Mogul vs. Remnants Pt. III

Following the events of the second part, Decen's ninth remnant, Lucius "Brickhouse" Cassidy, has awakened his powers of Spike Formation. Relocating to Corinth, home of the Corinth Inquisition, Guardian Merrow Rivenlight seeks refuge from a long time friend, Kyrael Prima to aid in the development of Decen's third remnant, Deacon Chow. Along with Michael, and Meena, Merrow hopes to allow Deacon to master his powers of pyrokinesis, in his battle against Prime Aspect Mogul, alongside his fellow Remnants, and to save a catatonic Remnant 1, who is slowly dying from Loz-Q.

Chapter 28 (Remnant 3)

"I hate portals..." I grumbled, as Meena held my hand, stepping in.

I also didn't need Meena to hold my hand either. She kept doing things like this, and I was kind of sick of her treating me like I was too feeble to do things myself. It also didn't help that Lucius was giving me the most annoyed look ever.

My surroundings elongated, as I was thrust into the portal, emerging into a new world. My surroundings were.. beautiful. Perhaps even magical. Lucious greenery, vegetation, and a clear sky. Nothing like the run down buildings Meena and I used to do contracts in. At least this place had color.

I responded, aptly, by vomiting on the ground.

"Deacon!" Meena ran by my side, rubbing my back.

"I'm fine Meena" I groaned.

Lucius walked up to me. I couldn't help but stare at his right hand, which was completely corrupted. The black spikes had receded, but it was still evident, and his entire hand looked... demonic. Claws, and pulsating with a dim red light at the cracks that ran up his forearm, and into his shirt. At least the rest of his body was okay.

"The hell you lookin at?" Lucius scowled.

"Um. Nothing. Sorry." I responded quickly.

Lucius was holding the frozen body of Arman, our eldest brother, delicately. I never really knew him. In fact, I didn't know him. But from what Merrow, Michael, and Lucius have told me, he was an incredible person.

If someone like Lucius was so delicate and gentle with somebody, you knew he meant a lot to him. And I could probably guess that. I've been told that Arman had fought three Olympian Titans at once. Yeah, you heard me right. Titans. The same ones that had ruled the world. The same ones I read in the stories who required other gods to beat.

And he didn't just fight one. Not two. But three. Thinking about that made me queasy. Lucius' powers were incredible, yet he claimed to be far weaker than Arman.

Meaning Arman must have been that much more powerful. The fact that he had fought Mogul and ended up like this... I could only imagine how strong Mogul must had been.

Of course, I didn't tell anyone this. Because whenever I brought up Arman, Lucius would yell at me. Well, more than anything else. Lucius was always mad about something.

When I ask Merrow about Arman, she just becomes sad, and tries to change the topic. But I know one thing. As the first Remnant, he definitely had more experience than all of us.

But then again, wouldn't that make me the third strongest of all the Remnants? It certainly didn't feel that way. Especially considering Lucius was the ninth oldest. Meaning there were six other Remnants who I was obligated to surpass.

And here I was struggling to even summon a tiny spurt of flame without it going out of control.

"Hey, little man. You good?" Michael held out his hand. I took it.

"Yeah."

"No worries."

We walked down a stretch of land. The scenery was amazing. Forests, wildlife. Occasional monsters appeared, but didn't seem to mind as we kept our distance.

"So." Michael walked next to me.

"You tryna bulk up for your lady?"

I could feel my ears turning pink. "I... yeah. Yeah I am. I just don't want to be so weak anymore. I feel like I'm burdening her. Please don't tell her that though."

Michael laughed. "It's all good man. I heard you're learning from Lucius. I don't know if that's a good idea."

"What do you mean?" I turned to Michael.

"You're tryna push yourself to be something you ain't. You're a good kid, Deacon. Just be yourself. No need to push yourself to do things you don't feel is right just because Lucius thinks it's dumb. He's never had a girlfriend before, so he wouldn't understand."

"I... I guess."

Michael laughed. It echoed across the plains. "The last thing Meena wants is for you to end up like that psycho. Lucius is brave and he's got major guts. It's just who he is. But Meena loves you for who you are. Sure, it's good to step up, but don't try to walk in someone else's shoes. Cuz oftentimes, you'll realize there's a lot of shit that goes into someone else's life than you realize."

Chapter 29 (Remnant 3)

So we basically got locked up.

"I thought you knew this Curly Prima of the Inquisition. How the hell we end up behind bars." Lucius asked Merrow.

Merrow looked at Lucius sheepishly. "I didn't think her Garrison unit had expanded that much. Maybe they're just taking extra precautions. Once Kyrael recognizes me, you'll see."

I slumped on the ground. Meena was in the other holding cell, and she started to light up a cigarette. I had tried to get her to stop smoking, and at some point, she did. But the habit resurfaced. Our weapons were confiscated, but for some reason, Meena was still allowed to have her lighter. Which didn't make much sense. I guess the guards were newly recruited too.

The guards tried to confiscate Pariah, but with massive difficulty, as you would expect.

"Your sword." They told Lucius.

"Yeah sure, take it." He smiled at them, evilly. Lucius threw Pariah at them, and all three of the guards were flattened by the sheer weight of the blade. They needed at least twelve other guards to step in and take the weapon. I think at some point, they even got Michael to help them out. They locked him up too shortly afterward.

"The hell, man?!" Michael exclaimed.

That was pretty funny.

That was really the only highlight of the day. Other than that, we spent it locked up. The sun was going down, and this Kyrael person had not arrived yet.

I was getting really tired, and I had no choice but to sleep.

I didn't like sleeping. That might sound weird to you. But for me, sleeping was terrible. Because of the dreams.

I have two kinds of dreams. The first kind, is the ones that are, now I realize, linked to my Remnant nature. I dream of Decen, and his adventures with Merrow. In a way, I feel my level of connection to Decen is one of the stronger ones. Because when I asked Lucius, he had told me he only ever had slight vision lapses of the Paladin. The one time he had dreamed of Decen, it was when he had manifested his spike formation.

The other kind of dream... is disturbing. And it disturbed me for so long, that I never told the others. Not even Meena.

It's kind of like what Lucius had encountered, with Decen, in his vision. But this person... was not Decen. He was someone else. Something else.

Unfortunately, it was just my luck that the dream I had was of the second kind.

"You are weak." The boy muttered. I was in pitch darkness, standing in front of me, was him. The person, he looked like me. He had chin length snow white hair, just like Decen's, but the bangs were even longer, covering his eyes and his nose almost. Strands and gaps between the bangs made way for his large eyes. His eyes, even more menacing than Decen himself. He looked... psychotic, and maniacal.

"You are nothing." He approached me, and grabbed my collar, breathing down my neck.

"A mere shell, an inferior vessel, for me to emerge. You cherish your life, knowing it is merely temporary. A mere stepping stone, for me."

This is what I mean by these dreams being disturbing.

"I won't let you come out." I said, sternly, but this kid was making me so nervous, my knees began to shake.

