Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Leon woke up, dazed and confused. Stretching his arms. The surrounding area seemed to be that of a forest, vibrant and gleaming with life with lush fauna. Looking further, he found himself staring across a cliffside overlooking another seemingly endless series of trees.
“What is this place?” Leon thought to himself, picking himself up to reach the bottom of whatever mountain he found himself on. Leon pushed the vines and leaves that went through his way as he trekked further down the mountain. As Leon looked up towards the grand trees, he found a bird-like creature perched up on a branch glistening its green-colored feathers. But as Leon examined it further, the strange world felt its presence on Leon. Its back contains spikes, reaching further into a tail that splits into two. The mouth led home to thousands of small, sharp teeth, akin to a gremlin. Leon kept quiet, yet couldn't help but embrace the awe he felt from staring at the strange creature. Suddenly, it let out a deafening cry, causing more of the creatures to join, making a huge flock of creatures.
“Uhh… I'd rather not deal with that..” Leon said to himself as he backed away from the sudden flock appearing on the tree lines. While he slowly backed himself away, he accidentally stepped on a large pile of leaves, making a loud crunching sound, alerting the horde.
“Oh.. that's not good is it?” Leon thought to himself as worry washed over him. He saw the creatures turn their heads at him, screeching their unholy cries once more as they flew towards their victim with murderous intent. Leon quickly ran away from the horde, jumping over several vines and logs found on the floor. Leon looked back to count the birds that came on his tail.
“5.. 10.. 12?! Shit!” Leon yelled, groaning in pain as he tripped over a vine that got stuck on his foot. He saw the incoming birds, their teeth wide open and ready to bite him. As he closed his eyes and covered his face with his arms, thinking to himself that maybe shielding himself from the birds that would protect him at least.
Nothing. Leon felt nothing. He opened his eyes to find the birds brutalised in a frenzy. Stab, slash, and tear wounds fill the bodies of the birds.
“Oh! Dinner, Great.” Leon chuckled to himself sarcastically as he walked over to the pile and grabbed one of the bird's corpses by the neck. Leon grabbed some sticks and rocks found in the area and set up a bonfire. He unplucked the feathers one by one as he looked around the area to find a stick lying around. He walked over to one, picked it up and plunged the stick into the bird. He roasted them until they were ready to eat. Biting onto it, he could feel the texture of the meat, tender and soft. The juices all poured out as he bit into it. And the taste? It was delicious. Rich in flavour. He didn’t know what type of meat it was but he never questioned it nonetheless. It tasted good anyway.
“And it thought it would eat me. Take that.” Leon chuckled, taking another bite at the bird. “Say.. How did they die? I’m still confused about that part.”
He placed his hand out, similar to what he did before and aimed it at a nearby tree. Hoping to replicate what he did earlier.
“Alakazam!” Leon shouted. Hoping it would work like a magic spell. “Abracadabra!” Again, nothing happened.
“Yeah.. I thought so.” Leon mumbled. He felt slightly disappointed from the failed attempts as he waved his hand at the tree. Dismissing the possibility of having powers. What a shame.However, the waving motion made a white, needle-like object appear in front of his hand.
“Wait what..?” Leon said in confusion while looking at it. It circled around him, showing off its pointy ends. The shape was crystal-like and its size was only the size of his index finger.
“You're interesting. Little one.” Leon exclaimed softly, grabbing the green drone with his two fingers and soon letting it go free. “Could I do multiple of them at once?”
Leon pondered himself as he tested his theory. He waved his hand again, spawning another drone. However, this time, it was a smaller, green version with a higher speed compared to its white predecessor.
Leon began to wave his arm around, commanding the drones to move themselves. The two drones moved around the forest trees and vines, cutting everything that went past their way. Branches fell and leaves drifted to the floor where the drones went. A rustle was heard from the trees, startling Leon. He looked up to where the noise was. Finding a person.
“goddammit!” The person screamed, getting themselves trapped into a set of vines. Hanging by the arms.
“Hey! Are you okay?” Leon spoke up and asked, looking up at their helpless state. “mind helping me?” They responded. That was a bit commanding. Leon lifted his arms in the air as he commanded his drones to cut the vines. Keeping the person in place. Which caused her to fall onto the ground, landing on her back.
“ow! was there a better way of landing down not so harshly?!” Under the shadow of the leaves, Leon was unable to see the person, but he was now given a full view of the new individual. Her hair was the colour of a maple leaf and flowed down her head like the autumn leaves. “Who are you?”
Leon asked, helping the strange girl up from the floor. “i’m maple. and you?” Maple responded, wiping off any dirt off her clothing. “Leon. Don’t forget that.” He replied jokingly. “so, where are we exactly?” Maple asked, looking around the green forest landscape.
“I have no clue. Beats me.” Maple looked at them with dissapointment.
“well, you’re no hope. thanks.” Maple stated, shrugging her shoulders and turning around to leave the forest. Only to find the rotting pile of decomposing corpses on the ground. “what the fuck?!”
She exclaimed out loudly, seeing the rotting body, covered in holes as it gets devoured by insects writhing all over it. “Oh yeah. Forgot about them. Woops.” Leon got reminded by the mess he just left. “I don’t know what they were but, they tasted nice.” Leon walked up to it, brushing it off as any other animal. Even if it was unknown to him.
“you’re saying you ate one of them?! Are you crazy?” Maple asked, her tone laced with disgusted thoughts. “I cooked it first of course!” Leon said, signalling the ashes of the small fire he created. “ok, i’ll give you the benefit of the doubt. I still don’t trust you though.”
Maple responded, seemingly finding her composure again. “but, will you just eat some creature you know nothing about?” A response immediately popped into his head. “Yes. Yes, I would.” Leon said with a blank expression filling his face. A hint of sarcasm with it.
“i am honestly concerned, yet i somehow i don’t really care. it’s not gonna be my fault if you get sick alright?”
Maple stated. The two drones, summoned by Leon, caught up with the two people, cutting against all the leaves and vines in its path. “so like, what are they exactly? they kinda look like needles. floating needles. yup.” Maple wasn’t sure how it was following around them as she observed with her eyes as the green and white drones circled around Leon.
“I.. don’t know either. I never really thought about it.” Leon replied, trailing his eyes on the green drone that surrounded him. “It just sorta appeared. I can’t really explain it though.”
Maple was appalled by this response. She sighs out of annoyance from the previous line of events. She sat on a log nearby, shaking it as she sat down, finding balance in the process. “of course you don’t.” Maple sarcastically remarked, rolling her eyes. “but i guess we could just focus on getting ou-” Maple was soon cut off by the tree stump turning like a lever as she fell through a trap door found right below the tree stump. “oh fu-”

She tried grabbing onto something before she descended further down into the pit.
“MAPLE?!” Leon yelled out, looking down at the pit. The forest around him soon rumbled violently, shaking around as trees were uprooted from their original position as the creatures flocked out and flew away. Leon ran to find an escape to the mountain while his drones followed him behind. However, the landscape below the mountain seemed to move further, hinting at the mountain's sudden movements. Leon, knowing something was up, knew he had to find his way to the bottom as soon as possible.
“I hope this works.. C’mon..” Leon was hesitant at first before running off the edge of the cliff and leaping out of the mountain. In the midst of the fall, Leon raised his hand out. Spawning more drones to his position as he descended further down. Gathering them all together. Leon commanded them below his feet as it lifted him away from the threat of imminent death. Leon sighed out of relief. But, he knew that he had to find a way to get Maple back from the rocky mountains.

Maple came back from her daze, finding herself in a new location. It seems to be a colorful abyss. With splashes of bright colours filling the wall, changing overtime.
“where am i now..?” She asked herself, getting herself up from the fall which she mysteriously found herself unharmed by. Strange. The only object she found in the empty expanse was a black leather couch she found suspiciously nostalgic. “this looks familiar. But, I can’t put my finger on it somehow.” A lone person who sat on the couch was an individual who looked identical to Maple. “who the hell are you?! and why do you look like me?” Maple exclaimed.
“jeez, no need to yell. asshole.” The clone of Maple replied in a condescending tone. “well, first of all, fuck you for ignoring my question.” Maple replied, her tone laced with a pissed off attitude. “second of all, where are we?” The clone ignored her question again.
“what’s your name? since we look so similar after all, we might be siblings.” The clone chuckled and asked curiously. With a devious smirk on their face. “we’re the same fucking person! can’t you tell?!” Maple yelled at the clone. “answer me dipshit.” Maple was pissed off at this point by the faces the clone was making.
“ok fine. my name is sky. happy now?” Sky grumbled annoyingly revealing her name to Maple. She thought that it was unnecessary. “and we’re in your mind, your consciousness if you will.” She was confused by what she meant by this. How would this be even possible?
“so it wouldn’t “mind” you if you let me out? will ya?” Maple asked, with the pun fully intended. “horrible pun and no, you can’t leave. Sorry!” Sky responded cheekily, clearly not entertained by the horrible attempt at humour. But, she liked that there was an attempt at it.
“why not?” Maple frustratedly pouted from Sky’s stubbornness. “because i don’t want to. Is that good enough?” Sky chuckled, much to Maple’s annoyance. “are you seriously trying to piss me off?” Maple yells at Sky, who was getting more and more appealed to Maple’s anger.
“Maybe. hehe.” Sky giggled, feeding from Maple’s rage before her. “you piece of shi-” Maple yelled, breaking down from Sky’s childish game. She went towards Sky who seemed too full of joy to be aware of Maple’s incoming attack. However, she ducked under Maple’s attack and swerved behind Maple.
“you could’ve done better than that!” Sky teased. “why you little-” Maple charged at Sky, however was counted by Sky simply stepping back and taunting Maple further. Maple tried to attack Sky again but she raised her hand up in the air and made the couch fly towards Maple. Hitting her on the back of her head. Toppling her into the ground. Much to Maple’s surprise, it didn’t feel like anything, not even a small pinch.

“huh? why didn’t it feel like anything? what did you?!” Maple demanded for an answer. Her voice shifted into a more confused, yet demanding tone. “it’s your mind, why are you so shocked?”
Sky teased again, much to Maple’s annoyance. Maple then saw the only thing that was different from their appearance. A black gauntlet with a red circle of paint in the palm. Maple knew that it was important to her. So, she knew she had to take it from her somehow. With quick thinking, she grabbed a pillow and threw it at her from the couch and into Sky’s face. Catching Sky off guard and blinding her from Maple. Running up to Sky’s arm and shanking the gauntlet for herself. After a bit of struggle, Maple got the gauntlet and Maple quickly put on the gauntlet in her own hand, feeling the power of her own mind shifting to her favour.
“uhm.. i think i found myself in a predicament. yikes.” Sky nervously chuckled, knowing Maple can do whatever she wants with her own mind again. “but you still can’t kill me here.” She giggled.
“that’s fine with me. i just want to get out of here anyway.” Maple told her, still in slight irritation from Sky’s shenanigans. A white flash of light beamed on Maple’s body, vanishing quickly into the light.

Leon rode the drones like a surfboard, balancing himself as he passed over the monster that was underneath him. The air brushed against his head, causing it to fly against him whilst his eyes felt the wrath of the wind, resulting in his eyelids closing every half second. It didn’t stop him as he approached the rocky infidel with hopes of finding Maple. As he neared the peak, he sent out more drones to attack the creature, yet the strikes seemed to be futile, despite cutting through the mountain. The mountain still felt the breeze of an attack and forced its large arm towards Leon as it went flying towards him at increasingly high speeds.
In response, Leon went onto the hand and ran across the mountain terrain that lay on top of the creature’s hand and flew on his drones. He sent out more of his drones into his arm, hoping to cut it off. But, it wasn’t enough to cause notable damage, let alone kill it. So he had to think soon. A plan. An idea popped up shortly after throwing a bunch of shit really fast by spinning it and firing it near to the speed of light. Hoping that he could create a similar effect with his drones. And hitting it into the mountain. Leon spawned another drone next to him, orbiting Leon at higher and higher speeds under the drone and was reduced to a tiny blip, Leon could barely see it with his own eyes. The mountain led a punch towards Leon, as soon as it felt Leon’s motions near it.
So, Leon let the drone out of his grasp. Sending it away from the mountain’s arm and into the center of the beast, obliterating a large portion of the mountain instantly. Leon felt awe of himself at first, witnessing the destruction he caused first hand, yet his mind drifted into horror, that he potentially killed Maple who was still inside her rocky imprisonment. To Leon’s surprise, Maple stood in the blasted hole completely unfazed as she kept her hand. Now adorned with the black gauntlet, close to her face, having pure terror in her eyes that Leon can barely make out

“Leon. what the hell.” Maple said in a terrified and monotone voice. Trying to keep her composure from panicking. “I have no clue how I did that! It was pretty cool though!” Leon yelled back. He carefully glided his way towards Maple, landing on a nearby rock. The drones started it’s usual mindless orbit around Leon, but as civilization appears upon the horizon, Leon realises that the drones must be hidden to dissociate him with something dangerous.
“Is there something that could make them go away perhaps?” Leon said as he looked over to Maple, hearing him closely. Leon held his hand out once more, making the drones fly towards the palm of his hands. It took higher concentration to do so; however he strained himself from doing so.
The drones faintly disappeared one by one. But as soon as Leon fully made them disappear, he felt his eyelids creeping to meet each other, his body becoming more stiff and his legs being unable to support itself any longer. He stumbles back, seeing Maple rushing in to grab him but finally, he lets himself go into unconsciousness as he felt himself on the rocky surface.

