Their Names Across The Multiverse

"What's up?" said the plant creature, doing a 'hey' pose with her hand.

"Who are you?!" demanded Sunset Spider, pointing her webbing shooter at the lookalike.

"Me? My name is Sunflower! And I'm here to help you because I'm part of the guardi-" Sunflower stopped talking as she noticed Sunset Spider was flapping her hand like a mouth, mocking her. "Hey, quit that!"

Sunset Spider stopped and smirked.

"Look, what the others had told me, you are just some monster living in this vast multiverse tree and wanting to kill us. So sorry, but we are not falling for your tricks!"

Sunflower was surprised that someone had the guts to stand up to her, so she was impressed by this human.

"Damn girl, judging a book by its cover, huh? I'm not like the others; I just SHIT!" Sunflower's face was covered in webs as Sunset Spider aimed her shooter at her. "That's a dirty move..."

"Cry me a river!"

Sunset Spider's senses quickly went off again as she ducked down and dodged another root attack, missing her. She promptly jumped over her and fired her webbing, shooting at the wall and swinging across the large lobby.

Sunflower finally got the webbing off and glared at Sunset Spider, who landed on the wall and flipped her off. "Oh yeah?! Well, let's see how you handle the rest!"

Roots appeared around her; she raised her hand and unleashed tons of roots at her while others went back underground. Sunset Spider was going to fire her webbing again, but her senses warned her that something was coming from within the wall she was on. She flipped over in time to see roots bursting out of the spot she was on. She quickly shot a webbing and swung away as the roots chased her.

"Nice moves! But something is telling me that you have some magical powers to see the future; if so, then you must SHIT! AGAIN!?" shouted Sunflower in anger as Sunset Spider fired a webbing that covered her face again.

"Ha! I'm not a magical user like Dr. Wonder! It's thanks to my Spider-Sense!"

"Spider-Sense?" asked the group, who were still trying to get free.

"It's a power of mine that lets me sense danger and dodge things like these!"

Roots appeared out of the walls and the floor, making Snake and the others panic, as it was too close to them. The roots darted toward Sunset Spider, but she easily dodged them all.

Sunset Spider landed in front of Sunflower; she narrowed her eyes at her and could see her trying to get the webs off again.
"Sorry, but this is the end for you!"

She fired her webbings at her nonstop, covering Sunflower in a cocoon.

"Got her!" said Sunset Spider as she panted a little, as this was her first time in a real fight in a long time. She walked up to her and removed the webbing from her face. "Okay, Conker Bad Fur Day Sunflower rip off, release the others, and we will go!"

"Rip off? Conker? What?" Sunflower was confused by the names. "Just listen to me already! I'm not FUCKER!" her face was covered in webbing once more.

Sunset Spider sighed and started to walk away to release the others herself.

"You're the bad guy here! There's no need to talk to you anymore!" She reached Soraya and tried to pull the roots off of her. "Besides, I met a ton of villains in my time as a superhero. So, no need to speak, as I've heard it all! All you want to do is kill me, the good guys, and Blah, blah, blah! Give it a rest!"

A root burst out of the ground and pulled the webbing off Sunflower's face, freeing her. She quickly spoke to her: "Damn, you are annoying, you know that right!?"

"Thanks!" Sunset Spider gave a thumbs up to her.

"It's not a compliment!"

Sunset Spider's senses went off, and she quickly did a backflip in time to dodge the roots, stopping her from freeing Soraya.

"I'm getting annoyed with you! I'm trying to help!"

"Well, you're doing a terrible job!"

Sunflower groaned and decided to show off her full powers by closing her eyes, and soon, the whole garden sprouted giant sunflowers, and they all released yellow pollen at her.

"What the heck?" said Snake as the others started feeling funny.

The pollen reached Sunset Spider's nose, and she quickly smelled the weird scent. She quickly covered her nose with her arm, stopping herself from taking in the pollen.

"That's a new trick! I've never fought a villain with a weird pollen attack before. I gotta say, this is pretty creative. So, what will the pollen do to me, huh? Paralyzed me, or is it the classic poison thing?"

"Nope!" answered Sunflower, becoming smug. "Tell me, do sunflowers have a scent?"

"What? Some sunflowers do, but others, like the common Mammoth Russian or Giant Greystripe, don't!"

Sunflower blinked a few times before speaking again. "Wait, really?" she shook her head. "Anyway! The scent you just smelled, what did it smell like?"

"I don't know; the scent reminded me of something." Sunset Spider was thinking of something, wondering why the scent was so familiar. "I remember now. That was the same scent I smelled during that hot summer day...with Uncle Ben..." Her mind started to fill with the memory of that day.

Sunset Spider found herself in the lake, where Uncle Ben took her that hot summer day as a child. She remembered the smell of the water and the cool breeze. She remembered the birds' sounds and Uncle Ben tossing his fishing line into the water. She remembered now that they had gone fishing that day. She also remembered tossing her line into the water, and the line was suddenly tugged.

"Oh, looks like someone is pulling your line, Petra," said Uncle Ben.

"Cool! Maybe it's a big fish!"

"It could be; maybe it's a shark or something," he jokingly said, watching the poor child try her best to pull the fish out of the water.

This continued for a few more minutes, and Sunset Spider remembered what happened next.

"...I started to cry because I couldn't catch the fish, no matter how hard I tried." She felt herself start to cry as she recalled this memory. "It was so frustrating and sad, but Uncle Ben came to my aid, giving me his words of wisdom."

"You think things were going to be easy, girl? Huh? Did you?" he asked, still watching her struggle to reel in the fish.
Sunset Spider remembered how mad she got when he was laughing at her.

"Don't laugh at me, Uncle Ben!" she said, reeling in the fish with no luck. "I'm trying, but you know my rotten luck!"
Her Uncle shook his head in disappointment.

"Nonsense, girl. Good or bad luck is nothing but the wrong or right mix of opportunity, preparation, and confidence." When he said that, she was able to reel in the fish. "Now I know you're prepared because I had a hand in that; we're looking square at the opportunity, so confidence is the only thing holding you back. You have to believe in yourself and others, Petra Parker. It's all about belief, and that's what separates the winners and the losers."

Petra cried as she watched her younger self jumping for joy with the caught fish while her Uncle Ben stood there and was proud of her.

"And those are the words of wisdom I will always carry. Even though you are gone, Uncle Ben, your words live on."

Petra felt tears rolling down her cheeks and finding herself back in the garden. She used her arm to rub the tears away.

"...how did you..." she sniffed, looking back at Sunflower, who was getting free from the webbing thanks to her roots.

"What you smell will make you calm down and relax by remembering your wonderful memory."

Petra quickly remembered what her uncle had said about the power of believing in yourself and others. She closed her eyes, feeling herself start to become calm. She opened her eyes, looking at the others, who were relaxed and smiling as they remembered their beautiful memories as they were asleep.

"...believing in others..." She sighed and turned her attention back to Sunflower. "Okay, I'll bite! I'll trust you...for now."

Sunflower smiled at her and walked over to her. Petra was still uncertain about the plant girl but was willing to give her a chance—even more so that her spider sense wouldn't trigger like before.

"Thanks. Sorry for attacking you, but you didn't allow me to explain myself."

"My bad," she said but then pointed her thumb to the roots that carried the others to them. "But come on, you attacked us first with those roots!"

Sunflower crossed her arms, realizing she was right. "Well, now you mention it. It may look like that, but I was trying to help."

"Help? By tying us up with those roots?"

"Yeah! That's part of my ability as a Tree Guardian, to help those around me, and my powers can't reach you without holding you down."

Petra gave her a confused look.

"Huh?"

Sunflower explained herself.

"First, let me explain something. Tell me, when a body gets sick, what does it do?"

Petra gave her another confused look but answered her. "When a body gets sick from a virus, it uses its immune system to fight against the invading foreign body, but sometimes the body's immune system isn't enough, and it needs medicine or a doctor's help."

Sunflower did a pointing pose at her. "Bingo!"

"Please don't do that."

Sunflower pouted at Petra and continued explaining to her. "Anyway, you are correct. The body will release antibodies to attack the virus and help the body recover."

"But how does that..." It hit her. "Wait, you're saying the tree is...?"

She did the same pointing pose while Petria cringed at it. It didn't help how Sunflower looked like her. "Another bingo! Yes." She returned to her usual pose and looked up, making Petra do the same. "The Prime Tree became sick as something invaded inside of it. It awakens us, the Guardians of the Tree, to fight whatever is causing it to be sick, which is..."

"Us?" asked Petra, looking back at her. "We are the virus?" She started to put everything together after learning from the others. "It makes sense now about each floor and those monsters." She thought of the one thing that didn't add up. "How does our us being here make the tree sick?"

Sunflower turned, seeing her roots putting everyone down beside them. "See, at first, we thought you sixteen folks who appeared were causing it, but we were wrong as we saw that former Watcher and Rainbow Light woman fighting. Of course, some other guardians disagree with us on that."

Petra nodded in understanding, looking over at the others. She noticed they were all still remembering the beautiful memories they held dear. But she was confused when she heard sixteen people. She wanted to ask Sunflower about that, but she didn't let her as she continued.

"As the others went to fight you, the rest of us watched and learned. We listened to the Watcher and that Rainbow Light woman talk, and that's when we learned about what was happening at the top of the tree. We can't exit out of the tree itself; we aren't like Universe Guardians who protect their respective universe."

Petra watched as Sunflower removed the roots from the others and sat down, looking at them all.

"If those kids above cause the tree to be sick, we want to help, too. We understand why that Rainbow Light woman brought you all here and why the four other guardians made you forget and let you enter."

"Other guardians? Made us forget?" questioned Petra, sitting beside her.

Sunflower nodded.

"Yeah, when you arrived here with that Rainbow Light, four guardians were awakened before us and confronted you all. Even now, I can sense their magic on you. What we learn makes sense as to why they put a spell on all of you." Her roots slowly returned to her and acted like snakes, curling around her, wanting to be petted. "Okay, now about my powers. If you haven't already noticed, we look alike, don't we?"

