I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

27. A Story Known, Rewritten

Let me preface this by saying that a majority of this arc was done completely by Jebest.

A lot of this arc was one that he formed so a lot of exclusive credit goes to him.

Thanks for reading folks.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

I'm Nobody Chapter 27: A Story Known, Rewritten.

Things have gone quite terrible in a short amount of time.

Tars Tarkus believed Issus was either testing him or damning him. And recently it feels more towards the latter in a cruel bitter joke the Thark wasn't seeing.

The recent string of his problems began two days ago when he and a good dozen of his men were retrieving the hatchlings from their nest cave after five long years once the eggs had been laid. Whatever hatchlings came out would be brought back to their settlement and be given towards the females to raise as their own; the rest are unfortunately destroyed so the local wildlife won't feast on them.

During this retrieval did Tars come across a unique Red Man who wasn't red at all and could easily leap dozens of feet into the air in a single bound. Impressed by the feat, the chieftain was able to learn his name was "Virginia", or so he claimed through rough communication and brought him back to the settlement as his property after a few circumstances.

Obtaining Virginia -the Leaping Red Man- might've been a blessing from the goddess herself as he could help the tribe fend off against all of their sworn enemies. He would fight the Torquas in the south, the Warhoon in the north and even perhaps the other Red Man cities on Barsoom who would ever dare attack them.

This also served as a power move, a means of gaining the upper hand against his cowardly leader and rival, Tal Hajus.

For years Tars did all he could to help benefit his people and yet Tal Hajus always held him back in some shape or form. One such event was before he -a vice chieftain- could challenge the last leader of their tribe to become the new high chieftain, Tal beat him to the punch. Through deceitful tactics did he become high chieftain; thus Tars had the misfortune of serving under him ever since.

Tal claims that only the strong may survive on Barsoom and nothing else. Never seeing the potential that the weak could actually grow strong overtime, thus making the tribe ever stronger in the long run. And yet the cruel, stubborn coward will never change his ways.

Tars hopes that with Virginia as his property, he will have a better chance in challenging Tal to become the new ruler of their people.

Unfortunately, as the Red Man says, things are easier said than done.

Since Tars couldn't exactly take care of the leaping red man himself, he had Sola take care of Virginia. On that night, he attempted to escape and flee to parts unknown. During his recapture, Virginia killed the vice-chieftain Dotar with a single punch to a resulting shock and awe to all.

Now despite the leaping man earning the name Dotar and Tars obtaining the late chieftain's property, as per their customs, did they and Sola get in trouble for Virginia's actions through Tal's perspective.

That next day, their punishments were delivered as they were branded a mark on their skin to show their sign of failure. Virginia had his first offense; Tars had several up to date (through Tal's manipulations) and Sola had run out of room on her flesh as the next one she gets would surely result in her death.

Shortly after the punishment "ceremony", the Zodangan and Heliumite airships arrived and attacked each other as per usual over their settlement.

Once everyone went to cover for their safety, and to make their wagers on who would win that day's fight, Virginia disregarded Tars' orders to stay behind. But the disrespectful action was soon overlooked through the display he delivered to show his fighting prowess and capabilities in front of the entire tribe.

By the goddess did Virginia clearly change things, more so with the arrival of three red men in black clothing.

Regardless of how the fight went out, the result ended to what Tars expected as he had placed his wagers on Virginia while everyone else betted on Zodanga and Helium… and none towards the three unknowns.

Tars won a good amount of property and a larger share of spoils from the wreckage of the airships through the earned bets. Virginia even earned the Heliumite princess and the name Sojat, through few circumstances, which the Thark vice chieftain hoped would perhaps reign in his predominant sour mood.

Whatever pleasant, sweet feelings Tars wished to linger on for the rest of the day was greatly soured. It was all due to him learning of who trespassed into their temple of Issus.

Tars could care less about the strangers in their odd armor and the three red men in black attires. If it were just them who were caught, then they would be severely punished by being sent into the arena as it was their most grave offence. For the tribe will let the goddess decide their fate from there.

But it was who else was amongst the trespassers did give Tars a mighty amount of concern: Virginia, the Heliumite and even Sola.

He gave Virginia protection with his status as a vice chieftain. But with this act of trespassing will no longer let that happen in more ways than one.

Presently, Tars Tarkus was in the stands of the arena where everyone within the tribe was present. As much as he would enjoy being here to oversee the coming fight, this was not one of those times; given he was forced to do so given his relationship with Virginia and Sola. The vice chieftain was seemingly spared from taking part of the punishment down below, but he knew better from Tal's mentality.

His thoughts soon drifted off towards the odd newcomers who appeared on their settlement yesterday. And Tars was not exactly sure as to what to make of these other strange beings that Virginia appeared to have befriended but they were in the same situation as him right now.

The group appeared to be those that wouldn't idly sit by and just be taken prisoner willingly.

And if they were anything like Virginia, then having them being taken as prisoners would be highly unlikely.

Which proved to be true as a majority of this alien group had fought their way out of the sacred shrine of the Goddess and leapt away with their own jumping prowess.

As a matter of fact, only two had remained behind. And it appeared that it was almost willingly so.

The two youngest members of this bizarre team that wore those strange black cloaks had seemed to stay behind out of their own choice. Not wanting to abandon Virginia, the Heliumite and Sola to their fates by themselves.

A noble gesture if not foolish.

They were about to face their deaths.

Tars watched with a blank expression that managed to successfully mask his inner turmoil at the sight of Virginia stepping out into the arena with the Heliumite, Sola and the two cloaked young ones.

Down below, the five had walked forward in the arena with three out of the five sporting chains around their ankles.

Behind them were a group of Tharks who all held their weapons at them in order to make sure none had tried to escape from their shackles and punishment.

"How are we getting out of this one, John Carter?" Dejah curtly asked.

"Working on our exit strategy." John muttered, eyeing the assemblage of Tharks that were all cheering loudly for what they believed to be the start of a bloody slaughter.

"Well…" Xion was lightly moving back and forth on the heels of her shoes. "Roxas and I can honestly leave whenever we want really."

"Then why didn't you go with your friends?" Dejah asked in bewilderment.

"We didn't want you guys to face whatever crap this is alone." Roxas said, turning his gaze in the direction of the high chieftain of the Tharks. "Who knows what cheap bullshit that guy has in store for us. Guys like him always cheat to get their way."

John snorted, shooting a glare in the direction of Tal Hajus who gazed down at them with a bored expression.

Behind them, they heard someone nervously shifting about and a murmur of a series of prayers.

The human, two Nobodies and Heliumite turned to their only Thark that had been thrown into this situation with them.

"Are you ok, Sola?" Xion asked kindly, placing a hand on Sola's upper right arm.

"I'm terrified." Sola admitted openly, a strain in her voice. "We have been sentenced to death and I could have prevented this from happening. I'm sorry."

Dejah immediately shook her head. "You are to take the blame for nothing, Sola. It was I myself that caused this to happen and the blame falls upon me alone. You were unfortunately dragged into this madness due to my own actions."

"Doesn't really matter by this point, does it?" John said with a dry tone as he gazed about the arena now, taking note of all the skulls and bones that littered the ground. "Quite the stage they set up for us, huh? Love the decor."

"Seems a bit generic." Roxas said with a shrug getting a snort out of the Earther.

Their Thark companion however remained downtrodden and frightened.

"Don't worry Sola, we'll get you out of this." Xion said with confidence.

Though she wished to dispute this statement, Sola saw the fierce determination held in the Brunette's eyes and found herself unable to speak. She simply nodded with No. XIV returning the gesture.

From within the central part of the stands, Tal Hajus sat in his lavish, comfortable throne underneath the shade while everyone else stood out in the scorching sun. From his placement, he viewed the individuals who had been captured after last night's incident at their temple.

The high chieftain was amongst the first to see the odd lights emanating from their most holy structure and sought to find who sought to defile the place. And sure enough it were the strange newcomers and amongst them were Virginia, his Heliumite prize and Sola.

He called out for their capture and a fight ensued. Most of his men were either quickly taken out, killed or crippled in the process as most of the interlopers successfully fled the settlement. Of course Tal and the rest of his men were able to detain Virginia, the Heliumite princess, Sola and two of the dark clothed red men.

With their capture, the high chieftain immediately sentenced them to death and awaited their sentencing in the arena for everyone to see. And of course Tal Hajus would use this opportunity to greatly humiliate his rival -Tars Tarkus- so his status as high chieftain will no longer be in jeopardy.

He wasn't stupid in knowing Tars was going to milk Virginia's capabilities for everything he had. It would have shaken his status as their leader and have him overthrown. And if the leaping red man were to ally with the strange newcomers and possibly work with Tars, then whatever plan his rival might've concocted would've worked.

But now he was going to kill it right here and now so that would never happen.

Standing up from his throne, the high chieftain motioned the crowd to settle down so he may speak to them all.

"We are here today to root out the taint in our horde before it may grow and fester. The source comes from the white worm Tars Tarkus took in." Tal said as he pointed towards John Carter. "It was from him did he and several others desecrate our temple."

Yells and screams were soon emanating from many within the stands.

Tal then continued his speech. "Who knows what would've happened if this was left unchecked. It would bring about changing our ways in the weakest of ways. We are united because we cull our freaks. We are strong because we despise weakness. So I, Tal Hajus, high chieftain; sentence Dotar Sojat, his Heliumite plaything, Sola and these two young red men to be crushed like unhatched eggs."

"We're not even red." Roxas commented.

John was going to comment on this when he heard some sound from behind. Looking over, he saw several Tharks hammering their chains into a large boulder. He realized they were nailed in so it may cripple any possible means of escape, let alone the leaping capabilities of himself and the two teenagers.

Turning over to the female Thark, Carter spoke something which was on everyone else's minds. "What might we expect to face off against here, Sola?"

"Normally there would be the banths, but given the grave offense…"

"Something worse than banths." Dejah quickly summed up.

The five then heard a loud bellow-like roar from a far off area. Looking over, they saw the cage being pushed open several times before the chains pulled it back. It wasn't long before a rather gigantic creature stormed out of its cage, letting out a bellowing roar which was matched by the crowds' growing anticipation.

It was a rather horrifying being as it appeared quite violent and powerful given its stature. It has six limbs with a pair of large tusks coming out of its mouth. And it's white fur was quite dirtied through whatever filth it was rolling around in.

Sola, Carter and Dejah stepped back in slight shock whilst Roxas and Xion stepped forward and in an instant summoned their Keyblades.

"That's a great white ape." Dejah called out to the two.

"We've faced bigger." Roxas said in a no-nonsense tone as he and Xion got into their usual fighting stances.

"Bigger than that?" John croaked out nervously.

"Way bigger." Xion stressed out.

"That's… kinda good to hear I guess." Carter remarked. He grunted as he looked down at his chained leg. "This isn't gonna be a problem at all."

Roxas turned back to him. "What is- Oh, right, thanks for reminding me."

Wordlessly, the two Keybearers swiped their weapons down at their chained legs and easily cut through the metal.

Xion then pointed her Keyblade at John's leg and muttered a Blizzard spell that shot out from the tip of her Keyblade and froze the chain.

Blinking at the display of magic, seeing the metal freeze over, Carter let out a quick grunt and with his now enhanced physiology broke through the chain with ease.

"Whoa." Carter muttered out, eyes wide which shifted to terror as the white ape let out another roar and began charging forward.

"Stay back!" Roxas yelled out, he and Xion quite literally jumping into action.

They sailed through the air and reared their Keyblades back. Just as they were within a few feet away of the white ape, they swung their weapons at full force and knocked the simian onto its back with a tusk flying out of its mouth in the process.

Carter, Dejah and Sola gaped in complete astonishment at this sight whilst the crowd screamed in approval.

Wanting to assist, Carter rushed forward and grabbed onto the fallen tooth of the white ape. It was haphazardly broken on the one end but would work well as a bludgeoned weapon for the time being.

The Earther didn't have much time to dwell more as the white ape soon got back onto its arms, which seemed to also work as legs, and swung its appendages at the nearest person…

Which was him…

Leaping out of the way, Carter swung his tooth club against the creature's head. The blow did send it stumbling back a bit, but not enough for the same kind of force Roxas and Xion delivered moments earlier.

The ape fell to the ground, yelling out in pain with one of its arms going over a visible wound on its neck and head after receiving such harsh blows in a short amount of time.

Dejah saw all this and hope swelled within her chest.

She had figured after seeing just what these individuals were capable of, they would at least have a fighting chance in this arena.

Now, it felt assured that they would escape this barbaric means of punishment and she would be able to pick up where she left off.

Sola was in equal awe and filled with a great deal of hope now at the sight of the jumping trio that caused nothing but pain and confusion for the great white ape. She still held an underlying sense of fear from the Goddess Issus after their foray into the temple but thus far, aside from them being placed into this arena, any sort of divine punishment had yet to occur.

There was only one individual in the arena that didn't share in this sentiment and was growing impatient and weary from what he was seeing.

Not exactly liking how this was turning out, Tal Hajus ordered his men to release the other white ape in their possession.

