IMPORTANT NOTE: After I published the last chapter, I made some major alterations to it. Specifically, I pretty much entirely re-wrote the ending (from the point where Youji appears on) thanks to some needed criticism from user Durandall. Some of this chapter won't make sense unless you read the up-to-date version. Anyway, on to your regularly scheduled bullshit.

I said this would definitely, 100%, guaranteed, without a doubt be the last chapter.

Well, I'm a big fat liar. Turns out I had more to write than I thought. But I figured better to be a little late with a new chapter than to be really, REALLY late with a final chapter. I've been... busier than expected lately, which has made writing hard. But I managed to scrape this much together and have some ideas for another new Haruhi fiction starring everyone's favorite plot hole eliminator- I mean, alien, Nagato. So, hopefully, new stuff very soon. But I don't want to break another promise, so no guarantees.

As always, these characters ain't mine. Blah blah blah, legal mumbo jumbo, etc.

When I woke up, Asahina was gone. So was the school. And the Earth. I recognized the place, though. Asahina had dropped me off in the detention center of the Multidimensional Microbial Collective's ship, the room where they explained the situation earlier.

Without wasting any time, I leapt to my feet and made a dash for the door, running for the room where my friends would still be facing the MMC. As I entered the room, I watched myself leave. Specifically, I saw myself head through the portal with Youji and disappear. I came back before I ever left.

"Kyonko! You're back!" The cry came from the masculine Asahina, who turned away after seeing me off. "Thank goodness!" He ran up and gave me a warm embrace. "I was so scared that you wouldn't come back."

"It's okay. I'm okay," I reassured him. "And that jerk Youji isn't coming back anytime soon."

"Umm, Kyonko, I'm glad to see you back, as well..." The feminine Asahina also greeted me. "But why on Earth are you wearing my maid costume?"

Oh, right. I didn't change back, did I? I sighed. "It's a very long story. I'll tell you some other time."

The sound of glass shattering was followed by the sound of two pairs of feet hitting the ground. The two Nagatos had burst through the barriers that held them back and landed beside us.

Kyon asked, "Are we ready?" To that, everyone nodded. "Then let's save our friends."

There was nothing left in our way. The guards were knocked out, Youji was currently in a time traveler's jail somewhere. All we had to do was smash open the glass sphere containing Haruhi and Haruki, get them out, and find a warp hole back off this stupid ship and then everything could go back to normal.

Well, actually, I did forget one small detail.

As I approached the metallic tower that held both halves of Suzumiya Haruhi, a voice rang out.

"IT HAS BESTED THIS ONE'S SERVANTS... BUT IT SHALL GET NO FURTHER."

We were all blown back, my back smashing into the wall behind me. Despite what you may see in the movies, being thrown into a wall really, really hurts. I groaned in pain on the floor for a little while, and when the pain subsided enough to get to my knees, there was a translucent, blue body standing, staring back at me.

"It must be eliminated," it said in a cold, monotone voice. The Multidimensional Microbial Collective was standing before me with an unfeeling glare coming from what might have been its eyes.

In fear, I closed my eyes, waiting for whatever it was going to do to me, but nothing came except a light splash of water all over me and the floor. When I stomached the nerve to open my eyes, the MMC had quite literally lost its head. Standing beside it was the male half of the Nagato duo, his elbow extended towards the neck of the monster.

In one blow, he had decapitated the beast, whose body slowly sagged down to the floor into a pool of liquid.

But that was too easy. I knew that wouldn't be the end. So I clawed my way up Nagato's leg and held on for dear life.

From the pool of liquid that was once the MMC, a torrent of water launched itself towards me, only to be intercepted by the other half of the Nagato pair, who jumped before us and seemingly erected an invisible barrier that pushed it back. But before I could so much as wipe my brow, the water became a torrent of blades instead. Swords, knives, spears and arrows seemingly formed from what looked like an ordinary puddle. And as if guided by an invisible hand, they all smashed through the invisible barrier and headed for me.

What happened next is hard for me to explain because, quite simply, I didn't see it all. Everyone was moving too fast. I couldn't keep up with who was who, I simply saw a blur of weapons and two indistinguishable forces of utter power striking them down whenever they got near. As soon as I would see a sword, indistinguishable from the real thing, raised over my head, the blade would shatter and then explode into a fountain of liquid. When an arrow would fly to my face, in an instant, one of my two saviors would be there, I think, and snap it like a twig. It, too, would then fall to the floor and melt away. What the hell was this thing?

Unfortunately, for every weapon they struck down, another two would take its place. Very shortly I was drenched in whatever juices constructed the MMC. I looked like I had been standing in a monsoon, but that was the least of my concerns.

