---
A storm of machetes, bolts, and bombs raced towards their target as the clouds above slowly deformed into a vile smog. A Draco was caught in the middle of it, and he held his shield out, concentrated his Arts into it, an generated a dome of white around him. All of the projectiles bounced off, and the frontline Reunion soldiers were forced to step back.
"Kill him!"
Skullshatterer fired shell after shell of grenades. Kaiser Rye channeled his Arts into his right hand and fired a beam at the attacker; the Reunion leader was struck down. More soldiers appeared to swarm the Draco. The clangs of metal pierced everyone's ears. The L.G.D and Rhodes Island were trying to hold their positions, but they had to retreat further into the city, leaving Kaiser Rye to fend for himself.
Misha stood petrified as she watched the battle unravel.
A soldier lunged at the Draco with a machete in hand. Kaiser Rye grabbed his arm, and threw him at a mob of Reunion soldiers behind him, knocking them out as he went. Then the Draco proceeded to deflect the projectiles thrown at him with his Arts. The Reunion regrouped faster than anyone can imagine, and they made one large push at him.
"Aw shit!"
When he saw the sheer number of soldiers charging at him, a white light pulsed through his veins. He clenched his fist and found his Arts resonating with his shield. He placed his hand on his weapon, traced it, and allowed the light to consume it. Then his shield morphed into a blade, and he swung it around him. A blinding shockwave slashed multiple soldiers killing them on the spot. Blood flew in the sky like streamers; its very stench saturated the air.
"What a weapon," Kaiser Rye remarked. "This'll break soon."
"What did you do to my comrades?!" Skullshatterer roared.
Kaiser Rye looked at the land around him; piles of bodies laid everywhere. Blood sullied the land; broken weapons littered the ground. He felt remorse for his actions, but he didn't let it distract him from facing Skullshatterer once more.
"You killed my friends! You killed them!" The Reunion leader exclaimed.
Skullshatterer dashed at the Draco at a surprising speed swinging the blades on his grenade launchers. Kaiser Rye parried every hit, pushing back on each attack. Misha gripped her pistol in hand and took aim.
"You killed my friends! We were supposed to go home once this is over!"
He fired a shell at the Draco, but it didn't land; it was deflected. No one could see the face beneath the mask, but Kaiser Rye could tell that anger and sorrow took over. Skullshatterer pulled the trigger once more.
KRACK!*
It exploded on the side of a building, shattering it, sending chunks of concrete down from it. The ground shook beneath them as the two combatants tried to evade the falling stones. But Skullshatterer did not relent in his assault; he continued to fire his grenades, until the entire building caved in. A blast so large, burst through the rubble, showering the sky with smog and dust. And out from it was a Draco and a male Ursus.
But all Misha saw was Skullshatterer's bleeding body, being lifted up by Kaiser Rye, with a blade through his chest. The Reunion leader appeared lifeless, but shallow breaths were still audible. Blood oozed from the blade sticking out through his back. Thin streams of light began to infuse him.
"NO!" Misha pulled the trigger; Kaiser Rye blocked it with his shield.
"Stop Misha!" The Draco urged.
"You killed my brother!" She cried.
More bullets flew straight at him, and none of them made contact. Kaiser Rye placed a hand over Skullshatterer's wound and released a white light from his fingertips. Muscle, tissue, and skin were slowly joining back together as the Draco helped him regenerate. The air around him turned humid as a fire broke out in the distance.
Misha fired her gun until it ran out of ammunition. She slammed her pistol on the ground and ran towards him. She threw a punch and tried to push the Draco aside, but her sorrow got in the way.
"You killed him! You. Killed him!" She shrieked.
Kaiser Rye stopped healing Skullshatterer and grabbed both of Misha's arms. He looked at her rage-filled eyes with a straight face.
"First you save me! Then you go around killing the Infected! Who exactly are you?!"
Misha thrashed her arms around. Kaiser Rye took a punch to his arm, but he barely felt it. She kept on delivering punch after punch, but it was futile.
"You - you - killed! My... brother!" She wailed.
"Misha... he's not dead." But the Ursus didn't hear him, her emotions filled her fragile body until she sank to her knees, heartbroken. Her hands were stained with blood, sweat and tears.
