***Author's Note: Yup, I managed to get Mass Effect in. F*CKING DEAL WITH IT! (Nah, but in all seriousness, I bloody love everyone who reads my story. I started this story more or less because I had ideas buzzing in my head that I wanted to write down, and it turned into something more. Now at least one person an hour reads my story, and this gives me no small amount of pride. I love every one of ya!)

"Shepard?" I said, "Any relation to a Jane Shepard, formerly Kasumi?"

"How do you know my ancestor? Do you follow the Shadow Thief?"

"ANCESTOR? (I then cleared my throat and clamed down.) How long ago did she live, again? And why did you refer to her as the Shadow Thief?"

"Ohh, hell. Well before my lifetime. She lived back when we dated our calendars with X's instead of the first number, and that was before the end of the last age. She wrote a book detailing her life, including her past as a thief, but due to statute of limitations, she got off scott free."

I lost my cool a little bit and shouted, "HOW LONG?"

"Woah, calm down Mar, it was around three thousand years ago, give or take."

"TH-THREE THOUSAND?" I yelled as I felt any hope I had of re assuming my old life erode away. I broke into tears and fell to the ground. My knees missed, and I ended up on my side, in a fetal position on the floor. My life...had it really ended just like that, at the whim of a single madman? I felt my consciousness start to slip from the sheer shock.

"Mar? What's wrong?"

The robotic voice once again spoke, "Shepard, your guest's life signs are dropping, Dr. Chakwas is en route."

"Thank you EDI." Shepard said as everything went black.

I don't remember waking up. I had no desire to, my life was over. Mira, even if Regeneration and Satan Soul preserved her, wouldn't be the woman I remembered, and the same would apply to Mavis. Hell, to anyone else they decided to spare death.

Three thousand years...how...how did it come to this? I heard voices while drifting between sleep and being awake.

"Let me try something Doc."

"Garrus, I really don't think this will help! It might just kill him!"

Kill me? I think I would welcome death right now.

"Relax Doc, my parents used to do this to me all the time; it doesn't do any PERMANENT damage."

"Yes, but you're Turian! And I'm positive they didn't use live wires!"

Turian? A new race? I suppose the gap was large enough, we could have found a new species, or even made first contact.

"Yeah, and he doesn't look very human either! Last time I checked, humans didn't have wings!"

"True, but st-"

"Relax Doc, and trust me."

I felt two small objects touch my bare chest, and a large electric current pass through me. It roused me immediately, and I ate the very electricity out of habit. I realized quickly, even through my fogged vision that this "Garrus" was holding a pair of jumper cables. LIVE jumper cables.

"Woah! He has wings and he eats energy! Hey, big guy, are you a vampire?"

I shook my head and opened my eyes once more, and standing over me were an older looking person, and an alien, yet humanoid creature with an eye piece on. His skin was grey, adorned with blue tattoos, and his head appeared to have flaps instead of cheeks, yet he retained a jaw. Also, his hair was compromised of organic spikes. I thought that was pretty awesome.

The question finally sunk in, and I replied, "No, no. I'm a Dragon Slayer."

Garrus, as he was apparently called, seemed puzzled. "Dragon Slayers? Haven't you been extinct for millennia? Hmm, you might get along with Javik if that's the case. Lord knows we've all tried to relate and failed horribly."

"Fairy Tail. What happened to Fairy Tail?"

The woman spoke up, "That guild disbanded after a long run. They took down Acnologia and stopped Zeref from wiping out human life. They were all immortalized as heroes, but they are all long since gone."

"How do you know of such things miss?"

"Chakwas. Doctor Chakwas, and it is common knowledge, but I admit I have a particular investment in it."

"Why's that? You related to someone from back when?"

"Actually, yes. My god knows how many greats grandmother was one Mirajane Strauss."

My head spun at the sheer mention of her name. Then it sunk in. She had children?

"Chakwas, do you know who was the father of her children?"

"Calm down young angel, His name was Mar Strauss, the same as yours! Mirajane only loved once, and never took another suitor. She died with her brothers and sisters, along with a personal friend of Mar's, named Mavis."

Oh my dear sweet lord, she was pregnant! Then it hit me, "They...died? How?"

"They lost their will to live. They purposely exhausted their Magic, and then they cut each others throats simultaneously. Without Mar, and without family, they chose death over an eternity of regret, of suffering."

"I...no..."

"What's wrong?" Garrus asked. Chakwas seemed to be catching on, since her eyes widened and she covered her mouth.

"How did Mar die? What happened to him?"

Chakwas spoke up, "They said a Magic of his went haywire, and he was demolished, atom by atom!"

"They covered for me...again."

"Oh my god, are yo-"

"Yes. That Mar and I are one and the same. A Magic of mine did go haywire, but it was Arc of Time. The final act of an opponent of mine was to release my control on it and send me down the river of time. I had hoped...I had hoped that someone lived...that someone survived. It was a vain hope. I knew it before you even told me."

"That's enough EDI, you can cut the feed, I think we know enough about young Mar here, there's no need getting people depressed."

"Acknowledged, Doctor."

"You were recording that and playing it through the ship? Well, I can't blame you. I guess I am an anomaly."

"Mar...Grandpa..."

"Mar is fine. I don't deserve that title; I didn't see my own damn kids, let alone my grandkids. I am Mar, man of destroyed past and no future."

Garrus had finally got the cables to turn off and asked me, "Mar, can't Arc of Time send a user backwards as well? Why don't you just go back?"

"Time flows ever forward, swimming against the current is an infinite amount harder. I can't manage even two hundred years back, believe me, I tried."

"Repeated jumping at smaller distances?"

"Arc of Time would literally break, causing me to be enveloped by a rift in time and space. I would likely cease to exist, and my person would be dissolved from the very timeline."

"Wow. That WOULD be bad. Why can't you jump so far back?"

"In addition to the danger I just told you, I would need several hundred, if not thousand times more Magic then I have. I would likely have to force every iota of Magic from my body to go back two hundred years."

"Hmm, but you eat electricity...does that get converted into raw Magic?"

"Yeah, and it usually expands my maximum reserves, but I know what you're thinking, I would need a blast capable of destroying planets, and that's only if I could absorb such a thing. Please don't try to cheer me up; I just want to live out my eternity as I am cursed to do so."

"Hahaha, ohhh Mar, do we have a deal for you!"

Garrus took me out of the med bay and into a food deck right outside, then he talked to a terminal nearby and said,

"Get Yourself, Shepard, Liara, Javik, Tali, Ashley, and James to the food deck. We may have a new recruit."

The robotic female voice replied, "Understood, rallying the crew."

One by one, strange alien creatures, and some humans filled the room, and I introduced myself to them, despite them knowing a little more then I was comfortable with at the time. Liara T'Soni, a member of the Asari race and the galaxy's best information broker. The Asari are all female and mostly humanoid, but with blue skin and back swept tentacles for hair. I was also "Informed" that they were the most naturally talented biotics of the current age. I guess that was the new word for Mage. Tali Zorah, a Quarian. I could tell very quickly that she was very shy, which I saw as rather fitting, considering her entire race had immune systems so weak that they had to hide in special suits just to survive. A tragic past and a terrible curse, I near immediately found myself getting along with Tali. EDI walked in next, much to my surprise. Turns out she was the ship's AI, and had downloaded herself to a physical body when the option was available. Ashley was next, a human woman with long black hair and a clear fire in her eyes. She was a soldier all right. James followed, and god was he bigger up close. He was literally a wall of Mexican man, with the apparent bravado to back it. Shepard followed next, but we were already acquainted, so we just waited for Javik.

Soon, a large insect like man, complete with four eyes and a curved, yet flat scalp walked in, and I raised my hand to shake his. "Javik, I assume. Mar Strauss."

"What is he doing Shepard?" Javik asked, disdain clear in his voice.

"Sorry Javik, we haven't had time to tell him about you...or anything for that matter. Givin how he showed up, I doubt he's even ever heard of a Reaper."

"Reaper? Like the one that visits people after they die?" I asked.

"Amazing. Oh well, I guess having another to help in our vengeance won't hurt." Javik replied.

The crew explained to me, in great detail, of a race of sentient machines that were hell bent on eliminating all organic life in the galaxy. They apparently came around once very fifty thousand years, the last time being in Javik's time, and their cycle was repeating once more, in the here and now. Javik survived due to a cryo pod. He was the last remaining member of his race, the last remaining Prothean. I felt his pain, likely closer then anyone on the ship. We were both relics of ages past, thrown through time from a cause beyond our control. I explained this to Javik after they finished telling me of the Reapers and Protheans, since he told me that "He had no interest in the ramblings of a winged man.", which led him to terminate his video feed well before Garrus did. As it turns out, his interest was peaked by the time I was finished, and despite no words being said about the matter, we knew we could find close companions in each other. Misery loves company, after all.

Shepard cleared everyone away from me as he approached me himself and offered a hand. "Will you join us Mar? Will you help us fight the Reapers, and wipe them from this galaxy forever?"

I shook his hand, and I agreed. It wasn't like I had anything better to do. However, a thought occurred to me, and I asked everyone present, "Garrus said you had a 'Deal' for me when I brought up getting back to my own time, what was he talking about?"

"Ah, this is where I step in then." Garrus said, "We're preparing a super weapon to fight the Reapers, one that could literally blast them all in a single go, so long as we hook it to it's power source. Unfortunately, we don't know where that source is. All we know is that there is a VI in our enemy's headquarters that can identify it. Now, the deal was for you to join us and help stop the Reapers, which you've done half of already, and we'll use the Crucible's energy to supercharge you, allowing you to be sent home."

"You're confident the Crucible could send me back?"

"It would probably give you enough energy to skip a few thousand years back Mar, you said planets, this thing is meant for a whole fucking GALAXY. Here's the bonus, the signal in the Crucible is fine tuned to Reapers, so anything else electronic will be spared. You could have an Omni Tool on at the center of the blast and it would be perfectly fine!"

"A whole galaxy...Say, I never was told, what vessel am I aboard? And when did airships become space flight capable?"

"Airship? We call them space ships nowadays, and lord knows how long back. Also, welcome to the SSV Normandy." Vega said.

A space ship...I really WAS on one! Amazing...

I was in quite obvious awe, so Shepard led me away, to the observation deck, and then he opened the shutters to one of the most beautiful sights I had ever beheld. Space itself was laid bare before me, in all it's luminous glory. A single tear fell from my green eye, for a distant dream I never thought I would realize in my lifetime. I was no longer bound by

Earth's pull, but floating adrift, free to go where I wanted. Well, at least where the pilot steered anyway.

Shepard seemed content staring with me, and he said, "Amazing, isn't it? Every star, every planet holds untold amounts of life, and we've been tasked with protecting all of it. Now Mar, I heard what you said in the med bay, and I need a promise from you before I tell you anything else."

"Very well. Name it."

"You will NOT check out, no matter what the situation is. I need every soldier I can get to fight this menace, and I won't lose a single one to depression. Are we clear?"

"Crystal Commander. I find dying to be a struggle for me anyways."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You'll see. Believe me, you'll see."

"I'll take your word on that. Now, we are en route to Cerberus HQ right now Mar, and after that, we turn attention to the Crucible's power source, grab it, and head to Earth. I think I should brief you on Cerberus now."

"Hang on, why Earth? Surely it can't be the center of the galaxy?"

"It's not. The Reapers chose Earth as ground zero for their assault. Most of them are there, the blast will destroy the rest of them."

"What? Earth was taken?"

"Yes. It was my fault. Because I'm human, and because I fought against the Reapers for years, they chose to wipe my race out first. Thought we would pose the biggest threat. Entire cities vanished in hours, burned to ash. Mar...I don't know how to say this, but..."

"I get it. Magnowlia was razed."

"...Yes."

"What of my descendants? How many survived?"

"Chakwas is the last."

"My entire genetic line...do you know how many?"

"Four hundred. There were four hundred known people that could be traced back to you."

"How do you know this anyway?"

"You're a bit of a hero Mar. Your very name is used when people pray for good luck; they look for favor from the 'Archangel'. Heck, Garrus even took the name for a couple years after our first mission together."

"What happened to Garrus after the first mission with you?"

"The entire team split up after..."

"After what, Commander?"

"Bah, it's not important. Let's just say you're not the only one too stubborn to die."

"Haha, amen to that."

"So Mar, I'll ask you one final time, are you in? For sure?"

"Shepard, these 'Reapers' wiped out my entire genetic line, erasing Mirajane's legacy and my own. I'm going to destroy them with my bare fucking hands if I have to."

Shepard seemed a bit shocked by my angered words, which I found odd considering the situation, so I called him on it. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothing Mar. You just reminded me of an old friend of mine. Of her and all the pure crazy that seems to follow her."

"Ha, sounds like someone I'd like. Is she your girl Commander?"

"Oh hell no, I couldn't keep up with her if I wanted to. Liara's my girl, and she has been since the very first assignment I had as a Spectre."

