Section 11:

C'trk!

     Light spilled into the room, clearing away the chilling darkness. Two glowing white eyes opened narrowly, listening in as a multitude of feet entered in through the doorway. The man pulled himself away from the source of warmpth and turned to face the newcommers, rising onto his knees as he did so. Blinking in the dark, his glowing eyes gave away his location in an instant. Soon all four creatures were facing towards the sleeping and the trembling. Two of the four advanced, causing the younger man to stumble backwards and fall over the other. The one sleeping then woke up, griping without words at the one who had just fallen into the corner of the room.

     Steve squinted at the creatures coming his way, quickly pushing Hero's legs off of him and sitting up with his fists raised and tightly clenched. Before he was able to force out a warning, the human's arms were caught by the two Illagers, and soon he was being dragged towards the intrusive light.

     "N-no!" The taller yelped, lifting himself on tingling legs for the first time, trying to stand like the others. Steve tried to fight back but his arms were already caught and the rest of him was dragging behind them. "Wait!" Hero shouted, launching himself forwards on his legs, using his imbalanced weight to propel him forward and at the Illagers. Once close enough, he pretty much fell into the creatures, his arms springing out for those holding Steve's wrists. The Illagers tried shaking the younger off, but in his desperation proved to be stronger than the both of them, and soon enough Steve's hands were free from their grasp. The human fell once forcibly released, head unable to keep from hitting the floor. He was still recovering from being suddenly woken in the middle of deep sleep, and now he was expected to fight?!

     The other rose again onto his feet, wobbily, but more intimidating, with his bright eyes and head standing slightly taller than the large foreheads of the Illagers. His arms spread out a bit as he crouched slightly, protectively standing in front of his new friend.

     "Leave us, Defect. We only need the original." One of them spat at Hero. The man's eyes only furrowed.

     "No!" He shouted sternly, lunging himself at the Illager who had spoken. The two grabbed the other's arms and started a petty fight between them, where both tried tossing the other to the ground. Steve was finally able to push himself off the cold stone just in time to duck again when Hero was flung his way. Next thing he knew, another pair of hands wrapped around his wrists and pulled on them again, harsh grasps pinching at his skin. This time however, Hero was much quicker to stand up, and again he ran for the illagers, trying his luck with his very first punch in the direction of one of their faces. It completely missed, but the rest of him following suit full on body slammed the Illager instead. Trying to regain his poor balance, Hero's foot stomped hard on the creature's foot, which just so happened to be what made the Illager drop Steve's left arm entirely.

     "Why you little-" The Illager pushed Hero off of him, finishing with a firm kick to his ribs. The tall one fell over, clasping his throbbing side as soon as he was laying on the hard floor. The other two Illagers standing guard at the door took Hero's fall as their cue to rush in and help speed the whole process up a little.

     On the floor, the younger hissed in pain, eyes locked tight. His head already filled with thoughts of fear and regret, but the new and overwhelming pain dulled all of that. And.. before he could even open his eyes... Steve was gone.

Section 12:

     Hero sat alone under the yellow rays of light, which gave him at least a little more warmpth than the dark. Still, he held his knees tightly to his chest as he waited. It had been a while, and the lonely one had spent the past half-hour or so trying to decipher what all was going on in his head. It was all a blur, fluent like an ocean. No feeling quite made sense... It took some time, but after a while, Hero realized he was indeed, sad. His eyes were brimmed with tears for the first time, and he couldn't stop replaying Steve being taken over and over again in his head. As the minutes dragged on, he began to question whether the other would come back at all.

Tuk tuk tuk tuk

     A multitude of leather-clad armor rose in the silence. Hero backed away when he saw a dark figure gazing back at him through the small holes in the door. The creatures began speaking to each other in low whispers beyond the door. Hero gulped, eyes unable to keep off the silhouette blocking out the yellow light.

     The door was opened, and Steve was pushed back in through said door. The slightly older one tipped and fell onto the floor in a dazed mess. Hero rose and rushed to the other as the door was closed on the two of them.

