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Counter Earth Chronicles - Fallen Empire

Chapter 7: Shadows Born From A Dying Light

Day 11 (2:52 AM)

"Very interesting mistress, that does look like Rumble, but it isn't him." I said studying the images from the probe.

"How so Alex?"

"Mistress the were-creature is not wearing any clothing. Rumble wears a white loin-cloth." I said pointing to the footage again. "Besides he warned us that that area where the forest ends- near the stadium was extremely dangerous."

"Why?"

"He smelled death there, a lot of it." I said looking over at her. "Mistress, Rumble is a friend, a trusted ally."

"Well, where is he now?" My warrior bear said lifting an eye brow.

"Let's find out." I said pressing the third toggle switch on the weapons console of the prototype.

My she beast watched as the copilot monitor and key board emerged from the glove compartment.

"Engaging microprobes." I said.

"Why Alex, I am shocked." The warrior said in mock bravado.

"As I said before after all you and I have been through- I too wanted to make sure that Corey and Rumble weren't imbedded spies from the Grand Kingdom."

"So you used microprobes to spy on them." She said looking at me sinisterly.

"You are damn right." I said as I called up the first one. "See they are right in their house."

"Actually no pet. That is Corey in a hammock?"

"Yeah they started sleeping in that. Corey thinks it is more comfortable than their primitive bed. Rumble agrees." I said studying the footage I was receiving from their bedroom.

"So where is our resident werewolf?" My bear knight asked again.

"I am not sure. Maybe in the central building using the facilities?"

(No, he hasn't quite figured out how to relieve himself outside of the forest yet.)

"Wait, I have motion!" I said seeing a dark figure approach the house next to ours.

Quietly the were-creature crept into the stone house. With his huge paws he struggled to get the front door to open leaving several claw marks in its wake. Once he made entry he fumbled trying to get it to close, but was relieved when he finally did.

He listened carefully to see if the sixteen year old he shared his domicile with had stirred. Not hearing anything, he proceeded to the bedroom and his hammock which he found occupied.

Corey appeared to be out cold, probably unaware that he had been alone for several hours during the night. The werewolf gently lifted the sleeping adolescent from the hammock, climbed back in laying him back down on his person.

"Rumble where have you been?" Corey asked as he made himself comfortable on the former lab experiment's mane.

"..........." Rumble grumbled.

"And don't tell me you were in the central building. You still haven't figured out how to use the waste receptacles there."

"..........."

"You were above ground weren't you? That is the only explanation that makes sense." Corey said shocked.

"...yes..."

"You weren't followed when you returned right?"

The were creature nodded.

"You put everyone's safety here at risk- you know that right? The city could be discovered and we all could be annihilated. Why did you disappear anyway?"

"...my purpose..."

"Your purpose? Your purpose?" Corey said looking up at his were-creature. "Oh, you were trying to figure out why you were created. This I have to hear. So what did you discover? What do you think you were created to do? What is your one true purpose in this life?"

"...I think to create more of my kind..." Rumble said abruptly.

"You sure you aren't some biological weapon programmed to erase all life from the planet?" Corey teased.

The were-creature snorted in response.

"...no..."

"Like any of us would know if you were anyway. But you think you were programmed to populate the planet with creatures like yourself." Corey said thinking.

Rumbled nodded.

"Really? If it is true- I want to be the first! Make me a wolf- two were-creatures combing the forests, exploring what is left of this world. Stalking and hunting in the wild! Adventuring in wide open spaces away from this chaos and destruction. I wouldn't mind it in the slightest- imagine exploring different states of existence... becoming something else, being some one else besides Corey Collins runaway and cataclysm survivor."

Rumble gave his roommate such a surprised shocked look at his admission.

"So how does this work? Do you bite or scratch me?" The black haired teen asked his werewolf.

Rumble was silent.

"That is all there is to it isn't it?"

"...I don't think it works that way..."

"Every movie I have seen and pad I have read said that it starts with a bite or sometimes a scratch." The snarky teenager said to his roommate.

"...Corey..."

"Come on big guy let's do this." Corey looked up from the werewolf's chest. "Right here on the shoulder- but gently just enough to break the skin and leave a mark."

"...Corey..."

