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After a few hours of sleep Greene got up and wandered down the halls to look out a window. He gazed sadly up at the stars with a depressed frown, his hands behind his back.
"I'm comin' ta' get you Haruki.." He murmured curling up by the window.

Meanwhile...

The Deathstar... not wholly constructed, but near its completion. It hovered and remained tall in its place in space, making all other spacecraft dwarf in comparison.

Inside, deep within a containment hold...

"Ugk... I hate this place." Haruki moaned. He was cuffed and bound, with all four of his limps chained against a wall. "...Greene..."

Greene slept soundly.

(sorry xP)

(It's okay.)




After a long, angst-filled night, morning came at last, and though it was difficult to determine night and day in the midst of space, fortunately Cell had implemented clocks in all the rooms. Z'reoth, adjusting his straps and pulling his hood over his face, was the first to awaken. Treading down the stairs swiftly and also silently, he navigated his way through the candlelit halls. He turned a corner, and as he walked down a fleet of spiraling stairs, looping and twisting as he put one foot in front of the other, he found himself located in a wide, rounded chamber.

This room was not altogether similar to the Main Hall, so he would have no reason or rhyme to make it to this place. It was, however, distanced and secluded from most the rest of the castle, and it was a mystery how he had found it in the first place. He did not have the luxury of boarding here, as the three Furries had. Midst the darkness, a glimmer flickered in his eyes as he excogitated an idea, and he outstretched his clawed gauntlets, thereby summoning a corridor of darkness.

"I shall save you on my own, Haruki." Z'reoth said in susurration, his deep voice cracking with remorse. "The others will not waken fast enough. ...No. I've no time to lose." he proclaimed, his dark brown eyes glowering into the pool of shadow spread before him, filled with a determination no man could ever hope to imitate. He stepped inside, and the coalesced portal would lead him to the great manifestation of space junk, known as the Deathstar, within moments.

Cell, unbeknownst to the sudden disappearance of his uninvited guest, sat in his throne, awaiting the two Furries to report in. The candles were dimmed, so it would seem the shadows were his only friends. Still, something did not feel right, and he couldn't shake this sinking feeling he felt in his stomach...




All across the Deathstar, men masked and donned in white armor and helms ran throughout the facility in an instant's time, tending to work and jobs left unnoticed. They were Clone Troopers, armed with simple two-handed short guns as they patrolled the vicinity. As three ran down a ramp, several more followed and aligned in single file, separating themselves to make a pathway, as though to welcome a special guest of sorts. The sounds of heavy, deep breathing could be heard, and as the owner's footsteps clanked against the metallic flooring with prudence, it made its way to a chamber hold. With a wave of its hand, it signaled for a Clone Trooper to insert a data code of sorts unto a type pad.

Click, kur-brrrz!

The password was accepted, and the chamber hold's metallic gate creeped open in a fast motion. The heavy breathing of the entity continued as they walked through the slender corridor, colored with dim white and blue hues, speckling the walls with the same patterns as the rest of the ship contained. Their footsteps came to an abrupt stop, however, as they looked to examine what lay before them.

"I see you are intent on clinging to your stubbornness." the man said, his voice deep and full of an arbitrary authority. With the click of a button, the lights flickered on, revealing the man's sinister and foreboding appearance. From head to toe, he was covered in armor as black a the night's shadow, and his face was covered by something that looked like a helmet and a mask, with hollow goggles serving as the eyepieces, and the mouthpiece filled with several slits; that's where the heavy breathing noise was coming from. His breastplate was coated in lines of white, with a strange assortment of buttons, varying in color, decorating its outer lining. As his tall, heavy cape flapped with the breeze, he stood before none other than Haruki.

"I already told you! I don't know anything about the Trial of Games!" Haruki barked, his face twisted in rage.
"Do not try to fool me. I have heard of your success in the defeat of the once-mighty Demon Lord, who once held dominion over the forest region." Darth Vader rebuked, the power of his voice alone enough to intimidate the Furry.
"But... I—"
"Enough. We will begin the 'persuasive measures.'" he said plainly as he reached his hand for a lever...

Greene awoke suddenly from his dreams and looked up to Pat, who'd been shaking his shoulder repeatedly.

"Well THERE you are sleepin' beauty." The grey furry said with a huff. Greene blinked and stretched, cracking his sore back from sleeping on the floor.

"Yeah..is Haruki back?" He asked, but Pat shook his head.

"Lever 2 is ready though..lets go."

