______*the next day, The world of Oglan, Ashlock city, 10:00 AM.*______
Nocturne had vanished in the morning before Shay and her family woke up, he had gone to a nearby building and climbed to the top, once he was on the roof, he sat down near the short wall and closed his eyes. "What's your plan Nocturne? go after after random people until you magically find the culprit?" Shade asked as he appeared nearby.
"Don't be stupid." Nocturne said as he opened his right eye to look at Shade. "I might not have a plan yet, but I can think of something to do to narrow down the suspects." He added as he closed his eye again.
Shade walked over and sat down next to him. "And what would that be?" The older night wolf asked.
Nocturne pointed over his shoulder. "See that general store down there?" He asked.
Shade looked and spotted the store. "What about it?" He wondered.
"It's a font for illegal smuggling, and I know that most of the people involved are anti Night Wolf fanatics." Nocturne replied.
"......We're going to tear that place apart and interrogate everyone, no mercy was shown to Sonya, and no mercy will be shown to any of them." Nocturne stated grimly.
Shade stood up, and stared down at the general store. "It won't be easy, with all the people it will be impossible to break in." He muttered.
Nocturne stood up slowly and looked at the store. "Not at night time, the amount of people drops drastically at night, if we are quick, we can get in and get out before anyone notices.
"Come on, let's go." He said.
Shade simply followed Nocturne as he walked down the stairs, it was quiet between the two, but Shade chose not to break the silence. 'He just needs time to get better, then we can stop focusing on this quest for vengeance, and focus on keeping him alive.' He thought to himself.
______*weeks later.*______
Unfortunately, it did not get better, over time Nocturne had only gotten more and more determined to avenge Sonya, his anger grew constantly and seemed to snap at any nuisance that bothered him.
He had also changed more physically, for one he almost never took his jacket off, he now had iron chains wrapped around his arms, his eyes had changed from their usual bright orange to a dark green with blue sclera, his fur also changed to a dark gray, giving him an intimidating appearance.
Perhaps the biggest change in Nocturne was that he had learned how to use powers similar to Shade's, it wasn't as powerful but it was still effective nonetheless.
His overall personality changed as well, aside from his anger, he also tended to be more deceitful and rebellious, bordering on suicidal, he had also expanded his list of targets to those that abuse his kind, as he had disintegrated the arms off of a pair of civilians who were kicking a Night Wolf who couldn't fight back.
Shade was often the voice of reason for Nocturne, even when unwanted, he was always there to help calm him down, or at least to minimize damage.
Recently though, they had been hiding out in an abandoned building which was once an office, and while the lower floors had some people inside it doing repairs, the upper floors were considered home for now.
So Shade was genuinely surprised when a letter appeared on his tattered mattress, he raised an eyebrow and picked it up.
The letter itself was plain and simple, nothing remarkable about it, except for the seal on the back, it was that of a three towered structure, which was more commonly known as the Dragoons seal. "How and why did you send this?" Shade asked himself quietly, as not to disturb Nocturne in his sleep, which was another thing that he rarely got.
Shade opened the letter and pulled out the note, he noticed two small badges as well, but decided to read the note first.
'Hello Shade, I understand that you have questions but they must wait, there is something we need to discuss now, come to my home, the badges will grant you access, regardless of species, I believe that both you and Nocturne will want to hear what I have to say.' The note ended there.
With that, Shade looked at the nearby clock that they had stolen a week ago, the time was five AM, he stood up and walked over to their makeshift food storage, which was just a few coolers with some food in them. "Nocturne! get up!" He called.
Nocturne had gotten used to Shade's wake up calls and simply replied with a grunt. "Don't give me that, now get up, we have somewhere we need to go." He stated as he threw a bagged sandwich at Nocturne, who took it with a groan.
_____*Later.*______
Nocturne sighed as he walked alongside Shade. "What's gotten into you today? your never in this much of a rush." He asked.
"The Dragoon wants to talk to us, and I for one am not in the mood to ignore the most powerful man on the planet." Shade replied. "He sent us a letter earlier say thing there was something he wanted to tell us." Shade added.
Nocturne grunted. "And it never occurred to you that this is a trap?" He asked.
Shade scoffed. "The man can see the future, has magic that we can't really understand, AND has most of the planet under his rule, not to mention the people love him, why would he need a trap to catch us?" He countered.
"Whatever." The younger Night Wolf replied.
Their walk was uneventful, since they usually stuck to the shadows when moving around, not many bothered them.
Of course, this quiet walk was almost interrupted as Nocturne paused and stared for a moment. "What is it?" Shade asked, he soon saw the reason.
Nocturne had spotted Shay with her family, she looked tired as she followed them around, stopping as they left her outside of an office building. "Do you need a minute?" Shade asked.
"No." Nocturne stated firmly before walking away. "If I'm going to avenge Sonya, I can't have any distractions, not even her." He stated.
Shade said nothing and continued walking towards the Dragoons home.
They continued walking for half an hour until they were outside the gates of the Dragoons home, which was a large mansion with loads of security. "So how do we break in?" Nocturne asked.
Shade pulled out a pair of badges and gave one to Nocturne, he clipped the badge to his belt and walked towards what appeared to be a scanner.
The machine beeped. "Scanning, please stand by." A computerized voice stated.
A few moments later, it beeped. "Authorization complete, we welcome honored guests." It stated before the gate opened.
