I thought it would never get over here, considering how long all the posts are.

In later parts and chapters stuff happens.

I made three (two and a little one) parts in a couple days, keep your pants on. If you are not wearing pants then go find some.

An abnormal gale has barraged the Arcade unexpectedly, teasing knights by pushing and pulling them where they stand. The winds came from various openings in the fractured ceiling past the platforms, meaning the only way to blockade the currents would be to either walk upside down or do so through the upper surface. This was often avoided under command of the Vanguards, claiming it to be too dangerous to venture upon; falling from such a height would guarantee an unpleasant fall. Green helped Korin create an air wall out of a few containers sitting around next to a wall and sat where the door would be if it were a formal building. He often felt the brunt of the gales but managed to keep his position regardless of the unexpected assaults to flip him over.
"Are you holding up well?" Korin must have noticed how uncomfortable Green was in his current position. They had been waiting for Walkon for far too long.
"Walkon is taking his time."
Green knew what Korin meant was the Vanguard probably forgot about them, but he remembered Izola; she would not forget him so easily, why was she not assigned to give them the mission?
"I think I see Walkon coming this way." Amber pointed past Green to the regal purple attire and crown. Green began crawling on his back out of the pile of boxes and began to further open the exit for the others to escape. Korin began placing the boxes in the stack they had originally been set as, only to have the wind blow them over again. Korin decided to leave them after the
third attempt while Amber had already ran to Walkon.

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"Knights, today you have a very important assignment." Walkon looked up to the various gaps in the ceiling and realized night had fallen; this was strange, considering the majority of the day was daylight due to multiple suns close enough to the planet to maintain a near constant cycle of daytime. This may explain why Sylvin often secludes himself in those dusty old ruins, to get away from how bright and happy the rest of the world is. Sylvin always had issues with other knights and often sulked around in old places, obsessed with the past. Sometimes other knights would check in with him in case something was wrong, only to be ignored or lied to. Sylvin must have issues, somehow, but no one else knew more about him other than he is part of their Vanguard class. He was the odd one when we had to buddy up, though he never seemed to mind back then; he simply went off to his own business in the retirement facility where retired
knights whose energy has been used to the end lay to rest. Sylvin also went to other places, but he usually went to where knights laid to rest or old ruins. He may come out every once in a while to lecture on his specialty, shadow defense and enemies, but once his job was over and done
he would go straight back to that pile of rusted metal. Something must be over there.

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"Sorry for being late, I had to go through some protocol to get that storage container back."
Walkon had a noticeable uncertainty in his tone which Green identified instantly. He must have run into someone unexpected.
"Your assignment is to clear the royal palace of the jellies and defeat Royal Jelly, their king, and
inevitably recover the module. Once complete return the module to Feron. No one else." Walkon emphasized that only Feron is to receive the module. It must have significance. He walked over to the platform and entered a censored code on an unlabeled set of keys.
"Yes, sir." Amber and Korin both spoke in unison. Walkon gave Green a stern glare.
"It will be done." Green had a snarl in his speech but no one seemed to notice.
"Dismissed." Walkon turned and left. The three knights proceeded to the platform and Green punched the blue button.

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Green seemed upset, Korin thought to himself. Had he done something wrong?
"Something bothering you?"
Green stood motionless. Korin looked around in case he was missing something.
"Am I miscounting or were there supposed to be four of us here?"
"Blue is missing." Green still kept his stance.
"He disappeared shortly before our entrance to the Arcade. I expected him to reappear for the assignment but it seems another of my comrades has abandoned me." Green clenched his fist. "I never would have expected this from him."
Korin failed to understand what was going on.
"What do you mean, another?"
"Originally we were three; Blue, Red, and myself. Red disappeared to go on one of his many distracted ventures and Blue seems to have retreated cowardly." Green began to stiffen. "After our time together, after all the punishment I have taken for them, they abandon me."
"I apologize."
Green snapped his attention to Korin.
"Your apology is a single tear drop upon my volcanic anger." Green turned back to his solid position and the platform stopped. They were in a bright area with piles of what appeared to be purple jelly in various corners. Korin drew his Troika and large rectangular shield. Amber drew a standard Blast bomb and his own Plate shield. Green seemed hesitant to draw his weapon of choice to follow a strange buckler with a bright glowing eye in the center, only to find something he seemed surprised by.

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Green fumbled through his arsenal in search of his Brandish, only to find something unexpected. His once meager blade had been replaced by a similar model with a dark blade, light handle, and a bright blue stripe towards the tip of the blade. Attached was a note.

"Try not to get used to this.
-Echo"

The weapon had noticeably higher damage, especially having split normal-element; the blue stripe seemed to identify it has having the ability to freeze. Green identified this weapon as an upgrade of his old Brandish. He remembered visiting the medic before the meeting where the mission was assigned and being disabled temporarily. Echo could have accessed his arsenal, seeing as Vanguards have clearance to do so under certain circumstances. It was probably a bribe to prevent friction between them, seeing as no one likes when Echo has issues with other knights, so Green accepted the change as a token of friendship. At least there was one knight he knew he could count on, other than Izola.
"We should get going." Korin returned Green to reality with a few words, realizing he had been keeping them waiting while he was staring blankly at the sword. Several cubes of pink and purple slime appeared from the floor, sliding along the grass surface nonchalantly; that is, until they noticed the knights nearby. Upon acknowledgement of their presence the cubes slid towards
them, bumping into each other constantly yet not caring. There were several stone blocks in the middle of little islands connected by grassy paths. At least the scenery was pretty. Green thought he heard someone talking, since Korin was looking at him after clearing out the cubes in the area, but he was preoccupied with smashing the blocks. Rather than attempt to share the idea with others, seeing as the path was blocked by an air lock, Green begun to beat the stone blocks into submission while Amber and Korin watched. Korin seemed to catch on, then seemed to point Amber to start breaking another block; neither used their fists but Green was too busy taking out his frustration. After having smashed his frustration through several blocks someone grabbed him by the shoulder. Green looked up and saw Korin looking at him and seemed to be speaking, but Green could hear nothing. Green resumed his upward stance and followed Korin to where Amber was standing, in the middle of the room past the air lock. To their left and right were air locks, in the room were more piles of slime and several lighter boxes. Korin seemed to be asking Green to relax, holding his hand up to him as if asking him to stop. Green crossed his arms while Korin and Amber got rid of the boxes, two of which revealed red buttons. They must be there to open the doors. Green noticed his vision diminishing as his perception of color began to dim. Colors became flat and
plain and sound became little more than barely audible whispers. Reality seemed to diminish to its rawest form. Someone activated one of the buttons and several more jellies appeared. Green turned to them and time seemed to slow, their movements easily recognizable and tracked. For once Green watched as others fought on the frontline, noticing their movements being tracked in this new environment in his own mind as swings became tactical maneuvers with several options to counter, evade, block; the world had changed. When a cube began to attack its spike appeared beneath the floor and traveled in slow motion upward, creating a mark on the surface indicating the imminent attack. Green took action against the attack by pushing Amber away from where the spike was about to arrive, narrowly evading impalement on his own account by crashing down next to it, and grabbed the spike. Green began to pull the spike out of the surface, visibly realizing he was pulling the jelly underground only to resurface again. After the cube screeched in pain the others began to cower and retreat, noticing how their brethren suffered; Green relentlessly dragged the cube through the burrow which its spike narrowly created and pulled it out of the floor, then proceeded to swing the cube towards the floor again and it created a splatter of purple substance. Green felt his breath become heavier as the colorless flesh had been blasted upon the grass as the other jellies began to flee. Green began to stand straight
only to charge after the cowards for their defeat to be similarly gruesome. One by one Green proceeded to splatter, throw, crush, and shred them apart; there were no survivors amongst the cubes. Once both sides of the room had been cleared Green proceeded eastward while Korin and Amber went west. Green thought he heard someone call out to him but ignored it. He limped forward as color fled from his approach, enveloped by the distance unseen. A large area of bushes seemed to shiver ahead of him. Green sluggishly drew his Iceburst Brandish and slashed through them, leaving a lone stone block in the center. Past the block Green noticed an airlock with a key behind it. With a kick to the block an underlying switch swiveled, followed by several enemies appearing. Green first identified a Lumber approaching, preparing to strike with its single club-like arm. Green charged in front of the behemoth and drove his Iceburst into its chest, then grabbed it by the torso and raised it above the ground. Nearby jellies seemed to spectate, quivering in fear. With a hollow thought Green proceeded to throw the Lumber at a Gun Puppy, crushing it instantly, then walked over to the wreckage and pulled his sword out of the Lumber. Another Gun Puppy nearby had begun to fire, a single bullet making contact. Green felt the pain but had no will to flinch. He drove his blade through the immobile machine and beheaded it. From within its torso several sparks cried out and the head fell wordlessly. Green allowed the tip of his blade to drag on the floor as he stalked toward the cowering purple cubes, showing no emotion nor remorse for what had to be done.

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Korin watched as Amber hopped around, planting bombs in various positions relative to the crowd of enemies chasing after him; it was interesting to watch, though he could not help but look back to how Green was doing. Korin felt as though he had done something wrong though he knew it was another.
"Cradle to Korin, do you copy?" Amber was holding the absurdly large key in one hand and knocking on the stone wall near Korin with the other. "Wake up, we have to keep going. Do you want to be next?" Amber pointed to Green.
"He would never do that to his brethren." Korin hesitated. "I mean, he would never do it to us. His buddies." Korin hesitated again. "Unless we do something bad."
Amber unlocked one of the two golden doors blocking their path ahead as Green approached with the other. He seemed to be dragging himself as though an unnatural weight had begun to press him downward. Amber stepped aside as Green used the second key and the path became available. Neither Amber or Korin stepped from place as they watched Green slowly creep onto the large button ahead, then stopped without turning to face them. They slowly approached. Korin thought of further questions, but decided it would be more of a risk than he was willing to attempt. Who else would watch after Amber?

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As the button activated the air lock behind them sealed and several more colorless cubes appeared. Two in front of the party had more spikes than the others and seemed more menacing. Green did not hesitate to attack, but instead of using brute force he decided to resume using his sword. It was a gift from someone he thought to be his enemy, but had always been his friend. He thought back to their heated encounters and imagined if Izola were not there
between them. As his mind trailed into fantasy his perception melted into his newfound friendship as he viciously slashed through gelatinous flesh of various sizes and thickness until the scenery changed. He was shaking hands with Echo as Feron filed a team transferral for Green when a large limb crashed through the desk before him, the colors of the Arcade washed away by ashen gray and monotony. Green felt deprived of his right to justice which his former comrades defiled with their behavior, grasping his blade so the hilt lost the will to escape. As gears and wood fell and the giant collapsed, the two floating insects fled to a corner. Green dropped his sword to the ground and stalked toward them, wriggling his fingers in preparation. Neither of his teammates were nearby to get in the way. The insects watched in horror as the machine came closer with every passing moment, devoid of remorse for what will be done.