Petra nodded.

"See, unlike the Universe Guardians, which can be anything their Authors envision them to be, we Tree Guardians are somewhat based on the Prime versions of...well, the original you."

"Prime versions...of us?"

"Yeah."

Petra watched as Sunflower summoned a flower in her hand, which bloomed and created a small prism window. They looked inside and saw Sunset Shimmer Prime as if she was trapped in a time loop. They watch as Rainbow Dash slaps her butt with a rowing paddle by accident, causing her to softly say thank you, causing Dash to blush as she walks away.

"See, all the multiverse that branches out of the tree come from here. The Prime Universe, where every version of you comes from."

Petra watched, seeing this prime Sunset Shimmer, trying to understand and stop the time toop from happening.
"So I was right! Like how I told Captain Applecore about branches of the multiverse."

"Yes, the Prime Tree gives life to all the multiverses in this part of the forest." She placed the prism window into her palms and closed her hands together. Soon, she reopened it, revealing a tiny forest of different colors of Prime Trees. "Your universe is a crossover universe. It happens when two Prime Tree's branches touch each other. You are a version of Sunset Shimmer but also-"

"Peter Parker? Spiderman. O'hara told me when he came into my universe, recruiting other Spider folks like me into his little group." She looked up at her. "But what does have anything to do with your powers, which you still haven't explained."

Sunflower closed her hands and opened them again, revealing orange pollen from before.

"My powers are based on Sunset Shimmer. Empathy. My pollen makes anyone smell a scent from their happy memory and relax. I can also look into their memories to understand and help them." She tossed the pollen and blew it, causing it to turn into a rainbow prism.

"Whoa!" gasped Petra, looking up.

The prism pollen rained around them, making the garden glitch out with prism colors.

"It's why I want to help. Help them fight their saddest memories and help them remember how they moved on from their darkest times. I think that's why they made you all forget, to relearn how to-"

"Move forward," Petra finished, making Sunflower look back at her. I understand. I think I finally got it." She looked down at the others, seeing their happy expressions become hurt and saddened. "To help those kids, we must remember why moving forward is needed. We all share that same pain that they do...right?"

"Correct," she said, nodding. "That's why we need...huh!? What's wrong?" she asked, seeing Petra's face becoming confused and alert. She quickly stood up and searched around them. "What's wrong!? You don't believe-"

"No! My spider sense is going off like crazy!" shouted Petra, still searching for the threat that was nowhere to be found.

"What?" said Sunflower, confused, looking around. She saw nothing wrong or out of place. "Where's the danger? There's no danger anywhere, just us and-"

"Wait a minute!"

Sunflower didn't have time to react as Petra quickly grabbed her and fired her webs into a massive shield of webbing, blocking a black beam fired at them. The ground under the others began to break apart as the beam was deflected. Seeing the others in trouble, Petra quickly webbed them all up and pulled them back towards her and Sunflower.

"I've got you all!"

After saving them, Petra and Sunflower turned to the source of the attack and saw a figure walking on its hind legs.

"...Friends..."

Walking into the light, they could see the shadow creature. The same creature that was chasing after the others, as they explained to Petra during their talk before Sunflower appeared.

"I forgot about her!...or it! Whatever it is!" she turned to Sunflower, who was on guard now. "Please tell me that's one of your guardian friends?"

Sunflower shook her head and summoned her roots, ready for a fight. "No. She's part of why the tree is in danger of dying. It's all because of that former Watcher! That Rainbow Light came here with two others before bringing you all here. Those two became infected by that dark energy and became that..." They could see the creature's front legs become dark black dripping claws.

"And it's still changing her!"

Before Petra could ask what she meant, the ground under them started to break apart, but bursting out were sunflower petals, and they were slowly sealing them in while Sunflower herself slowly went toward the creature.

"HEY!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I CAN HELP!" screamed Petra, trying to stop the petals from closing.
Sunflower didn't listen and kept her focus on the creature.

"A version of Twilight Sparkle, infected by the dark negative energy of stories, stories where that former Watcher rewrote its fate." Her roots burst out from the ground and held the creature down. She turned to Petra, who struggled to stop the petal from closing. "HERE!" she summoned a sunflower in front of Petra. "Take it! Use my pollen and dive into their memories! Make them remember how they moved on! How did they overcome their darkest times? They will be able to help those kids fully! You must believe in them and yourself."

Petra looked down at the flower and back at Sunflower. She didn't want to leave her like this, but she had no choice. She wanted to save everyone, but...

"You can't save everyone!" shouted Miguel O'Hara as he and Petra were on top of the roof of a building at night.

Petra removed her mask and pushed O'Hara. "So we’re just supposed to let people die!? Making a group of Spider-people should be about saving lives, not watching them die because some algorithm says that that’s supposed to happen. I won't sign up for that!"

O'Hara removed his mask and gave her a severe look.

"You have a choice between saving one person and an entire world. Every world. Tell me, what matters more!? One single human life or millions?"

Petra glared at him. "I can do both!"

O'Hara shook his head and put his mask back on. "You can’t have it all, girl. Being Spider-Man is a sacrifice. That’s the job. That’s what you signed up for. If you can't handle that, you don't belong in this group." He turned his back to her and turned a device on his wrist, opening a rift. "Maybe I was wrong about you?"

Petra looked down, realizing what he meant.

O'Hara walked toward the rift but stopped and turned his head to her. "The hardest thing about this job is you can’t always save everybody. Sometimes, you have to let them go. You have to let it play out if it means to save everyone else."

Petra snapped out of it, realizing the pollen had gotten into her nose. She looked at the flower, grabbed it, and leaned back, allowing the petal to close fully. She looks at it and then at the others.

"Okay, Sunflower, how do I dive into their memories? Do I-huh!?" Without warning, the flower hugged her face, and the roots quickly shot out to the others, covering their faces.

Petra didn't fight it; she allowed it to do whatever it needed. Her body went lifeless and fell to the ground. The sunflower stem was pulsing as it pumped the pollen into them all.

"Hey, you okay?" said a raspy voice.

Petra opened her eyes and saw Snake looking at her. She quickly got up and found herself in a black void—nothing but darkness.

"Where are we?"

Snake took out a sugar stick, chewing on it. "No clue. I remember seeing pollen and....well, here I am."

Petra quickly remembered how she got there and speedily explained what was happening to Snake.

"I see, but how do we find the others? How she made it sound, you should land in one of my memories, no? Yet here we are, middle of nowhere," Snake questioned, finishing her sugar stick.

Petra looked around, trying to find something, but everything was just...dark.

"Hmm, well, the only thing we can do is walk."

They both did so.

As they walked, Snake looked up at her and her wrist. Petra could feel like she was being looked at, so she turned to Snake, who quickly looked away. Petra shrugged it off as nothing and kept walking. Snake looked again, and Petra caught her looking.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Snake took out a sugar stick and pointed it at Petra's wrist.

"So, you fire webbing from your wrists?"

Petra sighed, remembering she still needed to explain her powers. "Well, yeah. It came with the whole powers. I have super strength, a healing factor, and the spider-sense I said before when I got bit by that orange, red, and black spider."

The two said nothing else as they continued to walk in the darkness...until Snake asked something.

"So, you don't fire your webbing from your ass?"

"W-WHAT!?" shouted Petra, turning to Snake, who laughed.

"Just kidding." She smiled.

Petra rolled her eyes and kept walking. It felt like hours in this endless void of nothingness until they started to hear fighting. They began to run, and soon enough, the void revealed a long roadway in the desert. This made Snake remember this place.

"I have been here before! This is Tanya's memory when she-"

Before Petra could hear Snake finish, her spider sense went off, and she quickly grabbed her and rolled out of the way. A dragon made up of lasers came soaring out and circling them. They soon saw Tanya fighting Jenny. Even though Tanya was using her beam sword, Jenny was still holding her own with nothing but her fists and kicks. Jenny was quick, darting around the battlefield and unleashing punches and kicks on to Tanya, who blocked each one.

The two clashed; Jenny used a high kick, and somehow, her bare leg pushed the beam back. Even Tanya was confused by this feat, as the laser beam sword should have cut her bare leg in half, but instead, her leg glowed from the flashes of the clash, and the blade couldn't cut her.

"How is this possible?" questioned Tanya, trying her best to overpower Jenny.

"What's the matter, Tanya? I'm the last one left." taunted Jenny, pushing the sword down.

Jenny quickly staggered Tanya, forcing her to back up, and when she did, Jenny saw her chance, ready up a punch, and swung with all her might. As Jenny's fist landed right into Tanya's heart, Tanya could watch and say what.

"TANYA!" screamed Snake, taking out her gun, but only for her weapon to disappear. "What!?"

Petra tried to save Tanya with her web-shooters, but nothing came out. They were forced to watch as blood came shooting out of the wound. Tanya's expression was that of shock and fear as she looked at Jenny, who was smiling as the blood landed on her face. Tanya slowly looked away from Jenny and at her chest, seeing the killing blow somehow missed her heart by a few inches. The two just looked at each other, not saying a word.

Above them, a teenage school girl with a standard katana and a robotic arm came falling between them. The teenager cut Jenny's hand off with one slice, releasing Tanya.

The girl looked at Tanya with worry and anger. "DO IT!"

"R-Right..." replied Tanya, recovering from seeing her wannabe student saving her life. She gripped her beam sword, readying herself, but through her pink shades, she could see Jenny looking at her with sadness and fear.

"Sister, please don't kill me..."

Tanya's eyes became sad as she kept looking at her.

"Sorry, Jenny, but this will hurt me too."

Jenny's scared look became emotionless as she spoke to Tanya again.

"Now you see what I've been through? You saw firsthand what I had to do to get my vengeance..."

Tanya slowly raised her weapon. "Maybe it had to be done... But vengeance begets vengeance."

Jenny watched as Tanya's beam sword raised above.

