Coughing and sputtering, Maka was able to drag Soul up to the shore before lying out on the sand to catch her breath. She turned to look at him, not even caring that the sand stuck to her face. He was lucky to be a cyborg. Most of the bullets had bounced off the parts of him that were machine, but a few had managed to lodge themselves in his more human parts.

"You should have left me," he said weakly. "Wouldn't have blamed you…"

She sat up and moved towards him. "Don't say things like that. I won't leave you."

"Need to get out of here…"

"Not without you." She took his right hand and squeezed it comfortingly. Somehow she was able to force a smile for him. "You're going to be okay, you hear me?"

He looked at her in a way he never had before. "Your mother… she asked that if I ever met you that I'd take care of you. But when I finally did meet you… I made a promise for myself that I would take care of you. Not for her. Because you were special."

She squeezed his hand again. "Stop talking, okay? Help will come soon."

"I did some terrible things, Maka…" he continued. "I just wanted to protect you… but I can't anymore…"

"You need to stop talking!"

"Shinigami promised no loss of human life. But something's not right. Need to leave m-"

He felt her lips on his suddenly. She pulled back just as quickly as she had leaned in. "Someone will come looking for us, and we'll save Tsubaki and everyone, okay? Just hang on." She lay down next to him, hand still in his, waiting for help to come.

And finally it did, in the form of a blue hair mechanic in a helicopter. Once the vehicle had safely landed, Black Star ran to them, dropping to his knees with an emergency kit next to Soul. "You gotta get outta here, Maka," he ordered. "There's a Landmate in the helicopter. She's got full gas, so you should get there fine. This one flies, so going over water shouldn't be a problem. Everyone but you guys, Ox, and Crona got back safe. They told me what happened." He got quiet suddenly. "I'm really sorry…"

"Ox did what he knew was right…" Maka replied.

"Him and your mother…" Black Star checked over Soul quietly for a moment before turning to Maka again. "You go take care of Tsubaki, now that you have Resonance. I'll take care of this guy, don't worry." She nodded and glanced at Soul one more time before running towards the helicopter. The mechanic shouted after her, "I know that bioroid emotions are supposed to be suppressed, but they can still love, you know? Save her! I wouldn't know what to do without her!"

She strapped herself into the Landmate and exited the helicopter. "Same goes for that guy there," she called back. "Get him better soon. He owes me a date after this is all said and done." And with that, she headed back to Mors.

"Hear that, you lucky son of a bitch? You got yourself a date," he chuckled at the cyborg.

"Guess you better get me outta here. Don't wanna be late." Soul smiled.

Akihito and his bodyguards were waiting at the landing platform when she finally touched down. Exiting the Landmate, Maka ran to them. "Is Tsubaki still alive?! Am I too late?!" she asked.

Akihito raised a hand to calm her. "She will be fine. Now, where is the data?" She unclasped the necklace and placed it in his hand. "The pendant? This was a gift from your mother, I… I should have guessed she would leave it in your care."

"You knew… didn't you…?"

"About your mother's death? Yes. I saw what was on the disk. I figured the other message she'd left you was for your eyes only, so I never returned to the lab." Closing his hand around the pendant, he continued, "I am so sorry. I wasn't sure how to break the news to you."

"It's okay. Just… please, save Tsubaki."

He nodded and motioned for Liz and Patty to follow him. While she waited for news on Tsubaki, Maka decided to meet with Shinigami and discover for herself what the man was hiding. She was allowed entrance into Shinigami's office and was welcomed instantly by the old man.

"Well done, Maka! You've saved them, saved them all! The bioroids will have full reproductive functions once they are updated with the Resonance data. They'll be able to live like humans do, all thanks to you!"

"So, what comes next then?" she asked, a scowl on her face despite the good news.

"Now? Well… now the human race can slowly vanish into history…"

"What do you mean?"

Shinigami's chair hovered closer to Shibusen's screen. "I have been in debate with Shibusen for some time now. Remember, it was created to monitor the effects of bioroids on humans, to see if humans will ever change their ways. But I have lived long enough to tell you that humans will never change. Shibusen has seen this, and it has made an accurate prediction that in just three generations, the human race will annihilate itself and destroy the planet. Shibusen has made the decision to release the D Tank."

She balled her hands into fists and shouted at him, "What was the point of finding Resonance if you planned on releasing the D Tank and killing all the bioroids anyway?!"

