It's Never Too Late
By: Moojuice Nne of the Mayonaisse
Did anyone not understand Ch. 11? Because I didn't…
Okay, everyone, go onto and look for the "This Land" parody. It is SO hilariously funny. It's "sung" by George Bush and John Kerry characters. You'll laugh until you cry (if you understand it), so I highly suggest you go look for it!
I am so tired. My computer is about to eat me. Please save me from my computer! (starts crying) I don't wanna be eaten!
Toboe: Don't worry, Nne! Your amazing bishie Tallest Purple will save you!
Nne: No, he won't! As soon as I brought him back to life he ran away to Oregon. (sobs) He's going to get eaten by a shark.
Well, everyone, this is it. My whole summer has been dedicated to making this fanfiction for you, and I have succeeded so far. Now, all we have to do is get past this chapter and the Epilogue, and then we'll be home free!
…But, that also means that I need to write another fanfiction. And this time it's going to be…HUMOR! AND ANGST WILL COME AFTER THAT! WHOO-HOO!
Because my brain exploded in chapter eleven, this chapter will not be nineteen pages long. Thank you.
Thanks to Toshihiko1, Crusader Ari, Ashsema, Gaeldrisan, and Sheepchi for reviewing Ch.11, last time I checked!
To everyone else that will review my story before I post this finale, it's been a pleasure writing for you, and please stay tuned for the EPILOGUE!
Well, I can imagine that you are excited about the finale, so I'll let you read it.
Here we go!
Chapter Twelve: Finale: For All Time
Ren, holding his hand up to his bleeding mouth, threw himself into the vacant shuttle that rested quietly on the roof of the Capital. He lay there on the ground as the shuttle door closed and the smooth ride began. He felt around in his mouth, cursing as he found out that a few of his teeth were missing.
"That damn Tallest will pay for disfiguring my face," he said. "They all will pay, now. I shall force them to bow down to my power!"
The shuttle stopped with a halt, and Ren sat up, spitting the blood out of his mouth, and stealthily slunk out of the shuttle and into the docking bay of the Massive. It was silent and dark; the crew had already been evacuated so repairs could be done. But repairs hadn't started, so the mothership was barren and empty. He could hear the sad groans coming from the bowels of the ship. The Elite Force had done more damage then he thought they could cause. Of course, the Massive was supposed to have been destroyed, but now he was thinking that Mim did well by bringing it back to Irk. It had enough firepower to destroy the Capital, perhaps even the city.
And that was precisely what he was going to do.
"It will put everyone out of commission," he said in a dark voice. "And I will be the ruler of a new Irk."
The silver-eyed Advisor walked steadily along the silenced hallways of the Massive, letting his mind toy with menacing thoughts as his body continued towards a destination known only to him. He lingered at an intersection: one hallway would eventually take him to the Tallest's sleeping quarters, the other passage would lead him to the Offense Wing. He confidently chose the latter and strolled down the corridor humming the national anthem. "I'll put my faith in those who lead me…"
He stopped and squinted, pondering the words. "You know, I think I'll have that changed. It should go, I'll put my faith in Ren, who leads me."
He immediately broke into a fit of laughter. "Oh, they won't know what hit them! I'll change this place so much that it'll be impossible to remember its pitiful former state. I'll take all the planets and put them under my rule, not the Invaders' command. I'll take the government and turn it into such a dictatorship! I shall be God in this universe!"
He continued to laugh as he strode into the Offense Wing's main room. This room was the command center of all of the Massive's weapons. It was here—and here only—that you could access the Massive's primary weapon, although you could fire off the minor missiles that were kept in the turrets. Ren rubbed his hands together as he walked through the door. The Elite Forces had done a good job not to damage this room. "I will have to thank them when they get back," he said, hopping onto a platform that was surrounded by consoles. On one console, the words 'DO NOT FIRE UNLESS EMERGENCY' were clearly printed above a large series of screens and pads. Ren moved over to this console, then stepped away.