"We're both in the same business, after all. And I've had enough," said Jenny, and for the first time, it had more happiness behind those words than cold ones.

Tanya tightened her grip even more.
"Time for you to rest, Jenny."

Jenny slowly closed her eyes, and with a smile, she said. "Good night, Tanya."

"I hope your next dream is a more pleasant one."

Tanya said that as she sliced her beam sword across Jenny's body. All of the slashes were clean, no blood or anything. Just echoes of something scattering. They stood there, not moving. The teenager stood, and when she did, she and the others saw it happen.

On the reflection of Tanya's shades, Jenny's head slowly fell off, and soon, her body started to stumble forward, causing the rest of her body to fall apart and hit the ground. The last part to fall was Jenny's lower half. Tanya slowly stood upright and just looked at the body of her sister.

The teenager turned around and started walking off the endless road, leaving Tanya alone.

"It's over. This is where it all ends. Right, Silvio?" said Tanya, just staring at Jenny's dead body.

"Tanya..." whispered the two, seeing her just standing there, not doing anything.

Snake walked up to Tanya, and a voice could be heard as she did.

"But it's never over, sister!" shouted a female English accent from nowhere.

Soon, the endless roadway became the parking lot of a motel. The two could see the motel sign that read 'No More Heroes.' The motel itself was just a tiny building. The rooms' doors were painted red, black, and blue, with a few being green.

Soon, the two could see two beam swords clashing. Tanya's pink beam sword was pushing back a white one, and the welder of that white beam sword was a woman who looked the same age as Tanya and even looked like her, just with blonde puffy hair.

"Stupid sister! I'm afraid not. These fights don't work like that. It's time to die, Ms. First Rank."

The two kept pushing with all they had, but it was a stalemate, and the blades were sparking each other from the power.

"Who is that?" questioned Petra.

Snake kept watching. "I don't know...but I think she has something to do with Tanya and why she kept moving forward ."

The two sisters kept pushing until they started to run to the side, running down the street while still being in the clash of swords.

"Mind if I ask you something?" asked Tanya, running as fast as she could.

"Sure mate, ask away. You are my dear twin sister."

"THAT!" shouted Tanya, pushing back slightly more. "HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU MY SISTER!? FIRST, JENNY AND NOW YOU! ARE THERE ANY MORE SISTERS I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!? LIKE WE'RE ALMOST AT THE END OF THE GAME AND YOU BRING THIS SHIT INTO THE MIX! YOU KNOW THIS IS SO OUT OF LEFT FIELD THAT THE READERS WILL NEED TO PLAY NO MORE HEROES TO UNDERSTAND THIS JOKE!"

Her sister huffed at her. "Please, you know they are going to watch a video about it than playing the damn game!"

Tanya became angry. "FUCKER! NO MORE HEROES ONE RE-RELEASED!"

"And it was hot garbage!"

Tanya shook her head. "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT NO MORE HEROES PARADISE, SHIT HEAD! I'M TALKING ABOUT THE RE-RELEASE ON THE SWITCH AND OTHER CONSOLES! HELL, ITS ON PC NOW!"

"Yes, yes, can we move the plot along? I think the readers are xing the page as we speak."

"Yeah, whatever! Anyway, where's Silvio anyway?! He disappeared without a trace. Where the hell is he?" questioned Tanya, remembering Silvio never showing up with the cleaning crew for Jenny. She had to bury her dead sister in the boiling desert.

"Silvio? You mean my husband?"

Tanya became shocked, learning that her lover is married to...to... "Wha? Husband!? And what's your name!?"

Her sister gave her a shit-eating grin. "Yes, you know. Spouse, soul mate. Henrietta's wife. Get the idea?"

"When did you two get married?"

Henrietta had to think about it, as she did the number of years in her head. "About ten years ago. Yes, that's right. Cause we were both in college at the time."

They came to a stop, breaking off from the clash. Tanya placed her hand over her eyes, still not believing this.
"Oh shit! All news to me. I'm going to need shock treatment to get over this one."

Henrietta dusted off her shoulder after getting dirt on it from the fighting. "I'm sorry for all the trouble my husband has caused you. Forgive him."

Tanya froze in place, her hand still on her eyes.
"He caused me some trouble, all right. But it helped me clear up a lot of things."

Henrietta returned her attention to her dear sister. "Eh, I know how men are. Especially my husband... A huge spender. Yeah. He knew my income wasn't enough, so now and then, he'd disappear."

Tanya slowly revealed her eyes, eyeing Henrietta, who took out a cup of tea and drank it. "He's a bad husband... But a good man."

Henrietta spit her tea and wiped her mouth.

"What? Are you telling me that you and him...?"

They both clashed swords once more, pushing each other back like before.

"But Tanya, my dear sister...We are similar in many ways," she said, her eyes filled with hate and anger.

Tanya smirked at her, enjoying how pissed she made her. "You're right. Suddenly, you being my sister doesn't sound so awkward."

The two started to run again, blazing down the street as their beams swords sparked with fury.

"Let me ask you," said Henrietta, smiling now. "How do you plan to end all of this?"

Tanya was shocked by her question. She never thought about it; she just believed it would all be over with when Jenny died, but after returning home, she was ambushed by a ranked assassin, only for her twin sister to come in and save her ass.

"You're the protagonist. I'm just a cool, handsome foil who happens to be your twin sister. Hate to say it, but it's your job."

Tanya's heart started to beat like crazy, realizing she was forever trapped in this ranked assassin's life. She darted around, looking for something...anything.

"I want to bail, but where the hell's the exit? There's no way out, is there? No getting out... Right, sis?" her eyes calming down now and becoming cold.

They broke the clash again, jumping away from each other. Henrietta readies her beam sword, smiling.

"That's right. All we can do is keep running."

Tanya readies her beam sword as well.

"Then let's find that exit they call Paradise."

Petra and Snake watched as the twin sisters ran down the street and jumped into the air, their beam swords slowly reaching each other's necks. They watched as the darkness returned, making Tanya fall face-first to the ground.

"Owie!"

"Tanya!" shouted the two, running to her but stopped as they heard Tanya's voice echoing in the darkness. Even Tanya herself was surprised by her voice being heard.

"This count... I feel as if I'm looking at my future self. Megabucks, big ass houses, fast cars... Dining in style with a world-class chef and a trusty nutritionist counting every calorie." Suddenly, shadow images of Tanya beheading someone appear and quickly disappear. "A team of hot yoga instructors to keep me in shape. Nurses to attend to my body..." Again, another shadow image of Tanya appears, cutting a cowboy's throat, and just like before, it is gone. "Maids and loyal servants at my beck and call. On the weekends, tanned hunks knock on my door every two hours. Every day is full of excitement and luxury." Another shadow shows her slicing a superhero shadow in two. "That'd be the life. Everything is in its proper place. It's the perfect life. It's the life for winners." Her shadow is holding a young female in her arms. "That'll be my life! I thirst for selflessness. Hypocrites lusting for their desires get killed by young rookies like me." Her shadow watches as a man is sliced in half by a giant saw. "This is how it goes down. And for the old killers? They'll croak anyway." She's beheading an old fat lady. "I guess you can call this a comedy. I realize there's nothing here for me." The last shadow image of her is falling over and stabbing a young girl who's holding a baseball bat. The beam sword stabs her right in the chest. The girl didn't care that she was stabbed. She kept smacking away at Tanya with her bat.

Tanya shut her eyes as images of her killing more ranked assassins flashed. Some were old, others very young, but they all wanted the same thing from her as her voice kept talking.

"But what else can I do but keep going? Maybe I should have been a little more careful before I jumped in. Gotta find the exit."

More killing, more blood being spilled.

"Gotta find that exit to Paradise. But I can't see it. Can't see anything."

The darkness slowly being covered in red. Endless bodies falling around her.

"This sense of doom is running down my spine like it's... Like it's trying to suck the life out of me."

Out of the redness, a single person appeared. Tanya opened her eyes, tears filling them as if she knew that person.

"I need to get rid of it before I bail. Something deeper... Deeper than my instincts is taunting me."

She slowly reached for that person.

"Can't find the exit."

The person reached out to her as well.

"Can't find the exit. Can't find the exit."

Tanya grabbed its hand, removing the redness from its body. She revealed a woman with a deadpan face. Tanya smiled as she said her name.

"Maude..."

Her disembodied voice kept repeating the exact words from before, over and over again.
"Can't find the exit. Can't find the exit!"

"Tanya," said Maude...as her body became riddled with bullet holes. Soon, a kid's evil laughter could be heard as Maude's head became detached from her neck and fell in front of Tanya.

Tanya's eyes were shaking, and her body was trembling. She slowly looked down and saw her glaring back at her.

"You did this," whispered Maude.

"NO!"

Tanya hugged Maude's head, clutching it tight, but she could feel it becoming wet from something. She pulled back and looked down. Her hands and body were covered in blood. She slowly looked up at the red void, not even shedding a tear.

"Tanya," said Snake, slowly walking up to her.

Tanya just sat there, not moving an inch. Snake knew this was bad, and she needed to say something to her.

"Look, I know how it feels having someone's blood on your hands. It's a horrible feeling. Even more so when you indirectly kill them. But I promise, the pain will fade away. And you'll learn how to deal with it. And when you do, you'll become a better person."

"How could you know that?"

Snake stood there, searching for her sugar stick in her pocket until she found it. She offers it to her.

"Because you are still here, aren't you? Still kicking, still fighting for the people you care about."

Tanya took the sugar stick, staring at it.

"You could have given up long ago, but you didn't. So take that feeling and use it to help those you love. Some people care for you and would fight by your side, like that teenager who saved you."

Tanya just let the sugar stick fall to the ground, covered in blood.

"But I'm trapped in these endless ranked battles! Other ranked assassins keep appearing and wanting to kill me! What can I do, Snake?"

"Find that exit!" answered Snake, grabbing her shoulders.

Tanya stared into her eyes.