     "W-what happened?!" The one asked fearfully, glowing eyes allowing him to inspect the other. Steve didn't look all that harmed. In fact, the only thing which had changed was that his leg and shoulder were now wrapped in bandages.

     "..Those-" He coughed on some dust, "Those creatures don't have an ounce of respect." Steve rolled onto his side as he tried getting up. Hero tried to help but the elder refused.

     "Are you okay..?"

     "Just as fine as I was when I was dragged out." Steve groaned, finally able to stand on his one good leg. He then began hopping towards one of the corners closest to door. "Razer -- blazes to him -- told his men to tend to my wounds, meanwhile he and a couple others interrogated me again, asking the same useless questions over and over again... Ugh, The Nether with him and his.. whatever. Stupidity or something." Steve then plopped onto the ground, crossing his legs as best he could, slumping over himself with one palm trying to support his chin. Hero had nothing to say. The two kept their eyes from each other, until Hero decided he would sit next to Steve again. "Ah- ah!... I just...need to be alone.." The human waved the other away. Hero listened, and just sat again under the little light that slipped through the door.

     Apart, the two sat in silence for quite some time... until..

     "I'm getting tired of this place. What do you say we break out of here?" Steve sat up and faced the other.

     Hero's head tilted slightly. "Break out?' ..You can do that?"

     "Not without some help..no... So, you up for the challenge?"

     The newer prisoner had to think for a moment. "It... isn't very safe out there.. That is where those things come from afterall.." Hero's head turned slowly to look out the small windows. Steve stared questionably for a moment.

     "I don't just mean out of this cell. I mean we break out of this mansion too; outside, to freedom!"
     "...What is that?... You saying there is an outside, outside the outside?" The newer prisoner appeared to be even more confused.

     "-No. I- I mean.... Hhhhh." The human's head lowered. Exactly how was he supposed to explain this? "..Do you see that light?" He asked the other, pointing at the small yellow beams falling in through the small windows in the door. Hero took notice, and nodded. "Well, outside this whole place, there is an even bigger one. HUGE even! That is how you know you are outside."

     "A big light?.. Is it a lot warmer than this one too?"

     "Yes. Much warmer." The elder found such an innocent question quite humurous, as he let a small chuckle escape him.

     Hero shivered slightly. "Hm, that does sound nice... Is there more to eat outside too?"

     "Heh, yep. That is where you get food!"

     "...And, so.. freedom is outside too?"

     "..." For some reason it took Steve a while to think about it. "Freedom... yeah, freedom is outside too, I guess you could say."

     "Cool. I always wanted to try freedom! It sounds like fun." The younger smiled a wide for in for the first time. Steve chuckled again at Hero's innocence.

     "Yeah....it sure is.." The man was then silent, looking at the ground and his fidgeting fingers, until finally, he had a solid plan in mind. "Alright, I think I know how we are going to breakout of this forsaken prison." Steve, finally, smiled.

Section 13:

     A vindicator casually strolled down the hall, whistling to himself and no one else. With a cheerful hop in his step, he had no way of preparing himself for what was to come.

     "I'm going to kill you!!" He suddenly heard a shout from inside the prison cell. His eyes widened a little. Surely they weren't fighting. They were both human, afterall.

     "No, I'm going to kill, YOU!" The other shouted back, a little weak pause in there somewhere. But still, it did the trick.

     "Horr! Horr!" The Illager ran off, shouting for assistance. He managed to grab three other Illagers and together they stormed into the cell to break the fight up. Only, it wasn't a fight between the two humen, it was a fight between the two prisoners, and them.

     "Ha!" Steve leapt again from the doorframe to bonk the same Illager on the head he had last time, and Hero tackled two others to the ground. The fourth Illager frozen, Steve grasped the axe from its hilt and swung it up to chop right through the monster's head. Hero spun just in time to grimace at the sight of the creature's blood as it dropped to the floor. The Illager Steve had socked stood again, only do be decapitated the moment its eyes met with the human's. Steve panted, the adrenaline getting to him. His good arm was perfectly fine, and with a weapon, he finally had an equal playing field...minus the still bad leg, which he put little to no weight on.

