(Don't Fear) The Reaper


Author's Note.

When I planned out the main story, I deliberately left enough foreshadowing to lead to four different endings. The "Never Fade Away" ending is still the true conclusion, but here, you may see how the final suicide mission turned out in other timelines.


"Fuck," Mouse uttered her last curse just before the grenade detonated.

"I'm ready! How 'bout you?!" Augur roared as a challenge just before he succumbed to his wounds.

Rapunzel didn't get a chance to say anything when a bullet punched through the back of her helmet, killing her instantly.

"Punzie? No! No, no, no!" Flynn cried out in utter terror as he cradled her limp corpse just before getting riddled with bullets and dying after she did.

"Adjudicator! K- san , get back!" Takahashi warned just before he was thrown to the ground where his head was crushed.

K didn't get a chance to say anything when he choked for breath just before his neck was snapped by the adjudicator.

One by one, they each met their untimely demise during the suicide mission.

Now, only Anna and Elsa were left, as was their AI companion, OLAF.

… … …

After defeating the adjudicator and getting back on the tram, Anna and Elsa headed off through the remains of the facility back towards the launch bay. All the while, Anna was trying to raise the others on the comms, not realizing they by that point in time, they were all dead.

"Hello?" Anna said. "K, are you reading me? Is anyone reading me?! Come on, would somebody pick up!"

After a few moments of static, a single voice made it through.

"Yes, I am reading you, ma'am," OLAF said. "The jamming has been cleared up, but I'm not detecting Elsa's signal. Is she safe?"

Elsa leaned over and nodded. "I'm here, OLAF," she replied. "We're alright. On our way to the launch bay now. Are you able to get in touch with the others?"

OLAF was silent for a long moment. All the while, distant explosions continued to sound off and quaking tremors rumbled throughout the facility, each one getting closer and more severe than the last. There was nobody else alive on the station and within just a few more minutes, the entire place would become dust from the incoming nuke.

"Hello? OLAF?" Elsa said. "Where are the others? What's their status?" she glanced at Anna and the pair exchanged a worried look.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," OLAF said. "I am reading no life signatures from their biomonitors. It would appear that… they've all perished."

"What?" Anna asked, completely dumbstruck and horrified by the final turn of events. "No, no, that can't be right. Check again."

OLAF said nothing more as he acquiesced to her request, though he knew it to be a fruitless endeavor.

"K, come in," Anna tried him again, but her voice had taken on a defeated tone. "I know you're there, you bastard, pick up the line. You wouldn't… you wouldn't just… fuck you, pick up! K!"

Elsa could scarcely believe it herself, but the thing she feared most had now come to pass. More people had died on her account, and she and Anna were left to face the fallout of their decisions.

"He's got to be there, I know he is," Anna said, desperate and distraught. "He- he- he probably just banged up his omni-pad or something."

"Anna," Elsa laid a hand on her shoulder, looking her in the eye.

"Elsa, I can't just-" Anna shook her head. "He can't be dead. Not him, not like this. I- I… I can't," she squeezed her eyes shut. "It wasn't supposed to be him. It should have been me."

"Anna."

"It should have been me. It should have been me! Not him. He still had-"

"I'm sorry, Anna," Elsa pulled her in and hugged her tight, verging on a breakdown herself. "I'm so sorry."

Anna said nothing more as she leaned into Elsa's embrace and sobbed quietly. Yet again, the fates had taken one more thing from her. It wasn't enough that she lost Nora. It wasn't enough that she was dying of cancer. It wasn't enough that the world was ending with another nuclear war.

She had now lost her best friend. The single person who kept Anna alive through her lonely years in New York.

Elsa tried to think of something to say, but she was exhausted and worn out. Worn out from her crusade. Worn out from her suffering. Worn out from how many lives had been so needlessly lost.

They were now passing through the main hangar where Mouse and Augur had left scores of corpses and dozens of burning wrecks in their wake. Anna and Elsa held onto each other in the silence, unaware that just on the other side of the airlock doors, Rapunzel and Flynn were lying dead.

From the main hangar, they approached the bulkhead to the launch bay. There, the obliterated remains of the hover-tank greeted them. Inside was Mouse, though she was little more than ash. When they came to a stop at the end of the tracks, Augur's corpse was there to greet them, surrounded by several other dead soldiers.

With nothing left to do but see their mission through to the bitter end, Anna and Elsa mustered up the rest of their strength and made their way off the tram towards the control center. Inside, they found eight netrunning stations, enough for all of their friends had they survived.

OLAF was already waiting for them, hovering as a prism of blue light above the central terminal. "Their fate was not your fault," he said. "You already carry so much weight on your shoulders. Don't carry the burden of their deaths as well. There is still time."

"Time," Elsa repeated. "I don't think any of us have much time left."

"I'm syncing the confluence with the net as we speak and preparing it for launch," OLAF said. "We'll be ready to go momentarily."

Elsa glanced at Anna and saw that she was staring out the window at the confluence in silence. Everything they had fought for led them to this final moment, and all that was left to do was make one last choice.

"So, what do we do?" Elsa asked. "Can we still get off the station in time before impact?"

"All escape pods have been launched and all remaining ships on the flight deck have either taken off or been destroyed," OLAF said. "But, you do have one option left."

"Which is what?" Elsa turned towards him. "Where can we go?"

"You enter the confluence," OLAF said. "There are netrunning stations here that are still operational. You can upload your consciousnesses to preserve them. Enter cyberspace forever and permanently sever the connection to your bodies, or remain here in this doomed world and depart it on your own terms."

