Chapter thirty one: Freeing Sillias.

"even for the most powerful entities in existence... there are some things that just simply cannot be done..." (looks despondent) "... or undone..."

-Alpha.

Kori Kobaquloth stealthily stole through the dark government facility belonhing to the odd white haired man, he'd only ever seen the man once, when he generated Xlenari... but even as he tried his hardest to remain hidden right now, he couldn't help but wonder how that child had become an adult in only five years.

he didn't have time to dwell, however, as two armed guards patrolled nearby.
they wore skin-tight black body armour, and very close-fitting helmets, if not for their heartbeats thumping in his ears, Kori could esily have mistaken them for androids.

after they passed, he ran down the corridor once again, eventually reaching a crossroads; he could go either right, or left.
(frigdammit.) he cursed in his mind (which bloody way do i go?!)
his psychotic self seemed to be laughing (either one! they can be equally as bloodstained if we so wish!)
Kori resisted a growl, wanting to remain unheard (not what i meant! which way did that fucking mongoose say we had to go?!)
a sophisticated voice spoke up (turn left, then head forward ten metres and go right.)
Kori did so, keeping to the shadows and finally reaching a small room where ten guards stood around a small glass box upon a pedestal, inside which, sat a disgruntled red dog.
there were numerous spotlights on the box, and a red gemstone emitting purple light was secured above it.
Kori's lip curled, he sensed his hackles rise.
it was Bedlam Sillias... or rather, just Sillias right now, as the white wolf still unknowingly posessed the Bedlam energy that made the red dog so feared.
in any case, it seemed the gemstone was the cause of the titan's newfound diminutive size, and likely also that which was making him organic, as opposed to his regualr crystaline form.
Sillias had begun speaking angrily with the guards, complaining at them.
"look, all i'm fucking saying, is that a goddamn cage is a bit archaic."
"correct me if i am mistaken, but you come from a beyond archaic era, do you not?"
"i do," the dog replied "but you've got me trapped in here like some kind of mindless fucking animal! where's the fucking civility in this motherfu--"
the guard turned to face the canine "cease with your cursing! and why do you believe you deserve any civilised parts in your inprisonment? you are a monster, you are a self-proclaimed devil, so why should we show you any kindness at all?"
"i don't give a damn!" he snapped back
the guard turned away again "if you do not cease cursing, we will use the cattle prod."

Kori resisted laughter, finding the situation amusing, and had he not been on this job, he surely would have been joining in on the humiliation of the red canine, after all, he deserved it.
nonetheless, Kori took out a set of poison darts, lined up the shot, and...

---

Sillias grumbled "don't you morons ever sleep?"
"we do, but we operate in shifts. so do not forget you are not escaping. if this was something you were considering, i'd suggest bandoning that line of thought."
Sillias huffed and slumped back against the glass wall of his prison "oh please, the second i get outta this, you're all going to be doing your shifts in my stomach."
"talk all you want about that which will not happen, monster, because Master Dyson designed this cage so that even he himself could not escape it. and if you are thinking of angering one of us into damaging it, think again, as we can not do so much as even leave a scratch that prison cube, it is incredibly durable. nothing short of a weapon of mass destruction will damage it."
Sillias rolled his eyes "i'll remember which one you are, smart-ass, and i promise you that i'm going to eat you first. then i'll use your friends here as dessert."
the head guard, with a red stripe running around his midsection, turned and groaned "you are being ridiculous, as long as the lights shine through that Tachyon prism, you cannot even touch me, nor my comrades. are you foolish enough to forget the beams that leave you a swat of the hand away from your death even if you somehow miraculously managed to escape?"
Sillias went to talk back, but his bravado broke, he meerly slouched, his ears folding sadly.
as dissapointing as it was, the man had a point, and besides, there was nothing he could do to free himself anyway. a pained yelp escaped his muzzle as he started to cry.
the guard laughed once "ha! and don't forget your place again!"
Sillias trembled in anger at his powerlessness and snarled quietly through his tears and rising depression "i'm not even gonna chew you. your buddies'll all be dead before i eat them, but you? you'll get to burn to death in my gut... just... you... wait."
"yeah yeah, whatever, now shut it, you mongrel..." he cracked his knuckles "before i make you silent on a more... permanent level using cattle prod."
Sillias retreated even further as even more tears formed in his eyes.
"fuck you." he wept, barely more than a yelp.

thwip!

suddenly, one of the guards collapsed, clutching his neck.
before they could respond, eight of the other guards shared the same fate; pungent needles sticking out of the gaps in their armour.
only the previously boistrous head guard remained.
he wasn't saying anything at all, now. even with that mask on, he could be heard muttering frightenedly.
Sillias leapt to his feet, ears perking and a wicked smile spreading across his crimson muzzle. his thoughts immediately turning to his salvation, before realising he had no allies at all, so nobody could be coming to save him from this place. that in mind, who was this person? and why were they here?
a yellow blur shot out of the shadows, the speedy figure snapping multiple quick blows to the guard's shoulders and knees, making them alarmingly bend the wrong way and causing him to scream as he writhed in agony.
Sillias backed away and gulped nervously, at this diminutive size, what was this assailant going to do to him?

