CHAPTER XII
“THE BAD GUYS”

SOUNDTRACK- None
        King Burroughs welcomed Canen into a conference room. Canen sat down at a desk as Burroughs sat at the other side in his massive gold chair. “First off, I can’t begin to express my sorrow for our most unfortunate loss,” the king began. “The Chosen One was our last hope.” He then gave a great sigh.
        Canen agreed with a faint nod. Before he could begin his request, King Burroughs stopped him. “Canen, my boy, I had faith in your father, Winston, and I have faith in you. But...I just,” he paused. “Canen, forgive me. I owe you in the name of your father, God rest his soul, but I must refuse your requests.”
        Canen’s white eyes lit up in anger, but he remained still. Burroughs continued, speaking rather quickly, “After half of my city burned down last night, and fifty of my best soldiers slaughtered instantaneously by one man, and the CHOSEN ONE killed as well- I’m sorry, but...I can’t believe that our conflict will not end grimly.”
        Canen’s face remained blank, “Then you wish to contribute to Sa’gaht’s campaign of destroying Revenant?”
        “I…” Burroughs paused. “I’m still your friend, Canen,” but it was already too late. Canen got up and headed for the door. “...it’s just that half of my city is in ruins. I don’t want Zetah to become the next Nodem City!”
        “Yes...spare Zetah from becoming a garbage heap. Don’t you get it? By doing this, you’re accelerating the process of the planet becoming a garbage heap! We’re at war, Burroughs! Can’t you see that? In war you have to make sacrifices!” Canen shouted.
        “Canen! What you are trying to do is not war, it is suicide!” the king protested.
        Canen opened the massive wooden door, “Thank you for your hospitality, your highness. You will not hear from us any more.” And with that, Canen took his members of Revenant back to the Thunder Serpent, leaving an ashamed king. Despite Burroughs's massive guilt for not aiding Revenant in their righteous cause, he still didn’t send for Canen to return to Zetah. He let him go on whatever mission they had.

SOUNDTRACK- Insanity’s Grimace
        Janus was shaken so he would wake up. He found himself still in his murky cell lined with piping and rusted steel. The faceless Mensan soldiers dragged him to the main lab upon his father’s command. “Ah, Janus. I am glad to see you’re up!” Jonnan said, his arms open. “I’d like you to meet your murderer.” He paused. “I bet you never thought you’d hear that...”
        Jonnan lead his son down countless corridors, their walls and ceilings lined with pipes, computer monitors, cables, wires, circuitry, etc... while the steel grates showed rust as well. “Father?” Janus began.
        “What is it, my son?”
        “What do you wish to do with me, now that I’m out of the DreamSeed matrix?” he asked.
        “…” Jonnan gave a long pause. “Janus, I really don’t know. I just wanted to talk to you, but now that I’ve done that-” he paused again. “...I really have no plans for you, my boy. But Dr. Doan might.” They approached a massive door. “We’re here,” Jonnan slipped a keycard into the slot of a reader. Pressure hissed out as steam as the huge doors slid open.
        Inside, a spotlight shone down on Dr. Doan, who was seated in a DreamSeed machine exactly like Janus’s. The room was surrounded in computers and their monitors, accompanied by the strange ‘thinking’ noise that computers give to fill the silence. “This is who killed you, Janus.” Jonnan pointed to a wrinkly, crippled, diseased man in the chair.
        After a long period of silence, Janus narrowed his brows. “What?” he asked in discredit.
        “We learned from you. We boosted the mana extraction and fueled a much greater quantity into the machine’s reactor in here at Intarma Island. We almost destroyed it like the Antilian incident, but nevertheless we have learned from our mistakes.”
        “You mean, this old geezer’s DreamClone was Sa’gaht?”
        “That’s right. Apparently you gave Dr. Doan a gift upon merging your fantasy with reality. You made his past a very interesting one. He was a mage, Janus. One of the most powerful, dangerous, and most feared mages in existence...this...crippled...old...man.”
        Jonnan paused due to Janus’s blank expression on his face. “He had to change his identity once the war was over, so he decided to work for his motherland. His countless years as a mage, and using shadow magic with evil, has warped and diseased his body.”
        Jonnan bent down and put his face close to Dr. Doan’s. He grinned as he watched drool seep from his wrinkled, dry lips. “He’s a genius,” Jonnan said as the saliva ran down and soaked Doan’s clothes. “Dr. Doan decided to use the DreamSeed technology to rejuvenate his past in order to wreak havoc today.”
        Janus shook his head. “I thought you joined Intarma to rid the world of magic.”
        Jonnan wiped Dr. Doan’s mouth with a cloth. He shook his head. “Son, you have taught me one thing. None of this matters because it isn’t real anymore.” Jonnan stood up. “Don’t get me wrong- this is reality, but such a deranged one now, that I don’t consider it real. I mean, it’s not how the world started out as, so I really don’t care anymore. Besides, you know the saying- if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”
        Jonnan put his hand on Janus’s shoulder, “You taught me that, too, with your death. Intarma can practically rule the world now that you’ve given them mana from your bizarre fantasy. Not only that, but, from a technical standpoint, I can’t tell you if the Sa’gaht that came and killed you is a manifestation from your dream or Doan’s. Your cliché idea of “the bad guys” has made Intarma nearly invincible now,” Jonnan laughed. “Thanks.”

SOUNDTRACK- The Mana Acropolis
        Fox walked beside Canen as they strolled down the vast and lush gardens of the Mana Acropolis. The two said nothing for a few minutes. “Cevo was right,” Canen shook his head. “Vako did not foresee Janus’s death,” he said, letting out a great sigh. “Nobody did.”
        “Cheer up, Canen,” Fox said. “I didn’t believe this before, but I do now. I think everything happens for a reason. I mean, I was running shipments between Truce and Vista Seaports my whole life. I thought that’s what I’d do even during my final days! I knew it in my heart, Canen, that I would be the pilot of the world’s first aircraft. But, my dream died when I met Abant. Even though I’m truly saddened by my loss, I’m glad of a gain that came from it. I’m glad I’m with Revenant, because I have something I’m not used to.”
        Canen looked up, “What’s that?”
        “Friends.”
        Canen smiled at Fox, “I’m glad you’re with us, too, Fox. I just don’t know what to do now. Vako is analyzing the timeline, to see which is the proper path we must take.”
        “Proper path?” The hybrid scratched the orange fur of his head.
        “Vako can read every possibility in time, but, of course, she cannot foresee the evil that invades and alters it. She can, however, compensate by guessing.”
        “So what’s our next move?” Fox asked.
        “That’s what I’m about to find out. I summoned Vako an hour ago- it takes her that much time to surface to a psychic-broadcasting depth in the planet’s core.” Canen’s head sank to his chest. “She is our only hope, now.”
        Fox’s eyes lit up, “Oh! I almost forgot?” The two stopped in a brick path surrounded by trees.
        Canen turned, facing him, “Yes?”
        “Well, seeing we’re taking a recess, Audrey would sure like to go back and visit her family. She’s pretty sad and anxious to see them, and she’s even more hurt with Janus’s death.” Sage submitted.
        “But the blockade...”
        “Three months is a long time,” he added. “I think I could sneak her past. The Thunder Serpent still has a few tricks up her sleeve,” the hybrid grinned.
        Canen shrugged, “I’ll see- after I speak with Vako.”
        “That would be fine. Thanks.” Fox smiled as they came to a fork in the path.
        The two split paths, and walked by themselves in the beauty of the nature around them.