Author's Notes: Alright, finally, I got chapter 27 written :D! Sorry about the long wait, between university deadlines, Christmas business and all the other things in life, I've been struggling to find time and energy to sit down and write. The shopping is done now though, and uni is over for the year, and I'm generally on top of things, so now I can hopefully really focus on finishing this off. First of all, I'm not going to like, try and tell people what to do or name any names, but regarding the, heated debated in the story's reviews, can we make peace guys, please :)? Other than that, let me see, oh yeah, to SinOan, I know that Arson's angelic transformation might have seemed a bit Dues Ex, but trust me it wasn't. It's actually a pre-established power of his that he can't control, he uses it rarely in busta's stories, and the battle went that far to draw it out of him, if I'm honest about plot mechanics. Also thanks to Saddened Soul for the honest feedback, I wanted to see how an abrupt end would work, whether it would create a sense of a real close call, or suck. Evidently it can't work, or if it can, not how I did it. I think that's it all so, enjoy everyone 8).
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Laughter. It is a beautiful thing to have, and a tragic thing to lose.

Like air is to the body, laughter is to the soul a necessity so vital and abundant, it is often taken for granted. It rarely enters one's worldview to question its place or consider its value, but ask a drowning man what he craves most, and if he could answer, it would not be the wealth, fame or sexual thrill so many pursue daily.

You might conquer the world with power, but only with laughter, would the world cheer you on as you did so. The twin faces of theatre are comedy and tragedy, and even in the darkest moments where no other light shines, it is often the only solace, so that even a man marching to his death might smirk at the irony of it all.

Like water or light, it is a sacred essence we rarely see the true value of having, or the true horror of losing. After all, who has ever been terrified by the thought that the sun might burn out, or the oceans may dry up?

Truly, laughter is a blessing so hard to fully understand, and so easy to dismiss when it is threatened. How readily it is forsaken, and how idly onlookers watch as it shrivels and dies, deeming it petty, meaningless, insignificant. How simple it is to be oblivious of the hollow, chilling silence that would remain without it.

Some might believe it a foolish cause, a trifling matter not worth the effort. But consider the alternative, the barren, desolate and lifeless wasteland that would remain if this vital force were ever allowed to fade away. Weigh and measure the true worth of that vibrancy, colour, and energy, before you judge those who fight to defend it, and ask what the world would be without it, before you question the lengths they go to, to save it.

Laughter. It is simple, it is joyous, and, it is free. Ultimately, what values could be more worth fighting for?

----

Silence reigned.

The void swirled, growing ever more chaotic as time passed. It is hard to say whether the perpetrator of this anarchy was aware of the turmoil she wrought, whether maliciousness or ignorance fuelled her destructive path, but, ultimately, the result was just as disastrous.

The broken remains of the platform drifted in that void, and upon them lay the broken remains of a crusade.

Their spirits had been strong, but unlike their opponents, who were nigh on elemental forces, they were just characters, fallible, flawed, finite. Their enemies did have weaknesses, which they turned against them. The Puppet Master was powerless without control, as Zone had seen, and he'd managed to frustrate and goad it into leaving itself vulnerable. The Blind Seer's power was daunting but she could only inflict fear, pain and despair, holding no sway over those who accepted such sacrifices as Reiko had found. Lastly the Wild Card had thrived on chaos, but Arson's power had been the antithesis to this, order, turning the chaos in on itself.

But, they were still limited beings. Each victory came at a price, taking a toll, their strength weakening, will straining and resolve waning from each such encounter, not to mention their individual challenges between.

Now, they had reached their limits, they could not continue. Having forced themselves to push on so many times, they had nothing left, lying unconscious in the aftermath of their last battle.

Time passed, and eventually one of them stirred and woke.

Blinking and groaning, Zone struggled to lift his head, and make sense of what his eyes saw, rising first of all not because he was the strongest, but for the opposite reason. Out of the three of them, he was, he knew, and would admit to few, the weakest, the one the others protected most, and the one who would have gotten the least far alone, although none of them could have gotten here without the other two. As a result, he had suffered the least, and was the first to recover consciousness.

As was his nature, the rodent spoke what was on his mind. "Ouch, pain" he muttered through gritted teeth, feeling as he imagined one would feel after being run over by a steamroller if it was possible to survive the event and experience the subsequent crushed sensation.

Slowly piecing together awareness of his surroundings, the hamster found he was in Reiko's hand, with his other arm wrapped around it, the vampire on his back. He looked in bad shape, and if he were awake, Zone would have quipped that he looked like he, Zone, felt. But he wasn't, and didn't feel up to joking either, so instead he worked on freeing himself from Reiko's grip.

