Chapter 17 – The Lance of Animation – The Endgame

A/N: It's nearing the end of the Fallen story, after which I'll either consider the story finished, or I'll continue it, but it'll probably be fluffly and funny only, with less story progress on Jet. Oh well, we'll wait and see. And for a heads up, if it does end after this, it'll be such a friggin' fluffy ending that it might knock you out.

7:00 A.M – Gallows' House

"…So the Fallen have created a new Zero…" Halle said with a sigh. "That is not good."

Virginia, Jet, Gallows, Clive, Maya, Karen, and Iris all sat around the room, Halle pacing about slowly. They all looked on with serious faces, eager to hear what she'd say.

"Frankly," she began. "Beating the Fallen now is like trying to stop a waterfall from falling."

Everyone tensed up in nervousness.

"Are you saying we can't win at all?" Maya piped up.

"Well, face it, girly, we're made of flesh and blood, easily destroyed," Iris said, posing in a very doctor-ish way. "While they are made of metals and are also excruciatingly powerful, much more powerful than even Jet here."

"That's correct," Halle said. She stopped pacing and faced towards everyone. "However, we still have one weapon that can counter them."

Jet twitched in realization. "The Lance!" he said out aloud. "I could've used the Lance to beat that clone!"

Halle promptly whacked him over the head, then also whacked Gallows over the head.

"Ow! Why? Somebody tell me why!" Gallows moaned, clutching his head.

"It's a habit dear," Halle turned her attention back to Jet. "It's lucky that you forgot about it. I told you earlier that the Lance acquires energy directly from the user. I'm guessing that your body's state was not very good at the time, meaning your energy would be low. Using the Lance at such a time, as well as trying to destroy something with as much power as your clone, would most likely have killed you."

Everyone remained quiet, except Jet, who uncharacteristically spoke up. "But it would've killed it, right?"

"Jet, you would've died!" Virginia said, jumping up.

"If it can stop those things, it's a small price," Jet said replied.

"Don't be an idiot," Halle smacked him again. "There's nobody else on our side with enough life energy to use the Lance. If you die, Filgaia will die with you."

Jet sighed, becoming quiet once more.

"I have been researching on the Fallen for some time now, and have gathered information on the Lost Technology used to build them. I thought it would help us discover their weak points…"

"…And?" Clive asked curiously.

"I only found out one thing," Halle said. "They have no weakness whatsoever. They are built to be superhuman. They are capable of everything we are, and then some."

Everyone began to sulk even more than they already were.

"But I also discovered something else," Halle looked at Karen with hard eyes.

"Eh?" Karen glanced back innocently.

"That girl," Halle paused slightly. "I saw a picture of her in one of the old tomes."

"What?" everyone said in disbelief.

"Androids need to have bodies capable of quick movement and high strength. Because of this, they can only fit so much energy into a single android, and yet they were expected to be able to fight for months on end. To counteract this problem, they built special carriers of pure energy. Shells to replenish them when their energy ran out. They were made able to move so that they could independantly follow androids and sacrifice their energy to completely rejuvenate the combat androids."

"What does that have to do with Karen?" Iris asked.

Halle sighed once again. "She is one of them. A carrier of pure energy. They are apparently built so that, like the ordinary androids, have their own senses and are capable of following orders much like Eroz and the Fallen were before Zero changed them."

"So how did she survive up to this point?" Jet asked. "And why would Eroz have her locked up?"

"Being an android, she doesn't age very much if at all. And as for why she was locked up, it could be that she developed her own will and disobeyed Eroz. Someone must have done for her what Zero did for the Fallen," Halle cleared her throat. "Moving on, my plan is quite simple. Using the Lance of Animation would normally drain someone out completely, or in Jet's case, a fair amount. But with Karen to replenish Jet's energy, Jet should be able to safely defeat all of the remaining Fallen including the clone."

"But won't she die?" Jet asked.

"Once she has given you her energy, yes," Halle said sadly.

"I don't mi-" Karen began, but Jet butted in.

"I refuse," he said plainly.

"Be reasonable, Jet," Halle demanded, but Jet just huffed, got up and headed for the door.

"I'm taking a walk."

And Jet disappeared outside, leaving everyone else unsure of whether to chase him or give him room. However a loud boom and rumbling took their mind off that, as Jet rushed back.

"The Fallen are here!" Jet called. "And I counted thirteen."

"That must mean that…" Clive started. Halle finished his sentence.

"The other eleven Fallen, other than Jet, must have been found," Halle said. "Or worse, remade into stronger versions. I assumed wrongly that some of them had died. If all of them have come, we are in trouble."

