Author's Note:

Yes, for certain reasons the author's note is going at the top of the page this time around. If you don't want to read it, just hit page down or something.

So, this took forever. Partly because it's stupidly long; remind me to never write a part this long ever again. It takes me like 30-45mins just to do one editing pass through the damn thing, and considering how many times I like to edit before I post, that's a lot of time. Considering this is one of my most ambitious parts to date and I tried doing a lot of new things, I also wanted to make sure it was as good as it could possibly be, so I reviewed it even more than usual. Combine that with the fact that September was an incredibly crazy month and I didn't have either the time nor the inclination to do any writing of any kind, and you get a rather long delay. I actually had about 80% of this written two weeks after I posted part 19, but then sat on it for a month while I dealt with life. Then it took me all of October to get the ending to the point where I was comfortable posting it, because it's probably the most important part of the story so far, and thus the most difficult to write. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but honestly, after working on the same 14679 words for two months (yes, that's how long it is) I'm tired of looking at it. Normally I go through the uploaded document once just before I post it just to make sure the formatting didn't break anywhere, but this time I can't be bothered. If you see anything wonky like missing line breaks or something, let me know and I'll fix it.

If you want a reply to your review, don't post an anonymous one. I don't have any issues with anonymous reviews, but I can't reply to you if you leave one. Rest assured I do read them, though. That being said, I put a note in my profile that should address a few of the issues in recent reviews. Feel free to take a gander. Once again, I thank everyone who takes the time to read and leave their opinion. I really do read them all, and it makes me smile every time I log into my email and see it spammed with review and favorite alerts.

I feel the need to issue a bit of a content warning for this part. If you thought fighting the God of Destruction was going to be full of sunshine and rainbows, think again. I managed to keep the language relatively clean, but there's some graphic descriptions in here. Just a heads up that this part is one of the reasons this fic has a T rating.

Well then, I think that's enough out of me for now. There's a couple more notes at the end. If I put them here I'd spoil things.

Part 20: Cannon Ball

For the most part, the room Zero and Prairie stepped into didn't resemble anything out of the ordinary - or what passed for ordinary down in the depths of the Ragnarok, anyway. The ground still pulsed with a weird greenish hue and floated inexplicably in midair, while the odd blue glow continued to pervade the atmosphere. The room itself was quite spacious, and also quite empty - aside from the lone, familiar-looking figure standing quietly in the center of the room, gazing out at the swirling black vortex in the distance. His armor was the color of blood, with the unarmored joints covered by a dark purple bodysuit - just as Zero remembered it. The only thing missing was the flowing blond hair, which was nowhere to be seen.

"I was wondering when someone would show up to stop me," the crimson maverick said calmly, still gazing off into the distance. "But I never thought it would be you, and especially not in a female body. Didn't you die?"

"Didn't you?" Zero retorted, earning a chuckle from his foe.

"Touche. But you know, it's like they always say..." The evil reploid turned to face them, an insane grin splitting his all-too-familiar face in two. "Legends never really die."

To Prairie, it seemed very uncharacteristic and out of place on Zero's face, which she had always remembered as having a strong, silent, comforting feeling behind it. In fact, everything about the maverick seemed to radiate evil, right down to the orange-red pupils of his stark-white eyes.

Zero remained silent, but Prairie could tell he was as taken aback by Omega's words as she was. "Zero, you said that in the crystal mine when you first came back. How did Omega...?"

"Oh, did he really?" Omega yelled abruptly, picking up his sinister laughing once again. "How fitting. We are one and the same, after all. But that's neither here nor there, really. Did you honestly think a little thing like a couple of walls and a door were enough to keep the God of Destruction locked in his cage? So naive, all of you! Oh sure, they kept me contained for the first hundred years or so, but then I learned how to do something very interesting." He shot them another menacing grin. "Would you like to know what it was?"

"Not particularly," Zero replied nonchalantly, but Omega continued on anyway.

"I learned how to enter the Cyberworld!" Omega cried, raising his fists dramatically into the air. "That's right, from right here, in my own little corner of this godforsaken hole you call a planet, I could see the entire world! I could see everything going on, everywhere! Each and every little spark of life that winked into existence screamed out at me, another little light for me to extinguish when my plan was finally complete!"

"You can't be serious..." Prairie said in disbelief. "You've been down here all these years because...you wanted to be?"

"Let him finish, Prairie," Zero said quietly.

"Yes, let me finish!" Omega cried out triumphantly as he walked around the room, waving his arms for emphasis. "Because, you see, I haven't even gotten to the best part! For the past hundred years I've been the silent watcher in the dark, the cloaked shadow in the Cyberworld, preparing for the day when I would be ready to unleash this!" He pointed dramatically towards the black vortex in the distance, which seemed to Zero to be a lot closer now than when they'd been in the previous room - undoubtedly another perspective-warping aspect of the strange space they were currently in.

"I assume you're going to tell us what that is," Zero said, sounding pointedly bored with the entire affair.

"Of course I am!" Omega screamed, incredibly annoyed at his apparently inability to impress Zero. "If I don't tell you what it is, then there's no way for you to appreciate the beauty of it!

"Behold, the instrument of this world's destruction! As soon as my creation is complete I will unleash it on the unsuspecting Cyberworld, infecting every man, woman and child, human and reploid alike who connects to it, turning them all into my unwilling slaves! Then, I'll take my revenge out on this world for keeping me locked way like a dog for so long! My return to the light will be more brilliant than the sun, and so catastrophic and apocalyptic that only the true God of Destruction could have imagined it!"

He whirled to look at Zero once again, a mad glint in his eyes. "Well? Are you terrified yet?"

"I don't know, are you finished?" Zero replied, faking a yawn with the back of his hand, earning him a hateful glare from Omega. "Tell me, at any point during the past two hundred years you spent rehearsing that speech did you ever realize how incredibly cliche it was?"

"What?!" Omega roared indignantly. "I'm about to unleash the most devastating virus ever created upon the world you hold so dear, and yet you come all the way down here, into this hellish pit of a prison, to mock me? Only you, my oh-so-famed Original, could be so cocky and arrogant as to attempt to brush me aside like a fly!"

"You're right, I am your original. We're very alike, you and I, in a lot of different ways. But there's one very important difference between us that I hadn't noticed until now." Zero Prairie's head to give Omega a glare of utter contempt. "I was never quite so full of it."

Omega's jaw dropped so far it almost hit the ground, matched by Prairie's as she realized Zero had given her control of her facial features again, and promptly lost control of them. "Zero, what on earth are you talking about?" She asked, bewildered.

"I guess you hadn't noticed, Omega, but I'm a cyber-elf now. I read data like you read books." He gestured at the blue atmosphere around them. "See all this? It took me a little while but I finally figured out what it is. It's a barrier encompassing this entire area that prevents any form of digital signal from being sent into or out of it. There's no way for Omega to get even the tiniest scrap of data through this field, no matter how long he sits down here and tries to do it." Zero snorted derisively. "Some God of Destruction you turned out to be. It took you two hundred years to fix yourself up, but I doubt it took Ciel even two days to shut you down again."

Omega growled angrily as Zero casually exposed his lies. "Fine," he spat, "you called my bluff. But I wasn't completely full of it. This really is a virus that will let me control anyone it infects, and I really am going to unleash it on the world - it'll be the Elf Wars all over again! But this time, neither you or that pest X will be around to stop me. But first, I think I'll start by testing it out on you. Then I'll make you watch as I crush your little girlfriend's skull into so many tiny little pieces that you'll wonder how they ever formed a head to begin with!"

The two figures stared each other down across the empty expanse of the room, the tension so thick it seemed to quiver in the air like a taut bowstring. He waited patiently for Omega's next move, and was taken slightly by surprise when the red reploid stomped his foot and grunted in frustration.

"Dammit, why can't I infect you?! What have you done...?" Then his face lit up in another grin. "Oh, I see how it works now. You're in there, and she's in there." An odd look suddenly crept onto his face as he cocked his head sideways. "Is this how reploids get married these days?"

"What?!" Prairie spluttered. "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Zero isn't-I mean, we're friends, but we're not-"

"I'm just borrowing her body temporarily," Zero said, cutting off Prairie's babbling. "That's all. This is between you and me, Omega. Stop trying to get her involved."

"You didn't have to be that cold about it..." Prairie mumbled, unheard by either of the two males.

"Oh really?" Omega replied casually, dismissing the issue. "Well then, I guess if I want to do any infecting I'll just have to tear you two apart first. In the end it doesn't really matter who or what she is to you, she'll still make the same noise when I rip her lungs out through her throat." Then he charged forward in a crimson blur, hands outstretched.

