"Armagedon is upon thee." Said Saraphim as he opened his hand. "WAIT!" Katrina yelled jumping in front of Saraphim. "You can't do this. Not now. Not now that I've discovered love." "You do not seem to understand. You are an inocent. Paradise awaits you. But the one you so claim to love however. His fate is beyond my knowledge. His past is filled with sin which to this day he has refused to repent. Do you understand the countless innocent lives he has taken? And the evil within his soul? His judgement will be harsh. You would do best to forget about him." Said Saraphim. "NO! I know the good in his heart! I know underneath all of that he knows love and hope." "I have not the time for this girl." Saraphim turned his hand to Katrina and fired a thin beam. It passed directly through her heart. "KATRINA NO!" Shane ran to her side. "Katrina hold on" Shane begged. Katrina did not speak. Tears welled in her eyes and she smiled at Shane knowing that she was at least in his arms for one last time. Katrina's body fell limp. Shane pulled her close to him as tears also filled his eyes. He could not speak for the pain in his heart. Too much sadness to speak. Too much to even move. The rain which poared through the holes in the cieling washed the tears on his face. They stung as he looked up to the sky as if to ask. "why God?" "NNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Shane's scream echoed for miles outside and to the bone within anyone who could hear it. But now he felt something else inside. Hate....purest hatred. A desire to destroy this servant of God filled his very soul. He was making a bargain within himself. A bargain of the worst kind. Shane finally stood up. He walked toward Saraphim. Mac and Ray were too shocked to try and stop him. "Saraphim, you say I am evil and now I know the truth. You were right. Because to end your very existance. I AM GOING TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW EVIL I CAN BE!" Shane's scream rumbled the building and seemed to rattle the very etherial void. His voice was like many speaking in unison. Countless souls expressing their pain. "TO KILL YOU I WILL GLADLY BECOME THE EMISARY OF EVIL!"
Shane's fell to his knees as the painfull metamorphosis began. First he changed into the Mega fighter, then into the dark fighter. Finally something else happened. His spirit fundamentally metamorphasized. It Evolved in the wrong direction. Demonic spirits ripped in and out of his body changing him. Dark energies from the pits of hell worked their ways and when the ungodly storm ended he arose. No longer was katrina in his heart. Only the hatred of Saraphim and the God which spawned him. Shane was no longer Shane. He had become something new. His name rung aloud as his first words. "Hell Blitzkreig!"
Even Saraphim seemed surprized by this. "Lucifer! So you send your representitive at last.' Saraphim then turned to Mac and Ray. "Do you see now. Your world cannot be salvaged. Armagedon has already begun."
Hell Blitz rushed forward and punched Saraphim in the stomach doubling him over. "Good will always triumph over evil. GET THEE BACK TO HELL!" Saraphim countered by punching Hell Blitz in the jaw flooring him. He opened his hand and blasted him with another pure white beam. It seemed that it focesed compleatly on hell blitz and the ensuing explosion was nothing more than harmless light. Not even a crater left behind. But Hell Blitz was already damaged badly.
"NO I WILL KILL YOU!" Screamed Hell Blitz as he again launched a forward assault. But before Saraphim could even counter he was surprized to find Ray and mac attempting to block Hell Blitz's attack with their own shields. "IF YOU STAND IN MY WAY I'LL KILL YOU TOO!" Hell Blitz yelled at them. "WHY SHANE? WHY TURN AGAINST YOUR FRIENDS? NOTHING IS WORTH THIS! NOTHING IS WORTH YOUR SOUL!" Ray yelled. "KILLING SARAPHIM IS ALL LIFE IS WORTH!"
Mac somehow understood what Shane was feeling. He shoved Ray aside and let down his own shield. Mac extended his arms to the sides. "Go ahead. I won't try to defend myself." Said Mac. Even Saraphim was glued to the situation. Hell Blitz launched himself toward Mac intending to plow through him. As Hell Blitz aproached Mac spoke to him in his mind "You must have loved Katrina very much." A milleter from Mac's face Hell Blitz's fist stopped. "K....Katrina......" "Yes that's why you do this right. Or is it just rage. Do you condemn your soul and destroy your chance of meeting her in the next life out of love for her?" "BLitz pulled back and grabbed his head. "If you think this is really all for katrina and not your own desire for destruction then by all means don't hessitate to kill me." Blitz doubled over and rolled on the ground holding his head in pain. "KATRINA!!!!" Hell Blitzkreig glowed in a white light which seemed to tear his body apart. "Don't fight it Shane." Shane fell to his knees and his body shrank and reshaped its self to his normal human self. "Katrina" Said shane with tears in his eyes. Saraphim had again directed his attention to the task at had.
