Volume Eight - Darkstar's Last Stand

## Chapter 85 - The Ultimate Weapon

"No..."

"What do you...what do you mean it was...a distraction...?" Jack breathes. "Demetrius managed to figure out that Davidson was building something in secret." Rosenstock answers. "A machine capable of facing off against, and destroying, an entire army." "W-well...we can just...get in the cockpit and destroy it?" Candice asks. "It's humanoid. To be confident at using a shape like that would require immense skill on the pilot's part." Rosenstock replies. "And there is no 'cockpit' inside a humanoid machine."

"Then I'll just rip its head off." Andromeda says. "Before or after it destroys you with whatever techniques it has?" Demetrius asks coldly while leaning against the wall. "I'll rip your head off if you--...we need a way to distract it, right?" Andromeda asks. "We need a way to fight it, which is why you and Jack will be training to fight off against it." Rosenstock answers. "We've built our own machine in advance, but never saw any good in using it because Demetrius had made it humanoid." Rosenstock presses a button to show the basic schematics of the machine on a screen. "But, we need a volunteer who will pilot the machine." Rosenstock finishes.

"I'll go." Jack says. "...What?" Demetrius asks. "You're not tall enough to even reach the controls, unless I remodel them." "I don't care. Allen became my problem when he killed an innocent baby and her family, and so many others." Jack replies, as Andromeda looked on in slight shock. "If...if you lose..." Andromeda starts. "I won't. I refuse to lose to Allen." Jack answers. "Refusing doesn't do much without the skill." Demetrius replies. "Then teach me." Jack says. "Teach me everything you can. I want to beat Allen personally."

"...Are you certain you want to do this?" Rosenstock asks. "Yes, I am Sir." Jack answers. "Then your training is modified." Rosenstock says. "Instead of increasing your gunfighting skills, you are going to learn how to pilot the robot as if it were your own body." He then turns towards Andromeda. "And you will learn how to use ten percent of your power, because that is likely all you can handle." Andromeda doesn't respond for a while, before nodding. Demetrius then beckons them to follow him, through the corridors, down the stairs as they reached what looked like a massive training room, which held the robot within it, and a smaller robot as well.

"Now, then...it's time to begin your training." Demetrius says.

## Chapter 86 - Getting Ready

Andromeda stands there, watching the robot intently, as it then looks up at her, and its eyes glow orange. It doesn't move its arms, as Andromeda notices blades forming around it, the blades then rushing at her as she blocks them with her Psychic Weapons. That's what those blades were, Psychic Weapons! "A robotic Socqreath?!" Andromeda shouts, as she slashes at it, the mechanical Socqreath blocking before sending a hammer at Andromeda, who ducks to dodge it as she slashes at its legs, the Socqreath leaping up to not be slashed as it sends Psychic shurikens at Andromeda, who catches them and throws them back.

The robot then dissipates them, before making a sword in its hand and rushing at Andromeda to slash her. Andromeda faltering as she remembers the previous robot that had slashed her, as she feels her shoulder get slashed and shouts in pain, before thrusting her Psychic Weapons forwards to punch the robot, which tilts its entire torso backwards before making two flails and sending them at Andromeda, who leaps back and picks up a pole before throwing it at the robot, who slashed it apart and rushes at Andromeda, slashing her, as she dodges.

Andromeda then notices the robot behind her, as it forms another Psychic Weapon, or rather deforms one, turning it into pure energy, which blasts Andromeda away. Andromeda twirls around and lands on her feet but felt the pain in her back. As she runs at the robot again, trying to imagine her Psychic Weapons as blades to better cut with, but now it was difficult with the pain. But she stills thrusts them forwards, the robot tilting its head to dodge the thrusts as it kicks Andromeda in the stomach, sending her flying backwards and crashing into a wall. Andromeda falls off the wall and lands on her hands and knees, feeling them crack and groaning in pain.

Andromeda tilts her head up and glares at the robot, which had formed its Psychic Weapons into various kinds of swords, shields and blunt instruments around itself. She tries to think of a way to face off against the machine, but can't. Not right now. She tried to picture herself being stronger, but didn't know what that would look like. Then, as it approaches, she just tries to make her weapons sharper and faster, hoping that would work. She slashes at the robot, who blocks the weapons, as Andromeda then notices that they looked more...visible than before, as if it wasn't just starting at plastic anymore. "What...?" Andromeda questions, before leaping up.

