Rise of Resistance

Chapter three: Phase One

         The moment the sun broke over the horizon and the dirty orange light leaked down between the branches of the trees, the Overlords sprinted from the shrine and right to the village. Perhaps not having to sleep wasn’t a good thing after all. If it weren’t for Shaith, none of them would’ve remembered Creed’s rule of not being seen, whether they be friend or foe.

         Shaith hopped up on the side of an unguarded wall and peeked over its edge, checking to ensure that no one was there. She waved eagerly at the rest of the Overlords, who leaped over the edge of the wall with such grace that they appeared as something from heaven. They landed almost silently upon their feet, not as silent as Creed usually does, but quiet enough to keep some from hearing them unless they were right next to them.

         Aeri looked around the town, trying to find their whereabouts. Perhaps it would’ve been useful if there was a map that had a large “You Are Here” arrow pointing at their location. But this was no amusement park, let alone a town with a large population, so she’d have to figure it out for herself.  “This way!” She whispered and began running down one of the nearby alleyways, crouching silently, the rest of the Overlords followed her example.

         Most of the town was still asleep, only a few shopkeepers were awake, placing their goods out on the display tables, getting ready for a long day of work. Talon almost got caught when they were crossing through the Market Place, narrowly escaping a shopkeeper’s watchful eye by leaping onto the roof of a short building and hiding behind its smoking chimney. “Let’s avoid the Market Place from now on.” Aeri hissed at Talon once they had escaped the hazard.

         But once they reached the square, they couldn’t help but stop and admire the statues that rimmed the lip of the fountain. The plinths at their feet burned brilliantly with a menagerie of colors, apparently there were a lot of offerings. Talon stopped at his statue and smiled as he looked at its perfect form, fire leaping off its shoulders. There’s nothing worse than being egotistical and arrogant.

         But Talon heard something. Someone was coming down one of the alleys. “Hide!” he hissed to his comrades, and within the blink an eye they were all hidden in rather uncomfortable places, just as a woman walked around the corner and into the square. Aeri was placed closest to her as she walked up to the fountain and looked up admiringly at Creed, her eyes filled with pain although she was still smiling.

         She settled down onto her knees and began to speak with a calm voice, growing more strained as she spoke, “Hello… it’s been a long time since I’ve talked to you…” she paused for a moment before continuing. “I guess that… after the first raid on our town I stopped believing in you. I’m still not sure if I do. There’s been so much violence and death lately. Every morning I would wake up, and fear that I’d find my son in the obituaries… he’s in the army you know… and it didn’t take long before I finally saw his name, and the guards came to my house to tell me the unfortunate event that happened.”

         More silence followed and, to Aeri’s surprise, Talon shed a tear. “Every day I wake up, hoping that all of this will end… everyday… never getting my wish I began to loath everyone who fought against us… but it didn’t take me long to realize that they have lives too. They have families, and maybe even children who have died in the many battles that have happened over the years. I started to hate you instead, even though I didn’t really believe in you anymore. So now I come here, to restore my faith in you, and not ask you to end this war with violence, and death; but instead I ask you to take into consideration, the lives that are being taken, and I ask you, that every single life that isn’t full of evil will not be taken.

         “I know that war can’t be solved with anything other than violence… but do innocent lives that had no choice but to join the evil have to die? I ask you for my son’s sake, for the sake of the innocent, to stop the violence that has occurred…” She stopped, and seemed to be done, but she continued to sit in front of the fountain, several tears rolling down her cheeks. A tense air settled into atmosphere, even the slight breeze seemed to stop.

         Aeri couldn’t quite understand what happened next, but somehow, she could hear Creed’s voice, coming from the fountain, and apparently the woman could to. She jumped up as she heard Creed’s unclear voice bubble from the fountain, and stared in shock at it. “It is true; war cannot end without violence, but next to no violence is possible. I have never believed heavily in violence, or war. Many believe differently because of the swords I wield, but they are merely symbols of my meaning. I know your son… I saw him die… and all I can truly say is that I am very sorry for your loss. I understand what you want, and I would love for nothing more but to end this war through peace, but the Daemons are no peace mongers; they will not allow us to resort to non-violent wars. But I ensure you that the lives that we are taking are certainly not innocent, let alone lives.”

         Aeri smiled as the woman fought back against Creed, “But they are still lives nonetheless! Whether they be soldier or not, they’re still innocent beings.”

         “I hate to disappoint you Bree but this is not true. You see, every member of the Shadow Smiths, or any one in relationship with them, are in fact evil. Many are possessed with an evil spirit that can only be released by killing its host, many of which make it appear as if they are just normal people, keeping the lives that they had when they were not possessed: their emotions, personality, and memories. Only a master of True Sight can see this… Many of Scales’ troops on the other hand are just regular troops, with lives, so I’ll make you a promise, one that I intend to keep, and prove to you. Any life that is not loyal to the Shadow Smith empire through their own free will, any life that wishes something better of themselves, any life that is not possessed, and any life that has a single shred of benevolence in them I will spare. And any of Scales’ troops that we encounter, that are certainly not evil, we will not kill. Sound fair?

