April 17th, 2224
The Ragnorak, Europe
3:00 P.M.

Flying ahead of the transport was an armed shuttle carrying Wind, Slasher, Snipe, Silouette, Terra, and Gravedigger. Slasher, Grave, and Snipe were hunched in the cockpit of the shuttle with Wind, who was flying them toward the location of the Ragnorak. Or the place Slasher thought it was located. It all came down to him being right, since time was running out.

Leaning against the wall of the cockpit's room, Snipe had his arms crossed, his head faced downward. He hadn't been present when Katrina died and for that he regretted. However, it wasn't time to dwell on the past. They had to stop Death Star and the Ragnorak before it was too late. And it seemed that they had to find Ariel before she put herself in danger by going after Ariel. Also, to make matters even worse, it appeared that Cole had taken off for this area in order to do something that was beyond everyone's guess. Wind seemed to think he was going there to protect Blue from Ariel.

"Are we there yet?" Snipe asked outloud finally. Wind glanced over his shoulder at him, as if wondering why he would choose to break the fantastic silence that was going on about them and ruin the brooding mood that had set in. Snipe ignored the look and turned his head to look at Slasher, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat.

Slasher leaned forward in his seat to stare at the chronometer. "We're about to come on it now," he announced.

Gravedigger shook his head. "This feels wrong," he said, glancing out the window at the bright sunnyday. "Why hasn't he activated the Ragnorak yet?"

"Because he wants us there," Wind answered darkly. "And that's just what we're going to give him. A battle he won't forget."

Slasher twisted in his seat to look at Wind. "I think Grave has a point - besides wanting us there, he has to be thinking of something else. We all know that Death Star is a brilliant tactician - so we just have to think about what he wants," he said calmly, turning to glance at Snipe and Grave.

"That's what I don't get," Gravedigger said pointedly. "Just a few hours ago, he had his army walk right up to us and then they stopped advancing. They actually waited on Wind to do his little speech. If he wanted to crush us all, he would have just launched his people the moment Wind began his speech." He spread his hands out. "But he didn't. He stood there and listened."

"He semed to like the speech to me," Snipe said after a moment's pause. "He kind of had this smile on his face."

"So he liked the speech," Wind interrupted. "Does it really matter? He took a shot at me and ended up killing President McCabe. He's the enemy." He turned away from looking at them to stare straight ahead.

"Yes," Slasher murmured under his breath. "He's the enemy." He sat back in his seat, not glancing at any of them as he reviewed his memory in his head.

"We're not denying he's the enemy, Wind," Gravedigger explained, "but there is definitely something strange going on here. This situation has 'trap' written all over it."

"Yeah. If he's really Death Star, then he's not going to let us stroll in and just do battle with him. He's got a plan," Snipe agreed. "So, what's our plan?"

"We stab him until he stops moving," Wind said tightly.

"Now that's a plan," Snipe responded dryly. "And next you can suggest we kick the Ragnorak around if it activates."

"I like it," Wind told him, refusing to look away from his flying. Snipe sighed and threw up his hands.

"I think what Snipe's trying to put in his non-elegant way is that we need something more than just walking up to him and asking for a fight," Gravedigger reasoned. "I'm all for the direct approach, but this doesn't seem to be the time or the place."

Wind ignored them, leaning forward. Gravedigger sighed, then turned to see what he was staring at and then paused himself. Upahead was a wild, raging storm that just seemingly came out of nowhere. Exactly as the scanners had picked up - a storm that had just materalized out of thin air over one spot on all of the planet.

"Now that seems like hurricane weather," Snipe mused. "I imagine trying to activate the Ragnorak in that is going to be a bitch."

Gravedigger let out a whistle. "I imagine anyone in that thing is having a hard time getting anything to work. And Death Star's in there?" he repeated incredulously.

"He's in there," Slasher said finally, stirring from his thoughts. "We shouldn't fly the shuttle in there, though. We should land on the outskirts." He reached over and grabbed the radio, ordering the transport behind them to come down for a landing.

Wind paused, glancing down at his readings. "Odd," he said after a moment. He looked over the data again, shaking his head. "That can't be."

"What is it?" Slasher asked him, turning his head to glance at him. "Did you see something?"

"... It appeared that someone teleported into the storm just now, but such a teleport would be incredibly risky to attempt. It had to be a computer glitch," Wind said, though doubt lingered in his voice.

"That or we have someone with a big set of balls going in after Death Star," Snipe commented from behind them.

"Or someone with an itch to give Death Star some pain," Gravedigger countered, glancing at Snipe with a look that said he thought it was his case.

All four of them sat there in silence for a moment. "I'm going for a landing now," Wind said finally, tilting the controls downward. The shuttle began to head down for the ground at rapid speeds. Snipe braced himself against the back of Wind's chair while Gravedigger grabbed a support rail on the side of the wall.

The shuttle leveled off and came to a sliding stop as it skidded across the ground toward the raging storm. Pulling back hard on the controls, Wind brought them to a complete halt about twenty feet from the storm itself. All of them sat there for a moment, then they began to move for the exit.

Wind hopped down off the shuttle onto the ground, turning to look at the massive transport landing. He turned to Gravedigger and Snipe. "I want you both to get your men in place and ready to go in exactly ten minutes," he ordered them.

"Gotcha," Gravedigger said, nodding his head as he hurried over to the landing transport. Snipe gave him a look, then ran after Grave to catch up.

Wind turned to look at Silouette and Terra. "I want you two to move around the storm front to the other side. You're to enter on the exact opposite side and then move in. We don't know what kind of scanners Death Star has set up out here, so you're going to be my stealth squad," he informed them.

"Right. We'll do it," Terra said with a salute. She began to hurry around the side with Silouette until both of them were out of sight.

"And you're going in now, right? Without backup?" Slasher predicted as he stood there. He shook his head. "Very typical."

"Thanks," Wind told him. "But I'm not waiting around for the rest of the calvary. I have to hurry to catch up with Ariel before something bad happens. Gravedigger and Snipe can handle the troops."

"Of course they can," Slasher agreed. He reached into the shuttle and pulled out a dufflebag. "I have something for you here," he told Wind as he began to open the bag. He pulled out a sword that looked freshly made.

"What's this?" Wind asked him as he took the blade from Slasher's hand. Despite being a rather large sword, it felt very light in his head and perfectly balanced.

"I made this for you once I learned that Death Star took your sabre from you. You might need it out there if you fight him," Slasher explained. "It has several hidden functions on it that you'll like."

"Like what?" Wind questioned him. He swung the sword around, getting a feel for it.

"You'll find out. Now, lets get going," Slasher told him. Wind paused in swinging his sword to stare at him. "You don't expect me to stick around here and wait for the others while you run off to do something stupid, do you? I'm coming with you," he told him.

"Alright. But keep up," Wind told him. He took a sheath out of the bag and put the sword up along his back. "Because I'm going fast." And with that Wind began to hurry toward the storm.

Slasher grabbed a few items out of the dufflebag. "Dammit, Star," he muttered as he threw them together. "Sometimes you really annoy me." As he ran after Wind, he suddenly came to a stop as the entire area began to shake. Wind stopped and turned around to stare as suddenly a giant energy barrier shot out of the ground between him and Slasher.

"What the hell?!" Wind said as he stared at the barrier. He ran back over to it and slammed his fist against it, only to find himself repelled by the barrier. Slasher walked over and tapped against the barrier himself.

"Well, it seems that Death Star had a plan after all..." Slasher said thoughtfully. He ran his hand along the barrier. "There doesn't appear to be anyway through."

"Dammit..." Wind muttered, looking over the barrier. "I'm sorry, Slasher, but I can't stay here any longer. I have to keep going."

Slasher sighed, then nodded his head. "I understand. I'll work on bringing down this barrier in the meantime," he told him wistfully. "I really wanted to help fight, too."

Wind made a snort. "I know you did," he agreed. And with that, he turned around and began to run into the storm, the harsh winds hitting him and blowing him around. The rain immediately began to soak through his black jacket and clothing as if they weren't there. Within moments, he was out of Slasher's sight.

By that time, Snipe and Gravedigger had come running over to join him. "What the hell happened?" Snipe asked breathlessly as he stared at the barrier. "Are we locked out?"

Gravedigger shook his head. "I knew this was trap," he muttered. "We've been locked out it seems."

"Dammit!" Snipe shouted, kicking the barrier. "So his plan was to keep us locked out. But no one listens to me."

Slasher shook his head. "We'll just have to find a way to drop the barrier. Get your people ready, we're going to have to move in as soon as possible."

Snipe mockingly shivered. "You turn me on when you give commands, Slasher," he said in a feminine voice.

"That's what Cheryl keeps telling me," Slasher noted. "She likes it when I take charge."

Blue lifted her head up to him, but then glanced away again. If she had heard him, she wasn't going to listen apparantly. Death Star shrugged, turning away to the computer console and wiped away all the water piling on the screen. "What is taking them so long?" he muttered as some rain pelted him in the face.

Suddenly, in the distance, he felt the earth shake as his barrier was activated. That meant the signature of Wind had crossed over and turned it on. And that meant the others would be right behind him. Smiling, Death Star reached down and turned on the program. It immediately began to hack into the satelite it was connected to above and would begin to take it over, allowing him access to the news station, similiarly to what Wind had done earlier that day. He paused momentarily to reflect how alike the two of them really were, but then shook his head, forcing down the bile and anger that threatened to surface.

