Author's Notes:

And so it is once again time for the next new chapter of TFTA!

I can only state that due to the stress of my final college term, graduation, and job searching the production of this chapter was delayed as long as it was. Additionally, I got about 3/4 of the way through this chapter before I realized I didn't like the way it was going and how the rest of the story would turn out, thus it required me to start from scratch and reformulate the rest of the story.

As you'll note in the title this is in fact the first of a three-part segment which is the final action sequence of this story. My goal is to have 40 chapters by completion, so that means after this sequence there'll be a bit more to cover before it's done. This chapter is a bit on the short side due to the rewrite, the setup for the other segments and since it's been so long since an update.

As a warning: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS TWO CHARACTER DEATHS, GUNSHOT WOUNDS, BLEEDING AND DISCUSSION OF TORTURE.

Finally, as always, all opinions/suggestions/reviews are welcomed and encouraged.

Chapter 36 – Total Chaos - Part 1 - Evasive Actions

Robotnik had been waiting eagerly to learn the outcome of their operation at the S.S.P.D. Headquarters. Although he'd been in full support of the idea initially, after giving it some thought he realized that he was taking a huge risk. Everything up until then had been carefully calculated, planned, and rehearsed down to the last detail. This time was the complete opposite. It was a spur of the moment decision to order the attack.

"Dr. Robotnik!" Snively shouted, running into his throne room. "I have wonderful news!"

"Oh?" Robotnik asked.

"The operation was flawless! When I spoke with them they were about to get onto the highway to get here as fast as they could. Soon we will have Espio and our failed member on the S-Team!"

Robotnik thought for a moment, an amount of concern coming over his face. "No we won't."

"Sir?" Snively asked in surprise.

"I've been thinking a great deal about this, Snively. This was all very sudden. I don't like to do things that aren't originally part of the plan, and this certainly is not."

"I don't understand."

"Perhaps being involved in this whole underground, black-market business world has made me too greedy. I now I said I wanted Espio alive, but we had all the chance in the world to kill him and have done with it. Right now we are leaving a trail of evidence that is leading right to us. I do not want to destroy everything we have done up until this point."

"But they've already, escaped, sir. Wouldn't it make sense to just-"

The look of death alone made Snively's throat squeeze shut. "Did you hear a word I just said, or should I tear your ears open a little wider so you can listen better?"

"EEP!... Yes, sir... Um... What are your orders?" Snively said as sweat beaded up on his brow.

Robotnik thought for a moment. "Execute them both. Nothing fancy, just kill them both. And try to have it done as out of sight as possible. I want no traces of this, do you understand? No traces."

Snivley swallowed as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Yes, sir. I will send the message immediately."

Snively turned to leave the throne room. Robotnik was fairly certain he heard Snively grumble something under his breath, which wasn't out of the ordinary, but right now he didn't feel like addressing it. Weighing more heavily on the ex-world dictator's mind was the realization of how carelessly he'd acted. Up until now everything had either gone exactly as planned or close enough to it. This, however, was never something that was not meant to happen. He could only blame himself, for he'd truly been caught up in the moment.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!"

Avarice blasted by a group of pedestrians that were crossing a street in front of her. Ordinarily she would have stopped to respond to the types of insults that were shouted at her as she sped by, but she had no time for that now. Given her location she'd gotten onto Route 101 and was taking every advantage of the lack of speed-limits. It had occurred to her that whoever had kidnapped Espio was most likely on this same route., but that the distance between them was probably significant.

Flying up the farthest lane to the left Avarice kept her eyes peeled for anything that looked suspicious. She was expecting to possibly see a police vehicle since she now knew the S.S.P.D. was corrupt. Speeding along she looked for such a thing, but for several minutes saw nothing of the sort. Just as she was starting to think that she might be too far behind to catch up one vehicle caught her eye. It wasn't police-related, rather it was a plain black van. One that looked very similar to the one she'd rescued Espio from earlier. Of course, there were countless black vans in the city, yet something about this one held her attention. Not wanting to look too suspicious or risk being seen she slowed down and drifted into some traffic.

