Well, this is a hellova lot for 8 pages. Lets just say, things get a crap load weirder from here on.
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Zak is  nikosei's character.
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I stood on the beach, looking over the ruins of a city. The North American coast was hit hard during the War of Ages, down south especially. I didn’t see anyone alive.
A huge gust of wind blasted in my face, getting dust in my eyes and knocking my old straw hat off. It landed in the water- ruined. Oh well, memento from that Asian HCGP, nothing special.
Some lights flickered among the ruins, and a flock of sparrows or some small birds flew out of a collapsed hotel. There was nothing here but ruins.
Machine-gun fire broke the silence. I watched some of the birds get shot down by some anti-air turrets inside a demolished building to the west. I try to fly over, I’d get shot down. Can’t take the FWII, she needs to recharge her batteries. Looks like I’m walking.
I slid down a hill that led to the edge of a street. There was some fighting, that’s for sure.
The street was littered with the dead, with one body every ten feet or so. All species, this city wasn’t one of those damn segregated towns like the one Fall went to before she met me. There were smoldering Azarax carapaces, and even the occasional odd human laying about. What? I knew Apophis was on their side, but he brought some? Ha- they didn’t make it far.
But why attack Florida, of all things? Just an odd resort area where humans used to flock before the Revolution.
I looked over the city again. On the far end, there was a clock tower that was almost untouched. Hell, it was still working! It just chimed out six P.M...
That voice; it was silent for now, but it was coming from that clock-tower! I know where to go.
Back in the revolution, it was always hectic, and people were dying all around. It was like that when Rain and myself skidded in.
There were humans and anthros alike on stretchers, being taken off to some medical station inside the underground base. There were ADF troops loading ammo onto helicopters, others leading humans somewhere. Some were happy, others indifferent, a few screaming, fighting, or crying. I popped the cockpit and jumped out. People were shouting, others howling. There was a blood-curdling scream from somewhere else in the complex.
'Come on, we need to get to Kenji.’ Rain said, leading me. She shouted something to a mechanic nearby- human, but wearing the same ADF uniform. Wait- not quite.
'He’ll move the Featherweight, don’t worry.’ Rain said.
'Why-why is he human?’ I asked. I had fallen into my new species quick.
'He won’t be for much longer. Some serums change species in seconds, some weeks. Marcus- the first one to receive an amulet- took about a week to fully change.’ She said. I looked down into my shirt at the red amulet, only faintly pulsing with energy.
'Why does Kenji want to see me?’ I asked. I dodged a fox anthro carting a young-and nude- woman on a stretcher down the hall, in a big rush.
'What the hell?!’ I shouted. The woman was developing scales and a tail...
'Oh dear... Looks like the girl got a slight mistake in her serum. We’re still perfecting it.’ Rain replied as she pulled me through a door marked “Broadcasting studio”.
The room was divided into two, with a glass wall dividing the two. The half we were in was full of control panels and messy files. Two anthros looked at us- one was a female rabbit or hare, and the other was a young Blue Jay.
on the other side of the room was an empty yellow-painted room with a microphone in a corner, and a table with a chair. There was an important wolf anthro there at the table.
‘Hello, Rain.’ The Blue Jay said. The rabbit was silent.
‘Hello to you too, Finn. Mind letting us in to Kenji? This is Neon the racer, after all. He was asking about him.’
‘Oh, really? Should’ve realized. Oh well. Neon, you can go in.’ Finn said.
'I’ll wait outside then, I presume?’ Rain asked. The door to the other half of the room was opened.
‘No need, Rain.’ Kenji said as he shut the door behind him. He was tall, a little over six foot, and he wore a dark blue trench coat complete with badges and the like. He seemed to be a Timber Wolf.
'General Kenji, sir!’ Rain barked as she saluted. The other two with us saluted as well. I just gave them an odd glance.
'As you were.’Kenji said. He turned to me. 'So, you’re Neon, yes?’ Kenji asked.
'That’s me. Racer and all of a sudden a macaw...’ I muttered.