"Keep that badge on." Shade ordered as they passed the gate.
The land around the mansion was green and teeming with life, it seemed to have been well maintained, but the Night Wolves weren't there to sight see.
As they approached the front doors, one of the guards blocked the door with a spear that had an electric tip. "What do you Night Wolves think you are doing here? this area is restricted." He stated firmly.
Shade held up the badge from his belt. "We were invited." He said calmly.
Before the guard could reply, the doors opened to reveal a short white rabbit with a butlers suit. "Enough, both of you, they are the masters guests, now step aside, and let them pass." He ordered in a calm and collected tone.
The guard moved the spear and simply returned to his watch. "Come along." The rabbit stated.
Shade and Nocturne entered the mansion and the doors closed behind them, they followed the rabbit as he walked through the mansion. "I apologize about those two, they are simply thick headed, but I will admit I was surprised when the master told me that two Night Wolves were coming and to let them in." He said.
"Understandable." Shade replied simply.
They stopped in what appeared to be a study, judging by the tall bookshelves, the desks, the couch and chairs, as well as the fireplace. "This is the masters study, he will be with you shortly." The rabbit stated before leaving.
Once they were alone, Nocturne looked at Shade. "We shouldn't be here, we should be out there!" He snapped.
Shade sighed. "Nocturne, we've hit a dead end, and without any leads, we would be searching blindly, if the Dragoon helps us, we will be that much closer to your goal." He replied.
A few minutes of silence followed, which were broken up by the study doors opening, revealing a tall gray scaled creature with two horns that came from the tip of its head, and curved backwards, it had claws and a tail, it's eyes were yellow and were quite intimidating, he wore a simple black polo shirt and a dark gray pants. "Greetings Shade and Nocturne, I am Nostromo, the Dragoon." He introduced.
Nocturne said nothing as he stared with his arms crossed, while Shade nodded. "Why did you want to talk to us?" The larger Night Wolf asked.
Nostromo closed the doors and then looked at Shade. "Simple, there are things we have to discuss, it will take time, but if it will help curb Nocturne's newfound impatience, I do have information regarding Sonya's killer, which I will reveal when we are done." He stated, as if he knew what Nocturne would say.
"I'm listening." Shade stated.
Nostromo walked to the fireplace with his hands behind his back. "I suppose I shall start with the most basic answer for one of your questions, I have the gift of foresight, it allows me to see much, including the two of you, it allowed me to know your names, and where to place that letter." He paused and looked at the two when Nocturne grunted.
"If your so all knowing, why was Sonya killed then?" Nocturne asked flatly.
Nostromo took a breath and sighed, he turned around and looked directly at Nocturne. "She was murdered for protecting you." He stated, causing Nocturne to freeze a little. "She brought it upon herself to take care of a Night Wolf, and there is no shortage of people who will kill for that reason, in their blind hate, they will kill with no thought, no reasoning, and no remorse." He said calmly.
"Now, I understand your anger, but this hatred you have built up for this quest? it will only cause more pain in the end, for your own sake young one, I suggest you let it go." Nostromo said.
Nocturne balled his hands into fists as he felt his anger bubble. "Shut up." He said quietly.
Shade noticed that Nocturne was barely containing his anger, and that his fists were holding powerful energy in them right now. "Calm down." He said.
Nocturne looked at Shade. "This isn't the place for that Nocturne." The larger Night Wolf stated.
Nostromo looked over at Shade. "While he calms down, there is something I need to tell you and only you." He said.
Shade nodded and followed Nostromo out of the study.
Nocturne growled quietly as he let his fists relax back into hands, he took a few breaths and rubbed his eyes. "This is so stupid." He complained to himself.
With nothing better to do, Nocture crossed his arms and waited for Shade to get back, and sure enough, he came through the study doors a few moments later. "Can we go now?" He asked impatiently.
"Not quite yet young Nocturne." Nostromo said before entering. "You wished to know how to find Sonya's killer?.....then I will tell you." He walked to the fireplace again. "Free your kind from their captivity, go to where they are kept, destroy their bonds, and the killer will be revealed." He stated cryptically.
Before Nocturne could say anything, Shade had thanked the Dragoon and dragged him away.
______*later.*______
Shade and Nocturne were in their hideout quietly sitting down, with the latter of the two planning their next raid, eventually though, he stopped and looked up at Shade. "What did the Dragoon tell you?" He asked.
"Nothing to worry about right now." Shade replied quietly.
Nocturne narrowed his eyes. "That's a load of bull, we BOTH know it was important if he didn't want me to know....so what is it Shade?" He asked again.
Shade said nothing at first, but then spoke. "I know where we need to strike, it's obvious at any rate." He said, changing the subject.
Nocturne glared for a moment, but decided to just focus on vengeance. "Where?" He asked, his tone was flat and serious.
"The Junction, it's where they hold all Night Wolf captives........and the hearts of all Night Wolves." Shade stated.
Nocturne placed a hand over where his heart should be and sighed. "Let's go then, if it means Sonya's killer will show up, I'll burn that place to nothing but ash." He said.
With that said and done, the two planned their attack and then slept, after eating, the two would commit to the attack.
______*the next day, 6:55 PM*_______
Shade and Nocturne were currently on top of a building close to the Junction, they saw that there were about ten guards on the roof, but they knew the inside would be full of them.
At the moment however, Shade was busy examining the building. "The Junction is one of the most defended places in the world, this wont be easy." He stated.
