Swords clashed, meeting each other with loud clanging sounds: it was the three of us against Defender Dragon.

He was definitely a skilled opponent, for the most part he was managing to parry or deflect our attacks; and the few that did get through, barely did anything against him. I made a mental note to mention how tough Dragon’s armour was to Doctor Winters next time I saw her, though I didn’t know whether to give her my compliments or to swear at her: she’d done an excellent job on the suit, but that was clearly to our disadvantage.

However, slowly but surely, we were wearing him down. There were three of us, while he was alone: despite his skill, he couldn’t handle all of us at once, and some of our sword strikes, punches, and kicks were getting through. And the damage, it appeared, was mounting up, since he’d started walking backwards instead of standing still in one spot.

Desperately, Dragon glanced around, and spotted Maelyn off to the side, looking at him.

“Corporal Kim!” he shouted. “What the hell are you waiting for? Why are you just standing there? Do something!”

Mae, however, didn’t seem willing to take up the fight, and step by Dragon’s side against us; I still kept an eye on her as we fought, but she was just… Standing there.

Dragon gave a roar of frustration, and, still parrying our attacks, he turned to the Repulsoid Emperor.

“Your Highness!” he called out. “We have to leave! Get out of here, and regroup!”

The Emperor regarded him coldly. “Why should I help you?” he asked. “Need I remind you, you insulted me just a scant few minutes ago.”

Dragon seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then spoke up again. “I apologise, Your Highness,” he said, still dividing his concentration between the conversation and the battle. “It was out of frustration. But still, I’m the only one who can help you! I have connections, people who trust me. We can still recover from this.” He paused, and then he continued, in an almost pleading voice: “Please, Your Highness.”

There was a moment of silence as the Emperor stared at Dragon, but then he nodded. “Come, let us leave this place,” he said, extending a hand forward.

Dragon didn’t hesitate: he ran towards the Emperor, and took the offered hand.

And that’s when Maelyn sprung into action.

She ran forward, too, and in an instant she was beside the two, grabbing Dragon’s arm firmly with both hands.

“Corporal Kim, what--” Dragon said, before the three of them disappeared in a flash of light.

“Aw, damn,” I swore. “We’d almost gotten him too, and they managed to get away.”

Scarab turned towards me. “Would you like to go after them?” she asked.

I gave a start of surprise. “Wait, what? You know where they teleported to?”

“I am not sure, no,” she replied, tilting her head to the side. “But knowing the Emperor, knowing how he thinks, I can hazard a guess.”

“Let’s go, then,” I nodded.

“Wait, hold on,” Silver said.

Me and Scarab both turned to look at her, and said, “Yes?” at the same time.

“Are you sure about this?” Silver asked. “I mean, we’ve won. We’ve exposed the general’s true allegiance, that much should be enough, right?”

Scarab shook her head. “No, it is not enough,” she said. “He is currently at large, and could make a comeback whenever we least expect him.”

I nodded in agreement. “With his contacts, he can be really dangerous. I wouldn’t put it past him to still try and stage the coup, even though he didn’t manage to capture the president.”

“There is that, yes,” Silver said pensively.

“And also, the Emperor is still the leader of the Repulsoids,” Scarab continued. “If we are to achieve peace, he must be removed from power.”

Silver hesitated for a moment, but then nodded. “Alright. Let’s go.”

She took one of Scarab’s hands while I took the other, and off we went.

 

 

We appeared on a teleport platform in a small, darkened room; I looked around, trying to get my bearings.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“The Imperial Palace,” Scarab replied. “I chose one of the secondary teleport platforms instead of the main one, since that is in the throne room; knowing the Emperor, I am sure he chose that one to teleport to.” She pointed at a door. “If I am correct in my assumptions, they should be through there.”

Silver walked quietly up to the door, and put the side of her helmet against it. “You’re right,” she said. “I can hear them. They seem to be… Arguing. The general is shouting at Maelyn, though I can’t make out what they’re saying.”

“Maybe if we wait, they’ll take each other out?” I suggested.

“Too optimistic,” Scarab replied, shaking her head.

I sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” I walked up to the door and motioned to it. “Shall we?”