'You’ll get used to it.’ Kenji replied. 'I was told you had a fellow racer with you.’
'He’s at one of the conversion centers, getting his species re-assigned, with Tyler.’ Rain replied.
'So he should be here shortly. Neon, how about we go take a walk and talk, hhhmmm? Rain, help out in the hangar, would you? Someone needs to receive Tyler and... what’s your friends name, Neon?’ He asked.
'Howard.’ I replied.
'Someone needs to receive Howard and Tyler.’ Kenji finished.
'Yes, sir!’ Rain replied. She walked out the door. Kenji led me out behind her.
'Well, Neon- you have a lot to learn.’

I walked down the cold, lonely streets of this city. ADF recruitment posters were still on the walls, albeit a bit more tattered and dirty than they should be. Bricks were crumbling, and shattered glass was all over the street. I didn’t see a single window intact; maybe they were hit with a sonic blast.
A small lizard scampered up a wall next to me, not caring about the devastation around it. This city was demolished, utterly destroyed, but nature didn’t care. Vines were growing on the walls, and trees were growing all around. Something had accelerated growth here- weeds growing from cracks in the concrete shouldn’t be three feet tall. Nor should there be trees growing in the middle of the street, growing around a car. Perhaps the Azarax or Apophis was trying to age this city to death, but instead brought new life?
The further I went into the city, the more green I saw. Grass was growing, pushing up the shattered concrete of a bygone era. Buildings had collapsed into rubble- now covered in moss. A hill had collapsed partially onto a building, and now water was trickling through the 2nd floor of the house, and running out of a window. Vines reached for it like desperate hands for food.
I took a shortcut through a blasted factory. A huge tree had grown in the center of the floor, lifting up rusted machinery. It grew straight through the glass roof- well, the roof was glass. Just the twisted frame now.
A family of foxes had taken residence in a large, defunct oven of some sort. The conveyer in it was shredded, and rubble had covered part of it. The south wall had collapsed, giving the foxes a good home, due to the spacious interior and the one crafted exit.
I walked through the offices. Vines had grown over the chairs and the cells of workspaces. Something had exploded near the center of the room, leaving a large crater that gave way to the sewers. These pipes don’t carry shit anymore, now just rainwater. Vines were reaching out of it, to the sunlight breaking through the hole in the roof that was presumably made the same way the hole in the floor was.
I exited through the blown open emergency doors. It lead onto a sloped street, with rusted cars scattered on it. There was a clear hole in the cars, and a long straightaway down at the bottom. I looked back to the offices behind me, and an intact rolling office chair. I need some fun in this destruction.

Kenji and I walked down the hallway. It was still hectic, but not as it was before.
'Well, Neon, You’re lucky. You were chosen as part of Project Rebirth, as one of the Blackfox subjects.’ Kenji started.
'Why Blackfox?’ I asked.
'The name sounded good at the time.’ Kenji replied. 'The amulet that you were given was actually delivered by Rain- but I doubt that she said.’
'Wait, what? She delivered it? But that woman was human!’ I shouted.
'She only became feline about two days ago, at the beginning of the revolution.’
'Ah.’ I said. I dodged a reptile carting several huge boxes of what I thought was ammo.
'Sorry sir!’ He shouted as he ran off.
'Anyhow, we need you.’ Kenji said.
'As an influential man- er, bird. Because I’m well known.’ I replied.
'Well, yes. One way of saying it. But you have some of the greatest piloting skills in the world. We need your skills.’ Kenji said.
'Sorry? So I’m supposed to pilot some of your fighter planes or something?’ I asked. 'I only fly hovercrafts, and that would be only the Featherweight.’
'I was thinking that we give your craft some weapons, add some more speed and armor, and there you go. We have some of the best engineers in the world, at your disposal.’
Turning the old girl into a weapon? Would I consider it? Yeah, what the hell?
'Alright, but treat her well.’ I replied. Kenji pulled out a small radio.
