The Happy Ending
This is for anyone who has read the Deathstalker series of novels and was royally pissed by the ending. I know I was and I have taken it upon myself to write this ending so I can have my Happy Ending. I may not be exactly like Simon Green in writing style but I hope this is at least a reasonable facsimile. I will admit I have not read the first book, kind of sad really, so if there are any inaccuracies please tell me so I can change them.
And now...
THE HAPPY ENDING
The wars were over at last. The AIs of Shub had been shown the beauty of Humanity in a moment of understanding between the Mater Mundi uber-consciousness and the AIs themself. The Recreated were returned to there bodies on there newly revitalized planets around their reborn suns. The Darkvoid was no more. The Ashrai had there forests of metal and Carrion, the man who had betrayed Humanity to fight alongside the Ashrai, had returned with them. The child had returned to his slumber after putting almost everything that had been wrong back to rights. Almost everything...
Hazel d'Ark, ex-clonelegger and rebel, was lying awake in bed thinking of the past and of one man in particular, Owen Deathstalker.
Ever since she had saved his life on the agricultural planet Virimonde, Owens former property as a Lord before he was declared an outlaw by Empress Lionstone II. Owen was an aristocrat and minor historian of no real importance except as head of the Deathstalker Clan, a Clan with a fearsome reputation as warriors. Owen, though wanting nothing more then an easy life with his only worries being what wine to have with his dinner, was forced to flee from Virimonde when his security personell had turned on him for the bounty placed on his head. It was while he was running that he came to a planet called Mistworld.
Mistworld was the dumping ground for everything that the Empire did not want. It was here that Owen had his first glimpse of what the Espers and Clones had to live life daily. It had changed him. He swore an oath on his blood and honor that he would tear down the Empire that had allowed places like Mistworld to exist. He had dragged Hazel, kicking and screaming, with him into the Rebellion that was slowly gaining power.
The undergrounds had been small and unfocused, with no central leadership. The rebellion, led by its heroes, managed to finally unite the scattered resistances. Owen and Hazel had been thrust into positions of importance in the rebellion. Owen had tried to live with it and, though he did not want to be a warrior, rose to be one of the most famous men in the rebellion. Hazel had started to crack under the pressure. She had fallen back on an old habit: Blood. The hyper-addictive drug that resurrected the Empire's adjusted super-soldiers, the Wampyr. Even then she had known that Owen had some feelings for her but she had refused to acknowledge them, or her own. She had worked her way through it, using the powers given by the Madness Maze, and no longer needed or was effected by the drug.
The Madness Maze. An alien artifact intended to evolve those who entered it. The Maze had given the five rebels who had survived amazing powers. Owen Deathstalker, Hazel d'Ark, Ruby Journey, Jack Random and Giles Deathstaler. These five became heroes in the rebellion. Snatching victory from seeming defeats with the powers that they had been given. Though life was not to be happy for these five. Jack Random, the legendary professional rebel, and Ruby Journey, Bounty Hunter, had killed each other on the Last Standing, the ancestral home/starship of the Deathstalker clan. Giles Deathstalker, the first Warrior Prime of the empire and first Deathstalker, was killed by Owen when Giles tried to place himself on Lionstone's throne after she had been killed. And now Owen was dead as well. Hazel had never learned how he had died, only that he had been a warrior to the end. She could imagine no other way for the former aristocrat and historian to go out, he was a Deathstalker.
It had taken his death for her to realize how much he had meant to her. She had never had a chance to tell him that she loved him before he was dead. She had always thought, even after the Blood Runners had kidnapped her, that there would always be more time. She had believed his promise that they would always be together. She thought that she would never cry, thought that she had seen too much and done so much, that nothing could effect her so deeply. She was wrong.
She had traveled in hyperspace for almost a week, aimlessly. Travelling through the newly revitalized Darkvoid. She did not care where she went, only that she didn't have to be around people. She had dropped the ship out of hyperspace in an uninhabited system. She didn't want to live anymore. She had only eaten enough to keep her alive, barely. Sometimes she would forget to eat.