Silver nodded. “You do the honours, Steph.”

I nodded back, and flicked a lever on my morpher.

“Kick!”

I spun around, concentrating all my strength into my foot, and slammed it into the door, which detached from its hinges and flew off in an arc; Scarab and Silver quickly moved past me and into the room, and I followed right behind them.

I took in the throne room: it was bare, except for a teleport platform, and a throne sitting in the centre of the wide open space. The walls were glass, and let sunlight pour in from outside – it was a spectacular, cloudless day. We were clearly several hundred metres off the ground, and below us the light of the sun reflected off a huge body of water, which seemed to continue endlessly towards the horizon and beyond.

“Where are we?” I asked in awe.

“Before the war, this city was known as Chicago,” Scarab answered. “This is the tallest building, which the Emperor chose as his residence.”

Suddenly, I noticed three figures standing in the room: the Emperor, Defender Dragon, and Maelyn. They had turned their heads to look at the loud noise we’d made, and they all looked surprised to see us.

“Lorem,” the Emperor said. “Interesting. I did not think you would follow us.”

“We have a score to settle,” Scarab said. “With you, and General Ryder.”

“Are you sure about this?” he asked. “Remember, you have sworn fealty to me. I am your Emperor. It is not too late for you to rejoin me.”

“You seem to forget one thing, Your Highness,” Lorem replied. “Anyone has the right to challenge you for the throne. At any time.”

The Emperor’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You mean…?”

Lorem nodded. “Yes.”

There was a moment of silence.

“So be it,” the Emperor said, with finality.

He put a hand in front of his morpher, which made a chirping sound. “Activated. Confirmed: Light. Energise.”

A flash – the light was so bright, I had to shield my eyes – and the Emperor was gone, replaced by a figure in a sleek, white armour, trimmed in gold. He didn’t look at all different from the usual Repulsoid Leaders, but I knew that I had to be careful if I faced him: he was likely to be extremely strong.

Scarab took a stance. “I will take care of him. Stephanie, Emmy, you handle the general.”

“Not on your life,” Silver said, stepping up beside Scarab, and squaring off against the Emperor.

“Emmy…”

Silver shook her head. “Don’t you ‘Emmy’ me, Lorem. I will not leave you to fight on your own. We’re in this together.”

Scarab hesitated, but then nodded.

I turned to fully face Defender Dragon, and took a step towards him. “I’ll keep the general occupied,” I said. “Make sure he can’t attack you while you’re fighting the Emperor.”

“Thank you, Steph,” I heard Silver say.

Defender Dragon stood up straight as I approached him and Maelyn while the noise of battle rose up behind me. “Kennedy,” he growled. “You’ve changed since you left Defender Base, that much is true. But do you really think you can defeat us?”

“Us?” I queried.

He nodded. “Yes. Me, and Defender Black.” He turned towards Maelyn. “Morph, and help me fight Lieutenant Kennedy,” he commanded.

Mae just looked at him, without moving; she still had that weird look in her eyes.

“That was an order, Corporal Kim,” Dragon said brusquely. “Do it.”

Maelyn kept looking at him for a moment longer, then sighed deeply. Her hands moved down to her morpher.

“Welcome. Standby. Power Up!”

Defender Black turned to face me, and stepped forward in front of Defender Dragon. She unsheathed her sword.

“Mae. Please…” I said.

“Excellent,” Dragon said. “Now--”

“Let me ask you a question, general,” Defender Black cut him off.

Dragon gave a start of surprise. “What?” he asked.

“The recording Defender Silver played was genuine. It has to be, judging by how you and the Emperor reacted to it. So you two have been working together. Am I correct?” Black said.

There was a moment of silence. “Corporal Kim--” Dragon began.

“Answer the question,” Black interrupted him again.

“…Yes, we have.”

“Why?”

A pause. “What do you mean, why?” Dragon asked.

“Why have you been working with the Emperor? I’m not stupid, General Ryder. I’ve been behind enemy lines plenty of times. I have a pretty good grasp on the size of the Repulsoid army, on what they’re capable of. If you wanted, you could’ve crushed them years ago, and brought the war to an end. But you never went on the offensive. You just kept reacting to their attacks, you kept sending me in to…” She took a deep breath. “…To murder the enemy in their sleep. I didn’t speak up, I kept obeying orders, because I thought you had some kind of plan. Something in the works, some overall strategy. But now I find you’ve been in cahoots with the Emperor the whole time.” Black’s voice hardened and, more forcefully, she repeated the question: “Why?”

