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_ Act 10: The Ryjy _

I looked at my mother, who was still standing right before me. I gulped, wondering what Bane was up to. I tried not to get angry in front of her, but the rage was growing within me. This was going too far. Of all the things he could have brought up, he had to bring her into this.

"I've been looking for you, Lane," she said, still smiling. "Come back to the house now. Dinner's almost ready and your father should be home soon."

Before I could answer, she took my hand and began to pull me back toward the forest. It wasn't like I could oppose my own mother. As we walked, I did manage snag my foot the root of a tree and it caused me to fall forward onto the ground. Luckily, I fell onto a pile of leaves to cushion my fall. The fall stung a bit as I did fall onto parts of a tree. As I was lifting myself up, I felt my mother grip my right wrist and begin to help me up.

"That's alright, mom, I can get up myself," I said.

She didn't seem to respond and I blinked, groaning as her grip suddenly tightened on my wrist.

"Mom, what are you doing?" I asked, feeling her other hand grip my left wrist now and squeezed it just as hard.

I let out a pined gasp and tried not to utter anything else. Where she was squeezing was a weak spot for me and I knew it. I couldn't do much of anything besides stay on my knees and experience quite a bit of pain. My arms were then forced back toward my head and suddenly, her left hand moved with a quick speed to my throat and she twisted my left arm while raising me into the air.

"Bane, make her... stop..." I said, barely being able to manage to speak because her grip was so firm.

"Now where would the fun be in that?" Bane asked, his voice covering all directions. "I never said I was going to play fair, Lane. Your mind is just too fun to mess with it to pass up."

I continued to gasp for air as my own mother choked me. I tried to grab her arm with my free hand, but I couldn't concentrate enough to get a firm grip. Her grip only tightened before she easily moved her arm and slammed me into a tree. The pain was about as intense as it was during the fight with the four clones. I had to try and focus, which was still difficult because she hadn't loosened her grip at all.

"Giving up already?" Bane asked, chuckling. "I should have known the only person other than Yuno or Tay that would make you not want to fight is your mother. Why's that, Lane? Because she's dead? Family? Hmm? In a way, you feel responsible, which is how this variation of her acts. She thinks you're responsible for her and your father's death as well."

I groaned and shook my head.

"I-I'm not responsible," I said, coughing before being thrown to the ground and feeling my mother step onto my back with a large amount of force.

I looked around and tried to find an opening, but my mother's strength seemed to greatly surpass my own. I couldn't move very well, if at all, under her stomp. I bit my lower lip as I kept trying to think of a way to get out of this without harming my own interpretation - or Bane's interpretation, rather - of her. It was then I realized something.

"Bane... If you're really me, then... isn't this some sort of mind game?" I asked, letting out a pained scream as my mother's foot dug into my back now.

"Aw, you're catching on again," Bane said. "It's not like it matters. You're less than an hour away from death if I was to estimate and you still haven't killed me."

"If this is a mind game... and you're me... Then I can control it, too, if I concentrate enough," I said, closing my eyes.

"Ha, nice try," he chuckled. "It's not going to be that easy. I'm significantly more... Wait, what's going on?"

My mother suddenly lifted her foot and stepped back before helping me up. I looked at her and bit my lower lip. I managed to take control of her and stop her from trying to kill me, but my own emotions were tough to keep down as she looked the same as she did from my memories. The surroundings began to shatter as I hugged her close, letting a tear run down my cheek.

"I miss you, mom," I said softly. "But I can't join you and Dad. Not for a long time."

"I don't want you to join us, Lane," she responded softly, definitely surprising me. "You have much work to do in the world still. You've become such a good boy. You remind me a lot of your father."

"Mom..." I said as the hug ended and she backed away. She was fading and I tried to reach out to grab her before hearing Bane roar out.

"No, I will not be bested by a coward!" he shouted. "I am the better you! I am superior! No way in hell am I losing to you!"

The world around be began to crumble before the scenery was replaced with a dock that I recognized from Tonoko. It was near Jack's Tavern and I watched Bane race over toward that establishment. I followed him, being able to keep up because he wasn't as fast as I thought he was. He disappeared into the crowd, which I knew he would do.

"Quit running and hiding," I said, noticing the people in the crowd rising and running at me now.

I ducked a few punches and had to block a several kicks as I was forced to fight them back. They were nameless illusions that I didn't give a damn about, so it wasn't too hard to look past the whole "hurting innocent people" thing he was trying to go for. A large patron soon intervened and actually grabbed me before tossing me in the air. He performed a roundhouse kick to my gut, which sent me into a light post. I let out a pained grunt, as it still felt very real. I fell to the ground, trying to ignore the pain.

"This is all... in my head..." I grumbled. "I control the world... like he can... Focus, Lane. Focus."

I heard the large patron grunt as he swung at me. I ducked to avoid the swing and managed to grab his left leg. I yanked it, causing him to be thrown off balance before pushing him back into the crowd surrounding me. Once I did that, I continued to focus.

"Disappear," I mumbled, clenching my fists.

When the commotion seemed to become quieter, I opened my eyes and notice the entire crowd was gone. I then ran toward the Tavern and noticed the door was open so I headed inside.

"Bane!" I called out, finding him at the bar. I ran toward him and managed to jump on him before he could teleport away "And now, you get this."

I slammed my fist into his throat, forcing him to fall to the ground and cause us to roll around before he kicked me off and coughed.

"Fine, we'll settle this with a death match," he said, firing a blast from his hand at me.

I let it hit me as it didn't do nearly as much damage as it had before.

"What?" he asked, sounding very surprised.

"It's not as effective anymore because I figured out your trick," I said. "This is in my head. You may truly be a part of me, but you can't overpower me once I have control over my own mind."

"Impossible," he said. "I gave you no time to focus or think. There's no way you have control now."

"You gave me enough time by running into the Tavern and not keeping the crowd empowered for very long," I said, grabbing him by the neck. "You want to make me feel horrible for not letting Marci live, you want me to feel responsible for my parents' murder, and you want me to believe things I wouldn't want to. Tell me where the antidote is, Bane. Then tell me - or better yet show me - the information you said I wouldn't want to accept. It can be fuel added to the fire to go after this prick that's drugged me and taken my team."

He coughed and struggled to breathe, obviously weakened considerably.

"I-I am the antidote, Lane," he said. "You have to accept me as an equal. Admit that I'm there, that I'm the part inside of you that wants to kill anyone that messes with the ones I love or admire. I'm the part of you that still wants to avenge your parents. We know he did it. We know he's going to deny it. Even more reason to let loose and accept me."

"He?" I asked. "I have two suspicions of who it was, Bane. Baron Runo is one of them, the other being the actual head of the Crimson Gavel. I'll accept you as long as you help me get to the goal I want. I want the Gavel gone and I want to work toward Baron Runo's head next. No more tricks, no more illusions. No more only aiding me when I need it. I'll learn to call upon your power in a battle, but understand this, I make the rules here. You do not get a say in wanting your own body or not."