     Hero was having a little trouble, meanwhile, tusseling with the two Illagers he had tackled earlier. By this point the two were dog-piling him.

     His only good arm being the one holding the axe, Steve carefully swung his new weapon down on the enemy, hoping Hero wouldn't suddenly move and get hit instead. The young man was quite tired from all the wrestling, so luckily he was still when the two creatures were picked-off. It took Hero a moment to realize the two on top of him were dead, and the disgusting revalation was plenty enough to give him back the strength to wiggle out from under them.

     "Here. Take this." A loud clang followed Steve's stern voice, and the younger man's eyes shot up to see a shield sitting on the floor in front of him. "You make sure to cover my flank. Chances are backup is already on its way, and the first weakness they'll see from us will be me. They'll likely go for my one good leg, so make sure you cover that too... Other than that.. just stay out of my way." Then the man limped boldly through the open door, the light revealing to the other a determined look he didn't even think possible. The dark bags under Steve's eyes probably helped sell the relentless determination they held, making clear a glare that could break glass.

     Hero followed the other out the door and through a small, thin hall. Another door blocked their escape, but that one was easily shoved open by the human with his good arm which still held the axe. Hero blinked in the new light; already much brighter than he had expected it to be. Through the massive wall of windows, the younger man got a glimpse of this free world Steve had spoken of. He just hadn't imagined it to be so big... Where were the walls?

     "This way." Steve whispered an order to the younger, hopping as he turned down the hallway instead of just jumping through one of the windows to make their escape.

     "Wh- where are you going?" Hero asked, loudly, not understanding the point of speaking so quietly. The man cringed when he heard the other's loud question, but he continued forward without a comment, or an answer. The younger man was a little confused, but he figured the elder had a good explanation in that head of his. He just hoped Steve would have thought of their escape plan first. Deciding to think up one for him, Hero ran up to the glass and pressed his hand against the smooth surface. He looked at the see-through material closely, wondering if it would be easy to break. It looked pretty thin, but it could be very strong too.

      Deciding to just try it out, Hero smashed his shield into the window with so much force, he nearly fell through it when it unexpectedly shattered. The glowing eyed one squealed, catching himself just in time, then scrambling back away from the window and panting on the floor, eyes unable to leave the now cracked and shattered glass all over the place.

     "Will you be quiet?!" Steve hissed from down the hall at Hero. His shoulders were up and his back slouched and tight. Hero spun around to see the blue eyes glaring at him.

     "S- sorry." The younger one apologized, whispering this time, cowering from the incident, somehow trying to escape the scold Steve had given him. The human spun on his good leg and turned the corner sharply. Hero hopped up from the floor, grabbed his shield, and bound after him.

     Once Hero had caught up with Steve, he continued to follow him down this other hall. Steve looked tense, but Hero was beginning to calm down a little more with the warmer air around him and little to no noises. That short moment of "calmness" quickly flashed from existence when a noise did sound.

     "Horr!" An Illager down the hall leapt out from one of the rooms, pointing with great emphasis towards the two escapees. Hero's eyes widened at the sight of them. He didn't know their skin was actually grey! Wait, was his not grey then? His wide eyes then squinted down at his own hands for a brief moment, seeing they were indeed a different color -- almost the same as Steve's; just a little paler.

     The wiser of the two waited a brief moment for the Illager to look away, then he dove to the left into one of those booth-like rooms, pulling Hero with him by the collar of his shirt. "Ow-" Hero piped. Steve quickly covered Hero's mouth to muffle more sounds of protest and slowly took some steps backwards. Hero had no idea what was going on, so he figured maybe if he stopped trying to shout Steve would tell him what was going on. Once he calmed down, Steve whispered again, this time much, much quieter.

     "Hide behind the wool. Hurry!" The human then followed his own instructions, diving behind the wool(en) Illager head. The younger followed suit, leaping after the short one. A series of rustling feet on carpet zoomed past the two escapees as they hid, passing their hiding spot without a second thought. Hero didn't even realize he was holding his breath until he began feeling a little light-headed. Steve sighed when the last of them had passed. All the creatures in the distance began making noises, possibly talking about the hole in their window. Still, the human waited some time more until he was certain the illagers had moved on.