Defender Dragon seemed to hesitate, but then replied, his voice also hard: “Have you seen how this country treats veterans, Corporal Kim?” he said.

“…What?” Black said; I couldn’t see her eyes behind her helmet, but I was sure she was narrowing them.

“It’s a whole system. It swallows people, chews them up, and spits them out when they’re no longer useful, without healthcare, without a future, without as much as a thank you. It’s a disgrace. This has to change. I wanted to give soldiers a place where they can always belong. Where they can always feel home. I wanted to create a nation that would respect her troops. To do this, we needed a flag to rally behind, we needed a cause.” Dragon paused. “We needed an enemy.”

Realisation hit me. “Endless war,” I said. “This is what you wanted.”

“Exactly, Lieutenant Kennedy,” Dragon said. “Endless war. So that soldiers would always be needed. So that soldiers would have respect.”

“And when that didn’t work out, you decided to take matters into your own hands,” I said accusingly. “To overthrow the government, and install the military in its place.”

“In its rightful place,” Dragon replied. “Do you understand, Corporal Kim? I’m sure you do. We can still do this. After we defeat Kennedy and the others, I just need to give the signal.”

Throughout the entire exchange, Defender Black had stood still, facing me, her sword in her hand: she hadn’t moved even a single inch.

There was a prolonged moment of silence, punctuated by the sounds coming from the battle between Scarab, Silver, and the Emperor, all the way across the room.

“I understand,” Black said.

Lightning quick, she turned around and brought her sword down, slashing Defender Dragon across the chest; Dragon roared in pain and surprise, stepping backwards, and before I could blink Black was by my side, squaring up against Dragon.

“Stay on your guard, Stephanie,” she said. “Keep your sword up.”

I was surprised at the quick turn of events, but I had no time to worry; my sword appeared in my hand, and I took a stance.

“You TRAITOR!” Dragon bellowed, stepping forward.

Black launched herself at him, slashing with her sword, which Dragon blocked with his own. “It’s you who are the traitor, general,” she said, slashing once more – and hitting him in the arm – and then stepping back. “You’ve betrayed everything the army stands for.”

Defender Dragon just gave a wordless shout and started running towards us, sword raised.

“You go left, I go right,” Black said. “I’m going to accelerate, think you can keep up?”

My hand moved down to my morpher. “I hope so. I have a few tricks you haven’t seen.” I flicked a switch.

“Overclock!” my morpher said.

Everything seemed to slow down. Not by much, but I could perceive things more clearly, more distinctly, and I felt energy course through my body. Doctor Winters had told me to be careful using this function, as it put a strain on both my suit and my body, but the situation definitely called for it.

I nodded to Black, and stepped to my left, while keeping an eye on both her and Dragon. Like she always did, she seemed to blink out of… No, I could actually follow her movements, I realised. The new double-core suit, along with the morpher’s special function, allowed me to still see Black, even when she moved at incredible speed.

Dragon seemed startled by how fast we were. He roared and slashed at me with his sword, but I dodged the blade, and then knocked it away from me with my own weapon, throwing Dragon off balance.

That was the opening Black needed. In she came, her sword held high, slashing down at Dragon and hitting him once again square in the chest.

“Switch!” she said, as Dragon turned to her; that was my cue, and I spun around, slashing Dragon in the back.

Dragon tried to turn and hit me with his fist, and I ducked. “Switch!” I called to Black, and she slashed Dragon again.

We kept up the dance for a few strikes more, then stepped back. Dragon was staggering, he looked just about ready to collapse, but he wasn’t giving up. “You…” he hissed, looking up at the two of us.

“I think it’s time to finish this, don’t you think?” I asked Black.

She nodded. “I agree.”

I nodded back, and turned back towards Defender Dragon. “Hey, Ryder! Catch!” I shouted, and threw my sword at him: he instinctively slashed it out of the air.

