Tim sat up from his bed and waited for the inevitable. "3…2…1… Yep." Nurses flooded the room and gasped at the large hole. Sanjay entered the room and glared at Tim.

"What da' hell???"

Tim winced then sheepishly grinned. "Hey, stare at it long enough and you will realize its not that big…?"

"How did you even manage this??"

Tim shrugged. "Heat vision?"

Sanjay stared at his friend. "Really? That's the best you could come up with? You expect me to believe that you can fire beams of amplified laser light from your eyes?"

Tim closed his eyes then opened again, releasing a deadly stream of laser at the floor. "Um… yes?"

"Oh, okay…" Sanjay backed away from the hole now in the ground.

-Mario's Story-

Our progress is slow but steady. Your snipers still haven't utilized the tech for rapid fire sniper rifles. And at this point, I'm grateful for that... There is a tap at my shoulder just after i dodge a wayward blast. 1290 is giving me the signal for private freq. "Yuki?"

"I have a question for you, Mario."

"Okay, shoot."

"Are we different from the others?"

"Say what?" My heart starts beating. Is she on to me?

"The others accept life as a soldier with open arms and do everything they are order to do by superiors. We don't. Are we a special breed of Dark Soldiers? More independent?"

It's a deep question, of course. I feigned all of the mental courses to get into the program without their mind control... She didn't. Something must have broken her trance, or maybe she never came here as a child either... Come to think of it, I know less than rat shit about her past. "I don't know," I finally reply. "But when we get Rec time, we can talk."

Her line is silent and there is a click. I sigh. Hope I didn't say anything wrong. I switch back to public channel just as we enter the range of all of the Resistance's guns. "Alright, ladies and gents, they are thirsty for a whooping. Let's serve them up a big bag of pain sprinkled with blood!" I open fire with my light rifle, mowing down many of the guys and gals I had worked with at one point. I steal a glance at the girl. 1290 is showering them with frag grenades. Mmhmm, quite a form she's got there...

"Tally ho!" 2323 leaps into a group of rebels with a frenzy. His blades flashing quickly. The speed of which his swords are moving combined with the blood from his victims gives his swords a certain glow. As more and more surround him, more and more bodies hit the floor.

T-5 is running around like a chicken with its head chopped off ramming his portable defibrillator into many unlucky rebels.

More of the rebels spill over the ledge toward my small team. T-5 panics but I don't. "Look to the sides!" I say to him. Our reinforcements are cutting the rebels off from the sides and behind. We were the cheese, the rebels have just sprung the mousetrap.

I direct my team to follow me to the top of the large rock where the last bit of the rebels are still hiding out. This would also be time in which I begin my plan of sabotage without getting caught.

As we make it up the mountain I realize that there is a certain someone missing. Someone vital to the sabotage: 78. I look back down the mountain and see he has been cornered near some abnormally large boulders. The weapon he is using is a light weight rapid-fire rail cannon. Not too subtle but not as rapid as you would think either. It does a good amount of killing if the enemy is far off and you can do a sweeping motion to get them all, but in his position, the enemy is closing in fast and he is running out of room to fire.

"Oh crap," I hear his curses over the intercom. "I'm hot."

"No, you're not." 2323 naively inputs.

"No, you moron. Not that kind of hot." I shout at the swordsman who now obviously wouldn't even know a barrel from a butt if it shot him in the face... tempting... nah. "His gun is overheating." And judging by the size, I'd venture to say that it will take awhile to cool down. That is time we don't have.

"That's why I stick with swords and close range weapons. Never reload and never overburn."

I'm too focused on 78 to retort or even correct 2323. "Can't you call out that joke of a board to fly you outta there?"

"I tried but they are jamming my signal!" 78 screams back. He has resorted to throwing every explosive device on his bandoleer to ward away the approaching squads of rebels.

Law-man, if you somehow know to turn of your frickin' signal jammer, I swear I'll make you the best apple pie ever... Somehow, you knew, bro. The signal jammer was downed and 78 was able to call over his board to save his ass. "About time, loser." I snort trying to keep spirits up.

"Whatever. Let's just focus on getting to the summit, okay?"

"Sure." I put the swordsman up front again as we sneak our way up to the top where you would be waiting.

A nurse came up to Tim and shined a light in his eyes. "His eyes don't seem to have suffered any damage from the light... Seems as if it is natural.."

Pfft, as natural as Fairy God Parents. Tim wasn't so sure how he had forgotten about Cosmo and Wanda, he remembered everything else normal about his other life... Maybe because they hadn't appeared in this reality until the night before. Tim closed his eyes and blocked out all the sound around him. In his mind's eye, he saw two stars; one green and one pink.

"Hey, look! It's Timmy! Hi Timmy!!" A hand poked out of the green star and waved gaily.

"How are you, Sport?" Wanda asked.

"As good as I can be without magic." Tim replied.

"Aw, tell Uncle Cosmo all about it."

"You should know. I'm sure you have been watching me the entire time."

Both stars were quiet. "Whats wrong?"

"This is our first time here, Timmy. We have been locked in an alternate reality via your mind's knowledge of the other reality."

Both Cosmo and Tim gave Wanda black faces.

"We aren't able to be here physically."

"Oh!" Tim replied. "Well, you are here mentally, right? So grant me wishes! Please?"

"Im sorry, Sport, but we cant!"

"Yeah!" Cosmo piped up. "We aren't even supposed to be here!"

Wanda smacked her husband. "Cosmo, you idiot!"

"What?"

Wanda sighed. "We broke Da' Rulez just to see you. Jorgen doesn't want any fairy to interfere with this reality."

"Why the hell not?" Tim was furious. "You could fix this so easily!"

"Yes, and destroy everything in the process."

"How so?"

"Paradoxes would be created and eventually devourer all you know and love with anti-matter." Cosmo replied.

Wanda and Tim looked at the green star dumbfounded.

