Disclaimer: I do not own any franchise nor do I profit from them, they belong to their owners. I only own my OCs and plot.

OC Disclaimer: I have not created nor do I own the OCs submitted for appearances/cameos/etc. within A Newcomer. They belong to their respectful Creators. OCs and their Creators shall be mentioned and given credit in the ending A/Ns.

Linkage: 1dchouseman's (now going by Rift Myclonis) story, The Legend of Rift Book 1: Crushed Dreams, takes place along this storyline, but from Rift's perspective. I'd recommend checking it out from Rift's POV as I won't switch into his POV since he's not my OC, it's out of respect to him being 1dchouseman's character.

Ch. 33 - Ash and Brimstone

Date: Day 10 / Time: Afternoon / Location: Munitions Forge - Boyzitbig

POV: Alex Truman

The air was hot, but the heat was not yet lethal, sweat was trickling from my forehead. A haze from the heat caused me to strain my vision in search of hostiles, which there were none to be seen, and my thermals would be useless in these conditions. I began to regret switching off from recirculated air within my suit, but I'd rather not strain the system until I needed to, forcing myself to handle these harsh conditions until an enemy made its presence known.

I then focused on the area around us, stripping myself from my thoughts and gazing towards two paths, both seeming to lead up the mountain and surrounded by the walls of their respective gorges. Seeing as both were too narrow for all of us to fit with enough room to freely engage any possible hostiles, I knew we had to split up.

"Cynder," I called out, gaining her attention, "you have any ideas on how you want to proceed?"

She gave the order for the group to keep a lookout for any hostiles as she approached me, "I suppose we could all take a single path up the slope, but it'd leave us hindered and exposed to flanking attacks. Perhaps we split into fireteams?"

"I was thinking the same thing." I turned my gaze towards the group in preparation for selecting fireteam members, "Who goes where and with whom?"

Cynder shook herself of the collecting moisture on the scales of her forehead before replying, "I suppose we should find either a balance with our members, to cover all our bases, or we could have prioritized teams to fit members' strengths."

"I suppose the former option would be best, better safe than sorry."

"So, who'd you want to take with you?" I asked, rolling my shoulders for relief.

We turned our gaze towards the group as she began thinking of who to take. A few moments of internal deliberation, she turned back to me with her choices, Silver, Ferrosa, Felphex and Tolix. With her selection, I had Rift, Mera, Getsuga, and the wyvern unofficially known as Ziggy.

We returned to the group as they turned their attention back to us, "Alright, with these two paths before us, we're going to split up into two teams," Cynder informed, "I'll need Silver, Ferrosa, Felphex and Tolix to join me. Rift, Mera and Getsuga, you'll be with Alex. Any questions?"

With no response, "Alright then. Alex, hopefully we'll see you all up there," Cynder jested before heading towards the left path with her group.

"Yeah, a hike up a mountain with flesh-searing lava will be a piece of cake," sarcasm dripping in my voice. I turned with my group and headed up the path on the right, our footfalls kicking up the settled ash, beginning our ascent.

Drawing my P90 submachine gun and checking the chamber and magazine, I kept it at the ready as we progressed through the narrow crag carved into the mountain, the dragons keeping on alert as they kept some distance from one another to engage any enemy within range. The occasional sound of exploding rock and roiling magma broke the silence kept between us, the haze of the volcano's heat and ash hindered our sight beyond 30 or so feet. The ascent had been unusually smooth as we've yet to encounter any sort of patrol or force, which gave me the impression of an awaiting ambush.

"Something's not right," I announced my concern, "keep your guard up everybody."

Hearing a set of footfalls from behind getting closer, "Nothing's ever right, but I'm sure we can fix that, eh Alex?" Rift's voice roused my attention. I glanced to see his orange muzzle scrunched into what I assumed was a smirk.

I chuckled, "Yeah, but I have to start conserving some ammo," I tapped my M4, followed by my Mk. 48 for emphasis, "otherwise I'm gonna have to get real close. I'd rather keep my distance from those hulking bastards."

