A/N: Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy!

Pollardinator: Unfortunately, that chapter was the last we will see of those characters. Sorry!

Arthur: We will all miss James

BigBoss: James Roland- a family man

BearyBeary: True dat

MataNui: There was no other way...

IsaacClark: I don't think Eleanor cried in the bad ending. She cried in the sad ending though

ZAMSPEAR: Yes, once more.

StaySilver: It's gonna be okay :)

jonathan: I'm glad you like it!

Chapter Twenty-One: Free Bird

When they saw the tower explosion, Booker and Elizabeth headed out of the Blue Ribbon pub and towards the gondola to Monument Island. As they made their way to the station, they saw the citizens of Columbia gasping in terror at the smoldering pile of rubble.

Booker heard children crying to their mothers, and their mothers asking their husbands, "How did this happen?"

Booker saw a little boy run over and tug on Elizabeth's dress with tears in his eyes. Elizabeth looked down at the little boy and saw he was upset. She knelt down and asked, "Are you alright sweetheart?"

"Are we gonna die?" he asked her in a scared tone of voice

Elizabeth smiled sweetly and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Don't worry, everything will be fine. God will protect you."

"He will, won't he," the boy said in a more confident voice

"Now run along, I'm sure your mother is worried sick about you," Elizabeth told the little boy, patting him on the back.

The kid ran off happily, once again without a care in the world. As Booker watched the encounter come to a close, he realized a more innocent side of Columbia. Would he be responsible for innocent deaths if he let Songbird loose on the city? He quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. It had to be done to save the life of every other child on the earth. If the blood must be on his hands, so be it.

"C'mon Elizabeth," Booker called

Elizabeth ran over to him and the two continued towards the gondola.

Booker couldn't believe how well their disguises were working. No one had recognized them this whole time, or even questioned them for that matter. Maybe it was because they were all so caught up in the recent turn of events. Booker watched as soldiers rushed past him, abandoning the gondola for the now burning tower. He couldn't have asked for a better diversion. Once they reached the gondola, the whole place was completely empty.

They stepped onto the large platform, which was connected to multiple cables leading to Monument Island, and walked over to the large golden lever.

"Are you ready Booker," Elizabeth asked nervously, taking his hand in hers

Booker took a deep breath. This was it. Once they pulled that lever, there was no going back. Finally, he would get the answers he wanted, the closure he needed. He would find out about AD and this Mr. Davidson, whom he had been dreaming about this whole journey. It would all end here, and hopefully, this time he could move past it. Hopefully, this time he would have Elizabeth to spend the rest of his life with.

"I'm ready," Booker answered as he grabbed the lever and was about to pull it to the side, when he heard a loud, earsplitting bird screech.

"I thought you were supposed to call it after we destroyed the tear generators!" Elizabeth asked Booker

Booker's eyes widened in fear as he realized how bad the situation had just gotten. "Elizabeth, I never called it!"

Suddenly, Songbird shot out from under the Gondola and slammed its fist down on Booker, pinning him to the ground.

"Booker!" Elizabeth screamed in terror as the Bird pressed its powerful fist against him.

"Run Elizabeth," Booker yelled to her, trying to at least save the one he loved.

The Songbird cocked its head to the side, as if scanning Booker to see if he was the right target. Booker noticed that something was off about the bird. It looked different then before. Instead of tough leather lining its head and neck, it had armored plates. No longer did it have an air tube on the end of its beak, in its place was a razor sharp tip. Its wings were also now lined with metal, making it more intimidating then it was before, if that was even possible. Once it was finished scanning him, Songbird's eyes changed from a green light to crimson red. The bird picked Booker up, squeezing the air out of his ribs, and held him up high. It then spun around and threw Booker towards a single building, floating on its own next to the main island.

"AAAAHHHHHHH!" Booker yelled as he came crashing through the window of the building, slamming against the side of the wall and crumpling on the floor. His vision was hazy and his head was wringing. The pain Booker felt was unlike anything before. It felt as if he had broken literally every bone in his body. He knew the shield had saved his life, and also his appendages, but he was down for the count. He could not possibly fight against this armored Songbird.

As Booker tried to stand up, he heard the Songbird screech again. It was coming, coming for him. He was all out of options, with only one idea left. Booker managed to get on his feet and held his hand up weakly. From the back of his hand, burst several golden pipes, shooting a surge of pain through his body. The pipes immediately let out the cage song as loud as they possibly could.

