Chapter 19 – Final Dawn: Part Two - Exodus

Zenlo lunged at the G-Man. He was filled with anger and hate for the man he called 'The Demon'. Gordon, Adrian and Rezlan looked on. They had never seen either the G-Man or a Vortigaunt show such raw emotion before. The G-Man was always so cool and controlled, but now it seemed like he had snapped and finally lost it. Zenlo, on the other hand, was fighting for more than anger. This battle would decide the fate of humanity. Zenlo threw bolts of white electricity every which way at the G-Man. He threw punches and kicks as well. The G-Man seemed un-phased by this and blocked almost all the swings. He threw bolts of electricity as well, his was red.

"Should we do something?" Adrian asked.

"No Shepherd. This battle was prophesized thousands of years ago. Stopping it would only have grave outcomes." Rezlan explained. The G-Man's voice could be heard during the conflict.

"You've improved your skills my friend!" he said. "But weakness still lingers in your soul." The G-Man threw a punch coupled with a burst of red power. Zenlo slid backward, but held his ground against the attack.

"I see you still fight only with your fists and not your heart." Zenlo replied. Two bursts of white lightning knocked the G-Man across the room against the wall. He quickly recovered and stood up.

"Who needs a heart when you have all this power!?" Two burst of red lightning followed and Zenlo was knocked across the room and off his feet.

"Screw this!" Adrian yelled. He ran forward toward the G-Man.

"Adrian, don't!" Gordon yelled. Rezlan held him back.

"I said stopping it would have grave outcomes. I never said that we couldn't participate." Gordon smiled and ran forward with Adrian.

"Huh, so you both have chosen to fight me. Fine, I'll only use hand-to-hand on you two." The G-Man said. Gordon and Adrian readied for a fight. Adrian had learned hand-to-hand combat in the army, but Gordon knew very little so he had to find something to help him. In the same moment of realization, Gordon remembered his crowbar. Dr. Kliener made a small compartment on the back of Gordon's HEV suit for which to keep the trusty item. Gordon opened the small hatch and out popped the crowbar. The G-Man noticed the bar and cracked a joke. "You're still using that thing!? What do you plan on doing with it?"

"I plan on beating you to a bloody pulp with it." Gordon said. He swung the bar at the G-Man, who swiftly dodged it. Adrian threw punches at the demon. The two kept repeating this over and over. Adrian would use hand-to-hand, Gordon would use his crowbar, and the G-Man would dodge or block every attack thrown. Punches were thrown left and right. The fight raged around the room. After a few minutes, the G-Man finally retaliated. He grabbed Adrian's arm and kneed him in the stomach. Adrian gasped for air after the alarming attack. At the same time, Gordon's crowbar was torn away from him and he was hit on the head with it. Gordon stumbled backward and the G-Man threw what he thought was a worthless weapon at him. The curved bar clanged to the ground in front of Gordon.

"Now that that's taken care of, where were we?" The G-Man looked around for Zenlo. He was not where he had left him. He was standing next to the small metal table that was holding the Xen crystals. The orange box sat in his hand. "What are you doing with my CRYSTALS!?" He yelled

"You shall not be victorious!" Zenlo focused a large amount of power on the box and it disintegrated in his hands.

"NOOOOOO! That was the last of them! My Combine can never return to this wretched planet now!!!" The G-Man yelled. A look of absolute rage came over his face. His eyes seemed to go black and his hands glowed red. The Demon let out a loud scream and fired a large red bolt at Zenlo. The Vortigaunt saw this and fired a highly concentrated bolt himself. The two bolts hit each other and a large energy ball formed at the connection point. Zenlo and the G-Man held their ground against the force of the energy emitted. However, Zenlo was already hurt from the fight and struggled to stay up. Finally, he began to show weakness after a few minutes.

"Freeman! Protect us all when I am gone!" Zenlo yelled.

"What are you talking about Zenlo!?" Gordon asked. Zenlo looked at Gordon sternly. He was serious. Gordon didn't like where this was going. "Wait! NO!"

"Protect us Freeman! May luck smile on you!" Zenlo quickly broke the electric bond by forcing it up into the air. The G-Man was caught off guard and his red lightning hit the Anomalous Materials Analysis Machine hanging from the ceiling. The energy bolt tore through the machine and made a large explosion above. The G-Man cried out in defeat, as he needed this machine. This distraction allowed Zenlo to run forward. He grabbed the G-Man by the jacket and put all three of his hands on his chest. A large light quickly emitted from them and energy was pulled in from all angles around the two. In one instant the room both went silent and erupted in a large blast of sound and light. Gordon, Adrian, and Rezlan were all knocked off their feet and against the wall because of the force. When the room cleared, Gordon looked up. Zenlo had been thrown back and was currently unconscious against the wall. The G-Man stood hunched over, his once stainless suit showed numerous damage points. The sleeves were torn to ribbons, tears and cuts layered his pants legs, and his chest was visible because the front of the suit had all but been disintegrated. A giant wound covered his chest and blood showed on almost all of his body. Gordon could hear his labored breathing and knew he was finally in pain.

"How…How could this be? How is this possible?" The G-Man muttered. Gordon and Adrian lifted their guns and pointed them at him. The G-Man looked up at them. "You can't kill me. You're too weak."

"You have no idea how strong we are." Gordon said.

"Yes I do." The G-Man replied. "I made you two. The only reason you are here is because I allowed you to come this far. Even so, I have tried so many ways to kill you. Who do you think told Dr. Breen to build City 17? Who do you think controls the Combine Advisors, which have caused you so much grief? Who do you think proposed the building of GLaDOS? Who do you think killed the Aperture Science Executives? ME!! I have allowed you to live! I am you're god!"

"True." Gordon said. "You're choices are what made us who we are today. But, you are not our god. Gods don't bleed!" Gordon and Adrian cocked their 9mms. Finally, they unloaded their magazines into the G-Man. He was shot at least eighteen times in the chest and fell after the many hits. Gordon and Adrian walked over to the fallen demon. A pool of blood formed around him. His eyes were still opened wide. It suddenly dawned on Gordon that the G-Man had never blinked the entire time they had known each other.

"You…can't…kill…me." The G-Man mustered. Gordon lifted his Magnum and pointed it at the G-Man's head.

"Do it Gordon, he deserves it." Adrian said. Gordon turned his head. His gun was still affixed on the G-Man. As much as he hated him, Gordon still didn't want to see the sight of what he was about to do.

"Just DIE!" Gordon squeezed his trigger finger and a loud bang was heard. It was over. The G-Man was dead.

--Next Chapter: Final Dawn: Part Three - Revelations--