Chapter Text

Leon saw the flashing lights of buildings fall upon him. The night in the city seemed to be lighter than the day. Advertisements of items he knew nothing about filled the colourful screens. Around him, large sums of people walk around the sidewalks and pavement, going to work, sitting at benches, and taking pictures with strange beasts. A building at the corner block with a strange, curving letter standing proud with many people inside.
As Leon took a closer glance, the world around him fragmented and crashed down, a sense of falling washing over Leon.
Leon felt the soft cushioning of a bed lay on his back. A red blanket and a white pillow occupying its space entirely. A lamp, nearly broken, shone its dimming light onto Leon’s face as he tried to get up.
“Oh finally, someone woke up.” Someone at the entrance of the room said, leaning on the door frame.
“You broke my lamp during your sleep, but it started shining on you so that was kinda your fault.”
His tone was confident and zealous, almost that of a know-it-all. He wore a monochromatic shade of purple, giving the feeling of a certain murderer.
“Who are you and where is Maple?” Leon asked, now sitting upright on his bed. The purple guy smirked as he stood up from the door frame.
“Oh, I got by many names, some call me-”
“Oh, hey KM!” Someone interrupted him accidentally, revealing KM’s name. “It looks like our new person just woke up. Morning sleepy head.”
They seem to be the size of a small child. Wearing a mage’s costume. They went towards Leon’s bed and sat on the side of it, needing to jump to sit on it and placed his newspaper on the bedside table.
“Glistrin!” KM shouted. “I’m trying to be cool and mysterious!”
“What’s the point of that? With that look, I don’t think you could do any of that.” Glistrin shouted back, shifting their gaze away from Leon.
“Can someone please tell me where I am and where Maple is?” Leon asked, looking at KM and Glistrin.
“Oh, I forgot about you.” Glistrin said, looking back at the confused Leon and folding his newspaper by the bed table.
“Since you’re new here, I’ll give you a summary. You’re in the Great Apostles, made by Undiff. He usually stays in his dungeon but comes up when something serious threatens the Great Apostles. So far, he's only come up twice. The second time from the Civil War that ended yesterday.” Glistrin explained as Leon looked curious and asked a question about the supposed “War” that happened recently.
“Civil War?”
“Oh right. You know how Undiff stays in his dungeon? Well, some people didn’t believe that Undiff was real and had greater powers than the Lesser Apostles. So. some nobles and Lesser Apostles, including us, defected. Turns out, Undiff was real and everyone who defected is dead, or about to die in death camps. Me and KM managed to be hidden though.”
“So what are the Lesser Apostles?” Leon was even more intrigued as Glistrin explained.

“The Lesser Apostles are basically ability users in the Great Apostles. There’s also the Grand Apostle which is just Undiff.”
Leon started to understand things in the world around him. He looked outside and saw skyscrapers made out of bricks and concrete. Some of the buildings further on appear to be being rebuilt from previous damages.
“What happened there?” Leon pointed outside.
“Ah, that..” Glistrin said as they looked out the window solemnly. “During the battle of the Great Apostle’s Capital, where we are now, we nearly thought we would win, but we didn’t expect Undiff to crash out of the pyramid over there and wipe most of our army.”
Leon looked out at the pyramid, dwarfing all the other buildings in sight. It was made of bricks, completely out of the theme of all the other buildings in the city. A small chunk of the wall filled with newer bricks, seemingly where Undiff jumped out during the battle. Guards regularly performed stationary routines around the great structure to make sure no one enters or exits the pyramid without warning.
“Hey, where’s Maple?” Leon asked, remembering about his friend who he met before.
“Oh, she’s in the living room.” Glistrin responded while fixing their hat upright.
“ It’s interesting that you’re both ability users. Impressive.” KM said, seemingly suspicious and wary of Maple and Leon. He held out his hand to grab an object, and soon, a throwing knife was summoned in his hands.
“You guys aren’t Lesser Apostles, are you?” He summoned another knife in his hands, pointing the knife towards Leon.
“KM, they aren’t.” Glitrin responded, defending Maple and Leon. “They wouldn’t kill Pire like that.”
“Who the hell is Pire? And what kind of name is that?” Leon asked, perplexed by the unserious name.
“It’s the mountain you killed.” Glistrin replied.
“It had a name?!” Leon said, completely baffled.
KM, letting go of his throwing knife which quickly disappeared into thin air, chuckled under his breath, realising the innocence in Leon’s reaction.
“Yeah, for some reason, Undiff named it some stupid name.” Leon was still baffled by the mountain's name. He rolled his eyes and began walking over to the living room.
“I… Nevermind that. I’m going to Maple.”
Leon got up from the bed and opened the door. Once opened, music from a record player reached Leon’s ears. The symphony containing the sounds of wind instruments, strings, and horns filled the room. The kitchen had white cabinets, a silver sink, and many plants carefully placed on flat surfaces.
The dining room contained a small table with a white table cloth covering the surface of the table. The living room was close, with a brown couch with Maple sitting on it who noticed him. The record player was close next to her, playing the tune filling the room. Leon listened to the melody of the song, feeling it was heard by him before, yet performed way differently.
“I don’t know why, but this rendition feels off.” Leon stated.
“for real.” Maple responded.
Glistrin and KM followed Leon close by, also listening to the off-tuned symphony.
“Oh, that’s Mozart,” said Glistrin. “He’s some sort of God, and somehow, Undiff allows it.
There’s another one named Beethoven but the church is run by a different person.”
Leon thought these names were familiar, but ignored the sense of familiarity and went out the window to look at the streets. The sun was past midday and people in business suits walked the pavements. A group of children scurry across the road, periodically going back on the pavement to get out of the way of cars.
“Hey, what if KM introduces you two around the city?” Glistrin proposed who was walking towards the door and opening it.
“Not me, I’m not walking.” KM rebutted.
Glistrin, annoyed at KM, looked at him exasperated and irritated. “You’re just walking around!” Glistrin said back, irritated at KM.
“I hate walking.” KM responded, who slumped back into the couch and listened to the record player.
“We have mass- you know what? fuck it.” Glistrin, his voice laced with defeat. “Leon, Maple, you’re coming with me.”
As the three left the house, Glistrin immediately led them to a large, dome-like building, the size of a mansion. As they went inside, rows of pews surrounding the centre face the core, giving the spotlight to orchestra members.
Once all the orchestra members came and an adequate amount of people went to their pews, the orchestra started. The symphony played was the one found in the record player Maple was listening to, yet slightly edited. However, the edited version did not shake off the feeling of it being falsely performed.
As the song reached its ultimate halt, Leon and Maple went to stand up their pews to leave, however, Glistrin stopped them before they could leave the wooden seats.
“What are you doing?” Maple whispered quietly, looking down at the excited Glistrin. “The song just ended.”
“Shh…” responded Glistrin, keeping their voice down. “This is the best part.”
Leon and Maple went to sit back down, confused by Glistrin’s enthusiastic pleas to stay. But as if it was coordinated, the composer, wearing a white cloth coat and brown satin breeches and a red undershirt came down from backstage with his fists clenched and unbridled rage in his eyes.
“What the hell?!” The composer roared, his temper left unchecked as he yelled at the members. “Do you consider this anything close to what Lord Mozart could accomplish? You are all disappointed in his name!”
One of the members in the violin section seemed to have enough of the composer’s abuse and anger being directed towards them, and stood up from his seat to stand against him.
“Every time, it’s ‘Mozart would like this’ and ‘Mozart wouldn’t like that!’” The young violinist yelled.
Some of the people seemed shocked, but the more experienced players accepted his fate. Glistrin seemed ready to watch the next moments. The composer, overcome with pure rage, punched the violinist in the gut, causing the violinist to wince in pain, while the composer grabbed the violin from the violinist’s hands. It flashed a bright yellow light for a jiffy, but once the light dimmed and ended its peak, the composer swiped it across the violinist’s hands which broke off from it once it arrived upon his hands.
Leon’s eyes opened up. Maple gasped in disgust, and Glistrin’s excitement was not in vain as the blood bath ensued. Red, soaking blood poured from the violinist’s hands, or what stumps where his hands were once placed. A deafening scream from the young violinist filled the room. The composer then put the young violinist’s hands out of his misery and slammed the violin across his head, killing him instantly.
Leon watched in horror as the violinist’s decapitated body slumped to the ground, reaching it in a thunderous fall and his head rolled to the feet of an older player, who clicked his tongue in disappointment.
Leon and Maple left the church, traumatized by what they saw. A brutal decapitation of a young man.
“That was honestly the most fucked up thing I saw today. Wow.” Maple said in utter shock and disbelief.
“I know,” Glistrin responded with clear insouciance. “KM would have liked it.”
“I feel like you’re not thinking what we are thinking.” Maple said, looking back at Glistrin slowly. “we just saw a man get decapitated in a live audience, and everyone is leaving as if nothing happened!”
“He had it coming his way.” Glistrin explained. “It’s in his contract that you could be murdered by the composer. And he also heard that he was going to do something if the composer yelled at him again.”
The walk through the city felt more awkward as Glistrin walked by them without once mentioning the death of the violinist. Even more, most people gave out at most gossip about the death, not seeming to care whatsoever. More structures and buildings went by with a wide variety. Restaurants, apartments, and an enlisting station were taking down their “Join the Army” sign as the Civil War came to an end, but the manager gave the worker a slip, which the worker put the poster back up on the wall.
“That’s stupid.” Glistrin remarked, loud enough that only they could hear it. “The war already ended, why do they still need it?”
As the three walked further, Glistrin led them to a market with many people with shopping carts entering and exiting with food and other products. As they entered, the screams of a young child could be heard across the entire store. A young girl in the aisle, having a tantrum on the floor.
“Shh…” calms the mother, embarrassed from the glaring eyes of people passing the aisle. She grabbed a large packet of candy which caused the little girl to grab the bag, stop crying and let her mother breathe a sigh of relief.
“Tsk… at least it’s not a plane.” Leon said, shaking his head to the side.
“What, how do you know about them?” Glistrin asked, momentarily stunned. “The only people who ride them are the rich and… Maybe KM was right…”
Leon was confused by Glistrin’s response. The phrase was just natural, but it turned out to not be safe, whilst Maple was confused what a plane was in the first place.
“Hang on, we’re not Apostles,” Leon said, his arms up to keep distance from Glistrin.
Maple followed close behind near Leon, not trying to provoke Glistrin further.
“Don’t come any further!” Glistrin warned them, backing away.
The young girl began to cry once more, but the mother instead fled out of the aisle before an altercation could happen. Most of the people around them kept away from the aisle they were on, instead giving glances from afar or hearing from close aisles. Glistrin reached out towards the shelves of the snacks and toppled several boxes of crackers with an orange-red colour and Maple and Leon, with a packaging.
Leon blocked with his arms, while Maple held out her gauntlet with barely any effort. What little people that stayed to watch left to mind their own business. Glistrin then lifted his hand towards Leon, which lifted him up into the air and pushed him down into the floor, landing straight on his back.
“We’re not Apostles!” Leon barely was able to get out due to the gravity of the situation.
Maple tried moving her gauntlet, but a purple ring circled around her wrist and waist, causing her to be pinned down to the ground.
“Trust us Myer!” Leon pleaded. Glistrin took a moment to realize that he was referred to by a different name, yet all too familiar.
“Wait, how do you know my name?” Myer said, looking stunned.
Leon and Maple got back to their feet, catching their breath from being pressed against the cold, hard surface.
“I’ve never told anyone that, not even KM or Undiff.” Myer said, pondering what this might mean. “If you are who you say you are,-”
“Hey what happened here?!” A voice coming from the store manager who heard the ruckus going on aisles away. “These people ain’t bothering ya aren’t they kid?”
“No,” Replied Myer, conscious of the age he looks.
The store manager clicks his tongue and walks away from the three, leaving Myer, Maple and Leon alone. Myer looks outside the aisle, then looks back at Maple and Leon. “Fine’’ Said Myer, “I’ll trust you for now”. They lowered their guard as they stood up straight.
“Thank you! Gosh..” Maple got up and brushed off any specks of dust on their clothes. “Wait a second.. For now?!” Maple obliged but was stopped by Leon. “Don’t cause any ruckus now okay? We’ve already gained his trust.” Leon patted her back as they walked up to Myer.
“I still have a question though.” Maple looked at Leon then looked back at Myer. “uhh.. Sure..?” She wasn’t sure though due to her not paying attention to what Leon said at all during that commotion.
“How do you know my name?” Leon pondered for a second. “I.. honestly don’t know, a name just appeared in my mind and i shouted it out’’ Myer wasn’t sure of that answer but regardless, he didn’t have any ideas about the person anyway.
“Woah! What happened here?!” The three of them turned to heads to a familiar voice that was approaching them in the distance. “Oh. KM.” A warm smile formed on his face.
“We had a fight. No one really got injured though.” KM sighed. “Good! Things would’ve been real messy if someone did.” KM looked at Leon and Maple before looking back at Myer. “So.. Who started the fight?” Myer scratched the back of their neck.
“It was me.. My bad.” KM sighed and looked mildly annoyed at Myer. ‘‘Glistrin, I can't believe you, stop starting fights with our new friends.’’
‘‘I said I’m sorry okay!’’ Myer replied. ‘‘You have trust issues don’t you?” said Maple. Myer looked like he was about to burst out of rage before calming himself down.
“Yeah, yeah whatever. Let’s continue on showing you around this place. Shall we?” Leon nodded as Maple agreed on it. “I’ll join you guys. Is that okay?” KM said. “Fine. Even though you disagreed on walking with us earlier.”
KM was happy that Myer agreed to join them. They walked around the place til sunset. It was a chaotic first meeting but Leon thought that maybe his new group of friends isn’t so bad at all.

Chapter Text

“Wakey wak- oh. You three woke up before me.” KM said. Looking over at Leon.
“Oh, hey KM! Do you have a map of the Great Apostles? Me and Maple are kind of uhm.. lost..?” Leon asked.
KM replied “That explains why you were unconscious next to our building… I mean we just went through a war, what do you think?”
“Yeah just, tell Myer to go out. We need to better understand our general surroundings here.”
Leon went out of the building, and was once again shocked by the terrain of buildings. He still wasn’t used to the area he was in but he knew that he was gonna stay here for god knows how long. While trying to understand the map and the buildings nearby, he was constantly disturbed by what sounded like the other arguing. After a couple minutes, Maple, KM, and Myer finally got out.
“I’m still not going by myself by the way, I don't wanna die after that war.” Myer said, putting his hand on his chin.
“Is that why you took so long? With just the two of you? Is that why it took several minutes to fix it..?” Leon looked at Myer with slight concern.
“Well I’m not going with either of you. Screw that.” Myer turned their back against them.
“then just go with km?! I swear, what is your problem?” Maple replied.
“THEN WE’D BOTH GET KILLED!?” Myer replied angrily.
“Myer you’re going with maple, cmon KM.” Leon said. Forcing Myer to come with Maple.

The two teams would split up and go in their own ways, trying to scout out the area of the base.

