Episode 19: Become more

In the chilling heights off the Thessaly, the ship known as Stitches was hovering to its side. Its massive body could only compare to at least a quarter of the length of the stadium but that did not stop Allen from marveling over the fact that there was finally hope in among the time of so much suffering.

Each member dropped from the ship to aid the people that were present. CEO was seemingly unharmed from the bout and Layla was fortunately safe as a large figure tried to comfort her, but Allen could see that he means no harm.

Ronx approached the two and spoke firmly, "Are you alright?"

"Please help Martin, he's knocked un-unconscious." Allen was a bit frantic but maintained his composure a little, stuttering in the last bit.

Ronx pulled his visor down to check Martin's vitals. He can't help but the least he could do was assess his injuries. "It doesn't look serious. Our medic is on the way, she'll do the best she can."

"Thank goodness."

"What about you, kid?" Ronx reached out his mechanical arms towards Allen.

"A lil bruise, ears still ringing, and I think I broke something." Allen lets out a relieved chuckled as he accepted the gesture to get back up on his feet.

"I see the apples didn't fall too far from each other." Despite their personalities, Ronx could see that they were alike to one another. "The name's Ronx, head engineer of the IGG Stitches."

"That big fella right there is my assistant, Jav."

The hulking figure looked over to the two with his fingers gently grasping Layla's dainty hands. When he noticed their gaze, he sends a friendly wave.

"Ton is the one hanging with Val, keeping his eyes on the sky."

"Our medic-"

"Is a bit overwhelmed from the trip." A woman in a lab coat appeared as she knelt beside Martin. "Would've been nice to have a calm trip every once in a while."

"You know we can't be having that considering the people we work with AND with you being dead drunk even before our missions."

"Something needs to calm my nerves." The woman took out a flask and took a quick swig before continuing with first aid.

"Is it alright for you to be drinking right now, doc?"

"Cannenta, you can call Canny," she said as she completed her patching. She then lifts her hand in the air to summon a hovering stretcher.

"My name's Allen by the way, rookie in the field."

She only grunted as a reply and got right into business. "Ol Lard is on the ship with the others, help me carry this man on the stretch."

Allen and Ronx gently placed Martin on the stretcher and watched as it hovered away with Canny in tow, messaging her temples as she goes.

"Well then, 'rookie' how about we head on back on the ship and get outta here before anything worse comes our way."

It was then that a sudden rumble erupted from the corpse. The body twitched about as it began to flail its arms in agony. It stumbled up, grasping around its surroundings, tumbling the walls and destroying the platforms.

"Everyone, MOVE!" Ronx ordered.

As they maneuvered out of the beast's path, they witnessed as appendages, armored and heavy like a crab's leg, popped out of its side. Its teeth grew a few inches in length and its eyes were beaming in a bright red.

However, in mid-transformation, one of its eyes was shot out. It wailed in pain as it fell on its back, splashing a bit of its excess fluid around the stadium.

"You just had to say something," another woman said through the intercom, an irking voice Allen could recognize.

"Val?"

"Is that my name now? I kinda like it."

"Don't get distracted," a sterner voice entered as the beast was now rolling upright.

"It's size, body structure and even development are too abnormal to pin point any weak points."

"Then just hit them with whatever normally hurts."

"Ton, I need you on those guns, full send it!"

"On it, boss."

"JJ, get that girl into the ship."

"Yes, sir!"

"Can ya still move, rookie?"

"Still breathing, sir."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road then."

Ronx had an excited look on his face as he punched his fists together, emitting a soft glow and a mist of steam from its crevices. Allen could see that he's been itching for a little bout for a while now. With his presence, Allen felt a rise in will to keep pushing forward. He wondered if this was what it was like to be a veteran adventurer because he was all for it.

"I swear, they are all so much alike in more ways than one." Canny said as she hurried the stretcher to the latch.

~

"John, Tita, and Pierre lead the charge, Elaine and I will provide support!"

Sera reached into her side pockets to pull out shrunken smoke grenades. She tossed them on the field to cover their formation. The enemy were now unable to track their movements.

"That won't help you!"

Pride beckoned the tree to flailed its limbs about to clear the smoke but every root and branch that entered were unable to retract. He looked to one of the stuck vines to find it covered in a thick wrap of ice. A branch was able to break loose but it seemed to have been charred down.

Pierre was using the smoke to his advantage as he swerved around the field, chipping away at the tree.