"I will play around a bit before I end all of this."
He turned his attention to a minor panel and ran his fingers over the small computer screen situated in the middle of the buttons and levers. A menu appeared on the screen, listing the names of secondary missiles that were ready to fire. The Advisor selected one, and a large red box appeared over the picture of the missile. The box contained one word: 'FIRE?'
"There is no one to stop me," he said softly. "The Elite Force has been sent away."
Ren's finger strayed towards the box, and he pressed it. The Massive began to shake underneath Ren's feet. The screen flashed desperately, and suddenly a bright white streak shot out of the lower part of the Massive and slammed into a nearby building. The building erupted in orange flames and exploded in a cloud of inky black smoke. Pieces of metal and shards of glass were flung violently across the city. Ren could hear screams in the distance. He cheered with sheer joy. "Oh, yeah!"
He selected another missile and pressed the red box again. Another missile arched across the sky and collided with an office building. Pieces of bodies were flung away from the wreckage. Ren was now laughing hysterically. He looked around. Two thick plumes of smoke curled into the sky. The Capital gleamed white in the distance. The two-colored flags perched on the spikes on its highest roof waved innocently in the breeze. Ren's eyes fixed on the flags. Waving flags, half crimson, half violet, with the Irken insignia in the middle, where the colors mixed. His mouth twitched. "I shall change that!"
He moved away from the minor console and returned to the large control panel with the warning on the top. He tapped his finger on a computer screen, and a large paragraph stating that once the primary weapon was launched the Massive wouldn't be able to fire for another twenty minutes. At the end, a small triangle blinked, signaling for Ren to continue. Ren pressed the triangle and waited. The screen went black. Then, a rotating outline of a huge missile appeared, along with a warning and another red box. Ren looked at the Capital again, then began entering the coordinates of the building he was about to destroy. His lips turned up in a sinister smile. "Oh, yes, I will rule a new Empire, an Empire without question, an Empire without weakness!"
"You'd also rule an empire without substance, you fat moron."
Ren turned around. Red, panting heavily and holding his hand to his stomach, was leaning in the door frame. "You're not going to win, Ren. Just give up."
Ren smirked and continued to type in coordinates. "I really don't know what you're talking about. Why don't you sit back and wait for a little bit? I have a lot to do."
Red tried to take a step forwards, but he heard the click of a gun. Ren, still facing the console, held a gun up in his free hand for Red to see. "Walk any farther into this room and I'll put a bullet through your head."
Red stopped. "You're a dirty, cheating pussy, you know that?"
Ren still did not turn around. "You know, Red, my son could have been the leader of this pitiful race. He would have done so much to improve the government. He was tall, he was smart, he was handsome, and he was a natural born leader."
"Yeah, he was tall, all right. That's because he was using steroids to help him grow!"
Ren flinched. "You make it sound so dishonorable, my Tallest. He was just trying to impress the High Board. Nothing to be ashamed of. But aside from that, he would have easily excelled you and Purple. In the end, your partner got the best of him. Your partner cheated, in a way. If he hadn't said anything about my son, this planet, this race would be so much better."
Ren turned around. His face was contorted, angry. His antennae were flat and tense against his skull, and his gaze pierced into Red. "You made the first mistake when you got my son kicked off of the PreTallest selection. You made the second mistake when you selected me to be the head of your Advisory Board. Your third mistake is this: you're going to stand there, and I'm going to blow up the Capital with your own ship."
Ren turned around to launch; the hand that was holding the gun relaxed, and Red seized the opportunity. He took a running leap and pounced on Ren; both of them came down hard on the floor. Red pinned the Adivsor's forearms down with his own, to prevent them from moving, and lifted his knee and pushed it into Ren's chest.
"Do I have to give you the same lecture I gave your cohorts on the ship?" he snarled, pressing his forehead against Ren's. "I am a leader. I don't back down and watch my enemies destroy what I'm supposed to take care of."
