Way of the Ghost : The First Portal

by Boxghost228

Fear. They say they know it and live by it every day. They know that fear is caused by the scariest of things. But what they do not know, is me. Epilogue UP! Reviews, anons&flames welcome!

19. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: I don't own DP, or my character would be rockin' the world in some form or another.

Ah yes, Chapter 19: The great two-part clash ending The First Portal. Chapter 20 should come soon (Don't forget the epilogue)!

Chapter 19 (Final Phase: Part One)

"Wait until they're upon us!" Suzuki roared over the melee. Drawinga beam blade he raised it high over his head. The winged beasts screeched with rage. As small as they were they still outnumbered us by more than two-to-one.

"Wait!" He repeated. The screeching little furies bunched themselves up, then dove with lightning speed. The wind itself screamed as they shot down to earth. All at once Suzuki's arm dropped as he shouted "Fire!"

In addition to two thousand anti-ghost beam rifles being fired into their ranks, the impressive powers of eight ghosts blasted through them, as did two high-power laser turrets stationed behind the front. When the smoke and debris cleared, all that was left were a few scraps of wing membrane left behind by the flying creatures. There was a moment of silence. Most believed it was too good to be true. They threw their helmets into the air and cheered. Suzuki even allowed himself a half-smile before the low, dreaded battlehorn of a demon army descended upon the defenders.

"LEAVE NONE FREE, MY BROTHERS!" the rasping howl of Inuhi's voice sounded over the hills as three thousand hellhounds descended into the valley below.

OOOOO

We flew with great speed. The valleys, hills and small towns below flew by like blurs as we headed north. Arrean, despite his great girth, kept his lead the whole time, partly because he was the one who knew the route to our destination, and partly because he was faster than he looked. We crossed the channel between Honshu and Hokkaido, flying close enough to the water that the fish and marine life below were only inches away.

Then we struck land again, and we blazed ahead over a more wild land than the one we'd left. Even humanity can only extend so far into what Mother Nature has deemed her own.

It wasn't until we reached the mountains that we started to slow down. Fortunately, Ronnie knew how to eat on the fly (literally) and in ghost form I didn't require food. It took a short while, but we were able to find the place.

As we descended, so many memories came rushing back that I nearly fell out of the air. The others glanced at me, and I steadied myself. When our feet touched the ground we approached the small rise, and at its top it showed a hollowed-out bowl in the mountainside, which led in turn to the low mouth of a cave.

The image of this place had been burned into my memory. I must have started shaking or something, because Ronnie came up behind me and asked, "Are you willing to face him?" I froze when she said that, because I didn't know who she meant.

I answered as I stepped onto the stone I'd meditated on in what felt like a time so long ago I could barely remember it. All I said was, "This is where it all began, sister, and this is where it shall end." I stepped down into the bowl, and after a little bit of slipping and sliding on the loose ground, I was face to face with the cave of my worst nightmares.

I had entered here only once before, and the experience had left me blind and half-dead, inside and out. Sweat poured off me as I decided whether or not to take the final step. After that, there would be no turning back. For the first time in a long time, I prayed, Lord help us all. Not the sort of thing a Pope would offer under such circumstances (he might try the last rights though), but it helped me take that step on worn, leathery feet. I ducked my head as I entered the chamber.

At first, like before, all was darkness. Then, as the lights came on from Ronnie's suit, I beheld a living nightmare that made my last one pale in comparison. Though long since dried and cracked away, his remains had never left the chamber.

"I swear," I murmured softly, "That if we survive this he won't stay in this place a second longer than he has to."

"Let us go," Kitaiyou said impatiently, "The portal is just around the corner." My head snapped up. I just hope that the only thing I had ever truly feared and hated wasn't around that bend either. Once again, I went first around the corner.

This time, there was no being of evil. The portal thrummed with a muted tone as two whorls of green danced across its surface. So much had happened since that fateful night It was almost like a distant dream, and here I was, about to take my first step into another world.

"Well," I said with a dry laugh in my voice as I stepped one foot into the green-hued plasma, "See ya on the other side."