Once the signal was given, the cage door was opened yet again to release a second white ape.

Dejah's head whipped around to the sight of the other ape.

"That's not fair." Dejah said aloud with a slight tinge of fear in her tone.

"Tal fights more like a Zodangan then a Thark." Sola said bitterly.

Having heard the roar of the second ape, Carter turned around to see Dejah and Sola fleeing from the rampaging six limbed simian.

"Great." John growled out.

He immediately jumped over to the second ape in several strides, landing atop its head and stomping on one of its nostrils.

The white ape screamed aloud, hands going for its head with John deftly jumping out of harm's way.

Landing on the ground, John ran back a few feet and proceeded to throw the tooth he had as his makeshift weapon and it struck the other nostril dead on.

The screech of pain the white ape gave out was slightly deafening as it began to flail about with its hands covering up its nose.

Now that he was disarmed, John looked about rapidly in an effort to find another weapon of any kind.

He looked over to where Sola and Dejah were and saw that the two had procured some spears from the bodies and bones of previous combatants and creatures that littered the arena. Without another word, he rushed towards their location to procure a new weapon for their present situation.

Carter skidded to a halt as the white ape he had "blinded" fell down in front of him, swinging its arms about violently.

"Come on." John grunted in annoyance.

Waiting for its arms to stop swinging for a moment, John proceeded to jump right over the ape and landed in front of Dejah and Sola.

"Are you two joining us anytime soon?" John sarcastically asked.

Dejah couldn't help but snort aloud. "I didn't know you knew the creature's weakness."

"I didn't, I guessed." Carter admitted openly.

With the other white ape, Roxas and Xion were doing their best to cripple the beast and keep it away from Dejah and Sola. Yet with the arrival of the second giant simian made things a bit more difficult.

At least when the first white ape flailed in chaos through Carter's actions it hit the second ape, causing them to start attacking each other for some moments. After the second one broke away from the first one, the two Nobodies had to get back into the fray.

Shifting their stance, Roxas and Xion leaped back into the action and clobbered the giant simian with much more veracity. Blue blood started spilling out from the creature by that point as it roared in pain. And it's emanated sounds got louder when it was soon scorched from the varying Fire spells successfully landing on it. It's dirtied white fur set blaze as it was more or less being burnt alive. If the giant creature somehow survived this ordeal, it would be living the rest of its days with second or third degree burns on it's flesh.

Over with John, Sola and Dejah, the trio were working in tandem with one another to whittle down their own White Ape.

Having found a system of scavenge and throw, Dejah and Sola would run about to retrieve spears and other weapons littering the arena and tossed them to John who then proceeded to jump over, side and around the ape to riddle it with spears, arrows or just rocks that pierced its skin.

That was until…

"Get me another spear." John shouted, throwing down yet another one that pierced the White Ape who was just screeching by this point.

"There's no spears left." Thoris shouted exasperatedly. "We used them all."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Sola repeated, getting an annoyed groan out of the former confederate soldier.

Taking a quick scan of the arena, John's eyes locked onto the gateway they had come through, more specifically what was next to the gate. It was the rock that the Tharks had used to attach his chain to.

Shrugging, John began to bound across the arena, reached the chains and grabbed one at random. He sought to have the boulder attached to the chain be used as a weapon strong enough to greatly harm the gargantuan creature. Carter began to pull and tug with all his might, grunting slightly as the chains wouldn't budge until he heard Dejah yell out to him.

John looked over to see the White ape he had been spearing for the past few minutes begin charging towards him.

"Come on, stupid bone density." John growled, feeling the slight strain on his muscles until he pulled both the chain and a piece of the boulder that it was embedded in.

Slightly put off by this, John shrugged and began to pull the rock chunk with all his might. Feeling it lift up off the ground, Carter swung the rock around him several times until he struck the white ape right on its head.

The impact and force stunned and instantly killed it.

It couldn't even let out any sound as the ape simply fell to the ground, dead and unmoving.

The former US Confederate Captain let out a groan, leaning his hands on his knees as he let out a few strained breaths.

Looking over to Roxas and Xion, Carter witnessed them soon taking out their white ape as one of them struck their opponent hard enough across the head for its neck to snap. Once the blow was delivered, with a resounding sickening crack, the one white ape fell to the ground with a hard thud.

Both white apes had been felled at last, the Tharks having gone ravenous with glee at the sight of such a vicious battle. Carter, Dejah and Sola all let out breaths of relief at being able to survive such large beasts.

"That was fun." Xion sarcastically said.

"Wonder if we can leave this place now." Roxas stated.

"Highly doubt it unless there's more the Tharks can throw at us." Dejah said a bit bitterly.

"What's more challenging than a white ape?"

Xion was about to question it before the two of them felt something rather familiar.

The princess of Helium was quick to notice that their two strongest companions had yet to recall their weapons.

In fact, they looked quite tense and weary, the duo looking around with a cautious gaze about them as they slowly back up towards the trio.

"Xion? Roxas?" Dejah said aloud, slightly concerned at the sight of the two clenching their weapons rather tightly now.

Carter and Sola had also finally taken note of this, both sharing expressions of confusion.

"Is everything alright?" The Princess asked as both Keybearers were now only a foot away from her.

"We've got more company." Roxas said as he readied himself once more.

"More?" Sola asked in bewilderment and slight trepidation. "But we had only possessed two white apes. There couldn't possibly be more."

"We're not fighting white apes." Xion stated, getting into her usual battle pose. "We're fighting something else."

The trio behind them could only look on in confusion which morphed into frightened shock as literal pools or a purplish black substance began to appear around them.

From the shadowy pools, yellow eyes appeared, followed by humanoid shapes coming out of the darkness.

"Neoshadows." Xion whispered.

And they weren't the only ones.

The usual warbling sounds of other additional Heartless appearing made their presence known.

Several more Heartless appeared, Roxas spotting what were Earth Cores burrowing into the sandy ground.

Driller Moles, Shamans and Pogo Shovels appeared moments later.

Then, the ground began to shake with the group becoming slightly unbalanced though they remained standing.

Several seconds later, five towering sand towers with jagged teeth and multiple spikes all along its body burst out from the ground.

"Goddess!" Dejah cried out, falling down on her ass at the sight of these beasts.

"The hell?!" Carter's jaw dropped.

Sola couldn't really voice her shock, being really stunned into silence at these creatures that now surrounded them.

"Wha-What are these things supposed to be?" Dejah asked in worry. "I've never seen anything like them before."

"They're Heartless." Roxas shouted. "Keep your distance and if you hit 'em, hit 'em hard."

"Right, sure." Carter dryly said, wrapping his metal chain around his arm with a piece of it dangling as the five formed a circle back-to-back as the Heartless grew in number and surrounded them.

Carter looked around in worry, having never faced enemies like these.

He let out several steadying breaths, reminding himself of the harrowing experience he had just gone through in taking out an oversized monkey.

Dejah's initial assessment of him the other day about his muscular and skeletal bone structure on Mars/Barsoom were paying dividends now after that last little fight. Time to push it to the limit now as these enemies felt strangely more dangerous than the two giant apes they had just fought.

Roxas and Xion reactions to their arrival lends credence to these internal thoughts.

"We'll follow your lead then." John said aloud, referring to the two Nobodies who simply nodded as they bent their knees slightly in preparation for their opening attacks.

Quickly getting into action, the two Nobodies rushed towards the opposition. Xion quickly fired a Blizzara towards the base of one of the sand towers, having it's spikes jot out and pierce the nearby Heartless. While the attack did harm the lesser ones, the sand tower didn't show any damage at all.

Leaping into the air, Xion began her beatdown onto the sand tower as it flailed and retaliated. It spewed out large balls of sand from its maw, to which Xion was hit twice while the rest was avoided. Doing an aerial recovery, she casted Waterga, quickly drenching the sandy structure so she may deliver more powerful hits to properly take the one Heartless down.

Roxas hovered slightly over the ground, flinging his Keyblade forward with it tearing through a dozen Heartless.

Oathkeeper returned back into his hand and was quickly swung down to slice through a Shaman followed by a horizontal slash to a Neoshadow.

Flinging his Keyblade up into the air, Roxas utilized a quick Thundara spell clearing out the Heartless around him.

John hesitated slightly but he refused to simply stand by and let the youngest of the group fight alone.

Quickly running forward, Carter whipped out his chain with all his might and struck a Driller Mole which proceeded to destroy it.

Grinning, John jolted his arm back and caught the chain and spun it around several times.

Flinging the chain whip once more, it encircled and ensnared one of the Heartless. Pulling with all his might, he barked out a yell.

"Get over here!"

With it sailing right towards him, John reared back his other arm. When it got close, he shot his limb forward to deliver a powerful punch. The blow sent the one Heartless sailing straight towards the spikes overhead and was impaled soon after.

Seeing the one Heartless disintegrate into dark vapors, John went on to continue the fight. Rushing onward, he went to retrieve whatever broken weapon he could procure as his chain whip might not be enough to help him survive this day.

Once grabbing a broken spear, Carter skidded to a halt before throwing it right towards a Neoshadow. The ferocity behind it had the spear pierce right through the Neoshadows chest. Rushing in, John leaped once more before delivering a drop kick to snap it's head down and causing the spear to connect to the ground in the process. Before the Heartless could try to escape, it was hit once more to drive it's destruction all the way through.

As the Neoshadow went up in smoke, John grabbed the spear to continue the fight.

Sola and Dejah fought together, the former of the two utilizing her additional limbs to grab and hold Heartless tightly whilst the latter utilized the sharpened edge of a spear to stab any of the Heartless that Sola had caught in the head.

The others had occasionally moved by them, clearing out Heartless in their blind spots to keep them from getting struck from an unforeseen attack.

Roxas and Xion had now moved on to the Earth Core towers that were the biggest threats as of right now, going for their heads that were flinging itself about wildly.

Reaching one of the heads of the Towers, Roxas struck it consecutively a number of times until he was headbutted back by the Heartless.

Performing an aerial recovery, Roxas's eyes widened at the sight of the Earth Core Tower shooting a sizable boulder from its mouth.

Hastily he slashed through the boulder and was met with the sight of the Tower barreling towards him.

Raising his Keyblade up, the Heartless struck him with the Nobody flying back but managed to flip through that air and land on his feet.

He saw the Tower charging towards him once more.

Gritting his teeth, the aura of light surrounded No. XIII as he held his Keyblade in front of him as he charged up his power.

"Back off!"

Roxas thrust his Keyblade forward, flying at the Tower and cutting right into it.

The Tower halted in its charge and visibly blinked. A moment later, it let out a warbled cry and began to twitch and jolt about in a painful display until light began cutting through its body.

Everything momentarily froze until the Tower burst into a shower of sand with five pillars of light bursting out from where the Tower once stood. From the center of this light, Roxas stood back up straight as the sand tower around him collapsed. Moments after, he saw the Earth Core reveal itself as it tried to move elsewhere.

Not wanting another tower to form, let alone having it attack someone else, No. XIII went to move after it-

*KRACKOOM*

Until a thunder-like crack was heard in the air. In a fraction of a second, the Earth Core was destroyed.

Somewhat recognizing the sound, John wondered where the shot came from and who delivered it. It came from a gun, not one similar to the ones the Tharks have in their possession, but of something else.

To Roxas and Xion, they distinctively knew who fired the shot.

"Seems you guys could use some help."

Hearing the all too familiar voice coming from their omni-tools, the two Nobodies smiled.

"We had things handled, Garrus." Said Roxas.

"Not that we appreciate the help." Xion added in. "What took you guys so long?"

"We'll explain once you guys get outta there." Said the Turian sniper. "Just be ready for extraction."

"You got it." Roxas said, spinning his Keyblade about. "John, Dejah, Sola. Get ready. Our exit strategy is gonna be here in a moment."

"About time." Xion muttered out. "Stay close guys."

Not really finding a reason to object other than how they're getting out of his way; the trio of confused companions could only wait in anticipation as they continued to fight on.

More Heartless appeared around them, though Roxas and Xion fought on whilst their companions remained on the defensive.

They continued to fight when-

*KABOOM*

From the sealed passageway the five came through earlier, it was blown open wide enough for them to all flee.

"There's out exit!" Xion yelled out. "Come on!"

Not wasting another second, the five bolted from their positions so they may seek their escape.

From behind, the Heartless tried to pursue them but were quickly shot down by sniper rounds. Before long, Garrus soon left his position from the nearby cliffside so he may regroup with the others.

Rushing out of the arena, they saw a Mako waiting there for them.

"Get in!" Shepard's voice barked out from their omni-tools.

No doubt wanting to know how this Mako was here in the first place, such questions were put aside for the time being as the Nobodies had to rush to their transport.

John, Dejah and Sola didn't know what to do at the moment after they fled the arena. But seeing the two Nobodies go to the vehicle, along with them saying to join with, they were more or less compliant.

Sola was the more hesitant of the bunch, proclaiming it wasn't "Thark" or something. But her pleas were quickly ignored as she was more or less dragged along and placed onto the Mako's hull, courtesy of Carter.

