Is it possible? yes, it is the last chapter of A Warrior Reborn. This is a double chapter. meaning it's a chapter and epilogue all molded into one.

I don't own Cyberchase. Max is mine.

Chapter Ten
Death to the Tyrant

"Well, that's a disappointment." Max said when she saw Hacker's gargoyle form. "You didn't go through the pain I did to get that form."

"It's the way magic is." Hacker said, shaking his mane and ruffling his wings.

"I know. But You do realize you just made my job easier. I was supposed to destroy you without using more than the necessary force. I knew with you being a borg, there was no way I could destroy you without using excessive force. This is more like it. Now we're even."

"Not quite, Max. Remember, I nearly destroyed you only a few nights ago. You're still weak. Your wings were damaged from trying to get away. You can't possibly win."

"I have more reasons to win than you. And you're making one, fatal error." Max said.

"What would that be?" Hacker asked.

"You'll see." Max said.

She lowered her head and charged at him; horns bared. Hacker barely had enough time to duck his head to catch her. Goat horns met and the impact rippled down their bodies. The two cyborg-gargoyles stood there, eyeballing each other. Lips curled over teeth, claws splayed, wings half-furled.

Then, Hacker gave a quick head-twist, hoping to expose her belly to his claws. But Max knew better than to let her fleshy belly be exposed. She went with the twist; breaking away and rotating in mid air until her feet touched ground.

She charged him, again. This time, Hacker was prepared. He caught her again with is horns and did another twist; snarling when she landed on all fours.

Hacker ran to her. Max neatly side-stepped and gave him a humiliating slap to the rump with the side of her tail. Hacker squealed to a stop, rotated on his heels, and came at her again. Max avoided his attacks, and slapped his rump with her tail. Hacker rotated and snarled at his disfigured opponent.

"You were the one calling me out! What's wrong? Have you lost your nerve so soon? Have you figured out you cannot defeat the mighty Hacker?" Hacker taunted.

"Nope. I'm just playing with you for now." Max said.

"Stop being such a child, Max. Fight!" Hacker said.

"I am a child, Hacker. I was a child when you took me away from home. I was a child when you beat me. When you exposed me to Magnetite and turned me into this. I was a child when you tired to kill me with your Dematerializer. I was a kid and you abused me."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd in the stands. There were only a few that were privy to the reasons behind Max's disfigurement.

"I may have been online longer than you, but you were programmed to be an adult. I was program to be like a kid. You are guilty of child abuse."

"A minor technicality." Hacker said, shrugging.

"A minor tech – what is with you and minor technicalities? It's like every mistake you've made is a minor technicality."

"The Hacker doesn't make mistakes."

"Oh really? For the past four years, I've been following your trail of chaos and everything I've seen was mistake. Even worse, you were beaten by three kids – all younger than me – and a kookie bird with the IQ of a six-year-old."

"Is that any way to talk about your former friend?"

"Just trying to make a point."

"I'm sure you were trying to make a point. The problem is, I don't get what your point is."

"Then let me narrow it down for you. You have been beaten 96 times by three kids and whacky bird and three times by me. Today, I'm going to beat you and your evil will come to an end. Now do you understand?"

Hacker grinned. "You say you're going to beat me. You cannot beat me. Everyday since I learned you still existed, I had been hunting for you. I hunted for you and you fled from me like a coward."

"I wasn't ready to face you. Now I am. And I'm going to make it all worthwhile."

"Hah!" Hacker scoffed. "You speak big words for such a little kid. Why don't you show me those are more than words?"

"Glad to." Max said, charging him.

The two met in a flurry of paws and teeth. They struck at each others faces, claws inflicting much damage – skin parting under the sharp hooks. Teeth ripped into skin quite effectively.

The fight was an awesome sight to see. It was like watching two lions fight over a wildebeest. And the noise was deafening.

Then, Max swatted at his face with a half-open paw, an audible crunch met everyone's ears and many of the audience members struggled not to vomit. Hacker's scream was extremely loud.

"I just broke your eye socket. I lost my eye to that gunk you shot me with. How does it feel? Every pain I felt nine years ago, you're now experiencing for yourself. Tell me, how does it feel?"

Hacker gave no response. He rolled in the dirt, groaning with pain as he clutched at his shattered eye socket with one paw.

Then, Max lashed out with a closed left paw; connecting with Hacker's left shoulder. There was an audible crack and Hacker shrieked.

"I just broke your shoulder." Max said, matter-of-factly. She backed away and observed him, severely. "Did you know that if a gargoyle breaks a bone it can take about four days for the bones to fuse back together? I just turned your rotator cuff into a puzzle. All those pieces your feeling under your skin . . . that's your broken cuff. How does it feel, Hacker? Does it hurt?"

