Volume 35 - History's Karma

== Chapter 409 - Broken ==
Everyone sat inside a bus stop while it was raining heavily outside. Everyone looked solemn, everyone sat down, and no one, spoke a word. Not for a while at least.
What they had just learned...it was a betrayal.
Andromeda had kept this from them, she had come near them, when she was...a murderer. The same murderer who was responsible for Phantom. The same murderer who had nearly killed Candice, who had nearly killed Kasper, and Jack now realized...he was the only reason she stopped. It was only because of him that she tried to improve. And now...she was dead, there'd be no improvement, or justice. Now...Phantom needed to be stopped.
"...I can't believe it..." Jack whispers, his face wet with tears. "...I...I still can't believe...she did all that..."
"It's true..." Kiyomasu replies. "...I wish it wasn't."
"You're all making a big deal out of this." Falqo retorts. "Darkstar put the chip in her, and she killed people who harassed her."
"Neither matters." Kiyomasu responds. "...She's entered the final test."
"TEST?!" Jack screams, glaring at Kiyomasu. "THIS ISN'T A FUCKING TEST! SHE'S PROBABLY DEAD, AND SHE WAS A MURDERER! DID YOU SET HER UP FOR THIS?!"
"No, of course not!" Kiyomasu shouts back. "Nearly everything I've done has been a reaction to Atlas--"
"I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT ATLAS!" Jack roars. "NO ONE HERE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT ATLAS! NOT RIGHT NOW!"
Everyone just looked on at Jack, shocked, as Candice inched closer to Kasper, trembling.
"Jack, that's enough." Shunsuke replies. "At the very least, she was clearly remorseful of what she's done, she must have been anticipating someone like Phantom for a long time. Whatever the case, we need to move on. Both Phantom and Sechsgrad need to be taken down."
"Don't forget Richie." Falqo mutters. "I still can't believe he'd side with terrorists on the same level as those guys from the 21st Century."
Jack glares at them, his eyes still wide, his body still trembling, but he began to calm down, and sat on a bench, starting to cry.
"...I just hope we aren't too late to stop them." Kasper remarks.
"Given our luck so far, I'm pretty sure we are." Falqo replies.
"Given our luck so far, I'd say we still have a chance." Kiyomasu responds. "But we have to act quick. You know where Phantom holds his meetings Jack, correct?"
Jack looks up, and nods shakily.
"Good." Kiyomasu says. "Then soon, we can put this whole nightmare behind us, and deal with the real threat lurking behind the curtain, Atlas Abraxas."
== Chapter 410 Rain of Tears ==
The warehouse had completely collapsed. Everything had been bunched up into a pile, and no one was present.
Then, some of the debris starts to fall, and out of it came Andromeda, covered in wounds and bruises, pieces of debris lodged in her body, as her blood pooled beneath her with each step she took.
Yet she kept walking, tearing debris out of herself with her own bare hands, as a horn was broken off.
She would find Phantom, and she would end this...no matter how that happened.
== Chapter 411 - Investigation ==
The Sciarhiel ship lands in Drogbay, its forcefield keeping the rain away, as Rosenstock, Grimwald, and Demetrius walk out of it, looking around the area.
"What are we looking for, again?" Demetrius asks.
"We are looking for Phantom." Rosenstock answers plainly. "And I suspect...that we are also looking for Robinson."
"I just hope I can get back to sleep after this." Grimwald remarks. "Being off-duty for so long...it was nice. I feel...a little better, now."
"K." Demetrius replies, as Rosenstock raises his hand for them to stop. In only a moment, they were surrounded by Richard's supersoldiers.
== Chapter 412 - Travel under the Downpour ==
"Can this thing go any faster?" Falqo groans, as the bus drove through the rain-soaked city.
"Not if you don't want us to crash." The bus driver retorts.
"Why is this damn thing not a hoverbus?" Falqo demands.
"Because I can't afford that right now." The bus driver answers, his eyelids drooping.
Then, they suddenly hear a large amount of gunfire coming from one direction!
"Huh?" Shunsuke remarks.