'Ok, you guys better get to work on Neon’s craft. Don’t screw anything up, alright?’ He shouted into the radio. He got a muffled response, and switched it off.
'Oh yes, we’re going to put you in a specialized troop, some of our most unique and skilled troops. We call you guys the Four Anthros Of The Apocolipse.’
'Modeled after the four horsemen.’ I replied.
'Obviously. You’ll get the part of Conquest- Just because racing does involve conquest.’ Kenji said.
'And who are the other three?’
'I’m guessing you’ve heard of Marcus Scott...’

I walked into what seemed to be the town square after my small ride. A large five-story building had collapsed into it, covering part of it in mossy rubble. Weeds grew up though the cracked concrete all over, and several small trees had sprung up. A deer had run from the square when it noticed me.
A crater had been blown in the square as well, and that was now full of water, and life. The edges were covered in hanging moss, and the water inside was full of plants and even small fish. How?...
A truck was parked near a market stall, seemingly in working order. it was rusty, but it was intact and nothing was growing in it. Interesting- looks like there’s someone around.
‘HELP!’ Someone cried from the building the truck was next to. Shit.
I flew up to the third floor and kicked the window open, tumbling in.
‘ARGH! Damn it, help me, anyone!’ the person screamed. I ran down the hall, grabbing a loose lead pipe as I went.
I vaulted a small collapse as I sped around a corner.
‘CHRI-’ Wet splat. Gunshot. Fuck.
I kicked down the door to the room. Azarax trooper!
I ducked as a bullet went flying past my head. I slid past the trooper and swung the pipe, denting a leg. The soldier was damaged and decayed, and its normal arm had mostly rusted away, but it could still fight. The person driving the truck was a Kangaroo anthro of some sort, well equipped for this devastation. She had armor, and guns.
I slid next to her body and grabbed the 12-gauge shotgun she was holding before her head got blown off.
I dodged one bullet, but another nicked me in the leg. It healed almost instantly. Forgot- amulet gives me that power, but, by god, does it hurt!
I ran right up to the robot and stuck the dual barrels up a crack in the thing’s armor.
'Die, bastard.’ I said as I blasted a storm of pellets into the thing’s inner workings. It collapsed, dead.
Why was an Azarax still here, and why was it still working? I’ve heard stuff on this... The Azarax are like a hive-mind, they can only be controlled if there’s a commander near. If not, they just seize up and die. So...
Shit! They’re still here... The Azarax didn’t totally leave!

Kenji led me to a classic, wheeled jeep.
'Why can’t we take the Featherweight?’ I asked as Kenji jumped into the driver’s seat.
'Because your craft is getting upgraded. Come on- I’ll drive.’ He said. I got in the passenger seat. The back seats had some rifles and the like tossed in.
'Kenji, sir- do you need an escort?’ A soldier asked. He was half-way though his changes.
'Some would be helpful, yes.’ Kenji replied as he drove out of the hangar. Three jeeps and one tank followed.
‘Neon, if you wish to keep alive, I suggest you keep ahold of one of the guns in the back. This could get bumpy.’ Kenji said. We drove up a ramp to the surface, out of the chasm. We entered the city, and we were shot at suddenly. The tank following in the back blew up a building that was holding human military- the jeeps shot the survivors.
We sped through the streets, dodging bullets and the like. Several large things exploded in the distance in a flashy fireball, probably from getting blasted with a rocket. Fighter planes flew through the air just above the roofs, bombing what they could. They were human military.
Another group of planes flew in from a different direction, and each one of those was emblazed hastily with the ADF logo on each wing, and a paw print symbol next to it. I was wondering about that...
We charged through the streets, through this chaos, to a group I didn’t know...

I armed myself with the guns that the kangaroo dropped when she was killed. She had the shotgun, a small machine pistol, a large knife, and plenty of ammo for each. Oh, and the high caliber sniper...
I exited via a window, out into the mossy, cracked streets. This city was full of winding roads, and none of them seemed to lead directly to the clock tower.