Interesting distraction. But it will not save your world. You have seen before you how far gone you are. It is time to tear it down and start again. Saraphim gestured First at Ray. He fired another blast Ray was caught off gaurd and by the time he saw the attack it was too late to move. "But at the last moment Shane pushed him out of the way and stood in front of it thinking "Katrina I'm coming." However ray grabbed him by the ankle and pulled him out of at least the center of the blast. Both were injured by the explosion but still somewhat alive. "NO YOU DON'T SHANE! YOU AREN'T SKIPPING OUT ON THIS ONE!" Ray yelled at Shane.
Mac took the opportunity of Saraphim's attention being turned to attack from behind with an energy encased punch. "HIKARIRYUKEN!" His fist met Saraphim's jaw and promptly had it's bones broken on impact. Saraphim grapped Mac's wrist and threw him in the air toward Ray and Shane. They looked toward the hurtling Mac and saw behind him Saraphim place two hands together. Saraphim fired a double handed attack at them all. This time he did leave a crator and three badly injured warriors.
Saraphim stepped to the edge of the crator and lowered his eyebrows. The earth seemed to react with him and pushed its self up bringing them to his level. "I applaud your efforts. You have earned my respect. But you still stand in my way. And as such you must die. I will tell them to remember your valiant efforts when you are judged."
Infinite Darkness envelopes. In it one lone figure. A single thought in a forever on nothingness. And this thought rings out. "Where am I? What is this place?" Frag drifts in the darkness toward a bright light. "I'm......dead?" Frag falls into the light. Around him he can see old faces and hear the voices of those who have gone before him. Friends and foes familliar and unfamilliar "It's so peacefull here. No more conflict......no more fighting. At last I can be at peace.......but......if I give up now." Frag begins to see in front of him the faces of his friends still fighting. "They fight for the future. It wouldn't be right for me to give up now..... Not if it means the world will be the price." Frag then sees another face in front of him.
"I love the world too much to leave it now. I can't fail my friends......and i can't fail her. mabey she'll never know. But it's all I have to hold onto. I won't let thier futures be taken away. Always I willed myself to live. to fight on against the odds. But now victory is compleatly impossible. But I can't surrender. I don't care about what happens to me anymore. but there's too much at stake now. If need be.....I will not even let the limitations of my own body stand against me. The strength of my spirit is all I need to fight on. Even if my body is broken....... even if my power is gone....... even if I have nothing left to give..... For my friends.....for life.... ..for love........For the future... I...........WILL.................. .........NOT.............GIVE.... UUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!" Frag screams out loud as the light around him is shattered.
On the cliff where Frag had fallen he begins to stir. He pulls himself to his feet. Frag can feel the pain of his broken bones straining to hold his body up. The rain has soaked his clothes and chills him to the bone. He's dizzy from all the blood he's lost. The pain was more intense than any he'd ever felt before. He reveled in it. Inspite of the pain or perhaps because of it, when his body was now closest to death, he felt more alive than ever. Alive....never had that one word meant so much to him. Frag's leg bones gave way and he fell off his feet then suspended in mid air. Frag glowed in a supernatural light and dissapeared in it as he whispered "I am reborn."
Back inside Saraphim held his hand out toward the 3 battered warriors. "NOW!" Saraphim fired off a massive beam from his hand toward the group. They closed their eyes. All was silence as it aproached because it was moving faster than the speed of sound. Then came a surprize. A deffening roar brought them all to open their eyes. The attack had been intercepted. A ditch was carved at a perpendicular to Saraphim's attack. Everyone including Saraphim looked over wondering what could have possibly done that. There before them was a white armor clad figure. His hair was spikey and silver and extended to his ankles. An energy ring was set on his back. His left arm....wasn't an arm but rather a matallic golden wing.
Gomisaki looked up. Her eyes glistened with life once more. "Not even death its self can defeat my master."
Ray, Mac, and Shane all squinted at him for a moment then exclaimed simultaniously "FRAG!" The Warrior Responded. "BEHOLD SARAPHIM! YOU CLAIM TO SERVE GOD! I SAY THAT YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT A TRUE GOD IS ANYMORE! LET ME SHOW YOU! BOW DOWN AND PRAY.....TO OMNI FRAG!"
Frag opened one hand and gestured toward Saraphim. "FINAL HOLOCOST!!!!!" He hurled an incredibly concentrated orb of energy. It was so bright that everyone other than Saraphim had to sheild their eyes. Saraphim stood in its path until the last moment when he finally detected the attacks true power having left himself no time to dodge Saraphim folded his wings over himself to defend and dissapeared in the following explosion. Saraphim emerged to no ones surprize but what is surprizing was that a few singed feathers flittered in the air. "I....IMPOSSIBLE! HOW CAN ONE MAN HAVE THAT MUCH POWER? CAN IT BE THAT ONE OF YOU ACHIEVED THE TRUE POWER OF THE SPIRIT? THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD!" OmniFrag looked to Saraphim and spoke..... "....And man shall rule over angels."
"It's true what he siad. The next level......it is a god." Said Mac dropjawed. "The legend of the fighting god. The prophecy has come to pass. But....Frag?"" Stuttered Ray. Shane almost said something but was interupted when he had to dodge a stray attack.
