Freedom Dies With Me CHAPTER 6

"Traveller...Travelleeeeer...can you hear me, Traveller?"

Master groaned with a scratchy voice, his head pounding like one of those idiotic bouncing robots he had seen in Shang Mu. His throbbing temple was eased by his shaking hand as the voice called out to him again.

"Come on, Traveller! Sorry to say this, but you ain't dead yet! OI!"

There was a sudden thump on Master's chest and he grunted in pain. His sense of sight soon came back to him and things began to look much clearer; he was in the cabins of Mayor Zao's airship, lying on his back with his stomach reeling from a blunt pain. The cabin was relatively stable and calm, with none of the extreme tremors that only a few good seconds ago had rocked the already doomed ship to its core. The memories slowly came flooding back to him; he had hid with Milla in here when the ship was going down, clasping her tightly in an effort to protect her. There was sudden, violent crash and Master was thrown unconscious. Only now could he see the young hound lying on the floor nearer to the beds. She was breathing and appeared to not be injured, bringing a sigh of relief to him. He turned his aching neck to see exactly who was in front of him. To his dismay, the black-eyed, red-pupiled, ravaged face of War Lilac was again staring back at him.

"Morning, sunshine!" she growled, stifling a deranged giggle within the middle of it, "It's nice to see you made it in one piece! Now, I know you might be wondering where you are. Don't worry, you're safe. And so is the dog. But...well, not for long."

"Wha..." Master groaned, his delirious mind rendering him unable to properly speak.

"Don't you worry about a thing, puddin'..." War Lilac said, her voice taking on a mockingly soft tone, "I'll be REAL gentle with her when I get my clawed mits on her small, frail form. I'll make her stronger AND better, just you wait and see! Wanna try and stop me? That's fine. But you better haul backside, slugger. You're already running out of time. You have one more day to make things right, to steer this timeline back onto the right path...but will you have the wheel?"

Her raucous and vicious laughter stung Master's damaged ears and he groaned in pain, swatting away at the incorporeal form like it was some kind of fly. Eventually, a hand grasped his own and his eyes managed to re-focus. In front of him now, in the place of the monstrous being from before, was the normal and sane Sash Lilac of old. Her face looked worried, rocking Master's body and keeping her hand on his chest.

"Traveller!" she called out, "Are you okay?"

"I'm..." Master managed to mumble, "I'm fine, really...what happened?"

"The ship's engines failed, remember?" Lilac said, "You told us to duck into the cabins for protection. We crashed and a good portion of us blacked out...I think. They're all up now and they're...mostly fine."

"Mostly?"

"Well..." Lilac sighed, "Carol's broke a rib from the impact and we've all got mild concussions, but otherwise we're fine."

"What about..." Master groaned, "What about Milla?"

Lilac looked confused for a split second, but Master quickly pointed to the hound spread out across the floor. Lilac rolled over to her and checked her over, taking her pulse and putting her hand to the little Basset's chest. She sighed in relief and crawled back over, "She's fine, Traveller. Got a sprained ankle I think, but she's going to be okay..."

Master said nothing, simply sighing in happiness and laying back down on the unforgiving floor. There was the sound of clomping on wood as Carol and Torque entered the scene.

"You made it!" Carol said happily, "But, did everyone make it?"

"Milla's okay..." Lilac said in a panicked way, "But, Traveller..."

"Hang on, let me see..." Carol stated, helping Lilac aside and staring at the floored creature. She too checked his pulse and heartbeat, before checking all limbs and then prodding his stomach, which made him yelp in pain, "Hmm..." she quickly held up three fingers on her left hand, "Hey, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Master flipped the bird in response.

Carol looked offended for a few seconds, but then donned a more amused face, "He's fine..." and stood up, grabbing Master's arm and helping him to his feet. In the distance was Torque, who was helping Milla up too."

"Well..." Torque said happily, "At least we're all up now. The ship had the incredible good fortune to crash into a river just outside of Shang Tu. It's waist deep in water in the engine bays, but I managed to get the pumps working again. It'll take some time, but we'll be able to sail this thing to the palace..." his face quickly donned an amused face just like Carol's, "It's weird. Here I was, thinking this ship design was for the look of it..."

"Until then?" Carol asked.

"Well, we have some time to kill," Torque shrugged, "Unless you want to help bail the water out and paddle the ship back into the city..." Carol looked a tad blank, "Heh, I kinda thought so. At worst, it'll be only two hours until we can get going. What do you Avalonians do to pass the time?"

"We watch movies..." Lilac said, counting the activities on her hand, "We play board games, sometimes go into the city for some dancing, maybe bake a cake."

"Sounds like fun," Master mumbled, wobbling slightly on his feet, "Shame we can't really do any of those here."

"Yeah..." Lilac sighed, "I guess we can just sit out on the deck and watch the trees go by..."

"Gets my vote," Carol said.

"Again, there isn't much we can do until this thing is fully pumped," Torque explained, "Suggest we...do..stuff."

The others nodded and headed out to the deck, Master last among them. Torque was about to leave when he heard yet another pained groan from Master. He turned to see the vigilante, only a few steps away from his original position, falling to his knees, clutching his stomach with one arm and keeping himself stable with the other. He seemed to have trouble breathing, and Torque could swear he even heard some garbled whimpering from him. Blade was also in a bit of a panic, screaming, "Slugger? Slugger! Keep it together, please!"