It wasn't easy, as Reiko had quite a tight hold on him, and he also felt very tender and weak, causing him to wonder why his conscious had returned at all, when it was painfully clear his body wasn't in working order.

After a few attempts, he eased himself free, finding he looked at least half the mess he felt. Making his way up his friend's torso to his face and tried to wake him up. Again it took a few tries, as he didn't have a lot of physical presence and didn't feel like shouting either.

After a couple of minutes, Reiko roused, making uncomfortable sounds that agreed with the ones Zone had. Slowly opening his eyes he winced and raised his arm to shield them, but it only made it halfway, dropping incidentally onto Zone's back. "Hehe, you found me" the hamster managed a weak chuckle that stung a bit.

"Zone?" Reiko asked hoarsely, confusion giving way to some relief that he was still alive. He tried to sit up but his body was having none of it, allowing him nothing more than a tiny shift. His ribs ached like murder.

"Yeah I'm here, mostly" came the reply, Zone moving back to Reiko's stomach so he wasn't so awkwardly close to his head. "How about you though?" he asked.

"I, don't seem to be able to move" Rieko replied after testing his limbs out. He could manage some minor movements, but say, rolling onto his front would probably be the pinnacle of his ability at the moment. "I should recover given time, though" he added, to reassure himself or Zone more, he didn't know. "Where's Arson?" he asked suddenly, both him and Zone having passed out shortly after the hybrid had transformed.

"I uh, don't know" Zone answered, his voice tainted with concern. He looked about, but couldn't see Arson anywhere, and the elliptic orbit of their little chunk meant he got to see all the other pieces in time, but still no sign of their friend. One thing he did see was the three portals to the secret missions, laboriously rotating round like giant poles each emanating from a fragment of stone. "I can't see him, or the Wild Card either, I guess he must have beat him, since the portals are active" he relayed.

There was a pensive silence as they dwelt on the unknown fate of their friend, another obstacle and cause for worry. When he could, Reiko raised his head to look himself, and noticed something. "The fire portal" he indicated, Zone turning and looking again. He hadn't seen it the first time, but now that he looked closer, the flaming pillar was less intense than usual, semi-transparent. It happened when the portal had been used.

"You think he went through without us?" Zone asked.

"Arson would not do that, maybe he was on that piece of ground when the portal activated." Reiko replied.

"I hope so…" Zone said, looking into the madness around them, which promised uncertain death if Arson had fallen into it. "Well, what now?" he asked, "I can walk, shakily, but that's about it, you can't even sit up, and we've lost Arson. I'm not one for giving up but lets be honest Reiko, we're finished" he whispered.

Another heavy silence followed, as Reiko dwelt on the humbling truth in his words. He was slowly getting some strength back but would take ages to recover, a full day perhaps, and even if Zone could usually carry him, if he were human or something, he wouldn't be able to now, not after everything they'd been through.

Several long minutes passed, bringing with them a harrowing sense of despair as no answers came to mind.

Finally, Reiko shifted, and, Zone getting off of him, sat upright, that task alone an effort of will. "We have to continue, we have no other choice. It seems futile, and I cannot claim to know, that it is not. But to stay here offers no salvation, and we may be trapped if we linger too long" the said, mustering what conviction he could. After a moment he added "Also, if Arson did use the fire portal it's our best hope of finding him".

Zone heaved a weary sigh, but he nodded, "I guess you're right". Try, or don't try, for the rodent, no matter how hard that choice was, it was always a simple one. "Alright, I'm in. All the way" he said more certainly.

"Thank you Zone" Reiko said sincerely, glad that he wasn't giving up, even though he wouldn't blame him if he did. "However, of the remaining portals I don't know what challenges they lead to, do you?" he asked.

A laugh and a shake of the head, "I never even got to look inside the book, too short to join the discussion".

"Ah, I apologise" Reiko offered, but Zone dismissed it with a wave of his paw, indicating he wasn't upset about it. "Would you like to choose your portal, then?" Reiko gave Zone the choice as a kind of reparation.

"Hmmm" the rodent mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I'll take… Lightning" he decided, some fond memories of a certain succubus influencing his choice.

"Alright, that leaves me with water" Reiko concluded, thankful that his destination was close by. However, the lightning portal was almost completely on the opposite side of the nebula of swirling debris from them.

"… I have gotta think before I speak more" Zone sighed, smirking sardonically at his own lack of foresight.

