Chapter 15

Endgame

Back in the computer lab that had since been turned into ground zero, Zypher (pronounced Zi-fer) and Dr, Hikari opened one window after another dispersing the information as best they could.

"You serious?" Terra asked, her voice coming out hopeful and smooth.

"As a heart attack." Zypher replied as he stood in front of one of the wall monitors sifting through the data he had before him. "The sensor sweep came across a ventilation fan that's been cut off, and it leads to just one room."

"What room?" Came another voice, one filled with anger, rage, pain, and fear. It was barely recognizable but it was Chaud's. Emery was characteristically silent, but his psychological pain could be felt.

"Subsection B, southeast wing, room 219."

At that Terra's heart stopped, she looked at the directory to her left and the door number behind her, she was there….

"Chau-" Terra began to choke out when she suddenly felt an icy cold blast of air brush against the side of her face, turning abruptly around she came face-to-face with Chaud as a network panel closed behind him. Terra quickly moved away from the door as she noticed the desperation and hopeful want in her friend's eyes, Chaud spared no time as he opened the door and went inside.

At that moment Terra lost all strength in her body, it took absolutely everything she had for her back to find the wall, as she slowly collapsed. When she opened her eyes she was faced with a pair of white tipped crimson red boot, and her ears were met with what seemed to be the deafening hum of the ventilation fan restarting once again. Looking up she saw Emery Blaze, Proto's helmet was in his hand, it seemed that his long flowing hair didn't exist without it being where it belonged. Instead his upturned locks were what visible (think Edward Cullen from Twilight,but it being snow white with jet black streaks) and those ever expressive azure eyes. Terra was only left to wonder: Why hadn't he gone in?

Chaud had never felt this way before, he was panicked, his heart was beating so hard and so fast he was sure it would implode in his chest and drop him right there. When he entered the room all was still, until a gentle breeze started to blow—the ventilation fan had come back on line. Lights flickered and popped with the hum of their florescence, and in the center of it all was a woman, slumped over as far as the bindings on her wrists would allow; her reddish-auburn hair glistened with the flicker of the lights until that stopped as well, and then it shone.

"Mom…" Chaud whispered as he kneeled, lifting the hair from his mother's face. "Mom." He said, this time with a little more intensity; everything was the same—her soft yet firm features graced her face—they had remained that way until…but that couldn't happen again, not when he had a chance to stop it. "Mom?" Chaud asked again, this time in more of a pleading tone. It was then that she began to stir.

"Emery?" Catherine asked as she began to come out of her haze.

"No Mom it's me…Chaud." Chaud replied as his mom fully began to come out of it.

Catherine smiled when she realized who it was, he had changed so much, but those intense sapphire eyes were still there. "My baby…" she whispered as tears began to well, her attempt to touch him failing when she realized her was still bound.

Chaud smiled, slightly embarrasses. "Here, let me help you." He said as he loosed the twine that had been used.

Catherine paused before she uttered her next words. "You didn't you ask me who Emery is."

"You mean Protoman EXE aka Emery Tristan Blaze?" Chaud asked as he untied the twin that held his mother's writs together.

Catherine's eyes lit up. "You mean he told you?" she asked.

"Sure he told me." Chaud stated purposely leaving out the fact that the truth had been forced out of him. "Why would you have thought differently?"

"Well Emery even though loves you, there's a part of him that was always jealous, because of his condition your father didn't want him, but he wanted you."

Chaud gave a slight smile. "For a name and nothing more."

"So there haven't been any problems?"

"Kinda hard to have problems when you don't really talk about it. Everyone else seems to have a field day over it though."

Concern came to Catherine's face. "But you should, you may not think so now, but over the years rifts can form. I would hate to think that after all the trouble I went through to keep Emery; and all I did to make sure you would have each other after he died, that you would end up resenting each other.

Chaud paused for a minute, he had missed his mothers wisdom. "It's just hard you know?" he said after a while. "I've been on my own for so long, it's hard to open up to anyone. Even Emery, he may be my brother but I didn't grow up with him. I don't even know where I would start."

Catherine smiled as she lovingly took her son's face into he delicate hands. "Just tell him you love him."

Terra still sat silently outside in the hall, it was quiet, and that was good sign. If Aunt Catherine hadn't been ok she was sure she would have heard something. The weird thing was that Emery had yet to go in, but in the time that he had stood there he had changed.