"Dear Diary;" Wanda began writing in her personal book. "Today Cosmo comprehended Quantom Time Theory and the Paradox Theory!"

"Philip loves noodles!"

Wanda sighed. "Easy come, easy go."

"So are you saying you can't help me at all?" Tim asked returning to the main conversation.

Wanda nodded. "Jorgen's orders."

"Yeah, and Jorgen also said don't come here. And look! Here you are! So why can't you help me?"

"I don't break rules, Timmy. It isn't in my nature. This is already too much for me to bear."

"So you are just gonna let us try and blunder our way through this mess? Fine. Leave. I can handle this on my own then."

"Timmy, at least tell us how bad it is. We haven't seen!" Wanda pleaded.

Tim's voice was grave. "Fine." And he opened his mind's eye to give them a glimpse of a world without fairies.

"Hey, kiddo. How'd you like to see some action?" Sanjay, over the fact that his best friend had super powers, approached the young man Remy Buxaplenty.

"Would be nice." Ever since he had docked after another smuggling operation, Chester had been all over Remy's plane with a wrench and an idea. As much as Remy was afraid for his plane, he knew he could trust the teen mechanic with his baby. However, Chester's work severely shorted Remy's time in the field. The young man was a flying ace, but when it came to ground combat, Remy got weak knees. Even so, he was itching for a fight. "Where to?"

"You're gonna be in a team to find then escort to base two teens that have come all the way from Vondon. The smuggler who brought them is named the Crimson Chin. However, on the outskirts of the city, Crimson Chin sent out a distress signal. I am hoping that at least the two kids are not injured."

"I'm in. When do we leave?"

"Now." Elmer walked passed Remy, taking hold of his shirt collar as he went.

Shane and Chloe pressed on. "How do you think Mr. Blue, er, the Crimson Chin, is doing?"

Chloe looked back. "I dunno. He seemed strong, but I feel he will be over-powered."

"That's what I thought, too." Shane replied. "Great, a welcome wagon." Three figures were approaching them.

Lasers are reflecting off of 2323's blades at an alarming rate. I was surprised that he had such concentration. Then it happened. A bullet snapped through his blade and ripped through his left arm. Before 2323 even registered what had happened, more bullets rawed his skin. "Gu-Guy's," he whimpered. "Help me." He began to slump in front of us.

"He ain't gonna make it." 78 spoke flatly and kicked the soldier aside harshly.

As much as we didn't want to admit it, 78 was right: 2323 was a gonner. He would only hold us back.

"I guess that answered that question." T-5 refered to the conversation about the limits of blocking with swords. The group sadly chuckled.

We reached the top of the large rock, finally, and even I was surprised to see it nearly empty.

"Alright. I'm going to start setting up." 78 announced. "Set up a defensive perimeter around me. I don't want any rebels to mess this up."

I nod, but before he can see, I attach my bug to his mortar launcher.

"Captain." 1290 speaks to me. "We have a band of misfits headed our way. What is the plan?"

I think for a moment. "T-5, stay here." I hand him my pack. "This pack as a mini gun turret. Do you know how to use it?"

T-5 is at a loss. It doesn't look like a hack saw so it is obviously foreign to him. "Here." I place both of his hands on the turret controls. "Point and click."

He did. A short burst of fire is heard. The laugh T-5 gives off afterwards chilled even 78. "Cool."

I walk back to 1290, "I doubt he will be fine with being a medic after this fight." I mutter to her.

1290 laughs. "True, so I suppose you are with me then, Captain?"

"Yes. I am." I feel her hand brush mine and I blush. "Let's go." I re-cock my rifle and we move toward the small group of misfits.

"Wow am I glad to see you three!" Chloe said again.

Remy sighed. "Would you keep it down?" This wasn't the kind of action he had hoped for at all. "The drones could hear you, you know."

"Oh, but still!" Chloe continued. "If you knew the time I've had, you would understand."

"Enlighten me," Elmer probed.

"I've jumped off of a large cliff, met up with a three-headed dragon, had to deal with the mysterious Mr. Blue, who turned out to be a Crimson man." Chloe plopped down on the earth and sighed. "All and all, a very odd time for me."

Remy grabbed her hand and pulled her up."Let's keep going, eh? We are almost there so let just-"

"We are almost to the base?" Chloe's eyes shone. "Dude! We are almost there!" She grabbed Shane's arm. "Step it up, will ya? We are finally on the home stretch!"

"Okay okay!"

Remy chucked. "What's with her?"

Elmer winked. "Before he was moved here, Chester worked with her. Apparently they had a 'thing' for each other."

"Ah." And Remy and Elmer followed the two travelers.

"Oh my stars, Timmy, this is awful!" Wanda cried for the Earth.

"If Jorgen saw this, he would most definitely d something!" Cosmo added. Even his normally upbeat attitude was quelled by the grim situation of the world under Victoria's control. "Is there anything we can do?"

Tim flared his nostrels. "There is a lot you and your kind can do. But... they are all against the rules." he sad, mocking Wanda.

"Ahahaha!" Cosmo guffawed. "Wanda! He sounds just like you!"

Wanda ignored her semi-idiotic husband and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Sport. But Jorgen's orders, we can't interfere."

"Magically." Cosmo put in.

The other two looked at Cosmo. "Magically?"

"Yea." Cosmo pulled a very long document out of his tiny pocket, "I was really bored fifty-eight days ago and Philip decided she did't want to play, so I read the contract that Jorgen had all fairies sign to keep the Universe in check." he laughed at the expressions on his friends' faces. He knew full well that they didn't expect much from in in the legal sense. That was half the fun of playing the idiot. "Ahem" he put librarian-like glasses on the edge of his nose. "It says in paragraph 4: Sentence 3: 'No fairy under any circumstance may meddle in the newly created dystopian Turner-verse. They must not use their magic in any way to aid either side.' Now, there is a very very, very, very, very, very, very, very-"

"GET TO THE POINT!" Wanda and Tim shouted simultaneously.

