his refute.

"He's also the prime suspect in three homicides." Dredd refuted, getting closer until they were nearly face to face and breathing down on her neck, "What do you say, Rookie? Wanna cut him loose?"

Anderson was silent for a moment but knowing that she can't sway Dredd and that it'll like result in a fail on her assessment, gave her answer, "No, sir." Dredd's silence was the only answer she needed as he turned and led her and the Sabers down the corridor to the next level. As they walked though, Anderson couldn't help but to think about what the job she's on assessment for.

Lots of the criminals and scum like Kanker deserved to die, but there were those that still had lives, friends, and families. Few Inquisitors have managed to get to the Sanctioned, killing and purging entire Mega-Block after finding chaotic taint, and they felt little regret. Such acts were unimaginable to her, even though the Inquisitors that she saw with her Witch-Sight genuinely believed in what they were doing, frazzling her even more. To defend humanity, must we give up what makes us human? Anderson snapped out of her thoughts when she realized that they were walking in a hallway, a look back confirming that they had only walked to the next corridor and hadn't encountered anybody so thankfully nothing was amiss.

As they looked around, her Witch-Sight began flaring as Kay started thinking about something when he then noticed that she was looking at him. Realizing she's reading his mind, Kay desperately tries to think of something else, but it was far too late as she saw what he thought of.

"Sir." Anderson reported to Dredd, who turned around when he heard her voice, "There's service elevator on this level. It was designated as broken but apparently it works as long as you're hitting a button above level 75."

Dredd and Rama look at each other before nodding with the former ordering the Sabers, "Find that elevator."

XXX

200th level

"This drug shifts like nothing I've ever seen. If we play this right, we can take the whole fucking city." One of Lee's street informants, a sleezy but disheveled looking man in a black business suit commended on as he paced around the room while Lee looked out the window at the endless and eternal night that engulfed the Labyrinth, "The only danger is we expand too fast. In the last few days, we've added distribution to three new blocks and pretty soon we're making inroad into Sectors 9 and 15."

"Sector 15 is red territory, meaning its heavily patrolled. We'll need some guys on the inside if we want to expand there. We have to be like a spider that's spinning it's web." A still calm and collected Lee cut him off as she kept her gaze on the Sanctioned, both of them unaware of the techie approaching them from the stairway.

"Lee." The techie meekly made his presence known, getting her attention as she shifted her gaze to him causing him to flinch before he continued with his explanation of what happened, "There's something you should see." Raising an eyebrow, Lee followed the techie down but not before glaring at her informant, causing him to flinch and stay where he was so they could continue when she returned.

In the techie's room, both she and the techie looked at his screen that was displaying various images of the dead Clan members around the block, pointing to each with his finger to a displeased Lee, "We have 50 dead on level 20 to 19. Maybe between 25 to 30 outside the Med Center. 14 on stairwell. And 15 on Level 24. They'd taken out over a hundred so far and we only managed to take out 10 of them."

Unfazed, Lee merely kept her gaze on the screen, "Where are they now?"

"I-I don't know but they seem to be moving up the block." The techie claimed as he typed on his keyboard before a ping came on his screen, catching his attention as he tracked it, "No, wait, wait. I just picked them up. They're on Level 76, West Quadrant." He said as a screen showed the Judges and the Sabers roaming through the corridors of Level 76 with their weapons raised and Kay in tow, before he turned to a still impassive Lee, "Do you want me to patch you back into the PA? We could get Level 60 through 80 converging on them."

Lee thought for a moment before she replied while resting her cheek on her hand, "No. Can you seal them in there?"

"Sure. War override gives me total control over the building." The techie said as he typed in some commands into his keyboard before hitting 'enter.'

XXX

Level 76

As the techie reported, The Judges and the Sabers were roaming the corridors, hoping to find a place to hold out and/or find a way to contact Control. However, they were given pause when there were noises coming from various parts of the level, like iron gates closing and creaking. Suddenly, metal bar gates closed behind and a side from them, effectively trapping them.

"That's not good." Dredd voiced out as they got on guard.

"You think?" One of the Sabers and Kay said in unison sarcastically.

XXX

199th Level: Techie's room

"Full lockdown. They're going nowhere." The techie said as it showed the feed of their enemies looking around each corner of the level.

"I tried to do this clean, but they wouldn't let me." A sadistic smile curled on Lee's face as she leaned on the techie's shoulder, earning a squirm of fear from him in the process, "Now, we do it the fun way." On the feed, it showed Dredd turning his head to the camera, his expression still blank before he raised his Lawgiver and fired, disrupting the feed.

"Too late, Judge." She grinned, unnerving the techie even more. Unable to keep her excitement under control, Lee grabbed the mic and radioed in her right-hand enforcer, "Caleb, come in."

"Lee." His gruff voice came through one of the speakers.

"We've got them cornered." Lee reported, keeping her tone even despite the face-splitting grin of sadistic excitement on her face, "Prepare the Autocannons. We're taking them out right now." The techie did a double-take, looking at her with a shocked expression that she promptly ignored.

XXX

Level 76

Back with the Judges and Sabers, Dredd and Rama were examining the iron gates while Anderson and the other Sabers stayed on guard in case any of the Kanker Clan attacked them while in this level. Kay had a terrified expression as he looked around, trying to find a way to escape only for Anderson to put her Lawgiver to the back of his skull, making him relent from his efforts.

"We'd need oxyacetylene to cut through." Rama said to Dredd as he examined the bars and testing their durability.

"Oxyacetylene that we don't have." Dredd replied as he assessed the situation in his head.

Anderson, keeping Kay from leaving via her Lawgiver, looked to her assessment officer with a concerned look, "They know where we are. Why aren't they coming after us?"

"That what worries me." Dredd replied, earning a worried look that both Rama and Anderson shared, before he quickly formulated a plan in his head, "Rookie, take the suspect to the main lobby. Hold position behind the elevator shaft. It'll be a good place to defend. Three of you go with her." He ordered that last part to some of the Sabers who saluted while Anderson had a shocked expression, "Rama and everyone else come with me."

"Where are you going?" She couldn't help but ask, but Dredd merely turned around while Rama and the others cocked their guns.

"If we don't come back and you get cornered..." Dredd trailed off before he finished, "You might not want to let them take you alive. Your call."

Anderson only lowered her head and submissively said, "Yes, sir." Dredd then motioned for Rama and the Sabers to follow him while Anderson quietly gestured for the three to follow her as the team separated for convenience. As Dredd and his team walked down the corridor, they heard the sounds of the inhabitants of the level locking their doors out of fear of what he may inflict on them.

Back with Anderson and the team of three walked back to the elevator, Kay decided to play his hand and take his chances, speaking to the blonde Judge, "You know, he's right. About not wanting to be taken alive. The stuff Lee and the Clan would do to a girl like you... Nasty." Anderson ignored him but she breathed a sigh through her nose, trying to rein her emotions in, "We had a girl one time, girl about your age and..." He trailed off for dramatic effect, letting the implication sink into Anderson before he said, "I'm just saying, save the last bullet for yourself."

"Yeah, and I'll save the second to last bullet for you." Anderson fired back, still not giving him the satisfaction of looking at him as she led in front and the Sabers kept him in tow from behind.

"Sure." Kay gave a smug scoff, before then digging into her nature as a psyker, "So, you're a psyker? Yeah, I heard about your kind. Hard to believe it's real. Most of you poor fuckers are either insane or gibbering idiots, possessed by nightmares and need to be put down while having too many or too few arms and legs. But I guess you lucked out. You're pretty well put together." He trailed off before then asking her with a smirk, "What am I thinking of right now?"

A violent image burned in her head as her Witch-Sight forced her to see what vile thoughts came through his head; her, naked and pinned against a stone wall, screaming as he grabbed her by the hair and then-

When the image was shown to her, all she could do was grind her teeth. "Shut. Him. Up." Anderson grounded out as she ordered one of the three, causing a Saber to smack him in the cheekbone with the butt of his rifle. That caused the image to fade away as she released a breath of relief at its nonexistence.

Back with Dredd and the rest of the Sabers, they were advancing down the halls when they heard sounds of doors closing, civilians and clan members fleeing, guns cocking, and commands yelling. Dredd and Rama looked at each other before the latter motioned for the rest of the Sabers to stab behind while they investigated, getting to a corner and peek around it, only for their blood to run cold.

On the quadrant across from them was Lee and several of her gangers... armed with fully stocked and loaded autocannons aimed directly at them.

"Oh, shit." Dredd could only mutter in shock before the autocannons' barrels began rotating, signifying that they were about to fire.

"FALL BACK!" Rama roared as they sprinted away with the other Sabers immediately started sprinting away to where the bones in their legs nearly broke from the force of the mad dash to escape. Sheering hot lead spewed out of the barrels, cleaving through the concrete and metal like flying blades through wet paper, reducing whatever unfortunate sap caught in the line of fire to slurry or flabby sack of meat, sounds of gunfire and casings clattering on the floor echoed through the level in deafening volumes.

Anderson, Kay, and the other three all turned to see Dredd and the Sabers sprinting towards them in a mad dash to escape the hail of bullets that were coming their way, getting closer by the second as they frantically tried to escape while they could.

"GET ON THE FLOOR!" Rama yelled as he got on his stomach with the others following his example as they threw themselves to the floor to avoid the massive torrent of bullets coming their way, one of them grabbing Kay by the collar and yanking him down as he yelped just as a spray of bullets hit the wall where his head would have been just a second earlier.

The storm of bullets tore through the entire level as dust and chunks of concrete fell on them from the increasingly damaged walls and ceiling, practically pressing themselves to the ground so they don't get eviscerated by the streams of steel above them, vaguely hearing Lee's maniacal laughter from the east quadrant. Rama, deciding he was not going to simply lay down and die, dug under his uniform and pulled out his Rosarius, muttering a prayer as he begged the Emperor for protection for his allies. As if the machine spirit of the Rosarius heard his pleads, it activated and his entire body was surrounded in an invisible shimmering field.

Getting an idea, Rama turned his head to the rookie and yelled, "DREDD, ANDERSON, GET BEHIND ME!" Dredd and Anderson looked at each other for a moment but got behind Rama when he suddenly got to his feet. Much to their and everyone else's shock, the shots bounced off the field harmlessly, each impact ending with a brief flash of light before the shells dropped to the floor.

"Anderson, use your powers to tell me and Dredd where to shoot!" Rama yelled the blonde psyker, who practically bearhugged him for protection as she focused her powers to their limit, the world echoing as her powers reached the floor across from them. The gunners blindly firing into the smoke while Lee grinned sadistically and Caleb merely kept a calm disposition as they watched.

"11:00! 11:45! 12:15! 12:50!" Anderson called out. Rama and Dredd promptly took aim and fired at each direction, mostly having to fire more than a few shots but suddenly the Autocannons stopped firing. Thinking that they had a chance to escape, the three ran to the others, trying to get out of there while they could. Unknown to them, several more of Kanker's lackies came in and immediately manned the Autocannons and took aim at the Judges.

As Rama and the Judges ran to the others with the chance that they had, Anderson's powers suddenly kicked in as time slowed to a crawl, turning her head to see the Autocannons being manned again before one of them pulled the trigger. Acting on impulse, she shoved the two both out of the way as the single bullet grazed her gut, nearly cleaving her open.

Something inside her snapped, her mind unraveled as Rama and Dredd turned to see her when they regained their footing after Anderson shoved them, seeing the massive gash in her uniform and stomach. Suddenly, the remaining bullets stopped against a field of clear psychic. Before anyone could comment on it, the block started shaking and Anderson's eyes started glowing brighter than stars, her body seizing as the wound suddenly seared shut, warp lightning flaring out from her skull and arcing around her.

"GET DOWN!" Rama screamed as he tackled Dredd to the ground while the other Sabers and Kay threw themselves to the floor when they saw Anderson's eyes and mouth started spewing light. Lee and Caleb, seeing Anderson's sudden illumination and recognizing it, immediately fled, other Clan members tried to do the same or fire on the Rookie, but it was too late.

Anderson suddenly lit up like a supernova, a blast of dark blue energy bursting out and engulfing the entire block before a flash of white light seared through the level like a burning blade from the angels. Everyone went blind; from both her allies to her enemies, even the Techie turned his eyes away from the screens in his room as his prosthetic eyes shut themselves off to protect his vision, leaving 23 levels blind and deaf from her psychic blast.

XXX

Level 23

The block shook as Jaka and the four Sabers were nearly thrown off their feet before white light shined down from the upper levels, screaming echoing from above as they tried to hang onto whatever they could grab. When the rumbling stopped and the light faded from the block, Jaka and his squad were left speechless.

"What the hell was that?" Jaka breathed while none of his squad out answer.

XXX

Level 25

Bowo turned his head to the ceiling of the Med Center as the blast echoed through the entire block along with TJ and the woman who were shaken from their sleep by the explosion. The block stared shaking before they could see a burning white light sear through the top of the hall, when suddenly both the rumbling and the light slowly faded.

"What the fuck was that?" Bowo breathed out in shock, while TJ and the woman were left speechless at what just happened.

XXX

Level 76

Sissling echoed throughout the level as sight and sound returned, Dredd and the Sabers slowly getting up from their cover to see if it was safe; what they saw was right out of an apocalypse holo-vid. The entire level, on all four quadrants were smelted and covered in soot, molten stone dripping from the ceiling, ledges, and walls, the bodies of those caught in the blast reduced to charred skeletons with steam rising from their remains.

Across from them, the Autocannons were reduced to melted scraps with a couple of shells explode from the intense heat generated by the blast. The gunners were little more than stains on the walls of the west quadrant while the ledges had been blasted apart, molten metal dripping from the bent and falling to the atrium, boiling blood spilling from whatever flesh that hadn't been fried by the flash of psychic light.

At the epicenter of the blast, was Anderson, kneeling on the ground as blood leaked from her eyes and nostrils. Nothing getting a reaction out of her as she only stared on at a thousand miles before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and fell to her back, revealing that the graze that had ripped her uniform and gut open had sealed like they had never existed.

While the others and even Dredd were left speechless at the scene, Kay put it perfectly as he breathed out, "Holy shit..."

Running over to the Rookie, Rama checked Anderson's pulse seeing that she was still conscious, just dizzy and in shock. Putting an arm under her head, the officer whispered quietly to her ear, "Anderson, are you okay?"

"Brain... on fire..." Anderson mewed hoarsely as Rama picked her up and started carrying her bridal style back to the others, having a dazed and dizzy expression on her face, "Ready to pop..."

Rama nodded as he grabbed her Lawgiver by the slide and placed it on her chest, while the others forced Kay to his feet, ready to move out. As they tried to navigate the warped level, Dredd saw that the metal gate had been warped by the blast to the point where they could simply kick the bars and they would break, letting them enter the stairwell.

"Say, Judge?" One of the Sabers asked Dredd, who merely turned around with a raised eyebrow under his helmet, "Is her using psychic powers an automatic fail?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

XXX

Level 23

In the stairwell leading to Level 23, Mad Dog and his disciples descended the stairs to continue their search for the Sabers. Suddenly, Mad Dog paused his advance with a raised hand as he heard the voices of a few men talking in the floor below them. A moment past with Mad Dog before he adjusted his sunglasses just enough for the light to ominously glint off the lenses before he took them off and handed them to one of his disciples who pocketed them, "Down there. Remember what I taught you. They may be using guns."

His disciples all nodded and cracked their knuckles as they reached Level 23, stopping by the corner before Mad Dog peaked to see if any of the Sabers are in the hallway. When he saw there wasn't, he made a motion with his hand, and they entered the corridor. Mad Dog silently raised two fingers and motioned forward, making his disciples nod and silently begin checking the apartments in the corridor for the Sabers.

Walking through the halls, the enforcer for Kanker paused when his ears picked up the sounds of men talking in the room next to him. Pressing his ear against the door, Mad Dog heard the voices of some of the Sabers as they were discussing what to do and whether or not the other Sabers were still alive. Stepping away, Mad Dog held a hand up that stopped his disciples in their tracks and then made a series of gestures that roughly translated to 'be ready and remember what I taught you.'

The second the door opened, and the sergeant came into view, Mad Dog kicked Jaka in the face and then striking Dagu, Budi, and Alee as they came out to help, only for Mad Dog's disciples to immediately jump in and start attacking the other officers. After a brief struggle that ended with the sergeant on the floor, Jaka quickly unsheathed his knife just as quickly as Mad Dog pulled out a gun, aiming it directly at his face.

Both were staring at each other for a few seconds but what felt like hours before one of them yelled to the others. "Go!" Jaka yelled to his fellow officers, more concerned for his men than himself.

The three hesitated before they sprinted off while Mad Dog's students chased after them without their teacher to command them, leaving their leader with the sergeant. The two stared each other down with neither budging, Jaka slowly placed the knife down Mad Dog motioned with the gun for him to stand and then motioning him to enter the apartment once he was on his feet.

Jaka slowly walked into the apartment with Mad Dog just behind him, reaching the center before the latter put a hand on the former's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and face him directly. Believing that the enforcer intended for him to be the last thing he sees, Jaka merely gave a scowl, but to his surprise, Mad Dog cocked the hammer and lowered it, walking to a counter as he ejected the clip and cocked the slide to eject the last bullet.

"I never really like using these." Mad Dog started as he then turned to Jaka and showed him the empty and unloaded gun, "Takes away the rush. Squeezing a trigger, it's like ordering takeout." He then removed his open sweater and his long sleeve shirt, revealing a black tank top with a red snarling wolf design, before walking back to Jaka who's only reaction was that his eyes kept following him.

"Now this." Mad Dog raised his arms while opening and closing his hands as he approached Jaka, eager to see what the sergeant can do in a fight to the death, "This is the thing. This is the pulse." The two then came eye to eye as they both tested the other to strike first, "This is what I do."

Jaka's only response was to bring up his fists and growl, "Bring it."

Mad Dog struck first with a kick that Jaka quickly blocked, followed by three strikes that the officer could barely block in time before the mad dog struck him in the chest before he then jumped and elbowed him in the face then kicking him in the knee, bringing the officer to his knees before Mad Dog then tried to kick him in the face with Jaka blocking it, only for it to leave him open as he then kicked him in the chest; each block and blow at lightning speed. A second later after he stumbled back, Jaka scrambled to his feet, only for Mad Dog to come in with a kick to the arm and shoulder, the former barely managing to block the latter's blindingly fast strikes.

The sergeant ducked under a right hook from Mad Dog and then moved out of the way of a scissor kick, ducking under again only for the enforcer to kick again after he brought his leg back, striking Jaka in the neck, causing him to stumble back. Jaka then blocked to more strikes from Mad Dog despite his dazed state but his attempt to go on the offense was easily evaded as Mad Dog then blocked a kick before spinning around with a punch that the officer ducked under and then grabbing him by his other arm when he threw a punch and then judo throwing him over his shoulder, sending Mad Dog to the floor.

Mad Dog quickly got up and blocked a kick before delivering a series of strikes on Jaka, which were pressuring him to a wall despite blocking most of them. When Jaka was pushed to the wall, Mad Dog started kneeing him in the chest over and over until the sergeant turned the tables by wrapping his arms around the enforcer's torso and pushing him back with an angry yell. In response, Mad Dog began elbowing Jaka in the spine over and over until the sergeant threw him over his shoulders, with the enforcer landing on his feet and the latter crashing against the wall.

Getting up quickly, Jaka tackled Mad Dog back who flipped and landed on all fours only for the sergeant to immediately charging in with a punch and knee to the chest forcing him to the wall, only for Mad Dog to slide to the left when Jaka attempted to knee him again and then kick him in the ear, stunning him as Mad Dog then kicked him in the chest and then in the face, slamming Jaka's head to the wall. The sergeant managed to then grab Mad Dog by the thigh and then swing the enforcer with all his strength into a closet, stunning him before Jaka wrapped his arms around Mad Dog's throat, slowly choking the man as he dragged the bastard back only for him to elbow the sergeant in the ribs, the pain strong enough to make Jaka lose his grip as the enforcer twisted out. Mad Dog then grabbed Jaka by the head and kneed him in the face then forcing him to charge at the wall with him before he then backflipped off the wall and then struck Jaka in the back of his knee, forcing the sergeant to his knees before Mad Dog then grabbed him by the head and slammed him into the wall.

He threw Jaka to the floor, who quickly regained his bearing and dodged a stomp before blocking a number of strikes from Mad Dog and then struck a knee into the enforcer's ribs, who responded by striking him in the knee again, sending the sergeant to his knees again only to then kick Mad Dog in the chest, sending him to the floor. Siezing his chance, Jaka tackled Mad Dog to the floor and then started choking the mad bastard, digging his thumbs into his jugulars. Mad Dog choked and grasped Jaka's head in an attempt to stop him, only that to be revealed as a distraction when the former kneed the latter in the gut, throwing him off of him and letting him breathe.

Taking only a second to take a breath, Mad Dog got back up and charged at Jaka, who managed to duck under two kicks and block and parry a number of strikes from the former before attempting to elbow Mad Dog in the face only for that to be a ploy as he then unfolded his arm to grasp him by the throat, only for Mad Dog to twist out of his grip and then strike him in the chest, head, stomach and knee before then judo throwing him to the floor. Mad Dog attempted a kick, only for Jaka to get on his knees and catch it before throwing the enforcer to the floor and then striking him all across his spine before Mad Dog counterattacked by striking Jaka in the face with his elbows, throwing the sergeant off as the latter dodged more kicks from Mad Dog before grabbing his foot after another kick only for the enforcer to grab him by the head and then knee him in the face.

Blocking another kick from Mad Dog, Jaka then attempted a scissor kick and then flipped the sergeant onto one knee before striking him on the back of his leg and then spinning and kneeing Jaka in the face, breaking his nose and sending him to his back. Jaka gripped his broken nose while letting out a cry of pain and coughing up blood while Mad Dog took a second to pause and catch his breath, letting the same rush of adrenaline flow through his veins and invigorate him in the same way as every fight did; the struggle, the rush, the pulsing heartbeat of a beast fighting to survive, that is what made his life worth living.

Noticing that Jaka was still breathing, Mad Dog then charged, grabbing Jaka by the head and then flipping him and slamming him on desk, causing even more damage to his skull. After that, with Jaka bleeding from his eyes, nose, mouth and ears, Mad Dog calmly approached the sergeant and grasped his head in his hands.

"You have my respect, Sergeant Jaka." Mad Dog whispered to the sergeant in deep respect, gripping both sides of Jaka's head, "For that, I promise that you and your men's demises shall be painless."

Jaka's last words were a simple yet effective sentence, "Go to hell."

And in one swift motion, Mad Dog snapped Jaka's head with a single motion, killing the sergeant of the Silver Sabers instantly. The sergeant's body immediately fell to the floor like a sack of meat as Mad Dog looked down with almost a remorseful expression, not liking having to kill this one. Maybe, it was due to him finding such a worthy opponent that cause him to feel remorse.

A whistle caught his attention, seeing Red and his gang along with his own disciples were standing in the doorframe, impressed of the enforcer's fight.

"You never disappoint do you MD?" Red smarmily commented, before motioning to the body of the sergeant, "Now, let's loot the Saber's body for cool stuff."

Suddenly, Mad Dog grabbed Red by the collar and pulled him close to where their foreheads were touching before the former said in a voice blistering in cold fury, "If you or any of your men desecrate the body of that man, I swear I will kill you no matter what the boss says."

Angry, Red unsheathed his serrated katana and pointed at Mad Dog's neck, who didn't react even as Red's men wiped out their own blades and his students raised their fists and got into stances for a fight, "All I need is a flick of my wrist and you're dead."

"All I need is one move and you're dead." Mad Dog replied, not fazed in the slightest by Red, who's eyes grew angrier at the declaration. Suddenly, the red skinned thug was then disarmed when Mad Dog suddenly chopped his wrist and then kneed him in the ribs, causing the man to stumble back into his men's arms as the tendons in his hand failed him and his katana clanged onto the floor.

He looked up to see Mad Dog dusting his hands off while his disciples came at his side, cracking their knuckles for a fight. Thoroughly intimidated, Red only nodded and motioned for his men to go while one of them grabbing his sword as they left, leaving Mad Dog and his student alone.

"Tsk. Animals." Mad Dog grunted as one of his disciples gave him back his sunglasses, putting them back on as they left to search for the rest of the Sabers.

XXX

200th Level: Lee's quarters

Caleb breathed in to calm himself as he walked into Lee's room, mentally readying himself to tell Lee the news. The two guarding her quarters moved out of the way, opening the metal doors and pulling them open. Suddenly, a blast of steam came out, increasing the heat to where Caleb had to remove his jacket so that he didn't die of a heatstroke.

There he found Lee bathing in a tub filled with the blood of the various junkies she had laying in a pool of blood, flares of steam rising as she turned to see him standing before her. She slowly placed a glass of vodka aside before emerging from the pool, her unclothed body covered by a layer of wet crimson blood that covered each part of her below her neck, stepping out and coming face to face with Caleb, who was visibly struggling to keep his composure.

"So..." Lee's voice was like that of a succubus', deep and soothing like lathered in a honeyed tone, "What is your progress with the Saber's elimination?"

"So far, they've disappeared but we're still hunting them." Caleb informed his boss, trying to keep his composure and simultaneously trying not to make her angry enough to kill him on the spot, "Mad Dog and his lackies found four of them but they managed to escape, though Mad Dog killed their leader, so we got half of them now at least."