"It's time," he whispered, wiping the water from his face. "It's almost over and I can finally rest. Nothing can go wrong now." He leaned against the console, waiting for it to finish the commands so he could go to the next phase when he suddenly saw a bright light flash by underneath him toward Blue. A loud explosion was heard and a cry of pain followed it.

Rushing to the edge of the platform, Death Star glanced down and saw Blue laying on the ground. She began to push herself up when another white energy attack came flying at her from nearby, forcing her to jump to the side. "What in the hell?" he whispered outloud as he glanced around and suddenly saw who it was attacking Blue.

Standing not too far away and glowing with holy energy was Ariel. And her eyes seemed to practically glow white as she stood there. The rain that was falling down on her was turning to steam as it impacted against her energy field that surrounded her. Ariel began to walk slowly and calmly toward Blue across the muddy ground, leaving steaming footprints behind her.

"Dammit," Death Star hissed. He realized that Ariel must have come after Blue because Katrina had died. Glancing down at Blue, who was edging away from the angry woman, he turned back to the console. He couldn't leave it now because he needed to finish hacking into the holovid systems. Sighing, he realized that Blue was completely on her own now.

Blue stepped back as the rain pelted her harshly in the face. Her black trench coat was soaked completely through and was offering her little protection against the elements. And it was going to offer her no protection from Ariel's attacks. The angry woman was approaching her with a look that told Blue she was here to kill Blue.

Ariel came to a stop, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Blue. The rain that was coming down on her continued to turn to steam instantly when coming in touch with her powerful energy field and Blue realized that she stood no chance against her. And one look into Ariel's white eyes told her there was nothing sane there to reason with anymore.

As Ariel lifted her hand upward toward Blue, another powerful holy blast came flying out at Blue. Diving to the side, Blue rolled along the ground, getting mud all over her. She kneeled there before Ariel, who calmly turned her hand back around at Blue and fired again, forcing the reploid woman to leap over the blast and come landing on the ground. However, Ariel had predicted such an escape manuever and was suddenly before Blue. She reared back and punched Blue in the face, sending her crashing to the muddy ground in front of her feet.

Reaching down, Ariel grabbed Blue's head and lifted her up as she leaned downward. Their faces came within inches of each other. "You killed my daughter," Ariel said emotionlessly.

Blue coughed up some battery fluid and looked at Ariel. "I-I'm sorry...I'm...so very... sorry..." she pleaded.

Ariel punched her in the face again, causing her to crash to the ground. Blue began to try to crawl away from Ariel, her fingers scraping along the mud as she struggled to escape her. Standing there, Ariel watched Blue struggle to escape her like an insignificant incent, then she raised her hand, charging energy into it. She fired off a massive holy blast at the reploid.

However, her blast suddenly was knocked off course and sent flying into a pile of rocks nearby which exploded in a massive pile of rubble no bigger than pebbles. Ariel turned away from the rocks to look at what had stopped her attack and saw Colephantus standing there, his hand stretched outward to knock her attack away. "Stop this, Ariel," Cole told her.

"Get out of the way, Cole," Ariel said flatly, her eyes narrowing and her forehead wrinkling as she stared at him. "I will hurt you if you do not move now."

"No. I won't move. Katrina wouldn't want this, Ariel," Cole reasoned with her. "This isn't how she would have wanted it to end. You know that!"

Ariel stood there, then fired another energy blast at Cole, forcing him to throw up his arms in front of him in an "X" formation. The blast hit him hard, sending him sliding back along the mud. Blue glanced up at him in shock as she watched him slide back from the attack. Frowning, Ariel began to put more of energy reserves into the attack and the holy energy blast grew in size, shoving against Cole harder and faster. As he slid backwards, he flipped himself out of the way and let the blast continue onward into the distance.

Dropping her hand and letting the attack stop, Ariel stared at him. Cole dropped his arms, which felt like lead now after holding their own against the attack. In her anger, Ariel's strength had seemingly tripled beyond that of normal. He glanced over at Blue. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Blue pushed herself to her feet. "Cole? Why are you here?" she said in confusion. "You'll be killed!"

Cole gave her a smile. "I'm here because I love you, Blue, and I'm going to protect you until the end of time," he told her.

Glancing at Ariel, then back at Cole, Blue shook her head. "She'll kill you, Cole! Just leave now! She only wants me!" she pleaded.

"I can't do that, Blue. I'm staying here until the end this time," Cole told her. He began to walk toward Blue, stepping in between her and Ariel. "And I'm not moving again." Blue stared at him in horror, awe, and shock all at once.

Death Star stood on his platform, looking down at them as the rain blew against them. He shook his wet head a few times. "I'll be damned...he came back for her..." he muttered in awe. "And Ariel's going to kill them both..."

He closed his eye, then turned back to the console, which was hurrying along. He began to enter the necessary commands to hack into the holovid now. "Let it begin," he said as he tilted his head up toward the sky.

Slasher turned back around from his drawings. "What? Who?" he asked. He began to walk away from the drawings toward a small holovid that had been set up. The normal programming, which was still talking to everyone about what had occurred a few hours ago, was beginning to get interference.

Snipe stood there with his arms crossed with Gravedigger a few feet away. He glanced over at Slasher when he arrived. "It seems someone has an important message to get through. Right now it's still mandatory that everyone tune into the holovid to get instructions about what is going to happen with the end of the Human/Reploid War."

Slasher paused. "So...someone wants to reach out to the entire planet in one fell swoop," he said as his mind worked it out.

Gravedigger nodded. "Yeah. Can you think of anyone who wants the world to know his master plan?" he asked sarcastically.

"I can," Slasher said grimly. "It's Death Star." Just as he finished saying that, the current programming went out completely and suddenly an image of the Ragnorak appeared. The storm inside there seemed to be even worse than it did on the outside, but camera held steady, probably hooked to some part of the Ragnorak itself. And on the viewscreen it was showing Ariel facing off with Colephantus and Blue.

"Damn!" Slasher muttered as he saw what was happening. "She's going to kill them both."

"She wouldn't, would she?" Gravedigger asked, glancing at them. "I mean, why would she kill Cole?"

"Because she's angry," Snipe said after a moment. "And the last time I saw her angry, she almost killed Wind."

Shaking his head, Slasher frowned. "This isn't what Katrina would want," he said sadly. "But I suppose she isn't thinking about that right now."

A crisp voice began to speak that undoubtedly belonged to Death Star. "A few weeks ago, humans made a device called the Ragnorak - a machine built to destroy everyone reploid on the planet with one touch of a button. However, what you might not know about this device, is that it fell into my hands and I've now reprogrammed it to destroy every human on the planet," he began to speak.

"What is he trying to do?" Snipe asked in horror. "Is he trying to destroy the entire foundation of peace we've been working for this entire time?"

Slasher crossed his arms, listening carefully to Death Star's words. "I think that's a recording," he mused. "He must have pre-recorded this."

The message continued. "Right now a barrier has been put up around the Ragnorak that will not allow any human to enter. The only thing that prevents all of the humans from dying is reploids," Death Star's voice continued.

Gravedigger jerked his gaze over to look at them. "Did you hear that? He said the barrier stopped humans," he pointed out.

Slasher nodded his head slowly. "Of course. He wants the reploids only to enter. He's planning on making this about the reploids, not the humans," he surmised. He looked back at the barrier. "That means, in theory, you should be able to pass through the barrier."

Without needing further encouragement, Gravedigger hurried over to the barrier, quickly followed by Snipe. Everyone in the area watched them run over to the glowing energy barrier, as if waiting to see if there was truly hope left to stop the Ragnorak.

As soon as they reached the barrier, Snipe and Gravedigger came to a stop. Snipe glanced at Grave, raising an eyebrow. "You ready?" he asked him.

Gravedigger reached out and his hand passed through the barrier. He quickly pulled it back out, stared at his hand, then extended it further through until his entire arm was through. "It works!" he shouted.

There was a loud cheering from the people gathered. Snipe looked at Gravedigger, giving him a sad smile. "Well, it looks like this is where we split up again, partner. I can't follow you this time," he told him, pushing his glasses up with his finger.

Putting a hand on Snipe's shoulder, Gravedigger gave him a nod. "Thanks for coming back for me. But this is one I have to do on my own, it seems," he said.

"And you'll do fine," Snipe agreed. "Save the day and bring me back a gift." The two of them stared at each other for a moment, then Snipe stepped back.

Gravedigger turned to look at the reploids gathering at the barrier. "Alright, we're going in!" he told them. And with that, he passed through the barrier onto the other side. He stepped into the rain and winds, turning back as he waited for all the reploids to hurry through to the other side.

Snipe waved at Grave, then watched them run out of sight. He walked back down to the holovid beside Slasher, who was still watching the events transpiring. "You might wonder why reploids saving humans is important? A long time ago, a reploid named Sigma attempted to take over the earth...." the message continued.

Mega City Military Base Omega

Wiendigo sat there as he listened, shaking his head. He turned back to X1, who was stirring some liquids together. "We need to hurry," he told him. "Death Star's going to get the entire planet riled up."

X1 looked back at him. "This is a very delicate process!" he protested. "You can't just shake things together and hope that they--" he began when suddenly Wiendigo reached over and grabbed the two vials of liquid, shaking them rapidly, then mixed them together. "Or maybe you can do it..." he said sullenly. "But it's not a good idea!"