“So, that gauntlet thing… what’s that for?” Myer said, looking at the gauntlet attached to her hands.
“no idea. I just stole it from someone.. yeah.” Maple replied, shrugging off her shoulders. Myer looked at Maple, still processing what was asked. “so.. what you said a while ago… if you’re a lesser apostle.. defected. what exactly are yours and KM’s power?” Maple asked, curious about their abilites.
“KM can shoot knives for some reason. My power is kinda confusing but, it’s more of a blend of telekinesis and stuff, I can just control things in a way.” They replied.
In the corner of her eye, Maple saw two or three people. Looking around the area. "Hey! Are you guys lost too?" Maple shouted.
Myer tried to shut her up. They stepped in front of Maple, pointing out the symbols. “Maple, the symbols on their shir-’’
Myer would be cut off before he could say anything else to Maple.
‘‘Myer, can’t you clearly see they’re also lost?!’’ Maple interrupted. Angry at the fact that they don’t want her to help people. Suddenly, a huge fireball came shooting at them. Destroying some tree branches and leaves in the process. Myer ducked in time but Maple couldn’t dodge in time.
“THEY’RE LESSER APOSTLES! CAN'T YOU LISTEN?!” Myer said, looking down at Maple who was injured.
She tried to get up and said; “Oh I’m sorry I’ve been in this place for less than a day. Do you expect me to realize that? I’m pretty slow as well too.” Myer, trying to run around yelled out to her .“It wouldn’t hurt to be quiet for a fucking minute!”
Maple got up and attempted to restrain one of them.“oh. no wonder you have trust issues.”
Just as when Maple restrains one of them, one of the lesser apostles throws a massive boulder towards Myer.
Myer caught the boulder with his power and crumbled it. But this causes him to fall due to him getting caught off guard of the attack.

Meanwhile, Leon and KM would whistle to songs they both vaguely remember, walking peacefully through all the rubble near them.
Leon would eventually see two people in the distance.
‘‘Hey KM, you’ve ever seen them here before?’’
KM would be startled for a second because of the question, but would almost instantly reply.
‘‘No, I haven’t, there shouldn't be any people here other than Lesser Apostles, let’s see why they’re here.’’
Leon would nod to KM and they slowly walk towards the two people in the distance.
KM took a deep breath before shouting at them. ‘‘Hey! What are you guys doing here? It's dangerous!’’
The people would turn around and instantly have a shocked expression.
‘‘RUN! THE LESSER APOSTLES ARE HERE!’’
Leon and KM would stop in their tracks and look confused.
‘‘Wait! We aren't Lesser Apostles!’’ KM would shout back. Slightly annoyed by the fact that they assumed that they were ‘Lesser Apostles’.
‘‘WE AREN'T TALKING ABOUT YOU! JUST RUN THEY ARE HERE TO ARREST THE REMAINING CIVIL WAR COMBATANTS!’’
Out of nowhere, five Lesser Apostles would appear around Leon, KM and the two people who used to fight in the civil war against the Undiff regime.
‘‘You’re under arrest!’’ The Lesser Apostles would calmly state.
Leon and KM would slowly look at each other, then look at the two people next to them. Who have already surrendered and been arrested instead of fighting to what may be their last fight ever.

Leon would wake up and quickly look around.
‘‘Woah, where are we?’’ he would exclaim. Looking around the place they were taken in.
A few minutes later, while still trying to figure out where he is, he’d hear a familiar voice.
‘‘Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have fought them.’’
‘‘Maple? Why are you here?’’ Leon would say confusingly.
‘‘I got arrested by some Lesser Apostles.’’ Maple would say, annoyed, rolling her eyes. Leon would look around again and see KM and Myer sleeping on the benches. Out of nowhere, the room would shake, and KM and Myer would wake up and fall from the bench from the impact.
‘‘Ow.. Woah, where the hell are we?’’ Myer would ask.
‘‘I think we’re in some sort of police van.’’ KM said, half-worried. Maple and Myer would look down and see that they have handcuffs on.
‘‘Huh..? Why do we have these handcuffs and you guys don’t?’’ Myer would ask. But before Leon could respond, the doors of the van opened in front of a massive prison.
‘‘Woah,’’ KM would exclaim.
‘‘That is one massive prison, I guess we’re heading there, huh?’’
Leon and his friends were escorted inside the prison by the Lesser Apostles, and would eventually be assigned their own cells with other people in the jail.
Maple and KM were assigned to a jail cell together, while Leon and Myer sat in jail cells separate from each other with random people.
“Hey, nice to meet you.” Myer said to his fellow inmate. “What are you in for?”
The prisoner replied. “Hello, I’m Hoddogy. I was the second-in-command in the Revolutionary Army during the civil war. Nice to meet you.”
“Woah,” Myer replied in awe. “I guess I’m in a cell with a big-shot! I’m Glistrin!”
During the conversation, Leon arrived in his cell, finding no one in it. “Hm, didn’t they say I’d have a cellmate?” Leon thought out loud. A guard, hearing Leon's confusion, asked him,
“Wondering where your cellmate is?”
“I don’t know. I’m wondering as well..” Leon replied. Still confused on why he doesn’t have a cellmate.
“He’s currently in solitary confinement. He’s the person the warden is most cautious about. I don’t know why though— I’ve only heard that he has no powers, and nothing else..” The guard said to Leon.
‘‘Ah, I wonder what he did to have the warden so on edge’’ Leon thought to himself.
Meanwhile, in the jail cell of Maple and KM.
‘‘I think I can hear Myer and someone talking in the cell next to us. I wonder what they’re talking about’’ Maple said to KM. ‘‘Knowing Glistrin, he’s proberally introducing himself and asking the other person to introduce himself.’’ said KM calmly.
Maple would sit down against the cold stone wall, trying to make sense of everything.
‘‘it’s still crazy to me that we actually got arrested. and myer? that guy got restrained like three times in one day. that’s kinda crazy actually now that i think about it. hah.’’
KM would smirk slightly. ‘‘That’s a new record even for him.’’
There was a brief silence before Maple spoke again.
‘‘so, do you think they’re gonna keep us here? or are we just.. waiting to be interrogated or something?’’
KM would glance toward the metal door, shrugging.
‘‘Could be either. Depends on what they think we know. Or, who they think we are.’’ Maple sighed.
‘‘I just wanted to explore the area a bit. Didn’t think I’d get fireballed into a damn prison.’’
A faint voice could be heard again from the next cell over—Myer’s loud and sarcastic tone, followed by a deeper, calmer reply.
‘‘Yup. Glistrin’s definitely trying to make friends again,’’ KM said. Maple chuckled under her breath.
‘‘Classic Myer. No powers, lots of opinions.’’ Just then, a loud clang echoed through the hallway as someone unlocked a nearby cell. Both Maple and KM would go silent, listening carefully. 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞.
‘‘Inmate 016, you’re being moved. Get up.’’ Maple and KM would look at each other, unsure if that meant one of them—or someone else nearby.

The footsteps got louder, stopping right outside Myer’s cell. The guard’s voice came again, firmer this time. ‘‘Inmate 016, you’re being moved. Get up.’’
Hoddogy slowly stood up from the bench, his expression calm but unreadable.
Myer blinked. ‘‘Wait, they’re taking you? Where?’’
Hoddogy looked over his shoulder with a faint smile. ‘‘Probably for questioning. Or worse. You never really know with the Lesser Apostles.’’
The guard opened the cell door and stepped in, handcuffs ready. ‘‘Let’s move, 016. No funny business.’’
Hoddogy glanced at Myer one more time as the cuffs clicked around his wrists.
‘‘Nice talking to you, Glistrin. If you don’t see me again… Stay away from politics.’’ The guard cut in. ‘‘Enough. Let’s go.’’
With that, Hoddogy was led out of the cell. The door clanged shut behind him, and Myer sat down heavily on the bench. From the next cell, Maple’s voice echoed faintly through the wall.
‘‘Myer? What just happened? Was that who I think it was?’’
‘‘Yeah,’’ Myer replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
‘‘They just took Hoddogy. No clue where. But I’ve got a really bad feeling about it.’’

The guards marched Hoddogy down the narrow hallway in silence. He didn’t struggle. Just walked with that same calm expression he always wore. As they reached the reinforced door at the far end of the solitary block, one of the guards muttered:
‘‘Can’t believe we’re putting you with 𝐡𝐢𝐦. The warden’s gonna lose it.’’ Hoddogy raised an eyebrow.
‘‘𝐇𝐢𝐦? Wait… No way.’’
The door slid open with a heavy clang, and inside the cell, sitting cross-legged with his back against the wall, was the very man Hoddogy thought he wouldn’t see again. The man opened his eyes slowly, and for the first time in years, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
‘‘Hoddogy.’’
Hoddogy took one step in and laughed under his breath. ‘‘You bastard. You’re alive.’’ The guards looked between them, confused. ‘‘You two know each other?’’
‘‘Old friends.’’ Hoddogy said. Walking past the threshold. ‘‘Very old friends.’’ The door slammed shut behind him.

The two stood in silence for a moment, the tension in the air softening. ‘‘I thought they killed you after the war,’’ Hoddogy said, sitting down across from him.
‘‘They tried,’’ the man replied. ‘‘But you know me. Hard to kill, even without powers.’’

Chapter Text

“Inmate 127 and 122, you’re being moved to a new cell. Get up.”
The two inmates were hesitant, but moved anyway.
“So... Where are we going?” one of them asked.
“Two inmates don’t have cellmates,” The guard replied. “We’re putting you with them.”

“122, This will be your new cell, get in.” Said the guard.
“So... You were the one in confinement a while ago?” Leon asked his new cellmate.
“No? Name’s Jade. What happened to your old cellmate? And, what do you mean by ‘confinement’?” Jade replied.
“I’m Leon. My cellmate was put in confinement before I even got here, so I didn’t meet them.”
“I see,” Jade said. “Mine was fine—we wrote a bunch of ideas together. They liked writing, like me.”

“127, Your new cell’s in here. Get in.” Said the guard, shoving him in.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Myer asked his new cellmate, who had replaced Hoddo.
“Syvi.” Syvi replied.
“Okay... how was your old cellmate? Mine was the second leader of the Revolutionary Army, and I somehow didn’t recognize him.” Myer asked Syvi.
“The war—were you a part of it?” Syvi asked, trying to avoid the question.
“No. I deserted the Lesser Apostles after the war began, but I feel like I should’ve known him anyway. What about you?”
“I was a healer for the Revolutionary Army,” Syvi replied. “Sadly, I’ve only heard about the leaders, but never seen them.”

“Do you hear that...?” KM said, trying to hear properly through the walls. “Did Glistrin get another cellmate?” “yeah. i wonder if leon did as well..” Maple replied. “you think we can check?”
“We can hear Glistrin from here, let’s try to see if we can hear them as well.” KM faintly heard the noise of Jade and Leon talking. He immediately recognized the softer voice.
“...Jade?”
KM tried to say loud enough to be heard.
“...KM?” Jade replied, shocked. “Since when were you in prison?”

“Me and Leon were put in prison together,” KM said. “Yeah, we came here with two others. The four of us were a group,” Leon added. “is that leon?” Maple said, walking toward the wall.
“hey! we can hear myer from this cell—we should try all talking with each other through this!” She said to Leon.

“They’re on opposite sides,” KM replied. “We need to talk to each other for them to be able to talk to each other.”
“so what? we need to talk all together anyway.” Maple replied, walking to the other side of the cell. “myer! we found a connection between all four of us!”
Suddenly a guard walked by right when Maple was going to say something. “It’s lunch time, head out of your cells and head to the cafeteria.”
They were all let out of their cells as the guard started leading them to the cafeteria.
Leon and Myer decided to introduce Jade and Syvi to the group while they were walking to the cafeteria, “So, you guys, this is Jade,” Leon said.
“I know him,” KM replied.
Syvi nodded. “Yeah, me too. We were cellmates.”
Myer interrupted with a teasing tone. “Oh, so me and Maple just don’t exist anymore?”
“I’m Jade,” Jade said, shrugging. “I was part of the war with Syvi. But besides that, I’m also a writer.”
“Yeah,” Syvi added, “in prison, we’ve been working on a story together to pass the time. It’s about—”
“I was going to introduce you, but okay,” Myer interrupted. “Why is the story you’re writing relevant right now?”
“hey,” Maple cut in, “we’re on the same team now. don’t do what you did back in the city.”
Myer rolled their eyes but nodded in agreement.
By the time the conversation settled, they’d arrived at the cafeteria. After all six of them grabbed their food, they sat down at one of the tables near the back. It wasn’t too far to look strange, but far enough that they wouldn’t be overheard.
While trying to look around the area to see if anyone was listening, Myer saw something out of the corner of their eye.
“Hey!” Myer exclaimed, softening their voice after realizing how loud they were. “That’s my old cellmate!”
“Wasn’t he in confinement..?” Syvi asked. “let’s ask him to come sit with us!” Maple said.
“since he was in confinement, he should be helpful—plus, it’s a new person to help us!” Leon agreed and got up to ask him. “Hey, do you want to sit with us?” Hoddogy looked up at Leon and the group he was sitting with.
‘‘Sure, I got nothing better to do either way.’’
‘‘Nice to meet you guys. I'm Hoddogy, and you guys are..?’’ Hoddogy asked. Leon gestured back at the table.
‘‘That’s Maple, Km, Jade, Syvi and… You already know Myer.’’
‘‘Unfortunately,’’ Hoddogy said, cracking a grin as he sat down. Myer gave a glare but didn’t argue.
‘‘i like this guy already,’’ Maple said, sliding her tray over to make space. ‘‘you holding up okay?’’
Hoddogy shrugged. ‘‘Better now than before. Solitary’s a hellhole but… I had company. An old friend. Sort of.’’ Myer tilted his head.
‘‘What do you mean, ‘sort of’?’’ ‘‘I’ll explain later,’’ Hoddogy replied, looking around the cafeteria. ‘‘Too many ears right now.’’
‘‘Right,’’ KM muttered, leaning in. ‘‘Let’s keep it surface-level.’’ Jade nodded. ‘‘What do you do, Hoddogy? Got a specialty?’’ Hoddogy chuckled.
‘‘Nothing fancy. Good with my fists, better with my instincts. I‘ve seen a lot of the inside of this place, and I remember faces.’’
‘‘Sounds useful,’’ Syvi said. ‘‘We’re trying to figure out more about this place–routes, routines, guards. Anything that gives us an advantage here.’’ Hoddogy nodded slowly.
‘‘Then you might have picked a good time to bring me in.’’
Maple leaned back, eyeing him. ‘‘you sure we can trust you?’’ Hoddogy didn’t flinch.
‘‘Don’t need to. Just watch what I do.’’ That hung in the air for a beat before Leon smiled faintly.
‘‘Welcome to the team, then.’’
They clinked metal cups together–not a toast, but something close to it. A small act of rebellion, buried in routine.