Hacker still didn't answer. He clutched at his damaged shoulder with his other paw; hissing as the bones moved under his skin with every move.

"I suffered more than a few broken bones. Your Dematerilizer took away my whole arm. That is worse than having your bones broken." Max continued. "Now, get up and fight. You've still got three good limbs. I've seen gargoyles fight wounded all the time. If they can do it, a genius borg like you can." Max kicked at him. "Get up!"

Hacker staggered to his feet. He knew by now that Max was no longer playing a game. She was getting serious. Then, he realized she had always been serious.

He shifted his weight to his undamaged right paw and raised his left one. He rushed at her; hobbling, ungangly, on three paws. Max side-stepped him and clocked him in the left hip with her left foot. Hacker screamed, again, and fell down; clutching at his shattered hip with one good paw. He knew it wouldn't be long before Max was done toying with him. Eventually, she would grow tired of breaking him.

"I just broke your left pelvic bone." Max said, as though Hacker didn't know. "When you shot me with the Dematerilizer, my leg was the first to go. Having your body deconstructed into a pile of ones and zeros is worse than any break you've felt so far. How does it feel?"

"It feels like you hit me with a sledgehammer." Hacker said.

Max walked around him, now, eyes completely focused on him. She looked like a panther on the prowl; paws daintily lifting and lowering, tail swishing at her ankles, neck so low that her spine lined up with her skull, ears slightly back.

"I'm going to destroy you, Hacker. Just like I should have a long-time ago. I've only been playing with you for the moment. Now, I'm done playing games."

"So, you're just going to kill me? Just like that?" Hacker asked. "I never thought you would sink so low."

"I gave you plenty of opportunity to destroy me. Three days ago, you shot me with a dart, you chained me up, you took out my prosthetic arm and leg, you electrocuted me, and you flaunted it all on Cyber-wide TV. Basically, you played with me."

"So, you've been reflecting everything I've done to you back to me?" He watched her circle him.

"That's right. The only thing I won't do is electrocute you. I have something better planned." Max said.

Hacker stared up into the face of the kid he had picked on. He realized that for years he had only ever thought of Max as a kid, even after using Magnetite on her. He realized Max had changed. She wasn't the kid he had picked on, kidnapped, and tried to kill. Doing all those things had only made her his worst enemy. He had given Max the tools and gall to destroy him.

Max's face darkened and Hacker was suddenly afraid.

"No please! Don't kill me, Max! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you! Just don't kill me!"

Max stopped. She knew he was only begging out of cowardice. He wanted to save his own, slimy hide, that was all, and she thought back to Absolem's prior instructions.

"Make no moves until your heart has been opened to forgiveness. If you cannot forgive, then you forfeit your mission. If you can, then call your enemy to you. Only then can you defeat him with a clearer conscience."

"I forgive you." She said.

"You – you do?"

"Yes. But I still cannot let you live."

Then, she pounced. With one paw on his face, the other on his shoulder, Max clamped down with her teeth and pulled. There was an extremely loud snap, and Hacker went still.

Max released her hold on Hacker's spine and backed up; her eyes on him as though expecting for him to come back to life. When the borg made no moves, She sat back on her haunches and sighed to the earth.

"It is done." She said.

"MURDER! You've just killed my Hackey-poo!" Wicked shrieked. "You murdered my Hackey-poo!"

Max stood on shaky legs. Her breathing labored and her injuries severe. Her ears half-heartedly flicked back as her gaze went to the witch who was now thundering down the bleachers. Wicked ran to Hacker's body and threw herself on him.

"Murderer!" She shrieked, again. Looking, accusingly, up at Max.

"It was a fair fight." Max said, simply.

"Fair? That wasn't fair, Max! You toyed with him! You broke him! He was helpless and you murdered him!" Wicked exploded.

"He knew the risks when he accepted a challenge from me! Everyone knew the risks. Everyone knew what was going to happen. So don't call me a murderer." Max said. She stood up and advanced on the sobbing witch. "Now, Wicked, I've beaten Hacker. Just as I've promised. Now it's time for you to live up to your promise. Remove the Mean Green spell from everyone."

Wicked rose and stood her ground, shaking her head wildly back and forth. "No! You cheated so I take my promise back."

"Wicked!" Max said. She was tired and badly injured, but that wasn't going to stop her. "You promised! I expect you to live up to your promises. Now, remove the Mean Green."

