Silverbrooke

Fauna appears back in the clearing where Lance is, in human form. She kneels down by Lance and stares into oblivion for a long moment, while everyone else hurries about to help. She shakes her head slowly again, and then stands up. To Nat, she whispers, "thanks for helping out... I need to find out what He11ix needs." Fauna turns around and heads to where He11ix is.
"Couldn't you have... made another world? So that they didn't know where you were? It's almost impossible to face you now, but... What did you need?"

"*ahem* Remember when you tried to fill the place with life? Well, it's gotten so cold the piping and wiring is freezing, and now the power, AND plumbing is out. Everyone else is trapped inside. We've been running on backup power, but we were almost out by the time I left. If the power goes out, then locks will be deactivated, the lights go off, everything. It's impossible to survive in there, or to leave, if it goes out. I can't even get it. So, if you could do your thing..."

*Appears at Fauna and He11ix*

"Did somebody say something about not getting in somewhere?" *Grins*

"We really have to get the security system fixed... anyway, yeah, I can't get back in to Haze. The doors are all frozen shut. If Mel would get rid of all the snow and everything, I can get in. The power's probobly out by now, so can we hurry this up?"

Fira looks at zak, then shakes her head and runs off. she comes back with 2 bottles of water. she infuses one bottle with darkness, then runs to zak. "zak! put some light into here! we need it!" Zak looks at her. "zak...just...please do it." she holds out the bottle expectantly.

"Yep, first thing I do, fix that security system. Now, Fauna, please hurry it up. The power's definately out by now. We don't have a lot of time. so, if you would..."

Fira sets the bottle down in front of zak, and turns toward he11ix. "you need someone to melt all of the snow? i'm part fire elemental. let me do it. i've had more training in melting stuff than her. let me come with, so she can grieve for the wolf. she probably wants to be present for the healing."

"...I wouldn't try MELTING the snow... theres nothing in the ground BUT the snow. So, really, there's no ground. That's why I need Fauna to make life and such.

Fauna pushes He11ix to the side and steps toward the portal. She stops mid-step and turns to him. "...What are you going to do there after I'm done? That bad feeling that Nat has is probably coming from inside there." She points to the portal. "...But whatever," she adds in a whispers. Behind them, trees are uprooted, along with grass under the snow and flowers. She shoves them into the portal, and, with her mind, places them sideways in the snow in Haze. She then makes a huge ball of light and throws that inside the portal. Within seconds, the snow is melted. She plants the trees, grass, and flowers. Then she turns around and starts walking toward Lance again.
"There you go," she mumbles to He11ix. Tiny sprouts appear where the trees used to be, and little grass blades appear above the snow. A couple of flowers grow up from the ground. Fauna looks at them, her head tilted to the side curiously. A log on the ground comes up and smacks He11ix over the head. Fauna snickers as He11ix glares at her and at the log. She then bolts off in Lance's direction.
"You're welcome," she calls behind her shoulder.

"Well, at least I can get in now." He11ix goes in the portal and heads for Haze. The portal closes.

30 seconds later...

The portal opens, and He11ix's unconcious body is dragged out by a few animals. The animals seem VERY freaked out. Haze, in the distance, seems to be eminating a dark energy.

Fauna stops mid-step again and whirls around on her heal, staring at He11ix. "Crap," she hisses, lunging by him. She picks him up and makes sure he's not a freakin' dummy. She holds He11ix above her head and stares at the portal, which seems like it's throbbing now. Fauna growls to herself, and then jumps on her cloud, bolting away, with He11ix hanging off the side. She stops abruptly on top of the inn and hops off, laying He11ix down on the roof. Fauna checks his pulse and jumps off the roof when she finds that it's still there. She gathers water inside the inn and then climbs back up hastily. She brings leaves from the trees for him to use as a pillow and then checks for any sign of sickness or something. She notices a couple of bruises and rashes, but that's it. She splashes a little bit of water on his face and sits on the edge of the roof until he wakes up.

Several minutes later...

He11ix sits up and groans. Fauna turns her head around and jumps to his side, holding the water up until he takes it. "What happened?" she asks frantically, replacing the leaves that had blown away in his unconscious state.

"I walked in, and the entire place was dark and ruined. I was walking through, I think I remember seeing someone... but that's about it. I take it I got out somehow?"

"You got dragged out by a group of animals, and then I flipped out and took you up here," she says, staring at the forest where Lance and everyone should be. Fauna looks back at He11ix. "What do you think happened? Do you know what's happening?" She stops and narrows her eyes at him. "Are you a HE117? Or a dummy with some talking device implanted in it..." She looks up, remembering the water she poured on him. "You're the real He11ix, 'cuz dummies don't talk. Unless you have a talking device on you..." She starts turning him around and searching for some little antannae. Finding none, she lets him plop back down on the roof. "So what do you think happened?"

"I DON'T KNOW! If I did, I think I would have told you. Whatever did this might have been locked up or something, since all the locks were dead. Although, I never knew anything was locked up that could do that." He11ix starts to get up. "I'm going back." He collapses back to the ground. "Ow... or not..."

Fauna clenches her teeth and forces the bottle of water back into his hands. "I'll chain you up if I have to, you're not going anywhere," she growls. She smirks and then starts laughing at herself a little. She turns back to where Lance is and the laughs slowly turn to silence. "...Do you think... Zander did something? Or the androids? What has Haze created in the past...?" Fauna looks down and murmurs possibilities under her breath, thinking aloud. She turns to look at He11ix, studies him for a second, and then looks back down. Her eyes, which had gone back to green, start to turn a pale blue. She looks back at where Lance is, and her eyes turn almost white, but still blue. They glisten a little, and Fauna rests her arm on her cloud, which floats by her. Her eyes return to green after a moment, and she turns back to He11ix. "Are you sore at all?" she asks, tilting her head to the side again.