John was trailing behind, avoiding the branches with ease as he gets himself closer towards Pride. It was then that Porcus used this chance to ambush him. John was ready to release more of Wrath's power but was interrupted by a helping hand from Titan.

The figure was smaller than the Lord of Gluttony but her fist packed a punch, sending the blight lord even further away.

"I'll handle him!" Her somewhat dainty voice threw John off guard as he waved her off.

"Not going to be on her bad side."

On the other hand, Pierre's assault was proving successful as the tree started to lose its former shape. The flames whittled the numbers and the ice restrained the rest.

"You insignificant fly!"

Pride lowered his hands toward the darting Pierre but this time it wasn't the tree this time. A swarm of enormous bugs came thundering down on the flyer. Pierre instantly reacted with his right hand, spewing a wide radius of flames that turned everything in its path to dust. It was then a sudden noise screeched in his head.

"You.... you are interesting."

Pierre turned towards the source and find's Lady Lust, floating a few feet away from him. He glared at her raising the intensity of flames into a bright blue hue.

"Let's play, boy." She says seductively as she furled her tails.

John couldn't see but the battles that were ensuing from above him and beside him were intense. However, he has to focus on the task at hand. He needs to find a way to take out the Blighted Tree.

In mid-thought, he was grabbed on his foot. He couldn't see what it was but knew that it was an infected. He kicked at it with a bit of his essence imbued into the attack to send the creature away.

He was grabbed on his arm this time, and he punched the other infected. He realized now that he was surrounded.

The power of Wrath corrupted his keen sense, allowing the enemy to surprise him He had to rely on his other ones to protect himself.

He could hear them all around him, the groaning and roaring, and feel the rumble of the ground as the numbers rose. There must be some bigger ones out there. His eyes darted about as he looked for any sign of attack.

A hand broke through the smoke and he grabbed it, elbowing the creature that owned it. A foot appeared before another and he kicked it in the knee, disabling the creature as he punched towards what he assumed was the face.

A claw that tore through the smoke and John barely dodges it by a hair. He was ready to counter but then streaks of red passed his face. The figure sped right pass him and began to take out the creatures, even he knew without his senses that their numbers were dwindling.

"Atta girl," he said proudly.

Elaine was pressing her attack, clearing a way for John. With her keen awareness, she was able to take out anything that stood in her way with ease. Her aim was precise, aiming directly at their heads. The bodies dropped all around her.

It was then that as one of the creatures laid dead before her, she took an unintentional glance. The coldness of its eyes and the locks of her hair. It shocked her, bringing up memories she had wanted to bury.

She held in her stomach, preventing herself from gagging, but the scene was too much. She saw too much of her face that it haunted her mind.

As she was down, a sudden slash wrecked through her and she was sent flying a few feet away.

"EL!"

Elaine stumbled to her feet but there were now too many for her to maneuver away. She was surrounded. Even at a dire time like this, she hopes that Allen fairs better.

~

The beast hulked over the platform, its head reaching above the height of Thesally's walls. The white within its iris, leveled to Stitches, was glaring deeply into the turret's cameras.

Val and Ton did not hesitate to take the shot, and unloaded their arsenal into its soft, goo-like, exterior. However, with every shot they made and every hole they pierced, it seemed that more appendages, different from the last, sprouted from its body.

"What is this thing made of?!" Val yelled, concerned that even her critical shots did not make an effect on the body.

"I don't know but every time we hit it. It keeps regenerating at an alarming rate." Ton assessed the situation by aiming for the weak joints of the appendages but even lopping them off would initiate rapid growth of another.

The beast covered its face with its armored legs and used its remaining hands to swipe around at the ship.

"We're about to take a hit!"

"Don't worry, this ship has an, ugh, AI." Ton said calmly.

"IWhat do you-"

"Engaging evasive meneuvers!" Before Val could complain, she was suddenly tugged into her seat and the ship began to move on its own, evading the attacks.

"Focus on shooting and trust the ship!"

Val didn't want to hear more of it so she began setting her targets. This piece of junk was nothing high spec like what she was accustomed to but she knew how to work around it.

"Anything in the codex?" Ronx yelled for an answer. This creature despite being corrupted by the blight, had to have been a living being once in its life. For whatever the life creates, blight manipulates.

"Kinda hard to do, when you're trying to strap in patients!" Canny struggled to keep Martin still as the ship moved about.

"I guess I have to do this myself, again." Ronx slaps his hands together to gather momentum into his fists. As he does repeatedly, the creases start to sear and emanate a brighter glow. "Can I rely on you for support?"