I had also salvaged some cash, a few trinkets, and the keys to the truck from the dead kangaroo. I jumped into the truck, and switched on the motor. Been awhile since I’ve driven an old wheeled model like this, hopefully I should still be able to.
The truck kicked up dust as it drove. It was hard to maneuver it around the collapses, wrecks, and craters, but I could.
The tower seemed to be getting closer.
Neon, where are you?
That voice...
Trying to get to the clock tower. I’m in an old truck- more of a jeep, actually.
Where’d you get that?
I’ve got bad news. A lone wanderer came in- She was a kangaroo anthro- and she met a grizly surprise. This jeep was hers.
What happened to her?
The Azarax did. They haven’t left here completely!
How do you know whatever you saw was an Azarax?
I blew its robotic guts out with the dead woman’s 12-gauge.
Ah... I’ll get the others ready.
Before you go, is there nay chance you can switch off those anti-air turrets? I saw them shoot down some birds- I don’t need bullets in me.
Oh! Forgot about those... Off. Can you get here now, to the top floor?
Easily. You guys got enough weapons?
ADF gave us plenty of guns.
Alright, I’ll be up there soon.
I slammed on the brakes when I saw an Azarax crawl out of a sewer access hole. I smashed it with the tires of the jeep.
'So they’re coming from the pipes... '
I jumped out, and with as many guns I could carry (which isn’t many. My arms double as wings, so...),and flew into the air.
The city was beautiful from the air. A forest had taken over part of the city from the east, and the water had risen to the south, enlarging a small lake. The city was overgrown and flooded...
I caught a wind and glided high up. The sun was rising, casting its new light over the dead carapaces of this city. Except the tower...
I glided in a big circle. Then I dodged gunfire from below. Shit! Then I saw a barrel poke out of a hole in the clock-face, and a single shot cracked down, stopping some shots. I came down fast- and missed the door in the clock-face. I smashed through the glass.

We stopped at a damaged vet’s office. The place was called Caring Paws.
'Don’t mind the name, Neon. Old alias for us before this. The others are in there. Now, I must get back.’ Kenji said. I jumped out of the jeep.
'Good luck!’ I shouted as the convoy drove off. I turned to the office- a hole had been blown in the roof and the thing was scorched, but it seemed intact.
I went up to the door- it was locked.
'Damn!’ I swore as I kicked it. The cracked door shattered.
'Well, that works.’ I muttered as I stepped in through the shattered frame. In seconds, I had a barrel to my face. this pistol was being held by a strong looking fox. He was wearing the ADf body armor, a big trench-coat, and some torn camo pants. He lowered the gun once he got a good luck at me.
'You must be Neon, our newest member, huh?’ He asked. I nodded.
'Well, welcome to the club. Name’s Jaxx. You may want to meet the others...’ He said.
'Lead me to them.’ I replied. His back seemed larger than normal, like he was hiding something on it.
He picked up a tacky and torn carpet from the ground, revealing a trapdoor in the wooden floor. He jumped down into what seemed to be a lab. I climbed down.
The other two were surprising.
Marcus Scott, the bestial hero of the revolution was there, wincing in a corner. He was muttering something to himself, but he seemed to have some of his humanity back.
In the other corner was a large tank of water, and inside was the first aquatic anthro I’ve seen. She seemed to be some type of shark, but she had arms and legs and all the proper parts. She had some gear on, and there was a speaker built into the wall of the tank.
'So you’re the new guy, huh?’ She asked through the speaker. I nodded slowly.
'Yeah, I kinda stand out. Name’s Jasmine Shaw.’
'Neon.’ I replied. Marcus looked at me- a brief reprieve from his mutterings.
'Ne...on?’ He growled. Poor guy- he has to learn alot.
'That’s me.’ I replied. Marcus was back to his mutterings.
'Don’t mind him. he says he’s got another voice in his head to deal with, but when he’s like this he’s safe. Then he has his lucid moments, where he seems to be a real person. Of course, he talks to himself or possibly that other voice sometimes. You’ll get used to it.’ Jaxx said.