In the short time it took for that bit of conversation to pass OmniFrag had already taket to the air and Saraphim was now swinging his arms around firing continuous beams from both. OmniFrag buzzed around doing his best to avoid. And doing quite well. When he finally cought a moment OmniFrag renewed his offensive "VOICE OF A GOD!" OmniFrag opened his mouth and spit out a huge sweeping laser. It whipped across the grond and was quckly followed by a solid wall of explosive force rising from the ground obscuring everything. Saraphim looked around for a moment trying to find his target. He did....coming right down on top of his head both feet first. Saraphim shrugged the attack off and backhanded OmniFrag sending him hurtling. OmniFrag regained his controll in mid air. "NOW YOU DIE!" Saraphim yelled. "I'VE GOT YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU NOW!" OmniFrag retorted.
Saraphim Hurled an energy ball more than big enough to whipe out a few dozen universes. Frag just smilled and said...."SWORD OF SMITING!" He swung his wing arm upward as it lost it's shape forming a blade of solid light which dissipated Saraphim's attack and then cought Saraphim. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! WHAT KIND OF ATTACK IS THIS!!!!!!" Saraphim screamed as his power level began to drop. He seemed to be struggling just to hold his body together.
"NOW EVERYONE. I've temporarilly seperated Saraphim's body from his spirit. I can't compleat the process but it's dropped his power low enough to make him mortal. NOW FINNISH IT BEFORE HE RECOVERS. USE EVERYITHING YOU'VE GOT!!!!!" "But.... that would take out the whole universe in the counter flow of energy." Ray said. "NO IT WON'T TRUST ME! I HAVE A PLAN!" "Frag has a plan? Well there's a first time for everything." Shrugs Shane. "AND IF WE FAIL THEN AT LEAST WE CAN SAY WE TOOK HIM WITH US." He concluded.
"BREATH..........OOOOOOFFFFFFF.....THE...... HEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNSSS !!!!!!!!!!" Mac fired. "DIMENSIONAL.......OOOOOOMMMMMNNNNIIIIII.... PPPPPPOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWEEEEERRRRR.......BBBBBBBLLLLLLLAAAAAAASSSSSSTTTTTTT!!!!!!" Ray fired with all his might. (need shane's best attack) The Renegades too Gathered together. Terra took the front. They converged their energies. "For everything that ever was.... .......and for that which is yet to come......RENEGADE SWORD!!!!" Terra swung the giant blue semicrescent and laid it into Sararaphim.
Everything converged. The blast as intended compleatly overwhelmed Saraphim. Frag then took the initiative. "GRAND CREATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" He held out his had and space around Saraphim began to warp. Then within the altered space erupted a massive explosion. It's light consumed everything in sight and beyond. The infinite void of space even gave way to this light. "I....It's like a cosmic rebirth." Said Ray only being able to hear himself but not see. Mac sensed the energy. It's incredible. It's neither here nor there so it's not hurting us, but it's strength is equial to what I heard a long time ago. the roughy total of of all mass and energy in the universe......." Shane did some quick thinking. "FRAG.......HE SENT SARAPHIM ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE BIG BANG!!!!"
When all was clear OmniFrag stood. His luminous armor still shone through the smoke. Saraphim could neither be seen nor heard. "Can it be he can controll timespace its self. One human with the pinacle of power. The very universe responds to his will. Is this what humans are destined to evolve into. This is kind of scary." Said Mac to himself. Everyone ran up to see Frag. "Frag.... I.....I....Is that you?" Said Ray.
Frag took a deep breath. "I'll answer your questions.........as... soon....as....I can change back...."
"what?" Said Mac confused. Frag tries to answer "While you can see my physical body here in this place......my spirit....my conciousness.....is everywhere. My being is existing at all points in existance at once. There's so much going on in my head. My senses are taking so much in at once that I can only focus on a small amount at one time. Not only the sights, but the sounds. I can see, touch, hear, smell taste everythin that exists or ever will exist. I can hear every though in my head....no not hear. all the thought in the universe is as if I were thinking it myself...... I understand what my meaning is now. The universe cried out and asked me to defend it. I cold have joined the light and left the world forever. And mabey some day I will. But not today." Mac looks to the smoke still rising where Saraphim had taken the final blow.
"Uhm Frag I know we don't get along too well but I need to ask you some....." Shane is interupted by Mac. "G....G....Guys...... he...........he's b....b....BACK!"
Frag, Ray, and Shane All turn too look at Saraphim emerging from the now clearing smoke and simultaniously Exclaim. "SWEET MEARCIFUL MOSES!!!!!"
