Agito raced back into the valley, carrying the amputated Takumi, sitting in front of him, still alive thanks to his quick Paxerian healing, but very much exhausted and bruised from his fight with Lucia.
"Littlefoot…" he said tiredly. "I'm so sorry…" he looked to the area where his arm used to be. "I'm not gonna be of much help to you with only one arm…"
"Don't talk…just relax" Agito responded, driving into the entranceway as the others were already gathered, waiting for the two as he stopped his bike.
"Oh no…Takumi!" Ducky shouted, being the first to spot her wounded Paxerian ally. "What happened to him?" she asked Agito, with very frightened eyes.
"Lucia sliced off his arm…" Agito plainly stated. "I have to get him back to his ship."
"It's ok…" Takumi reached and patted Ducky on the shoulder. "Really…Paxerians can recover quickly from lost limbs…I just need a little rest is all."
Ducky nodded as she gripped her Delta gear with her right hand. "I'll find Lucia, Takumi…and I'll make her sorry she ever did this to you, I promise."
"Don't bother…" Agito looked to her again. "Lucia's already dead…"
Ducky just looked at him and nodded as Agito drove off with Takumi, heading straight for the ship as he soon stopped and scooped up his downed ally, the Faiz gear in tow as he carried him to the entrance of his ship, setting him down on the cot he slept on inside.
"Are you comfortable?" Agito asked him as he helped him into the sheets.
"Oh yes, I'm doing just fine n-" Takumi froze as he noticed something, right in front of him, his eyes going wide.
"What is it?"
Takumi pointed behind Agito with his remaining arm "Mihara's cryo-tube…it's open…and it's empty!…"
Agito quickly turned to confirm this…the tube had indeed been opened…near the side, a section of the glass was shattered…and looked like it was broken from inside, as the flexible glass shards were bent outward.
Just then, something just out of his view appeared to lunge at Agito…the warrior turned and drew his sword, only to freeze in mid-swing as he got a good look.
A familiar face, which had just stumbled while trying to walk again, was looking up at Agito on his knees.
"Mihara!" Agito exclaimed, as Takumi simply froze in wonder.
"Good to see you again, Littlefoot…" Mihara spoke softly.
Takumi couldn't say a word as Mihara got back up on his feet, walking over to his side slowly, noticing his lost arm.
"Takumi…what the hell happened to you? Are you ok?" Mihara enquired, sitting on the bed near his comrade.
"I'm fine…I'm gonna be fine…" Takumi put up his hand, and nodded as he said this. "But what about you?…You're supposed to be dead!"
Mihara nodded "I know…I don't remember a thing about it…all I remember after going black was this energy going into my body…this great, warm energy that made my body mobile again…" he looked to the smashed glass in the cryo tube. "And a bit more powerful it seems…" he chuckled a bit.
Takumi furrowed his brow as Littlefoot shifted back into his true form. "That's strange…any access to your body could only be accomplished through the console I hooked you up to…check the log-in history for me if you could…"
Mihara nodded and walked over to the console hooked to the cryo-tube, typing in a few things before dragging his finger along the screen a bit, bringing up the history of the log-ins to the system, and looking through it, not seeing anything odd until…
"What the hell is this all about?…" Mihara muttered.
"What is it?" Littlefoot enquired, as Takumi looked up curiously from his bed.
"This is saying the last log in was a transmission from an outside source…"
Takumi sat up even more. "What?…what outside source?…"
"From the professor's ship!' Mihara stated.
Littlefoot's jaw dropped as Takumi's eyes went wide. "That's impossible…all this time that Neo-organism thing has been helping the impactors in trying to kill all of us…why is it suddenly helping us?…"
Another familiar voice suddenly came out from nowhere…"Because the one called the Neo-organism is no more…"
Littlefoot suddenly turned to see the grasshopper up and flying again!
"You!…you've come back as well!" he exclaimed, as Takumi looked over to spot where he kept the shattered remains, not finding them.
"That is correct…" it plainly stated. "At the same time Mihara was resurrected, I was reconstructed."
"Well then, maybe you could make some sense out of this…" Takumi said as Mihara looked in the grasshopper's direction. "Why?…why is this all happening?…why is that computer suddenly helping us?"
The grasshopper flew as it answered. "Well, it seems that all along, the computer on the professor's ship, to put it simply, was composed of two distinct personalities, with one suppressing the other until now…you see, the one called the Neo-organism was holding back this other part of itself all this time, wanting to dominate all life, and kill whatever got in its way…this other part of it's being was the Neo-organism's polar opposite, the one more interested in serving other creatures, assisting them, even healing them."
Littlefoot tilted his head. "Does this other part call itself anything?"
The Grasshopper landed on another console. "Indeed…it calls itself the Neo-spirit."
"Interesting…" Takumi spoke up as he lay back on the bed. "But that still doesn't change the fact that we're short-handed, now that my arm's gone. Forget about me using the Faiz gear anymore."