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Barely standing due to the agonizing pain, Korin struggled to stand; let alone help Amber to his feet again. These jellies may be mindless but they are certainly vicious. Once a knight goes down they make sure they have problems getting back up again. Korin was plucking a few small spikes from his Boosted Plate as Amber struggled to brush the purple residue from his Fused Demo. The two quickly took notice of a short shriek in a corner where Green was standing, holding something in his hands with his sword on the floor nearby. Amber continued to struggle as Korin removed the last thorn, standing in spite of the minor gaps in his armor. As he approached the discarded blade he began to reach for it, only to be startled as Green turned
with the wingless Silkwing he was strangling. Two pairs of dim blue wings lay motionless in front of him and what appeared to be the remains of another Silkwing near them. Green threw the wingless insect to the ground and stormed over to Korin who was leaning over his sword. Korin immediately backed away and allowed Green to retrieve it. Korin turned to have Amber in his field of vision and noticed him begin to speak, then shook his head in disapproval. Amber stood and walked to the platform wordlessly.

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The three continued through the palace, wiping out several groups of Lumbers and jellies, though to Green there were no other two knights with him. He only saw the enemies and the colorless floor layout. If an enemy was defeated by either of his teammates they simply dissipated where they once stood as though they had no reason to exist. Every kill gave no satisfaction, every deceased cube no pleasure. He agreed to this mission to conquer but has yet to be challenged by these pathetic cowards. They appear with the vigor of champions only to be crushed as insects. Red and Blue were the same. They acted as though Green were a brute weapon at their disposal, a mere machine to command. The three split amongst various rooms before Green could say anything, not that he could hear their response nor his own command. His awareness slipped again to Echo and Izola, the only knights he could trust. He thought of Brawl, the decrepit accumulation of rust and ash; he was far past his prime and lacked the luster of youth to continue as a knight. He should have stayed retired. The Order needs new knights to fight wars, not old clunkers. Green was unaware of his battle against dozens of jellies, most abnormally small, in the southeast room where he had activated every corner releasing a swarm of tiny green cubes. He saw Echo behind the airlock ordering him to prove his worth to the Order to become a Vanguard by defeating the onslaught of slime and proudly accepted the challenge. Every swing by blade and shield devastated the cubes until not a single moving blob was left. A Lumber had slowly approached from behind, to which Green thrust his blade through its eye and twisted the blade to turn the behemoth to splinters. Green liberated the key from its prison and returned to the others who were slowly returning with several dents and spikes in them. Korin activated a pill for Amber but did not have one for himself. Green noticed Korin was staring at him but could not hear his words, assuming Korin was simply staring at him. Green turned away and activated the keys to proceed. Korin attempted to stand but shortly after collapsed. Green did not hear the crunch of metal but turned regardless. He noticed Korin suffer as Amber struggled to lift him. Green recalled the time when Blue had struggled to lift him after the giant Lichen had kept a volley of spike projectiles on them. He thought it would be his end, but Blue would not stop. Blue dragged his unconscious body to lie behind a barricade to be protected. His mind flushed back to reality where Korin was leaning on Amber, both barely able to stand alone. Green ducked between them and took both of their arms over his own shoulders. As he drove forward he noticed the grass beneath his feet blossom into a beautiful green
again, the mounds of translucent material in the corners melt to a deep purple. Faint whispers floated to his left cleared to the voice of Korin, mumbles refocusing to words of thanks. Green stopped near the party button and lay the two so their backs propped each other up.
"You seem better." Korin managed to speak in spite of his suffering. Amber seemed to be dimming his optics.
"How are you back there?" Korin nudged his elbow to the knight on his back who seemed to be losing consciousness.
"I..I...th..f.." Amber was fell to his side.
Green pulled him upward again and his optic sensors lit.
"I think Green has some pills." Amber spilled his words impatiently with a single weak breath then resumed his wavering. Green checked his temporary arsenal and found two pills. He withdrew both and used them on the two limp knights.
"I hope you can forgive what I did." Green began pulling the two to their feet. "I had no control over myself."
"It helped us get this far, but I hope you do better without it." Korin dropped his hand on his shoulder and looked him intently. "You are a vigorous warrior. Let us conquer the king of jellies and return the module to the lieutenant."
Green dropped his own hand on the opposite shoulder of Korin.
"I am proud to fight alongside such brave knights."
The three prepared their weapons and activated the party button, followed by several cubes and a couple turrets.

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As the battle continued, Amber could not help a sense of despair. He had hoped to impress Korin with his prowess as a bomber, but he felt Green would then think of him as the knight who betrayed him. Amber decided to switch to his Autogun and began firing at stray enemies which crossed his path. The battle continued through several waves of jellies, machines, and purple-cored yellow blobs; Green jumped and slashed throughout the battlefield,
an unusual enjoyment to every swing. He was not throwing the jellies at each other or ripping the limbs from Lumbers, but he was still mowing them down until they were defeated. Amber could not help a sense of jealousy as Korin used his Troika to swing several enemies together as Green charged his Iceburst, followed by a frigid release and a swing which shattered the crowd. The battle ended shortly to the dismay of the duo as Amber stood on the opposite side of the room.
"We work well together." Korin was breathing heavily and propped himself against his Troika. Green was also breathing heavily but pointed bluntly to Amber.
"He did well, too. We should do this more often." Korin let out a breathless laugh and the three continued to reap the rewards in several boxes ahead of them.

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"This is it, the throne room of the big guy."
The platform lowered and Green immediately jumped out. He puffed his chest slightly and took in a deep breath. "Is everyone ready?"
Green turned to the others still on the platform as they took their time.
"This place is seems well kept for the kingdom of a giant purple cube." Korin joked, though it was completely true. How did they keep this place so neat when they have no limbs? Do the Lumbers take care of it? Green felt like the excited swordsman he used to be, before the event he chose to ignore. Korin and Amber are his new comrades. Blue is still alive somewhere, but Red is dead.

The three continued and found health pads. Free health.
"That was nice of them, giving us free health so we can kill them." Green laughed. "They must know how doomed they were before we got here." Korin smiled at him.
It must have been from the change of mood. Green punched him lightly on the shoulder and the three continued to the party button with air locks preventing them from running into the room yet. When the button activated the gates fell and several purple and pink cubes of various sizes
appeared, the most notable being the giant one towards the back of the room with a crown on top. That must be the king. Green grasped his Iceburst firmly, planning to conquer the royal pain and impress everyone back in Haven. Korin began swinging his Troika back and forth as crowds of jellies jiggled toward him, cleaving one crowd as the king spawned several more from his own form. His entirety did not diminish in spite of the constant creation of small cubes.
"Korin, I need your help over here!" Green called out as he began charging his Iceburst.
"What do you need?" Korin called out, though the jiggling was not loud enough to prompt the shouting.
"I need your help with the big guy." Green began repeating his charge attack, freezing the giant with the explosions which followed a short slash, allowing for constant battery on the immobile royal lump.

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Korin took a wide glance with every swing as he butchered his way to help Green and noticed Amber using his Autogun on a few small stray jellies.
"Amber, we need you to cover the crowd over here." At his feet Korin began to notice a few jellies latching on. "They are getting a little clingy."
Amber hesitated for a moment after blasting the last one into pieces, then switched to his Blast and began winding it. Korin kicked the annoying little jellies off his feet and began charging his Troika to use on the giant jelly. Behind him he could hear Amber shouting victoriously over the tiny jellies and constant explosions. The occasional flying blob of purple slime was also pretty funny. The king began to diminish as the constant freezing and shattering reduced his accumulative mass, eventually lowering him to a tiny cube with an unfittingly large crown. Green stomped the miniscule midget and picked up the crown.
"Hail to the king."
Green proceeded to remove small purple gems in the crown and handed them out, finding only nine gems total. The airlock ahead fell and a bounty awaited them. This area seemed to be collecting dust but was fairly intact, in spite of a knight laying in the middle holding a large green sword and a small module. Green immediately picked up the module and deposited, then took a moment to stare at the large sword. It was his favorite color, but if he started using a different sword Echo and Izola might get upset. The Iceburst was the first sign of friendship between him and Echo, he was not prepared to give that up.
"Here, Korin, I think you deserve this." Green stood aside as Korin stepped forward. Amber was using his Autogun to break down the mineral deposits since the treasure boxes had already been looted.
"Thank you." Korin reached for the sword, not hesitating to move the remains of a knight with a large opening in its torso and the mist tank missing, and took the sword from the open hand. He stored his Troika in his arsenal and gave the green sword a few test swings.
"It feels different. More powerful." Korin walked to the elevator to return to Haven and stood next to the impatient Amber. Green was examining the deceased knight.
"Something wrong over there?" Korin thought they were done with whatever corrupted him.
"No, it just seems weird." Green seemed to be pulling himself away but could not help staring. It was gruesome to see a knight ripped open, not to mention the removed mist tank, but to see the remains in such condition without significant damage. It looked like the knight was just punched into then fell over, untouched by time. The knight seemed to be wearing basic Cobalt armor but Korin could not tell anything else about them.
"Come on, we have to get back to Feron." Amber crossed his arms.

To all weavers, after several hours and suicide attempts all chapters and parts have been reformatted to not be so silly and I personally scoured for spelling and grammar mistakes. The collaboration project linked above now has four writers and seems pretty well equipped. If you still want to work on a collaboration do not be afraid to ask, I will not remove your eyeballs and replace them with bacon. I may, however, replace your eyeballs with sheep. Very small ones.

Chapter six may take a while depending on how the collaboration goes, though I hope to get at least one part done before this upcoming Sunday.

The mute darkness enveloped Blue as a mockery of morning approached. Teases of sunlight frolicked at the gate beckoning him to awaken, dancing to entertain his interest. Blue slowly regained consciousness as the hollow whispers of air currents traveled within the dark dome. The walls were relatively black, though a previous curiosity led him to scratching one of the walls to reveal a metallic gray hiding underneath. Age and environment seem to have gotten the better of this barrier. Blue stood and stretched his arms. He knocked over an empty wooden crate. Before he could reach out for it the crate shattered upon the unforgiving surface Blue had slept upon. Several thin scrolls scattered around the wreckage. Blue picked up one of the delicate notes and unrolled it.

‘Day 481

The project has become corrupt. It escaped its holding cell during the night but has left no signs indicating its location. Everyone fears for their own safety.’

Blue deposited the scroll in his arsenal and picked up another one.

‘Day 639

Two more have gone missing. Sometimes we find pieces of them completely detached from the rest of the body, but we are running out of people down here. Where are those reinforcements we called for?’

Blue began taking as many of the scrolls he could find. All knights have an arsenal capable of holding an indefinite amount of items, so storage was not an issue. As he looted he opened one occasionally.

‘Day 207

This project is too risky to run. We need more time to complete protocol safety measures to prevent control failure. Please send the following resources.’

The rest of this note was torn off. Blue finished storing all the notes which had fallen out of that crate and noticed two crates which seemed to have been the same as the first. What were these doing here? Whoever wrote them seemed to be in dire need of help, but their messages were sitting in this corner gathering dust for so long. Blue began looting the contents of the other two boxes, which happened to be the same kind of notes.

‘Day 842

I think I might be the last one alive. I keep finding limbs and inner mechanisms in the halls. I barricaded myself in the emergency bunker room so I should be fine. Sometimes I hear noises outside the door. I am too terrified to ever open it. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe that was just my imagination. I may be trapped in this room with barely enough light to write this message, but I have to get it to the mailroom to send it. I plan to wait until it sleeps, which seems to be during the day. I only hear noises at night. If I can just get this message sent before it gets me, we can prevent a catastrophe for the rest of the Spiral Order. Please, send help!’