The kid smiled, menacingly. His body suddenly became wreathed in a blazing orange flame. Contrasting with his hair and his crazy face, he looked... demonic. Along the left side of his face, was a partial skull, glowing from underneath his skin. The kid laughed maniacally.

"You are nothing to me. If you want me gone, you will have to kill me."

I tried to summon my own flames, but I could only manage two small spurts of fire at the palms.

The kid approached me, and shoved me across the darkness.

"Where is Meena? Going to run off to Meena? To Lucius? To Merrow? They can't save you from me. Because you ARE me. None of them stand a chance, they will all..."

The kid lifted up his finger, causing a massive torrent of flame to rise up, flooding the surroundings.

The inferno subsided, as I saw his sinister face, his eyes, glowing with malice.

"BURN."

"NO." I shouted. But the kid leapt into the air, landing on me as I was pinned down.

"Take off that mask.

Embrace who you truly are...

Fury."

The kid laughed, his breath even resembling flames. His white hair, glowing bright just like his flames. His superior flames, far hotter than mine. Probably the strongest I ever seen from a fire user.

"Why not let loose a bit? Decen was a killer. We came from Decen. Why can't we be killers?" Fury tilted his head, his hair shifted to reveal his one eye, which glowed orange at the pupils.

"No..." I muttered, choking, and struggling to breathe.

"Why not?"

"Because... if I let you loose...

I won't ever come back."

Chapter 30 (Remnant 9)

I woke up.

"Damn... this is cozy. Which one of y'all brought in a pillow?" I joked. I repositioned myself, then realized I had fallen asleep on Merrow's shoulder. She was giving me a sarcastic smile.

"AAH! The hell is this?!" I yelped, falling backwards.

"What's wrong? Months back you would have paid to have this moment." Merrow laughed.

"Yeah, real funny, mermaid girl. How the hell are we still locked up?"

Merrow glanced at the guards, who paid us no attention.

"Kyrael's on mission right now. I guess we'll just have to wait until she gets back."

I sat in silence, watching as the sun made stupid shadows in our holding cell. At least I had the gift of silence.

"AAH!" Deacon woke up, nearly banging his head on the wall. So much for my silence.

I scowled. "How do you freak out even when falling asleep?!"

Deacon rubbed his head. "I'm sorry... just nightmares."

I sighed. "You know, for someone who is supposed to be the older brother, you sure ain't acting the part."

Deacon looked down.

"Lucius..." Merrow said.

"What? I'm just saying! He's what, the third eldest? I'm like the ninth, shouldn't there even be a level of maturity around here. Like come on."

I turned to Deacon. "How old are you? 9? 10?"

"I'm 25."

"Like... biologically?"

"Chronologically."

Merrow's ears perked up. "I'm... sorry? 25 years?"

That made no sense at all. Arman was only 11. There was no way Deacon was 25. I resolved this the only way how.

I grabbed Deacon and slammed him against the wall. Of course, the guards didn't pay attention.

"Lucius!" Merrow scolded me, but Deacon held up his hand.

I glared Deacon up and down. "What game you playin at? There's no way in hell you're 25. That'll make you older than Arman. And he's 11."

Deacon struggled to breathe. Merrow yanked me off of the Remnant, as Deacon began to explain himself.

"Where I'm from, time flows faster. When I was born, I was told that I ended up in the Chron Formation. Time was accelerated dilated there. A year in there would only be a few weeks out there. I was cared for by the keeper, Khan. But eventually, when I had grown to the age of 15, I left the Formation and travelled to the town of Blackwater, where I ended up looking for work for five years. Ended up working for The Organization. Here and there, I worked with some of their mercenaries, but I wasn't worth much, so I constantly got sacked. At some point, I got picked up by Meena."

Merrow smiled. "And it was love at first sight?"

I cringed.

"Not really..." Deacon smiled nervously.

"She hated me, like a lot. Found me annoying because I was so soft."

"Ay, that's facts. She's a real one." I joked. Merrow elbowed me.

Deacon laughed. "Meena today is completely different from the Meena back then. She was a mercenary, an outlaw. Hated everybody and everything, and had the worst temper imaginable. She would literally pull her gun out if something so much as got on her nerves. I lost count of the times she beat me up, threatened to kill me, or actually almost killed me."

"Reminds me of somebody." Merrow chimed in.

"Real funny." I grumbled.

Deacon continued. "She always beat me up, calling me pathetic and a loser and stuff. But I guess at some point, she started to see how much I cared for her. Because under all that toughness, was someone hiding, and trying to protect herself. I helped her open up. It did take a few years for that to happen, but still."

Deacon smiled at Meena, who had fallen asleep, her arms crossed.

"She changed, and became kinder. She's always looking out for me, hoping I would keep being me. Because in a way, I was kind of like her voice of reason. The crime, the darkness of Blackwater, it really got to her. And I guess I kind of helped her resurface. When we had our first kiss, it was also her first smile. Of course, she was super embarrassed about it and threatened to shoot me in the head if I told anybody."

Merrow put her hand on Deacon's shoulder. "That's so sweet. You two are meant for each other."

Yeah. Real sweet. A real love story. Maybe once the fight was over, I could be his best man in his wedding. Bring in Mogul too, once I beat him senseless.

But it still wasn't an excuse for him to be so damn weak. If we were going to fight Mogul, he needed to bring in his A-game. Mogul was definitely not going to be waiting for this kid to summon a tiny ass spurt of flame. The only real practical use I could see was using him as bait, for me to take down that guy myself.

Chapter 31 (Remnant 9)

Kyrael Prima of the Inquisition is a goof.

Hey, someone had to say it.

"Oh my goodness! By the Makers! Merrow! I'm so sorry, this is like the third time you've been behind bars! I'm sorry. Sorry sorry sorry!" Kyrael ran in, like a mess. She had pointy ears, her hair, blonde, streaked with white. She had a cute face I guess. Sort of looked Scottish. Actually I have no idea. She just looked European. I don't know if that makes sense, and if I offended some of you.

Anyway, I watched as Kyrael ran to our holding cell. One of the guards saluted her.

"Lady Prima of the Inquisition!"

"Officer." Kyrael saluted back, but tripped on his boot.

"Lady Prima!!!" The guard yelped.

"I'm good! As you were."

We were finally free. Merrow and Kyrael were busy catching up, complimenting each other on their looks.

"New armor?"

"Wow, you noticed! Really brings out my eyes, doesn't it?"

I tried to hide the annoyance in my face. But of course, Michael had to ruin it. "Hey ladies, Lucius here has something to ask!"

I glared at Michael, who grinned. I bet he was enjoying this.

"Where's our gear? You lot took Pariah. Gonna need someone with super stren-"

"Oh! You mean the big scary glowing sword? Hold on, I'll get it, one second!"

I raised my eyebrows. "There ain't no way you can carry that sword on your own lady."

The guard instantly ran up to her. "But Lady Prima, you shouldn't stress yourself. Let us take the blade."

Too late. Kyrael returned, holding the sword with both of her hands. She was struggling a lot, but considering it took like fifteen guys plus Michael the Chad to even lift it into the air, it really showed I freaking strong Kyrael was.

