*In the streets of Carnivale, demihumans were running to safe areas to escape being trampled on by the rock animals that were passing through the city. Some demihumans were unlucky and unfortunately got trampled either by the animals or falling rubble from buildings. One little girl who was a chicken demihuman with orange hair that had twin braided tails and purple eyes was stuck under the rubble and couldn’t move. With tears in her eyes she was crying out for her mom and dad to come and save her but nobody was coming. The sound of heavy footsteps could be heard heading her way as a rock animal in the form of a lion was starting to run down the street toward her. The lion was closing in on her and was about to trample over her when all of a sudden the head of the lion was destroyed by a laser beam from the sky. The rock creature stopped in its tracks and crumbled as the little girl looked up in the sky and saw Alita with her eyes glowing. Jade and Dust soon appeared with Jade still wearing her dress and the handcuffs removed from her wrists so that her full power could return*
(Jade): It’s okay. We’re gonna get you out of here.
(Chicken demihuman): My mom and dad are trapped in that building over there!
*The girl used her head to direct Dust and Jade to a destroyed building that slightly collapsed. Focusing on the window, Dust saw two people inside calling for help*
(Dust): I’m on it.
*As Jade was removing the rubble, Dust ran over to the building where he told the demihumans to stand away from the wall. Using his finger knives, he cuts a hole in the wall and helps the parents out. Both parents were also chicken demihumans with orange hair and purple eyes. The father wore glasses and had short hair while the mother had medium fluffy hair. The demihumans quickly ran to their daughter as Jade had finished removing the rubble. The little girl hugged her mom tightly crying her heart out as the mother also cried tears of joy knowing that her daughter was safe and in her hands*
(Male chicken demihuman): Thank you! Thank you both so much!
(Dust): You guys need to get to the safe area. Head over towards the church.
(Male chicken demihuman): Yes!
*The male demihuman grabbed his wife and daughter and headed to the church for safety. Jade and Dust continued to search the area for any more demihumans on the ground while Alita surveyed the area from the skies.
***
*After about half an hour of searching and rescuing, Jade, Dust, and Alita were back at the church having dropped off the last of the demihumans they were able to find. The church had been transformed into a relief and safe area. Members of Blood Moon and church officials were helping treat the injured and offer food to others. At the beginning, there were some members of Blood Moon who attempted to fight back, but they were swiftly defeated and locked up. Han was one of the members who attempted to fight but once Jade knocked him out most of the members fell in line and agreed to help. Andrade and Zelina took charge of the church guiding the people and keeping them calm along with volunteers. While rumblings of the creatures could be heard they were nowhere near the church, thankfully. On one of the roofs of the church buildings, Dust was standing on top with Jade and Alita right by them*
(Jade): What’s the word?
(Alita): The last of the animals appear to be leaving the city.
(Jade): Any sign of Silas?
(Alita): Negative. I believe he has merged with the giant bear we saw leaving the city earlier.
(Dust): That would make sense. The question is where he’s going?
(Jade): Silas said he was gonna wipe out all humans. I bet he’s heading for the first settlement to begin his genocide.
(Alita): The nearest settlement is about ninety miles northwest of here and I can confirm it has humans living in it.
(Dust): And if he attacks that settlement humans won’t be the only thing he kills if this is anything to go by. We’ve got to stop him.
(Alita): How? Catching up to him will not be easy on foot.
(Jade): I’m sure we can find some transportation in Blood Moon’s base.
*The three members of Shadow Eye quickly head down to question a member of Blood Moon and informed Andrade and Zelina that they were going after Silas. After a bit of threatening, Dust managed to get a member of Blood Moon to lead them to their transportation hangar which was filled with jeeps and hummers. After loading up one of the hummers, the group got ready to head out. Before leaving they warned the members of Blood Moon not to cross Andrade and do what he says or they’ll have to answer to Jade and Dust when they return. Dust starts the ignition and they head out with Alita in the backseat. After driving down a tunnel, a door opens leading them into the desert just outside of Carnivale*
(Dust): This bad boy handles off-road well. We should be able to catch up to them in no time.
*Dust looks over at Jade who was staring out the window with a determined look*
(Dust): You do realize that once we catch up to him, we will have to kill him.
(Jade): I know. Don’t worry, I’m done talking. I’ve been ready to do this ever since we came to Carnivale. I only wish I did it sooner.
