Chapter 27: The End.
Zero stood at the entrance to a gigantic stone temple, perhaps the size of the Neo-Arcadian military base. He looked up at the gigantic stone doors, which began opening at the moment he arrived. They slowly slid open, revealing a gigantic chamber inside of the structure. Inside the chamber stood only three reploids, in order from left to right they were Daemon, Bullion and Whirlpool. They were standing there, in their battle armor. Bullion stepped aside, hinting that Zero should pass on to the next chamber.
Zero walked and looked at the Executioners. They were all looking in the same direction, the direction Zero just came from. Zero, although knowing who awaited him in the next chamber was still rather suspicious, but he knew that the Executioners won't interrupt his next two battles and he knew that they were going to make sure that no one else does the same from Neo Arcadia's side.
And there he was, facing his short time nemesis, Vulture. Vulture stood with his right side towards Zero. He had a mad look in his eyes and his smile was somewhat twisted.
As Zero stopped, Vulture looked up at him, his smile broadening. Zero noticed that Vulture's wings were no longer feathery and vulture like, but bat like, giant wings.
"Zero!" He called in an unnaturally high voice, as if calling for an old friend, "I'm so happy to see you!" His voice was shaking now. Zero saw his hand was repaired and immediately guessed. "You've downloaded your CPU to a new body…"
"That's right Zero, I have, and now… I will show you the true meaning of power, power that even your frenzy chip can't defeat!" Vulture's voice rather sounded as though he was crying, but Vulture's smile was broader than ever.
"Vulture, you're not alright." Zero said with certain disgust in his voice, he was himself again, he knew that. He was completely himself for the first time since he found out about his frenzy chip. "Your processing unit can't handle the stress caused by your power Vulture, you're going mad." Zero said, his Z-saber now in his hand.
"Oh, Zero, you will forever be the redeemer of all living beings!" Vulture started laughing at that. "But I'm beyond redemption." Vulture's voice became now sharp and deadly and with a wide wave of his hand he sent a shockwave of kinetic energy at Zero. Zero jumped above the shockwave and dashed at Vulture, whose hand was engulfed in green energy, seemingly creating a large beam saber from thin air.
The beam sabers clashed, the two warriors held their ground and pushed against each other. After a few moments Vulture made the first move, he kicked Zero's side and somersaulted backwards, then dashing at Zero. Zero stumbled backwards from the kick, but quickly retaliated and hopped over Vulture, kicking the back of Vulture's head. Vulture stumbled forwards and turned around, "Nice work Zero, very nice. But handle this!" And with a mighty blow Vulture punched the ground, raising a force wave and causing stones to soar at Zero's direction.
Zero didn't hesitate; he jumped in the air right above the shock wave, somersaulting in order to slash at the rocks flying at him. Vulture didn't lose time however; he lunged at Zero and swung his saber horizontally, trying to slash him in mid air. Zero tried as best he could to avoid it, but got nicked on his shoulder. Quickly thinking he drew his buster and began charging a shot.
"Oh? A buster? Ha!" Vulture laughed. "Let us see what your buster can do." He arrogantly stood in front of zero, pointing directly at his own chest.
Zero closed his eyes and focused his energy into the weapon; he hoped he remembered the technique right. What Vulture didn't know was that Zero managed to grab a stone while in the air.
He made as if he was shooting at Vulture but at the last second he shot up at the ceiling, at the same time hurling the rock at Vulture's head.
Instinctively, Vulture defended, slashing the rock. But that took him the time he needed to dodge the collapsing rocks that Zero's shot blew. Vulture was buried under the rocks, not even a reploid body could withstand several tons of rocks crashing on it.
Only Vulture's arm remained Visible, reaching up to the sky, as if asking for help.
Zero looked down at it, "It could have been different." He said and moved to leave.
He turned one last glance at Vulture's buried form, to be hit on the side by a rock, shot at him from the pile.
"No it could not… Zero…" Vulture said, his body now glowing. "You've tricked me... but then, I've tricked you as well. You thought it was me you were fighting, whereas you were only battling a chrysalis; behold my true form, given to me by my master!"
Vulture was transformed… an understatement. He was now in a mega form, like those of Copy X, Elpizo, Harpuia, Leviathan and Fenrir. His mega form was the complete opposite of Copy X's.
Whereas Copy X most resembled some sort of angel or seraph in his mega form, Vulture looked like Satan himself. His bat like wings have grown to gigantic proportions and his whole body became ridged and spiked, horns and spines protruding out of it in order to injure an attacker. His hands became large claws, much like those of Copy X, only without the napalm cannons on the palms. Instead, his claws were electrocuted, and seemed ready to slash at their opponent. Vulture's head did not change much, except that the letter V embedded into his head has now grown larger.
