"Well, looks like the plan is to abandon the plan." Porter groaned, getting to his feet and helping Red to his. "Good flying, though, kid."
"Thank the ship." He muttered grumpily.
"You saw the flash, right? Just before we landed?" Yolanda asked.
Porter nodded. "That's Tim's signal. Seven blinks means seven souls."
"Red and Lin's safety is still top priority. Cruz, on me." Fuse said, drawing his sword.
"Wait." Lin said, grabbing his arm. He knelt down in front of her and she pulled off his helmet. She studied his face for a few seconds before leaning forward and giving him a kiss. "Come back to me."
"I always come back to you." He said, taking her hands and helping her pull the helmet down over his head. It hissed as it sealed and the blue eyes flashed brightly. "We'll get that date I promised."
She smiled sadly as he stood back up and nodded to Yolanda. The door hissed open and the ramp began to lower, but the two armored soldiers were already on the ground cutting a path through the hoard of enemies.
"Red, you carry Lin, stay between me and Lulu and keep up. There's no slowing down or breaks, you have to keep up." Porter said, pulling out his daggers as his partner readied her sword.
"I will." He said, scooping the smaller teen up.
"Right. GO!" He shouted, sprinting out the door and closing the distance between them and their Vanguard quickly without looking back.
"Meet halfway!" Fuse shouted, letting a bolt hit his armor before cleaving the shooter in half.
"Copy!" Porter and Lulu swapped their positions as she cut through several soldiers and pirates with just a few swings and changed their direction.
Lin watched as they fought tirelessly through gunfire and hand to hand attacks for nearly twenty minutes without stop. Red was clearly at his limit, but he kept up without complaint. She hoped with all her might that they'd break through any second and regroup with the others. Porter and Lulu had yet to take a hit while Fuse and Yolanda had weathered nearly all of the damage to protect them from the worst. They swapped off frequently, but their movements were starting to drag, which led to them taking more hits.
Yet the waves were unyielding. Overwhelming their party with numbers seemed to be the play and she couldn't see a way out of it. That was, until a familiar sight crashed into them followed by another.
"Glad you could join the party!" Porter shouted. "Lookin' good, Alice!"
The blonde spared him a grin before engaging with a soldier wearing the same armor pieces she was.
"Lin!" Eve cried, her backhand snapping the neck of a human pirate as she disengaged and ran over to her. "I'm so glad you're alright."
"That's relative." She replied, trying not to cry at the sight of her friend's face.
"We'll talk later, promise!" Eve said, ruffling her hair before slamming her fist into someone's face.
"I'll take her." An unfamiliar face told Red.
"Trust him!" Lulu shouted.
Red hesitated for a moment before passing his load to the young man. "I'm Tim. Can you still run?"
He nodded, having just managed to regain his breath. "I can."
"Good, try to keep up." He said, turning and darting past Lulu into the crowd.
Red followed in his footsteps as closely as he could. Tim seemed able to find the right path to avoid having to fight the enemy instantly, but was moving too quickly for Red to keep up as easily.
"Push! Just a bit further!" He called back. "You've got plenty left in the tank!"
Red's lungs burned, but he willed his legs to kick the ground even faster and was starting to close the gap as they broke free from the lines and slid into a bunker. Lin leapt from Tim's arms and ran over to him as he coughed and vomited while trying to catch his breath.
"'m fine." He wheezed. "Just need a minute."
"I've got him." Sebastian said, kneeling down. "It's good to see you again."
She smiled, then turned around and nearly fell to her knees as Clint and Rebecca smiled warmly at her. Instead of falling, she ran over to them and the pair wrapped her in a hug. "We're so glad you're okay!" Rebecca cried.
"What she said."
Lin let herself feel relief and sobbed happily for a few seconds before pulling away. "The others!"
"Right here." Yolanda's exhausted voice said as she wobbled slightly before dropping to the ground.
Eve dropped down next to her and sighed. "Never thought I'd see you again."
"Promised you I'd take care of her, didn't I?"
"I see you've picked up a few strays." She said, looking over at Porter and Lulu.
"So did you."
They laughed in relief and leaned against one another. Tim was by Alice's side as Fuse pulled his helmet off and looked around the room. "Where's Veronica?"
"KIA." Tim said. "Now that you're back, this whole operation is yours."
"Well, it's a good thing we planned for that, then." Porter quipped.
Fuse nodded and walked over to where Clint, Rebecca, and Lin stood, giving a dark look to Armand before kneeling down in front of Lin. "You're safe now. But I've still got some work to do."
"But you're so tired." She said, touching his face.
He smiled. "Remember what I said."
"You always come back."
Nodding he stood up and hugged Rebecca before shaking Clint's hand. "What're your orders?"
Fuse laughed and shook his head, stepping away from them to the center of the room. "There are two enemies out there who can control our minds. Make us see and do things. Rinku and Rainura. Rinku's powers don't work on those of us from the Program. But Rainura's do. We managed to shake her off once, but I don't want to risk that happening again, so here's the deal-"
He pulled on his helmet. "Your job is to keep Lin, Red, and each other safe at all costs. Get clear of this compound. I'll settle the rest of this myself."
Slow clapping drew everyone's attention to the door of the bunker. An armor very similar to the one Eve was wearing slapped its hands together as footsteps echoed off the walls. "Very good, Fuse. Very rousing speech."
"Caspar." Porter growled, drawing his knives.
"No." Lulu said, holding him back.
The helmet turned to look at them. "I'd listen to her, James. I'm just here for Fuse, but I'll take you for an appetizer."
"Heard you were obsessed with me." Fuse said, pulling Caspar's attention back to him.
He nodded once. "But I'm not interested in this Fuse. This Fuse who's... supported by others. Who has friends. I want the real Fuse. I want the Wolf."