After reading this note Blue tried to find any messages after it. There were none. That was the last message. Blue shuddered. What could have possibly been there? The bunker was definitely intimidating, but it was abandoned. The only noises Blue has heard have been birds outside. Most of the buildings within the bunker were broken down and abandoned, doors either barely attached or on the floor. Whatever they were doing, whatever they were afraid of, it must have left by now. Nothing happened at night. Blue was completely asleep all night, but he would have noticed if something was there. In one of the distant buildings a door began to open. Blue hid behind the corner of the building he was next to to stay out of sight. From the corner of his vision in the light of dawn Blue watched as something unidentifiable exited the building and traveled out of sight. If Blue peaked further past the corner he would risk being seen, which having read the notes would most likely result in death. Was he willing to risk it? No, it would be better to live and bring these messages back to the Order than die and have them lost forever. He returned to his corner and tried to remember what he saw. It was still too dark to really see anything, especially in the shadowed area where light fails to reach from the front gate. The shadow seemed to have gone further into the darkness. Blue heard the echo of a door being opened and closed again in the distance where the figure seemed to have gone. Whatever it was, it must not have been as savage as these notes depict. It knows to open and close doors instead of ripping them off like with some of the buildings around here. Maybe something else broke those doors down.

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Sylvin had hoped Brawl survived the encounter, though knowing what lurked it was highly unlikely. Brawl may have been a venerable warrior, but even he would fall to...that. Retracing his steps, Sylvin knew every hall and room in this bunker. He spent the majority of his career guarding this place, usually alone. The other guards usually disappear within a couple days but Sylvin was never harmed. It may have been his choice of armaments, seeing as all the other guards use standard Cobalt line equipment. Sylvin was also the only one to clean out the remains and keep the halls dusted while the other guards would break statues “accidentally” and claim it was someone else; someone or something. Supposedly it was part of a past project, the one which took place next door, but how would it have come here? Other bunkers have apparently been broken into, but nothing has been damaged otherwise. Sylvin had satisfied his curiosity over the years by exploring the base, going in buildings and seeing what was there. Usually there was more remains and pieces but sometimes there were a few rare treasures. A while ago he found three crates in the laboratory which seemed to be full of papers. To keep them safe from the Order while preserving them he hid them around the corner of one of the back storage buildings along with some old metalworking equipment. Every time Sylvin found evidence that something happened here the Order wants to cover up, it always ends up disappearing when Sylvin goes out for a while. To prevent them from taking what deserves to stay Sylvin has attempted to communicate with whatever lurks around here to get it to guard the place, but the only response he gets are the remains of new guards who were sent to retrieve stuff from the storage rooms in a pile in front of the building he usually camps out in. Usually Sylvin would find the remains scattered around, like a game where you have to find all the pieces, but since his desperate requests and effort to preserve the objects within the base it seems to be cooperating. They may not speak directly, let alone see each other, but Sylvin believed whatever it was it agreed that this base should be preserved as a historical monument while the Order wants to destroy its mistakes. Fortunately for them the Order is too afraid of it to try to eliminate it, seeing as the past attempt wiped out a significant amount of the military. Rather than fight it they decided to reinforce the protective dome which covers the entire base, preventing it from escaping except from the only exit which is only openable through several safeguards and live guards in the new Haven base. They think if they have guards in the base where something wants to kill them it would be too risky, even though Sylvin never has problems with it personally. Cleaning up mangled parts can get grating at times, but other than that it seemed to prefer to cooperate with him. Sometimes Sylvin returns and finds metal statues in honor of past knights repaired after past guards have broken them, but only with certain ones. They seemed to know which knight was which because only the statues of knights who were against the project in the laboratory were repaired. The ones which were in favor of whatever they did were left untouched as shattered pieces of metal. Sylvin often tried to explore the laboratory building further, but there were always piles of debris in the way. Whenever Sylvin tried to take them down it would take too long, usually because there would be multiple immense piles. If he went to rest for a while to come back later the pile would either be built to its previous mass or even larger. It seemed to not want him to see what was past the front office where the three crates of paper were sitting. Which is strange, because those boxes were not there since Sylvin had taken responsibility of the base. They appeared years ago but only after most of the other guards either disappeared or quit. Come to think of it, many old artifacts and objects started showing up since he became the only guard left. Usually in normal places, as if a normal person knew where to place them if someone wanted to find it.

Brawl had expected a more substantial event but was given a retreat instead. Whatever he heard approaching, it had disappeared as it approached. Sheathing his weapons he backtracked to where he suspected Echo to have been laying, seeing as Red came from there and Brawl knew these halls better than anyone. He was the one who designed this place. In fact, he knew that in the hall where the sound was coming from there was a secret passage to another building hidden and only someone who knows the layout as well as he would have been able to figure it out; it would be like trying to see yellow paint on a purple wall. This lead to another dilemma: the only other knight who knew the layout was his old partner. The name escaped him at the moment, but they were the only one who would have known there was a passage there. Brawl made sure to keep all information on the facility classified to prevent prisoners from taking control of the system. The plans were never recorded in the database. Only two knights had them memorized. Knowing Sylvin he probably figured out the hallways, but only the two original engineers would know the secrets they created. This was not the only prison bloc but it was designed for more threatening rogue knights who may be armed. There may not have been guards keeping the halls in check back then, but seeing as the only possible exit would be where he would sit around near and his battle experience surpassed nearly everyone prisoners preferred to stay down there rather than risk being mutilated. That was another reason Brawl was assigned to this particular prison, the Order was afraid of his style. He had a habit of using other means to fight; bare handed brawling. This was against Order combat regulation at the time and Brawl suspected the rule has not changed, especially with Feron in command. Kids these days are afraid to get rough and dirty. It was no different back then, but at least no one would stop him from strangling Devilites. As Brawl reminisced in his own memories, several which have evaded him began to resurface. He remembered as a kid questioning why the Order has to go in the Clockworks, receiving a vague answer and some Plate equipment to work with. There was a shortage in Cobalt but there was an old Plate set leftover so he was stuck with it. The other knights always mocked him for it, though he had no control over the supply as a kid. It was heavy and inconvenient so he had to physically train himself. Finding little exercise in using the Calibur they gave him, Brawl had resorted to bare handed combat to condition himself to become sturdier and stronger. He was focused on proving his worth to the other knights of his class. Countless years of painful warfare against all who opposed him. In his young adulthood the Order reassigned him from expeditionist to guard duty in a new base they were working on to keep rogue knights in check. The original design was just a bunch of little rooms, each prisoner having their own box, but Brawl refused to support that. In his experience the only good traitor was a dead one. Then a younger knight came along, though he was unable to recall what he looked like, and taught him to be empathetic towards others. Not everyone was willing to put forward the same indestructible vigilance he has over more time than most of the other knights have been alive, especially since only half the time knights came back alive. The Clockworks was a dangerous place. As he got older the Order began to discover higher alchemizations, leading to his Volcanic Plate armaments, but before then knights were getting broken and crushed everywhere. The Order began to create more buildings near the prison as a new base to house several projects which have apparently been planned for a while. The prison began to become more popular with visitors than inhabitants so Brawl had to tighten security on who could come into the base. Most of the buildings were for research or storage to keep records safe from the prying public. As more buildings of significant importance to the Order were built Brawl had to further strengthen security to the base, eventually leading to a large low overhead dome surrounded by enough plantlife to hide with reinforced layering. He reinforced the buildings as well. The only exit to the base had an air lock which could only be activated through the other base closer to Haven or the two engineers who built the place, the other a faded memory. Brawl wondered what the base has become since his inactivity. The place had always been dark so he installed lights along the walls high enough to keep the whole place visible, but the ambience turned visitors away from coming to satisfy their curiosity. In the distance to his left through what seemed to be several walls Brawl heard a miniscule tap. Another memory flushed to his awareness. Under the base the Order wanted to build a mining project to create their own Clockworks system to reach the center of the planet with ease, but Brawl had always denied them. This was supposed to be a prison, not a place of discovery. There were other places to build but they never explored them. Every time Brawl refused them there seemed to be an assault on the base; graffiti on the outside wall, trees being cut down and left on the floor, but never anything inside the base. They were probably afraid to invoke his wrath. The majority of the high rank knights were still younger than him, seeing as all the knights who lived to be as old as he was at the time were either expeditionists or were lost in battle. No one wanted to mess with him so they let him stay in the base. Sometimes Brawl would see the knights defacing the area around the base, but he would never chase after them. The Order can throw all the tantrums it wants, he was not going to give up the base. He was put in charge, he built the prison, he built the defenses, and he was the senior knight amongst everyone who worked on the base. He was the boss. The Order appointed him to that position. They had no right to take it away when they could build their tunnel elsewhere. There was nothing special about where the base was placed, the Order just wanted to push him around. Come to think of it, several knights from his old class were in the high ranks of the Order at that time. Cowards.

__________________________________

With the last remaining gremlin defeated the lumberyard was decommissioned. Korin mentioned something about Project R but Amber was preoccupied with a stump with a wrench in it. Was it supposed to be an axe or a wrench? A hammer? Those gremlins should make up their minds on what their weapon is.

“Amber, are you listening?”

“Huh? Wha- Yeah, I was listening.”
Korin seemed impatient with him, as usual.

“Then what did I just say?”

“Project R?”

Korin turned away from Amber and redirected his attention to Green.

“The lumberyard has been shut down and we are returning to the Arcade to deliver the information on Project R we found. This place has been used to gather resources for whatever it is.”

Korin and Green made their way to the elevator and Amber scrambled to meet them. He was sitting in the grass while distracted but when Korin drones on about something it always gets boring. The three began their ascent as Korin spoke to Green again.

“The gremlins seem to be preparing for a large scale attack. What do you think?”

Green hesitated for several seconds.

“They must be building something.”

Amber held back a chuckle. Of course they were building something. Gremlins are always building something. Korin noticed his smile and spoke before Green noticed as well.

“Yes, but what exactly are they making? It must be big, considering how much wood they were cutting.”

Green seemed to have caught on.

“Something big. How am I supposed to know?”

Amber had another urge to laugh but restrained himself. Korin elbowed him.

“At least we know they are up to something.” Korin was attempted to cover Amber in case Green became upset again. “The lieutenant may not like the news but it has to be delivered.”

As the platform returned to the Arcade Feron was still standing over the same monitor.

“Did we miss anything?” Amber spoke quietly enough so only Green and Korin could hear.

“Nothing regarding yourselves.” Feron surprised Amber. He did not expect him to be able to hear from that far. “Did you find anything in the lumberyard?”

Green stepped forward.

“The gremlins are working on something called Project R. They were gathering wood to build something.”

Feron did not move or flinch. He kept his focus on the monitor.

“Project R. Nothing in the records for it.” Feron checked his com unit. “No, nothing there either.” Feron turned his attention back to the group. “Alright, I have another assignment for you three. There have been reports in gremlin inhabited areas of strange machines being built. Not normal machines, but monstrosities.” Feron paused, both hands leaning on the console. “There was a toxic testing ground for gremlin research which was being investigated a few days ago and what seemed to be a deconstruction of portions of the Clockworks to recycle materials was taken out of commission a couple days after that. They must be up to something.” Feron worked silently on the console again, straining his attention on the monitor.

“Can we go now?”

Korin elbowed Amber again and mumbled under his breath.

“Quiet.”

Green addressed Feron.

“Sir, may we be dismissed?”

Feron kept his focus on the monitor but still spoke.

“Yes, for now; we will call when we need you.” Feron waved them away again without looking away from the screen.