"See, why can't any of you be like Mad Dog?" Lee inquired as she seductively put her hands on both sides of Caleb's head, making him squirm due to her hands still being covered in wet blood, "He's smart, determined, knows what he's doing, trustworthy, and efficient. Why can't you be like Mad Dog?"

"Well, I'm not Mad Dog, Lee." Caleb replied, barely keeping his composure as he continued, "The rest of the guys are starting to get worried and the techie's saying that they just disappeared one of the levels. Last they were seen was on the stairwell on Level 77."

"Then start there and search up." Lee replied in that same honeyed tone, but Caleb felt the malice behind them, "If you don't... Well, I'll just have more blood for my pool." With that, Lee slunk back into her streaming bath of blood and Caleb promptly left her to her vices, the guards closing the door behind him.

Taking a breath to calm himself down, Caleb walked down the stairwell to the 199th level where the other members of the Clan were waiting by the entrance to the stairwell, looking worried and concerned before he ordered them, "Alright, Mad Dog's kill has put her at ease for now but she's getting pissed. Tell everyone to go to Level 77 and start searching, I want no fucking stone unturned, interrogate some of the citizens if you have to; I don't fucking care, just find them!"

All of the Clan nodded as multiple cultists and thugs started yelling to their subordinates to search every single level down from Level 77 and up, equipping themselves with all the guns and ammo they could carry on their person. The Kanker Clan was done playing games.

XXX

Level 89

After several minutes of searching, Dredd and the Sabers managed to hunker down at an apartment on level 89 which its inhabitants have been killed in a few months ago. Due to how the system of the block was disrupted by Kanker's influence, the apartment hadn't been clean out yet or even been raided. This gave them time to try and collect themselves before they go after the Clan again. Thankfully, they managed to radio Jaka's squad, and they managed to get to their location in time, but unfortunately they said that Jaka was killed as they saw Mad Dog carrying his body back to Lee.

Two of Dredd's squad were knelt down with a table overturned and their guns trained on the door in case any more of the Clan came knocking, while the rest of them checked their equipment, ammo, and gear for any damage or faults, one of them was on the couch testing his leg that had gotten grazed by a ricochet bullet, two of them were standing by Kay who was forced to his knees for interrogation, and the others were trying to figure out where to find Jaka and the others. And one of them was examining Anderson who had been laid on the couch a British man with short blonde hair, Sergeant Nicholas Angel.

"How is she?" Rama asked Angel, who was examining her as she was still dizzy and unfocused, moaning in a haze and nuzzled her face against Angel's hand like a child.

Angel only shook his head and informed Rama, "Psychic burnout. When the bullet struck her, she unleashed the full extent of her powers on the Clan. The backlash of having exerted such energy fried her temporarily." Angel than sighed and said, "All right, we need a plan." He then stood up and clapped his hands, getting the attention of all the Sabers, "Alright, group meeting, drop what you're doing and gather around here. You two listen in but keep your guns on Kay in case he looks at us sideways." He pointed to the two guarding Kay who responded by cocking the hammers of their guns that were pointed to the back of Kay's head.

With that, they all gathered to discuss their plans.

"So far, we know that they're alive, but they could be anywhere on these few upper or lower levels," Sergeant Angel said in his native British accent, as they had gathered at the dining room table to discuss their plans, "Our only hope is to get to Level 200, power down the blast shields, call for backup, and capture or kill Kanker. Even though we have the service elevator, given how we barely survived getting barely halfway through the block, including an ambush by the Clan, we'd need a goddamn miracle to get anywhere near Level 200."

"Then we'll need information. And I know where to get it." Dredd gave his thoughts before turning his gaze to Kay, motioning for the other Sabers guarding him to bring him to them for interrogation. The two shoved Kay to Dredd's feet before the latter grabbed the former by his neck and slugged him across the face, sending him back before the Judge then kicked him across the face, slamming the thug to the floor and definitely cracking his skull slightly.

"Your gang locks down the whole block." Dredd then picked up the groaning thug up before jabbing him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him as he was sent to the floor, "Massacres an entire quadrant of men, women and children just to take out two Judges and a squadron of Silver Sabers. Sound like overkill to you?" Dredd then rammed his foot into Kay's ribs, breaking a few of them as the latter let out a loud sound of pain before the two Sabers grabbed him by the shoulders and forced him to stand, letting Dredd punch and kick to the point that Kay started coughing up blood.

"I'll tell you what I think." Dredd calmly stated as he grabbed Kay by the neck and began squeezing, robbing the man of precious oxygen as Anderson seemed to shake out of her haze and sit up from the couch, "I think if we'd executed you at the bust, Lee would have let us walk out of here." He then punched Kay in the gut, getting a grunt of pain from him, "What she doesn't want is you taken back to the sector house. She doesn't want you interrogated. She's afraid of what you might say. And that's got me curious. So, spill it!" He headbutted Kay, who grunted in pain but glared at the Judge.

"Fuck you!" Kay spat blood at the Judge's helm, who responded by choking him but even as Dredd squeezed tighter, Kay still refused to budge. Suddenly, Anderson placed her hand on the Judge's shoulder, causing him to stop and look at her.

"Sir." Anderson stated, now seeming more confident and surer of herself, "If you leave it to me, he doesn't have to speak." Dredd merely gave a glare to Kay but released his hand, leaving Anderson to step in front of the thug. Kay gave a smirk which Anderson recognized and frowned at, "Cover his mouth."

The two Sabers complied, covering Kay's mouth with their hands despite his struggles. With but a glare, her eyes became radiant while a soft humming became audible to Dredd and the Sabers. Suddenly, Kay started screaming in agony, muffled by the hands as she probed him for information. When he struggled to keep his mind closed, the light in her eyes intensified and so did Kay's screams that were barely muffled by the gloved hands over his mouth.

Soon, Kay's eyes rolled into the back of his head and fell unconscious in their arms, before the lights in her eyes faded, "Got it." She turned to Dredd who looked on stoically, "Peach Creek is the manufacturing base for all the Slo-Mo in the Sanctioned. Kanker is controlling the production and distribution across the entire city."

"Interesting." Dredd replied before he deadpanned while pointing to Kay, "I think you over did it, Anderson." The rookie looked back at Kay and gasped; blood poured out of the dark-skinned thug's eyes, ears, and nostrils, pooling around his knees with a dazed look on his face. Anderson herself seemed baffled by what she just did, looking at her hands in fear and astonishment, not knowing what she did.

"I'd guess her powers are like a muscle; the harder she pushes them, the stronger they get." Angel whispers to Dredd, who only nodded as he decided to make a plan of action now.

"Rookie, try not to push your powers so much." Dredd ordered her, causing the rookie to meekly nod before saying, "Do you know where the Slo-Mo lab is?"

Anderson immediately straightened up and nodded, "Yes, sir."

A consensus went around the room as Sergeant Angel orders everyone to gather round, "Alright then, here's the plan."

XXX

Twenty minutes later...

The corridor of the 89th level was as silent as a tomb, aside from the occasional conversation from the Kanker Clan. The silence was broken by the creak of an opening door as Rama slowly stuck his head out of the apartment doorframe, looking both ways before signaling the others by whispering, "Okay, go. Quick. Quick."

Dredd and the rest of his team looked around before scurrying off to the west part of the corridor while he went through the east part, face stone-like and calculating as he let out a steady breath.

Suddenly, he heard a scream from a further part of the hallway.

Raising an eyebrow, Rama strutted towards the room where the noise came from, carefully stepping over the dead bodies of other gangers or thugs he'd slain when he was fighting for his life in this block. Suddenly, a thug wearing a white long sleeve shirt and green kakis stepped out of a flat, grinning sadistically, not noticing that Rama was there.

"Man, that's too much!" He laughed with his friends before noticing the officer with his grin fading. The two simply stood there, staring at each other for God knows how long before the thug yelled, "He's here!"

Rama sprinted away as they charged after him, continuing with the plan. Little did he know, it was Red and his gang, tormenting a random woman and her week husband as a past time until Caleb or Mad Dog gave them new orders.

He sprinted down the corridor only for the white shirt thug to catch up to him. The white shirt thug swung his katana at Rama who dodged, before he slammed him into the wall and kneed him in the gut. The thug dropped his katana as the officer left-hooked him across the face before the former wrapped his arms around the latter's waist and swung him around, slamming him onto the wall.

Rama responded by kneeing and elbowing the thug in the chest and back multiple times to no effect. Hearing the other thugs on their way, Rama continued to struggle against the equally struggling thug which sent them through the doors to the balcony, them twirling like two kids fighting. The officer then grabbed the white shirted thug by the shoulders and used their momentum to throw him over the edge, who was sent flying down 3 levels before he landed hard on the stone railing, breaking his spine in twain and killing him instantly.

Before he had a chance to catch his breath, Rama was forced to dodge a downward slash from Red who continued to swing wildly only for Rama to dodge and weave away from his slashes before sprinting off to the door leading to the next floor. Before the leading thug could follow him, Red yelled to the two thugs that reached the balcony, "Up!" The two responded getting on the railing and climbing to the next floor, but then the red shirted thug stopped in front of the balcony to stare at the dead body of his best friend. His breath grew heavy and ragged as he swore that he would kill that officer.

Upstairs, Rama sped out of the stairwell, down the hallway and to the balcony until he saw the thugs crawling up the railing across from him. Thinking quickly, he sped to the nearest hallway before any of them could see him, reaching the last apartment of the hallway only for it to be locked when he grabbed the knob.

The officer frantically knocked and tried to get the door, but then he turned to see the thugs barging into the hallway. The gang leader extended his arms in a t-pose, stopping his cronies as they had a standoff with him. Rama slowly stopped trying to open the apartment door, staring down at them. All was silent as he stepped away from the door, the gang and the officer staring down at one another. Sweat gleaming, breaths shaking, fists clenched, and teeth gritted.

After an unspoken moment, they all charged, sprinting towards each other, screaming ferally.

One of them attempted a downward slash when he closed the gap, only for Rama to catch it and elbow him in the side of his ribs, making him drop his blade before the officer stomped on it and swept it away with his foot before Rama knife-handed the guy in the neck before pushing him aside as the dreadlocked thug came charging, attempting a thrust before he was grabbed and elbowed in the shoulder, using his momentum to send him to the floor, before Rama caught a swing from the red shirted thug then punching him in the ribs and using the force to slam him into the wall.

Before he could deliver another blow, Rama caught a swing from the gang's leader before kicking him in the shin, then chest, and then spine as the other kicks forced him to twist his body to reveal his backside, slamming him to the wall before Rama slammed both of his knees hard into the chest the red shirted thug, slamming him into the wall as well before he threw the red shirted thug away from him while simultaneously dodging a katana swing from the gang leader, who then threw a punch and a swing which were both blocked before the leader used this to knee Rama in the gut, slamming him to a door but Rama doesn't give the thug the satisfaction of hearing him grunt in pain before he dodges a thrust from the leader, causing his sword to become embedded in the door behind him. Seizing the opportunity, Rama elbowed the red-skinned gang leader in the face before roundhouse-kicking him in the side, sending him to the floor before the dreadlocked thug came in charging while screaming like a madman before he tackled the officer, sending both to the floor.

Not giving Rama a chance to react, the long-haired thug raised his katana into the air with a feral yell and brung it down, but the officer manages to move his head out of the way before then grabbed the thug's arm and pushed him off him and then elbowed him in the side of his head, but before he could get up, the other white shirted thug grabbed his leg and pulled him away to Red Shirt.

"Take the leg!" The thug yelled to the red shirted thug, who got up, albeit in pain, before he grabbed his katana and readied it over his head. But before he could chop the officer's leg off, Rama twisted his body around, allowing him to use his free leg to kick Red Shirt in the gut and knee, making him drop his blade in pain before Rama then wrung his leg from White Shirt's grip before kicking him in the chest, making him turn away when Rama then kicked him in the spine, sending him to the ground.

As he was sent back, Red Shirt got his katana back and attempted another swing only for Rama to catch it and forcing the latter's arm down to the floor, nearly breaking the bones in his hand before Rama grabbed the katana and swung at a recovered White Shirt, who tumbled out of the way before Dreadlock came back swinging, forcing him back, only for Rama to block a vertical slash before then kicking him in the gut and then kicking him in the back.

Twirling back around, the officer dodged a swing from White Shirt, who attempted to strike again only to be parried before he attempted a downwards slash what Rama blocked with his sword before he kicked him in the gut and then twirled around again while putting his sword in a reverse grip to block a strike from the Gang Leader, who dodged two more before the former slashed across the face of the latter with his blade. Red pressed his hand against the wound, screaming in agony while he falls to the floor.

Red Shirt, seeing his leader down, gained a furious expression and attempted to take down Rama, but the officer intercepted him while the struggle forced the both of them to fall to the floor as Rama dropped the katana. Red Shirt attempted to grab it before the officer grabbed Red Shirt's head and slammed it to the floor, breaking his nose as Rama then twisted around to see White Shirt coming, only for the officer to deal with him by kicking him twice in the torso before Rama attempted to grab the katana, only for the leader to slash down in the area where he would have reached, causing the officer to practically leap out of the way, cartwheeling away from a slash from White shirt before he got back up and kicked White Shirt in the face while dodging a pincher attack from Dreadlock and Red Shirt.

He then went back and forth with the two thugs, punching, kicking, kneeing, and elbowing them before he kneed Dreadlock so hard, the door he was send into was torn in two, sending the thug tumbling into the empty flat and leaving what was left of the door as a small, jagged plank.

Red Shirt swung for Rama's head and managed to slash open the back of his uniform before he was tackled the former into the door behind him, which somehow didn't break, before the latter punched him in the jaw, kneed him in the ribs, and slammed him against the door behind him again. Crying out in pain from all the blows, Red Shirt didn't even get a chance before another breath as Rama grabbed him by the shoulder and leapt backwards, taking Red Shirt with him as the force from the move sent the former into the flat while the latter was impaled on the throat by the sharp edges of the broken door.

Blood spewed from the thug's throat, staining the floor while he issued his dying gargles from his mouth before the sounds ceased. Not fazed at all, Rama got up as the bruises from all the strikes slowly faded before he attacked a dazed but recovering Dreadlock, who responded by trying to slash at him, only for the officer to catch his arm and perform three rapid strikes to the latter's arm, shoulder, and face before kneeing him, grabbing him by the shoulders, and throwing him into a cheap table that collapsed on impact.

After only a second for breath, Rama then heard two yells coming from the hallway before Red and White Shirt came jumping into the room, katanas raised for slaughter. Rama ducked a slash before avoiding a left hook, both from Red who managed to get a right hook before his opponent struck him twice in the chest, sending him tumbling when White Shirt struck next. He didn't even have a chance to get in a swing as Rama blocked his arm and kicked him in the stomach before Red came back with a kick to Rama's sternum, but his next move wasn't so lucky as the officer caught his arm when he attempted a slash.

The officer then forced Red into a hold before judo throwing him into the stove, shoving empty pots and pans to the floor. Red groaned as he squirms on the stove he was currently on as his friend attempted to fight Rama. Keyword; Attempted.

White Shirt's next strike was caught yet again before Rama got him into a hold, the two spun around before the officer twisted his arm downward, forcing the katana he was holding into his gut, before grabbing the blade and slashing him across the neck as White Shirt's body twisted away from the officer while falling to the floor from the force from the slash before Rama finished the job by stabbing him in the heart.

Not even a second later, Dreadlock got back up and kicked Rama in the face faster than he could react, sending him stumbling back while dropping the sword as he barely had any time to block Dreadlock's next kicks before he took one to the chest that sent him tumbling over a couch. Stumbling back to his feet, he blocked Dreadlock's next strike when the latter jumped towards him over the couch, but Dreadlock moved so quickly that he managed to land blow after blow to Rama before attempting a chokehold with his legs. The two struggled for a few seconds before the officer forced himself to twirl around, causing Dreadlock to slam into the nearest wall. The force of the impact caused the thug to let go and fall to the floor, groaning in pain from a concussion.

Rama's attention then snapped to the gang leader who had gotten up from the stove. Red ducked a right swing from Rama and landing a strike to the officer's side and chest when Rama right hooked him in his cheek and kicked him in the ribs. The thug leader responded by grabbing the back of his opponent's neck while blocking and grabbing the arm the officer tried to strike him with, locking both in a hold for a moment before kneeing Rama in the stomach.

This strike broke the hold before the thug's next blow allowed Rama to armlock him and kicked him in the stomach with his knee before he attempted to hit him in the shoulder with a punch but the Gang Leader dropped down to the floor, forcing the officer down with him as the leader then left hooked Rama in the face before grabbing him by the shoulder and used the hold to pin the latter to the ground, but Rama got both of his feet around the thug's throat and wrenched him out of the hold before slamming him to the floor and kicking him hard in the face.

Releasing the gang leader, who writhed in pain, Rama got back up and grabbed Red by the back of his shirt, forcing him to stand before striking him in the gut, knocking the leader out of his stupor. Reacting quickly, Red blocked Rama's next strike before hitting him in the gut, elbowing him in the back , and wrapped his arms around Rama's back before throwing him over the shoulder to the floor. Not giving the officer a chance to recuperate, the thug tackled Rama back to the ground while wrapping his arms around the latter's neck, choking him.

Struggling against the Gang Leader's chokehold, Rama manages to grab the former's neck and flipped him to the floor before headbutting the Gang Leader in the face, breaking his nose. The thug howled in pain, holding his profusely bleeding nose, while Rama grabbed his head and pulled him a few feet before putting him in a chokehold, out of irony or karma, before he managed to wrench himself free.

Using the opportunity, he quickly grabbed Rama's chest, lifted him up and slammed him into the floor twice, before picking him up and rammed the both of them into the wall with Rama taking most of the force. The officer groaned in pain before regaining his bearings, elbowing the Gang Leader in the back and kneeing him in the ribs then grabbing him by the shirt and slamming him by the wall. After a brief struggle, the Gang Leader managed to twirl themselves around before throwing Rama aside and into the kitchen.

The officer tumbled around the floor for a second but managed to get up in time to see the Gang leader pick up his katana and start swinging. Dodging three or four swings, the officer blocked him mid-swing before twirling around to elbow the thug in the gut then striking his knee and calf, and as the thug fell to the floor on the stricken knee, Rama finished the job by grabbing his head and jabbing him in the back of the neck. Red gargled for a second before falling over to the floor, seemingly unconscious.

Rama finally managed to catch his breath, panting heavily for a minute before he limped out of the apartment, looking around the corridor before pulling out his radio to signal the others, not noticing the Gang Leader get back up and glaring murderously at the officer. Taking a stand, the thug utterly bellowed in fury as he charged at the officer, who turned around, startled by the yell. Before Rama could react, the Gang Leader tackled him to the floor before putting him in an insanely tight chokehold.

The officer managed to stand up, but the thug's grip was iron, no matter how much he struggled or tried to wrench himself out of it. Rama's face slowly turned blue as the Gang Leader's grip was cutting off his circulation, making him struggle harder.

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD FUCK WITH THE KANKER CLAN?! YOU PIECE OF SHIT COP?!" Red bellowed out as he continued to strangle the officer, "WE RULE THIS BLOCK AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT, YOU SON OF A BITCH! FOR I WILL-!"

Suddenly, several gunshots rang out from a pistol that was pointed at the bottom of Red's jaw, silencing his tirade. The Gang Leader gargled out heaps of blood and lets out several wet choking sounds as his arms undo their hold and his eyes gain a glassy hue before his entire body goes limp while blood flows from the massive wound in his head.

The release of the thug's strangles caused Rama to release a massive breath as he pants and coughs heavily before the corpse thuds ungracefully onto the floor. Now was one of the many times that he was glad that he kept that revolver he took from that thug on Level 24. Rama panted heavier as the pain slowly subsided and as he dropped the revolver before picking up the radio that he dropped.

"Sergeant Angel, this is Officer Rama. Do you copy?" The officer managed to speak through his many pants as he stood up.

"Copy, Officer." The British sergeant responded over the radio, "We've secured the service elevator. Where are you?"

Rama slowly managed to catch his breath and looked around the level that he had ran to, "Um, Level 90, I think. Can you send a squad to get me?"

"Roger. They'll be there in two clicks."

Before he could reply, he heard footsteps coming from the lower stairwell with a lot of shouting and cursing echoing into the corridor. The officer silently cursed; the Gang Leader's shouting must have alerted the other members of the Clan.

"Um, please tell them to hurry." Rama replied with a gulp, running as he was already exhausted from all the fighting and whoever was down that stairwell was closing in fast.

XXX

200th level

Lee walked to her private room after cleaning herself off and dressing in a grey dirty tank top, black warm up pants with white stripes on the sides, slip on shoes, and a red coat that went to her claves. She came to a compartment in the wall beside her and opened it, looking around until her eyes came to a small crimson box decorated in an intricate golden floral scroll pattern engraved onto nearly every surface of the lid, frame, and handles, along with intertwining line motifs around the knob of the lid.

She opened the lid lightly, revealing a baleful red light as fog spilled from the interior. Tendrils of light slithered out as gleeful whispers echoed from the dark corners of her mind before she suddenly closed the lid, silencing the voices.

"Not yet." Lee breathed, recovering from the rush that the exposure did for her, "Only when they get near."

Suddenly, footsteps echoed in her ears as she turned to see the leather clad body of Caleb approaching her alongside several other Clan members, looking especially worried as they approached her. Lee kept her composure but merely raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms.

"Lee," Caleb informed her, looking tired but kept himself up, "We found them. The techie says that one of the Judges is in a terminal." Her eyebrows at her hairline, Lee quickly followed them down to the Techie's room.

XXX

200th Level: Techie's Room

"He's patched himself into one of the terminals." The techie explained as he showed Lee and the others the terminal booth on Level 190, having a silhouette of Judge Dredd standing inside it, "I think he's trying to access the PA."

"Can't you stop him?" Lee asked in a bored tone that hid the slight desperation she was feeling.

"I can shut down the whole system." The techie confirmed as he typed something into his keyboard, "But if you let him talk, I can trace which terminal he's broadcasting from. We'll know exactly where he is."

"Then let him talk." Lee ordered him before she turned to her soldiers and gave a glare, earning a flinch from all of them, "The very fucking second he stops, get every gun we have on that level and kill him!"

XXX

Level 190

Dredd quickly typed in something into the terminal before adjusting the microphone volume, calm and unfazed at any possible outcome of doing this. As the ping signifying that the PA was on rang through his ears, Dredd then silently cleared his throat before making his proclamation.

"Inhabitants of Peach Creek. This is Judge Dredd."

Even void of Anderson's powers, Dredd could feel every being in the block freeze at his voice.

"In case you people have forgotten, this block operates under the same rules as the rest of the city. Kanker is not the law." Dredd started before he then growled out to every criminal in the block who was listening, "I am the law. Lee is a common criminal. Guilty of murder. Guilty of the manufacture and distribution of the narcotic known as Slo-Mo. And as of now, under sentence of death. Any who obstruct me in carrying out my duty will be treated as an accessory to her crimes. You have been warned. And as for you, Kanker... Judgment time."

XXX

200th Level

The Kanker Clan stared at the monitor after the Judge made his speech, the glare from Lee silencing all thoughts of disserting and motivating the techie to work faster and find the Judge. Thankfully, his luck was in when a ping came up and the image highlighted a booth in yellow.

"I got him." The techie announced with a breath of relief, pointing to the highlighted terminal booth, "He's only 10 levels below us. South Quad balcony. Terminal 5."

"Motherfucker." Lee swore under her breath before she glared at her henchmen, "Go! Get every man on Levels 200 through 190!" Her henchmen promptly ran out as the soldiers from every level she ordered quickly joined the fray.

XXX

Level 190

A large number of Clan members came from every quadrant as a means of surrounding Dredd in case he hadn't left the terminal, the one leading them was Alandre, a small-time crook taken into the Clan after a theft gone wrong. Alandre stopped by a corner as he peaked behind the wall; sure enough, Dredd was still in the terminal booth. Confirming it, Alandre made a series of gestures before pointing to the booth. The moment they were in position, they all fired at the terminal.

Hundreds of bullets pierced through the terminal, hitting the Judge in the head, chest, arms, legs and stomach. They kept firing and firing, spraying until their guns were empty, but to their raw unbridled horror, the Judge was still standing as if the shots did nothing against him.

"Fucker still hasn't gone down." Alandre yelled out, causing the others to start frantically reloading their weapons before the Judge could act. But, to their confusion, the Judge still hadn't reacted.

Deciding not to risk it, the Clan surrounded the booth, 300 guns aimed directly at it, loaded and ready to fire if the Judge so much as flinched, yet he still didn't react to their approaching presence. Not in the slightest. Raising an eyebrow, the leading thug walked to the booth and grasped the handle before pulling the door open... revealing the bloodied remains of a bound and gagged thug hung to the ceiling of the booth.

"It's not him!" He called out to the others, who lowered their guns and ran to the terminal, seeing that it was only some guy that he tied up to the ceiling.

Unseen to them, the Judges and the Sabers were on the level above them, standing with their guns resting on the ledges. Just a second later, Dredd merely said a single word as he aimed at the lower level, "Incendiary." The sound of the Lawgiver switching to the ammo type as did the Sabers, aiming their guns at the lower level.