The Main Hall's candles were lit upon the two Furries' entrance, and Cell got up from his throne and stood tall. His eyes scrolled to the gray Furry at first, then he looked to the particularly anxious, greener one. He closed his eyes for a moment, and upon letting out a sigh, spoke.
"Pat, Greene. Normally I would resent you two for making it this far, but..." he paused, looking to the right. "...my feelings are different this time, and that's because we're one head short. What good's a challenge if the competitors are handicapped...?" he thought out loud, for once sounding as though he genuinely cared for their sakes. "...Your other accomplice, Z'reoth, has already took it upon himself to try out Level 2 without my consent. I'm sure you'll bump into him sooner or later, but right now your goal: bring back Haruki..." he said, and looked to Greene, emotion flickering in his eyes, "...and bring him back alive."

He outstretched his hand, and the mystic portal appeared. If one were to stick their head through, they'd see the entrance to the mighty colossus that was the Deathstar.
"Now... GO!!!"

The two furries nodded and scrambled through the portal, entering the death star.
"Okay..the prisoner hold is this way." Greene stated, going through the mental image of the huge ship he had glued in his mind.

The interior of the Deathstar was complex, to be sure, though Greene and Pat were at the entrance; they wouldn't have to go so far as to scan the entire area. Here, there were two stairways connecting to a ramp, and once there the path thinned and narrowed into a catwalk. At the end, there was an elevator of sorts, which would lead them to the second floor.

As the Furries made their entrance however, if a clumsy one, they would soon find they were not alone...
"Intruders! Don't let them through!" a Clone Trooper yelled, waving one arm to signal five more rows of soldiers to reinforce its position. Up above, several of them ran down the passageways, making their way down it would seem. Crouching down underneath the ramps and railings, they took aim and, within seconds, the two wolves were under fire!

Shing!

A familiar sickle-blade flung past and intercepted their blasts, which left the Clone Troopers left to stare in awe for a few seconds. A silhouette formed, waving like ripples in a pond, until finally Z'reoth's body peeled in, shadowy and liken to a transparent image. He was utilizing the fulminating power of the Heart, darkness, and though it was strong, it could easily expend its master if used too much. Judging by the look of pain Z'reoth wore on his face, it looked like he was quickly exhausting himself.
"You certainly took your sweet time..." the fiery, black-haired youth scoffed, blocking two more lasers that zoomed past. The side of his cloak was covered in blood, and by the looks of it, it was freshly spilled.
"Summon your weapons; do not dawdle... Now we fight... for Haruki!" he cried, creating a corridor of darkness before him. He entered the portal, and in moments he made a preemptive strike on the hidden Clone Troopers!




As Darth Vader clamped his firm, metallic glove around the lever, the black and white Furry shivered in fear.
"Oh Lord... Not again..." he whimpered, scared and unwilling. That horrible, traumatic experience was returning to him; it was as though this happened before.
The man, clad in the dark, pulled the lever, and instantly, the circuitry that was wired through Haruki's braces lit up, and began to flicker and buzz with static. They accumulated energy within seconds, and with a sickening sound, began to discharge unto the Furry!
"Aaaaahh... raaaaaarh!!" Haruki screamed in anguish as electricity was burned throughout his entire body, filling him with excruciating pain from head to toe. As the sparks licked and tore away at him, it felt like every vein in his body was ready to split open, and he felt his heart pumping less blood... He shook and rattled the chains binding him, as to break free from the torture, to no avail. It was no use; the cuffs were made out of a metal nigh indestructible, and his strength was not only being torn asunder; it almost felt like it was being siphoned out of him... He was fading.
Darth Vader released the lever, and as the friction departed from Haruki, the Furry was left to hang there, frazzled with fright and extreme discomfort. Tears of agony wetly poured down his face as blood dripped down from his ears.
"Bluh... aulllll!!" the Furry choked, vomiting blood unto the floor. Darth Vader simply stared on, remaining emotionless at the sight, and watched as the wolf stubbornly clung to life.
"Now you realize how futile it is to resist the Empire: struggle furthermore, and you will be killed." the lord said, his voice deep and assertive as before. "Now, what is your answer?"
Though hard as it was, the wolf struggled to fill his lungs with air. With every waking moment, his body quaked with unrelenting pain that remained ceaseless withal, so even the concept of breathing was hard to grasp.
"Weh-Will you... pruh-promise to... spare my... fruh-friends...?" Haruki gasped, hardly able to form a complete sentence. His words were filled with despair, for he already knew the answer.
"I owe you no obligation; that I will not promise." Lord Vader replied most bluntly. As blood dripped from his mouth, Haruki's eyes grew wild and turned feral. He snarled at the man, foaming at the mouth.
"I... I... weh-will... NEV... ER... huh-help yo-... you..." the wolf protested weakly.
"So be it. Rise to maximum voltage." he ordered a nearby Clone Trooper, modulating the intensity of the torture device Haruki was bound by.