Mihara scratched his head. "That reminds me…where did you put the Delta gear?"
Before Takumi could respond, Ducky entered the ship, carrying the gear in one arm, and some flowers she picked for Takumi in the other. Her eyes met those of the resurrected Mihara, and the two of them just froze for a moment.
Mihara blinked and looked back to Takumi. "You gave the Delta gear to HER?"
Takumi chuckled a bit. "Actually, she took it from me." Ducky blushed as she heard this, before looking back to Mihara.
"What is all this? You're supposed to be dead…am I dreaming?" her eyes went wide.
Mihara chuckled and shook his head. "It's a long story, and I don't fully understand it…but I really am alive again, Ducky."
Ducky just nodded slowly as she placed the flowers down, so many emotions going through her mind at the moment, and just no possible way to express them. She walked towards him, holding the Delta gear out in hands and lowering her head with a shy smile.
"Then this belongs to you once again…I did what I could with it in your place."
Takumi smiled. "She did a lot more than that, Mihara…with the help of your memories of fighting programmed into the gear, she became a great ally to our cause. It would take too long to tell you all she did, but believe me, it was all very impressive."
Mihara looked on with a surprise smile. "Well if that's true, then I'd hate to suddenly take all that away from you in an instant."
"You may not have to, Mihara." The Grasshopper spoke up. "I've been doing a little more investigating into what it is exactly the Neo-Spirit did when it resuscitated you, and I've found that it added a few extra chemicals to your body."
"Really?" Mihara looked on with Ducky and Takumi, as Littlefoot sat in the background.
"Yes. You see, it somehow anticipated a situation like this, with Takumi being taken out of commission, so it injected you with the exact types of chemicals and enzymes that Takumi has in his body…the exact chemicals needed for one to use the Faiz gear."
Takumi sat straight up. "Wait a minute. You're telling me that Mihara can become Faiz now?"
"Correct." The grasshopper answered, as Mihara's jaw dropped and he looked down to Ducky, while slowly smiling.
"Well, Ducky. What do you say? Is this start of a new partnership, or what?" He slowly extended his hand to her. Ducky was slightly hesitant about continuing on as Delta, but she slowly realized that she was still needed for the cause.
"I've come this far as Delta…I might as well finish the job." She smiled and accepted his handshake as Takumi and Littlefoot smiled on, nodding to each other in approval.
Meanwhile, in a canyon not too far from the Valley, Logia was kneeling on the ground, back in his helmet, just staring over Lucia's dead body; slowly, General Balcus walked toward the hybrid Impactor, just looking at him for the longest time, before finally speaking.
"I'm awaiting your word, commander." Balcus spoke, pretty sure of what the commander wanted to do now, but still waiting for confirmation. "Just tell me when, and I'll contact the Impactor forces on Ribos…it's far off, granted, but it's the closest base we have to this planet."
"No…" Logia shook his head as he stood up finally. "I will not stand and wait for others to clean this mess up."
"We can't do this by ourselves, Logia!" Balcus retorted. "We can't waltz in and beat every single one of our enemies there…its suicide!"
"Yes! It is suicide!" Logia snapped. "But it makes no difference to me. I've been slowly dying these past few hours anyway, after he killed the only one in my life who ever showed me any compassion…any care…any semblance of love at all! It's better that I die now, then simply wait, and to see myself waste away…" he looked down at the Orga gear, which he held. "If I am to die…then everyone else shall go to oblivion with me!"
Balcus sighed as he heard this. He thought he might as well let Logia go at this point, and contact the forces on Ribos once this was all finished. He took out the capsules containing his remaining squads of Giga-fighters. "Very well…I'll provide you with all the backup I can."
"Thank you, General." Logia slowly walked over to Balcus, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know we've had our differences in the past, and I've been too abrasive with you. But through it all, you have been nothing but a true friend and comrade to myself, as you were to Lucia. And I thank you for it."
Balcus placed his hand on Logia's shoulder, and nodded in return. "Thank you commander. And I shall never regret my partnership with you once, from this day forward."
Logia turned and looked in the direction of the Valley. "Now…to battle."
Balcus nodded, and slowly walked off with the commander.
The two impactors walked off together, unaware that the ship of the Neo-Spirit was watching them through its long-range scanners. The computerized being floated about the room slowly as it looked to the regenerating body inside of one of the compartments, sleeping peacefully.
"The situation below is slowly becoming more and more serious as time goes along…" it gently stroked the glass of the compartment. "I have calibrated all of the necessary systems to bring about the regeneration as quickly as possible. All I can do now is hope you will regain consciousness in time to stop this all from coming to a tragic conclusion…"
As the ship floated high above the Earth, Littlefoot, the resurrected Mihara, and Takumi, complete with a folded up and pinned jacket sleeve, addressed all the other young warriors, Ali, Ducky, Shorty, Cera, Slick, and Rock, updating them on what happened with Mihara, the emergence of the Neo-Spirit, Mihara's inheritance of the Faiz gear, and the death of Impactor Lucia.
