A.N.: You thought that I forgot didn't you? Well, I didn't. I actually had this chapter up and ready to roll a month ago, but the annoucement of ZX and the subsequent information completely wrecked the ending I had planned... So I was forced to replace that with this less-than-stellar one...

Begin...

"I don't get it!" Fefnir growled as he pumped another round of shots into their purple opponent. "He's shrugging off everything that we throw at him!"

Vortex's hand snapped around to bear at the Fire Guardian. A half-second passed before a blade of sparkling energy shot from the general's palm and flew towards the red 'roid.

The Fire Guardian threw himself into a low roll, evading the attack. As soon as he had righted himself, he was firing his massive cannon at his attacker.

"I think…" Harpuia shuddered at the thought that he was about to express. "That he's capable of converting energy and matter from one form to the other… and also able to absorb raw energy into himself."

"That would explain a few things." Leviathan somersaulted away from an assaulting rain of plasma energy. "Such as why none of our attacks can pierce it…"

Phantom remained silent, as normal. He deftly wove through the onslaught of firepower, vaulted into the air in front of their enemy and fired a pair of Kunai straight into Vortex's chest.

The weapons dissolved into nothing as soon as they touched the burly Reploid General, and the paint on Vortex's armor wasn't even scratched.

A growl slipped from Phantom's throat.

Then Vortex's hand slashed through the air, batting Phantom aside as if he were nothing more than a fly. The Silent Assassin flew through the air, but managed to flip around and land upright. Phantom's dropped to a crouch and dug into the soil to stop the momentum from the blow and bring his slide to a stop.

Zero leapt into the fray, firing off his Shield Boomerang. The deadly disk carved shot along the ground and then collided solidly with it's target. The disk rebounded off of Vortex and circled back around to it's owner. A moment later and he was forced to dive out of the way of a retaliatory rain of energy.

"There's got to be some way to stop this thing…" Leviathan muttered.

"There's no way I'm going to loose to this pile of junk!" Fefnir screamed as he thrust his cannon skyward. A dim glow began building up in his weapon's throat as he began charging his next attack. The glow brightened in intensity, building up to an eye-searing level.

"Pitiful insects!" Vortex snapped. The burly Reploid brought his hands together and formed a sphere of energy, despite his opponent's attacks ripping into him from every angle. Under his guidance, the sphere continued to grow until it was at least half as tall as Harpuia… and then the General whipped his arms back and pitched the glowing sphere at the immobile Fire Guardian. "You cannot stop me!"

Fefnir glared at the approaching attack, but stubbornly continued to charge his cannon. His basic plan was simple- take the blunt of his opponent's attack, then retaliate and turn Vortex into a decent-sized mushroom cloud.

The back of his mind wondered whether he was even capable of surviving the attack.

Fortunately, he didn't have to find out.

Zero dropped to the ground in front of Fefnir, his Z Buster already out and charging. The Crimson Warrior lined his blaster up and pulled the trigger, sending a fully powered plasma bulled rocketing through the energy sphere.

Amazingly, the shot caused the sphere to explode prematurely.

"Make that count!" Zero shouted over the din of the detonation.

"With pleasure!" Fefnir pumped his legs once and rocketed straight up into the air. His cannon's sights were locked onto the purple Reploid. A blast of flame shot from his barrel, and the recoil from the attack threw the fire Reploid almost all the way across the stadium.

Vortex looked up at the attack racing towards his head… and then he brought his palm up as if to catch the attack…

The fireball hit it's target and exploded into a sphere of flame, smoke and chaos.

The Guardians and Warrior were forced to wait on the disaster to calm so that they could see the result. As the smoke cleared and flames died away… the form of Vortex became visible once again.

His armor wasn't even scorched from the heat.

"There's no way!" Fefnir gasped in disbelief.

"Fools." The General chuckled morbidly. "I was designed to manipulate energy, all the way down to the atomic level. At will I can form weapons, tools, even shields… I can solidify matter or break it down into energy. Your so-called power is insufficient to even think of taking me on. At any given moment, I can wipe you five out."

"Nothing is indestructible." Harpuia recited the age-worn mantra. "And that includes you. There is a way to destroy you, and rest assured, we will find it."

