Author: On this Election Day, the polls are closed. I only got two votes, and they were both for the same character, so without further moratorium…

A middle-aged man with dark brown hair and matching eyes ran through the forest. He had been in New York City on that the day: the day that the world had turned upside down. New York City didn't exist anymore. Its new name was Deep Blue City. This was the city from which the man had fled. It had been getting harder and harder to hide within the ruins of skyscrapers, so he left and went south.

He had finally reached the former capitol of America. What used to be D.C.: the District of Columbia was now D.C.: the District of Cynclonia. The man knew that now he would have to head west. He cursed his stupid company that had sent him on a business trip that fateful week. He didn't even know if his wife and daughter were still alive.

Gabe led the girls away from the trees and to a clearing. He told Lizzie and Chastity to stay in the bushes at the edge of the forest. "Lizzie, in case something goes wrong, use your bow." Then, Gabe walked out into the meadow with Eliza close behind him.

Kisshu was enraged. He went to his closet and stripped himself of his royal robes, pulling out the warrior attire that he had thought he would never don again. He put on the clothing he had worn during his takeover of Earth. He focused on Eliza, picturing her face in his mind. This was his destination. Then, he teleported.

He appeared in a clearing that was surrounded by trees on all sides. And there, only about twenty feet before him, stood his special Eliza. Her cat ears and tail had come out. She looked lovely. But what was this? She was with another man! "Dragon Swords!" he summoned.

Gabe's head shot up, and he quickly pushed Eliza to the ground behind him. "If you want her, you have to go through me!"

"You fool!" Kisshu growled. "You're asking for your own death. Are you aware of that?"

"You murdered my parents!" Gabe exclaimed.

Kisshu cocked his head to the side. "Did I? I don't remember how many humans I've killed. It doesn't matter. It isn't important."

Hearing this, Gabe roared and rushed at Kisshu with his spear. But Kisshu teleported behind Gabe and stabbed him in the back. Gabe's scream echoed throughout the forest, and both Lizzie and Chastity had to bite their tongues to keep from screaming with him. Gabe wrenched himself from Kisshu's sword and spun around, the world seeming blurry. He aimed his spear for Kisshu's throat and entirely missed his target. Kisshu cursed as the sharp weapon punctured his shoulder. Gabe pulled out the weapon and tried again, the blurriness of his vision ebbing with the pain. This time, Kisshu teleported right as Gabe lunged forward. Gabe stumbled and the spear ended up stabbing the ground, quickly getting stuck in the spring mire. Gabe stood up without the spear and selected a knife from his chest strap.

Turning around, Gabe's golden hair gleamed in the sunlight. "Today," Gabe said, "you die like they died!" He surged forward and his knife clipped Kisshu on the forearm, but the Cyniclon's sword cut off Gabe's left ear. The two fighters glared as their bodies passed one another. Kisshu whirled in the air and managed to stab Gabe in the thigh. Gabe swore as the fiery sensation ripped through his flesh.

Chastity sat in the bushes in horror. She had already lost her brother once. She wasn't going to lose him again. She pulled from her pocket the Faze-Gun that she had taken from the officer in D.C. She aimed well, and fired.

A pulse of energy hit Kisshu dead in the chest. His body convulsed and he fell to the ground. As he stood up, he tried to fly or teleport, but a Faze-Gun was designed to interfere with a Cyniclon's bodily systems. The advantage he had had over Gabe was gone now. Teleporting and flying were no longer options.

Gabe rushed at him with a shout. Kisshu, still shocked from the deprivation of his abilities, was unable to dodge him completely. Gabe's knife dug deeply into Kisshu's bicep, and the Cyniclon bellowed in agony.

The man who was rushing through the forest near D.C. heard a scream. Then there was another. It sounded like someone was in pain. "I don't know who it is, but I should try to help. Maybe, if I help this stranger, someone else somewhere will help a stranger. And the stranger they help might be my family." So thinking, the man raced toward the sound. He knew that it was a big risk. He was past the age for those who the Cyniclons allowed to live. If this wounded person was an alien, he would be killed on the spot. As the sound grew louder, he slowed. He would approach this situation carefully. He came upon a clearing in the woods and kneeled down in the bushes. As he stared out at the scene before him, he could not believe his eyes.

