After a moment that felt like an eternity, the light was gone and the dust cleared, just when everyone thought they had lost at least three of their comrades…
Yet, they stood still exactly where they were, safe as if nothing had ever happened.
"She finally made it." Number 21's blue eyes widened, but she had a knowing smile on her face.
Before the couple, stood 21O, tall and proud, hands raised in front of her as they sizzled with electricity, and before her, a barrier much like one of those Adam had summoned while they were in the server.
None of the projectiles directed towards 2B and 9S ever hurt them.
"Is that… another machine ability?" Rose asked, meeting a nod from the Scanner.
"I noticed an anomaly when I was in her mind and we shared a body, though this system was much better hidden than Lily's one. We have been trying to have her gain access to this new power, but no matter the efforts there has been no success. Until now."
Number 21 knew well of 21O's desire to keep the people around her and to protect them, they were very much similar in that regard, which was why she had spent a lot of time and effort trying to aid her.
If she couldn't do it by herself, at least she could help someone who could, and that shared the feeling.
"So that was what she was hiding?" 6O asked, she was still worried it was something bad that 21O insisted on not telling her, even a mistake she could have made, she was glad it wasn't.
She felt bad for thinking she could betray her now.
"She wanted to make sure it'd be safe for you all, and to be sure she was able to dominate that power. But this is the first time she succeeded entirely."
Though able to summon the barrier a few times, that only barely ever lasted a few seconds, and that was it, before her body would be overwhelmed with fatigue, sometimes even fever. Like that first time they had that trial, it had been Emil finding them first, she remembered.
They still owed him for it.
One more good reason to be here right now.
After a moment longer, the barrier dissipated, as 21O wobbled precariously, her body overheating, her forehead warm, a signal of another fever incoming from too much stress.
But she did what she had to, it had been now or never, a spur of the moment.
She knew she had the power to stop the attack and save them, to save him, so she took the chance, it was either that or to die trying.
21O stared at her hands for a moment, sparks still emitting from her fingers, they felt weak and numb, but it was okay. She had finally mastered this new power within her that her predecessor had made her aware of.
Since then, her will to get stronger to protect those dear to her became more and more dominant, clouding all other thoughts at times. She was glad that the Scanner shared the feeling and aided her for what she could. She understood how important it was to not see her loved ones die again, now that she knew she could prevent it.
Number 21 was the same way too, but being a non-combatant Scanner, there was little she could do, and it saddened her as much as it did to 21O, even if she kept it to herself, probably not to worry her and the others.
But it didn't mean she couldn't feel it.
21O had wanted to succeed for her too, so the redhead could have something to be proud to have collaborated in creating, to be proud of herself for once.
Her will hadn't been strong enough, because the situation didn't call for it.
But right here and right now, when facing the exact thing she wanted so hard to avoid, she found the strength she had lacked.
She just needed a reason to.
And now that she found it, she was not going to let that power go.
However it seemed that the clones were nowhere near done in fighting back yet, as Rose's group went to aid 2B, who still could no longer fight, lacking a leg, so she did what she could.
She threw her white swords to who she knew would have made better use than her.
To the two original holders of said weapons.
And ordered Pod 042 to assist A2, much like the times she was with her, she knew what to do, her sister was strong and capable, she and the others could save Emil.
She was certain.
"You… all of you… this pain… this sadness! This desperation! You know nothing about it!"
That…
Those words ticked A2 off to no end, and she wasn't alone in this.
Maybe they haven't lived however long these clones did, hell she didn't even know how old Emil was, but if there was something she knew well, were those feelings.
How dare they?
"How dare you assume we don't know!?" she finally snapped. "You have no idea what we have been through!"
A flash of red, and in a second she was upon another head, with a cross slash she stopped yet another clone.
"Yes it's true we have found our way back to each other, my friends, Anemone's friends, and got new friends too, but before we got close, we were all alone, desperate and mourning." she allowed herself a brief glance to each of her comrades.
Number 4, Number 16, and Number 21.
"You have no idea how much I missed my friends, and for how long I hated myself for letting them die." her soul ached for them every day she kept living. "I still do, and for this reason, I swore I will never let anything bad happen to them again."
A tough promise to keep, but she was not going to see them die another time.
Her body, those exposed metal plates, no matter how many times the others have asked her to let herself be fixed, she refused to. She'd wear the marks that her mistakes caused so she would never forget them.
She must not let it happen again.
"I was alone, abandoned by my own creators, hunted like prey from them too. I was angry and bitter towards the world, blind to anything around me, all I wanted was revenge, and I would have killed anything in my path for that reason." and for the longest time of her existence she did.
"But no matter how much I killed, it would never give them back to me."
