AN: Story's Shadow and I are back for the longest chapter thus far for Foxes Of War. Prepare for the meeting of both sides...
-Secret Warriors' Base, Almost An Hour Later-
The whole team stood around with Vixen and Vulpine. Daisy stood with them, arms crossed.
"So we're agreed then?"
The others nodded.
"Ok, let's bring her home."
Chavez grinned widely, punching her fist into her other hand.
"And make these jerks pay."
Vulpine grinned at this, though no one noticed.
-Sewer System, Several Minutes Later-
Iron Heart had a holographic image above her armored wrist that disappeared.
"The center is bringing in everyone, they're following instructions to do it quickly while not trying to draw too much attention."
Quake nodded.
"Let's move."
The group hurried to below the building their friend's in. Iron Heart looked up.
"Switching to infrared now."
Her optics changed to suit the desired visual settings. She saw a familiar figure on the second floor. Riri sighed.
"Our bushy tailed girl is on the second floor. I didn't see any of the kidnappers on the floor or the one below."
Quake nodded.
"Ok, we do this quick and quiet. The sooner we get her out, the sooner we take down her kidnappers."
The others nodded.
After a few minutes, the group made their way out of the sewers and into the building. Iron Heart led the way, her infrared giving them a wider visual scope. They started to make their way to the stairs. Vixen felt this strange feeling, scratching at her mind. She saw Vulpine's ears were twitching.
"What's wrong?"
Her voice was a whisper, but Vulpine heard it as plain as one when they weren't whispering.
"Something's-"
He couldn't finish what he was saying.
"Get down!"
Ghost-Spider's warning was too late.
A small cabinet flew forward, slamming into Iron heart. She cried out as she fell back and knocked into some of the group. Inferno, Patriot, Ms Marvel, and Chavez grumbled and cursed as their friend landed on top of them. Quake, Vixen, Ghost-Spider, and Vulpine all leapt out of the way. All but Vulpine helped the others up, his eyes darting around. Ghost-Spider put one hand on Iron heart's shoulder.
"You ok?"
"Yeah, gonna take a lot more than some wood to hurt me or get through my armor."
Ghost-Spider nodded.
"Vulpine, always in the company of others."
The voice made everyone look around, though none asked Vulpine what it meant. Ms. Marvel's hands grew in size while Inferno's hands danced with fire. The former spoke.
"Let our friend go and we'll go easy on you."
A lamp flew forward, Ms. Marvel managing to literally stretch around it.
"Really Vulpine? I expected more."
Vulpine sneered.
Suddenly Inferno flew into a wall, screaming.
Ms. Marvel turned, eyes wide.
"Inferno!"
Inferno grunted as he tried climbing out, but the inner pieces of steel that kept the building standing wrapped around his body as he gasped and shouted. Ms. Marvel looked around, frowning.
"Where are you, coward?!"
A piece of the board of the railing on the far side of the stairs was ripped off and flew at her. She grunted as she twisted around it.
"You're so blind, you can't see beyond yourselves."
Quake frowned.
"This is your last warning: release our friend or you'll live to regret this!"
The chairs in the room on the ground floor rose and up, beginning to swirl around in the air. The group watched as they moved faster and faster before they flew at them. Quake threw her hands forward. The shockwaves shredded the chairs instantly.
"Fine! Go!"
The group rushed around, trying to go up the stairs. Their passage was blocked by the stairs themselves rose up and pushed back against them. Ghost-Spider grunted as leapt to the ceiling of the first floor and crawled around the stairs. But she was met by chunks of the wall flying forward. She gasped as she evaded a few of the pieces, but then the railing ripped off the stairs and slammed into her.
Patriot grunted as he blocked dishes left in the sink of the kitchen. They flew forward one at a time yet in quick succession.
"Does anyone have eyes on this guy?!"
Chavez slammed her fists into the chunks of walls that flew at her, crushing them. Her eyes looked around.
"He's hiding! I don't see him."
Ms. Marvel threw one gigantic hand forward as the rocks from the fireplace flew out from where they'd been embedded, preventing them from hitting Vixen.
"This doesn't exactly tickle! Vixen! Can you, uh, smell him?"
Vixen stuttered slightly, sniffing the air.
"I still haven't done this much. Dad didn't really train me to do it."
Vulpine's ears twitched and he sniffed the air.
The fox grinned as he lunged forward, kicking out with one foot at a dark corner up where the stairs had been leading to. A figure leapt out from the shadows, flipping over Vulpine.