Ren started squirming and kicking. "Get off of me!"
"And let you destroy my Empire? I don't think so!"
Ren relaxed. "You know, I believe that you are the same height as my son. Maybe if Purple didn't exist you and he would be the leaders. Wouldn't that be grand?"
"Can it, Ren."
"But it's been bothering me ever since you two were elected. I wonder if Purple's death was sort of a destiny thing? I could get my son to forgive you for cheating, and he would be more than happy to help you run your Empire!"
"You are a liar."
Ren chewed his lip. Red wouldn't be fooled that easily. "I wonder if Purple ever suspected it was us that killed him. He was always a bit dim in the head, you know?"
"I don't." Red answered mechanically. "He was not dim."
"Oh, you're sticking up for him? Too bad you couldn't save him in the end. What a pity."
"Shut up, Ren."
"I made sure that he would contract a virus that would cause him excruciating pain before he suffocated."
"I said shut up!"
"I hope he wished for death to get away from all the pain…I bet he wished to get away from you."
Red relaxed his arms, grief rising in his throat and clouding his mind. Ren braced his arms against the floor and kicked Red in the stomach with both feet. Red cried out with pain and clutched his stomach; the Advisor then jumped on the Tallest and drove him into the ground. Quick as lightning he whipped out a knife and attempted to bury it deep within Red's chest, but the Tallest dove out of the way and pushed himself off of the platform floor. He reached into his flight pants' pocket and pulled out a small gun. Ren leapt away from Tallest, grabbing his gun off of the floor, then rolling and landing in a squatting position, the barrel of the gun facing the Tallest. They stayed in their positions, poised and ready to fire.
The only sounds in the room were the sounds of heavy breathing, thrumming computers and dripping blood. Red's wound had opened again.
"You are dead, my Tallest." Ren snarled.
"Not before you, Advisor Ren." Red retorted.
They dove towards each other simultaneously, Ren pulling out his knife and Red activating his spider legs. Ren, attempting to aim and fire his laser at Red's head, got his wrist crushed by Red's spider leg; the laser flew through the air and landed harmlessly at the other end of the room. Red was slashed across the face by Ren's knife and had his gun knocked out of his hands by a hard kick from his enemy.
Ren dropped down on his forearms and caught Red on the shoulder with a backwards heel drop. Red went down on one knee, gritting his teeth and blinking away the stars that had burst into his vision. He was dimly aware of Ren leaping up and rushing him with his knife. The Tallest's spider legs went out and tripped the Advisor, but even then Red could not gain the advantage. He tried in vain to stand up; Ren beat him to it and began to launch a series of vicious punches and kicks. Red began a desperate defense maneuver, blocking the frenzied attempts of the Advisor with his bulky hand armor. However, he was tiring rapidly from the loss of blood, and as he clumsily blocked a punch he slipped forwards and caught a heavy kick on the side of the head. He fell heavily onto the floor. Ren, triumphant, put his heel on the Tallest's stomach wound and pressed down heavily. "You're down on the ground, where you belong. I knew you didn't have the strength to put me down, because you knew that I'd win in the end."
Red turned his head to the side and spat out a mouthful of blood. "If I wasn't internally bleeding, I would put you down faster than you could say your own name. You're a dirty fighter."
Ren ground his heel into the Tallest's injured stomach. "I'm not as dirty as you."
Red squeezed his eyes shut, fighting against his will to scream out in pain. Ren would take pleasure in his pain, at the sight of his blood. Ren whipped out his knife and knelt down on Red's stomach, pressing his knife against the flesh of the Tallest's thin neck. "I could kill you with one swipe of this knife, Red, and yet I don't. Do you know why?"
Red struggled to breathe. He merely glared sadistically at Ren.