"Very small asterisk at the end of this sentence." Cosmo flung the document upwards and caught the bottom. "See? Right there. It says: No fairy must directly aide either side of the conflict. Fairies will be scrambled based on the result of Shade's Resistance's success of failure to defeat Victoria."

"So?" Tim shrugged his shoulders.

"It says 'directly.'" Cosmo said with a sly smile.

The light slowly turned on in Tim's head. "I got ya... Wanda, Cosmo? How's about helping indirectly?"

Wanda bit her lip. "It is a risk... And I'm not too sure I would like to take it... I'm sorry, Timmy, but I just can't bring myself to break Da' Rules, even if it is through a loophole."

"Aww." Cosmo pouted, "You are Mrs. No-Fun, do you know that?"

-Mario's Story-

"Die! Misfits!" 1290 opened fire on the band of rebels before they were even in my range. Damn, stole all the fun. I open fire also on the group and rebel after rebel falls without getting a single shot off.

"We are beasts." 1290 and I exchange high-fives. Then it happens.

I'm pretty sure that 78 is still wondering how that happened. His cannon backfires... then exploded. somehow 78 survived. But where his cannon once rested was a twisted scrap heap in a fairly good-sized crater. I laugh inwardly, but rush to his aid. The board that he made to fight along side him now serves a different purpose. It carried him to the Albatross, our emergency stealth dropship. (no, we do not have fancy shmancy anagrams for our tech. If it gets the job done, we don't care about the name).

He's one hard turd to kill. I thought as i looked at 78. First a grenade exploded in his hand now this. I couldn't help but chuckle at the kid's misfortune. But then again, I am a kid, too. I check his vitals and I am assured he is gonna live. "You'll be right as rain, kid." I slap his back in an encouraging way. This situation is great; it is a win-win. Almost.

Lawrence did his job and the explosions on Ayer's Rock had begun. Hooo boy. "What's happening?" I shout out.

Trixie opened her eyes. She hadn't gotten a good night's sleep... again. But it was something she was getting used to, she also found meditation was the greatest form of recovering energy. And she had recovered a ton of it using techniques Sanjay had taught her years prior. How long had it been, she didn't know. However, she knew that there would be a rescue. All she had to do was stay sane long enough for Toria and Tim to devise a way to break her out.

Because she was such a high-profile 'criminal,' Trixie was under lock-and-key so to speak. Tommy was still her only guard, but Dark Soldier elite's like Tommy were trained to go many days without sleep. They would undergo a certain training that would put them in a hypnotic state that would turn off all other systems in their bodies except the primal ones needed to remain alive. It was a very sad technique but it oddly enough sharpened their senses.

"Hello there, Sunshine!" Tommy gleefully entered his captive's chamber. "So how was your night?"

Trixie frowned but the corners of her lips twitched. She also wanted to smile because, hell, he looked like Tim so much! "Ugh." SHe shook the thoughts out. "How do you think, douche?"

Tommy sighed and sat down across from the younger girl. "Some days you hate me, some days you like me. You are so complicated!" Then he gave her a sly smile. "It isn't me you like, it's my bother, huh?" He leaned in. "The infamous Timothy Drake Turner. How I remember the fateful day he broke up the family and escaped with you! Why, yes... I remember now." He smiled. "You should have told him you love him. You may never see him again after today."

"What?" Trixie would have shot out of her chair and skin if she hadn't been tied down. "The heck are you talking about?"

"Yeah, Crocker is actually going to try and interrogate you today. In fact, you are Little-Miss-Popular today. Toria and the benevolent dictator are also penciled in for today!" Tommy cracked his knuckles then reached for his sidearm. "Try anything funny, and I am instructed to 'off you.'Or whatever lingo Crocker uses."

Trixie leaned forward and tears poured out. Fate, fate, fate. Damn, damn, dam, damn. I know full well you can save me, so why aren't you here to swoop me up out of htis predicament like you normally are? I love you, please don't forget about me...

"Well, no saving for you. This place is locked up tighter than normal!." There was a buzz over Tommy's wrist comm system. "That would be your first guest, Victoria." he laid a kiss on Trixie's forehead. She was too stunned to respond.

-Mario's Story-

Back at the base, I am sure they are wondering why the hell they have just received SOS beacons from over ten platoons. I am sure that they are wondering why they also mysteriously and simultaneously stopped being received. I am also sure that I am plummeting a good one hundred thirty-five feet with no way in hell to stop without shattering at least... hmmm... all my bones? 78's Albatross had taken off just as Lawrence's explosions had begun. The ship's take off was shaky, but they were safe. The rest of my team... That is a different story.

T-5 was in a setup when the explosions were happening. I see him struggling with the set up as he also plummets. However, he is still enwrapped in the setup of the minigun and is falling at a faster rate than I am. To my left I see 1290. Damn she looks fine in that armor... Wait, Mario, snap outta it... She is so off limits it isn't even funny anymore. Besides, you are kinda plummeting to your death, so focus more on that. I agree with my common sense and fire a chord from my gauntlet. There is no rock for it to grab a steady hold of, but I don't care. The strong wire digs into 1290's shoulder armor and I hear her hiss over the comm system and know I have done superficial damage.

"Hold on, girl!" I whisper back as my gauntlet automatically reels her in to me. "Gotcha! And a good catch if I do say so myself."

"You are some kind of bad-ass, do you know that?" I don't have to look at her face to know that beneath her helmet, she is smiling.

I look down to T-5. I was young when I heard the term 'Bro's before hoes,' but that didn't apply to me for a number of reasons. One, T-5 was in no way my 'bro.' 78 was my bro. Two there is no way in heaven or hell that Yuki, er, 1290 is a whore. And not just because Dark Soldiers aren't the... most 'excitable' bunch. However, it still sickened me to hear the crunch of T-5 hitting the ground at record speed.