"You did it once before, didn't you? Wasn't that why you were called the Crownless Queen? Because you found that exit to Paradise!"

Tanya suddenly remembered that. She escaped from the rankings, was given that title, and became a living legend in the ranked assassin's community.

"Yeah... Yeah! You're right, Snake! I can do this again, right? Find that exit and be free from all of this?"

"Yes, that's the spirit."

Tanya started to get up, but soon, the bodies of her parents, Jenny and Maude, and the assassins she befriended appeared all around her. They were reminding her that she had caused their deaths. She fell back to her knees, giving up again.
Snake was going to say something, but Petra did instead as she walked past Tanya.

"It wasn't your fault."

"Huh?"

Petra kept her back turned, but her hands were clenched into a fist.

"If anyone is responsible, it's the ranked assassin company for those assassins' deaths here. Even Jenny." She faced her. "They knew what they were in; they chose to die like this, knowing the risks, and that is a fact."

Snake joined in.

"Vengeance is not the answer, yet that is what Jenny did. She let her anger blind her, and that is the reason she died."
Petra and Snake helped her to her feet.

"Don't lose hope now, Tanya," said Snake.

"B-But Madue's death is on my hands..."

Petra and Snake looked at each other.

"I killed her..."

They returned their gaze to her.

"I'm the reason she's dead. Her death is on my hands..."

The two let go of her and stood before her.

"You didn't kill her."

Tanya looked at them.

"What?"

"You didn't kill her. Her death is on no one's hands."

Tanya was confused by their words.

"Her death was a tragedy, and it was not your fault, Tanya," said Snake. "You can't let eat away at you."

"Yeah, her death isn't on you, and you know it," added Petra.

"But...but...but, I-"

"It's not your fault. Stop blaming yourself and find that exit. Keep going, kid." smiled Snake, pushing her to run.

Petra joined in with the push, shoving her hard. "Find that exit again. You found it once; you can find it again..."

Tanya started to run, looking for the exit. She could hear their voices again.

"You can find it because you already did. Keep searching, Crownless Queen, because..."

Soon, Tany could see her friends, twin sister, and Silvio running alongside her, cheering her on and telling her she wasn't alone—she never was. She even heard Maude's voice in the wind.

"...you have people who want you to succeed, who believe in you. So, don't give up, Tanya! Not ever."

Tanya smiled with renewed hope. "Right!"

She kept running, and soon, the darkness disappeared, and the light appeared. The doorway to Paradise...

Tanya exited it and found Snake and Petra again waiting for her. She joined them and rubbed her nose with her thumb.
"Yeah, I remember now! When Spark came to me, I lived with Silvio and our son. It was a few years since Maude's death, and I have been out of the ranked assassin community for a good few years. I was planning a getaway from the family as I wanted some alone time...and like I said, Spark came to me. Telling me how I kept moving forward, even with all the death...I still escaped and even started a family and tried to have a normal life, which she said was impossible...which made her smile. I did the impossible and must remind those kids that letting go might seem impossible, but it can happen. And they can live their lives happily."

Petra and Snake nodded in agreement. Tanya joined them as they walked off to the next memory...

Meanwhile, Spark, who was still unconscious and floating on the white water, felt her chest start to glow with a faint rainbow glow.

As they continued, they could see a light engulfing them. They found themselves in a train station. They looked around and saw Shiko sitting on the platform, waiting for the train to arrive.

"Ah, so this is Shiko's memory?" Petra asked, looking at Shiko, who was checking her watch.

Tanya looked around a few more times, wondering something.

"Hey, wasn't Shiko's world in ruins when the Impact happened? She said Japan was destroyed, yet..." they all could see everything was normal. No war against the angels. "...Everything is fine."

Snake agreed that something was off.
"Let's talk to her, shall we?"

They all nodded and walked over to Shiko, who heard the name being out to her. She looked at them and was confused to see them there. Before she could say anything, the memory suddenly changed, and Shiko and the others all found themselves in AJ's memory. They saw her standing over her dead family. The ones she had to kill when they turned into Changers.

"AJ?" said Shiko, hurrying over to her. The others tried to join her, but kid-like shadow figures and a Pillar with runes appeared. Shiko turned back, seeing the others fighting the shadow figures. "Girls!"

Shiko tried to join them but heard AJ speaking, making her face her and seeing AJ holding her dead daughter's body.
"It was my fault...if I were just a better mother and wife, they would still be here. Alive!"

"No, AJ," said Shiko, joining and hugging her. "Don't think like that. It was not your fault. It was not your fault. Please, listen to me."

"But-"

"Shhh. It wasn't your fault. I'm here, AJ. I'm here. Just cry it out. It'll help, trust me."

Shiko hugged her tighter as AJ started to cry and held her daughter's body tighter.

Soon, AJ's memories showed them all what she had done after the death of her family. She joined a mission to find the Pillars' origin and end the nightmare with Aaira's girlfriend, Kelly. They saw her adventure from fighting on the rundown space station to crash landing on the snow planet below. AJ looked up and saw herself letting her teammates die, as she only cared about finishing the mission.

"Not only did I let my family die, but my crew as well. I was scared of dying..." She lowered her head, crying now. "Not finishing the mission! Getting my revenge!"

Shiko continued to comfort her, telling her she was wrong. Those deaths weren't on her hands.

"Please, stop talking like that, AJ," begged Shiko, holding her head to her chest.

Soon, the memory vanished, leaving only darkness.

"But it's true! I'm a failure! I keep failing at things! My husband, my daughter, and my team! They all died, and it's because of me!"

"AJ! Stop this, please! Don't let these feelings consume you!"

"Why shouldn't I?!" shouted AJ, pushing her off and making her fall on the ground hard. AJ's eyes glowed green. Her daughter melted away in her arms. "I LOST EVERYTHING! I CAN'T LET THAT GO! I NEED TO BE WHOLE AGAIN!"

Shiko sat up in time to feel AJ's hand over her neck, choking her. She could see the Pillar looming over them.

"I NEED TO BE WHOLE! MAKE ME WHOLE, SHIKO! MAKE US WHOLE!"

Shiko tried to speak but couldn't, struggling to breathe. She grabbed Aj's hand, trying to pull it off her neck.

"SHIKO! SHIKO!" cried AJ, tears running down her eyes. "PLEASE SHIKO, MAKE ME WHOLE AGAIN! I'M BEGGING YOU, MAKE ME WHOLE!"

Shiko's vision was starting to blur, and her lungs were hurting.

"Shiko, please!"

Shiko looked at her, tears flowing from her eyes as well.

"Please...Shiko."

"You are looking for that place to rest..." whispered Shiko, smiling at her.

"W-What?" whispered AJ, softening her hold on Shiko's neck.

With her neck somewhat free from being choked, Shiko could speak to her again.

"We are the same, you know that? I couldn't save the people I cared about, like Kaoru," she cried.

Soon, Shiko's memories appeared before them, showing AJ how Kaoru died while Shiko couldn't do anything about it.

"Kaoru was one of the people who deeply cared about me. Always being there for me when I needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to tell me that everything would be okay...and I couldn't do anything for her, and she died, and it was all my fault. She didn't have to die like that...I hated myself for that..."

Soon, more memories appeared, showing all the people she cared about dying...the pain she had to endure.

"But...even through all that, even though I lost those who mattered to me...I kept going...I kept pushing forward. I didn't know why. Maybe because I felt there was a place where I could finally rest and let go...where I could finally live in peace..."

AJ's hands finally let go. She looked at Shiko, asking her a straightforward question.
"...did you?"

Shiko smiled and nodded.

Soon, the two found themselves back in the train station. Shiko stood up, walked back to the platform, and sat down, with AJ joining her.

"I found my resting place...by restarting my universe timeline and removing the Angels from ever coming to existence and allowing me to live my life the way I wanted."

"I see."

"Yeah."

AJ stared at her hands, her eyes not glowing. She kept looking at her hands. To her, there was still blood on them. She clutched them, but soon, Shiko's hands wrapped around her hands. AJ looked at her with sadness.

"Right, you did...you poor, sweet, sweet child. You have been through so much in your life. It's unfair! You never deserved that awful life you once lived! Even your father saw you as nothing more than a tool! A weapon! He never cared about your well-being, and you suffered so much because of him. He took advantage of you, your feelings, and he abused you..." Shiko moved her hands and started to hug her tightly. "You're so beautiful, sweet, kind, and strong." AJ started to sob harder. "So, so strong! But no, your father didn't see that. All he saw was a weapon. A weapon that was only good at killing, not for the greater good...but for his agenda. He treated you like a piece of shit, and you didn't deserve that."

Shiko just nodded, not saying a word to her.

"...I might be a soldier, but you? You are a true warrior, Shiko! Anyone would have given up and lost their will to live, but not you, huh? You kept going, finding a new meaning in life. Finding that place where you can finally rest...I admire you, Shiko...so much..."

AJ felt Shiko leaning back, shocked at what she saw before her. It was Shiko, but much older now—the real Shiko.

"It's like your friend told you, don't you remember AJ?"

Soon, the train station disappeared, and they found themselves before the Pillar.

"AJ."

They turned to see Aaira standing behind them.

"Aaira!?" AJ shook her head, realizing it wasn't her. Just a memory of her.

"AJ, remember what I told you?" Aaira reached out to her. "Good women mean well. We don't always end up doing well."

Aaira vanished and was replaced by the Changer versions of AJ's family. They kept screaming at her to make them whole again.

"SHUT UP!" shouted AJ, grabbing her head, tears streaming down her eyes.

"AJ," whispered Shiko, hugging her from behind. "You praised me for my strength, but like I said before. We are the same. You have been through so much, and yet..." Shiko hugged her tighter. "...you keep pushing forward. You are so strong, AJ. Don't ever let go of that. We're only human and make mistakes, but we can learn and grow from them, and I know you can. You've done many great things, and I know there's more to do, so please, AJ, let go. Move forward for good this time."

AJ kept looking at the shadowy figures, her dead family, and the Pillar before looking at Shiko.

