AN: Well guys, I just finished ToX2 and the part that hit me the most was chapter 11. Well to be fair, the ending pulled my heart strings even more...
Anyway, I wish to explore a different approach. As you've read the summary of this story, what IF somehow, the two Millas could actually exist in the prime dimension? Canon-wise, it would be impossible but I wish to explore this... Besides, if the two Maxwells did actually exist in the game, I'm sure there would have been some interesting skits...

Anyway on with the story!

CHAPTER 1: THE TWO MAXWELL

Ludger, Jude, Alvin and Milla moved quickly towards the back of the ship. That was where Chancellor Marcia was being held. Any Exodus soldier that tried to stop them was quickly and easily dispatched by the group.

As they continued running towards their destination, only Elle noticed the solemn look that Milla had on her face. She carried the look of someone preparing for their own execution. It was painted on her face. Hopeless. Despair. Elle wanted to say something but she could not find the words.

Milla, or what she sometimes heard the others call her as 'the other Milla', thought back to the conversation she had with Ludger and Jude at Marksburg.

"That's right. The one who's keeping your Milla from returning… is me." Milla said.

"How do you know?" Elle asked.

With a sad expression, Milla answered, "Because two identical things can't coexist in the prime dimension… This world is not big enough for two Millas. Yours can't return until I'm gone…"

"Milla, wait…" Jude tried to protest but Milla was adamant.

"The way to bring her back into her rightful dimension is obvious. You have to kill me."

Milla shook the flashback away from her mind. She said those things like it didn't matter to her… but deep down, she was afraid. Her world destroyed was one thing but now, she had to sacrifice herself just so that the 'real' Milla could return? The thought frightened her. She didn't want to disappear, to be forgotten. But perhaps this was inevitable. She should have died when Ludger destroyed her world. And she thought this was probably for the best. Even if Jude claimed that the 'prime' Milla and she were two completely different Millas, she knew that Jude would definitely pick 'prime' Milla. She could never replace the original.

"Milla…" A voice said, startling Milla from her thoughts. It was Ludger, "Don't worry… We'll figure something out, alright?"

"…There's nothing to 'figure out'… Nothing can change my fate. Like I said, two identical beings… cannot coexist in the prime dimension." Milla replied. Jude and Alvin heard her but said nothing.

"…No… There must be something we can do… We can't just have you… disappear! I mean… you even promised Elle you'd make her soup after all of this is done!" Ludger argued.

"Debating about this is pointless." Milla muttered.

Ludger made no response and the group fell silent once more. Only the sound of their steps echoed through the empty hallways. Whenever there was an injured person, the group would stop for a moment and Jude would heal the injured. It was the least they could do before reaching Chancellor Maxwell.

Finally the group arrived before the doors that held Chancellor Marcia inside. Ludger and Jude gave a nod to each other and bursts open the door, rushing into the large room with Alvin, Milla and Elle following closely behind.

"Don't come any closer!" Chancellor Marcia cried out.

"Chancellor Marcia… I didn't give the floor to you." The man in red known as Rideaux said. With a confident grin, Rideaux faced the group.

"Rideaux! Why are you doing this? Jude demanded.

"Aw, now don't give me that look!" Rideaux approached one of the hostages and kicked the man in the face, knocking the man unconscious. He then transformed into a battle outfit red in color, an outfit that looked quite similar to the Chromatus outfit. "I'm here to help your Maxwell problem!"

With that Rideaux appeared instantly before the group with daggers revealed. It caught everyone by surprise. With a swift kick to Jude and smacking Milla in the face, both were stunned by the attack. Alvin leaped away to gain distance so Rideaux engaged Ludger. Ludger and Rideaux exchanged blows, the sound of metal clashing rings across the room. Both were dual-blade users and were on equal grounds, none gaining the upper hand. Finally both Ludger and Rideaux stopped their duel, Ludger backing off and Rideaux leaping high into the air. Once he landed, Alvin and Jude quickly struck together but Rideaux was simply far too agile for the pair. Jude threw a punch only for Rideaux to side-step the attempt and grabbed Jude's arm, twisting it to his back and holding him there. Alvin swung his sword and fired a shot with his gun, but all were dodged by Rideaux. Rideaux grabbed Alvin's arm and threw him to the ground, keeping him locked down with his foot.

"What do you mean help with the Maxwell problem?!" Milla demanded.