"Always knowing where to strike."
The others didn't focus on what the entity said, rather instead they were focused on his appearance.
Vixen's eyes went a little wide.
"A-Are you-?"
Jacob's gaze turned from her to the others then back to Vixen.
"I-"
Quake leapt forward.
"-am going down!"
Jacob's eyes narrowed and raised one hand. Quake gasped as she was held in the air.
"Get him!"
The Secret Warriors rushed forward. Jacob slapped both hands together. The chunks of the walls that had been thrown by him flew to right in front of him, all pushed together. This blocked the attacks the others threw at him. Quake grunted as she fell to the ground. She fired shockwaves at Jacob who threw both hands forward.
"Ms. Marvel! Chavez! Free Inferno! The rest get him!"
Ghost-Spider and Patriot rushed towards Jacob as Ms. Marvel and Chavez rushed to Inferno. Jacob threw one hand towards Ghost-Spider and Patriot, throwing them back and onto the floor. Vixen tried to move forward, but something held her back. Vulpine rushed over to her.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Jacob threw a kick in Vulpine's direction. The fox tripped over an indivisible force, but he landed on his hands then pushed himself to his feet. Ghost-Spider tossed Patriot forward, who slammed his shield into Jacob and sent them both flying into the wall behind him. Quake grunted as she rushed over to help Patriot, Ghost Spider right behind her.
Vulpine put a hand on Vixen's shoulder as he whispered in her ear.
"We can get answers from him soon, but right now we have to get your friend out. Help them distract him and I'll sneak around to free her."
"Ok, be careful."
Vulpine grinned as she slunk away.
Jacob grunted he pushed Patriot off him. As got to his feet he blocked the jab from Quake and ducked under the haymaker Ghost-Spider threw. He twisted around, throwing one hand out and threw both young women back. Vixen grunted as she leapt forward, throwing a wild punch. But Jacob threw one hand forward, holding her in the air.
"Who are you?!"
Vixen's eyes widened.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Jacob opened his mouth to answer, but then looked around. Vulpine was gone.
"Always waiting for the right moment."
Vixen's eyebrows furrowed.
"What?"
Jacob turned back to her, his eyes scanned her. His frown slowly disappeared. He lowered his hand and she lowered to the ground. The Secret Warriors rushed forward, but Jacob threw out both hands. They all flew to either side, pinned to the walls. Jacob grunted, his hands slightly shaking. Vixen shook her head, eyes wide.
"W-Why are you doing this?"
Jacob turned to her, eyes softening.
"You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"By the Gods...no"
"What's wrong? What's happening?!"
Jacob gave a sad smile while Vixen's mouth trembled. The former turned to the ones he held against the walls. He grunted. Vixen held a hand up to him, but didn't move her feet.
"Who are you? What's going on?"
Jacob shook his head.
"More than you could imagine."
Vulpine looked back down the way he came, only hearing the sounds of fighting and talking. He snuck through the second floor, ears erect, moving slowly. His ears twitched, hearing the sounds of grunting and mumbling. His gaze turned, seeing the closed door to a room where the sounds originated from.
He entered into the upstairs room that currently held Doreen.
"Doreen? Are you ok?"
All he heard was a small pain filled grunt as he noticed Doreen was sitting against a wall, her face covered in both blood and dirt as she seemed barely able to keep her eyes open.
"Doreen can you hear me?"
His tone was urgent yet genuine caring tone as he quickly made his way over to her and took a knee in front of her. Doreen opened her eyes and her eyes quickly focused on Vulpine. Her breaths were shallow, gasping for air.
"Vulpine?"
Her whisper was low yet pain was thick within it.
"It's me Doreen, the whole team is here. We're going to get you out."
The sounds of battle were steadily getting louder on the floor below them. Doreen coughed, trembling. Her eyes closed when she spoke again.
"What the hell did they do to you?"
Vulpine's tone was gentle, his voice soft. He cut her free and helped Doreen to her feet and slung her arm over his shoulders.
"To much."
Doreen began as she lost her balance and fell back to the dirt covered floor. She groaned, wincing.
"I don't know even know how long I've been here, it feels like it's been years."
"Don't talk, save your energy."
Vulpine said as he again helped her to her feet.
"We'll have you out soon, just-"
"I barely recognized you–"
"It's ok Doreen, you'll be treated as soon as we get you to safety."
Vulpine had just slung her arm over his shoulder again when Doreen let out a small barely audible laugh.