Prairie squeezed her eyes shut to keep herself from getting in Zero's way as he tried to materialize his saber, but Omega closed the distance between them much faster than he'd expected and instead he was forced to use both hands to keep his neck out of the red maverick's deadly grasp. When Omega saw that he wasn't going to get past Zero's defenses he started throwing punches, and the two reploids were quickly engulfed in a lightning-quick duel of powerful blows backed with enough force to put holes through solid steel.

Zero went on the defensive as he devoted all of his concentration on dodging, weaving, and blocking Omega's flurry of attacks. He ducked left to avoid a left jab at the same time he raised one arm to block a vicious right hook before it hit with enough force to take his head from his shoulders, then he caught Omega's downward chop with his other arm before it connected with his shoulder. Both his arms now occupied, Omega kicked out with one foot, successfully hitting Zero square in the chest and knocking him back a few feet. While both he and Prairie steeled themselves against the shock of the blow, Zero used the two seconds it took for Omega to rush forward and follow-up to form his Z-Saber. Still slightly off-balance, Zero slashed wildly in an arc in front of him in an attempt to keep Omega at bay. In his mad dash forward Omega was caught unprepared by the sudden appearance of the saber, but handled it in stride. Without losing his momentum he fell backward and slid across the metal floor with a screech of metal on metal, coming to a stop just in front of the now-recovered Zero. Omega sprung to his feet just as Zero grabbed his sword in both hands and sliced downward, catching Zero's crossed wrists in his hands.

"Bringing out the sword already?" Omega said, his mouth curling into a sneer. "I'm not making you nervous, am I?"

Zero's response was a kick at Omega's shin, which he dodged with a quick sidestep, forcing him to let go of Zero's wrists. Zero quickly swung his blade around in a circle, but Omega was too quick and had backed far out of reach before the sword got anywhere near him.

"Well then, I guess that's enough of a warmup. We'll do things your way then," Omega said after he'd stopped his short retreat as a purple beam saber flashed to life in his right hand. "It's a pity though, I enjoy using my bare hands a lot more. That way you can really feel the moment when you squeeze the last drop of life out of someone."

"Did he always talk this much?" Prairie asked.

"No, but if I were locked down here by myself for two hundred years, I'd be feeling pretty talkative too," Zero replied, then rushed forward to meet Omega head-on.

Sparks and electricity shot through the air as the two sabers clashed again and again, leaving streaks of green and purple as they cut silently through the air in a deadly dance of blades. Zero was holding back slightly, leaving Omega a few openings here and there to see which ones he would go for and which he would ignore, always ready to pull back and defend himself from Omega's 'counterattack'. He could see a places in Omega's technique that left him open as well, but Zero had no way of knowing whether the crimson reploid really was such a sloppy swordsman or if he was simply employing the same tactic Zero was to gauge his opponent's abilities.

Well, let's find out.

Zero waited until Omega made another mistake in his swordplay - he thrust his saber straight ahead, aiming for the shoulder Zero had left purposely unguarded, and completely overextended his reach. Zero ducked onto one knee and brought his saber up to clash against Omega's, preventing a follow-up cut downward. Then he fired his dash thrusters and shot forward, aiming a shoulder charge at chest height. He was rewarded with a loud thud and whoosh of air as his charging attack connected successfully, but was caught by surprise when Omega brought one of his knees up into Zero's gut. The end result of the entire exchange was that the two reploids tumbled across the ground in a pile of arms and legs, their sabers still twirling through the air wildly in the hopes that they hit something. After a few rolls they managed to disentangle themselves and retreat back a few feet, staring at each other from across the room.

He took a hit on purpose so that I'd leave myself open to an attack - he doesn't care whether he gets hit or not. Either he's as insane as that sounds, or there's something else going on here that I'm not seeing.

"Zero, I know this may not be the best time to mention this, but what exactly is the plan here?" Prairie asked quietly. "If you start carving him up into little pieces there's no way you can use his body."

"I have a plan," Zero said, but didn't have time to elaborate further as Omega renewed his attacks, another insane grin plastered on his face.

"This is fun!" The demon reploid cried as he unleashed another lightning assault with his saber. "It's been so long since I fought anyone I'd almost forgotten how it felt to be caught in the heat of battle! To experience the thrill of being inches away from death! I'm eternally grateful that of all the people to find me down here it would be the only one who could pose such a challenge!" The purple saber whipped back and forth across Zero's vision, his own saber meeting and deflecting every attack with expert precision. "Isn't the irony wonderful? You came down here to kill me, yet I've never felt so alive!"

The two reploids finally separated once again, Zero standing calmly on one side while Omega panted with excitement on the other. "Come on Zero, you're better than this! I know you want to kill me, so stop screwing around and kill me!" Omega screamed.

"If I can get into physical contact with him I think I can forcibly begin the Megamerge process and transfer myself into his body," Zero explained quietly to Prairie, ignoring Omega's speech altogether. "The problem is that I can't do it while I'm connected to you."

"So what, you're going to try and stop him, somehow? How do you plan on doing that?"

"I'm going to start by pissing him off."

"Quit yapping to your girlfriend and fight me!" Omega screamed angrily when he noticed Zero and Prairie ignoring him, rushing forward again.

"But Prairie and I have to decide what color to paint our living room; if we wait until later one of us might be dead," Zero replied nonchalantly as he parried a blow aimed at his neck, countering with a quick jab that made Omega hop backward. "I was hoping for a nice taupe, myself,"

"No, I want fuschia!" Prairie argued, playing along. She wasn't quite sure what Zero was up to, but she trusted his judgement. "Taupe is too boring."

"I refuse to live in a pink house," Zero replied indignantly as he feinted high and left, then quickly pulled back and struck low, nearly clipping the outside of Omega's right leg. "Besides, taupe matches my hair."

"Would you two shut up!" Omega screamed, hacking madly at Zero with reckless abandon. But no matter how hard he tried, Zero's saber successfully deflected every one of his attacks. "Listening to you two babble on is so infuriating!"

"That's the point," Zero replied calmly, then he neatly sidestepped around Omega's next downward slash, brought his own blade down with one hand to pin Omega's against the ground, then used his free arm to deliver an elbow jab to the face, all in the blink of an eye. Omega was caught off-guard by the entire maneuver and took the blow full-force, stumbling back a few steps as his saber swung wildly to the side, leaving him open. Zero rushed forward and cut downward at Omega's arm, hoping to sever it completely before his opponent regained his balance - Zero could always reattach it later.

Omega recovered in time to deflect Zero's attack, but only barely. The purple saber swung across and knocked the green one aside, but not before it scored the crimson terror across the inside length of his arm. Not wanting to risk another follow-up, Zero held his position as Omega backed off.

"Oh my," Omega said, an odd look spreading over his face as he ran one finger along the inside of his wounded arm, dragging it through the blood that seeped from the wound and dripped onto the floor. "I haven't seen blood in over two hundred years. I prefer human blood, myself, but at this point even the sight of this fake stuff of my own is enough to get me excited."

Omega looked back at Zero, a knowing smile spreading across his lips. "That was clever of you, getting me angry enough that I got sloppy and let you hit me. Against anyone else, it might even have worked."

"Might have? It looks like it worked to me," Zero said, nodding toward the bleeding gash on Omega's arm. "Such an amateurish mistake, letting your emotions get in the way. Once again you prove how unworthy you are of your self-proclaimed title."

Omega chuckled. "Oh, how little you know. Do you honestly think a little scratch like this means anything to me? The pain makes me feel even more alive, and the blood makes me even more excited to gut you and spill yours. If you think the God of Destruction can be killed by a measly beam saber, then I can't wait to see the look on your face after I do this!"

Zero felt a sudden surge of energy from Omega and braced himself for impact, but there was no attack coming. Beams of blue energy suddenly shot straight up from the ground, encompassing Omega in a pillar of light. The beams began rotating slowly as Omega laughed hideously from within.

"What's he doing...?" Prairie said, confused.

"I'm not sure," Zero replied, equally at a loss as to what was going on. A few moments later he both heard and felt Prairie gasp in astonishment.

"Zero, look at his arm!" Which he did, and watched as the wound he'd inflicted a few moments before stopped bleeding, then slowly begin to close. "He's healing himself somehow!"
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Zero replied, then dashed forward and slashed at the energy barrier, only to have his saber glance off harmlessly, much to Omega's amusement. He took a few more swipes, but each attack only succeeded in making the red maverick laugh even harder.

