S3, 29 End of the Line (FB) (July 8, 2017)

Corresponding text underneath each picture.

**22nd May 2097: Present Day**

My mouth opened in complete shock. It was Jarred alright. His hair had gotten longer and his beard was more neatly trimmed, but it was unmistakably him.

Tank: "Jarred?" I breathed. "I thought you were dead!"

Darkblade: "I was." He snarled. "Thanks to you.

I lay frowning up at him in total confusion and winced as pain from one of my many injuries pulsed through my stomach.

Tank: "I... I don't understand..."

Darkblade: "Then allow me to explain it to you." He growled, beginning to pace and setting his helmet down on a nearby crate.

Darkblade: "You left me in that shop to die. I don't remember it, of course, but I've been told that the soldiers that shot me stormed the building not long after, found me dead on the floor and you gone. They resuscitated me, brought me back to life... Gave me a second chance."

Tank: "Second chance?"

Darkblade: "To kill you." He growled. I expected him to attack again, but he wasn't done yet.

Darkblade: "I was in a coma. For a long time. 13 months in fact. Then one day I began to come around. Slowly but surely, I woke up. And you know what the first thing I thought of was? The very first thing after I came around?"

I knew what the answer was going to be, but I didn't reply. Instead, I focussed on freeing myself from my chain noose, pulling it off over my head. Jarred saw, but wasn't interested in stopping me, he still hadn't finished his speech.

Darkblade: "Killing you." He answered his own question. "It was you that brought me out of my coma. My desire to end your miserable life..."

Tank: "Okay, I get it." I interrupted weakly. I was starting to get tired of the whole 'I want to kill you' stuff. "You want to kill me. Fine. Get on with it then."

Darkblade: "Oh I will." He growled in response. "As soon as you've watched the last of your friends die."

Wincing, I pushed myself up slightly, so that I wasn't flat on my back and glared at Jarred. The man I'd called brother. The man I'd thought dead. Now, the man about to kill me.

Darkblade: "Since I woke, everything I've done has been to get me to you. Once I had recovered, I was put in prison and while I was there, I was recruited for Beta Squad. An 'elite' team to track down and re-arrest prisoners who escaped during the Shift. Of course, you'd already told me your history and I was there with you when you escaped, so I knew you'd be on the list. And I was right. Of course, Colonel Ramson already knew this and chose me specifically because of our history together. Plus, I understand that the two of you have some history together too AND that he *is* one for grudges..."

So *that's* who that group of misfits who attacked me had been! I knew there must have been a reason that Ramson had come after me!

Darkblade: "I used all the resources I had to find you and once I had your location, I 'left' the squad to give me time to prepare. To get ready. And now... Now here we are." He declared, his arms wide open. "At the end of it all. Your friends will soon die and then, so will you."

Tank: "What is it you want from me? Look, Jarred, I'm sorry! Okay? I thought you were dead! If I'd have known there was a chance to save you, I wouldn't have left you there! But I checked your pulse - you were gone and I was still being shot at! I had to get out of there! I'm sorry!" I explained, pushing myself into a sitting position, conscious of the time. The building shook once more as a high-speed shuttle passed through one of the other platforms.

Darkblade: "No...." he mumbled and again, I got the impression he was talking more to himself than to me. "No, it's not 'okay'." He decided, looking down on me. 'Sorry' is not enough to make up for 3 years of rage and anger!"

Tank: "Jarred, leaving you there on that shop floor tore me apart. For weeks, hell - months, afterwards, while I was in jail, it was all I could think about! Evert night I dreamt of your bloodied body just laying there, your eyes open and glazed over. You were the brother I always wanted and you were there when I needed you most." I confessed. "But there was nothing I could have done!"

I wasn't sure what affect I'd hoped my moment of truth would have on Jarred, but in any case, he barely reacted at all.

Darkblade: "If you cared so much, then you shouldn't have called the GI on me." He growled, still pacing back and forth, like a big cat preparing to pounce. But despite the danger, I was getting annoyed now.

Tank: "For God’s sake, Jarred! For the hundredth time, **I DIDN'T**!" I shouted and Darkblade's, Jarred's, eyes glared down at me as his nostrils flared in anger.

Darkblade: "Liar." He snarled. "You always were bad at it! If you'd wanted me dead, you should have had the courage to do it yourself!"

And then a weight hit me.