"Maybe, if you live long enough." Vortex raised his arms and pointed his palms skyward. "But I have grown weary of this fight… It's time for you to die."

A scream burst from Vortex's lips, as energy exploded from his palms. The power shot skyward, and vanished into the clouds overhead.

"Don't let him get it off!" Leviathan shouted. Matching her words to action, the Ice Guardian twirled her staff in front of her, forming a shield of spiked ice balls. With a snap of her staff, Fairy Leviathan sent the crystals flying through the air towards their opponent.

"Lightning Prison!" Harpuia crossed his blades over his chest and focused all of his elemental power into the swords. As soon as he had sufficient charge, the Thunder Guardian thrust his swords skyward and sent a blast of electrical power skyrocketing into the clouds, and then back down onto their adversary.

Phantom summoned his large Shuriken and hurled the deadly blades towards their opponent.

"Earth Breaker!" Fefnir, not quite recovered from his last failed attack, slammed his fist into the ground, unleashing a shockwave on Vortex.

Zero whipped his Saber out and slashed repeatedly. Triangular bursts of energy leapt from his blade and rocketed through the air to collide with his opponent.

Then the incredible happened. All of the Guardian and Warrior's attacks collided with Vortex, then curved around the general and rocketed skyward along with Vortex's own power. The attacks harmlessly vanished into the clouds.

"This can't be happening!" Leviathan stared in disbelief.

"Oh, but it is." Vortex gave them a grim smile. "Now, be a good little foe and DIE!"

The general ceased pouring his energy into the clouds above and dropped his arms. A moment passed… and then the clouds were split in two by a onrushing 'meteor' of raw energy. The attack came so fast that none of the Reploids had time to mount any form of defense. The meteor slammed into ground before them, and erupted into a storm of disaster, and fury; it swept up the Guardians and the Warrior in it's grip, battered their bodies, and sent flying at all angles.

Zero rode out the worst of the storm and was slammed none-too-gently into the ground. It was all that he could do to keep from screaming as his already injured arm threatened to split away from the rest of his body.

Harpuia crashed into the floor and skidded into a stone wall that was miraculously untouched. A new battle opened up to the Thunder Guardian, he had to struggle to keep from dropping off into unconsciousness.

Leviathan and Fefnir cratered the ground together. Each one was struggling to hold onto the slim wedge of consciousness they possessed.

And Phantom…

Phantom dropped from the sky and landed squarely on Vortex's back. The Silent Assassin was battered and wounded, cracks covered most of his body, his cape was reduced to a tattered scrap of cloth around his neck… but he was still in the fight, and still retained enough vengeance to recognize an opportunity to strike.

"What?" Vortex's face contorted into a portrait of pure bewilderment as he felt the extra weight hanging from his back. Puzzled, the general started to look over his shoulder.

The Neutral Guardian snatched another Kunai from his belt, whipped it back and plunged it down into his foe's back.

The blade penetrated metal, armor and robotic skin.

A scream of pain exploded from the purple Reploid's lips. Pure rage lit up Vortex's eyes as he reached around and grabbed onto his attacker. The general hurled his attacker through air, and sent him crashing into Fefnir.

"Harpuia…" Zero struggled to get his feet. "Did you see that?"

"I did." The Thunder Guardian muttered. "We have our means to destroying this monstrosity. We have to split his focus, attack him when he's not expecting it… if he isn't aware of the assault, he can't block it."

"Is that so?" Fefnir threw Phantom off of his frame and worked his way to his feet. "Then let's take him down. Hey, Phantom, hitch a ride!"

The Fire Guardian retrieved his cannon and slammed it into the earth before him. When he raised it again, a fair-sized boulder was sitting in the blaster's barrel. Fefnir screamed and fired his weapon, sending the rock flying through the air towards his opponents.

Phantom leapt at the boulder as it sped past, latched onto the stone and swung around to the boulder's back. There he cemented his hold and waited for the impact.

"Pesky insects." Vortex noticed the stone flying at him and promptly raised his shields. The stone slammed into the barrier and went to pieces before dissolving out of existence.

Out of the flying rubble, Phantom exploded. The Silent Assassin's blade was drawn and slicing through the air towards his opponent's neck.

"What the-!" The General snapped his head to one side, and escaped being decapitated at the cost of a hasty flesh wound.