Littlefoot slowly walked among his comrades, as his father and grandfather looked on. "There's simply no doubt about it at this point…with the death of his closest officer, Logia is going to invade the valley with whatever forces he has left…you all have suits that he's been after, yes, but I think this time…" he sighed softly. "This time he's going to be targeting me, specifically, with those forces."
Ali gave him a concerned look as he continued to address his friends. "There's no reason for you, any of you, to be involved in this anymore…Logia is MY brother…he's MY problem, and shouldn't be yours…that's why I've come up with an idea…"
Shorty nodded on slowly, as if already knowing this, as the others looked on with big eyes. Littlefoot spoke once more. "I will take my Dad, my grandpa, and Shorty, and we will leave the valley, keeping you out of harm's way…I will face my brother alone, and save you the burden of having to fight again. You can all go back to your normal lives, and hopefully, once this is all settled, so can I."
Everyone was just silent at this point, and it seemed it would stay that way, until Cera suddenly got up and walked toward her friend, whom she had known since they were hatchlings.
"Littlefoot…" She began. "You've been through so much with all of us, for years and years, long before this whole suit mess ever occurred. So you should know, better than anyone…" she smiled widely. "…That you are never, ever, EVER, going to get rid of us!"
"That's right…" Ali smiled as she stood up. "Logia may not be my brother, but since he's your problem, Littlefoot, I say that MAKES him my problem."
"Yes!" Rock shouted as he stood up. "I say we all face him head on! Take down whatever he throws at us!"
"Yeah!" Shorty grinned as he stood. "Him and that brute General that's still alive!"
Ducky grinned and nodded as she got up, as Slick rose as well, looking around him, and smiling back to Littlefoot. "Well Littlefoot, it looks like your allies have spoken."
Littlefoot looked around at all his comrades, still unwilling to leave his side in spite of all that happened up to that point. It all filled him with a great sense of inspiration.
"Ok then." He smiled as he looked to all of them. "Let's get ourselves prepared…we have a home to defend!"
The gang all nodded and cheered slightly in approval, as the preparations began.
Meanwhile, Logia stopped on his way, and had set up a sort of funeral Pyre for Lucia, setting her lifeless body on a slab of rock with twigs and leaves under it, sending a mild blast from his gun to start the blaze. He simply looked on, with General Balcus watching in the distance, giving the commander his space.
The smoke slowly rose from the blaze as it began to burn through Lucia's armor.
"For all the time you spent on me…" Logia spoke softly. "For saving my life on more than one occasion…for letting me share in the glory and honor by giving me new life as an impactor, when others would have been content in letting me die…I thank you. I shall thank you for all eternity, Lucia. You were a great warrior, a great teacher, and most important of all, you were a good mother."
He felt a single tear leave what remained of his face under the helmet, and then gripped at the Orga gear tightly. "I shall make him suffer, Lucia. He will feel more pain and suffering than all of the damned souls in abyss combined! I promise you!"
With that, he turned from the funeral pyre, walking towards the General and nodding. "Let us continue our path." Balcus nodded softly and continued on with him, silently.
Back in the valley, all of the young heroes had split off into groups, each one patrolling the possible entrance points to the area, as Littlefoot kept a watch over many of the families in those areas, making sure they'd be safe at the moment of attack.
Then Rock and Slick, who were patrolling one spot, saw something. They called everyone else up to where they were, and they came up just as fast as they could, each one getting a good look at what was approaching the valley.
Logia walked slowly, with General Balcus at his side, but they were not alone. A few moments earlier, Balcus deployed his remaining capsules, each one containing a squadron of specially designed Giga Fighters, each one having a pair of small laser cannons attached to their wrists! Balcus walked with his sword and shield at the ready, while Logia walked with his gun in one hand, the Orga driver in the other, as the belt was now on his waist.
The groups looked on as Logia stopped, and looked around at the fighters, and then back to the General. He then looked over at his opponents, who were watching him.
"I have come to put an end to all of these childish games you've been playing with us!" He shouted to them, as they said nothing in return. "We tried to be as discreet and as quick as possible in disposing of you all, and retrieving the suits you now carry in your bodies. But you resisted, and you resisted, and one of you even killed a great warrior of the Impactor race…and that, to me, is no less than a declaration of war! And when it comes to war, my friends, we Impactors take no prisoners, and leave no surviviors! So say goodbye to your friends, your families, your very lives as you know them!
The heroes simply looked on angrily as Logia turned to General Balcus and the Giga fighters. "Rub them out."
Balcus nodded as he pointed his sword to the valley, and the Giga fighters began to march slowly holding out their gun-mounted arms. With that, Shorty jumped down first, instantly shifting into Gillis and growling, as Ali followed, shifting into Chalice and readying her bow, while Cera shifted into blade and unsheathed her sword. Rock then transformed himself into Leangle, and took a few practice swings with his staff, while Slick shifted into Garren, and fired his gun into the air a few times.