Torque rushed over to Master and helped support him, before helping him over to the cleanest bed and plopping him down onto it.

"Traveller!" he said, a large amount of worry woven into his voice, "Are you okay?"

"Well, I've been better..." Master said weakly. pointing to his stomach, "It's just...just..."

Torque acted swiftly and removed Master's scarf and jacket, leaving only his black shirt. And under that, to Torque's shock, was a thick covering of bandages stained a dark crimson. Upon closer inspection, however, they were not just stained; they were dripping with blood, saturated with such a precious life-giving fluids.

"I...uh...Chaos!" Torque called out, "What even IS this?"

"Something from before this little adventure," Blade said, bizarrely worried, "War Lilac stabbed him in the stomach with Brevon's blade, remember? Everybody's gone for the stomach in this little adventure and now it's starting to get worse. They gave us bandages to stem the blood flow, but that's it."

"That's it?" Torque asked, "They didn't try to stitch it up?"

"I don't think they could," Blade said, "This wound is bad enough without getting into all these fights to help keep it wider than the legs of an anthropomorphic smartphone game! I've devoted almost all my 'runtime' to getting it healed up, but it's been a nightmare. It's like the poison on the blade is sentient and actively fighting me every step of the way. I'm...I'm lost, Torque. I just don't know what else to do."

"It should've healed up by now, I know that," Torque said in a panicked manner, "Okay, okay, I can get this under control. I lost a lot of my medical tech when my ship crashed, but I managed to scavenge this thing..." he dug into his pockets and fished out some kind of large steel bracket with a needle and some thread, "This is a prototype of something we call a QuickStitch. Helps stitch up gaping wounds like this quickly and without error. Normally it would administer a strong painkiller before getting to work, but...look, Traveller. Just don't scream too loud."

"Why?" Master asked as Torque carefully set the bracket over his stomach wound. He soon got the answer as the bracket jumped, sending a large clanking sound into the air. There was a sudden, almost crippling pain in Master's stomach and he writhed as he screamed, "AARGH! Son of a...ARGH!"

"Told you," Torque sighed, removing the bracket. Master's stomach wound was now completely closed, a neat black line of thread zig-zagged across it, "It's not a permanent solution, but it should hold until we get to Shang Tu. We'll hand you over to the Royal Medics and maybe they can help. At the very least they can replace your bandages. They're as red as your scarf. Now, just sit here and get some rest. DON'T get up, whatever you do. I'll tell the others how bad it's gotten, it's for the best."

"Thank you...Torque..." Master breathed hastily, "You're a real freakin' saint around these parts."

"You're welcome..." Torque said, a small smile across his face. He gathered up the bandages and left the room, leaving Master and Blade alone.

"Blade..." Master sighed, holding the weapon above his head, "What was our plan after this?"

"Get back home, find some land to live on and live a quiet live with your raccoon girlfriend Emma," Blade said, his glow dim and his voice grave, "Well, if we live long enough. I don't want to say you've had it, but..."

"Then don't..." Master groaned, his arm going limp and his eyes clasping shut, "Let me rest..."

==============================================
Several Hours Later, in the Palace Waiting Rooms
==============================================

Lilac's brow dripped with sweat. For the past hour, they had been sitting just outside of the large, forboding doors to the Royal Chambers of the Majister, waiting for the word to enter. For the hour Lilac couldn't help the butterflies in her stomach, the sharp and tense feeling about seeing the Majister with this evidence. She knew the Majister was level-headed, sensible and open to new suggestions, but would even he believe their crazy story? It sounded like something out of science fiction; an evil warlord has conquered half the galaxy and now he plans to kill this planet off unless everyone can band together to stop him. It just sounded completely batty on paper.

She looked around, gulping and trying desperately to calm her nerves; Carol, Milla and Torque were sitting on the chairs beside her, Torque carrying a large chunk of the Sky Battalion in his hands. Master was nowhere to be seen, however; Lilac had gotten word of his ailments and, alongside Milla, had become almost sick with worry. Not that she really liked him as such, seeing as his sharp wit and short temper had almost gotten them into trouble a few times with royalty. Considering her own past, she knew that was the last thing they needed. But still, there was something charming to him, something that didn't make him totally unlikeable. For a man who roamed the fabric of reality, he seemed weak, both in mind and in body. She had read books about people like him, the kind everyone loved, never lost, always got the girl and always seemed to be the most powerful man in the universe. One of them, a blue hedgehog, he had ranted about on the journey here. And yet here he was; bad-tempered, emotionally-unstable, excessively violent and just wanting to stop, even when he seemed to know he couldn't. Perhaps, came that thought to her mind, that this was what truly became of great heroes, even as their legends were passed on.

She sighed and turned to Milla. She was sitting next to her, a look of worry neatly matching Lilac's own, pawing at her ears and breathing heavily.

"It's, uh..." Lilac stammered to Milla, "It's been a wild ride...hasn't it?"

"Y-Yeah..." Milla whimpered, her form shivering.

Lilac sighed briefly. She had heard her talk with Carol aboard the airship the night before, just before she went to bed. About how she lost her parents in that idiotic civil war. She supposed now was the time to ask about it. She slowly gathered up the courage and, "How long have you been away from your parents?"

"I'm not sure..." Milla sighed, "It feels like a really long time now..."