On the middle of the torso was now another V, silver this time and right in the middle of it was a bright yellow gem. Zero could only speculate what sinister a mind could create such a fearsome form. Then again, it was the same mind that had Vulture make Camazotz…
Vulture swiped at Zero with one of his claws, Zero jumped on the claw, unfortunately for him.
The claw, as he suspected, was electrocuted. The shock threw him a good five feet away. Vulture laughed, mocking Zero. Underestimating Zero, comparing Zero to other, obsolete, pathetic, weaker reploids…
Zero's eyes shun in red, he was determined not to give in to the frenzy chip. He instead circled around and took some shots at Vulture with his buster. Mainly to tick him off, since he knew his buster was completely ineffective against Vulture's armor. Vulture spun around and sent another claw at Zero, the crimson reploid jumped backwards, smiling as he landed on his feet. When suddenly a green energy beam nearly sliced his head off, it was Vulture's double bladed beam saber. Now huge, it floated above them, spinning, remote controlled.
"Rats." Zero muttered, having fallen to the ground in order to dodge the sword he crawled backwards and jumped to his feet.
"Afraid?" Vulture asked, "I was afraid much before you. I was afraid and alone and weak. But was there anyone there to comfort me? No. I was alone then as I am now. Even with my friends here, my master… You will never know." For the first time since Zero fought him, Vulture sounded more or less human.
"Trust me Vulture, I do know." Zero charged at the colossus claw still embedded in the floor.
Vulture electrocuted it. Mistake, Zero was using the ice chip. The claw froze, but then the black giant's saber came down on Zero, chopping off one of the horns of his helmet.
Zero growled and tried to cut the saber in the middle, the saber spun around and knocked Zero back as its blade collided with his. As the red guardian landed on his feet Vulture spent no time and launched the sword at him again, spinning angrily in great speed. Threatening to shred Zero to pieces, taking him apart piece by piece.
Zero could only barely block it. It was stronger than he was.
"No way…" He said through gritted teeth, "It can't end like this."
"That's what I said last time Zero." Vulture said, once again sounding more human. It seemed that the closer he was to destroying the red reploid, the calmer he became.
"Vulture, it doesn't have to be like this." Zero barely managed to say.
"Yes it does." Vulture said, "The master has ordered it so." The saber began spinning at twice the speed.
The ignorant fool! So what if his master tells him to do it, does it mean he must?
He's Harpuia… or rather, just like him. Zero realized, listening to his master just as Harpuia did with Copy X, blindly.
"Blind fool… you can't see what's in front of you!" Zero said, using his anger to boost his strength.
"You're just like what you've sworn to kill! You're as blind as Harpuia was when he followed Copy X, as blind as the errand boy Elpizo!"
Vulture's eyes suddenly lit and robotically his frozen hand lifted up and charged at Zero full speed, there was no way for him to dodge. One of the claws made a gash on his side.
"Damn it!" Zero yelled, falling backwards under the gigantic claw. He stared at Vulture.
"I've had it with you people, every time it's the same thing! First Sigma, then Copy X, then Elpizo and the Guardians and now you… You are all the same!" Zero said, "You are simple idiots with way too much time and power. You think that what you believe is a fact simply because you believe it. You dare to impose this on others; you dare say what you believe in as if it were a proven fact… You make me sick, Vulture. You and your master, you people are the reason the world is as it is." Zero stated, using his anger again, this time in a higher dosage, in order to push off the gigantic claw.
Vulture was taken aback by Zero's words, they struck a spot.
"Touché Zero. I cannot contradict you." He said, "But it's too late for redemptions. It's time to get rid of you once and for all Zero." Vulture said, launching both his beam saber and his second claw at Zero.
Zero moved like lightning, under the saber and above the claw. He charged up his shield boomerang.
"It's lights out Vulture." The red guardian said with a frown, he dashed back beyond the beam saber.
"Send my regards to Camazotz."
He shot the shield boomerang at Vulture's beam saber, a direct hit. The beam saber started spinning out of control in Vulture's direction.
"Oh shit." Was all that Vulture managed to say before being sliced in half, his massive body came crashing down on the floor as his systems shut down.
"A glorious victory Zero, well fought. But if I can ask one last favor…" Vulture said to Zero, who nodded. "Tell my lying creator that I knew the whole time he was going to let me die. Tell him I was devoted enough to sacrifice my life for his honor… so he would know that I did love him in the end…" With that, Vulture's green orbs shut down and turned black.