Wicked backed up, suddenly realizing how big Max was. If Max looked dangerous before the battle, she looked deadly now despite the weighted look to her. The bleeding scratches on her neck, forehead, shoulder, and rump where Hacker's claws had inflicted the most damage made her look fearsome.

"You're in no condition to push me around." Wicked said. She tried to look brave, but her face didn't obey her brain's orders. So she tried talking tough. "Look at yourself. You're bloody and scratched up. You're a mess."

"You're going to be in a bigger mess if you don't do it." Max warned.

"Make me!" Wicked said.

Max reached out and touched Wicked on the shoulder; claws tightening until the poor witch squirmed. "How's this?" She squeezed harder. "Are you convinced yet?"

Sweat beaded Wicked's forehead. She took her wand out of her sleeve and waved it, muttering an incantation Max could barely hear. Immediately, the Mean Green spell was lifted.

"Anything else?" Wicked said.

"Yes." Max told her. "You've wreaked quite a bit of havoc around Cyberspace yourself. You haven't done anything to me, so I'm not going to kill you. But, I will require you to serve a minimum of two Cyber-years in prison."

"Not going to happen." Wicked said, ducking out from under Max's paw. "I'll get you for this, Max! I swear I'll get you!"

She started to wave her wand, again, but her instrument was snatched out of her hand by Dr. Marbles. Behind Marbles stood Master Pi and his warriors.

"Trust me. You'll want to take the two cyber-years of jail time." Marbles told her. "Otherwise you will end up like that." He pointed to Hacker's body, now frozen forever in gargoyle form.

Two of the warriors grabbed Wicked by the arms and hauled her away. The vengeful witch shouted obscenities at them and vowed vengeance against them.

Blood loss began taking its tole. Max gave a few, quavering breaths, then sank to her knees; exhaustion clouding her senses. Marbles rushed forward and caught Max; gently lowering her to the blood-soaked ground. He smoothed the thick mane from her face, his brow furrowed with worry. He looked up at Master Pi.

"Max has held up her part of the bargain. Now the time has come to keep yours." He said.

Master Pi did not respond. He regarded the dying gargoyle for a moment. Her pink eye locked onto his brown ones.

"Dr. Marbles, please come away from her. You may want to leave. You will not like what I'm going to do." Master Pi said.

Marbles held Max's paw and stared stubbornly up at the Shangri-La master. "I'm staying."

Master Pi shrugged, indifferently. "Very well." He held out his palm to the cyborg-gargoyle and a white glowing spiral formed beneath his fingers. "Max, since you have fulfilled the mission given to you, I give you back your life."

The white glow suddenly formed around Max and Max screamed worse than when Hacker electrocuted it. She arched her back and kicked and screamed some more. Marbles threw himself onto Max and held on for dear life. His eyes filled with tears when he heard Max starting to choke. Her body shrank beneath his arm and her hand grew smaller and smaller until it fit in his palm.

When Marbles opened his eyes, Max was a cyborg again.

And she looked like she hadn't changed a bit. But she had changed. She was a warrior reborn.

1

The kids were starting to get bored. They heard a lot of noises coming from the battlefield, then silence. A moment later, more noises – louder than the first. It sounded like someone in pain.

"What do you suppose is going on out there?" Matt asked Slider, who hadn't moved from the coop hood since Marbles left them.

Slider shook his head. "You don't want to know." He said in a voice that made everyone assume he had seen something like this before.

No one spoke after that. They waited. And they waited for a long time.

Then, there was a rap at the garage door. Slider jumped off the hood and trotted to open the door; exposing Dr. Marbles supporting a very tired-looking, very cyborg-looking Max.

"MAX!" Digit screamed.

He ran to hug her and Marbles let her arm go so she could catch him. The cyboid and borg embraced. Digit's wings fit around her neck and waist. Max collapsed on the floor, her legs unable to support her, now. She scooped Digit into her lap.

Slider stood over her and grinned. "Judging by your present form, I'd say you got him." He said.

Max smiled at him. "You would be right. I did get him. It wasn't easy but it was kind of fun, now that I think about it."

"What actually happened out there?" Inez asked.

Max released Digit who slid off her lap and sat next to her. Then, the story-telling began.

She told them about Wicked's spell and Hacker's gargoyle form. Then, she told them about the fight while being vague on the details. Nobody asked for her to be more specific. She had made it clear it would be nasty.

"So, how does it feel being a cyborg again?" Jackie asked.

Max smiled. "It feels great. Being a gargoyle was fine and all, but it just felt like I was wearing a suit I couldn't get out of. All I have to say is, I'm glad this whole thing is over."