"I will not kill you now because I want you to see your Empire crumble. I want you to hear the screams of your loyal followers as they are annihilated by my new government. I will create the Empire that you could only dream of. I will make sure that you see the destruction of all you know and love. Then I will perhaps put you in a display in some prison—you know, a piece of the past, and what not? Little Irken smeets will look at you and know who lead the fragile Empire of the past. That should be a good way for you to go—a sideshow attraction, a prisoner, a clown."
Ren pushed off of Red's stiff body and returned to the primary weapon's console. His finger approached the blinking crimson box on the computer screen.
"Here we go, my Tallest. Let's listen to those screams, shall we?"
"How about not?"
Ren half turned around before his body began to jerk in sharp, odd little movements. Blood began spurting from mysterious holes that were being punched through his body. The Advisor opened his mouth and looked down at the front of his uniform, now drenched with blood. His dimming eyes traveled around the room to search for the culprit. They widened when they stopped at the doorway.
"…You?"
His hand fell harmlessly to the side, never touching the red pad on the computer screen. Then, the Advisor's knees crumpled, and he collapsed to the ground next to Red. His silver eyes grew wide and bright, reflecting the lights above them. "…My mistake…was sparing your life…."
The breath in his throat escaped like a breeze, and Head Advisor Ren was gone.
The Tallest, groaning, lifted his upper body off of the blood-soaked platform by his elbows and looked down at his adversary. "Who could have…?"
His antennae pricked upwards involuntarily: there was someone else in the room. He coached his upper body into sitting position, watching as the gory wound in his midsection leaked even more. He turned his head to the door and, still looking at his wound, said, "Hey, whoever you are, could you get a…
"...a doctor."
His voice had fallen flat as his eyes had journeyed over to the door.
He was in the doorway.
They weren't floating in mist, nor was he transparent and dream-like. He was standing there, one arm hanging limply at his side, the other holding a gun, whose barrel was pointed at Ren. His eyes were so different, so much darker and full of spirit, than when Red had last seen them that Red had trouble realizing that this was the same person, the same Irken that had been his joint partner for forever and a day. His partner's lips were tugged into a slight, sad smile.
"I'm back again."
A million black stars swarmed into Red's vision as his mouth opened to say something, but the words never got out and the Tallest collapsed.
In the Capital's Infirmary!
"Do you think that he's going to be okay?"
"He took quite a beating out there…"
"I don't know if she'll make it, thought. She's got this virus inside of her…"
"Wait a minute. He's waking up."
Tallest Red opened his eyes halfway. His vision was blurry, and the light above him was too harsh, too white. He squinted and turned his head to the side, trying to throw his arm over his eyes to block out the light. But, his arm would not move; something was restraining it. Red's patience waned. "Leggo of my arm," he said in a slurred voice.
"Let me finish taking your blood pressure, my Tallest." a cool voice answered him.
"Issaid leggo of marm," Red repeated, peeved. He moved restlessly under the blanket that covered him.
"Calm down, my Tallest. I'm almost done."
Red blinked away the fog from his eyes. He saw that he was in a white space enclosed with blue curtains—a recovery room. He was lying in a cot. His shoulder and chest armor had been removed, and his whole upper body was tightly confined in strips of medicated gauze wrappings. Even his hand had been treated. His flight pants had been removed; instead he was wearing long, teal colored scrubs. Standing next to his cot was a prim young nurse, holding Red's shoulder and wrist and looking intently at a small metal device that was hooked to his arm. She nodded her head and removed the metal tube. "Your blood pressure's normal, my Tallest. You lost a lot of it during your ordeal, but I think you'll be just fine now. You need to relax and focus recuperating."
She placed the tube on the counter next to the cot and prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
She stopped and looked over her shoulder at him. "What do you desire, my Tallest?"
"Who brought me here?"
She smiled mysteriously. "Why, Almighty Tallest Purple carried you and your secretary over here from the Massive. He's checking on your secretary right now."
"Purple?"