Eventually and without warning, the attacks ceased. Reforming itself, the MMC took its more familiar human-like shape.

"It sees now, does it not? This one is incapable of defeat. This one is constructed from an immeasurable number of cells, each containing all the knowledge, all the power of the whole. As long as one cell of this one exists, this one can be regenerated."

Oh, lovely. So it's immortal, too.

"That is incorrect," said Male-Nagato. "It merely means he must be isolated and eliminated entirely at once."

Of course, that lead to one further problem. How do you eliminate something down to the last cell short of hurling it into the sun?

Actually, come to think of it, that's not a bad idea! Well, we can't drop it into a sun, but how does a sun kill things? Through heat and radiation. If we could get that thing alone and heat the room high enough, that might do it. But what could we use to generate that much heat? Maybe the ship's engines? Or...

Well, there's the obvious solution. When in doubt, there's only one person to rely on. Or in this case, two.

"Nagato! Heat is the answer! Cook him in his own juices!"

The pair nodded. But the MMC wasn't about to sit still and let them go on the offensive. Reaching out, he created a series of barriers around both of them, trapping each alien in a series of transluscent cages.

Sadly for the MMC, Nagato had gotten the hang of taking down those barriers and in a second, the two aliens had shattered them all. Not giving up, though, several more barriers were erected in an attempt to hold the two of them back. But then they were taken down even more quickly than the last few.

Nagato Yuuki leapt through the air like an acrobat, landing on the other side of the MMC. Simultaneously, the two of them began a synchronized assault that was almost painful to watch. Liquid flew in every direction as their fists worked like a powerful jackhammer, pounding away, sending large portions of the beast flying in every direction, causing liquid to splash everytwhere. When they were done, all that remained where the barrier-erecting dimenion-crawling monster was a puddle.

But then he began to pull himself together. The pools of whatever-the-hell-that-is that were strewn across the room began to crawl across the floor, gathering at one point. Even the liquid that covered my skin and clothes seemingly dried up as they dripped onto the floor, forming a pool that also slid across the floor.

From the puddle that formed before the steel tower, once more the MMC formed. Surprisingly, it didn't bother to lecture us on the futility of our actions or something and instead caged both Nagato in another barrier before launching itself at me.

In that split second, before fear could even register in my brain, before I could even fathom a reaction, I heard chanting. A quiet, almost inaudible voice, no, two voices, speaking quickly, in unison. As quickly as it moved, the MMC was stopped in an instant, trapped behind what looked like the very barrier it had used not two seconds before. Meanwhile Nagato was free. My guess is that being behind those walls so frequently, you learn to find their weakness.

Not stopping to explain their plan, the female Nagato began to chant again while the male took a deep breath. And then, uncharacteristically of him, the male screamed. Only, there was no sound. At least, nothing like a scream. In its place was the roar of an open flame. Like a human- err... alien flamethrower, a tremendous wave of fire exited his mouth. Standing a good three or four meters from the target, the heat was still intense.

When the flames died down, there was nothing left. The spot where the beast had sat seconds ago was completely bare. The walls and floor, all made of solid metal, were warped and twisted, most of it was partially liquified.

"Nagato..." I stared in amazement. For a few seconds, my jaw simply hung there before I remembered how to speak. "How did you do that?"

"We manipulated the molecules within my lungs to create a substance that would combust upon contact with oxygen."

Ah. Sounds utterly impossible, but it happened, it worked, who cares. So I sat back and took a deep breath. Finally, it was over.

Very quickly, the Asahina and Koizumi pairs were before me, fretting. The male half of the former was squeezing me tight.

"Kyonko, Kyonko! I was so scared! Are you all right?"

I petted the lad on his head and smiled gently. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks to Nagato."

Kyon, who I had forgotten was here, asked, "So, is it over?"

I looked around. There was no sign of any movement. Those flames were hot enough to melt steel. I doubt anything could survive that. I sighed in relief. "Yeah, I think it is. Come on, let's free Haruhi and Haruki and get the hell off this ship."

We approached the contraption that held our friends captive, examining it from all angles.

"So, how do we get them down?" asked Koizumi (male)

"It will not get them down. It will go no further."

I recognozed that voice. So, it wasn't over, after all. But I began to panic further when I realized that that sinister voice was coming from my own throat. I moved my hands to cover my mouth, but they resisted my will.

Asahina (female) slowly backed away. "Kyonko, what are you saying?"

Kyon jumped in front of her. "Don't go near her! The Multi-whatever is inside her!"

"It appears to have some intelligence after all, besides blind luck," were the words that came from my mouth, this time in a meld of my voice and that of the beast's. "During our battle, when we were scattered about, we seeped into it through the pores of its skin, into its blood stream. We control it, and its life is in our hands."