Closing in on the van she did notice that it was the type that didn't have any windows on it except for the windshield and front doors. More suspiciously it had an after-market lock on the back, like the one she'd seen on the van Espio had been in earlier in the day. At her current distance there was no way the driver would expect anything of her and could more then likely safely follow the van to wherever it was going. Suddenly it shot across all four lanes of traffic and down an exit ramp. It turned so quickly there wasn't any time for Avarice to react and she ran right past the exit.

"What the? Dammit!"

Somehow in her gut Avarice knew that had to be what she was looking for and decided to pursue. It was going to take far too long to go to the next exit so Avarice cut across all four lanes herself and came to a screeching halt on the shoulder of the road. Gunning the gas she burned out and spun 180 degrees and went in the opposite direct. In no time at all she'd made it back to the exit ramp. Barely making the turn off the highway onto the ramp Avarice gunned it down the ramp. At the bottom she found herself facing an empty road in the poor part of town.

Only a couple blocks away was a large abandoned warehouse. Given her knowledge of the area there weren't many places to hide, so she had a feeling that's where the van might have gone. Not wanting to give herself away she pulled across the street and got off the bike. Running as fast as she could with her backpack she made it to the block where the warehouse was. Peering around the corner of the building she spotted the black van idling outside of it.

"Damn I'm good," she thought to herself.

One of the occupants of the van had just managed to bash an old, rusty lock off of a chain binding a large door on the side of the structure shut. That person walked in, followed shortly by the van. Avarice hurriedly crept along side the building to the entrance. Looking inside the van and person on foot were going to the far end. This gave her a chance to enter without detection.

Inside she found that the lower floor was void of any type of cover, but there was a series of metal walkways that ran about the structure. She hurried up a staircase along side of the wall closest to her. Once on the level of the walkways she found a small raised room, perhaps where a control room was once located. The van was just pulling aside and coming to a stop. Avarice hurried down the walkway as fast as possible without making too much noise. Just as the driver door of the van was opening she made it into the empty room.

"Alright, let's make this quick! I don't want to get caught in the middle of this!"

Avarice was surprised to hear a voice a lot like hers."Damn, on a phone or a radio you'd never know the difference between me or her."

Peeking through a shattered window the driver of the van was a tall female. Even from her current distance it was obvious the woman was an Overlander judging by her four-fingered hands. This was only apparent due to the fact that the woman had a MP5 sub-machinegun with an integral suppressor she was slinging over her shoulder.

"You think this is safe enough? I mean, it's not too far from the highway," the male Overlander asked.

"Every second you keep asking questions is another that makes it less safe. Now shut up and help me get these two out of here."

The pair opened the back and drug a pair of beings out of it. Avarice didn't recognize the Overlander they pulled out, but it was the member of the S-Team squad that had been arrested earlier in the day during the car chase after failing to follow orders to back off the pursuit.

"You bastards!" shouted the third Overlander in an orange prison gown. "One little screw up and you condemn me to death? What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Not our problem. We just do what we're told and we do it right, unlike you," said the female.

"What the hell was I supposed to do? If I'd had just a few more seconds I could have stopped those damn hedgehogs in their tracks!"

"Well, guess what? You didn't. And when we're told you have to die, you die. That's all there is to it."

"Don't you pricks have a brain? I mean, seriously! Do you just do what you're told to without-"

With a surprising amount of strength the female punched the ex-inmate in the face to silence him. Meanwhile, the other male Overlander pulled another being from the van. There was no denying the purple chameleon that was bound together more tightly than the other captive.

"You've really been one big pain in the ass today to all of us, you know that?" the female Overlander stated.

Espio remained silent, prompting an onslaught of taunts and one or two physical attacks against him. At first it wasn't clear why Espio didn't do anything, but soon it became clear to Avarice that it was because he knew that there was no reason to fight back. If anything was going to save him, it was out of his control.

As Avarice sat and watched this she couldn't help but notice the similarity of what was happening to him and what had happened to her just a short while ago at the police station. Angered by what she saw Avarice made a decision right then and there that the two Overlanders were going to pay.

The pair slid the two captives over to a steel support beam and rested them against it. "Alright, you take care of this," the female ordered, holding out the MP5 to the other.

"What? Come on, I did it last time."

"What are you, are wimp? Just do it!"

"I'm tired of getting other people's blood all over me when I drag their dead bodies back to the van. You do it, for once!"

"We don't have the time to argue about this!"

"Then just do it yourself if it means that much to you."