         The woman paused for a minute or so, pondering what Creed had just said, “Yes… yes it does.”

         “Good. But I’ll have to ask you something in return…”
         “Anything.”

         “I wish for you to be a disciple. The epitome of anti-violence, I have a feeling that if you go about spreading peace, you will be more successful and life changing than anyone else, and if you do so, and believe in my promise, and my faith, I will guide you down a path of happiness and unobstructed vision.”

         “I will.”

         “Good, and one more thing: try not to preach any religion or let anyone know that ‘God sent you’. That doesn’t blow over very well.”

“I won’t.” She laughed.

                “Finally, reach into the fountain.” The woman, a bit confused, stepped cautiously up to the fountain, pulling back her sleeve. She reached in it, and quickly pulled her hand out of the water. A small bag was in her hand, and she opened it curiously with shaky hands, pulling out a small white stone.

“This is a faith stone, it shows who you believe in, and how strongly you believe in them. I already have enough followers for now, but my Overlords are a bit… unpopular I guess you would say. So I ask you to place this stone in the plinth of one of the six Devine Overlords. Once you do, you will get it back, with their emblem upon its surface. And as long as you keep faithful to their being, your thoughts and beliefs will always be taken into their consideration, becoming a true disciple of their faith.” The woman walked around the fountain, looking at each of the statues, taking their stance, their expression, and their element into consideration, until she stopped at Aeri’s statue, she smiled at it, fond of just about everything she presented, and without hesitation, she dropped the stone into the plinth, which hissed for a moment, then flew back into the woman’s hand. Aeri smiled as all of the woman’s thoughts fell into her head, and she could feel every thought, as if someone were pouring them into her mind like marbles into a jar.

“Thank you.” The woman said to Creed and Aeri’s statue. “Thank you.” Aeri whispered, which to her surprise, echoed out of the statue, the woman noticed, and she gently bowed her head. “I should be thanking you too.” Creed laughed. “Thank you for your thoughts, and your faith.”

“You’re welcome.” The woman said, and walked off with a snap in her step, and an undeniable smile on her face.

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Geary was perched on the highest branch of a Aguanadon tree that was growing directly over one of Scales’ camps. Shaith sat next to him, clutching desperately at his robes. “I won’t let you fall.” He hissed quietly, not taking his eyes off of the constantly moving troops that were hurrying to break camp. Apparently a few soldiers went to rendezvous with one of the adjacent camps to find them completely missing. So they too were packing up, thinking that perhaps the base called to retreat, but they missed the memo. ‘Pretty unprofessional and stupid’ is what the Overlords thought of their actions, but they didn’t complain. They’d been trained to kill when the enemy was on the move, it made things easier, since they noticed less when they were moving.

“This tree doesn’t seem very… sturdy though.” She whispered.

“Well we won’t be here for very long, we just need to wait for Aeri’s signal, then we attack them. Then you can go on the ground, but I’m staying up here.” Shaith’s eyes widened in horror, the sun glinting off their emerald surface hurt Geary’s eyes when he made eye contact. “How am I supposed to get down there without you?” She scoffed. Geary was beginning to regret saying that “it would be easier if they stayed in one place”.

“Listen lovely, after watching you scale that wall this morning, you shouldn’t have a problem with climbing down a tree.”

“Lovely?”

“Listen, I lived in a strange part of town, I talk funny. Now let’s pay attention to the job alright?” Shaith smirked at his defensiveness to the word “lovely”, but respected his hostility and decided not to dig any deeper, and instead focus on her fear of heights. Several minutes passed with no sign from Aeri, and Shaith began to forget her fears and started to get bored. “What’d ya think Creed’s doin?”

“Who knows, it’s Creed…” Geary sighed with a touch of sarcasm. Shaith propped her head on her knees and cocked to look at Geary, who hadn’t moved an inch, posed like a gargoyle surveying a cityscape. “What do you think of him?” Silence followed, and Geary refused to move, although his lip did twitch once or twice. “You don’t like him do you?” Shaith smiled a bit.

“Well… he’s alright, but he isn’t exactly the worlds greatest role model. He unleashed a terrible horror upon the world, one that he’s still paying for. And the world is paying an even greater price for the mistake he made instead of him. You can’t exactly believe that he’s a paragon of virtue.”

“But he’s correcting his mistakes.”

“With people who weren’t even born when he made his mistakes.”

“We all make mistakes Geary. For example, you carried me up here. And the least you can do is apologize, but you didn’t even do that, so you’re worse than Creed is!” She laughed. Geary turned to look at Shaith, getting ready to say something, but a burning blue flame shot just barely a few feet above the forest canopy then popped and fizzled away; go time.

Geary drew his bow and knocked a crooked arrow, aiming it carefully at the soldier with the highest rank. “Remember what Aeri said about Creed’s promise.” Shaith said as she began to cautiously climb down the tree.