The Neutral Guardian vaulted away and hit the ground behind his opponent.

"Let's go, Fairy!" Fefnir leapt into the air and spun around to face the Ice Guardian.

Leviathan launched herself at her partner, and latched onto his outstretched hand. The Fire Guardian snapped around twice to build up some momentum, and then hurled the Ice Guardian at their opponent at astonishing speed.

The Ice Guardian drew her staff and lashed out repeatedly as she came within range of striking Vortex. As she had expected, the General easily fielded all of her blows.

Fortunately, scoring a hit against the renegade had never been her intent.

Leviathan hit the ground just behind the purple Reploid and slammed her staff head-first into the ground. Instantly a sheet of ice spread out from her weapon's tip and covered the immediate terrain beneath her opponent in a think sheet of ice.

Vortex, who was turning around to deal with Leviathan, was caught full in the face by Phantom's flying kick. And with his traction removed by Leviathan's actions, the General had no choice but to fall heavily to the ground.

"NOW!" Harpuia leapt up to attack. Quickly he snapped his blades through the air before him, causing several arcs of pure energy to leap from his daggers. The attacks shot through the air and collided solidly with their disoriented opponent, and actually managed to cause some damage.

Zero was already on his feet and running, his Saber leapt into his hand and began charging energy for his coming attack. This was it, after this exchange someone was going to die… it was going to be either Vortex or him and his allies.

And the Crimson Warrior had no intention of being the unlucky party.

The Warrior's form dissolved into a red blur as he shot towards his opponent. His Saber sang as it cut through the air. In just a moment it would be time to strike…

That moment was one second too many.

For in that time, Vortex recovered enough from the beating he had received to right himself. And almost instantly he zeroed in on the newest threat to him.

A blast of flame slammed into the General's back.

Vortex forced himself to ignore the pain and the attack. It was just a distraction, an attempt to make him forget about the most immediate threat facing him. The General raised his hand and brought it around to bear on his red opponent, a sphere of energy began forming in his palm.

And then pain greeted him.

The purple Reploid looked down, and found a deadly Kunai digging into his outstretched wrist. And the white Guardian holding onto the blade was grinning in bloodlust.

Phantom merely smirked at his opponent. His victory was more of an insult than any remark he could have offered.

For at that moment, Zero's blade found it's mark.

Vortex's jaw went slack as he stared down in disbelief at the wound in his chest.

The Crimson Warrior deactivated his blade, allowing the General to see the ugly truth for what it truly was.

Vortex slumped to his knees… and then collapsed to the ground face first.

"I recognize this model." Alia knelt down beside the deceased Vortex. "A few of this kind went on the rampage, and… we couldn't stop them soon enough… It turned into a war between Reploids of this kind…"

"Regardless, he was a Maverick." Harpuia shook his head. "A Maverick on an island filled with them."

"It's tragic." Ciel joined her companions. "The Reploids have been trapped here for so long that repeated lies have replaced the truth, their ideals were the only way of life that they knew… Then when they managed to find a way back to the physical world and found their own kind threatened… Maybe they felt that they were reliving the days of their predecessors, and they were the liberators…"

"Whatever their reasons, they're still Maverick... Real Mavericks this time. So what're we going to do with them?"

"I don't think… we'll have to do anything." Ciel lowered her visor and studied the images being displayed. "If this information is correct, then the rip between the Cyber and Physical worlds are healing… We've got fifteen… maybe twenty minutes to get out of here before the rift seals and we're trapped in the Cyber World forever."

"Or until the next rift appears." Fefnir shrugged. "But whatever."

"What Fighting's trying to say, is that you're right. We need to get out of here and get out now." Leviathan spoke up. "So let's get moving."

"I've already recalled the shuttle, it'll be here in a few minutes…" Harpuia's voice dropped to a low tone. "Unfortunately… this means we're going to lose one of our own again. Phantom… I'm sorry."

The Assassin shot a quick look at his partner, but remained mute.

Fefnir and Leviathan grimaced as they realized what the Thunder Guardian was saying. Phantom couldn't exist in the Physical realm, there was no way that he could return home with them… they'd have to leave him behind.

