Path to the Apocalypse

Chris blinked. “Cultivators?”

“They're-” Salvador began, cutting off as something exploded in the distance. “Fuck, we have to go!”

“Right, come on people, into the portal!” Chris clapped.

The crowd hesitated, but as the sounds of combat got closer, they quickly began to move, rushing into Chris's space, the more military focused guests taking up the rear in case they needed to fight. As Chris closed the portal behind the last person, he saw a pointy eared man burst through a wall, followed by a hulking monstrosity, the two seeming to be more focused on fighting each other than trying to stop him from escaping. Chris swore he saw the elf flash a grin at him as the portal closed, and in his space sense, he saw the two combatants stop fighting almost immediately, the monstrosity even reaching down to help the elf stand up. Chris frowned for a moment, turning to focus on the crowd. Had they snuck a spy in with him?

*Jello, check for spies.* Chris ordered.

*I watched them on the way in. They're all human, except for our progenitor and your mom.* Jello replied.

“Then why-” Chris muttered to himself, cutting off as he noticed people crowding around Salvador, looking for answers.

“Quiet!” David roared, silencing the crowd before turning to Salvador. “Explain.”

Salvador grimaced. “The doppelgangers and the elves found out about Earth.”

David froze. “Shit! Then-”

“They're after Chris.” Salvador nodded. “And anyone with any connection to him. Whatever they can use to control him.”

David scowled, then paused, narrowing his eyes at Salvador. “How did you know about Earth? Or the doppelgangers and the elves?”

“I told him. And Jo.” Chris interjected.

David gave him a weird look. “Why?”

“I had my reasons.” Chris shrugged. “I'll explain later, but for now, just believe me when I say we can trust him and let's focus on what we're going to do about the doppelgangers and the elves.”

David hesitated for a moment, before nodding. “Right, we need to get some place secure. One of the bases, or an inspection point.”

Salvador shook his head. “If you do that, you'll be playing right into their hands. They've been planning out how to turn on humanity since they got here! Any defense you think you have is one they're more than prepared to turn against you.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” David asked.

Salvador frowned as he considered their options. “We need to evacuate the City. Get everyone to Earth as soon as possible. Everything we do should get us closer to that goal.”

“We still need a place to actually go.” Beth muttered. “We should send teams to each of the nations we're negotiating with, to put pressure on them.”

“We should do whatever we can to limit the enemy's control over the City.” Belinda commented. “Take out the teleportation system, shut down the lifts, hamper communications, anything to make things as difficult as possible for them.”

“We're going to need supplies for that. Weapons. Soldiers.” David frowned, before shaking his head. “Even if the enemy is prepared for us to hole ourselves up in our bases, I can't abandon my soldiers during a crisis like this!”

“Neither can I.” Samuel agreed. “If our current fortifications aren't secure, then we'll make new fortifications! If there's one thing the Defense Force knows how to do, it's how to fortify a region!”

“And the Scouts know how to wear an enemy down.” David grinned.

“And the Vanguard knows how to hit them where it hurts.” Belinda growled. “We need to get to our people and get them doing what they do best.”

“I can get you to the Defense Force base.” Chris offered. “You'll have to make it to the other two from there.”

The Generals nodded, huddling together as they quickly hashed out a plan of action. The first step would be unifying all their forces and packing up everything they could carry from the bases before going mobile, destroying anything they had to leave behind. Next they'd move on the teleportation station, taking it over if they could or destroying it if they couldn't. If they couldn't take the teleportation station, they'd use Chris to move down to the hundredth floor and start developing their resistance from the bottom up. The lower floors were more defensible since they'd been opened after the creation of the lifts, so unlike the upper floors, there were no, or at least very few, tunnels connecting them to each other. This also meant Chris needed to get a lot more minions since they'd need his portals to stay mobile and move as many people as they could to the lower floors.

Once the plan was set, everyone split into three groups. The first group would go with the Generals to help defend the City, the second would go to Earth under Abigail's lead and find them a place to live, and the third would stay with Chris to fight in the Maze, helping him gather energy and dominate creatures. The first group mostly consisted of David's military buddies, the second group was mostly politicians, and the third was mostly the young adults. Chris gave the Generals some bugs before sending them to the Defense Force base, and sent the politicians to Matt, who for some reason didn't seem to appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night to take care of a group of forty odd politicians.

Chris then looked over the group that he'd be taking into the Maze with him. There was the squad, obviously, Daniel at Belinda's insistence, Katerina and four other members of the upper class who weren't military but were at least high mid-tier and decently trained, four of Beth's cousins who were in a similar situation, Jo, and Salvador, while Penny, Thad, Mrs. Richardson, and Mrs. Veach were there but they weren't expected to participate. “Okay… Beth?” He immediately turned to her for help, as he had no idea what to do with all this.

