Kwai kwai nidobak! Well, this is it. The last chapter of Lightning: 1944. You readers have no idea how happy I am to finally finish this story. It was fun writing, but now I can focus on other projects I've been wanting to work on. And once again, thank you all for all your support. I probably would have had a lot of trouble finishing this story without your kind words. Thank you. I hope you all enjoy the final chapter of this story. Remember to leave a review or send me a PM!

Historical Fact: The Battle for Castle Itter was one of the last military conflicts that occurred in the European Theatre during World War II. The battle took place in a medieval castle called Schloss Itter on May 5th, 1945. The castle was used as a POW camp for VIP prisoners, who were mostly French. Their German guards were mostly friendly with the prisoners because the guards were soldiers who were too old to fight. At the end of the war, the German soldiers pulled out due to the Allies' victories over the Axis. One of the VIP's snuck out of the castle to look for rescuers, which is when he encountered a German major named Josef Gangi. Gangi knew that Germany had lost the war, so he wanted to get on good terms with the Allies. He agreed to help the prisoners by finding American soldiers to help them. When he and his troops found the 142nd Infantry Regiment, led by Captain John Lee, they traveled together to the castle. Unfortunately, an army of SS soldiers attacked the castle when they arrived, which forced Lee and Gandgi's soldiers to work together to fend off the invading army. This was the first and only battle in World War 2 where American, French, and German men fought alongside one another against a common enemy.

Chapter 20: The Past's Thanatos

The yellow sun was burning brightly over the partly cloudy skies of the Dragonfly Swamp. Today, a large crowd of dragons, cheetahs, and moles were gathering in front of the dragon temple. Everyone was speaking to one another about the war and various other topics as the sun beat down over them. It was a rather hot day and they all just wanted to be indoors.

There was a large wooden stage that separated the crowd from the temple. The temple seemed to have been built very recently. Many of the students who attended at the temple were standing to the left of the stage from the viewer's perspective. No one was told what this get together was about, but they were informed that it was important. Some of the individuals had ideas about what this meeting was about, but no one could say for sure.

The crowd and students went silent when the three Guardians stepped onto the stage. They all watched the powerful dragons walk across the stage and the three of them faced the crowd. Bolt and Breeze stood proudly with their heads held high, but Antända seemed to be focused on other things. Her eyes appeared to be lost as she thought things over. Once everyone was completely silent, she started speaking.

"Thank you for coming here on this hot day. I know you'd all prefer to be in the shade right now, but the news I have to tell you is of great importance." the Fire Guardian started with a pause at the end. "Sometimes, war saves lives, but it also takes lives away. Five weeks ago, the Battle of Munitions Forge took place, where our fellow Guardian, Skalvet, was killed in battle." she announced, much to everyone's surprise.

Information was hard to spread around during times of war, so many of the individuals within the crowd had no idea that the Earth Guardian was dead. Many of the reporters for Warfang wanted to ask questions, but they were silenced when Bolt spread his mighty wings.

"Hold your questions!" the Electric Guardian spoke loudly.

"Thank you, Bolt. Now, Skalvet's death and the loss of Munitions Forge was a tragedy, but our scouts have recently informed us that Red, the infamous traitor, was assassinated by a group of dark dragons. I know what you all think of dark dragons… that they are not true dragons, but these dark dragons were considered candidates to be the next Guardians." Antända explained, which earned a few gasps from the crowd.

"But, dark dragons are evil!" an ice dragon from the crowd called out, mostly from shock.

"That's not necessarily true, citizen." Breeze interrupted with a glare. "These dark dragons killed one of the greatest threats to our livelihood since the Dark Master was alive." she added sternly, which made the crowd go silent once more.

"It's true… the dark dragons we sent assassinated Red, but they died in the process. Two of their bodies have been recovered while the others are missing in action. Since they haven't reported back to us, we can only assume that they were also killed. Because of their heroic deeds, we are allowing dark dragons to become Guardians." the Fire Guardian spoke and she slowly started to smile.

"Which brings us to the second reason why you have been gathered here. For the past three weeks, my fellow Guardians and I have handpicked the candidates for the Guardians of the next generation." Bolt announced.

This was an even greater surprise to everyone. It seemed like such large changes were happening so fast, it was almost hard to keep up with. But despite the crowd's possibly bigotry or questions, they all stayed silent. After all, the Guardians' always had everyone's wellbeing in mind.

"The candidates we have chosen are as follows: Ignitus of fire, Cyril of ice, Volteer of electricity, Terrador of earth, Venenum of poison, Vex of fear, Ventus of wind, and Tenebris of shadow!" Antända announced for all to hear.