The doors to the inner sanctum opened, inviting. Zero looked at Vulture, what a pity…
"If only you were not so devoted…" He said, "You might have lived a good life…"
OOO
A gigantic mechaniloid burst into the chamber, a ram mechaniloid. It immediately pulled back, allowing a swarm of pantheons and golems inside.
"Here we go." Said Bullion, the others nodded. "This is it."
Whirlpool charged forwards, launching harpoons at the assaulting pantheons and golems. Daemon came directly after her, launching his beam-chain-ball at everything he could, often destroying more than one mechaniloid or pantheon in the process.
Bullion used his special technique right at the start, hurling his beam sabers forwards in circles, obliterating massive amounts of pantheons as the sabers circled around and returned to his hands.
Daemon dodged a beam from a nearby golem and charged at it, smashing its face. He leaped up to its back and dived down at a group of unsuspecting pantheons, when suddenly a harpoon pierced his side.
"Damn! Whirlpool what are you…?" But he noticed that the harpoon did not belong to Whirlpool.
"Leviathan, it's a shame you know…" He said, snapping the harpoon in half. "Now you don't have a weapon." He smirked as he turned to the aquatic guardian, who only smiled back, holding one of Whirlpool's harpoons.
"There are plenty to go around." She said. He growled in frustration, but was soon knocked down, by a raging Hubershnicdt.
The executioner quickly jumped to his feet and delivered a round kick to Hub, who caught it in both hands with effort.
"You're that dog… Zero's pal, I see you got your jaw colored…" Daemon said, lifting his body in the air, leaning on Hub with the leg that was grabbed and kicking Hub's head.
Hub was knocked sideways, but Leviathan hurried to help him jump-kicking Daemon's chest. Daemon was barely fazed.
"Oh crap." Leviathan said as he grabbed her leg. Daemon swung it around his head and cast her at the far wall. Hub, who has just got up, dashed past him, knocking him sideways in the process. Daemon was knocked straight to the club of a Pantheon, which scorched his armor. The executioner crushed the pantheon's face with his hand and threw the body at another golem with enough force to divert its laser beam at a nearby flame golem. Causing the latter to explode, taking out a large group of mechaniloids and pantheons. He then had to concentrate almost completely on dodging and defending against the millions of shots aimed at him, most of them barely scraped his armor. But he had to watch out for the more powerful ones.
Meanwhile, Leviathan was being smashed against the wall by Whirlpool. "Leviathan…" She said, not smiling at all. "The master has ordered your death, but you can still leave! No one would know." She said, Leviathan could barely believe the offer.
"Why?" She asked, looking into Whirlpool's dark blue orbs.
"Because you remind me of a younger self or some other cliché gibberish, we kill out of necessity, not pleasure." Whirlpool suddenly gasped, as Hub's knife was jammed into her back. It didn't penetrate deep, but the plasma inflicted immeasurable pain. The blue executioner turned around, removing the knife from her back and sending a bone-shattering kick at Hub's lower abdomen. Hub doubled over and Whirlpool bashed his face with her knee.
Leviathan grabbed Whirlpool's throat from behind and pulled her backwards, so her back arched to a position that was impossible to get free from without falling to the floor.
Whirlpool did just that and Leviathan used that moment to kick her in the head, denting her helmet only slightly. Suddenly, Leviathan felt pain in her leg, she looked down to see a harpoon in it. Bullion took a moment to help out the needy Whirlpool, and for it sustained a searing burn on his left side from a flame mechaniloid. The massive army in the temple was obviously too much for them to handle along with the Guardians.
Whirlpool wasted no time; she kicked Leviathan's foot and knocked her down, then rolling backwards and jumping to her feet, elbowing Hub in the process. She quickly grabbed his arm as he staggered backwards and twisted it, kicking him at Leviathan, who was trying to stand up.
The two fell in a heap, Hub over Leviathan, but meanwhile Whirlpool was bombarded by mechaniloid fire. She did her best to dodge, but still some shots grazed her armor, one even got her straight in the back where Hub stabbed her. She screamed in pain, and stumbled forwards, summoning harpoon after harpoon and lobbing them at the growing amounts of mechaniloids and pantheons.
As Leviathan knocked Hub off of her, she could see tears in Whirlpool's eyes. She felt sorry for Whirlpool; in her eyes Whirlpool wasn't as bad as the others. She wasn't as cruel as Daemon or as calculating as Bullion, or as mad as Vulture. In her bizarre perspective, Whirlpool was doing good, she had no malice in her.
"No time for pity." Leviathan said, sneaking up to the executioner. Whirlpool was busy dodging and lobbing harpoons, she had accidentally hit leviathan in the stomach. The blue guardian doubled over and at that moment was vulnerable, since Hub was still on the floor.