Reiko was busy eying the distance with a calculating gaze. He reckoned Zone could make it across, but it was a long shot gamble kind of could. Raising his arm experimentally, Reiko found he could move it, but not without it shaking in protest. Still, it was better than nothing he reasoned, "Zone, do you want a hand?".

The rodent looked around from trying to plan his own path across the flotsam and wreckage, and quickly got the vampire's meaning. A wary concern flickered across his eyes, but he swallowed it down, telling himself that he was on the way to far greater dangers in any case. "You'd better not miss" he half-joked.

"I will try my best not to" Reiko promised sincerely, silently hoping that his best would be enough while he lowered and opened his hand. Zone climbed into his palm, and the vampire took a minute to feel his weight and judge the throw, his friend's fate once again, literally in his hand.

As Reiko raised him, Zone hesitated, but then said what was on his mind. "Hey, Reiko" the vampire paused at hearing this, looking at him curiously. "I wanted to say, if we don't make it, don't see each other again… I'm glad I knew you and Arson and that we got this far together, glad and grateful… Thanks" he said shyly.

There was a silence, but for once it wasn't awkward, then Reiko spoke. "I am too. Despite our differences, I'm grateful for your companionship, you have a good soul under your brash exterior" the vampire replied.

A final pause ensued, in which no words were exchanged, and the two of them just came to terms with the fact, reinforced by every pain in their bodies, that this might be the last time they see each other. Then, the moment ended, and as Reiko hefted Zone carefully, they'd both decided they were glad for what had been.

Judging the angle and velocity as best as his clouded mind could, Reiko tensed his muscles, which stung in protest, and swung. Vision blurred at the uncoiling motion and pain that spasmed through him. He was not recovered and wouldn't be without much rest, and the only reason he was awake was Zone had roused him.

Trying his best to keep his aim on his memory of where the lightning portal was, he opened his eyes once his head stopped spinning, and a slow terror crept through him. The rodent was sailing across the void, not hitting any of the debris between him and his target, but he was drifting wide of the mark, deviating to the right. Reiko's mind screamed in grief, he had failed him, he'd betrayed his trust, he'd let him down at the-.

The vampire's panic was interrupted as a bolt of energy shot out of the rodent. Firing his laser, Zone altered his trajectory and jerked to the left, zipping neatly into the side of the lightning portal, and vanishing into it.

Relief mercifully smothered Reiko's senses, and he only hoped the hamster wouldn't hold a grudge, but at least he would be alive to, even if he did. Rolling onto his front, he gritted his teeth at the effort of forcing his exhausted body to comply. He was fighting a fatigue of spirit as well as strength, needing time for his regenerative abilities to let him recover, but time he didn't have. Looking up from his crouch, he saw that just 3 metres from him was a ledge level with himself from which he could just, drop into the water portal.

Rising to his feet, the vampire swayed and dropped back to one knee, but groaned with effort and pushed himself back up, standing hunched forwards slightly to balance. He was suffering for his actions, and they would only lead him to further pain, he knew, and his senses rebelled for it, but he had never let such things stop him doing what had to be done, and wouldn't now.

Lowering himself precariously, he tensed his legs, gathering what strength he could, and, leapt. His tendons felt like they were being minced, but he rose, arcing towards the platform. His foot hit solid ground, and the leg gave out, no strength to absorb his inertia left in them as he stumbled, tumbled, fell, bounced against the stone, rolled over the edge, his back smacking it painfully, but managed to push off and fall into the light…

----

Arson awoke in a strange and unfamiliar place, shapes and lights dancing about him. He blinked, and to his surprise, his vision cleared considerably, clarity returning in moments. His mind started to pick things up, and he found he felt completely tranquil. His memory was a little patchy, but while he couldn't say how he got wherever he was now, he recalled enough to be surprised he wasn't in great pain.

Experimentally he tried to move, but got barely any response, as if there was nothing there. He was totally drained, his body empty of energy, but oddly comfortable despite that. He was faintly aware of pain in his body, but it was distant, numbed in a delicate way, as if a fragile blanket had been laid over the sensation.

Not wanting to disturb the enigmatic mercy just yet, the hybrid looked around his surroundings. He was on his back, in a large and bizarre room. One side, the half around his head, was a semi-circle, carved of some grey-blue cross between marble and stone, intricate, repeating patterns carved shallowly into it, with bands of horizontal obsidian inset equidistantly up the height of the room, red pulses following more convoluted patterns of lines, moving around the arcane complex to some unknown design.

The other half of the room, which Arson's feet faced, seemed to be built of large cubes of the same blue-grey material as the wall, each a couple of metres a side, maybe more, smooth, but arranged to provide a jagged face that seemed to sweep back like curtains as they reached the floor, although when Arson lifted his head, the space left was empty.

