My heart skips a beat as the metal bends from the force. Then the iron bends even more as he throws himself against the metal again. Then again. Then again. Rex moves to stand beside me as I rise to my feet. My fingers curl into his fur, and hang on tight.

"Do you think we should stop him? Guthrie Harper wants Hawk and his Blended form alive," A Wasteland guard murmurs to one of his buddies.

"He does want them alive, but I'm not getting in between Mars and Hawk. Have you seen what he can do? He's relentless. Not to mention that if anything happens to Mars, we'd be blamed for it. But go ahead if you'd like. I won't stop you." Well, that's nice to know that Mars won't rest until he's completed his goals. Though I had already figured that out. Mars hurls himself against the bars yet again with a snarl. My heart flutters in my chest. The iron bars have a huge dent in them, and every time Mars flings himself at them, the metal gives like it was a pipe cleaner. "Hey, Mars, buddy. How ya doin'? Do you think that... Maybe... You could, uh, please stop that? It's not good for the iron when it's bent like that. Guthrie Harper also wants Hawk and his Blended form alive. Why don't you just come over here, and we can continue on our way?" A few of the Wasteland guards ask the Rottweiler if he would please stop, but it's as if they never spoke. When one of them slowly walks over to him, he pauses and gives them a look that could send someone six feet under, a rumbling growl echoing in his throat. His lips pull back as they draw closer. "Get back here, you idiot! What do you think you're doing?" One of the Wasteland guards hisses as they take a step forward to yank them backwards by the collar of their armor. The Wasteland guard tumbles to the ground, earning a snort from Mars.

The blood red coloring in his eyes swirls as he focuses his attention on the bend iron bars once more. They give even more, if that's possible, when Mars throws him at them once again, but they remain standing. Mars claws at the metal. He can nearly get through, and I think he knows that since he smirks, satisfaction written all across his face.

The Rottweiler's in the cell. I curse almost inaudibly. He prowls towards us much like a cat would stalk towards a cornered mouse. His teeth are bared slightly, and he still has that obnoxious smirk pulling on a corner of his mouth. His claws softly click on the stone with each step. Huh. Is he a Click as well? Just some variation? How are you thinking about that, Hawk? Mars is about to eat us for dinner! Doesn't that ring any bells of alarm? Sorry for trying to keep my calm in the face of danger. Oh, yeah? Well, that was a pretty sorry attempt at keeping your calm. Now, get back there! He's about to eat you! Sure enough, Mars has crossed half the distance to me and Rex. My Blended form is crouched on the ground, claws fully unsheathed, and fur fluffed up.

It happens so quickly, and I barely have time to react. Mars and Rex have both risen up onto their hind legs, grappling as ferocious snarls rip from their mouths. Their paws claw at anything they can grasp, and break through fur and flesh. My surprise is only thinly veiled when Mars roars as Rex yanks a jagged strip of metal from his neck with a jerking motion. What do I do? As much faith as I have in Rex, Mars is obviously much stronger, and has the upper hand by far. As if to prove that he does, Mars tears his claws through Rex's shoulder, and blood sprays, immediately soaking through Rex's fur as he howls in pain. He stumbles to the ground. I spring into action, catching Mars around the neck when he lunges forward in an attempt to make another attack. My arm is nearly dislocated at the force in which he leaps, but I manage to hang on and wrap the other around as well. Mars sidesteps several times as he tries to counter the added weight I gave him. He snarls, and snaps his jaws at my arms, squirming to try to get me off. Rex growls, shakes his head, and scrambles to his paws, but he's favoring his foreleg. When I finally wrestle Mars to the ground, Rex jumps in, sinking his teeth into the Rottweiler's shoulder, and using his paws to prevent the robotic dog from making any more attacks. I have Mars in a headlock, but since he isn't living, I'm not quite sure how to make him into a robot's form of death. If I snap off his head, will he die? Is his brain, or whatever you'd call it, in his head, or is in his, like, toe or something? Ooh, perhaps his metal heart doubles for his brain... That'd be veeeery interesting... I smirk.

