Sharlena Hianule, beloved daughter of Garland Hianule, died in a senseless war over life. Friends have died, though only physically, their soul's heart still beats in their friends and loved ones, this is not the case with Garland. His soul is on the brink of death, if such a feat is possible. His heart has been ripped from him one time too many, his father dying, losing DS, him then returning, finally opening his heart to Garland, losing Sharlena, being viewed as a walk-out by members of his own family, even Garland Jr.

    They say a soul never truly die, as an existence that lives on many scales, the spark of life, if you will. Can a soul die? So wrapped in it's own despair that the only weapon that it can possibly be weak to, it's own feelings, can kill it? Garland has hundreds of people that love him across the universe, many more that owe him their lives. But living a good life is not an easy thing to do when everything you hold dear dies because of it. Sometimes hearts cannot grow back, which leaves the body deprived of the essentials for life.

    Christmas Eve draws ever closer, as Garland's life is in tatters...

    Garland stood there in his make-shift training room, covered in his own blood from the reopened wounds which were never tended to, his body and heart sore and throbbing, the nothing holding him up, nothing for him to live for. He hasn't slept in days, or eaten, Elayne constantly watching him and forcing him to eat what she could force on him. The gashes on his face and arms sewn up with baling wire.

    "Dad, please eat!" Elayne ran over to Garland as he fell over in exhaustion, "Dad... you have to go on, there was nothing you could have done! Sharlena died bravely! You should be proud! You of all people should believe that she's in Heaven now!"

    Garland slowly turned his head to her, his eyes empty, his cheek bones showing through his skin, bags under his eyes, a three-day beard, a mere shell of himself. "I have no doubt... it just means I'll never get to see her graduate medical school, never have a boyfriend, never fall in love and get married, never have children, I'll never see her again, for, when I die, I will be gone, to all. My soul is dead." Garland said under his breath, slowly and painfully.

    Elayne waited for him to finish, her heart shattered that Garland thought this way. "Dad..."

    "I'm not you 'Dad'. Come to think of it why the do you call me Dad? I am not you father, your father died. by Xevil's hands." Garland said mono-tonely, no emotion whatsoever in it.

    Elayne slapped Garland on the face, "Your not Garland! The Garland I know would never think like that! What is DS going to think!? What would Sharlena think!? Would she want you to be this way!?" Elayne was bawling as she ran of of the room.

    Those words scratched at him, although like a needle to turtle's shell, but none the less bothered him. He pondered over it for about an hour, wondering what his friends, now people that he doesn't really care about, would want.  In his mind's eye he saw what he was doing to Elayne, hurting her. The effected him very little, but by his own code he couldn't do such a thing, it was his duty to serve, not hurt. He decided he'd make her happy by getting something to eat, he changed his shirt and walked off to the mess hall.

    Garland walked down the halls of the Fury, ignoring everyone that comes to him, even his strategist intern who finished the reports and graphs Garland had asked for before the strike.  Pushing by whoever was in his way, be slammed open the door to the mess hall harder than he had meant to, causing it to break off the hinges. Everyone who was eating the usual hot dogs, or on their coffee break, glared at Garland and avoided his path as he got a small meal of steamed vegetables with noodles and a glass of ice water.

    He was constantly replaying the security camera video of Sharlena dying in his mind, over and over, of Kilath's,  and of DS's death, even if he was back. He took a bite of his cup of noodles, no sooner had be begun to chew than he felt DS's presence behind him. Garland didn't bother to turn around and greet his friend, he and DS both knew that he was aware if Death Star's presence.

    Death Star cleared his throat uneasily, knowing this will hurt them both, possibly as much pain for Garland as he had had earlier tonight, "We need to talk." He stood there as Garland slowly turned to look at him, slowly chewing his small meal. "May I sit?" Death Star looked into Garland's eyes, looking at the small amount he's eating. "Haven't seen you since that day. I know you would have shown up at the funeral, but I still haven't seen you. Elayne has been telling me what you've been putting yourself through."

    "Go ahead and sit..." Garland said under his breath, half swallowing another bite. "...I don't see why it really matters what I do to myself."  he said, looking at the open wounds on his arm.

    "Pardon me if I sound rough, but only a bastard thinks of himself like that, and you're not a bastard, Garland. Far from it."

    Garland looked at DS with a bit of fear in his eyes, pain, and a bit of wisdom. "....I know your right, but all I've caused in my life is pain. ...I couldn't save my own..." Garland swallowed hard, "daughter."