It takes some of my own crazy conspiracies and throws other people in there. The original characters probably seem better than the fan given ones because they were developed from experiences rather than some brief description, though they began as innocent and without any character; rather than start with something they became something.

It might. No, it does not, actually. It should be vaguely logical of what the prisoner actually is, considering I drop hints constantly.

The sound of gears raising and lowering a gate was muffled by walls in a building within sight. Blue peaked around the corner and searched for any sign of movement. Nothing. He was growing impatient as precious daylight dwindled, the fear of nightfall creeping closer with every passing second held over his head with fangs bared and claws outreached. To escape its reach Blue had to find somewhere to go. He had to escape this closed cage. The only exit was within sight but still locked. Judging by what he could assume from the base there seemed to be no other means of escape. He had to wait until someone either entered or left. Blue peeked around the corner again. No movement visible. He cautiously proceeded while constantly scanning around him, reassuring himself of no imminent threat. He slowly approached the gate and noticed a room with a few small lights active inside. All the other rooms were either pitch black or locked. Blue began to peek around the door frame, noticing a slight sign of movement. What seemed to be a sliver of shadow quickly departed as Blue approached, completely escaping sight upon full awareness of what was in the room. A wooden crate was sitting next to a counter, the front desk of the room. Another crate seemed to have been dropped next to it with its contents nearly spilling. Blue stood motionless leaning in the doorway, afraid of what may have been bringing these crates. It must have been there seconds ago seeing as the crates were not coated with the same age and dust which accumulated over other areas of the facility. Then again, the whole room was fairly clean. There were a few chairs lined along the walls facing the center desk. Behind the desk was a monitor and several scattered papers. Blue began to stand in the doorway when he heard a noise in the distance. Blue turned to the noise and noticed a familiar shape through a cleaned window. Two red eyes gazed from within a circular helmet.

__________________________________

Was tha- How w- What? Red had to see if it was true. He had not seen any of his comrades since his imprisonment. In spite of the order from Sylvin, Red opened the door and immediately ran outside to greet his old friend.

“Blue!”

The blast suit weighed him down, but not enough to prevent him from running as best as he could. In the corner of his field of vision he noticed something move in the shadows. The distant knight turned to face him revealing two familiar blue eyes along with an unfamiliar set of equipment.

“Red?” Red heard the voice faintly from the distance. It must have been him. As Red came closer, the light reaching from an air lock became focused in his sight as a means of escape. His experience in the lightless tunnels had interfered with his ability to interpret light as the outside world. He turned away from the gate and met gazes with Blue.

“Good to see you again.” Red dropped one hand on his shoulder. “Is Green with you?”

Blue turned away and towards the ground.

“I see.” Something must have happened. “Are you well?”

Blue spoke.

“Yes. Green is-”

Red cut him off.

“You do not have to tell me. I understand.”

“Are you sure you do?”

“He would be the kind to fall in battle as a hero. I apologize for not being there to help.”

Blue met his gaze again.

“No, Green is fine. The problem is-”

Red cut him off again.

“No time for this now, we have to get out of here. Brawl and Sylvin are in the tunnels going after Echo. Sylvin told me to stay back there but we should get out now.” Red began searching the walls near the gate for something to activate it. “Do you see a switch or something anywhere?”

Blue thought of the room he was peeking into.

“I saw something in this room.” Blue pointed to the room he saw the crates in. “A console is in there. Maybe we can open the air lock with it.”

Red entered the room while Blue followed shortly behind. Blue kept one hand on the holster of his Firotech.

“What are these doing here?” Red was standing in front of the crates. The one which had fallen was stacked on the other, though when Blue had faced away to greet Red it was on the floor. Red kneeled next to the boxes and began to inspect the surface.

“We should leave those alone.” Blue scanned the room constantly. It must have returned to correct itself.

“Do you know what are in these crates?” Red began to open the top one.

“There were a few in the back area, they should be full of old letters.” Red had already opened the crate and began reading one aloud.

‘To those whom it may concern:

Project ~~~~~~~~~ [the word was scribbled out] is officially shut down. Do not open the facility for this project. Do not approach the facility. If you hear noise coming from within the facility, make no attempt to liberate the origin of the sound. Simply ignore it and be on your way. Anyone caught disobeying this order will be eliminated immediately.

-~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~[the words have also been scribbled out]’

“What do you think it means?” Red was staring at the letter.

“We should leave these here.” Blue noticed a slight movement in the distant shadows out the window. “I should check the console.” Blue slowly stepped towards the console, keeping his eyes focused on the window. As his hands came over the device he redirected his attention to the screen. When he activated the device from the corner of his sight he noticed something move outside the window again.

“Do you need help?” Red was resealing the crate and stood again.

Blue was struggling with countless passwords and tests which came up on the console.

“I think we need Brawl to help us with this.” Blue attempted to enter gibberish into the device as Red approached and spectated.

“That could be a problem.” Red attempted to enter his own gibberish into the countless tests only to result in as many failures. “He went in some tunnels. It could be awhile.” Red looked up from the console and scanned around them. “Did you hear something?”

Blue stood up straight and scanned again. As his vision approached the blocked back area of the room he noticed something move.

“We are not alone.” Blue grabbed his Firotech again. Red bounced his gaze from Blue to the direction he was focused. The two were motionless. A long pause.

“Is it still there?” Red was holding his bomb in one hand. He had not begun to wind it.

“Not that I can see.” Blue kept one hand on his gun and the other entering more gibberish into the console. After several minutes of the two watching around themselves and Blue entering nonsense a message appeared on the screen.

‘ERROR

TOO MANY FAILED ATTEMPTS

INITIATING DEFENSE PROTOCOL’

An air lock immediately rose from under the doorway and sealed the exit. The sound of metal crashing against metal echoed for several seconds. Blue flinched.

“Calm down, we can get through this.” Red kept scanning while Blue had unsheathed his gun. The two were back to back with the console to their side. A subtle tapping repeated in the back.

“Do you hear that?” Blue whispered.

“Yeah.” Red also whispered, in case someone else may have heard.

The lights began to dim. One by one. Light was vanquished.

They were left in darkness.

__________________________________

Red was becoming afraid. He could only see the eyes of Blue next to him. He whispered again.

“Come on, to the corner.”

Red and Blue crawled slowly and carefully, minding the barely visible crates, and crouched in the corner of the room. The console was still active but gave off barely enough light to notice it was still there. A slight distortion in its glow was followed by several miniscule taps. A mechanical voice boomed as the sound of gears releasing echoed.

‘IDENTIFICATION ACCEPTED.’

Slivers of light waved from the open doorway. Red began to crawl to the doorway as the distorted light from the console moved away. Once at the opening Red stood and immediately faced toward the exit. It was open. Blue stood behind him and the two walked out. As they stood outside the walls to enjoy the scenery the same voice echoed from behind them.

‘CLOSING AIR LOCKS.’

Red turned to the rising gate. The air locks of both the external barrier and the room they had fled from were both raised.

The dark blade with its single blue strip barely reflected the sunlight smiling upon Haven. Green sat with his back against a wall in a grassy area while Korin and Amber conversed.

“Should we check with Feron yet?” Korin asked, not specifically addressing anyone after the exaggerated wait they have sat through.

“You heard him, we have to wait for his order.” Amber was laying on his back waving his Autogun in the air aimlessly.

The training building was closed for maintenance that day. Green hoped to practice with his gift from Echo before reentering the Clockworks, though outside training areas and the Clockworks itself knights were not allowed to wield their weapons. Green watched as Amber continued to play with his gun.

“Amber, put that away. If you get caught you might b-”

“Korin, no one cares.” Amber let his arm drop with the gun still in hand. The three sat in silence.

Green checked his com unit. There was a little message. He opened it.

‘Knight Elite Green:
Your presence is requested in the Arcade. Come alone.’

Green arose from his perch and brushed the grass off himself.

“Going somewhere?” Korin was as bored as the others.

“I got a message.” Green walked toward the exit of the small garden. “It said to go alone.”

Amber immediately rolled on his side and fumbled to stand.

“Why only you? We had to wait just as long.” Amber was not about to let this rare moment of patience be for nothing. “Was it from Feron?”

“No, it just said to go to the Arcade alone. No sender name.” Green continued to the meeting place.

“Do you think we should come with you?” Korin knew the message was meant for only the recipient but thought he should ask anyway.

“Not today, my friends. Hopefully it will be no more than a debriefing to relay to the both of you for our next mission.”

Green did not enjoy being the message deliverer for Feron to avoid giving lengthy explanations, but his silent absorption of words allowed others to relay information without being questioned easily. It was more convenient to simply tell one knight something than deal with several knights who ask about everything which was previously said. As Green entered the Arcade he noticed a substantial amount of knights equipped with Cobalt loadouts; helmets, armors, shields, everything. Green noticed Feron pointing the countless knights in various directions.

“You, come over here.” Feron was pointing at Green. He waded through the crowd.

“I heard you have a new team.” Feron focused his attention to Green in spite of the countless knights surrounding him. “One of your old comrades was a traitor and the other has been missing. A search party was sent to find him. The traitor is being held in the sturdiest prison we have.” Feron redirected his attention to the console. “All I need to know is if your decision to change teams is final. I can change the roster for you to join Korin and Amber in the Order listings.”

Green paused. Once this change was made there was no going back. He thought of his experience with Blue and Red. With Blue he had someone who had his back. He may not have been brave or strong, but he got things off him so he could cut through other enemies. A party could hold four people. Amber, Korin, Blue and himself would make four. Maybe if Blue came back they could have a full party. Green began to think of Red. He always made things more complicated. He always got in the way. He always had to waste time by asking about everything and going down every side area. He was also a traitor to the Order. If Blue was still alive, he could join him with Korin and Amber to have a full party while Red rots in jail.

“Sir, if Blue returns, can he join our team?”

Feron looked to Green.

“Sure, if we find him. Does that mean you want to change teams?”

Green hesitated again. Before he could answer someone called out from the distant entrance.

“Green!” It was him again.

The two familiar knights approached. The crowds of Cobalt knights stood aside and resumed their business around the Arcade.

“Good to see you again, comrade.” Red lay one hand on his shoulder. Green brushed it off. He turned to Blue.

“Good to see you again.” Green turned away from Red and faced Feron again. “Blue is back. Make the change.”

Feron rapidly tapped keys on the console.

“Alright, the change is set. Your team is now officially Amber, Blue, Green, and Korin.” Feron looked up from the console to speak to Green. “I have an assignment for y-” He stopped and stared at Red.

“W....Wha.......What are y...” Feron stuttered.

“Sir, I know you think I am a traitor, but you need to listen to me. Brawl is not a traitor.”

Feron did not wait for anything.

“Knights! Arrest him!” Feron pointed at Red and watched as swarms of Cobalt knights drew their swords and guns.

Red walked backward slowly as the army approached. A large, fractured cleaver fell in front of him.

“Y’always gettin’n trouble.” A familiar voice.

“Izola, stand down.” Feron stood behind the army of Cobalt knights at the console. “That knight is a traitor.”

“No he ain’t, ‘nd you know it.” Izola reached for her shield.

Feron redirected his attention to the console and began searching for something. “Izola, if you do not stand aside I will be forced to use this.”

She did not stand down.

“He says he knows ‘bout Brawl. Of all’f us, you’d be th’first t’wan’ know.”

“I am not going to ask again.” Feron had a large object on the screen open with a single command request. He turned to face them again with one hand hovering over the button.

