164 Ruin (2)

***

Colin heard it. He heard it all.

He knew that she was down to two choices; Phillip or himself. She could name either one to be their next target.

She named him. She protected Phillip and made him their next target. On top of that she told them just where to find him. {"He's here. Right now."}

Alicia nudged him. [Colin. They're packing up. We have to go.]

[What are you so worried about?] he shot back, his heart cold. [They've already nabbed you, right? Didn't you just name someone the way Katrin named me? What's all this about not remembering anything?!]

Alicia didn't waste time arguing. [Here.] She showed him her memories of that night.

{They were fighting a Frenzied Lionhead, the one Colin had caught earlier, the one they themselves had freed and taunted. The Saucer swooped in, fried the J-Knight retrieval squad, held them at gunpoint, brought them to their ship. The doors opened…}

White light. Alicia's memories were a complete blank from then on until she woke up the next morning in her home with her mom yelling at her to wake up already.

[It is true.] Colin conceded. There was no way to fake something like that. [Your memories really were wiped.]

[Or sealed, like Cody's.] Alicia mentioned. [But none of that matters. We need to get you out of here, now. And we can't die our way back. Not with the no-warp field in place. We need to find someplace to hide right here.]

[That place Dirge found.] Colin thought.

[Yes. It's a cave. Not very well hidden, and presently occupied by oversized ants, but if we can somehow slip in there and avoid fighting, we just might make it.]

[That's the place you wanted as an outpost base?] Colin slipped away quietly and mounted Sonia again. Alicia hopped on behind. [An ant's nest?]

[It was a possibility. I was going to take a look at a few sites first and then pick one.]

Colin didn't care, not really. He didn't care about anything any more.

They moved.

***

As they brought her back to their main camp, Katrin felt… hollow.

It was a different sort of emptiness from the one she knew earlier. It wasn't liberating or strangely refreshing.

This was a hollowness that drained her of life. She knew she had done the right thing, but yet… what was this feeling?

At least it was over. The Green Men would no longer be after her any more. She could Dream on her nights in Nakama World free from the fear of capture and memory wipe. She'd even retained her memories…

And her memories told her the truth. The truth was that it was her friends, as much as her foes, that brought her to this. The Eight of them had betrayed each other, and she had done just as the others did.

{Because I had no choice. A hundred and six knights all losing everything on the same night… the four Orders would be ruined. The alliance would break. The Underworld would suddenly have the advantage, and the Green Men could take over Nakama World without anything left to oppose them. They'd declare martial law over every settlement, occupy the entire Dreamworld searching for Phillip.}

{At least this way… they'd hunt Colin. They don't know where his Home Base is. I didn't tell them about the Heart of the Forest. I only told them he was here in the Uber Marshes. Colin's proven overwhelming resourceful so far. He's disappeared down paths I didn't even know existed, and can call upon the Wilds for help before I even knew it was possible to communicate with them.}

{He'll manage. He'll make some deal with some Wilds in the ocean and have them ferry him to safety or hide him underwater or something. And the Green Men would never catch him. He's too smart, too powerful.}

{The man just now said it, didn't he? They're short on time. Just a little more. Hold out and hide out just a little more, and it'll all be over. It's up to Colin now, and I can think of no one more capable.}

{And even if they caught him… even if he named Phillip… he wouldn't have a location to give them.}

They had won. Katrin breathed with relief when she realized that. She had sacrificed Colin to do it, but skipping over Katrin had meant the complete defeat of the Green Men and their purpose on Nakama World. Katrin was the only one who could have told them where Phillip was. As long as Phillip kept clear, whether or not Colin was captured, the Green Men would simply run out of time. They had won.

But the man turned to Katrin. "As for you, you're coming with us."

"What?! But you said-!"

"I said the hundred and six would suffer as you would if you did not supply a name. But I don't like the idea of you babbling about what happened to you in our care. It's bad for our reputation. We're going to fix that."

{They're going to wipe my memory.} Katrin gulped, but even then, there was a small part of her, a very small part, that sighed with relief and said, {at least I won't remember.}

***

Meanwhile, Colin and Alicia were running for an anthill.