One thug on the 190th level faintly heard the sounds and turned his head to Level 191, seeing their weapons aimed at them before he yelled, "IT'S A TRAP!"

It was too late as the Judges and the Sabers fired; several flaming projectiles speared down to Level 190 towards the horde of Clan members that turned to see the dozen flaming projectiles flying towards them. The projectiles suddenly burst into several dozen more that littered the balcony, engulfing the entire horde in flames and smokes.

Their scream engulfed the air around them, the smell of burning flesh sulfating the air while smoke filled the 3 levels above them, the thugs flailed around in a desperate attempt to stamp out the flames, only to fall off the balcony in their frenzy as they plummeted to their deaths while other succumbed to the flames and fell dead.

"How do you like your ribs, motherfuckers?!" Budi yelled with a whoop as did some the other Sabers while Dredd and Anderson kept their composure, but the latter let her lip curl into a smirk.

After they had calmed down, Alee pulled out a radio and said into it, "Team 2! We've distracted the Clan! How's taking out the Slo-Mo lab?"

XXX

Five minutes earlier

Level 195

One guard was merely minding his own business, staying behind and patrolling each of the quadrants for any sign of the Judges and Sabers, thinking about how his parents would have reacted if they saw him now. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts when he saw two of the Sabers on a level down from him, only for Rama, who was hanging on the edge of the corner of the balcony to grab him and throw him off the ledge, sending him falling to his death.

"Hurry!" Rama shouted to Dagu and Angel who ran to the stairwell as the officer grabbed the ledge and pulled himself to the upper level.

Inside the Slo-Mo lab, things were normal. It was the same routine for the workers; get up, eat breakfast, then work in the lab until they had enough Slo-Mo for the next deliveries. But something was... off today, the guards seemed more worried than usual, schedules were getting tighter, and then there was that explosion from so many levels below, had the workers worried. But they dared not speak, continuing their work so that they won't end up in the 200th level.

Suddenly, Dagu came screaming in as he threw the guard that was stationed outside into the wall, knocking the latter unconscious as Rama and Angel entered the lab to begin the three-man assault. Rama caught a punch from a worker before delivering a series of strikes to the gut and then throwing the thug to the side before catching the punch of another thug, then delivering a chop to the throat and then sweeping him of his feet with a spin kick. Another thug tackled Rama back before the officer started elbowing him in the spine over and over, making him stop and then grabbing by the sides before throwing him into a wall.

Dagu blocked and deflected a series of strikes from a worker thug before punching him in the face and kicking him in the knee, forcing him to kneel before spin kicking him into a stone pillar as another thug came in, blocking two kicks and a punch and then using the open to strike him in the stomach, stunning him before grabbing and striking him in the neck and then lifting him by the throat and slamming the thug into a table filled with drugs and chemistry supplies, breaking it in twain. Dagu then spun, deflecting the kick of another thug and striking him in the face, sending him down before he stomped on his head with his heel, knocking the bastard out.

Angel grabbed a shelve full of chem filed barrels and throw it at the Clan member charging towards him, trapping one of them under it as the other lost his nerve and fled, before another tried his luck with a punch that Angel blocked before striking him in the face, sending him into a table with Slo-Mo capsules. Angel than grabbed the thug by the head and slammed his face into the capsules over and over, shattering them and getting shards of glass into his face under the bastard was either unconscious or dead. The sergeant turned to see a thug coming at him, so he grabbed a nearby chair and swung it at the man's legs, sweeping him off his feet and painfully landing on the floor before striking him in the side with the chair.

Dagu dealt with a thug that actually seemed to be a halfway decent fighter as the two matched each other blow for blow until he got a lucky strike on the thug's knee, forcing him to his knees before spin kicking him in the face, knocking him out. A white shirted thug swung his kick towards Dagu, only for the officer to catch it and then swung the thug's body into a stone support face first, nearly caving his skull in. A thug in a black shirt threw a few punches at him that he deflected before punching him in the face and then grabbing him by the neck before judo throwing him into a table in a brutal belly flop before then kicking him in the back, sending him back down into the floor.

Dagu then ducked under a punch and blocked and parried some blows before striking the thug twice in the face and then kneeing the boy in the gut, sending him to the floor and coughing up blood. Suddenly, one thug came running across a long table beside Dagu and jumped when he reached the edge, attempting a punch only for Dagu to catch him and then throwing him into a cabinet, definitely shattering some ribs on his backside.

Rama catches a downward strike with a knife before kicking his attacker in the chest, sending him back as another thug armed with a knife came swing, the officer sidestepping a thrust, blocking a left hook and ducking an overhead swing before grabbing the hand that had the knife in it and then striking him in the ribs and back of the knee before forcing the hand to his knife to his neck, stabbing him in the back of his head. Rama promptly armed himself with the knife and got attacking; grabbing the arm of another attacking thug and slicing the bicep open before the other thug's trying to swing again with his dagger, only for Rama to block it and slash his stomach and thigh open before spinning around and using his momentum to slash open the throat of the other thug and then adding another slash slight above the first before then stabbing him through the jugulars before Rama then stabbed the other thug in the back of his neck.

Another thug came swinging with a dagger, Rama attempting a lunge, but the thug blocked it with his arm before the two exchanged a flurry of blows, blocks, deflections and strikes, ending in Rama stabbing him in the gut and the chest before wrapping his arm around the back of his neck, twisting him behind and then slashing the bastard's throat open as he spun to the floor while bleeding from the neck. Rama turned to see Angel struggling with two thugs, one having his arms around his neck in a botched attempt at a choke hold before the other headbutted him in the gut and then his arms around his gut in an attempt to tackle him as the sergeant started elbowing the second in the back in an attempt to release him.

Thinking fast, Rama grabbed the blade of his knife with his fingertips and threw it like a kunai. Angel, sensing the knife being thrown, twisted his body to where the knife hit the thug attempting to strangle him in the back, causing him to scream out before the sergeant flung him into a filing cabinet. With that distraction gone, Angel twisted the other thug out of his grip and slammed him into the floor before then shoving the filing cabinet on the thug, crushing him.

Dagu was still going to town on the other thugs, charging at one that tried to get him by throwing things that ended with the officer tackling the thug under a table before getting out and grabbing the thug by the legs and lifting him up so that he hit the underside of the table. Suddenly, another thug got the drop on him with a kick to the face and chest before Dagu deflected a kick with his leg and forced him to his knees before he grabbed a plastic tub and smacked the thug over the head with it, before throwing a kick that the thug blocked before he jump-kicked Dagu in the chest, sending him back. The thug threw another kick that Dagu parried along with a punch before ducking under a spin kick and the thug ducking under his spin kick before attempting another kick that Dagu caught and pushed from, then kicking him in the ribs and sending him into a filing cabinet. The thug blocked several blows before Dagu jabbed him in the ribs, breaking his guard and elbowing him three times in the neck before he finally went down tumbling to the ground. Suddenly, another thug tried to attack with a kick only for Dagu to grab it before flipping and slamming the thug to the floor before stomping on his head, snapping his neck.

Back with Rama, he leapt onto a long table as another thug in a black sweater and red pants leapt on and charged at him. The thug did a slide kick that Rama leaped over before the former tried a leg sweep on Rama's head that he dodged, the two then shot to their feet and exchanged a flurry of blows against one another, Slo-Mo capsules and white powder breaking and flying respectively as neither gained nor lost ground. Suddenly, Rama managed to catch a punch and judo throw the thug to the table before attempting to stomp on the thug, who dodged and ducked under more swings before he caught Rama's leg and threw him to the table onto for the officer to turn the tables (HA!) by kicking him in the chest, leg, and knee, sending him back. Trying to get up, the thug threw a nearly box full of cocaine that was blocked by Rama as its contents bursting out on his arms, distracting him and giving the thug the chance to get up and charge directly at the officer, where the latter deflected some punches before striking the thug's chest and deflecting a punch to the thug's face before shoving him back to the table where a spin kick was dodged but a chest to the chest landed and sent the thug further back on the long table. The thug managed to get up before the two exchanged a flurry of strikes and blows that seemed to blur that the speed they were going before Rama caught a punch and then right hooked the thug in the face, a strike to the chest after a blocked right hook, a left hook, another right hook, and then a leg sweep. The thug was swept off his feet as his back slammed into the table, breaking some vertebrae as he fell to the floor like a quivering sac of meat.

Panting from exhaustion, Rama got off from the table and asked Angel who was at least on the other side of the room, "Is that all of them?"

"I think that's all of them." Angel answered as he and Dagu panted after they beat the last thug. The two officers looked around them, the lab was trashed; several tables were overturned, chemistry and lab equipment were shattered and splayed across the floor respectively, shattered Slo-Mo capsules littered the ground as the drug mixed with white powder that darkened upon contact, and filing cabinets thrown to the floor with their contents spilling out.

Suddenly, Alee's voice came in Angel's radio, "Team 2! We've distracted the Clan! How's taking the Slo-Mo lab?"

"We've taken out the Slo-Mo lab! They're cut off from their supply!" Angel shouted into the radio, looking to the entrances and exits of the lab so that they wouldn't get ambushed by any guards that came in, "Begin phase 2!"

None of them saw one of the still surviving thugs twitchingly pulled out a silent alarm and pressed it before he keeled over.

XXX

200th Level: Techie's room

The techie stared at the screen at the burning 190th level before a pinging sound came on one of the screens, causing him to turn to it and type something in. When the feed popped up, he cried out to his boss, "Lee! We got trouble!"

"I can see that!" Lee replied to him, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, "They just-"

"No! Not that!" The techie interrupted her as he brought up the camera feed of the Slo-Mo lab to the main screen, revealing the Sabers in the Slo-Mo Lab trashing the supplies, "They just hit the Slo-Mo lab! Trashed our whole supply and deliveries! The rest of them are on level 191 and closing in fast!"

"A multi-pronged attack." Lee breathed as she put a fist to her mouth in thought, thinking of something to stop them.

"How the fuck are we gonna stop these guys?" Caleb replied, keeping his composure but underneath, he was panicking due to how much that the Judges were closing in on them.

"We pull out our aces." Lee said, barely keeping her calm facade on as she then glared down at the Techie, "Release the mutants!" Not disobeying for even a second, the techie immediately typed in 'Release the Mutants' and hit enter with the timer appearing on his screen, showing five minutes counting down for when the cells will be released, when suddenly Lee left for her quarters.

XXX

Level 195

Hearing a beeping sound nearby, Angel looked down and picked up the silent alarm off the dead thug's hand and nearly swore up a storm, "Damnit! One of them had a silent alarm on them! They know where we are!"

Rama and Dagu swore as they bolted out of the lab before the Clan came after them, meeting up with the other team as they raced up the stairs to Level 200. As they ascended the stairwell, a feeling of unease came across them when they reached the 197th level; no Clan members were seen, and the apartments seemed less like apartments and more like cells for some unruly beasts or monsters.

Even as they got to Level 198, the feeling increased as they noticed that several doors were made of adamantium while window were absent. A subtle growling and tapping could be heard against the thick concrete and doors, that seemed to be increasing in intensity as they grew closer to Level 200. By Level 199, even the doors were absent, replaced by walls of pure adamantium as violent sounds banged against the inner parts. But as they attempted to get to Level 200, the squad was met by massive metal gates that blocked the stairs to the top level.

The gates were made of a composite metal, meaning that they couldn't use their high-ex rounds to blast through it. Several thousands of pounds per square inch would be take several ounces of explosives to penetrate, explosives that they didn't have.

Suddenly, their attention was drawn to the balcony as a bright red light came from the level above them whispers came into their minds, intensifying by the second before a small red orb came into view as it fell from the upper level. The senior Judge immediately realized what it was and reacted accordingly.

"AVERT YOUR EYES!" Dredd roared as he and the others immediately covered their eyes. The orb exploded, bathing the entire complex in red baleful light that faded as quickly as it appeared. Screams of madness quickly echoes throughout the Block, followed by the sounds of doors opening on Levels 197 and 198, feral roars blaring out and mixing with the screams, weaving together into a symphony of madness that seemed to swallow the world.

"Oh, shit..." Angel breathed in horror as they could hear the screams growing from the stairwell, "Arm your Bolters! We're on the defense!"

The Sabers all pulled out capsule-shaped devices and clicked them like pens, causing a blue light to flash before it disappeared to reveal silver bolters on the hands of the officers and the sergeant that quickly loaded their new weapons holstering them for when they run out of rounds for their executioner rifles, taking positions on the balcony and the corridors for when they heard the sounds reached 197th level.

Rama muttered out as he cocked the hammer of his bolter before holstering it as he mutters a prayer, "The Emperor Protects."

Dredd raised an eyebrow under his helmet before turning his gaze back to the corridor and then muttering out, "And having a loaded bolter never hurt, either."

There were no more words as the hordes of mutants and madman immerged from the stairwell, people corrupted by the red light that came from Clan and civilian alike, raging alongside beasts with fangs and claws that had the hides of people that they mimicked. Chaotic iconography was carved on their flesh recently given that they were bleeding profusely, armed cobbled together armor and weapons, their faces contorted in madness and rage.

The Sabers opened fire instantly, liquifying the frontlines as they immerged from all quadrants of the penultimate level, titanium slugs tearing through flesh, bone, and armor like wet paper, but for each body that fell twenty took their place. Blood staining the floors as dead torn sacs of meat fell to the ground, either flopping onto the floor or falling off the balcony and splatting onto the atrium floor, yet it did little to stem the tides of the Damned.

Anderson didn't grit her, keeping her cool as she fired her Lawgiver into the crowd of madmen, closing her thoughts as she continued to fire. But one person in the crowd caused her blood to run cold. It was the couple's child, his chest wrapped in a suicide vest with the detonator in his hand, a deranged grin on his face as he got closer and closer to her. Knowing what she has to do but hating it nonetheless, Anderson turned away from the sight of the child and fired, knowing that it hit him from the wet cracking noise and the sickening thud of the body falling to the ground.

In just five minutes, the Sabers had just out of ammo for their executioner rifles and switched to their Bolters. The Damned were blown to shreds by the explosive charges, tearing through them and destroying the tide's deadly advance towards them.

XXX

Level 25

Hearing the sounds of screams and bolter-fire from the top level to the Med-Center, Bowo knew what was happening and immediately shot to his feet and ran to the door.

"Bowo, your leg's not-!" TJ was cut off when the officer bashed the butt of his gun into the medic's face, leaving his rifle with the latter before he pulled a tablet shaped device from his belt and clicking it like a pen.

"Fuck my leg! My friends are in danger!" Bowo roared as the device released a blue light that disappeared within a second, revealing a silver bolter and several ammo clips before he sprinted towards the service elevator, regardless of the pain in his leg, "I'm coming guys!"

He quickly grabbed all the guns from the dead thugs outside the Med Center ran to the service elevator and punched the button to the 200th level, the doors closing behind him as the lift ascended through the levels at top speed.

XXX

Level 199

The Judges and Sabers had killed about half of the horde before they were starting to run empty on their first clips on their bolters despite that they had plenty of reserve ammunition. The madmen faded and only monsters were left; some with too few limbs and others with too many, others being barely recognizable as human.

Angel was swept off his feet when a tentacled monster wrapped around his ankle and pulled him to its gaping mouth... before its head was blown open to reveal Bowo armed with his bolter and a variety of other guns.

"Good to see you on your feet, Bowo!" Angel thanked as Bowo helped him up as the two immediately got back to fighting off the hordes of monsters around them.

"Thanks, sergeant!" Bowo replied, shooting at a beast that resembled a man polymerized with a wolf that was reduced to mincemeat.

After what felt like hour of fighting, a moment of blasting fury rammed through the hordes, causing the Sabers to pause in shock. It was Anderson, her eyes burning in white light and her hair raising up as a blinding light erupted from her mind's eye, causing Dredd and the Sabers to avert their eyes.

"BE GONE!" She roared, raising a hand to the hordes who could only scream as the light consumed them. It faded in but an instant, letting the Sabers and Dredd uncover their eyes to reveal that the monsters were reduced to merely grey statues of stone, frozen in their last moments of life and the terror stricken in their faces showed what emotions were reeling through their heads.

Anderson's aura faded as her eyes rolled back into her head and she was only prevented from falling by Dagu catching her while she fainted. She regained consciousness only a few moments afterward but mumbled out in a hoarse voice, "Sorry. Pushed them harder than need be."

While Bowo's mouth opened and closed in utter bafflement, Dredd got an idea, "Rookie, can you destroy the gates with your powers?" Anderson looked at him with a strange look, but gave a hesitant nod, "Then use them."

Anderson again gave a hesitant nod but proceeded as Dagu helped her to the metal blast doors that blocked their path to the top floor. Affirming her stance on the steps, Anderson raised her hands at the door, curled like they were ready to strangle someone as her eyes suddenly became engulfed in white light and a white blistering aura surrounded her as her hair flared outward.

The metal blast doors suddenly began to creak as the inner mechanisms of the blast shields turned and unlocked, grinding and creasing as the circuits keeping it from opening fried, causing the heavy shields to begin rising, revealing the stairs that led to the 200th level. After a feral cry from Anderson echoed throughout the air, the blast shield slammed open.

Blood poured out of her eyes, ears, mouth, and nostrils as she collapsed into Rama's arms, who carried her out as he, Dredd, and the Sabers advanced to the next level.

Suddenly, Rama was kicked in the face by the Mad Dog's foot as he reached the 200th level, sending him to the floor and dropping Anderson who grunted and was rudely awoken. She attempted to shoot him with her Lawgiver, but the enforcer kicked her wrist causing her to drop her gun before he smacked Dagu's bolter away when he attempted to shoot him and then headbutted Angel, kicking Dredd in the chest, and smacking Bowo away.

Before Mad Dog could attack again, Rama and Dagu tackled him away with the former yelling out, "GO! KILL LEE! WE'LL DEAL WITH HIM!" The Judges and the Sabers immediately took his advice and dashed to Lee's quarters before more trouble could be met. Mad Dog headbutted Dagu off of him but was hit in the cheek by a right hook from Rama, who then threw another punch that the enforcer caught and then threw him to the ground, attempting to stomp his head in before Dagu tackled Mad Dog to the floor away from the officer.

The two officers helped each other up while Mad Dog merely leapt to his feet and gave a semi-impressed look on his face, wiping a trail of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. The three men merely looked, not uttering a word as they circled each other like predators taking in their prey, an unspoken agreement coming into their heads as they saw what came next... and they welcomed it.

Rama and Dagu immediately charged in with a feral cry, attacking with punches and kicks at the same time, but Mad Dog countered all of their strikes, easily fighting off the two officers' assault. He blocked a punch from Dagu and punched him in the throat then kicked him in the face, which flung him to the ground. He then took Rama's grab as an advantage and flipped him over to the ground before catching Dagu's kick and kicking him back down then kicking him in the stomach.

Rama came in for the save with a flurry of kicks that Mad Dog kept blocking, but he eventually tripped him, and they both fell to the ground. Rama tried to kick him again, but Mad Dog grabbed his leg and twisted it, getting back up in the process. Rama managed to kick him away just as Dagu came back to fight, but Mad Dog effortlessly took him down while Rama got up, but he was abruptly taken down by a knee to the face.

The enforcer went to kick Dagu, but he grabbed his leg and flung her away, chasing after him and attempting to stomp him, but Mad Dog blocked each kick while getting up before he retaliated with a kick to Dagu's face, then a kick to the stomach that took her down. Rama immediately got back up began with an assault of his fists and he landed a couple of good hits in, but then Mad Dog countered with an elbow to the chest that knocked the wind out of the officer before the enforcer grabbed him by the neck and flung him to the ground.

Dagu came from behind and kicked the back of Mad Dog's leg, but he retaliated and landed several knee kicks to his face, but Rama grabbed him only for Mad Dog to elbow him in the face and brought both of them down to the ground. Dagu came in a kick that Mad Dog blocked, who then retaliated with punches and kicks, but Rama joined and the both of them started punching and kicking Mad Dog, who blocked and parried their overwhelming strikes.

All three men fought to their heart's content, Rama and Dagu doing it for survival while Mad Dog was riding out the thrill of the battle. All three of them would get taken down to the ground, but repeatedly, they would get up. All of them displaying impressive feats of honed martial arts at the highest degree. Rama and Dagu finally took him down to the ground and held him in place, but he thrashed through their holds and got up. Rama fought him off, but Mad Dog took him down with two strong punches to the gut before slamming him against the wall, only to be tackled into it by Dagu. The Mad Dog fought him off, but Rama got back up and right hooked him in the face, slamming his head into the wall again.

Quickly getting back up, Mad Dog got a hold of Rama and then beat him down to the ground with a flurry of punches, just as Dague came leaping back in, but the enforcer dispatched of him easily and went back to fighting Rama who he flipped over, accidentally breaking the light above them. Grinning like a madman, Mad Dog grabbed Rama and picked him up, putting her in a chokehold to start choking her out while the officer struggled to break free. Shaking the daze out of his head, Dagu tiredly looked up to see this, looking around for something before his eyes locked onto the light shard on the ground, knowing he had to do something, and he had to do it fast.

The officer crawled over to the shard and grabbed onto it, before leaping up and grabbing Mad Dog by the hair, pulling his head back before stabbing the shard into his neck, twisting it just as Mad Dog let out a shout of pain. The madman elbowed Dagu away, and kicked him to the ground, but he was losing blood in the process, and he fell as well but he still had strength left as he grabbed onto Dagu and started slamming his head to the ground with his blood spilling all across the floor.

Getting back up, Mad Dog was about to kill Rama, but Dagu attempted to stop him, but he got knocked away again and Mad Dog tried to go after her, but Rama stopped him with a block. Mad Dog tried to retaliate, but Rama put him in a hold that broke both of his arms in the process before he attacked with a flurry of punches that the enforcer attempted to block against despite his broken arms. Grabbing both of his broken arms, the officer then twisted him around and broke his spine with a knee with Dagu tripping him and kicking him in the stomach. Still seeing that Mad Dog continued struggling, Rama grabbed the shard that was still stuck in his neck and dragged it across his neck, slitting his throat and finally killing him as he let out a final room before slumping onto the ground.

The officers stood up while panting, thinking that they had killed him. Suddenly, Mad Dog shot up and grabbed both Rama and Dagu by the heads and slammed them down to the floor, somehow not dead from the slash in his neck. But to their shock, the wound in his neck sealed in an instant as he ripped the shard out, as did his broken arms and spine, locking the shattered bones back in place as he popped his shoulders.

Mad Dog raised a fist to strike them... only for him to unfurl his fist into a hand for them to take. The two officers looked stunned, but Rama took his hand and the mad man helped him and Dagu up to their feet. "That was the best fight of my life." Mad Dog said in a tone filled with respect, "I respect those who give me a good fight."

The two officers looked at each other in confusion before a screech rang out from the stairwell, causing the three to turn their gaze to the stairs. A lumbering giant of a man, clothed in rags, chains, and bones, ascended the stairs, the face obscured by a welded-on mask that resembled a grinning daemon against raised ridges of once-seared flesh while an axe coated in fresh blood rested in its hands. The horror came when they saw several others like it lumbering behind it, armed with bloodied weapons.

"Go!" Mad Dog yelled out, surprising the officers as he took a stance, "I will hold them off!" The two officers looked at each other before they bolted to their teammates, leaving the Mad Dog to fight the monsters in human skin.

However, out of a conscious, Rama turned to the enforcer of the Clan, "You do not have a weapon!"

"I don't need a weapon." Was all Mad Dog replied before he jumped into the stairwell with a feral cry. The officers bolted out of the corridor, but they saw one of the heads of the monsters flying their way, they knew who was winning.

XXX

Back with the Sabers and the Judges, they had reached the upperparts of the 200th level, firing on whatever armed person came their way. A group attempted to ambush them with axes and clubs were cut down by the Sabers as the Judges moved out to the techie's room to disable whatever security measures were left by the clan's hacker.

Kicking the door open, Dredd and Anderson entered the techie's room while the techie himself hid behind the massive servers that filled the room, panting hysterically while trying to keep his voice done so that they don't find him. However, it was in vain as Anderson saw him hiding between the severs and motioned with her head before Dredd grabbed him by the arm and yanked him from his hiding spot, the techie wailing and crying out in utter panic.

"NO! NO! NOO!" The techie wailed as he was then pinned to one of the servers by Dredd with his lawgiver to the criminal's head, "DON'T SHOOT! PLEASE, DON'T SHOOT ME! I'M NOT ARMED! I'M NOT ARMED!" He started hyperventilating while his voice became softer, "I-I-I-I-I-I can help you."

"How?" Dredd inquired, pressing the barrel of his Lawgiver to the back of the techie's head.

The techie flinched and fumbled on his words before he blurted out, "Lee's in her private quarters, but it's behind ten inches of adamantium. You can't get in without the keypad combination. I-I can give that to you."

Dredd merely forced him to turn to Anderson, whose eyes started glowing white, "I don't need your cooperation to get the combination." Her Witch-Sight activated, unraveling the techie's mind for both the combination and whatever other secrets he may hold. What she saw was something out of a nightmare, a knife nearly being stabbed into his stomach, him breaking down in her presence, and finally Lee ripping his eyes out with her thumbs.