The yard buzzed with noise, the distant shouts and footsteps of prisoners carrying their usual weight. The six of them gathered in a corner, trying to keep their heads low while making plans. Leon glanced around nervously, but his focus remained on Hoddogy, who had just revealed a vital piece of information.
‘‘We need to get to the person in solitary,’’ Leon said, his voice serious. ‘‘It could be the key to everything. What do we know about them?’’
Hoddogy’s jaw tightened as he looked out at the yard, lost in thought. ‘‘I know who it is,’’ he said, his voice low. ‘‘I used to serve under them.’’
KM blinked, taken aback. ‘‘You mean.. the leader of the Revolution?’’

‘‘Yeah,’’ Hoddogy said, his voice hardening. ‘‘The leader’s in solitary. I served as second-in-command before everything went to hell. The Warden has him locked up, if they break him, I believe we stand no chance. But if we can break him out–if we can get him out of that cell–’’
Leon’s eyes narrowed. ‘‘It’ll give us the chance we need, he’s the one who can help us escape.’’
Hoddogy nodded. ‘‘The leader’s the key. He has the knowledge, the power–everything we need to get out of here alive. Without him, we’re just prisoners fighting for a scrap of hope. But with him, we’ve got a shot at freedom.’’
Maple crossed her arms, eyeing the yard. ‘‘so how do we get him out? he’s in confinement.”
‘‘Make a distraction,’’ Myer said, their mind already working out the details.
‘‘We stir up enough chaos in the yard, and draw attention away from the solitary block. That’ll give us the window we need.’’
‘‘Then we move fast,’’ Hoddogy added. ‘‘Get through the corridors, get to him before they can react. He’s locked up, but he’s not untouchable. We break him out, then we can get the hell out of this place.’’
Syvi’s gaze sharpened. ‘Maybe we should get more people to stir up chaos. If we create confusion, the guards won’t know who to target.’’
KM stepped forward. ‘‘Once we have the leader, we need to get to the gates and out before they can reinforce. No hesitation.’’
Leon took a breath, the weight of the plan settling in. ‘‘It’s risky. But we’re running out of options. We can’t afford to leave him behind. This is our best shot.’’

The group exchanged looks, each of them understanding the stakes. There was no turning back now. They weren’t just breaking out one person–they were freeing the key to their survival. And with that freedom, they could escape the prison and the nightmare that had held them captive.
That night, the cells were quieter than usual. No idle chatter. No casual noise. Just the slow rhythm of tension building. Each of them lay in their bunks, staring at the ceiling or the faint outlines of bars and shadows. The plan was reckless—but it was theirs. And tomorrow, everything would hinge on it.In his cell, Leon turned to Jade.
“You nervous?”
Jade shrugged. “Can’t afford to be. I’ve written stories with lower odds than this. But those were fiction.” Leon gave a small laugh, then fell silent again.
The next morning, the bell rang like always. Same sound, same pace. But this time, it carried a different weight. In the cafeteria, the seven gathered at their usual table. There was no ceremony to it—just a mutual understanding of what had to be done. Hoddogy leaned in, speaking low.
“Soon as yard-time hits, we split. I’ll lead Leon, KM, and Jade toward the sublevel access. The rest of you stir things up—loud and messy.”
“who throws the first punch?” maple asked, smirking.
Myer grinned. “Leave that to me.”
They dispersed just before the guards started watching too closely. The yard buzzed louder than before—restless energy in the air. Prisoners paced more aggressively. Glares held a little longer. Then, it started.
A fist. A shove. A tray thrown.
Within seconds, the yard erupted. Prisoners shouting. Guards rushing in. Batons drawn. In the middle of it all, Myer grinned like he’d been waiting his whole life for this.
“Now!” Hoddogy barked. Leon, KM, and Jade slipped into the chaos, moving fast behind Hoddogy through a side corridor. The noise dimmed as they moved deeper into the building.
Down a stairwell. Past two locked checkpoints—Hoddogy knew the codes, the guard routines, everything.
Leon couldn’t help but whisper, “How the hell do you know all this?”
“I’ve been here longer than you think,” Hoddogy said. “I’ve had time to prepare.”
They reached the third sublevel. The air was colder, heavier. The silence was almost unnatural. Steel doors lined the walls—thick, reinforced, unwelcoming.
Hoddogy stopped in front of one.
“He’s in there.”
Leon stepped forward. “Are you sure he’s still—” Before he could finish, a voice echoed faintly from inside the cell.
“I was wondering when you'd show up.”
Everyone froze. Hoddogy placed his hand on the door. “Still alive. Told you.”
Meanwhile, in the yard, things had spiraled. Guards were overwhelmed. Backup was being called—but delays and confusion spread like wildfire. Maple and Syvi ducked near the fence, pulling others into the mayhem. it wasn’t just chaos—it was controlled chaos, focused, shaped by intent.
Back in solitary, Hoddogy slammed the override switch. The lock hissed. The door opened. A man stepped out slowly, eyes adjusting to the light. His presence was heavy—like gravity bending around him. He looked at Hoddogy, then at the others.
“So,” he said, cracking his neck. “You’re the ones making all the noise.”
Hoddogy smiled.
“Damn right we are. Time to finish what we started.”
Leon took a step forward, awe and urgency swirling in his chest.
“Let’s get out of here.”
The leader nodded once.
“Lead the way.”
And with that, the breakout had truly begun. The halls pulsed with sirens now—an alarm had finally been triggered. Red lights washed over the walls like blood vessels, rhythmic and angry.
"Route two!" Hoddogy barked. "Back stairs through the kitchen—we’ll be aboveground in two minutes if we move!" They bolted, feet hammering steel floors. Behind them, the cell door sealed shut again, empty and echoing.
The leader, despite his time in solitary, kept pace effortlessly. He didn’t speak, didn’t ask questions. His eyes scanned everything, taking in exits, shadows, camera positions. Like a soldier slipping back into a war he’d never truly left. Jade glanced back.
"So, Leader. What’s your name?"
The leader would look at Jade for a second and then respond ‘‘Tem.’’ while continuing to run.

Outside, the yard was a warzone. Guards tried to retake control, but half the inmates had joined in. Fights blurred with movement. Some weren’t even fighting to escape—just to hit something. But that didn’t matter. maple ducked under a baton, swept a guard’s legs out, and turned to Syvi.
"you see them yet?"
Syvi shook his head. "not yet. too much movement."
Another siren blared overhead—different tone. More urgent.
"they’re below us now," Maple guessed. "we’ll meet them at the fence."

Inside, the team reached the kitchen access. It was deserted—staff evacuated during the alarm. KM slammed the door behind them. “They’ll know we’re here in seconds.” Hoddogy nodded.
“Then we’re right on schedule.” Leon ran ahead, scanning for the grate they'd marked days ago. "Here!"
They pried it open. The tunnel inside was tight, damp, but it led beneath the yard to the outer fence line. Tem stepped in first, then gestured. “Move.”
One by one they followed. The tunnel was a squeeze, even for Jade. The ceiling dripped. Pipes hissed overhead.
“Why do prisons always have tunnels?” KM muttered.
“Because someone always wants out.” Tem replied.
Aboveground, Maple was pacing the edge of the yard when she saw the grate shift.
“they’re here!” She called to Syvi.
Syvi turned, shouting over the chaos, “KM! Leon!” One by one, they emerged. Leon pulled himself up and immediately ducked behind a storage shed.
“We made it. You two okay?” Maple grinned. "never better. we kept the fire going."
Tem stepped out last. Guards hadn’t seen them yet—everyone was focused on the main fight.
“Fence is that way,” Hoddogy said. “We break it, we’re out.”
“and then what?” Maple asked, panting. Tem looked up at the rising smoke, then at the squad gathered around him.
“Then—” He froze.
The ground trembled. From across the yard, the air shimmered with heat, and a figure stepped through the haze. Iron pauldrons. A scorched cloak. Eyes like floodlights. The Warden.
“You thought I’d sleep through a riot?” His voice echoed like falling steel. “You’re not leaving.” Tem stepped forward, calm but alert. “Change of plans.”
The others spread out behind him, forming a loose circle. The fire reflected in their eyes. Hoddogy’s face drained.
“Shit. It’s Pen. The prison warden.”
The name hit like a dropped hammer. KM’s grip tightened around his knives. Jade shifted her stance. Myer just stared, silent. No one moved.
Pen stepped forward, dragging that sword of his—flesh-colored, pulsing faintly like it breathed. Mimicry. It curved and twitched unnaturally, like it hated being still.
“Back,” Tem said, steady. “Stay sharp.” Pen didn’t rush. He didn’t have to.
Maple swallowed. Her glove was heating up. Buzzing. Maybe reacting to something. She held her hand up, tried to will it to do something useful. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. She lowered it. Leon nudged her.
“You okay?”
“no idea,” she said. “i don’t think it likes me.”

KM was already summoning blades—two short, one jagged. They hovered around him like nervous birds. “I’ll distract,” he muttered,
“someone flank.” Pen raised his sword. And then he blinked. A single step forward, and the distance between them vanished. He swung at Tem first. Tem ducked, rolled, and barked,
“Now!”
Knives shot forward.
Mimicry met them with a wet clang, like bone hitting metal. The blades snapped mid-air, twisted out of control. KM grunted—he’d lost link to one. Jade went wide, fast. Hoddogy flanked the opposite, watching Tem like a shadow.
Maple stood frozen, glove humming louder now. Her fingers burned. She tried to change it—something, anything—but it stayed just a glove. 𝐔𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬.
Pen turned.
“Cute.” he muttered. He raised Mimicry again. It twitched—glitchy and wrong—and his swing came down toward KM, faster than before. Then… it missed.
Pen’s growl deepened, his jaw tightening as his eyes flashed with anger. Leon blinked.
“...Did he just—?”
“He missed,” Myer whispered, confused. “Why?”

Pen’s anger erupted, and his breath came in sharp, ragged bursts. The unnatural glow in his eyes darkened, swirling with something far more volatile.
“Did you think I’d let you off that easily?” Pen’s voice cracked like stone breaking under pressure. Mimicry pulsed with life in his hand, the blade thrumming violently as he raised it again. But his movements were disjointed, jagged—like he was fighting against something from within.
Tem’s gaze flicked back to Hoddogy, his expression unreadable. He spoke in a low voice that only Hoddogy could hear. “Something’s wrong. Stay ready.”

The tension in the air grew thick, heavy with the anticipation of something about to snap.
“Get him moving,” Hoddogy said, voice tight. He could sense it, too—something in Pen had shifted, something that didn’t belong.
Maple’s fist clenched, her glove buzzing with frustration. “why won’t you work?! come on, damn it!” she muttered under her breath, her patience wearing thin.

Pen moved, lunging at KM with unnatural speed, the sword aiming for his throat.
“Watch it!” Leon shouted, but it was too late.
Pen froze mid-lunge. His sword wavered in the air, but it wasn’t a normal misstep. He staggered, his entire body trembling as if something was struggling to break free inside him.
Maple’s heart raced, her gloves heating up. There was something in the way Pen moved, something more than just a fight—it was like he wasn’t even fully present.
Pen’s eyes darted around wildly, and his breath came in broken gasps as if he were fighting an internal battle. His body jerked violently, and his mouth opened as if to scream. Then, the scream tore from his throat, a raw, guttural cry that filled the air.
Pen’s breath was ragged, his muscles trembling as he gripped Mimicry. His movements were erratic, forced—almost as if someone or something was fighting against him, pulling his limbs in different directions. His gaze was wild, unseeing, as if searching for something in the distance.
“𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋!” Pen screamed, his voice cracking under the strain, raw with desperation. “𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐓𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋!”
The group froze, all eyes on him. Leon’s confusion mirrored Myer’s, as they exchanged uncertain glances.
“What is he talking about?” Leon asked, his voice tight with suspicion.
“I don’t know...” Myer said, looking uneasy. “He’s losing it...”
Tem’s eyes narrowed as he watched Pen stagger back, barely able to hold himself upright. Something was wrong. He could see the chaos in Pen’s expression, the way his hand gripped Mimicry, shaking, as if fighting against something inside himself.
“I think...” Hoddogy started, his voice low. “He’s fighting someone or something inside his head. Whatever it is, it’s pulling at him. He’s trying to resist.”
Tem’s gaze sharpened. He could feel it, too. Pen wasn’t fully present, like part of him was still caught in some unseen battle. “It’s not just us. He’s fighting something inside.”
Pen’s voice cracked again as he swung Mimicry wildly, his aim off. The sword slashed through the air, barely grazing the ground before him. Pen staggered backward, gasping for air, his face contorted with frustration. “𝐍𝐨!” Pen growled, gritting his teeth. “𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞! 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧!”

Tem’s muscles coiled like a spring, every instinct screaming at him to strike. Pen was faltering, his frantic swings with Mimicry barely landing as he staggered back, breath coming in sharp, ragged bursts. This was the chance. Tem could feel it in his bones. The moment Pen was vulnerable—this was it. No more hesitation. As Pen screamed in frustration,
“𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐋! 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏 𝐓𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋!, 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐘 𝐁𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒!” Tem was already moving. His legs pushed him forward with brutal speed, his fists raised, ready to end it. The battle wasn’t just against them—it was something deeper, something that Pen was losing to.
“No more running,” Tem muttered under his breath.
His first strike went wide as Pen swung Mimicry wildly in a last-ditch attempt to defend himself. But the sword’s aim was erratic, its wielder too far gone. Tem took another step, closing the distance. He was right there. His fist was about to meet Pen’s face when—
“Tem! Stop!” Leon’s voice rang out, sharp and clear, pulling him from his focus.
Tem’s momentum faltered, but he kept moving, his fist coming within inches of Pen.
“What?” Tem grunted, his face tight with frustration, still focused on the target.
“Stop!” Myer shouted this time, his voice demanding. "Don't do it! This isn't the way."
Tem hesitated for just a moment, his focus wavering. He was so close. Too close. He could feel the anger rising in his chest.
“do you want to kill him?” Maple’s voice cut in, too. Her eyes were sharp, her words blunt. “we’re not that. we don’t end him just because he’s a damn threat.”
Pen, heavily injured, collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, his body trembling as he struggled to stay conscious. Mimicry lay discarded beside him, its flesh-like blade twitching sporadically as if it were trying to call out for its master. The once-vibrant glow in Pen’s eyes had dimmed to a mere flicker, his energy spent from the internal battle and the physical battle that had been waging against him for too long.
The group stood over him, divided in their thoughts. Some of them spoke of sparing him, of finding another way forward, but Tem’s mind was already made up. He could feel the weight of the decision pressing on him—he couldn’t let Pen live, not when Qual still held sway over him.