"Spirius has the knowledge of summoning Maxwell. That is to be expected, since Spirius was founded by the Kresnik, the first human to summon Maxwell!" The group gasped by the revelation as Rideaux continued, "Unfortunately, the arte of summoning Maxwell is… a messy one. For one, we need a living circuit."

With that, Rideaux pushed Jude and Alvin with an unseen force. Jude crashed on a wall to the right and Alvin to the left. Rideaux then created a red binding on Jude and Alvin, keeping them in place.

"Damn you!" Milla cried, charging towards Rideaux. However Rideaux easily kicked the sword out of Milla's hand like a person would steal candy from a baby. Milla's sword landed close to Elle's feet.

Rideaux smiled as he glared at Milla, "…And the secret ingredient is… a living sacrifice!"

Suddenly the ground around Milla began to glow. Caught by surprise, Milla could not react on time as the ground glowed brightly. Then the brightly-lit ground opened up, revealing an endless dark void of nothingness. Milla could feel herself falling into the void, losing all hope and figuring that this was her fate.

Ludger acted quickly, transforming into level 2 of his Chromatus state. With the enhanced strength and speed, Ludger reached out for Milla's hand at the nick of time, grabbing hold of it and saving her from falling into the abyss. However because Milla was almost out of reach, Ludger had to pierce his lance into the ground as an anchor so that he could reach Milla. However because of this, Ludger now had his hands full. His left hand was holding his lance to keep him in place and his right was holding Milla. He lacked the strength to pull Milla up.

"Ludger! Milla!" Elle cried out.

Watching the whole thing, Jude tried to break free of the binding but failed to do so. "Damn you!" Jude screamed in anger.

Rideaux turned to Jude and chuckled at Jude's screams of anguish, "There is no need to fake anger, Jude Mathis. You miss Maxwell, don't you? Your beloved wandering spirit."

Before Jude could make an answer, Elle had picked up Milla's sword and swung it towards Rideaux's thigh. It merely hit Rideaux like a brick wall, not harming the adult. Milla continued swinging the sword though, although she could barely hold the sword due to its weight.

"Take this! And this!"

Rideaux merely brused off Elle's attacks and looked at Milla, "I see you're quite a hit with the kids… phony."

"Shut up!" Elle cried, "She's… not a phony! Milla… is Milla!"

"Afraid she's not."

Rideaux kicked Elle away like a rag doll. With no one to stop him, Rideaux walked slowly towards the eight-year old girl, like a lion about to pounce on its prey. At this rate Elle would be killed. Ludger turned to Milla, his eyes confused as to what to do. Milla could see it. He was torn between a choice. Either he released her hand, which would mean killing her… or watching Elle die in front of him. Time was running out.

Milla was afraid. However Milla knew the choice was obvious. She gathered what courage she had left and looked at Ludger in the eye. "Let me go! He'll kill Elle!"

"No Milla!" Elle said desperately, "Don't give up! No matter what, don't give up! Ludger won't let you go!"

Rideaux laughed at that and raised his weapons, "Isn't that rich? You're the one that needs to give up!"

Ludger stared hopelessly at Elle. He wanted to rush over to her and save her. Yet he could not. He could not just release Milla to her fate. He didn't have the heart to do that. His brother Julius had always said that he was just too nice to be an Agent of Spirius.

"Hang in there Milla! Elle needs you!"

Milla bit her lips when she heard that. She did not want to hear that. She knew Elle had grown attached to her. And while she hated it, she was beginning to like Elle as well. Even Ludger as a rival in cooking. Those two were the only ones that she knew that had no connection towards the 'real' Milla. It was why Ludger and Elle accepted her quickly. The rest were kind to her as well, but Milla could sense it. She was not 'their' Milla. She was not the one that had travelled and fought together with them a year ago. She was not the Milla that Jude loved. 'Elle… Ludger… and everyone… thank you." Milla thought before she steeled herself.

"…I'm sorry…" Milla finally said with a sad smile, "I'm going to have to leave the rest to you." Then softly, Milla uttered the words that Ludger could not hear, "Arigatou (Thank you)."

Milla brushed away Ludger's hand, forcing Ludger to release her. Ludger's eyes widened in shock, watching Milla slowly fall into the darkness of the void. The palm of his right hand was still open, reaching out to the falling Milla. Ludger was at a loss for words.

As she continued falling, Milla made one final plea, "Please! Look after Elle!" And then to Ludger's horror, Milla was out of his reach.