First he had removed his helmet, then after a while the bodysuit, boots, and gloves had been exchanged for a simple red tee, jeans, and sneakers. The most interesting thing that was that the shades were missing, and through all of this the girl had remained silent. She even stole a peek now and then when the boy's eyes were in another universe. His azure eyes gleamed and sparkled like crystal. It was such a shame that his human body had failed him. Terra thought of what could have become of him if he hadn't died. Catherine would have no doubt brought Chaud and him together. Now there would have been a sight. A force to be reckoned with.

"What are you smiling about so much for?" Proto asked, breaking the girls train of thought and pulling her back to reality. He had been observing her for quite some time.

Terra blinked rapidly at the sudden casual confrontation. She wondered just how long Proto had been watching her. There was no telling what her expression had been. She raised an eyebrow at the older and taller teen. "You really want to know?" she asked.

"Is it that bad?"

A wry smile crept across Terra's English toffee face. "No," she replied slowly. "It's just when girls start talking about boys, boys tend to get a little uncomfortable, that's all."

Emery's eyebrows climbed higher than Terra thought that they could go.

"Human looks good on you that's all." Terra admitted after a while. "It's no wonder Skyler has a crush on you."

Proto's eyes shifted quickly away from her, could that have been a slight flush she had seen? A few moments later they both heard someone else come down the hall. Terra's eyes glowed with a slight mischievous air.

"Speak of the devil."

Whisper walked quietly down the hall, as she got closer you could tell she was concerned. But as she got nearer and saw that the two of them didn't seam distressed she relaxed.

"Is everyone ok?" she asked once she got there.

"Don't worry everything's fine." Proto replied with a slight smile, then he did something neither girl would have expected. As he spoke the words he had placed his hand gently on Skyler's shoulder, and looked into her eyes.

Whisper felt herself stiffen before she finally began to relax, her eyes searching Emery's for some type of explanation. As far as she knew the boy hadn't ever expressed that type of physical contract for a long time. The girl racked her brain looking for and thinking of something she could do to break the awkward silence that was beginning to form.

"Umm, if everything's OK, why haven't you gone in yet?" she asked when she finally found her voice.

"Chaud got here first, thought he'd need some time alone."

Whisper and her sister exchanged glances, this was very strange. After that no one seamed to know what to say and the silence began to grow once more until it was broken.

"Emery?" a voice called out in question, turning around the three teens saw an averaged hight, slider build, cheery auburn haired woman—Cathrine Blaze.

The look on Proto's face changed radically from one of calm complacency, to one of shock and disbelief.

"Mom?" he asked, the word coming out short. It was strange to hear that.

At hearing him speak the woman's smile enlarged, stretching from ear to ear. "My baby..." she whispered as she began to run forward Proto meeting her half way wrapping him in a warm embrace, tears flowing from the both of them. "I'm so sorry I left you."

Whisper and Terra could only smile, it was touching—amazing how out of the midst of such tragedy something so unbelievable could happen. Looking over at Chaud it was just as amazing, she hadn't ever seen him so happy, he had his family back, his life. The girls looked over the scene for a few more seconds before they turned to leave. Looking over at her sister she couldn't help snicker at her wide grin.

"What are you smiling to big for?"

"Huh?" Whisper asked back, it being obvious that her mind had clearly been somewhere else.

"You, what are you smiling so much for, your grin is from the sun to the moon."

Whisper looked off back into space with a hopeful and expecting expression. "He's happy, Emery's actual happy, I mean come on didn't you see his face?"

"Yeah, yeah I did."

"Things are really going to be different now aren't they? Chaud and Emery have their mom back."

"Yeah, they probably will, but for the better."

"So you're sure she's ok?" Zypher asked once the girls got back. Everyone had congregated back in the lab, and had been waiting for the news.

"She's fine Zypher, we saw her with our own eyes." Terra replied trying to calm the navi down, looking at everyone else who was there as she tried as hard as she could to hold back the fit of laughter that was fighting madly to get out. It was amazing to look at the navi who just a few months ago had been her enemy, and to see just how much he had changed.

For a few seconds her gaze shifted over to Regal, she looked deep into his dark eyes, for a millisecond she thought that the change could be another plan of his. Have his three lackeys become a part of them only to betray them in the end, but she quickly pushed the thought away. Internal espionage was never Regal's style.

"Ok, so you're absolutely sure-"

"Yes Zypher they're absolutely positive that Catherine Blaze is alright."