"I've seen you get flung around by a couple of them and you're still standing, you're a tough bastard yourself," he countered my concern, a toothy grin forming.

Catching a flicker of movement in the hazy heat of the volcanic atmosphere, I readied myself, "Maybe so, but I'm wearing powered armor meant for explosive and high-velocity impacts." Beginning to see more movement ahead, I turned the safety off, "It's not really meant to take swings from war-hammers, high-mass objects and such. That, and these apes' strength put behind their attacks exceed the safe limits for my armor. Too much and it'll fail eventually."

Oblivious to the incoming threat ahead, I gestured by raising a fist to halt the group, "We may have hostiles ahead, be prepared. Rift, we'll talk more later."

Rift acknowledged the end of the conversation with a huff, smoke beginning to rise from his maw. I moved ahead to get a better look at the target, the haze giving the faintest impressions of something draconic. Before I could determine an identity, it disappeared behind the veil of haze, unsure whether it was hostile or not, would remain to be seen. I waved the group back over and we began to proceed up the cragged slope once more, informing them of what I saw and to be evermore alert to our surroundings.

Minutes passed as we cautiously ascended the slope before we came upon a small cluster of structures, most made of wood reinforced with iron supports. Surrounding them were patches of dried Ash Weeds, the only form of flora that would grow here Mera informed. Apes were gathered around the structures, most of them focused on watching our direction, probably having been alerted and were on guard. None of them looked like pushovers, and it wasn't just their Onyx-colored armor signifying them as the Onyx Guard, there were no small apes to be seen let alone maybe only two of their medium sized cousins being their smallest units, both armed with battle maces.

Continuing to peer around the corner of the still-hot boulder spewed from the volcano mere minutes before we arrived, I began counting the numerous gathering of large apes within the camp, counting twenty-three of them, all heavily armored and armed with either two-handed battleaxes or warhammers. To say they were armed to the teeth would've been an understatement if not for all of the helms they wore now had iron plates covering their faces, probably an effort at preventing lethal injuries from falling upon them. They seemed to know what they were up against, but that was only a theory for the moment.

Pulling back from my observation and informing the group of what I found, I decided that the best course of action would have to be a surprise attack. They knew we were coming, but they didn't know when.

"You mean we should wait until they fall asleep to strike?" Rift questioned, his expression rather miffed at my conclusion.

"Catching them off-guard," Getsuga began, "especially when they're asleep, would give us the advantage Rift. Would you rather charge in and risk the slim chance at a decisive victory?"

"Yes," came Rift's simple reply, his tone suggesting urgency, whether it was just to get through here quickly or to fight was uncertain.

Contemplating on her words, Mera stepped forward in the group, "We do not have the time to wait for them to fall asleep, and we know sneaking past them outside this crag is a death-wish with the volcanic activity," she craned her head in my direction, "what do you think Alex?"

Crossing my arms, I knew Getsuga's suggestion would be the safest, but we didn't have the time to wait around. Mera's idea would've also been ideal, but the debris flung from the volcano was suicide. I felt the movements of the wyvern on my shoulders as the thing crested my domed helm, gazing at me with piqued interest, probably hungry for some more Fireblood.

"Waiting for them to fall asleep would take too long, and sneaking outside the crag would be suicide," I stated, petting the wyvern's head, earning a coo from the thing, "but we need to get through here quickly and meet up with Cynder and the others as soon as possible."

"So a slash and dash?" Rift summarized, a small aura of flame glowing within his maw.

"Yeah, if we have a few following, so be it. They'll most likely be injured or too thinned out to handle us."

"Sounds risky," Mera noted, "but it favors us, element of surprise and fleeting motions to throw them off-guard. I'm for this plan."