"Sh-Shiko."

"Yes, AJ?"

"Th-Thank you."

"You're welcome, AJ. I'm always here if you need me, okay?"

AJ nodded and hugged her tightly. She cried harder, but there was a smile on her face.

"Shiko. You're my hero, you know that? A true soldier."

AJ slowly stood and glared past the shadow figures, her dead family, and right at the Pillar. Her H.U.L.L helmet slowly closed shut, only revealing the damaged exposed eye visor, showing her green eyes.

"I'M DONE! YOU HEAR ME! I'M DONE! NO MORE! YOU HEAR ME! NO FUCKING MORE!"

She dashed past the shadow figures, and her fists began to glow.

"NEVER! AGAIN!"

The shadow figures tried to dogpile her, but AJ kept pushing forward, pushing to finally let go of her guilt, sorrow, and sadness. She was ready to let go.

She could hear Dr. Amazement's voice as she ran, remembering what she told her.

"Don't you see? We're both in the same boat; we're both failures; we're both broken, but we're still here! Our story isn't over yet."

AJ kept going; she was getting closer to the Pillar.

"I won't let you die... I will ensure your family is proud of you and does not see you as a failure. Stand proud! You are alive to keep moving forward! Just like me! I won't let my honey bun die in vain and let all her sacrifices mean nothing! I will live for her!"

Aj could see her family ahead, blocking her path, but that didn't slow her down. Her real family appeared and held down their Changer version. As she ran past, she could hear her daughter being proud of her.

"So, stand tall and don't be a coward! Live! For me and your family! Live, dammit!"

AJ jumped into the air, her fist glowing a rainbow color. She screamed as she got closer to the stone Pillar.

"I'M NOT GOING TO BE A COWARD ANYMORE! I'M GOING TO LIVE! FIND MY RESTING PLACE AND NEVER LOOK BACK AT THE PAST AGAIN!"

Everything exploded as her fist connected with the stone, causing everyone to cover their faces and the void to shake. The stone started to crumble, and cracks formed on the surface. Until the Pillar was truly gone, AJ's guilt and feeling like a failure were finally gone. She stood there proud, smiling, tears still running down her face. She could feel Aaira's hand on her shoulder.

"You did great, AJ."

She could also hear Kelly's voice.

"We are proud of you."

She even heard Amazement's voice.

"Now, live for yourself."

AJ turned around, finding themselves back in the train station. The others watched as AJ and Shiko sat on the platform bench. The two talked a bit until someone walked up to them. Shiko looked up and smiled. AJ couldn't help but smile and cry.

"Shiko, this resting place you created for yourself, you earned it. Never forget."

Shiko agreed and turned to her.

"Those kids on top of the tree need to learn that too. It might be hard."

Aj continued for her. "It might seem hopeless."

Shiko smiled at her and finished their words.
"But we need to keep pushing forward and move on. We can't let the pain create holes and consume us. That's no way to live. It's no way to be happy. So, don't stop moving forward."

Shiko turned back to the girl before her, making her smile.

Shiko continued on.

"Because we create our own stories and where they lead. You are the ones who decide which way your story will go. So, don't let those sad memories consume you." Shiko held the woman's hand. "Move forward for the sake of the ones you love and the ones who are gone..."

Spark kept floating there; her chest started to glow more and more.

Petra and the others walked through the darkness. Petra listened as Snake explained what was going on to Shiko and AJ. As they kept walking, the darkness became an endless ocean with an infinite lighthouse. They found Raina standing just outside of one, just looking at the closed door. As the group got closer, their memory changed, and they found Soraya standing outside a snow-covered temple.

The group called out to her, making her turn around. Soon, they were back at the lighthouse, with Soraya standing next to Raina, who took notice of her and the others.

The group explained what was going and Raina and Soraya looked at each other and nodded. The two walked back to the lighthouse door.

"So, something tells me you know what's behind that door."

"You're right," confirmed Raina, still looking at it.

Soraya placed her arms behind her head, sighing.

"You are scared, huh? Facing what's on the other side?"

Raina didn't answer her, but the look on her face answered her question.

"Hey, listen," said Soraya, turning to her. "Whatever you're scared of, you just got to face it."
Raina looks at her and then to the door.

"Face it? How?"

"Well, by not being afraid, of course. Fear can hold us back and prevent us from moving forward."

Raina laughed. "Sounds like you have been in my shoes, huh?"

Suddenly, the memory changed to that of Soraya's memory. It was the memory of her returning home and facing her parents. They watched as memory Soraya spoke to her father as they sat on the park bench.

"Dad, no matter how pathetic I was, you and Mom still treated me the same as always." They could see her father saying nothing, only listening. "That's what scared me most of all. I wanted you to say, 'I don't love you.' or 'I despise you!' or even..." Soraya lowered her head. "'You're not my daughter!'. I wanted you to tell me that and throw me out; I wanted you to make me give up..." Soraya's sad expression became happy as she looked up. "But..."

Soon, Raina and Soraya could hear a female voice. To Raina, she had never heard this voice before. However, Soraya knew this voice very well. It was the voice of the girl who deeply loved and cared about her, who looked up to her.

"It is easy to give up. But it doesn't suit you."

Soraya could see her as clear as day.

"I love you, Soraya! Let's start here, from square one..." she shook her head. "No...from Zero!" she smiled at her. "Right! My hero is the greatest in the world!"

Soraya's father could only close his eyes and think what to say to his daughter.
'Soraya..."

"Huh?"

Her father stood up. He smiled at her as he quickly raised his foot and slammed it down on her, causing her to scream in pain. As Soraya lay there, holding her head in pain, her father started laughing.

"See that, Soraya!? That was my most loving father kick!" he started to kick the air. "Packed with all my rage!"

"WHAT THE HELL DAD!? THAT WASN'T JUST A KICK BUT A AXE KICK!"

Her father did some more air kicks but finally stopped. He turned to her, looking a bit disappointed in her.
"But you know, you're pretty dumb, right?"

Soraya gave her father a confused expression, making him sigh loudly.

"A lot about what you said bothers me, but you know what's the worst?" he fixed his glasses, pushing them up. "You wanted me to hate you, so you tried to achieve that by playing hooky? Are you dumb!?" he pointed at her. "And if you want to get me to throw you out, pick a more active method!" His expression became more angry at her. "Who would ditch their kid just because she retreated into her shell!?" He started swinging his arms around, waving his finger at her. "You're so twisted, on the fast track to being an idiot!" He marches up to her, still wagging his finger at her. "I'd be glad to set you straight by force if you want..." he cracked his knuckles, ready to beat his daughter some sense into her.

Soraya could only cringe, but her father suddenly pulled her. He was dusting her off.

"But it looks like you've already been knocked down and stood yourself back up, so there's no need." he patted her shoulders, loving his daughter like always. "If you feel sorry, all you gotta do is take your time making it up to us."

Soraya couldn't believe what her father said to her. He wasn't mad or anything. He just wanted her to come home and make up with them; she felt shell-shocked by that.

"Take good care of your mom and me when we're old." He gave her a thumbs up, winking at her. "My dear stupid daughter!"

Raina turned to the real Soraya, who looked at the memory sadly but still happily. Soon, Raina could hear memory Soraya crying loudly. Even Soraya's father was surprised by this.

"I won't be able to make anything up to you before...I'll never see you again..." her vision started to blur as tears formed. "I'm sorry, dad..." Soraya let it all out while her father held her, rubbing her back and telling her it was okay. "I'm so sorry, dad. I'm so sorry..."

After she had cried, she turned away from her father, doing a stupid-looking pose as she pointed to the sky.

"So I can do anything, and I will do anything!" she turned her head to him, who gave her a big thumbs up.

The memory changed, showing the memory of Soraya meeting her mother. As the two were on the sidewalk, Soraya was going off to school. Her mom could tell something was different about her daughter that she had to comment on it.

"Someone who isn't me or your father did something for you, didn't they?" she couldn't be more happy for her daughter. "I think that's a wonderful thing! We should be grateful to them!"

Soraya became sad. Even though she shut herself away from her parents, her mom was still her mother. She needed to ask her something and was deadly afraid of asking.

"Mom, did you ever question yourself about how I turned out, like saying, 'Am I living up to the expectations for his kid?'" Soraya wondered how her mom felt when she couldn't do anything for her as she locked herself away in her room.

Soraya's mother just smiled at her. Even giggle.
"You don't have to worry. Half of you is me, after all. And the other half is your father. You've never given us a single moment's worth of anxiety. It's always been, 'There's nothing Soraya can't do!'" she closed her eyes, still smiling. "I know what you're trying to say."

Soraya was shocked but yet confused.

"You...do?"

"Of course, I'm your mother, after all."

Like her father, her mother only cared about her and never cared how she acted or did things. Soraya started to cry and said she was sorry.

"I was...never able to do anything for you guys, and now..." Soraya knew they weren't real, and her parents were back in the other world, missing her so much. As she kept crying, she felt her mother's hands on her cheeks. They were making her look at her.

"We didn't have you because we wanted you to do something for us." Her mother wiped a bit of her tears away. "We had you because we wanted to do something for you."

Soraya smiled, letting her mom wipe all her tears away. "I'm...acting like a little kid..."

Her mother patted her head.

"There's nothing wrong with crying. You can cry all you want." she hugged her, loving her like always. "As long as you smile when you're done, everything will be fine. What matters isn't how you start or what happens in the middle; it's how it ends."

The real Soraya turned to Raina, who was smiling as tears were falling from her eyes. "How it ends..."

Soraya returned, watching the memory.

"You mean as long as things turn out okay in the end, nothing else matters?" memory Soraya started to smile, but her mother became upset with her.

"That's not how I meant for you to take it!" she bopped her head. "it's a homework assignment from me!"

Soraya smiled again and nodded. She told her mother she was off to school, leaving her, but her mother called out to her, and with a wave of her hand, she said.

"Take care."