This time it was Lan who tried to alay the neoloids fears. It was totally strange, Hub had never been this excitable, but maybe it was just the circumstances. If Catherine had died no doubt Zypher and the other neoloids would feel as if they had caused it. Looking over at his brother he could tell he was thinking the exact same thing, but that just proved how much the darkened clone had evolved since his creation.

"So you are sure young lady?" Came the question once more, this time it came from the Net Police's lieutenant.

Terra was just about to reply once again when her sister came to her rescue.

"She is absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, positive."

"Well," The lieutenant replied as he looked over at Regal, "I don't understand how you could kidnap a dead multi-million dollar mother from the past, but it seams as if you've just skated out from under a murder charge." He then called over two of his men. "Please escort Dr. Regal here to the car, his reign of terror is over."

Naturally no one held in their smiles as he was finally led away.

"Pinch me I have to be dreaming." Tasha stated as she arrived outside SciLab. The evidence of a battle was strewn everywhere but in the midst of it she viewed Alexander Regal being placed in a police car, the officers showing no regard to make sure he didn't hit his head on the way in. Looking around she saw Chaud, Mega, Lan, Proto, Whisper, and Terra standing where the doorway once was, after she spotted them she and Breeze ran over catching the group by surprise.

"Please don't tell me that I'm dreaming." Tasha stated as she approached the group.

"Oh my goodness!" Terra exclaimed as she noticed her friend giving her a big hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still in Tokyo!"

"We saw Regal's broadcast, thought you could use the help, seams as if we're a little late though." Breeze commented as she looked back at Regal.

"Yeah unfortunately all the fun is over." Lan stated sarcastically.

Tasha shook her head. "I still can't believe Regal's been arrested."

Terra glanced back at the madman once more before she spoke. "Well you know what they say, 'pride is before a crash and a haughty spirit before stumbling.'"

"He got overconfident?" Tasha asked as she looked at Terra.

"You could say that." Chaud added. "He decided to camp out in the mountains to see our demise."

"And Chaud here had the state of mind to call the cops, Regal ended up being right where he thought he'd be." Whisper mentioned as she and everyone else watched the cruiser drive off and then headed back inside.

"Wow, who would have thought that after all this time he's do something so stupid."

"Well in all actuality he didn't," Mega stated, "he just miscalculated."

"And his unstoppable force met an unmovable object." Lan chimed in.

Tasha and Breeze stopped in their tracks.

"What unmovable object?" they asked together.

"You'll see for yourself in a couple of seconds." Terra said with a smile as she looked over her shoulder.

"I don't see Regal being stopped by something physical." Tasha said as she followed her new friend into another room, that was until her eyes fell upon the neoloids—darkloids to her. "Ugh, guys?" Tasha asked as she began to back up, Breeze arming herself.

"Whoa, Tasha, Breeze it's okay," Mega said as he alleviated the girls tension. "Believe it or not they're on our side now, in fact we couldn't have gotten this done without them."

"Really?" Tasha asked as she looked to Protoman for an answer—she wasn't completely convinced and she knew he would be the last person to actually except such a change.

"Call it whatever you want but it's the truth, at least so far." Proto replied looking over at his silver haired counterpart, who at the moment was helmetless sitting in a chair with his feet propped up on someone's desk. It was going to take some time getting use to having a look-a-like.

Tasha could only utter out a short dry laugh and shake her hand, this was really all too much.

"And if you think that's a lot to be on your mental palate at once there's more." Terra added speaking up again. "We were able to save Chaud's mom."

"Isn't she—"

"Yeah, she was," Chaud stated, interrupting her before she had a chance to finish her statement. "But thanks to Regal, and some incomprehensible time travel, that's no longer going to be a factor."

Tasha felt as if her head was going to explode.

"Told you it was a lot to take in." Terra said with a wink.

"So how am I doing doctor?" Catherine asked as Dr. Hikari looked over her scans, his face racked with disbelief.

"This is amazing." Dr. Hikari replied as he continued to look at the screen, "This is simply amazing, the temporal shift doesn't seem to have affected you at all. There's no cellular dephasing, no compression—"

"You've examined someone whose been ripped from time before?" Catherine asked with a smile.

Dr. Hikari looked at her surprised. "Well no of course not," he replied. "But there have been theories, countless hypothesis, but none of them seam to apply to you."

"And I'm glad, because the other doesn't sound so hot." Catherine stated with a soft smile that slowly began to fade until it wasn't there at all. "Are you sure that the cure will work for me? For the cancer? I don't want to get my hopes up."

