"I'm fine," R.D. said, rolling his shoulder a bit before shaking off the flakes of destroyed clothing. "Its just fire."

More explosions caused the elevator car to shudder in the shaft as it rose through the different sectors.

"This won't make it all the way to the top," one of the soldiers said. He reloaded his weapon's clip. "We'll need to bail out of this soon and find another one."

"All of you, get closer to the side walls," another one ordered, motioning with his free hand. The personnel quickly followed orders, clearing the center of the car.

Hugo flattened himself against the wall. As Helena did the same, he cocked his pickaxe, ready to fire an Option.

On the opposite wall, R.D. and Alasea stood side by side as they kept close to the wall, their weapons drawn. The soldiers, instead, gathered on either side of the doorway, out of the door's path.

Another explosion came, and with it another rumble as the shockwaves shuddered through the ground. The elevator was slowing, and halted to a stop. One soldier hit the emergency door release button on the panel, and the doors flew open.

Their ears were immediately assaulted by the rampant sounds of gunfire, roars, explosions, and screaming. Throughout Sector R-1, G.A.R. soldiers were being forced back as dozens of Megademons shredded through the base, rending their victims apart with sword, claw, and flame. When the doors flew open, half a dozen of the monstrous creatures noticed and turned to attack, but stopped upon seeing nothing inside. With a cry, the soldiers within the elevator car swung out and opened fire, tearing the demons apart as bullets cut through them.

"Move out!" the lead soldier ordered, gesturing with a hand. They poured out, checking the nearby entrances, and blasted any other demon that came close. "Humboldt, Verosa, Ramirez, evacuate all personnel to the designated points!"

"Sir!" The three soldiers gestured to the occupants of the elevator car to follow them.

"Iker, Davan, you're with me! We'll get Willard Company to their station!"

"Yes sir!"

It was horrible. Killing, maiming, bloodied corpses of demons and humans strewn everywhere...

No. Focus, Helena. You have a job to do. And now you're better at it. Keep focused on the goal. Pretend that's all that exists at this very moment.

As Hugo moved ahead, sweeping his pickaxe in anticipation, Helena followed behind, her footsteps feeling heavier.

Ileyna held a hand up to her mouth, faltering for a moment, but Alasea laid a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. After a moment, she was able to move again, able to keep the contents of her stomach down.

A Megademon was charging down the hallway, brandishing its jagged sword. Iker and R.D. both raised their weapons and showered it with gunfire, forcing it back. Through another door, however, a second Megademon burst out, and barreled straight for Helena and Hugo.

"Look out!" Alasea shouted, raising up her sword and firing the Aura Strafe. Despite the strength of her attack, the creature kept moving, lifting up its sword.

Hugo swiveled to fire, but Helena managed to attack first. She threw out her hand and a perfect sphere of flame launched at the Megademon. On contact with the monster, it burst into a tremendeous size, eating up part of the room in a personal inferno.

The demon screamed as flames consumed it, incinerating it until nothing but blackened bone and charred metal were left behind. As the skeleton collapsed, the soldiers didn't bother looking on in amazement and motioned for them to get moving.

"Nice shot!" Alasea said, clapping a hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Let's get out of here!"

Helena nodded with a quick smile. "Right." She had to transform her arm to use that one, but it felt...more normal this time.

"Can you do that again if we need it?" Hugo said.

"Sure," Helena said. "I've been wanting to use it for a while, actually."

A terrible roar sounded, and something heavy smashed into the floor of the nearby elevator car. Spinning around, R.D. saw the plated floor bulge obscenely upwards with a scream of tortured metal... and as the dust settled, the hulking form of the pursuing Hell Knight stepped into the open and roared.

"Go away!" R.D. yelled back, as if in some challenge. Alasea grabbed him by the arm and yanked him away.

"Don't provoke it!" she hissed as they and the others bolted.

Edited by RisingDragon on August 8, 2009 at 1:17:06.

"Go on!" Hugo shouted to Helena. He let loose a powerful shot that tore into the ground, forming a crater underneath the Hell Knight. Then he bolted too, right after Helena.

Gunfire tore through the air as the soldiers retreated, and R.D. aided them by unloading a power cell from his plasma rifle into the beast. Despite the punishment, it kept going.

"How long is that thing gonna follow us!?" R.D. shouted as he ran, discarding the depleted power cell behind him.

"I don't know!" Alasea shot back, running as well. Between them and Helena and Hugo, Ileyna flew at high speeds, one hand holding her beret down so she wouldn't lose it.

It wasn't long before they reached an elevator, and they all crowded into it. Before R.D. jumped in, he spun and waved a hand, using Earth energy to tear the metal walls apart and impede the Hell Knight's path. The creature bellowed in anger as it blasted the rubble out of the way, but R.D. had already dove in and closed the doors.

"Man, you kids really pissed off the enemy," one of the soldiers commented as the others reloaded.

"It's getting too thick out there," Hugo said. He cocked his pickaxe with a quick thrust. "Matt had better get back soon."

Helena just stared at the elevator door. Matt was too good to get himself killed. Ileyna was the one they needed to protect, and so far, everything was okay.

R.D. wondered how the battle on the surface was going on. He needed to get out there, and unleash the might of KishouDoragon on the enemy forces. Those monsters... they needed to learn that their kind won't be tolerated on Earth any longer. So long as he wielded the power of the unreal, he'd show them all that humanity belonged to itself now.

The elevator shuddered once more as an explosion rocked the island again. "... do you think we'll make it?" Alasea asked slowly, looking up at the ceiling of the elevator car.