"No, I'm fine. And I'm quite sure it wasn't Zander. If the power went out, he wouldn't be able to do anything. It wasn't Ether and the androids, because Ether was charging before I left. We haven't ever made anything that could ever make the carnage back at the base. The only way we can find out is to go back in there. Which I really can't do in this condition. I wish I knew what happened."

Fauna looks up thoughtfully.

"Think I could go in there? I survived Zander's laser gun, freakin' evil, and I think I could withstand whatever gave you a few bruises." Fauna looks at He11ix, tilting her head to the side again.

"Fine. Here's the Insta-Portal." He11ix hands Fauna the device. "Blue to go to the base, green to come back here. Good luck."

Fauna stares at him in astonishment. "I thought I was gonna have to beg you," she says, grinning and looking down at the device. Her grin fades, and she looks back at where Lance is. A small snarl rips from her chest, and she jabs the blue button. With that, she disappears.

Inside Haze...

The entire place is dark. Fauna hops on her cloud to avoid making any noise. Her eyes widen, and she presses the green button. She appears back on the roof.

"Okay, we need some walky-talky thing. I'm gonna have a lot of questions," Fauna says. She hands a little device to He11ix, and then presses the blue button. Inside Haze again, she holds up her own device.

"What am I supposed to do down here? All I know is that I'm to find out whatever is down here. Do I bring Zander and everyone back?" She stuffs the device back in her pocket until He11ix responds. The cloud zooms into the base. Fauna peers around and eventually comes to the room He11ix and Zander slept in. She looks in the room that she had her own little party and silently laughs to herself. The cloud creeps into the room, and Zander is sprawled out on the floor. Fauna holds the device up and whispers into it. "I found Zander."

"Oh shit... check his comp, he might have left something." Fauna looks at the comp, just barely flickering with power. There is something typed out. Fauna reads it out loud.

"I don't know how much time I have before it reaches this room. If anyone finds me, it's probobly too late. There is something in the base. The second the power went out, we heard an explosion. Ether went up to go see what it was. He went missing. Asaroth went speeding through the walls. I don't know where he went either. I have seen the creature. I think it's"

The typing stops there. "This is bad, this is very bad. It's too bad whatever got Zander got him before he finished. This thing is powerful... if you find it, don't fight it. Brind Zander back here for now, and try to find Ether and Asaroth. I just hope they haven't met the same fate..."

Another snarl comes from Fauna, only louder. "Even if he shot me with a laser gun, at least he didn't poison Lance," she whispers to herself. She picks Zander up and presses the green button. She lays Zander down on the roof by He11ix.

"Is he...?" Fauna stares at Zander, and her eyes turn to that blueish white again. She shakes her head as her eyes glisten again, and then presses the blue button.

Back inside the room, she runs her fingers down the computer screen. Her head suddenly jolts up. Fauna tears the device from her pocket and speaks into it rapidly. "Whatever Nat and Fira thought was wrong with the town, do you think it's the... the [i]thing[i]?" Fauna's eyes turn black with red around the edges. She runs around the corner and out of the base, into the open. Her eyes scan Haze until she finds movement. Cautiously, she moves toward it, hiding in the shadows.
Something soars across the sky and lands with a loud crack. Fauna almost bolts toward it, but something else is making a sound. She looks up and sees a bundle of snapped wire. After waiting several minutes, she runs to the thing that had been flung. Ether's body is twitching and writhing, sparks flying everywhere. Fauna looks up to see some huge, metal creature towering over her. She frantically grabs He11ix's device and clicks the green button.

Fauna sets Ether down by He11ix and scowls. "Couldn't he be repaired?" she asks hopefully. Fauna trembles as visions of the robotic Godzilla comes to mind.

"Zander can fix him. I just hope I can fix Zander." He11ix opens up a robotic panel on Zander's back. "I bet his robotic parts are just malfunctioning. When they do, he goes unconcious. It happens a lot. Let's see if I remember how to do this..." He11ix starts rewiring things, and Zander's left arm and leg start twitching.

Fauna watches and zones out for a second. Her eyes widen then, and she tilts her head to the side again. "I need to get Asaroth," she whispers. "That thing is rediculous." She taps the blue button and appears in front of "Robozilla." She yelps and dives out of the way as it pound the ground where she used to be. Fauna makes a hailstorm above it to make a distraction and runs for it. She runs back to the base and locks up the doors. Fauna goes to the computer in Zander and He11ix's room and finishes the sentence.

"I don't know how much time I have before it reaches this room. If anyone finds me, it's probobly too late. There is something in the base. The second the power went out, we heard an explosion. Ether went up to go see what it was. He went missing. Asaroth went speeding through the walls. I don't know where he went either. I have seen the creature. I think it's hell."

Fauna runs her finger over the screen again and then stands up. She sights movement again and sees Asaroth, staring at her, halfway inside the wall.

"Asaroth!" Fauna whispers, taking a step forward. Asaroth goes deeper in the wall. "Come back to Earth; Ether, Zander, and He11ix are already there. Please?" Fauna holds out her hand to Asaroth with the teleporter in the other hand.

Asaroth doesn't move. His eyes look lifeless. He just floats there, halfway in the wall. The computers in the room shut off. The door locks. Fauna looks over at the window that looks into the hall. It's pitch black, except for a pair of burning red eyes.

Fauna, still staring into flashing red eyes, reaches for her teleporter. She looks down for a fraction of a second and presses the green button. Nothing happens. The eyes remain to be locked on hers. She glances at Asaroth, who remains still. Fauna reaches for the device and barely even whispers into it, "He11ix? Something is wrong with Asaroth, and I am currently looking into a pair of gleaming red eyes."