She had heard the comment when Emil said this whole thing was wrong, and he was right, destroying the world won't give them back what they lost, but it would destroy so many lives that just desired peace.
Just like she ended so many before.
But she understood now.
And also, these clones were still threatening the lives of her comrades, her friends, her family. She could not let them do what they wanted.
"I kept living that way for years, until I met a woman, a woman who was an enemy yet understood me better than anyone, because she too knew how it was to be like me. She was brought into this world, and changed to fight a war not her own, yet, she still had the courage to dream."
And Robin knew A2 was talking about her, though sometimes she knew the rogue gave her too much credit for things she did on her own, her words still felt nice.
"She opened my eyes, and made me realize I wasn't the only one suffering."
She understood that the whole world was, but even so, destroying it wasn't the solution, because all together they could make it better instead.
They already did, ever since they woke up after the Tower's ordeal.
"Then, I met an old friend that also shared my pain, and remembered the faces of the people we lost together. I met a sister I once antagonized, and learned that she too had been given a task too cruel, and together with her I met a brother who used to hate me, who had been sacrificed way too many times for a reason that never existed."
She didn't feel like counting the times she had to kill 2B and 9S, nor to admit how jealous she was of their relationship. At least she couldn't say she still harbored jealousy now.
Not to mention the people she met after, who just had to sit there and watch their loved ones die and cry, without being able to lift a finger, or say a word about it. Because if they disappeared too, then those people would have nothing left.
"In the end we were all the same, us YoRHa, other androids, and machines too."
Suffering a fate bestowed upon them from people that were no longer alive to begin with, they hadn't been for centuries, and yet, the lies continued for so long.
Because none of them knew any better.
And that was where the only one who had been a human between them, came in, to teach them just that.
Only to be saved herself in the process too.
But that was right, it felt right in all possible ways.
"We have passed these years together, however, we cried often for the people who still lived too."
Spurred on from Number 2's speech, Rose thought she should share the group's own experiences, as they endlessly kept existing trapped between reality and cyberspace, not dead yet not alive, and unable to leave or do anything to help themselves.
Or to tell those living companions that they were still there.
Every day slow and bleak blended with the next, with the relentless passing of time, yet for them it all stayed the same.
They weren't alone, so to speak, but each of them was trapped in their own personal hell, and they still didn't know how they handled it so well. But perhaps the fact they still had each other did help, it was the only thing that had remained.
Perhaps it only made them stronger in the end.
"Sometimes, for as hopeful as some could be, even they had doubts, and worries. This world is cruel and often the thought that our friends that had survived had somehow died from the hands of something else."
That they would have never managed to come back for them.
Number 4, for how positive she was, had more breakdowns than she'd say. Rose had found her crying plenty of times, mourning the absence of Number 2, she'd openly admit it at times. Not like their relationship was a secret anymore.
Number 16, being the emotional thing she was, on particularly bad days she'd pick fights over everything and everyone, more than usual, because she had no other way to express her pain. She was too prideful to cry, and if she did, no one ever saw her.
Number 21, by personality, was made to be calm by default, and contrary to the Gunner, she was the entire opposite, and while it seemed from the outside nothing fazed her, she rarely ever showed worry about anything, she was hurting as much as her companions.
She'd disappear and stare into the horizon always in the same spot for hours on end at times, and once Lily told her about something about humans singing lullabies to their kids when they were scared, she picked up that habit.
Though Rose was unsure she did it just to help Lily be less tense, or to somehow try to soothe her own pain.
Perhaps both. She was an odd one.
But the fact her emotions were hindered probably caused her to hurt more, without being able to express it like the others. What a cruel thing.
And then for her there were her own relationship issues, Rose got to know from Lily, because getting the Scanner to talk about feelings was a hard task.
For the Resistance, it was hard not to think something bad could have happened to Anemone, but somehow during those years of war they had somewhat gotten used to how it felt to lose and mourn comrades.
They were familiar with the feeling.
But for the YoRHa, who had been alive just for a few months, and had known no one but each other, it was so much harder to handle.
And they were already missing a chunk of what once was the full squad too.
So everything only added up, and the same worry about Number 2 being dead was the same as the Resistance's for Anemone.
"But we eventually found each other again, and we are here so we may never be separated again. By canceling this world you would kill all of us and everything we fought hard to achieve, so even if you may not understand, we can't allow this to happen."
Hearing all those words awakened… something, within Emil's mind.
Images of people he used to know.
Of people that were… his friends…
Because even if the people fighting here right now were androids, they were just as determined as they used to be.
Even if it's wrong, and our journey was useless, we won't go back, because this is the world with the people we cherish.
A distant yet familiar voice reminded him of just that.
