This is it, the final chapter. I hope you enjoy the end of this story, which is my longest yet!

The front line had ground to a halt. Sentient fighters were descending in waves from above, immediately replenishing their losses and preventing the denizens of the world from advancing. Atra had failed to dodge a jab from a Conculyst, the Sentient's arm punching through her crystalline armour and sinking into her temple, right onto her left venom sac. Blue vitriol had exploded from her fangs, completely wasted. In response, the armour had cut off the exposed skin and resealed itself, and Atra's bladed right arm made short work of the fighter. She groaned, feeling the warmth of blood on the left side of her face. Looking around, she counted fourteen dead prisoners, almost a quarter of their force, while the Sentient still numbered at fifty. She was something beyond furious. Taking a moment to re-ink the ground, she recovered before throwing herself back into the fray.

The Defenders burst through the barrier, annihilating the nearest Sentient fighter before it could even react. A quick cast from Mu sent spears into each one, dealing enough damage to trigger an adaptation. The small force of five Sentient fighters was quickly wiped out, each carapace exploding, leaving arms strewn across the floor. Raaz immediately spotted more incoming, pointing them out to Mu. She took the chakram off her back, aimed and threw it, disappearing as it made contact with the nearest fighter. Raaz saw that she had teleported, and that she was leaving a trail of fire where she walked. Mu quickly reappeared next to the Defenders, flickering with blue as her shields recharged. A group of ten Sentient fighters approached the barrier.

"So these are the Sentient." Aegis remarked, stretching her fingers as best she could under her armour. "Okay Defenders! Let's give them a mountain welcome!"

"Lots of battle cries, blood, and fists?" One Defender spoke up.

"Precisely! Let's go!"

The Defenders inked the ground around the barrier, expanding the area in which they could move quickly. Before they vanished, Mu spoke.

"Do not worry about my flames. They will not hurt you."

The thirteen of them advanced, the Octolings tearing ahead by swimming through ink. Raaz prepared a blade and Mu activated Firewalker, the fire spreading towards the approaching Sentient fighters.

Vulture was at a loss- the Sentient had him, his Scavengers and the bomb surrounded, and they looked like they were about to start shooting. Exactly one energy bolt was fired, Vulture leaping in front of it to defend the bomb before each Sentient was skewered by black tendrils, their glowing cores dimming before vanishing completely, Marie struggling to contain the excess energy. She turned and launched a powerful beam at the fighters on the main front, cutting a swathe through their ranks. The prisoners broke through. Marie turned to Vulture.

"Careful. Your armour can only take one hit like that and remain intact." She replenished his armour with tar. "Get going. There's an opening. And start using the Void Keys. I'm about to open the case."

Marie vanished as quickly as she appeared. Ruben turned to Vulture.

"What's inside the case?" He asked.

"I don't know. All she said was that it was a weapon. Come on, lift the bomb. On three."

On the main front, Marie had reappeared. She noted with some despair that more than half of the force was dead, and watched as the half-living writhed in pain. Only thirty fighters remained she pulled them back behind her, some of them, most notably Atra, complaining about it.

"What the hell? Why are we back here?"

Marie began walking towards the Sentient, the fighters reforming their ranks.

"So I don't accidentally kill you."

Marie opened the case, pulling the heavily corroded mask from its restraints and removing her mask. The air had gone very still, as if the world was holding its breath.

"With this, I become evil, so that I may destroy evil."

She placed the mask over her face. No-one moved, apart from the bomb squad who kept on running despite the malice radiating from Marie.

"Don't look back." Vulture was saying. "Keep running."

Zantzi flinched as the mask made contact, and Ozara staggered as if she had been punched in the gut. She gasped in horror.

"I have never felt malice like this..."

Inside the barrier, Mira felt something was off. The whispering of the crystal had stopped, and the apprehension she felt from the souls within was so concentrated it almost felt physical.