Mihara then slipped the Faiz gear around his waist for the first time, with Takumi looking on and smiling, as he took out the Faiz driver and entered the 555 code….STANDING BY…calling out "Henshin!" and slipping the driver into the belt…COMPLETE…He felt the red photon streams circle around him and transform him into Faiz, as he stood there and marveled over his form. Ducky smiled to Mihara as she soon followed suit, entering the 333 code on what was once his driver, and transforming into Delta within moments.
Littlefoot soon shifted into Agito's default gold and black form after all this, and simply stared down at Logia, who was simply standing there, waiting for the group to wear themselves out first, or for Littlefoot to make a move on him.
Balcus then gave the order to charge to the Giga fighters, as he yelled out and began to ran with them into the valley, finding Gillis, Chalice, Blade, Leangle, Garren, Faiz, and Delta, all right there waiting for them. Cera naturally struck first as Blade, deflecting laser shots from the fighters with her sword, immediately cleaving one almost completely in half as others ganged up on her, Rock providing backup for her as he swung his staff and bashed a few in the head with the heavy end.
Delta and Garren countered the fire from the Giga fighters by pulling out their own guns, firing and ducking to avoid their shots, while the new Faiz withdrew his sword and slashed away at the fighters, enjoying his first battle since his rebirth of sorts. Chalice swiftly avoided any grabs being made for her as she rolled and fired her bow, the barrage of energy arrows keeping the fighters at bay, while Gillis angrily kicked and pushed away fighters, trying to get right to General Balcus, who taunted him with a few swings of his sword every so often.
As the battle raged on, Agito had jumped down onto the rocky ground outside of the valley, heading right towards Logia slowly.
"So…you've come on your own to pay the price for your murdering?" Logia asked him.
"Brother…" Littlefoot started. "When are you going to realize that you don't need these Impactors? When are you going to wake up and see that they've just been using you all along?"
Logia sighed. "It depends on when you realize that all along your mother was nothing more than a hateful manipulative bitch that cared nothing for her offspring."
Agito breathed heavily as he quickly shifted into his burning form. "All right…I've had enough of this…I won't have you slandering my mother anymore! She was the kindest, gentlest, most thoughtful being on the face of the earth! And if you can't realize that, if you're too blind to see it, then I guess you really aren't my brother…not anymore."
Logia snarled. "Then prepare to finish the job your mother started all those years ago…if you can." He flipped open the Orga driver and entered the code…000…and pressed enter as a menacing "STANDING BY" was heard, along a strong pulsing sound. He then raised the driver and took off his helmet, saying "henshin…" softly, as he slipped the driver into his belt.
COMPLETE.
He stood there, looking at Agito, as a series of gold photon streams wrapped around his body, covering it in a new layer of thick, strong black and gold armor, a cape flowing behind him as a red globe was embedded in his chest, a large helmet, complete with a red visor shaped as the omega symbol over his head as he stood.
Logia had now become Orga, and reached for the large sword sheathed at his side, while Agito glowed in his burning form, and shifted into his ultimate Shining form.
Agito looked on. "If I have to kill you Logia, I will…"
Orga gave a single, slow nod. "Then try…"
With that, Agito launched himself towards Orga, withdrawing his blade and slashing at him as Orga blocked and parried with his sword quckly, the clashing blades giving off powerful sparks as the two brothers fought, Orga kicking Agito away as he swung his sword, cutting a big rock in half as Agito got out of the way and slashed at him, only to have Orga grab him by the arm and give him a hard headbutt, sending Agito reeling as he stepped in and slashed once more, cutting into a little of Agito's armor as he yelled out and dropped down, sweeping at Orga's feet as he went down, and parried Agito's blade away as he tried to bring it down on Orga.
Orga got back onto his feet as he swung and swung his sword, ferociously clashing with Agito's blade as Agito quickly blocked and parried everything Orga threw at him, but was finding himself slowly being pushed back against a rock wall, desperately trying to push Orga back, but Orga was much to strong, and soon had him up against the rock wall, his sword at his throat as he attempted a killing blow with the weapon. Agito soon found an opening however, and slipped down quickly just as Orga was about to thrust his sword in, and quickly kicked it out of his hand, and coming up to nail him with a hard punch before he could realize what happened. Orga grunted and fell away as Agito put his blade away and threw a series of spinning kicks at Orga, getting him once across the helmet, and then square in the chest, before smacking his sides a few times.
Orga then growled in frustration as he finally grabbed a hold of Agito's leg as he kicked, then rushed forward and nailed him with a hard clothesline across the throat! Agito hit the ground hard as he coughed and grunted, rubbing his throat as Orga lifted his sword and brought it down, trying to skewer Agito with it as he rolled away a few times from each thrust, and leaned back to kick Orga right in the visor once more. Orga fell away as Agito swiftly got back onto his feet, and got out his blade once more, swinging it as the two clashed and sparks flew.
