Chapter 20 – Final Dawn: Part Three – Revelations

He's dead. He's dead. He's dead. This sentence echoed in the mind of Gordon Freeman. He still couldn't comprehend it. He had accomplished the impossible. He had killed the immortal. The G-Man was dead. Adrian had to pull Gordon back to earth after this shock. At first Gordon couldn't hear his friend's voice but, he soon came back to his senses.

"Gordon, what the hell is going on!?" Adrian yelled. Gordon saw that he was looking up at the ceiling. A black hole was forming. Something was absorbing the room. The wall seemed to fall around them. When the wall was about half gone, Gordon recognized something. The room was not disappearing, it was changing. The Anomalous Materials machine morphed as the room fell. Plasma screen TVs appeared above them and the machine elongated. The machine looked familiar to Gordon, but something had changed. The bottom half of it had been completely destroyed. Pieces of machinery littered the floor and the glass walkway that once sat underneath it had been shattered to bits. Gordon could tell that a large explosion had done a number on this room. Battle damage, like that from an RPG, showed on the walls and rubble sat at many places around the room.

"GORDON!" A voice yelled. His attention was pulled from the machine and cast to the other side of the room. A friendly face stared back at him. Alyx, the love of Gordon Freeman stood next to Chell, Barney, and Lo-gen at the side of the Aperture Science Incinerator. Gordon and Adrian ran to their loves. Gordon way has well have tackled Alyx with the force he used to grab her. Gordon wrapped his arms around her and hoisted her up into the air. He kissed her like he was never going to see her again. Alyx spoke they broke the kiss.

"I thought I wouldn't see you again when you walked through that portal." She said. Gordon smiled.

"You aren't getting rid of me that easily." He replied. Alyx smiled as well and kissed him quickly. Gordon set her back on her feet. The couple looked over at Chell and Adrian. They were reacting much the same way they were. They were in the middle of a passionate kiss.

"Isn't that sweet?" Barney said. "How did you three get here anyway?" They didn't quite know. But Rezlan had an explanation.

"The Demon transported us back to Black Mesa. However, The Demon must have been keeping us there by his will. However, when the Freeman killed the Demon, it must have broken his hold on us three and brought us back here." The group accepted the explanation, not caring if it was true or not.

"So is it over?" Barney asked. Gordon nodded. "Good, I was really getting tired of almost dying." Everyone chuckled.

"Gor…Dr….los…" The com-link sputtered in Gordon's ear.

"Izzy? Izzy is that you? Where did you go?" Gordon asked

"Yes, it's me. I lost transmission with your com-links as soon as you walked into GLaDOS's chamber." Dr. Kliener replied. "It was odd, I lost all transmissions but Alyx and Chell's camera sights. I could see what happened at Aperture, but not where Gordon and Adrian went after they walked into the black portals. I just now regained transmission from all of you." Gordon was relieved. He wondered where Kliener had gone after the G-Man showed up."

"What happened here?" Adrian asked. Chell looked up at him.

"Long story short, GLaDOS is dead. A groan was heard. Gordon looked across the room to his left. Zenlo still sat where he had fallen. Adrian and Gordon ran to the fallen prophet.

"Zenlo!?" Gordon yelled as he slid over to the Vortigaunt. "Are you okay?"

"I am fine Freeman. Is the Demon defeated?" he asked.

"Yes, the G-Man is dead." Gordon replied. Zenlo nodded in acceptance.

"You said his name was Zenlo?" Gordon turned to see Alyx's concerned face.

"Yeah, Gordon says that his name is Zenlo." Adrian said.

"He is our prophet, a conduit to the future and all its possibilities." Rezlan added.

"He saved us!" Chell said. "He saved our lives and helped destroy GLaDOS." Gordon looked back at Zenlo. He nodded to signify that Chell was right.

"Really?" Gordon asked. Barney told the story.

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Earlier…

"Look out!" the rocket from the small android flew toward the group. A bright light filled the room. Barney thought that they had died. But he still breathed. He looked up. A Vortigaunt stood in front of him. He held the rocket in his hands! Barney couldn't believe it.

"Get Down!" The Vortigaunt yelled. They did as instructed. The group jumped back into the small control room. Barney looked up to see the Vortigaunt throw the rocket at GLaDOS! The rocket hit her with a tremendous explosion. The Vortigaunt ran to the group.

"The Barney Calhoun will rig two grenades on that small machine. This will detonate it's load of rockets, hopefully this will destroy the wretched machine GLaDOS." It said. Barney nodded and readied two grenades.

"What about us?" Barney asked.

"I will protect all of you from the blast." The Vortigaunt replied. Barney took a large breath and ran outside of the small room. He jumped down from the glass walkway and landed on the ground. He ran over to the robot and shoved two grenades onto the back of it. Once he pulled the pins, he ran back before it could lock onto him.

"What are you doing?" GLaDOS asked.

"Say goodnight, bitch!" Barney yelled. He flipped her off and ran into the control room. A second before the grenades went off, the Vortigaunt and Lo-gen stood up with their arms raised to the air. An odd shield formed around them. Barney looked outside and watched the explosion. The rocket-bot was destroyed by the blast and the fire whooshed down a hole below it. Barney guessed that that was where its ammo was stored. The blast detonated the many missles and the power of the explosion was forced back through the tunnel. It hit GLaDOS with all its might. Barney could see the destruction it caused. The glass walkway was torn to bits. Pieces of GLaDOS's giant form broke off and exploded causing rubble to fall from the ceiling and line the floor. When the dust cleared, GLaDOS was only half of her old self. Her orange eye fell to the floor. Barney looked back to thank Vortigaunt, but he was gone. Only Lo-gen remained next to Alyx and Chell.

"Is she dead?" Chell asked. Barney nodded. The group stood up so they could survey the damage. They walked down the steps of the control room. GLaDOS had been defeated. Chell walked over to the pile that remained of her. She rummaged through the things until she found her eye. "Her main mother board is housed in here. Destroying it will shut her down." She explained. They started to walk toward the incinerator. Lo-gen walked back to the control room to open its hatch.

"But who will make cake when I'm gone?" GLaDOS's motherboard was still remotely connected to the speakers in the room. "Someone needs to make cake. Who will make the cake?"

"The cake is a lie." Chell replied to the eye. She turned around to face Lo-gen and she nodded. The Vortigaunt pressed the release button on the control panel. The circular hatch opened up on the incinerator. "Say hello to the weighted companion cube for me." Chell dropped the eye into the fiery hole.

"Goodb…" was heard over the loudspeakers before static took over. The static soon ceased and the room was silent. The group stood there as if mourning the machine. Chell suddenly felt sorry for GLaDOS. She thought that she was a victim of her creators, not of herself. GLaDOS didn't want to do what she did, her programming forced her too. She was just another confused mind. Suddenly, a bright light flashed. It caught the group off guard. They looked across the room towards the entrance.

"GORDON!"

--Next Chapter: The Prophet of Truth--