"This is all my fault."
"What?" Ace and Xena both asked simultaneously.
"This is all my fault!," Taro exclaimed a bit louder than before, " If it wasn't for me, none of this mess would of happened!"
"What are you talking about?" Xena asked without much sympathy.
"Yeah, Taro, how can you possibly blame this on yourself?" Ace interjected.
"If, I hadn't made the stupid decision to take Xena back with us to M78 in the first place, this never would of happened!" Taro shot back, his voice on the verge of anger. "If only I had taken more responsibility for my actions and thought it through first, then just maybe…,"Taro trailed off, unable to continue, with the grief that was weighing him down.
There was a moment of awkward silence, before Ace regretfully stated," Well, Taro…if any of this is your fault, it's mine too." This caused Taro to look up at his brother , who now wore the same mournful expression. "I was in charge of that mission, and if anything went wrong I was to accept full responsibility. So if anyone is to blame for this, it's me!"
Unable to look his brother in the eye any longer, Taro shamefully turned away, before admitting out loud, "I guess we both failed."
Meanwhile, Xena had both hands placed on her hips and stared incredulously at the two, not believing what she was actually hearing. Once bringing herself back to her senses, she persistently hovered in front of a distorted Taro and with great agility, swatted him in the face with the front of her hand. This immediately brought Taro back to reality and gave him a shock at the same time.
"What was that for?!," Taro asked confused while bringing his hand up to the sore side of his face.
"Never mind that, what's the matter with you guys?! she shouted looking back and forth between them." Your just giving up?!" Neither Taro or Ace responded, since they weren't sure how to. "Aren't you guys suppose to be the best warriors in the whole universe, or something? Well, if so, you certainly don't look it. Here we are, in the presence of a world in the process of being devoured, and your just giving in, without a fight! So, stop wallowing in self pity, and let's try to do something about it!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. It only took mere seconds for her message to sink in.
"She's right!" Taro, shouted boldly, "We can't just give up. There may still be a way to put an end to this, and if there is we have to at least try!"
Ace gave a nod of agreement and equal determination, before turning his firm gaze to the planet below. "Then there's no time to lose."
"Let's go!" Taro shouted before zooming down to the world they hope to save, with Ace and Xena quickly following.
General Sarek and a group of his black armored soldiers, once dislodging their ship, manually transported themselves to the outside wall of the plasma spark tower. While using highly equipped rope wires and hook mechanisms, they were easily able to attach themselves to the outside of the tower, and lowered down until they were able to swing themselves into a large window opening. Once quickly unhooking themselves, they all brought out their weapons, and prepared to shoot anything that moved. But not a soul was in sight.
They then all proceeded through the strange sizable tower at a quick, but stealthy pace, with General Sarek taking the lead of course. Upon making their way through several corridors, they finally came to the substantially large area of the plasma spark itself. Many of them froze in astonishment at the site. The light was like nothing they had ever seen. General Sarek was the only one who was unfazed by its appearance. So without another word he fearlessly made his way down the long walkway. His men; however, stayed where they were, unsure of their superiors intentions.
Upon reaching a good three feet from the glowing sphere, Sarek stood and evaluated his next move. After staring at it for a good thirty seconds, he made the sudden action of withdrawing a heavy looking leaser gun from the holster on his back. Quickly cocking it, he held it up, aiming at the plasma spark, and prepared to fire. Whither shooting the core of it would even destroy it, he was unsure, but he figured even if it didn't, he would die trying. He was just about to pull the trigger when he heard shouting from behind, where his men were.
"Yeah, what do you think your doing?!" the firm voice demanded.
Without lowering his weapon, Sarek angrily clenched his teeth in mere frustration. He quickly turned his whole body to face whoever it was, while pointing his gun straight ahead, ready to fire. He, along with all his soldiers, turned to see two Ultramen standing bravely with their eyes fixed on the enemy.
"Back away from there!," said the one with the round meddles circling his chest.
The enemy responded by cocking their own weapons and prepared to fire.
"Zoffy, look out!" Ultraman warned, pushing his commander out of the line of fire. Ultraman, however; was unable to avoid them in time, with a couple of the leasers hitting him in his side and shoulder.
"Niisan!" Zoffy shouted in horror, seeing his brother tumble to the floor.
Being momentarily sidetracked, Zoffy didn't notice one of the Twilohite soldiers coming up behind him. He realized it too late, when he was suddenly hit on the back of the head with the butt of a gun. He grasped the back of his neck as he doubled forward in pain, falling on his hands and knees. The same soldier again took his gun, and brought it down hard in between Zoffys shoulders blades, knocking him bluntly to the floor. While in obvious pain, Zoffy still managed to lift himself up enough to look right at his attacker, knowing that at this time he was completely at his mercy.
The soldier turned his gun around, pointing it's end at Zoffy, and was about to fire when he was startled by a sudden booming voice.
"Enough!"
All heads quickly turned to the voice containing authority.
"Hold your fire at once!"
"Ultra Father…" Ultraman said hoarsely, while attempting to lift himself up, but failing.
"I am Ultra Father, head of the space garrison, and I command you all to withdraw!" he demanded with anger evident in his tone.
Taking their attention away from Zoffy and Ultraman, they quickly aimed their gun point at the new Ultra. Ultra Father, who was completely unfazed by their action, stood as firm as a rock and awaited their next move. General Sarek was somewhat impressed by this brave act, but didn't dare show it. Instead he gave out an unexpected order .
"Hold your fire!"
The soldiers were obviously surprised by the order, as some of them actually turned their gaze away from ultra father and towards the general, in confusion. Sarek ignored their suspicious looks and walked straight towards Ultra Father, who still hadn't moved from his current stance. He stopped as they were about several yards apart. Their eyes bored into each other's with a look of pure hatred and rivalry. A strange silence surrounded them as they were finally face to face. At this time the Twilohite soldiers withdrew and merely observed the scene before them.
After several more moments of silence, the general took a sudden step forward and then said in a slow threatening voice, "Where..is she?"
A look of confusion then crossed Ultra Fathers face. But, before he had a chance to ask who "she" was, Sarrek hissed, "Where's my daughter?!"
Author note: Sorry, I'm taking so long to update, but I just started school, so of course I need to devote most of my time to that. So I hope you'll all continue being patient with me. Thanks for reading, and God bless you!