    "And you're in what way to blame for Sharlena being too close to that blast zone, that's how you blame yourself?"

    "I promised her I'd always, always be there for her, no matter what....," he said without feeling, "and I failed."

    Death Star swallowed hard, pain evident in his face, as he looked into his past to help Garland, "Tell me something, Garland. Do you blame me for Iceheart's original death?"

    Garland wrapped his arms around himself as he leaned over in pain, from his wounds and his heart, holding in tears, "No...."

    "I wasn't there for her." Death Star said as he sipped his drink, which was hidden as of yet, "I promised her I'd be there for her. I wasn't, I was off doing my job. She died. Now tell me, do you still not blame me for her death?"

    " . . . You were doing your duty to your people. I'm not even a crew member on this ship. I quit before you came back... I SHOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN THERE!!!" Garland screamed, the crew in the lounge looking at Garland.

    "You quit while gone a mission. You never had the chance to return from that mission." Death Star said, looking into his eyes.

    "The only reason I even went on that mission was my own personal hatred."

    "Though you quit, you had to be where you were. And while you were there, you fought, for your friends, instead of watching. Either way, Sharlena would have died, because she WAS serving on the ship, she hadn't quit. She knew the risks. She knew what would have happened to her.  On the Xevil part, yes, on the Talon part, no."
 

    Garland grabbed his sides harder, the pain growing more intense.

    "Tell me, do you still blame yourself?" DS said, "If so, then I should blame myself, and I don't." he said, glaring at Garland.

    Garland looked to the ground, a single tear breaking through.

    Yes, I don't blame myself, but the pain, of leaving her, will never leave, Death Star thought to himself as he placed his hand on Garland's shoulder. "I love you like I would a son. And I'm more proud of you than you can ever imagine. No matter what you do, my love will never change, Garland. And I can't stand you in this pain. Neither can Elayne. You are all she has."

    " . . . I never was there for her, Sharlena, that's why she stowed away on the shuttle all those years ago."

    "But she loved you. . . and she felt loved."

    "... I was too busy helping people I barley knew, fighting a war I wasn't involved in, to busy on my own crusade to help everyone, and in my own blindness, I never helped her or my son, who is growing up with out me..."

    "I would agree, to the war 20 years ago. I would agree, to the war 5 months ago. But this war, this war right here, you are involved in. Parnel cannot stay out of this conflict."

    "... My family hates me, he refused to talk to me when I tried to call home last night... the same with my whole family.."

    "Tell me, better to have your daughter die, on this ship, with you near, proud of you for fighting a war to protect the universe, or to have died with everyone else on Parnel when it was wiped clean of life? And your family? They are blind to what is going on, and only will realize it when the conflict becomes real for them." DS said as Garland looked at him.

    "Sharlena was the only member of my family that ever really did love me, I'm afraid..."

    ". . . and she loved you for the man you were."

    "My son just wanted to be respected as a warrior, not be like me..." Garland said as he looked at his hands.

    Death Star sighed sharply, mentally against Garland Jr. and his ways, but not voicing them.

     ". . . I asked my self a question before I came out of my training room."

    "Garland, I should have been here sooner for you, I know it. You were alone and I didn't come to you sooner, I waited until now. I hope you can forgive me for that, but I am here now. Elayne is here for you now. And we want to help you. . . .and that question is?"

    ". . . I asked if these were the hands of a Man, Monster, or Whatever I'm respected as by friends."

    Death Star glanced at Garland's hands, a memory from a Christmas 20 years ago playing out before him. " Heh, when you were little Garland, and the first Christmas Eve we spent together, I was about ready to kill you for how loving and innocent you were. You loved EVERYONE, even Wiendigo. Even Albert, who had kidnapped you.

    "Always waving those damn hands around, getting into something. You didn't have much taste of a Christmas that year. The next Christmas, after the war ended, you had Sharlena with you. SHE was just like you. Thank God Wiendigo wasn't around.

    "But here's the point to my speech. Your hands are those of someone who is ever so a man, but has been hurt by a pain no one should experience. A father losing his baby girl. You are a loving man, and that's why you react to situations the way you do. You have a big heart, a good heart, and you love everyone, even if you don't realize it, and that's why you feel injustice to people to those who hurt others.

    "You have felt pain that I cannot relate to, Garland, and though I wish I could understand, no one can. No one here has lost their child. I don't even know if I have the right words for you, but I think your heart, yes, the one causing you to withdrawal, knows."

    Garland half smiles thinking of the past, but it quickly dims,  "There's a big price to pay, doing what I try to do, and now I know I paid the price, for a fruit as bitter as the price."