"Those 15 years were certainly kinder to you, weren't they?"
Doreen's whisper started to turn into a laugh. Vulpine turned to her, eyebrows furrowed.
"What?"
Vulpine's eyes when wide as he froze for roughly two seconds. Those seconds allowed Doreen to suddenly twist and throw Vulpine over her shoulder and into the wall that she had been sitting against.
"You still might not look a day older than you were then, but you've seemingly gotten sloppy over those years."
Doreen mocked as she stood over Vulpine, but her voice wasn't her voice. Vulpine's eyes widened more, jaw nearly dropping.
"N-No...h-how?"
Doreen's smirk turned into a frown and a deep growl rumbled in her throat, but it wasn't the growl of a human.
"Metatron!"
Doreen's response was to have her whole body seemingly shimmer and change features, and after a few seconds her body had taken the form of a man that Vulpine hadn't seen since he and Wraith damned him to an eternity. Vulpine grunted as he got onto his foot, taking a fighting stance. Meta took his own stance.
"I'd hoped you hadn't forgotten me. I sure as hell haven't forgotten you Vulpine."
"H-How did you?"
"The magic of our people is powerful and versatile, you've forgotten that."
"B-But the stories-?"
"The wolf bloodline are among those...were...still more connected to the magic of our past. We'd hope to rekindle it within everyone else, to bring balance between the past and present. It's too late for that now. After serving Imperious for 15 years, I'm surprised you don't remember."
"Like you, I was trapped for all that time."
Meta glowered at his old foe.
"How?"
"That bastard Wraith, used his sword to capture my soul. Now, I'm finally free. Ever since he died, I'm back to serve my master."
"You served him and look what it got you: in a cage. I hope it was worth it."
"Worth it? I serve him loyally. Yet you...you continue to defy him. Why? He could bring our people back. He could have perfected our society."
"Don't!"
Meta pointed a damning finger at Vulpine.
"Our people would not have served him. Trading one empire, the one of our own...yes, it was flawed...but it was ours...but his? His empire was one of destruction...agony...We wouldn't have been free!"
Vulpine's ears moved around, trying to detect if any of the Secret Warriors or Vixen were making their way up here or were listening. All he heard was the battle below. Meta growled.
"You betrayed not only our society but your own bloodline! You are a disgrace to the Foxes, Vulpine!"
"And what are you? An old Wolf who can't go with change, you were and are faced with an unstoppable force yet you don't have the wisdom or even intelligence to side with it."
"I did fail our people, I wasn't able to help stop you or your master...but this change wasn't of growth or wisdom...it was genocide!"
Vulpine scoffed.
"It was a war, people die."
"Soldiers dying on a battlefield is one matter...what he did...what you helped him do was slaughter!"
Vulpine's smile disappeared, flinching. Meta's yes narrowed, his snarl fading.
"Something seems different about you. I can't exactly place it...perhaps being in the hellish void for so many years...maybe I've lost connection with what I once knew..."
"Yes...what I feel now...is different...I don't know...I feel strange."
One of Meta' eyebrows raised up.
"I find that hard to believe, knowing how you sold our people to Imperious."
Vulpine frowned.
"I don't regret serving Imperious. I would still serve the Dragon Emperor if I had to do it all over again. Still, what Wraith did to me has given me some understanding of what happened to you...but Imperious did not trap me...what he offers is enlightenment. Like I did and still do now, you and the others will see the light. So for it's what worth, Metatron...don't make me kill you...I don't want to be responsible for the Wolf bloodline to die..."
Meta's ears perked up and shifted forward. His lips peeled back, fangs bared. Vulpine's ears shifted back and down, but he didn't move out of his stance. The Wolf snarled and the Fox could only listen.
"Light doesn't always mean peace, Vulpine. You forget what one of our people's lessons in both combat and philosophy: light doesn't always point the way or bring wisdom or understanding. Light can be blinding, it can rob you of your sight in both the literal and spiritual sense. The disgrace of a Dragon has used the light to blind you to what's happening around you and you are still blind."
Vulpine kept eyeing his old enemy as he knew where this conversation was rapidly headed. Meta with unbelievable speed suddenly lunged at the treacherous fox, to which Vulpine barely managed to twist his body out of the way as he spun into another combat stance as Meta landed and took up his own once again.