the figure straightened up, revealing himself to be a yellow-furred fennec wearing black denim jeans and a dart bandolier. there was a large murky stain on the arm Sillias could see, making him even more nervous when he identified it as a bloodstain.
the yellow vulpine looked at him distainfully "you Sillias?"
he nooded meekly.
"i'm Kori Kobaquloth," the fennec's white eyes and black sclerae somehow made Sillias feel at ease "and i'm a giant hunter."
and there went the ease. completely gone.
"wh- what're you going to do? kill me?"
"much as i'd like to, a buisiness partner of mine needs you alive." he admitted.
Sillias tensed as the fennec's big paw clenched around the tachyon prism "so, Sillias, you up for a little murder and mayhem?"
the red canine paced his prison "depends, who're we murdering?"
"affiliates of the people who put you in here."
Sillias grinned "then i'd be more than happy to help."
Kori smirked "good answer."
his paw tightened on the prism, causing it to crack and purple light shone out
"one thing," Sillias piped up "once that thing breaks, you'd better get back... 'less you wanna get crushed."
as the prism buckled under his strength, Kori nodded "noted."
SMASH!!

Sillias' body quivered, the Tachyon light no longer causing him to remain shrunk.
he expanded quickly, so quickly that Kori barely avoided his footpaw as it crashed down on the floor of the now cramped room.

---

Kori stared in astonishment as the homunculised canine grew to giant size before his eyes (holy... i'm glad this guy's on our side...)
the huge canine smiled down at him, then looked at the injured guard, who whined and whimpered in fear.
"looks like your buddies are poisoned, guess they'll just be wasted... however, i do believe i promised you something, mister head of the guard..." his tounge stuck out of his mouth, a gesture that was clearly intended as a means of showing his voracious hunger "... and i think i can still arrange it."
the man's screams became more terrified as Sillias grabbed him, holding him before his grinning maw.
Kori squeezed his eyes shut and looked away as Sillias tossed the helpless man into his mouth, swallowing without chewing.
Kori retched "okay, i've eaten other people's brains, but even i can't stomach that..."
Sillias smiled evilly "well fortunately, little fox, I can stomach it... or should i say; I can stomach him?" he laughed, leaving Kori imagining the dreadful things the man must be experiencing at this very moment... it was definitely a powerful nightmare fuel to say the least!
the fennec threw him a fixed glare "you even think 'bout doin' that to me... and it'll be the last thing you ever do."
the crimson canine nodded "i'll keep that in mind, just remember that if you try to kill me, i'll have no choice but to sample you." he said with a casual pat at his own stomach, as if he had just eaten a filling meal, not a poor-lucked man...
on that note, Kori tried hard to ignore the muffled cries coming from the red dog's gullet.
"f-fair enough... i guess..."
"so," Sillias sighed "i'm kinda stuck. how're we getting out?"
Kori rolled his eyes "hey, you're the engine of destruction, start destroying things."
Sillias groaned "right, duh. been in 'ere for a while's all... bit slow."
Kori strode over "let me on," he said as he climbed up onto the red beast's shoulder "and now, start busting things apart to, you know, escape."
"now you're speakin' my language!"

---

Beta's hospitialisation room shook violently, and Zenef clung to the secured stasis machine the wolf lay in.
"oh god! what's going on?!"
Alpha's translucent form even seemed to feel the tremors 'I have no idea! but it's putting out so much pressure the air is shaking!!'
Albert Dyson staggered in "Zenef! are you okay?!"
Zenef's brother Gar followed the man in, nearly falling flat on his face "what the heck?!"
the intercom crackled ""Sir! it's Sillias, he's breaking out!""
Zenef turned to Alpha, a determined look on his face "let's fly."
the golden spirit nodded 'that big freak needs to learn what happens--'
Lothis appeared beside him "just GO!"
Zenef cleared his throat "the successor allows the council of his predecessor, giving him the experience to protect himself as he awakens to his true identity... THE PRINCE!"
bright light flashed, and Zenef, now in canine form, shot out of the room and flew down the hall, Alpha's spectre floating behind him.

Dyson charged over to Beta's stasis pod, trying to keep it online "c'mon, c'mon! don't--"
the machinery sparked and the lights flickered
"argh! if the power gets cut, Beta's a good as dead!"
Lothis flew over to the pod
"let me try and contact him, if i can rouse his conciousness--"
"if you do, his body'll be even worse off!" Dyson realiated
the computer buzzed.