    "We all pay. Some of us just have to cough up more than others."

    Garland clenched his fist, "My Daughter, my family, my dignity, my LIFE... for killing a few tyrants that in the end would have killed themselves any way!!!" He yelled as he slammed his fist into the table, "I haven't changed a thing in my life for the better, maybe one or two steps up, but only leads to an even greater drop!"

    ". . .your family was the Hunters, kid, even if you don't realize it. Kilath took you at a young age and then died. I won't go into my relation with your father, for it is beside the point. But you were with us when you were four. You came into thought with our struggle. You are one of us."

    "Us being a washed up group of fighters, fighting to save a now dead planet? I was fighting for a planet that I have no place in. . ."

    Death Star spoke sharply with a sting to Garland ""The Hunters are FAR from a washed up group of fighters, Garland. FAR from it." A slight rage in DS's face.

    Garland looked into DS's eyes, "We were forgotten after the first War with the Elder. Almost looked down upon by the Special Unit."

    "And look at the price they paid. You underestimate a Hunter, ever, and you're dead. They are now the Hunters."

    Garland sat there hunched over, ". . . have you even bothered to see X2?" Death Star asked.

    "I had such faith in the term "Hunter", you know?"

    "You grew up around them, did you not?"

    Garland looked at his arm, which was very, very, messily stitched with burlap thread, "No I didn't, see him. I had such faith I started a Hunters of Parnel, only a few rookies were there when I left, but now I see that they will just be killed if I use them, ever."

    Death Star stood up and looked at Garland, "Dammit, Garland, can't you see what you're doing to yourself?"

    "I know what I'm doing to myself."

    "You're DWELLING."

    Garland stood up and looked at DS, "Clinging to what little I have. My soul is dead. All that is left is this shell of myself!"

    "And that's bullshit. Damn you! Damn you for turning into what I was about myself that I hated." DS's fist clenched.

    Garland stood there, doing the most hurtful thing possible, to those around him and to himself, nothing. The table shattered, neither of the two ever moving.

    He's BLIND! Damn him!! He's beyond my reach, there's nothing I can do to reach him. My second best friend is dead. I am truly alone, Death Star thought to himself, sighing.

    Garland 's hand twitched, stopping himself from balling a fist as DS pulled out a wrapped present, throwing it onto a clear table.

    "Merry Christmas." He said as he stomped off. 

    Garland stood there, in shock, his life rocked by this turn of events. He looked at the gift, hurt, that in his own depths of pain that he had forgotten about Christmas. Slowly, he walked over and picked it up, heading back to his training room. His mind was boggled with thoughts of his daughter and his wasted life. As he was reaching his training room, because of being engulfed in his own sorrowful woes, he nearly forgot to pick up his holo-projector he ordered for his training room, so he can have opponents in it. Garland didn't stop at his training room, and continued onward to the depot.

    Garland stepped onto the elevator, "Hey! How's it going?" The elevator's annoying voice screeched.

    ". . .Be quiet you reject from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."

    "Right! Shutting up! ...uh what floor do you want?"

    ". . . Supply Depot."

    The elevator didn't reply, as it was told to be quiet, but the ambient annoyance of it's happiness still got to Garland, he couldn't believe that he was this way once. He was willing to bet that he caused a lot of damage as a child. He shrugged it off, and stepped off when the elevator arrived, knowing he wanted to keep this quick, being out in public made it harder to deal with his inner pain.

    "Look I don't care about a school for pantomime, we need that cement for the bridge!", it was Admiral Drake, still trying to impose what little authority he could, while Snipe ran things his way.

    Garland didn't notice him until he clipped him harder than he would had be had any warning whatsoever. "Whoa! Garland I - - -" he fell silent, "I'm sorry."

    " . . ." Garland looked at him.

    "Garland. I suppose you heard the, uh, news."

    Garland looked at him, silently telling him he did.

    "Well I guess you know about DS then." He said as he moved over to the console.

    "No, what about him?"

    "That he rejoined the Hunters. Earlier this day. A lot earlier."

    ". . . Oh."

    "Would have thought he'd tell you."

    Garland looked down for a moment, "Has my shipment come in?"

    "Uh, Yes." Drake hit the console and opened up the casing "There it is, Garland."

    Garland nodded and checked the invoice, looking at it, he saw "Holo room starter kit, and pads" "... Pads?" he asked.

    "IF you asked for it, yes."

    Garland looked at the invoice as it was signed Elayne Vanguard, Figures, Garland thought.

