"Zac, Zac! Wake yo ass up!" Shaila, who was lying in bed next to Zac, shook him violently.

"Arggh… I'm up." Zac stated as he crunched up his nose at Shaila. She stared back at her new husband.

"What?"

"I've never told you this before, but we're married now, so fuck it. Your morning breath is… legendary." Zac chuckled as he turned over. Shaila pushed him in the back while covering her mouth.

"Shut up!" She quickly leaped out of bed, still in her sheer black nightgown. Her belly barely started to show signs of pregnancy. She ran to the bathroom still hearing the sounds of Zac chuckling.

"Are you sure you still want to go skiing today?" Zac walked into the bathroom in nothing but his boxers.

"Duh, why even ask?" Shaila responded as she brushed her teeth vigorously.

Zac hopped into the shower, saying, "I don't know. You just seemed kinda out of it since we got here. Like something is on your mind."

"Hmm, well you're not wrong. But let's not think about it right now. Let's just enjoy ourselves. We can deal with it later." Shaila sighed.

"Alright." Zac let the conversation go for now.

The screen stuttered and then the scene changed. Zac and Shaila were in the backseat of a self-driving car. They were on their way back from their skiing excursion. Shaila leaned against Zac, who asked, "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Oh my god, yes! It was so much fun. What about you?"

"It was aight." Zac groaned a bit as he looked out of the window.

"Oh yes, mister Chaser man. I'm sure you wouldn't get much of an adrenaline rush from snowboarding." Shaila rolled her eyes.

"I said it was aight, not a big fan of snow," Zac responded.

"Not a fan of snow? There's nothing but snow here. Why did you agree to come?" Shaila asked.

"Because you were really excited about coming here. Like, REALLY excited." Zac shrugged his shoulders.

Shaila opened her mouth but couldn't bring herself to say anything. She smiled with contentment and burrowed herself into Zac's embrace as the two looked out the window.

"So you're gonna tell me what's been bothering you?" Zac asked.

"Jesus, really? I said it's nothing… we can talk about it later."

"It is later," Zac responded.

Shaila looked up at him, wanting to be mad, but melted when she saw the look of concern on his face. She turned her head away. She didn't know how to properly relay what was going through her head. Shaila opened her mouth to say something but then stopped herself. She rubbed her belly through her jacket and finally spoke.

"What are you planning to do after this kid is born?"

"Is that what you're worried about?" He asked.

"It's part of it."

"Well, don't be too mad, but I already talked about this with Kenji. What I plan on doing—" Zac was cut off by Shaila, who blurted out, "Kenji? You told Kenji first? I can't believe you two used to hate each other." Shaila giggled.

"We… well, I never really hated the kid. If anything, I saw a lot of myself in him. At least in the beginning." Zac responded.

"You saw yourself?"

"Yeah, there was a time when I, too, just wanted a normal life." Zac chuckled.

"What?!"

"Don't be too shocked—it was only for like a second or two." Zac chuckled.

"Oh really? When were these legendary seconds?" Shaila poked Zac in his sides.

"Ah… a heh... Umm, when we met you for the first time." Zac said, trying to avoid eye contact. Shaila playfully tried to grab Zac by the chin, but he pulled away every time. Shaila started to laugh.

"So even covered in blood, my beauty made an honest man out of you, huh? Damn, I'm good." Shaila joked. Zac chuckled as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, something like that. Alright, look, up to that point, fighting monsters didn't really feel real. Yeah, Devin and I encountered dead bodies and the like before. But that was the first time… we encountered a… survivor. And…" Zac sighed.

"And what?"

"And even after going through everything you did, you didn't break down. You didn't shut down. Do you remember the first thing you said to us?" Zac asked.

"What are they, and how can I kill them?" Shaila said with a smile.

"Yeah, I was like… wow! She's awesome, and shouldn't have to deal with this shit. None of us should." Zac explained.

Shaila smiled as she nestled herself into Zac's embrace. She always appreciated him, even back then. Devin tried to coddle her and used kid gloves. Zac… Zac told her what she needed to hear, not what she wanted. He gave her the strength to stand on her own, not rely on him. But made it clear he was there if she needed him, and she often did.

"So what did you tell Kenji?"

"I want to create a world where my kid can grow up happy and healthy." Zac smiled as he looked out of the window.

"Hmm… ok. Even if it means friends may become enemies?"

"Especially if it means friends will become enemies," Zac responded without hesitation.

Shaila nodded her head and closed her eyes.

"Is that all you were wondering about?" Zac asked.