"Fine, fine," he said, coughing. "Now quit choking me already."

I chuckled and watched him begin to glow as he soon surrounded me in an array of dust and light before I felt the energy re-enter my body. I grunted and then gasped as my eyes opened only to reveal I was still lying in the room from earlier.

"It was literally in my head," I grumbled, getting up. I wiped my forehead as it was sweaty and made sure to take off my shirt again.

I stood up fully as I looked in the mirror of the room. I smirked to myself, seeing the same gray hair and lighter fur tone that Bane had. I saw the marking on my right arm as well. I pulled my laser pistol out of my holster and noticed it had conformed to the color of my fur as well, along with having a newer looking grenade modification. I had to get out of the room and figure out what this meant before finding Jagger and the others. I walked over to the door and bit my lower lip, ready to test this new surge of strength to see if it was indeed strength. I lifted my leg as I used full force to kick the door, really enjoying the fact the doorknob and latch seemed to break immediately on impact.

An alarm went off and I ran out into the hallway. I didn't care if I was shirtless. I didn't feel afraid and I didn't feel intimidated anymore by Jagger's mind games. I moved as fast as I ever could as my energy source was indeed fighting and destroying the drug in my body.

"Subject Number 45964 has escaped, pursue and recapture!" I heard a guard call out.

I shook my head before heading in the direction of the voice and letting the man run straight into my closed fist. He was out cold and I yanked his walkie talkie from his belt. Before using it, I made sure to move to the main hallway which was probably twice as wide as the one I was in.

"Hey, this is Lane Silverbane, is there a Jagger Leville on the line here?" I asked, leaning against the wall.

"Bloody hell, you managed to break out of the coma the drug induced," I heard Jagger say over the walkie talkie.

"Yeah, your trick into trying to get my own energy source to kill me wasn't half bad until I realized I was still in my head," I chuckled. "Now, you're gonna be a nice mad scientist and tell me where my friends are or I'll make this wing explode with one shot since I noticed a liquid Harite container in a room I passed by. I know you know what happens when something like a barrage of bullets come in contact with it, right? It's highly explosive. Perhaps the only mineral on Krater that can take on a liquid form as well as a poisonous gas."

"No deal," he said. "You have no idea where I'm holding-"

He was cut off by a sudden explosion from the wing I was in. I had run to the exit and closed the reinforced door before firing at the Harite container so it exploded and incinerated any guard left in there. I only did it because I didn't sense Tay, Bernie, Minnie or the rest of the team nearby.

"Have you gone insane, lad?" Jagger asked over the walkie talkie. "What if your mates were in that wing and you just murdered them?"

"I knew they weren't," I replied. "Now that you know I'm not bluffing, tell me where they are."

"You're persistent, but I'm not motivated enough to tell you yet," he said, chuckling. "You may have blown up one wing of my lab, but you won't have such an easy time doing that again, Mr. Silverbane."

"We'll see about that," I said. "I know a standard lab like this one has four wings. Five if it's a prison-like lab, which makes me think it is considering I was a prisoner."

"You'll find my guards a bit more... powered up by the time you even find something to blow up the next wing," he replied. "Good luck not trying to kill your friends in the process."

I shook my head and placed the walkie talkie in my pocket before running down the wide hallway. I made it to the end, which brought me to Wings 2 and 3. I decided to go to the left first and busted the door open to Wing 2 with my shoulder. I grunted as it hurt slightly, but I made it inside. I heard footsteps shortly after and ducked behind a corner as they drew closer.

"Time to play," I chuckled to myself.

Once the sound was close enough, I extended my arm and watched a guard smack into it. There was a guard running right behind him and I elbowed the said guard directly in the face. I picked up the rifles and threw them into a nearby closet so they'd have to take a short while to find them. I peeked into room after room as I headed down the corridor, sighing as I didn't sense any sign of the others nor did I care for this wing that much. I pulled out the walkie talkie again and leaned against the wall.

"Still friendless," I said, chuckling. "I guess you don't mind your wings being destroyed. Don't worry, Jagger. I'm moving onto the ones that probably have vital information now. Gonna reconsider?"

"Like you have the position to negotiate or make demands," Jagger responded with a scoff.

"I'm growing impatient here," I said. "Either you come out of hiding or tell me where my friends are or you can let me destroy the last two wings before finally getting to that main lobby area. You know, the place with the exit. You wouldn't want me to get away now, would you?"

"You won't get away, I assure you," he chuckled. "You're quite cute trying to intimidate me. It's bloody adorable. It's also completely futile."

"You talk a big game for someone who knocked me out like a coward and now you're hiding in what I could assume would be called the master control room," I said, walking over to a set of bubbling beakers. "I assume you can see me, right?"

"Yes and you are near very toxic chemicals," he said. "The very same that created the drug I injected into you before you negated it. Do you plan to destroy those?"

"Well, destroy isn't the right term," I said. "Watch."

I grabbed the beaker with a strange orange liquid and poured it into the next beaker that contained a purple liquid. I then proceeded to mix the green liquid beaker with the yellow liquid beaker before combining them all. Putting on an air tight I cap, I shook the now standalone beaker before running toward the doorway to the corridor. I threw it in the air behind me, firing blindly at it with my gun. I nailed a direct it after two shots missed. It exploded behind me as I kicked the door shut, destroying the walls around it as it was apparently reinforced with Krazite.

"That was the specimen wing!" I heard Jagger shout indirectly over the walkie talkie. "Get that bastard now!"

"Sounds like I made you a little mad," I said. "Don't worry, Jagger. Even if it takes me leveling this entire lab to find you, you'll be dead soon enough."

"Your threats are an annoyance. You're a bloody ninny, you know that?" he growled. "You've ruined years of work. I'm not the one that'll be dead soon, Mr. Silverbane. You are putting a mark on yourself with this arrogance. You can't even comprehend my power. Morta was a joke compared to myself."

"If she was a joke, she at least fought honorably," I said, opening up the doors to the next wing.

I looked around as I did sense a presence here. I looked over my marking as I walked, blinking as I suddenly gained a splitting headache. I rubbed my head gently before the pain subsided. I shrugged it off and continued my search. I did hear a noise behind me, prompting me to stop and look back to check it out.

"You're easy to spook lately," came a female voice, causing me to sigh.

"Yuno," I said, looking back at her as she waved at me. "What the hell are you doing here? I don't need a rescue mission."

"I can see that since most of the lab is destroyed," she giggled.

"You making it in here undetected is awfully suspicious," I said. "It's not like you were trained in the Stealth Force."

"Well, you know me, I try everything," she said, patting my shoulder. "And relax, I'm here to help you find Jagger. The Cryptic Guard is trying to nail him for illegal experimentation. I figured we could temporarily work together, despite your feelings of animosity toward me."

"If it gets me out of here faster, fine, but I'm not leaving Jagger unscathed," I said. "He drugged me and nearly killed me, so I'm going to beat the crap out of him."

"Well, that's certainly a different tone from you," she blinked. "In the Academy, you'd never admit to performing such an act. I suppose he deserves it though."

