The Final Battle The worst is death, and death will have his day. The time had come. Death permeated the atmosphere, as the Heralds of the Holocaust laughed maniacally in the distance. Armageddon loomed ahead, the shadows of the Apocalypse blackened the ruptured skies. The final battle. MegaTokyo lay in ruins, battered by Heaven's fury. Scorched bodies strewn everywhere, the acrid stench of burnt flesh filled the air. In the midst of this inferno a wounded giant stood, once majestic and proud, now a crippled ruin, faltering under its own weight. A third of the Tower had been laid to waste. Thick, black smoke billowed from its darkened interior as the metal howled in pain, consumed by raging fires. A million tonnes of plastic, concrete and steel would topple any moment now, crashing down with the force of God's sledgehammer. The two figures standing at the Tower's summit, however, remained oblivious their surroundings. Hell itself paled into insignificance compared to the cosmic proportions of this final, epic standoff, the ultimate confrontation. The Knight Saber stood before him, cracked suit leaking blood and oil, its exterior damaged beyond repair, the occupant within fatally wounded. But it was far from over. Quincy was dying, and he knew it. A salty, slightly metallic taste assaulted his mouth, but he swallowed the bloody vomit. He was defenseless now, he had no weapons left, his own exoskeleton had been destroyed a few minutes ago. It was hopeless, and yet... He refused to give up. He would show no weakness. Not now. Not ever. He scanned his surroundings. His office, which once housed the world's most powerful man, was now completely destroyed. Half the roof had been literally ripped off, mangled boomers lay in pools of black oil. The fires down below had actually begun to melt the floor underneath his feet. Quincy's gaze froze for a second. A console near the corner of the room, to his right, caught his attention. On its cracked screen, a cursor blinked. Daedalus> *** Laser targeting completed *** Daedalus> Enter firing code: 666 Daedalus> Re-enter code: 666 Daedalus> Enter final confirmation: y_ He needed only to press one key. One key and everything would be over. A single keystroke which would unleash their blinding death... and his glorious victory. He slowly turned around. The Knight Saber stood motionless, and Quincy held firm, piercing his opponent with his gaze, scrutinizing the hardsuit's black faceplate. The abyss gazed back at him, Nietzsche smiled in his grave. Time froze. A small drop of shiny sweat fell into Quincy's quivering left eye. He felt his muscles painfully tense under the unbearable strain. The wind howled through the cracks on the walls. Quincy grinned. Suddenly, a few steps behind the Knight Saber, a section of the roof collapsed, enveloped in smoke and flames. Quincy leapt to his right, flinging his entire body towards the console, blindly extending his arms as far ahead as he could. The bullet caught him in mid-air, just behind the left ear. ----- "YESSS!!! YESSSSS!!! TAKE _THAT_ YOU SON OF A... um... GUN!" The redhead jumped off her seat, dancing around the room, frantically hopping like an oversized rabbit. She finally fell to her knees, exhausted, and extended her arms towards the heavens, worshiping some unseen deity. "Nene, what are you doing?" Nene spun around, and almost died then and there. "SYLIA! I, um, I, well, it's like... how long have you?... I mean I... when did you?..." she began to babble incoherently. Sylia glanced at the computer screen. She suddenly became livid. "Nene!! Have you lost your mind?!" "I... I... I..." "'The Pink Knight Saber wins'? Are you crazy, Nene? I mean, it's embarrassing enough that you make these game patches available through the net, but this is too much! Do you want to blow our cover?!?" "But... but..." "Look Nene, I know you think that it's all between you and your geeky friends, but we really don't know who's on the other end of the line, do we now?" "But... I... I didn't mean to... what do you mean, 'geeky'?" "I swear, Nene, one of these days you're going to make me apply #11..." "But..." "No 'buts', Nene, you take that gruesome game off our computers, you hear me? I don't want to see _anything_ which might link us to the Sabers, got that? For heaven's sake, Nene, when did I have to become your mother?" "But..." Before Nene could continue, Sylia gave her one last piercing look, and brusquely left the room. Nene sighed, and sat in the middle of the room for a few moments. She then got up, and slowly headed towards the console. She noticed the game's command line was still active. The redhead quickly glanced at the door behind her, and then typed a few words. She re-read the message before sending it, and grinned. "Yes!" she whispered to herself, clinching her fist, and finally proceeded to delete the offending files. ----- "Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you, but the Prime Minister's been on hold for an hour now. Should I tell him you'll call back later?" "What does he want _now_? Didn't we pay him off last week already?" "Sir?" "Never mind, put him through..." As the man switched on the intercom, he glanced at the monitor in front of him. crimson> "Sorry, 'Quincy', I think I'll retire while I'm ahead. If it's any consolation, you weren't all that bad... NOT! ;P Bye-bye! - TPKS." "Curse you, Knight Saber!" he hissed. "Excuse me?" "Ah, nothing Minister, what can we do for you today...?" Quincy replied, as he cleared the screen. _________________________________ marco@chinook.physics.utoronto.ca Gunnm: Broken Angel http://128.100.80.13/marco/alita.html