Last and strangest of all, there were identical cubes, all equal in size, floating around the room, which was so tall that its higher reaches were lost in shadow. Defying all gravity, some of the blocks stayed still, some moved up and down or back and forth, some in repeating patterns, some rotated, and some were in groups.

Having learned all he could with sight, Arson made to sit up. He was reluctant to shed the veil of comfort that felt what he imagined a mother's embrace should feel like, reassuring, making everything OK, even if it hurt. But he knew he couldn't stay there, and he willed himself to rise up, swaying unsteadily to his feet.

"Whoa, dizzy" he muttered, if only to reassure himself with the solid sound of his own voice that he wasn't a ghost. He felt, light, like a feather, as if he possessed almost no strength or presence, but it would take just a breeze of effort to move him. He tested himself by taking a step, and almost fell over, as his leg swept out in front of him as though weightless. Stumbling to recover his balance, Arson decided to take it slower, and carefully reached into his coat, and took out the strategy guide to find out where he was. He felt as if he had to constantly focus on his whole body, even when standing still, or else he would just go limp and fall over.

Flicking through the pages, he blinked frequently to force the words to stay put and make sense. Feeling was starting to return to his body, and with it the normal sense of presence and weight that everyone took for granted. After a minute he found what he was looking for; he had somehow ended up in secret mission 12, and his objective was to reach the Blue Orb Fragment at the top of the room.

Putting the book away, he looked up, seeing the formidable obstacle course that lay before, and above him. He could not access the power that had come to him on the verge of losing his friends, so flying up was out of the question, he would have to do it the regular way. Skipping from foot to foot, he could feel awareness of his body returning, bringing with it an encroaching weariness and exhaustion, but he held his composure together. He had to do this, this was it, the final challenge before Mary Sue, the hybrid's Final Ascension…

----

The lightning portal appeared, and several moments later faded, leaving behind Zone lying on his front, not having had the energy to walk out of the incandescent pillar. He lay there and moaned, his tiny body crying out at him to let it rest. He tried to shove that urge down, tried to fuel himself and drive himself on, but how many times had he already done so? How many times had he forced himself to keep going, stand again and keep fighting when the pain and exhaustion made him want to give in? He had lost count, and he knew that, no matter how hard he tried it was impossible to keep going forever. Eventually he would have nothing left.

Right now it felt like eventually had come; he couldn't convince his limbs to move, not after telling them to keep going so many times only to punish himself more. "Come on, get up" he told himself; he was so tired.

Fortunately for him, one of the few advantages afforded of his species was it was even easier to move on all fours than it was bipedal. So instead of rising, he crawled forwards on his belly, and looked around himself.

He was in a long corridor, about 8 metres wide, 10 metres tall with a curved ceiling, and so long the far end was shrouded in shadow… It was, unusually familiar.

A sharp, rushing sound suddenly hissed from down the hallway, like sleek, sharp metal, slicing through air.

Zone laughed. It hurt to do so, and his ribs ached in protest, but he did so anyway, he couldn't help it, not after the spark of recognition that the sound triggered in his memory. Pulling himself forwards, he watched as slivery, polished spikes emerged from holes in the walls, floor and ceiling, coming down the corridor in waves of two, each reaching halfway across or between top and bottom, so only one quadrant was safe for travel, though it was a different corner each wave. As he watched, he noticed they were moving faster, too.

"Aaah, Irony" Zone sighed, as if addressing an old, mischievous acquaintance, up to their usual antics. He yawned hard, clenching his eyes, and then, summoning his will, he stood up, and walked into the gauntlet.

Rows of vicious spikes rushed past, all around him, lashing out with enough force to not merely impale, but emulsify the tiny hamster's body. And he walked straight through the middle of it all, so small that his little body fit between the rows of floor spikes, and too short to be hit by the lowest level coming from the walls.

Still, it was a long walk for the short rodent, and he was so drained, he felt like he was walking the last mile to his execution, as if he'd just, collapse after this. He wasn't even sure why he was continuing, it's not like he was walking to his freedom. Rather he was approaching their final battle, with an opponent so obscenely strong they'd only just had a chance to begin with, and after all they'd been through it would be a slaughter.

Still, Zone thought, if he could just, get to the end of this damned, long hall, at least he could say he made it all the way. That was enough to keep him going, the thought of spiting that bitch by daring to survive every single thing she'd put them through. That, and at least ending it in the company of friends, kept him putting one paw in front of the other, focused on moving forwards in a straight line, step by step closer to the end…

----

Reiko was not one to pray easily, but as the watery vessel that brought him here faded, he hoped almost religiously the secret mission did not involve combat.

