None of them heard anything as Andrentureasu flew through the empty city. There wasn't a single light on. It wasn't long before they realized that all the humans in the city were

dead. Soon after that, Katie, Bonnie, and Charlotte asked that Andrentureasu land.

The three humans flopped onto a nearby bench, getting weaker. Andrentureasu knew that they weren't going to live much longer.

Charlotte said, "So…this is the end…I never thought I would die like this…I wonder if this could have been prevented…or maybe it was all predestined to happen…"

Andrentureasu, unable to watch them die, quickly left. She was slowly getting weaker. Very, very slowly. Mainly due to the increasing ratio of the amount of poison in the air to the

amount of oxygen in the air. Soon, she couldn't take it any longer. She suddenly felt something pulling her by her arm. Due to the thickness of the green mist, she couldn't see what

it was. It eventually led her to an entrance that went somewhere underground. As they went deeper into the hole, the poison became less concentrated, making it easier for

Andrentureasu to breathe normally. Eventually, the thing that was pulling her stopped. She heard something pull a switch. Lights came on. Andrentureasu gasped. The thing that

was holding her was Jan, now fully grown, just like her. The room they were in was filled with Albatrians, including Ferrelia, Janaria, the rest of the troop, and even some she didn't

recognize.

Ferrelia said to Andrentureasu, "It's nice to be able to see you fully grown. I was afraid that I would die before I saw you again."

Andrentureasu said, "What's going on? Who are the other Albatrians?"

Janaria said, "I wish this wasn't true, but we are all that's left of the Albatrian species."

"What? What happened?"

One of the other Albatrians said, "It started with all of the large Albatrian spaceships failing. We lost communication with all other space-faring races. Not long afterwards, Albatria

and all of our colonies started having seismic activity. We couldn't find the cause. Fissures began appearing. The poisonous gas appeared almost immediately afterwards. We were

able to discover that the poisonous gas was coming from the fissures, but that was all we were able to discover. It happened so quickly. A few of us were able to escape in small

spaceships. When all life on Albatria and our colony planets was gone, the planets blew up."

"The planets blew up?"

"Yes. And completely. Not even the nanobots survived. I have no idea what would be powerful enough to obliterate a planet and leave absolutely nothing left."

"What about Jarcaunio?"

"The scientists had created a large vessel that only needed one Albatrian to control it. Jarcaunio demanded to be the first one to pilot it. To test it, he traveled to all of the Albatrian

colonies on other planets. He sent a message to the scientists who made it, telling them that it was a success. He was supposed to return to Albatria after the test, but he

disappeared. It was shortly after we realized that when it all started happening."

"Do you have any idea where Jarcaunio is?"

"No, none. We came here because we thought it would be safe. We were very wrong."

"You mean everything that happened on those planets is happening here?"

"Yes, and it's far too late to do anything about it. We are dying from the gas as we speak. You will last much longer than us, due to your supernatural nature."

Andrentureasu looked around. The other Albatrians looked like they were going to fall over at any moment.

She said, "What about Auto and GO-4?"

Jan said, "When the first seismic wave came, Auto and GO-4 were trapped in the basement of a collapsing building. They're still trapped in there, but otherwise they're fine. The

thought that we're all going to die soon is terrifying, but there's nothing we can do. I don't know if there was a way to prevent all of this from happening, but even if there was, there

was no way we would've been able to know what would happen, and besides, I doubt that even you could turn back time and fix this. All we can do is wait for the inevitable end.

Goodbye, Andrentureasu. I've always loved you."

The Albatrians then began collapsing, finally succumbing to the gas. Ferrelia was the last to fall. Andrentureasu rushed over to her mother's side. They took each other's hands as

Ferrelia lay there, dying. After a few agonizing moments, Ferrelia exhaled her last breath, her eyes closed, and her hand dropped from her daughter's.

Andrentureasu looked around. All the other Albatrians were dead. She felt emptier and lonelier than she ever had before. She buried her face in her mother's feathers and cried. She

cried until her eyes were red and her throat was sore. When she looked up, it was impossible to see.

If the gas is this thick down here, I wonder what it's like on the surface.

Suddenly, she felt the hand of an Albatrian on her shoulder. It dragged her off her mother's body. She closed her eyes and gently cried. She felt a strange tingling sensation all over

her body. When it subsided, she noticed that the strange smell that had persisted with the gas was gone. The hand let go of her shoulder. She opened her eyes and immediately

noticed that it was possible to see. She was no longer in the underground cavern. She was now in a small room. She heard the scuffling of claws behind her. She looked and saw a

large Albatrian with eyes that were an unnatural shade of red. It was standing in front of a sliding door. It motioned for her to follow it. She got up and started after it. It led her into

a long hallway. It led her through a maze of turns and hallways, making sure that she never lost sight of it. After what seemed like an eternity of navigating through the hallways

and doors, she was led to a massive room that that had a large pillar that was almost as wide as the room. There was also a massive staircase which curled around the pillar, taking

up the remaining space between the pillar and the wall of the room. The Albatrian didn't wait for her. It ran up the staircase without stopping or looking back. Andrentureasu couldn't

see how far up the staircase went, and there was no other option but to follow the Albatrian. She started up the stairs. Even at her running speed, it was taking a lot longer to get

to the top of the stairs than she first thought it would. She ran for hours and hours, but she never felt tired. Eventually, she reached the top of the staircase. It led into a large,

domed room that had a flat floor. The stairs she was on then moved into the floor, cutting off the only way back. She looked around and saw the Albatrian on the other side of the

room, staring out the transparent wall. She ran over to it. The room was very large.