"And you've been alone in the woods and sewers of Shang Tu ever since?" Lilac asked. A solemn Milla nodded. Lilac's own face looked solemn too, before sprouting into a look of happiness, "I hope this doesn't sound strange, but...that's really impressive! Believe me, I wouldn't survive a day without my treehouse! I'll tell you what; when this is all over, how about we have a girls' night out? Just you and me?"

"AHEM!" came a slightly disgruntled voice from down the corridor.

"Well..." Lilac looked embarrassed, "Me and you and Carol. You know, try out some dresses, maybe go dancing. We could even buy a huge plate of sushi and just pig out!"

"Yeah, good luck getting ME in a dress!" Carol said playfully, a smirk spread across her face.

"Well, sure!" Milla giggled, "I'd like that!"

"Well, then," Lilac smirked, giving the playful hound's hair another rub, "That's what we'll do. Let Torque and Traveller clean the house for a change!"

"Hey, speaking of Traveller..." Carol said inquisitively, "Where is he? He didn't look too well when we got off the ship. I'm starting to wonder if he collapsed."

"I handed him over to the Royal Medics," Torque spoke up, still clutching at the shrapnel, "His stomach perforation from before hasn't got any better. If anything, it's been getting worse. What he was stabbed with had some poison on the end of the blade, something seemingly sentient that can repel even that Hysteria Blade's natural healing ability."

"It's been an hour," Lilac said, "How long will it take them?"

"You have to remember," Torque explained, "That the poison is part of Lord Brevon's technology, or as close as you can get. Whatever it is, it's way more advanced that your own world's. They won't be able to do much, but hopefully just enough to keep him stable until we get this ordeal through and through."

"Out of my way!" came a slurring voice from down the hall, "Stupendous git coming through!"

There was the sound of the odd shove and heavy footsteps down towards the others. There was Master, a beaten and plodding mockery of his former self; stumbling, slurred and incredibly unhinged. He stopped and stared bitterly at Carol, his face twisted into a sneer, "What're you smirking at, Casual?"

"Nothing..." Carol said, somewhat offended, "Uh, Blade thingy? What's up with him?"

"Big shock, the surgeons couldn't really do anything," Blade explained with a grumble, "They don't know how to counteract the poison, but they've managed to keep the damn wound shut. Military grade staples, just to be on the safe side. They've also replaced his bandages, washed his blood-stained clothes and given him enough painkillers to down a T-Rex. Only real problem is that they're so strong they're affecting his mood. Poor guy's gone a bit delirious on us."

"Well, at least you're alright now," Torque said re-assuredly, "And hey, your clothes don't smell all matted anymore."

"Indeed," Blade said, suddenly sounding a lot happier, "The scarf especially! He hasn't washed the thing since 2013! I've never been so glad to smell the scents of vanilla candles!"

"...You can smell?"

"Excuse me, Miss Lilac..." came one of the guards by the doors, to which everyone turned to look at, "Uh, the Royal Majister is ready to see you now."

"Oh Great Dragon, here we go!" Lilac stammered, the feelings of tense again attacking her nerves.

"Right, here is what we'll do," Torque explained, "I sense you have a history with these people and we cant risk the bias. And if what you said about this Neera-Li is any indications, Traveller won't do much either, especially with those painkillers in him. I'm the neutral one, pretty much, so let me do the talking. There's a far bigger chance they'll believe me."

"Fair enough," Lilac said, suddenly turning to Master, "And you. I know you're a bit loopy, but we can't have a repeat of what happened at the Temple. So even if you see Neera, say NOTHING. Clear?"

"Crystal..." Master grumbled back.

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Meanwhile, in the Royal Chambers
=============================

General Gong looked bored. Same as ever. He was waiting in the Royal Chambers alongside The Majister himself, sitting in the chair looking bored himself. The only other one there was Neera and she looked anything BUT bored; she had a rather nasty sneer splattered across her face, like someone had taken a glob of negative emotions and just...actually, scratch that. That was a bad analogy. Regardless, she looked like she was definitely not looking forward to this. Perhaps she just didn't want to see that Master fellow again. Understandable, Gong supposed. He wasn't the absolute best when they had first met in the Temple and wasn't really all that polite the next time, either.

One of the guards had just called them in, however, and soon the whole group was walking towards him and the others. They were all the same; The shellduck was in front, the Lilac and Carol, then the flying hound with the good sense of smell and finally that Master guy. He looked tired, run down and quite grouchy. He had heard from soldier gossip that someone had entered the medical chambers a mere hour ago, so either he was just grouchy or was tanking a good three prescriptions worth of painkillers. He decided, for the best, to stay out of his way. At least he tolerated him, he supposed, which was still better than Neera. They entered the middle of the room as he approached them.

"My friends!" he bellowed in his natural boisterous way, "How did the negotiations fare?"

"Prince Dail took the Stone," the shellduck spoke up, "We need to speak to the Majister immediately."

"Well, you've come to the right place!" Gong laughed, "This way, please." He took the others to just in front of The Majister and made them bow. The Master guy grumbled, but did it anyway. The Majister sat up from his seat and stood before them, an imposing figure.

"A thousand good greetings you, Majister..." Torque said, still bowing.

The Majister did not move beyond a blink, only speaking in his baritone buzz, "It is my understanding that Shuigang is now in possession of the Kingdom Stone..."

"Not exactly, Your Greatness. Someone else has it. It's been taken by a warlord named Brevon. He has been manipulating the three kingdoms into waging war."

"And do you have proof?" The Majister asked.