"We are going to end up like him if we don't do something fast!" 1290 screams to me.

"I know and I'm thinking!" I scream back. Then I see it. 'It' referring to 78's ditched board. It had carried him to the Albatross but in the panic, it had been left. "Reach out and grab that T.V.!"

"Roger." With amazing calm, 1290's hand flashes out and takes firm hold of the falling board. In another swift motion, it is activated and we are riding our way out of hell.

Tim was finally out of the hospital. Veronika was unable to find one thing that was wrong with him. It also help that every tool she picked up to use on him, he had zapped with his new-found (or rather remembered) laser vision. "How could I have forgotten laser vision! This would have helped me so much before." As he ran to where Toria was to meet him, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. He already knew why, but he hated the feeling. Cosmo and Wanda had set up a magical camera in his eyes so the fairies in Fairy World could see what the Tunerverse was like for a day. "Great so they don't want to help, but they don't mind watching the suffering?" he muttered as he ran. "So kind,"

"Finally you get here!" Toria grabbed him and ushered him into a van. "Wat took you so long?"

"Where is the plan to the building?" he shot back.

"You could at least make time to answer my question...." She pouted.

"Toria, you are the sister of the Dictator I am fighting against. My girlfrie- best friend is being holed up in your basement and you want to engage in small talk?" Tim shook is head. "This little thing is what you call a 'joint venture.' You and I work together to get each other what we want then the partnership is over. I still don't understand what you mean by you want 'freedom,' but you will get it... just as soon as I get what, or rather who, I want back!."

Toria's lip quivered. It was the same quiver that she had back in his other memories... The Quiver of Loneliness. "Oh." That's what she meant... By freedom. Freedom of spirit. His voice took on a gentler tone. "I'm sorry for exploding like that..." He put a friendly encouraging arm around her. "Can we just focus, though? Please?"

Toria inhaled slowly then exhaled. "Alright. Here. Take them." She shoved a rolled-up canvas at Tim. "These are the plans. Make your little drawings then wake me when you are ready to go." She then lay across the back row of the van and fell asleep.

Chester was surprised. Chloe was happy. The two were meeting for the first time in too long. As the two enjoyed a reunion, Remy, Elmer, and Shane went over what Mr. Blue, aka the Crimson Chin had been like.

"You know he is a legend?" Remy breathed. "The only man to defeat that one bronze soldier prototype."

"You mean that freak with the rocket-powered kneepad?"

Elmer nodded to Shane. "And yo hung out with him for such a long time. What as it like?"

Shane faced the two fanboys. "He was very... odd. He always had some sort of metaphor or simile to compare an actual event to."

"Sound sweet!" Elmer gushed.

"Yeah, well, the next time you are jumping out of an air train hundreds of feet above solid ground with a parachute that probably wont function right and the only thing that your leader has to say is 'Look beyond what you see,' then come back to me and tell me it is cool." Shane said swiftly.

"Hopeless case." Victoria sighed. "Where is my sister? I am really tired of trying to communicate with this turd." She exited Trixie's chamber. "I'll call Toria from wherever she is in this ginormous place for her turn." She then leaned in to Tommy's ear. "Remember what the plan is. You haven't screwed this up before, but just let me remind you about what happened to the last Dark Soldier that accidentally messed up an interrogation."

Tommy didn't feel afraid. He was confident in his abilities to play his part fully. However, the story of Dark Soldier 113 was always a disturbing one... His bones had been removed while being alive and then he was hung by his scalp until be died. Tommy gulped as the Dictator whispered the tale into his ear.

"So this is what I want you to remember, T-03: Don't mess this one up or it will be something even worse for you." Victoria pointed through the one-way glass window. "See the girl? She has charm. I can tell you have some feelings for her. Don't let her try and talk you into helping her outta here."

"Pfft." The Dark Soldier Turner scoffed. "See this heart?" He thumped his chest twice. "It has a mind and eyes for only one woman and leader." He then lightly thumped her chest, re-enforcing the bond between himself and his liege.

Vicotria smiled. "At ease, soldier. I trust you."

-Mario's Story-

I woke up after 1290. How do I know? Because she somehow made some food. "Where are we?" I groggily raised up on my elbows but 1290 rushes to my side to stabilize me. "Urch. What happened?"

"Are you okay?" She asks me.

"I don't know. Did you get the number of the tram that stuck me?" I ask.

She laughs, "Not quite what happened. You navigated the rocks just fine. It was the landing that you couldn't stick."

I arch an eyebrow and she laughs. I realize my helmet is off and roll my eyes. "You know I am one of the best pilots," I joke. I wasn't terribly good at piloting. out of five test flights on the final, I crashed one and almost crashed two. My instructor sent me on my way with a 'B' for 'Boy, don't you come back now, ya hear?' My instructor also noted that I was the first person to ever get road rage in the sky... Hehe looking back I now see he was probably right. Nevertheless, I wasn't terrible at flying either. I was just below average on the safety aspect of flight. "Anyway, I can land an oil floater on a Sea Carrier... How the Fate can I not land 78s hover T.V.?"

"It wasn't your fault." She poked at the survival slop that comes standard with our suits. "The rocks really battered up the stabilizer fins. No pilot would be able to land that pile-of-crud." She waved behind me.

"Whoa," The once-proud board is now jutting out of the ground, a mangled heap of scrap metal and still red-hot fuel. "I did that?" I point at the thing.

"Mmhmm." 1290 finishes her survival slop then hands me my share.

"Thanks, I guess." I greedily hork the goop down then hold back the tears from the taste. "Nastiest shit ever..."

"You got that right." 1290 collapses next to me and leans on my shoulder. "What do we do now? We are stranded here, our base is so far away and the Resistance is pretty close to us."

