Drip, drip, drip. The sound echoes, the blast furnace's heat boiling the water
as it hits the ground. But the puddle shakes, vibrations causing the water to
splash around.
Terra slams into the faucet, the metal bending and groaning, behind him, the wall has
caved in, debris piling up on Terra's clothes.
Noble approaches Terra, lifting his Scythe, " Why do you still fight? "
" Why.. NOT! " He smirks, " What? Getting tired old-man? " Terra chuckles as he
stands up.
Terra turns, jumping in the air and kicking off the wall, sending him up and
over Noble, which turns and swings the scythe at him mid-air. " No. It's
simply that you have no reason to continue. Is it that you are trying to
stall for something? "
Crimson crystals form at Terra's forearms as he puts up a guard,
his body still upside down. " Nah. " He's hit by the scythe's blade,
sparks flying off.
Terra rolls backwards and regains footing, taking a few steps backward
as the momentum hasn't dissipated yet.
He glances back towards Dash, Noble notices, continuing his approach nontheless,
" It's for the boy, isn't it? Dragging an innocent sporeborn into this.. Pity. "
Terra snickers, " He dragged himself into this! "
They both circle eachother, Noble's scythe scraping against the ground, Terra's fist glowing
with his sinister crimson Ether.
" You're barely using your Ether. " Noble states.
" Neither are you, dumbass! " Terra yells.
Both exchange glances, Noble's Ether starting to channel into his hand. Terra
notices this and tenses up.
`` This guy.. His pattern is simple, he'll wind up his scythe or fist to aim his attack, and then
follow through. The problem with his attacks is that after he
follows through, he doesn't feint or change directions! ``
Noble takes two steps forward and wounds up for another attack, this time
with his bare-fist infused with Ether.
`` From the right? I'll obviously dodge- But he's anticipating that now, isn't he? I've done so like
10 times already! ``
Terra plants his foot to his right, body-feinting a sidestep. Noble reacts accordingly,
his punch changing direction toward where Terra feinted.
" DUMBASS! " Terra laughs, crouching under his right-hook.
Noble stares down at Terra's confident form, his smirk cutting
through the air, " Impressive. "
But Terra doesn't smirk for long. His hand cocks but he doesn't
follow through.
`` WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOT??? `` Terra screams at himself in his head.
He turns, just for a second—
But Noble has already recovered.
Terra sees Dash on the ground, staring at his wound, leaning on a support
pillar of a conveyer belt, holding the bleeding stub. He seems to be on
the brink of death.
Dash's vision is blurry, " T... Terra.. " He groans out, slumping to the side. He starts crawling, to where
he no longer knew.
The sounds of a soothing voice came from everywhere, `` It'll be fine Dash. `` The voice
seemed sad, as if tearing up. It was feminine, he didn't recognize it well but
it seemed important.
He remembers everything in his life, but not that, specific voice.
Why now he wondered? But it didn't matter, his life was flashing before his eyes,
his only friend and mentor is losing a fight and he's doing nothing.
He's useless. HE'S USELESS. It repeats. He tries to clear his head, he tries to
get up but the blood pools. He is out of tears and he's out of life. Now what?
Now.. He gives up, right? That's all. In the pursuit of freedom, in the pursuit
of the one thing he wanted..
[-/-]
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
The little sporeborn stares at his father swing away at the wall, smiling.
" Hey, dad? "
The sporeborn's father, Dash's father, stops swinging, the pickaxe resting under his arm. He breathes heavily, exhausted, but he can't show that, not infront
of his child. He has to show strength, show that people can press through hard times.
" Yeah champ? " He coughs up a small cloud of rock dust.
" I don't want to do this anymore. " Dash mumbles, his tone saddened, leaning on the dead stump of a Tree,
planted just for harvesting. He fiddles with the hem of his tattered rags.
The father pauses, staring at Dash. He looks over to the large, scarred
man pacing next to them.
Dash remembers how the person looks perfectly, and remembers them screaming at his father and the other sporeborns when they stopped mining. He found it scary and
put his hands to his ears whenever this happened.
" I also don't want to do this, just as much as you. " He says.
