"Mav! Victor is getting back up!" Haley squealed. "We don't have time! Make it happen now!"
"I'm on it!" Maverick answered, getting three people on a private radio channel.
"Valeria! Drew! Lance!" he hollered into the microphone. "Get to Starfall immediately. It's lying only a few yards away from your location. Make the sword vertical somehow. Let me know once it is done. Hurry!"
While Victor slowly rose to his feet, the beastly features relapsing, his generals sprung into action. They rushed to Starfall, which was lying abandoned on the beach sand.
The sword was still dark and gave off eerie vibes, but it was no longer glowing. The trio slipped their fingers under it.
Starfall weighed over fifteen tons; therefore, even with their combined efforts, it wouldn't budge from its position.
Val and Drew exchanged serious glances and asked Lance Baker to stand back.
"The King's Hand!" they hollered in unison. Using the special privilege accorded to generals of the NWO, they accessed monstrous strength momentarily.
With a mighty heave, Starfall was vertical again, its tip buried in the sand.
"It's done, Mav!" Val spoke over the radio, gasping for breath. "What next?"
Maverick enabled a few sensors and emitters on his drones. They beeped and let out a distinct ultrasonic wave. Something loud clicked within the sword.
"I've remotely unlocked the sword's hilt mechanism through the drones, Val! Rotate the hilt one-eighty degrees!"
"Alright!" With a grunt, Val and Drew turned the hilt about its axis, and it spun quickly. Spring! The hilt completely came off and fell to the ground.
"Umm, I think she broke it," Claire murmured, watching the live-streaming video. "What happens now?"
Maverick crossed his arms and leaned back with a smirk. "No, she didn't break the hilt. Starfall is not actually a weapon. Wait and watch!"
The creature's momentary relapse had subsided. It transformed into its extreme form again. It turned towards the three generals and roared ferociously, overflowing with bloodlust.
The trio stepped back in fear of their lives. They could be dead within a split second if Victor wished for it.
All of a sudden, Starfall began vibrating. The frequency increased until, with a loud clang, the sword broke into a dozen pieces. They sprung toward Victor as if he were a powerful magnet.
Tink! Clink! Clang! Bang!
The pieces crashed into Victor and stuck around him, taking the form of an armor vest.
"What is happening?" Lance asked in confusion.
"Starfall is not a weapon per se," Drew explained. "It is Caesar's armor that he often uses as a weapon."
"But how does dressing him in armor help our case? Won't that make the monster even stronger?"
"Wait and watch," Valeria said bluntly.
The creature grabbed the armor in panic, trying to pry it off its torso, but to no avail. Sparks emanated from Starfall, traveling all over its body.
Victor threw back his head and uttered a monstrous scream, sending a pillar of light into the sky.
"Starfall is made of Heraclite, a substance that Caesar uses to channel his power," Maverick explained. "Once Starfall touches him, it absorbs his built-up power and releases it outside. That is Heraclite's basic property."
"Oh, so Starfall released Victor's monstrous energy, and now he is less charged up?" Claire asked.
"Exactly."
"But how does that help in turning him back? Doesn't he have bottomless power-"
She paused mid-sentence when the creature started transforming. Its beastly claws and hair retracted, the skin became human pale, and the deformed body transitioned to human normal.
Victor gasped and coughed a few times as if he had just been reborn. He raised his handsome but wearied face, looked at the battlefield, and sighed.
"Caesar regressed into a monstrous state without the red pill because his power limiters were opened by brute force," Maverick added. "The limiter gates should have closed by themselves like swinging saloon doors. But Caesar's overflowing energy constantly kept them open. Now that the Starfall armor captured and released the excess energy, the limiters went back into place."
Victor fell to his knees, blinking his eyes and shaking his head to clear his hazy vision and disoriented hearing.
"We did it!" Claire cried out. The girls rejoiced and gathered around Maverick in a group hug. The five-star general was also elated for more than one reason. He had never been sandwiched among so many beauties.
Val, Drew, and Lance approached Victor and bowed to him.
"Sir, welcome back… How do you feel?"
Victor offered her a bitter smile. "It's nice to be back, Val-"
He paused mid-sentence as he fought nausea. His face darkened suddenly, and his hands went up, clawing at his neck.
"Sir, what is it?"
"Something is wrong…" the man said, wheezing uncontrollably.
As his heart palpitated like crazy, dark veins appeared over his neck, rising to his face. Victor vomited blood and fell on his face, unconscious.