"Come on, don't you want another were to pal around with? I am dying to find out what it is like to have paws, claws, fangs and fur! Well at least a tail. Let's do this!"

Reluctantly the were-creature relented.

*Chomp!!*

"ARGH! That hurt!" Corey exclaimed.

"...it usually does..."

"That was some bite! I feel dizzy and very warm. VERY WARM. Oh man it's happening isn't it?! Rumble, what is the proper way to transform? Is there a proper way? Is it painful? It probably is- after emergence were-creatures are always so pissed off! I guess that means it is going to hurt!" Corey said babbling.

"...Corey..."

"That's right, I guess I should lose the clothing it, is only going to get torn during my transformation anyway. I wonder if I am going to be as big as you?" Corey said removing his red shirt, and then pants and then undergarments. "I guess I won't be needing these for a while."

"...how do you feel...?"

"Very warm and very dizzy. Rumble, will you hold me? I have never gone through something like this before. I have always wondered what it would be like though. I guess I just don't want to shift alone." The naked teen said hugging his werewolf.

The huge were-creature rested Corey's head on his shoulder and placed both his massive paws on the boy's back holding him close.

"I feel it! I feel it! It's happening! It's happening!" Corey announced as he thought he felt his arms and legs elongating, a tail forming at the base of his spine, thick fur sprouting up from his flesh and his hands and feet reforming into paws. "It's happening! It's happening! It's... it's... it's not happening."

Seeing what we had just saw from the microprobe, Lady Ursa nearly doubled over in laughter.

"See mistress those two can be a bit comical at times, but they are friends. F-R-I-E-N-D-S." I said to her.

"I see what you mean pet." My perfect person said gasping for air as she laughed hysterically. She laughed so much that she started drooling.

"It has been a long time since I heard that sound from you. Too long." I said as we quietly exited the blue coupe and made our way back in to the house and her chambers.

We disrobed still snickering at what we had seen going on next door.

"Those two really are a pair aren't they?" My she beast said.

"That they are and I think you owe both of them a great big bear hug and apology." I said hugging my fierce ursine warrior.

"But still, what is going on at Capital Stadium?" Lady Ursa said hugging me back.

"I don't know. But let's keep this to ourselves for now."

"Let's get back to sleep pet." She said nuzzling me.

"Yeah, I have a feeling I am going to have an interesting day."

That morning in the medical clinic....

"Corey do you want to explain to me why you have a bite mark on your shoulder?" I asked the teen as he turned a deep shade of red and Rumble looked at me rather embarrassed.

"Um... Rumble and I were having a deep discussion this morning." Corey responded.

"That must have been one hell of a discussion- he bit you!" I said fumbling through the medical supplies.

"It wasn't deep." The teen quipped.

"That is besides the point. It still looks like it hurt." I said as I found what I was looking for. "Listen what ever it is you two work it out, it may not look like it- but Ursa, Corbin, Dawn, You, Rumble and myself are all that is here; we only have each other and we are going to have to work together for our own mutual survival. There will be times we don't agree with each other but we will have to work it out for our own benefit."

"You mean like your disagreement with Lady Ursa about the Intendant?" The black haired teen said to me.

"Yeah like that. I will have to settle accounts with him and his Grand Kingdom at another time."

"Wow more liquid skin." Corey said as I started treating the marks on his right shoulder.

"Yes. Until I can find a dermal regenerator this is the best we can do. This will disinfect the wound and keep it clean until it heals completely."

"UNTIL? We are in primitive times." Corey said as the were-creature pointed his two paw fingers together nervously.

"Now I want you two to make up and work out whatever disagreement you had. If you need to be relieved from assisting the professor and Corbin today so be it. But no fighting or biting- healer's orders." I said looking at the two sternly.

The two both nodded and then departed.

As both left, I received another visitor to the medical clinic.

"Mistress!"

"It looks like you were right Alex- an interesting morning. I like how you have accepted your position and its duties too."

"Yeah I guess I have, as long as it is visits for simple things- no surgeries please. So what can I do for you my love?"

"I have been thinking about that creature from the footage."

"What about it?"

"I am going to visit Capital stadium." My she beast said calmly. "Where we saw that creature who looks like Rumble entering."

"So no trip back to World One today?"

"No." My bear said calm and very measured.