“What’re y’gunna do?” Izola raised her Sudaruska again and propped it against her shoulder.

“I warned you.” Feron dropped his fist on the button and the countless colored eyes of the Cobalt knights all melted into a light cyan. Feron stood up straight and faced the two. The army of knights stood straight in unison. Green and Blue backed away from the crowd in a distant corner. Neither raised a weapon from doubt of which was their opponent. Feron raised one arm and pointed to Izola and Red. The legion of knights raised their identical Calibur swords in unison and marched forward. There were too many for them to handle. Green had to think quickly.

“Green, we need to get out of here.” Blue was watching the exit to the Bazaar. Green understood. While Green began stalking towards the exit he noticed Blue watching the imminent destruction.

“Blue, come on.” Green crouched at the exit. Blue looked from the crowd, then to Green, then back to the crowd, then back to Green. He went to the exit. The two fled.

__________________________________

They were trapped. There were far too many to handle. Red could not help a sense of remorse, for himself and the Vanguard who had boldly decided to defend him. Izola did not deserve to share this fate.

“It ain’t yer fault, kiddo.” Izola poised her Sudaruska to swing. “We need t’find Brawl.” Red searched for a means of escape. As powerful as Izola may have been, she was no match for this many knights at once. Eastward there appeared to be an exit.

“Izola, I think I see an exit over here.” Red ran up to it. The frame of an exit was there, but in the doorway itself was a large wall of metal. “No good, they blocked it off.”

Izola was cleaving crowds of knights away.

“I can’t hold’m off ferev’r!” Izola purged a quick breath as she spoke, gasping for her next breath as countless knights replaced the ones repelled. Even if the enormous blade slashed into them, they all had mist energy to revive to continue the onslaught.

Red began searching the wall for a weak point. The wall appeared to be rough, as though its builder was in a rush, and seemed to be little more than several layers of metal welded to the doorway. Red began charging a Spine Cone while Izola struggled to keep the army off them. When several bombs were set next to miniscule cracks in the large wall, Red took cover as the fuses began to deplete. No one else seemed to have noticed the imminent detonation as the swarms of knights continued to charge toward Izola only to be slashed away. In the distance Feron seemed to be standing still, watching the show. When the explosives simultaneously detonated large chunks of metal dropped into the outside world. There was a vast forest consumed by vegetation, blocking out nearly all sunlight from above. The lighting from the Arcade peeked into the outer world as Red stared back at its emptiness.

“Izola, the wall is down, we have to go!” Red was standing near the opened wall. Izola gave a final swing as the army of knights began to slow their assault and dashed toward the opening.

“Stop them!” Feron yelled from afar, followed by a massive sound indicating the entire party was revived. One by one the knights stood again, resuming their siege.

As Izola and Red fled into the wilderness the approaching knights slowed as they reached the opening. Red stopped and turned back briefly. Their cyan eyes stared back at him. None of them motioned to pursue.

“Come on, kiddo!” Izola took Red by the hand and fled deeper into the darkness.

“What should we do now?” Blue could not help a sense of guilt from abandoning his old comrade.

“Not sure.” Green was thinking over what had happened. Was the crowd of knights normal? Were they supposed to do that? Was it safe to go back in there?

“Attention Knight Elites Green and Blue:
Your presence is requested in the Arcade. Report immediately to Feron.”

Green noticed the message had begun without his activation. He turned to Blue again.

“We should go back.” Blue turned to the Arcade entrance they had fled through not too long ago.

The two returned to the Arcade only to find the crowds of Cobalt knights busy throughout the area. A large gathering of them were layering metal over a distant wall which was closed not too long ago.

“Is that supposed to be open?” Blue asked openly, hoping Feron would hear and be able to answer. Green did not expect an answer from the distance and approached the lieutenant himself. Blue followed. Feron was preoccupied with the console, as usual, and paid no mind to the knights before him.

“Sir, reporting for duty.” Green stood on the opposite side of the console, Blue at his side.

Feron looked up from what he was doing. “Yes, you two. I have another assignment for your team.”

Green scanned the Arcade. “Korin and Amber are not here yet.”

Feron uttered a forced laugh. “I sent them on another mission. No need to worry about them.” He turned behind him to retrieve an object a knight was holding. The knight was wearing full Cobalt and gave a blank stare. Once its duty was complete it turned immediately to resume duties elsewhere. Feron spoke again.

“According to several reports, the native gremlins have been building a war machine. Many of the recent assignments have contributed implications of what has been going on, but many reports indicate the name of the machine as ‘Project R’. The Roarmulus Twins. The machine is nearly complete in its construction site in the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, a major gremlin building site. We suspected something was being built up for when the gremlins were taking metal from their own territories and transporting them. Your assignment is to get in there and destroy the Roarmulus Twins before they can do anything. Your available team members,” Feron look from Green to Blue and back to Green, “are assigned with this task. No one else is currently available and you two are the closest qualified for the assignment.”

Green pondered this for a moment before speaking.

“What about the Vanguards? They have a lot more experience than we do.”

Feron gave him a disapproving glare.

“There are no Vanguards available. Everyone is busy with their own duties and assignments.”

Green pondered again.

“Doing what?”

Feron was about to smack him.

“They have their assignments. No one is free. You have your assignment.” Feron turned away from the two to direct a few slacking knights.

Green turned away from the console to a platform. Blue followed shortly behind. The two lowered into the Clockworks wordlessly.

__________________________________

“They still b’hind us?”

Red kept running until he saw a particularly thick tree. He dashed behind it and peeked around the side. Nothing was there.

“Nothing.” Red redirected his stare to where he thought Izola was, only to see nothing again. A hand pulled his shoulder away.

“Quiet.” The two stood in silence for a moment. Izola bounced her attention throughout the thick forest. There was no noise. What were they waiting for?

“Izo-” She muffled Red with her hand. Still nothing. She lowered her hand but did not stop searching. Red followed her gaze, only to notice nothing again. She seemed to be alternating her glare between dark corners on the ground and shaded branches above.

“Is something there?” Red continued to match her shifting eyes.

“I dunno what ol’ Feron told ya, but there’s a reason this place was blocked.” She slowly peaked around the side of the tree, from the direction they were going to the direction they came. Nothing happened. “If we find Brawl he oughta be able t’tell ya.”

__________________________________

The duo arrived in a poorly lit yet heavily mechanized facility, loaded with rockets and disorganized machinery in every direction. Green immediately ran up to a wall with a blue box attached. Beyond the box he could hear explosions.

“Blue, get over here.” Green wanted to hit the blue block to continue, seeing as there was no other way to go further, but the nearby explosions seemed threatening. “Hear that?”

Blue jogged up to Green with his Firotech MkII in hand. “Yeah, this place is full of rockets. We should be careful.” He motioned to the blue block. “Whenever you feel ready.”

Green punched the block and noticed a rocket slowly approaching. He managed to move out of the way easily, only to notice another rocket approaching. Ahead were several short rocket chambers which released a constant series of rockets. The rockets moved fairly slowly and were not fired rapidly, but one wrong step would make short work of their armor; neither were equipped to take a single blast. The two continued along the path, narrowly evading the undiscriminating incoming rockets, until they reached a green button with a rocket symbol. Green stomped one foot on the button and the rockets simultaneously deactivated.

“These green buttons must be the off switch for the rockets,” Green pointed out. He suspected Blue could figure it out but wanted to clarify. Ahead they found a switchway, passing through. Ahead were even more switchways, one in every direction. They decided to go west as machines began to appear.
__________________________________

Izola was holding one hand on the tree, then slowly turned her full attention to it. She recoiled in fear.

“What?” Red asked, turning to the same object of attention. In the tree the shape of a triangle was carved into the bark. “What is that?”

Izola pulled Red by the shoulder again and began to ran down the path. Red followed without resistance, not hesitating to look back. After mere seconds Red heard the sound of leaves ruffling behind him in the distance. He kept running.

__________________________________

Another green button activated, another series of rockets cleared. Southward was an open room. The two entered the room and noticed several shock pads, two gates, and a party button.

“What are all these open shock surfaces doing here?” Blue was watching a pad as it sparked viciously from a safe distance. “No way this can be safe.”

“They must have known the Order was sending someone.” Green walked onto the party button and punched one of the switches a few times while he waited for Blue. Behind and in front of him the gates alternated between active and lowered. Before he could slap the switch again he noticed it activated on its own. He turned to find an impatient Blue, gun in hand, loading up the charge as he met him on the party button. With both on the button the battle began, a Quicksilver in the corner floored with a shock pad and several machines appeared.

__________________________________

There were no calls from birds, but something must have been moving behind them. Following them. Red could not distract himself to check.

“We oughta be almost there,” Izola uttered while out of breath. They were running straight down the main path. From the corners of his vision Red thought he saw something move in the side forestry, shifting through leaves and branches. Actually, multiple areas appeared to be moving. They must have disturbed the wildlife.

“Izola,” Red asked while also losing his breath, “does something live here?”

“Not anymore they don’t. Not ‘live, that is.”

In the distance on the left side, far enough to notice but mostly covered by vegetation, a pair of hollow eyes gazed from what appeared to be a shredded head shape. The deformed being shrunk into the scenery.

__________________________________

The zigzagging hallway was ridged with several spawning series of destructible blocks, one of which in each wall was explosive. Green stood between the incoming rockets and Blue as his gun took out the explosive block so they could pass safely. If a rocket came too close Green would push Blue along and out of the way, so long as Blue was not focused on firing. The two continued until they reached the end of the precarious hall, finding themselves in yet another battlement. The left side of the room was covered with southward bound rockets and a couple shock pads along the west wall. Toward the east side was the party button.

“Whenever you want to start.” Blue was charging the flames again.

__________________________________

In the far distance there appeared to be a clearing, or at least a source of light. From within the thick forest the only light was from their optic sensors which only covered the area in front of their face and occasional slivers which slither through the branches overhead. The sound of gears struggling to grind together screeched nearby. Red and Izola were still running, though Red was quickly becoming exhausted.

“Jus’ a li’l further!” Red could tell she was tiring as well, even for a veteran Vanguard who was probably capable of running this backwards and twice. She wore far heavier armor than he, and must have been far better conditioned, though she seemed distracted. He noticed her eyes suddenly shift to movement off the path, her breath hastened with every distraction. He could tell there was something in this uncharted territory she knew about.

__________________________________

“Want to go first?” Green knew the answer before he spoke, but thought to ask anyway to humor himself.

He began to proceed on the mostly inactive shock pad as Blue followed behind. From both the west and east were several rocket chambers. Slowly proceeding past several shock surfaces, two red switches came into view. Blue fired a round on one which bounced into the other, dropping the air locks ahead. The two proceeded to reap the riches contained within several boxes which were apparently treasuries for the gremlins before entering the elevator platform to continue further. The constant rhythm of machinery screaming and singing reverberated throughout the factory but seemed lifeless. Blue could not help a sense of daunting fear as the machines continued in spite of several factors being deactivated. The machines had no empathy for their inactive comrades as they are insentient to begin with. As they entered the platform to continue deeper into the Clockworks the empty call of machines at work continued their song.

__________________________________

Someone is here.

Feed us.

Someone is here.

Feed us.

Two are here.

Two for us.

Two are here.

Two to help us.