"mister Dyson, look!" cried Gar, pointing at a monitor.

a white mongoose was displayed ""oh? if the power's cut my creator dies? pity, I still need him alive at present.""
Dyson glared "who are you?!"
it smirked ""you'll know... in time.""
it vanished, the tremors growing unbearable.

and then they stopped completely.

""sir!"" came a voice from the intercom ""scanners cannot locate Sillias... it's as if... he's vanished, sir...""
he frowned.
"how the hell does something as big as Sillias just vanish?!"

Zenef flew back in "i saw him!"
"what happened?" Dyson asked irritably.
Zenef clutched his head "no blasted idea! one second he's tearing up the place... the next there's this white light and he's gone!"

Dyson cursed under his breath "first Beta goes into a coma, now this!"

---

Kori and Sillias stood outside the Net-motel he'd been using, in the back alleyway.
the fennec handed a choker with a piece of broken red gemstone attatched to it "wear this."
Sillias eyed it curiously "that's a piece of that thing that shrunk me, ain't it?"
"it is," Kori replied "but as it is not whole, it should only reduce you to my size when worn."
Sillias accepted it "eh, it'll make blendin' in easier, i guess."

the fennec lead him to his room, asking if he'd like a drink due to his gentlemanly persona pushing at him, trying to surface.
Sillias sighed delightfully "after centuries of bein' sealed, i'm so thirsty, wha'cha got?"
"mostly beer. i got some wine, too."
Sillias inspected the fridge, frowning "everything in here is alcoholic. how in the name of the fucking gods themselves do you even have any damn brain cells left at all?"
Kori removed his bandolier and jeans, tossing them aside as an afterthought, looking through a pile of other discarded garments for something else to wear.
"because of the three other versions of me in here." he tapped at his head "dunno how, but it's like it just can't kill 'em off, no matter how much i wish it would."
Sillias took a can of beer from the fridge and closed the door "so, you can't get drunk?"
"nope," he answered, picking out a pair of black shorts and a grey singlet from the pile and putting them on "just finish that and get over here," he gestured to a pair of metal helmets plugged into a device beside the bed "if you're gonna meet the guy who wanted you out of that glass prison in the first place, we gotta set up your avatar."
Sillias frowned, taking a gulp of beer "avatar?"
"for an online game."
Sillias scoffed "so my 'heroes' are friggin' nerds. whoop de do."
Kori grumbled and shook his head "no, i probably shoulda said this before, but my... employer... he's a real mean program. litterally, he's an evil mastermind... who's a computer program!"
Sillias chuckled humorously "wow, that's somethin' ya don't hear everyday."

-Vagrant Eons Online: shidas, town of free trade-

in the docklands-based village, two canids, one yellow, one red, searched for someone.

it didn't take too long, as Kori met with the mongoose outside an inn not far from the village gates "okay, i got the guy out."
"excellent."
Kori sat beside him on the roadside "now what?"
Uron sighed "in due time, my friend, in due time. first, explain what occurred."
they both discussed how the raid had gone, quietly going over the specifics of Sillias' actions prior to escape.
"where is he now?" Uron asked measuredly, sharpening his digital claws on a knife.
Kori gestured beside him at the red canine in threadbare clothing trying to buy better clothes at a vendor.
"i picked up some'a that Tacky-crystal-thing, it's only a small bit, but it lets 'im stay normal size."
Uron nodded "alright. now, for my end of our deal."
"well finally." Kori groaned
the mongoose brought up a hacked-into debug menu, smirking "i'll be quite litterally hacking your brain."
"just get on with it."

Sillias watched as the fennec spoke with the mongoose, before the NPC vendor shooed him away, and he went over to join the duo.
the fox glowed momentarily, before sighing.
the mongoose nodded "done, they're completely yours to control now."
(control what?) Sillias wondered, what had the mongoose promised the fox?
as he approached, the vulpine stood and laughed "i'm done here."
he went to log out.
"wait!" Sillias panicked, grabbing Kori's arm.
"what?!"
Sillias pouted "i- i thought we were doing this together...?"
"like i care, i've got what i wanted. i'm done."
Sillias' grip tightened
"let me go, dammit!"

Uron sighed "it appears he's become fond of you."
Kori stared at the mongoose "say WHAT?!"
"likely due to you freeing him, he has become fond of you."
Kori groaned "really?"
"he could be useful."

Sillias nodded, leering "haven't you ever wanted your own... as you put it 'engine of destruction'?"
Kori hummed, mulling it over.
"c'mon, fox! think of what we can achieve together!"
he eyed the red canine "i like killing giants..."
Sillias grinned "well technically i'm a titan... that's not a giant... plus, i did my fair share of that back in my day!"

Kori smiled evilly "maybe i'll stick around, then."

a deadly triad has been formed.
where do things go from here?

(Next Time: Level Of Care.)