"I do," Torque said. He walked forward and placed the chunk of scrap on the floor, "This is a fragment of one of Brevon's machines. Have your best scientists examine it. You'll find that its mineral composition doesn't match anything that's built on your world."

"I see..." The Majister said, rubbing his shadowed chin, "Well, I guess there cannot be any harm in it. General Gong, if you would be so kind to pick it up and carry it to our labs..."

"Yes, Majister, sir..." Gong said. He plodded over to the scrap and was about to pick it up, when...

"HOLD IT!" came the inevitable scream. It was from Neera-Li, her face scrunched into a sneer of hatred, stomping her way over to the group, "This...theory you have of a man from an other world seems highly suspicious at best."

Lilac went a silent pale. She knew the Majister would agree to this, even with her doubts, but Neera? Neera would do ANYTHING to put her and Carol behind bars. She hated thieves and always wanted things done her way. A pity people always seemed to listen to her and follow her without fail, just because she was an ex-Royal Adviser.

The panda looked over to The Majister, a smug grin across her face, "If you would allow me to explain, Majister, I have a different theory in mind. This is nothing but an attempt from Mayor Zao to cover up the atrocity he committed against our Kingdom Stone. He must've offered you a generous reward to come here and make up this absurd story. After all..." her smug grin grew wider, "You can't resist money, Sash Lilac and Carol Tea..."

"Keep that shit-eating grin on your face..." a very unstable Master growled, "SEE WHAT HAPPENS."

"Oh? Am I getting to you?" Neera's smile vanished, "And if you would be so kind as to refer to me by my actual name. I was kind enough to refer to yours. You were quite the fortune tellers yesterday, so I wanted to see what made you tick. Some...individual helped me do a few background checks. Not only have the two of you been stealing crystal shards, you've been working for the same group that claimed responsibility for the stone's theft! The Red Scarves!"

"Oh yeah, and YOU used to work for a moronic prince who's tried to lay waste to a good portion of the planet just because the other two won't share!" Master retorted, pointing his finger like his gun, "You don't work for him anymore, but I'll probably get a savage beating if I mention it. What makes YOU any better than us?!"

"Irrelevant," Neera barked, "These people are criminals and spies, your Excellency!"

"Hmm..." The Majister was calm and conductive, not jumping to any conclusions, "Is this so, Miss Lilac?"

"Majister, please listen to us!" Lilac said calmly, "We are no longer members of the Scarves. We left a long time ago. We did what we had to do to survive, but we won't kill for it! What's the point of living if you extend yours by ending others?"

"Hmm..." The Majister said, looking out of the window in deep contemplation, "If what you say is true, then by all means I shall examine the evidence and you can all go free. However, there is no known surefire evidence. And, quite sadly, you have an infamous killer among your ranks."

"An infamous killer?" General Gong asked, "Who?"

Everyone else, Lilac excluded, slowly turned to Master. His skin went pale, as did the glow of Blade go dim. Blade spoke in a panicked tone, "Ahh, shit, they figured it out!"

Master was instead angry, turning to Torque, "YOU TOLD THEM?!"

"No!" Torque yelped, "I swear I didn't!"

"I guess it would be inevitable information about you and your deeds would be linked to our...information system," Neera said, "You of all people should know that buried secrets come up to haunt you someday."

"But I'm beyond that, dammit!" Master pleaded, desperation in his voice, "I was young, I was stupid! You do stupid stuff when you're young! You've ALL done stupid stuff in your younger days! I'm trying to atone, trying to better myself, escape this wretched past of mine! And no-one can get in the way of that, including you! And I actually do respect you!" he saluted to The Majister, "Sir."

"I cannot take any chances, Mister Traveller..." The Majister sighed, "Detain them until further notice. Make sure the Commander and his...'evidence' are properly quarantined."

Neera's smug smile returned and she thrust her staff high into the air, sending ice particles screaming through the air. Above them, they slowly formed into cages of some kind, before falling to the ground. Almost no-one managed to escape them, capturing them in their large cold trapped fingers. Only Master managed to roll out of the way, but he was going nowhere with the flood of armed guards bursting out of the door-frame and into the room. Master had a look of shock, before it twisted back into its painkiller-induced rage.

"Hey hey hey!" Torque called out, "Easy!"

"Majister, please!" Lilac pleaded, banging on the icy bars, "We don't have the time for this!"

"You're right..." The Majister sighed again, "Take them away, right now."

The iced cages were slowly dragged away by armed guards, an anguished Torque screeching out, "Examine the fragment! EXAMINE IT!" before everyone was gone. This left Master, well-armed and incredibly angry, alone with the others.

"What're you doing to them?" He demanded.

"Nothing, Traveller," The Majister explained, "Just keeping them out of the way. We will make up our own minds about this."

"And don't expect to get out," Neera said, her smug smile still there, "We've got enough about you and others to keep you locked away for a long time..."

"...Alright," Master said, his voice quiet and restrained, "I've played good drugged-up to the point of passing out cop, but I've lost my patience. You're a toad, Majister, a weasel. A scheming, disinterested piece of fecal matter with all the charming grace of a spoiled rich kid from Station Square."

"And what happened to respect?"

"Lost it," Master growled, "Sent it packing. Gone...alright. Why am I still here? Am I getting a cell all to myself?"

"No, you will join your friends soon enough," Neera growled too, "The fact they trust you even though they know of your past only helps prove my point, after all. We have a few things to remove from your person, first. Like your Blade and your gun."