The Junction was actually a serious of buildings, seven eight story structures linked together only by a wall surrounding them all, but Nocturne wasn't concerned.
They had prepared for this by stealing some mountain climbing grapples, and a few air cannons to create a makeshift grapple launcher. "Are you ready for this Nocturne?" Shade asked.
Nocturne grinned wildly and his hands glowed with energy. "Oh yea." He replied.
With that said and done, Shade and Nocturne fired the grapples at the closest Junction building, and they quickly climbed the ropes.
Well, to be more accurate, Shade had grabbed the grapple as he fired it, and Nocturne held onto him as they flew, Shade's hand stung like hell, but it would be fine in a little.
They soon got onto the roof and were immediately beset by guards with taser spears, Shade simply waved his hand and the spears disintegrated into nothing, he then proceeded to beat the guards until they were unconscious.
The guards, brave as they were, were powerless to stop a Night Wolf who can't die, and Nocturne had been infusing his punches with his energy, making them impact much harder than normal.
One of the guards however, had a gun and aimed it at Shade. "Die you freak!" He shouted before opening fire.
Shade wasn't fazed by the bullets, but his eyes widened when Nocturne had knocked the guard to the ground and went to fire a blast at him. "No!" He shouted.
Nocturne looked back at Shade just as he was thrown to the ground.
Shade knocked the guard out and threw them all into the stairs entrance, he then looked at Nocturne. "What the hell was that for!?" The smaller Night Wolf shouted.
"We have one rule Nocturne, don't kill non criminals." Shade stated. "I wasn't able to stop you in time before you could disintegrate those civilians arms, but this is going too far." He stated.
Nocturne growled. "That's rich, now you have a conscience? tell me the truth, you could have saved Sonya! couldn't you!?" He snapped.
Shade stared at Nocturne's angered expression, the pure hatred in the child's eyes, he took a breath and spoke. "Yes, I could have." He said.
Almost instantly, Nocturne threw a barrage of energy blasts at Shade. "WHY DIDNT YOU SAVE HER!? AS POWERFUL AS YOU ARE YOU SHOULD HAVE SAVED HER!" Nocturne shouted as he attacked.
Shade dodged the blasts as best as he could, but every now and then, one would impact, but he simply healed instantly. "Because I only care about protecting YOU Nocturne, my life? Sonya's? nowhere near as important!" He snapped back.
Nocturne's anger only rose. "Not important?" He asked out of anger, his hands trembling. "Well how about now!? if you don't fight back I will kill you!" He shouted.
However, Shade didn't fight back, all he did was dodge, which only served to increase Nocturne's anger. "Why won't you fight back you idiot!?" He shouted before throwing a large wave of energy around him.
Shade ducked slowly as the energy disintegrated everything above him on the roof. "Sonya wouldn't want you to fight, neither would Shay." He said quietly.
Nocturne seemed to pause at the names, but he still approached with anger. "Shut up Shade." He warned.
Shade struggled to prop himself up with his hands. "Nocturne, this isn't you, you aren't murderous." He said in an attempt to reason with him.
Nocturne infused his right hand with energy and looked down at Shade. "Why won't you fight back!?" He shouted before punching Shade in the side.
Shade coughed as he rolled away from the force of the impact, he forced himself to stand up. "We are linked, the more you hate me, the more you want me gone, the weaker I get." He said as he shakily stood.
Nocturne marched up and pulled Shade down to his eye level and stared directly into him. "I didn't ask that, I asked why you WON'T fight back!" He growled.
Shade breathed shakily, his energy nearly gone, he chuckled a little. "Because your our races future......Nostromo told me his vision........you, your the only Night Wolf who can use this power, the only one who can have children, that's why I won't fight you, you are the future, and a friend." He stated.
Nocturne blinked, his eyes returning to orange for a second before going back to Dark green. "It doesn't matter, there are no female Night Wolves, that hope is an illusion." He replied.
Shade collapsed to the ground and breathed heavily. "Is that so?......this facility holds every Night Wolf that is scheduled for termination, what if one does exist? regardless of that, at least help me save our people." He said weakly.
Nocturne seemed to pause, as if considering it, he soon growled and shook his head, he looked down at Shade and clenched his right hand into a fist, he then punched Shade's head into the ground. "Don't try and screw with my head, we are here ONLY to kill the bastard that murdered Sonya, nothing more." He stated firmly.
"It's going to have to be you then." Shade choked, he rolled over so that he was lying on his back. "I can't protect you now, not as weak as I am." He added, speaking now pained his throat.
Nocturne looked back at Shade, and his eyes once again flashed to orange for a brief second. "Shade, come on and get up, don't you dare act like you're dying!" He shouted as he walked over.
Once he saw Shade's condition however, Nocturne gasped in terror and realization, Shade's body was bruised and broken, his face bloody and he was seemed to be getting weaker by the second. "No.....no no no!" Nocturne cried out as he grabbed Shade's hand and shook him. "Get up! I'm not losing anyone else!" He said.
Shade struggled to move his head, he looked at Nocturne. "Like I said, the more you want me gone, the weaker I get, I wasn't made or born like other Night Wolves buddy." He strained to say.
Shade shakily reached and grabbed Nocturne's arm with his left hand. "YOU created me, that day at the bank, I was born as a guardian, to protect you, keep you alive, but now, I can't go on anymore." His hand lost its grip. "Your going back to normal." He chuckled, the pain shot through him again. "Don't fight for vengeance anymore Nocturne, fight for the right reasons." Shade grit his teeth as pain shot through his body once again, before he went limp.