And just like he and his friends fought for something that had been wrong, it had been the reason that got them together, because they believed in a better world.
And these people here were doing the same thing, because it was important to them.
"No matter how hard or how painful… they never gave up. They kept fighting because they believed they could overcome someday! Isn't that right, Kainè? Even if it's pointless you still have to do it! Because this is the world my friends tried to save!"
He shouted even if they didn't know who or what he was talking about.
Looking over at where the red haired twins stood, he thought that perhaps they had deserved the truth. All of them.
But he understood now, he remembered…
If only it hadn't taken so long…
These people, despite everything and the pain that came with it, had always remembered their loved ones, instead of running like he did.
Perhaps now he could understand why Robin was determined in discovering mysteries of the past, because the lives of brave people must never be forgotten, and neither should be the wrongs so they may never be repeated again.
If only he had more time to tell them…
That would fix many things, and help them out.
As much as Devola and Popola still scared him, they were not the ones he knew, even so, he understood something from the androids around them, that they had been victims of having to answer orders.
And the same was for the twins, these two and the ones he had met.
It wasn't their fault…
If only he could do something about it…
But to his horror he could only watch as the very last clone overcharged itself with magical energy, enough to destroy the planet, in the tight embrace of Number 21, though she appeared calm, he could feel the black box in her chest thump hard against his head.
Her blue eyes were fixed as much as his, and most other people, as the Resistance's members together with Number 16, shot the clone as much as they could, as the other couldn't get close with swords for how hard it was rotating on itself.
"Just die already!" the Gunner's angry yell carried over the wind.
They were running out of time, and the three Pod's lasers were still recharging…
"Please recharge faster…" Robin grit her teeth, just now the lasers had to be on cooldown, and they could only rely on basic shots…
When…
"Lily, can you do one more gravity wave?" Number 21 asked the small girl. If she could buy enough time for the Pods to use their weapons…
Though there was a risk of Lily's body overheating too much too.
Emil felt the Scanner's arms tense up more than before. "I'll take responsibility, whatever the result will be." he heard her whisper.
But she, like 9S, was a plan maker, though this was the only thing she thought about that could help, but if it worked, she'd personally nurse Lily back to health if she had to.
"I can try." she saw the girl nod, and she nodded back.
She watched as Lily drew out her hands, summoning another wave of gravity with all her might. It didn't stop the clone entirely, but it was rotating and accumulating energy much slower than before.
That had to count for something…
The ping of the Pods signaling the lasers ready could be heard just as the wave faded the same moment.
"007!"
"042!"
"153!"
"Laser fire! Maximum output!" the trio didn't waste a mere second in issuing the orders, and neither did the Pods in answering it.
As if they too knew just how much was at stake here. After all they too knew what affection was now.
They understood the urgency and the importance.
No hesitation, just determination to live against determination to destroy.
The lasers hit, whipping up a large cloud of sand around them, but not hearing the clone moving anymore, and the fact that they were still breathing, they just knew.
They knew they had saved this planet, again.
For themselves but most importantly, for the friends around them.
Emil laid on Number 21's lap as she sat on her knees on the sand, he could feel her hands cradling him, it was… comforting…
He watched the rest of the group make their way to him, with varying degrees of wounds but alive and content.
It would be bad if he had to leave…
"I think… this is it for me…" he spoke, feeling his energy fade away. He had stayed alive for far too long.
"What are you saying? We're safe now." the girl with white hair in a ponytail spoke, he didn't even know her name… yet she was worried.
"Are you hurt? We can help." poor Popola, she was such a worry heart when the reason for their suffering had been partially his fault too.
"I can't believe I remembered something so important… right at the end. I was running… from the memories of losing those close to me…" he should have been brave, and remembered them like they did.
"It was so hard… so painful… at the end… I did a lot of bad things to you all."
"We did nothing we didn't want to do." the woman with the pink mantle spoke, as if she was in charge. Another one he won't get to know…
"We were here to help you, Emil." Robin's soothing voice, and her remaining hand came to rest on his head. Her right one had been sewered from a clone, and yet she still stood proud.
All she did was to switch her sword and hold it with her left.
"Because you're our friend."
He couldn't help but fix his eyes on the intense glow of her weapons that came from behind her, somehow it compelled him.
But…
"I have to go… I'm sorry…"
"Wait, no!" A2's scream kept him conscious a moment more. "We didn't do this so you could leave us like this!"
He wished he could tell them just how sad he was, in the end, they had cared for him beyond what he ever did for them, they had just met a few times before, and yet, they considered him one of them…
At least he was… happy…
He failed to notice the intense red energy that had gathered around him from Robin's sword, and the woman, as if compelled, was holding it above his head.
When a voice reached into their minds.
You don't get to leave them this way!