“Don’t worry… I won’t kill him.” Geary said as he let the arrow loose and it swept through the air so silent and so quickly that Shaith didn’t even notice that he’d let it lose until she saw the soldier begin to seize and fall to the ground. Several of the other soldiers gathered around their fallen comrade, shouting his name. The arrow was invisible, maybe vanished, and the victim was laying on the ground, unconscious.

Shaith had disappeared too, but Geary spotted her footprints as she crept up behind one of the soldiers crouched over the other, trying to wake him up. There was a light thump and the soldier fell to the ground in slow motion. “A Soul Slash.” Geary thought, one of the most used moves for stealth tactics among the Overlords, but Shaith seemed to be the first to successfully use it in combat. By “slashing” the enemy in the back of the neck with a mana infused fist it temporarily disconnects the soul from the body, but it can be risky, because if they hit to hard, or use to much mana (or both) it’s possible to permanently disconnect the soul.

“Be careful…” Geary sighed as he knocked another arrow and buried it in the head of another high ranked soldier. Shaith continued to knock the soldiers down one by one, while the other soldiers panicked. They had fortunately removed all ammo from their guns, so they couldn’t tip off the other camps with gunfire, but they still had their swords. They drew them hastily, several of them dropping them to the ground, but those who still held them began swinging them like a blind baseball player. Geary shook his head in pity and quickly put them out of their misery.

Within a few minutes the whole camp was laying on the ground unconscious. Geary leaped gracefully from the tree, falling slowly and calmly as if he were gliding down. “How do you do that?” Shaith asked as Geary’s feet gently rested on the ground. She uncloaked and looked at him almost angrily. Geary shrugged, without moving his eyes from under his hunched hood. “I’ve always been able to do that. Maybe it has something to do with me being an archer…” he trailed off.

“Well, start tying em up.” Shaith sighed as she pulled thick cords made from mana out of the bag strapped to her leg.

“Where are we going to take them?” Geary asked as he too pulled the thick cord from his bag.

“Back to Snake Pit. Creed and Drake ‘ll decide what to do with em there.”

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Creed dragged himself onto the shore and shook himself dry like a wet dog. He smiled slightly as he pulled his armor and clothing from the alternate dimension and pulled them on. “I can’t believe you made a deal like that with a common beggar!” Destruction scoffed.
“Oh please. Even you aren’t that dependant on violence.”  Creed laughed.
“I don’t care! Do you know how hard it’ll be to pull this off now that we’ve promised not to kill innocent lives? It’s nigh impossible.”

“No it’s not. And for two reasons, first is the fact that there are more evil, guilty, and possessed lives in the entire Shadow Smith empire then there are free civilians in the world; we’ll hardly ever come across any innocent lives. And second, is the fact that we can reincarnate all of the lost souls. Besides, Aeri has a follower now, it’s worth it.” Destruction couldn’t argue, which made Creation, as usual, snicker to herself. Creed walked along the sandy beach for a few miles, staring up at the bright orange sun that was burning down upon the hot sands. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to enjoy something like this… enjoy the sight of the sun, the clouds, the fresh air, the crashing waves. It’s wonderful!” He spread out his arms took a deep breath of mana as he looked up at the skies with his eyes shut calmly. “Wonderful…”

“We’ll have to wait awhile before we assault Hybe.” Creation noted.

“You’re killing my buzz, can’t you just stop and enjoy it?” Creed snapped.

“I’m just saying, we’ll have to wait till night, so there’s gonna be a good chunk of lost time.”

“We spent a good chunk of lost time fighting with that Serpent down below the waves too, but you don’t hear me fretting over the lost time there! It only too us—what—seven hours.” Creed said sarcastically.

“I don’t think I like him when he’s this happy.” Destruction muttered. Creation unsheathed them and tossed them onto the ground, smiling lightly underneath his mask. He stripped off his mask and armor, once again and laid them neatly on the sand, then landed with a thud on his back in the sand, Creation and destruction on either side of him. Creed sighed and stared at the sky, smiling unconsciously.

“Haven’t Oblivion and I taught you to just… stop and smell the flowers when you can.”
“Yeah but there hasn’t been a chance.” Creation hummed joyfully, her voice held a melodically calm quality to it.  Destruction’s eye fluttered open and squinted at the sky, after a few seconds he adjusted to the light and he opened it all the way. At first he didn’t know what to do, he glanced nervously over at Creed, then back at the sky and grunted. “Alright, I give up… it’s wonderful.”

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Seven hours passed and dusk clawed its way across the horizon. Creed lay in the same exact position he was in when he plopped himself down on the sand. Destruction and Creation on the other hand, got a bit fidgety; they wanted to stretch out the stiff, magical muscles that hadn’t been exercised for years. They stretched themselves out into the gently lapping water, keeping their hilts anchored in the sand. At first the simply explored the waters, but after a few minutes they grew even more restless, and began to whirl the water into the air and use their will powers to form the water into scenes of beauty, pain, happiness, and war. Creed couldn’t help but smile when he watched them.
Creed stood up reluctantly and brushed the sand off his smooth skin. “Alright, the trip to the beach is over, time to go.” Creation and Destruction slithered silently back to the beach and formed back into the swords that Creed carried with him everywhere. By then Creed had gotten fully dressed and picked them up gently from the ground, brushing the wet globules of sand from their glossy surface. Sheathing them he walked into the forest that divided the ocean from the unknown.

