A/N: Sorry again, guys. My prediction was totally off as far as when I would post this. I'm sure you're tired of hearing excuses by now, so I won't make any. Here's the next chapter, finally. Honestly, I kinda feel like the quality is less than what I posted before, but that might just be me. Regardless, I hope you guys continue to remain patient with me. I appreciate all of your understanding and interest. :)


I lay on my back at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, my eyes half opened and fluttering, the lights from the fires stabbing at them painfully. I took slow, deliberate breaths as my

mitochondria worked at repairing my broken body, the heat radiating from the healing throwing blows at my aching head. As my eyes came more into focus, I looked up towards the

Statue, her head and shoulders completely blown off, along with the slime monster and Eve. The statue's body and the rest of the island were littered with puddles of goop, but they

were still. I couldn't help but make a small smile, a feeling of relief washing over me. Did I do it? Is she dead? I can't see her anywhere, and I can't sense her either. So… she must

be dead, right?

"Aya! Aya!" a familiar voice rang out. I tried lifting my head to look towards its source, but my body simply wouldn't listen. Within seconds, Daniel came into view as he knelt next to

me, lifting me slightly onto his lap. He smiled down at me, his eyes bloodshot and watery. "You really gave me a scared there, kid." he told me with a raspy voice. I couldn't help

but giggle lightly. "You're just a worry wart." I teased, turning my head to see more of the island. There were several soldiers dotting the area, taking samples from the slime

monster as well as cheering our victory. Daniel chuckled as he looked at them, sighing out heavily. "It's finally over…" he muttered.

He helped me to get on my feet, my arm slung around his shoulder as he guided me towards the Nimitz docked at the nearby dock. My body felt so heavy and sluggish, but I didn't

even care. All I could think about was Eve. Was she really gone, finally? Was it okay for me to feel relaxed? We reached the ramp that led up to the Nimitz and turned back toward

the island, looking out towards Manhattan. "It sure was one hell of a crazy week, huh?" Daniel commented, shaking his head. "You said it. I think I'm overdue for a vacation." I

replied, chuckling weakly. Daniel chuckled as well, nodding his head. "Damn right! We'll corner Baker and force it out of him! We'll take Ben too!" I couldn't help but laugh at this,

the effort hurting my ribs, but I didn't let that get in the way of the mood. It felt like such a long time since I laughed. "How about we go to Hawaii? I've always wanted to go."

"How about I send you both to Hell, instead?" a voice spoke out. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been. Or maybe I really was just way too weak. Whatever the case, I never

realized until that moment that Eve's presence was overwhelming my senses. It felt like time had suddenly slowed down to a crawl. I just stood there with Daniel, the both of us

looking at each other, all the while Eve suddenly appearing out of nowhere, standing right in front of us, almost as if she had always been there and we just walked right up to her.

The smiles on our faces slowly turned to shock and fear, our eyes still locked, but I knew what Eve looked like right now. I could feel it. She was looking right at Daniel, and she

wasn't happy. Before I could do anything, before I could even react, a bone crushing force whacked right into Daniel's chest, sending him flying over the side of the ramp. I opened

my mouth to scream, but a cold, blue, stubby hand with sharp claws clasped itself over my mouth, forcing me to turn my head and to look at Eve.

I wasn't sure how, but Eve underwent another transformation. She was no longer pregnant, or with multiple arms and legs. She was nude, with only two breasts again. Her hands

didn't even look human anymore, instead they had a more tubular appearance with claws as fingers, and her arms were entirely blue down to her shoulders. Her bare legs and feet

were held together by what looks like a frame of ribs, with a bony tail extending past her heels and tendrils hanging from her lower back, swaying in the wind lifelessly. Her hair

flowed down more smoothly, but split off into two large tails with the ends extended down past her feet, almost in the shape of demonic wings, and what appears to be a set of

fingers at the end of each.