"You ain't getting your hands on me!" Blade yelled, defiant, "I will stick alongside my Master through thick and thin, right or wrong!"

"Just as he said he would..." Neera mused, "Unfortunately, talking weapon, you need to come with us."

"Like hell I will!" Blade said again, "Slugger, waste this waste!"

"Neera, what're you doing?!" General Gong stated, "Both of you, stand down!"

"Oh, PUSH OFF you fat sycophant!" Neera screamed, readying her staff, "I'm handling things around here! The Majister has given me full permission."

"Only if she was proven right about you and Lilac," The Majister said quickly, "And she was. I'm sorry, Traveller. But I'm afraid your traveling days must end. Don't you want them to?"

"Rotting in a jail cell?" Master said, keeping calm, "I don't think so. Just listen to us, we're not pulling your leg! If we don't band together, Brevon's gonna attach the Kingdom Stone to his ship's power supplies, giving it limitless energy. Then he'll head out into space, make a quick U-turn, and kill us all! And that's the best case scenario!"

"We will have no more of this tat..." Neera growled, "Guards. Remove his weaponry and take him to the cells. Unless...you want to fight me?"

"That is not a wise suggestion, Neera..." Majister said, "Perhaps you should reconsider."

"Nonsense..." Master sighed, "I won't fight you. Just take me to the cells. I swear I won't use my weapons." He looked somewhat tired, turning around and heading back out the doors after the others.

"Oh, you want to, don't you?" Neera called out, "That little part in you. Not fighting for some vague flimsy excuse to kill things? For shame, War Master."

Master stopped dead in his tracks. His fists trembled and he slowly arched his head to Neera, "What...did you say?"

"I knew that'd get something out of ya..." Neera grinned, "And now you probably wanna kill me. Just what your little sister would want."

Something seemed to almost instantly snap in Master's mind and he was gone. He was seen sprinting at speeds almost invisible, past the guards and straight into Neera. He tacked her to the ground and clutched at her throat with his right hand, digging out his handgun and jamming it into her temple. His eyes had changed; no longer were they white with grey pupils, they were a pitch black with small red dots for pupils. The Majister quickly stepped backwards, the guards all closing in and pointing their spears.

"Say that one more time..." Master said calmly, before shrieking, "SAY THAT ONE MORE FUCKING TIME! I want an excuse to paint the walls with your brains! If you even fucking HAVE ANY!"

"Oh, this is perfect!" Neera gasped, "Just as easy to manipulate as he said you would be. All we're missing is the sneak attack."

Master temporarily looked confused, before there was a thwack and his face fell. He collapsed, rolling off Neera and ending up spread across the floor. The Blade rolled out of his hand, only to be picked up by Neera via a claw on her Ice Staff.

"No!" he called out.

Neera smiled in a non-smug way, looking up at the soldier behind her, "Thanks, Captain."

"Quack," replied the duck.

"Right..." Neera said, holding the Blade at staff's length, "No-one touch this, it'll screw you up BIG time. Gotta admit, this cloaked fellow's plans are infallible. Told us everything we needed to know and do."

"I hope this is for the best, Neera..." The Majister said.

"Trust me, Your Excellency..." Neera said, casting an evil glare at the unconscious Master, "This will work perfectly..."

===============
A Good Hour Later
===============

Lilac sighed, an exasperated and pained sigh suitable for a pained and exasperated cell. It had been quite some time since she and the others had been locked up in the cells beneath Shang Tu. And, to put it lightly, they weren't the highest quality. In fact, they were a shambles; the cells were just a fancy way of saying that they were parts of the sewers originally used to store cargo during the Civil War, stripped of cargo and given bars so they could be laughably called cells. Still, it was all they had since the actual cells caved in when Shang Mu opened fire during that way, purely out of spite. Even though Shang Tu took no part in this war, they still sustained a lot of damages and were recovering even to this day,

But it still burned in Lilac that the Majister could take this one opportunity to make Neera-Li of all people call the shots. The close-minded, petty supercop of the Shang Tu forces. The one who wanted to execute a good number of her fellow Scarves back in th day, even for something as meager as stealing an apple. There was no mercy with that vile creature, Lilac knew, no compassion; everyone had to suffer for their crimes. The only way to not look soft. Even Traveller, with his supposed history of doling nothing but painful death upon a cancerous multiverse, had a better sense of justice than her.

Carol was also in the cell beside her, a small mound sitting in the corner of the room, but Milla and Torque were nowhere to be found. Torque had been taken somewhere, for reasons not known to Lilac, while Milla was...well, Milla was probably fighting slime monsters. She knew the layout of the sewers like the back of her hand, what with her living deep in them and all, and thus had dug into the area below to search for a way out. She has been gone for a long time so far, and Lilac was beginning to worry. Still, at least she wasn't cooped up in here with her and Carol.

"This is insane!" Carol suddenly yelped, springing up from her slumped form, "We can't stay here! Otherwise Brevon's gonna kill every last one of us! Let's see that stupid panda girl keep her grin on when she's being chocked by a slave collar!"

"Carol, that's not gonna help us..." Lilac sighed, "We need to get out of here. But we need to make sure Torque makes it out, too. And he's not even here. Think they put him in...'quarantine', or something."

"Is that why we sent Milla into the sewers?" Carol asked.