"Don't to rush you or anything, but the fate of the human race depends on you," Wiendigo told him.

"You can't rush a genius!" X1 said.

"When I see a genius, I'll be sure not to rush him," Wiendigo told him. "Now hurry."

X1 sniffed at this insult, than began to run tests on the new mixture. He stood there as the results were calculated, then he saw the word Positive Match flash across the screen. He suddenly slapped his own ass and began to dance around. "Who's your grand-daddy?! WHO'S YOUR GRAND-DADDY?" he shouted.

Wiendigo looked at him. "I take it this mean you found the cure?" he asked him as he watched the white reploid parade around while slapping his own ass.

X1 paused, then turned to look at him. "Found? FOUND? I invented the cure! I am far superior to that wannabe Slasher! I am a genius!" he told him, waving his his arms around. "And I have my own dental plan. You can't beat that."

"Good. How do we get the cure back into me?" Wiendigo asked him, ignoring his rantings. "Do you just download it?"

Clicking his tongue around, X1 shook his head. "No. I must give you a shot with the virus in it," he told Wiendigo, reaching out and grabbing the vial. He walked over to a his neeldes and began to fish through them.

"Give me the virus?" Wiendigo repeated, glancing at him darkly. "You plan to give me a virus?"

"Sometimes to fight a virus you need a virus, like my old Auntie Bertha told me. This virus will make the users immune to the effects of the maverick virus by inducing feelings of the exact opposite nature," X1 told him. He finally pulled out a huge needle that seemed like it could pierce through a man. He began to transmit the liquid into the neelde.

"Will it destroy the virus in someone who's already infected, though?" Wiendigo questioned him. "It will do me no good if he can't destroy the virus in Death Star."

Spinning around, X1 looked at him while holding the giant needle. "I don't know yet! We'll have to see when we send you in, m'boy!" He began to walk towards Wiendigo with a demented grin. "Now hold still, this will only hurt for ... a long time!"

Wiendigo eyed him. "Where do you plan on giving that?" he asked him dryly.

"Your head!" X1 said. "Now bend over!" Wiendigo eyed the needle, noting it would go right through his head at the length of it. He sighed and sat down, so X1 could reach his head. X1 reared back, then placed only a tiny bit of the needle into the side of Wiendigo's head and begin to inject the virus into him.

Roaring in pain, Wiendigo grabbed his head as he fell to his knees. His head began to feel like it was exploding in his skull and emotions flew through him, but then went fleeing away. His vision turned to a hazy white, then it cleared away. He stood up, shaking his head a few times. "That's it...?" he asked.

"All done," X1 told him, tossing the needle away and causing a cat to howl in pain. "Now lets go stop Death Star!"

Wiendigo scowled. "You sound like you're coming along," he pointed out to him.

"He may be crazy, but Death Star's my friend! So you betcha that I'm coming along. Plus I have to make sure there's no side effects to the virus!"

"Like what?"

"Like your head exploding!" X1 said. He reached over and grabbed his lucky coin. "Now off we go!"

The Ragnorak, Europe

Ariel cried in anger as she fired another energy blast at Cole. He tensed, then dived to the side, refusing to fire back. His goal so far was to let Ariel run herself out by continuing to attack him over and over. However, it seemed as if the woman's energy reserves would never run out. She continued to attack as if there was no energy drain.

Cole stood there as the rain pelted him, soaking him through to his flesh. However, he stood there boldly, standing off against the crazed Ariel as if there were nothing he would rather be doing right now. And standing off to the side was a confused Blue, watching as Cole battled to keep her alive.

Suddenly, Ariel turned and fired a blast at Blue, choosing to ignore Cole altogether. "Shit!" Cole shouted and he teleported in front of Blue, throwing himself in front of the attack as it smashed into his chest. He was thrown back against Blue, causing them to both hit the muddy ground. As he laid there, wincing in pain as the rain pounded against his face, he could hear Ariel approaching.

Lifting his head up, he saw that his armor was smoking and there was a serious cracked hole now. He turned back to see Blue was alright, despite being dazed. She tried to stand up, shaking her head a few times as she looked back at Cole. "Cole!" she shouted with concern.

Getting to his feet, Cole stood there as Ariel got within six feet. She reared her hand back, then shoved it forward, firing another holy energy attack. Cole swung reached out, grabbing Blue, then threw them both to the side as the blast flew overhead. They both slid along the mud again. Ariel turned and began to get ready for another attack, but Cole switched over to his cannons and raised his own hand. Just as Ariel fired her next blast, Cole fired his own cannons at it. The two attacks smashed into each other hard enough to send a shockwave out that repelled the rain backwards momentarily.

Ariel began to breath a little heavier now, showing the first signs of being slightly winded since the assault had begun. Each of her attacks had been at full blast with no concern of power management, so it wasn't surprising - what was surprising was that she had gone this long without showing anything.

Spreading her hands apart, Ariel vanished and reappeared in front of Cole. She formed her sword and slashed down at his head. Stepping back in shock, he reached up and grabbed her hand, causing both of them to struggle as she tried to bring it down to cleave him in two. Cole strained, trying to keep her hand from coming down, but realized that if he didn't attack her while she was open, she would indeed hit him. He took a deep breath, then let go with one of his hands, leaving the other to hold her off, then slammed a quick punch into Ariel's gut, forcing her to stumble backwards.

Ariel suddenly teleported and appeared behind Cole and in front of Blue. She reared back impaled Blue through the shoulder, causing the female reploid to cry out in pain. Then she began to lift her into the air on her sword. Taking a deep breath, Ariel raised her hand at Blue and fired off an energy attack at her hard enough to send her flying off the sword onto the ground.

"Blue!!!" Cole shouted as he ran over to her, checking her wound. It didn't appear to be fatal, but it was obvious that Blue was in pain now. However, in that moment of distraction, Ariel fired a second energy blast into Cole and slammed him into the ground beside Blue.

Wincing, Blue opened her eyes. "Run..." she told him as she strained to get up.

Cole shook his head, getting to his knees. He eyed Ariel, then looked at Blue. "I'm not leaving you for anything," he promised. He looked back at Ariel angrily. "You'll just have to kill us both!" he told her.

Quietly standing there, Ariel let her sword vanish. Cole let out his breath, thinking she was going to back down. However, Ariel began to gather her holy energy into her hands and lifted them up towards them. He frowned, grabbing Blue in a hug, placing his back to Ariel so he would take the full impact of the shot.

"Yet, the reploids are fighting to stop the Ragnorak despite having nothing to gain. And why is that? You were told they had souls, the same souls as humans - you were told that they were your brothers. But did you end the war because you're tired and hope to regroup another day.... or do you truly believe it? Do you really think reploids have souls? And if not, why are they fighting for you today?"

Ariel released the holy energy attack at the two of them. As it blitzed through the air, it tore through the pouring rain causing a wave of steam to rise up into the air. And as it arrived at it's targets, she could feel the impact of it hitting as she continued to pump the energy into it. She began to breathe heavily, the white look leaving her eyes as they returned to their normal color. Her body began to ache as she continued to pour the holy energy into her attack, knowing it was completely eradicating the two people before her. And then, she stopped pumping her energy into and the white light faded. The rain began to fall back down where the beam had been and she looked ahead, then blinked in surprise.

Colephantus turned his head around, still cradling Blue in his arms. Standing between them and Ariel was Death Star with his hands extended. Both of his hands were burnt and damage, and waves of electricity crackled down his damaged arms. He took deep, labored breaths as he held his hands out there, then he let them drop to his sides. Blue opened her own eyes to see him and let out a gasp of surprise.

"... these two are under my protection, Ariel," Death Star thundered out across the howling wind and rain. "You will not harm them."

"But...why?" Cole asked him in confusion. "Why are you helping us?" He looked at Blue, who seemed to be unable to comprehend Death Star's logic either.

Death Star looked over his shoulder at them, giving a lopsided grin. "Because you were willing to die for her. You deserve to walk away from her with her. Now go...I'll hold her off. Get out of here!" he shouted at them.

Cole nodded, getting to his feet and helping Blue up. The two of them began to ran away into the storm, leaving Death Star standing there with Ariel. Both of them looked at each other warily, as if guaging how much the other had left in them.

"Get out of my way," Ariel warned. "She killed my daughter!"

"Killing her won't solve anything!" Death Star shouted back at her. The two of them stood there as the rain and wind blew around them. For a moment, it felt like it was only just them in the middle of hell. "You aren't a killer, Ariel!"

"Says you?" Ariel screamed. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" She raised her hand at Death Star, as if planning to blast him right there, but he refused to move. "I hate you just as much as I hate her!"

"Then take it out on me. She's still a child compared to us, Ariel, and she made a mistake. God knows if we haven't made mistakes! And I'm not about to let you make one here!" Death Star challenged her.

Ariel responded by blasting him in the chest, causing him to stumble backwards. He straightened back up, grinding his feet into the mud for support. She fired another energy blast at him and he held up his hand to take the brunt of the blast, sliding back some. Finally, she dropped her hand as she took deep, labored breaths. "She took her away from me..." she repeated softer now.

"I know. But Blue's death won't bring Katrina back, will it?" Death Star told her. He stood there, looking at her quietly from his position. "And this isn't you, Ariel - you're grieving and you want to find someway to make it stop hurting. But killing Blue won't fix anything. It'll only make things worse."