    "Oh yeah.  Elayne mentioned she was worried about you. Have you seen her recently?"

    "Not since dinner."

    ". . . all right."

    Garland pressed the button to the elevator, waiting, he was looking at Drake.

    " Take care of yourself. Your clothes look rough."

    "Why are you down here, anyway?"

    Drake shrugged as Garland stepped onto the elevator and headed up. 

    Garland walked down the hallways of the fury, the box heavy to him from his weak composure. His arm felt as if it were being torn off, in such agony. By the time he had made half the walk from the elevator to the training room, Garland was dragging it behind him, This only weighs 800 pounds! I should be able to lift this!!, Garland thought to himself, cursing himself for his weakness.

    While struggling to pull the box, he continually cursed himself aloud, not noticing Snipe walk by, almost sneering at Garland, not bothering to even start an argument with him, as on the asteroid when Garland found out about Sharlena, Snipe had pulled him off of Talon, and Garland had blasted him with an unrealistic force, almost killing him.

    Garland kicked in the door, and pulled the box in, ripping the top off and pulling out the training equipment, also known as a Training Projector. Briefly reading the instructions, Garland stripped the broken walls of the room off to the sheet metal separating the rooms, and placed up the special training alloys,  and mounting the computer in the ceiling of the room, and setting up the control panels. This, due to modern technology, was the same as a "tab A to slot A" task. Afterwards, he reluctantly put up the pads on the walls and floor, just so Elayne would leave him alone about it. He locked the door and changed his clothes to a fresh Gi, left by the maids at the front of his door, ignoring that there was no maid, he assumed it was Elayne, just another thing she did to "make things easier" for Garland.

    He walked over to the console, slicked his hair back with his hand, and incepted the disc that he ordered for the simulation. Flipped the switch, and the room transformed into an arena, flickering back to the old training room on and off, signs of a crossed wire, of faulty installation. Garland stepped to the center of the arena, determined to test his strength to it's max, no matter what the cost. "Computer, set difficulty to 3 times normal, and load the Xevil File from the Fury's database."

    "Notice::::: The difficulty, and the normal level of the desired load is greater than the user. It is advised not to perform this action, as user's vital signs are not normal, it is suggested to lower the difficulty level." the speaker sounded from the small console.

    "I don't care, initiate program."

    "Dad! You'll kill yourself! Xevil is too strong to take on! Your still hurt!" It was Elayne, running through the open doorway to Garland, holding a plate of food.

    "Get out of here! If your in here, your in the simulation too!"

    "No! I won't leave until you listen!"

    "I SAID OUT!"

    "NO!" She screamed.

    Garland picked her up and threw her out of the room, picked up the door which he kicked in, and welded it shut with a sized kiama. He could hear her hit the wall as he did this. He tuned her out and watched as a wire frame of Xevil formed, slowly filled with color and generated weapons.

    "Xevil."

    "A lone Hunter, taking ME on? Hardly..."

    "OH SHUT UP YOU COMPUTER!" Garland yelled and slammed his fist into Xevil.

    Xevil grabbed Garlands fist with ease, and twisted his arm around, snapping the bone in two. "RAGGGH!"

    Garland flipped over him, pulling his arm back into place, temporarily setting it, he then teleported behind Xevil and kicked him in the back of the head, which landed, but didn't phase him. Xevil turned and grabbed his foot, and slammed him into the ground of the arena, Garland's face buried in the dirt. This, broke Garland ankle. "AGH!!!" Garland couldn't believe the strength this simulation had, then he remembered he set it to 3 times harder than the original. "Computer! Set difficulty to-----AGH!!!!" Garland could not finish the words, kicked in the ribs by Xevil, them cracking like breadsticks.

    Again Garland tried to call out to stop the simulation, but met this attempt with an ax kick to his back, breaking his vertebrae in two. Spitting up blood, his internal organs bleeding, his arm, leg, and back broken, now paralyzed from the waist down, dragged himself, trying to escape Xevil. Xevil kicked Garland in the face, breaking his face and teeth in, slamming him into the wall.

    Gasping for air, blood filling his lungs, his very body dying on him, he realized that this was it. He's gone. These were the last moments of life for him, on both sides of death. One part of his mind was saying "So? Your dead, who cares." while another was saying "You weren't strong enough.", and yet another screaming to live, to feel, to love again, he didn't know where this was coming from.

    So this is it.... huh.... I thought it'd end differently than this, not killed by my own training room. I can't do anything right, I couldn't save anyone. I wish I never lived. Garland cursed himself.

