Whispers of a War

by Demented-Demon

PostMMZ2not MMZ3.The war between The Resistance and Neo Arcadia rages on, but when a third organization enters the fray, the war will reach its final outcome. Chapter 16: Race to the Final Weapon!

15. Whispers Heard

Author: What an ordeal! Here I am trying to finish a fan fiction and life interrupts me! I apologize for the 5 month delay, but videogames, school, and other things do a fantastic job at side-tracking me. Well, good things happened at least. I have to say, chapter 14 brought up some very interesting reviews. One of them caught my eye.

To The Keet: Wow. Your review surprised me. I didn't look at my story from that point of view before. While there were some things that I didn't exactly agree with, I understand your review was not a flame, but a critique. You provided me with some advice on how to type battle scenes, so I took that advice. Everything else, however, will stay the same. The same characters, the same titles, the same forty-first power cheesiness will be here. I appreciate your opinion and I hope to receive some more feedback.

To the rest of my reviewers: Thank you all. Words can't fully express the gratitude that I have. You would have to be an author yourself to know the feeling of having reviewers compliment your work, whether it was from chapter 1 to just last night on chapter 14. It's especially good when you're doing a story you really want to type. In the future I will give you all recognition somehow.

Enough of the talk and such and such. With 3 Reploforce Guardians dead and a title name with the word "war" in it, I think you all know what happens next. On with the show!

Disclaimer: I do not own the MMZ series. Capcom owns that. I do own Dex, Max, Sam, Zeus, Flair, Eartha (Glacia), the Red Revolver Gang (excluding Axl), and the soon-to-be-introduced Ghost.

Whispers Heard

It doesn't add up. Zero was in the Maintenance Room recovering from the last battle. As he laid in the capsule, he thought about Reploforce. Why didn't they attack the Resistance while the Guardians and I were fighting? The armies weren't in Neo Arcadia, so why didn't they attack then? Their purpose is to use the Final Weapon, but they need the Dark Elf and the container. We have the container, so why haven't they sneak-attacked the Resistance for it yet?

It bothered Zero that Reploforce wasn't acting out on their plan. He knew what they were planning, but they hadn't acted out on it yet. This was supposed to relieve Zero, but it did the exact opposite. It lead him to believe two different things.

One would be that they're just waiting, planning something even bigger. Two would be that they already have everything necessary, and the Reploforce Guardians were just decoys! He scratched his head. All the ideas he thought kept circling around his head. The battle may have taken a toll on his mind.

Everything seems too odd. None of this makes sense. I know a organization like Reploforce must have had a reason to distract us from something, but what is it?

The doors slid open. Zero looked and saw that Ciel was walking in. Now she looked the same as before, with her bright face that showed happiness and some concern. Zero was relieved that Ciel was back to normal again. He couldn't stand to have Ciel as she was when she was jealous.

"Hey, Zero." She grabbed a chair and sat down next to Zero.

She's more casual today. "Hey, Ciel." He couldn't get up and hug her or anything, since he was told to lay down in the capsule for a few hours. The wounds were fixed and healed, but he needed time to regain his vitality back. Although the rest was for getting Zero more comfortable, it was actually bothering him. He was laying on his ponytail, and it was irritating because not only was he sitting on his hair but it was also being pulled. Zero doesn't like it when his hair is pulled.

"How much longer until I can finally get up?"

"Not for about two days, I'm afraid."

"Damn." If Zero could move his arms, he would have crossed them.

"So what happened back at Neo Arcadia? Are the Reploforce armies driven out yet?"

Zero pursed his lips. "I don't think they were any Reploforce armies of any kind, Ciel. There were only the three Reploforce Guardians there."

"What? I thought it would be heavily guarded." Ciel had a confused look on her face.

I thought so, too. Something doesn't add up. He wasn't going to figure it out just by laying in a capsule. He needed to get out there and do something.

Ciel must have read Zero's mind. "For now Zero, just rest." She got up to walk out of the room.

"Wait."

Ciel looked at Zero. "What is it?"

"What do you think is the purpose for reploids wanting to get rid of humans?"

Ciel thought about it.

"I suppose for freedom. After the Energy Crisis they suddenly lost their freedom and their lives as well."

"But why would they go after us? Reploforce tried to destroy the Resistance by sending that ship."

"They may have thought we were helping Neo Arcadia."

"They couldn't have. The Resistance is neutral. How would they know whose side we are on?"

"Maybe because the fact that we are neutral may lead them to think we're an obstacle."

"If they really cared for reploids to have their freedom they wouldn't target us. The majority of the Resistance are reploids." Zero looked up at the ceiling. "Something isn't right."

Ciel sat herself back down next to Zero.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?"

Zero closed his eyes.

"Yeah."

Change of scene

When he woke up, he still was injured, but he could finally move. The other Guardians haven't checked up on him yet, so he decided to take the opportunity to bury Eartha. Humans usually believed that they should bury or cremate the dead. For reploids, the body (or parts of it) is usually sent to the scrap heap for future use, another kind of recycling.

Harpuia wanted to bury Eartha because the last image he needed in his mind was Eartha getting pulverized by some recycling factory. He still couldn't move his leg, so he had to bury her using his hands and only his hands.

As he was about to drop Eartha's body in the hole, he noticed something. The sabers had gone right through her, revealing her insides. Inside of her stomach, their was a little black box. Harpuia took it out and examined it.

What is this? This thing looks like small chip Zero told me about.

When Harpuia was recovering in the Resistance, Zero told him that he was being controlled by Reploforce. He had also said that they used a small chip attached to the neck to do so.

Could they both be of the same kind of device? Their designs are the same. Why would they need to control Eartha?

An hour or so later, he finished putting Eartha in the hole and filling it back up. He patted the spot where she was buried.

"A proper burial." He mourned silently for Eartha, still clutching the black box.

"I have no idea where reploids go after death, or if there even is another life after death. Wherever you are, I hope you'll be happier there than here."

Harpuia still had his regrets on killing her, but he knew it was for the best. If he hadn't done it, chances are likely she would have done the deed. He did want her to still be alive, so that maybe he could have shown her the brighter side of things, maybe even have her as a Guardian?

Of course, he knew all this wishful thinking wouldn't help. He couldn't dwell on what he did already, but he should be focused on what he should be doing right now.

"And right now, I should be focused on getting back to shape." And I also have to find out why Reploforce would use this box to-

"And you should start by getting yourself into the Maintenance Room and stop talking to yourself."

Harpuia smirked. "It's about time you came, Leviathan."

"I just finished cleaning out all of the snow in my temple." She picked Harpuia up, as if she were the knight in shining armor and Harpuia was the princess being whisked away.

"Are you comfortable, Harpuia?"

"Your hand is on my ass. You're pressing my body against yours, which is crushing mine. To top it off, I look absolutely ridiculous being held like this. In comparison to the fight before, however, this is very comforting."

"Good." Leviathan smiled and carried him over to the Maintenance Room.

"Where's Fefnir?"

"He just recovered and can finally move, but he hasn't gone all the way back to 100 yet. Right now he's playing computer games again."

Harpuia chuckled. "Good 'ol Fefnir."

"You're awfully cheery all of the sudden. Is it because you're being whisked away by your knight in shining armor?"

"It would be amusing to realize that you would actually be a guy." Harpuia started laughing.

Leviathan was laughing too, mainly because she threw Harpuia over her head.

He landed with a loud thud. His body was still sore and most parts were still aching with pain. Harpuia winced when he fell to the ground, but compared to the pain he felt during the fight, this was nothing.

"Ow…" He tried to get up.

Leviathan held out a hand. "Are we done now?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

He took her hand and she lifted him up. This time, she flung him on her shoulder and carried him like he was a towel wrung over her shoulder. His head was facing backward while his rear was facing the front, along with Leviathan's face.

"How long will it take for me to recover completely?"

"Hmmm…" Leviathan thought. "For you to recover, I'm guessing about two days. To get back into shape and return to your regular duties, plus opening the gates and reorganizing the armies and settling down Neo Arcadia, I'd say about-"

"Never mind." Harpuia rubbed his head.

It'll be even longer once I examine this black box.

Change of scene

"Not tired…"

Zero couldn't take it. He was trying to sleep and get some rest, but with everything that was on his mind, he couldn't. The thoughts were blaring like an alarm in his head, always popping up. There was never a time where he had a bad feeling about something. He knew there was something going on, some kind of conspiracy behind the war. However, that was probably a wacky theory.

It didn't mean he stopped thinking about it though. His body was saying it needed to jump out of the capsule and find out the truth. Of course, what the body actually felt was soreness and the need to recuperate. It was like something was almost calling him, telling him something was wrong. It was like something was whispering in his ear.

"Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't add up. Something doesn't…"

Zero broke the capsule open and stepped out. He stretched his body out and shook off the soreness in his body. It had only been an hour since Ciel visited, and he was already feeling better. At least, he was feeling better physically.

Inside he had a sudden urge to find the container he had found in the factory. The container that Camo tried to capture. It had the markings similar to the Dark Elf. Now he felt like he was being pulled into it. Before he realized it, he was walking towards Ciel's lab. There were some glass shards in his hair and on his body, but he didn't stop. He just kept walking until the doors to Ciel's lab slid open.

She wasn't in there. From the looks of things, it seemed like she went on a break. The computer was still on, and mostly everything in the lab was still on. The monitor read "Ciel System Check #12" and it was humming and whirring. The disc of the plans that Reploforce had were near the disc drive. A cup of coffee was near the keyboard, and there was still steam rising from the cup. He looked around and he saw it.