"Tch," Kyon clicked his tongue. "Bastard."

"R-Release our f-friend!" Asahina Mitsuuru stood adamant. Or at least he tried to. The shaking didn't help his case at all.

"We cannot allow that," continued the voice from within me even though I tried to stop it. "It has taken from us the commander of our forces. We will take this one's mind and use it in place of the lost commander."

"No!" cried the Asahina and Koizumi pairs.

"You... can't have my mind!" I struggled to fight back. "So shut up and get out of my head!"

But the will of the MMC was strong and quickly overwhelmed my own. "We cannot. We exist only on this plane of reality. To influence other worlds, we require the indoctrinated minds of others."

Kyon growled audibly. "Indoctrinated? The hell are you talking about?"

"He means that the men we fought before were not of their own minds," explained Koizumi (male).

"It is a necessary step we must take," came the voice from my throat. "We possess the ability to manipulate matter and open channels to other dimensions, but we cannot traverse these worlds ourself. We require servants to act on our behalf. Those who are not willing shall be made willing."

Asahina Mitsuuru clenched his fist tightly. "You're disgusting!"

The MMC didn't care, though. "We neither require nor desire its approval. Our cause is just and we do what we must to bring stability to the universe. And it shall aid us."

Not even waiting for a reply, "I" charged forward, grabbing the male Koizumi by his uniform and yanked him towards me. Like a vampire, I tried to sink my teeth into his neck. But, thankfully, a powerful hand hit me in the chest, sending me staggering backwards. As I fell to one knee, I saw Nagato Yuki standing before me, her fist extended.

"Its resistence perplexes us. Does it not see the danger inherit in allowing such powerful creatures to continue to exist? Does its masters not see the danger?"

"The Integrated Data Sentient Entity does realize there is possible danger in allowing Suzumiya to exist freely. However, it is also thought that what can be learned and utilized through study warrants the risk."

"A pity." With each word the MMC spoke through me, my own will was pushed further and further away. I had no say over my own actions. "We were hoping that beings revolving around data would be more rational. But it matters not, as it will be brought to serve me either way."

A surge of pain rushed through my body as I launched myself like a rocket towards Nagato Yuki, my body unused to such superhuman forces. My fists flew towards her face, but they were intercepted by her double. In their place my right foot left the ground and attempted to take his head off. He ducked. But he did not retaliate. As my right foot returned to the steel floor and I spun back into position, my left foot raised itself and attacked.

As all this occured, my body was screaming. Not only did I not want to fight my own friends, not only was my entire being under the control of some freakish monstrosity, but the sheer force of my movements was taking its toll. As my left foot attempted to hit Nagato in the chest, I swear I felt my leg break just from the deceleration alone. But still I fought on.

With every kick, with every punch, it became clearer and clearer that neither Nagato had any intention of actually fighting back. They would dodge or block my attacks and, when possible, attempt to restrain me, but never once did they attempt to strike me down.

And they could have, quite easily. I've seen them move. Actually, scratch that. What I mean to say is I've seen first hand that they're way too fast to see. But their movements right now were, while still amazing, quite perceivable. They were going easy on me. I wish they had not. Even being slammed to the ground couldn't have been as excruciating as just moving like this was.

Then the MMC must have gotten an idea. It's not like he kept me in the loop for his plans. A straightforward charge towards male Nagato quickly changed directions and—No! I was heading straight for both Asahina, who were trembling together.

Before I could get to them, though, an arm was stuck in my way. Just as the MMC probably wanted. Instead, my mouth opened wide and I sank my teeth into the arm of the boy alien. The taste of blood quickly flooded my mouth. Nagato ripped his arm from my mouth, but it was too late.

After a moment of hesitation, Nagato Yuuki stood up straight and with the same emotionless face as he always had, spoke in unison with the Multidimensional Microbial Collective. "This body, it suits us well. We feel the connection to the world of data. We feel the power it brings us."

Oh shit. Shit. Shit. This is bad. This. Is. Bad. Not only has my body been taken over, not only was our enemy essentially immortal, but now it has taken control of one half of our trump card. It can't get much worse than this. And yet, it did, very quickly.

Nagato began to tremble violently, holding his head in his hands. "What is... how does it still resist us? Its willpower much be truly strong to fight our influence. But from where does this resistance stem from?" The MMC monologued to itself as if none of us were here. "We must search its mind."

Silence prevailed as Nagato's fierce resistance stopped. Instead, he stood still like a statue. Asahina, Koizumi, Kyon, the other Nagato, we could only stare in anticipation, wondering what was happening to our friend. The only upside to the situation seemed to be that as that thing was so occupied with whatever it was doing to Nagato that I seemed to have regained control of my body.