Nocturne froze in place once Shade stopped breathing, his eyes wide and tear filled, the tears streamed down his face as his fur became brown once again, his grief pushing aside all other feelings.
Nocturne simply cried as he held Shade's hand in his, he would have remained this way, were it not for Shade's body seeming to fade away. "No." He whispered.
As he watched Shade disappear, he could only feeling aching in his heart, knowing that this was entirely his fault. "Don't leave me alone." He whispered to himself through the sobs.
For a few more minutes it was silence, up until a very loud hum of an engine was heard nearby, wiping the tears from his eyes, Nocturne stood up and looked in the direction of the engine, and he was stunned by what he saw.
Floating in the air nearby was a large mech, it's legs were strong and looked bidirectional, the body was sturdy and seemed to be shaped like a person, and the arms were long and held a large minigun and a chain blade, there were also thrusters on its back. "I don't know what you think your doing little freak, but it ends here!" A mechanized voice stated from within the mech.
Nocturne quickly ran as the mech aimed it's minigun and began to fire at him, he lept from the rooftop and landed on a closer buildings roof, he quickly formed an energy ball and threw it at the mech. "Stay back!" He shouted as he threw it.
The mech dodged easily as its thrusters fired up and moved closer to attack. "Without your partner, you are nothing!" The pilot shouted before unleashing another hail of bullets.
Nocturne quickly hid behind the concrete stairwell entrance, he gritted his teeth when a few bullets pierced through and embedded themselves in his shoulder.
'I need to get away, I can't fight this guy.......I wish Shade were still here, he would know what to do.' Just as Nocturne finished that thought, he came up with an idea.
Nocturne quickly ran out from behind his cover, he charged an energy ball and threw it at the mech, and while the pilot worked to dodge, Nocturne threw another energy ball with a special twist.
The pilot tried to dodge, but the ball simply followed him. 'Now's my chance!' Nocturne ran and jumped to the next building, his just barely managed to grab onto the ledge, but it was with his injured arm, the bullets were causing a crippling amount of pain.
Nocturne could feel his grip slipping, and his eyes widened as he feared for his life, he tried to grab on with his other hand, but his bloody hand kept slipping off.
And then, Nocturne's hand slipped, and he began to fall, he closed his eyes to brace for the inevitable. 'I'm sorry Shade, I really am.' He thought.
It was then that Nocturne realized that there was something on his arm, he opened his eyes and looked up, and he looked comepletely shocked.
Shade was holding his arm to keep him from falling. "Need a hand little guy?" He asked with a grin.
Nocturne said nothing as Shade pulled him up, he stared at him in comeplete shock. "How is this possible?......you died." He asked.
Shade looked and spotted the mech flying over. "Let's just say I had an interesting few weeks or months." He stated as he charged up an energy blast.
"Well well well, if it isn't the freaks pet." The pilot taunted, but Shade wasn't fazed.
Nocturne quickly got to work on removing the bullets for his shoulder as he sat in his new hiding place, he glanced over and watched as Shade stood still through an entire barrage of bullets from that minigun. "I know you've never been in the Junction, but how are you still alive!? If you haven't been processed, then you should have a heart!" The pilot asked angrily.
Shade simply replied with a few disintegration blasts. "Who are the freaks? the ones who can live without a heart? or the ones who take them in the first place?" He pondered as he threw a larger blast at the mech.
Nocturne stifled his pained cries as he removed the bullets, he grit his teeth as he pulled one straight out of a bone. "Gah!" He exclaimed as pain coursed through him suddenly.
Shade had apparently gotten tired of the skirmish, and took matters into his own hands, he jumped onto a small fence and then lept up to the roof of the stairs entrance, he then lunged at the mech and gripped the body plate tightly, forcing his disintegration power through to destroy to body.
The pilot however was not having any of it, as he swung his chain blade at Shade wildly, the Night Wolf had to disengage quickly and jumped off, he landed perfectly on the roof, the pilot seemed to be worse off as it landed and aimed it's gun at Nocturne.
The gun fired a hail of bullets and Nocturne ran to dodge them, as he ran he could feel a lot of them pierce through his body, he cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground with a slide, the bullets continued to pierce him, making him scream in pain.
Shade quickly dashed and stood between Nocturne and the mech as it fired, he threw up a barrier in front of him, disintegrating the bullets as they neared him, when the mech stopped, Shade threw two gray orbs at the mech, aiming for its gun.
To his surprise, the orbs impacted but didn't do anything. "Did you really think that would work freak? this armor was designed specifically to counter your strange disintegration powers, you cannot win!" The pilot shouted, the mech then shifted and two missile launchers unfolded from its back, it then released a salvo at Shade.
Shade saw that Nocturne was still behind him trying to recover from the pain he was in. "Dammit." He muttered, he threw a few blasts at the missiles, but they didn't get disintegrated.
The missiles impacted Shade and the explosion threw Nocturne back, slamming him against the wall, Shade was breathing heavily as he knelt on the ground, weary from the fight. "Why won't you die!?" The pilot shouted angrily.
Shade chuckled and stood up slowly. "You know, in these past few months, I was asked that same question so many times." He looked at the mech. "And I gave the exact same answer every time." He charged his hands. "I have no heart." He stated before throwing a bunch of disintegration blasts at the mech rapidly.