Not a physical weight, but a mental one. An emotional one. One that came from a moment of realisation, of remembrance, sparked by Jarred's last comment.

A memory of what I'd been told by Zeth Stripe, right before I killed him.

That Jarred had killed my parents.

In my shock at finding him alive, I had completely forgotten about what Stripe had told me. But now... now it weighed on me like an anvil.

I wanted to ask him the question straight up, but I had to make sure he knew that I wasn't just guessing.

Tank: "Zeth Stripe." I began, and finally, I saw I had Jarred's attention. "Your old buddy."

Darkblade: "What about him?" He didn't sound concerned, just confused as to why I had seemingly changed the subject.

Tank: "I killed him." I announced. Jarred's expression remained nonplussed, but a hint of emotion shone through - surprise, maybe? "Earlier tonight." I continued, keeping a watchful eye on his expressions, in case he gave anything away. "But before I did, we had a little chat. He told me that you killed my parents."

There it was. The flicker of emotion I'd hoped to see. Shock. Surprise. Confusion.

I knew then that it was true. Jarred had murdered my Mum and Dad.

Nevertheless, I still asked,

Tank: "Is it true?"

‘One to tell truth with their final breaths.’

I was suddenly reminded of the line from the prophecy that had been read to me on Fuyoria. The whole prophecy had been ‘One as a brother, blamed and chained. One as an enemy, enslaved once again. One to tell truth with their final breaths. By the other’s own hand, they bring their death.’

Until now, the prophecy had baffled me entirely, but now, I understood at least part of it. The ‘brothers’ were Jarred and I. I was the brother ‘blamed and chained’ – locked up for killing my parents. Jarred was the brother ‘enslaved once again’ – enlisted into Beta Squad. So that just left the second half of the prophecy. ‘One to tell truth with their final breaths. By the other’s own hand, they bring their death.’ Was Jarred going to confess? Or did that line simply mean at the end of a very long and naturally-lived life? Which ‘brother’ was it referring to? And the last part – ‘By the other’s own hand, they bring their death.’ Again, which ‘brother’? Was the ‘their’ singular or plural? Did it refer only to the brother in that sentence, or to the ‘truth’-teller as well? Or even *just* the ‘truth’ teller.

If Jarred owned up now, then that made him the ‘truth’-telling brother. But that also meant that these were his last breaths… Was I destined to kill him? Was something else going to happen? This also meant that surely the final line referred to me? ‘By the other’s own hand, they bring their death.’ But *WHO*’s death?! Did it simply mean I was going to kill Jarred?

I had no idea, but now wasn’t really the time to ponder the matter. All of my thoughts on the prophecy had flashed through my mind in barely a few seconds, all through which Jarred was silent. His face a mask of concentration as he clearly decided how to respond to my accusation.

I desperately wanted to leap up. To run and get Cat and Aurora off the tracks, but I couldn't. Not yet.

Darkblade: "Yes." He replied despondently. "I did."

That was it. He’d done it. He'd confessed. Jarred had told the truth.

The anger that had been boiling inside of me ever since I had found out Mr. Grey had known my parents, the same anger that had erupted and caused me to kill Zeth Stripe, now began to bubble to the surface again.

Tank: "Why?" I growled.

Darkblade: "It was a job. He answered simply. "Zeth was hired, but knew he was already being tailed, so passed it to me." That was the same story that Stripe had told me, so now I knew it was true. All of it. But to my surprise, Jarred wasn't finished.

Darkblade: "When I found out who you really were, when we had been captured by Dr. Lobotomy, I couldn't believe it. I was living with the son of a couple I had killed. Not only that, but he was my friend. I felt..." he paused, clearly thinking of the right words. "Guilty. He decided. "Not a feeling I was accustomed to, having been trained in the Core."

Tank: "Wait, so *that's* why you became so distant?! It had nothing to do with what he injected you with!" I realised.

Darkblade: "After I carried you back to the cave, I stood over you for a good time, a knife in my hand, wondering if I should kill you and be done with it." He confessed. "But I couldn't."

Then, not for the first time in my life, another question came to me.

Tank: "Why not? Why not me?" I asked. "Why was I spared when you killed my parents?"

Darkblade: "The job never mentioned you. It was just for Lana and Jeremy Foster. I didn't even know they had a son until I saw you that night."

Tank: "Why?"