The container Max helped get was in a lone section on her desk. It was away from the disorganized paper read-outs of the Ciel System. It was away from the cup of coffee and the disc. It was sitting there, all by itself on the corner of her desk.

Zero could feel his body etching closer and closer to the container. He could see his arm extending out to touch it, and maybe even open it. He had no control of his body anymore. It had a mind of its own, and all Zero could do was watch himself reach for the box slowly.

When he finally touched it, a sudden flash blinded his eyes. All at once images of soldiers fighting on a battlefield entered in his mind. The death cries of soldiers, reploid and human alike bounced in and out of his ears. Lastly, he saw the Dark Elf hovering over all of this with a pained look on her face, as if standing above the conflict hurt her even more than those who were fighting.

She cried, "Make it stop!"

A powerful wave of energy burst out of her body and completely decimated the entire battlefield. Nothing was left in its wake, not even scraps of reploids or any remaining human parts. Everything was reduced to dust.

Zero opened his eyes and realized he was back in Ciel's lab. However, he found himself on the floor near her desk. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

"Man…I think I'm going crazy…"

He stood upright and looked at the container again. This time, no strange control was over his body. This time, he wanted to open the container. He wanted to see what was inside. Camo didn't say anything about the Dark Elf being inside it, but what if it was? Ciel didn't say much about the container at all, so Zero had no idea what was in there, or even if it was important. Curiosity took over the Legendary Maverick Hunter and he placed his hand on the top.

There were no more sudden surprise visions, but he felt his hand trembling. He didn't know why all of the sudden he was so shaken.

"What's wrong with me?"

He shook his head and tried to open the top. He turned into carefully and lifted the cap off. When he did, he saw that inside the strange container there was…a sandwich. There was a half-eaten peanut-butter and jelly sandwich inside the container.

"Zero?"

He turned around and saw Ciel standing near the door. She had a confused look on her face. Her left hand was holding a pitcher of coffee while her right hand was free.

"I thought I told you to stay in the capsule, Zero! Your condition is slowly improving and you need…"

Her voice trailed off after she examined Zero by looking up and down. His physical condition was actually already restored. In fact, it looked better than it was when Zero was at 100 fitness.

"How did you…?"

Zero looked at his body as well. He didn't notice his sudden change until now. His body never looked like this even when he returned from a full repair. There was no possible way the capsule worked that fast.

"Honestly, I really don't know."

Ciel sighed. "Well, I guess you're going to have to explain that to Cerveau."

Did I heal myself? He focused his attention back to the container.

"Ciel, why is there a sandwich in the container for the Dark Elf?" He pointed behind him.

"Oh, that thing? I was going to tell you, but I guess I forgot. Zero, that container is nothing special. I ran several tests through it, and it has nothing to do with the Dark Elf. The best use for it would be a lunch box."

"Well, it looks like you knew that already."

Ciel walked over to her desk and took the sandwich out of the container. "Still, I don't know why Reploforce would send one of its agents to capture this?"

There's something going on. It was clear now, that something indeed was taking place under the war.

Zero felt something. All of the sudden, he could feel where the Dark Elf was right now. His body felt like a compass, knowing the exact direction of the Dark Elf.

"Ciel! I can feel the Dark Elf!"

"Where, Zero?"

"It's…" Zero pointed in one direction, but then used his other hand to point in another. "I don't know…it feels like it's everywhere!"

Ciel looked worried. "Zero, are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Zero covered his face with his hands. "I'm fine, Ciel." He muffled.

"Are you really sure? I mean just now you're-"

Zero snapped. "I'M FINE CIEL! YOU WANT ME TO FEEL BETTER? THEN HOW ABOUT LEAVING ME ALONE?"

She stepped back a few steps. She was hurt. Immediately her face lost all radiance and any other emotion except for sadness.

Zero uncovered his face. "Ciel, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No…no it's okay, Zero." She turned away. "I'm going to go now." As she walked away, she sobbed a bit. Ciel was doing her best to hold back tears, but she just couldn't take it and ran to the bathroom, locking herself out.

Zero sighed. "I really did it this time."

The speaker came on.

"Zero, please report to the Command Room."

The Heartbreak Reploid started to walk out of the room. "Wonder what this is about?"

As he came into the Command Room, he noticed everyone inside seemed tense, and appeared to be very worried. Before he could ask what was wrong, he looked at the monitor.

There was a figure walking. Zero couldn't see the figure's face because the desert wind was blowing.

"Who is that? Are they out in the desert?" Zero turned to the Operators for answers.

"We honestly don't know. I think the message is coming from an camera of some sort."

Zero turned back to the monitor.

The figure spoke. The signal wasn't very good, so there was much static interrupting. However, Zero could still get the message.

"Zero. Reploforce's armies are headed for the Resistance. We are coming for the Dark Elf. You can try to hide it, but we will find it. As a courtesy of war, I suggest you prepare your armies for battle. You have 24 hours."

The message ended. Just as it did, about every soldier in the room tugged on their collars and gulped.

The voice sounded very familiar to Zero. The way this reploid spoke of war was that he regarded it very highly, as if to romanticize it to be something grand. He couldn't remember who it was.

"Looks like I finished just in time."

Everyone turned around to see that Cerveau had just entered the room.

"Finished what, Cerveau?" Zero was mixed up in his own problems that he almost forgot Cerveau was here.

"The weapons, Zero. I've finished making all of the weapons we need for this battle that we are going in. I've also made some other things to help us out. But, I couldn't have done it without this bright lad here.

Sam walked into the Command Room. He had less stains this time, and the color of his hair was noticeably blond now. "Hey, guys. We've just finished patching everything up. Sure as hell we're going to need it."

"Seeing that there is no longer a commander around, then I guess we need to take drastic action." Zero patted Cerveau on the back. "Meet your new commander, Cerveau."

All of the Resistance soldiers clapped.

"What? Me? Why would you…?"

"Don't play dumb with me Cerveau." Zero would always listen to Cerveau talk about how he would run things if he were commander. Usually all he does is make weapons or help repair things or reploids. He likes to do it, but he would rather run the combat strategies rather than make some more weapons. There were always battle ideas he was waiting to try out. Cerveau was always the most experimental reploid, and he wasn't afraid of taking risks. That was why Zero wanted him to be commander.

"Well, I'll do it! But, I need to ask Ciel first."

Zero stopped patting Cerveau. "I'll go get her."

"It's okay Cerveau, I think you'll make a great commander." Ciel was already inside the room. Her face was washed up now. There were no more tears, but her cheeks were still a bit flushed (no pun) after using the restroom.

"Thank you Ciel." Cerveau turned to the rest of the soldiers. "I'll figure out my battle plan later. Check back in an hour or so."

Everyone started to walk out of the room. Most were still unsure if Cerveau would make a good commander. Most would prefer Zero, but since Zero himself recommended Cerveau, they trusted him. Even Cerveau had his own doubts at first, but he was quick to build his confidence.

Ciel started to walk out of the room. Zero spotted her and tried to talk to her. However, many of the soldiers were crowded in the room, and they were bunched up in his way.

"Ciel! Wait!" Zero tried to call her, but not only did the soldiers block his way, but their voices and conversations also interfered with the sound of his voice. Ciel walked out of the room.

"Shit!" Zero clenched his fists. He needed to punch something.

Zero pushed his way out of the crowd.

The Blond Bomber stood outside of Ciel's lab. He knew she was in there, working so she could keep herself busy. One more step and the doors would open, but Zero had his second thoughts.

Maybe I should give her some space…

Still, he wanted to make up badly. It was bad enough for her to be neglected by him, but now he felt even more guilt after yelling at her. A simple apology was what he wanted, but now it was impossible. Zero actually feared going into Ciel's lab and apologizing.

Some other time…

He turned away and walked over to his room. It wasn't very late, but he felt like night had fallen already. The Heartbreak Reploid decided a quick nap would clear things up. The doors slid open and Zero walked inside. Even with his armor on, he immediately leaped onto the bed.

A few seconds after the doors had closed and Zero had fallen asleep, the doors to Ciel's lab opened. She walked out of her lab and was heading towards Zero's room. It was only a few steps away from her lab, but he stopped. She wanted to make up with Zero as well, but she felt that Zero was probably still mad at her.

Maybe I should give him some time to cool off…

It was understandable for her to know the stress on Zero's mind. It was obvious that there were more things on his mind than her.

Some other time…

She walked back into her lab and started working again.

Change of scene

Harpuia looked at the monitor of the computer.

"55 scan. This is going to take a while."

He already had been sitting and waiting for an hour already, with absolutely nothing to do. The Guardian even considered doing duty work instead of waiting, but he quickly took it back. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't anyways. His body wasn't completely repaired yet; he needed to wait for a day or so until he could actually walk again. Until then, he was in his wheelchair.

"This is odd. I've never been forced into rolling on a wheelchair ever. I wonder if other reploids go through this. I'd die right here if I went out like this in public. My reputation would be shattered."

Harpuia wheeled himself left and right, as if he were pacing. At the same time, he speculated on the reasons why the black box that had the same design as the chip used to control him would be inside Eartha's body. It seemed far-fetched at first, but now it was starting to make some sense.

"Since this is the same design, it must be used to manipulate reploids. However, the one used on me was a chip to stick outside of my skin, not on the inside. However, this black box seems to be a part of Eartha's body herself. That could explain the second personality. But, if it was already in her body, then her original personality must have been manipulated as well. So what this means is…"

"What it means is that sticking you into a wheelchair was a bad idea." Leviathan was standing near the door.