"Times change, Yuno," I said, looking around. "Apart from you, I don't sense anyone else in here."

"Sense?" she asked, tilting her head to one side like a curious puppy. "What the heck happened anyway since I last caught up with you? Your hair's different; you have a rather appealing tattoo on your arm and ooh, muscles. I knew you snuck off to the gym!"

"Contain yourself, Yuno," I said. "Don't let the fact you've apparently missed me cloud your level headed mind. If Jagger catches you, he'll probably try to kill you himself."

"I'd like to see him try," she said, scoffing as she crossed her arms. "Besides, I can hold my own, Lane. You don't have to watch out for me."

"Call it a habit," I said, looking around as I walked ahead of her now. "Time to find something to get rid of the last part of this lab." I blinked and looked back at her now. "You're not going to even try to reason with me and say that's an insane idea?"

"Not really," she said, peeking under a few shelves. "You were doing just fine as a vigilante. I know you well enough to be able to handle yourself."

"I'll question you showing up later then," I said, kicking in a door.

Though what I noticed behind the door wasn't anything I was expecting to see. It was a large, burly male creature that resembled a mix of a Lunga and a Kreemer. It had brown fur on its body and its body was shaped like a male Lunga itself, though perhaps on steroids considering the muscle mass on it was considerably more than what would naturally develop there. Its arms were probably as thick as a metal crate. Its eyes were bug-like, having thousands of tiny lenses within them like the Kreemer's. They were red in color and seemed to be dormant as the creature didn't move. It also had a large set of 'feelers' on the top of its head, along with a mandible that probably acted as its mouth.

"What does this sick freak do down here...?" I asked myself before turning and trying to run out of the room.

I was met with the cold hard surface of the door as it had slammed shut. I let out a groan and rubbed my head before knocking on it as I didn't see Yuno in the room with me.

"Yuno!" I called out. "You out there? Unlock this door!"

I didn't hear a reply, which irked me because it meant she had already run off.

"Oh, jolly good," I heard Jagger say over the walkie talkie. "You're in the chamber with my experiment I call Rupert."

"Rupert?" I asked. "That sounds like a teddy bear's name. And this thing isn't a teddy bear."

"Cute," he replied. "If Rupert doesn't make quick work of you, then I'll just do it myself. Oh and just because he appears to only have brute strength, don't think he's easier to take on than Morta. She was literally the weakest of us all."

I heard him laugh as Rupert came to life behind me. I looked back and my eyes widened more when I realized he was twice as tall now as he was sitting down before and he had several rows of legs behind him, along with a large insectoid thorax.

"And this is bad," I grumbled.

Rupert slammed his large left fist in my direction, causing me to react quicker than I expected and barely managed to dodge it. He was much quicker than he appeared as the next thing I knew I was being slammed into the wall by the same fist as he quickly swiped the air before striking me. I let out a loud scream of pain as the walls cracked behind me and they were reinforced, unlike the other walls in the facility. I coughed up a small amount of blood before falling onto my knees. I breathed heavily already, wondering if any of my organs were fractured.

"Oh, boohoo, a strong opponent," I heard a voice chime in suddenly.

"Bane... I thought I absorbed you," I grumbled, grunting as Rupert grabbed me with his left hand, which was large enough to wrap around my entire waist.

"You may have done that, but I'm still here, Laney boy," he chuckled. "Oh, does that hurt? What are you gonna do? Knock him out? What's gonna happen when he wakes up? Unleash the fury we both know you have and kill the miserable guy. I mean, he's an experiment after all. He probably feels nothing. Is that incentive enough?"

I tried to ignore him as I struggled to break free of Rupert's grip. I ducked below his other fist and managed to get my arms free. I reached up and stopped him from slamming it down onto the top of my head. I grunted, barely able to hold him back as the muscles weren't just for show on him. My arms were weakening rapidly as his pressure was far greater than I could handle. I had to think fast. I bit my lower lip and assumed he had a similar weak point in his arm - specifically his elbow, so I struck it quickly. I did hear him groan and the pressure began to lighten up. I struck at it once more, followed by another strike with my fist. Rupert now roared out and let me go as he held his pained arm.

"Well, now to think of a plan," I muttered to myself, running behind him as I knew with his large stature, it'd take a moment for him to fully turn around.

"You think way too much," Bane said, interrupting my thought process. "Just perform an action, don't think. Act on instinct."

"Where the hell are you?" I asked, looking around as I managed to hide from Rupert now, even if it was a temporary spot.

"That's a dumb question," he chuckled. "I'm basically you and only you can hear me right now, so I'm in your head. Are you really that dense?"

"And you're an asshole," I said. "That doesn't mean I'm going to take your advice if you call the crap you're saying that."

"Pity," he said. "I know you planned on trying to ease this confrontation by using my power to make this quick. Well, guess what? No, you won't."

I blinked when the marking on my arm vanished and my fur was its normal color again.

"Bane, what the hell are you doing?" I asked, then ducked as Rupert had found me and slammed his huge right fist into the wall next to me.

"I said you won't be using my power in order to make this easy," Bane said. "And making things easy isn't fun to watch."

"Dammit," I said, grunting as I was struck by Rupert's next punch and fell onto the ground.

I coughed and rolled out of the way of the second punch as his quick attacks were actually pretty predictable now that I saw them. Constantly avoiding them, however, wasn't the way I'd beat him. I got onto my feet and ran toward a shelf before grabbing onto the top and pulling myself up to the top of it. When Rupert charged at me, I jumped onto his back and covered his eyes with one hand while slamming my fist into his skull with the other. He roared out in more annoyance than pain from the sounds of it, but I kept my arm around his head firmly. He stumbled around before I made him face the reinforced door and he charged into it. It was an attempt at getting me off of him, but he just nearly cracked the reinforced door in two. I let out a pained groan as my arm was injured in the impact, but it'd be worth it to try again and bust down the door completely.

"Using my creation as a battering ram?" Jagger asked over the walkie talkie. "That simply won't do, Mr. Silverbane. Did I forget to tell you? This beast is a situational type. It can adapt to anything you throw at him. Try to jump on his head again, I dare you."

"Confident, huh?" I asked, having jumped down from Rupert and held my injured arm so it didn't flail about.

I heard Rupert roar out as he turned toward me. I blinked as his right arm began to bubble as it transformed into a hammer-like object and he was even quicker now as I was struck without realizing he was already attacking. I flew into the wall, causing even larger cracks before it actually crumbled and I fell through the hole.

The drop was a few feet. Not enough to seriously injure me further, but enough for the drop to hurt. I managed to bring myself up silently, though I watched Rupert's entire body bubble as it formed into a liquefied state and rushed toward me.

"What the hell?" I asked as I jumped back so he missed. "And this just got worse..."

"I told you," Jagger chuckled, making me angry. "Oh, is that a growl I hear? Good. Get angry because you'll be dead soon, you little wanker."