"Wow... this thing's heavy! You wield this thing in battle?! You're crazy! Must be the Decen genes!"

I took the sword, and put it back into its strap. The guards all stared at me. Other guards were ordered to return our stuff too.

"How did you know I was Decen's Remnant?" I asked.

Michael smirked. "I don't know. Cuz Merrow told her?"

My ears went pink. "I... uh..."

Kyrael began to squeeze Deacon's face. Meena stepped forward, about to take out her gun from under her arm, but momentarily stopped. "Wow! The resemblance is uncanny! You two are like his kids! That's so cute!"

She went up to me, but I held out my sword. "Stay the hell away from my face."

The guards stepped forward, Kyrael laughed. "And you.... definitely remind me of him! That confidence. Those SPIKES! Wow!"

Meena stepped closer to Deacon, like she was marking her territory. Kyrael apparently noticed.

"Aww, you must be his girlfriend! How adorable."

Meena's face turned red in embarrassment.

"Umm, Kyrie?" Merrow asked.

"Yes?"

"We're still in the slammers. You mind taking us to the Council room?"

"Oh! Yes, of course. Yikes, definitely not bringing in my top game today! Man, it would be weird if we were talking in here!"

Yeah. This was the leader of the Inquisition. How it had become one of the growing military and peacekeeping forces in Corinth was honestly beyond me.

Chapter 32 (Remnant 9)

"So you see, we need your help to train Deacon here to use his powers." Merrow explained.

Kyrael put her hand on her chin. We were in the Council room. Apparently, it's where she and her advisors plan missions and determine which forces to send to which mission. She had three advisors. A stealth corps, a military corps, and a diplomatic corps.

I didn't care about all that stuff though. The chairs were comfy.

I propped my feet on the table, and Merrow shot me a deadly glare. I sheepishly put my feet back on the ground.

"I don't... wanna be rude or anything, Miss Prima, but how can you help me control my powers?" Deacon asked.

Kyrael smiled, and leaned forward, opening her hand. A small fire manifested, then transformed into constructs, just like Merrow's Hydropower constructs.

"Who do you think taught Merrow here how to control her water powers? Hm? Dear old me!" Kyrael started laughing. Like she had said the funniest one liner ever. We all just sat there in silence as Kyrael continued laughing.

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry. Well anyways, I have the ability to manifest fire. Since my dad was a meta human, you know what those are right?"

Deacon nodded like a five year old.

"My father was known as Vectane Prima, the most powerful pyrokinetic in history, being the son of Exodus Prima, the Paladin of The Elements. Which sort of makes us cousins, isn't that awesome?!" Kyrael turned to me.

"Yeah. Fantastic." I grumbled.

Kyrael continued. "But in terms of control it wasn't my dad's side who had the skill. That belonged to I'hael Raena. A dark elf outlaw. She had incredible ice powers. Making me a hybrid of fire and ice!"

Kyrael held out her other hand, which steamed with frost.

Okay, I had to admit that was cool. Wait. She had fire powers. And ice powers. Could that mean...?

"Well, that's besides the point. I can help you master your powers, Mister Chow! And soon, you'll be able to do so much more in the battlefield-"

"Can you free Arman?" I accidentally blurted out.

Michael nearly choked on his drink, probably from a laugh.

Kyrael put her hand on my shoulder.

"Young Remnant, I wish I could free your brother. But the ice being generated from that sword isn't normal ice. It's celestial and Titanic in nature. I can't control or melt it. It needs to be a celestial flame, and unfortunately, neither of my parents' powers are celestial."

My heart nearly dropped a hundred feet to the ground.

"You're telling me that... Deacon can't reverse it?" My hand clenched into a fist. Dammit! After all this... Arman was going to... going to...

"No." Kyrael cut me off.

"He can."

I looked up, in shock.

Kyrael went up to Deacon and held his wrist. Meena became super protective again, but Deacon waved her off.

"It's okay, Meena."

Kyrael inspected his wrist.

"Deacon here has celestial fire. I don't know how, but his flames aren't natural. It sure isn't Darkfire either... but it seems, similar. Almost to another level of celestial flame. If he masters it, he might become one of the strongest fire users in history!"

I sighed, with relief. That was all I needed to do. But I still needed to get stronger. Just because Deacon was a special cookie didn't mean we could slack off. Mogul was still out there. And we needed to get stronger.

"Hey, Kyrael? Got anything we can use to train and get stronger?"

Kyrael raised an eyebrow.

"We have a gym..."

"That's not gonna be enough." I responded.

Suddenly, someone came into the room, he was holding a huge report.

"Lady Prima, we need more resources for construction. We don't have enough people hauling in the raw materials for our construction progress."

Kyrael inspected the paper. "Damn. We seem to be lacking behind. What's the cause? It's not enough workers to transport stuff right?"

"Precisely."

"Maybe we can get some more guys on it."

"We can't house any more cohorts, ma'am."

I suddenly had an idea.

"I can do it."

Everybody stared at me. Michael raised his eyebrows. "You gonna be a construction worker?"

I stood up, and looked at the paper. Hauling and lifting logs, metals, everything. This was perfect for strength training.

"I'll carry them all, it'll be great training for me, and it'll ease out your workers."

Kyrael took the paper.

"You sure? The metals and raw resources in Corinth aren't like conventional wood and metals you're accustomed to out there. This stuff is super dense, and way heavier. It's how we make our fortress so durable to attacks."

I mashed my fists together.

"Yeah. Let's do it."

Chapter 33 (Remnant 3)

I concentrated, and summoned a tiny spark of flame. It immediately began racing up my sleeve.

"Focus... Deacon. The fire is part of you, it's not against you." Kyrael reassured me.

I focused, and the flame stopped climbing.

"Good. Now see if you can redirect it back into your palm."

I closed my eyes, clearing my mind. I imagined the energy radiating out of my palm, then a sphere constraining it.

Easy.

Easy....

"AAAARGH!!!" A yell broke the silence, as I immediately lost focus. The flames raced up my sleeve and set my shirt on fire. Kyrael quickly doused it with a blast of frost.

I marched to the window, and looked out.

Lucius was dragging log after log after log in a massive chain. His face was contorted in pain as he trudged forward. Yelling and grunting, forcing the logs to keep moving with his wire rope harness.

"Yeah... Lucius said he needed harder training. So I gave him a dampening collar made by one of our mages in the Inquisition. He's running at 40% of his usual strength."

"40%... and he's carrying all that..." I muttered.

Kyrael put her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. His path is to build his strength and conditioning. Your path is to control your powers. You two have different ways in getting stronger. There's nothing wrong with that."

I smiled. "Thanks, Kyrael."

"Call me Kyrie!"

"Uhhh... okay." It felt weird calling her that, considering she was literally the leader of the entire Inquisition. Was I supposed to bow or something? I just didn't know. But she was so friendly with me, probably because I reminded her of Decen, who was a dear friend of hers, just as he was to Merrow.

I spent the next few months training with Kyrael. She was a really good teacher. And soon, I had begun to master my pyrokinesis, to generate fireballs in each hand.