That's when it hit memory, Soraya. All of her memories fast-forward from the point of her dropping out of school to the day she left the house. She remembered her mother saying a warm and loving goodbye to her. Even when Soraya was depressed and didn't want her mother's support and love, her mother never stopped showing her the love a mother should show their daughter.

The memory ended there, and Soraya faced Raina, who was wiping away her tears.

"You have loving parents; you know that, Soraya?"

Soraya smiled and agreed. "They're the best."

Raina started laughing, making Soraya look at her, a bit confused.

"You are the lucky one." Soon, her laughter stopped."I wish my daughter were this lucky...I only caused her pain and suffering. I wish I could go back in time and change the past. Stop me from selling her to Cornstock...then maybe things will be different..."

Soraya placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But things are different."

Raina looked at her and saw she was smiling.

"Your daughter is with her real mom, her birth mother, YOU!" she removed her hand. Turning to see the lighthouse. "You have another chance to make things right." Soraya looked up at the lighthouse and the closed door. "You have the chance to make things right. Whatever is behind that door, you can face it! You can't be scared of what your daughter will say to you. You also can't think how much she should hate you." Soraya punched Raina in the shoulder. "It is easy to give up. But it doesn't suit you. Please don't give up and hope someone will hate you because you caused them problems or pain. Just accept the pain and the fact that you screwed up."

Raina just stood there, not sure what to say.

"Your daughter doesn't have to forgive you. Just tell her how you feel and what you did." They both turned to the door. "As long as you smile when you're done, everything will be fine. What matters isn't how you start or what happens in the middle."

"it's how it ends." finished Raina, smiling.

Raina walked over to the lighthouse door, slowly reaching out and feeling the wood on the door.

"I remember now. When Spark came to us, it was when I was behind this door. I know what needs to be done and what my daughter wants, but I lost that memory and just remembered all the fears and blocked them out. I'm just afraid. Afraid to face her not because of what will happen to me when I do but because..."

"Because what?" asked Soraya.

"Because I am a coward. I ran away from what needs to be done...I have always been a coward...a failure..."

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I was a coward too. I mean, I shut myself in my room for months and wouldn't speak to my parents. But I slowly became brave when I was teleported to a different world. Brave for others as I-"

"You kept dying for others, right?" finished Raina, turning to her. "You explained your powers to us, how you restart your save point in a specific part of your life." Raina still couldn't believe it, but it made sense that Soraya knew a lot about them. "I won't lie, kid. Dying over and over, in different painful ways, must be terrifying. How do you face something like that?"

Soraya turned her head to the side, closing her eyes and smiling.

"I couldn't at first. There were even a few points when I became mentally broken beyond repair because of the pain of dying but also seeing all the people I know and care about dying in different and horrible ways..."

Suddenly, the lighthouse memory vanished and was replaced by different memories in Soraya's life. All were flashing different places and people. Raina could see a memory of Soraya screaming in pain and sorrow as she held a dead girl's body.

"It's easy to give up...letting all the pain just end..." echoed Soraya's voice in the memory.

"It's easy to give up?" said the real Soraya, watching along to her memories. "Don't give me that bullshit! There's nothing easy about giving up."

A memory shows Soraya opening a door and seeing dead kids all piled up together, reaching out to nothing. She turned around, seeing one of her friends dead, cut in half, and her blood all over the place.

"It's my fault! It's my fault they died!

"NO! It wasn't!"

"But it was! I need to stop! Do nothing! Think about nothing to spare me from the pain..."

The memory changed to her walking up a stairway; everything around her was cold and covered in ice. Until she reached the end, seeing a monster roaring and the world covered in an endless ice storm. Soon, she was frozen solid, and her body broke...

"You think I'm just doing nothing! Thinking about nothing! Cutting myself from everything and throwing everything away, and that's all it takes to give up!?" screamed Soraya at her memory self.

They found themselves in the backyard of a mansion, with the memory of Soraya on her knees, crying as she slowly looked around, seeing the death in front of her.

"I've already agonized over this! I've thought about it! I've suffered...That's why..." Soraya dropped to her knees, like her past self, remembering everything that happened in her life.

Suddenly, they could hear a young girl's voice.

"All you know is yourself!"

Soraya answered the voice.

"I gave up..."

"How much do you know about the Soraya that I see?" cried the girl, hearing how sad she was.

"...What do I do?"

The young girl's voice disappeared and was replaced by another but older-sounding woman.

"Don't cast your gaze down, Soraya. When your eyes are clouded, your soul darkens, and you lose sight of your reasons to live."

They could see a pointless time when Soraya died as she failed to save her friends. So many versions of it played to them while the woman continued to speak to her.

"Lift your head, face forward, and reach out your hands."

The memories were replaced with Soraya saving her friends and saving the day of that timeline. That's when a man's voice spoke.

"Soraya, why aren't you insane yet?"

Memories of Soraya dropping to her knees as she went mad from all the pain and deaths in her quest to save everyone...

"Stop trying to put on a tough front around your friends, Soraya." A young man's voice replaced the older one.

Another girl's voice could be heard now.

"Why do you keep trying to help me like this?"

Memories of Soraya helping a girl with her problems appeared. Soraya was always there, helping her. This made the real Soraya finally raise her head and speak with happiness as tears were running down her eyes. Seeing her there.

"Because you helped me." she reached out to the girl. "I'm..." Her heart started to hurt as a black shadow hand softly touched it. "Going to..." The hand squeezed her heart, making her scream in pain as she fell on her hands. "Save you..." She started to fight through the pain as she struggled to look at her. "I don't care if you don't remember! I don't care if it hurts! This pain!" She struggled to get on her knees. "I'll save you even if it kills me..." Soraya could feel the pain in her chest, but she didn't care. All she cared about was saving the one person she loved so much. "None of you aren't leaving me behind like I always thought when I restarted everything! I am not the same person I was in the past." She was almost standing now. "ALL THE FUCKING PAIN! ALL THE HARDSHIP I HAD TO PUT MYSELF THROUGH!" All of the deaths and pain filled her eyes, remembering it all. "All of that shit, it made me stronger. I am not the same scared little girl I once was." Soraya started to sob as she could hear all past selves screaming in pain and nothing but pain.

...until that caring voice appeared again.

"It's been rough, hasn't it?" Soraya started to smile as she felt that warm light on her face. "It is easy to give up. But it doesn't suit you."

Soraya's heart stopped hurting as the shadow hand disappeared, and she stood firm while she spoke to herself. "What matters isn't how you start or what happens in the middle."

"Let's start here! From square one!"

Soraya closed her eyes. "It's how it ends."

"From zero!"

Soraya's memories vanished, and she faced Raina and the others.

"Those kids, they suffered just like me. It might not be the same feeling of pain, but it's the same nevertheless. They feel like they can't accept someone's help because they feel like no one is there for them...like a friend. Expecting the best when they can't give it...so..."

Soraya turned her whole body around, facing the girl that helped her the most with a smile on her face.

"I want to make sure every single one of them knows they can always count on a friend or a loved one. It's there; they need to see it! Like how my parents were always there for me, even when I didn't see it. No matter how much I push them away or try to shut myself out from the world. They were always there for me, ready to hug me and show me the love a mother and father should show their child." She clutched her fist hard. "I want those kids to have what I have...and I will not let anything or anyone stop me. No matter how scary or painful it is. Even if the road to the end is long, and there are times I want to give up. I will never stop as long as there is a chance that one kid will feel like someone is there for them and that they can have a better life. A life in which they can live and feel happiness; I will always stand against those who destroy that hope. Hope to keep moving forward! That's why Spark picked me!"

The girl smiled at her, and before she disappeared, she said one last thing to her.

"My hero is the greatest in the world!"

Soraya opened her eyes. "I know," she said as the girl disappeared. "I won't let you down, Rem!"

Raina was truly amazed by Soraya. Someone who had suffered so much that a normal person would have been broken ages ago was still going, going against all the odds. She was a great hero, and it was clear now what she was meant to do.

"Spark was right." She turned to the lighthouse door. "Why she picked me." She finally walked over to it and opened the door.

Inside the door, there was a baptismal ceremony. Different versions of Annabeth stood there, waiting. She walked to the middle of them, looking at her version.

"Brooker, are you sure this is what you want?" Annabeth asked without a hint of emotion.

Raina took Annabeth's hands. "I have to...it's the only way to undo what I've done to you. My failures caused so many problems." She pulled Annabeth into a hug, stroking her back. "It all has to end." Raina's body became Cornstock. "To never have started." Her body returned to normal, and she let her go. "I have to face my problems and stop running away from them. My actions can cause problems for others because I never got the help I needed. That's why you're here, and that's why I'm going to fix my mistake." She closed her eyes, feeling the water under her. "I'm sorry, Annabeth." She lowered herself into the water, knowing what must be done.

But Raina felt herself pulled out by Annabeth, who hugged and cried. It was like Soraya told her: what mattered was how it ended, and Raina finally understood that.

"Annabeth," whispered Raina, rubbing her back. "Everything will be alright. I might go away because the path I took wasn't the right one, but I know you, you will be alright. I can feel it." She looked up; she could see nothing but darkness and faint rainbow light. "Same with those kids. I need to help them not to follow my path to self-destruction."

Annabeth let go and just nodded, smiling as she knew what had to be done.

"I will make things right," she said as she submerged her head in the water...

Spark's chest glowed bright, and her wounds healed as the stillless water moved her toward the tree.

...only to open her eyes and find herself back with the others.

"We better find Haze and hurry out of here!"

They all nodded and started to walk in the darkness...

Snake and Petra were in the front, and she could hear the others behind her, all talking and joking around.

"Look at you, Shiko! You were so cute as a kid, but now? You look so beautiful and-" AJ was cut off as Soraya got between them,

"And even more busty! Don't forget that! Man, what I would give to have her huge fun bags as my own!"

AJ smacked Soraya on the head, causing Shiko to laugh.

Tanya and Raina were behind them, watching it all.