"Give it up, Zero! There's no energy weapon in the world strong enough to pass through this barrier! You'll just have to sit and watch while I fix myself up, then tremble in fear when I come at you again! There's nothing you can do to stop it. Why don't you just give up now?" His mouth slid into another one of his evil, arrogant smirks like the one that had been on his face when they'd first entered the room.

"Prairie, can you tell how he's doing that?" Zero asked.

"I think he's found some way of interfacing with the power systems of the Ragnarok," Prairie said, trying as hard as she could to keep the panic beginning to rise in the back of her thoughts out of her voice. "He's using the energy left in the wreckage to augment his regeneration capabilities, as well as create that energy barrier. I don't think he's exaggerating when he says you're not going to find an energy weapon capable of getting through it, and any physical material you stick in there is likely to disintegrate within seconds.

Zero growled menacingly as he stood only a few feet away from his nemesis, held back by the impenetrable barrier of light as Omega's arm slowly repaired itself. He wracked his brain for options, but kept coming up blank.

"You got any ideas?" Zero asked his companion, then quickly backed off several meters as he saw Omega's arm finish healing.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking," Prairie said.

"Still, you persist!" Omega chuckled to himself. "I admit, you're definitely a worthy opponent. Unfortunately, now that I've shown you my newest trick, I may as well show you the rest of them." The beams of light disappeared as abruptly as they'd appeared, leaving Omega standing alone in the center of the room. The jewel in his forehead gleamed brightly with a menacing light, and his eyes had changed from their usual white to a sinister reddish-orange. "The time for games is over. Prepare to face the full might of the God of Destruction!" With a swift downward motion of his right hand the purple beam saber extended itself once again, while a long, flowing mane of pale blond hair materialized at the base of his neck, blowing about in a nonexistent wind. "I am the Messiah! Come, Zero!"

From the first blow it was obvious Omega wasn't playing around any more. Zero's arm joints groaned under the pressure of the maniacal reploid's first powerful attack as he tried to overwhelm Zero's defenses with the sheer might of a charged saber attack. He grinned when he saw Zero struggling to match his power, then jumped and somersaulted over Zero's head, slashing all the way. Zero deflected each stroke as Omega flew overhead, then made a sideways swipe at Omega's midsection as he touched down again. Omega casually swept the blow aside with a one-handed parry, then held his other hand up a few feet away, with the palm facing Zero.

That can't be good, Zero thought at the same moment his survival instincts screamed at him to move. Both premonitions proved correct as Zero spun to the left just as a plasma blast shot through the spot he'd just occupied. Before he could think about what had just happened Zero found himself pressed to stay alive once again as Omega unleashed a furious saber rush.

"I got tired of carrying your stupid buster pistol around, so I integrated it with my arm," Omega said as his blade flashed through the air, like he wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. "It's much more convenient this way, don't you think?"

"Yeah, it's real nice," Zero replied, ducking under a slice aimed at his neck. He countered with an uppercut aimed at Omega's leg, but the crimson terror quickly hopped backward as Zero sailed into the air.

"Oh come on, don't be like that," Omega pretended to sound upset as he executed his own saber uppercut. As Zero reached the height of his jump he swung his saber down for a Skull Crush and the two blades collided with a bright flash of power. Unfortunately for Zero, Omega's upward momentum put enough extra power into his attack that he pushed Zero away as he continued to the apex of his jump, sending Zero spinning away through the air. In the short distance to the ground Zero managed to get himself turned upright, but fell to one knee as he landed. He then rolled nimbly to his left without even looking to see what was coming - his instincts proved correct once again as Omega crashed into the ground with a powerful downward stab a moment later, connecting with enough power that Zero could feel the floor shake beneath his boots.

"I thought about putting one in both hands, but decided the God of Destruction should be more creative than that," Omega thought aloud as he fired a pair of plasma blasts from one hand, then swept his saber upward with the other, releasing a blade of energy through the air. Zero dashed around the first two attacks, then leapt over the third, swinging downward with an extended saber as he did. Omega retreated with a small hail of buster shots from his palm, which Zero easily swept aside withi his enlarged saber before it dissipated.

"I see you've got some new tricks too," Omega remarked as he dashed forward again.

"A friend of mine taught it to me," Zero replied, then promptly turned and ran for the far wall of the room.

"Did he teach you how to run, too, you pathetic excuse for a warrior?" Omega yelled with disdain as he chased after his prey.

"Zero, I've got an idea," Prairie said abruptly. "See if you can get him to use his regeneration ability again."

"What do you think I've been trying to do?" Zero swerved left and right around the hail of plasma bullets Omega fired from his palm, then as soon as he reached the side of the room he jumped and continued running as far upward as gravity would allow. Just before he fell back to the ground he sent the power he'd been charging in his saber into his dash thrusters, then fired them at the same time that he pushed himself downward off the wall, his saber held out horizontally in front of him. Omega stopped dead in his tracks and threw his own weapon up to defend himself as Zero sped past him in a blur, but was caught by surprise when Zero abruptly switched directions upon touching the ground behind him, slicing across Omega's backside as the green flash shot past him. Sparks and metal flew into the air as part of Omega's chest armor was ripped apart, earning a wince from the injured reploid.

"Not bad, that one kind of hurt," Omega admitted grudgingly, but despite the injury his battle-crazed grin never faltered. "Anything else you'd like to try before I kill you?"

"Maybe." Zero punched the ground with his free hand and channeled the power he'd been storing into the ground, sending it through the floor in a burst, lighting the ground up with a green glow as it traveled to its target. Omega saw it coming, but simply smiled and held his ground as the glow reached him and exploded outward, blowing him off his feet in a blast of air and rock. He flew limply through the air for a few seconds before flipping around to land on his feet just before touching the ground.

"That was kind of neat, but a little weak." Omega raised his palm into the air, glowing with a bright white ball of energy. "You should try something more like this!" he yelled, then punched the ground with his fist. The white ball exploded into a rain of small plasma blasts that radiated out in every direction, a technique Zero immediately recognized from his own repertoire. He dodged sideways and slid between two of the shots, then slashed downward at Omega's purple saber as it tried to impale him through the stomach. The saber cut into the metal floor like butter, and Omega grinned as he pulled it back up as fast as he could and went into another saber uppercut. Zero dodged by jumping backward, but wasn't ready when Omega used his uppercut's momentum to do a complete backward somersault that sent a fanned-out wave of small energy blades in all directions.

Finally, something original, Zero spared the time to think to himself. I was getting tired of dodging all of my own attacks.

Zero swiftly dodged around the spread of blades and dashed to where Omega was going to land, preparing to hit the maverick with a charged attack as soon as he landed. However, as he brought his saber down in a powerful swing, he realized he'd forgotten something - instead of landing where Zero thought he would, Omega's dash thrusters fired as he did a mid-air jump, easily soaring over Zero's misplaced attack. Realizing he'd left himself completely open, Zero wildly threw himself to the side before Omega could impale him from above. He rolled across the ground for several meters before regaining his feet just in time to see a charged plasma blast heading straight for his face. He quickly rolled left then, knowing there were two more attacks coming, immediately rolled back to the right. Unfortunately for Zero, Omega had predicted Zero's pattern of dodging, and when Zero rolled to his feet he saw the arc of energy from Omega's saber only a few feet in front of him. Out of options, he threw his arms in front of his face to try and absorb as much of the damage as possible and keep the damage away from vital areas on Prairie's body.

As much as it hurt to feel the energy blade cut across his arms, what hurt Zero even more was the cry of pain that escaped Prairie's lips as the attack sent waves of intense pain through her entire body as her systems tried to deal with the sudden power surge. For the briefest instant it felt like her entire body was on fire and about to explode, then it was gone.

"Prairie, are you okay?" Zero asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, that was careless of me."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me," Prairie reassured him, panting for breath. "Concentrate on what you're doing."

"How pathetic!" Omega taunted from where he stood a few feet away, chuckling to himself. "You look like you're about to collapse after only the first hit! I guess that's what you get for fighting in that pathetic excuse for a body." He snorted derisively. "She's so scared she can't even keep her eyes open while we fight. I don't understand why you insist on clinging to a worthless, cowardly bitch like her."

Zero felt Prairie's eyes shoot open. "Did you just call me a coward?" She hissed between clenched teeth.

"Oh?" Omega said, raising an eyebrow. "Looks like I hit a nerve with that one. What're you gonna do now, lecture me?" Omega barked another laugh. "Face it, bitch; you're way out of your league."

"Don't let him get to you Prairie, he's just trying to make you angry." And doing a damn good job of it too, Zero thought as he tried to get to his feet...and discovered that his inputs had been cut off. Huh? What's going on?...Uh oh. "Prairie, wait! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Showing this jackass what kind of bitch he's dealing with," Prairie growled angrily, then shot forward, her Z-Saber ready as Zero was dragged helplessly along for the ride.