===Underground Passage, Aube===

Their battle raged across the expansive chasm, as beam fire tore through the air at an accelerating target. Jared, now wielding a pair of energy pistols, opened fire repeatedly against Terranox, leaving trails of ionized gas as the beams cut through the air in rapid succession.

Terranox dove and twist through the barrage, deftly avoiding the shots before flinging his arms wide. "Emerald Splash!" Razor-sharp blades of emerald cut through the air, forcing Jared to abandon his position and leap through the air, with the demon in hot pursuit. Terranox sneered as he closed in and swung with a just-created energy blade, but it was quickly blocked by the bayonets attached just underneath the barrels of the pistols. Jared landed with the force of the parry, standing atop of a platform.

"We will," Helena said. She only half-believed it. What could she say? It was war.

The elevator shuddered, and one of the soldiers cursed.

"What's going on?" Alasea asked.

"You felt that kind of shudder in the last car," Iker said. "The elevators here have a program that, if the shaft gets damaged, the elevator will stop at the nearest floor."

"These demonic bastards are killing the elevators one by one to try and lock us in place," Davan said. "Get ready to fight when we stop."

Helena tensed all over. Harsher this time-again, this was war. Not that she hadn't felt tense whenever she got into a fight with whatever enemies a world threw at them, but only now did it really feel serious.

Hugo just aimed his pickaxe at the door, and waited.

The elevator came to a halt, and the door was opened by Davan--almost immediately, fighting broke out and suddenly Davan's body was ripped from the elevator by some monster and torn nearly in half. Ileyna screamed in horror at the spectacle, hands coming up to her mouth.

"You bastards!" Iker screamed, squeezing the trigger and spraying bullets across the monster's hide. The demon screamed in rage and dropped Davan's body, backing up as Iker and Alvarez advanced, dumping an inordinate amount of lead into the creature. Between them, plasma built up and then streaked through, smashing into the beast and exploding, causing its body to disintegrate into ash.

They were given no time to mourn. Another creature was approaching through the halls, blood flecked around its too-large mouth. ZF-1s were turned towards the target as the beast roared and charged.

"Power Shotgun!" Hugo's supercharged shot ripped past the soldiers towards the monster.

Concentrated rays of fire lanced out along with the Power Shotgun blast, burning through the demon. It staggered under the attacks and tripped itself up, slamming hard into the ground and skidding, leaving a streak of blood in its wake.

"Move, move!" Alvarez shouted, motioning them to proceed forward. More roars and screams were coming. Another explosion tore through the base, causing the floors to shudder violently, nearly throwing them to the ground. They ran.

They quickly came across a crossroads--down one way would be the elevators to get them to the Essence; down the other, an elevator that would get them towards the surface. It was R.D.'s only chance to get up to the hangers to unleash Tamaran and the Crystalis on the monsters above.

"R.D., you head down that way," Iker said, pointing down the hall. "That's probably the only active elevator that can take you. We'll head this way."

R.D. nodded. "Alright. You guys better hurry."

"Don't die," Hugo said to the soldiers, and ran ahead.

Helena drew Ileyna in close. This was horrible. For all of them. Her free claw hung at her side, but now it tensed as she channeled fire to it, ready for whatever came next.

"Don't worry, Ileyna," she said, not looking at the girl. "It's gonna be all right."

Ileyna whimpered, getting more and more frightened by the wanton destruction. This was worse than before. So, so much worse than before. And then she screamed as another explosion ripped into the base, throwing them to the floor again with its violence.

The shuddering continued as the ceiling ahead began to buckle.

"R.D.!" Alasea screamed, trying to get him to run. R.D. scrambled out of the way as the ceiling collapsed, sending rock and metal and concrete pouring into the hallway. As the dust cleared, he saw that his path had been cut off completely. "Dammit!"

"Are you okay?" Alasea said, rushing over to his side and helping him up.

"I'm fine, but I can't get to the surface," R.D. growled.

"Can't you break it?" Helena said. "What if we tried it together?"

R.D. pressed his hand against the rubble and channeled Earth energy through it, trying to find the extent of the damage. After a moment, he frowned.

"No good," he said. "The entire hall's buried, even the elevator."

"Damn," Iker cursed.

R.D.'s face was set, creases in his forehead as he tried to figure out what to do. And soon, it came to him. He hoped against hope that it would work. He snatched the transceiver from his satchel and activated it.

"Matt! Matt, can you hear me? Respond, over!"

After what felt like an hour, a familiar voice crackled back. "Talk to me."

Oh thank god. At least he was still alive. "Matt, we've got a problem," R.D. said quickly. "I can't get to the surface, the only way up to its been destroyed on this level. I... I need you to get up to the hanger and find Tamaran. I need you to become KishouDoragon."

Alasea gasped in surprise. Was that even possible?

Matt certainly didn't think so. "What? Can I even DO that?"

"I think so," R.D. said. "We have to try. I can initiate Fusion with Tamaran by synchronizing Ao-Gem energy with him, Matt. And the Child said that the Ao-Gem is nothing more than artificial Omega Essence."

It had to be possible. He just hoped Tamaran would allow it, or else there's no way Aube will survive before the download finished.

"All right, I'll do it. Where is it?"

"Its up on the surface levels, on Level 10-B," R.D. replied. "Get there quick. I'll help protect the Essence."

"Got it. I'll see you in a bit."

***

Matt slid the transmitter back in his pocket, then leaned foward with a burst of wind, flying quicker. It'd take a bit to get to 10-B, if he didn't get lost on the way. Hope everyone else could cover themselves while he was gone.