"More or less, yeah." Shaila had more on her mind. She didn't want what she discovered to be true. At the very least, she first wanted to talk to Devin about everything. Everything she found was too much to take in at once. Only after she fully understood everything would she tell Zac. He had all but confirmed that he wouldn't hesitate to sever ties with Devin or fight against him if his existence posed a threat to their child. She had to be certain before she caused that.

The scene stuttered and changed again. They wore the same clothing as before. They bundled up in blankets, as they sat outside of their private lodgings, looking up at the Northern Lights. The two of them had sat there in peaceful silence for quite a while before Shaila finally spoke.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Zac, I wanna give you something."

"Damn, woman, you are voracious! I love it, but it's a little cold out here for that," Zac smirked.

"No, you freak…" Shaila chuckled as she pulled out a plain-looking box.

With a raised eyebrow, Zac took the box from her and opened it. Inside was a plain-looking necklace with a light, almost translucent purple gem. Zac smirked.

"Jewelry isn't really my thing, but this is just my style. What made you buy it?"

"I didn't buy it, I made it." Shaila corrected him.

"You made it? Are you already in your old married lady era? Doing arts and crafts and shit?" Zac joked.

"Shut up, asshole, it's important." Shaila tried to contain her laughter.

"It's important? What's so impro…" The smile on Zac's face sunk, and a serious frown replaced it.

"What is it?" Shaila asked.

"I don't know. Go make coffee." Zac responded.

"Zac?"

"Go make coffee," Zac said once again. Shaila didn't ask anything else. She quickly ran into the lodgings without looking back. Zac stood up and walked out into the forest, his path illuminated by the Northern Lights.

He stopped about 50 meters away from the lodgings. He looked over his shoulder one last time and shook his wrist. His nanite armor covered his body, leaving only his face exposed.

"You can come out now," Zac spoke.

Five cloaked figures began to walk into view. Zac eyed those cloaks, but he saw no markings or symbols that could identify whether they were with the Adders or Oleanders. Zac frowned. If they were going out of their way to hide who they were, they clearly had malicious intent.

"So you can't kill Trigger, so now you want to settle for me?"

"Trigger?" One of the cloaked figures asked.

"Who are you?" Zac asked.

At this point, every Chaser knew who Trigger was. Outside of the Renegades, the kid was feared almost as much as Devin at this point.

"Hmm… you really know nothing? All you need to know is that we are Theronites, and we seek to rid the world of monsters like yourself." The Theronite spoke and then instantly charged at Zac.

"Fantastic…" Zac groaned. There was no point in talking to them anymore. Nanites covered his face, turning into his faceless mask. The Theronite's speed was shocking. They covered the distance faster than most Chasers. The assailant was also shocked, as the fist he sent flying at Zac was easily blocked.

The Theronite entered a chaotic melee as they danced through the snow. The Theronite was becoming more appalled by the second, as Zac not only kept pace with him, but his speed was steadily increasing. In an instant, the Theronite found himself on the back foot. Zac parried one of his strikes and pierced through the Theronite's guard.

He returned a series of blows to the Theronite's sternum. Afterward, he sent a spinning roundhouse kick to the Theronite's head. The man was sent tumbling through the snow, and his hood peeled back to reveal someone Zac had never seen before.

"So you really aren't with the Adders or Oleanders?" Zac didn't recognize the man's face.

"That is correct, argh!" The Theronite let out a grunt as he was shot with a nanite bullet. Zac stood there with his gun in hand.

"Good to know," Zac said. He no longer had to worry about his actions leading to anything serious between the Chaser organizations. At least until Devin was ready to make his move. Zac frowned under his mask, as outside of the initial yelp, there wasn't the follow-up pained wail that should accompany it.

"You don't have Nanites." Zac tilted his head.

"No, we don't." A female voice whispered in his ear as a powerful blow struck his back, sending him stumbling through the snow. Zac quickly rolled to his feet to briefly see the man he shot earlier stand up, his wounds instantly healing. Before he could process what was happening, a third individual spun into view and sent a powerful kick.

Zac blocked the blow but was brought to his knees. The man he shot earlier sprang forward, sending a knee toward Zac's masked face. Zac stumbled across the snowy forest floor before smashing into a tree brought him to a stop. All of them were as strong and fast as Devin without using his powers.

"What the hell…" Zac had no idea what was going on. They were clearly humans as far as he could tell, but they weren't Chasers, or at the very least they didn't use Nanites. Zac didn't have time to think as the man he shot earlier said, "The three of us will be enough here." Two of the other Theronites there vanished.

"No…" Zac mumbled. From the way they were talking, they weren't here for him.