As Creed walked silently through the forest, no one said much. After being so detached and relaxed, it’s hard to hold a conversation let alone start one. All of them knew this as well, so they didn’t even try. Besides, from the dark atmosphere that grew the further they delved into the forest, the less and less they wanted to talk.

The forests on Lone island were much more different from the ones Creed was more… familiar to. A lot had changed since the last time he’d visited this once peaceful island. The forest canopy was so thick that it almost completely blocked out the sunlight, only thin green shafts filtered down through the dirty leaves. The ground was covered with dead, rotting wood that had a thick layer of moss on top. It felt as if the ground were rotten, as if it were about to cave in under them. With each step the crunch of the dead trees made it difficult for even Creed to walk silently.

“I hope Lilly’s ok…” Creed mumbled.

“Don’t we all.” Creation agreed.

After an hour of walking through the ever gloomy forest they came upon their desired destination: Hybe city. Twenty-seven brilliantly silver towers that stretched hundreds of feet into the air. The moonlight glinted calmly off the silvery, one way mirrored domes of glass upon their lofty tips. And the ever alert Borg Guards patrolled the grounds at its base and the beautifully crafted balconies.

Creed crouched in the branch of a nearby tree, frowning if he were able to; for even though the city was beautiful on the outside, danger and evil lurked within. Hybe city is a city of robots and cyborgs of all types. At one time it was the center of army creation for the Resistance or any similar unions. But its leader, Cross, a living Crystal encased within a robotic body to function properly, was possessed by Shadow.

Ever since his possession, just like the many other leaders of the Resistance, his city slowly turned to the forces of evil. Daemonism was spread throughout the city, and hardly anyone ever worshipped anything other than the Daemons. Their cyborg warriors were trained from birth to kill, by all means necessary, and the weapons and armor they made were shipped directly to the Shadow Smith War union, where most of Shadow’s armies were forged. If Creed could kill Cross, or hopefully exorcise him, Hybe’s shipments to the SSW would cease, and the remaining resistance troops could easier cut into the tender belly of the enemy.

The only problem was getting in there unseen, which was a challenge, even for Creed. He may be a god, but he’s fallen from his great thrown and no longer possesses the powers all of his fellow gods have. He had to get past the many Borg Warriors station all about the cities, and he’d have to do it with the least amount of killing possible.

“Our best bet is probably climbing onto one of those balconies.” Creation suggested.

“Good idea…” Creed whispered, a bit preoccupied by other thoughts. He dropped down gracefully from the tree and waited behind a rotting stump until there was a gap between the guard’s patrol then made a run for the large metal wall with the balcony right above it. He leapt onto and stabbed both of his swords into to make hand holds, then ripped one out and sunk one of the blades higher up into the seemingly soft titanium. He climbed silently up the edge of the tower, his swords not making a single sound as they cut into the thick metals.

When Creed was directly under one of the balconies he grabbed onto two small fractures in the molding of the metal as handholds and listened to the two Borgs waiting quietly above him.

“What’d ya wanna bet that those new soldiers that Cross is training are gonna replace us all together?” One of them moaned.

“Yeah, and that new design for the robots will replace the old ones too.”

“It’s a cruel city, if you’re obsolete your screwed.”

“Pretty much…” A bit intrigued by the conversation Creed waited to hear the rest, then silently used his will powers to knock out one of the guards who fell with a thud to the floor.

“What the hell!” The other guard shouted right before Creed landed swiftly behind him and hit him in the base of the skull, making him fall limply to the ground, lifeless.

“Perhaps this will be… too easy?” Destruction commented calmly.

“Nothing is easy.” Creed whispered, approaching the locked metal doors with the key card slot. He called one of the guards keycards from to his hand and slid it through the slot, then threw both of guards cards off the side of the balcony then locked the door behind him.

Creed stood in a narrow hallway, coated in chrome, doors stood on either side of him, labeled repetitively from two-hundred to two-hundred-and-20. He walked quietly down the corridor, disabling the security cameras hanging from the ceiling before he got into their range of view. Several of the fluorescent lights flickered, asking to be changed, and Creed looked at them with a bit of interest. It’d been so long since he’d seen a light-bulb.
“Where are we supposed to go?” Creation asked, a bit lost.

“Up… Cross always liked feeling like he was surveying the world.” Creed smiled as he continued down the hallway.

“Security seems low.” Destruction commented.