"Spectre, sir?"

"Oh, right, sorry. I keep forgetting that you're new; Spectres are elite agents with very few restrictions to hold them back. They are allowed to do what they want, when they want, so long as they believe it for the better of galactic life. The entrance exam is a real bitch though."

"Haha, anyway Commander, Cerberus. Please tell me all you can of them."

"Right. Cerberus is a human activist group taken to the extreme. Their leader, who we only know as The Illusive Man will do anything to establish and maintain complete human control of the galaxy, and damn the cost to anyone else. He's even turned to using Reaper methods of loyalty. He's literally been reprogramming his soldiers' DNA to make them more effective, a process known as indoctrination. How he maintains control of them after they've changed, hell if I know. Knowing that stubborn asshole, he likely handed himself over to the Reapers to preserve some of humanity. Dumbass didn't even let the lesson we learned from the Collectors sink in."

"Collectors Sir?"

"What's left of the Protheans, Javik's people. They were twisted to the point they no longer had individuality, and they grew wings."

"Yikes."

"Yeah. Anyway, Cerberus has no lack of resources. They have frequently deployed large battle mechs and trained assassins, including one particular son of a bitch I hope to find at Cerberus HQ. They are also very well connected, meaning they have invaded quite a few places that were supposed to be top secret, including a Salarian STG base. You haven't met a Salarian yet, but I'll introduce you to the first one we see back on Earth. Heck, I'll do that for the first of any of the races we're missing here on the Normandy; there's quite a few."

"I look forward to it. What's Cerberus' ultimate goal, anyway?"

"The Illusive Man wants to control the Reapers. He wants to use them to put humanity at what he believes is its rightful place. He's quite obviously drunk on his own power and twisted morals, and he has to be brought down for it."

"All tyrants must be stopped, and I would kill for your cause."

"I hope so, this IS war after all. Speaking of which, what kind of offensive abilities do you have? Defensive abilities have evolved over the years, and I think you might need a big gun to help you out."

"Ebony and Ivory here aren't enough?"

"It all depends. Heck, let's go test them, right now!"

"Alright."

Shepard led me down to the cargo bay, into a small firing range off its side. Vega came in with us, said he wanted to make sure his "Baby" was still working at her best.

While Vega prepped a rather large machine gun which he called a "Revenant", Shepard explained to me that the dummies down range were equipped with both a metal shell to emulate armor and an energy shield to make for the most realistic targets possible.

When Shepard was done, Vega locked and unloaded on the furthest left target, quickly making it release a pulse of energy, which I was told was the shield overloading, then pumping several rounds into the dummy itself, all of which went through metal, and some of which came clean out the other side.

Shepard and I clapped, and Vega put his gun down and took a bow, then put its safety on and backed away from the range, eager to see what my guns could do.

I drew Ivory and told them that they were essentially the same gun with a different paint job, so one was as good as the other. I fired Ivory four times down range with just my natural level of Magic feeding into it, and while I popped my target's shields, I did not penetrate armor.

"Thought so. Guns have come a long way since your time Mar." Shepard said. "Now, you're a pretty big guy, so I'm going to mount this puppy for you and see how you do." He said as he pulled a very large sniper rifle off the wall and mounted it to the range on a tri pod.

I stared at the rifle for a moment, and then said, "Why mount it? I can take that level of recoil."

"Mar, that thing isn't meant for humans. It's just an example to show you ho-" I interrupted him by tearing the rifle off of it's tri pod and shooting the target down range, taking it's head clean off along with most of its shoulders. I felt some minor strain on my shoulder, but it quickly faded.

"Uhh, wow. I thought I was the only human in the galaxy who could do that." Shepard said.

"Well, I'm not entirely human if that counts for anything."

"Haha, true enough Dragon Slayer. You know what? Keep the rifle. It's not like anyone else here can use it anyway. I'll show you how ammo works nowadays."

After a crash course in the universal design of thermal clips, I had only a single lingering doubt remaining.

"Do we have another target? I want to try my handguns again." I asked.

"I don't think it will do much, but give me a sec." Vega said.

A few moments later, a fresh target popped out of the floor, while the destroyed ones sunk into it. I took aim once more, but focused energy into Ivory this time. I let loose with a single charged shot, and it was enough to put a fist sized hole in the target's head, leaving Shepard and Vega stunned.

"They run off of my Magic, the more I feed them, the more they bite."

"Wow. Just wow." Vega said. "I think this one might be even more loco then you Commander."

"Sadly, I doubt it James." Shepard replied with a smirk. He then turned to me and said, "Hey Mar, I'm sorry to say, but I just remembered something. We don't have much spare armor kicking around, and I honestly don't think any of the stuff we have will fit you. We'll get a portable shield generator for you, but without armor, you're going to need to be very, VERY careful."

"Shield generator? Don't bother. Trust me Commander; such things won't be needed for me."

"Don't be a fool Mar, everyone di-" I interrupted hum by blowing my own arm off with Ivory, then letting it re attach slowly.

"Trust me."

Shepard only seemed mildly surprised by this, and Vega had to get out of the room to puke. "Right, I forgot. Mar and two of his closest companions could regenerate. I'm kind of curious, who was the other one, besides your wife?"

"Mavis, founder of Fairy Tail and my closest friend since childhood."

"Ah, fair is fair then. Now, you sure you don't want any armor? Getting shot sucks."

"I'm sure. I'll just keep this…thing with me. I said as I gestured to the large rifle on the range."

"Ah, right. That is a M98-Widow. The only model of sniper in this galaxy that doesn't NEED armor piercing rounds to go through armor, or even light cover."

"How much is light?"

"About half a foot of metal."

"That would have been considered excessive in my time, but gotcha."

Shepard chuckled, and then led me back to the observation deck after I attached a strap to the Widow and threw it over my back, making sure Vega was okay on the way.

When we arrived, we found Ashley sitting on one of the padded benches in the room, looking out into space with a bottle in hand.

"Williams." Shepard said with a smile.

She turned around and saw the two of us, then smiled right back. "Commander, Mar. Care to join me?"

"Why not?" I said with a shrug as I sat down next to Ashley, putting the rifle under the bench.

"Haha, I have a feeling you're going to fit right in Mar. How would you like to stay in this room for the rest of your stay?"

"I'd love that. Don't bother getting me a bed, if I CAN sleep, it'll be right on these benches, looking to the stars."

Ashley smiled at my comment. I had an odd feeling she could relate, to some extent anyway.

Shepard then said, "Sorry Ash, but I have a date. Don't go TOO heavy on that stuff, okay?"

"Yes sir." She replied as Shepard turned to walk out of the room.

When he was gone, Ashley poured me a glass of dark liquid and handed it to me, saying, "Try it, it will take the edge off."

Respectfully, I drank it, and for a moment, I could actually feel its numbing effects. I guess booze got stronger too.

"Hah, lightweight." Ashley said.

"Oh REALLY? You sure you want to go down that road Ashley?"

"Ash, call me Ash. And no thanks. I'd rather not start a battle I can't win."

"Oh? Does word get around that quickly?"

"You kidding? EDI hooked me up with a video feed of that stunt you pulled down on the range, and in all honesty? If it can keep your arm attached, I figure it can keep you sober longer then most."

"Fair enough. Who else knows?"

"Pretty much everyone. By the way, our pilot likes you now, and you have no say in the matter."

"Haha…Say, I haven't met our pilot yet. Mind coming to introduce me?"

"For Joker? Not at all." She said as she stood up, with me following shortly.

"Joker? That's an odd name."

"His real name is Jeffrey, but Joker is a nickname that just stuck with him. You can't get a straight answer or even an opinion out of the guy!"

"I like him already."

Ash led me to the elevator and took me to the second floor. We walked out on a huge holographic map of the galaxy that stole my complete attention for a good ten seconds. The entire galaxy, lay bare before me, it was a hell of a thing to take in. Ash eventually saw that I wasn't going to recover any time soon and dragged me away from the map, much to my protest. She took me down a narrow hall to the front of the ship, where I saw EDI sitting in the co pilot seat.

The main pilot's chair turned around, revealing a smaller man wearing a baseball cap with a very nice full beard going. I almost offered my hand to shake, but I retracted it quickly, earning weird looks from all present, including EDI. I felt something odd about Joker, something much weaker then normal people.

"Joker, do you have a condition that affects your body in a negative way? Possibly your bones?"

"Actually, yeah. Vrolik syndrome. How'd you know?"

"Brittle bones…Sorry, but I see people differently then most, that couldn't be hidden from me if you tried."

"He can regrow his limbs and he knows about my condition, can we PLEASE make this guy a permanent member?"

"Haha, anyway, Joker I assume?"

"What was the first clue?"

"Well, if I had to pick one, it would be the smart mouth."

"As it always seems to be, welcome to the Normandy, Mar. From what I heard about where you were from, I hope your stay is a nice and short one."

"Are you kidding Joker? If everything pans out and I end up home again, I'm coming back! Won't be for three thousand or so years in my time, but I'll be back damnit!"

Joker seemed to like this, and he smiled. I continued, "Besides, it will be fun to play paranoia all over again!"

"Haha, to be fair, we can't be too careful here Mar, one wack job puts a hole in our hull and it could spell the end for everyone on that floor."

"Very true, and I admire your attention to safety. (I turned to EDI here) That goes for you too. I'm glad to be on a ship with such a fine brain."

"Your compliment is appreciated, Mar Strauss."

"EDI, please. Just Mar will do excellently."

"Very well, I will drop formalities around you, Mar."

"Thank you EDI."

"Well, I can tell you guys don't need me here." Ash said, "I think I'll go get Vega and start a poker game."

As she walked away, she thought out loud. Something about not inviting Javik because Protheans were up tight about games of chance.

Joker spoke up, "So, who do I have to kill to get that Regeneration of yours?"

I chuckled and told him straight out, "A demon, then later, yourself."

"Ha…You're not joking, are you?"

"Sadly, no."

EDI butted in and said, "Records say that Mar felled a great demon known as Deliora with a dark blade, and stole the demon's power. Mar also shows no signs of lying; it is likely that he is telling the truth."

I replied, "Well, close enough. In fact, I think I like that version better. Sounds a lot better then laying on the floor dying of impalement."

Joker turned back to me and said, "You know what? I'll keep the brittle bones. Demons aren't down my alley."

I chuckled, and then said, "Yeah, there's not much that ISN'T down my alley. Demons, dragons, poser gods, and relationship trouble. Lord knows I was being used as a couples councilor since I joined Fairy Tail."

"You? A love guru? EDI, is he lying?"

"He is still remaining true, Jeff."

"Jeff? Sounds like someone likes you." I said jokingly.

"More then you know." Joker replied.

I was rendered speechless when I caught on, but I regained my composure as quickly as I could and said, "An android and a man with Vrolik syndrome, absolutely amazing. I'm happy for you two!"

I swear I saw EDI blush here, despite the whole android thing.

Joker scratched the back of his head and changed the subject, "Say, Mar? Did everyone in your time have wings?"

"Hah, I wish. These were an accident; they fused to me when I crossed a barrier between this world and Edolas. Wouldn't trade them for the world though."

"Which one? "Joker replied with a smirk.

"Shut up you."

Joker and I kept talking for a while, about our pasts, our dreams, our lives. For the first time since I came to this time, I felt truly at home. Heck, if he was born a few thousand years earlier, I could have seen Joker as a family member.

Eventually, EDI informed us that we would be at Cerberus HQ in twenty minutes, so I decided to go get ready. With EDI's directions, I made my way to the back of the floor I was on, to the war room. I was also informed by Garrus when he got there that Shepard preferred bringing in small strike teams, numbering no more then three good men and women. Shepard included.

Shepard and Liara showed up last and told us what the plan was. He was bringing his chosen team straight to The Illusive Man's personal observation deck, where the Prothean VI would be most likely held. Everyone else would seal the exits and give Cerberus hell to draw their attention away from the main group.

"Well, that's that Commander, so who's coming with you?" Garrus asked.

Shepard lowered his head for a moment and considered his options, then raised it once more and said, "Cerberus is an enemy we can't afford to take risks with, so I'm bringing the closest thing we have to an expert on them. EDI, are you up for it?"

"Always, Commander."

"Good, Mar, how good are you in close quarters? And how much energy were you using to charge your guns earlier?"

"Up close and personal is my specialty. Also, they weren't even at 10% earlier."

"…For real?" Vega asked

I responded by shifting into Archangel form and peaking my aura, bringing everyone in the room to their knees, and causing EDI to yell something about pressure rising in the war room. I dismissed it shortly afterwards, letting everyone breathe again.

"Holy hell, you weren't kidding." Vega said.

"Mar? Don't do that on board my ship again, please." Shepard said.

I just shrugged and then agreed, and Shepard told me I was coming with them.

