A/N - Happy holidays everybody! I hope you guys are doing well. I'm submitting this a little earlier than I usually do, but I don't imagine that'll cause any problems, just think of it as a little present ;)

Enjoy!

"I'd feel a lot better if we had a plan," Ryan thought aloud as they left the helicopter.

"Where's the fun in that?" Cole's ruffled voice replied.

"Not all of us fought a hundred-foot monster ya' know."

"In the end, it was the easiest fight I ever had. All I did was push a button."

"What was the hardest then?"

Cole took a second to think as they walked towards the giant compound.

"Kessler," he answered.

"I still have nightmares about him," Ryan stated, half to himself.

"Really?"

"Oh uh… well I mean, I guess 'nightmare' was the wrong term—"

"No I meant… you knew Kessler?" Cole interrupted.

"Yeah, he was the one who—"

"Halt!" a guard at the gate shouted with his weapon drawn, "This area is restricted!"

"I thought the DUP didn't exist anymore." Cole shouted back.

"That's none of your concern."

"Shut up and open fire!" another shouted.

Several soldiers and turreted trucks sent a barrage of bullets towards the pair. However, Cole calmly held out his prosthetic hand and a static shield materialized in front of them. Bullets disintegrated as they came into contact. Ryan stood behind and watched as the older conduit stood his ground, seemingly unphased by the assault. Seconds later, several missiles emerged from all sides of the complex. As they converged towards the shield, Ryan tossed a time bomb in front of Cole. The plethora of bullets and missiles gathered inside the bluish sphere, serving as a temporary shield. Seeing the projectiles slowly moving towards them gave Cole an idea.

He sent several shockwaves into the sphere, causing all the projectiles inside to change direction. Seeing his plan, Ryan closed his fist and the sphere dissipated. As it did, time reverted back to normal and the various projectiles were returned to their owners. A few missed their targets, but those that didn't resulted in either dead soldiers or exploding APCs.

"Hold your fire!"

The gunshots slowed to a halt as a man dressed in sleek black armor walked out from within the complex. A large wooden crate trailed behind him.

"You're not gonna' kill him," he told the soldiers, "That's Cole MacGrath. The crazy bitch went an' done it. You truly can't kill the demon of Empire City."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere!" Cole called out.

"That being said, I can probably do something about the younger one."

"You'll have to go through me first," Cole replied.

"Now," he commanded.

On either side of the conduit pair, rocketeers appeared form the shrubbery and fired missiles. Cole was able to use a shock blast to send one back towards the sender and turned around in time to get blasted by the other. It struck the ground between them and separated them.

"Fire!"

Gunfire filled the air again as every assault rifle was aimed at Cole. He held a static shield to protect himself as he stood back up. Meanwhile, the agent knelt to the ground and the lid to the crate blew away, revealing a swarm of black beads. They gathered around his feet and he jumped into the air, projected by the magnetic spheres. He positioned himself between the two conduits and turned towards Ryan as Cole was bombarded with bullets.

Ryan unholstered his submachine gun and opened fire. The agent created a shield using the magnetic beads and the bullets bounced off. Spikes then erupted from the agent's shield and were sent towards Ryan. He teleported out of the way and held his hand to the ground. A blue light emanated from the ground and he lifted his hand upwards. The resulting shockwave snaked his way towards the agent who was launched to the side by his artificial power.

Meanwhile, Cole strafed back and forth trying his best to get to Ryan. They must've been running out of ammo, as the barrage of bullets slowed. When he saw an opening, he closed his shield and ran towards the open compound. He shot several electrified rockets into the sky and then sent smaller bolts towards groups of soldiers. Each smaller bolt redirected his rockets, sending them straight into his attackers.

At that point, the gunfire ceased, leaving the only the gunshots coming from Ryan. Cole turned and opened fire at the agent, sending a stream of electrified bolts at the agent. After a few seconds of being pummeled, he brought up a shield to protect him, only to have beads fall to the ground as Cole's electricity struck them. Then, noticing the situation he was in, he propelled himself into the air towards the station. Cole sent a rocket in his general direction and, after being shot by a smaller bolt, it sought out the agent and hit him, disabling his artificial power in the process.

He hit the ground with a resounding thud and the two went to investigate. Upon further inspection, they found him to be dead. Ryan then looked back at the rest of the base. Everybody lied dead, and each APC was in flames. He then looked back at all the source of the destruction: Cole. He was greeted by an uneasiness that he couldn't shake off.

"Great work kid," Cole complimented.

"Uh, thanks," Ryan spoke, broken away from his thought.

"C'mon, let's go claim our prize," Cole suggested while walking towards one of the side buildings.

"What exactly is our prize?" Ryan asked, catching up to Cole.

"Well… this Augustine character gave her powers to all of her shoulders right?"

"Right… and she did it using a machine, didn't she?"

"How did you know?"

"Kessler… used the same thing on me… to give my powers to the Reapers in Empire City."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It's not the most pleasant feeling in the world, and to do it over and over again… a friend of mine went through that."

"Is she okay?"

"She's dead."

Ryan immediately felt as if a needle stabbed him.

"Sorry," Ryan said as they walked into the targeted building.

"Don't be, it was years ago. You'll find out pretty quick that time heals a lot of things."

Cole's hunch paid off, as the machine in question, though modified, laid in front of them. It was a large wheeled platform with room for two people. On either end of the platform, a dish faced inwards towards a centralized pylon that served as the power source. The dishes were attached to vertical towers that were equipped with arm restraints.

"This is it…" Ryan whispered.

"Looks like it. Though it's much smaller than the one I used."

"Did Bentley ever say why he wanted us to get this?"

Cole stared at Ryan, hesitant to answer.

"No."

They loaded up the machine onto the helicopter and then boarded themselves and flew back to the refuge. When they returned, they were greeted by Sam, Alex, and Bentley. They were instructed to wheel the power transfer device to the lab. Once it was plugged in and hooked up, Bentley looked at Ryan and Cole.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked.

"While… examining Cole, we've noticed some… complications."

"Like what?" Cole asked.

"Your body seems to be deteriorating at an accelerated rate. We believe that it may be a result of the… Lazarus Project."

"How is this machine supposed to fix that?" Cole asked.

"I want Ryan to give you his powers. With his time-altering abilities, it may be possible for you to slow down the deterioration process to that of a normal human's."

"Are you sure? This thing was originally designed to work both ways. What if I accidentally give Ryan something he—"

"Let's do it," Ryan interrupted.

Cole looked over at Ryan in shock.

"Kid? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, if I can help, I need to."

Cole put his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"Alright, let's do it."

The two prepped themselves as Bentley instructed them where to stand. Once they were locked into place, Bentley went to fetch a small metal container. When he opened it, he revealed a glowing piece of stone: a blast core. He carefully walked it over to the machine and placed the blast core into the central pylon. He then walked to a nearby computer and typed a list of commands before letting his finger hover over the "enter" key.

"You two ready?" Bentley asked.

"What is this gonna' feel like?" Ryan asked.

"You know the feeling you experienced when using the blast core?"

Ryan nodded.

"Imagine that times ten."

Bentley hit "enter" and the pylon started glowing a bright purple. Then, a small shockwave was released by the blast core that slightly shoved the others back. Cole and Ryan started writhing as a bluish mist was seen leaving Ryan and entering Cole. This continued for several seconds, causing the lights to flicker from the power surge. Then, as quickly as it started, the power transfer process ended, leaving both participants unconscious.