"No freakin' shit!" Gallows said, standing up. "Gran, we gotta evacuate the Colony!"

"I have already prepared for such situations," Halle stepped outside, followed by the rest of them.

Standing outside, they now saw the rush of what looked like hovering pieces of metal flying just off the ground in the distance. They were headed straight for Baskar Colony. Twelve figures could be made out on the metal disks.

"Everyone assist me in bringing the villagers into the Temple," Halle ordered. "Jet, this may be harsh, but you'll have to fight them. If Karen goes with you…"

"No, I'll go alone," Jet said. "I don't mind fighting them, but don't involve anyone else in this. Here," he handed Halle all of the Guardian stones except for Luceid. "I only need on stone," Jet said, looking away from everyone. "You guys can do what you want with the rest."

"Stop trying to act like you don't care about us!" Gallows smirked, before Jet gave him a punch to the face, but was noticeably weaker.

"They won't be able to do much," Halle sighed, taking them off Jet. "We know you can do it, Jet."

He took a moment to speak to Virginia, who he saw was just about to retaliate against Jet's decision.

"I'll be fine, just do what Halle asks," Jet tried to comfort her, but she looked at him worriedly. He tried to work up a smile, but gave up on a hard grimace. "I promise I'll come back…Ginny."

She blushed, hearing Jet use her nickname for the first time. "Be safe, Jet," she said before heading around the village to help gather people to the Temple.

Jet dashed off towards the Fallen, wondering if he could really keep that promise to Virginia.

7:30 A.M – Outside the Colony

As Jet approached the twelve men riding flying disks, they began to slow down to a halt in front of him. He recognized Eroz, Two, Three, and his clone, but the rest of them were new faces, who looked fairly powerful.

"It's been awhile, hasn't it Jet?" Eroz said sternly. He didn't look pleased, most likely disappointed that Jet abandoned his fight with the clone. "I hope you remember the deal we made about your fight, because I plan to carry out my side of the bargain."

"Leave them alone!" Jet said, raising his arms horizontally. "This is between you and me!"

"Oh really?" Eroz squinted coldly. "Our comrades would think differently."

The eleven Fallen behind him glared at Jet with dead eyes, as though they were mere puppets. Jet flinched, realizing the situation he was in. "Why don't we settle this like men? One on one."

Eroz suddenly began to laugh hysterically. "One on one? I gave you that chance," he clicked his fingers, and nine of them, including his clone, made for the Colony. "Besides, we're not men. We're androids. Now if you'll excuse us, we have a village to destroy," Jet was about to run after them, but was stopped by the two remaining Fallen. "Now, now, Jet, you have playmates here! Meet Twelve and Eleven. They're not as strong as we are, mind you, but fighting two Fallen has never resulted in a win. But then again, you are the legendary Zero. Don't disappoint me. I want you to see your friends' dead bodies before I rip you to shreds."

Eroz zoomed off after his team, leaving Jet to deal with the two androids. "I'll deal with you two fast!" he yelled, ripping out a Guardian Stone. He began to concentrate, and the Lance began to glow a strong blue, energy seeping around it.

8:00 A.M – Baskar Colony

"They're coming!" Clive announced, standing on top of the temple's mountain with binoculars. "Is everyone in the temple?"

"We're all set!" Gallows called back. Maya, Virginia and Gallows were standing just outside the temple entrance, with Karen, Iris, Halle, and the villagers inside.

"The rest of you come in, now!" Halle told them. But they didn't move. Clive hopped down to join the others.

"We'll stay here and fight," Virginia told Halle. "We can't let Jet do everything, right guys?"

"He's already taken the spotlight a bit too much!" Gallows said, flexing his arms. "Time to show everyone what we're made of!"

"I'm itching to fight too," Maya said, stretching her neck. "It's been a while since I could vent my anger!"

Halle smiled with approval. "To think you are all the same people my idiot son brought here so long ago. I'm proud of all of you."

Halle reached into her pocket and tossed to Virginia the bag with the remaining Guardian Seals. Virginia proceeded to hand them out to Clive and Gallows. Of course, Maya couldn't summon, so she didn't want them, instead pulling her massive minigun out of her dress, causing Clive and Gallows to have a sudden nosebleed.

"I really wanna know how she does that," Gallows commented.

They looked out again, and saw that they were almost at the Colony. Gallows turned to his grandmother. "Seal the temple, Granny!"

Halle began chanting an ancient ritual, and suddenly a large rock face began to materialize in the entrance, blending in with the rest of the mountain. After a few seconds, it had solidified, looking as though there was never a temple there to begin with. The group then turned back towards the Fallen.