"What? I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" Omni frag yelled as he rushed forward fist first. "GRAND KAISER" He yelled as his energy incased knuckle flew at Saraphim. Saraphim simply sidestepped and punched Frag in the stomack lifting him off his feet and balancing him on his fist. Frag spat blood onto Saraphim's armor. Saraphim threw Frag back to the feet of the other three warriors. "What the Hell happened Frag? I thought you were a god now." Frag got back up. "A god among men yes. But I'm no where near Saraphim. Sword of smiting was my ace. Anything else would be like trying to bitch slap him to death. If he's regained his full strength already then we need something bigger." Ray looked down and muttered "alpha X."
Ray activated his communicator, "I didn't want to have to use this, but, it would appear needed." Shane looked at him strange, "What would?" Instead of answering, Ray pointed to a massive Inter-Dimensional Portal that opened up behind the moon, out of it flew a giant robot with thrusters on it's back and a giant cannon attached to it's arm. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Was the only response anyone could give. "That, my friends, is Nexus Central Command, before you say anything, I found a "battle mode" for the base. It turns out that NCC is actually a giant mecha as well as a spherical base." Frag looked at Ray, "So you mean NCC is a knock off of Unicron?" Shaking his head, Ray answered, "Not exactly. For starters NCC is millinea old, second, Unicron is about the size of the moon, NCC is the size of the Earth. But, enough of this, Beam us up!" The four warriors were transported to the Supreme Gaurdians' Hall.
"We have all of NCC's basic weaponry, but the big difference is that we can access the Dimensional Cannon in this mode. I don't honestly believe it will be enough to kill Saraphim, but it should put a dent in his power. We have to first lure him away from Earth so that it won't be hit in the backwash of the energy beam. Then after the beam hits him, Frag, since your, well, a god, you have more power than the three of us combined. It would be wise for you to hit him with everything you've got while we do our best to protect you and throw a little of our energy into the fold as well." Getting up from his chair, Frag walked over, "Nice plan, but who put you in charge?" Mac rose to Ray's defense, "It's a good plan, but what happens if we can't get Saraphim away from Earth, even if he couldn't read minds, it's not hard to imagine what the point to a giant robot with a huge gun on it's arm is." Before an answer could be given, Shane had walked over to the controll console and began to initiate the command to fire the cannon. After he had go the quardenents locked in, Shane hit the big glowing button to fire the cannon, and nothing happend. "I anticipated that someone would try that, so the controlls are locked in to the security level that the whole Council, as well as the four of us must give approval to fire the beam, but Shane, I didn't expect you to be that eager to get this over with." Shrugging, Shane placed his hand on the ID scanner to cast his 'yes' vote. But he kept his hand there too long, his eyes fluttered a little and half-closed for a moment. Ray noticed this first, jumping to try to knock his friend away from the console, he did manage to get Shane away from the controlls, but it was too late, the countdown had begun.
"Do you know what you have done?" That was all Ray could say, and that was said between clenched teeth. "Yeah, I saved the universe and you didn't, get over it. You're not God, you don't have o be the only one to save everyone." It was all Ray could do to keep from killing Shane right there, but he managed to calm down fast enough to prevent and involuntary transformatoin, "Listen, if a circular portion of that beam with a diameter of no more than ten feet hits any part of the planet, it will be enough to destroy it. Do you know what happens then? I'LL TELL YOU! IF EARTH ALPHA IS DESTROYED, ALL OF REALITY GOES WITH IT!!!!! IF THE REALITY THAT ALL OTHERS ARE ALTERNATES OF IS DESTROYED, THEN THOSE ALTERNATES ARE DESTROYED! YOU JUST DID SARAPHIM'S JOB FOR HIM!!!" Mac walked over and slapped Ray in the back of the head, then told him breathe since he was starting to hyperventelate. Standing strait again, Ray ordered the nearest person to bring up the beam's path on the main screen. "By my calculatoins, it should take the beam 2 minutes to reach Earth from now, but I could be wrong." Frag started to go to try and stop the beam, but Ray stopped him. "Listen, you're without a question the strongest of us, if you waste all of you power now, we're doomed anyway. Shane, Mac, Frag, I want you to keep Saraphim off my back as long as you can, I'm stopping the beam myself." Mac walked over to a technition, "Why can't you open a portal and send the beam off into some empty part of space, maybe the area the old Star Trek dimensions were?" "Sir, our energy banks are taxed too much firing the beam, and the controlls are locked in. Even if we could get a portal open that big, that much Vortex energy flowing through it would collapse it in a second, no ammount of power can keep a portal open that could stand that much power running through it continously."
Ray materialized a portal and stepped through gave one last glance at his frineds. "We've come a long way. Let's not make this the end." Ray said as he stepped though and vanished.
Mac looked to a veiwscreen. "SARAPHIM! He's moving toward the beam. I think he's going to try to intercept Ray!" OmniFrag turned away but was stopped by Mac. "You maniac you're not going out there to stop Saraphim. Didn't you hear what Ray said. You are suposed to wait untill he takes care of the beam. If you get in its way there won't be anythign left to fight with." OmniFrag looked back at Mac. "I already know that. I can see all of time remember. But in every outcome I try I see myself defeated by Saraphim. I'll just take the chance that I'm missing something. I said myself that I can't possibly take in every possibillity." OmniFrag replied.
