(( Gone for two days and two pages are up. Nice job. Sorry if I held some of you back from posting.))<br/><br/>Just then somone burst into the room out of breath and frantically shouting.<br/><br/>"Captain Ric! I bring urgent news! There's reports tha--" It was then that he saw Zenith. "It's him! Guards! Where are the guards! Arrest this man!" He shouted pointing at Zenith.<br/><br/>Zenith:<img alt="8O" src="./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif" title="Shocked"/><br/>Ric:<img alt="8O" src="./images/smilies/icon_eek.gif" title="Shocked"/><br/><br/>"What are you blabbering about?" Ric demanded.<br/><br/>"Eyewitness accounts sir say that they saw Zenith fraternzing with the enemy! He's a traitor if I ever saw one. You can tell just by lookin' at him!"<br/><br/>"Now wait a minute." Zenith began with a little hostility in his voice. "This has got to be a mistake."<br/><br/>"Where were you Zenith?" Ric asked calmly but coyly<br/><br/>"Ric, I though I already told you. I was-- I wasn't here."<br/><br/>"I want a straight answer! Where were you before you came back here? No one could find you. I sent a search squad out for you and only recently did you come back without hardly telling me anything at all. Don't you find it to be an odd coincidence that somehow during your absence that there have been reports of you helping the enemy?"<br/><br/>"It's not me Ric I swear!"<br/><br/>"Oh and I suppose your gonna tell me an evil twin is out there instead."<br/><br/>Zenith opened his mouth to speak, but then decided not to. The truth was there was another Zenith, but he hadn't seen him since that battle in that weird dimension. Could it be possible that he got here as well?<br/><br/>"I want the truth, Zenith!" Rc yelled, growing impatient.<br/><br/>Zenith was busy playing in his mind how best to handle this situation before things got worse for him than they already were. "Okay Ric. This is the truth, though it may sound weird. You've got to believe me. I was fighting this goddess, you see, the goddess of chaos. And she made an evil clone out of me, some faculty, and students as well. Well after hat we had to fight them and then we got transported back here where somehow my dark self came here as well. And now he's framing me by doing evil things."<br/><br/>Ric gave a blank stare that was devoid of emotion. Zenith couldn't really tell what was going through his mind or whether or not he believed his story. Then he spoke.<br/>"So there is this evil clone, and he followed you here. Not to mention the other people that are trapped in some different dimenion with the goddess of chaos."<br/><br/>"I know it's a bit hard to swallow, but it's the truth."<br/><br/>"Oh I believe you. There's no doubt about that. I want to hear more about this. Come with me where we can talk more privately." Ric said as he gave a notion for the other gentleman to leave, who was relunctant to go.<br/>"Step this way." Ric said as he opened a door. Zenith stepped inside the room and his eyes lit up. He turned around, but it was too late, Ric had already closed the door behind him and locked it. "You better get comfortable in there because that's where you're staying unil I figure out a more suitable punishment for traitors." Ric said as he walked away from the room.<br/>"Take this. Guard with your life. I don't want him to escape." Ric said to one of the guards as he handed him the key to Zenith's prison door. (which was really just a janitor's coset). "I've got to go back on the battlefield and see how things are progressing." Ric saw Zenith's sword lying on the table. "Make sure that is well guarded too." Ric said as he trotted off to join his comrades.<br/><br/>Meanwhile . . . in the Janitor's Closet<br/><br/>"Damn it! I should have known that would happen."<br/>"You would have if you weren't so trusting." A dark voice said.<br/>"What do you want? Come to finish me off I suppose." Zenith said recognizing the voice instantly without turning around to face him.<br/>"Now where's the fun in that?" Dark Zenith spoke."I'm here to help you. I can see it writhing within you. You want to get even with Reiko for killing those you cared about."<br/>"It's not worth it." Zenith said trying not to let Dark Zenith's words get to him.<br/>"Revenge is sweet, you remember how it felt don't you? You remember the anticipation and the adrenaline coarsing through your body when you attacked those that did you harm. You had power, who needs friends when you can enslave those that you defeat."<br/>Zenith clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. Dark Zenith's words were corrupting his mind. His conscience was getting foggy. He began doubting if choosing this path was worth it.<br/>"That's right. Give in to it. You'll feel better. You have no one but me. Everyone else has either deserted you or they don't care what happens to you. You've been alone in this world from the start and it will always be that way no matter how hard you try. It's both a curse and a blessing."<br/>"Enough! I don't want to hear anymore! Even if that may be true vengeance won't make me feel any better. I'm tired of looking after myself all the time. I'm sick of it. I learned what it was like to have true friends, even if it was for a brief moment, it was worth it."<br/><br/>Dark Zenith gave a look of disgust. "I can see you'll need more time to think it over. The greater the bond you have with these people...the greater the emotional effect will be when they're severed. Remember that." Then he slowly backed away and melded through the wall in a shadowy mist.