Unlike 1920, I recognize the region. Dark Soldier rely on advanced tech to help them navigate. I rely on landmarks and the stars. And it is getting to be dusk... "The stars will be out soon."

"So?"

"That is when we will move out."

"But we have no map!" She protests.

I tap my head with my index finger. "Why do you need a map when you have this? Knowledge of the sky." I stand and begin strapping on the armor that 1290 had peeled off while I was unconscious. She had peeled it off to make me easier to move after the crash, now I was equipping it to save hers... Irony. "Set up because as soon as the moon is out, we are moving out."

1290 cracks her knuckles then starts strapping on all of her crud. "I say we ditch the hand-held weapons. We will move faster this way."

Smart chick, I think to myself. I keep my pistol as does she. Never hurts to have insurance. As I start stretching, my boot kicks something. I put a cylinder from the ground. It is 1212's laser sword. I put it in my pouch. Never hurts to have insurance.

Toria's van rocketed down the empty street. Tim's plan was finished and just in time, too. Victoria had called just moments before Tim had put the finishing touches on his plan to say it was Toria's turn to talk to Trixie. Now the van was racing down the street to the Castle of Victoria.

A trip that took most an hour took them only ten minutes. The van screeched to a stop in a large garage. "Stay here until I return. Only then will I know for sure the best time for this plan." Then she was gone.

Tim sat in the van and waited.

Toria straightened her skirt then entered the outer chamber. "Hello, T-03."

Tommy smiled at the young girl. "Have fun, highness."

Toria entered Trixie's chamber haughtily. It was necessary so that Tommy would not suspect anything. "Hello and look at me when I speak to you."

Trixie looked up and Toria's eyes widened. She had heard rumors that if she didn't get the answers she wanted, Victoria would beat her captives. However, she had never seen proof. Now she had proof. This girl, Trixie, was her own age, yet her face was beautiful but bloody. "My god..."

"Oh, come closer, Dictator-to-be..." Trixie's voice was eerily serene. "Don't let the face fool you. Your sister was kind enough to give me a makeover."

Toria sat down across from Trixie and gave her a reassuring pat. "Tim is in my garage."

Trixie's face twisted into rage.

Oops. Bad choice of words, "I mean he is in the Castle's garage. He has a plan. Here." She slid a picture across to the prisoner. It was a picture of Tim and Chester smiling. Trixie's eyes teared. She had taken that picture. "Alright. I'll trust you, for now."

"Thank you."

For the next twenty minutes Toria fake-questioned Trixie then she left without saying good-bye to Trixie or Tommy.

Tommy waited for the last door to close before he entered to talk to Trixie. "Hey, the last one is coming. Do you have a message for Timmy? I'm sure that one day I will meet him on a battlefield."

"Shove it. I'm gonna get out of here somehow. I'll tell him myself." she spat.

"Aww you are so cute when you are feisty!" Tommy said. "Well, I'll tell him that."

Just then, Crocker entered. "Hello, poppet." He slowly moved forward into the inner chamber and ushered Tommy out. "guard the door and don't forget." He whispered the second part.

"How are we today?" Crocker stood behind the girl, his bony fingers interlocked.

She knew there was something creepy about the man, but she couldn't place a finger on it. He felt almost like a mage or what a demon-possessed power-crazed maniac would be like. "I know it means nothing, but go away."

"Ah, my deluded child. I cannot do that. If I did that, then I would be unable to sustain my power. A great writer that you will never know about once wrote, 'We do not destroy the heretic because he resists us: so long as he resists us we never destroy him. We convert him, we capture his inner mind, we reshape him. We burn all evil and all illusion out of him; we bring him over to our side, not in appearance, but genuinely, heart and soul. We make him one of ourselves before we kill him.' I respectfully say 'no. we can destroy the heretic.' Don't you see, this isn't a war you can fight completely with guns and swords and tanks. I have an infinite supply of troop as and humans to act as a human wall between your kind and me. You rely on the misfits; the ones who don't profit from this system. So we will always have enough troops. However, that is all about to change. This is a war were to win, you have to beat the mind. You fight with guns a war that is to be fought with thought. This is why you are losing."

He continued, "You do not realize this, but we have our own spies in your operation. How? Simple; we attack the mind. At the snap of my finger I could have captured over half of your entire organization. The ones you felt you could trust will betray you and now you will die with that knowledge."

"Die?"

"Yes, you will die. Either mentally or totally, to me. You will die wanting to scream the truth about how much I really control, but the waters of ignorance that you are your operation have operated under for so long will drown out your sound, then your life. You will doe screaming silently."

Trixie panicked for the first time since she had initially been incarcerated. He was right. This was no bluff. By fighting the war physically, they had been revealing themselves. Crocker fought them not to win, but to reveal them. His attacks were aways so well-placed that it only took her a few moments to realize that the attacks had been placed to weed out their source. But it was only obvious if you were looking for it. It all made sense now. Crocker was truly a mastermind. Not good, not evil. Just simply a mastermind in quintessential form. He would win at this rate. He played to win. It didn't matter how many he killed, just as long as he could gain complete control over the mind of the people. Shade's Resistance had been fighting the wrong kind of war.

"Oh my Fate..."

"Yes, your fate." Crocker's crooked teeth shone beneath his dark hood and he placed both hands on the young girl's shoulders. "There is a way for you to be saved..." His bony fingers traced her face.

Tim stood up as Toria approached. "Crocker is in there with your girl as we speak." Toria said with urgency in her voice. "I bugged the room. THe audio quality is bad,, but it is good enough for use to e=hear what we need."

"What do we need?" Tim asked unfolding his arms.

"Crocker to stop talking. Trixie is gonna milk all the information she can get from him before he decides what to do with her." The two packed for the plan.

Trixie didn't know when Crocker was gonna stop, but she hoped it was soon. His hands were cold and almost slimy. He pinched her cheeks then smiled. "Back in my day, I was quite the ladies man. Let's see if I still have it."