In an instant, I was in front of him.

“Made you look,” I said, and flicked a lever on my morpher, which exclaimed, “Kick!”

Putting everything I had into the blow, I kicked Dragon in the stomach; he dropped his sword, and doubled over in pain.

“Steph! Duck!” I heard Black call, and I instantly dropped to the floor, just in time to see her come in at her usual extreme speed, her arm cocked back.

Black’s fist hit Dragon under his chin in a perfect uppercut with a loud, crunching sound; the force of the blow lifted him off his feet and sent him flying backwards, and he landed on his back a few metres away. He groaned, but then his muscles slackened, and he lay still.

“Clock Down,” my morpher said, and I felt most of my strength leave my body. I still managed to get up from the floor, walk over to Dragon, and take the morpher off of him, causing him to demorph. General Ryder didn’t even stir, he was out cold.

“I think that went well,” Black said, walking up beside me.

“It did,” I nodded. “Thank you.”

She looked at me. “No hard feelings?”

I hesitated. “…Some hard feelings, actually, but we can talk about it later.” I turned towards the other side of the room, where the battle was still raging. “After we go help Lorem and Emmy.”

We took off in that direction at a run. “Lorem I know, she’s Emerald Scarab, right?” Black asked, and I nodded. “So Silver’s name is Emmy.”

I nodded again. “Actually, you’ve met her before,” I said. “Though I don’t blame you for not recognising her.”

“What do you mean?”

“She used to be Defender Red, before I took up the mantle,” I replied.

Black stopped suddenly. “Defender Red?” she said. “You mean…?”

“Come on, keep up!” I called to her, and she resumed running.

When we reached Scarab, Silver, and the Emperor, I could see they were more or less evenly balanced: the Emperor was strong and skilled, as I’d expected, but the other two were more than capable of keeping him at bay. And I could tell he was getting frustrated at not being able to end the fight.

“Emmy! Lorem!” I called as we approached. “We’re here to help!”

When they heard us, they stepped back from the fight for a moment. “Glad to see you,” Silver said, glancing over at us. “…Both of you,” she added. “Sorry for kicking you in the stomach, Mae.”

“Don’t worry about it, I kinda deserved it,” Black replied, shaking her head.

“That you did,” Silver nodded. “But I’m glad you came around.”

“So, how do we do this?” I asked; but before either Scarab or Silver could answer, the Emperor spoke up.

“Four against one, is it now?” he said. “I thought better of you, Lorem. I thought you had more honour.”

“What do you even know about honour?” Scarab shot back. “You sent countless Soldiers and Leaders to their deaths, when you could have stopped the war any time you wanted.”

“It was my right as Emperor,” he replied.

“Well, your career is about to be cut short,” Silver said.

“Come at me, then!” the Emperor shouted, squaring off against us. “I can fight all four of you at once!”

“No, you just need to fight me,” Lorem said, stepping forward. “Emmy, if you would?”

Silver nodded, and then did something entirely unexpected.

“Mission Complete,” her morpher said, as her suit vanished; she unhooked the device from her wrist, and handed it to Scarab.

“Here you go,” she said.

“Thank you,” Scarab replied. “You should probably step back.”

Emmy nodded and complied, pulling me and Black along with her.

“What’s she doing?” I asked.

Emmy smirked. “Oh, our morphers can power each other up if need be. It’s a trick Doctor Winters built into them. You know how she is.”

“The doctor is alive?” Black asked, to which Emmy and I both nodded. “And why haven’t you used this trick before?”

“And demorph in the middle of a battle? I couldn’t do that, I needed someone to protect me,” she replied, punching me in the shoulder. “Now watch, it’s really cool, you don’t want to miss it.”

Scarab had been squaring off against the Emperor, and she pushed a few buttons on Emmy’s morpher, which she had fastened to her sword.

“Powering Up… Power Up Complete,” the morpher said, and Scarab’s sword started glowing with a silver light; at the same time, electricity started sparkling around the blade.

It looked really beautiful. Somewhat scary, but still: beautiful.

With a shout, the Emperor and Scarab launched themselves at each other; their swords swung forward… And Scarab’s blade sliced cleanly through the Emperor’s, before hitting the Repulsoid square in the chest.