Once the others got onto the Alliance vehicle, it hastily took off onto the desert plains of Barsoom.

Back within the arena, Tal Hajus was ordering a search for the prisoners upon their escape. And yet Tars was quick to intervene in front of the masses.

"-They had defeated the white apes! They should be left free, Tal!"

"They disrespected the goddess, Tars! They should not be given the chance to live any further." Growled the high chieftain. "Their sentence was interrupted in such fashions-"

"Are we to treat this as we are Red Men?" Tars countered. "Their trial was the arena and they have proven the Goddess is on their side."

He was met with shouts of dissent and agreement from the arena, his gaze turning in the direction of the recently escaped convicted.

Tars knew that things would need to be settled once and for all. He will no doubt need to see this through soon enough for the good of the tribe.

Until then, he had to pray the goddess will let Sola and the others survive whatever ordeals they'll face out in the vast fields of Barsoom.

-Scene Cut-

From within the predator city of Zodanga, Sab Than was overseeing the status of his kingdom.

There was much that he still had to do to bring the rest of Barsoom to heel but it appeared, at long last, he had met his first true obstacle that threatened the progress he had accomplished in this past week; ever since obtaining his weapon from Matai Shang.

How was it that a single day seemed to throw everything out of his control?

Sab couldn't help but snort to himself as he realized the sense of irony in that thought.

After all, it was only one instance in a single day that turned the war with Helium into his favor.

Inclining his head up, Sab Than exhaled aloud and looked over to the guard standing next to him.

"To be frank with you Matai, I'd rather be left alone right now."

To many, this individual held the visage of the typical Zodangan guard of Sab's army.

But to the ruler of Zodanga itself, he was a pale, bald man in grey robes that covered him down to his feet.

"Is that anyway to speak with your benefactor?" Matai Shang asked in a cordial fashion.

"Sorry, was I not polite enough?" Sab snarked back. "If you are so damn insistent in hovering around me ever since the goddess herself assigned you to me, I might as well speak freely as I see fit."

"You should be better respectful-"

"If Issus has anything to say about it, then she could come directly to me and say so herself."

Momentary silence ensued between them both as Matai gazed out at the moving city with Sab leaning forward on the railing before them.

"You don't think Dejah would survive being with the Tharks." The Prince asked after a few seconds.

"She may or may not."

"That doesn't answer anything." Sab grunted in growing annoyance. "In case you have forgotten, the Tharks are savages. They could probably have killed her by now with how stubborn she apparently is; given what I've heard of her."

"We can't assume such things until we have a confirmation."

The Prince's eye twitched in irritation.

"And why are you so insistent on wanting her dead anyhow?" Sab inquired. "She could just be brought to heel and in line like the rest of her people."

"We can't allow anyone else to touch the secrets she had uncovered."

Sab's jaw clenched. "The blessing of the Goddess."

"She is unnaturally sharp in her intelligence and perception of how the blessing functions." Matai admitted with a grave tone.

"And are the blessings exclusive or can be given to all?"

Matai said nothing, only glaring at the Zodangan Jeddak.

Seeing as he won't get any further answers from that, he turned around with Matai following after him.

"Suppose Dejah Thoris is alive, what will be done with her? Kill her?"

"Correct."

Sab shook his head. "It will be quite hard to do so at this point as neither of us knows if she is still alive. If so, then would she still be back at the Thark territory? Her people would surely retrieve her by now. Regardless of if she's alive or dead."

"Perhaps. Or perhaps not."

"This is not helping your case, Thern." Sab growled, getting right in Shang's face. "These possibilities are left to much to chance and not certainty. In case you didn't realize it, I had seen the face you made when those strange collections of individuals appeared to beat back my soldiers."

"A minor setback."

"Minor? MINOR?!" Sab scoffed aloud. "One of them bloody blocked the goddess' gift with their weapon! Don't you dare deny that they pose a serious threat to everything that you told me I was to receive. Am I not the Goddess' chosen? Or am I just a fool to be used and disposed of when the time comes?"

Matai sometimes hated these moments of perception that the Zodangan Prince displayed.

"That is not true." Matai said as calmly as he was able to. "They will be dealt with when the time comes."

"Then what insurance could I have in knowing we can defeat them."

"I will be sure to return to you with one quite soon."

"You better as your goddess' plans of unifying Barsoom will burn if this is not resolved soon."

With that said, the Jeddak departed from the Thern so he may focus on other matters.

Seeing his retreating form, Matai Shang moved elsewhere as his mind was abuzz.

Since that day with the boy deflecting the ray with his Key, the Thern was unable to shake the cold sweat he had felt on numerous occasions now.

But recently, he had come across something that may be the tipping point that he could utilize to get their plans back on course.

Coming to a dark corner, Matai saw the shadows move with yellow eyes appearing within them. Moving from the surface, the creatures pulled a random prisoner from Zodangan's dungeons. No one of significance, just someone that no one would ever miss.

Last night when they returned to the moving city, Matai had come across these unique creatures. They tried to harm him, at first, but they became complacent after their few attempts of killing him. After that, they soon followed whatever instructions he gave out with outright obedience.

Once such thing was what was happening now.

Coming across the prisoner, Matai brought a hand to his medallion as it started to glow. The other hand was placed onto the man's head.

In mere moments, a blue web traveled down Matai's arm and surrounded the prisoner's head. It encompassed the body part as a muffled yell was barely heard. Soon after, it was crushed as energies were soon sucked up from the body and traveled directly into the Thern.

Breathing in a refreshing breath, the Thern felt energized on his recent "feed".

Once done, Matai silently commanded the dark creatures to dispose of the body as they saw fit.

He didn't bother to look back as dark shadows began surrounding the body, consuming it to who knows where.

It didn't matter to the Thern.

What mattered was destroying that Key wielding warrior and his companions above all else.

Nothing would get in the way of their plans on this planet, which had been worked on for millennia.

All glory to Issus.

-Scene Cut-

After driving for several minutes, the newly arrived passengers were able to somewhat relax as they had escaped the Thark settlement. Said place was no doubt disappearing in the horizon as the time passed on by how fast they were going.

At one point, a second Mako appeared beside the first. It had to rendezvous with them as its occupants had to retrieve Garrus earlier during the arena extraction.

Soon enough, the silence within the one Mako soon broke.

"How the hell did you guys get these Makos here?!" Xion cried out in astonishment.

"Axel." Shepard stated casually from the driver's seat. "I didn't even know he could bring them here."

"Axel brought them?" Roxas said in confusion. "How did he pull that off?"

"He needed something to do since last night. Once such things was reporting back to Hackett on the snafu we got into." Shepard said. "Told him our situation and Hackett sent a few guys into the same cavern we were last in before appearing here. They're working on figuring out how to get us home while we look for our own means of getting back."

"Yeah, but the Makos?"

"Getting to that." Shepard stated. "After he came back, we knew that we needed other means of getting around this place."

"So you guys managed to bring in Makos?" Roxas asked.

"What even are these things?" John found himself asking aloud. "How is this even working?"

"To basically sum it up, think of these vehicles possessing a more advanced steam engine, Captain Carter." Said Shepard.

"Steam engine." Carter muttered. "Right, yeah. Let's go with that."

"This is quite fascinating." Dejah muttered as she eyed the interior of the Mako, despite the amount of room she presently had.

Sola, meanwhile, was just quiet per say as she was silently praying from her seat. The other occupants of the Mako could realize the female Thark was just rather unsettled on riding through such transportation.

"Ok, remember when Wrex, Kaidan, Garrus and I went to take care of some crap revolving around Wrexy's armor?." Axel asked from the 'shotgun' passenger seat.

He got slight nods of unsure confirmation.

"Right, so, I used the Corridor to toss a few of our spoils through it and into the Normandy." Axel stated. "Liara and Della were present on the ship to see that. So I figured if I can do it with small stuff, might as well give some bigger things a try. So if I could do it, most likely you two can as well."

"We can do that?" Roxas and Xion asked together, glancing at each other.

"Apparently." Shepard said with a shrug.

Axel hummed aloud, leaning back into his seat in thought while glancing up at the Mako's ceiling.

"Still… I didn't know I'd be able to pull this one off."

"You outdid yourself." Shepard praised with a small smirk directed at him.

The fiery Nobody blinked at that but soon sported a smirk of his own.

Eventually, after getting quite a bit of distance away from the Thark settlement, the two Mako's stopped in the middle of the expansive Barsoom desert with the group stepping out from the vehicles.

Things were quite easy enough. But Sola was more or less shaky on her exit as she collapsed onto the dirt and whispered out words of self-comfort.

"...Okay, I know Shepard is getting a bit better on her driving-"

"HEY!"

"-but that's sadly pathetic."

"Don't blame Sola's action, Axel." Spoke Dejah. "She and her people never ride anything else other than Thoats."

No. VIII said nothing else as No. XIV approached the N7 marine.

"Why'd you guys just up and leave us like that?" Xion asked, shoving Shepard lightly with her cheeks puffed out.

"We didn't want to be captured." Shepard said with a plain tone.

"Yeah, but ya still left us." Roxas asked, arms crossed. "No amount of hugs are gonna work, Stitch."

The little blue furball proceeded to huff, jumping up to Liara and cuddling her tightly with the Asari giggling slightly at the reaction.

"We weren't really in the mood to play along with that bullshit." Wrex bluntly said. "We could've gotten out easily."

"Why'd you two even stay behind?" Garrus questioned.

"We couldn't leave John and Dejah to just die back there." Roxas said, gesturing to the two. "And Sola was also gonna die with us. That's not fair to her."

Commander Shepard let out a wistful sigh, a small smile worming its way onto her face.

"Just can't help but be a hero huh?" Shepard remarked, ruffling the young teens hair. "Well, we're out now. So we don't gotta worry about them for now."

"What do we do then?" Xion asked.

"Isn't that the question of the day." Shepard said, turning her head towards the Heliumite princess that was fawning over the Mako's in great interest.

John Carter was a bit more reserved but nonetheless held the same amount of intrigue as he tried to make sense of this horseless carriage.

When hearing about this vehicle possessing something more advanced of a steam engine, he had thought back to another contraption: the CSS Hunley. To Carter's knowledge, it was the first submarine ever created as it was owned by the Confederates during the war as it was able to successfully sink several enemy ships.

To him, that was the most advanced war machine there ever was… until these past few days.

Leaning his back against the Mako, Carter was silent as he was self-reflecting.

For the first time in a while, John finally had proper time to think and he didn't really relish his present experience. Up till now, he'd been so busy trying to cope with this improbable journey he was thrusted into and trying to stay alive.

John had briefly wondered what might've been if he were to do this trek alone.

At its start when he woke up on that barren desert here on Mars, he traversed through isolated emptiness. And it was impossible for him to not think back on what came beforehand.

After a lifetime of combat and fighting, warfare drew him back into conflict and away from his family. He had some form of comfort with what friends he had in his battalion, but after fights and fights, he went through more heartbreaks than one should ever experience. Conflict that pitted brother against brother and father against son was enough to make his stomach turn as he was fighting his fellow countrymen.

John had seen a cannon ball decapitate two men in a crossing and shrapnel of a stray bullet slice a man's throat so messily. Even a bullet cleanly piercing through a man's eye and leaving him crippled as he couldn't move his body all that well as he was recovering in the medical tents.

Carter had prided himself on always struggling for the side of freedom and justice, even when he was just a child. Old comrades had been mowed down in the fields and forests by the Yankees who, in turn, shed their lifeblood upon the bodies of their fallen enemies.

John threw himself into the fray in countless skirmishes, but in these past few years he questioned as to what he was really fighting for.

It felt so futile and in the end he himself felt no less futile when it came down to it.

In the end of America's civil war, John sought solace and comfort when returning to his wife and daughter in Virginia. Only then could he find some sense of normalcy as he could recover from the terrors he went through in the war.

Yet upon returning to his lands, he found the home he had built by hand burnt to the ground with the two women he loved with all his heart and soul were dead.

He didn't know if it was from an accidental house fire or done out of purpose to cover up whatever crime that was committed. In the end, John didn't know how to work through his feelings as he had to bury his wife and child before moving on to find a new purpose in life.

Part of his new renewal of life came from James Powell, a friend he made during the war as they fought side by side. After hearing of what befell upon the military captain, the former colonel came up with an idea of prospecting in the lands of the West.

The idea was plausible as it at least gave John something to do rather than mope around and die in a gutter as a drunken mess.

When hearing some tales of a cave of gold and silver in the Arizona territories, the pair were quick to make their way to the location. All they got of a clue of the rumor was it being called the "Spider-Cave" due to a unique carving. With only running with that in mind, John and Powell did what they could in their search to earn enough money to live out their lives in whatever fashion they sought.

Unfortunately, things went sideways as they were ambushed.

In the confusion, he and Powell somehow stumbled into the "Spider-Cave" they were seeking when trying to hide against whoever was attacking them. It might've been the local natives, bandits or greedy prospectors. Whatever the case may be, they died or ran off by the end of it with Powell being mortally wounded in the process.