Dr. Hikari smiled. "I'm positive, it's a simple one and done injection. Within a few weeks you'll be cancer free; you're going to get your life back don't worry."

Catherine breathed a sigh of releif. She couldn't beleive it; her life, her family, everything that she had worked so hard to protect, she was actually going to be able to take part.

Three Weeks Later...

"Come on Regal get a move on, we're not taking a stool in the park." A correction officer stated as he guided Dr. Regal down the halls of his new home. "Old cell block Alpha 6 Suite 919, home sweet home." The CO continued as the finally reached the new prisoner's cell. "Now strip." The officer said as he threw the dark scientist a neon jumpsuit. His new attire. The officer gave him one last look and statement before he walked away. "We've all been waiting for this for a long time. Welcome two forever."

Regal only stared at the man as he left, silent as the bars closed behind him, locking him inside his cage. He looked at the clock across the hall, 4:15, just three hours since he had been convicted and sentenced to a term that would guarantee he'd never again taste freedom. He thought back to that moment...

Flashback...

All in the courtroom were silent as the jury filed in, one by one until all twelve were seated. The forewoman holding his fate in her delicate hands. The room was packed and so was the house, filled with the net police, and the media who had recorded the whole trial live through all the proceedings, on all the channels. The whole world was watching, something event that hadn't taken place since Michel Jackson's funereal. The dark man turned slightly in his chair to look at the group of people sitting in the first row behind the prosecution, they met his gaze giving him nothing, no emotion, no reaction.

He stared at these people, these children who had brought him to his knees attempting to put some fear into them, to prove that he still had power, was a danger to them, and that even here they weren't beyond his reach. But there was none to be found. These juvenile net heroes were were rocks, firm and unmovable, he had lost his hold on them forever. Or at least in this form.

The stare down was brought to a halt when the judge spoke.

"Madam foreperson, has the jury reached a verdict?" she asked.

The woman rose.

"Yes we have your honor."

"On the counts of the indictment: five counts of kidnapping in the first degree, five counts of attempted murder, and conspiracy to commit murder, once count of assault in the first degree, once count of arson in the first degree, and 265 violations of the cyberworld code, how say you?"
The forewoman never missed a beat.

"We the jury find, Alexander Cain Regal...guilty on all counts."

At that moment the courtroom exploded with cheers and clapping, celebrating the end of his reign, but that wasn't all as the judge quickly moved to bring the court of order.

"Order!" she called out in a gentle yet firm tone. "Order in the court!" Once everyone had fallen silent she continued. "In the light if the swift judgment, and the severity of these crimes, I see no point to reconvene until a later date as to pose sentencing, and am prepared to hand down such action. Dr. Regal, you have been accused and convinced of horrific atrocities, you show no sign of remorse, no penance, and this will not be the last time you will stand trail. Therefore, this court imposes a sentence of no shorter than 99 years and no longer than 100. Bailiff take him away."

End flashback...

Regal gazed at his surroundings, this cell, his cage, an evermore cinder block fortress, it wouldn't hold him. He slowly began to take hold of the sheets that covered his bed. Nothing ever would...

Twenty minuets later a young CO came through the cell block making his hourly rounds. The sight he caught when he came upon Regal sent him rushing to finds his superior...

"Make way, coming through!" Terra exclaimed as she made her way through the crowded room juggling a hot bowl of popcorn in one hand and chips in the other. It had only been a few hours since the verdict had been handed down and the celebration party that Chaud decided to host was in full swing.

Everyone was there, the chief, Manuela, all the workers from SciLab, the whole squadron of net police, plus all their families. Well scratch that, almost everyone was there, there were four people who hadn't arrived yet.

The girl looked around smiling, everything was coming together, Regal had been put away, she and her father were going to start over, Chaud and Proto had their mother back, Roll know the truth about Mega, their sworn enemies were now allies; and in the fall they were all going to start high school, creating a new chapter in their life. Everything was perfect.

"Hey do you mind moving? My hands are kinds full here." Terra stated as she looked at the two identical boys who were in her way.

Lan let out an exasperated sigh as he paused his video game looking up at the girl before scooting over. "You really know how to harsh someone's mellow when they're in the zone don't you?" he asked.

Terra shrugged, "Well I could not bother you and let you starve. After all you're the one who's responsible fore me having to refill the snacks every half hour."

"And you're surprised?" Mega and Chaud asked together.