Ariel laughed in disdain. "Says the man who plans to kill all the humans on the planet with the Ragnorak!" she told him.

"Exactly. Which means I know exactly where I stand and I know what I'm doing today won't get me back what I want," Death Star said bitterly. "No matter how much I want what's before me, I can never have it. No matter how much I wish it was me that you all found instead of him, it isn't going to happen. You found him first and you thought he was the real deal. And now I have nothing to hold onto," he continued as he looked at her. He shook his head, his hair splashing water around.

Ariel stood there silently, looking at him as he spoke. She didn't speak, but she stopped attacking finally. The two of them stood there in the rain, just looking at each other. "Why are you doing this, Death Star?" she asked finally. "Why are you causing all this pain?"

"Because there has to be some pain in order for life to continue. Because it's necessary for me to do what I'm doing right now. And I think you know why it's necessary," Death Star answered. "I think you know there can never be peace through words, but only through blood. We only know what we really want when we've lost everything before us. But by then, it's too late to have it. So I'm going to give the world something they need."

"Death?" Ariel asked bitterly.

"Someone to hate," Death Star corrected her. "So, if you want someone to hate for Katrina's death ... then please, hate me. Leave Blue out of this." He spread his arms. "I'm right here. All you have to do is fire."

"You think I won't?" Ariel asked him, tilting her head back. The rain continued to hammer down around them.

"I don't believe there's a killer in you, Ariel," he told her.

"But there's a killer in you," Ariel said. They both stood there, neither of them movnig, when finally Ariel turned away, bringing her hand to her face. "But I won't kill you... it won't bring my girl back..."

Death Star dropped his hands to his side as he stood there. "I'm sorry, for what it's worth," he told her.

"It's worth nothing," Ariel spat out at him. She began to walk away from him when she paused, looking up at a person who arrived. "DS?" she whispered.

Wind stepped forward from the rain, his clothing sticking to him as the horrendous storm continued to lash down at him. "Ariel. I'm glad you're safe," he told her. He reached out to her, pulling her close to him as he looked at Death Star. "I've come to stop you from using the Ragnorak.

"I was expecting you," Death Star told him grimly, his eye flaring purple briefly. This time he choose to ignore it. "It's time for us to end things right now."

"Yes. Just you and me," Wind agreed. He turned to look at Ariel. "I want you to leave now while I handle this."

"I'm not leaving," Ariel said flatly. "I'm staying." Wind opened his mouth to protest, but saw her look of determination. He nodded his head, then puilled away from Ariel to approach Death Star.

"You have a lot to answer for, Death Star," Wind said coldly. "And I'm going to make you answer for all your crimes."

"They fight because they care. The world needs heroes and everyone is capable of being a hero - or a villian. Sigma was the reploids' most notorious aspect, but being evil is in the hearts of anyone who lives. The humans have had their share of tyrants as well. But does this mean there's killers in all of us? No. Humans and reploids both have the choice to go be good or evil. To be a hero or a villian. And today, you'll see what heroes really are."

Coming to a stop, Cole turned around and put his arms on Blue's shoulders, looking at her directly. "I came back because I love you, Blue. And I realize we all make mistakes. My mistake was for leaving you as long as I did," he told her.

Blue looked up at him. "But ... I killed Katrina. Don't you hate me? Why don't you hate me!?" she demanded of him, pounding her fists against his chest. "I'm nothing but a killer!"

Cole wrapped his arms around her. "She forgave you, Blue. And if she can forgive you, you should forgive yourself. I know I do," he told her, hugging her tightly as he ignored the rain pounding on him. "You're all I got now, Blue... and you're all I want."

Leaning her face against Cole's chest, Blue began to cry against his chest. "I don't deserve you," she sobbed. "I deserve to die for what I've done." She fell to her knees, clutching Cole as she kneeled there.

Cole kneeled down to face her, tilting her face up to look at him. "You deserve a second chance. You deserve another shot - you deserve a chance to make up for what you've done. And I want to be with you - and I deserve that, too. We both have been through hell Blue and we've both done terribly wrong things. But we can change that right now!" he told her. "You and me."

Blue nodded. "You and me," she repeated softly. She smiled at him, despite her tears running down her face. Cole smiled, leaning forward to kiss her when suddenly a massive blast impacted against his back, slamming him and Cole into the ground with uncanny power. As both of them cried out in pain, they were pressed into the mud several inches before the pressure stopped.

Rolling over onto his back, Cole looked up at who attacked them and saw someone floating in the air. A trembling, shakey voice spoke out. "She killed the love of my life...and you dare give her protection?"

Squinting, Cole leaned forward. "Who are you?!" he shouted out against the howling of the wind. The hovering figure landed on the ground and began to approach them until their face came into view. "Junior!" Cole gasped as he slid back along the ground.

Junior clenced his hands into fists, his face looking like he was on the edge of insanity. The rage burned clearly in his eyes. "I was going to spend the rest of my life with her... and you took her away from me!" he cried out. He cupped his hands together and energy began to gather in them. "KIAMAAAAAA!" he screamed in rage and fired a huge blast at Blue.

Cole dashed in front of the attack and took the full blunt of the shot as he stood in front of Blue. His armor cracked, then shattered and the blast impacted against his chest, tearing into him. When it finally stopped, Cole stumbled forward as battery fluid poured out of his chest and fell to one knee.

"Cole!" Blue shouted, getting up and grabbing him. "God, no! Cole!" she cried out, shaking him. Cole's face had a dazed look, as if he wanted to go into shock, but he shook his head clear, focusing on Junior.

"You can't touch her!" he told him. "I'm doing exactly what Katrina wanted by protecting her."

Junior dashed forward. "What she wanted?! DID SHE WANT TO BE STABBED?" he demanded to know as he smashed his fist into Cole's face, knocking him away from Blue. Cole impacted roughly on the ground, sliding along the mud on his back.

With Cole out of his way, Junior raised his hand in front of Blue's face. "Die, bitch," Junior said evenly, then began to fire a deadly kiama blast at her head. However, right as the blast was emitting from his hand, something hit his arm and knocked it off course - instead causing his blast to impact into the ground near Blue. Junior turned to stare at Cole, who was standing there panting. He held his arm out after having just fired a blast at Junior's arm.

"Run, Blue!" Cole shouted. Blue nodded, then began to run away from Junior as fast she could. Junior sneered, then teleported in front of her. He punched her in the stomach, then brought his hand down on her head, knocking her to the ground. Then he lifted his foot and smashed it down against her head, crushing her into the mud.

Crying out in horror, Cole aimed at Junior and fired a shot at his head. Junior stood there as the blast impacted against his head, tilting it back a few inches. He just popped his neck, then applied more pressure to his foot, aiming to break Blue's head from her neck. Cole teleported in front of Junior, then slammed his fist into his chest, whirled around and elbowed dropped him on the right shoulder blade. Junior stood there, ignoring all the attacks as if they were nothing, then he just swung his arm around and clocked Cole in the face, sending him flipping away from him.

Cole pushed himself up. "Please, Junior! Don't do this! I love Blue! PLEASE!" he begged him. Junior ignored him, continuing to apply pressure to Blue's neck. "This isn't what Katrina wanted! She wanted Blue to be forgiven!" he shouted at him. Finally, Junior stopped, glancing up at Cole, staring at him.

"She wanted everyone to be forgiven. But that doesn't matter now ... does it?" Junior said solomonly. "And I just can't forgive!" He raised his foot to bring down for the final crushing blow when Blue suddenly rolled out of the way, causing his foot to smash through the mud.

Blue got to her feet, stumbling away from Junior. Realizing he was only going to get one shot at this, Cole teleported in front of Junior and punched him clear in the face as hard as he could, knocking the Chiere clear off his feet into the air. As Junior's head tilted back and his body went flying up, he suddenly stopped in mid-air and glanced back down at Cole. Silver fluid ran out of Junior's nose as he wiped it away. He suddenly flew straight into Cole and smashed his fist into Cole's face, knocking him away.

Cole flipped in the air and landed on the ground. "You leave me with no choice, Junior. I won't let you hurt Blue. I'm going to stop you right now! What you're doing is wrong and I think you know it. I think deep down you know that Katrina wouldn't want this! I know you loved Katrina - so did I! But this isn't how she would have wanted it to go down!" Cole told him.

Junior landed back on the ground, staring at him quietly. He suddenly blurred in front of Cole and punched Cole in the face hard enough to bruise his face instantly. Then Junior reared back and punched Cole again in the face, causing him to stumble back. As he was started to rear back again to punch Junior again, a hand grabbed Junior and jerked him away from Cole, who then fell to his knees.

Turning around, Junior saw that Blue was holding onto his arms. He let out a grunt, then ripped his arm free from her and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing his hand tighter and tighter. "What...gave you ... the right to harm her...?" he spit out as he lifted her up in the air. "You had...NO right..." he said unsteadily.

Suddenly something slammed into his back with amazing strength, causing Junior to drop Blue as he staggered forward uneasily. He turned around to see Colephantus had gotten back to his feet and had punched him straight in the back. Cole looked at him with a grimace on his face. "I don't want to do this, Junior. Stop it," he told him again.