Kisshu, angered by Gabe's actions, grabbed Gabe's knife-wielding hand and bit. Gabe wrenched his hand away in shock, twirling his wrist as he did so. The blade of the knife sliced Kisshu's left eye as it passed. Kisshu howled in pain.

Eliza had been sitting, stunned, on the ground. This howl brought her back to her senses. She ran for the tree line on the opposite side of the clearing from Lizzie and Chastity, not wanting to draw Kisshu's attention to them. Having no desire to get hit by a stray weapon, Eliza ducked into the bushes. Suddenly, she was face-to-face with a strange man.

"Mew Ichigo," the man murmured, awestruck. "We all thought that you had died."

The cat-eared girl that had just come into the bushes wiped tears from her eyes and whimpered. "I'm not Ichigo. I'm Elizabeth."

"Oh," the man was suddenly moved for this girl, and he knew why. "My daughter's name is Elizabeth."

It was a strange morning, Lizzie thought. It seemed too dark. The sun had recently risen, but was now shrouded behind dark, grey clouds. Lizzie watched as the sky burst into a torrent of rain. She stifled a gasp. She didn't want the prince to know where she was, lest she be used as a hostage. She readied her bow, preparing for the worst. If Gabe lost this fight, she would send an unforgiving arrow straight into Kisshu's heart.

Kisshu clenched his bleeding eye shut. He could no longer see straight in order to aim well. The rain fell and caused the already damp spring ground to turn into mud. The Cyniclon was used to flying rather than walking – at least during battle – and the newly slick surface made keeping his footing difficult.

Gabe was ready, digging his feet into the sticky mud to find his footing on the ground beneath that had not yet been touched by the rain. He had rushed a good distance from his opponent, and now pulled out his ninja stars and began hurling them at the alien.

Kisshu tried to evade the sharp projectiles, but with his vision skewed, it was difficult. One of the blades sliced through his left ear, producing a searing pain, as a Cyniclon's ears are incredibly sensitive. In his efforts to dodge them, Kisshu slipped and fell into the mud.

"That's it!" he growled. "I've played fair up until now, human. But fair can f*ck it for all I care now!" So saying, he raised his hand and aimed it at Gabe. Pure power rushed out of his palm and enveloped the human boy. Ripples of energy began to suck the human boy's spirit from his body. Gabe briefly screamed in pain before slipping into unconsciousness.

"No!" Lizzie shouted, standing up. She aimed her weapon… and fired.

The well-aimed arrow plunged straight into Kisshu's chest, stopping his heart and stopping Gabe's spirit from being stolen. The alien prince fell backwards into the mud, dead.

"Gabe!" Chastity ran to her brother's side. She placed his head in her lap and touched his neck, checking for a pulse. The rain fell down and washed the blood from his face. "Gabe!" Chastity screamed frantically. Her brother opened his eyes. She hugged him. "Thank God, you're alright!"

"Eliza!" Lizzie shouted. "Eliza!"

"Lizzie!" Eliza stood up, and the strange man stood with her.

The man widened his eyes at the sight of Lizzie. "Elizabeth? Elizabeth!" He ran toward her, hopeful and disbelieving and ecstatic all at once, arms wide open.

"Dad?" Lizzie couldn't believe her eyes either. "Daddy!" she squealed. She threw down her bow and ran into his outstretched arms. "Oh, Daddy, you're alive!"

"My little Lizzie," her father didn't bother to restrain the tears that flowed down his face. "I'm so glad that you're safe."

Eliza walked over to where Kisshu lay dead on the ground. She couldn't explain it, but she actually felt sad. After all that he had done to her, she couldn't help but feel something for him. He had been her first love, even if it was in such a twisted meaning of the word. She began to cry. Then, she leaned forward and gave him one last kiss. "You horrible b*st*rd…" she murmured. "You made me love you."

Lizzie, seeming to remember something, walked out of her father's embrace and over to Eliza. "Hey," she said. Eliza looked up at her. "Technically speaking, he was your husband," Lizzie told her. "And the two of you had no children; that makes you the heir, Princess."

Eliza nodded slowly. "I guess it does…" she said softly. She turned back to Kisshu and shut his eyelids. As she did, she noticed that the mate mark on his left eyelid had been cut in half. The "love" was destroyed. And the rain continued to fall.