Lan glared at his brother."Thanks for the support." He replied as he shifted back over unfreezing the game, beginning to play again, Mega only shook his head, there really wasn't anything supportive he could say.

"So you mom's actually let you out of her sight for a couple of minutes, I'm impressed." Terra commented as she placed the full bowels down on the bar, picking up the empty ones.

"Yeah, well I have a perfectly good excuse." Chaud replied with a smile, as he held up a tub of lime sherbet in one hand and a bottle of Sprite in the other. "We ran out of punch too."

Terra smiled as she looked at her friend as he refilled the punch mixing the two substances together, then looking at his appearance, icing and batter covering the apron he had on.

"I forgot how much your mom liked to bake." the girl commented as she looked back into the kitchen seeing his mom adding the last touches to her cake, Emery at her side.

"Yeah me too, obviously." Chaud replied referring to his appearance. "I don't think I've ever pictured myself in an apron."

"I have to say that I haven't either, but I'm happy for you. You have your whole life ahead of you and you've got a great family to share it with."

"That I do." Chaud agreed as he looked at the scene before him, his mother where she belonged, and even Emery had a smile on his face.

"But there's is one thing I don't understand," Terra continued as she diverted Chaud's attention. "Your mother managed to keep all the hype or her re-appearance after being dead for eight years from the media, but she hasn't called your dad. What is she going to do when he comes through the front door?"

"Say hi?" Chaud offered with a smile. "In all honestly I don't know, but she doesn't have to worry about it for a while, after Regal's judgment came he extended his business trip for another three months. To tell you the truth I don't think she considers him family anymore. Not after all he's done."

"She believes he's beyond redemption?"

"That's the feeling I get."

"What do you think?"

Chaud shrugged, "I really don't know, at first I would have to agree, but after recent events I'm not so sure. Speaking of recent events where are our siblings darker halves anyway? I thought they said they were coming."

"You've got me," Terra replied as she pulled her PET out of her pocket to check the time. "You'd think after from going from villains to heroes to military brats they could be on time."

In the time between that day and Regal's arrest it had been decided that Garnet, Zypher, and Onyx would be sent to Sharro and placed under the watchful eye of Rika and his uncle. At least for a while to make sure all of their dark tendencies were placed under control. It seamed that that would be the only way Keifer would accept them. And even then his arms might not be fully open.

A few seconds later Terra's PET's phone application came online and her Linken Park "What I've Done" ringtone began to play.

"Finally," Terra said as she checked the number. "It's Onyx. Hey, you almost here or what?' she asked, inquiring the girl on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, almost," the girl replied in a tone that was hard to pinpoint, "but you need to turn on the news, are you near a television?"

"Sure, but why? What's going on?" Terra asked, the neoloid way making her slightly concerned.

"You just need to, believe me."

"Ok then. What channel?"

"Any."

"Terra what's wrong?" Chaud asked as he looked over at his friend sensing that something had changed.

"Onyx wants us to turn on the news."

"Why?"

"She won't say, but whatever it is it's on every channel." the girl replied as she walked back over to Mega and Lan picked up of remote. "Pause the game again, I need to find a channel."

"Why? What's up?" Mega asked hearing the same edge in her voice that Chaud had.

"Don't know."

"Who's on the line?" Lan asked.

"Onyx." Terra said once again as she switched the TV to television mode and surfed through the channels until she came upon their local news station, Ribbta's face filling the screen.

"Good afternoon Dentech City we interrupt your current programming to deliver this public announcer. As many of you know Alexander Regal was sentenced to life without the possibility for parole for his crimes agents humanity earlier this afternoon, but we've just received word of a chilling conclusion to his reign of terror. Just 23 minutes ago Alexander Regal was found dead in his cell, the cause of death is apparent suicide. He was 43 years old. We thank you for your patience, and we will now return you to your current programming."

Three days later...

"Can you please explain to me why we're doing this again? Lan asked as he cleared the fog out of the limousine window, the day was wet, damp, and cold and the warmth from inside the vehicle was causing condensation to form.

"To make sure he's really dead, why else?" Chaud replied. "We're certainly not grieving."

"What? The information the ME gave you wasn't enough?" Lan asked. "They checked everything, dental records, DNA, medical records, they even compared x-rays of broken bones he got as a child. It was Regal who hung himself in that cell."

"It's a simple matter of conformation and closure, Lan." Tasha stated as she crossed her legs. "Not everyone can turn it on and off like you."