“we should spare him,” Maple said, stepping forward with conviction. “we can’t become what we’re fighting against.” Myer nodded, though their expression was grim. “We don’t know what kind of hold he’s under, but killing him won’t make things better.”
Tem’s gaze was fixed on Pen, watching the broken man struggle to hold onto consciousness. “He’ll just get up and keep coming for us,” he muttered. “We can’t leave him like this.”
The others debated, but Tem couldn’t focus on their words. His instincts were telling him to act. To end it.
As the group turned to discuss their next move, distracted by the argument, Tem moved quietly, slipping away from the others. Pen was too far gone, too much of a threat, and the others wouldn’t understand. Tem’s approach was silent, his steps barely making a sound. Pen’s eyes flickered up to him, confusion and fear still dancing in their depths.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒊𝒕…” Pen rasped, his voice barely a whisper.
Tem didn’t answer. He didn’t need to. With a single, swift motion, he ended it. No words, no fanfare. Just a quiet, decisive action.
Tem stood over Pen’s body for a moment, his breath steady. The rest of the group still argued behind him, unaware. He had made his choice, and it was done.
“Let’s move,” Tem said, his voice cold, and the group followed, none the wiser.
The prison gates stood before them, imposing and final, but the air felt lighter than it had in days. They’d fought through chaos, dealt with the Warden, and made it this far. The thought of freedom was finally real, palpable in the cold night air.
Tem paused for a moment, his eyes scanning the open space before them. He could still feel the remnants of the fight—the tension from Pen’s desperate swings, the exhaustion from everything that had happened. But there was no time to waste.
“Let’s move,” he murmured, voice calm, but resolute. Leon, Maple, Myer, KM, Syvi, and Jade moved with a sense of urgency, stepping toward the gates with quickened steps, eyes darting to the surroundings. They knew there was still danger, but for the first time in what felt like forever, there was hope in their movements. Leon glanced at Tem, his voice tight. “Are you sure the Warden’s…?”
Tem didn’t respond right away, his focus still sharp. He could feel the weight of the question, but it was something he wasn’t ready to address—not yet. He simply nodded once, his expression unreadable.
“Just keep moving,” Tem said quietly, pushing the heavy gate open with ease. It creaked loudly, but there was no sign of any guards or alertness from the prison. The Warden’s death was still a secret.
The gate swung wide, and the group stepped through one by one, moving quickly as the tension of the moment wrapped itself around them. The familiar sounds of the prison—clanging doors, distant voices—faded with every step they took into the cold, dark world outside.
Pen was behind them, defeated. The Warden, although still unknown to the others, was dead. And the prison was no longer their prison. Tem was the last to step through, giving one final glance back at the prison. His jaw clenched. He knew that the road ahead would be even more dangerous, but they’d taken the first step toward freedom.
With one last push, the gates closed behind them.

“Let’s go,” Tem murmured, his voice low as he began walking away from the prison walls.
The others followed in silence, their hearts pounding, the adrenaline still rushing through their veins. They had escaped—there was no turning back now.

Chapter Text

The night air hung heavy with tension as the group moved silently through the deserted town. Their escape had been smooth. But now, with the rush of freedom starting to fade, the reality of their situation settled in. They had no plan, no clear direction—except for one thing: Undiff. The Grand Apostle. The leader of it all. But they didn’t know where he was.
Tem, as always, took the lead. He wasn’t one to waste time or dwell in uncertainty. His sharp eyes scanned every shadowed corner and cracked window, as if searching for something just beyond the darkness. This place felt different—hostile, unfamiliar—but he wasn’t going to let that stop them.

“We should find someone who knows where Undiff is. We can’t just wander around aimlessly,” Leon muttered, keeping his voice low, his gaze darting around.
Maple nodded, her eyes glinting with focus. “we’ll find a lead. someone has to know something. just need to get them to talk.”
They moved toward the outskirts of the town, the buildings thinning out as they walked. Ahead of them stood a warehouse, its shadowed form dark against the night sky. Abandoned. The perfect place to either hide or set a trap. Tem signaled the group to stop before they got too close.
“Stay sharp,” he murmured. “We don’t know who—or what—we might find in there.”
With that, they continued, their movements fluid and quiet. As they reached the entrance, the heavy doors groaned, breaking the stillness of the night. Inside, the air was stale, thick with the scent of rust and dust. Shadows danced on the walls, and the faint sound of footsteps reached their ears. From the depths of the darkened warehouse, a figure appeared—a short man, cloaked in black armor, his face hidden behind a cold mask. His eyes gleamed from beneath the mask’s slits, watching them with unsettling calm.

“You’ve found me,” the figure said, his voice low, almost amused.
“Who are you?” Tem demanded, his voice sharp.
The figure smirked behind the mask. “I am Nato. The Tactical Commander of this country and the sixth of the Truths. And you’ve made a grave mistake.”
Before anyone could respond, Nato drew a pair of blades, his movements fluid and deadly. In a heartbeat, he was on them, his speed almost inhuman. Tem reacted first, ducking under the initial strike, his fist landing hard in Nato’s side. But Nato was fast—too fast—and he spun out of range, blades slicing the air with deadly precision. The group immediately fanned out, taking up positions to engage the Tactical Commander.
Leon summoned his drones. Sending them to encircle Nato. But the Tactical Commander moved like a blur, cutting down one drone with a single slash.
“We don’t have time for this,” Tem growled, his muscles straining as he dodged another strike. Nato’s blades were fast, but Tem’s strength was greater. He blocked the strikes, looking for an opening. Nato’s laugh echoed through the warehouse. “You really think you can just barge in and demand answers? You’re nothing but pests. I’ll give you credit, though. You’re persistent.”
Tem’s patience was running out. His eyes locked onto Nato, and in a flash, he saw his opening. With a burst of speed, Tem closed the distance, landing a brutal blow to Nato’s midsection. The force of the punch cracked his armor, and Nato stumbled back, visibly shaken.

For a brief moment, the room was silent.

“I’m done with this,” Tem muttered, his voice cold. “Where’s Undiff?”
Nato’s face remained cold, his grin barely faltering. “You really think I’ll just tell you? You’re all fools chasing a ghost.”
Tem’s eyes narrowed, his fists clenching. “I’m done with the games.”
In one swift movement, he pulled Nato toward him, slamming him to the ground with all his strength. Nato groaned, struggling beneath him, but Tem held him down, his voice low and dangerous. “Where. Is. Undiff?”
For the first time, Nato’s mask faltered, a flicker of hesitation crossing his face. “You’ll never find him. The Grand Apostle doesn’t just hide—he plans. He’s always two steps ahead of you.”
“enough with the riddles,” Maple snapped, gauntlet glinting in the dim light. “where. is. he.”
Nato smirked, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. “North. He’s north. But don’t bother. By the time you get there, it’ll be too late.”
Tem’s gaze hardened, and without another word, he tightened his grip on Nato’s throat. With one swift motion, he snapped it, ending the Tactical Commander’s life. Nato’s body went limp, and Tem tossed it aside like it was nothing.
The group stood still for a moment, the weight of the kill settling in. Leon’s voice broke the silence, anger rising in his words. “What the hell, Tem?! He gave us answers! We didn’t need to kill him!”
“yeah! we could’ve used him to find out more!?” Maple added, her voice sharp, frustrated. “you didn’t need to do that!”
Tem didn’t flinch, his expression cold and unreadable.
“He would’ve slowed us down,” he said, his voice emotionless. “He wasn’t going to give us anything else.”
“You don’t get to decide who lives and dies!” Leon snapped, stepping forward. “You didn’t even give him a chance to talk. We’re better than that.”
Tem’s eyes flicked to Leon, his expression unreadable. “Sometimes there’s no time for second chances.”
“that's not how we do things!” Maple argued, her voice rising. “we don’t just kill people because we think it’ll be easier. we need to think, tem!”
“You want to talk about thinking? You really think he would’ve helped us?”
Tem’s voice dropped lower, colder. “He was a threat. And now we’ve got the information we need. We move forward.”
Hoddogy stood slightly apart from the group, his face blank. He didn’t glare at Tem or voice his anger like the others. He simply watched, his expression unreadable. It wasn’t the first time Tem had made a decision the group didn’t agree with, but Hoddogy knew when to keep quiet. His feelings were hard to decipher, but it was clear he wasn’t entirely at peace with what had just happened. Leon shook his head, disbelief still hanging in his voice.
“You can’t just kill someone because it’s convenient. That’s not who we are.”
Tem didn’t answer. He simply turned and started walking toward the exit, his back to the group.
“North,” he muttered over his shoulder. “It’s the only lead we’ve got.”
The group exchanged tense glances, but they knew there was little they could do now. Despite their anger, they had a choice: follow Tem, or be left behind. With a resigned sigh, they followed him out of the warehouse, the weight of his decision heavy on their shoulders.
As they walked, the silence grew thicker with each step, the tension unspoken but palpable. Finally, Leon broke the quiet, his voice cutting through the thick air.

“You’re really sticking to this, huh?” He moved up to walk alongside Tem, his frustration clear. “We’re not the same as we were before. You’ve got to see that.”
Tem didn’t look at him. His gaze was fixed ahead, his pace unbroken. “This isn’t about who we were,” he replied, his voice calm but firm. “It’s about who we need to be.”
Maple’s voice followed, sharp as ever, though tinged with concern. “you keep saying that. but it doesn’t explain why we had to kill nato. you could’ve handled it differently, tem.”
Tem’s response was steady but carried a hint of something else, maybe regret, maybe doubt. “He was a threat. We couldn’t afford to let him live.”
There was a subtle hesitation in his voice, a pause that seemed to linger too long. Leon’s eyes narrowed, the thought still gnawing at him.
“We used to find another way,” he murmured, his voice heavy with the weight of shared history, the choices they used to make together.
Tem’s pace didn’t slow, his voice distant, yet firm. “We don’t have time for ‘another way.’ The world doesn’t wait for us to figure out the perfect answer.”
Hoddogy, walking just behind Tem, spoke quietly, his voice cutting through the tension with a quiet resolve.
“We move forward. No use dwelling on what’s done.”
Leon didn’t reply right away. He just let the words sink in. His shoulders slumped, defeated. “Yeah... But I’m not just going to let this go.”
Tem didn’t look back, but there was a trace of understanding in his voice when he spoke again.
“You don’t have to. But don’t let it break us, Leon.”
For a moment, the silence hung heavy in the air, but it was different now. The tension, though still thick, wasn’t as sharp. Finally, Maple spoke again, her voice quieter, softer.
“you’re still... you’re still one of us, right, tem? even after everything?”
Tem’s pace remained steady, though his jaw tightened slightly. Hoddogy’s gaze flicked between the two, watching the subtle shift in the air. He knew Tem—knew there was still a part of him that cared for the group, even if it wasn’t as visible as before. Tem’s words, though simple, carried weight.

“I’m still with you.” Tem replied, his voice firm but not unkind. “We all have a part to play. Let’s not forget that.”
The words lingered in the air. They weren’t all at peace, but they were still together. Still moving forward. Syvi, who had been walking at the back with Jade, glanced toward the group, his expression softer than usual.
“We’ve got a long road ahead,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “But if we stick together, we’ll make it through.” Jade nodded, his gaze sharp but understanding.
“Yeah. And maybe... maybe we’ll find a way to turn this around. But we’ll need to trust each other.” His eyes met Leon’s and then Tem’s. The message was clear.
Tem glanced back for a split second, his face unreadable. “Trust is earned,” he said, but his voice didn’t carry the usual harshness. “But I’m still here.”
The group continued on, each step heavier than the last, the weight of their silent thoughts hanging over them. They weren’t all the same as they had been. But they were still together.
After days of walking, they finally arrived at the foot of a sprawling manor, its silhouette looming in the fog. The journey had been long and grueling, but now, as they approached, the air felt thick with something else—a quiet weight, not uncomfortable, just... Heavy. Leon was the first to speak.
“This place... doesn’t feel right, does it?”
Tem, walking ahead, didn’t answer immediately. His eyes locked on the distant manor. “We don’t have the luxury of deciding what feels right,” he said, his tone steady.
“Undiff’s here. We move forward.” Maple frowned as she scanned the manor. “it’s too quiet..” she muttered. Syvi glanced up at the towering structure.
“It’s not supposed to feel comfortable,” he said. “We’re here to finish this.”
They all stood before the manor, the silence louder than the wind whistling through the trees. No one spoke, but they all knew what needed to be done. They weren’t leaving until they had answers.

Chapter Text

They stepped up to the door. Tem raised his right hand and pushed the door open.
“Let’s go.” Everyone nodded in agreement as they stepped inside the manor.

“Woah…12 paintings..” Leon said, “Who are they?”
“Probably people important.”, Myer said, noticing the 6th and 7th were crossed out, and then recognizing their faces.
“The warden, and the guy who called himself ‘sixth of twelve truths’ are here..considering he’s the sixth photo and there's twelve, I guess these are.. The truths?”. “Huh, so those are their names.” Tem said,
“I recognize a few of them, Redjet, Lightswing and Wilczux” He said, eyeing their positions..” They were our main enemies in the war….I know they’re all important to Undiff, now that we know who’s who, we should look for them, they could be our biggest lead. In fact, killing them would suffice. Undiff finds us himself due to that.”
Maple’s eyes lit up in fear, “no!”. “We just go around killing everyone.” Leon said. An argument erupted..