Above the scene Avarice could barely believe what she was hearing. "These pricks can't even resist fighting amongst themselves!... All the more reason for me to do this."

With three handguns to choose form Avarice had to think fast. The full-auto Glock could rain down a lot of lead, but she could easy end up hitting Espio under the recoil. The freshly stolen P226 was a good choice, but she'd never fired one before and at her current distance she might miss. That left her own snub-nose revolver, but it was the weakest of the three and with such a short barrel it would be difficult to aim.

"Alright, fine! I'll do it! Just get the van ready to go!"

The sound of the sub-machinegun's charging handle being pulled back made Avarice snap to action. She drew her revolver from her backpack and took aim through the window. In that short moment the female Overlander had aimed her weapon at the pair. With no time to waste Avarice shot once at her. The round struck one of the woman's feet. Yelling in surprised pain the woman looked around frantically to see what was attacking her. She quickly spotted Avarice and raised the MP5. Avarice shot again, this time hitting her right in the chest. The woman cried out when she was hit, but she still managed to pull the trigger and spray the raised room with fully-auto suppressed fire before falling to the ground.

Looking at where the gun was being shot Espio spotted Avarice suddenly fall away from the window under the barrage of gunfire. His blood ran cold, wondering if she'd ducked or had gotten shot.

The other Overlander was so caught off guard that the entire shootout was over before he knew what had happened. He rushed to the side of his fallen partner, only to find her already lifeless. In anger he grabbed the MP5 and emptied the remaining rounds into the raised room.

"TAKE THAT, WHOEVER THE HELL YOU ARE!"

If she hadn't been hit before, Espio was sure Avarice was dead now. Caught in the moment,Espio's emotions got the better of him and he shouted "DAMN YOU, YOU OVERLANDER SCUM!"

Espio himself was surprised at his own reaction, but it wasn't appreciated by either of the remaining Overlanders, especially the one with the gun. Glaring at Espio the man pulled out another magazine and promptly reloaded the MP5.

"Nice going, dumbass," the fake S-Team member behind Espio said in realization at what was about to happen.

Their executioner pointed the gun at them and had just steadied his aim when a jolt of pain went through his lower back and his ears rang from two loud bangs. Yelping the man fell to the floor, the MP5 bouncing away from him. He tried to move for it, but his legs couldn't move. Only then did he realize he was paralyzed from being shot in the pelvis and spine.

"No offense, bot you're a horrible shot... unlike me."

Looking back up at the room Avarice had reappeared in the window, he hands pointing her revolver out a window. All he could do was watch as she thumbed back the hammer of her gun and pull the trigger. With one well placed shot a bullet was sent into his skull.

"Damn..." the remaining Overlander gasped in awe of the shot.

Espio barely acknowledged the shot having already seen earlier that Avarice was a skilled shooter. All he was concerned with was Avarice's condition since forty rounds of 9mm ammunition had been shot at her.

"Are you alright?"

Only then did Espio notice that the feline was leaning heavily on her arms on the windowsill with a distressed grimace on her face. She looked over to him with a weak grin. "Well, to put it lightly... it looks like I'm gonna be carried by six rather than judged by twelve..." she said weakly before falling backwards into the room, making no further sounds after disappearing from sight.

It took moment for the fact to sink into Espio's mind that the closest thing he had to a teammate had been wounded badly. A sense of desperation set in and he tried to sprint off to help her, only to collapse immediately since he was still bound to the other captive.

"OW! Dammit, chill out!"

"I have to help her!"

"Screw that bitch! Let's just get the hell out of here while we can!"

Espio had to restrain from kicking the non-caring being for such a comment, but in doing so Espio made a discovery. He still had the razor blade stuck in the sole of his shoe. Espio twisted himself every winch way to reach the blade, ignoring the complaints from his fellow captive. Finally reaching the blade he pulled it free and twisted his wrists about to start cutting through the thick synthetic cord that bound him. It was difficult, but with a little cutting Espio got his hands free and within moments shed the rest of the bindings.

"Awesome! Now cut me free, huh?"

The Overlander could only watch as Espio threw the blade to the far side of the building and run for the old control room. Espio ignored the pleas and insults to come back as he climbed a support beam adjacent to the room. Reaching the height of the room and threw himself off the beam and grabbed hold of a window frame and pulled himself through.