"Very well. We better leave word with Dawn and Corbin so they won't worry. You do know that this just might be the mother of all bad ideas right?"

And so I joined my mistress on her mission that morning. After notifying our friends we climbed into the prototype.

*Recognized Lady Ursa Knight of Wundagore Castle Senior Grade*

*Recognized Alex Winter Emergency Authorization*

"Back in the saddle." I said pulling up the co-pilot monitor and keyboard. I did a quick systems check. "I see what you are talking about concerning resources mistress. Operational status is 90%."

"Check weapons status Alex."

"I see a 1/3 of the artillery has been depleted."

"Yes pet and without Sir Ram or Mara around..." My warrior bear started to say.

"There is no way to restock or improve efficiency." I said as she drove through the south maze and exited to the surface.

(We are on our own.)

*Surveillance probe engaged*

"Anything?" The bear knight asked.

"No one saw us depart." I said as my she beast engaged hover mode.

We then lifted up from the ground and into the sky and proceeded south east toward the remains of Capital stadium. As we approached, I did not see anything out of the ordinary. The stadium hadn't changed from when Corey, Corbin and I had attempted to see it the day before only to be stopped and warned by our resident werewolf. The parking lot at the rear was also deserted. That is where we touched down.

"What now?" I asked my warrior bear.

"Reconnaissance."

"Ok, launching probe." I said. "Let's also go one step further."

*Halo projector engaged*

"What did you disguise us as?" My fierce ursine warrior asked.

"More like cloaked us. I mimicked our surroundings and made it look like we literally just disappeared." I said maneuvering the probe past the collapsed section and into the stadium."

"Anything?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary, except for the collapsed wall, it looks like it would during the winter."

"Keep looking pet."

I maneuvered the probe over the center field then the seats around the field. All was eerily quiet.

"Like old times. So- you want to talk about your daily trips back to World One?" I asked trying to make conversation.

"No."

"Looks like we are on another mission with nothing but time mistress. I noticed that you have been compartmentalizing what you have seen there- a lot."

"I guess I have pet."

"I have also noticed that you have been crying."

I traded glances with my warrior bear.

"Yes, Alex that was this morning." She said fidgeting in the driver's seat.

"I sense that wasn't the only time- there have been others; you have been just very good at hiding it." I said going back and forth between her and my monitor.

"Alex, there is nothing but ruin in World One. Structure after structure, block after block. Then there are the unfortunates- the citizens I and the other knights could not save, in between scavenging for the supplies we need, searching in vain for survivors the rest of my time is spent burying the dead."

I looked at my Knight of Wundagore as she described in detail what she had seen- more death and destruction than any other time in her life.

"Those that were burnt in the fire, crushed by the rubble, froze to death by the elements- individuals, couples, families, humans, beastials. It is entirely soul crushing Alex. The innocents I failed to protect, the knights failed to protect."

"So have you found anyone we knew from the castle?"

"No, only citizens of the empire."

"Which could mean that Sorren, Sanda, Springer, Chemar, Coal and Sir Ram are still out there."

"Or possibly the entity has them." She said to me.

"What about those that we knew who perished?"

"I have yet to find Lord Tiger's or Lady Vermin's remains pet."

(We had both seen them sucked into the sky during the fall but did not know what happened to them afterwards.)

"What about the possessed mistress?"

"They are crawling all over what remains of the city- the sections that the fire didn't destroy. Like what you saw in World Five." My warrior bear said as we continued studying the images from the stadium.

"I think the entity is also looking for survivors to add to its collection. Corey, Corbin, Rumble and I saw that first hand the other day. Can you imagine being trapped by debris and calling out for help? Suddenly you see someone's paw, you reach for it only to have your fur bristle or your skin crawl and the next thing you know your consciousness and free will is pushed aside and the synoptic has taken over. That is why I don't think you have found any more survivors."

"About that Alex, I think I am also getting worse. At times I can't help but remember what it was like to be under the entity's influence. No misery, pain or suffering; it is much better than all of this." Lady Ursa said closing her eyes.

"I know I have heard you mumbling in your sleep mistress." I said as the probe detected motion on the field.

"HELP!!! I am requesting immediate assistance!!! Is any beast out there?" A female badger said running out onto the field from one of the seats. She was being chased by a large blue translucent something who enveloped her and dragged off of the field.