She had done this in order to dodge a slash from the robot, who then dissipates the weapons and turns them into an energy ball to throw at Andromeda, who punches the wall to get out of the way, the ball exploding and making her fly through the air, before she catches herself. "I must have become stronger...is this what they meant...?" Andromeda wonders, as she holds her head in slight pain. She then turns and notices the robot rushing to slash her with a Nodachi, which she tilts back to dodge as she forms a weapon inside the robot, managing at last to stab it. The robot leaps back and holds its stomach in pain, as it was sparking.

Jack walked up to the massive mech. It appeared to have gold and silver bits in places, and red and blue in other. The eyes glowed a yellowish orange, and the legs were black, the arms white. It looked similar to mechs from books he had read, as he climbs on the ladder on the leg, and then the ladder on the torso, which led up to the head. He notices a small trapdoor on the neck and opens it, as he climbs the last ladder up to the head, where there was a seat ready for him to sit in. It looked like it had been recently shrunk, as he sat in it and placed his hands on the controls, a helmet with tubes connecting it to the roof of the head forming on Jack's head.

"Now, I don't really have another humanoid robot to test this on, as the project was discontinued after the first one." Demetrius says over comms. "So you'll have to train against flying ships, and sync your mind to the robot." "Okay, when do we start?" Jack asks. "Right now." Demetrius answers, as he presses a button which opens the trapdoor. Jack tries to make the robot's thrusters turn on, but they didn't. Then he realized there was a button for that. "Oh...heh..." Jack remarks, as he presses the button to make the robot fly. Jack did his best to keep it from hitting the wall as it flew out of the base into...a taller, larger, higher portion of the base.

Jack notices a large battleship, a flying one that looked like it might be used in space, firing at him, as he tries to dodge, but is unable to. The blasts felt like they were damaging the machine, and the screen that Jack saw seemed to be showing that it was taking damage. Jack tries harder, but then realizes that his arms and legs also had sensors on them, as did his thighs and upper arms, and stomach and chest. "I need to relax..." Jack remarks, as he tries to move more slowly, calmly and intelligently. It worked! The robot was moving how he wanted it to! He draws some sort of sword and flies over to slash the battleship with it, making it explode.

Good, that felt like a crappy slash. Jack then turns around and notices that there were small craft preparing to fire at him. He yelps and notices that the robot had a gun on its hip, ready to fire with. He takes it out and fires lasers from it, as the craft hit explode. The ones that dodge keep firing, as Jack tries to swing a kick at them, managing to hit about three. He then fires at the last one, managing to clip its wing as it flies towards him. "No!" Jack shouts, as he swings the sword at the craft, but accidentally lets go of it as it flies forwards, clipping the other wing as the craft explodes in his hand.

Jack feels the robot beginning to falter, as he begins to calm down again, before he rights it. "There..." He remarks. "I should have the hang of it, now." He then has the robot land, as Demetrius is waiting, clapping. "Good job for the first day." Demetrius says. "But it will take more time to be fully ready, and we don't have much time, so we'll have to rush the training. Expect vastly more challenging tests tomorrow." "Wha?" Jack breathes, as he climbs out of the robot and slides down the ladders. He is then hugged by Andromeda, who was bleeding in multiple areas. "Are you okay?" She asks. "Are you?" Jack asks back, Demetrius shakes his head.

## Chapter 87 - The Second Day

"Wait...what...?" Jack demands. "We're training against...Grimwald?" "You are. She gets STP7." Demetrius answers, as Andromeda turns to glare at the knight, who seemed as if it was glaring back. "But..." "But what?" Demetrius asks, cutting Jack off. "Do you know anything about the way any of us fight? You haven't seen us in action." Andromeda continued to glare at SPT7, before turning to Demetrius. "And this is to fight Darkstar's robot?" She demands. "Yes, and to make it go by more quickly, we've established to SPT7 that he's allowed to try to kill you." Demetrius answers.

"What about Grimwald?" Jack asks, as he notices Grimwald sleeping. "Unfortunately, you'll probably not be able to face him at the top of his game." Demetrius says. "Fortunately, you probably won't need to." "Whts'hppning?" Grimwald mutters, as he seems to slowly wake up. "You're going to train Jack, remember?" Demetrius says. "We're running out of time, and need to make this quick. And we need you up for the task." "...Okay...I guess..." Grimwald replies, as he picks up his guns and stands up off the couch. "Let's get it over with quicker, then."

