The Black Plasma team, along with several squadrons of police officers, arrived at one of the largest squares in Plasmatropolis, in the neighborhood where the Ardoni gangs were most active. Members of all the gangs were also present. They had been organized to discuss the idea of disbanding the gangs. The Sendaris loyal to Thalleous were not here, the rest of the gangs had condemned their actions. However, not everyone seemed happy in particular that the gangs were being shut down.
"You all know what we are going to talk about here." David addressed. "We're shutting down the gangs. We can do it the easy way, or the hard way. I cannot begin to list off all the crimes that have been committed by the five gangs. After the recent issues with Thalleous, I'm done tolerating this. And you are going to shut down your gangs now. No questions asked."
Ingressus walked out from behind David, "Ardoni of the Voltaris clan, for my last order as your leader, I declare this gang no more. You are free to do whatever you wish without fear of breaking any of the restrictions laid down by the previous masters and I.
Many gasps followed, but the Voltaris nodded.
"I will disband those who are loyal to me." Osivian claimed, stepping forth. "Thalleous' goons will still be a problem, unfortunately."
The Sendaris nodded solemnly, and stood back.
The Masters of the Kaltaris, Mendoris and Nestoris clans walked up, and each disbanded their gangs, each of which accepted, though some weren't so cooperative. After a few more minutes, the Ardoni had dispersed, the aurora of horns and markings threaded out of the square. David turned to face Sam, Derp, Achillean and Ingressus.
"I hope you're all doing okay during these horrendous times."
Sam stayed quiet while Ingressus answered for both himself and Achillean, "We're doing okay, it just takes a lot of time to process all of the things happening."
"I see."
Achillean suddenly started sobbing, though quietly. Ingressus put an arm around his shoulder comfortingly.
Sam turned to David and asked him, "Why would she do that?"
"Who?"
"Kai. Why would she sacrifice herself when she barely knew us?"
"She was a kind person, Sam."
"Why?"
"I wouldn't know, just know that she was of noble heart and an iron mind. She sacrificed herself for you, Achillean as for the rest of us. Were it not for her actions, we would've made it out of there with much fewer alive."
"Kai had some friends." Skyfall pointed out. "Should we not, perhaps, contact them? They deserve our condolences."
"Aye. Do either of you know where they are?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps we can tell them if we ever see them around."
At that moment, a sudden burst came from behind a building. The ground shook with an immense force, as Droug, their lights purple, their eyes blank, but still Droug came barreling through the streets. They focused only on the Ardoni, as each fired their recovered weapons.
"How are they still alive?" exclaimed David.
"Achillean, look out!"
A whizzing bullet flew past his head, glowing purple, as he rolled out of the way. He drew his staff, ready to deflect any more. Beside him, David drew out his pistols and began firing rapidly at the reprogrammed soldiers. They paid him no more notice than if he were an ant.
A voice cried out from the roof of a house, "This is for you, Jackson!"
Ingressus looked up at the source of the voice, to see little more than a thin, average height man with dull green eyes. A strange crown-like structure sat atop his head, a thin wire whipped around the circumference of the device.
"Who are you, and why are you bringing back this terror?" Sam cried, anger evident in his voice.
"I am William, and this is payback for your stupid police, who allowed my son to be killed in these very streets! I know that somewhere below the ground, his blood stains the earth. No parent should ever have to bury their own child, David!"
His voice had gained a note of manic passion and rage, "You allowed your idiot law enforcement to be bribed into not helping my son, and he died, I repeat, died because of your actions! Do you realise just why the Ardoni gangs formed in the first place? Because you didn't try hard enough!"
"In case you haven't noticed, genius, we've just disbanded the gangs!"
"Then why didn't you do that sooner?"
"Because not everyone is as persuasive as Ingressus over here!"
"Bah!"
All the Droug soldiers suddenly turned on one Mendoris, and began firing with huge quantities of bullets. She fell almost instantly, her magenta markings dying down to become pitch-black.
"She was the one who killed Jackson! At last, you can all see just how suddenly and easily his life was stripped away. Years of possibilities, all gone in an instant! Do you see now?"
The Droug turned in unison to face Ingressus, who had now pressed his back against Achillean, his broadsword held in front of him like a shield.
"Kill them!"