     With a sigh, Steve pushed himself up off the floor and began limping out back into the hallway, this time much slower, peering around every corner.

     "Where are we going? Isn't freedom far away from here?" Hero asked again, whispering, hoping the elder would answer this time.

     With a small huff, the human thought of a good way to answer that, "I need to save my friend first. I can't just leave him here."

     "Friend?"

     "Yeah. Billy. Billy the weaponsmith.... He's a villager."

     "Oh?.. What do those look like?"

     "Uhh, you'll see when I find a way to get him back to normal... I saw some kind of magic stuff used...hhh, just- just don't ask any more questions." The human began to pick up his pace, putting a little more weight on his injured leg as he neared the room he already dreaded. The human's eyes began to sting a little as the memory flooded in.

     And, suddenly, the two were met with darkness once again. Hero's eyes brightened a little as he squinted at the darkness, aiding the human in spotting the large, monstrous form maybe about ten blocks away. It sat silently, breathing slowly as it did before. Steve held his breath, watching his friend in this hideous state. The only thing that testified it was still his friend, was the eyepatch that had somehow grown with the rest of him.

     "...Wh..what is that thing?" The younger asked, shrinking a little behind Steve.

     ".....Billy..? Billy..you still there?.." The human spoke out into the darkness, not quite able to see that the creature had risen up off the floor since last seeing it. As if turned on like a machine, the beast swirled on its four legs, glaring Steve in the eyes with its blazing green one. That gaze. It looked nothing like his friend. That burning hatred for all things living bore through the man's soul. This, thing, was so unlike his friend, in and out! Then, the beast charged. "G- g- get!" The human tackled the younger as the creature lunged forward, neck extending at intense speeds to strike. The two rolled into the doorframe and hopped up with their means of defense drawn. "Your shield will do nothing against this thing! J-just run!" Steve warded, waving his axe over to the left with the intention of distracting the beast, but it was dead-set on the human, not stupid like some of the other mobs were at times.

     "What?! But I- we need to escape together!" Hero jumped away from the monster as it charged Steve again, but he didn't show any desire to leave the man alone here.

     "Ugh! Just stay out of danger then!.." Steve shouted, dodging the creature as it opened its nearly unhinged mouth to snap his arm off. All he really could do was roll over his good shoulder in this state, but that seemed to be all he needed at the time, rolling around the beast in circles as to not give it the chance to strike from behind. "..Find another way to help if you really want!"

     "Uh- w- what's your name again?" Hero asked over the beast, still peeking from outside the doorframe.

     "Steve!" The human answered, swiping at the beast's horn that came dangerously close to his chest.

     "Uh-oh, o-o-okay...um.. Go, Steve! Yeah! You can do it! Beat that monster!-" Hero exclaimed, raising his fist and trying to sound supportive, even though on the inside he knew Steve would be a gonner if he kept this up.

     "-Not helpful!" The human proclaimed, this time just barely scratched by one of the thing's horns. At least with its head drooping so low below its body, it was quite hard for the horns to actually strike someone such as Steve in the chest -- just the shoulder...or throat.

     "Uhhh, how about you leave it here? Sure doesn't seem like your friend wants to come back with us."

     "Will you just quit it?! I'm trying to think!" Steve yelled from the floor, rolling to his side in order to avoid being crushed by the thing's foot. "I just- I just don't know how to help-" Steve froze, eyes widening slightly from their original squinting at the of the light behind the beast. He rolled further away from the creature as it was taking a moment to recover some lost energy. He briefly struggled up from the ground with the help of his axe and stood again, facing the beast. Only this time, he tossed the weapon to his side.

     "St..Steve?" The glowing eyes of Hero's shifted to concern.

     "Shh, just.. be quiet... I think..maybe...I can talk to Billy from inside.."

     "What?! Are you crazy?!"