It ended in a scream of terror as reality returned to see the techie shaking in terror of both her and the things that Lee did to him. Her instincts as a Judge and as a moral person conflicted each other, her Witch-Sight saw that his soul was clear of taint yet he assisted in a drug lord/Chaos Cult leader. He assisted in the deaths of several of the Silver Sabers, yet he was forced into it. He was given replacement eyes for the ones that were ripped out, but he used them to assist Lee. ...it was days like these that made her hate being a psyker.

"Go. Get out of here." She said, causing both the techie and Dredd to look at her in confusion before the former didn't waste the chance and fled out of the room with his tail between his legs. Dredd then gave her a look that she knew meant that he was not happy.

"Mind explaining yourself, rookie?" Dredd asked calmly, but behind she could tell that he was angry without her powers, "Abetting a felon is not just a fail offense. It's a crime.

"My Lawgiver's almost out of ammo. Just a few more shots and I'll be empty, forced to abandon it for a different weapon and I'll already pick up a fail." Anderson glumly notes as she showed her Lawgiver, the message reading LOW AMMO in sky blue, "I'm not gonna be a Judge and I don't need to be a psyker to know it. He's a victim, not a perp. And until my assessment is formally over, I'm still entitled to dispense justice and that's what I just did by letting him go."

Anderson could only tell with her powers that Dredd raised an eyebrow under his helmet.

"Maybe that'll be the one difference I do make." Anderson remarks bitterly before she got back on the job, "The code to Kanker's chambers is 4-9-4-3-6. Let's finish this."

The two exited the techie's room, only for a blast of bullets to come their way with Dredd pulling Anderson back so they wouldn't get shredded, turning to see Caleb and five other Clan members standing at the end of the hall with several assault rifles pointed at them, with Caleb utterly roaring out as they fired, "KILL THE FUCKING JUDGES!"

Concentrating despite the hail of bullets, Anderson closed her eyes before she uttered, "Ricochet." Her Lawgiver converted her last two bullets into ricochet round before opening her eyes, revealing them to be glowing white again. Suddenly, she raised her Lawgiver to the ceiling and fired twice. The bullets, true to their name, ricocheted off the ceiling and walls until they hit two of the thugs before bouncing off the balcony walls and then off the ceiling before piercing through the heads of the last two thugs, leaving only Caleb standing against them.

Panicking, the leather clad enforcer started firing on the Judges, causing them to retreat into the techie's room as he sprayed lead around the room while screaming like a madman until his rifle started dryfiring. Siezing the chance immediately, Dredd fired a shot into Caleb's gut, sending the now screaming enforcer stumbling back to the wall, clutching his bleeding gut before he saw the Judge approaching him with his Lawgiver pointed at his head.

"My only regret is that I didn't kill you when I had the chance!" Caleb yelled before Dredd unceremoniously shot him in the head, leaving his lifeless body to slump to the floor next to Dredd's feet.

"Let's go, rookie." Dredd ordered as Anderson picked up an autogun and several clips of ammo before she ran off with him.

Inside her quarters, Lee, hearing the commotion and gunshots, quickly opened a compartment in the wall and grabbed what appeared to be a golden wristwatch by the now empty crimson box.

XXX

With Rama and Dagu, the two had the same predicament as others, but their bolters were out of their reach, for they had lost them during the scuffle. If you think this'll be an easy fight for the Clan, then you clearly have not been paying attention to the story.

A psycho pulled out a handful of knifes and threw them at Rama, who ducked as they were imbedded into the wall while the officer grabbed and threw a file cabinet at him, crushing his midsection as it impacted him in the ribs. Dagu jumped and kicked in another psycho in the ribs, sending him to the floor before another psycho attempted a downward slash with a pair of katana, who only responded by chopping his neck, a blow that he couldn't react in time when the officer then slugged him across the face, causing him to drop his katanas as he was sent to the floor before stomping on his head, killing in almost instantly.

One of the psychos then burst out from his apartment, catching the two off guard before kicking Rama in the chest and then striking him twice in the face, then twirling around and tried to right hook an approaching Dagu, who blocked it before the psycho roundhouse kicked him across the face, only to be knife handed in the neck by Rama when the latter attempted to sneak up behind him before Dagu backflipped to his feet and delivered a series of punches to the psycho's chest and face before Rama grabbed him by the sides of his head and twisted his neck, snapping it.

The two didn't have the chance to breath as another psycho then kneed Rama in the back before the latter twirled around, kicked him in the knee, forcing him to the floor and then kicked him in the sternum, causing the psycho to stumble back before Rama tackled him into the wall, cracking the back of his skull that slowly killed him. Another psycho burst from his apartment and kicked Rama away from the wall before right hooking Dagu in the face before the latter elbowed him in the ribs, grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the face, and then threw him across the corridor, sending him crashing onto the floor unconscious.

Another psycho came in the corridor and ducked a kick from Rama, only to be meet with a spear finger to the throat by the latter, causing him to start grasping his throat and gagging for air before Rama swept his legs, causing the psycho to fall to the floor before the officer stomped him in the ribs. Another psycho then came screaming at Rama with a pair of stolen saws, swinging downwards and slashing into the balcony wall as the officer rolled out of the way of the strike, getting up as kicking the psycho in the ribs and then double chopped his neck, cutting off the circulation and breaking the vertebrae in the neck.

The two then turned when they heard loud scream from down the corridor, seeing many psychos heading their way. Rama sent a flurry of punches at one of the psychos, pressuring him back as the former swung and the latter attempted to fight so quickly, it was a blur of clangs and movement before Rama ended the clash by kicking him in the gut, causing him to stumble back to the floor while puking up blood. Behind him a psycho armed with knifes but before he could strike, Rama twirled around and clotheslined him in the ribs before quickly grabbing him by the legs and slamming him into the wall nearest from them, breaking the ribs and spine of the psycho.

Dagu roundhouse kicked another psycho in the face, sending him off the balcony to fall to his death before grabbing another by both sides of the head and twirling his head in a swift motion, killing him instantly before left and right hooking another psycho until he was thrown to the floor as the officer finished him off with a stomp to the ribs. Sprinting towards the other psychos, Rama leapt and kicked one in the face hard enough to smash it as the psycho was sent to the ground while the officer landed on his feet before clotheslining two others and stomping on one's neck before the other leaped up to strangle him who was then upper-cutted in the jaw, sending him over the balcony. The officers then saw their bolters on the others side of the corridor, sprinting towards them while ducking under punches and deflecting kicks until they cartwheeled to their bolters, grabbing them before they aimed at the psychos.

With but the squeeze of the trigger, the hail of bolts reduced the horde of psychos to crimson slurry and blowing massive holes in the floor and balcony walls. The two officers panted before they heard the shouted of others, racing to the source of the sound, running through corridors and hallways until they saw a sight that gave relief.

"Officer Rama and Dagu!" Sergeant Angel shouted as the other Sabers came to their attention as the two ran up to the sergeant and saluted, "Good to see you two are still breathing."

"Same, sergeant." Rama replied, before he saw that Dredd and Anderson were absent from the group, "Where are the Judges?"

"They left to deal with Kanker. We have to deal with the remaining members of the Clan. NOW, LOCK EM UP, BOYS!" Angel commanded, signified by the cocking of the bolter hammers.

XXX

Back with the Judges, Dredd and Anderson arrived at the corridor that led to Kanker's quarters, shooting any that sprung from the connected hallways in an attempt to stop them. With them dealt with, Anderson typed in the combination to the leader's quarters, the doors opening to reveal the interior that quickly entered.

Standing on an upper floor and leaning on the railing was Lee; still in a wife beater and Demin jeans, but with what appeared to be a golden wristwatch around her left wrist that possessed a blinking blue light and a subtle beeping sound ringing out from it. She appeared calm and collected, as if she was somehow still in control of the situation. Something that was demonstrated when two last thug leaped from their cover and fired on them, only for Dredd and Anderson to mow them down with a hail of bullets.

However, one of the henchmen fired his weapon as he fell with the shot hitting Anderson in the shoulder, taking her to the floor and out of the fight from the pain, leaving her instructor to deal with the drug lord. She didn't even react even as Dredd leveled his Lawgiver so that it was aiming at her head.

"You're a piece of work, Dredd." Lee complimented, but gained a smug smirk, "But then so am I. You think I didn't know I'd get busted some day? Comes with the territory." She then motioned around her with her arms, "This entire level is rigged with enough high-explosives to take out the top fifty stories. If they go, the rest go too."

Dredd didn't seem deterred as he kept his Lawgiver on her, not fazed by her threat. Lee, hiding her desperation, continued her explanation, showing the golden watch on her wrist to the Judge, "Like the jewelry? It's a transmitter synced to my heartbeat. My heart stops, the building blows, and everyone in it perishes. You have no way out, Judge. Put the gun down."

Even with that revelation, the Judge didn't budge, keeping his Lawgiver's crosshairs on her without even a flinch.

Slowly, Lee realized that he wasn't going to back down, was able to keep her composure while she stated, "Do you know how many people live in this block?"

"This isn't a negotiation." Dredd refuted her, still keeping his gun on her despite her statement, "Sentence is death."

"You can't afford to take the risk." Lee replied calmly, knowing that even if the Judge kills her, the explosion will kill him and take the block down with her.

After a few seconds, Dredd switched the aim from her head to her chest and fired. The bullet pierced through the side of her getting only a grunt of pain from her as the shock caused her to stumble onto her bed, bleeding onto the sheets as she struggled to breath. As she struggled to breath, Dredd calmly walked up to her and grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing her to her feet as he dragged her down the stairs and then choke-slammed her to the massive windows of her apartment.

"Citizen Lee Kanker." Dredd said in the same tone as when he rendered Judgement on countless others, "Your crimes are multiple homicide and the manufacturing and distribution of narcotics. How do you plead?"

The second after he said her name, Dredd forced the inhaler into her mouth before pressing it, forcing her to take a hit of her own product. The ice-cold smoke burned down her throat and lungs as her perception of time slowed to a crawl. When Lee was aware that Dredd asked if she had anything left to say, she wholly inhaled the smoke from the inhaler and gritted her teeth in one last act of defiance.

"Defense noted." Dredd replied. He then, without so much as even a single sound, threw her full force at the window, causing it to shatter and sending her through the window and over the balcony of the 200th level.

As with her victims, earlier in the day, she experienced the same high she always had when she used Slo-mo, except this time the high lasted the whole way down, glass glistening in the light from the balcony lights, passing through the smoke from the fires of Anderson's psychic outburst, and looking upon the looted corpses of the Sabers that her Clan had slain. Her sight then turned to the oncoming floor of the Atrium, coming like the scythe of the reaper. Instea of being in fear, Lee closed her eyes in resignation.

Reality returned just moments before Lee splattered against the Atrium floor; skull and torso bursting open, arms breaking and twisting, spine and ribs shattering, and organ bursting into pulp as her blood splattered into a massive crimson puddle, spreading around the floor in a song of sanguine. Suddenly, the Seed slowly fell out of her ruined pants pocket, dropping into the puddle of her own blood.

The second the object touched the crimson puddle, the facial features of the Seed rearranged slowly until they were arranged to make a normal human face that suddenly began crying tears of blood before opened its mouth and eyes. A discordant sound issued from its mouth, both as a hum, roar, scream, and moan polymerized into a reverberating murmur that rang out through the block.

A darkness came over her as black tendrils slithered from the Seed, coiling around her like a mother's embrace before enveloping her in a dark shroud. A voice, blistering hot and cold, rang out into her mind as a feeling of floating overcame her.

"Lee Kanker; your death is approaching. However, I offer an alternative. I offer you the chance to abandon your humanity in exchange for power beyond your imagination, and an everlasting life. All you must give me... is the blood of the dead. All those that were slain in this block this day. Give me their blood, and you will be reborn."

A smile curled into her destroyed lips before she gave her answer.

"I... sacrifice." Lee breathed out.

As if obeying her words, the blood of all those slain by her clan and the blood of her fallen clan members suddenly began pouring out of their bodies and flowed down the floors and stairwell of all the previous levels while the befuddled survivors all stared in disbelief; from Dredd and Anderson who were looking out from the top level, to Angel and the other Sabers who were watching from the 197th level, to even Mad Dog who saw the trail of blood flowing down the stairwell.

The entire Atrium was slowly flooded with blood, rising to reaching the 2nd level before flashes of crimson light flashed in random intervals, whisps of purple steam rose in tendrils-like formations that coiled and grasped at nothing. Suddenly, the pseudo-lake of blood began to lower, revealing the atrium cleansed of stain until it disappeared into the floor, flowing through the cracks of the tiles. The difference being that Lee was gone along with it.

All was silent when one of the Sabers turned to Angel and breathlessly asked, "What the hell was that?"

The sergeant was silent before he shook it off and muttered, "No idea. Regardless, we still have a job to do."

XXX

Atrium

2 hours later

After the Judges and Sabers managed to kill the rest of the Kanker Clan, with the exception of Mad Dog who managed to escape to an apartment on the atrium with his disciples, waiting to escape into the crowd while they had the chance. The Judges and the Sabers had gathered to the entrance as they heard the city engineers reworking and overriding the War Protocol.

"Anderson." Dredd stated, causing the woman to stop and turn to him as he made his statement, "Your assessment is now over."

Assuming that she failed, Anderson unlatched her badge from her uniform and handed to the Judge, looking like she was about to burst into tears and almost walked away while the Sabers seemed more disappointed than anything before they all stood at attention when the Chief Judge walked up to them.

"When I saw that we have lost comms with you and the Sabers, I thought I'd check it out." Chief Judge commented before she looked over Dredd and the remaining Sabers that were in front of her, "So, what happened here?"

Dredd bluntly replied, "Drug bust."

"Looks like you've been through it."

"Perps were ...uncooperative."

The Chief Judge nodded in understanding, "Seems like I forced the rookie on you." She then turned to Anderson, who looked down in shame before the former asked Dredd about his thoughts on her, "So, what do you think? Is she a pass or fail?"

Dredd merely gazed at Anderson, who flinched in shame before his response was both immediate and surprising to all those that were around him, "She's a pass."

Anderson's head shot up like an arrow with a look of shock on it before it morphed into one that looked like she was about to tackle Dredd in gratitude before he extended his hand that still had her badge in it for her to take.

"Why did you give me your badge, rookie?" Dredd replied, with the barest traces of a smile tugging at his lips, "I said that your assessment was over, not that you had failed." Anderson's look of elation was worth a million words, but she managed to keep it together enough for her to take her badge back and placed it back on her uniform.

"Honestly, I'm just happy we dealt with Kanker." Rama replied, getting a laugh from some of the Sabers as they all left the block, glad that they all survived. TJ wheeled Kay out for him to be taken in for medical care while Mad Dog and his disciples managed to evade the Judges and sneak away into the crowds.

However, dear readers, this story is not yet over.

XXX

The Outlands

To describe the Outlands was akin to describing Hell; it was a landscape that seemed to span forever and composed of ruined and gutted buildings that seemed lifted from post-apocalyptic worlds and jagged barren blasted landscapes, deposits of chemical weapon dumps, minefields, and hundreds of traps lined entire acres of land that had claimed millions. Its inhabitants were revolutionaries and their followers that stood against both the Imperium and Chaos, dregs and cultists that failed to meet the standards of their leaders, sycophants and brownnosers that their masters due bored of, and many others, all devolved into feral cannibals that were thrown into the dark lands; assailed by bioweapons rejected by the Warden, rouge and feral Astartes that kill and eat whatever they see, mechanical and biological abominations created by the local Dark Mechanicus, and multiple other horrors that have yet to be discovered for all those that find them never survive. All crawling around in a massive botanical abomination whose vast and labyrinthine roots and vines snare and consume all those that attempted to escape through its obsidian bark, sealing them into its crushing grasp as it heals before siphoning the nutrients of their pulped bodies to feed itself.

Most people grow out of their fear of the dark when they realize that there is nothing in it, such belief is swiftly abandoned by those damned to the Outlands within the first few hours of being inside the hellscape. The sky, barren and starless with only the glow of the immaterium to pierce through the Gellar Field made atmosphere, offered the barest traces of light to outline the structure of the land that allowed travel, but even the brightest light produces shadow, and the vast shadows that cover the Outlands were enough to cover entire planets in eternal blackness. In the most fortunate case that the inhabitants traveled to the abandoned galleries of tunnels under the nightmare landscape, one would even fortunate to survive a week of travel without succumbing to dehydration, some leading to the massive cogitators that churned the magma veins around the Wall that churned out liquid adamantium for the forges of the Labyrinth to be forged into weapons of war.

The guards seldom explore or venture into the Outlands, only doing so as a means to deliver the insufficient rations for the 'prisoners.' If they must venture into the dark wastes of the Outlands, they pilot in mechsuits twice the height of Terminator Armor with plating that can withstand blows of a Heavy Bolter, equipped with filters that are able to sift fresh air from the contaminated and polluted atmosphere around the chemical deposits, enough ammunition to last for months of fighting, night vision and targets system that can target one of the feral inhabitants even in the darkest parts of the wastes, armed with massive autoguns, missile launchers, flamethrowers, railguns, and lascannons, defended by powerful conversion fields that can withstand the force of several torpedoes and nuclear blasts. The pilots themselves were modified biologically to simply require water and air to metabolize, and able to react in but a nanosecond, such modification are not only a requirement but a necessity to survive the blasted and rabid wastes that consisted the worst part of the Labyrinth.

The Outlands were created for the simplest of reasons, the Wall was too regulated. For all the bloodshed that occurred in the Wall, law and order presided over it through the Warden and his guards. Not the Outlands; the only law in its rancid wastes was survive. The monsters that plague the black wastes obey that rule for it was their only reason for being, lest they starve, and their bodies used for the nourishment of the other monsters and madmen that took resident in the shadow infested lands.

However, the Outlands now had a new resident who called it home.

It was a cocoon that seemed more like a mass of black viscous blood and dark scar tissue stuck on the walls of a ruined building in some unpopulated part of the Outlands that was hidden a canyon that was shrouded in the shadows. It bulged and squirmed, whatever inside it sifting and shifting as wet crunching sound rung out followed by a creaking groan like liquid flash freezing into ice like something was hardening, and then silence followed. A silence that was near deafening as something stirred in silence inside of it.

Inside the cocoon, the form of a woman in a fetal position stirred in a sack of viscous slime, a thin transparent lilac membrane in place of skin that exposed her twitching muscles and rapidly moving eyes that indicating sleep. But as she did, more flashes she had long suppressed came flooding back:

(Warning: the following three scenes are very dark and disturbing)

XXX

The tribe leader only stared as Lee shakingly pointed the pistol at him, the latter's eyes filled with rage and trauma. He approaches her with his hands up in a placating manner even as her fingers tightened around the trigger.

"It's okay, Lee." The bandit leader calmed her in that same honeyed voice, reaching out a hand that gently grasped her shoulder earning a flinch from her, "Please, put the gun down."

Lee's eyes grow even more wide as her nerves were shook like she was freezing in nuclear winter.

"What do you think will happen if you shoot me?" He spoke again, playing to her trauma with that same honeyed tone, "The rest of the tribe will either kill you or, if you're lucky, some other tribe will take you and do even more things to you. Did you think about that? I know you didn't. And I also know that I'm the only one who ever gives a shit about you."

Her arms go numb as the leader puts his hand on the gun she's holding down and slowly took it out of her hands.

"It's okay, Lee. You're safe."

It was then that Lee broke. She buried herself in the tribe leader's chest, crying hysterically as she felt him wrap his arms around her, gently stroking her hair while a lustful smile came on his face.

XXX

From beyond her nightmares of the more tormented times, Lee felt her body slowly changing; the transparent lilac membrane was thickening, hardening with a gradual creaking groan akin to liquid flash-freezing into ice. With the sensation of its hardening, came the piercing raw irritation of her flesh splitting and tearing, from her to each individual toe knuckle. Blood spilled out of each tear in her flesh, seeping into the slime that she was submerged in as the deep cuts in her flesh grew and spread. A part of her that somehow had a dark sense of humor mused that if she were to fall out of her cocoon, she'd be little more than perfectly severed pieces of meat for the inhabitants of the Outlands to feast upon.

But was paltry when the paralyzing agony of her bones breaking down and disintegrating came, feeling each bone lose its density before splintering and dissolving away into fuel for her transformation. The membrane seemed to be hardening at the same pace as her bones dissolving, keeping her together as the changes began to accelerate. Lee felt a desperate burning in her core as the muscles and organs in her torso fell including her heart and lungs as her ribcage and spine began to grow thin, only for her muscles and organ to be twisted and shifted to new purpose as her skeletal system was redefined outward rather than inward.

XXX

Lee stared at the scared girl bound and clothed in rags as she was laid in front of her by the other bandits. The bandit leader then walked up and handed her an old shotgun before pointing at the bound girl.

"Prove your loyalty. Kill her."

Those were his only words as he stepped aside along with the other bandits, leaving only Lee and the bound girl. The latter was screaming but it could not be heard as a mottled cloth with blood was wrapped around her mouth with the former standing over her with the barrel of the gun pointed at her forehead. Lee only had a blank expression on her face; she'd grown numb to the pain and suffering of others, this one was no different.

With not even a flinch, the woman fired, sending the girl's brains all over the ground while her still bound body hit the ground, twitching horridly while blood spewed out of the still intact lower jaw. A moment later, the woman didn't react before the leader took the shotgun from her hands and patted her on the shoulder in congratulations as the tribe slowly started to head back to the camp.

"She freed her." She heard a bandit say to another from the corner of her eye.

"What?" Asked another bandit in confusion.

"She let her free." The first bandit responded, sounding almost sympathetic, "She did her a favor."

Another bandit added in that same vaguely sympathetic tone, "She's a merciful woman."

For some reason, those words hurt more than anything the leader had inflicted on her.

XXX

Thick pseudopods grew from where her shoulders and below her shoulder blades would have been, bonelessly growing and thickening as the membrane hardened. As they grew to the size and length of a man's arm, the pseudopods began to curl like an arm flexing as the membrane hardened to where the splitting was required for them to move, appearing now like the limbs of an arachnid.

Small pustules began forming under her eyes, whose sclera began reddening as her irises and pupils slid away before the slightly unhardened membrane split to reveal twin sets of red glowing eyes that darted around the newly formed sockets. Her teeth suddenly began deforming into fangs as hard cartilage replace her jaw and skull as a protective layer around her brain, small, jagged spikes began forming on the top of her head in a semblance of hair, and her heart and lungs began to enlarge to accommodate for her growing form.

Most of her organs began pushing to a tumor like growth where her tailbone used to be as well as new organs forming and sucking inside it, the membrane growing in tandem with its expansion, a sphincter-like orifice opening at the tip of the growing abdomen. The membrane was now a carapace of ebony black and royal purple with accents of gold, her form now enlarged to where she was nearly pressing against the walls of her cocoon.

In some deep unconscious level in her now warped and moralless psyche, Lee was aware that she had been returned to the womb, or more accurately, she had never left. That life before this moment of transformation was but a dream, and that dream was now over.

XXX

A young Lee wandered through a dark ruined city in the Outlands, eyes wide with fear as she looked around the ragged and gutted buildings around her. A small patch of skin on her forehead had been ripped out with blood trailing down her face, her clothing had been stained irreparably by dirt, ash, and blood while her right hand clutched a rusted butcher knife she stole from somewhere.

Suddenly, a massive Bioweapon, its form hidden in the ever-present shadows with only its piercing lidless red eyes visible, crashed through a building in front of her, roaring loudly as she screamed and fled in terror with it chasing her, hearing the earth cracking stomps of its powerful limbs on the ground. She sprinted down an alleyway between two with it trailing behind, but suddenly the ground collapsed in front of the monster, causing it to fall into the newly formed crevasse.

The crevasse then exploded, sending a torrent of flames to rise above the buildings. Lee had fallen to the ground after she saw the Bioweapon fall and explode before she saw several bandits approaching her, weapons raised but lowered them when their leader raised a hand, wordlessly ordered them to stand down.

He extended an arm towards her. Not knowing what to do, Lee took his hand.

XXX

Suddenly, a black clawed hand ripped out of the cocoon as purple viscous slime spilled from the tear and splattered onto the floor of the ruined building. The tear expanded to where a chest and head ripped out before the entire body slithered out of the tattered sack of flesh like a wet large object that had yet to be named. A cough rang from her mouth as she threw up a splotch of blood from her insides, before Lee slowly rose to her feet and looked at her hands in awe.

Her body was now a massive, large form, humanoid in shape and covered in black and royal purple carapace with accents of gold, four thick arachnoid limbs sitting on her back, a black widow's abdomen sitting where her tailbone sat, her hands and feet ending in. Her face lacked ears, with six piercing red eyes, a mouth with purple lips and a Glasgow smile in the shape of a zigzag trailed from the corners to the back of her jaw, thick spikes sat on her head styled like her hair before her transformation, her form curved yet lithe as she experimentally stretched and flexed her limbs, in awe at her new form. Idly, she wondered what her human form was like.

Obeying her thoughts, her form shrank down, all inhuman traits disappearing as she felt a fascimile of flesh replace her exoskeleton. Thanks to her night vision, she could see her body had become human, but it was staring into a pool of an unknown fluid with her reflection staring back that gave her the answer.