[This was what Dirge found? A heap of rocks made by ants?] Colin had to wonder.

[It's good enough to hide in for now.] Alicia shot back.

They were riding swift and silent on Sonia's back, following Alicia's ravens as they guided them through the foliage in uncanny quiet. There was almost no sound in the Uber Marshes as they swooped through. If he tried hard enough, Colin could almost hear the noise the Green Men were making as they struggled through the growth on foot.

They came to an open space then. A huge mudflat that Sonia hesitated to treat upon. {This place looks suspicious. Can that mud hold up her weight? Would she end up sinking into it...?}

"Kirin." Colin tapped his badge.

Kirin appeared, looking a bit ruffled and still woozy, but she glanced at the mudflat, glanced at Sonia, and sighed. She shuffled over and helped Colin and Katrin onto her back, then nodded to Sonia heading forward at a low glide, skimming inches above the mud.

Once more, they went forward in a hurry, yet in utter quiet.

{Why is that? How did we even get through all that marshland on Sonia while making almost no sound? It's like Sonia's footfalls were muffled... maybe she did something to silence her footsteps? Her powers involve sound, after all. Hmm. Maybe.}

{Keep thinking. Keep moving forward. Keep doing something, anything, to keep from thinking about… her…}

Colin considered travel methods and stealth modes until Alicia poked him and said, "Wake up. We're here."

"Here?" Colin frowned. "Where's the anthill...?"

He saw it then. That mountain he'd thought was way ahead was in fact right in front of him, and it wasn't really a mountain at all. That 'mountain' was the anthill itself.

Kirin didn't even hesitate. She just kept gliding forward right into the nearest tunnels.

The ants here were beyond big, Colin realized. They were easily the size of houses. The Megants at Sunshine Town, for instance, easily came up to a guy's waist. Whatever size these ants were before they went Frenzied, the tunnels Kirin swooped into were currently large enough for three double-decker buses to roll through side by side.

One of those gigantic black ants was traversing the tunnel even as they flew past. Kirin had more than enough room to slip over it as it marched on. The thing waved antennae at them, but didn't attack or stop them to ask questions. Just as well. Colin wasn't up for answering questions right now.

{So far, so good…} Colin thought until they broke out of the tunnels into a cavern so large, they could have fit Edward's entire farm into it, fields and everything.

It was at that point that Colin and Alicia finally found that they had the ants' attention after all. They were surrounded the very instant they dropped in. Larger, heavily armored versions of the ant they just passed formed up on three sides around them, and glared at them pointedly.

"Um…" Colin began, but before he could say anything, the triangular formation began to move.

"I think they want us to go {that} way." Alicia pointed to the tip of the triangle, the direction the ants were obviously herding them into.

"But… why?" Colin asked. Then he smacked himself. It was a dumb question and she was the wrong person to ask. He turned to the ants and asked directly. [Where are you herding us?]

The response came as a mental snarl. [The Queen.]

"Great." Alicia threw up her hands. "Wanna make a guess? Would the Ant Queen want to eat us or interrogate us?"

"What do you think?" Colin didn't like either possibility.

"I think both." Alicia said, nodding to herself.

Colin, meanwhile, was thinking other things. Their circumstances were curious, when he really thought about it. Most curious indeed.

"Hey. Are these really Frenzieds?" Colin asked in a low voice.

Alicia shrugged. "Glaring red eyes? Oversized and bad tempered? They look like Frenzieds to me."

"But they're not in a frenzy." Colin said. "I mean, they're constantly furious and all, but they're not… well… they're not going around destroying everything like the Frenzieds we know."

"That's because they already have destroyed everything. Remember? This whole continent is overrun."

"But… they're not destroying us. They seem to be… organized. Smart. Not quite… crazy."

"They might be organized, smart and crazy, you know."

Colin subsided. "True."

There was a short rumbling sound. The ground shook a bit; pieces of rock crumbled off the walls of the anthill. Colin frowned. Was that an earthquake? An explosion? Or was it caused by the footstep of something really, really big?