The pilot of the mech didn't try to dodge, instead he retaliated with his minigun and missile launchers, intent on obliterating Shade.
Nocturne took a deep breath as he slowly stood, he sent a wave of energy through his body, causing the bullets embedded in him to fly out, his wounds began to heal quickly as he looked at the mech. 'Whoever this guy is, he knows enough about Shades powers to make armor resistant to it, but he dodges mine.' With this knowledge, Nocturne ran up next to Shade and grabbed the chains around his arms. "Get back Nocturne!" Shade ordered.
"Sorry bud." Nocturne replied. "Not a chance." He quickly sent energy into the chains and pulled, the chains unraveled themselves and then fell to the ground around him. "So the little freak show himself finally rejoins the fight, such a useless endeavor." The pilot taunted as he aimed the gun at Nocturne.
With one swift motion, Nocturne pulled his arms back, and then threw them forward, releasing the chains in the process, he then focused his power, and the chains came alive, they glowed light green and flew at rapid speed, they wrapped themselves around the mechs left arm and forced it to the body, they then locked themselves in place, trapping the arm. "You'll pay for that you little freak!" The pilot shouted as it opened fire.
Nocturne and Shade countered with a barrage of their own, Shade focused mostly on shielding them, while Nocturne attacked with his energy blasts.
The pilot was forced onto the defensive, dodging the energy as best as it could, but a few impacted, dealing heavy damage to the missile launchers, blowing them off its back and overloading the mech.
Shade quickly charged up as the mech and pilot were frozen in place by the electricity surging through it, and once more he focused on removing the frontal armor plate from the mech. "Get.....off you freak!" The pilot shouted through the pain before it managed to break the chains off.
Nocturne focused his energy and immobilized the arm as it went to swing its chain blade at Shade, he strained under the pressure. "Hurry up already!" He called out.
In one last attempt, Shade used all his strength and ripped the armor plate off, it creaked loudly and it boomed when it hit the ground.
Nocturne was forced to release his hold on the arm and fell to the ground, he breathed heavily. "Shade, you alright?" He asked in between breaths.
"I'm here." Shade replied before standing.
The mech finally stopped overloading and metal shifting could be heard, Nocturne looked up and his eyes widened once he saw who the pilot was.
The pilot was none other than Erik, the hammerhead shark who worked with Sonya when Nocturne first awoke. "You?" Nocturne asked out of disbelief and shock.
Erik growled and tossed the minigun aside, the arm changed to a rifle configuration and he threw the chain blade aside as well. "Yes, it's me you little freak, I should have terminated you when I had the chance, protocol demanded it.....I will rectify that now." He aimed the rifle and fired at Nocturne, who swiftly dodged the bullets to the best of his ability, but most hit him and he fell to the ground again.
Shade tried to intervene but Erik stopped firing and swung his mechanized fist at him, Shade didn't react in time and the fist punched right through his body, he screamed in pain as Erik pulled him up to his face. "I don't know how you are alive, or what you are doing here, but this game ends now." He threw Shade aside and aimed at Nocturne again before firing.
To Erik's surprise, Shade managed to get in front of Nocturne and shielded him with what was left of his already healing body. "How can you move with most of your body gone?" Erik wondered, it was then that he realized something, and began to laugh maniacally.
"What's so funny asshole?" Shade asked as he looked over his shoulder at the shark.
Erik smirked and his thrusters activated, he began to hover. "I finally found your weakness freak, you need the little one to live, without him, you cannot survive, so I think it's time I do what Sonya SHOULD have done ages ago!" He declared as he flew up and then towards a different part of the Junction.
Nocturne growled and used his power, he gripped Eriks thrusters and slowly clenched his fists, then the thrusters began to compress and screech as metal bent forcefully, he then pulled down with his hand and Erik's mech fell to the ground.
Erik quickly got up and fired his gun at Nocturne, Shade allowed the bullets to hit him instead. "Stop taking bulelts for me! you need to heal!" Nocturne snapped.
"You should listen to the little freak, let him take the punishment while you worry about yourself.......after all, that's what he did with Sonya." Erik taunted as he slowly approached, he had grabbed his chain blade along the way.
Shade panted and faced Erik, he chest was thin and weak, but he was still standing. "What are you talking about? Sonya was murdered while he was away, don't you dare pin her death on him!" He warned with a dangerous tone.
Erik pushed a button on the chain blade and it revved up like a chainsaw. "Her death WAS his fault! if he had simply died then I never would have gone to her apartment!" He snapped.
Nocturne stiffened up as he heard those words. "You.......you killed her?" He said quietly.
Erik growled as he aimed his gun at Shade. "She simply wouldn't listen to reason! she allowed her emotions to cloud her judgement and she broke protocol!" He shouted, firing a round into Shade's knee, making him fall to the ground. "I tried to convince her that you needed to die, that no one was above our rules, not even the Dragoon!" He fired another round into Shade's elbow, it pierced straight through the flesh and bone, he cried out.
Erik then stood above and Shade and aimed his gun at the Night Wolves head. "She yelled at me, and when I tried to explain further she attacked me, her stinger aimed for my heart, I did the only thing I could do to defend myself." He explained before firing, the bullet pierced Shade's head and body, and he collapsed to the ground, the shark looked at the smaller Night Wolf. "YOU killed Sonya by existing, and now I will put this wrong right." He aimed his gun again but was startled by what he saw.