Everything was just as crazy in the valley as the battle raged on, each warrior working together and holding their own against the new giga fighters.
General Balcus was still taunting Gillis, swinging his sword as Gillis fought off more Giga fighters, before something came at him from behind and smacked into him! It was Grandpa's tail! Balcus yelled out and went flying, rolling as he hit the ground and looked up, seeing the large old Longneck staring him down as Bron joined in the fight, swiping at a few Giga fighters with his own tail, as Cera's father charged in and gored a few fighters on his horns!
"No organic is going to best me in this fight!" Balcus yelled, as he jumped and ran through the group of Giga fighters to get to Grandpa, who swung with his tail again. Balcus promptly blocked it, and stabbed Grandpa right in his side with his broadsword!
Grandpa roared out in agony as Bron looked on in shock, as Grandpa fell to his side, and Balcus pulled out his sword, running off.
"Father!" Bron yelled out, as Balcus simply raised his sword and yelled out in victory, before running off.
Grandpa groaned and squirmed as Faiz and Takumi ran over, with a very concerned Gillis as well.
Takumi quickly examined grandpa before looking up at Bron. "It's ok. Even with one arm, I can treat this wound. He's gonna be all right."
Bron nodded slowly in semi-relief, as Faiz ran off and looked to Gillis. "Leave this to Tak, Shorty. He's got it."
Gillis just nodded slowly, and looked over to Where Balcus had gone. They may not have been related by blood, but He felt that his close relationship with Bron and Littlefoot made this old longneck just as much his Grandpa as he was Littlefoot's. He growled and slowly shifted into his Exceed Gillis form once again, slowly walking to Balcus as he grabbed and threw off any Giga fighters that got in his way.
Balcus was ready for him, his sword ready to strike, and his shield at his front, as Gillis roared and charged in, extracting his wrist blades as he clashed them with Balcus' sword loudly! Balcus got the upper hand though, and brought up his sword, throwing Gillis' arms off before kicking him to the ground.
He then charged at Gillis with his upraised sword. "DIE!" He brought it down as Gillis rolled away and shot one of his long tendrils out, wrapping it around Balcus' throat as he used it to throw him to the side. He charged at Balcus with a newfound rage, roaring out loudly as he brought up a single blade. Balcus raised his shield before Gillis spun, and brought the blade down, cleaving his shield completely in half! He grabbed Balcus and opened the mouth on his helmet, taking a bite out of his metal shoulder as Balcus yelled out in pain and fell back, dropping his now useless shield, while Gillis growled and spit out the metal he had in his mouth.
Before he moved in for the kill, he heard a scream! He looked over to see a poor Longneck girl who was caught in the middle of the battle. Gillis quickly ran over to her, forgetting about his rage for once, and tried to help her get out of the area, kicking away any Giga Fighters that got in the way. He then suddenly turned to see Balcus lunge at him with a murderous yell, bring his sword down hard as Gillis rolled out of the way, shielding the girl as he headed for higher ground, with Balcus following.
Chalice saw Gillis doing this, and fired her bow at any Giga fighters who were trying to follow the General, scoring a direct hit each time while Blade protected her by slicing away at anyone who wished to interfere with Chalice, while Rock and Slick teamed up to help out Faiz and Delta in keeping the bulk of the fighters at bay.
While this was going on, the battle still raged on between Agito and Orga, sparks flying everywhere, and even starting a few fires around them as they fought, Orga slashing away madly with his sword, as Agito blocked with his blade and kicked. Orga soon found an opening, and grabbed a hold of his adversary, slipping behind him and punching him repeatedly in the back around his kidneys. Each punch was an unbearable feeling of pain for Agito, as he screamed and struggled, before Orga finally attempted to skewer Agito through the back with his sword, only to receive a swift back kick in the crotch of his armor!
Orga yelled out in pain as Agito turned and jammed his blade into his shoulder! Orga cried out in agony as he held onto the blade, keeping Agito from jamming it in any further, struggling with him for a moment as he shook.
"Like old times…" he said with a quiver, remembering the emotional and physical pain of almost dying at birth, and almost dying once again after falling into the chasm. "How I've longed to feel this pain once more!" He proclaimed, almost gleefully, as he suddenly pulled the blade out, and pushed Agito aside, slowly rising.
"Go on…strike me! Give me more!"
Agito got up and quickly smacked Orga's head with a three-punch combo, only to get shoved back once more, as Orga held out his arms.
"More! More!"
Agito got up once more, and punched him in the helmet once again, before turning and getting him hard in the chest with a kick, before falling back some, as Orga seemed completely unaffected by it all.
"That's it. I remember that twinge." He said, rubbing his chest some.
Agito shook his head as he ran in, this time swinging his blade as he cut through some of Orga's armor, before Orga simply slapped the weapon away, and kicked Agito off to the side, looking over his wounds and feeling them.
