Billy: I don’t know how much longer Orûnn can keep this up! Emperor Valgus: I am almost there! Orûnn is the only thing that can keep Thyrus distracted! You guys don’t have enough firepower to destroy all of the objects quick enough. Once I get there with my fleet we will blast the Anomaly Vault with so much force that Thyrus won’t have even a second to absorb power! Billy: WAIT, you want to destroy the Vault!? I thought we were trying to protect it! It’s taken hundreds of years to find all of those objects! Emperor Valgus: Lets face it Billy... The Anomaly Vault makes us a big target for those who want to cause trouble. Destroying it will at least give us a slight chance of stopping Thyrus. He cannot absorb the objects energy if we destroy them. Just stay put. Both sides watched in shock as an intense battle played out between them. Orûnn had been moving around at incredible speed to dodge Emperor Thyrus’s massive attacks. It had been five minutes of watching bursts of black dust swirl around blasts and beams of core energy. Five minutes doesn’t seem like a long time, but when the fate of your entire species is at stake it feels like hours. Billy looked at the other Bubbies that were nearby. Most of them had been watching the battle go on without even blinking, while others curled up behind barricades, shaking and crying. Billy wanted to tell them that it would be alright, but he knew it wasn’t. There is nothing alright about a being with godlike strength trying to kill off your entire species.... Unfortunately, the Bubbies weren’t much different from the Krall. The Bubbies had brought other species to extinction to defend themselves. Was this the Bubbies punishment for their past actions? Orûnn: How about you let me get closer? I just want to talk! Orûnn dodges a hail of core beams and boosts himself into the air to escape a core blast. Thyrus relentlessly unleashes more core energy, causing the surface to burn up. Emperor Thyrus: And what is it that you would like to talk about, Orûnn!? Thyrus blasts a dust wall that Orûnn created and sends a volley of core needles at him. Orûnn uses his dust to envelop the needles and slow them down, and then tosses them away. Orûnn: Smashing your skull in. It was impossible to see the look on Thyrus’s face because his helmet was on, but something made Orûnn believe that he wasn’t too happy. Emperor Thyrus: Why won’t you just STAY STILL!!!! Thyrus created a massive ball of core energy and unleashed a massive beam right in the direction of the Anomaly Vault. Orûnn: BILLY! Billy and the other Bubbies made a run for cover as far from the front of the Vault as possible. The bright orange beam impacted the Vault so hard that the entire structure had gotten pushed back ten feet before it began to crumble and tear apart. The Vault was able to withstand a majority of natural disasters, but against core energy it flaked away like wet paper. The ground started to turn bright red, and anything on top of it began to burn and melt. The beam slowly began to die down, and the air gradually became cooler. Billy looked out from behind his cover and saw what remained of the Anomaly Vault. Twisted and melted metal poked up from the ground while charred stone scattered the surface. All that stood there now was the massive collection of objects, which had surprisingly not gotten destroyed by the beam. Orûnn had a strange feeling within him. He summoned the orb that Queen Vissan had given him before she died, and it was vibrating. It seemed that the collection of objects were having a strange affect on the orb. A thunderous rumble shook the sky, and a massive Bubby ship appeared with a swarm of smaller ships following it. It was Rolling Thunder, and within it was Emperor Valgus. The ship immediately shot a powerful blue beam at the exposed objects, but a massive wall of core energy rose up from the ground and blocked it. The ship continued to fire its beam, but the core wall stood firm. The smaller ships couldn’t shoot through the wall, so they fired upon Thyrus instead. That was a mistake. Thyrus created another ball of core energy bigger than the previous one, and shot another beam at Rolling Thunder. The Krall and Bubbies that were watching knew that they had to retreat if they didn’t want to die, and that is just what they did. Except for Orûnn and Billy. Billy: Valgus.... They both watched as the massive golden ship began to crack. Chunks of it began to fall of and even disintegrate. Massive blue explosions erupted from within the ship, and charred scraps fell to the ground. Thyrus summoned giant core tendrils that shot upwards and wrapped around the ship. They burrowed through and bursted out, tearing the ship to pieces. What was left of Rolling Thunder came crashing down to the surface, unleashing a massive shockwave and explosion. / Some time later / Billy struggled to open his eyes. He was being shaken by something, but his vision was too blurry to see what. He heard a muffled voice telling him to get up, but he couldn’t. He blinked a few times and saw Orûnn’s face looking down at him. Billy was able to hear again, and he used the little bit of strength he had to push himself up. Orûnn: Come on Billy... We need to hurry. Billy limped as fast as he could behind Orûnn. They climbed over the mangled remnants of Rolling Thunder, some of which were still very hot, and came upon a figure slumped up against a shard of metal. Billy: EMPEROR! Billy stumbled up to Emperor Valgus, whose armor was severely damaged. Billy went to lift the Emperor upright, but Valgus held his hand up to stop him. Billy: You’re alive... We need to- Emperor Valgus: Not for... Much longer... Billy couldn’t hold back his tears. Billy: Don’t say that! You won’t die! Emperor Valgus: Billy..... You know...... how we choose Emperors, right? Billy: Yes... The Emperor chooses someone who they trust the most to do what is right for the people. Emperor Valgus: Congratulations....... You.... are the Emperor... now. Save us all. Valgus drew his final breath. The silence was interrupted by a loud boom. Billy and Orûnn saw Emperor Thyrus in the distance, preparing to take the energy of the objects. Thyrus’s face was now exposed, revealing a battered Krall face with cracks in it, and red energy seething from them. He raised his arm slowly, and core energy wrapped around it. The massive collection of objects began to glow, and a strange green energy rose up from it. The green energy began to slowly move towards Thyrus’s hand. The wave of green was mere feet from making contact with Thyrus. An orb appeared in front of him. Orûnn’s orb. Emperor Thyrus: What is this!? Before he could touch the orb, the green energy began funneling into it, and it let out a strong burst. The burst knocked Thyrus back, and once he got back up, he saw Orûnn standing there with the orb in his hands. The orb was taking in an insane amount of energy, and it was sending that energy into Orûnn, who wasn’t strong enough to take it in all at once. Orûnn: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! ITS TOO MUCH!!! IT BURNS SO MUCH!!! Billy: ORÛNN!!! NO! Billy ran up and grabbed the orb as well, which split the flow of energy. They both held onto the orb as it shook violently, and the energy burned within them. The pain became so immense that they both collapsed, but they still held onto the orb. Thyrus tried to run back up to them, but the orb unleashed another shockwave and shattered. Thyrus was knocked back once again, and struggled to get back up. Once he managed to get back on his feet, he looked at Orûnn and Billy, who stood before him. But something was different. They both seemed eerily calm, and the air was dead silent. There was green object energy flowing through their bodies, giving them immense strength. The two of them together had around the same amount of power as Thyrus now, and they would not let that power go to waste. Teamwork was the only way to win. Orûnn and Billy: .........WE..... ARE YOUR EQUAL.