Beth rolled her eyes. “Okay, here's the deal. We currently only have access to the first level of the Maze, and we need to get to at least the fifth before it becomes worth it to start hunting. The question is how do we get there as fast as possible?”

“I can make a path for you.” Jo immediately offered. “My ability lets me cut through stone, so I can just take us straight up. It should only take us a few days to make it to the fifth level.”

Daniel frowned. “But that would leave a straight path down the Maze.”

Beth rolled her eyes. “I think we have bigger concerns at the moment. Particularly since I doubt the Maze is going to hold up very well when armies of doppelgangers and elves start marching through it, probably making their own straight paths in the process. Unless anyone has a better option?”

“I was thinking we could try to sneak into the teleportation station.” Daniel muttered. “We just need to get one of Chris's minions through, and then we're good, right?”

Beth frowned. “That's true… it'd depend on whether the doppelgangers or the elves have control of the teleportation station. There's absolutely no way we'd be able to sneak past the doppelgangers.”

Daniel's expression twisted. “Okay, could someone actually explain what these doppelgangers and elves are?!? I haven't been able to follow a single damn conversation since this whole thing started!”

“The doppelgangers are the end result of a slime's ability to mutate, naturally capable of shape-shifting and sensing energy, vitality, and essence, along with whatever abilities they may have, while elves are a surface race born at or near the physical peak with the natural ability to form a bond with any essence baring existence and gain power through it, giving them a variety of capabilities depending on their bond and their ability.” Jo explained. “Both have powerful nations on the surface, nations which are locked in conflict with each other and wish to use Chris to defeat the other, and neither side would leave the teleportation station vulnerable to infiltration.”

Daniel froze, suddenly understanding why everyone in the know acted like they were fighting a losing battle and their only option was to escape. “I- I see.”

“Any other suggestions?” Beth asked, looking around. “No one knows of any secret teleportation device a Family hid in a basement somewhere?”

Katerina shook her head. “Those never connect to the Maze. The Families may take liberties, but no one would risk the safety of the City like that.”

Beth blinked. “I was just joking… the Families actually have secret teleportation networks?!?”

“You didn't know?” One of Beth's cousins asked, looking honestly surprised.

Beth glared at them for a moment before turning away and dropping the issue entirely. “Any other suggestions.” They all shared looks then shook their heads. “Alright, then Jo will take us up the Maze and our squad will accompany her. In the meantime, we need to organize all of you into groups and work on your coordination.” She paused, considering how she wanted to handle this, when she noticed one of Chris's minions peeking out of the barracks and a sly smile spread across her face. “Dyrdek!” She called, causing the goblin to jump before scrambling over looking a bit embarrassed. “Can I trust you to get these recruits in shape by the time we reach the fifth level?”

Dyrdek blinked, turning to examine the skeptical looking blue bloods. “I don't know… they look soft.” He narrowed his eyes. “And arrogant.” One of the sayings Sergeant Callista was fond of repeating, and one Dyrdek had taken to heart, was ‘arrogance kills’, and Dyrdek could tell just by the way these ‘recruits’ were looking at him that they'd make some lucky creature a fine meal some day.

Beth suppressed a laugh as she raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you saying you aren't up for the challenge?”

Dyrdek hesitated, seriously considering it for a moment, wondering how exactly he'd get the recruits in shape. A few days wasn't enough to make them stronger or more skilled, so the only thing he could try to do would be to make them more careful. To the point where they might not accomplish anything, but at least they wouldn't die. If he could give them some examples… A few practical experiences… He cocked his head. “Could I use the other minions?”

“I think you should use whatever you can to get the job done.” Beth replied.

Dyrdek grinned. “Then I can at least make sure they don't die to their own idiocy.”

Katerina rolled her eyes. “Really, Beth, this is hardly an amusing joke. I can agree that we could use some pointers, but what can we learn from a goblin?”

“The fact that you don't think you can learn anything from a goblin is exactly why you need to learn from a goblin.” Beth retorted. “We like to pretend the creatures in the Maze are dumb. Certainly dangerous, because they're savage or brutal or maybe even clever, but certainly not because they're smart! But when you start assuming they can't know as much or more than you do, can't understand you, can't plan for you, that's when they can trick you, and if they can trick you, they can kill you.”

Katerina glanced at Daniel hesitantly, who shrugged and nodded in agreement. “It's one of the first lessons the Vanguard teaches you. People who think fighting Maze creatures will be simple die.”

“Why can't you teach us then?” One of the others asked.

Beth almost face palmed. “Jackson, what do you actually think we're planning on doing?”