She was void of clothing her Glasgow smile was now barely visible as where her other scars and her tattoos were now void from her body, leaving only pale skin behind, untarnished by the scours of the dangers of realspace and the Warp. What remained of her true form were her burning red eyes that seemed to glow in the ever-present blackness that surrounded them.

Her humanity was gone. Now there was only the monster that she truly was... and she fucking loved it. An old fling appeared in her head, one of burning desire, the image of a man she loved reappeared in her head, making her grin in sadistic desire. She'd fine a way back to her universe, find Eddy, and do whatever the hell she wanted to him.

"I smell fresh meat!" A voice rung her out of her thoughts as she turned to see someone outside the ruined building. It was a woman with long blonde hair, dressed in rags and tatters with a bloody knife in her hand, blood staining her mouth and cheeks. Lee blinked in surprise, she looked rather well for someone stuck in the Outlands, though a part of her suspected that she was only recently thrown in. The madwoman merely grinned as she approached the building like a hungry dog, thinking that she would find someone to eat.

Lee gave a grin as a primal hunger grew inside her. Suddenly, her head shifted and deformed, now more of a full spider's head than her previous form, the flesh covering her ripping away as arachnid limbs took the place of her human parts. Now, Lee resembled a massive arachnid the size of an elephant, having the same black and royal purple carapace with gold accents, red blaring eyes, and numerous mandibles flaring out with ultra-corrosive acid as she then bit down on the woman's head the second she entered the building through a wide and jagged opening.

"Thanks for the feast." Lee whispered to the headless body before she messily consumed the rest of the insane woman. Her form then shifted the half spider shape, exiting the building for both prey and a way out of the Outlands. As she exited the building, Lee turned to see that her surroundings was vaguely familiar, causing a smile to curl on her lips, "Home sweet home."

With that, Lee ventured out into the Outlands, joining the orgy of slaughter and cannibalism that consumed the Labyrinth.

Such is the fate of all those who fall to the Labyrinth of Ruin. You either kill monsters or become a monster yourself.

---

Beware the Hollows

Deep in the dark recesses of the Outlands were the Abyssal Dominion, also known as the Black Chasms or the Dark Chasms, a hideous place where those truly damned to wallow and waste away in the dark. But to those brave enough to venture down into its lightless depths, the bounties of precious materials and specimens of life are among the most twisted of things brought into existence.

Swimming in the black water of the Chasms were the people damned to its depths, the Hollows; black things that can bend and mutilate their bodies in grotesque and visceral ways, killing and eating all that they saw. Many a cult or warband has been lost to the Hollows and their hordes, slaves to the dark and pale baleful waters that birthed them.

One such group was a band of the Undaunted, known as the Warbound, made of five members, all skilled in fighting several thousand encounters with the hostile factions in the Warp.

The first was a tall man with his skin completely covered in bandages, clothed in a SWAT vest over a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeves rolled up, a black leather duster, tattered Demin pants and crocodile pointed boots, and two .45 Auto pistols in their holsters on his belt: Joshua Graham.

The second was a beautiful purple haired woman, clad in a haphazard armor made of sections of body armor from various armors that she encountered across the multiverse, every space available was occupied by either guns or blades taken from her slain enemies. This was Psylocke, one of the X-Men who had been trapped in the Warp.

The third was an odd one, a tall and lean man wearing a black and white striped T-Shirt under a black dress coat, white gloves, black slacks, his face covered in black and white makeup that resembled a mime, black shoes covered his feet, and a sheathed katana tucked in his arms. In his hands were several cards that contained surreal and visceral artwork that he was shuffling and shifting around. This is the aptly named Mime.

The fourth was a man with long black hair that reached his neck, with a short full beard and had twin scars that trailed from the hairline to the jaw. He was clad in a haphazard uniform composed of furs, leathers, and pieces of armor but his was over a white long coat, grey dress shirt, black pants, and black shoes with twin black long slide pistols that were resting in his lap, waiting to be used on heretics. This was John Wick.

The final one was the Warden's personal doctor. The Doctor was a repugnant man with balding black hair, his beady eyes covered by glasses that had red tinted lenses while a head mirror was wrapped around his head. He had skin covered in bumps and warts, a purple nose, frizzled mustache, blackened lips covered crooked and yellowed teeth, wearing a green dress shirt with a dark grey tide under a rubber apron that was covered in blood, his hands covered in elbow length rubber gloves, dirty beige slacks and rubber boots covered the lower half of his body.

Currently they were exploring the depths of the Black Chasms, hoping to find the legendary Fireblade from the Great Crusade that had been cast and lost in the depths of the Labyrinth of Ruin. However, during their trek to the Chasms, the four encountered the Doctor who was busy taking samples from the various organisms that were proliferating around the dark rivers. They came to an agreement when they discovered that they were lost in the caverns.

However, as they ventured through the black caverns, train-sized creatures of biological impossibility crawled through the walls, digging tunnels through their caustic secretions and maws of rending fangs. Under the Undaunted's feet, swam the Malos, biological metallic creatures in the form of the ancient trilobites of Terra's early days, capable of eating through even Power Armor and the bones of Astartes. The group then came to the dark rivers of the Dominion, black streams of dark ooze that turned whatever it touched into abominations, creatures of uniqueness so impossible to describe that it would be simpler to say that they merely become horrors of flesh and spirit.

It came to the edge of a downtrodden path where Joshua knelt down as he took a pinch from the iron sand and sifted it through his fingers, hemming for a moment before he turned to the others, "It seems that this is where the dark river leads to the upper parts of the Abyssal Dominion. We should be near the Dark Wells."

The group nodded as Psylocke created a psychic construct that allowed them to cross the river, one that was purple and glimmering, reaching a wide and spacey cavern with the river having been thinned to a mere stream of the black liquid and a massive hole in the ceiling that allowed a pale light to shine down on them for some fleeting semblance of safety.

"Let's stay here for the night. We've been walking for what I think has been days." Wick said as he sat down on the ground that was furthest away from the stream, with the others settling down with him as they had indeed been walking for days. The bandaged man kept watch for anything that was coming through the tunnels and caverns in the Abyssal Dominion.

"So, where do you think we are in the Dominion?" Mime asked the others, going against the fact that mimes don't speak, "We've been searching for the Fireblade for weeks."

"So far, we've been searching the east and west sections of the Dark Chasms." Psylocke explained, creating a construct of psychic energy that was a basic outline of the Abyssal Dominion's tunnels and pathway, "I believe that the Fireblade is somewhere where we are, given that I sense a vague psychic aura that feels... attractive for lack of a better word."

"Searching the Chasms would be easier if the Hollows didn't infest this place like a plague." Joshua replied as he kept his eyes on the tunnel that they immerged from, keeping a hand on one of his guns incase a Hollow came through and attacked.

"Speaking of the Hollows, Doctor, how did the Hollows come into being?"

"Ah, zhat is a very zimple explanation." The Doctor explained the origins of the Hollows to the interest of the others, in his native German accent, "One universe thriving under the Dark Gods is vhere the Kindred lay. Vampires that held varying abilites and attributes. The Kindred thrown into zhe Labyrinth were able to dig to zhis dark place alongside other mutants and monsters, along vith other cannibals and madmen, forcing zhem to diablerize each other to survive. Zhe result were the Hollows."

The others looked surprised at the origins of the Hollows, but regardless decided to get some sleep as to get energy back for when they continue their trek for the Fireblade.

XXX

They had managed to get at least 7 hours of sleep before they continued their trek through the Dark Chasms, killing whatever got in their way while avoiding whatever monsters and madmen had found their way into the Dominion. As they trekked, Psylocke claimed she could feel Fireblade's presence growing nearer when they reached a massive chasm that held a staggeringly large pool of the dark water. Reaching the edges of the dark lake, Psylocke formed a psychic platform for them to cross body of mutagenic blackness that blocked their path.

Suddenly, a clawed emaciated hand arose from the dark river, but Psylocke immediately slashed the limb off whatever body it was connected to before the group bolted away as to get out as soon as they can, not seeing that steam arose from the severed part and white tumorous flesh bulged out before bursting and reforming into a clawed hand.

It was a thing with skin black as oil and piercing red eyes, resembling an emaciated humanoid with maws of pearly white fangs. More of its kind emerged from the dark lake, all in varying shapes and sizes that began piling on each other in an attempt to grasp at the Undaunted.

"Hollows." The Doctor breathed out in horror before Graham and Wick began firing on the Hollows as quickly as they immerged from the lake. Psylocke was unable to help as her focus was on the platform while Mime used his razor cards on the Hollows to stall them from attempting to grab them. The Hollow's arm suddenly bulged before elongating like a tendril, closing the gap and grasping Wick's leg, who's only response was firing his gun on the thing's wrist, severing the limb and allowing the group to escape to an upper part of the caverns.

The Warbound entered a wide passageway in the upper parts of the wall, where the Hollows couldn't reach due to their lack of coordination. They ran to the black stone tunnels, their footsteps echoing through the dark caverns before they came to a new opening for them to go through. It was covered in light green radiant fungi that illuminated the tunnels, giving them a source of light beside their lanterns to see through the everlasting darkness that nearly consumed the Chasms.

"Okay, vhere are ve?" The Doctor said to himself, before unfurling a map composed of human skin, humming to himself before he said, "Aw, here. Ve should be near the Tree of Daemons. It should be uphill from here."

The others all sighed in relief, days or weeks of trekking through the Abyssal Dominion was getting to them ever for the Undaunted. As they trekked through the tunnel, a series of vines and roots began appearing the deeper they advanced, appearing like stone and woods polymerized that grew and pulsed like a heart until they came to an opening, revealing the source.

It was a massive chasm that spanned to the barest edges of their eyes, the roots and vines of the Tree of Daemons covering and slithering through every crack and opening, providing safe passage to those who do not possess the blessed ability of flight. Underneath, were massive waterfalls of the dark water pouring down to the ocean depth of the Black Sea, barely touching the molten core of the Labyrinth.

"Amazing." Mime breathed in awe while the others looked on in awe as well, trekking through the dark and pulsing roots, walking over large red pustules that seemed to be filled with a thick syrup that hardened against their feet. However, it was then that they saw something odd trekking through the roots of the tree like they were.

It was a group of Astartes, but there was a perplexing quality to them; their armour was white as snow with black jagged and spike covered highlights, but the armor flowed like liquid, their helmets seemed too perfectly formed and the grill seemed to be more like a set of ebony teeth. Their weapons were akin to shadows and light encased in metal, black mist bleeding from the barrels of their Bolters and a pale baleful light seemed to gleaming from their blades.

"What the fuck are those things?" Mime whispered to the Doctor, who could only shake his head in disbelief.

"Keep quiet." Wick told them, not taking his eyes off the white Astartes, "Rather not get those things' attention."

The rest of the Warbound followed his advice while vaguely wondered what happened to those Astartes before they remained silent, hoping to not attract the attention of these ghostly Space Marines. A moment passed before they slowly crept down the roots of the Tree, reaching to a massive metal stairwell seared into the flesh-stone walls of the chasms and ascending silently as so they do not attract the dread attention of the ghost Astartes.

Ascending the stairwell, the Warbound found themselves in a tunnel riddled with bones, some resembling human and others not, strewn about around the floor and walls, seemingly fused together in a horrid fusion of adamantium and calcium. Something came through here, killing and stripping the flesh from the bones before continuing whatever its routine detailed.

They trekked through the tunnel regardless, pointedly ignoring the pungent smell of liquefied bones and the steamy humid temperature of the hidden molten chambers heating the tunnel. A breeze brushed against Wick's face, causing him to turn to the source before he tapped on Psylocke's shoulder, getting her attention as she saw what he saw; it was a small light to the side, illuminating the tunnel walls and floors like an exit.

"There." Psylocke pointed to the light, getting the attention of the others, "Fireblade is that way."

The group slowly made their way to the light, which came from a small but wide opening in the walls, letting them slip through to another part of the Chasms. This area was cooler in temperature and void of bones, covered in radiant white crystals that seemed to be feeding on psychic residue and slivers of Warp energy, repurposing them into the glow that besieged the Chasms. A good place for them to gather their bearing and plan out a strategy inside of just using Psylocke's powers as a makeshift tracking device.

"Alright, we've got at least a few more miles before we reach the Fireblade." Psylocke said as the Doctor pulled up the holomap, the red dot standing out from the blue hard light composition showing where they were among the millions of tunnels and caverns in the Dark Chasms, "So far, we've just been mindlessly wandering the Chasms and hoping for the best. It's time we come up with a plan to get the weapon and get out of here before the Hollows catch us at our most vulnerable."

The others nodded before Wick suggested, "The Hollows seem to be more passive today. We can use that to get to Fireblade easier."

"There's also the problem of them simply waiting for us to get close and attack." Joshua replied cynically, before he sighed at his own cynicism, "Why can't these quests be easy and to the point?"

"Les rêves sont en nous tous ; mais peu de mains peuvent saisir leurs ailes de papillon sans les anéantir." Mime spoke in French, before translating in when the others looked at him, "It means 'Dreams are in all of us; but few hands can grasp their butterfly wings without annihilating them.'"

"Accurate but what does that contribute?" Joshua inquired.

"I just thought it sounded cool." Mime shrugged, not caring that the others thought differently.

"Regardless, if ve encounter zhe Hollows again, ve must be ready for vhen zhey attack." The Doctor replied, pulling out a scalpel and a petri dish contraining a sample of flesh from a Hollow.

"And how do you suggest that?" Psylocke inquired from the Doctor, "We've fought them the entire time we've been here and nothing has killed them! Each injury, they regenerate. Each stradegy, they adapt. Each power, they overcome!"

"Yes. But watch how it reacts to silver." The Doctor replied bluntly before he dragged the silver scalpel across the sample. Suddenly, the cut in the sample emitting into smoke before catching fire, burning away the dark flesh. The Undaunted look on in shock with the Doctor explaining, "Exposure to silver causes a chemical reaction in zheir cells that caused zhem to combust. Zhis reaction burns avay their cells und produces a bile that stops zhe blood from clotting. Zhis means zhat zhey are not unkillable."

"Good to know..." Joshua muttered as he looked at his vest that had several clips in them containing silver bullets.

"Regardless, here's the plan." Wick began as the other listened in.

XXX

A Hollow, deformed to where its musculature resembled an Astartes, crawled around a dark and decrepit tunnel, wall slick with oily fluids from the flesh transmuted parts of the Chasms, grabbing the flesh of a corpse and ripping it out a chunk of its internal organs out of its sternum before devouring them sloppily. It never required eating as a sustenance, but rather a primal instinct that refused to atrophy, leading it to devour anything and everything to slake an unnecessary hunger. A noise then rung from somewhere, leading the Hollow to turn and see a light coming from another passageway, causing it to hiss on instinct.

Suddenly, pain came as it felt its neck severed off from the rest of its body, falling to the ground as several figure sprinted by. Immediately, the Hollow felt its cells distorted and stretch, reconnecting to the severed neck as its head slowly slides back on. The wound seals before the Hollow regained the feeling in its limbs, standing back up before it shook off the ache in its throat, coughing before it roared out a call for the others.

"Oh, shit!" Mime yelled out, "Guys, keep running!"

"I told you we should have destroyed the head!" Psylocke yelled at Wick, as she felt several more Hollows coming their way.

"Forget it! Just keep running!" Wick yelled back, the group turning a corner as they fled from the oncoming horde of Hollows. The path they were on began to steepen, rising further and further until Mime dared to take a peak and then snapped his head back when he saw the horde behind them, and judging from the panicked expression, it had to be quite large.

They ascended to the entrance of a wide expanse, stopping at the edge of the incline and turned to see the horde climbing towards them. Thousands of Hollows sprinting and shoving each other aside in an attempt to get ahead, clawing and biting as they devolved into a swarm of fangs and claws. The Warbound all looked terrified except for Wick and Graham, who stood steadfast despite the swift approach of the horde.

"Not yet." Wick voiced out as they tensed.

The horde was now 300 feet away.

"Not. Yet." Wick repeated with gritted teeth.

The horde was now 100 feet way and closing in fast, the individual Hollow becoming more visible by the second.

"NOW!" Wick roared out. Suddenly, Joshua ripped the silver cross off his neck before it ignited into a blaze of white flame so bright that the Hollows screeched at the intensity of the light. The cross suddenly shifted into massive scimitar wreathed in white and silver flames before Graham swung the sword down on the incline, the heat cleaving through the stone, the weight of the horde crushing the incline, leading to its collapse. The Hollows could only screech as they fell deeper into the Abyss below.

The others practically collapsed in relief-induced exhaustion before Wick let out a laugh, "And you guys said it wouldn't work."

"Yeah, yeah." Psylocke muttered out as she brushed the dust off her outfit while standing back up, "Regardless, let's get the Fireblade and get out of here."

The group all got to their feet and slowly walked to the expanse, hoping to finish their mission before they get killed. The area was a massive expanse of adamantium, carved by nature into a massive maw of stalagmites and stalactites over a pool of molten gold, a mount of steel over the lake of gold where the legendary weapon laid, heat blasting down to the pool in waves that would have scorched flesh into ash. The remains of various warrior of human and Astartes origins laid melted into the ground and walls, unable to tell where armor or body began or ended, weapons melted and deformed into surreal shapes of liquescent origin, but their prize laid before them through the rough, illuminated by the pseudo-skylight above them.

"There it is..." Mime whispered in awe as they approached the blade upon the platform.

Fireblade was near identical as it was during the Horus Heresy; the blade was a color that polymerized gold and deep amber with nary a scratch or dent in the metal as if time itself had no effect on it, the wing-like guard just as vibrant as when it was first forged by Ferrus Manus, the masterly crafted innerworkings untouched by the decay of time even as the Undaunted approached it.

"Careful, one wrong move and it'll be damaged." Joshua informed their psyker, hoping to get it without any damage. Psylocke brushing the smooth metal of the blade with her fingers before she breathed in and out, focusing her powers to connect to the spirit of the weapon. It slowly began to react, sliding from the rock and into her arms despite that it was longer than her body, a golden aura surrounding it as she managed to extract the blade from the adamantium mount.

Psylocke couldn't help but to stare at it; the metal, the details, the utter mastery of craftsmanship. It was as much of a piece of art as much as it was a weapon. She managed to snap herself out of her trance and turn to the others, "Alright, its out. Let's get out of here before-"

She was cut off when a deafening screech echoed through the air, causing the group to turn to the entrance of the expanse. The sounds of multitudes of Hollows coming their way deafened all other sounds, as their black hands and faces became visible from the ledges of the entrance. The Warbound immediately made a mad dash way, Psylocke quickly forming a psychic platform that rose through the opening in the chasm that barely escaped the rampaging hordes of Hollows that swarmed in, pointedly ignoring the pool of molten gold that consumed the frontlines and many others, serving as the sacrificial stones for the others to ascend the expanse after their prey.

"If I may ask, why does the Emperor wish for Fireblade?" The Doctor inappropriately asked the others, as Psylocke ascended the chasms with her powers.

"I don't know. All the Emperor said was that he needed something from before Fulgrim fell to Chaos." Wick decided to humor the Doctor before he pulled out his pistols as did the others, "Now be prepared for the Hollows when they get out."

XXX

Psylocke's platform reached a thankfully empty part of the higher levels of the Abyssal Dominion, allowing them to race out and ascend a hillside to gain the high ground. A couple hundred came out, only for them to be met by an organic grenade from the Doctor that landed on one of the Hollow's heads before expanding and bursting out into a cloud of green fire. The chemical flames practically incinerate the hundreds, leaving their charred but regenerating bodies as others came out and were burned by the flames.

The Doctors laid more traps for the Hollows for when they adapt to the fires while the others fled to higher ground, trying to escape from the horde and lose them in the Outlands, hoping whatever was there could kill the Hollows while they escaped to the Sanctioned. Explosions rang out behind them, signaling that they had already gotten to the traps, but when they turned they saw the Hollows continuing on despite being wreathed in flames that destroyed them as fast as they were regenerating.

"Good lord, they're covered in fire and they're still not stopping!" Mime yelled out as they kept running, hoping that they could still get away.

"They're determined, I'll give them that." Psylocke quipped as they all broke into a mad dash away for the higher ground. The screams of the hordes echoing out in a cacophony of bellowing madness, one that drew the attention of the other abominations in the Outlands as they turned to see the Warbound dashing through the narrow paths through the dark wastes. Seeing a chance for more meat, the other inhabitants of the Outlands immediately converged on the horde of Hollows, unleashing weapons both natural and unnatural on their dark flesh.

The screams from the Hollows became one of panic and fear, knifes, claws, and power swords tearing into them faster than they could regenerate, the human meatgrinders that the mortal had for hands dug into their open guts before they ripped out the pale slick intestines and started devouring them. For not even the Hollow's unimaginable regeneration can easily repair being reduced to mulch, taking days or even weeks to fully regrow the entire body from merely pools of blood.

Even the Tree of Daemons reacted to their presence; massive vines and branches grabbing those that managed to rip themselves out from the carnage, long and thick thorns ripping into the dark flesh of the Hollows before beginning to feed upon the nutrients of the dark beasts, trapping them in a cage of daemon-infested wood for an eternity of undeath.

"Damn, I almost feel bad for them!" Mime yelled as he saw the Hollows either by reduced to pulp or be captured by the Tree of Daemons. The Warbound soon reached a hillside that was a few miles near the walls that cut off the Outlands from the rest of the Labyrinth, however they encountered one slight problem with their plan; a massive blockade of corpses and adamantium shards.

"Oh, damn it!" Psylocke cursed before she started to focus her powers on the blockade, trying to quickly get it out of their way before any of the Hollows managed to escape the slaughterfest. But Tzeentch appeared to want this story more compelling as several Hollows escaped the carnage, regenerating their grievous and mutilated bodies and racing towards the Undaunted.

"Uh, guys?!" Mime yelled out, "Some of the Hollows got threw the others! They're heading our way!"

"How many?!" Psylocke yelled as she struggled to concentrate with moving the massive blockade out of the way.

"Not a lot! Just a few hundred!" Mime said as he pulled out some of his cards, transmuting them into silver while Wick and Graham pulled out their guns and the Doctor readying a mixture that he loaded into what appeared to be a grenade launcher.

"Hold them off! I'll get this blockade out of the way!" Psylocke yelled to them as she focused on the blockade.

Mime merely raised a hand of silver cards before throwing them at the Hollows, slicing through the black flesh with their wounds catching ablaze, cauterizing them and preventing them from regenerating as the bile finished off the rest of their bodies. Wick and Graham sprayed hundreds of bullets at the horde, blowing bowling ball sized holes in them that staggered the dark creatures but only managed to temporarily take them out of the fight as their wounds slowly healed. The Doctor fired the canister with the mixture into the crowd, purple mist engulfing several of the Hollows before a series of bursting sounds were heard until one of the Hollows escaped from the cloud when their body was suddenly enveloped in violet pustules before they burst into chunks of spewing wet flesh. Their distance making the shapeshifting powers of the Hollows worthless.

The tide against them was a whimsical influx, one side having superior numbers while the other side had superior firepower, creating a stalemate where either one side would falter or the other would be overwhelmed. Seemingly for hours the fighting went one, but both sides were faltering; the escaped Hollows were now numbering in the forties with a large number was out of commission to regenerate and an even larger number was consumed by the other abominations of the Outlands due to their vulnerability and an even larger number were killed due to Mime's silver cards while the Warbound were slowly running out of ammunition for their weapons though Mime still had his cards.

Suddenly, the blockade was lifted into the air before it burst apart into an explosion of adamantium, sending a hailstorm of adamantium shards raining down on the Hollows and the dark denizens of the Outlands. Summoning the last of her strength, Psylocke projected a psychic shield above her, shielding the Warbound from the rain of adamantium shards while the Hollows were impaled by millions of shards as the denizens of the Outlands all took cover behind whatever they could find, actually having intelligence in their heads filled with insanity.

"That should... keep the Hollows... at bay for a while..." Psylocke breathed out before she collapsed into Wick and Joshua's arms, barely able to keep the shield up while psychically holding Fireblade. As soon as the rain stopped, Psylocke nearly passed out, letting the shards fall harmlessly around them while Fireblade fell into Mime's arms who struggled to hold it up due to its weight.

"All right, one of you help me with Fireblade, the rest help Psylocke and defend us." Mime ordered, the Doctor helping him lift up the blade while Wick got Psylocke into his arms and Joshua whipped out his pistols in case the Hollows got back up. Case in point, the Hollows were impaled all over by adamantium shards of various shapes and sizes, their bodies slowly bending and shifting to where the shards slowly popped out while their wounds sealed, reshaping back to their normal forms resuming their chase.

"Oh, shit." Mime swore before he turned to the purple haired psyker, "Psy, look... I know I'm asking a lot, but you got to help!"

"Guys... I'm exhausted..." Psylocke panted, not even having the strength to stand from the force of the psychic blast that tore the blockade apart, "I can barely stay awake. I don't think I can..." That was the last she could say before she devolved into exhausted mumbles, causing the other Undaunted and the Doctor to gain slightly panicked expressions.

Joshua looked at the oncoming horde of both Hollows and the other abominations before he took a breath and gave a determined look, deciding to do what he must to protect the others around him, "You guys go. I'll hold them off."

The others looked at the bandaged man like he was insane, with Mime crying out, "Josh, what are you-?!"