Just as the song finished, Booker felt the building shake violently. The armored Songbird's claws ripped through the roof and tore it completely off as if it was paper. The metal bird hopped inside and moved towards him, cornering him against the wall. As it raised its fist, the Booker heard Elizabeth yell, "Stop! Please, stop!"

He noticed her struggling in Songbird's other hand, trying to get free. It looked at her, cocking its head to the side as if it didn't know what she meant.

"Please, just take me to the prophet, but let him live!" Elizabeth pleaded, hoping and praying it would work a second time. Unfortunately, the Songbird seemed to be uninterested in sparing Booker. Again, it raised its claws, ready to finish Booker off with one blow.

Booker cringed, waiting for the finishing hit, when suddenly something burst through the other side of the wall and knocked the armored Songbird out of the building. Booker shielded himself from the crumbling ceiling as he rolled away from falling chunks. When he managed to get up, he almost didn't believe what he saw. Standing next to him was Songbird, the original Songbird that he had known before this. His lucky guess was right; the creature he had just been ambushed by was another model of the first. Then the terrifying realization hit him, there was a second Songbird.

His Songbird bent down its head and got on eye level with Booker. Booker put his hand on the top of its beak and told it in a booming voice, "The other bird has taken Elizabeth! We need to get her back before its too late, so please, will you work with me again?"

Songbird chirped in agreement and lowered its head so that Booker get on. He grabbed the side of Songbird's eye and climbed up on top of its back, gripping the edge of a large sheet of leather that ran down its back. The Songbird screeched and took off into the sky, which was now filled with dark clouds and bright lightning.

Booker spotted the gleam of Songbird 2's armor and called to his bird, "I think it's headed to Monument Island! We need to stop it before it does!"

Songbird nodded its head and kicked it into fifth gear, flying as fast as it possibly could after its counterpart. Booker held on tightly as the bird weaved through buildings and under skylines, desperately trying to pursue the metal bird. The bird was incredibly agile for its size, a true technological wonder. Booker just hoped that the creature they were chasing after wasn't an upgraded version.

The two quickly began to catch up to Elizabeth's captor as they closed in on Monument Island. The metal Songbird began to screech angrily as his Songbird began grabbing chunks of buildings and throwing them at it. Booker could hear Elizabeth scream as Songbird 2 began pulling fancy maneuvers, flipping and spinning in the air to dodge their attacks.

Songbird cried out in frustration when it ran out of things to throw. It began beating its wings even faster, trying to focus on speed to actually catch up to its clone. Booker realized that they were coming in too hot on Monument Island and yelled to Songbird, "Careful, the statue!"

Right before they were about to collide with the golden angel of Columbia, the two birds tilted violently and began to spiral around the statue. Booker felt himself getting sick as they spun after each other at such high speeds. Songbird let out another battle screech, as they got closer to the top. Booker squinted his eyes so he could keep an eye on Elizabeth, who was still trying to fight her captor's grip. Wind whipped around him as they got faster and faster. If he wasn't trying to save Elizabeth and the rest of humanity, the experience of flying that fast would have been incredible.

Suddenly, the two birds jerked upward and shot further into the sky like bullets, past the statue and the zeppelin floating above it. Before Booker knew what was happening, he saw the two birds flying at each other at full speed. His eyes went wide and his pupils shrunk in fear, the Songbirds were going to ram into each other!

What happened next was a blur.

With the force of twelve trains, the two birds hit each other, launching Booker and Elizabeth into the sky. The two Songbirds screeched and clawed at each other as they plummeted into the dark clouds, crashing into the top of the statue on their way down.

Booker heard Elizabeth cry out in terror as the two began falling out of the sky. The world seemed to be spinning as he tumbled and somersaulted in the air. He held out his hand, desperately trying to grab Elizabeth's as their speed increased.

"B-BOOKER!" she yelled as she reached out and tried to grab his hand

"No NO! ELIZABETH!" Booker yelled back as he made one last grab for her hand and managed to latch on. He quickly pulled his sky hook out as they tumbled helplessly and held it out, hoping to God that there was some sort of skyline that wouldn't rip his arm off. The skyhook attracted towards the Zeppelin and latched onto one of the rails surrounding it.

Unfortunately, they had too much speed coming into the rail, so mid slide, the latch on the hook broke off, causing them to go plummeting into the now broken statue. Elizabeth screamed again as they fell, terrified that it might be the end for them. Booker wrapped his arms around her and shielded her, so if the impact killed him, she might live. Fortunately, they managed to fall through the gaping hole the two Songbirds had left in their squabble.