I nodded and turned to Jasmine. She had pulled a helmet and gloves from seemingly nowhere. Then a robot walked from the shadows. It was bulky, but seemed to imitate Jasmine’s body.
'That’s how I have to fight. I was unlucky- I can’t breath air anymore, but I can use this baby.’
'So, where are we going now, that we’ve got our last member?’ Jaxx asked Jasmine.
'I don’t know... We’re supposed to wait for pick-up, though. This old place is unsafe, they say.’
There was a screech of tires and gunfire above. My radio crackled.
'You guys, get up here! Jasmine, you keep there, we’ll get a truck in for you soon!’ Kenji shouted through the radio. Jaxx looked at me.
'Can you use a gun?’ He asked. I nodded.
'Good.’ He said, and he tossed me a carbine of some sort. Marcus growled something, and then ran upstairs.
'Hope they get that truck in soon...’ Jasmine muttered as we left.
Marcus roared and smashed through the doorframe- and right into some human military. Most were wiped out by that one ram, the others were taken out by a squad of jeeps coming in. One driven by what I belive was a white-tailed mongoose driving it.
'Get on!’ He shouted to me. Another jeep picked up Jaxx, and a tank was helping Marcus escape. A large truck with a small crane on the back had come in, and it was busy demolishing the top half of the building with a wrecking ball. I jumped onto my jeep.
'Name’s Zak, and I’m getting you the hell out.’ My driver said. We went west, Jaxx went north-west, and Marcus went almost directly north.
He was a good driver, but had something about trying to cause as much damage as possible to the surroundings. After smashing through the lobby of a glass skyscraper, he shouted;
General Kenji wants your group split up for now, for safety! You guys are going to meet back up at main base!’ Zak shouted as we ran down a small troop of human soldiers chasing some not-so-human rebels that didn’t have guns. Whatever we didn’t flatten under the tires, we shot down with the turret on the jeep. there was a loud explosion behind us as we sped down a debris-covered street. I looked back.
'Ah, shit... Floor it!’ I shouted as I watched a large skyscraper groan and tilt in our direction. A home-made bomb had detonated on one side, thus...
Zak gave it a quick look in the rear-view mirror. 'Oh, Fuck!’ He cried as he put on more speed. The building was actually falling now- we made it into a side street in time- But not before the shockwave could send us and the jeep flying into a dry, man-made canal just past the street. I blacked out.

When I woke up in the clock-tower, I found Marcus looking over me.
'You alright?’ He asked, in his growling voice. I gave him an odd look.
'I see you’ve gained some humanity back.’ I replied, getting up.
'He’s alright.’ Marcus said as he stood up. Jaxx was leaning on the wall, eating an apple. Jasmine wasn’t in her tank, but she had a new device which surrounded her gills on her neck, giving them water. She had a large tank on her back full of water.
'Good to see ya again, Neon.’ Jaxx said. I nodded, then winced. I had gotten several scrapes and scratches from that landing.
'Of course, you come crashing through the window.’ Jasmine said. She came over and gave me a hug. 'Been wanting to do that ever since I met you. Welcome back, Neon.’
I smiled and hugged her back.
'So, this Azarax problem...’ Marcus asked.
'It does look like some Azarax had survived here. Being controlled by what, I don’t know.’
'I should’ve known they wouldn’t pack up like they did!’ Jaxx growled. 'Did you see where they may be coming from?’ He asked.
'Most of the gunfire seemed to be coming from far east. Closer to the shoreline, where I left the FWII.’
'You got yourself a second Featherweight? What happened to the first?’ Marcus asked.
'Long story. But we need to get back to the old girl, she has some more armor and weapons than the first did, even during the Revolution. But... Only Marcus and I could get there fast.’ I said. Marcus nodded.
'Not true.’ Jasmine added. 'I still have my robot, and it has flight capabilities.’ She said. She opened a locker near her and pulled out the old gloves and helmet. 'But Jaxx, what about you?’ She asked.