" Then why? Why do we have to do this.. This bullcrap! "
" Language. And.. Why? Well.. "
" Because, sometimes people do things to protect
the people they love or cherish. Even when they don't
make sense. "
[-/-]
Dash gets on a knee, then both his legs.
He stares at his wound, then at Terra.
" I.. " Words didn't come out of his mouth anymore,
just sounds.
The blood flows, and he's going
to die any minute now.
`` I can't rely on Terra anymore. Not now. Work. I have to
work for this. MY freedom..``
He turns, stumbling toward the rows of destroyed
blast furnaces.
`` MY FREEDOM.. ``
He leans his bleeding stub onto the scorching hot metal,
bracing.
-Clang.
Terra's face snaps to the side as he skids across the concrete floor on his cloak,
" Hngh.. "
Noble walks over, stepping on Terra's face, slowly digging
his foot into his forehead.
" GAHH! " Terra screams, He tries to create his tendrils of crimson flesh, but they simply melt onto the ground. He's
out of reserves from all his fights and he hasn't gotten any time to recharge..
" A cold-blooded psychopath, murderer of dozens, reduced
to a screaming mess. "
Terra claws at Noble's legs, " GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME! "
" I'M GONNA WEAR YOUR SKIN LIKE A— "
He keeps pushing on Terra's forehead, he groans in
pain, " Get.. "
" TERRA. "
Dash points at him, " HERD: "
" WOLVES! " He yells. A wolf made
of Ether forms next to him, larger than before. It
isn't deformed or broken, and it's claws dig into
the concrete ground.
But only one appeared, which he didn't
care about now.
The beast roars, a deafening sound. Noble lifts his foot from
Terra's head, " Hm. You're still standing? "
Dash chuckles, a smirk, hesitant but
it's there.
" YEP! "
It charges, the clatter of metal
being sent flying from the force
of it's movements is different
from the usual attacks Dash uses.
Noble lifts his arms, " Shame. "
The wolf opens it's mouth and lunges, the jaw clamping down with force
comparable to a hydraulic press. And noble puts his hands inbetween and-
Rip. It snaps in half. The beasts head is in two pieces, and it's dead.
A spray of black blood covers Noble, alongside the other
colors. He walks up onto the large corpse of the beast,
" I'm sorry, ` Dash ` " Noble says, approaching him.
His smirk is gone, replaced by the rush of pain, sound and input. The adrenaline rush is over and he now collapses onto his knees.
" H-Huh..? "
" I was.. I was gonna win.. I swear i was.. "
Noble stops in his tracks.
The sound of heels clacking onto the floor echoes
across the destruction.
" Terra~~.. "
The sound of a predatory purr comes from the
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end of the hall, Courtney turns the collapses conveyer belt, and sees
the scene infront of her.
Terra, laying on the ground and groaning with blood all over his forehead.
A sporeborn on his knees—
And-
" Courtney Rose. " Noble turns.
" Nob-y Honey~! It's been so long! " Courtney's voice changes a tone, she skips over in her heels unnaturally, leaning up over onto Noble's side,
" What's a handsome guy like you doing down here, huh? Huuuh- "
" Orders. "
" You and your orders.. " She frowns, pouting, " But you never
take my orders, so what's that all about huh? What? You don't LOVE me anymore? I'm.. I'm hurt.. " Crocodile
tears start flowing from her eyes.
" I've never.. Yeah i'm not gonna deal with this. " He walks toward Dash, Courtney looks over, her eyes
seemed to analyze.
The sobbing, scared boy infront of her is on his knees, hopeless, Noble approaching him to well..
Courtney appears infront of Dash, in the way of Noble.
" Awwwhhhh... " She leans down, her 'assets' in full display to Noble with her
tight and revealing uniform she specially designed.
" And what brought a cute little thingy like you over here, hmm? " She sets
aside Dash's hair.
Dash looks up, tears dried and mixed with grime covering his cheeks,
his cauterized wound fresh.
" Poor little mushroom.. " She purrs, her eyes wandering to the wound, her hands
tracing Dash's cheek.
Noble stepped forward, his scythe humming. "Enough games, Courtney. The
boy is a casualty. Umbral is the target. Move, or be reported for interference."
Courtney straightens, turning her gaze to Noble, and then Terra.
Courtney didn't move. She stood up, her playful demeanor vanishing in a heartbeat, replaced by a cold, predatory stillness.