"I admit that it is an odd experience."

"It isn't so odd that you talk to yourself!"

"And you've been in a wheelchair before?"

Leviathan shrugged. "I don't think so."

Harpuia shook his head.

"So what do you need Leviathan? If you've come to poke fun at the handicapped Guardian then go ahead."

"Nah. I think you and the wheelchair ridicule yourselves enough already." She smirked. "So what are you doing besides 'pacing' in that wheelchair?"

"Nothing important. You haven't answered my question yet, Leviathan."

She rolled her eyes. "I came here to ask if could operate the targeting system for me. I can't activate it in the water you know."

"Why can't Fefnir help?"

"He's on duty."

Harpuia raised a brow. "And you aren't?"

"I'm training."

He sighed. I'm surprised she hasn't made me go on duty yet. Looks like helping Leviathan train is more interesting than waiting for something to finish. He turned back to the screen.

"55.5 scan. Screw this, let's go."

Leviathan smiled. "I knew you were going to say that." She walked over to Harpuia and grabbed his handles (wheelchair handles).

"You had better not roll me too-" Harpuia lost his voice when Leviathan pushed with mighty force.

"Damn you woman! AHHHHHHHH!" Harpuia was yelling as Leviathan was pushing Harpuia as fast as a child would push a shopping cart in a grocery store. It wasn't that it was too fast for Harpuia, but the idea of getting injured again and staying in the wheelchair even longer frightened him.

"Yee-haw!" Leviathan jumped and placed her feet onto the metal on top of the wheels. The momentum from her push propelled the two quite rapidly. They sped down the halls, but thankfully no one was in the way.

"Stop right now!" Harpuia found himself laughing as he said this. It was a refreshing experience, feeling the air blow in his face. The problem was, he was on a wheelchair, and he wasn't the one controlling the flight.

Leviathan laughed along with him and closed her eyes. Harpuia kept them opened but he was having s much fun that he didn't realize that the doors were still closed, and they were headed straight for them.

Leviathan noticed, however. "Harpuia! Watch out for that-"

They both crashed into the closed doors.

Change of scene

"Okay everyone! Here's the game plan!" Cerveau was standing on high above where the Operators were, discussing his battle plan by using the screen in the Command Room. Not all of the Resistance members could fit into the Command Room, so some waited outside while other passed on what he was saying. An hour ago these soldiers were doubtful, but now they really thought Cerveau could be a capable commander.

"There is only one way to get into the Resistance on ground. Reploforce can only get to us by breaking down our gate and rushing us. They can't bomb us with aerial units because our turrets and radar will detect them miles and miles away before they can reach us. With the Energy Shortage Crisis still going about, I highly doubt they even have the right supplies to stage a full aerial assault."

The soldiers cheered and whistled, even though Commander Cerveau didn't even state the plan yet. That didn't mean he didn't appreciate it, however. He moved on with his plan.

"So making sure the gate is protected is our main priority. There is no way other than getting past it directly can they invade us. There will be four classes of units. First are the Interceptors, who will be the ones at the front line holding them off."

Cerveau gestured for Sam to bring up examples of weapons they will be armed with. He brought up a box and handed it to Cerveau.

"They will be specializing in melee combat. Each of the Interceptors will get protective suits, beam sabers, and a shield for emergency. I request that Zero will lead this unit."

Zero was on the left side of the room, leaning against the wall.

"You know I wouldn't refuse." He smirked.

The soldiers cheered. However, one soldier raised up his hand, trying to get Command Cerveau's attention.

He noticed. "Yes, you in the white?"

The reploid was indeed dressed in white, standing out from the mass of soldiers were green uniforms. He wore a white T-shirt. The pants he wore were a different design. The jeans were black in overall color, but there were strips of white along the legs of his jeans. The leather jacket he wore was also white, and it had a Japanese symbol colored in black on the back of it that read "Ghost." Of course, no one knew Japanese so they couldn't read it. His hair a bit long, reaching down to his shoulders, but he just left it there. It usually isn't ever combed, but it was naturally smooth and white.

He spoke. "The name's Ghost. My question is that may I have permission to use my own weapon?"

The soldier moved out of the way to get a better view of Ghost's weapon. It was a Japanese katana in a white sheath, decorated with black Japanese symbols around it.

Cerveau raised an eyebrow. "You must be one of our newer members, correct?"

"Yeah."

The katana was made of the same metal used to block beam sabers and such. Cerveau couldn't tell, but he was always willing to let someone have it their way when it came to weapons.

"Very well."

Max was also in the room. He scoffed and twirled his pistol. I got my own weapon, too.

The soldiers around Ghost whispered to each other, exchanging short opinions on how Ghost looked.

Zero noticed a striking resemblance between Ghost and Phantom. They both were reserved, and only focused on what they were doing. Ghost acted like Phantom, although his accent was different and Ghost wasn't serving Neo Arcadia: he was serving the Resistance.

"Now for the next order of business. The next unit will be the Rangers. These men will provide the cover fire on ground when the Interceptors battle. They will be armed with buster rifles and rapid-fire busters guns for emergency. They will also be on the front line with the Interceptors."

He pointed to the diagram showing the positions of the units.

"The Interceptors will be right outside the gate while the Rangers will be behind them providing cover fire. The next unit will be high above on top of the gates. There is a path for you to walk on and openings where your weapons will be able to fit in. These Sharpshooters will be responsible to shooting down any air units present and for taking shots of the more heavier enemies, for example, Golems. You will be armed with high mark sniper rifles with secondary laser. I'll also have some Interceptors near them just in case anything is on the gate.

"The last unit will be the Heavy Artillery. We will not use this until our gates are brought down and they are right outside of our base. These are mobile suits fitted with two larges buster cannons, rapid-fire guns and megaton grenades. We only have seven of these, so we need men who don't want to be on the front line."

The soldiers whispered amongst themselves on which unit they'll be taking.

"The unit sign-up sheets will be handed to all on your way out. Fill in the form for Interceptor, Ranger, Sharpshooter, or Heavy Artillery. Keep in mind that if one position is filled up, then you'll be transferred to another. Do not be afraid. We can do this! No matter how many men they could possibly assemble, we will survive and win!"

The crowd of soldiers were about to cheer until one of the Operators said, "We have a message trying to get through. It's from Reploforce again."

The monitor changed from the diagram into the grainy camera of the marching Reploforce again.

"By the way, I hope your puny base can survive an onslaught of 10,000 reploid soldiers. If you want to surrender now, just let me know and hand over the Dark Elf."

Most of the reploid soldiers in the Command Room tugged on their collars and gulped. They had no idea Reploforce was coming at them with an army that size. Most were ready to back down.

Cerveau, despite this new information, did not back down.

"We will not surrender! You might as will rip the Dark Elf away from my hands if you can!"

"Very well. See you soldiers on the battlefield. I'll be seeing you soon, Zero."

The message ended and the screen went black. Every single reploid in the Command Room fell silent to hear what Cerveau had to say.

He just smiled. "I guess this calls for a plan B, huh?"

Everyone was surprised, even Zero. No one thought even in dire moments such as this Cerveau could still joke around. However, he wasn't.

"Despite their many men, I do have an alternate plan just in case they can break through our defenses."

The monitor turned on again and went to a new diagram.

"You see, they'll be attacking our gate, obviously. In the event that they happen to almost break it down, then we strike with this."

Cerveau gestured for Sam to bring something. He lifted something large, round, and metallic. Groaning under its heavy weight, Sam managed to put it next to Cerveau for everyone to see.

"This is a bomb. Before you all panic, it can only be detonated or set off by a special key and a press of a button Zero has the key.."

Zero pulled the key out of his pocket and showed everybody.

"After this key is inserted, the button has to be pressed. When it detonates, the timer will start from thirteen seconds and then explode. The plan is to place the bomb near the front of the gates, right in front of Reploforce. When it is set off, it should be able to completely demolish the forces in that area. Also, if that happens, then the gates will hopefully tip in their direction and squash the remaining forces flat."

The soldiers started to clap. Then they started to cheer. Cerveau kept going.

"Of course, there is no guarantee that it will take out all of their forces. After the gates have fallen, we will assemble the Heavy Artillery for our last stand, defending the Resistance with whatever we have left against their remaining forces."

The soldiers stopped clapping.

One asked, "How many men do we have?"

Cerveau looked down to the ground, and then brought his face back up again.

"I'd say no more than 1,500."

The soldiers started to murmur.

Another soldier shouted, "How the hell are we going to take down 10,000 soldiers when there's only 1,500 of us? I say we quit and join Reploforce!"

Some soldiers started to agree while others were too scared to choose. Cerveau started shuffling uncomfortably.

"Look at yourselves!"

Every soldier turned to where the voice was coming from. It was none other than Ciel, standing at the door, looking quite enraged.

"Why do you think you came to the Resistance? You all came here to get away from Neo Arcadia! Now when the odds are stacked against you, you want to go to Reploforce? What makes you think it will be any different from Neo Arcadia? If you want to leave then fine, but I'm staying here."

She crossed her arms and stared at everybody with hardened eyes.

Zero was impressed. "I agree. I've been in tougher situations in my life. Believe me, 10,000 to 1,500 men is nothing from what I've gone through."

Some soldiers nodded in agreement while others murmured.

"I'm in, too."

Everyone turned to Ghost.

"You all heard me right. 10,000 sounds fun to fight anyways. I'm up for it."

Max scoffed. "Don't forget about me! I can take them all, too!"

Other soldiers started to agree.

"Yeah, so can I!"

"Me too!"

"Me three!"