A pair of fingers twitched. A hand moved. An arm reached for the crying Ursus. His touch was light and cold, but it was also heavy and warm. He eventually touched Misha's legs, and she stopped crying.
"Miii... sha..."
"Alex?"
Misha ripped off the gas mask hiding her brother's face, and saw a smile underneath. She held his head up and watched a thin line of blood coming from his mouth. Two brown eyes stared blankly ahead as Misha called his name.
"Alex? Alex? Can you hear me?!"
"Mii... sha... I... can..."
The one known as Skullshatterer was just a teen Ursus on the inside; just a young soul in a callous world. Misha was on her knees, holding her brother's head as he vomited blood. Kaiser Rye lifted his hand and started releasing his Arts onto him; a ray of white covered them. The large opening in his chest was slowly healing, it was fast enough to spare Alex some time, but it didn't seem enough.
"Alex..." Misha uttered.
"Misha," Alex said. "I want... to go... now..."
"Go? Where...?"
"I want... to go home..."
Alex's strained his last breaths to procure his words. The veil of white surrounding them slowly morphed into a silvery-gray. Misha held his face as she covered up the wound on his chest. The Reunion emblem on his outfit was torn apart, his clothes were tattered and ragged.
"But we can't go home!" Misha cried. "It's gone. The Reunion captured it and-"
"But... I still... want to go... home. I promised my friends... that we'll play again... someday..."
Kaiser Rye watched as he loosened his control over his Arts; the silver light dissipated, leaving the two siblings alone. Misha hugged Alex in her arms as she tried to comfort the last moments of his life.
"Alex..."
The deafening sounds of battle came to an abrupt end, catching the Draco's attention as he put a hand on Misha's shoulder. The clashing of blades stopped. The only sounds that persisted were the cries of dying soldiers.
Off in the distance, the outlines of a Cautus and a Lung were visible.
"Where do you want to go?" Kaiser Rye asked; his words sounded like smoke flowing in the wind. He put his hand over the dying Ursus's head. A calming aura emitted from his palm until it enveloped the Reunion leader's head. Misha watched with endless tears, like a river meeting its end at a waterfall.
"I want... to go... home," Skullshatterer coughed up a wad of blood.
"I want... to live... in our small house again....'
"With... mother...'
"When father was still... alive...'
"Before we... became Infected...'
"Misha... I... love you...'
"Please... live..."
Alex turned his head to his sister who hopelessly tried to wipe her sorrow away. He smiled and closed his eyes. Kaiser Rye lifted his hand off of him, and moved away, allowing Misha to grieve.
"Alex? Brother?"
She wrapped her arms around his body and put him close to her heart. The last of Alex's breaths came, and then their world became silent. Kaiser Rye stood there with his hands down without saying a word. He turned around and picked up Alex's gas mask, the one that made him Skullshatterer. All of his comrades were on the ground dead, with nothing to them except their Reunion uniforms.
"What... now?"
Kaiser Rye looked at the mourning Ursus; her aching heart was taking everything in too soon. She laid her cheek on her brother's hair, taking in the last remnants of warmth in his body.
"What now?" Misha croaked. "You killed him, but you stayed. You didn't run away... why?"
The Draco sighed. "Don't worry about that. Live for your brother."
"But you killed him. And I have nowhere left to go. My only home is gone. My family is gone. All I have left is the Reunion. I don't even belong in this world. How am I supposed to live on?"
"Live. For your brother."
Misha looked up and gazed at Kaiser Rye. He held his hand out and released his Arts. A white light clouded her vision, but she seemed more relaxed. The air turned still, and the tears on her face slowly dried. A translucent light slowly enveloped her.
"You can hate me all you want. You can blame this world for treating you this way. But don't go on the path of revenge. Don't stay with the Reunion, leave. Alex wants you alive; he doesn't want you to die. It's not too late to start somewhere else."
And with those words, Kaiser Rye turned away, allowing the grieving sister to sleep with her dead brother; the two looked so peaceful together. Misha was still breathing and the last of Alex's body turned cold. A white mist accompanied them, a warm breeze washed over them, and the night raged on. They were just two siblings separated in life.
Kaiser Rye walked away with Alex's mask in hand, leaving them to dream.
---
"So the little bears died huh?'