"Yeah. Kinda hoped she'd find a way out of here, but..." Lilac sighed, "Nothing. At least she hasn't been captured yet."

There was a sudden clopping as footsteps sounded off from down the corridor. It was Neera, carrying a sniveling Milla by the scuff of her shirt, with Master slowly shuffling beside her. Milla was unharmed, but Master was not; he looked a wreck, with wild and unkempt quills and a bleeding ear. His jacket was gone and in its place was a straightjacket, fastened up tight. His scarf was also gone, putting his scarred face on show for all to see. The door to the cell screamed open and Neera threw both into the cell.

"Nice try," Neera said, seemingly irritated and pointing to Milla, "That hound almost got scot-free, but that's not how we fly around here."

"Why're you even keeping her locked up?" Carol asked, "She hasn't done anything."

"You heard the Majister," Neera growled, "We can't take any chances. Besides, we've got word on the grapevine that there's a mole in the Royal Palaces. For all we know, she's part of Shang Mu's spies. We can't just let her walk away."

"You can't do this!" Lilac called out, "We have rights!"

"Not here, sister!" Neera's smug smile returned, "In Shang Tu, what we say goes. ALWAYS. Why'da think we've had the same leader for a good decade? And I like it here. I mean, that Shuigang prince was crazy. And I dislike crazy. But LOOOOVE order..." her smug grin grew wider again, "Well! No need for me to hang around. Enjoy your stay!"

Lilac's face screwed up in rage as Neera left the room, chuckling all the way. There was a brief pause as everyone sat in the cell in awkward silence, before a cough gave Carol the opportunity to talk.

"And what's wrong with you?" Carol asked, pointing to Master.

"They weren't taking any chances..." Master sighed, "Skipped the painkillers and just tied me up like this. Took my weapons, too. In such a way as to make them virtually unobtainable."

"Why?" Carol asked again, "Can't Blade, like, fly towards you or something?"

"Yeah..." Master chuckled, "Provided he's outside a certain range. 'S why I didn't want you throwing him into the ravine? He's...cursed, so to say, to return to me once he breaches a good mile of my location. And they've put him in a heavily reinforced box...at a quarter of a mile. I ain't getting him back. Milla tried, but she couldn't lift the container."

"I'm..." Milla sniffled, "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, kiddo..." Lilac sighed, hugging the scared hound for comfort, "We've all screwed up this time. Look, we need Torque outta here above all else. Maybe I can convince the others I'm still with the Red Scarves and say Torque was forced at spearpoint to work for us."

"Nah, that won't work..." Master sighed, "Heard Neera and Gong talk about it. Said they won't allow such a flimsy and obvious excuse. Almost like they knew you were gonna try it!" his angry visage shifted to face them, "Yeah, that's what it is! It's like someone else has entered this universe and is giving them all the answers! The scumbag!"

"Nonsense..." came a voice, this one crackly and distorted, "I only seek to improve your lives and get this mission done in an...orderly fashion." the voice was getting louder, before a figure finally stepped in front of the cell. He, whatever he even was, was clad in a black cloak that hid all but his eyes, two pinprick dots swimming in a sea of inky blackness. Here was no hologram, but a flesh and blood mystery, "Hello, fair travelers."

"You..." Master stood up and faced the creature, "Who are you?"

"Chaos, why does everyone want to know my name?" the figure replied, annoyed, "For the last time, it's not important. All you need to know is, well yes, I HAVE been telling these peeps...uh, people, what's going on."

"...Why?" Master asked exasperated, "That breaks No-Zone Multiverse Rule #592!"

"Multiverse Rule #592?" the figure stifled a laugh, "In an emergency situation involving two or more officers of equal rank, seniority will be granted to whichever officer can program a VCR?"

Master, red in the face, mumbled back, "Well, I suppose that WOULD be helpful in this universe. I was referring to the rule where no Multiverse Traveller can tell a universe's inhabitants the contents of its timeline in the off-chance it would create a temporal paradox!"

"That's Multiverse Rule #3972, you weren't even close!" the figure said, "And don't bother trying to use the No-Zone cops' logic. They're coffee-swilling pigs and you know it. Anyway, I'm not here to argue. I'm here to get you out of here."

"...Come again?" Lilac asked, "Any particular reason you're helping us? And everyone else, too?"

"I provide a service," the figure said, digging into his cloak and taking out a bag, "To whom and how many, I cannot say. You have your duties to attend to and so do I. I can't achieve my mission if you don't yours. Torque's been sent away from here due to the rumors of a mole. AKA, me. Their stupid scrambling should give you enough time to plot a course for scarper city. As long as you can make it past the Jade Creek, you're out of their jurisdiction and  you should be safe. But you better hurry! Brevon's mobilized his troops to look for him. Good day to you...and good luck."

The figure turned and left, leaving the others on their own. Lilac took the bag and emptied it on the floor. Its contests were quite plentiful; there was bunch of red leaves, helpful considering Master's own state, and a mound crystals for good measure. Beyond that were Carol's motorbike keys and a note saying "PRESS THE WHITE BRICK". There was also Master's scarf, his jacket and some large black blocks. And finally was Master's own gun, a good five spare magazines...and The Blade of Hysteria itself."

"Blade!" Master called out in joy, "You're back!"

"Slugger!" Blade replied in a similarly joyous way, "You're not dead! Though you do seem a bit...tied up. Let me get that." The weapon floated up into the air and swiped across the suit's joints, freeing Master's trapped limbs. He removed the suit with gusto, slamming his clothing back on and holstering both weapons. Carol herself had pressed brick in the cell that had been painted white, opening a nearby wall and shoving a ruby red motorbike out.

