Factory Reset: Divine Corruption

Chapter Ninety-Seven

Chapter Ninety-Seven: Too Easy

"Open the pods!" The harsh crashing voice of Rallycry reached Mason's ear, the rabbit plunging out one of the weakened Resident's internals with a bloody weapon manifested from Viscera, Mason's fingers slid across the slickened surface as he scanned, his heart rate rising. Rallycry was finally there, they could possibly leave finally!

The pained grunts of the protogen met Mason's ears once more, but that was far after a blur of Boson Energy and protogen whirred past him, mason startled and having to step back out of shock. Rallycry appeared before them, look significantly warn out and noticeably thinner, but alright nonetheless.

"They're getting here, just a bit more time!" Renaissance yelled back, fingers tightly clenched around his spear, the free-floating feather spinning with the force of the air. Mason returned his attention to fighting, gripping the sword Viscera manifested and spearing the Resident in what was its "eye".

Mason turned heel, ears twitching to an upright position as his paws thumped against the harsh cavern floor. Mason clenched so hard around the bloody weapon that he felt the handle squelch under his grasp, and Mason let it fall with a frustrated sigh.

"We got the beacon, now let's get the hell out of here!" Ruinate yelled even louder, his tail roughly slapping the ground as he fell upon the floor, popping out of Bialout's bubble. The scientist started a run towards the center. Mason and all those fighting followed suite, excited and wanting to finally get away from Caligaria.

Mason glanced up as he felt a massive pull of White Boson-Energy in the air, and that was due to Marissa falling to the ground. She settled nicely beside Mason, though her body was taking a massive toll. She coughed weakly, her face pale even noticeable through the fur and through the glowing white.

Mason reached a hand and gripped her's, before yanking her into his arms for a hug. Her body went limp, emanating a hard groan as she nearly passed out, the glowing white aura around her body almost instantly disappearing now her focus was shattered. She closed her eyes gently, and her body went completely limp.

Although Mason did not expect this, given that he was just hoping for a hug since it looked like Marissa needed it, he understood completely why she passed out. Mason gently laid her down beside fallout, and looked down with a somewhat somber expression. This needed to end. And soon.

This entire mission has killed quite a lot of his crew, taken a toll on all of them mentally, and is slowly killing others in his crew. Let the God's be damned for all Mason cared, but Mason just wanted this debacle to end.

"The Pods are coming!" Renaissance yelled to the group, the white furred protogen jumping up and down excitedly. Mason grinned upon seeing that. They got what they came for, no one had died yet, they had staved off the Residents for long enough. They could get back home, to The Divine Intervention, and end this tale.

Mason tensed up as he looked to the sky, eyes shining bright. He turned his attention to the battleground behind him. Surely it wouldn't be this easy to leave. Sure, they had decimated the Resident's of the planet, created such a big cavernous hole that was visible from outer space, and had killed the remaining weaker ones, but surely it would not be this easy.

Mason glared out, ears perked and eyes vigilant. His green stripe began to glow a heavy green as he drew in the ambient energy from his friends, expecting a massive monster that was just hiding in the crust, awakened by their antics. The final fight before they headed off towards wherever the coordinates would take them.

Shouldn't there be a big gradious battle to leave? Thought Mason. The rabbit wasn't sure why he felt that way, they had gone through so much just to get to this point, looking for a do-or-die style event right before leaving was somewhat strange to say the least. And yet, Mason couldn't help but wonder.

But Mason was right, nothing came. Nothing stirred in the underground. Beyond the occasional gurgle of a still-somewhat-living Resident, or the long echoes of a Resident far, far away. It was still, it was silent, and it was, almost, peaceful.

Upon hearing the pods fly overhead, Mason journeyed to the middle pedestal. He sat down beside his love, who was sound asleep, exhausted and aching. Mason smiled a gentle grin, finding the sleepingMosomarian adorable like that. Peaceful and innocent, no worries. Just handsome, glorious sleep.

As the pods descended slowly, Mason hiked the Mosomarian into an upwards sitting position, placing Ja'Kles arms over his shoulder so he could carry him into a pod. Mason grunted a little, feeling more than a little worn out and weak. But, it felt content. They had, actually, won.

They all piled in, one by one. Mason laid the Mosomarian down next to their personal pod to make sure everyone else got onto theirs. The unconscious members went with conscious members. Viscera with Northern, Nebula with Marissa, Bathysphere with Noxious for obvious reasons, Arctic with Retaliate, and so on.

Once the last Protogens piled into their pods, Renaissance with a barely conscious Fallout, Mason gripped Ja'Kles shoulder and hiked hip up once more, effectively hugging his lover as the two shuffled into the pod. Mason sighed as the lid around them closed, encasing them in their ticket home.

Their pods rattled as Renaissance activated them remotely, and in the next second, they blasted off towards the sky. Mason felt his heart quiver a little bit, his experiences having rattled him. He hugged Ja'Kle gently, sighing deeply into his chest fluff, which smelt of soot and dust.

"Honey...?" Ja'Kle asked, his eyes gently blinking awake. Mason smiled, hugging the Mosomarian with delicate force. Mason's purple eyes started to glow as they ascended from the planet, safe and sound and without worry, in the airs of his love, of his boyfriend.

They actually did it. They actually did it.

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Howdy!

Was this chapter a cop out? Yeah, probably. But honestly, I don't have the heart to make them go through a giant kaiju boss fight right before leaving, possibly killing a few members. That's what probably was going to happen until I just... yeah, I'd rather not do that honestly.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed! There's two more chapters until the end of this arc, and the beginning of the final arc. I hope you've enjoyed it, thanks for those that are still reading, and I'll see you tomorrow!

Candle

~ 2/20/22