(Alita): There is something up ahead.
*Looking out in front of them, Dust and Jade smiled at what they saw. Standing in the desert were Ryuuji, Morgan, and Jin. They were sweaty from the sun but well-hydrated thanks to Morgan. Dust drove up to them and stopped*
(Jade): Hey there strangers. Need a lift?
(Dust): Mama always told me not to stop for hitchhikers but you folks seem nice.
*Ryuuji, Morgan, and Jin had many questions, but they climbed into the back seats of the hummer as Dust continued to drive off*
(Ryuuji): It’s good to see you guys. I take that rumbling we felt in the desert was something bad?
(Dust): So it reached all the way out into the desert.
(Jin): We just saw a bunch of rock animals head northwest. What was that all about?
(Dust): That, was The Stampede.
(Morgan): That was The Stampede!?
(Jade): Oh it gets worse. Silas is planning a global genocide on all humans.
(Dust): All in the name of love, mind you.
(Ryuuji): So he wants to wipe out all humans? And with all those rock creatures at his disposal, there’s not much anybody can do to stop him.
(Morgan): Can I assume he’s heading for a settlement as we speak?
(Alita): Affirmative. Either we stop him in the desert or that settlement will be the first of many to fall.
(Morgan): Geez, we let you inside a city for one day, and look what happens. Way to bring us into your lover’s quarrel.
(Jade): Hey, it’s still better than your quarrel. Need I remind you of Shion?
(Morgan): No! Don’t ever mention that witch’s name. Lest you want her to appear!
(Ryuuji): By the way that’s a lovely dress, Jade. It’s a new side of you I didn’t know you had.
(Jade): Oh thanks! You should have seen it at the party before it got ruined.
(Dust): We’re closing in on them. Any ideas to get their attention?
(Jin): Get it up close and I’ll get their attention.
*Dust stepped on the pedal to gain speed as Jin reached in the back and pulled out an RPG launcher. Opening the sunroof, Jin poked his upper body out of it with the launcher*
(Jin): Which one am I aiming for?
(Jade): The giant bear.
*Jin spotted the giant bear in the middle of the pack of animals*
(Jin): Well that shouldn’t be a hard miss.
*Jin fires the RPG at the giant bear where it hits right above the hind leg doing little damage. However, it accomplished the mission of getting Silas’s attention. In the body of the bear, the lower half of Silas’s body was covered in boulders while his upper body was shirtless, glowing green veins were all over his body, and his eyes were glowing green. After feeling the blast, Silas’s used the eyes of the bear to see where the blast came from and saw the hummer with Jade inside along with the other members of Shadow Eye. What infuriated him was the fact that he saw three humans in the hummer with Jade*
(Silas): A traitor to her own cause.
*The bear let out a roar and began to turn toward the hummer along with the rest of the animals*
(Jin): That got his attention. Now what?
(Dust): Honestly, I don’t know. That’s as far as we got.
(Jin, Ryuuji and Morgan): What!
*Dust took a hard turn right and began to drive away from the animals who were quickly gaining on them. Jin used his metal manipulation to create a new RPG that was more powerful and fired it off. The shot hit a rock creature that looked like a gazelle destroying the head and causing it to crumble only for another creature to take its spot. As Jin began to manipulate more RPGs, Morgan popped his upper body out and began creating giant ice shards to fire at the creatures. After he fired his shards off he popped his body back into the hummer*
(Morgan): How do you not have a plan!?
(Alita): Well, we had a beginning and end. Get Silas’s attention and then beat him.
(Morgan): And what about everything in between!?
(Dust): That was the part where we struggled the most. We were hoping you guys could fill in that part if possible.
(Ryuuji): Incoming birds!
*Aside from Dust, everyone looked up and saw two rock birds that looked like vultures about to swoop down on them. Alita unhooked her seatbelt and popped out of the sunroof where she began to fly. Seeing that she would need help, Ryuuji opened up the passenger’s car door and flew out of the car to assist Alita. Ryuuji flew up and punched his way through the body of the vulture while Alita turned her left hand into a sky-blue saber of light magic and sliced through the neck of the second vulture*
(Dust): He can fly now? Oh, I am never going to hear the end of this.