Junior finally turned around to face him entirely, then punched Cole in the stomach, dropping him to his knees. He began to turn around to deal with the gasping Blue when Cole shakily got back to his feet again, staring at him defiantly. Junior paused, eyeing Cole, then slammed his fist into Cole's face, knocking him to the ground again. He stood there, then watched in a sort of shocked amazement as Cole climbed back to his feet again, despite the bruises and battery fluid running down his face.

This time Junior slammed his fist into Cole's gut, forcing him to bend over, then fired a kiama blast right into Cole's head as he bent over. This knocked Cole back several feet into a heaping pile on the ground. Deciding this was enough to beat Cole, he turned around to face Blue when he heard movement. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched as Cole picked himself back up and stood there. "I'm not quitting...I'm not...giving up.." Cole said out loud over the rain.

Junior clapped his hands together loudly, causing a small shockwave that repelled the rain around them and he cupped his hands, gathering his energy. He fired another kiama blast at Cole, who raised his hands and took the blast, sending him sliding along the muddy ground for a good ten feet. Growling, Junior applied more energy, slamming more power into Cole and knocking him further along. Just as he was about to pump more power into the attack, he felt a plasma blast hit him in the back. The energy attack against Cole faded and Cole fell to the ground.

Blue stood there as Junior turned to face her. She was holding out her blaster at him. "Leave him alone! It's me you want!" she demanded. "Just quit hurting him!" she cried out at him. Junior dashed forward and snatched the blaster from her, crushing it in his hand.

"I loved her," Junior said as he approached her. "She never did anything to anyone and you killed her." He lifted his hands. "I'm going to kill you."

"Fine. Just leave Cole alone," Blue said defiantly. "Promise me that and you can do whatever you want to me."

"Deal," Junior promised, lifting his hands up and gathering his energy. As he extended his hands, he felt a fist him in the back of the head, causing him to drop to the ground. He glanced up to see a panting, bleeding Cole.

"Now...I fight for...real..." Cole said, wiping the fluid from his face. He aimed his mini-cannon and opened fire on Junior, nailing him over and over with his shots at point blank. Wincing, Junior jumped away, his clothing torn and blowing in the wind. He raised his hand against the rain as he stared at Cole.

"If you loved Katrina, you wouldn't be with her," Junior said. He dashed forward at Cole, moving in to catch up with him. Cole dashed at Junior quickly and the two met each other directly in the middle. Junior punched Cole hard in his unprotected chest, while Cole smashed his fist into Junior's jaw.

"I loved her, but she wanted me and Blue together. She wanted us together because she cared!" Cole told him as he gasped in pain. Junior whirled around and grabbed his head between both of his hands, crushing Cole's skull. Cole lifted his mini-guns right in Junior's face and fired, knocking the Chiere away from him and knocking himself back.

"She cared because she had a good soul. Which that woman took away from her!" Junior snarled, dashing forward as he punched Cole in the face. Cole coughed up some fluids, but kneed Junior in the chin, grabbed his head, and smashed his face into his knee.

"If Katrina could forgive that, then you should respect her decision!" Cole shouted at him. Junior responded by grabbing Cole's face with his hand and unleashing a kiama blast at point blank. He then took Cole's head, still gripping his face tightly, and smashed it into the ground.

"RESPECT? RESPECT THAT SHE DIED?" Junior raged. He lifted Cole up from the ground, but suddenly Cole's hand grabbed his arm weakly and wrenched it off. As Cole fell back to the ground, he rolled back as Junior punched down at him, letting the crazed Chiere punch into the mud.

Flipping to his feet, Cole tried to excess his own damaged and realize he had taken too much damage when he was going easy on Ariel and Junior before. He had tried to pull his punches for so long that now he didn't have the energy needed to win. "...so this...is how you show your..love for Kat?" Cole demanded.

Junior grabbed Cole by the throat. "What are you saying?" Junior asked him icily.

"You...leave her...go off...to do whatever...you want...and when you learn..that she died..you come back here...to kill the person who killed...her?" Cole strained to say. "You never...loved her..." he spit out. "You just want...the honor of saying you...killed her killer."

Junior's eyes narrowed. "Don't begin to think you know what my feelings for Katrina were like," he demanded.

"Katrina..wanted Blue to live...if you ... truly felt anything for Kat...then...respect that decision," Cole strained to say.

Junior's grip released and he dropped Cole to the ground. He stood there, bowing his head as the rain poured down from the sky. Blue came running over and grabbed Cole in a hug, glaring up at Junior. He looked at them both, then turned away from them. "I loved Katrina. And I don't need your blood on my hands to prove it," he said flatly.

He began to walk away until he was out of sight in the storm. Blue looked down at Cole, then burst out in tears. "I thought he was going to kill you!" she cried out as she held him.

Cole gave her a bloodied grin. "I told you...I wouldn't leave you...even if it was... until the very end," he whispered to her, then his head fell back and his eyes closed.

"Cole? COLE!" Blue shouted outloud, shaking him. "COLE!" she screamed into the howling storm.

"A hero is someone who is willing to give up everything they have to save the ones they love. People think that heroes are extrodinary people who win every battle they come across, but that's not the case. A hero can be any person who dares to stand up against what is wrong and fight with everything they have until the very end. A hero is someone who is willing to die for the cause they believe in. Even if they die, as long as they fought for what was right in their hearts, they are a hero. And even reploids can be heroes."

As he came to a stop, Gravedigger waved his hands. "Split up into groups of ten to each mech. Move now!" he shouted at them. He then turned back as he watched the mechs lumber forward towards them.

Gravedigger waited until one opened fire on him, then he dived to the right, rolling along the mud. His cloak began to get caked with the mud, slowing him down some, so he undid it and let it fall to the ground. He grabbed his sai and ran forward, leaping up on top of the mech and driving his sai into it's head. Below him on the ground, he could hear the shots of his fellow reploids as they worked to knock down the mechs. Roadkill rammed into one of them, knocking it clear over.

The mech he was on aimed it's arm at Grave and unleashed a round of plasma shots. Grabbing the sai lodged into the mech's head, he slid off of the top and let the shots fly overhead as he hung there in front of the mech. He then planted his feet against the face of the mech, kicked off, then swung back in and smashed through the glass into the cockpit.

Glancing around, he saw the mech was being automated by some controls. He quickly grabbed his shovel and raised it over his head, smashing it down on the various controls of the mechs, causing them to spark and overload. Tensing his body, Gravedigger threw himself out the cockpit and landed on the ground as the mech's head exploded, throwing it backwards. His sai went spinning through the air and landed in the ground beside him.

The mech that Roadkill had knocked over was gangedbanged by a bunch of the reploids, who opened fire on it and blew apart it's insides. The remaining mech, also, was being taken down by the other reploids. As Gravedigger got to his feet, he reached down and ripped his sai out of the ground. He paused, glancing over his shoulder when suddenly three more mechs emerged from the ground.

"Now this is more like it," Gravedigger said, gripping his sai tightly. He stood there as lightning lit up the sky, then dashed forward toward the mechs.

Slasher crossed his arms as he listened to Death Star's occassional words being spoken in the background. "I think I'm beginning to understand," Slasher said finally. "Yes. It makes sense now."

Snipe glanced at him. "What? That he plans to kill Grave and the others over some stupid hero trip?" he said. He gestured at the holovid. "We should be there helping them."

"No. This is a fight for the reploids," Slasher told him, glancing at Snipe. "Don't you see? He's showing the humans that the reploids, in addition to having souls, are willing to put everything on the line to save the humans despite there being nothing to gain. He's not going to sacrifice Grave and the others..."

"Then who is he going to sacrifice?" Snipe demanded. Slasher shook his head, not answering. He merely turned back to the holovid. Frusted, Snipe sighed and glanced back at the proceedings.

Roadkill came up beneath him and gave him a boost, throwing up on top of the mech's shoulder. Gravedigger turned and glanced around, then swung his shovel against the glass cockpit. However, this time it was reinforced and his shovel bounced off harmlessly. "Damn," Grave said as he balanced on the shoulder.

The mech reached up and attempted to grab him as he stood there, but Grave slammed his shovel against the hand, knocking it away. He waved at some of his explosive carrying reploids. "Toss me a bomb!" he shouted. As the reploids worked to pull one out, he ducked as the hand came swinging by again. He slammed his shovel against it again, then held up his hand. The reploids tossed him a bomb and he grabbed it in mid-air.

Jumping over the incoming hand, Gravedigger landed on the mech's head and planted the bomb on it, firmly attaching it to it's outer helmet. He then activated the bomb for a five second countdown and jumped off, landing on the ground as the head exploded. The body of the mech began to lumber forward toward him. As he turned around in surprise, the mech slammed down on him as it smashed into the muddy ground.

Ratshoot swished his tail. "Shit! They fucking crushed Grave!" he shouted outloud. Suddenly a pile of goo slid out from under the mech and Gravedigger reformed, holding his side. "Aw shit, they didn't," Ratshoot corrected.

Gravedigger glanced at the other two mechs. "We're not done!" he shouted, pointing at the mechs. "Use the explosives on them now!" The reploids surged forward, opening fire on the mechs as the ones carrying the explosives got in close, attaching them to the legs of the mechs. In a few moments, the legs of the mechs were blown out, sending the mechs falling to the ground where the reploids surged in on them and opened fire until they exploded.