She nodded, her antennae swinging up and down. "I'm amazed, my Tallest. I thought he was dead. Strange thing is, though, his arm is useless. There's no blood in it at all. The muscles have died...."
She walked out of the enclosure, muttering to herself. Red stared after her. How on Irk could Purple be alive? Red saw his fellow Tallest breathe his last over six months ago. He put his hands over his eyes and took a deep, shuddering breath. A tear slipped out of his sealed eyelid.
No, no, no, no. They were messing with his head. It was all a big joke, something to keep him from going crazy. He never saw Purple in the doorway of the Offense Wing's main room. He was the one who shot Ren to death. Somehow he had gotten hold of his gun again, and had shot Ren.
Red dropped his hands. They landed with muffled thumps on the stiff, cold sheets of the bed.
"I have to stop kidding myself, but I don't know what to believe."
Unexpectedly, the soft azure curtains surrounding Red's cot opened again. Red quickly rolled over on the cot and shut his eyes. The nurse was going to chide him for not resting like she had told him to.
However, he didn't hear the usual sounds that the nurse made when she inspected Red: the clank of the clipboard on the metal table, the splash of the IV liquid being moved out of the way, the clatter of painkillers in the plastic bottle. Instead, the Irken came in very slowly and sat down quietly in the chair that was situated next to the head of the cot.
Red barely breathed. He struggled to keep his antennae from giving away his alertness. His guest didn't say anything, but breathed a heavy sigh and picked up the clipboard. Red's antennae relaxed with disappointment. It was probably the trainee nurse that came in to keep the patients company.
He heard the Irken flipping through the pieces of paper on the clipboard. Suddenly, the visitor began speaking in a low voice, almost a whisper.
"Damaged nerves in the leg and hand, rigorous damage to the abdominal area, and severe blood loss—looks like you're more helpless than I thought."
Red's eyes snapped open. I know that voice. I know that voice!
He flipped over and sat up with the same movement. Sitting in the low metal chair, looking at Red's face with a surprised look in his eyes, was Tallest Purple. They both stared at each other until Purple smiled lightly at his partner. "I should probably tell you what's going on, huh?"
When Red didn't answer, Purple continued, "Peprik told me everything—the deal with Mim, the Advisory staff, the trip, everything. I was probably infected with this 'Osodo-Jacker Virus' during our little meeting with the Demoralized Blobs and the Planet Jackers—you remember that, don't you? But, I didn't really die, Red. My organs just got…replaced, that's all. You were going to be assassinated by the Advisors, and then they would take over our Empire. But their plan got found out, or you came back too early, or something like that, and everything got screwed up. It's okay now, Red. Of course, Peprik's got the virus now, so we have to put her down early, but everything else is okay. You saved the Empire, you crazy bastard. You saved it."
"…You can't be…you can't be…weren't you embalmed?"
Purple snorted and looked down at his limp arm. "They didn't get done with it, so now I'm crippled. Actually, it's not that bad."
"Purple…you don't know how bad I screwed up."
Purple's dark eyes narrowed. "Uh, yes, I do. YOU TOTALED THE MASSIVE AND THE HANGAR IS IN RUINS! You just cost the ENTIRE EMPIRE millions of dollars in repairs! And, you got yourself banged up so bad that you've been on life support for FIVE days! Once you get better, you're going to do a hell of a lot of explaining to the High Board. Plus, oh by the way, Yuro's pissed at you for calling him an old fart, so you have to go on probation for six months, and we have to choose and ENTIRELY different Advisory staff because they all got ripped apart by the actual pilots of the Elite Force—"
"Wait—the Elite Force Division came back?"
Purple nodded sagely. "Three days ago. They were chasing the Fourth Armored Division. The EF vootcruisers—which were being piloted by members of the Advisory Staff—were shot out of the sky by the actual Elite Force pilots on the ground, so now we have no Elite Forces. Two of your friends found Yoma being held hostage in some underground military prison, so he was especially mad—he practically shot down all of the voots himself. My question to you is this: why on Irk did you let the Elite Forces leave the planet's surface?"