"Look at you, Deacon! Pretty soon, you'll be the one doing all the candle tricks on your dates with Meena!"

I laughed. "If only Meena did 'candlelight dates', or even dates in general."

By the fifth month, I was able to use my fire as propulsion, and began working on increasing the intensity of my flames. It was during this time where I found myself training alongside Lucius.

Whenever I flew into the air through a bunch of ice obstacles Kyrael had made for me, I would see Lucius dragging enormous truckloads of mined ore with just a couple of wire rope straps, which was said to be even heavier than celestial steel.

Whenever I would throw my fireballs to work on its range, I would see Lucius doing pectoral flies with literal chunks of boulders, the boulders going up to the top, where workers would extract them one by one, then whenever the harnesses reached the bottom, the workers would load the chunks inside for Lucius to repeat the movement.

Whenever I would shoot as much fire from my palms as I could to overcome the gravity magic one of the mages would put on me, I would see Lucius doing one arm pull-ups with tonnes upon tonnes of mining ore.

Even after I was done training, I would see Lucius still grunting away. Lifting an obscene amount of weight, overhand presses, bench presses, you name it.

He trained like an animal, and he did it smartly, so he could be given two days of rest in between different exercises.

One day, I walked to the firing range, where Meena was shooting at moving targets with a cigarette in her mouth. I waved my hand, and the flame extinguished.

Meena spun around and aimed one of her revolvers at my head. "The hell?! You want to get yourself killed?!"

Her eyes widened when she suddenly saw me.

"Deacon! Oh god, I'm sorry." She put her revolvers back into her belt.

"I thought you were going to give up on smoking." I noted.

Meena looked away. "I... It's..."

I looked at the firing range, the targets all had a million holes in them, dead set in the center. Her aim was as flawless as ever.

I tried to brighten her up. "Want to go for a walk?"

Meena and I walked along the top level of the castle walls, overlooking the Inquisition Fortress. It was the night sky, and it was beautiful.

"Hey... uh, Deacon?" Meena asked me.

I turned to her. She was fidgeting with the straps on her belt, taking out her revolver and flipping it in her hand.

"If what Kyrael says is true... and you become strong... you're not going to leave, right? As in leave me?"

My eyes widened. "Why would I do something like that?"

Meena put her gun away. "For so long it was always me bailing you out of trouble, saving your life, and protecting you. And now you're starting to become stronger, and at some point I feel like you just won't need me around..."

I walked up to her took her hand.

"Do you remember, what I told you? When you told me to leave, when you said if I couldn't deal with the way you did things, I wasn't worth having around?"

Meena tried to hide her tears by putting on a scowl, like she used to do a long time ago.

"Yeah. Not too proud of that."

"I told you I was going to stay, because of you. Because of the real you. Under all that skill, violence, under all that past. I wanted to stay and see the real you come out. You were so alone, and in the city of Blackwater, it only made it so much worse. But I stayed because I saw light inside one of The Organization's greatest and most brutal mercenaries. I stayed for you, not for your skills and abilities."

Meena managed a laugh. "Even if I can't shoot a gun."

"I won't leave you."

"If I can't walk."

"Nope."

"If I just leave you to do everything for me."

"Okay, now you're pushing it." I joked.

Meena laughed, and grabbed me by my face. I leaned in, for a kiss, until suddenly we were interrupted by Lucius.

"LET'S GOOOOOOO AAAAAAAGHHH!!!!" Meena's face went back to her usual scowl. She peered over the edge. I followed her.

Lucius had lifted an equivalent of four buildings worth of Corinth Concrete on each end of the Corinth Steel bar. It was so heavy, that the bar had started to bend, but Lucius had managed to get it over his head, even with the collar on, capping his strength by 60%.

"Chrissake, he's insane." Meena muttered.

"I know." I responded.

"Deacon?"

I turned around. "Yeah?"

"I'm proud of you. For becoming tough. I respect that. But..."

"But?"

"Just don't change yourself to be someone you're not. I love you for who you are."

I smiled. "Loud and clear."

Chapter 34 (Remnant 9)

I found Michael training in the gym.

"Damn, four plates? Not bad." I walked in on him repping the weight.

Michael racked the barbell, and sat on the bench.

"Yeah, but I heard you were reppin the entire frickin continent the other night."

"With my super strength, yeah."

I looked at the dumbbells. Picked the heaviest one at 150 lbs, and started doing curls for fun.

Michael smirked. "Biceps biceps biceps. Everybody be goin in on the biceps. You know it's not just biceps to get big arms right?"

"Really?"

Michael stood up and straightened his arm. Massive bulges appeared on the side, and a huge lump was at the back of his arm.

"Triceps make up most of your arm. You want big arms? You train both biceps and triceps."

"Huh."

I sat across from him. Big Mike had worked up a big sweat. He took a towel and wiped his face.

"You scared?"

"What you talking about, being scared." I muttered.

Michael laughed. "Of Mogul. My guy, I been hearing you chanting his name like a god damn trance every time you train. It's pretty common to be scared."

"I'm NOT scared of him. I hate him. For everything he did to Arman. I'm gonna make him pay. With his god damn head."

Michael got up, and checked himself under the lighting. He looked like a black superman.

"Well, Imma tell you now. I'm terrified of that crazy ass. Every time I see Merrow thinking about fighting him to protect you guys, I get scared as hell. I don't wanna lose her."

I rubbed my corrupted arm. "Well, Merrow's tough."

Michael looked at me. "You don't get it, do you."

I glared at him. "The hell's that supposed to mean."

Michael held my glare. "What Merrow's goin through right now. She watched her own lil bro get choked to death. She saw everything, all his dreams, taken down. Ya know what kinda damage that does to a person? You were hurt, you can't deny that, when Arman was put into that state. What woulda happened if Mogul actually killed R1?"

I said nothing. Michael continued.

"Now not only that, she has to see you every day. You and your brothers, who look almost exactly like Decen. She watched Arman nearly die the same way. That kinda shit would do things to even the toughest people. Merrow's got a good heart, but she has limits. She's already gone through enough hurt. Now she gotta watch over and find fifteen of Decen's Remnants before Mogul does? She's under a ridiculous amount of stress and pain. I wish I could do something to help her out, but..." Michael looked away.

"Whatever, you probably wouldn't get it."

I looked at my arm again. The day I lost control of my spikes. I remembered hearing Merrow's voice. She was hysterical, panicking. Worrying for my well being. Even after I had told her off, made her cry, called her weak, left her.

Michael was right. I didn't see it until now. How could I have been so blind. Merrow...

"You're right, man." I replied. Michael looked surprised.

"Why you lookin surprised for? I'm not stupid. I know... I just didn't realize it until now. I'm sorry, man. That I been hurting her. She's your girl, and I did these things."

Michael scoffed. "Well, sounds like you still have some sense in you."

I smirked. "Yeah. Guess I do."

Suddenly, the entire roof of the gym began to shake.

"The hell?!" I exclaimed.

Michael quickly ran out the door, and changed into his normal attire. "Earthquake?"

"Ain't no way that was an earthquake!" I held out my arm to summon Pariah. Nothing happened.