“Be quiet, you might jinx it!” Creation teased, unknowing of the truth. Creed stepped into the elevator at the end of the hallway, disabling the camera before it could see him. He hit the highest number on the panel and the elevator door slid shut and lurched up the shaft. Lights flashed by as they passed each floor; they were moving fast enough to make any normal human being sick to their stomach. Then the elevator halted without warning, nearly sending Creed to his hands and knees, and the doors opened.

“We’re two towers away from Cross’ tower.” Destruction noted as he peered at a map of the city posted on the wall. Once again they were in a narrow hallway, except this one divided down the middle into seven other hallways.

“I bet there’s a doorway that connects to the adjacent tower down one of those hallways.” Creation said, as if in a hurry. Creed walked briskly down the cold hallway, his armored feet clicking on the slick flooring. He stopped in the intersection between the eight hallways, took a look around, then took a hard right and headed straight for the end of the hallway.

He was about halfway through when he sensed something behind him; someone was coming. He looked frantically around, checking the doors to see if they were locked. Finally finding an open door, he dove into it and shut the door quickly and silently. He stood within what looked like a small warehouse; crates full of munitions sat quietly upon shelves, covered with tarps. Huge metal canisters, with black tarps thrown over them, sat in the center of the room. Creed walked up to one of them, lifted the tarp, and took a look in the canister. It was filled with heavy weaponry, such as RPG’s and chains of pulse grenades.

He quickly shut the canister and threw the tarp back over when he heard something out in the hallway. He quickly hid behind one of the canisters and extended his senses out to the hallway. There were six guards, two were Special Ops Borg, another two were Elite Special Ops Borg, and the last two appeared to be some sort of robot. Probably a new design for Special Ops robots, since Creed didn’t recognize the design and it seemed to follow the trend.

“Why did they call us out here?” One of the robots gargled.

“One of the guards patrolling outside thought they saw someone climb up the side of one of the towers. Frankly I don’t believe it. How could someone climb up the side of the towers? They’re slicker than oil! I just think Cross has been jumpy lately, ever since he got reports that Scales lost contact with his troops over in the southern islands.” One of the Elites growled.

“So they stuck us up here. Why? Who’d want to get up here?”

“I dunno, but it doesn’t matter, we need to search these rooms before we can go to our cryo-tubes tonight.”

“537 and Menton, take the adjacent hallway. Murdock and 129, take this hallway. Ferrel, you come with me.” There was a pause as the guards filed away and Creed listened intently as Murdock and 129 talked quietly.

“You start with that room, I’ll take this one.” Murdock said begrudgingly. There was a slight pause in activity, then Creed shut his eyes and extended his influence to sense the whole room. The door was opening, and 129 stepped into the room, shutting it gently and quietly. Quiet enough to the point where the human ear wouldn’t have been able to hear it.

129 walked quietly along the side of the room, searching the shelves silently. Creed was quite impressed by how quiet it was. He opened his eyes, still keeping his influence aware, and slowly stepped out from behind the crate. He crouched quietly behind 129 as it searched another shelf. He was impressed by its design.

It was a she, he assumed, by the green coloring, as was the trend with Cross. It resembled a biped beetle. Her head resembled that of some sort of overgrown ant from a sci-fi movie. She had two large eyes that glowed bright green, and turned black as she blinked to refresh the image rate that she viewed. She clutched her wrist, which Creed assumed was because there was some sort of shotgun type weapon mounted in her arm. She walked silently with clawed feet, probably to grip onto things, and her hands were similar.

Creed stalked her silently, until he finally decided to make his move. He intentionally knocked a crate over on the other side of the room with his influence. 129 averted her intention onto the crate on the other end of the room. “Wh-who’s there!” She demanded. “Show yourself!” That’s when Creed made his move, he drew the Twins and let them lash out, coiling around 129’s body until she couldn’t move. HE raised her off the ground and held her so that she couldn’t see him.

“Wh-who are you?” 129 gargled nervously.

“I usually wouldn’t tell a hostage that, but considering that you’ll never remember it anyways, I might as well tell you. I’m Creed, the god of Creation.” For some odd reason 129 seemed to loosen up as he said that. Her internal coolant system slowed as well.
“Now tell me, who are you?” Creed said from behind the shadows.

“I-I’m MSX #129. My friend calls me Meg. I work as a special forces guard here, even though both myself and my friend, Murdock, tend to rebel against Cross and his fellow Daemonists.” Creed wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not, but judging by the synergy between all of her internal mechanics, she seemed to be telling the truth.
“What do you mean rebel?” Creed asked cautiously.

“Murdock and I are Creationists. We never accepted Daemonism; we believed it to be sick and cruel. But the whole city is Daemonist dominant. So we rebel against it often.”
“Would there be a chance of you and your friend joining me?” Creed said, thinking out loud more than asking her. Before she could answer though, Creed covered her mouth and jumped onto the top of a shelf. Her friend, Murdock, stepped through the door. “Meg? Where are you?” He called, his skin-tight black suit blending so well that it was hard to tell where he started and the shadow he cast ended. He holstered a battle rifle and two silenced pistols, among other things. An energy sword was sheathed on his back, and the Elite emblem was painted in white upon forehead of his helmet. Tubes extended from the mouth of his helmet, like a gas mask, and disappeared somewhere in the torso of the suit to circulate methane into through his lungs.