"Bring 'em on!"

Cerveau smiled. "Thank you, thank you all!"

The entire room roared with the sounds of cheers.

All of the soldiers started walking out of the room, pumped up and ready for battle. They all grabbed the sign-up sheets and started talking with each other on what unit they'll be in. To them, 10,000 seemed like a cakewalk.

As they all left, Zero looked around for Ciel again. This time however, he didn't see her. He sighed and started to walk out of the room.

"Zero, wait!"

Zero turned around. Cerveau was the one who was calling him.

"Zero, wait! I need to talk to you!"

"What's up, Commander?"

Cerveau was flattered, but he went on. "I need to really know: is my plan that good? I mean, doesn't it sound foolish?"

"If you think it's foolish then you can take it back."

"No! I don't want to do that. It's just…"

Zero smiled. "Nervous?"

"Yes."

"Don't worry, Cerveau. I hear you revise battle plans all of the time. Especially when Elpizo was around."

Cerveau smiled. "Well, he did have some critical errors…"

"The question is, are you ready to put your life on the line?"

"Absolutely. In fact, I'll be out there myself."

Zero hung his jaw open. "What?"

"What good is a commander when all he does is make plans? I got to play them out, Zero."

"Heh, you're right."

"Thank you, Zero. You gave me the boost I needed to get us through this."

"No problem." Zero started to walk out again.

"Wait."

He turned around again. "What is it now, Cerveau?"

Cerveau held up two silver bracelets.

"Ciel asked me to give these to you. Seeing we are heading off to battle, she wants you to wear these for good luck charms."

Zero took them and put them on, one in each wrist. I wonder why she didn't ask me in person?

"Thanks, Cerveau. Tell Ciel I said 'thank you' for me."

"Of course I will."

The Legendary Maverick Hunter walked out of the room and headed for his. Right before he was about to go into his room, he looked at the room right next to his. Ciel's lab was very close, but he decided not to visit. He looked at the bracelets again.

"It's a start." He walked into his room.

Change of scene

"66.8 scan. Crap, I could fly laps around Earth about 50 times and it would be in the seventies."

Just before they were about to hit the doors, Leviathan jumped off and tipped the wheelchair forward, so the only thing that got hit was Harpuia's head. He wore his helmet to cover the notable bump on his head. Harpuia had finally gotten out of the wheelchair. It had been only a few minutes since the accident with Leviathan, but now he could stand. However, he wasn't back to 100 yet. If one solid punch were to hit his leg he would go down quickly. Fortunately for him, he had nowhere to go at the moment, so he didn't have to walk.

That's the last time I do something like that again. He sighed and paced left and right, waiting for the scan to finish. This time he paced a bit slower because he would feel some pain if he went too fast. He could still fly if he had his boosters fixed. At the moment, they were being repaired.

He stared at the black box. I wonder if it really is the same design as the chip. I'd better go ask Zero if he still has it.

The truce between the Resistance and Neo Arcadia was still in place because neither side bothered to call it off. So Harpuia figured he could just walk in there and get the chip. The problem was, he had sneak out furtively. Since he didn't his boosters, he couldn't fly over there. The only option left was to use the portable trans server.

Even after the incident, Leviathan specifically told (nagged) him not to go anywhere or do anything that involves walking of any kind outside of the room he was in. Being his usual self, he defied Leviathan. The Guardian had a great amount of discipline, it was just that he had trouble not doing something he felt like doing. After Copy X was free from Neo Arcadia rule, he got used to calling his own shots, for a while at least.

Harpuia was in a simple T-shirt and pants. He would usually keep on his armor, but he didn't feel like it this time. It would only add more weight to him, and the last thing his legs needed was more weight to carry. He found the portable trans server in the Operations Room. Neither Leviathan or Fefnir was inside the room, so he set the coordinates for the Resistance Base. However, there was a problem.

"What?" Harpuia tried to enter the coordinates, but the trans server couldn't pinpoint a good spot because there were too many readings. He turned on the large monitor to see the diagram showing the readings. There appeared to be myriads of dots heading towards the Resistance Base. The Guardian read the total count and it read "10,000."

Change of scene

Zero stood on top of the gate gazing at the sunset. It would be the next day that the battle would begin. He close his eyes and listened to the wind.

"What cha' doing, Zero?" Max walked up to Zero.

He opened his eyes. "Listening."

Max looked at the sunset. "Listening to what?"

"The whispers."

The Rookie scratched his head. "I only hear the wind."

"Usually in a war, you could hear whispers on the battlefield before a battle starts. It's not a cry of a soldier or anything, it's just a whisper you hear, but you can't understand."

Max was already lost. He tried closing his eyes and listened. He heard something.

"Hey! I hear it!"

Zero looked at Max. "That's it."

"What is it?"

His face had a downcast expression, but his eyes were ready for battle.

"That's the whisper of a war."

Change of scene

It was early morning. The sun hadn't risen yet, but the Resistance soldiers turned on some lights around the gate so they could see where it was. Not only was it dark, but it was pouring as well. The air was cold, and there was lightning. It roared across the sky as the sounds of marching grew louder and louder. The Resistance soldiers were already in their positions: Interceptors in front, Rangers behind them, Sharpshooters on top of the gate and the Heavy Artillery wasn't activated yet.

The gate had a walkway on top for the soldiers to shoot from. It was very high up, and it was about twice as high as a turret was. The armor coating was very thick, about as thick as the gates in Neo Arcadia. However, there were some parts in it that were not covered in layers of armor, but rather occupied with blasters. They were automatic, so all the Resistance soldiers needed to do was press a button and the gate would start shooting its own blasts.

About half of the entire Resistance were either Interceptors or Rangers. It was a huge gamble to make, but in war risks had to be taken. They all blocked the front of the gates with a long line of soldiers ready for combat. Despite the rain, lightning, and cold air the soldiers managed to stay focused. They all kept their eyes on the Reploforce army marching in front of them.

Zero turned to them all. "Are you guys ready?"

All of the soldiers yelled and cheered loudly, indicating that they were indeed ready.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter turned around to face the enemy.

The Reploforce armies were hard to see because it was dark and raining, but they had their own lights as well, so Zero could see their faces a bit. The Reploforce soldiers looked no different than the Resistance soldiers, besides the uniforms anyways. Even though they were several feet away, Zero could tell that they were also focused on the objective. However, he felt something wasn't right. It was that feeling again.

Now is not the time. Zero simply watched as the Reploforce army stopped in their tracks. They turned their lights off, and their eyes gleamed a faint red in the darkness.

Zero drew his Z-saber. He took one last look at the Resistance soldiers behind them. In the dark weather and rain, they all nodded their heads and smiled. It would be the last time Zero would see some of these soldiers. He knew it, they knew it. It didn't stop anybody.

On his left was Ghost, who was ready to fight. Farther behind him, there was Max. Since he was a rookie, he couldn't get a higher position of rank, but at least he was able to be in the front line. He gave Zero a thumbs-up sign.

Zero turned back and faced the Reploforce army. This would be the battle that they would have to fight to survive.

He activated his Z-saber. The Resistance soldiers followed suit. The Rangers got their guns ready and so did the Sharpshooters up high. The gate activated its own defenses.

"ATTACK!" Zero yelled at the top of his lungs and pointed his Z-saber forward. The Resistance army charged into battle. The Resistance Rangers released fire while the Sharpshooters quickly began to shoot down Reploforce soldiers from above. The gates defenses were activated and it began to shoot out lasers.

Lightning struck and the Reploforce soldiers charged into battle. Some immediately fell, getting hit by the many shots while the rest charged. Most of them were melee-armed. They had beam claws while the other soldiers in the farther back had large cannons. This was advantageous to the Resistance, because since most were melee, the Rangers had almost no worries about getting shot. The Reploforce soldiers didn't have very thick armor on either, so the Interceptors could easily dispatch each soldier. However, there were many, many more soldiers coming, so it would be an interminable task.

All of the ranged Reploforce soldiers focused their fire on the gate itself. Most of them were not rifle-wielding soldiers; they were setting up large energy cannons and ballistae with bombs. There were many flying over the heads of the Resistance soldiers. Only the Sharpshooters could shoot them down from high above, but most were focusing their fire on the Reploforce Golems stomping their way through. They were still far off, but they were advancing closer. There were probably about three dozen.

Thankfully, Cerveau was on top of the gates with the Sharpshooters, and he ordered them to shoot down the ballistae and cannons. With high-powered long ranged lasers, some were taken out with only a few shots. Of course, the ranged weapons seemed endless, as each time one was destroyed, two others came behind it.

Down below, Zero and the Interceptors were doing well holding the Reploforce soldiers off, but that was all they can do. The army was too big to force back, and the Resistance army down there was too small to advance forward. All they did was slash away at the soldiers as they came. None of the Interceptors had been destroyed yet, but the Reploforce soldiers scored some slashes in.

What was strange to Zero is how the Reploforce soldiers fought. Usually, regular reploids would have a more logical sense of battle than just charging at the opponent and attacking carelessly. The Reploforce soldiers fought to better than the Pantheon Guardians did. It was like they were mere drones.

Zero did not like this one bit. It wasn't a battle; it was a slaughter. These reploids were just falling in battle with no emotion whatsoever. He was becoming hesitant at first, but then some Reploforce soldiers got a slash in. They claws were surprisingly sharp, and he couldn't afford to get careless. He had to toughen up.