     "-Shhh!... Just let me try." The human's face, tone, and entire body softened. He turned to his old friend, making sure to show he had no weapons on him. "...Billy?.. Billy, please, I know you are in there..somewhere." The monster snorted, but otherwise didn't charge when it was had too, faced the man. The beast's intelligent eyes instead searched the human with a rather paranoid expression. Slowly, Steve took a step forward. "...I know you have to be in there somewhere.. I know you, Billy. You're a fighter.." He took another step, then another. The creature blinked, eyebrows furrowing, but then Steve spoke again. "Remember the village..?" The question brought a shift to the beast, as its eyes again looked directly into Steve's, who's back was now towards the large doorframe near Hero. The human took another step forward. "Remember your friends, your family..your home..? Remember the bright sunny days, when the bees were the busiest, buzzing all around the village..? Remember the stormy nights, when as a little one you would jump every time there was a storm, and you would hug my arm for comfort?.. Do you remember that?.." Steve took another couple steps forwards -- he was now within pouncing distance, yet the monster appeared too deep in a haze to do anything.

     "...Do you remember me?.." The human knelt down, staring the beast directly in the eyes, water faintly brimming his. The creature just stared. No real expression shown. What once were bright green eyes were now dull and dead, and what once had been a warm, caring, loving face was now replaced with a hard stone-like exterior, vicious fangs, horns, and no way of knowing how to reverse it. "But then... I was an idiot..." The human's head dropped. A tear fell, and his face stiffened to stop the rest. "You...you knew it was a bad idea..." His head rose again slowly, and he sniffed back some tears. Then, he lifted his good hand, and ever-so-carefully, reached out. It landed softly on the creature's face, and the beast flinched at the little, non threatening touch. "Then-.." The human fell forwards some, adjusting his uncomfortable legs beneath him. "...Those monsters... They turned you into one too.." Steve couldn't manage it. His eyes squeezed shut at the sight of both the present and the past. The tears hidden within them flowed down his cheeks. The man's stained arms, clothes, and even hair trembled. The beast only stared blankly, as if frozen in place.

     Then, the most miraculous thing happened... Color brightened in the beast's eyes. It expanded outward from the pupil until the entire eye was back to its original green shade. Steve looked up hist in time to witness the creature's expression soften with the new color. His own broke into an unprepared smile. This time, the tears on his face expressed pure joy.

     "Billy! Y-yu-you're BACK!" The man exclaimed. Billy responded by trying to jab at his shoulder with his fist, only to realize too late he needed that for support, and he toppled over onto his side. The younger man entered through the doorway rather confused, wondering why, all of of a sudden, the two would go from fighting each other to Steve trying to help push the massive beast upright. He got a better idea when Billy had properly stood up, his face much less scary than before. Hero could even barely make out a smile. Several laughed with excitement, hugging the huge creature's face. I think Billy tried to hug Steve back, but the only result in that was his neck extending and pushing Steve over by accident.

     "Great! So, is this what a villager looks like?... Are they all this terrifying?" Hero stepped in, asking the human as he brushed himself off.

     "Pff! No!" The man scoffed. "That is a ravenger. Billy used to be a villager, though, but he was turned into that." Steve explained to Hero as he walked further into the darkness. He pulled a dull torch from the wall and blew on it a little to awaken the flames. With the light source in hand, Steve walked up to the large podium Razar had stood on and searched for those books he had used. The large one was there, but not the eerie red one. "Dang-it...where did he put that thing?"

     "Where-de-wha?!" The younger man turned from Billy to shout at Steve across the room, not taking into consideration that the elder one was just talking to himself.

     "Nothing! And remember to be quiet!-"

     "Hor-horr!" ...Too late. A gang of of Illagers strode into the room, surrounding Hero and Billy instantly.

     "Human!" Their group leader addressed Steve directly. "We have clone surrounded! Come peacefully!"

     "Wait, CLONE?!" Hero piped up at this new bit of information. A stick hit him across the back-side of his head at the squeaky protest. The only response Steve gave were two slightly widened eyes. He had a hunch that was the case...but, was it really possible?