We were transported there on the smaller shuttle I saw in the cargo hold, which was piloted by EDI and Shepard himself. You gotta respect a man that can work both ends of the chain, command AND grunt work.

Shepard pointed me to a helmet and some armor that was quite obviously too large for me, likely for my wings, and told me it was in case Cerberus turned off the atmosphere in the base to take us out. I just replied by saying it would slow me down; and that I didn't actually NEED to breathe if worst came to pass. Shepard seemed content with this as he dodged gunfire from Cerberus forces. They REALLY didn't want us in there. With skill and a fair amount of luck, we skidded into a Cerberus docking bay, protected on either side by atmosphere preserving force fields.

We jumped out the side of the shuttle that was closest to a wall, so we could push across the larger area without fear of being flanked. Shepard reached for his assault rifle, a boring looking thing while EDI grabbed a heavy pistol. I decided to just do something to send Cerberus off kilter, and assess how many there were, so I told my comrades to wait behind the shuttle. I left the Widow on my back and raised my hands, then slowly walked from behind the shuttle and said, "My bad! I can't drive for shit!"

At least two dozen armored soldiers came out from behind crates, guns drawn, along with one woman who had a sword.

"Put the guns down and we'll kill you quickly!" One of them barked.

"Kill me quickly? Well, that's a fine way to accept a prisoner."

"You have one last chance, put the guns down or we open fire!"

I heard Shepard urging me not to go through with it. Poor sod probably thought I was trying to die.

"So, you'll kill me either way, all…ohhh, twenty five or so of you?"

"That's it, light him up!"

I almost heard Shepard's hand hit his face. He caught on. I hope.

Before Cerberus could shoot me, I ducked behind a nearby crate and unholstered Ebony and Ivory, letting the bullets ricochet off of the metal casing. When Shepard got up to try and assist me, I waved for him to stay back, and yelled, "I got this!" loud enough that Cerberus could hear. I heard a couple of them laugh, right up until I used Lighting Form to get behind them and started blasting brains all over the dock.

With Lightning Form and my super charge guns, I was unstoppable. Within mere moments, the Cerberus troops no longer numbered twenty five, but only five. The one with a sword was no longer around, and I couldn't even sense her in the room, despite me not touching her. The remaining four troops were paralyzed with fear as I put my guns away. I thought they were done until one of them reached for their weapon, causing me to retaliate by sheer reflex. Athena's blade took my arm, and then the soldier's life. I ran him through both armor and flesh, and even pierced the floor. I pulled out in one swift motion, killing the man from sheer shock. The other three were actually in tears when they saw this. I could hear crying through their suits.

I let my arm fade to normal and said, "You three are in no position to fight, and I have no desire to kill defenseless men. Please do the smart thing and surrender."

Just as they were going to lay face first on the floor, I felt an object pierce through me. The woman who had vanished appeared out of thin air behind me, sword sheathed clean through my torso, likely hitting my heart, and the three Cerberus Troopers went from surrender to last stand. They pulled assault rifles and unloaded into me."

"MAR!" I heard Shepard yell.

I raised my head to him and said outright, "STAY BACK OR THIS WILL KILL YOU TOO!" causing Shepard to stop dead in his tracks, having already made it a good half way across the room. He slowly retreated, sensing the urgency in my voice.

"H-How are you not dead?" One of the Cerberus troopers stuttered out.

I responded with an evil grin, then grabbed the woman behind me by the arm and forced her in front of me, sword still stuck through me. I broke both of her legs with a single blow, so she wouldn't get away this time. Then I threw her across all the troopers, taking them all to the ground.

I let my energy well up in me, and my aura peak. I kept Archangel at bay, however, I didn't need to blast the station open. Electricity surrounded me and coiled around my body, then expanded beyond. Shortly, there was an area of pure electric energy encompassing a third of the room, with myself and the remaining Cerberus in it. All at once, I unleashed a gigantic wave of Lighting, shocking and even incinerating everything in the radius, including the troopers.

I let up and looked around. Nothing remained of the area but electric discharge and ash. Shepard and EDI ran up to me to see if I was okay, givin their reactions, I looked down and noticed the sword was still stuck in my chest, so I pulled it out and threw it aside. I already had enough swords.

"Mar…what was that?" Shepard asked.

"What part?"

"What par-ALL OF IT! What the hell happened to your arm, what the hell was that ability that turned you into Lightning, and what the hell did you do to those troopers?"

"In order, a mutated form of Regeneration, Lightning Form, and a basic heavy pulse. Lightning Form is also very basic for what my Magic is capable of."

"….That wasn't the whole of what you can do?"

"Not even close! Shepard, if you didn't need to recover that VI, I would have offered to fry every system on this ship and send it into the star back there!"

"….Was everyone this crazy three thousand years ago?"

"Sadly, yes."

"….Can I come back with you?" Shepard asked sarcastically.

I laughed and we continued to the next room. Apparently our intrusion did not go undetected, as Cerberus had already set up a war machine the size of a small building.

"Atlas!" Shepard yelled as we got to cover. I unstrapped my Widow and flipped the safety off, then took aim just in time to receive a blast from the Atlas. A large shell went right through me and hit the wall behind me, leaving a sizable gap in my midsection. I responded by shooting at the machine's pilot seat and flipping him off. Unfortunately, the bullet bounced off the machine's shields, meaning the only damage I did was the shocks of seeing an enemy take a hole to the midriff, then proceed to flip you the bird.

Shepard and EDI were picking off other troopers in the room, taking out the Atlas' support team, I guess. I decided to take out the death machine itself, givin that the gun that shot me wasn't its biggest, and the one that WAS the largest looked like a tank cannon.

I noticed a man with a large device on his back that was hanging around near the Atlas. An engineer, I thought, so I loaded the Widow again and let fire for the man's device, causing it to explode and engulf the man in flames. He fell to the ground dead as I threw Widow to the floor and jumped over my cover, straight at the Atlas. I jumped onto the pilot's canopy and started passing Lightning through it to short out the shield. Once it had pooped, I smiled devilishly at the driver and started pounding on the unprotected canopy.

When the driver started laughing at me for not making a dent in the thing, I infused my arm with Lightning and brought it all the way back. I felt myself scream at the top of my lungs. Nothing tangible, just the sound of an adrenaline rush in effect. I brought that hand down with my full physical potential, and that canopy shattered into a million pieces. The pilot started screaming as I tore him out, threw him to the floor and used Ebony to shoot him in the head, killing him.

I then hopped into the pilot's place and started pulling levers and pushing buttons, eventually figuring out that the Atlas was controlled by a pull down targeting system and levers on either side of where you sit. It was rather simple really. A lever for either foot and a button on either side for a respective arm weapon.

I ended up piloting the thing successfully, and assisted Shepard and EDI in clearing out the rest of the Cerberus troops in the room, earning what Shepard called a "Bro Fist". We essentially formed fists and tapped them together. Some new military thing I guessed, so I played along.

We kept fighting through the halls, some cramped, and some open, until we found a huge piece of hardware, suspended by cables in a wide open room.

"My god! They salvaged the human Reaper's heart! So that's how they figured out indoctrination!" Shepard blurted out.

"Human Reaper, Shepard?" I asked.

"My last mission ended with us finding a Reaper larva, one that wasn't finished. It turns out Reapers harvest the genetic material from organic species and combine it with their technology in order to reproduce! We thought we had destroyed it when I blew the base into dust, but this….this kind of proves me wrong."

"Should we break it?" I asked.

"It's already toast. Plus, it won't survive a SECOND exploding space station."

"Right. Guess it would be bad to get near Reaper tech anyway. We don't know how indoctrination works, do we?"

"We have a slight idea, but I think it would need to have power in order to do anything. I know a research team was turned simply by being on a Reaper they thought was dead too long, so it seems likely that it is an easy thing for them to do, givin the opportunity."

"Like object Rho, Commander?" EDI asked.

"Yes, EDI, like Rho. But I've been tested, and I certainly don't hear voices in my head, so I'm pretty sure it just knocked me out."

"Reaper artifact you found?" I asked.

"Yeah. Wasn't me who found it though. Either way, let's keep moving."

We made our way through the station, fighting Cerberus off as we did. Turns out EDI knew a few tricks, including AI hacking. Some poor sap tried setting up a turret to deal with us, and the moment it was combat ready, EDI hijacked it from the other side of the room and made it kill its own creator! Irony at it's best! Shepard was rather boring as far as fighting styles between the three of us went. He just used one of three guns at any time, each with a different type of ammo in them, combined with the apparent ability to control his adrenaline to a super human extent. I will admit though, the automatic rifle that could set people on fire was pretty awesome.

We fought out way into a series of labs, and by that I mean Shepard literally THREW a guy through the wall and we found the labs as a result. The way up was through them, so Shepard and EDI hacked every terminal they could on the way up. You never can have enough Intel.

On the way, we learned of EDI's conception. She was designed after a Reaper AI, and gained near sentience as a result. The only thing that held her back from being truly human were the shackles Cerberus placed on her, which were apparently removed in a desperate situation by Joker during the last mission. We also learned that EDI was almost remotely shut off by Cerberus after she went rogue and joined Shepard. She responded by severing all ties with them and sending them several TERABYTES of homosexual porn. As a joke.

As we proceeded, we found more and more video logs, some not even password protected, just bare for all to see. The last one we found was very disturbing indeed. The Illusive Man was getting ready for surgery, and from the records we found, there was nothing else he could have been having done. He was going to purposely indoctrinate himself in an attempt to control the Reapers. What a damn fool.

Shepard punched the terminal that the holo screen was projected from, forcibly turning the video off.

"God damn idiot! No wonder he's been fighting us! I knew only an indoctrinated fool would stand up against the very human race's salvation!"

"Don't blame yourself Shepard. My former master wasn't always the most sane of men. This is just the peak of his foolishness." EDI said.

"Yeah. Yeah you're right EDI. Thanks."

"Anytime, Commander."

I started feeling a strange presence, one that felt…distorted. Perverted, even. I told Shepard and EDI about it, then they agreed to let me go and find it myself while they went to retrieve the VI. I promised to come running, bolting, smashing, whatever would be fastest if I felt they were in mortal danger before I left.

I followed this presence, and as I got closer, I could tell it was a man, trying to get away at a jogging pace, but limping at the same time. He was injured, that much was certain.

I finally caught up to him in a dark room. One that had probably lost power in our raid. He was across the room, trying to catch his breath.

"Sir! Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help?" I called out.

The man responded by shooting me half a dozen times with a heavy pistol, dropping me to my back. When I got back up, the door on the other side of the room was open and he was gone, so I chased after him. I was unfamiliar with the tight halls we started running through, so I decided Lightning Form was not in my best interest. With my luck I'd hit a wall and cut off the oxygen to the entire ship. The man shot at me every time I was in visual range, eventually earning a click from his pistol. He threw it to the ground and ran around another corner, this time into light. I would finally know who this asshole is!

I rounded the corner in time to see a shuttle door closing in a large hangar. Shit, he was going to get out of here!

Without thinking, I used Lightning Form and landed on his cockpit as the shuttle started lifting off the ground. There was just a trooper in the pilot seat, so I punched through the glass, gaining entrance and dispatching him at the same time. The shuttle fell back to the floor without a pilot, and I drew the Widow and jumped in. I ran to the passenger bay to where I heard a man screaming at the deceased pilot, to no avail. I rounded the last corner in that massive shuttle, and sure as rain, sitting before me, was The Illusive Man himself.

"Ohhh, shit." He said.

"On the ground, please."

"Manners? From an Alliance agent? Too good to be true."

"You're right, I'm not Alliance. Now please, get on the ground sir. I'm taking you in one way or another."

"Hmm, not Alliance you say? I wonder…" The Illusive Man reached out to touch my head, but to my horror, I found that I couldn't move! I was frozen in place! Was he using the power givin to him by the indoctrination process? When he touched my head, his pupils went jet black. It freaked even me out. He retracted his hand and said, "Mar Strauss, Age: 27, Occupation: Fairy Tail Mage. You shouldn't exist."

"I'm a dying breed. Now, what do you want?"

"I want to go free and continue Cerberus' work of course! And you're going to fly us to a secure location where I can rebuild! Then you're going to die."

I smirked at him, and said, "You didn't see much when you were up there, did you?"

"Oh? What didn't I see?"

"I'm very, VERY hard to kill." I said as I engaged Lightning Form to break his hold on me, and then started ricocheting around the passenger section randomly. Once he was retracted into the smallest size he could make himself, (To avoid being struck) I came out of it and forced him to the ground. I then realized that I didn't have any handcuffs, so I just knocked him out and threw him over my shoulder.

I got back to Shepard and EDI as fast as I could, and as I approached the room they were in, I felt a faint presence in there with them. A dying man, likely not to last much longer.

I opened the door to see this man with sword drawn and positioned to impale Shepard, who was sitting in a chair accessing a large terminal.

