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Chapter 8: Battle

It was early, almost before the sun had come up had I woke. Grrga was still asleep, and Peter was in his cot. I didn't bother them, but instead went back into the workshop, grabbing my friend. He was almost set to be used, all the way up to where his blade just needed to be polished. And so I went, polishing the blade, then the back, and soon the sides themselves. It took a while, as when the leather straps finally went around my arm, Grrga was gone, and Peter had been working on breakfast. "Do you want your eggs medium or hard?" I heard him say. "With everything that's going on, I'll try mine hard.''laughed a bit, and I went outside, trying out my new weapon. It was elegant, though built from old driftwood, the blade was sharp, and dark, so I kept it that way. I placed it in a box and grabbed some paint from Grrga's workshop. It was a nice silver, and so I painted all but the blade, keeping the authenticity of the wood as it was. As it was finished drying, I decided to try it on again. It was a bit heavier, but you could barely notice it. As the door to the workshop was opening, my back was turned, and I decided to turn around with the tip of the blade facing Peter. But as I spun around, it was instead Ghost. I was surprised, and as she watched the blade come towards me, she didn't even flinch. "Your eggs are ready, nice blade." I was stunned, and she left the room, going back to the main house to probably talk to Engraver, but as I walked back into the main house myself, she was nowhere to be seen. My first thought was that she went back to her branch, but that wouldn't make any sense since she would be seen on her way there. So I decided that it was just my imagination, even though Peter had finished making my eggs when I walked into the room. "Hungry?" he asked. I grabbed a plate and sat down, eating the eggs as quickly as I could. They were delicious, although a bit salty. I needed to get back to work, building the second blade. And to do that, I needed another piece of driftwood.

The day was at large, and I needed to get out of the city. I would have asked Grrga, but instead I decided to try Peter. He looked a bit under the weather, so we decided to head out. The roads in branch 6 were bustling, and when we tried to pass them, they kept looking at us as though we were mad. Peter had brought his shield, though I only grabbed my scissors, seeing as though we were going to be gone for only a while. Now I was contemplating on whether I should head back and grab my blade, though I didn't have long to think, as I saw Grrga running through the street. Peter must've seen him as well, as we both started running towards him. We kept getting glares, mostly from those that were running away, but a few stood still. As we came closer to Grrga, we saw he was wearing a suit, built with a yellow mask, red cape, and a green suit. He wasn't Grrga, he was The Rumbler, watching over the grounds, getting everyone further back. As he saw us running towards him, he told us to get back, but we didn't. "What's Happening?!?" Peter yelled, pushing past fifteen different people to get back over by him. "Get out of here! The Scattlers are trying to break in." I remember them, and remembered what Grrga said about them too. I ran, not because of the Scattlers, but because of my weapon. I should've brought it with me, and didn't know that the Scattlers were there. It took me about ten minutes to get from the sixth branch down to the fourth, and I was thinking to myself, is there another way? And as I said that, the wall was opened, pulling us in further at faster speeds. Everybody was anxious, though I may have been anxious for a different reason. I wanted my blade, and I wanted her now. I saw a blur run above the rooftops of the third branch, and this one was unlike any other I had seen before. It was white, with hints of blue, and green. There was a second where I thought it had ears, but before I could see anything else, it was gone. Branch two, in less than another minute. A familiar car was driving by, and Engraver was driving past me into the first branch in no time. He skidded to a halt before my eyes, and jumped out of the car. "Mason!" He yelled, I was a bit confused, but then remembered that he meant me. "Mason!" I ran towards him, and he quickly saw me. "Get in, we need your new toy out on the front lines." I was confused, but didn't have a choice, as he grabbed me and placed me in the seat by him. We were headed towards the first branch, though I was still confused on what he meant. Then Ghost appeared. "Grab your blade. We need as many as we can defending the towers." "Good to see your back from the run." said Engraver. Ghost had changed. She was no longer wearing her dark suit, with gray lining, she was now wearing a more leathery suit, with a brown lining. It hadn't occurred to me yet that her suit was comflagable, though when it did, I felt stupid. We had returned to Grrga's home, and as we went inside, I ran towards the extra room, where I kept my blade. I strapped it on, and went out, wearing goggles as well, just in case. I was ready, and they were nowhere to be seen. They had gone out to the car, and had been waiting on me. "C'mon, Not a lot of time to sit and wait!" Ghost yelled. I jumped in the back seat, hoping that  the blade hadn't cut anything. We raced against time, swerving past people and vehicles alike, bulleting through the wall's gates as though they were nothing. And as we passed into the fifth gate, Peter was fighting with his shield and a sword now. Grrga was pushing against anything that came near him, and as we came closer, I saw another three near him. Two looked about the size of Peter, one being in gray and orange, while the other wore yellow and red. The third of the many was the shortest of us, and had a nice purple suit, with pink lines rolling through the sides of the suit. "Get out, Quick!" Engraver yelled. I jumped out, and saw that he was now holding a large sword, with an engine on his back. He was a brute, and built for big swarms. Ghost was beside him, moving at speeds so fast I could barely see her. Her Staff was out, and with every move she made another man fell. I watched as they fought, and followed suit, using my blade as it was supposed to be used, slashing and dashing past every single man who I fought. It was frightening, but as I kept it up, my mind seemed to switch, for where I was usually in a calm state of mind, I now had the power to kill anyone who got in my way. I was a killer, and had chopped through a good thirty before I felt myself being lost. I was dashing, in between control, and crazy. And with every man that died, I felt that I was being more and more reckless. As soon as the forty-fifth man was slain, I blacked out.