- - -

Nothing but fear and guilt troubled his conscience, as the thunderous sound of gunshot and destruction assaulted his mind. Running as fast as his metallic body would allow, Axl briefly glanced back at his pursuers, who were getting closer with every passing moment. He kept the tears that threatened to spill hidden as best of his ability, but to no avail. It was too much. How could one simple decision devastate one so much? Was the choice he made so unjust, especially if he was trying to protect the people around him?

Behind him, a seperate battle raged on, the human's civilization being slowly being reduced to rubble. Even a shriek from a human girl reached the retreating Reploid, causing him to lower his head shamefully. This was all so wrong, nothing of this sort was meant to happen. However, this brought him no comfort. More people were dying because of him.

Axl faintly gasped, as large plasma-like blast slammed into the ground a few feet beside him. Seeing his chance, he dived behind the remains of a once proud skyscraper, glancing back only when there was no danger of his head being blown off. As thoughts began swimming around in his mind, the child felt his love for life itself slipping away. The previous incident had left him with more emotional scars than it had physical, and he couldn't erase the horrific memory. He would be regarded as a villian no matter where he went, for his deeds were known to all around him. Axl was considered a 'traitor' to the ones he once called family, and a 'murderer' to all others.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do..." he whispered, speaking to no one in particular. He grimaced, looking down upon the blood that had tainted his hands. "But, then again...You'll hate me no matter what I do, won't you..?" Axl laughed bitterly, knowing the truth to these words.

He stared up into the night sky, almost searching through the ocean of stars for answers, for some sort of reassurance. He felt he was so close to death, he could reach out and touch it. Now, all he had was his own conscious, which told him to go down fighting; just like he had always dreamed he would. He had to leave his mark on history somehow; and if he were to die, he was going to do it with style.

"Red, I'm...I'm going to prove you wrong. I'm not weak...I'm not.." breathed Axl, glaring at his pursuer with determination. "I'll show you."

He suddenly jumped to his feet, and resumed his escape. As soon as he'd reached a safe enough distance, he turned sharply, gazing up at the Scorpion. It wasn't until now that he truly got a good look at it. The armory it was equipped with was a gleaming scarlet, dipped with markings of gold. It's optics were a pigmentation of lime green, and it was armed a single long range weapon, which was attached to it's delicate tail.

Unexpectedly, the young one materialized his dual handguns, and aimed quickly, firing a volley of projectiles at his attacker. The shots pierced cleanly through the metal alloy, spilling a mixture of fluids onto the crumbling ground below the two fighters. Axl then smirked maliciously, observing the opponent's once glistening armor. It was now mangled with countless bullet wounds, and smoke rose into the obsidian sky. He felt satisfaction wash over him, and narrowed his eyes at the damaged one to taunt him.

However, this arrogant attitude affected his predator more than the bullets did, as very few had tolerance for that kind of cockyness. The immense reploid furiously reared up, and crashed to the crumbling earth, sending a sort of shockwave in all directions. Unable to anticipate the oncoming attack, Axl fell to the ground, cursing his own carelessness. He'd been in such situations before, but never before had he been faced with anything by himself, much less an onslaught by an unpredictable enemy.

The Scorpion-like Reploid seized this chance to attack, and without warning, forced it's intricately curved claw into Axl's abdomen. The young Reploid attempted to stifle his scream, but staring down at his newly exposed cybernetic components did not help the matter. Warm blood began to spill from the wound, dripping over the tattered battlegrounds. The enemy unmercifully drew it's claw from Axl's body, and paused for a moment, examining the figure to see if he had indeed been terminated.

Axl made no sudden movements, and fought to keep his cries inside. It wasn't until this had happened, did he really understand the severity of his current situation. Unsure of the extent of his injury, he knew he had to at least try to complete his escape. Surely, this was just all a bad dream, one he would wake from soon enough; but the pain was enough to convince him that this was not true.

The young Reploid painfully rose from the ground, instinctively placing his hand on the wound. He felt a stinging sensation, and the precious crimson liquid again stained his hands. He closed his eyes for a moment, disliking the thought of running again. Yet, this was his only option; his pursuer would not remained stunned for long. Axl could then hear the jutting noise of metal colliding, and began to limp off as quickly as he could.

Axl then came to a complete stop, looking in disbelief at what laid ahead. The possible paths he could take had suddenly split into two directions. Either way, it did not matter; in his weakening condition, he could not make it to either end. He held his hand to his stomach, applying more pressure onto the openly bleeding wound. While sorting his grim options, he glanced down, an expression of horror crossing his face. He saw his life blood had made a sickening trail behind him, and it filled his heart with anguish, discouragement.

"I guess this is it," Axl snapped, hostility mixing with terror in his voice, "And if I die, I'm sure you know you'll be following me."

Axl's heart began to sink as he saw his display of courage beginning to falter. Again, he shuddered, seeing the bloodstained talon of the Scorpion raise again, preparing to finish it's prey. He lowered his head, and turned slightly to the side, before he heard the fateful sound, once again. The sound of something metallic, slamming against another metal surface.

The world seemed to have frozen completely, as a figure fell to the earth, jerking once before falling entirely limp. Axl was amazed to find himself still alive, but the sudden crash from the body caused him to stumble, and fall into the clutches of someone. His vision had long been incredibly blurry and distorted, but nevertheless, he gazed upwards.

Axl flinched, holding tightly onto the arms of the Reploid. His fear was instantly dispelled, and he looked up into the eyes of his savior.

- - -

A happier ending for this chapter! :3