Jack climbed up the robot and got inside its neck, as he once again sat at the controls. Grimwald seemed to be flying using hoverboots and wasn't doing anything yet. "Hang on...I need to change the setting on these things..." Grimwald mutters, barely audible, as he turns dials on his guns. He then aims one at the robot Jack is in, as a large orange beam of some kind of energy or plasma came out. Jack yelps and dodges, noticing that just the heat radiating off the blast did damage to the robot. "What?!" Jack shouts, as he fires at Grimwald, who seemed to be gone in the blink of an eye. Jack has the robot whirl around, and sees Grimwald was behind him.

"Right...the fastest..." Jack remarks, as he slashes at Grimwald, who blocks the sword using one of his guns before tilting his head back to dodge another slash. He then fires again, rapidly, as Jack does his best to have the robot dodge. "Gh! This could be bad!" Jack thinks to himself, as he has the robot fire missiles at Grimwald, who appears between them and the robot he was in, almost looking to have teleported. Grimwald then fires another blast, but this one was more of a continuous beam than the others. Jack decides to slash the beam, as the sword almost looked as though it may melt. "Are you even human?!" Jack demands.

"Yes." Grimwald answers lazily, as he aims his gun towards Jack again. "I would recommend to start moving now." Jack notices more orange light and plasma building up around the tip of the gun. He quickly flies to the side right when hundreds of those same plasma beams all come out of that gun. Grimwald moves his arm and body, and as he did so the storm of plasma did as well. Jack could almost feel the heat on his skin, despite being inside the robot still. He the notices that the leg had been hit, as he opens two wings to keep flying and fire at Grimwald, who stops firing the plasma storm and appears on top of the robot's gun.

"Hello, there." Grimwald says. "No, no, no, no, no!" Jack shouts, as Grimwald aims a gun at the robot's head, at Jack, as light and plasma gathers around the gun's tip. Jack, thinking quickly, makes the robot tilt its head back, which was the right decision, as Grimwald had indeed fired another volley of blasts. They looked majestic and terrifying all at once, and Jack was sure that there wouldn't be anything left if he was directly hit by them. He then finally notices that the robot had a shield feature, as he presses the button for it. The robot then takes out a small device and puts it in front of itself, as the device puts out a magnetic forcefield.

Grimwald fires again, as Jack hopes that he is positioned right, and he was. The shield managed to block the blasts for the most part, and before they could break through, one seemed to hit Grimwald's gun and arm, as he grunts and flies back, before landing on one knee. "I...won...?" Jack asks, before noticing that Grimwald was getting back up, and then finally hearing and seeing the alarms going off in the robot's head. All of the robot's features have been brought down below ten percent!

"You stopped, Grimwald?" Demetrius asks with a bit of anger in his voice. "Yes, I'm not killing a kid or destroying our only hope of winning this war." Grimwald answers. "You are way too soft..." Demetrius groans, as he looks over at the other room. "I wonder what their training is like currently."

Andromeda sat there, staring on at SPT7, who held its sword and shield like a knight, but looked at her like an executioner. "Bring it, you dumb machine." Andromeda growls, pushing the robot from the Shazarak base into the back of her mind. She forms her Psychic Weapons right off the bat and sends them at SPT7, who was rushing at her. It swings its sword once...cutting through the Psychic Weapons! "WHAT?!" Andromeda screams, as she boosts herself back and catches herself. "What the Hell was that?" No reply from SPT7, apart from "That information is classified.", as SPT7 rushes at her again, attempting to slash her again.

Andromeda boosts herself into the air while flipping, as she lands on the side of the sword with her feet. She then slashes at SPT7's head, SPT7 tilting its head back as it whacks her off the sword with its shield. Andromeda grunts in pain, and thought her arm might have broken from that, as she holds it and grits her teeth, while glaring at SPT7. It then rushes at her again, as she tries to trip it over, but it slashes the Psychic Weapon trap away and slashes at Andromeda again, cutting her across the stomach as she coughs up blood and is sent flying back. "Gah!" She shouts, as she holds her stomach in pain. She notices SPT7 rushing at her again!