When nothing gouged out the floored vampire's back, he slowly raised his head. The room he was in was deserted, himself obviously excluded, and he breathed a gentle sigh of relief.

He was in a decent-sized area, the size of a smallish flat perhaps. The walls were a faded sort of white, and besides himself there were a number of strange objects occupying it. They were stone discs roughly a metre in diameter, standing upright as if balanced on their edges. On one side they were slightly convex, while the other had a large pointed crystal coming out of it, glowing with white light. Two of these were held by half goat and half man statues, while the rest floated freely with no visible means of support. The devices faced different directions, all on the horizontal plane, and one belonging to a statue was emitting a beam of light.

It clicked in Reiko's mind that what he was looking at, was a puzzle. He had to get the light from one statue to the other. It appeared that when the beam hit a device, no matter from what facing, it would be redirected the way it was pointing.

Getting to his feet unsteadily, Reiko walked up to the nearest pointer and carefully pushed it. It didn't move an inch, which confirmed his suspicion that he couldn't manipulate them; that would make it far too simple. He was probably meant to surgically destroy certain ones to clear a path for the light to reach certain nodes.

Walking around the room, he analysed the pattern, and tried to form a bird's eye picture in his mind of their layout. It was hard as his attention was foggy and he had to keep half a mind on not stumbling as he walked around. Moving between them he began tracing a line back from his target, reasoning it would cut down on possible routes. He traced it to one node, and then another, another, then, he couldn't find a way to the start.

Rubbing his eyes, Reiko focused and retraced his steps, taking a different path, ignoring certain ones since he could destroy them. He got so far, and again hit a dead-end. Pacing around more frantically now he tried another combination, and another, but nothing worked.

Reiko growled in frustration, believing he was overlooking something basic. It was a simple puzzle, one he should easily be able to solve even if he was fatigued. But no matter how he looked at it, it refused to work.

Groaning in exasperation, the vampire slumped down against a wall, feeling suddenly hopeless, having no idea how to complete the puzzle. Some rubble fell onto his shoulder, and he brushed it off absent-mindedly.

Then he stopped, and looked up, wondering where it had come from. Above his head, the wall had several cracks running across it, and even as he shifted to look, a few grains of dust slipped out and sprinkled onto his other shoulder. Rising onto his knees, he looked at the cracks, and spied a flicker of light shine through.

Suddenly it all made sense. Pushing himself to his feet, the vampire threw himself against the wall. It gave a creak, and the cracks spread, but the weakened blow wasn't enough. Pushing himself off, Reiko delivered a boot with all the strength he could, nearly falling over as all his strength at present was vastly worn down.

The barrier creaked and several chunks fell loose, and with a final shoulder ram, it gave way, crumbling as Reiko stumbled back to avoid any of it falling on him. Pulling himself through, he saw another light node, facing down a hall going to the left aimed at one in turn pointing at the wall. Beyond that was a third statue.

Leaning on the nearer object, Reiko hauled his staff out, the weapon feeling heavy in his tired grip. Moving down the hall, he swung it around, and it connected with the impeding pointer, which shattered as if all of it was made of glass. Returning to the main room, he leaned on his staff as he forced his mind to map the path from the original statue to the hidden one, barely able to think anymore, his head a buzzing, sore confusion.

With one last strike, another mirror was destroyed, and the light beam arced through the redesigned system, striking its intended target. Reiko followed it, footfalls slow and weapon dragging as he breathed heavily…

As the vampire reached his final Blue Orb Fragment, so too did Zone get to the end of the long corridor he had been walking, and Arson landed on the top ledge of the room he was in, his own Fragment before him.

They each reached out, touching the floating stones, and as they did, something truly unexpected happened.

A cerulean miasma surrounded Reiko's body, sinking over it like a fine mist, then flashing with energy as it sunk into him. The pulse shocked him like electricity, but as he raised his arms he couldn't believe it, he-…

"I feel… Like new" Zone exclaimed out loud, stunned into speech despite being alone as the glow vanished around him. It was, unreal, his body felt totally fine, no pain, and full of energy. Zone grinned wide, and-…

Arson cart-wheeled around on the platform, whooping as he tested himself and found that just like it felt he was in perfect condition. He laughed happily, feeling ready to take on anything, as everything went white…

The same happened to Zone and Reiko, the three of them being transported back together having completed their missions. As the light swallowed him, Reiko smiled. "I forgot new Blue Orbs did that" he remarked…