When Meg didn’t reply he slowly drew his battle rifle. “Drop your weapon and I won’t hurt the robot.” Creed rasped making sure his voice echoed enough to keep Murdock from pinpointing his location. Murdock hesitated, so Creed repeated his demand and Murdock gently set his weapon down. “Good. Now do the same with your pistols, grenades, and sword.” Murdock did so, which pleased Creed. So he allowed his swords to extend, like the arms of an octopus reaching out from the shadows, and gently set Meg down on her feet.

The door slammed shut behind them, and locked into place. Creed used his swords to climb down onto one of the canisters in the middle of the room, where he sheathed them and crouched silently with his head bowed. “My name is Creed, the maker of this world.” He stated smoothly, “I have come here to exorcise Cross, or kill him if need be.

“Your friend over here,” Creed gestured towards Meg, “told me that you are Creationists, and that you despise Daemonism. So I extend my arms outward, and request that you join the Resistance in brining down the Daemons.” Creed could tell that there was no doubt in their mind that he was the actual Creed, but he could tell that they were still leery.

“Punishment for such acts is monstrous though.” Meg squeaked.

“I would be hung by my entrails, and burned simultaneously.” Murdock said solemnly.

“But I would make sure that no such thing would happen to you.” Creed smiled under his mask. Silence followed for a few moments, then Murdock piped up. “What would we have to do?” Creed chuckled a bit before answering.

“Escape.”

“But how?” Meg asked, frustrated.

“Take the elevator twenty-six floors down and repel off the balcony. There should be a gap between the guard’s shifts in about four minutes. So if you want to get out unnoticed, I’d go now. But if you decline, or decide to lie to me, I will do worst to you than what Cross would do to you for treason.”

“We’ll do it.” Murdock answered without fear. Creed unlocked the door and opened with his will.

“Meet me on the beach just south from here. And stay safe.” Creed smiled, wondering why it was so surprisingly easy to convince them. Not complaining, he watched as Meg and Murdock slid from the room and half jogged down the hallway. Creed hopped down from the crate, and snuck his way to the elevator, careful not to alert the other guards.

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When Creed reached the floor where Cross’ thrown resided, he swiftly disabled the robot guards, and kicked the door in with enough force to rip out the floors. Creed walked calmly into the large, circular room. Cross stood solemnly before the dome of glass that overlooked the ocean. He looked like a more advanced model of Meg. He looked just like a beetle, with red coloring instead of green, and he had horns like that of a Ram’s. A long red cape was hung from his back, with the Elite symbol spray painted on it.

         “’Bout time you showed up.” Cross hissed, unmoving. “I’ve been waiting for you. It’s been twenty-eight years since I last saw you… well, the ‘pure’ Cross saw you.” He turned to show his gleaming red eyes and menacing mandibles. “But I don’t believe we’ve met.” He sneered.

         “You’re not much different from the regular Cross.” Creed laughed.

         “And you don’t seem any different from the Creed that I find in this imbecile’s memories. It sickens me… how fond he is of you.” Cross said with disgust as he slowly walked across the blank room towards Creed.

         “Well you won’t have to worry about that much longer.” Creed threatened. Cross pulled off his cape, and four magnificently crafted wings unfolded. They resembled dragonfly wings, and seemed to woven from some sort of steel that was reduced to thread. Cross gently lifted himself from the ground.

         “Or perhaps it will be you who won’t have to worry about taking down my master.” A bolt of fiery plasma hurtled toward Creed, missing him by a hair. The fight was on.

         Creed didn’t bother drawing his swords; it would be pointless to use them. Instead he leapt forward gracefully, yet forcefully, and attempted to tackle Cross to the ground and immobilize him. Cross, on the other hand, had the advantage of flight; he quickly leapt off the floor and fluttered gracefully onto the other side of Creed. Cross lifted his arm, and a razor sharp blade popped out from his wrist, he brought the blade down with full force upon Creed. Of course, Creed was to quick and to strong for Cross, and he quickly sidestepped the mediocre move, grabbed Cross’ arm, and flung him to the ground with a metallic thud.

         Creed pinned him down with seemingly no effort, although Cross was struggling with all of his robotic strength. “Tell me, what is Shadow planning?” Creed growled.

         “What do you mean?” Cross asked, playing dumb.

         “You know very well what I mean.”

         “And why would I tell you?” Cross choked snidely. Creed sighed and pushed Cross to the edge of the room, towards the window, keeping him pinned to the ground. When he reached the window the glass began to bend outwards, like quicksilver. It rippled several times until a gaping whole ripped in it, and Cross’ head teetered over the edge of the monstrous tower.

         “Alright, alright! I’ll talk, I’ll talk!” Cross pleaded, Creed dragged him back into the room, but kept the opening in the glass. Cross took several breaths before speaking again.