Rupert made a charge for me again as he had reformed into a normal bipedal being, though still took on the design of a Kreemer-Lunga hybrid. I tried to avoid his sudden grabbing attack, but I was too slow and his large hand wrapped around my neck. I groaned and gasped for air, as he was easily cutting off the circulation. His grip tightened, causing my vision to already become blurred. I kicked about fruitlessly, trying to make him let go. That soon ended as I was only conscious enough to feel my body being thrown into another wall. I couldn't move at all as he approached me.

"My turn," I heard Bane say very faintly in my mind.

I groaned and watched my hand suddenly move and grab Rupert's. large arm. I noticed that my fur was the bright white from before with the blue hue around it.

"Watch and learn, Lane," he said, hopping to his feet. "Hey, ugly, you've been fightin' the weaker guy. Let's see how you measure up to me!"

I had no choice but to just watch as Bane would show off against our opponent.

Rupert roared out and rapidly began to punch at Bane's position. He easily dodged it and countered it with an uppercut straight to Rupert's jaw. Rupert stumbled backward though Bane was quick to grab his right arm and twist it before kicking him hard in the stomach and slamming his left fist into the arm he held. Rupert only growled as he managed to catch Bane off guard and struck him in the back He groaned but managed to hold onto Rupert's arm and struck it with a hard punch. He then anticipated the next strike from him and ducked under it before coming up with a powerful head-butt, causing Rupert to stumble back as Bane had let go of his arm.

"Lucky prick," he grumbled before charging at him himself and slammed both fists into Rupert's stomach. It seemed to do some serious damage to him as he fell onto his back.

"Well, that was easy," he chuckled. "See, Lane? I'm that much better than you. Let me show you something that you clearly don't know."

He then pulled my pistol - well, our pistol - out of its holster.

"You see this?" he asked.

"Yeah, what about it?" I asked, trying to regain control as I disliked being cooped up and only watching the events in front of me.

"Watch," he said as a strange aura surrounded the weapon.

I was a bit surprised as it began to transform as it had a light blue aura around it. It extended forward and became wider, while a large barrel formed on the sides and a large silencer in the front.

"Did you just transform that pistol into a Shock Gun?" I asked.

"I call it Shock Gun Lite," Bane said. "Only needs one hand to hold it, still fires pretty powerful rounds." He then aimed it at Rupert and fired it several times.

The bullets exploded on top of Rupert, effectively killing him as his liquid-like remains were spread across the room.

"You see this bar on the side?" he asked. "To put it in terms of a gaming mindset from the stuff you played with Tay when you had no work in the Gavel, think of it as experience. The more we kill with the weapon like this, the more powerful it becomes. Though you don't even know how to access it, nor will I tell you. You have to figure it out for yourself. What's the matter, all upset that I-" He blinked and groaned, falling to his knees as I once again took over as it was my body.

"I don't care if I don't know how to access it," I said, gasping as the pain returned to me and I fell completely onto the ground. My fur was back to normal and the pistol was once again a pistol. "I'll learn about it eventually... even if you don't want me to."

"Fine by me," Bane said. "Though that wasn't cool. You never gave a warning and you say I'm the asshole."

I ignored him and began to slowly get up, biting my lower lip as the pain was intense. I just assumed Bane was in charge of rapid recovery. I limped toward the hole and began to climb up before feeling the effects of that ability, which first worked on my arms so it became easier for me to lift myself up. By the time I made it back to the door, I felt like I had mostly recovered. I grumbled when I approached the door and noticed it was stuck shut now as I had tried to pull that stunt in order to find a way to open it.

"Ha, you got us locked in here!" Bane chuckled. "Some genius you are."

"Shut up," I said, looking around. "I'll find a way out, but not with your smartass remarks. Quiet down. I doubt you want to be stuck here more than I do."

I pulled the walkie talkie out of my pocket and then growled as it had been badly damaged during the quarrel with Rupert. I slammed it onto the ground out of frustration, breaking it further and sending bits and pieces of the device in all directions.

"Stupid piece of crap," I muttered as I headed back toward the hole in the wall.

I scouted the area below where the liquid remains of Rupert were and realized it was a type of basement. The drop from the hole was pretty steep. If I jumped back down there, I'd easily injure one of my legs and something told me Bane wouldn't let my body recover a minor injury quickly. I carefully began to climb down, managing to keep my balance as I moved across a ledge before jumping to a large crate that would allow me to land on my feet. Though I overestimated and slipped from the edge of the crate's top and fell forward. I let out a pained grunt and groaned as I hit the hard tile floor hard, landing flat on my face.

"Son of a..." I grumbled, trying to immediately pull myself up only to find out my right leg was now injured and I now had blood running from my nose. It was a moment like this that I had wished I was wearing a shirt.

I held my nose and just let the blood go over my hand, though I did mostly stop it from getting onto the floor. I looked around before spotting a narrow passage in the Southeastern corner of the room.

"What's the matter, can't handle some bleeding?" Bane asked, letting out a loud chuckle.

"I'm not in the mood for you, Bane," I quickly remarked. "Just shut up if you're not going to be the least bit helpful."

"Oh, come now, I healed our wounds," he said. "I can heal your bleeding nose if you just apologize."

"I'm fine, thanks," I said, scooting through the narrow passage now.

It took a short while, perhaps about twenty minutes, to get into a larger hallway. I looked around and noticed my nose had stopped bleeding, though the fur on my hand was covered in blood. I shook it in an attempt to get the non-dry blood off of it, shrugging when it didn't really help. I then headed down the hall, soon coming to two large reinforced doors. I tried the right door's handle and raised an eyebrow, wondering why it was unlocked as I was able to push it down fully and pull the door open. I looked around as I entered a large room filled with large test tubes that could hold a life sized person. There were pods filled with strange creatures, mixing with several species it seemed like. Some were so altered that I couldn't even tell what species made them up. They all seemed to be dormant and not ready for battle or even just walking around. They were submerged in a strange green liquid, which I assumed would be considered 'life fluid'. I only knew that because one tank said "Caution: Don't Drink the Life Fluid. It causes severe internal organ explosions, excessive gas and burns."

"Ah, I see, you defeated Rupert," Jagger said from the balcony above me. He was at the South end of the room, looking down on me as there were catwalks all around the room. "Luckily, this specimen room wasn't in the wings you destroyed. Though I must say Rupert must have made you give up trying to completely obliterate my lab. You've done a great deal of damage though. The Gavel let me fund this place with our excess cash flow from our payment collection program. I was figuring out a way to command our own loyal army of powerful creatures to storm the Cryptic Guard and take the Shadow Vault for ourselves as the relics in there belong to her."

"Who the hell is this woman you and Morta referred to?" I asked, gritting my teeth. "And where are my friends?"

"Oh, they're not here," he said. "Go on, use the Communicator you forgot you had to contact one of them. I'll wait like a gentleman so your worries are washed away when you know they're safe."

I blinked and quickly dug through my right pocket, pulling out my Communicator and sighed.

"You seriously forgot about that?" Bane asked. "Jeez, and I thought you were the intelligent one out of us."

"Shut up," I grumbled.