But as Whirlpool turned her head to see what she had hit, a beam crescent hit her dead on. Harpuia and Fefnir finally emerged to join the battle. Whirlpool's stomach was slashed and blood was pouring out. She gasped and breathed heavily, falling to her knees, holding herself with one hand and with the other stabilizing herself on the floor.
Harpuia's triumph was short lived however, as a chain ball knocked him out of the air. Aztec Falcon charged at the aggressor, launching energy balls at the attacking Daemon. Daemon dashed and dodged them, his sheer size crushing any mechaniloid in his way.
Fenrir was tangled in a fight with Bullion and was losing badly. Fenrir was already on the floor, panting and Fefnir himself was already slashed and injured.
Fefnir tried his blasting technique, blasting Bullion with hundreds of small fireballs, but Bullion, who has seen this technique before, jumped in the air, throwing one of his beam sabers at Fefnir and slicing off the end of one of his guns.
"Aw, shit. You want it melee? You got it you son of a bitch!" Fefnir yelled, to which Bullion smirked.
Fefnir charged forwards at the descending Bullion dashing past him and grabbing his foot. Bullion however, knew exactly how to counter that trick; he spun in the air and was free of Fefnir's hold. He landed behind Fefnir and dashed at him, moving to double kick the back of his head, but as he jumped, Fefnir fell flat on the floor, aiming his one remaining cannon upwards, and firing a large fireball.
Bullion had no time to dodge; he was hit by the fireball and thrown in the air at an ice golem, which promptly froze him. Bullion was pissed; he broke out of the ice and smashed the golem with his bare hands, then throwing his blades at another fire golem.
OOO
"Ah, Zero…" Haze Manus said, sitting on a large throne at the top of a small pyramid of stairs. "You have defeated Vulture then."
"Why are you doing this, Manus?" Zero asked, stepping closer to him.
"Why Zero, don't you remember? Humans killed my creator; they killed the most brilliant mind in the world to sate their hunger for reploid blood. They did everything to try and put us down." Haze answered, "I am merely doing something that must be done."
"No, you are causing the deaths of innocent people." Zero said, climbing the stairs.
"Innocent, you say?" Haze asked, "Were they so innocent when they urged you to destroy the Repliforce and thus, kill your beloved Iris?"
"Iris…" Zero said, he remembered the name, a deep wave of sadness enveloped him, "I had no choice…" Haze cut across him harshly.
"Do not dare to try and explain yourself to me, Zero. I care not for your excuses; you killed your loved one, your best friend and my brother, all because of the humans." Manus said, standing up. A monitor flickered on next to him, displaying a gagged and tied Ciel.
"And now I will kill something dear to you." Haze said, gesturing at the monitor.
In front of Zero's eyes Ciel was being electrocuted, he panicked.
"Stop it! You'll kill her!" He yelled, pleadingly at Haze.
"That's the main idea, Zero. To kill the human scientist, the creator of Copy X, she deserves it and you know it Zero." Haze said, but the electrocution stopped. Ciel was leaning back, breathing heavily and obviously in pain.
"It's time to end this Zero, once and for all, to destroy you and wipe the humans off of this world."
Haze removed his cloak, revealing himself. He wore armor similar to that of Bullion's; with the exception that he had no helmet and the armor was silver instead of gold. Haze's silver hair was flowing down to his shoulders. On his eyes he had a black visor, which concealed them completely.
"You said I killed your brother, what did you mean?" Zero asked, looking up at the silver clad reploid.
"Not yet." Haze smiled, "First, we fight…" With that Haze created an energy orb out of thin air and hurled it at Zero in such speed that it could not be seen.
Zero instinctively jumped, but even his legendary speed wasn't enough to dodge the projectile, he was hit dead on and thrown off the stair pyramid.
Smiling from above, the so called Master started descending slowly.
"You see Zero; there is nothing you can do that I cannot counter. Your only option is to use your frenzy chip… but then of course, you might go berserk and destroy your friends in the process."
"I don't need the frenzy chip. I never did, not for Sigma, not for Copy X, not for you…" the guardian said, jumping to his feet and charging at Haze.
"Great speech, but words alone will not defeat me." The person said, "But in your case, rust bucket… nothing you can pull will work."
Rust bucket? Zero knew the name Manus was familiar… "You're Vile's friend… I remember you now." He said confidently, "You tried to kill me before the Doppler incident. I kicked your butt back then, I can do it today." The guardian flashed a smile.