"I didn't have a say in the matter, Purple. We had already left."
"Don't tell me you didn't have a say. YOU ARE THE TALLEST! Your word is law—or have you forgotten that?"
A spark of anger flared inside of Red. "What makes you so high and mighty all of a sudden? You just jumped out of a test tube and fired some shots at random Advisors! You didn't do any of the hard work! You weren't chased around the galaxy trying to maneuver a ship that's about as aerodynamic as a kitchen sink back home!"
"Well, that kitchen sink costs a hell of a lot of money to get repaired, smart one! Maybe you should leave all of the decision making to me, next time you go on one of your rampages through the universe."
"I've been making decisions all my life!" Red snarled.
"And all of them have been bad!" Purple spat.
"Yeah? Well, I wasn't the one who decided to give the Planet Jackers planets to feed their sun!"
"You asked me to do that!"
"I can't believe I'm arguing with a stupid dumbass like you!"
"I'm the stupid dumbass? You're the one that got the Empire into such a mess!"
Red crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, at least I have the use of my arms."
Purple sat back in his chair. "At least I have the used of my brain."
The two Tallests sulked. Then Red looked away, down at the floor on the opposite side of the bed, and mumbled, "I'm kinda glad…that you're back, and all…."
Purple's glare dissipated. "…I was getting tired of being in those test tubes, anyway. And I couldn't let you screw up the entire Armada."
Red's antennae pricked up, and the Tallest's eyes met.
Red had never realized how deep and full of feeling his partner's eyes were until he saw them in the Massive, when Purple had shot Ren. But it wasn't the deep color that he had missed, or the way that they expressed his partner's feeling. It was the spirit in them. Nothing could take that strength of mind away from Purple, except death. But Purple had even defeated death to come back and help Red. Maybe it was devotion, or friendship, that brought them back together, but what Red believed most in was Purple's spirit. He had more muscle mass than Purple, true, but he hadn't half as much fortitude. Red realized that one couldn't lead without the other; without Purple's spirit, Red's realm would crumble, and vice versa. One could not do without the other. They could never be separated, no matter how many arguments, wars, rebellions, et cetera, would try to come between them. Even in death, they would still be together; that's why Red kept hearing his partner's voice in his ear; why they had met in the realm of unconsciousness. Maybe it was true what Purple had said that day, about them being two of a kind.
"So," Red said, shifting into a more comfortable position on the cot, with the pillow supporting his lower back, "was everything really that bad when you woke up?"
Purple leaned forwards and put his elbow on the bed, supporting his chin on the top of his hand. "Oh, yeah. Well, at first, I didn't know what was going on—I thought I was just waking up from a really bad hangover…."
As the two Tallests conversed, Peprik, across the room from the two leaders, lay in her bed, listening quietly and patiently. She felt safe, secure—more so than she had felt in eleven months. There was no danger of Red being arrested for a false murder, no more plotting against the rightful leaders of the Irken Empire. No more Mim, no more Ren.
The yellow-eyed doctor pulled the white sheet that covered her up to her chin. She had the Osodo-Jacker Virus, yes, but it couldn't harm her. She would only be in a state of suspended animation for about a year, and then she would wake up again. Then, she would be with her Tallests, her leaders.
Her lips turned up in a smile. "I wonder if they were just meant to be together…."
The nurse sitting beside Peprik's cot looked up from the magazine she was reading. "Hm? What did you say, Pep?"
"Nothing. Don't worry about it, Oren."
Above the Capital of the City of Irk, beyond the tattered remains of the Hangar and the sadly battered Massive, the twilight sun sank behind the outline of dark indigo mountains, leaving behind the memory of another day in the mauve clouds that still lingered, lying on the slow breaths of air that swirled in the atmosphere.
I'll talk to you guys in the Epilogue! See you then!