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Laying there on the carpeted floor, I could now feel my blood slowly seep into the carpet. I was pain, but I didn't feel it. I was hurt, but I didn't know it. Had I...Had he killed me? I felt me breathing slow down, but it was still there. I was still breathing; I was still alive. But my arms and legs couldn't move. My eyesight was gone. All I could feel; the only thing I felt was nothingness. So, after accepting that fact, I lay there, my mind still swimming with questions. Had I really offended him so by becoming excited? Why hadn't Klyde hurt Ryudo, or Kolt, or Illia. Why had he attacked me again and again as if I were a criminal? Why was I being tortured by this fox? He was military, that much was certain, but why was he doing this for us? A co-op team? We're so young...what chances do we have? And...what would he have us do? What tasks would he send us on? In all honesty, I had no idea. But at that moment, suddenly, my body twitched violently.

The feeling in my arms and legs had been restored. At that moment, I again woke up placed upon the bed in the other room, this time, my pillow soaked in blood. My head began throbbing as I tried leaning forward to look again out the window for some type of ray of sunlight that would warm me on the inside. I sat up and moved back, my own back against the headboard. Looking up, I saw something outside that made my heart sink lower than the floor. Rain, spattering up against the windows loudly, as if to make my emotions seep even lower than my body had felt. I leaned my head back up against the wall and stared at the ceiling. The pain had began to disappear from my head. Now, I could only feel anxious. What was going to happen to us? Would he...would he change us like his operatives? At that moment, the door opened and Klyde walked in.

"Ahh, someone makes a quick recovery, doesn't he?" he said walking over to me and brushing the fur between my ears. "You are a tough one, Lokai. Honestly, I'm surprised. The others didn't last nearly as long as you, and they are all still out." Looking at him, I noticed that he was smiling and staring down carefully at me, as if he was inspecting my wounds. "Wow...Lokai, you've almost healed completely since I..." He stopped and coughed, as if trying to suppress a laugh, "...beat the daylights out of you." He smiled widely and flicked his tail back and fourth. "Come with me. I need to show you the other's and their conditions. After finishing with you, your friends tried to attack me. After all, I didn't exactly go easy on you." He helped me out of the bed and walked me out of the apartment into a completely separate hallway. Walking down the hall, I saw that there were many other rooms in the apartment, a few of them smelling horribly. "I never cleaned this place out." He said, noticing me wince from the smell. "The bodies are still in all of these rooms. You can check them if you'd like to. Me? I've gotten used to it by now."

He lead me down a flight of stairs onto the floor below and opened the door, revealing another long hallway of apartments. Walking down, he made his way to the second last door and opened it, revealing my fallen comrades. "These guys only took one hit to knock out." He told me. "Had they not come after me...heh, I don't know if I would have beat them or just waited for them to sleep." I walked in and check them all. Ryudo had dried blood running from the tip of his nose towards his ear. Kolt had a swollen eye. Illia had appeared to be unharmed. "That one..." Klyde said, leaning in the doorway. "I don't know about her. Very cowardly that one is." Illia was never a fighter. She could play, but when it came to actually fighting, she never was really good at hurting others. The room that they were in was much larger than mine. There were three collapsible bed rolled into the living room, and most of the couches were moved aside. "and this one,..." he said pointing at Ryudo, "He takes on people way to forcefully. Also, does he have a bed wetting problem?"

We both laughed. It felt good. I had laughed for the first time in so long. It felt like the pain from everything that had happened had disappeared, if only for a second. "Ahh, but come now, Lokai." Klyde spoke aloud to me. His voice returned my mind from it's state of wandering; happily exploring my childhood further back, reminiscing back onto memories of everything that had happened so quickly to my village and to it's people. "Come, I must discuss something with you." he led me back out into the empty hallway, closing the door slowly on my friends as to not stir them from their slumber. He took my down another long hallway near the end of the hallway containing my friends and showed me to a door.