Trixie's eyes widened then the braced herself against her bonds. For days she had been working at her ropes and she felt that they were near breaking point. She didn't know exactly what the old man had in store for her, but if it involved the drill he somehow got a hold of, she didn't what to know.

"We have to move now!" Toria kicked down the vent in the garage and started crawling to the detention center.

Wit all of the break-in's we have done to this place and places like this, you would think Victoria would put in a better vent system. Tim thought as he and Toria crawled through the vent systems. "How far away is the detention block?"

"It doesn't connect to this vent system." Toria replied. "After we get to the end of this vent system, you are going to have to activate your cloaker and I will lead you to were the detention block is."

"Great..."

Their steady progress was moderately fast considering it was a slight incline. The adrenaline rush in Tim's head made him forget about everything except saving Trixie. "Are we there yet?"

"No, not yet..."

-Mario's Story-

"So, where is the magical map that you somehow possess?" Yuki makes fun of me.

"In my head." I reply. "And before you shoot another jab at me, look up."

She does. "So what? They are stars..." Then she trails off. Dark Soldiers normally don't look up. This is because the sky is usually filled with gray swirling clouds or some other such artificial weather pumped out by the countless factories across this desolate planet. Heard that they purposefully pump out the non-toxic smoke to keep people without view of the stars so they cannot dream, or shoot for the stars or reach for the sky. Why would you want to reach for something that looked that dismal? It made sense that Crocker and Victoria would want to block it.

Yuki's soft voice broke my thoughts. "There are so many stars!"

"Yep, and did you know that the Earth moves the same way every certain number of months? With this knowledge and a clear view of the stars, you can never be lost." I point up. "See that bright one?"

"Yeah?"

"That is the Polaris; the North Star. No matter where you are on Earth, it always is above the north pole. Just follow it and you are going north. walk away and you go south."

"Handy." She pauses for a moment before grabbing my arm. "Well? What are you waiting for?? Let's get a move on."

Our trek starts of slowly. We want to pace ourselves. As we go, we pass the rubble that was Ayer's Rock. Dead Dark Soldiers litter the ground and there are no Rebel's in sight. Good. As we keep going, we see T-5's mangled body. "Yuck." We give the teammate a proper burial then move on.

It ins't long before the topic I had been expecting since earlier that day reared its head. "Are we different?" Yuki asks me.

Crud. "What do you mean?" I feign naivety

"Look at us!" She waved her hands dramatically, "We are alive. Almost a legion of Dark Soldiers were sent on this mission, yet we are the only ones to survive. How do you figure that?" She sounds angry.

"I don know. Guess we are each other's good luck charm, eh?" I chuckle but can tell she is in no mood for jokes. She wants answers.

I look ahead and know that soon we would be spotted by a platoon search party that the Dark Soldiers have no doubt sent out by now. That means I can't tell her the truth, or else I'd have to, well, you know... "To be honest, I think we are different. We are a different breed of Dark Soldiers..." And I start to weave an elaborate tale of how the Dark Soldier had at one time, a very long time ago, been a force for good...

Tim and Toria finally stopped at a vent. "Are were there yet?"

"Yep." the teen girl kicked out a vent and dropped down. Tim activated his stealth package.

"Stay close and don't make a sound." She said putting a finger to her lips. Then the two made their way to the detention block.

"That's it, old man!" Tommy rushed into the inner chamber and shoved Crocker to the side.

Now Trixie was confused. "What?"

"Go on!" Tommy swiftly slashed through Trixie's bonds. "Get outta here!" Then he pushed Crocker, "I cannot take working for you anymore, old man. Run, Trixie!"

Trixie jumped from the chair and found the strength to obey the Dark Soldier. Obey the Dark Soldier? What the hey is going on here? She thought as she slowed to a jog, partly due to hunger pains kicking her stomach. She smiled feebly and realized she had trusted the Dark Soldier's advice to run because he was a Turner. "I hate that so much..."

"Hate what?" The voice of Tim!

Trixie spun around into his waiting, but surprised arms. No wait, those weren't Tim's arms... "Toria!" Trixie forcefully pushed away from the girl looked behind her. "Tim!"

"Hey there!" They shared a brief embrace then Tim gave his friend a look. "How the hell did you escape?"

"Tommy help me!" She cried.

"Tommy?" Toria turned to Tim. "Alright, I gave you what you want, or rather who you wanted. Now, do not forget you end of the deal." And with that she ran into the shadows of her own castle.

"Okay... What the heck was that?" Trixie pointed in the direction of Toria.

"She can't be caught helping me, remember? She is Vicky's sis. But more importantly, how are you free?"

"Tom. He revolted against Crocker..." Toria started.

"Tom?" Tim thought hard. In his other life, there had only been one Tom. "Does he claim to be my brother?"

"Yeah. Tommy Turner."

"We have to get outta here." Tim grabbed hold of her wrist and dragged her into a dark area with pillars. "Go, I'm right behind you!" He pushed her through a hole and they were outside in a parlor.

"I don't get it, he saved me." Trixie was confused.

"You don't know Tommy. In my other life, he followed every rule and was could manipulate a person to do whatever he wanted as long as it followed the law."

"So?" Trixie asked.

"Hello? Vicky is the law!" Tim replied. "It was their plan for you to escape!"

"Why?"

"because we knew that you would lead us to him!" Tommy's voice was somewhere in the large parlor and they had no way out.

-Mario's Story-

My story is finished and Yuki is very deep in thought. "Is that true?" She asks.

I plop my butt down next to her and sigh. The story was true. Somehow I knew that... as if i had another life as some sort of powerful dimension-jumping demi-diety... But it was very untrue for explaining why we were different. I did not know for sure why she was different and it was obvious it was unwise to tell her why I was different. She was confused, but not enough for me to reveal that I have been playing both sides of the field. "Yep it is very true."