"Talking to your inner power again?" Jagger asked, leaning against the railing.

I just looked up at him to get another good look at him. He had slicked back red hair that looked like it was combed back for a business meeting. His light blue eyes stared down at me with an eerie chill feeling going down my spine. He was in a white lab coat that was opened, revealing a red t-shirt and a pair of blue jean pants underneath it along with a pair of brown boots. His gray fur was a bit rough on the edges, telling me he didn't care for grooming it too much. I then blinked, realizing that he looked more wolf-like, but had the characteristics of a rabbit and a raccoon. A Hiro.

"What the..." I muttered.

"What's that?" Jagger asked. "Aren't you going to call your bloody friends yet?"

"I will after you tell me how the hell the Gavel managed to convince you, a Hiro - an evolved subspecies of the Bodaren - to join an organization like this," I said.

"Oh, you are book smart after all!" he chuckled. 'Yes, yes. It's astounding, isn't it? Hiros aren't normally seen in the desert. The most anyone's seen is far West of this province, even past Alcad. As far as the Jasperlode Mountains within Hellvita. Do you know where that is, Lane?"

"Hellvita?" I asked, trying to think. "The province to the West of Mortion?"

"No, no," he chuckled. "Hellvita is a province to the Northwest of that province. You mean to tell me you only know of Mortion, Czech and Alcad? Typical Cryptic Academy teaching. Well, as much as it pains me to break your heart and say you don't know everything, well you bloody wanker, you clearly do not know anything. There are more than three provinces in the world. Yes, yes. That word is used a lot to describe the three major ones. Though country would be a better suited term, don't you think?"

"Province is a country in the terms of government in this world," I said. "I already knew that."

"Oh, but what you didn't know, my lovely friend, is that Hellvita is where the Bodaren were conceived," he grinned. "There are eight major provinces... I mean countries. Let's just call it that, alright? Anyway.... Mortion, Alcad, and Czech are only three of the eight. There are two more on this land mass and three known across the ocean. Hellvita and Promitia are the only other two countries on this mass. Take note of this geography lesson, you twat. The remaining countries are Vulga, Trigon, and Jarga. They also probably house species you've never heard of."

"Enough with the talk!" I shouted. "If I want to learn something, I'll look at your data files after I kill you!"

"Oh, that's cute," he chuckled. "A bloody weakling thinking he can take me on? You've just made my day, Mr. Silverbane."

"You glorified asshole," I growled. "Come down here!"

"No," he smirked. "You see, Lane, I will let you in on a secret of my own. Remember that drug?"

"What about it?" I asked. "It's gone."

"No, it isn't," he now grinned. "It's still within your blood. Guess what it's for?"

"What is it for?" I asked.

"Aw, not even a guess," he said, rolling his eyes. "Alright then. Well, Morta may have been granted the power of strength from her, but it pales in comparison to me. I have the power of control from her and I'm getting closer to not needing to inject a liquid into my victims in order to control them and that very same 'drug' is still inside of you. I own you now. I figured it was more fun to wait until you were face-to-face with me to reveal that."

"What?!" I asked, hearing Bane exclaim the same expression in my head.

"Mmhm, even your inner spirit was fooled," he chuckled. "It's a natural assumption to assume a drug or a poison might be trying to intentionally kill you. I just went with it. Why not let me demonstrate?" He grinned as I suddenly lost control of my left arm.

"What the-!" I grunted, trying to move it. I blinked when it moved on its own and my right hand balled up into a fist.

"Oh, I've been waiting for an excuse for this," Jagger chuckled.

Suddenly with all of my own strength, my own right fist slammed into the side of my head. Then it did it again and again. It kept doing this in rapid succession.

"Oh, silly Lane, why are you hitting yourself?" Jagger asked, seeming to try and not double over in laughter.

"Goddammit, even I can't stop it," Bane groaned as he felt the pain as well.

I grunted and took the impacting blows from my own fist, stumbling into the nearby wall. I managed to grab it after several more hits, forcing it down to my side.

"Aw, you're not very fun," Jagger said, crossing his arms. "Unfortunately for me, the drug hasn't fully processed through your body yet but this is still quite fun." I blinked when my right arm broke my grip and slammed into the side of my head again. This time it was with enough force to knock me onto my back.

"Goddammit," I heard Bane grumble. "Listen, I still don't like you and don't think I'm offering help out of kindness, but let me control your other arm. I'll make sure he'll stop for now and look for a way to purge this effect."

"And why would you help me?" I asked, though it was through several punches.

"Because if you die, I die," he snapped. "Only way I can live on my own is if I kill you myself, but that ain't happening so it's best if I help you stay alive."

"Fine, go for it," I said, letting out a pained groan as I then punched myself in the gut repeatedly.

"I'd think this was getting boring, but it's actually quite entertaining," Jagger chuckled, leaning against a wall now. "Lane Silverbane, a great threat, killed by his own hand!" He then raised an eyebrow when my other arm lifted into the air and had the blue hue around it before my left hand grabbed my right arm and immediately a blue rectangular box wrapped around it, trapping it as now it couldn't move. "Very clever," he chuckled. "Perhaps I should shoot you then. But it'd be less fun."

"Very funny," I said. "Last time I looked, you didn't have a gun."

"I don't?" he asked, smirking. "Awaken, Vice!"

I blinked and looked around before hearing a loud crash of glass above me. I jumped out of the way as a muscular Kreemer came crashing down from the window he had destroyed. I blinked as he had modified arms, which were rather large machine guns. His eyes were a dark red as his mandible was excessively large and had sharp ends. He was at least ten feet tall as well. He had no shirt on and from what I could tell, he sported ripped apart shorts.

"I have a living, breathing gun," Jagger smirked. "Vice, try not to kill the fool. Just severely damage his limbs. If you fail, you know what to do. Tata, Mr. Silverbane. Here's hoping we meet again but under my control!" He then opened a door and headed out of the room. "Oh, and I'm not giving back control of your right arm. Good luck!"

"Bastard!" I yelled out before hearing Vice fire his guns toward me. It gave me a small window, but I at least heard it in time to move and avoid the bullets.

"Just stay alive while I figure out how to purge this control," Bane said.

"Easy for you to say," I said, ducking behind a small wall of metal crates. "You're not the one doing the running. Besides, Vice isn't going to kill us, but I rather still have use of my limbs."

"Don't we all?" he asked. "Just don't do anything stupidly heroic."

I shrugged, though blinked when the crates were smashed and I felt one of Vice's guns on my back. I looked back and laughed nervously.

"Uh... You win Hide and Seek," I said. "My turn now, you go hide."

Vice growled, though he surprised me by taking the gun off of me and actually running off to hide. "What just happened?" I asked, scratching my head out of confusion with my non-trapped arm.

"Must be an idiot," Bane said. "It bought me time though, so I won't complain. We need to be ready though because once he realizes you're not looking for him, he's going to be pissed."

"Right," I said, looking around. "Jagger said something about control and mentioned the same 'her' Morta mentioned. I'm still wondering who that is."