Inside the dream, frost descended, starting with the tallest buildings but rapidly reaching ground level. Flint looked outside, utterly confused, but he could feel something was happening in the real world.

Outside the barrier, Raaz recoiled from a shock only he felt. The Sentient appeared to have noticed it too, and they quickly disappeared in the direction of the Dojo. Aegis lowered her fists.

"Huh?"

Raaz actually screamed, for the first time since gaining his powers, he screamed, throwing the case containing the mask as far as he could.

"Raaz! What are you doing? We need that!" Aegis said, running to recover it. "We need it as-"

"It's evil!" Raaz yelled. His outburst stopped Aegis in her tracks because of how uncharacteristic it sounded. "It's completely evil!"

On the front line, the prisoners watched as Marie fell to one knee, the people there swearing they felt the impact despite Marie not possibly being heavy enough to cause that sort of shock.

"What the hell is going on?" Atra demanded.

"It's malice." Ozara said, very quietly, like she may burst into tears at any moment. "Ten years of malice, hatred and bloodlust."

A black fog erupted from Marie's body, obscuring the prisoners' view of the battlefield. Ruben cast a glance over his shoulder, frowning at the black mist that had formed between Marie and the prisoners.

"Ozara, what's happening? Why's Marie made that barrier?"

The psychic screamed suddenly, yelling into her communicator.

"Bomb squad! Don't look back. Don't look at Marie! I couldn't tell you what she is anymore, just don't look!"

Ruben turned away as Marie changed, her being unfolding as the rage contained within her mask took form, incomprehensible things flickering on the edge of tangibility. The sight clawed at Ruben's mind. Tohn picked up on his want to observe.

"Don't do it, Ruben..."

Despite his own fear, Ruben turned, the sight burning itself into his mind. He screamed, unimaginable pain searing through his mind. His head was wrenched away from the spectacle by Tohn. When asked what he saw, Ruben shook his head, whimpering.

An animalistic screech was emitted by Marie, and a different alarm was raised by the Sentient, a fast, repetitive ringing signalling extreme danger. The Sentient's numbers immediately doubled. Marie's form bent, a crack of energy reducing three Sentient fighters to dust. The bombs squad ran for the Dojo, using the opportunity to their advantage, despite Ruben's damaged state. The Sentient was completely focused on Marie, so they made the remaining distance in just ten minutes, carrying the bomb into the Dojo. The group stopped.

"Where now?" Vulture asked.

"We go up." Tohn said. "I'm sending the internal map to your lenses."

Sure enough, the map in the corner of Vulture's eye flickered, the outside topography replaced with corridors and a marker that he had not seen before.

"You'll be seeing an elevator marker on there. You needn't bother with them, just follow the yellow objective marker."

Marie stood before hundreds of Sentient fighters. As soon as she had put on the mask, the Sentient had panicked, several waves of fighters descending at once to surround her. It didn't matter to her anymore. She couldn't feel anything other than rage, bloodlust and a disgusting amount of power.

"Now this is most interesting." Hunhow said, speaking through his fighters. "Such an amazing amount of power. I simply cannot allow anyone else to have it."

Marie watched from the back of her mind as one fighter approached. She had swiftly realised that she was no longer in control when she put on the mask, and that she was isolated from the souls making up the tar. For the first time in a decade, her mind was quiet. It was a good feeling, but she had to escape.

The Sentient approached and, as it raised its arm to attack, Marie struck out, her fist grasping hold of its core. One pulse of black emanated from her body, and the fighter collapsed into dust. The rest of the fighters decided to give no quarter, Battalysts opening fire all around her. Despite her armour having retreated once the mask took effect, she took no damage, the energy bolts simply dissipating before they hit her, swallowed by the energy in which her body was wreathed. Letting out a scream of rage, Marie leapt up into the air, descending onto the horde, rending and tearing through fighters as they arrived.

"Quick, bring it into this room."