Eyeing the six defeated mechs, Gravedigger turned toward the direction of the Ragnorak. "We move onward!" he said. The reploid army continued to sweep forward toward their final destination.

"However, there is a thin line between good and evil. A hero and a villian. One planet's champion is another's worst nightmare. There is no definite good and there is no absolute evil. We're all capable of being either. And as time goes on, history remembers the people who lose as the ones who were evil. Inside all of us is the capacity for so much good and so much evil that it is staggering to consider. Are we good ... are we evil? Are we the killer...or are we the savior?"

Wind unsheathed the sword Slasher built for him, holding it up in front of him. "You should have known that our last encounter wasn't going to be our last, Death Star. I don't take kindly to being stabbed in the chest," he told him.

"This time I have the sabre," Death Star responded, twirling it in his hand. "You don't have any chance now."

"Keep the sabre. I could care less about that particular item now. It's named after you, so it's fitting that it should remain clapsed in your dead hand," Wind said coldly. The two of them began to circle each other.

Death Star's eye flared purple. "So be it. Then lets end this. I grow weary of looking at you," he said after a moment. He stepped forward, bringing his sabre down at Wind, who parried with his sword and shoved Death Star back with a quick push. Wind took two steps forward and slashed down at him, but the reploid twirled the sabre up to parry his sword away. The two of them split apart as they began to circle each other again.

"You're looking a tad on the purple side," Wind taunted. "I suppose that would be the maverick virus controlling you?" He dashed forward, stabbing at Death Star's stomach. However, DS stepped to the side, brining his sabre around to knock Wind's sword away and he kicked him in the face, sending him sliding back.

Chuckling, Death Star focused on calming himself down and the purple glare left. "Actually, no. I'm not being controlled by the virus. I might have high levels of infection going on inside me," he began, stepping forward and slashing in a horizontal arch at Wind. Wind stepped back and parried vertically with his sword. "But I'm in control. My will power alone is enough to hold off the maverick virus raging in me," Death Star finished.

"Your willpower?" Wind spat out. "The maverick virus drives a person insane with it's feelings of hatred and rage. You think you can really use willpower to control that?" He dashed forward and slashed viciously at Death Star, forcing him to back up in a retreat mode. As Wind continued his assault, swinging his sword around at Death Star from all sides and causing the reploid to work on parrying, he reared back and punched DS in the face, sending him sliding away.

"The hatred in me has been there for a long time. You have my memories - you know. My life was nothing but fighting. It's all I ever knew - how to fight. How to battle this opponent and that. I never had time for love until Iceheart came along," Death Star snapped, leaping forward and swinging his sabre down at Wind. As Wind stepped back and brought his sword up to parry, he leaned backwards as Death Star pressed against him. The two struggled against one another as their blades locked. "And then I had to kill her for the sake of the mission when she went maverick. But you know what really seperates you and I, Wind?" he demanded.

"What's that?" Wind asked as he shoved Death Star back, rushing forward and slashing at him. Death Star parried against the blade, locking them together again. He leaned forward until their faces were directly positioned over their blades.

"One good day," Death Star said. He shoved forward, sliding Wind back. "You were found first and they gave up finding me. Just one, lucky day separates us. Because you got a chance to live a real life. To settle down. And I have to carry on the mission. And that's why I can handle the virus. The hatred in me will never go away, so the virus can't give me anything I don't already have. That I don't already face every day!"

The two of them stood there as the rain fell around them. Death Star's sabre hummed quietly as the rain sizzled on it. He pointed the sabre at Wind. "And I won't give up until my mission is completed," he said darkly.

Wind shook his head. "The mission? You lost sight of the mission a long time ago when you tried to kill every human on this planet!" he shouted out and dashed forward. He slashed out wildly at Death Star's head, forcing his opponent to jerk to the side. A thin trail of blood appeared on Death Star's cheek as he stood there and the fluid began to run down his cheek.

"This is the mission, Wind. You just think you can win it with words. But the people respond to action. They want blood as proof of change," Death Star said. He dashed forward and drove the sabre through Wind's shoulder before he could react. Somewhere in the storm he could hear Ariel gasping in surprise. "And I'm giving them that blood. My own," he said, grimacing as he twisted the sabre in Wind's shoulder.

Gasping in pain, Wind kicked Death Star back, dislodging the sabre from his shoulder. He took several steps back. "You're crazy," Wind said, holding his chest. "You've become another meaningless killer who claims he's trying to fix the world."

Death Star turned to face him. "You were created from me, Wind. The killer in me is the killer in you!" he shouted out. "Everything that I am you are capable of being. And you might have my memories and you might think this give you a handle on how to handle a crisis, but deep down you're inexperienced!"

"If I recall," Wind said slowly, giving a grin. "I beat you in our last sabre fight until you cheated and took the sabre from me. I'm going to beat you again," he told him darkly, his grin vanishing. "Now enough of this talking. We can go on all day about how much we're alike, but the truth is we're mirrors of each other. You are everything I could have become and I'm everything you could have had - but you're right. One day separates us now and all you have is hate to fuel you, while I have my love to fuel me."

Death Star swung his sabre out at Wind, causing him to jump up over it. As Wind landed on the ground, he swung his sword vertically down at Death Star, who brought his sabre up horizontally to block. He then shoved upward, knocking Wind off balance as he spung around, bringing the sabre flying around to cut Wind across the chest. A lightning bolt lit up the area around them as the wind threatened to blow them away.

Wind leaned back, bringing his sword around and stabbed at Death Star, who nimbly slid to the side. As Death Star brought his sabre down at Wind from above, he rolled forward and let the sabre swish by without hitting him. Wind then spun around and swung his sword around into Death Star's back, lodging it directly into his armor. Death Star twisted around and grabbed Wind's arm, jerking it away from his back and dislodging the sword. He then thrust Wind away.

The two of them turned to face each other, both of them hurting. Death Star's lips curled into a lopsided grin and Wind's face did the same. They both chuckled at some unsaid joke that passed between them and as Ariel stood there watching, she could only imagine what the joke must have been.

Wind dashed forward through the rain toward Death Star. As he swung his sword around at Death Star's head, his reploid opponent swung his own sabre at Wind's sword. As the blades collided, they did a mini-shockwave, splattering the rain in the air around the weapons. They pushed against each other, each of them struggling to get a grip on the muddy ground as lightning flashed around them. The wind blew against them, rattling their bodies as they struggled to keep their weapons locked. The rain hit their eyes, forcing them to look at each other through narrowed, yet blurry fields of vision.

In the distance, the sounds of Gravedigger's army arriving could be heard. Death Star's lips curled into a smile as he looked at Wind. His one eye focused directly on Wind's eyes, as if to say their scene was about to end. And with that he shoved forward as hard as could, forcing Wind's feet to slide along the slippery mud and knocking him off balance onto the ground.

Gravedigger came to a stop as he looked ahead at Death Star standing over Wind. He glanced over at Ariel, who looked like she was about to jump into the fight at any moment. Then he turned back to look at Death Star, who was raising his sabre into the air with both hands, standing directly over Wind with the intent to thrust the sabre down through him.

Wind's hand reached out and grabbed the sword laying next to him. As Death Star stood there over him, he seemed to pause for the briefest of seconds, then brought the sabre flying down. At that moment, Wind brought the sword around and parried the sabre, just as an energy blast hit Death Star in the side of the head. He glanced over and saw Ariel standing there, having fired the holy energy right into the side of Death Star's temple.

Grinning, Death Star tilted to the ground and collided into the mud. The side of his head sparked with electricity and as the rain mixed with the internal workings of his head, his systems began to get shut down and melted from the damage. Sparks flew from his head as he laid there at the base of the Ragnorak. "Fitting...it should be...her..." Death Star said to Wind.

Wind kneeled down in front of Death Star. "You could have used the Ragnorak all this time... why didn't you?" he asked him.

"If we're opposites..in a mirror..then you had to be the hero..and I had to be the villian.." Death Star said as the sparks intensified. Already the systems hooked up to his memory were deepfrying in his head. "So I played...my part...for the mission..."

Shaking his head, Wind glanced up at Ariel who stood next to him. She looked down at Death Star, not saying anything, but nodding her head once, as if letting him know she understood. "I'm sorry...about Kat..." Death Star managed to say. "I never..intended that..."

Gravedigger turned his head when he heard commotion in the crowd of reploids. Coming out of the pouring rain was Wiendigo and X1. Wiendigo glanced over at the dying Death Star, then looked at Gravedigger. "Looks like I missed everything," he said, sounding disappointed.

X1 saw Death Star and he rushed over. "Chief! Hang on chief! We'll save you!" he said. "Quick! I need towels stat!" he shouted.

Death Star chuckled, his lips barely moving now. "Good old...X1...my friend..." he managed to say. "My only friend..." he repeated.

Reaching down, X1 grabbed his hand. "I understand, chief. Just so you know, I understand," he said seriously.

Death Star smiled, then he suddenly twitched. "N-No..." he managed to say. "Get away.. from me...now!" he shouted.

"What? What is it?" Wind asked, stepping back. Wiendigo glanced over at the commotion and realized what was about to happen. He rushed over and came sliding up behind Wind.

X1 stepped back. "Oh no, chief..." he moaned.

"I can't..keep the virus...from taking over...too much damage...destroy me...now..." Death Star managed to say. "Hurry..." he insisted as his eye began to glow purple. He pushed himself up against the Ragnorak, looking at Wind.