OOOOO

The beasts flew down the hills as if they sprinted after their first food in weeks. Who's to say, maybe they were. Each was a hound of bright blue flames, as large as a small cow, with bulging muscles and gaping red eyes. Their ravenous howls ripped through the air onto the ears of their quarry. Even the most practiced veterans, whom had seen many a ghost up close and personal, were shaken by the frenzied beasts. Only Suzuki's orders, Tai's unexpected calmness, and, most surprising of all, the ghosts on their side of the front, kept them calm.

Black Fist, reunited with his precious Arbiter, looked on with eager anticipation. Dynastina stood beside him, murmuring ancient incantations to herself.

"Come, hounds of hell!" Black Fist almost squealed with delight, "feast your flesh on my cold blade!"

"Fire!" Suzuki yelled over the ravening beasts fast approaching their front lines. Lasers and ecto-shells blasted into the air, some missing and hitting the ground, others finding their targets, but most were either cancelled entirely or caught glancing blows against the hellhounds' thick flaming hides.

"Blow the mines!" Suzuki roared as the beasts came closer still. Several explosions ripped through the air as mines laid out across the plain detonated, sending several hundred of their foes to kingdom come. As the beasts came even closer Suzuki roared, "Deploy the Juex units!"

All other sound was blotted out as almost fifteen hundred red, black and white ghost suits were activated and screamed into the air. Each was a tested product of the original three: the Praetor, the Judicator and the Executor. The armor on their main bodies was black, whilst the armor on their limbs and heads was white, each equipped with a red flight pack on its back and extended hexagonal shield. Whilst they weren't so heavily armed or armored as their predecessors (for mass production purposes), they still had a lot of power behind them. Nuclear reactors have that effect.

As the Juex soldiers moved just behind the frontlines, Suzuki roared, "Seige weapons, fire!" A volley of high-powered missiles streaked through the air, then landed and struck the ground ahead of their targets. "Turrets, fire!" he bellowed as four green lazer blasts raked an arc through the enemy battlelines.

"Alright son, I'll order one more heavy weapons volley, then you do your thing," as his eyes turned to Eunagi Yurei, he nearly vomited as he added, "And take him with you."

"Yes, sir," Tai answered zealously, "Smoke 'em and stroke 'em, boys!"

Tai bellowed, activating the Judicator's OS. With one arm he easily hefted the enormous gatling gun that served as the Judicator's second greatest weapon and lifted off the ground. As he was just about to open fire, something pinged off his armor. He looked up to see three enormous carriers deploying ghost suits by the truckload. These suits were a dark green, and seemed a bit clunkier than the ones our forces had. Each had a visor, unlike ours, and a single red eye in the centre.

"Strike 'em down boys, I'll be with you shortly," an all-too familiar voice buzzed over all frequencies as the enormous viewscreen on one of the carriers went staticky, then cleared as the leering grin of Mallen glared down onto the battlefield below.

OOOOO

"Okay Kitaiyou, where are we?" I asked as we were faced with a strange green void. THERE IS NO LIFE, a dark, terrible voice echoed through my mind, IN THE VOID. ONLY DEATH.

I forced myself to stay level-headed as Kitaiyou replied, "Through the First Portal, we must head towards the center of this region of the Ghost Zone. Stay close, for since this place is hostile even during relatively stable times. In the state of unrest Sassamashin has forced it into, we should be doubly careful. If you get lost I cannot help you, so stay together."

Once again we flew like the wind, or we would have been if there were any wind in the Ghost Zone. Numerous doors flew by, slowly floating off into the depths of nothingness. Many were scarred and badly damaged, some with chunks missing.

"Kitaiyou?" I asked, "What are all of these doors for?"

"Having never even entered the Ghost Zone, you wouldn't know," he nodded understandingly. He then explained, "Much like the houses in the living world, each door opens up into a ghost's own lair. Every ghost is entitled to such a lair by choice, once they enter the afterlife. Sassamashin has thrown all of the old ways to the winds. He ravages and destroys all in his path, even the homes of his own. It is for this, child, that I fight. I understand that you fight for a similar goal in your own world. I may dislike your choice, but I do respect it."

That was the first time I had ever heard someone whom had beaten me to within an inch of my life praise me. It was a strange feeling. I stopped flying as my eyes spasmed badly. Something was near. Something very, very powerful.

"We've got company," I said as a lone shape dropped towards us like a falcon. We shifted out of the way as the huge ghost that had served as Kaminara's servant twisted around to face us.