Andromeda decides to try to focus all the power she can into her Psychic Weapons, and imagines them as massive fists. She then sends them at SPT7, aiming to punch it into scrap metal. SPT7 leaps back to dodge some punches while weaving to dodge others, and slashing others apart, even kicking one and whacking one with its shield. SPT7 then rushes at Andromeda and slashes at her, Andromeda planning this out as she tilts her head to dodge, feeling her shoulder be cut and trying not to whimper in pain, before using one of her Psychic Weapons to grab SPT7, and throw it into the air, then slamming it down into the ground.

"P-please...let that be it..." Andromeda moans, as she felt blood running down her head and saw her Psychic Weapons flickering and wavering. She wills herself to get back up, as she has her Psychic Weapons move to guard her. SPT7, although somewhat broken, was getting out of the crater in the ground, sparking yet still with purpose. It rushes to slash at Andromeda, who boosts herself into the air before catching herself. Gritting her teeth from the pain of her broken arm flopping around. She punches at SPT7 more, aiming to try the same trick as before but this time not let go. SPT7 then spins around as it slashes to keep the Psychic Weapons away.

"Gh..." Andromeda grunts, as she tries clapping SPT7, who flips into the air and lands on the Psychic Weapons before running across them to slash at her. Andromeda notices, but it is too late, and her horn is cut off. "Gah!" Andromeda roars, as she is kicked in the face by SPT7, and send flying back into a wall, leaving a crater in it.

"Andromeda!" Jack shouts, as he rushes to help her up, and Demetrius claps. "That's the kind of training I want to see!" He says with a smile. "Why not cut her head off, though?" "The Socqreath is required to defeat Darkstar." SPT7 says. "Her lifespan is as long as her usefulness." Andromeda felt herself sweating from that statement, as she and Jack walk into the 'house' section of the castle to rest.

"We're running out of time, of course I'm frantic!" They hear Demetrius shout. "Darkstar'll be here in like two days, maybe three at best!" That last line made Jack's hair stand up. Darkstar...just what was their weapon?

Guess they'd find out.

## Chapter 88 - Reason

Jack had woken up about an hour ago, and sat on the couch, contemplating something. He then turns his head and sees Demetrius leaning against the doorway, as always. "I think I can guess what you're thinking." Demetrius says. "Shoot." Jack replies. "You want to know why Darkstar's doing this." Demetrius then says. "No, I was wondering why Darkstar exists." Jack retorts. "Same thing." Demetrius says, as he shrugs. "Anyways, I thought you and Andromeda should hear this story, because it's one that you should've known a while ago."

"Allen Davidson, Amaya Kiyomasu, and Dione were once all part of the same division, the original Royal Guard. They were completely undefeated in combat, and many couldn't think of one other human being that could match them, apart from His Highness himself." Demetrius says to Jack and Andromeda, who they had woken up. "Sounds fake. No one would give up your position." Andromeda says. "Allen would, because he wanted more." Demetrius replies. "He wanted to rule alongside Rosenstock initially, or even serve as his advisor. Neither happened, because the method he used to impress Rosenstock was creating a deadly bioweapon."

"He was separated from the guard, and forces, afterwards, and swore revenge on the entire kingdom, by vowing he would rule the planet." Demetrius continues. "Kiyomasu and Dione tried to stop him verbally. When that didn't work, they tried physically, but he managed to escape, and leave them with wounds I treated. Kiyomasu left the Royal Guard not long after, and said that his friendship towards Allen no longer existed. When I looked at the anger on his face, I believed him completely."

"So...all this is because of a bioweapon?" Jack demands. "What kind of bioweapon?" "The kind that can turn you into a Socqreath." Demetrius answers. "What...?" Andromeda growls, shaking her fists. "You heard me." Demetrius replies. "A toxin that could forcibly change the physiology of whoever inhales it. It was confiscated in a secure facility, so we won't have to worry about it. What we do have to worry about is the giant robot headed our way." "...You're right. Now we know why Allen's doing this." Jack says. "Let's stop him.

## Chapter 89 - The Final Invasion of Darkstar

"They're here." Grimwald says. "They'll be at the castle walls in only around a minute." "Everyone, prepare for battle!" Rosenshock shouts, as the Royal Guard and a mass of soldiers holding artillery weapons with them rush as fast as they can to the front entrance of the castle. Standing just beyond its walls was a massive robot, adorned in spikes and blades, and almost completely pitch black, with flakes of red in various areas, including its glowing eyes. Rosenstock glares up at the robot. "How do you like my machine, Rosenstock?" Allen asks. "Inefficient." Rosenstock replies. "I am more worried about the man piloting it."