The Emperor fell backwards, and I saw his armour disappear in a shower of sparks before he hit the ground: the strike had been too much for his morpher, and overloaded it.

Scarab was still for a few moments, then she straightened up; slowly, she stepped over to the defeated Emperor.

“You have lost, Your Highness,” she said. “Yield. Admit defeat, and your life will be spared.”

Even from a distance, I could hear the venom in the Emperor’s voice as he replied: “Never.”

Scarab shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

She raised her sword and stabbed it down; then she turned around and walked towards us, touching her morpher as she did so.

“De-Energise,” the morpher said, as Lorem’s suit disappeared.

“It is done,” she said when she reached us, handing Emmy her morpher.

Emmy hugged her, and squeezed her tight. “Yes, we’ve done it. You did well, Lorem.”

A moment of silence, then Black spoke up: “So what do we do now?”

Lorem sighed deeply. “We still have work to do before the day is over. For now, let’s head back to base.”

 

 

We made a quick detour on our way back: we teleported to Defender Base, and made our way to the guardhouse, where Clyde had been locked up after he’d helped me escape. He was really glad to see us, though a bit bummed that he’d missed all the action. Then we also went to the infirmary, to check on Eli, and found that he’d awoken from his coma the day before; with the two of them in tow, we jumped back to base, to find Doctor Winters, Amelia, Meg, Amet, and the president waiting for us.

The first thing Meg did was narrow her eyes at Maelyn as she materialised on the platform along with us. “What’s she doing here?” she asked, suspicion in her voice.

“She had… A change of heart,” I said. “It’s a long story, I’ll explain later. But everything is fine.”

“Is it really?” Meg said, glaring at Mae.

Mae nodded. “Yes, it is. And sorry.”

Meg held her gaze for a few moments, then nodded back.

“So, how did it go?” Amelia said. “Did you tear them a new one?”

“We have torn them a new one, yes,” Lorem replied with a smirk. “General Ryder is unconscious, and will likely have a terrible headache when he awakens. We have relieved him of his morphing device, and have left him in the care of my subjects: we can retrieve him at our convenience.”

“Good to hear,” Doctor Winters said. “And what about the Emperor?”

“The Emperor is dead,” Emmy answered, without missing a beat.

“Wait, dead?” the president asked.

Emmy nodded. “Of course. He refused to surrender, so we had to kill him.”

“So…” the president began, then frowned. “Who do I negotiate with now?”

“With me,” Lorem said. “It was I who killed the Emperor, so I have taken his place. And there will be no need for negotiations, Mr. President.”

The president’s frown deepened. “Wait, what do you mean?” he said, just as a Repulsoid growled loudly from across the room.

“Thank you, Britney,” Doctor Winters called back. “We’ll be right over.”

“I have an announcement to make, Mr. President,” Lorem said. “I would be grateful if you would stand by my side as I do so. I assure you this will bring peace between us. Between humans and Repulsoids.”

The president seemed to hesitate, but then nodded. “I don’t entirely understand the situation, but I think y’all have proven yourselves enough that I can trust you.”

“Thank you.” Lorem took a step back from us and morphed, then reached upwards and removed her helmet, letting her face show while still wearing her Leader armour.

“Please, come this way, all of you,” Doctor Winters said. “You stand here, Lorem, and you stand here, Mr. President,” she continued, pointing at two spots on the floor, in front of what looked like a TV camera. “Emmy, you can stand on Lorem’s other side.”

It took a bit of fussing, but after a few minutes everyone was in their assigned places; Britney took up position behind the camera, and grunted.

Doctor Winters nodded at Britney, and then turned to Lorem. “Whenever you’re ready,” she said.

Lorem seemed a bit nervous, but still nodded, took a deep breath, and began speaking.

“Humans. Repulsoids. People of Earth. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lorem. And, as you can see, I am a Repulsoid.

“Our races have been at war for ten years now. Ten long years, which have brought untold pain and suffering upon both sides. It was us who began this war, and we were clearly in the wrong in doing so: for this, I deeply apologise.