"Go! I'll be fine!" The Bandaged Man insisted, aiming his pistols at the dozens of Hollows approaching them, "Just get out of here while you can!" The others looked increasingly tensed before they decided to go, running out to the walls that boarded the Outlands off from the rest of the Labyrinth, but not before Wick exchanged one last look at Joshua.

"Godspeed, Joshua. Godspeed." Wick said as he carried a protesting Psylocke away, who was trying to reach out and use whatever was left of her powers to get him out of there before he could be killed... only for her to be unable to summon the strength, faltering to give form one of her psyblades. She could only give a distraught look at an increasingly distant Joshua, screaming out his name as Wick swiftly carried her to the others. Graham only gave a smile under his bandaged face before he turned to the hordes incoming.

"...Let us pray." Joshua inhaled and exhaled, steeling his nerves and dedicating his heart as he shot one of the dozens of Hollow in the head, reciting a prayer as he fought his final fight with no fear in his soul, "Hail Mary, full of grace..."

Another shot pierced the heart of a Hollow that attempted to deform into a larger form, quickly bleeding out as blood escaped the veins and spilt onto the metal ground.

"The Lord is with thee..."

The head of a Hollow that had elongated its neck into a thick tentacle and its head deforming into a maw of curled fangs exploded as the silver bullet burst through the cranium.

"Blessed art thou amongst women..."

Another shot sliced through the jugulars of a Hollow that had bulked itself so much that its veins engorged, resulting in a spray of black inky blood from his slashed open throat.

"And blessed is the fruit..."

A Hollow that had deformed and elongated its arm into a lashing tentacle was shot in the heart. A dryfire rang out, causing Joshua to look and see that the gun is his right was empty. No matter, he still has the gun in his left hand.

"Of thy womb, Jesus..."

A bullet from the left gun pierced through the head of a Hollow that attempted to leap at him with grotesquely engorged leg muscles, causing it to fall and tumble to the ground.

"Holy Mary, mother of God..."

Another shot blasted through the head of another Hollow as it tried to bite him in the shoulder.

"Pray for us sinners..."

One more Hollow was blasted in the heart as it tried to charge at him, causing it to tumble to the metal ground as it bleeds out. Joshua saw his friends and the Doctor escape the horde of Hollows, disappearing from his sight. A faint smile curled his lips under the bandages as he shots one last Hollow before they and all other denizens of the Outlands swarmed all around him.

"Now and at the hour of our death..." Joshua finished his prayer, closing his eyes as the gun in his left hand raised to his left temple, tears of sorrow and acceptance running down his cheeks and dampening his bandages, "Amen..."

With a final breath, he squeezed the trigger.

The last shot rang out louder than ever, getting the attention of the Warbound and the Doctor who looked at the area where Joshua was, though an incline blocked their view, so they couldn't see what happened but the gunshot was their only answer. Psylocke looked like she was about to break when she heard the last gunshot, tears coming out of her eyes and trailing down her face with her hands to her mouth, knowing that Graham was dead but Wick and Mime managed to hold their tears for the moment.

"Ve must keep moving, my dear." The Doctor replied, feeling upset by the death of Joshua Graham but pushing on regardless, "Ve have zhe Fireblade, his zacrifice is not in vain. Ve only need to go little longer." That seemed do bring Psylocke out of it before they continued running towards the walls.

Back with Joshua, the last gunshot rang out ...only for one of the Hollows to fall dead from a gunshot to the head. Smoke sizzled from the barrel and stove pipe of Joshua's gun, the noise stopping the Hollows and the other denizens of the Outlands as they stared at the man pointing it with religious anger burning in his eyes as he growled.

"No..." He raised his gun up as the smoking clip was ejected, speaking like an angel condemning the damned, "All of you lawless degenerate cannibals... Each of you... each of you is another life taken, another family broken..."

The clip in his other gun was ejected before he tossed them in the air, brought out two more clips out from his vest and loaded them into the descending pistols, the slides locking in place, all done in under a few second.

"I will not retreat... I will not turn a blind eye." Joshua Graham declared, cocking the hammers of his duel .45s, "So long as I still breathe, your crimes will not go unpunished!"

He turned to see the others escaping back to the walls, gaining a determined "Don't worry, guys. I'll be back soon. I still have some work to do." He then raised his guns at the hordes, "And I will leave the Outlands emptier."

Gunshots rang out throughout the night, earning the attentions of the Warbound. Soon, they would see the Bandaged Man again, after he had done his deed to purge the filth that followed him from the Chasms.

---

The Wall

The most lawful parts of the Labyrinth of Ruin are the ones where the Warden and his guards has complete control over, the Wall. A city sized complex where the most ruthless and horrible denizens of the Labyrinth are thrown in to rot and whatever unfortunate souls that had the misfortune to be captured by the guards to be locked away by the carcass of order that the Warden dwells in, defended by the fact that it was in the center of a massive super volcano that was kept in check by the massive forges that churn out liquid adamantium for the Constructors to use for adding new sections to the Labyrinth.

On one hand, murder, rape, and intoxicant use is all but nature for the inmates in the Black Cells, taken in from every point of the Labyrinth by the Warden's white ships and locked away by the guards. Illegal items and substances are traded daily, while the guards shoot any and all that they see with even the slightest provocation.

On the other hand, the upper parts were violent, filled with riots and gang wars, but they were livable for those that were less vicious than the other denizens of the Labyrinth.

XXX

The Wall's laboratories

In the laboratories of the Wall, the next batch of the Red Right Hand were nearly ready for deployment. Each of them was devoid of clothing with tubes of plastic filled with a green fluid flowed into their bodies as a black helm covered their heads, hanging by metal racks that suspended them so that it looked like they were standing on their feet.

"Mental reconditioning complete." A synthetic female voice rang out as the helms were then taken off their heads via mechadendrites, exposing their faces to the cold and sterile air. The newly made Red Right Hands all looked at each other stoically, their thoughts and mental faculties restructured to a single drive; serve the Warden and keep the peace at any measure imaginable.

Suddenly, the floors opened as sets of purple and black protective armor with gasmasks that resembled the Warden's features including his top hat. Each of the new guards stepped into the suits, the nanomaterial closing around them while mechadendrites entering the ports on their spines, injecting biomechanical implants into their bodies and enhancing them further as the armor sealed and bonded to their skin. Then, heavy machine guns with spring load bayonets were lowered down from the ceiling and into their hands, fully loaded and ready to fire.

The thousands of new Red Right Hand then marched out of the facility and separated into two group, with one group going to the Wall's cell block to the other going out to the Labyrinth to defend the Wall from the vast armies of heretics, madmen, serial killers, and rapists throwing themselves at the complex.

"Hmm... Another batch made perfectly." The Doctor muttered through his purple lips while writing the results of this batch down on a lengthy roll of parchment before placing it on a table with other materials and surgical tools

The Doctor was a repugnant man with balding black hair, his beady eyes covered by glasses that had red tinted lenses while a head mirror was wrapped around his head. He had skin covered in bumps and warts, a purple nose, frizzled mustache, blackened lips covered crooked and yellowed teeth, wearing a green dress shirt with a dark grey tide under a rubber apron that was covered in blood, his hands covered in elbow length rubber gloves, dirty beige slacks and rubber boots covered the lower half of his body.

The Doctor merely sighed and returned to his labs for another session of experimenting with the failures, hoping to pass the time until he had to create another successful batch for the Red Right Hand.

XXX

A girl, barely over 18, stared in fear as she and thousands of men and women trudged into the gargantuan halls of the Wall under the watchful gaze of the guards, whom would have shot them had they stopped walking, the entrance seeming more like one for a vast tomb than a prison. When she had a chance to peek to the front of the line, she saw that the long horde of prisoners were guided to a series of tube-like halls, seemingly not bothering in separating the prisoners into specific groups.

As they were walking, the girl reminisced on what she had done and what landed her here.

She was born in the Outlands to filthy junk traders who sold her off for drinking money, forcing her to slave away in the dark bowels of the Space Hulks that composed the Labyrinth, scrapping away whatever materials and precious components they could grab from the deactivated machines in the dark and vile depths. A live like hers had no meaning when all she could do was be nothing but a dreg in a world of madmen and monsters, but at the same time, she didn't want to die, so she kept her head down and her mouth shut.

Then it happened. As she delivered the last of her daily load of junk and parts to her master, the Warden's soldiers raided the master's facility. They didn't stand a chance, killing those that fought back and capture those that surrendered before tossing them into the White Ships. She watched as people she knew all her life be massacred in front of her while the rest along with her were taken to the White Ships to be taken to the Wall.

On the White Ships, they attached explosive restraints on their wrists as a group of soldiers remained in the hold to activate the explosives if the prisoners tried anything. Thankfully, none of the occupants of the ship didn't attempt to escape their restraints, remaining silent as the vehicles flew to the only place that they could have flown to.

No one spoke, no one moved out of line, and no one even looked at the guards until the doors opened and they were forced out of the ships. And now here they are, being forced into the Wall and to die a painful death if she was lucky.

A sound snapped her out of her thoughts, making her see that she was three people away from being next into the black gate that led to the tubular structures. A second later, the door opened, and the leading prisoner was instructed by the guards to enter. He did and the second he entered, the door closed and then opened back up a second later with the man nowhere in sight. A look of terror came over her face, where they going to kill them?

The next two prisoners ahead of her went through just 15 seconds later, then it was her turn. She was unable to hide the fear she was feeling, merely moving due to the guards nudging her forward. Resigned to her fate, the girl merely walked through the gate with her eyes closed, only opening them when she heard the deafening sound of the gate closing.

She took the opportunity to look around the room she was in; it was black with six lights in the ceiling, revealing a hatch on the side and large black sphere buried halfway in the ceiling. Suddenly, a holographic message was displayed in blue on the sphere, clear and thorough.

REMOVE YOUR CLOTHING AND PLACE THEM IN THE HATCH

Embarrassed yet infinitely glad that she was alone in this room, the girl bashfully removed every ounce of clothing from her body and placed them in the hatch. The second she placed her undergarments in the hatch and pulled her hand away, blue fire burned away the discarded garments into ash, revealing it to be an incinerator and startling her before another message appeared in front of her.

STEP INTO THE WHITE CIRCLE

Before she could wonder what that meant, a circle, outlined in white light, appeared on the floor in front of her, seemingly innocuously. The girl hesitated for a second before she slowly placed on foot in the circle, closing her eyes as she did so in fear. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes and saw her foot innocently placed on the hollow circle. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside.

Suddenly, the circle turned red, but no alarms or klaxons were issued from the speakers. A bright red light then trailed down her body, the dust and dirt covering her were illuminated by the scanning beams as they trailed down multiple times until they disappeared with her whole body glowing from the tagged specks of dust, dirt, and grime. As she started at the millions of glowing specks on her hands and arms, a male voice came on the loudspeaker.

FOREIGN CONTAMINANT DETECTED. RELEASING CLEANSING GEL.

A cylinder of glass quickly lowered from the ceiling and locked into the glowing outline, startling the girl before a flood of green viscous sludge rose from bottom of the cell, rising to her neck until it reached her mouth. She stared to panic, thinking that she wouldn't be able to breath, closing her mouth as it rose to her nose. In but a few seconds however, the cylinder was entirely filled with the translucent viscous fluid.

The girl struggled to hold her breath, forcing her lips and jaw closed, but eventually, her instincts overrode her mind and she forced herself to breathe in the green viscous fluid. A feeling of surprise overtook her when she found that she could breathe the substance, swishing arms around the fluid as the illuminated specs of dirt flowed off her like a tide of specks. Soon, the fluid drained from the cylinder as a shower of water came over her, rising the rest of the fluid away before a wave of hot air came down on her, drying her off.

DECONTAMINATION COMPLETE

She stepped out of the circle when the cylinder retracted back to the ceiling, looking over her body in awe. This was the first time she saw herself not covered in dirt and grime from working all those years in the Space Hulks. Her skin was ivory with her hair pitch black, nary a scar on her despite the lifetime of abuse from her master. Another message appeared on the black half sphere.

PLEASE PUT YOUR HAND THROUGH THE TUBE IN THE WALL

A small hatch opened to reveal a white tube illuminated by white light. Hesitantly, the girl walked to the hatch and gingerly placed her hand into the tube. There was a flash of light and a brief sting of pain before both faded and she retracted her hand with a yelp. On her hand was a barcode with what she assumed was her prisoner number.

A rueful chuckle escaped her lips. That was it; the last of her freedom was now gone.

A black uniform was then presented in front of her by mechanical arms, dressing her like a mother did to her child. When she was fully dressed, a panel opened to reveal a small blue bottle with a note sitting beside it, with "DRINK ME" written in bold. Having nothing left to do, the girl uncorked the bottle and drank the whole thing.

Suddenly, it was as if the world seemed to melt away as the blackness of the room warped into a field of ivory grass, trees, bushes, and skies. She wandered for what felt like a moment before she saw a figure riding on a mechanical horse, only to gasp when she saw who it was.

It was the Warden.

The Warden is a pale man of a slender build, dressed in a purple tailcoat, with matching slacks and top hat, a pale-yellow dress shirt with a pink bow tie, with a dark wooden cane that had a golden handle. He also wears a pair of round yellow spectacles, of which he is never seen taking off, hiding dark blue eyes in the rare instances when he did take off his glasses.

"Hello, there!" The Warden greeted her pleasantly, taking his hat off out of politeness, "You're in the Wall. I'm the Warden, and you are a criminal." He put his hat back on at that last part while the mechanical horse he was riding on neighed, "Now, say hello to your new roommate."

Suddenly, she had snapped back to reality, finding herself in a metallic grey cell. It was then that she found herself unclothed and that another person was curled beside her. The girl turned her head to see a nude short haired brunette woman beside her, letting out a puff of smoke from her mouth with a cigarette in her hand before she turned to her scared cellmate.

"You ready for more, little girl?" Her brown-haired cellmate grinned lustfully.

Before she could scream for help, the brown-haired clamped her mouth shut and forced herself on her. Such was the life of various prisoners in the Wall... the lucky ones.

XXX

Cellblock 3

Outsider the cell where the new inmate was, the head guard and the security chief of the Wall walking through the filthy halls, ignoring the screams of rape and murder coming from all the cells around them.

The head guard was Albert 'Big Al' Kasinger, a tall burly and muscular man with red hair tied in a ponytail and two lock resting on his forehead, a mustache, his eyes covered by aviator-shades with gold tinted lenses, his closed lips hiding the fact that he was missing quite a few teeth that were replaced with prosthetics. He was wearing a dark beige dress shirt with a dark grey tie under a leather jacket, dark grey slacks, dark polished shoes.

The security chief was Dina Olson, also known as Do-S, a human female with long, blonde hair with a black flower on the left side of her head, a curvy body type, pink eyes with black sclera as well as many piercings on both ears. She dresses in a very revealing BDSM outfit which is made of tight straps and held by metal rings that show off her curves. The straps connect at two points on her torso, both with rings at their centers, the first above her chest and the second on her belly, with the ring encircling her navel. Her right hand has two spiked leather rings and a leather vambrace, while her left hand has a very long leather glove with holes in it and a black digital watch. Her attire is adorned with high-heeled boots and rips armed warmers. In addition, she also dons a mask with an "S" symbol over the filters as well as a spiked choker.

As they walked, Do-S turned to Al with a mischievous smirk under her mask, leaning into him, "So, Al..."

"Don't bother." Al shot her advances before they even began, not even looking at her. Do-S scoffed and rolled her eyes, disappointed that she still can't get him.

"Whatever." Do-S blew him off, walking away from the head guard to get some prisoners so she could have some fun on her day off. Suddenly, a buzzing sound came from Al's pocket and Do-S' watch causing both to pause, taking out his video pager and activating her watch respectively.

They were greeted by the sight of the Wall's accountant, Jared. The accountant was a short man with a massively disproportionate head with brown hair and a handlebar mustache, wearing a pale-yellow dress shirt with a dark blue tie under a brown dress jacket, brown slacks, and black dress shoes. Both of them frowned when they saw the sweaty and stressed-out visage of the accountant.

"Albert, Dina where are you?!" Jared said over their video pagers, "You two are late for the Monday morning meeting with the Warden! Where are you guys? You're both late and we have so much to do!"

"Damn it..." Albert muttered before he threw his pager away, regardless of that he had to go to the meeting. Do-S scoffed and just walked in the other direction, something that Al took noticed of, "Where are you going, tramp?"

"Fuck the Monday morning meeting. I'm getting some boytoys and galpals." Do-S shrugged off his concerns before she grabbed a lunchbox that the Warden had set for her, "See ya, Al."

Al let out a grunt but just kept walking. Do-S opened the lunchbox, only to let out a sigh as she threw a tuna sandwich over her shoulder. Suddenly, a figure teleported in behind her in a flash of green as she turned a corner, catching the tuna fish sandwich and another figure teleported beside him with Al's discarded video pager.

These are the Twins.

The Twins share the same features: blond curly hair, unibrows, flat noses, and dark green eyes. They wear a dark colored two-piece outfit that has a single stripe on its top, while they wear black gloves and heeled, short black boots.

"Yummy. Information." The twin holding the video pager said in monotone as he examined it with a sinister smile.

"Yummy. Tuna fish." The twin holding the sandwich said also in monotone, before pushing it into his skin which rippled like a liquid as it passed through his face. All of a suddenly, the video pager came on.

"Al, where have you been?!"

XXX

The Warden's Office

"...I've been video-paging you all morning!" Jared said into the video pager, unaware that Al thrown his pager away and now just walked into the Warden's office. It was a circular room with the windows overlooking the city-like prison that the men and woman ruled over.

"So, what?" Al retorted angerly at the accountant of the Wall as he walked in, "You're not my boss, you little wimp."

Suddenly, a bright light flooded the room, causing the two to shield their eyes with their arms. A dark shape burst through the window of the office, that sealed up a second later. The shape of tentacles and red eyes unraveled like the bud of a dark flower, revealing the Warden as the shape flowed into his hat. The Warden twirled his hat before he put it on and smiled, "Hello, Big Al."

"Hello, sir," Big Al replied, stoically.

The Warden nodded before he noticed that they were missing a staff member, "Say, where's Do-S?"

"She's off having her way with some of the prisoners again." Al reported, rolling his eyes under his sunglasses, "I swear, that woman is a nymphomaniac."

The Warden merely shrugged, so long as she kept the prisoners in line, she could do whatever she wants. Suddenly, a chair and desk folded out from the floor as the Warden sat down and kicked his feet up to the desk before saying in a laid-back tone, "What have you got for me?"

"Good morning, sir." Jared said sycophantically, presenting the Warden with his clipboard, "I have outlined the topics for the Monday morning meeting. heh, try saying that five times fast." He chuckled at his own joke for a second before composing himself.

The Warden snapped his fingers, causing the room to go dark before saying, "Proceed."

A projector then came from a port in the ceiling before projecting an image to the darkened wall, showing multiple screaming inmates being burned alive in a lake of incandescent liquid rock, wreathed in fire until only their skeletons and patches of flesh remained.

"Last night, there was a lava leak in Sector 7." Jared reported before the scene shifted to show several guards walking through a dark cellblock with the flashlight attachments on their guns, "We lost power through Quadrants 5 through 9. That includes the cafeteria, where we suffer significant spoilage." The projection then showed the cafeteria worker in gas masks as they dumped the spoiled contents of the freezer into the garbage bins, "I think it was the Twins."

It showed then the two identical male twins, riding a two seated bike through the Wall's argi-gardens.

"Ah, dos hermanos." The Warden said in Spanish before snapping his fingers again, causing the lights to come back on.

"I think it's time we suspend their privileges, sir." Jared says, knowing that the Twins are causing more and more harm to the Wall and the prisoners. Especially that one time when they unleashed several of the Doctor's experiments on the prisoners and the guards had to massacre each and every one of them before they spread to the rest of the Wall.

"Let me worry about the Twins, Jared." The Warden reassured his accountant, before an alarm sounded off. A screen showed a riot happening in Cellblock 9, causing the Warden to get a smile as he said, "Oh, another riot! JAILBOOOOOT!"

As if on que, a white cubical robot with a screen that had a green smiley face on it, alarm-lights on the sides, a speaker below the screen, and two panels on the sides burst through the walls of his office. This is Jailbot, the executioner of the Wall and the main enforcer of the Warden.

"Jailbot, help the guards quell the riot in Sector 9 please." The Warden commanded his enforcer, who screen then displayed the words "KILL" in red before he burst through the windows of his office. The sounds of screams, slashing, gunfire, and explosions soon echoed through the Wall, while the Warden and his staff looked on with none pulsed reactions.

Suddenly, the body of one inmate splattered on one of the none-shattered windows, missing his limbs and head while his black uniform was covered entirely in blood, coloring it a brilliant shade of red. Suddenly, the blood-soaked uniform gave the Warden an idea as a sinister smile appeared on his face.

"Jared, I want all of the prisoners to have uniforms like that one!" The Warden pointed to the blood-soaked uniform the torso was wearing before it slid off the window and fell to the courtyard, going splat.

XXX

Sometime later...

Jared's Office

Jared was fast at work in his office, writing on a piece of paper with one hand and typing on a calculator that was printing out numbers as fast as he was typing, sweat pouring down his head like a river as he tried to make the order. His office was a simple one; brown painted walls, a picture and rug here and there, a shelve and filing cabinet with a plant, and a desk that had a monitor where Jared was currently working on.

"I'm starting to think the Warden's lost it! Red uniforms in excess of 70,000,000?! How are we gonna pay for that?" Jared practically screamed out as he looked at the numbers, making panicked calculations in his head, "Maybe if I allocate from the expense reports, move this to the bottom line, absorb that-" He then screamed out in frustration, "AAAAHHHH! THE NUMBERS SIMPLY WON'T CRUNCH!"

He banged his head onto his desk to alleviate the stress before he suddenly heard a compartment open in his desk, turning his gaze to the side. It was a green glass bottle that had a face and noodle-like arms that had a shot glass filled with scotch in its hand, grinning at Jared like he was a daemon in disguise. It spoke in a slurred and distorted voice as it took a drink, "Hey, bub. How about a little glass of me to get you through?"

"I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" Jared screamed as he slammed the compartment shut with his foot, hoping that he crushed the thing. Taking a deep breath to calm himself and to keep his old addictions in check, Jared composed himself and said out loud to no one, "We're just going to have to cut all the extracurricular activities! I don't care what the Warden says!"

Unknown to him, the Twins were watching him work, very interested in what the Warden just asked Jared to do.

"Looks like the vegetable garden got their salad tossed." One of them said as they looked at each other in interest.

"The Warden is up to something."

"We better investigate." With that last sentence, the Twins vanished in a flash of green.

XXX

The Wall's Mainframe

In the mainframe and the Twin's hideout deep in the Wall, a large room composed of various machines from various eras of humanity, all woven together in a massive cogitator/STC that operated every system in the city-sized prison and producing all the equipment for the Wall's guards and soldiers. However, when the Twins arrived, they secretly built their hideout in the mainframe, but not enough that any of the staff would notice.

The Twins then flashed in, immediately typing on the massive keyboard with one Twin monotonously announcing, "Hacking into the mainframe."

"Already there." The other Twin replied as the screen then showed a series of red prisoner uniforms, definitely piquing the interest of the Twins, "It appears that the Warden's ordered new uniforms for all the inmates."

"What an ingenious plan." The first Twin said, possibly sardonically due to the monotone voice.

"It could have been." The other Twin replied as they decided to make their own addition to the Warden's order. The Twins adjusted the order to that half of the inmate population in the Wall got the red uniforms and the rest got blue uniforms. "Done." "And done."

XXX

Jared's Office

Jared, now having calmed down and taken his breathing practices, finished cutting the money to the extracurricular activities and was just about to complete the order over his computer.

"Just have to click 'Buy it now', and the order will be complete." Jared said to himself as he clicked to confirm the order. Suddenly, the second he clicked it, images of the red and blue uniforms appeared all over the screen of his computer. When Jared realized what just happened, he put his hands to the side of his head and screamed at the top of his lungs, "NOOOOOOOO!"

XXX

Sometime later...

In the showers of the Wall, where the prisoners were either washing themselves or taking advantage of the opposite or same gender, two gay inmates Jean Baptiste Le Ghei and Paul Guaye were cleaning each other while ignoring the sounds of others getting raped around them. Paul was African American with a scar running down from his left eye, his dark skin covered with tattoos and his thin hair tied in a wolf tail. Jean was a Caucasian with a shaved head and a long scar on the top of his skull, his skin covered in tattoos, and a black mustache akin to Freddie Mercury's.

Suddenly, Big Al came through the doors to the showers. As if on instinct, they immediately stopped whatever they were doing and stood at attention. The head guard's presence was one that demanded respect from the prisoners, regardless of who was in front of him with only the Warden having more authority than him. He then reached behind him, causing the prisoners to tense in fear but that transmuted into confusion when he then pulled out two uniforms, one red and one blue with the Wall's emblem printed on the left sleeve and their prisoner number on the right breast.

"Here are your new uniforms, cocksuckers." Big Al grunted, throwing the two different uniforms to Jean and Paul, who looked bewildered as well as the other inmates when they saw the new uniforms, "Warden's orders."

The prisoners all looked at each other in confusion, but merely could only got along with it as if they didn't, the guards would kill them.