Everything was dark. Empty. She could see nothing in this endless void. Milla closed her eyes, going through her memories. Soon she would fade out of existence. The thought was frightening. All the years she spent growing up would be gone in an instant. She wondered if she would feel anything before she disappeared. How much longer before it happens? Then Milla felt someone staring at her.

Milla opened her eyes to find another 'Milla' looking back at her. Instantly, Milla knew. This was the 'prime' Milla; the REAL Milla. The one that everyone knew and loved. The real Milla gave a nod of thanks towards the 'other' Milla as she flew upwards towards the opening… or perhaps it was a nod of acknowledgment? It did not matter to 'fractured' Milla. The 'real' Milla would be returning to her world and 'fractured' Milla would be gone soon.

"Hmph… I knew I wouldn't like you…" 'Fractured' Milla muttered as the two passed by.

XXXXXX

Meanwhile in the room Ludger was still stunned by 'fractured' Milla's actions. A few seconds ago, he was holding her hand. And now it was empty. She was gone. Ludger turned to Elle and for a second there, it was as if time had frozen still. Elle's eyes shook Ludger to the core. The innocent eyes that were staring back at Ludger. Milla meant much more to Elle than Ludger thought.

Unknown to Ludger, the desire to protect a loved one was fuel in strengthening the Chromatus. The Chromatus armor that was only covering half of Ludger's body now covered all of Ludger's body and only leaving his face. Ludger's Chromatus had evolved to level three. Ludger could feel a huge burst of strength in his body and much more agile as well. Without a hint of hesitation, Ludger leaped down into the large hole in the ground where Milla had fallen.

"LUDGER!" Jude and Elle screamed.

At the same moment Ludger leaped into the void, the hole flashed with bright, blue light and blinded everyone. Then a tremendous shockwave erupted from the center, blasting everyone away. A few seconds later, 'prime' Milla appeared and facing Rideaux, accompanied by the Four Great Spirits.

"Milla…" Jude whispered in disbelief, approaching Milla.

Before Jude could say another word, Milla placed a finger on Jude's lips. For a moment, the two locked eyes and were lost in each other.

XXXXXX

In the dark hole, Ludger was still in his level three Chromatus form when he spotted 'fractured' Milla. Ludger did not know how deep this empty void was and when they would both disappear. He needed to hurry. Once he was within reach, Ludger reached out and grabbed Milla's foot.

This startled Milla, looking up, "Huh?! Ludger?!"

"You're not going to sacrifice yourself!" Ludger said, "The 'real' Milla's up there! If I hurry back, we should be able to still make it back!"

"How do you even plan to do that? You can't fly!"

"You probably can't see since its dark but we can use the walls!"

Ludger pulled Milla and brought her to his back, carrying her like he was giving her a piggyback ride. Milla had a small blush from the direct contact. Once Milla was with him, Ludger diverted the fall and moved towards the side. Once his feet made direct contact with something solid, Ludger pushed forward. The powerful force allowed him to move upwards and towards the opposite side, landing on the wall and repeating. Soon they spotted the 'entrance' of the hole but it was closing up. With every last ounce of strength left he had in his level three Chromatus form, Ludger leaped upwards. At the very last moment, Ludger managed to slip through the 'entrance' right before it closed, arriving back safely in the prime dimension.

"Ludger!" Elle called out happily.

"Impossible! How did he…?!" Rideaux sputtered in disbelief.

"Ludger… Thank goodness…" Jude said in relief as he ran towards Ludger. It was then that Jude noticed that the 'other' Milla was present as well. "You… You saved her… What a relief… I thought…"

Ludger was panting hard, exhausted from the sudden upgrade of the Chromatus power and could not make a response. 'Prime' Milla and 'fractured' Milla stared at one another, as if they were looking into a mirror. The only differences they had were their outfit color and the slight difference with their hair.

'Ludger… you brought me back… and now what…? I already said… no two same beings can coexist in the prime dimension…' 'Fractured' Milla thought to herself. It was now a question of when she would disappear.

CHAPTER END

AN: The 'Arigatou' part by fractured Milla was just my intepretation of the bonus scene. The last part we never knew what fractured Milla actually said so I figured it could be a thank you.

Speaking of which, there might be certain changes on the rules of the Chromatus use that I might change from canon in order for the plot to work. It's not confirmed but I am considering the options.