"Sounds like trouble, might be where they are." Kasper says. "Or...a trap..."
"Either way, it'll get us closer to him." Falqo says. "Stop the bus."
"Whatever..." The bus driver groans, stopping the bus so they could get off and run towards where the gunfire came from.
== Chapter 413 - The King enters the Fray ==
"Rosenstock..." Jack breathes, as they all saw Rosenstock, Grimwald and Demetrius standing there with the corpses of Richard's supersoldiers surrounding them.
"Why hello there, Holland." Rosenstock replies with a smile. "Could you help us find Phantom?"
"...Your...Your Majesty..." Jack says weakly. "...Andromeda's...a murderer. She can't be trusted anymore. If she's even...if she's even still alive after what Phantom did to her..."
"Then let's find her, too." Demetrius replies. "What's the issue, here?"
"...Demetrius..." Dione starts. "...Please take this seriously."
"If you are, Dione." Demetrius replies.
"Well, then..." Rosenstock says, looking towards Kiyomasu. "...take us to Phantom, and Andromeda."
== Chapter 414 - Approach ==
Andromeda walked through the rain, her wounds having healed by now, but everything still hurt. She had finally found it, a warehouse brightly lit inside, most definitely where Jack had been.
Jack...she pushed those thoughts away for now, and walked towards the warehouse, as, right then, dozens of Phantom's followers appeared from the shadows to attack her with knives and guns, and all regretted it very soon after, as she had no time to entertain their antics whatsoever.
Yet more came after her, which made her have to keep fighting. Whatever, she would make this quick...and then bring this conflict to its end.
== Chapter 415 - Revolution Begins ==
On the stage inside, stood Phantom, holding a microphone as close to his face as he could get with the gas mask on. Next to him stood Richard, who seemed slightly uneasy, as Phantom's followers looked up at their leader, eager to hear what he had to say.
"Greetings to all of those who have seen the truth." Phantom says them all. "We have seen the horrors that Xenos bring upon humankind with our own eyes. We have seen these aliens tear families apart, and bring misery to our species, to the Human Star Realm, for generations. One need only look at the Netraxian War to see that. And I am a man who lost my family to a Socqreath. My son asked her on a date, and she killed him and my wife. She mangled my face, and left me for dead, but I survived, and I have vowed to rid the Human Star Realm of the Xeno Scourge."
He stared at all of them for a moment, ignoring Richard becoming more uneasy.
"However, the Xenos are not the only issue we need to address." Phantom continues. "The Human Star Realm has made it legal for humanity to mingle with other species, and they are a part of not only the Galactic Community, but also the Galactic Council. As such, they are part of the problem, and need to be destroyed alongside the Xenos. And then, we, the Ghosts, will lead humanity into a new era, into a new age of our deserved ultimate respect! We will form the Empire of Man, and bring justice to all aliens in the universe! Humanity will avenge those who have fallen, and protect those who still live! And we WILL be the last ones standing!"
He pumps his fist into the air, as everyone cheers, everyone, except Richard, who now looked scared. Now, he realized, Phantom never intended to maintain this alliance, and he had seen with his own eyes, could tell with his own senses, that there was no way out now.
Then, the doors are slashed down, and body parts fall through them.
== Chapter 416 - Dismemberment ==
Andromeda stood there, at the doorway, her head bowed down so her hair hid her eyes, as she was covered in blood and rain.
"She survived...?" Richard growls. "...Of course she did..."
Then, she began to walk towards them, slowly, seemingly calm, yet clearly livid, as Phantom merely watches.
"Don't come any closer, freak!" Richard roars, pointing his gun at Andromeda, who keeps walking forward. "Not if you want to live, you bitch!"
She continued to ignore him, as he, trembling, fired at her repeatedly, each and every bullet being caught or slashed.
And then, the gun was cut in half, before his fingers, before his hand, before his arm was cut off, and the rest of his body followed, all while Phantom just watched, ignoring Richard's agonized screams as the room was showered with his blood before long.
She slowly turned towards Phantom, who responded in kind.