"Don't know what I can do, but I'll try." Allen didn't have much on him. He only had a borrowed knife and the empty pistol Martin dropped. "I'm kinda low on options."

"Take these," Ronx said as he passed a few mags and a couple rune grenades.

Allen inspected the grenades and noticed that these were haphazardly put together like the ones they've been using so far. "Aren't these illegal to ow-"

"Enough talk, let's go!" Ronx interrupted as he leapt from his cover, charging at the lower half of the beast. Despite his age, Ronx was able to avoid the large tentacles that flailed about randomly. He knew that its attention was on the ship and with that advantage, he can give the initiating roll!

As Ronx ran, he punched his way through falling debris and even when the object became larger, he had so much ease blasting them away.

Allen couldn't believe the feat that Ronx was pulling, especially with his size. It was like he embodied a giant's strength.

Ronx's charge did not end there as he continued to push forward, unknowing of a threat that loomed over him. One of the lopped off arms was careening towards his direction, right at his blind spot. It took him a second too late to react but Allen had enough time to throw the grenade towards its trajectory and take a shot.

It was not his first time shooting a gun and just like that last, Allen had great precision. It was thanks to Ol' Man Ossy's hunting trips. Although, those trips usually end awry.

The grenade, pierced by the bullet, exploded in mid-air, destroying what used to be a leg. It was now a sloppy mess on top of Ronx.

With his body covered in black ooze, he looked back at the lad with wide eyes. He didn't say anything since he didn't want to get any of the stuff inside his mouth but he raised a thumbs up as swished his arms clean.

Allen kept with the support, insuring nothing got in Ronx's way.

"Will he be alright?" Val noticed as she saw Ronx continuing his charge.

"Ronx? Yeah, he'll be fine. Just like his wife, being an Arch comes with its perks."

"He's an Arch?!"

Ronx was now right below the creature and stood still for a second to gather himself.

"Oh yeah, Chosen Vessel by the Celestial of Forgery." Ton said with pride. "Most of the people here are Arch's."

"HUH?!" Val couldn't help but feel that being a chosen Arch herself did not feel as rare as she initially thought.

Ronx, fully charged with enough momentum, transferred the gathered power into one fist. His right arm glowed with fiery colors, with a golden light emitting from hit. From within Ronx, he beckoned his essence to take this power and form.

A hand, gigantic, almost quarter the size of the Stitches, was summoned out of thin air.

The beast wanted to fight against it, but its body sizzled at its very presence.

"This is Celestial class power," Ton said as he gazed at what seemed like the hundred time. It still amazed.

Val and Allen looked in awe as the hand drew back into a fist, following the motion of its Vessel. The arm was like a floating piece of armor, giving off a bright orange glow coming off its corporeal form. The heat emitting off of the arm was intense. To those inside the ship, they were safe from it but Allen could feel it, even if it was a couple stories above him. It was like looking into a forge.

"Take this!" Ronx yelled as he punched into the belly of the beast, taking it off the ground. As Allen suspected, Ronx had enough power in his fist to punch even the largest objects away. It really shows how powerful those hits are as the creature was being lifted into the air by a couple feet, just enough to even its body mass to meet the fist that was careening in its direction.

When the blow was met, the creature's body was pierced through with ease, like a heated blade through butter. The components that met the attack, melted away and eventually turned to ash.

Allen couldn't believe his eyes. In mere moments, the creature that he and the others struggled with their very lives was taken down with a single, albeit a charged up one, hit. It was amazing to see it in action, just like his brother.

~

The infected surrounded her, ready to pounce on the helpless Elaine. Her senses were being overwhelmed: the stench of the ooze that dripped from their orifices, the look in their eyes that cried out in pain, not wanting to commit the crimes that they are doing and the wails, the wails of anguish as if their voices wanted to be heard under the guttural roars. It was too much for her.

She fought through the cries. She fought through the whimpers. She tuned out the noise and the pain in her heart. She felt nothing. She was nothing. She has nothing to worry about.

It wasn't until the red filled her vision that she began to see the faces of the people she once knew and the ones that she knows. She could see them coming closer to here, reaching out, calling her name.

"ELAINE!" She heard her name being called in the distance, muffled by the roars and screams. "ELAINE!" She couldn't hone in on it.

They kept coming to her even when she pushed them away. She wanted to escape but there was no way out. She shoved pass the familiar faces and even stomped over the ones she knew. The trail before her was dark and clouded by the red.