Although they were only reploids fighting on the wrong side, he had to fight. The Legendary Maverick Hunter yelled as he decapitated several soldiers around him with one swipe of his Z-saber. Then he withdrew it and pulled out his All-purpose Rod. The two sharp ends stuck out and Zero twirled it over his head, slicing and dicing any soldier in his path.

The other soldiers didn't have the same proficiency as Zero in melee combat, but they were doing well on their own slashing and blocking with their shields. Ghost, however, was a different story entirely.

The Resistance soldiers' uniforms had a thin layer of armor, but it was armor nevertheless. Ghost, however, wore clothes that were just clothes. He would have no protection if one of the soldiers were to slash at his body. He never gave them a chance anyways. Ghost's combat style was notably fitted to take on multiple enemies. Every time he would draw his sword he would do it at an angle to he would slash some soldiers. He could do more, but that was all he could possibly do, because the Resistance could only hold the Reploforce army off, not push them back.

Despite being pelted by the shots of the Rangers and the Sharpshooters, the soldiers just kept coming and coming. Even the Interceptors were starting to get tired. The cannons and ballistae were being shot down, but most were still firing on the gate. The gate looked smooth and new before, but only in a matter of minutes did the gate already seemed to start to look damaged. A couple of layers of armor were already destroyed, and now the ranged weapons had a new target: the Interceptors and Rangers.

The bombs were flung to the air and came down straight for a line of Interceptors. The large balls of explosive material made contact and blew up everything in that area, both Resistance and Reploforce soldiers. Zero cursed under his breath, realizing that if this continued, all of the Resistance Interceptors would be gone.

While he was still fighting he yelled to the Rangers, "Focus your fire on the bombs! Blow the bombs up before they blow us up!" This would mean the Rangers would have to fire at the bombs before they would hit the ground, meaning that now the Interceptors had the sole job of holding off all of the soldiers. However, it was hard to see because of the rain and dark weather. In order to hit the bombs, they had to rely on the light other explosions gave off to quickly spot the bomb while it's still in the air and shoot it down.

They were successful in doing so. Not only did it save most of the Interceptors, but it also gave them light for them to see what they were fighting. Zero thought this was going well, but he realized that the Golems were getting closer. The Sharpshooters were too busy taking out the ballistae and the cannons to shoot the golems, and the Rangers were too busy taking out the bombs over the Interceptors, who were holding off the soldiers. No unit was attacking the Golems.

Ghost must have read Zero's mind, because he too also saw the Golems advancing. Taking the situation into his own hands, Ghost started to advance forward while attacking. The Reploforce soldiers' formation was too tight to be penetrated, so he had to use an alternate method. Ghost became transparent and started to run through the Reploforce soldiers. Zero didn't have time to look, but he probably wouldn't be able to see anyways because of the dark weather.

The transparent reploid kept running until he reached a Golem. He changed back into his regular form and quickly climbed up the Golem's back. It tried to grab Ghost, but it couldn't because he was right behind the Golem's head, and it couldn't reach that area. Another Golem was walking beside and saw Ghost. Instinctively it raised a fist and threw a punch at Ghost. He quickly leaped over the fist as it came down on the other Golem, whose head was punched right off.

Ghost landed on the fist and started dashing up the other Golem's arm. The Golem's eyes glowed and it shot out two lasers. Instead of becoming transparent or jumping off, Ghost leaped up and barrel-rolled over the laser in a 180 degree roll. He was still upside-down flying towards the Golem in mid-air, so he unsheathed his sword when he got close enough. The unsheathing was actually an attack, since one fast unsheathe of a sword from its scabbard would be very powerful. The sword sliced the Golem's head in half and he landed right-side-up, but Ghost wasn't done. He stabbed his sword into the Golem's back and jumped down. As he was falling down, he pulled the sword with him, and it cut the Golem into two pieces by the time he landed. The large pieces fell left and right of Ghost, squashing any Reploforce soldiers in those areas. By the time Ghost had landed, melee Reploforce soldiers started to attack him, and he had to defend. A slash caught him by surprise and glazed his arm a bit. It was a shallow cut, but it hurt him since he wasn't wearing armor. He became transparent and continued destroying other Golems.

Cerveau could see that the Reploforce army was starting to advance very close to the gates. It was time to begin "Plan B." He grabbed a large cannon. It contained a huge flare, bright enough to outshine fireworks. He aimed straight up in the air and launched the flare. It exploded in the air in a brilliant flash of green.

The Resistance army looked up and recognized the signal. Ghost retreated and started heading back to the others. The only door to the other side of the gate opened as the Rangers started filing in. Most of the Interceptors were still fighting, holding the Reploforce soldiers off so the Rangers could get in. This proved problematic, because the Rangers stopped shooting the bombs out. Now the bombs blasted most of the Interceptors who weren't protected away.

Zero looked behind him to see who didn't make it in yet. Some of the surviving Interceptors started to retreat, but he noticed Max and Ghost still fighting right outside the gate, not going in yet.

"Ghost! Max! Get in there!"

Ghost and Max yelled to Zero, "What about you?"

"I'll come after you, just go in!"

They hesitated for a moment but quickly ran into the small door to the other side. Zero quickly followed after them, but suddenly a bomb came from above and blew Zero away. It also caved in the only door leaving Zero stranded outside of the gate. The Blond Bomber landed farther in the Reploforce army. He was several feet away from the gates now, but he couldn't see because the Reploforce army was trampling over Zero as if they didn't notice him.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter used his Inflammatory Body to release a burst of fire, blowing away any soldier around him. Now the soldiers noticed he was there. They started to surround him, activating their beam claws and waiting for his move. Zero noticed that he was standing on top of a dead Resistance soldier. He mourned silently and picked up the beam saber the soldier had used. He activated it in his left hand while he drew his Z-saber with his right hand. Zero quickly scanned the area around him, and it appeared that every soldier around his area was focusing on him while the others started to attack the unguarded gate.

I have to get back there!

One Reploforce soldier felt brave and leaped at Zero with his beam claws ready. The Legendary Maverick Hunter slashed the soldier with the left beam saber and then connected with a second slash with his Z-saber, slicing the soldier into three pieces. Now all the other soldiers started to charge in. Zero thrust the left beam saber to his left side and stabbed a soldier trying to come in from the side. He kicked the soldier who was trying to come in from the front while he slashed horizontally at the soldiers behind him while he kept his eyes in front. Other soldiers were coming at him, so Zero spun around with his sabers and sliced them all, but now even more came.

I got to get out of here!

Zero activated his Light Body Chip and changed to Active Form. With a mighty jump, he leaped into the air and slashed other soldiers who were trying to hit him in mid-air. Since his body was light, he seemed to float up into the air. He kicked off a soldier behind him in mid-air and used the force of the kick to fly into another soldier and slash him. Another soldier took his place and tried to jump at Zero, but he just kicked the soldier in the legs and jumped to the other side. The Maverick Hunter knew he could jump endlessly, but he had to find a way to go higher. He saw his answer when he noticed a ballista with a bomb underneath him. A small smirk came from Zero's face as he got an idea.

He threw the beam saber he picked up at the bomb. It pierced through and the bomb exploded. The blast from the bomb propelled him higher into the air since his body was nearly weightless. The Reploforce soldiers with the beam claws also jumped higher as Zero did. The Maverick Hunter switched grips on his Z-saber and drew his Shield Boomerang. He slashed at a soldier and used his double-jump ability to spiral somersault backwards towards the direction of the gate. In the middle of his somersault he threw the Shield Boomerang at the soldiers flying after him. The boomerang cut one soldier while it flew past the other two. Then it arced and flew back into the other two soldiers, slicing them as well.

At the end of his jump Zero landed on top of a Reploforce soldier's head. Since his body was light-weighted, he didn't crush the soldier. However, the soldier quickly noticed and was about to attack Zero from underneath. Thinking quickly, Zero started to hop from one head to another, using them as stepping stones. He was moving far too quickly for the soldiers to catch him. By the time he was close to the gate, he jumped off of the last soldier's head and leaped high into the air. In mid-air, he caught his Shield Boomerang, which finally found its way back to him. While he was falling down, he put the Shield Boomerang away and started to charge up his right hand.

"Giga Attack!"

Zero punched downward and released a wave of energy that blew every soldier around him away from the gate. There wasn't much time for Zero to recover from the jump, because already the soldiers started using ranged weapons and fired at him. He reacted too slow and forgot to change to Defense Form when the shots hit him. The Blond Bomber was getting bombed, and he had to think fast if he wanted to make it out alive. He knew Cerveau must have been waiting on the top of the gate to drop the bomb, so he had to make it up there somehow.

It would take too long to wall-climb up the gate…

He had one crazy idea, but he was willing to try it out. The Legendary Maverick Hunter mentally crossed his fingers and jumped onto the gate. With a quick glance above, he starting running up the gate. With his Light Body Chip he wouldn't be able to fall off of the gate, but one powerful explosion near him would blow him off. It was a risky choice, since he would be an open target for the ballistae, but he had to get to safety before the bomb would be sent.

There were some Reploforce soldiers on the gate as well, trying to climb up using their beam claws. They spotted Zero and jumped for him, trying to attack him while he was running up the gate.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter was well aware of this since the light from their beam claws gave their position away. He withdrew his Z-saber and drew his All-purpose rod, activating both ends to slash the soldiers into pieces as he ran up the gate.

By now he was halfway up the gate, but by the time it would take for him to get to the top and get the bomb ready would take too long; any longer and then by the time they detonate the bomb, the gate would tip in the direction away from the Reploforce soldiers because of the non-stop attacks. Zero had to detonate the bomb quickly, but even at his fastest it would take too long.

