*sheepishly posts new chapter before returning to the void*

Star-crossed lovers fight for their lives against a terrible foe, their forms silhouetted against the inferno of the gunship's destroyed reactor. Between Alfred's ferocious determination and Kiku's calculated discipline, Adrian is losing ground, but every step gained takes the fullness of their efforts. The bounty hunter's strength and resilience exceeds any mortal man Kiku had ever met, let alone faced in combat. He appeared human enough on the outside, but Kiku knew better. This man… is something more.

How can a mere human, fatigued and outnumbered, hold his own against the height of mechanized combat?!

Unable to handle Alfred and Kiku in hand to hand combat, Adrian knocks them away just long enough to create some distance between them.

"What's wrong, Starchild? Running out of steam?" Alfred taunts. Adrian unleashes an otherworldly, echoing laugh. Goosebumps cover Kiku's body as the bounty hunter's eyes begin to glow like white dwarf stars.

"Alfred?! What's happening?!" Kiku asks anxiously.

"What the…" Alfred whispers to himself. Adrian holds up his right hand in the shape of a gun and closes his left eye, donning a wicked smirk.

"Bang," he says. A pillar of white plasma erupts from his finger, searing the earth as it travels toward Alfred and Kiku. The two narrowly evade the beam of star fire.

"What the hell?!" Kiku shrieks, his voice cracking in horror. Before he can assess what is happening, he must dodge certain death again. The two run as white plasma obliterates everything around them. Finally, the two hide behind a rock large enough to take a hit.

"How do you like that, Jones?!" Adrian roars.

"Ok… I'll admit, that's a new one," Alfred replies, keeping up his unconcerned facade to comfort Kiku.

"Understatement of the millennium," Kiku huffs.

"Yeah, the Monolith really did a number on me," Adrian reminisces facetiously, pretending to blow smoke from his finger gun.

"The Monolith? You were there?!" Alfred doubts.

"Oh, yes. I was there the day the Monolith bathed us in its glory," Adrian reveals, skulking about looking for his prey.

"You're lying. The Monolith incinerated everyone caught in the blast," Alfred retorts.

"Is that what Archer told you?" Adrian asks dryly. Alfred is struck speechless, because it was his grandfather who told him what happened that day. "The only thing the Monolith burned away was our WEAKNESS!" Adrian growls, destroying the rock behind which Alfred and Kiku were hiding with a blast of white plasma. The two roll and tumble in the stone shrapnel. Alfred slowly stands up, holding his side. Kiku jumps up and runs to him, facing Adrian and assuming his elegant fighting stance. He looks up at Alfred only to find the American looking down in deep contemplation. As Adrian approaches them, Kiku braces for the worst. The bounty hunter holds up his finger gun. "Any last words?"

"But that would mean…" Alfred thinks allowed, looking at Starchild. Suddenly, Adrian visibly has an epiphany. He begins to chuckle evilly, the sheer menace in his voice accentuated by the harrowing echo.

"What's wrong, Alfred-san?" Kiku asks, seeing the pain well up within Alfred's eyes.

"Yes, Alfred. Your mother was there that day, wasn't she?" Adrian taunts.

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Alfred screams, tears escaping his eyes. The American rushes Adrian, but his recklessness costs him a gut punch. The strike unleashes a powerful plasma explosion, blowing chunks off his exosuit.

"ALFRED!" Kiku cries, running to his aid. He barely makes it five steps before Adrian nonchalantly blasts him with star fire, sending his smoking body rolling across the ground. Alfred stumbles to his feet, taking another swing at Adrian. Adrian effortlessly dodges the punch and proceeds to pummel him mercilessly, each blow damaging the exosuit further. Finally, Alfred falls to the ground with a thud. Adrian steps on his neck, applying just enough pressure to immobilize him.

On a distant ridge, Rhezoult is prone, watching the fight through a sniper scope.

"You know, Alfred, you would have made a good bounty hunter, but I guess that doesn't matter now. The Sandulhari were offering double for you alive, but I want the satisfaction of wiping that stupid pretty boy smile off your face," Adrian says coldly, pointing his finger gun at Alfred's head. "Say hi to your mother, you little sh-"

Suddenly, a laser pierces the bounty hunter's shoulder. He roars in pain and stumbles backward. Rhezoult traces the shot to a nearby hill, where Tony is standing with a smoking laser rifle.

"Why you little!" Adrian growls, but in his distraction, an axe kick assails him from above. Kiku follows up with a leg sweep and a double axe bomber. He straddles Adrian and begins to wail on him. Adrian reaches through the flurry of blows and grabs Kiku by the throat, tossing him aside. Before he can fully stand up, a haymaker finds its mark square on his face. The force of the blow blurs Adrian's vision. Alfred knees him in the gut and slams him to the ground with seismic force. He grabs Adrian by the leg, swinging him around over and over. He finally releases the bounty hunter, sending him sailing through the air. Kiku intercepts him with a sex kick to lower back. Adrian's limp body plummets to the earth. He staggers to his feet, blood dripping from his mouth. Alfred and Kiku rush him in unison, delivering a double uppercut to Starchild's chin. The monster is sent airborne, flying into a boulder and shattering it. Alfred and Kiku huff in exhaustion, leaning against one another. They look at each other, smiling weakly. Their attention is drawn to the boulder by the sound of falling rubble. Out of the smoke, Adrian stumbles like a drunk. He slowly raises his shaking hand toward the two, making a finger gun.

"Bang," he wheezes, his eyes rolling into the back of his head as he falls to his knees, then flat on his face. The two lovers let out a sigh of relief, followed by laughter. Suddenly, a battalion of US space marines rush over the hill Tony is standing on, several gunships flying overhead. They form a perimeter and apprehend Starchild. A star cruiser warps into low orbit above them, its blinding spotlight focusing on Alfred and Kiku. Seeing this, Rhezoult immediately activates his cloaking field and retreats. The two star-crossed lover face one-another, removing their helmets. Alfred takes Kiku in his arms.

"We make on hell of team," Alfred says, running his fingers through Kiku's raven hair.

"Hell yeah," Kiku agrees, the attempted badassery tempered by his adorableness. Alfred belly laughs.

"Hell yeah," Alfred says softly, kissing Kiku passionately beneath the spotlight.

On the flight back to Washington, Alfred is as silent as the grave. Kiku wants so badly to ask about his mother, but he knows better. He simply caresses him and tells him how much he loves him.

What is this "Monolith"? How is Alfred's mother involved? What could have happened to her? Is she alive? If so, why was she hidden from Alfred? I feel many grim truths will surface in the near future.