Disclaimers 'n' crap: Haihai peeps! Well, Sunday it was Raikov's Story, today, it's Cliffhangers Unit. Yeah, I managed to slip in some time for writing and updating on top of all my fear-of-going-to-High-School-next-year jitters. This chapter is kinda risky because it involves someone who I really shouldn't be writing about, but, hey, other people've done it. And besides, IT'S JUST A CAMEO. Woot! I'm up to Chapter 10! Yay, me! I don't own the chapter guest star, he owns himself. You know the rest. Enjoy!


"Scott? Scott, can you hear me?"

Someone's holding my hand. I'm not lying on the ground anymore. Am I in the hospital? M.A.R.S. Program? Probably. Gotta open my eyes…

"Unhhhhhhh…Michelle…?" said Scott.

I can see her face. She's smiling. Why? A whole bunch of my friends just died.

"I'm so glad you're alright," said Michelle "I…heard about…"

"So that's why you're happy," said Scott, gruffly "Now Shelby's out of the way and you can have me all to yourself." Michelle looked astonished.

"What?" she gasped "Scott, how can you accuse me of something like that?"

"Admit it," said Scott "You weren't happy to see Shelby come back 2 years ago because you knew that she'd come between us."

"Scott," said Michelle, firmly "I know that there was an "us", but I also know that there was a "you and Shelby", and I accepted that. It was hard, especially when she came back, but I accepted it. I knew that you were happy with her, I knew that you and I could still be friends, I knew that it hurt sometimes to see you with her, but, even though it was hard at first, I made it through just knowing that we had had something. And because we'd had something, I knew that you'd let me be there for you if anything happened to Shelby." Scott gaped at her. He hadn't heard her give one of her "I just want what's best for you, Scott" speeches in a long time. "Please understand, Scott: I never, ever hated Shelby."

Wait…is she crying? Because Shelby's gone?

"I believe you," said Scott. Michelle knelt down next to him and held his battle-torn frame close to her. They both cried silently onto each other's shoulders.

"Thanks," said Scott "For being there for me."

"Thanks," said Michelle "For letting me be there for you." They sat there, holding each other for a long while. When they finally broke apart, Scott summed up the courage to ask a very edgy question.

I had to know.

"How did the battle turn out?" said Scott.

"We…" said Michelle "We won." Scott's face lit up with surprise.

What?

"What?" said Scott in astonishment "How?"

"We had some unexpected last-minute back-up," said Michelle, smiling "I think you'll know the man." There was a knock at the door.

"Yes?" said Michelle. The door opened and Raiden and Rosemary stepped in.

"Michelle, we need you back at communications," said Rosemary "Sorry to break up your reunion so quick."

"It's okay," said Michelle "We've said all we needed to say right now." She got up, waved good-bye to Scott, and followed Rosemary out the door. Raiden watched them go, then turned to Scott.

"Scott," he said "You have a very special visitor. He saved our asses out there today." He grinned. "I believe you two know each other from years of working together." He left and another man entered. Except for the absence of highlights on his bangs and a more mature look on his face, he looked exactly like Scott.

"Hey, Scott," he said "How are you feeling? Are you alright?"

"I think I'll be alright," said Scott "Elaine is gone…but…so is Shelby." The man gave him a sympathetic look.

"You still have Michelle," he said.

"Yeah," said Scott "But I still don't know if our relationship has a future. I mean, I know I've told you this a million times before, but I just can't get married to another woman! It would be disrespectful to Shelby's memory."

"And I know I've told you this a million times before," said the man "But, if you don't try to put Shelby behind you and take your relationship with Michelle any further, you'll never be happy. I'm not saying you should forget Shelby, but you really need to move on."

"You always say that you don't need to be in a relationship to be happy," said Scott. The man smiled.

"I said I don't need to be in a relationship to be happy," he said "You're a different case. You need someone. And I'm sure that Shelby would want you to be happy." Scott nodded. Then, there was a pause.

Well, maybe he's right this time. After all, when even Michelle wasn't there for me, he was.

"You're right," said Scott "Thanks, Hayden."

Hayden held out his hand and he and Scott gave each other the Crystal secret handshake.

Bump. Slap. Clap. "Hooyah!"

The door opened again.

"General Christensen?"

"Yes, Captain Caprice?"

"Queen Hannah requests an audience," said Captain Caprice "She wants to thank you for your brave act of heroism today." Hayden looked at Scott, then back to Captain Caprice.

"Will she be meeting with Scott too?" he asked.

"Of course," said Captain Caprice "After that tragedy…" he sniffled "…they're probably up with Jeff and mother right now…" He left, sobbing uncontrollably onto the shoulder of another man who put his arm around him and led him out.

"It's alright, Dennis," he said "I know what's it's like." The third man, also identical to Scott and Hayden (save a braided ponytail behind his right ear and a handheld, metallic cylinder on his hip), winked at the duo. Hayden stood up.

"I gotta go," he said "See you at the victory celebration tonight." He smiled at Scott and left the room.


Yep. For those of you who've read my author's profile and still didn't know who that "celebrity main character" was, now you know. For those of you buried even deeper under the rock, that third identical man was Anakin Skywalker. Yar, the young Darth Vader. I don't own him either. At this point in The Crystal Journeys, he's lived his life as Darth Vader and returned to "the present" in 2005. Considering this story takes place in the year 2029, he's now head of the E-Maxen Royal Guard. Captain Dennis Caprice, whose mother was killed in the same battle that took Jeff's life, will join the Guard when the war ends. Whew, okay, maybe you didn't need to know ALL OF that, BUT THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE FIC!