Vulpine knew he had to quickly go on the attack or else Meta would overwhelmingly gain the upper hand very quickly. He sprung forward and began throwing different combinations of punches and jabs at Meta's face. Meta blocked every punch and jab. But Vulpine feinted a jab to the right then quickly threw a hook to the left. Meta quickly blocked the attack, quickly reacting to the trick. He growled as he threw a open palm strike, but Vulpine slipped under the attack then launched an uppercut that connected with the wolfs jaw and sent Meta staggering backwards a few feet.
"You haven't lost your speed."
"You've forgotten that the foxes were trained just as good as the wolves."
Vulpine rushed at Meta again and once again started throwing similar punch and jab combinations once again. Meta quickly blocked each attack then grappled with Vulpine, moving behind back and holding one of his arms back in a lock.
"I haven't forgotten. You just no longer deserve to be called a Fox."
Vulpine kicked out with one foot, striking against Meta's leg. The Wolf grunted as he held his ground ground despite the pain. But Vulpine threw back his free elbow, striking Meta's face more than once. Meta's grip on his foe was gone. Then Vulpine delivered a powerful kick to Meta's chest, which sent him back into a shaded corner of the room.
"Anymore clever insults?"
Vulpine quickly advanced towards the injured wolf, a smirk on his face.
"But you never learned one lesson the Foxes did."
Meta rose to his feet and folded his arms across his chest.
Vulpine paused for a moment as he couldn't believe that Meta seemingly wasn't trying to defend himself given the posture he had just taken. But that surprise didn't last for long as Vulpine lunged forward before jumping and beginning a powerful dive-kick.
"That skill being–"
Vulpine was within inches of striking Meta's face, when a figure flung out of the shadows and delivered their own powerful dive-kick to Vulpine's face, not only ruining Vulpine's intended attack, but also sending him flying backwards across the room and colliding rather painfully into the stone wall that was near the door.
"Knowing it's good to have help."
A familiar female voice hissed at Vulpine as he clumsily got back to his feet and turned to face Meta and his new enemy, eyes wide.
"With Jacob and Metatron being here, I should've known."
Vulpine smirk was half-hearted in the hateful faces of both Metatron and Cassie.
"Your not the only one who's seemingly impossible to kill!"
She took up her own combat stance next to Meta. Vulpine instantly retook his preferred fighting stance, which prioritized as many quick attacks as possible.
"Wouldn't have recognized you Cassie, if it weren't for your lilac hair. Really couldn't change your hair color in over 15 years?"
Cassie's responded by letting out her own taunting laugh. She let her foe see every fang she had.
"I like my hair being lilac, always have. But there is one color I really, and I really want to see right at this moment. And there is sadly only one way I can see this color. Do you know what color I'm referring to Vulpine?"
Vulpine's response was to try and lunged forward, but Cassie surprised Vulpine by striking first and swiftly as she slashed Vulpine's face. The cut was so clean that it took a whole three seconds before a red line became visible on Vulpine's left cheek and began oozing blood. Vulpine grunted, bringing one hand to the cuts then pulled his hand back. He saw his only blood drip down and off his fingers.
"Blood red?"
Vulpine's response was so unexpected, which even surprised himself.
Cassie and Meta quickly lunged forward.
"You are really starting to piss me off!"
Chavez spat at her opponent as she threw a powerful right hook at Jacob, to which the hedgehog countered by grabbing her wrist, and using her own momentum to fling her across the room and into a steel support beam.
"Apologies about all of this then."
Jacob surveyed the immediate surrounding area. He had beaten the purple haired woman with seismic energy control, the shield wielding man dressed in red, white and blue and now this girl with a large white star on her chest.
Vixen and the four remaining Secret Warriors all visibly showed the strain from this current battle. Riri's armor had lost thrust capability and was noticeably sparking from several areas. The mask covering Gwen's face had been completely ripped off from the nose and below. Showing a scowl that wouldn't have been visible otherwise. Which was equaled only be the murderous glare of her blue right eye, since her right lenses had also come apart.
Vixen had tried to fight him, but something had been holding her back. Something was telling her there was something wrong, but this feeling had often been taught she should ignore or push aside. Regardless, she wasn't sure what to do.
Ghost-Spider grunted as she lunged forward, pulling back one hand to throw a haymaker. But Jacob used one hand to cease her momentum then pushed back with that hand, throwing her back and sending her skidding across the ground, before she was able to mange a roll that put her back on her feet.
Vixen grumbled, she couldn't watch this any longer. She grunted as she raced forward, but Jacob held out his hand again. He looked her over.