Haze frowned, "You killed Vile, the only one who understood how underappreciated we reploids were. We were machines to the humans, nothing more." Haze stepped one stair down and summoned three more orbs. "Nothing more…" He repeated and launched the orbs at Zero.
Zero, surprisingly managed to dodge all three, a red light flickered around him as he did.
"So, you learned to control the frenzy chip, letting your anger surface when you need it to, very well." Haze said, summoning nine more orbs, launching them all at once at Zero.
A red flame appeared around the reploid and he unbelievingly dodged every one and charged at Haze, delivering a steel denting kick to his stomach. Haze staggered backwards but did not lose his balance. He delivered his own punch at Zero, one which knocked the guardian about ten feet away.
"Although you exert some control over your anger Zero. You will lose control if it rises to extremely high levels." Haze said coolly, once again gesturing at the monitor. Ciel has been electrocuted again, this time however, haze didn't stop it.
"Stop it, now!" Zero yelled, running at Haze.
"The only way for it to stop is for you to defeat me." The silver-haired reploid crossed his hands and waited, "Give in to the frenzy chip. It's the only way."
Zero would not, he charged at Haze, the red flame engulfing him, delivering a flurry of slashes with his beam saber.
As Zero approached him, Haze smiled and drew his own weapon: The Mega Beam.
The Mega Beam's sheer force caused a small shockwave as it was activated.
The Mega beam turned into a shield boomerang and blocked all of Zero's strikes.
"What the heck? Isn't that thing a beam saber?" Zero asked, moving backwards and charging again, this time attacking against the shield boomerang, but then Haze changed the Mega Beam to the Z saber and stabbed at Zero.
"It can be, if I want it to." Zero's armor was pierced and his shoulder was injured, he went backwards.
"A shape shifting weapon…?" Zero said, charging his shield boomerang behind his back. He launched it at Haze and charged forwards behind it. The silver reploid chuckled and the Mega Beam turned into Vulture's double bladed saber. He spun it around so quickly that it seemed like a shield. It deflected the boomerang and as Zero moved to slash at Haze; the latter spun in place and knocked him sideways with the lower blade. Zero was forced to block it and was denied the attacking position.
In the meanwhile, Ciel was still being shocked, her visage was unbearable.
"Stop it Haze!" Zero yelled, "She's done no harm!"
"She made Copy X, there is plenty harm with that. I admit, she set things right by sending you to destroy him. But she must still pay."
The monitor disappeared as Haze said the last sentence, which infuriated Zero.
"No!" He yelled, his body began glowing as his frenzy chip took control.
He charged at Haze supernaturally fast and before Haze could block him he delivered a crushing kick combo to his chest and stomach and finished with an uppercut to Haze's chin, knocking the antagonist down the stairs.
"Nicely done Zero, but you've just given me the data I required." Haze slowly got to his feet, and around him a silver flame began to envelop him.
"A replica of your frenzy chip, a perfect replica I created using the data we stole from Neo Arcadia. Daemon and Whirlpool were kind enough to hack into Neo Arcadia's database for me. And now Zero, you die." Haze charged forth, just as Zero did the same and the two clashed. This time Z-Saber versus Mega-Saber, there was a power struggle. Both pushing against one another in tremendous forces, no one was gaining the upper hand.
"I must admit, your strength is noteworthy, relic." Haze mocked, "But I will prevail, justice will prevail, for all of the innocent reploids who were retired by your friends!" Haze's flame shun brighter and he pushed Zero away, charging at him and demonstrating perfect control of Harpuia's technique, he shot three beam crescents at the guardian.
The latter dodged the first two but the third only barely missed him. He charged at Haze full speed, knocking away the burning silver reploid and slashing his abdomen. His armor was not scathed.
Zero growled and charged again, this time Haze blocked him, matching his moves with perfect counter moves.
"You cannot defeat me Zero; I've been working on my armor and weapons for over a century. I am completely immune to your Z-saber or any other beam weapon in existence."
Zero turned off his beam saber, "Then my hands will have to do." He said and charged once more, punching Haze in the gut.
Haze barely budged, "No one can defeat me, especially not a maverick like you."
He said it, he called Zero maverick. Zero's flame intensified, sending out a shockwave that managed to knock Haze back.
"You pathetic reploid, I have spent a century fighting mavericks where ever they were! I lost Iris because of the Mavericks! I lost Colonel because of the mavericks! I lost myself because of the mavericks! How dare you?" And with that, and a burst of unbelievable speed Zero charged at Haze, then they both began exchanging heavy blows.