"I AM AMAINJIR, STEWARD OF SUFFERING. LORD SASSAMASHIN HAS DECIDED THAT YOU GO NO FURTHER, LEST HE HAVE TO DESTROY YOU HIMSELF."

"Go on ahead," Arrean growled, "I've got business to attend to."

"We must resume," Kitaiyou warned impatiently, "We have little enough time as it is, and we are not so far from our destination as I had thought." As I turned around to follow Kitaiyou I saw Arrean and Amainjir slowly circle each other in a dance of afterdeath.

OOOOO

They descended quickly. I knew that Tir and the others were quick, with or without their suits, but these guys were fast. I heard through my helmet, "Suzuki to Judicator, I'm sending up the vanguard. You alright?"

I lifted my weapon, then screamed up through the air, in between my foes, deploying my weapon pods as I went. Whipping around faster than the eye could see I fired my massive weapon. Although I was outnumbered about three hundred to one, I put enough holes in many of those suits not to have to worry too severely about them as they dropped from the sky. I hadn't realized it before, but as fast as those suits were, their armor was next to useless against my weapons. As I dropped through them, slicing machines easily in half with my beam blade, I realized that I was mutilating living human beings. The thought horrified me, and I froze.

I regretted that mistake instantly as several thousand shells pounded into the back of my suit. I turned around and watched in dismay as my twelve drones detonated, with their controls having been damaged. I felt like I was just about to perish for sure just when an enormous barrage of lasers, missiles and a multitude of ghost shells blew up an enormous portion of the enemy suits.

"Need a little help, rookie?" Sergeant Snow's cheery voice sounded as a huge red and blue beam destroyed another pocket of the enemy machines.

"Thanks," I answered as Yashimi's Praetor flew up behind Snow, "There's still more coming. If we can distract these guys, then the laser turrets on the ground can destroy the carriers. You two up for a challenge?"

"Yes ma'am," both Snow and I answered simultaneously. Then, to our surprise, Eunagi Yurei dropped out of nowhere and asked, "May my slimy friends and I join in your joyous destruction of the enemy?"

"Uh, sure," Yashimi said as she fired off another blast.

"Yes!" Eunagi raised his hands into the air, and hundreds, I mean hundreds, of white eels with dark green fins appeared. At some unseen signal they flew upwards, towards the strange ghost suits overhead.

"Fire away!" Eunagi yelled, "Though they can't harm the enemy, they can cover for you three!"

"Gotcha!" I answered as I screamed off into the fray. Most were so distracted by the Eunagi, even though they could deal no harm, that they never saw me coming. Either way, my blade and shield were in hand. Just as the last of them were wiped out, a huge energy blast just missed me. I whipped around and beheld three machines making right for us.

One was an assortment of different blues, equipped with two hulking wings that curved forward attached behind its shoulders, and a lance. The second was white and grey, with what looked like three rocket jets attached to its back. Unlike the other two, this one was standing on a small platform that seemed to be keeping it in the air. On its right arm it was equipped with a large lazer sniper and a red and white shield on its left, as well as a lazer cannon on its chest. The third was a bright orange with a red body, with what looked like an eagle's wing feathers, spread out behind it. It had a pair of railguns on its hips, a shield on its left arm, and a large mace in place of its right hand.

"So, you like my new toys?" Mallen's voice cackled as a small black dot appeared in the sky, "Rather than using mutinous human operators in these suits I decided to simply create robots in their stead. Behold the Shikoku, the Kyoku and the Hokkaido!"

"And last, but certainly not least," his voice cracked as a final machine appeared, "the Honshu."

It was an abomination. A beast even! It was covered in thick black armor. One arm was gripping an enormous laser rifle, whilst the other was loaded with enormous projectile lances. Across its entire form was a vastarsenal of weapons.

"This is bad," I muttered as our three foes closed in, leaving their master to his own devices.

OOOOO

Things were not going well for us ground forces. Though our main forces were about evenly matched, Black Fist and Tantarra were both destroyed, slain by the fearsome three commanders of the hellhound legion, Ninjutsa, Sorrento and the infamous Inuhi. Only Typhonus, whom was ordering the destruction of the three transports overhead, Eunagi Yurei, whom was occupied with the new enemy troops overhead, Meiyorn, flyby-striking enemy forces, and myself, Dynastina, Lady of Flames, remained. My entire unit, save myself, was gone, so I was trying to think of a way to eliminate the three commanders.