Within moments, it was activated once more, and Haruki's screaming came so loud and so full of pain, everyone in the Deathstar would be able to hear... no matter how far the distance.

Greene didn't bother pulling out his gun when he heard the scream, he whipped around and raced in it's direction, leaving Pat alone with his remote.

"God i love this thing!" The grey furry chimed, pressing one button, making all the clone troopers catch on fire.

"BUUUURN BABEH BUUURN!" He yelled, racing down the hall after Greene.

(L O L. Pat's quote reminded me of one of my favorite Kingdom Hearts characters. xDDD "BURN, BABY!" )




One by one, the Clone Troopers were lit aflame, falling from their posts. As they fell from the heights, one hollered the proverbial "Ahh!" scream, which was a sound byte recycled in several movies, and was an inside joke between the movie producers and friends also, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

Warping in, Z'reoth couldn't resist stifling a laugh at the sound.
"Bloody idiots..." he murmured quietly in his rich accent, lowering his head fast enough to evade a laser. He delivered a swift kick to the nearby Clone Trooper's abdomen, and as it lay hunched over, dealt the finishing blow with the scythe edge of his sickle-blade. Three more to go...

"Hurk..." the teenager gasped, holding his side, which was now gushing with blood. With one free arm readied, he stumbled to the floor on one knee, even as the Troopers were approaching. "This will prove," he grunted, "most difficult..."




The power of the now-maximum voltage was so intense, Haruki's pain flared, burning with the incandescence of a candle on a cold winter's night. The lightning reached its peak, and as specks and spark flew from his body to the ground, it was colored blue and black; not white or yellow, and as every bolt coursed through his body, he felt as though any second he would be left to die.

Brrrzzzt...

"What is going on?" Darth Vader demanded, seeing the electricity cease in its dance to claim Haruki's life. Now the lights flickered out in the room, leaving them to stand in darkness.
"The energy deposits have been almost entirely depleted, sir." a Clone Trooper reported. "There's been a disturbance on floor one, and— Aah!" the soldier gasped, grabbing for its throat as it levitated in mid-air. Darth Vader's hand was outstretched.
"Then you will go and silence it." the lord said, now frustrated as he used the Force to fling the soldier out the door. He turned to face Haruki again, whose head was hung as though a dead man. "And don't think for a moment that I am through with you..." Vader threatened, turning to exit the holding chamber, his cape flapping with the motion.

As the last light of the room faded upon the chamber door's closing, Haruki was left for the shadows... Was this it? Was this how everything was going to come to an end...?

Greene whipped around and smirked as a Clone Trooper aimed it's gun at him.
"Hey." He chimed, shooting it in the forehead. "You got something right there." Walking by to the next one he poked it's forehead making it flall over.
"Well Fu** Z, got hurt already?" Pat teased, trying to contain his laughter at the sight of so many clone troopers dancing around, trying to put out themselves.

"Aah! I'm burning!"
"Life's not worth this!"
"Stop, drop and roll— OWWWW!"
"Somebody put me out!"
"Retreat!"

Various voices were heard across the halls as the Troopers scrambled back and forth in a frenzy. Upon seeing the Furries' weapons, they grew fast intimidated, and fled for their lives with their arms held high. Z'reoth, witnessing such a sight, breathed a sigh of relief, and let his body hit the ground. Putting his hands before him, each one burning with a dark aura, he crawled toward Pat and Greene.
"We... Musn't stop, now, we... Haruki..." the teenager coughed, one of his eyes half-lidded in pain.

"Okay bro you die here, WE'LL go get Haruki!" The furries chimed in unision, and Pat pulled off his hoodie and wrapped it around Z'eroth's waist.
"Here, put pressure on that, it'll stop the bleeding!"

"I... You— ...have my thanks..." came his reluctant, weak reply of gratitude. "I've... already tried t'... enter through the chamber hold... It is... fastened by an... access code..." he grunted, "...and by no other... means can it... be opened... I already tried." he finished, closing his eyes as he brought the sweatshirt jacket closer to his waist. "One of the Clone Troopers... must've dropped an access... ca... rd... 'round here... Take the elevator. Save... my other half..." Z'reoth said, referring to Haruki at the end before falling unconscious.

The furries blinked down at Z'eroth then shrugged.
"okiay!" They chimed, racing down the hall.
"Here's the door..." Pat hummed looking intently at it. Greene smiled, recognizing the door, and stretched out his arms as a Clone trooper walked by and grabbed his card.
"HEY!" He cried, and Pat pressed a button, making the clone trooper's head fly off.
"Lets go."