"Right and I don't really care," he said. "Right now, my only priority is staying alive. I don't care much for figuring out who the Dons received their powers from. My assumption, if I were to care, probably would be Nether Energy."

"Yeah, well, unless it can take on a physical form, I doubt it," I said. I looked around for a way onto the catwalk above me so I could perhaps bypass Vice and just go after Jagger. Unfortunately, I wasn't climbing much of anything without my other hand.

:"I think I got rid of it," Bane said as the box around my arm vanished.

I moved it and my hand freely now, sighing with relief. I then ran over to a nearby ladder and began to climb it.

"I hope that means you can block the drug now," I said.

"It means exactly that," he said. "Though, as I said, I didn't do it because I like you."

"Didn't imply I thought that," I said.

I was about half way up the ladder before hearing Vice roar out and bullets whizzed passed me. "Do I even need to say 'I told you so?'" Bane asked.

"No," I said, trying to quicken my pace.

I made it to the top of the ladder and climbed onto the catwalk before hearing Vice roar again and stumbled as he slammed his gun and arm into the metal support beam holding it up. It easily began to give away so, naturally, I dashed forward and found myself having to outrun a collapsing catwalk. I turned the first corner sharply and looked back. I noticed the catwalk wasn't collapsing anymore, but Vice had given himself a way to climb up. Now he was on the catwalk with me and quickly catching up to my position.

"Goddammit, he's fast," I said, ducking into the office that Jagger had come out of when I first entered the room.

It seemed to fool Vice as he ran past the office, though he did stop to look around as if to figure out where I went. I found another ladder leading up to a second catwalk I decided to use this to my advantage and climbed up it. I slowly made my way across the higher catwalk, noticing it became adjacent to the office's windows and Vice was walking toward the office now. I had an idea but I had to wait until Vice was parallel to the aforementioned windows. Once he was, I jumped toward him.

"Hey, Vice!" I called out.

Vice looked toward me before I basically dropkicked him in the face and through the window. He had managed to catch my leg with his gun as we both went through the second set of windows and landed in a completely new room. I groaned and gasped as I slammed down onto the ground hard while Vice was flung in a separate direction and near a large console. I forced myself to get up and waited for Vice to recover, though instead I heard my Communicator go off. I quickly answered it, though I sounded like I was out of breath.

"Oh, you sound like you just ran a mile," Jagger smirked at me from the Communicator's screen.

"How the hell did you get my Communicator's number?" I asked.

"That's not important," he chuckled. "What's more important is that you may want to hurry up and find me. I do have a certain lady friend of yours I found sneaking around with a group trying to find you near my laboratory. Right now, she's under my complete control and at any moment, I could make her take her gun and shoot this team of hers in the head. I don't suppose that's enough so you could give up, hmm?"

"What?!" I blinked. "Leave Tay and the others out of this. Your target is me, not them."

"Oh, her name is Tay?" Jagger asked, chuckling. "You don't get it, do you, Lane? We're part of a mafia. We do what we want, under certain guidelines. Your friends are targets if you're our target. Don't believe me? Look for yourself."

He turned the Communicator toward Tay, who just stood there with a blank expression on her face. It was even more obvious that she was placed under his control as her pupils had for the moment disappeared so all I could see was the green color.

"Bring out prisoner 2!" Jagger chuckled.

I blinked when they brought out a handcuffed Festo. I quickly released from the muscular build that it was Rolio.

"What are you doing, Jagger?" I asked, growling. "Don't stoop to this level. You had me where you wanted me. Why are you doing this now?"

"Because since Vice was defeated, which basically means self-destruct, that means your inner spirit purged my control," Jagger said. "Now to show you that I mean business.... Tay, shoot that prisoner in the head."

"No!" I yelled. "Tay! Don't!" It was too late and I watched Tay pull the trigger and only a few seconds later, Rolio was dead on the floor. I heard the commotion in the background. It was the rest of the team cursing at Jagger and threatening him.

"I hope that means I'll see you soon then," Jagger chuckled. "Get out of that room before Vice self-destructs, by the way. I don't like others taking my prey." He then shut the Communicator off.

My eye twitched before I looked back and felt Vice's body heat rising. I made my way to a door that lead into a hallway and ran down it, hearing the explosion in the room behind me.

"Bane, let me use our power," he said. "You probably saw what he made Tay do. Rolio's dead."

"Yeah, I saw it," Bane said. "Fine, but only because this bastard messed with me, too."

"I hope I never become like you," I grumbled.

Once I reached the end of the hallway, I slammed the door open and looked around, noticing there were no obvious exits to this room. This felt like it was the area he wanted to lure me into.

"Jagger!" I yelled. "Get your ass out here!"

"Oh, not so loud," Jagger said from behind me.

He was close by, so out of anger, I already turned and tried to land a punch on him. I blinked and grunted as I was suddenly frozen in place and couldn't defend myself. Jagger emitted a dark chuckle before kicking me hard in the gut and then roundhouse kicking me away from him.

"Still don't get it, do you?" he asked. "I may have the power of control, but it's enabled psychokinetic abilities, Lane. You cannot defeat me. Hell, I'm willing to wager I'm just as, if not more powerful, than Bortelli or Vinchi."

I groaned and stood back up as I was able to move again. I just glared at him before I attempted another running punch. It resulted in the same predicament - being frozen in place and kicked back into the wall.

"Dammit, Lane, calm down," Bane said. "At this rate, you're going to get us both killed. Focus your energy and enter what I call your Invocation state. That's the state you're in when you do channel me and I let you and goddammit, Lane, I'm letting you do this. Do not ignore me!"

I wiped the blood from my lip and stood back up. I closed my eyes and began to focus my energy. I felt my body gain strength and my fur color turned white along with my now gray hair, along with the symbols on my left arm reappearing.

"Interesting, so you can Invocate," Jagger chuckled. "Well, that's funny because I haven't even given off my most powerful form. You've been quite the pain, so I suppose you've earned it."

"Your Primal Nether Form?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. "Bring it on, you psychopath. I took on Morta's and Sprock's. I can take you on."

"They were insignificant compared to me," he chuckled, holding out his arms. "But fine, you asked for it."

His body began to glow with a purple tint. I heard his clothing began to rip as the first thing to alter was his muscle mass. I watched as a third eye formed on his forehead, along with him growing a new pair of arms and now having tentacles slither from his back and he had grown to barely being able to fit in this large storage room in height, only perhaps a foot away from the ceiling. He now emitted a significantly increased amount of energy, which caused me to nearly fall onto my knees with how quick the power changed.

"What's the matter, Mr. Silverbane?" he asked, a dark toned voice following his own now. "Are you that bloody intimidated? I can't believe you're seen as a threat to her. You're nothing but a wanker. Though you've been fun to play with, but alas, all good things come to an end. I no longer wish to control you. I now wish to kill you."

"We'll see about that," I said.

I watched him as a large orb of energy formed in his hand and he fired it at me. I jumped to dodge it and then pulled out my gun and fired at him. The bullets just pinged off of him, making him laugh loudly.