Darkblade: "I don't know. I never question instructions." He snapped back. "All I know is that if I had, I would have saved myself a lot of trouble later on. No you - no death for me. No coma. No enlistment. Then I spared your life in the cave... I wish I hadn't." He growled.

I felt my lip curl as my anger continued to rise, and I found myself clenching the chains in my hands tightly.

Darkblade: "But it doesn't matter now. I made you a promise. To take away everything you held dear. Now it's time to fulfil." He glanced at his wrist. "It's 02:53. Just two minutes until you lose the last of your friends."

Tank: "You're making a big mistake." I informed, breathing deeply.

Jarred laughed.

Darkblade: "Killing two, unimportant women is no mistake."

Tank: "No, that's not it." I replied and he frowned. I knew it was now or never. "Your mistake was not killing me when you had the chance!"

I hurled the chains, still gripped in my hands, as hard as I could at Jarred. Caught off guard, the chains caught him in the throat and wrapped themselves around his neck. The combined weight of the metal and the force of my throw, yanked Darkblade backwards, pulling him off of the platform.

Making every second count, I leapt to my feet and jumped down onto the tracks. Part of me wanted to seize the opportunity and fight Jarred, to take all of my anger and frustration out on him, but I knew that the girls were only 60 seconds away from death. They were the priority.

I grabbed Aurora, who was closest to me, hooking my arms under hers and heaved her to the side of the tracks. Nearby, Jarred was beginning to free himself from the tangle of heavy chains. With a groan from the effort, I hoisted the Namorian Priestess up onto Platform 11 and pushed her a couple of feet from the edge.

Now it was Cat's turn.

Suddenly, Jarred tackled me and together we crashed back onto the shuttle tracks. I grunted in pain as my side bent over the rail and then reeled as a fist connected with my face. Jarred clambered to his feet. I tried kicking out at him, but he skipped back a step, out of harm's way. Nevertheless, it gave me time to also stand and notice that Darkblade had one of the chains in his grasp.

With a roar, he swung the chain at me, using it almost like a whip, but I managed to duck in time. He whipped it out again and this time I had to fully jump aside to avoid being hit. It's a good thing I did, because the end of the chain struck the platform wall and took a good chunk out of it. I had only just been able to throw the chain and yet Jarred was whipping it around as if it weighed nothing!

Darkblade: "I have Dr. Lobotomy to thank for my strength!" He boasted as he swung the chain above his head and brought it down again, making me leap aside once more, but as he did, he kicked me in the chest and my back slammed into the wall.

With a grunt of pain, I quickly glanced at my watch. The trains were due!

I *had* to lure Jarred away from Cat! As Jarred swung the chain again, I leapt up onto the platform, the muscles in my arms screaming in protest. I scrabbled across the dust-covered, tiled floor and grabbed my holster.

I fumbled slightly but managed to draw one of my pistols! However, my excitement was short lived as a black boot kicked my hand and sent the gun clattering away. I shook my hand in pain, but then the boot came up and kicked me in the face.

I cried out, clutching my face, as fresh, warm blood began trickling through my stubble and over my lips.

Darkblade: "Fine. You want to do this with weapons too? Let's do it." He declared and through a gap in my fingers, I saw him drop the chain and pick up his long, black sword. He stood over me and as he prepared to bring his dark blade down and end my life, I rolled.

As Darkblade's sword struck the floor, I rolled off the edge of the platform and landed on the tracks with a groan. Wasting no time, I scrabbled towards Cat and managed to grab ahold of her, no sooner than I had done, a roar came from behind me and I realised Jarred had reacted faster than I'd been hoping.

I dropped Cat again as I turned and narrowly dodged another swipe from Jarred's black sword. He swung again and again, but each time I managed to dodge the deadly blade, dodging to one side or the other.

Darkblade lunged towards me, this time attempting to stab me, but I sidestepped and spotted an opening in his defence. I kicked out and caught him in the side of the leg, which made him stagger away several steps. While his attack was disturbed, I bent and scooped up a handful of the gravel that covered the ground between the tracks.

This wouldn't have worked earlier in the fight, and I had no idea if it would work now either, but now that Jarred was without his helmet, as he turned back towards me again, I threw the gravel as hard as I could at his face. It worked! The gravel caught him slap bang in the middle of his face and he cried out, surprised. He sounded more pissed off than hurt though.