"So you survived." He remarks. "Good, now we can--"
"Stop talking." Andromeda interrupts, causing Phantom to go silent, before she lifts her head up to glare viciously into his eyes, more viciously than ever before. "I just...want this to end. One of isn't leaving here alive. Let's just get this over with."
"...Right, of course." Phantom replies. "I almost ranted for a moment."
Then, he throws a grenade at Andromeda, who slashes it in half, and walks through the smoke to see a trapdoor having opened, and Phantom nowhere in sight. Without thinking, she walks down into it, and into the hallway below.
The lights flickered, as more of Phantom's followers were dismembered, until they stopped coming. They were gone, now only Phantom was left, Andromeda figured.
She kept walking through the hallway until she saw movement in one of the doorways, and walked into it.
There, she saw him, standing beneath a flickering spotlight, his arms behind his back, as he raises his head to glare at her, both narrowing their eyes at each other, as she slowly began to walk towards him.
"This place...will become a grave." Phantom says. "Yes...yours." Andromeda retorts, as she kept walking.
== Chapter 417 - Cry of the Innocent ==
Andromeda send a Psychic Weapon to slash at Phantom, who weaved out of the way and grabbed Andromeda by the neck before flinging her across the room, Andromeda landing on her feet as she uses more Psychic Weapons to block a karate chop from Phantom, slashing at him as he leaps back, landing on his feet as well.
Then, he is the one to rush at her, weaving, ducking and leaping around, under and over many of her Psychic Weapons as he briefly stands back to avoid another Psychic Weapon crashing down on him, before sweeping Andromeda off her feet, and leaping back, being slashed across the chest by one of the Psychic Weapons, but seemingly ignoring the pain.
Andromeda quickly picks up a small boat and tosses it at Phantom, who stands there and seemingly allows it to hit him, yet there was no collision sound to indicate that it did.
Then, she heard breathing from all around, breathing that echoed along with the sound of footsteps.
Her eyes darted around, as she felt her own breathing becoming quicker and heavier.
And then, she heard it from behind herself, and swiftly rolled forward to avoid being karate chopped in the back of the neck, before Phantom runs towards her. She slashes at him with two Psychic Weapons, forming an X shape, but he slides beneath them and kicks her in the jaw to send her into the air, leaping up to kick her back as he preforms a backflip, again landing on his feet.
Phantom then raises his hand, causing a number of kitchen knives to fly out of a crate, and towards Andromeda, who dodges them as fast as she can as she runs into an alley of shelves, full of crates and other things. Phantom, grabbing one of the knives, follows, walking into the alleyway, as his eyes move slowly around, looking carefully for any sign of his opponent.
Then, a crate fell towards him, as he rolled out of the way to avoid it, and turned to see Andromeda standing at the end of the alleyway, the lights to her left flickering, illuminated her blood-soaked body, making her eyes appear to glow.
Phantom walked towards Andromeda, throwing the knife at her, as she dodges and slashes down one of the shelves, causing the whole alley to crash down onto Phantom!
== Chapter 418 - Crushed ==
Andromeda sat behind a crate, sighing and resting for a moment, before she feels a telekinetic pull on her body, and is suddenly pulled into the air, being contorted every which way by Phantom, who stood there, his arm raised, his mask broken, his suit torn, as his own blood pooled beneath him. She could feel more and more of her bones cracking, as her limbs kept bending in agonizing directions, causing her to scream, as she could feel her spine beginning to twist, twist the same way she twisted her first victim, that soldier of Darkstar, she could feel it, she could feel death closing in on her.
"This...ends...now." Phantom says, preparing to snap her neck.
BANG!
== Chapter 419 - Undeserved Rescue ==
Phantom had been forced to let go of Andromeda, as he turned his attention to Jack, who kept his gun pointed at him.
"You came to save her...?" He demands.
"I came to stop you!" Jack retorts, firing at Phantom again, as Phantom dodges the bullets, and notices Candice running towards Andromeda to heal her. He puts his arms out to catch both of them in his telekinesis, lifting them into the air, as he began to crush their bones!