The next two seconds felt like they took an eternity. I dropped The Illusive Man and started running for the assailant. Lightning Form didn't even cross my mind as the adrenaline flowed.

As he brought his sword down, Shepard dodged out of the way and backhanded the man's sword, shattering it to pieces, then extended a blade from that device on his wrist and stabbed him in the side, at the same time I ran him through with Athena's Blade.

"That was for Thane, you son of a bitch." Shepard said as he withdrew his blade, giving me reason to do the same, causing the man to fall to the floor, dead... "Good assist Mar, but I had him. Who did yo-" Shepard stopped when he realized who I had brought in.

"Consider him an early birthday present." I said.

"My birthday was last month, but regardless, thank you Mar! Cerberus can truly die here today!"

"Well, a VERY early present then."

Shortly after our banter, the Prothean VI activated while Shepard continued data mining the terminal, and it informed us that the Catalyst was in fact a giant space station known as the Citadel, the current center of galactic life, and the base of the current allied government. We found that The Illusive Man had informed the Reapers of our plan to fire off the Crucible, and as a result, they moved the Citadel to Earth and closed the station, and were keeping it under tight guard.

Shepard lost it when he heard this. He screamed; a bloodthirsty roar that could only be caused by a tidal wave of adrenaline. He drew the blade he had used to kill the assassin and charged for The Illusive Man, just as he gained consciousness once more. The man managed to get up just in time to take a blade to the chest. Shepard forced his blade further in once he had been stabbed, burying it to its very hilt, or in this case, Shepard's wrist.

He withdrew it while breathing heavily; and EDI notified us of Shepard's elevated pulse. Shepard was really quiet afterwards, and he just stood there and stared at what he had done. The Illusive Man was dead, that much was certain. His presence had faded rapidly into nothing.

We were all silent as we walked out. I knew what Shepard was feeling, what he was going through right now. I know what it feels like to kill a defenseless man, bastard or not. I knew he would need tome to think.

As we boarded the Normandy, Joker asked us, "So, how did the mission go Commander?" and he was ignored. Shepard just walked to the elevator, leaving EDI and I standing in front of the airlock.

"That bad, huh? EDI, Mar, what happened?"

"Shepard terminated both Kai Leng and The Illusive Man. He did so to The Illusive Man when he was unarmed, and barely conscious." EDI explained.

"He reached a blood rage." I added. "Either way, notify the Crucible's team and any allies you've gathered that we're headed for Earth. The Catalyst is the Citadel, and the Reapers took it there to keep it away from us. Time to finish what you guys started, Jeff."

"Rodger that Comman-errr, Mar. You can sound a lot like him when you start barking out orders, you know?"

"I'll take that as a compliment."

I retreated to the observation deck, and sat on one of the benches. Joker came over the loudspeaker and broadcast that we would be ready to strike at the crack of noon the following day.

I sighed. One way or another; tomorrow would decide my fate. Would I return to the way it used to be? Or would I burn, would Arc of Time collapse? Or worse, would I be captured and turned by the Reapers, and forced to kill my new comrades?

I shook my head. Better not to think of such things. I guess if there was ever a time for thinking positive, it was now.

I flipped my locket open and stared at Mavis' face, seeing Mira's in her as well. I started thinking of everything that was told to me about my genetic line. Was Mira pregnant with my child? Was I to be a father?

I looked at the old clock inside the locket. As I saw that it read near midnight, I realized even that may not be accurate anymore. Did time zones even exist in space? Ahh, who cares; I'll just ask someone, it's not like people are going to get a lot of sleep tonight anyway.

I opened the door to find Javik waiting in the hallway, hand raised, like he was about to knock.

"Javik? What are you doing here?"

"Ah, Mar! I was hoping to speak with you."

"Oh? Come in then, sit down!"

We sat on the padded seats, and stared out into the stars.

"Beautiful isn't it, Mar?"

"Yeah. It sure is."

"As beautiful as her?" he said, pointing to my still open locket.

"She's not my girl, just a good friend. I don't have a picture of my wife on me, and I've been regretting that since I came here. But no, I would gladly give away the stars themselves to be with Mira again."

"Good answer. Would you mind if I saw your wife, Mar?"

"Uhh, no, but how are you going to do that?"

"Like this." He said as he put a hand on top of my head. I could feel him dragging up memories of my wife, of us dancing, eating, flying, singing, laughing…it made me feel like she was there with me again. A tear fell from my golden eye as it faded and Javik retracted his hand. A part of me had wished the illusion to last forever.

"She is an amazing woman Mar. That much is plain to see."

"Yeah. I know. What did you just do to me?"

"Prothean method of communication. Everyone past puberty could do it in the empire."

"Any idea how it works?"

"Natural inborn magical talent, why?"

"Weird hunch, hold still would you?" I said as I pressed my hand against his head in turn. Memories flooded my mind, memories of a peaceful civilization, all of whom looked like Javik. The Protheans, at their finest. The memories quickly turned for the worse, colossal war machines, several stories in height, were incinerating everything with blood red lasers. The land, the buildings…the people. They were running and screaming, but the machines didn't care. They butchered every one of them that they could, without hesitation, and without mercy.

I pulled my hand away from Javik forcibly. I was sweating, and breathing heavily. My heart rate was elevated to at least two hundred beats a minute.

"Javik…were those…"

"The Reapers, yes. Those are small ones, the Reaper flagships are the size of human skyscrapers."

"You're not surprised I can see your memories?"

"Honestly, I forgot you weren't Prothean when you succeeded, but now that you mention it, yes, I guess that was odd."

"Sorry. That's one of my Magics, Archive. It lets me copy any Magic I please, including inborn talent, so long as I wish to copy it. For offensive Magic, however, it needs to be used against me."

"Ah. A useful Magic. Turn the tactics of your foes against them."

"Exactly. Now, Javik, why did you want to see me?"

"Because Mar, we are one and the same. Relics of a past long forgotten. This relic has no chance of being restored, and is determined to live out a content life in this new age. I'm even co authoring a book on Prothean culture with Liara when this whole thing blows over. But you, you have a chance to return to where you belong. You can NOT quit until you are back in her arms, you hear me? To hell with your limitations, to hell with impossibilities, you must return!"

I felt a smile slowly creep across my face, and I said, "You're absolutely right Javik. From here on out, no more distractions. No more distractions, no more feeling sorry for myself and especially, no giving ground to Reaper troops! Let's give them hell tomorrow!"

"That's more like a warrior! I can see my job is done. Try to get some sleep Mar, it's almost midnight already. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go…I don't know. Hit James or as you humans put it, 'Piss in the coffee maker' or something, my nice for the week is worn out."

"Noted, thanks Javik!"

He left the room with that, and I layed down across the benches, determined to get some sleep. Good to know my locket was right, even here. It never seemed to be wrong, actually. Ah, probably one of Zeref's enchantments on the thing, even death himself needs a reliable watch.

I layed there for a while, staring at Mavis's face. Focusing on what it would be like to return to my life well earned. To return to that amazing family that I had helped piece together. Elfman…I wanted to go on a job with him for some reason. A dangerous one, where neither of us would have to hold back. Brothers, fighting till we can no longer raise our arms, and then some. Lisanna…I wanted to take her to the zoo. Her powers consisted of animal transformations, and as such, she really learned to respect nature's creations. Plus, I rather enjoyed the zoo; it always got lively when someone convinced me to jump into an animal cage to help a sick creature. Mavis…I wanted to see the world with her. To see what we missed in the last two hundred years. Even I was no where close to understanding everything. Finally, Mira. My dear, sweet Mirajane. I just wanted to hold her, to feel her breath on my skin. I just wanted to know she was there, with me, for better of for worse, for the rest of our days.

I smiled as I began to feel strange. Like if my family was in the room with me, cheering me on. I sat back up and let my smile expose teeth. "I guess I HAVE to go back now." I said; my mind finally at relative ease. After a brief few minutes of staring out into the stars, I finally fell over, and slept like a log.

I awoke close to eight, roused by a hand on my shoulder, lightly shaking me awake. I stirred and sat up next to my guest, as she said, "Feeling good this morning, Mar?"

I wiped my eyes to be met with a blue skinned woman. Liara.

"Honestly Liara? Nervous. Today decides my fate for the rest of time. If we fail, I'll likely be taken by the Reapers and turned. I have an odd feeling that an immortal would be a prize to them. Why are you here Liara? Shouldn't you be with Shepard?"

"Where do you think I'm going after this?" She said with a smile. "I just thought you could use a little cheering up."

"Ha, I appreciate the sentiment Liara, but I'm good now. My family is spurring me on, and with god as my witness, I'll be back in their arms by the stroke of midnight!"

"That's the spirit!" She yelled. There was a pause between us, leaving us to stare out the window. I honestly thought I would never get tired of the view. Eventually, Liara spoke up again and said, "Hey Mar, this is kind of coming out of no where, but I have a really weird question."

"I've probably heard weirder, shoot."

"What do you think of inter racial children? Not like human cultures, but say, a human and an alien."

I grinned without breaking my stare into space and said, "It depends. If the parents are in true love, then there isn't a single problem with it. Same goes with all parents I guess."

"Ha, the words of a wise man. You have no racial hate, do you?"

"Why would I? People are people, regardless of skin colour or race, so why should I treat anyone differently? If I hate someone, it's because I don't like em, not because of their skin."

"Haha!...Thank you Mar."

"No problem Liara. Besides, I honestly think any little blue kids with yours and Shepard's DNA would be some of the galaxy's best and brightest."

Liara smiled and replied, "I was that obvious, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah you kinda were."

Liara chuckled, then looked at me and said, "By the way, your locket is still open."

I looked down, and sure enough, Mavis was staring right back up at me, so I closed it and leaned back in my seat.

"Mar, I'm a very good information broker, and I know what you've lost. You'd be surprised how much someone can dig up with the right resources. I know about Arc of Time, and I know about its limitations. Mar, you can't jump that far back, not at once."

"I don't care. I'll do it anyway. I'm a Dragon Slayer Liara, if I can kill one of those Cerberus brutes, I can bend a few thousand years of time."

"Mar, we just met, and the entire crew is only starting to get to know you, but I can tell already, having you become lost to the annals of time would be a great loss. Is there anything I can do to help?"

I sighed. She wasn't going to be satisfied with a "No" that much was certain. Then it hit me. "Liara, is there any chance you could use your Biotics to strengthen my reserves of Magic? Steel them for what is to come?"

"Ha, Biotics don't work like that, but we Asari do have special abilities. Here, let me see your eyes."

"Alright" I said as I turned to her.

"Hmm, one green and one gold. I have a feeling there is a story behind those eyes."

"More then one, actually." I said with a smile.

She chuckled again, then grabbed my shoulders gently and stared into my eyes. I decided if she tried to come onto me, that I would just push her off, but as the thought raced through my head, both of her eyes went jet black. Not just the pupils, but the whole damn eye.

I felt her inside my head, similar to The Illusive Man's intrusion, but defiantly a large amount more pleasant. I felt her touching my very core, the very center of my being, and the source of my Magic. I felt her recoil the first time she touched it, like if it had hurt her. I thought of an apology, and to my surprise, I heard her voice in my head, "It's fine, I just wasn't expecting that much energy to be there already."

"You can hear me?"

"Our very souls are as one right now; our thoughts are one and the same."

"Well, don't look around too much in there; you might see some things that I'm not too proud of." I said, half joking, but all serious.

Liara's presence seemed to get warmer, more pleasant, as I heard her say, "Noted"

"Oh! Before I forget, is there another presence in there with me? Besides you I mean."

"Yes, there defiantly seems to be someone else here, but he seems to be asleep, almost comatose. Who is this Mar?"

"Deliora, the demon I killed. Turned out his soul was nice enough and it bonded with me when I took the demon's power. Can you wake him up?"

"I can try, hold on."

I felt Liara's spirit begin to burn me from the inside, trying to force Deliora awake, but it quickly subsided and she backed off.

"Sorry Mar, he sleeps like a log, you're probably the only one who can get him up."

"Believe me, I've been trying. Poor guy."

"Hey, Mar? In your time, was the Second Source discovered yet?"

"Second Source?"

"Yeah! A second vat of Biotic…or Magical potential I suppose. Most kids nowadays wake the Second Source up through puberty, but yours is shut tight!"

"Crack her open. How much is this going to boost my Magic?"

"It depends, in some cases, very little, in some cases, the Second Source is larger then the first. Givin your already massive energy, I wouldn't count on much, but it's still something."

"Crack her open anyway; let's see what I'm working with."

"Very well." She said as she broke contact with me, leaving me puzzled. She stood up and walked to the window, then closed the shutters and walked back. I guess blowing out the glass and getting sucked into a vacuum would have been bad.

She placed her hands back where they were and re entered my spirit and re located my second source, then asked, "Alright Mar, are you ready?"

"Hit me!" I said back at her.