"Uh," I groaned, fingering the collar around my neck, "whether I like it or not I'm going to have to feed soon, and if I take away the dark feelings of our troops, they might not be willing to fight anymore. Think, think, think..." Then it came to me. Why drain my resources when I could drain theirs? I

shot across the battlefield, as low as I dared, and spread my hands, absorbing all the anger and hatred I could from the hellhounds. And, since a hellhound is by nature comprised of hatred, they simply vaporized once I sucked them dry. After a mere moment my powers were at their peak. I turned and looked at the three. My primary threat was Ninjutsa. I wouldn't survive long against her ghost sword.

"Eunagi!" I called. It took him a moment, after he zapped down from his high altitudes, "I need a distraction..."

OOOOO

We circled one another with such slowness that time seemed to slow down. I was well aware of Amainjir's strength. That guy was what normal ghosts call a "demon" spirit, cursed with enormous power and no soul. Even with my strength multiplied by ten it would be a very close match.

Something I noticed was that I could see a faint white outline around Amainjir. Even as I realized this the outline shifted and warped, to be replaced by two snarling dragons' heads extending from Amainjir's back. One of them flicked out like a cobra, almost faster than the eye could see. I shifted to one side and wrapped my whip around its neck.

With an expert twist I snapped it back at Amainjir, so that the first head slammed into the second. A look of surprise appeared on the dragons' faces.

"YOU HAVE GROWN SINCE LAST WE MET ON THE BATTLEFIELD. THE LAST TIME YOU SIMPLY RETREATED."

"If I recall," I growled back, "The battlefield was my home, and you had your three hundred cowards with you, so it really wasn't a fair assessment of my strength."

The heads immediately reformed, and were replaced by two enormous fists. Immediately I snapped to one side to avoid one fist, then caught the second in my hands. I thrust it to one side, then snapped my whip out with great speed. The tiny hook on its end ripped a large gash in his arm. It was accompanied by a hideous screech. I covered my ears and squinted my eyes to try and block out the sound. When I opened them again, Amainjir stood before me, though this time there was no aura, no creatures of illusion, just him.

"LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED," he hissed, drawing a long, pointed sword from its sheath. The blade was a dull green, with blotches of black across its surface.

"So now we fight," I growled as he slowly leveled his blade at me.

OOOOO

The shattered remains of the Ghost Zone were a blur all around us as we flew. Ronnie looked down on the desolation and murmured, "This could be Hitori..."

"Never!" I growled, "Not so long as I draw breath." The Ghost Zone was having a strange effect on me. I couldn't explain it, but something inside me just didn't feel quite right. Like when Tai once put a piece of bleu cheese in my taco.

Tai. I was starting to worry about him, and everyone else at that moment. He's still alive, I told myself, Someone who used to be such a jerk can't be defeated that easily.

"We have company!" Kitaiyou said, drawing his sword as the female ghost drew near.

"FACE ME!" She growled, "FACE SUMAEIYA, DAUGHTER OF DEATH, OR FACE THE WORLD'S DESTRUCTION."

"I'll fighther," Kitaiyou said menacingly, drawing his sword, "I've faced tougher foes in my time. You three carry on! He's only a short ways to the east!"

OOOOO

The battle was fierce, and those machines were not holding back. I was facing the Hokkaido, the orange machine with the mace, Snow was facing the Shikoku, the machine with the rocket packs on its back, and Yashimi was fighting the Kyushu, the machine with the large curving wings and the lance. I wasn't faring too well. My gun had been rendered useless thanks to the mace the Hokkaido kept blasting at me. With a couple of brief glances I realized that Snow and Yashimi weren't faring too well either.

Yashimi's blast cannon was useless against the huge armored wings her opponent kept using, and she couldn't get very close for fear of being impaled by her opponent's lance. Snow, while she was faring a bit better, wasn't doing so by much. The "rockets" on her opponent's back were similar to the pods I was acquainted with, and its speed and power in general was impressive. The mace my foe was using was really starting to tick me off, so I finally dashed in as fast as I could, and just as the mace came out, being attached to the machine by means of a strong wire so it could be reused, I flipped to one side and with a quick slash I severed it.