"...So much you don't know...that you could've learned..."
"What? Attacking my friends?"
Jacob sighed, shaking his head. He moved his hand forward and she flew back, skidding across the ground.
Dante was trying to mentally block out the pain he had endured upon being thrown into a support beam. Yet despite this it was visible this, that attack combined with this ensuing battle had taken a very large physical toll, and even he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep fighting.
Kamala was in the same boat. She had managed to avoid almost every attack thrown at her, as well as landing a few minor jabs, but her body ached due to how much strain her powers had put on her body during this particular battle. She herself didn't know how many more dodges she could manage, or even if her body would physically allow anymore.
"We're getting our assess kicked here!"
Gwen's whisper rang out as she once again took up a combat stance in front of her remaining friends.
"I can't even get off the ground due to his powers perfectly countering mine!"
Ghost-Spider grunted as she fired a web-shot at Jacob with her right wrist. The silver haired hedgehog responded by slapping the web-shot to the right using his telekinesis.
Iron Heart added her voice to the consensus.
"Ghost's right."
The HUD inside Riri's armor was blinking on and off as he noticed her tactical ordnance was down to two last options, neither one favorable or really useful given their enemies telekinetic abilities.
"None of us can go much longer, let's just hope we can hold him off and give Vulpine time to free–"
Riri was silenced upon hearing a stone wall shattering above their heads, causing all four Secret Warriors to jerk their heads around to see what was happening. Their answer came in the form of Vulpine landing in a bloody, painful heap a few feet in front of them, before rolling unto his back groaning in excruciating pain before losing consciousness.
The two responsible for defeating Vulpine leapt down from the top floor. The Secret Warriors watched the young woman jump into a fighting stance. The cat woman's ears were drawn back and flattened. Her eyes blazed as she hissed, needle sharp teeth greeting them.
Some of the Secret Warriors shared looks of surprise. Vixen's eyes widened from where she laid injured on the floor.
"You're...You're..."
Then all their talking was silenced by a low growl. The second, an older man stood to his full height. His ear were erect and pointed forward. He snarled, fangs bared.
Vixen gasped at this as some of the Secret Warriors gulped at the sight of the Wolf man. He took a combat stance beside the Cat woman in front of the Secret Warriors, making themselves a barricade aimed at preventing the Secret Warriors from getting to Vulpine.
Ghost-Spider panted, her angry gaze shaped into one of shock and fear.
"We are so screwed."
The two new attackers kept their combat stances while eyeing the remaining four heroes and heroines. Riri recovered from their surprise and did another thermal scan of the building, her response showed nothing human other than her injured friends, and those still standing with her currently.
"I'm getting no thermal reads from the top floor, or the entire building for that matter."
Riri's alarmed whisper went out to her friends and allies. Dante now tried to throw a low power fireball at the two new combatants in front of them. The lilac haired female combatant stepped in front of the incoming fireball and raised out her left palm, catching the fireball before closing her palm and forming a fist, extinguishing the fire. Dante gasped.
"...Crap..."
Ghost-Spider stood still as she whispered, her tone severely stressed.
"Riri, if you have any tricks left to try and locate Doreen, and save our assess, you'd better do it now while you have a chance."
"I can try converting my radar into a makeshift heartbeat sensor. It'll use almost all my remaining power, and cancel out my offensive abilities due to the power being rerouted–"
"We don't have any other options, do it!"
Gwen launched multiple web-shots at all three of their enemies as she replied. The lilac haired women raised her hands and began spewing flames at the incoming web projectiles, turning them to ashes as soon as they got remotely close.
The failed attack though proved useful however as those precious few seconds had bout Riri enough time to reroute the needed power to make a makeshift heartbeat sensor. Riri's HUD quickly caught a heartbeat behind all three enemy combatants. It was human and was visibly not one of their friends who had been beaten in this battle
"I think I found her... Cover me!"
Riri began running towards the first two enemies. Ghost-Spider nodded.
"You heard her, give her cover with everything you've got left!"
Gwen, Dante and Kamala began running behind Riri.
The dark haired man lunged towards Riri, only to be met by Gwen getting airborne and tackling the man head on, resulting in the two of them falling to the ground, and began rolling across, and away from everyone as they wrestled for control to gain the upper hand.
The lilac haired women began spewing steams of blazing hot flames towards the three charging Secret Warriors.