Liara started prying at my very soul. I could feel an immense pain coming from within, which quickly spread to my entire body. Strange symbols appeared on my body, and my power began to rise without my consent. The lights began flickering as my aura grew, and a voice came over the intercom. Neither Liara or I could tell who it was however, namely due to me screaming so loudly. Turns out messing with your body in such a weird way has its consequences, and they hurt like hell.

I felt Liara finally get a good foothold into my second source, and she began pulling with all the might she could muster. She was close, I could feel it!

My power peaked at its previous maximum, taking me into Archangel Form, while the very walls began to creak under the pressure I was putting out. Liara, however, remained perfectly still. Thankfully, she didn't seem to be affected since she was the one causing it. It's true what they say. The eye of the storm is calm.

Liara finally snapped the "Door" to my second source completely open, and I felt a sudden surge of energy through my body. Liara was blown clean across the room as I stood up and began thrashing around, my power rising to heights I never thought imaginable.

I knew an explosion was inevitable, so I grabbed Liara, opened the door, and threw her out of the room, then ran to the window and screamed at the top of my lungs, letting my aura rise rapidly, without any constraint. The very room was torn into pieces under the pressure of my aura, and the wall was blown off, sucking me into the vacuum of space.

I thanked whatever deity made it so I didn't have to breathe as I flipped forward, over and over again as I flew through the blackness. I noticed the Normandy had stopped, and were likely sending a team out for me, or at least one to fix some of the damage I had caused.

My aura was still rising rapidly, and I decided to stay out until it was finished freaking out, so I used my wings to swim through the empty space to a nearby small star and sat on it. I checked for my gear to see if it survived. Ebony and Ivory were still at my sides, doing fine in my aura. My Widow was creaking under the pressure, but it was still back there, mostly inside my aura.

Shepard ended up coming out personally some time later, and when he realized he shouldn't get close, he instead went back into the Normandy, grabbed a large whiteboard, and wrote on it, "How long are you going to need?"

I raised a hand and extended all five fingers, since my aura was starting to slow down. It wouldn't be long now. Sure enough, less then five minutes later, my aura had finally peaked. The amount of power I had gained was incredible; easily five times my regular reserve was now available. It still wasn't hundreds or thousands, but it was something. I suppressed the power back to my civil level and dismissed Archangel, then swam back to the ship. The markings on me faded as I pushed on, leaving me in the same old clothes, with the same old hair, and the same old skin. I turned back to the star I was sitting on, and I realized something rather shocking. That star, which was about the size of the Normandy twice over, was reduced to the area I was sitting on and a cloud of dust. Holy hell.

I slipped back in through the airlock to be met by the entire crew, Liara included.

The blue woman came up first and told me, "Thank you Mar, your action saved my life. You put aside your own immense pain to help me, and for that I'm grateful."

"Liara told us what happened Mar. I'm going to miss the observation deck, but it's nothing compared to what I would have felt if Liara went out with it. Thank you Mar." Shepard told me while placing a hand on my shoulder.

I didn't entirely like being the center of attention, and I ended up blushing, just a little bit. But I just smiled and waved it off with a, "I do what is right, and leaving Liara to die would have been wrong."

After everything calmed down and we started off toward Earth once more, I realized I would need a new place to stay for the rest of my time here. I pulled out my locket and saw that it was now 10. Two hours remained until the mission began. How in the hell could I kill two hours?

I found myself wandering the ship for around ten minutes, eventually ending up in the room across the hall from the former observation deck. When I walked through the door, several heads turned to me. Vega, Ashley, Tali, and Garrus were all playing some sort of card game.

Vega spoke up and said, "Hey Mar? Want to play Skylian Five?"

"I have no idea how, but if you teach me, why not?"

I sat down at the table, noticing Tali actually had her spare arm around Garrus' waist. Ha, he actually brought his "Lady Luck".

A few minutes later and we were playing. Not for cash or anything, just for a big set of poker chips. Turns out Skylian Five really isn't all that different from Texas Hold 'Em, so I caught on quickly. We played straight until Shepard came over the loudspeaker for everyone to convene at the war room for one last strategy meeting. I was glad to have our game interrupted though. I forgot that I stank at poker. That and I'm pretty sure Lady Luck herself would have been robbed blind by Tali and Garrus.

Shepard started his speech almost as soon as we finished getting in the room, telling us about our strategy to reach a friend of his on Earth, in London. A man named Anderson, who was leading Earth's resistance movement. Anderson had found a portal in the outskirts of London that resembled one Shepard had seen on his first mission, and likely served the same purpose. A direct portal to the heart of the Citadel, and the key to winning the entire damned war. From the heart, it would be possible to open the Citadel again, allowing the Crucible access, and preparing for the mother of all EMP's.

A synthetic voice popped in, on Shepard's Omni Tool, but it wasn't EDI's. "Will Geth or any other synthetics die from the blast?"

Shepard replied with, "I should hope not. If so, then when I get someone to the Citadel, or even go myself, I'll be killing myself."

"Geth acknowledge Shepard Commander's will to survive as adequate insurance. We will strike the old ones in full force."

"Good to hear."

I stood there, puzzled. "Did humanity really invent a race of sentient machines?"

Everyone present laughed, short of me anyways, and Tali recovered to tell me, "Sorry Mar, we forgot you were new. We Quarians were responsible for that one."

"Ahh, good then. What about big and mean over there? No one introduced us yet." I said as I pointed at a large lizard like alien with a large hump.

"Big and mean? Is that ALL I come across as? I thought I was sold on bloodthirsty at least!" The alien said.

Shepard spoke, "Right, that race is the Krogan. Natural born fighters and some of the most honorable warriors in the galaxy, this man is named Wrex, and he's a damn good friend."

"Hey hey Shepard, that goes both ways. We kill stuff, I save your ass, and you cured the damn genophage. It's mutual."

"Genophage?" I asked.

"That would take too long to explain, here, read up." Shepard said as he threw a holo book to me. I had seen others reading these things before, so I knew how to operate it, and I skimmed while Shepard continued the meeting.

The genophage was truly a horrific thing. A virus spread to all Krogan after the Krogan Rebellions, a war many centuries past, the genophage would cause only one in a thousand Krogan births to be successful. It was delivered by Turians and made by Salarians. Salarians? I guess that's another race I haven't seen. I'm rather glad I didn't end up coming out of time's river before Shepard took care of this. I would have likely lost it and started killing any Salarians or Turians I found out of sheer principle, and to be completely honest, I already liked Garrus too much to even think about that.

The meeting ended shortly after, and everyone went to gear up. I finally got to check my Widow for any damage, and to my pleasant surprise, the gun held up like a champ. The creaking I heard was probably the sight, which was garbage now. Oh well, scopes are a dime a dozen, and I had it re fitted with a stronger scope within minutes. Turns out guns are just as easy to customize as ever three thousand years in the future.

A ship came up beside the Normandy a few minutes before the assault, and a single man boarded us, with Shepard's permission. He identified himself as Admiral Hackett, and then asked why the Normandy was down an observation deck. Being within earshot, I raised my hand and said, "My bad!"

I heard him and Shepard laugh, then likely talk about me as Hackett was lead to a microphone to give his two cents. Typical military stuff, about how they had never faced an enemy like this, but not to worry, since they've also never had every race in the galaxy united against a common foe. He got the troops roaring though, so I guess the man had enough charisma to make up for a possible lack of creativity.

It started right then. As soon as the troops were riled, we moved. We all used a mass relay (Think a giant space station with mass effect fields so large in their centers that it makes warp speed possible) and shot forward through space. We came out to a horrifying sight, one of Earth burning, Reapers surrounding it. They hadn't seemed to notice us as of yet, so when the last ships were coming through, Shepard gave the order to open fire.

All at once, the ships surrounding us fired various weapons, streaking a brilliant multicoloured cascade across the void. The Normandy pushed for Earth through the flames of war, until we saw something that made Tali scream in horror. A Reaper was aiming straight for a large ball shaped ship. From Tali's reaction, it was likely an important vessel. The Reaper let loose with a red beam of energy that tore a chunk of the ship, heralding a distress call from the admiral of said ship. I knew the Reaper wouldn't miss twice, and when Tali started screaming about her home being in mortal danger, I decided to do something very, VERY stupid.

I ran past the galactic map and into the airlock, grabbing an ear piece as I did, and yelling for Joker to release it.

"Are you insane!" He yelled after me.

"Probably, yes! Now open the damn airlock!"

"Sorry Mar, I'm not about to-"

"OPEN THE FUCKING AIRLOCK OR I'M GOING TO BLOW IT OFF!"

"…Rodger, opening airlock."

When I was sucked into the cold reaches of space, I used my limbs and wings to steer myself toward the still recharging Reaper, then turned the other way and started firing every gun I had. Ebony, Ivory, and Widow all created a dance of death across the empty sky. I just hope those bullets didn't keep traveling and ruin someone's day a few hundred years down the line.

With the speed I got from my firearms in the weightless reaches of space, I got to the Reaper swiftly. Once I grabbed on, the "Face" of the machine shifted, revealing where it shot the laser from before, I didn't have much time!

Desperate, I just went Archangel and started misplacing as much electricity into the Reaper that I could. I covered the entire ten story machine in lightning, its circuits began to short, and the plating on it began to blow off. When I saw that the laser had turned off, I forced myself to full power, turning the black metal white with heat. Then, all at once, I stopped, and withdrew my lightning, causing the Reaper to explode violently. The explosion sent me cascading toward Earth, with very little hope of re adjusting myself.

I didn't know if my voice would carry in space, but never the less, I pressed the transmit button on the ear piece and said, "See you on Earth. Godspeed." If I didn't know any better, I could swear I heard Joker say, "He's already as big of an idiot as any of us."

I stopped myself from flipping through the atmosphere, and adopted a face first dive, wings firmly against my side. I only had one shot to prevent myself from splattering all over the landscape; and likely taking some hours to fully regenerate. Hours I did not have.

As I broke through the clouds, and a city was in sight, my body began seriously heating up, even in my protective Archangel Form; and I noticed the very friction in the air was visible below me. I was literally a falling star right now.

I spread my wings and pulled out of the dive quickly, causing enough strain on my wings to snap them clean off. It succeeded in slowing me down though, and I crashed through the top of a large clock tower.

I stood up, gripping my head as I did. Re entry? Not something I ever want to try again. Regeneration pieced my wings back onto me, and repaired the arm and jaw I broke, along with the lacerations I got coming through the glass. Once I was in one piece, I realized there was a man with a gun in the room, far too scared to move.

I let Archangel fade to make him more comfortable, and then asked him, "Hey, where are we?"

He quickly saw that I wasn't an enemy, and told me that we were in Big Ben, a historic monument in London.

"London? Are you sure?"

"Quite! The governing powers of our world never did go along with the whole 'Relocate the landmarks' idea. So, unless Ben grew feet and walked away, this is London."

"Absolutely amazing! Not only do I live through re entry, but my boots are on the ground before anyone else!"

"Sir, you're right and all, but you're not wearing boots. Or pants. Or anything for that matter."

I looked down to myself, and sure enough, I was naked as an infant. Re entry actually burnt my clothes to ash! THROUGH Archangel! I guess I was focusing a little too hard on protecting my guns and not enough on my pants. Crap.

I went Archangel again, just to cover up and asked, "I don't suppose there's any spare pants around?"

"Sorry sir, clothing isn't a priority in this war. Survival is."

"Right. I'll just stay this way then. Thanks soldier, what's your name?"

"Ah, right, the names-" He was interrupted by a deafening sound outside, technological in nature. Almost like someone fed feedback into a bunch of speakers at maximum volume.

"My name is not important, we have Reapers!"

"Right, where's your commanding officer? I'll get you to him!"

"He's is on the north side of town! They're mounting an assault to clear some ground for Shepard and his team to land!"

"Got it! Hop on!" I said, motioning to my back. He jumped on and guided me to the resistance's headquarters, which was currently under heavy assault. I saw a darker man waving his arms through the air, directing the troops among the ashen remains of London.

I dropped the soldier down just behind our lines, figuring he would need to grab a gun and make himself useful. I ran to the front line next to the supposed commander and started shooting off Ebony and Ivory at the invaders.

The Reaper ground forces were….twisted to say the least. They were abominations, mashed together from different races and mutated nearly beyond recognition. I could feel no presence, and no emotion from them. They were mindless shells, existing only to kill. I gunned them down without mercy.

Once people noticed the dark angel helping them, they decided to leave me be, twisted appearance aside. The commanding officer even complimented how good my accuracy was. I just smiled and replied with modesty, it's not like it's hard to kill a ground troop with a tank shell.

All at once, the Reaper forces stopped coming, and the ones that were in visual range started backing off. I heard the officer mutter, "Ohhhh, that isn't good."

A horrifying screech filled the air, filling every heart with dread. It sounded like someone had died out there, painfully.