Wind reached out for the sabre, but he found that Ariel had already taken it hand. "Goodbye, Death Star," she told him, then jammed the sabre through his chest into the Ragnorak. Death Star twitched, then fell over as his systems died.

"Everyone stay back," Wiendigo ordered. "We don't know if the virus is truly dead." They all stood there as the rain fell down on them. The water ran along Death Star's spikey hair and down his face.

Shaking his head, Wind glanced at Wiendigo. "I think it's over," he told him. He turned away from Death Star. "It's finally over."

"The point is that a part of being alive is the choice for infinite compassion or harsh hatred. And today, you have seen that reploids are capable of both. Just as any living creature who has a soul is capable of doing. A hero doesn't give up, they don't quit, and they will do whatever is necessary to ensure those around them live - even if it means fighting alone and fighting a battle that no one will ever know about. Even if it means they have nothing to show for it."

Suddenly Death Star's body twitched and a purple energy field ran out through his wound and down the sabre into the Ragnorak. Wind spun around and eyed as the purple energy flooded into the Ragnorak and he glanced up at it. "No way..." he said breathlessly.

X1 stepped back. "This is very, very baaaad," he noted outloud. "We're all going to die, we're all going to die!" he shrieked, waving his arms.

Gravedigger stepped up, narrowing his eyes. "This can't be happening! The maverick virus is flooding into the Ragnorak. But the Ragnorak isn't a living being!"

Wiendigo shook his head. "But it has an AI system the virus can invade. And it will follow the programming inside the Ragnorak," he said.

Wind shook his head. "It's going to destroy all the humans on the planet," he said darkly. "We have to destroy it now!" He began to take a few steps forward when Wiendigo grabbed his arm.

"No. I have to destroy it now," Wiendigo told him.

Wind whirled around to look at him. "What are you talking about?! There's no way you can beat the Ragnorak! It's bigger than any gear or mech put together. It will slaughter you - with or without the virus! You need our help!" he stressed.

Wiendigo shook his head. "The maverick virus could jump from the Ragnorak into anyone here. I'm the only one immune to the virus now, so that means I have to fight it. Alone," he said, turning to face Wind. "You know I'm right."

Sighing, Wind looked at Wiendigo. "But you can't fight this battle. It's impossible..." he told him.

"Nothing is impossible, DS. You've shown that before. Now get everyone out of here while you still have the time," Wiendigo said, pointing the way they came. "Hurry!"

Wind turned to everyone. "We're going for a massive retreat. Move it!" he shouted, waving his hands. He reached down and grabbed the sword Slasher made for him, then took Ariel by the arm and began to run away from the Ragnorak as it twitched and began to move.

Gravedigger ran up beside Wiendigo. "There is no way I'm going to leave you to do this one alone, Wien!" he said. "You need my help."

"What I need is for you to get out of here while you still can, kid. I don't want to see you getting infected," Wiendigo told him. He put his hand on Grave's shoulder. "Besides, you're the only one who can lead my reploids if this goes badly."

Struggling with conflicting emotions, Gravedigger pointed at Wiendigo. "You better come back to me in one piece, Wiendigo!" he said.

"Count on it," Wiendigo promised. Gravedigger paused, then hurried after the others as they rushed for the exit. He turned back to look at the massive Ragnorak as it tilted it's head to the sky and roared, it's massive tail swishing back and forth. "God, you're ugly," he told it. He reached for a cigar, but found them soaked from the rain. "Damn..."

The Ragnorak began to search forward, it's massive legs pushing against the platform that Death Star had builtaround it. As the platform bent and was torn from it's position, it came crashing down to the ground. The massive tail of the Ragnorak scraped along the ground, flinging mud into the air. As the rain pounded on it's armored body, it became obvious that even the hurricane weather wasn't phasing the weapon.

As Wiendigo stepped forward to face off against the Ragnorak, it turned it's head towards him and the eyes glowed red as it scanned him. The massive tail went up into the air and came crashing down within a few feet of Wiendigo with enough force to knock him back as it splattered mud all over him. "I think I might be in over my head," Wiendigo said as he wiped the mud from his face.

Suddenly the Ragnorak began to glow with a purple aura as the maverick virus coursed through it's circuits. It began to grow brighter and brighter as the virus began to attack the weapon systems. "Oh shit..." Wiendigo began when suddenly the Ragnorak released a shockwave of purple energy, shooting the maverick virus out at high speeds. Throwing up his hands, Wiendigo was engulfed by the shockwave as the virus shot across the landscape.

"We'll have to try," Wind said, glancing over his shoulder into the storm. Behind them flashes of purple could be seen lighting the sky. "Things are getting critical back there," he shouted over the howling wind.

As they arrived at the barrier, Gravedigger stopped as he waved his people through the barrier and onto the other where the storm wasn't at. He could see Slasher and Snipe running over towards them. Snipe pounded on the barrier. "Hurry up!" he shouted.

Gravedigger looked at him. "What's the problem?" he asked, holding his hand up to his eyes to keep the rain out of them.

"The camera system is still working that Death Star set up. We're getting feedback from the battle at the Ragnorak. And it just unleashed a massive wave of the virus!" Snipe warned.

Wind, Ariel, and Gravedigger glanced over their shoulders and in the distance could see the glowing purple light getting brighter. "We can't get Wind and Ariel through the barrier," Grave said, turning back around to look at Snipe and Slasher.

Slasher pressed his hand against the barrier. "Can you break through on your side, Star?" he asked him.

Wind reared back and slammed his fist into the barrier. "Nothing. I can't get through," he said. "It looks like we're trapped in here," he said.

Closing his eyes, Slasher suddenly phased into the ground and came up on the other side of the barrier. "Hold onto me," he told Ariel and Wind.

"I knew I kept you around for something," Wind noted, grabbing Slasher's shoulder. Ariel took ahold of his arm. Slasher phased them all into the ground and on the other side of the barrier while Gravedigger walked through. As soon as they were through, they saw the virus shockwave smash into the barrier, where it repelled away.

"That was too close for comfort," Snipe said after a moment. "The barrier really came through for us."

Graveigger shook his head. "What about Wiendigo? He's still in there," he said. "He's in the virus right now."

"We have to trust that X1's cure worked," Wind told him. He glanced around, then walked over to the holovid, who's signal was breaking up and the regular programming was returning. "And it looks like we can't tell what's going on from here now, either."

Slasher rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Well, it's all on Wiendigo's shoulders now," he said outloud.

All of them stood there quietly in reflection until Snipe spoke up. "And this doesn't worry anyone?" he asked, glancing around.

Rolling over onto his back, Wiendigo let the rain pour down on his face as he laid there. He tried to move his fingers, but they were stiff and unresponsive. It felt like his entire body was burning with some unknown disease. "No..." he managed to say, his lips moving sluggishly.

"What a pathetic waste of space," came a familiar voice. As Wiendigo's blurry eyes began to focus, he saw that he was looking up at his own face. The other Wiendigo shook his head as he looked down at him. "Now this is really pathetic. And here I thought you were made of bigger balls than this."

Wiendigo rolled over onto his side, trying to spot the Ragnorak. He could see it moving in the distance, lumbering around like a toddler trying to get it's grasp on how to walk. His timeframe for beating it was slowly escaping him. As he planted his hands against the ground, he tried to push himself up. "What's this?" the other Wiendigo asked him, kneeling down to look directly at him. "Are we trying to fight the virus, still?"

"Shut...up..." Wiendigo muttered as he strained to get to his feet. His entire body ached with pain now. As he stood up, he fell to one knee, coughing up some fluids. It felt like it was becoming harder to think again. What was he doing again?

"Why don't you just lay down in the mud where you belong?" the other Wiendigo suggested. He reached into his pocket and brought out a cigar, lighting it up despite the torrent of rain beating down. As he brought it to his lips, he sucked on it and blew out some smoke in Wiendigo's face. "It's not like you're a true champion anyway."

Bringing his hand up to his face, Wiendigo rocked back and forth as the wind blew against him. Everything was so hazy. What...am I doing....? he struggled to ask himself. He felt his head fall down as he kneeled there, his body feeling drained of all it's energy reserves. The area looked like it was hazy with purple smoke now.

"That's right," the other Wiendigo cooed at him. "Just give in. Relax. You were never a fighter, 'Adam'. You were never anything." Wiendigo shook his head, looking up at the other Wiendigo. "Just give into the eternal bliss of the darkness and let your emotions ride high."

Suddenly, Wiendigo felt his hand tightening into a fist and he punched out into the other Wiendigo's face. The image shattered before him and the other Wiendigo vanished. He got to his feet as he felt his mind clearing of all thoughts and the clarity of his mission began to come back to him. All the hatred and anger the virus in him was being counteracted by the counter-virus that X1 had injected into him. Looking up at the Ragnorak, Wiendigo rotated his head around. "Sorry, pal, but that's not going to cut it. I can handle my darker side just fine," Wiendigo told him. He pulled out his katana, pointing it at the giant weapon. "But I don't think you can."

The Ragnorak turned arouned to face Wiendigo again. As he recalled, the weapon took a long time to charge up it's massive annihilation weapon which would allow it to wipe out all the humans. All he had to do was break it before it had a chance to finish charging up. As the two of the stood there, the Ragnorak suddenly moved, it's arm rotating around and suddenly sending it's fist smashing right at Wiendigo. As Wiendigo threw up his hands, the fist totally smashed right through and into the ground a good five feet, throwing up mud on all sides of it.

