Repliwolves: Spear's Journey

As Spear neared the city, the smell of smoke filled his senses. A thick cloud of it covered part of the sky, blocking out the blue. Spear felt hollow inside. This was the biggest fire he had ever seen. He felt Axl gripped him tighter, and didn't blame him. The very sight of the smoke was terrifying.

The smell of gasoline grew stronger as the two robots wound through the streets and came to a screeching halt in front of Code Blue headquarters. Smoke billowed out of every window, flames tore at the empty space between the sky in the building. Spear could hear screaming inside and wished he hadn't.

There was no one outside. Everyone was trapped. Spear felt the need to act and willed himself to it. Throwing Axl off his back, he jumped the wall of flames and ran through the corridors of his old home.

Several repliwolves were already dead, either burnt alive, or crushed under the burning concrete and melted metal. Spear shut his eyes and pressed on.

He caught blue fur, mixed with dark gray and grayish pink and ran for it. He sighed with relief. It was Heart, Liam, Quick and Spectacle. Behind them, were Light, Sorrel and Alto. All of them bore recent burns, and Heart's one ear looked as if it had clawed to shreds. But they were all here, alive.

"Come on!" Spear yelled over the inferno. "There's a place where we can jump the fire!"

"How do we know we still can?!" Heart yelled back, his voice barely audible over the hissing and crackling. "We might die if we stay here, but if we follow you and try jumping the fire, then we will die!"

Spear opened his mouth, then hesitated. The fire could've reached a higher altitude in the time it took him to find them. It was very short, but maybe that's all the fire needed to spread farther and higher.

Then he felt Spectacle's fur brush against his. Her eyes were weary, and bloodshot, but they held a fierce determination. "I trust Spear's word," she growled. "We can follow him. And if the flames are too high for us to jump, we'll find a way around."

Spear nodded thankfully and looked to his friends and family. He watched as Quick helped Liam to his feet, the younger repliwolf leaning heavily to one side. His eyes were sealed shut and his face was a mess of melted metal and oil.

For a moment, Spear wondered if they should wait. Liam was in no condition to run, and he'd be slowing them down if he leaned on Quick the entire time.

Growling softly, Spear darted forward. Shouldering his way under Liam, letting the smaller repliwolf collapse on top of his back.

They were off faster than Mavericks on a Maverick Hunter. The heat intensified as they neared the exit where Spear had jumped. He squinted and realized with a twinge of excitement the flames had not risen. Outside he could Axl literally yelling through his transmitter. "YES! YOU NEED TO GET HERE NOW! NO YOU MAY NOT ASK WHERE I'VE BEEN! I...NO! IT WAS NOT SPEAR! ZERO, X, JUST GET OVER HERE!"

Spear took a springing leap. He felt Liam's claws dig into his skin and bit his tongue, trying not to snarl. For a moment, the two repliwolves seemed to hang in the air. The smoke choking them. The flames licking hungrily at their paws.

Than Spear's paws hit the pavement, and he collapsed onto the ground. He felt Liam roll off him, whimpering and clutching his face. His eyes were still shut.

As Spear stood, he felt the thuds of the others as they to, jumped the fire and landed safely on the other side.

He turned to see Axl running towards, them several Maverick Hunters behind him. Spear sighed with relief as one of the medics, Lifesaver, came running forward. In his hands, was a briefcase of medical equipment.

"Who's the worst injured out of all of you?" Lifesaver demanded. Spear pointed to Liam and the medic hurried over. With confidence, he wove bandages around the repliwolf's burnt and bleeding face. Then he signal to two other hunters and they took Liam up on the stretcher, transporting him to somewhere safer.

Suddenly Spear heard a scream from Quick's direction. His brother was frozen on the spot and staring towards the sky. Spear looked up and gasped in horror. Scar had Calamity by the throat, dangling over the edge of the building. Flames flickered below them, ready to swallow them both.

Spear watch as Scar leaned forward, whispering something to Calamity. Then with a massive heave, he through the leader off the edge. Spear jumped, though he knew it was useless. Calamity was too high for him to reach.

The leader's eyes locked with Spear's. For a moment the two stared at each, fear, rage and fury all clawing up against each other.

Then, Calamity vanished in a wall of gold and red. Spear stared at the fire, but he knew the truth. His leader, father figure and role model was gone. He had not screamed once or even yelled in pain. There was not a hint of his ember orange fur. Calamity, the brave and powerful leader of Code Blue, was dead.