There weren't many things which could cause a shock to go through Espio like the one he was currently feeling, but one was seeing a teammate in mortal danger. Avarice was lying on her back grasping her gut, her green shirt and white paw fur stained red from the bullet wound. The grimace on her face only further displayed that she was in agony.

Taking a breath and forcing a grin, she weakly said "I'm starting to lose count... how many times... we've saved each other... but I don't think you will save me this time..."

Espio rushed to the feline's side, placing his hand on her own to keep the wound from bleeding. "Don't speak. Just stay calm and don't move."

"Espio... Stop worrying about me... you know what you gotta do... Leave me here and go get Robotnik..."

"I said stop talking! Save your strength!"

Avarice sighed in annoyance. "What are you waiting for?... Huh?... You can't save me... But you can save a lot more people..."

"You need to stop-"

Avarice cut him off. "No, you need to stop!... You know there's nothing you can do... and even if you could, what's in it for me?... What's really left for me in this world?..."

Fighting through the quivers and tears of her suffering she locked eyes with Espio, who for the first time since she'd met him showed a sign of emotion in his face. "See?... Yo know it, and I know it...," she said as she started to cry. "I'm done for... in more than one way... It's up to you now... Only you..."

Espio took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're right, Avarice. I thank you deeply for all the help you have given me. It is up to me now to make sure that Robotnik is stopped forever... but not before I say this."

"What?..."

All of a sudden the emotion in Espio's face changed to sheer determination. "You are someone who ought to survive."

Giving her no time to object, Espio placed his arms under the wounded feline and hoisted her up off the floor. Avarice winced from the pain of being moved, but there was no escaping Espio's grasp. They reached a door in the room that lead to a staircase down to the floor. Since it didn't have any sort of lock or handle Espio kicked it wide open.

Once onto the ground floor Avarice built up the strength to speak again. "Espio, what the hell are you doing! Stop wasting time and go get that son-of-a-bitch!"

"I will not leave you to die in this horrible place. I have failed too many times these past couple days. If you die I will have failed. I will not fail again. You are going to live."

Reaching the van Espio gently laid Avarice onto the ground. Next to them the still bounded Overlander saw the extent of the cat's injuries.

"Pft! You think she's gonna live after getting shot like that? If I were you I'd leave her for the rats and save your own ass."

Avarice glared at the humanoid, but Espio motioned for her to not speak. "Save your strength. I'll deal with this one."

Espio turned his gaze to the Overlander, displaying only a single emotion. It wasn't anger, rage or disdain. It was a look of being bloodthirsty, and it was so powerful that the once-cocky humanoid instantly feared for his life.

"Woah, wait a second. You didn't take that seriously, did you? I mean, come on! These are, uh, troubled times, huh? It makes us do and say things without thinking, right?"

Espio's look was unfaltering, unlike the quivering voice of the Overlander. Walking towards him Espio could tell he'd terrified the living daylights out of his opponent, which is exactly what he wanted.

"I'll make it very clea,... Either you do exactly as I say, or you will die a death far more excruciating than anything Robotnik could dream up."

The Overlander was taken back more by the statement of his boss. "What the? how did you know about-"

"I am a detective. It's my job to find out about such things. It is for that reason I know his hiding place is in the metal refinery in the docks. And it is there that his reign of terror will end. But you, however..."

"What about me?"

"I am highly skilled in martial and ancient arts. This includes many disciplines of torture. I know more ways to inflict horrific pain. And above all the forms I know, the most unpleasant is... Chakra Torture."

"Wh... what the h-h-hell is that?"

"According to some philosophies, the body has energy centers that drive your being, such as you brain, your heart, or... your genitals. The idea is to inflict the maximum amount of pain in these areas while assuring you remain alive. And I assure you, with my knowledge and training... I do believe I could exceed fifty-two hours of keeping you alive, while assuring you experience pain unlike anything you can possibly fathom."

"Oh my... Y... You-re fucking crazy, man! You're crazy!"

Espio showed no mercy. "The choice is simple, do as I say or suffer the consequences."

It only took a split-second for the answer to come. "A-Alright! Alright! What do you want me to do? Anything to avoid... that!" the white-faced humanoid managed to say.

"Take her to the hospital. Use the van. Make sure she gets the treatment she needs to live."