"Shit... I forgot Pariah doesn't return to my hand no more." Every since I forced my Spike power (that's what I'm calling it now) into Pariah, it had never been the same. Refused to fly into my hand like before.

"Well, hurry the hell up kid! We ain't got all day!"

"There's no time, let's head to Kyrael."

I opened the door, and was greeted with a snarling monster.

"Holy mother of-"

The monster tried to bite at me, but I summoned several spikes on the knuckles of my left fist, and smashed it into the monster's face, cutting it open and sending it through several buildings. The creature lay there, unconscious.

The spikes retracted into my left hand as we stepped outside.

Several townsfolk were being attacked by the same monsters, but Michael put an end to them with a huge eye beam.

I looked up. A giant floating... thing. Was in the sky.

"What the hell is goin on..." I muttered.

One of the Inquisition guards ran up to me. "Sir, I ask that you come to the evacuation area."

"What's going on!" Michael shouted at the guard.

The guard looked terrified. "We are being invaded, by the Halakites. Alien species. Come, we must hurry. I've been sent to evacuate as many people as we can."

Chapter 35 (Remnant 3)

I dreamt of the past.

"Alright, listen here, you stupid god damn excuse of a man." Meena grabbed me by my collar, aiming her gun at my face.

"You don't GET to spare the package. You don't GET to make demands. I AM your boss. You think this is a place for your stupid morals? If you want to go run to your morals, then go find the local church, and kiss the priest's ass!" Meena growled, throwing me to the ground.

The little kid that she had kidnapped started to tear up, as Meena turned around, glaring at the window of our hideout.

"The buyers are going to be waiting. We don't have time for this shit." She muttered.

I went up to the kid and tried to reassure him.

"It's okay. It's okay. You won't die."

Meena glared at me. I quickly stopped talking.

Suddenly, the windows lit up, from several car lights. I could hear the sounds of a bunch of people leaving, the sounds of guns at their sides.

"Dammit!" Meena growled. "They set us up!"

"Meena Kennedy! Organization's most brutal, finest mercenary! I've been told you possess the military strength of twenty men! Well, I'm here today, with my squad of thirty. Hand over the child, and no one gets hurt!"

Meena drew her two revolvers.

"Your dumbass thinks I can't kill thirty of your goons?" She shouted back.

"No... but not when we have a hostage!"

Meena narrowed her eyes. I peeked from behind my cover. It was an innocent man, gagged, and beaten. I recognized him immediately. Charles. He had helped hide us along with the package when we were on the run from the cops.

"Meena... that's Charles! We need to save-"

Meena suddenly started laughing. Maniacally. "ahaha. HAHAHAHAHA. What the hell. That's rich."

"Me- Meena?" I asked nervously.

Meena looked at me, expressionless. She didn't even look the other way, before putting up her revolver, and shooting Charles straight in the face. I was in utter shock.

"Why... WHY?!" I screamed at her. But Meena glared at the squad of troops.

"He's an obstruction to our mission. I don't give a shit about him. The same way I don't give a shit about this brat. Or those guys. It's all about money. That's the real world. It's about survival, and survival is money."

Meena leapt out of the cover as she began shooting the goons, evading with her incredible agility, dodging bullets and causing mass chaos as she somehow outgunned the thirty men.

I could only watch in horror, along with the kid.

"Hey... Hey Deacon."

My eyes fluttered awake. Meena's face peered over me. It was just a dream, as Meena had woken me up. She ran her hand across my face. It was still dark, and I could barely make out her face.

I was probably talking in my sleep again, rustling and making a ruckus on the bed. It had probably woken Meena up too.

I sat up, next to Meena on the bed. "Sorry, it was just a dream."

"Was it... of me."

"No."

"You're a shit liar. You know that, right?"

I fumbled with my words, as Meena sat up next to me. I put my arm around her as she rested her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry I put you through all that." Meena muttered.

"It's okay. That was you in the past. You now is different." I replied.

"I know.. it's just... there's still so many things you don't know about me. I just wish there was a time and place where I can tell you-"

Meena was suddenly interrupted by a rumbling sound. The whole place was shaking.

"The hell is going on?" Meena exclaimed, instinctively reaching for her gun on the nightstand. I got up too, putting on my outdoor attire. Meena slipped on her clothes and kicked the door open, only for a... thing to greet us.

I yelped, before suddenly remembering I had the power to fight it now. Of course, Meena didn't give me a chance, because the moment she saw it, she instantly began shooting it, until it fell at her feet, dead.

"What... what is that thing?!" I asked.

"No idea. But it's dead as hell now. Let's find Kyrael and the others. Maybe they have an explanation. Stay behind me."

I followed Meena from behind, lighting up my right hand with fire to provide cover fire.

Chapter 36 (Remnant 9)

I bashed through a ton more aliens until I reached the castle.

"Who's bright idea was it to build the freaking gym so far away from the castle?!" I shouted at Michael, who had grabbed a piece of pipe and was smacking aliens around, along with his eye beams.

"Shut up and keep fighting!"

A horde of aliens descended from the skies, and landed on the ground before us. There was no time for this.

"Stand back, Big Mike." Michael stood back. My left foot flowed with red energy, as spikes protruded from beneath my jeans. I stomped on the ground, and a wave of spikes came their way, piercing the monsters as they squealed, dissipating into red mist.

I lifted my foot, and the spikes dissipated into red mist as well.

"Alright. Let's get mov-"

I was interrupted by a wall of black. I could feel myself flying through several buildings. I smashed into a wall, and became buried in tons of concrete.

"Grrrrr...." I grumbled, emerging from the mess to see who had walloped me.

Michael ran up to me and helped me get to my feet.

"You just got sent like a damn baseball haha!"

My eyes narrowed on the giant man who was carrying what looked like a huge axe. He looked at me, with the deadest eyes.

"Huh. Still alive? You're a tough one." He muttered. Then his eyes went wide.

"I CAN'T WAIT TO TEAR YOU OPEN AND SEE YOUR INSIDES!!!" His tongue stuck out, as he began laughing like a maniac. The fact that he was surrounded by a ton of burning buildings did not make this look any better.

So this guy was crazy. Didn't matter. Those months of training had made me even stronger than before. I didn't need Pariah for this.

I held up my fists, and bounced on the balls of my feet.

"Wanna open me up? Come and try big man."

The guy roared and rushed forward with his axe, swinging it. I caught it off of my corrupted forearm, the rough hide shattering his axe.

"WHAT?!" He growled, as I slipped in launching a heavy overhead punch with my left like a brawler, smashing him square at the top of his head. The big guy buckled, stumbling backwards.

I launched forward and slammed him into a nearby building.

"You ain't gonna do SHIT to me." I growled. Punching him in his armor, each punch buckling the armor.

"Uggghhh...." The crazy guy moaned. I picked him up by the face and threw him out of the ruins onto the ground, right before Michael's feet. Michael gave him a look of disapproval.

"Yeah. If you going to act all crazy, at least back it up with some strength." Michael's eyes flashed red, as the beam smashed the guy further into the ground. I walked up to him and grabbed his armor with my corrupted arm.