One of the ballistae shot a bomb above Zero. The bomb hit the gate hard and the impact shook everything around it. The smoke covered Zero and Cerveau nearly tripped since the explosion radius reached the top of the gate. This caused Cerveau to drop the bomb!

Zero dug his rod into the gate, so he didn't fall off. He didn't have time to wipe the sweat off of his face because now he saw the bomb coming down above him. He was only halfway up the gate and the bomb was reaching him fast. At first the Blond Bomber thought this would be bad, but the situation quickly turned to his favor. He picked the key out of his pocket and threw it at the bomb, hoping it would make it into the slot.

Whether it was luck or skill, the key made it into the slot. Now the bomb was falling close to Zero. He pulled out the rod and started to run up the gate again. The bomb and the Bomber met at three-quarters of the gate. Zero only had about half a second, but that was all he needed. When he was right next to the bomb, he pressed the detonation button in mid-air and kept running up the gate while the bomb's timer counted down as it fell.

13...Zero is still running up the gate.

12...Cerveau regains his balance and sees Zero running up the gate, flabbergasted.

11...A ballista launches one of its soldiers toward Zero's and Cerveau's position.

10...Max, Ghost, and the remaining Resistance soldiers wait on the other side of the gate.

9..."Anytime now Zero…" Max clenches his fist.

8...Zero makes it to the top, jumping over Cerveau and landing next to him.

7...Cerveau ducks.

6...The Reploforce soldier launched lands right next to Zero.

5...Zero prepares to slash at the soldier, but Cerveau beats him to it and shoots the soldier's head off with one of the beam snipers he picked off of the ground.

4...Zero motions for them to jump.

3...Cerveau shakes his head. "Are you crazy?"

2..."We'll go together."

1...Cerveau shakes his head once more and jumps, followed by Zero.

Alouette throws her stuffed animal in the air and it drops to the ground.

0...The bomb drops to the ground.

When the bomb exploded, it was bright enough to turn a rainy night into day for a split-second. It didn't break the gate, but it crumbled the ground supporting the gate, so it would tip one way or another. Cerveau and Zero jumped just before the explosion rocked the gate and the ground. They were trying to slide down the gate using only their feet! Thankfully, their weight gave the extra push to tip the gate over toward the Reploforce soldiers. As the gate began to fall, the incline allowed Zero and Cerveau to slide down easier.

As the gate came down, the Reploforce soldiers tried to shoot at the gate, but that didn't helped as they were squashed by the weight of the gate.

Zero and Cerveau were at the end of the gate when it was laying on the ground. The Resistance soldiers cheered as they ran to them both.

Max thrust his arm in the air. "We won!"

The rest of the soldiers joined him in celebration as they yelled and cheered for their victory. However, Zero and Cerveau didn't cheer at all and stared at the fallen gate.

"Did it really work?" Ghost asked them.

"They aren't all destroyed." Cerveau crossed his arms.

"What? No way! Did you see what just happened? There's no way…" Max stopped in mid-sentence.

The remaining Reploforce soldiers marched through the dust cloud. The red outline in their eyes were the light in the rain. As they marched closer, more and more seem to come.

"Uh…how many did we get with the gate plan?"

"I lost count, Max." Cerveau said.

"Now what?" Max could tell their were still many more soldiers to defeat.

"Plan C."

Everyone looked at Cerveau.

"What's 'Plan C'?"

Cerveau cocked his beam sniper.

"That's the plan where we make our last stand."

Zero nodded in agreement and activated his Z-saber.

There were only about 700 soldiers still able to fight while the rest were either injured or dead.

The soldiers activated their weapons and formed a line, protecting the Resistance Base.

The Heavy Artillery marched in to aid the remaining soldiers. They had an open cockpit with two beam guns in the metal hands. Each one came with a self-destruct system, just in case of dire situations.

The Resistance charged into battle.

As they fought, the rain was beginning to turn into a light sprinkle, and then it stopped. The sun was rising on top of the mountain slope.

"It's dawn…" Zero said.

One of the Resistance soldiers shouted, "Look! To the East!"

There seemed to be a shining emerald figure in front of the blinding sun.

"A Sage is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he needs to."

Harpuia looked down at the battlefield. He looked at the Resistance and then the Reploforce army. The Emerald Guardian was riding on a rebuilt Aztec Falcon. He had new armor fitted for this battle. It was a bit heavier this time because he put more on. It was more of a knight's armor, with his whole body covered in glowing jade armor. Instead of his usual dual beam sabers, he had two long beam sabers, each one as long as a lance. His helmet had also gone through some changes. The two ears were now small wings while the center of his helmet was shaped like a sharp beak of a hawk. His face wasn't covered.

A loud vroom sound came from Harpuia's left side. Fefnir rolled in with his new Fefnir-Truck 5. It had five cannons, four around the corners and a rotating cannon behind him. It had been rebuilt since he used the truck against a battle with Zero, but now it sported more armor and more firepower. Fefnir fondly referred to his Fefnir-Truck 5 as "the most tricked out ride ever built by the one and only Fefnir." The Bellicose Bruiser suited himself up with only larger shoulder armor-pads. It seemed as if he meant to only fight with his Fefnir-Truck 5.

"Dude, you sound completely ridiculous talking in third person." Fefnir chuckled.

"Let him have his moment, Fefnir. Harpuia may sound ridiculous talking in third person, but you sound ridiculous talking period."

Harpuia smirked and looked to his right side. Actually, he had to look up because Leviathan was riding on her metallic-blue sea serpent. It was fitted with armor instead of being made out of ice, or else it would have melted. The Bold Beauty had fitted herself with a little bit more armor than usual. Her usual chest plate was now part of a one-piece armor enforced with another layer. The armor reached down to her hips, covering her mid-section. Her forearms and elbows were covered with a long sleeve-like armor. She wore metal boots that reached up to her kneecaps. She had her usual trident with two sharp ends on the top and a third spike coming out of the center. This time she wore a full helmet, so she tied her hair into a ponytail, resembling Zero's style. She even had the two pieces of the Tears of Sát'u embedded in the center of her helmet.

Fefnir scoffed while Harpuia chuckled.

"I'm surprised the base hasn't been completely overrun yet. They held out longer than I thought."

"Is this the part where we charge down screaming at the top of our lungs coming to the aid of the Resistance?" Fefnir asked.

"Don't be foolish. You've been playing too many action games, Fefnir." Harpuia drew one of his long beam sabers and activated it.

"Now, to the King!"

Fefnir looked at Harpuia. "What?"

"I said CHARGE!"

The Guardians of Neo Arcadia charged down the mountain slope. Harpuia rode on Aztec Falcon while he glided down. Leviathan motioned for her serpent to slither down, and Fefnir revved up the engines and floored it, riding down. Behind them were Neo Arcadian reploid soldiers on hover-bikes followed by Pantheon Hunters, Hammers, Guardians, Hoppers, and Launchers riding inside hover-trucks. The total count of the Neo Arcadian army would be about 3,000. Although they could have brought the entire army over (the amount of forces would be well over 10,000), the Guardians decided to keep the rest at Neo Arcadia for safety. They were only helping the Resistance, so they didn't need the whole army.

The sunlight and the light shining off of Harpuia's armor blinded the Reploforce soldiers. As if they were figures of Heaven floating down to Earth, The Guardians and the Neo Arcadian army rushed the Reploforce army.

With the saber's length, Harpuia was able to swipe a bundle of soldiers with one swing. However, he could only use one of the two because he had to use the other hand to hold on to Aztec Falcon. His legs were still injured, so he couldn't walk. Even if he could, the bulky armor he wore limited his physical movement.

Fefnir drove over any soldiers who weren't burned by his cannons. He plowed his way left and right across the battlefield.

Leviathan had the safest distance from the soldiers, standing on top of her giant metal serpent's head while it blasts soldiers with its Ice Breath. She made use of her advantage by twirling her trident around above her and, creating multiple ice tridents and having them rain down upon the soldiers below.

The three Guardians were enough to hold off many soldiers, but they could hold off the remainder of the Reploforce army alone.

The Neo Arcadian army had reploid soldiers on hover-bikes launching a full-frontal assault with beam sabers of their own. The hover-trucks were placed right in front of the Resistance soldiers, setting up the large plasma cannons as a defensive measure. The Pantheon Hammers, Hunters, and Hoppers charged in for a melee assault.

"Who called them in for help?" Max asked.

"Who knows and who cares? Let's go!" one of the Resistance soldiers said.

The remainder of the Resistance army charged in as well, being backed up by Neo Arcadia. Neither side thought they would be in the same battlefield on the same side. With the added force of the Neo Arcadian army, the Reploforce army was falling fast, losing many soldiers in a heartbeat.

As if the Reploforce army was waiting for Neo Arcadia, they began to bring in reinforcements. The Golems were actually carriers of mini-bombers. The mini-bombers were tiny jets built to explode upon physical contact of absolutely any kind. The Golems launched them to fly over the battlefield, having them try to bombard the Resistance base directly.

The forces on the ground couldn't shoot down all of the mini-bombers because they flew too high. The gun turrets near the base couldn't hit all of them if they got too close.

The mini-bombers caught Harpuia's eye. He knew he would be the only one who would be able to hold them off. The second he took his eyes off of the Reploforce soldiers around them, one of the soldiers who had a ranged weapon shot him in the face. The Guardian blinked and then a second later all of the soldiers pounced on him and Aztec Falcon. He tried to fight them off, but there were so many he could hardly move. Harpuia didn't like dog piles.