I felt my stomach lunge for a moment, giving me a very sick, disgusting feeling deep down in my gut. The door itself had remained a perfect white, as if it was almost never touched by anything or anyone. However, the area surrounding the door; the floor, the wall, the ceiling were all stained red with dried blood. It had left the scent of men stronger in this one place then anywhere in this place. Klyde looked at my in confusion as I covered my nose. "Terrible, isn't it? It's to keep the other smell from leaving this room." he walked forward and opened the door; the aroma of death had instantaneously dissipated. The scent of flowers and springtime flowed from the room into my nose, exciting my senses and causing my tail to curl in delight. It was my first really good scent since this had all began. "Come now, Lokai. It's only flowers." Klyde said walking in. Hundreds of roses, all smelling beautifully, plump, and red were scattered about the room, each of them still very much alive. AS I walked in, I noticed that in the middle, among all the rest of the red flowers, there lay a single blue rose, sealed away in what appeared to be a crystal container. It had been set on the table so perfectly, so innocent and beautiful against the dark satin that was the wooden table. I was tempted to touch the container, but my mind had been drawn elsewhere. Klyde was now standing by a couch, conveniently placed by a large window overlooking another part of the ruined city. "Lokai...," He beckoned me, "There is a matter I must discuss with you. Something that I myself have kept inside me these many years. Come, sit with me."

Obediently, I approached the couch and sat down. It was remarkably soft for an ordinary couch, so I adjusted myself to become comfortable. Klyde sat next to me, his gaze not averting from the storm outside. "Many years ago...I aided in the destruction of this place, Lokai. But, of course, you knew that already." He said. "What do you think...happened to the other members of the old brigade?" He turned to me to gauge my reaction. Without thinking, I blurted out, "Have they died?" A stupid response. He batted my snout playfully and laughed. "Use your mind, pup. People of such a caliber... No, they are all still very much alive." He said, returning his eyes towards the window. "No, they are all still out there, somewhere..." Again, my mind had slipped. "In this city?" Why I had asked such foolish things was a question even I could not answer. Klyde did not bat at me this time, but said, "No, Lokai. This world...They exist somewhere in this world. But...That is where the problem lies, Lokai." He said gravely. "In the end, the only way for you to accomplish your goals and finish off these foul humans once and for all...is to assist me and my goals." He said. His voice had carried over from a charismatic, happy tone, to a grave and dismal one. "Lokai, I ask you not as a military officer, but as a member of your species. I ask you as one of those who has suffered on countless occasions because of they way I look and the things I can do. I ask you, as your fellow comrade. Forget about your town. Forget about those in the past. What matters most is what is here and now, correct? I ask you, join me in my quest to vanquish these fools from this world and restore peace back to our race." Finally, my mind had chosen what to say and I had agreed. "How...How can you ask me to just forget? How can you tell me to stop remembering...Klyde, my family, my friends...Your asking me to just forget that I ever had this rage? To forget that I've ever felt such loneliness in this world? How...can you ask that?"

I stood up, out of both rage and confusion. I could never...I could never forget what had happened...I wanted to kill, maim, or destroy every last human I could find. I wanted nothing more than to feel more of their warm blood saturate my fur. I wanted to break their skulls in my fangs and hear their screams of pain as I ripped them to shreds. I could feel my face distorting in anger and confusion. I cupped my ears with my paws; my thoughts were going against me. Inside my head, I could feel my anger and rage trying to kill Klyde. My own emotions were waging a war with my very heart and soul. But then...I felt comfort again. Klyde's paw came down upon my shoulder, as I looked back up at him. A single tear, like a frozen crystal, had made it's way from his eye down his cheek fur. He caught it before it left his face. leaning in closer, he lowered his head and spoke softly, "Lokai, please...I cannot complete this task alone." His words...they were that of a compassionate soul; not one filled with hatred and angst. He hadn't wanted it to end this way, I could tell, but he must have know this was his last resort. Slowly, I lifted my paw to meet his and grasped it. "I will never forget the rage I feel towards humans, Klyde..." I said. He looked up at me, a sudden burst of hope emanating from his face, "but regardless. If you say that eliminating these people will aid my rage, then I will help you." He smiled and sighed a sigh of relief. "And your friends?" he asked. "Ryudo and Kolt would follow my to death. But Illia..." I had wondered. Illia was not a fighter. She could play games; she could wrestle; but whenever fighting broke out, she was the first to run away. "Never mind her," Klyde said, "Every pack needs a medic." His ran his paw through his head-fur and plopped back unto the couch, laying his head back in a relaxed state. I remained standing, now looking out at the storm and the city.