"Any last words?"

The man groaned. "Yes. You won against me, but our leaders... you stand no chance against them. Beware of the one. The executioner....

"Kallas."

I scoffed. "Good talk. See ya." My corrupted arm veins began to glow a brighter red, as I hurled his body out of orbit.

Chapter 37 (Remnant 3)

"Good work, Deacon! Keep the fire coming!" Kyrael smiled at me, as I fired jets of flame from the palms of my hand, burning the alien creatures, setting them ablaze.

Several of them were being sliced and diced by a combined effort of both Kyrael and Merrow, Merrow wielding her spear, and Kyrael wielding her twin daggers.

Meena fired her revolvers left and right, picking off the creatures one by one at frightening speed.

"Damn, girl! You're like an entire military on your own!" Kyrael complimented Meena, but she scowled, kicking a creature onto the ground, shooting it with her gun. It was weird, but we were all having trouble with these creatures, and Meena was able to put them down with a single bullet. But those bullets... they seemed... different from the ones she always used.

Kyrael held out her hand, creating a slide of frost, which Merrow slid down, wrapping Kyrael with a Hydropower hand, which flung her right through the body of a creature, cutting it into an icy sculpture.

"Deacon!"

"On it!" I held out my hand, and a blaze of heat melted the frozen body.

It seemed we had cleared all the monsters at the castle. Merrow carried Arman's frozen body with her.

"Any word from Lucius?"

Kyrael cleaned her daggers. "I heard he went to the gym to visit Michael during the late hours. They'll be fine. I need to rally our troops to redirect our forces into protecting our people. You guys try to help the evacuation if you can!"

Merrow nodded at her, then turned to us.

"Let's protect these people."

We ran across the Fortress, saving the people from the aliens. It felt surreal. I had never expected this place to be invaded by aliens of all things. I would have expected it to be attacked by monsters and stuff.

I continued firing blasts of flame at the monsters, pulling the people out, while Meena shot them down with her revolvers. It was still bothering me how she was able to dispatch them so fast.

"Meena?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

"What bullets are you using?"

Meena's face turned guarded. I felt uncomfortable. "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing... I just, I just find it strange you're able to destroy these guys so easily..."

"Halakites respond negatively to the material that I use for my bullets." She responded bluntly.

"Halakites?"

Meena's face suddenly became surprised, but returned to its scowl. "I... um."

The last of the people managed to get to the evacuation spot. I walked up to her.

"Meena... how do you know who these things are? Is there something you're not telling me?" I asked gently.

"NO!" Meena snapped. I jumped. Her eyes widened.

"Deacon... I... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to-"

A man's voice appeared behind us. "Meena Kennedy... apologizing? The hell happened to you?"

I turned around. The man was tall, like Meena, but taller. 6 foot 3 inches. A buzz cut, with a pair of shades that served as a reticle. He was built like a tank, but not to the level of Michael. But he looked dangerous. Very very dangerous. He was slimmer, but you could tell he was built like a fighter.

He wore a black trench coat, over a white t-shirt, and military camouflage pants. Behind his back was a sniper rifle, and an assault rifle, with elegant designs, similar to the Halakites. Along his belt, was the strangest looking weapon I had ever seen. It looked like a very wide sword... but at the same time, it had a barrel. A gun blade.

As for the coat... it was decorated with the same patterns as Meena's bodysuit.

Meena's eyes went wide, in disbelief. I never seen her look like that before. Her default expression was always either a glare, a scowl, or a look of embarrassment. She never showed fear... until now.

"Chance?" She whispered.

The man named Chance smiled, and lit a cigarette. "Wow. Meena. You've gone real soft. Who the hell is this runt? Don't tell me you actually stooped so low to get in a relationship."

Meena began to sweat, unable to speak. "You're... supposed to be dead. I watched you die... in our last mission together..."

Chance threw his head back and laughed. I noticed his neck was lined with something. An organic mass... that looked exactly like the Halakites.

"Oh no. No no no.... HAHA! The infamous Meena Kennedy. The ruthless outlaw... has a BOYFRIEND! My god. Don't tell me you let him pipe you too! What? Am I gonna be seeing kids in a few years?!"

Chance began laughing hysterically. I looked at Meena, nervously, and her expression had changed... to pure... intense... rage. The same deadly expression she had many years ago.

"Don't talk to her like that" I blurted out.

Chance raised an eyebrow.

"Deacon!" Meena looked at me, in disbelief. Her face was sweaty, and she sounded like she was breathing hard. "Deacon... listen to me. You CANNOT beat Chance. Run away. Don't provoke him any further."

I had no idea why I said it. I knew Lucius was a bad influence. But sometimes, I had to stick up for not just myself, but for the people I love. In Lucius language: ain't no way I was going to let this man disrespect my lady.

"Haha, little white knight here wants to protect his princess. Aw man. Meena, time did not serve you well. Look at you. Went from one of the finest killers to being a washed up BITCH!"

I roared, and fired a torrent of flame from my hands in Chance's direction, against Meena's pleads.

There was no way he could have escaped that. I fired the torrent in a widespread direction, but the moment I thought that, a huge streak appeared to the corner of my eye. How did he... how did he move so fast? His speed... it almost rivaled that of Meena's.

"Tough luck, kid."

In that split second, I could see that Chance had already aimed the barrel of his assault rifle to my head. I was going to die. It was so quick. I didn't even have time to finish my thoughts. My eyes widened as he squeezed the trigger.

PANG PANG PANG.

I opened my eyes, and realized that Meena had instantly closed the distance, the bullets deflecting off the sides of her revolvers.

"Chance... you pathetic waste of human slime..." Meena's eyes were full of bloodlust, and death. Her face gave me flashbacks to her killing days.

Chance smiled, maniacally, as he spun in the air, firing more shots at Meena's direction. But Meena flipped backwards, firing rounds of her own with her revolvers. The two operatives hit the ground. Meena aiming her two guns at Chance's face, and Chance aiming his assault rifle at hers.

"Meena... protecting another human being. Isn't this a special sight to see." Chance walked in a circle.

Meena also walked, her guns pointed at his face. "I don't know how the hell you survived. But I'm not gonna let you destroy this place. Your punk ass is gonna wish it never came back."

"Tough words, from someone taking pipe from a freaking beanpole. I guess I'll just have to save you the shame by killing you myself. How the times have treated us. We were both mercenaries, partners. Then one of us became stronger, and the other...."

Chance looked at me with sympathy. "Ended up knocked up."

I walked next to Meena's side. Meena looked at me, in surprise. "Deacon? Deacon, no. This is my fight."

"We fight him together." I smiled at her, my hands bursting into flames. "We got this." Meena stared at the flames coming from my hands, and managed a weak smile. Her crazed eyes from so long ago, returning to her face.

"Yeah. Let's destroy this guy."

Chapter 38 (Remnant 9)

Dirt.

My face was buried in dirt.