CLICKMac looked to his feet The golden boots of his superhuman armor still adorned them and he remembered he had power left to fight with. "I'll go and distract Saraphim." Shane looked to Mac with disbelief "Mac you'll be killed." Mac looked back to his friends with his normal calculating expresion was replaced by a smile. It seemed both to warm the heart and break it at the same time. "If I can hold Saraphim off for even a few seconds Ray can get into position. Then its going to be up to you. I know you'll make it. You're always lucky enough to get out of a jam. Don't worry about me okay. I'll be happy to know I did something to save the world. Besides. It's never goodbye. Just.....see you later. Just another adventure....." With that Mac stepped into another vortex portal and vanished for what could be the last time.
CLICKSaraphim was quickly moving toward the already materializing portal through which Ray intended to appear. But then was struck by a hard energy beam. He turned to see another aproaching him. Emerging from another portal was Mac. As the vortex waves cleared from around him they revealed a new armor encasing him. The simplistic Gold skin covering was now gone. In its place a shining silver armor. The eloborate engravings on the shoulder plates spoke of knights of old. The arms and legs covered in in a glowing metal that swept back as if being remolded by Mac's own energy. and in the chestplate sat a glowing jewel that shone like the purest of hearts.
From The NCC Shone looked on. "He....evolved himself." "Sheer determination. So much that he was willing to give his own life. without regret. The purest of all emotions. He has done what no other could. He has focused it and become the next level of Superhuman." Said OmniFrag. "You mean like you?" Shane Replied. "No not quite. My power is coming from my spirit beyond even the void of death but his power is still coming from within himself. He has truly evolved the spirit, and body as one."
Saraphim Launched himself with a flying punch at the newly evolved Mac. Mac countered in turn with the same move. The fists of the two superpowers colided. Saraphim easily had Mac overpowered and yet found he could not turn Mac's energy back. Mac was somehow gaining ground despite being hopelessly outmatched. "HOW CAN THIS BE! COULD MY LORD TRULY HAVE MADE HUMANS WITH THIS MUCH POTENTIAL!" Saraphin screamed as his energy was dissipated and Mac's fist connected sending the angel hurtling back. "This is all that is needed of me." Mac said smiling as he floated back into a vortex portal directed to return him to the NCC. As his power faded he could see Ray had made it. And now it was up to the chosen one.
CLICKHaving used NCC's portal system to get back down the planet, Ray looked at the oncomming beam of pure energy. He took a deep breath and relaxed. Right on cue Vortex appeared at his side. "You ready, this could be our big momment." "HA! Like either one of us expects to live." "You were allways the pessimistic one were'nt you Vortex? *sighs* At least she will live on." "Yep. Allright, let's do it! WITH THE POWER OF MIGHT!" Vortex extended his right arm upward as Ray extended his left hand and said, "WITH THE SANCTITY OF LIFE!" In perfect unison the two put their hands at their temples, "AND WITH THE CLARITY OF SIGHT: TWO BECOME THE CHOSEN ONE!!" The flash of light that occompanied the fusion of the two beings was brilliant, when it faded a lone being stood there on that spot, The Chosen One. But he wasn't done yet, far from it. Thrusting his hands straight out at his sides, he concentrated and screamed out "ULTIMATE CHOSEN ONE!" Another flash of light and there stood the Super-Human. Focusing all of his power on one spot in front of him, he let out a yell and fired the beam. As the Cannon's energy approached Ray's, it was undeniably larger than Ray's, but Ray's was more focused. When they collided, it seemed they would cancel each other out, however, after a few seconds, the Cannon's beam was moving back towards Earth, only slightly slower than before. "CRAP! I'm gonna have to go all out. DIMENSIONAL OMNI-POWER BLAST: FIRE!" Ray's attack doubled in size and power, and actually pushed the cannon's beam backwards some, then they moved closer to Earth, then closer to NCC again. This continued for what seemed like hours to Ray, but was merely seconds in reality, his power draining fast, and he knew it. "I will do this. I will stop this beam. I will not give up. I will not....will not...I WILL NOT.... I WILL NOT LET....HER....DDDDDIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Ray's armor began to crack and break off in large pieces. Had he taken time to notice, he would have seen the cystals on his hands and forehead shatter, their energy leaving behind glowing tattoos of Crosses. He stood there near naked, what little was left of his clothing was shreaded, his entire body seemed ready to atomize at any moment. He uttered what he thought was his final words as both beams came down upon him and the Earth, "I failed you, I failed you all. May you all forgive me in Heaven!"
