Well, I will be doing some one-shots for a while until I can be devoted to my story-writing again. I apologize for the un updated stories, and I hope this can get some attention.

Anyone heard of the manga "Ultimo"? If not, I'll explain what it is. The story, to my opinion, spawns over two time periods: In the 12th and 21th centuries. A scientist named Rodger Dunstan creates two mechanical boys, or Dojis, to answer one question: "Which is stronger: Good or Evil?" One is named Ultimo, the very embodiment of good, while his opposite, Vice, represents evil.

I'll explain the plot some more another time, but for now, let's try to get this out the way. Keep an eye out for author's notes, which are asterisks, explaining some more of the characters, plot, or for any confusion.

NOTE1: I do not own Ultimo! Viz Media owns every single point of this manga. I only own how I use the characters! I also give credit to wikia as well for information on the main character. You can find the link on my profile to find out more on him.

NOTE2: I am quite descriptive when it comes to characters, but the main character in this one shot has a ton of details. Basically, this character won't have all details in one shot. To see his real form, go to my profile and check the link under the bolded title "Reference Links!"

NOTE3: The main character's voice and secondary character is normal text, unrelated characters are italic, and notes are bolded.

There has been a year since the One Hundred Machine Funeral*, and the world has changed quite drastically. On the Northern Hemisphere, there's a civilized city of water, while the Southern Hemisphere is a primitive forest civilization. Only a billion or so people survived such a tragedy, but only one feels lonely in such a world… A doji named Milieu of Moderation**. He's not like an ordinary person; in fact, he's not even human!

He's rather tall and slim, making many believe he's not been taken properly cared for; instead, he just mentions it's just how Dunstan developed him. His long, white shimmering hair reaches down to the bottom of his spine, holding it up are two pairs of golden hairclips. His purple eyes are rather slightly small compared to his face, but what are most strange are his gloves, which are large, angular and have a purplish color combined with silver. He also has two long purple transparent visors that stay near his eyes. Connecting to his waist is a large metal piece, which he knows has no purpose to him or Dunstan.

His attire has such high quality, wearing a sleeveless kimono top, which displays prominent dark purple lining emerging from the edges. He also has a white hakama (typical Japanese clothing.) that is tied to a golden yellow sash.

"Milieu, can you run me a quick errand?" A voice calls to Milieu, waking him from his daydream. His purple eyes are slightly hazy, due to the occurrence he woke up from slumber.

"Yes, Dr. Dunstan. ***" Milieu calls over, hurrying downstairs to his master.

After waking up, Milieu tries to make fast pace to his master, but since he was sleeping, he was rather slow, and took longer than normal to get back on track. Within a minute, however, he does see his master lying on a leather couch.

That's not normal for Dr. Dunstan to lie around like this… Milieu thinks to himself, seeing his master resting. On a normal day, Dunstan will be creating new dojis everyday, or tries to find new masters for his new creations.

"Milieu, I've fallen ill for a while… can you gather some herbs far in the mountains…?"

"But Dr. Dunstan, it's a day's walk… it'll get dark soon."

"Just do as you're told, Milieu."

Without any other words, Milieu picks up a wicker basket sitting in a corner of the living room and leaves. Why would Dr. Dunstan send me out now? It's already getting dark, and sometime soon, I have to find home in the dark. Milieu is still confused over his master's command, and why does he need herbs now? He was fine for weeks, and now, he's just fallen ill.

- Eight Hours Later-

"Dr. Dunstan, I'm back with the herbs! A thousand apologizes, master; it was awfully dark, and it took longer for me to…."

Milieu stops short of his voice; Dunstan wasn't around the house. After waiting for about four hours, he figures Dunstan was worried for Milieu, and left the house to find him…

As night falls, Milieu chooses to sleep, without having any dinner. As he dreams, he wishes that the world was back to the way everything used to be… before the One Hundred Machine Funeral happened.

-Next Day-

As morning comes around to greet Milieu a new day, he wakes up… Only not to hear Dunstan's voice greet him.

… He didn't return at all… where did he go? Milieu kept asking himself that as the day went on. After a long day of being alone in the household, someone arrives at his door.

"Dr. Dunstan! I was getting so worried about you! I thought you have abandoned me, but-"

Instead of seeing his master at the door, there were some officers standing in front of Milieu. His eyes started to wonder about, getting quite curious at the men standing at the doorstep.

"I'm sorry to say, but Rodger Dunstan has passed away. As I also researched, he also has no family relatives to inherit his belongings. Are you his—"

Milieu slams the door and leans his back against the wall, brokenhearted. Never in his life has he ever heard something like this… Never heard those words, 'Passed away…'

"Master… are you… really… gone…?" Milieu wonders, curious about his master's death. As he wipes away his tears, he slowly goes back to the door and continues to talk to the police.

"Look, we're sorry for your loss. As we were analyzing his body, he has this. It was addressed to someone named Milieu. Are you the receiver of this letter?"

"Yes, sir. Thank you." As Milieu takes the letter, it was written rather quite hastily.

Dear Milieu,

If you're reading this, you must know I'm gone out the house… and from your life. The only reason why I sent you out is that I am dying, and I can't bear to see your face when I pass away. Once you came back, I can only guess you're confused, and I can't blame you, but myself. Please forgive me for making you grieve over my loss.

There is one more favor you must do for me… Gather your belongings, your strength, and seek out a new master. It might be hard to find a new one, but once you find a new master, you can only hope that they'll be as loyal to you as I have.

I wish you the best of luck, Milieu. Take care.

-Rodger Dunstan

Milieu remains silent as he slowly closes the note. Brokenhearted, he holds the note close to his heart. Being obedient as he ever would, he gathers his most precious belongings, collects some food in a knapsack, and leaves the household, not even looking back.

Well, for some reason, my head is saying that the one-shot's crappy, but let me know what you think! If you like it, leave a comment to let me know what you think! If you love it, you can put it in your favorites! I won't be continuing this, but I'll have a sequel coming up.

Author's notes!

*: In the manga, the One Hundred Machine Funeral is basically what the Mayans predicted last year: the end of the world. However, the date on the One Hundred Machine Funeral is on May 6, 2012, while the Mayans predicted the end of the world is on December 22, 2012. Anyhow, humanity has dodged two giant bullets!

**Milieu of Moderation is Dunstan's doji. His name comes from French, which means "middle". Since Ultimo is pure good and Vice is pure evil, Milieu is in the middle of the two. He's also the strongest doji of all time, and all other dojis fear him. His attacks and a design on his attire is associated with a dragon.

***Roger Dunstan is the main creator of the dojis, and also Milieu's master. Throughout the entire manga, he has that one question: What is stronger, good or evil? How he will get that answer is that Ultimo and Vice will fight to the death, and though the One Hundred Machine Funeral, shall determine the answer.