OOO
Leviathan was terribly busy, trying to help Harpuia and Aztec Falcon overcome Daemon. No matter what they did he just wouldn't go down. Leviathan slashed at him with a harpoon but he caught it, in the same movement also smacking Harpuia with it and poor Leviathan who was still hanging on to it. Aztec Falcon charged at him dead on, trying to ram him, but the red executioner managed to hold it off, grabbing his the Mutos' beak and shoulder, he stopped his attack.
"Neo Arcadia will prevail, irregular." Aztec Falcon said, pushing against Daemon in hopes of distracting him long enough for Leviathan and Harpuia to get their bearings.
"We'll see." Daemon said, grinning. He moved the hand grabbing Falcon's shoulder to Falcon's arm and ripped it off, then knocking the reploid away using his chain-ball. He then used the wing to smack a nearby pantheon, which was annoyingly shooting him over and over the entire time.
Harpuia was on the floor, Leviathan on him. "We can't stop them. They're inflicting massive damage on our armies." Harpuia said quietly, barely heard over the loud noise of the shooting and the vast movements of gigantic mechaniloids and reploids.
"Yes we can! We took down Whirlpool; we'll take the other two down as well. Think of Zero! Fighting against their master for us, if we fail his fight will be for nothing!"
Harpuia looked sad for a moment, "Look Fairy, if you two are planning something for the future… I don't know, but… you have my blessing."
Leviathan slapped him, "Harpuia, this is hardly the time or the place for such nonsense. Now get up and fight." Although she seemed slightly amused, a small smile could be seen on her face.
"Fine." Harpuia said, knocking Leviathan off of him as he stood up. He charged at Daemon at full speed, while the latter was busy mutilating some poor pantheon. He struck dead on, knocking Daemon down. He yelled into his comm. "Artillery, begin bombardment of the fortress."
He looked back at Leviathan, who nodded. It was time to press on the attack.
Whirlpool looked up at Hubershnicdt, who was pinning her against the wall, as the temple began to shake.
"Please, just run… The master will destroy you." She looked sadly at Hubershnicdt.
"Zero has the frenzy chip, he will not lose." Hubershnicdt argued, staring at her aqua eyes with his own emerald ones.
"But the master has one too, a better one… he'll kill Zero and if you won't run he'll kill you too."
"An Executioner with a conscience, I never thought I'd live to see the day." He smiled.
"You didn't like being on guard duty for twenty years, did you? You were the runner up for X's guard, but all of your hard work went down the drain because of Copy X. Don't pretend to judge us Hubershnicdt." Whirlpool said angrily.
Hub smiled feraly, "You deserve what you get, for killing my friends in X's guard…" He punched Whirlpool hard in the stomach, she doubled over. He didn't stop there, he grabbed her face and smashed her head against the stone wall, once… twice… three times, before kneeing her in the stomach again and letting her drop to the floor.
"You don't deserve judgment, you only deserve pain." The Doberman said, a glint of madness in his eyes. Not one to let a cat lick their wounds, he kicked Whirlpool while she was down.
She curled up into a fetal position and he stomped on her with his foot repeatedly.
"You killed the people I grew up with, the only people I actually cared about until Zero chose me. They were wonderful people, but for you they were nothing, just machines. You're no better than Copy X, you hypocrite bastards!"
Whirlpool groaned in pain every time Hub's foot came down on her, but she still managed to say, "You're right… but that's what I'm trying to change right now, by telling you to…" But before she could complete the sentence, a large bang was heard. Hub stopped and looked upwards, the ceiling was about to collapse on him.
Whirlpool used his distraction; she rose up quick as lightning and pushed him as far as she could. All bloody, she smiled, as the ceiling collapsed on top of her.
Fefnir and Bullion were fighting, sending punches at each other; Bullion was quite impressed by Fefnir. What he lacked in technique, he made up for in sheer power of improvisation. Every time Fefnir was not able to hit him, he always continued his movements, using the motion to accelerate and come in from another angle.
Bullion jumped backwards to avoid Fefnir's last strike and looked back, to see how the others were doing. He saw Whirlpool looking at something, then disappearing under a pile of stones and debris.
"Whirlpool!" He yelled, "No!" His eyes shun in red, and in the air, he changed directions completely, instead of soaring backwards, he was flying forwards at Fefnir, knocking the guardian down and punching him repeatedly.
"My sister!" He said, "You'll pay you Neo-Arcadian scum!" But in his blind rage, he did not notice Fenrir behind him. As he was punching Fefnir, Fenrir charged up his claw, and with one swift motion, drove them through Bullion's back.
"No." Bullion said, turning around and punching Fenrir with so much force, that he knocked him straight into a giant mechaniloid that was making its way to them, destroying it completely. The bigger mechaniloids began moving inside the temple, crushing the broken pantheons and mechaniloids that were in their way.