After they donned their new uniforms, Jean and Paul now in their red and blue uniforms respectively were back in their cell, with the former sitting on the bed and the latter sitting on the toilet while reading a newspaper. Something had changed in the last few minutes though as Jean noticed, Paul seemed... angrier than he usually was. Jean just guessed that maybe he was just in a bad mood at being interrupted by Big Al, but it was starting to bug him.

"What the hell has gotten into you for these past few minutes?" Jean said rudely while looking at his partner, who was still on the toilet.

Paul just gave Jean an annoyed look as he said, "Would you remember to put the fucking seat down?"

"Why?" Jean asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Cause I almost fucking fell in, that's why." Paul said as he pulled his pants up and flushed, standing up and flippently throwing the newspaper over his shoulder for it to fall to the floor.

Jean just rolled his eyes and put his hands behind his back apathetically, "Who gives a shit?"

Something snapped inside Paul as he then exclaimed, "Shit, huh?! You know what?! This whole relationship is shit!" He pointed at the surprised Jean before yanking the promise ring he had on his finger off at that last swear word before throwing it to his feet, "Here's your damn promise ring back!"

"FINE!" Jean shouted, hiding the genuinely hurt tone in his voice, "Here's your promise shank back!"

The black prisoner put his arms up to block as the thrown shank, which bounced off the sleeve of his uniform before he uncrossed his arms to beat the crap out of his cellmate, only to pause. Instead of being furious, Jean just had a hurt look on his face as he simply looked down, not saying a word.

Paul, snapping out of his state of anger, suddenly had a regretful expression crossed his face as he sighed and ran a hand down his face, "Look, look, I-I'm sorry. It's just that... With the uniform changes and all the stuff getting delayed because of the blackouts, it's just..." He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes in shame, "I'm tired, all right? I'm tired."

Jean merely exhaled and ran a hand through his shaved head, "It's fine. Just... Let's just calm down and talk to Nickie and Ash. Maybe they got something from the Outlands."

Paul patted him on the back before he looked down at the golden ring that he threw from the floor. Exhaling ruefully, the prisoner picked up the ring and put it back on his finger, showing it to Jean, which got a chuckle out of him and got him to pick up and sheath his shank.

XXX

Outside, to say the other prisoners in different uniforms weren't getting along like Jean and Paul were like saying one need air to breath.

The inmates in red and blue were fighting and killing each other to the point where it didn't matter the race, gender, or sexuality, it was a war in all but name with red against blue. In this all-out war between the reds and blues, whatever could be used as a weapon to bash, stab, and smash the opponents to death were grabbed, the ground of the courtyard ran red with the blood of the fallen as severed limbs and organ started flying everywhere while the war-cries of the prisoners echoed throughout the complex, joining the screams from the rest of the Labyrinth.

Meanwhile, a purple ship resembling a flying saucer with gold decoration and highlights floated above the pseudo-battlefield, holding the Wall's staff as they watched the commotion. The Warden remained calm as he watched the onslaught, Al was apathetic as he was busy lifting weights, Do-S who was doing stretches, Jared was looking at the scene with abject horror as he began to panic.

"What have I done?! What am I gonna do?! I'm gonna lose my job!" Jared wails neurotically before he falls to his knees in despair, clutching the sides of his hair, "It's back to the Waste fields for poor, old Jared!"

However, his tirade was cut off when the Warden turned in his white egg-shaped chair with red seating, appearing to be not at all angry with the current state of affairs at the moment, "Relax, Jared." He replied to his accountant in a laid-back tone with his hands tented.

"Warden, I can assure you; this isn't my fault! It was the Twins!" Jared begged, nearly on his knees from the stress.

"Oh, isn't it wonderful, Albert?" The Warden said cheerfully, ignoring a surprised Jared's hurried pleading, swinging his cane around, "I set the wheels of justice in motion. And to the untrained eye, they are spinning wildly in a state of disarray," He danced around so wildly it was as if he could be twisting and contorting when suddenly he slithered to an uninterested Al, "Yet they are in control. My controlled chaos." He said that last sentence in a calm yet sadistic tone, his eyes narrowed and curled his hands in glee.

Al's only response, as he continued to lift weights, was an apathetic one, "Whatever."

Jared's confusion was palpable as he exclaimed, "You mean you're not angry? But the Twins! They've ruined everything!"

"Ruined?" The Warden laughed Jared's worries off before he explained, "They've completed my plan! Jailbot, take us down, I want to congratulate them!" The robot, who was in the pilot's seat, did his equivalent of a nod as he worked the ship to land in the courtyard.

Amidst the war-like riot, the Twin were in the center of it, on ellipticals of all things and with red, blue, and white sweatbands around their heads as they perhaps decided to get some exercise for once. They retrained their smug visage even when the Warden's personal ship landed in the courtyard while crushing two inmates in the process.

The front of the ship opened to reveal the Warden while a conveyer belt extended from the opening as Jared and his boss descended on a platform. The Warden then started clapping sarcastically as he descended from the ship from the conveyer belt, "Bra-vo, a-bra-vo, hah-bra-vo."

The Twins looked at each other before they smugly looked at the Warden, with the first twin speaking, "Bravo to you." And then the second twin spoke to the Warden in turn, "We love the new uniforms."

The Warden grinned and then raised his cane to the air, "I think you boys need to... step it up, because it's time for the big show."

Suddenly, several panels around the walls of the area opened, revealing several Warp Drives imbedded in the interior of the walls, leaking streaks of Warp lightning that blazed all around the place. The Twins and the inmates all looked at the Drives in both shock and suspicion before the mechanisms began spoiling up and pale baleful light started intensifying.

Jared immediately knew what was happening and practically clung to the Warden in a panic, "Sir! We have to get out of here!"

The Warden merely grinned and did a mocking bow as the platform retracted to his personal ship, "Adios, Twins." The platform and conveyer belt retracted into the ship as its doors closed before it then took off away from the area. A warbling sound began emitting from the Drives, the lights glowing brighter and brighter as the lightning began intensifying.

Many of the inmates got scared of the lightning intensified, trying to dash to the cafeteria doors in a desperate attempt to escape what was coming. However, thick metal gates slammed down on the entrance, liquid and magnetic mechanisms locking into place, effectively sealing them off from the rest of the Wall. Howls of panic echoes as the prisoners began scratching, banging, and punching the doors in a desperate and futile attempt to break the doors before the drives reached critical mass as the light became blinding and the warbling became deafening.

The Twins merely realized what was happening but knew that they were trapped, only able to utter in monotone while panicked expressions overtook their faces as the situation crashed down on them, "ADI-5000." They immediately warped out of there before the worse was to come.

The Drives then unleashed a torrent of warp lightning, spearing through each and every one of the inmates in the area. Each of them keeled over as the outburst of energy receded, the Drive winding down and powering down, leaving the inmates to roil in agony.

Suddenly, one inmate in blue began sweating, vomiting, bleeding, ejaculating, excreting, crying, and wailing, his chest began bubbling and organs pushing against his skin. A series of mouth and eye covered tentacles began forming all over his skin, the bodily fluids expelling from his bodies began combining and transforming into a rubbery black substance that coiled around him like a bodysuit before he began deforming into an inhuman shape.

Horn-like protrusions began forming from the skin of another inmate as he screamed in terror, while a scared female inmate suddenly grew tentacles from her back and crotch. An inmate in blue screamed as dissolved into a pile of eyes and tentacles covered in sickly green slime, while an inmate in red suddenly and painfully grew needles from the pores in his skin. Two female inmates twisted until their bones broke before they weaved into a tree of limbs and mouths, one inmate's head caved into his chest which then bulged before bursting to reveal black spidery legs and slick grey tentacles, and one inmate grew bulbous eyes all around him that popped like rotten cists.

All around the courtyard, similar mutations were appearing on those that were wearing red and the ones in blue twisted and devolved into Chaos Spawn.

It then hit the Twins when they saw the fabric of the uniforms, runes imbedded in the interior. Inmates in blue became Chaos Spawn and inmates in red merely gained mutations.

One female inmate with clawed hands attempted to shiv a fatty male inmate, only for her claws to pass through his gel-like skin, stopping her attack before he grabbed her head and then crushed it with his bare hands before she could react. An inmate with biological chainsaws for arms rampaged through the horde of mutated inmates but he was impaled through the chest by the fist of an inmate with steel for skin, who grabbed him by the arms and then ripped his limbs off and then using them to decapitate the inmate.

An inmate with needles sticking from his pores then launched them at the others, only for a Chaos Spawn that resembled a black heart with mouthed tentacles to grab him and then rip him in half with its tentacles, only for the Spawn to then be incinerated by a female inmate that exhaled a plume of fire from her lungs. One inmate shot spider webs out from sphincter-like orifices on his palms, grabbing a female inmate and pulling her in so he could deflower her, only for a scorpion-like tail to burst from her backside and impale the male in the chest, injecting green ultra-corrosive venom into his system, causing him to dissolve while screaming in agony.

The female inmate attempted to use her tail to impale another inmate, but he gruesomely twisted his body away before grabbing her tail and ripping it out, causing the woman to scream in agony before her head was impaled by a male inmate with pincers for hands. An inmate with needles sticking out of every pore on his skin fired his needles at every other inmate around him, only for another inmate with reptilian scales to drive his fist into the former's mouth and then crush his heart. An inmate with silver serrated tentacles for arms attacked a Chaos Spawn that resembled a fleshy thornbush, cutting it in twain before he himself was impaled in the face and chest by an inmate with blood tentacles.

A Chaos Spawn resembling a black mamba bit into an inmate, only for the inmate's skin to bulge and tear, revealing that he was a thousand spiders weaving themselves into a human shape, who then forcefully entered the Spawn's mouth and ate it out from the inside. More and more Spawn and mutants were dragged down by the opposing side, ripping or burning apart from the sheer force of their strikes.

Eventually, more Spawn were killed then mutants before the steel walls covering the cafeteria lifted, causing hundreds of the frenzied survivors to rush into the cafeteria for either safety or to kill more people. When the frenzied hordes burst into the cafeteria, one of the chefs, Chris Mclean, turned his head to see them running in before he turned to the head chef, a heavily muscular dark-skinned man wearing a pale-yellow dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up under a stained white apron, grey dress pants, black shoes, long rubber gloves, and a small chef's head.

"Hey, Chef." Chris got Hatchet's attention who looked at him while cleaning some dishes, "They forgot to crate up the meat delivery again."

Chef shrugged and said, "Let's get to it." He then rang a triangle that was hanging near him, signaling that they were doing some nightly duty. The rest of the cafeteria workers brought out a cache of guns, chainsaws, and flamethrowers, arming themselves to the teeth and getting out to kill the mutated inmates. While the inmates stopped to catch their breaths, the cafeteria workers burst through the doors of the kitchen, brandishing their weapons at the inmates that couldn't react in time.

"Order up, motherfuckers!" Chris yelled as he and the other workers opened fire on the mutated inmates, with the more psychotic ones jumping straight into the hordes with their chainsaws roaring out for blood. The ones wielding guns and flamethrowers taking on one side while the ones armed with chainsaws took the other side, each inmate either shot to pieces, burnt to sunder, or slashed to ribbons.

Outside, however the situation with the mobs of mutated prisoners was getting quite out of hand as they were attempting to get into the Wall and slaughter more prisoners. Thankfully, the Warden recognized this as he and his staff watched on from his ship.

"Alright, this has been fun, but all good things have to come to an end." The Warden straightened his bowtie and ordered, "Al, Dina, Jailbot, quell this riot while reinforcements come in. Jared, stay here because you don't know how to fight."

The three nodded and headed out while Jared stayed and watched via the bridge alongside the Warden. A panel opened for them to exit the ship while Jailbot allowed Albert and Do-S to ride him as he flew out of the ship and to the courtyard where the frenzied hordes still rampaged. When they got within landing distance, both Al and Dina jump off Jailbot and dove down.

The head guard raised his fists and charged in with a roar, driving his fist into the head of the mutant closest to him, reducing it to chunks before grabbing the heads of two other mutated inmates and crushing them with his bare hands. Many others saw him and grinned at their chance to get revenge, only for him to whip out a Power Maul and started smashing the mutants into paste as he rampaged through the hordes of frenzied monsters. One with steel skin attempted to bash his head in only for Al to use his Power Maul to cave the inmate's chest in before striking the bastard's head clean off his shoulders. Another inmate that resembled more of an insect than a person attempted to use their speed to strike him from behind, only to be smashed to a pulp with a swing of his Maul.

Two more, nearing Spawndom, lashed their tentacles at Al, who ducked and dodged before striking both of them at the same time, reducing them to a bloody pulp. A second later, a female inmate that had the attributes of a mantis attempted to slice Al's head off, but he caught her by the face and squeezed so hard that her skull caved in and popped like a cist filled with blood and brain matter, before then killing another inmate that had attempted to breathe fire onto him, crushing her head with his Power Maul.

Do-S laughed in utter delight at the sight of the carnage before she lashed out her spiked whip at the nearest mutated inmate, cleaving the inmate with horn covered skin in half from the sheer force of her lashes. A mutated inmate with multiple arms attempted to strike at her from behind, but she whirled around and bifurcated him with her whip, before she then lashed it at another inmate with clawed arms, only for him to catch it.

"I got you!" The savage inmate snared, only to pause when Do-S merely gave a sadistic grin. Suddenly, a storm of purple trailed through the whip, the impossibly fast winds and plasma bolts emitting from it reducing the inmate's hands to pulp while the rest his screaming body was charred to a crisp, the steaming husk that was left of him fell to the floor. Do-S laughed in delight as she twirled her whip back to her and whirled it around her arm before charging at them to kill more.

Jailbot's sides opened to reveal several autocannons that immediately opened fire on the hordes of mutated inmates, reducing most of them to slurry as the DU rounds liquefied their flesh with only the ones with altered skin surviving. Those that got close enough to him were impaled by harpoons, spears, chainsaws, blades, and mechanical tendrils, ripping through their enhanced bodies without even a stich of effort from the robot. The hordes could not be stopped in their frenzy, but Jailbot was halting their advance merely on him lonesome while Al and Do-S were striking at the sides of the crowd of maniacs and monsters.

Thankfully, reinforcements came in via the guards who immediately got to Jailbot's side and immediately opened fire with assault rifles and flamethrowers. Those that attempted to fight back were immediately cut down by the hail of gunfire and streams of flame from the guards, blood and smoke quickly engulfing the courtyard while those left attempted to flee but they were cut down all the same.

100,000 of the survivors roared and screamed at the Warden's ship, using their powers to fire on it in a vain attempt to bring it down. The Warden's reaction was one of amusement while Jared looked scared at the screaming hordes below them.

"Oh, so those want me to step in?" The Warden said in mock surprise before he simply said, "Me against 100,000 mutated inmates? Child's play."

The Warden then twirled his cane before he threw it out of his ship, the stick spearing down towards the hordes before it slammed down on the ground, sending a wave of purple through the ground that caused the inmates to stop when they felt the ground shake slightly. Suddenly, massive purple roses burst from the ground before they opened to reveal maws of pincer-like fangs, that then started to devour the inmates around them, few managing to get away only to be impaled on thorn covered vines.

The night rolled on as the flames and screams engulfed the courtyard and the other prisoners watched from their cells in terror.

XXX

3 hours later...

After the riot was wiped out, the bodies of the mutated prisoners were taken to the cafeteria so they could be processed into food for the prison, while the survivors were sent to the Doctor for experimentation. Thankfully, the prisoners who saw the riot were more terrified of the Warden and the staff more than ever and nervously cleaned up the blood that was left from the battle as to not invoke the Warden's wrath.

Meanwhile the Warden was in the cafeteria, eating some chili prepared by the chefs while Jared reported to him about the damages to the Wall.

"Thankfully, the repairs were doable, but most of the bodies have yet to be processed. We are fine for now, but our supplies are dwindling." Jared reported while the Warden ate his chili, "The guards have managed to keep the prisoners in line and thankfully, we're almost done."

The Warden hummed, signaling that he was listening before he then swallowed and asked, "Say, where are the Twins?"

"We haven't seen them since the incident began, sir." Jared reported.

The Warden merely shrugged and at another spoonful of mystery meat that the chefs were serving him, "Again, let me worry about the Twins, Jared. Now, let's get back to work, the Wall isn't going to run itself." The short man with the abnormal head only nodded before they went on to work at the inner workings of the Wall.

---

How The Mighty Fall

The Outlands was home to horrors beyond imagination, where mechanical and biological things that should not exist feed on the weak, decency and humanity dies, and the last event most those trapped in its claws experience is the slow agony of their flesh being torn from bones. Survival was the only instinct, and if throwing away whatever made them human meant survival, then so be it.

However, not just humans inhabited the Land of Eternal Shadows.

It was a group of Astartes, but there was a perplexing quality to them; their armour was white as snow with black jagged and spike covered highlights, but the armor flowed like liquid, their helmets seemed too perfectly formed and the grill seemed to be more like a set of ebony teeth. Their weapons were akin to shadows and light encased in metal, black mist bleeding from the barrels and a pale baleful light seemed to gleaming from their blades.

These were the Ghost Slayers. Once the loyalist chapter known as the Steel Sons, they were a ruthless and pragmatic chapter born from the gene-seed of the Ultramarines, their colors silver and green as they earned a reputation of killing any and all enemies of the Imperium. One day however, their Gellar fields failed after a Warp jump and they were trapped in the Abyss. The chapter was split in twain, with one half deciding to slay as many beasts of the Abyss as they could before they would die upholding the Emperor's name and the other half that turned to the dark things that slept in the Abyss, desperate to survive and live. Those that sold themselves to the dark things did so at an unimaginable price, for the Black Feasters were things of such darkness that they immediately possessed the Traitor Steel Sons, infesting their bodies and their souls with their dark essences, becoming little more than skinsuits for the Black Feasters.

They eventually escaped the Abyss and prowled through the Warp, killing and devouring the essence of whatever things they could find that had souls, be they ghosts or daemons, drawing the attention of the Chaos Gods. Reacting violently, the Chaos unleashed legions of their marines and followers upon the Ghost Slayers, that managed to kill all but twenty of them in a 100-hundred-year war, ending in the deaths of millions of Chaos' mortal followers and several Chaos Lords. The surviving Slayers were taken to the Labyrinth of Ruin by the Black Legion and the Red Corsairs, with Abaddon the Despoiler and Huron Blackheart both deeming them too uncontrollable to be used as soldiers in their war against the Emperor.

Now the Ghost Slayers have been abandoned in the dark depths of the Abyssal Dominion or the Outlands, desperate to regain the power that they had lost long ago in a futile journey of vengeance and lost honors.

This is not their story. The last story in this chapter is some other dark antagonistic forces.

Several of the Ghost Slayers passed by a massive of series of jagged spine-like stones... only for several stones to move out of the way as several Decepticon moved out of the shadows, peeking out from a large space underneath the metallic hills with their weapons out and ready to fire when they saw the ghostly Astartes wander away.

Relaxing a reflex that he become far too accustomed to, Starscream motioned for the rest of his team to emerge from their place of hiding before slowly making their way to a massive stone structure that resembled a castle of claw-shaped stones. When they got to the stone walls of the castle, Starscream then proceeded to perform a series of knocks on a particular section of the wall, one that seemed to echo at his knocks. after a moment of silence, the stone slid open to reveal a metallic hallway in the metal hillsides. The squad entered the corridor as the door sealed behind them, letting them disappear from the horrors lurking in the Outlands.

The light soon revealed their features to each other, much to their displeasure. Starscream's face was marred with welded scars of various lengths and widths, his posture was straighter and without his usual fear, his right arm was horribly warped, resembling it being incased in an organic greyish-silver metal with what appeared to be a serrated chakram grafted onto his wrist. Sky-Byte wasn't in much better shape; his paintjob and frame were marred with gashes that had been welded shut, his optics were replaced by purple ones after his old ones were damaged, and there were chips in his fins. Onslaught and the Combaticons were the worst out of all of them; entire sections of their bodies were replaced with prosthetics that were indistinguishable from the original, save for the color being fainter and the metal slightly thicker, while their weapons and equipment being in a poor state.

Silent as a tomb, the group slowly kept walking through the corridor to the other Decepticons, all of whom were waiting in the command center that they entered through a doorless opening. It was in great disrepair as several of the Vehicons and engineers were attempting to repair the damage done to the Nemesis during their mad escape from the Autobots before they were suddenly displaced into the Warp, some of them secretly hoping that their archenemies were in a similar situation as them.

"How goes the repairs?" The pseudo-leader of the Decepticons asked Thundercracker, who so far seemed the least damaged out of all of them.

"So far, I believe we are around 68%." Thundercracker replied, sighing as he looked over the holo-schematics of the Nemesis, "I don't know how much longer the rest of the Nemesis' repairs will take. The engines are operational, but the navigational systems and the hull are still in need of repairs. Truly, I believe that we may need to remain in the Labyrinth for a few more months."

If there was any anger in Starscream at that state, it immediately petered out from the exhaustion of these last few years, merely only giving a silent nod before slowly walking towards the labs, hoping to at least get some good out of today. Sky-Byte then decided to lighten the mood with all the downtrodden moods going around.

"So, how's the arm, Starscream?" Sky-Byte joked, with the other Decepticons and even the Vechicons laughing before Starscream's chakram to then imbedded itself into the wall beside the Sharkticon's head, causing him to yelp and for the laughter to immediately cease. They all turned to see Starscream's arm extended in Sky-Byte's direction, his expression more of annoyance than anger.

"One more joke at my arm, Sky-Byte, and it will be your last." Starscream's tone was cold as ice before he clenched his fist, the chakram dislodging itself from the wall and reconnected to his arm after which he walked away, leaving the other Decepticons speechless.

Thundercracker sighed in exasperation before asking Onslaught, "Do any of you miss the times when Starscream was a coward?"

"Unbelievably." Onslaught replied in a mutter, with the other Combaticons looking like they missed the times when they could bully Starscream.

Speaking of Starscream, the de-facto leader of the Decepticons walked stoically through a corridor, seeing Shockwave and Knock-Out standing at attention, the former stoic as ever while the latter gave an annoyed look at Starscream who returned it before he continued walking with the two trailing behind.

"How is our project proceeding, Shockwave?" Starscream inquired of the scientist, in a tone that sounded like he was not in the mood for pontificating or techno- babble today.

"The project is proceeding to according to plan, Starscream." Shockwave responded stoically, "By my calculations, I predict that it should be concluded within a week."

"Good, the only problem being that the Nemesis landed in place where we could hide it from the horrors in the Outlands." Knock-Out interjected, "And in an area with so much metal for repairs and organics to experiment on. Hopefully, enough for use to rebuild our forces." That conversion ended with them arriving at the doors of the laboratory that opened and allowed for them to

The room was spacious and wide, the ground covered in a network of hundreds of cables and tubes all leading to a pool in the center of the room, dark energy arced from various points as the screams of the sole occupant of the room. The pool was filled with Dark Energon and in the center was a massive crucifix-like structure were a single figure hung, bound by chains and with nails driven into his palms.

Hanging from the crucifix was Lelouch Vi Britannia.

His chest was craved open to reveal his innards, connected to the pool via thin rubber coated tubes jabbed into his lungs, heart, intestines, and bones, his hair now bleached white and had grown to his shoulders, the Code of Immortality sitting placentally on his neck, and black blood heaving out of his throat that was issuing an unending scream of unending agony. His black sclera contrasting the purple crazed irises as his eyes cried constant streams of blood, gauntlets with vials filled with various concoctions were grafted onto his arms as they dispensed their contents into his bloodstream, his thrashing at the agony tearing deep into his flesh only for the tissue and bones to heal before they could be torn away from his body.

Starscream chuckles darkly before curling his left fingers and asking in a dark mocking tone, "My, my, whatever are you two inflicting on poor Lelouch?"

"Whatever warrants the need for a living petri dish." Knock-Out replies as he readies another injection that he took from a nearby table.

The large syringe was filled a viscous green liquid which Knock-Out then jabbed into a port, the liquid was then dispended from the syringe and flowed into the tube that then flowed into Lelouch's arm, with the latter grunting in pain. The liquid empties into his system while his skinless muscles pull taunt as he heaves, his hair swaying with his thrashing, his throat flooding in a black mist he exhaling that was mixed with his guttural scream of agony.

"His immortality has given us much benefit as his body produces countermeasures against our viruses and serums." Knock-Out explains to an interested Starscream who put his mutated hand to his chin, "We then harvested these countermeasures and added them to our main formula. Of course, this harvesting and infecting has left him being in a state of unending agony from which to he can never escape."

Starscream chuckled at that, nearly grinning when he drank the sight of the agonizing state of the rebel prince, "Your wording makes that seem like it's a problem."

Knowing what he meant, Knock-Out let out a chuckle as well, "Indeed. Especially after the battle for earth."

"Who's Nunally?" Lelouch abruptly asked in a tone similar to a child asking something from their mother before he began laughing and screaming like a madman, a shrill splitting howl erupting from his throat and soul, "Who's Euphemia!? Who's Cornelia?! Who's Kallen?! Who's Cera?! Who's... Who's Lelouch?"

None of them had a reaction to the outburst from Lelouch as Starscream merely rolled his eyes in annoyance before turning to Shockwave, "What gave you the idea to experiment on him again? My memory fails me."