The Green Gladiator activated his armor's hidden function. One of the reasons Harpuia wore such thick armor was not only for protection, but there were more accessories inside. Two slits opened on his back and two large wings sprouted out. The wings were made of a fusion of jade and beam-resistant metal. The result was two wings laced with sharp metal-jade feathers. Many soldiers who had pounced on him were now cut severely.

Seeking to fly, he activated the mini-boosters hidden under the feathers and flapped his wings to fly up. Aztec Falcon remained on the ground, hacking away at the earth-bound soldiers.

Harpuia leveled with the incoming mini-bombers. With one mighty swing, he took out several fleets of mini-bombers, but many more came as soon as he destroyed them. This is going to take a while.

Fefnir felt like he was in a combination of a monster truck rally and a barbeque. His Fefnir-Truck 5 rolled over charred Reploforce soldier bodies as if they were cars, the truck being the monster truck. However, he didn't notice that any soldiers who had ranged weapons were taking concentrated shots at Fefnir's truck. Each shot was shot in a specific place where the cannons were most likely to overheat. The Bellicose Bruiser didn't notice until a red light was blinking on and off on his control panel. Unfortunately, the red light would stop blinking when the cannons would cool off or the truck was about to explode. It was the latter.

The truck explode in a brilliant blaze of fire, incinerating all of the soldiers caught in the blast radius. While the flames lingered, Fefnir walked out of the flames with yet another of his wild contraptions. The large shoulder pads he wore before the battle hid parts to a protective armor. It was painted crimson and it looked more like an entirely different robot than a suit of armor. Fefnir's face was hidden under a protective gas mask, making Fefnir look like a fully armed arsonist, complete with dual flamethrowers.

The Bellicose Bruiser wasted no time to turn all enemies in his way into ashes as he shot streams of hot fire, much more powerful than his trucks flame cannons.

Leviathan felt quite comfortable riding on top of her serpent shooting ice tridents like arrows raining down on the soldiers. The serpent on the other hand did most of the work, slithering along the ground (crushing all of the soldiers in its way) and blasting the Reploforce armies with its Ice Breath. While on top she looked beyond the armies and still saw more soldiers coming.

We would have destroyed 10,000 soldiers by now, so why do their forces continue to advance? Leviathan's thoughts were interrupted as a ballista bomb hit the side of the serpent's head. She nearly fell off but held onto the serpent. After recovering from the attack, she looked down and saw ballistae lining up to shoot more. Perfect. Now they are starting to fight back…

Zero lead some of the Resistance soldiers into the heat of the battle. They were all fighting on the front line until something caught Zero's eye. Above the armies he could see a Reploforce flag. He thought that the general of the army was the one near the flag, so he fought his way through to get closer. As the Maverick Hunter got close, a sudden burst of energy blew all the soldiers between him and the flag. When the smoke cleared, Zero saw that a reploid was riding in a carriage with the flag on top. The reploid leaped out.

The Reploforce general had white chest armor and black leg parts. The sleeves on his arms were also black, and he wore a cape that had the Reploforce symbol on the back. His head was protected with a helmet with the top resembling a colonel's hat.

Reploforce Army General

Colonel

Colonel stood silently staring at Zero.

Zero did the same.

Neither reploid paid any attention to the passing soldiers charging by; they only paid attention to each other.

"A century is quite a long time, isn't Zero?"

"I thought I retired you, Colonel."

The Reploforce General smirked. "I find it hard to rest in my grave until I have put you in yours, Zero."

"'Where there's Reploforce there's Colonel', I always say."

"It's been over 100 years since we've had our last fight." Colonel activated his red beam saber.

Zero nodded and activated his. "Looks like I'm going to have to give you 100 years worth of trouncing!"

"However you want to die, Zero."

And so, the 100-year rematch began.

The soldiers around them didn't bother to interfere, mainly because they couldn't due to the barrier the Reploforce flag set up, sealing anyone out of Zero and Colonel's duel. Zero didn't mind this at first, but then he remembered he had to help defend the Resistance.

He's distracting me?

The Legendary Maverick Hunter didn't have time to think before Colonel charged straight for Zero.

He also charged, ready to clash sabers, but as Colonel came closer he disappeared. Zero's eyes darted left and right, but then he remembered. Instinctively he put his Z-saber over his back as a shield, because Colonel attempted to attack Zero from behind.

"Your memory is somewhat slow." Colonel rose his saber again and attempted another slash.

Zero turned around completely and blocked the slash. He parried it away and then slashed horizontally. Colonel flipped his saber upside down and blocked the slash, then parrying it away to combo his slashes. Zero anticipated this and matched Colonel slash for slash, reading his moves perfectly. Colonel didn't seem to care. After a blinding barrage of slashes, the two finally clashed their sabers together. Energy bolts crackled as each reploid forced their sabers.

Colonel stared at Zero. The Blond Bomber smirked and forced the sabers upward, following up with another slash. Colonel deflected the slash and twirled his saber hilt-side-up and thrust it into Zero's stomach area. It knocked Zero back with enough force to make him hit the barrier. The Maverick Hunter collapsed on his knees and reached for his Z-buster, but he stopped. He felt inclined to only use his Z-saber and nothing else. He dashed towards Colonel with increased speed without the aid of different armors. The Blond Bomber dashed rolled while slashing. Colonel teleported ready to perform his trademark teleport slash. Zero, however, was ready for it. He stopped rolling and kept continuing the slash around him. This made sure Colonel wouldn't get a surprise hit in. The Reploforce General had to clash sabers with Zero again because his slash was blocked.

This time, the Blond Bomber tried to knee Colonel, bringing up right knee to knock him down. Colonel brought up his left knee to block it, then followed up with his right knee. Zero used his left knee to block. The Reploforce General smirked and kicked Zero off with his legs, causing both reploids to flip back and let go of their sabers. As the sabers flew up in the air, Zero and Colonel dashed in and started fighting hand-to-hand.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter threw a straight right punch. Colonel grabbed Zero's fist with his left hand and kneed Zero in the stomach. Then he threw a right hook at Zero's face. The blow sent Zero spinning in mid-air, but he kicked as he spun, hitting Colonel about three times. Colonel staggered back and Zero landed on the ground. The sabers that were in the air were on their way down.

Zero caught Colonel's saber.

Colonel caught Zero's saber.

They both positioned themselves.

The bombs kept pummeling Leviathan's serpent. There seemed to be more ballistae than before. To top it off, the soldiers seemed to be actually aiming for Leviathan. This annoyed her because instead of shooting ice tridents, she had to spend time blocking the shots. In the meantime, the serpent was getting pummeled by the bombs.

This isn't good…Leviathan knew the serpent wouldn't last long the many bombs being shot.

As soon as she thought about that, one more bomb found its way high enough to hit Leviathan. She was blown off of the serpent and she fell down. The serpent, however, was hit in the right spot and collapsed on one of the ballistae. Before the Bold Beauty would become a broken heap of fallen trash, she spun her trident as she fell. Right before she would fall, she struck the ground with her trident the ice spikes came up from the ground and impaled the soldiers. The strike softened her fall and his slid down the ice spikes. Leviathan twirled her trident and faced the soldiers on the ground.

I never thought I'd get down and dirty with more than 3 people…

Fefnir was having no trouble burning down the soldiers around him. Now the soldiers were ready to fight back. They drew their whips and wrapped him around, spinning in a circle. He was about to rip the whips, but the Reploforce soldiers activated the whips to send electrical shocks to Fefnir. His whole body was electrified with many, many bolts of electricity.

Before Fefnir could be shocked to a crisp, he retaliated by spinning around himself, throwing the soldiers out of their grips on the whips. Without the electric shocks, he ripped the whips and aimed his dual flamethrowers at the soldiers.

"Take this!"

The Bellicose Bruiser pulled the triggers. Only smoke came out.

"…"

He threw the flamethrowers at the soldiers and fought with his fists.

Harpuia was having trouble with the mini-bombers. He was looking back and forth from the mini-bombers and the defense line. With his guard down, one of the mini-bombers hit his legs. While they were still recovering from the last battle, he could feel his legs. Unfortunately, he could especially feel the pain.

He yelled out as the mini-bomber swarmed him and exploded on contact, hitting him several times. The Green Gladiator refused to fall, but he was taking severe damage. He tried to slash some away, but he could only do so much against so many.

Max helped hold the front line down. He shot down any soldiers who got past the cannons, but there weren't many. Suddenly, some soldiers started to slip by. He shot them down, but as they did they exploded with a large blast. While it didn't reach the trucks, they were getting awfully close.

They got bombs or something?

He was half-right: half of the soldiers trying to get through had mini bombs. As Max shot them down, one soldier with much armor tried to plow his way through. Max was determined not to let him pass, so he kept shooting charged laser shots with his pistol and spraying him with buster shots with his buster rifle. Each time his shots hit, it slowed him down, but he still kept charging. Max finally fired one last shot and it hit the soldier square in the head. His body began to fall back, just out of the blast range.

Bull's eye!

Another soldier who tried to rush in tripped and pushed the other soldier forward.

"Aw sh-" Max didn't get to finish because the one with the bigger bomb exploded, taking out the middle of the defense line. The Rookie was blown several feet back. The Reploforce soldiers started to rush in the middle.

Max got his bearings and stood up, twirled his pistol and loading his buster rifle. Ghost appeared next to Max.

"Where were you, man?" Max looked at Ghost.

"Around." Ghost unsheathed his katana. "We will have to fight up close and personal."

Max smirked. "Sure, why not?" He charged up his pistol. "I'm absolutely giddy!" He shot a charged shot and the duo rushed in.