    He spit up blood, looking at Xevil looming over him, his sight blurring, Xevil raised is blaster, and then.... silence, everything was white. Nothing, no sound, nothing to see, simply nothing, no darkness, no light, no air. Nothing, only Garland, and this endless void.

    Flash! "DADDY!!!!!" A voice rang out, piercing the emptiness, ringing in Garland's ears.

    Garland looked around as the nothingness faded away, himself in an alley, vaguely familiar. "Daddy, I'm thirsty! Can I have a drink!?" The voice called from around the corner. He walked, following the voice, turning the corner, he saw a bar next to the alley, he entered, his face turned white with shock.

Death Star stood at the viewport, a drink in his hand, not even feeling it's effects. Perhaps because he hadn't bothered to sip it since buying it at the store. He would like to say he was trying to forget what had happened earlier with Garland.

However, that was not the case. He kept playing the scene out again and again in his head, trying to come out with the infinity different conclusions that COULD have played out. To him, they all ended the same. Garland was beyond his reach.

Jiggling the drink, he turned from the viewport to look at the stores behind him, all dimly lit to add a Christmas cheer to it. He knew it was nine o'clock by now. Just a few more hours. And once again, he would spend a Christmas alone. Like so many before.

His eyes met the young lady he had noticed before, while shopping for the little girl. He grimaced, having forgotten about the young girl for the time being. Sighing, Death Star stepped down and made his way towards the young lady.

Stepping towards her, he nodded. "Hello, Miss. May I buy you a drink?" he asked casually, waving his hand toward the bar.

She smiled at him. "Sure, why not?" she said, her voice smooth, like a light tune. Death Star instantly forgot about Garland, the little girl, and Elayne as he moved over to the bar and ordered her a drink. She glanced at the drink in his hand. "Not much of a drinker?"

Death Star smirked. "Too much of one. Just have a lot on my mind, I guess. By the way, the name's Death Star."

The woman frowned a little. "A little harsh name. Anything I else I can call you?"

Death Star paused. "Michael."

The woman smiled. "The name's Helen Smithfield."

Death Star thought a moment. "That's a beautiful name." The bartender walked up and slid a drink to her. Taking her drink, she threw back her golden hair. Her blue eyes drew him and he found himself lost in them.

"So, did you plan on this meeting?" she asked. Death Star was broken out of his spell.

"Huh?"

"Well, we met earlier today. Wondering if this was staged."

Death Star smirked slyly. "I'm afraid I've been out of that game for awhile." That's when he suddenly was caught up in his past. Why was he trying to start a future when his past was like he was? Besides, he was a reploid, she was a human.

The woman took a sip of her drink. "So, what are you doing out this Christmas?"

Death Star shrugged. "Had a fight with an old friend. Guess I was trying to lose myself. It's been...a long night. A very long night."

Helen looked concerned. "Care to tell me about it?"

Death Star shook his head. "No. It's nothing. Really. So, why are you out here?"

Helen blinked for a second. "Well, really don't have much to celebrate. With Earth...dead and all."

Death Star felt his heart go out for her. "Hey, listen, Helen, if there's anything I can do---" he began when suddenly he felt something wrong. Almost like a sixth sense talking to him. A strange feeling, almost like Seraphna.

Helen looked at him concerned. "...Michael?" she asked slowly. Death Star backed up.

"I hate to run, but something's wrong. Can I talk to you later?" he asked, backing away.

Helen nodded. "Sure. Meet you here tomorrow?"

Death Star smiled. "I'll try." And with that, the two seperated. Feeling regret, Death Star allowed himself to be guided by the strange spectre type feeling of Seraphna toward the training room.

Arriving a few moments later, he found Elayne, crumbled up against the wall. Inside he heard fighting. That's when he put two and two together. "GARLAND!" he shouted and threw a punch into the door.

    Garland stood there in the door way of the bar, looking at a man and a younger child, in complete disbelief.

    "Daddy! Can I have a drink please???" The younger child asked, his father ignoring him, so he grabbed his father's arm.

    "LET ME GO YOU DAMN RAT!" The man grabbed the child by the arm and threw him into the wall, and turned back to his glass of liquor.

    This infuriated Garland, he walked over to the man and grabbed him, he was stopped in his tracks, looking at the mans face, his eyes moving to look at the mans body, covered in a blue armor. It was his father, Kilath Hianule, aka Ultra Omega. He turned his head to look at the child, who was drinking out of a small glass that the bar tender had given him, out of pity for the child. The child turned to look at Garland. . . himself. The child was his younger 3 year old self. Before Kilath had joined the hunters.