"Lady Barq?! Mistress did you see that?"

"See what pet?"

"You didn't see that? How could you miss it? That was Lady Barq- the Knights of Sovereign?! She ran out onto the field! You didn't see that? She was being chased by something- it looked like a big blue gum drop."

"I didn't see anything Alex."

"What? It got her and dragged her from the field!"

My warrior bear shook her head.

"Mistress, I know what I saw!" I said looking at the footage again. The female warrior and the gum drop thingie were gone. In their place was a slender, stick-like figure completely black, except for a white face, slit like eyes, nose, mouth and long arms. "What is that?"

"I don't know Alex." My she beast said not believing what she is seeing. "This place is quite mysterious... Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" I asked.

"It is the synoptic!"

"I don't hear anything." I said staring at her.

"Stay here." Lady Ursa ordered me. She then drew her service weapon, got out of the prototype and ran from the parking lot into the stadium. She was a bear on a mission.

After watching her depart, I stayed and waited and waited. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes and then 40 minutes, but my fierce ursine warrior did not return.

(I have been through this before.)

Flashbacks of my mission with Lady Vermin crossed my mind. When she was captured by that rebel group during the snow valley mission. I was left alone not knowing what to do. Kind of like now.

But wait, how do I know Lady Ursa had been captured? Well she has been gone for more than forty minutes. Right, she was in trouble. What is worse, there was no backup, no help to be had.

I decided to drive the prototype onto the stadium field. Upon my arrival, I pressed the automated assistant button on the weapons menu.

*Good morning Mr. Winter, how may I assist you?*

"Overwatch, my warrior is missing. I know she is in trouble."

*You are going after her aren't you Mr. Winter?*

"Overwatch assume control of the prototype."

(Something just doesn't add up here.)

*And if you find that trouble Mr. Winter?*

"I don't know. I will think of something." I ran around to the back of the prototype and searched the trunk for supplies. I found nothing but a couple of glow sticks. It was what I had to work with. I just wished I had my PDA, a service weapon- something. But in reality Lady Ursa fled World One with what she had on her and my PDA had been disabled by the EMP. So the glow sticks was what I had as I started walking into the stadium.

As I entered, I waved at the probe from the field to let the automated assistant know that I was ok... for now. Lady Ursa was nowhere to be seen, I decided to head toward the underground tube which lead to- the concession booths, admission and locker rooms.

As I made my way inside I found the tube littered with animal remains, deer, raccoon, rabbit and squirrel all were strung out on hooks against the walls of the tube in various degrees of decapitation.

(It was as something was living in the stadium and didn't like to clean up after itself.)

Things got real when I noticed the remains switched to beastial deer, raccoon, rabbit and squirrel. Many had gashes, claw markings, bite markings and had died with their eyes and mouths open.

As I walked through the tube I took time to open each door I walked by looking for my she beast.

(She had to be around her somewhere- I hoped.)

I walked by what looked like a grey door leading to a utility room. I decided to take a peak inside. It took some doing but I was able to open the door.

"Mistress?"

She wasn't there but somethings were I saw two separate sets of eyes staring back at me- one green another orange.

!!!

"I guess not. Sorry to disturb you." I said quickly shutting the door. I bolted down the tube which dead ended at the stadium locker rooms.

(Should I go inside?)

"Mistress?" I asked opening the door. The room was completely dark not any light from the outside. After the last encounter, there was no way I was going in there- that was a set up for a classic ambush. I closed the door and turned to backtrack down the tube. But I was not alone. At the far end was a crouching canid creature. Judging from its form it was bigger than a dog, larger than a wolf.

"Rumble?"

"Hello meat." It growled.

I aimed the glow stick at the being's direction. The creature's features were similar to Rumble only its fur was dark black and the control collar on its neck was a dead give away.

!!!

"001!" I shouted.

"Why meal ticket! It has been quite a while! RAWWWWRR!!!"

(Yup, what my mistress saw was not Rumble.)

I turned to run back toward the locker room- that was my only chance of escape. But what if there were monsters in there? It had to be better than the one I was dealing with out here!

I managed to make it into the room just as the werewolf caught up with me. I dove inside and put out my glow stick. A second later the door opened and in followed the were-creature.