Eve glared at me with hatred in her eyes, her emerald eyes flashing menacingly. My hands clasped onto hers as I desperately tried to wring myself free, but I was still way too weak.

It was at this moment that the surrounding soldiers seem to notice what was going on, as they started calling each other and aiming their guns at us. No! Stop! Get away! I wanted

to scream at them to escape, but Eve's iron grip on my mouth prevented me from doing so. Eve didn't even seem to regard them, her cold eyes boring into mine, but nevertheless,

the majority of the soldiers suddenly burst into flames before they even knew what hit them. Their anguished cries rang in my ears as I watched them flail around helplessly, some

of them jumping into the ocean while others tried rolling on the ground.

Acting almost as if nothing had happened, Eve lifted me up further into the air, my feet dangling as I continued my struggle to break free. "I'm done speaking with you, Aya. No

more words." Eve spoke simply, her voice brutal and coarse, it's usual flair now completely gone. Then, before I could even react, Eve shoved her fist right into my gut, the pain

from her punch reverberating across my whole body, the air completely pushed out of my lungs. Not one to let up, she clasped my face tighter and brought her hand toward the

ground, crashing my skull against the pavement, stars erupting in my blurred vision as I struggled to take a single breath. Eve released my mouth, but there was no reprieve as

she delivered a flurry of punches, hitting every part of my body that she could. My face, chest, stomach, shoulders, legs and thighs, she just fired out her fists indiscriminately, my

body jerking around in the crater she started to form as she beat me senseless into the earth.

I couldn't tell you how long she was beating me to a fine powder. It could have been an hour, it could have been five seconds. All I know is that it felt like a damn long time, and by

the time she finished, my body felt so broken that I had no strength to move at all. My left eye was swollen shut and my face felt like it was three times bigger than normal. Eve

merely stood over me, regarding me with a look that I could only describe as a kind of pity. Like as if, in her mind, she thought to herself "what a shame", and it only infuriated

me.

After staring at my broken body for several seconds, Eve clasped onto my left arm and swiftly lifted me up, my body merely dangling in the breeze as she began hovering in the air,

soaring up over the island. My head felt heavy on my neck, so it wasn't hard at all to look down below at the fleet of ships surrounding the island. I could see soldiers running like

mad as the healthy attended to the wounded, all the while flaming bodies littered the island. Several search lights focused their attentions onto us, but no one was firing at us,

either because they don't want to hit me, or they know better than to incite Eve any longer.

When she was satisfied with our height, Eve stopped hovering up and lifted my broken form to face her, the weight of my own body inducing a painful stress on my injured arm. She

simply regarded me at this point, but whatever she was thinking, I had no clue. All I knew was this was my chance! My body groaning angrily in pain, I lifted my free arm up,

pointing the palm of my hand in Eve's face. I forced what little power I could muster to focus on the palm of my hand, a beam of energy blasting out violently, engulfing half of

Eve's body. But, it was for naught. Eve was still clinging to me, so I knew right away that it didn't work, even before the brief attack finished. Eve merely stared at me, unflinching;

her hair wasn't even singed. My arm fell limply against my side, my chest heaving from the effort that that meager attack had on my failing body. "Nice try, Aya. But you're done

now. You have nothing left. Maybe you never really were that special, after all; just another weak human." Eve remarked. She considered me for another moment, her eyes drifting

up and down my broken form with a look of distaste, before her finally released my hand.

I hadn't noticed it, but Eve hovered us over the Hudson, so I plunged down right into the icy cold waters. As I slowly sunk down towards the bottom, I felt totally helpless. Again.

That was all the power I had left, and I didn't have the strength to swim myself out.

As I sunk deeper and deeper, the darkness began to shroud over me. Soon, I was in complete darkness. My lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen; it felt like I had inhaled

a fireball. But there was nothing I could do. I tried my best, but it just wasn't good enough. Could anyone really blame me? I mean, is it okay for me to just give up? Would it really

be so bad…? I couldn't help but think this way as I closed my eyes, ready for an escape…