    "Don't hurt my daddy!!!!" the younger Garland ran at Garland, punching and kicking him in the leg.

    Garland couldn't believe it, the one person he had only truly hated, not hated for their deeds, or their lifestyle, or what they did to himself and his friends, his own father. He was protecting him. He looked at himself, the innocence he once had, the pure heart and love he had for everyone and everything. He looked back to his father.

    FLASH!

    Kilath wasn't the one he was holding, it was himself, his current 26 year old self. "Surprised? Don't be." The younger Garland looked at Garland, his eyes no longer innocent. The whole scene faded to nothing but black, a spotlight showing where he and his younger self were standing. "You're no different than our dear old pop. Looking at you, I know you've condemned me to be just like him."

    "What are you talking about!? I'm nothing like my father!"

    "Are you sure?"  a television lit up, replaying the scene that felt like hours ago, him throwing Elayne out of his life, and yelling at her.

    Garland stood there, realizing just how much he was like his father.  "Are you sure that you want to have never exhausted?"

    He looked down, his entire essence saying yes, but that one voice in the back of his mind saying live...

    Without having to say anything, the younger version of himself said ". . . all right then."

    FLASH!

    "Your going down TODAY Crucifixion, Conviction!" Death Star yelled at the two replies, no longer their human shaped selves, but massive robot rides, that were actually them not a suit. Death Star himself was much larger and stronger than he was now, having modified himself into a walking arsenal, in a perpetual Gold Star mode. Conviction's coming was sooner, as Crucifixion ordered his creation, as he was not preoccupied in his hatred for Garland.

    "I wouldn't expect too much from him, Crucifixion." Conviction leered at him, smoke pouring from his mouth as he breathed. "I'll take him." Conviction flashed at an incredible speed, his foot appearing in Death Star's face, and completed with a trip from the knees. "See?"

    Death Star jumped up and laughed, "Is that ALL you have?" He punched Conviction in the chest, his fist cutting through him like a butter knife. Conviction looked at the hole through his chest, in astonishment, no pain in his face, he looked at Death Star with fear, rather than the fact he was losing his life force. Death Star raised his hand as a panel opened on his palm. "Good night." A golden plasma field radiated from his hand as an unreal amount of energy blasted Conviction into oblivion. He turned to Crucifixion. "Your turn."

    The other hunters were on the lower decks fighting through the space station, their final assault on the Earth invasion force. "I severely doubt it. For, I am stronger than him, as the same is with all originals."

    "Less talk, more boom."

    "Very well." Crux disappeared and DS found himself grappling with Crux. Crux beginning to over power him, DS threw him into the ground.

    Crux jumped up and punched DS in the face, ripping the synthetic flesh from his face. "ARGH!" Crux grabbed his arm, and began to tear it off, though it was a challenge. " I see you weren't put together very well, Death Star. Let us see what they used, eh?" He slammed him into the wall. " I wish Xevil were here to see this, though you killed him 20 years ago. Shows just how weak he was compared to me. The Tsivrixsh are nothing compared to me, even the great Elder fell to me. . . I am a god among you fools!"

    Death Star stood up, holding his arm, battery fluid dripping from his lip, "Maybe, but your a fool.....BLOCK THIS ATTACK!" Death Star charged at Crux, who intern raised his hands, beginning to rip DS apart with force fields. DS started to punch, but jumped to the side at the last moment. Crux looked at DS humorously.

    "You didn't even attack me!"

    "Your right, I didn't, look behind you."

    "What!?" Crux spun around, seeing the gleam of a blade flying at his neck, he raised his arms to block, but it was too late. The blade rammed into his neck, the wedge shape ripping at the metals and alloys that made up his body, decapitating him. His body sparked as it fell to it's knees, slumping over, lifeless, and his head was blasted with a blast not unlike DS's to Conviction.

    "Took both of us to beat him, didn't it?" DS said, looking at UO.

    "Yeah," he brushed his hair from his face, landing on the ground, "I wouldn't have landed that if you didn't time it just right like that, thanks."

    "Hey, don't get mushy, people might think things."

    "Err... right."

    Kilath hadn't died that fateful night, the true reason he killed himself was not for personal victory or  glory, but for Garland. Deep in his subconscious, Kilath, not UO, cared for Garland, knowing how he was hurting him, not caring, unable to do anything except for the one action that would only partially amend for his wrong doings to Garland, his son. Knowing that if the hunters found him, they would give him a good home, away from the fighting. Also sensing that if left to live, Crux would become far too strong for even the greatest fighters, but not having killed himself for Garland, survived the Crux confrontation, and regained his memory, becoming not unlike Garland was, even more willing to help if not, helping the team without question.