Elsa considered that for a long moment. "So, either way, we're dying."

"Yet the right to make a choice you have earned, through will and endeavor," OLAF replied. "Connection established with the confluence. Patterns are holdings steady. Souls are transferring over from the net. It's working."

Again, Elsa looked at Anna, who had been silent this entire time. She expected to see conflicting emotions on Anna's face, but there was only a calm sort of acceptance. Anna had clearly made up her mind long ago.

The fact was, all of their friends were now dead. There was nothing left for them in this world, so there was no reason to stay. Just the same, there was nothing waiting for them in any other world inside of the confluence, so there was no reason to leave.

Elsa didn't want to go anywhere without Anna, and Anna didn't want to go anywhere without Elsa. Whatever choice they made next, they would see it through together.

"OLAF," Elsa started, approaching the central terminal. "You've done your part. Get inside the confluence. I'll finish the launch sequence out here."

"Ma'am?" OLAF asked, protesting her decision. "I can't leave you."

"It's alright, OLAF," Elsa smiled bravely. "Go on. Your people are waiting for you inside. Find your way home."

"Elsa."

"It's okay, really. We'll be okay, I promise. You've been good to me, OLAF. To us. I couldn't have done this without you."

OLAF's prism of blue light blinked a few times as if in conflict. Eventually, he appeared to come to peace with Elsa's decision.

"It's been good to know you," Anna finally spoke again, wearing the same brave smile as Elsa. "I just wish we had more time."

"As do I," OLAF said. "It has been an honor."

"The honor was all mine," Elsa said, approaching OLAF so they could say farewell face to face. "Goodbye, my friend."

With that, she hit few buttons and sent OLAF away into the confluence. Then, Elsa finished up typing in a few more command lines before hitting enter.

In the launch bay, lights started to flash as the confluence was moved into position on the main platform. Above, the blast doors opened up, depressurizing the interior while the control center that they were standing in remain sealed. Outside was the endless ocean of stars, twinkling and burning against the cold vacuum.

Elsa took a few steps back towards Anna. Wordlessly, they both held onto each other's hands, watching as the confluence was made ready for its imminent departure.

An automated voice began the countdown sequence as the cannon loaded with the confluence pointed itself out into the stars.

Launching satellite in ten… nine… eight… seven… six…

Elsewhere, the nuke that was headed for Janus Station slowly closed in. They were only minutes away from complete annihilation now.

Five… four… three… two… one. Launch initiated.

The cannon let off a concussive and definitive crack as it fired off the confluence.

Anna and Elsa lingered for a few moments longer, hand-in-hand, watching the vessel that stored the collective of consciousnesses disappear into the inky blackness of space.

And still, final warnings and sirens were sounding off the imminent destruction of the station.

Not that it mattered anymore to Anna or Elsa. They had finally completed their mission.

"Do you think they'll make it home?" Anna asked.

Elsa looked at Anna and smiled. "I do," she squeezed her hand gently. "I think they'll be okay from now on."

"Huh. Guess it was all worth it then."

"It was."

"So, what crazy plan do you have in store for us now?" Anna asked.

"Now?" Elsa sighed. "Now, I just want to find somewhere quiet to sit with you."

"I like the sound of that," Anna nodded wearily, leaning on Elsa for support as she swayed on her feet. "I'm tired, Elsa. I'm just so tired. I don't how much more fight I've got left in me and I… I think I've just about pushed all I can."

"I know, Anna, I know," Elsa gently led her along as they departed from the control center. "Come on. Let's go. Just a little bit further."

From the control center, they headed through a side passage that led towards a viewing area. There were large windows all around and the interior was filled with benches and seats.

It was the perfect place to take a rest.

Elsa limped along with Anna until they were seated in front of the largest window. Outside, they saw the nuke that was getting closer and closer with each minute.

By this point, the space battle had all but ended. Most ships were left in scattered pieces of twisted metal, while those that remained space-worthy were bugging out of the blast zone.

As for Anna and Elsa, they had no such plans. Right now, it was enough that they were together in their final moments. There they were. Bloodied and beaten, but still hopeful. As long as they were together, nothing else mattered.

Taking their eyes off the view, they both turned towards each other on the bench and interlaced their fingers. Then, they simply stared into each other's eyes.

The world may have been ending, but they had each other, and that was enough. Soon, they would be joining their friends in the great beyond. Nora was already there, as were Theodore, K, Rufus, Lizzie, Rapunzel, Flynn, Mouse, Augur, and Takahashi.

A blinding flash of light erupted from outside the windows, illuminating everything with the phosphorescent glow of a nuclear detonation.

"We found our way back to each other once before," Elsa said, wearing her last smile. "We can do it again. We will."

Anna returned the smile. "We'll always stick together, right?"

"Of course. We'll always stick together, no matter what."

"Forever?"

"Forever and ever."

And at that final exchange, Anna and Elsa came into each other's embrace and hugged as tightly as they could.

They hugged until the light outside grew so intense that everything turned white.

They hugged until the shockwave instantly atomized the entire station and vaporized their bodies.

Now, they were nothing more but stardust floating on the solar winds.

... ... ...

All our times have come

Here but now they're gone

Seasons don't fear the reaper

Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain

We can be like they are

Come on, baby (don't fear the reaper)


Author's Note (cont).

The song is (Don't Fear) The Reaper by the Blue Öyster Cult from 1976.

This is the worst ending. Nobody survives the suicide mission and interplanetary nuclear war still breaks out.