"ELAINE!" It was becoming clearer. Her senses are focusing on that voice that was gradually bringing her out of the trance but it still pulled her deeper in.

She felt herself slipping away as the faces began to distort and churn into something horrid. They didn't seem like the familiar faces she once knew. They all were turning red. There was so much red! She wanted to ignore the colors before her but she didn't know what to do. She didn't know where to reach. She wanted out. She wanted to be free.

"Elaine," a softer and gentler voiced called out. One that she knew all too well. One that she trusted even after how many years they were apart. It was warm under that bright light.

It took her a second to get her bearings. The stench of decay was the first thing that struck her. What followed was a sudden fatigue, like she sprinted on a hike. Her body was dripping with a sort of liquid. When she examined her hands, they were covered in that black ooze, still warm over the suit. She looked at her surroundings and found bodies upon bodies of carcasses.

She didn't know what had happened, but she knew that she did this.

It became coherent when she looked at the source of the voice, John. His eyes were not that of fear nor of worry, but sadness.

"I-" Elaine couldn't muster any words to express how she felt. She didn't understand whether she should be worried or be upset.

'Hone yourself,' the words of the third Matre whispered in the back of her mind.

"I'm fine," she said calmly as she balled her hands in a fist.

"Are you sure?"

She only looked at John with a blank expression as if nothing had happened in the first place, ignoring the bodies that laid before her, ignoring the other voices speaking. "Yes, let's keep going."

"What are you waiting for?!" Sera's voice broke through with the sound of carnage ensuing. "THE TREE!"

Elaine looked up at the Blighted Tree, seeing it twist like it was made out of rubber. It coiled thro and about, thinning itself into one tight formation, squeezing bits of the ooze that nourished its body until it stopped in place. What stood before them was a thin stalk of white wood, coiled into what looked like a single thread. Its branches, bark and all were now in one serpentine form that stretched into the darkness of the void.

What followed was a deep chuckle from Lewentos as he held his two hands in the air, gripping at an object they cannot perceive. Even with Elaine's senses returning and John's perception, there was no telling what was about to unfold before them.

He was only a few meters away from them. If they could just leap towards him, they could-

"Now die," Lewentos said softly as he released the invisible object.

Only John knew what was going to come next, but he had no time to stop it. "Get DO-"

The tree unravelled itself from the roots under and the branches atop. The whirlwind of wood and blighted fluid, tore through the surroundings. The trunk threw about its shards of bark towards all directions.

Pierre, being in the air, was caught in the current. He tried to maintain control of his board but his attempt was interrupted by a branch to the face, knocking him away.

Titan was below the tree, where the roots broke through the ground and swept her whole body. She tried fighting back by breaking the wood that came her way but it was overwhelmingly quick, too quick for her to react.

"JOH-" Sera reached out towards the two who were closer to the epicenter, where the chaos ran rampant.

John tried to save Elaine but the gust of the wind made it too difficult to see what was in front of him as the dust covered his line of vision. He was then pulled away into the dust, disappearing.

Elaine could avoid most of the incoming debris but it was overwhelming her. Her body couldn't keep up with the sudden attack as the roots and shards of bark came at her. She was then taken by the wind, soaring even further up along with the buildings and melted debris. She avoided as much as she could but there was a limit to how much a regular person can do mid-air.

BOP! She heard as her vision began to darken. Her head must have hit something. Her body was starting to go limp, but she continued to fight the urge to fall unconscious. They were close. They were actually so close.

~

"That was amazing!" Allen exclaimed.

"It wasn't much," Ronx replied. However, he relaxed too early and his body began to go down.

Allen rushed over to help Ronx, but he held a hand up to stop him. "I'm old, but not that old."

"Are you okay?"

"Just a bit of whiplash, nothing to worry about." Ronx slowly got back to his feet as he rubbed the temples before his brow.

As soon as he regained composure, his radio began to stutter rapidly.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know," Ronx replied as he turns his radio up from his Holowach. It was then a flurry of voices broke through the static.

"THIS IS THE 1st BATTALLION, REQUESTING AID ON ICURUS STATION. I REPEAT!" A member of the Thiadigm spoke through it.

"CALLING FROM KSB RADIO! SOS! I REPEAT, CALLING FROM KSB RADIO! SOS!" A citizen.

"C-can anyone help us, please." Even a child.

The array of voices carried through the radio, like a sudden gust of wind.

"Communications have been fully restored, sir!" JJ said in glee.

"Can you tell em to keep it quieter, it's splitting my head," Canny replied.

"I guess that was the last of the conductors."