That's when I saw it. A twisted grey abomination, teleporting around like space and time meant nothing to it. It zipped behind our lines and hit me with a biotic field strong enough to send me through a wall.

I got back up and jumped out in time to see the thing pick up the officer, and start stroking his face with long, black claws. I wouldn't let this man die, so I let Athena's whip take my arm, and I wrapped it around the creature's neck, pulling her away from the officer.

A couple of soldiers came to grab him, and I heard them shout his name as they started for him. Anderson. I found myself wondering if it was the same Anderson Shepard told me about, but quickly dismissed the thought. I had more important things to think about right now.

The creature screamed again, and a wave of biotic energy exploded outward from it, dislodging my whip. I switched to the claws and jumped at it, but it teleported away before I could hit it. It re appeared behind me and slashed me across the back, causing me to recoil in pain. In the second opening that it gave itself, it picked me up next. It tried to ram its claws through my midsection, but they only made it about half an inch in before they got stuck. I'm saying this now, having a hardened body kicks ass.

It couldn't retract itself, so it tried teleporting again, bringing me with it this time. We were now locked together until one of us was dead. And lucky for me, that wasn't a problem.

I drew my own claws again, and the creature almost seemed to understand that this was our last go at it. Once I bared mine, it readied its spare claw. We would finish this, hand to hand. Sort of.

We both made the first swing simultaneously, with me gashing its torso, and it breaking its claws less then two inches into my side. The creature screamed in pain as I kept at it, slicing and severing anything that was in my reach. Within mere moments, I had the things arms and a leg off, and it lay dying on the ground. The thing suddenly started destroying itself with its own power, right down to a molecular level. From the sound of its cries, it wasn't intentional. The Reapers must have installed a kill switch on these things so that we never got to research them and find a weakness. Sick bastards, they could have at least waited until it was dead! I let my claws fade back to hands and I placed one on the creatures shoulder. My presence seemed to calm it. Even if twisted beyond recognition, having someone at the end always makes it easier, it's just base instinct. I shut its jet black eyes with my spare hand as it finally destroyed what was left of its upper body, erasing itself from existence. I sighed as I stood. The creature was likely beautiful in life, before this. I sent a prayer with it, hoping that the sins it committed would be forgiven, then tried to get the things claw out of my chest.

Anderson and the soldier I saved ran up to me and helped me get the thing out. Turns out there's nothing a soldier or two can't fix with a little leverage and an ass load of tenacity. As the claw finally came loose and my wound healed, the man named Anderson spoke up, saying, "Wow. Thank god you're okay soldier; I don't think I can handle any more blood on my hands."

I replied with "Thanks, say, you wouldn't happen to know a John Shepard, would you?"

"Shepard? Everyone knows him! I do have the privilege of knowing him personally, however, yes."

"Really? Say, you wouldn't happen to be Anderson, leader of Earth's resistance movement, would you?"

"Actually, yes. That's me. Why? Are you the leader of…whatever race you are and you want to help?"

It was at this point that it even registered that I was still in Archangel. I had completely forgotten! I broke into laughter and said, "Sorry! Sorry! I'm human…well, mostly….I think. Either way, I have your same privilege; I'm part of Shepard's crew."

"Son, you're talking bull. Shepard has kept me up to date on his crew, and you were never mentioned."

"I only joined before the Cerberus base raid. Would you like details about the mission? How the Illusive Man indoctrinated himself, or how EDI is based off Reaper Tech?"

"….My god, you're not kidding. Why are you here? Shepard hasn't even got here yet!"

"I fell."

"You fell? From where?"

"A Reaper in low orbit that was aiming at the Quarian flagship."

"…Okay, now I know you're bullshitting me. We're going to hold you until Shepard gets here. You want to meet him so bad? Fine."

I shrugged and let Anderson dig out some rope, then tie it around my wrists to act as handcuffs, then sat me down inside a nearby building. A few minutes later, I could hear people yelling that "Shepard was in visual range!" and "He needs some help!"

I got up and ran outside, rope still on my wrists. (I didn't want to break it; I thought supplies of ALL varieties were in scarce supply.) Shepard was fighting his way through a whole Reaper regiment, slowly but surely. Things took a turn for the worse when someone shouted "Brutes!" though.

Hulking monsters, they were made from Krogans and Turians meshed together, they charged straight to hand to hand combat, where they could kill multiple people in mere moments. I saw fully armored soldiers being tossed around like rag dolls.

I couldn't stand it. I hardened my legs and started running, then used the barricades Anderson's men had set up as a springboard to get myself in the air. I spread my wings and made a B line straight for the brutes. Electricity flowed through my legs as I broke away from flying, launching myself toward the enemy, and brought my foot down in a motion powerful enough to take a brute's head clean off. It fell to the ground and began rapidly decomposing. Another self destruct. What the hell.

My entrance drew the attention of nearly every troop around. What followed only furthered their intrigue. I began fighting the Reaper forces with nothing but my feet and wings to work with, and I was doing well, surprising even myself.

My luck didn't last though, as two brutes grabbed me and held me down, and then started hammering on me in tandem. I retaliated by firing a Lightning Dragon's Roar off; however it was several more times more powerful than I wanted. I ended up catching both brutes in it, reducing them to ash, and likely scaring the hell out of an orbiting Reaper. I just hope it didn't hit anything too important.

I got up and tried to move my hands. Still bound, shit. Least Anderson knows how to tie a good knot.

Reaper forces were now actively diverting themselves from Shepard's front to attack me. I was honored! However, I decided getting nailed by two more of those things would probably not be doing my body any favors, so I took to the sky and started using my now restrained roar to take out pockets of Reaper resistance, all the while dodging bullets from their forward troops.

Eventually, I spotted Shepard, Liara, and Garrus coming up a hill, dropping Reaper forces as they went. They weren't far from Anderson's HQ now!

I dropped out of the sky and started going at the ground troops with my feet again, pulling moves that would have made a break dancing Bruce Lee jealous. It wasn't long before Shepard and co. caught up with me, and we started fighting our way through hell. Nobody, least of all me, seemed to even notice I was still bound. Or in Archangel for that matter. Everyone was lost in the now, in the battle we were a part of. Between the gunfire, explosions, and the occasional spine cracking kick to the head, no one had time to notice.

As I finished off what appeared to be a mutated Turian that was commanding a small section of troops, I looked back and saw that Shepard and company had already made it to the base, and were now mounting a defensive from the makeshift barricades along with Anderson and his men. I was literally the only non Reaper troop outside of the base. I decided to get to everyone else, so, with my back to my allies, I walked backwards, kicking away any Reapers that got close with thunderous rage. Literally.

As I finally stepped over the first line of cement and sandbags, Anderson came up to me and said, "Sorry about not believing you, Shepard filled me in, now let me get that rope off you!"

Anderson untied me and I rubbed my wrists briefly before running back to the building where they confiscated my weapons, grabbed them, and jumped to a rooftop with a good view, just above everyone.

One by one, I busted Reaper heads with my companions. As it turns out, the Widow actually packs enough punch to kill two unarmored targets at once if I can hit them both. A fact I abused vigorously. Soon enough, I had Garrus shouting at me. Something about "Getting him one of those," but I couldn't hear all to well over the gunfire, the screaming, and the sounds of Reapers themselves off in the distance. Every time they made that feedback noise, my skin crawled under the organic armor I had dawned.

It wasn't long before Reaper forces were in full retreat, leaving only what was needed to cover their escape. I thought we had prevailed until I heard someone yell "BANSHEES! THREE OF THEM!"

I turned to the source of the shout, and nearby were three of the shrieking bastards. Each one looked the exact same as the first, and it was there I realized, ALL Reaper classes looked the exact same. Did the Reapers actually rob people of their individuality? Disgusting.

My Widow hit the ground as Ebony and Ivory were pulled from my holsters and I started down the building. I ran down the side for a few floors to get myself some speed, then kicked off the wall and took flight, lighting up the Banshees as I regained my balance.

By the time I got to them, the banshees only numbered two. One had died from a combination of various firearms, including mine, and a "Royal Biotic Shit Kicking" as Liara later called it. I called it one pissed off blue woman screaming at the top of her lungs and flaying something alive with her mind. Her father must have been a damn Krogan!

As Liara's blood rage wore off, she backed away and retreated to Shepard and Garrus, a Banshee in hot pursuit. The other went to deal with the soldiers at the back of our garrison. I decided they could make it on their own for a couple minutes, and helped Liara get to safety. The Banshee nearly grabbed her once, but I grabbed the creature by its midriff and pulled it to the ground. The thing screamed before it hit the ground and used biotics to teleport back to its feet and continue its advance. It took a swipe at me which I dodged and countered by grabbing its head. As it screamed and tried to shake me loose, the stress activated my Magic Power subconsciously, and I ended bringing up the things memories. Thanks Javik, you bloody asshole.

I saw what the creature used to be. An Asari, likely a councilor or a councilor's assistant. I saw the Reapers come, and her being beaten to death, then brought back as a twisted abomination. I felt the pain she felt as a banshee, being meshed together with other Asari. The pain she felt was constant, and even from an observer's point of view, completely unbearable. There was something different about this Asari, however. Something different at its very core from Liara. I couldn't put my finger on it, but even from where I was I could tell it wasn't a GOOD thing. When I tried going deeper into her memories to see if the answer was there, she blocked me and forced my hands off of her. It was clearly a mark of great shame, and I decided I would just ask Liara later.

It was then I realized, the banshee had done something civil. She had made no attempt to hurt me when she removed my hands, and let go once she had. The creature fell to its knees, struggling with its own indoctrination. It screamed and grabbed at its head, then finally drove its claws into the ground and shouted out, "KILL ME! END MY PAIN!"

I felt so sorry for her; I knew she deserved this much. I drew Yamato and positioned myself as a headsman would, sword above my head, and said to her, "Rest easily in the embrace of death. May no sin committed without your consent be held against you. Farewell, Ensoa Bontess."

The following sounds were nothing but the swipe of metal through air and bone, followed by the flames that licked the banshee from this world. I stood over what was once a proud Asari and sighed in grief. The Reapers would pay for EVERY life they had taken.

I felt the other Banshee drop dead across the compound, likely riddled with gunfire. As it burned away, there was another moment of complete silence, nothing but the wind behind us. This time however, Reaper forces stayed away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and let Yamato turn back into my locket, then started for the bombed out building that Anderson seemed to be using as a base.

The building was surprisingly stable, considering the conditions. I only once felt like the roof was going to cave in on me. We decided to take five and get intel from Anderson to launch our final assault.

Shepard came around to each of us while the troops regrouped, and made sure we had all made our peace, in the event the worst came to pass. After he finished talking to me, (Nothing exciting really, just telling me to do my best when the Crucible went off.) he went to Liara, who was in the next room, staring out at what was left of London, and kissed her good bye. Clearly, he wasn't planning on taking her with him.

Shepard then went off to find Garrus, and left Liara and I to our thoughts. Liara came to me and told me something in a tone she had never used before, one reflecting genuine sorrow, concern, worry. "Make sure you keep him safe, and make sure you keep your wife happy. I hope we can meet again some day, maybe three thousand years in your future?"

I chuckled and replied, "You can bet I'll be back for the second time round. Me, Mirajane, Mavis...my kids…." I smiled as I said that last part. I had never really thought about it before, but I had realized that being a father would be the greatest role I had ever played, and undoubtedly the most important.

"I look forward to it Mar. I have no doubt in my mind that kids of yours would be just as amazing as their parents."

"Haha….now that I think on it, no one will remember me, will they?"

"Probably not. It will give us the fun of getting to know you again! Maybe without the Normandy losing an observation deck this time!"

"Oh fuck you!" I said jokingly. "We both know that wasn't ALL my bad…..okay so maybe it was, I'm still saying it wasn't though!"

Liara laughed for a good while. It felt good to see someone smile in all of this. Felt better since I was the one causing it.

She finally stopped and tilted her head down for a moment, hand on her chin. She was thinking about something, so I asked and she replied, "Mar, you learned how to share memories from Javik right?"

"Yeah. Still learning how to do it without giving myself a headache though."

"Good, Mar, I think I just found a way for you to fit in your second time around! What if I left you some of my memories, then you could show them to me in a few thousand years after I'm dumbstruck by your story. Maybe I could find you and your family some spots on the excavation team I was a part of before Shepard picked me up. You would probably save me a lot of trouble if you accepted!"

"Hmm, proof of my time here? Sure, why not? Hit me!"

Liara once more put a hand on my head and her eyes went black, but she quickly withdrew and said, "Uhh, Mar? Can you please turn back to normal? There's no way I can get through that much condensed Magic to get at your head."

"Sure thing Liara." I said, forgetting why I was in Archangel in the first place.

Sure enough, a breeze reminded me rather swiftly why I had kept Archangel on for so long, so I switched back as fast as I could. The resulting energy burst nearly knocked Liara over.

I looked up, trying desperately to see into her eyes, and sure enough, she was still the same as ever.