__________________________________

As they came to the clearing Red could not help a sense of fear as whatever was stalking them also came closer. When the light enveloped Izola and Red, both jumped to the ground and Izola began to claw away from the thick woods. Red rolled onto his back and looked back at where they had fled, only to see another deformed head with two blank eyes staring. The eyes fell into the darkness as before.

“Too close,” Izola panted. She fell on her back and lay several paces away in the midst of a blissful field of flowers. They swayed in the slight breeze carried by the open canvas over the field. Sunlight smiled on the field, welcoming life to compensate for its failure in the rest of the endless forestry. Red took this moment to look around, only to see more woods. They seemed to be in the middle of nowhere.

“Ah remember when ol’ Brawl used t’take me out here.”

Izola was relaxing in her bed of flowers, blanketed by the welcoming warmth of day as the surrounding forest seemed to watch from its perch awaiting prey. Red thought he saw something move in the distance, only to realize it was a small branch swaying in the air.

“Back when this place was nice.” She held one arm in the air, letting it sway in the air as the petals and leaves. She quickly became calm in spite of their close encounter. “Before...” She let her voice trail with the breeze.

“Before what?” Red was sitting next to her, minding the surrounding woods in case anything wished to break their peace.

“Before they started showin’ up, ‘bout when Brawl disappeared a while ago.” She let her arm drop to the cushioning grass. “I miss ‘im.”

Izola lifted her arm again to point to something.

“Over yonder, we had a li’l ol’ buildin’. Nothin’ special, just t’get away from everythin’.”

In the direction given Red noticed a small, broken down basic building which appeared to have suffered through time and struggle. There were marks of explosions in some of the walls, the roof was collapsed, and the windows were boarded. The nature which once settled against it were reduced to ashes, though a few minor signs of returning life speckled the area. Attached to the building was a tower which loomed fairly high and appeared sturdy. No sign of damage was apparent from the outside, but from the rest of the ruins the damage was probably inside. At the top was a roost with a single stand which appeared to have an optical enhancing device. It appeared to be little more than something to place your face in and stare through for enhanced vision, but Red was curious.

“Would you mind if I check out the ruins?”

“Only’f ah come with ya.” Izola rolled on her side and stood. She led Red to the ruins, both entering through the nonexistent door. On the wall opposite the doorway the door was bent and appeared to have been rammed in. Left of the doorway the building was caved in, several large chunks of wood and metal sat undisturbed as the trespassers entered. To the right were a few small pieces of debris, but the doorway to a stairwell was visible. As they entered Red noticed the stench of singed material from the walls.

“They did somethin’ back then.”

As they reached the roost a hatch door stopped them. Izola withdrew an object from her arsenal and opened the lock, allowing the two to enter the above area. Unlike the rest of the house, it seemed clean.

“Ah come by every once’n a while t’keep this place nice. Brawl’d want me to.” Izola leaned on the central pillar which held the roof above them. “This was where I grew up.”

Red was fascinated by the view. He could see further than he ever thought he could, though in every direction there seemed to be more forest. In the direction they came he noticed a drop.

“Tha’s Haven.” Izola was standing next to him. “Ain’t so nice from here, is it.” She leaned on the metal railing. “Brawl’d take me out here when school was too hard, or if we had a day off.” Her stare fell into a haze.

Red began to raise a hand for her shoulder but decided against it. “Brawl was...is a good knight.”

Izola jerked her attention to him. “Is?”

“Yeah, I was with him not too long ag-”

“Brawl’s alive?!” Izola gave Red her full attention, standing up straight with her fists clenched.

“Back at the b-”

“We have t’find ‘im!” She ran for the hatch. “Come on!”

Red noticed what took his interest past the hatch on the opposite railing. He walked past Izola to face it personally.

“Somethin’ wrong?” She was still standing in the hatch, impatient to leave.

Red slowly stepped up to the stand. Attached to a thick metal frame was a set of goggles, but no ordinary goggles; three eyes and a triangular frame. Red lowered his own face into the device and found himself able to peer into the dark openings in the forest able to see the leaves on the forest floor.

“What is this?” Red grabbed the device with both hands, redirecting his gaze to any shadow which dare hide.

“One’f Brawl’s things.” She sounded close. “Never really needed it. He said he wanted t’sell it but no one’d take it, said it was broken’r somethin’.” She held his shoulder. “Mind’f I look?”

Red stepped back from the device as Izola positioned herself for the experience. She turned the device back and forth in the same directions.

“Ah don’t see anything’. How ‘bout you?”

Red was perplexed. Nothing? He saw leaves in complete blackness through that thing, but she saw nothing?

“It worked for me. Is there a button or something to make it work?”

“No, Brawl always said it jus’ worked on its own.” She was struggling to make the device work. “How’d y’do it?”

Red shrugged. “I...looked through it.”

Izola stepped aside and gestured for him to try again. He peered through the eyes again and continued to stare into darkness. “I can see fine. I can see an old log over there.” Red pointed to one of several dark openings in the woods. Izola seemed upset.

“Well, ain’t you somethin’ special.” Her words should have been congratulatory but her tone seemed disappointed. “Brawl based it on some’n he knew, he could never use it. You can take ‘em if y’want.” Red nodded. “A’ight.” Izola proceded to detach the device, a goggle piece which fit onto the face of his blast helmet, which seemed to lock comfortably into his helmet. When he pressed the device into his helmet he heard a small click as the device seemed to have locked into the helmet. He looked around. Everything seemed fine, but if he focused on something particularly dark everything turned gray scale as shapes became clear. When he redirected his attention reality turned to its normal coloration and nature. He looked to Izola again.

“Are you sure I can keep them?” He attempted to remove the goggles in case she changed her mind, but found he was unable to move them.

“Looks like it’s a perfect fit.” She slapped him on the back and walked over to the hatch again. “Y’comin’?”

They were too cowardly to try this on my suggestions thread in fear of supporters there. I would link where their whining began but that would mean linking a garbage thread.

Why am I complaining? It was a free bump, their name is forever marked for others to persecute, and the only complaint was:

"lacked some plot elements"

Though the main focus of the entire story is having an enormous and elaborate plotline, meaning that claim contradicts itself.

As Artistbma says, if you are willing to criticize others then you must have written something yourself. While we wait for you to show how awful I am by your own amazing work I am going to drink pyramids. Eat your heart out.

Also, less responses does not mean less readers. I have received mail in game about this fanfiction on several occasions.

Depends on the character.

For example, no more Plate-Troika or bombers. We already have enough of those, especially considering this story is supposed to relate to our current community in the sense that the majority are swordsmen and bombers are a miniscule minority. Instead of Wolver clones we have Cobalt clones.

No "perfect" personalities as you probably saw earlier. These characters are people, not stereotypes.

The rocket chambers fired in a strange pattern. Blue watched as Green was struggling to evade them, using his shield to deflect one he failed to dodge. The blue dome shattered in a single explosion. The blast still managed to throw him to the following hall. Now it was his own turn to pass. As Blue stepped forward he was wary of the rocket path, in a continuous pattern designed to trap someone in consecutive blasts. A single hit could mean the end. With his shield in both hands, Blue kept his face to the rockets. He had to stop when a barrage passed. Green was beginning to stand and watched. As Blue passed the final wave of rockets he sprinted for the hall, eager to escape death.

“Good job.” Green patted him on the shoulder and continued upward.

In the following room were multiple walls of stone blocks, a few air locks which blocked off the small back area, and a party button in the middle. On the west and east sides were switches, two on either side, which controlled the same amount of gates which blocked and revealed the walls of stone blocks. Inactive rocket chambers sat facing southward to the stone blocks.

“What should we do?”

Green stood on the party button.

“Do it.”

Blue joined him on the button and the air lock arose, blocking off their entry point to the room. The air locks blocking off three spawn pads in the top corner of the room lowered and three different machines appeared. The rocket chambers began firing upon the stone walls, though on the west side the trigger barrier quickly became an issue. The gates appeared to behave similarly to gates raised and lowered using a switch which alternates between purple and yellow, with certain gates raising and others lowering when the color changes.

“Three incoming,” Green called as he ran into the fray as three mechanical enemies approached from the previously blocked area of the room.

Blue occupied himself with the switches, allowing the rockets to pass and break apart the stone blocks. Both sides had a button and he was only able to open one side at a time, but after a while of continuing the process of opening barriers only to close behind the rockets constantly the walls were broken and both buttons were eventually activated. Upon completion of the activity two gremlins appeared southward and the respawning surfaces in the north area of the room disappeared, though the remaining machines still continued to attack. Green seemed unphased by the change in scenery, though glad to see more opponents. His Dusker was becoming torn and damaged but he continued to swing his Iceburst to spite death when his opponents were not alive themselves. Blue acknowledged his own gun dealing a form of damage resisted by the gremlins so he aimed to the machines, setting them ablaze while the energy from the bright orange projectiles gnawed through the metallic flesh until nothing but molten remnants lay motionless. No one seemed to notice the carnage but to Blue this was more than petty combat. This was death. They may have been created for this duty, but they were still somewhat alive; Green may have seen them as no more than mindless objects but they all hold an inner intelligence. They knew what they were doing and how they would end. Their gremlin creators built them to destroy, but is this what they wanted? To live only to die? What if the Spiral Order were eradicated, would they all be disabled until a new threat arises only to continue their hopeless mission?

“Blue, you alright over there?”

His trail of thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

“Y-Yeah, just, I was ju..” He was silent.

Green tossed the unconscious gremlin near the other. “Come on, we should be almost there.” He checked his communications unit. “According to the assignment we should be very close to the objective.”

A pair of switches blocked a narrow hall. Once passed several treasure boxes sat blissfully unaware of ransacking trespassers. What were knights doing on this planet? Why must we fight gremlin kind when their technology could help us escape this planet?

“Hold on,” Green held one arm to stop Blue in his path. Ahead were several bright blue beams between the two and the elevator platform ahead. A threatening hum snickered as Green came closer to inspect. He held his hand near the light. It appeared to be steaming. Green immediately withdrew his hand and turned to Blue.

“We need something to block these.”

Blue thought for a moment and turned to the hall they had come from. There was a switch back there. He turned to the source of the beams. There were similar barriers on both sides which appeared to be disabled. Blue ran back to the switch and kicked it, then checked for any change. The lasers are blocked by activated barriers.

“Good job, now we can find out what Feron wants us to investigate.” Green ran onto the elevator and awaited for his comrade to join him. Blue followed suit, though hesitated before entering the platform. He turned back to the machinery around him. The constant grinding of gears and metal scraping cried tears of sparks as the factory continued in its inevitable routine. Blue entered the platform wordlessly. Green said nothing.

__________________________________

A hoarse screech scraped the air from the forest.

“What was that?” Red focused his attention on various shaded areas around the meadow, expecting something to jump out. Not even an insect stirred.

Izola tremored in place. Her hands shivered and her eyes were staring blankly in the direction the sound violated the tranquil air.

“Something wrong?” Red approached her and tried to see what she was staring at, only to find nothing. What was that noise?

Izola grabbed Red by the hand and nearly dragged him in a sprint. She ran away from the sound, her breath hastened and panicked. She charged through branches without recoil from the devious claws outreached awaiting a passerby. Red struggled to keep up with her, though she held his hand strong enough to crush it in her grip, pulling him through every ridiculous obstacle nature could create preemptively. Another screech echoed in another direction from the first.

Izola stopped. She turned toward the new direction, then back to the first direction, then took them both away from both of the sounds.