"Huh, so we are remnants of a true Dark Soldier prerogative?"

I hiss my teeth inwardly. I really don't like lying to this girl. "Yeh."

She smiles at me and plants a kiss on my cheek. "Thanks for that,"

"No no," I whisper, "Thank you."

She blushes then stands. "C'mon, we should get moving."

Eventually we were found by a search convoy and taken back to base, but not before we had discuss almost everything under the sun. And not before we made out again. When she saw the convoy, she cried. She told me that she loved me with all that was left of her heart and hated what the Dark Soldiers had done to her mind. She told me she hadn't loved anyone before because everyone was always dying around her. The Dark Soldiers had killed the love in her, or so she thought.

"Maybe," she said as the convoy drew closer, "There will be a day when Dark Soldiers can retire without getting killed and there will be no wars and the children of this planet will get together in unity."

"Doesn't this dictatorship mean that there is unity on Earth because they are all united by one leader?"

"Don't be a fool," Yuki smiled through her tears. "Look at your armor, your cloth; bloodstained. Humans are still killing humans... But when that day of freedom and peace comes, I pray that we will be together on the beach, alone, watching as humanity will progress into the future in peace."

That little speech struck home for me and I lost my taste for killing. I thought about maybe recruiting her to Freedom's cause, and many times after that visited her room and talked politics... But I never got the chance to tell her my secret.

Two weeks later we were on another mission and you guys called in a bombing run... She was underground in a cave... I couldn't save her.

-End Mario's story-

Mario sighed. "Hot damn. Her screams are still in my ears. And her face... her beautiful face..." For the first time Mario broke down and cried.

Molly put a hand around her friend's shoulder. "It's okay."

"Yeah, she would have just turned you in anyway. You can't trust Dark Soldier, you know." Dwight added in with spit.

Mario flew across the room and tackled the younger kid. "What the Fate is your problem?" Mario bellowed. With one hand he lifted Dwight up and then threw him across the room into Molly. "You have not experienced what I have! Do you know who you are fighting? Do know the enemy? Have you lived with them for many moons?"

Dwight stood up in a rage and rushed Mario. "You thick-skulled pretty boy!" With a flying tackle the two were again on the ground scuffling. "The enemy is the enemy! How can you not see that?"

Mario kicked Dwight off of him. "The enemy is the enemy, yes. But the enemy is human!" This made even Dwight stop. Lawrence held fast to Dwight now. "Under all the armor and the masks they are human. Every time you swing that sword, every time you pull that trigger, you are ending a life that will never, ever, come back. It's done! You can't undo anything." He pointed out the window. "Somewhere out there, Yuki's body is still there, lying lifeless. She isn't coming back... That life is finished."

Molly ran over and stabled the young man who was obviously hurting. She kissed him. "It's okay, I'm here for you."

And then there was silence.

Was it really almost over? Victoria looked over the people gathering below her. At her castle two of the most dangerous and vile rebels were captured, or better yet, dead. Crocker's plan of putting spies into the resistance had come to fruition and as soon as this meeting was over, boom, the Resistance would be destroyed in fast but deadly blow. She smiled her beautifully cruel smile. The resistance all over was about to be crushed after this speech and the world would progress into a future of power. She had heard tales from her astronomers that there was a planet nearby that supported life. Yugopotamia was it? Either way, Earth was finally hers. She had inherited it, and that planet was next.

The clock struck thirteen and the Dictator began. "We are on the verge of a New Age..."

Tommy stepped out of the shadows with pistol lazily held in one hand. This would be the easiest kill ever. Tim had tarnished the Turner name in the ranks of the Dark Soldiers, but that blot was about to be whited-out. "Hello, bro."

Tim felt half-fear. Before Tommy had actually found them, Trixie had gotten away. "You aren't even supposed to exist." Tim replied.

"I don't know what you are a-rambling about, bro. However, you will be silenced in a moment or two." Tommy smiled and removes his mask. "See? I look just like you."

Tim bit his lip. "And that is were the differences end. They are only skin deep."

"Oh you little fool. Don't you see the error of your ways?" Tommy waved with his gun-holding hand. "I am your bother. Just claim insanity and I am quite sure I could get you back into the program."

"Over my dead body." Tim replied.

"Ironically," Tommy nodded to his gun. "That could be arranged."

"You like following the rules, right Tommy?"

"Of course. That is why I am winning; because I'm no cheater."

"Really? The law is a means for people to know what not to do. It is a way for people to control themselves. Humans have their own consciousness unlike animals!"

Tommy frowned. "You have my attention."

"Humans can think on their own. You cannot control a human for too long or they will revolt, they will go nuts!" What the hell are yo thinking? The Dark Soldiers used to be heroes of the world acting as a world-wide peace force. How did it get so twisted?"

"We were not twisted!" Tommy shouted back, "This is the future, sorry if you didn't get the memo! But things change as Father Time marches on! War is cruelty, but as long as there are people resistant to change -like you and your buddies- there will be war! As long as people have an opinion, there will be war! We Dark Soldiers follow Victoria to remedy this one fault of humanity."

"As long as there are people, there will be war. As long as there is thought, there will be war! As long as there are humans... there will... be... war." Tim shook with silent rage. His older brother was making sense but none at all and he hated that. "What are you planning to do? Put children in suspended animation until they are adults to cut out their childhood and imagination?"

"Actually no... but that's a pretty good idea."

"Don't you see you are no longer promoting peace? Do you even remember how the world was before Victoria's rule?"

"Of course not!" Tommy scoffed, "She has been the world leader for as long as anyone can remember!"

"Then why are there records of what the Dark Soldiers were before her rule?"

Tommy froze. Tim had just thrown into the mix Logic.

Hope he sees this is wrong. Tim thought.

"Simple." Tommy said after a pause. "She just... well we were very different back them because there was a different kind of war being fought."