As he wiped at his face, I turned back to Cat, ready to grab her and carry her to safety, but before I got the chance, the echoing 'honk' of a train horn reverberated through the air and looking up, I caught a glimpse of lights in the tunnel ahead.

Out of time!

Suddenly a blow to the back of my head sent me sprawling onto the platform 12 tracks, right next to Cat. I groaned in pain, holding my head, and looked up to find Darkblade stood over me and in the darkness of the tunnel behind him, I spotted the second set of headlights coming our way, as the tracks beneath me began to vibrate and rattle.

This was it. The end. I had failed.

I would die. As would Cat. Side by side in this dimly-lit, crumbling train station.

Darkblade: "This isn't how I'd planned on killing you." He remarked from his position stood over us, as he spotted the incoming train. "But it'll do."
Tank: "Coward!" I spat. "You hated me for not killing you myself and now you're leaving me here to die?! Hypocrite!"

Jarred's lip curled into a snarl and with a cry he raised his sword high above his head, just as the train came into view at the other end of the platform.

The black sword cut the air, slicing towards me.

And at the last second, I jumped aside, landing atop Cat. Jarred's sword bit into one of the cables running alongside the tracks and my old friend stood rooted to the spot, his head thrown back, as electricity coursed up the metal sword and through his body.

Grabbing Cat, to the soundtrack of Jarred's screams and the increasing volume of the rumbling trains closing in, I heaved her aside and near threw her onto the platform, before hoisting myself up and rolling away from the edge.

I just had time to look back and see Jarred, still stood with his sword embedded in the cable, his hair now smoking, before both trains hurtled by.

I didn't see what happened to Jarred, to Darkblade - I had squeezed my eyes shut at the last moment, unwilling to watch a man I'd once called brother get hit by a speeding train - but there was no way that he could have gotten out of there.

Both trains shot past, shaking the whole building and making the emergency lighting flicker, the carriages appearing never-ending as I waited, until, finally, they ended and all that remained were two empty tracks, two platforms, myself, Cat and Aurora.

Darkblade was nowhere to be seen, his body carried away on the front of the delayed 02:43 train to Regentis, or wherever it fell off along the line.

A small part of me felt terrible.

But the rest ached too much for me to take notice.

Cat was safe. Aurora was safe. As I lay on my back, just taking the time to breathe and attempt recovery, I stared up at the dilapidated ceiling blankly. I had no idea what was happening with my emotions right now. Shock. Sorrow. Anger. A lingering surprise at finding Jarred alive. It was a melting pot of feelings, and I ignored them all. I simply existed.

Briefly, I realised that the Namorian prophecy had come true, after all. The second half, which had confused me earlier, now made sense. ‘One to tell truth with their final breaths.’ That had been Jarred after all. He’d confessed. Owned up to killing my parents, and then died not long after. Those had been some of his final breaths. And ‘By the other’s own hand, they bring their death.’ So in the end, the ‘their’ had referred to the other ‘brother’. I had killed him.

And so now the prophecy was complete. I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. One I didn’t even know I’d been carrying. But it felt good to be out from a pre-determined fate. I didn’t like the idea of my destiny being written for me; the idea that somebody else was in control of my path. No, from now on, I was determined to make my own way, my own future.

As I lay there on the grubby tiles, my body was silently screaming at me. Crying out for attention, for healing. But right at this moment, seconds after escaping death, I was content to stare blankly at a dirty, cracked roof for a little while.

I wasn't sure how long I'd laid there, but I had just decided that ceiling tiles were in fact very boring, when I heard a soft groan from beside me.

I turned and found Cat beginning to stir.

Tank: "Come on. Let's get you two home."

It had been one hell of a long day, so when a couple of hours later, I helped a limping Cat into my apartment, I couldn't help but feel relieved just to be back in my own home.

We had dropped Aurora, who was still unconscious, off at the Fuyorian embassy, where we were assured that she would receive the best medical care available and then headed straight home. Now, completely exhausted, covered in both dried and still-drying blood, bruised battered and hurting all over, I helped Cat sit on the sofa before practically collapsing beside her.

On the flight home, I spoke to Cat and explained everything about Darkblade having been Jarred all along, about Mr. Grey having known my parents, and about my confrontation with Zeth, although I hadn't yet told her that I had killed him. She'd been surprised, but was just thankful we were both alive. I'd checked that she was alright and she was. Apparently Darkblade had snuck up behind her while she was on her way to the stores, and kicked in the leg before knocking her out. I on the other hand...