The Wasteland guards aren't doing anything other than making bets amongst each other on who will win; me and Rex, or Mars. Guess who's winning by far? Mars. Only one had bet that me and Rex would win, and chances are that he was only doing that in hopes of making some easy money. "Well, if Rex and Hawk do, by some miracle, pull off a win against Mars, then you'll have one yourself close to a hundred points." Jeez. That's a fair bit of money on the line there. Mars suddenly jerks, writhing beneath my grip, when my arms unintentionally loosened. I react faster than I ever thought possible, and I tighten my grip around his head. His powerful muscles, or metal gears or whatever, churn and strain, forever working until joints rust and batteries die to break free. Goodness gracious, I hate robots. We, humans and mortals, tire while robots go on without even the slightest hint of exhaustion. It's annoying as hell.

Mars curls up as he makes yet another attempt to rid himself of my grasp. He manages to twist himself, and I have to quickly move so he's still facing away from me, and his claws and fangs are pointing the other way. About halfway down his neck from where his jaw is, a collection of colorful wires are poking out from a gaping wound. The one Rex gave him. Some wires are just bend and pulled out of shape, but others are broken in two. No one, not me, Rex, or Mars, has moved very much in the last few minutes. Mars has appeared to realize he's stuck, and the sulking, frustrated glint in his red eyes shows just how much he hates it. "Come on! Why has the fight come to a standstill? I want to see more blood and guts!" One of the Wasteland guard complains, pounding his fist once against the iron bars.

"I want my money! It'll buy me the new comforter I've wanted for my bed for the past few months!" Another one adds, joining his friend. Oh, a comforter, eh? It isn't as if I've only eaten once in a week or something, is it?

I cautiously, and curiously, poke a finger into Mars's wound, flinching when I get a small shock from one of the wires. Pulling back one of the dented plates, I see that he's really quite lifelike. He's got a metal spine, and wires for blood vessels. Gears and other little contraptions appear to work in place of muscles. He really is just like a robotic dog. Now, how can I kill him? I pull a few of the wire blood vessels to see what else I can find, and Mars thrashes, snarling in what seems to be pain. With a sick smile, I yank them out. One of his hind legs goes a little bit limp. Oh... Well, that's interesting. Let's see what else I can do. Mars twists his head, but I keep him down with a leg over his shoulders and a forearm across his muzzle. Rex does the part of keeping the rest of the Rottweiler down. "Thanks, buddy," I murmur to him as I do a bit of surgery on the rest of the wires. I bark a sharp curse as I get shocked again, this time stronger. I shake out my hand.

"Come on, Mars! Get up! Fight back!"

"They're half-starved monsters! You can kill them easily!"

"Get back in there!" The Wasteland guards shout for the Rottweiler to fight back.

Mars growls, the sound low as it rumbles in his chest. He strains, thrashing against my grip. Rex bites at the Rottweiler's side as his claws dig into his haunches and shoulders to keep him down. I brush against the last reserves of my strength as I fight to keep him restrained. My muscles scream for me to relax my grip and rest, but I force my arms to keep Mars in a headlock. The battle has come to a standstill yet again as nothing happens; Mars struggles, trying to lash out, while Rex and I hold him still. One of Mars's forepaws flashes, and his claws carve four crisp, clean red lines through my shin. I jerk back as pain sparks, shooting up my leg, and my grip tightens across his throat. Metal groans as it collapses, becoming more and more deformed.

As I continue to strangle him in some form, my reserves of strength quickly become depleted, nearing the end, then, unfortunately, I use up the last droplets of strength. That's the first time I've ever completely exhausted the reserves, something I didn't know I could do. Everything feels so weird; there isn't even a drop of strength anywhere. All the exhaustion hits be like a tsunami, and I have to fight to keep my eyes open. The hunger and thirst increase tenfold a moment later. When I move one of my feet, it feels forced, and it takes so much energy. I feel so... so, like, mortal or vulnerable or weak. I haven't felt that way before- so hopeless. It's terrifying. I look down at my hands while keeping my forearms pressed across Mars's neck in a light chokehold, turning them over and back to palm side up again. It took so much effort. When I look over at Rex, he looks back with a similar look of fear in his eyes, but he quickly covers it back up.

Mars suddenly jerks, and up and away he goes, and there's nothing I can do. He turns around, looking back at us with a smug and cocky gleam in his eyes. His teeth pull back into a smirk. The Wasteland guards break out cackling. "Ha! I knew this would happen! With you being here for so long, your strength was bound to run out, and Mars was the last straw." I am utterly confused by his words. Mars was on one of the Wasteland guard shifts, and Rex made the poor decision to anger him. One thing led to another, and Mars wound up in the cell. When my strength ran out, he broke free, and here we are now. Unless... I turn my gaze to give Sarah an icy look. She looks back at me with a pleading look. 'I swear I didn't know this would happen,' she mouths.