"Your pathetic bullets won't pierce me," he said. "Just accept the inevitable and die already."

I dodged another large ball, but also found myself now having to dodge his tentacles from his back. They seemed to somehow be electrified on the ends, so it must have been a tactic to stun and then blast me. I fired my gun at the tentacle near me and smirked when it did damage. I fired on it rapidly, watching it suddenly shatter after a few shots.

"What!" Jagger exclaimed in surprise. "You got lucky, boy. Your target won't be so easy next time."

I tried to fire at another tentacle, but they were moving at an increased speed now, making it difficult. I rolled out of the way of one smashing down on my location and managed to get a few shots in before it was pulled away. I got up and ran behind Jagger, knowing he'd sense me and send a tentacle or two my way. I was correct and I shot at them both before dodging them. The one on my right shattered, causing him to groan out in pain again. He uttered a loud roar and the tentacles remaining began to rapidly jab at my position, making it difficult to avoid. I groaned as one hit me after I shattered two more. I was shocked throughout my entire body and fell onto the ground.

"Cocky little wanker," he said, walking over to me and charged up another blast. "It's time to say goodbye to this world and join hers."

I groaned and moved my hand to sit up and just looked up at him. My expression changed into a smirk before I slammed my fist into his chest as he was incredibly close to me and he went flying into the opposite wall.

"What is this?" he groaned, coughing as he stood back up quickly. "How did you do that?"

I knew how. Bane took over for a moment to get out of an otherwise sure defeat, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"It doesn't matter," I said, mocking him by repeating what he said earlier.

"Very well," he said, smirking before jumping to higher ground that I couldn't reach. "Then you've earned this little surprise."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Get back down here and fight!"

As soon as I was in the middle of the room, I heard someone drop down behind me. I turned to look and then growled louder than I ever had. It was Yuno.

"Stop this!" I said, looking back at Jagger ."Fight me one-on-one. Stop hiding behind your drones and taking the people I know to fight against me!"

He just smirked as Yuno slammed her fist into my back, causing me to fall onto the ground and groan in pain.

"You and her don't have a choice," he said. "Fight her now otherwise she'll kill you."

I stood back up and looked back at Yuno, noticing she was in the same outfit that I had seen when Bane was fighting me with a copy of her. I saw the blades on the butt of her dual guns. I narrowed my eyes and looked around. I planned on knocking her out and temporarily putting her out of my way. She was just under Jagger's control, so I wasn't going to kill her.

I ran over to Yuno, trying to open with a punch, only to be quickly dodged and have her slam her own fist into my back again. I stumbled forward this time, managing to keep my balance for the most part. I looked back and noticed she aimed her guns now. I quickly ducked for cover as she opened fire.

"Use that ability I showed off earlier with Rupert," Bane said.

"I'm not killing her, Bane," I said. "She's under Jagger's control. She's not doing this of her own free will."

"Lane, you still don't know the whole truth like I do, so I'll let you get a powerful stun gun with that ability and you can find out for yourself once this Jagger prick is dead."

I looked at my pistol and tried to concentrate. Soon the same blue armor-like coating covered it and it transformed into a make shift Stun Gun with an optional setting to fire real bullets. The bullet s were lit up with blue flames and the electrified arc at the top was emitting a high voltage of electricity. Once the fire from Yuno stopped, I felt her presence nearby and looked to my right before uppercutting the air and knocking her back in succession. I stopped myself from being surprised that I actually found her before standing up and watching her get up like the punch was nothing. She charged at me and began to unleash melee punches of her own, which I kept blocking.

She then resorted to using the blade on her gun to slice both of my arms, causing me to groan out in pain and lower my chance to block. She then jumped up and quickly kicked the air, sending me into a nearby pole, causing me to scream out in pain. Quickly, I reacted to her sudden approach and grabbed her left leg. I then yanked it hard, causing her to squeal out in surprise and fall flat onto her back. I tried to hurry onto my feet before I felt her use one foot and jabbed it into my abdomen. I tried to recover, but she was quicker by wrapping her right arm around my neck and applying quite a bit of pressure. I coughed and groaned as the pressure was quickly cutting off my circulation and my vision was becoming blurred. I soon stopped my struggle against her in order to make her release her grip, though that didn't seem to happen. I was almost fading away into darkness before I clenched my right fist and shoved my right elbow into her stomach. It caused her to release me, letting me jab my left fist into her chin and sending her onto her back. I held onto the pole as I stood back up, breathing heavily and gasping for air.

I let go of the pole and approached Yuno administering the stun gun modification. It seemed to work as there was no reaction. I sighed and looked back at Jagger.

"Oh, is that a look of anger?" Jagger asked, chuckling from what he believed was a safe zone. "Be angry all you like, it will get you nowhere."

"Oh, but anger is a driving force," I said, aiming my pistol at him.

"That puny weapon can't hit me from here," he chuckled.

I growled as the pistol was once again gaining an altered blue casing with a sun-like marking on the handle. The entire gun turned a light shade of blue as the gun gained a modification, a grenade launcher. I fired a grenade and instead of it needing to hit the ground or an object, I hit a button on the side of my gun and it exploded beneath the catwalk he stood on. It was apparent that it surprised him as he barely managed to land without an injury.

"That's still useless!" he said angrily. "You're becoming too much of a problem. You must die, Lane. You will not stop her."

"Who the hell is this her!?" I shouted angrily, firing several grenades at him once.

He blinked, side stepping the first few and had to jump to avoid the rest. He landed on a pole which I quickly shot at so he would stop having an option to go to higher ground. When he got to the pole nearest to me, I ran over to it and slammed a grenade into it. I jumped back, setting it off and knew he'd jump in my direction. I then shot him with a powerful bullet, causing him to fall down toward me. I grabbed his neck as he fell before slamming him onto the ground. I then stepped repeatedly with all of my weight on his right arm, rendering it inoperable. He let out a loud screech of pain and I just slammed my non-gun wielding hand into his the right side of his face.

"It's over," I said, growling. "I've won and you've lost. Now, where are my friends?"

"Oh, I haven't lost," he chuckled, coughing. "You just caught me off guard."

"A man facing a gun shouldn't talk so smugly," I said, cocking it.

He just grinned and suddenly he grabbed my arm with a tentacle and forced it up and caused me to drop my weapon. I let out a groan of pain as I was lifted into the air. Another grabbed my other arm and twisted them both behind my back.

"What's the matter?" he asked, chuckling as I screamed as I was slammed into a nearby wall several times. "Didn't expect me to be so hard to kill, huh? You're weak, Lane. You're a bloody fool to think you can stop us. We're here for her and we'll be exterminating anyone who opposes us or tries to betray us."

I groaned and tried to break free of the tentacles, but couldn't. I let out another pained scream as I was slammed into the wall I was then flung in the opposite direction as the tentacles released me, causing me to land on the ground roughly. I coughed and was barely able to move.

"Just die already," Jagger growled as the tip of a tentacle sharpened and went straight for my neck.