Peering around the corner and drawing my P90, my right arm free with the razor-sharp tips of my mutated fingers exposed, "Alright, lets get moving and keep it that way, we'll not stop unless any of us gets swarmed," I glanced back to the dragons, "understood?" Seeing them nod once, "Let's move," I ordered, turning the corner and sprinting towards our objective, the dragons' footfalls close behind me.

Raising my P90, I pulled the trigger and fired, hitting the closest ape to us, recoiling before falling backwards, dead. Shifting my aim to a line of alerted apes, I tilted my weapon sideways, an angle reminiscent of "Bandit Shooting" and pulled the trigger, the recoil bringing my aim forward to the next target repeatedly as they were riddled with rounds. Coming upon one of the stouter apes, I bared my talons across his torso, leaving deep gashes in his midsection as I continued on with crimson droplets flecking from my fingertips.

Glancing to check on the dragons, I noticed a large gout of flames being released from Rift's maw as he ran, seemingly more menacing than in Dante's Freezer. Feeling distracted, I broke away from his maw, only to gaze as several apes were roasted alive. Seeing Mera and Getsuga behind him with apes closing in, I skidded to a halt with my right hand jammed into the rocky earth and aimed beyond the dragons and fired several bursts that caught a few of the apes, only three of them falling. "C'mon!" I shouted, aggression and worry lacing my voice.

"We're coming," Mera began, only to cut herself off with her right paw glowing green as she ran. Slowing enough to allow a forceful impact from her paw to hit the ground, she returned to sprinting as the ground behind her began to crack and rumble, throwing off the apes' balance and slowing them down. With Rift passing by, I turned to resume our dash as Mera came up alongside me, "I left them a little gift, hope it stalls them for a while."

A little stunned from such a tactical maneuver, "That's pretty impressive," I replied. Seeing her motion for me to climb onto her back while on the move, I began angling myself towards her and laid a hand on her back, having holstered my weapon. Taking a few strides in preparation to mount, I forced as much of my strength into my legs and leapt, swinging my right leg over her back to straddle and ultimately seat myself upon her. Firmly planted, I redrew my gun and held it ready for any attackers along our ascent.

Minutes passed as we kept moving up the volcano of Munitions Forge, gaining distance from the pursuing apes with each stride the dragons took. Though the heated air started to take a toll on Mera and Getsuga as their breathing became labored, no doubt affected by the ash that constantly flooded it this high up. Rift however seemed invigorated with this environment, fueling him no doubt in these extreme conditions as he was several paces ahead.

"Hold up," I called to him before turning my focus to the two dragonesses, "lets slow down, we'll need you to take it easy for now."

Getsuga slowed to a halt, "Good idea," she huffed out as Mera stopped before I dismounted, "I feel terrible as it is, this air is just awful."

"What about those Apes?" Rift interjected. I turned to him, sensing his frustration, "Fight them when they catch up?"

I patted Mera's side with my hand, my weapon now holstered as she tried to regain her breath, "We'll do what we must, but this air is becoming toxic for these two," I pointed out, "besides, they're going to be affected too, and probably worse than Getsuga and Mera combined."

Hearing tapping, I glanced up at Ziggy to see its small talons fidget and its distressed expression, obviously the air outside my helm bothering it far more than the dragonesses. Regretful for having put it in this situation, I took a breath before opening the glass dome and allowing it to crawl into my helm before closing it, giving it reprieve from the harsh air as it wrapped along the back of my helm. "Sorry there buddy, didn't mean to put you in that situation," receiving a hiss and a rub to my right ear, it seemed happy, if a bit cramped cooped up in such a small space, "just watch your claws and teeth, okay buddy?"

Hearing it chirp, I took it as acknowledgement and returned focus to the dragons and addressed them, "We'll rest for a few minutes before continuing on," I reached for my canteen and opened it, extending it towards them and offered, "any of you need water?"

Mera approached, as did Getsuga, "Please, that'd be swell, considering my throat feels I've just dry heaved," Mera explained, "pardon the expression." I tilted the canteen to pour a portion into her Maw when she was close enough.