She always felt guilty about not having been by his side when he died. Now she would not see him again. Oh Owen, Hazel thought, I wish you were here. I don't want to have to live without you. She was tired, not just physically but emotionally and mentally. The thought seemed to echo through her head as she opened her eyes to look at the disrupter sitting by her side. She would never have thought that suicide would be an option for her. She had always toughed out the rough spots in her life but never had she been as effected as now. Never had she been unable to even sleep. She wanted the memories to go away but she could not forget them. They had been burned into her brain. She remembered every detail of the past. Everything from when she had met Owen that fateful day on Virimonde until they had parted. She hefted the weapon and contemplated it for a while, looking at the cold lethality of the weapon. She had never considered the weapons she used before. She had killed many in her lifetime but never had she ever contemplated the tools. She only took for granted that they would work, never what it would feel like to be killed by one. The thoughts were still resounding inside her head as she looked at the weapon.
Her thought was not just echoing through her thoughts. It was transmitted from her brain to the sleeping Deathstalker child inside the Madness Maze. The child had learned more then speech from his contact with the Owen, it had picked up the strange link shared by all the Madness Maze survivors. The link which had allowed them to perform there miracles and become the heroes of the Rebellion. The child woke slowly, a second in real life but an eternity inside the Madness Maze where time had no real meaning. The child woke and felt the sorrow and pain. And the desperation. The child reached using his expanded powers, partially recharged after repairing the problems that had been created., through time.
Hazel had done this many times, summoning doubles of herself from alternate universes to fight beside her. Only now the child was reaching into the past of the current universe. The child followed the path Owen had followed to distract the Recreated as the child mustered his powers. The child found Owen as he charged the desperate crowd of Plasma Babies, adicts of Blood.
Owen wasn't feeling the stabs of the blades but he was seeing things. His body was lying in the snow being robbed by the mob. He could see the girl with his sword. He was floating above the scene. It felt strange observing what was happening to him. His face turned and he saw a bright light. Is this what it's like to die, Owen thought curiously.
He could see something at the end of the light. It was dim and indistinct. Owen moved through the space seperating him from the light as if he was swimming. The image became clearer as he moved. Hazel was lying down. He could see the Disrupter in her hands. She was just looking at it. What is this, Owen asked himself as he looked on.
Hazel looked away from the weapon in her hand and said, "I'm coming to meet you Owen."
Owen heard her speaking and realized what she intended. Hazel moved the Disrupter to her temple and closed her eyes. "NO!!!"
Owen shouted and lunged forward. He broke through the image and appeared on the deck of the Sunstrider III. His voice followed him as he boosted, slapping the Disrupter from her hands as she pulled the trigger. The blast hit the cabin bulkhead, burning completely through. Owen dropped out of boost and shuddered as his body replenished the energy he had used.
Hazel opened her eyes slowly and saw his face. She had seen him look better, his clothes were ripped and cut and he was bruised but to her there was no more welcome sight. "Owen?" her voice was small like a child.
He smiled at her, the same smile she remembered. He knelt down beside her. Her energy and strength returned in an instant. She threw a short quick punch into his jaw. He didn't have time to even try and tap his boost to dodge the blow. He was knocked backwards. He hit the deck hard but remained conscious. He put his hand to his jaw as he worked it, making sure nothing was broken."That was for lying to me," she said as she sat up and helped him up, "You said we would always be together."
Owen looked a little guilty, he never intended to hurt her. Hazel smiled pleasently, something that seemed unnatural to Owen who had known her for a long time. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and tucked her face into his shoulder. "I thought I had lost you there," Hazel said through tears, "I love you."
Owen was shocked. He had never thought that he would hear Hazel d'Ark say those words. He wrapped his arms around her. 'I'm not leaving you again," Owen said.
"Hazel, w... would you marry me," he blurted out without thinking.
"I thought you were supposed to be worried about politics," she said after she gained control of her tears.
"The Empire can go to hell for all I care," Owen said, "I think we've both earned an early retirement."
Hazel laughed a bit, "Could you imagine me as a housewife? If Ruby saw me I would never live it down."
She turned serious again. "You know you're an aristo and I'm just a clonelegger and rebel. Aren't you supposed to be concerned with what is the best for your family?"
"I was a rebel too," Owen said, "There's only so far you can go thinking of the family. For once I want to do what I want not what my ancestors would want."
Hazel smiled, "I'm telling you now, I am not cleaning any baby's backside. That is your job."
Owen laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. The heroes finally get there happy ending despite all life tried throwing at them.