"That's better!" Omega yelled, then raised his palm and unleashed the two plasma blasts, followed by another energy wave that ripped along the ground, tearing the floor of the room apart as it sped forward. Prairie jumped low over the first two attacks, then leapt high in the air over the third and extended her saber, coming down with a crash right beside Omega. The red maverick parried the overhead attack as he jumped backward, but Prairie didn't stop. She rushed after him and let loose with a fierce downward charged slash, which Omega also easily swept aside. Then his purple saber began to glow yellow with electricity as he thrust it at Prairie's head, aiming for a killing blow while her saber was down.

Prairie, however, was a lot faster than he gave her credit for. She simply cocked her head to the side as the electric blade shot past her head, coming within centimeters of her face as it sliced off a few strands of blonde hair. Surprised by the gutsiness of the move, Omega didn't expect it when Prairie then dashed forward shoulder-first, knocking him back a few steps. Fully expecting the girl to follow-up on her charge, Omega made a short jump backward to gain some distance, then raised his left hand to fire a few plasma bursts to distract his foe. Just before he fired, however, he barely managed to a glimpse of a flash of light coming toward him before the green blade of Prairie's Z-Saber sprouted from the back of his hand, sending a wave of pain shooting up his left arm as half the length of the weapon went completely through before it finally stopped.

With a roar of rage Omega ripped the Z-Saber from his hand, throwing it across the room angrily. "That was a dirty little trick, throwing your weapon at me," he snarled, his left arm hanging limply at his side - it obviously wasn't going to be much use anymore. "But now that you've successfully disarmed yourself, I'd like to know how you plan on stopping me from tearing you apart!" Rather than taking the time to regenerate the arm and thus allow Prairie time to recover her sword, Omega instead rushed forward to slice his unarmed opponent to ribbons.

With a determined look on her face Prairie stood her ground, earning a grin from Omega. "At least you meet your end like a true warrior!" He yelled as he slashed downward across her chest, only to have his attack stopped by the Z-Saber that had reappeared in Prairie's hands.

"Looks like you have a few things to learn about fighting Biometals," she said with a smirk, holding Omega's blade back with her own in a battle of strength. "I can dismiss and re-materialize my sword whenever I feel like it." She shoved Omega's sword away, her two arms easily overpowering his one. "Neat little trick, don't you think?"

Clever girl, Zero thought to himself. She was paying attention while I fought with Ashe and Aile. I never would have thought to do that...I guess I'm still not used to the whole 'materialization' thing.

"Grrr...time to end this!" Omega snarled, anger pulsing in his blood-red eyes as he unleashed a furious saber rush. Even with only one hand the purple saber flew through the air like a lightning bolt, each blow aimed to kill.

Even Zero was surprised with how well Prairie handled the Z-Saber, easily deflecting each strike as she looked for the opportunity to launch a counterattack - it was exactly what he would have done in her situation. He could only image what Prairie would be capable of if she could actually Megamerge with him.

After exchanging dozens of lightning-quick blows, Prairie saw her chance. As Omega knelt down and prepared a slashing uppercut she hopped backward just out of range. Omega's attack shot right past the front of her face as he jumped into the air, barely missing her nose. Before the red reploid's attack was finished Prairie jumped into the air after him and did a Rolling Slash. His saber still held upward from his uppercut, Omega had no way to defend himself as Prairie sliced at his chestplate from below, the rapid, weak slashes leaving several gouges in his armor. Momentarily stunned at being so badly outmaneuvered, Omega fell limply backward to land on his feet, but Prairie was waiting for him. Before Omega realized what was happening Prairie did a triple slash, taking Omega across the chest, across the top of his left leg, then across his chest again, from one shoulder clear through to his thigh.

The crimson reploid stumbled backward and fell to one knee, blood pouring out of the wounds inflicted by Prairie's furious assault. "Why you little..." He began, but Prairie wasn't finished. Mimicking one of Zero's attacks from earlier, she diverted a burst of charged energy from her saber into her dash thrusters, then held her saber out in front of her horizontally as she shot past the wounded maverick, slicing him across his already heavily damaged chest armor before coming to a halt beside the wall behind him. Then she pushed off the wall and into the air, her dash power giving out as she reached a point in the air a short distance above Omega, her saber aimed directly at his back as she plummeted downward.

A brief flash of surprise appeared on Omega's face as the glowing blade of Prairie's saber abruptly sprouted from his chest, followed a few moments later by a small cough that sent a splatter of blood onto the floor.

"Not bad," the maverick choked out around a grin, "but now I've got you."

Something about being a biometal allowed Zero to sense Omega's buildup of energy before he could unleash it, giving him a few extra seconds warning of what was about to happen. "Prairie, get back!"

Without hesitation Prairie did as Zero told her, just barely avoiding being caught by the bright pillars of light that shot up around Omega as he activated his regeneration ability and the protective barrier that went with it. Prairie stopped a few feet away from the impressive lightshow as Omega turned around, still grinning.

"If you'd be so kind as to wait a minute or so, I'll be right with you," he said mockingly as he wiped blood away from his mouth.

"Okay, what's your plan, Prairie?" Zero asked, ignoring Omega's taunt.

"Get ready!" She replied, then Zero abruptly found himself resting in the palm of her hand as a biometal.

"Prairie, I don't think I like where this is going," Zero said. "What are you-"

"Now!" Prairie yelled as she grasped the biometal tightly in her hand, then thrust her arm through the spinning barrier of lights. Zero heard her grunt in pain as her arm tried to withstand the forces tearing at it, but even as pieces of her synthetic skin began to boil and peel off she continued pushing her arm further towards Omega, clenching her teeth against the agony of it all.

"What are you trying to do?" Omega said, just as Zero felt himself come into contact with something warm and hard - Omega's chest, which had been left completely exposed by Prairie's attacks, and hadn't yet begun to regenerate.

"Now, Zero!" Prairie's yell turned into a screech as parts of her arm began to break off and vaporize in the potent energy field.

As much as he didn't want to leave Prairie alone with Omega for any length of time, and despite the fact that he didn't even know what was going to happen if he tried to Megamerge with the insane maverick, Zero didn't have much of a choice. All he could do was cross his imaginary fingers and hope for the best.

I trust you, Prairie. Don't die on me.

"Megamerge!"

As soon as Zero's biometal disappear from her hand Prairie was blown away by a sudden burst of force that shot out from Omega in every direction. She stumbled back until her back hit the wall, her left arm dangling uselessly at her side. She quickly severed all the connections from her central processor to her injured limb, gasping in relief as the searing pain from her partially-vaporized nerve endings suddenly disappeared. Her arm was nothing but dead weight now.

I'll just have to deal with it until I can get it replaced at Cygnus Base. It was a small price to pay to get Zero in there.

The question was, had he been successful? She didn't think that Zero had sounded too certain his plan to force a Megamerge would work. In normal cases it definitely wouldn't, but hardly anything about Zero's current situation was normal, and any plan involving Omega was probably going to be unconventional - the crimson reploid himself defied the laws of modern robotics in almost every way imaginable, despite being created over two centuries ago. There was no way to predict how the Megamerging process would interact with Omega's systems, but she trusted that Zero wouldn't have brought the idea up if he didn't think it stood at least a small chance of succeeding.

Prairie prepared to defend herself as the spinning lights of Omega's energy shield faded from view, expecting the worst. But rather than taunting or attacking her, Omega began stumbling aimlessly around the room without so much as looking in her direction. His eyes were squeezed shut as he clutched his head in both hands, completely disoriented. The red maverick eventually lost his balance and fell unceremoniously to his knees. He began pounding the ground first with one fist, then the other, then with both together. Even from where she stood a dozen feet away Prairie could feel the floor vibrating from the force of the blows.

With a primeval roar and one final smash of his fists Omega was finally motionless, his face turned towards the ground as he rested on his knees and forearms. In the utter silence of the room Prairie could hear him panting, the only sign that he was even alive.

"Zero?" Prairie said cautiously, keeping her distance. "Are you there?"

The arrogant chuckle she got in reply was evidence enough that he wasn't. "An easy question to ask, but a hard one to answer." Omega slowly pushed himself to his feet and looked up at Prairie, his sinister red-orange eyes still glowing above the ever-present grin. He patted himself on the chest, then examined his left hand. "Well, everything seems to be in working order now. Now, where were we?"

"What did you do to Zero? Where is he?!"