Jackson frowned. “We're- hunting Maze creatures?”

Beth shook her head. “No, we're getting Chris minions.”

“What's the difference?” Jackson asked, looking honestly confused.

“The difference is that we aren't fighting to kill, or even fighting to defeat, we're fighting to convince the people of the Maze to join us.” Beth explained seriously. “First, because it's more efficient. Everyone Chris has to forcefully connect with drains him, while someone joining willingly takes nothing. Second, because you're going to be working with these people, and if they hate you, then they're going to make things as hard as possible for you, maybe even get you killed. And third, because they're people! They aren't prey to hunt, they're intelligent beings with all the same wants and desires we have! If we can resolve things peacefully, then we should! And you thinking you're somehow better than them is going to make things that much harder!”

Jackson and the others shared uncomfortable looks. Did she really think they were on the same level as goblins?!? The savages that ate people!?! They were monsters! Daniel coughed. “Beth, I- think that might be taking things a bit far. Maze creatures can certainly be intelligent and it's dangerous to underestimate them, but to put them on the same level as people…” He trailed off shaking his head.

“And that attitude is why you're learning from Dyrdek too.” Beth shook her head, turning to Dyrdek. “Get them up to speed, we have a tunnel to make.”

Dyrdek nodded, giving her a salute as Chris opened a portal to the Maze, the squad heading out with Jo. “Are you sure that was a good idea?” Nadia asked as Jo placed a hand on the wall, a section of rock suddenly disappearing in a blast of air.

Beth sighed. “At first I was just trying to mess with them, but honestly, they need to learn to respect the creat- the people of the Maze. We're going to be working with them closely, and that kind of… friction will lead to deaths.”

Nadia nodded slowly. “I guess I can see that…”

They all walked in silence for a moment, following Jo as she created a curving ramp upwards, until Zack broke the silence with a cough. “So, are we going to talk about what the hell just happened or what? Like, how the fuck did the doppelgangers and the elves figure out about Earth?!?”

“I don't know, but seeing as it's literally their job to spy on humanity, I'm not surprised.” Beth sighed. “It was probably a bit optimistic to think we could keep Earth secret for very long, particularly not once we started bringing in people to help us negotiate.”

Jo shook her head. “Most of the spies in the City don't actually care about doing their job. They'd be more likely to bury this information than report it if they came across it. For one of the loyal spies to get a hold of this… you're either really unlucky or there are more people loyal to the surface than I thought.”

Zack frowned. “Okay, that's another thing! How do you and Salvador know so much about all this?!?”

“They're my parents.” Chris explained. “Jo's the elf, Salvador is the doppelganger.”

Everyone other than Beth froze, looking between Chris and Jo in shock, Jo flushing slightly as she pointedly ignored them to keep making the tunnel. “Penny is going to freak.” Derek chuckled, shaking his head.

“I'm freaking!” Zack exclaimed.

“You're always freaking.” Carmen rolled her eyes.

“Did you know about this?” Nadia asked, narrowing her eyes at Beth.

“You know Chris doesn't keep secrets from me.” Beth smiled. “We found out when Chris began his last mutation.”

“Why not tell us?” Nadia asked, scowling slightly.

“Because you didn't need to know, and it wasn't our secret to share.” Chris answered dismissively, turning to Jo. “If most of the elves and doppelgangers in the City aren't actually loyal to the surface, why are they even doing anything?”

“For a few reasons, but mostly because even if they aren't loyal to the surface, they still have connections up there, friends and family, all of whom would be in danger if they openly opposed their orders.” Jo explained. “They may not want the surface to get what it wants, but they definitely don't want to be seen as the reason the surface didn't get what it wants.”

Chris snapped his fingers. “That's why the elf smiled at me! He wanted me to escape, he just didn't want to be the reason I escaped!”

Jo nodded. “I imagine they did as much as they could to let you escape. They need to be able to say they did everything they could, but that doesn't mean they actually want to succeed. Unfortunately, that still means they're going to do their best to take over the City and eradicate any resistance. You using your portals to make a lucky escape is one thing, but if they seem too incompetent, the surface will catch on, and then they'll be in trouble, and they aren't about to make that sacrifice for humanity.”

“Fair.” Chris agreed. “I guess the question is, once we're ready to evacuate to Earth, how do we deal with them? Should we invite them along?”

Jo paused. “I- don't think so. I don't think many of them would be interested in abandoning Azza, not while their friends and family are still here.”

“Right.” Chris muttered. That was the whole reason they were even fighting, of course they wouldn't just leave. But if he could get their friends and family… He shook his head. That was a problem for later. Right now, their job was to get him minions and energy, and that was all he should be focusing on.