James Powell deserved a better end than how he died. If John had been able to act quicker, then he might've survived and he wouldn't be wandering Mars all alone.

And how Carter surprisingly came onto Mars in the first place was when he went to actually explore the cave to see if the gold was actually there. He didn't want to leave Powell dying, him knowing their search was all for nothing. Sure enough, there was a whole stream of gold veins along the walls, even what appeared to be of sapphires oddly enough given their odd blue glow.

It was through his distraction when he was inspecting an odd looking pedestal in the central part of the cave's chamber did Powell scream out a warning.

Quickly acting out of instinct, Carter was able to evade a killing blow from a cloaked bald man wielding the strangest knife he'd ever seen. He couldn't really think more on the attacker as John had to defend himself. But in the end, Carter was able to kill the man with his own weapon before it oddly enough disappeared.

With the man's dying breath, he was trying to say something, causing Carter to lean in rather close to hear what was being spoken. It sounded like a prayer in some foreign tongue, which John would've passed if it wasn't for the odd pendant glowing. It was when Carter grasped onto the ornate piece of jewelry and ended up muttering the bald man's dying words did everything go black before waking up in that desert two days ago.

With Powell no doubt dead by now, John was left with no real ties anymore back home on Earth. If he miraculously got back, what would he actually do? He had no idea what he could use the riches for anyways? He didn't even have any other family other than Edgar -who he called Ned- who was his nephew through his late wife's side of the family.

Regardless, there were hardly any attachments left with no other purpose.

So what else is there for him? What other purpose is there?

"Hey." Wrex's voice echoed around them, catching the group's attention.

They all turned to the Krogan Battlemaster who had his back turned to them and out towards the direction where the Thark settlement was.

"What's that?" Wrex pointed out in the distance.

Looking out to what it was that caught the Battlemasters attention, the entire group squinted slightly at the sight of dust being kicked up high in the air.

And at the epicenter of this dust trail was a six figured creature barreling towards the group at full speed.

"What in the world is-"

The originator of the dust trail skidded to a halt in front of them.

More specifically, it stopped in front of John Carter, looking up at him with a happy looking smile and panting heavily.

"What the-" John blinked, recognizing the calot before him.

"Woola!" Sola said with a bright smile appearing on her face.

The Barsoomian "dog" creature barked aloud in confirmation, large tongue flopping out of his side as he panted happily.

The rest of the team could only stare in utter bewilderment at the sight of the… dog, if they could call it that.

"...How the hell did this get here?"

"Woola ran." Spoke Sola. "It's kind is rather fast."

"That's one way of putting it." Shepard said, rubbing the top of her head. "We drove out a few kilometers away from the village."

"It must've been running since we left, which had to be quite a long way." Kaidan commented. "Had to possibly outrun Sonic the Hedgehog."

"Weeb."

"You know I'm right, Ashley."

"Once again, weeb."

Looking over, John saw the calot sitting beside him as the lizard-dog creature was staring right at him.

"You belong to him, Dotar Sojat." Spoke Sola. "He will follow you anywhere on Barsoom."

Kneeling beside the animal, he knew it was still the same one he helped protect on his first night on Mars when the other Tharks attacked it, which resulted in him killing Dotar in the process.

Gently patting it's head, the calot began licking his arm before panting out with its large blue tongue out.

John couldn't help chuckling to himself. At least now he could consider having another friend here on this planet.

Patting the calot's head once more, John mused to himself.

"If you are insistent on having me around, I might see no problem you tagging along."

"If you're keeping him, you gotta take care of him." Spoke Shepard.

"It's not the first time I had to take care of a pet." John said wryly.

"Where did you find this big guy?" Wrex asked Sola, an interested gleam in his eyes.

"They are rather difficult to tame but they are found in certain areas of Barsoom." Sola answered.

Wrex only hummed aloud with a growing degree of intrigue as he observed the large Calot that spun in a circle as John had managed to utilize a spear that he had held onto from the arena.

The group watched as Carter tossed the spear as far as he could with Woola speeding off with a small dust cloud in his wake.

A moment later, Woola returned with spear in mouth and dropped it at the feet of John.

"Aw~" Xion couldn't help herself. "You're just a big cutie aren't you?"

No. XIV proceeded to rub the top of Woola's head which got its purr of approval, leaning into Xion's hands.

"Who's adorable? You are! You are!" Xion cooed aloud.

"That is sickeningly cute." Ash said in a voice that eclipsed the arid land around them.

"Almost reminds me of tamed Varren." Came Wrex's comment. "Utterly loyal and fierce against their owner's enemies."

Shepard chortled aloud, shaking her head before looking at the group.

"Alright. New additions aside, can we at least ask you a few things Dejah?"

Hearing the addressment towards her, Dejah spoke. "Being what exactly?"

"What was going on yesterday? Why was your ship attacked?"

Remembering the details, Dejah exhaled a sigh.

"Do you perhaps remember seeing the beam of blue light from the Zodangan ship?"

"Rather hard to miss." Roxas muttered out. "What about it?"

"It's involved with why I was traversing outside of Helium."

"Being what exactly?" Asked Tali.

"Searching for answers." Dejah then elaborated. "Not long ago, the eastern border of Helium's territories became an utter wasteland. Whatever weapon he has in his possession, Sab Than burned through our defenses and massacred hundreds of lives. Whatever fleets we had to defend them were utterly demolished."

Shepard frowned alongside a number of her team.

"By the sounds of it, this Sab Than committed quite the amount of war crimes."

"He in fact did. There were hardly any survivors."

"And what does this relate to the beam of blue light you spoke of? Was it that weapon?" Questioned Garrus.

"After reading through the reports and hearing of the latest news, I knew that idiotic brute had somehow discovered it first." Dejah said vaguely.

"Discovered what?"

"The Ninth Ray, an energy source of unlimited power and potential. Transform the deserts, restore the seas from the remnant rivers we presently have."

"And yet Sab Than only uses it for slaughter."

Dejah could only nod rather bitterly.

Given what she was saying, this Ninth Ray possibly had the potential to help terraform this desert planet into one that'll properly sustain life.

"It's the reason why I left my home: to find the truth."

Carter couldn't help but scoff. "Obviously, you couldn't go outright confront this Sab Than in person and demand your answers."

Dejah merely nodded. "I was on my way to the nearest Thern Sanctuary in order to learn more of the Ninth Ray as I've exhausted what I could at Helium's archives."

"And let me guess, on the way to this sanctuary the Zodangans ambushed your transport." Dejah gave a confirming nod. "And I got a feeling this sanctuary was back at the settlement nearby." Another nod was delivered. "Right. So what now?"

"We should at least go to the temple at the River Iss. Hopefully, we will find whatever answers we respectively seek there."

Dejah's suggestion was quite agreeable for the entire group, more or less, as they all wanted to go there.

For John, he wanted to get a better idea and understanding as to how he got to Mars in the first place.

With Dejah, she wanted to unravel the truth on the Ninth Ray and understand it more than what she theorized. If she was successful, then she will be one step closer to saving her people.

With the Normandy team, it was similar in details with both John and Dejah.

As for Sola, she more or less wanted to go as she failed Tars Tarkus and wanted to make amends with her goddess at that location as some sort of pilgrimage rite.

So with all that out of the way, it was high time they hit the road.

Tires skidded up the dirt as the Alliance terrain vehicles took off into the barren wasteland. And running beside them was Woola as it didn't want to leave John Carter at all.

Not knowing the route to take in getting to the River Iss, Dejah and Sola had to act as their guides. This wouldn't have to be done in its entirety but given none of those of the advanced era knows where exactly on the planet they presently resided for map comparisons, they had to do things the old fashion way..

From what the female Thark spoke of it would normally be a three day trip from the settlement by Thoats. But given the speed of the land vehicles, they'll reach their destination sometime tomorrow; the day after at most.

The two Makos had their comms connected in order for the entire group to communicate with each other.

"So these Zodangans have been at this for a while now, huh?" Addressed Wrex as he looked out of the window to see the surrounding landscape.

Looking out of the window as well, Dejah could only nod for a silent reply.

As this happened, Captain Carter was a tad curious when seeing where the pair were looking towards.

"What happened?" John inquired, viewing the ruins of a building they rode past. It was very old and

"Zodanga happened." Dejah said with a bitter, forlorn tone when it shifted into a more heated glare. "All this needless destruction and ruin just to satiate a madman's quest for conquest."

"Another typical despot." Kaidan muttered.

The Princess only sighed.

"Over the years, Zodanga sought to conquer all of Barsoom for its own gain. Wanting to gain the upper hand, they soon hoarded and exhausted much of the natural resources. We tried and attempted to stop them time and again, but all efforts proved unsuccessful. As a result, our planet began to die."

Whilst the team listened intently, one particular warrior with centuries of experience in war gazed out at the apparently dying planet. His lip twitched upwards slightly, closing his eyes to control his breath.

"All you lot can do now is fight to survive in more ways than one." Wrex commented, earning nods from both Sola and Dejah. "It's not great, I assure you, with there being no end in sight. You keep fighting and fighting and before you know it, it is basically your entire existence."

"Must be quite the tiresome life." Dejah noted.

Axel shrugged, slapping the Krogan's shoulder. "It should, given Wrex is 700 years old."

Some of the Normandy team chuckled on seeing the reactions of their new companions.

During part of the drive, John asked Dejah what Mars was like before Zodanga had caused its downfall. As such, the Heliumite princess gladly recalled much of her lessons to him and the rest.

Barsoom had once been a beautiful planet with the oceans, the flourished plant life and plentiful game. But over time with the rise of their technology, much of the planet started to wither and fade away.

The only way the Barsoomians were able to know such things was through records and spoken word.

Part of what still remained, or at least adapted over the years, was of their culture; of warriors and warlords.

Surprisingly, though unsurprising when one takes a moment to think about it, the Krogan Battlemaster was the one who understood their plight was Wrex.

Since the native Martians and alternate Earther were curious, Wrex entered his old-man mood and regaled them with the tale of his homeworld and his people's tale.

Given how Tuchanka once was before the Salarians introduced themselves two millennia ago, there was quite the amount of similarities. The Krogan homeworld was once a decent garden world, only being mildly wrecked through whatever wars and conflicts went on the planet's surface. Their way of life greatly developed before they were able to finally traverse the stars and expand their population.

And then came the Rachni Wars, where the Council requested their aid in fighting off the insectoid race. The Krogan thrived in the pleasure of facing them for years before they were soundly defeated.

Unfortunately, in the end, the Krogan were greatly cripple. Sure they won the war they were drafted into, but they were paid in being neutered and soon enough their home planet became hard to live on given how radiated it was.

But it was their pile of rubble and they'd not trade it for anything else.

And thus the Krogan Rebellions began.

Rapid expansion that led to a brutal long war ending with the Turian's ascension into the galactic stage and the euthanization of the Krogan people.

To Dejah, it was quite a horrifying conclusion. For Carter, the Virginian was barely able to comprehend all this insanity. And with Sola, it was something she could relate to-to some degree given how her race functioned throughout Barsoom.

Still… the idea of a race being completely unable to procreate by means unknown to them.

Terrifying would be putting it mildly.

So Commander Shepard opted to change topics and decided to share some more… lighthearted stories to pass the time.

For the rest of the day, the Normandy team and their present allies were able to bond to some degree. With there being not much to really do on their way towards the temple at the River Iss, the group were able to learn about each other a bit more.

Dejah and Sola were quite curious about this "iced cream" that appears to be an addictive obsession with the Nobody trio.

Naturally, they had some on hand and handed their three new companions a bar.

The Normandy squad had by this point long abandoned questioning just how they always have Sea-salt ice cream on hand.

Dejah, greatly intrigued, took a bit too big of a bite…

The brain freeze was quite amusing to see.

Sola took Xion's advice into eating it more slowly. She hummed aloud, finding the taste to be quite enticing.

Carter, however, declined such a treat as he wasn't feeling like having such a thing; despite how tempting it was with the hot climate outside. Fortunately for him, he was offered some military rations and the former Confederate officer greatly enjoyed it.

Turns out there were some great improvements made to the usual military rations though they were from another world… reality… Planet? Regardless, they were different and tasted good.

Throughout parts of their trip, the two Makos made the occasional run-ins with Heartless. Just about everyone within the vehicles took their own shots against the dark adversaries, more so with Carter, Dejah and Sola.

With them traveling with the Normandy team, they needed to not only pull their weight but get better experience fighting against the Heartless.

There were struggles with the new additions, no doubt about that.

In the midst of these small skirmishes with the Heartless, the crew got a firsthand look at the absolute savagery Woola was able to inflict with her speed, size, strength and jaws.

Goes to show how freaking scary and dangerous Woola could be when put into battle. Running all over the battlefield, leaping at the enemy mouth open and biting down hard.

Wrex wanted to get a calot of his own by that point.

It also helped that Stitch rode the calot into battle, the two… "pets" of the group annihilating large portions of Heartless on their own.

One fight was essentially the team just watching the duo wreck shop.