"Report me? To who, Nobby? The Board over in Catalyst High?"
The air in the chamber suddenly felt heavy—not from heat, but from a massive displacement of Ether.
Meanwhile agents have finally started approaching from the sidelines of Ground One. The first
group arrive, scanning the area.
Courtney groans, " Already? I didn't even get to have my fun! "
The agents spot the scene, and freeze.
Paul stares at Terra, still on the floor, his communcator clicks " We.. "
" Search Team Operation G1-5 has located the target, Terra Umbral. Location will shortly be provided. "
Noble spins his scythe onto his back, " R.C.T... I cannot stay for long, but my job here has come to an end. " He jumps off the
corpse, walking off toward the window observatories that cover the whole top-half of the facility's wall.
Terra lays on the ground, his eyes staring upwards. The agents carefully approached him, one arming a pipe-shaped
device.
`` I lost? ``
" Sending out ECDS2 grenade! Hold atleast 5 meters of distance from the body! " He pulls the
pin, Ether flowing out from the top from the sheer density inside the container.
Terra's eyes slowly turn to the side, staring at the agent next to him, bloodshot.
" SIR-! "
Terra stood behind the agent, his entire face covered in trails of blood coming from
his forehead. His hand slams into the agent's back, exploding out the other-side,
Terra's hand poking through his ribcage and chest.
Paul's face goes pale as he quickly takes out his gun, his aim shaky, " Terra umbral, you are under..! "
In Terra' hand, is the agents heart. He pulls his bloodied arm out and stares at the
still beating heart in his grasp. It's almost beautiful to him how the screams
of the agent are cut short when he simply takes out a small, piece
from him.
" Isn't it fascinating? You take away a small, unimportant part of someone's body,
and their annoying screams are gone. "
Terra crushes it, the wet sound of flesh exploding cutting
through the tense air.
" Fuck this! " An agent next to paul turns, running away, " I HAVE
AN ENTIRE FAMILY BACK HOME, SORRY- "
Their head is cut off. Terra stands next to them, his arm extended.
The agents severed head uselessly hits the floor, their necklace
showing a picture of them with their wife and children.
Paul's breaths are cut short, he has trained for this but
nobody can train for Terra Umbral, " When did he.. Oh dear lord."
The necklace slides across the metal grating, stopping at Paul's boot. A cheap silver locket, now coated in the thick, arterial spray of its owner.
Paul stares at it. He stares at the headless body collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.
His training screams at him to move, to strategize, to catalyze the metal around him.
But his brain is stuck on the image of the heart in Terra's hand. It was beating. It was beating.
" FIRE! " Carter screams, his voice cracking into a high-pitched shriek of terror. " JUST KILL HIM! "
The remaining six agents raise their rifles. The air fills with the deafening roar of automatic gunfire,
muzzle flashes lighting up the dim, steam-filled underbelly of Ground One. Their rifles heating
up at the barrel, an orange glow similar to the collapses furnaces next to them.
Terra smiles, his mouth open, a blissful dance. His eyes closed as he gracefully spins,
the bullets flying past him by sheer luck.
He stops, abruptly. Grabbing the corpse, he can see the bullets fly past him in slow motion,
too quick for him to grab but easy to block with a shield.
" Meat-shield! " Terra yells over the sound of guns frantically dumping their bullets right toward Terra.
ullets thud wetly into the dead agent's vest and flesh. The body jerks violently with every impact, a gruesome dance of the dead.
Terra holds it up with one hand by the back of the vest, walking forward while the agents empty their clips into their
former colleague.
" Stop! You're hitting Miller! " One of the rookies yells, ceasing fire.
" He's already dead, dumbass! " Terra peeks his head out from behind the corpse's shoulder, grinning.
His teeth are stained dark red. " But thanks for the cover! "
He throws the corpse.
It flies with inhuman force, crashing into the rookie and knocking him over the railing into the darkness below. A scream fades into the distance,
followed by a sickening crunch against the machinery far down.
" Triple Kill. " Terra cackles, approaching Paul.
Paul grits his teeth, forcing his paralysis to break. He slams his hands together. " Metal Manipulation: Bind! "
The walkway beneath Terra groans. Thick steel grating twists upward like living vines,
wrapping around Terra’s ankles and calves, locking him in place.