"Do you know what it's like to be without flesh?" He spoke. "To only feel the pain of an Impactor. The pain of an organic goes much, much deeper, and for a long time, I'd forgotten what it felt like. But thanks to you…I remember…I truly remember it all now! Crystal clear!"
He then roared out in rage and charged as Agito stood, before smashing him in the chest with a well-placed punch! Agito yelled and fell back as Orga advanced…
Back in the valley, Gillis was still protecting the longneck girl, who was about his own age, as Balcus advanced on them.
"You're not getting away from me, young organic!" he roared, as Gillis helped the girl up onto a higher rock, and charged Balcus, keeping him from going any further as he clashed with him, Balcus now wielding his sword in a two-handed style since his shield was gone, slashing at Gillis as he countered with his tendrils once more, wrapping them around Balcus' wrists. Balcus was ready for this though, and yanked his wrists hard, sending Gillis into the nearby rock wall, as he hit his head hard! Balcus then laughed a bit and walked over, grabbing Gillis by the back of the head, and ramming it into the rock wall once again.
Gillis grunted and fell back, growling on his knees as Balcus walked over to him slowly, readying his sword for a decapitation. "Say good night, little flesh-job!"
As he raised his sword, though, Gillis quickly got up, and with a quick spin and a roar, jabbed his right wrist blade into Balcus' abdomen!
Balcus quickly dropped his sword and yelled out in pain as he gripped Gillis' arm with both his arms, Gillis staring fiercely into the Impactor's face, before Balcus simply leaned in and head butted him, the blade still in his gut as Gillis let it detach from his wrist.
Balcus gripped Gillis by the throat with both hands, attempting to choke the life out of him as Gillis sputtered and coughed from the strong grip around him, Balcus so intent on killing him that he didn't remember the blade still in his gut. Gillis kicked it hard as it went deeper into his body, while Balcus groaned and loosened his grip. Gillis saw Balcus' dropped sword behind him, and gripped him as he stepped on the hilt with his heel, propping the sword up as he used his weight to bring Balcus down, impaling him on the large blade!
Balcus simply grunted as the sword went through, directly severing his power supply. Gillis growled as he got back up and kicked Balcus, sending him off the edge of the rock walls, the General letting out a "gaaaaaaahhhhhhhh…" as he plummeted, and was soon silenced the moment he hit the ground, his power supply failing, as he then lost the glow in his visor, and was gone, his lifeless body laying in the dirt…
Gillis breathed hard as he recovered from the fight, rubbing his neck some as he coughed a bit. The Longneck girl, who had been watching the thing, looked down at Gillis with a combination of slight fear, and gratitude.
"Thank you." She simply told Gillis, as he nodded and helped her down from the higher rock.
The Giga fighters were completely lost now, since their leader had just been killed, making them easy targets for Chalice, Blade, Leangle, Garren, Delta, and Faiz, as each one used their weapons and skills to take them down. It didn't help much that it was also starting to rain, which wasn't good for the vision of the fighters at times.
Gillis panted a bit as he lay back next to the girl, the fight with Balcus having taken a lot out of him. "Well, I'd say my friends have this all under control." He chuckled, as Delta quickly used the device on her wrist to shift into her speedy mode, and Faiz used the device to transform into Accel mode, taking care of the remaining Giga fighters as Delta zipped around and blasted some into oblivion, while Faiz took to the sky on his jet pack and fired away. All this, while Blade charged up much of her body and sword with her energy, and let Leangle launch her into a series of wild attacks, while Chalice took out a whole group with a big energy arrow, Garren providing backup for Delta as he made multiple duplicates of himself to confuse the fighters, as he fired away.
As this all happened, Gillis sighed and relax, shifting back into Shorty right next to the girl. The girl gasped for a moment, and then smiled a bit.
"You really are one of them. Those special dinosaurs I've been hearing about around here. "
Shorty nodded a bit and smiled as he relaxed. "Yeah…my name's Shorty, and it was a pleasure to save your life."
The girl giggled a bit and nodded. "I'm called Rin…and it was a pleasure to be saved."
Shorty laughed a bit and nodded, recovering with Rin at his side as they watched the others wipe out the rest of the Giga Fighters, the valley safe once again.
Back in the outskirts, things weren't going so well for Agito, as he tried and tried to attack Orga, but was easily punched and kicked away each time. Orga fought on fiercely, still remembering the organic pain he used to feel, the memory and rage behind it driving him, as he sent Agito reeling each time he stepped forward to attack. He had become nearly invincible now, as with a final hard right hand, he sent Agito rolling onto his stomach, coughing and struggling as he crawled a bit, completely at a loss at what to do now.
Orga seized the moment and milked it, looking down at his brother as the opportunity for vengeance finally came. He withdrew his big sword and pressed the enter key on his driver…EXCEED CHARGE… his sword began to glow, as the blade extended and extended, making it an even more fierce weapon for a final blow, as Orga readied the weapon.