"Considerate and generous, thank you Alex," Getsuga repeated Mera's motions and I gave her some water as well.

I turned to Rift and offered, "Want any there Rift?"

Seeing him nod, albeit keeping focused on the path behind us, he leant down while I poured another portion of the canteen in his maw. I performed the same with Ziggy, feeling the heat of the air while I watered its parched maw before sealing my helm once more and placing the canteen back on my belt, far emptier than before.

"Ya'll good?" I questioned in the midst of rearming my P90. Mera and Getsuga had acknowledged in the affirmative as we started moving up the path again, Rift keeping still and observing the path behind. "Yo Rift, you coming?" I glanced back at his still form, his expression seemingly changed to one I've not seen him hold, concern, worry, perhaps fear? I stopped and turned back, "Something's up gals," I called before returning to Rift's side, "Rift, what's up?"

As the dragonesses stopped behind me, Rift spoke, albeit in a tone I've never heard from him, "A-Alex, you might want to move swiftly," dread laced his voice, "something's not right and you'll all want to move on ahead, regroup with Cynder and the others."

"Rift, no!" Mera rejected, "We're not going to leave you behind to fend off the rest of that group alone."

"It's not them!" Rift snarled, "There's someone here, one from my past that I'd rather face myself," he scoffed, "go on ahead, I'll catch up, don't you worry."

"Fuck that! Rift, I'm with Mera in saying this," I retorted, stepping closer to the orange dragon, "we're not leaving your ass behind, so let's keep moving. They'll have a belly full of lead if they show up, and they'd be dumb to try and attack us when we're grouped up," I explained, but he shook his head.

"No, If he's here, it's because of me. I have to deal with him, I can deal with him. Go. NOW!" he roared, flames wicking from his maw.

I was about to step closer and further refuse, but Getsuga placed a paw lightly on my shoulder, "As you wish," her attention refocused on me, "Alex, let's go and have faith in him, the others will likely need us soon, so let's meet up with them as soon as possible."

"Thank you Getsuga," Rift replied, "now go and get to them. I can keep him off you guys."

Sighing in defeat, I turned away and resumed trekking up to the rendezvous, "Fine, let's go and get them," I glanced back to the orange dragon, "Rift, we'll come back for you." I checked the magazine on my P90 before swapping for a full one as Getsuga offered me a ride this time, which I took without a second thought. I felt a strange sensation while on her back and noticed a slight whitish haze in the borders of my vision. Assuming she was using a bit of her power, I guessed it was to either keep me light or steady, but I would ask her later.

I took a glance back just in time to notice Rift's maw moving, but having already put a sizeable distance between us, his voice wasn't picked up.

And with that, after 2 long friggin' years, I've finally posted the newest chapter for A Newcomer, albeit a bit shorter at around 3k words. I just want to apologize to everyone that has been waiting for an update to this story. Distractions, laziness, uninspired are some excuses, but 2 years is long, and without posting some sort of update to you all on this kind of makes me feel like I deserve a kick in the unmentionables.

But moving on, I was able to get some assistance in writing this from 1dchouseman, whom of which I'll refer them by their new PenName, Rifty Agon, they helped me out with this for which I'm grateful for. This might not be the best ending to a chapter, but I felt the need to move on from this, 2 years in writing purgatory is nuts.

I hope to start picking up on writing the next few chapters, and maybe ret-conning something from a previous chapter out, mainly the latest of Alex's Dark Dreamscape escapades involving those 'spires'. I feel that is a dumb thing to have added and I want to rid it from the story as I've got no plans for really implementing it further down the line.

Anyways, I hope you all have enjoyed the latest chapter and hopefully I'll keep my arse from being stagnant for such a long time again.

OC checklist:

Rift - 1dchouseman (Rifty Agon)

Silver - slayerdemons1

Getsuga - Keyblader Zen

Semper Fi - The Constitutionalist -