We were stopped short by a large explosion in the east. Near the shore.
'Shit! I hope that wasn’t the old girl...’ I exclaimed.
'You parked the FWII outside the city, yes?’ Jaxx asked.
'Yep.’
'Because that explosion was inside the city. I don’t wanna know what it revealed, though. We need to get down quick. So...’ Jaxx replied. 'These things are supposed to be secret, but in these circumstances...’ He replied. A missile went hurtling our way from the east. A chunk of the wall exploded below our level, but it hit the tower.
'Damn!’ Jaxx swore as he threw off his trench coat. He stretched out reptilian wings!
'Wha... What? When did you get those?!’ I shouted.
'During the revolution. Error in my serum, when I got shot, it activated a couple other DNA strands that lay dormant. Thus, wings. Why they seemed to be off a flippin’ dragon, I don’t know. Anyhow, we need to get to that explosion!’
I shrugged. This was an insane world. It went mad when the Revolution happened, and things have gone progressively odder since then. We’ve had aliens, mad AIs, other universes, and a crap load of combat. Ok- dragon wings. I’ll go for that.

When I woke up in the canal, the first thing I saw was the burning jeep. The jeep crashed hard, and shattered all over the hard ground. I landed hard as well, I had a good deal of broken bones.
I cried out in pain as a rib pushed itself back into place. Damn! How’d that work? No, don’t question it.
I staggered up as my lower left leg fixed itself. The shredded flesh there healed quickly.
'Damn...’ I muttered. The amulet imbeded in my chest was pulsing with a bright red light. I was almost expecting little red crosses to float up into the air from it.
I remembered Zak then.
'Zak?! Damn it man, did you make it?’ I shouted.
'A little help?’ He rpelied, in a small voice. I ran over behidn the jeep, where one of the axels had pinned his legs. The thing was heavy for an axel.
'I’ll get that off.’ I said as I helped him force it off. We got it off, but Zak’s injuries were harsh. His ankle was almost shattered from the axel, but his other was only bruised. The axel had landed on his shin then. One of his lower ribs was broken, and he was covered in bruises and scratches. I helped him over to a drain pipe which had the cover blown off. I lowered him down. He groaned in pain.
'God, this hurts... Neon, there was some first aid in the back of the jeep. Any chance you can find it?’ He asked. 'And how did you escape that unharmed?’
'I didn’t escape unharmed. I heal very quick. And I’ll go take a look.’ I replied. I ducked out into the open canal, and ran over to the burning jeep.
'Where the hell would the thing have gotten to?’ I muttered. I saw a metal box, half sticking out of the flames. I yanked it out, scorching my hand-talons in the process. They didn’t heal as fast, for some reason.
I kicked the top off the box, and inside was some ammo, a M16, two grenades, and a first-aid kit. I wrapped my jacket around the handle of the box and pulled it to the drain pipe.
'Good find.’ Zak groaned. I pulled out some medical tape and grabbed a small metal pipe from the ground for a splint.
'Yeah.’ I replied, listening to the gunfire in the distance and the occasional scream of explosion.
'Was the radio in the box?’ Zak asked as I put the splint on his leg. He winced as I straigntened out his leg.
'I didn’t see one.’ I replied, putting on the last bit of tape. I then took his shirt, shreded it, and wrapped that around the splint.
'Then we can’t get evac...’ Zak muttered. We were silent.
'Do you think ADf will find us before the human military?’ He asked as I bandaged a large gash above his right eye.
'I really hope so.’

When we landed in the vicinity of the explosion, we were quickly ambushed by a couple dozen Azarax troops.
'So you were right...’ Marcus muttered.
'Drop your weapons.’ An Azarax said. We did bring some rifles, and due to the fact that we had about thirty guns on us, we dropped them.
'Good. Our mistress is expecting you four.’ The robot said. The guns of the troops lowered.
'Who the hell is your mistress?’ Jaxx asked.
'Gaia, of course.’
'Aw, fffuuuccckkk...’