     "Silence!" The Illager ordered even though Hero had already been silenced. "Come peacefully, and will not hurt your friend.~" The room dropped into a still silence. Steve looked between the illager, Hero, and Billy, before coming up with something to say.

     "You see.. he, technically isn't my friend." Steve stepped forward, pointing at Hero. "But HE is!" His hand swung to point at Billy, who on cue charged forward to ram the two nearest illagers. Havoc ensued. Steve jumped down from the platform as all the enemy eyes were turned to the traitor among them, and he grabbed Hero by the arm as he sprinted past. He would just have to push through the pain in his leg until they reached safety. By the time the two humen had exited the door, Billy successfully beat all the illagers, and realizing his friend was already on the kove, ran to catch up with the two. "Hh, w-wait.. just-just a short break- real quick." The human released Hero as he slowed down, one arm reaching out for the wall to brace himself.

     "Uum, okay.." The younger man stopped and turned around, seeing more illagers on their way in the distance. "But hurry." He spoke steadily, nothing but his eyes speaking of the impending threat.

     "Gah! Why won't this just- not hurt?" Steve growled down at his own leg, his balled fist hovering beside it as if deciding whether or not he should hit the injury. Billy galloped up to the two of them after a moment of trying to figure out how to run on all fours. He stood facing the two men, gesturing that the two climb aboard with his head and eyes. "No..I can't just ride you, Billy." The human decided against it, however, Hero was a lot more open to the idea.

     "HURR!" The ravenger finally announced, a noise sounding similar to that of a villager.

     "Right. Steve, we need to go!" Hero shouted as he climbed up one of Billy's front legs until he was sitting on the ravenger's back. He then pointed out the approaching Illagers Steve already knew were coming. "Now!" Then he stuck out his hand for Steve to grab. The other hand of his was tightly grasping one of the leather straps over Billy's back. Illagers in his peripheral vision, the human sighed, then grabbed hold of the younger's outstretched arm, and he pulled himself up with little help from Hero.

     "Hhh, Billy... You know what to do." The ravenger snorted, his brow lowering over his eyes. Then, he leapt into a sprint. With large strides, the beast crossed the mansion in seconds. And he didn't stop there, lowering his head and aiming directly for the glass window at the end. "Billy-Billy-Billy-waiiit!" The human tried to stop him, but by the time he realized where his friend was headed, it was already too late..

CRASH!

     The entire window shattered into tiny blades of glass, giving way to the massive beast and his two wide-eyed passengers. It was an afterthought, but Steve thought all of time froze. Expertly, Billy adjusted his legs for the two-story fall, and one big thud it had ended. Steve's head swung forward and slammed into Billy's stone-like skin upon him landing, while Hero's face colder with his back.

     "HUR." The ravenger spoke up over the pounding of his feet on the grass as if to say sorry, and Steve pushed himself upright, rubbing his already bruised forehead. Oh well... At least that marked the end of it.

     The ravenger rushed forward, not stopping a moment to rest. Eventually, the human recognized a few familiar landmarks. And, using those, the three made their way back home. Again, back to the village... Free, at last.

Section 14:

     "Horrr!" A scraggly and throughly beaten bundle of Illagers were pushed forward. Standing in front of them was their dictator: Razar. "Hor hor!" One of the Illagers informed, its face tense with fear.

     "Ohh, don't worry... You haven't failed me." The decorated creature spoke, not a single worry about him. His voice even sounded calm, despite the news just given to him. "Mavin!" He then snapped his fingers, calling forth a slightly younger, but also nicely dressed individual. "Tell the council we've simply moved on to step two. If they ask about step one, just tell them we found a.. short-cut." The 'Mavin' Illager nodded, writing down some notes in a book of his. "Oh- ..and, Mavin... keep an eye on the two humen... I would hate for any blood..to be spilt along the way." The leader couldn't help but slip-up and let a small smile appear on his lips. "Fear not, my dear followers... this changes nothing about our plan..."

.

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AYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Flip, the pacing in this all went out of whack! At least I was able to finish yet another part!
On to part #4: "Which"
:D

12/15/2020