"What do you mean? I'm right here," Omega said with a flourish. "If you mean what happened to that thing living inside your magic rock - biometal, I think you called it? - then I'm afraid you're out of luck. And now that he's gone, that means I'm the only Zero left. Isn't that just wonderful?"

"Liar!" Prairie shouted angrily. "Even if Zero were gone, there's no way a merciless maverick like you, who's slaughtered millions of people and reploids for no reason other than he felt like it, could possibly take his place!"

"Oh, because the original Zero was such a saint," Omega snickered. "You don't know him half as well as you think you do."

"What are you talking about? I've known Zero longer than anyone alive! And even before I met him, everyone knew the stories about how he and X saved humanity from you during the Elf Wars, and from the Sigma Virus even before that!"

"Oh, you're right, that's all true," Omega said, then smirked. "But do you know what happened before that?"

"What do you mean? Zero was created to be a Maverick Hunter, everyone knows that."

Omega cackled mischievously. "Oh, is that how they wrote it down? What a load of crap. Well, let me fill you in on a little secret. You know how Zero - wait, that's me now, isn't it? - you know how I was always whining about having to kill so many innocent reploids during the Maverick Wars because they'd been infected? Well, they weren't always infected, you know. Quite the opposite, actually - I was the one who was infected. I was the maverick, not them!"

"Zero was...a maverick?" Prairie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I don't believe you!"

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not, it won't change the truth. But that's not all. I'm not just any maverick, you see." Omega motioned upward, indicating the world above. "Everyone up there thinks that bald ass-face Sigma was the cause of the maverick virus because that's the crap the Hunters fed them. In reality, Sigma wasn't the cause at all; he was simply a casualty with an ego. He was infected in a duel with a certain reploid, a merciless killer that had been left behind by an insane old genius from the twentieth century." Omega jabbed a thumb at himself. "Me! I am the true source of the maverick virus! Even today I can still feel it pulsing in my chest, like a second heartbeat, waiting to be unleashed.

"But even before Sigma found me I'd already killed thousands of people, just because I wanted to. Oh yes, I can remember it clearly, even if that copy of me didn't want to. The feel of blood from a fresh kill trickling between your fingers is quite intoxicating; I can't wait until I'm free of this wretched hole so I can experience it again.

"So, what do you think of your precious Zero now? Now that you know that this bloodthirsty grin of mine is his true face, and the caring, gentle one you're so used to seeing is the fake, do you still believe in him? In me?"

"Shut up!" Prairie yelled furiously. "I don't care what you say! I don't care if what you're saying is true, that Zero was a killer and the source of the maverick virus, or anything else! You may be the original form of Zero, but he's changed in ways that someone like you can never understand! He's a kind, caring person who will fight to the end to protect the people important to him! He's a friend, a warrior, a hero, and most importantly-" Prairie pointed an accusing finger at Omega "-he's not you!"

Omega was silent for a moment as Prairie glared at him, then shrugged. "All right then," he said casually. "I guess this means you'll have the opportunity to know what it feels like to be gutted by your precious 'hero'." Then the purple saber flared to life in his right hand as he rushed forward, his ever-present maniacal grin filling Prairie's vision.

As soon as Zero regained awareness he opened his eyes, prepared for whatever attacks Omega might have ready to send at him, but all saw was an infinite darkness surrounding him on all sides. Looking down, he could see his own body clearly as he flexed his fingers, so it wasn't that he couldn't see; there was nothing around him to see. It was a lot like how he felt whenever he was inside a biometal, simply a different color.

"Feels strange, doesn't it?" Omega's voice echoed from everywhere around him. "To have so much power, yet be trapped inside this useless metal cage. I've spent years trying to find a way out, but here I continue to sit and rot." The air vibrated as the voice chuckled. "But soon, I'll be free. Now that you've opened the door I'll rip my way out of this underground cage and into the Cyberworld. From there I'll be free to do whatever I please. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"Where are you, Omega?!" Zero yelled into the blackness. "Stop being a coward and face me!"

The chuckle resounded again, genuinely amused. "What do you mean, where am I? You're inside of me; I'm everywhere."

The air above abruptly shattered into a million tiny shards of what appeared to be glass, revealing what looked like the ceiling of a house of mirrors, with each of the dozens of 'mirrors' reflecting the grinning image of Omega's - Zero's - face. The mirrors then spread down the sides of his vision, continuing to form until they seemed to surround Zero in a sphere, with him at its center.

"Stop trying to play mind games with me," Zero growled, drawing his Z-Saber. "It's not going to work!"

Another amused laugh. "Mind games? You don't get it, do you? This whole place is a mind game, and it's inside of my mind! Since you apparently fail to understand the implications of that, allow me to demonstrate."

Zero suddenly felt searing pain rip the breath from his lungs as the very air around him burst into flame, scorching the artificial skin from his mechanical frame. His knees buckled beneath him, but instead of falling to the ground he simply hovered helplessly in the air as the flames repeatedly lashed against his body, like a giant whip.

"Do you get it now?" Omega shouted triumphantly. "This is my world! You're trapped in my mind, where I make the rules; I control who lives and who dies! In here, I am the most powerful being in existence! And soon, I will be in the real world as well! The God of Destruction will rise again!"

Zero continued to writhe helplessly in pain as Omega's laugh echoed through his mind. He tried to block out the pain and concentrate, but every time he erected a mental barrier the pain intensified until it shattered. Unable to think clearly, Zero was helpless as the world seemed to explode around him over and over again.

"Ah, this was almost worth the centuries I've spent imprisoned in this forsaken hole! The famous Hunter Zero lies at my mercy while his girlfriend futilely fights for her life against the very person who was supposed to be protecting her! Here, would you like to see?"

All of the images of Omega's face blinked out and were replaced by the figure of Prairie, as seen through the eyes of Omega. Her back was up against a wall, a panicked but determined look in her eyes as Omega slowly advanced on her.

"Prairie!" Zero cried as he reached for her, but then he crumpled with a scream as Omega fired another burst of pain through his body.

"Oh, this is magnificent!" Omega yelled happily. "There's nothing you can do to help her, so stop trying! But since I'm being so kind as to give you a front row seat to your little girlfriend's death, why don't you just sit back and enjoy the show!"

Despite Prairie's best efforts to dodge, her deadweight arm combined with a lack of a weapon meant it was only a matter of time before Omega managed to corner her. She had been hoping to buy Zero enough time to take control of Omega's body - despite what he said, Prairie still believed Zero was alive in there, somewhere - but it was starting to look like her time had run out as she found herself trapped against the wall with Omega walking slowly towards her, his saber extended.

"Is that all you've got?" Omega said, disappointed. "Pity, I was having fun chasing you around. All good things must come to an end, I suppose."

With Omega's saber on the left, the logical choice for Prairie to make would be to duck to the right - but Omega knew that too, so he'd be ready for it. Rather than dash straight into his trap, Prairie took a gamble and, with a mighty push off the wall behind her, jumped over Omega's head, gambling on the surprise factor to let her get past him before he stopped her.

"We'll have none of that now," Omega said as he jumped up and grabbed Prairie's ankle just as she passed overhead, then threw her violently back into the wall. Before she could even fall to the floor Omega thrust his saber through her limp and disabled shoulder, painlessly pinning her against the wall with her feet dangling a few inches off the ground. She tried to reach over and take the saber out, but suddenly Omega's other hand was wrapped tightly around her neck, choking her.

"Looks like this might be the end for you, little missy." Omega's face was so close to hers that she could feel his breath on her face. "But you know what? I could kill you right now, but since you've lost the protection of your little magic rock, I think infecting you will be much more satisfying."

Prairie had always imagined being infected by the maverick virus was a painful experience, but the reality proved to be quite the opposite. She found that her head began to feel heavy, like it was full of lead. Her eyesight blurred until she couldn't even see Omega's face anymore, despite it being only inches away from her. Her hearing dulled to the point where Omega's hideous laughter sounded like it was coming from the far end of a large tunnel, and she had something wedged in both ears. She suddenly felt very tired and her eyes began to drift closed of their own accord, no matter how hard she tried to keep them open. It was almost like she wasn't in control of her own body anymore, simply an outsider looking in...

An image flashed across Prairie's vision, so blurry she couldn't tell rightly what it was - it was mostly yellow and blue, with what looked like a smear of red in it somewhere. Immediately after it disappeared she felt more than saw Omega flinch backward, his eyes squeezed shut against something.

"Gah!" The crimson maverick said, shaking his head. "What the...what is she doing in there?" He growled menacingly. As Prairie's sensed returned to normal, she definitely thought he seemed angry at something. Was it whatever was in that image? How had he seen it? She tried as hard as she could to remember what it was, but it was no use - she'd been too far out of it, and it had flashed by too quickly.