Nocturne growled and his anger caused his fur to become gray again, his eyes became dark green with blue sclera in seconds, he raised his hand and the chains from before raced to him, they floated around him with a dark red aura and formed a chain snake, he looked directly at Erik and clenched his fist, the chains rocketed forward and began to lash out, the mech's armor creaked and groaned as the chains hit it over and over.
Erik himself was not unscathed, the chains were lashing him like whips, and he was forced to disengage, his left and right hands gained thrusters and he flew up. "I MAY NOT BE ABLE TO KILL YOU DIRECTLY! BUT I WILL DESTROY EVERY NIGHT WOLVES HEART IN THE JUNCTION!" He shouted as he flew towards one of the buildings quickly.
Nocturne stared at Erik's mech and growled. "I can't catch up to him in time.....unless." He looked at Shade and he swiftly returned to normal, he ran over and sat his friend up. "Ah hah hah! ow!" Shade cried out.
"Shade, we need to stop Erik! I need you to get us to the building with the hearts!" Nocturne stated.
With a grunt, Shade replied. "How? we don't have thrusters or jetpacks, we can't outrace him." He stated. as he forced himself to stand.
"Shade, I've seen you teleport before!......do it again but for the two of us!" Nocturne said as he stood.
"No way." Shade stated. "Erik was right, we can't stop him, his mech counters my power completely, and you don't have a lot left." He added.
Nocturne pointed at the flying mech. "I am not letting Sonya's murderer get away with this! help me damnit!" He snapped angrily.
Shade sighed and grabbed Nocturne's shoulder. "I'll hold him off as long as I can, get your heart and put it back, free our people and give them their hearts, they won't hesitate to fight back." He stated before teleporting them In a flash of red light.
______*elsewhere.*______
Nocturne and Shade ended up just inside of one of the Junction buildings, Shade looked at Nocturne. "Go and free our people." He ordered before clutching his side. "Come and get us you bastard." He mumbled.
As Nocturne ran off, Shade waited, and after a few moments, the mech blasted the walls off, along with several guards. "It's over Erik, after tonight, we will be free and alive, and you will be dead." Shade stated confidently.
Erik clearly did not think so. "We will see, my mech is resistant to your power, and your all alone, I can only assume the little freak is searching for his heart, but he doesn't know where to look." He smirked as he aimed his gun at Shade. "I have the advantage here freak, your race dies tonight." He stated before firing.
______*meanwhile*______
Nocturne ran down a corridor and looked around, there were two paths and two doors, with a groan, Nocturne ran to a path and hoped for the best, he reached the door and tried to open it, but it was sealed, he noticed a scanner nearby, he shook his head and channeled energy so he could force it open.
To his surprise though, the door opened and a computer spoke. "Welcome Nocturne, to the repository." It stated as the doors opened.
Nocturne was a little concerned that the computer knew his name, and that it was activated by his power, he looked into the next room and was completely stunned, he walked inside slowly and catiously.
Inside was a very large room that was easily two stories tall, it was lined with glass walls with hearts in special containers behind the glass, there was only one other thing here, a small terminal in the center with a tube like contraption hooked up to a small pedestal.
Nocturne walked up and activated the terminal, it immediately asked for identification. "I wonder....." Nocturne channeled his energy and touched the keypad.
The terminal beeped. "Hello Nocturne." The Dragoons voice said calmly. "I know why you are here......one moment." The sound of something moving reverberated through the empty room and soon enough, a container holding an orange colored heart came out of the tube and stood on the pedestal.
"Not many know this is here, but this is your heart Nocturne, take it and return it to where it belongs." The voice stated. "Do you know what the true difference between a Night Wolf and a regular wolf is? the truth is, there is no real important difference, aside from one, a Night Wolf's legs bend forwards, where a regular wolf's legs bend backwards, this may seem unimportant, but it was crucial for identifying the difference in species." The voice continued.
Nocturne stared at his heart with unease, it looked strange to him, he sighed and reached out, he hesitated but still grabbed the container and examined it.
The container was made of glass, it had a special lid that was made of some kind of metal, but it was light, the lid looked like it would pop right off, but it appeared to be doing something to the heart. "These containers are designed to keep the hearts alive, the lids have special technology built into them that makes the heart live without any penalties, no decay, no delay, no chance of failure." The voice said calmly.
Nocturne took the lid of the container and carefully grabbed his heart, he felt strange holding it, but he also felt vulnerable, like he would die in a second, he gulped and channeled his energy, the heart glowed light green and it floated right through his chest.
In that second, Nocturne gasped as he felt the heart inside him beat, he no longer felt numb, he could feel the cold air in the room, he could feel his body grow stronger in moments and his fur became slightly more vibrant than its usual dull brown. "Whoa........this is amazing." He said quietly.
"Nocturne, the choice is yours now.......after stopping Sonya's killer, you could leave, return to the life you knew but without her, or you could risk it all, save your people and try to free them all from their slavery." The Dragoon's voice stated.
With that said and done, Nocturne quickly searched through the terminals files, he soon saw something odd, a file that someone tried to delete, he blinked and recovered it quickly. 'I know you need help Shade, but I have a feeling this is important.' He thought.