Everyone, including Saraphim, watched as the beam hit and detonated, but the Earth shattering explosion that all expected did not occur, the beam was being pushed back by a small bubble of energy. In the center of this bubble was a man. A technition in NCC magnified the image to get a good look at this new being. He was dressed in robes of the purest of white, his face was covered in a shadow formed by the hood over his head. Yet, his eyes were visible, glowing with an unreal light and power. Where his forehead would be was a glowing Cross, and similar Crosses were visible on his hands. He held out his right hand, and two blades appeared on either side of it. They were as white as his robes, nearing clarity, and both were composed of one long central blade and two auxillary blades coming out at sixty degree angles.
The being spread his hands, saying in a soft voice, "Holy Light of Judgement." The bubble expanded out effortlessly, cancelling out the Cannon's beam, but it passed through everything else without harm, except Saraphim. Saraphim got pushed back slightly, but the energy did little else to him. Omni-Frag grabbed his head and screamed out, obviously in pain. "WHAT IS THIS POWER? IT IS ALL OVER THE UNIVERSE!" The being flew over to where the three other warriors were stationed. "Before you ask. Yes, I was Ray." Shane and mac both looked curious. "I say I was Ray because due to the power of his love for Abbie, he unlocked the ultimate evolution of the Chosen Ones, myself namely. I am known as: Warrior of the Cross."
"I....It's incredible. His power surpasses even......no not his power. something even greater acting through him..." Omnifrag said trying to understand what was standing before him and overwhelming his senses to the point that the universe seemed but a faint glimmer compared to it. "I know exactly what it is...." Said Mac. "I can't explain....I just know" He continued.
The Warrior of the cross offered no further explaination. He reached behind his back and pulled something out. It was a glowing Rod that looked like a half formed sword. He looked over to his friends. They too found simillar objects materializing in their hands. They all looked at one another then to Saraphim and knew instinctively what to do. They threw their weapons to a common point in between them and rushed to grab hold of the newly emerging form. The blade of the Sword reached to the heavens. It shone a brilliant gold. "SWORD OF THE CROSS!" Everyone Yelled taking a position on it's hundred foot high hilt. OmniFrag with his one articualat hand grabbed the hilt at the base and stood firlmy on the ground."THE SWORD THAT PROTECTS THE SANCTITY OF LIFE!" Ray grabbed the Hilt just below the huge handgaurd "THE SWORD THAT DELIVERS RETRUBUTION!" Shane Held the sword in the center of the hilt "THE SWORD THAT EMBODIES LOVE!" Mac Grabbed the base of the blade... "THE SWORD THAT BRINGS DEATH!"
Frag swung the huge sword as Shane controlled and aimed it. Ray powerflew and forced it's blade down with all his strength. Mac added the cutting spirit to the blade. Saraphim stood directly in its path. "Fools a weapon of God cannot harm an angel in heaven's service" The giant blade crashed down on Saraphim. It carried through his entire body. and then dematerialzed into a massive field of energy consuming Saraphim's figure.
The sword then dissapeared alltogether. All was said and done....The NCC floated back through a portal and returned to its rightful place. And in the middle of the ravaged castle stood four triumphant warriors......and Saraphim. he stood in amazement. Burned onto his chest was a cross shaped scar.
"My....judgement......was in error.... Humans.......you fought well this day and for that I commend you. My lord has told me of my mistake. You're world has been spared. And I must return. My mission is at an end and I must leave this place. The whole is yours. Remember to use it for only a just cause. So long as you remember that my shadow shall never again fall upon you. I bid you farewell."
With that Saraphim's form dissolved into feathers and blew away.
All was silence for a moment. Omnifrag Walked over to the fallen Katrina. "Shane I know what you are going to ask and yes I will. It is the last of the power I have left in this form and I can think of no better use for it. When I am done I will once again be the Fragraham you all have come to know." With that Frag placed his hand over Katrina and willed the last bit of his power to heal her body. He then called out for her spirit. As he had suspected she had not moved on yet. Katrina's spirit was still on this side and was holding on agains hope. Katrina opened her eyes. Frag fell down just in time to move out of Katrina's view as she opened her eyes and first saw Shane. Frag's shape reverted to the normal Fragraham. Gone was the silver hair and white armor. Now once more in the black battle torn clothing of a renegade.
A light struck from above into Frag. His three daimond shaped face markings glowed momentarilly and then vainished. "what was that?" asked Mac. "I think I got the ultimate force back." Said Frag. Mac smiled "Well that's good." But he noticed Frag turn away and swear.
Shane was holding Katrina. He looked over her shoulder at his hand. He turned around to show everyone. "HEY LOOK I GOT THE GAURDIAN RINGS BACK!" Ray looked at Shane "You do know you're expected to return those." Shane nodded "I know. but first I'm gonna make a few demands........." Ray snarled at Shane but shane continued to speak "Like when we get back to the NCC we're going to fix that messed up system of polititians and guardians fueding. And enough already whith the whole Godlike thing. We're supposed to protect the omniverse not controll it." Ray looked surprized that Shane would say something like that. Ray smilled realizing that his best friend was finally starting to grow up. "Oh and Ray....about that planet of chocolate you promised." Ray stopped. "DOH! You're not gonna call me on that are you? I thought the world was coming to an end." "a deal's a deal." "I'll deal with that later. Right now I have something to do."