Vulture and his Scavengers followed Tohn through a final set of doors, arriving in an observatory. Tohn gestured for them to take the device to the centre console. With a final groan, the Octolings stood it upright, stepping back and shaking the aches out of their arms, breathing heavily. Tohn punched the console, pulling a large cable out, the holographic display deactivating as he did so. Vulture watched as the port on the side of the bomb changed shape.

"How does it do that? Change shape?" He asked.

"Something called Forma. It changes shape to match what we need, or we can use it to upgrade our gear." Tohn plugged it in and spoke to Ordis.

"Reroute all available power to the observatory. The bomb has been planted."

"Processing now."

The warning lights flickered out, and the bomb activated, a sickly teal glow filling the room. Geiger counters on Vulture's armour began clicking.

"The Sentient can't get in here now, can they?"

"No. The Void is poison to them."

"Good. Marie seemed to have had them pretty distracted anyway."

"Uh, boss? We have a problem." A Scavenger spoke up.

"What is it?"

Vulture was beckoned to the window of the observatory. Outside, the dark clouds shrouding Marie had vanished, and she was nowhere to be seen. The Sentient that had been spared her fury were floating around, confused. That was when two things happened. First, the proximity alarms in each squad member's lenses went off. Second, the door to the observatory opened. Tohn saw why the tar had formed a cloud to protect the prisoners as Marie stepped into the room. She looked horrific, bones of energy glowing beneath skin that had stretched to account for her new form, making her appear gaunt and skeletal. The mask had fused to her face, giving her the appearance of a constant, pained scream. The energy that coiled around her no longer formed the faces of nightmares which, in Tohn's opinion, was why they were still sane despite looking straight at her. Ruben was terrified, his back pressed against the glass as far away as he could get from the creature stood before them. The Scavengers were paralysed, looking at their weapons, each other and Marie, unsure as to what to do. The masked Inkling sounded like she was wheezing, slow breaths being sucked in and out rhythmically. She tilted her head, looking at the bomb.

"Marie..." Vulture started.

"Stop. It's not her." Tohn said. "It's the mask."

The line separating the mask from her flesh was, alarmingly, less obvious than it had been. Tohn recoiled when he saw that the metal had spread and dug into her skin, specks of brightly-coloured blood having leaked out and stained the metal. Tohn also realised that despite the large mouth-hole, he could not see Marie's face. With a jolt of shock, he looked over her body again, confirming that he couldn't see any skin elsewhere on her body.

Combine that with not being hurt by Battalyst attacks...

"Marie, or whatever you are, am I correct in thinking you absorb energy?"

A cacophony of shrieks emanated from her, quickly focusing into a coherent message.

"Yes."

"Good. Then physical attacks should do the trick."

A wave crashed against Marie, forcing her into the corridor. At the same time, the window that Ruben had been leaning against shattered.

"Everyone out!"

The seven of them dived out, a howling, murderous bellow heralding their egress. The Octolings fired at the ground, creating a pool in which they could land safely. Upon landing, a quick glance upwards confirmed that Marie was pursuing them. They ran.

"Ruben! Make sure she stays focused on us!" Vulture demanded. "We'll lead her back to the Sentient!"

When the black fog had vanished, the Sentient had quickly realised that the powerful Inkling had vanished and capitalised on it, reconvening and approaching the prisoners. The thirty survivors prepared their weapons, and Ozara and Zantzi came to the front, opening fire on the approaching fighters. In the distance, a window on the Dojo shattered. Marie's attack had more than quartered the number of Sentient fighters, but more were always flying in from above, quickly reversing any losses.

That bomb better work in the next few minutes... Zantzi thought as the next wave of Sentient landed. Another ship appeared in the airspace- Mu's Landing Craft. Out of it dropped the eleven Defenders, Raaz, and finally Mu herself. The Mantis launched a Medical Tower, the device landing in the middle of the remaining prisoners. Zantzi immediately used a charge, the prisoners gasping and chuckling as the restorative pulse healed them. The new arrivals joined the fray, attacking the Sentient with all they had. And still they descended, the portal raging in the upper atmosphere lit with gold lightning. Droves of fighters hit the ground, the number of fighters reaching two hundred again.