         “I haven’t been told much; even the Phantom Lord and Ivy know more than I. But to the best of my knowledge he’s been working on some form of bio-weaponry. So far he’s made genetically enhanced soldiers and war thirsty creatures, but his central project is still top secret, and I don’t know about it.”

         “You know more.” Creed snarled as he probed Cross’ mind, Cross gulped; he’d be sweating if he could.

         “Ivy and the Phantom Lord have control over his two biggest creations. I’m not sure what Ivy has possession of, but the Phantom Lord has some sort of ‘heavy-duty war creature’. It’s some sort of genetically engineered snake from what I’ve heard. But I swear, that’s all I know!” Cross cried, making Creed feel disgusted by how pathetic demons were.

         “Very well. I believe you.” The glass sealed itself shut, and Creed placed his right hand over the center of Cross’ chest.

         “No! Please don’t. No no no…” Cross sobbed, Creed shut his eyes, and for a few moments there was silence. Then a ray of bright green light shot through Cross’ chest, and Creed ripped his hand away, as if being burned. Floating above his palm, bound to it like a prisoner would be bound to a wall, was a small green ball of light. It throbbed and pulsed, like a heart. Moans and curses came from its hollow soul as the demon expressed its resentment towards Creed. Creed looked at it for a few moments, cocking his head in interest and disgust; then in the blink of an eye, it was vaporized.

         The true Cross lay calmly upon the ground. He looked exactly the same as when he was possessed. But somehow, in some way, he seemed more peaceful than before. His robotic eyes were closed shut, and the gentle whirring of his internal fans were so soft that only Creed could hear them. Creed smiled: his old friend was back. But he had work to do!

         Creed stood silently, and walked triumphantly, and joyfully, from the room.

*******************************************************************************************************

         Later, on the shoreline where Creed had arrived, Murdock and Meg hid under the sand, appearing no more than slight bulges, which were next to unnoticeable in the dark. Meg had turned off her internal lights to avoid being spotted, and Murdock had his sword at the ready to kill anyone who might happen to find them.

         The city didn’t take to kindly to them trying to leave. In fact, they almost got killed because of it. They had to kill the guard at the front entrance just to get out, and after that the alarm was sounded. They had to pick their way carefully through the thick forests surrounding the cities to keep from being caught.

         It was odd, being out in the natural world, under the stars with the roaring ocean at their feet. No more would they have the comforts of Hybe city they were accustomed to. Bright lights, free oil changes, free living, supplied clothing and food. They’d have to fend for themselves a great deal from here on out. Sure they had to tough it out in the field, but Hybe armies were so fast and efficient that they were hardly out in the field for more than a week or two. They were going to be out in the field for months, maybe even years. And if it truly were Creed, then they definitely wouldn’t be able to get necessities from him. He was immortal, they were not.

         A slight rustling in the canopy captured Murdock’s attention, and he silently alerted Meg on her HUD. They looked quietly out at the forest, looking for lights, or voices, or any sign of Hybe city guards. For several moments their minds were racked with suspense as the waves crashed down upon the shore, and the sound they heard seemed to grow in intensity in their head even though it had long since gone.

         Then, they were suddenly ripped into the air and knocked onto their backs. Sand clawed at the air and everything seemed topsy turvy. Murdock was almost to disoriented to grab his sword, but he managed to find it and stopped dead in his tracks when his vision cleared enough to see the purple cloaked figure standing over them. He glanced over at Meg, who was clutching at her wrist, ready to fire, but she slowly lowered her weapon.

         For a few moments they felt as if they had committed a terrible crime. They had nearly attacked their own god! Creed let out a deep, hearty laugh that seemed to make the sand quiver. He sat on the ground, still laughing, clutching his belly. “The look on your faces were almost as classic as when I flipped Oblivion out of his hammock up in the Northern Isles!” He reminisced. For a few moments Meg and Murdock were dumbfounded, then they to started to laugh. Long and hard, although not as thick and free as Creed’s; they still felt a little nervous around him.

         Silence followed afterwards, the moon was white tonight; its pallid figure rising and crashing in the reflection of the perfect waves. Creed looked up at it for a moment, then he began stripping his armor and clothes off, each article vanishing as he dropped it. Meg and Murdock said nothing, out of fear, and astonishment. They had never seen Creed, let alone seen him without his traditional armor on. But they had no doubt in their mind that it was him.

         Creed sat back down and smiled at them under his skin. “Nervous.” He said, not really asking them a question. They both nodded, blushing if they could.

         “It’s understandable. It’s not every day that you meet a god.” He chuckled as he stretched out across the sand and propped himself up on his elbows; Destruction and Creation writhed around below him in anxiousness.

         “Why’d you ask us to come with you?” Murdock asked, a question that had been tugging at his mind since they’d left.

