Last part of the Andromeda mission. Enjoy.

Andromeda Part IV

"You're gonna pay for that you bastard," Max said.

"And who's going to make me? You I suppose," Andromeda said. "Don't make me laugh." He fired yet another ridiculously large energy shot at Max, but Max didn't even bother to make a barrier. He raised his right hand and slapped it away, the energy shot hitting a wall to his right.

"That attack no longer affects me."

"I see. Well, it looks like I'll be settling this the old fashioned way. Close combat." Andromeda put his pistol back in its holster and drew a blood red blade, a serrated edge on one side, with a hilt guard. "Well? Are you not going to draw a sword?"

"I won't need it to beat you."

"If you're sure." And Andromeda charged him, slashing in vertical and horizontal patterns. But Max blocked every single one, not even trying to redirect the blade to another direction. "Try this." Andromeda moved the blade over his head and it began to glow a dark red. Energy began to build around the serrated edge, which was now facing Max. "BLOOD SLASH!" He swung the blade down with as much force as he could put behind it, enough force to destroy a large skyscraper in one blow. Max caught it and held it and Andromeda was stunned. "How did you-" But he never got to finish the question, because Max punched him in his gut, sending him and his sword flying backwards and skidding along the ground.

Everyone in the barrier was looking on in amazement. "Has Max ever been this strong without a fusion before," Lan asked.

"Yes. But it's only happened one other time," J said.

"When?"

"It was when Will and myself had been given life threatening wounds. Max isn't the kind of person to stand around and watch his friends being hurt. The only exception is sparring at HQ. But this amount of power…..the amount of power he exhibited when Will and I had been hurt is nothing compared to what he's using right now."

"Whoa," was all Lan offered.

"You've managed to block all of my attacks so far. But no one has ever blocked or even dodged my signature," Andromeda said to Max. He drew his pistol once more and grabbed the top of the pistol's barrel. He pulled on it to reveal that it had a compartment that split in two. He placed the normal edge of his sword in between the compartment and then snapped the compartment closed over the serrated edge. He held the newly formed weapon, the pistol handle in his left hand, the sword hilt in his right. He flicked his right thumb against the underside of the hilt guard, flipping it up and revealing it to be a sight as well. He took aim and place the reticle dead on Max's chest. "Blood World." The tip of the sword began to glow, a small sphere of red energy building up. It grew larger with every second and was soon as large as the first energy shot that Andromeda had first fired at them. "Fire." A beam of red energy shot out from the sphere, the beam even larger than the sphere itself, leaving a deep trench as it made its way towards Max. The beam impacted dead on, smoke and dust rising around him. As the beam began to shrink and completely dissipated, Andromeda simply said, "Game over."

"That's what you think," a voice said from inside the smoke cloud. As the cloud dissipated, everyone saw Max standing there, as if nothing had happened.

"What?! But how could you survive that?"

"I don't know and I don't care. But now it's my turn."

"That's what you think." Andromeda fired a shot at Max's head and torso, forcing Max to cover his eyes from the light, no longer having to worry about being hurt. In that time, Andromeda made his escape, jumping from pillar to pillar, turning around halfway to the end to see if his opponents were visible. When he saw that he couldn't see them, he slowed down just a bit, exhaling in relief.

"You didn't think you'd get away that easy, did you," a voice in front of him said. He looked in front of him to see Max coming at him, right fist drawn back.

"Oh sh-" he began, but was interrupted by Max shooting his fist forward with all the force he could muster. Max's fist impacted on Andromeda's face, sending him flying backwards, flying right through several pillars, finally coming to a back breaking halt on the wall just behind Max's team. The only thing that kept his back from breaking was his armor. Max ran at him, slamming his left hand into Andromeda's gut, pinning him to the wall, his right fist drawn back for a killing shot. But he hesitated. "Why don't you do it?"

Max kept him pinned to the wall, but lowered his right arm. "Because she isn't dead yet. But I swear, if she dies, I will track you down and finish the job." And with that, he let Andromeda fall to the ground. He began to walk off, but Andromeda stopped him.

"Wait. Take this," he said, tossing Max his pistol and sword, still combined.

"What for?"

"To pay my respects to a fighter. You're very much like you're father."

"What do you know about my father?" Max looked at him, waiting for an answer.

"That he was a good fighter. I also know about your armor. You've unlocked an amount of power that took your father years to bring out. That armor is very special, reacting to its users emotions and actions."

"I already know about the armor. But I want to know what you know about my father."

"Hmph. Your father's name was Daniel and he was the only fighter I knew who would spare a life….even mine. He was the only fighter I could consider an equal. Until now that is. I'm going to tell you a little secret about my 'friends'. We're under the leadership of one being. His name is Kalar. And he is not to be taken lightly. If and when you meet with him, be wary. There's a reason we listen to him." Max began to walk off again, but Andromeda still had one more thing to say. "Before you go, I want to say thank you. That fight reminded me of why I hated Kalar. When you fight Sigma and Dr. Wily, know that they will be under mind control. Please. Help my friends to break that control."

"I'll do my best."

"Thank you. This is the last I expect to see of you for a while. And the last you'll probably see of J.T. for a while as well." And with that Andromeda walked out of the room to get J.T.

"Alia, bring us home."

***

Z woke up and looked around. The first thing she saw was that she was hooked up to heart monitor and the second was that she was in one of the infirmary's beds. She then noticed that Max was asleep in a chair on the wall at the foot of her bed.

"You're awake." She looked to the door and saw J standing there. "It's about time. We were pretty worried about you."

"What happened," she asked.

"Andromeda shot you. And Max kicked his ass. You've been out for three days and Max hasn't left this room during that time."

She looked at Max, who was still asleep. "Three days? And Max hasn't left at all?"

"Nope. Not once. Listen, I'm gonna go tell everyone the news. You just stay here and rest." Z nodded and J walked out of the room.

When she was sure J was gone, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. She walked to where Max was sitting, noting the slight pain she had in her right side. When she reached Max, she leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead. "Thank you," she whispered, a smile on her lips.

The mission is done. I think next chapter I'm gonna give them a break. Maybe. Please review.