"Exactly what are you doing here anyway?" Lan asked as he looked at his old friend. "It's not like you and Regal ever formed a relationship like he did with us."

Tasha gave a him a small sarcastic smile. "It's called being a good friend, you know, moral support?"

Lan scoffed. "Yeah, because we're in such morning over evil incarnate having offed himself."

Tasha cut her eyes back. "Do you live and breath to annoy me?"

A satisfied grim crept it's way across Lan's face.

"Maybe."

Chaud shook his head in slight annoyance. "Well in any case we need to put that argument aside, we're here. It's time for our game faces now."

Exiting the car everyone lifted up an umbrella to shield themselves from the steady drizzle that was falling. Aside from the small talk they had made in the car everyone had pretty much remained silent.

"You sure you want to do this?" Whisper asked as she walked by her sisters side, "It's not too late to turn back, and if you don't you'll carry his face to your grave."

Terra gave a dry chuckle. "And I thought I was suppose to be the dramatic one. No offense but I have enough of a vivid imagination to see his death mask in my mind's eye, the real thing isn't going to cause the image to haunt me, it'll free me. Seeing Regal dead will allow all of us to let go. We won't have to always wonder that he might be out there somewhere. The book will be closed. We'll be able to move on with the next chapter in out lives. Happily one without Regal in it."

Skyler thought about it for moment."I guess you're right."

As the group continued to make their way through the graveyard, they began to catch sight of Regal's final resting place. As prison policy every inmate was owed a priest's presence, no matter how much of a menace they may have been in their life, and Regal was no exception to the rule. However by the looks if it the collared man seamed to want to be anywhere but where he was. The graveyard workers eagerly stood beside him waiting for the moment of silence to be over so they could do their jobs and get on with their day. So when they group of men observed the children approaching they were understandably surprised.

The priest was the first to speak when the group of eight walked up, silent as the land around them, standing with attention and respect.

"I wasn't aware that anyone was coming." The man stated in a gentle tone. "Considering what this man did with his life, ans what he attempted to do at the end. I didn't think there was anyone who mourned him."

Terra was the first to look up, locking eyes with the priest taking a deep breath as she stepped into her role.

"It's a shame what he decided to dedicate his life too, he wasn't always that way. He use to be a great man, one you could look up to- aspire to be. An amazing scientific philanthropist, a teacher. At one time we were all his students, we're here to honor the man he use to be, not the one he became."

The priest nodded with understanding. "Would you like some more time?" he asked.

"No," Terra replied, "We've been mourning long enough, but if you could, we'd like to see his face one more time. If that isn't too much trouble." the girl added as she glanced over at the undertakers.

After a few moments of silent deliberation they gave a nod and lifted back the top of Regal's simple pine casket and he was just like anyone would have remembered him. He had an expression of pride on his face even in death. The gang took in a collective sharp breath and released it all the same. Giving another nod the undertakers closed the casket once more assuring that Regal would never see daylight again.

Terra once more looked into the priest's eyes uttering a simple "thank you" along with an appreciative smile, giving the casket one last glance before she and everyone else walked away. A few moments later dirt could be heard as it fell against the casket exterior. It was music to their ears.

"So this is it." Proto stated as he spoke for the first time since the gang had left for the grave site. "It's finally over."

Hearing this Tasha stopped in her tracks. "You don't really think this is over do you?" she asked.

At that everyone else came to a standstill as well, the rain still falling steadily around them.

"Tasha what are you talking about?" Lan asked, "We just saw the man inside a pine box, he's being buried as we speak, he's dead."

"His body's dead." Tasha replied. "But there's no true way to know if his mind died with it. –Oh, come on!" the girl continued as she looked at her friends. "You're telling me the thought hasn't crossed your mind? Regal was brilliant. He was even brighter than Dr. Hikari. And if he could find a way to save his own son's life, what's to say that Regal couldn't accomplish the same? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but, he might not be through with us yet."

Everyone stood there for a while as their fears began to creep back to the surface. As much as they wanted to deny it Tasha was right. No one could really ever be sure that Regal was entirely gone. In fact only one thing could ever tell them for certain. Time.

Somewhere...somewhere in a place where darkness is the only thing you can see, a small light shines suddenly forth. Coming closer you see a lone unattended black PET, data scrolling furiously across its screen—laughter emanating from it's core—familiar laughter.

"MUAH HA HA HAHAHAHAHA HA HA...HA HA HA HA HA HAHAHAHAHA HA HA HA HA HA...

TBC - Degree 180