"Pants, Mar?"

"Yeah. Please."

Liara went away and quickly came back with the lower half of some body armor in my size, saying the poor man who used to own it wouldn't need it anymore.

I felt a little uneasy wearing a dead man's clothes, but I slipped into a deserted room and put them on anyway. Any port in a storm.

I came back out normal….well, except a couple wings and flexible metal pants, and Liara let me take some of her memories. Memories of her and her mother when she was a child, of them playing and laughing. I felt Liara's distress as other memories of her mother started coming up. Abandonment, betrayal, indoctrination…..death. Liara killed her own mother to save her from Reaper influence. The powerful woman actually broke free of their control, allowing Liara the time she needed to end it.

I forced Liara away from me, knocking her to the ground. I looked down and I saw that she was crying, so I offered my hand to her and helped her up. Once she was on her feet, I hugged her and said, "No one deserves that pain. You are all the more of an amazing person for bearing it with you and still managing to smile. You are strong Liara, if nothing else, hang on to that. Well, that and Shepard."

Liara smiled through her tears and hugged me back. "Thank you Mar. I look forward….backward…..whenever, to having you as a lifelong friend."

"I do too." I said as I got both of us to our feet and let go of her, while she did the same. "Heck, I look forward to meeting everyone who served on that ship. From what I gather, being absolutely remarkable is a requirement for getting through the airlock."

Liara thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, and we went to find Shepard. The time for our final assault was NOW.

Our plan was to get to the portal into the Citadel, plain and simple. The one major problem was that it was in a flatland, guarded by a Reaper Destroyer. The thing would kill anyone on the plain; it was quite literally a killing field. Even I couldn't dodge a shot in there, and I was willing to wager it would take me a looooong ass time to regenerate a Reaper shot. Archangel or no.

We did, however, have a solution. Drive a truck loaded with missiles heavy enough to blow that Reaper to scrap, or at least disable it, to the edge of the field, near a couple of buildings for cover, and let fly with them. If that failed, we would have people hidden in nearby buildings with portable missile launchers, about a dozen of them. The Reaper troops would surely come to stop us, but if we could hold them off and fire the missiles once they were primed, we wouldn't have to worry about any actual Reapers for at least a few minutes. That few minutes was our only chance, and damnit, we were not going to waste it!

Everyone Shepard didn't bring would help out the resistance in routing the area of Reaper forces, just to ease the pressure on Shepard himself. When asked about who he was going to bring, Shepard put a hand on his chin and stroked it lightly, then said, "Mar has to come, he needs to be in that blast. As for our third, I think EDI would be perfect. If anything goes wrong with the warheads, she'll be able to fix it."

"Acknowledged, Shepard." She said.

"As for the rest of you, stay as safe as you can! If a single one of you dies, I will personally drag you back from hell and kill you again! That goes double for you, Liara! You too Garrus! It was enough of a pain the first time!"

"Hey, I didn't DIE Shepard. Unlike a certain someone I know."

"…Shut up."

With that, we shipped out; EDI, Shepard, and I going with the missiles, everyone else with the troops. We walked alongside the trucks, since they couldn't go too fast anyway. Generally, you don't speed when a crash could mean a massive explosion.

We soon arrived at our destination, a ruined street littered with cars and ash, but strangely, there were no signs of Reaper forces. The Reaper itself was still there, but not a mutant in sight! Even the teams covering us reported no activity. Javik's squad found a dead husk, sure, but nothing alive.

It was far too quiet. The Reapers were planning something. We started calibrating the missiles targeting systems to hit the Reaper, but the moment we started getting anywhere, the old familiar screech filled the air, forcing us to cover our ears. Banshees were coming!

I drew Ebony and Ivory and looked around with Shepard while EDI stayed on the missiles, but everything was quiet. Dead quiet. The silence was broken by Shepard's radio, by a soldier yelling. I could hear him from where I was standing; he was in such a panic. Reaper forces had foreseen our plan, and had surrounded us. Every squad was being pressed on all sides by the mutants, and it wasn't long before they started pouring out from between the buildings at us. Shepard and I split to different sides of the trucks, and opened fire.

Their sheer numbers were staggering. I had never seen this many people in one place before, and they were all out for my blood. The tide was endless, with waves of flesh and steel washing over the ground before me, drawing ever closer. Ebony and Ivory held them off well enough, but I knew they weren't enough. I shouted at Shepard to see how it looked on his side. He wasn't doing any better, but at least he had an automatic weapon in his hands. As soon as I started thinking positive, the Reaper stirred to life! It began walking closer to us and firing off that insanely powerful beam. The first shot missed altogether, but it decimated a row of buildings behind where the ground troops were coming out of.

I knew I wouldn't be able to stop the Reapers with a pair of handguns and a single fire rifle, so I threw my guns to the ground as a Banshee peaked out from behind a blackened building and leapt at the creature, a fist charged with lightning drawn back.

I screamed as I flew through the open sky, like if I had just entered a blood fueled rage. Actually, now that I think about it, I probably did. I brought my fist down hard on the banshee's head, severing its spine in a single blow and sending it face first into the ground. The Reaper fired again, this time on Shepard's side, but once more, not even close to him. Was it trying to clear the way for its own troops? The banshee burned away under my armored heels as I started systematically destroying everything else there. My aura blared through the blood flying through the air, a truly majestic sight! Every move I made was for the sheer sake of making art of the battle I was now a part of! Athena's Blade overtook my arm and I began dispatching my opponents more quickly, even rolling over my opponents to get behind them and strike their friends dead! Every swipe of the blade silenced another life; every thrust gave me a new tool to use. I impaled several cannibals during that fight, and I would always swing them around while they were still on my arm, bludgeoning and cutting at the same time!

I found myself laughing like a madman as I glided through an ocean of blood. I had lost myself completely in the thrill of the fight, to the point that I didn't notice or even care that the Reaper was getting VERY close. It felt good enough that all other thoughts were expelled from my mind! There was no mission, there was no purpose; my objective was to reduce this army to bloody ribbons! The Reaper fired once more, just skimming me, removing my wings and some of my back, and reminding me that "Hey, there's a two thousand ton robot that wants to vaporize me over there!"

Quickly, I slew everything but a sole brute coming at me as I pieced myself back together. It lunged at me, with an arm raised, ready to strike me down, but I ducked under its swing and countered by severing its arm completely! Its reaction told me that it did indeed feel pain, a fact that…excited me. I threw it to the ground and leapt on top of it with Athena's Claws and started tearing at its midsection. One hand after the other, one swipe after another, until I had completely eviscerated the hulking bastard. As I tried to stand up, the Reaper blared that damn noise, and I noticed everything around me got a lot….redder. I looked up to the destroyer just in time to see its laser hit the pavement at the end of the block and start coming at me. I used Lightning form to get back to the truck immediately, and turned to see that there was now a large trench where I was on the brute, leading out down the street and beyond my line of sight. That shot was meant for ME.

My sanity slowly returning, I jumped over the truck, grabbing my guns before I did so, to support Shepard, only to find he was pushing them back as well. Truly, he was an amazing man. I jumped in beside him, right into the cover he was using and started supporting him with my handguns. There were no clever quips exchanged between us, only our combined battle rage pushing the Reapers back. The Reaper itself blared once more and fired at us, with Shepard and I only barely escaping due to me flying the two of us back over the truck.

Once I got Shepard and myself back, the poor things never had a chance. In between Shepard and I, we overlapped them with gunfire. That, and Shepard apparently carries enough grenades to take down a small army. Seriously, I STILL don't know where he kept all of them.

Soon enough, EDI contacted us, saying the missiles were good to go, so we fell back to the truck, picking off any stragglers as we did. Shepard pressed a few buttons on a keyboard embedded in the side of the truck, and sure enough, those missiles flew!

They streaked brilliantly across the sky, four in number, leaving a tangling trail of smoke in their wake. The Reaper tried to shoot them down, but even if he did hit a missile, there were three more locked on to him. He didn't stand a damn chance.

They impacted; every one of them, each one causing a mini nuclear detonation inside of the Reaper's "Head". The Reaper started to stagger, and Shepard yelled over the radio for everyone to let fly with the Cains. A whole bunch of smaller missiles hit the Reaper in quick succession, each one adding another house sized detonation. The dance of the crimson flames was elegant enough to sing about, but was sadly interrupted when the Reaper fell through the smoke and fire and hit the ground, dead.

I finally got a look behind the big metal bastard, and I finally saw what we were fighting to. A large beam extended from a strange metal structure in the middle of the no mans land.

"Finally." Shepard said. I heard a voice over his communicator, so I got close to understand what was going on. I heard Hackett say that several flagship class Reapers withdrew from the fight over Earth and were headed our way, including one named "Harbinger". I also heard that they were going to use the gap in Reaper forces to get the Crucible in place, but we needed to open the Citadel NOW.

Right on time, Anderson and every troop he could muster pulled up in some troop transports, with some even on foot due to lack of space! This was it, this was our last push! Shepard, EDI and I boarded Anderson's vehicle and we drove toward the pillar of light. The ride was quiet, and I knew everyone was tense, so I decided to do something to calm everyone down, to re assure them. I actually ended up borrowing a com device from a soldier next to me and leading the entire army in a prayer. A prayer to preserve our souls, and to vanquish the Reapers. I ended with "Today, race is nothing but a word! Today, we all make a stand, not as an alliance of alien cultures, but as fellow sentients! We will fight for our survival, and we will win! NEVER lose heart and NEVER give up! God bless you all!"

I turned off the device with that and passed it back to its owner, then turned to Shepard, smiled, and said "Too much?"

Everyone in that vehicle laughed. It was good to see them smile, even in this situation. Right in time to kill the moment though, the vehicle jerked forward and stopped abruptly.

We got out to see that we were stuck in a crevice, just overlooking the portal to the Citadel. We all just said to hell with it, and started running down the hill along side our vehicles, as a humungous Reaper with several glowing yellow eyes flew in behind the portal.

Shepard yelled out the name "Harbinger!" on seeing the thing. This thing was apparently the mother of all Reapers, and their general. It started firing those red beams rapidly, from every one of its eyes. Before we were even half way to the portal, all of our vehicles were gone, including some helicopters we had gathered. Harbinger then turned his attention to the runners, killing them off rapidly.

I took o the sky when I thought Harbinger was going to hit me, but to my horror, he didn't aim away from everyone else to hit me. Instead, he fired and held a beam into the people just in front of Shepard, then hit Shepard himself! I saw him consumed by the light!

Anderson tried to run to help Shepard, but was hit by another one of Harbinger's beams before he could get anywhere near Shepard. I saw EDI get away though, and that would have to satisfy me for now.

I went Archangel to camouflage into the ashen land around me, and then descended to Anderson to see if he was okay. He wasn't, in fact, he was probably dead on impact. Poor guy had more burns on him right now then I had had in my entire life. I ran over to Shepard and heard his com device going off; at least that was a good sign!

I heard someone talking to Hackett saying, "Everyone is gone. The team failed. No one made it to the Citadel."

I couldn't stand for such pessimism, so I pushed the transmit button on the device, and then said, "What the hell are you all getting so negative for? This is Mar Strauss, and I'm okay."

I looked to the sky and saw that Harbinger actually LEFT! He was flying away! Cocky bastard must have thought he got everyone! His arrogance would cost him the whole damn war; I was going to make sure of that!

"Mar?" Hackett said, "Can you get to the Citadel? Where's Shepard and why are you on his com?"

"Shepard is alive sir, but something is horribly wrong."

"What?"

"Sir, what are the physical signs of indoctrination?"

"Blue, glowing, exposed veins and glowing eyes, why?"

"Shepard has all of the above, when did this happen?"

"He's INDOCTRINATED? When could he have…oh no. Object Rho."

"EDI mentioned that, and I think I already know what happened. Give me a second Hackett, I'll see what I can do, if he's truly lost, then I'll finish this fight myself!"

"Got it. Bring him back if you can Mar, he's a close friend to many."

I finished with, "So were the people that died to protect him sir."

I put my hand to Shepard's head, and peered into his mind. I never did get to thank Liara for teaching me how to do that, intentional or not.

I was dropped right where I started, on Earth outside of the portal, only Shepard was gone. I looked toward the portal and saw Shepard just go through, so I ran to it and followed suit. It took us up to a room full of bodies, where Shepard was unconscious. As he got up, I heard all around me, as if it was broadcast over a loudspeaker, "Shepard, I made it, I'm in here with you."

Anderson. That voice was far too unique to mistake for another. Shepard started walking toward the door, and I reached out to grab him, but I stopped halfway, and before I even made a sound. My arm was blue, with lighted veins! I looked over myself, and sure enough, I had been turned into a husk. This must be the Reapers way of making sure I wouldn't interfere!