" Got him! He's anchored, hit him with a cage grenade, ASAP! "
Carter fumbles with his holster, taking out the grenade. He aims the grenade,
pulling the pin.
Terra looks down at the steel wrapped around his legs. He looks at Paul. He tilts his head,
like a bird examining a worm.
" Metal? Aww, cute. "
He points towards Carter, tendrils made of Flesh explode out from the ground and grab him. Meanwhile
another set of tendrils snap onto the metal railing that binded his legs, ripping them apart.
" Bye-bye! " Terra points downwards, the tendrils drop Carter, swinging in an arc and sending Carter and two others agents
flying off the railing.
" Carter! " Paul yells, but he doesn't reach try to run and save him, he knows it's too late, " You fucking..
Monster! "
Carter's mangled body slams onto the concrete wall of ground one, his brain
splattering all over the wall in pieces. He slowly peels off the wall like a gorey sticker.
Paul stares at Terra, then Carters mangled body, and the tendril. His fight or flight reaction triggered,
he decided on flight.
Paul books it in the opposite direction, quickly turning a corner and stumbling down rows of machinery,
" More than 5 Agents are down! I repeat, more than 5 agents are down! Send backup, now! Over!" He screams into his communicator,
sprinting frantically.
But, nobody answers. He adjusts channels, nobody answers, again and again, nobody answers.
He stops running, staring at the obeservation windows and the exit doors. In the distance, agents
are fleeing, crawling up the ropes back up. While others take the exits.
He grabs his communicator, " Why's everyone leaving? Hello? I haven't been informed about the mission
ending early, so what is this? "
All he hears is noise, he speaks again, " Hello? Why is nobody responding? Over."
" Peeka-boo. "
Paul turns, seeing Courtney behind him. " Courtney..? I was told only lower operational was
here to search for and contain Terra- "
A cold feeling washes over his body, then a warm feeling in his gut.
Paul coughs, blood pooling on the edges of his mouth. " Huh.. " He slowly looks down, and sees courtney's
claws, piercing into his gut.
" I told them to evacuate, to not look back. This place is gonna explode. And that leaves me to clean any rodents that are
left behind.. " Courtney chuckles, a predatory grin on her face. She slowly pulls on the claw, cutting
through his chest further.
" W-Why? " Paul weakly mumbles, his voice raspy and muffled from the blood in his mouth.
" You're rotted from the inside outt," she whispers. "Just like the others."
" Nghh.. " Lines of crimson streak on his uniform, pooling onto courtney's hand, " Shhh.. " She whispers to his ear,
one hand travelling down his back, " Just.. Let it happen~ "
She forces her claws up to his throat, biting down on his ear before pulling her hand out of his
throat slowly.
Paul thuds onto the ground, his guts leaking out of his wound, " Good-night."
She turns, spinning on her heel. Her gaze twitches as she sees Terra dragging Dash away, " Lap-dog.. " She
giggles, a predatory gaze falling upon him.
Terra holds Dash by the scarf, dragging his broken body down the walkway. He doesn't know where
he's going anymore.
" Terra. " Dash mutters out from under his heavy breathing, " I'm not in the mood for another fucking speech
so you can feel better about yourself or whatever, so fuck off. "
" Woman. " He says plainly, pointing over to Courtney. His vision blurry from the blood-loss.
" Did you fucking hit yourself in the head too? What are you- "
Terra stops dragging Dash, slowly turning his head. The vertebrae cracking audibly.
Courtney stands five meters away, wiping Paul’s blood from her claws onto her hips. Her tail flicks back and forth with a hypnotic,
rhythmic motion. The industrial lights glint off her dilated, slit pupils.
" Oh. " Terra says, his voice raspy. "It's the cat-lady. Did you get lost on the way to the litter box?"
Courtney giggles, stepping over Paul’s eviscerated corpse. "Funny. You're shaking, Terra. Is it the blood loss?
Or are you finally realizing that you're the mouse in this maze?"
She vanishes, a blur.
Squelch.
Terra barely has time to lift his arm up in time. Three distinct claw marks appear on his forearm, ripping through the flesh-construct
he tried to manifest.