"That's not unexpected given how strong Kaiser Rye is,'
"And the fact that they are not hardcore survivors.'
"But I expected him to hold back; he's a softie on the inside.'
"The dragon lady married a weirdo, that's for sure.'
"It wasn't so bad, they did have a sweet little daughter.'
"Too bad she's dead now."
---
Each step the Draco took led closer and closer to an opening in the city. He climbed over rubble and steel and repulsed at the sight that laid before him. Corpses were rotting away, maggots crawled in their wounds. A white powder decorated them, a metallic smell was in the air. The aftermath of true carnage was displayed before him.
Then the powder on the bodies started glowing. Sharp, jagged crystals started growing on their bodies, tearing their clothes apart, turning their skin gray. Kaiser Rye felt his skin crawl as the dead soldiers slowly rose to their feet, each of them head empty eyes and scrawny limbs.
Another show commenced. This time it was led by Mephisto.
"Kaiser Rye!" The Reunion leader called from afar.
"Mephisto..." Kaiser Rye uttered as he saw Mephisto's undead army rise around him.
"Oh! It's been too long, Kaiser Rye! It's been too long! I'm so happy that I've finally got to see you again! After all - these - years!" The Liberi sounded gleeful but hysterical, like a maniac, but that didn't bother the Draco in the slightest.
"It's nice to see you again Eno. You've gotten a lot taller since the last time I've met you."
"Well I'm flattered Rye! We've all grown as the years went by."
"We all went our separate ways too."
Mephisto put his staff forward and brought out a large smile. His undead soldiers have already surrounded the Draco, but he didn't take notice. The L.G.D and Rhodes Island could be seen in the distance. Ch'en and Amiya stood side-by-side as they watched Kaiser Rye speak to their enemies. The undead Reunion soldiers built a human wall hiding the three allies inside.
"It's a shame that you're working for Lungmen," Mephisto said.
"It's my best bet," The Draco replied.
"But you're working against Talulah! The love of your life!"
"I know I am. We just can't see eye-to-eye anymore."
"Well I'm sure that the vitriol between you two have surely subsided by now. Why don't you come back?!"
Ch'en heard every single word that came out of the Liberi's mouth. She bit her lip out of apprehension. Amiya tried to catch a glimpse of what was going on behind the wall of undead. They were not allowed to attack lest they be ambushed by more forces.
"I... can't," Kaiser Rye stated.
"What do you mean you can't?" Mephisto asked.
"I've made very poor choices. It ended up costing the Reunion everything it ever stood for."
"But you and Talulah made the Reunion what it is today! You've help us rise to victory countless times!"
"Mephisto. Do you not remember what the Reunion stood for?"
"It doesn't matter what we used to stand for. What matters is now! Allow me to make a proposal."
"A proposal huh?" The Draco let out a sad laugh.
"Join us Kaiser Rye! Join us!" The Liberi spoke in a loud, delirious voice.
"Let the world witness the power of the 'Kaiser' in all of his glory! We can go back to the glory days! Make the world suffer the wrath of the Infected! Let a new nation - rise from this forsaken land! We haven't been able to go far, but with the 'Kaiser' with us, we can achieve anything!'
"Make the world pay for ripping you apart, for killing your daughter, plunging your family into darkness! Hold hands with Talulah once more, and lead the Reunion once more!'
"Isn't that what you always wanted?"
Everyone was anxious to hear the Draco's answer. Kaiser Rye was in the spotlight now. He looked at the sky above. The night had no stars nor moon, just a thick blanket of black. The pungent stench of blood and oil lingered in the air. The L.G.D and Rhodes Island all had fearful eyes. Ch'en stared at the Draco and waited to hear his answer.
"The 'Kaiser' ..." He remarked.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go back...'
"I've always wanted to see her again..."
-
"Marrr... zaaa... naaa..."
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(A/N): Hehe! I had this scene planned for a long time, but my noob mistake of writing 8 chapters of flashbacks delayed it! And it's finally here!
- Episode 8 is coming on the EN Server (the same darned episode that inspired me to write this story - sorta - ish ... love and hate the devs)
- Also, all future spoilers are fair game! I've made that clear - No complaints!!!!!
- I plan on deleting certain chapters in the future and replacing them, but not anytime soon