Shockwave decided to humor the Defacto leader of the Decepticons, "When we came to the Labyrinth, we found Vi Brittania somewhere near the Nemesis' landing sight. How he appeared and why he bore a Code of Immortality, I do not know. When the Ravenlord came to us with the proposition, I logically required test subject for my experiments. When none of them could survive the initial experiments, I decided I would use the human that was forced to survive."

"I see." Was all that Starscream said before he said, "Ever since we were banished to the Labyrinth, we've been creating... oh, what did Corax call those infernal things?" The de-facto Decepticon leader trailed off when he forgot the name, hemming and hawing before it came to him, "Ah, Obliterators. Yes. Speaking of which, how goes your latest batch of the Obliterator virus?"

"Slightly uncontrollable but promising." Knock-Out explained to the leader, pulling up several holographic screens for the interested Starscream to view, showing several organic cells with sections of metal seemingly grafted onto them, "We are having better progression with their physical abilities, but they require mental rewriting for them not to turn against us."

Starscream muttered, "And what of their abilities to destroy?"

"We unleashed several of the Obliterators on the inhabitants of the Chasms." Shockwave explained before he dropped the bombshell, "They killed at least 70% of all life in the Chasms before they were forced to retreat from the Hollows." Judging by Starscream's surprised reaction, it was very much up to his standards, perhaps even beyond.

Suddenly, there was a noise and the three turned to see Slipstream rush into the labs, having an incredibly panicked expression on her face, "Knock-Out, Shockwave, Star-!"

"Ahem." Starscream very loudly made a throat clearing sound, glaring at her like she was forgetting something.

The female Decepticon sighed and corrected herself, "Lord Starscream."

"That's better."

"The Ravenlord is calling for you!" Slipstream continued, earning shocked expressions from the three. They immediately rushed out of the labs and raced to the deck of the Nemesis, others moving out of the way so that they could get there as quickly as they could. The Ravenlord never liked being kept waiting, especially when progression in his plans was involved.

They reached the deck, seeing all of the Decepticons there still as statues until their leader came, almost visibly relaxing when he came to the bridge. Starscream didn't glare even if he wanted to as he stood at attention. The image produced by the hologram was little more than a swirling mass of blackness with the features of raven wings forming and unforming at random intervals.

Corax from the timeline where Roboute Guilliman rebelled spoke in a million voices, "Starscream."

His voice was akin to the damnation of billion souls being damned to the depths of the Abyss. The Decepticon leader barely swallowed his fear as he then spoke, "Lord Corax."

"How has your experiments in the Obliterator Virus been progressing?"

"Progress has been slow, but promising." Shockwave interjected as Knock-Out readied an injector filled with a black liquid, "Our current version of the Obliterator Virus has been noticeably stable, but the resulting Obliterators have been difficult to control. I personally suspect it is the human nervous system violently reacting to the conversion of flesh into metal."

Knock Out gave his part in the explanation, "Through Vi Britannia's immortality, we have managed to treat organic cell samples with various viruses and tissue samples from captured Obliterators. Various samples from the Yoma, Shroud Parasites, the Technocyte Virus, and the Forced Evolutionary virus has allowed us to make progress. Any failed virus is then used on Vi Britannia, whose body is able to neutralize the viruses' effects, allowing us to harvest his cells to create a more stable version."

"Good." There was a mite of impressiveness in his voice, before he then growled out to the cybertronians, "It seems your worthless kind are of some use after all. I will have several of my marines deliver test subjects to you within the next few days. After that, I will call you worthless mechical xenos again in the next week. Do not come to me with failure or the consequences will be dire."

The silence was almost deafening as nobody gave a response, though the Ravenlord's insults at their kind left most of them rather sour.

"I truly can't believe it." Sky-Byte says in a deadpan tone before he looks at the equally disgruntled Starscream, "I've found someone I hate more than you, Starscream."

There was still silence from the leader and Sky Byte almost flinched, thinking that that was the straw that broke the camel's back for him.

"No, no, Sky-Byte. That joke was absolutely hilarious." Starscream's tone was dryer than a desert as he sharpens his claws against each other, while glaring at the empty space where Corax's hologram was, "If only I was in the mood to appreciate it." He then put his mutated hand on his face before running it down, not having the energy to be his usual boasting self, "All of you get back to work. I have some tasks that I need to accomplish at the moment."

With that Starscream left the bridge, not even bothering to look at the other Decepticons and going down the corridor to a forbidden room accessible only to him and Soundwave, ending in massive doors composed of ultra-reinforced armored adamantium. A scanner emitted two thin red beams that scanned his optics before a sound of confirmation rang out and the doors parted into several sections and segments that revealed the inner parts of the room.

He walked in, seeing a series of holographic screens on one side of the room and Soundwave, who looked the least damaged out of all the Decepticons, standing by a table while working on several cybertronian parts. In the center of the room, was Megatron. He was laying on an operating table, covering in tears and injuries with several hundred tubes and cords connected to various parts of his body, pumping massive infusions of Dark Energon into his body, the wounds glowing purple as if the dark matter was struggling to heal the terrible injuries inflicted upon him. He seemed to be asleep for lack of a better term, even as Soundwave welded Megatron's several right arm back to it

"How is the leader's health, Soundwave?" Starscream asked the silent Decepticon who was tending to Megatron's needs. Soundwave's screen then showed an image of Megatron with several parts of his body highlighted in red, with 56% on the side in red.

"I thought as much." Starscream sighed as he sat down near the table where Megatron was laying, "What I do not understand is that we are infusing him with massive amounts of Dark Energon, why is he not healing?"

Soundwave was as always silent before he 'spoke' via several audio samples mixed together, "I have a number of theories."

"Give me your favorite." Starscream curtly and sourly replied, resting his head on his hand.

The communications officer of the Decepticons gather the information of his theory before he spoke again through audio samples, "The damage inflicted by the Star Saber have trace amounts of Primus' essence, hence why the dark matter is slow to heal his wounds."

"Joy." The leader rolled his eyes in annoyance before he then inquired, "Is his neural processors at least functional? Is he even awake?"

Soundwave gave a nod before he typed in a command on the nearest holographic screen. Suddenly, Megatron's eyes slowly opened, revealing his optics to be purple orbs instead of optics, groaning as he attempted to sit up, "Where... am I...?"

"Do not move, Lord Megatron, you have not been fully repaired." Starscream tells his leader as Soundwave puts a hand on Megatron's shoulder, forcing him down as his underling continued, "It has been at least 11 months after the battle."

Megatron growled but laid back down on the operating table, "How are our forces?"

"We are at barely at any rate to attack any enemy." Starscream reported with a tired expression, "The Nemesis is in no condition for fight or flight, and we are constantly having to raid hostile lands for supplies and materials to repair both our ship and each other because the CR chamber is undergoing repairs as well. To make matters more dire, Shockwave and Soundwave calculate that we will be forced to remain here for an indeterminant amount of time."

Each word from Starscream caused Megatron's expression to sour increasingly, until it reached a boiling point to where he slammed his fist onto the table with a roar of rage and humiliation, earning a slight flinch from Starscream and nothing from Soundwave.

"I care not let the Decepticons see me like this! I do not care what you have to do; find a way to get me back to fighting condition at all costs!" Megatron utterly roared, his purple optics flaring out with purple warp lightning, a sight that would have brought fear to the other Decepticons but Starscream was almost numbed by such thing in the labyrinth.

Flinching but giving a nod, Starscream curtly replied, "Very well, Lord Megatron."

Before the seeker turned to leave, Megatron then noticed Starscream's mutated arm and a surprised expression came to his face, "Starscream, what happened to your arm?"

The former seeker raised his mutated arm for his leader to see, "It was damaged in a battle. Something stabbed whatever was left of my arm and infected it with the Technocyte virus, though Shockwave stopped the spread to the rest of my body."

Megatron was slightly surprised as he asked, "What is the Technocyte Virus?"

"It is a long story, Lord Megatron, but to simply; it is a virus that converts flesh and apparently cybertronian metal into organic metal." Starscream explained, "The Outlands are a birthing ground for all kinds of biological nightmares and monsters the likes of which no mortal mind can conceive."

Megatron merely growled before he stated, "Very well. I stand by my statement. Find a way to rid me of this damage and return me to fighting condition."

"Very well. It shall be done." Starscream replied as he exited the room.

XXX

Several hours later, Starscream entered a massive area where several cubicle cells were stacked upon each other with vents expelling steam and tubes feeding... something into the cells for nutrients of the occupants. Alongside him was Sky-Byte, who had his weapon out as the other approached the nearest cell before he turned to the Sharkticon.

"Remember, Sky-Byte; this is a routine check." Starscream informed the other decepticon before he slowly started to unlock the cell, "It should be passive unless provoked, so keep your weapon ready but do not raise it. We do not want to provoke one of the Obliterators. Regardless of its reprogramming, it will react if it feels the need to defend itself."

"Gotchya." Sky-Byte replied as he kept his weapon at his side, making it seem like he was grabbing his weapon while it was still in its holster, near enough for him to grab it in case something goes wrong but away enough for him not to provoke the creature. Starscream typed in the command for the cell to open, the inner mechanisms slowly being unlocked before the doors opened, steam pouring out as metallic stomps rang out as the Obliterator slowly emerged from the cell, calmly descending to the floor where it stood level with Starscream.

The creature was giant of flesh and metal, pulled taunt nerves and muscle and mechanisms and weaponry juxtaposed together in a carnival of organic and inorganic parts; the flesh of the head had been converted into a white plastic-like flesh, the eyes a burning red as altered blood flowed through their now plastic-lined veins the mouth replaced by a thick grill that muttered reverberating yet deep breathing, several exhaust ports exhaling hot gases from their boiling hot organs, thick tubes pumping Primus-knowswhat in place of their jugulars, several sections of their bodies replaced by the organic metal of the Technocyte in a facsimile of Astartes power armor, their forearms replaced by the barrels of guns and chainswords, powerful metallic legs supporting the frame and a thick metal spine supporting the upper portions.

Sky-Byte could barely suppress an expression of revulsion at the sight of the Obliterator while Starscream was unfazed, slowly examining the Obliterator with a hand-held device that emitted a blue light that shone down on the flesh and metal of the creature, who merely reacted with only moving its head to the side so that the examination easier. A red light came on with a beeping sound coming from it, causing the seeker to make a grunt, "It's stable."

The Sharkticon merely asked, "What does that mean?"

"That means it's not going to dissolve into a pool of blood and parts." Starscream deadpanned before he asked to his subordinate without even looking at him, "Do you know how the Obliterators came into being, Sky-Byte?"

The Sharkticon only gave a shake of his head as his answer, staring at the abomination.

"They were humans once." Starscream began as he started to circle the new Obliterator, who gave a curious look back, "Taken by the Dark Powers, trapped in the Outlands, tortured and mutilated, before they were taken here and infected by the Obliterator Virus, turning their weak organic forms into one of flesh and steel." The seeker than gave a disgusted look at the Obliterator, "Disgusting things these creatures."

"For once I agree with you." Sky-Byte replied as he looked on at the Obliterator in disgust before Starscream stopped at the creature's side, glaring at it in disgust but swallowed it and spoke.

"Creature, whose master do you serve?"

"MeGaTrOn." Came the Obliterator's reply in a deep and reverberating tone, sounding like someone speaking through a fan.

"Good. Very good. Could you please look into this?" Starscream requested as he brought the device to the creature's eyes that it turned its sight to, a red light scanning its eyes before a beeping sound rang out as a green light blinked rapidly, "Good, your optic nerves are functional."

The Obliterator gave its equivalent of a nod before Sky-Byte abruptly asked in a disturbed tone, "Lord Starscream, may I ask how the Obliterators are created. Excuse my tone, but I am both disgusted yet curious about these creatures."

"It's a barbaric process the creation of the Obliterator." Starscream explained to the disturbed Sky-Byte, "First, the subject is taken from the feral cannibals and then injected with the Obliterator Virus. The mind shattering agony of the transformation will cause neural overload that will render the infected a blank slate, ready to be reprogrammed. The reprogramming is then administered almost immediately as the blank slates tend to be incredibly feral. When these creatures have reached a stable state, they are considered viable for use as either soldiers or engineers."

"Dear Primus, that seems unnecessarily brutal." Sky-Byte commented, looking rather disturbed at thinking about what kind of agony those human endured during the transformation into the Obliterators.

"Blame human biology, Sky-Byte." An apathetic Starscream replied, uncaring for the blights of humanity.

Sky-Byte didn't give that a response as he looked over the Obliterator, who had remained still as a statue throughout the entire conversation, "So... It's really a blank slate?"

"Yes. Everything about its former human life has been wiped away." The Decepticon leader replied as he looked at the Obliterator's vacent eyes, almost feeling a sliver of pity for the creature and its loss of identity, "You can't even remember your name, can you?" Starscream's tone was one that seemed genuinely sympathetic to the creature's blight, putting his hand on its shoulder as if in pity.

The Obliterator looked down in a thought before it looked back up and shook its head. It did not even remember its name before its transformation.

Starscream merely guided the creature back to its cell as Sky-Byte make a sound of pity before the cell closed, sealing the creature inside while the two Decepticon slowly walked out of the massive room.

XXX

Soundwave slowly connected several tubes to Megatron's arm, refueling his energon reserves as several Obliterators repaired his body with shards of Technocyte metal, the silent Communications officer figuring that if the damaged cannot be healed than it can be replaced. The leader of the Decepticons seemed more docile then normal, not even reacting as they welded the organic metal into his frame so that it could be assimilated into his body.

Megatron seemed to be in a trance, thinking about the day that sent them all to this horrible place in the Labyrinth.

The Damocles was filled with the followers of Optimus Prime and Megatron, struggling to take the station before it could fire into the Earth. Each side raging at each other in a blinding tide of rage and vengeance, lives on each sides losing as much as they were gaining. Megatron bellowed as he swung the Dark Star Saber, the purple waves of Dark Energon killing several dozens of Knightmare Frames in an instant, tearing through the forces of the Black Knights as he rampaged through the Damocles before he saw the one who inspired these rebellions as the one before him.

"Megatron..." Optimus Prime growled as he raised the Star Saber.

"PRIME..." Megatron seethed as he readied the Dark Star Saber.

The leaders of the opposing faction roared at each other in a blaze of fury before they charged at each other, the collision from the Star Sabers blazing through the domain, scorching through the area that they were in. Megatron broke the struggle and swung the Dark Saber down, Optimus blocked and kicked his nemesis in the chest, sending Megatron back before he blocked a cleave from the Star Saber and responded with a left hook across Prime's face. Optimus stumbled back but Megatron didn't give him the chance to recover as he swung the Dark Saber with a primal bellow, the former barely having a chance to react as he moved out of the way before striking the latter in the shoulder with his sword, but Megatron barely seemed fazed by as he twisted out of the way and attempted a decapitating strike that Optimus barely ducked under before he slashed the Decepticon leader across the chest.

Megatron bellowed out in agony before his swings devolved into a typhon of dark Energon waves, blazing through the area and killing whatever Autobot and Decepticon was in the vicinity except for Optimus, who used the Star Saber to block the tsunamis before Megatron appeared before him and the two waves of light and dark Energon waves rupturing and tearing the area they were standing on, shaking it to where the fighting throughout the station paused as the others tried to grab whatever they could hold onto as if felt like the ship was falling.

"I WILL REDUCE YOU TO ATOMS, PRIME!" Megatron bellowed out as he tried to overpower his nemesis.

"You will try." Optimus Prime retorted as he endured the onslaught of power of the Dark Star Saber. After a tense moment, the clash was broken in a blast of light and dark that sent both of them skidding back before they continued their final fight.

The strikes from their Sabers seemed more like Primus and Unicron themselves clashing for the fate of the universe, blazing and reverberating throughout the local fabric of reality in a maddening dance of light and dark. Megatron bellowed as Optimus overpowered him and in one fell swing, disarmed him of the Dark Star Saber that was flung out of his reach before he was impaled by the Star Saber faster than he could react.

Megatron let out a piercing screech of agony as Optimus' charge resulted in him being pinned to the wall, the Star Saber bleeding him of precious Energon as he grasped it in an attempt to take it for himself only for Prime to ram it deeper into his chest, resulting in a roar of agony from the Decepticon.

Knowing Megatron was, Optimus slowly retracted the Star Before he could strike Megatron down, a voice rang out.

"One more swing," Shaken out of his rage, Optimus turned to see a sight that shocked both him and Megatron. It was Starscream, who looked quite battered by the battle in the Damocles, pointing a stolen gun from a Knightmare frame at the equally battered Shinkiro, whose cockpit was exposed, revealing Lelouch Vi Britannia whose Zero mask had been shattered, "And the Black Knights lose their precious leader."

Optimus glared at Starscream as he pointed the Star Saber at the Seeker, "Release him or I will kill you next!"

"Do not test my patience, Prime!" Starscream roared, pressing the barrel to where it was aimed directly at Lelouch's head, who tried to maintain his composure but the shaking eyes and beads of sweat falling from his forehead told a different story, "I will kill him!"

Looking back and forth between the one he called friend and the one holding him hostage, Lelouch closed his eyes and nodded to Optimus, knowing what must be done to defeat the Decepticons for good. Masking his regret, Optimus subtly nodded before he declared, "Very well; kill him."

Instead of being shocked or surprised at that declaration like Megatron, Starscream merely seemed amused by this claim, "Come now, Prime. I know you. You wouldn't do that; your philosophy as a Prime wouldn't allow that, nothing that you stand for would allow that. Do not test me with thinking that you will violate the tenants that you stand by. Now;" To emphasize his claim, he cocked the hammer of the gun pointed to the exposed cockpit, "Drop the Star Saber."

Realizing that Starscream would not be fooled and that he was going to kill Lelouch if he didn't comply, Optimus tried to think of a way to disarm the seeker before he could fire at Lelouch ...not seeing Megatron rise from the ground with his arm cannon formed on his right arm and aimed it directly at his nemesis.

Time seemed to slow as Lelouch saw Megatron rise, getting Optimus' attention at seeing his friend's eyes widen, turning to face his nemesis but it was too late. A roar issued from Megatron fired and the blast hit Optimus as he turned, piercing through his frame and blasting through the other side, leaving a gaping hole in the left side of his chest as he staggered back.

"NOOOOOO!" Lelouch's scream echoed from both his mouth and through the speakers of his as he tried to force the Shinkiro to move but Starscream kept him back with all his strength, constricting the Knightmare's armaments so that he could not assist.

Using whatever was left of his strength to stand, Megatron bellowed out in primal fury as he kept firing his arm cannon, "FALL! FALL!" Each Dark Energon blast tore through the Autobot leader's frame, first taking his T-Cog, then his right optic, and then his left arm, each spewing out energon as he struggled to still stand even as the tears in his frame opened further.

In a blaze of desperation and rage, Lelouch managed to free his frame's right arm and ram its elbow into Starscream's face, freeing him from the seeker's grip and charging towards Megatron and Optimus... only to fall as Starscream regained his bearings and fired at the Shinkiro, downing Zero and his Knightmare.

The tears and gaping holes in his frame were substantial, Energon pouring out of his wounds as Optimus managed to keep standing despite the gaping tears in frame before he let out a mighty roar and swung the Star Saber, cleaving through Megatron whom barely had a chance to react. The slash tore open Megatron's chest, spewing out regular and dark energon as most of his internal cyber organs were reduced to scrap, including his right arm and the left side of his face, nearly cleaving him in halve as he bellowed in agony before falling to the ground. Optimus fell just seconds after.

"LORD MEGATRON!" A voice that wasn't Starscream's boomed out before Soundwave crashed through the walls in a mad dash towards his leader, helping the fallen leader to his feet before Starscream decided to fold em and helped Soundwave with this task.

"Starscream..." Megatron growled as he forced himself to live despite the grievous damage to his body, "Engage... the final... solution."

"Yes, Lord Megatron!" Starscream obeyed before he turned to the Communications officer as they assisted their leader to the Nemesis, "Soundwave! Initiate Jormungandr!"

"INITIATING JORMUNGANDR." came on Soundwave's screen before a message rang out from the intercoms, "ALL UNITS: RETREAT TO THE NEMESIS. PROTOCOL JORMUNGANDR HAS BEEN INITIATED."

Something changed when those words were announced, the sounds of fighting intensified to where neither Starscream nor Soundwave could tell whether either side was attacking or retreating to their ship. A vanguard of vechicons came to their side, guarding them as they escaped to the Nemesis and being joined by several other Decepticons that fled to the Nemesis in a mad dash to get out of the Damocles before Protocol Jormungandr began.

Once all remaining Decepticons were on the Nemesis, the ship's engines roared to life as it ascended through an opening in the highest parts of the Damocles. The Nemesis speared through the stratosphere from the Damocles, all of whose entrances and exits quickly sealed, trapping whatever unfortunate victim was left on the station to Protocol Jormungandr. Suddenly, the insides of the station alit like a star with the energy of the FEIJAs, hidden jets on the top of the station ignited sending the Damocles to the earth as the pink light intensified to blinding levels.

As the Nemesis escaped to the moon, an explosion rang out even when they escaped the planet. Earth was bathed in pink light before a wave of fuchsia energy slowly washed over the planet's surface, wiping away all life across the planet Earth. The Nemesis was shaken by the shockwave of the blast when... something happened, a blast of blinding white light engulfed the ship before they found themselves in the world of nightmares.

Megatron's reattached right arm curled into a fist as he remembered that day, it was both humiliating and infuriating. Their grand fight, one that had been building for millennia... and he lost. It was supposed to be his victory, his moment of triumph, his grand moment to begin his rule as king of the universe... and he lost. It was inconceivable to him, like some cosmic joke.

The Decepticon leader laid back down as Soundwave and Shockwave slowly finished with integrating the replacement metal into his body, feeling as though he was capable of lifting a mountain yet barely able to stand even as Shockwave gave an injection of Dark Energon as to help with the integration. Starscream was watching the operation, sitting by with a hand to his chin with a bored stare.

Soundwave and Shockwave finished their work as he sat up and asked his second in command, "Starscream... what is our statis now?"

"The deal with the Ravenlord has given us something of a purpose, but it is doubtful that the Autobots survived Jormungandr." Starscream replied, looking as though he was broken on the weight of the world.

"Is Optimus still alive?"

"Again, my lord; I do not know, but it is unlikely."

Megatron growled but barely had the strength to even act on his rage, "Do you know, Starscream? I believed that I would be elated at Optimus' death, after so long of conflict and struggles against the planet that we called home. Yet with his death and with Lelouch's torment... I feel nothing."

"I can believe you, my lord." Starscream bluntly replied, looking almost as hollow as his leader, "For so many years, I wished to be the leader of the Decepticons. To prove that I am superior in the ways that others did not see. Yet when I did become leader... I am more dissatisfied as ever."

The two sat in silence as Shockwave and Soundwave worked on the replacement T-Cog for their leader, before Megatron merely growled, "Regardless, the moment the Nemesis is repaired, we will leave this wretched place before returning to Earth. When we return, we will harvest whatever Energon is left on the planet and then we will plan out our next course of action from there while searching for the remaining Autobots."

"Very well. They likely fled the Damocles via Groundbridges." Starscream replied morosely, before an idea came to him as he then asked, "What about Cybertron? Do you believe they fled to there?"

"It could be a possibility." Megatron mused, "Regardless, we will return to Earth and search for the Autobots and the Black Knights. If they are not there, then we will go to Cybertron and search. If they are not there, then we will settle back on Cybertron."

Starscream nodded before he seemed to gaze off for a moment, shaking it off and saying, "And then?"

"Then... I will reflect on all these years of conflict." Megatron muttered as he and Starscream started thinking of what will come as the world seemed to fade away.

---

Few! And that's a wrap!

I'll be honest, the idea of the Labyrinth was inspired by the Hell of Darkness: Serpent from This Bites! by Cross-Brain, Patient, and Xomiac before I eventually changed that part to the Outlands with various parts containing their own dangers and hellish parts. The Dark Chasms were an original creation of mine along with the Hollows.

I was originally going to call them the Drowned but I figured that was a better name for the lesser daemons of Stromfels.

The Wall is basically a fusion of Impel Down and Superjail with Do-S from OPM replacing Sadi and with the cast of Superjail running it.

200 floors of Hell was a fusion of the Raid: Redemption and Dredd. For those that are wondering, yes, that is the same Officer Rama from chapter 10. Don't ask how he got trapped in the Labyrinth. Lee's spider form and half spider form is an organic version of Blackarachnid from Transformers Animated.

The last story was a tribute to Code Prime from Iron117Prime, one of my favorite stories as of late. For those that have read it, consider it a Bad-End of sorts, only that neither side has necessarily won. It's left ambiguous as to whether the Autobots survived, and even if the Decepticons won, it was definitely a pyrrhic victory; Megatron and the Nemesis are barely in any shape to lead and fly respectively, they can barely have any resources or energon to spare, they have been forced to create Obliterators as a means of trade and reinforcements, and their future is left in the air as to what's going to happen next.

Are we ever gonna come back to the Labyrinth? ...Maybe around season four, not sure.

Anyway, get ready for Chapter 14 because it's gonna be a doozy!

Feel free to make a reaction fic or a TV Tropes page!

But in case nobody knows: on April 12th, Gilbert Gottfried died of Myotonic Dystrophy, leaving behind many friends, family, and fans heartbroken at his passing. RIP Gilbert; gone but never forgotten.