"Only me?" Allen sneers, as Rosenstock turns around to block a slash from Vinicia, who thrusts her claws at him, Rosenstock tilting his head back to dodge. "Come here and die!" Vinicia growls, with a smile on her face. "I've always wanted to take out the leader and throw this country into chaos!" "Then prepare to be deeply disappointed in the few seconds you have left." Rosenstock replies, as he takes out another sword and rushes at Vinicia to slash her. SPT7 attempts to come to his aid, but is blocked by Tsunoi landing in front of it, now with more blue skin. "Long time no see, robot." Tsunoi says. "Threat identified." SPT7 replies.

## Chapter 90 - Return of an Old Enemy

Jack and Andromeda ran out of the home rooms and rushed as fast as they possibly could to the room the robot they possessed was held in. When they entered, Jack locks the doors as tightly as he can and runs towards the robot, as he turns to face Andromeda. "Wish me luck." Jack asks. "Always." Andromeda replies, as she hugs Jack tightly. Jack climbs up the ladder of the leg, then the ladder of the torso, then opens the neck hatch, closes it, and climbs up that ladder too. He sits down in the seat, and buckles up, as the helmet forms around him. "It's time for your reign of terror to end, Allen." Jack says, as the doors above open, and he flies out.

Andromeda watches him go as she began to somewhat cry. "Please...come back to me." She whispers.

"It's not him you should be worrying about."

Andromeda feels her skin crawl and the hairs on her neck stand up, as everything felt colder and it felt harder to breathe. She feels herself shaking and turns to see...Cygnus. But he was different, his mouth was sewn shut, and supposedly the rest of his body was too. His horns were shorter, and something seemed to be on them, and his arms were robotic. "No...I...killed you..." Andromeda breathes. "You did...but I was brought back by Darkstar's surgeon." Cygnus says, as he smiles. "And I can see...my ability is already taking effect."

"...Wh-what...?" Andromeda demands, trying not to collapse as she could hear her heart pounding. "The full extent of my ability is...to enhance fear." Cygnus answers. "Once someone is struck by my Psychic Weapons, the effects remain...forever." Cygnus walks closer to Andromeda, who was struggling not to fall on her knees. "And they only get stronger and stronger over time...until the one struck perishes." Andromeda tries to form her Psychic Weapons, but is unable to! Cygnus laughs. "The look on your face, did you just learn how to use more of your power?" Cygnus asks mockingly. "Good. I want to crush you psychologically first."

## Chapter 91 - Mechanical War

Allen has his robot fire rockets at the castle, toppling parts of it. "It is over for you, Rosenstock!" Allen roars. "This kingdom will be mine before daybreak!"

"I don't think so!" Jack shouts, as his robot flies down and lands in front of Allen's. "Is that the best you have to say, Jack?" Allen mocks, as he aims his robot's missile arm at Jack. "You cannot stop me." "Let's try it." Jack replies, as he takes out the robot's sword and swings it at Allen, who has his robot dodge the strike and fire a missile at Jack's robot, Jack barely dodging as he notices the missile scrape the robot's shoulder. "Gh..." Jack exclaims, as he has his robot slash at Allen's again, Allen having his robot catch the slash with its hand before punching Jack's robot in the chest.

Jack's robot grabs Allen's robot's fist and pushes it away, before kicking at Allen's robot, which blocks the kick with its own leg and lets go of Jack's robot's sword before throwing a punch at Jack's robot's head, Jack quickly making his robot dodge, not wanting to be hit. Allen's robot fires another missile at Jack's robot, which catches it as the missile explodes in its now burned hand. Allen smiles and has his robot punch at Jack's robot's shoulder, Jack having his robot block with its shield. "You've learned a lot." Allen says. "But I've been going easy on you."

Allen then has his robot sweep Jack's to make it stumble and fall onto the ground, Jack yelping as he quickly makes his robot's thrusters turn on so that it flies, but Allen's robot grabs Jack's robot by the legs and slams it to the ground. Jack tries to get the robot up, but Allen stomps on its back to hold it in place, aiming a missile at its back.