    "Death Star, I..... I sense another power here."

    "What? My scanner isn't pulling up anything."

    "He's hiding his presence."

    "Oh yeah, you the 'master ki user'."

    "Now, I wouldn't give him that title,"  an adolescent voice called from the darkness.

    "Oh shit.... I have a bad feeling about this." Death Star said

    A twelve year old looking boy walked out from the darkness. ". . . Hey old man."

    "Jarandon. . . You are not my son! Can't you accept that! Your the essence of everything I go against! Stop calling me your father!" Kilath yelled at the boy.

    "I'd hate to break up this reunion, but didn't he kick our asses last time? Damn Kilath, why is your kid stronger than you, anyway?!"

    Jarandon kicked DS into the ground, the force jarring his insides greatly, knocking loose his Gold form. "Shut up kin'janan!" He held up his hands to the two.

    "Get the hell away from me!" DS threw a desk at X1, he never got over Iceheart's death. X1 was trying to comfort DS after this. Pain stricken, DS began to grow darker, more anti-social. His continued actions got him expulsed from the Hunters. This could possibly have been the one thing that threw him over the edge. It may or may not have been Garland that pulled him out of this rut, but it is evident that he was in some way related.

    Dominator became the Leader of the Maverick Hunters, and EarthGov became one of the top powers in the Galaxy. Buying other planets in sale of reploid slaves. Though Dominator disagreed with these actions, he was forced to continue his work, silently scorning every moment of his career choice, until he finally resigned.

    Cran had left his crumbling CorSec and found a place in EarthGov, orchestrating and using propaganda to force the reploids back to the wastelands, forcing other into slavery, and still others destroyed by mobs. The reploids formed many resistance groups, yet were destroyed by EMP technology.

    Jarandon, having never gone into hiding, for fear of his brother having the same genetic defect as him, orchestrated these actions. His brother, an almost exact opposite of the Garland that once exhausted. Now, without him, Jarandon systematically pointed out everyone his father knew, and went about their destruction. Never fearing anything, not even death, he saw himself as a god, only his power had exceeded many of the greatest in the galaxy.

    With DS explodes, the cloning project of him was never needed, and thus Elayne was never born, nor were any of the DS clones. Nor did Sharlena ever exist, or Garland Jr., though he didn't love his father, Garland loved him as much as he did Sharlena. These things had never been, nor will ever be. Garland never existed. Never made the mistakes he made, never righted the wrongs he did. Never saved a life, never spread his nauseating innocence as a child.

    "GET AWAY YOU DAMN RAT!"

    "FAGGOT, WHY DO I EVEN KEEP YOU AROUND?"

    "Garland,  you couldn't do anything right if you tried!"

    "CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING RIGHT, GOD I WISH YOU WEREN'T HERE."

    "Fuck you and your hard head, you can't accept that you can't chage anything!"

    "Get the hell away from me!"

    "DAD! I HATE YOU!"

    "Garland, you obviously have problems."

    "Your father died so...easily.....HAH!"

    "Hardly. . . ."

    "Dad, I love you." Sharlena's voice echoed in his mind.

    In the depths of nothingness, not darkness, not light, nothing, a voice was created from the nothing. "THIS CAN'T HAPPEN! ELAYNE! SHARLENA! GARLAND! THEY NEVER EXISTED! I'VE KILLED THEM!" Garland, who did not exist, was again there, from nothing, he heard the wrongs that occurred without him, which far outweighed his own wrongs. When Garland ceased to exist, his consciousness was spontaneously created, as if he were meant to be there. He now wanted to live, to preserve the souls of his loved ones, for the only way to kill a soul is for it never to have been created. It's own feelings can only trigger it's own non creation. For his loved ones to exist as they are, he would have had to be there, by his own choice, he was created, when he was not in existence.

    "LET ME LIVE!" His very soul cried into the nothingness.

    Garland looked up at Xevil, his body in tatters, the pain vibrating over his body. He kicked the blaster out of his face and jumped up. "I won't let things be that way! FOR THE ONES I LOVE!"

    Xevil looked at Garland, exasperated at the fact that there was still some fight left in him. Garland slammed his fist into Xevil's face, forcing him to rear back, but not powerful enough, and he was still dying.