Amusing sight to see.

Passing some time for some form of entertainment, a few of the Normandy team shared some stories of past missions they went through towards Dejah and Carter; both individually and once becoming a team.

With some form of reluctance, John shared some stories of his military career in return as he thought it was somewhat fair. He didn't speak much of them, given the fact that most of the battles he took part in were not pleasant for the former Confederate captain to recount. While Wrex thought the excuse was pathetic, the others who were more militaristic understood where Carter was coming from and didn't pry anything further.

Sola didn't exactly get interested in most of the spoken stories, given the fact she didn't feel connected per say. She was of a more simpler people as the Tharks don't follow much on technology as the highest form they work with quite often are their firearms. Of course Wrex was able to get through to her given their similar cultures and practices.

Outside of what he heard from Ashley, Wrex learned more on the Tharks directly from Sola.

Yes there were similarities between the Krogan and the Tharks. But unlike the clan system Wrex grew up in, the Tharks were a more communal system where there isn't a real "family" dynamic at all.

Dejah sucked up every bit of information she could learn from the more scientifical members of the team, such as Liara and Tali.

To think she would be so different than her book counterpart. From what Ashley could recollect, Dejah was a huge "damsel in distress". For argument's sake, she was written as a product of its time three hundred years ago with "men being men" and women having to be saved among other things.

In a way, this version of Dejah was more believable than what Ashley depicted.

A refreshing change of pace from the old stories.

But now that she thought about it, she remembered the Grimm-esque worlds Roxas had spoken of and how they were a lot more different than the one's many kids had grown up with in the Alliance.

So if that was different… and the possibilities of other fairy tales being real and altered to a degree from the galaxy the Nobodies came from, what else could possibly exist in the strange changed way.

There will no doubt be far more headaches along the way.

Then again… Ash was unfortunately growing accustomed to this.

She should really consider seeing a psychiatrist. Or get some prescription for the headaches.

Her sanity was at risk with the bullshittery she was dealing with nearly every day ever since joining the Normandy.

When the time came to make camp for the night, Roxas had to take part in cooking up meals alongside Xion and Kaidan for the evening with what provisions they had on hand.

Suffice to say the meal was quite enjoyable.

As they gathered for the meal, the Normandy team had asked Dejah more about what it was that Sab Than possessed so they had more of an idea as to what it was they were dealing with.

To begin with, Dejah had to discuss the eight Rays, which the Barsoomian technology derives from as it more or less confirmed a number of details from what Ashley learned from the novels. The Rays come from the Sun with them somewhat revolving the seven different wavelengths of the color spectrum with an additional one not categorized from Earth.

The Eighth Ray, otherwise known as the Propulsion Ray, is what helps power their airships and fliers. This is done by storing large amounts of the Eighth Ray in buoyancy tanks, allowing their aircrafts to rise up from the ground and descend from the sky. This is what helped the residents of Barsoom to perfect their science in aviation.

From there, Dejah went more in detail on what she learned on the Ninth Ray and the theories behind what she unearthed. They were more or less what the Normandy team learned earlier that day as a new power source with the possibility of helping terraforming Mars to what it once was.

Now given what Ashley told some of the others, the Ninth Ray was never fully explained in the novels, much like some of the other ones. Yet this mysterious Ray was apparently far more special as it helped power something called the Atmosphere Plant to provide life for Barsoom.

From what Ashley could remember in the books, this Atmosphere Factory was located in Helium as it helped create an artificial atmosphere that made life in Barsoom possible millennia ago when things were starting to go south.

When theorizing a bit further, the Barsoomian technology appears to be quite similar to the Etherium technology with gathering solar rays and creating the artificial atmosphere around their ships and stations.

That is where similarities end as apparently on this version of Mars doesn't appear to have an Atmosphere Factory at all.

If Dejah is barely starting to uncover the secrets of the Ninth Ray -let alone proving its existence- then her people haven't been able to construct the Atmosphere Factory.

If this was the case, then how was Barsoom breathable at all?

Several of the members, the humans, felt a headache coming on but they were talked down by the rest of their friends not to focus on it. Otherwise they'd be here all day.

"So what, you figure this temple is gonna have the Ninth Ray that Sab has?" Ash asked while some of the others were cleaning up.

"Even if I don't find the Ninth Ray, there has to be something there." Dejah said, tone slightly desperate. "Anything that can help my people."

"You truly care for your people, don't you?" Tali inquired.

"Why wouldn't I? My family has done everything they can to make them happy for generations. And I am doing my part in continuing it, in my own manner."

Garrus rubbed his chin with a thoughtful expression. "So you've been at this for a while now."

"Longer now than it seems." Dejah said tiredly.

"Normally a princess wouldn't be such a scientist." Carter remarked.

"And do you know any princesses?"

John found himself flushing slightly. "...Not exactly."

Dejah merely shook her head a little.

"I would rather be productive with my time by learning everything I can so my people and the rest of Barsoom can hopefully live a better tomorrow."

"Quite the noble goal." Liara commented.

The Heliumite then drifted more of her attention towards the aliens as she asked more about them and their respective cultures.

Carter tried to pay attention to that particular conversation but found himself having trouble doing so.

Focusing on Shepard, John spoke something which had crossed his mind earlier that day.

"So what's your army like?" Carter asked the Commander who had her face scrunched up on thought.

"Well we have our rank and all." Shepard remarked. "You're a Captain right?"

The man held a rather far off gaze in his eyes.

Something all too familiar to the Spectre.

"Not anymore." John said bitterly. "Not really keen on going back even if I do get back home."

Shepard silently regarded the Virginian soldier and simply looked forward after a few moments.

"Do you think you'll get home?" Jane asked, making the Earther gaze at her with a conflicted look.

"I… I don't know." John muttered. "Didn't you get here without trying to?"

Shepard shrugged. "Yeah, for the most part. It was unintentional when we were investigating a disturbance."

"And you're not worried about being stuck here?" John inquired.

Jane scoffed with her lip twitching upwards. "We'll find our way back, no matter what."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Not our first rodeo."

"Rodeo?"

"Oh right, you don't know what that is yet." Shepard said. "It's not the first time we went to a place without us wanting to go there. Just as unintentional this time as it was last time."

John gave her a bewildered gaze. "Sure."

Shepard saw his slightly skeptical look. "In our line of work, we go through a lot of crazy shit. To the point that it becomes just another day of the week."

Carter didn't answer at first.

"Come on, have you seen what we've been fighting the past few hours?" Shepard said, nudging the man with her shoulder with John blinking and slowly letting the really, really insane situation he found himself in truly begin to sink in.

"I just wanted to find some gold with my friend." John bemoaned aloud. "Not go to another planet!"

Shepard couldn't help but laugh aloud at the man's plight.

"That's a lot like how most of us reacted when we started hanging out with those three freakshows." Shepard said, thumbing over to the Nobody trio.

The girl was speaking with a Princess who was enraptured with whatever it was the young brunette was telling her.

The redhead and blonde were conversing with the strange plated alien and several of the other Normandy members.

"What are they?" John found himself asking. "Are they human or…"

"Eh~ they're a strange mixed bag to put it mildly." Shepard stated. "They were human at one point… but then they lost their heart."

John went bug-eyed, snapping his head at the Spectre who cringed upon realizing what she said.

"Alright, maybe that's not what I meant to say or should have said." Shepard admitted to herself and to him. "It's a complicated issue, dealing with odd magic mumbo jumbo to sum things up."

"Can it be simplified?" John asked dryly.

"No." Jane bluntly stated, the former Confederate soldier jolting back comically at such a curt answer.

"They explained it to me extensively and even now I don't fully get it. Or accept it really." Shepard said flatly. "Magic ain't my forte."

"Then what about your weapons?" John asked. "They seem magical."

"That I can help out with. Sure they seem magical, to someone so technologically inferior but… no offense."

"None taken."

"We have a little guy back on our ship called a Moogle." Shepard said. "Name is Mosh. He's a weaponsmith I think. Or an enhancer really. Get him the right materials and any weapon or equipment ya got gets a noticeable boost in power and capabilities."

Carter looked on in intrigue as Shepard patted her rifle on her back.

"Now most of our weaponry is…"

Time passed on throughout the night as the cooked meal was finished being eaten before most of the party went to sleep for the night while the rest began their shifts of the night watch.

Over the night, Dejah Thoris had taken the time to speak with every member of the Normandy crew until she at last sat by John Carter who was undergoing his night shift.

"What are you doing awake?" John asked, without looking at her as she sat next to him.

"I find it difficult to do so." Dejah said with a small hum.

John snorted slightly. "I thought after talking everyone's ear off the whole time, you'd be tired by now."

"How can I?" Dejah asked, a glint of excitement in her eyes. "Everyone here has so much to tell, so much to learn from them."

John couldn't deny that.

"What about you, John Carter?" Dejah eyed him intently. "What can you tell me that they haven't already?"

"Huh?"

"You mention Jasoom." Dejah stated. "That's where you are from, correct?"

"Earth?"

"Earth?" Dejah repeated, recalling the name from the day before. "Why name a planet after dirt?"

"Don't ask me, not a scientist." John remarked.

"Still, what's your planet like?" Dejah asked, leaning towards him.

Carter inclined back away a bit from the Martian Princess being so close but decided to humor her.

"Well, you're gonna have to be more specific." John countered. "What do you want to know?"

"Is Jasoom like this?" Dejah asked, gesturing at the arid land around them.

"Some places, yeah." John said. "Few spots on Earth that are deserts."

"A few?" Dejah said in wonder.

"I'm not that knowledgeable in my geography outside of my home country. Even then there's still much to explore." John admitted.

Dejah hummed a little. "I see. Is there in fact water on your planet?"

John gave her a strange look.

"Didn't we talk about this yesterday when Xion showed those pictures?"

"We have but…"

"You're not entirely sure." He could only see her nod for confirmation. "I can't say I blame you. What they have still keeps my head spinning."

"Their technology still astounds me." She commented. "I could listen to most of them all day, teaching me of what they possess and I'd still have questions that'll last for weeks."

John let out a snort. Before long he spoke what crossed his mind. "Maybe… you can visit Jasoom someday and see for yourself."

"That seems highly unlikely." Dejah waved off.

"I got here, didn't I?" John countered with her clamping her mouth shut. "If I can get to Mars somehow, you can come to Earth."

"Another world?" Dejah murmured, eyes up towards the starry sky.

John found himself chuckling. "You look like a kid."

"What?" Dejah asked in confused amusement.

"Only seen kids with that sorta look." Carter said. "The idea of ridiculous adventure and treasures just on the horizon. Something which truly excites them. You practically wore that same look earlier when talking to the others."

"And what's wrong with that?" Dejah rhetorically asked, cheeks slightly puffing out.

"Nothing actually. It's quite… nice."

Dejah gave him a kind smile, flicking her hair back.

Carter's expression became a bit more content now as the two continued to converse with one another.

He kept making her smile and in some part, she did the same to him. On some moments when they had nothing else to say for a while, they would end up catching each other looking at the other. They'd quickly look away, trying to brush it off one way or another as some form of embarrassment.

John tried to look perplexed as she tried to be skeptical, but their attempts failed which made each other smile a bit more.

"You think there is in fact a temple at the River Iss?" He asked after what seemed like forever.

"It wouldn't hurt to actually go there and see for ourselves if it's in fact real."

"Then we're just going there as a hunch."

"We've come this far, why stop now?"

"True." John said simply. "After seeing the temple, I don't know where else to go."

"You could come with me to Helium."

"Pardon?"

"After what knowledge I can find at the temple, if there is in fact one at the River Iss, I plan to make my return home." She informed him. "With what I might gain from the River Iss, I'd need to cross reference with what there is in Helium's archives."

"Right… Say, yesterday, I remember you wanted to learn how those three and I can do what we could." John said to her as he briefly gestured to the Nobody trio. "And when we fought those creatures, I couldn't help but notice you had a peculiar look in your eyes."

"...You did?" She then tried to play it off. "What was it about my eyes you were focused about?"

"Just something which I know all too well from my time back in the army. A look of ambition and not the good kind."

"What's wrong with ambition?" Dejah asked in a curious manner, not expecting such a question.

"It can be all consuming. I've seen it." Carter revealed. "It's how it's used, Dejah. One's pride often blinding them of what's actually in front of them, only thinking to use an opportunity to their advantage. I've seen a number of men above my station wear such a look, seeking to gain an upper hand against our enemy."

"But I'm not doing this to achieve something for myself." Dejah stated. "I wish to find the answers that can stop Sab's reign of terror and save Barsoom."

"And how is that any different from getting the upper hand I just spoke of?" Carter rebuked.

"He is doing this for personal glory and to satiate his ego." Dejah vehemently stated. "I'm doing this so that no one else will have to suffer from his destructive means of rule."

Carter didn't respond for a few moments.

"The road to hell is paved with good intentions, Princess."

Dejah was stumped, trying to think of a good way of properly saying what was on her mind. But all she could do was look down.