More rumblings occurred as they went deeper into the anthill. Colin could figure out no rhythm to the shakings. Not footsteps. At least, not of anything I can think of.

They stopped in the middle of another huge cavern. The tip of the soldier ants formation parted…

And there, walking towards them, was a girl in a black dress.

Oh, all right, it was an ant costume, as far as Colin could tell. It was tight in the upper half, but really blown out from midwaist downwards, closing around her ankles again like a huge bulb. She had wings too. Small ones, compared to her size, but she herself wasn't all that big, not really. She was about Alicia's height, actually, though not as skinny. In contrast to that black dress, her skin was extremely fair, almost ghostly pale.

"You." Her gaze fell on Colin, and he was startled to see her eyes gleamed red.

"Me?" Colin blinked.

"Speak. What is happening?" She demanded. "Why have you come here?!"

"What? Who are you, anyway? Are you the Ant Queen? But…" Colin began.

"Answer me!" She flared, and darkness loomed over the entire nest. The ants around Colin cowered; there was no other way to phrase it. They shrunk back, terrified, as the girl before them glared and her eyes lit up with red fire. "Why have you come?! Why do men trouble us once more?"

"Men…?" Colin felt a distinct uneasiness about the way she said that. He didn't think she referred to males in particular. "When you say 'us'… do you mean the ants? Or…?"

Alicia nudged him. "Stop being an idiot Colin. You know what she means. You know who she is. Stop being stupid about it."

"But it's impossible!"

"Obviously, it isn't." Alicia said. "Go on."

Colin gulped. He turned back to the girl. "You're really the Queen of the Frenzied Ants here?"

"I am Asblar. I am Lord and Queen of the Frenzied Obsidian Ants." She regarded him with slightly less heat. "Tell me. Why do humans trouble our lands once more?"

Colin felt like his head had turned upside down. "Frenzieds… took on human form…? Why…? How…? Wait. That's not important. Why we're here… it's because, well… we're running from the Green Men. They're aliens. Well, not {alien} alien, I mean, they're from outside Nakama World, and they have guns and spaceships and they're shooting us…"

"We care nothing for your troubles." She seethed. "You who have betrayed us. You who have been our curse and our bane and our torment. This land is ours. You have no place here, {human}!"

{Betrayal…} Colin felt cold fire churning in his middle. He understood the word, and he understood that feeling all too well. {Stop! Stop thinking about… about…}

Alicia spoke up. "You say so, yet you take on a human form yourself. Something this detailed… it can't have been just to talk to us. It must have been done with painstaking care and with great effort. It's not something you'd do quickly."

"Silence, you nobody!" she hissed at Alicia.

Alicia looked offended.

"You!" She spun back to Colin. "Speak!"

"Huh… so I'm nobody, but he gets to talk…" Alicia grumbled to herself.

{Focus! Focus on what's happening here, now!} Colin took a gamble. "We- she and I- we didn't come here to your nest to trouble you. We're perfectly happy to just be left alone. The same as you. We just want to be left alone."

"Yet men fight each other across our land!" She roared. "This will not be tolerated!"

"Then don't!" Colin said at once. "By all means, wipe them out. Just let the two of us stay. Someplace quiet, out of your way. Nobody need ever know we're even here."

Her eyes narrowed. "You ask sanctuary in my home… and offer nothing in return? Are you begging? YOU?"

Colin frowned. "What do you want?"

"Freedom! Freedom from man! A land where no man may take a Wild by force!" she shouted. "That's what we all want! That's all we want!"

Colin found himself dumbstruck. "That's… is that even possible?"

She spun around. "We shall do as you say. We shall wipe out these men who trouble us. But for the safety I allow you, it will become your duty and responsibility the ensure that no man shall return to exact vengeance for this."

Colin gulped. "That's sort of a tall order…"

"It is NOT negotiable!" she roared.

{In other words…} Colin thought about it. {I have no choice. I don't know if I really can do what she asks… but it's come to this, and she feels… well… she feels… desperate. She NEEDS this. She needs violence, like a physical need, and for some reason, she needs me to give her an assurance.}

{What assurance can I give her? I understand exactly how she feels. But that's not important. What's important is…}

{What? I don't know any more. I don't care any more. But if this is what she really wants… if this can help us all somehow…} Colin felt that he was going to regret this the rest of his life, but he said it anyway. "Do it."