"There's no difference between the two, Caspar."
"I beg to differ." He said before disappearing.
Lin's shriek of pain made everyone point their weapons at him, but Fuse already had his sword pressed against his throat.
"You should be feeling it by now. That inability to move?" Caspar said calmly, stepping away from the blade. "You see, I realized that Rinku was going to be useless to me in this fight, so I cut a deal with his sister. She can't control your minds anymore, but Lin here never broke her control. I wonder what she'll do to this girl before you get to her."
Fuse's body began shaking violently as he strained to move. Caspar laughed and sauntered toward the door. "Find the Wolf. Lose yourself to him. Then come find me. If you can get past me quick enough, maybe you can save her before she's too broken."
His body flickered and was gone, seconds later the hold over them was released and Fuse roared with rage.
~
"You seem awfully confident in your ability to beat him." Rainura said, stroking Lin's hair.
Caspar chuckled. "He'll be so beside himself with rage that he won't be thinking straight. It'll just be mindless slaughter until he gets here. Sorry about the lives of your men, by the way."
She shrugged. "There's always more like them to be found. You gave me what I asked for. Speaking of, Rinku, be a dear and bring me some refreshment."
The once proud and powerful Rinku gave a slight bow and began pouring a drink from a decanter.
"What did you do to him, exactly?" Caspar asked. "It's like the lights are on, but nobody's home."
"More or less the same thing I'm doing to Aeltia. But much faster. I'm afraid that eventually he'll forget to breath. Pity, he was my brother, after all. This wretched creature, however... I actually feel a sliver of pity for."
Caspar raised his eyebrow.
"Oh, I don't plan on going back on my word to you, don't worry. She's not supposed to exist to begin with." She said with a small laugh. "Your guest is on his way."
Caspar smirked and pulled on his helmet. "So he is."
~
No one had even thought to stop Fuse as he picked up his sword and walked through the door. There was no reason to. They were all infuriated by what had just happened. But Alice blocked his way.
"Move." He snarled.
"What are you thinking about right now?" She signed.
He growled and started to shove her away, but she grabbed his face and forced it to turn and face hers.
"Lin." She wheezed.
His body stiffened and Tim shifted slightly, preparing to tackle her out of the way.
"I know how insane it's making you right now." She signed frantically. "Please don't lose yourself to this rage. You always come back to Lin. What good will saving her do if you let yourself become a monster to do it?"
She could feel his fury burning into her through the dark blue glow of his helmet's eyes. And for a moment, she thought he was gonna give himself over to it and rip her apart. Instead he let out a breath and dropped his free hand on her head.
"Thank you." He said quietly before continuing on his way.
As his focus narrowed, he could just make out the sounds of his friends fighting far behind him. His HUD told him they were all still alive as he cut through the enemies that appeared in front of him. His heartbeat thudded in his ears as memories of the last year played through his mind. Everything he and the rest of them had been through was to bring them to this moment.
Lin was just a girl. Fragile, innocent, tiny, and in constant need of rescue. She should've been just another number in a mass grave. If the Kurokawa Fuse from back then had known everything he'd have to go through for her, she would've been. But now she was the single most important person to him. Everything in his life orbited around her. The friends he now had, the experiences, the pain, and the triumphs. All of it centered around her. So he'd save her again and again, as many times as it took before nobody would bother trying anymore.
Finally, he broke through the line and stared up at the ramp of the ship. Rinku was draped over the edge of the ramp, his dark skin tinged blue from asphyxiation. Caspar was slowly walking down the ramp, the smirk he must've had on his face was radiating off him in waves. Meanwhile, Rainura sat on an ornate chair, long stemmed glass in one hand while the other rested on Lin's head. The girl's eyes were dull as her face rested on her sister's knee.
"I've dreamed about this, Fuse. Since they woke me up, I've fantasized how this would go. But now that it's finally here, I almost wish it'd never come." Caspar sneered, readying his sword. "C'mon Fuse! Let's see who's really the be-"
Fuse slung the blood from his sword and started walking up the ramp as Caspar fell to the ground, split in two the exact same way he'd been at Keystone. Rainura's eyes widened in surprise, but a smile appeared on her face the next instant.
"Guess he was all talk." She sighed. "Shame."
"You're next." Fuse growled.
"No, I think she's next." She replied as a few drops of blood dripped from Lin's nose.
Fuse started forward, but his body seized just as a line of blood trailed down his sword from Rainura's cheek. The fear she felt in that moment froze her as well as she stared at the sword before moving away from it, abandoning Lin at his feet.
"H-How dare you!" She shrieked, clamping a hand to her face.
Her eyes widened again as his body began to shake. She doubled the effort to hold him in place, but it didn't seem to phase him as he strained harder.
"Overdrive Command..." He grunted as his body shook violently from the strain it was under from his own force and the effect of her power. "Wolf... of... Wardham."
Rainura could only watch as smoke began to rise from the armor, the heat radiating off it turning the dark grey into a pitch black as a moan evolved into a howl while its control systems fully unlocked, giving Fuse more power. He roared with the howling of his armor and took a step forward. Nothing could've prevented what happened next as he flickered into nonexistence for a split second, reappearing directly in front of her his sword covered in blood.
She slowly raised her hands to her face as a red line appeared across it. White liquid began to seep from one of her eyes as her hands fumbled to hold the top of her head in place while she slowly sunk to the floor.
He let out a pained breath and dropped to a knee as Rainura's final burst of power had stopped everything within him. He dismissed the overdrive as his scanner picked up a large number of friendlies entering the compound and tried to move, but the armor had locked up to cool down. He couldn't turn his head to see if Lin was alright, but there was no point as familiar voices nearby.
"She's alright!" He heard Porter say and relief sapped the last of his consciousness from him.