"Let's do this, guys!" Virginia called out as they spread around the village. Clive, Gallows, and Virginia began to summon the Guardians. One by one, they appeared with a flash, engulfing the area.

8:20 A.M – Outside the Colony

Jet was on his knees panting. Sweat trickled down his face, his eyes twitching. Beside him were two smoking black corpses, blue smoke wafting off them. Jet groaned in pain, falling to the ground.

"W…Wow…It's harder than I thought to use this in combat," he groaned. He turned his head to face the Colony, where he saw the Guardians engaging the remaining Fallen. "Crap, gotta move, gotta move."

He pulled himself up, and limped as fast as he could back to the Colony.

9:00 A.M – Baskar Colony

The drifters were growing weak, the Fallen overpowering them easily. "They're playing with us," Clive mentioned. "They probably haven't even begun to show us how strong they are, and we're already not looking to good."

The Guardians were being beaten down one after the other, still standing no chance against the Fallen just as it was ages ago. Eventually all the Guardians were wiped out, and yet all of the Fallen remained. They gathered together at one side, the drifters on the other side.

"Oh man," Gallows said with a nervous smile. He raised his shotgun at them, but was quickly disarmed by one of the Fallen before he even had the chance to pull the trigger. The android that stopped him pulled his arm up and punched the elbow in, breaking his arm. Gallows yelled in pain, hitting the floor. Clive tried to help him, but was kicked by another one of the Fallen, a kick so hard it sent him flying to a wall with a crash.

Maya, in a fit of rage, unloaded everything she had at Eroz. Eroz merely walked towards her, his body filling with lead, but he didn't slow down. As he stopped in front of her, Maya had run out of ammo, and began desperately hitting the trigger. Eroz just smiled at her, sending chills down her spine. He then gave her a strong punch to the gut, hurtling her backwards to the ground. She coughed and wheezed, grabbing her stomach.

"Leave them alone!" Virginia yelled at them. One of the Fallen made to grab her, but Eroz raised his hand to stop him.

"Not her, this one seems important to Zero. I want to handle her."

As he approached her, Virginia raised her pistols and unloaded everything she had at him, but again to no effect. Virginia readied herself for Eroz's attack, but instead saw a blue streak hit him from the side, sending him flying into one of the colony houses. A second consecutive streak appeared, this time aimed at the rest of the Fallen, who were still standing together. Jet's clone, Two, and Three, all noticed, jumping out of the way, but the rest weren't so lucky. They all got caught in the blast, sending them flying straight into the mountainside. When the smoke cleared, all of the Fallen had been slightly burnt, but were still operational. That is, until another, much more concentrated shot came and hit them again, wiping them out completely.

Virginia turned to see Jet standing where the blasts had come from, panting, with his arm raised, smoke sizzling from the Lance. She was about to run towards him, but in a flash of movement, she was grabbed by Jet's clone. The clone jumped to the top of the mountainside, carrying Virginia on her shoulder. Standing next to him was Eroz, unscathed, and Two and Three.

"W-What? But I hit you!" Jet said in surprise. "You shouldn't be functional anymore!"

Eroz's face smiled with more evil than ever, making Jet shiver.

"That worthless thing? The original Fallen survived this long by adapting to that pitiful thing! It's as effective as throwing stones at me." He laughed out loud.

"Eroz!" Jet said in rage. "Let Virginia go!"

"I don't want to." Eroz said.

"You son of a…" Jet started shaking angrily.

"If you want to get her back," Eroz said, pointing at her. "Meet me at the Fallen Sanctuary, where we'll finish our fight. I want to destroy you at your best, so you see how stupid you were to side with humans!"

They disappeared in a bright flash, blinding Jet's eyes. Jet fell to his knees in exhaustion, something painful hitting his heart.

"Virginia…" Jet was panting heavily. "I'm coming for you…"

He stood up waveringly, pulling out his sword and using it as support. He checked to make sure the others were still alive before he called Lombardia. He transported inside, and ordered Lombardia to head for the Fallen Sanctuary.

"Are you okay?" Lombardia asked. Jet coughed in pain.

"Yeah, I'm all sunshine and lollipops."

9:50 A.M – Baskar Colony

Halle had medicated the drifters, and they were put to rest in whatever houses were left standing. She looked around the Colony, which was now in smoldering pieces. She sighed heavily.

"When Jet beats up those Fallen and comes back here, I am going to hit him back into Wild ARMs 1!"

"Back into what?" one of the villagers asked. Halle whacked him unconscious.

"Nothing! Shut up!"

END CHAPTER