Asblar nodded. And then she touched her chest where a Traveler's badge would have been and called, "FURY!"

The world screamed. That was what it felt like to Colin. It was as if Asblar had summoned rage itself into the world. The ants burst out in a flurry. Kirin shrieked, and then her eyes blazed red as well. A haze of red filled Colin's vision and suddenly they were moving, Kirin swept along with the torrent of Frenzied Obsidian Ants charging out the anthill and headed for the Green Men camp.

{Wait! Not THAT way! That's the place I DON'T want to go!}

But there was no stopping Kirin. There was no stopping any of them.

"Asblar...!" Colin gasped, as the throng of ants gushed through the marshland. They were moving so fast, he felt the thick, damp air in his face like fog, and all around him, more and more residents of these feared marsh rose up to join the charge. Creatures the sizes of houses or hotels were letting out roars and everything, air, ground and Kirin alike were shaking and shaking and shaking without end.

Laser fire streaked down. From above came Green Beams powerful enough to level Edward's farmhouse in an instant. Asblar turned toward the attacking Saucer and {screamed}.

The air turned into a quivering sharpness, sonic vibrations so powerful they cut like blades. Asblar's Scream ripped through the saucer's armor, shredded hull and components in moments, and blasted straight out the other side. That single attack left the Saucer looking like a cookie with a bite taking out half of it.

{So that's what it's like.} Colin thought in the midst of a red daze. {That's what an attack of a Frenzied Lord of the Wilds is like.}

There was a gigantic Frenzied Sonic Wolf. No, 'gigantic' didn't begin to cover it. Colin felt like he could safely park a grav-car between one of its toes. Its mane was streaked with red, and fire came out of its mouth. It took the lead in the charge and rammed through the towering trees of the Uber Marshes with enough force to shatter them.

{Is that... Fenria?} Colin wondered, but then shook his head. {No. That's not the Heart of the Uber Marshes. That's not the Lord of the Frenzied Sonic Wolves. That's just a normal Frenzied.}

How he knew, he couldn't begin to explain. But he saw it, and he knew. That was not Fenria.

"Colin!" Alicia shouted, pointing.

He saw it at once. Up ahead were a pair of thin towers. They had guns, and very likely had cameras. Those guns started firing indiscriminately into the crowd of Frenzieds. The Gaians definitely knew they were coming now.

The Frenzieds responded in kind. Sheer wind and a trio of fire attacks left nothing but smouldering metal where the towers had stood.

"We must be getting close..." Colin began, but there was no need. The Frenzied Wolf in the lead burst out onto the beach and there Colin saw a large camp. He saw Green Men with guns all over, towers with guns, landing pods and half-built bunkers. The Green Men were setting up a base here, and they looked like they were planning to fortify it to the teeth. Already, they had a sizeable force, perimeter walls and guard towers...

The Frenzieds of the Uber Marshes charged in to battle. They struck at man, knew no sides, cared nothing for right or wrong, held not even a hint of mercy.

The camp's perimeter was crushed instantly. Guard towers were blown clear away, some before they even had a chance to start shooting.

In the haze of red, Colin barely noticed J-Knights dying and re-dying, and re-dying on the beach where the Green Men had them under guard. The guards died too.

[Asblar! Those are… those are…!]

[Humans! TRAITORS!] Asblar snarled.

Colin couldn't dissuade her. That much fury, that much desperate violence… there was no way he could stop her.

But perhaps he could at least direct her. [Focus on the Green Men first!]

Asblar hesitated. A bare moment, she hesitated and contemplated killing Colin then and there. But a trickle of understanding held her. She seethed [We will kill them all. ALL!]

So much for directing her. Colin fell silent, cold and without any feeling as Asblar and her Clan churned through the J-Knights and the Green Men alike, sparing none.

{And…} Colin paused. {I don't really care.}

Colin sat on Asblar's back and said no more as she wiped out the entire camp, watching without fury or feeling as a big explosion happened and humans finally stopped respawning there on the beach. Whatever barrier the Cult had raised was destroyed and at last they could respawn where they were supposed to.