Daemon didn't react favorably to Whirlpool's untimely removal from the battle, he roared in rage and swung his chain ball, knocking Leviathan on the floor and causing her to drag on for a few feet. When she finally stopped he stomped on her, pinning her down on the floor with his gigantic leg. Suffering two blade crescents from Harpuia, both hitting him square in the back, he groaned in pain and turned around.
Harpuia was charging up for his technique, which he has not seen, unfortunately.
But he was prepared to give it everything he had, for Whirlpool and Vulture.
OOO
"You hear that, Zero? The artillery is bombing the temple! You know what it means don't you?" Haze asked, laughing. "It means your friends are dead, so now they don't care blasting this place along with their corpses!" the silver clad reploid erupted in laughter.
But something happened to Zero just then, his rage intensified to a whole new level.
He just stood in place, his power levels rising and rising with no end in sight.
"You killed my brother, Zero! It's only fair that I kill your friends! You killed my friend, you killed my brother and the humans you protect have killed my maker! Now it's payback time!" Haze laughed, raising his own power levels in accordance with Zero's.
"Stop." A voice said in Haze's ears, "If you don't stop him his core will overload, he'll destroy everything." Haze looked at the cyber elf floating near him.
"Is that you, X?" Haze asked.
"It is, I beg of you Mr. Manus, please don't let him reach critical overload."
"Why? He ruined my life. I worked my heart out to give my brother a safe job, in a safe place such as Neo Arcadia, a mere errand-boy. No risks involved. But when my brother saw the truth, when I died, he began to be more rebellious, blaming you for it. You didn't really even care. Your copy certainly didn't. He didn't even bother to investigate the case." Haze grit his teeth, "And now, my brother is dead… he killed him. He killed Elpizo." Haze pointed at Zero.
"I am not dead." Another, more high-pitched voice said, as another cyber elf drifted down in front of Haze.
"E… Elpizo?" Haze asked, "How?"
The pink cyber elf hovered in front of him, looking at him.
"Zero showed me I was wrong… by trying to destroy Neo Arcadia, I was just like those I sought to kill… I was mistaken brother and so are you."
Haze removed his visor, revealing two silver eyes, "Brother…" he said.
"I have had the time to think about it Haze, we were wrong all along… killing is never the option, it brings only suffering and pain… Even your children realized that, Whirlpool, before the ceiling collapsed on her, saved a Neo-Arcadian. Vulture, if it weren't for his love to you, he would have stopped his fight with Zero…"
A single tear ran from Haze's eyes, "I always trusted you Elpizo, I always loved you. I will stand down if you ask me to… I didn't know you were alive…"
Zero smiled, "No backing down now, Manus." He said, "A fight to the death." X looked at Zero, what the frenzy chip has done… He should never have copied it from Zero's original body.
"Kill him brother, it's the only choice." Elpizo said sadly, "If he overloads, everyone will die." Haze looked at Zero, who beckoned him to come closer. Unnaturally calm even though his power levels were still rising rapidly.
"No." Haze said, "There can be only one way to end this. I will never be the good guy. Not for humans, not for reploids. No one will accept me, even if I forgive myself, the others never will. There is only one thing I can do to redeem myself, to sacrifice myself for them." Haze said.
"What do you mean brother?" Elpizo asked, worried.
"The only thing that will calm him down is my death… I have to deliver it… X, make sure he finds Ciel, she's in a hidden room to the left of my throne. She's alive and well."
"Mr. Manus…" X said.
"Haze, don't!" Elpizo yelled pleadingly. Haze smiled, "I wouldn't be good at being a hero anyway. I never was any good at being good." He smiled and ran for Zero.
Zero went into a combat pose, completely oblivious to the conversation that has just been playing out in front of his eyes.
Haze lunged at Zero, closing his eyes as he unsummoned his armor. He felt Zero's Z-saber cutting through him, he felt the pain.
"Brother!" Elpizo yelled.
Zero sliced Haze into two, continuing to slash at him like mad, mutilating his body beyond repair. His power levels were dropping, his rage lessening with each strike. This was revenge for the guardians, for Hubershnicdt, for Ciel and Colbor, for old Andrew and Alouette, for Fenrir and Aztec Falcon. For every drop of human blood that was spilled by that reploid, Haze.
It was the end.
OOO
As Bullion and Daemon felt their links to their master vanish, both screamed in pain.
Every mechaniloid in the area stopped its function, even the guardians and their protégés have stopped to look at the pained reploids. Harpuia couldn't help but feel satisfaction as he saw the reploids that have tortured them for so long suffer. But he couldn't help but feel sorry at them for their pain.