The guy who sent me to the ground looked like one of those classy supervillains who were secretly super strong. He wore a three piece suit, and along his left shoulder, were armor decorations similar to the Halakites we had killed off. Floating all around him were bunch of freaking locust like things, that when condensed together, formed a bunch of weapons.

"I was told that the Third Brother of the Halakite Trinity was sent to orbit by the one known as Brickhouse. It is a shame that this is what I see. Perhaps the gap between the Third and the Second was too great after all."

I tried to get up, but the guy pierced all four of my limbs into the ground, nailing me down. As for Michael, the dude tried to help me out but got his bum ass taken out in seconds.

"GRRRRRARRRR" I growled, trying to lift my head up, but the moment I did, a huge fork like thing manifested and slammed me back into the ground by the neck.

The dude, who I was guessing was the Second Brother knelt down.

"Now now. None of that. Your berserker rage is not enough to defeat me. Allow me to introduce myself..."

"Didn't ask." I grumbled.

The guy's eye twitched, as more spears came down from the locust swarm, impaling my body.

"AAAAAAAUGH!!!" I yelled in agony.

"My name is Malakai. The Second Brother. I belong to the Halakite Trinity. A band of three brothers, making me the strongest of my brethren. My power only dwarfed by the First Brother. Kallas."

Malakai knelt down in front of me. "But you see, I believe I should be the one to command the Halakites. For I am the only intelligent one. My younger brother is a buffoon. And my older... well. By the makers. He's just flat out crazy. The craziest of all."

The guy waved his hand, and I witnessed a skinny, tall, person breaking the bones of a victim, who was strapped to a chair, held down by chains, in a dark room. Every time I heard the wrenching SNAP, the victim screamed in pain, and the person would laugh hysterically.

"Yes. Kallas. He was known amongst us, as 'The Executioner'. Because after he was done with his 'play mates', they were usually dead, or changed forever. Many would say that his victims who survived were so broken, that they might as well have been dead."

I tried to summon my spikes. But I was in so much damn pain. If I so much as tried to expend any energy, he would drive the lances deeper into my body. I was definitely too injured to do anything. I just had to wait it out. Like a bitch. Screw me.

Malakai got up. "So... you've seen, for yourself. The insanity of Kallas, the Executioner. Say you, I believe I am the perfect fit as the General of the Halakites. Am I not?!"

"Uh..." I muttered. "Yeah. Sure?"

"NO!" Malakai screamed at my face. He lifted me from the ground, the lances digging deep.

"NO I DON'T!" Malakai began screeching.

What the hell was wrong with these people?! Did it run in the family?!

Malakai sent me flying through several buildings, as I slammed through wall after wall. The lances dissipated, and re-entered the locust swarm. I struggled to my feet.

I needed Pariah. I couldn't beat this guy with fists and spikes alone. Screw me. Trying to do this bare handed.

The guy flew in, his locust swarm following him. I had tried everything. A spike barrage. The locusts deflected it. A straight, hook, uppercut, every punch in existence. It didn't matter. This guy's locusts deflected them all.

And he wasn't giving me enough time to figure out how to beat him.

Several blades began slicing at my already heavily injured body. Most were deflected, but some managed to get me in my injuries, and I stumbled back, trying to throw another punch, but a swarm of them hit me dead set in the center, sending me into the sky.

"Aaaaah!!" I yelled as I fell hundreds of meters into the ground, shattering through the roof of a church.

I could hear the sounds of blades coming in. I couldn't win. I needed a strategy. I needed to come up with a plan. He was too strong.

Too strong.

Too smart.

Too versatile.

Wait. I smacked my head with my hand.

"The hell am I thinking?!" I laughed. Harder, and harder.

"I'm not Arman. That ain't how I roll." I grumbled, getting to my feet. Malakai ripped the doors open to the church.

Arman would have tried to come up with some crazy strategy. Some technique. Try to use his skills to their max and beat his opponents. If it was Merrow, she would have done something similar.

I'm not Arman. I'm no Merrow.

"Got any last words, Brickhouse? Before I do you the honors of ending your life?"

I looked up, smiling sinisterly. I didn't win with strategy. Screw strategy. Screw technique. How did I always win my fights? The good old classic way.

"Yeah." I growled. "Catch these hands... BITCH!"

I launched forward, my leg protruding with spikes as I zipped forward in a powerful leap, smashing my corrupted arm into Malakai, who blocked it with a shield of armor from his locust swarm.

"Really? I've been told you fight like a brawler. But this is just straight stupidity."

I widened my eyes, my smile becoming even bigger. "Hey. That's how I roll. Ain't no better way!" I roared, as my arm began to glow with red. The glow became so bright that sparks of red electricity began to arc my body.

Malakai's expression became confused. "I'm... being pushed back?"

I began seething, letting my rage take over. If I couldn't beat this alien clown. How could I beat Mogul? How could I lead the Remnants?

To take away a warrior's rage, is to take away a part of themselves. No man lives without anger, because it is part of them. Part of their warrior soul.

Damn. Right.

"Malakai..." I growled, looking up. My entire right side of my body had become cladded with my Spike Formation. I saw my own reflection from Malakai's terrified eyes. My right eye, glowing red, sinisterly, just like the veins that lined my entire side of my body. The lines also lined my left side, as smaller spikes began to stick out of my joints. My left knuckles, and my left elbow, protruding with black and red spikes.

"You're done." My voice rumbled, it had changed, from under my teeth, which had now become black fangs. To a mere primal rumble.

My fist broke through the barrier, and I grabbed Malakai by the face, leaping into the air.

Malakai yelled as I roared, the two of us sailing and landing onto the ground in a massive BOOM.

I rolled, my spikes and hide dissipating as I began to lose consciousness. I was getting lightheaded, having overused my spike formation. But at least I wasn't feral... well as feral, as the first time I used my powers.

Malakai's eyes were still wide open, his body, not moving, and his mouth was wide open. The locusts fell to the ground, and dissolved.

"Game over. Loser." I muttered, as I fell onto my face.

Chapter 39 (Remnant 3)

Meena and Chance clashed, Meena's face was menacing, and for a moment I thought she had the edge, until Chance smiled viciously, whipping around, and took out his gun blade, which knocked me back.

Chance began firing rounds from his gun blade, shotgun pellets in Meena's direction as she strafed to the side, yelling as she began firing her revolvers at Chance. Chance spun around, blocking the bullets with his gun blade, and retaliated with shots from his assault rifle.

Meena ran up several buildings, taking cover and firing at the same time. I flew to the air, and began firing streams of flame at Chance, but it was like I was just a mere distraction to him. He jumped at a building, and then leapt at me.

"No way..." I muttered, as he slammed, me in the face with his gun-blade. He aimed down, and fired several shotgun blasts at me, but I melted them with a wave of fire. Unfortunately, I fell the entire distance and landed on my back.

"Deacon!" Meena yelled. She turned to Chance.

"I'm gonna kill you." She growled.

Chance grinned. "Ooh. Scary."

The two continued exchanging fire, but despite holding her own, I knew that Meena was outgunned. Chance was able to hold his own against the combined effort of both Meena and I. Not to mention his guns... they were technology I had never seen before.