They hit the ground with a thud, cracking the wooden floor around them and causing Booker's arm to break with a loud crack.

"AGH!" Booker cried out in pain as he gripped it

Elizabeth was lying next to him, panting heavily, scared but alive. She sat up, trying to control her breaths, and asked Booker, "Are you alright?"

"My arm," Booker answered through gritted teeth, "I think it's broken."

Elizabeth was at his side in less then a second, holding him up and catering to his injury. She ripped off a strip of her torn dress and used it to quickly create a makeshift sling. Booker winced in pain as she set it up, trying not to scream again and give away the fact that they were still alive. Once she had finished with his arm, she helped him up and took a look around the room. As Booker checked it out for any sort of machine, he had a terrible realization. They were in Elizabeth's old room. There were no tear generators, or anything of the sort. They had come all this way for nothing.

"No," Elizabeth muttered as she dropped to her knees, "No, no, no this can't all be for nothing!"

Booker was just as shocked. They had lost. There was no way they could stop the tears. All of reality, as they knew it was at an end. Just as Booker was about to comfort Elizabeth, Songbird burst through the opposite side of the wall and landed next to them. Booker and Elizabeth saw that its wings were ripped and the tube on its beak was completely torn off. There were large gashes in its neck and one of its eyes was completely cracked open, the light put out. Elizabeth gasped in horror and ran over to it, wrapping her arms around its head and began crying. The Songbird cooed out in pain, its eye flickering as if it would go out any minute. Booker watched as Elizabeth cried over her fallen friend, and almost began to cry himself. Elizabeth looked over at him, her eyes red from crying and asked, "Booker, do you still have that key?"

Booker nodded and handed her the white bird key, even though he had no idea what it did. She moved over to the Songbird's chest as it moaned out in agony again.

"Shhhh, it's alright," Elizabeth told it, "I'm here. It's going to be alright."

Suddenly, Booker heard a screech. He ran over to the large hole in the wall and saw, off in the distance, the silhouette of the armored Songbird coming closer. Booker began to panic; they could not hope to survive another encounter without their Songbird's help.

"Elizabeth, the bird is coming!" Booker called over to her

When he didn't hear a response, he turned and saw Elizabeth still kneeling in front of the dying bird. Booker ran over and told her again, "Didn't you hear me, the bird is coming! Coming now!"

He then saw something on the Songbird's chest. It looked like a keyhole, exactly like the one that would fit the bird key. Elizabeth slipped the key inside and turned it to the side. Songbird's good eye suddenly shifted from yellow to a bright blue color, something Booker had never seen before.

Another screech drew his attention away from the scene as he saw the armored bird dive-bombing towards them; ready to decimate them and the ground they stood on. But suddenly, before it could reach them, the bird flickered black and white, and then disappeared in a flash of light.

Booker turned back to Elizabeth who was still looking at Songbird's one blue eye. After a couple seconds, the bird let out a happy chirp, and then faded out, the light behind the glass finally dying out. He looked away, as it was too sad to see.

"I set him free," Elizabeth told Booker, who held her tight as she got up and rested her forehead on his shoulder, "In his last moments, he got to experience freedom."

"So that's what that key did. It gave Songbird his free will back," Booker mused in amazement. At long last, Songbird got to make a decision on his own, the decision to be at peace. Booker sighed in disappointment; they still had no way to stop the universe from collapsing.

"Elizabeth, I think this might be it," he told her sullenly, "I think this may be the last we see of each other."

Elizabeth pulled him into the hug, being careful not to touch his broken arm though, and whispered in his ear, "And if it is, I want to thank you for how much you did for me. You freed me, and showed me life. You were my first human friend and my first… my first love."

Booker smiled weakly and kissed her chastely on the lips. "I love you too Elizabeth. I just wish that I could have shown you Paris, like I had promised."

"I think I would have deserved more then Paris now, maybe all of Europe," Elizabeth chuckled, "but spending time here with you is better than anything."

Booker cupped her cheek with his good hand and tilted her head up to look into her deep blue, beautiful eyes. As he leaned in for one last kiss, he felt something warm on his nose. Elizabeth's eyes suddenly went wide as she wiped under his nose and showed him that it was bleeding profusely. Suddenly, it felt as if his head was splitting open, like all his brain cells had been set aflame.

Booker bent to his knees as he continued to cry out in pain, his vision growing blurrier by the second. He felt himself slip out of consciousness as he heard Elizabeth call out his name.

A/N: I'm pretty sure someone suggested Songbird vs Songbird, so there ya go! Hope you all enjoyed!