"Now to finish you!" He simply stated.
Then something completely unexpected happened. A large tail came out of nowhere, and slapped at Orga's hand from the bottom, making him release the sword as it flew away, the exceed charge still inside of it, and making the sword blow up!
"Who dares!" Orga yelled, as he turned to see a large female longneck looking down at him. It was Ayla! Littlefoot's mother!
Orga was completely speachless, Agito equally so as he looked up and saw his mother restored to her original form, Orga slowly shifting back into Logia as the loss of energy from the failed exceed charge drained the belt.
"Logia…" Ayla softly spoke. "Please stop this…stop this insanity, I beg of you. Don't kill my son, and your brother."
Logia slowly removed his helmet, revealing his scarred face once more as he spoke just as quietly now. "You're one to talk about not killing, aren't you? Need I remind you that you almost killed me." He shook his head. "What was wrong with me, mother? What did I ever do to you in those days, as an innocent young child, to deserve such a horrid fate."
"Oh Logia…" Ayla's eyes filled with tears as she leaned down to face her lost son. "Logia, I would have never, ever done a thing to you like that on purpose, you must believe me. It was an accident, one of many. I lost so many other eggs before yours, and Littlefoot was the last one I had. And if I had known that you had survived, and if I had not been distracted by the fight with the sharptooth, I would have devoted all of my love and care to you, just like I did with Littlefoot…" she sniffled. "You are my son, Logia…I see you as nothing less than that…and in spite of all you've done, in spite of how those Impactors used you…I love you, my son…believe me…please believe me…"
Logia lowered his head as he heard all this, confirming everything that Littlefoot had told him earlier, his eyes welling up with tears as he was now so ashamed at what he had done, but also grateful to know the truth…that he was loved after all.
"I do believe you…mother…" Logia responded, as Agito shifted back into Littlefoot, looking on as mother and son nuzzled closely, a great reconciliation now taking place.
The moment could have lasted forever, before Logia suddenly grunted and clutched at his abdomen, his Orga gear sparking and sizzling as the voice called out, "ERROR", making Logia drop down onto his back.
"Logia!" Littlefoot yelled, as he ran towards his downed brother, Ayla's teary-eyed face looking on, before she heard a familiar voice call out, "Ayla!"
Bron, who had seen his mate in the distance, walked out into the area she was in, his eyes wide open in disbelief as he called out again. "Ayla!"
"Bron!" she called back with a surprised look, as the couple went to each other, separated for so long as they shared a long emotional cuddle.
"Ohhhh Ayla….Ayla…I can't believe you're alive." Bron cried as he held his mate close. "I'm so sorry I didn't make it back in time." He said, recalling the time he left their old home.
"It's all right…it's all right…" Ayla comforted him as she shed her tears. "I'm just glad I'm here to see you again…"
This moment of joy was brief however, as he saw Littlefoot tending to the downed Logia.
"What's going on?" Bron asked as he walked over with Ayla.
Logia struggled to rise to a sitting position as he lowered his head, coughing a bit. "Lucia warned me about this…the Orga gear has overloaded my Impactor systems…I'm dying…"
The three simply froze upon hearing this, as Logia sat and smiled to himself some. "You all have no idea what I have experienced my lifetime…the raid of the Paxerian trade routes…passing the ordeal at Tanhauser rock…being given my first command job…seeing galaxy after galaxy, star after star, conversing with species you wouldn't believe…but this moment…the one I'm sharing with you all, here at the end…outshines all of those moments put together…Thank you…so…very…much…"
With that, Logia simply lowered his head and went silent, sitting perfectly still. No cries, no struggling. He simply let himself go, content in finally knowing the truth, and making peace with his soul forever.
Littlefoot looked down tearfully, as Ayla nuzzled Logia's still body, giving his scarred head a final, loving lick, as Bron nuzzled her gently.
"After all I did…" Littlefoot said softly. "I couldn't save him…"
Ayla then leaned over and nuzzled her son. "You DID save him, Littlefoot…it may have been brief, but in that moment, Logia finally learned what we all really felt about him. In that moment, he was free of all the lies, all the deception, free of the anger that he walled himself up with. He was saved, Littlefoot…and now he can rest knowing that."
Littlefoot nodded softly as he got up to join his reunited Mother and Father, the family slowly walking back to the Valley.
As they slowly faded from view, the Neo-Spirit's ship suddenly floated by. The Neo-Spirit had dropped Ayla off around this area once she began to wake, and had been keeping watch on what was going on since then. The ship hovered over the body of Logia, and used a special beam to pull it up onto the main deck, while the form of the Neo-Spirit looked on at the departing family in the distance.
"Forgive me for this deception…but you cannot know about what I have planned next…not yet, anyway."
With that, the ship quickly took off, heading for the far reaches of space.
EPILOGUE
Slick rubbed his arm after being injected with the needle from Mihara.