Suddenly, the door behind them shut, making a loud noise. The group turned their heads to the door. The lights started flickering.
As the group fought, their vision got blurry, and so did their hearing. After a bit, no one could see or hear anything, besides an echoing empty hallway. They all walked until the edge to see what was at the end.

No one knew it at first. But, everyone was seeing the same thing. Yet, it led them to something, or someone else.

“Who’s there?” Hoddo spoke, at the edge of the hall.
“Funky, the fourth of the twelve Truths.” Someone spoke, revealing themselves. Suddenly Funky disappeared, and hundreds of things started running to Hoddo, and he couldn’t hear. Hoddo managed to hit one, which made it sound quieter, and made said thing disappear, but more and more seemed to come out of nowhere. Hoddo kept fighting and fending them off, but nothing seemed to stop them.

“The war you and Tem started killed hundreds on your end. And barely did anything.” Funky said, as all the things that made screeching sounds disappeared.
“Your war didn’t do shit.” He said, trying to weaken Hoddo, “Open your eyes, you’re doing this for nothing. Stop fighting and follow the Truth..” he said. Hoddo eventually caved.

”Good. Now, look into my eyes.. Relax. This won’t hurt.” Funky said, Hoddo followed.

Midway through, Hoddo tried to snap out. Using his power on himself. Transforming his confusion and uncertainty into plain anguish.
“All your powers are just to confuse us and think you’re in control, to deceive us, tear us apart, wear us out.” Hoddo said calmly,
“I’ve dealt with that enough times”. Hoddo ran towards him, and backed him into a corner. “You’ve got no real fighting skills, huh?”
"I do not wish to kill you. Call off these illusions and you'll be spared."

Hoddo demanded calmly. Funky burst out laughing and said in a mocking tone "Of course! Haha!- I’ll call them off immediately for you..”
Funky's face changes. Mocking him.
"You know, I climbed up to become the 4th of the twelve truths for a good reason-" Hoddo doesn't let Funky finish and strengthens his grip. "Listen pal, I did not come here to listen to how you became like this. I am merely following my friend's decisions."
"Ah, yes, your precious friend.. What was his name again Ten? Team?"

"Tem." Hoddo said, clearly a bit angered at the mockery. "Right, right, Tem.. Oh what a great friendship that was.."
“‘Was’..!?" Hoddo said, taken aback by Funky's comment. "Yes, yes, don't you see? You're nothing but a tool to him now. Remember the Revolutionary War? You should compare that to now-" Hoddo tightens his grip around Funky's neck.
"Not. Another. Word." Hoddo said 'calmly'.

"He.. he will throw you away when you have served your purpose to him, Hoddogy. To him, you are nothing But, just another stepping stone to his glory..."

Funky manages to utter Hoddo doesn't comment, instead tightens his grip to the point it becomes humanly impossible for one to breathe Funky, in his breathless voice says,
"Y..your silence proves this very well..." Hoddo again doesn't say anything and lifts Funky up in the air by his neck.
"You do not deserve a single bit of mercy.." as Hoddo finishes talking, he bashes Funky's head into the wall, over, and over, and over again The wall becomes redder and redder with each bash and soon enough, Funky's breathing stops.
"It... can't be true..." Hoddo's breaths heavy, lets go of Funky's now deceased body. Dropping it onto the floor Hoddo looks towards the way he came in, now a door has appeared there Hoddo goes towards the door, and enters it.

Myer stood there, not moving or speaking at all. Ready for whoever was there to make the first strike.
Myer saw something glowing at the end of the hallway, as the hallway started collapsing.
“It wasn’t real, I knew it.” They said to themself. They then got ready to deal with whatever was glowing. When suddenly, they felt entranced, but snapped out of it before it became too much. Myer used their power to grab onto a brick to throw, rotating it impulsively as a fidget. A whip grabbed onto said brick, pulled the brick back to someone using it, and he threw it back to him, but not as a brick, something strong but without air resistance. Myer was hit, unable to think properly after that.
“Argh.. Who are you?” Myer said, immediately trying to sound more in control.

“I can control your cube.. Things you know? I’m not afraid to use self defense.”
“Pira! fifth of the twelve Truths.” Pira responded, seemingly grinning. “Do you really think you’re entitled to that fear just because you can control objects? Someone ought to tell you how things work here!”
Myer quickly grabbed a brick and tossed it to Pira. Pira tossed it back, and back, and back, both of them unable to get a real hit on each other. On the eighth time, Myer grabbed it better with their power, and tried to rescale it quickly to make it hit Pira faster.
“Try this on for si-” Myer was interrupted, being choked by Pira’s whip. “How unrefined.. Someone ought to whip you into shape.” Pira said, removing his bracelet “From now on, you shall stop trying to hurt anyone in the Great Apostles, and you shall-”
Myer realized something from him removing their bracelet. If they couldn’t use their power without it, neither could they probably. Myer grabbed Pira’s whip without their power. Pira tried to use their entrancing gaze to control Myer.
“Try to use your power now.” Myer said, “If you use your power with something, then it’ll only become usable with that thing, no matter who you are, huh?” they added. “So that’s why I need this bracelet all the time” Myer said, picking it up.
“So no one knows I’m dependent on it, maybe I should hide it”. Myer somehow made the bracelet camouflage. “Huh?” Myer said, somewhat surprised at how that worked.
“Maybe you should try that sometime, disguise this as part of you.”

“You’ve been saying your plans out loud. Are you stupid..?” Pira looks at Myer with confusion as Myer finally acknowledges him. They realize that Pira has been listening to them monologue to themselves for the past ten minutes. They both stood there in silence for an inconvenient amount of time before Myer finally spoke up.
“I have?” Pira looked at them with disappointment. “You have. I didn’t need to hear your shitty monologue.” Myer was upset by this and immediately responded.
“Ugh, rude much?” Myer said as he lifted up Pira's whip which he had in his own hand. With his power, they used it to tie up Pira.
“Let me go, you pest!" Pira said angrily, glaring at them.
“Uhm, nope..! Cya!” Myer tipped off their hat to Pira as they quickly fled the scene, leaving Pira tied up.

Syvi walked slowly, watching every step, “You should probably hurry up, I don’t know though.” someone, or something spoke.
“And you’re supposed to be..?” Syvi said, unsure who he was with. Syvi walked around the room, ready to dodge whatever was thrown. When suddenly, he tripped on a wire. A blinding light and deafening sound filled him, he could barely understand what was going on, when someone hit him.
“Dennis, eighth of the twelve Truths.” Dennis said. “Let’s get this over with.”
Syvi tried to heal himself but Dennis just kept hitting and hitting. Syvi tried running, but Dennis caught up immediately to him.
“I’m just a healer!” Syvi tried screaming while trying to reason. “What do you want from me?!” Dennis wouldn’t say anything, and inflected Syvi with poison with Malware. Dennis was persistent in killing Syvi.
Syvi on the other hand wasn't. He was ready to just let himself die, but he didn’t. He knew the rest needed him to help, he was their main healer. Dennis used his persistence as his main power, being always right behind Syvi.
Syvi’s will finally faltered. He was ready to accept his death. He knew the team would go fine without him.
“Hoddo could heal them anyway” he told himself, ready to die. That’s when Syvi saw it. Felt it. What Dennis would do next, and thus exactly how to dodge.
Syvi wasn’t sure how. But, he could know what to do next, only for a short while. The feeling wasn’t really and wasn’t exactly at regular intervals, but it was enough. Syvi ran and ran, until he finally lost Dennis. Dropping the knife KM gave him.

“Hm, and you are?” Jade said, trying to figure out where this voice came from. A pillar suddenly formed below him, almost as if to hit him. He avoided it right at the last moment. Jade, out of instinct, called Rinn and Mello to aid him. “Reveal yourself!” he shouted, ready to attack. He decided to try and bluff his way out.
“I know people, us three aren’t the only ones who’re ready to fight.”. “I’m Wilc, the ninth of the twelve Truths, and your connections aren’t any good in my house.” The ground started shaking.
“So long as you’re here I could sink you in an instant.” Rinn and Jade went to attack. But, Wilc summoned a shield out of thin air, blocking them instantly. The shield disappeared right as it was made. Wilc pulled out something else from thin air, a weapon this time, and hit Mello.
“What even is that?” Jade said, trying to sound calm under pressure. “A nunchuck with a ball so that all the force is on one end..?”
“They’re called monkey-fists.” Wilc said, in a monotone voice. “And that stall tactic won’t work on me.”

The monkey-fist vanished and a Sai appeared. Rinn tried to hit Wilc extensively, while Wilc calmly blocked every attack with the Sai. Until Rinn was tired enough to be striked. “No!” Jade cried, calling Rinn and Mello back into himself to heal. “Where are the other people you were talking about..?” Wilc said, ready to just end this battle.
Jade wasn’t sure what to do in this situation. The three of them were able to take down anything before, all hope felt lost. Yet, for some reason, something told him that this emotion was the key.
Like fear was the thing to beat him. Jade wished he could just channel that energy into Wilc, while Wilc was just about to throw another pillar at him to kill him. Suddenly, it happened, the fear was channeled into Wilc.

“What- Where-Why is” Wilc seemed to be unable to focus. “What just happened?” Jade said to himself, he tried to undo this. While escaping, but trying to undo the fear. Seemed to put Wilc to sleep. Jade escaped before he could wake up.

KM, with 10 knives ready, shouted into the hallway. “Hello?”
Suddenly, the hallway disappeared. And he was in a room with someone else. With a bike on fire. Suddenly, the bike raced around him, while the unnamed figure threw spades around him hitting him each time. KM, unable to dodge, threw a knife on the ground. It didn’t stop the bike, but it threw the person off his bike.
“Cool bike, why’s it on fire?” KM said, “Your name is..?”
“It’s a motorcycle! And I’m Lightswing, the tenth of the twelve Truths.”
Lightswing hit KM with a Spade again, and again, it, always able to just hit him.
“Eugh, that’s annoying.” KM said, and started throwing knives at each spade. Destroying them.
“We’re at a stalemate, and I can use these all day.”
“I don’t think we’re at a stalemate, just me though.” Lightswing said, getting on his motorcycle. And KM was unable to keep up with the spinning. He kept getting hit, and hit, and hit, until he was unable to stand.
The bike was too fast, too much and too durable, no knives could help KM destroy the motorcycle.
“It’s over!”, Lightswing said, conjuring 10 spades.
“Goodbye, chump!”

As death drew near KM, a mysterious black void enshrouded him. Light looked confuzzled but tried to send more spades towards KM, only for KM to suddenly disappear, causing the spades to miss
"What..?" KM said, as he felt the feeling of the air shift around him "Where.. am I..?" KM looked around the void, now giving a glow and having blue eyes inside it Before KM could say a word, his wounds started to close up.
"This.. is certainly a weird place-.. did I make this..?" KM said as his wounds healed all by themselves Suddenly with a jolt, KM appeared back in the battlefield with Light.
"There you are. No more playing around, fool. It is time to get rid of your pathe-"

"Yeah, yeah- shut up. Gimme time to get my shit together." KM interrupts Light. "...Why do I always get paired up with the weird ones?"
Light said as he charged towards KM with his bike. KM manages to open a gateway to his other realm. "Oh so that's how I- OW!" KM tried to remark to himself, but he had forgotten about the approaching Lighswing. Causing him to get hit directly and get thrown to a wall KM coughs
"heh.. ha ha...."
"What is so amusing..?" Lightswing asked KM, clearly annoyed at him.

"Oh it's just that.." KM opens a gateway to The Other-Realm and immediately comes back out and charges towards Light “..We are NOT at a stalemate!~" Causing Light to be caught off guard and thus hit. "It was so nice when you could've dodge, wouldn't you say?"
"How did you manage to hit me!?" Lightswing asked calmly as he threw his homing spades at KM and tried to go into his other realm. Bu, it failed "Huh-" before KMcould react, the spades hit KM "You were saying?" Light boasts.
"Gh.. No matter.."

KM goes back into his other realm "Escape all you want.. In the end, you will be back.." Light said while KM disappeared.
"Crap... he is right.." KM said in his other realm while he got healed. "Only if I could ambush him somehow..."
As KM thinks, a place in the other realm starts to glow.
“Hm..? did that always glow?” KM, now curious, tries and successfully opens a gateway there Upon opening, KM sees it is right above Light. Now seeing an opportunity, KM jumps out of his other realm and slashes Light with his knife, causing him to fall from his bike.
"Peek-a-boo!" Before Light can even get up, KM again goes back into another realm, and attacks Light again, this time slashing his arm "You.. little-"

Light summons a spade right in front of KM. KM tries to open a gateway but fails once again, but this time he manages to hack away the spade in time. Light growls(?) In anger, KM immediately lunges towards him, causing him to fall flat onto the floor.
"Finally, you're just where I wanted.." KM summons a knife in his hand "So.. Which part would you like gone first? I’m thinking about the fingers. Would you like me to cut them off one by one?!" KM says, his maniacal grin seeping with each word.
"None! You maniac!"
"Hands it is!~" KM announces, and immediately a knife rains upon both of Light's wrists. Light lets out a scream in pain and agony
"My my, that scream is... Irritating. Let's remove that shall we?"

"No.. you wouldn't.." Lightswing said in fear KM smiled and a knife appeared in his hand. Light looked at the knife with dread. Suddenly in one fell swoop, KM stabs Light's neck over, and over, and over again. Blood spewing out with each stab And soon, Light was no more. only what remained was his body.. In pieces. KM wiped the blood from his face.
"Oh the joy of ending someone's life! It never gets old.. Haha. KM gets up and notices the door at one side of the battlefield. "Hello there now-" KM goes up to the door and exits the battlefield through it.