"Time's up, boy." Allen sneers.

## Chapter 92 - Fear Ever Stronger

Andromeda stumbles back and holds her bleeding stomach in pain, as she grits her teeth and glares at Cygnus, who walks towards her. "You are nothing...but a disgrace to our kind." He sneers, as he slashes at Andromeda again, Andromeda trying to dodge as her cheek is cut and Cygnus slashes her across the face, raking it with his claws. Andromeda screams in agony as she nearly stumbles off the building, Cygnus, grabbing her by the head and throwing her into the wall, cracking it. "You love a human?! You tolerate humans?! You don't even rule?! WHY WERE YOU THE HEIR?!" Cygnus shrieks, as he kicks Andromeda in the head repeatedly.

"I...h-hate...you..." Andromeda growls, as she tries to fill her mind with memories of Jack, but they were all distorted into pure terror. At one point, she saw Jack's rotting corpse, from her nightmares, over and over. "GAH!" Andromeda shouts, as Cygnus grabs her by the neck and lifts her up. "The boy you love is your weakness." Cygnus says. "If he did not exist, I would have to create a fear to inflict on you."

**"You're weak."**

Cygnus throws Andromeda into a crate, destroying it, as he slashes her over and over, leaving her bloodied and bruised, as he doesn't stop, and stomps on her face. "You are pathetic." He growls. "You are my greatest hate." He then drives his claw towards Andromeda's heart, as Andromeda sees him and manages to finally catch his arm with her bleeding hands. "...I'll just...clear my mind then..." Andromeda mutters, as she kicks Cygnus away and stands up shakily.

"You are truly horrid to deal with." Cygnus says angrily.

## Chapter 93 - Dark Lord

"Are you ready to accept your fate?" Allen asks mockingly. "...Not even close." Jack replies, as he turns on his robot's back thrusters, which begin to burn Allen's robot until he takes his foot of Jack's robot's back. Jack then has his robot stand back up and throw a punch at Allen's robot, which catches it before delivering a karate chop to Jack's robot's stomach, Jack seeing warning lights. "Not now!" Jack shouts, as he picks up his sword and swings it at Allen's robot, but Allen weaves out of the way and kicks Jack's robot miles away.

Jack manages to have his robot land, as he tries to think of a strategy that could beat Allen, and then realized that he could fight Allen directly, and put the robot on some sort of autopilot? He searched for a button that would turn on autopilot, but there didn't seem to be one. "Of course, they weren't planning on using this..." Jack remarks, as he sees Allen's robot in the sky, before it lands in front of him and fires a missile at him, Jack having his robot dodge and karate chop Allen's robot, which catches the arm as Jack sneaks out of his robot and runs along the arm to get to Allen's robot's head. "I hope this works." Jack says, holding his gun.

## Chapter 94 - The Terror Continues

Andromeda grabs a steel pipe that had been knocked out of the wall and thrusts it at Cygnus like a spear, Cygnus tilting his head to dodge each time as he keeps stepping back. "This is impossible! What do you mean 'clear your mind'?!" He roars. "It should be obvious. I'm not thinking about anything, so you can't warp it." Andromeda answers, as she swings the pipe at Cygnus' head like a bat. Cygnus blocking with one hand and laughing. "I don't need thoughts to corrupt! Even now you fear me!" "Did I say I didn't...?" Andromeda replies, as she throws the pipe at Cygnus, who dodges, before noticing Andromeda kicking him in the face.

Cygnus is sent crashing through a wall, as he slams into another crate, which is broken, and growls. "You haven't even used your Psychic Weapons yet?" Andromeda demands. "I...can't." Cygnus replies. "Darkstar prevented...my horns from healing." Cygnus stands back up and laughs. "But you can't form your Psychic Weapons either! Your fear of me keeps you from concentrating enough to make them!" Cygnus rushes at Andromeda, who dodges the lunge but feels her arm get grabbed as she is slammed into a wall. "Gah!" Andromeda shouts, as Cygnus begins to drag her towards an opening leading to the outside of the castle, they were high up.

"Let's see how you handle a fall from this height, Your Majesty." Cygnus mocks.