Why is this room so big? Does he really need this much space? What's he looking at, anyway?

When she got over to the Albatrian, she saw it right away. It was looking at what seemed to be a giant green ball floating in space. Then she saw the grey ball that was orbiting it.

She realized that the giant green ball was Earth. The gas was so thick, it was impossible to see anything else. The Albatrian put its arm around her and held her close. She looked at

it for a moment. It didn't take its gaze off of the planet. She looked back at the Earth, wondering what it thought was going to happen. A moment later, her question was answered.

The Earth blew up in an explosion that was so massive, it destroyed the moon as well.

Andrentureasu covered her mouth with her claws and gasped in horror. Her legs gave out and she cried louder and harder than she ever had before.

The Albatrian turned her around and led her to the center of the room. Andrentureasu buried her face in its feathers and cried. It wrapped its arms and wings around her, cradling

her.

The image of the robots frightened in the mist about what was happening, and then being obliterated ran through her mind continuously. She had never felt sadder in her whole life.

Everything and everyone she ever knew was gone forever.

Eventually, her crying subsided. She looked at the Albatrian directly in the eyes. It looked back. Now that she thought about it, there was something disturbingly familiar about its

eyes. The Albatrian then grabbed onto Andrentureasu's wrists. It continued to look directly into her eyes. It was as if it was trying to get her to realize something…

Suddenly, she had a flashback to her fight with Chirabanui. The thing that stood out was his eyes. She came out of it still looking into his eyes. Then she realized that the Albatrian's

eyes were exactly the same as Chirabanui's. Her eyes widened.

For the first time, the Albatrian spoke. "It's all right, dear. We're safe here." His voice was exactly the same as the one that had told her that only those who knew loss could feel joy

1,300 years ago. She let out a small gasp.

He said, "Do you recognize my voice? I'm glad you still remember it."

Andrentureasu was more terrified than she had ever been before. "Who are you?"

Getting up, he said, "I should have told you my name earlier. My name…is Jarcaunio."

She gasped. She tried to pull away, but he was still holding onto her wrists tightly.

"It's all right, my dear. I'm not going to attack you."

"You…you…you killed the other Albatrians. When you visited the other planets, you implanted something into their core that would destroy the planet and itself."

"If that was a guess, then it was a very good one. You're absolutely right. I secretly got hold of a few weapons that another race was developing. I took all the ones I needed for my

goals."

"You murdered all the albinos. But you missed me. You weren't able to prevent me from being reincarnated. And I escaped."

"My dear, I wasn't trying to. In fact, I waited to kill the old leader until you were the proper age. I knew it the moment you were born. Also, when I was attacking the town, I put a

spell on you to ensure that you would survive."

"What?"

"Yes, I never wanted you dead. In fact, I would have hidden you somewhere if it wasn't for Ferrelia."

"Why did you kill the albinos? Why did you destroy all those planets? Why?"

"You don't know how much I want to tell you that. But I can't. And I can't tell you exactly why I can't. All I CAN tell you is that it would be very bad for both of us."

He looked around nervously, as if that was enough to make it happen.

"Also, if I could tell you, I would have done so a long time ago."

Suddenly, a voice said, "Master, I have returned!"

Andrentureasu recognized the voice immediately. It was the black orb. They looked up and, sure enough, there was the orb.

Jarcaunio let go of her wrists and held his hands up towards the orb. Andrentureasu took the opportunity to get to the edge of the room.

The orb hovered above Jarcaunio's head. "Master, Andrentureasu is back to her former power. She did fantastic with Sorkien, and that was 1,300 years ago!"

Andrentureasu said, "Jarcaunio…what's that orb?"

Jarcaunio looked at her with an evil grin on his face. "Oh, this? This is what I put my power into to ensure that I wouldn't give myself away too early."

"Jarcaunio…what…who are you?"

"I am Chirabanui!"

He then grabbed the orb and absorbed its power. He grew to an immense size. His head became that of a dragon's, and his feathers turned into red scales. Soon, he looked nothing

like an Albatrian.

Andrentureasu looked at him in horror.

Chirabanui said, "Don't get worried. You beat me before, you can beat me again."

Andrentureasu looked at him with renewed determination. "Yes, I WILL beat you again!"

"Good, however, there is something I would like to tell you before we begin."

"What?"

"You could have prevented all this destruction from happening."

"WHAT? HOW?"

"Remember when you finished off Sorkien with that megablast of yours instead of your claws? Well, if you had used that megablast to finish me off, I would've been too weak to

survive without binding myself to someone's soul. Why did you use your claws, by the way?"

"I…I thought that it would be enough…I can't believe…"

"So you didn't remember how powerful I was. Of course, your memories were erased when she incarnated you as an owl…"

"What?"

"Oh my god, forget what I said. I…I shouldn't have said that…I really shouldn't have said that…"

"Wait, did we know each other before our battle?"

"Forget what I said!" He cringed and looked very scared. "Oh no…"

"What's going on, Chirabanui?"

"Um, look, let's just get this battle over as quickly as possible, okay? 'Cause if it takes too long…we're going to be in a whole lot of trouble. So let's just fight, okay?"

"I WILL fight! I will fight for everything that you-!"

"CAN WE JUST GET TO FIGHTING? WE HAVE NO TIME FOR SPEECHES!"

"OKAY, OKAY! Jeez…"