Cat: "You look awful." She commented, reaching over and rubbing some dirt from my face with her hand. It made no difference to my overall appearance whatsoever, but it was the thought that counted.

Tank: "I did nearly die." I replied, only semi-sarcastically as she wiped away another smear of something on my cheek.

Tank: "Cat, I need to tell you something." I began, taking hold of the hand that was on my face and gently pulling it away. Stripe's murder was playing on my mind. Cat frowned and leant back in the sofa, away from me.

Cat: "Okay?"

Tank: "Stripe is dead." I began, unable to look her in the eye. "I killed him. With my hands." I explained with difficulty.

The one thing I'd always told myself was that I wasn't a murderer. I'd killed before, sure, but only in battle or defence. So I was expecting shock. I was expecting horror. I was expecting Cat to hate me for murdering someone in cold blood.
But instead, she almost seemed to relax, as if she was relieved that that's all it was.
Tank: "But he was innocent." I continued, trying to convince her... or was it myself?... that murdering him had been justified.

Cat: "Tank, Stripe may not have murdered your parents, but he wasn't innocent by a long shot." She replied, taking my hand comfortingly. "I've killed innocent people before, all for my father, and it tears away at your soul, every time. Stripe was not one that my soul would have cried for." She continued understandingly. "Don't forget, he was an assassin. He may not have murdered *your* parents, but think of all the other parents, sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters... whoevers, that he has. He was a murderer."
I nodded in acceptance, having not thought about that before.

Cat: "*And* after everything he did to me when I was young, beating me for years, I'm glad he's gone. It's a harsh thing to wish somebody was no longer alive, but for him, I gladly make an exception."

I still wasn't sure about what I'd done and I probably wouldn't be for days, weeks, months, maybe even years to come, but Cat made sense. Stripe had been a terrible person, but that still didn't mean that I should have killed him. Although Jarred had been just as bad, maybe worse, and he was now dead too.

At least I assumed he was. There was no body left once the trains had passed so I guessed it had been swept away on the front of one, but I had no way of knowing for sure.

Jarred was strong. I knew that. But was he strong enough to withstand being electrocuted and struck by a high-speed train? I had no idea. I wouldn't have thought so, but the shadow of doubt still hung over me. And if in fact he *was* still alive, what did that mean for the prophecy? I had thought that it was over, that the prophecy had been fulfilled, but the weight that had earlier lifted, now returned to my shoulders and threatened to squash me into the ground. The thought of my fate being completely out of my control, for some reason, terrified me more than Darkblade himself had done. More than One. More than anyone else I'd fought.

The idea that I had no say in my own future made my chest tighten and my heart race. Was this an anxiety attack? I had no idea, I could barely think straight.

As I began panting for breath, I noticed Cat frowning at me.

Cat: "Hey. You okay?"

My breathing slowed and gradually returned to normal, the tightness in my chest also relaxing. With a deep breath, I nodded. Cat didn't look convinced and stood up.

Cat: "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up." She smiled sympathetically, reaching out for my hands. After a moment, I took them and prepared to go and wash.

The uncertainty of not knowing if Jarred, Darkblade, was still out there was unsettling. It made me nervous not to know. Was he alive? Would he be back? And if he was, *when* would he return?

Or was he in fact dead and I was worrying over nothing? Was he actually gone for good this time?

I had no way of knowing if the prophecy was fulfilled or whether it was still yet to come to fruition, but for now I concentrated on forgetting about it. Worrying would get me nowhere and after all, it may all be over nothing. I'd give myself time to recover and then I would begin investigating. Trying to find out for certain if Jarred had survived or not. If he hadn't, the prophecy was over. If he had... well... then I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

As much of a friend as he had once been, and for the past 3 years, I'd wished he was alive, this time, now, I hoped that he wasn't.

And even if, after everything, it emerged that my destiny was pre-written, I was determined that, whilst I had no say over my story's end, I would damn well be in control of everything that happened along the way.

'Oh well.' I thought, as Cat led me towards the bathroom. 'I guess only time will tell...'

**BONUS PICTURES**

An alternative image of Darkblade standing over Tank.

As my series is going to be jumping around though time, I will include a date on each episode and add it to the timeline at the end of each episode so that you can follow it.

TIMELINE