Chapter 27 – The End

A/N: ENJOY!

It seemed as if the whole world stopped at that moment. Everything vanished at the background. It was as if there was no battle in the first place. He could not hear Marionette laughing. He could not hear Cagalli's cry of anguish nor the small gasp from Miriallia. He could not see Athrun glare at Marionette nor Dearka hanging his head. All he could focus on was the brunette who lay unconscious in front of him. The girl who befriended him. The pincers of rage gripped him tightly as he looked from the motionless body to Marionette's laughing face. Her mouth opened and closed; yet he heard nothing. He was torn between crying and acting on the orders issued by his rage. He was never given a chance to decide.
They could not see what exactly happened to Yzak until the sickening echo of broken bones sounded in the room. Marionette wasted no time and viciously landed her heel onto Yzak's pale fingers. His scream of pain washed over all of them. Dearka lunged at the robot but was not successful in pushing the robot away. Marionette back handled Dearka viciously. Another sickening crack of bones and another scream rang in the air. Cagalli had to think fast. Where could the central processor be? If this was what that would happen to them if Marionette only toyed around with them, what would happen when Marionette starts to get serious? The tenth chill ran down her spine as she racked her brain for an applicable answer.

Miyu was always the smug girl; the proudest of their group. Always bragging about her achievements and putting other people off. Sometimes, she would like to see others trying to guess what good thing she did by dropping off some hints on the way. Hints like… Like… Like what? Cagalli screeched in her head. She barely managed to dodge the vase that was thrown at her, Cagalli glared at Marionette who was looking at her artificial nails, an innocent 'what?' painted on her face. Cagalli pushed away the fury that rose from her belly. She remembered one of the most quoted phrases from the Art of War: The most dangerous place is the safest place. The most dangerous place… hints… Cagalli had no time to pursue the thought further as a fist came down at her face. Pain shot up from her jaw and awakened her nerves. Cagalli heard her name being called out by Miriallia as she staggered backwards from the impact. She turned her tawny eyes at the smirking face of the robot. Anger took over the reigns of her mind as she glared at the robot. Cagalli caught sight of the broken limb of the table. In one swift motion, she grabbed the limb and swung it at the robot.

Marionette snorted in disbelief, "Don't you have the eyes to see that you cannot possibly defeat me. And even with the help of broken piece of wood could not do wonders for you." Her snide voice rammed at Cagalli in full force. The remembrance of them winning was a bleak possibility suddenly caught up with her brain. Guilt and anger swirled in her body as she stood a few feet from the smug robot.

Then, it clicked in her head. That's it! She never had the chance to do anything as a leg kicked her in the gut and fists punched her simultaneously. A haze entered Cagalli's mind as her vision blurred. Cagalli was suddenly too numb and tired to feel or hear anything. But she heard the faint voices of someone shouting and the pounding of feet. She felt herself being lifted up and someone's face in front of her.

Cagalli's mind searched for a plausible answer as she tried desperately to see who was in front of her. Perhaps 'horrible' was too weak a word to describe the steady pound of pain in her temple and jaw. Maybe 'On the verge of death' was too strong a phrase to describe her body's condition. Cagalli felt like she was slipping away from conscious reality. Like Shiho? Her mind whispered. Cagalli's exhausted mind was wrenched from the blurred state it was in as it remembered her discovery. Cagalli had no time to react to her mind's reminder when that someone above her embraced her. Cagalli sighed inwardly. The embrace was soft and warm. She snuggled closer to the warmth of the person gratefully.

Then a pair of lips found hers. Athrun… She breathed inwardly. It was a soft, chaste kiss lined with a firm promise and command. Only when the sound of a fight going on at the background did she remember her mind's command earlier. She whispered out her little discovery before completely slipping away from reality. But no force in the world could wrench the quiet and almost inaudible sentence from her memory: Stay with me.

Athrun glared at Marionette. A fierce and wild glimmer of feral anger darkened his eyes to a deeper shade of emerald as he pulled Miriallia and Dearka aside. He did not have the chance to impart the knowledge of Marionette's secret when shouts and yells of anger tore into the room. The kunoichis were at rage. Startled, Athrun looked at the crowd weary and ready to fight. A group of the kunoichis grabbed them and held their wrists tightly. They were a crowd of at least a hundred. The three of them could never have made it out alive.

"Mistress, we hope that by our help to capture the three of them, you will free our Master." One said boldly. A glare of hate and contempt was obvious and unhidden on the kunoichi's face. Someone shifted slightly in front of him when a soft voice calmed his nerves, "We know." Athrun bowed his head slightly and whispered to Miriallia, "Eyes." An expression of realization crossed her face as she finally realized the meaning of his words.

Then a slap, angered yells and battle cries rang throughout the air. Athrun felt the hands that held his wrists tightly were gone. The crowd of kunoichis circled the lone robot; leaving Athrun free of any distractions. A watched as Miriallia fished for her gun. She handed it over to him sheepishly, "I'm not a good shot."

Athrun ran a good ten feet before he was in range. A screech of anger rang in the air as he aimed and fired at the portrait. The mechanical shut down of Marionette was immediate as she fell with a loud thud on the floor in a mid-jump stance. The robot's body started glowing brightly as a fast paced countdown started. Cagalli's solemn words rang in his mind: Defeat is not an option. His own words rang in his mind: Stay with me. Athrun signaled the kunoichis and Miriallia to follow him as they crashed through the windows and into the large spacious lake below.

A/N: A very rushed ending. If you didn't know what they shot at, it was the sockets on Emery's portrait.