3rd life, but make it Corika!

{Shades} Almost Done

"An attack so soon?" Avi asked. "Army, are you crazy?"

Army nodded. "I might be. Just- we need to end this. Mask- they need to die."

Avi sighed. "Army... this isn't you! You're- you've changed. And not for the better."

"How would you feel, then? If Skull died by Mask's hands. You'd do the same." Army snapped. "We need to kill them, both. Take them out and fast."

"...Fine. I'll- I'll get the others." Avi ran off in the direction of the cottage. They'd cleaned up the blood since that last encounter and Gloves' body was given to Emperor to give them a proper burial.

His mind raced. They'd almost won the war but then what? Would they turn on each other and fight until they were all dead? What then? Would they just... be dead? Would they wake up back home?

Avi didn't want to think about the former of those options.

He stopped at the entrance of the cottage, knocking on the door. "Guys? Army wants to see us."

Skull opened the door. "..What?"

"Army wants to talk to us. All of us."

The archer nodded. "Goggles, Regent, follow me. I assume Army's at the flower garden?"

Avi nodded. "He is. C'mon."

The walk back was in silence. Avi's mind still raced but this time it was of concern. What if they lost this battle, somehow? Mask and Emperor had tricks of their sleeves and opted to kill them all and win, what would happen then?

Skull squeezed Avi's hand. "You're worrying again, love."

"I... I can't help it. I don't want you to get hurt."

He kissed the top of Avi's head. "I'll be alright, Aves. We'll be alright."

The group made it to the flower fields, where Army was cleaning his blade. "Right. All of you, we're going to attack the outpost." He said.

Goggles tilted his head. "Why?"

"We're ending this war, today." Army declared. "We're killing Mask and Emperor and ending this war, once and for all."

Regent grinned. "Aw, fuck yeah!"

"Do we have a plan, though?" Aviators asked.

Army nodded. "An ambush. We'll lure them out and take them out that way. All we need, is weapons and armor, and we have those."

"We're gonna have to be careful, though." Skull said. "We don't know what Mask and Emperor can do. They're the only ones left; They have to have some tricks."

"As long as we survive it, we'll be fine. Besides, we have the last yellow life." Army grinned. "We can take them on."

"I hope you're right about this."

The preparation time took forever, to Avi. It was tense and he felt himself shake all through it. Somewhere in the middle of it he allowed Skull to slide the cool iron onto his body. It felt familiar. Avi and Skull used to dress each other when tiredness or injury didn't let them do it themself. Skull's careful hands making sure the armor was secure felt comforting, to Avi.

It was finally time, when the sun started going down. Army still was dramatic, it seemed. The ginger led the group towards the outpost. They moved silently, in a sort of procession. The silence just made Avi more worried. He gripped Skull's hand. The archer squeezed it back. It was comforting but only minimally.

He couldn't help but be worried. Not just for himself- for his husband. Skull was on his last life-Granted, Avi was as well- and one wrong move could kill him.