"If… if only I had more time." Ciel dropped her head in sorrow. "I might have been able to revamp his data and give him a physical entity again…"

"You could do that?" Alia raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"To a degree we do it every time we use a Trans Server. A Tran Serv converts physical matter into a digital format and then reconstructs it as a physical entity on the receiving end… But I don't have the resources to perform half of that operation."

Phantom twitched slightly, but otherwise remained still.

"Yes, you dimwit." Leviathan noticed the slight movement and then playfully smacked the white Reploid over the back of his head. "She'd do that for you, even after all of the trouble you caused her."

A loud 'hiss' broke through the air, causing the party to turn and find the shuttle setting down a short distance away from the group or Reploids and Humans.

"We don't have much time." Alia said. "… I'm sorry."

"As am I…" Harpuia shook his head. "As am I."

"Master, it appears that they were victorious." Zen'an spoke into his voice link as he continued to cling to the shuttle. "As I speak they are bidding Phantom farewell and boarding the aircraft, in a matter of moments they will have left the Digital World. Permission to proceed with my mission objective?"

A moment passed, and then Weil's voice came back over the wire.

"Negative. I have different plans in mind for Zero. Wait for him to leave the shuttle, then inform me when the Guardians begin their return to Neo Arcadia."

"Sir, is that wise?"

"I do not take kindly to people questioning my decisions! You idiot, can't you see that the Guardians now have the means to begin to threaten my power, and my monopolization of the energy supplies is not yet complete. They have to be removed, and I want them removed separate from Zero!"

"Yes, sir… if you say so. Zen'an out." The stealth Reploid terminated the connection.

Zen'an sighed and settled himself in for a long wait. Waiting was about all that he had done during this mission, and he was tired of it. The stealth Reploid growled as he cemented his hold on the shuttle's hull.

Because of that growl, he never heard Phantom sneaking up behind him… And he wasn't even aware of the Assassin's presence until a gleaning Kunai buried itself in Zen'an's back.

"I hate spies." Phantom said simply as he released his hold on the Shuttle. The white Reploid dropped to the ground and waited as the aircraft rose into the sky and vanished from sight.

Maybe killing that little spy had been a minor victory, and it probably wouldn't even make an effect in the way things played out… but it was a victory nonetheless, and perhaps the only victory he would score in this battle against Weil.

"Harpuia, Leviathan, Fefnir…" Zero looked over his shoulder as he stood in the shuttle's doorway. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't have missed that for the world," Fefnir grinned savagely. "It wasn't up to par with battling you, but it was a blast!"

"Anytime, Zero." Leviathan said back.

Harpuia just nodded at the Hunter, and shared a meaningful glance.

And then the shuttle door closed, and the aircraft fled back into the skies.

A squeal drew Zero's attention. The Warrior turned around to find Alouette rushing out of the base's entrance.

The Reploid girl bounded down the steps, her stuffed toy fell from her arms and dropped to the sand… but Alouette took no notice, she continued running until she was in Ciel's arms.

Then, and only then, did Ciel break down and cry. She continued to hug her adoptive daughter fiercely and protectively, as if to shelter her from all of the troubles in the world.

A shout went up from the base, Reploids began streaming from the open door. Cheers and joyful cries went up from their lips, it wouldn't be long before a major celebration would be underway.

The Hunter was nowhere to be found amid the party that followed Ciel's return. He was alone, alone atop the Base's tower. His mind was abuzz with flickers, thoughts, and ideas. His gaze was fixed upon the hue of colors painted across the sky by the sunset.

He had been mildly surprised to find that regaining his memories hadn't changed him… Remembering the past had barely had an impact on him.

At first that had puzzled him, but finally he had realized why he wasn't affected. He hadn't found the answer out on the sunset before him, he found the solution where he always did… deep inside of himself.

It didn't matter what his body was.

It didn't matter what the past said about him.

His body did not define who he was.

His past did not dictate what he did.

His heart would have led him to follow his current path regardless of whether he had his memories or not.

He would fight for his friends, for that was who he was.

He was Zero.

End

A.N.: Well, there you have it. The end of TSoTF. I'm not all that thrilled with the way this ending turned out as it didn't hold a candle to the original, but I was tired of leaving it hanging. So I took the plunge and wrapped it up... Hopefully this wasn't too much of a let-down.