Dante now took over as he ran out in front of Riri and used his own fireproof body as a shield. Not only that, he also began absorbing her flames. The woman quickly realized that her fire wouldn't work on the red and black clothed hero, so she ceased her flames and took up a quick combat stance.
"My turn to help!"
Kamala yelled as she ignored the pain her body was feeling, and enlarged her fists and began throwing punches as the woman in front of her.
The lilac haired women dodged the attacks, flipping around and leaping over and around the attacks. Kamala responded by throwing both hands at her But the woman rolled into a combat stance, only to be met by Kamala standing in her way, cutting her off from both her friends.
Kamala grunted as she threw her hands forward as her opponent blocked or pushed the aside the attacks. Ms. Marvel grunted as she grew in size and extended her reach, trying to make her opponent fight in a more confined space.
Riri, Gwen and Dante now realized that only the silver haired man stood between them and Doreen, and this time they couldn't fail.
Jacob raised both hands to prepare a telekinetic shot that would send all three of his enemies back and away from him. Dante however mustered what strength he had left, combined with the small revitalization he had received from the fire he'd absorbed, and launched two powerful streams of fire at the silver haired warrior.
Jacob barely had time to analyze, yet alone defend himself against this attack. However he raised both his hands and held open palms in front of his as the fire stopped centimeters from his face, courtesy of the telekinetic shield he had barely managed to create. The fire had been stopped from hitting his face, but still flowed around the edges of the shield, singing his hair and arms slightly.
The constant flames also had two more benefits, one being that the fire obstructed the warriors view, which allowed Gwen to suddenly attack from his blind-spot as she delivered a painful snap-kick to her enemies jaw. The attack caused the hedgehog to loose focus for a second, allowing the flames to get painfully close.
Jacob grunted as one hand rubbed his jaw. He quickly went on the defensive, blocking and evading the strikes from these strange new opponents. He moved to hold back or maneuver their attacks to strike the area around him rather than landing on him.
The second benefit of the blinding flames was that Riri went unnoticed and quickly found a door that had been disguised by junk from a nearby alleyway. She quickly kicked the door open and found the actual Doreen, visibly wounded and unable to fight, but very much alive.
"Riri?!"
Doreen grunted as she shakily rose to a standing position.
"D, can you walk? We've got to get out of here now!"
"I might be limited to limping currently, but I can make it out of here."
A pain filled shout reached both women's ears as Riri jerked her head around and saw the silver haired warrior go flying across the room and collide rather painfully with a different, fully intact steel support beam, resulting in him falling on his face in a painful heap.
Meta had finally won his wrestling match with Gwen, and followed up that win with a perfectly placed finger strike to her left temple, rendering her unconscious. Meta looked down at her, gently placed her down on the floor. His gaze turned Jacob and ran over to him and began checking the severity of his wounds. He quickly realized their work was done upon playing their part to perfection, so he quickly let out a very loud snarl.
The sound echoed throughout the building, but it wasn't a call to arms, it was rather a signal, a signal that was immediately recognized and acknowledged.
Cassie's ears perked up at hearing her sensei. She brushed aside the punch from Ms. Marvel then struck out a flat handed strike to Ms. Marvel's arm below the wrist. Kamala shouted in pain, her other hand wrapping around the one in pain. Cassie quickly abandoned the fight against Kamala and within seconds she was at Meta and Jacobs side.
Vixen rushed over to Ms. Marvel, who groaned in pain.
Meta took this moment to whisper to his students, so only they could hear.
"We've done as promised. Come."
Meta quickly used an enchantment to open a passageway to the void, which would then transport them to a safer location away from this current battle.
The Secret Warriors shot death glares at the trio as the passageway opened, and as Cassie quickly helped pick up her injured best friend and quickly stepped into the portal. Meta however remained for a few seconds as he stared at the Secret Warriors. His fierce gaze met theirs, which made many of the death glares the Secret Warriors sent his way turned into those of shock or hesitation.
Meta's growl slowly faded. His gaze turned to Vixen, who looked at him with wide eyes. The Wolf's ears lowered to either side, his eyes closing as he sighed. His gaze went to the floor then to Vixen, whose ears perked up at this. He gave a small head nod to her. Meta then stepped into the portal which sealed and closed itself before vanishing into literally thin air.
To Be Continued...
AN: Please let us know what you thought about the longest chapter so far for Foxes Of War. Also, what do you think the phrase "We've done as promised." meant when Meta said it, as well as how earlier Meta internally acknowledged that they had "Played their part to perfection." Anyone care to risk a guess?