“Wh-” A root nearly tripped Red. “What are we doing?!” No response. Just running.

A third siren echoed. They seemed to be closing in on them. Overhead the few shreds of light which whispered daytime through the above branches began to depart. The sun was beginning to set. A thought came to broil in his mind.

“Izola, are we near the base?” Though the base was far from safe, it must have been better than anything that made Izola this afraid.

Izola kept running. After several silent moments she spotted a wide tree with several roots above ground. She ran up to it and threw Red into a drop the roots created in the dirt, which he soon discovered was a chute. He slid along a thick layer of dirt as it partially gave way to go down with him, though the layer was sturdy enough to resist the weight of his blast suit to fully follow him to reveal the metal slide. After several seconds of descending Red heard an echo indicating Izola was not far behind. As the minimal light quickly became complete darkness Red continued to slide for several seconds, after which he sat motionless. He awaited the impact expected from Izola predictably descending into him, only to be defied as the sound of metal railing used to halt the momentum as the heavily armored knight seemed to have ventured another path. The sound of a switch being thrown as a generator began to power up snapped the silence as small lamps hanging from the ceiling began to flicker to life.

__________________________________

The platform reached the surface as mechanical grinding assumed its familiar pace. Green tightened his grasp on his sword and motioned for Blue to follow him along a narrow path. They faced a large room with several switches and barriers. Before this room was an inactive air lock, before that several heart pads. Green stood on one. Blue did the same.

“Ready to see what those fluffy punks built for us to break?” Green was hoping to cheer him up, though Blue was reluctant to comply. He stared into the distant machinery. “Something on your mind?”

Blue made no motion to face Green but still spoke. “These machines...something is wrong.” He clenched his left fist and tightened his grasp on his gun. He continued staring silently.

With his health restored Green continued to the party button and awaited his comrade. Blue was still staring. “Come on,” Green called out. No response. “Blue?” Blue released his left fist and faced him.

“Coming.”

Blue stood on the button and an immense roar clawed from below the surface, tearing into the metallic stained air as two towering behemoths of machinery arose, massive jaws snarling as metal teeth hungrily stared back at them. Two pairs of small, beady blue eyes delivered an emotionless stare. Both machines had two stubby false arms, imitating the very thought of needing limbs. Blue was beginning to tremble. Green held his sword in both hands. Green immediately charged into the left violation of sensible technology, releasing his fury into the shield which deflected every swing. Blue took cover behind a barrier as both machines began firing the same rockets they encountered earlier. While in close proximity, Green was forced to throw himself out of the way as several large rockets were fired. Blue watched as the rockets came from opposite directions and destroyed each other upon impact, though a pair of stray rockets managed to trail towards the west machine, where Green had recently ducked away from, and shattered the translucent barrier which protected it. Green jumped to his feet and began hacking away at the abomination. Blue noticed the assault actually harmed it, though not to the point of destruction; their attacks harmed knights and each other alike, or at least made them disable their own shields.

“We need them to shoot each other,” Blue shouted to Green. “It breaks their shields!”

Green continued beating the machine until its eyes flickered alight again and its shield was restored, followed by the movement of the machine to another placement on the west side of the room. It fired rockets in a different linear position from the other one, though that meant less risk of being hit in the middle zone. The west machine had moved southward, firing rockets past the east machine. Blue sat in the north section watching Green throw himself out of the way as rockets hovered along their paths. The west machine paused its barrage of rockets and moved to the section Blue was in, only to have its rockets absorbed by the barrier. Blue had an idea.

“Green, run in the middle!” The barriers were set so the east machine was blocked, though with a single kick that could change easily.

Green stood from his kneeling position and ran into the center of the room. He tapped the flat side of his sword onto his shield, the bright eye flashing. As if on cue, the west machine halted its barrage again and resumed in the middle section. It began firing its rockets.

“Take cover!” Blue whipped his hand, signaling for Green to move out of the way. He stumbled up to one of the four switches in the room, waited for the rockets to not align, then kicked the switch. Two rockets going eastward managed to make contact with the east war machine, disabling it and lowering its shield temporarily. Green ran in and delivered another assault.

__________________________________

“Where are we?”

Red was tossing himself to his feet, noticing the floor was thickly covered with brush and leaves. The overhead lamps were too weak to clearly see what was in the room, but enough for him to focus on certain areas to have the goggle piece see for him. The walls were either thickly covered or comprised of earth with several metal frames holding up the roof. The lights were few and dim but Izola seemed to know where to go. Red followed her along one of several halls he noticed with the goggles, noticing several pocket rooms at the end of some halls.

“Iz-” She held her hand to his face and stopped. Then continued.

Red walked in silence seeing through the various natural walls. There were countless halls winding everywhere, though not all actually went anywhere. The paths seemed somewhat familiar. Down the hall they were going should be a specific room, though Red was unable to imagine what was in it; let alone how he knew.

Izola drew a small key from her arsenal and opened a thick metal door. It slowly swung open with a drowsy squeak. Inside was a large machine, several cylindrical containers, a few crates, and a desk covered in disks. The room seemed vaguely familiar, as if it were a distant memory, but Red struggled with the thought of remembering something he could not have possibly have relevance to. This place must be at least twice as old as himself.

“Stand in here.” Izola pointed to a relatively large cylindrical chamber. There was a small window barely large enough to peek through if someone were standing in it, and the chamber itself was too small to fit more than one.

Red walked into the chamber and Izola shut the door. Red attempted to peer through the tiny screen and noticed Izola going through the disks on the desk. She found a few and slid them into something out of sight, though Red could hear. Izola then hoisted one of the small cylinders and brought it to the same general area where the disks were deposited. The sound of the metal container attaching to something clicked. She walked up to one of the crates, pried it open, and withdrew several bright blue chunks. She returned to the input object and dumped them from her hands into a metal bowl, the sound of crystals bouncing around in a fairly thin metal container beckoning his curiosity.

Before he could say anything, the thump of a switch being thrown immediately pulled him out of consciousness as the sound of machinery powering up enveloped him.

__________________________________

The two machines were visibly crippled, their movements occasionally interrupted by the breaking armor delaying their reactions. They are near their end. Green had begun to understand the pattern Blue was managing, using himself as bait to bring the two giants facing each other.

Blue was watching the west machine, noticing its jaw beginning to break. When it opened to fire, something different was formed; a large blue beam. The machine released this continuous stream of light as it moved southward. Blue watched carefully from the north section as Green stood his ground in the south section. When the beam entered the middle section it was blocked by the barrier from damaging the east machine, though a few rockets were headed to intercept the west machine as Green had lured. Green alternated his attention from the beam to the incoming rockets. If he dodged too early the beam would get him. If he waited too long the rockets would obliterate him. He heard the beam begin its path on the barrier behind him, so he rolled northward as the barrier was lowered and the opposing projectiles met. By the time the rockets reached the west machine its laser had ceased, which then stunned it. Green jumped to his feet and ran up to the machine, delivering yet another beating onto the enormous construction. From the corner of his vision Green noticed Blue run up to join him. Continuing the attack, Green was paying more attention to Blue than his enemy; a loud spark and the crunch of metal in front of him screamed as the giant began to collapse. A spark visibly traveled from its eyes, down its absurdly large jaw, down its body, and into the below darkness. There was a silent pause.

“Is it...done?” Blue was next to Green.

“Yeah, I think so.” Green was peaking over the edge, then returned to the center of the room. “What do we do now?”

Blue was staring eastward, then back to Green. He ran up to him and pushed him down. Before Green could react, he watched as a beam fired through Blue for a brief few seconds, then echoed the defeat of the east giant as it also fell into the factory. Blue fell to the floor.

“Blue!” Green scrambled to his feet and immediately held him in his arms. A gaping hole in through his chest steamed. It was almost wide enough to put his arm through, but Green knew better than to try it. “Blue, can you hear me?!” Nothing. Green pulled Blue off the floor and onto his shoulder and struggled to run to the elevator.

“Stand up, kid.”

A scrawny knight lay sprawled out on the ground, surrounded by other knights.

“I said stand up.” Someone kicked him.

“We may as well finish off this wimp,” another knight suggested.

“You-know-who will find out. We should take him somewhere else and do it.” Someone kneeled next to him. “How does that sound? A little trip?”

The sound of crunching metal screeched from behind them. The muffled grinding of machinery came to a halt followed by the thud of a knight being thrown to the grown.

“You boys know your kind is not allowed here.” A familiar yet intimidating voice commanded their conversation of taunting the laying knight.

“B-Br-” Another crunch. The laying knight began to open his eyes, noticing the familiar greaves, modified for sturdiness from Volcanic Plate Mail. Unable to collect the strength to see higher, he focused on what he could see. The greaves were definitely based on Volcanic Plate, but instead of having stubby points as feet they were greaved sleekly with a thick foot. On the shins were a pair of short blades along the front lower leg. A kick from those would cut through with ease. Especially considering the wearer. The boots were thick and smooth yet rigid and worn; they appeared to have been designed to stomp yet were sleek enough to run with ease. As his gaze rose to the knees the armor began its familiar model, though the greave modification was barely noticeable as an addition. It looked like it was supposed to be part of the armor. Why did this seem so familiar?

“A-Alright! Let me go!” The crying voice seemed to be above him, though he was unable to move enough to see who was speaking. All he could hear was the crushing and folding of metal followed by heavy objects falling away from him.

“Give me a good reason. Boyo.”

“I..I can pay y-”

The body of a knight wearing Cobalt armor fell to the floor on the other side of the legs as they turned away from him. A thickly armored hand reached down for the thrown knight.

“P..Plea-”

The hand began to squeeze on their neck.

“You know the rules, boyo. Do the crime, see the grime. It was your choice.” Metal was being compressed against moving mechanisms. The laying knight could do nothing to resist or call out, but had no will to defend his previous aggressor.

“I..h......hate.....y-”

One of the greaves stood over the Cobalt knight and began to press on his chest. It was quickly cut open. A second hand reached for the head and pulled it into the open chest cavity, followed by the sound of a glass container being shattered. A blue substance began to leak. The legs turned back to the laying knight. His vision began to blur as consciousness slipped away. In his last few moments of awareness he felt two arms reach beneath and lift him from the ground.

Bunker?

Why was that name so familiar?

“Someone you know?” Sylvin was moving the empty crate next to the other ones.

“I... I think so.” Brawl dropped himself into a nearby chair. “The name sounds familiar.”

Sylvin continued to go through the letters.

“Weird that was the only thing in there, right?” Sylvin was paying more attention to Brawl but wanted to keep himself busy.

Brawl was looking down at his boots. Why was that name so familiar? He held his hands up near his face. Sylvin resumed his reading, though distracted by the sudden change of pace across the room.

__________________________________

“Are you sure this thing is going to work, boyo?”

“Absolutely. Maybe. We should find out.” The bulky knight turned to a smaller knight. “What do you think, Bunker?”

A short knight held his own chin with one hand. “This could be risky. Brawl already has the recycling center set up, but are you sure this would be ethical? The Order only allowed him to build it specifically for bringing back veterans for information, not to create an army of undead knights.”

The three were facing a large machine in an underground facility. As usual the lighting was scarce and meager, though sufficient to see what was before them. Brawl thought of the forests above ground.

“Are you sure this place is safe, boyo?” Brawl was staring at the ceiling. “You know how easily excited they can get up there.” He paused. A faint sliver of the sound of walking whispered from above. He held up one palm and the others silenced as well.