Leon tried to use his drones to fly, and managed to work on them like a hoverboard, and he raced to the end. “Your power lets you fly as well, hm?” someone spoke, seemingly from nowhere.
“Who are you!?” Leon exclaimed, getting 15 drones ready to fire. A gust of wind hit him, destroying 11 of the drones, and making Leon unable to stand.
“Redjet, eleventh of the twelve Truths.” Redjet said. “Anything flying is supposed to be under my command, so, embrace the Apostles, or die, your choice.”
Leon tried to reason with him, “I-I don’t want to fight you guys, I wasn’t even in the war! I just want-”
“It’s a simple choice, don’t make me take the long route.” Redjet interrupted.
Redjet made the winds so strong and made himself wind resistant. Leon couldn’t control his body and was stuck on the ceiling. While Redjet was standing on the ground, ready to kill him.
He made a jet plane, flew up to Leon. And absorbed the engine into himself. and shot fire into Leon’s body.
Redjet turned into the Jet and flew into Leon. Leon could barely even start to hit, and started questioning himself, if he even wanted to escape this place, if he even could.
Leon tried to ignore all his thoughts, and used a drone as something to grab on. Drone after drone, slowly descending, as they had more air resistance. Once he reached the ground, Redjet was waiting for him.
“Are you done?” he said, creating another strong wind to fling him back. Leon used his drones to physically block himself, and shoot Redjet. Leon suddenly was able to only focus on his sight, ignoring the feeling of the wind. And the noise it made.
He was able to focus deeply on Redjet, and eventually force him into a corner; he couldn’t use his powers without being shot immediately by Leon’s drones. Leon’s other senses reappeared, and his sight went back to normal, just as suddenly as they came.

“What just happened..?” Leon said to himself. He stood back as he continued walking down the hallway.

“hello?” Maple called out. “anyone there..?” her vision started to fade for her, “Only me.” said an unfamiliar voice.

“oh. just you i suppose. anyways do you- woah hey!” Maple felt weak as she fell down to her knees, unable to see the figure in front of her.
“What gives you the right to just waltz in here?” The figure stepped closer to her. She lifted her head and was greeted by a man in a tainted blue suit with a tie and necklace. They had a robotic arm on the right in which she took notice first.
“wait you’re just like me. we both have.. something in our right hands.. haha.” She felt ease as she longer felt weak and stood up immediately, causing the figure to back away from her. “This is no laughing matter. What makes you-” Maple cuts off the person, commenting on their hair.
“your hair is really pretty. it’s long, i like it.” The person rolled their eyes in annoyance as they continued on what they were saying before getting interrupted once again. “whats your name by the way? i never really asked you.” The person ran their hand through their hair before looking back at her.
“You annoy me.” Maple blinked twice. “what? sorry i wasn’t paying attention..” The person covered their face with their hand as they groaned in frustration before talking again. “Syol, the twe-”
“ooh cool name.” Syol looked at her with frustration.
“You’re not taking this seriously are you?” Maple put her hand on her chin before replying. “i don’t know, we’re just kind of talking. and- wait!” Syol charged at her with his right fist, Maple barely dodging the punch.
“i don't wanna fight you!” Syol looked back at her in silence, refusing to answer her. Syol adjusted his position and charged at her once again. But this time, Maple wasn’t able to dodge it. “ow!” She stumbled onto the ground as Syol approached her once again. Syol grabbed her left hand, holding it up before his necklace started to glow.
“𝑶𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆.”

Although she tried to refuse, she soon after felt dizzy before blacking out.
“𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?” Maple looked at him before a small smirk formed on her face.

“𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮! 𝐬𝐚𝐲, 𝐢 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫! 𝐢 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭!” Syol looked at them in confusion before dropping her hand and backing away.
“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆? 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍?!” 𝐌𝐚𝐩𝐥𝐞 stood up from the ground. “𝐢 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐬𝐲𝐨𝐥! 𝐚𝐦 𝐢 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭?" Syol looked at her with confusion. 𝑯𝒐𝒘?!- 𝑶𝒃𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒆!” He commanded once more but, to no avail.
“𝐧𝐮𝐡 𝐮𝐡! 𝐢’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭! 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨. 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞.” Maple’s gauntlet flickered, before she ultimately jumped at him. Slashing at him before stumbling back. “𝐡𝐚𝐡𝐚! 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤! 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐢 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝.” Syol, parrying the attack, charged up his robotic arm.
“𝒀𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓.” He pointed his right hand at her. The hand shook before blasting a projectile attack towards her. But, she stood still. Walking towards it before smacking it away with the gauntlet. “𝐢’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨- 𝐀𝐆𝐇!”

She groaned in pain, holding her head in pain as she crashed down into the ground. Syol tilted his head in confusion. She sat on the floor completely still before shaking her head.
“ow, my head hurts..” She rubbed her eyelids before noticing that Syol took that opportunity to attack her. Blown away by the attack, she could barely keep her balance. The headache wouldn’t stop.
Syol sighed before pointing his robotic arm again. “How were you not under my control? How were you able to resist it? No one has ever resisted my power!” Maple looked side to side before sheepishly replying.
“Uh…” Syol groaned again in frustration as he charged up his robotic arm, shooting another projectile at her. She took notice this time and dodge it just in the nick of time. “okay so, you’re actually trying to fight me and i feel like not dying today!”
Syol continued to shoot at her as she hopped away each time. When she saw the opportunity to attack him at an unsuspecting angle, she charged for it. Syol with his quick senses, activated his ability. Tanking the kick for just a brief moment. Maple landed on her feet, stumbling a bit.
“wait, that didn’t do anything?” Maple brushed off her clothes before looking back at Syol. “The kick you did felt as light as a feather. Although, I am quite impressed by your movement. Swift as a rabbit.”
“oh, haha- not really- hey that wasn’t fair at all!”
Syol took that small time to buy that opportunity to attack her again. Catching Maple off guard. She fell onto the ground, barely tanking the punch. Syol stood back, shifting his gaze and energy to his necklace. “I’ll end this once and for all!” Maple stared at Syol. She felt quite anxious as she didn’t know what was about to happen. Nothing.

“What..?” Syol muttered to himself, focusing back his energy to his necklace.
“what are you doing?” Maple stood up from the ground, adjusting her gauntlet. “He’s supposed to-” Maple interrupted Syol once again. “supposed to what? also, who?” Syol ignored Maple as he focused again. Nothing.
“Why isn’t it working?!” Maple scratched the back of her neck. She felt awkward just standing there. “Nato! He’s supposed to be summoned to my aid! To fight alongside me!” Maple was surprised by the sudden mention of his name.
“oh.. nato?” Syol slowly looked up at her. “about him actually.. he’s kind of.. not breathing. he cracked his neck a little too much.” Maple felt nervous announcing that he’s basically dead.
“What did you do?!” Maple’s eyes widened as she saw Syol approach him at lighting speed.

“it wasn’t me that killed him! ow!- get off of me!” Syol landed another punch at her. Maple blocked it with her gauntlet.
“I didn’t kill him!” Syol interrupted her, punching her with his robotic arm. “Liar!” She took the punch as she desperately tried to get him off of her. As she tanked every punch, not wanting to hurt him, she accidentally smacked him up right at his face with her gauntlet. Although, she smacked him a little too hard. Causing him to fall back from the punch. Maple gasped as she looked back at her gauntlet, noticing that it was flickering.

“oh my god, are you okay?!” She stood up from the ground, panicking as she looked over to the unconscious Syol. Maple was too scared to even get close to him as she quietly walked over him. “hope he’s not dead or anything.. i'm sorry!” She kept apologizing before running off into the distance.

Tem’s steps echoed, slow and steady. The hall was too clean. Too quiet. Light hummed overhead like it was hiding something. At the far end, someone stood his way.
Still. Upright. Wearing a long white coat, hands relaxed – one behind his back the other at his side, fingers twitching like he was counting.
He didn’t speak. Not until Tem was halfway down the corridor.
‘‘That’s far enough’’
Tem didn’t stop.
‘‘Turn around. Now.’’
Silence.
Tem’s jaw was tight. Eyes fixed straight ahead. Then the man exhaled and shifted his weight – and the world tilted. It wasn’t visible, but Tem’s body suddenly pulled sideways, like gravity had just shifted 45 degrees. He staggered and hit the wall with a grunt, catching himself before dropping.
The man spoke again, voice calm and certain.
‘‘You won’t reach him. Not with me standing here.’’ Tem pushed off the wall, kept walking. Slower this time. Focused.
‘‘I control balance.’’ The man said. ‘‘Motion, Gravity and Force distribution. You don’t win this.’’
His posture didn’t change, but something in the air shifted – faint pressure against the skin. Like a storm about to break.
‘‘Name’s Josh. Third of the twelve Truths and the strongest among them.’’
Tem cracked his knuckles.
‘‘You talk too much.’’
Then he charged.
Josh didn’t blink. WIth a subtle twitch of his fingers, Tem’s foot jerked out of line mid-run – throwing his whole balance. He tumbled forward – but rolled with it, sprang up low, and swung.
His punch passed through thickened air – the force swallowed, redirected. Like punching through jelly.
Tem’s arm was pulled backwards mid-swing and twisted unnaturally. A sharp crack snapped through his shoulder.
He screamed – then ducked. A coin zipped through the space where his head had been. It buried itself in the wall behind him. Josh raised an eyebrow, flicking another coin from his pocket with a tiny gesture.
‘‘You’re predictable.’’
Tem was already moving. He didn’t waste time speaking – just closed distance, throwing his good arm in a wild hook. Josh let the blow pass, redirected its force outward – Tem spun halfway around, stumbling.
Another coin shot out.
Tem blocked with his bad arm out of reflex. That was a mistake. The coin snapped the radius clean. Tem screamed, dropping to one knee, the lumb hanging limp and bent wrong, Josh sighed like he was disappointed.
‘‘You’re stubborn, I'll give you that. But you’re broken now. And if you’re broken, you’re done.’’ Tem looked up, eyes burning through the pain.
‘‘I’m never done.’’
He rose – unsteady, slow, dragging his broken arm like dead weight. Josh’s hand twitched again, ready to slam him into the ceiling– Tem threw himself forward, letting the gravity twist drag him sideways – but using it to spin
He came in low. Elbow to the guy. Josh stumbled for the first time. Tem didn’t let up.
He shoulder-checked him into the wall, threw his head forward and headbutted him clean across the nose. Blood burst out – Josh grasped.
Tem grabbed a broken screw from the floor and jammed it into Josh’s thigh. Josh shrieked and shoved him back with a pulse of sudden force – Tem’s body slammed into the far wall, wind knocked from his lungs.
But he didn’t stay down.
He crawled back to his feet, breathing ragged, blood dripping from both arms, one hanging uselessly. Josh tried to center himself. Swung a hand in a fluid arc to pull the gravity again.
Tem didn’t let him finish.

He tackled him.
Both crashed down hard. Tem landed on top – and unleashed. He used every piece of himself to attack. His fists. His knees. Even his broken arm is like a blunt object. His knuckles tore open on Josh's cheekbones, but he didn’t care. He just kept going.
Josh writhed under him, tried to shift gravity - but Tem pinned one of his arms under a knee, the other under his foot.
‘‘You don’t get to decide balance anymore,’’ Tem muttered, voice in pain.
With both hands, Tem shoved Josh face-first into Josh’s symbol on the ground, smashing his head into the etched lines. Then again. And again. Until blood pooled and dripped into the grooves. Josh’s body convulsed, powers short-circuiting in the chaos. Gravity spun wildly, dragging the walls sideways, bending light, collapsing equilibrium into pure chaos.
Tem didn’t stop.
He jammed the nail deeper, twisted it with both hands. Josh shrieked—until he couldn’t. Then Tem grabbed a splintered piece of the floorboard and drove it into Josh’s throat, burying it halfway in.
Until the last breath was gone.
Tem sat there, panting, drenched in blood—his own and Josh’s—surrounded by a broken battlefield of bent gravity and scattered debris. Tem stood up, panting, body broken, but somehow still standing. His arm hung at a sick angle, but the fire in his eyes never dimmed.
He turned and walked away to find the group.

The group, besides Maple, found each other after a while.
“What happened to you..?!” Myer said to Tem, with a clear sense of confusion and shock in his voice, Tem panting with a painful voice said,
“Ugh..I fought someone? It’s kind of obvious..especially with my arm broken. The guy said he was the strongest fighting-wise among the true apostles, jeez, no wonder he said that. This shit hurts so much.”
“Here, let me fix it.” Syvi said, putting his hand on Tem’s arm, “Better?” he asked. “Still hurts, but thanks.” Tem replied, Hoddo silently attempted to relieve it.
“Who’d you even kill?” Leon asked. Jade, with his eyes, signalled Leon with his eyes to look at the paintings, where the 3rd, 4th, and 10th were now crossed out.
“This Manor is confusing..” Leon said, “What was that hallway anyway? Why did it lead to someone?”
“Probably the work of Funky.” Hoddo said. “The fourth Truth can make illusions like that, he probably tried to split us up and make everyone deal with a different True Apostle.”
“Yeah, that must be why I had to fight the third Truth.” Tem added. “You killed him, right?” Hoddo said, trying to make sure they wouldn’t follow them, “I killed the fourth.”
“Yeah, of course I killed Josh.” Tem replied. ‘Heh, I managed to kill mine as well, and I had a second power!” KM tried to add.
“I also got a new power, I didn’t kill uh..Redjet though.” Leon replied to KM. “Yeah, same with Leon.”. Jade nodded, “I think a lot of us found out we had something else.” Syvi said as well.
“I didn’t… Well, I managed to learn how to disguise my bracelet thing, and that could’ve helped at the start of my fight.” Myer said,
“I also learned something on my power, and I’m guessing Tem didn’t get anything.” Hoddo added.
“So, Me, Hoddo and KM killed our apostles, Josh, Funky and Lightswing, while the rest didn’t”
Tem reconfirmed. Everyone nodded in agreement, “KM, Leon, Jade, and Syvi, learned a new power they had while Me Hoddo and Myer didn’t.” Everyone nodded.
“Hey..what about Maple?!” Leon pointed out, Someone noticed them all talking, their eyes lit up from joy and ran to them.

“i knocked someone unconscious! and i feel really guilty about it!!” Maple screamed, running up to them. Eventually stopping, panting out of exhaustion. Tem gave Leon a tired look “Well, that solves it, Leon.”
But then..
A soft hissing sound can be heard.
It was quiet. Almost too quiet to notice. Then came a strange smell.. Sweet, like apples. But, something felt off.

‘‘Do you guys smell that?’’ Syvi asked, frowning. Jade opened his mouth to answer, but his legs suddenly gave out. ‘‘Wait..what’s–’’ Leon blinked slowly. His body felt heavy. Maple reached for Tem but swayed, dizzy.
‘‘n-no… something’s happening…’’ she mumbled
Tem resisted longer than the others– teeth gritted, dragging himself forward. But his body gave up.The last thing he saw was a flicker of movement.. Dark boots entering the room, a gloved hand reaching down towards his face.
And then, everything went black.

