"It's that fucking Guardian again!" Matt shouted, clenching his fists. "He kept bugging us while we were trying to get the stuff that fixed you!"

Hugo chambered his pickaxe. "Then let's take it down."

"The Guardian is enraged over our theft of the extract," the Vortigaunt explained to R.D.. "If it tries to hinder our progress, we will have no choice but to kill it."

"You messed with its eggs?" R.D. remarked, looking between Matt and the alien. "No wonder it's pissed."

They went around the corner, and dropped down into an exiting mine shaft that let them out into daylight, on top of a cliff-side loading platform of sorts. Off in the distance across from them was a large road bridge. A loud, alien humming sound could be heard in the air, one that bode ill for the traveling group.

"Oh my god," Alasea whispered as she caught sight of the bridge. Demons of all sorts were marching across it, along with other lumbering monstrosities--a couple of them looked to be domesticated World Eaters, like the creature that had assaulted them on Khalis. Also among them was a large containment pod attached to a robotic tread platform.

R.D. looked grim as he watched the dark procession. Their footsteps could be heard, distant but carrying. "Ziatoch's forces are on the move," he said, frowning.

"Yes," the Vortigaunt agreed. "And they carry Shau'karanthoi, Corruptors still in incubation pods. They pervert and gather the scattered forces of the Seven Beasts under the Eternal's dark banner."

"Then let's wreck their shit," Matt said.

"Matt, R.D.'s still injured," Helena interrupted. "We can't put his life on the line again."

"But we can't let them get away with THAT."

"Nothing we can do to harm them right now anyway," R.D. said quietly, looking at the Corruptor pod being transported in the demonic convoy. "We'd probably just be corrupted by the damn thing if we get near it."

"Where are they going?" Alasea asked, watching the monsters on the bridge.

"They move south, with great purpose," the Vortigaunt said.

"South? That's where NightShade's castle lies," Alasea said, frowning.

"Ziatoch and NightShade have been positioning their forces for the past few months since the siege on Shayol Ghul was broken," R.D. informed them. He was resting, leaning up against the cliff wall. "Daemonus was... using Omega to soften up Gouki's forces in preparation for an assault."

Matt shot another glance at the departing armies. "Well, at least that should cripple that part of their plan. I'd love to help the good guys bust these people up, but I don't think we've got the time or the firepower."

"No, we don't," R.D. agreed. "Not yet."

"Let's just... go, please," Ileyna pleaded, wringing her hands. Something felt off to her, some psychic presence tickling her sensitive mind off in the distance--probably the aforementioned Corruptor.

They made their way down the hillside and into the valley proper. Almost immediately they were accosted by more antlion guards that burst up from the ground and came rushing at them.

"Back off," Alasea spat, pointing her sword at the nearest one and striking it with a lethal flame ray. "Matt, let's get the car ready to get out of here."

Edited by RisingDragon on February 19, 2011 at 21:47:20

"I've already got it on hand," Matt said, with the folded Firebird in between two fingers. "Let's just find a good spot. Keep 'em off me until then."

More antlions came rushing at them, and the others held them off as best they could--R.D. couldn't help, still feeling too weak from his revival. Despite being fully repaired, Lumiya's power slipped from his grasp at his every attempt to seize it.

"Uh-oh," Ileyna said from up above. "Looks like this valley's closed off up ahead."

She darted out of the way of a glob of acid spat at her from an antlion worker, and looked around. "There's a building off that way!" she shouted, pointing to a far-off hillside. An old oil rig had been jury-rigged into an elevator.

"Great, we can drive there," R.D. suggested, ducking behind a rock to avoid another glob of acid.

"Matt, do that ground stomp attack of yours, that'll back them off!" Alasea exclaimed.

Second time's the charm, he hoped. Matt raised his foot, and smashed it down into the earth, bursting cracks through it and shaking the area. "Seismic Crash!"

Numerous shrieks rose up from the antlions as they scattered away, disoriented and frightened by the quake. "That won't stop them long," Alasea said. "Go, get the car ready!"

Matt scampered in front of them and threw up the plane of metal, which swiftly unfolded into the Firebird and landed with a clatter of dust. "Let's ROLL!"

Ileyna opted to stay in the air and lead the way, as there was no room for her in the car with both R.D. and a Vortigaunt getting in as well. The car sped off, splattering a number of antlions against its fanged bumper, and Ileyna soared ahead, high above them as they raced to the building.