While the machine still had railguns, it wasn't nearly so powerful. Slanting upwards just as I came close, I immediately thrust down and just as the machine was turning around, I sliced it in half with one stroke of my beam sword. Turning I immediately saw Snow being overwhelmed by her multiple opponents. In a second I was there, slashine at two of the pods hindering her. Immediately the machine shifted its attention between us, which is what I'd intended. With one quick movement Snow sliced off its legs, then severed its head with two fine strokes. Just as we turned we saw Yashimi's suit impaled by her opponent's lance. As she fell she aimed her cannon one last time and fired, blowing the Kyushu to pieces.

"NO," Snow cried out. Turning towards Mallen's deadly machine she immediately deployed her backpack and blasted its entire arsenal. When the smoke cleared Mallen's machine barely even seemed fazed. "But how?" Snow asked in awe.

"PR armor, the toughest substance on the planet," Mallen said cruelly over the intercom, "There's not a thing your suits can do to this machine."

We were interrupted by two large blasts from below. One caught the Honshu in the side, the other struck the arm that wielded its javelin missiles, destroying the arm. "What!" Mallen's voice choked in surprise as a new machine flew into the sky alongside us. It was an impressive sight.

A great red machine seemed to brighten the afternoon sky. Huge violet wings extended from its back, and a great ring of dark metal encompassed its chest. Huge beam knives were sheathed on its wrists, and sharp spines erupted from its feet. A shield was attached to its left arm, bristling with vicious spines and an intimidating cannon in its centre as it wielded a huge energy rifle in its right hand. A massive cannon was mounted in its chest, with a pair of beam swords on its hips. A massive plasma cannon arched over each shoulder, each matched by a folded railgun mounted just over each hip. It seemed the perfect engine of destruction. Its green eyes, as well as the green crest mounted on its forehead, shone with determination, or reflected sunlight, I'm not sure. But its powerful ambience filled the air with calm in the strife.

A voice, though I had heard it a hundred times before, boomed with such tremendous strength as to make me shiver with every syllable as he exclaimed, "Mallen! Your service here is no longer required, nor was it ever!"

He had appeared strong outside his suit, but Suzuki now had a body to justify his mighty spirit. I had never imagined him with such strength before. "Stay back, you two," he said, lowering his voice ever so slightly, "This is between him and me."

With that the wings on his suit's opened wide, then almost seemed to ripple as huge plumes of heat blasted from them, blasting Suzuki towards his arch foe.

OOOOO

"Rally to me!" I cried, extending my staff to the sky, "Rally, my warriors! COME TO ME OR YOU SHALL FALL!" That last cry caught their attention. As our forces retreated I blasted into Eunagi's head, "NOW!" Almost at once Typhonus's huge body rippled.

His normally smooth, slimy hide dried, and was covered by an infinite number of tiny armor plates. His entire length grew as long, pointed, steel-hard segmented legs erupted from his sides all the way up to the base of his neck, so he said, and back to the base of his tail. Two long, mantice-like claws erupted from under his collarbone as a long, spined, frilled crest extended from its peak at the top of his head to the end of his tail. One of his huge mandibles formed ashiny, armored jaw, jagged as ifit had fangs, whilst the other was rough like sandstone. His huge, slavering jaws seemed almost unreal. It was a good thing he was on our side or I wouldn't have been able to stop him, arcane powers or no. Man, Eunagi can sure surprise you when you least expect. He really came through this time.

"Distraction scene, take 1!" I shouted as Typhonus steeled himself. As I lowered my staff those soldiers that had returned (good for them) stared in awe as I shouted, "Action!"

OOOOO

Amainjir glared at me contemptuously, his sword glimmering in the dark, dark mists of a broken land. "SO," he glowered, slowly raising his sword, "NOW WE TEST YOUR WORTH."

"So we do," I shot back, "But what think we lend ourselves a favorable battleground?"

"VERY WELL," he conceded, holding out one hand. All of the doors in the surrounding area flew towards us, forming a flat plain of ancient lumber. Some small patches of the abyss below showed through, but it was serviceable. I was immediately snapped from my reverie as Amainjir's elbow crashed into my head.

I alighted on the battlefield below with a slightly dazed cranium as Amainjir touched down lightly, a slight grin of contempt on his horrid visage. Immediately my whip flicked out, snapping and cracking in a dozen places at once. It was no good. Immediately Amainjir stepped on its end and severed it with one quick slash of his blade.