"Why is she always getting in my way?!" Omega yelled in frustration. His eyes shot open in a glare, directed straight at Prairie. "Fine then! If she won't let me infect you, I'll just have to kill you after all!"

Then he began to squeeze.

"Prairie!" Zero managed to scream as he saw Omega's hand close tighter once again, panic appearing in Prairie's eyes as Omega slowly squeezed the air from her lungs...

...and then a very strange thing happened.

Time seemed to come to a halt as every image of Prairie being choked to death was abruptly replaced with the blurry image of a small woman in a red coat, her blonde ponytail blowing in a gentle breeze as she stood in a field of yellow flowers. The sun hung high in the clear blue sky, making the entire scene look very picturesque.

What the hell?

The woman turned around, but her face was obscured by her hair as it blew in the wind, preventing Zero from getting a good look at her. Despite being rather small for a human, she seemed to be everywhere. No matter where he looked she filled his view, as though she were the only important thing in the entire world. He tried to see her face, but no matter how he twisted his head to get a different angle, all he could manage was a glimpse of her mouth, the corners turned up in a small, peaceful smile. Still, somehow he could tell she was looking straigh at him from beneath her blowing hair, and somehow he knew that smile was meant just for him.

I've seen that smile somewhere before...

It was just then that he noticed the searing pain that had been lancing through his body was gone, replaced with a refreshing, peaceful feeling. He couldn't explain why, but he felt like he was somehow stronger than he'd been a moment ago. It didn't really make much sense, but then again, neither did anything else that was going on at the moment.

The woman's lips moved as though she were speaking, and even though no sound came out of them, Zero could hear the words in his mind. "What are you waiting for, Zero?" She teased, as though he were missing something obvious.

"What do you mean?" He asked, confused. "I made a mistake, coming in here. Now I'm trapped in Omega's mind and he can do whatever he wants. What else can I possibly do?"

A lighthearted laugh escaped her lips. "But that's just it, don't you see? You are Omega." She reached out and flicked him lightly on the forehead, and suddenly he understood.

"I...am Omega...huh. Yeah, I get it now." He nodded to himself, then chuckled. "I can't believe I missed something so obvious. Can't see the forest for the trees, I guess." He returned the smile with one of his own, a smile he'd never once given her - a fact he had always regretted. "Thanks."

"That's what I'm here for. Now, stop letting him win. There's someone out there who believes in you, and I'll never forgive you if you abandon her now." Then the woman turned away, the edges of her mouth still curved into the smile as she walked off into the sea of flowers. Zero simply stood and watched as she began to slowly fade away, followed shortly afterward by the disappearance of clear blue sky and bright yellow blossoms...

...leaving behind the sphere of mirrors showing the image of Prairie held up against the wall as Omega slowly choked her to death.

"What the hell...?" Omega said as soon as time began to flow again and he realized that Zero was, for some reason, no longer writhing in pain. Instead, he stood calmly in the center of the sphere of mirrors, his eyes closed in concentration. "How did you...nevermind, it doesn't matter! Prepare to feel pain like you've never experienced before!"

Zero remained calm and kept his eyes closed, and soon discovered he could see Omega's wave of flames before they even appeared. Zero reached out with his mind and, without really understanding what he was doing, he...twisted something.

The flames leapt into existence all around him, but while Zero was aware of their existence, he didn't feel them at all. The fire licked at his boots and clawed at his eyes, but he felt nothing. He reached out and twisted again - he wasn't really twisting anything, but that was as close as he could get to describing it - and the flames vanished as abruptly as they'd appeared.

Next, Zero could feel dozens of atomically-sharp blades of...well, not air, but something, coming at him from several different directions at once. It was a simple matter for Zero to simply change their direction, sending them careening off into the darkness.

Several more intangible attacks materialized, each more deadly than the last, but Zero easily batted them aside or simply let them wash over him, each one as ineffective as the ones before. No matter what Omega sent at him, Zero remained completely unphased as he calmly stood his ground.

"What's going on?!" Omega screamed in frustration. His voiced seemed to come from everywhere in the darkness, but if Zero concentrated hard enough, he could just barely make out the source - no, sources - of the voice. "What did you do? Why can't I touch you anymore?!"

"I didn't do anything," Zero replied casually. "I just realized the truth of what's going on here, that's all."

"What do you mean, the truth?"

"You said it yourself: I'm trapped inside your mind. But you forgot, this is my mind too. I am the original God of Destruction, and my body recognizes its true owner. All of your power is meaningless, because in here, I can do everything you can.

"Don't you get it, Omega? I am you!"

Just as he finished speaking, Prairie's foot suddenly filled all of the screens surrounding him before they all abruptly went blank. "What's wrong? Don't want me to see you getting beaten by my girlfriend?" Zero taunted his power-crazed opponent with a grin. "There's only one way to get rid of me now, and that's to fight me yourself. Now stop hiding and face me!"

"...Hmph. Fine. However, since I'm still the one in control of this body, I think I'll kill her first. You'll have to wait your turn."

Zero sighed. "I guess I'll have to pull you out myself then."

All of the screens surrounding Zero shattered into a million fragments, which then swirled through the air on an unseen wind. After a few moments they began to converge on a point a few feet in front of Zero, the cloud of particles becoming thicker by the second. Soon a distinctly humanoid form began to emerge from the cloud, which then solidified into the body of Omega, his eyes closed. Zero waited patiently until Omega opened his eyes and looked at him, the rage and hate burning in them even more fiercely than the flames that had ravaged Zero a few moments ago.

"Enough!" Omega snarled. "It's time to end this! I'll rip out your heart with my bare hands at the same time I crush the life out of her! No one can stand against the God of Destruction! No one!"

"Agreed!"

Prairie could feel the moment when Omega seemed to space out, his grip on her throat loosening ever so slightly. She had no idea what was going on, but she took advantage of the situation and planted her boot right in his face. To her surprise, not only did Omega release his stranglehold on her as he fell backward, but he continued on to land face-first on the floor.

I didn't think I kicked him that hard...not that I'm complaining.

As Prairie gasped for breath, Omega slowly pushed himself back to his feet. "You'll pay for that, you little...ugh!" Omega was interrupted when one of his arms abruptly collapsed beneath him, sending him sprawling back to the floor. "Dammit, what the hell..."

"Looks like you're having a little trouble controlling yourself, Omega!" Prairie yelled. "Maybe there's something distracting you? Zero's still fighting you in there, isn't he?!"

Omega finally managed to get back to his feet and immediately put on another of his arrogant grins. "All right, maybe Zero is still kicking somewhere in here. But I guarantee you, he's not going to last much longer, not that it should matter to you. You should be more worried about how long you're going to last, because now you've gone and pissed me off!"

Omega lunged towards Prairie, his saber extended, but it was incredibly sloppy. Even without anything to defend herself with Prairie managed to dodge out of the way and gain some distance before Omega could even manage to turn himself around.

"I told you, as long as there's breath left in this body, I'll still believe in him! Fight him, Zero! I know you can do it!"

Zero nimbly ducked under Omega's right hook, then countered an uppercut with enough force to send Omega flying through the air. Zero jumped up after him and followed up with a spin-kick to the chest, knocking the red maverick backward through the featureless black space that served as their dueling ground. Omega hit the ground hard and bounced, but then entered a roll and landed on his feet. A small trickle of blood came out of his mouth - not that either of them actually had blood at the moment, but it happened all the same.

"You might have gotten me once or twice in here, but your little girlfriend isn't doing nearly as well outside," Omega sneered as he wiped the corner of his mouth. "But then, what did you expect? You left her alone in a room with the most powerful reploid in existence without so much as a weapon to defend herself with. You should be grateful, I'm doing you a favor by letting her live for more than a few seconds."

"What happens to Prairie doesn't matter." Zero kept his voice carefully neutral. He knew Omega was lying, but that didn't mean he wasn't concerned about her - he just couldn't let Omega know that. "All that's important is that I kill you, here and now, and Prairie knows that. She knew what she was getting herself into and I trust her to stay alive until I can finish the job."

There was a moment of silence as the two reploids regarded each other across the darkness, then Omega laughed. "You're even more full of it than I am!" He yelled. "I almost know you better than I know myself; you think I can't tell when you're lying? Well then, since you claim you don't care about her, I'll just take the liberty of describing in painstaking detail every little mark I make on that beautiful body of hers. I wouldn't want you to die without having an accurate mental picture of her, after all." He faked a gasp. "Oops! I think I just broke one of her legs off. How was I supposed to know they didn't bend that way? She looks kinda funny, hopping around like-"

Omega's taunt was interrupted by Zero's fist smashing into his cheek so fast that he hadn't even seen it coming, snapping his head to the side. The red maverick smiled, then retaliated with a punch of his own. "Uh oh, looks like I hit a soft spot after all!" He jeered.