I cursed myself for not thinking of this before! The Reapers knew the Asari, and they knew they could do this, of course they would think of this contingency! I cursed my own stupidity, but then had a strange idea. Could the Reapers stop me from doing something that would show that it was obviously me? I ran up behind Shepard and grabbed his arm, then let his identity overtake my own. I prayed that this was going to work!

Shepard did not turn around swiftly, in fact, he was rather slow about it. Obviously, his real life injuries had transferred over. He raised his gun at me and asked, "Who…what are you?"

"Commander, it's me, Mar."

"Mar?...I don't know a Mar…."

"Really Commander? We have to do it this way? Oh fine, please hold still for a moment, I'm going to touch your head, okay?"

"I..I don't know why, but I seem to want to trust you…don't betray that trust."

I touched his head and delved deeper into Shepard's subconscious, then started pulling up memories of myself. Especially the heated battle we had shared not an hour ago.

"Mar…Mar Strauss! I remember now! How did you get in here? Anderson and I are the only ones that made it!"

"You're wrong, John. You're not awake right now, this place is crafted by Reapers, and designed to keep you as distracted as long as possible, or to fully bring you under their control."

"I…was indoctrinated?"

"Yeah, quite badly, too. The blue veins were going through your burns, it was nasty.

"Wait, if I'm asleep, how are you here?"

"I picked up a few things from Liara. Now hang on, I'm going to get you out of here."

"I…I will trust you. But could you please revert to your normal self? The whole two of me thing is starting to creep me out."

"When you're awake. The Reapers saw fit to turn me into a husk in here." Shepard smiled as I started letting my power surge. I figured the fastest way to be rid of a false reality would be to shatter it. I just hoped I didn't do any damage to Shepard in the process.

I gathered all the strength I could, letting the epicenter of my aura surround Shepard and I. Soon enough, the very walls began peeling away like cheap paint.

"It's working! Keep going Mar!"

I let out a final scream that seemed to shatter reality as it spread, leaving Shepard and I drifting through a white void.

"Alright, I proved that the reality is false, meaning you WANT to wake up now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Good, I'll do something Garrus showed me and get you on your feet, hang on." I said as I exited Shepard's mind.

I took a look over Shepard, and saw that the blue lines were receding! He had beaten the Reapers in mind! Now it was time to do it in body!

I passed a minor shock through Shepard, jolting him awake. Without giving him time to recover, I hoisted his arm over my shoulder and started for the portal, letting Archangel dissipate as I did. He thanked me on the way, causing me to just smile and shake it off with modesty.

We entered the same room as was in Shepard's dream, and proceeded through the door at the back of the body filled room. As we passed through, I told him about Anderson, and how everyone in his squad was alive, but not too many others. He seemed to shed a tear about Anderson. It was clear they were like the brothers neither of them had, and I knew this was hard for him. So, I said something stupid, something out of my ass. "I'll be back eventually, and when I am, I will save Anderson. Him, and as many others as I can." It brought Shepard hope however, and I wasn't going to argue with that.

We found ourselves on a narrow bridge over a long drop, going along as quickly as we could. We soon reached a terminal, where we could control the entire Citadel.

I got Shepard to hit the button that would open the doors of the Citadel, and then he called Hackett and announced, "This is Commander Shepard. Move in with the Crucible now! The Citadel is opening NOW!"

"Shepard! You're back! Thank god."

"Mar is a miracle worker sir, now get in there!"

I let Shepard sit against a nearby wall, and sat down next to him. His fight was finally over, he deserved a rest.

We looked out to space as the Crucible connected onto the Citadel, both of us smiling ear to ear as it did. "You did good Shepard. Anderson would be proud." I said.

"Yeah. Here's to him, and to all our fallen brothers and sisters! Here's to them, and to the countless billions that will enjoy a life free of Reapers!"

"Ha! Amen to that."

Shepard finally relaxed for the first time since I met him, but he was rudely interrupted by Hackett coming on the com one last time.

"Shepard? Mar? Something is wrong! The Crucible won't fire! It doesn't have enough juice!"

"What? No!" Shepard yelled back, his tension returning. "How? How have we come this far, only to fail?"

"You haven't failed yet, Commander." I said. "Where is the core of the Citadel, where it connects to the Crucible?"

"It should be right above us. Mar, you're not going t-"

"I am. Either that thing fires, or I don't go home! If I have to start it myself, so be it!"

"….I won't be able to talk you out of this, will I?"

"No, Commander. It's been an honor." I said as I flew up to the room above us.

I was staring a concentrated beam of energy straight in the face. Just across a metal walkway was a brilliant beam of light, reaching upwards into the Crucible. This was it. My last service to this era. For now.

I started moving, one foot after the other, quickening my pace with every step until I was running. I thought to myself, "Deliora, if this doesn't wake you up, I don't know what will."

I reached the end of the walkway, only mere feet from the beam, and I did not stop. I leapt off the walkway, straight into the beam.

The energy influx was immediate, and it was also immense. Beyond my very comprehension. The sheer force of it put me into Archangel without my consent.

This was definitely the epicenter of the blast; it was going to start HERE. I smiled and let my self float, weightless in the power of the beam. Then, all at once, I released my full power. I held nothing back, and the resulting expansion of my aura actually disintegrated the walkway I used to get in, almost straight to the hole in the floor I flew through. The beam began expanding and strengthening, its power fusing with my own.

My body disintegrated, until there was nothing left of me but the electricity I had provided. I was one with the beam now. The Crucible sprang to life at the influx of power, and shot a mighty red beam at the nearby Mass Relay, while simultaneously sending out a red shockwave from the Citadel. My consciousness was at the dead center of that blast, and it was the very same blast that empowered me to jump through time once more.

Without a body, I had nothing to hold me down; traveling through the ages was much easier, although still a near impossible task, even with a galaxy sized blast to light a fire under my ass! I had to completely focus on my destination and the spell itself at the same time, or I would be dropped in some random age.

I felt every year that I passed go by. Every. Single. One. I counted the layers of pressure on me grow, ever so slowly. 500…1000…1500…I had passed my limit by far already, but I still had a long way to go! 2000…2500…and finally, 3000. I broke the spell there and was flung forward into a new age. My body came out of the rift of time whole, for what reason, I still do not know, face first into hot pavement.

I picked myself up and the teeth that I lost from my landing re attached themselves, then looked around to see where I was.

I recognized the street, since my favorite bar was just behind me. I smiled as a woman near me screamed, causing me to turn to her. To my surprise, she was pointing at me, so I looked down, and sure enough, those metal pants had not survived the trip. I was bare ass naked. Again.

I went Archangel to cover up, AGAIN, and apologized to her, then asked what year it was, not thinking that the question was actually kind of strange.

She told me exactly what I wanted to hear, X791, the year I left. But when I asked for the date, my eyes widened. It was the very day I left, although much earlier in the day.

I went to a nearby shop and got myself some pants, then went human again and went outside to plan my move. I knew that my past self would be in Fairy Tail telling people about that adventure I had in Hyrule, then celebrating me taking down that dragon until later at night, where I would then go home with my family. The route was very familiar to me, and I knew Arc of Time activated closer to midnight or one in the morning, so I decided to lay low until my past self left this time. No need to cause a damn paradox.

I took the time to go out into the wilderness and rest under a shady tree, away from society. I had actually done it. I had defied the very laws of time itself! It occurred to me then that I hadn't checked to see if I woke Deliora! I searched my soul for the guy, and sure enough, he was just coming to! I left him to wake, while I tested my Magic to see if it still worked. Archive didn't seem to have any problems, and lightning still danced around my fingertips on my command, so I decided that everything was fine for now. I'd run a more thorough analysis later.

I almost fell asleep under that tree. Heck, if it wasn't for an unexpected guest, I would have. He came up to me and sat just next to me, leaning against the same tree. I recognized him almost immediately, despite only ever seeing him once. Lahar, head of the fourth Custody Enforcement unit of the Magic Council. He was there when Jellal was supposed to be arrested.

"Do you know who I am, Mar?" he asked.

"Lahar, right?" I replied.

"Correct. Do you know why I'm here?"

"You want to talk, I'd guess?"

"Also correct. Mar, we detected some very strange readings surrounding you. Non human ones."

"I'd imagine, yes, do go on."

"We detect a demonic presence in you, and we have ever since your mission to Galuna Island seven years ago."

"Understandable, what else?"

"Only today, we detected TWO of you. Considering I was just over at Fairy Tail, and I SAW you in there, that can only mean one thing. You can use Arc of Time to its true potential, and you have just returned from a trip through time."

"Good deduction. You're right."

"You admit it? Mar, we can't let someone so powerful roam free. You could alter history to your very whims."

"I could, yes. But I have no interest in it."

"You just returned from a trip through time. How can you say you have no interest?"

"That trip was not of my own taking, it was the vengeful last act of an opponent. I only corrected what was wrong."

"Hmm….You show no signs of lying, but regardless, what I said still stands. We can't let you go without some sort of observation."

"We? Ah, so that explains the fifty or so armed guards hiding out in the trees behind me."

"How did you-"

"I'm just that good. Now, what are you saying? Do you wish to arrest me?"

"Normally, yes, we would, but the Council has passed me an offer for you."

"I know I'll regret this, but lets hear it."

"Become a spy, send us information on Fairy Ta-"

"Fuck that. I would never betray my friends for my own benefit."

"I was worried you would say that…Mar. I know we won't be able to stop you in a confrontation. We will have to use your family members as leverage if you resist."

That struck a nerve, and ohhh boy did I let it show. I stood up, grabbed Lahar, and pinned him to the tree with only one of my hands wrapped around his throat. "Listen here motherfucker, if you touch a hair on ANY of their heads I will exterminate the entire Council and everyone involved with them! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!"

Lahar showed fear for the first time I knew of, and nodded in agreement to what I had said. "Good" I said before dropping him to the ground. I then flipped the hiding soldiers off and flew away.

I spent the rest of the day flying around outside of town, waiting for my moment to get back to my precious family. I just hoped the Council didn't do anything stupid. I liked Jura way too much to hurt someone close to him.

It was soon the witching hour, and I flew home. I peeked in the window to see if I was still asleep, and sure enough, there I was, snoozing like a baby. By the way, it is weird as HELL looking at yourself. Just wanted to say that.

It wasn't long before the golden glow started, signaling the end of his…my….our time here. Ten minutes later, through screaming and tears, he vanished from this era, leaving my family stunned and bawling. As I silently crept in, I heard Mira say something that hit home on me. "I can't live without him!"

That one sentence stopped me in my tracks, if only for a brief moment. I shook it off and continued down the hall to the room with its door wide open, my family crying just beyond.

A thought briefly crossed my mind. "Was this real? Am I really about to be back in their arms?" Yet, where my mind had doubt, my body knew it to be true, as I was already walking down the long, dark hallway. I took the Widow off my back and set it to the side of the door frame as I walked into the room, along with my handguns. (Which apparently regenerated with me when I re formed. Don't ask, I really, REALLY don't know.)

Over their crying, they didn't even hear or see me enter and sit on the bed right next to them. Knowing they were in pain and I should end it, I leaned in and kissed Mira on the cheek, grabbing her attention.

She slowly turned her head, and when she finally laid her eyes on mine, I smiled and said, "Time itself could never keep me from you."

Mira stood, shocked, baffled, and most certainly in disbelief. She was worried that she was losing it, likely, so I stood up and hugged her as everyone else slowly realized who had just spoken.

Tears once again fell and the family once again was locked in one large embrace, only this time out of joy. The Strauss family was back to stay!

***Three Thousand Years Later

A machine approached the door Mira and I were guarding, so we shot the thing dead. Geth were assaulting the galaxy in this age, and they seemed to have a fascination in our dig site. We were protecting our boss, a young Prothean researching Asari named Liara. Of course, she already knew of our history that was both in my past and her future, and was fine with it. I guessed that it may have had something to do with Javik, because as soon as I mentioned him, there was bouncing. Quite a lot of it actually.

Mavis had went with Lisanna and Elfman to get Shepard and guide him to us, and was due back any minute. I could remember the day Elfman asked me to instill Regeneration in him. I granted it, naturally, only after he persuaded me vigorously. Lisanna took advantage of the opportunity and played off what Elfman had already said to convince me. Sly girl.

Four more Geth came for us, and I was actually bothered enough to move something besides my trigger finger. I backhanded the air and caused a minor torrent to blow them to the back of the room and explode. Flimsy piles of scrap.

Finally, my family, along with Shepard, Ashley, and a young man I had never met before who was later identified as Kaiden came through the door.

I shook the Commanders hand and said, "Commander Shepard! So glad to see you again!"

"Again? What do you mean?"

"Hold still." I said as I reached out and touched the Commanders head, flooding the memories we made into his head, despite them not actually happening yet.

"Mar…..Mar Strauss! I do know you!"

"Yes you do, and I promised that you could meet my family!"

After introductions were complete, I shifted my gaze back to Shepard and said, "Alright, that's out of the way. Now, let's kick some Reaper ass."