"Ow…what's this stuff for again?"
Mihara chuckled. "It's a special batch of suppressant that Tak and I cooked up. It's made to force your powers to go dormant…at least until we can return with a proper science team to study all of you."
"And why exactly would we want our powers to go away?" Rock asked from nearby, next to Cera.
"It's for your protection…" Takumi spoke up, he and the computer working on a new cybernetic arm for himself, "If we leave you all here with your powers still active, more Impactor forces, or their allies, will eventually find a way to home in on your signals and track every one of you down for extermination.
Rock just nodded slowly as Ducky slowly walked up to Mihara, handing him the Delta gear. "I guess this belongs to you now."
Mihara smiled as he slowly took back his belt and driver. "You did a great job, Ducky. I'm happy I got to fight alongside you at least once. And who knows, maybe when we come back, I'll let you try it out again, for old time's sake."
Ducky giggled and nodded as she walked back out, waving to her mother, who was relieved to see that awful thing finally out of her hands, as she smiled and waved back, with Spike and Petrie flanking her sides as they nodded their approval. As Ducky walked, Slick popped up right next to her.
"You'll be happy to know, that I had a little chat with Rock a while ago, and we agreed that we're tired of wandering around all the time. We're gonna make this place our home now."
"Really now?" The adolescent duckbill smiled to him. "And what exactly convinced you both to stay?"
The male duckbill coughed a little and blushed some, chuckling. "Oh, lots of different things, stuff we talked about, you know…" He quickly changed the subject. "Say, do you know any good places to swim around here? I'm feeling pretty parched."
Ducky giggled and nodded. "I know just the spot…come with me."
Slick smiled and nodded, as he eagerly obliged.
Soon after, Ali walked along the Valley, seeing Cera and Rock happily running off together, racing each other once more, and giggling as she also saw Shorty relating some of his adventures to an impressed looking Rin, walking along with her.
She soon found Littlefoot by himself in another section of the Valley, just looking on with a small smile as he saw his recovered Grandpa happily chatting with some other elderly dinosaurs.
"He's taking it all quite well, isn't he?" Ali spoke up, as Littlefoot turned for a second, and nodded.
"Yeah. That's my Grandpa…" he thought back to all that happened, including losing Grandma. "No matter how bad things get, you can always count on him to take it all in stride, and move on."
Ali nodded softly. "I certainly hope that's a trait you've inherited from him."
Littlefoot looked down a bit, his mind still going back to Logia every so often. "It's tough, Ali…I can't get it out of my head sometimes. I can't help but wonder, could I have done something different, and could it have led to Logia still being alive today?"
Ali sighed softly. "You did what you had to, Littlefoot…I have a feeling Logia was too far gone anyway, but at least it all ended well for him when you think about it. Besides, I'm just happy that you're still alive after everything that went on here."
"Ali…" Littlefoot spoke, as she slowly walked up next to him. "…I've always wanted to tell you this…the way I've come to feel about you lately…"
Ali shooshed him softly, and slowly leaned into him. "I know already…" she smiled gently. "I think I've known for a long time…"
Littlefoot smiled a little more, and just stood there, giving Ali a gentle nuzzle as they looked on at everything. Out in the distance, Bron observed his son and Ali with a happy smile, as Ayla walked right up next to him, observing with him as they both cuddled lovingly under the sun.
Some time later, after saying all of their goodbyes, the Paxerian ship carrying Takumi, Mihara, as well as the grasshopper, took off from the Earth, and shot out towards the heavens, unaware of what was going on deep in another galaxy as they headed for home.
The ship of the Neo-Spirit drifted slowly out into the middle of an uninhabited galaxy, its windows aglow with some odd activity from within.
From the middle of the room, the Neo-Spirt looked on, as there was a bizarre tank filled with red fluid now in one section of the room. Inside of it was the familiar scarred face of logia, a breathing tube attached to his mouth, as the rest of his body was free of the Impactor armaments, his form a simple mass of flesh, that was now slowly starting to take shape in this electronic womb.
"The complete physiological regeneration is in full effect, now…" the Neo-Spirit spoke, addressing the unconscious Logia as the tank bubbled. "As it comes to completion, we shall begin the next phase…we must prepare ourselves for retaliation. The Impactors are always developing new weapons to use on the innocent. Therefore we must keep ourselves ahead in countering those tactics, Logia…"
The computerized creature froze for a moment. "No…Logia is not a good name for you anymore…for as you were once cursed to fall into the abyss, you will now be walking the path of heaven." It's eyes lit up. "That's it…there is a word in ancient Paxerian that means, "Walking the path of heaven…" and that is what I shall call you now…rest well, 'Tendou'."
The Neo-Spirit slowly retreated into its resting place, as a display came up on the screen, showing a humanoid figure dressed in red and silver, with corner showing the words:
PROJECT: KABUTO
Well, that does it for this storyline, but as you can see, I'm making plans to continue this saga. Stay tuned!