Zero didn't give him the pleasure of a rebuttal, concentrating instead on trying to separate Omega's head from his shoulders.

Just hold on a little longer, Prairie...

At first Prairie was hard pressed to dodge Omega's saber assault, but over time she discovered that he seemed to be getting slower and slower. She began to think that, if she still had two arms to work with, she might even have attempted a serious counterattack.

Omega was in mid-swing when Prairie saw his head suddenly jerk to the right for no explainable reason, causing his swipe to go completely wild. Prairie took advantage of the opportunity and jumped into the air, then kicked Omega in the chest as hard as she could with both feet. She caught herself on her one remaining arm as she fell to the ground and watched Omega stumble backward, nearly dropping his saber.

"You're not looking so good, Omega!" Prairie taunted as she hastily got back to her feet. Her kick hadn't really done any damage to the heavily armored reploid, but it certainly made her feel much better. "Zero's winning in there, isn't he?"

"Shut up! What do you know?!" Omega snarled frantically. "Be a good little girl and die already!"

As the fight dragged on for minutes Prairie found more and more opportunities to strike. Sometimes it was because of Omega's increasingly slower movements and sloppy attacks, and sometimes it was due to more of the seemingly random and completely unexplainable seizures that periodically struck the disoriented maverick - Prairie's best guess was that they had something to do with Zero as the two battled for control inside of Omega's body. Either way, even with only one arm and no weapon, Prairie was eventually dodging circles around her opponent, delivering swift kicks and punches whenever she got the chance.

There's nothing else I can do out here, Zero. You've got to finish this. You can do it, I know you can! I believe in you!

Hook jab dodge duck jab feint dodge jab hook SMACK!

"Son of a..." Omega cursed as he picked himself up off the ground. "I"ll get you for that!"

Zero carefully hid the surprise on his face; he hadn't expected to hit Omega with that last punch. It was like he'd involuntarily thrown himself into it at the last second, making the impact even harder than Zero had intended.

He's been acting funny for a while now; not dodging when I'd expect him to and lurching around suddenly. I wonder if it has anything to do with Prairie?

He decided that was probably the case as he started dodging around another flurry of blows, throwing in his own counters to buy himself time to think. If Prairie is distracting him enough that he's running his face into my fist on a regular basis, maybe I can materialize a saber and hit him with it before he has time to dissipate it. That would certainly bring a quick end to their duel. The trick was to notice one of Omega's spasms in time to carry out his plan.

He didn't have to wait long. As Zero dodged to the side of a fierce right punch, Omega seemed to loose his balance and stumble forward. Zero quickly imagined a saber and felt it immediately appear in his hands, a sword made completely of his own internal data. Hoping Omega was sufficiently distracted, he swung the blade around full force, aiming at Omega's neck as he stumbled past.

Events seemed to unfold in slow motion as Omega's body twisted around to face his opponent, only to see the green saber blade cut cleanly through his neck. A surprised look spread across his face as his head separated from his body and sailed through the air, bouncing twice before coming to rest. His body fell limply to the ground, shattering to into millions of tiny glass shards like the mirrors had done before. Zero could see now that it was simply a visual representation of data being purged from his system...Omega's data.

His face an unreadable mask, Zero strode over to where Omega's head lay silently.

It's time to finish this.

Prairie tensed her legs and flung herself upward out of her roll, sending herself as far through the air as possible to give her the bet chance of avoiding Omega's retaliatory strike for the kick she'd just planted in his face. She almost stumbled and fell, however, when Omega suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream. She barely managed to catch herself and whirl around to see the red maverick clutch his head with both hands and collapse in a pile, like all of the metal in his body had suddenly turned to jelly.

The wailing continued to rise steadily in pitch as Omega's spasms became increasingly frantic. Just as Prairie felt like her aural sensors were about to overload, it all stopped just as suddenly as it had started; Omega's arms fell limply to his sides as his body went completely motionless. From where Prairie stood, it looked like he was dead. She continued to stand at a distance, however, in case it was some elaborate trick to fool her into lowering her guard.

After a short period of silence, Omega - or was it Zero now? - finally stirred. He put one hand beneath him and slowly lifted himself off the ground, eventually getting onto one knee while his other leg remained stretched out on the ground behind him.

"Zero?" Prairie said tentatively.

"Ugh...Prairie? Is that you?" It definitely sounded like Zero. "Am I...am I back? Where are you?" His eyes remained fixed on the ground in front of him.

"I'm right here," she said, taking a few careful steps forward. "What's wrong? You can't see?"

"I beat Omega, but I haven't quite regained control of all of my subsystems yet," Zero said, shaking his head. "My hearing's a little fuzzy, and my left leg doesn't seem to want to work. I can't seem to move my other arm, either. I think...I should be fine in a few minutes." He seemed to be struggling to even speak.

"Zero? Are you sure Omega's gone? Have we...did we really...?"

She could see a smile on Zero's face, even though his eyes remained trained on the ground beneath him. "Yeah, it's just me in here. We did it, Prairie."

"Zero!" She exclaimed in relief as she rushed forward to help him up.

As soon as she drew near, Zero's hand suddenly shot up and grabbed onto Prairie's arm. Suddenly realizing that she'd made the worst mistake of her life, she tried to pull back, but Zero's - no, Omega's hand refused to budge. Then his head came up and looked her straight in the eye, the pulsing red in his eyes and the wicked grin on his face clear evidence that he knew he'd won.

"Got you."

As it hung helplessly from Zero's hand, the head of Omega started to cackle maniacally. "Well, looks like it's my turn to laugh," he said.

"Shut up and die," Zero replied.

"It's actually quite a pity that you can't see the irony," Omega continued anyway. "Weil brought the entire world to its knees, but in the end he could never touch you. So even though I've been shut away from the world for over two centuries, I've managed to cause you more pain and suffering in the space of minutes than he did in years! Go ahead, take your wretched body back. Enjoy the despair that the cost of your victory brings!"

"I thought I told you to shut up and die," Zero said flatly, then changed the saber in his hand into a Buster and fired. Omega's head shattered like the rest of his body had, thousands of reflective shards dissolving into the black nothingness without a sound.

Without wasting any more time, Zero glanced around at the blackness around him to try and orient himself. He'd just destroyed most of Omega's programming, but there were still several traces of him left behind; non-sentient routines and processes running that he had to eliminate before he could take control of his body again.

"Time for a memory purge," he said aloud to no one in particular, then raised his hands and shattered the world.

Omega - or maybe Weil, or even a combination of the two - had placed layers upon layers of defensive barriers in Zero's body to protect it from outsiders, several of which the M.E.G.A. system had bypassed to get Zero to where he was now. Without Omega's consciousness here to operate them, however, they all sat idly by while Zero brushed them aside, then deleted them completely after he was past them. Each time he did the scenery around him shattered into glass, revealing another scene representing another layer of protection behind it. First it was a fiery, erupting volcano, followed by a fierce blizzard in the middle of an ice drift. There was no logical pattern to the scenes, but they all carried a few common themes: desolation, destruction, and in the case of one grisly scene of a battlefield from the Elf War, death.

He was so obsessed with death, even in his own mind he surrounded himself with it.

Eventually there were only two sectors in his systems remaining with their defenses intact. Just a cursory glance of the first told him what it was - or rather, reminded him. The barriers around that section hadn't been made by Omega, or even Weil - they'd been placed there long before either of them had ever existed, to protect the world from the terror that lurked inside Zero's body. Not for the first time since embarking on this plan Zero asked himself if letting that...thing back into the outside world was a good idea, but it was too late to turn back now. There was nothing left to do but forge ahead. He'd just have to be careful. Very careful.

He swept away the few remaining layers of Omega's programming protecting the final section of his subconscious and entered.

Inside, he found himself standing in a pure white room - just like the inside of a biometal. It seemed to be the blank slate representing a biometal's - or in this case, a reploid's mind. The difference in this case was that the room wasn't empty. In the center of the enclosure was a lone, familiar capsule, with a multitude of exposed wires leading down into the floor. Zero's footsteps reverberated through the silent air as he walked over to the front of the capsule and looked inside, already knowing what waited there.