"Then if she is so altruistic and benevolet, why is crime rising each year?"

"..." Tommy inhaled sharply as if he had been kicked.

"Why is there a resistance all of a sudden if things were always so perfect?"

"Shut up..."

"Why, if everything was so perfect, was there a need for Dark Soldiers?"

"Shut up!"

"Why has there always been a war if things were always so perfect!"

"Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!" Tommy's head fell heavily as if it would dislodge from his body and fall. "Just shut up... why is this happening?" he looked at his hands: one held a gun and the other had the dried blood of a former cell mate. "I guess... that maybe you are right."

Thank god... Tim felt his shoulders rise as if a large weight had been taken from his shoulders. It helped that the gun so recently pointed to his head was now hanging limply by his older brother's side.

"Then again, you are just a human like the rest of them!" Tommy raised his gun.

The trigger was pulled.

Bang.

The body fell.

Molly and Mario shared the sky once again. But they were also planning the strike on the Spires.

"How long has it been since there was a fight here?" Molly asked.

"Seems like forever. Like Time stood still for my story." Mario shivered and decided to joke it off, "I must be pretty important..."

Molly laughed and drew him closer. "Things really are moving fast, though."

"Yeah, I have a feeling that soon it will all be over though, like this is the ending to a story if everything goes as planned that is..." Mario laid his head on her shoulder. "It's almost over."

Then there was a hiss as the door that lead to the platform opened. "Mario... dude.. you are gonna want to see this." It was Chad.

After a short jeep ride, Mario and Molly were back at the base. "What's up?"

"This way!" Chad beckoned. "Me and my bro went out for a short walk and stumbled upon the person."

"Who is it?"

Chad smiled. "See for yourself."

Mario looked at the bed and almost gasped. "Yuki..."

The girl's eyes opened. "Mario...?"

Toria looked out her bedroom window. Nothing had changed. The people had swarmed like roaches to hear her sister's speech. She had heard a gun shot... Tim was dead. She knew it. Tim was dead and the Resistance was about to be blasted to nothingness. Crocker would eat the survivors alive.

"Maybe it wasn't meant to be..." She shrugged and turned her back to the window.

Trixie panted heavily. It was a once in a lifetime shot and she had hit it. Tommy lay dead at her feet and Tim was unharmed. "My goodness, Tim!" She rushed to his side and the two embraced again, but blissfully unaware that they were still in the bowels of the dragon.

Finally they break. "We have to go. I'm sure every thinks i am dead." Tim said.

"Yep, he was so cocky and had quite a reputation." She looked sadly at Tommy's face, a distorted cruel smile. "Let's go."

The two left Tommy there, drowning in his blood and his ego and went outside just as Victoria started her speech.

"Why don't we check on our favorite arch nemesis?" Tim asked.

Trixie complied and the two stood back as Victoria continued her galvanizing speech

"She is so into her speech, huh?"

"Yep." Sighed Trixie, just happy to have Tim by her side. "So is her audience. See that?" She pointed around the Dictator. "Cameras, broadcast around the world."

"Well then," Tim held up a triggering device. "Let's give the world a real show." he pressed the button.

Everything was going as planned. Crocker stood out of sight of the people and watched his adoptive daughter preach. Tim was no doubt dead. Tommy would be a decorated war veteran for taking out Tim. Trixie would go back into captivity, Shade's Resistance would be wiped out, and the minds of the people would be 'won' once again. "All in all, a very good day." Then it happened.

One by one, screens shifted from Victoria's demanding image to a serene scene. It was Dimmsdale but as he had left it. It was full of vibrant colors. A murmur went up. The people! The People! Crocker panicked for the first time in ages. The video was of Dimmsdale. The sky so blue... the grass green and non synthetic. Crocker screeched and went to Victoria.

"Pay no attention to the screens!" Victora shouted in vain. "Shut them off, shut them off!" She shouted to her media manager.

He could only shrug. "I have no control over any source now..."

Victoria screamed as Crocker pulled her into the dark... "Quiet! Send the Order 56. No doubt this is the work of Shade and his pathetic Resistance!"

Victoria nodded in pseudo-understanding and shakily walked to carry out the order. Little did she realize it was too late. Tim and Trixie had sent a message out to Shade who in turn broke apart his Resistance. Lairs were set to destruct and all information downloaded into back-up memories before being wiped from the computers. The Resistance was being destroyed, but on its own accord. All over the world their operations were being ended.

Tim and Trixie ran for their lives and freedom. They weren't being chased by Ninja's or Dark Soldiers, but they were running anyway. They had to get to the safe zone Shade had set up for them. When the reached it, they quickly started the large ship's engines and rocketed away to the remains of their base.

"Sure am sad to see it go..." Trixie said as she watched smoke billow from where the once-secret lair was.

Tim banked the ship to the right and nodded. "All that work. Seems like for nothing at first, but check it." He pointed to the view screen. "My memories are being broadcasted to ever channel and there is nothing she can do about it." He felt a feeling of triumph well up in his soul. He knew the fight wasn't over, but it was pretty damn close now.

A.J., Veronika, Sanjay, and Gary all filed into the ship as they watched Remy fly away in his jet. All who mattered from this lair were now safe. All of the impostors and impersonators were down there somewhere trying to figure out what had happened; their chips issued by Victoria interfering with the plan that Shade had laid down centuries ago for such a time as this.

"Radical moves, guys." Veronika shouted as the smoke faded into the horizon behind them. "I thought you tow were dead for sure!"

"I'm not dead till i say I am." Tim replied cockily.

"Riight." Trixie kissed his cheek.

And the ship disappeared into the horizon of the future to finish their plans against Victoria.

A/N: Well its done! (not really but this section is) feed back read review!!!!! For the record, I think this is the longest chapter ever written. 10k+ words please read and review because I am planning to continue!