Wiendigo pulled himself out of the shadows a few feet away, having using his shadow port to avoid being crushed. He pulled out his katana and sent it down at the Ragnorak's extended arm. It bounced off of it's armor surface without denting it. Wiendigo glanced at his katana, then up at the Ragnorak's arm. "I think I need a bigger sword," he said dryly as the Ragnorak swung it's arm around and smashed into him, sending him skidding across the ground into a pile of mud.

As Wiendigo got back on his feet, the Ragnorak sent it's tail flying down at him to crush him into the ground. He jumped to the side and let the tail crash into the ground, sending a shockwave through the earth. As he stood there, gathering his balance, he jumped forward and grabbed onto the tail before the Ragnorak could move it. The giant gear swung it's tail around as Wiendigo held onto it, trying to throw him off. Gritting his teeth and holding on tightly with his hands, Wiendigo began to release energy blasts right into the tail.

The Ragnorak did a quick snap with it's tail and knocked Wiendigo off of it completely. He flipped through the air and landed on the ground as he slid back, glancing at the tail to see it was barely damaged by his assault. "I see they built you well," he said darkly. The Ragnorak suddenly opened it's mouth and it's energy cannon extended, gathering energy. "Now that's a target I can handle," Wiendigo told him. He tensed back, then threw the katana through the air straight into the cannon's middle, which caused it to begin sparking. Then, he began to fire energy blasts straight into the cannon.

The cannon began to spark, then it exploded inside the Ragnorak's mouth, knocking it backwards. As the weapon roared again, shaking it's head around, it swung it's tail at Wiendigo again, slamming it straight into his head. Knocked across the ground, Wiendigo fell into a tumble as he crashed onto the ground and rolled a few feet. Standing back up, Wiendigo glanced over at the Ragnorak as it began to hover in the air.

"No you don't," Wiendigo said as he rushed forward. Leaping up, he grabbed the bottom portion of the Ragnorak as it lifted into the air and began to fly straight up into the sky. Gripping it tightly, Wiendigo glanced up at the damaged head. Reaching up to grab an edge of the leg, he began to pull himself up as they continued to rise higher in the sky. A lightning bolt soared past him as they rose higher and higher, finally lifting up higher than the storm itself. They were heading for outerspace.

Slasher glanced upward. "You're right. I think it's getting into a better position to fire it's weapon," he noted.

Gravedigger looked around. "But how can he possibly survive if that thing goes up that high? We need to help him somehow," he said.

Snipe shook his head. "How? We'll get infected by the virus if we get too close," he pointed out. "What can we possibly do to help Wiendigo at this point?"

Glancing over at the shuttle, Wind glanced back at the sky. "I think I have an idea," he told them.

Gripping a rough edge of the Ragnorak, Wiendigo jerked the sabre out and then began to use it cut a hole into the leg. The Ragnorak suddenly began to twist through the air, slamming Wiendigo against the side of the leg as it spun around through the air. As it began to zoom faster across the planet surface, Wiendigo strained to hold on. The weapon made a turn and began to speed across the landscape of Europe.

Wiendigo twisted the sabre and used it to rip off a chunk of the leg armor. He smashed his fist into it, ripping out wires as he began to infect the Ragnorak with his own virus. "Lets see how you like it," he told the Ragnorak. The weapon screamed, then it began to electrify it's surface, sending volts through Wiendigo as it knocked him completely off the leg. As he fell through the sky, he twisted when suddenly something flew under him. Landing on the top of a white shuttle, he glanced over the edge at the window. Wind glanced up, grinned at him, then began to fly the shuttle up higher into the air after the Ragnorak.

As they drew closer to the speeding Ragnorak, Wiendigo tensed and jumped off the shuttle onto the Ragnorak's leg. He began to use the sabre to climb up the leg toward the mid-section of the weapon. As soon as he arrived, he gripped a ridge of the Ragnorak with one hand and began to cut into it again with the sabre.

The Ragnorak suddenly twisted and tried to grab him with it's hand. Wiendigo swung himself out of the way, using the sabre jammed into the Ragnorak as an anchor now as he held onto it with one hand. The weapon jerked to a stop and sent Wiendigo jerking outward as he held onto the sabre. He swung back into the side of the Ragnorak with a powerful slam, jolting his entire body. The Ragnorak then zoomed upward, heading toward the upper reaches of the atmosphere now.

As the Ragnorak climbed to the upper reaches of the atmopshere, Wiendigo glanced around and saw they were in top portion of space now. He could see everything clearly as he glanced around. The powerful weapon came to a stop, hovering over the planet as it's chest began to open up and an energy coolant system appeared, pumping power into the ultimate cannon.

Glancing up at it, Wiendigo swung himself back and forth on the sabre, then propelled himself up toward the coolant system. As he did so, he twisted and yanked the sabre out, carrying it with him as he arched through the light gravity and slammed into the coolant system. He began to slide down, but he jammed the sabre straight into the coolant system, lodging it there and cracking it.

Wiendigo gripped the sabre and jerked back on it, trying to get it to come back out, but the sabre was firmly lodged. Frowning, he brought up his hand and began to fire his energy blasts into the cracked spot, but he didn't have enough firepower to damage the Ragnorak's coolant system. He saw that it was about to reach critical levels now and that in less than a minute, it would fire it's weapon down on the planet.

Planting his hands against the coolant system, he began to charge his self-destruct system up. It was the only way he could generate enough damage into the system to cause it to backfire. However, as he began to power it up, he saw something fly by out of the corner of his eye. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Wind had flown up after them in his armored shuttle. Seeing that Wind had missiles on the shuttle, Wiendigo powered down his self-destruct system, and glanced back up at the Ragnorak. "So long, sucker," he told it and kicked off the Ragnorak's chest, falling backwards toward the earth.

The shuttle fired it's missiles straight into the cracked coolant system, resulting in a massive backfire. The Ragnorak shook and exploded in the middle of the sky, sending out a massive shockwave that knocked Wiendigo quicker toward the planet and sent the shuttle spinning out of control elsewhere.

Twisting his body, Wiendigo felt his body heating up as he quickly headed back toward the planet. He began to tense himself, preparing to use his shadow port manuever when suddenly a giant hand grabbed him from behind. Tilting his head back, he saw the top half of the Ragnorak had survived - the lower half missing and sparking. The Ragnorak's hand began to tighten around him.

"Persistance...I'll give you..." Wiendigo said, reaching out and gripping the hand. He began to pry the Ragnorak's fingers away. "But I'm the biggest stubborn jackass there is!" Wiendigo shoved forward and ripped the fingers from around him, falling downward. He grabbed the bottom portion of the finger and swung himself straight into the Ragnorak's face as they continued to rocket toward the planet.

Wiendigo reared back, channeling the anti-virus throughout his body, then punched his fist straight through the Ragnorak's right eye, shattering it and injected more of the virus into it. He could feel the maverick virus being engulfed inside the Ragnorak as they fell toward the planet. As the Ragnorak caught on fire, he could feel it slowly stop moving as it's systems died without the maverick virus powering it up.

Turning back around, he saw that the entire area was burning up around him. Frowning, Wiendigo quickly glanced around for a shadow of some sort to use but saw none of them. His own armor began to heat up, turning a shade of red as they were moving faster now. Pausing, Wiendigo glanced back at the broken eye and leaped through the flames inside the cockpit of the Ragnorak.

Less than a minute later, the Ragnorak completely broke apart into tiny pieces and the particles floated down to the ground.

Europe
4:00 P.M.

Gravedigger shook his head once. "I don't believe it. If anyone could find a way to survive, it's Wiendigo," he said.

"You're right," Wind agreed, turning to look at Slasher. "It seems it's finally over now. Everything is back to normal again." He stopped, taking a deep breath and letting it out as he glanced over at Ariel.

Terra came running up to them. "Guys! We need your help," she told them.

Wind glanced over at her. "Terra? What happened?" he asked her.

"Just follow me," Terra said as he hurried back the way she came. Wind and Slasher began to follow after her until they moved over a hill. On the other side they say that Silouette and Blue were carrying a wounded Colephanatus. "We found him badly damaged. Blue said that Junior smashed him up," she informed them.

"Junior?" Slasher repeated, turning to look at Wind. "Why would Junior be here?" he asked him.

"I told him about Katrina," Wind said flatly as he looked down at Cole. "I guess he decided to show up and kick some ass."

Slasher kneeled down beside Cole, checking his condition. "He's badly damaged. I'm not sure if he's going to make it. We need to get him back to the base for treatment," he told him. When Wind didn't move, Slasher narrowed his eyes. "I mean now," he said.

Wind nodded. "You're right," he agreed, glancing up at Blue. He felt the bile rising up in his own throat.

"She comes, too," Slasher told him, catching the look in his eye.

"She comes, too," Wind repeated slowly as he stared at Blue. He turned to look at Slasher. "Lets hurry then. He looks like he's about to die."

Snipe walked back over. "Not to shed even more bad light on a situation, but we lost contact with the base," he told them.

"Lost contact?" Slasher asked him.

"Yeah. No one's responding. I can only think there's some sort of emergency going on right now," Snipe said.

Wind sighed. "Now what...?" he asked no one in particular.