Chapter Text

Leon woke up, his mind foggy. He was sitting in a soft chair, and something about it didn’t feel right. His eyes darted around, trying to make sense of things. He wasn’t wearing his regular clothes. Instead, he was dressed in a black suit.. Too clean, too fancy.
He looked down at his hands, then around the room. Everyone else was there, too.
Maple wore a dark red dress, her eyes wide as she looked around, just as lost as Leon.
Jade and Syvi were dressed in formal outfits, their faces tense. KM looked like he was about to punch someone, his fists clenched. Myer kept moving their fingers like they were trying to feel for something, but there was nothing there.
The room was full with paintings behind each seat; large and imposing. They looked like the strange paintings they’d passed earlier in the hallway, only these were different. Instead of the True Apostles, the faces on the paintings were their own. Each painting had them sitting, posed in different, unfamiliar yet familiar positions.
At the far end of the table, Tem sat with his legs cuffed to the legs of the chair. Hoddogy sat next to him, his usual relaxed posture seeming out of place in the stillness of the room.
Leon tried to move, but his body felt sluggish, like something was weighing him down.
His powers weren’t responding, and he could feel it in his hands, as if something was holding them back.

‘‘what is this place?’’ Maple whispered, her voice filled with confusion.
‘‘I don’t know’’ Leon said. ‘‘But it doesn’t feel right.’’
The room was silent, the air thick with tension. Then, the door at the end of the room opened slowly.
A man stepped into the room with all True Apostles, well, all that were alive. He was tall, pale, and wore purple all over, on his right ring finger held a ring shining . He didn’t speak. He just smiled and walked slowly toward the empty seat at the head of the table.
“Who are you?” KM said in a commanding voice. “What do you want from us?” Myer said after.

“Questions.. questions..” the man said. He sat down. “We’re not here to hurt you” he said, his fingers tapping the table, “A rebellion, half the truths dead, everythings a mess.”. “Because of you”, he said, eyeing Tem specifically. plates appeared from above the table, “I, Undiff, am here to put things back in order.”. Everyone was shocked at who he was. “Let us eat as we see how this…goes forward.” Undiff said.
Everyone reluctantly started to eat. Everything tasted off, bland yet horrendous at the same time. It felt like they were eating plastic. Undiff didn’t react, he ate normally. Leon tried to use his power to hinder the taste, but he couldn’t do anything. Everyone kept glaring at each other, unsure how to get out of this, or even if they could.
Myer looked across the table to Syvi, eyeing him, as if he were trying to say something. Syvi noticed ,looked at Undiff for a moment, then back at Myer, almost as if trying to silently ask something to him. Myer looked around the table, and then the food in reply.
Undiff watched them quietly, then spoke in a calm voice, ‘‘You’re all strong. You’ve come this far because you have power and you want to fight. But fighting alone won’t win.’’
He looked at each of them. ‘‘Join us.. The True Apostles. Together, we can fix this broken world. You won’t be enemies. You’ll have strength, protection, and a place to belong.’’
He smiled, but it didn’t feel real.
Myer looked at Syvi again after that and nodded, Syvi decided to speak up “Um, Und- Your Majesty- I believe I speak for all of us when I say that..’’ Syvi cleared his voice,
“This atmosphere isn’t exactly helping us… Especially with us being tied down and… The food isn’t exactly to any of our taste.”
Undiff’s smile faltered, his ring glew and then looked at the rest of the group. ‘‘Do all of you also think the food isn't to your taste?’’ Myer would speak up. “Uhm, with all due respect, yes.” Myer stuttered, “It tastes like plastic, yet somehow isn’t bland I-”

A noise interrupted him.

𝐙𝐙𝐙𝐓.

A thin red beam flicked across the room.

𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐩.

Myer looked. Syvi was slumped over, half of his face was gone.. Burned clean through. Syvi’s body gave a final twitch, then stilled. The paintings behind them seemed heavier now, watching with silent judgment. Slowly, over Syvi’s portrait, a thick red cross appeared—wet and fresh, marking his death.
For a moment, no one moved.
Even the True Apostles didn’t react. Only Undiff calmly dabbed his mouth with a napkin and set it down beside his plate. ‘‘I didn’t ask for complaints,’’ he said softly, his ring had stopped glowing.
Syol eyed Undiff, not in shock, but almost in spite.
Leon’s heart was pounding. Maple looked away, swallowing back whatever wanted to come up. KM stared at the table, fists clenched. Myer… just kept looking at Syvi. At what was left of him.
Undiff gestured lazily with two fingers. Two True apostles came forward, grabbed Syvi’s limp body, and dragged it out of the room. A trail of blood followed behind them
Then silence again.
Undiff cleared his throat. ‘‘No need to dwell. Let’s move on to the next course’’
The doors at the far end of the room opened. More pale, expressionless servers entered, each carrying silver-covered trays. The scent that followed was strange.. Rich, spicy, metallic.
They placed a dish in front of everyone.
Leon stared at his. Something was off. The smell felt… Wrong.
The lids were lifted. Thick, dark-red slices. Garnished. Neatly prepared. Too neatly.
KM narrowed his eyes. ‘‘What is this?’’
Undiff replied calmly. “It’s the second course. This one should have a bit more flavour than the last. Eat up.” Hesitantly, everyone decided to eat the second course, not wanting to upset Undiff and get killed like Syvi. Leon, Maple, Tem, Hoddogy and Jade all took one bite. KM took a few bites out of curiosity, while Myer just ate all of it due to how hungry they were. The taste of the meat was raw and bitter. Something was very off. Leon looked closer at his plate and noticed something. There, at the edge, tucked between two slices… was a flower, just like the one in Syvi’s right eye. Maple saw the flower and almost spat out the meat in their mouth.

Myer’s stomach dropped. The smell, the colour, the texture… it was Syvi.

Undiff smiled, cold and calm. The dark necklace around his neck was glowing. He picked up a fork and took a bite from the red slices on his plate—the same ones made from Syvi.
“Look at you all,” he said, chewing slowly. “No powers. No strength. You couldn’t even save your friend.”
He looked around the table. “Without your powers, you’re nothing. Just pawns in a game you don’t understand.”
He tapped the table. His necklace glowing brighter.
“But I can fix this. Join the True Apostles. You’ll get power, protection, a place to belong. Stop fighting alone.”
He waited, watching their faces. Syol kept watching, and finally decided to step up.
Without a word, Syol used his power through his necklace. Dark energy flowed from Syol’s necklace toward Undiff’s.
The energy sucked the power right out of Undiff’s necklace.
Its glow faded.

Cracks appeared all over it.

With a loud snap, the necklace broke and fell to the floor.

A warm energy spread through the room.

Leon gasped as his powers returned. Undiff staggered, holding his neck, shocked yet calm.
“Ah.. Syol…” he said, his ring starting to glow,“There’s a reason you’re but the 12th.”.
Syol looked at them all, calm but serious. “Your powers are back. The real fight starts now.”
Undiff glared at them.
The room was in chaos.
Undiff moved too fast. As soon as Syol broke the necklace, Undiff raised his hand and fired. Dark energy started being shot out as orbs in all directions.
Leon grabbed Maple. ‘‘Get down!’’
KM jumped over the table, throwing knives. Myer’s hands glowed with power. Black energy spheres fell from Undiff’s hand, exploding on the ground and throwing everything around. The room was a mess.
Tem was fighting hard—throwing punches, dodging attacks, pushing forward. Hoddogy was up front, taking hits but never stopping.

Suddenly, Undiff made winds scattered in all directions, almost as if he were Redjet, all while still throwing orbs with his ring.
“keep moving!” Maple yelled, panic in her voice. “don’t stop!”

Leon’s drone flew around, shooting light blasts to block Undiff’s orbs. He tried to get on one to counter the air. “We have to find a way out!” Undiff summoned a chain similar to Piras, he tried to hit Myer, but it didn’t work.

‘‘We’re not running!’’ Myer shouted, but their voice was shaky.

Then Undiff fired again. A big glowing orb flew right at Myer. Myer panicked, he quickly grabbed the nearest thing he could reach.. Hoddogy. And pulled him forward with his power, using him like a shield.

𝑻𝒆𝒎 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍.

‘‘No!’’ KM yelled.

The orb smashed into Hoddogy.

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐌.

The blast shook the room. Dust flew everywhere.

Hoddogy hit the wall hard, then slid down.. And didn’t move…

Tem’s breath caught. He stopped fighting and ran straight to Hoddogy.

‘‘Hoddo?’’ He shook him. ‘‘Hoddo, please wake up.’’

He touched his arm, he touched his chest. No movement. No breath.

Tem’s hands shook. ‘‘You.. You said you wouldnt die on me..’’

𝑵𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒘𝒆𝒓.

The room shook again, but Tem didn’t care. He looked up. He already knew the paintings were there. He didn’t want to look. But he did.. A red cross appeared over Hoddogy’s portrait. Fresh paint, still wet.
That was it.. Tem didn’t scream, he didn’t cry, he just stared. Something inside him broke.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵.

𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘪𝘵.

Tem’s body tensed. His hands lowered slowly. His head dropped.
Then.. something dark started glowing under his skin. It moved like slow fire, crawling up his arms in black lines. His chest pulsed with light. His eyes shimmered.. Cold, sharp, unreadable.
A low hum filled the room. Leon’s drone drifted closer to Tem, but Leon stepped back and made them stop. Maple stopped speaking.
They witnessed it all.
Something was happening to Tem.
Yet, he didn’t move. He didn’t scream. He Didn’t fight. He just knelt there, beside Hoddogy, shaking, staring down at him like the world didn’t matter anymore.

KM limped toward him. “Tem, we have to go. Now.”

𝘕𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳.

Leon looked at the others. “We have to pull him.”
Maple’s voice was tight. “do it. we’re out of 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.”

Leon reached down and grabbed Tem’s arm. The glow pulsed once—cold, like a warning—but didn’t stop him. Tem didn’t resist.
He let them drag him away, his eyes never left Hoddogy.

They ran, nobody spoke, the halls were quiet except for their footsteps and the soft buzz of Leon’s drone lighting the way. Syol glanced back at Tem, then at the others.
‘‘We have to keep moving,’’ He said. ‘‘Follow me. I know a place.’’

No one asked questions. Tem stumbled forward, eyes blank, with Leon and KM supporting him. Myer kept looking over his shoulder, toward where Hoddogy had fallen. Maple stayed close to Leon, her face pale, hands still shaking. They turned down a side hallway, dim and dusty. Cracks ran along the walls. The floor creaked under them.
‘‘There’s a hidden room,‘‘ Syol said as he led the way.‘‘I’m the only one that knows about it, I found it once a long time ago.’’
‘‘how far is it?’’ Maple asked quietly.
‘‘Almost there,’’ Syol said. ‘‘It’s behind a painting. Nobody ever notices it. It looks like nothing.’’
They reached an old painting of a tree with bare branches. The sky behind it was gray, the colors faded. Syol placed his hand on the tree trunk. A soft click echoed, and part of the wall slid open.
‘‘Inside.’’ he said.

They stepped into a narrow passage. Once they were all in, Syol pulled the door shut behind them. It went dark for a moment, until a faint light turned on from the ceiling. The room was small, full of dusty furniture and old boxes. A thick rug covered the floor. It smelled like dust and age—but it felt safe. Hidden.
“We’re okay here,” Syol said, sitting down. “For now.”

Leon let out a breath. Maple dropped onto a couch and hugged her knees. KM stood near the door, watching and listening. Myer sat down slowly, still silent. Tem didn’t move. He knelt in the corner, staring at nothing.
No one said a word for a long time.

Then Maple whispered, “is… is he really gone?”

Still, no one answered.

The room stayed quiet. The air felt heavy.

Syol sat cross-legged, head hanging low. His voice was soft, almost a whisper. “I know I’m one of the twelve, but I never really trusted him, I probably should’ve tried to help more.”
‘‘no’’ maple said quietly. ‘‘you got us out. that’s more than most would’ve done.’’
Leon looked around. ‘‘We’re alive… some of us.’’
Myer shifted where he sat , hunched forward with his elbow on his knees, his face buried in his hands. His Solver Bracelet was off.. he’d taken it off himself. He hadn’t said a word since they came in. Maple watched him from across the room, arms crossed. ‘‘say something.’’

Myer didn’t look up.

Maple stepped forward. ‘‘it's your fault syvi spoke up, syvi tried to stop undiff, tried to help us all. you knew how dangerous undiff was, but you pushed anyway, and because of that, hoddogy’s dead too.’’
‘‘I didn’t think he’d die..’’ Myer finally said, his voice low. ‘‘I- I.. Didn’t think–’’

Maple snapped. ‘‘you never think, myer.’’

Tem stayed kneeling, his face empty, fists clenched tight
Leon looked at Myer. ‘‘Why’d you say anything at all?’’
‘‘I thought–’’ Myer’s voice broke. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t think Undiff would kill him I-” Myer kept stuttering and changing his sentences.

Leon and Jade just watched them, trying to listen, their face tired and angry. Maple looked the most disgusted, unable to process what they did.
Tem and KM both just looked down, not saying anything.

‘‘you let him die,’’ Maple said softly. ‘‘you let him speak when you should’ve stopped him. syvi believed in you. hoddogy believed in all of us.. and they paid for it.’’
Silence fell again.

Myer shook his head. ‘‘He believed in all of us. That was the problem.’’

Syol leaned back against the wall, eyes closed. ‘‘This isn’t the time to tear each other apart.’’

Finally, Tem spoke. Just one word.
‘‘Enough.’’

Everyone turned to him. Tem slowly stood, eyes dark but burning with fire.

‘‘There’s no fixing what happened. Syvi… Hoddogy…’’’
He looked Myer in the eye.
‘‘... Don’t ever let it happen again.’’

Myer nodded slowly, guilt heavy on his face. Tem’s voice dropped lower.
‘‘I haven’t decided what to do with you yet... but I will.’’

No one said a word after that.

Chapter Text

hey chatters and crafters
we decided to REWRITE THE ENTIRE PLOT.

Why? idk because we think it's shit.

Anyway, a new updated version will be out (hopefully) soon. And i'll probably put this on private when THE actual chapter 1 comes out.

so yeah! bye chatters and crafters