My mind had pictured this place as something very beautiful before it was destroyed. Tall buildings, happy people...I wondered how one team of people could have done so much damage. "Lokai," Klyde said, beckoning me back onto the couch again, "Come. Sit. Stay. I'd like to tell you what we're up against." I, again, sat back onto the couch. This time, however, I was at full alert of what Klyde was about to say. "You are not the greatest fighter, Lokai." He said, smiling a bit, "And neither are your friends. But, I must warn you, these people we are about to face will test the very limits of your strength. They will not pity you because of your age. They will kill you." Again, he voice dropped into the tone of despair. "There were eight of us in the original squadron. Number one, Myself, Klyde, the Burning Star, named so because of my ability to set almost anything aflame and well, my heated attitude..." He sighed for a moment, then continued. "Number two, Carmina, The Iron Maiden. A pure white Snow-leopard who wields a combination rifle-blade under the guise of an umbrella. Number three was Iyot, Juggernaut. I don't know why Carmina got the name she did, but Iyot has an uncanny ability to intensify his muscular form, enabling him to wield a gigantic weapon that the training facility had developed known as the Chaotic Hammer. Number four..." He paused for a moment. "Number four is Kraust, or Karma as the Training facility named him. He was..." He paused again. These constant pauses made me think about Kraust. Why was Klyde stopping so much? Before I could come to any more assumptions, Klyde spoke," Kraust was the best friend I had in the village where I grew up. I was glad when I saw that he had lived through the experiments...but still, I had kind of wished I wouldn’t have to see such a good friend suffer so..." He paused again. It must have been incredibly hard to think of someone so terribly when they were such good friends. I was tempted to console Klyde, but I knew deep down that if I tried anything at this moment, I would feel more pain then ever before. So we sat there for a long time in an uncomfortable silence. I had thought, for awhile, about the party's weapon situation. Sure, we had guns, but I wondered if they would be at all effective against such powerful foes.

As I continued to think, Klyde spoke again. "Sorry, Lokai. I forgot myself for a moment there. Kraust..." He paused, but only for a moment, "But that's all behind me now." He cleared his throat and continued. "Number five is Lance, or Epitaph. He's a husky, and an excellent rapier wielder. I never really got to know him before I left, so to be honest, everything else about him is a mystery to me. But I will say what I do know; he's amazing with a short sword. I've never seen someone dance so beautifully, yet do deadly...ahh, but I must go on. Number six is Ito, or Proxy. An excellent sniper raccoon with the ability to manipulate shadows and create proxy's. He'll be very difficult to find, of that I'm sure, Lokai. Number seven is Lok, a wolf, better known to us as Malice. He was given this name because of his lack for compassion for any individual. But now..." He turned to me, "I don't see him ever leaving the facility again. He wield-" Klyde tried to finish, but I interrupted, "Wait, he's still in the training facility?" Another bat to the snout.

"Such a curious pup, you are, Lokai. But, of course, I can reward your curiosity. The last time they had sent Malice on a mission, he had become far too powerful for any one man to control. In fact...if I remember correctly, he had killed many men the last time he had gone loose, for you see, Lokai..." he stared at me intently, "Malice's one last mission was an attempt to eliminate me. Of course he had failed it." He said with a slight matter-of-fact tone.

"And number eight-" This time, Klyde hadn't just stopped, he had twitched violently. He stood up, from the couch and made his way towards the door of the room. "Klyde!" I yelled out. "What about number eight?" My words froze him. He stopped a few feet short of the blood stained door. "Number eight..." He turned his face back towards me, but I had noticed that he was staring intently at the flower in the middle of the room; the only one encased in glass. "Number eight...is dead." He walked out of the room as the storm in front of me roared with thunder and began pouring it's heavy tempest down upon the ruins ever harder.