*The hummer gets rammed in the back by a rock goat sending it off the ground slightly. When the hummer returns to the ground, Dust steps on the pedal to go faster while Jin shoots off an RPG at the goat to destroy one of its legs*
(Jin): Dust, don’t mean to be a backseat driver, but please go faster.
(Dust): Less talk, more shooting, rookie!
(Jade): Still waiting on your ideas, professor.
(Morgan): Alright, you said Silas is in the giant bear, right? If that’s true, then all we need to do is expose him and deliver the final blow.
(Jade): That works. I knew we could count on you to come up with a solution.
*After coming up with the plan, Dust performed a U-Turn and started driving towards the herd of animals. Morgan created a ramp made out of ice and Dust drove up the ramp at top speed to send the hummer airborne. Jade jumped out of the hummer and landed on a rock animal in the form a large hawk. Morgan and Jin also jumped out of the hummer and were caught by Ryuuji and Alita. Ryuuji caught Morgan while Alita caught Jin who was still carrying the RPG launcher. Dust remained in the hummer as it crashed into the herd of animals*
(Ryuuji): Dust!
(Morgan): No time for him! Focus our attacks on the giant bear.
*Three giant vultures came flying towards Morgan, Ryuuji, Jin, and Alita. Ryuuji and Alita flew away with two of the vultures chasing after Ryuuji and Morgan while one chased after Alita and Jin. Alita flew into a nearby valley with the vulture chasing after her. When the vulture started firing stone feathers at Alita she dodged the attacks moving left and right. Jin was starting to get dizzy and nauseous from the constant dodging*
(Jin): Urgh, I think I’m going to be sick.
(Alita): If you’re going throw up then please shoot your vomit in the direction of the bird. If it lands on me I will drop you.
(Jin): I’ll hold it in. Any chance you can get behind that thing?
(Alita): Affirmative.
*Alita began to fly low with the vulture following in pursuit. Alita slowed down to allow the vulture to catch up to them and then performed a barrel roll to get behind it. Jin was not expecting this, but quickly regained his senses and fired the RPG at the vulture destroying one of its wings and causing it to crash to the ground. Their celebration is short-lived as two more birds in the form of ravens appeared before them charging forward. Jin reached into his utility belt and pulled out what looked to be a mini bomb*
(Jin): Keep flying and shoot this bomb when I tell you to.
*Jin tossed the bomb at the ravens and told Alita to shoot it just as the birds were flying by it. Alita used her eye lasers to shoot the bomb where it exploded capturing the birds in the blast and destroying them*
(Alita): Impressive work, Jin. It would seem you are more confident in yourself. Did you learn to swim after being thrown in the deep end?
*Jin looked up at Alita puzzled. No doubt she was saying something she heard from Dust*
(Jin): I am not sure what you heard, but for the sake of that metaphor I will say I was able to swim in the deep end.
(Alita): Wonderful.
*Alita smiled as she flew them back to the others*
***
*Back with Ryuuji and Morgan, they were being pursued by the two vultures. Morgan concentrated and fired ice shards at the vultures where he managed to take down one of them. However, the second was closing in on them. Just when it looked like the second one was about to chop down on them, the hawk Jade was riding on came flying in with Jade still riding it. The hawk used its talons to grip the neck of the vulture and crush it*
(Jade): You keep your dirty beak off my humans!
*Silas watched inside the giant bear as Jade protected the humans. His blood boiled over and he began to breathe heavily as he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. He could barely handle Jade talking about befriending humans, but to actually see her defending them. It was unacceptable in his eyes. The giant bear let out a roar signaling Silas’s anger as Alita and Jin returned*
(Jin): Something tells me he’s not too happy about this.
(Jade): Good. I want him to keep his eyes on me. Now let’s take him down!
*Jade and the hawk began flying toward the giant bear followed by the others. Silas saw them heading his way and acted quickly. He had the bear stand up on its hind legs so that it was standing upward. Silas then used his front legs to pick up an animal from The Stampede and began throwing them at the group. They quickly dodged the rock elephant that was thrown at them. The elephant flew past them and landed on the ground breaking into pieces*
(Ryuuji): He’s throwing animals at us now?
(Morgan): And he threw them like a fastball.
(Jin): Here comes another one!