## Chapter 95 - Rule

Jack kicks the neck of Allen's robot's head, and it indeed opens, as Allen grabs his gun and throws it far away. "No!" Jack shouts, as he is grabbed by the neck as Allen gets out of the robot and stands on its shoulder. He lets go of Jack and immediately flip kicks him. "Guh!" Jack exclaims, as he barely manages to grab onto a ladder bar, and holds his chest in pain, feeling his broken ribs. "You're not on my physical level, you moron." Allen says, as he stomps on Jack's hand, making him shout in pain, as he kicks him in the head to knock him off his robot and onto the ground, Allen leaping down after him.

"Gah...ugh..." Jack groans, as he feels someone step on his chest and sees Allen standing over him with a foot that seemed ready to crush his heart into nothing, as he takes out a gun and points it at Jack's face. "Don't even think about it. You can barely react to a laser pistol as it is, but you're badly damaged, in agony, unable to move with me stepping on you. It is physically impossible to dodge this." Allen says. "Tell me, Jack, did you think that I would be a tyrant of this country once I ruled it, knowing full well how that turned out for Hitler, Stalin and so many others?" "Wh-what...?" Jack replies. "I'd rather be like...Genghis Khan." Allen answers.

"Genghis Khan ruled his empire with what you could definitely say was an iron fist, but he wasn't a moron or a bigot, he knew that to rule such a vast empire, he needed to be tolerant, and open minded. All I wanted was to stand by Rosenstock's side as his advisor, but now I see that he is too paranoid to be ruling this country. I would bring us into a new age, technologically, and politically." "By turning people into...r-robots...?" Jack whimpers. "That was us being desperate, since we are outcasts on limited resources, especially considering there are other terrorists organizations who have more technology and resources than us." Allen answers.

"But enough talk, say goodbye." Allen finishes, as Jack sees the laser pistol begin to charge up. "Hey!" A voice says, as Allen and Jack turn to see Kiyomasu there, holding his cane with his bandaged hand. "Kiyomasu..." Allen growls, as he fires at the latter, who ducks to dodge before blasting Allen's gun out of his hand and rushing at him. He blocks the knife Allen throws as Allen kicks him in the face to send him back, but not before being blasted into his robot, as Kiyomasu uses multiple wires to trip the robots and make them fall, as he reveals multiple bombs on them.

"I can survive this!" Allen roars. "If I didn't add acid." Kiyomasu replies as Allen looks up and indeed sees the sizzling acid, as he covers his face with his arms. "Why would you still work with Rosenstock?!" Allen screams, as Kiyomasu rushes to Jack and creates a forcefield around them, as the robots collapse into pieces on top of Allen, before exploding with enough force to level the forest trees and set everything on fire. "...Because he wants order...and kindness. And without him, this country would be in ruins." Kiyomasu answers.

## Chapter 96 - 10%

Andromeda groans in pain, as she began to shake again. Cygnus held her over the edge of the window, and noticed the explosion. "Seems like those humans are finally dead...good." Cygnus says, as Andromeda gasps. Cygnus smiles, his sharp, rotting teeth and stitches making him look more like a demon than an alien. "And you're next...prepare to die." He finishes, as he holds Andromeda higher, his smile growing wider and more crazed. "When you are gone...I WILL RULE THE SOCQREATH!" He roars, letting go of Andromeda.

"...I'm done with this..." Andromeda mutters, as Cygnus steps back. Her Psychic Weapons had manifested and were holding her up! "How can you form them?! You know nothing but fear!" Cygnus screams. "No..." Andromeda corrects. "...I know nothing but hate, of you." Cygnus quickly uses his arm to try and block Andromeda's Psychic Weapon, but it is cut off, as she runs past him and cuts into his shoulder. Cygnus grunts and lunges at Andromeda with his remaining arm, which she cuts off, and destroys his horns. "GRAH! DAMN YOU!" Cygnus shrieks, lunging at her.

Lasers block Cygnus' path as he and Andromeda turn to see multiple Royal Guards standing there. "Don't move!" One of the shouts, as Cygnus growls like a monster. "I will have my revenge." He mutters, as he leaps back and out of the building. Andromeda rushes over to look out the window, but Cygnus had vanished. "...Jack!" Andromeda shouts, as she manages to boost herself to the burning remains of the forest, seeing Jack and Kiyomasu walking towards the castle. Andromeda, softly crying, runs to Jack and hugs him. "Ow..." Jack groans, as Andromeda notices and lets go. "...Sorry..." She says, as Jack places his hand on her cheek.

"...We survived...we won."