Zac picked himself up and a pair of daggers formed in his hands. He then charged towards the three Theronites standing there before him. This was clearly an uphill battle, but it didn't matter. He was sure that Shaila had already radioed for help. He would need to stall for a few more moments, and Devin would come.

As he charged forward, the wind picked up unnaturally, and Zac looked at the female from earlier. She was now controlling the wind.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Zac shouted.

They were humans that matched his speed and strength to some degree, but they didn't have Nanites. Zac assumed they couldn't use abilities, and maybe they were Taboo Children, but now that didn't seem to be the case. Zac was picked up off his feet and was carried off by the wind.

"Fuck it!" Zac shouted as his Nanite armor came to life under his control.

Tendrils burst out and stabbed into the ground. Those tendrils pulled Zac down, and he charged forward through the wind. The man he battled earlier charged towards him. His speed picked up as he now had the wind at his back. The man sent another strike, but Zac noticed the man's fist was now covered in electricity.

"You're already boring." Zac taunted as he sidestepped the man, slashing at the tendons in his wrist and arms as he twirled around the man's charging figure. He had memorized and picked apart the man's fighting style during their last melee exchange. Zac turned his attention towards the woman controlling the wind, and a nanite spike burst from the ground to pierce her.

The third Theronite grabbed the woman by the collar and tossed her out of the way as he fired out a shotgun blast of energy pellets from his extended palms. Zac merged his daggers to create a spear, which he twirled to deflect the energy pellets. He swiped his spear behind him to slash the back of the Electric Theronite, who was still recovering. Zac wanted to cut him in half, but the Theronite's body was far tougher than he could have anticipated. Zac dodged out of the way as a blade of wind threatened to rip him in two. Half the forest behind him was torn asunder by the wind blade, which was several times stronger than anything he had ever seen Hachiman perform.

Another barrage of energy headed his way. As he once again blocked the energy pellets. Those pellets had the power to rip through the thick trees like butter, he looked below him to see the sparking of electricity. A bolt of lightning struck down on his location. He was hit full force by the lightning. To his surprise, the lightning didn't stop at just striking him.

The electricity invaded the nanite that made up the armor under the control of the electric Theronite. The Nanite Armor faded, and Zac was blasted by a barrage of energy pellets and a bundle of cutting winds.

"Shit!" Zac cursed as he was rag-dolled across the ground, bleeding from several wounds and cuts on his body. He could heal at an incredible rate for a normal human, but it was not instant. He struggled to his feet as the three Theronites attacked him at once, trying to finish him off.

To their surprise, what greeted them was not a look of concern, but a bloody smile. The three rained blows down on Zac, but he deftly evaded and countered their physical assaults. Much to their dismay, even while wounded and without his Nanite armor, his fighting spirit did not waver. In fact, he was fighting even more furiously than before.

"So you're not here to kill me? Then what do you want?!" Zac deduced.

If they wanted him dead, they would have continued to rely on their abilities while his nanite armor was out of commission. Instead, they chose to engage in hand-to-hand combat. They were clearly apprehensive about killing him outright.

"Believe me if we were allowed to kill you, we would. What were here for is the abomination growing in your foolish wife's belly!" The female shouted in response.

Zac's expression noticeably darkened as his deep purple eyes turned to slits. The Theronites thought they heard a clicking growl coming from Zac's throat. A chill ran down their spines, and they instinctively used their abilities, blasting Zac again from all sides.

Zac was brought to his knees, covered in wounds, barely able to keep himself on his feet. The electric Theronite charged him again and pushed his face down into the snow with his forearm pressed into Zac's back. The female looked at Zac's confused eyes darting around.

"If you're looking for backup, there's no point. We made sure that no communications could leave this area. It's just you and us here."

Zac struggled under the Electric Theronite's pin but didn't have the strength to free himself. While Zac's breathing was a bit erratic, he was far calmer than the others expected him to be in this kind of situation.

"Do you even care about your wife and child?" The female Theronite asked.

"Speaking of which, what's taking those two so long?" The Energy pellet Theronite asked.

At that moment, there was an explosion back at the lodging. The two Theronites from earlier were blasted out into the snow, sliding to a stop in front of Zac and the three other Theronites.

"What the hell happened?" The Electric Theronite asked.

"My wife made coffee." Zac let out pained groans and chuckled.

Shaila walked out of the destroyed lodging with two strange-looking pistols and a visored helmet. Shaila coughed as she waved the gun over her face to wave away the debris. She looked down at Zac on the ground and pointed her guns at the Theronites.

"Theronites, right?" She asked.

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