Colonel swung the Z-saber. "Hmm, interesting."

Zero swung Colonel's saber. "I like mine better."

"Come get it then." Colonel teleported behind Zero.

"Same old, same old." Zero turned around and they clashed sabers. He noticed that the guardians were being overwhelmed.

They both forced their sabers, but this time Colonel forced the sabers upward since Zero was distracted. He lost grip of Colonel's saber. The Reploforce General caught it in mid-air. With his other hand occupied, he was unguarded. Zero kicked Colonel in the stomach and he let go of the Z-saber. Zero grabbed it when Colonel let go of it.

Colonel brought his saber down for another slash, but Zero jumped back. He slashed three times, sending slash waves in the process. Zero jumped over the first one, ducked under the second one, and then slashed away the third. Colonel teleported a few feet away from Zero. He raised the saber over his head and started charging it.

"Energy Breaker!"

He planted the saber in the ground and the energy flowed through the ground. Lightning came up from the ground.

The Blond Bomber had experience dodging bolts of lightning thanks to frequent duels with Harpuia, so this attack was no different. Just as the lightning came up from the ground, Zero rolled in a space between two bolts and readied himself for another wave or another attack. Colonel teleported behind Zero for an additional; attack, and once more he blocked it. The two reploids forced their sabers while charging them at the same time.

While one side of Zero was enjoying the duel, the other side was fixated on how the Resistance was holding up. Zero had just heard the explosion from the soldier that broke through the defense line.

Colonel took advantage of this opportunity and forced the sabers upward once more, but this time he wouldn't catch Zero's Z-saber. Before he could react, the Reploforce General thrust his saber into the Legendary Maverick Hunter.

Zero hung his jaw open, feeling too much pain to even yell.

"You let your guard down."

Colonel forced the saber farther in so that the opposite end of the saber stuck out from Zero's back.

"It seems that acting like a Maverick Hunter made you weaker, Zero. The Maverick I fought a century ago was not this weak."

Zero tried to say something, but all he could do was mouth what he tried to say: "I'm not a Maverick." Blood seeped out of his wound.

"Whether you decide to act like a Maverick Hunter or not, there is no doubt that you have weakness in you now. You will never beat me."

Colonel pulled his saber out quickly, causing Zero's body to fall back. Just as his body hit the ground, his Z-saber planted itself in the ground next to Colonel.

He picked up the Z-saber. "It's time to destroy the Legendary Maverick Hunter. No…the Legendary Maverick." The Reploforce General charged up both sabers for one finishing blow. He rose both sabers over his head.

"Die." He brought them both down to Zero's body.

Zero closed his eyes.

I can't go on…

"Ciel asked me to give these to you. Seeing we are heading off to battle, she wants you to wear these for good luck charms."

"It's a start…"

Zero rose right back up and blocked the incoming sabers using only his wrists…with the silver bracelets!

The metal is resisting against the sabers…

The bracelets were slowly melting, so he couldn't use them very long. With a swift kick he was able to send Colonel a few feet back. Upon getting kicked, he retaliated by slashing three times, each slash sending a wave.

With his useful bracelets, Zero slipped them onto his knuckles and punched away the three slash waves.

Colonel smirked and charged the sabers again.

Zero nodded and brought up his fists.

The two rushed towards each other, Colonel bring the two charged sabers down while Zero winded up his right fist and threw a straight right punch. The two forces created enough energy and speed to create a large explosion. It broke the invisible barrier around Colonel and Zero while sending dirt flying everywhere.

When the cloud of dirt faded, Zero was in a crouched position a few feet behind Colonel with his Z-saber in hand at the end-position of a slash attack.

Colonel was a few feet behind Zero frozen in a slash position as well, but he didn't have his saber.

"The best duel I've had…"

His saber was in the air, coming back down.

"…in 100 years. I've died happily with no regrets."

When the saber planted itself in the ground, Zero's attack sank in and the general of Reploforce split into two pieces, exploding in a brilliant flash of light.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter felt a flash of guilt for a split-second, then he felt his wound. He covered it with his hand, but it kept bleeding. His vision was beginning to fade, and the Reploforce soldiers were crowding around him, ready to attack. Although he tried to use his Z-saber to bring himself up, he crouched back down because of the tremendous pain he felt.

The Guardians were quickly losing ground, tired and overwhelmed by the sheer amount of soldiers left. The defense line had been nearly overrun completely. Max and Ghost were barely holding the front line, not to mention the Heavy Artillery.

Zero looked at the ground.

This is it…

A sudden flash of light blinded the soldiers. Zero looked up in the sky and saw the Dark Elf hovering over the battlefield. She looked like she was in pain.

Zero's eyes were wide open.

No! This can't happen!

"Zero!" The Dark Elf cried and released a monstrous amount of energy, enough to decimate everything around her.

Zero blacked out.

Change of scene

It's cold.

"My Masterpiece…"

It's dark.

"Destroy him! He is my nemesis!"

It's lonely.

"Where's that red maverick that wiped out Garma's unit?"

It feels a bit warm…

"Hi! My name is X! Welcome to the Maverick Hunters!"

Is that a light?

"Stay here Iris! I'll handle it!"

No, not a light…

"Tell my sister that her brother died happily!"

Only a spot of lesser dark.

"Then it's over…everything. Good-bye, Zero."

"WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR?"

"You will have to stop this war."

"Let's go, Zero!"

"You were a Maverick?"

"Back to the Beginning…"

The Beginning?

"Please…"

Now there is a light…

"Please Zero…"

It feels so warm…

"…protect me."

"Alright."

I'm fighting for you Ciel…

"Go back…"

For X…

"Go back to…"

For all Reploids and Humans…

"to the Beginning…"

The Beginning?

"The weapon is aimed at Earth. There's nothing you can do to stop it Zero…"

I just need to…

Change of scene

"WAKE UP!" Fefnir was shaking Zero by the neck.

The Legendary Maverick Hunter woke up and pushed Fefnir off as a reflex. With his strength, Fefnir was sent flying into a wall.

"What happened?" Zero rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"Fefnir actually woke him up. And to think, I was about to give him CPR…" Leviathan was sitting on a chair in her normal armor.

Harpuia was leaning on the wall next to Fefnir's body. "That's the wrong thing to do in a situation like that. Zero doesn't need to breathe that way."

"Who said I was trying to make him breathe?" Leviathan winked.

Harpuia scoffed.

"Wait, what happened to the soldiers? Where's the Dark Elf? Where…"

"Relax, Zero. You're in the Repair Room of the Resistance Base. Nearly all of the soldiers on both sides were destroyed by the Dark Elf's sudden attack. She disappeared as quickly as she came."

"How many survivors?"

Harpuia looked away.

"I'm not sure exactly."

Zero looked down. "So many lives…"

"I suppose they were all sacrificed for something at least. Reploforce should be completely defeated by now. We've cleared them out of Neo Arcadia and defeated them here. I doubt they have anymore reserves left."

Zero was about to tell Harpuia something, but instead he said something else.

"Why did you guys help us?"

Harpuia chuckled. "Helped you? We didn't help you, we came and outright rescued you!"

"But why?"

"Think about it Zero. The last thing Neo Arcadia needs is to have an opposing side gain more resources." The Guardian looked away. "Don't think that we're on the same side."

Zero smirked.

"Don't you think it's kind of hard not to think that? In case you hadn't noticed, Neo Arcadia and the Resistance were fighting side by side."

Change of scene

The remaining Neo Arcadian army recovered and were about to teleport back to Neo Arcadia. Most of the reploids soldiers were still alive while the majority of the drones were retired. The three Guardians had their regular armor on, since their battle armor was nearly destroyed in the last battle, being beyond repair.

Harpuia looked at Zero. "This would be a good time to attack you right now, with your side weakened…"

Zero smirked. "Don't even think about."

Alouette went up to the Guardians and gave each of them a hug as big as her body would let her. Leviathan had given her the necklace before she got ready to leave.

"Remember those moves I taught you, Alouette."

"I'll remember, Leviathan!"

"It's been fun, Zero." She blew a kiss and winked.

Ciel happened to be standing right next to Zero, but she didn't let Leviathan's kiss bother her.

"This doesn't change anything Zero. Currently this is a ceasefire."

"Whatever. Just go back to fixing up Neo Arcadia, Harpuia."

The Guardians and the army waved good-bye as they used their portable trans servers to teleport back to Neo Arcadia.

The rest of the Resistance army cheered and immediately wanted to celebrate their victory.

Ciel looked at Zero.

"We did it!" She threw her arms around him.

"Yeah, we did."

Zero hugged her.

"By the way…" She looked at Zero again.

"What did you do with my bracelets?"

On cue, Cerveau came holding two melted pieces of metal in his hands.

"Zero, I found these on your wrists…"

Ciel glared at Zero.

"Don't be mad! Those beam-resistant bracelets helped me fight! I mean they're only made of that certain metal…"

"No they aren't! They're made of rare and valuable metal-jewel fusion! It's nearly impossible to find more of it on Earth!"

A drop of sweat ran down Zero's face. He may have fought off the Reploforce army, but nothing could defend him against the onslaught of Ciel.

Author: Jesus Christ! I'm still cracking my fingers over this chapter! Well, I hope you all loved reading this as much as I loved typing this, but I am sorry to say that this fan fiction has officially ended.

Well, I could say that a couple of chapters later.

Read and review! Complimentary reviews and constructive critiques are welcome, but so are flames. The flames will help me eat the 41 grilled cheese sandwiches I'm making.

"The end? Don't bet on it."