[Good riddance!] Asblar let out a war cry and led her Clan to greater violence while it still lasted.

Colin saw it all. And he said nothing.

***

In minutes, it was over.

{They're gone. Everything's gone. Wiped out.} Colin thought and wanted to lay down his head somewhere. {And once again, it's my responsibility. Asblar was clear on her terms. She's holding me to it. I have to take responsibility for this; there must be no vengeance on the Uber Marshes. I have to take the blame myself. The J-Knights are never going to stop calling me 'the Destroyer' after this.}

Colin eyed the wreckage, the burning pieces, the newly Frenzied who had been Comrades of fallen knights just minutes ago. There were hundreds, maybe over a thousand. All of them were starting to grow oversized in their newly ignited Frenzy.

As for Asblar's clan… wrecking the Cult fleet didn't seem to satisfy them. Having no other humans left in sight to strike down, they turned on one another, and the force of their attacks shook the land and the air alike.

{Wait. That's not entirely accurate. There ARE still humans here.} Colin recognized the girl standing and staring at him from the ground. Mandy the Drama Queen gave him an exuberant wave and jumped up and down when she saw him looking her way. {She's still there, and they're not attacking her. For that matter, Alicia and I are here and the Frenzieds aren't attacking us either.}

He turned to glance at Alicia and saw her eyes burning red as she looked back at him. Woodenly, he said, "Huh. Alicia. Your eyes…"

"Let me guess." Alicia grimaced, her eyes still glowing. "Red? Yours too. Hers as well, I suspect." She nodded towards Mandy. It was too far to be sure, but Colin thought she was right. {But what does it mean? Does it mean that we're Frenzieds too? Is that why they don't attack us? Because we're the same as them?}

But Colin didn't feel Frenzied, exactly. He felt…

Empty. At his center, he was empty.

But his eyes held heat. Great distrust. Deep seated fury. The haze of red before his gaze was like a screen of anger. He understood it, at least, some of it, but it wasn't his, really. He wasn't running around howling and destroying everything. But he understood that red haze. He understood that it meant pain.

A red figure hopped up to Kirin and put paws on Colin. Colin turned to see Cour looking at him sadly.

Cour's eyes are blue. A gentle, kind blue. Colin noticed suddenly. {Since when? How…?}

And he certainly wasn't Frenzied. At least… not any more. {Cour was… redeemed. He was restored. And now, not even Asblar's Call of Fury affects him.}

{Still. The Frenzieds aren't attacking him either.}

It went against everything Colin had been told about Frenzieds. He was told they were insane. That they sought to destroy everything, especially humans, indiscriminately.

But here he stood in the midst of the greatest Frenzieds in Nakama World, and they did not strike him or his friend, or Mandy, or their Comrades. Why, he couldn't comprehend, but at the same time, he felt a queer sort of understanding. It made no sense to his mind, but something deep inside him felt a twinge of empathy and sympathy.

And Colin understood something else. Even in his emptiness, it made his heart leap in realization, but he kept it to himself for now. It was a huge possibility, a hope beyond anything he'd dared imagine before, but so big, he dared not voice or even think it, just in case Alicia caught wind of his thoughts.

Asblar approached him, floating in mid-air in an aura of red and black energy. She challenged him. "You! How will you fulfill your duty? How will you accomplish your payment?"

"I'll take responsibility for this." Colin told her. "The Knights will not blame the Frenzieds. They will blame me, for it was my decision to acquire your aid."

"Very good." Asblar said, subsiding. Her aura faded to a mere shadowy ring. "What will you do with us?"

"Just as you want." Colin answered. "I will leave you alone. I will not intrude where I am not welcome."

Asblar thought about that. The red glow faded from her eyes as she considered Colin seriously. "Perhaps not entirely unwelcome. You have asked for and received shelter in my nest. I have not revoked that permission."

Colin gave her a short bow. "Thank you. Then for the day, at least, with your permission…"

"You may stay today." Asblar said, and left them in peace.