Nocturne opened the file and discovered that it was a complete file on a Night Wolf called Zoey, he learned that Zoey was in fact a female Night Wolf, the first of her kind, but that she had many issues labeling her as a 'failure', she had a rebellious personality, she often acted out against authority, she didn't age correctly like the other Night Wolves, she murdered her former master who apparently tried to abuse her.
The more he read, the more Nocturne felt sorry for Zoey, but he had to keep moving, he closed the file and walked out of the room to search for the holding area.
______*meanwhile*______
Shade dodged and hid behind a pillar, he took a few breaths before throwing some blind shots to Erik, he then followed up by firing a small barrage at the shark, they were dodged, but Shade just needed to buy time. "This is growing old you freak, just give up and accept your defeat!" Erik shouted.
Shade dodged and disintegrated bullets with his barrier as he replied. "I may not be able to disintegrate your mech, but you aren't resistant!" He countered as he unleashed a surprise nova.
Erik turned his back to the nova and the mech took the brunt of it, once it passed he turned around and fired another round. "Once I find the little freaks heart, I will smash it, and you both will die like the pathetic mongrels you are!" He threatened.
______*meanwhile.*______
Nocturne walked through the quiet room slowly, he found the holding area, but one of the captives told him that most had no will to fight left, so he was focusing on finding the release.
It took a minute, but Nocturne found it, he walked up to the device and grabbed the lever. "Warning, this lever will open all cells, state identification or be fired upon." The computer stated as many turrets lowered and aimed at him.
'Please work.' He muttered as he channeled his energy. "......Welcome Nocturne, deactivating security systems." The computer said.
Nocturne pulled the lever and all the cell doors opened, and the quiet room suddenly became loud as the captive Night Wolves emerged and marched around mindlessly.
Before he could walk over to the crowd of Night Wolves, Nocturne noticed a small cell that was out of the way, alone and dark, he walked over curiously and peeked inside, there was a second set of bars that wasn't linked to any source of power, he noticed a small stool and walked over, there was a young looking Night Wolf sitting in a corner, huddled in the dark. "Excuse me, do you want out?" He asked as he sat down.
The Night Wolf stiffened before slowly turning its head to look, it seemed to be shocked upon seeing Nocturne as it slowly stood and walked up shakily with a stunned expression. "Who?......who are you?" It asked quietly, it's voice was definitely female, her fur was black and her eyes are red.
"I'm Nocturne, what's your name?" He asked.
The Night Wolf backed up and paced a little. "I'm uh, I'm Zoey, want to light a match!?" She asked, her mood suddenly changing.
Nocturne blinked. "I.....don't have one." He replied, unsure of what to make of this.
Zoey grabbed the bars and rested her cheek on them. "That's fine!........so why are you here?" She asked, her voice suddenly serious.
"I'm freeing the Night Wolves, you can be free too, if you want." Nocturne replied.
Zoey stared into Nocturne's eyes, examining them carefully. "You aren't like the others." She said as she released the bars and walked away, sitting on the floor. "The others mumble and panic, obey and rebel, fight and die." She stated, her tone became eerie. "You are new, something different, something.......like me.." She said before looking at Nocturne. "Won't we get in trouble for escaping?" She asked, her voice was one of worry now.
Nocturne nodded and stood up, he gripped one of the bars. "I won't let you get in trouble." He swore.
Zoey stood and approached, she gripped the bars and looked into Nocturne's Orange eyes. "The bad man is here, he will not allow me to go free, he tortured me." She stated, her tone was quiet. "We can't beat him, we need to run." She added.
Nocturne shook his head. "No, he killed someone I cared about, I won't let him get away, not when I have the power to stop him." He replied.
Zoey grinned wildly. "Let's get him then!" She said eagerly, to Nocturne's surprise, Zoey's hands glowed bright red and the bars melted rapidly.
Nocturne was honestly surprised, if she could do that, what measures did the guards take to keep her in here? "My friend is fighting Erik to buy us time so we can get our hearts, come on, I'll take you there." He said.
Zoey shook her head. "No, the bad man must die first, then we can take what is ours." She said, her attitude changing once more to a serious one.
______*meanwhile*______
Shade cried out as he was flung into a wall and a barrage of bullects impacted on him, tearing him apart, as his body started to repair itself immediately, Erik spoke. "I truly don't understand you, you endure all of this pain for that little freak, when all you need to do is steal his heart and hide, you could live your life free and no one would know the truth." He aimed his gun. "It doesn't matter, I'll turn you to ash if I have to." He stated calmly before opening fire once more.
Shade screamed as the bullets tore his flesh and bone apart, he expected it to last a long time, but it soon stopped, he breathed heavily and looked up.
Erik's mech was being immobilized by Nocturne's power, who's hand was glowing a light green. "I see you've returned, little freak." The shark said as he tried to move to no avail.
Nocturne strained to keep him from moving. "Now would be a good time!" He called out.
Shade tried to move, but the pain combined with broken limbs made him immobile, and to his surprise, another Night Wolf jumped in out of nowhere and grabbed hold of Erik's right arm.
"How did you escape you little brat!?" Erik snapped as he tried to fight back, putting even more strain on Nocturne.
The smaller Night Wolf laughed maniacally as its hands glowed bright red, the metal arm then began to melt away slowly, and then it sped up rapidly. "I had a little help you bastard." The wolf stated, the voice was female.
Nocturne was soon forced to release his hold on Erik's mech, but by then the arm was almost completely melted off, Erik grabbed the Night Wolf and threw her aside.