One of the Wasteland guards, presumably the leader of the gang, struts forwards, and leans against the iron bars with a lazy smirk. "So, Hawk, care to answer a few questions?"

"I'd prefer not to," I murmur. My heart is racing in my chest and my fear is off the charts now that my strength has run out, but I know I can't betray T-LOOT-D. Mars takes a step towards me, snarling. One of his hind legs gives out, and he falls to the ground, but he's on his paws again in a moment. Please don't decide to eat me... I want to see Jay again. I really miss him.

I do a sort of crab-walk backwards until my back hits the wall when Mars advances with a disgusted snarl. His blood orange eyes bore into me as he drives me further into the wall. Please, strength. Come back. I could really use you right about now... I try to shove the Rottweiler backwards, but all I can manage is a feeble tap. My foot just glances off of his fur. He huffs a few short barks in a form of laughing. I glare daggers at him. I might be exhausted, but I can still glower at you. "Answer the question, Hawk. Is Adrien Sauyer the leader of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils?"

"I'd rather not say whether Adrien Sauyer is, or is not, the leader of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils," I reply in Raydowninese. Let's see if I can have a bit of fun here.

"Come on, don't speak in Raydowninese," grumbles one of the Wasteland guards. He looks bored out of his mind. I don't recognise him, so he isn't part of T-LOOT-D. Why does he know Raydowninese.

"How do you know I wasn't just making up a jumble of words?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Wha-. Well, I... Uh. It was an educated guess!" He sputters.

"Uh, huh. I'm sure."

"Do you know Raydowninese? You know that's a crime punishable by death." The other Wasteland guards turn towards their friend. It's punishable by death, much like nearly every other law.

"It was!"

"You're an idiot," I say, switching back to Raydowninese.

"No, I am not an idiot!" He stomps his foot like a frustrated toddler.

"How do you know I said you were an idiot?" The corner of my mouth pulls up into a slight smirk as the Wasteland guard's face turns beet red.

"Care to explain yourself?" A Wasteland guard demands.

"I-I... I w-was just trying to help out Guthrie Harper. Honest!"

"I'm sure."

"B-but I really was! I-I thought that by being able to speak Raydowninese, I could learn more information for Guthrie Harper!"

"Uh, huh. Sure you were. It was either that or you're disloyal to Guthrie Harper and everything he stands for." Which is...?

"I promise I'm telling the truth! I only had Guthrie Harper's interests in mind when I learned Raydowninese! I swear I was only thinking of him when I made that decision!"

"Then why did you neglect to tell anyone that you were learning that disgusting language?" I watch the two Wasteland guards, knowing that the outcome of this conversation won't be good for the Wasteland guard who can speak Raydowninese.

"I-I... I don't know. I guess it just slipped my mind? I would never betray Guthrie Harper like that!"

"Well, then. Let's see what Guthrie Harper thinks about your ability to speak Raydowninese. Shall we?" A spark of fear flashes in the Wasteland guard's eye at his companion's words, and he jerks back when they reach out a hand.

"I don't want to bother Guthrie Harper- he's a very busy man."

"Do you have something to hide?"

"No! Of course not!"

"Then let's go! If you have nothing to hide, then it shouldn't take very long." The Raydowninese-speaking Wasteland guard jerks back yet again when his comrade reaches out to grab his arm. After a short tussle, the Raydowninese-speaking Wasteland guard is led away, struggling.

"Now that that is over, let's work on those questions..." One of the three remaining Wasteland guards murmurs. Goodness gracious. You've got to be kidding me! I don't think they are, Hawk. They've been pretty adamant that they'll get you to speak. I've spoken to them already, though. That's not what I meant. I know, I know. So why'd you say that? I don't know. "Who's the leader of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils? Is it Adrien Sauyer?"

"Shut up! Let Hawk speak!" A different Wasteland guard punches his friend in the arm, earning him an angry and confused look.

"What was that for?"

"You needed to let him speak!

"I was letting him speak. All I did was add another sentence. What's the harm in that?"