The students in the crowd were amazed by the names that were spoken. The eight dragons were just named looked at their fellow peers before they looked at the Guardians. The three older dragons smiled and motioned them closer. Hesitantly, the eight young dragons stepped onto the stage for all to see. The dark dragons seemed to be bit more nervous than their lighter counterparts, but the spectators didn't object to their presence.

"These dragons will take specialized classes here at the temple and they will train to be the next Guardians. Once my fellow Guardians and I pass, these young dragons will lead the temple and the armies against the apes." the Fire Guardian informed everyone.

"Even with Red's death… the apes won't stop this war. They are still being influenced by the Dark Master. It will take more than all of our races' combined support to stop them. We need to treat ALL of us as equals. Cheetahs, moles, wolves, dragons, and dark dragons. This war is far from over, but with all of us helping each other, we will succeed." Breeze spoke loudly for all to here.

Some of the spectators nodded their heads while others stayed silent. Such drastic changes within the Guardians' political power was still a shock to everyone and it would take years for the thought of dark Guardians to be accepted, but this concept would have to be put in place sometime soon. A divided army would do little against the apes.

As Bolt and Breeze commenced to congratulate the Guardian apprentices, Antända started to think about other things. Despite the joy that was practically emitting from the eight young dragons in front of her, she couldn't help but feel sorrow for those brave souls who died for the Dragon Realms' continued survival. It was never discovered what exactly happened at Concurrent Skies, but the different landscape and the new towers were evident that something immense happened. Various cheetah scouts were able to discover the various bodies at the top of one of the towers, which included Red, Toxicon, and Paskigan, but there was little trace of what exactly occurred there. It was obvious that a fight broke out, but it would never be certain how the entire country turned into crystals.

The dragons wanted to annex the country and use the crystals to better their elemental abilities, but immediately after the scouts returned to the temple, it was reported that various ape soldiers were moving towards the crystalline country. This was unfortunate because that meant that Toxicon and Paskigan's bodies wouldn't be able to be recovered. It was likely that the apes were going to attempt to repopulate the country, but only time would tell if that would last.

During the middle of a speech that Bolt was giving, Antända slowly turned away from her fellow Guardians and walked off the stage, which confused the crowd. No one tried to stop her however as she walked away from everyone and into the swamp. She silently walked deep into the swamp until she came upon a small cave that was barely large enough for her. Despite the tight spaces, she made her way into the cave and made her way into the dark cavern.

After a short while of walking, the fire dragoness found herself in front of a natural wall that was made of stone. Unlike the rest of her surroundings, this area had various paint buckets scattered around. There was also the beginning of a painting on the wall in front of her. Only the ground and skyline was painted so far, but Antända was going to change that. Without a word, she opened one of the paint buckets and dipped her spiked tailblade into the green colored paint before she began to drag it against the wall.

The Guardian of Fire was painting the shape of a green dragon on the wall and when she had the basic shape down, she used some gray paint to make another dragon next to it. This was a secret project she decided to work on in her spare time. Since there were no bodies to bury, Antända wished to paint a memorial for Paskigan and Brände. Even if no one would find this painting, it felt right to make. As she painted the two dragons flying through the sky, she found herself smiling. Perhaps one day, those two great dragons wouldn't be simply unsung heroes.

Sonoran Desert, Mexico: July 16th, 1944

The sun was shining brightly over the dry land of Mexico. The sky was partly cloudy and there was a slight breeze every once in a while, but that didn't provide much coolness against the summer air. The land itself consisted of dry dirty, sand, various cacti, and the occasional tumbleweed.

An empty paved road ran through this desert and a Texaco gas station could be seen. Its red sign shifted lightly with the occasional gust of wind and there didn't seem to be any customers. Just then, a 1941 ford pickup appeared over the horizon as it drove down the road. The truck was painted light blue, but the wheels and bumpers were covered in dirt and grime. The automobile's windows were rolled down and as the truck approached the gas station, Pete Seeger's music could be heard from the vehicle's radio.

The pickup truck began to slow down as it approached the gas station and it pulled into the small parking lot. As the truck came to a stop, a middle-aged man wearing overalls stepped out of the building. He gave a welcoming smile while the truck's doors opened and two people stepped out.

"Buenos dias. (Good morning.)" the man greeted cheerfully and he tilted his straw hat in respect.

"Ja. Um… hola. (Hello.)" the man from the truck greeted a little awkwardly, but he smiled none the less.

The man from the truck was in fact, Fritz Brände in his human form, but he's gone through some changes since he was last human. His black hair wasn't combed back like usual. Instead, his hair was left mostly unattended to. He was still wearing his usual military boots and pants, but he was wearing a white t-shirt over his torso. There was also a black strap going across his lower chest with his holstered pistol attached to his side.

Fritz wasn't alone. The other person who stepped out of the truck was a pale skinned woman with black hair and piercing red eyes. She was barefoot and the men's jeans she was wearing was slightly too big for her. She was also wearing Brände's gray greatcoat, but the swastika armband was noticeably absent.