I closed my eyes and put my arms to block it and groaned when it struck. I then opened my eyes, realizing that I had managed to stop it. I was staring at the tentacle in between my arms and bit my lower lip before turning over and slamming my foot onto the tentacle and yanking him forward. I then turned the sharp tentacle toward him as he screamed at me incoherently and was soon impaled onto it.

I narrowed my eyes at his shocked expression.

"I'm not the one who lost," I whispered in his ear. "I'll find them without you." I forced the tentacle deeper into his wound, watching the life drain from his body as he fell to the floor next to me.

I coughed and stood up, holding onto a nearby crate. I grunted as I forced myself to walk up a small set of stairs and into what looked like Jagger's control room. I felt Bane already healing up our wounds and making sure we were ready for Vinchi and Bortelli. I approached what looked like a series of security cameras and noticed the cage where everyone was located, including a panicking Tay.

"Don't worry, guys... I'm coming to get you soon," I said, hitting a few buttons on the console. Funnily enough, this computer was something I studied in the Academy and I had figured out the security release protocol easily. I did enjoy the password, which was "Runo Sucks".

I watched them look around in wonder before they quickly spilled out to hug and console Tay. I shut off the monitors once they were out of the room, as I noticed on the schematics that they were close to the exit of this building - or at least what was left of it after I destroyed two wings. I looked around the office and found a few documents and folfers. All of the paperwork on the table and in the folder related to this woman that Morta and Jagger both spoke of. I tried to read more and make sense of it all. What did he mean by exterminating the ones who oppose and betray us? Was I a traitor to them? Did it mean that they knew Runo would turn on them, so they were ready for it? I didn't have any of the answers, but this paperwork from Jagger might.

"Year 17, Day 320," I read aloud from a paper. "She still waits. She will not come to this planet and cause it a rebirth until we discover the Donjy. We, the Ryjy, are sworn to her. My father's sworn to that oaf of a leader, Runo Largon. I'm not like him. I'm better. I will show her how powerful I can be. We've heard reports of a possible Donjy in his ranks. Perhaps he knows this, too, as he is a far more corrupted than what the mortals think. If this Donjy refuses to serve in the Crimson Gavel, surely they will try to execute him. If we can get him to join us, then we will have the upper hand. But she says Donjy will not trust Ryjy. They will lie. They will enter our ranks, try to befriend us and then stab us in the backs. We will see. Bortelli is usually a good judge of character."

I stopped for a moment and looked around. Could this "Donjy" he was referring to be me? I tried to make sense of this before turning the page and finding a second entry.

"Year 32, Day 230," I read aloud again. "The Donjy has been confirmed. It is this character that just fled from the Crimson Gavel, freeing the son of Don Bortelli from Cryptic Guard custody. This act violates the pact we had established with them Crimson Gavel. Runo has met his match with us. He will soon die. We must intercept the Donjy. Reports have come in that they are of an unknown race to us. Once we figure out more detail, we will decide its fate as the Crimson Council has always decided in unison."

"The Crimson Council?" I asked myself quietly. "Is that what these Don guys are? This is disturbing that this 'mafia' is nothing but a crazed cult."

I looked through various papers now within the folder, noticing that there were maps and plans of action. There were invasion plans involving Tonoko and Jaden both being overtaken, but it didn't stop there. The Gavel seemed to have a similar strategy plan to the Baron. They were going to invade Czech, Alcad and Hellvita as well. They wanted to convert people into this Ryjy race. The more annoying thing about it is thatg none of the papers listed how someone was turned into a Ryjy, but it did list that Ryjy was the proper term used for the nether forms Morta, Sprock and Jagger had ascended into. I found another entry in the back, dating literally a year after the last entry. I didn't have to time to read it before hearing my Communicator go off, so I took the page and stuffed it into my pocket. I then opened my Communicator and saw a crying Tay trying to call out for me.

"Tay, Tay, calm down," I said. "I'm okay."

"You may be okay, but I'm not," she said through her sobbing. "I-I don't know what he did, but h-he made m-me kill... Rolio, Lane. He made me do it!"

"He forced me to watch," I sighed. "I couldn't stop that, but that bastard's dead now, Tay. I'm gonna get out of here and find my way back to Jaden, like you guys should. I promise I'll return to you and console you, Tay."

"You better," she said through her sniffling. "I have never wanted a group of people to pay for what they did so badly, Lane. I know what you're capable of. Kill them. Kill any of them that try to keep you from us!"

"I'm on my way," I said before hanging up. I put the Communicator away and peeked outside to see if all was the same still.

Jagger's dead body was still on the ground, but I didn't see Yuno's. I raised an eyebrow at that before jumping as I heard an explosion outside of the room.

"What the hell?" I asked, then gasped as a large piece of the wall nearly fell on me as I jumped from it. "An explosion? What the hell kind of shit did Jagger keep in this place?"

The ground rumbled below me before more portions of the wall crumbled and the catwalks fell apart. There was a gap at the top of the wall, but I'd have to climb up to get to it. I ran toward a ladder and jumped onto it, hurrying to its top. Once I was on the catwalk above where Jagger's body was, I climbed onto the railing toward the closest wall and jumped toward it. I grabbed onto a ledge and began to shimmy to the right. A pipe was detached and swung into my position temporarily, so I took the chance and lunged at it. I held onto it as I grabbed it, feeling it swing me in the direction of a broken ladder. Once I was close enough, I lunged toward the ladder this time. I blinked as I heard it began to give way. I scrambled up it, barely making it to the next catwalk before it completely fell to the room below. I noticed that some of the falling wall and ceiling had created a temporary path up to the final catwalk and I ran over it, taking advantage as it crumbled and fell below behind me. I came to a door way and rammed my shoulder into it before being greeted with sunlight and running out onto the roof of the building. I stumbled and looked back as the bricks were crumbling still.

"Crap," I said, running toward the edge of the roof.

I looked around for a safe spot and grumbled as I only saw a nearby catwalk that would lead me to jumping into a dumpster. I sighed and jumped toward it, letting out a grunt of pain when I landed as my right leg had suffered the most from the impact from the jump. Limping forward, I jumped the best I could from the catwalk and into the dumpster, which had a small amount of boxes that somewhat cushioned my fall.

I climbed out of the dumpster and looked around, squinting my eyes due to sunlight. I couldn't tell where I was or in which direction was Jaden as apparently this laboratory was out in the desert. I limped forward as the building crumbled behind me. Though the limp didn't last long as Bane's regenerative resource worked its magic again and I was able to start running, so I ran in the direction I thought would be toward Jaden.

The run was long and tiresome and I still didn't see a city in view. I coughed from the amount of sand being thrown into my mouth and had to sit down. The sun beating down on me was causing me to sweat much more than I usually would.

"Goddammit, Lane, keep moving," I grumbled to myself before standing back up.

I turned around and looked in all directions to see if there were any signs of life. There weren't any so I turned to continue my run. I don't know how long I ran for. Probably hours before I finally collapsed in the sand. I thought I saw shadows before I passed out, wondering what was casting them.