"Just shut up. Hawk, answer the question."

"No, thank you," I murmur.

"Wrong decision. Mars?" The Wasteland guard waves on the Rottweiler.

My heart sinks when he growls, stalking towards me. His hind leg continues to give out with every step, but he still looks just as intimidating. Rex scrambles forwards, and he lunges for the Rottweiler, teeth bared and muscles tensed. His attack is cut short, however, when Mars whirls around right before Rex slams into his side. The Rottweiler shoves Rex into the ground with a swift bite to the jaw. My Blended form skids across the ground, whimpering as blood flows from his wounds for a few moments until he falls still. Mars doesn't blink as he turns back, and continues to plod forward. Horrification washes over me. "You better have not killed him," I snarl. Oh, how I'd love to beat him into a pulp. I laugh humorlessly.

I turn back to Mars who is now an awful lot closer. Jeez. Have you ever brushed your teeth? There's this thing called a toothbrush and toothpaste. I've heard it can work wonders. Mars's head jerks up as one of the Wasteland guards starts speaking. Gears whirr in the opening on his neck as he takes a slow breath. Mustering the strength I've gained from sitting, I curl my fingers into a fist, and take aim at the gap I created earlier. There isn't as much force as I would've liked, but I'm not complaining; Mars still moves, though it's only a little bit. Pain sparks in my knuckles when the metal becomes ever so slightly more dented. Mars's head snaps towards me, and in a swift movement, he wraps his jaws around my forearm. The points of his fangs poke at my skin, but they don't break it. "So, Hawk. Who's the leader of The Loyal Order of Thorny Devils?" I look down at Mars who looks right back up at me with a patient look on his face.

"No, thank you." Mars chuckles, the sound rumbling in his chest. His bite gets a little tighter, and I grimace, hissing at the pain. So that's what you're doing? Why not just answer them, Hawk? I'm guessing they already know who runs T-LOOT-D. It's not that hard to figure out. I don't care if they know or not. I'm not answering them, and that's that. Fine. It's your arm. Huh? Have you not figured out that every time you refuse to answer, Mars is going to tighten his grip on your arm? Are you really that stupid, 'cuz I'd hope you aren't. Aww, that's unfortunate. I'm quite fond of that arm. You're never going to be able to hold out that long. I know...

"Oh, Haaaawk!" The Wasteland guard sings before adding, "Wanna answer the question? I'm sure you've figured out that every time you refuse to answer, Mars is going to bite down harder. Being a Rottweiler and all, he's got a very strong bite."

"I noticed that." It wouldn't be that hard if I just told them, right? What?! No! Stay strong. You won't tell them anything.

"Keep doing that, and you'll be missing your hand," A different Wasteland guard says. I don't reply, and instead focus on steeling myself for the pain.

xxxx

Mars's grip on my arm is now an awful lot tighter than it was before. I didn't answer them, or tell them that Adrien's the leader. I can barely see anything through the haze of pain. Blood flows freely from Mars's bite, staining his muzzle scarlet, and making a puddle on the ground. My head spins as my eyes close a few times. I'm just so, so tired. I want to curl up into a ball, and sleep for a month. Dreamland swims in the back of my mind, creeping closer, and I welcome it with open arms. I never fall into its grasp though. One of the Wasteland guards curses. "Mars, come here." The Rottweiler immediately lets go, and bounds through the iron bars to the Wasteland guards. I slump to the ground, blood still running from my forearm. Darkness clouds in my mind as my breathing slows. "Do you think he'll be alright?"

"Probably."

"Do you think we should get someone to look at him? Guthrie Harper will kill us if he dies."

"Nah. Why don't we just get him some food and water for when he wakes up."

"Sure."

"Let's go then."

"See ya, Hawk. Nighty, nighty. Tomorrow you'll get to meet what Guthrie Harper calls his Click 2.0's."

"Sleep well," The Wasteland guards sing. Their footsteps soon fade away, leaving me laying on my back with my mind spinning. Jay, where are you?

Thank you for reading this chapter! Please comment and consider a vote!

Why did the Wasteland guard know Raydowninese?

What are the Click 2.0's?

Where are Jay and the rest of the T-LOOT-Dians?

When will Hawk get rescued?

Will he be rescued?

I hope you are enjoying Blend the Light!

-Werewolf14-