"Kids these days! Thinking boobs are the most important part of the women's body, but it's not." scoffed Tanya, crossing her arms.

Raina eyed her with a raised eyebrow, looking at Tanya. "Oh, what's the most important part then?"

"Asses, of course. I mean, come on! Who wouldn't want to squeeze a nice butt and-" Tanya was cut off by Raina covering her mouth and looking away.

"I get the point, Tanya," she said, feeling her cheeks burning.

Tanya pulled her in and made her look ahead to where Snake and Petra were.

"Come on! Asses are the best things about girls! It's not a sin to look at one, you know!"

"I know, Tanya! But it's embarrassing, alright?"

Raina couldn't deny that Tanya was right. Petra had the perfect ass...while Tanya kept looking at Snake's rear, which was pretty good too.

"You have a fine ass, Snake!"

Snake stopped and glared at her.

"Do you want to die?"

Tanya shook her head.

"Unless you crush me with your-" Tanya couldn't finish as Snake tossed her electric combat knife into Tnaya's forehead, frying her brain instantly.

Snake pulled it out and kicked her to the side, seeing the others were not reacting.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say she isn't dead," said Raina, leaving Tanya behind, and like she guessed, Tanya stood back up, but her hair was in a fizzy afro style now.

"Snake! WHAT THE HELL!" Tanya paused and smirked. "Damn, I'm turned on!"

She hurried to catch up with the others, but a black feather fell as she did, and a bright flash appeared.

Snake opened her eyes and saw that only Petra was with her while the others were gone. Before they could call out for the others, they could hear crying before them, seeing Haze holding a dead girl's body as blood was pouring out of her chest.

"Kid?" whispered Snake, seeing Haze looking like a mess.

But Haze didn't answer her; she kept holding the girl and whispering that she was a failure.
"Aeris..."

Snake and Petra wanted to get closer, but Petra's spider sense went off and tackled Snake in time when a very long katana cut the air where Snake once stood.

"Who the hell!?"

The sword was placed on its wielder's shoulder, and they could see a woman holding it. She was dressed in black, her fur was white, and her multicolored long hair flowed like the wind. Snake remembered a name Haze once said about stopping a meteor and someone else who had caused it. She stood up and faced the person in front of her.

"You are Sephiroth, aren't you?"

Sephiroth nodded but didn't take her eyes off Snake.
"How do you know that name?"

Snake could see the coldness in her eyes; they weren't the eyes of a soldier but that of someone who was a true killer, someone who enjoyed ending the lives of her victims.

"Matters not. I know who you are, Snake." Sephiroth pointed the blade's tip at her, almost noticing her nose. "And I know why you are here, and I will tell you this. I won't allow you to help Haze here." She thrusts her sword forward but grows angry as Petra saves Snake again by pulling her with her webbing. She eyed Petra and knew she was going to be a problem. "You have some skill." Sephiroth held out her hand, and her hand started to gather yellow lights.

"Shit!" shouted Snake, as she had seen this before but from Haze when she used magic. She readied herself and spoke to Petra. "Watch out, she's going to use electric magic!" She could see it was more intense than how Haze had done it. "And from the look of things, way more powerful!"

Petra took a battle stance and smiled. "Oh? Don't worry about me, Snake! I've fought bad guys who used magic before, and it was no problem." She flexed her arms, and her webs were ready.

Snake could only roll her eyes. She didn't like how cocky Petra was. The two returned their sights on Sephiroth and watched as she unleashed thunder magic on them. With her spider-sense, Petra fired her web-shooters at Snake and tossed her safely in the air while she easily dodged the incoming bolts. When she landed, she gave Sephiroth a middle finger.

Sephiroth was impressed. "I see you are more than meets the eye. I must admit I'm intrigued by your powers."
She readied herself to charge, but a giant wall of webbing blocked her as Petra fired off her web shooters nonstop. Sephiroth could see she was being placed in a webbing cell.

"Sorry, busty-crazed woman, but I don't play around with crazy people," said Petra, sticking out her tongue and blowing her a raspberry.

Snake landed behind the webbing cage and could only smirk at what Petra was doing. She was dealing with Sephiroth while she helped Haze.

"Thanks, kid! Just don't die!"

Snake turned and saw Haze still holding on to the girl's body, just repeating the exact words over and over again.

"Haze? Kid, you have to listen to me. It's Snake. Are you hurt?"

Haze didn't look at her, just kept holding on to the body.

"What happened, Haze?"

"She's dead, Aeris is dead...I failed her."

Snake placed a hoof on her shoulder, but Haze shook it off.

"I don't need your help, Snake. I failed her and all the others. Just leave me here."

Snake wasn't sure what was going on. "Haze, what happened?"

"Sephiroth happened. I couldn't protect her, and now she's gone, and I don't think I can keep fighting anymore, not after this."

Snake looked down at the girl and tried to understand what had happened.

"Tell me what happened, kid. Who was this girl, and what did Sephiroth do to her?"

"Aeris, her name was Aeris...a friend and...I loved her..."

Meanwhile, Petra's senses were going crazy as she held her head in pain. This only happens when her senses are warning her she is going to die if she doesn't run.

"Damn, she must be a real monster if my sense is freaking out like this..."

That's when the webbing cage burst into flames, and slowly looking at her was Sephiroth, smiling.

"So, you have some foresight magic? Or is it a power of some kind?" asked Sephiroth, walking toward her. "Doesn't matter. Either way, I will kill you." She pointed the sword at Petra. "No one escapes the touch of my blade."

"You sound like some cheesy villain, lady!" shouted Petra, firing her web-shooters at her, only for her webbing to be sliced to bits as it reached her. "What the!?"

Sephiroth was behind Petra and struck...only to tsk as Petra dodged the attack and rolled away.

Petra recovered from the roll and was on guard now, as she was damn lucky her senses kicked in.

"Damn, I know I needed a hair cut but don't think that's a little too much off the top?" joked Petra, pointing to her head.

Sephiroth wasn't in a joking mood. She wanted blood, and she was going to have it. She swung her sword, unleashing a wave of energy, only for Petra to dodge it with a somersault, making Sephiroth even angrier.

"Stop running away!"

Petra didn't care about fighting her; she just needed to buy some time for Snake to snap Haze out of whatever was wrong with her.

"Make me! Or is killing a spider too hard for you? Or are you all bark and no bite?" taunted Petra.

"You dare insult me?!" snarled Sephiroth, charging after her.

She didn't like this spider woman at all. She had to be taught a lesson, a lesson of pain and death.

As the two were still going at it, Snake listened to Haze as Haze's memory appeared. Showing her how Aeris died to Sephiroth.

Haze walked to the praying Aeris, where, suddenly, Haze took her giant sword and raised it. Ready to kill her.
Snake couldn't believe what Haze was going to do. She watched as Haze heard her name being called by her friends, making her snap out of it.

"Ugh... what are you making me do."

With a smile, Aeris looks up from her prayer, happy to see Haze before her. Haze smiled back at her, so glad to see her as well. Snake turned to the real Haze, seeing her looking up. She looked as well and could see Sephiroth leaps down from above.

Aeris's face becomes shocked and filled with pain as she leans forward, and a blade bursts out of her chest... Sephiroth's sword impaled her. As Sephiroth pulled the Masamune back out of her, Snake could see Aeris's hair ribbon becoming undone, and a glowing white orb fell out and bounced off the chamber platform and into the water. Haze hurries to Aeris, catching her before she can hit the floor...

"So that's what happened..." whispered Snake, learning how Aeris died and why Haze blames herself.

"Snake...why does this happen to me? First, I couldn't save my Mom or the town folks from the fire or Mira from getting hurt..." She slowly faced Snake, her expression filled with anger and tears falling. "I even got Zara killed! Now Aeris! This was why I couldn't be a SOLDIER! I only fail in the end!"

She placed her face on Aeris's lifeless head, sobbing.

Snake shut her eyes and rubbed her hoof on Haze's head softly.

"Kid... I know how it feels to lose or not protect the people you care about..."

Haze looked up and saw Snake's memories, seeing how she failed to save or protect the people she cared about. Every time this happened, Snake slowly became numb, pushing her feelings down and away, never allowing her emotions to mess with her current mission.

"It's why I'm filled with so much guilt, but I never allowed it to cloud my judgment, or I wouldn't have been able to save anyone...or at least those I could have."

Snake removed her hoof and looked for something in her pockets.

"Ponies like Grey Moon Fox, Nami, and others I couldn't save. I was watching them die in front of me. That's never going to change, and I hate it...even more with Nami. Fox told me what happened to Nami's parents, and I couldn't bring myself to tell her anything..." Haze could see the memory of that scene, learning that Fox was the one who killed Nami's parents. "Even when we met again after many years, I still couldn't tell her." Haze saw the memory change to when Nami died from her sickness and Snake and her friends escaped inside a giant mecha. "I lost my chance to tell her; that decision will always haunt me, kid. Like yours will, but we have a chance now, right?"

Snake found what she sought, knowing Otacon would pack it for her. It was wrapped in a white cloth. She undid it and could see a note next to a long brown cigar. She picked up the note, read it, and smiled. She placed the note away and put the cigar in her mouth, not lighting it.

"Old timer...what do you mean? A chance at a what?" asked Haze, not understanding what she was saying.

Snake said nothing, only watching her memories appear to them. They were in a graveyard, and they could see past Snake, who was standing over a grave. They soon heard a voice.

"That's right. Good. There is no need for you to go just yet. It's been a long time... Snake."

Snake faced the voice and was shocked to see her alive.
"Big Boss?"

Big Boss rolled someone in a wheelchair

and was too far gone in mind to know what was going on around them.
"Let it go... My daughter. I'm not here to fight."

"What?"

Boss walked away from the wheelchair and stood beside her, looking at the graves.

"It's over. It's time for you to put aside the gun... And live. It all began with a bunch of old fools. Now..." She looked at the grave that Snake was looking at. "They've all passed away. Their era of folly is over. I'm the only one left, and soon... I'll be gone, too."