“However, it has come to our attention that there have been several people on both sides of the conflict who have schemed to prolong it, to keep fighting, against the explicit will of the general population. These people have been caught, and have been – or will be – punished for it. And, as a result, I have taken the place of one of them, at the top of the Repulsoid hierarchy: I am now my people’s leader, as the President of the United States is his people’s leader; he is one of two people standing by my side now.

“The other person is the love of my life, Emmy Kennedy. As you can see, she is a human. She used to be my enemy. Months ago, before I met her, I did not think it possible that a human and a Repulsoid could connect in such a way, but I was clearly in the wrong. Love can bloom, even on a battlefield. Even between very different people. Humans and Repulsoid can coexist. The two of us are living proof of this.”

She paused, and gave an embarrassed cough; Emmy had gone beet red, and was staring intently at the floor, while the president’s eyebrows had risen so high in surprise that they seemed ready to fly off his forehead.

Lorem swallowed, coughed again, took another deep breath, and continued.

“This war has gone on long enough. Too many people have suffered. It is time to bring it to an end. Therefore I, Lorem, Empress of the Repulsoids, along with Emmy, my Queen Consort, hereby declare this.”

She unhooked her sword from her belt, knelt down, and placed it on the floor, then stood up again.

“We surrender. Unconditionally. We will disarm all our troops, we will return all territory we are currently occupying. And we will share all our technology with you. The only thing we ask in return is for you to allow us to integrate peacefully into human society. To coexist. We know it can be done.”

She exchanged a significant glance with Emmy, who smiled at her, and then extended her hand towards the president.

The president looked at her for a few moments, then nodded, and took Lorem’s hand. “As President of the United States and Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces, I accept your surrender.”

Lorem nodded back. “Thank you, Mr. President.”

“And… Cut,” Doctor Winters said. “Thank you, everyone, that was perfect.”

There was a moment of silence, then I smirked. “Queen Consort, huh?” I said, walking over and punching my sister in the shoulder. “Suits ya.”

“Shut up,” Emmy replied. Then she turned to the doctor. “We don’t need to do another take, do we? I was just about to explode with embarrassment.”

Doctor Winters shook her head. “No, it was fine. We’ll check the recording, but I think it should be fine the way it is.”

“What are you going to do with it?” the president asked.

“We’re going to send it to all the major news networks,” the doctor replied. “CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC. Even Fox. And we’re going to upload it to YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, for good measure. Spread it as far and wide as possible.”

“Good. And I should probably get back to DC.” He paused. “Wait, how will I get to DC?”

“That’s no problem at all,” Emmy said. “Air Force One is still at Wright-Patterson, and there’s a teleport platform there. We can jump there, and then you’ll take your plane back to Washington.”

The president nodded. “Alright.” He turned to Lorem. “Will you come with me, Your Highness?” he asked. “So that we may put the finishing touches on the peace treaty and sign it.”

Lorem seemed to hesitate, and glanced at Emmy.

The president smiled. “Your Queen Consort can come too, if she wants.”

Emmy blushed fiercely once again, but then she nodded. “Let’s go.”

She morphed, and offered a hand to the president and one to Lorem, who grabbed them; the president’s Secret Service detail crowded around them.

A flash of light, and they were gone.

The eight of us – Doctor Winters, Meg, Amelia, Clyde, Eli, Mae, Amet, and I – were left staring at the spot they’d just vacated. There was a long moment of silence, then Megan spoke up. “Alright, do y’all wanna go grab a bite? So Steph can tell us what exactly happened, in detail.”

I sighed heavily. “Can’t it wait? I really just want to go and sleep for a long while right now, these past few days have been a whole year and a half.”

“Sorry, no can do,” Amelia said. “We wanna hear about it all first. Did ya punch General Ryder in the face?”

I smirked. “No, I kicked him in the stomach. Mae was the one who punched him in the face.”

“Oh really?” Meg said, looking from me to Maelyn and back again, her eyebrows rising in surprise. “Come on, you two. Deets.”

“And after you’re done recounting what happened, there’s something I have to discuss with you all,” Doctor Winters said.

“Oh?” I asked. “What is it?”

“You see, I’ve talked with the president while you were gone. About everything.” She smirked. “And we have a proposal.”