"My bike!" Carol called out, "How did it get here?"

"That cloaked fellow..." Milla said, her tone somewhat quiet, "Should we really trust him?"

"We don't have a choice," Lilac said, quickly eating one of the red leaves, "We need to find Torque and get back on track. We HAVE to get the Kingdom Stone back from Brevon, or we're all either dead or his slaves."

"Just like Prince Dail..." Carol sighed.

"That cloaked fellow sure isn't from around here," Master said, looking at the blocks, "C-4. A powerful, remote-detonated explosive. Should be enough to blow the wall, provided Milla shields us from the fragments. Then we're free. Come on, girls! Let's blow this dump!"

======================
Another Five Minutes Later
======================

Carol shouldn't shake the feeling that had suddenly become a massive mistake on her's and Lilac's part. Like, all of it. A good few days ago, she and her were planning a final truck robbery, one that would set them up for life. A day after, she was eating the tastiest sushi she had ever tasted with a brand new friend, and NOW she was running from the Shang Tu Police Force at the fastest speeds she had ever gone on her bike. She was working the poor thing into overdrive, exhaust belching flame to keep in front of the fuzz. The vehicle chasing them was a hovercraft, zooming across the water with impressive speed, with the duck soldier at the helm and Neera herself riding on top of it. She looked angry, her rage directed at their impossibly fast escape, and she was firing her ice staff all the way. The heroes were dashing their way across the riverbank, unable to advance into the jungle owing to its masses of brambles jammed into its side. The only way was forward, and Carol complied by slamming the bike into its highest gear and zooming off with a boost. Lilac, Milla and Master were not not far off, Lilac way out in front, dodging missiles and blasts of ice from Neera's staff and the hovercraft itself. Master himself was running headstrong, not looking back, while carrying the young hound once more so she could fend off the various attacks using her own powers. Even now she had been able to deflect one of the missiles with her shield and divert it into the water, smacking into the hovercraft and causing it to thrash around in the water to the accord of almost throwing Neera off.

"Lilac, we need a plan!" Carol called out, "We can't keep running like this! This river leads to a huge waterfall!"

"We have to keep moving!" Lilac called out too, "Otherwise the world is doomed!"

"We can stop, we just need to get this hovercraft off our backs!" Master yelled back, "Throwing Neera off might create the right diversion. Milla, this is going to take everything you have! You okay with that?"

"What'm I going to do?" Milla asked, curling into Master's arms to avoid the blasts.

"You're gonna make the biggest, most powerful laser you've ever made," Master grinned, holding Blade backwards so the gem was facing outwards, "Just grab this gem and brace yourself."

"No!" Blade called out, "Slugger, we can't do that! Remember what happened with that alternate Amy?"

"I know! But we don't have any other choice!" Master quickly turned to Milla, "You ready, kid?"

Milla nodded. Blade sighed and the gem on the base of his handle extended on a rod. Milla took a deep breath and clasped the glowing artefact in her hand. An almost indescribable amount of energy  shot up into Milla, and she yelped with the shock. Every cell in her body was filling to burst with energy and she felt like she was burning up. Screaming, she thrust both hands at the hovercraft and braced her upper body for the shock. What could only be described as a laser the size of tree trunk screamed across the sky and slammed into the hovercraft, tipping it up and throwing it high into the air. Neera was thrown off, flung into the sky before landing with a soft splash. All still on dry land counted their blessings and rushed forwards, eventually stopping at the waterfall in question.

"We made it!" Carol said, stopping her bike and staring into the watery abyss below them, "This waterfall marks the limits of Shang Tu!"

"Then we're safe," Master sighed, setting the panting hound down, "Good. How're you holding up, kid?"

"F-Fine..." Milla whimpered, her voice weak, "Just...just let me rest..."

"What even was that?" Lilac asked.

"My powers are, for lack of a better word, spreadable," Blade began to explain, "I can channel my energies into another host should they be physically touching me. However, we don't actually USE this often. Because...well, you know what they say, power corrupts."

"Indeed it does!" came the same garbled voice from the cells, only now interspersed with the sound of spinning blades, like a helicopter. The group looked out over the waterfall and some sort of flying machine slowly lifted up from the edge of the waterfall and hovered before them. The cloaked creature was in the machine, leaning out the open door with his spiked teeth grinning in the moonlight. And, much to their horror, he had found Torque. He looked weak, with a large gash across his body and a few darts in him as well. He was being carried by some green orb robot into the flying machine, soon vanishing within it.

Lilac screamed out in horror, "NO! Torque!"

"I KNEW something was up!" Milla whimpered, "I just knew it!"

"You were using us, weren't you buddy?" Carol growled, her anger peaking, "Distract the soldiers while you ran off with Torque!"

"I told you I couldn't tell you who I was working with!" the figure spoke again, "Now, you've got a good seven seconds to swear allegiance to Lord Brevon or we'll blast you out of your boots!"

"What're we gonna do?" Master asked, "Either we get captured by Shang Tu's forces, OR we get captured by Brevon, OR we break every bone in our body jumping down this waterfall."

"...Bones heal," Lilac said wearily, grabbing the wrists of the others, "Let's go!"