As their screams finally stopped, Fenrir, Fefnir, Aztec Falcon, Leviathan, Hubershnicdt and Harpuia gathered around them in a circle. Bullion was already grievously wounded from Fenrir's strike. One Executioner against three Guardians and their protégé's were odds that no one could win against.
"Do not…" Bullion coughed to Daemon, "Do not disgrace father…" With that, his eyes went blank and he fell limp at Daemon's side.
Daemon held Bullion close to him and then let go. "We will not be forgotten…" He said, "There will always be more like us." With that his hands glowed with red light. He raised them in the air.
"Get out everyone!" Harpuia yelled, he held Aztec Falcon's still-attached arm and pulled him away as he flew.
The others dashed away after him, putting as much distance as possible between them and the self-destructing Daemon.
When Daemon self destructed, the debris flying everywhere in a wide radius, it was over. It was finally over.
Zero was already outside, he had been safely transferred away using the powers of Elpizo and X, both of them left him afterwards, without another word.
When the guardians found him, he was unconscious, his powers completely exhausted due to the massive use of his frenzy chip.
OOO
It has been a week since the Executioner crisis was officially over, although Zero barely received any recognition for it. Most of the recognition went to the others, who in turn enjoyed it greatly.
There was a great ball, to celebrate Neo Arcadia's triumph, both in Neo Arcadia and in the resistance base. Vulture never retired a soul of the resistance. The blood and pieces of cloth were fake, probably taken from pantheons. The Executioners were not the blood thirsty animals everyone thought they were. Zero knew that much. He knew that Vulture was not as bad as he pretended to be, he knew that Whirlpool never wanted the war in the first place. That Bullion and Daemon were only moved by their loyalty. He placed a flower on the victory monument that has been erected in the Neo-Arcadian gardens for each of the Executioners and one for their master.
He attended both balls, first the one of the resistance, then Neo Arcadia's. He and Leviathan danced until the very end, glad to finally have some time to relax and have fun.
At the ball, he saw Hubershnicdt, standing in his black and silver uniform, smiling at the room with his now properly colored jaw. He was a new person ever since Zero recruited him, no one doubted that. But to see him beaming like that, it was almost unnatural.
"Hub, I want you to listen to me." Zero told him, "You're free, relieved of duty."
Hub looked at him as if he slapped him in his face, "Excuse me Master Zero?"
"Go and seek your fortune Hub, there's not much for you here anymore. You've reached the top, the height of your career. A Guardian's protégé is as high as reploids go here."
"True, but where will I go?" Hub asked, "What will I do?" Zero smiled at the question.
"Be a bounty hunter, that's a job that suits you just fine." Now it was Hub's turn to smile.
"Very well Master Zero, but who will replace me?"
"No one, I'm sure there won't be a need." Zero waved it off.
"Thank you Master Zero, you have been too kind to me. You've given me my life back."
"But we're even now, after you saved mine. So I guess I'll see you around?" Zero said, after Leviathan bugged him to go and dance.
"I'm sure you will Master Zero." Hub smiled at him, such a genuine smile that made Zero smile back.
OOO
Apparently, the lives for guardians were not always that exciting. After the crisis, all Zero did all day long was paperwork, paperwork and yes, some more paperwork.
And as usual, the other guardians were cranky, dying for some action. Since sparring with Zero became a regular thing, it wasn't as exciting as before. They even gave it up after a while, there was no beating him.
Zero decided it would be much simpler to return to the Resistance, for the time being, as he explained to Leviathan.
Leviathan however, was not convinced. She knew he was trying to dodge his duties, but who was she to stop him? If he wanted to go away and become a resistance member again it was up to him. But that would mean putting a hold on their relationship.
He bade Harpuia and Fefnir farewell, Harpuia was pissed and Fefnir couldn't care less, more food for him.
He left quietly, no ceremony or anything, just a goodbye kiss to Leviathan, and off he went, appearing back at the resistance base.
Of course, they made a party in his honor. Everyone patted him on the back, as usual.
Life would be finally returning to normal… for him…
OOO
At the executioner's destroyed stronghold, a lone figure remained. Trying to figure out how it all went wrong so fast.
It took a whole day for the auto repair to work, but she wished it wouldn't have. To find her brother's parts scattered all over the landscape, to see her master's visor shattered in the ruined temple… she didn't want to wake up to this… and in the end, after a week, she just couldn't bear it anymore.
The next morning after her decision, she came up to a cliff, her armor unsummoned, letting her hair flow with the wind, dressed in a blue gown. She would die in the environment she loved most. Falling into the water, where she will rest forever.
Whirlpool jumped…
The End.