"I just... I need help. If it's possible for such methods to be taught, then perhaps my father can help pay for-"

John shook his head. "I'm not for hire. I already fought enough lost causes for one lifetime. And I doubt our traveling companions are such a case as well."

"They seem to be the kind that are willing to help." she fiercely countered.

"Until they can find their way home like I do."

Dejah felt much of her hopes sink.

"My fight is not a lost cause." The Princess said with a burning passion. "I will find the answers to defeat Sab Than and save my people and all of Barsoom."

"And are you ready for a loss if it comes to that?" John asked, a particularly dark look flashing across his face that genuinely startled the Princess.

However, she was not to be deterred.

"I've already lost enough of my people, John Carter."

"Well I've lost everyone." Carter shot back, expression now savage but also… forlorn and tired.

Rather than recoil back, Dejah's face fell with a sympathetic look appearing.

Without hesitating, she placed a hand upon his shoulder with the man opting to stare back at her with an intense rage in his eyes.

Looking down to break away from his gaze, Dejah ended up pulling her hand back as if she was stung.

"I'm sorry, John." Dejah quietly said.

Without another word, Dejah got up and walked away so she could find someplace else to find solidarity before she drifted off to slumber.

John still sat in his spot, feeling like a bastard at that moment. But he just snapped as old wounds surfaced.

In an instant, flashes and sounds of the war bombarded his senses with him closing his eyes in an attempt to shield himself from these sights.

But they only grew stronger as they became much clearer now.

He was still grieving for the loss of life towards his men, his friends and his family. John just doesn't know how long it'll be before he can properly move on.

-Scene Cut-

Once again, the gaggle of strange and crazy individuals were back on the road again.

Having managed to rest up the night before, the group was more or less ready for anything that may be thrown at them on their journey.

However…

There was a noticeably thick tension within the group.

In particular, John Carter and Dejah Thoris.

The latter had made it clearly known to the group by coldly walking by the former Confederate Captain and went straight over to the Mako that he would not be in.

It was a rather awkward scene as many looked to Carter for an explanation but he simply avoided eye contact with everyone else and got into the Mako that didn't have the Heliumite princess.

There were a few comments made that were quickly shut down by Shepard as she told everyone to get in and get going already.

So once more the Mako's were on the road again with the drive being relatively uneventful other than the small Heartless skirmish here and there.

Soon enough, the Makos came across a number of carved pillars signifying some sort of entrance. Beyond that was a river with a number of weaved boats pulled up against the shoreline.

"The Iss." Spoke Sola as she climbed out of the Mako. "Here, pilgrims must leave behind all they have, all they know, never to return." She then muttered to herself as her gaze was ever distant. "May the Goddess find me worthy."

"Pilgrims?" Tali murmured. "You have Pilgrimages?"

Kaidan however focused on something else Sola spoke of. "They never return? That sounds rather depressing."

"Can't say that I blame her people." Spoke Liara. "Before my people were able to learn how to use technology, my ancestors sought similar means of repentance, one way or another."

"So what do we do here?" Tali asked. "What's the Pilgrimage like here?"

Rather than answering straight away, Sola moved to walk away from the rest of the group and over to one of the many small row boats scattered about here.

"Hey, where are ya going?" Ash asked in bewilderment.

"My Pilgrimage starts here." Sola declared, not even turning to face them as she went over to the far side of the river shore.

The rest of the team were standing by the water and seeing that it was clear, took a few quick drinks of it.

"Water on Mars." Kaidan muttered in a low tone next to Shepard. "I know this is a story book and all, but still."

"Yeah, trying to wrap my mind around it all." Shepard admitted openly.

The two humans looked over to Dejah who stood with Liara in front of a stone crafter Thark that was on its knees in a prayer.

It was then that the group heard scraping dirt and Ash and Tali's discouraging voices.

"You can't go in there alone!" Tali vehemently said.

"What are you thinking, Sola?" Came Ash's voice next.

"Leave me be." Sola said firmly. "This is my journey, not yours."

Everyone turned over to see Sola pushing Tali and Ashley away as she prepared a boat for herself.

"Wait!" Bellowed John. Leaping towards the Thark, he landed beside her and stopped her. "What do you think you're doing?"

"It is my way, Dotar Sojat, not yours." She tried to move the weaved boat into the water, but she was held back by John who pulled the watercraft back. "I must honor Tars Tarkus and redeem my unworthiness!"

"By sending yourself to your death?" John asked incredulously.

"It is the only path to redemption." Sola said heatedly.

"What would Tars say about that?" Carter shot back.

"I am doing this for him just as much as this is for myself." Sola held a far more fierce expression.

"Why would you do that then?" Carter asked challengingly.

"Because he is my father!" Sola shouted aloud until realizing what she had just said.

Silence partially filled the air as just about everyone gazed upon Sola.

"What did you just say?" John said slowly.

"Sola just said Tars was her father."

"Didn't she mention her people don't have a family system?"

"Why would you say that, Sola?" Tali asked and Sola felt like being anywhere but her right about now.

"You better explain what you mean, Sola." Shepard said with her arms crossed and a tone that brokered no arguments.

The Thark looked around nervously, wishing to just leave right about now.

She saw that now that she had spoken up, there was no real way out of this.

Letting out a reluctant sigh, Sola regaled them with a brief tale about her connection to Tars.

"My… mother kept my egg hidden from the rest of the tribe for five years. She couldn't bear to part with it as it was the symbol of how much she cared for my father. He found out about it and contributed in keeping me hidden until the gathering so he may help pass it off of my mother taking me in front of everyone else."

"He protected you." Tali commented lightly though a gruff snort from Wrex cut the mood.

"You telling me all those brand marks on her body count as the "protection" she was supposed to have?" Wrex gestured to her body with some cringing at the sight.

For the first time, Sola really wished she had one of those black cloaks that the Nobody's had to cover her entire body.

John saw all this and simply held up one of the paddles of the boat.

"If you want to honor your father, then stay alive and help us. As far as I've seen you're the only one, out of everyone else in the tribe, worthy enough to truly follow him." Carter said with a great deal of Conviction.

"At least see us through to finding the Gates. After that, then you can decide what honor is required." Shepard said, patting the tall aliens back.

"Just to the Gates, then." Sola said after a few seconds of silence, taking the paddle into her hands.

"So then," Axel clapped his hands together. "How are we doing this? Feels like we're overstaffed right now."

"Good point." Tali said. "Pretty sure that these boats can't support all of us."

"There's enough boats to go around." Ash pointed out.

"But there are likely other Pilgrims who will need these as well." Dejah stated. "I feel that would be highly unfair for us to take so many like that."

"And what about the Mako's." Kaidan added. "I'm not really keen on leaving them behind."

"You don't have to worry about them." Wrex thumped his chest. "I'll stay behind."

"You sure about that?"

"Yeup."

"Not alone you're not." Garrus declared. "I'll keep our sights covered."

"Why you, Garrus?" Xion asked.

"You ever seen a Turian swim before? I'll tell you now, it's not exactly pretty."

"So the proverb of 'sink or swim' literally applies to your species." Commented Ashley.

"Sad, but true."

John went to one of the boats but heard the calot coming up to him.

"Woola, stay!"

The Calot warbled out in slight defiance but John's stern gaze cut her off.

Atop her head, Stitch pat her head before letting out some gibberish that the Normandy team had grown accustomed to.

"Don't know if Stitch will want to tag along." Roxas said, going over to rub Stitch's head.

"Is there any reason why?" Carter asked, gazing at the blue furball.

"He and water don't have the best relationship." Xion said, scooping up the little alien into a hug.

"You mean he can't swim?" Dejah inquired.

"Among other things." Xion said.

"I'll also stick with the Mako's." Kaidan said. "If they need any repairs."

"Ok, we've got our five who will keep watch over our rides when we come back." Shepard said. "Let's get going. We're burning daylight."

Seeing the amount of people present, they decided to go into groups of three for each of the boats. And it was only with Shepard who ended up being the odd one out who stuck with the Nobody trio.

Axel was tempted to use his fire to launch them forward which was shot down by a bonk on the head from Jane. Stating she didn't want to lose the others behind them, along with the fact their one boat wasn't exactly structured well to sustain such a force.

And so, the large group paddled forward.

As some minutes passed on buy, they ended up making a few odd turns as they had to make some decisions with varying forks in their path.

"This is quite the maze, ain't it?" Axel remarked.

"It'll take a while to actually find where we are going." Roxas murmured, gazing up at the high cliffs above.

Quickly taking that to consideration, Shepard looked towards No. XIII.

"Roxas, would you mind?"

With a nod, Roxas crouched down and then leaped high into the air. The force he did in his wake rocked the weaved boat quite a bit, causing it to take on some water.

Roxas could hear some complaints down below as he steadied himself in the air. Using the gift he received from Tinkerbell, he glided through the sky with utter ease. And in the far distance he saw some sort of structure which seemed out of the norm, prompting him to move towards it.

Of course he couldn't go too far ahead and risk having the others loose him. Thus he slowed down and looked down to keep track of the maze-like path he was taking.

Those of the Normandy crew had expected to see him use his Keyblade glider but were surprised to see him opting to apparently fly on his own.

"He can fly?!" Yelled Dejah.

"Yes."

"Without a transport?!"

"Also yes."

"Can you please stop yelling? We all can hear you." Axel barked at her, rubbing his ears whilst Dejah still had her eyes on No. XIII above.

"Follow that Nobody." Commanded Shepard.

"I find the way you said that highly offensive, Shep."

"Shut up and row, Axel."

During the boat ride, the group ran into the occasional Heartless skirmish with aquatic enemies popping out of the water to surround their boats. Even with a number of airborne foes seemed to prove to be a challenge, due to their limited amounts of movements in their confined spaces.

Carter had borrowed one of the firearms from one of his companions before they took off and was able to make a good number of shots. He admits his present weapon was much better than the muskets and pistols he was used to working with. Those took time to reload and every second count, especially in large battles back during America's Civil War.

The firearm he was using now fired off more bullets than he could imagine in mere seconds and minutes with no actual means of reloading. He never got the chance to use one of those advanced firearms before as the first ones he'd seen were wielded by the Tharks and he couldn't exactly get his hands on one.

This time, however, it felt like riding a horse as he vaguely knew what he was doing once recalling Shepard's lessons from last night and their past skirmishes with the Heartless.

John did have to be careful with the overheating as he kept pulling the trigger. He soon felt the heat building up in his palms, almost making him drop the gun into the river on accident. But he soon laid off from firing so the weapon could start it's cool down period.

Roxas eventually flew down on his transformed Keyblade and informed the group to keep rowing forward and to take the pathway on the left before flying back up into the skies.

Nearing their targeted structure, Roxas had to blink a few times as he wondered if he was seeing things or if it were a trick of the light. Once rubbing his eyes a little, he saw he wasn't imagining things.

Turning on his omni-tool, he spoke towards the others below.

"I believe I see the Thern temple up ahead."

"Good to know, Roxas."

Taking a brief circle around the temple, Roxas tilted his head in several angles as the shape of the structure looked oddly familiar.

"But seeing it from up here, I swear the temple vaguely resembles the Millennium Falcon." He said, recalling the iconic spacecraft from the movie series he saw with some of the others the other day back on the Normandy.

"What's a Millennium Falcon?" Asked Carter.

The question from the former Confederate Captain was ignored as the others kept on rowing.

Eventually, the entire group had arrived at the temple.

"Well I'll be…"

Dejah and John gazed onward to the enormous irregular structure before them. Soon after, Sola quickly knelt down and began praying just as the Heliumite rose to her feet.

"Impossible," she said as their boats soon passed into its shadow, "I've never seen this kind of structure before."

To the rest of the present Normandy team members, they saw the top outline seemed to indeed appear vaguely similar to the infamous spacecraft from the Star Wars franchise. Below that, the rock formation jetted down from a number of stalagmites, all meeting down to a narrow base which expanded towards the river's surface.

"Huh… It does kinda look like the Millennium Falcon." Ash noted, eyes squinted with a hand over them as she gazed up at the structure.

"How do we get up there?" Tali asked.

They soon witness Roxas glide down to them and gently land on one of the boats.

"You sure this is the temple? This place didn't look like the one back at the Thark settlement."

"I'm pretty sure." Said Roxas. "And something is weird about the place."

"Define weird."

"Like when I was waiting for you guys, I was getting all kinds of odd readings from my omni-tool." Roxas said, activating his for the group to see.

The Normandy crew followed suit and a moment later, they all saw that their devices had picked up on some unusual energy reading that they couldn't quite identify.

"What is this?" Tali asked.

"Well we won't find out from down here." Ash pointed out.

"Good idea." Carter agreed. "I want to get a better look."

This was all John said as he quickly grabbed Dejah in a bridal carry and jumped off the boat.

Dejah shrieked on the sudden act, thinking that Carter had no qualms about manhandling her whenever he wished. And she fought really hard to not think about how strong his arms felt around her.

"Seems John got the right idea." Axel said when a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes.

Shepard agreed and was about to follow Carter's action when Axel swept her off her feet and she was held in a bridal carry within his arms.