"How are you still alive?"

Boss smiled at that question and answered her.

"That body Liquid burned on the Volta... It wasn't mine. That was the body... Of a clone." She turned to Snake, who already knew who that clone was. "Solidus. She was a perfect clone." Boss turned around, looking at the old mare in the wheelchair. "Zero and the proxy AIs after him were convinced that Solidus was me. I was implanted with nanomachines... I kept in a state of eternal sleep... By FS, the proxy AI. They had me sealed away completely... Not only my physical body but my will, too. The technology was similar to what they used to restrain the B&B members you encountered. For me to wake up again... The System had to be destroyed... One way or another.

Ocelot

and EVA wanted two things..." She looked back at Snake, who was taking it all in. "To bring me back to life and to end the Elements. That meant destroying the AI and killing the mare... FS and Zero. Right before you uploaded the virus into HS... The way to MG was opened, but only through the physical manifestation of MG. That's when we finally learned the location of this mare..." They both looked at her as the breathing machine was helping her breathe. "Zero. For me, and them... For Nami... Nothing was more important. And it was for that they put their grand scheme into motion. EVA stole my body from them and reconstructed it by replacing the missing parts with pieces from Liquid and Solidus. And Ocelot..."

Big Boss steps closer to Zero, looking at her with empty eyes—the eyes of someone who has lost respect for a friend.
"To fool the System... Used nanomachines and psychotherapy to transplant Liquid's personality onto his own. He used hypnotic suggestion to turn himself into Liquid's mental doppelganger. For all our advances in nanotechnology... Information and genetic control... They've never managed to control people at will... Let alone turn one person totally into another. Under certain conditions, someone can be made to play a specific role... Act like someone else. Cats... Do love to play as snakes. It all started with her... Zero."

Haze learned how Zero misunderstood the wishes of

The Boss, Big Boss's teacher and mother figure. Zero and Big Boss had different viewpoints on the Boss's wish for a world without east or west, no borders, no difference—a world of pure equality—one World Without Borders, world peace. But Zero saw her will as total unity. One world surrounded by one border. Enforced loyalty. Which isn't true loyalty at all. At the same time, Big Boss saw it as a world with no borders. That is, no loyalty to any state, and the cost of no loyalty between states - No unity. Zero was given power thanks to Big Boss and her friends, allowing her to take over the world behind the scenes. But now, she's just a husk of her former self.

Big Boss stood behind Zero, speaking to Snake.
"Our goal... It was to erase Zero. Even the mighty Elements began with a single mare. That one mare's desires grew huge... Bloated. Absorbed technology began to manipulate the economy. We realized it too late... That we had created a beast. We had helped turn Zero... Into 100. Her sin... Was ours. And for that reason... I'm taking it upon myself to send Zero... Back to nothing."

They watched as Big Boss turned off the breathing machine, making Zero struggle with her breathing to the point that she started to choke. She was dying, and something surprised Snake as she saw Big Boss hug her former friend, her eyes now filled with pain. In Zero's last moments, she didn't die alone as her body stopped moving, and Big Boss slowly let her go.

Snake narrowed her eyes at Mother, wondering what she would do now, with Zero gone.
"You going back to zero, as well?"

Big Boss couldn't help but smile as she slowly walked over to her. "You erased me two times before. Today will mark the third. The MAGICDIE Zero planted in you... It's already begun eating away at my body. Truth is... the MAGICDIE in you... Is what killed EVA and Ocelot."

Big Boss suddenly held her chest as a great pain jolted inside of her, falling to her knees.

"What's wrong?"

Big Boss looked up at her daughter, filled with anger, but not her. "They did it again. They used you to kill me. The Elements. No... Their proxies... To bury us... They did it again. In the end, they're no more than a program. All they can do is repeat the same pattern over and over again. Do me a favor, will you? Take me over to her." She looked over and pointed to a grave. Snake nodded and helped her over to it. "There's one more thing Nami wanted me to tell you. About the... Old MAGICDIE in your body... The one that mutated. The new MAGICDIE inside you continues to multiply. At the same time... It is preventing the old... Mutated MAGICDIE from reproducing. The new MAGICDIE is uprooting the old. Nami confirmed it in her follow-up. The mutants are receding. Before long, they'll be gone entirely."

"Does that mean the mutant strain won't cause an epidemic?" asked Snake, looking at her.

Big Boss chuckled as they walked over to the oldest grave in the graveyard.

"It will only live as long as you do. But even then... The process will repeat itself. One day, the new MAGICDIE, too, will start to mutate... And become a new threat." They finally arrived, and Big Boss placed her hoof on the grave for support as her body was nearing its end. "But that is if you manage to live that long." Big Boss lost her strength to stand and collapse before the grave, while Snake caught her and slowly set her down.

"Am I going to die?" asked Snake, looking at her sadly.

Big Boss looked up at her with no expression at all.

"Everyone dies. You can't stop it. You can't run away from it. Let me tell you something... Don't... Don't waste the life you have left fighting."

Haze could feel Snake touching her shoulder as the memory disappeared.

"You have a chance now; don't waste your life fighting the what ifs or the could 'ves, would 'ves, should 'ves, kid. You already fought so much and did so much. You saved your world; what Soraya told us, you saved it again." Snake placed her hoof on Haze's head, messing it up. "It's about doing our best to leave the world... The way it is. It's about respecting the will of others... And believing in your own. That's what's most important." She stood and could see Petra landing before them, not looking so great, and Sephiroth walking up to them, smiling. "It's almost time, kid. Blow out this last ember of this fruitless war within you. And at last, those old evils will be gone. Once the source of evil returns to zero... A new one... A new future... Will be born. That new world... It is yours to live in. Not hers." Snake turned back to her, smiling. "You are nobody's tool now... No one's toy or puppet to control. Remember how you move forward from all that hardship you faced. Losing your home, your mother, Zara...and her." Snake pointed to Haze's arms, making her down and just seeing a flower.

Snake and Petra disappeared into the darkness as Sephiroth stood before Haze.

"You never moved forward, Haze, because I'm still here! Like I told you, I won't become a memory." Sephiroth stabbed Haze in the chest and slowly raised her. "I won't ever disappear into nothingness! You are nothing without me, and I will ensure you will remember it every time!"

Haze's eyes were lifeless, but there was a spark as she remembered something. She could see Zara and even hear her.

"If you want to be a hero, you must have dreams. Remember, what makes a hero isn't power or some weapon. It's friendship and all those you let in to make your dreams a reality. You are living proof of that. I believe in you."

Haze slowly grabbed the blade edge of the Masamune, her hands dripping with blood as she held it tight, and she could hear her own voice now.

"What about my pain? My fingers are tingling. My mouth is dry. My eyes are burning!"

Sephiroth's eyes widened as she saw Haze lowering herself back into the ground and started to lift her instead.
"...It can't be! How!?"

Haze looks at her dead in the eyes, smirking with a grin.

"You are right. I couldn't save them, but they saved me! Zara protected me so I could be here, fighting you! Aeris died protecting the planet that YOU failed to destroy! I need to put those thoughts to rest, like Snake said! End this fruitless war with you! Because Sephiroth, you have it backward!" Suddenly, Sephiroth's sword became Haze's giant sword and stabbed through Sephiroth chest now. "You need me! A nobody like me beat the powerful Sephiroth, not just once but many times now! It's been living rent-free in your head for years!" She twisted her sword, making her grunt in pain. "You are right about something else!" She tossed her up in the air. Haze's body and sword started to glow; with one word, she screamed, "Omnislash!"

Haze rocketed up into the air until she was near Sephiroth. She unleashed a storm of different slashes and stabs until she raised her sword above Sephiroth, glowing with a rainbow star. With one final thrust down, Sephiroth was cut into two halves.

Haze's landed back on the ground and looked, seeing Sephiroth slowly disappearing into nothingness.

"You won't become a memory..." She swung her sword around and placed it on her back. "Because I won't think about you anymore. I'm putting the past behind me."

Sephiroth's eyes closed, and rainbow light entered her body, making her disappear for good. The rainbow light gathered around Haze, hearing 'her' voice.

"Haze, never forget how you got here. Never forget all those who helped you get this far. You can do anything you want. Anything."

Haze started to cry tears of joy and happiness. She could see 'her' hand reaching out to her.
"You are never a failure. I always believed in you."

Soon, she could see another hand reaching out. It was Zara's hand.
"We believe in you, Haze. Now, join the others. Those kids need a hero like you to help them."

Haze nodded and grabbed their hands as the light engulfed the darkness...

...only for the light to fade and for Petra to find herself back on the roof with O'Hara.

"The hardest thing about this job is you can’t always save everybody. Sometimes, you have to let them go. You have to let it play out if it means saving everyone else." with that said, he jumped into the rift, disappearing as it closed shut.

Petra clutched her mask and screamed at no one.

"You can't mean that! You can't ignore someone who's in danger!"

She held her mask up, looking at it.

"What's important is not standing by and allowing someone to suffer or die because you do nothing!" she looked where O'Hara once stood. "If you don't get that, then you don't get the first thing about being Spider-Man." She looked back down at the mask, feeling proud of the person she was. "Anyone can wear the mask." She put back on the mask

and darted to the roof's edge. "But you need to remember why you put it on."

With a mighty jump, Petra web-swung out of sight, not stopping.

"Great power comes with great responsibility. You might be right that I can't help everyone, but it's my responsibility to try! Like saving those kids! Spark came to me because of that! She knew what it meant to have a responsibility! To use your power to help others when you can!"

Petra could see the others waiting for her on a rooftop, making her smile.

"Helping others to move forward! To keep fighting! That is my responsibility!"

She landed beside them, waving hello as the memory faded, and they all started to wake up.

Spark's body fully healed, and her chest started to glow so bright that her cutie mark on it bled through her white shirt.With the rainbow light emitting from her chest, Spark's eyes opened. Her left eye had Twilight's cutie mark star in it...

End of Chapter 12