At that moment, sirens could be heard as police cars swarmed in and officers came out, returning fire to the purple Droug soldiers. In the midst of the shootout, Achillean tugged Ingressus' arm, implying that he had to get out of the way. He was just in time, as a massive fireball of purple energy barreled towards them. A soldier with a glowing purple sword, similar to Sam's, charged at them immediately after. Achillean swung up his staff and clipped the Droug on his chin, then shot down another one that was running towards them with his Aggrobeam song.
A third Droug snuck up behind Achillean, but an arrow embedded itself in its head. Nitrox was among the cops who'd just entered the scene and he'd shot the Droug with his longbow.
"I changed my mind. My days of going off on crazy adventures are far from over." He remarked, a morbid grin upon his face, "After Thalleous sort of invaded my gas station, all bets are off."
Sam turned his head to see Osivian readying his shotgun, aiming it at an inattentive Droug warrior. It clipped it right at the base of its skull, and it collapsed, its lights dimming. Looking the other way, he saw Achillean and Ingressus fighting side by side, deflecting bullets and stabbing at the soldiers, whose bodies formed a gruesome ring around them.
Despite all their efforts however, the soldiers kept coming, wave after wave after wave. Soon, Nitrox had run out of arrows, David was out of bullets, and those who wielded melee weapons were beginning to tire and collapse. They had been bunched up together, several dozen Ardoni corpses at the edge of their small ring.
"We have to fall back!" David declared.
The Black Plasma team and the Ardoni began backpedalling, slowly edging toward the only escape route in the square. They all pressed together, just barely holding off the advancing Droug. Their purple glow was almost blinding, as their steps slowly grew faster and faster. Behind the army, William laughed, and the Droug slowed.
"You cannot escape me! When your precious little animators are gone, I will take their place, and make Plasmatropolis far greater than ever before!"
He pointed with one hand, and the soldiers rushed at them, swords outstretched and guns loaded. The police force and BPS turned to run, feet pounding the ground, all the surviving Ardoni on their heels. David suddenly turned around to face William, realising that the Droug were only attacking the Ardoni.
"William, why are you doing this? Why are you murdering innocents, is it for the same motives as Thalleous?"
"Hah! Thalleous! That foul demon has no reason... No, I want revenge-"
"What did we ever do to you?"
"Weren't you listening? The Ardoni gangs killed my son! The police officers had been bribed not to save him!"
David was rendered silent by this, BPS and the police had turned back around, shielding the Ardoni, even the Droug soldiers stood frozen.
"I am going to find a way to replace you, David, and your pretty little police shall be replaced by my Droug. They won't be so easily bribed by a sack of gold."
"You're crazy!" yelled Sam, "You're killing innocents, even after you had personally killed the one responsible! They didn't mean to kill your son, it was an accident, and all who are here now have nothing to do with you!"
"Nothing to do with me? Have you no idea just how deep his death cut me? All the Ardoni deserve to die!"
"Achi, we have to run."
"But the others-"
"They'll just have to run after us, then."
As if on cue, the Droug began marching once again, their lights suddenly flaring up brighter than before, and they opened fire on the Ardoni. David took action, and began shielding them, using his own pistols to deflect the purple bullets. Ingressus turned around, and using the Protisium Prime, threw up a huge shield wall of blue fractals. He felt the usual drain of energy, as he held it up, but it was for the good of the many. He watched intently as the Droug hammered on the Song's energy, feeling his own vitality rapidly draining.
"Quick! Run!"
"You will never escape!" William screamed as he kept attacking, battalions of Droug hammering the shield wall, the Protisium being showered by William's purple bullets. Unfortunately, as the Ardoni ran, Achillean tripped.
"Achillean, no!"
Still holding up the shield wall, Ingressus ran as fast as he could to the fallen Nestoris. A purple bullet skidded towards his neck, but he didn't notice as he ran towards his stumbling boyfriend. A terrible scream tore from his throat as the bullet hit him, less than an inch away from his spine. He collapsed with blood trickling from a small hole in his neck. The wall fell and the purple bullets rained down upon the fighters. Achillean had now gotten up, a cry of horror escaped his mouth as he ran over to the injured Voltaris, scooping him up from the ground. His limp body gave almost no sign of life, aside from the fading flicker of his orangish-red markings, and the slight rise and fall of his chest.
"I-Ingressy?"
"Achi..."
He let out a sigh and fell into unconsciousness, welcoming the soft, velvet darkness that embraced him, the last thing he heard was a desperate plea from who he assumed was Achillean.
Guns fired, swords clanged once again, but all he was to do, was run.