Marbles reached over and rubbed Max on the head. "I have one inquiry, Max."

"Go ahead, Dad." Max told him.

"When he became a gargoyle, you told him he was making one, fatal error. I don't think I understand what that error was. Please, explain." Marbles said.

"It's actually quite simple, Dad. Hieronymus became a gargoyle. He may have had a gargoyle body, but he didn't know how to control it like I did. He also didn't know the Shangri-La fighting style. I had been a gargoyle long enough to learn how to use my body. I also learned how to incorporate the fighting style so it matched with my size. He may have been a gargoyle, but he didn't have training nor did he have enough time to learn the things I did."

"That makes sense." Marbles said.

Matt touched Max on the shoulder. "I have one question, if you don't mind." He said.

"Shoot." Max told him.

"Back in Control Central and on the battle field, you kept calling Hacker 'Hieronymus'. If memory serves, Sheriff Judy called him Hieronymus, too. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, is Hieronymus really his name or some sort of title?"

Max looked over at her father. "You want to take this?"

"When I created Hacker, I had originally given him the name Hieronymus, which is the Greek form of Jerome which is Latin for Holy. I also gave him the surname Hacker instead of the family name Marbles because he was quite good at intruding into programs. In the beginning, Hieronymus was a very good assistant. I am not sure what changed, but he suddenly lusted for power beyond what he was originally supposed to have. Since his banishment, he never went by Hieronymus and, aside from myself, Max, and a handful of Cyber-heads, there was no knowledge of this name pertaining to that one individual."

"So wait, Marbles is really a family name?" Jackie asked.

"Of course. Why do you think my name is really Maxanne Marbles?" Max said.

"Oh." Jackie said. "So, what's your first name, Dr. Marbles?"

Marbles looked at Max who grinned at him. "Should I tell them?" He asked.

"Why the hell not?" Max said. "I rather like your name, anyway. It's unusual for a borg."

Marbles turned back to the kids. "Eons ago, my father, Net Marbles, created two sons. Myself and a brother named Cooper. You three probably know him better as Coop. For as long as my father remained alive, I was known by only one name. I have since cast aside that name when I came in possession of my Doctorate of Computer Technology. My name is really Dr. Matthias Marbles."

"Matthias." Inez said in awe. "That's a really cool name."

"Thank you." Marbles said.

"It is a really cool name. I enjoyed using it when I was a gargoyle and he didn't know it was me." Max said.

There was another moment of silence. Then, Marbles looked at the three earth kids.

"Perhaps it is time for you three to go home. You can return to Cyberspace at anytime you choose. Just call Motherboard." He said.

"'Kay." Matt said.

"Good-bye, Dr. Marbles. Good-bye, Max. Good-bye Slider and Digit." Inez said.

"Good-bye everyone." Said Jackie.

With that, a portal swirled to life and the kids jumped in. Moments later, another portal appeared, taking the three Cyber-citizens home.

Epilogue

The fight was over.

Dr. Marbles breathed a sigh of relief that whistled through his mustache. Now that Hacker was gone, he could locate the cure for Motherboard's virus in peace. But first, he wanted to enjoy this moment.

Max was fast asleep in her own bed as a cyborg. Marbles had gotten up early and went to Max's room to see if it was all a dream. It wasn't. Max had beaten Hacker. His tyranny was over. Master Pi had kept his promise and turned Max back into herself using mysterious Shangri-La magic.

For the first time in nine years, Marbles had enveloped Max in his arms. Her cyborg body fit in the crooks of his arms perfectly. And Max hugged him back.

The two had been separated for a long time, now. Nine years, Max and Marbles had been apart. Every night, Marbles wondered if his daughter was okay or where she was now. Now, the nightmares of wondering were over. Max and Digit were going to stay at Control Central and watch over Motherboard until Marbles' return.

Max lay on her belly, mouth open, with one arm across Digit's sleep-mode form. Marbles smiled. Then, with one finger, he reached out and touched a strand of unruly brown hair that lay over her nose. He remembered Max being a light sleeper and didn't dare touch her skin with his finger.

His lips, on the other hand, was another story. He gently kissed her on the cheek, Max's eyelids twitched and she swallowed a string of drool creeping out of the corner of her mouth.

Marbles gently patted her on the head.

"I love you, Maxanne." He whispered.

"I love you too, Dad." Max whispered back.

Marbles grinned as he turned to leave her room. He grabbed a saddlebag from outside the door.

"Take care of them, Motherboard. I shall return with a cure." He said.

"Will do, Dr. Marbles. Be careful." Motherboard said.

"I will." Marbles said.