Perfectionist

Madness

Keegan's POV.

"What the hell happened?!" I shouted as I entered the ward room only to see Brian severely injured, on the brink of death.

"..."

"Oh my god." I was left speechless at the carnage,"Why aren't they treating him?! I'll get the doc-"

"They've already tried." Levi stopped me.

"What? You're joking." I pointed to Brian,"You're telling me that they couldn't spare a rejuvenate pill for one of the top players?"

"They did spare a rejuvenate pill. Two of them. And he barely lived after that." Sapphire answered quietly.

"You're fucking kidding." I looked at Brian,"Two rejuvenate pills? What the hell even caused this?"

"He found Antonio." Faye replied,"The man's gone mad."

"Mad?"

"Go. I'll watch him." Jackson said.

Faye motioned for me to follow.

We went into a separate ward, an unconscious man covered in wounds slept in the bed.

He was barely recognisable.

Yet, his mouth kept on moving, mouthing only a single line.

"Brian got wind of his location and went to get him. The fucker attacked on sight and Brian retreated. He took a healing pill but his wound wouldn't heal. He called for backup and he took five of us like it was nothing. He fell unconscious from excessive bleeding and has been mouthing 'I'm sorry for leaving you Alexis' ever since."

"He left her? Weren't they happily engaged just yesterday?"

"That's the problem. We don't know what the fuck happened. He was screaming madly and crying incoherently when we got to him. A sorta psychotic break or something."

Reishard walked in,"Is he awake?"

"Not yet."

"I'll wake him." Reishard pulled out a syringe with green liquid and injected in.

Antonio jolted up with a shock, his head twitching,"ALEXIS! What? Where am I? Where's Alexis?" He mumbled on to himself until Sapphire slapped him, his focus sharpening,"Sa...Sapphire?"

"Answer my questions or I'm socking you in the jaw. Got it?"

He nodded.

"Why were you in that hotel?"

"I...I did something..." Antonio held his head in pain,"Argh! My head!" He screamed in obvious pain.

"Get a fucking grip!" Sapphire hissed as she held him by his shirt's collar,"Look at me you fucking cunt."

"You nearly killed Brian. Your teammate. Intentionally. Why?"

"Killed Brian? I never hurt Brian! I swear! The last time I saw him was in the arena!"

"WE FUCKING SAW YOU ATTACKING HIM AND YOU STILL WANT TO LIE TO OUR FACES? WHAT DO YOU TAKE US FOR, IDIOTS?!" Sapphire screamed.

"Sapph. Calm down." Faye held her shoulder,"Antonio. Can you tell me what you remember?"

"I...I was...I was fighting Sovereign. Yes. Yes I was fighting him and he...He said something about Alexis..."

"What did he say?"

"I-I-I c-can't tell you!" Antonio shook his head violently.

"You BASTARD! I'll fucking-"

"Sapphire! Stand down!" Reishard shouted.

"But commander-"

"That's an order!"

"...Fine. Pick the guy that nearly killed one of your men over me. Sure." Sapphire stormed out, the door slamming shut behind her.

"I'll get her." Levi walked out.

"I'll help." Kane followed, leaving Reishard, Faye, Jace and me in the room with him.

"What did he say, Antonio?"

"No! I can't say! I can't tell you!"

"Why not? What's stopping you?" I asked.

"You'll...You'll kill her! You'll kill Alexis!"

"Why would we do that? She's our friend."

"You-You're lying! You're all liars! You'll kill her once you find out about it from me!"

"..."

"YOU HEAR THAT SOVEREIGN?! I'M BEING QUIET!"

"Alexis...Please...I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE YOU! PLEASE COME BACK!"

He went back to his mad ramblings, irrationality plaguing his words.

"Sovereign?" I caught that name instantly,"What does Sovereign have to do with this?"

"I have as good a guess as you." Jace shook his head,"Guy's gone off the rail."

'Ring...'

'Ring...'

Reishard's phone rang,"Reishard speaking."

"What? I'll check immediately. Thank you."

"What happened?" Faye asked.

"Alexis. Her phone's been located."

"Where?"

"That's the issue. It's not on Careshia."

"Where the hell is it then?"

"Liskyle's capital, Byskern."

"What? Liskyle? Where's that?" Faye frowned,"I don't remember any planets named Liskyle..."

"She's not on a human planet. She's in obvliate territory. It's Maelstrom's personal territory."

"The obvliate king?"

"What the fuck is she doing there?"

"Did she get caught?" I frowned.

"Fuck." Jace hissed,"Just one piece of bad news after another. How the hell are we supposed to get her back?!"

"We're Blitz." I culled my doubts,"We've made in out in one piece after entering Ankh's territory, we sure as hell can do it again."

Faye looked to me,"We got lucky. The obvliate kings were complacent then. They're on high alert now. Not when they've just found a successor."

"We'll just have to be more careful then."

"More careful?" Faye laughed,"I'm all for optimism Kee. But this is insane. Do you know who we're messing with? Maelstrom. He's called Maelstrom for a reason. He's the second most dangerous obvliate king out of the seven and we've never seen his face before. We can identify the rest but him? He's been hiding in the shadows. Who knows what tricks he has hiding up his sleeve?"

Reishard sighed,"Amplite reserves are short. The method of producing them is still a trade secret of Joel's. But we can spare some. If it means aiding in saving our asses."

"You're giving us those crystals?"

"Temporarily. Soldiers out there barely have a microgram in their swords. The one I'm giving you is a gram. Each. The stress it puts on you will be high so use it only in battles."

"Commander..."

"Don't think it's an act of charity. It's a temporary loan. There's only 30 kilograms of this between all fifteen planets and we only have 2 kilograms in reserve. You finish the mission, you return it."

"Deal." Jace grinned,"I haven't had a good challenge in a while. This ought to be entertaining."

"This isn't about having fun. It concerns humanity's continued survival."

"I'm trying to ignore that part dear sister. Trust me, you do not want to see me freak out."