"What are you doing, AxEEEEEEEEEEEELLL!"

Shepard was heard yelling all the way to the top as Axel made a particular intense jump with a great degree of speed.

The rest of the crew began to openly laugh at the sound of the Commander screaming in that regard.

Coming up to Tali, Roxas asked politely to help her get to the structure above. She accepted the offer as she didn't know if she would be able to stick the landing all that well. Grasping her hand, the pair took off into the air.

In their wake, they didn't see Xion bore a look on her face.

She had seen Axel do his little maneuver with Shepard which was amusing but seeing Roxas with Tali like that.

There was this odd feeling that was hard to describe as she looked towards where Roxas and Tali flew towards.

This was… a new sensation to describe.

She didn't even know where it had come from.

Shaking her head, the feeling had subsided upon hearing Liara and Ashley jump up to the others.

Xion was the last to take off as she had asked Sola if she wanted to come with. Of course the Thark declined as she opted to stay behind before she continued to pray.

When No. XIV arrived soon after, she saw Liara using her biotics to properly land onto the structure's surface.

All around their feet, the surface didn't appear like any normal rock formation there was.

Tali and Shepard were on their Omni-tools and making proper scans of the temple they stood upon.

"You are right, Roxas. I'm getting all sorts of readings from this structure." Shepard said, trying to make sense of it all.

Tali let out a small hum as she sifted through several readings that she had stored prior to coming here. "They seem quite similar to the cave we were in before we wound up on Barsoom."

"Is there any way to get into this structure?" Liara asked. "I don't exactly see a way in."

"All you have to do is ask."

Drawing forth her Keyblade, Xion aimed Seashell Resonance right towards a space before them. With wisps of light gathering at its tip, a beam shot out and struck the far off surface. Not long after, a loud click was heard in the air as an unusual ripple effect was seen on the rocky surface. It caved in as a doorway soon formed some feet before them.

"Whatever you did, Xion, you just caused an energy spike on this structure."

Not much was said soon after as the party ventured forth to enter the newly formed doorway. Not wanting any surprises, a number of them quickly whipped out their weapons in case of anything.

Upon entering the darkness, they soon witness blue light rolling down the corridor as they move. In fact, the light appeared to be of wirework of some kind.

"This is not the work of the gods." Dejah said after getting a good look at the walls. "These are machines."

Taking a better look at living wirework, Xion voiced her thoughts. "Carter, doesn't these look familiar to you."

"They do, in fact." Said the former Confederate captain. "Sab Than's weapon."

Dejah whirled her head towards the two, wondering what they exactly meant. Before she could answer, they were met with another wall blocking their path.

Using her Keyblade once more, Xion caused it to recede to give them more space to move through. Moments later, they ended up in an enlarged space with faint blue light appearing all around them.

Taking a look around, the group had spread out in hopes of finding anything to traverse further or finding any clues.

For the time being, Liara and Tali had their omni-tools out and got quite the amount of readings.

"This place…" Dejah's hands trailed over the strangely textured wall. "This place is far older than I had realized."

Shepard however had a very strange feeling coming over her, squirming openly.

Axel saw this. "You alright Shepard?"

Jane didn't reply at first, taking a few moments to think over what she had just felt.

"I… I don't know." Shepard said earnestly. "Something feels weird here. I don't know why I'm getting a strange sense of… It's not Deja Vu. It's something else."

Before anyone could ask what it was that she had meant, the room became alight with energy.

"What's happening?" Shepard asked.

A few seconds earlier and slightly ahead of the others, John saw some kind of imprint on the ground and went forward to get a better look. He saw it was roughly shaped as the medallion that brought him to Mars.

He would've inserted the object right then and there. Unfortunately, it was still with Tars Tarkus and John realized it would've been a waste of time to head back to the Thark settlement to get it back and put it back here.

Fortunately for him, he was quick to figure out a work around.

"Hey, Xion, Roxas." He called out to them. "Can either one of you come over here?"

Xion, being the closest to the former captain, walked up to him.

"Yes?"

"Can you use your… sword thing and do that trick you did earlier on this?"

Seeing where John was pointing towards, Xion quickly nodded and aimed. Soon after, another gathering of light wisps appeared at her Keyblade's tip before shooting towards the medallion imprint on the floor.

The results were instant as the entire chamber lit up.

"What'd you guys do?" Shepard asked, the team now standing around the glowing imprint.

"Xion improvised." Roxas said cheekily.

From the imprint, nine lines of blue light shot forward across the ground and spread out before stopping some distance away to form nine different orbs.

"A spider…" John muttered to himself,

It was like what he saw back in the cave back in Arizona. Except for the lights, they were mere carvings as they seemed to resemble a spider to him.

"Amazing!" Liara said, her inner archeologist coming out as she began recording everything they were witnessing.

"Nine… Nine rays. Nine!" Dejah was starting to become extremely excited as she realized all her research was in fact true. "The Ninth Ray is real!"

"Nine?" Shepard murmured. "Like our Solar System?"

"Pluto ain't a planet anymore." Ash said with a shrug. "Does the small P count?"

"Has been in our history lessons even today." Shepard said, rubbing her chin. "Why not, they figure."

The odd inquiry forming in Dejah's mind was soon squashed as she was releasing a fit of giggles.

"I can't believe it, it's true. All of it is."

"Calm down, Dejah. Don't want to have you go nuts on us." Shepard said, placing hands on her shoulders.

John and Axel let out a snort of amusement when hearing that.

Tali looked about all this with Liara kneeling beside her.

"You know… I have this weird gut feeling that this blue light… it's familiar, isn't it?" Tali murmured. "And not from the cave back on Mars."

Liara found herself oddly agreeing with her.

Why was there such a bizarre feeling of them having seen this rather fluorescent blue light before.

And since Shepard had mentioned it before, now the entirety of the present Normandy team shared this sentiment.

As they stood within the chamber, this feeling of unusual familiarity was also akin to an uncomfortable pit in their stomach.

It appeared that it was only them as the Virginian Captain and the Heliumite Scientist didn't share this feeling.

"Don't you see? We can be able to harness the Ninth Ray now. This entire structure runs on Ninth Ray isolates." Proclaimed the Heliumite princess. "Mother Issus! Such power."

"And yet Zodanga has it." Said Ashley. "I probably have a few guesses who supplied Sab Than it."

Realization slowly crawled up Dejah as things dawned on her a bit more. "The Therns… They must be real." She then turned towards Carter. "And you… you are truly John Carter of Earth?"

John nodded, smiling a little. "Yes, ma'am."

Whatever bits of disbelief Dejah bore about him the other night seemed to crumble. And to him, it felt all so satisfying when seeing that look on her face.

"Then all those ships that sail on the sea you and the others proclaim? You've seen them?" John nodded as his smile grew a bit more. "That… That must be a beautiful sight."

"It truly is at times."

When he took a step towards her, his foot activated the room around them. Soon the lighted diagram around them started to form into something all too similar to the others within the chamber.

"Hey, look!" Ash pointed. "It is our Solar System after all."

"Your Solar System." Liara said in confusion. "That feels… strangely limited."

"What's that mean?" Jane asked with a quirked brow.

Liara held a pensive and contemplative gaze.

Gazing around the animated lights, John ended up stepping on what represented Mars. Right after his boot made contact with it, small lines jetted out to the other planets in the diagram. And along them was a peculiar script.

Taking a closer look, a number of the group crouched down to inspect it, particularly the one connecting Earth to Barsoom.

"What's it say?" Xion asked Dejah.

"I'm not sure."

"Okay, what do you think it says?"

Taking a few more seconds of inspection, Dejah was able to roughly figure things out. "It appears to be a kind of technical diagram. Here is Barsoom, there is Jasoom. This glyph here, it's like our symbol for a transcription -a copy- set along these lines here. Between the worlds. Like-"

Dejah struggled to come up with an example towards the others, but John was the first to voice one.

"A telegram?" John whispered, leaning back and gazed down at his body. "Am… Is this just a copy of me here?"

That one question certainly floored the others save for Dejah.

"Wait…" Shepard looked at Axel. "If John's a telegram -if that's even to be believed- then what about us? Did the Alliance personnel back on our Mars ask you anything weird?"

"Don't worry." Axel waved her concern off. "All that secondary copy seems to be for John-boy. We're all here. No copies."

"How is that possible?"

Thinking for a moment, Roxas remembered what John said two days ago. "Didn't you say the medallion you had on you brought you here?"

John nodded before slowly realizing what the teenager was implying.

"So whatever John had before was able to make that possible, huh?"

"Possibly. Making these words here is the command for travel." Dejah kept looking at the symbols. She could read them, but in that second she realized she needed a second source. "I do not like guessing. I need more information. I need charts, codices." She whirled towards those of the Normandy team. "Can either of you-"

"Way ahead of you." Said Xion, taking some photos of the script alongside Liara and Tali.

Dejah gave them an appreciative nod as she would no doubt have a hard time trying to remember these symbols upon her return home.

"Good. That will help me save the trouble when we head towards Helium when I make my research in the archives."

"Are you certain about that?" John inquired before speaking in a mock tone. "Quick, let's just head on over to Helium." He grasped her arm and yanked her to her feet. "What do you take me for?"

"I take you for a man who's lost."

"I won't be lost if you just tell me how to work the medallion."

Dejah yanked her arm away. "I will! But everything I need to understand how the medallion works is in Helium." She proclaimed in utter honesty. "I'm trying to get you back home to Earth. Isn't that what you want?"

"...Yes."

His answer didn't sound all to convincing as he looked away and used one hand to grasp his other.

From what she could remember, there were a pair of rings worn there.

During the ride this day, she had made an offhand inquiry about the significance of such a thing. The result didn't make much sense to her then, but she started to realize it now with what he spoke of last night.

When he proclaimed he lost everything, it was rather apparent. John Carter lost someone truly close to him -a wife, a family- and he didn't know how to fully complete his time of grieving.

"Wow." Axel drawled out. "Lying to yourself much?"

"Shut up." Carter growled.

"Hey now." Shepard said diplomatically. "No need to be hostile."

"What I need is to get home." John barked.

"Home to what?" Ash said with a rough edge to her tone. "What's waiting for you back home other than your crappy cave of Gold?"

"None of your business." Carter shot back.

"We're not blind, Carter." Shepard said, nodding her head at the two rings around his left ring finger. "You're not the only one who's lost people."

"Have you ever lost everyone?" Carter asked, tone venomous.

"Yes." Liara and Jane said simultaneously, jolting the Confederate Captain out of his momentary rage.

Jane sighed, going over to the Captain and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Growing up, there came a moment in my life where everything I ever knew was ripped away from me." Shepard said solemnly. "I didn't really know what to do with myself. But someone I look to as a father found me and pulled me up to where I am right now."

"I lost my mother." Liara said softly. "She was the only family I ever had. Until the Normandy. Until the friends I have now."

Carter gazed at the two women, trailing his eyes over to the Operations Chief, Normandy Engineer and Nobody Trio with all of them giving nods of understanding.

"We may have been born worlds apart, but I know you, John Carter." Dejah said softly as she stepped towards the former Virginian captain. "From the moment you caught me in the sky, I knew. I felt the heart of a man willing to lay down his life for others. A man willing to fight for a cause. Here, on Barsoom."

She soon got into his personal bubble and Carter was having a hard time trying to push her away. The longing look he was receiving from the Princess nearly broke him right there.

He was wrestling with what raged inside of him as he soon gazed at the rings he presently wore on his hand.

John felt a weight upon his hand as if it were pulling him down.

Clenching his fist tightly, he stepped away from the Princess and exhaled tiredly.

An awkward air hung over the group as they were basically witnessing what Axel would describe as sap laced romance.

The moment soon ended when they heard the sound of gunfire. The group quickly looked towards the source, soon bolting out of the chamber as the lights followed after them.

When they left the dark passageway, the entrance sealed back up behind them just in time to see what appeared to be a massive army standing around the cliffside. And the source of the gunfire was coming from Sola down below.

"Keelah, what are those things?!" Tali asked in shock at the sight of the rather savage looking Tharks that were hunched over, each sporting spears and sharp fangs.

"Tharks?" Liara said in clear fright at the beastly looking Green Martians.

"Worse." Dejah said in dread. "Warhoons. They make Tharks look akin to Woola in comparison."

"Lovely." Shepard wryly said.

Axel however found his gaze upon a very unusual sight standing among them.

"Who's that with them?" Axel asked with a cold tone.

The team all turned to where No. VIII was looking at and all saw a bald man in greyish white robes and a blue light from his chest.

"Is that someone from Zodanga?" Tali asked Dejah who only shook her head.

"N-no." Dejah's eyes widened in shock as she slowly pieced together the man's appearance. "That's a Thern with them."

"Therns." Ash repeated. "Like those messengers from your Goddess you spoke of?"

"The very same." Dejah confirmed.

"Ah, so those bastards are actually a bunch of assholes." Axel said, calling forth his Chakrams. "Wonderful."

