A/N: I had to. I might delete it. I'm sure it already exists, but you can sue me if you want. Excuse the sarcasm in the narrative portions, but- Ya know what? You'll see.

This was written in response to the outrage a friend of mine felt watching a certain end-of-season cutscene… And, yes, my own annoyance. We decided you all might enjoy it too.

Inside a building, Eliksni gathered behind Saint-14 and Mithrax as a Vex formation pushed up the street in the Botza District. With the portal letting them through threatened, the remaining Vex tightened formation and surged forward. Saint's shields held many a shot before the accurate Slap Rifles forced him to take cover.

Mithrax managed his shields a bit better, but when a Line Rifle shot from a Hobgoblin sniper struck him, he too retreated behind cover.

"The Guardian will break their portal!" yelled Saint. "Keep behind us! We will not let them harm you."

Torch Hammer shots, explosive, pressured Saint and Mithrax to stay in cover, until Saint finally had enough of waiting in futility for his shields to recharge. He burst from cover to use his famous Ward of Dawn to protect Mithrax.

Mithrax flinched and moved to shield his eyes - but found he could still see.

"Stand friend," said Saint, "You will not fall today."

Vex warped forward to invade the Ward, but Saint leveled devastating blows to keep them out or kill them each time.

Mithrax stood, awed by what he felt. The Light, at last his ally, empowering him even. This was no longer the den of a monster. He knew it for what it truly was, then.

"If we do not survive, this is the story Eliksni will tell… Of the Saint standing beside us."

"And you with me, Kell of Kells," said Saint. They both stepped forward, still protected and empowered by Saint's special Ward. "Together, we are enough!"

"I still wish," said Mithrax, "You would cease being so presumptuous as to call me Kell of Kells. Many Houses have come to join me, but I am and will always be, Kell of Light."

The two fired and retreated, fired and retreated, keeping an uneven rhythm to attack with impunity using the Ward's protection.

Still, the Vex onslaught eventually tired Saint as he poured strength into his Ward, protecting the Eliksni hiding in the building, out of the street and line of fire.

It was then, as the Ward fell, that reinforcements arrived. A Nova Bomb from Ikora and several Vanguard via transmat from their ships. It seemed to be a shift, until a massive Hydra emerged from the portal at the rear of the Vex invasion. All were given pause at this arrival - until it was The Guardian they saw riding atop the Hydra. The portal faltered and died behind them, and they fired down into the Hydra's casing to kill it before leaping away from its suicide blast.

"More than enough!" said The Guardian.

As the battle raged on, Osiris, who was definitely evil this whole time like I thought, saw his plan failing and left quietly.

And so the battle with the time traveling, interdimensional death-machines we know as Vex ended in victory. Victory for the Vanguard, the Saint, and the Kell of Light.

(Warning, long note, pretty much pointless after the first paragraph) ((The new cover is simply called "Kell," and it's a commission I paid for years ago by "Inkling-Ghaul" on dA. You can see it at full size there.))

A/N: It's really over this time. Truly. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read, and especially to those who left a review to tell me what you thought of it. Season of The Splicer was a veritable gold mine for this fic, and Beyond Light offered me a way to give this story a proper conclusion.

Now there'll be another silence from me, but it's not going to be because I've stopped writing this time. Last time… I had finished my first novel, and I was looking to the future, thinking I could follow the schedule I'd set for myself and get the work done. I was wrong. My depression just kept getting worse - not that it's stopped doing that somehow - and I lost my drive for art. I continued to DM in DnD 5e as a creative outlet during my hiatus, but what brought me back to writing wasn't motivation, it was discipline.

I'm not the same person I was when I started this story, but after reading it and re-reading it, writing for it again and looking back, I think this is as good as I'm going to get at one-draft storytelling. I've never really rewritten things before aside from Twin Humanities. Even then, the rewrite is all single draft work, it just happens to be me telling a story the way I wanted it told in the first place by applying the new skills I'd learned.

Anyway, I doubt Destiny will ever be the game we expected or want it to be. Crucible is plagued with special weapon supremacy, Vanguard activities are pointless and boring but filled with necessary Catalysts, and Gambit still has you competing with your own allies AND the enemy. Sunsetting took dynamite to a problem that required laser engraving, trying to fix balance issues and only succeeding in punishing players who'd poured time and effort into their favorite weapons. The story continues to fall short, randomized stats and perks in gear we can't just reroll at Banshee like D1, resources from bygone locations are useless - the list just goes on.

I hope one day we get Eliksni Guardians, a fourth character slot and the option to buy more like Phantasy Star, and the ability to reroll weapons we already have in our hands instead of the constant mindless grinding. I hope Sunsetting is truly discontinued and I can use my Black Armory weapons again. The issues with Mountaintop, Revoker, etc, aren't my fault and I shouldn't be punished for them by having my favorite weapons taken from me so that Bungie has a good enough excuse to remove the gear they introduced to be overpowered in the first place…

And I hope Bungie has real success with Destiny and we see their old quality again someday. As someone who grew up playing their Halo series, which is still, to this day, far better than anything 343 has done with the series, I know what Bungie as a company is capable of. Destiny still just doesn't compare. I have no hope for Halo Infinite, and I don't see Destiny managing to right its course, just like Warframe won't either.

Regardless of what I think, I hope the rest of you can still enjoy the game. I hope Bungie can keep it going. And I hope we meet again in the future, in a better time and place, under a banner we can all be proud to fly. Truly, thank you. I would not be the author I am today, though I am unknown and unsuccessful yet, without your viewership, time, and feedback. I still love you, FFN, and I probably always will.

Goodbye for now. Next time you see me, we'll be Unkindled, and we'll be on the road to my retirement from fan-fiction. Maybe even from writing, depending on how life goes from here. Perhaps I'll see you then.