*Silas threw a second animal at the group, this time a giraffe. Once again the group dodged the animal. Silas then picked up a number of the animals and crushed them in his paws. After crushing them, he threw the crumbled pieces at the group. Morgan, Jin, Jade and Alita did the best they could to shoot or cut through the crumbled rocks but there were too many and they were flying in too fast. The group got pelted with rocks and went down. Ryuuji turned backward holding on to Morgan and used his body as a cushion to keep him safe during the crash. Ryuuji landed hard on his back while Morgan only sustained minor damage from the impact. As Jin and Alita were falling to the ground, Jin created his Impact Shield and fired it toward the ground in order to slow down their momentum. The move worked as they landed but was not as rough or hard as Ryuuji and Morgan. Jade and the hawk she was riding on hit the ground where she had the best landing thanks to the hawk cushioning her fall. She also had the least amount of damage thanks to the hawk shielding her body from the rocks. The others slightly had cuts over their bodies, their clothes slightly ripped, and a little blood could be seen. Jin and Morgan had a little blood coming from their lips while Ryuuji was slightly bleeding from his back but got back up ready to fight*
(Jin): Sir Ryuuji, are you okay?
*Ryuuji smiled at Jin*
(Ryuuji): I’m fine. I’ve handled tougher falls than this.
*Ryuuji then ripped his shirt off exposing his muscular and fit upper body for everyone to see*
(Morgan): Oh sure, show off why don’t you?
*The animals from The Stampede were beginning to move towards them but were stopped by wires snagging them up from the sand and stopping their movements. Morgan smiled at this development*
(Morgan): He finally made his move.
(Jade): Took him long enough. Take him down Dust.
*As Silas wondered why his animals had stopped, Dust popped up from the ground near one of the giant bear’s hind legs. Dust was in his shadow beast spider form and equipped with his finger knives which were now shrouded in dark magic that was black and longer than before. Smiling mischievously, Dust pierced the leg of the bear and began running up the side of the leg towards the head. Silas could feel Dust running up his and quickly smacked his side to hit Dust. Dust saw the paw coming toward him and quickly jumped off the bear’s side to avoid getting hit. He then shot a wire from his right wrist which latched itself onto the belly of the bear. Dust swung over to the belly and continued to run up the body of the bear. Silas used the other paw to grab Dust and tried to crush him, but Dust managed to slice his way out of the claw using his finger knives and spider limbs. He started running along the front leg until he reached the shoulder where Silas once again tried to smack him with his other front leg. Dust managed to jump out of the way and used his wires to latch onto the nose of the bear and swung over. Dust was in front of the eyes of the bear where he spoke Elfan. His finger knives disappeared and a gun appeared. Dust grabbed the gun and fired it at the eyes of the bear to destroy them. This in turn blinded Silas until he could use his magic to create new ones. As Silas was trying to concentrate to create new eyes, Dust continued the attack by landing on top of the bear’s head and speaking Elfan again where the gun disappeared and the finger knives reappeared. Dust jumped off the head of the bear toward the backside where his wires latched onto the backside and swung down safely toward the ground. Dust slashed the ankles of the hind legs cutting through them which caused the bear to fall forward. The bear landed on its stomach smashing some of the animals as Dust swung onto the back of the bear and began running toward the neck. Silas was panicking that he lost the use of his paws and he couldn’t see Dust. All he knew was that Dust was running along his back and making his way to him. He began to concentrate and reinforce where he was located with more layers of rock. Dust reached the neck and began slashing away wildly tearing away at the rock and closing on Silas. Despite Silas’s best efforts, he wasn’t fast enough to create enough rock layers to protect himself and Dust finally reached him. Silas was finally exposed for the world to see. Silas quickly turned around and saw the face of Dust looking down at him. His heart sank as he felt he was staring into the eyes of a creature more dangerous and scarier than an Eclipse, a demon. Dust thrust his right hand forward ready to pierce Silas’s heart, but Silas quickly got his left arm up to block the attack. Dust’s knives pierced through his arm as he gritted his teeth. Dust then thrusts his left hand forward and Silas used his right arm to block the attack. Dust’s knives pierced through his arm and Silas was beginning to fall backward as Dust’s knives were slowly moving closer to his chest. The rest of the group began to run toward the bear holding their breaths in anticipation for Dust’s victory. They made sure to avoid getting close to the animals of the Stampede as they weaved their way through them*
(Ryuuji): So this was your plan?
(Morgan): Yes. Keep Silas focused on us while Dust goes in for the kill. Keep the target focused on one hand to distract him from the other. A beautiful game.