Ray turned his attention to a pile of rubble. planted atop it was the sword of Darkness. "What do we do about that thing?" Asked Shane. Ray climbed the pile. "I'm ending this eons old nightmare once and for all. I'm becoming the supream destroyer so there won't be anymore wars. "NO WAY RAY THAT THING WILL TAKE YOUR MIND APART!" Mabey so but it's worth it if this cycle ends here and now. Ray Grabbed the sword and pulled it from the ground. "LET THIS SWORD'S VICTIMS HAVE PEACE!" Ray called out. He could hear the voices of pain and anguish in his head already. He didn't know how long he could maintian his sanity with the sword but it was his responsiblillty now.
"The key....the fourth part....better it was destroyed....." Said Frag. "Why do you say that" asked Mac. "It's passed down from owner to owner. Since Mewtwo was its last owner I guess it went with him."
Just then a voice interupted the conversation. "MMMMMEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" it sounded like crying.....sort of..... Ash went to the rubble to investigate. There he found something very odd. MEWTWO!......a very small Mewtwo.
Everyone Gathered together around him. Ash Quickly transformed to Deputy guardian state and drew his dimensional saber. "I'LL FINNISH YOU OFF NOW!!!" Misty jumped in and threw herself in between them. "NOOOOO!!!" Mac grabben Ash's hand. "Don't Ash. You see...He's an inocent. It seems when he used up all of his power the Darkstone reverse evolved him. He's only a child now. He's gone back before he did all that. And before all those tragedies befell him." Mewtwo continued to cry. Misty picked him up and patted his head. He stopped crying. "There there little one. It's not fair what happened to you I know. What do you say? Ready to try for a new life?" Misty looked to Ash. Ash for the first time since he joined the adventure smiled.
Mewtwo reached out his hand to Mac. He was holding the Lucifer's Key. "I think he wants you to have it mister." said Misty. Mac nodded and accepted the key. "I guess there is hope for everyone." Said Terra.
Frag began to walk away. "Hope......yeah everyone except me. (Sigh)....a slave once more." He said to himself Jase ran out in front of him. "Captain you did it!" Frag interupted "Stop calling me captain Jase. I'm quitting the renegade force. Look to Terra. She's your captain now." "B...But Captain." "I said stop calling me that. You've all grown strong and I'm proud of you. But you don't need me anymore. Nor do I have any place even among missfits. Terra is a strong leader. Trust in her. She won't steer you wrong." "Y...Yessir." Terra entered the conversation. "I won't let you down. I promise you that." She said. "You'll have your successes and your failures just like any leader. Your job is to keep everyone together and remain strong through it all." Frag responded. "So where are you going now? Back to Jurai?" "No, I've already been there." With that Frag walked out of one of the many holes that had been made in the wall by the fight and proceeded toward the east side of the island.
Frag stood on a cliff watching the sun rise. He took a deep breath apreciating the dawn as never before having lived to see the next day after coming so close to the end.
Shane walked out from behind Frag. "So what will you do next?" Shane asked. "I never know. I'll just go where life takes me" Frag responded. "Well I think we'll be having an opening for supream gaurdian soon. Wouldn't you rather have a stable career? The pay is good." "No, I don't think so. Some people would jump at the chance but not me. I'm not that kind of person. I have to have my freedom." "So you're just walking off into the sunset, or sunrise anyway. That's it?" "The mysterious hero dissapears over the horrizon never to be heard from again." "and they all lived happilly ever after. The end, huh?" "Mabey for some. But for me it's more like, to be continued. Beleive me, some part deep inside of me wants to settle down, but that's not my place. Mine is out there, always chasing the horrizon." "Do you ever think about your future?" "Nope. Right now I'm thinking no further ahead than watching this sunrise." Shane Begins to walk away. Frag looks out into the distance. "The cycle is broken. Rest in peace Father." Shane turs around as if to say something, but Frag is already gone. The sun has risen, and a new day has dawned.
The others hadn't moved. They all stood watching the demolished scenery, taking it all in. Mac eyed the area Frag had wandered off to, waiting for his turn to go speak to him. It was too late, though. Frag's signature had dissappeared. Shane walked back up looking not quite serious.
"Frag's gone." said Shane.
"We know," replied Mac. "We'll catch up with him soon enough."
"Well," supplied Shane after a few moments, "What are we gonna do now? All go hang around the NCC until something better comes up?"
Ray grinned sheepishly. "Not me. I'm only gonna be at NCC for a few minutes. I think I'm going to take an extended leave of absence... Introduce Abbie to my parents... that sort of thing."
Shane rolled his eyes as Mac interjected.
"Do me a favor while you're there."