"Look at what you've become, Kennedy. Look at what this guy has done to you." Chance shouted, as he and Meena clashed again, diving and weaving from each other as they tried to aim their firearms and land a shot. Their agility... was incredible.

"Shut up.... so I can blow your face off!" Meena yelled, but Chance caught another one of her bullets, and sliced down, the gun-blade catching her arm.

Meena screamed in outrage, and kneed Chance in the side. She turned around, and launched a vicious back kick which sent him flying off the side of a building.

Meena was breathing hard as I ran up to her. "Are you okay?" I asked. Meena glared at Chance.

"Bastard got me... ugh. I'm gonna mess him up right." She muttered.

"Meena, we can do this. Let's take him on togeth-"

"You still don't get it, do you beanpole?" Chance's voice boomed from within the ruins of the building, as a bright cyan light glowed underneath. A massive explosion radiated, sending debris flying our way. I held out my hand and fired a blast of flame to melt it.

"The Meena that I knew, would never have this much trouble with me. The Meena I knew would have beat the shit out of me for even eluding to the possibility of her having a boyfriend. The Meena I knew would have finished me off no problem and made me beg for mercy, without anyone's help."

Chance tilted his head, and put his assault rifle on his back.

"You've ruined her. You made her soft. She's lost her touch. What's a soldier that refuses to fight? Huh? A killer that refuses to kill?"

I looked at Meena, and she was silent, her face was full of rage.

I was at a loss for words. He was right. Meena was... Meena was the greatest. She gave that all up... for me.

Chance chuckled. "Aw man. Look at you. Can't even clap back, even with lover boy's help. Just pathetic. Don't you hate it? Doesn't it make you feel wrong?"

"Stop this." I demanded. But Chance shut me off.

"Meena. You and I. We are killers. We're not like this guy here. It's just what we are. What we were made to do. He's ruined you."

BURN. I clutched my head. No. Not now.

WE ARE KILLERS TOO, DEACON. EMBRACE ME. MEENA DOES NOT WANT DEACON. SHE NEEDS FURY.

"No..." I muttered. I began to stumble, but for once, Meena didn't stop me. She was at a loss for words.

Meena took a deep breath. "I... who I am, is not who I was in the past. That past me is gone now... I..."

"Is that so?" Chance asked.

Meena gasped, her eyes wide.

Chance stepped closer, and I tried to get in his way, firing a barrage of flame, but Chance simply raised his gun blade, and swiped it away. He grabbed me by the collar and lifted me up.

I couldn't beat him. I couldn't protect my girlfriend. Even after all those months of training with Kyrael.

I thought I had gotten stronger.

I thought I could finally protect Meena. But now, in the time that she needed me the most...

Chance threw me to the side, and I hit my head against a rock. My vision became blurry.

Chance walked up to Meena. "If that is so... why are you hesitating? Your killer nature is rejecting it. It's rejecting what you're forcing into yourself."

Meena began to sweat, her hand shaking. "I'm... I'm..."

Before she could answer, a huge purple light enveloped the sky. I looked up, and saw a massive legion of Halakites. Surrounding one being. He was lean, tall, and skinny. But he radiated true malice. True power, his body glowing purple. And I realized that it was his glow, that was what made the sky this color.

"That's enough, Chance." The being held up his hand, and Chance winced.

"Yes... Master Kallas."

Chance backed off, as Kallas descended, landing on the ground. If even Chance was scared of this guy... there was no way we could stand a chance. I kept quiet.

"Meena Kennedy. You were the most ruthless of your kind. The woman who never failed a contract. To the point where even Chance here couldn't best you in combat. Intriguing. You abandoned your life to find love."

Kallas glanced at me.

"Isn't it fate, that you ended up here, once again?"

Once again?

"Meena...?" I asked. But Meena was silent. She couldn't meet my eyes.

Kallas laughed. "Oh dear. You never told him. I suppose that's to be expected. You were never in love before. Never knew that keeping secrets was truly the biggest cause for a failed love. My dear, there is no need to burden yourself with the corruption of this... boy. Join me. Become the perfect soldier."

Kallas glanced at Chance. "Even greater than Chance. I will turn you into the perfect being. And Chance shall serve as your slave. How does that sound?"

Meena looked at me. "I'm... I'm sorry Deacon. I kept this a secret. I... I don't deserve to be with you."

I stared at her. "No. Just... just tell me what's going on?! Who are these people?! Why are you affiliated with them!"

Meena looked away. "Deacon..." She sobbed, but held her breath. "I..."

Kallas looked at her, apologetically. "My dear, it isn't your fault that you ended up like this. But I will have to reawaken that killer side of you again. By ripping out the very thing that has been the cause of your downfall."

He glanced at me, and then held out his hand, which suddenly transformed into a massive blade.

"DEACON!" Meena screamed.

I looked down, at the red that had began to grow. Bigger and bigger. At the point where Kallas has stabbed me. I choked, and retched as I fell back. Kallas's blade turning into a very long and wide hand, wiggling inside my wound. I screamed in agony. It felt like someone had put a chainsaw in my chest. The pain was excruciating and I wanted to black out. Faint. I forced myself to go unconscious, but the pain was too much.

"STOP! NO!!!" Meena ran forward, but was intercepted by Chance, who knocked her out with a smack to the head with his gun blade.

"Meena..." I growled. I couldn't let it end like this.

"I... I won't die... I..... RRRRRAAAAAAAH" I roared as I grabbed Kallas's blade, superheating my hands and glaring at him with my eyes full of fury. Kallas's face looked surprised.

"My my. This one is lively... Say. Chance?"

"Yes, Master Kallus?"

"My last playmate. Kill her for me when I get back." Kallus muttered, then turned to me with a crazed expression. "I like this one."

"Very well. What about Meena?"

Kallus looked at her. "Bring her too. I want them both."

I seethed, fighting through the pain, glaring at Kallus as everything slowly went dark. I could feel myself being loaded into a bag, dragged into the spacecraft of the Halakites, along with Meena.

Chapter 40 (Remnant 9)

I ran to where the fighting was as fast as I could, only to watch Meena and Deacon become loaded into the spacecraft, and it blasting off.

I dropped Pariah, in shock.

I was too late.

I lost another brother.

"No....NO!!!" I screamed, grabbing Pariah. I slammed the blade onto the ground as hard as I could to generate a massive wall of spikes to impale the craft, but I was too weak. I was exhausted from overusing my powers against Malakai.

Deacon. That innocent kid. He was captured by Kallas.

I remembered what Malakai had told me. How Kallas had kept his torture victims inside, broke their bones for fun. Deacon... he was going to go after Deacon for sure.

I sobbed, as Merrow and the other caught up to me.

"Lucius... I'm sorry..." Merrow's bottom lip quavered. I sobbed as I fell into her embrace, the two of us crying in the destruction of the Fortress.

"I... I lost Arman. Now I messed up with Deacon." I sobbed.

"Shhh... Lucius. It's okay. We'll figure things out. It's okay..." Merrow stroked my back as she also sobbed.

Michael and the others looked down.

Deacon...