***
*Flashback*
*Dust, Morgan, Jin, and Jade*
(Morgan): Alright, here’s the plan. Me, Jin, and Jade will attack Silas head-on with Ryuuji and Alita. While that’s happening, Dust will sneak in underneath, undetected, and attack Silas from behind.
(Jade): Hey, if anybody is taking him down it’s me. Let me attack from behind.
(Morgan): No. If you’re missing, he’ll know something’s up. You’re his weakness. . .he can’t keep his eyes off you.
*Morgan glanced over at Jade and blushed a little*
(Jade): Hey! My eyes are up here.
(Dust): Morgan’s right. He won’t take his eyes off you. It’ll take me a minute to get to him. Especially with that herd of animals.
(Morgan): We’ll distract him as long as we can. Just take him down and then we’ll rush him together if you haven’t landed the killing blow.
*Flashback Ends*
***
(Jin): I still can’t believe he managed to tie up all these animals.
(Alita): Indeed. This is a feat even I can’t help but be amazed by.
*Back on the bear, Dust’s knives were inching closer and closer to Silas’s chest. Just when the tip of Dust’s knives was about to break the skin of Silas’s chest, Dust was pushed back by a pillar of rock Silas managed to create on the back of the bear. Silas screamed out in pain as Dust’s knives were pulled from his arms but ignored the pain and quickly sank back into the bear forming a layer of rock to shield him. Dust quickly slashed through the pillar and ran back to the spot where Silas was located. He cut through the layer of rock only to discover Silas wasn’t there. He moved to a new location in the bear. The bear soon began to rumble as new eyes were formed and spikes started to appear on the body of the bear. Dust had no choice but to jump off the bear for safety and landed in front of the bear just as the others arrived*
(Dust): Damn! I missed him! Fall back!
*Everyone did as Dust said and began to fall back. The bear began to rise to its feet forming a new paw to replace the one Dust destroyed and then let out a roar. Spikes soon started to form on the other animals which cut through Dust’s wires and they managed to gain their mobility again. The group soon found themselves cut off from escaping the horde of animals and started to become surrounded*
(Jade): Well this sucks. Got any more strategies for us, professor?
(Morgan): Only one: survive and win. I am open to suggestions for the middle part.
*All of a sudden, a bullet of lightning came flying through the air and blew off the head of a rock rhino. A few more bullets were shot which took out five more rock rhinos. Everyone was confused on what was happening until Alita looked up*
(Alita): Up there.
*Alita pointed everyone’s attention at a helicopter that had the Blue Dragon emblem on it. Raika could be seen holding a railgun and charging it up to fire again. Sanada, Amarti, Zia, and Gael jumped out of the helicopter as Hibana fired the side cannons at the rock animals and unleashed seven of her drones to attack them. The drones fired lightning cannons around Dust’s group to create a defensive perimeter which pushed the rock animals back and allowed Amarti’s group to land safely near them. Sanada and Gael were quick to destroy two rock hippos with their sword and bo of light. Amarti unleashed his disc blades to slice up a rock cheetah and Zia threw one of her kukris at a nearby rock wolf to slice off its legs*
(Amarti): Sorry for the delay. Had trouble getting a plane.
(Ryuuji): You guys made it just in time. Fill them in on the details, Morgan.
(Morgan): Silas is in that giant bear and is controlling all of these animals. We take him down we stop The Stampede. Gael, focus on that bear to find them.
*Gael focuses on the bear to get a read on Silas’s aura*
(Gael): I see him. He’s in the center of that thing.
(Jade): Alright. Cut me a path to him. I’m taking him down myself.
(Dust): Haha! Yes! Let’s go! We’re winning this!
(Ryuuji): Hell yeah! Fire Grid Form 480: Phoenix Caliber!
*Ryuuji bends over and slams the sand with his right fist. All of a sudden an orange aura surrounds his body and orange markings begin to appear across his body. His scratches and wounds begin to heal up as well*
(Ryuuji): Don’t fall behind. Ryuuji Kazuchika coming through!
Author’s Note: Things are really heating up. I took a lot of inspiration from Attack on Titan for this fight. Blinding the giant, creating a diversion for a sneak attack, and using your own creations to attack your opponents. We’re reaching the climax in the next chapter. Come see who wins. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time.