Mac pulled the crusted, brittle, skull-topped key out of his pocket and tossed it in the air. The key was envolped in a small blast of energy and fell down looking completely different--a white pen with a sphere near one end.
"What did you do to Lucifer's Key?" asked Shane.
"That key never belonged to Lucifer. It just collected a lot of negative emotions. I won't have that baggage if I'm going to be carrying it. Nor will I allow it to be capable of what it is made for..." Mac slipped the sphere off of the pen and tossed it to Ray.
"Put that somewhere safe, would you? I'd rather be able to use the power of it without having it readily capable of shattering existance."
"Sure thing," replied Ray.
Ray looked each of his friends in the eye.
"See you around, guys."
With those words, the chosen one promptly disappeared.
Shane turned with a grin to Mac. "You, bud, are gonna come help me. How's the position of Supreme Guardian sound? Helping me turn NCC inside out?"
"You've got to be kidding me. Just after I get to the point where I don't want it, you push it on me."
"I don't care. You're doing it." Shane was more serious now, but the grin was still there.
"I know. You go on ahead. I'll be there shortly."
"Oh, no. I'm not letting you run off. You're coming with me now."
Mac gestured to the rest of the group. "I have some loose ends to tie up. Apparantly no one else is going to take care of it." Mac sighed, but couldn't keep from smiling. Some things never change, but some things he wouldn't have any other way. "Why don't you arrange to have this island put in it's proper place in two hours before I get there?"
"You got it. See you soon."
Shane turned around and vanished.
Mac hailed Terra, who stood just out of speaking earshot.
"Terra, it's your crew now. You guys work on your own, but would you mind running missions for a newer, friendlier NCC sometime?"
Terra smiled. "We'll see."
"Then we'll be in touch. Frag left Gomisaki, but you can bet that he'll get her back very soon without seeing you guys. He loved you all, but I don't think he's going to show his face yet. I'll get you another ship before that happens. Keep an open channel."
Mac waved a friendly goodbye to all of the renegades as Terra lined them up and filed them onto Gomisaki. That just left Ash, Misty, and the small Mewtwo.
"What would you guys like to do? Misty, you can go back to Ash's original dimension, if it's all right with him, or we can find you another place where you'll fit in. It's not the most pleasant thought, but if you like then someone at NCC can make sure that neither of you ever remember that any of this happened. You have a lot of options, really." All of them pained Mac... nothing would be the same, but he tried to put them as gently as he could.
Misty and Ash looked at each other.
"Do we have to decide right away?" asked Misty.
"Of course not," replied Mac with visible relief. "You can stay at the NCC until you decide. Maybe you'll even decide to come back and become guardians when you're grown."
"Maybe... and then we have to decide who will keep lil' Mewtwo... where'd he go?"
Mewtwo was busy wandering off, although he obviously had no intention of running away. Misty chased him down and began to pet and coo at him.
Mac looked up at the sky as Ash looked up at him.
"Mac, you remember when you said that you haven't loved anybody?"
"In the romantic sense? Yes."
"That's not true, is it?"
"You're right, it's not true. You're very perceptive, Ash. What caused you to conclude that?"
"Because you did understand. You understood everything that went on. You fought like the others did, too... They all fought like that because they love somebody. So you must love somebody, too."
"That's right. God created us so that we look to our loved ones for motivation. I couldn't beaar the thought of losing anyone, much less my friends or... her. I looked to that for my drive. It's the only reason any of us fought from the beginning, excepting duty. God sets things right, and he did it again now by giving us love, in every sense."
"Yeah." Ash smiled.
"So..." continued Ash, "where do we go now?"
"It's a never-ending story, Ash." Mac resisted the temptation to show Ash the old, unrelated movie he thought of. "The story never stops, and there are no credits. Prepare for the future, but live now, as long as your head is on your shoulders. And remember the last commandment: Love."
"Yeah," Ash reitterated. And he smiled again.
With that, Mac gathered the now much smaller group together without much noise and started picking up stray bits from the island before it was returned. There wasn't much time to enjoy simple labor before the story would pick up again.
THE EPILOGUE:
Ray and Abbie lived happily ever after on earth without too many more adventures until Ray was called on to return to the NCC and rule for a time. Then they lived happily ever after again.
Shane brought vast reforms to the NCC and DGF as the de facto (if much contested) leader after Ray's decree that Shane take his place. In the history books, Shane would be known as "The Level Headed Negotiator." When that was through, he and Katrina lived happily ever after.
Mac helped ensure Shane's leadership position and took over Ray's job of keeping him in line. Then Mac found himself stuck in that same leadership position. The others had been searching for meaning in life. Mac had been searching for the life for his meaning. He lived it. Once through with NCC he went wherever he could do the most good. Then he settled down and lived happily ever after.
Frag wandered for a long time, looking for happily ever after. Eventually, he stopped searching for it. That's when he found it.
Of course, they all had other adventures and they all saw each other again. But those are stories for another time.