FusionFall: Invasion

Chapter Twenty-Two: Flames of War

I stumbled across rubble through the smoke, ash, and fog. Somehow, blistering heat beat down on me. I was sweating like a pig. I looked up at the sky, blue barely peeking through the grey dust-filled air. I spotted Plant Fusion staring down at me. I growled at it.

"DAMN IT ALL!" I screamed into the air. I heard the weird girl crunch over some metal scrap behind me. I glanced behind me at her. She cocked her head. "What's wrong?"

I turned back and growled. I neglected to give an answer.

"AAAAAAAAAAAALIII! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAKE! AAAAAAIIIDEEEN! AAAANYOOOONE!?" I called at the top of my lungs. "MAAAAAAARCUUS! Anybody...please..." My shouts faltered to a whisper. My lungs and throat couldn't uphold it anymore.

I should have been better...I should have protected everybody...I should be gone, missing, dead. Not them.

I heard a cough somewhere in the distance. My head shot up. I stumbled and tripped. Metal and bricks cut through my pants and shirt, blood oozing thickly, but I didn't care.

One of my friends were alive.

I found the bulge of rubble. The earth breathed as whoever was under it shifted, trying to move the scraps on top of them. I dug ruthlessly into the piles of stuff without stopping. I threw away a massive metal sheet and uncovered Jackson's face. I breathed a sigh of relief as he groaned and shifted.

"Ben...?" He coughed.

"Y-yeah." Tears streamed down my face out of relief. "You're alive..."

"Where's...where's everyone else?" Jackson asked between coughs.

My face fell. "I...I dunno." I looked at him. His face wore a look of horror. "I dunno how long it's been since...all of this." I gestured around us. A crunch sounded behind me. Jackson looked and shot backwards. "Who the hell's that?!"

I turned and saw Amelia. "Oh that's someone who I...bumped into, after I woke up." Jackson perked an eyebrow, but said nothing. I stood slowly, knees shaking. I offered a hand to Jackson, who took it. I helped him to his feet. We slowly walked off, making our way around rubble. I slung his arm over my shoulder to support him. We heard a pair of groans. Soon, Hailey and Blake were uncovered. They both had the same reactions as Jackson had. 

Hours later, we had found nearly half of the group.

Jackson.

Blake.

Hailey.

Ashton.

Niko.

Chris.

Rebecca.

Alexis.

Tony.

We uncovered two bodies...Aiden and David. We held a funeral. Burying them in shallow graves. We grieved for a long time. Some of us had lost weapons. So that night we had an uneasy night. We were easy prey. No one bothered to volunteer for sentry duty. Half of us left were awake anyway. Amelia simply stood about, disappearing from time to time, and returning with Fusion Matter covering her. She was definitely strange.

I slept only for an hour or two fitfully. Dreams of my friends and families' faces loomed over me through darkness, melting into glowing Fusion Matter. Hollow skulls and bony frames...

The next day we were quiet. Some Heroes came by and cleaned things up. More bodies and survivors were found. No others we knew. The Avenging Angels were broken.

Dexter eventually came and picked us up, taking us to the KND Treehouse.

He tried asking us what happened. I started, but broke off soon. Others tried to continue, but couldn't. Dexter simply nodded and left us alone.

That night, I stood.

"We've lost three now..." I started quietly. "Three. Jacob. Aiden. David. And you know who's responsible?"

I stared at the blank, darkly illuminated faces around me.

"Fuse and his damned Fusion monsters and that planet of his. It floats up there and mocks us. We're able to see it, but unable to do anything about it. Nothing except struggle down here.

But no more. We're going to find the rest of our Angels. We're going to find them, save who we can, destroy as many of these grotesque aliens, and then bring Fuse down.

We're going to destroy Fuse. We'll do it if it's the last thing we do. No matter what. We will stand together. We will give each other power, and with that power, rid the universe of this hideous thing. Are you with me?"

One by one, my friends nodded. Then stood, until everyone was standing. The frowns and tears were replaced with fiery determination and anticipatory grins. "So what do we do first...leader?" Jackson asked.

"Well, we need to restock weapons, get new armor, and more supplies." I said. "Blake, Ashton," I pointed. They stood at attention. Well, relatively at attention. "Find supplies. Packs to fill with...oh, two changes of clothes, maybe some toiletries, and food. Food and water is at the top of that list." They nodded and rushed out of the room.

"Niko, Tony. You two go find weapons. Figure out everyone's preferences, strengths, and recover new replacements. They nodded. "You got it, bro." Tony said to me. He high fived me as he strutted out of the room after Niko.

"Jackson, Hailey, Rebecca. Go find armor. Figure out everyone's sizes and bring back the strongest stuff you can find." They left.

In the room left with me was Alexis, Chris, and Amelia. I turned to the stranger. She had been leaning up against the wall the whole time during this.

"Hey." I said, as I walked up to her. "You still willing to join us? We could definitely use the help. You're an asset." Amelia cocked her head and stared at me for an uncomfortable long time. Eventually she nodded slowly. "I have nothing better to do. And this Fuse sounds like a pretty bad guy. I think he's worthy of some punishment." She slowly grinned that creepy smile again. I raised an eyebrow.

"He very much needs punishment." I replied. Then I corrected myself. "No, not punishment."

"Judgement."

The sparks of war were kindled.

They had taken.

Now they were blazing.

Hey everybody! This book has hit ONE THOUSAND reads!!

So it's my very great pleasure to present the ending to this one, and psych you up for the next one. In the next one, the Avenging Angels will travel all over the FusionFall world, learning more about Fusions, Fuse's past, uncovering horrifying secrets, and fighting deadly beasts of total destruction.

It might be a while until I get started on it though. So just hang on until then. There's a lot more books of mine that need some lovin', so I'm gonna give it to them. Check them out, give 'em a read until I start up the next one.

Thanks to @MalikMania for helping me with the writing blocks, giving me ideas, and collaborating with the whole book. (Give his FusionFall book a look-see; it's excellent!)

And as always, thanks to you, the readers. Without your continued support, this wouldn't have made it this far. So thanks to all of you!

Till next time...

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