"Come out, come out little human- I still owe you for that ambush you and the ram concocted. Oh and what you made me do afterwards."

*GASP*

"Especially sucking you and that ram off. That's right, I remember all of it."

It was a long time ago- well almost a long time ago.

"I won't kill you- much." 001 said combing through the dark locker room.

This was bad. I couldn't see, he could and I had no idea what was in here with us! If I turned on my glow stick to see. I would be found. Then again if I fumbled around, I would be found. Then again if I didn't move I would eventually be found.

I decided to remain very quiet and very still. It didn't help.

!!!

*SWACK*

I was bit then hit, the force of the blow knocked me back into something large and very gooey. I immediately blacked out.

"UGH!"

I came to hours later somewhere below the stadium. It was a dark room only illuminated by a single glow stick at the far side. The room was punctuated by the smell of death.

"OAAAHHHHH!!!!! YES!!!! SYNOPTIC TAKE ME NOW!!!! LET ME BE YOURS FOREVER!!! AND EVER!!!" I heard Lady Ursa roar as if she was in a wave of unending orgasmic bliss.

She was in something alright- inside the translucent gum drop creature I had seen earlier. It looked like it was digesting her!

I had to do something! But it wasn't happening- I was tied to a plank against the wall. My shoulder and chest had bite marks on them, they ached and oh yeah, I couldn't move.

"Are you comfortable?" A familiar female badger said approaching.

"Lady Barq! Are you ok?! Never mind. Get me down!" I shouted. The badger warrior's image disappeared replaced by the slender creature I had seen earlier. I realized that its specialty was generating physical illusions and the thing eating my bear was good at messing with minds.

(Now I know why Rumble warned Corey, Corbin and I away from exploring the stadium. He sensed the creatures here and the stench of death from their carrion.)

"Mistress! Snap out of it!! What you think you are seeing is illusion!" I said as I struggled against my bonds.

The slender creature approached me quite amused.

!!!

"No get back!"

I watched as it opened its mouth and its fangs extended.

!!!

It then bit into my arm.

"AWK! What are you doing?"

(Was this creature some type of vampire?)

I watched as it proceeded to suck something out of me. It wasn't blood. But fluid. It was draining the water from my body! I immediately started feeling sick, weak and dizzy.

I began to realize that Capital Stadium was a sort of den for escaped lab creatures. But not just Dynamic Dynamics, I saw 001 as well. Which meant some of the creatures were from other places like Sir Ram's lab.

"Mistress! Snap out of it!"

"OOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!" She continued to moan as if in orgasmic bliss. She apparently was- she came inside the blue creature.

"Let go of her!" I screamed at the large gum drop.

(This was bad. What were we going to do?)

I had no desire to become monster food. I remember that thing that ate the three refugees the night Corbin, Corey and I escaped from the compound and now I stumbled into their lair and was screwed.

The creature feeding on my bear and the one feeding on me ignored my request as their gaze turned toward the entrance of the room.

That was when I noticed the spherical orb enter. It moved toward the center. It was the probe!

"Overwatch!! Code Black!!" I shouted.

The slender creature and the gum drop creature watched as the orb slowly floated out of the room.

The next thing I heard was a hissing sound like the a laser cutting through a wall.

*CLUNK*

In fell down and in drove the blue prototype.

*Electric Pulse Engaged*

The blue coupe fired a ball of electricity right at the slender creature. It should have fried that thing to a crisp, but it didn't. The creature shook it off like it was only a spank to the bottom. It fled.

*I am relieved that you are in one piece Mr. Winter.*

"Barely, can you get me down?" I shouted to the automated assistant.

I watched as a laser was fired from the right side-pod breaking my bonds. I dropped to the floor landing on a corpse.

"Overwatch illumination." I ordered that automated assistant.

The room was lined with bodies. Unfortunate victims of the creatures. In front of the prototype was a pile of them as well as a sword and what looked like a communicator.

I was very weak as I got up from the floor and made my way into the driver seat of the prototype.

I turned the prototype around to the translucent gum drop creature- eating my mistress.

"FREE HER NOW!"

The thing looked to the right and left, discovering that its companion had left. It floated into the ceiling of the room dropping Lady Ursa.

"OOF!"

"What happened?!" My warrior bear asked looking at her uniform that had almost completely dissolved.