Inside lay the frame and exposed innards of a half-finished reploid, like the creator had abandoned the job halfway through. Regardless of its poorly-kept state, however, the reploid seemed to be functioning perfectly. That was because it wasn't a reploid, but a visual representation of the barest core of Omega's programming, the part responsible for making his body operate. To use an antiquated term, it was the the ones and zeroes. It possessed no thought or emotion, being merely a collection of digital directives and procedures responsible for carrying out the will of the consciousness - which Zero had just finished obliterating a few moments ago. Now it was simply sitting there in silence, waiting for a command that wasn't coming.

Even with all of its wires lying exposed inside the capsule, the shape of the frame still brought memories back. Zero could picture the red-finned helmet on the head, with square white shoulder guards on either side of a bright red chestpiece. He remembered the white-gloved hands sticking out of the red forearm gauntlets and the black reinforced fabric on the joints to allow for maximum flexibility while also providing a minimal amount of protection. He almost cringed at the memory of the massive red legplates that extended all the way into the boots - damn those had been heavy. If there was one thing he hadn't missed when Ciel woke him up that fateful day in the lab, it was lugging around twenty pounds of metal on each foot. Although, they had been rather stylish. He couldn't help but smirk at that thought.

Suddenly the reploid's eyes snapped open and the head turned to look at him, its gaze instantly locking onto Zero's eyes. There was no remorse or mercy in its dead eyes, but neither was there fear. In fact, there was no was emotion at all. Despite all the atrocities Omega had committed using this body, it remained completely unaware of the immorality of all the pain it had caused. It had no sense of 'right' or 'wrong'. Living things were simply another form of data, and interacting with them was this body's purpose. As far as it was concerned, the only difference between saving a life and taking one was which directives it executed.

Whether this thing really deserves to die or not is a question I'll leave up to greater minds than mine, Zero thought resolutely. I have a job to do, and it's in my way. Time to take back what's mine.

The final fragment of the reploid persona known as Omega stared blankly ahead as Zero raised his fist in a simple gesture, with one finger pointing forward and his thumb sticking straight up.

"Bang."

"Biolink established. M.E.G.A. system online." Even as he heard himself say it, Zero knew something was wrong. He opened his eyes and Prairie's face immediately filled his vision, only inches away from his nose. "Prairie...?"

"Zero...is it really you...this time?" She whispered, smiling weakly. Her eyelids fluttered as she tried to keep them from sliding shut. "I'm...glad..."

"Prairie? What's wrong? Why do you sound so..."

"I'm sorry Zero, but I'm afraid I made a little mistake." Her mouth went lax and her eyes dropped shut as her head fell limply to the side. Zero could feel her hands release the grip on his arm that he hadn't even noticed yet. He could also feel something oddly warm on his hand. He looked away from Prairie's face to investigate...

Zero's mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide at the sight of his own arm buried elbow-deep in Prairie's chest, her reploid blood and fluids dripping off his arm and onto the ground. He also realized he could feel his fingers touching air on the opposite side - Omega had put his fist straight through her chest.

The red maverick's final words rang in his mind as he started to panic. It had never really clicked in his brain what it would mean to have Prairie die, never really seemed like it was something he'd actually have to deal with. It just couldn't happen.

"This can't be real. This can't be happening." Zero squeezed his eyes shut and tried to shake away the horrible sight in front of him, to no avail: the image would be burned into his memory for the rest of his life, and even beyond that. "I'm still in Omega's mind, this is just another one of his tricks. There's no way this can be real." Even as he said it he knew how fake it sounded, but it was all he had left to hope for.

"No Zero, this is real...I'm real...I'm here," Prairie mumbled. "But...this is really uncomfortable...if you could put me down..."

Realizing that he was just standing there holding Prairie up by her innards, Zero quickly but carefully extracted his arm and laid her gently down on the ground. He forced himself to look at her face and nowhere else to try and control the still-rising panic welling up in his chest. "What have I done? Oh Prairie, I'm sorry, what have I..."

"You didn't do anything," she whispered again, "it was Omega. You have nothing to be sorry for." Zero had to strain himself to hear her words.

"Yes I do. I said I'd protect you, and I failed. This is my fault, I shouldn't have gotten you involved. I should have-"

"Stop blubbering like an idiot." Even as her life trickled out onto the floor under her, Prairie could still manage to keep the authority in her voice. "I didn't want to be protected. I wanted to help you. The only one at fault here is me, for falling for Omega's final trick like the foolish little girl I am." Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him again. "I did help you, didn't I?"

"Of course. I couldn't have done it without you."

She managed a weak smile. "That's good. I'm glad. And I know you mean it, because you'd never lie to me, even at a time like this. That's just how you are, brutally honest to a fault." Her head rolled to the side once more, unable to support its own weight any longer. "You have no idea how much it means to me, to be able to help you., Even after you were gone, you helped Sis and I so much that all I wanted was to be able to do something to repay you, even if only a little. If that's what all this was for, then I'll be able to die happily knowing that I'd accomplished just that one thing."

"Prairie, you don't have to repay me for anything."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. Do you see the difference? This makes me happy, Zero, happier than I've been in a long time. Thank you so, so much."

Zero couldn't think of anything else to say, his mind blanking. He'd seen reploids receive wounds worse than Prairie's and still live to see another day, but they'd been within reach of medical attention. Down here, at the bottom of ruins filled with mavericks and worse, there was nothing he could do to stop her life from slipping between his fingers and onto the cold floor below.

This body is powerful enough to destroy entire armies, level cities, and annihilate entire civilizations. It contains a virus so horrific that it was sealed away for centuries, so powerful that its very existence was wiped from the pages of history. I have the ultimate power of the God of Destruction at my fingertips, capable of destroying anything that stands in my path...

...but what the hell is it all for if I can't use it to save even one goddamn girl?!

"Help me, Zero..." Prairie's whisper snapped him out of his despair as she grasped weakly onto his leg with her hand, trying to pull herself closer to him. "Up, I want to go...up..."

Knowing that there was nothing else he could do for her but comfort her in her final moments, Zero gently lifted Prairie's body with both hands. She used her hand to steer herself over him, then laid her head down in his lap.

"I've...grown a bit since....last time," she said, coming to a rest. "I don't quite...fit here anymore." It sounded like she was more depressed about that than the fact that she was dying.

"You fit just fine," Zero said, gently stroking her blood-stained hair. "You can stay there as long as you want."

She tried to giggle and failed. "Don't worry...I know this...makes you feel...uncomfortable. I...won't stay long...just a few minutes..."

A moment of silence passed as Zero tried to hold back the tears in his eyes. He couldn't remember the last time he'd...actually, he could. Though he fervently wished he couldn't.

"It's time to go," Prairie finally said. "Please...don't forget about me, Zero. Don't ever...forget..."

"I could never forget about you," Zero reassured her, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "None of us could. The Guardians, Vent, Aile, Ashe, all of them. We'll all remember you Prairie, until the day we die."

"Not her..." Prairie said, shaking her head weakly. "Not her...me. Remember...me."

It took a moment for him to understand, and when he did he couldn't hold it anymore. He could feel the tears as they trickled down his cheek, then fell onto Prairie's face. "Of course," he choked out. "I'll always remember you." He patted her hair one last time, to let her know that he'd always be there. "Good night, Alouette."

Alouette smiled happily, the last expression she'd ever make. "Good night, Zero..." she said quietly, then fell into a peaceful sleep, one that would never end.

And in the deepest bowels of the earth, in a wretched prison created from the mind of a twisted maniac and warped by his lust for power, the God of Destruction cried.

Author's Note (2):

So, who honestly saw that coming? If I did a good job, you should be hating me right about now. FYI, the short fic I mentioned in the other Author's note is titled "Good Night, Alouette" and was inspired almost solely by that line at the exact moment I wrote it.

I'm not sure if it's spelled "fuchsia" or "fuschia". The first is the flower and the second is the color...I think. I wanted to the color, so I took my best guess. If I chose incorrectly and it's really bothering you, get a life.

I'm not 100% certain, but I'm pretty sure the line Omega yells when you fight him in N-1 is "I am the Messiah!" followed by his trademark evil laughter. I tried my best to work that line into this part somewhere, for better or for worse. It was kind of the signal that the real fight was about to start.

For those who don't know, "Cannon Ball" is the name of the song that plays when you fight Omega. Well, technically it's from MMZ3, and the remix of it in ZX is "Cannon Ball ~Hard Revenge~", but I'm not picky enough to care. Besides, I like the original one better.

Cookies to anyone who noticed the Cowboy Bebop reference. If you've seen the show it's pretty obvious.

And finally, a special thanks goes out to Xenosaga, for reminding me that some of the greatest stories out there are the ones that don't have happy endings.

'Til next time.