"Surely you can see this is futile." Hunhow spoke. "I am creating more fighters all the time. These losses are nothing. You can have no victory here."

At that moment, the Dojo erupted with a blinding golden light, the pillar extending into the upper atmosphere, attracted to the portal. A warning siren sounded for the Sentient, but it was too late- anything coming through the portal was annihilated by the beam, space unfolding and returning to normal as the synthetic reactant worked according to Ruben's specification. Zantzi laughed.

"How about that, Hunhow? Your portal is now flooded with Void Energy. You cannot win."

"You forget, puppet, that I have fighters on the ground. Your fighting force is almost gone. You will die by my hand."

"Aegis. Container."

"Already ready."

Aegis raised her fists, gilded fragments having been incorporated to her and her Defenders' gauntlets.

"Void Energy really is great, isn't it?"

She walked forward and punched the nearest fighter, watching as it dissolved. Void-powered weaponry was brought to bear, and under the onslaught Hunhow's forces dissolved.

"Fine." He said. "I will find another to be my bridge to this world. In fact, four Orbiters and therefore, four Tenno are vulnerable. I even have their wavelengths and energy signature. My bones will eclipse your willpower and bring you to my side."

"You've got that wrong." Ozara said. "The bomb had one other function. Hunhow, why don't you analyse that beam of energy?" She could feel his boredom with the situation.

"There is an encrypted message, no, a signal. Land. Cross through the portal... What is this?"

Four fireballs appeared in the sky, four Orbiters crash-landing on the planet, glowing with heat and Void Energy.

"Face it Hunhow, you've been beat."

"Rest assured I will hurt you. You will incur tenfold the damage you have dealt to me today."

His transmission was cut off as the portal closed, the beam cutting off as sirens inside the Dojo rang out. The Infestation was converging on the noise. Zantzi frowned.

"The bomb squad isn't back yet."

Five Octolings landed next to Raaz, their armour gouged but intact. Vulture stood up, quickly locating Raaz.

"Ruben and Tohn don't stand a chance. They're still inside the lethal radius. Marie is going to kill them!"

Ruben tried to stand and failed, the crumpled armour around his left knee unable to support him. His right arm had been similarly crushed, yet still he was in a better state than Tohn. Both of his legs were non-functional, and he only had use of his right arm. He had engaged Marie in close combat, and she had made short work of him, whirling claws and fury ripping through his shields and shredding his armour in an instant. He had been tossed aside like a broken toy. Yet he still fired away with his sidearm, refusing to go down without a fight. Marie was now approaching for the kill, her rhythmic wheezing acting as Tohn's death knell. As she approached, Tohn realised with no shortage of surprise that she was crying.

"Please..." She whispered. "Help me..."

Her body moved of its own accord, spinning and delivering a savage kick to Ruben, who had attempted to rush her. His injured leg had prevented him from building up any sort of speed. She switched targets, but not before stomping on Tohn's shoulder, crushing it and preventing Tohn from moving at all. She moved to the downed form of Ruben, a hand gesture pulling his soul from his chest. He groaned in terror. Tohn was powerless to do anything as she took it in her hands and placed it in her mouth, Ruben screaming as her teeth pierced it. His screams intensified until a missile of water knocked it free, the orb quickly sinking back into Ruben's chest. He attempted to move away from Marie, pushing himself backwards as she moved towards Tohn.

"Help me, please..." She whispered.

Despite the agony he was feeling, Tohn was still focused. He could see that the mask was expanding, the metal having spread underneath Marie's chin and back towards her ears.

"Ruben! Kill me!" Tohn shouted. "Do it now!"

