THIS STORY IS HOLLOWEEN THEMED. IT INCLUDES REFERENCE TO THE SUPERNATURAL AND GHOSTS, ETC. IF THAT DOES NOT APPEAL TO YOU, IT MAY BE BEST NOT TO READ FURTHER.

SPOILER ALERT: THIS STORY INCLUDES ME3 ENDING SPOILERS.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN MASS EFFECT.

THE FIFTH WAY

Chapter 1 - Defying the Catalyst

Wounded and helpless, Shepard limped slowly along the pathway.

She was in the Citadel. She had witnessed the death of Andersen and conversed with the entity called the Catalyst. Now she would have to make a choice that would determine the fate of the whole galaxy.

She stopped at the intersection where the path divided into three. With bitterness and resignation in her eyes, she turned to look back at the holographic image of the Catalyst. Shepard fleetingly wondered to herself why the catalyst had taken that particular form to converse with her. Why the form of the boy whose death she had witnessed during the initial Reaper attack on Vancouver? Why him? Why a boy she hardly knew? Why not Ash? Or Morden? Or Thane? Or some other person she loved and respected? It didn't make sense.

Shepard turned back and shrugged her shoulders. She realised that it didn't really matter in the end what form the Catalyst took. All that mattered was that she had to stop the Reapers in the best way she could. With reluctance, Shepard turned her attention to the choices before her.

She could go to the right and fire on the explosive tank with her pistol. The Catalyst promised that this would destroy the reapers. However, Shepard also learned that it would also destroy the Geth and EDI. After all the Geth and EDI had done for her, it was a sacrifice Shepard did not wish to make.

Shepard looked to the blue control panel on the left. If she activated it, she would be able to control the Reapers. She could order them to stop their attacks immediately, thus ending the war at a stroke. Her physical body would cease to be, but she could end the threat of the Reapers in the galaxy by keeping them under her control. She could ensure they would do no more harm and command them to help with the reconstruction.

She turned her attention to the vertical stream of green light before her. She could leap into the green light and activate the synthesis process . The Catalyst had suggested that this would be the optimal solution, somehow combining organics and synthetics into one, thus ending the need for the Reaper cycle. It would kill her, but bring lasting peace to the galaxy.

Finally, there was the fourth option. To reject the Catalyst's offer and let the Reaper war continue. Shepard knew defeat was inevitable in that case. She would have to hope that future civilisations may find a way to defeat the Reapers from the data that Liara had hidden in secret locations around the galaxy. But that would not help those in the current civilisation. It would condemn Shepard's companions, loved ones and allies to an existence of hopelessness, terror and, ultimately, extinction.

Shepard closed her eyes and shook her head in resignation. This was not the way she hoped it would end. She really hoped that the crucible would be a weapon that would allow them to definitively defeat the Reapers in some way. But the only choices available involved keeping the Reapers in existence or killing a whole synthetic species. These were not good choices at all.

After a moment's thought, Shepard decided to go for synthesis. It seemed the best way to end the war and bring lasting peace to the galaxy, even though she did not truly understand all its consequences. It seemed the best of four bad choices.

Hesitantly Shepard took a step forward towards the green beam of light.

Suddenly, the transparent ghostly shape of the young boy appeared in front of her, blocking her way to the synthesis light stream. He smiled at her.

"Please don't do that." Said the boy gently.

Shepard looked at the boy in confusion. After the Catalyst had spent so much effort persuading her to choose synthesis, she didn't understand why he was now standing in her way. Was he playing games with her? Was this all a joke?

"What are you doing?" Shepard frowned in annoyance. "I thought this is what you wanted."

The boy shook his head. "Look behind." Was all the boy said.

Shepard's frown of irritation turned to one of curiosity. She did as the boy said and turned to look behind her. To her surprise the holographic form of the Catalyst was still standing where she had left it. It was calmly waiting for her to make her choice.

Shepard turned her attention back to the transparent young boy in front of her. At first, she thought it was another holographic image generated by the Catalyst. But then she realised that the entity was different. It was slightly more white in colour. It was slightly more detailed. It had more substance to it. And, in a strange way, it felt slightly more real.

For a moment, Shepard thought she was going mad, possibly from the stress and anxiety she was going through at that moment. But something told her that there was more to this apparition than a simple hallucination.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"Shepard? Who are you talking to?" She heard the Catalyst say from behind her.

At that moment, Shepard realised that the Catalyst could not see or hear the apparition in front of her. Shepard knew that the Catalyst was in her mind. So it only meant one thing. The ghostly entity in front of her was external to herself. It originated from somewhere else. It was not in her mind or linked to the Catalyst. And it did not exist in the physical world.

"What are you?" Whispered Shepard.

The boy in front of her smiled and held out his hand.

"Take my hand and you will see?"

When Shepard had spoken to the Catalyst, she had felt nothing from it. Just the cold arrogance of a lifeless machine. But the ghostly entity in front of her was different. She sensed a strong wave of empathy and gentleness emanating from it. It was like she could feel the warmth of its soul.

"Shepard. Why have you stopped?" The voice of the Catalyst said from behind her. "Who are you talking to?"

For a moment, Shepard pondered what to do. But as she looked on the boy in front of her, her instinct told her she should trust him.

"Shepard!" Said the voice behind her more insistently. "You must choose!"

Shepard ignored the Catalyst. Instead, she reached out her hand to the child in front of her. The boy smiled and took her hand in his. Shepard's head was immediately filled with a blinding light. But it was not an unpleasant experience. She felt herself floating. She felt her mind drift gently into unconsciousness

And then Shepard's body collapsed to the floor of the Citadel.