With unnatural speed he shot forward and raised his sword for the killing blow...

OOOOO

Sumaeiya and I circled one another, each of us assessing the other, trying to pinpoint each other's strengths and weaknesses. Her blows came fast as her twin swords pinged off my katana. All I could do was meet each blow as it came. Finally, my opportunity came.

Ihad lunged forward with a powerful cleave, which she caught in a cross block. We held a stalemate for a few seconds before I thrust myself forwards, knocking her off balance as my fist crashed into her stomach. I raised my sword high over my head, and brought it down with an enormous blast. Few would have been lucky or strong enough to survive it.

As the blast cleared I realized that Sumaeiya had raised her twin swords just in time to block my Taisencha's attack.

"YOU ARE STRONG, SPIRIT OF THE SWORD," she said emotionlessly, raising herself higher into the air, "BUT EVEN YOUR MIGHTY BLADE IS NO MATCH FOR MY POWER." Even as she finished speaking her form split into four, no five, separate entities, each as malicious as the original.

"So, you have chosen oblivion," I said darkly as I lowered the mask on my kabuto, revealing the visage of a vicious Japanese lung, or dragon. Gripping the base of my Taisencha's sheath I drew it from my sash and held it in my left hand. And so the hammer fell...

OOOOO

We flew like the wind, dashingup an enormous incline that seemed to blossom out of the abyss far below. There was a light green glow at its top, so I had a feeling we were headed in the right direction. Suddenly, out of nowhere, three grey shades pulled themselves out of the cliffside and faced us. They had batlike wings, no legs, and snarling, vampirebat faces with short pointed tongues.

"NONE MAY PASS THE BROKEN ONES," one of them threatened. The second one spoke, "YOU SHALL REST FOREVER WITH US."

As the third simply nodded in agreement, Ronnie said, "Umbrus and I can take care of these dunderheads. Now get moving!"

OOOOO

With every last ounce of strength in my body I flew. In an instant Ronnie and Umbrus were far below, battling the three grusome beasts. I felt guilty for leaving them, but I had to keep moving.

Finally, after an eon of flying, I cleared the top of the incline, and what I saw took my breath away. A miniature mountain of grey rock rose up from the middle of a craggy plateau. Red mist circled its peak as black lightning streaked all around its warped features.

"If he had a sign saying "Sassamashin's lair: Enter and Die", it couldn't be more obvious," I murmured to myself as I flicked my tail in contempt and flew down towards the wide cave entrance at the mountain's base. As I approached a huge swarm of demon birds flew from the mountain's crags towards me.

"Out of my way!" I yelled as I merged my twin swords and ripped them to shreds without so much as slowing down. I touched down just outside the entranceway and sprinted into the tunnel. It was much taller than the outside indicated, and it glowed a sickly light blue.

Torches of green flames hung from the ceiling, though I didn't need their help navigating through the tunnels. I turned right at the next split, ran up a long spiral staircase, plunged down a steep ramp, and stopped just outside a vast chamber. Warily I tensed every muscle in my body, then stepped out into the vast chamber.

The chamber was enormous! I couldn't even see the ceiling, and it extended out a tremendous distance in all directions. The ground itself was a sort of pale purple colour with the same strange blue glow as in the tunnels, and some rocks were even floating in the air, some a couple of inches off the ground, others were high over my head. About a hundred feet away from the entrance to the chamber the floor plunged straight down into the darkness, where not even the strange glow of the chamber could pierce it. On the opposite wall was what looked like white stone, with huge black spiderlines along its surface.

Stepping to the very edge of the cliff I dug my claws deep into the rock, then howled at the top of my voice, "SASSAMASHIN!" For a long moment, all was silent. I could feel the tension building as the warmth of the chamber was drained away. The moist rhime on the walls and floor actually froze solid as something moved from deep within the abyss. Something big.

I felt cold and alone as a dark form rose from the depths, and whatever was left of the warmth in my heart drained away, and replaced with dread and despair. I could feel it. I could feel pure evil radiating from his very being. My whole body shook as he said those words which I shall never forget as long as I live: "WELCOME, TO YOUR DOOM."

XXXXX

And so ends part one of the epic clash. Part two should be up within a short while, rest assured.

Stay tuned for "Final Phase: Part Two"!