Ruben saw the logic- if their souls were destroyed, there would be no revivals. However, if Tohn died, he could revive, and his armour would be repaired by the surge. One bolt of lightning was all it took, Tohn going limp as it struck, only for him to spring to his feet and overflow with energy. He used his few moments of invulnerability to pick up Ruben and run with him, Marie easily closing the distance and slashing at his legs. The pair fell, and Tohn was sure that it was game over for both of them. He did not expect to see the dirt expand and explode, a figure erupting from the ground and delivering an enormously powerful double kick into Marie, sending her flying backwards towards the Dojo. Raaz quickly grabbed Ruben and Tohn, dragging them into the ground as the second stage detonated, gold energy and blue antiserum exploding in every direction. The masked form of Marie roared with anger, the energy of the explosion enveloping her.

Raaz resurfaced, hauling his two passengers with him. The two Tenno were quickly joined by the other three members of the Crimson Hammer. The amassed creatures looked up as a blue mist descended, the tumorous growths of the Infestation bleaching and dissolving under it. The colour faded from the growths and the bleaching spread, slowly but surely neutralising the Infestation. Vulture moved his hands to his mask, moving to take it off, only to stop and look at Zantzi. The Tenno nodded. Vulture removed his mask, darkness evaporating from between the threads and joints and returning to Raaz. His Scavengers did the same, grimacing when they smelt the stench of death on the air. The smells of death, burnt flesh and ozone hung heavy.

"Hey!" Atra shouted. "Can we have this armour taken of too?"

Raaz looked at her.

"I can't. Marie was the one who formed it. And besides, Ozara? Have you found anything?"

She nodded.

"There's a life form over there, close to the Dojo."

"We can't have you going anywhere, so I'd get comfortable if I were you. I'll give you five seconds."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Armour lock."

"What?"

Atra overbalanced as the armour refused to move, falling to the ground.

"Hey! Let me up!"

Raaz looked to the still functioning Crimson Hammer. Tohn shot Ruben, allowing the latter to revive. Tohn simply used a Conculyst club as a crutch. The five Tenno and Raaz headed out across the battlefield to where the life sign was coming from. Geiger counters had begun to click, so Raaz thickened his armour slightly. He didn't want to have to content with liquefaction after all that just happened.

"There!" Zantzi pointed.

On the ground up ahead was an Inkling. Around them, the ground had smouldered, and a metal mask was attached to their face.

"Marie!" Raaz shouted. He ran, approaching and kneeling by her side. When he went to remove her mask, an invisible force stopped him.

"D-don't..." Marie wheezed. "It'll try to possess you if you remove it. I'm dying, and it'll die with me."

"The mask was controlling you?"

"From the moment I put it on. It overwhelmed me."

Besides Raaz, the Tenno had arrived. They were torn between looking at Marie and looking at the blackened figure forming next to Raaz. Ozara had a hand to her head in pain. He noticed it, looking at the new arrival.

"You're the souls that were inside Marie's body."

"Yes." The amalgamation's voice was made up of many smaller voices, all speaking in sync. "We want to help. Yet we cannot."

"Why not?"

"If we take her damage, she will be restored. She will be possessed by the mask again."

"Wait, let me think." Raaz said. "If I take off the mask, I'll be possessed. But you can prevent that, right?"

"We can."

"So if I remove the mask, you can heal her before she passes away, right?"

"Yes. We can do this. But do you know how she avoids injury?"

"No."

"The damage is reflected onto one of us, destroying a soul. Do you still want to go through with this, with the blood of at least two souls on your hands?"

"Yes."

The amalgamation expanded, enveloping Raaz and Marie.

"Begin."

Raaz moved his hands to Marie's masked face, tilting her head in either direction to gauge the extent to which the mask had spread.

"What... What are you doing?"

Raaz turned one of his fingers into a blade.

"Sorry, this will hurt."