    A voice called to Garland, not like the smaller version of himself, but of a young girl, Sharlena, she too, didn't want him to die that day. Without words being heard, he knew that was what she was calling to him for. Sharlena lived in his heart now, his heart. Garland lifted off the ground, his will, his ki, his soul was on fire, which translated to his body as a white aura. Wings faded into view, on his back, his ankles, and forearms. He screamed, Xevil slammed into the wall by way of an invisible force, Garland never moving.  He slammed his fist into Xevil, the wire frame itself torn, breaking through the force fields, destroying the holographic Xevil in a way that the computer malfunctioned.

    Filled with a new vendetta in life, he forced himself to move on,  his eyes more peaceful than they have ever been. His soul, though maybe not his body, he didn't care about that, was stronger than it had ever been. He had a new purpose in life, to help people, even if it is hopeless. His body was unconscious, he knew, but his spirit kept him running, even if the body was dying, he refused to let go of life. He looked at himself, only now realizing that he was in his UO armor, only now colored white, and much different in composure. The Gospel sword hung by his side, now gold colored. The wings, were translucent, yet he could feel them there.

    "Computer, Hologram off." He said, his consciousness returning to normal, he fell to one knee, his body shutting down. His eyesight was now nonexistent, feeling death creep over him. If he were to die now, his soul would do all it could to protect his loved ones, no matter what. The boost of power he had was fading, as his body was now beginning to lose hold, his spirit no longer taking charge.

    The door of the room bent under the stress of the punch DS threw into it. After two more punches it broke in, Death Star running into the training room. "GARLAND!?" He looked around at the destroyed room, astonished, and frightened, looking for Garland franticly.

    Garland bearly got a gasp out, blood filling his loungs and throat, this one sound alerted DS, who was next to him in a second. "...My God" DS looked at Garland, "What in hell's name happened here?! Garland!? GARLAND!"

    Garland spread the wings on his back, closing his eyes, holding his chest in pain. ".....NO!", trying to ignore the wings, he picked him up in his arms, craddling him like a child. "Hang on!" Garland looked at him, his eyesight dimming, trying to say he was sorry, unable to say it.

    Garland's appearance began to nag at DS, "...what HAPPENED to you...?" again no responce. He shrugged it off and ran out the room, seeing Elayne "Damn." he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He ran to the Med-Bay.

    Garland laid there in the OR, being operated on by X2, in critical condition. Death Star watched in the veiwing window, having just left Elayne. X2 finished, and cleaned himself and Garland up, rolling him into his room.

    Twenty minutes later, Garland laid in his bed, staring at the cieling, aching. He wasn't breathing on his own, he was hooked to a respirator.

    Death Star finished talking to X2 and walked into Garland's room. He looked at the clock, "Kid, I can't stay long... X2 says you need your rest." He said, his armor was still stained with Garland's silver colored blood. He remained in the shadows.

    Garland forced himself to breathe out, saying "I.....'m so--..rry", pain wrecked his body saying it.

    Death Star looked wary, ". . . About what?"

    Garland forced himself to sit up, feeling as if his heart were being ripped out as he did so. "...! Don't over do it!!"

    Garland breathed hoarsly, "The way.. agh.... I acted. ."

    Death Star smiled sadly, "Good to hear it, kid. Guess Xevil knocked you harder than it looked. What changed your mind, when I couldn't?"

    "Life."

    "It's precious, kid."

    Garland smiled, not caring if DS didn't understand, "Sharlena . . . Ela--ne, You. . . My "Brother. . "

    "Brother? New one on me. Knew about your Uncle..."

    "He's.... out there. . . planning. . If he's not dead."

    "Isn't every family member. Gar--kid, it's good to have you back. I would hug you, but I'm afraid of hurting a few of your broken bones."

    Garland coughed, "No. . . he's . or was. . diffe--rent."

    "...we'll get to that obstacle when it comes, but you need your rest. Elayne---" He hesitated, thinking to what happened while Garland was out.

    "Merry Christmas. . " Garland said, falling into unconsiousness.

    "..." DS leaned his hand against the wall, "Merry Christmas, kid." He fliped the light off and closed the door behind him.

    Some time later Garland awoke, he looked around the room. He felt the life of the univserse, every microorganism in the air of the Fury, every one on deck, even reploids. He looked to the side of his bed, seeing DS's gift. He picked it up and rolled it in his hands, building up his strength to open it. He tore at the wrapping paper and undid the ribbon.

    A picture of DS, X1, Himself, and little Sharlena on his shoulder, after Icy Fronts. They were all so happy. . . Garland pressed the button to call X2.