"Are they the bad guys in this?" Jane subtly whispered to Ash and before she was able to say anything, hundreds upon hundreds of Heartless appeared amongst the ranks of the Warhoon.

"Yeah, definitely the bad guys." Roxas said aloud upon seeing this, Keyblade flashing into his hand.

Before they were able to do anything, their comms pinged and in came the voices of their friends who stayed behind.

"Shepard?!" Kaidan's strained voice was heard, gunfire being heard in the background. "We're in trouble here! Heartless and these mean Thark look-alikes are starting to swarm the Mako's!"

"What's happening?" Shepard asked in alarm.

"Heartless. Tharks. Assholes. Fighting." Was the response of the Krogan Battlemaster, the sound of him swinging his hammer around quite clear to hear.

-Insert John Carter: Carter They Come; Carter They Fall-

"We need to get over there now." Axel stressed.

"Xion, get Sola and jump right after us." Shepard ordered with No. XIV wordlessly falling down to the boat Sola was on and picked her up.

John scooped Dejah into a bridal carry whilst the rest began to jump forward with all their might in the direction back towards the start of the river pass. It took a number of minutes for them to arrive back in time to see the Alliance vehicles in the distance.

Eventually, they reached the shore where they had started and saw up ahead their friends fighting viciously to keep back the oncoming swarm.

"GO!" Shepard screamed and the entire team ran forward with their enhanced anatomies due to being on Mars being used to full effect.

Axel was the first to reach them as he had basically glided at high speeds over to several Heartless and Warhoon that were about to get the jump on Kaidan.

"BURN!"

Chakrams engulfed in flames, they burnt the enemies to ashes in an instant.

Kaidan looked back at the red head and gave him a nod of thanks before unleashing a Biotic shockwave to get some breathing room.

Xion came crashing down in spectacular fashion atop a tidal wave, utilizing the water from the river that she had called upon with her Keyblade.

Roxas glided over the Heartless and Warhoon that were not taken out by the wave and casted a powerful Thundaga that decimated those that remained.

Ashley unleashed a torrent of her inferno rounds, clearing up some foes around Stitch who was using all his limbs to bash away any who came close.

Tali fired off repeated Omni-Bolts in rapid succession whilst shooting any that were close by with her shotgun.

Liara's Biotics were in full force, pushing multiple Heartless and Warhoon away to make space for the group.

"Everyone, get into the Mako's." Shepard shouted, shooting a Warhoon in the face to kill it.

They rushed in as fast as they were able to. Once all were inside, the Mako's drove as fast as possible with the Warhoons right on their tail now with the added legion of Heartless.

The Warhoons were having a difficult time in keeping up with the Mako's.

The Heartless however…

"Son of a bitch!" Shepard shouted as a beam from one of the large Heartless blew up next to her Mako.

"We're not outrunning them!"

"Fast bastards, they are."

For what felt like forever, the Alliance vehicles were put into high gear of making their attempts of losing their pursuers. If it weren't for the Heartless, then things could be smooth sailing.

Yet with their continued onslaught, they were having a difficult time of fleeing for their lives.

Coming to a decision, John realized what needed to be done.

Quickly climbing out of the Mako, he leaped off as the two Alliance vehicles skidded to a stop.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

John ignored them as he started slashing and firing upon a number of Heartless as the Mako's started giving him some support.

"Get Dejah and Sola out of here!"

"Carter!" Dejah shrieked from within one of the land vehicles.

Images flashed before Carter's eyes as he remembered what befell upon his life.

His men and allies being slain by gun and cannon fire, all because he was too late to reach them. His wife and daughter died, all because he was too late to make it back home. Powell died back at the "Spider Cave", all because he was too late in reacting in time to save him.

"I was too late too many times. I won't be again." Was all he said before he started to run away from the Alliance vehicles.

"CARTER!"

John ignored Dejah's pleas of returning, but he couldn't. He needed to help give the others time of making it out of there and to safer grounds.

He soon realized that Woola was running beside him as the calot was snarling along the way. He then stopped as he barked out a command. Stitch was standing atop his head and within Stitch's four arms were two short spears and swords that he had "borrowed" from the Warhoons.

"Woola, Stitch, go back!"

Yet the calot and experiment ignored him as they chose to stay with him.

"Go damn you!"

Once more, they ignored him.

Turning back, Carter gazed intently on the oncoming swarm of Warhoon and Heartless, leg shaking as he was ready to fight, here and now.

*Thump*

John's head whipped over to his side to see the hulking mass of Urdnot Wrex with Woola by his side.

"Don't think for a second you're keeping the fun to yourself." Wrex declared, gravity hammer in hand.

"This isn't your fight." Carter said.

"Unfortunately, it is." Roxas said, surprising the man as he stood by his side with Xion and Axel with them.

The last of them to join up were, surprisingly, Kaidan and Ashley.

"What are you two sticking around here for?" Axel asked.

"Shepard told us to make sure we bring you back in one piece." Ashley said, prepping her weapon. "The rest will get the Princess back to Helium."

"We just need to make sure to pull your ass out of the fire if you get too excited." Kaidan remarked, readying his assault rifle before flaring his biotics.

"Aren't we all like that?" Axel cockily asked, wisps of flames beginning to emanate off of his body.

Light shone off Roxas' as well as Xion though she had what looked like wisps of the wind and water mixed in with her own aura.

"You guys ready for this?" No. XIII asked, only receiving grunts for answers as everyone positioned themselves at the ready.

When the massive collective of Warhoon and Heartless came ever closer, Carter was the first to leap into death with a furious roar.

Wrex followed afterwards with a war cry of his own. Barreling straight forward into the horde with Axel conjuring a raging inferno as he went right alongside the Krogan.

Ashley leapt high into the air along with Kaidan and the duo began reigning down combined fire, killing and destroying Heartless and Warhoon. Even with biotics exploding left and right from the onslaught.

Roxas yelled out and slashed right through a dozen enemies.

From his body was an explosion of light pillars that tore through multiple Heartless and Warhoon around him.

He instantly reached down for his Limit and began slicing right through the enemies left and right as blue blood and blackened whisps filled the air.

Xion twirled her Keyblade over her head with wind and water whipping up around her. The swirling torrent of the two elements were making it difficult for any enemy to get through to her.

That, and Stitch was tearing apart any and all who dared try to get close to her.

Once she had gathered enough of the two elements, Xion felt herself lift up off the ground and float upwards.

Grinning, she thrusted her Keyblade and entered into a corkscrew spin with the water and winds fusing together to form a devastating twister that shredded apart any and all that Xion went through or were close enough to be killed/destroyed.

Over with Axel, he let out a mad laugh as his Chakrams spun rapidly around him. Throwing up his arms, pillars of fire erupted out from the ground and incinerated any and all that had the misfortune of being within Axel's area.

From the outskirts of the fight was Woola, running in and out of the literal cluster fuck with Stitch having rejoined the speedy Calot.

Wrex was spinning his gravity hammer all around his body in large sweeping arcs that killed any that got close to him.

Kaidan was using his Biotics in rapid succession, feeling a stress building upon his body.

Though his body was beginning to protest, Kaidan fought in a relentless manner.

This was much like what happened in the past two incidents on the Citadel, from Sovereign and Lexaeus attacking, respectively.

What he had not realized was the growing intensity in the Biotic warps, pulls, pushes and stasis fields he kept firing.

He didn't even realize he fired those stasis fields. They just came out of him naturally.

The bluish aura of Biotics around him began to spike and radiate with a different sort of energy now.

His Biotics were coming out in a more rapid and powerful capacity.

Much became more fiercer and stronger than he could ever imagine.

Some of the Warhoon and Heartless got a bit too close for comfort and in an instant, Kaidan bellowed out and threw his hands to his sides.

A biotic dome that was surprisingly electrified shot out from the human that gave the Alliance marine a wide berth between him and the swarm.

Falling to his knees, Kaidan wheezed and coughed, at last feeling the built up strain upon his body.

His vision was slightly blurry but Kaidan could clearly see the intense aura radiating off his body that were his Biotics.

He was well aware that they were not supposed to do that.

Thinking for a moment, Kaidan felt something swell within his very being.

Within the core of who he was.

"A little Insurance, if you will." Came the aged, wizened voice of the mystic from the Mysterious Tower the Normandy Team had met recently. "Taking them into you will unlock the latent potential for greater power you all have yet to achieve."

"Holy fuck." Kaidan whispered, now realizing just what it was he and his friends had been gifted.

He didn't know if this was the true capacity of the mixture of the gifts he received from both Della and Yen Sid, respectively.

Not that he was complaining at all as he was more focused at the fight at hand.

An arrogant part of himself thought he was like a biotic god, but that was quickly squashed down as he had to help his friends and companions fight off this enemy horde around him.

But dammit was he tired.

Thankfully, his saviors came in the form of Ash and Xion jumping next to him and grabbing him by his arms to jump out from a literal swarm wave that would've buried him.

"Thanks." Kaidan said tiredly with his exhaustion quickly alleviated by a Cura from Xion.

Landing in a temporary safe spot, the Alliance marine applied some Hi-Ethers as his biotics were able to be replenished. Once done he went back into the fight at hand.

Within the center of the fight were Roxas, Xion and Carter, back-to-back as they cut and sliced any and all that were in their range. Xion had seen them after helping Kaidan and jumped over to their side, being enough to stem the tide just a bit more.

As he slashed, cleaved and shot at the enemy, Carter released every bit of pent up rage he welled up inside of him. It gave way to the grief and sorrow buried deep within his heart as his mind flashed to the ones he failed to save.

It was unhealthy for him to keep all that back for what felt like forever, but now he was curing that by unleashing everything as he fought to protect the others who were fleeing the battlefield.

In his time of fighting, he worked alongside his companions. He couldn't make heads or tails of what feats he was now performing as everything started to become a blur to him. Arcs and explosions of light exploded off from his body several times until it just kept coming out nonstop.

And it happened as soon as he solely fought by Roxas' and Xion's side.

Frankly, John didn't care by this point as he had seen enough crazy shit for a dozen lifetimes.

As long as he kept on fighting and killing these foes so the rest would be safe, then was all that mattered.

After all, he had nothing else left to lose now.

What John had performed were a number of Limit Breaks with the Keybearers. His sword became ever sharper and his borrowed firearm didn't give him much trouble for a time. But when it did as the weapon started to greatly overheat, John threw it into the path of one of Axel's fire blasts, causing a massive explosion to occur to clear out a good dozen or so enemies.

With his other hand free, John procured a bladed weapon from one of the fallen Warhoons before it too became sharpened as he worked alongside the Keybearers. They worked off against each other as they used the other as impromptu springboards for added effect to quickly slice and cleave through the masses.

Minutes flew on by and the assembled party was quickly starting to tire. They were not fully prepared for this as they've begun to be overwhelmed.

Sooner or later, they might be slaughtered as they didn't have a possible means of returning to the others in one piece.

The Nobody Trio were utilizing their Limit Breaks to their full extent, Wrex felt his enhanced Krogan strength being pushed further and further. Kaidan's Biotics were exploding off him though with great strain to his body.

Ashley's gun was starting to get worn down with the excessive use of her burning and inferno round but that didn't deter her in the slightest.

Woola and Stitch were starting to respectively run out of juice with the slaughter they were performing.

But one slip up was all it took.

Carter was nicked in the shoulder and he jolted forward and stumbled down to the ground.

The others turned to see this and that was all that was needed for the enemies to begin to properly overwhelm them with their numbers.

Warhoon and Heartless snagged onto every limb of the fighters thought they were thrashing about, launching any that grabbed them right off of them.

If that wasn't enough, a shadow soon passed overhead when the explosions went off.

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

*KABOOM*

And everything went black...

AN

Whew, this one was a rollercoaster.

Two out of the three done and done for this arc and we still haven't gotten to the main event just yet.

As you can see, we're steering the story of John Carter in a different direction as a set number of events have not happened yet.

Naturally, things have changed.

And now that I think about it… I think this is something that needs to be said for all the stories that J and I work on together.

ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING YOU EXPECT TO HAPPEN AND WANT NEED TO BE THROWN OUT THE WINDOW.

Naturally, certain interactions and moments can be excluded from this statement but many of the canon events of what you are all familiar with won't happen the way that you think.

Jebest4781: We will see more of these changed events soon enough with what have been thought of to affect the story at large.

FMW: I mean, we already derailed the whole Kingdom Hearts Canon within eleven chapters of this story. And same with Mass Effect. The best way I could say to describe the future stories, arcs and such are templates. We use the familiar that many of you already know and put our spin and canon divergence into it all.

Jeb: After all, it often gets boring to see the expected to occur, but the unexpected makes things rather grand.

FMW: Indeed. And this doesn't just apply to this story. It applies to everything Jeb and I have that we've worked on together and separately.

Jeb: Asides from that, we hope you are all staying safe out there and having a good time wherever you are with whatever struggles you're experiencing, respectively. We know we are as things are often a total bitch.

FMW: From the two of us, stay safe and stay strong. Feels like we'll be out of this Bullshit lockdown soon enough. Hang on comrades. Hang on.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.