A/N: ...Oops. I apologize(again, I know) for putting off the story for so long. For one, I've had a lot of schoolwork and tests and crap, plus I had an attack of Writers' Block halfway through this chapter, AND I got distracted by an idea for a new story(yes, that's my shameless plug. Look for it if you like One Piece.) However, this IS the final chapter of the story. Hope you enjoy it!
AnimeDarkRain: Thanks so much! Sorry about the wait between chapters, I meant to continue sometime... ;;
002: And since TopazCat seems to be too busy, I'll say the disclaimer for her, being the nice person that I am: The author of this fanfiction does not own any characters, plot ideas, sense of responsibility or any cyborg powers to date.
009 massaged his forehead wearily. After all that had happened recently, he wasn't quite sure what to make of these new cyborgs.
For one thing, those that he'd met so far seemed to have no unity amongst themselves, and were even less organized. Black Ghost must have been getting pretty desperate with these guys. However, he and his friends didn't really have a choice in the matter.
One of them, the same cyborg who had captured him before, noticed the look on his face.
"Sorry about all this mess, but Tabby is not only stubborn but impulsive too. Besides, none of this was by choice." Tegan said, smiling apologetically.
"It doesn't really matter, anyway. We just steal some airplane or something and fly off. Hopefully, Black Ghost'll get the hint this time around." 006 cut in. Apparently the odd goings-on had not dampened his inherent enthusiasm.
"I doubt things will be that easy. This IS Black Ghost we're talking about, I don't think he'd let us walk away without a few casualties." 004 said soberly.
"You have no idea. Just thinking about what we're supposed to do about all of this is making my head hurt." Nick groaned, his head in his hands.
"Yeah, well, we can't put this off any longer. Black Ghost's been wrecking my life for much too long." 002 declared.
Nick snorted. Obviously, the man had never been in Storage before.
"There's some kind of battle going on up ahead." 003 suddenly announced, her acute hearing easily picking up the sounds of a scuffle.
"Good. The sooner we find the others, the sooner we can leave–for good this time." Tegan decided, picking up the pace as they hurried down the long corridor.
Suddenly, an empty suit of Black Ghost-issue battle armor jumped out at them. Not that it mattered. The jumpy cyborgs turned it into a smoking heap of ash in seconds. Gio chose that moment to stick his head around the corner to see exactly what was going on.
"Oh good, I was beginning to wonder if you got caught or something." Gio said, his face brightening as he surveyed the assembled group of cyborgs approvingly.
"Where is everyone else?" 004 asked urgently. The dark haired cyborg looked tired, although you wouldn't know it by the pile of unconscious minions stacked up against the wall.
"Further along, closer to the hangar. We got attacked by a group of minions. Not very tough, but we were heavily outnumbered, so I headed off to find you. Apparently some of the minions must've followed me, so I had to do something about it." Gio explained, leaning heavily against the wall.
"Better not keep 'em waiting, then and use the shortcut." Tabby said.
"The shortcut?" 005 asked curiously. Black Ghost's decorating style did not leave much space for shortcuts and the like, ignoring every evil-base design rule in the book.
"Yep." Tabby responded cheerfully, grabbing hold of the other cyborgs and sliding through the wall, towing her friends. All of them came out on the other side fine, albeit much paler.
They were now in a huge grey hangar, surrounded by ships, tanks and other assorted weaponry. However, the remaining cyborgs were surrounded by a huge group of minions, fighting for their lives. Naturally, everyone wasted no time in leveling the playing field a bit.
Between random explosions, morphing scenery and general chaos, the minions scattered. After all, they weren't paid nearly enough to afford getting maimed by angry cybernetic soldiers.
"Which ship?" 009 shouted over the sounds of retreating minions.
"That one, it's the only one big enough and fast enough to ensure our escape. Well, the only one that hasn't been blown up already." Eric answered him, making a beeline towards the aforementioned airship.
Before he could get much farther, however, the entire building began to rumble omniously, throwing Eric to the ground.
"Did you really think I'd let you get as far as the hangar without a little suprise? Personally, so long as I get rid of you fools, I couldn't care less about my ships! " Black Ghost's voice rang out tauntingly over the intercom.
"You don't think that..." 003 gasped.
"Black Ghost placed a bomb? Of course he did, the show-off.." Maggie finished, rubbing her forehead tiredly.
"So how are we supposed to get out of here, if this place is going to explode? We wouldn't stand a chance!" 002 exploded.
Suddenly, a large booster engine appeared on the airship. In fact, the entire craft was surrounded by a shimmering bubble.
"Well? What are you waiting for? We'll deal with Black Ghost, you go on ahead." Indira told them, her mouth a strained line as she struggled to keep the booster and shield bubble up.
"Go now. Black Ghost will never allow all of us to escape, but he'll have to deal with us if we stay." Casper told them gravely.
004 hesitated for a moment, then started running for the ship. "They're right. At least some of us should get out of here now, there might not be a better moment."
Nodding, the 00-Cyborgs followed. The ship lurched upward, then shot away from the base at top speed. From the rear window, 003 could see the smoke and flames rising from the hangar.
"They've still got a fair chance. That bomb probably wasn't big enough to do too much damage; Black Ghost wouldn't endanger his entire base." 007 told her, putting one hand on her shoulder.
"Still. It seems like every other cyborg we meet ends up dead..." 003 said softly.
"No use worrying about it. We have no idea what happened." 005 added sensibly.
Taking one last look out the window, 003 thought she saw a rather ragged group of dots heading away from the remains of the hangar. But that was ridiculous. After all, they were only super-human cyborgs...
Whew! Well, that's the end of it. Sorry the ending's not very cheerful, but I like to keep you all guessing. Hope to hear from you all on my next story!