The force sends him skidding backward, his bare feet breaking apart the ground under him as he forcefully
grabs onto the floor with his toes.
`` I'm not going to lose again. ``
He drops Dash, a manic grin forming across his face. he slowly looks up, his head tilted
so he can face Courtney without turning.
She turns, her slit eyes half-lidded. She licks her lips, lifting her hand and signalling him to
bring it on.
Terra rushes, his pupils contracting. His fist cackles with arcs of crimson, as Ether rushes
to his fist, a jagged aura of Ether forming at his fist.
Courtney's eyes go wide as she swings her head to the side. Terra's fist cuts her cheek, " MMmm~ That's it.. "
She shudders. She jumps upwards, kicking Terra in the back with her heel, landing into a crouched position,
all in the blink of an eye.
Terra turns mid-air, still flying, " HAHAAHAAH! " He laughs, grabbing his head as blood covers his eyes. His
arms flail to his sides, tendrils forming and grabbing onto the machinery he passes by.
Like a rubber-band the tendrils stop Terra, " I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU! " He screams, his
voice a higher tone. The tendrils snap forward, sending Terra flying at terminal velocity.
Courtney licks her fingers covered in Terra's blood, her slit pupils tracking Terra as he approaches, `` He's going
crazy.. And.. IT TURNS ME ON! `` A grin forms across her face as she charges forward, her claws extending.
Both charge at eachother, manic grins on their face, covered in blood.
Terra's foot extends forward, travelling towards courtney's face. She snaps her head backwards.
" IDIOT! " Terra yells, laughing, he grabs Courtney by the head, slamming her into the floor as he landed. " EAT STEEL,
LADY! " He cackles, courtney's face shoved into the concrete and metal walkway.
She kicks off the ground, her nose bleeding, " I LOVE IT~! " She moans out, " MORE.. "
Courtney lands, her hands extended behind her. Her crouched form leans forward, " YOU'RE.. MINE! " She launches
herself forward, cocking her leg back for a shin-kick to the body.
Terra's mouth is wide open and grinning, he laughs manically, his arms stretched out to the side, he dodges to
the side, his arms freely flying around next to him. Courtney lands, wasting no time as she turns and runs towards Terra,
sending a right-hook directly to his face with her claws.
Terra ducks, elbowing her. She stumbles back but regains her footing promptly, vanishing behind him. Terra
snaps to his back, sending a backwards roundhouse kick to Courtney in the blink of an eye.
`` He REACTED.``
She lifts her arms, blocking this, skidding backwards. Her forearms bleed, the skin ripped off. " MMMmmm.. Oh.. "
Her body convulses as the pain rushes in.
Terra stares at Courtney with wide, analyzing eyes as she crouches down, her head looking down, her arms on the floor.
Her tail suddenly grows longer, becoming more rough and unkept. Her ears molding into cat-ears, transforming
unnaturally. Her teeth grow sharper, muscles bulging. Her hair grows longer, turning a black hue.
" TERRRAAAA~~.. "
Meanwhile, Dash slowly gets up, staring off into the distance. He turns his head slowly, staring at
the standoff.
He looks down, the concrete under the walkway has been destroyed partially, giving way to a glimpse of the
machinery below. All he sees is a neon orange, " Molten slag. " He mutters, his voice tired.
But, the slag, it's.. It's bubbling. Down there, he sees a glimpse of.. Explosives. Atleast a hundred of them.
His heart skips a beat.
" HEY-! " His voice wavers.
Dash musters up the confidence and will to speak, pushing
the noise in his head to the side for a moment, " TERRA, WE GOTTA GO! "
Terra glances to the side, but he doesn't react. He seems completely blinded by his
psychotic episode, laughing as Courtney and him tear eachother apart.
" We're all going to die. But.. Why don't i care? " Dash mutters under his breath,
zoning out. The sound of molten metal under him, about to set off an explosion,
yet he's unbothered.
The entire facility starts to shake. The hundreds of destroyed robots rattling, the piles of destroyed machinery slowly
falling into cracks.
Terra and Courtney's voices are cut short by the roar of an explosion, two, then-
The entirety of ground zero flashes white.
[-/-]
The candle still burns, lighting up an empty room. A tenth of the candle wax has melted.