Matt laughed triumphantly as the Firebird tore through the ranks of antlions in their path, their ichor striking the windshield. "Windshields - the natural enemy of insects EVERYWHERE!"

Before long, they had escaped the antlions' territory, and had piled out of the ichor-covered Firebird at the base of the makeshift elevator.

"Good to see some things never change," R.D. muttered, stepping out of the machine.

"Well done, Willard!" the Vortigaunt congratulated him in a way no one was sure if it was sarcastic or not. "You dispatched those antlions with great dispatch!"

"What can I say?" Matt said, with an elegant shrug. "I am an expert at running things over."

"Humble, too," Alasea murmured. "Let's get up top and away from the antlions. We shouldn't rule out the Guardian chasing us all the way here. And we wouldn't want to hear Matt whine when it punts his car at him."

"They can do that?" Ileyna asked.

"Oh yeah," Alasea said with a nod. "Looks like a mutated myrmidon, so I'm sure it has the strength to do that."

"I'll just catch it, put it down, and throw a big rock at him," Matt said, folding up the Firebird. "Unless I can't kill it now because it's 'sacred' or whatever."

"Come on, let's go," Hugo said. "I'm tired of waiting around here."

"Sorry I wasn't any help earlier," R.D. apologized as the elevator took them up. "I'm still feeling too weak to do anything."

"Don't apologize," Helena said, clasping his shoulder. "We'll take care of everything, just rest for now."

Matt snapped his fingers. "Hey, Alasea, can't we speed up his recovery with your powers? I can only really cover physical wounds, but I don't see why we can't use the Pillar to help out a little."

"I plan to, but I'd rather do it somewhere safe," Alasea replied, shaking her head. "Doing it where anyone could catch us out in the open is just suicide on this world."

And with a contingent of Ziatoch's forces just marching south on a nearby bridge...

Matt folded his arms. This place definitely was too crazy for comfort. And again, there was no way they could help. Not right now, what with their mission hanging overhead. Maybe after beating Magister, he could see if the Chronomancer would lend this world an assist. Hell, Ziatoch might as well be threatening the peace of the multiverse, and considering what Matt was going through to save the day, he deserved some form of payment.

"A safe path can be found outside of this facility," the Vortigaunt informed them as they reached the top. "However, it may be in your best interests to rest here, and wait for the Rising Dragon to recover."

The alien missed the irritated twitch R.D.'s face made upon being called the Rising Dragon, but he schooled his expression to hide it. "No arguments there," he said.

The entryway into the building took them through a long hallway and back outside, to a ledge high above the rest of the facility, revealing it to be a long-abandoned waste disposal facility of some kind. The fence was broken off, but hardly a problem for the group. A bridge left off just beside the facility, but it was broken and not of much use to them.

"Looks like a decent enough spot to camp for the night," Alasea murmured, looking out over the facility.

Hugo swept his gaze across the facility. "Lots of room...at least we'll have room to maneuver if they catch us with our pants down."

"They won't mess with us while I can use KishouDoragon," Matt said. "I mean, R.D. was their big weapon, but I shut that down, I should be able to handle anything else."

"Just because they no longer have Omega doesn't mean they don't have the means to attack us," R.D. warned from where he was resting. "Hell, because you managed to beat me, they'll try something sneaky instead."

"I'll get some wards set up just in case," Alasea said, looking about. "The rest of you should find some place in here where we can sleep for the night."

"Rotating watch like normal," said Hugo.

"I know," Matt said. "Come on, guys, let's find the safest corner in the joint."

And so they explored, and set up camp. The Vortigaunt stayed with them, opting to help. Soon, night was beginning to fall on Russia, evening casting everything in shadow beneath the black and silver clouds.

As the sun began trailing downwards all but unseen thanks to the clouds, R.D. found himself sitting on the ledge overlooking the facility, looking out over the land. Lost in thought.

"Hey," said Helena, walking up from behind R.D.. "Mind if I join you?"

R.D. merely shrugged, not looking at her. "Go ahead."

She plopped down next to R.D., letting her feet dangle as she folded her claws in her lap. "How are you feeling?"

"Like hammered shit," he replied bluntly. He still hadn't looked at the weredragon. Instead, R.D. chose to keep his gaze level, looking off out to the wilderness beyond the shattered bridge and the facility. Anyone who looked at his face directly wouldn't be able to decipher what he was feeling right away, with how schooled his expression was.

But anyone knowing where to look would easily catch the haunted look in his eyes.