"What? I can't do that! I'm in prison clothes and wanted by the S.S.P.D.! That's not gonna go well for me!"

"That is not my problem. And considering your alternatives, it's the best thing that could happen to you when you consider what Robotnik or I am capable of."

The Overlander swallowed in fear. "I hate to say it... but that's a damn good point."

"And let me be clear on one more thing. If you don't do this, I will track you down. You know full well I can find you since I found Robotnik. And when I do you know what will happen. Furthermore, if you leave here with her and then run, I will find you and you know what will happen. If you don't get her there in time, I will come after you and you know-"

"YES, I KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"

"Then I want it straight. What is your answer?"

The answer, of course, was a resounding yes. Espio secured the MP5 and its ammo, then cut the bindings off of the humanoid who, predictably, didn't try to run or steal the gun. Instead he promptly took the keys from his fallen female comrade and got the van started. Espio returned to Avarice's side. Since she had remained calm she was still alive, but it was evident she was getting weaker.

There was one thing on the feline's mind. "Did you... really mean all that?"

Espio grinned. "Of course not. But he believed me, didn't he?"

Avarice rolled her eyes. "You're starting to act like me."

Espio grinned as he helped Avarice stand up enough to pull herself into the rear side door of the van. To make her more comfortable Espio took off her backpack. He was a bit surprised by its weight, but that didn't concern him right now.

"Team 86, what is your status?"

The attention of all three occupants snapped to the radio lying on the dashboard of the van. Even from such a short audio clip Espio knew who it was.

"Snively Kintobor..."

"Team 86, do you read me? What is your status?"

"What the hell do we do? Your friend there killed anybody they'd expect to hear," the Overlander pointed out.

"Give it to me..."

Both were a bit surprised by the request, but Espio motioned for the radio. Tossing the radio back Espio caught it and handed it to Avarice.

"Team 86, do you copy!"

"Yes, we read you."

"What is the status?"

Espio and the Overlander were amazed not only how similar Avarice's voice was to the female who'd previously been in command, but also that it was fooling Snively.

"We're all... done here..." Avarice since as she winced through a sudden surge of pain.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes... The two bastards put up... a bit more of a fight than we thought... but we got the job done. Just a little beat up."

"Understood. Vacate the area and remain out of sight. We want no traces leading to us."

"Roger that. Team 86 out."

Dropping the radio Avarice laid down hard on the floor of the van, groaning in rising misery from her injury. Looking up at Espio her eyes were a bit bloodshot and she was tearing from what she was feeling.

"I don't know... how much longer... I can last..."

Espio whipped around to the Overlander in the driver's seat. "Time to go. Now."

The tone of the order reminded the Overlander of what he'd been told, even though it was a complete lie on the chameleon's part. Putting the van in drive they departed the warehouse and got back to the main road.

"I parked your bike a few blocks away... Hopefully it's still there."

"If you mean the black one two blocks away on the sidewalk up there then yes."

"Go to it," Espio ordered.

It took only a few moments to get the the motorcycle. Upon reaching it Avarice reached for the backpack she'd been carrying all day and pushed it towards Espio.

"I think you should take this... It has a few of my tools in it... along with guns... and the bomb."

Espio was surprised to hear that the bag still had the bomb in it, but realizing he had no tools at his disposal at present it would be foolish to not take. He also put the MP5 and the radio in the bag as well. As he shouldered the bag he noticed the green and black snub-nose revolver in Avarice's belt line. To her surprise he reached for it.

"You won't be needing this anymore," he informed her as he put it in the bag with all the other supplies.

The feline nodded. "It's been a while since that's been the case..." she said in a relieved tone.

"You take her straight to the hospital. After that I could care less what you do. Remember what I said," Espio stated one last time.

The Overlander wasn't thrilled with being ordered around, but being none-the-wiser about the truth to Espio's threats he nodded he'd do so. Looking back to Avarice Espio stealthily winked.

"Avarice... I could not have gotten here without your help. I will make sure that Robotnik is stopped once and for all."

"Your welcome, Espio. If I don't see you again... for whatever reason... just know that... AHH!."

Another surge of pain went through the cat's gut. Espio consoled her until is ceased. "It's alright. You're going to be fine. Just be strong for a little bit more. You're going to be alright."