"Strange. For one so powerful... Its strength comes from another. One who does not carry any noticeable power at that." Nagato pointed his finger at me and continued to speak in that dual voice. "If this human female is the source of your resolve, then it must be done away with."

It took a second for what I had just heard to sink in. Wait, I'm the source of Nagato's power? Okay, I was convinced then, more than ever, that this Multi-whatever has a few dozen screws loose. But I didn't exactly have time to think of a reasonable argument as to why he was crazy as I was preoccupied with the whole mortal terror routine.

Then Nagato, the still sane female one, jumped between me and the possessed Nagato. Not only her, but everyone got between us.

The Koizumi pair yelled, "We won't let you harm our friend!"

Asahina Mitsuuru stood directly in front of me, his arms held out wide, and defiantly stood his ground. "It's my d-duty as a m-man to protect her! Y-You'd better not c-come any closer!"

Even Kyon, who I still was not used to seeing as another person, stood before me. "Harming her would be like harming me. There's no way I'll let you get away with that!"

Even the ever silent Nagato turned her head slightly to me and nodded solemnly. I knew she was consenting to what the others had said. It was her way of lending support. Even though, in spirit, she was not the Nagato I knew, she was still willing to fight for me.

For just a brief moment, I was touched. That everyone would defend me when some of them I'd never truly met before...

Unfortunately, it didn't last long.

With a wave of Nagato Yuuki's hand, everyone before me was thrown in every direction. A glowing orb encased each of my friends.

"Do not resist," the MMC said as he walked slowly towards me. "With the introduction of data manipulation into our powers, our barriers' strength has increased a hundred fold."

Sure enough, Nagato Yuki, who had been smashing through the force fields before as if they weren't there, was flailing pointlessly against the wall of her spherical cell.

With every step the MMC-possessed Nagato towards me, I took two backwards. Quickly I found myself pressed up against the steel tower encasing Haruhi and Haruki.

Nagato, against his will, walked closer and closer. My heart beat faster and faster. Eventually the beating became so loud it drowned out his approaching footsteps.

"We are sorry that it came to this," he said. "It could have been of use to us. But we have looked into the heart of the data alien. So long as it, the human female, continues to exist, the alien will continue to struggle against us. Even now, it resists us. We struggle to remain in control. We are sorry, but this is for the best."

Like hell it is!

...That's what I wanted to say, but the words were stuck in my throat. I looked around. All my friends were still trapped behind their barriers. I was alone.

My heart was trying to jump out of my ribcage.

He reached out one hand with his palm facing my chest.

Sweat was pouring down my brow. I was trembling all over. He spoke once more, but I couldn't hear a thing over the sound of my own heartbeat.

And then he closed his fist.

My heart skipped a beat.

And another.

And again.

By the time I realized what was happening, I was already falling face down onto the floor.

He stopped my heart.

I tried to gasp for air, but nothing would come. My lungs were frozen.

Ha ha. I was dying. I was seriously dying. I just started high school and already my life was over.

It took all of my strength to raise my head to look up at the face of my killer.

In Nagato's eyes, a feeling I never saw before. Pain. Someone who could take spears through the chest with hardly a flinch was in pain. I swear I even saw a tear roll down his cheek. No, Nagato, don't blame yourself. I caused this mess. This isn't your doing.

Odd how my mind briefly entertained the idea of comforting him when I didn't have neither the time nor the ability to do so. But I suppose people think weird things on their death beds.

All the feeling in my body had been drained and slowly my sight began to leave me as well. Everything went dark. My head dropped back to the floor. Everything was silent. It was amazingly peaceful.

But then, in my last few seconds, a wave of fear washed over me. What would become of my family? I saw my own funeral in my mind, with my little sister/brother in tears. I don't want to see that.

I saw my school. I saw my seat, vacant. I saw the principal, standing before a wreath of flowers, delivering a quiet eulogy before the classes. Asahina was in tears, as was Koizumi. Nagato was stoic, as usual, but I could see the hidden sadness in his face. And then there was...

Haruki.

He was brash, crude, vulgar, perverted, insensitive, annoying, a brute, and I loved him.

I loved him so much it hurt. I don't know when it happened, but there it is. It was the simple truth. It explained away all the confusion I'd felt around him. It explained why I was so embarrassed to be around him. It was because I wanted him to love me back.

And I would never see him again.

I didn't want that. I don't want to die!

Screw how confusing this all is, my body was telling me I wanted to be with Haruki!

But it was too late.

My mind returned from the fantasy to the cold reality. I was on the floor of an alien spaceship, its leader had stopped my heart, and I was dying.

All I could do was use the last of my life to utter one last plea.

"Haruki... Help... Me..."

And then I died.

To be continued.