AN: Story's Shadow and I are back, and the climax has just begun...

-Secret Warrior's Base, A Few Minutes Later-

Chavez grunted as she struggled to move, the strikes Stalker had laid on her while not fatal were painful. The samurai had made short of work of her friends and herself. She could hardly believe it, she didn't want to believe it. The magic in the blade left a poisonous ache in every cut. While she felt herself healing, the realization of her not being truly invulnerable and the horrid pain she felt made it clear that the enemies they were facing were more dangerous than she'd let herself believe.

"G-Guys! Come on! We gotta...get up!"

Rayshaun had just woken up from the blow dealt to him. He wobbled onto his feet, clutching his head as he winced.

"And I thought Cap hit hard!"

Gwen grunted as she tried to help Doreen up, the former being the least injured of the group. She winced under her mask, her head aching terribly as sweat dripped down her face. The pain even stronger than before.

"C-Come on, let's get you onto this chair."

Doreen whimpered and groaned, looking down at her broken knees.

"I-I don't think I'm gonna be much help guys...my legs...I can't walk."

Chavez grunted, trying to steady herself.

"Work through the pain guys! We gotta catch that freak! He's got the others! He's...Vulpine?"

The group turned, seeing Vulpine on the ground and surrounded by a pool of blood. The Fox's eyes were still open yet they didn't move. Doreen covered her mouth with one hand.

"...Stalker...killed him..."

Chavez sighed.

"...A bad way to go..."

Rayshaun grunted, shaking his head.

"...And Vixen watched him die..."

Gwen looked over at the fallen Fox.

"...Vixen lost...the last of her breed...right in front of her..."

Doreen rubbed the back of her neck.

"I mean...I had some so mixed feeling about him...this though, it-"

Vulpine screamed as he jumped up, eyes wide. The others shrieked, flinching at seeing the seemingly dead Fox resurrected. Chavez had one hand over her mouth, Gwen had leapt up to the ceiling, Doreen caught herself before falling out of her chair, and Rayshaun had leapt back a few feet.

Vulpine turned to them and screamed again, the wound dealt to him closing up and his body sealed back together as a small fire finished up the healing before it vanished as Vulpine was physically restored.

They all stammered as they spoke in unison.

"H-How? Vulpine? What...How are you-?"

The Fox gasped, his hands going to where the wound was.

"...I...I'm not sure...Stalker's blade...it...Stalker...Vixen!"

He grunted as he looked to the rubble that separate them from the samurai.

"...No..."

Gwen had been webbing up Doreen's legs, to try to stop the blood flow. She turned to the others.

"We go after them and save our friends."

Chavez scoffed.

"How?! That samurai freak cut through all of us without breaking a sweat! The five us aren't enough to save them...especially in our condition."

Gwen stood up.

"Then we contact Crusader."

Rayshaun grunted, shaking his head.

"The treaty...he can't interfere...it would mean his own world would be a target again."

Chavez scoffed.

"Not even to save his 'daughter'? I'm gonna beat the breaks off him if I see him again whether or not we save Vixen and the others."

"...And we don't have a way to contact him...he didn't give us anything to do that."

Gwen sat down, holding her legs.

"...Then it's over...we failed..."

Doreen grunted as knocked on the legs of the chair she was sitting on.

"There is one option."

They all turned to her, Chavez grumbling as she released Vulpine. The Fox coughed as he stood up. Doreen sighed.

"We contact Metatron, Cassandra, and Jacob."

Gwen and Rayshaun shared a confused look before turning to their friend, the former speaking first.

"Why would they help us?"

"Yeah, we've been hunting them."

Chavez grunted as she rubbed one arm.

"They hate those bastards as much as we do. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Besides, we might not have much choice."

Gwen rubbed the back of her neck.

"Maybe...but they've also gone after Vulpine...us fighting alongside him may make them refuse."

Vulpine's breath shuddered as he answered.

"They've hunted me for good reason."

The others turned to him, Doreen raising an eyebrow.

"What's that mean."

Vulpine's ears dropped.

"This first part they don't know...I didn't even know until I was just healed. I-I'm...I'm not...I'm not Vulpine..."

The group looked to one another though their surprise was mixed with confusion before they turned to him. Doreen scratched her head.

"What? But...But you are Vulpine..."