         “I remember you Murdock. I’ve kept a careful eye on you every time I sneak into Hybe.” Creed said calmly, staring up at the glass sky. “I saw you when you jammed the assembly lines. I saw you when you framed your boss and got him demoted, and I saw you when you regretfully accepted your rank as a Special Ops guard. You’ve defied your masters and they never knew; which isn’t necessarily why I took interest in you.” Creed stopped briefly and look down at Murdock, his eyes burning bright.

         “I took an interest in you because you rebelled against what you thought was wrong, even though you risked getting killed. And on top of that, you befriended a poorly robot that needed help.” He looked at Meg as he said this, then continued on. “Both of those things take courage, and intellect. That’s why I chose you. Fortunately I ran into you tonight, otherwise you probably wouldn’t be with me.”

         “What about me?” Meg asked shyly, she wasn’t as brave as a lion; let’s just put it at that. Creed let out a long sigh and closed his eyes.

         “I saw potential in you tonight. What, I’m not sure, but I saw something. Perhaps it was your unique abilities, or perhaps it was because you were one of the first manufactured robots to have actual thoughts and opinions. Besides, I need a robot on my team.” He laughed, Meg and Murdock chuckled as well; freely this time. More silence followed afterwards, Creed looked back at the sky, and Murdock and Meg watched as Destruction and Creation slithered into the water.

         “So what will we be doing?” Meg asked, breaking the silence.

         “Whatever you’re best at. Since you’re both special ops, I may use you as my stealth cronies. But ultimately, your purpose is up to you.”

         “Who are we working with?” Murdock asked, delving deeper into his future.

         “Drake the Dragon Master, Tamarah, the six Divine Overlords, myself and some other people that we manage to gather on the way.” Murdock smiled under his helmet, and Meg’s coolant system ran up zero-point-five percent; they were going to be working with even more gods!

         “Do you want me to fill you in?” Creed asked, eyeing them with a smile under his skin; they both nodded in childish excitement and told them everything. Everything from the fall of the empire, to him raising the Overlords, to their project in Snake Pit and their travel to Slithra and, of course, why he was in Hybe in the first place.

         “So he’s no longer possessed?” Meg asked, astonished.

         “Correct. No longer will he be the oppressing, evil Cross you knew before. He’s on my side now.” Creed said triumphantly.

         “Can’t Shadow just repossess him? Or kill him?” Murdock asked, making it sound as if Creed had made a major mistake.

         “Not if he knows what’s good for him.” Creed laughed. The rest of the night Creed told them all about their plans, and their role in them. Until, eventually, Murdock fell asleep, and Meg powered down. Creed immersed himself in the shallow shore with the waves lapping gently at his smooth skin. He stared calmly up at the sky, as always, thinking. At one point he look through the eyes of his shrine in Snake Pit. Everything was quiet and calm, nothing seemed to be disturbed.

         Dawn began to break and Meg and Murdock stirred, he gently flicked sand on them with his will powers, and they slowly got up. They looked towards the horizon to see Creed wading waist deep in the water, looking back at them. “Hope ya can swim” He laughed and dived soundlessly into the water, Meg and Murdock running frantically after him.

*******************************************************************************************************

         Cross stared at the system reboot screen on the monitor. What had happened? Why was his robotic shell rebooting? It felt like he had awaken from a long, long nightmare. The screen fluttered to life as it completed the process and stared blankly up at the ceiling. Cross blinked his robotic eyes a couple of times and looked at his hands. This wasn’t the same shell he had worn before. What happened to the old one? He’d never seen this model before!

         He warily stood and blinked his eyes a few more times. What happened? He looked frantically around the room, no one was there… nothing was there, it wasn’t like that before. There had been tables, and computers in his room before. What had happened! He started to walk towards the door, but something stopped him: a small LCD screen brushed against his foot. He knelt down and picked it up, looking at the play button on the touch screen. He pressed it, and read the note. It read:

         Good morning Cross. I’m sure you’re wondering what just happened. Well, let’s just say you had a nightmare. Shadow possessed you, and for the past twenty eight years you’ve been having a nightmare. You’ve been designing and manufacturing armor, weapons and soldiers for the Shadow Smith War union. I broke into your city and exorcised you, but unfortunately that isn’t enough. If Shadow discovers that you are no longer possessed he will surely try to possess you again. So I give you three suggestions. First, you can run away into hiding. This isn’t necessarily favorable, but it would work. Or you could act as nothing ever happened, and pretend that you were still possessed. Report to shadow, and continue the manufacturing. But that would give them an advantage. Or, you could take the ultimate risk and turn your city back to the good side, and fortify your defenses. War will be inevitable if you do this though. I trust you will make a good choice, whether it be one of these or your own. Good luck, and I’ll be seeing you soon.

                                                                                  Be careful,
                                                                               An Old Friend

P.S. Destroy this when you’re done.

         “Creed… you old b******.” He laughed inaudibly as he dropped the screen onto the floor and crushed it with his foot, then gently scooped it up and dropped it into the incinerator on the other side of the room. He knew exactly what had to be done, and he had to do it soon.