"Wait, Lilac, NO!" was all Carol could get out before the group slowly fell down the edge of the waterfall. Their screams were drowned out by the rushing water and soon they were gone from sight. The cloaked figure sighed, climbing back into the flying machine and shutting the door behind him. Torque had been tied up by some of Brevon's soldiers and was now stood in the corner of the area.

"Torque, buddy boy!" the figure said, his voice now jovial beyond the crunchiness, "Nice to finally meet you!"

"What're you gonna do to me?" Torque asked, his will still solid, "You can't be working with Brevon!"

"Not full time, no..." the figure reached for his own hood, cackling all the while, "I've my own agenda. And they involve you. But before I knock you out cold and wait for the inevitable rescue from Lilac...I want you to see my face."

Finally, the hood fell, and Torque's face fell with shock, "No...no! You can't be here! Traveller said he had abandoned you in the tundras of Exol 7! It can't be!"

"But I am! And it can be! In fact, it IS! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

===
???
===

Lilac was the first to awaken. Her ribs hurt and there seemed to be a little bit of blood right in front of her, but otherwise she was okay. She looked around, groaning in pain. The group's descent down the waterfall had save them from both Brevon's and The Majister's forces, and now they were at the bottom of the waterfall, slowly drifting towards the shore. She sighed happily; her actions were drastic and...well, suicidal, but they were safe! For real, this time!

"Guys..." Lilac groaned, slowly getting to her knees, "I think we've made it."

"You think?" Master sighed, coming too, "What the hell was THAT, Lilac?"

"Yeah!" Carol growled, "You could've killed us!"

"I'm sorry, guys..." Lilac shrugged, "But it was all I could think to do. We've got out of worse scrapes before...right? Hey, chins up! At least we escaped the police."

"Yeah, for a good five minutes..." came an all too fa miler voice from behind them. Lilac went into shock overdrive, looking behind her. It was Neera, her grin gone and replaced with a majestic scowl, "This has gone beyond fun, now."

"No!" Lilac said, tears in her eyes from the stress, "Please, stay back!"

"This is only gonna end up one way, Thief!" Neera barked, advancing towards the waterlogged dragon, "And you're only conscious - nay, ALIVE - in one of 'em!"

"Stop this!" Milla wailed, jumping in front of Neera, "We're innocent! Why waste time going after us? Go after Brevon! Torque told you everything you need to know!"

Neera raised her hand and brought down a mighty slap across Milla's face, sending the hound flying and rolling into the water beside her. Master screamed something indecipherable out of rage and got to his knees, his hands tightening into fists. He looked like his was in pain, clutching at his head and crying out in agony. Neera ignored him and resumed her walk towards Lilac, staff grasped firmly in hands.

"A loada junk and nothing else!" Neera called back, "Your cloaked friend set us up just as much as he did you! I lost the eyes of a good man during his escape! Now you will stand down or I WILL use lethal force!"

"You can't do this!" Lilac called out.

"But I CAN!" Neera said for the final time, "And I WILL! My patience has run thin! Goodbye, dragon girl!"

Lilac, even with her body in its physical prime, was too exhausted by the running and collision to get up and run. She only shut her eyes and began to hope for the best...

Then, there was a sound. A disgusting, visceral sound that was mixed with what seemed to be Neera yelling out in pain. She opened her eyes and saw Neera, staff dropped in shock, patting at a rather large stab wound in her chest. Nearby her was Master, upright and still. To Lilac, he had changed to the point of being frightening; his body was more-or-less the same, but all of the colour had drained out. His body was glowing a pure white from head to foot, with exceptions; his scarf was still the blood red colour it always was, but almost every other part of him was a bright white light. His limbs from the mid-joints upwards were covered in blood, fresh blood seemingly, and his eyes were now a bleeding black void with pinprick red dots for pupils. Finally was Blade, covered in blood and muck, his own design changed to a more demonic and bloody type. He was leaning slightly, like a zombie, with otherworldly breathing sounds escaping his throat.

"No more..." he growled with a voice more demonic than a thousand devils, "Neera-Li, your time is up."

Neera's face only showed some sort of vague shock, which quickly gave way to anger. She stopped plugging up her wound and attacked, swinging wildly with her ice staff. This proved most ineffective, as Master simply dodged and swung Blade with full force. To Lilac's amazement, it cleaved through the heavy metal staff with almost no resistance, like a knife through hot butter. This...creature then grabbed Neera in a choke hold, holding Blade just before her neck. She spat some blood at him;

"Go to Hell..."

The creature only looked her dead in the eyes and swung with all his might. The Blade once again cleaved through her neck with little trouble at all, leaving almost no blood and but a thin red line across Neera's throat. A small gurgle escaped and then the head fell, separated completely from her body, landing with a splash in the once pure lakes. The creature looked at the headless body and discarded it, growling something of his own;

"Already been there...wasn't worth it..."

The creature looked back at the girls; Lilac's jaw was somewhere around her knees and Carol looked like she was going to be sick from the shock of it all. Thankfully Milla was still knocked out and had not seen the action. The creature sighed, looked down shamefully, and passed out. He landed in water face-up, the colours of his form slowly regaining colour and becoming Master once again. Lilac was still standing, bodies everywhere, as the rain began to fall.

"What do we do?" Carol asked, looking at Lilac, "What do we DO?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Lilac screamed back, keeping Carol shocked and shivering. She looked over into the plains behind her, the rivers stretching into the distance...and she began to weep.

"I don't know..."