"Every...Xeno...must...GO!" Phantom roars.
But before he could crush them, his arm is slashed, by Kiyomasu, who stares Phantom dead in the eyes before Phantom leaps back, noticing that Jack and Candice had been freed of the telekinesis.
Before Phantom could say anything, Kiyomasu rushed to slash at him more, Phantom dodging and blocking the slashes as Kiyomasu suddenly turns his cane sword into a cane gun and blasts Phantom in the chest, sending him flying back.
Phantom attempts to restrain Kiyomasu with his telekinesis...but nothing happened.
"What...?" He demands.
"Your powers were based on nanotechnology." Kiyomasu explains. "My cane...took all of it."
Phantom noticed that he could not see Candice's Psychic Weapons, as suddenly, the bullet Kiyomasu fired had turned into a pair of handcuffs, which restrained Phantom to a metal bar, right as Jack kicks him in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees.
"...It's...over..." Jack says breathlessly, as he and Kiyomasu stand back, Candice continuing to heal Andromeda as Rosenstock and the rest watch.
"...What are you waiting for?" Phantom demands. "End it. Let me be with my family again."
"...Toby..." Kiyomasu replies. "...We both know you're going to Hell for what you did, and we both know...that your family won't be there."
"...Then...I shall go." Phantom, Toby Newman, replies. "I...have failed."
And then, before anyone could react, he picked up a kitchen knife from earlier, and stabbed himself in the neck. Everyone went silent, as he went limp.
They had won...at the cost of so many lives.
== Chapter 420 - After the Horror has Passed ==
Andromeda sat inside her prison cell, her hands and feet bound together by cuffs, as she remembered once seeing Kazuyuki like this. Maybe it would be better for her to stay here, in a place where she couldn't hurt anyone else, where she could repent for her crimes in any way.
She hoped Jack would find someone better, she hoped they all would be able to move on, and she hoped for the day that Sechsgrad, Atlas, the one who caused all this misery in the first place, would be stopped as well.
Then, she could finally just rest, now that there were no more secrets, no more lies, now that everything was, once again, calm.
Then, her cell door opened, and she saw them standing there. Jack, Candice, Kasper, Shunsuke, Kiyomasu, Falqo, Dione, Rosenstock, Grimwald, Demetrius, and Reuben.
"...What...is happening, here...?" Andromeda asked.
"You're being released." Falqo replies.
"...Why...?" Andromeda responded, looking down. "...I killed so many people...I killed one of your Royal Guard..."
"Richard Robinson planned to betray us, he was to be executed for Treason regardless." Rosenstock answers.
"And we already know that most of your kills, happened because of the chip in your brain." Reuben explains.
"Which is why I'm removing it today." Demetrius pipes up.
"Consider this a fresh start, a new slate. Because you're being forgiven, after all, it wasn't really your choice." Grimwald finishes.
Andromeda, tearing up, turned towards Jack, who looked at her solemnly.
"...I...I'm not sure if I can forgive you so easily..." He says. "...But I'm willing to give it a try."
Then, Andromeda's cuffs unlocked and opened, as she hugs Jack, sobbing, Jack hugging her back as he closes his eyes.
"Aww, they still love each other." Dione remarks, elbowing Grimwald a bit.
"Makes no sense but okay." Demetrius replies, earning him a blow to the head from Dione. "Ow..."
"Please, no infighting." Rosenstock orders with a smile. "We only have one enemy left to fight, we merely need a means to draw him out."
"...If anyone would like..." Reuben starts. "...The new project is ready to be put on display next weak, and I'd be honored for all of you to attend."
"Of course." Shunsuke replies. "I can't wait."
Kasper says. Reuben smiles, they all did.
They weathered the storm, and they had come out the other side stronger for it. They had beaten all of their enemies but one, they had won the wars, they had stopped the terrorists, they had slain the monsters, but, regrettably, so many had died in the process. And yet still, they were victorious. After Atlas, this conflict would finally be able to come to an end.
Surely, nothing else could go wrong.
Right?