"What do you mean?"

"These things were a pain in the ass that kept communications shut from inside the capitol. Glad that we got that over with. Now, we need to hurry back."

"Why's tha-"

A sudden quake rumbled the city in its entirety. The roar from the tremor roared throughout the land and the sky darkened over again.

"What now?" Allen was struggling to get his bearings. The shaking was so tremendous that it even affected his bones.

"Boss," Ton's voice hummed over the intercom and with the communication cleared you could tell that his voice was disheartened. "On your six."

There was no astronomical reason for what they were witnessing. It was a giant swirling storm with clouds, pitch black swirling around at high speeds. Buildings were even being pulled from their foundation that followed after. It was like a hurricane ensued right in the center of the city.

Only Allen knew what was going on. He was there. "We need to help, Jo-" Before he could say any more. He heard a voice that sent shivers down his spine, a familiar but tragic voice.

"L-Layla...." Allen inched his head towards the source of the voice, hoping that he was hearing things wrong. He didn't want to see what he was thinking. "A-Allen..." The voice was stuttering and muffled a bit under the gargling of ooze coming out of its mouth. Allen could hear it clearly, though. He could hear the anguish of his tone.

"L-Layla...." Gaver was trudging towards them, followed by a hoard of infected.

Behind him was soft clapping. "I-I knew if I had him with me, he'd lead me S-stright to you. Who would've thought that I'd also find the pe-perpetrators that messed up my lil pets." That slippery tongue irked Ronx.

"Snaigheim," Ronx growled.

"Ronx ol' f-friend."

"We are not friends. I don't befriend savages that does things under their own self-interest."

"Aaaah, but I am only doing it to satisfy the people around. Seeeeeee."

Gaver's body was barely intact. His arm was dangling by what remaining muscles could keep it up. The ooze that Allen saw everywhere, dripped from every orifice of his body. His eyes were even gouged out of his face, with his jaw dripping with saliva and dark liquid.

The snake fellow, now known as Snaigheim, gently caressed Gaver's daunted face.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HIM!?" Allen released an outburst of rage and pain.

"I m-made him better... I made him... Become Mooooooooore." Snaigheim had a mischievous grin as he played with his own stutter.

"I SWEAR I'LL-"

"ALLEN, WE HAVE TO GO!"

"Bu-"

"NOW!"

Allen looked back towards Gaver. He couldn't bear the sight of him but he kept his eyes on him as the ship lowered to meet his view.

"Wait, let me at least-"

"JAV TAKE HIM!"

"WAIT! I NEED TO- GAVER!"

It was then he even began to recognize the faces of the infected behind him. They were the evacuation group. The sight of the remaining survivors turned into those creatures churned Allen's stomach. Every face was etched with anguish and pain as the fluids spew out of their bodies. It was too much.

"TON SOME COVER!"

"Aye sir!"

Ton began to shoot about at the crowd of infected, spraying away what remained of Snaigheim's ground forces.

"I'm not l-letting you go that easy!" Snaigheim raised his hands towards the ship, beckoning creatures that came from under the Thesally to fly towards it. The hatch was still open as Ronx picked up one of his gatling guns to shoot the bugs out of the sky.

They had sharp stingers that pierced the tough metal of the ship.

"LEVI TAKE US TO SERA!"

"Understood."

"GAVER! PLEASE LET ME- GAVER!" Allen fought through the urge to hurl as he tried to fight against the gentle giant, who struggled to keep him close.

He watched as Gaver was going further away from him.

"Take it down," Ronx said solemnly.

"What?!"

"Yes sir," Ton agreed. Despite fending the flying creatures, he made precise shots towards the foot of the Thessaly, breaking away its foundation before it began to crumble to the ground.

"NOOOOO!" Allen watched as the once renowned colosseum that he made his first trek to, the place that his origin of being a Guild member started, fall to the ground and so did the people he had met on the way.

"WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?"

"You know why," Ronx replied softly.

Allen did understand that they couldn't keep any more infected from roaming the city but he felt that he could do something about their situation. He could've maybe helped. He could've done something, anything.

As if reading Allen's thought's, Canny spoke up, "Once they reach that stage there is no helping them..."

Allen felt his eyes well up at the thought, that he never got to properly say goodbye to someone he had just met. The meeting was too short. Life was too short.

"Come," Canny placed a guiding hand on Allen's shoulder, "Let me treat you."

Allen reluctantly pulled away from the door and followed the doctor.

There was still much to do but too much was happening.

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Aces Association and Friends