"...Not the original..."

The group shared the same look as earlier before turning to the Fox. Chavez was the one to speak this time.

"What do you mean you're not the original?"

"...The original wouldn't have done the things I've done...he refused Imperious...I didn't..."

Chavez's eyes widened as grunted as she walked over and put a hand on the Fox's shoulder.

"Run that by us again."

"It was what I was going to tell all of you...I served Imperious...I helped him conquer my world...and I was going to help him here."

Chavez grabbed the Fox by the throat and lifted him in the air. Vulpine didn't even attempt to grab her hand. Chavez's face was burning and veins were visible on her neck.

"YOU BASTARD! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Gwen and Rayshaun walked up to stand beside her, the former speaking.

"Daisy, Rayshaun, and I suspected you were up to something! We didn't we to inform the others and blow our investigation until we knew what. We thought maybe you were just some creation our enemies made to fool us and Vixen. Just something to learn about the heroes here. But...But this...This...we never dared think of something like this!"

Chavez looked to them, wide eyed but then turned back to Vulpine.

Rayshaun spat on the floor below the Fox.

"A man who betrays his people is the worst kind of low!"

Vulpine looked down at them.

"...Imperious killed the original Vulpine when he refused to betray his people...implanted his memories and false ones into my mind...he cloned me...made me an almost perfect replica...using his most powerful magic to where none of the people from my world suspected or sensed any difference between us...the original's feelings started...to take affect within me not too long ago."

Chavez's face streamed with tears.

"I saw how Vixen looked at you. She loved you...AND YOU DESTROYED HER WORLD!"

"...I know...and now...we have to save her and the others."

"We?! You think she'll even stand the sight of you once she knows what you did?! Why she wasn't raised by her people! Why her world is GONE!"

"She can kill me as soon as she wants...right now...we have to free her from Imperious."

Gwen walked over to Chavez, gently taking hold of her friend's arm. Chavez turned to her, nostrils flaring.

"Don't tell me you're buying this fake crap!"

"...Why would he tell us?...And why would Stalker have killed him if he still served Imperious?..."

"Imperious enacted three trials...testing my mind and heart...then a final trial...a sacrifice...every time I failed him..."

Chavez scoffed.

"And how do you know this?"

"...When I died...I saw all of this...some kind of vision...when the original Vulpine was visited by Imperious, when he was promised power and glory, he refused. He drew his blade to attack him, but the emperor struck him down. At that moment, his magic created me in turn...the original's memories and feelings must've come into affect when Wraith imprisoned me...the sword must have weakened the magic that made me."

Chavez looked to the others, seeing them slowly nodding to her. She grumbled and dropped the Fox. Vulpine coughed as he stood up.

"...I just don't know how we'll be able to contact Metatron...he won't listen to me..."

"I've got that covered."

Vulpine, Gwen, Chavez, and Rayshaun turned to Doreen. Doreen blushed as she grinned, rubbing the back of her neck.

"I've also got a secret to reveal."

She pulled what appeared to be a dollar coin.

Gwen winced, clutching her head.

"That's what's been giving me these headaches!"

"Sorry...Yeah...I wasn't really kidnapped. Some weird snake bit me and the Wolf saved me. They set up that 'rescue' so that I could seek my own answers. They didn't tell me what exactly...They gave me this to talk with them or call them if needed...I was hesitant to trust them...but they saved me and I wanted to give them a fair shot...I was uncertain of what I'd found out...but now I know what...and you're gonna be very lucky if that Wolf doesn't rip you apart."

Vulpine nodded.

"Him and his students."

Chavez turned to Doreen.

"Call them, we're gonna need their help. They're the only ones that actually survived the murder of their world. They know these freaks and they're the best shot at stopping them and saving the others."

Doreen nodded. She held the coin with both hands and whispered something in a language Vulpine never thought he'd hear again. It was one of the words the masters of his world had used to talk over great distances using magic. Metatron had gifted her this and he knew the Wolf would come with his students.

He just doubted he'd get to live to see Vixen again once they arrived, for he knew Cassie's wrath would be great as he knew the Cat's fury was fierce, the Hedgehogs while reserved they were very protective of their own and those they cared for...and the Wolves...while normally quiet...at the loss of those they cared for...Vulpine expected a quick and violent end.

To Be Continued...