"Um… do you know English?" Brände asked the man who had greeted them.

"Si. I sort of have to know both languages since my business is so close to the American border." the man answered with a nod. "Would you like me to fill her up?" he asked kindly and he briefly pointed at the truck the couple arrived in.

"Ja. Zhank you." the German man replied.

With that, the man from the building approached the truck and he commenced to remove the oil cap from the truck's side. He then took a fuel pump and inserted the nozzle into the automobile's gas filler. While the vehicle was being refueled, Brände looked over at the woman standing next to him and smiled.

"I hope zhe heat isn't bothering you, Fasa." he commented, gaining the woman's attention.

"Oh, don't worry about it. Heat doesn't bother me." the former fear dragoness answered cheerfully.

"Vell, I'm sweating just by looking at you." Brände said and he shook his head.

At that moment, Fritz started to get lost in thought. He remembered that after he killed Red in the Dragon Realms, that crystal brought him and Fasa to southern California. Of course, he passed out as soon as he saw that purple flash, but when he came to, he was lying on his back in a ditch. It was the middle of the night at the time, but he knew that he was in the human world. The fact that he was human again reinforced his hypothesis.

Brände wasn't the only one in that ditch either. Fasa was there with him, but she wasn't a dragon anymore. At that time, she was completely naked, much to his surprise since he still had his clothes and weapons from Ukraine. When she eventually awakened, it was difficult for him to explain to her that she was now a human, let alone teaching her how to walk on two legs. Not wanting her to wander around naked, he took off his coat's armband and gave it to her. She was confused by the offering at first, but after his insistence to cover up, she put it on.

The two humans spent the whole night trying to figure out where they were, but there weren't any nearby signs with useful information. The only sign they found was a speed limit sign. Thankfully, a man driving a pickup truck was making his way down the road they had awakened near. Fritz held up his thumb to signal to the driver that they needed a ride, but as soon as the driver stopped, he pulled out his luger and pointed it at the driver.

"Get out, now!" he recalled yelling at the driver.

Much to Brände's relief, the driver, a young Caucasian man, stepped out of the truck with his arms up. Fritz then helped Fasa into the passenger seat before he got behind the wheel and drove off, leaving the kid to fend for himself. Fasa lectured him for robbing that kid, but Fritz told her how important it was for them to get moving. Considering the fact that the speed limit sign he saw was in miles and not kilometers, he guessed that they were in America, which made him uneased. And with their stolen truck, the couple made their way south towards Mexico.

On their way to the Mexican border, they stayed the night in a small town. They slept in that truck for the night, and Fritz found an extra pair of pants under Fasa's seat. Ever since they got the truck, they've been making their way south and they did a few odd jobs in Mexico to earn some money.

"All done, señor." the man's voice spoke out, breaking Brände out of his train of thought.

"Oh, zhank you. How much will zhat cost us?" Fritz asked curiously.

"That'll be two pesos, señor." the man replied.

Reaching into his pants pocket, Brände pulled out the required money and handed it into the smiling man, who nodded in thanks. After the transaction, the former sniper walked over the passenger side of the truck and opened it. Fasa smiled at this and climbed into her seat.

"My, you're quite the gentleman." the man who filled their truck commented as his smile widened under his thick mustache.

"I try to be." Fritz chuckled lightly before he closed the door.

The man watched his customer enter the driver's seat and the engine revved to life. Still smiling, he took off his hat and waved as the truck pulled away and continued down the road.

Within the cab of the truck, the couple listened to the radio during the long drive. Fasa's eyes were filled with wonder as she looked around the new area with interest. Brände chuckled at her child-like behavior and slightly pushed down on the gas pedal to go faster.

"Where are we going, Brände?" she asked suddenly as she turned to look at him, her hair flowing wildly with the wind.

"Brazil. It vill be safe zhere. No one vill come looking for us and ve can start a new life there." the German man answered as while he drove.

"What's Brazil like?" she asked curiously with her head tilted slightly.

"I only know about vhat some of mein officers told me about it. It's warm, full of lush jungles, and zhe United States has no influence zhere." he answered.

"What about your war? Don't you want to help your army?" Fasa questioned quizzically.

"I've been zhinking about zhat… but after everyzhing ve've been zhrough, I'm tired of fighting. I just want to live happily vith you." Fritz explained with a light sigh at the end.

"Oh, that's sweet of you. I'd like to live with you too." the former dragoness smiled happily before she lenaed forward and kissed his cheek.

This made Brände smile as well and he turned up the radio a little while he drove. They weren't sure what the future had in store for them, but they were both sick of war. They wanted to live a happy life. The two of them listened to the singing of the radio while they made their way south towards an unseen future.