In that moment, Nocturne threw a barrage of energy blasts at Erik, he hadn't noticed until it was too late, the blasts all hit and his mech arm was broken off, with that, Shade managed to force himself to move, he charged as fast as he could and lunged.
Erik hadn't noticed Shade, and wasn't able to react in time as the Night Wolf's claw pierced through his chest, he coughed up blood. "You freak, get off me!" Erik demanded as he grabbed Shade and threw him off.
Nocturne approached next and his left hand glowed light green, he walked right up to Erik with Zoey next to him. "This is for Sonya." He stated quietly before gripping both Erik and the mech with his power, he then slowly clenched his fist.
The arm and legs of the mech were crushed in seconds, the metal screeched as it was torn apart, Nocturne then forced Erik out of the mech, causing his body to be cut and bruised severely.
Erik cried out as he landed on the ground, when he looked up, the three Night Wolves stood over him. "I should have killed you three before you were awakened, abominations." He spat.
Zoey walked up to Erik and her hand glowed bright red. "No, your the only abomination here." She said, her voice monotone as she placed her hand on Erik's head.
The shark screamed in agony as Zoey's power attacked him, and soon enough, he paused his screaming for a split second, only for him to scream one last time before his body exploded into red mist.
Nocturne breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over." He muttered, he looked at what remained of the mech and used his power again, the metal groaned in protest but a second later it was nothing but ashes.
"We need to get our people their hearts, then we need to run." Shade stated.
Zoey walked over to the pile of ash and kicked it, sending the pile everywhere, she then looked at the others. "Let's have some fun!" She stated eagerly.
______*in the present.*_______
"After that, we managed to get all of the hearts from the Junction, then we fled.......after Zoey burned one of the buildings down." Nocturne explained as he took a drink from his water bottle.
Shay had woken up while they were talking about Shade's death, she yawned and walked up the stairs.
Nightmare and Shade were sitting on the couch opposite Nocturne. "So......what happened to Zoey?" Nightmare asked.
Nocturne pointed up. "She's upstairs, sleeping off a hangover and a really powerful tranquilizer." He said as he held his right hand over his eyes.
Nightmare raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Tranquilizer?" She asked.
Shade leaned back. "Zoey used to be a split personality, but losing her other selves a while ago made her really really angry, this is one of the drawbacks, she developed a.......resistance to sedation, the problem is that she became addicted to them, were working on that." He explained.
"So Nightmare, what brings you here?" Nocturne asked curiously.
Nightmare huffed. "Wish I knew, one minute I'm in my room, next thing I know I wake up in the park upstairs." She replied.
"How's that possible?" Nocturne asked.
Shade stretched and put his hands behind his head. "Remember when I told you about what happened to me?" He asked.
Nocturne nodded. "Yea, you told me about the Sentinel.......what was her name?" He asked.
"Lyaroa, basically a god, she made thousands of worlds, which we see more as dimensions." Shade explained.
Nightmare leaned forward. "I think she's the reason I'm here, it probably wasn't intentional, her power has been erratic lately." She said.
"You think she knows your here?" Nocturne asked.
Nightmare nodded. "I know she knows, she's probably waiting for her power to stabilize before she tries anything major like going across worlds." She replied.
Shade stood up and looked at Nocturne. "Do you have any beer left Nocturne?" He asked.
Nocturne nodded. "Third shelf." He replied.
Nightmare leaned back and looked at the ceiling. "Now I basically just have to wait for Lyaroa to get her shit together." She replied.
Nocturne nodded. "Well, it won't be that long of a wait for you, considering the time difference that Shade mentioned." He said,
Nightmare shook her head. "Knowing Lyaroa, she will have fixed that little issue, ugh.....she's annoying sometimes." She mumbled.
"So she can fix a time difference between worlds, but she can't bring you home?" Nocturne asked.
Shade walked back over. "It's probably more of a finesse issue, her erratic power must make it hard to focus on something small like us." He replied as he sat down and popped the lid off his beer bottle.
Nocturne sighed and leaned back. "Well I can't spare a room, Zoey is......in the mood lately." He said quietly.
Shade nodded and took a sip from his drink. "Good thing I have a spare then." He looked at Nightmare. "Looks like your bunking with me until Lyaroa shows up." He said.
Nightmare laid back. "Great." She mumbled.
______*Meanwhile, in Equestria.*______
Fang was in his house alone as Spark was at school, and Trixie was out somewhere, he was currently sitting on his living room couch quietly listening to some music.
It was normal up until the music stopped and the world darkened, Fang groaned. "I thought I was past these stupid visions!" He complained.
"This is no vision, Fang." Replied a familiar voice from nearby.
Fang stood and looked in the direction of the voice, and he growled, he shifted to his wolf form. "Galesh." He hissed.
Galesh stood before Fang as a brown wolf, she did not seem worried about his reaction. "Calm yourself Fang, this is just an illusion i projected in your mind, in reality you are asleep, but I needed to speak with you in a way that my daughter can not detect." She explained.
Fang huffed and eased his tension. "Why are you here?......to gloat about killing me?" He wondered.
"That is pointless, and in case you forgot, Lyaroa almost killed me in return, not a memory to gloat over." She replied. "No, I came here to speak to you, we have a lot to talk about, and I think you'll be interested." She stated as she appeared on the chair.
Fang glared at the Sentinel for a moment before walking to his couch and sitting down. "I'm listening." He stated.