All stood motionless.

Brawl pointed to the exit and waved for the bulky knight to go first. He went to the door and opened it carefully so as to not make any sudden noises. The three slowly filed out of the room and Brawl closed the door behind them, wary of any footsteps overhead.

__________________________________

“Brawl, are you alright? Brawl?” A familiar voice was reeling him out of his memories.

“Yeah, just a little reminiscing.” Brawl wiped one hand over his face. “I think I need a break.” Brawl stood and left the room. Sylvin continued to go through the crates.

After having taken several paces out of the room Brawl stood in an open area of the base. The lights around the base seem to have been damaged or many disabled. In the distance the orange sunlight began to dim as night was approaching. He had hoped to take a walk around the perimeter to see if anything has changed in his absence, especially if a certain area was still preserved in the forest, but he knew too well what awaits. He turned to see where he could bunk for the night. The only places he could remember which were supposed to be used for inhabitance was the building Sylvin assumably was using and his own private quarters, which were back in the underground halls. He pondered whether returning down there would be worth the comfort. There was also the risk of something having changed down there. It was possible that something has made his quarters its own habitat or that it was destroyed while he has been away, considering nearly all the prisoners despised his existence with a passion; there were also guards who shared the same feelings. Brawl reentered the building while Sylvin was still preoccupied.

“Night is coming.”

Sylvin put down a message he was reading silently. “Need a bunk?” He turned to scavenge for something he could build a cushioning surface with, but Brawl stopped him.

“I can find my own quarters.” Brawl took a step forward, expecting Sylvin to stand in the way. He sat silently. “Did something happen to it in my absence?”

Sylvin hesitated. “Well...yes. It would be best if you saw for yourself.” Sylvin picked up a letter and turned away from Brawl.

Brawl opened the airlock to the underground halls and resealed it behind him. He proceeded casually while the large purple blade hummed in a whisper on his back. Brawl expected to hear the tapping of something moving in the distance only to be disappointed; it was quiet. He came to the point where he remembered the last trace of Echo, only to find nothing on the corner. Down the hall he saw the shadow last time but nothing came now. He continued down the hall through several corridors and hidden doorways until he found his old quarters. The door was still as thickly armored as he remembered, though in the area around the door he noticed a distinct ash smell. There were signs of scalds on the walls. The door itself was barely touched. Near the door Brawl opened a panel revealing a small screen with several blank numbers and entered the code. Two handles on either side of him came from the walls and he pulled both to his center until the release of steam whistled in the silence. Underneath the keypad a small grate was revealed. Brawl leaned up to it.

“Izola.”

The door depressurized and slowly swung open. He flicked a light switch near the door and slowly entered.

“Where are we going?”

“Depends on what y’remember. Anything’ familiar ‘round ‘ere?”

They were walking down a poorly lit underground tunnel and will encounter a trap in three, two, o-

“Hold up.” She stopped them both and straddled the side of the wall. She must be familiar with the design.

“How did you know to stop?” Something was missing here.

“Brawl taught me.” She must be the young knight Brawl brought with him sometimes. What was her name again?

“Red? Y’feeling alright?”

Who was Red?

“Who is Red?”

She stopped.

“I must’ve been right. I’m Izola, Brawl’s daughter. I thought y’might be some’n I knew from when I was little, so I hooked y’up to transfer in case it would work. It’s why th’goggle piece took a likin’ to ya.” She coughed. “Air’s gettin’ tight. We better get out quick.”

A wave of thought began to resurface. The memories of a knight who named himself Red and traveled amongst a couple other knights. If Red was the new, what was the old?

“You’re probably rememberin’ everythin’ Red remembers. Both’f y’all’s memories’re combinin’, but since you’re both the same person there won’t be conflict. Your real name’s Lugnut, you worked with Brawl but somethin’ happened to ya.” She held one hand to her forehead. “I’d tell ya all I know but they wiped it.”

To be Lugnut and Red at the same time was like living in a dual reality; in one there were memories of the distant past while in the other memories of the near past. These halls, every step returned to conscious memory. Lugnut designed them while Red watched everything unfold before his eyes. This was where Lugnut built various devices, one of which Red had on his face. The goggle piece was originally designed for freelance reconnaissance in the forest above ground, granting the ability to see through the darkness and navigate through the infinite trees which loomed overhead. It was the main device Lugnut used to manipulate intricate pieces of his creations, such as weapons; thinking of weapons brought up a strong memory. They were approaching the completed weapons cache but it was carefully sealed so not even Brawl would be able to find it.

“Izola, I need to get something here.” They stopped in an empty, straight hall.

“Y’hear something?” Izola spun around, searching for any form of threat.

“No, I need to pick up some stuff.” Lugnut turned to the wall. Izola gave him a strange look.

“It’s just a wall.”

Lugnut reached out to the wall and felt for the sensor. There was a miniscule click and a series of lit veins began to shine from the access point. The thickly layered dirt began to separate as areas of a door, folding away until the room became apparent. Before stepping in Lugnut picked up a small stone from the floor and tossed it in. A slim beam of bright blue light obliterated the pebble, leaving little more than a brief steam. Izola gasped and jumped back.

“It should be safe now.”

Before stepping in, again, Lugnut reached one hand into the doorway and knocked on the inner wall twice. Nothing happened. Two more taps. The whistle of a pressurized valve released as the back wall of the empty room lowered and another room lined with shelves appeared. They walked in.

__________________________________

“Arise, my son.”

A distant yet warming voice beckoned. It was familiar yet alien. Blue opened his eyes and found himself laying in a completely blank white void. There was nothing he could see outside himself other than white. He rolled onto his side and sat up, adjusting his optic sensors to the brightness. As he focused he remembered being awoken by a voice, which spoke again.

“Are you well?”

The voice echoed in his head and both ears, as though the sound was an omnipotent entity.

“Who... What are you?” Blue began to stand on his feet. He immediately grasped one hand around the part of his chest which had been fired through and noticed no sign of damage.

“You know who I am, but have no memory of our bond.” The voice paused. “I am your king.”

King? There was a king?

“Yes, I am Ozlo. I created the Spiral Order to explore the universe and collect information on all forms of life and matter, so when others evolve and gain the intelligence to understand may use that information to help others.”

Blue hesitated to respond. He pondered what the Order would possibly need with a ki-

“What would you need with a king, my son? Everything: I am that which keeps us united, even those who have fallen.”

Several paces away several mounds appeared in the light, breaking through the nonexistent surface as the ravaged corpses of knights past arose.

“The fate of these knights was horrid and unpleasant to bear, but with their end they have come to this place.”

The four knights began to regenerate their missing limbs, chunks of armor, and in some cases large parts of their heads and bodies. They stood and turned to face one another, as though interacting.

“They may have been killed but will always live in this place.”

Blue was shocked by the horror of watching what was essentially a corpse be restored to life. What horrifying measures were taken to make that possi-

“I told you, I am the king. In this place I control all.”

Blue noticed he was beginning to be lifted from where he stood.

“You have also noticed your wound is no longer.”

“Yes, I-”

“No need to thank. I am your king, you are my subject. It is my duty to ensure peace amongst all my subjects.”

Blue was lowered again.

“My king,” Blue began, “why have you brought me here? Is this where all knights are sent at their..end?”

“If you mean by ‘end’, death, in a way that is correct. We are currently in the mainframe of our entire race. Every knight has their own being, their own entity; once that entity loses its physical form it returns to where it was created, in the mainframe. Once created or returned, new bodies are created to return knights to their duties. Our people have chosen this system to maintain information without risking loss to death, allowing us to never lose progress.” The voice paused. “Unfortunately that also means never forgetting.”

Blue began to walk in the direction he was facing, though the voice had no recognizable direction from where he was standing.

“What do you mean? Are their traitors?”

“No. No knight can be a traitor by their own will as we are a collective force. However, if a knight believes something is wrong then they perceive it as being wrong. In some cases that means the safety and empowerment of our kind is wrong while our destruction is right.”

Another mound began to form and another corpse arose from it.

“This particular knight has been locked permanently in here for that sort of behavior. In his most recent being he was named ‘Scarecrow’ due to his behavior. He believed any advancement of our technology would lead to an inevitable downfall, though no such event came.”

Scarecrow was not restored as the others were.

“Scarecrow will never earn the right to be restored. He was and always will be a negative member of our people, but due to how our system works can never be destroyed. The most we can do is keep these knights in a permanent state of death in here, hidden from the rest of the universe. When I created this system I had hoped to never need to destroy my people, our people, but there are those who refuse to change for the greater good.”

The corpse of Scarecrow was horribly mangled. From the waist down were not legs, but a few stray wires hanging out. The arms dangled lifelessly as the head lay limp. No optic sensors appeared on his screen.

“Scarecrow is no longer a living knight and never will be again.” The voice paused. “Unlike you.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is the first time you have returned here. You were aboard the Skylark on its second journey to Cradle when it crashed, meaning the transport between Cradle and our homeworld is lost. However, since the original voyage the original pioneers have created their own home on the planet.”

Blue needed a moment to take this all in. A second journey? Speaking of which, what happened before he even got on the Skylark?

“They removed the memory before your activity on the Skylark to ensure the truth would remain secret. Since I have become the overseer to this place, the Order has decided amongt its own members how to run itself. To my displeasure they have turned the exploration project into universal conquest. They plan to drain planets of their resources, enslave or slaughter the inhabitants, then move on as they please. I have requested certain knights spread my will to restore our Order to its rightful objectives, though very few consider doing so. They are very ungrateful. When these unfaithful knights return I see to it they are never sent back.”

What did Ozlo mean by that? Were there certain knights only resurrected to act on the will of their king?

“Yes, but I do not use my power for selfish reasons. I only hold those who have become corrupt during their experiences in the physical realm. You see, all knights are returned and created as part of the Spiral Order; those who become corrupt are no longer able to be restored. They become an infection. An infection which cannot be cured, destroyed, or transferred elsewhere. All we can do is lock them away. Sometimes I try to revert the process, but it seems to happen to all knights eventually; no matter how many times I send them out and they come back, eventually they all fall under another influence.” The voice paused again for several seconds. “I may not be the only king they listen to.”

“If you are our king, why do you not rule us directly?” Blue knew the answer would be something beyond his comprehension, but felt he should ask to bring some satisfaction to the being which must have created him to begin with.

“I appreciate your honor to your king. Most either see me as the ultimate being in their mere existence or the collection of evil of all that lives. I was once a knight such as yourself, walking among others. I ruled with an open hand, outreached to bring everyone to great heights. Unfortunately, even in the distant past, knights were becoming corrupt around me. My comrades quickly became my enemies by their own will.” Ozlo seemed caught in his own memories. “This is not about my past, this is about yours. You have a duty to complete.”

“What duty?”

“You will know when the time comes.”

Blue looked down at his feet.

“There is no evil among us, simply other perspectives created during life.”

The voice began to fade with these final words. As Blue began to lose his vision, light fading into streaks, Blue felt as though he were being flung through reality to another form of reality.

Light had become blackness. Blue felt his fingers on cold steel, his eyes began to flicker and readjust again until they could open.

Now I have to go back and edit.

Way to bust my buzz, buster. Bananas. Bamboozling bungee jumpers.

This is what happens when I try to juggle updating two completely different threads at once while constantly keeping both in my noggin while they bounce around because someone covered them with rubber. Some glue ought to fix that.