The soothing tones of the words calmed Avarice down. Through teary eyes she nodded. Even so, he could see was she looked more scared than he'd ever seen her, and he knew why.

Espio ordered for the driver to get going as he opened the side door and stepped out. Looking at the feline one more time he nodded to her reassuringly, then shut the door. Espio watched as the van sped away and down the street, turning onto the highway towards the center of town and out of sight.

With the exception of distant traffic, a few sirens that were probably responding to the bombed S.S.P.D. H.Q., and the sound of a small gust of wind, the block itself Espio was on fell quiet. A familiar feeling started to overcome him once again. It only took a moment to figure out what it was.

"Alone... again..."

Earlier that day he'd watched his team of fellow detectives be hauled away with what he now knew were phony cops. Now he watched the closest thing he had to a teammate taken away in the back of a van driven by an enemy while bleeding to death. It was almost impossible to think that twice in the same day a similar set of circumstances could have occurred twice.

Pulling the backpack onto his shoulders Espio mounted his Kawasaki motorcycle. He paused for a moment before starting it to ponder his current situation. With a whole day having passed anything could have happened to his team or anybody else he knew to be involved in the case. For all he knew it may already be too late to save anybody. For that he felt a deep sense of guilt. The only difference now was that he at least had a sense of direction. A goal to accomplish. A purpose.

Summoning the motorcycle to life Espio raced to the freeway and go onto an on-ramp headed away from the city. Speeding into the late-day twilight Espio noted an overhead sign indicating the exit for the docks.

Robotnik had been on pins and needles waiting to hear back on the results on the drastic measures that had been taken. So much was riding on the outcome of his decisions, and if he'd made the wrong choice all his work to get to where he had would be ruined.

Behind him the door to his throne room opened. Whipping around Robotnik automatically asked "Is there any word yet?"

Snively was surprised at the reaction of his usually level-headed boss, but decided now was not the time to be smart-mouthed. "Yes sir. I have heard from our team."

"Well?" he asked, an obvious note of nervousness in his voice.

"It's been a success, sir."

Robotnik sat forward in his throne chair. "A success? So that means that Espio is?..."

"It means that Espio, along with our failed S-Team imposter, are dead."

The words seemed to bring some but not complete comfort to Robotnik. "...Are you sure?"

"Positive, sir."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I spoke directly with out team leader for that unit."

"And you know for sure it was our leader?"

"Considering it's the only team we had with a female leader, I'm certain. I knew her voice immediately."

Sitting back in his chair. "So it is over, then?"

"Yes, sir. Any threat we faced is either in our custody, or dead."

Robotnik let out a long sigh of relief. "That is a welcome bit of information... and one that means we can finally carry out the last stages of our plan."

"Indeed, sir. It has been a long time coming, hasn't it?"

"Too long, my dear nephew. Too long. But no matter. The outcomes of our patience and strategy will have made it all worth while. We will finally claim the victory we've sought for so long."

"Speaking of which, sir... How would you like to proceed?"

A sinister grin crossed Robotnik's lips. He'd been thinking about this moment for some time and he knew full well what he was going to do.

"Well, it's quite obvious Snively. Within the hour every member of the Freedom Fighters that we have in our custody will be dead. And with what I have in mind, there will be no chance for any of them to be saved, recognized or even found ever again."

"I think I know what you have in mind, sir... and I love it."

"I thought you would. Now, here's the million dollar question... who do you think is gonna be first to go?"

Snively rolled his eyes about as he thought. "I would say the three hedgehog siblings seem like the top candidates."

Robotnik chuckled. "Not bad, Snively... but you're only got two out of three correct. Care to guess which?"

"One of them certainly has to be Sonic. The other I would guess is Manic given his close connection to everything that has happened... Having said that, the final must be Antoine... the real Antoine."

Robotnik only grinned as a response.

"Very well, sir. I have a few matters to take care of, then I will see to it that those three are fetched."

"Very good. I think our look-alike might also want to attend as well. After all, without him we wouldn't be where we are now."

"Yes, sir. I will let him know."

Snively went off to set their plans in motion. Meanwhile, Robontik sat back in his throne chair and relished the fact that he was so close to the victory he'd been seeking form most of his life.

"Finally, it's time to end all of this... and there is nothing left that can stop me, not now nor ever."