"You misunderstand. The D Tank has never housed a virus meant for bioroids. Rather, it is a virus that makes every human it comes in contact with… infertile. There is enough housed in the D Tank to blanket the earth, thus slowly euthanizing the human race." He hovered closer to her, careful not to get too close in case she was to become violent at what he had said. "I promised no loss of human life. Instead, we will simply cease to exist and let bioroids pave the way to a better future."

"Is that why you murdered my mother?!" she shrieked, lunging for him. "Because she knew you planned to use her research to kill the humans, and she refused to give you the Resonance data?!"

He floated safely away. "Please understand that your mother's death was an accident. We meant no harm to come to her. Her research was invaluable to all of Mors, and if she was alive today, we may have had other options. She helped design Mors. And there were two outcomes in mind when it was built. A place where humans and bioroids coexisted with one another or one that led the way to a new race. Your mother also helped build Shibusen. She made certain that D Tank could not be released by the will of human or bioroid. It has to be released with permission from Shibusen. And with the anger and violence towards bioroids that General Gorgon and the Regular Army have exhibited, Shibusen has decided to give me permission to release D Tank."

"This was all your doing, wasn't it…?" Everything Soul had said to her, about Shinigami's promise to him, how he was suspicious of his intentions; they all flooded back to her. "I was the bait, wasn't I? You manipulated Soul into doing what you wanted by promising my safety! You let the Regular Army follow through with their terrorist attacks to force Shibusen into making these decisions! You manipulated Shibusen!"

Shinigami floated over to one of the walls as a panel moved, revealing a red button. "You must understand that this is the human race's destiny. When I push this button, D Tank will be released, and the virus will envelope the earth-"

A shot was fired, destroying the button. Maka turned around to find Liz holding a smoking gun, Patty and Akihito behind her. "That is enough, Father," Akihito said calmly. "That button has now been made inactive."

"What do you think you're doing, all of you?" the old man asked, coming down from the wall.

"Our whole point is to protect the human race, right?" Liz replied. "Can't have you 'euthanizing' them now, can we?"

"Shibusen has decided! Its anger goes beyond General Gorgon's actions and encompasses the sins of all humanity!"

Patty stepped forward to speak up. "General Gorgon just surrendered and seeks full reconciliation."

"Correct," Akithito added. "The coup d'état is over. I'm sure Shibusen would have sensed this and taken back its decision. And Father… you knew it would, so you shut it down."

Shinigami floated closer to Shibusen's screen and began typing on the keyboard. "This changes nothing. It is time for man to step aside and let the bioroids take over." A rumble could be heard in the distance, shockwaves reaching City Hall. "I've just activated the mobile fortresses around Mors. They will destroy the D Tank, and nothing can stop them now…"

"I thought nothing to get through the security system around D Tank!" Maka exclaimed.

"A close-range shot from one of those things could be enough," Liz answered.

Akihito turned to his bodyguards. "I want the city evacuated immediately. Once the fortresses have reached an evacuated area, we can use any means necessary to take them down."

"Focus on platform seven!" a weak voice called from the door. Tsubaki leaned on the frame, newly restored from her procedure. "If someone can disable the control box on platform seven, it will shut down all the fortresses. The sequence is specific, so you can't just destroy it. It needs a password, and the password is 'Tsubaki'."

A blast from the outside of City Hall blew a hole in the wall. Once the dust cleared, Maka looked up to find Soul in one of the new, flying Landmates Black Star had built, the mechanic himself in one of his own behind the cyborg. "Soul! You're alive!"

"You asked, and I delivered!" Black Star laughed. He saw Tsubaki in the doorway and rushed to her, leaping out of his Landmate once he was safely inside the building. He mouthed a "thank you" over his shoulder to Maka before turning back to Tsubaki to help her stand.

"Well, don't just stand there!" Soul called to Maka. "Take Star's Landmate, let's go!"

She nodded at him with a smile and rushed toward the Landmate. Shinigami shouted to her, "Can't you see this is futile? Humans will destroy the earth!"

She stopped and glanced over her shoulder at the old man. "So you just want to give up and pass on our mistakes to the next race? Well, I'm not giving up! We have to have faith! Believe that the future is what we make of it!" And with that, she climbed into the mech and jumped out the hole after Soul.