"Why am I near naked?"

*You were being digested.*

"We found out what was going on here in the stadium. It wasn't pleasant." I said. "How do you feel?" I asked her.

"Strange, like something was inside my head." My bear said assessing the room. "I see we aren't the only ones who have been here."

My perfect person was referring to the articles in front of the prototype.

"Whose is it?" I asked.

"Commander Rhinox's." She said picking up the sword and communicator.

"Oh no! He is here somewhere?!" I said looking at the bodies and carrion surrounding us.

"We have to find him Alex."

*Madam knight. Mr. Winter I believe a retreat is in order.*

"Negative Overwatch- there is a distinct possibility that fellow knights have fallen victim to these things." Lady Ursa announced trying to wipe off the goo from her fur.

*Those that you encountered are just a fraction of what is here.*

"Overwatch what are you saying?" I said looking at the blue coupe.

**The probe detected numerous life signs. I can't determine if they are human, beastial or monster.* *

" Let's go." I said helping my mistress up.

"Alex!" My warrior bear shouted.

"It looks like we are severely outnumbered. You said it yourself mistress our resources are limited and if we don't save ourselves first how can we save anyone else?"

*You would just be joining the carrion that has already been amassed here*.

"At some point we are going to have to clear this place out, count and bury the dead." I said walking my mistress back to the prototype.

That was when something caught my eye. I walked by my mistress kneeling at a black and white stripped something in one of the body piles behind us. It was a familiar face- a female skunk her face frozen in a scream.

"OH NO!! NIKO!!"

Only her head, neck, arms and chest remained. Her lower half had been eaten. What remained there was bones with bits of tissue and blood.

"NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!! NO!!!" I cried collapsing.

"Overwatch get us out of here." Lady Ursa ordered.

The prototype left the underground lair of the creatures below the stadium.

"Mistress what are you doing?"

I watched as my perfect person lumbered through the weapons screen from the passenger seat.

*Halo projector engaged.*

"Very clever mistress."

The blue coupe turned into a monster, a shaggy one with bug eyes and black fur that moved like a gorilla running.

Slowly we made our way back toward the surface passing more creatures that were hauling bodies beneath the stadium. At least we assumed they were bodies.

"Just how many of these things are there?" I said.

"Unknown. But given the number we have seen here, I can assume that they Dynamic Dynamics and other companies like them had many sites around the city if not across the empire." My she beast said.

"I don't think it is just from them, I saw 001 as well. He was one of Sir Ram's creations. Which means he escaped from one of Sir Ram's labs."

"Which means that there could be other lairs." My warrior bear remarked.

*That would explain the amount of creatures roaming the forests.*

Lady Ursa and I had been gone all morning, afternoon on our stadium quest. We arrived back at the lost city after everyone had turned in for the night. She took me to the medical clinic in the central building and started rehydrating me before turning to my injuries.

Afterwards, I examined hers as well, she had some slight burns which I think were due to that creature trying to digest her.

That evening, Lady Ursa and I decided to bathe washing our wounds throughly before bandaging them.

"This new form of bathing is going to take some getting used to pet."

"At least the water is warm. How are you feeling mistress?" I said as I finished lathering every inch of her beautiful form.

"Lost Alex. That thing that got me, it was making me hallucinate- a lot."

"I could tell, I had to throughly clean your genitals- not that I minded. Err, I mean when I found you, it seemed like you were having a good time."

"It made me think that I was under the synoptic's control again Alex. It was a really convincing fantasy." She said as she started soaping my front, then back and then bottom.

"That is perhaps how that gum drop thing acquires its prey mind illusions while that slender creature projects visual illusions- that is how I was lured in."

"Both those creatures are quite dangerous." My warrior bear said as she double checked her work. "You're quiet. Did I hurt you?"

"No, I am just thinking about you and the synoptic. If there was a away for you to go back to ONE, would you?" I asked looking at her.

My question was met with silence.

"Let me rephrase, hypothetically speaking if the entity said it would take you back if you turned us over to it, would you betray us to be with it again mistress?"

My fierce ursine warrior placed both her paws on my shoulders and looked down at the floor of the shower stall we were in before she answered that question truthfully and honestly.

"YES."

(Mistress.)

Alex Winter - January 11th, YOE 34...