The second his finger made contact, a deafening bellow erupted inside his skull. The souls reacted, muting it with their own psychic power. Marie had never felt pain like it. Raaz cut around the mask, only digging in deep enough to dislodge the tendrils that had dug into Marie's flesh. Tears rolled down the face of the mask. After cutting simultaneously around her face, Raaz lifted the mask off and immediately came under attack from it, the rage inside trying to move his hands to place it on his face. He collapsed onto one knee, trying to relinquish the object, but found himself unable to. He thought he would succumb, but before he did so, four enormous barrels appeared over his shoulder, four shotgun shells being emptied into the mask, each one punching through the metal with ease until the mask broke in two, Raaz falling onto his front, muscles screaming at him. With barely a second's hesitation, he took Marie's hand, switching to her colour and creating a pool of ink, lowering her into it. She sank completely, resurfacing after a few seconds completely healed. She looked at Raaz.

"Why are people always putting their lives on the line for me?"

"We all love you too much."

"How sweet."

Marie turned to the amalgamation.

"I'm guessing you took the lethal damage caused by the mask?"

"Yes."

Marie buried her head in her hands.

"I've caused the death of so many of you. I don't deserve your power."

"Look at yourself." It said. "You can still see, without our power, despite having no eyes."

"That is... True. Huh, I didn't realise. But even so. I've hurt you so much. I failed to stop the Tenno and caused the death of so many more innocent people. I even lead those prisoners to their deaths!" She sobbed. "Marie Cuttlefish, the greatest monster of them all."

"In doing so, saving so many more. We can think of no other to share our power with."

It held its hand out. Marie laughed sadly.

"Really?" She asked. "After all I've done?"

Raaz kicked her.

"My god, you're stronger than this, come on. Get a grip."

Marie laughed again, genuine mirth in it this time.

"Alright. I guess there's still things I need to fix."

She took its hand, the amalgamation vanishing into her body, the familiar hushed noise of souls filling her head.

When Ara woke the following morning, the black text was still there. Except it was different, and simply read: "The real world is clean. Return to the surface." Ara had shaken Flint awake.

"Flint, hey, Flint, we can go home! The world is clean again!"

In the plaza, citizens were filing out through the monolith, the world growing progressively foggier with each person leaving. Once the last one stepped through, the fog engulfed everything, the dream ceasing to exist. The many dreamers had woke up, hauling themselves out of the tar and being directed out of the shaft, soon appearing on the surface. Once the shaft was empty, the millions of tons of earth and rock reappeared, the tar replacing it before returning to Marie.

"You can return to your homes. If there's any problems, we'll see what we can do!" Ozara shouted to the masses. She was accompanied by Zantzi, who was very clearly waiting for someone. Ozara could see her in Zantzi's mind. What she neglected to tell Zantzi was that she was creeping up behind him. She leapt at him, a flying kick connecting with his head and overbalancing him. He twisted as he fell, landing on his back. Isla was sat on his chest.

"Uh, hi." He said.

Marie had returned the prisoners to Hades, and with some regret she had suppressed their memories of defending the world. She had instead, with the help of Ozara, planted a suggestion that an exceptionally lethal, unknown disease had taken the lives of over half of the prisoners. Technically, it was true. For good measure, the guards had been given the same suggestion.

"You have a lot to explain." Isla told Zantzi, a playful smirk on her face.

Ozara laughed and walked away, leaving them to their reunion. She was quickly intercepted by Vulture, who directed her towards Aegis, where the other three members of the Crimson Hammer were waiting.

"What is it?"

"You're gonna be sticking around for a while, aren't you? You cut off your only way out of here."

"A necessary sacrifice." Ruben said.

"Never mind that." Aegis continued. "So, you're all like Zantzi, aren't you? Armour controlled by kids? We want you to help us out, keep the peace, so to speak. You like doing that, right?"

"Yes... Why?" Ruben asked.

"Well." Aegis laughed and stretched her fingers, completely unsettling the Tenno. "Before we even get to your salary, we're gonna have to teach you how to walk."

3 Stories, 44 chapters and about 152051 words later, we have reached the end! Thank you to everyone who stuck with these three stories to the very end. Your reviews mean a lot to me. I hope you have enjoyed the ride!